The One Where I Go To Disney World for the Tenth Time: Aug '14 TR - COMPLETE 5/21 LIFE U/D 7/7

[SimplyGoofy]

I tried Le Cellier for the first time in 2013 when they'd already gotten rid of the mashed potatoes (although I think you could still wrangle your way into ordering them). We just got a selection of appetizers which were very tasty, but I'm looking forward to finally trying the steak this year!

How fabulous about the Illuminations spot! I've usually staked a spot in Canada or near the center in the front of the park (although the latter is now the Fastpass+ spot, I believe). I never stake a spot far in advance, so I always love to know about good spots that don't require an hour wait!

I'm with you - I'd head to a park, too! It's good to know that nearly the entire crowd heads for the new Fantasyland attractions and leaves the rest of the park free. An early morning ride on Space Mountain sounds like a great way to start the day!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, what a great morning at MK so far! I love that you just got up and went solo!

 

[heathsf]

I'm with you - I'd head to a park, too! It's good to know that nearly the entire crowd heads for the new Fantasyland attractions and leaves the rest of the park free. An early morning ride on Space Mountain sounds like a great way to start the day!

I wish I could start my day today with a morning ride on Space Mountain! Although I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to ride that while 8 months pregnant

Wow, what a great morning at MK so far! I love that you just got up and went solo!

Thanks! I was loving it too

 

[heathsf]

Episode 36
The One with the Waffle​

I had just banged out Space, Thunder, and Splash Mountains in under an hour. And now it was breakfast time. This is really what I came to MK for this morning.

Getting a fruit & nutella waffle from Sleepy Hollow was on my must-do list for this trip. I ordered my waffle at 9:55, exactly one hour and two minutes after I first walked into Space Mountain. I was so proud of my accomplishments this morning. The CM who took my order complimented my Magic Band, but she thought I bought it like this! She was very surprised to hear that I painted it myself with nail polish. It was very flattering. While waiting for my waffle to be prepared, I talked to the couple on line behind me. They were on the last day of their 9 day honeymoon and staying at the Beach Club. I wished them a happy rest of their lives and told them that the key to a happy marriage is frequent Disney trips. (Good thing DH wasn't with me to hear this conversation ) They said they planned on it. Then they wished me a happy life with my waffle. Just kidding. But I was about to be very, very happy and in love with a waffle.

Are you drooling? I'm drooling. Holy smokes this was so, so yummy. Some of my best life decisions were made on this morning. I was in heaven. This was so stinking delicious. I just had no clue how to eat it. I think I ended up using a fork and knife. And I didn't leave a single crumb behind.

I sat under an umbrella and leisurely enjoyed my waffle and people watched. DH texted me that M and S had gone to the pool and he was putting on sunscreen and then joining them. I told him I would be leaving MK soon and would meet them at the pool. I texted him the picture of Chip and Dale and he was indeed jealous.

At 10:15 I started to make my way to the exit. But not without taking some pictures along the way.

Once I got to Main Street it was really hard to navigate through the crowds as they came pouring into the park. I think I was the only person trying to leave as literally thousands were stampeding in.

I eventually made it out. Phew.

More people coming in:

I got to the empty bus stop at 10:25. I must have just missed a bus.

M texted me that she and S were at the pool and to meet them when I got back. I most certainly planned on doing that since it was already super hot.

Two other people joined me at the bus stop. I assumed they were a couple but we got to talking and the woman told me she lives in Vero Beach and comes to WDW often and her companion is visiting with his family from Texas so she is their tour guide. Maybe they were siblings? We talked about crowds, heat, and the importance of a touring strategy. They had just done the Behind the Steam tour of the trains and really enjoyed it. They were very nice Disney-loving people and lovely to chat with while waiting for the bus.

Twenty minutes later the bus came and we had it all to ourselves.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 37
The One Where We Finally Swim​

I returned to AoA from my solo adventure in MK and quickly changed into my bathing suit. And by quickly I mean that I had to take resort pictures and selfies with the scenery along the way.

I took a picture of the Nemo pool even though this isn't where they were swimming. They were at the smaller Little Mermaid pool right by our room. I definitely wanted to come back and swim at this one another day though.

Rafiki was made for selfies.

Look at those streaks of sunshine. I love this picture. I texted it to my youngest brother-in-law who is obsessed with the Lion King and has never been to Disney. I've told him lots that I'd plan him a trip anytime!

When I got back to the Little Mermaid section I passed up our room and instead headed right to the pool to take some pictures since I didn't plan to bring my camera back after I changed. And look what I found!

A swimming husband! I think the sun may have been in his eyes

A few more pictures:

After walking around taking all these pictures I was so hot and ready to get in that pool. I ran back to the room, dropped my park stuff off, threw on my bathing suit and joined everyone in the pool. It was 11:30 by this time. The water was nice and cool but not cold. To me, it was the perfect temperature. We all hung out for a while, making lots of jokes about how we can't believe we finally made it for a swim since every other time we planned it it rained! After a while, M and S left and DH and I stayed for a little while longer until 12:45 when it started to get cloudy and a lot less hot. Relaxing in the pool felt great. I made sure to point out to DH that he was getting plenty of mornings to sleep in and time to relax at the resort in our room or by the pool He didn't get that on our last trip because it was shorter and I was so determined to see and do as much as possible for his first trip. I've since learned that that type of touring is not for DH.

We met M and S back at the room and got changed back into clothes and went to eat lunch at the food court. I had an amazing tomato & mozzarella sandwich. I devoured it. It was so simple yet so delicious.

DH had what I believe is stir fry beef, spinach, naan bread, and jasmine rice. I didn't make a note but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it.

M and S had pizza again. I didn't bother taking another picture. Not long after we started eating it began to downpour. Good thing we got that swim in already.

For my dessert I got a cookie and DH got gelato. He was able to have it put on his receipt as part of the CS credit, but didn't bring the receipt to the gelato area and order until after he finished his lunch so it wouldn't melt in the meantime. After he finished eating he checked out the flavors and chose...chocolate. How exciting Oh wait, he did put chocolate chips on top. But that's just way too much chocolate in my opinion.

Just as we were finishing up the rain stopped. We got pretty lucky with that timing. We refilled our mugs and brought them back to the room and put them in the fridge for later. We got our things together and walked to the bus stop where we were able to jump right on to a waiting bus at 2:45.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 38
The One Where You Will Get Wet! You May Get SOAKED!​

So where were we off to? For the first time this trip: Animal Kingdom! By the time we got on the bus our FP+ window for Kali River Rapids was just opening. We had until 3:45 (plus the extra 15 minute grace period) to make it there.

It was still cloudy from the rainstorm but the sun was starting to reappear.

We headed right to Asia toward Kali.

Good thing we had FP for this because the standby wait was posted as 70 minutes when we got there. I wonder if it would have been even longer if it hadn't just poured. The sun was back and it was already really hot out again.

This is the warning sign at Kali. I love it.

We came prepared with plastic bags to put our stuff in to keep it dry. Theres a pouch in the middle of the raft but water does get in there. The plastic bag is just extra protection. We also took off our socks to keep them safe from the water but shoes have to stay on. I'm not going to lie, it was already so hot out again that I was really hoping I would get "soaked" and not just "wet."

The FP line wasn't bad but everything stopped for a few minutes just as we got close to boarding. Luckily we were waiting in the shade. We started talking to a very friendly CM from Chicago who was posted right next to where we were stopped. We talked about the weather differences between Chicago and Orlando and I asked him if he liked his job here. He said he loves it and one of his favorite things is volunteering to be the first to ride Kali each morning for the CM ride-through before opening. I didn't realize that the CMs have to ride everything first each day, although hearing it didn't surprise me at all. Because Disney is perfect.

Soon the ride was moving again and we got into our raft with another very friendly family. They hadn't been on it before so we explained that who gets "wet" and who gets "soaked" just depends on which way the raft happens to rotate at the right time (or wrong time )

So did the water-ride gods answer my prayers like they did on Splash that morning? Why yes they did. DH and I were by far the wettest people at the end of the ride. M and S got wet too but nothing like us. There wasn't a square inch of me that wasn't wet. A tidal wave literally soaked me from head to toe. It felt amazing at the time but I quickly realized I was never going to dry. Even with the sun back out. I was just way too wet and it was too late in the day.

DH at least has some patchy dry spots on him. He wasn't thrilled.

I was wringing out my shirt and shorts as best as I could and the water was pouring out but I was still completely saturated. M and I went into a nearby to try to use hand dryers on our clothes but it was barely helping. Oh well, we just had to wait and see if time would dry us.

Up next was a FP for Expedition Everest. Another one of my WDW favorites. I just wished the Yeti still moved. That thing was @#$%&#! terrifying when it tried to grab you

We stopped to watch some monkeys on the way. They're hard to spot in this picture.

Did it ever rain? What a beautiful sky.

I love the theming here. It's so realistic. Really, the whole park is themed perfectly. I saw in one of the Disney Parks documentaries that every structure in AK was either moved from the country/area it represents or is an exact replica of an existing structure in that country/area. Amazing.

Our ride on EE was fantastic because... well it's EE, how could it not be fantastic?

I was hoping that the high speed Himalayan adventure would help dry me. But it didn't.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 39
The One with a Ton of Animal Photos​

Our third scheduled FP+ was for Kilimanjaro Safaris at 5:50. We still had a while before our window opened but the standby wait was 10 minutes according to MDE so we walked over to Africa to ride it on the standby line.

Sure enough, when we got there it was posted as 10 minutes.

Well, the app lied. Sort of. It was actually a 3 minute wait.

It was a pretty good ride. We saw lots of very active animals, but not the elusive lions. And without further ado, I present a zillion KS pictures:

It was pretty cool to see a CM putting out food

The wildest animals of all:

 

[BlvInMagic]

Yummo! That tomato and mozzarella sandwich looked super tasty!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

That big blue pool looks SO awesome. Walking around AoA must seem like an explosion of colors.

That sandwich looks DELICIOUS.

We're going to ride Kali for the first time in years... I just know we're going to look exactly like you and your husband.

An afternoon with Everest and the safari? That sounds like a wonderful afternoon.

 

[kastoney]

Holy updates batman. What are you getting ready to give birth or something ; )

Starting with your Epcot night, boo to le celler on your mashed potatoes but yeah for filet and great service. We are big Mexican small world fans too and caught 3 caballeros on tv a few weeks ago so now I have some context. And what a great illuminations spot.

Your morning at MK looks simply magical. So happy you got to experience that.

I'm a huge fan of late AK days. Despite the drenching, gotta love a KA walk on

 

[CQuinn]

Me when I’m talking, thinking, planning, daydreaming Disney:

DH:

Just joining in and catching up now but this cracked me up and is also my situation. My husband really likes going to Disney but haaaates my constant planning talk. Solidarity fellow Disney wife!

 

[Leshaface]

Holy cow! Gone for a week and you do a bajillion updates!

I had the mushroom fillet mignon with cream cheese mashed potatoes and it was flipping delicious. Those mashed potatoes may have been the best I’ve had…EVER! They still make my mouth water three years later. We also had the cheddar cheese soup as an appetizer and I had maple crème brulee for dessert. It was probably my favorite meal of that trip.

Your meal is EXACTLY to a T what I had back in 2010! Every ounce of everything was delicious. But now, there is really no need for me to come back if those potatoes are gone. I try to replicate it at home, but doesn't taste the same.

(Is this picture sideways to you? I rotated it in photobucket but it still looks sideways to me here, even after refreshing the page. Oh well...)

Oh my gosh, seriously, i'm so glad i'm not the only person that has issues with PB like this! Nope, it's straight for me! But when you view it on your own page, it never turns for me, then days later i'll check it and it's finally 'turned'. What the heck?

DH cannot understand this about me, but I don’t like bacon. 99% of the time I will order items without bacon at restaurants when possible.

I remember I used to be like this though when I was younger, like 21. Did not like it in my salads, hamburgers or wrapped around anything. Then something happened and I saw the light! One day you'll see it too

We were still outside in Canada when we overheard someone saying that Robin Williams had died. My first reaction was that there was absolutely no way this could be true. We pulled out our phones and were so deeply saddened to find that it was. I (along with the rest of the world) loved Robin and his work, and I felt even more connected to him because we were in Disney at the time of finding out. RIP Robin

It's so weird but I think about him from time to time. It really makes me sad. I was shocked when I found out!

The one thing that it does better than the real IASW is the fireworks on the ceiling at the end.

Totally agree!

r perhaps they suddenly realized that eight people were not fitting in one row on this ride.

Could you imagine if they tried doing that?!

And at the title of the video!

somehow all four of us became separated from each other.

How does that even happen?

Illuminations is one of my favorite Disney things. Not just nighttime spectaculars, but THINGS. The music is perfect.

Agreed. Again! Me and you are just basically the same person, living on opposite ends of the country

Awesome view!

S grabbed his Bluetooth speakers really quickly from the room and connected them to my phone which, of course, had the Frozen soundtrack on it. So we watched the fireworks and had our own mini Frozen sing-along.

Perfect

I laid in bed for a few minutes and then decided I wanted to go to MK.

Love this. So decisive and assertive!

Wow, you hit RD hard core!

How anyone could choose sleeping over this is mind boggling to me.
I can sleep at home in NJ!

True dat my friend

I was the second "family" of the day to ride SM, but got in the first rocket! Woohoo!!!

Great shot!

So jealous!

Well, almost ready...
Big Thunder had a 5 minute posted wait but was a walk on so I did that first.

The amount of jealously building up over here is ridiculous, just gotta say it.

It was so empty in there that the CMs weren't even assigning rows.

Seriously?! What to rub it in!

Now that I had hit up all 3 mountains, it was time for a VERY special breakfast

You did hit all three mountains, you're amazing!

Okay, so I thought you were crazy about the bacon. But you may think i'm crazy when I say, i'm not a fan of Nutella Now it's been years, at least 10 since i've had the stuff and I just couldn't get past the strong taste of hazelnut. I may like it now but can't seem to buy it when I see, without sampling it first. I'd hate to buy a jar just to throw it away.

But I will vouch for the waffles there. So delicious!

Some of my best life decisions were made on this morning.

Ick! That's just nasty.

I would have totally looked over this on the menu, but this looks really delicious! And probably refreshing and not too heavy too on a hot day.

He said he loves it and one of his favorite things is volunteering to be the first to ride Kali each morning for the CM ride-through before opening.

Just one of the million perks of being a CM!

I see a dry spot on the corner of DH's pants! You guys got drenched, way to go!

I love the theming here. It's so realistic. Really, the whole park is themed perfectly.

Can not agree more. This park just amazes me more and more.

Well, the app lied. Sort of. It was actually a 3 minute wait.

 

[Dugette]

I wished them a happy rest of their lives and told them that the key to a happy marriage is frequent Disney trips.

It sure doesn't hurt.

Are you drooling? I'm drooling. Holy smokes this was so, so yummy.

Looks tasty! To be honest, though, out of all the waffle sandwich options there, that one appeals to me the least because it seems so simple that I could make it at home. Which makes me wonder....why am I NOT making this at home?! I have a fancy waffle maker and I can obtain nutella and fruit without too much trouble. I will have to do this.

Not long after we started eating it began to downpour.

Of course. At least it was after the pool, for once.

But that's just way too much chocolate in my opinion.

I'm fairly certain there's no such thing as "too much chocolate."

He said he loves it and one of his favorite things is volunteering to be the first to ride Kali each morning for the CM ride-through before opening.

Wow, what a perk!

Well, the app lied. Sort of. It was actually a 3 minute wait.

Probably cause everyone was stuck in the line at Kali.

 

[heathsf]

Yummo! That tomato and mozzarella sandwich looked super tasty!

It really was!!

That big blue pool looks SO awesome. Walking around AoA must seem like an explosion of colors.

That sandwich looks DELICIOUS.

We're going to ride Kali for the first time in years... I just know we're going to look exactly like you and your husband.

An afternoon with Everest and the safari? That sounds like a wonderful afternoon.

An explosion of colors is a great way to describe AoA. It's beautiful and fun. And the sandwich really was delicious. I could go for one right now. Since you're saying you'll end up as soaked as us on Kali, I would bring a change of clothes and that should pretty much guarantee you'll stay completely dry!

Holy updates batman. What are you getting ready to give birth or something ; )

I know, right? I was really trying to bang them out so I could finish this TR before she comes but then things got crazy and I haven't updated in a whole month! Oops!

Starting with your Epcot night, boo to le celler on your mashed potatoes but yeah for filet and great service. We are big Mexican small world fans too and caught 3 caballeros on tv a few weeks ago so now I have some context. And what a great illuminations spot.

Your morning at MK looks simply magical. So happy you got to experience that.

I'm a huge fan of late AK days. Despite the drenching, gotta love a KA walk on

I just still can't understand why those potatoes were taken off the menu at Le Cellier! Was 3 Caballeros airing on TV? I don't know why I find that so surprising. I think I've only ever seen parts of it.

I definitely would have liked to experience AK when it's actually dark out. It looks absolutely stunning in pictures but I've never been able to stay that late/have it open late enough to be dark.

Just joining in and catching up now but this cracked me up and is also my situation. My husband really likes going to Disney but haaaates my constant planning talk. Solidarity fellow Disney wife!

Welcome! At least your husband will admit he really likes going to Disney - you're a step ahead of me! But I totally feel you on the constant planning talk. Good thing we have the Dis so we can talk Disney all we want to a willing audience!

Holy cow! Gone for a week and you do a bajillion updates!



Your meal is EXACTLY to a T what I had back in 2010! Every ounce of everything was delicious. But now, there is really no need for me to come back if those potatoes are gone. I try to replicate it at home, but doesn't taste the same.



Oh my gosh, seriously, i'm so glad i'm not the only person that has issues with PB like this! Nope, it's straight for me! But when you view it on your own page, it never turns for me, then days later i'll check it and it's finally 'turned'. What the heck?



I remember I used to be like this though when I was younger, like 21. Did not like it in my salads, hamburgers or wrapped around anything. Then something happened and I saw the light! One day you'll see it too



It's so weird but I think about him from time to time. It really makes me sad. I was shocked when I found out!



Totally agree!



Could you imagine if they tried doing that?!







How does that even happen?



Agreed. Again! Me and you are just basically the same person, living on opposite ends of the country





Awesome view!



Perfect



Love this. So decisive and assertive!



Wow, you hit RD hard core!



True dat my friend



Great shot!



So jealous!



The amount of jealously building up over here is ridiculous, just gotta say it.



Seriously?! What to rub it in!



You did hit all three mountains, you're amazing!



Okay, so I thought you were crazy about the bacon. But you may think i'm crazy when I say, i'm not a fan of Nutella Now it's been years, at least 10 since i've had the stuff and I just couldn't get past the strong taste of hazelnut. I may like it now but can't seem to buy it when I see, without sampling it first. I'd hate to buy a jar just to throw it away.

But I will vouch for the waffles there. So delicious!







Ick! That's just nasty.



I would have totally looked over this on the menu, but this looks really delicious! And probably refreshing and not too heavy too on a hot day.



Just one of the million perks of being a CM!



I see a dry spot on the corner of DH's pants! You guys got drenched, way to go!



Can not agree more. This park just amazes me more and more.

Thank you for calling me amazing for riding Space, Thunder, and Splash Mountain in an hour. I feel like this wasn't fully appreciated by DH and the others when I got back to them later

Also... GO EAT NUTELLA! If you don't like it you can mail me the rest of the jar!

Looks tasty! To be honest, though, out of all the waffle sandwich options there, that one appeals to me the least because it seems so simple that I could make it at home. Which makes me wonder....why am I NOT making this at home?! I have a fancy waffle maker and I can obtain nutella and fruit without too much trouble. I will have to do this.

This is an excellent point. I don't have a waffle maker but it can still be managed! What's wrong with us? Why haven't we realized this before!?

 

[heathsf]

Sorry for dropping a zillion updates then disappearing for a month! My plan was to keep rolling out updates so I could finish the TR before the baby comes. But then it occurred to me that there are actually a lot of other things I had to get done that were a tad more baby-related (but not more important! )​

Anyway, I'm still going to try to get this finished up, at least as much as possible, before Baby arrives. My due date is 19 days away so we'll see how far I can get. There are still a few days left to cover...

I have to go have the car seat inspected in a little while, but when I get home my plan is to spend the afternoon with my [very swollen] feet up which would be a perfect opportunity for writing!

Thanks for sticking around

 

[kastoney]

Glad all is well with you and the baby. 19 days!!!!!!!!! So exciting. Hope you're felling well

 

[heathsf]

Glad all is well with you and the baby. 19 days!!!!!!!!! So exciting. Hope you're felling well

Thank you!

 

[Dugette]

Glad to see you back! I was thinking baby would be here soon! So excited for you!

 

[heathsf]

Glad to see you back! I was thinking baby would be here soon! So excited for you!

Thanks!

 

[heathsf]

Okay... Photobucket is in infuriating me right now! I tried to rotate one photo and it told me it couldn't but then it flipped the rest of my album upside down or sideways, no joke! I gave up on it last night and hoped today it would be working better but it's not. Does anyone have any suggestions? In the meantime, I'm just going to keep writing updates in Word without pictures and whenever this gets resolved I'll add the photos and post. Doesn't Photobucket know I don't have time for this!? I'm on the clock!