To Paraphrase Sam the Eagle: A Salute to all things WDW, but Mostly Dining

WDW is probably the only place in the world where DW & I would ever do this, but on Tuesday morning we decided that breakfast would be a Rice Krispie Mickey with ears dipped in chocolate (Mickey_Man fav!) and a Boardwalk Bakery Chocolate and Vanilla Pretzel (Mickey_Chic choice - not so good) We did this on our walk from BCV to DHS. We decided to start the park tour by heading right to Toy Story Midway Mania. I still cannot get over how awesome that Mr. Potato Head audio-anamatronic is! The line was much more tolerable this time, and we grabbed fast passes too so we could ride again later. While we were happy to be able to ride TSMM two times, it made it so that we had to stand in line at Rock & Roller Coaster. It was a HOT day, and that line was pretty tough. Even tougher was getting on the coaster when your safety harness doesn't come all the way down!! :scared1: DW survived, but she was a little beat up after the ride.

The biggest Disney secret ever was revealed to us during this trip. Did you know....................................Wall-E is a Yankees fan??!?? :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

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We decided to grab lunch at Pizza Planet. I know it gets mediocre or worse reviews on the the boards, but we had never been there and we went in knowing that good pizza in Walt Disney World is not possible. I have to say, it wasn't that bad! Is it New Haven pizza? No, obviously not. However, it is more than edible, and they had a decent salad offering there too. It was a perfect little snack-type lunch to get us through the early afternoon. We went upstairs and ate and because we went pretty early in the day, the place was not crowded at all. Here are some food photos:

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The salad has chicken, chick peas, fresh torn basil, tomatoes, and other chopped veggies. It was really good! The pizza was a bit oily so I gave it a mopping with the napkins before I ate it. It was pretty decent, and dipping the pizza crust in the salad dressing was yummy! The pizza came with a small side salad which was a great addition. In summary, don't hate on Pizza Planet!

We decided to stick around for the parade even though it began raining in the afternoon. We grabbed a great bench seat on Hollywood Blvd just as the rain was tapering, and it gave us the best spot we've ever had at a DHS (or MGM) parade. Clearly, however, we got the "rainy day" version of the parade. The whole thing was over and past us in less than 4 minutes!!! There was no stopping and dancing or jumping, and no crowd interaction at all! We never made it back for another performance, but the costumes were great, the character count was high, and the colors were vibrant. Here are some pictures:

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We had a later Kona dinner set up, but given the rain that had come and was starting up again, we left DHS and headed back to BCV. WARNING: Rant ahead!!! We waited in line at the dock and arguably the worst atrocity in WDW was occuring. Why the heck do people have to feed the ducks cheez-its and popcorn? And worse - when they were done with that and they saw the turtles coming over, they went and started throwing chocolate in the water? These animals do not feed on this stuff. It is bad for them - you are hurting the wildlife doing this. Humans shouldn't be eating cheez-its as it is -why give this garbage to the innocent ducks!! :mad: :mad: And why can't the parents parent and control their children. :mad: :mad: :mad: And why the heck are you wasting chocolate!!!!! DW was so upset she actually said something to the kids. The parents' reaction? They gave the kids another bag of cheez-its!! Take away their passes and send them to Busch Gardens!!! They don't even deserve Universal with that behavior!!!

OK - rant over. Darn that Charles Minz.........but I digress. Welcome back Oswald!!!

Ok - seriously now. Back to the trip report. We took the boat back to DHS, and given the draw of the Marketplace at the Beach Club, we knew we were going for a snack. It had been a few hours since lunch, so we decided a sandwich and a sweet was the perfect panacea for mid afternoon hunger. Not to mention we are piggish in WDW and they have awesome cannoli at the Marketplace. Who would have seen that coming?? We ordered the Turkey and Mozzarella sandwich on sourdough and a toasted coconut cannoli. They WILL NOT change the bread for these sandwiches - they are pre-made and already have all the toppings on it. We were okay with the sourdough (since we are piggish on vacation) and the basil mayo spread was worth every calorie. I am not a coconut fan - I avoid the coconut texture at all costs. I don't mind the flavor as much - Malibu Rum is a good thing. These toasted cannoli are AWESOME. The flavor, the topping, the whole package is just outstanding. I'd offer you a photo, but I am pretty sure at least part of the cannoli disappeared before I could get the camera out! :rotfl2:

After a mid-afternoon nap, we took our time getting ready before heading out to Kona Cafe. I LOVE this restaurant - every meal is just great. Is this the finest dining? Nope. Nothing fancy at all. Just really good and interesting food with something for everyone. Plus, I love getting drinks out of pineapples!

the Lapu Lapu
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We started with the Kona Salad and the Potstickers. Good as usual.

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For dinner, I ordered the Tuna while DW had the Scallops and Shrimp. Great meals!! YUM!!

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We had the Lava Cake for dessert, and it was surprisingly the worst part of the meal. Not bad, just not memorable.

We went to MK after dinner, and enjoyed a night seeing all of our old favorites - Small World (:dance3: ), Carousel of Progress, Space Mountain, Tea Cups (NOT! :sick: ). Snow White and Winnie the Pooh - love the part with Toad handing over the deed! Unfortunately, weather was an issue again, and we did not see Wishes. We knew we'd be back, especially when we switched over to WL. So, not an early night, but not a late night either.

Up Next: Animal Kingdom, ESPN Club, Biergarten, and a DIS-MEET @ THE ADVENTURER'S CLUB!!! KUNGALOOSH!
 
Enjoying your report- thanks for sharing!

question- i am trying to get the family to try new places-----i am thinking Boma or Jiko might be good......we do have many picky eaters though, not very exotic, including embarrassingly, myself. However, I want to broaden our horizons. I stayed at AKL and didn't get to try Jiko or Boma (although I did try the lounge quite a bit! :rotfl: )----would you recommend Boma for us, even with picky eaters? I am just trying to get more reviews and feedback on it so i can convince our group to try it.

oh and love the dining reviews......my family spends a lot of time planning our meals at WDW too. in fact our last disney trip meeting we just talked about food......you would think we weren't even riding any rides or anything else. :rotfl: :banana: :wizard:
 

Yes i would definitely recommend Boma, even for picky eaters...we like Jiko too but if you are picky, Boma all the way.

You can even get mac n cheese and great chicken nuggets. They have non-exotic food there as well, and you can't beat the dessert! Go for it, you won't be disappointed, it isn't too "weird" there in terms of cuisine.:cheer2:
 
Is it New Haven pizza? No, obviously not.

Then again, what can you compare to New Haven pizza?;)

Though, my DH is from upstate NY and would rather have Pizza Hut over Sally's or Pepe's any day- sad for me!

Just wanted to comment from a fellow CTer...

I am enjoying your report
 
Then again, what can you compare to New Haven pizza?;)

Though, my DH is from upstate NY and would rather have Pizza Hut over Sally's or Pepe's any day- sad for me!

Just wanted to comment from a fellow CTer...

I am enjoying your report

Oh- Pizza Hut??? Say it ain't so!!! Looks like we are going to have to schedule a DIS meet on Worcester Street and have a pizza party!!

More trip report tomorrow. Tonight I have to catch up on what's going on here on the boards!
 
Still reading and enjoying!

Going way back to your initial response, yes, the BCV walk isn't bad at all. We've stayed there a couple of times now. Love that Epcot "short cut"! Definitely better than some of the regular resort rooms. Though I will miss the separate check-in area :sad2:

And we don't miss Manny ;) It was beyond time for that trade, and most Sox fans were happy with the move!

Hmmm, bluezoo huh? Again, being from Boston, I've had several Todd English meals. Sounds neat for me, but not so much for the picker eater that I'm married to. (And forget about the kids!!) May have to do that on one of my trips with friends (CIFs)!! I agree on Boma, though. Even picky eaters will have plenty to eat there. Finally, Pizza Planet. My husband and boys love it. Me? While it certainly isn't at the top of my list, I would agree that it's certainly "more than edible". And we LOVE Kona! But I can't believe you would go there and NOT get the sticky wings!!

I can't WAIT to try Toy Story Mania! I am worried about the RNR effect, though. I can't imagine the safety harness not being secure! Poor Mickey_Chic!!!:scared1:
 
Hmmm, bluezoo huh? Again, being from Boston, I've had several Todd English meals. Sounds neat for me, but not so much for the picker eater that I'm married to. (And forget about the kids!!) May have to do that on one of my trips with friends (CIFs)!! I agree on Boma, though. Even picky eaters will have plenty to eat there. Finally, Pizza Planet. My husband and boys love it. Me? While it certainly isn't at the top of my list, I would agree that it's certainly "more than edible". And we LOVE Kona! But I can't believe you would go there and NOT get the sticky wings!!

I can't WAIT to try Toy Story Mania! I am worried about the RNR effect, though. I can't imagine the safety harness not being secure! Poor Mickey_Chic!!!:scared1:

We have eaten at Figs, Olives, and Tuscany, and bluezoo is better than any of those. The cuisine is much different too - seafood based and not a real hint of Italian. Some of the food is more standard, and one can definitely order a great non-seafood meal.

Mickey_Chic's dad got the sticky wings at Kona when we were there in January. They were awesome!! We wanted to try something else this time, but you are right about the wings. YUM!!!!!

Oh, and DW says to tell you that the bruises have gone away! TSMM is much more tame - no injuries there (although they are a little herky-jerky bringing you in to disembarkment).

OK - enough catching up. Time to get back to the trip report!
 
DW & I always say that "Animal Kingdom is not a 1/2 day park" or "You need at least 2 days to see all of AK". Well, we did Animal Kingdom as a half day park! I know - we should practice what we preach, but we were on auto pilot for this trip, and our feelings were that we wanted to see a few attractions and head out.

Once again, we opened the day with breakfast in the room. It is just so easy when staying in a Villa. Wednesday was a day I was NOT looking forward to in a way. My online summer course had quizzes due every Wednesday!! Uggh! We ignored that for the morning though, and headed out to AK. We didn't quite make park opening, but we did walk in shortly there after. If I remember correctly, it was an AM EMH. We went right for the safari,and it was arguably the best safari ride we have ever done. The driver was extremely entertaining and informative without being over the top annoying/in character. The animals were out everywhere and the pace was a little slower than I remember, giving us more time to see everything we wanted to see. After the safari, we talked through the entire list of all of the things that AK has to offer - EE, Tough to be a Bug, Nemo Show, Kali, etc. - and decided that we weren't really dying to see/do too much of these. We decided to go ahead and just stroll through the park, seeing what we can see and doing/eating anything we felt like. We came across one of the best Streetmospheres that Disney has to offer:

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DeVine is just amazing in her act - I really can't explain it and you really can't get the feel of it from watching someone else's video. You need to find her and watch for awhile. She came from almost out of nowhere, just emerging from the woods and interacting with the crowd.

DW loves the Dinosaur ride, so we headed over for that, and afterwards we got a frozen banana as a snack. Honestly, I thought it could have been better. The banana must have not been the right level of ripeness when they froze it, as inside it was more of a watery frozen mess than a creamy frozen banana. The chocolate was decent, but even with DW & I splitting it, we didn't finish the whole thing. Wasn't really worth the eats!

After making out way through AK - stopping to check out the sights and deciding that Nemo started too late to get us to stay for another 2 hours - we left early and headed back to BCV. We were first in line for ESPNClub, and amazingly I cannot find my pictures. I will add them when I find them - if I do. Nothing was overly picture worthy, but the food was good and they have Yuengling on tap. DW had a margharita, and we started off with the Dingers - boneless buffalo nuggets. Pretty good - essentially the chicken nuggets you get everywhere else in WDW but with buffalo sauce on them. DW and I agreed to order two sandwiches and split each. One was Turkey on multigrain and the other was Chicken on Foccacia. Both were very good - nothing to go out of your way for, but a solid lunch offering. I had a cucumber salad with mine and that was good. DW had fries and they were also good. For dessert, we split the banana cream pie. That was pretty darn good. After this, I had to retreat to the room to get started on that dreaded quiz. We decided that there was no place better than Storm Along Bay to get started! I have to admit to the world that I did not work very hard or very long on the quiz, and my score shows that! :lmao:

There aren't too many things that can live up to the hype when something gets huge fanfare. For example, anyone see Blair Witch Project? Everyone told me that I shouldn't go see it because it was SOOO SCARY! :scared1: All that movie did was make me feel like I rode the teacups for 2 hours!!! Anyway, the point is that things often get built up and never live up to expectations. This leads me to Storm Along Bay. I have heard "mini-water park", "best hotel pool anywhere", "worth missing a day at the park for", etc. After experiencing it first hand....................... I AGREE!!!!! Wow, what an unbelievable pool! DW is only 5 feet tall and neither of us is a particularly strong swimmer, so we were a little timid about the fact that this pool goes to 8 feet at times! However, we both survived and had a blast. The only bad thing is that we couldn't get our hands on an inner tube - they limit how many they will put out and you are not supposed to bring in your own. However, we had an excellent poolside day - weather wasn't too humid or hot, breeze was great, everything (except that quiz) was perfect. Anyway, we LOVE storm along bay.

I worked more on the quiz and finally gave up before dinner. After all, we were heading to the Biergarten!! I had never been there before, and DW hadn't been there since it was table service. We love grabbing a Brat at Sommerfest, so I was excited to be going. Also, DW is mostly fluent in German, having studied it for several years and minoring in it in college. She knew all the drinking songs! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: I liked the food more than DW, although she does give raving reviews to the kartoffel klosse, which are potato dumplings. I loved the sauerbraten and pretty much everything else they had. Oh, and the beer!! :drinking1 Check out this picture!

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You can see a little bit of the food, and you can also see the beer. It is actually decent value - only $10 for that liter! The picture is dark because it is from my phone - sorry on the bad quality.

After the German feast we headed out to an unofficial DIS meet at the adventurer's club. I will be back on for updates and a write up of the night at the funnest place on Earth!
 
loving your trip report! I wanted to ask you something about garden grocer.. so I'm from Italy next time I'm going to WDW I'm going to the Caribbean beach, can I still call garden grocer? or is just for who is in a Disney villa?
 
loving your trip report! I wanted to ask you something about garden grocer.. so I'm from Italy next time I'm going to WDW I'm going to the Caribbean beach, can I still call garden grocer? or is just for who is in a Disney villa?

Buon Giorno!! (I studied a little bit of Italian in school!) Yes, as far as I know, Garden Grocer will deliver to any resort. Bell Services will hold your purchase for you, and make sure you request a fridge for your room for your cold items. I think you would have no problems with getting a delivery to Caribbean Beach (nice resort by the way - we stayed there a few years back and it was great!)
 
i love your report! so much that i'll forgive the yankee fandom...well, mostly. :laughing:
 
i love your report! so much that i'll forgive the yankee fandom...well, mostly. :laughing:

I appreciate you stepping past your tragic Red Sox flaw to enjoy my trip report!! I have been so busy lately that I have completely slacked on the trip report! Sorry!! I hope I (we) can get back to the trip report soon!
 
Back here after a very long delay in the trip reporting - Sorry!

Writing about the AC is a tough endeavor because if you haven't been there then a) I don't want to spoil it, and b) you may not understand the references. If you have been there, then you'll know all the jokes, but you'll also realize that it is nearly impossible to describe and the humor/experience cannot be given justice in this type of forum. That said, I can at least share some photos and tell you about the night.


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Sadly, this is our last trip to the Adventurer's Club. :sad2: I trust the Disney Company and believe that if they are planning on reinvesting in Downtown Disney and need to "retheme" the place, then go for it. That said, I will miss the Adventurer's Club, and I do not believe that it will be reinvented anywhere else on Disney property. I think that the Yakoose is going the way of Mr. Toad and will end up with a headstone at the Pet Cemetary outside the Haunted Mansion. The AC and PI in general will always hold a special place to us as this was our wedding reception - we did dinner at Portobello Yacht Club (also being redesigned, by the way) and then spent the night at the clubs at Pleasure Island with all our wedding guests! What a blast.

This time, we got the chance to spend time at the Adventurer's Club with some fellow DISers!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: We got to the AC sometime around 8:30, just in time to get into the Balderdash Contest. We met fellow DISer drwitz there, along with a few others whose screen names escape my brain now.


Here are a few "standard" AC pictures that we took:

The colonel:
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Babylonia:
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A couple of crazy DISers:

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We had a good time watching a few shows in the Library as well as one in the Mask Room. Thankfully, I avoided staying off stage - this time! :rotfl: Samantha Sterling told us that the management of DTD is "encouraging" the staff of the AC to audition for the new American Idol experience among other job opportunities on Disney property. As always, the shows were great!

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DW & I stayed long enough to have a few drinks (thanks drwitz!) and a few more laughs before heading out just before midnight. All in all, it was a tremendous last night at the Adventurer's Club, and another night of making fun memories on Disney property in a not so typical Mouse-ish fashion.

Up Next: Tokyo Dining, Boma, and random park touring!
 
Breakfasts continue to be uninspired for us, so once again we opted to have breakfast in our room. In fact, this breakfast so not memorable that I don't remember it! :lmao: I am guessing we probably had cereal or a snack bar, but I just don't remember. I do remember that we went to EPCOT on this day, and we headed right to Soarin'. Once again, this ride did not disappoint. What a great addition to EPCOT. After Soarin', we decided to take it slow and wander around future world.

Being the Adventurers that we are (Kungaloosh!) we went on the hunt for the History of Epcot exhibit. After walking around the Communicores, (oops, showing my age) Innoventions we just couldn't find it. Well, come to find out, it was in with the Character greeting building. What a great thing. Artist drawings and pictures of the beginnings of EPCOT (including the different country ideas), costumes throughout the years and various other memorabelia were hung on the walls and in clear cases in the middle of the room. And the music playing was of all the attractions throughout time..can't beat "Tomorrows Child", and retired exhibit snippets (Horizons etc). It was great for DW to revisit her childhood WDW memories by staring at the Horizons and World of Motion pictures. I hope they keep this exhibit because it's really great for WDW History buffs.

I recall that we did Spaceship Earth, and we love the changes to it. DW & I both love the tradition and history of WDW, but we are not adverse to change if the change is for the sake of improvement and not to be different. I do believe that they improved the ride and we enjoyed noticing the changes. We decided to pass on Mission Space mostly because we just didn't feel like walking over there! Man are we getting lazy in our 30s!! Anyway, or biggest decision now was what to do for lunch. Our original intention was Crystal Palace but we decided we didn't want that this day. Good thing too, because when I called to cancel the ressie, the CM had no record of us having a ressie for CP on this day!! :confused: Anyway, we wandered into World Showcase and decided to do something we've never done before - we took a boat across the water! We thought we might go to Tangerine Cafe, but after doing the walk-by it was much too hot and we were getting much too cranky to settle on this place. We called the dining line back and got an immediate ressie for Tokyo Dining. We figured we'd give it a shot, and at least it was a sitdown restaurant. What an awesome choice by us!!

Tokyo Dining is NOT just a sushi place. I know a lot of people think this, but they actually have a thorough menu. And it is amazingly air-conditioned!!! We were excited about the healthier options available, and they sat us right in the front window! WHAT A VIEW!!! Umm - we were so wrapped up in enjoying the view and the air conditioning that I forgot to take a picture! Sorry! :upsidedow

I did, however, remember to take pics of lunch. First off, I want to mention the service here. Like I said above, we were a little overheated and a little cranky when we got here. The ressies made (literally) as we walked towards the restaurant proved to be key- some people were waiting stand-by but we walked right in. The only difference between us is that I called the dining line as we were walking to the restaurant. Don't underestimate the value of making that phone call! Instead of having to wait 15-20 mins (the quoted wait time), we were seated instantly! :cool1: The servers came over as a pair, and let us know that both would be helping us today. They had heated moist towels rolled for us to clean up with, and it is amazing how refreshing that can be! It was like hitting the reset button for us - we were now ready to settle in and have a great meal. We definitely did just that!

Both DW & I went with iced tea, and I don't recall it being anything other than the usual iced tea. It was good, just not unique. We opted for a sushi roll appetizer - the Tuna Philly Roll. It was great! As the name implies, it was tuna and cream cheese - a pretty standard sushi roll and as good as our local Japanese restaurant (which is pretty authentic as well). For lunch, DW ordered the Miso Chicken while I ordered a Bento Box. The Miso Chicken was a grilled chicken breast with miso sauce, accompanied with wasabi mashed, broccoli and carrots. DW wanted something relatively plain and healthy (and delicious) and this fit the bill. DW ordered the sauce on the side (it is in the middle of the plate).

Miso Chicken
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The Bento Box is "an assortment of traditional foods and flavors". It had sashimi tuna, seaweed salad (with another salad next to it - can't remember what it was), a terriyaki chicken and a beef dish.

Bento Box
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Everything was tremendously good and fresh. I still can't get over how we got an instant ADR and the best seat in the house. In summary - go to Tokyo Dining. It is a great hidden gem at World Showcase. The food was great, the service unparalleled, and the prices - while high compared to a local Japanese restaurant - are tolerable for Disney standards.

After lunch we decided that an afternoon back at Stormalong Bay was in order. We didn't spend much time out there, but we did do a little laundry and hung out poolside while it washed and dried. We had an evening at Boma planned, and knew it would take a little while to get over there so we didn't want to push our day too much. What a relaxing afternoon!!!

Dinner was again at Boma, and this time I was ready to EAT!!! I missed out on eating our first time to Boma this trip (read earlier posts in this trip report!), but not this time. I still believe that buffets do not lend themselves to quality food porn because presentation is not there, but the food here is excellent! DW & I decided that some drinks were definitely in order, and the wine selection here is pretty decent. DW had a Chanin Blanc while I went with a Gewurztraminer, and both were great. Some of the food offerings were as follows:

Carrot Ginger Bisque, Chicken Corn Porridge, Smoked Tomato Soup (YUM!!), Coconut Curried Chicken Soup,Curried Coconut Seafood Stew, Sweet Potato Pancakes,Vegetable Lentil Kofta,Pap, Braised Greens, FuFu, Potatoes with Afritude,Durban Spiced Roasted Chicken (awesome!),Malabu Pepper Steak, Grilled Seafood ,Wood Roasted Meats,Vegetable Skewers,Chicken Pepper Pot, Couscous Marrakesh, Chocolate Mousse, assorted cookies (not that great), and a few other desserts.

Don't bother ordering a cappucino here - it is a powdered mix drink. However, they do have real (read: not Nescafe) coffee that is pretty darn good.

After dinner, we really wanted to see Wishes, but the weather stunk again at night. We called it an early night and enjoyed our wandering around the Boardwalk and our resort a little before heading to bed. After all, we were headed to the Wilderness Lodge the next morning!!

Up Next: Wolfgang Puck Express and Artist Point. Wishes??? Finally???
 
:sad2: Friday morning came and that meant saying good bye to the Beach Club Villas. :sad2:

However, this also meant saying hello to the Wilderness Lodge!! :cool1: :cool1:

We grabbed a quick breakfast in the room before we checked out and then took our own bags over to the Wilderness Lodge. Without question, one can definitely send their stuff to their new hotel without having to carry them theirselves. You can ask Bell Services to transport your bags for you, but DW & I knew that we were going to take a taxi instead of WDW transportation and we decided to lug our bags ourselves. It wasn't a problem at all. The taxi driver got to BCV quickly (bell services called for us) and helped us put our bags in the van. The drive to WL was quick, and when we got to WL their bell services grabbed our bags for us. This is the last bit of good customer service that we received during check-in! :mad: When we went to check in, we realized that arriving at 9:30AM meant we would probably not have a room available. Sure enough, they told us we'd have to wait. We asked if they could hold our bags and this was not a problem, as we knew we were early and we definitely wanted to wait for a king sized bed room. That noted this and then we went on our way. DW & I hopped on a bus and headed to Downtown Disney!

Given that a) we had already moved hotels, b) our trip was more than half over, and c) we are absolute shop-aholics, it was time to do our big Disney Shop! We are not the type who buy everything on impulse, but we do always find something new that we want every time we shop and we are constantly adding to our collections (christmas collection, steamboat willie collection, etc). We went up and down the Marketplace, and of course, spent over an hour at the World Of Disney. DW has an apron collection, and while most are classic aprons, she had to add the Mickey Apron to her collection. We each bought a few other items and of course had to add the bargain extra bag they were offering for just $20 with a $50 purchase (or whatever the offer was - does it really matter? We knew we were buying the bag! Had to get all this stuff home somehow!) Also, it was this time that I decided that I am a closet pin collector!! I met a person outside who had a Pleasure Island pin that I wanted, and he wanted a Stitch on a surfboard in return. I ran inside the pin store to buy this for him and I couldn't find it!!! It took forever (ok- literally 10-15 minutes) to finally find it, and when I did it had started raining outside! The guy with which I was going to trade with had packed up his stuff and was ready to leave! :scared1: I ran over to him and he actually felt bad that he packed up and had forgotten that I was going to get a pin so that we could trade. Anyway, the trade completed and I completed my first pin swap!! :woohoo:

I had to celebrate my pin swap and both DW & I were hungry, so we went to Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch. I have never had good experiences at Wolfgang's Cafe downtown -either the service was off, the food wasn't that good, or we were served the wrong meals. However, I had read that Express was redone and was a great place to go. We decided to give it a shot. Oh and I glad we did! This place is so good, we went back the next day!

In case you haven't been here and/or haven't read about it, this place is a counter service restaurant -sort of. It is a counter order restaurant and upon placing your order they hand you a tray with an order number and your glasses. You then fill your drink and grab a table, waiting for your meal. Sometime before the meal arrives, a server shows up with silverware, napkins, and let's you know that he/she will refill your drinks and get you anything else that you need. In this facet, this is a sitdown meal. Also, I feel that a tip is order for your server, but maybe not the traditional 18-20% tip that we normally give. I think we left between 10-15% for this meal.

On Friday, I ordered the Quesadilla and a Tropical Iced Tea. DW had the Wolfgang Puck classic - Chinois Salad. Both meals were great!

Quesadilla:
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This is a chicken quesadilla covered with barbeque sauce and sour cream. It is pretty big and extremely yummy! I would recommend it, and if you are just looking for a snack or if you are not a big eater, this is definitely enough for two.

Chinois Salad:
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This is the classic Chinese Chicken Salad that Wolfgang created on the west coast. It has chicken, fried chinese noodles, cabbage, sesame seeds, and an Asian dressing. DW enjoyed it quite a bit, and I grabbed a few bites as well! :goodvibes

We finished shopping (sending many packages home because the shipping was cheaper than the tax!:rolleyes1 ), and then hopped on a bus back to the WL. I hoped that perhaps with it being after 1 o'clock our room could be ready. I was told,"Just a few more minutes". DW & I decided to sit in the lobby and enjoy the atmosphere because not only would our room be ready shortly, but also this is a beautiful resort and hanging out in the lobby is oen of the draws for staying here. We had fun doing this, but after about 30 minutes thought we should try again for our room. After all, many families had come in during our time and they were all heading off to their rooms. This is when it all turned south.

Drew - the CM who was checking us in - told me,"Not quite yet". I asked him if I should hang around the lobby a little while longer since we were eager to get in our room as soon as we could, and Drew said,"I don't care what you do." What??!? :headache: Did he just say that? I asked if there was a possibility of upgrading to a conceirge room, and I made it clear that we would pay for an upgrade. He was disgusted with me, huffing and mumbling under his breath, and after punching some numbers in his calculator, he told me it would cost me "roughly $190 to upgrade". I said,"190 for three nights, or 190 per night?" His reply - "I said $190 to upgrade!" I replied,"Yes, and I asked you if that was per night or for all three nights?" He said,"Ughhh - wait here." He then turned his back to me as he picked up the phone and called the mystery woman. I say this because this supposed manager never actually showed her face. He mumbled on the phone - clearly attempting to make it so I couldn't hear him - and then hung up. He turned back to me and said,"We can offer you a room now, but it is a handicapped room." Apparently the upgrade was no longer being discussed (for the record - I found out from a different CM that it would have been $140 per night to upgrade). I said that I didn't want to take a handicapped room if it was going to take it from someone who needed it, and he said,"Look - I am trying to give you a room, ok?" I said that I didn't appreciate his attitude, and he said "Ugghh - wait here!" (he was clearly in love with making a sound and then telling me to "wait here", as if he really wanted me "here") Anyway, Drew came back and said that he had a regular room ready for me, to which I thanked him. He said that my room - with two queen beds - was ready. I told him that we were waiting for a king sized bed, and he told me that it wouldn't be ready until 5pm. When I reminded him that check in was either 3 or 4pm - clearly not 5pm- he said that "our room" wouldn't be ready until 5 because of a maintenance need. I told him that I wanted a different room if "our room" was broken and he told me that he had already released the other room he had for us. I told him that the other room wasn't what we wanted anyway, and when I asked to talk to a manager he said - wait for it ---- "Uggh, wait here!" (I am not kidding!!) He called mystery woman and loudly proclaimed "Mr. Bruenn is still here and wants a king sized room". The solution - another offer of a handicapped room, but this one overlooks the loading docks of the hotel. I said this was fine provided I wasn't causing any problems for someone who actually needs a handicapped room and Drew assured me I wasn't. I think Drew would have kicked his own handicapped grandmother out of a room at this point as he was really annoyed with me. However, I wanted a room at this point as he was now wasting a big part of my vacation day. He then told me,"Your room needs to be cleaned. Come back in 30 minutes" Are you $#%@#%##@ kidding me?? I asked the woman sitting next to him,"Excuse me - do you have the hidden Mickeys scavenger hunt for the WL? Apparently my room won't be ready for another half hour". She kindly handed it to me and I went and amused DW with the search. We weren't that into it because we were so annoyed, but it got us through the next 30 minutes. I went back exactly 30 minutes later, and we were given a room on the 6th floor. Our view? Yes, if you looked down you saw loading docks. Look up at night? You'd see Wishes!! That's right, our room was a MK view (sort of -the trees were way too thick). We were in the main building so at times we could hear the lobby noise -especially Whispering Canyon Cafe- but it didn't bother us at all. In fact, we liked the hustle bustle of the place. Settling into our room at 4pm instead of earlier was not our original plan, but it was okay. We had plans of dinner at Artist Point that night!

Next: Artist Point, and Wishes?? Finally???
 
I found your TR and decided to make ADR's for bluezoo on our trip this January based on your report. We had a night where I wasn't quite sure what to do/where to go and this will be absolutely perfect!!!

Thanks :)
 
I didn't catch up yet, but I like your report. Who ever heard of thigh meat in a chicken salad???? Uggh!:sick:
 
What a fantastic trip report! And what a wonderful trip, until WL check in. I'm glad it all got straightened out in the end with a view of wishes! Woo hoo!!
Looking forward to more, and Happy Anniversary!
 












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