Some people ARE worth melting for ….. 40 Disney days – the trip of a lifetime updated October 10

[dizneeat]

Day 12, August 14

More food and fireworks - Part 3

We arrived there about 20 minutes later, took the elevator down to the main level and used the sky walk to get over to Bay Lake Tower.

We checked in at the side desk, showed our DVC cards and our room keys and went over to the elevator to go up to the Top of the World lounge. Michelle and Vito had invited us to their house and we at least wanted to pay them back a little bit, so, since they had never been to the Top of the World Lounge, we invited them to the lounge and to view the fireworks lateron. A few minutes later we left the elevator at the top floor and walked towards the lounge.

We were happy to see that there was a table big enough for all of us and we sat down and ordered some drinks. I think Michelle and I had cocktails, not sure what Vito had, but Tom just had coffee. I had the

Godiva Chocolate Martini, GODIVA Chocolate Liqueur, Stoli Vanil Vodka, White Creme de Cacao, and Frangelico and we sat there and chatted away. Time flew by and it was time to pay the bill and head outside to watch the fireworks.

Michelle, Tom and I found a nice spot at the railing, while Vita and Angelina stayed at the back, where she could see, sitting in her wheelchair.

We all enjoyed the fireworks very much from there. They pipe in the music and that makes them extra special.

After the fireworks we headed towards the elevators and went down to the 1st floor. We walked Michelle and Vito to their car and they checked our GPS if we would be driving the easiest way to their house when we would come to visit them. It took some time to get Angelina’s wheelchair loaded, but finally everyone was ready to go home and they left and drove back to their house. Once they had left, Tom and I left Bay Lake Tower to return to Old Key West. There we sat on the couch for a while talking about the last few days before we went to bed.

To be continued ....​

 

[slykrab]

We are missing you by days!! We leave September 9 - any chance you will be at WDW before the cruise?

I don't think so but our plans aren't set in stone yet - there's a possibility, but we likely wouldn't get in until the 9th because of business on Friday. Fingers crossed it works out!

 

[krrrristen]

What a great view of those fireworks! And your chocolate martini... mmmm

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Looks like a great end to your evening! Chocolate martini? Yes please! Nice shots of the fireworks!

 

[jenseib]

What a great way to end the evening!

 

[Pinkocto]

Gorgeous pictures from the lounge. What a lovely way to see the fireworks. Perfect view and away from all the crowds.

 

[franandaj]

Nice ending to a great day with friends!

 

[dizneeat]

I don't think so but our plans aren't set in stone yet - there's a possibility, but we likely wouldn't get in until the 9th because of business on Friday. Fingers crossed it works out!

Keeping my fingers crossed for an early arrival. We would love to see you again.

What a great view of those fireworks! And your chocolate martini... mmmm

You have a great view from the Top of the World Lounge viewing area. We really enjoy watching the fireworks from up there.
And yes, that Chocolate Martini is yummy!

Looks like a great end to your evening! Chocolate martini? Yes please! Nice shots of the fireworks!

It definitely was a great ending to a beautiful day. Sharing the fireworks with friends was just wonderful and that drink was the icing on the cake.

What a great way to end the evening!

It definitely was and I guess it will be repeated in the summer.

 

[dizneeat]

Gorgeous pictures from the lounge. What a lovely way to see the fireworks. Perfect view and away from all the crowds.

We love the lounge - so nice and really great for chatting. The fireworks are an added bonus, with the music piped in it is really special. Something WE want to do in August?

Nice ending to a great day with friends!

Times spent with friends are the best times, don't you agree?

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, August 15


Goodbye Main Street Electrical Parade - Part 1

Another park day had broken.
We were up at around 7.30 and had breakfast in the villa. We had picked up quite a few things we wanted to try so first thing we did was to try and open up a roll of cinnamon rolls. Once we had succeeded in opening it, they ended up on the baking sheet

and while they were in the oven Tom tried his cereal,

Apple Jacks. Unfortunately like the other one he had had, he threw it out after a few small spoonfuls as it tasted too artificial. Tom then fixed himself some ham and cheese sandwiches, while I tried a

peanutbutter and jelly sandwich. We had bought a jar of the mixture and while it was not bad, it wasn’t my favourite thing either. In the meantime the cinnamon rolls had been baked

and after being doused in frosting, they were actually pretty nice. We still had some fruit in the fridge and finished those off as well before clearing the table and putting on the dishwasher. Today we were going by Disney transport.
When we arrived at the bus stop a bus had just left and we were looking at the monitor and were quite happy as it said the bus to the studios would be the next but one. 10 minutes passed and no bus. It was then that we found out that those monitors were not very reliable that day. We ended up sitting there for close to half an hour until a Studio’s bus finally showed up. At least it was practically empty

and nicely air conditioned and off we went. It’s not far from Old Key West to the Studios so about 10 minutes later we rolled up to the bus stop. From there we strolled over to bag check, which was blissfully empty and then scanned our magicbands and headed into the park.

We didn’t have much time left on our FastPass, so we walked right over to Toy Story Mania.

We were surprised to see that the standby line only said 25 minutes and still hopped into the FastPass line. Inside the building we saw that it was more or less pretty empty

until you got to the last part of the line where you pick up your 3D glasses. They let FastPass go ahead and we were told to go to the line on the right, which bypassed the line on the left completely and we walked right down to where you are assigned into rows. Soon we got onto the ride and started pulling the string and aiming at the screen. It was as fun as always and all too soon it was clear that Tom had won again and we were getting off. We took a peek and saw that the standby line was still only 30 minutes and since we had time to spare we walked right in and got in line.

It took us a little over 20 minutes and we found ourselves sitting in one of the ride vehicles again. And Tom won again. After we got off we headed over to our second FastPass, which had opened a little while earlier. Tower of Terror had a 40 minute standby line,

but we got into the FastPass line again

and walked right into the library. The boiler room was pretty full with people, but they used all the elevators and the line moved quite fast. Our visit into the twilight zone was fun, but unfortunately over far too soon. It was now past noon and there was one more thing we were dying to do, getting to the Brown Derby Lounge for more of their yummy food and drinks.
So after checking out of the Hollywood Tower Hotel we marched on over and were able to find a table. It looked a bit like rain, so we were happy we were under one of the huge umbrellas, got comfortable and had a peek at the menu. I had loved the Grapefruit Cake Martini, Deep Eddy's ruby red grapefruit vodka, Stoli vanil vodka and a splash of cream with a vanilla wafer rim, I had had the last time we were there and ordered that, while Tom ordered the Spiked White Sangria. We had not decided on the food yet when the server came to take our order, so she gave us a little more time while she went for the drinks. She came back after a few minutes with my

Martini and a

Spiked Red Sangria, red wine blended with Grand Marnier, Stirrings pomegranate liqueur, fruit juices, and fresh fruit, topped with Sprite for Tom. We exchanged a quick glance, but Tom did not mind the Red Sangria and in the end was quite happy with it.
We put our food order in and after a few minutes and a few raindrops it was served. We had decided on trying

The Famous Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad with finely chopped greens, turkey breast, bacon, egg, tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing, which was served in a Martini glass with the dressing on the side and the

Crispy Bites, parmesan-goat cheese risotto sticks with garlic and tomato compote; brie cheese with spiced raspberry sauce; sweet corn and rock shrimp fritters with chipotle aioli.
I had had the regular Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby before and did not like it at all, but this was definitely different and I really enjoyed it. The Crispy Bites were delicious, especially when dipped into the sauces. Only downside was that the Brie had leaked out of its breading and we had to scoop it out instead of just picking up a piece.
It was so relaxing sitting there, enjoying some yummy food and sipping our cocktails, we spent way more time there than we had actually thought. When we had finally finished our lunch we checked the app for wait times, but the ones for the rides we were interested in were far too long, so I checked what was available for tonight at the Magic Kingdom.

To be continued ....​

 

[dizneeat]

A little off topic ............

While I was absent so much, at least I did a little trip planning for this summer, especially as my ADR date had come up. To be very honest, with all that was going on at school (so many teachers being sick and I had to do MANY extra hours) I was quite unprepared and didn't initially book anything. Especially when I found out that the system didn't recognize/acknowledge my split reservations and I was forced to have to book day by day.
I only started to book way after my window opened and I still got some good ADRs - waiting for the Starwars Fireworks Dessert Party and for the Highway in the Sky Dine around to open as well as what is on offer for Food and Wine in our time span.

But here is what we have so far:
Disney Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland
Celebration at the Top - Savor, Sip, and Sparkle
Grand Floridian Cafe Breakfast
Kona Cafe Dinner
California Grill - Brunch at the Top
The Wave Dinner
Be Our Guest Lunch - QSR
'Ohana Dinner

In addition to booking ADRs I had a look at the new DCL itineraries and played with pricing out some cruises, but DCL's prices kept coming up as a bit high for what I was interested in until .......

a Fantasy cruise fit the budget!

We toyed with the idea for a day and then Tom told me to go for it. Problem - there was only one of the staterooms with extended verandahs left and I didn't want to risk losing it by waiting until we get on the Dream to book with a discount. And here is where I was really pulling my hair out because I had been holding two on board bookings and had cancelled one when we gave up the other Dream cruise. The sales rep had asked me if I wanted to just "push it forward" but I had just cancelled it. Now I could have easily used it ........
What to do, what to do?
Well, I called and had a cast member change our Dream cruise to the Fantasy cruise and she was able to keep the discount and on board credit for it. I then rebooked our Dream cruise and changed from a deck 10 family stateroom to a deck 6 extended/whitewall stateroom (again at the back) and now we are still coming out ahead.

Now, this week, when I tried to get back into the swing of things here on the DIS I mentioned that we were doing this Fantasy cruise and a friend, well, a really good friend we had gotten to know VERY well on our Panama Canal cruise mentioned that she had a booking for 2018 and was willing to move it to that sailing if we were okay with it.
NO need to ask - we were delighted to hear that she was able to change her cruise date and we are now sailing with

Pamela (Pinkocto) and her mum!!



This is definitely going to be an AWESOME cruise! Just 518 days (or 74 weeks) to go!
​

 

[Pinkocto]

I loved reading about those plans!!!!!

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm sorry you had cancelled one of your placeholders, how sad!

Glad you were able to work things out ok with your Dream cruise and still have an extended balcony, those are so nice!


Your morning at HS looks so fun, those are two of our favorite rides. The Brown Derby looks super yummy again as does the Goober jelly/PB combo

 

[Pinkocto]

We love the lounge - so nice and really great for chatting. The fireworks are an added bonus, with the music piped in it is really special. Something WE want to do in August?

Absolutely!!!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow that is so exciting!!!

 

[slykrab]

Yay!!! Enjoy your cruise, all!!!!

 

[jenseib]

how fun!!!!

 

[franandaj]

I started reading your update and somehow never finished until today! It cracked me up that you guys had tried all the "American" foods. I'll admit I've never tried Apple Jacks or that PB&J, but I don't like PB&J, never have. I do love those cinnamon rolls, but we always made them in a round cake pan. We got the package of 8 and 7 of them always fit around the edge and one in the middle. Everyone always fought over the one in the middle because it didn't have a crunchy edge and was tender all around!

How great that you are doing another cruise on the Fantasy and that you're doing it with Pam and her Mom! I can't wait to start planning again!

 

[Disneyhayes]

Welcome back! Glad to hear about your upcoming trips too!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Ugh, AppleJacks, not a fan. Tom did the smart thing. Taste and dump. I love trying new foods/wines when we travel but have no problem chunking an item if I do not like it.

How utterly awesome, cruising again with Pam and her mum!

I see two great trip reports to keep all of entertained come 2018.

Kate