4 Parks in 3 Days!! EPCOT w/F&W & MK w/MNSSHP~1880 pics so far! DHS almost complete!

[DizNee Luver]

Next up were the elephants.













I believe there was something about this tree....but I don't remember what....lol



Storks!





Look closely on those rocks.......do you see the lion?





Ostrich!




Ostrich Eggs!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We are now exiting the safari. It was a fun way to see a lot of animals & up close.











We made it back to about the Tusker House restaurant and this band was performing,









A few more pics from the area.





This park is beautiful.....just take a minute to look around.



We made a stop in some of the gift shops.

 

[Trentmom]

The food at tusker house looks great

You got a lot of great photos on safari ride

Love the pic of Lion on top of the rock and the one with the giraffe and his neck sticking straight up. So cool

 

[DizNee Luver]

The food at tusker house looks great

You got a lot of great photos on safari ride

Love the pic of Lion on top of the rock and the one with the giraffe and his neck sticking straight up. So cool

It was pretty good......I think Mike tried of the different things but I stuck to the normal stuff.....lol

Loved the lion all sacked out on top of the rock.....it also would have been cool to see him upright being all manly-like!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Won't be updating the next few days.....I'm headed to Disneyland as I write this. My son Tyler & I will be dining at Club 33 this afternoon!!

 

[ABCastillo]

Won't be updating the next few days.....I'm headed to Disneyland as I write this. My son Tyler & I will be dining at Club 33 this afternoon!!

That is so exciting!! Have fun

 

[ksromack]

I'm subbing but haven't started reading anything yet. I've seen both DLR and WDW in all their Christmas splendor and I must say I love them both for different reasons! I'm anxious to hear about your WDW trip as it looks like we may be headed back in late 2014. Trying to decide on F&W or maybe December again as we both loved to see it all during the holiday season. That's pretty far off.....maybe reading your TR will help me decide

 

[ksromack]

We left the Land building and walked past the Character Spot and noticed it had a wait time of 5 minutes, so I said....why not?!! We walked right up to Mickey!!!

I had to giggle at your hubby's shirt here.....I darn near bought that one for steve last week while we were at Disneyland!

So here comes the comparison......Test Track vs Radiator Springs Racers~~These are two totally different rides & experiences. The courses aren't the same, the inside and the outside part isn't the same. So if I base it purely on theme......Radiator Springs Racers wins it hands down! I did enjoy that the fast part on Test Track seems to be longer & thrilling but the scenery at RSR's is like being in the movie!!

I have to totally agree!!! No comparison of these two rides but RSR wins hands down. I rode this at least 5 times and never free tired of it. The whole Carsland area is amazing!

 

[ksromack]

Oh the food! How did you find the crowds? What about transportation~was it fairly fluid from your resort? Because there would be 5 of us going to WDW when we do go, we have to consider either 2 separate rooms, or AoA, the cabins at Ft. Wilderness or Villas, which are spendy. I've been eyeing the Pop Century or French Quarter @ Port Orleans too!

Port Orleans Riverside in the Alligator Bayou would work well for your family of 5. They have a pull down Murphy Bed that would easily sleep a person 5'8" or under! I've heard the AoA is a great area too but I love POR as you can utilize the buses OR the water taxis to/from DTD!

 

[ksromack]

We decided to check out Mission Space. This was not a ride I was going to do & Mike still wasn't interested in riding. It was a walk on.

This ride does offer 2 sides for 2 different experiences. The Green Side is comparable to Star Tours. The Orange Side would be that plus add in the G-Forces and more intensity. Keep in mind that these ride vehicles seat 4 people and you get somewhat closed into it. So if you have claustrophobia, do not attempt this attraction.

The last time I rode Mission Space was 8 years ago.....and back then there wasn't an orange side and a green side.....it was just the orange side. I hated that ride and it took a good 4 hours for me to feel human again after getting off of it.

It really was a great day......my favorite day for sure!! I couldn't believe how much we got done! We were picky when we went thru the World Showcase so we could get thru it....but if I had known, we would have extra time (which we did).....I would have stopped to see the films in France & China. We ended up filling our time back in Future World with things like the Figment ride & Circle of Life. But I'm not sorry for any of our choices that day. Very MEMORABLE!!

I'd love to have the opportunity to go back.....but I'd want more time. I do feel like we rushed thru the other parks. They were also busier making it harder to tour like we had at EPCOT.

Epcot is just full of wonderful tidbits of information and learning! You should see it at Christmas time when they have all the holiday storytelling! That takes 1/2 a day right there to see and listen to them all. Epcot is a good 2-3 day park in my opinion! I think you've convinced me that we need to go back at Food and Wine next year. We threatened to do that this year but decided to do DLR instead. I'm happy with that choice too! I do have questions regarding the F&W card you got. Is that just like a charge card for the booths? How did you decide when to pay out of pocket and when to use a dining credit? Does some of the food at the booths use Quick Service credits or are all of them Snack credits? I love the passport!

Our breakfast came out~~Derek's Caramel Apple Stuffed French Toast. He said it was good......the bacon is "Disney bacon".....super thin & no flavor.....lol. Mike tasted his dish and said the consistency would have gagged me. Maybe bread pudding like.

Mike had the Steak & Eggs and said the amount of chipotle they used totally ruined the entire dish. I told him he could send it back & ask the chipotle be left off but he didn't. He did ask for just a plate of eggs.

I had the Lobster & Crab Crepes. Oh my.......so delicious!! I love seafood, but then add on the egg & hollandaise & you have a hit!!

We loved Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast last year. I had the steak and eggs but there must not have been the chipotle seasoning on the steak then because I loved my meal. Steve had the crepes like you did and enjoyed them as well. We celebrated my birthday on that meal and I ordered the chocolate slipper (like we needed more food after that meal)....and the berries included with the slipper were delicious!

I wonder if that caramel french toast was like the bananas foster french toast at Goofy's kitchen? I thought that had the consistency of bread pudding too......tasted pretty good but I didn't care for the texture.

Last year's family trip to DL, we saw a couple of the bears at the Billy Hill & the Hillbillies show........ I was thrilled!!!

We saw a few of the bears at the JJJ last week at DLR.

Of course I say that......the new Fantasyland was where their ToonTown used to be. Not sure why they couldn't keep it & just add this one??

But that new Fantasyland is so awesome! I'm excited to see the new 7 Dwarf's Mine ride......I haven't read ahead so I don't know if you were able to eat a quick service at Be Our Guest. It was almost my favorite meal of the trip and was DEFINITELY my favorite counter service meal. Such incredible theming in those dining rooms! And it was a Quick Service credit! Nothing compares for me!

So MK has the Diamond Horseshoe, kinda like DL's Golden Horseshoe.....but one BIG difference~~The Diamond Horseshoe is empty!! I have no idea if there's been things in there in the past but the Golden Horseshoe is a favorite place for me. It's brings back lots of memories and reminds me of my dad who used to perform in a vaudeville style show when I was growing up. Seems a shame they don't have some sort of show going on in the WDW version.

Mickey's PhilharMagic was next.

There used to be a show at the Diamond Hourseshoe.....I remember it when I was younger and I want to say it was a fairly big song and dance production. I didn't realize it wasn't there anymore.

Did you get to see Mickey's PhilharMagic? It's a cute show!

 

[ksromack]

Our ride on the People Mover continues.

I love the People Mover! It's such a nice little trip through Tomorrowland!

When we got off the People Mover, we headed to Monster's Inc Laugh Floor.

Oh, loved this one too!

We love Monsters Laugh Factory. Steve got his face up there last trip. I think he was Randall

That is so funny because my Steve was also up on the screen....it was the part when they told everyone to dance and he did!

The food came out without much of a wait. Derek had the Grilled Strip Steak with Garlic Herb Butter and Pommes Frites.

Mike had the Herb Crusted Lamb Rack with Mustard Demi-Glace. It also came with Buttered Celery Root & Seasonal Vegetables.

I had the Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops with Seasonal Vegetables & Mushrooms served in a Puff Pastry with Creamy Lobster Sauce.

After we finished our entrees, our waitress brought over the dessert cart!

We had mentioned we were celebrating (early) our 30th anniversary and she brought us a small dish of the grey stuff. (I had mentioned that so we could taste the grey stuff.....lol)

Derek actually had the Grey Stuff for his dessert, this was a bigger serving and also served in a chocolate cookie crust/base.

This was one of my favorite meals. I really enjoyed my entree and my dessert was decadent! I've always been a fan of lemon meringue, but to have it in a cupcake.......YAY!!! Mike really enjoyed his lamb dinner and Derek always loves the grey stuff!!

I had the steak meal and Steve had the same thing you did at BOG. I thought those green beans were the best green beans ever! I think he had the lemon cupcake too and I had the strawberry one......we also had the Grey Stuff....but that desert with the Grey Stuff is a new addition to the menu. I think they realized that they were dropping the ball by not having Grey Stuff on the menu for everyone to enjoy!

We headed to the West Wing to get a few pictures. I'm really glad we weren't seated in there. It's really dark.....I enjoyed the Ballroom much more, especially getting to sit next to the windows and watching the snow fall.

The Ballroom is the only room I haven't eaten in! When we walked through it on our CS lunch it seemed so noisy. I wanted to eat lunch in the room with the music box in it so Steve got to pick what room we ate dinner in and he chose the West Wing.....and you are right, it is very dark in there......but the rose looses its petals.....and the thunder comes and the picture changed from the prince to the beast and back again.....it's pretty amazing!

Next time we'll eat in the ballroom!

 

[ksromack]

We were headed to get in line for the Seven Dwarfs. This was the only character line that was a priority for us. A few more pics as we were walking.

Exactly what we did last year for MVMCP. It rained that night so I think we got lucky as we were maybe 4th in line when we waiting for the Dwarfs. Waiting in queue does take some time away from the party, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get pics with those hard to find characters! I think Capt. Jack looked very much like Johnny Depp!

While the dance party was going on, this guy came up and kept try to shove his kid and himself into our area with the other couple families we were sitting with. He was extremely rude and commenting on how rude WE were for not letting his kid up to see, yadda yadda yadda. Pretty much everyone in our little area all said the same thing as me~~~we thought it was pretty rude for him to expect us to save THEM spots for a parade that he knew would be starting soon. It was rude for him to think he could get his kid a front row seat right when things were starting. If you want a front row seat, then feel free to plop a squat at least an hour prior like everyone else did. We got there an hour prior and ended up in the 2nd row.....the families in front of us had been sitting there for 2 hours and were no way giving up their seats for this guy & his kid. Ok, ranting over.......let's continue!!

Oh, don't even get me started on this! I didn't notice it as much at Disneyland like I notice it at WDW.

So after the fireworks, there was a mass exodus of the park, so we headed up stream of the crowds and headed back into Adventureland to do a little Trick or Treating. Our first stop was the Enchanted Tiki Room.

So Magic Kingdom does remind me of Disneyland for things like Main Street and the different lands.....other than that, MK is very different. It's huge to start with. Things that are the same at both parks, seem out of place (since I'm a Disneyland girl from childhood). Facades are different which also threw me off. The new Fantasyland area, we didn't even really get into except for Beast's castle.....but that's because we did dinner there. Definitely way too much to see and do in one day. I enjoyed our time here, but the crowds were much heavier here than they had been the day before at EPCOT.

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party was fun, expensive but fun. We didn't really take advantage of the shorter ride times because to be honest with you.....with a sold out party, we didn't see where things we wanted to ride were shorter than they had been earlier in the day. The parade & fireworks crowds are....well.......CROWDED! The trick or treat stations were kinda fun, but I could have skipped them entirely. I wish we would have done some of the photopass pic opportunities. They had a guy set up outside POTC and I couldn't figure out why.....it wasn't until we got on the bus back to the resort that I realized he was doing a "magical" party pic. Oh well........ Would I pay to do this again? Maybe...... I loved the parade & especially loved the fireworks.....but from what I understand, the regular fireworks are pretty darned good & I could have seen the Electrical Parade.....which I miss terribly at Disneyland. I thought going early October on a Thursday night would have meant a smaller crowd but was shocked to hear it sold out that morning.

One last shot of our candy we collected by making the 3 stops we did.

So at the party there are trick or treating stations? I think I like the idea of getting candy. lol......maybe doing the party once would be worth it as the parade isn't something you could see anywhere else. Did they do the Electric Light Parade on the non-party nights? I love that parade too!

We exited from our first ride & walked right back thru the que & loaded for our 2nd ride. Derek said we needed to try the ride from the very back because it's a whole different experience back there.

So Steve (my dh) had cervical fusion surgery 2 years ago......when we went to Disneyland we saw the Matterhorn and thought, wow, this looks like Expedition Everest.......um, mistake! His neck hurt for 2 days after riding the Matterhorn! We love EE!

We checked in and got in line to meet Donald.

We only did one sit down meal at AK and that was Yak and Yeti.....I think next time we'll do Tusker House. I like the idea of safari mickey and donald!

Won't be updating the next few days.....I'm headed to Disneyland as I write this. My son Tyler & I will be dining at Club 33 this afternoon!!

Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[DizNee Luver]

That is so exciting!! Have fun

Thank You.....we did!!!

I'm subbing but haven't started reading anything yet. I've seen both DLR and WDW in all their Christmas splendor and I must say I love them both for different reasons! I'm anxious to hear about your WDW trip as it looks like we may be headed back in late 2014. Trying to decide on F&W or maybe December again as we both loved to see it all during the holiday season. That's pretty far off.....maybe reading your TR will help me decide

I would love to get to WDW for Christmas time, but I don't see that happening for a very, very long time. We really enjoyed the Food & Wine Festival. If we had more time, we would have signed up for some of the Chef events.....but we only had 3 days total.

I had to giggle at your hubby's shirt here.....I darn near bought that one for steve last week while we were at Disneyland!

I have to totally agree!!! No comparison of these two rides but RSR wins hands down. I rode this at least 5 times and never free tired of it. The whole Carsland area is amazing!

I'm guessing this is the Small World shirt.....lol We laughed so hard when we saw it!!

The outside area of Test Track was thrilling, but you can't beat the scenery & details on Radiator Springs Racers.

Port Orleans Riverside in the Alligator Bayou would work well for your family of 5. They have a pull down Murphy Bed that would easily sleep a person 5'8" or under! I've heard the AoA is a great area too but I love POR as you can utilize the buses OR the water taxis to/from DTD!

Great info!!

The last time I rode Mission Space was 8 years ago.....and back then there wasn't an orange side and a green side.....it was just the orange side. I hated that ride and it took a good 4 hours for me to feel human again after getting off of it.

I hadn't planned on riding this but Derek talked me into it....I said I would as long as we did the tame side. I kinda freaked out when they closed us in & the "lift off" but after that it was like being on Star Tours.

Epcot is just full of wonderful tidbits of information and learning! You should see it at Christmas time when they have all the holiday storytelling! That takes 1/2 a day right there to see and listen to them all. Epcot is a good 2-3 day park in my opinion! I think you've convinced me that we need to go back at Food and Wine next year. We threatened to do that this year but decided to do DLR instead. I'm happy with that choice too! I do have questions regarding the F&W card you got. Is that just like a charge card for the booths? How did you decide when to pay out of pocket and when to use a dining credit? Does some of the food at the booths use Quick Service credits or are all of them Snack credits? I love the passport!

I'd love to do the storytelling at the different countries!!

As for the Snack Credits at the F&W Booths, we paid cash for anything $4 and under (or alcoholic.....lol).

We loved Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast last year. I had the steak and eggs but there must not have been the chipotle seasoning on the steak then because I loved my meal. Steve had the crepes like you did and enjoyed them as well. We celebrated my birthday on that meal and I ordered the chocolate slipper (like we needed more food after that meal)....and the berries included with the slipper were delicious!

I wonder if that caramel french toast was like the bananas foster french toast at Goofy's kitchen? I thought that had the consistency of bread pudding too......tasted pretty good but I didn't care for the texture.

Loved CRT.....my crepe was DELICIOUS!! I had heard that the french toast was a weird consistency, so I knew not to order it. (I don't do bread puddings......)

We saw a few of the bears at the JJJ last week at DLR.

Nice!!

But that new Fantasyland is so awesome! I'm excited to see the new 7 Dwarf's Mine ride......I haven't read ahead so I don't know if you were able to eat a quick service at Be Our Guest. It was almost my favorite meal of the trip and was DEFINITELY my favorite counter service meal. Such incredible theming in those dining rooms! And it was a Quick Service credit! Nothing compares for me!

We didn't do the quick service just the dinner/table service.

There used to be a show at the Diamond Hourseshoe.....I remember it when I was younger and I want to say it was a fairly big song and dance production. I didn't realize it wasn't there anymore.

Did you get to see Mickey's PhilharMagic? It's a cute show!

I figured it had a show at some point, just seemed sad for it to be sitting empty.

Loved PhilharMagic!!!!

I love the People Mover! It's such a nice little trip through Tomorrowland!

It was a blast from the past.....Disneyland needs to bring it back.

Oh, loved this one too!


That is so funny because my Steve was also up on the screen....it was the part when they told everyone to dance and he did!

Monster's Inc. was fun & the people "picked" really played it up!

I had the steak meal and Steve had the same thing you did at BOG. I thought those green beans were the best green beans ever! I think he had the lemon cupcake too and I had the strawberry one......we also had the Grey Stuff....but that desert with the Grey Stuff is a new addition to the menu. I think they realized that they were dropping the ball by not having Grey Stuff on the menu for everyone to enjoy!


The Ballroom is the only room I haven't eaten in! When we walked through it on our CS lunch it seemed so noisy. I wanted to eat lunch in the room with the music box in it so Steve got to pick what room we ate dinner in and he chose the West Wing.....and you are right, it is very dark in there......but the rose looses its petals.....and the thunder comes and the picture changed from the prince to the beast and back again.....it's pretty amazing!

Next time we'll eat in the ballroom!

The food here was my favorite of the trip! The entree & dessert were soooo good!! The grey stuff was yummy too!!

We didn't have a choice in where we sat, just lucked out getting the window seat in the ballroom!! The Beast's West Wing was too dark for my likings.

Exactly what we did last year for MVMCP. It rained that night so I think we got lucky as we were maybe 4th in line when we waiting for the Dwarfs. Waiting in queue does take some time away from the party, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get pics with those hard to find characters! I think Capt. Jack looked very much like Johnny Depp!

It was worth standing in line to get that picture.

Oh, don't even get me started on this! I didn't notice it as much at Disneyland like I notice it at WDW.

It was very annoying that he was pissed off at us for NOT SAVING HIS KID A FRONT ROW SEAT!!! Give me a break......

So at the party there are trick or treating stations? I think I like the idea of getting candy. lol......maybe doing the party once would be worth it as the parade isn't something you could see anywhere else. Did they do the Electric Light Parade on the non-party nights? I love that parade too!

They had a number of candy stations, we just hit 3 areas.....didn't feel we needed to over do on the candy. The parade was worth seeing, as were the fireworks. But now that we've done it, I would be just as happy going on a non-party night so we could see the regular Wishes fireworks and the ELP. (and no, we were only at MK for the one day)

So Steve (my dh) had cervical fusion surgery 2 years ago......when we went to Disneyland we saw the Matterhorn and thought, wow, this looks like Expedition Everest.......um, mistake! His neck hurt for 2 days after riding the Matterhorn! We love EE!

Oh the Matterhorn is horribly uncomfortable. They totally ruined it when they put in the new ride vehicles. They also made it impossible for our twins to ride it now, since you can't double up and have to single ride. Disabled people that need assistance can't do this ride now!

Expedition Everest was my favorite WDW ride!!

We only did one sit down meal at AK and that was Yak and Yeti.....I think next time we'll do Tusker House. I like the idea of safari mickey and donald!

Tusker House was a fun meal.

Can't wait to hear all about it!

Club 33 was quite an experience and I've already started my report!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I apologize for my absence on this report......life got in the way....as did a dream opportunity to have a meal at Club 33 at Disneyland (link below)......but time to get back on this one.

We headed towards the Camp Mickey-Minnie area to go to the Festival of the Lion King Show. These are signs and pics from the area leading in.













The theater sign.











We were near the front of the line as we waited for the doors to be open. We were seeing the 2nd show of the day.

When the doors opened, we were allowed to find a seat. We picked a section that had the top half roped off and sat on the back row available and end seats.....so I wouldn't be surrounded by people (panic attacks). People continued to flow in and as show time neared, the CM ushers asked everyone to fill all the holes. I told them I needed to stay on the end and so we stood up to allow others to enter our row. Then next thing I know.....they opened the rope behind us & a ton of people came in from a different entrance and filled the section. So we shifted a little to put me more on an end bench with the stairs directly behind me instead of rows of people. Once everyone was in, the show began. These were the 4 emcees. Each of the 4 sections was assigned an animal...and so we had to practice our animal sounds. They had Lion, Elephant, Wart Hog and Giraffe. We were in the Giraffe group.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Timon & Pumbaa enter.













Interesting to watch the stage being set up, all done with music and dancing going on.



Elephant coming out beside us.



More of the set up.





As the stage hands leave......

 

[DizNee Luver]

My favorite part of the show was the Monkeys with Timon.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Scar!





The Fire Twirler....amazing!











The Birds danced beautifully!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

The rest of the pics from the Festival of the Lion King Show.









There are people that can sing.....but this gal can SING!























What an amazing stage production!! I am never disappointed in the talent, sets, costumes, etc at Disney shows. This show had everything, laughter, drama, dancing, acrobatics, singing, etc all working together to tell the story of the Lion King. I wish I could have watched it again.....so much to take in.....it would take multiple shows to even touch the surface of seeing everything that is going on during this show. Derek told us that we got to see their "A" crew.....he said the "B" crew is good but there is definitely something magical about the lead group. So glad I made the time to see this and HIGHLY recommend you see this show as well. It makes coming to Animal Kingdom worth the price of the ticket!!

After the show & before leaving the theater, we were able to get a couple more pics of the floats.









As we were leaving the theater area.







Inside one of the gift shops before leaving AK.

 

[DizNee Luver]

These are the Photopass Pictures from Animal Kingdom.

Expedition Everest....Ride One---look at Mike's face.....lol



Expedition Everest....Ride Two:



Tusker House:



Tree of Life:





Animal Kingdom Entrance:



Baby Simba!!





This ends the first half of our last park day. Next up will be Disney's Hollywood Studios!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We caught the shuttle bus from Animal Kingdom back to All Star Sports. When we got to our room, the Magical Express envelope was hanging on our room door.



Forgot to show that we did not have a fridge in our room. They were having to replace all the fridges due to some issue (all the resorts had their fridges removed) but unfortunately, we weren't in a resort that had them replaced yet.



Detail on the shower curtain.



The star on the headboard.



We headed back out to the bus stops to catch the shuttle to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I believe we got there just after 2pm. Before hitting the entry gates, we stopped at the Monster's University display and had our pictures done by Photopass.





The entry to DHS......hmmmm, wonder where Disney's California Adventure got the idea for their new entry. Kinda weird to see it here.





These were as we had stepped thru the gates. Again reminded me a little bit of Buena Vista Street at DCA.