The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, The Dancing, The Dark Side, And A Cruise!!!

Standby for the Safari was at 10 minutes so we headed in at 8:49am and walked straight through to the truck. We were sent to the wheel chair gate to wait on a truck. We got on a truck and then had to wait a little to get moving. We were sweating our butts off sitting still with no air flow around us.

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Baby Cranes on the way into the safari were so cute!

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Finally we were on our way.

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The Wild Dogs were running around playing!

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There were tons of Giraffes out and about but only one male Elephant (and if you haven't caught on by now, Tyler's favorite is an Elle!).

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Here he is from the other side.

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The Cheetah was up and waling! I think this may have been the only time we have ever seen that!!!!

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We were off at 9:10am and headed to the trail.
 
We walked the trail for a while.

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Skyler loved this big lipped fish who was just floating in one spot looking at her.

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And the Gorillas were very fun today!

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The guide said there are a couple of moms and a bunch of babies. The ones out were a boy and a girl and the boy was being crazy and trying to pick on the girl (who is a little older and a little bigger) but he kept sneaking up on her and jumping on her. The guide said the mom who was "watching" them today was just ignoring them and eating. She said every once in a while another mom will come out and "yell" at them and the boy will stop until she leaves. We stood there a while. They were just like human kids!
 
This guy was just over the bridge.


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We left the trail at 10am. We had a really great time walking it this time! We took off heading towards Asia.

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Skye was thrilled by this African Bunny! LOL

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We used our fast passes for Everest. Which was pretty much a walk on.

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Tyler's Chicken Face...

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We decided to go standby on Dinosaur to laugh at Tyler. Don't know if he's really afraid of it or if he just humors us but it is funny...and it is a little scary.

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We went in line at 10:50am and standby said 20 minutes...we were off at 11:08am all in one piece.
 
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After being scared by Carnitores we looked around the shop. I love this store...it seems to be so well themed!

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And then decided it was time to head to lunch.

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We checked in for lunch at 11:30am at...

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...and had only a few minute wait, they hadn't opened yet.

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Now, this place is beautiful!

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We were seated right off the mail isle in the room. There is so much ti look at!

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We were brought water and menus.

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For appetizers, there was not much the anyone but me wanted so we experimented. Cary ordered the Blacked-Eyed Pea Fritters - Zhough Yogurt, Peppadew Puree.

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Cary ate a little of them and so did I, they were pretty good. The puree and the yogurt was really good with the fritters. The fritters were not dry like they sometimes can be. I would order these again.

I ordered the Sustainable Fish Causa - Peruvian purple potato, Aji amarillo vinaigrette, lime mayonnaise, cilantro, quail egg.

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It was interesting. The flavors were really good together. Again, I was the only one who would try this. The texture is different but not in a bad way. I'm not sure that I would order this again.

Skyler ordered the Tiffins Signature Bread Service - Harissa Yogurt, Zhough Yogurt, Black-Eyed Pea Hummus.


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It's weird that they bring the dips in such a large bowl of the smaller bowls but the bread comes on top. There is about an ice cream scoop sized scoop of each. Me and Cary tried the dips, the kids ate the breads. They were all pretty good...I even liked the hummus here! This would probably get ordered again.

Tyler ordered the Marinated Grilled Octopus - Salsify, Saffron Aioli, Lemon-Caper Olive Oil.

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Just because it was weird. He wouldn't touch it. In fact, once again, I was the only one to taste it. While the flavors were good, I just couldn't get past what it looked like to eat the whole thing. I had a couple of bites but I do not think it would be on our "order again" list.

For entree I ordered the Duo of Lamb - Ethiopian coffee butter-infused lamb loin, boerewors, soubise, chakalaka, tamarind barbecue, leek ash.

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This was really good. It was my first time having lamb. And I would definitely order this again. Cary liked it a lot too! It is chunks of rare lamb and lamb sausages. Yum!

Skyler ordered the Grilled Swordfish - Forbidden Rice, Tsukemono, trumpet royale, carrot-coconut puree with the puree on the side.

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She loved the fish and hated the forbidden rice. I tried it too and I can see why. What makes it forbidden? I did not like the flavor of it either. But the fish was really good, especially with the puree. Skye wouldn't eat the puree but that's her loss. This woudl get ordered again but we would ask to sub the rice for something else.

Cary and Tyler ordered Wagyu Strip Loin and Braised Short Rib - Rainbow Carrots, Roasted Peruvian Purple Potatoes, Chimichurri.

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They both loved it. Both pieces of meat were cooked perfectly and even the sauce was good. The carrots and potatoes were cooked really well too. This would be ordered again too!

For dessert Cary ordered Passion Fruit Tapioca Creme - Chocolate Crumble, Citrus Fruits.

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He really loved this. I don't like tapioca at all so I'll take hos work for it. We were laughing at him here because the cup is held to the plate by a "glue" and Cary found it and figured it was sugar or something to that effect so ate it after he pulled it off the plate. He asked the waiter what it was and he told him it was a glue that is edible but not meant to be eaten...we found this hilarious and we teased him about being the glue eater.

Skye ordered the Sorbet Tasting - Kaffir Lime Syrup, Passion Fruit Curd, crunchy Vanilla Crouton.

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She loved it! The whole thing!

Tyler ordered the Calamansi Mousse - Mango Lava, Swiss Meringue...but it was served slightly differently.

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We all liked this.

And I ordered the Lime Cheesecake - Almond-Sesame Tuile, Green Tea Sponge.

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Which was the best dessert according to me (Cary would say his was)! It was really good with not too much, over the top lime flavor but just enough. It had a mango puree with it and it paired well. I would get this again!

Our server was David L and he was good. He explained the decor and the menu. He filled drinks quickly. He offered to brig Tyler a different appetizer when he saw he wasn't eating his octopus. We did not take him up on that though because there really wasn't anything else he wanted. He was friendly but not in your face. We were getting seating for Rivers of Light for the evening so he gave us our passes and explained where to go to be seated.

Overall, I think we really liked Tiffins but I don't think it is a dining plan venue for us. We could do without the appetizers. And while the entrees are not huge, we probably would be good with one or two desserts. But I do think we will be back someday.

We used 8 credits but the cost would have been $300.29!
 
She loved the fish and hated the forbidden rice. I tried it too and I can see why. What makes it forbidden?
Yeah, I can imagine why she wouldn't like it. I've tried it and it is definitely weird texture and flavor wise. So, it's called Forbidden Rice because in ancient times it was revered by the Chinese for being very healthy and rare, so only the Emperor or very rich could eat it.
 
Lunch lasted about one hour and 45 minutes...long for us but it was hot outside, cool inside, pretty inside, and food was paced nicely so we just enjoyed ourselves. At 1:15pm we headed out.

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And we headed towards Pandora.

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We headed over to Flight of Passage and since the standby line was at 90 minutes we decided to wait so we could see the whole queue. Now I went into this knowing I might not be able to ride. So we got to the seat outside and there was a young man there helping people check it out. And NOPE...not gonna work. I was about, from what he said, 4-5 inches too far from the legs locking in place. I was disappointed but I still wanted to go through the line and see everything. He said that is fine and to just tell the person at the end that I was not riding. So we headed in.

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Tyler had ridden a couple of times already because he would come after we went back to bed and wait in line for two hours. He was dying to tell us about it but we wouldn't let him.

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There is a huge queue for this ride. There are multiple rooms and areas to walk through. When we got to the point when the seperate you into the rooms that you will be going to we were asked "how many" to which we ansereds 3 riding one walking through. So the guy asked who was not riding. I said me. He asked why and I told him that according to the seat outside I wasn't going to fit. So he says "you've come this far, why not try again. The worst that happens is the help you out." He also said that the seats are all different sizes. So we headed in.

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You have to put your stuff in cubbies in the back and board the banshee. It is like riding a motor cycle. There were two other people who needed help. The CM came over and told me to move as far forward as I could on the seat and to remove my flip flops and move my toes all the way to the front of the unit and stand on tip toes. After some pushing on my calves, I WAS IN!!!!! And good to go!!!!

AND IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

I have to say, it did make me a bit dizzy but it was an awesome ride. We all loved it. No one else had a problem fitting, even 6 foot 3 inch Tyler.

And guess what?

It was time for our Flight of Passage fast passes!!!!

So we headed back up. We quickly got through to the front and in. Skye and I were in one car and Ty and Cary in another. And this time, the CM couldn't get me in. I told him I had just ridden. He tried a really long time (there were others trying still too). He even had me switch with Skye but nope, it wasn't happening. So they took my out the exit to wait for the others. While there a CM came down and gave up two additional fast passes for each of us (including being able to use one for Flight of Passage!!!) for use today. And she told me to tell the person at the front that I needed to ride in a specific car (I don't remember which one) because that car has larger seats. As they came out, they all had their bands scanned for the additional fast passes and we went around to ride again.

This time we were through quickly. We told the girl at the front about the car and she seemed to have a bit of an attitude about it but she did it and this time I didn't even need squishing...the backs went down and it just locked by itself.

So I rode twice and everyone else rode 3 times in about 2 hours! We loved it! It appears there are options for larger people as all the seats are not the same...so if you're on the larger side and are worried about it ask for a larger seat. And tip toes all the way forward.

I was so happy I went through that first time!
 
From here we headed back to the Safari again and used fast passes.

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We walked right on.

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As you can tell, we saw elephants this time! And I managed to just enjoy the rest without a camera in my face this time.

It was super hot out so as we were walking up from there we stopped at Pizzafari for two Mandarin Orange Lemonades.

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It was very cool in there so we grabbed a table and cooled off a bit. The drinks were a great light refresher!

We used two snack credits but it would have cost $8.50.
 
After cooling off, we headed to the bus for dinner. We were in line for a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge at 5:30pm. A bus came quickly and we arrived to the beautiful (an my personal favorite) Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We grabbed a seat in the busy lobby and a while becasue we were hot and tired and early for dinner.

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Eventually the guys went to change and we headed downstairs.
 
So, just a bit of mama bragging...

Skyler registered for HIGH SCHOOL today. She’s SSSSOOOO ready, I am not. But...she tested into Honors Biology I, Honors English I, Honors Geometry (which is the highest of the four available freshman classes), and AP Human Geography!!! So happy for her!

She opted for elective choices of Spanish I (first choice) with Ensamble Choir (second choice)...they get two as freshmen, and then had to give other options so she chose Health Careers (she wants to go to med school), Biomedical Principals (or something to that effect), Drama I, and then America’s Sign Language.

She can’t wait!
 
And on in more real day news...

Skyler had her last grade school (8th grade) Solo/Ensemble Contest today...she was first to perform. She did "Colors of the Wind" and it was the most beautiful rendition I have ever heard. She earned a 1st place!!!! She is the only one that we have heard of so far who has gotten a 1st of her choir...

Next week is the years first Dance competition for her Lyrical Solo. The theme this year is MOVIES so her lyrical solo is to "Turning Page" from Breaking Dawn 2. Her jazz solo (which is in a couple of weeks) is to "I'm a Lady" from Smurfs 2. Two years ago the theme was DISNEY and she did her first solo (in fact, our company's first competitor that was not a group dance) and she took overall high point with ""God Help the Outcasts" at all but one competition (where she took second). Last year's theme was RADIO and her duet which was a Madonna mix with Material Girl, Vogue and, gosh, I can't even remember!!! Well it took overall hogh point at all but one competition and her solo to "Car Radio" in the Open division didn't do as well. We are park district and these were park district comps and they are not ready for anything other than pretty lyrical or jazz. We always do what we term as "real" competitions too with all the Dance Schools wher ethe competition is fierce and she has always earned HIGH GOLD which is the second highest level...so she is holding her own. She's pushing for a future on Broadway (whole going to med school)...I'm pushing for a stage show or parade at Disney!

And I had this whole next post done and ready to go about a week ago and hit a wrong button and deleted it all! I was so mad!!!

So we checked in at Jiko at 6:30pm and were seated right away. We were along the window towards the back of the room.

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We were given water and menus.

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Bread was brought. Not the kids' favorite but that did not stop it from disappearing.

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We love Jiko and the last time we were her (Christmas 2015) I was not feeling well so Skye stayed in the room with me and Tyler and Cary went alone to dinner. So this was the first time in a long time Skyler and I had been here. We were looking forward to it!

For appetizers I ordered the Brick Oven Cooked Red Shrimp - Congolese pili pili butter, maize-fried okra, avocado, peppedews.

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Isn't it pretty??? It was also very good! Everything went together really well. We all liked it.

Tyler ordered his usual...Grilled Wild Boar Tenderloin - with Mealie Pap, Chakalaka, Truffle Oil and Micro Cilantro.

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He only eats the meat but he loves it and if he could get them to just give him an entree sized version of this, he'd love it! I usually scoop up the rest with bread or something. It is really a good sauce.

Cary ordered the Charcuterie - smoked rabbit salumi, smoked chicken rillettes, duck proscuitto, elk sausage, accountrements.

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I do not remember what was what but he liked it well enough. If we were paying out of pocket, he probably would not have ordered it. He had the boar last time and liked that but was in the mood to try something we were not already ordering.

Skyler was ordering from the kids menu so was not using a dining plan credit. She ordered the Seasonal Garden Salad.

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It was exactly what she likes!

For entrees, I ordered the Maize-crusted Alaskan Halibut - vegetables of the moment and tomato-butter sauce.


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I had been looking at this for ever!!! I just couldn't tear myself away from the filet and I had not seen many pictures or reviews of it. But I broke down this time and ordered it...and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! It was a great dish. The halibut was flaky, think a frozen fish filet...but fresh! The corn breading was light but flavorful. The sauce was perfect with the fish and the vegetables were good too. Skye ate some of the fish but it was not the part in the sauce. The sauce was tomato based but not like a pasta sauce or anything like that...not that tomato-y and it was creamy/buttery. I would definitely forgo my filet for this in the future!

Cary and Tyler both had the Oak-Grilled Filet Mignon
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- bobotie mac n' cheese, grilled asparagus, kachumbari, South African red wine sauce.


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Tyler's was medium rare with fries and Cary had medium well as it came. They both loved the filet. We don't remember the mac & cheese...I didn't even remember it had meat in it and we're a mac & cheese family so normally, I'd remember that! So I want to say it was fine because I don't remember there being ANY complaints here...but I cannot review it. Skye was still stealing people's asparagus...she discovered she loves it on this trip.

Skyler had the Kid's Mac & Cheese - with White Cheese Sauce and I do not have any pictures of it for some reason. She loved it though, as always. It is rare she finds mac & cheese that she does not like. And with Tyler's asparagus and some of my fish, she was good!

For dessert Tyler ordered the Safari Sunset - carrot cake, cornbread calamansi and lemon cremeux, Kenyan coffee streusel, citrus gel, valrhona dulcey mousse, candied carrots.

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He loves carrot cake...ya, I find that odd for someone like him too! Bit he tore this apart...because you know, nothing should be touching other parts. He liked it. There were parts he could have done without but he's weird and the rest of us cleaned up whatever he didn't eat. the cake was moist and flavorful.

Skye and I chose the Strawberry Shortcake - local Florida strawberries, lavender scone, Swiss milk chocolate, cubeb peppercorn.

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MMMMM...it was really good...and I think I'd vote it the best of the night. The scone was really a perfect match to the chocolate and strawberries. Skye ate most of this.

Cary ordered the Kilimanjaro - Tanzanian chocolate mousse, pistachio financier, pink peppercorn meringue, cacao nib crunch, ras el hanout pineapples.

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It was really a cool looking dessert and it was good too. A very different kind of presentation! All of the desserts would get ordered by us again!

Alfredo was our waiter and he was good. The guys think he was their waiter when they were here last. He was friendly and helpful, efficient. But here, again, it seemed like as soon as he found out we were not ordering alcohol, were on the dining plan, and only three of the four of us were using it it seemed he lost interest. Don't get me wrong, he did his job but wasn't going to go above and beyond if he didn't have to. I'm sure if we had needed something or asked for something he would have been there but he was more present at other tables.

We love Animal Kingdom Lodge and Jiko so I am sure this will remain on the must do list in the future. If not on the dining plan, I could see us ordering slightly differently though. Jiko has a more relaxed, adult feel to it but well behaved kids would not be out of place here.

Our total here was $264.63...Skyes out of pocket cost was $14.91.

We were here for about an hour and a half hour enjoying our last night in Disney for the first part of our trip.
 
We headed out to the bus stop and waited about 5 minutes for a bus back to Animal Kingdom. We headed immediately back to the line for Rivers of Light because we were cutting it close. Tyler was going to stop in the bathroom and meet us. Unfortunatly we went all the way around the wrong way. We thought the line up was on the far side in Asia but it is actually closer to Dinoland for the dinner passes. It was a super hot night, very humid and they pack you into the arena like sardines and even though we were cutting it close, it felt like we sat forever before the show started. Tyler never made it to us because they would not allow us to save him a seat not would they let him down when he finally arrived So he stood outside along the half wall and watched from there. Honestly, he was probably more comfortable than we were. We were totally not pleased with the seating. I mean, I understand that they are trying to get everyone in and while I am willing to sit very close to someone I don't know at places like this, I do not want my or their sweaty bodies on top of each other. Nor do I need the person next to me having the kid halfway on my lap or hitting me every five seconds. I have my own kids, I don't need someone else's on me. I just think, weather could and should be taken into consideration when the plan to pack a theater. When it's cooler out, sure, you can fit more people into the arena but maybe in the most humid of months, don't give out so many fast passes or dining passes and don't seat so many stand by patrons. After all, I think Tyler's vantage point ended up being better anyway.

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You can almost see the humidity in these pictures!

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And about 15 minutes in, it started pouring and the show was cancelled. UGH! What we saw was cool. It was neat having a night time show in the Kingdom. But we still have not seen the whole thing. Seemed like a rainy night time show was kinda out theme this trip. But I guess that's to be expected at this time of year. We did like what we were able to see though.

We donned our ponchos and found Tyler. We headed towards the Tree.

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We decided to torment Tyler some more and head in to It's Tough to be a Bug. Skyler needed to lick a big ball of dung...

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And decide if Broadway it the way she should go or break into the bug scene...

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We waited a while because the show had just started when we walked into the waiting area. They called us to line up. There were only about 10 people waiting. And all of a sudden they came on the speaker and said they were having technical difficulties and we had to leave. So much for that! But we did have fun underground playing around since were was not a ton of people down there. We were also able to take our time looking at all the carvings walking in and out so that was cool too!

The tree was coming alive as we were walking around the front. We had seen this show the last time we were there and it is really cool. When I initially heard they were going to do a projector thingy on the tree i was thinking it was gong to be odd...but it is really cool (although lately I am thinking this projection thing, as cool as it is, is being a little overdone!).

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And, of course, we headed into Pandora to see it at night. Tyler had his favorite parts since he had already been there. WOW, it is really cool at night!

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I love this picture of Tyler...if only I was better at night time pictures...

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We headed into the Na'vi River so we could ride with Tyler since we hadn't this morning.

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We enjoyed our journey again!
 
I had wanted to try some food at the Satuli Canteen and everyone agreed we could stuff some more in, so we did.

We ordered the Cheeseburger Steamed Pod - steamed cheeseburger pod stuffed with ground beef, ketchup, mustard, pickle, and cheddar cheese served with crunchy vegetable slaw and vegetable chips.

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Again with the biba balls...had to love it now! These were so different, so weird, and so good! Skye loved the veggie chips. We fought over the balls. The kids wouldn't try the pods. So it was one for me and one for Cary. This was plenty to share...probably even if we were hungry...and we're not generally sharers.

We also got two Cheese Quesadilla - cheddar and mozzarella cheese in a tortilla served with vegetable chips and grapes.

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The clear cups were from the decanter of iced water they had set out just outside the doors for people to help themselves with. We really liked that they did this!

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The kids love a quesadilla...you know...cheese?!?!? Again, this was a lot of food actually for a kids meal. And they were happy they were hot. melty, and fried (not like some places where it is like they threw it in a microwave).

We also ordered Pandoran Sunrise - refreshing balance of tropical juices blended with Powerade melon.

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The drink was really refreshing and not tasting overly of powerade like I thought it would. The kids scammed most of this.

And Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse - with passion fruit curd.

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Skyler needed this...not that I was opposed to it but she NEEDED it. And surprise, surprise, even the freak boy liked it!

All in all we loved this place.


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I wanted to try one of the bowls but we just were not that hungry after our dinner. They have real silverware and there is a lot of seating. They do not let you sit inside if you are not eating though...which I have a love/hate relationship with. We were asked if we had food when me and the kids went to sit down and Cary was waiting for food but when we said Cary was waiting we were allowed to go in. I don't know if it is always like that or if they were lenient because it was not crowded. We also were given a couple of items to teach us some Pandorian language and about the creatures there.


We think we will be back!

Our total here was $38.39 and we paid cash.

 
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We were finally petering out so we headed back up front...slowly, taking our time, enjoying Animal Kindgom after dark.

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There was a show happening by the drums...we stopped to watch a little but it was still pretty crowded in Pandora.

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We were able to walk right up to a waiting bus to All Star Sports and took that home. The line for Movies was long and no bus was there. We got a seat too. It was not a ton longer than taking a Movies bus.

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There was next to no one around while we were walking back to our room.

We arrived back at the room at about midnight to this...

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LOOK!!! Dory is right side up!!! And I think The Cuddle Party (yes, that's his name!) was directing the chicken choir for her!

We showered off and hit the sack! It was a long, hot, wet day!
 
I have discovered the pics from my phone that were not loaded with the correct days and since some of my postshave hit the pic max, I can't put them in where they belong so I'm just gonna post them here...we'll call it a recap...

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The Grand Floridian boat dock after dinner at Narcoossees.

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Just outside the Magic Kingdom after the boat ride from Narcoossees.

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At the bus stop on the way to Magic Kingdom.

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At the bus stop on the way to Magic Kingdom.

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On the bus.

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On the People Mover.

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There's the pic of the new graduation cap after buying it while waiting to be seated at Tony's.

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On the bus to Hollywood Studios.

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Starlord and Baby Groot!

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Baby Groot!

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Meeting Starlord and Baby Groot!

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The March!

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Waiting for the boat from Hollywood Studios to Boardwalk.

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On the boat to Boardwalk.

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At the bus stop for Animal Kingdom.

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We love Pandora!


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Waiting to see the bugs that we never did get to see!

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There's my not blurry pic!
 
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And now I am at the point that I need to load more pictures in order to move forward...hopefully I will get to do that very soon!
 
June 26, 2017 - Day #6

I don't have many pictures from early this day.

We woke for the last time at All- Star Movies at 7:50am. Since we had our suit cases mostly sorted into parts of the trip, we did not have a ton to repack. We got our suits on and took our luggage to bell services. We checked everything except the clothes and toiletries we would need to change into after the pool and some laundry. We filled up our cups and Tyler got two cinnamon rolls from World Premiere Food Court ($8.07) that we used two snack credits for. We headed to play at the pool and I did a load of laundry at the little laundromat by the pool. We had fun playing in the water for a while. We used the locker rooms to shower off and change after we felt completely water logged.

At 11:15am we headed in line for a bus to Disney Springs for our last lunch at Disney for part one of our trip. We arrived at our destination at 11:40am.

We were dropped off right near Planet Hollywood, which was our lunch location.

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It looks really cool still!

I had been here once, about 25 years ago and I was interested in seeing what they did to the place. I had not heard many good things in a while but we enjoy things a lot of people complain about so we were going to check it out. Plus, those milkshakes!!!

So we walk over to the entrance and walk into the building.

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Where you enter is at the bottom of a large stairway.

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There was a girl standing at a podium to the side of the door helping another party so we waited. She glanced at us a few times. When she finished with that party, she walked away. So we stood there thinking she was doing something quick, although she did not say anything to us, and she'd be back shortly. No such luck. Finally about 10 minutes after she left, a different girl walked in and asked if we were waiting to check in. We told her we were and she said, "Oh, you need to go upstairs" and walked away.


So we head upstairs and check in and are seated right away...in THE WORST possible seats ever!!! We were practically squeezed onto the stairs to walk into the store. I was so upset.We couldn't see anything of the venue. We had a views into the store. And part of the bar. And the hallway to the bathrooms. And not much else! Part of coming here was seeing the venue. We couldn't even see the giant TV type screens on the wall in the main section of the restaurant. We could hear things from that area but not see them. There was a little screen in the section we were in but it was on a center wall facing is a direction that we would not have been able to see. We were not happy. No one seemed to notice. And I am not the kind of person to be re-seated...although I should have asked to be seated elsewhere. My fault, but come on...why would to rebuild a place and even create a seat that was this bad?!?!?!


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I realized on my last post in my dining review that I counted wrong on the credits used because we were planning to use our last two dining credits here and if needed pay out of pocket for extras. We explained this to the waitress, Marion, who probably thought I was a crabby butt. We verified that the milkshakes ARE NOT on the dining plan...which I did already know but you just never know. Maybe I was hoping for some pixie dust after the crappy table we were given. We were still holding out hope for great food!

For appetizers we decided on Potato Wedge Dippers - build your own potato wedges with special four-cheese sauce, crispy bacon bits, buttermilk ranch dressing, pico de gallo and sour cream.

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These were super delicious. The options that came with it to dip into and add onto were great. The wedges were hot and crispy on the outside and like a great baked potato texture on the inside. Obviously, Tyler did not eat them, they are not french fries after all, but the rest of us did and it was plenty as an appetizer.

We also ordered the Twice-Cooked Buffalo Wings - Chicken wings baked and then fried to perfection and tossed in buffalo sauce, served with celery, carrots and bleu cheese dressing.

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As you can see, these did not go unappreciated! Skyler wanted to swipe the chicken basket (her fav is a chicken if you have not been able to tell by now, and our kitchen is red and chickens!) but we would not let her. Again, these were really good, fat wings and a perfect appetizer size.

For entrees we decided on three. Cary had the Plain Jane Cheeseburger - choice of cheddar, swiss, SMC with LTOP & Donkey sauce on the side.

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Loved the plate! The fries were a combo of curly, steak fries and thin cut...so they were great! They put all the toppings in a bowl on the side so you can add them in yourself. He said his burger was really good. Well cooked and juicy.

Skye and I decided to split the Slow-roasted Chicken - slow-cooked all-natural chicken breast, pan gravy, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and green bean blend.

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And we loved it. It was served kinda oddly though. Yes, the way you see it in the picture is how it was served. Nothing is in the side behind the chicken...it almost looks like something was missing??? But the chicken was tender and juicy, the mashed potatoes were creamy, and the green beans were Disney awesome. We both our fill and were plenty full from this. We would both order this again!

Tyler was the surprise of the meal. He decided to order the Bacon Mac-n-Cheese - Guy's award-winning burger. Applewood smoked bacon, six cheese mac-n-cheese, cheddar, LTOP, crispy onion straws & Donkey sauce on a brioche bun

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It was served with the same fries Cary had. He had it with just lettuce...no cheese, no tomato, no onion, no pickle, no Donkey Sauce and Crispy Onion Straws on the side. This is out of the box for Tyler. Mac & Cheese ON the burger???? He ended up really liking it! He ate it all. The onions were really good too...little onion ring bites! So far we were all very pleased!

After ordering dessert Marion brought these...

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For dessert we ended up getting the Banana Pudding Star Jar - layers of fresh bananas, vanilla wafers and cream banana pudding topped with whipped cream.

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Which was mine and it was delicious! Loved the way it was served too!

And the Brownie Cheesecake Star Jar - double chocolate brownie layered with chocolate and cheesecake, topped with vanilla ice cream plus caramel and chocolate sauce drizzle.

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Which was Cary's...and he loved it too!

And the kids shared the Cosmic Cotton Candy - start with a hand-dipped cotton candy milkshake, add rainbow sprinkles, white chocolate covered pretzels and top it off with cotton candy and a lollipop.

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The loved it completely!

All in all, we loved the food at Planet Hollywood! Marion did not spear English very well but in the end ended up bringing the correct food. She was not supper attentive but I was probably not her favorite customer so I assume that may have been a bit of why she wasn't super willing to spend time near us. The service from the staff downstairs (whose job I assume it is to direct people upstairs but didn't) also was not very good. Our seating was horrible, luckily it was early and there was not people using the stairs we were practically sitting on or it could have been extremely awkward. So, in the end, I am going to say this was one of our favorite meals of the trip, especially of the new to us venues. I hesitate to go back because of seating, and it is my luck that I would get the exact sale table or something similarly awful. But I do think this will be one of those places we do not hesitate to come back to in the future. Prices are high for a burger but everything was so good, it is worth it.

We ended up using our last two credits here and paying out of pocket for Cary's burger and the shake and two sprites. Marion had this all split out when she brought the bill without any discussion past the initial conversation of using two credits.

We were here for about an hour and fifteen minutes and our total bill here was $143.00.

Planet Hollywood was a hit for us!
 

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