The Bananas Take On WDW, lots of pics, leaving for F&W today

[janabananas]

This was by far my worst park day. I had several freak the frak outs, including trying to get bf at Everything POP. I saw the crowd, flipped, and left. We got to AK later than I wanted to, around 945am, instead of 9am. Dbf decided he needed food before he could go on, so we stopped for danishes. He then decided he needed to look at animals, while I wanted to hit all the rides, eat, then look at the critters and go home. All great plans go to crap though. Speaking of crap, while he was looking at the animals a stork took a very large poo on him. HAHA

He ran like his hair was on fire and got cleaned up. The restroom was pretty close to the Safari so we went on that and saw CRITTERS!!

After the critters, we went on the walking trail.
(I feel ya dude, I want a nap too.)

And then the train to Conservation Station.

At this point, I realized I was not up to walking around all day. I was feeling pretty crappy and hot. I have to agree with what I have read from others, that AK just seems hotter then the rest of the parks. ICK!! I think I was slightly dehydrated as well.

We walked over to Kali River Rapids and he wanted to do the walking trail there. I said to heck with that I am sitting. I could not find anyshade so I said to heck with it. I joined him, glad I did too. It was cooler in there.

(can I join you, you look like a comfy kitty?)

We got done and did Kali. It was not as wet as I remember. I got wet, don't get me wrong, but last time I got SOAKED!! BTW, that day Kali had no FP so everyone was in standby (wierd?!). It was also our longest wait. Or at least seemed like it.

We got to EE and pretty much walked right on. It was in the a/c so it seemed like the wait was short. It may have been longer than Kali, but the a/c made it seem shorter anyways. We loved EE!! Dbf has never been to AK and when we got to the top just where they hold for 5 seconds (that seems like 5 minutes) he almost flipped the frak out!! Remember the fear of heights thing? He had a blast but will skip it next time.

We then walked to Dinosaur and then had lunch at Flametree BBQ.

We had the rib/chicken combo and the turkey sandwich. We shared everything. The chicken was the big winner!! Next time we are going to get that and try the pulled pork. The ribs and sandwich were disappointments and not very good. Our duck friend from EPCOT joined us (or at least his cousin or BIL did and a friend this time and more poop, this time I almost got pooped on)

After lunch, we decided we were done. I was hot and cranky and DBF got pooped on. BTW a month later he still talks about it...

We went home to nap and watch football. We were gonna go to the pool but I was in a poopy mood still so we said to heck with it.

Next is POFQ/POR/DTD/Raglan Road dinner.

*just fyi, my computer has eaten this review for this day 3 times, so this is the condensed version.*

 

[janabananas]

We got napped and cleaned up and got ourselves out the door. We (me mostly) had wanted to check out POFQ/POR to see where we wanted to stay for our anniversary. We knew we would have to transfer from POP to a park to POFQ. So we got on the DHS bus and then hopped on POFQ, with about 5 seconds to spare. 1st time we ran today.

We walked around a bit (had a beignet, I wasn't impressed. I guess I will have to go to NOLA to get real one) and hopped on the boat to POR to check it out too. They were both very nice resorts. Just a tip, if you need an elevator ask for either a first floor in AB or a mansion. AB doesn't have elevators.

We walked around and looked in the food court and then jumped on a boat to DTD. This is us on the boat. I was very happy that a random guy asked us if we wanted a pic together. He was very kind.

Can I just tell you, if you are not in a hurry, take this boat ride. It is nice and relaxing and the driver we had was very interesting to listen to. I wish we could have launched about 20 minutes earlier though so we could have seen everything along the waterway.

We arrived in DTD over by Rainforest Cafe and made our way to Raglan Road. We took our time because we had an hour for our ADR.

We looked in on EOS (looks yummy) and wandered the World of Disney store. There was some concert going on so it was easier going through the store than outside. I wish I had a million buck cause I wanted to buy EVERYTHING!!! So this is the point in time I got melancholy. Because of my medical issues, I can no longer have kids. I love my boys but always kind of wanted a little girl. It was my bday and I was just turning 32. I got pretty sad. At this point I was on a mission to drink.

We got to the Legostore and I picked up stuff for the boys. I told them I would find them something, so more Bionicles it is.....

We made it to Ragland Road about 15 minutes early. I asked if we could sit early, but they said no, unless you want to sit at a table by the bar. We took this option. We are pretty used to eating at the bar, instead of a table when we go out to restaurants at home, so this was not an issue for us.

We got the best waiter, Matt. So nice and helpful!! He took a pic of us.

As for food, I knew I was gonna get the meatgasm app and a bowl of soup and cabbage side for dinner. OMG!! The meatgasm was SPECTACULAR!!!
Deep fried scallops, ribs, bangers, chicken. I was in meat heaven!!

Dbf had the beef curry pie. It was just spicy enough for him to be happy.

I then got the "HOLY MOSES THIS IS GOOD" bread pudding!!!

Followed by our alcohol indulgences for the evening. I got a sangria (no pic) and a beer flight. I feel in love with Kilkenny, and had my stand by's of Magners, Harp, and Smithwicks.

Dbf had an Irish Whiskey flight and his own full size big boy Smithwicks.

After dinner, we went to the gift shop and I picked up a family crest pin. I am a proud Spencer and was glad to find my name.

After looking around I got wonky (I think it was the meat, or maybe the beer??) So we made our way to the bus. This was my second run of the day. The POP bus had just boarded and knew it would be awhile for the next one to come, so I ran in heels..... Ouch, no bueno.

We got home and went to bed, I was still sad, but I got over it. It heppens from time to time. I was also sad because I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay for another 4 days.

 

[janabananas]

We had a pretty late start this day. Dbf packed the car up. It was determined that I am not allowed around the car while I am on vacation because everytime I am around it I loss my stuff.

We then went to Everything POP and grabbed bf. It was a bit later than the day before, so it was less crowded than OMG crowded.
I had the ham & cheese omelet. Pretty tasty.

Dbf had the bounty platter. He was happy too. No danish today!

We made it to the Magic Kingdom and started our day.

We got on the train and made our way to BTMRR with no wait. Then walked to POTC with another walk on no wait.

We went to Jungle Cruise and grabbed FP because the time to get on was in 45 minutes from then and the standby line was 20 minutes. (hello people grab the FP then a Dolewhip, then get on the ride, you will thank me later).

We went to the Tiki Room, loved it. I haven't seen it since I was a kid. Then found the potty and noticed a tropical oasis...... The Dole Whip stand!!!

OMG more yummy snacks!!!

After we used our Jungle Cruise FP we walked over to Haunted mansion. Loved the new interactive queue.

After HM, we went on the river boat. I hate to say it, but I wish we would have skipped it. I was getting hot and annoyed. Where is the gas pedal on this thing!!

We got off and had lunch at Columbia Harbour House. I had the shrimp and fries. I was happy with my selection. Dbf has the new Lobster roll and was very satisfied with it.

We knew we needed to leave soon, so we walked over to Space Mountain and the sign said 10 min wait. Heck yeah!! Let's do this!!! We got on and as soon as we stopped the line stopped..... For 20 minutes, we got held ride hostage again. I told dbf if we were in the line for 5 more minutes we hd to leave. I had to get him to work at 7pm.

Well about a minute before my time limit was up, the line started moving and we got on. I am glad I waited, it was such a thrill!!

And this is my good bye to the castle.

Dbf final insult to injury.... He was using the rest room before we left MK and his belt buckle popped right off!! He was so upset about that, that he forgot his sunglasses in the restroom.

What a trip!! I am gonna miss this place. I didn't want to leave. Can we just live at MK or at least on Disney property??? When I grow up I want to be a DVC owner!!!

 

[teekathepony]

"After HM, we went on the river boat. I hate to say it, but I wish we would have skipped it. I was getting hot and annoyed. Where is the gas pedal on this thing!!"

I laughed so hard, I was about to jump overboard when I rode it!

Grreat update, though sorry you had to leave and got held ride captive! lol

 

[janabananas]

"After HM, we went on the river boat. I hate to say it, but I wish we would have skipped it. I was getting hot and annoyed. Where is the gas pedal on this thing!!"

I laughed so hard, I was about to jump overboard when I rode it!

Grreat update, though sorry you had to leave and got held ride captive! lol

Ride captive isn't toooo terrible as long as it is in an a/c queue. Otherwise forget it!

There are some rides/attractions/shows that you only need to go on once in your lifetime...... I forgot that the riverboat was that ride for me.

 

[ronnmel]

I enjoyed reading your TR.

 

[janabananas]

Thanks Ronnmel!! Still more to come though. I will be adding TR from yesterday.


And I just saw your new ticker!! Congrats on the new sweet pea!!! I wish you and your new family all the best!!

 

[MissMichelle]

Your report is making me so excited for my next *adult* trip! Especially since I have said I want to drink around Epcot and though we get drinks, it is usually spread across a few days of visiting.

Can't wait to read on but just had to say Hello!

 

[janabananas]

Your report is making me so excited for my next *adult* trip! Especially since I have said I want to drink around Epcot and though we get drinks, it is usually spread across a few days of visiting.

Can't wait to read on but just had to say Hello!

Welcome!! I hope you have a great adult-only trip!!

 

[ChefDisneyLu]

thank u for sharing your tr! i cant wait to hear about your WDW filled year.

I love POFQ and WL I am pretty sure that POFQ is my all time fave place I have stayed but I want to stay at all of the WDW resorts so I have not been back....yet!

Also, Artisy Point is one of the best plaves to eat in all of WDW so enjoy!

thanks again.

Lisa

 

[janabananas]

thank u for sharing your tr! i cant wait to hear about your WDW filled year.

I love POFQ and WL I am pretty sure that POFQ is my all time fave place I have stayed but I want to stay at all of the WDW resorts so I have not been back....yet!

Also, Artisy Point is one of the best plaves to eat in all of WDW so enjoy!

thanks again.

Lisa

WELCOME!!



Will have more to come soon. Need to type up and add pics from yesterday's adventure and write a mini PTR for F&W in two weeks!!

 

[ronnmel]

Thanks Ronnmel!! Still more to come though. I will be adding TR from yesterday.


And I just saw your new ticker!! Congrats on the new sweet pea!!! I wish you and your new family all the best!!

Thank you! We are very excited for our little Peanut!

 

[janabananas]

Nick 13 and Joey 8

We went to DHS and EPCOT and DTD (Rainforest Café ADR and Lego Store shopping trip) for my oldest son, Nick’s 13th birthday. Both of my boys, Nick and Joey my 8 year old, have been VERY excited to go, so off we went. The boys love Star Wars A LOT, so I knew they would like going to DHS for Star Tours, as well as TSM because they love video & arcade games.

I know I am the “wake up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed” sort, but I was not expecting them to be up at 4am in their excitement….. HOLY COW was it early!! This did make it easier to get them out of the house by 6:45am though. The little guy is the notorious late one out of the bunch. We loaded into the car and made the drive over to WDW. We made the usual 1.5 hour drive in less than that. We arrived at DHS at 8:08am according to the parking slip. I got the boys’ their passes and made a pit stop, and got in line for the mad dash to TSM.

They didn’t realize or understand how this works, so I had to give them the express review… LOL. An older couple behind us was listening in, and laughing at their reaction. Pretty much, my speech was stay together, hold on to each other’s shirts, and step lively. Do not run, but walk at a fast pace, otherwise you will get left behind.

We got in line for TSM (not the TSM FP line) and got on and off within 20 minutes. I really don’t understand why people get in line for the FP when the standby line goes by much quicker. I guess if one person gets in the standby line and one gets in the FP line they can ride it twice. I did notice when we got off that the FP time was already around 1pm. Yikes. Btw they liked it but didn’t want to go on it again.

We walked over to ToT and RnR. The wait for ToT was nothing but when we got to the point to walk onto the elevator both kids chickened out, and I can’t ride it, so we got donuts and a danish for me. I rode single rider for RnR because neither one of them would go on it. We then made our way over to Star Tours. In hindsight, I should have just gone over there first.

That is what they really wanted to do. I had a preconceived notion of what the touring plan “should” be, but didn’t take into consideration what they wanted to do. So with FP, we were able to ride it twice. Lesson learned my friends. We decided to leave; since I knew there was nothing else there they wanted to do. Next trip we will do the “Blow up the cars” show, we missed it because of the ADR time.

So this is my disclaimer …. Every plan we made for today was based on the fact we had ADR at Rainforest Café at 3pm. I was so worried about making it, I couldn’t really enjoy the day, I was a nervous wreck. Another lesson learned ya’ll, I will never make another lunch ADR, unless it is for a day where we have no other plans. This happened to me on the 40th anniversary day too. I was locked into a lunch ADR for HBD, so I couldn’t ride EE at AK.

Anywho, we were done at DHS so we drove over to EPCOT to do TT. I figured they would like it, but when we got there the FP time was at the exact time as our ADR, and I didn’t want to drive all the way back to EPCOT after eating and Lego Store. So that was a bust. I decided we had to go on something, didn’t want to waste time at EPCOT, so I talked them into Mission: Space, and I am glad I did. They LOVED it!!

They would have ridden it again, but they were getting hungry for a snack. So we went over the Electric Umbrella and got some fries to share. I was also the bad mom, and ordered water, but got soda also. Flame away. I felt bad about it, but we did get water first, then the boys asked if they could get Coke for the road and I allowed it.

When we walked in to EPCOT, the boys wanted to get in the “Ball” and wanted to ride the monorail. So I decided we had enough time, so on our way out we got in the ball and they loved it. Not because of the ride itself, but because they made up their future and it was completely ridiculous. They got a kick out of the faces being on the animated bodies…. Go figure kids. We then got on the monorail and did a round trip to MK. I noticed that the MK parking lot was almost empty.

We got back to the parking lot at EPCOT and I lost the kids in the cars. In actuality, they got themselves lost….. But security had to wrangle them and bring them back to me. I was in TEARS.

We made it over to DTD and our lunch ADR (the bane of my day). They had fun, so I am glad we went but wish I would have been able to make a later ADR, 3pm was the latest they had available all day. It was packed! The kids liked seeing the animals and the rain showers. The food was good and we got the biggest dessert on the planet, the Volcano Brownie.

We then went over to the Lego Store and the kids had a blast. I let them play for awhile. This is what they wanted to do all day. They picked out their purchases and we were on our way home.

The boys had fun but I am sure they would have had more fun if we didn’t have the time constraints of the lunch ADR. So I decided to find a weekend in the upcoming future, before spring break and summer to take them. So I used the AP room discount for Feb 10-12 and got 2 nights at the POP for $65/night!!! And an ADR for TREX!! I haven’t said anything to them about it yet though. It will be a surprise. We will be going again for Christmas time. When I was growing up, our annual Disney trip was during Christmas, so I wanted to share that with them too.

 

[janabananas]

So this is our F&W mini-PTR

We are going Nov 1 and Nov 2. We will be staying at the POP again. I would love to have the same room we had last trip, but I doubt it will happen. In reality, we will only be sleeping there so I don't get a DUI driving home after much alcohol consumption..... Ok not really that much, I just hate driving in the dark in unfamiliar places, in addition to having drinks in me. I figured an $80 room is better than the alternative.

So I plan on us getting there early so I can get on Soarin, then TT, and Mission:Space. And dbf wants to spend time in the Seas because he didn't get to last trip.


After FW, let the Food & Wine fun begin!!!
List of yum-yums we want to try:

greece no
canada chicken sausage w/polenta / cheese soup
ireland 2 fisherman pies (I ain't sharing mine!!) / cheese platter / lava cake
france coq au vin / creme brulee
belgium mussels / truffles
portugal calimari
morroco no
new zealand scallops / lamb slider
japan no
singapore shrimp cake
usa h&b pumpkin mousse
italy no
poland golabski
germany soup / apple strudel
south africa filet
south korea no
china shrimp / caramel ice cream
norway taste of scandanavia (all for dbf) / swedish meatballs
caribbean chicken leg /ropa vieja
argentina beef skewer
brazil feijoada
australia shrimp
hawaii slider / tuna poke (all for dbf too)
desserts trio

Beer flights at Germany and Belgium
other cocktails, as needed

We decided nothing looked appetizing at Japan, Italy, Morocco, and Greece. Mostly because we have great food from those cultures around us at home, so no need to spend $$$ on something that will probably disappoint.

We are pretty much gonna eat/drink until we either drop or the funds on our gift cards run out, which ever comes first.

 

[janabananas]

I just did our check in!! Woot Woot!!

This is my favorite line from the disclaimers section:

"Neither I nor any member of my party occupying any resort accommodation have/has any intention of making, and will never make, this resort accommodation a legal domicile or principal dwelling. My/our legal domicile is and shall forever be outside the Walt Disney World Resort."

Darn it, that was my ultimate plan too!!

But, I wonder if I bought enough DVC points if I could stay on property 365 days out of the year?? HMMMMMM, let's make that happen, when I retire!! I could get a po box in Kissimmee and would be golden!

 

[janabananas]

WOOOT WOOOOT!! The week countdown starts. Going to F&W in 7 days!! Next Tuesday we will be back "home" for 2 days.

 

[sillylily]

I am horribly jealous, and living vicariously through you, Janet! Loved the pics of the boys, they look so serious!Bring back lots of food porn from F&W!!

 

[ZehnJahren]

I just did our check in!! Woot Woot!!

This is my favorite line from the disclaimers section:

"Neither I nor any member of my party occupying any resort accommodation have/has any intention of making, and will never make, this resort accommodation a legal domicile or principal dwelling. My/our legal domicile is and shall forever be outside the Walt Disney World Resort."

Darn it, that was my ultimate plan too!!

But, I wonder if I bought enough DVC points if I could stay on property 365 days out of the year?? HMMMMMM, let's make that happen, when I retire!! I could get a po box in Kissimmee and would be golden!

Ha, that is awesome. I would LOVE to finagle a way to "live" at the World. I'm sure it would be super expensive to eat, but otherwise, you'd be good! All the entertainment you could stand, all the rides you could stomach, and plenty of exercise options!

Also, they're quick in a medical emergency!

Reminds me of hearing about the people who retire and then "live" on cruise boats.

 

[janabananas]

I am horribly jealous, and living vicariously through you, Janet! Loved the pics of the boys, they look so serious!Bring back lots of food porn from F&W!!

Thanks! My oldest boy is actually a pretty serious kid. He is my mini-me in that way. Poor guy is gonna have an ulcer by 25. The little one is oblivious to anything not directly in front of him....

I plan on taking mucho grande amounts of food porn! The only problem now may be Hurricane Rina.... what a pain. Hopefully it won't cause any trouble for us.

Ha, that is awesome. I would LOVE to finagle a way to "live" at the World. I'm sure it would be super expensive to eat, but otherwise, you'd be good! All the entertainment you could stand, all the rides you could stomach, and plenty of exercise options!

Also, they're quick in a medical emergency!

Reminds me of hearing about the people who retire and then "live" on cruise boats.

I would love being one of those people who could retire like that. It would be awesome!!

 

[janabananas]

TOTALLY PANIC STRICKEN!! I am supposed to be leaving tomorrow and my car is acting up. Hopefully it is only the battery...