Trip Report - September/October 2022

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 10/4/22 Continued
In France we stopped at the pastry place. We got macarons and an almond croissant. The macarons are packaged really well and they made it back to New Jersey with us without getting damaged. They were very good. The almond croissant we wrapped for later in a ziploc baggie and enjoyed this over the next day or so. Scott was really surprised by how much he enjoyed the croissant and already said he wants to get this again.





We continued our stroll around World Showcase. I probably have the pictures of the countries slightly out of order. We stopped to watch various shows/performers as we strolled around.











In Germany we got a butter bar in the caramel shop. This was wrapped for later and ended up coming home with us. Neither of us liked this one very much. We each took a bite but tossed the rest.

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 10/4/22 Continued
In Mexico we waited on line for the Chocolate bread pudding from the food and wine festival booth. This was OK, but the pretzel bread pudding the other day from Germany was better. We didn’t finish this one.



I’m pretty sure we rode the boat ride in Mexico and there wasn’t much of a wait.





At the Hawaii food and wine festival booth Scott wanted to try the Spam Sushi. It sounds bizarre but actually was better than either of us expected. It was also a decent size portion.


We probably walked around World Showcase about 3 times; just enjoying being together at Disney.





We bought a few items in the Creations shop. While we weren’t thrilled with the 40th anniversary merchandise we bought a cute stuffed Figment (this picture is from later when we were back in the villa). We also bought a few more cute Disney shirts.



We headed out of Epcot and back to the resort to drop off our purchases

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 10/4/22
We drove to the Boardwalk. We have dinner reservations later at Trattoria Al Forno, but we were finally going to do something we’ve been talking about doing for a while…

We rented a surrey bike. This was so much fun. There is one section that’s kind of uphill and people walking would cheer us on as we rode up the hill. It’s not really a hill, more of a slow incline. We rode around probably 4 laps, stopping here and there for pictures.

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 10/4/22 Continued
We went to Abracadabar for pre-dinner cocktails. I had the Magic Mirror and Scott had a martini.
We enjoyed our drinks and hanging out there.



Scott went to check in at Trattoria Al Forno a little before our reservation time. They advised him they were running a little behind which was fine; we were enjoying ourselves at Abracadabar. We were seated maybe 15 minutes past our reservation time.

The bread is cute - it comes in a little bag with olive oil and an olive tapenade to dip. I don’t like olives so avoided that part of the oil, but Scott liked it.



For an appetizer we ordered the margarita pizza half with sausage and arugula. This was very good.


We shared an entree of the lasagne. This was a different shape then I’m used to seeing but it was very tasty and the shape made it possible to have more of those yummy crispy edges.



We also shared the side meatball. This came on polenta. I liked it more than Scott did. He makes his own meatballs and his own sauce/gravy so he normally isn’t as happy with meatballs in a restaurant.


They brought the food out as it was ready so we ended up with everything on the table. This was way too much food and we had leftovers to bring back.

None of the desserts really appealed to us so we skipped dessert. Instead we stopped at the Boardwalk Deli to get desserts to go. The place is relatively new so we figured we’d give it a try.

We ordered a Boo Brownie, Half Moon (black/white) cookies, blueberry scone, and a chocolate covered cream puff. These pictures are from later when we were back in the villa.

We didn’t like the brownie. It wasn’t normal brownie consistency and was really messy to eat. We each gave it a little bite then tossed it.



The black/white (or half moon) cookie wasn’t like the black/white cookies we get in a New York deli (or bakery). The cookie base was chocolate instead of the normal vanilla. I didn’t like it but Scott thought it was OK.



The scone was very good. We each had a bite that night. The next morning I thought I’d have another little piece with breakfast but Scott already finished it.



The cream puff ended up coming back to NJ with us. We froze it and it made it home OK, but a little crushed. Scott said it was pretty good.



We walked over to Epcot for the fireworks. This was a nice way to end the night.



After the fireworks we walked back to the Boardwalk then drove back to the resort.

 

[Paulaparm]

Just got all caught up...and now I'm hungry
Seriously, your meals (and sweets)look great!

 

[Noreen411]

Just got all caught up...and now I'm hungry
Seriously, your meals (and sweets)look great!

Thank you. I also did a dining review in that section including better descriptions of the food (I copied them from the menus when I remembered).

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/5/22
Scott went to the gym at 6 and I went at 6:30
Our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers and breakfast

We didn’t buy Genie+ today since our plan was to watch a few shows at Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, some time at the pool, and maybe Magic Kingdom for fireworks.

We headed to Animal Kingdom and got there a little before 10.

Last night we cancelled our dinner plans for tonight so we’re going to wing it later.




There was a parrot show (maybe not really a show) by the Tree of Life when we were taking pictures. We stayed to watch as parrots were flying all around and someone was narrating what was happening.

We saw the 10:30 Feathered Friends Show

Scott went on the single rider line at Expedition Everest.





We saw the 12pm Lion King Show. It was crowded and we just made it in. It was nice to see that the tumble monkeys and the flying bird lady have returned to the show.





We stopped in a few shops and browsed.





We found the Little People picture. I don’t know what the name of these shots are but they are really cute (I keep calling them little people pictures).



We left the park and drove to Disney Springs.

We got on the standby line for Gideon’s (they weren’t doing virtual queue) and the wait was maybe 20 minutes. Since it was earlier in the day they still had some of the crumb cake cookies. These are probably our favorite of the various cookies. We were only allowed to buy 2 crumb cake cookies each so got 4 of them and 2 banana chocolate chip cookies. We also bought a slice of the red velvet (Valentina) cake. This picture is from later in the day when we were back in the villa.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/5/22 Continued
We went to the Boathouse for lunch and sat at the bar.


Scott had Hendricks with muddled cucumber. I had Duck Duck Razz. This drink is adorable and tastes good. It’s stronger than expected.


We started with 6 Sea of Cortez shrimp. These are really good and so fresh tasting.


Scott saw someone eating clam strips so wanted to order that. These were tasty too.


I saw some of the tables around us getting these rolls that looked great; I always like good bread/rolls. I asked if we could have some and they brought us a plate; normally they are automatically served at the tables but at the bar we had to ask for them. They are as good as they look.


We saw a crab cake being served to a nearby table; Scott wanted to get that too. So we ordered the crab cake with French fries. The crab cake was very good, nice sized pieces of crab, not too much filler. The fries were delicious, probably the best fries I’ve had at Disney. We ate them all.



We were stuffed after our lunch that started off light and just kept adding to it. Everything we had was very good and we enjoyed it.

We walked around Disney Springs a bit before heading back to the resort.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/5/22 Continued
When we got back to the resort we changed and grabbed our pool/beach bag and headed down to the pool.

I took this picture in the morning on the way back from the gym; when we went this afternoon there were plenty of people enjoying the pool. The little ship near the left side in the pool has a small slide for little kids. The red curly water slide near the back of the picture is for all ages; it’s a lot of fun.


After some time at the pool, we showered and changed for the evening.

We originally were thinking of going back to Disney Springs but changed our mind and picked up pizza to go from Flippers on International Drive. We ordered a large cheese pie, half topped with sausage.





We brought the pizza back to the villa and watched a movie about a werewolf while enjoying our pizza. It was nice to have a casual meal like this. The pizza was good.

We did some more laundry and started packing.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/6/22
Scott went to the gym at 6:30 and I went at 7

We did some more packing before our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers and breakfast.

We didn’t buy Genie+ today planning to head to Magic Kingdom to just wander and soak in the atmosphere, Disney Springs, and some time at the pool.

We drove to Magic Kingdom and started wandering around stopping in shops and for photopass photographers.









We went on the PeopleMover; it’s always nice to sit there and ride around. It’s also not usually a wait to get on.
We went on Carousel of Progress.
Then we continued wandering around the park just enjoying being there.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/6/22 Continued
We continued to seek out the photopass photographers as we wandered through the park

I really like this picture - it looks like a postcard, but if you look closely you can see Scott and I near the bottom right









We browsed a few shops and bought a few things as we went.

Heading out of the park we stopped for the photos near the train station. The photographer here, Sam, was great. You could tell he loved his job and tried to get everyone to do something cute/fun in the pictures.







This is my favorite picture. Sam said when he counts to 3 I should jump in the air. He timed it perfectly and I’m in the air in the picture.



We made sure to do a cast member compliment for Sam in the app.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/6/22 Continued
We left the park and drove to Disney Springs.

We went to Homecoming for lunch and sat at the bar.



I had a white peach sangria, Scott had a Coke


We shared the chicken biscuit appetizer, French fries, and the Kale & collards. We enjoyed our lunch. We didn’t finish the chicken biscuits and had one of them wrapped to go for later.







In World of Disney we found a few more shirts.

We went to Earl of Sandwich and picked up sandwiches for our car ride home tomorrow. Scott ordered the Turkey Holiday Sandwich and I ordered the Original.

We drove back to the resort and went swimming.

We showered and changed for the evening.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/6/22 Continued
We went to Epcot planning to walk around a bit and get some more pictures.



This one made me laugh - we’re posing as instructed but they forgot to add Figment to the picture



Of course we posed several times with different photographers so Figment appeared in most of the pictures when he was supposed to









We headed to the Polynesian to go to Tambu Lounge.

I had the Keiki Lemonade (non alcoholic) and Scott had a Martini.



We started with an order of potstickers. These are very good.



We also ordered the spicy tuna roll which was good



The star of the meal of course is the bread pudding. This is fantastic. Our favorite dessert at Disney.


We enjoyed our meal then headed back to the resort. We did the rest of the packing other than the items we would need in the morning.

 

[Paulaparm]

Love your Halloween shirt and your balloon picture is perfect!!

 

[Noreen411]

Love your Halloween shirt and your balloon picture is perfect!!

Thank you

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 10/7/22
We both went to the gym a bit before 6
We did the last load of laundry, used the jacuzzi, showered, and had breakfast
We finished the last bit of packing

We left about 9:45. The car navigation says it’s 1,107 miles until we are home.

We were in Georgia by 1pm. We walked around the Welcome Center for a bit. When we started driving we ate our Earl of Sandwich sandwiches. They aren’t as good cold as they are when you get them fresh. They were still OK.





Around 2:30 we stopped at Peach World and bought some pecans and jam

We were in South Carolina by 3. We started looking for hotels for the night. We originally planned to drive into North Carolina before stopping. We checked trip advisor for ideas. We wanted to find a place with a full freezer to put our Gideon’s cookies in overnight to keep them frozen.

We ended up deciding to stop at the same Residence Inn in Florence, South Carolina that we stopped at on the drive down. Mainly because we knew the cookies would have a freezer there. I’m sure we could have found another place with a freezer, but this was easy. We booked it while driving.

We arrived just before 6pm. We checked in and got the bags from the car. We had our stuff in the room and the cookies in the freezer by 6:15

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 10/7/22 Continued
We walked to the nearby Outback and sat at the bar. Not many people walk here; it was hard to cross the street.

I originally wanted the blueberry lavender lemonade drink, but they were out of it. I picked another of the special drinks - a Pina Koala. I ended up glad they were out of the first drink as this one was great. Scott had Makers Bourbon.





We didn’t order appetizers but each ordered an entree. I had the salmon with rice and vegetables. Scott had the prime rib sandwich with Aussie fries. I ate a few of his fries.





For dessert we shared the butter cake.


We enjoyed our meal at Outback. It’s a solid chain restaurant and you know what you are getting.

We walked back to the hotel and were in bed watching a movie by 9:30 or so

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/8/22
We were up by 4:45. We skipped using the gym in the hotel and just showered and got ourselves ready to head out.
We left a little after 6

As we were driving it was really pretty with the sun coming up and a purple sky



We were in North Carolina by 7 and in Virginia by 10
There was a lot of traffic in Virginia and it took us a while to get to Maryland; it was about 1:30 when we got to Maryland

We stopped to get some lunch. At McDonald’s. I haven’t had McDonald’s in ages. I had a plain cheeseburger (nothing on it, just the meat and cheese on a bun). We shared an order of fries. McDonald’s has the best French fries. Scott had a double cheeseburger and a hamburger. What’s with mustard on burgers? Is that something normal outside the NY/NJ area? We had to make sure to note no mustard on Scott’s. We enjoyed our unhealthy meal.

We were in Delaware by 3:55 (the shortest state we drive through).

We were in New Jersey by 4:15, but we live at the top of New Jersey so still had another 2-2.5 hours to go.

We were home about 6:30

The cats were happy to see us.

Scott picked up sushi for dinner from a local place we both really like, but I forgot to take a picture

We shared the Red Velvet “Valentina” cake from Gideon’s that we froze before bringing it home with us. This was really good. The cake to icing ratio was perfect.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 10/9/22
It’s nice to get home on a Saturday and still have Sunday to do all the usual after vacation “stuff”. We unpacked, did more laundry, went grocery shopping, went through the mail, gave extra attention to the kitties, etc.

Keeping the vacation vibe going we went out to dinner to a nearby Italian place we like maybe 30 minutes from home - Biagios (in Paramus, NJ). We sat at the bar.

I had a white sangria (they make them really good here) and Scott had a martini.


The bread is good and it’s hard not to eat the whole basket


We shared the fried calamari appetizer


For dinner we shared the Veal Chop Parmigiana. Look at the size of this - it’s huge. And it’s really good. Even sharing we can’t finish it and have leftovers to bring home.


We got dessert to go - rainbow cake and chocolate cake. It doesn’t look as good in the box as it would on a plate but it tasted good.





Biagio‘s is a great place for a casual dinner. We always enjoy it.

When we got home we ate our desserts and started watching some of the shows we DVR’d while we were gone.

 

[Noreen411]

Final Thoughts
This was a great trip. We really enjoy going to Disney.

I know many people complain about some of the changes, but it’s still a magical place to us.

We really like having the timeshare to stay in with space to spread out. It’s more like a small condo than a hotel room.

Driving works for us and we’ve made the road trip part of the vacation

If you have any questions, please ask, I love talking about my trips.

Noreen