The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[afwdwfan]

It actually worked out better, since Fran didn't want to ride Star Tours. What I should have done was make her a ToT, and me an RnRC FP+ and then use each of them. Not a bad idea for May.

As long as you aren't planning to ride Toy Story too... don't forget that you can't get both RnRC and TSMM FP+.

She is a connoisseur of Cinnamon Rolls!

I can relate.

If you're looking a prices at Disney, you pretty much won't buy anything.

True. But there's a pretty big difference between a $70 sweatshirt and a $5000 Star Wars prop that gave me sticker shock in this store.

Weren't you the one pointing out how almost all of DLs queues are NOT in the inside in the AC?

I think even worse, a scooter with an old battery that wouldn't hold a charge for very long.

Oh no...

I was bummed this wedding party was monopolizing the fireplace and the freaky chairs. But I made the best of it.

Nicely done. That guy with the camera looks like he's giving you the death stare.

We made it and they let us plug in outside. Here we were finally at Beaches and Cream!

Woohoo!!! Looks like a fantastic meal.

They had the coolest display IMHO.

That is really an awesome train set. I like the one in Germany, but the detail in this one looks like it blows the Germany train set away!

When we got back we thought the maintenance guy had taken our ruined clothes, but instead he put them in the dryer and dried them to further cement the damage so that I could not remove the stains.

That's too bad. I guess they were trying to help. Unfortunately...

 

[jedijill]

I love the Christmas decorations! Lunch at B&C is really good too!

I can't believe that guy dried your clothes! Argh! I know he was probably trying to be nice but jeez!

Hope the scooter issue got resolved.

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

Finally all caught up again. I needed a few non DIS days - as Disney is really getting to me at the moment (well, at least their non working website)

Love, love, love all the photos at Christmas. So many great memories - thanks for reminding me. I needed that.

So you went to B&C! We love it there - and SO happy you can make an ADR there now. Did someone order a Kitchen Sink while you were there? Perfect size sundae.

Now, those earrings look great and how nice of Fran to get you a second pair in case you loose one.

Now, the maintenance person who put your washing in the dryer to preserve the stains, really sucks.


Alison, did I ever send you that PM with our dates in CA? I remember starting it, but cannot find a copy of it anywhere. If I did not send it, please let me know and I promise to send them out right away.

 

[IowaTater]

Those are shutter windows that open to the bedroom area. That way I can watch the TV and read the captions while I'm in the tub.

That makes much more sense than what I was picturing. For some reason, I thought they were windows to the outside. lol

I love the miniature train set. All the details are so cute.

 

[franandaj]

Loved your update! I am putting Beaches and Cream on my list for my next trip!

I've been wanting to try it for a long time. It was a great and different option to our normal fancy food. We eat at places like that here at home, well without the yummy giant sundaes!

Love all the Christmas decorations! So beautiful and I love the way they work in little touches like the sail boats at the Yacht Club and the carrousel animals at the Boardwalk.

That carousel at the Boardwalk, was it edible? Were the horses?

Just wait until the next day, I really loved the decorations and how they were appropriate to the specific resort. Technically everything was made from edible substances, well except for the moving parts.

And the little train village was the best! Love the way they worked in so many Disney characters!

That made it my favorite of all the displays. At first I didn't notice them, and then all of a sudden they were everywhere!

Pretty earrings! That's smart to get two pair!

Thanks! I really like them and I'm still wearing the posts, I have to keep switching out the dangly ones just for kicks.

That sucks about your clothes!

I know, even if it was mostly underwear, it still makes me mad when I see them.

I love the train set up! Especially all the details.

They did a great job with that display.

I'd love to stay in that area someday. Doubt I'll get to unless I get DVC though. Although at this point I just want to go to Disney anywhere since I haven't been for so long!

You could always rent DVC points, but I understand the Disney withdrawl. I went six years without going to WDW and had several years of canceled trips, so I get it.

Sometimes days like this are needed. I had a very similar day on Saturday.

Corinna

I didn't even realize how tired I was Sunday until Monday when I was doing strength training and had no strength!

 

[DnA2010]

Got behind again

The Christmas decorations are just so great, your pictures do a nice job of capturing the colours well.
B&C- yum, can't wait to eat here once day (we have limited WDW experience, but hoping for a long trip there in 2017 perhaps)

Love the earrings, especially the dangly ones- super cute, can dress up or down.

How very frustrating about your clothes you just can't win!

 

[franandaj]

As long as you aren't planning to ride Toy Story too... don't forget that you can't get both RnRC and TSMM FP+.

OK. That's why I didn't get a FP+ for RnRC, Fran will ride TSMM with me, but not RnRC.

I can relate.

So I've heard....

True. But there's a pretty big difference between a $70 sweatshirt and a $5000 Star Wars prop that gave me sticker shock in this store.

True. The lights we got were only $100, but with the 20% discount it was only $80.

Oh no...

Oh yes. Just like on the Wonder.

Nicely done. That guy with the camera looks like he's giving you the death stare.

You picked up on that as well?

Woohoo!!! Looks like a fantastic meal.

That is really an awesome train set. I like the one in Germany, but the detail in this one looks like it blows the Germany train set away!

I guess I missed the one in Germany, or do you mean the one that is there year round?

That's too bad. I guess they were trying to help. Unfortunately...

It never fails, people trying to help rarely ever do.

I love the Christmas decorations! Lunch at B&C is really good too!

They really went all out on the decorations! I think we might need to go back there when we're staying in October.

I can't believe that guy dried your clothes! Argh! I know he was probably trying to be nice but jeez!

I know. People think they're helping out, but unless they know what you're thinking, they probably aren't helping.

Hope the scooter issue got resolved.

Finally all caught up again. I needed a few non DIS days - as Disney is really getting to me at the moment (well, at least their non working website)

I know how that goes, which Disney website?

Love, love, love all the photos at Christmas. So many great memories - thanks for reminding me. I needed that.

It was nice to finally see the WDW Christmas decorations for myself.

So you went to B&C! We love it there - and SO happy you can make an ADR there now. Did someone order a Kitchen Sink while you were there? Perfect size sundae.

I really liked it, definitely worth a trip back there. A family in one of the booths ordered a Kitchen Sink and it looked HUGE! The sundae we got was just perfect.

Now, those earrings look great and how nice of Fran to get you a second pair in case you loose one.

She's sweet like that.

Now, the maintenance person who put your washing in the dryer to preserve the stains, really sucks.

Alison, did I ever send you that PM with our dates in CA? I remember starting it, but cannot find a copy of it anywhere. If I did not send it, please let me know and I promise to send them out right away.

I didn't get that PM from you, please go ahead and resend it.

That makes much more sense than what I was picturing. For some reason, I thought they were windows to the outside. lol

I love the miniature train set. All the details are so cute.

They really did a great job with the details.

Got behind again

That's not hard, I'm updating fairly quickly! I completely understand.

The Christmas decorations are just so great, your pictures do a nice job of capturing the colours well.
B&C- yum, can't wait to eat here once day (we have limited WDW experience, but hoping for a long trip there in 2017 perhaps)

Thank you! A longer trip to WDW is always better, unless you can have FOTL access to everything you need quite a few days just to do most everything you want.

Love the earrings, especially the dangly ones- super cute, can dress up or down.

How very frustrating about your clothes you just can't win!

I know, really annoying that he made that decision.

 

[franandaj]

We had returned from viewing the decorations at the Epcot resorts, and Fran had laid down for a nap. When we were getting ready to leave for dinner, I realized I had made a huge mistake on our ADRs. I wanted to dine at the Dining room at Wolfgang Puck's Grand Cafe. However instead I had made a reservation at just the Wolfgang Puck's Grand Cafe which serves burgers, pizza, sandwiches and pasta. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but this was kind of a stretch for Fran. She asked why we were eating at Wolfgang Puck’s and I promised her there was a schnitzel on the menu. She loves Wiener Schnitzel and so that made it all good for her. There was no schnitzel on the menu at the regular cafe. I called Disney Dining to see if they could fix this and it was possible, but the only reservations were for 9PM. We weren't that hungry yet so it was OK. Our original reservation was at 7:00 so now we had a little more time to kill so she kept resting.

We took off around 7:30 and stopped at WoD on our way there. Naked Jim called and I talked to him while she shopped. It was a zoo getting to the restaurant. Disney Springs is really crowded on a Saturday night. We were half an hour early and they could seat us. There was absolutely no one in the dining room! Why could they not give us an ADR before 9PM????? They sat two other parties at the same time as us.









I had a Ketel One Martini, sort of, no onions, but a lemon twist instead. But evidently I don’t have a picture of it. I had a Caesar Salad to start. It wasn’t anything special.



She had corn chowder and liked it well enough.



The Bread was pretty good.



Her Pork schnitzel was huge!



I had the swordfish with shrimp. It was also a huge portion, she finished mine and we took what she didn’t eat of hers to go.



On our way out of the restaurant, I took this shot of the main dining area. The room we ate in was up those stairs.



We went directly back to the room and I took a bath before going to bed. It was pretty late and I was tired from a long and fairly active day.


Day 8


Tonight I slept through the whole night! This morning we were not planning on visiting any parks. We were continuing our tour of the resorts only today would be the Monorail resorts. About five months ago (September) Disney announced a new offering for Brunch at Narcoosee's. We jumped on that right away and while it caused us to change our plans somewhat we didn't mind. The Grand would be a perfect place to launch our tour of the Monorail resort Christmas decorations.

We got dressed and left the room around 8:30. Our plan was to scoot over to Disney Springs, catch a bus to the Grand and be done with it. Little did we know that buses don't run from Disney Springs to resorts until after 11AM. When we were informed of the error of our ways, we immediately headed back to the bus stop hoping that we didn't have long to wait for a MK bus, and we lucked out! One came right away, and by 9:10 we were on our way. We hustled to the resort monorail terminal and boarded a train fairly quickly.



While waiting for our Monorail, I snapped this shot of the restaurant where we were headed.





It was 9:45, plenty of time to make it to our 10:10 brunch. And then the Monorail just sat there. For a good 10 minutes. They made the announcement that there were technical delays, and finally we were underway. We had a few more glitches on the way and it was 10:06 before we were unloading at the Grand. So we booked it over to the restaurant, checked in and we were seated pretty much immediately. I would have taken pictures along the way if we weren’t running so late. But I did take this one while we waited to be seated.



We were given our menus and Nelson our server explained how the Brunch worked.





There were way too many good choices on the menu but somehow we narrowed it down and picked out our meal. I went with coffee and they brought me a French Press full!



He brought us a basket of pastries with croissants, cinnamon twist, cherry and Cream cheese pastry, and a blueberry muffin.



Our meal also came with our choice of a beverage. I had the bloody Mary while Fran had a glass of Prosecco.



The Bloody Mary came with practically an appetizer itself in the garnish! There was a jumbo prawn, crab leg, slice of thick cut bacon, two blue cheese stuffed olives, and celery stick. I gave the olives to Fran.



Next we were served our appetizer. Both of us selected the French Onion Soup. The broth was rich and flavorful and we both enoyed it very much. There was plenty of Gruyere cheese on top and it was very filling.



For our entrees she selected the Lobster Eggs Benedict which I tasted. The eggs were perfectly cooked and there was just enough Hollandaise. The ham balanced the lobster very nicely.



I had the Chicken and Waffles, which came with chicken breast nuggets, a waffle, syrup and gravy. I had the latter two served on the side. These were really good little fried gems of goodness, combined with the maple syrup and waffle was a perfect combination.



Then we were served a trio of desserts. There was a blueberry Trimble, chocolate cake, and blood orange cake. All three were really flavorful and not too sweet.



White chocolate Minnie gave the ultimate sacrifice!





After that we paid the bill and headed to the lobby to check out and photograph the Christmas decorations. But not before checking out this masterpiece that they had in the restaurant lobby. This entire sculpture is made of white chocolate.






And then we headed out to see the resort and what fun and exciting Christmas displays they had in the lobby.

 

[rndmr2]

Glad you were able to switch the dinner ADR, that's crazy they couldn't give you an earlier time. That schnitzel was really huge, even just one piece would have been a big portion. I've never had swordfish before but that looked pretty good.

That brunch looked great!

Love that sculpture, that is so cool how they can do that.

 

[dhorner233]

It's much more of a challenge getting around DW than it is at DL (duh!) You left your room at 8:30 and got to the restaurant in the knick of time almost 2 hours later!! But both meals look delicious! That was the most garnished Bloody Mary I've ever seen!

That white chocolate Minnie was so cute!

 

[dizneeat]

Now that is what I call Schnitzel! (only called Wiener Schnitzel if it is made from veal ) And those portions do look quite big, both of them. I have always wanted to try Wolfgang's dining room, just because I want to find out if they CAN make a good Schnitzel. But so far we have never made it there.

The other thing is that today I researched the Brunch at Narcoossee's and could not find a decent review. Thank you for reading my mind and posting this today!!!!! There is no booking window for Brunch in August so far, but I will keep checking back - your brunch looks AWESOME.

And I did finally send that PM.

 

[franandaj]

Glad you were able to switch the dinner ADR, that's crazy they couldn't give you an earlier time.

I'm guessing that either they had a private party going on in there, or Disney Dining doesn't make reservations less than a couple hours in advance for same day reservations to aid in walk ups. That's the only thing I could think of.

That schnitzel was really huge, even just one piece would have been a big portion.

I know! We have a German restaurant at home and usually the portions are about half that size if not less.

I've never had swordfish before but that looked pretty good.

Swordfish is one of my favorite seafood choices. It's often called the "steak" of seafood. It's normally cut rather thick and can be grilled very similar to a steak. I prepare it a lot at home, but really enjoy when I can have someone else prepare it for me skillfully. This was very tasty. I do have to add that it was the "Florida Local" choice on the menu.

That brunch looked great!

It was really good and I could have chosen almost any of the other entrée choices and I'm sure they would have been just as good!

Love that sculpture, that is so cool how they can do that.

I am always amazed at what Disney Chefs can do with edible products!

It's much more of a challenge getting around DW than it is at DL (duh!) You left your room at 8:30 and got to the restaurant in the knick of time almost 2 hours later!! But both meals look delicious! That was the most garnished Bloody Mary I've ever seen!

Yeah it is crazy how much bigger WDW is than the DL property. I mean we attended D23 events at the DL hotel Convention Center and I went back to the Villa at the GCH and I think I started our dinner in the oven (on delay bake) during lunch, plus made us sandwiches to eat in line while we were waiting to get back in for the afternoon session all within an hour, and got back in time for the afternoon session. It's so much easier getting around DL and way quicker. That said, there are 10 times as many (if not more) places around DL to get to.

That white chocolate Minnie was so cute!

I thought she was so cute, but I'm not a fan of White Chocolate, so I let Fran have her!

Now that is what I call Schnitzel! (only called Wiener Schnitzel if it is made from veal )

There is a German restaurant near Disneyland that we enjoy in case you are missing hometown food, called Jagerhaus. They have Wiener Schnitzel, Jager Schnitzel, and probably 5-10 other kinds of Schnitzel as well as plenty of other German dishes. I actually have them in the menu rotation for next week after we go to the Shabu Shabu place for my Valentines make up dinner. We love German Food, and there used to be a great Oktoberfest that used to be held out at Disneyland with the Chef at Steakhouse 55. He apprenticed at a German restaurant when he was young and can make really authentic German food. He used to make a huge buffet complete with Weiner Schnitzel, Blood Sausage, pretzels and tons of other authentic food. Even folks who had German friends brought them along and they were thrilled with how true to real German tastes the food he made was. However that is a thing of the past.

And those portions do look quite big, both of them. I have always wanted to try Wolfgang's dining room, just because I want to find out if they CAN make a good Schnitzel. But so far we have never made it there.

We enjoyed this one, even though it was pork. Most of what you find in America is Pork Schnitzel. I guess folks are wary of veal, but it was pretty good as far as I thought. Nice and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

The other thing is that today I researched the Brunch at Narcoossee's and could not find a decent review. Thank you for reading my mind and posting this today!!!!! There is no booking window for Brunch in August so far, but I will keep checking back - your brunch looks AWESOME.

It was great! And I would have like to try several others

And I did finally send that PM.

Got it!

 

[rentayenta]

Yum yum yum!!! All of your meals look wonderful! Glad you were able to get Fran her schnitzel.

Love the pic of her in the Santa hat.

The Yacht Club looks amazing. I think next to AKV, the decor is my favorite. Those sail boats on the trees are just too cute.

Move first, then WDW.

 

[IowaTater]

Now that's my kind of drink! I love Bloody Marys but I've never had one with a crab leg in it.

This entire sculpture is made of white chocolate.

Holy smokes, that is amazing!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Isn’t this view nice without the bloody hat?

Oh my goodness, yes. Night and day!

They had some cool exhibit rooms. There was a 10 minute movie about the making of Star Wars that we skipped. I figured that they had it at our Launch Bay and didn’t want to waste precious time doing something in Florida that I could also do at home.

Thanks for the photos of the props. We had limited time in DHS and decided to concentrate on rides and shows and not bother with promos for the movie. The props look cool, though.

Well we saw that they also have Resistance logo lamps as well. I decided we should have matching lamps, but one Empire and one Resistance.

Sure, light side and dark side. Whose is whose?

After that Fran and I took off for our last FP of the day TSMM. While the rides on each coast are identical, I have to say that the queue in this park is far superior. It’s really fun and whimsical. I understand that they are going with a Boardwalk arcade feeling in DCA, but it’s not nearly as interesting as this one.

I agree. Although it is neat to exit into Andy's room in DCA.

I never had this happen though! Best in Vehicle! Woo hooo. Either there was no one else in the car, or they must REALLY suck!

Maybe you were in my car!

I was bummed this wedding party was monopolizing the fireplace and the freaky chairs. But I made the best of it.

Darn. The creepy chairs really make the display.

On our way to the Beach Club Fran's battery indicator started to dip dangerously low. We switched scooters since hers would carry me more easily and hopefully make it to the restaurant where we hoped we could charge.

D'oh!

This place really is small!

We did good huh?

Excellent work!

When we got back we thought the maintenance guy had taken our ruined clothes, but instead he put them in the dryer and dried them to further cement the damage so that I could not remove the stains.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo....

However instead I had made a reservation at just the Wolfgang Puck's Grand Cafe which serves burgers, pizza, sandwiches and pasta.

Sounds wonderful!

She asked why we were eating at Wolfgang Puck’s and I promised her there was a schnitzel on the menu.

Oh. Whoops.

It was 9:45, plenty of time to make it to our 10:10 brunch. And then the Monorail just sat there. For a good 10 minutes. They made the announcement that there were technical delays, and finally we were underway. We had a few more glitches on the way and it was 10:06 before we were unloading at the Grand.

I really worry about the monorails. I wonder if they just need new ones.

I had the Chicken and Waffles, which came with chicken breast nuggets, a waffle, syrup and gravy. I had the latter two served on the side. These were really good little fried gems of goodness, combined with the maple syrup and waffle was a perfect combination.

Mmmm...chicken and waffles. Such a great combination.

After that we paid the bill and headed to the lobby to check out and photograph the Christmas decorations. But not before checking out this masterpiece that they had in the restaurant lobby. This entire sculpture is made of white chocolate.

That's incredible!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Dining Room looks like it was a success! We ate their once and enjoyed it but there are too many places to eat at WDW that we have skipped it for a while.

Loved the photos from the brunch at Narcoossee's! I wish I could eat that French Onion Soup and Chicken & Waffle right now! Totally up my alley!

 

[dolphingirl47]

How annoying about the mix up with the ADR, but great that you managed to get this fixed. It always amuses me that often the food choices that Fran makes would be my choice, too. The only exception is if there is seafood involved.

What a pain that it took so long to get to the Grand Floridian. Narcoosee's is one one of my all time favourite restaurants and brunch looked amazing. I would have loved the main course you had chosen. The chocolate display is very similar to something I saw at the Food and Wine Festival.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh wow, I was a whole 9 pages behind, and there was at least one update on each page. I made it! So much has happened and too much to comment on, but Remy dinner and brunch looked just amazing! I agree completely, going to WDW after a cruise makes it much more palatable.

I think I'm the only one who misses the hat

I love love love all the Christmas decorations!!! We still have yet to make it over to the Epcot resorts during Christmas time and we've been there five years in a row...

 

[pepe3penelope]

Oh my goodness! I just ran across this TR because you posted it on the October cruise report. I'm still in page one of this one!!! Then while reading this one I find out that you have another TR about some Naked Jim?!?!? What?!?! I'll have to read that one too! I don't know where you have the time for these TR's but I sure have so much fun reading them!!!

 

[franandaj]

Yum yum yum!!! All of your meals look wonderful! Glad you were able to get Fran her schnitzel.

Yeah, she really liked it, I'm glad that Puck's Dining Room was a hit for her. I was just looking for interesting new places to eat for this trip and that one fit the bill. Plus with us staying at SSR it was easy to just scoot over there. I doubt we'll go back, even though it was good there are other places that I would rather go back to again.

Love the pic of her in the Santa hat.

I'm so glad that she lightened up towards the end of the trip. She had got the Santa hat out before she had the meltdown earlier in the trip, but one of the things she actually said was, "I don't feel very ho, ho, ho right now." and never wore the Santa hat on the cruise, at least she got that out of her system by the second half.

The Yacht Club looks amazing. I think next to AKV, the decor is my favorite. Those sail boats on the trees are just too cute.

It's been a long time since I've seen the AKV Christmas decorations. I know in 2007 when we stayed there, we had a Christmas tree in our Suite, but I don't remember any decorations at the actual resort.

Move first, then WDW.

Good luck on your move! I hope that it happens quicker for you than us!

Now that's my kind of drink! I love Bloody Marys but I've never had one with a crab leg in it.

I haven't either, I was surprised that the garnish was so elaborate!

Holy smokes, that is amazing!!!

I couldn't believe that the entire thing was made of white chocolate. At first I thought it was something else.

Oh my goodness, yes. Night and day!

Thanks for the photos of the props. We had limited time in DHS and decided to concentrate on rides and shows and not bother with promos for the movie. The props look cool, though.

I can understand that. I think you guys had less time than we did, and more mobility to get on rides than Fran.

Sure, light side and dark side. Whose is whose?

She is the dark side. :thubsup2

I agree. Although it is neat to exit into Andy's room in DCA.

I rarely see that one since we usually take the HA boarding section that exits right into the gift shop.

Maybe you were in my car!

Not so good at this one?

Darn. The creepy chairs really make the display.

Yes they do, luckily I was able to have a make up.

D'oh!

Yeah, it was kind of like the Cabo Cruise all over again.

Excellent work!

We did our best!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo....

Yeah, and that same shirt that Julie has from Imagineering, let's just say I helped Magdalene with her choice....the underwear I could sort of live with, but that shirt....

Sounds wonderful!

I knew you would be one of the folks who thought the other place was fine.

Oh. Whoops.

Yeah. That.

I really worry about the monorails. I wonder if they just need new ones.

I know first us. Then Andy. I'm sure there are plenty of others who have also been stopped. This worries me coming from a Transportation Engineer!

Mmmm...chicken and waffles. Such a great combination.

That's incredible!

I know, I couldn't believe that it was made of chocolate!