Where are we, Jersey? Bye, Phoenicians! An August 2017 TR * NEW DINING/TR LINKS*

I did take a couple pictures as we walked over; I think CSR is such a pretty resort:
I’ve stayed here’s a few times and totally agree.

We got to HS and it was all decorated for Christmas
I’ve heard that HS got a lot of Christmas love this year!

Somewhat freaky and possibly off-putting to children statue in the playground area:
My boys would love it!

After about, I don't know, 15 minutes? Steve looked at me and whispered, "um, where are we going?" At which point I looked up and saw this on my right:
Oh my...lol.

Oh, and for those of you not familiar with Citricos, while the view isn't that of California Grill or Narcoossee's you CAN see HEA from the restaurant:
Very nice!
 
When we came out of the ride a PP photographer grabbed us so we did this:
Hey, we got photos like that! But we had to ask and our photographer was kind of a snot.

And this! My first Sebastian magic shot:
See, we weren’t offered this. Of course, maybe I should’ve done my research...but like I said, this PP photographer wasn’t very excited to be taking our photo.

We were only on the bus a minute or two when I heard someone say my name - " I recognize you from DISBoards!" and with that, Kathy @KathyM2 came up to me!
Nice!
 
I told him it wasn't a big deal since we had another back in the room and we'd just go up to GS to get a card, but he was adamant we tell the CM so they could look for it and alert us when the found it :rotfl2:
:rotfl2:

While we were there a woman was complaining like crazy because nobody told her she had to make FP's ahead of time, and now there were none left for FOP and her kids were devastated. Devastated! Her kids, at least the ones with her, were both still in diapers. This poor CM ended up giving her SIX anytime FP's for any park for her "trouble". Unbelievable.
Totally agree with you.

This was Ricky's first nighttime safari, my first full dark safari (Steve and I did one at dusk) but we both agree it's not worth it. I'm sure some of you have had really good experiences with the night safari's but we'll stick with day ones!
I like the dusk safari but totally dark wouldn’t be all that.

I WILL BE GOING FOR A SOMEWHAT SOLO TRIP IN FEBRUARY?? BECAUSE i WILL!!
Wahoo!
 
I think TH has some of the best character interaction :goofy:
Agreed!

we were still up early to do our 2nd EMH morning of the trip! Yup, not the boys idea and not something we normally do, however with the ungodly hot weather I told them we were doing some this time. And really it turned out to be a good thing, since more than on our previous summer trips we all liked the mid-day downtime and this enabled us to get stuff done early.
So glad RD and midday breaks worked out for you guys!

I almost never run anywhere when we're in the parks because, well, I'm a pro :snooty: But then every once in awhile I do something that would make other guests mistake me for a newbie - see my previous post about standing in line for the safari for 90 minutes - and we were almost running to 7DMT. Granted it was more like a gallop but more than a walk nonetheless. It was worth it though because we walked right on and as we were zigzagging through the outside queue, the line grew insanely long.
We only rode once and then moved on to something else that normally sees long lines:
Perfect plan!

OK, here's what I think about every time we go by this scene: I always wonder if the dolls with the masks have actual faces back there. Creepy to think they don't, right? So when we go by I try to look; once I'm pretty sure I saw that the one on the end does so I assume they both do. I'm just going with yeah, they do....................
Haha...I have never thought about it but now I’ll never forget it and will probably try to look every time as well!

I'll save my review of our food for my dining report but here's Steve's coffee cup:
My DH would love this. His new coffee cup is a Walt standing, looking at swamp land but a light vision of Cinderella’s Castle is there as well. Hard to describe but, regardless, it just shows how nostalgic my DH has become about Disney.
 


I’m glad you were able to ride 7DMT and Peter Pan :tink:
Don’t think I’ll ever outgrow this ride :goodvibes
I'll never outgrow PP either, especially since it brings back memories of my grandmother :love:

Oh my gosh, why did you tell me this!? :eek:
lol so you have a purpose next time you ride IASW :laughing:

I still have never gotten to go through the queue! The line is always way too long for us to wait or we have a FP.
You have to hit it first thing in the morning, that's the key :)


OMG!!!! We will be there. Maybe our first meet can be in Disney. I think we will be doing the following:
Feb. 2nd: AK
Feb 3rd: MK
Feb 4th: HS
Sadly, we are planning Epcot on the 5th. I will send you a message on facebook to see if we can make it work. #fingerscrossed
Aaaahhhh! We're like what, 90 minutes away from each other but we'll meet for the first time in Disney :rotfl2:I'm supposed to call Cathy tomorrow night to figure out our plan so I will let you know!

Better than me! I am just coming out of the Christmas coma!
My house still looks like Christmas threw up :faint:

Now I need to know! Is it just a head? Do they have eyes and mouthes?
From what I could tell, the doll farthest on the left has a normal face, phew! That's the only one I can tell!

I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas!!! :santa:
Right back atcha'!
 
You have to hit it first thing in the morning, that's the key :)

:rotfl: well we may never get to see it in that case. Maybe at a party one day if I can convince Josh to wait in the line. We almost waited at the Xmas party because it wasn't that long.
 
Sorry, I'm behind, but I'm catching up!!!
No worries, I remember how it is with a little one not to mention that I'm way behind on everyone's reports :rolleyes1

:hyper: I actually gasped when I saw this pic of Peter Pan waiting for the boat to return. DD would be shrieking. This might be a must-do for a future trip...
Oh you should definitely do it! I suggested it to a client going in July so they're doing it and I just can't wait for them to experience it pirate:

Okay so it’s obvious but I’m way behind!
I was wondering where you've been lol

Very nice! I’m looking forward to getting a refurbed Pop room in October.
I love the look of the refurbed rooms!

I loved the first and did a Mom’s Night Out for it...but I haven’t caught the new one yet.
I saw both movies with the same friends and we agreed while the second one was funny it doesn't top the first one.

His new coffee cup is a Walt standing, looking at swamp land but a light vision of Cinderella’s Castle is there as well
a
OMG that sounds beautiful! Where did you get it? I can't believe how much Chad is into Disney now, it's fantastic :goodvibes
 


I cannot believe I'm even attempting doing an update tonight; I spent about 7 hours baking today, still have wrapping to do, and haven't cleaned yet for the 16 people who will be here Monday. Yet the DIS calls and will calm me, so here I am!


Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

And where did we go first? The same place everyone else was going, of course!

We are actually doing EMM in April. I know my kids are a little old but they still love that mine train. Hoping to get a bunch of rides on it ahead of the crowds.

I'm so happy the boys humor me by still riding this. Stay tuned for a few more queue pics; the line wasn't long at all but we did get to stop a few times and admire the new(ish) stuff in line:

It's a classic, and my mom's favorite ride :love:

I think the next picture is so neat because it's Ricky and Steve's "shadow's", and mine taking the picture :goodvibes

And Tinkerbell flying over your heads…so cute!

I'll save my review of our food for my dining report but here's Steve's coffee cup:

:love::worship:
 
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!!! You are much better than me as I had to get away from here for the last week, but finally all settled back in!

And then it was time to fly with the banshees! Steve and I loved it as much as we had in May when we got to ride during the AP previews and Ricky absolutely fell in love with the ride.
Glad to hear that Ricky loved it as much as you all. The first time we rode it I actually didn't pay as much attention to the ride because I was so fixated on checking out Casey and Jason's faces. They were amazed!

Chris also loved the ride until he realized he lost his MB on it :sad2: I told him it wasn't a big deal since we had another back in the room and we'd just go up to GS to get a card, but he was adamant we tell the CM so they could look for it and alert us when the found it :rotfl2:
Go Chris! They should take that ride down for his magic band! :P Did he hear them paging him to pick it up when you were on the safari?

The picture you've all been waiting for! While we were there a woman was complaining like crazy because nobody told her she had to make FP's ahead of time, and now there were none left for FOP and her kids were devastated. Devastated! Her kids, at least the ones with her, were both still in diapers. This poor CM ended up giving her SIX anytime FP's for any park for her "trouble". Unbelievable.
Seriously????? Why does Disney feel the need to placate the clueless!

We got in line and I figured it would move faster than posted because yeah, that happens all the time. Steve kept texting me asking how far along in the queue we were and I kept telling him the same place we were 10 minutes ago :scared: It took us the entire 90 minutes and then some to get to the loading area! I kept asking Ricky if he really wanted to ride and he kept saying yes, so we did it. Those of you with kids will understand (maybe) and those of you without kids will say never in a million freaking years.
Yikes!!! 90 minutes for a dark safari. That is some serious mama love there. I'd like to say I understand, but my chid thankfully has less patience than ! :-)

I spent about 7 hours baking today, still have wrapping to do, and haven't cleaned yet for the 16 people who will be here Monday. Yet the DIS calls and will calm me, so here I am!
That is some serious baking prowess. Casey and I made sugar cookies from premade pilsbury dough that we fancied up by putting a thumbprint and icing in it. I clearly have absolutely no baking skills

img_7108-jpg.289984


I almost never run anywhere when we're in the parks because, well, I'm a pro :snooty: But then every once in awhile I do something that would make other guests mistake me for a newbie - see my previous post about standing in line for the safari for 90 minutes - and we were almost running to 7DMT. Granted it was more like a gallop but more than a walk nonetheless. It was worth it though because we walked right on and as we were zigzagging through the outside queue, the line grew insanely long.
I can see you galloping through Fantasyland now :-)

I think the next picture is so neat because it's Ricky and Steve's "shadow's", and mine taking the picture :goodvibes

img_7113-jpg.289988
Very cool indeed. We finally got to see the queue for the first time during the Christmas Party. Loved it!

I'll save my review of our food for my dining report but here's Steve's coffee cup:

img_7129-jpg.289992
This is great. I've never seen them. Of course I also loathe Disney coffee, so maybe that is why :confused3
 
We are actually doing EMM in April. I know my kids are a little old but they still love that mine train. Hoping to get a bunch of rides on it ahead of the crowds.
Envious! They are not offering it for our one park date in June and I really wanted it to help with FPs.
 
Envious! They are not offering it for our one park date in June and I really wanted it to help with FPs.

Bummer! You're sure it isn't being offered at that time? We booked this after our 180 day window. I think it opened up for us in late October. Never give up hope!
 
Bummer! You're sure it isn't being offered at that time? We booked this after our 180 day window. I think it opened up for us in late October. Never give up hope!
It’s definitely not offered yet and I doubt it gets added. It wasn’t offered the first week of June this year either. It was in 2016 though, so I had hoped...but looks like the 2017 pattern is what they are following. They don’t offer it as much in June or the summer really. Not sure if it’s because they reserve the right to change opening to 8am or what, and it normally doesn’t affect us but with just the one Park day, I was hoping we would have the opportunity in 2018.
 
Shop Parks App. I took some photos:
Love that! I rarely go on the shop parks app but I think I need to spend more time there.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!
Thank you! It was good. I really did miss my sister and nephews but we had a great time with all the many, MANY relatives who were here :goodvibes Hope you guys had a great one, too!

We are actually doing EMM in April. I know my kids are a little old but they still love that mine train. Hoping to get a bunch of rides on it ahead of the crowds.
I've considered doing EMM but Steve is against it since 7DMT is the only "thrill" ride (kind of) that's included. But I'd be happy riding that and PP a few times and all the reviews of breakfast are good. I also think the after hours sounds good so I might try talking him into that one of these days!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!!
:thanks: I meant to send you the picture of my "Christmosas" Steve made me that nobody else liked so I had to drink the pitcher by myself. Bummer :laughing: I saw your pics on FB, looks like you all had a nice Christmas!

Go Chris! They should take that ride down for his magic band!
Huh, that's exactly how Chris felt lol

Seriously????? Why does Disney feel the need to placate the clueless!
No idea :sad2: Seems they do that more and more now...................

That is some serious baking prowess
Well I can't cook so baking is all I got! I actually enjoy it I just rarely find time for it. I don't do anything too crazy though because it's only been a few years that I don't burn everything I bake!

Casey and I made sugar cookies from premade pilsbury dough that we fancied up by putting a thumbprint and icing in it.
Ooh those sound cute though :D

his is great. I've never seen them. Of course I also loathe Disney coffee, so maybe that is why :confused3
Steve can't stand the coffee there either but continues to attempt drinking it every single morning

Wishing you and Steve a happy and healthy New Year
Thank you, same to you and your family :hug:
 
Oops Renee I think I missed responding to one of your posts!

I’ve heard that HS got a lot of Christmas love this year!
As gorgeous as MK looks all decorated I think HS is my favorite during Christmas :santa:

See, we weren’t offered this. Of course, maybe I should’ve done my research...but like I said, this PP photographer wasn’t very excited to be taking our photo.
In the past we've had to ask if we want Magic Shots, especially back in 2013 which was the first year we bought PP. We had to ask for every one we got. But surprisingly on our last couple trips the photographers just took quite a few for us!
 
Ricky had his surgery yesterday. It went perfectly

Yay! Glad to hear it went well.


I like the picture!


The last pic was good, but this one's way better :goodvibes

SHORT BUT SWEET NOVEMBER F&W TR, PART ONE!
(we'll all be nice and lost by the time I get back to August)

:rotfl:


Awesome view!

They were a few hours off of running one of the races which I can't remember the name of because I'm #notarunner

:lmao:


Love both of your shirts


This whole area was blocked off for construction in August. It looks so different now, but very nice!

Everyone (I believe) gets a print after eating there, or at least everyone did when they opened and they were still giving them out now. Our server asked which one we had from our previous visit and made sure to bring us a new one. We also got some awesomely delicious dark chocolate bark "because you're returning guests", which was great!

Wow, nice!

Steve asked our driver where we were going and he excitedly responded, "to the resort you said you were going to, the Grand Resort and Spa!" :scared1:

:faint:


Nice pic!

I WILL BE GOING FOR A SOMEWHAT SOLO TRIP IN FEBRUARY??

:woohoo:

While we were there a woman was complaining like crazy because nobody told her she had to make FP's ahead of time, and now there were none left for FOP and her kids were devastated. Devastated! Her kids, at least the ones with her, were both still in diapers. This poor CM ended up giving her SIX anytime FP's for any park for her "trouble". Unbelievable.

:eek: :headache: This makes me mad. Wow.

It took us the entire 90 minutes and then some to get to the loading area! I kept asking Ricky if he really wanted to ride and he kept saying yes, so we did it. Those of you with kids will understand (maybe) and those of you without kids will say never in a million freaking years.

::yes::
 
pixiedust:HAPPY NEW YEAR pixiedust:
hope NY Eve treated you all well and nobody did this :crazy2:. Ours was boring by some standards but we were ok with it; Ricky wanted some friends over so we stayed in after taking Chris and a couple friends to see Pitch Perfect 3 :laughing: Yup, that's what they wanted to see! Anyway my poor injured baby wins out and Steve and I gave up our plans with friends to stay home so Ricky could hang with his friends. We ate Chinese and binged the first season of "Santa Clarita Diet" on Netflix (cannot WAIT for the 2nd season now!) and Ricky had lots of fun.
I also spoke with Cathy over break and made a plan for our few Disney days next month as well as worked on our family March trip plans, finally have our park days figured out and now have to work on ADR's. I'd love to post them here but I have to get through this August trip first!!! So here we go with the next chapter!

SOME DEJA VU FOR YOU
After our BOG breakfast was over we met up with Kathy @KathyM2 and her daughter Alexis and actually had time to chat and get to know each other!

IMG_7132.JPG

We talked for a little bit until it was time for our Buzz FP and I think Kathy and Alexis went on the PeopleMover. But then when we got off we all happened to meet up right outside CoP, so we rode together :goodvibes It was so nice spending time with them, Alexis is adorable and so sweet! We eventually parted ways and did a little bit of shopping before our next FP. I wanted to get a Christmas ornament and hadn't had time to go in the Christmas store in DS the day before so we went in the small Christmas store in Liberty Square where Santa Mickey(s) was waiting:

IMG_7139.JPG

When we came out the Muppet show was starting and I finally got to see more than 2 minutes of it:

IMG_7142.JPG

IMG_7143.JPG

I think it's pretty cute; Steve doesn't. He thinks it's out of place but I think anything extra they can put in Liberty Square that's themed to the area is welcome! I love Liberty Square, there are actually lots of little details one can easily miss if one doesn't know to look for them. Some I've read about but when we took the KTTK tour a couple years ago, what I learned more of aside from ride details were Liberty Square details! Much more to the area than meets the eye. The kids didn't have much interest in the Muppet show either but at least I've now seen pretty much the whole thing as before this it was a minute here and a minute there.

We had one more FP to use so we went on the wildest ride in the west before doing something Chris had been asking to do for awhile now and headed in to the Tiki-Tiki-Tiki-Tiki-Tiki-room. Of course we've all done this before but neither of the boys remembered and Steve and I don't normally do it. However it was most welcome in August and while Chris was the one who REALLY wanted in, the rest of us didn't mind the A/C break.
A couple pics while waiting to go in:
Closed:

IMG_7146.JPG

Open!
IMG_7155.JPG

I don't love this attraction; it's ok. It's fun to do once in awhile, don't hate! It was a little more interesting this time because earlier in the year Steve and I did the Marceline to the MK tour and learned what Walt used to cover the birds rib cages with to simulate breathing after trying many different things (cashmere, who knew??). However both boys enjoyed it more than I thought they would and that alone makes it worth going into!

After the Tiki Room we were ready for our daily break so took the boat back to WL. No more swimming; today we stuck to packing up a little since tomorrow was our last day and just chilling before going back out for the night as well as showering again which ya gotta do more often when it's melt-your-skin hot outside. Oh! And I bought this during our afternoon rest:

Edited to add I realized I posted this without a picture, sorry guys :rotfl2: I have to run out now but I promise I'll add the picture to my next post!


Yeah-ha, another D&B! I'd been eyeing the new at the time Tiana bag. She's not my favorite but I like her and I think her bag is really cute, but Steve had seen this one in the WL gift shop and wanted me to see it. However we kept going by without me stopping in to look so I finally did today and fell in love, as big as it is. Now I am a big purse girl but usually go for the and not the shopper size which this is, but it's all they had so what the heck, I took it home and I'm glad I did :snooty: It seems to be an uncommon pattern and I get so many compliments on it as I did on my Runway Princess bag and I think that's the best thing about using a Disney Dooney! I didn't use the bag until Oct. but was quite content with it safely packed in my carry on luggage the next day.

Whew! When it was finally time to go back to a park for the evening where were we going? To be guests again, of course!

IMG_7165.JPG

Not the first time we were hitting up BOG twice in one day, back in 2014 we had lunch and dinner on the same day. As much as we were looking forward to what had become one of our favorite TS meals in all of Disney, we were a bit let down. I'll save that for my dining report but I'll share my picture with the Master of the Castle:

IMG_7182.JPG

A little darker than I'd hoped and nobody else would get in the picture with me :headache: That was fine because the Beast gave me a nice twirl as I walked up to him which I totally deserve living in a house full of smelly man-boys! There was still park time to be had after dinner which I'll continue in the next post hopefully later tonight after my Girl's Night Out :drinking1
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7159.JPG
    IMG_7159.JPG
    91.8 KB · Views: 10
OK, here's what I think about every time we go by this scene: I always wonder if the dolls with the masks have actual faces back there. Creepy to think they don't, right? So when we go by I try to look; once I'm pretty sure I saw that the one on the end does so I assume they both do. I'm just going with yeah, they do....................
OMG-I had never thought about that! If I ever get a chance to go backstage at Small World at Disneyland I will totally be checking that out!
 
don't love this attraction; it's ok. It's fun to do once in awhile, don't hate! It was a little more interesting this time because earlier in the year Steve and I did the Marceline to the MK tour and learned what Walt used to cover the birds rib cages with to simulate breathing after trying many different things (cashmere, who knew??). However both boys enjoyed it more than I thought they would and that alone makes it worth going into!

We have yet to do the tiki room. Maybe one day....
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts







Top