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

[Leshaface]

It was so so so so so good with the vanilla! I'm a swirl girl to begin with, so maybe I'm biased. I'll always get a chocolate-vanilla swirl over just chocolate or just vanilla.

Things are going to change with the app at some point. From what I've heard, the plan is to be able to add FP+ on the app in the future. Here's how it worked in August:

Making 3 original FP+ reservations: App or Kiosk
Changing time/attraction for 3 original FP+ reservations: App or Kiosk
Adding a 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. FP+ after using up the original 3: Kiosk only - one at a time
Changing time/attraction for an already booked 4th, 5th, etc.: App or Kiosk

So almost everything can be done from your phone except for making an additional reservation. And hopefully soon you'll be able to do that too from the phone.

Thanks for this info! I started reading up on it a few days ago so I can become more familiar with it whenever I make reservations next week. I was listening to the DIS podcast (although this was from a while back, in March) and CM's were surveying guests about different options for FP+. One of the options they gave was having the above like you stated and another one was always being able to hold 3 FP's at one time. So as soon as you use 1 FP, you're able to make another reservation for a FP, which makes total sense to me...it's kind of like the old paper FP version. Hopefully one day they'll switch it to this version.

 

[Leshaface]

Totally agree that BTMRR is wilder at night!

I enjoy IASW much more now with my DS then ever before. If you love it this much now, just wait till you take your little one on, omgoodness!

Cool shot of the BoG sign with Beasts castle in the background.

Le Fou's Brew is seriously sweet, like too much. Wish they could balance it out, cause honestly frozen apple juice sounds like it should be refreshing and almost hydrating, not dessert like.

Aw poor photopass photographer. I"m sure all of them get guests like this all the time, which sucks.

Heather, we'll get a girls day at MK one day and i'll stay there with you from open till close cause I know you won't whine and complain about wanting to leave! You'd be the perfect park companion!

 

[heathsf]

Thanks for this info! I started reading up on it a few days ago so I can become more familiar with it whenever I make reservations next week. I was listening to the DIS podcast (although this was from a while back, in March) and CM's were surveying guests about different options for FP+. One of the options they gave was having the above like you stated and another one was always being able to hold 3 FP's at one time. So as soon as you use 1 FP, you're able to make another reservation for a FP, which makes total sense to me...it's kind of like the old paper FP version. Hopefully one day they'll switch it to this version.

Yay! It's almost time to schedule for your Jan trip! That means it's SO close! Do you have your days planned out? I found it to be really difficult to decide what we wanted to do and at what time on specific days 2 months ahead of time. But it was still super exciting to make the reservations. It made the trip feel so real!

Totally agree that BTMRR is wilder at night!

I enjoy IASW much more now with my DS then ever before. If you love it this much now, just wait till you take your little one on, omgoodness!

Cool shot of the BoG sign with Beasts castle in the background.

Le Fou's Brew is seriously sweet, like too much. Wish they could balance it out, cause honestly frozen apple juice sounds like it should be refreshing and almost hydrating, not dessert like.

Aw poor photopass photographer. I"m sure all of them get guests like this all the time, which sucks.

Heather, we'll get a girls day at MK one day and i'll stay there with you from open till close cause I know you won't whine and complain about wanting to leave! You'd be the perfect park companion!

It's funny you say that about IASW because I told Bobby about your first trip with DS when you took him on the ride and he was looking around at all the lights and colors. My point was, there's no such thing as too young for Disney!

You're totally right, I will NEVER complain about being in MK, I swear it! Maybe I should start advertising myself as the "perfect park companion" on Craig's List and see if someone will pay for me to go to WDW with them. Like an escort to Disney Parks!

 

[Leshaface]

You're totally right, I will NEVER complain about being in MK, I swear it! Maybe I should start advertising myself as the "perfect park companion" on Craig's List and see if someone will pay for me to go to WDW with them. Like an escort to Disney Parks!

OMGOSH I DIED!

 

[NMW]

subscribing

 

[heathsf]

subscribing

Thank you for being here

 

[heathsf]

Episode 10​

The One Where We Explore the Mines​

On this bright, sunny Saturday morning we were headed back to MK! On our way back to AoA last night, someone had the idea that since we had stayed “so late” at MK and gotten so much done (the second part I could agree with) we didn’t need to wake up for rope drop this morning.

I could tell that I would definitely be the only one who still wanted to go for RD, and I just couldn’t make three people get up early who didn’t want to. After all, it’s their vacation too. We did get a surprising amount done the night before. I was shocked at how empty the park was for a Friday night in the summer. And we still had so many days ahead of us, so I guess it was okay. In the end, we decided we would aim to get to the park in time for our 7DMT FP+ at 11am. I reminded myself we had plans to be in the park for EMH until 2 am so a little extra sleep could do me good too.

Another reminder about today: I had booked a FP+ for lunch at BoG that M and S didn’t know about! I couldn’t wait to surprise M since Beauty & the Beast is her favorite Disney movie! Not to mention, I just couldn’t wait to go inside and eat there! Finally!!!!!!!!!!

We left AoA at 10 and a bus was waiting for us, perfect timing. We entered the park at 10:30 and it looked like a gorgeous day.

It looked like a gorgeous day. But it didn’t feel like it. It was just SO stinking hot already. Brutally hot. Hotter than the surface of the sun. From the moment we entered the park we were immediately seeking shade.

Um, excuse me tall sir. Your huge umbrella is blocking my view of the castle.

Dream Along with Mickey was going on as we walked down Main Street. I don’t think I’ve ever watched the entirety of this but it was nice to see all my friends first thing in the morning as we entered the park.

We headed toward Fantasyland.

We were headed here to be exact!

We were a little early so M, S, and I decided to explore New Fantasyland a bit in the daytime. DH wasn’t interested because he was just so hot. He wanted to sit and wait in the shade near the ride so we left him by the Winnie the Pooh gift shop. Or at least, it used to be Pooh, but now it’s also a lot of 7 Dwarfs merchandise.

To be honest, we didn’t get very far. We were really hot too. I think M and I just used the bathroom near Gaston’s tavern and then we headed back to find DH. Which proved more difficult than we expected because he wasn’t where we left him. He had done a bit of wandering himself. No one can resist exploring the magic of Disney, even if it is a billion degrees.

The standby line for 7DMT was posted as 65 minutes and most of it is outdoors. It’s basically a single line that wraps around the ride and these people were desperately trying to squish themselves against the fence to get some shade, but they were mostly in the sun. I felt horrible for them. They must have been miserable waiting an hour in that sun.

We used our FP+ exactly 5 minutes early and had no problems scanning our bands. We had a few minutes to wait underground in the mine but it was cooler in there. And then we got to ride! And then I felt even worse for the people who were waiting an hour under that blazing sun. The ride was really fun and super cute. I loved riding through the mine. I would have loved to try riding it at night too. However, it is NOT worth waiting an hour when it’s’ a million degrees out. Actually, I don’t think it’s worth waiting an hour even in nice weather. Hopefully the FP+ unavailability and the long, long SB waits will die down over time.

We had booked FP+ for 7DMT every day that we were in MK. We decided to change the rest of the FP to other things because we didn’t feel that we needed to ride it every time we were in MK. Yes, we liked it. Yes, it was really cute and very well done. No, it was not our favorite ride in the park. I really would have liked to change one of them to ride it at night but of course there were no other times available.

Next it was time for BoG! We headed in that direction and once M saw me walking up to the CM she figured out we were eating here! Yay! I was directed to the “desk” which is part of the [crumbling] stone archway at the entrance. Already the theming was just SO good. We were a little early and we were asked to wait 10 minutes. Another CM was addressing guests who did not have a FP+ but wanted to eat lunch. They were handing out return time cards. It was about 11:15 am at the time and they were already out to 2pm and later for the return time. By the time we waited the ten minutes and were getting called to go inside, they were out of cards for the day!

Here are some pictures from while we were waiting:

And then it was time for lunch!

 

[ariane37]

Good morning! DH and I agree with you about SDMT-cute, fun ride, but not worth waiting more than maybe 20 minutes, and rather use FP for the mountains. DS9 hated it as his legs felt squished, but DS12 loved it The first time we rode together it was in the dark, and I will say its better. You can see inside the cottage better and its also so pretty seeing NFL all lit up. DS12 ended up riding it 3x, once again with me and once again with DH. We only had the one FP but we went to the first MNSSHP and there was pretty much no wait for it, so we never had to wait on line

I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of your BOG lunch! We've had lunch there once and dinner 4x. It's now one of DS9's favorite TS restaurants, tied with Maya Grill for best steak lol

 

[Leshaface]

Ugh, I totally remember feeling that way when we visited WDW for our very first trip in June 2008. Absolutely disgusting. Like, we'd duck into the restrooms as often as we could to get a break from the insane heat/humidity.

Haven't seen the queue for 7DMT yet, but wouldn't you think that if they couldn't make a covered queue, they'd at least provide more of those standing umbrellas that they have over the SB at BOG?

Hmm, now you got me wondering if I should change one of my FP's to a night FP for 7DMT. We currently have 2 FP's, both daytime....

Yay for BOG! Can't wait to see if you guys like it!

 

[militarymomto5]

Lucille bluth may be my favorite person on earth (I love all my children..... I don't really care for gob...). I totally laughed when you described your husband using her pictures!!!! Hope you're having a blast, loving reading this one!

 

[heathsf]

Good morning! DH and I agree with you about SDMT-cute, fun ride, but not worth waiting more than maybe 20 minutes, and rather use FP for the mountains. DS9 hated it as his legs felt squished, but DS12 loved it The first time we rode together it was in the dark, and I will say its better. You can see inside the cottage better and its also so pretty seeing NFL all lit up. DS12 ended up riding it 3x, once again with me and once again with DH. We only had the one FP but we went to the first MNSSHP and there was pretty much no wait for it, so we never had to wait on line

I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of your BOG lunch! We've had lunch there once and dinner 4x. It's now one of DS9's favorite TS restaurants, tied with Maya Grill for best steak lol

From what I've read, I think our feelings about 7DMT are pretty common. I was wondering if it would be easier to see in the cottage at night since I had a difficult time seeing much of anything in the bright sun.

Four dinners at BoG! I'm so jealous!

Ugh, I totally remember feeling that way when we visited WDW for our very first trip in June 2008. Absolutely disgusting. Like, we'd duck into the restrooms as often as we could to get a break from the insane heat/humidity.

Haven't seen the queue for 7DMT yet, but wouldn't you think that if they couldn't make a covered queue, they'd at least provide more of those standing umbrellas that they have over the SB at BOG?

Hmm, now you got me wondering if I should change one of my FP's to a night FP for 7DMT. We currently have 2 FP's, both daytime....

Yay for BOG! Can't wait to see if you guys like it!

Have you looked for other time availability? Let me know if you switch one to nighttime!

Lucille bluth may be my favorite person on earth (I love all my children..... I don't really care for gob...). I totally laughed when you described your husband using her pictures!!!! Hope you're having a blast, loving reading this one!

That is one of my favorite Arrested Development lines of all time!
Best of Lucille Bluth

I'm a terrible fan - I never finished the last season on Netflix. But I just read that they're going to re-edit the season so it is in sequence. I'm not sure if that will take away from some of the humor but either way I need to finish it! I just had a hard time because it felt so different to me.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 11​

The One Where We are Guests for Lunch​

Thanks to FP+ we only had to wait about 10 minutes for lunch. But REALLY I had been waiting almost TWO YEARS to eat here. By the way, this FP+ does not count toward your allotment of 3. It is totally separate.

In we go…

I love the feeling of “this looks familiar because I’ve already looked at hundreds of pictures of it” mixed with “oh my gosh this is brand new and I’ve waited for so long to finally be here!” I don’t really know how to explain the extreme happiness I was feeling from finally being here.

This is the room where you order your lunch with a cast member. You can preselect your order when making the FP+ but since this was a surprise for M and S, I didn’t know what they would want to eat. We didn’t have to wait long anyway and I wanted to see e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g so I didn’t mind that we didn’t get to skip this part. Our CM was very helpful and patient and answered quite a few menu questions for us.

Then we finally got to enter the ballroom. Ugh, it’s so gorgeous. That was where we chose to eat. For lunch, it’s quick service and you can choose which room you eat in. It’s really hard to see in this picture but I was fascinated by the falling snow outside the windows. Oh Disney, how are you so freaking amazing?

We were told to sit anywhere and our food would find us via our magic bands. Guests without magic bands are given what looks like a restaurant buzzer shaped like a rose. We were honestly fascinated by this and trying to guess how exactly they find us. Do they have some sort of interactive map that shows our magic band’s exact location in the room? When our food came we asked the server and she wouldn’t really say very much about it. That only made it more intriguing but now we had our food so…. basically we stopped caring about how Disney was tracking us. FOOD!

Oh. My. God. Food.

Lunch was absolutely amazing. I got the roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce. It was so incredibly delicious. The bread was buttered and garlic-y and toasted perfectly. The meat and horseradish was just so, so good. It is also important to note that Beast’s cooking staff has perfected the art of making french fries.

M got the same thing except she basically just had the meat and the bread because she is a bit of a picky eater about certain things. She still liked it but I feel she was really missing out. I think the delicious french friends kept her happy enough anyway.

DH got the Croque Monsieur. I wouldn’t pick that because I don’t like ham but he really enjoyed it. He’s not one to rave over food so he didn’t say much for me to elaborate on here, but he definitely liked it. He also tried mine and agreed it was fantastic.

S got the kids grilled cheese and tomato soup. This was exactly what he was in the mood for and he loved it. I was a little bit bothered because we used the dining plan for this lunch and obviously S has adult entitlements. He was allowed to use it for the kid’s meal but it didn’t come with a dessert. I couldn’t understand why not, since he was using an adult entitlement and we paid for an adult lunch. It was like a double whammy of overpaying for the meal plus missing out on the dessert. I was really trying to understand this, but S doesn’t really like sweets (I know…how do I even hang out with these people?) and wasn’t in the mood for a dessert anyway. And he seriously loved the grilled cheese and was a very happy boy.

And then finally it was time for the grand finale: The Master’s Cupcake
DH, M, and I all chose this.

It was heavenly. Seriously, so good. I love anything cookies and cream, especially a Disney cupcake. And it’s THE GREY STUFF! It’s delicious. I’ve basically been singing about its glory since I was 6 years old and now I was getting to eat it. Yes, Disney does make dreams come true.

Here is what our table looked like by the end of the meal:

Basically we loved every crumb of it and agreed it would be a hard lunch to top. With very happy and full tummies we decided to explore. The West Wing was gorgeous.

I edited the picture so you could actually see what the room looks like. It’s actually much darker than this. And that’s why the picture looks so grainy. On the left wall is the portrait of the prince and on the right is the rose in front of the window.

Every once in a while there is thunder and lightning in the room and when the lightning happens, the portrait changes from the prince to the Beast. I wasn’t able to catch a picture but I did see it a few times. I asked a CM how often this happens and she says there’s no set time in between BUT if you listen carefully, the music in the room changes right before it happens, then a rose petal falls, then the lightning comes. So then I listened for it and I heard it! Disney! Stop being so perfect! Actually…don’t.

Then it was time to leave the comfort of the air conditioned castle and head back out into that Florida summer sun. Except that there was just a little bit less sun now. I’ll take it.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 12​

The One Where There's No Outer Space​

We had an upcoming FP+ for Splash Mountain but with plenty of time to get there we decided to walk through Storybook Circus and take the train all the way around rather than walk all the way across the park to Frontierland in the heat. Have I mentioned it was really, really hot out?

I took this picture because the DVC counter was called “H. Goff Cartography” and my first thought was Helen Goff from Saving Mr. Banks. I wanted to remind myself to look this up so I snapped the picture. I did some research and it turns out it’s actually named for Harper Goff, a Disney Legend who first met Walt Disney when they both wanted to buy the same model train. He started working for Disney and contributed to Main Street USA and Jungle Cruise in Disneyland, among many other things.

DH was leading the way!

We just missed a train when we arrived at the station so we had a few minutes to wait for the next one. At least we were covered and in the shade!

The last time I rode this train it would stop at the Fantasyland station but no one was allowed on our off because the entire land was closed for construction.

So happy to be on the train! I love riding around the park.

I also love Splash Mountain! It’s one of my favorite attractions in the parks. My record is 13 rides in one trip. I’m very proud of that accomplishment.

Hmmm…. where did that blazing hot sun go?

We put a lot of time and effort into planning our ride photo. As we exited the ride people were actually noticing our picture and commenting on it. We enjoyed the attention

Remember how we took the train because we didn’t want to walk clear across the park from Be Our Guest to Splash? Well, now we took an even farther walk from Splash all the way to another beloved mountain to use another FP+.

Summer afternoon crowds:

S got a frozen lemonade from a cart in Liberty Square that looked absolutely delicious. He enjoyed it and I was jealous. I wished I had gotten one. He let me try it but that just made me even more upset that I didn’t get one.

We finally made it! And DH engaged in his favorite pastime: sticking his giant head in my photos!

We had an interesting ride on Space Mountain. The lights were partially on so while it was still somewhat dark we could see the entire track and we could not see any stars whatsoever. It was neat to see it with the lights on but it definitely took away from the ride experience. I’ve seen the lights on in there before but from the Peoplemover, not while riding SM. It was a cool experience to have but it just solidifies that being in the dark with the stars and meteors is what makes Space Mountain, well, Space Mountain!

I couldn't remember where the camera is on this ride. Or maybe I never knew. I think in Disneyland it's at the end of the ride... (Is that right Alicia?) I'll also add that DH and I REALLY enjoyed DL's SM much more so than WDW's. Anyway, we soon found out that the ride photo is right at the beginning. Oops. Future ride photos will be more interesting.

After our ride through space I requested a ride on another favorite (of mine!)

DH LOVED it!

Just kidding. He didn’t. But I sure did! And that’s really what matters, isn’t it?

We decided it was time to leave and take a break from the heat and crowds. I really needed to get a frozen lemonade on the way out. I looked everywhere for a cart that sold them, and as we got closer and closer to the park entrance I became more and more frantic that we wouldn’t find one. As we reached the train station I had given up hope, and S said he found a cart. I thought he was just playing with my emotions but lo and behold! The VERY LAST CART before the exit was selling the frozen lemonade. Hallelujah! I chose an orange lemonade and I was a happy girl as we left the park and the very first raindrops began to fall. What good luck.

We had to wait a long time for a bus. I didn’t write down the exact time but it was at least 25 minutes. While we were waiting the skies opened up and it absolutely poured. Then the thunder and lightning started. Whoa. This storm was RIGHT on top of us. The lightning and thunder were happening simultaneously. And the thunder was SO loud. It gave new meaning to “cracks of thunder” for me. At one point, it looked like a bolt of lightning struck right in the park, next to Space Mountain. I hope it wasn’t as close to us as it looked. This was a little bit of a scary storm to be standing outside for. But if I had to be outside somewhere, I definitely feel safer in Disney than anywhere else! By the time a bus came the storm had mostly died down.

In other news, I couldn’t finish my frozen lemonade so DH got to.

That’s just asking for a brain freeze.

 

[Leshaface]

You're getting me excited for BOG! But you made me think of something. We're eating dinner there, so that means assigned seating obviously right? Ugh, I want to sit in the ballroom hopefully! Just like the photos showed, well your edited photos, it's soooooo dark in there.

Cool info on Harper Goff!

13 times on Splash in one trip is crazy good!

I love that your DH pops his head into your photos! Luckily for me, DH is short so i'll never have this problem

Yep you're right, it's at the end...which makes more sense right? I don't understand why the picture happens at the beginning of the ride, when nothing has happened. And I still haven't figured out the exact location of the camera on SM.

 

[kastoney]

Catching up on all your updates. I'm totally with you on 7DMT. We rode it with FP too and I can't fathom having to wait over an hour for the shortest ride ever. Though it is a much better ride at night, you should definitely try that next time.

I'll admit I'm one of the few non BoG lovers out there, but as you found out lunch is definitely the better option. Though seeing it through your eyes for the first time, actually makes me want to give it a whirl again.

Love, love, love your splash photo and I'm totally jonesing for a frozen lemonade right now, except of course for the 40 degree weather outside ; )

What great luck getting out of the park before the rain hit. Can't wait to see what the rest of the day will bring...

 

[heathsf]

You're getting me excited for BOG! But you made me think of something. We're eating dinner there, so that means assigned seating obviously right? Ugh, I want to sit in the ballroom hopefully! Just like the photos showed, well your edited photos, it's soooooo dark in there.

Cool info on Harper Goff!

13 times on Splash in one trip is crazy good!

I love that your DH pops his head into your photos! Luckily for me, DH is short so i'll never have this problem

Yep you're right, it's at the end...which makes more sense right? I don't understand why the picture happens at the beginning of the ride, when nothing has happened. And I still haven't figured out the exact location of the camera on SM.

You can try requesting the room you'd like when you check in at BoG? Spoiler Alert: When we went for dinner we were seating in the rose gallery which I didn't think they even used for dinner. We asked our waitress and she said they'll occasionally use it if they're very crowded. There were very few other people in there with us which was sort of nice. I would have loved to eat in the West Wing though (That might be easy to say because we already ate lunch in the ballroom). It's dark but it's not as dark as it seems in the pictures. I'm not sure how Calvin would feel about the thunder and lightning though. Maybe for that reason they wouldn't seat you in there?

Btw, DH's head is not in my pictures because he's tall. It's because he purposely JUMPS into the frame right as I'm taking the picture!

You're right about SM's camera. When you first leave the loading area and round the corner it's right there before anything has even happened yet. It's really a funny place for a picture!

Catching up on all your updates. I'm totally with you on 7DMT. We rode it with FP too and I can't fathom having to wait over an hour for the shortest ride ever. Though it is a much better ride at night, you should definitely try that next time.

I'll admit I'm one of the few non BoG lovers out there, but as you found out lunch is definitely the better option. Though seeing it through your eyes for the first time, actually makes me want to give it a whirl again.

Love, love, love your splash photo and I'm totally jonesing for a frozen lemonade right now, except of course for the 40 degree weather outside ; )

What great luck getting out of the park before the rain hit. Can't wait to see what the rest of the day will bring...

It's really funny how long it took us to actually plan out who should be each letter so that it would look right in the picture. It was really hard to figure out!

It's funny you say that about BoG because we ate dinner there later in the trip and also loved it. I was absolutely crazy about their french fries with the truffle aioli. They were even better than the lunchtime french fries!

 

[Leshaface]

You can try requesting the room you'd like when you check in at BoG? Spoiler Alert: When we went for dinner we were seating in the rose gallery which I didn't think they even used for dinner. We asked our waitress and she said they'll occasionally use it if they're very crowded. There were very few other people in there with us which was sort of nice. I would have loved to eat in the West Wing though (That might be easy to say because we already ate lunch in the ballroom). It's dark but it's not as dark as it seems in the pictures. I'm not sure how Calvin would feel about the thunder and lightning though. Maybe for that reason they wouldn't seat you in there?

Btw, DH's head is not in my pictures because he's tall. It's because he purposely JUMPS into the frame right as I'm taking the picture!

You're right about SM's camera. When you first leave the loading area and round the corner it's right there before anything has even happened yet. It's really a funny place for a picture!

He was actually fine with the dark and the noises, but then again, he had no clue That's actually a great excuse to use though, since i'm really not sure what he'd do this time around. Thanks!

Okay I need to remember whenever we get on SM

 

[heathsf]

Episode 13​

The One with Cloudy Sky Resort Photos​

I know that from reading this chapter title you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation. I’m sure the suspense is just killing you.

When we got back to AoA we walked through the gift shop and browsed for a bit. Well, everyone else did. I took a picture of the trivia board.

I knew the answers to #1 and #2. I did not know the answer to the joke. But it’s a good one. Anyone know it? The Today in Disney History tidbits were good ones too. I really wish I could work in Disney. Dear Mr. Iger, please open a theme park in Northern NJ.

Luckily it wasn’t raining anymore as we made the long walk back to our room. We had a few hours before dinner and we planned to just relax in the room for a while. M and S really wanted to go for a swim but the weather wasn't exactly cooperating. I was hoping for a nap but it didn’t happen for any of us. Probably because we slept later this morning instead of going to MK for RD

After our break, we got ready to leave for dinner. It wasn’t raining but there were rumbles of thunder. I took some pictures from our balcony before we actually left. We were in Building 9 in the middle section which sort of juts out toward the parking lot.

This is looking toward the Lion King section.

Zoomed in looking in the same direction.

Looking across the parking lot toward the front of Animation Hall.

Another wing of Building 9.

Then we actually started walking and I took more pictures:

Here’s a terrible picture looking toward the Finding Nemo section. You really can’t see much of anything.

Before long we were on a bus heading back to the MK.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 14​

The One with the Flying Broccoli ​

We got off the bus at MK and went right up the ramp to the monorail.

And we got off here!

At the Poly!

On our last trip when we came here for dinner, DH wanted to know why we weren’t staying here. I told him that when this happens

I’ll book it.

Fast forward to this year and I couldn't believe that Disney was expecting guests to pay full price to stay at the Poly while it’s under construction. What a mess! I’m sure it’s going to be as gorgeous as ever when it’s done but wow… walls were up everywhere, there was no more beautiful pool view, and lots of areas were closed or temporarily relocated.

Speaking of three years ago, here's a picture of DH waiting to be seated for dinner back in 2011:

And this year:

Some things never change!

We didn’t have to wait very long though. And then it was time for dinner at

YAY!!! This was actually something that DH was looking forward to ever since we booked the trip. We made sure to not spend the day eating/drinking around the world before eating here this year. We learned from past mistakes. We went in plenty hungry and ready to eat.

And eat we did. Oh. My. Gosh. Did we eat… And eat. And eat.

First, pineapple coconut bread. Our “cousin” put the bread on the table and by the time I got my camera out this was all that was left:

Then the chicken wings and the dumplings. Oh, the dumplings. Definitely my favorite part of the meal. I couldn’t even begin to count how many of them I ate. Let’s just say it was a LOT. We had many, many refills of those.

And then, some disappointment. The salad was replaced by lettuce wraps. I did not like them. At all. I took a bite and then discarded the rest. I didn’t even want it on my plate. I got a super spicy bite and it just didn’t taste good. DH also tried it and didn’t like it. M and S didn’t even bother with it. Oh well, no worries. I just ate more dumplings instead.

Then the veggies and noodles were delivered.

Have you ever had lo mein noodles that were just SO good, you still think about them months later and your mouth waters? If not, go to Ohana and eat the noodles and you will know what I mean. Best lo mein ever. The noodles were so light and tasty. We were all going crazy over it. We obviously needed more brought to the table and we were practically fighting over them. When you’re fighting over food at an all-you-care-to-eat dining experience, that’s a sure sign that the food is delicious.

Then the skewers of meat started coming around. I had a few pieces of everything except the pork and it was all good, but I was really just about the dumplings and noodles. They were just so good it was all I really wanted. If I could fly to Florida tonight, go to Ohana, eat the dumplings and noodles, and then fly home, I would. And it would be worth it.

Hm… I don’t seem to have any meat pictures. If I had to guess I’d say I was too busy stuffing my face with dumplings and noodles. Have I mentioned how delicious they were?

At this point we had consumed an insane amount of food and were getting full. So we did the natural thing and kept eating. Yay Ohana!

Eventually we hit the wall and had to stop. We really loved this meal. We sat for a while and tried to digest before dessert. At one point we started talking about our ADR for Teppan Edo the following night and the boys decided they better practice catching food in their mouths in case the hibachi chef decided to throw any our way. So DH and S started using their forks to launch pieces of vegetables across the table and into each other’s mouths. We all found this quite funny so naturally they kept doing it, and we all laughed harder and harder the longer this went on. (Have I mentioned we’re 5 years old?) At one point, S flipped a piece of broccoli over DH’s head that nearly hit the person sitting behind him. That would have been absolutely mortifying but thank goodness no one was injured by the flying broccoli. We must have been food drunk at that point because we could not stop laughing. And the more we laughed, the more we laughed. For about 5 straight minutes I gasped for breath, my stomach muscles ached, and I had tears streaming down my face. I know retelling it here doesn’t do it justice and it probably doesn’t seem funny at all. But it was one of the best laughs I’ve ever had in my life and it’s one of my favorite memories of the trip

And then it was time for dessert.

I don’t know what I was thinking… well, clearly I wasn’t… but I didn’t take a picture of dessert. I guess I was too busy scarfing it down, helping myself to seconds, and then scarfing it down again. Since I feel it’s totally unacceptable to not have a dessert picture, I went back to my TR from 3 years ago and stole my bread pudding picture. So now I can proudly present: three year old bread pudding with banana-caramel sauce a la mode. It was so yummy. It was just as delicious this year as it was three years ago. I only wish I had more room for a third serving.

My stomach was starting to give me hints that I had eaten too much, but I didn’t care. What a great meal. We were all happy and full as we hopped on the monorail to head back to the the Magic Kingdom.

 

[nanhol]

Great trip report! I'm really enjoying your writing as you share about the fun you had with your friends. It sounds like so much fun to go with friends, all of my trips have been with family--which is fine--but different than going with friends!

Those pics of the Poly are so, so sad! I know it will be all better for next summer when we're headed there, but it still makes me a little worried! I have read a bunch of reviews from people who stayed there this summer & fall who said that it was still magical, but I'm sure others had to be disappointed by it.

Yay Ohana! I keep thinking that maybe we won't go to to Ohana next year (because we won't be on the dining plan and that will be an expensive meal for my family of 5), but then I see great reviews like yours and I add it back on my must-do list for next year. Yum, yum, yum, I can't wait!

I'm looking forward to hearing more, thanks for a great trip report so far!