Trip of New Phases, Friends & 40! Updated 8/31 - As If Goodbye Wasn't Enough! The End

[TyRy]

After the Safari, DH realized he had lost his hat. He did not have it during the safari, and after thinking about it, he figured he lost it on EE. Left it on there to be exact. The hat was actually new, as he bought it on one of our first days at DTD, so he was a bit sad. I asked if he wanted to go to lost and found, but he said we could go on the way out. So onward we went.

The Pagani Forest Exploration Trail was next. The hippos was in the water trying to stay cool…

DH had a little fun…

And the gorillas were just laying low.

I know I have a small hand, but wow!

For some reason, I think we backtracked and headed to Discovery Island Trails, don’t remember why we made that choice…maybe it was the heat/humidity on our brains!

Oh – and the park was still empty.

After walking around, we realized we had missed the petting zoo, so off to the Wildlife Express Train. It really was as an express train as it was waiting for us…and not a lot of others.

I love seeing some of the backstage area, I know for some it ruins the magic, but I enjoy it.

We arrived and a lovely CM greeted us.

And so did a tiger.

Continued in next post....

 

[TyRy]

Then we watched the vets for a bit, but soon Evil Twin and DH (although I don’t have photos of him) reverted to their twelve year old selves when they found the different animal “dung” you could play with.

I love that they can find fun out of almost anything!

We went to pet the baby goats (ok, I know that are not babies, but they look like them) which I LOVE!

Wall o animals!

One of the nice things about this stop is going inside and getting a break from the heat. We even did the sound booths just to have a chance to relax and recharge. But it was time to head back, and once again, the train was waiting for us. However, this was not as quick as the ride to see the “baby” goats. In the last car a person kept leaning out, so the CM kept stopping the train. The CM said over the loudspeaker that she also stopped it five times on the way there since he kept leaning out whenever they went around a curve and didn’t think she could see him. Aggravating - too bad they couldn’t escort him out of the park or something.

We split up at this point as Evil Twin wanted to see Lion King and we were going to go back and rest. BUT, DH realized we had not yet seen his mom’s favorite, so off to Camp Minnie/Mickey we headed. They had the ropes up for the parade, and it was still empty.

We then came upon Daisy and the nephews. My DMIL always got such a kick out of this, so it was a nice memory.

DH wandered off for a minute, so I found a nice spot to rest.

We made one more detour, as we had not yet seen the tigers. So off we went to the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

Our day was finished – so headed towards the front, but of course, found a photopass CM.

We did stop at the lost and found on our way out. DH found himself a big ol’ chair while they looked.

And YAY – they did have his hat. Someone had turned it in to a CM at EE and they turned it into lost and found. Out we went, and there was still no one around.

And the fun CM was still around from this morning.

And it was just a bit hot in the car.

Back to AKL to wait for Evil Twin and head to dinner later. DH did offer to cancel dinner, but I looked at him like he had three heads. Yachtsmen was on tap for tonite…no way I was missing that.

 

[brookelizabeth]

What an awesome day at AK! No crowds!!!

The picture of your DH with Daisy and the nephews is a great one. Nice idea too - is it going to become a tradition in her honor?

Hilarious picture of Evil Twin "eating" the dung!

The hippos in the water are very cool - I don't recall even seeing the hippos on the trail!!!

So glad the hat was found! And 100 degrees in the car! Ick!!!!

 

[TyRy]

What an awesome day at AK! No crowds!!!

The picture of your DH with Daisy and the nephews is a great one. Nice idea too - is it going to become a tradition in her honor?

Hilarious picture of Evil Twin "eating" the dung!

I think it will always stop by to see Daisy and the boys - DH is a huge Donald fan as well, so we'll probably keep that up. I'm still schocked at the lack of crowds, even at AK where it always seems more crowded.

The hippos in the water are very cool - I don't recall even seeing the hippos on the trail!!!

I swear it wasn't until the last trip that we found them. Then we had to try and find them again. That's one reason I know love AK - there's just so much there that if you walk this way instead of that, you stumble upon something you may never have seen.

So glad the hat was found! And 100 degrees in the car! Ick!!!!

I was glad they found the hat so I didn't have to listen to him go on about losing it! And it was melty that whole week.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I swear it wasn't until the last trip that we found them. Then we had to try and find them again. That's one reason I know love AK - there's just so much there that if you walk this way instead of that, you stumble upon something you may never have seen.

Me too! AK is so neat. I'll have to try and find them (if I remember!) this trip. It will be just H and I and AK, so I won't have to worry about Joe being bored.

 

[TyRy]

I noticed that my cold was coming back a bit, when we returned to our room. DH suggested again that I skip Yachtsman Steakhouse and I, again, told him he was a bit crazy. I LOVE that place. I simply relaxed for the next couple of hours by laying around in the room and by the pool. I also wanted just a small bite of my birthday cake we had gotten earlier in the week. I opened the box, and it wasn’t quiet as straight as it was a couple of days ago…it was now truly a topsy turvey cake

We arrived on time for dinner, but had a little bit of a wait. So the three of us went into the bar and we ordered drinks. Not too much longer and we were buzzed for our table. Our server that night was not great. It’d not that he really did anything wrong, but he was sloooooow at times. We’ve eaten here before and while it’s never rushed, this was at a snail’s pace.
They brought out the bread, butter and garlic.

Evil Twin told me to eat more of the garlic to help clear my sinues. DH informed her I was immune to garlic since I love it so much and can eat quite a bit of it without even really tasting it. He was right. And OMG – I don’t know why, but the onion rolls were out of this world. They simply tore apart like paper and melted in your mouth. I’m really hoping they still have these on our next trip…Evil Twin and I could not get enough of them.

We all ordered apps:
Tomato/Mozz salad for Evil Twin

Lobster Bisque for DH

Caesar Salad for me – which is always so hard to eat when served this way…or maybe it’s just me

All were really yummy. Then came the entrees – DH and Evil Twin both ordered the filet.

I ordered the Porterhouse.

The steaks were really tender and good. While they may not be on the level of a Morton’s, for WDW this is a really good steakhouse.

DH also ordered a glass of wine to come with his dinner…which we had to remind our server of..he finally brought it out.

DH ordered Ice Cream for dessert, which we have no photo of, and I ordered the Sorbet Trio.

I also got a second dessert in the form of a birthday cupcake.

By the time we were finally finished the restaurant had emptied out. Would we go back..absolutely, I just hope we have a different server next time.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Sorry to hear about a cruddy waiter! But the food looks, and sounds, awesome! Were you feeling better at all for the meal? I'm glad you were able to eat and enjoy it at least!

 

[TyRy]

Sorry to hear about a cruddy waiter! But the food looks, and sounds, awesome! Were you feeling better at all for the meal? I'm glad you were able to eat and enjoy it at least!

I did feel better - the evening was fun and yummy overall.

 

[TyRy]

It was moving day today. Not only did we have to say goodbye to the only home we’ve ever known as DVC members (we had it on both our DVC trips) but we were also now splitting up.

Perhaps my sadness at leaving our DVC home overtook me and I just didn’t notice, but my cold seemed to be about a thousand times better! I was so happy that it did not develop like last time and I only lost about a day total and was back and ready to go for our last few days.

As for DH and I, we were just moving down a floor or two to a regular Savannah view room, and Evil Twin was moving to ASMovies And for those of you counting – this will be the third time DH and I have moved this trip. Nope, not happening ever again. Was just too much packing/unpacking.

I was up early and went to check-us into our new room…once again I ended up with Carlos. He gave us a room on the third floor near the lobby facing Zebra Trail. BUT – I asked if there was another room, as I knew that was a heavily trailed path and I’m a pretty light sleeper. Carlos was fantastic (as he always is) and gave us a different room. We ended up on the 4th floor on what according to the map was Zebra Trail, but we had no Zebras. And better yet – our room was ready. So we finished packing up (ok waking up DH) and then moved everything into the new room

Here’s a few of our room.

We dropped our stuff and were back out the door to check Evil Twin into ASMovies. I think it was a bit of a culture shock for Evil Twin. After the quiet and sereness of AKL, we got to the check in and it was loud and crazy! And while DH and I had spent a brief amount of time quickly visiting the All Star grounds about ten years ago, DH took the opportunity to explore inside the main hall.

Looking at the escape doors

Us waiting (which seemed to take forever!)

DH Wandering

Food Court

Continued in next post....

 

[TyRy]

We finally finished checking in and went to find DH. It was definitely much louder and crazier than the AKL lobby. Evil Twin had been pixie dusted (so we thought) as well and her room was ready. So off we went to find it.

I think she was on the second floor in the Fantasia books building.

Shots from walking to her room.

We finally arrived in her room. It’s got a king bed!

Then we figured out why…she had been given a handicap accessible room. She wasn’t thrilled with no tub, but since it was just for two nights, she didn’t want to bother changing it.

Since Evil Twin had never seen the grounds we did a bit of exploring before heading to a park..and of course, had a bit of fun.

DH liked the tools…

And so did we.

Lots of opportunities for twins who are hams!

DH then found his buddies on our way to the car.

Since we still had a bit more to tackle in Epcot that’s where we were headed…plus we were paying a visit to Canada for dinner.

 

[brookelizabeth]

That bathroom at All Star Movies is buuuuusy! Wowsers, stars everywhere! Looks like a cute resort though! I hope to get over there someday and explore, Henry would love it.

Have those little hallway dresser things always been there at AKL? I don't remember them from the one time we stayed in the regular hotel part....? We had one of those at WL and I loved having it there!

 

[TyRy]

That bathroom at All Star Movies is buuuuusy! Wowsers, stars everywhere! Looks like a cute resort though! I hope to get over there someday and explore, Henry would love it.

It is cute and I'm sure kids love it...however, a certain 30-something female felt a wee bit different. And it was busy. I'd hate to have the flu and be stuck in that bathroom!

Have those little hallway dresser things always been there at AKL? I don't remember them from the one time we stayed in the regular hotel part....? We had one of those at WL and I loved having it there!

I'll have to go back and check from our first trip to AKL in 2006...I thought so, but maybe not.

 

[DisneyJo]

Just catching up and it sounds as though you had a great AK day and fantastic that your DH's hat was found

Your YH meal looks lovely, sorry about the waiter though and I think maybe Evil Twin should have visited AKL at the end of her stay

 

[TyRy]

Just catching up and it sounds as though you had a great AK day and fantastic that your DH's hat was found

I really do enjoy that park more and more.

Your YH meal looks lovely, sorry about the waiter though and I think maybe Evil Twin should have visited AKL at the end of her stay

Oh you have no idea how much she was thinking the same thing.

 

[TyRy]

We had to finish up exploring a couple of more countries with Evil Twin, so headed over to Epcot. And as you know by now, we had to stop for photos!

Since there was no much of a line, we wanted to try SE again to see if we would get the video/pictures to work. And YAY – this time it did. Although I’m not sure why Evil Twin suddenly looks like Pebbles Flintstone

We started to head into the countries, but got distracted again by Photopass At least this time, we had a “magic” shot.

Now our tummies were grumbling so it was food time – and we really did head into WS.

We decided to snack while we hit some of the countries we had not visited. First stop was for Guacamole in Mexico. Again – this is the only Guacamole I’ve ever tried that I liked.

Evil Twin and DH then wanted more of the Potstickers from China – I think they were addicted!

After a quick stop in Japan for photos,

we arrived in France. I had been craving the pizza bread (I know I know – wrong country!) they had in the bakery. WARNING – we forgot to take pictures until we bit into the food!

So I ordered the pizza bread –

It was not as good as last time. This time it was on some multigrain type of bread whereas last time it was on just plain French bread. I was definitely disappointed.

DH had a Quiche which he thought was ok.

And Evil Twin had some kind of sweet – she was full from the food in Mexico and Japan.

As we headed over to England and Canada, we ran into Sleeping Beauty. Aurora happens to be mine and Evil Twin’s FAVORITE princess and Evil Twin was so happy she had on her Sleeping Beauty t-shirt.

We start to make it over the bridge, but found another PP person – can you tell we got our money’s worth out of that disk .

Continued in next post....

 

[TyRy]

Finally we head into the last two countries to explore.

We went into every shop -

Hmmm is anyone home? Jo are you there?

And then just before we were about to head back to North America – we find Alice. This is a character I think I might have seen once at a MNSSHP, but never really have pictures of. There was just a couple of people in line, so we jumped in.

We came upon my adopted home (I call it that since I keep threatening to move depending on who is President and my favorite sport is hockey ).

Of course, we went shopping (and bought a few things.)

Let’s go explore…

Now here’s where my notes have failed me. I have no idea what we did between Canada and dinner at LeCellier three hours later. I’m thinking maybe back to the resort just to make sure my stupid cold was under control. Hmmm – it’s the lost Disney time!

Continued in next post....

 

[TyRy]

Dinner was at LeCellier that night. I knew Evil Twin would enjoy it and the medieval look of it. We checked in, and of course, they were totally running behind. I always plan on at least 30-45 minutes of waiting here. This time the CM’s were playing trivia games with people waiting inside, so at least that helped pass the time. Evil Twin kept winning sticker after sticker as she knew a ton about Canada…she cleaned up.

We were finally shown our table, not too far from the entrance, but at least we didn’t feel like we were sitting on top of others. Drinks were up first.

Evil Twin had a smoothie.

DH had a beer – which he now gets at the local martini bar all the time!

And yes my friends, I was back on my quest for glow cubes!!! So I had a Glowtini.

It wasn’t as good as the one at The Wave…but I still drank it.

We started with the bread and butter – no presentation about the three different kinds of breadsticks so I filled Evil Twin on what I remembered.

DH and I went with the Pre-Fixe menu for dinner. Seemed like a good deal to us as it had what we would have ordered anyway.

For our starters:
DH had the sausage which he split with Evil Twin –

And I had the soup –

I always hope that I’ll like the soup more than I do, but it’s always kind of a take it or leave it for me.

For dinner, DH and I had the Prime Rib,

except I skipped the sauce and substituted the mashed potatoes. The food was ok…better than Cinderella’s Castle by a mile, but still just ok.

Evil Twin had the Mushroom Filet which she absolutely loved! She also ordered a side of Mac N Cheese to share and that was really good too.

For dessert I had the sorbet –

DH had the chocolate Moose -

He also ordered Ice Wine which surprised me as he does not like sweet wine, but he really wanted to try it again, since he did like it a bunch of years ago when we first had it at Le Cellier.

Overall it was a good meal and we were a happy bunch.

Our server last time was so fun and awesome even though she was somewhat frantic, we were hoping for the same kind of person. Alas, that was not to be, and our server was just fine – nothing great, but not bad at all.

We dropped Evil Twin off at her hotel and then we headed back to our room to relax and take in the view. Tomorrow was Evil Twin’s last day with us as she was leaving late afternoon and we knew we’d be busy getting everything in before that.

 

[TyRy]

I also just wanted to say thanks to everyone who is still reading this report whether you are posting or not. I really do enjoy doing them, and usually do not drag them out THIS long.

I'm going to really try and finish up soon so I can post my Pre-Trip for October. I'm more excited now about it as I just got some pretty good news for it (no it wasn't a rate or anything like that.) So now I really want to get that going, but want to make sure this one is finished first.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I am a guac-girl. Love it, love it! I don't think I have tried it from Mexico yet...must do on a future trip!!! I think it will be closed this time though...

That "lost Disney time" happens to me too. I attempt to take pictures every few minutes just for the TR!

Oooh, good October news...!!! We are gonna have to wait for the PTR though, aren't we???

 

[Flossbolna]

I am still very much enjoying your report! Loved the Canada pictures. This narrow walkway through the rocks is very much like one which I explored when I was in Canada and I love it.