Were we treated like royalty...? I think so! April R&R TR *Cindy's and Spectro Video*
- Thread starter ArmyWife3-4
- Start date
ArmyWife3-4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
- Messages
- 951
OMG....Another great update! You and your DH definately win the award for the most magical trip! I want a fairy godmother...STAT! Just kidding....your DH totally deserves it! Nothing I do can compare to his work and sacrifice! Hope you will continue to update.
BTW - I notice you are training for the 1/2 marathon. I thought I'd mention that I scored some really nice running shirt/shorts/pants yesterday at my local Dick's. They were 50% off the sale price. Made my run so much nicer last night cause I thought I looked all "cute" in my new clothes!
Thanks for the heads up on Dick's! I just bought a new training suit there last week, but I think I just might need to head over there again! Nothing like new clothes to make you want to run!
What a fun Dis meet you had! That was so nice of the OL guy to buy your drinks! Mmmm the grand manier slushes are sooo good! That picture of the umbrellas is very cool
Glad you're still tracking my TR!
We really did totally luck out on our day at Epcot!
ArmyWife3-4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
- Messages
- 951
After an incredibly magical and very busy day at Epcot, we were ready for a bit more relaxed day at AK followed by dinner at Cindy's and an evening at MK. Per usual, we woke up early to be at AK for rope drop. I will forever swear by arriving prior to rope drop as this is when so many special things happen, not to mention the ability to walk on many, many rides in a short period of time.
Once we were granted access to the entry area of AK, we had a spot right on the rope to watch the morning opening. While we waited, several of the drivers and guides from the safari were walking around talking to people and looking for people to 'open the safari' for the morning. We had our Anniversary pins on and the CM said he thought a couple celebrating their anniversary would be perfect first riders. Wahoo!!!! DH was in heaven!
The safari is his absolute favorite!
We were guided back by several CMs with about 10-15 other people. Once we were lead onto the ride, each party had their own row. DH and I were able to snag the back row which was perfect! We had an excellent view, and we were able to take things at a more leisurely pace since we were the first out and the park wasn't even open yet!
Here are some of the great photos from our safari:
It really was another incredible experience, and this one wasn't even courtesy of our Fairy Godmother. On our way out the exit, we were given a Magical Moments certificate which really is a nice momento.
Being on the pre-opening safari definitely put us ahead of our game plan for the day which made me very happy! We headed towards EE so DH could hop in the Single Rider line while I headed over to get FPs for Dinosaur. On our walk over, we were able to see Baloo who had no wait at all!
I dropped DH off at EE and headed over to Dinoland, I was shocked how quickly he made it through EE! By the time I made it back, he had been waiting for about 5 minutes. That really was a great idea!
Now my memory gets a bit fuzzy, but I think we headed to the early show of FotLK. DH also really loves this show a lot, and we had great seats. On our way out, we stopped and got a few quick photos with Minnie and Goofy. I figured since the lines were short it was a good time to stop and get some photos!
Then, I think we headed to Nemo, which is one of my favs and then we used our Dino FPs. I'm not going to lie, I am a big baby so I was pretty scared about trying Dino. Shockingly, the line was very short so I don't think our FPs did much good, but it at least bought us a few minutes. Although I clung to DH for dear life, I was shocked that the ride was incredibly short. I expecited it to be much longer!
Next up was lunch at Yak and Yeti CS. I really enjoyed this restaurant on my trip in August, and I was excited to bring DH along this time. As usual, Disney did not disappoint. We had plenty of food that was hot and delicious. We got the Fried Rice (which, if I remember correctly, was actually a snack credit...?), Shrimp Lo Mein, and Mango Pie.
This was our beautiful view for lunch:
After a lovely lunch overlooking the 'river', we headed over to Bug's Life. DH clearly enjoyed his bug glasses:
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the trails and seeing the animals.
Play time!
Time for lunch! Yum!
On our way out, we bumped into Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear. We were super excited to see them since we often call Violet Brer Hound. We think she would fit right in!
I also snapped a quick crowd photo on our way out. We were amazed by the lack of people, but also very thankful for it!
Up next...Dinner at Cindy's and Spectro videos...
Once we were granted access to the entry area of AK, we had a spot right on the rope to watch the morning opening. While we waited, several of the drivers and guides from the safari were walking around talking to people and looking for people to 'open the safari' for the morning. We had our Anniversary pins on and the CM said he thought a couple celebrating their anniversary would be perfect first riders. Wahoo!!!! DH was in heaven!
The safari is his absolute favorite!We were guided back by several CMs with about 10-15 other people. Once we were lead onto the ride, each party had their own row. DH and I were able to snag the back row which was perfect! We had an excellent view, and we were able to take things at a more leisurely pace since we were the first out and the park wasn't even open yet!
Here are some of the great photos from our safari:
It really was another incredible experience, and this one wasn't even courtesy of our Fairy Godmother. On our way out the exit, we were given a Magical Moments certificate which really is a nice momento.
Being on the pre-opening safari definitely put us ahead of our game plan for the day which made me very happy! We headed towards EE so DH could hop in the Single Rider line while I headed over to get FPs for Dinosaur. On our walk over, we were able to see Baloo who had no wait at all!
I dropped DH off at EE and headed over to Dinoland, I was shocked how quickly he made it through EE! By the time I made it back, he had been waiting for about 5 minutes. That really was a great idea!
Now my memory gets a bit fuzzy, but I think we headed to the early show of FotLK. DH also really loves this show a lot, and we had great seats. On our way out, we stopped and got a few quick photos with Minnie and Goofy. I figured since the lines were short it was a good time to stop and get some photos!
Then, I think we headed to Nemo, which is one of my favs and then we used our Dino FPs. I'm not going to lie, I am a big baby so I was pretty scared about trying Dino. Shockingly, the line was very short so I don't think our FPs did much good, but it at least bought us a few minutes. Although I clung to DH for dear life, I was shocked that the ride was incredibly short. I expecited it to be much longer!
Next up was lunch at Yak and Yeti CS. I really enjoyed this restaurant on my trip in August, and I was excited to bring DH along this time. As usual, Disney did not disappoint. We had plenty of food that was hot and delicious. We got the Fried Rice (which, if I remember correctly, was actually a snack credit...?), Shrimp Lo Mein, and Mango Pie.
This was our beautiful view for lunch:
After a lovely lunch overlooking the 'river', we headed over to Bug's Life. DH clearly enjoyed his bug glasses:
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the trails and seeing the animals.
Play time!
Time for lunch! Yum!
On our way out, we bumped into Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear. We were super excited to see them since we often call Violet Brer Hound. We think she would fit right in!
I also snapped a quick crowd photo on our way out. We were amazed by the lack of people, but also very thankful for it!
Up next...Dinner at Cindy's and Spectro videos...
PiperGirlInWondrland
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Messages
- 1,417
Your report is wonderful, what a magical trip! Can't wait to read more!
mickeyfreak13
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2006
- Messages
- 61
Waiting patiently for the next installment.
OK mebbe not.
ArmyWife3-4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
- Messages
- 951
After a busy start to our vacation, we decided to spend some time at the pool before getting ready for dinner at Cindy's. It was a wonderful day to be at the pool as it was hot but there was a nice breeze.
I took a series of 'panoramic' photos from our seat at the pool:
It was so nice to sit and get some sun while taking a cat nap. DH and I really enjoyed staying at WL and enjoying the scenery!
Before we knew it, it was time to head to MK for our ADR's at Cindy's. I do have to say second only in greatness to our view of the castle was the boat ride to MK. Since we spent probably 50% of our trip there, it was so nice to just hop the boat and be there in such a short period of time. You also can't beat the scenery aong the way!
Unfortunately for me, my last name is hypenated therefore not the same as DH's which always causes a problem when trying to find our reservations for anything. The man had to search for about 3-4 minutes before finally finding our ADR. Being at Cindy's, I was a bit nervous if he couldn't find it. We of course were looking very forward to this meal has we had celebrated our honeymoon there 18 or so months prior. We were early so we had some time to kill before we could enter to see Cindy herself. DH found this the ideal time to try his hand at Excalibur.
I also got some great photos of the mosaics inside the castle while we waited. I think these are one of the hidden gems of MK. They are phenomenal, and the detail is exquisite!
Finally, it was time to go in and meet the Princess herself! While we waited to meet her, DH found one of his soldiers
And I just love this guy hiding near the ceiling:
We had a great seat, with a lovely view:
Our waitress was alright, not as in character as some of the others. I think because we were adults she didn't feel the need to be as chipper.
I ordered the crab soup and DH had the spring rolls. Both were very good!
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to get photos of the main dishes. It gets rather chaotic inside the castle at dinner time, and one of the tables seated after us ended up getting our food. I think from the scuttle between the waitress and the food person, our meal had to be re-ordered. This lead to us not having food for a long period of time, and then feeling very rushed eating. Our main dish was alright, but nothing over the top. DH had the chicken and I had the steak, but we weren't too impressed with either.
We had a very snooty family behind us that really bothered me. It was a mother, father and their daughter. The parents must have been on the deluxe plan as they had tons of food on their table. They paid very little attention to their daughter, and hardly spoke with her. It broke my heart because you could clearly see how excited she was to be there but her parents weren't too concerned with her. I wanted to tell her to come sit at our table with us! Poor thing!
We did enjoy our dessert. DH had the creme brulee and I had the chocolate cake (?).
Sadly, I don't think we'll be eating at Cindy's again anytime soon. For our honeymoon, it was a lovely chance to celebrate, but, as my mom said, sometime a special place isn't so special the second time around. It's so cool to be inside the castle, but it's not worth the fight to get ADR's, the fight to be seated, the rush to eat, and sometimes, the lack of personal service. I am sure if/when we have children, we will go back, but for now, we'll take advantage of some of our other options.
By the time we were done at Cindy's, it was time to stake out our spots for Spectro. On our August trip, I sat in Frontierland and had an excellent view of Spectro so I decided to try again this time and we were not disappointed. It was so nice to not be squished in on Main Street and still have a great view of the parade.
We enjoyed a Dole Whip while we waited and enjoyed the company of the people next to us.
He's such a goof!
I am in the process of loading Spectro videos on YouTube. As soon as they're loaded, I'll post the links. They were too big for Photobucket so I had to go another route.
I took a series of 'panoramic' photos from our seat at the pool:
It was so nice to sit and get some sun while taking a cat nap. DH and I really enjoyed staying at WL and enjoying the scenery!
Before we knew it, it was time to head to MK for our ADR's at Cindy's. I do have to say second only in greatness to our view of the castle was the boat ride to MK. Since we spent probably 50% of our trip there, it was so nice to just hop the boat and be there in such a short period of time. You also can't beat the scenery aong the way!
Unfortunately for me, my last name is hypenated therefore not the same as DH's which always causes a problem when trying to find our reservations for anything. The man had to search for about 3-4 minutes before finally finding our ADR. Being at Cindy's, I was a bit nervous if he couldn't find it. We of course were looking very forward to this meal has we had celebrated our honeymoon there 18 or so months prior. We were early so we had some time to kill before we could enter to see Cindy herself. DH found this the ideal time to try his hand at Excalibur.
I also got some great photos of the mosaics inside the castle while we waited. I think these are one of the hidden gems of MK. They are phenomenal, and the detail is exquisite!
Finally, it was time to go in and meet the Princess herself! While we waited to meet her, DH found one of his soldiers
And I just love this guy hiding near the ceiling:
We had a great seat, with a lovely view:
Our waitress was alright, not as in character as some of the others. I think because we were adults she didn't feel the need to be as chipper.
I ordered the crab soup and DH had the spring rolls. Both were very good!
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to get photos of the main dishes. It gets rather chaotic inside the castle at dinner time, and one of the tables seated after us ended up getting our food. I think from the scuttle between the waitress and the food person, our meal had to be re-ordered. This lead to us not having food for a long period of time, and then feeling very rushed eating. Our main dish was alright, but nothing over the top. DH had the chicken and I had the steak, but we weren't too impressed with either.
We had a very snooty family behind us that really bothered me. It was a mother, father and their daughter. The parents must have been on the deluxe plan as they had tons of food on their table. They paid very little attention to their daughter, and hardly spoke with her. It broke my heart because you could clearly see how excited she was to be there but her parents weren't too concerned with her. I wanted to tell her to come sit at our table with us! Poor thing!
We did enjoy our dessert. DH had the creme brulee and I had the chocolate cake (?).
Sadly, I don't think we'll be eating at Cindy's again anytime soon. For our honeymoon, it was a lovely chance to celebrate, but, as my mom said, sometime a special place isn't so special the second time around. It's so cool to be inside the castle, but it's not worth the fight to get ADR's, the fight to be seated, the rush to eat, and sometimes, the lack of personal service. I am sure if/when we have children, we will go back, but for now, we'll take advantage of some of our other options.
By the time we were done at Cindy's, it was time to stake out our spots for Spectro. On our August trip, I sat in Frontierland and had an excellent view of Spectro so I decided to try again this time and we were not disappointed. It was so nice to not be squished in on Main Street and still have a great view of the parade.
We enjoyed a Dole Whip while we waited and enjoyed the company of the people next to us.
He's such a goof!
I am in the process of loading Spectro videos on YouTube. As soon as they're loaded, I'll post the links. They were too big for Photobucket so I had to go another route.
ArmyWife3-4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
- Messages
- 951
Here is SpectroMagic in its entirety! I was pretty stoked to have this of video from start to finish! 
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGhkNORPYWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll9bvogI6oo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXh6wyGQk34
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGhkNORPYWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll9bvogI6oo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXh6wyGQk34
luvfigment
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2005
- Messages
- 1,719
Great pictures of WL! I also enjoyed the boat trip to and from the MK when we stayed there last year. I am sorry the dinner at Cindy's wasn't as good as your honeymoon. Looking forward to the next update!
LaurenMic
LaurenMic
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2007
- Messages
- 665
Of course I'm still following along, I'm loving your TR!! You guys were so lucky to get picked to be on the first safari of the day! Very cool!
Too bad about Cindy's, but that dessert you had looks awesome! I'm planning my honeymoon right now and I've been debating whether or not to try Cindy's, there's so many mixed reviews out there and I feel like there are better places where you don't have to fight for the ADR, like you said!
Love the Spectro videos! They are a Disney fix for the day
You guys were so lucky to get picked to be on the first safari of the day! Very cool!Too bad about Cindy's, but that dessert you had looks awesome! I'm planning my honeymoon right now and I've been debating whether or not to try Cindy's, there's so many mixed reviews out there and I feel like there are better places where you don't have to fight for the ADR, like you said!
Love the Spectro videos! They are a Disney fix for the day
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