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

[dizneeat]

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.

Thank you for your kind words! We fell in love with the food at the Polite Pig and we intend to use some of our Free DDP credits there this summer. There is no such thing here in Austria, so we need to get our fill while at WDW.

Also, Our favorite restaurant is California Grill which we got a reservation for in our next trip.

It is one of our all time favourites as well and we LOVE both Brunch and dinner. We also tried the Savor, Sip and Sparkle event, which was a lot of fun. Again, looking forward to Brunch and Dinner during our next vacation as well.

Which website do you use to store and upload your pictures for your posts?

I use Smugmug, which I am VERY happy with. I used Photobucket before their price hike and was forced to look for something else after the hike. That is when I discovered Smugmug. Very easy to work with and instant help if there are any problems.

 

[dizneeat]

​

Day 14, September 04​

Let’s conquer the parks again - part 1

Having had some time to relax I felt like having some fun in the parks again.
So we had a nice leisurely breakfast in the room and then made our way over to the Animal Kingdom. We were lucky being directed to a parking spot pretty close to the tram

and soon we were in line for the ride to the entrance.

Well, we are used to everything being organized and neat, but the fight to get on the tram was real.
We made it on the second one out and soon after arrived at the security check and joined the lines. Check done we headed for the turnstiles and soon we were inside the park.
We strolled to the Tree of Life, did some window shopping in the shops and then walked over to Africa for the first ride of the day, Kilimanjaro Safaris. We scanned our fast passes and soon were walking through the line and past the waiting standby line.
There was a tiny bit of a wait before you were assigned a row, but soon enough we found ourselves in a row waiting for departure. They had a bit of a delay on the track so it took a few minutes until we were able to drive out.

It was another fun safari with a lot of animals to be seen and a fun driver.

When we got off we were inside our next fast pass window, which was for Flight of Passage. So we tracked over to Pandora

and had a few photopass pics taken before we scanned our Magic Bands and walked through the line. We were able to just walk through most of the line and only had a little wait to be assigned a spot to ride the banshee.
And even so everyone is in awe with the ride, it is not my favourite and neither is it Tom’s and this is maybe because we haven’t seen the movie.
Tried to watch it, but it is just not my cup of tea.
Nevertheless we wanted to give it another go, so we might learn to love it too. The ride was nice but didn’t change our mind too much and so after riding we were walking around the area and checking out Satu’Li Canteen, but there were far too many people, so we headed over to our all time favourite, Flame Tree Barbecue.
There was a line too, but we chose a shortish looking line and decided on what we were going to have while waiting.

There were only three people in line ahead of us, so how long can it take?

Well, turns out that the family on the opposite side only had one person in line and when it was her time to order they all swarmed in and were now discussing what to get, and with that holding up the line. It took them a long time to put their order in, just to then decide to tweak it and change it around. The cashier was doing her best, but she had to cancel and redo the order. When they finally had everything set up, the woman used her dining plan credits, but it turned out she did not have enough, so again the family came over and they decided who would share with whom and could this and that be taken off the bill.
The cashier wasn’t able to and they had to call for a manager.
By now our line was seriously long and the cashier was apologizing over and over again, but it had not been her fault at all.
In the end the manager was able to sort everything out and the family proceeded to flock to the counter to pick up their food. And finally Tom and I were able to order, took 30 seconds until our bill was paid, even with applying an AP discount and we were in line behind the “family”.
Funny thing was that since they ordered so many items, our food was ready way before theirs and they had to move aside so we could get our food and find a table to enjoy it.
We walked down to the covered area near the water, found a table and Tom got some condiments and we were able to enjoy our food. We had ordered a

Pulled Pork Sandwich, Layers of delicious Smoked Pulled Pork piled high with Coleslaw on a fresh soft Bun and served with

their Signature Baked Beans,

some French Fries with Pulled Pork and Cheese and an

Onion Ring Basket to share. All the food was hot and nice and hit the spot and we were very happy sitting there munching away. Once we had finished our lunch we walked over to Expedition Everest to put the last of our three fast passes to good use.
The standby line was pretty long, but we just walked through our line, then asked for front row and were told that we would have to wait for two trains, but that did not bother us and we got in line there. Soon we were led to the front row, seated and off we went.
We both love this ride and it did not disappoint. When we got off we agreed on riding it again and on using the single rider line for it.

We were through it pretty fast and both rode on the same train, just a few rows apart. Once we had gotten off we thought about doing it one more time, but it had gotten pretty hot and I was still coughing a lot and we decided that it would be better to take a break. So we strolled towards the exit, got on the tram and rode out to the parking lot to our car.
Didn’t take too long and we were on our way and soon after had parked our car and were walking to our room.
We rested for a while and then decided to walk down and take a dip in Stormalong Bay.

To be continued ........​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 14, September 04


Let’s conquer the parks again - part 2


We rested for a while and then decided to walk down and take a dip in Stormalong Bay.
We were not sure if we would find deck chairs, but to our huge surprise there were several open and we just lounged for a while, before getting into the lazy river and the hot tub.

After about an hour and a half we had had enough sun and walked back to our room, took showers and got ready to head over to Epcot to enjoy a little Food and Wine time.
It didn’t take us long and we were walking through the International Gateway into the park.

The last time we had moved towards England, but this time we walked the other direction towards France.
We looked at the menu and some items looked good, so we ordered the

Warm Goat Cheese Pudding with Spinach and the

Crème Brûlée with Housemade Rasberry Jam, found a spot where we could put down our food and tried them both. The Goat Cheese Pudding was very nice and creamy, but very rich and the Crème Brulee was just that, a Crème Brulee. Nothing to write home about but worth finishing it off.

We walked on, but didn’t get far as we decided to stop at the Belgium booth and get some goodies there as well. I had my heart set on the

Belgian Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache and Whipped Cream and Tom had a

Leffe Blonde Belgian Pale Ale. The waffle was good, but the heat let the whipped cream melt in record time and softened the waffle, so I had to hurry to finish it off. Tom enjoyed his beer none the less.
Funnily enough, even if the portions were small, I started to get full pretty fast and coughing like a mad woman didn’t help my appetite either. We strolled further on,

checking menus, but we both didn’t seem to have much of an appetite, so we just checked the menus and talked about what we wanted to try when we were hungrier.
Once we had made it to Italy we decided on sharing another item, the

Crispy Calamari with Spicy Pomodoro Sauce, which were a good size helping, crisp and fresh and the sauce added a nice kick to it. We really enjoyed the food, but what we didn’t enjoy were the clouds rolling in. So instead of trying to sample some more food, we walked towards the International Gateway again and made it back to our resort just in time for the heavens to open up.

It was now early evening and we just watched a little TV and the approaching Hurricane Irma caught our eye.

Our flight home was on the coming Saturday and it hit us that this could be a serious threat if it followed the proposed path and kept up its speed. But it was soon forgotten again and by 8pm we were both tired and could not be bothered to venture out again, so we called room service and ordered

The Works Pizza - just as it sounds- a little bit of everything.
It was delivered about 25 minutes after we had ordered it and it was super yummy.
Not the pizza we are used to here in Europe, but a great tasting US pizza. We got comfortable on our beds, munching our pizza and watched TV, then packed up our stuff to have it moved to the Beach Club the next day and enjoyed the rest of the evening until we fell asleep.

To be continued ........​

 

[wdwnut61]

Brunch at the Top it has become a must do every trip.

We've done it once and it was amazing, expensive but amazing.

We were served some Mimosas

Perfect start

It definitely was a lot of food

I agree you need an extra stomach glad they boxed up the delicious desserts.

And while he was at work, we used the time to take a few more pics.

What a view beautiful pics

we were at the Yacht Club again.

I'm loving all your YC photo's cant's wait

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.

It's great to make plans but also great to be able to change them. Vacation should be relaxing and stress free

next fast pass window, which was for Flight of Passage.

I love the theming of Pandora

Tried to watch it, but it is just not my cup of tea.

I get that the movie wasn't mine either to be honest. I just love the feel of flying and dropping suddenly guess that's why I love ToT so much

Well, turns out that the family on the opposite side only had one person in line and when it was her time to order they all swarmed in and were now discussing what to get, and with that holding up the line.

people are nuts and rude unfortunately

we were in line behind the “family”.

the "family"

Funny thing was that since they ordered so many items, our food was ready way before theirs and they had to move aside so we could get our food and find a table to enjoy it.

I'm glad your food didn't get held up because of the "family"

The standby line was pretty long, but we just walked through our line

I love FP but l always feel a little guilty when we walk by an excessively long line. Secretly happy inside but guilty

then asked for front row

We do this on every coaster and don't mind waiting the front is the best!

We were not sure if we would find deck chairs, but to our huge surprise there were several open and we just lounged for a while, before getting into the lazy river and the hot tub.

DD can't wait for the lazy river and hot tub.

It didn’t take us long and we were walking through the International Gateway into the park.

Best perk of staying at a resort on the BW.

 

[dizneeat]

We've done it once and it was amazing, expensive but amazing.

Yip, the price is a bit steep, but it is so worth it. The food is so good and we never feel rushed. I am so happy they kept the brunch and not did away with it like Narcoosee. Their brunch was great too. Wish it was still on.

I agree you need an extra stomach glad they boxed up the delicious desserts.

More value ........ ......... we got to spread the brunch yummies over the next few days.

I'm loving all your YC photo's cant's wait

We just LOVE the YC and Stormalong Bay. I had to save points this year, so we are staying at the BWV in a standard view room. But we are sure going to miss the Y&BC.

It's great to make plans but also great to be able to change them. Vacation should be relaxing and stress free

Very well said! I usually have everything planned out nicely, just to throw it all out once we are there. With the Free DDP that we scored for the summer, we are kind of locked in, but I guess plans will get tweaked again once we are there.

I just love the feel of flying and dropping suddenly guess that's why I love ToT so much

LOVE WDW's ToT. There is no better feeling than the drops on that elevator. We love going on rollercoasters too, love EE since it at least goes backwards for a little bit. The Indiana Jones RC went backwards ALL the way for some time in DLRP. Soooooooo fun.

people are nuts and rude unfortunately

You would think they would make their mind up while waiting for their turn. It is like - "oh, now it's my turn, let's find out what they serve." We are always amazed at the patience those CMs have. I would not be able to do that.

I love FP but l always feel a little guilty when we walk by an excessively long line. Secretly happy inside but guilty

We do this on every coaster and don't mind waiting the front is the best!

Us too! Love front row, and last row on BTMRR.

DD can't wait for the lazy river and hot tub.

She is going to LOVE it. Be aware that the lazy river is deep (too deep to reach the ground) in some places, but they have an ARMY of life guards on duty. And last summer we got to witness how they react. Thankfully just a dummy, but it was a matter of seconds and two of the life guards had it out of the water.

Best perk of staying at a resort on the BW.

Yes! Will be interesting to see how the gondolas are going to impact the International Gateway. And btw. really hoping that they open the gondolas early. We would love to use them.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 15, September 05

On the move - part 1

Our last morning at the Yacht Club had broken

and by 10am we had had a leftovers breakfast and called bell services to transfer our luggage from the Yacht Club to the Beach Club.
We just walked over to the Beach Club and checked in and were told that our room was ready.

We were floored.

We jokingly told the check-in cast member that we had just stored our luggage at the Yacht Club and they had told us that it would be waiting for us by 4pm and she just picked up the phone, called the Yacht Club and told us to head up to our room, as our luggage would arrive within the next 20 minutes.
Wow! That’s definitely Disney magic.
We walked over to the Villas, and went up to the fourth floor to find our room. It was not quite where we had requested it to be, but we were so happy to literally just go from one room to the other without being homeless, that it did not matter at all.

We waited for our luggage and we had not been in the room for very long when there was a knock at the door and our luggage was delivered. By now it was just 11am and we were in our new room and all settled. But not for too long.
Tom had organized a Geocache meeting and we needed to get going if we didn’t want to be late for our own meeting.
We marched back to the Yacht Club, picked up the car and drove to Disney Springs.

And went right past the correct parking garage.

So we drove all the way down to the end of Disney Springs and turned around about where the Reedy Creek fire department is and back to the garage. We made it to the meeting point, which was opposite the Coca Cola building with about 15 minutes to spare.
And we had just sat down on a little wall when the first geocachers arrived and they all had a lot of fun sharing stories and looking at travelbugs and geocoins.

The meeting was supposed to take just half an hour but a cast member who is also a geocacher arrived only about 25 minutes in and we all stayed and chatted. They exchanged coins and travelbugs and Tom sent off his two new travelers, the Emperor Franzl and his wife Sissi, two small figurines which he wanted to send off and see if they would ever make their way back home.
Franzl was taken to the Northeast, while Sissi made her way to Seattle.
They have traveled quite some distances since.

Around 1am the meeting ended and we packed up and went shopping to Publix so we could have some snacks in the room for the next four days until we would have to travel home. Shortly after 2pm we were back at our room, put everything away and off we went to have some more Food and Wine yummies at Epcot.

To be continued ........​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 15, September 05

On the move - part 2

Shortly after 2pm we were back at our room, put everything away and off we went to have some more Food and Wine yummies at Epcot.
Didn’t take us long to find something to try, so we stopped at the Ireland booth and ordered the

Warm Irish Cheddar Cheese and Stout Dip with Irish Brown Bread for us to share and a

Guinness Blonde American Lager for Tom.
And while Tom enjoyed his beer, the dip was just vile, salty and not good at all, so after two bites the rest went in the bin.

Time to move on.

But soon we had found something else, that sounded good, so we stopped in Scotland to try the

Fresh Potato Pancake with Scottish Smoked Salmon and Herbed Sour Cream and

The Tipsy Laird, Whiskey-soaked Cake with Lemon Cream and Toasted Oats, which were both deemed very tasty and worth the money.
We had a fast pass for Soarin and Mission Space, so we walked towards the Land

and on the way we passed the Islands of the Caribbean booth,

where we stopped to try the

Jamaican Beef Patty with Mango Salsa and we again were pleasantly surprised because they were very good. Next stop The Wine and Dine Studio

to try the

Seared Scallops, Truffled Celery Root Purée, Brussel Sprouts and Wild Mushrooms and a

Trio of Artisan Cheese. The scallops were pretty yummy as was the cheese itself, but the bread was hard as a rock and inedible. But after this we were in a hurry to get to The Land to ride Soarin.
Once we had gotten there we scanned the fast pass which was only good for a few more minutes and walked right through until we were assigned a glider.
Again, we asked for the middle glider and were granted our wish so we could avoid the leaning landmarks.

After we got off the ride we walked right over to Mission Space and walked right on the ride again, which was super nice.
We only had a little wait while they filled the briefing room and then we were off to our mission around Mars. On the way back we strolled through MouseGear and picked up a few more souvenirs before we set out to go back to our resort and rest for a while as we still had an evening appointment.

I took a nap while Tom watched some TV and in the early evening we got ready, walked over to the bus stop and took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom.

From there we walked over to the Contemporary Resort and right over to The Wave where a cast member was waiting outside to tick our name off a list and handed us our credentials.

We were then asked to wait in the lounge until the Highway in the Sky Dine Around was to start.
he event takes you around the Monorail loop in your own private monorail car and you enjoy some food and drinks at every one of the resorts.

We had read about it and thought it would be fun and here we were.
There were quite a few people already in the lounge all wearing the same lanyard, so we found a seat and table and waited. People were getting to know each other and time just flew by and we were welcomed by our two hosts of the event.
They would explain everything, give us an update on time left and travel with us.
And once they had established the allergies they explained what we were to be served. First we all were served a

Bay Lake Sunset, which was a really good drink, but pretty strong and the kitchen provided a cup of

Heirloom Tomato Soup, which was rich and creamy and well seasoned, accompanied by a tiny piece of their version of grilled cheese, goat’s cheese to be precise.
I would have licked my cup clean if that would have been possible as it was so good, and the little toast went wonderfully with it.

We had just finished our first samples when our hosts told us that in just five minutes we would be moving on to our next stop.

So we all used the elevator to go up to the concourse, headed up to the Monorail and got into our own cordoned off section.
Soon the Monorail arrived and they had the whole first compartment of the train reserved for us.
We got in, everyone found a seat and off we went to the Polynesian.

When we arrived we were led to the area just to the right of the entrance in front of the shop, which had been nicely laid out for us.

We all got a lei and once we had all found a table to stand at, we were served a

Mai Tai, which again was very good and strong.
They explained what we were going to sample and then they started to serve the first bite,

a beet salad. It was really just one bite, but it was refreshing and very good.
We shared our table with two other guests, and once they found out we were from Europe asked us how long we were to stay and after we had told them that we would fly home on Saturday, they joked a bit mentioning that we might have to extend our vacation because of the approaching storm.
And this was the time we learned that most of our fellow guests were either extending their stay, or leaving early because of the hurricane that was brewing.
It was soon forgotten about when the second course arrived, a bite of

Sushi. Now I am not a particular fan of Sushi, but Tom is, so after taking a photo of my share I just handed it over to him and he happily enjoyed and approved of it.
Our third sample was a bite of

Pork Belly and some pickled veggies and this was really a surprise, as even though there was quite a bit of fat on the belly and I don’t really like fat on my meat, this was super tasty.

Didn’t take long and we were given the five minute warning and some of the other guests headed for the restrooms, while we patiently waited, then were led outside to wait for the approaching Monorail, we got into our reserved compartment and off we went to the Grand Floridian.

To be continued ........​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 15, September 05

On the move - part 3

Didn’t take long and we were given the five minute warning and some of the other guests headed for the restrooms, while we patiently waited, then were led outside to wait for the approaching Monorail, we got into our reserved compartment and off we went to the Grand Floridian.

Once we had arrived our guides took us down the Grand Staircase and we got a bit of a tour of the resort, before we were all guided to the Garden View Tea Room, where we were to have our next course. There were actually tables laid for the amount of people in each individual party and we quickly found a table, which had a nice

platter of cheese and meats. There was some hard cheese with some salted roasted almonds, some blue cheese to be eaten with some honeycomb and some Hungarian cured ham and some pork salami, plus some Cornichons and some grain mustard, some blackberries and there was also a small plate with some

slices of bread.
While we were still checking out the menu we were served some

Fairytale Sparkling Wine and then we were ready to tuck in.
It was just the right amount of food to again wet your appetite and it went very well with the cold Sparkling Wine.

All too soon we were given the five minute warning again, but this time we didn’t even have to go on the Monorail, we just walked over to Citricos. There we were welcomed by the restaurant manager, who gave a little speech about the workings of his restaurant, before dividing us into three groups, two of which were seated at large tables in the dining room and our group was to dine in the wine room.
They had a nice large table and as soon as we had sat down the waiter came around explaining what we were to enjoy and serving some wine.

Some of us tried the red wine, some the white wine and some of our group even tried both as there was beef and fish to come. Again, we were served some

slices of bread and some

butter with rock salt sprinkled on top.
As we were sat with another group of people again, we all introduced ourselves again and talked about our Disney experiences so far and again talk came back to the hurricane that was on the way.
Now, we had sailed through the outskirts of two hurricanes on Disney ships and had weathered through Hurricane Charly a few years earlier, but with all this talk we started to think that our flight home maybe would not be possible.
But like the first time we were interrupted by the food being served.

Everyone got a plate with two sample size portions of Citricos’ most beloved dishes, one being the

Red Wine Braised Beef Shortribs, which were sitting on well-seasoned but unfortunately only lukewarm potato mash.
The other was Wild Caught Pan Seared Halibut, which was slightly dry and overcooked, but we thought that might be because of the small pieces and size of the group they had to prepare for. What we did not like at all were the blanched, still crunchy and hard and already rather cool green beans. I have to admit that this was our least favourite course that we had had so far.
They gave us a bit more time at Citricos and wineglasses were filled several times until we saw the rest of our group already leaving.

They had forgotten to give us the five minute warning.
​

But we quickly hurried out of the wine room and joined the rest of our group.
There was still time enough for those in the group that needed a restroom before we headed back up to the Monorail again.
And when it arrived we settled in our compartment and off we went to the Contemporary, for desserts, coffee and a view of the fireworks.

We all went out onto the area underneath the Monorail tracks on the fourth floor, which again had been cordoned off for our group.
They had a few different desserts

and we tried one or two of them. Some of our group had already occupied the front few rows of chairs so they would have a great view of the fireworks and for a minute we thought about just standing at the back, but then, being a DVC member and so close to the Top of the World Lounge, we just told the hosts that we would leave early and watch the fireworks from the Lounge.
They told us to wait for a moment, while one of the hosts went back out and came back with two small boxes with chocolate truffles in it, which were presented to us as a farewell present.
And with that we walked over to Bay Lake Tower, showed our membership card and walked over to the elevator to take us up to the lounge. We found a spot along the railing and after about 10 minutes the fireworks started.

They were fun and beautiful as always and once they were over we lingered for a few more minutes, then took the elevator down to the fifth floor and the walkway to the Contemporary and then down to the ground floor.
We asked them to get us a taxi back to our resort and within a minute the car had arrived and we were whisked away and back to our resort.
Back in our room we talked for a while, while the TV was on and it brought our mind back to the coming hurricane. Maybe we should look into it the next day, but for now we were tired and just wanted to drift off to sleep.​

To be continued ........​

 

[Lesley Wake]

It's interesting to read about your progression of the hurricane experience! My sister and I were there then too. We were originally supposed to arrive on Saturday, but we realized our flights would have been cancelled, so we ended up coming out on Thursday and staying 2 more nights! I wonder if we would have run into each other on Friday or Saturday?

 

[wdwnut61]

We just walked over to the Beach Club and checked in and were told that our room was ready.

How wonderful was that and to get your luggage so quickly

Tom had organized a Geocache meeting

So what is a Geocache

Fresh Potato Pancake with Scottish Smoked Salmon and Herbed Sour Cream and

Love potato pancakes my Mom made them all the time growing up

The Tipsy Laird, Whiskey-soaked Cake with Lemon Cream and Toasted Oats, which were both deemed very tasty and worth the money.

Oh my looks so good!

Seared Scallops, Truffled Celery Root Purée, Brussel Sprouts and Wild Mushrooms

This looks good as well

Again, we asked for the middle glider and were granted our wish so we could avoid the leaning landmarks.

B all the way

We were then asked to wait in the lounge until the Highway in the Sky Dine Around was to start.
he event takes you around the Monorail loop in your own private monorail car and you enjoy some food and drinks at every one of the resorts.

We have wanted to try this but DD is such a picky eater and for that price I want clean plates lol

Bay Lake Sunset, which was a really good drink, but pretty strong

Pretty drinks

We all got a lei and once we had all found a table to stand at

Love the leis and the Tiki statue

Mai Tai, which again was very good and strong.

a beet salad. It was really just one bite, but it was refreshing and very good.

I don't like beets but this looks really good.

Now I am not a particular fan of Sushi

Me either glad Tom liked it

Once we had arrived our guides took us down the Grand Staircase and we got a bit of a tour of the resort, before we were all guided to the Garden View Tea Room, where we were to have our next course. There were actually tables laid for the amount of people in each individual party and we quickly found a table

Beautiful picture the lobby is just gorgeous!

All too soon we were given the five minute warning again, but this time we didn’t even have to go on the Monorail, we just walked over to Citricos. There we were welcomed by the restaurant manager, who gave a little speech about the workings of his restaurant, before dividing us into three groups, two of which were seated at large tables in the dining room and our group was to dine in the wine room.

Very cool to be seated in the wine room.

Red Wine Braised Beef Shortribs, which were sitting on well-seasoned but unfortunately only lukewarm potato mash.
The other was Wild Caught Pan Seared Halibut, which was slightly dry and overcooked, but we thought that might be because of the small pieces and size of the group they had to prepare for. What we did not like at all were the blanched, still crunchy and hard and already rather cool green beans.

Yuck that's a shame we love Citricos but like you said maybe the small portions and making them a head of time factored into it.

We all went out onto the area underneath the Monorail tracks on the fourth floor, which again had been cordoned off for our group.
They had a few different desserts

and we tried one or two of them. Some of our group had already occupied the front few rows of chairs so they would have a

Desserts looks good WoW they were jumping on those seats

being a DVC member and so close to the Top of the World Lounge, we just told the hosts that we would leave early and watch the fireworks from the Lounge.

Not sure if you're familiar with the term "Baller" but that's what you are You are too cool for school yea we're going to check out early and watch from Top of the World!

They were fun and beautiful as always

What a view beautiful!

 

[franandaj]

Wow! Mega updates!

I'm glad that you were feeling a little better after your rest at the YC. You don't have to have seen the movie Avatar to like the ride Flight of Passage. Perhaps that concept of flying is just not your cup of tea.

I've never ordered pizza from Room Service before. That pizza did look good! A "Works" pizza sounds pretty good! I didn't see any olives on there, and I liked everything else.

How nice for you that your room at the BCV was already ready! That was an interesting configuration with the lock off portion. When we stayed there last month, the door that connected the two rooms was towards the patio/balcony area. Yours was next to the front door.

The Highway in the Sky Dine Around sounds interesting. I think we will avoid that cause I'm not sure that Fran would enjoy it all that much. It did sound like you got plenty of food and beverages though!

I like the way you kept mentioning the Hurricane, and how nonchalant you were about it's arrival. I would have been on the phone with the airline three days ago, rescheduling our flights! Earthquakes I can handle, hurricanes scare the bejeezus out of me!

 

[dizneeat]

It's interesting to read about your progression of the hurricane experience!

Having lived through Hurricanes Charley and Fay at WDW and the outskirts of 3 others at sea, we did not think too much of it in the beginning. It had always worked out with us either being at WDW anyway or flying out shortly before. Now Miss Irma decided to do it her way.

My sister and I were there then too. We were originally supposed to arrive on Saturday, but we realized our flights would have been cancelled, so we ended up coming out on Thursday and staying 2 more nights! I wonder if we would have run into each other on Friday or Saturday?

We were discussing leaving early, but other than in the US, changing your flights is not as easy, especially if you fly long distance. We did agree on biting the bullet and paying the change fee, which is quite a bit, but then this was the end of the holiday season and flights were packed, so there were no open seats in the first place. All that was left for us was to stay put if only I had not had to be back for the start of school.

How wonderful was that and to get your luggage so quickly

That was true magic! Our first reaction was that we had made a mistake handing off our luggage in the first place, but they were so easy about it and it was great to have the room right away AND our luggage as well.

So what is a Geocache

It's a small plastic box (think Tupperware) that is hidden somewhere (often in plain sight) and you get the coordinates (or have to solve a riddle to get them) to find the box which will contain a logbook and sometimes a travelbug (which is a small token with a tag with a number on it to log it and you can take it with you and leave it in another cache - hence the name travelbug). With a GPS device you go and find that cache, sign the logbook and put it back. It's kind of a treasurehunt. Tom was introduced to it when he retired and a former workmate needed someone to tag along on his hunts. He has since picked it up himself and wherever we go he needs to find one as he gets countrypoints for it. Hope that helped.

We have wanted to try this but DD is such a picky eater and for that price I want clean plates lol

It was fairly new when we first did it in 2017 and since I was still not feeling well then we repeated it last year as well. Just wait for that update. It is pricy and if your DD is picky it might not be for her.

I don't like beets but this looks really good.

I was a bit weary as well first as I had had a beet salad at California Grill and some of them had been pretty bitter, but these were quite yummy!

Yuck that's a shame we love Citricos but like you said maybe the small portions and making them a head of time factored into it.

It was our first time at Citricos and we have only been back for the second round of the Monorail Dine Around, but I guess we will go back to it rather sooner than later.

Desserts looks good WoW they were jumping on those seats

They were FAST filling their plates and plopping down in those seats. We have seen Wishes ever so often from there, but we really prefer the view from the ToTWL.

Not sure if you're familiar with the term "Baller" but that's what you are You are too cool for school yea we're going to check out early and watch from Top of the World!

What a view beautiful!

It definitely is!

 

[dizneeat]

You don't have to have seen the movie Avatar to like the ride Flight of Passage. Perhaps that concept of flying is just not your cup of tea.

I don't think it's that flying thing, as we usually love those kinds of rides (can you say Soarin' or Mission Space ). It is just that the whole Pandora thing does not really pull me in (or neither does it Tom). I guess it would be easier if I had watched the movie and would know what it is all about (didn't get the river thingy either - once and done) it might pull me in more. Given, it is an awesome ride, but nothing I would run to do again. We have cancelled quite a few FPs for it last year. I think it's the same with Dinosaur. LOVE Indy in DL, but could not care less about Dinosaur. Just not my kind of theme.

I've never ordered pizza from Room Service before. That pizza did look good! A "Works" pizza sounds pretty good! I didn't see any olives on there, and I liked everything else.

This was the second time we ordered and they were always pretty good. They are a bit "dough heavy", so not what we are used to as Pizza, but those pizzas were yummy (and we had a lot left over).

How nice for you that your room at the BCV was already ready! That was an interesting configuration with the lock off portion. When we stayed there last month, the door that connected the two rooms was towards the patio/balcony area. Yours was next to the front door.

Wow, that's odd. Come to think of it, I need to check my pics from last year and find out how the configuration was there. We go through so many rooms during a visit that I get confused on how one room was and how the other.

The Highway in the Sky Dine Around sounds interesting. I think we will avoid that cause I'm not sure that Fran would enjoy it all that much. It did sound like you got plenty of food and beverages though!

It was a nice evening. I enjoyed it more the following year, when we tried it again and I didn't feel ill and it was still nice, but a lot of moving around.

I like the way you kept mentioning the Hurricane, and how nonchalant you were about it's arrival

We have been through two hurricanes (Charley and Fay) on Disney property and felt super safe both times. They make you stay put in your room and you watch movies all day, so this was not a threat to us. And being sick it didn't really register that we might have a problem with our flights home until later.

I would have been on the phone with the airline three days ago, rescheduling our flights!

As I mentioned earlier, with booking here in Europe it is a bit different. When we finally called to ask about the hurricane, the call center in Germany (or wherever) even said that they knew nothing of it. And that was when we already knew that the airport would be closed.
But changing a flight is not as easy. First off there is only one plane that goes into Orlando and back and to find seats was not easy and the other thing is that changing a flight costs an arm and a leg and then some. So we were kind of stuck and had to wait it out.
My biggest concern was that we were scheduled to come home on Sunday and I was due to be back at work on Monday .......

Earthquakes I can handle, hurricanes scare the bejeezus out of me!

This is something that I fear whenever we have foot in California. Earthquakes, unpredictable and horrible. I remember the first year we went to California we started out in San Francisco and every time I went into the shower I was praying it would not start to shake. Hurricanes are easy - you know they are coming - earthquakes not so much.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 16, September 06

Maybe we should start to worry - part 1

When we woke up and turned on the TV there was a lot of talk about the hurricane.
We started to be glued to the TV, I just popped down to the Beach Club Marketplace to pick up two breakfast platters, kids platters to be precise.
I had gotten the

Scrambled Egg Sandwich topped with Tomato and Cheese on Goldfish Bread with Grapes and a Parfait for Tom and the

Mickey Waffles served with bacon for myself.

And now we found ourselves in front of the TV having our breakfast, while discussing what to do.
The forecast predicted the first bands of the storm to reach Florida by Saturday, which was supposed to be the day we were to fly home. S
o we checked on the Lufthansa site if they had any updates posted.

Well, by the way it looked they had not posted anything yet, so we decided to call the Lufthansa desk at the airport, but no one answered the phone, so we called the German helpline, where we were assured that there was NO hurricane and everything was supposed to work as always.

But somehow all the TV reports about it

didn’t sit right with us, so we decided to try and change our flights to a day earlier but there were no seats left and the fee was a bit stiff as well.
So for the moment we were stuck.
All those phone calls and discussions and research had taken up most of the morning and it was already shortly before noon, when we finally made it out the door.
In the lobby we decided to just ask if, just in case, we would be able to stay on any longer in case we would not be able to fly home.

We got in line and after a short wait we talked to a cast member and she assured us that they would not throw us out, that there had already been some cancellations and we would be able to extend our stay should we need to.
And with that in mind we headed outside to our car and went to do some grocery shopping. It was now around 1pm and having had a smallish kind of breakfast we were now getting really hungry. Well, since we were going to Publix anyway, we knew just the place to go to and have lunch at, Five Guys. We had eaten at this chain before and liked it very much, so this was the perfect opportunity to repeat the experience. We had soon arrived and parked our car and were surprised to find the place half empty with only one customer ahead of us.
We ordered a

Cheeseburger and a

Bacon Cheeseburger with some of the trimmings, a portion of

fries and some

drinks. Tom got us some

peanuts to hold us over until our lunch was ready to be picked up and we sat there, still thinking about what to do about the trip home. Soon enough we were able to pick up our burgers

and they were as yummy as we had remembered. Once we were done we drove over to Publix.
And were stunned to find several of the shelves nearly completely empty.

But all the things we needed to buy were still available and soon we were on our way over the check out desk.
Groceries in the car we drove to Walgreens to pick up a few pharmacy items, but the first one didn’t have all the stuff Tom wanted to buy, so we looked for another one and the trusted GPS took us right to one.
All the shopping done we returned to Beach Club, hauled our stuff up to our room and rested for a while.
Around 6pm we walked down to the Concierge desk, part of which had been transformed into a DVC Moonlight Magic desk.

To be continued ........​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 16, September 06

Maybe we should start to worry - part 2

Around 6pm we walked down to the Concierge desk, part of which had been transformed into a DVC Moonlight Magic desk.
We picked up our wristbands ahead of tonight’s Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic, which we had been lucky enough to snatch tickets to.

We had hoped that Michelle and her family would be able to join us, but Michelle had to look after her sick husband and daughter and her son and his fiancé had other plans, so we returned those tickets and were told that a lot of tickets had been returned already because many had not even come to Orlando with the storm looming off shore.
Wristbands in hand we walked back to our room, had a snack and around 7.30 we went to the parking lot to pick up our car and drive to the Animal Kingdom. We arrived shortly before 8pm and were directed to the preferred parking area.
Car parked we headed towards the park entrance, where we saw that a lot of people already left the park and some with wristbands were heading towards the turnstiles. Inside the park we were given a leaflet so we would not miss any of the fun things going on and off we went.
We stopped right at the very first store and got into quite the line for the event merchandise. It took us nearly half an hour until we had our T-shirts and pins and then we headed over Kilimanjaro Safaris, as they were only running for part of the evening.
Not the best idea, as it was dark already and you could not really see much.
There was another ride we were dying to ride, so we walked over to Expedition Everest.

The line said 5 minutes and it was just a walk through.
We asked for front row and waited one train until it was our turn to ride up front.
And since there was no wait at all, we got in line right away again and rode again.

We then walked back towards the shops, as the walkway to Africa was more or less swarmed with people who wanted to watch Rivers of Light.
And when we got to Flame Tree Barbecue we decided to pick up some of the provided snacks as well.

So we got in line and picked up

hotdogs and chips and cookies and some drinks and then went to find a table. We wandered down to the river and found that most of the tables there were empty, so we got one right on the water’s edge

and Tom went to pick up some condiments and there we were “enjoying” our hotdogs. And while we were eating Rivers of Life had started and even though we had skipped it on a previous visit we were now able to witness it while having dinner.

It was a nice show, but nothing that we would need to repeat, so we were happy it had worked out well that way.
We wanted to check out Pandora at night, so this was where we headed next. The park was fairly empty and when we passed the Starbucks coffee shop we realized that they were handing out Mickey Bars.

So we picked one up and sat on the little wall while eating our ice-cream and then went on to Pandora. It was awesome to see it at night, the lighting is very impressive

and when we saw that the wait time for Flight of Passage was only 10 minutes we got in line and walked slowly but steadily right through. I think we stopped at one point for a few minutes, but the wait was not bad at all.
We skipped the Navi boat ride and instead went to pick up some more

drinks and cookies at Pizzafari and rested our legs for a few minutes. We had already spent two hours of the event and thought about leaving early, but the thought of riding Expedition Everest one more time was too tempting. We headed over

and were surprised to find the trains running half empty.

In the end we rode four more times, before finally saying good night to the park and making our way to the exit.

The trek to the car seemed to be way longer than walking in, but finally we were able to get into our car and driving back to the Beach Club. It was an uneventful drive with little traffic and soon we had parked our car and were back in our room, where our beds were waiting for us.


To be continued ........​

 

[jedijill]

I'm with you on Pandora. It's beautiful but the story just leaves me blah! How nerve wracking to not be able to plan around the storm. At least you had a place to stay and a fun Moonlight Magic to pass the time! I've never seen AK be so empty!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

I'm with you on Pandora. It's beautiful but the story just leaves me blah!

Yeah, and I thought Tom and I were the only ones.

How nerve wracking to not be able to plan around the storm.

Yes, by then it had gotten a bit more scary and with the airline being in denial about the storm our hands were bound. I knew we were getting home somehow, but I was due back to work on the following Monday. And somehow it was hard to imagine to have to ask for a few more days off after a 9 week school holiday.

At least you had a place to stay and a fun Moonlight Magic to pass the time! I've never seen AK be so empty!

Moonlight Magic was great. It was so much fun and the looming hurricane with already limited attendance was great.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 17, September 07

We won’t make it out of here - part 1

This morning began just like the one before.

We got up, turned on the TV and there were the news about the Hurricane.

And there was more news, the airport would be closed by Saturday noon, which meant that the plane we were supposed to fly out on would not be able to make it in at all.
While we had some coffee, tea and sandwiches made from the groceries we had bought, we discussed what to do next. I needed to be back on the following Monday as school would start and there are no personal days you can take off.
All I could do was call my headmistresses and let them know and when I did, they were very understanding and told us not to worry and get home when it was safe again.
One big worry off our chests.

Now what to do about our flights?
I got onto the Lufthansa site and by now they had realized that there was a storm and they offered to rebook flights from Orlando to Europe without a fee. So I checked when we would be able to fly home and there were no flights up until Thursday.
The one on Thursday didn't have free seats on the connecting flight and that would mean a day in Frankfurt, so we decided against it and rebooked our flights for Friday the following week, which meant that we would need to add on another six nights to our stay.

I called my headmistresses again and let them know and they were okay with it, as long as we would be coming back safely, and now we had only one more thing to get done, getting a room for the rest of our stay.
We made our way down to the front desk, where we found a long line as we did not seem to be the only ones who needed to change, shorten or extend their stay.

When it was finally our turn the cast member helping us tried a lot of different things, starting with asking us if we wanted to use some of our DVC points, but they had all been planned for, so that was no option, then she tried to call DVC to find out if they had any rooms at a discount, but that didn’t work out either but in the end she could find us a discounted room at the Beach Club Villas and we could even stay on in our room. No need to pack up, we could leave everything as it was, just come down on Saturday and check out and check in again.
Well, it cost us $1800 in all, but we were just happy that we would have a good roof over our heads when the storm hit.
They had told us that there would not be any housekeeping the day the storm would hit and that all the shops and restaurants would be closed, so what we needed to do was buying some more groceries to have some food during the time when everything would be closed.

So, we gathered all our shopping bags and off we went for another visit to Publix.
But before we hit Publix we paid a visit to Krispy Kreme for a fresh hot doughnut or two.

Then we headed to the store and got enough bread, spreads and ham and, pickles, salads, fruit and other yummy items to hold us over until the storm would be gone. And on the way back we stopped and picked up lunch at KFC, something that is not available near our area. All the shopping done we returned to our room,

laid the table and attacked the chicken dinner we had gifted ourselves with.

It was while we were enjoying our lunch that I got a text from Lufthansa that our original flight home now indeed was cancelled and we were officially stranded and “forced to” extend our vacation by a week.

So after our late lunch we went down to the quiet pool for some time in the sun.

At around 4pm we were back in our room, showered and got ready for the last Halloween Party of this vacation.

And a little while later we arrived at the Wave for our pre party dinner.
We were promptly seated when we arrived and a server took our drinks order and brought out some

whole grain bread and

butter with red seasalt. We had just started to munch at the delicious bread when our mains were already served. This time Tom had opted for the S

eared Potato Gnocchi, butternut squash, forest mushrooms, rainbow swiss chard, brown butter parmesan-sage cream while I had opted for the waiter’s recommendation, which was

Pan Seared Salmon with a Tomato, Arugula Bread Salad.
It had sounded nice and it actually was light and very tasty.
When we had finished dinner, we settled our bill and walked over to the Magic Kingdom for the Halloween Party.

To be continued ........​

 

[jedijill]

So happy that your headmistress was understanding! Glad you could extend the stay in your room (hopefully you had travel insurance to cover it!) and that you could find groceries. Why am I not shocked you and Tom got Krispy Kremes?!?!?! I've never had dinner at the Wave...looks yummy!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

Day 17, September 07

We won’t make it out of here - part 2

When we had finished dinner, we settled our bill and walked over to the Magic Kingdom for the Halloween Party.
We had made it to the turnstiles by 6.30 and picked up our wristband, then followed the party guests in through their behind Main Street walkway where we picked up a bag to collect more candy and take a few more photos before we headed into the park.

It was still pretty crowded, so we went to the one ride that we knew we could get on right away, the Peoplemover.

And since there were not many people getting on when we returned from our first round, we asked and were granted a second round. When we got off we went trick or treating and then went on Buzz Lightyear Spaceranger Spin. There was a bit of a line, but it moved constantly and we were soon trying to help Buzz battle Zurg.

From there we wandered towards Fantasyland and got in line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We walked through most of the line, only slowed down the last part of the line and soon were on the ride.

But when we got off and considered riding again, we could see that the line had indeed formed outside already, thanks, but no thanks.
We walked over to Peter Pan, but again, the line was too long for our liking, so we just got onto It’s A Small World.
There had been a few trick or treat stations along the way and we had hit them all and now I wanted to try one of their special desserts they offered. The little stand at Liberty Square sold the one I wanted to try, the

Stretching Room Chocolate and Peanut Butter Tart. It was quite nice and had a good peanut butter taste, but it was overall a little too sweet for my taste. And after my snack we walked right over to the Haunted Mansion.
There was a huge line to have your picture taken, so we just joined the line for the ride and soon were in the Stretching Room and then got on a doombuggy. And after we got off we headed right over to our favourite ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
It was getting close to fireworks time, so it was rather easy to get onto the ride twice,

but when we got off the second time we were both getting rather tired and decided that we might leave a bit early. A
nd while we were still discussing the fireworks started and we walked over to Fantasyland to watch them going off overhead.

We stood and watched with very few other people close to us and when the fireworks were over we slowly strolled towards the exit and went back to our resort. It was already close to midnight when we arrived

and we were happy to have left early as we just fell into bed and went to sleep immediately.

To be continued ........​