Well, that didn't go just quite as planned ..... an Aug/Sept 17 Update 07/12

[dizneeat]

What else is planned for .........

Day 4

Today we want to visit Disney's Hollywood Studios

and then head to the Polite Pig at Disney Springs

for lunch

and some window shopping.

Later that day we will travel to Epcot

and have dinner at Le Chef de France (where we have not dined in a long time, but why not when on the DDP)

and if we are in time, we'll find a spot to watch Illuminations

Day 5

Finally a day to really sleep in as we only need to go to Disney Springs later in the morning, for brunch at Maria & Enzo's

I guess we will leave stuffed and be happy to walk through Disney Springs for a while before returning to our resort.

So far crowd calendars are saying that Magic Kingdom would be a good place to spend the afternoon and evening, so this is where we will head.

and I guess we might have a late(ish) dinner at Columbia Harbour House, an old favourite ours.

Day 6

Back to Animal Kingdom we intend to go today.

And after some rides we will use some credits at Flame Tree BBQ.

Again, being stuffed, we will return to our resort, or do some offsite shopping and later in the afternoon we will return to Disney's Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic Dining Package at Mama Melrose.

Day 7

And off to the Magic Kingdom we hope to go again. We booked breakfast at Be Our Guest

and later get on some of the rides.

After that we intend to take a midday break before heading to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner

and spend the rest of the evening and Extra Magic Hours at Epcot

Day 8

Hoping to sleep in again, have breakfast at Pop and later head to the Contemporary for lunch at The Wave

If we are not too tired after more food we'll check out the Monorail resorts and their hidden gems

before going to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

and Extra Magic Hours

​

I'll be back with more planning details soon.
​

 

[dizneeat]

What else is planned for .........

Day 9

Guess another sleep in day again and after breakfast we will go back to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

And after some playing in the parks we'll head to Disney Springs for lunch at either the Polite Pig again or Wolfgang Puck's Express

before heading to the Outlets to maybe do some shopping

and that is all we have planned for the day so far. Shocking, I know.


Day 10

Today we want to spend some more time at Epcot

and either spend our CS credit at Sunshine Seasons or in one of the countries around World Showcase

I guess we will be resting/enjoying the pool in the afternoon and then getting ready for dinner at California Grill

and then stay for the new Halloween Fireworks

Day 11

And another visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios (as we are not sure we'll brave the crowds once Star Wars GE opens)

and we decided on having lunch at one of our favourite spots, the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge

More rest time will be in order after this and in the evening we will drive to the Coronado Springs Resort to try out their new restaurant, Toledo.

Day 12

I guess today will turn out to be another rest day as we will definitely sleep in a little and then make our way to the California Grill for brunch.

Guess we will be rolling out of there and need some rest, so therefore there is nothing else planned ....... so far.


Day 13

And again we'll hit Hollywood Studios

have lunch at the resort

and later hit Epcot

and snack around WS for dinner.

​

I'll be back with more planning details soon.
​

 

[franandaj]

Wow! So much to comment on!

The parade at MNSSHP looked fun, I may have to check it out this year. I plan on going back, but not quite so early on into the trip. There are a lot of new things since the last time that I saw it.

I'm sorry that you weren't feeling good the next day, but sometimes it's best just to sleep it off.

You sure have a lot of great restaurants planned!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Well , well you will get your Disney trip after all! I'm glad it worked out for you! Your plans are shaping up nicely! I'm sorry you weren't feeling well. It stinks that you caught it on the ship.

 

[dizneeat]

The parade at MNSSHP looked fun, I may have to check it out this year. I plan on going back, but not quite so early on into the trip. There are a lot of new things since the last time that I saw it.

It was! And I just love the music they play with it.
IF you attend a party this summer don't forget to watch the fireworks - they just announced that there will be new ones. We only intended to go to one party this summer, but with new fireworks I think I might be able to justify another dessert party.

I'm sorry that you weren't feeling good the next day, but sometimes it's best just to sleep it off.

It was a "gift" I brought back from the DREAM. Unfortunately whatever meds I was told to try by my US friends, they just didn't do the trick and I hadn't brought any "cold" meds from home. Who thinks you need cold meds in Florida. Thanks to Miss Irma I got to spend a few days in bed and got a lot better.

You sure have a lot of great restaurants planned!

And we are not even done yet.

Well , well you will get your Disney trip after all! I'm glad it worked out for you!

I'm sorry you weren't feeling well. It stinks that you caught it on the ship.

It was NO fun having a severe cold and headaches and feeling sick, but if you are on vacation you cannot just stay away from all the fun. But it sure slowed us down. Thankfully we had to extend our stay because of Miss Irma coming to visit.

 

[dizneeat]

What else is planned for .........

Day 14

Looks like we will have breakfast at Pop Century Resort if we still have dining credits to burn (guess we will share on some of the CS credits)

and being strengthened like that, we will then starting to pack up most of our stuff, as today will be our last full day at this resort.

Guess we might end doing some shopping or resort hopping as well.

In the late afternoon we will make our way over to The Wave for dinner.

We'll then head over to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Day 15

Today we'll have to change resorts. Well our way won't be far as we only go across Hourglass Lake to the Art of Animation resort

where we'll stay in a Little Mermaid room

so we'll transport our luggage over there and then head to Disney Springs for breakfast (gotta need to finish off those credits!)

and after strolling through Disney Springs we will return to check out Art of Animation and check into our room

Later that day we will have dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe

before heading over to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours.

Day 16

We will sleep in and then have breakfast at the resort

and then drive over to the Animal Kingdom for the Festival of the Lion King Tier 1 package.

where we will have lunch at Tiffins

then watch the Lion King show

before heading to the Savanna for the private safari

Guess we will head back to the resort to experience the pool and the evening is still wide open.


Day 17

Again it's time to change resorts. So this time we will let Disney do the transporting (or not - depending on which car we will have) and drive over to Bay Lake Tower to check in.

We will then spend the morning at the Magic Kingdom until our friend Jill (jedijill) arrives.

So far we have not made any plans on how to spend the afternoon and evening apart from catching up on each others lives.


Day 18

Today the three of us have signed up for the Taste of the Magic Kingdom VIP food tour

Again, the afternoon and evening are still wide open - but I am pretty sure plans will be made.

Day 19

Tom and I will take the boat from the Contempory to Fort Wilderness for brunch at Trail's End

Jill will still be at WDW so we will come up with some fun plans for the afternoon, maybe even hit Food and Wine IF it is open by then

Day 21

Time to change resorts again. Tom and I will have an early breakfast at The Wave

before sending our luggage to the Boardwalk Villas

and meeting up with Jill, who unfortunately will fly home today.

We will spend the morning and afternoon with her before Tom I go back to the Wave for dinner again.

Tom and I have decided that since Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is going to get new fireworks we will visit another Halloween Party
and this time we hope to be able to enjoy them from our seats at a Dessert Party.

Day 21

No plans yet apart from hoping for Food and Wine at Epcot


Day 22
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No plans yet apart from hoping for Food and Wine at Epcot


Day 23

No plans yet for the morning and early afternoon apart from hoping for Food and Wine at Epcot. Around mid afternoon we'll have so say goodbye to Epcot and head to the airport, where we will need to return the rental car and go through security before getting on a plane to fly to Germany.


Day 24

We'll arrive in Frankfurt around midday and then hop on a small(ish) plane for the last leg of the trip.
We should be back home by mid afternoon. ​

 

[jedijill]

Yay! I get lots of Karin and Tom time! Can't wait to see you guys!!!!

Jill in CO

 

[Flossbolna]

How wonderful that you were able to swing this trip! Sounds like you will have great fun!

 

[dizneeat]

Yay! I get lots of Karin and Tom time! Can't wait to see you guys!!!!

Jill in CO

Partytime!!

How wonderful that you were able to swing this trip! Sounds like you will have great fun!

We were very lucky indeed!

But we will have lots of fun at Easter as well, when we meet up with some friends in Salzburg!

 

[Flossbolna]

But we will have lots of fun at Easter as well, when we meet up with some friends in Salzburg!

Yes! I am really looking forward to this!

 

[pooh'smate]

Sounds like a fantastic trip. I really want to see Festival of Fantasy Parade this trip and I think I may do the parade package at Tony's.

 

[Oscar5933]

Wow! Sounds like you will have a very full trip!
I didn't know that there were going to be new fireworks at the Halloween Party. Last year I went in September and it was a lot of fun.
Hope to do it again this year in September.

 

[jenseib]

Woohoo! So happy you can make it work!

 

[disgeek009]

For a 'last minute' trip, it certainly sounds big! You're going to be very busy. I'm so jealous that you can take such long vacations!

 

[dizneeat]

Yes! I am really looking forward to this!

Us too!

Sounds like a fantastic trip. I really want to see Festival of Fantasy Parade this trip and I think I may do the parade package at Tony's.

We are very much looking forward to it. Tomorrow marks the 20 week until our trip milestone. Yippie!
We usually don't watch the parade, as it is around midday when it is so hot and you have to stake out a spot way early. We really hope that with the package we won't have to wait around in the blazing sun forever. I read some reviews and it looks like it is well worth it. Food looks good too.

Wow! Sounds like you will have a very full trip!

It definitely looks like it. We haven't had a dining plan in a long time, so this should be interesting.

I didn't know that there were going to be new fireworks at the Halloween Party. Last year I went in September and it was a lot of fun.
Hope to do it again this year in September.

I have read it on at least 3 blogs, so I guess it's true. We really enjoyed HalloWishes, but on the other hand it should be interesting to see and hear something new. AND, it gives us a good excuse to book two parties instead of just one.

Woohoo! So happy you can make it work!

So are we, Jen, so are we!

For a 'last minute' trip, it certainly sounds big! You're going to be very busy. I'm so jealous that you can take such long vacations!

It "grew" on us. I started out with just the 14 nights on DDP, then could not find flights that were "payable". So I had to add a day or two and ended with adding eight. Now we have "kind of" reasonable flights and a 24 day vacation. We also were able to score a full size car at a GREAT discount. Booked two days ago and today the price is about 500$ more.
As for the long vacations - I pays to be a teacher as we have 9 weeks off in the summer, but then we have to travel at the most exensive time and it would not make much sense to spend more than 3000 Euros on a flight and just stay a week. Must make the most of expensive airfare.

 

[wdwnut61]

Didn’t take long and we had arrived at the park, scanned our Magic Bands and been given our wristbands and off we went into the park.

Great pics I love your ears! I
The Fall decorations are so pretty

So we headed over there and found the line out the door.
We were not quite sure if we should get in line, but since we could see the line moving pretty fast, we did. Soon we were at the register and placed our order. To our big surprise it was pretty easy to find a table,

Good to know the line moved quickly glad you enjoyed the Polite Pig

And then Disney comes up with a Free DDP, early in the new year.

Guess what ..... one afternoon I jokingly went to check how much it would cost us going to a value resort.

And oh wait .........

this would be in the budget.
So the penny pinching started and after some time we took the plunge

and

again this summer!

Congrats on going again this year and what a trip it's shaping up to be

 

[dizneeat]

Great pics I love your ears! I
The Fall decorations are so pretty

We both just love the Halloween/Fall decorations at WDW. Halloween is not really celebrated here the way it is in the US. There is lots of sweet stuff in the shops, but not many people decorate, so we love to see the decorations at WDW.

Good to know the line moved quickly glad you enjoyed the Polite Pig

We were amazed it moved the way it did and it was even pretty easy to find a table. Can't wait to go back - the food is really good.

Congrats on going again this year and what a trip it's shaping up to be

Thank you! We were surprised ourselves that we will be able to pull if off, but it should work out nicely.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, September 03

Brunch and a short visit with friends - part 1


I felt a bit better this morning, still not fully okay, but well enough for another eating adventure.
We both love California Grill and since they have introduced Brunch at the Top it has become a must do every trip.

And today was this day.

We had a 10am reservation and arrived about 20 minutes early and they were not taking people up yet, but we had signed in and were just walking around and strolling through the shops. And just before 10am we headed back to their check-in desk and were taken up to the restaurant. There were only a few people going up with us and we were taken to our table immediately.
And what a nice window table it was.

We sat down and the server was welcoming us and asking if we had been to California Grill and Brunch before and he was happy to hear that we were repeat guests. We were served some Mimosas

and then the server walked us round the buffet and explained the individual dishes,

before handing us a plate and told us to go and try for ourselves, while he was going to get us some

coffee, tea and some more water.

To be continued ........​

 

[Mickey.MAC]

thank you for sharing! Your photos look great. We have the Polite Pig in NJ, so it was awesome to see it in Disney Springs. Also, Our favorite restaurant is California Grill which we got a reservation for in our next trip. Which website do you use to store and upload your pictures for your posts?

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, September 03

Brunch and a short visit with friends - part 2

We were served some Mimosas
and then the server walked us round the buffet and explained the individual dishes,
before handing us a plate and told us to go and try for ourselves, while he was going to get us some
coffee, tea and some more water.
Tom started his meal with a plate of salad, sushi and other yummies,

while I had my heart set on a tiny glass of yoghurt, topped with granola and some yummy fresh fruit.

What a start to the day. Soon it was time to pick up some more food and I filled my plate with some of the

fresh salad, some cold cut meats and deviled eggs, while Tom indulged in some

charcuterie, deviled eggs, pickles and we both had some of their Cheddar biscuits, which are to die for. And once we were done, our plates were whisked away and our hot entrees were served. Tom had decided to order the

Chef's Spanish Omelette, Three Eggs, Marble Potato and Toscano Vinaigrette. Predictable me had ordered the

Maine Lobster Eggs Benedict, Two Soft-poached Eggs, Toasted English Muffin, Butter-poached Maine Lobster and Classic Hollandaise. And our server had ordered the

Carrot Cake Pancakes served with Cream Cheese Cream, Maple-Bourbon Syrup and Pecans without our knowledge, as he wanted us to try something new that got great reviews. It definitely was a lot of food

and we struggled munching it all down, but we took our time and finished our ordered mains AND the pancakes which were devine.

When the server came to take our plates away we chatted for a bit as we had mentioned we had been on a cruise and he was counting down to one. We knew there were still sweets to come, but by now we knew that we would not be able to even taste them, so when the server brought them out, we just took a photo

and asked for them to be boxed up, which he happily did. And while he was at work, we used the time to take a few more pics.

We then settled our bill and, box in hand, we went down to the entrance to go back to the resort.

We hopped in a taxi and within 20 minutes we were at the Yacht Club again.

We retreated to our room for a while and around 1.30pm we got ready to check out the quiet pool.
It was quite a walk, faster than we had expected, but we did not see ourselves fighting for a chair at Stormalong Bay. When we finally had made it there we found it quite deserted, there were only three other people there.

We played in the pool for quite a while, then dried off in the sun before heading back into the pool again.
We left the pool after about an hour and a half and headed back to our room, showered and got ready to deliver some presents to our friend Michelle and her family.
Now, to be honest, we had been invited for dinner at their house, which is about an hour from Walt Disney World, but with me still not over my headcold we didn’t want them to catch it.
Thing is that they have a disabled daughter and at that time Michelle’s husband, Vito had had surgery for a serious illness and I did not want him to deal with sneezing and coughing. So we decided to just drive out there, drop off the presents we had brought for them and be gone again.
So around 4pm we started our drive to their house and arrived there about 70 minutes later. As always we missed their driveway and had to turn around a little down the road, but then we made it there. Their car was out front, so we were sure someone was home and I walked to the door and rang the bell.

And then we waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

We were just thinking about storing our gift somewhere close to their door, when we thought about knocking one more time and that is when we learned that their doorbell wasn’t working and we should have just walked in.
Well, not quite the European way, but we had found our friends, handed over our gifts and the box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts that we had picked up for them and chatted for a little while.
Michelle gave us some cold medicine she had at the house and wrote down some other which she swears by and until it was finally time to say our goodbyes, we were still standing outside.
Driving back to the resort we stopped at a Walgreens to pick up the medicine, and arrived back at the resort in the early evening.

We didn’t feel like going to a park and we didn’t really feel like going out for dinner, so we just retreated to our room, had a picnic type dinner made from the food we had bought and needed to finish off and just watched a little TV before we called it a day.

To be continued ........​

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