The Theme Parks, the Dining & Compeed..nailed it! (4/10) Life Update

[Princess Leia]

It's so funny you mention this, because I have thought the very same thing every time I watch FoF! Why is she the only princess made to walk?
I believe she walks in the MSEP too, while Cinderella gets to ride in her carriage Could this instance be a blonde/brunette thing?

I don't know if this would hold up as a discrimination case given Anna and Elsa both get to be on a float. Although Alice isn't a princess she is blonde and made to walk. Maybe it's age discrimination. Although that wouldn't explain why Cinderella gets pampered.

I am joining in as well. Great report so far.

Thank you. I'm glad you are enjoying following along.

I just love the new Festival of Fantasy Parade. It is one of my favorites. They didn't spare any expense for it.

It is a fantastic parade with something for everyone.

And we said the same thing the first time we went to Disney, that is would be a once in a lifetime trip or at the least once in a long time. We now average 1-1/2 between trips!

I wonder how many people have said that? It is hard to explain to people why we keep going back. Well maybe not on here!

 

[Princess Leia]

Look who Hannah and Peter gave me for my birthday. I had been talking about how I was looking forward to meeting Chewie at HS.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Four Part Five: Wocka, wocka, wocka!

We quickly found our bus stop and were soon on our way back to Old Key West. Hannah and I stopped off at Hospitality House. We checked in at reception to see if the parcel had arrived and was pleased that it had. I had bought more pins for Hannah and Peter for trading. It was now 4.30pm. We then went to Goods to Go to pick up our refillable mugs which we filled up and even took some back for the boys.

As we were staying 12 nights we had 12 TS credits. When planning our dining options prior to the trip I gave each member of the family 3 TS credits to choose. I had made most of our ADRS in January and early February. Then I stopped as I needed to try and work a schedule round them as, thanks to the boys, we seemed to have a lot of dining over in the Animal Kingdom area. I then booked the remaining ADRS in April. I was able to get all the ADRS I wanted.

Tonight’s dining choice was Alan’s and was Olivia’s Cafe. He liked the look of the menu and even had his favourite dessert – Key Lime Pie. Our ADR was for 6.45pm.

Hannah started off with some pomegranate lemonade.



Our server Bill was very friendly. He did, however, sound like Fozzie Bear. We just kept waiting for him to go “Wocka, wocka, wocka!" He was like a whirlwind – he obviously had so many tables to serve.

Alan chose the Island Barbecue Pork Ribs with Spicy Chipotle-Barbecue Sauce with French Fries and Marinated Coleslaw.



Hannah, who enjoys a nice steak when on holiday, chose the Grilled New York Strip 10 oz. It was served with mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots. This turned out to be a good choice as she really enjoyed it.



Peter had the Buttermilk chicken with carrots and green beans. He thought this was quite good although he is not a fan of green beans.



I chose the Slow-cooked Prime Rib which was also served with green beans and carrots. This turned out to be a very poor choice. This was so fatty – you can actually see the fat in the photo. I tried to cut out the worst of the fat but it wasn’t good.



The good news is that I made up for my poor choice for an entree by a really good dessert choice. The banana bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream was very tasty.



Peter is not a great dessert fan and didn’t fancy any of the options. We asked if he could just have some ice cream and Bill brought him the Adult ice cream sundae.



Hannah opted for the Mascarpone Cheesecake.



Alan didn’t need to look at the menu as he knew he was going for the Key Lime Pie. Alan was really disappointed with this and felt it had a really artificial taste. For the first time ever he didn’t polish off a Key Lime pie. This was most unexpected!



I wouldn’t recommend Olivia’s particularly if you are not staying at Old Key West. There are much better dining options. If you do go, skip to dessert and have the bread pudding.

After dinner we drove to Walmart to get some breakfast supplies. Our receipt shows that we went through the check-out at 9.49 p.m. We purchased orange and apple juice, Frosties, yoghurts, Krispy Kreme donuts, water melon, cereal, milk and crackers. We also bought some shorts for Peter and some more Factor 50 sunscreen.

 

[c3h3a3r]

Wow - loving your report and photos so far

 

[Princess Leia]

Wow - loving your report and photos so far

and . Glad to hear you are enjoying the report! Loads more to come.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Five Part One: What no rope drop?

Tuesday 7th July 2015

We were up bright and early and soon were having breakfast out on the balcony. Peter was looking forward to having some of his favourites.





Eating breakfast on the balcony was one of my favourite things about Old Key West.



Normally we are rope drop people but today we were going to do things differently. This was our first trip with FP+. I hadn’t been totally convinced about the changes to Fast Pass as we had the old system down to a tee. Our first Fast Pass was not until 1.55pm.

We decided to get our cases unpacked and get everything organised. There was a good amount of storage in our apartment.

We walked round to Turtle Pond pool.





It was a really nice relaxing area. Here they have the Turtle Shack Poolside Snacks that serves drinks and a limited quick service menu. Unfortunately it didn’t open until 11am. It also closes at 5pm so we were only able to get drinks on a couple of occasions during our stay.

The boys, as usual, had a little competition of shuffleboard followed by some games of Cornhole.



We went back to our apartment to get changed before driving to Hollywood Studios. We headed straight for lunch. Peter fancied Pizza Planet. Hannah didn’t fancy anything on the menu so I headed off with Hannah to ABC Commissary. Peter had the Pepperoni Pizza and Alan had the Meat Lovers Pizza. They had chocolate chip cookies as their dessert. ABC Commissary was very busy. They were handing out menus in the queue to speed up the process. Hannah had the Asian salad with chicken. The receipt shows that I had a SurfChTurfFries which I think might translate to Surf and Turf Cheeseburger with fries. We had some tasty Olaf cupcakes for dessert which had a white chocolate Olaf. Sorry I don’t have any photos but the boys had the camera. Hannah took a photo of the cupcake which she posted on instagram.

After lunch we went to one of Alan’s favourites – Muppet Vision 3D. It’s got Muppets... What’s not to like?

Next up we had a FP for Alan’s Not-so-favourite ride – The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This was his reaction last time.



He told us it was because he felt like he was going to die.
Would he like it any better this time? Let’s see!



I think he might have liked it slightly better. What do you think? Hannah seems to be laughing at her Dad.

This time I managed to walk through the queue area without needing a visit to First Aid.

Up next we had a Fast Pass for the Frozen Singalong. Peter decided beforehand he was not going to like it. He spent the whole time on WhatsApp to his friend complaining about how awful it was. The funny thing was that he sung the songs for the rest of the holiday. The rest of us entered into the spirit of it.

We then had Fast Passes for Toy Story Midway Mania. I did manage to post a score of 87,800 and beat Hannah. I always feel I don’t have enough wrist stamina for this one.

We went in search of some of our favourite characters, Mike and Sulley.





Kitty is so cuddly!







We couldn't possibly leave Mike out!



We said goodbye to our favourite monsters and we still had over an hour until our ADR at Mama Melrose’s at 5.55pm.

Alan and Peter went on Star Tours while Hannah and I headed to the Animation building. The queue to see Sorceror Mickey didn’t look too bad. It turned into a slow moving queue with Mickey taking lots of breaks. Any way, we ended up getting very near to our ADR time and we still hadn’t reached the front. We had waited so long that I really wasn’t too keen to just get out the queue. Just as we reached the end of the queue we were told that Mickey needed to take a short break and would be back shortly. Agh! Hannah was getting messages from the boys “Where are you?” “ We’re just coming!” We spoke to the cast member waiting and told them we needed to get to an ADR, so we had to quickly smile for a couple of photos with Mickey and literally sprint over to Mama Melrose’s.





I was completely out of breath. I didn’t even know I could run so fast. The danger of queues with no wait times displayed – don’t join them even if they look short. It’s a trap!

 

[c3h3a3r]

 

[ariane37]

He told us it was because he felt like he was going to die

I find this hysterical

Up next we had a Fast Pass for the Frozen Singalong. Peter decided beforehand he was not going to like it. He spent the whole time on WhatsApp to his friend complaining about how awful it was. The funny thing was that he sung the songs for the rest of the holiday. The rest of us entered into the spirit of it.

This sounds exactly like my Christopher He's constantly insisting he won't like any number of things and then, reluctantly, can't help but enjoy himself.

 

[Princess Leia]

I find this hysterical

Now why does this not surprise me?

This sounds exactly like my Christopher He's constantly insisting he won't like any number of things and then, reluctantly, can't help but enjoy himself.

What's funny is that for the remainder of the holiday, whenever we were in the car, Hannah and Peter kept breaking into a duet of Love is an Open Door.

 

[CatNipRules]

Joining in. Loving it so far!!

 

[Princess Leia]

Joining in. Loving it so far!!

and Good to have you along - feel free to comment.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Five Part Two: Dining at Mama Melrose’s

Tuesday 7th July 2015

This was our first time dining at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano. This was Hannah’s choice. We had booked the Fantasmic dining package which included entry to the reserved seating area.



We really liked the atmosphere at Mama Melrose’s. The lighting is really pretty. We were seated in a booth. Our server, Jean, was very attentive and we didn’t have to wait long between courses. I’m sure this is, in part, due to turning round the tables as quickly as possible. The Fantasmic dining package included a starter, entree and a dessert platter.

We were brought a basket with bread sticks.



Hannah, Alan and Peter chose the minestrone soup.



I also really like minestrone but decided to try something different from the rest. I opted for the Crispy Calamari. I liked the dipping sauces that came with the calamari.



Hannah and Peter both chose the Penne Pasta Marinara with Chicken. They both enjoyed it.



Alan had Penne Pasta Marinara with meatballs. We rarely eat out at Italian restaurants at home as Alan complains that it is really overpriced for what it is. He thought this was good.



After my mis-steak the night before at Olivia’s I decided to try again. This time I ordered the sirloin steak with macaroni. This steak made up for the night before and was cooked to perfection or at least the way I like it (medium/well).



I had read up on the Fantasmic Package prior to the trip. I had read that you were served a dessert sampler to share. I was really pleased when we received a sampler each. This wasn’t Peter’s “thing” so I ended up with an extra Tiramisu.



Mama Melrose’s is a really good use of a dining plan credit as you are able to have 3 courses and the reserved seating if booked as the Fantasmic package.

We still had a bit of time before Fantasmic so we headed over to Star Tours. Peter thought a Speeder Bike would be the quickest way to travel.



Hannah, Peter and I went on Star Tours. I think Alan reckoned it was too soon after dinner. We got an adventure that we hadn’t had before – our Starspeeder lands on Kashyyyk where we see Chewbacca and another Wookie. Next up our Starspeeder arrives on Naboo and we end up getting shot down and meet up with Jar Jar Binks. Feelings on Jar Jar Binks are divided in our family. Hannah finds him adorable and Peter finds him incredibly annoying. Hannah is the Gungan in our family. On the way out of this ride you are dumped into the gift shop. I enjoyed having a look around. I was particularly taken with the Star Wars Princess Leia/ Queen Amidala Fashion Play Set and dropped heavy hints that I would like one of these.

We headed over towards Fantasmic. It was that lovely time in the evening when the sun is starting to go down and the lighting is so pretty. We stopped off for some family Photopass pictures.

 

[c3h3a3r]

Fab pictures

 

[CatNipRules]

Great pictures!! We love Mama Melrose's... It's one of our families favorite places. We try to eat there every trip....

 

[ariane37]

We're going back to Mama Melrose in November after not having been there in about 5 years and I'm really looking forward to it, especially after your pictures!

 

[Princess Leia]

Fab pictures

Thanks - glad you like them!

Great pictures!! We love Mama Melrose's... It's one of our families favorite places. We try to eat there every trip....

Thanks. I can understand why it is one of your favourites. It has only taken us until our 5th trip to try Mama Melrose's.

We're going back to Mama Melrose in November after not having been there in about 5 years and I'm really looking forward to it, especially after your pictures!

Good choice! It took a bit of getting used to taking pictures of all our food. We soon mastered the art - clear a bit of table, pass first dish, take photo, pass to owner, next dish, wait a minute that's not its best angle...

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Five Part Three: Sit at peace I’m watching Fantasmic!

Tuesday 7th July 2015

The reserved seating for Fantasmic is pretty central and near the back. We located a bench. There was a lot of chanting and cheering from the many South American tour groups. I had brought along some glow sticks which we made into bangles and necklaces. I have included some of the photos from Fantasmic. Unfortunately I had a person in front who would suddenly move so that their head threw out the focus on my camera. Hopefully you will get some of the flavour of the show.

Are the powers of Mickey’s incredible imagination strong enough and bright enough to withstand the evil forces that invade Mickey’s dream? You are about to find out...




There’s the nasty Governor John Ratcliffe.



Next up we have the section where 3 small floats arrive. First up, Beauty and the Beast...



followed by Ariel and Eric and then Snow White and her Prince except my friend in front was particularly restless during this section so the photos aren't worth sharing.

After this nice interlude the dream turns to a nightmare again with the arrival of the Wicked Queen.



This is cropped to remove the head that was determined to get in the picture.

There follows a villains section projected onto the water fountains. This concludes with Jafar turning into a cobra.







The next part is truly spectacular. Maleficent transforms into a giant dragon who breathes fire and sets the water alight.





Mickey saves the day.



The Mark Twain riverboat appears with Mickey Mouse as Steam Boat Willie.













Fantasmic is such an incredible show. Even though I have seen it on a number of occasions I still find it amazing every time.



Following Fantasmic we exited until we reached the top end of Hollywood Boulevard. Our timings worked out perfectly so we could watch the Frozen Fireworks Spectacular. Sorry I don’t have any photos but I took video instead. This was really good and who doesn’t want another round of Do you want to build a snowman?, Love is an Open door and For the First Time in Forever? During Love is an Open Door there were some cute happy face and heart fireworks. We had just exited the park when the strains of Let it Go told us that the Finale was still to come. We paused just outside the exit and watched the final fireworks and then hot footed it back to the car. With so much Frozen in one day it was no wonder the children ended up singing these earworms for the rest of the holiday.

 

[ArielSRL]

Joining in and all caught up. I came over from @ariane37's TR or PTR. I actually started reading a week or so ago but it's taken me some time to catch up, I've been so busy.

We really wanted to stay at OKW this trip but there was never any availability for our dates! We loved how roomy it looked!

Great report thus far! Looking forward to more!

 

[Princess Leia]

Joining in and all caught up. I came over from @ariane37's TR or PTR. I actually started reading a week or so ago but it's taken me some time to catch up, I've been so busy.

That's great you've come to join in here too. End of term at school there is so much to do. I hate when people say "Are you winding down for the holidays?"

We really wanted to stay at OKW this trip but there was never any availability for our dates! We loved how roomy it looked!

We weren't intending going back this year so booked late and there was no availability for OKW (well there was the Grand Villas) but that doesn't count. It's Saratoga you're booked for? That looks lovely.

Great report thus far! Looking forward to more!

Thanks! There's plenty more to come as I've only reached the end of Day 5.

 

[ArielSRL]

That's great you've come to join in here too. End of term at school there is so much to do. I hate when people say "Are you winding down for the holidays?"

It is always so stressful with paperwork, cleaning, assessments, grading papers, etc, etc! So glad it finally ended so I had this week to get all my last minute Disney stuff done!

We weren't intending going back this year so booked late and there was no availability for OKW (well there was the Grand Villas) but that doesn't count. It's Saratoga you're booked for? That looks lovely.

Yes, at Saratoga. We stayed there 4 yrs ago in a studio, but this time, we got the 1 bedroom. It's a beautiful resort!

Thanks! There's plenty more to come as I've only reached the end of Day 5.

Great! Depending on your next update, I may or may not get to read it until we are back!