Trip Report - September / October 2024

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/2/24
We both went to the gym about 7, still walking over to the Bella section since the AC in the gym in the St Augustine still isn’t working. I took a picture of the Bella pool since it’s a nice bright sunny sky and it looked nice (before it gets too hot).


After our workout, we did our normal routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast before heading out. We went to Animal Kingdom



We always stop for pictures and usually in front of the tree they do some cute magic shots.




We went on Dinosaur. We both really like this attraction and are disappointed it’s closing, but I expect the new ride will be an overlay of the same ride track but with a new theme (kind of like how Frozen at Epcot is the old Norway boat ride).


We played some of the carnival games in DinoLand, another area we’ll be sad to see go. I’m not too surprised since these games aren’t often very crowded. My favorite game here is the one where you throw a ball and if it lands in a cup you win a prize corresponding to the colored cup. I won both a small and large prize and chose Mickey Mouse and an Igaunadon.



We watched the Nemo show next which must have been having some technical difficulties since it stopped a few times. They edited the show and some scenes were cut out. It was still enjoyable.

It was time for Scott to ride Flight of Passage. I can’t ride this so found a rock to sit on and wait for him while he enjoyed his ride.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/2/24 Continued
We stopped at the Nomad Lounge and were pleasantly surprised that we were able to get seats immediately at the inside bar. I think many people wait for the outside tables on the patio, but we wanted to be inside in air conditioning since it’s hot out. This is our first time here.


I ordered the Tempting Tigress and Scott ordered the Annapurna Zing.


The bartender mentioned if I don’t like my drink to tell her so she can make it right. Maybe many people complain about this drink. I didn’t like it and got the Llama Libation instead, this was much better.



We ordered the Cuban Sliders and the Pork Belly. The sliders with the yucca fries were very good. I found the pork belly too fatty but Scott liked it.



We also ordered the Churros which were great.



We went on Tough to Be a Bug next. I’m glad we went since they are going to close this and overlay it too. Of course we stopped for one of my favorite types of pictures that they were doing outside Tough to Be a Bug by the exit.



We decided to head out of the park. I thought this was a cute picture of Scott looking at the tree as we were getting ready to leave. He has the stuffed animals won attached to his backpack to make it easier to carry.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/2/24 Continued
We stopped at Publix for a few items on the way back to the resort.

Even though we told them when we checked in we didn’t want any maid service, they came while we were out. I’m sure they think it’s nice but I washed the towels in my own detergent after getting some extras and now they were gone. They replaced the towels and there are a decent amount of them; I know I sound kind of high maintenance but we aren’t asking for extra, if anything we’re making their job easier.

The dishwasher still isn’t working so someone from maintenance came again to try to fix it.

I’m surprised we’re having so many issues with the villa this trip; everyone that comes to fix things is super friendly and helpful. I know things happen so it doesn’t really bother us.

After showering and changing for the evening, I’m amused easily so found this funny. I like Bombas brand socks; they are marked with a R or L for the right or left foot. When I pulled this new pair out, I had two R’s (two right foot socks). I wore them and it didn’t feel weird.

We drove to the Beach Club for our dinner reservation at Beaches and Cream. We walked around the resort a bit before checking in at Beaches and Cream.



We were seated pretty quickly right after our reservation time.


We both had soda to drink; Coke for Scott and Sprite for me.

I had the grilled cheese with bacon and French fries. Scott ordered the French Dip with tater tots. We both enjoyed our food. Sometimes a simple meal just hits the spot.



For dessert we shared the Strawberry Shortcake. This was very good and not too big, we were able to finish it.


We were planning to head to either Epcot or Hollywood Studios after dinner for a few rides and a nighttime show, but it started to rain. We decided to head back to the resort instead.

 

[VAtink]

Joining in a bit late! Oh my goodness, we were at Narcoossee's the same night! It looks like you were only like a table or two from us! That's so wild!

 

[Noreen411]

Joining in a bit late! Oh my goodness, we were at Narcoossee's the same night! It looks like you were only like a table or two from us! That's so wild!

Hi. I need to pay attention to who/what is around us more. I totally would have come over to say Hello if I saw you and your mom.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/3/24
We both went to the gym in the Bella section about 7:30. Our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast followed.

We drove to Epcot


We got in line for the small world/people (not sure the official name) picture that I really like and unfortunately, the photographer said he’s closing the line and would be back later. We didn’t get this picture now.

We went to one of the other picture lines near the front of the park and got in line to wait our turn. The photographer was with a couple taking pictures so we waited. They were done taking their pictures and were just gabbing away with the photographer. I understand people being friendly and chatting; I do it too. This went on for over 5 minutes, literally since I started checking the time. Scott, who is usually more patient than I am, asked the photographer if she’s taking pictures. She apologized and said she got carried away with her conversation. We sound like we’re being grumpy but this was a bit ridiculous. I chat with people all the time, but shouldn’t she be keeping an eye on her line? She was friendly and chatty with us too and she took a cute picture.


We rode Journey into Imagination. Figment wasn’t there for pictures but will be back later.




We went on Living with the Land; always a calm and peaceful ride.

Next was Soarin; I really like this attraction, especially when you are in the middle section and the landmarks aren’t crooked which happens sometimes if you are seated on the end.

It took some looking around and asking, but we finally found the bench with Walt so stopped for a picture.


Scott got a lobster tail from one of the Food & Wine booths. He said it was a little tough but still tasty.


It started pouring. We were right by Creations (the store) so went in there to look around hoping the rain would slow down. A lot of people had the same idea. Scott bought this cute alien guy that makes noise.

Next was Remy, it was still raining but not a torrential downpour so we walked over there. This is always cute. I wouldn’t wait long for it but with LL it was pretty quick.



We saw the American Adventure show. This is always a nice show, it’s also a comfortable air conditioned theater.

We continued walking around World Showcase stopping here and there.


It was time for us to ride Frozen and we were on quickly. While I like the theming of this ride, I’m liking it less and less. You used to just get a little sprinkle on it; lately the seats are wet and you get much wetter on the ride than in the past. I don’t like getting wet in my clothes on rides. Luckily, Scott carries a small gym sized towel just for this purpose so I used that to wipe the seat when we got on.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/3/24 Continued
It was time for Scott to ride Guardian’s of the Galaxy. I can’t ride this, I haven’t tried it, but trust Scott when he says it would make me sick. Of course I’ll still take the cute pictures outside then find a place to wait while he rides.






We found another cute picture to take, it’s nice when there are magic shots specific to festivals, the time of year, etc. The regular magic shots are always cute but it’s nice to see something different too.


We saw the a photographer doing the small world type picture that I like so we made sure to get in line for that.


We headed out and drove to Caribbean Beach Resort for our dinner reservation at Sebastian’s Bistro. We went early to have pre-dinner cocktails at Banana Cabana. We were happy to see the barstools are back; during our last trip they weren’t out.


Scott had a Double Bourbon with Coke and I had a Banana Cabana. This is my favorite drink at this bar; I’ve tried a few different cocktails here, but always come back to this one. We put Scott’s alien on the bar to get him in the picture.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/3/24 Continued
We were seated on time at Sebastian’s Bistro. It’s a set menu, there is also a vegetarian option, but we stuck with the regular one. They will bring you more of anything you want.

The bread is good and would be great if it was warmed up.


The salad is very light and refreshing


The meat platter has various items on it including steak, chicken, fish, pulled pork and some sauces that go with the different items.


The sides include rice, broccoli, and a vegetable curry.


The star of the meal is the bread pudding served with ice cream and caramel sauce. This is now our favorite bread pudding at Disney, edging out the similar one from O’Hana and/or Tambu Lounge at the Polynesian.




This was a very good meal and we both enjoyed Sebastian’s Bistro.

When we left the restaurant it looked so pretty out and we wandered around for a bit.

 

[BellaBaby]

Good updates!
So where is that Walt statue in Epcot? We've been so many times as well, but I'm still not sure where it is!
My DH never rides GOTG anymore. He always felt sick when he rode too, so he waits for us as well. I think he likes the break! Lol

 

[Noreen411]

Good updates!
So where is that Walt statue in Epcot? We've been so many times as well, but I'm still not sure where it is!
My DH never rides GOTG anymore. He always felt sick when he rode too, so he waits for us as well. I think he likes the break! Lol

Hi
I would probably have to ask again if we were trying to find that Walt on the Bench statue, but think it wasn’t far from where Connections is and you see Spaceship Earth when you are looking towards the Walt Statue.
It’s not worth taking the chance of not feeling well just for one ride; there is so much else to do so I’m guessing I’ll probably never try GotG.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 10/4/24
We both went to the gym in the Bella section around 7:15. For the first time this trip it was crowded since the gym is small. It wasn’t a lot of people, just 3 other people, but with the size of the gym it seemed crowded.

After our workout, we did our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, then breakfast.

When we’re driving we always pass these souvenir type stores but never go in. Scott wanted to take a look at see what was there so we browsed around one of these massive stores and bought a few Tshirts.

We decided to go to Disney Springs for a little bit. We saw a photographer so stopped for a few cute pictures.




In World of Disney we bought a few more shirts. Remember that alien that Scott bought; where they are displayed it’s kind of cute that when you hit the button for one to say it’s little saying, the others nearby all chime in too. Scott wanted to get a few more of those aliens so he could have them all make noise too.

We continued walking around a bit stopping in stores here and there


At the Days of Christmas store we found an ornament engraved with the year that looked nice and also some little snack ornaments for our corner tree. They used to have great annual ornaments each year, but lately those are getting harder to find; they may have some but they aren’t as cute as they used to be.

We stopped at the picture studio and took a picture there too

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 10/4/24 Continued
We got on the Gideon’s standby line which was only about 20 minutes. While we were waiting I popped over to the Wine Bar George window and ordered a Millionaire Shortbread, packed up to go.

When we got into Gideon’s we ordered some cookies, a piece of cake, and French Toast Cold Brew. We’ve had the Peanut Butter Cold brew before and we thought the French Toast one was even better.


We made a quick stop at Publix (grocery store) for a few items on the way back to the villa.


Below are pictures of our items from Gideon’s and Wine Bar George; we unwrapped to take the pictures then wrapped them up to put them away. The cookies were frozen to come back to NJ with us.

Red Velvet Cake


Crumb Cake (or maybe they are called Coffee Cake) Cookies. We got 2 of these; one we froze and one we nibbled on during the trip. These are really good. It’s the morning edition of the cookie and when they run out, they run out. There is an evening one too (a chocolately one)


Frankenstein Cookie. This came back to NJ and is still in the freezer.


Bride of Frankenstein cookie. This came back to NJ and is still in the freezer


Millionaire’s Shortbread from Wine Bar George’s window. We each took a little piece to try this; it was OK but probably not something I would order again. We froze the rest to bring home to NJ.


Scott’s original Alien was sitting by one of the lamps


Now that he bought a few more, they were all stacked and we amused ourselves making them all react when the first one said something. You push the button on his belt to make him speak


We went out to the pool, had some fun on the slide and just hanging out in the pool for a bit.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 10/4/24 Continued
We drove over to Hollywood Studios



We headed over to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway train. This is always cute.




We had good timing and were able to see the Frozen Sing Along - those historian’s really make the show.

Next up was my favorite attraction at Hollywood Studios…Tower of Terror



We went in some of the shops and bought some more shirts.

We rode Star Tours; it doesn’t get much love anymore with all the newer Star Wars type rides, but we still like it.

We rode Alien Saucers which is a cute little ride; Scott is more interested in how the cars change tracks than the actual ride.

Toy Story Mania was next and we always enjoy this.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 10/4/24 Continued
We headed out of the park and drove to the Boardwalk for our dinner reservation at Trattoria al Forno. We went a bit early to have pre-dinner cocktails at Abracadabar.



Scott had a Martini and I had my favorite Hoodunit’s Punch


We were seated on time at Trattoria al Forno.


For an appetizer we ordered the Pizza Bianca to share which is an off menu special. We were quick enough to tell them we didn’t want bread since they normally drop that off fairly quickly.


I wasn’t too hungry after the pizza so ordered a Caprese salad. This was light and refreshing.


Scott ordered the meatball appetizer which he always enjoys


Scott was in the mood for Chicken Parmigiana (another one of his favorite food) and he enjoyed this.


We skipped dessert at Trattoria al Forno looking forward to our Red Velvet cake from Gideon’s that was back in the villa. Unfortunately, the cake was very disappointing and dry. We each tried it but threw it out after a few bites.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/5/24
We both went to the gym in the Bella section at 6. Our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast followed.

We drove to Animal Kingdom





In DinoLand we played our favorite carnival game and I won a Minnie Mouse (which matches the Mickey Mouse I won the other day); they were out of Mickey today.



Scott did the single rider line at Expedition Everest and enjoyed his ride. The single rider lane was very quick today.


We went to the safari next and LL line was very backed up, they said there was a rhino laying on the road and was just starting to move. I like how they treat the animals; we’re in their environment and waited for the rhino to move rather than pushing him/her along for our convenience.

We watched the Lion King show which is always enjoyable, but I would prefer if they had more comfortable seats rather than the hard metal benches.


We headed over for Scott to ride Flight of Passage. I waited for him and he was out pretty quickly and enjoyed his ride.


This park is always so pretty to wander around. As often as we’ve visited, we always find a new little area.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/5/24 Continued
We drove over to Hollywood Studios.



We rode Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad; this is such a cute ride. I still miss the Great Movie ride, but I enjoy this as well.

We went to Mickey & Minnie’s short films next. We must have walked past this many times but never stopped to see what it was. This was cute and we’re glad we stopped to watch it. It’s nice to find these little extra things that aren’t necessarily headline attractions but are still fun and something that was new to us.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/5/24 Continued
After walking around the park a bit more, we headed out. We made a quick stop at Publix (grocery store) then went back to the resort. We showered and changed for the evening.

We drove over to the Boardwalk for our dinner reservation at Flying Fish. As the host was walking us to our table, we saw open seats at the bar and asked if we could eat at the bar instead of a regular table. She brought us to the bar and got us situated there. We’ve never sat at the Flying Fish bar since we normally go to Abracadabar for our pre-dinner cocktails when going to either Flying Fish or Trattoria al Forno.



I’m amused easily and think the silverware with fish scales is adorable.



Scott had a Martini and I had a Pacific Island Punch. My drink was good but not as good as my favorite Hoodunit’s Punch from Abracadabar.


We were chatting with both the bartender and one of the customers about Hurricane Milton. The bartender was great, very personable and interesting to talk to (not just about the hurricane).

For appetizers we ordered the Pork Belly and the Octopus Enhancement. I preferred the pork belly while Scott preferred the octopus so we both ate more of the one we preferred.



The bread is warm served with soft butter. It was hard not to fill up on it.


We each ordered our own entree. I had the Chilean Sea Bass. This was good but not as good as the last time I had it here.


Scott had the Seafood Pasta dish which he said was very good.


We each ordered our own desserts, of course tasting each others.
Scott had the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake. He said it was just OK. I agreed with his assessment.


I ordered the Strawberry cake. This was very good; I chose the better dessert.


We enjoyed our meal at Flying Fish.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/5/24 Continued
After dinner we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery to get some snacks to go. We took the pictures back in the villa then re-wrapped everything and put it in the fridge.

Scott ordered an Italian hero; he loves these and will order them anytime he sees them. When he ate it he said it was very good and he would definitely get this again.


This picture is open to see the inners of the sandwich.


We also got a key lime tart. We ate this later in the trip and it was very good, another solid choice.


And a Snickerdoodle muffin. I couldn’t resist with such a cute name. This muffin came home to NJ with us. When we ate it back in NJ it was really good; surprisingly good. Definitely something to get again. If I tried it while we were still in Florida, I probably would have gotten at least 1 more to bring home with us.


We started seriously discussing Hurricane Milton on its way towards Florida and trying to decide what we should do. We were at Disney 2 years ago during Hurricane Ian and really don’t want to be here for another hurricane. The news is predicting Hurricane Milton to be category 5. Do we stay put? Go home early? Head to Alabama since we missed it due to Hurricane Helene? Go back to Hilton Head? Decisions Decisions Decisions.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 10/6/24
We both went to the gym at 6:45 in the Bella section. Our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast. We were watching the news about Hurricane Milton which they are still predicting to be a category 5 storm.

We drove to Epcot. It was kind of rainy and gloomy out. It wasn’t a torrential downpour, more drizzly and sometimes more than a drizzle but not horrible.


We started on Spaceship Earth. We try to choose different options when we plan our future each time we ride this.


We went on Soarin next. We were stuck once seated for a while before the ride started, but once it started we enjoyed our ride.



We headed into World Showcase. We enjoy walking and World Showcase is a great place to do that. We did two laps around World Showcase stopping for pictures, rides, exploring as we went so my pictures may be slightly out of order.




In France we rode Remy which is very cute. I’ve been reading that they have added a single rider line to this; I guess we’ll see how that works during our next trip. It seems like an odd ride to do single rider since there aren’t designated seats like Test Track or Expedition Everest which also have single rider, instead you are squeezing into a row with others?

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 10/6/24 Continued
We wandered through and into the back of the Canada pavilion. I don’t think we’ve ever done that before. We’ve seen the movie and we’ve eaten at Le Cellier, but just strolling through and exploring was another new one for us; just enjoying being here rather than rushing from one thing to another.




We passed a Joffrey’s that had a Coconut Banana Cream Pie Latte. It sounded good so we figured we’d give it a try. Unfortunately, it looked and sounded better than it actually tasted.



In Germany at the Food and Wine booth, Scott had a Bratwurst on Pretzel bread (no mustard). He said this was just OK.


We rode Frozen which Scott really likes. I don’t like it as much as I used to; I don’t like getting wet in my clothes and where it used to just be a sprinkle, the seats are often wet and you get splashed more. Luckily, Scott has a little gym towel with him for this so I can wipe the seat off before I sit in the boat.


We wandered through Mexico after and went on Mexico’s boat ride.