Pretty Sure They Created a New Festival Just For Us - 2 week Jan DR *COMPLETE

jerseytinkerbell

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Hey all!

Jeri aka jerseytinkerbell back for another Disney adventure!

If you read my last DR you know that our October trip was tainted by hurricane troubles, so about a week after we got home we decided we needed a do-over trip. Our APs expired March 11, so we wanted to make use of those. I voted for end of February into March to visit during F&G and Rob voted for mid to late January to have cool weather and in the end he won. Here we come Disney World! We are ready to experience WDW in January!



After we booked our trip I am looking at Facebook when I see that Disney has announced a brand new festival. Festival of the Arts! I was bummed that we wouldn't be in WDW for F&G this year, so I was pretty sure they created Festival of the Arts just for us to make up for missing F&G. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. :rotfl2:

We went back and forth about how we would get down there this trip. After our train debacle last time I wanted to drive, but I worried about snow affecting our drive because you never know when the 95 corridor will get slammed with snow in the winter. Snow concerns also made me nervous to take the train after the cancellations we faced in October due to flooding. In the end, the fact that we had a ton of Amtrak points to use from last time swayed us into giving the train another try.

We were out of DVC points for this year. And I may have borrowed all of my points for next year as well. :rolleyes1 So, we used our APs to get a discounted room at POFQ, which we love! I came super super close to switching to WL at the last minute. Like, literally the day before we left. It was only about $500 more to upgrade to WL for the entire two weeks, I guess because of all the construction happening there it was deeply discounted, but Rob talked me out of it. I still slightly regret not doing it, but we had a great stay at POFQ.

Well, let's get to the good stuff. A two week January Disney extravaganza!
 
I'm here! Absolutely love your dining reports. I'm anxious to hear what you thought about the Arts festival. We ended up at WDW over MLK weekend but with only 2 full days, so we didn't experience much.

Do you guys like longer trips? I guess it makes sense to do them since you drive so far! Since we're in driving distance now we've been planning lots of little trips, but we talked about it and decided to do two one-week (ish) trips next year instead. It just makes more sense and in the long run will possibly even be cheaper (gas to get there and back each time, boarding our dog, etc). It looks so much fun when you guys stay at SSR and walk to Disney Springs. Plus it's a good use of DVC points.

And I hope your Amtrak efforts fared better than last time!!
 
Travel day!

Rob woke up early on the Saturday when we left and drove over to Delaware from our home in NJ and bought food for the train ride. There was no dining car for this leg of the trip and the cafe options are pretty terrible, so he decided to stock up on Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwiches since they weren't serving lunch yet.

My dad dropped us off at the train station in Wilmington, Delaware around noon for our 1pm train. The train arrived right on time and we were off!

It was a little bit snowy today. Just flurries, but I was thankful that we were not driving.

We got all settled into our roomette and I got out my Kindle to read and rob got out his Playstation Vita to play games and we were ready for the long train ride.

It's nice to be able to see the sights during daylight hours, which for this ride were very few.

Beautiful Baltimore. :rolleyes1



We could see a lot of Washington D.C. from the train, which was cool.





We had an hour delay on when we got to Washington D.C. as the cafe car was apparently not attached properly and they had to take the whole thing off along with all the coach cars and reattach new cars to the cars where we were located. Other than the power being off and the long wait we didn't even know what happened until they made the announcement. Apparently all of the people in coach had to get off the train and wait outside in the freezing cold while they attached commuter cars. :scared1: Boy did I feel bad for those people. It's bad enough making that ride in coach, but now it's a commuter car. I would have lost it. Those poor people.

We also passed the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, which was very cool looking.



We did wait looking before cracking into our big bag on chicken biscuits.



This was literally all we ate for nearly 24 hours. Health nuts we are. :laughing:

The pics I took on my phone at night from the train do the sights no justice, but we did see some cool areas from the train. On this route we could see downtown Raleigh all lit up at night.



And a cool little town called Southern Pines that had an old fashioned movie theater.



I was kinda cold in the room this time and I tossed and turned a lot and didn't get much sleep, but honestly the 21 hours actually flies by and before I knew it, it was daylight and we were in sunny Florida!



We made up the hour we lost somewhere during the night and we arrived right on time at 10am. We got off at Orlando and not Kissimmee this time, which was a way better move too. Saved us a lot of time in my opinion. This time we used a different car company after the troubles with the last one and the new company was waiting for us the second we were off the train. They had the sign with our last name and everything. I've always wanted that to happen. :goodvibes

Our driver was super friendly and engaged us in conversation the whole ride. I arranged to stop at a grocery store this time too. We stopped at a Publix near Universal that was really nice and all the employees were super friendly. We got a case of water, a pack of bottles of apple juice, a pack of cans of pineapple juice and couple six packs of some local beers. We spent under $40, which was awesome and saved us from spending a fortune on drinks at the food court.

Before we knew it we were turning off I-4 to see the greatest sight that we look forward to all year.



Always the official start to vacation!
 


We arrived at POFQ around 10:45am. I did online check-in ahead of time, but unfortunately there were no rooms available yet. It was MLK weekend, so this weekend was a little busier than the rest of our stay would be, but they promised to do their best to get us in a room right away. I felt grungy from the train and we did not feel like storing our bags to go do something in the meantime, so we just sat in the lobby and waited for a text that our room was ready.





Around 11:30 I got the text that our room was ready, so we grabbed our bags and off we went!

Our room was just to the right after walking out of the main lobby towards the pool. We were on the third floor and we wee right next to the main building. Sweet! Couldn't ask for a better location.



Gotta love walking into a Mickey towel!

We showered and unpacked and got ready to hit the parks.

Here we are waiting at the bus stop with our first day of vacation glow!



The bus came after a few short minutes and by 1:15pm we were walking through the entrance to Epcot!



We already had a plan in mind for our first meal. I didn't make an ADR because I had no clue when we would get into the park, so we walked to WS hoping for a walk up ressie.

Our first time at Nine Dragons!



We have never ever eaten here because I always thought, what's the point? I can get Chinese food at home. However, once I really looked at the menu and some Instagram pics I was swayed into giving it a try and so was Rob. We put our names in and our pager went off about 5 minutes later. Score!

I loved the Learning Chinese words paper on the table.



I swore I wasn't going to drink a lot this trip and waste money, but it's the first day of vacation, a celebration is in order!





I got the Shanghai Fusion which was light rum, cherry brandy, plum wine, grapefruit and pineapple juices. It was okay. I wouldn't get it again, but it was my celebration drink, so it's all good.

Rob and I both got appetizers to start. I got the General Tso's Chicken Buns. Steamed Chinese buns with battered fried chicken breast and General Tso's sauce.



These were very good. I picked off some of the red onion because there was a lot on there, but I loved the flavor it gave the chicken. The problem was that I was full already! :laughing:

Rob got the Shanghai Xiaolongbao Soup Dumpling. Steamed Shanghai-style pork soup dumpling served with our house dipping sauce.



He loved these and really liked the tangy sauce that they were served with.

For my entree I got the Shrimp Typhoon. Golden fried shrimps with fried shallots, garlic spice and a touch of jalapeno.



It also came with a side of white rice and duck sauce.



This was so good! The shrimp dipped in the duck sauce was excellent. I was so full after I ate these!

Rob had the Peppery Shrimp with Lightly Spiced Spinach Noodles.



He said the shrimp were the best he has eve had! He loved the flavor. I tried a shrimp with the noodles and it was delicious. I liked his better than mine.

We were crazy full, but we were dying to try their dessert. We got the Banana Cheesecake Egg Rolls with Strawberry Red-Bean Ice Cream.



Holy smokes! You guys have to go just if only for this dessert. Heaven!

Service here was good and we had to be rolled out we were so full. A very successful start to the trip! we will absolutely be back here next trip as there was a lot more on the menu that we wanted to try!
 
I am so excited that you've started your DR! I am heading to WDW in 33 days and this is getting me even more pumped!!! :banana:
 


Laughing we both started our dining reports on the same day. Guessing you are taking advantage of a snow day too :-)

So glad the train worked out well for you this time. Fingers crossed for a easy ride home too. And love that you got so many pics of my hometown, DC and double bonus points for knowing the Masonic Temple.

I can't believe what a great meal you had at 9 Dragons. I've never heard anything bad about it per se, but never really heard anything about it period. Im a sucker for buns and dumplings so now I have to try those!!!!
 
That shrimp from Nine Dragons looks awesome! I'm full from dinner at Carrabba's and that still makes me drool!
 
I'm here! Absolutely love your dining reports. I'm anxious to hear what you thought about the Arts festival. We ended up at WDW over MLK weekend but with only 2 full days, so we didn't experience much.

Do you guys like longer trips? I guess it makes sense to do them since you drive so far! Since we're in driving distance now we've been planning lots of little trips, but we talked about it and decided to do two one-week (ish) trips next year instead. It just makes more sense and in the long run will possibly even be cheaper (gas to get there and back each time, boarding our dog, etc). It looks so much fun when you guys stay at SSR and walk to Disney Springs. Plus it's a good use of DVC points.

And I hope your Amtrak efforts fared better than last time!!

We were there that same weekend! That was another reason Rob wanted to go during this time was to save a day of vacation since we were already off for MLK.

We LOVE the long trips. It's hard to do it any other way now. Like you said, since our drive is so long it just makes sense. If we went for one week two times we would lose so much travel time. If he would fly I would love to do long weekend trips, but alas we have long trips. I'm not complaining though!

We love being able to walk to Disney Springs from SSR. It's so convenient for us with our touring style and how much we end up there.

Amtrak was SO much better this time. Thank goodness!

Off to a great start! I love the travelogue photos from the train!

Thanks! I wish I could get better pics on the train. It doesn't quite capture the spirit of the whole thing. It's an interesting way to travel.
I am so excited that you've started your DR! I am heading to WDW in 33 days and this is getting me even more pumped!!! :banana:


Awesome! Right around Easter. Hope you have the best time!
Yessss!!!! So excited for this DR! :figment:I'm right on time too.

Woohoo! Thanks for joining me as always! :goodvibes

Hi Jeri! I LOVE all your dining reports. keep 'em coming...

Thank you! More updates coming up!

Laughing we both started our dining reports on the same day. Guessing you are taking advantage of a snow day too :-)

So glad the train worked out well for you this time. Fingers crossed for a easy ride home too. And love that you got so many pics of my hometown, DC and double bonus points for knowing the Masonic Temple.

I can't believe what a great meal you had at 9 Dragons. I've never heard anything bad about it per se, but never really heard anything about it period. Im a sucker for buns and dumplings so now I have to try those!!!!

:laughing: That is too funny! Great minds. Yeah I couldn't deal with the icy roads today. We had a treacherous drive home from work yesterday at 1am after the snow had been falling for a few hours. I was in no mood to leave the house today. I figured I may as well make use of my time! I'm on my last class for school so I'm finally able to do something other than write papers for the first time in ages.

Amtrak was great this time. A much more positive experience. I love DC! I am hoping to be there for a day trip this spring. It's been ages since I was there for a visit.

Same as you, I never really heard much of anything about Nine Dragons. I started really looking at some of the places we have never eaten at before and this menu really grabbed me for some reason this time. I am so glad we gave it a try because we really enjoyed it and it was totally different than any of the Chinese food we typically get back at home. Total winner!
 
That shrimp from Nine Dragons looks awesome! I'm full from dinner at Carrabba's and that still makes me drool!

:laughing: Definitely a good sign when you're stuffed and something still looks delicious. We were so pleasantly surprised by Nine Dragons. I can't wait to go back!
 
After lunch we had a FP for Frozen, which I really enjoyed this time after not feeling the hype our first time on it back in October. It is actually quite adorable.

We walked around WS, but it was super crowded for the holiday weekend and we didn't partake in any of the Festival of the Arts festivities. We used a FP for Living with the Land, which is always a winner. Ditto for Spaceship Earth.

On the way out I had to grab a pic of the Figment topiary.



My friend at work challenged me to get a selfie with a giant Figment while on this trip. Challenge accepted and mission accomplished on day one.



She was quite impressed. :rotfl2:

We left Epcot and caught a bus to POFQ right as it pulled up. Back at the resort we decided to take advantage of the boat they have which runs to Disney Springs.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram know that I am Tsum Tsum obsessed, so as soon as we hit Disney Springs I made a beeline for Once Upon a Toy to get my hands on the Splash Mountain collection.



After that we stopped by our new favorite spot for some drinks. Homecoming!



Rob and I both started with one of our favorites, The Bootlegger. RumShine and dark rum, blackberry jam, house-made grenadine, simple syrup, lime juice.



This drink is ridiculous! The perfect balance of sweet, tart and booze.

Then Rob switched to their Old Fashion and I switched to my absolute number one favorite, The Local. Rum Haven coconut water rum, lime, simple syrup, and fresh pineapple.



These are dangerous.

Then for good measure I got a side of their Mac and Cheese, which I was able to order at the bar with no problem.



Hands down the best mac and cheese I have ever had. It's too good.

After that we hit up our favorite hangout, the AMC Theater, for our first movie of the trip. We saw Passengers, which ended up being totally packed. They also have reserved seating here now, which a lot of people love, but I despise. It somehow makes everyone choose to sit all together in one area. It's a weird phenomenon. People don't choose seats off the little screen like they would actually walking into the theater. I hate it. We had a $5 Stubs reward from our last trip and I had $200 in gift cards for AMC and about 16 free small popcorn vouchers, so we had the Stubs discount, a $4 AP discount, a free popcorn and the rest went on the gist card. Working the deals!

Poor Rob was so exhausted from our long day that he fell asleep and missed about 40% of the movie. It was adorable.

After the movie we were right next to the bus stop, so we took the bus back to POFQ and we were in bed and asleep by 11:30. Not a bad first day!
 
Ooh! A report! This will help get me through the next few months before my trip! I follow you on IG so I'm looking forward to getting all the details here!
 
Drinks look good! The Mac & Cheese also looks perfectly cheese!

Did you enjoy Passengers? The plot definitely changed from the original blacklist edition!
 
So excited for your new report, we tried Nine Dragons last August and we really liked it as well, your food looks really tasty there. We are going to try Homecomin' in August, can't wait. Looks like a great first day!
 
We were there that same weekend! That was another reason Rob wanted to go during this time was to save a day of vacation since we were already off for MLK.

We LOVE the long trips. It's hard to do it any other way now. Like you said, since our drive is so long it just makes sense. If we went for one week two times we would lose so much travel time. If he would fly I would love to do long weekend trips, but alas we have long trips. I'm not complaining though!

We love being able to walk to Disney Springs from SSR. It's so convenient for us with our touring style and how much we end up there.

Amtrak was SO much better this time. Thank goodness!

Exactly! That's why we went, too. It was kind of last minute and we only ended up with 2 full days but we hadn't been in almost a year so it was worth it. I'm just thinking it'll be easier to do one or two longer trips and really enjoy relaxing!



After that we stopped by our new favorite spot for some drinks. Homecoming!

OMG, so cute! The Splash characters are some of my favorites.



This drink is ridiculous! The perfect balance of sweet, tart and booze.

Noted! This sounds delicious.
 
Looking forward to the rest of your report. Chick Fil A breakfast sandwich is our preflight breakfast at PHL . Really liked the photo of the temple in Alexandria. When we go to DC we try to stay at one of the hotels overlooking the temple (across the street from the Metro so convenient to get into DC)
 
Wow, great start! I am seriously going to have to get myself a to-go cocktail (or two...or three...) from Homecoming when I'm there with my youngest in September. The drinks look and sound awesome!

I saw a lot of your pics on Instagram, it looks like you guys had a really fun trip. Can't wait to hear more :-)
 

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