We Came, We Saw, We NAILED It! 2 BFFs Take On The World **9/1 One Man's Dream**

[khaleesi]

Whoa! You weren't kidding about the fog. I *think* there might be a castle in that picture. LOL.

Does Crystal Palace not do characters for breakfast?

 

[JessicaKnits]

Whoa! You weren't kidding about the fog. I *think* there might be a castle in that picture. LOL.

Does Crystal Palace not do characters for breakfast?

They totally do! Here we are...

 

[JessicaKnits]

My apologies for such a long time between posts! I've been planning a trip to New York City this May and so I've been a little distracted by that with trying to get tickets and reservations and everything set up for that. Now, on with this Trip Report!

After our delayed breakfast at Crystal Palace and missing rope drop, we decided to head off to our first ride of the trip. I always start with the left side of the park. Is it a left handed thing maybe? Well, this morning, we bucked tradition and headed off to...

Where we took a spin on...

The wait was posted at 15 minutes at this point, but was a walk on. Apparently, we didn't have enough coffee with breakfast, because THIS was how our ride photo turned out...

We're having fun, we promise! Since we were there, we headed over to...

Buzz! We look slightly more alert in this photo...

I didn't take a picture of our scores, but we got the EXACT. Same. Score! I didn't even know that was possible, but it was even funnier because neither of us had the slightest clue what we were aiming for the entire time.

We wound up with this guy in the end...

On our way over to the right side of the park (which is of course, the left side) we stopped for a few photopass pictures.

As you can tell, the weather was greatly improved in a short period of time!

We were making our way over to Adventureland, where we took a moment to stop and smell the roses (or in this case, these beautiful yellow flowers)

We arrived in Adventureland...

And found that it was mostly deserted...

Our first stop was at my beloved...

I think that every time I ride this, they change the narrative. I always find it cheeky and fun, but I think I'm usually in the minority with this.

I was still trying to figure out my new camera, but overall, I think it did alright. After the Jungle Cruise, we headed on down the path to catch a ride on...

 

[khaleesi]

Very cute pics with Winnie the Pooh and the gang!

I love both of your shirts! That Bambi one is so sweet.

I can't believe how deserted it looks. That was definitely NOT my experience when I went on the 26th!

 

[rachel09985]

I didn't realize you are doing a TR too! Great start at MK, even if it was deterred from the marathon. I always think the fog looks cool early inthe morning but I am glad the weather got better. Stupid crane!

 

[JessicaKnits]

Very cute pics with Winnie the Pooh and the gang!

I love both of your shirts! That Bambi one is so sweet.

I can't believe how deserted it looks. That was definitely NOT my experience when I went on the 26th!

It was super super quiet on the pathways. The line for the Jungle Cruise was about 15 minutes though, I think it was a little longer though because Pirates was down at the moment and Splash Mountain was closed for renovation.

I didn't realize you are doing a TR too! Great start at MK, even if it was deterred from the marathon. I always think the fog looks cool early inthe morning but I am glad the weather got better. Stupid crane!

EVERY time I've been there, there has been a stupid crane behind the castle. Every. Stinking. Time. Now its at the point where really, it would be wrong if there WASN'T a crane in the picture!

 

[JessicaKnits]

When last we left off...

We had just finished our ride on the Jungle Cruise. I was feeling a little better that we were back on the right side of the park, which of course, is the left. We were about to make our way over to one of my favorite rides...

But quickly found out that we were persona non-grata. Actually, everyone was. The ride was closed and none of our pirate friends could give us a hint as to when it might be re-opening.

We forged ahead, and came across a little kiosk that was handing out these little beauties...

I forget what this was called exactly, but it held our attention for approximately 4 minutes before we were bored. It was a really awesome souvenir though (and free!) and would have been great for younger kids.

We mosied on past Splash Mountain and I may have shed a few tears over the fact we would not be getting to ride during our entire visit. Ok, maybe they were not ACTUAL tears, but I felt them in my heart.

We decided to take a ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I remembered this being quite a bit of fun. I remembered wrong. I got whipped and jostled all around in the car and literally slid all over the place. The lap bar was tight, so much so that I had bruises when we were done. So, not sure exactly what happened, but it was the one and only time we rode.

On our way from Frontierland to Liberty Square, we paused to get our picture taken with these critters...

I have to say, I think Chip and Dale were our favorite characters of the entire trip. They were hilarious! One of them even gave us a great impersonation of Thumper because of Megan's shirt. The photopass photographer was also excellent and took soooo many pictures of us!

We were going to go check out the Hall of Presidents in order to take advantage of the A/C, unfortunately we had just missed the show, so rather than wait onther 15 minutes, we decided to head over to the Haunted Mansion instead. The line looked really long, but moved quickly...

Up next, we were headed to experience the NEW Fantasyland!!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Following along!! Can't wait for the next update!!!

 

[JessicaKnits]

Following along!! Can't wait for the next update!!!

Thanks for joining!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow, Adventureland does seem deserted.

Love the Jungle Cruise as well. I think the skippers have a number of puns/lines they can use and mix up as they want rather than having a set script for the entire ride, so basically no two trips will be identical.

We had the same experience last cruise in that we were the only people in the boat that got into the puns, while everyone else just sat there and (probably) thought we were the weird ones

Bummer about Splash being down your whole trip - one of my favorites!

 

[BOG Obsessed]

Subscribing to your TR
You have me hooked so far. I've been wanting to stay at AoA LM, but no discount. We stayed at POP this past Christmas and loved the theming, of course my DD4 is obsessed with Ariel.
Gotta love the crane pictures in all your castle shots.
Surprised you had a no so great experience on BTMRR.

 

[JessicaKnits]

Wow, Adventureland does seem deserted.

Love the Jungle Cruise as well. I think the skippers have a number of puns/lines they can use and mix up as they want rather than having a set script for the entire ride, so basically no two trips will be identical.

We had the same experience last cruise in that we were the only people in the boat that got into the puns, while everyone else just sat there and (probably) thought we were the weird ones

Bummer about Splash being down your whole trip - one of my favorites!

It's one of mine as well! Megan didn't know what she was missing!

Subscribing to your TR
You have me hooked so far. I've been wanting to stay at AoA LM, but no discount. We stayed at POP this past Christmas and loved the theming, of course my DD4 is obsessed with Ariel.
Gotta love the crane pictures in all your castle shots.
Surprised you had a no so great experience on BTMRR.

The no discount really makes me sad! I am considering another trip early next year, but don't know if I would stay at Art of Animation without a discount. I have always wanted to try Port Orleans Riverside, so we might give that a shot.

 

[JessicaKnits]

Finally, at long last, it was time for us to go check out NEW Fantasyland. I had hoped that I would be able to control myself and avoid looking at pictures so that everything could be a surprise, but I think I only lasted a few days before temptation got the better of me.

The first thing we did was stop by the Seven Dwarves Mine Train to check out the progress!

It looked SO close to being finished, but sadly, no Mine Train for us on this trip. It is a good excuse to go back in the future, right?

Even though we had Fastpass+ reservations for later in the day, we decided to ride the Little Mermaid, because we didn't really have anything else we wanted to do before lunch. We got SO much done in the morning, despite our delay at breakfast.

I didn't take too many pictures because I just wanted to soak it all in and enjoy it.

I loved the seashells in the pathway! They really do think of everything!

Peek-a-boo!!

Megan really only had one request for Magic Kingdom, so with that in mind, we headed to...

Where we took a spin on...

The dreaded teacups. At least we did this before lunch and not after, right?

It was about time for our lunch reservation, so we headed on over towards the monorail, before Megan decided she wanted to ride the boat, so we switched course in favor of the boat launch.

We stopped at the Grand Floridian first...

Before heading off to our destination for lunch, The Polynesian...

 

[Careree22]

:waves: Hi! Loving the TR! Can't wait to read more! You are making the 33 days before my trip seem longer and longer haha

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I too can't wait for the Mine Train!

The queue for Ariel's Ride is really great! The crab game is fun too!

Looks so pretty out on the boat ride!

 

[C Von Schweetz]

Just wanted to say hi!!! And also.... I love love love your TR so far.... can't wait for more!!!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hahaha the mine train is one of my reasons to go back somewhat soonish?

 

[JessicaKnits]

:waves: Hi! Loving the TR! Can't wait to read more! You are making the 33 days before my trip seem longer and longer haha

Aww man! I'm so sorry it's going longer! I promise, once you are under the one month mark, it will go by SUPER fast and you will wake up one day and it will be HERE.

I too can't wait for the Mine Train!

The queue for Ariel's Ride is really great! The crab game is fun too!

Looks so pretty out on the boat ride!

It was a beautiful day out! Despite the morning weather woes we had, it turned out to be a great day!

Just wanted to say hi!!! And also.... I love love love your TR so far.... can't wait for more!!!

Thank you!

Hahaha the mine train is one of my reasons to go back somewhat soonish?

I will take ANY excuse to go back!

 

[JessicaKnits]

We finally had made it to Kona for lunch. Kona is one of my favorite restaurants at Disney, for any meal of the day!

Here is my review of our meal at Kona!

After a successful morning at Magic Kingdom, we took the boat over to the Polynesian for lunch. We checked in at Kona about 10 minutes before our ADR time.

We were seated and told our server would be Harold. A little foreshadowing for our meal...when we arrived, a man told his family to leave and go on ahead without him. Then, when his server came by, he asked if he wanted to charge the meal to his room. He said no way, he just wanted his check so he could pay cash and get out of there. He had clearly been waiting for a while. His server also happened to be our server.

Now, having paid myself through college waiting tables and bartending, I understand that slow service is not usually the servers fault. Our food was served at the correct temperature, so I would say the slow service likely stemmed from the fact that A) The restaurant was completely full at 1:30 and B) The kitchen was pretty behind.

That being said, Harold was not attentive and never checked in with us to let us know that it would be just a little while longer or ask how our meals were. Our service was just adequate.

However, I am happy to report that our food was outstanding, and was very much worth the wait. We were looking forward to heading back here later in the week.

For appetizers, we were super excited to find out that the rumors that sushi was now on the lunch menu were 100% accurate, so we both started there.

Megan had this...

Crab Rangoon - crab salad rolled in Nori, tempura fried and served with won tons and eel sauce $11.99

This was so so SO good! It was served hot and crispy and tasted like a crab rangoon. It was a great choice!

I went with this...

Volcano Roll - Spicy Tuna Seafood Lau'ai with Tempura Crunch $14.99

This was delicious! It had some wonderful, fresh tuna in the center, along with carrots and scallions. It was surrounded by little mounds of delicious seafood salad and the sauce was a sweet, almost mango-y.

We both resisted the urge to lick our plates clean.

For entree's, Megan went with...

Pan-Asian Noodles with Shrimp - Yakisoba Noodles, Wok-seared with Vegetables in a Ginger-Garlic Sauce $17.99

These were good, but not exactly what she was expecting. The sauce was extremely sweet, much more like teriyaki sauce. This was also an incredibly large portion.

I went with this (really sorry about the bite!)

Grilled Ahi Tuna Sandwich - served with Pickled Vegetable Slaw on our Pineapple Bread with Sweet Potato Fries $13.99

It was a difficult choice between this and the fish tacos, but I was glad that I went with the sandwich. I ordered the tuna medium rare. I could have seriously just eating the bread with the spicy mayo they put on there, but everything else was great too! This too was a HUGE piece of Tuna for a sandwich, I couldn't finish it.

By the time Harold came to give us dessert menus, we had been left alone long enough that our meals had settled and we were simply too full to even think about dessert. We settled the check and waddled back to the monorail...

After we finished our meal, Megan made the executive decision that we had to stop back at the resort for her to change shoes. She had been wearing some hiking sandals that were similar to Keens, but weren't actually Keens and they were giving her horrible blisters.

We asked the receptionist if it would be faster to walk over to the TTC or take the monorail. She said it was much faster to take the monorail. I think she was a bit mistaken? We arrived back to the car and to the car. It was a few minutes drive back to the resort and we quickly changed her shoes before heading back to the park....

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Glad you had a good time at Kona! That's one of the places I'm thinking of for next trip!