What should we drink to? Let’s drink two and see where it goes. - Star Wars Half 2019 -Update 5/5

Ugh, ugh, ugh on the magic band nonsense. I don’t want to jinx myself but I’ve only had one issue in many visits. So is your Dooney one rendered completely useless or always requiring a hard recode now? And WTH on Grand FL Cafe. I can’t believe a runner would suggest you just remove the ham and tomatoes. What if there were allergies?? So sorry dinner was a bust and on a pre-race night as well. Glad to hear it gets better!
 
Sorry they screwed up your dinner and didn't make it right. I can't believe they didn't bring you out a free dessert.
Hopefully you don't have any more hiccups on your trip
Promise you no more hiccups like that! Its been a while since we had a major screw up at least we got that going for us!

Ugh, ugh, ugh on the magic band nonsense. I don’t want to jinx myself but I’ve only had one issue in many visits. So is your Dooney one rendered completely useless or always requiring a hard recode now? And WTH on Grand FL Cafe. I can’t believe a runner would suggest you just remove the ham and tomatoes. What if there were allergies?? So sorry dinner was a bust and on a pre-race night as well. Glad to hear it gets better!
It is always going to require a hard recode now for room entry. I guess I'll test that theory when I go in November since I won't be back before then unless I decide to stay at a dog friendly Disney hotel when I do shows with Qi'ra in October & maybe August.

Yeah I was not happy about the Grand Floridian Cafe. I've always sung its praises as it is a great option for when you are staying there or a quiet lunch away from Magic Kingdom. I think they were entirely too busy for the staff that night and just couldn't handle it well.
 
Plaza Inn

3AM came early. Luckily we had laid out our clothes the night before so we could robotically just get ready as we were half asleep. We were able to get on the first bus leaving the resort and thus were able to meet a character pre-race. We decided on a character we hadn’t done before and one that wasn’t super common in the parks since Star Wars Weekends went away.

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Tusken Raiders

Here are some photos from the race:

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You know what tastes amazing after 6.2 miles?

A banana, especially when you ate very little the night before.

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Banana!

I opened the food box once I got on the bus back to the resort. I was kinda disappointed in the offerings outside of the chips and fake plastic cheese so the rest of it went into the trash. At least I got something in my stomach.

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Food Box

And I run for the bling. I thought the 10K medal was the best of the 4 race weekend medals this year so I’m happy that is what I ran.

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Bling

Back at the resort, I got cleaned up and relaxed for a bit. My husband was long clean and napping again by the time I had gotten back to the room. At 9:30am, we headed to the Magic Kingdom to check in for our meal at a new offering in the Magic Kingdom. We arrived about 30 minutes before our ADR but we were seated in about 10 minutes. I hadn’t been inside the Plaza in forever and forgot how small it is inside of there. We had looked at the menu while we were waiting and very quickly ordered when we were greeted by our waitress.

We started with mimosas as why not? Their mimosas are made with the wonderful POG juice instead of just orange juice. Yum! The food came out quickly so we never needed to get a refill of the mimosa.

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Plaza’s Mimosa - Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut with Guava-Passion, Orange, Pineapple Juices

For my entree, I was so very happy with my option. The banana pastry cream tasted so good and thus made the waffles not need syrup. My husband made me laugh as when I told him that, he immediately stole my syrup to drown his waffles. The bacon was nice and crispy. I had no problem cleaning off my plate here!

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Mickey Waffles - Three Mickey Waffles topped with Powdered Sugar & Sprinkles on a spread of tasty Banana Pastry Cream served with Bacon & a side of fruit

My husband went with a standard breakfast meal and he was happy with this choice. The food tasted cooked rather than just reheated unlike some of the quick service options. The poor biscuit wasn’t eaten but we both were full from our entrees.

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All-American Classic Breakfast Platter - Scrambled Eggs, Breakfast Potatoes, Sausage, Bacon & a Biscuit

Overall a wonderful late breakfast with no drama!​
 
Congrats on your race! Gosh those early mornings are rough. But a POG mimosa sounds worth it! I haven’t tried breakfast there but really like Plaza for lunch, when eating in the MK - which for some reason I rarely do. It is small in there. I saw somewhere recently that they’ve added a handful of outdoor tables but they looked kinda awkward to me just out on the walkway, between the restaurant entrance and the bathrooms.
 


We decided on a character we hadn’t done before and one that wasn’t super common in the parks since Star Wars Weekends went away.

That's so fun, I think I could convince Chad to become a runner with that photo.
 
I can't believe all the drama you had to deal with at Grand Floridian. We had something similar happen at Poly a few years back and frustrating is definitely an understatement.

Sorry to hear GFC didn't help the situation. But you were smart to get out of there and cut your losses while you could.

At least the plaza redeemed itself for you. Think we are going to try breakfast on our next trip
 
Congrats on your race! Gosh those early mornings are rough. But a POG mimosa sounds worth it! I haven’t tried breakfast there but really like Plaza for lunch, when eating in the MK - which for some reason I rarely do. It is small in there. I saw somewhere recently that they’ve added a handful of outdoor tables but they looked kinda awkward to me just out on the walkway, between the restaurant entrance and the bathrooms.

That POG mimosa was so worth it! It was yum! I should try it for lunch one of these days! We've had ADRs for it before but we've changed our minds usually the day before. That would be awkward to be outside there! I don't tend to like outdoor seating anyway since we go when its hot.

That's so fun, I think I could convince Chad to become a runner with that photo.
Well...running means more Disney trips so I approve ;).

I can't believe all the drama you had to deal with at Grand Floridian. We had something similar happen at Poly a few years back and frustrating is definitely an understatement.
I guess we were due for a trip with lots of drama as we haven't had a lot of it on recent trips. I was mad but time away helps.

Sorry to hear GFC didn't help the situation. But you were smart to get out of there and cut your losses while you could.
Yeah - that's why I didn't even attempt to let them fix it as I knew my luck was shot for the day! Thank goodness for bread and the cheese!

At least the plaza redeemed itself for you. Think we are going to try breakfast on our next trip
It did! I realize it may have tasted so much better as I was hungry but I was very pleased. It is a nice breakfast spot to try out! Enjoy all the mimosas!
 


Adventureland Snacks

After the Plaza, we headed to Mine Train with one of our scheduled fastpasses before heading to Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain and Pirates. The parks were busy so we were happy we had those extra FP+ outside of our scheduled ones to help cut the lines for some of those rides. Around 1:30PM, we decided it would be a good time for a snack as we didn’t really need a full lunch.

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Pirates

My husband wanted a dole whip swirl float. He was very happy with this and he shared a bite or two. We passed on the mobile order as we were waiting for the egg roll cart to refill itself and they said it would be about 10 minutes. The timing worked out well!

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Dole Whip Swirl Float

I went with sometime different. When I had done the Happily Ever After dessert party with my mother, I thought I enjoyed the cheeseburger spring rolls that were offered there. Well, maybe I just liked the small versions. These large versions were not as good as I remembered them being. It also was a lot of grease for my stomach which I regretted later. We weren't that hungry so no loss there!

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Cheeseburger Spring Rolls

We left the park after this as everything had a horribly long wait and we were done being around the crowds. Back at the room, we both took a 2 hour nap! It was wonderful!​
 
I so want to love Mine Train... but I have such a hard time fitting. Not a matter of width (also a challenge for me) but I have long legs and trying to fold into those seats is a serious yoga exercise. Sounds like you had quite the productive afternoon with FP+. Hurrah for dole whips. I’ve had the cheeseburger rolls on my list... so bummed they weren’t great. A two hour nap sounds delightful!!!!
 
We tried the spring rolls for the first time on our last trip too. I thought they were ok, but definitely not worth the $7 they were charging for them
 
I so want to love Mine Train... but I have such a hard time fitting. Not a matter of width (also a challenge for me) but I have long legs and trying to fold into those seats is a serious yoga exercise. Sounds like you had quite the productive afternoon with FP+. Hurrah for dole whips. I’ve had the cheeseburger rolls on my list... so bummed they weren’t great. A two hour nap sounds delightful!!!!

Yeah - those seats aren't the most comfy to be in. We still only kinda like it but we do the FP+ just because we would never wait in the super long line it creates. I'm sure once Tron opens - we will just FP+ that instead.

We tried the spring rolls for the first time on our last trip too. I thought they were ok, but definitely not worth the $7 they were charging for them

Yeah - definitely overpriced but that isn't unusual for most Disney foods nowadays. I mean I can get steak cheaper from Fleming's or Shula's than I can at some 2 TS restaurants nowadays!
 
Narcoossee’s

We woke up around 4:30pm from our nap. We both were a bit groggy. Slowly we woke up and got moving. We were very glad we were having dinner at our hotel since we didn’t have to rely on any transportation to get there other than our own feet as if I had to drive anywhere I would have probably just taken the $20 ADR fee. It was a nice walk over to Narcoosee’s and we were seated shortly after check-in since it was only a few minutes after opening.

Our server quickly brought out our sparkling water, bread and gave us each our own butter. It’s the little things that make us happy! It is a very soft light sourdough and we had no problem enjoying.

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Sourdough Bread

So, while we were debating on what we were eating, we ordered a wine. We went with a light white as we figured we might do seafood or some appetizers. I really enjoyed this even though it ended up not matching what we really ordered!

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Charles Bove Vouvray

I ended up craving some protein after eating some bread. What better protein than a wonderful cooked filet with bearnaise sauce? The steak was perfectly cooked to medium-rare. Their bearnaise was tasty as well.

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Grilled Grass Fed Filet Mignon - Yukon Gold Mash, Oven-roasted Heirloom Carrots, Red Wine-Oxtail Reduction & Sauce Bearnaise

My husband surprised when he ordered the surf and turf as while he does enjoy lobster - he doesn’t often order it. He finished his plate with no problem and even stole some of the filet I wasn’t able to finish. That man was hungry!

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Surf & Turf - Filet Mignon w/ Steamed Lobster Tail

We decided against dessert as we were full from our entrees and I think we were still tired from our too long of a nap we had. We still had wine left but one great thing about having dinner at the hotel meant I was able to take the rest of the wine back to the room in my glass. Some people totally looked at me funny as I left the restaurant with a full glass of wine but I wasn’t going to let it be wasted! Back in the room, we watched stuff on Netflix before going to bed around 8PM.

Our server was awesome here even with us only being an one course table. This is the one meal which made me really sad we didn’t have Tables in Wonderland currently but at least we got 10% off our food with our annual passes.​
 
Narcoossee’s is a spot that for some reason, I have yet to try. I think I will book it in Oct. The restaurant itself looks nice and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the food. Always nice to have dinner at the resort. I’ve only stayed at the GF once - on the DVC side- and LOVED it. I want to go back but there never seems to be anything available on points or at a rate I’m willing to pay. I still think about the bathroom in the one bedroom, LOL. Although I saw a pic of the bathroom in the new Riviera resort and it looked like it could be my new fave. Apparently I have a thing for bathrooms. :confused3
 
Narcoossee’s is a spot that for some reason, I have yet to try. I think I will book it in Oct. The restaurant itself looks nice and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the food. Always nice to have dinner at the resort. I’ve only stayed at the GF once - on the DVC side- and LOVED it. I want to go back but there never seems to be anything available on points or at a rate I’m willing to pay. I still think about the bathroom in the one bedroom, LOL. Although I saw a pic of the bathroom in the new Riviera resort and it looked like it could be my new fave. Apparently I have a thing for bathrooms. :confused3

We own 63 points at VGF which seems to be enough for the Star Wars races kinda. Depends on which season it is in. I wish we had more but we got the points right after we moved to Florida so we were a bit broke. Even owning it as a home resort it seems impossible to get studios between 10 and 8 months out. The new bathrooms layouts in the newer results are totally an improvement of the older ones! Luckily, its usually just the two of us so it becomes less of an issue of space. The Polynesian ones are my favorite!
 
Whispering Canyon Cafe

My husband woke up at 3AM and got ready to run a half marathon. I decided it was a good time to do a load of laundry so I would have less stinky running clothes in the suitcase. Having DVC makes me feel less bad about doing laundry on vacation since it is free and they provided me the detergent! I worked on packing up as I totally overpacked on clothes but when you are driving, it doesn’t really matter if you overpack. After the laundry was done, I fell back asleep around the time my husband started his half marathon and woke up a little over 2 hours later only to get scared that my husband hadn’t crossed the finish line yet despite the fact that tracking had him finishing up about 20 minutes prior. In freakout mode, I texted him asking if he was ok. He was on the bus back to the resort! His finish time never registered as he crossed the finish line but luckily through photopass and a lady he was finishing right next to, I was able to give the information to RunDisney/Track Shack and they could find his exact time and fix the results about a week later. He finished with a time of 2:02:28 - only about 5 minutes slower than January’s Half Marathon but considering the heat and humidity, he had a great result!

When he got back to the room, he cleaned up and rested for a bit. Despite our breakfast reservations being for almost 90 minutes later, we decided to try to get in early as well, it was a hotel breakfast so they probably weren’t too busy. We were correct in this assessment as it was still early enough that the people that started in later corrals probably hadn’t made it through the finishing/bus/clean up cycle yet to fill them up.

We had changed our minds on breakfast a few time the day before but something about cheddar biscuits really struck my fancy and somehow I was able to convince my husband that we should eat at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Luckily, our server was good and could tell we weren’t going to be an antics table. This was helpful when my husband wanted some ketchup so she secretly gave us a bottle. It also made it more likely we could return in the future since my husband didn’t get a scene made about him.

As after breakfast, we would be driving home (~3 hour drive), I limited myself to one cocktail and then lots of water. It was decent but not very sweet despite being called sweet tea. At least that helped me pace it throughout the breakfast.

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Bourbon Sweet Tea

As we waited for our mains to arrive, our server brought us out the cheddar biscuits with lots of butter and gravy. We didn’t need the gravy. I was super happy with these as you could tell they were freshly baked. I ended up eating three of them!

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Buttermilk-Cheddar Biscuits

My husband went with the skillet that was close to what he always gets for breakfast at Disney. As you can see the waffles are missing from the skillet, but he got them on another skillet shortly after with like 4 Mickey Waffles on there! I just forgot to take a photo. He had no problem finishing out either skillets. He did decline a refill since he did end up with my scrambled eggs as well.

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The Heritage - House-made Buttermilk-Cheddar Biscuits w/ Sausage Gravy with Mickey Waffles, Scrambled Eggs, Country Potatoes, Hickory-smoked Bacon, Pork Sausage Links

I went with the option with all the meats. The beef brisket was awesome once I added some salt and pepper to it but that’s something that easily fixed and not-unusual for some of the Disney 1 Credit Table Services. The bacon was perfectly crispy as well. I ended up with refills of both of those.

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The Carnivore - House-made Buttermilk-Cheddar Biscuits w/ Sausage Gravy with Scrambled Eggs, House-smoked Ham, Oak-smoked Beef Brisket, Hickory-smoked Bacon, Pork Sausage Links

We were pleasantly surprised with our breakfast here. I’m glad we ended up with a lack of antics done to us. Our food was hot, fresh and tasted exactly as we wanted.​
 
You have me so wanting to go back to Narcoosees, though I don't think I could tear myself away from the seafood. Your steaks look great, but their scallop and shrimp dishes are some of my favorites on property. Love how you left with wine though. Definitely a perk of eating at your resort.

Whispering Canyon looks like a great place to go post race. I had never seen or heard of those biscuits before. They look delicious!!!! I love the ones at California Grill too and it took everything I had not to devour 4 of them last weekend.
 
Whispering Canyon sounds like a great choice... I’m always looking for “an excuse” to visit Wilderness Lodge. Good to know you can perhaps get a no antics meal, as I probably wouldn’t be too into that. I’m always so impressed that you do laundry on vacation... it must make the return to reality so much easier.
 
Enjoying your report! I, too, had a Magic Band issue on our trip this past March. I brought assorted colors with me, and none of them worked except for one. I had split stays this trip, staying at four different resorts, and I had gotten new MBs for all the resorts, and they were all active on MDE, and they all worked in the parks, but not for the resort rooms. Ugh. I was so irritated. The cast member who checked us in at the first resort noticed that none of my bands but the one were synced or whatever it is called, to my rooms, and she wanted to try to fix it, but she was so strange and confusing that as long as one band worked, I was good with that, as I didn't trust her at that point and was afraid more things would get screwed up. Oh well. That would really irritate me if it happened to a custom MB. We were there for the race, too, so I find it weird that this happened to you during that time, also.

We did the free tea tour a few years ago, and really enjoyed it. We'll have to try the "for fee" version. Thanks for such a detailed review of the Highway in the Sky Dine Around. Sounds like a lot of fun. Do they do an alcohol free version, LOL? I'm a super lightweight drinker, so I think I'd have to be carried around about a quarter of the way through! I'm dying to trying the Hangar Bar and Jaleo! I told my husband, next trip we're doing these, which is in November, as he's running the half then, too. I'm not a runner, so just wave bye to him as he leaves the room at 3am, lol. Narcoosee's sounds nice. We haven't eaten there in almost two decades! The last time was in 2002, when my middle son turned 21 and we had his birthday dinner there. It doesn't seem that long ago. I really really want to go back there, but there are just too darn many restaurants to eat at! That bites that your California Grill experience wasn't so great. We've only eaten dinner there once, and the service was just okay, and did the brunch once, which was amazing. I've read quite a few reports where the poor service took a lot away from the experience, which makes me hesitate to book dinner there. Looking forward to reading more!
 
We also had breakfast for the first time at The Plaza and LOVED IT!!! wait - let me be honest, you've been eating at all of my favorite places!!! The last time we were at Narcoosees I ordered the shrimp pasta dish and it was probably the best shrimp pasta dish I've ever had!!

and with all the running you and your DH do.... :worship::worship:

my DH and I are walkers and we knock out 5 miles first thing Sat and Sunday morning but I certainly can't run that far!! :sad2: :crazy2:
 
You have me so wanting to go back to Narcoosees, though I don't think I could tear myself away from the seafood. Your steaks look great, but their scallop and shrimp dishes are some of my favorites on property. Love how you left with wine though. Definitely a perk of eating at your resort.

Whispering Canyon looks like a great place to go post race. I had never seen or heard of those biscuits before. They look delicious!!!! I love the ones at California Grill too and it took everything I had not to devour 4 of them last weekend.

There is just something I love about nice big portions of protein for dinner after a race. Their seafood is good though! I almost went with multiple appetizers but glad I didn’t.

No wine was going to go to waste with us!

WCC was a great post race meal. It let me get the cheddar biscuit fix for a lot cheaper! The ones are California Grill are better but when you can’t enjoy all the booze...no point in spending the 90 dollars! I’m glad you all had a wonderful brunch!

Whispering Canyon sounds like a great choice... I’m always looking for “an excuse” to visit Wilderness Lodge. Good to know you can perhaps get a no antics meal, as I probably wouldn’t be too into that. I’m always so impressed that you do laundry on vacation... it must make the return to reality so much easier.

Glad to give you a new excuse! You just have to let them know if your server doesn’t pick up on your lack of antics or ask to be in a quiet section at check in.

The laundry is free so that helps with getting it done. Less things to do when I get home help too although I’m currently doing a load of laundry every day it feels with a new puppy at home who likes to pee on blankets shortly after peeing outside.

Enjoying your report! I, too, had a Magic Band issue on our trip this past March. I brought assorted colors with me, and none of them worked except for one. I had split stays this trip, staying at four different resorts, and I had gotten new MBs for all the resorts, and they were all active on MDE, and they all worked in the parks, but not for the resort rooms. Ugh. I was so irritated. The cast member who checked us in at the first resort noticed that none of my bands but the one were synced or whatever it is called, to my rooms, and she wanted to try to fix it, but she was so strange and confusing that as long as one band worked, I was good with that, as I didn't trust her at that point and was afraid more things would get screwed up. Oh well. That would really irritate me if it happened to a custom MB. We were there for the race, too, so I find it weird that this happened to you during that time, also.

We did the free tea tour a few years ago, and really enjoyed it. We'll have to try the "for fee" version. Thanks for such a detailed review of the Highway in the Sky Dine Around. Sounds like a lot of fun. Do they do an alcohol free version, LOL? I'm a super lightweight drinker, so I think I'd have to be carried around about a quarter of the way through! I'm dying to trying the Hangar Bar and Jaleo! I told my husband, next trip we're doing these, which is in November, as he's running the half then, too. I'm not a runner, so just wave bye to him as he leaves the room at 3am, lol. Narcoosee's sounds nice. We haven't eaten there in almost two decades! The last time was in 2002, when my middle son turned 21 and we had his birthday dinner there. It doesn't seem that long ago. I really really want to go back there, but there are just too darn many restaurants to eat at! That bites that your California Grill experience wasn't so great. We've only eaten dinner there once, and the service was just okay, and did the brunch once, which was amazing. I've read quite a few reports where the poor service took a lot away from the experience, which makes me hesitate to book dinner there. Looking forward to reading more!

That’s frustrating you had all that Magicband trouble too! I don’t go back until November as well (not for the races though) so I hope all their issues are worked out by then!

For highway in the sky, they did have special mock tails for those that don’t drink. We had 1 minor and 1 non drinker on the tour and they had options everywhere.

My running days are probably over but I’ll still support my husband’s habit!

Service at California Grill has been spotty since the refurbishment and that makes me sad. The food is always awesome though.

There are too many places to eat! My mother and I are having that problem picking for Thanksgiving.

We also had breakfast for the first time at The Plaza and LOVED IT!!! wait - let me be honest, you've been eating at all of my favorite places!!! The last time we were at Narcoosees I ordered the shrimp pasta dish and it was probably the best shrimp pasta dish I've ever had!!

and with all the running you and your DH do.... :worship::worship:

my DH and I are walkers and we knock out 5 miles first thing Sat and Sunday morning but I certainly can't run that far!! :sad2: :crazy2:

The Plaza Breakfast is such a wonderful addition. I’m totally going back eventually. Glad you also enjoy the places I did!

If you can walk at a 16 minute mile pace - you could do the Disney races. My husband is more of the runner especially now that my focus is so much on our two Rhodesians. Don’t have time to run anymore between work and a 2 month old puppy and a 15 month!
 

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