What were we thinking going during spring break??

[LYNSUE]

Monday 3-15-10 continued

We had just finished our Undiscovered Future World Tour. We entered from the back stage area into the store in China. People look at you funny when you enter from those areas when it is obvious you are just a guest and not a CM. Our lovely guide Sarah presented us with a unique pin commemorating the tour and sent us on our way. We were headed to Germany for our 2:00 ADR at Biergarten. We were about 20 minutes early but we were seated right away. Our table of eight was all groups of two. There was a little chit chat with two of the other couples but not the third one. It was a mom and about 6 year old daughter. They were all business and apparently in a hurry. (not that there’s anything wrong with that) They ordered first and then went directly to the buffet (even before the rest of the table had ordered drinks). They ate, they paid and they were gone. But I do think they enjoyed it?? Biergarten is one of our favorite restaurants. We generally do this one every time we visit. And it is usually our only buffet. (we do tend to avoid buffets which is another reason the dining plan is not a good value for us.) The food was very good again this time and we will of course be back. The TIW card was used here. I don’t take pictures of buffet plates because I don’t think they are very attractive. So no, it isn’t because we forgot. LOL.

After lunch we headed to the Land to use our Soarin FP that we acquired during our break when doing the tour. The standby line was posted at 115 minutes!!!! We had a great ride in the second row with about a 15 minute wait in the FP line. After Soarin, we did the boat ride in the Land. It was about a 20 minute wait, which was not too bad. However, in the line with us was an obnoxious group of teens that were very loud. We were bumped into several times when the boys decided to wrestle around. At one point I made a comment asking “How old are you?” This was accompanied by a glare. The look or the comment had no effect on them behaving any differently. When we entered the boats, there were two tethered together. The large group of teens were in the first boat. I indicated to the CM grouping us that there was just TWO of us and I nodded to the next boat and then at the rowdy teens. Apparently she got my hint and gave us the first row in the second boat. Yes, the teens continue to be loud and were hooting and hollering to each other. When we were going through the plant area, one boy dragged his had along the ground picking up a handful of sand and threw it at his friends. Then he picked up another handful and let it sift through his hand into the water. At this point an announcement was made to keep your hands inside the boat. I was kind of glad to be done with the ride. Epcot was so crowded we decided to leave. We did get one picture of the flower displays.

We were back to the room by about 4:00. In normal weather we would have used this resort time to use the pool, but it was much too chilly for that. Since the MK was open until 1:00am tonight we thought we would relax a little in case we wanted to visit the park later. And that’s just what we did. It was late on day four of our vacation, so we were in need of some down time. By about 8:00pm we got a little hungry. I went to our box of food and found the makings for tuna salad which we had on toast. That was served with some rice snacks and some cranberry juice. What a nice break from all of the heavy restaurant meals. The thought of fighting the crowds at MK did not sound good at all so after dinner we watched TV until 11:00pm (I love the Monday night sit com line up on CBS) and then to sleep after that. It was a perfect evening of catching up on our rest and we were ready to go for the next day. Every WDW vacation needs one of those afternoons/evenings off to reenergize.

 

[LYNSUE]

Tuesday 3-16-10

We were up at 7:15am and had the usual breakfast in the room. Got ready and left about 8:00am to catch a bus for AK. We only had about a 10 minute wait for the bus and arrived at AK by 8:30. We did a little looking at the Rain Forest Cafe shop and then lined up at the entrance just outside the store. This is a neat way to enter the AK. There is only one line and it tends to be short. It sure beats waiting with the masses at the regular entrance. First things first, DH got in line to get FP’s for EE. I got in at the end of the ride line and meandered by way up to the point where it passes the FP machines. At this point I stepped aside and waited for DH to get the passes. He then joined me in line and we were on our way to ride EE. The line was moving constantly, so we just continued to walk and got right on the ride. Then we rode EE again in the single rider line. I sat next to a guy from Boston. His wife and son were in the car in front of us. He was a talker and shared a lot of info. Near the end of the ride he told me he had the beginnings of Alzheimer’s so he may not remember riding. Then he laughed and said each time he rides, it is like it is his first time. I didn’t know how to respond to that. Our next stop was the Safari ride. The wait was posted at 40 minutes but the actual wait was about 30. We had been in line a while when I realized that the Boston guy was right in front of us. I smiled and nodded, but he didn’t seem to recognize me. We had a nice two week safari seeing the usual animals. Next we made our way back to EE to use our FP. After the third ride on EE, it was after 11:00. We decided to swing by Yak & Yeti to see if we could do a walk in. We were successful!! We usually get to the Y&Y most every visit. There was a dish on the menu called Pho. (in fact it is still shown on the Allears menu) Anyway, Pho was a favorite of mine and I fully intended to order that. It is described as Lemon Grass Scented broth w/poached shrimp, rice noodles and traditional Vietnamese garnishes. Well our waiter informed me that it was recently taken off the menu because it was not that popular. So I ended up ordering the Lo Mein with chicken & shrimp. DH had the Mandarin chicken salad and we shared an order of pot stickers.

Interesting decoration above the window at our table

The Lo Mein with the pot stickers in the background

That's a lot of noodles, I was not able to finish it all.

The Mandarin chicken salad with plum dressing.

About half way through our entrees DH and I switched for a while an then switched back. I thought both dishes were very good

We enjoyed our lunch here very much. The food and service were good. We were seated at a window table upstairs. You could see the massive crowd that kept passing by the building below. It was obviously AK was very crowded today. Also in our section of the restaurant there was a large vent blowing very cold air. Everyone in the area kept complaining. Our waiter finally explained that he informed someone three times but no one seemed to have the authority to adjust it? Apparently the building computer was in charge. So we all were a little chilly during our meal. As I mentioned above, we visit Y&Y pretty much each trip since it opened. However, since Y&Y opened, we have not been to Nine Dragons in Epcot (also one of our favorites). Next trip we may have to skip Y&Y and get back to Nine Dragons for a change.

We finished lunch about 12:10 and we headed out of AK. I am sad to say this three hours this morning is the only time we spent at AK this trip. We were on our way to Disney Wide World of Sports to watch a Braves spring training game. Neither of us had been to this sports facility before so we were looking forward to it. We had originally planned to catch a bus which loaded at DHS to go to the WWof Sports. But the game started at 1:00 and it was already 12:15 and we still had to buy game tickets. A complicated bus system was not the answer today. We simply grabbed a cab on the way out of AK and were at the sports complex in about 10 minutes. Good thing we got there so quick because we had to wait in a 30 minute line just to buy tickets…and there was no FP. LOL There were two ladies behind us in line that we shared some conversation with, so that helped pass the time. After we had our tickets, we stopped in a shop to see if I could find a visor for me. The sun was very bright today. I had packed a visor in my suitcase for this very occasion; however I forgot to bring it along this morning. So we went shopping. We were surprised to find a Packer baseball hat in the store. It was the bright gold color instead of the dark green, but for the price (on sale for $12) it would do fine. I was only going to wear it today for a few hours and then it would be DH’s to wear. We had good seats right off the corner of home plate toward the third base side just three rows behind the visitor’s dugout. Great view of the game. We were seated right next to the two ladies we had waited in the ticket line with.

Here is a picture of the entrance

You can see the shop where I bought the Packer hat.

Nice score board. Also you can see some players warming up.

Minnie accompanied the young man who threw out the first pitch

Both of the guys in this picture played for the Brewers at one time

One last random player shot. You can see how close to the field we were.

I know this may be boring to some of you. Your interest here IS WDW. But thanks for humoring me for a while. The game was the Braves & Marlins, so there was a very good crowd since the Marlins are a home team in Florida. DH and I are Brewer fans, but baseball fans none the less. We enjoyed the game. The Braves won 3 – 6. (not that it really matters in spring training)

After the game, we were able to catch a Disney bus from the ball park. They have buses that run to the All Stars, Pop, and Caribbean Beach only. (these are the popular hotel where the sports teams stay when using WW of Sports). In fact, my niece will be here with her high school softball team next week. Anyway, I had done my research and knew we could get a bus to Caribbean Beach so I planned our dinner at Shutters at CB. The ADR was not until 6:00pm.

Up next, our adventures at Caribbean Beach.

 

[LYNSUE]

Tuesday 3-16-10 continued

We arrived at CB resort about 4:15. We had some time to kill before our ADR at Shutters at 6:00. The bus left us off at the Custom House and we walked over to Old Port Royal. It was a pretty long walk, but it felt good after sitting at the game for hours. There are some nice shops inside OPR and we did a little shopping. I bought a key ring with Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. I put it on my tote bag I take to work every day. Mickey is cute. After we were done shopping we visited the Banana Cabana pool bar. DH had a margarita and I had an ice water. The service at this bar was impressive. No one ever waited more than a few seconds to be served. We made our way to the restaurant about 5:15. From the looks of the crowd, we didn’t think it would be a problem getting in early. And it wasn’t.

The restaurant was about ¼ full when we were seated. But by the time we left, it was completely full. The service here was very good. If you check Allears, you will see the menu here is Caribbean flare (of course). The food was good but not outstanding. I am glad we tried it, but I would not go out of my way to get to this resort just to eat here. But today it was a convenient trip and was not out of the way.

DH had a drink called Captains Smuggler. It was a rum drink. We were served bread accompanied with cilantro/garlic butter. Very tasty. I had an appetizer of shrimp fritters with dipping sauces and DH had black bean soup. He said the soup had great flavor. The fritters definitely had some spice to them when dipped in the sauce (almost a little too much spice for me). The fritter coating was very thick so I ended up peeling some of it away on the couple of fritters I ate. DH was happy to finish the rest of them. He does like spicy food very much. Sorry, no pictures of the bread or appetizers. But we do have pictures of our entrees

I had the ribs with vanilla glaze which came with a baked potato and some veggies.

The rib serving looks huge in this picture. However the entire rack on the left had no meat at all! It was just bones, skin and sauce. The part on the right did have some meat on them. The flavor was good but I was not very impressed with the ribs themselves. But the potato was good along with the veggies.

DH had the chicken with black beans and rice. It is described as Aruba style roasted chicken marinated in mango ginger vinaigrette with a touch of garlic.

As you can see, there is a scoop of black beans with a pile of plain white rice laid on top. DH thought that was a strange way to serve it. He did comment that the chicken was very tasty. However, DH prefers dark meat and this was just the white meat. The other items are some sort of fritter, but I am not sure what kind? Sorry. This definetely was not our favorite dinner of the trip. We were able to use our TIW card here.

After dinner we made our way to the bus stop at Old Port Royal. We are on our way to the MK. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus we wanted. However, in those 15 minutes we saw the following buses come through: DTD, Epcot, AK, then AK again, DHS, DTD again, then an internal bus, Epcot, DTD again and then finally MK. There certainly was a short wait no matter where you were traveling to this night. We made it to MK by about 6:30pm.

 

[LYNSUE]

Tuesday 3-16-10 concluded

We arrived at MK at about 6:30pm. Our first stop was to check out the wait time for the Jungle Cruise. It was a 50 minute wait, so we passed it by. Sadly, we did not ride the JC this trip. Since we were in the area we stopped by for a Dole Whip. We shared a soft serve ice cream that is swirled vanilla and pineapple. It tasted good, but the pineapple part had a light green (not yellow) tint to it. I thought it was just my eyes so I asked the lady next to me. She agreed it did look green. DH and I sat down on a stone bench area right across from the Dole Whip stand to enjoy our snack. I didn’t realize it until we were almost done, but we had wandered into a smoking area. I was wondering why people were looking at us funny. Who comes to a smoking area to eat!!! We then took some time to call home and talk to our kids. Everything was going fine there.

Our next stop was Pirates. There was only a 30 minute wait so we got in line. Of course, we got in the left line at the door. Remember it was proven earlier in the week that the left line is shorter/faster. After that we went over to BTM to get a FP. It had a return time of 10:00pm. Then onto Haunted Mansion with a 20 minute wait. We immediately did it a second time with only a 5 minute wait. Next we did the Hall of Presidents. I love this show because it is so unique. Where else can you see all of the presidents in one place on one stage? NO WHERE!! And I also get my patriotic “feel good about America” fix just like from the American Adventure. I was rather annoyed during the show because the woman next to me talked though the whole thing. (it was so rude). Even the guy she was talking to told her twice to shush. It didn’t do any good. Our next stop was Mickey’s Philharmagic. Always a fun time there. After that we returned to BTM and rode stand by with a 20 minute wait, then rode it a second time with our FP. The second time we saw a bit of Wishes while rolling through the canyon. Very pretty.

It was about 10:15 and we made our way back to Main Street. We stopped in the bakery to pick up some milk for our breakfast tomorrow. There was a huge line but we did not have to wait. We asked the CM and they said if were only getting milk (no bakery items) we could just go to the cold case, pick them up and go to the register to pay. That saved a lot of time. We forgot to ask the check out person for a bag so we ended up carrying our two small milk cartons in DH’s sweat shirt pockets. That was a rather warm place to keep milk for our bus ride back. We checked the line for the boat and it was very backed up, so on we went to the buses. It was only a 10 minute wait. (the transportation “good luck” seems to be continuing). We arrived back at WL about 10:50, made plans for tomorrow and were in bed by midnight.

This was a very very full day.

We were suppose to do on line check in for our move to the Boardwalk on Thursday…..But we forgot!

 

[LYNSUE]

Wednesday 3-17-10 St. Patrick’s Day

We got up at 6:00 today so we could make it to early entry at DHS. We got ready, had breakfast in the room and headed for the bus stop. We only waited about 3 minutes for our bus. The early entry park buses usually come more often than the other parks, so I was not surprised to see the DHS bus so soon. We arrived about 7:30 for the 8:00 EE. There were very few people around which seemed odd. We waited at an entry gate and waited for a CM to walk by. Finally one did and we asked if today was in fact early entry. She said NO! Of all the trips I have planned (and there have been plenty) I have never made this huge of a mistake before. I was shocked that this happened. I checked my schedule several times before leaving home and I never noticed this error. How embarrassing! Perhaps it had been EE at one time and then got changed later on?? We now had about an hour and 20 minutes to kill. We could have slept longer this morning.

I was ticked at myself so I went and sat at a bench to the far right of the entry gates. DH continued to wait in line by himself (and I do mean all by himself) because there were no other people around. So I sat there and pouted for a while. Eventually more people started moving into the gate area, so about 8:20 I rejoined DH. We passed the rest of the time being entertained by a squirrel and several Palmetto bugs. The squirrel was running around in the empty park. However the bugs were crawling near and on the turnstiles. Palmetto bugs are rather large and look similar to roaches. Palmetto bugs are much lighter in color than roaches so you can tell the difference. But they are still disgusting none the less. One (at least 3 inches long) that was climbing on the turnstile in the next gate was very near a young girl. I did not want to alarm her or start a riot, so I quietly tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at the bug. She was totally unaware of it. Her mother thanked me for letting them know. After that we had a whole group of people keeping an eye on the bugs.

While gazing into an empty park, we had plenty of time to look at this

And this

We were let into the park about 8:45 and allowed down to the next rope at Sunset Blvd. A CM came out and announced that they had a special show today for America’s Funniest Home Videos. You get to preview several videos and vote for the one you think is best. DH and I did this about two years ago when visiting DHS. It was fun. We thought we would try to get into the 11:00 show. Next the rope drop entertainment came out with the director and his assistant in the truck.

DH and I had met the assistant guy before. Last September we were eating lunch at Mama Melroses and he was going around the restaurant pretending to be a talent scout. The guy is hilarious.

Once the rope dropped we made a B-line for TSM. DH always gets there before me and gets in the FP line. He usually has the FP’s by the time I catch up and then we get in the ride line together. Our plan worked well again today. Our FP return time was for 9:40. The standby line we waited in was only about 10 minutes. DH won again. When we got out of the ride we noticed the fast pass line was backed up to the One Man’s Dream theater. Unbelievable!! We moved onto TOT but the line for that was down to the turn to RNR. No way were we waiting for that. So then we went over to RNR and did the single rider line with a 30 minute wait. After RNR we stopped at the TOT fast pass machine and got one with a return time of 11:15. It was already about 10:00, so I was surprised that the return time was that soon. Apparently everyone was getting in line to ride TOT but not getting FP’s.

We then ventured over to the old “Sounds Dangerous” theater to get in line for the Home Video show. We were pretty far back in line so we weren’t sure we would get into this show. You are required to sign a statement that says you won’t talk about the videos you see in the theater. The CM’s getting the statements signed did not come back as far as us in line, so that was a pretty good sign we were not getting in. And we did not. We didn’t want to wait for the next show at noon so we headed to the American Idol show. This time there were three ladies singing. Not to be mean…but none of them were that good. I based my vote on how much I like the particular song they sang rather than how well they sang it. After AO we went back to TOT to use our FP.

We left DHS at noon. We were looking for a bus to DTD but found out by asking that there is no direct bus. While we were wandering around looking for the buses, we met up with another couple that were also trying to get to DTD. The guy was very determined to get some corned beef and cabbage on this St. Patrick’s day. We suggested they follow us and we would get them to DTD. We chatted while we waited for the Saratoga Springs bus. We explained that SSR was right next to DTD with just a short walk. Saratoga Springs is our home resort with DVC, so we are very familiar with it. The guy asked if we thought they would be serving corned beef at most all of the restaurants today? We told them about Raglan Road but also explained that it would be impossible to get in there today even if you had an ADR. You know everyone is Irish today!! The lady told us she had no idea you needed to make advanced dining reservations, but they were learning. We then suggested they try the counter service place next door to Raglan Road called Cooks of Dublin. There was a much better chance of getting in there. The SSR bus showed up and we had a nice ride to the resort. We exited at the Congress Park bus stop. From there it was about a 200 yard walk to the Market Place end of DTD. We took this picture during our walk. We haven’t tried this balloon ride yet and probably never will. DH is a little afraid of heights, so he is not going to spend $13 to be terrified.

There was some more chit chat while we were walking. Now this couple had a strong Jersey accent, but just to be polite, I asked where they were from. The guy laughed out loud and said “You can’t tell from talking to us???” I also asked this couple where they were staying. Well they had started their week at All Star Sports. Then she proceeded to tell us a horror story about all of the obnoxious cheerleaders there. The food court was constantly mobbed, the pool area was noisy ciaos and they put up with screaming girls all through the night. She was so disgusted. She could not understand why she was not told about this group being there when she made the reservation. After much complaining to the front desks for two mornings in a row, they were finally able to get moved to Pop Century. She said the 2nd morning they were at the front desk they were not alone. There were at least 8 other families all with the same complaint. I wonder if they all got moved????

We arrived at the Market Place and we showed the couple the DTD map. Explained where Raglan Road/Cooks of Dublin was and then we parted ways. It was nice visiting with this couple and we are always happy to help others when they are lost at WDW.

I have failed to tell you why WE were going to DTD. Remember that fish taco appetizer we had at Fulton’s back on day 2. Our waiter did mention that the fish taco dish was an entrée on the lunch menu. DH really wanted to have them again. So we thought we would take a chance and try to get into Fulton’s for lunch without an ADR. It is very rare that we eat in the same restaurant twice in one trip, so I’m thinking DH must really like those tacos.

We arrived at Fulton’s at about 1:00. We had no problem getting a table. It was about a 10 minute wait. Another big plus for a Fulton’s lunch is DVC members get a 30% discount. That makes the bill very tolerable even at an expensive place like Fulton’s.

Up next…..Pictures of our lunch and some unexpected and unnecessary entertainment from an angry customer.

 

[LYNSUE]

Wednesday 3-17-10 continued

Onto our lunch at Fulton’s. We were seated upstairs at a table next to the inside wall (not the window) but the view was nice anyway. Our waiter was Eddie and he did a great job. Once we were seated, I immediately noticed a woman and about 10 year old girl sitting across from us. The woman was dressed in a silky black dress which looked more like evening wear to me? Also she was wearing a very large pair of sunglasses which remained on during the meal. Perhaps she was having some light sensitivity issues?? But anyway the most noticeable thing was the very angry look on her face and the nasty tone she was using to her daughter. We could over hear her bitterly complaining to her daughter about John, who didn’t show up because it was more important for him to watch TV in the room than have lunch with them. The poor child just looked confused as the nasty comments about John continued. Their waiter brought a large tray of oysters and the daughter already had a pasta dish in front of her. They seemed to be enjoying their lunch, or so I thought.

DH and I decided we would like to try the Portabello mushroom fries as an appetizer. But Eddie informed us that their fryer was broken so no fried items today. He pointed out the other items on the menu that would not be available because of this. Good thing those fish tacos did not involve the fryer since it was the main reason we came here today. We each ordered a cup of clam chowder, DH of course had the tacos and I had a wonderful chilled seafood trio.

This wonderful bread was brought to our table along with the signature crab spread with crackers.

We enjoyed the bread with the soup. Sorry, no pictures of the soup.

While we were having soup, the fireworks started at the next table. The woman had finished her oysters and then called the waiter over to complain that they were NOT good. The waiter let her go on for a while and then said “if the oysters were not good, why didn’t you tell us right away? I see you have eaten them all” . Well, that comment infuriated the woman and she demanded to see a manager. In a few minutes another man came to the table and she complained some more about the food and berated the waiter saying he was awful and the service was poor. He had not offered them refills on their drinks (both drinks were full at this point??), and the daughter’s pasta came out many minutes before her oysters. And neither dish was very good. We could not hear the manager’s response, but we did hear that something would be removed from the bill. The manager returned to the table with a revised bill, a large cookie and a to go box. The woman broke the cookie into three pieces, slammed it in the to go box, and huffed out of the restaurant. The daughter was just sadly trailing behind. I was rather glad to see them go. After that incident, all of the wait staff seemed to be walking around on egg shells and seemed even more attentive to their customers. Eddie had no worries, he was doing a great job. All I can say is WOW. How can you be that unhappy at WDW? I had a feeling that there was no way Fulton’s could have made that lady happy today!

Here are the Mahi fish tacos. You can see the beautiful grill marks on the fish

They were accompanied by pico de gallo, and cilantro lime crème fresh and salsa.

Here is the wonderful chilled seafood trio. It was Alaskan king crab, Florida shrimp in the rough (shells on) and blackened scallops along with some dipping sauces . All of this was wonderful.

Here is the aftermath of my seafood extravaganza

We took this picture from the upstairs balcony on the Fulton’s boat. It is the T-Rex restaurant.

We did a little more looking around DTD and then found our way to the bus stop. Only waited about 5 minutes for the WL bus. We were back by 3:00pm. Under normal weather circumstances we probably would have used the pool, but it was still too cool out. Another nice option would have been to go to the work out room, but we were too lazy. We just hung around the room, played on the computer, did some reading and rested a little. We tried to do on-line check in for our move to Boardwalk tomorrow, but it did not work. It was user error and no fault of the on-line check-in system. I also called Magical Express because we had received a pick up notice under our door that morning. We were not leaving until Saturday from BW. So I called and they assured me that the BW pick up was in place for Saturday. That’s good, because I was not ready to go home tomorrow.

As you can see, we did very little between lunch and dinner. So this installment is basically a food report. This evening we have a 6:20 ADR at Saana at the AK lodge. It is actually in the new Kidani Village building. Even though we weren’t doing anything, we ended up leaving rather late to get to this dinner. And then in our rush, we made a really dumb decision on transportation. And as long as I am admitting mistakes, I will tell you now, I don’t have pictures of the food at Saana. It is a great restaurant and I will give you good descriptions of what we had. Honestly, I just got so wrapped up in the new experience of Saana I totally forgot the pictures.

So stay tuned.

 

[heaven2dc]

I love the way you both are taking it easy yet enjoying every Park to it's fullest! I felt sorry for the little girl whose mother couldn't behave at Fulton's - I'm afraid I would have had to say something to the manager or intrude on the conversation to give the waiter their credit due! I think the waiter said exactly the right thing but sometimes you can't please all your customers, sadly to say.

Your dinner looks so delicious! What great guests you were to pass along some much needed information to that other couple

I've never been to HS park opening - only to AK but it's cool being up front of the line, isn't it? How did you like RnR? (I think you said you went on it)

 

[LYNSUE]

We really like RNR and ride it as many times as we can each trip. With the spring break crowds, we mostly did the single rider line this trip. In fact, on one of the days coming up the single rider line for RNR was shut down for a while because of the line being so backed up. We really had a hard time dealing with the large crowds this trip. We are just so spoiled going at quieter times of the year. I feel Spring Break time and Christmas time are very comparable as far as being crowded.

 

[LYNSUE]

Wednesday 3-17-10

Here we are on our way to our dinner at Saana. We were excited about this ADR since this would be a new restaurant for us. Even though we weren’t doing much, we somehow left late to get to the AK Lodge. We did not get down to the bus stop until 5:30pm for our 6:20 ADR. Fifty minutes is never enough to get from one resort to another since it always includes a transfer along the line. So in our panic, we decided to take the first bus that came along, which happened to be a DTD bus. (AK bus would have been a much better choice even if the wait was longer). In looking back, DTD is at one end of the property and about as far from AK as you can get. We were in for a long ride wasting precious time we did not have. I would call that a rookie mistake at its finest!! At this point, we decided to just let it go. We would get there eventually and we could only hope they would let us in. We really despise being late…for anything.

So eventually we arrived at the DTD Market Place bus stop. We jumped off and ran to the AK bus stop. I couldn’t believe it, but there was an AK bus waiting there for us to board. (Hey, maybe we would make it on time after all). NOT!! So we loaded that bus and continued on through DTD with another stop at the Pleasure Island bus stop and then onto AK Lodge.

There was a nice couple sitting near us on the bus talking about AK Lodge. They had been staying there for a while and seemed to really know the property well. Since I was only familiar with the main building, I asked them exactly where Saana was and the best way to get there once we arrived. They provided great info. We were told to get off the bus at the second stop (Kidani Village). (The first stop is the main Lodge where Boma and Jiko are located). Then he gave us specific instructions where to go once we got off the bus in Kidani. This information was truly a great help. I figured it was good karma from us helping that couple find DTD earlier in the day. There was another guy near us on the bus and he was listening intently to the instructions. Turns out he was looking for Saana also, and he was late as well.

We got off the bus, followed our instructions exactly (with the other late guy following closely behind us). On our walk to the restaurant, I swear I saw a celebrity walking toward us. Do you know the character Steve from “Sex in the City”? Well, I swear it was him. DH was not as familiar with the show, so he couldn’t really confirm if it was really him. From the looks of what he was carrying and the way he was dressed, he was probably returning from the pool. There was also a darling little girl with him. Anyway, I am sure we will never know, but that was my curious adventure on the way to the restaurant.

We ended up being only 20 minutes late. Once we checked in, we apologize for our lateness and they said it would be a few minutes for our table.

Here is a picture of the check in area

The sinks in the lady’s room were really cool. You know Disney….down to every last detail.

We were seated at a small table for two near the middle of the restaurant. The place was very full. We were told our waiter would be German and he would be with us soon. It did take our waiter a while to get to us and once he did things progressed very slowly. At first this bothered me thinking the service was not going to be good. But then I realized….this is part of the laid back atmosphere the restaurant wants to promote. Once I realized this, I also relaxed and went with the slow flow of things. It turned out to be very nice.

DH started with a wine flight called Cape Town. There were three whites and a red. With the lighting in the restaurant reflecting off the wine, the flight was absolutely gorgeous to look at. (a picture would have been really nice, but there is none). I did have a sample taste of each. I thought the red was the best. DH preferred the whites.

Next we had the bread service. “Indian Style Bread Service” Four different breads and three accompaniments. The bread was listed as Naan, Onion Kulcha, Partha, and Paneer Paratha. They were all flat breads and frankly I could not tell which was which. But they all tasted good. There is a larger list of accompaniments and we were able to choose three. We ordered Red Chili Sambai (very spicy and DH’s favorite). Second choice was Coriander Chutney (my favorite). Just a little info….Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant and cilantro is my favorite herb…so of course I liked the coriander chutney. Our third choice was roasted red bell pepper hummas. Also very good. For some reason we were given a fourth sauce, Mango Chutney?? The only thing we could figure out was the mango chutney (fruit based) helps counteract the spicy red chili sauce. (that sure worked for DH, so he was glad they threw it in.

I also ordered a cup of Tomato Soup. It came with Paneer cheese. The soup was very good with the little squares of cheese floating in there. The cheese was soft yet did not melt out of its square forms???

For our entrees we both ordered from the slow cooked in gravy items. I had the beef short rib and the chicken. The chicken is usually served with the red curry sauce, but I ordered the chicken with the green curry sauce. I had the five grain pilaf with mine. DH ordered the shrimp in green curry sauce and the chicken with the red curry sauce. He had the basmati rice. Rice is not my favorite, so DH helped me with that part. DH had some red chili sauce remaining from our bread service. He used it on most of his food. His mouth was burning, but apparently he loved it anyway. We really enjoyed our meal here and will definitely return. I loved the restaurant, the laid back service, and the food. I had only one complaint about the dining room. The restaurant allowed strollers inside. During our dinner, there were two very large double strollers parked next to two different tables making it very difficult and dangerous for the wait staff to maneuver. I was really surprised that this was allowed?

After dinner we headed to the bus stop. Since we were thinking more clearly, we knew the MK bus would be our best bet. MK is just a short boat ride back to Wilderness Lodge. A MK bus was waiting for us as we approached the bus stop. At MK we transferred to a WL bus (since we were already in the bus area) and were back to the resort by 9:15. The Milwaukee Bucks were playing basketball on ESPN so we spent our evening watching that. (the Bucks lost). We also did some packing since we were moving to the Boardwalk tomorrow. We had a nice stay at WL.

We got to sleep about 1:00am. Good thing was had that rest time in the afternoon.

 

[tink1957]

I just found your report today and I must say it's nice to hear from someone my age. I usually travel with my 2 adult kids and it's good to read a trip report from an adult perspective.

I can't believe that woman at Fulton's, it sounds like she was mad at "John" and taking it out on everyone else, including her poor daughter or maybe she just wanted a free meal, who knows?

I can't wait to read the rest, thanks for sharing.

 

[LYNSUE]

If the 1957 represents what I think it does....then we are exactly the same age. I am glad you are enjoying the report. Plenty of people are looking at my report as I can see from the hits, but very few respond. So I really do appreciate your comments.

I often read trip reports with the comment "its all about the kids". Well I am here to tell you......not always. DH and I enjoy ourselves so much when just the two of us travel to WDW, or anywhere else for that matter. I am hoping our adult children will want to return to the world with us sometime in the near future. But for now, I am enjoying it just the way it is.

 

[tink1957]

Yes, the 1957 means what you think it does I'm a late starter at WDW and waited to take my kids until they were almost grown due to a lack of funds and the misunderstanding that you had to be rich to go there. We went on our first trip in 2007 and I was hooked. Now it's at least a yearly thing (I think we go for the food most of all). I just love the feeling that I get whenever I hear "welcome home" I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

 

[LYNSUE]

Thursday 3-16-10

We woke up on our own this morning at about 7:15am. Had our usual breakfast in the room, finished packing up our stuff and checked out of the Wilderness Lodge. We got in a cab, with luggage in hand and headed over to the Boardwalk. The cab dropped us off at about 8:00am. We definitely would have completed our stay at WL if we could have. However, when we made the reservation, Thursday night and Friday night were not available. But Boardwalk was, so we agreed to move. Besides, today was the start of the NCAA tournament and it was nice to be right near the ESPN club. So in conclusion….we prefer to stay in the same resort the entire trip. But, if it is not possible, we make the best of having to move. It is pretty rare that our first resort choice is ever available for our entire stay, so we are getting used to changing hotels mid trip.

Even though we were not able to check-in on line ahead of time, it was still super easy. We were pretty much the only guests checking in at 8:00am. Of course our room was not ready so we left our things with bell service and walked over to DHS arriving about 9:00 when the park was scheduled to open. The bag check and entry gates were mobbed. I had a feeling this was going to be another crowded/impossible morning at DHS!!! (and I was right)

Upon entering, we headed right for TSM. The FP line was once again backed up to “One Man’s Dream”. Not gonna wait in a FP line, it wouldn’t be prudent. So we jumped in the standby line that said a 60 minute wait. Now 60 minutes is way beyond our usual limit, but we really wanted to ride…..So we waited. Still not sure if it was worth it. And once again, DH won. I was really off my TSM game this trip. After we got out of the ride the FP line had settled down so we were able to walk right up to a machine and get a FP. The return time was for 7:40pm.

Next stop was TOT which had a 60 minute wait…..NO WAY (not again this morning)

Then over to RNR to try the single rider line. The standby line was over an hour and the single rider line was CLOSED because it was full.

Again today they were having the Funniest Home Video show. We thought maybe we would try that for the 11:00 show. We waited in line for a while and then got cut off two groups from the front of the line. The 11:00 show was full. We did not want to stand around there until noon for the next show, so we headed back to RNR to check the single rider line…..STILL CLOSED.

ENOUGH. We left the park at 11:15am. I am pretty sure that this morning is the one that helped me choose the title of this trip report. Any other park had to be less crowed than this one.

We decided to walk back toward the BW and on to Epcot. We got to BW about 11:30ish and we decided to try Captain’s Grille in the Yacht Club for lunch. Of course there would be many more dining options at Epcot, but given the crowd level today, we did not want to take the chance of being shut out. The BW area was definitely a better option for trying to get into a restaurant without an ADR.

We were able to get in at Captain's Grille . There were only a few other tables in use and those were mostly convention people. And even though the restaurant was not crowded, the service was very slow. (we have dined here before and found that to be true every time).

Here is a picture of DH as we were seated at the table. (he did remove his hat right after the picture).

Notice the long sleeve shirt....still a little chilly outside.

I had the fish & chips.

It was ok, but a little heavy for lunch.

DH had the soup and sandwich. Tuna on a croissant with soup of the day. It was either clam chowder or corn chowder. (don't remember)

Again, the food was just ok. But with no ADR and no waiting for a table, it was great.

Since it is later in the trip, we are reaching that point where we are sick of eating restaurant food. Earlier in the week, this meal would have probably been deemed good. At this point, it only gets an ok. This happens every trip. So I always warn readers that the later food reports have a different scoring standard than the meals earlier on in the trip. It’s a crazy system…..I know.

After lunch we started walking to Epcot. On the way I got a text message that our room was ready at BW. So we took a right turn and headed to the resort. We got a nice refurbished room on the second floor.

Here is the horrendous clown pool slide

Here are two hidden Mickey’s at our resort.

This one is the door pull on our armoire which houses the TV

This is in the carpet in the hall

We called bell services and our luggage arrived in about 15 minutes. I am so glad we took our bags with us in the cab. Who knows how long we would have waited for our stuff if we did the resort transfer. I now felt that we were settled in to the BW and we could continue on with our vacation. Transfer complete.

We are on our way to Epcot via the international gateway.

 

[tink1957]

That clown slide creeps me out.

 

[LYNSUE]

I am not afraid of clowns or anything like that. I just think that pool slide is just so over done and it is damn ugly!!!!!

 

[LYNSUE]

Thursday 3-18-10 continued

We were walking to Epcot via the International Gateway. Just entering the gate, I was getting the feeling that this park was less crowded than DHS. But of course, Epcot is a much bigger area so the crowd would be more spread out. First thing we did was walk over to Future World to check out the wait time board. It said the Ellen Ride was down but Mission Space had only a 10 minute wait. We did the green (mild) side of MS. While waiting in line we took another look at the replica moon rover hanging from the ceiling. It is so much more interesting now that we know the story behind it. Next we did Test Tracks in the single rider line with a 30 minute wait. After that we tried Ellen and it was opened up again. We walked in and the preshow had already started. It was only about a minute before we were loading into the ride vehicles. There were at least six announcements about staying in the vehicle. I’m assuming there must have been an incident earlier of someone trying to exit the ride at the wrong time, which would explain the ride being down earlier. Everyone stayed put and we were off to the Jurassic Period.

After that we headed to the Seas. We had a 5 minute wait for the shell ride. Then over to Turtle Talk. We did the computer quiz with Mr. Ray while we waited. I forwarded (by e-mail) my completion certificate to a co-worker back home. She also goes to Disney often and we have a thing of doing the quiz and e-mailing each other our results. It is a nice little reminder of how much fun the co-worker is having while the other is working so hard. LOL. Next was the Imagination Ride.

Here is something you don’t see everyday. A LINE for the Imagination ride!!! The line was short and the wait was not very long.

After that we headed to World Showcase. Here are some photos of the topiaries along the way.

This one looked like dolphins swimming in the ocean

Mickey and Minnie as the "American Gothic"

We checked at Norway for the boat ride. 30 minute wait. Not worth it so we moved on.

Next we stopped at Italy. We stopped in the shop where they sell wine and chocolate. They have the best small pieces of chocolate candies here. Most of them have hazelnuts in them. We purchased 4 pieces to savor and enjoy later. Next we stopped at Japan. I was going to try to look at the pearl settings one more time. The last two times I tried, the counter was three deep with people and I could not get near it. Today I was able to browse but did not see anything I had to have. Next stop was France. DH wanted some pastries for breakfast the next day. The line at the bakery was rather long but we got in it anyway. DH chose an apple tart and a piece of chocolate cake. I got a turkey sandwich. On vacation, it is ok to eat a turkey sandwich for breakfast. (just so you know)

DH was compelled to get this picture of Jasmine... for some reason???? Aladian ain't so bad either

We started our walk back to the BW. We decided to stop at Yacht Club and try to change our Friday night ADR for Yachtman’s Steakhouse. It was scheduled for 7:00 and we figured the Badger basketball NCAA game with a 3:00 start time would be done way before 7:00. Since we didn’t want to waste park time on our last day just hanging around waiting for a dining reservation, we were going to try to move it to a little earlier. We stopped at the restaurant and they could not help us. They sent us to the front desk for the hotel. The front desk told us they had no other time slots available. So we decided to leave it as is. If we showed up early, so what. Then we headed back to the BW. At this point, I started to feel we had been running in circles today between DHS, the BW, Epcot and twice to the YC. We were both kind of grumpy and not feeling the best. The temperature has gone up a little and we were still dressed for the cooler weather. So we were hot and grumpy and thirsty. (most likely dehydrated) Also we had really lost track of time this afternoon and we were now going to have to hurry to get to our 6:20 ADR at Il Mulino in the Swan. The walk to the Swan was just another stop on the circular tour today. There was no time left for a quick rest.

We got to our room. Put away our Italian candies (dessert tonight), the pastries and the sandwich. I splashed some water on my face, combed my hair and sat down to drink a bottle of water. Just that 10 minutes of relaxing helped a lot. Then we were off to the Swan. Il Mulino is an Italian restaurant. Probably one of DH’s favorite. He ended up not being real happy with the pasta dish he ordered but that was ok because I had plenty of mine to share with him.

Up next, our dinner at Il Mulino.

 

[LYNSUE]

Thursday 3-18-10 concluded

We left the BW and walked around the lake to the Swan. We arrived right on time for our 6:20 ADR at Il Mulino. We were seated right away. Most of the tables were full of conventioneers. Our small table for two was surrounded by three large groups of at least 12 or more people per table. These folks were having a great time.

This is a rather upscale restaurant. The wait staff is nice enough but I always feel they are a bit stuffy. I am not as comfortable here and I might be at some other places on property. For example, Yatchman’s is somewhat upscale, but I never get that stuffy feeling there. Not sure why…..just an observation. Maybe it’s the convention atmosphere?

DH started with a glass of Riesling wine. Then came the bread basket with a variety of breads. There was one kind with a very toasty crunchy finish. (pretty sure it got that way by being fried in grease) But it was soooooo good. Also you are given an egg plant and tomato relish to top the bread. The relish is not very attractive to look at, but it tastes good.

Appetizers: DH started with a pear and walnut salad

I had the meatballs.

The meatball serving was a meal by itself. I managed to eat one and a quarter and then DH and I switched. The salad was very good also.

I had Pollo Fra Diavolo Boneless Chicken with sausage in a spicy red sauce. (almost a little too spicy for me) It was chunks of white chicken, sausages, onions, broccoli, tomatoes and the sauce. Also lots of fresh basil, which I love. I have had this dish before and liked it.

DH had Bucatini Ameatriciana Thick linguine pasta, rendered pancetta (Italian ham) with onions in a marinara sauce.

DH said it was good but the pasta was extremely el dente. He really would have liked the pasta cooked longer. After the meatball appetizer I was pretty full and only managed less than half of my entrée. DH was happy to finish mine and leave his. He did say he would make a different choice next time and certainly specify to cook the pasta longer.

When we were ready to leave, this restaurant was extremely full with many people waiting at the bar. We did enjoy our dinner here and I am sure we will be back in the future. Especially if we are staying at the BW or BC resorts. It is a very convenient walk from either one. We were able to use our TIW card here for the 20% discount.

We walked back to the BW. It was after 8:00 and we were trying to decide if we wanted to return to DHS. We had that FP for TSM from earlier in the day. Well the thought of returning to DHS (especially with the bad morning we had there) just did not appeal to us. So we waited by the BW boat launch near the line for DHS. There were a few people in line, so we walked up there. First we encountered two young guys. We asked them if they wanted the FP’s. They explained that they were going to DHS but not actually going into the park. They were just meeting some people there outside the gate. In front of the guys was a couple. She had been listening intently to our conversation. When she heard the guys say no she promptly raised her hand and said she would love to have the FP’s. So, they were hers.

We returned to the room and watched Marquette play in the NCAA tournament. We watched on the computer, so there was no need to visit ESPN club. By the way the ESPN club was booming this evening with a long line out the door. I was really glad we had our lap top computer with us.

We did take the time to enjoy our 4 pieces of Italian chocolates that we purchased earlier at Epcot. The were very good.

We were tired since we did so much walking and no resting today. We were in bed by 10:15 and slept well.

Tomorrow is our last full day at the World. Believe me….(as always) we make the most of it.

 

[LYNSUE]

Friday 3-19-10

We were up at 6:30 and had breakfast in the room. Today was not the same old same old though. Remember we had visited the bakery in France the day before. DH enjoyed his apple tart and chocolate cake. I enjoyed half of my turkey sandwich. Both were washed down with some good skim milk.

We left the room at 7:40 and walked to DHS. This is our third morning in a row that we started at this park. Wednesday was the early entry that wasn’t really early entry. Thursday we got here at 9:00 when it was opening and we started out way back in the crowd and had just a disastrous two hours before leaving. Well today we did not want a repeat of either of those things….So I triple checked the park opening time and made sure we were at the gate for the 9:00 opening. We really wanted at least two more rides on TSM without having to wait hours and hours.

We took a leisurely pace getting to DHS and still arrived by 8:00. At that time of the morning it is real easy to get through bag check and we were the first in line standing at one of the turnstiles over to the right. The race to TSM would be ON in about 45 minutes.

Here is a picture of me taking notes while we waited to get in.

Being one of the first guests into the park made for a much better start than yesterday. DH got a FP for TSM with a return time of 9:40. He was the first one at one of the FP machines so he was actually waiting for me to catch up. We jumped in the stand by line with a 20 minute wait. Now, the green army men are on hand to do crowd control when everyone is rushing to get into TSM. These guys are terrific. They shout their commands and every one is expected to obey orders. It is the perfect setting for these guys. They can say things to guests that no CM could ever get away with. And people chuckle and do exactly what they are suppose to with out getting angry or upset for being reprimanded. It is such a win/win situation for crowd control. There is Disney at its finest again. They always find a solution that favors the guests. Or at least the solution lets the guest think it is in their favor. LOL

One of the green army men allowed me to touch his shirt. It feels like it is made out of plastic tarp material.

By the time we got out of our first ride we had to wait about five minutes to use our FP. We then road again with the FP. After the second ride, we got another FP with a return time of 2:15. This one would definitely be a give away. We had accomplished our goal of two rides on TSM this morning with very little wait.

It was already obvious to me that DHS was crowded again today, but not quite as bad as yesterday. We could actually move from ride to ride without walking over people but the wait times were still very high.

Next we checked TOT and the wait time said 110 minutes. (WHAT!!). As we were looking at it, it went down to 75 minutes. Even on our last park day of the trip, a 75 minute wait is still a NO Way on our list. The TOT will still be there next trip.

Next we went to RNR and did the single rider line. That was a 45 minute wait but that was still better than the stand by line.

On our way out of RNR we checked TOT again. Still said 70 minute wait.

So before we ended up as frustrated as yesterday, we decided to leave. We gave away our TSM fast pass to a mother and daughter just coming into the park. The girl had a first time visitor button on. They took the FP’s, but didn’t really seem to know what they were for. Oh well, I hope they didn’t waste them!!!

There is a bus you can get from DHS to Epcot. We thought there was only a boat ride or the walking path. But today we learned there was a bus. In fact it was waiting at the curb as we were approaching. The bus driver was standing outside the open doors. As we walked/jogged up the sidewalk, the bus driver went into the bus and just as we approached he closed the door right in our face. Both DH and I were shocked. But then he opened the door again with a big grin on his face. That bus driver must have been in a very jovial mood this morning.

We arrived at Epcot at 11:20 and we went directly to Soarin for a FP. We had a return time of 6:20pm. I don’t remember what the standby wait time was for Soarin, but I am sure it was something ridiculous. We headed over to World Showcase. Just for fun, we stopped in the Mexico to see if we could do a walk-in at San Angles Inn. That was a joke. The check in line alone was backed up so far it would have taken 20 minutes just to ask if a table was available. So we said forget that. Remember earlier on in our trip we tried to get into the new tequila bar, La Cava but it was so crowded we could not get in. Well, we gave that a look to see if we could get in there, but it was not open yet.

We wondered onto Norway and stopped at the Kringla bakery. DH has been wanting to try this place for a while and we never seem to get here. So today we did. We shared a Club sandwich, a chocolate mousse and a bottle of water. The dining area was very full and it took a while to get a table. Eventually we were successful.

This sandwich was plenty large enough to share.

When we were done there we headed back to Mexico to check out La Cava again. It was open but pretty crowded. DH went to the bar and ordered the Cava Tequila Flight. It had a 6-month old tequila, a one year old tequila and a two year old tequila. According to DH, the older the tequila….the smoother the tequila. The fourth glass of red stuff is a chunky tomato juice and lime juice mixture. I guess it is suppose to compliment the tequila?? While DH was ordering at the bar, I actually found a very small table for two. I signaled him to join me which he did with his flight in hand. I was surprised, but they actually have waitress moving around in this tiny tiny dining room.

Here is a picture of the tequila

Yes....the glass next to the tomato juice was already empty and DH said it was good

Here is a picture of the crab tostadas we shared. This appetizer was $11. There were three small tortilla chips with the crab topping. Very tasty…but definitely not a good value.

On our way out of Mexico we enjoyed the mariache band

 

[tink1957]

You should have named this "I Touched a Green Army Man".

 

[jess20k]

I am enjoying your reviews and pictures. Thank you for sharing!