ONE YEAR of WDW starts NOW! Nov. 2015 WDW trip & beyond! Now with JANUARY & MAY!

[TheMaxRebo]

Hope Nigel's dad is doing better now! While it is a bummer your plans had to change it is great that you were able to work it out the way you did and in the end everyone arrived safely!

As someone who is folically challenged, I wish my hair got "out of control" like Nigel's

I am really looking forward to trying the Skipper and really hope they don't dumb down the menu before we get there in July. Those arepas look really good!

Thought this print was cool.

... oh, I love this picture!

Man. I love a Publix. We idon'thave them in the Northeast. We have a Wegmans, which are better but rare. Oh well.

... ugh, in Southern NY we don't even get Webmans and wish we had that. Though we do have DeCicco's which feature craft beer bars inside the grocery store, so that is good

 

[DalmationGal29]

Following along! We have an all girls (adult) trip coming up in May to celebrate my 40th Birthday. We are also leaving very early out of Philly. I was wondering what hotel you stayed at and if you knew if there is a fee to leave your car there for the duration of your trip. Thanks!

 

[Li Li]

BOG breakfast does include a drink, and you can order a kids meal or share a meal. They have a gray stuff cupcake for breakfast now.
I love getting in MK early and slowly walking down Main Street with hardly anyone else around.

Unfortunately, when they raised the prices for menu items and the dining plans in the beginning of March, they raised BoG from $21.99 to $24 and with no more included drink. JeniLynn discussed it in the DIS Daily Fix video on March 2nd. That is nice that they offer the cupcake at breakfast though. Early morning, empty park pics are always great!

Hope Nigel's dad is doing better now! While it is a bummer your plans had to change it is great that you were able to work it out the way you did and in the end everyone arrived safely!

As someone who is folically challenged, I wish my hair got "out of control" like Nigel's

I am really looking forward to trying the Skipper and really hope they don't dumb down the menu before we get there in July. Those arepas look really good!

... oh, I love this picture!

... ugh, in Southern NY we don't even get Webmans and wish we had that. Though we do have DeCicco's which feature craft beer bars inside the grocery store, so that is good

Nigel's dad is doing much better. No more sling and the physical therapy/home exercises have done well for him, thanks.

Lol!

The arepas were definitely great.

I've never heard of DeCicco's but we were glad to get the Wegman's a few years ago.

Following along! We have an all girls (adult) trip coming up in May to celebrate my 40th Birthday. We are also leaving very early out of Philly. I was wondering what hotel you stayed at and if you knew if there is a fee to leave your car there for the duration of your trip. Thanks!

Thanks for following! I actually used the "Park, Sleep, Fly" website to book the room and parking; it's an all in one price. We left the car Wednesday night and came back Monday. It was only about $120 for the room and parking all together. That website usually has a choice of hotels. We stayed at Microtel, which was fine. Honestly, nothing to write home about and a tad on the older-side but just fine for a quick sleep and parking. The airport shuttle at Microtel is 24 hours and that was great. Driver was ready to go right at 3 am, got us to our terminal and gave us a card for the number to call when we were back. When we got back, the shuttle came right away and had clear directions where to wait.

Have fun on your girls' trip!!!

 

[Li Li]

Magic Kingdom Evening

Feeling refreshed from my quick nap, we bussed back to Magic Kingdom just in time for the start of our FPs.

Look at this bag check…COMPLETELY EMPTY!

This is around 5 pm on the Thursday before MLK weekend.

Once again, completely different from the craziness of November.

When walking in, we realized we were going to catch the end of the Flag Retreat which was pretty cool.

Very nice with the Dapper Dans singing.

Our first FP was with the big cheese, we were hoping to finally see Talking Mickey!

His shirt matches the poster!

Mickey was AWESOME! A tad disconcerting, but still really cool.

So, Mickey decided to do a card trick for us.

I was told to pick a card.

Then he told me to look into his eyes…

And then he guessed my card!

Look how proud he is!

He then did the card trick with Nigel and it turned out, they were all the same card! I love the pics we got here.

We started walking back toward Fantasyland, but then we noticed that Friar’s Nook was open. And that's when we realized we were hungry! A few trips ago, we had a great mac n’ cheese hot dog here, but sadly it was no longer on the menu. But, there were several interesting mac n’ cheese options. We ended up getting the BBQ chicken mac n’ cheese with cole slaw topping.

It may look crazy, but it was delicious. Having split our snack, we walked back into Fantasyland and started taking pics. We were just having fun getting different castle pics.

We walked through the circus area and started down the back pathway to Tomorrowland. Our next FP was for Space Mountain.

Another great ride through space. We then hit up Carousel of Progress. Did you know there is a cat whose tail moves in the final scene???

Do you see him in the present box?

And we can’t be in Tomorrowland without going on the Peoplemover.

Blurry selfie.

After this, we started heading toward the Castle for our final FP of the night. Yep, I got the Wishes FP. Thought I’d check it out. And apparently just in time too since it looks like they are discontinuing it.

So, the Wishes FP just confused me. I wanted to get there before Celebrate the Magic so that we could watch that from the FP spot. By the time we got to the hub area, it was pretty full of people. People were all camped out all over the grass. When did they get there? Are you allowed in earlier than the FP time? I don’t know. In any case, we walked in and no one was standing at the front, so we went to stand at the front. Is that wrong? No one was standing there, but I felt like I could be blocking people sitting behind us, but they chose to sit knowing someone could stand in front of them? Just weirded me out, I guess.

Here's us at the spot, you can kinda see all the people behind us.

There weren’t really any great viewing spots if you ask me. I mean we had a good view of the castle, but the lightpole was pretty smackdab in the middle of the view.

I don't know if I would have sought a Wishes FP in the future but guess it’s moot at this point.

Anyway, I was happy to see Celebrate the Magic.

Can you see the Cinderella projection?

I was watching the video we took of Tinkerbell flying from the castle, and you can clearly hear a little boy say, No fair, she gets to ride a zip line. Lol.

After Wishes, we headed back to the bus. I was pretty happy that I had made it to Wishes, thank goodness for naps!

Still feeling a bit noshy, we stopped in the food court to grab a quesadilla (and some beers).

I should probably note that we did lots of eating on this trip. No regrets.

Tomorrow, a rainy start to Epcot.

 

[NigelSTW]

Here's a link to our home video on this part of the trip. We also make a Lapu Lapu at home.

 

[RDawn]

I am enjoying the trip report & video. Maybe that kid will grow up to ride the zip line as Tink?? Then life would be fair Seriously though, you guys look so happy with talking, magician Mickey!

 

[Li Li]

I am enjoying the trip report & video. Maybe that kid will grow up to ride the zip line as Tink?? Then life would be fair Seriously though, you guys look so happy with talking, magician Mickey!

Thanks for reading and watching! Yes, I just love those pictures with Mickey. When people ask why we are going to Disney again, I should just show them those pictures! It's our happy place!

 

[Li Li]

It's a monsoon!


For our first morning on property, we decided to head to Epcot. Specifically, the bakery in France. Mmmmm.

We boarded the bus to Epcot and headed off.

By the time we got off the bus at Epcot, we had to acquiesce to the inevitable…it was raining. We got off the bus and donned our ponchos. We knew it was coming as we had checked out the weather report.

We walked right up to the turnstiles and waited for opening. (Can we still call them turnstiles?) And it was selfie time!

We kinda got Spaceship Earth in there!

They ended up just letting people in early. We were in the park by 8:45. Early open was kind of wasted on us since the bakery in France does not open until 9 am. We walked back and they had a rope up at the bridge over to France. Luckily, the gift shop down the hill at the back entrance was open, so we ended browsing around in there to kill time.

They finally took down the rope and off we went. As usual, we were the only ones in there. I swear this place is such a hidden gem for early morning breakfasts. But then again, I guess not everyone is rope dropping the France bakery!


Everything always looks so amazing here, but I was on a mission. I saw someone else talk about a bacon cheese bread pinwheel thing and it looked amazing. Nigel decided on a quiche, and we couldn't be there without getting something sweet as well, so we added on a Frangipane. It's a pastry with an almond paste filling.

Ta da!

I also got a latte and Nigel just got regular coffee.

We shared everything and everything was Amazing! I’ve never had a bad item there. And with it being so empty, it’s a nice place to relax and enjoy food. If it hadn’t been raining, we may have ventured to an outside table, but it was still nice.

A few other people filtered in, but it was mostly just us for the first hour.

After breakfast, we started meandering over toward Test Track. It was still raining steadily so I doubted that it would be running, but we figured we’d check it out. We were early for our FP at 10:35, but it definitely wasn't happening. There were about a dozen CMs hanging out to tell people that it wasn't running. Mostly, the CMs were just hanging out chatting with each other.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to hit up Innoventions and check out the new Colortopia exhibit.

It was a cute little exhibit. Nothing earth-shattering, but I think it’s a good addition and in the spirit of Epcot Center, if you will.

Look, I have a rainbow shadow!

Lots of people had ducked in here to escape the rain, but it wasn't too crowded. Most people lined up for Sum of All Thrills, that queue was packed!

On the wall, there were a bunch of multi-colored wheels, like below:

When you pressed a button, the wheel spins and as the exhibit explained, your eyes automatically combine the colors into one solid color and you can’t see the two separate colors anymore. You can kind of seeing the one wheel spinning in the pic, but the pic won't capture what it is actually doing as it is some weird trick between the brain and eyes to make you see one solid color. It was pretty cool.

We also did the room where you get a magic paintbrush that you can change to reflect different colors, and then you paint a mural, electronically I guess for lack of a better word. Not using any actual paint.

Here was our section of the mural. They will email a copy to you, just stop at the computer to request it before you leave.

After Colortopia, we decided to check the wait time for Spaceship Earth. I was afraid it would be packed since it was raining, but to my shock, it was basically a walk-on.

Well, that came out blurry. After thanking the Phoenicians, it was coming up on 11 am. So, I thought we’d head to World Showcase, maybe see if we could “open” La Cava since I’ve seen them do that on Twitter, pick people to open and take a picture.

We headed off to World Showcase when suddenly…monsoon! Seriously, the rain at that point decided to pour down in buckets along with sweeping winds to make a poncho basically pointless.

We made it as far as the gift shop on the lake when we had to take shelter. I took video and tried to grab a screenshot, but I’m not sure the pic can accurately reflect the sweeping rains.

The shop was full of Star Wars merch, so we had fun checking that out.

It died down a very little, so we decided to make the dash for Mexico. There were a couple families there, but it was mostly empty. Looked over at La Cava, only to find out it doesn't open till Noon! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Well, on to the next best thing.

We were actually really excited to ride because they had put in the new animatronics for the 3 Caballeros, so we wanted to check that out.

They were awesome! I’m really glad they decided to put them in, such a nice touch for the ride.

After our ride, we browsed around Mexico while I looked up on my phone what was actually open food/drink-wise in the World Showcase. Tutto Gusto opened at 11:30! Excellent! Off for some Italian snacking.

Thankfully, the monsoon had passed and it was a more reasonable rain to walk through. We headed down to Italy, the very nice CM at the door gave bags to stuff our ponchos in.

We grabbed a table and decided to take the tour.

Yes, the grand tour of wines!

We also got one of the appetizer plates. Mozzarella cheese, breadsticks, crostini, eggplant caponata and salami.

We really enjoyed the wine flight. We have always enjoyed stopping in Tutto Gusto. It’s a little pricey even with TiW, so we don't stop here a lot but I do enjoy it when we do.


Next up, what will the weather be like once we leave??

 

[NigelSTW]

Here's the link to our home movie of this portion of the trip. It was a fun morning even if spent the entire day with soggy feet from the rain. I failed to bring proper flip flops.

 

[Li Li]

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone!

We walked out of Tutto Gusto and lo and behold…

It looked like the clouds were clearing!

We decided to mosey around World Showcase for a bit. Headed over to Germany and browsed.

We had to check out the candy from Germany.

Spoiler alert…we bought Mozart balls because we always buy Mozart balls. They are Nigel’s favorite. And surprisingly difficult to find anywhere else. So, he always picks some up in Epcot.

Our next purchase, das Mickey boot!

Isn’t it cute?!

So, after buying candy and such, we were in need of refreshment.

We are absolutely in love with the Oktoberfest on draft in Germany! So good!

Look how the day has turned out!

We meandered down. Met some ducks in America.

Decided to eat our liquor filled chocolates from Germany.

We went into Morocco to browse around.

We just wandered around taking our time, but soon decided to head to our next reservation. We headed toward the exit. But not without stopping for some pics.

We walked out the International Gateway and toward Beach Club.

Again, it turned into such a beautiful day.

Since we had some time to kill, we decided to check out a place we had been meaning to stop by for awhile…the Crew’s Cup. Since we’ve never really explored the Beach & Yacht Club, it took a little bit for us to find our way around. But finally, we arrived. It is great in there! A nice respite from heat and sun, if you need it.

We ordered some drinks.

Sangria for me.

And a Goose Island beer for Nigel.

It was a really nice bar to relax in. We talked to the bartender a bit; it was her birthday! So, we wished her happy birthday.

Soon, it was time to get over to our ADR at…Beaches & Cream! I was so excited! This would be our first time there.

Nigel started off with a chocolate milkshake.

And we decided to split the hot dog and fries meal.

And we couldn’t leave without getting the ultimate reason for this ADR, the No Way Jose!

Let me just say that this lived up to every hype imaginable! I loved it, and I want to marry it.

Can I also say that this meal was really cheap! With our TiW discount, it felt like a steal! We will definitely be back!

There were also several kitchen sinks delivered while we were there. I tired to get a pic of one.

After stuffing ourselves, what better plan than to go swimming? Since the weather report seemed to change daily, we thought we’d take advantage of the nice weather and head back to hit the POFQ pool.

We didn't take any pics at the pool, but it was fine if a little chilly. It was really the breeze. If it had been a little less breezy, it would not have been as cold.

After swimming, we went back to the room to freshen up to head back out to the parks.

 

[Li Li]

Matching shirts?

Okay, so this update might be a little light on pics.
After swimming, we headed back to Epcot to use the Test Track FP that had been unavailable earlier due to rain.

The bus ride took a bit longer than expected. We left POFQ a little before dusk, but that evening, the Epcot bus was servicing both POFQ and POR, so we had to wait through several POR stops before heading to Epcot. Including one very drunk guy singing in the back. Luckily, he disembarked at one of the POR stops, so the rest of the ride to Epcot was peaceful. But, we arrived at Epcot in full dark.

We headed straight to Test Track.

Lots of fun as usual. Afterward, we stopped in Mousegears because I am pretty much incapable of not stopping in there to browse. But no purchases. We decided to check out Club Cool while we were in the area. Honestly, Beverly has a bad after taste, but I don’t mind it overall. Perhaps because I like Tonic Water which is similarly bitter.

For whatever reason, we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom. I honestly don't know why, but I fear we are addicted to that park. (*See November trip where we visited MK consecutively for at least 4 days).

Some departing pics.

And we have arrived in MK!

And now you can fully see our matching shirts! This is as close as I will ever get to matching shirts. They are the limited edition Mickey and Minnie Carousel of Progress shirts. I’ll admit that I am not entirely sure of the order of things here but I’ll do my best.

We went to check out the FP+ situation and I realized that we had kind of messed up our APs. We used the Test Track one, but because Spaceship Earth had been walk-on earlier, we never used that FP. So, when we went to the kiosk, the CM said we had to go in MDE, erase the Epcot FPs and then we could book some MK FPs. Hopefully, this ridiculousness will be gone now that Disney is moving more things to the app rather than the kiosks. So, after stepping out of line, erasing the old FPs, I entered the line again to make an FP. I believe it was for Jungle Cruise.

It looks like Pirates had a short line though as we rode that before Jungle Cruise.

And then Jungle Cruise.

Take a look because this was hands down the BEST skipper we have ever had on Jungle Cruise. His name was Skipper Sam. We were waiting in line a little bit and saw about 3 empty boats pass us by. It appeared something was going on, on the ride, that necessitated checking out by several CMs on a boat. Sam and another CM kept us plenty entertained though. They told corny jokes and were generally just entertaining while we waited. Then, when it was our chance to ride, I swear it was the BEST Jungle Cruise I ever had. Sam was just on his game, and even told some jokes I had never heard before. He was the greatest and I can’t praise him enough. He was awesome, and I hope he knows that. Here he is posing when he realized I was photographing him. Sorry it is a little blurry.

Any guesses as to our next move? If you guessed food, winner winner chicken dinner. Actually, fish dinner. We decided to check out Columbia Harbor House.

Nigel got the shrimp and fries and I got the salmon, couscous and broccoli. I liked mine, although I didn't like the peppers and stuff dotting through the couscous that much. But the salmon was good. I usually gravitate to salmon when we eat out as Nigel does not like fish-fish.

We rode It's a Small World.

And I think we may have hit up Haunted Mansion as well, but I have no photographic proof. Oh, does anyone remember back in the November trip when we got that “golden ticket”? When we had to wait for our food at Pecos Bills and a CM just came down the line giving out non-expiring paper Fast Pass? Well, we decided to use it tonight and hop on our favorite MK ride at night, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Seriously, I am indebted to the DIS’er who wrote in a TR that this ride was best at night because it totally is! We only ride it at night anymore.

Since we had seen Wishes the night before, we did not feel the need to stay for that, so we headed for the exit.

Off to sleep for our next Disney day!

 

[NigelSTW]

Here's the accompanying movie if you care to watch it live action color with sound!

 

[Li Li]

Day 3 and clear skies

The weather report said today was going to be a warm, gorgeous day! And we were off to Animal Kingdom!

But first, room service. And by that, I mean that I slept in and Nigel kindly went to the food court to pick up some breakfast.

Biscuits and Sausage gravy and chocolate chip pancakes. Breakfast of vacation champions!

After breakfast, we hopped on the bus.

Here I am making fun of Nigel for paying more attention to the phone than me! (I’m guilty of this too).

uh oh, he caught me!

We rolled in a little after opening. Our first FP was for Expedition Everest naturally.

After visiting the Yeti, we walked over toward Safari for our next FP. We browsed around the Harambe area which I love, the theming is so great.

The line moved quick and we were soon boarding.

We got a truck that had a wheelchair compartment, and that's where we were assigned. So, we had a small bench all to ourselves and then a family was on the small bench behind us. We made friends.

Here you can see that we were right behind the bus driver. Bless her, she tried to engage people. She asked what animals everyone wanted to see. *crickets* So, Nigel said Bigfoot. She laughed and said she wasn't sure he was around.

And now, Safari picture spam. I’ll try to keep it to a respectable minimum.

When we got out of the Safari, we were shocked to see the FP line backed up to beyond the entrance point! Seemed we got in just in time.

It had been a long time since we walked the Pangani Forest Trail, so we went with the crowd.

Look, naked mole rats!

Fishies!

Gorillas.

The baby gorilla was running around, very cute.

This guy wouldn't look at anyone. Take that, he said.

As we exited, Harambe Market was just opening, and we wanted to try some more of their offerings. We already tried the curry sausage corn dog, and next on my list was the ribs. But I didn't want to get a whole adult portion, so I got the kids portion. It was two pieces of rib and packaged sides of carrots and apples. I also ordered two Safari Amber ales cause what else goes with a kids meal?

Meanwhile, Nigel had gone to another window. After debating between the gyro flatbread and the Chicken Tikka Masala, he went with Tikka Masala.

The ribs were good, but I think my favorite is still the curry sausage. I also gave away my pre-packaged sides to a nearby family with young kids since I knew we wouldn't eat them.

Then, fun with selfies.

We started walking back toward Asia and got some Tree pics.

We decided to try out the new bar next to EE, Thirsty River bar. No place to sit at the bar which is disappointing but it’s a nice use of the space. Nigel got a boring domestic beer, and I got an IPA. Nigel tried it, and then remembered he does not like IPAs.

Some fun details near here.

We were just walking around soaking up the details and burning up time till our Dinosuar FP.

Then, we decided to go on a hunt for Trilo-Bites. It is a food kiosk, usually open for larger crowd times. I had seen a review of a food item way back when (2014 to be exact) on the Disney Food Blog. A buffalo chicken waffle sandwich, which sounded great and looked even better. Here is the 2014 pic from the Disney Food Blog.

Doesn't that look incredible?! But Trilo-Bites proved a little elusive, or I am bad at reading maps, either way. We finally stumbled upon it. And they were open! So, here it was, the moment of truth.

Hmm, a little smaller than previously pictured! That's okay since we did just eat some food not too long ago. And, it did taste very good, so I do recommend it.

Snack accomplished, we headed off to find some dinosaurs.

Nice going looking scared there, Nigel.

We also grabbed some pics of the Rivers of Light area. RIP. (Can you RIP something that never opened? Just jokes, guys.)

We decided to move on. With a short trip, you got to keep moving!

We had a VIP to meet.


Spoiler:

 

[NigelSTW]

The accompanying home movie can be found here for those so inclined.

 

[Li Li]

Time to switch parks!

We don't try to make AK a half day park, but when your significant other is not a fan of shows…well, it happens. I have only seen Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King once in all these years!

ANYWHO, we moved on to Hollywood Studios.

And headed straight to Launch Bay to check out the new Star Wars stuff.

And look who was patrolling.

Looking around, loved all the cool models, art/posters and costumes!

But I was on a mission. No time to browse, I wanted to check out the Disney Visa Meet and Greet. Guys, there was almost no line! Seriously, we went through an empty hallway, and only waited a minute or so.

There he was!

I have to say, I was a bit startstruck. Meeting Darth Vader was beyond cool! I’m pretty sure you can see the giddiness on my face.

He did a bit about asking me if we had any rebel plans, and we said no. It seriously did feel intimidating. I mean, it was Darth Vader! He towered over us and the voice was dead on. Probably one of the top meets I’ve had at Disney.

Life goal accomplished, we headed out and down to Pixar Place. Grabbed some more PP pics.

I believe we also picked up a 4th FP for the Great Movie Ride at the kiosk next to Toy Story Mania.

This guy also jumped out and surprised me when I was walking past, so I grabbed a selfie.

I wanted to check out the Star Wars merch at Watto’s Grotto so that was our next stop. It seemed like a big place with only a moderate amount of merchandise to fill it. We picked up some gifts for some friends’ kids including some of those cool Star Wars name tag things.

Here is one of the forms I filled out for the name tags.

We wandered around and walked through the Streets of America since we knew its days were numbered.

Then, it was time for our Great Movie Ride. And a red card!

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I like the addition of Robert Osborne. Yes, it cut down on the CMs role, but I still like how it gives them some interaction, like when he says he’s going to the snack bar. I don’t know; it always makes me laugh. We had an excellent guide; she was really good. Gangster scene as usual.

We then started heading out. First, we ran into this cool car. We were only allowed to take a picture if I acted dramatically.

The CM said this was one of the cars that started out in Disneyland when it opened.

We headed out and back to the resort to freshen up a bit before our dinner plans.

 

[bmbmd]

Now that's what I call a Meet and Greet.

 

[VailRaven]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report(s)! I've done that drive from the Mid-Atlantic region to WDW on a few occasions, but not for a long time. Looks like you guys had a great time!

 

[Joben]

sorry I haven't been posting on your TR. I have been lurking, well really only in the last month. After our Feb. trip for the Princess 1/2 marathon, I went into Disney withdrawal and avoided the Dis.

And after reviewing where I left off on comments, my goodness I have been gone awhile. Sorry here you are being all diligent and posting updates and I'm not keeping up my end.

I swear I will get you some comments to your posts soon, but it is almost midnight and it is time for me to leave work. yeah that's right I Dis on the company time.

I will say i enjoyed the videos you guys made and I think I might be getting on of those handycams too. It just seems like a better idea than videoing with my phone or my camera.



The real reason I have't been on the boards much lately... this lil guy takes a lot of my time

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So I have fallen woefully behind because I am a bad DISer ... but I will try to catch up and then stay on target!

We haven't seen talking Mickey yet and I have to say I have mixed feeling about it. It seems neat but also just weird. I don't know. Plus I am afraid knowing my kids they will then start asking "wait, he can talk? Why did he never talk before? And if he can talk why can't Minnie talk?", etc. ... yeah, probably just best to leave it alone.

That BBQ chicken mac n cheese looks awesome! I do love some of the "snacks" like that they have in MK - like the waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hallow (although I think they got ride of the chicken sandwich so I should at least partially retract this statement)

That FP viewing area is kinda weird though I do feel bad that they offered that and then took it away (or, well, now are charging to sit there) I do know some people who like it for that and for the parade if they have people in their party with medical conditions to that it is hard for them to stake out a spot to wait for the parade/show to start. Seems like they need to have a policy that either everyone must sit or stand - otherwise you run the risk that people sitting get annoyed at the standers, but if no rule you can't stand I can understand wanting to stand.

Your French Bakery Breakfast looks amazing! I've seen and done lunch there but never thought about Breakfast ... might have to consider that (though we tend to do the Akershus breakfast largely for the cheesy potatoes ... oh, and I guess the princesses, but whatever - cheesy potatoes!)

The colortopia exhibit looks pretty neat and I agree with you that it is in the spirit of EPCOT (something I really hope doesn't get lost entirely)

Bummer about The Ditch not opening until noon ... but now you have put the idea in my head of wanting to "open" it some day. Tuto Gusto looks pretty good and I do like that they have the wine flights there, but yeah, does look a little pricy

The day really clear up nicely ... and solid purchases all around in the Germany pavilion

I've heard lot of people say they like the Crew's Club so glad it lived up to the hype for you and your meal looked really good at Beaches N Cream

Spaceship Earth at night sure is perty!

So, was this Skipper Sam any good?

Big Thunder really is tremendous at night. I've heard that a similar effect takes place with 7DMT at night, but I haven't had a chance to do that yet

I am really looking forward to checking out Harambe market - looks like some cool offerings. Plus:

I also ordered two Safari Amber ales cause what else goes with a kids meal?

Not sure if we can RIP Rivers of Light - but we can certainly #ThanksShanghai

Looks like a fun meet with Darth Vader!

 

[Joben]

Okay here we go sorry for the extended post but there is a lot to comment about...mostly food and booze.

number one F&W for me was the Belgium potato and leek waffle with beer braised beef. Frances Beef was pretty good too as they are almost the same thing, but in my book the win goes to Belgium. or the Kim Che dog, and sometimes the tuna poke, I love raw fish!!!
never saw that spicy margarita, probably because Tequila is on the lifetime ban list , though the avocado margarita is a must do when I go they had a chili infused beer at America either last year or the year before and i really enjoyed that.

So I have real issues with the F&W haggis. I didn't make it to the last F&W (Baby) so I only saw the veggie one and I always thought what was the point of that. I would totally try the authentic one even though I'm 99% sure i would think it was at best meh and most likely gross.

Jingle Cruise!!! we were super excited to try this and just a little disappointed that it was such a minimum change from the regular cruise.

Why is people mover always the last stop for the day in MK. probably because you sit down long enough to realize that you are really tired and then getting up is such an effort. I love that ride more than most in MK though

Been to Boma several times but never for breakfast...it's on the must do list, thanks. Speaking of must do's thank you thank you for the heads up on the liberty belle, I'm totally trying this next time. That is so cool, and I agree that it is awesome how well they theme something considering 99.9% of people at the parks will never see it.

I love wilderness lodge. As a kid my family always stayed at Ft. Wilderness, (12 kids my parents had no choice but Ft. wilderness, but camping in FL in August...the worst) and I feel wilderness lodge is the upscale version of this. now that we bought DVC I'm sure we will stay there sometime.

V&A!!! this is one of those places that I want to try but I'm super intimidated. we did Yachtsman after the princess 1/2 marathon on our last trip and the cost of that makes me think we probably won't do it. The yachtsman was very good but oh my it was just one of those just add the 20% and sign it and forget about it (clearly I haven't forgotten) BTW you guys looks awesome in the pics...just as fancy as the setting. Oh and the harpist was super cool, I think she appreciated you guys actually recognized what she was playing and not just treating it as background music.

So drinks in China. they do the Singapore sling I believe and that is my go to when I want a serious drink. if you haven't tried that one get it. it's a little sweet but the amount of gin they have in it totally makes up for it.

Brioche Ice cream is now on the must do at least for the wife. I tried it once and was super excited because she totally sold this to me and who doesn't love an Ice cream sandwich, but nope I'll just take a bowl of ice cream thanks. too much bread.

you stood in line for Soarin?!?!? that's nuts. We actually did this some years ago when we were still newbies, funny enough my wife brought a charger with her and they have outlets spaced throughout the que, she was actually able to charge her phone almost completely in the two hour wait.

Oh the Christmas party. these events are expensive but totally worth doing one time in your life. the fireworks alone are probably worth it. I do love how much shorter the lines get. Funny story about CoP being closed, we went for the Halloween party and the wife dressed as the grandma from CoP , I was Tom Morrow. One CM recognized me, probably because I had a name tag, but no one recognized her. we went to the ride in hopes that at least one person would recognize her only to find out it was closed. I mean really? I know it is not the most popular ride, but you only need one CM to run it right? the rest of the time she walked around lamenting that people probaly thought she was just a poorly dressed woman. Makes me laugh to this day and we reference it every time we are in Tommorowland.

yes the reindeer are creepy.

Okay that ends page two of your TR, holy frijole I feel like your pages are super long. Okay I'm giving up. I will comment on new posts from here on out but I won't monopolize the space in your report for all the older stuff. I will just stop by saying I have fun reading your post even if i don't comment enough. you guys are on the same page as us when it comes to enjoying the parks (food and booze)