What are we celebrating? Everthing! A January 2018 Trip Report - THE END - New TR link added

[Ruthie5671]

Before I continue on with the next steps in our Animal Kingdom day . . . .

We have our 2019 trip date set - let me introduce 04-10-2019 for our next arrival to Disney. I had to wait for my cousin (who lives in Miami) to set his wedding date so that we can get the most bang for our buck for this vacation. We will do the wedding festiveness first and then drive up to Disney. This gives me a year to save up as much money as possible. And for mother nature to stop being so irritated with us, because if it is freezing cold for the next trip I will not be a happy camper!!!

Back to your regularly scheduled program!!!

After Festival of the Lion King, I knew I wanted to head over to the Tree of Life to take some pictures and have a look around. Tony was fine with this plan, but felt that a small detour thru some of the stores would be a good idea. He just loves to browse thru all the stores. I kept trying to tell him that most of the stores have the same things with maybe some small variations. But he was not going to let that stop him. Needless to say, we didn't buy anything but did make our way to the Tree of Life. Just like everything else at AK, the attention to detail is just amazing.







At this point I have to admit something - I took very few notes during this trip. And since almost three months have passed, I'm using my pictures and the FP's we had to help me remember what we did next. I know that we did one of the trails, but for the life of me I have no idea which one. I clearly remember seeing tigers behind some glass. But I took no pictures.

We were well into the afternoon/early evening by this point. But there was one more show that I had to see. It was time to "just keep swimming".



Sorry that the picture is so dark. I was trying to abide by the "no flash photography" rule. The rest of the pictures are better.







The show was wonderful. I just loved how Disney can make each show so unique and enjoyable for adults and children. It is funny how so many people ask me why we went to Disney when we have no children. This is not a "just for kids" vacation destination.

Up next - food - glorious food!

 

[Lesley Wake]

We have our 2019 trip date set - let me introduce 04-10-2019 for our next arrival to Disney. I had to wait for my cousin (who lives in Miami) to set his wedding date so that we can get the most bang for our buck for this vacation. We will do the wedding festiveness first and then drive up to Disney. This gives me a year to save up as much money as possible. And for mother nature to stop being so irritated with us, because if it is freezing cold for the next trip I will not be a happy camper!!!

Woohoo! Fingers crossed for weather!

I know that we did one of the trails, but for the life of me I have no idea which one. I clearly remember seeing tigers behind some glass. But I took no pictures.

If you saw tigers then it was Maharajah Jungle Trek (over by the river rapids). Do you remember if you got to see the baby tigers?

The show was wonderful. I just loved how Disney can make each show so unique and enjoyable for adults and children. It is funny how so many people ask me why we went to Disney when we have no children. This is not a "just for kids" vacation destination.

I know! I looove Disney, and don't need kids around at all to have fun!

 

[pattyw]

My family is all adults now and we still love it!! Everyone is a kid at Disney!! And April should be glorious weather wise! But my luck is when I wish for warm weather I get smokin' hot!! But I'll take hot before freezing cold any day!!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great that you have another trip planned.

We are back to 2 adults our next trip, it will seem weird without our daughter and I know my husband will miss his ride buddy.

 

[JenLanDisney]

Planning a post-wedding-guest trip to Disney sounds fantastic! It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

 

[Ruthie5671]

I agree, I love that show and we watch it every time we visit WDW

It was really amazing. Can't wait to see it again.

Festival of the Lion King is a great show. I'm always bummed when it ends. I could sit through a much longer version if they'd let me! Ha!

Love your Mickey and Minnie photo.

I want to sit in a different section next year. I'm sure every angle gives a new perspective.

If you saw tigers then it was Maharajah Jungle Trek (over by the river rapids). Do you remember if you got to see the baby tigers?

I think it was the jungle trek. No baby tigers unfortunately.

My family is all adults now and we still love it!! Everyone is a kid at Disney!! And April should be glorious weather wise! But my luck is when I wish for warm weather I get smokin' hot!! But I'll take hot before freezing cold any day!!

My inner five year old shines brightly at Disney. And I am looking forward to going during warmer weather. I need mother nature to give us a break when we travel next year!

Great that you have another trip planned.

We are back to 2 adults our next trip, it will seem weird without our daughter and I know my husband will miss his ride buddy.

Sounds like you're gonna have to start riding some rides with the hubby!!!

Planning a post-wedding-guest trip to Disney sounds fantastic! It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

I will need the year to save up some money. Even just two nights in Miami is going to be mega bucks.

 

[Ruthie5671]

The sun was beginning to set in Animal Kingdom and it was dinner time. We decided to eat at Yak and Yeti. After checking in, we waited about 20 minutes to be called. It was crowded - very crowded. It surprised me how many people were walking up without a reservation. Because they were being turned away or told that it was over an hour wait. We were lead to a table and our attentive server guided us thru the menu. He also pitched us the Landry's card. We said no. He kept trying. We still said no. But I appreciated his efforts.

Dinner tonight was Asian food. Tony ordered "Crispy Honey Chicken - tempura chicken, sugar snap peas, carrots, honey sauce with jasmine or brown rice".



I ordered "Korean Beef - wok-fried beef, peppers, onions, pineapple, Korean BBQ sauce with jasmine or brown rice" without pineapple and white rice.



When they brought our entrees, Tony's was perfect. A generous portion and piping hot. Mine did not have the special requests granted. Our server apologized and took back my plate. Five minutes later it was back as ordered. Both Tony and I agreed this dinner was very delicious. I was not interested in dessert (I had my eye on something back at the resort), so Tony got two orders of "Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle". Tony proclaimed these as also yummy. I took a hard pass - pineapples are disgusting. After dinner, the park was starting to shut down for the evening. We found our way back to the busses and home to the resort. We stopped at the food court to refill our mugs and I headed over to the section that served all the sweet stuff. I had been eyeballing a cupcake that was carrot cake. It was about a mile high and had enough frosting for about three people.



It was even bigger in real life.

We took our mugs and stuff back to the room and relaxed for the evening. Tomorrow was a full day in EPCOT. Would we be able to see everything in one day???

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

The honey chicken looks delicious and I wouldn't say no to the cupcake either!

 

[JenLanDisney]

The food looks quite good. How was the atmosphere? Noisy or easy to have a conversation?

I must admit I have not previously met anyone with a pineapple dislike. My family could eat it everyday. Maybe we are an unusual bunch!

 

[pattyw]

We enjoyed Yak & Yeti- your dinners look yummy!
Carrot cake cupcake- double yum! Did it taste as good as it looks?

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Love, love, love Yak and Yeti! The food is soooooo good. And, when we were there for lunch this past trip, we sat upstairs and had a corner window view. It was a fabulous location because we were able to see the scarlet macaws flying straight towards us to their home location. Such a beautiful, unexpected, thrilling sight. It made a wonderful lunch even more special. The photos of your meals are making me crave the place right now. Wish they had a location here!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Waking up on this day was our EPCOT day. When we were planning our trip, it was debated whether or not we wanted two EPCOT days or two Magic Kingdom days. In my opinion, you need two days to see everything in each park. We ultimately decided to only have one EPCOT day. So while we are not rope drop kind of people (I need my sleep), we did decide that we would make this a full day. The last time we were in Disney, we did not spend much time in the countries and we really wanted to see the different shows and everything each country had to offer. So with a pep in our step and caffeine in our mugs, we headed to the busses with EPCOT as our destination.

But guess what friends????? It was slightly warmer today! Not wear a tank top kind of warmer, but I wore a short sleeved shirt under my sweater. And there are pictures of Tony not wearing his jacket! Stay tuned for that magic later.

This was also a Run Disney weekend. All I can do is give major props to those who ran those races over the weekend. So it had been pretty crowded in the parks with the races going on. Today's race was literally going thru EPCOT, so when we got there, cast members were letting us know to watch the signs so we would not be in the path of the racers. So I was a little concerned that it was going to be mega crowded. The first FP of the day was another specific request from the hubby - he wanted to ride Test Track. I did not. I have ridden it once. I did not enjoy all the jerky-ness of the ride. But before we went in that direction, we need a few "golf ball" pictures.





As we made our way over to Test Track, I realized the park was empty. The stand by time for Test Track was five minutes. I wish I had snapped a picture, because it was hard to believe. So while Tony was riding, I just enjoyed the scenery and took a couple of pictures.





Tony got done with TT pretty quickly, but decided not to ride it a second time. He had a difficult time getting out of the ride because the seat was so low. A cast member had to help him, and he was embarrassed. So we decided to browse thru a store. I would just like to say that if I had the chance to re-do our house in an all Disney theme, I could do it with ease.



My kitchen could be Nemo - how awesome would that be?

Our next FP was for Spaceship Earth. Getting from Test Track to Spaceship Earth around the racers was a little challenging. They blocked people from passing thru the race path until there was a gap in the racers and then we were allowed to "cross the street". We sat and watched the race for a few minutes and cheered them on. Again, mega props to them. There was a minimal line for Spaceship Earth. The FP was really not needed. We were routed to the side entrance for the ECV's. We parked them and headed towards the ride. This ride has a moving sidewalk, but thankfully they slowed it down to almost a crawl and Tony was able to get on with ease. We actually rode together (sometimes we're too fluffy for some rides) and saw our future. No pictures, but it was fun.

Up next - why can I not have a sea horse???

 

[Ruthie5671]

The honey chicken looks delicious and I wouldn't say no to the cupcake either!

I have a weakness for carrot cake. And spice cake. And chocolate. Yes, I have some issues.

The food looks quite good. How was the atmosphere? Noisy or easy to have a conversation?

I must admit I have not previously met anyone with a pineapple dislike. My family could eat it everyday. Maybe we are an unusual bunch!

The atmosphere was lively. It was pretty crowded, but Tony and I were able to have a conversation. But we were at a two top table.

I have never liked pineapple. I might be the only person who doesn't like dole whips. Please don't hate me!!!

We enjoyed Yak & Yeti- your dinners look yummy!
Carrot cake cupcake- double yum! Did it taste as good as it looks?

It was delicious!!!!!

Love, love, love Yak and Yeti! The food is soooooo good. And, when we were there for lunch this past trip, we sat upstairs and had a corner window view. It was a fabulous location because we were able to see the scarlet macaws flying straight towards us to their home location. Such a beautiful, unexpected, thrilling sight. It made a wonderful lunch even more special. The photos of your meals are making me crave the place right now. Wish they had a location here!

I had no idea there was an upstairs area. That would have been cool. The food was delicious. Actually everything we ate on this trip was yummy.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Glad the weather was a little bit better for you both

 

[amiskell28]

Hi there!

Joining along, enjoying your trip report. Have been reading all I can, as we're planning our first trip in 10 years for 2019. Really love all of your pictures and (of course) the food!!!

 

[pattyw]

Glad about the warmer weather! Ruthie, do your sunglasses have a Mickey on them?
Tell Tony not to be embarrassed about having trouble getting off Test Track. It's not easy for a lot of people! Takes me a minute to gather my stuff and get out- almost lost a shoe a couple of times. The worst is Space Mountain- those ride vehicles are tough to get out of!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Am loving the report so far. Sorry the weather was cooler than you expected! It was like that for us back in October, when it was colder in Florida than it was in Canada the week before when we went on our Canadian cruise. It was weird for it to be cold in Florida! But I will take the cold over the heat and humidity of summer.
Love how cute the both of you are! We get the "why do you go to Disney all the time when you don't have kids?" question all the time. I am used to it, but I don't care, I just say I love it!
Yak and Yeti does look good. I haven't been there in a while. Every time we go to AK we always go to Tusker or Tiffins. I will have to change things up one day! I have also yet to see Nemo the musical but I will do it in September. I vow to!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Glad the weather was a little bit better for you both

It was nice to be able to wear something a little different. I had just about gotten all the wear of my winter clothes that I could without seeing a washing machine!!!

Hi there!

Joining along, enjoying your trip report. Have been reading all I can, as we're planning our first trip in 10 years for 2019. Really love all of your pictures and (of course) the food!!!

Welcome to the festiveness!!! Glad you're reading along. The food pictures are not mine. I have been using "Uncle Google" for food pictures. But what I have found are pretty close to the real things.

Glad about the warmer weather! Ruthie, do your sunglasses have a Mickey on them?
Tell Tony not to be embarrassed about having trouble getting off Test Track. It's not easy for a lot of people! Takes me a minute to gather my stuff and get out- almost lost a shoe a couple of times. The worst is Space Mountain- those ride vehicles are tough to get out of!!

Yes dear, those are Mickey glasses. At some point in our Hollywood Studios day, my glasses fell off of my head and they broke into several pieces. I had actually been spying these sunglasses at the resort gift shop and my broken ones gave me the perfect opportunity to buy them. They're pretty fabulous.

I tried to tell Tony not to fret about TT, but he did anyway. I told him that we would never see these people again and it didn't matter. He didn't even try Space Mountain because I knew it would be a challenge.

Am loving the report so far. Sorry the weather was cooler than you expected! It was like that for us back in October, when it was colder in Florida than it was in Canada the week before when we went on our Canadian cruise. It was weird for it to be cold in Florida! But I will take the cold over the heat and humidity of summer.
Love how cute the both of you are! We get the "why do you go to Disney all the time when you don't have kids?" question all the time. I am used to it, but I don't care, I just say I love it!
Yak and Yeti does look good. I haven't been there in a while. Every time we go to AK we always go to Tusker or Tiffins. I will have to change things up one day! I have also yet to see Nemo the musical but I will do it in September. I vow to!

Oh, the weather. Mother Nature really had it out for us during the entire trip. She calmed down for a few days, but came back with a fury.

I am a very lucky gal to have a hubby that indulges my crazy ideas. He was not very excited about the trip at first, but now that we have a set date for next year, he is already starting to want to make plans. All of the food we ate was so delicious. Thanks for reading along!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Our next stop in Future World was a ride with Nemo and Friends and then seeing all of the wonderful sea life. I have done this ride before, but Tony has not. And we both like aquariums, so I knew this would be fun. But first - some photo pass pictures!! Notice we have tossed the winter coats and sweaters!!!





After the ride, we went over to the area of the fishies! Confession time - this is one of my most favorite parts of Future World. All of the super cool sea life they have there is amazing.



DORY!!! Just keep swimming . . .





Me: Tony, can I have a sea horse?
Tony: Ummm, no.
Me: But you wouldn't let me have a giraffe. Or a baby elephant.
Tony: Exactly.
Me: You're so mean (insert pouty face)

I still don't have a sea horse. Or a giraffe. Or a baby elephant. First world problems.

We were ready for lunch and since our next ride was in the same building, we decided that Sunshine Seasons would be the best place to eat. I had never eaten there, but heard good things about it. What I didn't realize was how big the place was and how extensive the menu is.



Too. Many. Choices.

We decided the best plan was to divide and conquer. I got our entrees and Tony was in charge of drinks and snacks. Tony got salmon with grits and salsa.



Tony claimed it was delicious. It looked like a plate full of pineapples to me.

I got a Rueben sandwich and fries.



I should have - and would have - gotten something more adventurous from the menu (the noodle dishes looked really good), but it was crowded and I was trying to do a balancing act. The sandwich was good, but I could have had it at any restaurant. Tony grabbed us some water and fruit for later. All in all, a nice lunch.

Up next - we are going to live with the land!

 

[JenLanDisney]

What was the green side dish on Tony's meal? It looks very green.