"I'm Pretty Sure I Just Drank Splash Mountain Water" - An October Trip Report Updated 1/30*

Following along! I've thought about switching resorts as surprise to my hubby before too but I can never bring myself to do it :laughing:
 
Does anyone else do this to remember where they parked?

All of the time! I always do it at Disneyland, or at least try to make up a dirty joke so I remember (like parked on Minnie 2F-Minnie didn't give 2 F***s).

Here's a reinactemnet:

Me: Hello, I was wondering if we could possibly upgrade our boarding position. Our wedding was yesterday and with all of the excitement I completely forgot to check in. We are on our way to our honeymoon and I'm also a nervous flyer so I will be devastated if we can't sit together on the way down.

SW Employee: We're completely sold out of upgrades.

Me: Great, thanks.
*Awkwardly walks away to a hysterically laughing husband*

Yeah, I would have also tried! When I've flown trans-Atlantic I usually try to weasel my way into a bulkhead spot, though I'm only successful 50% of the time!
 


Following along! I've thought about switching resorts as surprise to my hubby before too but I can never bring myself to do it :laughing:

:welcome: It is really so much fun! Honestly though Andrew just expects surprises from me at this point..I constantly change my mind so he's pretty used to it :laughing:

Following! Great job keeping the surprise..... I'm trying but not sure I'll make it!!!

:welcome: and thank you!! You can do it!! Just remember how worth it it will be in the end!

following!

Yay! :welcome:
 
Day 1 Part 2

"Is This What Disney Magic Feels Like?"

Stepping off the Magical Express we were greeted with this striking view:


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Holy. Smokes. I always seem to forget how absolutely breathtaking this lobby is, until I step foot inside of it and am quickly reminded.

We made our way to the front desk to check-in and settle our balance. Let me just start by saying this, the cast member who checked us in was PHENOMENAL and I hate myself for not catching his name. If you can remember, we were fully decked out in our Steelers gear for game day and he, along with some nearby cast members, started talking to us about which teams they rooted for and it just so happened to be our luck that our CM was also a Steelers fan. I had mentioned to him that we were really hoping to get a King bed and he said "We do have one more available- and now it's yours" He read us our rights with the rules of the Savannah and pointed us in the direction of the Zebra Trail.

After a short 2 minute walk- we arrived here:


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When I saw which side of the hallway we were on, I burst in to tears. Andrew opened the door very confused as to why I was crying. After I told him what I paid for our Standard View and what the rack rate was for the room that we had actually been given, he understood. I was truly blown away with Disney magic for the very first time at that moment, and am so grateful that cast member was so incredibly kind to do that.


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Once we sat on our balcony we didn't want to leave. At this point it was about 10:30 and we were way ahead of schedule. Mostly because we didn't expect for our room to be ready when we arrived- which was another very pleasant surprise. We decided to explore the resort a little and get the lay of the land before heading out to our first park.

Once we got our bearings with AKL and perused the gift shop we hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom.

Next, we headed over to guest services to activate our APs :cool1: It was incredibly hot out by the time we arrived, and although the line at guest services wasn't long at all, the people ahead of us were all exceptionally needy, so we ended up waiting quite a bit.

But it was all completely worth it to hold this bad boy in our hands for the first time:


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Our fist FP was at 1:30, so we had some time to kill. We headed inside and did our usual walk straight down the middle of Main Street admiring the Halloween decorations along the way, and made a right in to Tomorrowland. We were ready for a snack since the only thing that we had eaten up until this point was our airport terminal bagel at 6am, and I had heard great things about the Lunching Pad pretzels.

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Behold, the deliciously beautiful pepper jack pretzel. The original plan was to take it with us on one of my all time favorites- The People Mover- but it was temporarily closed :confused3- so we decided to jump on to another nearby favorite instead:

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After getting stuck in one scene and getting a bonus trip to the 1920s, we finished our pretzel and sang along with John all the way to JotLM. After that we decided to ride something that neither of us had ever done before, mostly because of my motion sickness

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I made Andrew promise not to spin it too much. It was okay, I mostly enjoyed how classically Disney it was. After the teacups it was finally FP+ time, here was our agenda for the day:

*MDE App was down for most of the day so I had to physically log in to the website from Safari on my iPhone to view our reservations. I ended up just taking a SS of our plans so that they would be more easily accessible*


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We ended up riding BTMRR, Country Bears, 7DMT, and THE PEOPLE MOVER in addition to our 3 FPs. Not bad for day one. We also stopped for a few more treats along the way:

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The Mickey Bar :love:

Continued in next post...

 
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Day 1 Part 3

"..But Where Is My Booze?"


In addition to the Mickey Bar, we also decided to swing by Aloha Isle for another treat that we had never had before:

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Excuse this terrible picture of me, but it is the only photographic evidence that we have of our very first Dole Whip. I know- what kind of Disney fans are we if we wait until our 3rd trip to try a Dole Whip? The worst, that's what kind. When we had originally arrived at Aloha Isle the line was seriously out of control, which I imagine it normally is? I decided at that point to try out the new mobile ordering feature. It literally took us 1 minute to order our swirl, pay for it, and pick it up- it's essentially a FP for your food and if you are not using it you are missing out.

The only downside that I could see to using it is if you are wanting to pay with giftcards or cash, but it is a serious time saver and I am all for it.

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Ride photos are our favorite:

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We used our last FP for the day:

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Could the camera angle on this ride be any more unflattering? Enjoy just Andrew in this one :rotfl2:

Stopped for some PP pictures in front of the castle


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And made our way to the bus station to head to Disney Springs.

It took us roughly 30 minutes to get to DS from MK- which ended up being one of our better bus experiences of our trip. First, we went to one of our favorite watering holes- Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar. We found a table outside and put in an order for our drinks and some water.


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The Steeler's game was in to the 3rd quarter at this point and Jock's does not have TVs- so we decided to improvise. I ordered the Scottish Professor (Malt Scotch Whiskey, Hendrick's Gin, Pear Nectar, Simple Syrup and fresh Lemon Juice) and Andrew ordered the Hovito Mojito (Barson Quebranto Pisco, Fresh Lime Juice, Mint, Simple Syrup, topped with Soda Water). My drink was amazing, and if our waiter had ever come back to our table I probably would have ordered another one. Andrew's tasted all kinds of wrong. I'm almost certain the soda water went flat or ran out, but again, our waiter never bothered to check on us so we couldn't ask him to fix it. After a frustrating 30 minute experience, we decided to head to The BOAThouse early for our reservation and to watch the remainder of the game.

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Every time we visit Disney we make it a point to visit the Dockside Bar at the BOAThouse. We never have less than spectacular service, their bartenders are truly top-notch, and this visit was no exception. I started with a Lemon Drop Martini and Andrew went with an all-time Orlando favorite, an I-4 IPA. Andrew said it helped get the bad taste out of his mouth from Jock's :rotfl:

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Look! I finally got my water! We ordered an appetizer of Firercracker Shrimp (Sriracha Mayo, Serrano Chilis, and Sweet Peppers) as a recommendation from the couple sitting beside us at the bar. I was hesitant because I'm not a fan at all of spicy food, but these were really good. Full of flavor with just a hint of spice, nothing overpowering.

We had a few more rounds of drinks, watched the rest of the game and then decided to enjoy our dinner outside on the dock rather than relocate to a table inside.

Andrew ordered the Barbecue Bacon Burger with a Wedge Salad
and I chose the Shrimp & Andouille Mac N' Cheese. I honestly have no idea what possessed me to order what I did. Probably the fact that I was slightly tipsy and pretty hungry at this point and comfort food must have just sounded good.


Here are some terrible pictures because we forgot to take them before we started digging in:

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Andrew loved his burger and salad. The pimento cheese on the burger was a big win and it was cooked to medium perfection. Mine was just okay. I should have known better than to order that at a seafood restaurant, but by the time we were ready to order I just wasn't too hungry for seafood. All in all we had another amazing experience at The BOAThouse and will absolutely be back in February to visit with some of our favorite bartenders!

After dinner we decided to make a few dessert pit stops before heading back to AKL.

At The Ganachery we picked up a box of six to share. This is something that we did in May and were HUGE fans. We also wanted to try Amorette's as we had heard really great things. Once we had picked up our sugar fixes we headed to the bus depot.

This wait was borderline ridiculous. 30 minutes for a bus to AKL and then another 40 back to the resort due to traffic/construction.


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Here is Andrew with our bags incredibly annoyed that we are still waiting for a bus and our beautiful pastries from Amorette's that we dug in to the second that we got back to our room. We chose the seasonal version of the Mickey Mousse and the Blueberry Lemonade Pastry. Both were phenomenal. Andrew still talks about the Blueberry Pastry being one of the best desserts that he's ever had. Amorette's is definitely on our February list!

While we devoured our desserts on the balcony with our animal friends, we were also waiting for bell services to bring up our Safeway grocery order. Once they did I had realized that they only brought the food- none of the alcohol that I had ordered made it to us, we also got a giant box of items that were not ours. We called bell services back and asked them to come pick up the package that they had mistakenly delivered to us, and to look for our alcohol. To make a long story short, after several phone conversations and several back and forth trips, we never received our alcohol. The manager assured me that he would call Safeway in the morning (It was close to 1am at this point) and get it all straightened out. I was frustrated but also exhausted, so I just agreed to figure it out in the morning.

Andrew and I both took quick showers and passed out the second that we hit our bed. Our 5am-1:30am marathon day had come to a close and we were ready for some rest.

Up Next:
*Did we ever find our booze?
*Food and Wine fun
 
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When I saw which side of the hallway we were on, I burst in to tears. Andrew opened the door very confused as to why I was crying. After I told him what I paid for our Standard View and what the rack rate was for the room that we had actually been given, he understood. I was truly blown away with Disney magic for the very first time at that moment,

The same thing happened to us when we first stayed at AKL, it was amazing!
 
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Well, they're right here. Beautifully color-coded and laminated, as always.

You're so organized!

But it was all completely worth it to hold this bad boy in our hands for the first time:

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Yessss, isn't it a wonderful feeling? I just got my first AP too!


I started with a Lemon Drop Martini

My fav! And that looks delicious
 
First off I love your organization and print outs. I strive to be that organized in my life haha
 
The same thing happened to us when we first stayed at AKL, it was amazing!

It makes me love AKL even more than I thought that I could! :laughing:

First off I love your organization and print outs. I strive to be that organized in my life haha

I have a serious obsession with my laminator and highlighters :laughing:

Following!

Welcome!!
:wave2:

Joining in! Love that you changed your resort on your husband. Also awesome upgrade, it’s great when the cast members make your day magical!

It was so much fun! We are in the process of planning our February trip now and every time I bring it up he asks, "what resort are we really staying at?" :laughing:
It really is such an amazing feeling! I've always read of things like that happening to other people and thought it was so cool, but to actually have it happen to us was so amazing.
 
Can I be any slower writing this thing? :laughing:

I'm sure that I've mentioned it before but I do HR for a major retailer and from November-January 1st I am basically a non-existent person, so thank you all for being patient with me!


Day 2 Part 1
"They Tried to Escape, but They Still Had Money So I Brought Them Back"



After an AMAZING first night's sleep, we woke up ready to rope drop EPCOT and tackle Food and Wine in the process. But, first thing's first..we needed breakfast and I needed to track down my alcohol order from Safeway! I made a call down to Bell Services and the manager on duty let me know that they still had not been able to locate it, so while Andrew got a shower and got ready I called Safeway. Once I got through to an employee, she let me know that they would simply refund my card for what was not delivered. I said, "That's fine and I appreciate that, but I really just want what I ordered. Is it possible for them to deliver it today?" She was quick to tell me that because what wasn't delivered did not meet the minimum delivery requirement, they couldn't. SO. FRUSTRATING. So I settled with getting my money back and we moved on with our day. Andrew and I agreed though that we would be looking to try somewhere other than Safeway in February.

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Breakfast of Disney Champs.(Photographed: food/drinks that I ordered that actually was delivered)

Once we made it down to the bus station we were met with yet another long line, and ended up having to stand on our ride in to EPCOT which was not ideal first thing in the morning. Once we got to EPCOT we waited for about 10 minutes before cast members started allowing guests in to the park. Our main mission was to get on and off Test Track as quickly as possible, and hope that it wasn't on a delayed opening.

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It wasn't, and we walked right in to the pre-show room and were designing our car in no time. I tend to let Andrew take the lead with all of our designs..

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His design style is a good mix of least functional/most ridiculous.

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Gosh, do I love ride photos.

After TT we rode Spaceship Earth


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Then we used our Soarin' FP, rode living with land and then skipped on over to the Festival Center to pick up one of these little beauties:


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I did a lot of research on these before we left, and I have to say that I'm really glad that we purchased one. We knew going in which drinks we were wanting to try and this ended up saving us around $20 in alcoholic beverages (which helped us fund additional alcoholic beverages).

Our first stop was the Craft Beer Booth


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We tried the Wester Florida Beer Flight and the Cheeseburger Handwich...not to ruin the rest of this post, but this ended up being in our top 3 of everything that we had at Food and Wine this year. I think that I enjoyed the beer flight a little bit more than Andrew, but that's just because our tastes in beer are very different. I prefer sours and he prefers hoppy. The bread cone of the handwich was a little bit dry and chewy, but everything else about it was amazing.

From Craft Beer we journeyed to Mexico for margaritas at La Cava. I went with my old favorite Avocado and Andrew went with the Minty Pineapple, after tasting both mine was definitely the favorite :thumbsup2. We stopped to take pictures of the new Dia de los Muertos displays which were really cute. If you follow me on Instagram you already know my dog obsession
:laughing:

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By this point in the day it was starting to get really hot, like over 90 hot and I just was not feeling hungry for the offerings at many of the booths. We ended up visiting China for my favorite a Tipsy Ducks in Love, Germany for Andrew's favorite: The Dunkel and an Apple Strudel, Morocco for Mimosas's, Belgium and Brazil for waffles and cheese bread, and capped our afternoon with a St. Germain Sparkling Kir in France. Can you spot a tasting trend here?

By the time we reached France we were well on our way to overheating and were ready for a break, and with the international gateway so close we figured this would be a good time to visit one of our favorite resorts and unwind in some AC.


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We walked to the Beach Club and sat down in the lobby while we plotted our next move. We had a dinner reservation at the Yacht Club in a few hours and we knew that it didn't make sense for us to attempt bus transportation back to AKL, just to return to the Yacht Club a little while later. But, we also were exhausted and wanting a break. I suggested that we pull up Uber to see what was available. We use it regularly enough at home that we are comfortable with it, and at that point I would have paid anything to not deal with the bus system. When Andrew pulled up the rates we were shockingly surprised (in a good way) at how cheap it was! It ended up costing us about $8 to quickly (10 minutes total) get back to our room, and at that point I decided that Uber would become a staple of all of our vacations going forward.

Our driver was an older retired man (Bryce!) who told us that he and his wife and moved to Orlando to enjoy their retirement and Uber was something he had picked up on the side. He was honestly one of the best Uber drivers I'd ever had. Once we pulled up to the AKL gates he said to the guard, "These people tried to escape, but they still had money so I brought them back. The mouse doesn't like when people still have money and try to go home." The guard, Andrew and myself were all cracking up, mostly because of how true it was!

About 10 minutes after our drop off we were cooling off and enjoying the weather the way it was meant to be enjoyed:


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Disclaimer: I do not know the child photobombing my beer photo.

Up Next:
*Our first Yachstman Experience
*EPCOT F&W After Dark



 
I did a lot of research on these before we left, and I have to say that I'm really glad that we purchased one. We knew going in which drinks we were wanting to try and this ended up saving us around $20 in alcoholic beverages (which helped us fund additional alcoholic beverages).

Man, this makes me wish I had bought it!

I went with my old favorite Avocado

Classic for a reason! So delicious and refreshing.

"These people tried to escape, but they still had money so I brought them back. The mouse doesn't like when people still have money and try to go home."

:rotfl2:How funny, and absolutely true!


This looks heavenly
 
Man, this makes me wish I had bought it!

It was 100% worth it. The CM that we bought it off of was so cute too..she made sure to remind us to not waste it on anything that wasn't alcoholic or under $8.50 :laughing:

Classic for a reason! So delicious and refreshing.

My fav! I'm scared to even try anything else because this one is so good!

This looks heavenly

It's pushing 0 degrees here today...so it's looking extra heavenly :laughing:
 
Day 2 Part 2

"Is that Champagne made with Almond Milk?"


After enjoying some much needed pool time, we headed back to our room to get ready for our evening. In the process, we took a few minutes to FaceTime our dog's sitters (my parents) to check in our little guy.

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Here he is, taking a break from acting like a psychopath to say hello to his parents.

We said our goodbyes and ordered up another Uber. This driver was incredibly
inferior to Bryce, but he got us there and we didn't need to rely on bus transportation. Another win!

This was our first time experiencing the Yachtsman, which we had heard nothing but absolutely amazing reviews about previously. To say we had high expectations is an understatement.

To drink, Andrew and I each ordered a Cabernet. I chose the Frank Family Vineyard option and Andrew chose the Sequoia Grove.

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Appetizers: Andrew: French Onion Soup
Rachele: Cesar Salad

Entree: We both ordered the 10oz Filet. I requested mine be prepared medium, and Andrew requested medium rare.

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Unfortunately, our entrees took 45 minutes to come out, after we had received and finished our appetizers, and both steaks were cooked to medium rare. Our waiter had realized that our entrees were taking a long time and purposely seemed to avoid our table because of it. I was a sever once too, I get it. Sometimes the kitchen gets backed up and things happen beyond your control, but I would have appreciated him making an effort to explain that to us, or even offer us drink refills (which he did not), rather than playing hide and seek with our table. Once our food did arrived, and I realized my steak was undercooked, he seemed incredibly annoyed that I had even mentioned it, and proceeded to argue with me that it was not undercooked. Because of the service we received and the interactions that we had with the staff, it will be awhile before I return. Andrew loved the food and actually said this was one of the best meals he's had on Disney property. I'm sure we'll give it another chance, but not anytime soon.

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After our meal, we took one of our favorite walks in all of Disney, Yacht and Beach to the International Gateway, to continue with Food and Wine and to watch IllumiNations.

We got some dessert alcoholic drinks from Scotland and Ireland, and then headed to the Almond Orchard for some of my favorite- Moet Champagne. While ordering my drink, Andrew realized which booth we were at and started to worry. I'm incredibly allergic to Almonds, so as the CM was handing me my champagne he stopped them and said, "Is that champagne made with Almond Milk?" I started laughing and said, "Why would you ever think that?" and he replied "The booth literally says 'everything here is made with almond milk' I just thought that I would make sure."

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Here I am with my Almond Milk Champagne.

Andrew grabbed a La Fine Du Monde from Canada and we headed to our favorite IllumiNations spot with our drinks to wait for the show. About half way through we walked back to the Beach Club to catch a bus to MK for EMH.

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We rode Pirates, Pooh, Space Mountain, and 7DMT twice- by all accounts a very successful 2 hours at the Magic Kingdom.

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This was our first time riding Pirates since they added the photo effect. Now that we know where the camera is, expect a better ride photo next time!

We took our time on the way out to stop for some Photopass pictures and enjoy the Main Street shops before heading back home to AKL.


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I love walking through the Castle at night!

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Up Next:
-Would Tiffins disappoint me too?
-How much more would we drink in EPCOT?
 

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