COMPLETED! Tipsy Ducks in Love: A Honeymoon Trip Report/First Time Trip - January 2019 - Completed 7/3!

Day 4: Not sure why Mexico signed off on this


I was so excited for this day. As a fan of all things Walt and the simpler times in Disney Parks history, how had I not made a pilgrimage yet to the shrine to all things Disney-edutainment?!

This day was the start of the coldest stretch of the trip. Highs in the 50s and low 60s and lows down into the 40s. With the wind, it was downright chilly by Florida, and more importantly, California standards. Tory had a puffer jacket on under her sweater and was still freezing all day! Even with hot hands!

I don’t think we realized how cold it was going to be until we decided to make the walk over to Sanaa to grab some breakfast. It was blustery and I seriously wished I had a beanie. We grabbed a bobotie to go to hold us over because we knew we would be eating a ton at EPCOT. It was really tasty and well priced. I thought about grabbing a second, but ended up not. I regret this now because what happened next was a rookie learning experience.

Apparently, the EPCOT security screening is a mess. Much messier than the other parks and shockingly even messier than what we are used to out in California. Seriously, the security lines can get absurdly long at Disneyland, but all the cast members are at least pleasant and relatively efficient. At Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, we had minimal waits to get through. This was another level. There were no organized lines. There were cast members yelling that if some of your party uses the no bag line and hands their bags to just one person, it will move faster. This argument holds no water the minute you start thinking about it. The cast members were less than pleasant and it just felt so incredibly disorganized. Apparently, the folks that came by monorail had to go through screening again?
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All of this to say two things: Security is a mess at EPCOT and needs to be completely re-thought, (It was even worse on our second EPCOT day, but we were mentally prepared) and I got a little hangry. So despite us already being in our return window for our first FP+, we decided to head out to France to start our snacking at Les Halles. I was so hangry I didn’t let Tory get a photo before I started eating. But, one bite of the Roulade with bacon and cheese, and I was magically transported back into the world of Disney magic and away from the nonsense of the outside world. It was so delicious! The bread was perfectly crafted, the bacon added a nice amount of grease and the cheese just held everything together. I tried to get a second one on our next EPCOT day but they sell out early in the morning, and I got sad. It was that good! We also got a chocolate croissant, which while excellently baked, didn’t stand a chance next to the roulade. Tory and I did our best Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry impressions while eating them on our way back towards Future World.

We were running short on time to use our first FP+ of the day at Test Track. I’ve been trying to put a positive spin on my thoughts on Test Track. While it’s objectively a fun ride, it just not in the same league as Radiator Springs Racers at DCA. I’d put that ride in my top 5 favorite at Disneyland. Test Track? Might not even be in my top 5 at EPCOT. The queue interactivity where you get to design a car is cool. Tory and I opted to build a balanced vehicle that was efficient (Environmental Scientists, for you). We tapped our Magic Bands to the reader in the load area and strapped in. Then, it just got confusing. I understand that we were supposed to be inside the simulation of the virtual test track, but I didn’t understand why everything was so dark. Were the screens inside the ride supposed to show us our car? Why is it so jerky and rough? Is this trying to be Tron-themed? These are but a few of the questions we were left with when getting off. It’s clear that Racers is the next generation of Test Track, and so I can’t fault it too much knowing that the technology is that much older. However, I can’t understand why it sees the wait times it usually does. I think you can see us pondering these things in our on ride photo. Tory wasn’t a fan and was a little disappointed we got a FP+ for it again on our second EPCOT day.
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On the big screen after you exit the ride our car appeared and it seemed to score well, so, maybe we should have been engineers instead of scientists? We would definitely be making more money!

We somehow got turned around and confused about how to get to Mission: Space for our next FP+ despite it being the next building over. I guess first-timer mistakes are unavoidable. I opted for the green mission and although Tory suggested trying out orange, we ended up going with green. Again, Tory and I both thought it was so cool that the director was a woman, despite this ride being 10+ years old. The pre-show is well done and we were soon boarding our modules. We both thought the ride was really fun, and the tight quarters really enhance the experience. I knew that the buttons did nothing, but I still had a desire to press them all and toggle all of the switches!

We left Future World East and wandered over to the West side. Despite the chilly temperatures, the sun was shining and the beauty of Future World really came through. The planters, the red walkways, and the futurist design all work together in a way that reflects what Tomorrowland should be in my mind.

Our goal was to find the tri-flavored popcorn that only exists in Future World that certain vloggers talk about almost constantly. We found the cart only to learn that they were out of all of the flavors and would be so for a few weeks. Tory was a little sad as she tends to prefer savory snacks to sweet ones and Disney skews very heavily to the sweet. Again, we already have must dos for Trip #2!

We stood in a ~15 minute line for Journey into Imagination with Figment. Not having grown up with Figment on the West Coast, all we knew is that this ride was nerfed from the original version and Figment is a cute flying purple dinosaur. That’s about as much as we now know. Also, some people are huge Figment fans and people were wearing Figment hoodies and ears around the park. The ride was very campy, and if you couldn’t tell yet, I’m a huge fan of campy things. Just One Spark was super catchy, but the ride was slightly confusing and really didn’t set up who Figment is. Now I am really wishing we would have been able to see the original version that everyone speaks so highly of.

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We sauntered back towards the front of the park for our next FP+, Spaceship Earth. I was sure going in that we would both like this, but I don’t think I expected us to love it as much as we did. Disney Edutainment, great animatronic work, and Dame Judy Dench?! What more could you want? Seriously, this ride hit all the marks for me and is now in my Top 5 favorites across the resort!

Leaving Future World behind, we began our trip around the World Showcase. I don’t want this to get any longer than it will already be, so I’ll just start by saying our goal today was to take selfie in each country. I’ll keep my comments to things we actually experienced or ate, not just my thoughts on each showcase. Trust me, I’ll have plenty more to say on EPCOT Day 2.

Before we could even get to Mexico, we stopped for our first Festival of the Arts treat: the Pop Art Frangipane cake. I’m a huge fan of modern art, so how could I not eat a cake so clearly inspired by Piet Mondrian and the de stijl movement? We attempted to imitate the bloggers and precariously balance the cake on a ledge to take a photo of it. This is was only slightly precarious. The cake was delicious, but clearly had been recently thawed. It was a really great frangipane though. For the second time today, I pretended I was Mary Berry.

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In Mexico, we walked right on the Gran Fiesta Tour. Prior to riding, I had thought that some of the online community comments were being a little harsh in their critique of this ride. I was wrong. It was terrible. A disgrace that doesn’t belong on Disney property and has to leave Mexicans’ feeling insulted as they stereotyped the culture so much. Who signed off on this? We both agreed that it needs a full Coco overlay ASAP.

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Our final FP+ of the day was for Frozen Ever After. It’s a cute ride with some well done animatronics. Going backwards was a neat treat, and we got some added commentary from the row in front of us who had very clearly been enjoying all the drinks that EPCOT has to offer.
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We stopped in Kringla for some school bread which did not disappoint. Tory’s favorite snack of the whole trip. I don’t know how anyone can hate on this. It’s incredibly flavorful, and makes me want to put cardamom in all my baked goods from here on out. Just a few weeks ago, Tory couldn’t deny her craving anymore and so we tried our hand at recreating school bread at home. We nailed the flavor but our bun was really dense. We had problems with getting a good rise. Might have been because of the rainy weather. We will try again, because school bread is that good!
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Another yesterland relic that still exists at the world is Circlevision. I have very strong memories of seeing America the Beautiful in the old theater at the entrance of Tomorrowland, so I was not going to miss Visions of China! The Circlevision effect still holds up really well even with a fairly dated film.
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We took a bonus photo in the African outpost! Tory thinks it should count as a pavillion, but I strongly disagree. Did we count it when we were Drinking Around the World? Stay tuned for Day 2 of EPCOT!

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We headed into Germany to find an amazing German acapella group. We have a friend back home who studied abroad in Germany and is proud of his heritage. On top of that, he loves trains! We may have sent him a ton of Snapchats in the span of 15 minutes throughout the pavilion.
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We had just enough time before our ADR to wander into Italy. This was the most disappointing country as most of the area is just food. The stores seem like an afterthought.
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Next up: Lunch at Biergarten!
 
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Thanks to all of you for reading along and making it to this point! This has been so much fun to write up and we hope you're enjoying our adventures!

Now... onto Biergarten!


We checked in at Biergarten 15 minutes early and were seated right away. This was one of my choices for dining as I thought an Oktoberfest experience on Disney property sounded too good to pass up. The food, for being from a buffet, was surprisingly good across the board. The potato dumplings and the schnitzel were standouts, along with several of the cold salads. We were sat at a very friendly table with a very welcoming server. We chatted with our tablemates while drinking a liter of beer and feasting. The combination of beer and camaraderie led to us finding out a little more than we ever needed to know about the thirty-something couple seated next to us. Not a distraction from the meal at all, and is still something we joke about.
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We ended the meal with dessert. The pear coffee cake was phenomenal, the strudel was less so. Tory and I both wished that they had just served everyone a hot piece of strudel instead of having a room temperature one from the buffet. Everyone wants strudel!

The oompah band was really engaging, but we both found ourselves wishing the sets were longer. They really added a certain energy to the place. Overall, we were happy with the meal and the memories we made, but won’t necessarily be rushing back. German food is just not that interesting when there are so many other restaurants on property.

After quickly peeking into America and taking some fun Photopass photos, we headed back to Future World to use a Living with the Land FP+ that I was able to snag. Another rookie mistake we made was cutting back and forth across the park. EPCOT is deceptively large!
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The FP+ wasn’t necessary as LwtL was a walk on, but in our scientist hearts, we feel it should command an hour wait all the time! We found it that cool. The talk about conservation and experimentation to help continue to feed our growing world gave me some hope for the future. Tory was really intrigued by the lab at the end, as most of the instrumentation were things she worked with regularly back in her lab. I think this inspired us to take the Behind the Seeds Tour on trip #2.
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We walked on The Seas with Nemo and Friends since we were in the area and checked out the aquariums. Again, edutainment, yay! At this point we were starting to wear down. Between the heavy German meal and the crisscrossing of EPCOT, we started to worry we wouldn’t be able to hang until Illuminations.

We leisurely checked out the Canada and UK pavilions, missing O Canada! by 2 minutes.
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Does anyone know if this ball washer is actually from Saint Andrews? I had to touch it and get a photo just in case!

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The same thing happened in France, where Impressions de France had just loaded. France is gorgeous at night though!


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Morocco was gorgeous and we couldn’t wait to see more of it on our next EPCOT day.

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We had a goal to take a selfie in every country and we were going to do that! The selfie was a little blurry, but it’s definitely Japan! In our final country of the day, we found a quiet spot and sat down to discuss the rest of the evening.



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We both really wanted to see Illuminations and had already snagged a FP+ for it, however we couldn’t hang walking around for a 3 more hours. We decided to head out of the park and find a quiet place to recharge on Crescent Lake.

That proved to be a great decision, as we walked out to an empty beach behind Beach Club, found a swinging bench, and took a good sit. It was a really romantic and tender moment just staring out at the lights of the Boardwalk across the Lake.


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It was pretty chilly out, so we decided to find somewhere indoors to relax at. We found Ale and Compass Lounge on the app and remembered that we had heard some good things about it. Tory thought the fact that the app could give directions was really cool, so we plugged it in and off we went in search of some warmth and libations.

First timer tip: Don’t trust the app for directions. From the beach behind Beach Club, the app had us head through the Beach Club lobby and out to Epcot Resorts Dr to then head into Yacht Club through the parking lot and main entrance. Anyone who has been before knows what a colossal long cut that was. Once we were situated at Ale and Compass (it was a fifteen minute walk), we checked the app again and realized if we had just kept going down the beach path we would have been there much sooner. Fun memory and definitely a lesson learned! There is so much property to keep mentally mapped out there. It was all good though because we got to see more of the resort!

Ale and Compass Lounge was exactly what the two of us needed. A big comfy booth seat, a fireplace, dark woods, relative quiet, and some drinks! This was one of my favorite bars of the trip as the cocktails (a gimlet and a maple old fashion) were stiff and well crafted, the lounge was warm and cozy, and we could truly feel like we had gotten away from the hustle of it all. We sat and sipped our drinks for a while, just chatting about life and our trip thus far. It was really refreshing to warm up and take a load off.


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We were both feeling much better and decided to head back into EPCOT for Illuminations. It was Friday night, so there was a lively crowd, to say the least. We took a much shorter walk to the International Gateway, stopped briefly at Yorkshire County Fish Shop and headed over the FP+ viewing area. The Fish and Chips were nothing particularly special, but hit the spot since we hadn’t eaten anything since our late lunch at Biergarten.

Illuminations completely lived up to the hype. In a world where so much entertainment is in your face and over the top in its messaging and goals, Illuminations stands as the opposite. Understated, quiet (by nighttime spectacle standards), and thought-provoking. It nearly brought us to tears with its message of unity and peace. A message that we all need to hear more in this day and age. We are very sad to know that it is going to be replaced soon, as it truly is a marvel in its own right, without just being loud and bright. It fits perfectly with the mission of EPCOT and will be sorely missed. Thankfully, it will still be around on our September return trip.

We left with the masses back to the park exit, found an AKL bus just pulling up, and had an easy ride back to our resort where we crashed hard.

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EPCOT, you are an amazing place filled with edutainment and relaxation. You strive to put the park in theme park and succeed at it in so many ways. Lesson learned today was to not underestimate the size and depth of this park!
 
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Thanks for sharing your report! I am loving this! It brings back so many great memories from our own honeymoon at WDW back in 1986! We will be going back for our 35th Anniversary in 2021. It sure has grown and evolved since then! Animal Kingdom was not built back then... but I would love to stay in one of those rooms with a view of the Savannah!
 
Thanks for sharing your report! I am loving this! It brings back so many great memories from our own honeymoon at WDW back in 1986! We will be going back for our 35th Anniversary in 2021. It sure has grown and evolved since then! Animal Kingdom was not built back then... but I would love to stay in one of those rooms with a view of the Savannah!
Oh yay! That's so exciting that you'll be able to go back for your 35th anniversary!

We met so many people on our trip who were celebrating anniversaries and they told us they had honeymooned at WDW too! Any marriage advice?
 
Hi everyone! We're back to tell you all about our final "new park" day with a trip to Hollywood Studios, followed by the Wanyama Safari and a family-style dinner at Jiko! Without further ado, we present:

Day 5: Bartender Brian was a baller. Gave us free champagne!

We fell asleep quickly after a full EPCOT day and woke up earlier than we had planned. We were well rested and ready to take on the day. Although we took 5 minutes to open the curtains and look out at the savanna yet again. It truly was a magical way to start the day. We didn’t linger too long as we would be seeing the animals a bit later.

We quickly got ready, forgoing a formal breakfast, because we might as well try to make a rope drop once this trip. It was an easy and quick bus ride over to Hollywood Studios where security was a breeze yet again (Seriously EPCOT, why?). We were inside the park gates by 8:40.

So Hollywood Studios was the park we were the least excited for. Largely because of the dearth of novel rides for us Disneyland locals. When we went in January, the park was operating 6 rides. Two of which are direct copies of Disneyland rides, another one is a reskin of Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, and Tower of Terror is the older sibling of the one on our coast that went through an edgy phase and rebranded itself to something about the Guardians of the Galaxy. Since we had FP+s for four of these six rides, we really didn’t have any concrete rope drop plans. So, feeling the energy of those around us, we followed the masses out to Toy Story Land.

We learned relatively quickly that rope drop out in Orlando means "let’s open some lands 30 minutes early". We arrived at Toy Story Land at 8:50 AM, 10 minutes prior to official park opening on a non EMH day, to find Slinky Dog Dash already sporting a 90 minute wait. Confused and a little startled as this is not rope drop as we understand it, we pressed on knowing we had a FP+ for it in just a few hours. There was only a 10 minute posted wait for Alien Swirling Saucers (aka Mater's Junkyard Jamboree themed to Toy Story). We decided, since we had already make the trek out, we should hop on some ride, even though we had a FP+ for later that morning. We are big fans of MJJ back home, as it elevates what is a carnival ride into something that works thematically and is of Disney-caliber. Alien Swirling Saucers achieves similar results, although it felt as if there was less whipping action, possibly due to the size of the vehicles. It could have just been in our minds though.
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Needing some sustenance, we walked right up to a quiet Woody’s Lunch Box and got the Nutella pop tart. Obviously we knew it was going to be sweet, but I don’t think we realized that it would be like eating dessert first thing in the morning. Also, ours was pretty scant on the bacon bits and more of those would have worked well to cut the sugar. Not a bad buy by any means, but maybe not something to start the day with.

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Toy Story Land, on the whole, is really quite cute and looks much better in person than in photographs online. It feels more intimate and immersive than the pictures would let on. Obviously, there are some thematic inconsistencies like the size of Woody at the entrance, and calling it Woody’s Lunchbox instead of Andy’s Lunchbox, but the land serves a purpose in this park and left us fairly impressed. Great photopass photographers as well!

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With a lack of interesting rides, and it just now being shortly after official park opening, we wandered all the way down Hollywood Blvd to Tower of Terror. We had a FP coming up in just over an hour, but the posted standby wait time was only 20 minutes, so we decided to hop into line. Boy, was that a great decision! As soon as we got off, I looked at Tory and told her how I was so glad we get to go on it again! Despite having the younger brother in California Adventure for the last 10+ years, TOTO (Tower of Terror Orlando) is a different ride experience and significantly better. The 4th dimension was truly phenomenal. Having ridden TOTA (Tower of Terror Anaheim) many a time, we had an idea of what was coming, but then the elevator moves forward into a bizarre Twilight Zone episode that neither of us expected. And the doors opening to the second shaft into complete blackness?! How cool is that? Even though it was the younger less cool brother, riding TOTO made us miss TOTA that much more. (I’ll spare the reader my thoughts about Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Thematic Mess).

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We did a lot of crisscrossing and back tracking in Hollywood Studios and I really don’t think that was a rookie mistake. It’s just far too spread out for the number of attractions it has. We wandered back towards Launch Bay as I really wanted to meet BB-8. He did not disappoint! The Cast Members working the M&G were also excellent and made the experience that much more enjoyable. I love this photo of Tory trying to figure out if its okay to touch BB-8.
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We then walked back to TOTO to ride once again. I could have ridden 10 more times, it’s just that superior.


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As we were exiting, we saw a crowd entering the theater and decided to follow suit and watch Beauty and the Beast. Again, we had very loose plans this day and were trying to find anything to do to fill in the time between FP+s. We were at the end of the crowd entering, and when a CM saw that we were a group of two, she ushered down to the half filled FP+ section where we had center-stage third row seats, which was a very nice treat. The show was cute (I have in my notes from the day that it was much better than Nemo, so almost 72 hours removed, I was still salty about that one) and worth stopping to see.

Next up was Muppetvision 3D which we have also lost at California Adventure. It was replaced by a series of movie previews that we are convinced no one actually goes to see. It was great to see the Muppets get the respect they deserve, with a crowded theater and a show in good shape.

We exited the theater in need of some savory food and found in front of us Baseline Taphouse. I’m calling Baseline the surprise hit of the trip. It was something we had no expectations for, but found ourselves planning to go back to on Trip #2. As native Southern Californians, Tory and I are very much so into the California craft beer scene and we have four microbreweries within 2 miles of our current apartment. It’s a tradition of ours to seek out at least one local brewery when we visit a new town, to support the craft movement. So the tap list at Baseline brought us right back home to Southern California with beers by Ballast Point, Golden Road and Angel City among others. We opted to split the one beer on the menu neither of us had tried before: North Coast’s Red Seal Ale! We also got the charcuterie platter and a giant pretzel. We grabbed our provisions and found a seat out on the patio.



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This ended up being one of my favorite memories of this day. We got to unplug a bit from what ended up being a pretty crowded day (or is it just lack of things to do?), and sit like we were spending an afternoon at a brewery back home. The beer was balanced with a good mix of hops and malt, but the real winner here was the charcuterie. For just $10, look at the spread we got! I would have expected to pay at least $15, if not more, for this from a brew pub back home. This was a steal, and a delicious one at that! Not to be outdone, the pretzel was fresh and the beer cheese was excellent! If we hadn’t had other plans, we would have stayed at Baseline all afternoon and watched the world go by while sipping on some California flights.

Unable to switch our Alien Swirling Saucers FP+ into anything more interesting, we decided to forgo it entirely and take our time at Baseline before heading out to Rock n Roller Coaster for our next FP+. This was one of the two completely new rides to us Disneyland veterans and we were quite impressed. It is certainly the most intense ride on property and doing it in the dark doubles that. Tory and I found it very humorous that at the end of the pre-show they mention that our limo is in the alley. We then walked out into what was a fairly accurate depiction of what an alley in Downtown LA actually looks like. Not sure if it’s the most visually stunning setting, but the execution deserves an A+! We spent the next 30 minutes brainstorming which band should replace Aerosmith because their influence has certainly faded. It’s hard to come up with a band that has staying power in this day, but is also family-friendly enough. Anyone who was around when Disneyland briefly tried Rockin’ Space Mountain and Rockin’ California Screamin' with the Red Hot Chili Peppers will remember how oddly uptight some folks are about the artists who have music played on Disney Roller Coasters.
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We took some more Photopass photos, this time over by Gerdie!

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From the most intense coaster on property to the newest, our last FP+ of the day and our last ride before heading out of HS was Slinky Dog Dash. We had to wait a couple minutes for our FP window.
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We scanned in at the beginning of our five minute buffer window at 1:35 PM because we had other places to be later! SDD was surprisingly thrilling. It is a really cute ride and fills a definite need in this park. The wheezy animatronic is great as is the voice of Slinky throughout the ride. Well done for what it is: a family coaster themed to Andy’s backyard.

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We said our goodbyes to HS. It was the one park we didn’t make a second trip to over the course of the honeymoon, and that didn’t bother us. We had heard that Disneyland has the better Fantasmic! and so that was a low priority for us. However, in planning for trip 2, we decided that we should confirm these observations for ourselves next time.

This marked a shift in the trip. Now that we had explored the four theme parks, it was time to really explore what else Disney has to offer in terms of food, drink, dining, and special experiences. We obviously had a lot more park time over the last four days, but it was done at an even more casual pace than the first half of the trip.

The first event on the docket of Nick and Tory’s Honeymoon: Part 2 was the Wanyama Safari and Dinner experience at our resort Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We took an easy bus ride back to the lodge to shower and get dressed. With dinner being at Jiko, but also spending time in a safari truck, we had trouble deciding how dressed up to get, so decided on something in the middle.

While we were getting ready, we actually got our confirmation call from Victoria and Albert regarding our Chef’s Table Experience coming up on the last night of the trip! Ahhhh!

Leaving Hollywood Studios, we were a little sad that we had experienced all the parks for the first time, but that call and getting ready for the safari reminded us there was so much more to explore and firsts to be had!
 
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We checked in for our safari downstairs at Jiko around 3:30. We were promptly seated in the private front room for a safari pre-reception. Here, we were welcomed by a resort ambassador, along with the 8 others who we would be sharing this experience with. We were served a wide variety of appetizers, such as crackers, hummus, and scones. We were seated at a large table and everybody ate their treats in relative silence. The host told us that we might start this journey as strangers, but we would leave as family. I thought this was a bit of a stretch, but I must say, I was proven wrong.

After a bit of chatting with our host and learning about the culture in sub-Saharan Africa, our tour guides arrived and greeted us warmly. They explained how our safari was going to happen and other logistical notes, and before too long, we were out front of Jambo House where a Safari vehicle was waiting for us.
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The safari experience was really amazing! Even though we could see a savanna from our room, there isn’t anything quite like being just a foot or two away from a wild African animal. It truly felt like a safari as well. The paths were rough, and we bounced around quite a bit in the back, especially as we stood up to get a different view.

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Our guide pointed out every species we passed and told us the names of the individual animals, along with some tidbits about their personality. Despite the chilly weather, all of the animals were out on different savannahs including okapi, wild boars, all kinds of antelope, and of course, the giraffes. Our driver and guide made sure to stop plenty of times so we could just soak it in and get better pictures. The experience did not feel rushed at all. I don’t think we realized how many different savannahs were attached to just Animal Kingdom Lodge.

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My biggest critique of the safari part of the experience, and it’s a very minor critique, was our guide. She was personable and funny, and even mentioned we should feel free to ask her any questions we had. Unfortunately, this was difficult, as it was hard to get a word in edgewise on her. She just kept talking nearly non-stop. Further, she made a point towards the beginning of the safari to note that they don’t like to anthropomorphize their animals and instead treat them as the unique species they are. As two scientists we respected this; however, she then spent too much time talking about each animal’s name and who they tended to hang out with or if they were a momma’s boy or not. She was anthropomorphizing them. A lot of the information we got seemed meant for children, which was odd because the safari was all adults. Tory and I discussed this later and came to the consensus that her spiel was based on her knowledge and experience. She was an animal keeper, not a zoologist, Overall, a really minor quip! The animals were just so cool!

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After an hour and a half out on the savannahs and with daylight fading fast, we wrapped up the safari and headed back to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Jiko.


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We were escorted back downstairs to Jiko for dinner. Jiko is an absolutely beautiful restaurant that perfects executes African-inspired fine dining. We were seated at a large communal table towards the back of the restaurant. Our waitress promptly greeted us and explained the concept of the dinner. We had traveled together, and now, we would share a communal family style meal. We were handed our welcome drink which was a fruity Malibu-based cocktail that was way too sweet for our liking. Still, we drank it, both because it was included and because this trip report isn’t called Tipsy Ducks in Love for nothing! Shortly thereafter our appetizer course came out, along with the Taste of Africa bread service. The appetizer course was served to us individually and included three distinct plates. These appetizers were the highlight of the meal for me. Delicate, well-plated, and packed full of African inspired flavors. There was a salad dish, a shrimp dish, and a dumpling! All were delicious!
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As food started to come out, we started chatting with our table mates. The waitress had congratulated us on our wedding, so that led to some easy conversation, as we learned the couples around us were local and celebrating birthdays. I’ll pause from describing the food, to say that as the meal progressed, the conversation became more and more intriguing as we at one point were discussing the issues with academia and the current problems facing teachers and students in the digital age. I didn’t think it was possible that we would become closer to our table mates in such a short time, but we were certainly no longer strangers. This left me inspired with a little more faith in the future of humanity in the digital age. When we unplug, and share a conversation (and a meal) with others, we find that they can be delightful and willing to share their thoughts and experiences.

Now, back to food. The entrée course was served family-style. There were so many different meats and sides that I don’t think I could do justice explaining them all but I’ll mention that our favorites were the grits, farro, the mixed vegetables, and the short rib with sambal. They also brought out a roasted tomato beurre blanc that was to be paired with the chicken, but it was so delicious that I put it on almost everything on my plate. A beurre blanc can be a thing of beauty on its own, but add in roasted tomato? It was heavenly!

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Dessert was also phenomenal. Like the appetizer course, it was a trio of desserts from their menu including the Safari Sunset, the Kilimanjaro, and the Malva pudding as they are named on the menu. Tory loved the malva pudding, as the ice cream and the cabernet gelee worked so well together. I was struck most by the Safari Sunset which paired carrot cake, cornbread and lemon cream into one coherent dish. I would have never thought to put cornbread in a dessert course, but I loved it.

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There was also a Robert Beck vineyards wine paired which each course. These were incredible! We learned a lot from the wait staff about the wine industry in South Africa.

As a final treat, we were given a take home chocolate wrapped up with an African proverb attached as a tag. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and made the short walk back to our room. Overall, the experience was well worth the price we paid. A private safari and dinner at Jiko all wrapped up into one?! Yes please!! It was definitely a splurge though, and so I don’t think we would make it a regular add-on. Although we do want to go back and have dinner at Jiko again, just the two of us this time.

It was still relatively early at this point, 7:30 I think. So Tory and I relaxed for a bit back in the room, but then got an itch to go out again. We wandered down stairs to the Cape Town Wine Bar which sits in the lobby of Jiko, where we just had dinner, for our night cap. This was an excellent decision as we met the bartender working that night, Brian. Brian was an excellent bartender and an even greater human. He was in school for computer science and just had a baby less than a year ago. He was a great conversationalist and as we were finishing up our cocktails, he pulled out champagne flutes and poured us each a glass to celebrate our marriage. The bar has maybe 8 seats at it, and we were the last patrons of the night, so Brian was happy to chat with us about all things Disney, life in Florida, and other topics.

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We stopped by the Mara to get some hot tea on our way back to the room and called it a night! Another successful Disney day!
 
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Day 6: Got stuck in the dark. Terrifying.

This day was our planned rest day. We had no FP+ reservations and had no real plans outside of our one ADR. This worked out remarkably well for having planned this 2 months out, as it turned out a large winter storm was hitting central Florida this day. This was not warm Florida rain. This was cold, windy, winter rain. We woke up, peeked outside, saw a lot of water out on the savannah, and no animals. I don’t blame them for not leaving their night time enclosures in such conditions.

We spent some time lazing around our hotel room before we got up and started getting ready for our ADR: Brunch at the Top. Tory and I love brunch. Over the first few months of our relationship, going out to Saturday or Sunday brunch was a pretty regular date plan. Breakfast doesn’t often get the spotlight like dinner does, and so being able to celebrate good food in the morning is a special treat.

We called a Lyft to take us to the Contemporary, and it was still really wet and rainy outside. We arrived about an hour before our reservation, thinking we could soak in yet another amazing Disney lobby and resort. However, the rain really put a damper on that. The main concourse of the Contemporary, as we learned, is exposed to the elements because of the monorail line entrance and exit. So it was not any warmer than it was outside. We tried to wander around a bit, but the Contemporary just wasn’t that awe-inspiring or interesting. There were no quiet nooks or art installations. It felt very financial district Marriott to us and not a Disney Deluxe Resort. Not a lot of color or well themed décor. We just didn’t get the hype. Over the course of the trip we managed to step foot in every deluxe resort lobby, and this was by far the least interesting or inviting. Maybe we’re missing something? Can anyone enlighten us??



The bathrooms were nice though!
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So with our plans to kill time spoiled, we checked in to our ADR 40 minutes early, with the hope that we would get in a little before our reservation time. The hostess was very gracious, noted our Just Married buttons and, after checking us in, allowed us to immediately head up the elevators to California Grill. Sure enough, when we stepped off on the 17th floor, another host warmly greeted us and directed us to our table.


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Even on a rainy, overcast day, the view out the windowed wall of California Grill immediately catches your eye. Watching monorails whir around Seven Seas Lagoon and ferry boats churn across the water towards Magic Kingdom is really amazing. It reinforced for us Disneylanders just how big WDW is. The Poly was so far away!

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Our host also gave us our first glass of champagne with blueberry gel balls floating on top. Add to that the live jazz duo playing in the foyer, and Tory and I shared a look that said, “this is going to be fun!” Our waitress came over shortly thereafter to take hot drink orders as well as explain the whole process. She was pleasant and told us to take our time.

After perusing the entrée menu or a bit, we got up hand-in-hand, super giddy to the buffet. This was elevating the brunch experience. We piled our plates with sushi, salads, parfait, breads, and charcuterie. A true smorgasbord of anything that can be considered brunch. One of our favorites was the quiche with an onion marmalade on top. I personally could not stop talking about the meat terrine either! Terrines take a whole lot of time to prepare and you could tell the kitchen staff did this one right! The sushi was just okay. The fish was quality, but the sushi rice wasn’t cooked right. Our waitress came back with coffee for Tory and an herbal tea for me. Like magic, she also brought us another round of champagne, realizing that we had just finished our first. This happened a few more times throughout the meal. She always ensured our champagne was full!


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We placed our entrée orders and headed over the baked goods station where we picked up a gluten-free scone, a cheddar biscuit and the internet-famous Baba. Obviously the baba was delicious. Bourbon and orange just pair so well together! But the surprise hit was the scone. I don’t think anyone would ever be able to guess it was gluten-free. It had the perfect scone consistency: crumbly and a little dry, but also buttery. We actually went up and asked the chef at the baba station what flour mix was in it, because I could not believe how well baked it was.

Realizing that we still had entrées to come, we slowed down a bit and enjoyed the view, the music, and each other.

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This was the epitome of a relaxed slow paced brunch. I think we were at the top for over 2 and a half hours! The entrees eventually came out. Tory had the shrimp and grits and I opted for the smoked salmon bennies. Tory loved her shrimp and grits and we joked about her becoming a Southerner. My bennies were perfectly cooked, and there was a generous portion of salmon on top. I also got a side of potatoes and a bison/pork sausage that was phenomenal. It was well-spiced and tasted like it had fennel in it, which worked surprisingly well.
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As we were slowing down, feeling the effects of a lot of food and bubbly, I wandered up to get another baba. We were definitely quite a few glasses of champagne in at this point.



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Shortly after I sat down with it, our dessert tray arrived. More pastries and some gorgeous macarons and truffles. We ate what we could, and then our waitress offered to box up the ones we had remaining, which was a nice touch.


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I could go on and on about this meal. Obviously, Victoria and Albert’s was the best dining experience of the trip (Don’t worry, I’ll get there). But, this was a very clear second! Seriously, everyone should go try it out! I now understand why this was the hardest reservation for us to get. They have perfected brunch!!

So, as we were winding down our meal, we talked about what we wanted to do next. It was still raining steadily and wasn’t supposed to stop anytime soon. We pulled up MDE and saw that all the parks were empty! Despite knowing that rain generally doesn’t discourage tourists, this storm was. The biggest shock of all was that FOP was listed at 50 minutes standby! We immediately devised a plan. With a little buzz from the champagne, we decided to brave the storm for a little AK time. We caught a Lyft back to AKL to change into something a little more rain-appropriate and very shortly after were on the short bus ride to AK.

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Jambo! I just found this trip report but I am just enamored with it! You guys make an adorable couple, your writing is interesting, and your photos are thorough without being obnoxious. Excellent so far!
Where did you get your custom buttons from? Super cute!
 

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