I don't think you took a picture of that....yet! (Updated 2/24)

[Where'sPiglet?]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Nice to see you back updating and what an update it is. Love the pictures of the opening and also that you went on Astroblasters first!

With the clue of the Robo Newz vendor, I'll guess you went on the Peoplemover next.

Yes, yes we did go on the People mover next!

I just noticed you have a trip report....from HONG KONG DISNEY!!

.....and it's already 75 pages long. I have some catching up to do!


Now that the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras are over, life is settling back in to something that vaguely resembles a routine.

[Where'sPiglet?]

After Astro Orbiter, we went on the TTA Peoplemover.



I like the view from this ride also. I like to pretend I am zipping around a cosmopolitan city in the future.









Then we went on Space Mountain, which was a walk-on at 10am. This is one of my favorites. It’s classic Disney, and I like that it’s in the dark.

Once, in 2005, my family had just boarded the ride when it broke down. We had to get evacuated by cast members off the ride. While I missed out on riding the ride that time, it was a unique experience. Being the Disney lover that I am, I was somewhat upset that we were only a few feet from the loading area. It would have been really cool (although perhaps quite scary) to be evacuated from somewhere much deeper in the ride. They had the lights on and were assisting passengers out of each ride vehicle in a very organized and calm manner. It was interesting.

This morning, however, the ride was operating properly (yay!) and we had gone through the building in the dark on the Peoplemover, and we enjoyed a typical, fun ride on Space Mountain.

We then used our first snack credit on a pretzel that we shared. I am surprised the pretzel was a normal shape. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a pretzel at WDW before, but it was pretty good. I think it would be cuter to be shaped like Mickey, but I suppose the classic pretzel shape is much easier to make.



We then walked across the Hub and through Adventureland to get to Splash Mountain. The weather was looking great, so of course I took a few pictures on the way.







Splash Mountain was also a walk on; the day was off to a great start! When we got off, the line had backed up, so I am wondering if perhaps the ride had been down and had just opened before we got there.



We had perfect timing and walked right on to the train in Frontierland.



We rode it around to Main Street. We rode past Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which unfortunately was closed for refurbishment throughout our entire trip.





We got off at the Main Street Station. Of course, I wanted to get a few photos from this vantage point, and I also wanted to stay dry, since it had started to rain. The Celebrate Parade was passing at this time, so I was able to enjoy part of the parade.





All of a sudden, I sensed a crowd building near me. I looked to my left, and there was Snow White!



We were having a great morning in the Magic Kingdom, but we had to leave the park because we had lunch reservations in the World Showcase! Because it was at the back of Epcot, we decided to take the bus to the Beach Club and walk through the International Gateway. I really like this entrance; it’s very rarely busy. The only downside is that the entrance is not as grand as the main, front entrance. Also, during the Flower & Garden Festival, if you take the back entrance, you miss seeing the giant display they have at the entrance.

World Showcase was far less crowded than the Magic Kingdom, and we enjoyed seeing some of the topiaries that were on display for the Flower & Garden Festival.

[jpmandan]

I'm in for your TR.

[PrincessInOz]

Love the pictures. Nice to see the topiary and Snow White.

Originally Posted by Where'sPiglet?

I just noticed you have a trip report....from HONG KONG DISNEY!!

.....and it's already 75 pages long. I have some catching up to do!

The Hong Kong trip report is finished. I was there in April 2012 and we had a great time in HKDL as well as the city.

Thanks for noticing.

[rachelmarisa]

I also just joined!! I love your Piglet (:

[Where'sPiglet?]

Originally Posted by jpmandan

I'm in for your TR.

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Love the pictures. Nice to see the topiary and Snow White.


The Hong Kong trip report is finished. I was there in April 2012 and we had a great time in HKDL as well as the city.

Thanks for noticing.

Thank you! I'm glad you are loving the pictures.

The Flower and Garden Festival is one of my favorite times of year.

Awww, I missed it! I was reading through some of the chapters. The hotel looked amazing! I read about your first (partial) day in the park; it seems small. I'm going to have to find a time (ha!) to go back and read more of it.

Originally Posted by rachelmarisa

I also just joined!! I love your Piglet (:

[Where'sPiglet?]

We arrived in Italy at 12:15. In hindsight, I suppose I could have titled this trip report “Time Travel & World Travel, It’s What We Do” but I guess all that warping around warped the more creative side of my brain.



Our reservation at Via Napoli was for 12:45, but we checked in anyways. We had a short wait, but I noted that our food arrived at 12:43, so we were seated before our ADR time.

I love the light fixture in the lobby. It’s just fun.



The podium was turning away people who were trying to walk up without reservations. I had never eaten here before, but it was one of the meals I was really looking forward to.

My husband had the veal and I had the pizza.





The menu says that they use their own water and imported ingredients for the pizza. I wonder what the pizza would taste like with standard WDW water.



The pizza was just about how I imagined it would be. There’s a pizza place in Brooklyn that does coal fired pizzas in brick ovens, and I was really hoping the Via Napoli pizza would compare. It wasn’t exact, but it was close enough! I was very pleased with my meal.

This is a picture of the pizza from Grimaldi’s, the place in Brooklyn.



Sigh. Now I want some…..but I’m not actually in Brooklyn right now.

I had chocolate gelato for dessert. It was so rich and creamy. I would totally do this meal again. My DH had the tiramisu, it was also fantastic.





We were so full. One meal into the DDP, and we were stuffed!

[ronnmel]

I subscribed to your TR a little while ago, but never found the time to comment before today. I like your "Where's Piglet" idea at the beginning.

I love the pizza at Via Napoli! I want to try to find a place with a similar pizza nearby. How lucky are you to have one!

[PrincessInOz]

Gorgeous food porn. I was thinking of heading to Via Napoli in October. I think I might stop thinking about it and lock it in when my dates become available.

[EJ4Disney]

Bethany could you please point me in the direction of your Princess Half Marathon Trip Report. My kids and I are going to run the 2014 and I would love to read your report. It isn't in your signiture and I can't find it.
Thanks,
Ellen

[Where'sPiglet?]

Originally Posted by EJ4Disney

Bethany could you please point me in the direction of your Princess Half Marathon Trip Report. My kids and I are going to run the 2014 and I would love to read your report. It isn't in your signiture and I can't find it.
Thanks,
Ellen

Hi! I was thinking about trying to make it to the 2014 Princess also!

I took the link out of my signature because I had been hosting my photos on Webshots. Webshots closed in December and ALL the photo links are broken. I have screen shots of each page of that report, but I have to go back through and upload the photos from my external hard drive to SmugMug (another photo hosting site) and then fix all the links.

This is the report, but it has almost no photos right now. I have a list of photos to upload to my SmugMug; the Princess Half photos are on that list. (It's a long list. )http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2435866

[Where'sPiglet?]

After lunch, we took the boat launch across the lake in Epcot. I don't recall ever taking this boat before; I've always walked around the lake.



Once we got to the other side, we started walking towards the front to catch a bus to the resort. I love this fountain, especially when it's "dancing" to the music!



We ended up leaving Epcot at about 2:00; we didn't really do anything there except eat lunch. I think if I hadn't gotten up so early to change resorts, I would have spent more time in the park. I was interested in finding out our room assignment and exploring the resort. We got back to Port Orleans Riverside at about 2:30, and our room was not yet ready, so we walked around the resort a bit. It really is a nice place and I enjoyed the walk.













At about 2:50, I went to the lobby and asked if maybe I just hadn’t gotten the text message from them, since it seemed crazy that the room wouldn't be ready yet when we had checked in hours ago. The lady at the counter had to get the room assigner from the back. He was fiddling around on the computer for what seemed like forever. I have no idea what the issue was, but we eventually did get a room. They had told us in the morning that we would be in the Magnolia Terrace building on the second floor.

I don’t know what happened to the first room we were supposed to get, but we ended up on the 2nd floor of Acadian House. Our room was 8226, which is on the parking lot side of the building closed to the Alligator Bayou section. I attribute the location to counteracting the effects of the Dining Plan. The plus side to this room was it was near the parking lot, so we could see our car, and it was also very close to the North bus stop. I think the proximity to the bus stop was a good thing; I have never been to a resort with as many disoriented people as this one. Every time I went somewhere around the resort, I overheard a group of people wandering around discussing how to get to their room. Ha!

[PrincessInOz]

POR is a lovely resort. I hope you enjoyed it.

Glad to see you updating again.

[Where'sPiglet?]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

POR is a lovely resort. I hope you enjoyed it.

Glad to see you updating again.

Thank you.

Ugh. I'm a total failure at this. I am shamelessly bumping it to keep it alive. I've been out of town and then I've had jury duty. I will try to post several real updates very soon.