"Au revior...that's French for get out of here!" A Jan '13 AoA TR COMPLETE

[emilyindisney]

Looks like the character interaction was great at Garden Grill!! The menu just doesn't appeal to me

I LOVE the idea of a Disney Bucket list!!

The menu is plain, and very standard family style so I could see why it wouldn't appeal to all. The character interaction was outstanding, though!

It was so fun to make! We sat down one Sunday and popped in some Disney movies while we complied a lot of stuff. Of course, I still add whenever I think of something good!

 

[Happy Duck]

You should know that your Garden Grill interaction convinced us to actually change one of our ADRs to Chef Mickey's! We're not fans of the menu at Garden Grill, but realized we wanted more Mickey and gang mealtime!

 

[emilyindisney]

You should know that your Garden Grill interaction convinced us to actually change one of our ADRs to Chef Mickey's! We're not fans of the menu at Garden Grill, but realized we wanted more Mickey and gang mealtime!

Aww, yay! I honestly love meals with Mickey and the gang because its a great way to meet them all without having to wait in crazy lines.

 

[emilyindisney]

Finally we'd reached our departure day. Leaving Disney is always sad, but at least we still had a little magic left in our trip! We took an MK bus to the park and hopped on the resort monorail to reach our breakfast ADR at 1900s Park Fair in GF!

We were afraid the transportation would take a long time but we ended up with extra time before we checked in. We strolled the grounds a little and checked everything out. As expected, it was beautiful!

As we were walking by the new Alice themed Splash park (in our sweatshirts and jeans, mind you) a woman stopped us and asked us if we worked there. Whaaaa? Though I'm almost a little flattered to be thought of us a cast member, I'm not sure how she could get us, and the properly dressed GF CMs confused!

We checked in to 1900s and ended up having the longest seating wait of our vacation. We started to get a little anxious we weren't going to make our ME bus! All in all, we were seated about 30 minutes after our ADR time.

The food here was good. I'm a big breakfast fan, and I'm easy to impress so I enjoyed the buffet style spread. The strawberry soup was awesome and is a must try for anyone visiting! The service was very good. Our waiter Nick was friendly, helpful and timely!

While we dined, we were visited by Alice, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, The Mad Hatter, and Mary Poppins. None of these characters are really my favorites, and none of them really blew me away. They sort of just stuck to their script, took a picture and moved on. Don't get me wrong- it was fun to meet them and I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but compared to the awesome character interactions we had this week, this one was a little lack luster.

Here are the pictures we came away with:

After breakfast I snapped a few pictures on our way back to the monorail station because I knew my mom would want to see the resort.

While we were riding back to MK, we got held up on the tracks and I snapped the last pictures of our vacation!

Next update: “See ya real soon” and closing thoughts

 

[wiigirl]

Love the character pics!

 

[emilyindisney]

Love the character pics!

Thank you!

 

[Miss Potts]

We are planning on 1900 Park Fare for our last day on my next trip! I've been having the ME anxiety bc I hear the restaurant can run behind. How long did breakfast take in total?

 

[emilyindisney]

We are planning on 1900 Park Fare for our last day on my next trip! I've been having the ME anxiety bc I hear the restaurant can run behind. How long did breakfast take in total?

Hmmm... I would say in total maybe an hour. It is a buffet so you could cut out early if need be. The restaurant definitely runs behind and it took us a long time to be seated. I'd say its worth a shot but make an early time and expect to sit after your ADR.

 

[emilyindisney]

As my signature has suggested for some time, we have our next trip planned and booked. I'm excited to announce that I just posted our PTR for our Feb 2014 adventure. We'll be heading down for a long weekend in the World to run the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge on Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

If you're interested in following our next WDW trip, you can check it out here.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Had fun following your TR! Will check-in on your PTR next!

 

[blklotus]

Loved your TR! My sister and I are Disney travel buddies, too -- it's always fun traveling with her. Looking forward to following your PTR and future TR after the Glass Slipper Challenge -- good luck!

 

[Eight]

I would love to try the Garden Grill because of the characters and the fact that it moves, which is super cool to me for some reason, but the food doesn't appeal to me. But I've been hearing good things about it lately, so maybe I'll have to try it someday anyway.

I think the biggest thing on my Disney bucket list is to eat at Club 33 at Disneyland. Someday it'll happen!! (I hope!)

And hurray for signing up for the GSC!! That's so exciting! I cannot wait to hear about it. I'll have to check out your PTR this afternoon.

 

[emilyindisney]

Loved your TR! My sister and I are Disney travel buddies, too -- it's always fun traveling with her. Looking forward to following your PTR and future TR after the Glass Slipper Challenge -- good luck!

Thank you!

 

[emilyindisney]

Before I start (or finish, I suppose) lemme just say that the Wishes soundtrack came on just as I started writing this. How perfect is that?!

When we got back to AoA we went to the food court to spend the last of our credits, and then to the gift shop to makes some last minute purchases. With our bags already dropped off to the airport desk all that was left was check out and catching our ME.

Per usual, the video they show on the way back to MCO made me cry. No shame. The thought had crossed my mind a couple times during the week that I was so tired that I was sort of ready to go home. However, sitting on the bus as they were saying “see ya real soon” I knew I couldn't wait to be back. Cait and I even joked that maybe we shouldn't get off and we could turn right around and go back to WDW!

After six wonderful nights, we boarded a plane and headed back home to work, school, etc. This trip was truly fantastic and I don't think I would have wanted it to go any differently. I can't remember how long my sister and I have bonded over taking our fantasy Disney trip so for it to actually happen was magical.

Seeing as I'm trying to make this a learning experience for myself and others, here are a few of my last minute thoughts about the trip/planning/etc.

One- January. The crowds weren't quite as dead as I was imagining they'd be at this time but they were still good. We had minimal issues with foreign tour groups this time of year is known for though the lack of personal space (a cultural thing, I suppose) was at times frustrating.

Two- The DDP. I used to swear by the DDP but after this trip I think I'll pass. I love the convenience of having my meals preloaded on my card but found its really not a bargain. We kept track of what we 'paid' in food during the trip and found it to be less than the cost of the DDP. Oh well! Lesson learned! The refillable mug was awesome though and I'd probably just buy that out of pocket in the future.

Three- AoA. Art of Animation was beautiful and I'm so happy we tried it over our original plan which was to stay at Pop. That being said, I don't have that warm, fuzzy home resort feeling that some of you guys get. At this point, I'm still interested in trying other resorts and probably won't return to AoA in the future.

Four- Transportation. Aside from our MK mishap we had a great experience with Disney transportation. Having the rental car was so incredibly convenient that I think we'd consider paying out of pocket for that again.

I'm sure DSis will chime in with her final thoughts, but I think that's it for me. Sticking with the Wishes theme:

“Thanks folks, for making this little gathering of ours so extra magical. From our family and friends to yours, goodnight, and may all your wishes come true”

 

[emilyindisney]

I would love to try the Garden Grill because of the characters and the fact that it moves, which is super cool to me for some reason, but the food doesn't appeal to me. But I've been hearing good things about it lately, so maybe I'll have to try it someday anyway.

I think the biggest thing on my Disney bucket list is to eat at Club 33 at Disneyland. Someday it'll happen!! (I hope!)

And hurray for signing up for the GSC!! That's so exciting! I cannot wait to hear about it. I'll have to check out your PTR this afternoon.

It seems like Garden Grill does get some bad rap! I'm not very picky, so I'll eat almost anything. Therefore, my food recommendations may not be super valid

Club 33! Can you imagine how cool that would be?! (Well, I'm sure you can which is why you want to do it )

Will you be back at next year's princess? You're signed up for the 2014 Disney Full, right?

 

[magichusky]

HAHA I laughed out loud when I read about Farmer Mickey knocking over the water at the GG. I would've laughed so hard if I had seen such a thing! Those raucous CMs! My best character interaction was in the UK pavilion actually- my friend and I had a photo shoot w/ Tigger and Rabbit and they were so crazy and just bouncing around all over the place.

That's too bad about that super long MK bus wait- that's why we are *so* thankful for SoG b/c we can just take one of those little boats over to the Poly and then walk back. People get so cranky and obnoxious in the ferry/bus/monorail lines at MK closing.

Moving over to your PTR now! I bet all that Glass Slipper Challenge merchandise is going to be so awesome! You've got to post a pic of the Maximus sketch somewhere- I'm a huge Maximus fan and totally brought home a huge stuffed Maximus on the plane that I bought in Cinderella's Castle!

 

[disneyhorselover]

Moving over to your PTR now! I bet all that Glass Slipper Challenge merchandise is going to be so awesome! You've got to post a pic of the Maximus sketch somewhere- I'm a huge Maximus fan and totally brought home a huge stuffed Maximus on the plane that I bought in Cinderella's Castle!

We tried not to laugh too hard, because Mickey was clearly very embarrassed we also promised not to tell chip or dale!!

I will definitely post a picture of the sketch when I came home. He is one of my favorite characters and the sketch came out amazing!!!

 

[Happy Duck]

I am so excited for Strawberry Soup!! We are going to 1900 for dinner, and I hear it is on that buffet as well. Great character pics and last updates.

Wonderful job on this trip report. I enjoyed it immensely! Sisters are the best, aren't they? I'm already looking forward to your next one!

 

[FancyNancy]

Great trip report! I really enjoyed reading about you and your sisters adventures in the world I see you have a new ticker and are staying at Boardwalk next time!

 

[emilyindisney]

HAHA I laughed out loud when I read about Farmer Mickey knocking over the water at the GG. I would've laughed so hard if I had seen such a thing! Those raucous CMs! My best character interaction was in the UK pavilion actually- my friend and I had a photo shoot w/ Tigger and Rabbit and they were so crazy and just bouncing around all over the place.

That's too bad about that super long MK bus wait- that's why we are *so* thankful for SoG b/c we can just take one of those little boats over to the Poly and then walk back. People get so cranky and obnoxious in the ferry/bus/monorail lines at MK closing.

Moving over to your PTR now! I bet all that Glass Slipper Challenge merchandise is going to be so awesome! You've got to post a pic of the Maximus sketch somewhere- I'm a huge Maximus fan and totally brought home a huge stuffed Maximus on the plane that I bought in Cinderella's Castle!

How convenient is that! I love when you can cash in on other modes of transportation. Definitely a time saver! The boat seems like it would be a relaxing way to end the day too.

I sure hope so! They were already offering all sorts commemorative pins and merch during registration. I couldn't resist so I pre-ordered the GSC pin

I am so excited for Strawberry Soup!! We are going to 1900 for dinner, and I hear it is on that buffet as well. Great character pics and last updates.

Wonderful job on this trip report. I enjoyed it immensely! Sisters are the best, aren't they? I'm already looking forward to your next one!

Thank you so much, Lauren! I can't wait for your next TR, either! Can't remember if I posted on your TR or not but how awesome that you got double bouncebacks for your August trip. I'm excited to hear about you and your mom's adventures!

Great trip report! I really enjoyed reading about you and your sisters adventures in the world I see you have a new ticker and are staying at Boardwalk next time!

That's right! We're so excited to rent DVC and stay deluxe for the first time. Thanks for reading with us!