"It's a 5 - gimmie more!" - A Food and Wine Trip Report Oct 16-20. (Final Update 2/9/14!)

[skier_pete]

Catching up.

WOW! Nice target to get 13 must-do rides in.
Rocky start. Glad you got a second ride on the JC but it seems like you had a lot of down time so far.

Actually, my original plan had us doing all 13 rides before we went back to our hotel for a break. *Spoiler alert* - that didn't happen, I think mostly thanks to this problem, but it was ambitious anyways. I won't tell you whether we got to all 13 or not. Have to leave SOME drama in the report!

 

[skier_pete]

After we had eaten lunch, we were pretty much certain that we would not get all of our 13 attractions in before we headed back to the hotel. However, we weren’t done yet as we were getting into our FastPass times.

First up on the FP+ was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, attraction #6 on our list.



This is our first time riding this ride, and I want to say I really quite liked it. Now, the standby wait was at 70 minutes, and I’m not sure it is worth that, but we waited only about 5 minutes, and I really liked the ride a lot. It was about 2 minutes long, but that’s a reasonable length for a coaster. The ride itself was smooth, and the swaying of the cars was subtle but added a nice piece to it. The indoor part in the mine was impressive as well, and overall we really liked it, it makes a nice addition to Fantasyland!

We decided to check out Haunted Mansion next. While the wait was 45 minutes, we decided it was worthy of our bonus FP, so we hopped it line for ride #7.





Gotta say I LOVE Haunted Mansion. It’s always been in my Top 10, but I would say it now resides in my top 5. We also had a chance to check out the new gift shop. Momento Mori.



It’s a small gift shop, but Disney clearly has a hit on it’s hands, there was a LINE to enter the gift shop. We didn’t buy anything, but DW later regretted that she didn’t.

By this time, the park was getting VERY crowded (remember this was a Saturday AND a EMH night)





We had a little more to do before heading back to the hotel though – we had two FP left. On the way over the Tomorrowland, I grabbed a frozen lemonade because I was a tad peckish.

Up next, ride #8, Space Mountain, and again we bypassed an 85 minute wait!







As I get older, my enjoyment of Space Mountain drops. It is not the most comfortable of rides, and while I like the spinning through the dark, riding it once is enough for me.

We had one last FP+ to use, and we used it for ride #9, Buzz Lightyear





There was only a 25 minute wait here, but overall with our four FP we bypassed 225 minutes of lines, so that still seems well worth the effort. In fact, we even grabbed a fourth FP+ for BTMRR for later in the evening. It was now after 2:30 PM though, and we really wanted to go back to the resort for a while, because we also wanted to beat feet before the 3 PM parade. Overall we were pretty happy, we didn’t get to all 13 attractions, but the remaining four were typically low volume attractions, so we felt there wouldn’t be any issues with getting them done.

Continued in next post...

 

[skier_pete]

Heading back to the resort, we were hoping to get in a little rest time, but Keith had mentioned to us doing a DVC tour of the property. I’ll keep it short, but the main DVC sales base is there at SSR, and they have sample rooms for Aulani and the Grand Floridian. Both are absolutely beautiful, especially the Grand Floridian rooms. They are spacious and decked out to the nines. No wonder they are so many more points! There is definitely a tier in level of these resorts…

I didn’t take any pictures, though I should have asked if I could have.
After the tour, we said goodbye to Keith and decided to hang by the pool for a little while. With no alcohol available in MK, I took advantage of the pool bar and got a Margarita while DW had a soda.

Some shots of the main pool at SSR. This was the only pool we got to during our stay. We saw glimpses of some others, and one also looked pretty nice.









We took a brief swim and then decided to head back to the room for a nap before returning to the park. That didn’t go as well as hoped when I got a call from home that woke me up on some issues that I had to deal with (details aren’t important) but basically that cut short my rest period.
By around 7:30 PM we were heading back to MK. First thing we needed to do that evening was get something to eat. As you may have noticed, we ate very little so far today, and we were quite hungry. Since by the time we got there, we were approaching the early parade, I wanted to be sure we didn’t get trapped on the “wrong” side of MK (Adventureland) so we went to Cosmic Rays.

Cosmic Rays gets a lot of crap on the boards for quality, but I find the restaurant to be pretty good with a definite nice selection of choices. I chose the simple cheeseburger with fries, and used the toppings bar to upscale by burger. They gave me a LOT of fries, too!



DW got the half chicken with green beans and mashed. She thought this was also really good. We half watched the MSEP through the windows while we were eating.



Now it was time to catch our last few rides. Up first was the TTA. (#10) We had wanted to do it earlier when we did Space Mountain, but believe it or not there was a LINE! So we waited and now we walked on. We almost considered going around a 2nd time, but it was almost 10 PM by this point, and we wanted to catch the fireworks.

But first, we decided to get an Alice in Wonderland cupcake for dessert.



We had decided we were NOT going to fight the crowds in front of the castle for wishes, so we headed for the 2nd best spot for the fireworks, Fantasyland. The crowds weren’t too bad here, but it was a good example of how few people at DW are regulars and are particularly aware of what is going on, because EVERY single person was facing TOWARDS the castle when the fireworks started, while DW and I were facing backwards to watch the actual fireworks going off behind the park. I didn’t really try to take pictures, but here’s a couple I took with my phone of our view from near the entrance to New Fantasyland.





Once the fireworks were over, we again headed across the park to Adventureland, wanting to try our best to catch attraction #11 again before getting pinned by the late parade. We got over to The Enchanted Tiki Room by 10:20 PM, so were able to watch the show pretty quickly. Since returning this show back to the original, this is a must-do on my list and an absolute favorite from childhood. I wore the grooves out on the record of this show, and can pretty much sing along by memory.



The birdies had their fling





You heard the flowers sing.


Tikis play the drums Hear them do the chant



Farewell, and Aloha to youuu..



"Applause Applause...up up down there - APPLAUSE!

And now as long as you're all standing...we have a wonderful magic trick for you!"

Ha,ha! Enough of that...

After that, we actually had our FOURTH FP+ eligible over at BTMRR, and since we were in the neighborhood, we did a repeat of #3. (Let’s call it #3B!)



It was 11 PM now, and we wanted to get out 13 rides wrapped up, so we headed BACK to Fantasyland to ride IT’s a Small World, DWs favorite ride and #12 on our list.





Note the time on the big clock as we entered the queue. With that ride wrapped up, we had one left to hit, and that was Mickey’s Philharmagic. Well, we timed things just wrong here, and ended up having to wait a full cycle for this show, but that gave us #13, and we had seen all our “Must Do” attractions. Stay behind the yellow lines please!!



Once we got out of the ride, we felt like we still needed to do SOMETHING else to enjoy part of the EMH, so we decided to head back and ride Haunted Mansion again. We followed that up with a walk through New Fantasyland and a ride under the sea with Ariel’s undersea adventure. We debated stopping to see Ariel herself since there was zero wait and she was still out greeting, but our energy was starting to wane. We instead decided to check on the 7DMT wait, which was STILL 30 minutes, so instead we headed out by walking through the Main Street stores.



It was about 1 AM when we left the park, and nearly 1:30 AM when we got back to our room. I honestly remember little from the end of this evening, which says how tired I was. I was definitely ready to sleep!

But, no rest for the wicked --- tomorrow it's time for more Food and Wine!!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow, bypassing 225 minutes of wait is a pretty good advertisement for FP+!

I think I agree with you about the new Mine Train ride - It is quite enjoyable and very smooth and it does make a "nice addition to Fantasyland" - BUT I don't think it is worth 60+ minute wait. After the novelty wears off I think I still would wait longer for Splash Mountain or ToT or Everest

Very bummed that Momento Mori wasn't yet open when we last went, though perhaps it is a good thing as I would find it very NSFW - Not Safe For Wallet

That looks like a nice pool at SSR and a really cute splash area!

There are certainly worse options than Cosmic Rays and I do like the variety - though not a fan of the different "bays" and that depending on what everyone wants you might have to wait in multiple lines

While there is something special to watching Wishes from Main St. the view of the fireworks from Fantasyland is really cool as there are shots going off in front of you and behind you - almost like you are "in" the show

Congrats on getting to all of your must do 13 attractions! Given the crowd levels and with taking a break I think that is pretty darn good

 

[khertz]

That's great that you were able to accomplish all your must-dos, especially with the size of those crowds. YIKES!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great way to get all 13 must-do's done!

Glad you got good mileage out of the FP+ system.

 

[skier_pete]

Wow, bypassing 225 minutes of wait is a pretty good advertisement for FP+!

I know, really. That's why I don't really "get" people that are like "It's to HARD!" Book 3 things that work for your plans. Take advantage.

That also doesn't include the 4th FP+ for BTMRR. It was only posted at 20 minutes, but we actually skipped 245 minutes of lines with our 5 FP.

I think I agree with you about the new Mine Train ride - It is quite enjoyable and very smooth and it does make a "nice addition to Fantasyland" - BUT I don't think it is worth 60+ minute wait. After the novelty wears off I think I still would wait longer for Splash Mountain or ToT or Everest.

It's not really designed to compete with those rides. More of a 'D' Ticket than an 'E' Ticket. Although the original 'D's included the Skyway, the Railroad, and the Tiki Room - so maybe 'E' is appropriate!

Very bummed that Momento Mori wasn't yet open when we last went, though perhaps it is a good thing as I would find it very NSFW - Not Safe For Wallet

There's a lot of sales going through that little store!

That looks like a nice pool at SSR and a really cute splash area!

Yes, it was. I liked the pool better than the Boardwalk pool, which we checked out later.

There are certainly worse options than Cosmic Rays and I do like the variety - though not a fan of the different "bays" and that depending on what everyone wants you might have to wait in multiple lines

That can be annoying, even though we noted that some items are available in multiple bays. For two adults such as us, it was easy, but with little kids it definitely could be a PITA.

While there is something special to watching Wishes from Main St. the view of the fireworks from Fantasyland is really cool as there are shots going off in front of you and behind you - almost like you are "in" the show

It's interesting to watch this way occasionally, but I much prefer from the front of the castle as designed.

Congrats on getting to all of your must do 13 attractions! Given the crowd levels and with taking a break I think that is pretty darn good

I didn't include Wishes in the list of 13...so maybe it's 14. Awww, I like the sound of 13 better.

That's great that you were able to accomplish all your must-dos, especially with the size of those crowds. YIKES!

I have to say that the crowds by around 1 PM were probably about the worst I've ever seen in Magic Kingdom, understanding that we always visit "off-peak" and usually avoid the "not recommmended" parks. That particular day we KNEW going in was going to be a popular day (two days before and one day after all MNSSHPs plus EMH plus Saturday) but we wanted to see Wishes so it was really the day that worked best for us.

We were out of the park for probably about 5 hours in the middle of the day, so we certainly could've done more, but we had about 10 hours in the park which was plenty.

Great way to get all 13 must-do's done!

Glad you got good mileage out of the FP+ system.

I still miss the days where we could get 7-8 FP, horde them, and really never wait in a line, but I do admit that I think this system is a bit "fairer" as the FP lines don't seem so full, and the standby lines not as bad as before. (With the caveat that the rides that didn't used to have FP+ now have longer standby lines - HM and IASW prime examples.)

 

[PrincessInOz]

I still miss the days where we could get 7-8 FP, horde them, and really never wait in a line, but I do admit that I think this system is a bit "fairer" as the FP lines don't seem so full, and the standby lines not as bad as before. (With the caveat that the rides that didn't used to have FP+ now have longer standby lines - HM and IASW prime examples.)

I did too. But I did like not having having to 'run' and collect the FP. I think that 5 FP in a day would be a fair trade; but 4 is not too bad either.

 

[skier_pete]

You know, I swore I posted an further update, but I have to admit that I'm a little screwed up. On December 17th I got a call from my mother that my step-father had been taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest and before we knew it he was gone. I had to immediately make arrangements to fly out to Arizona, and I've been out here in the desert since the 18th. We've been so busy dealing with this. DW and DD are actually flying out to Arizona on the 26th, so we are holding off any Christmas "celebration" (such as it is) until tomorrow. I've spent the day working on my Trip Report. I'm actually on Day 5, but just now realized I never posted Day 4.

Anyways, Merry Christmas to everyone, and here's hoping yours is better than mine this year! On with the trip report...

Day 4 -You may have noticed that we have been out pretty late the last two nights of this trip.

You may also have noticed that DW and I are not in our teens or twenties anymore.

Did that stop us from getting up bright and early on the 4th day of our five day trip?

Well, sort of.

We actually got up around 7 AM, but we were moving a bit slow this morning. This was partly as intentional, as we didn’t have any reason to get to the park at rope drop. We were finally heading back on the food and wine kick, and 11 AM was our main focus.

That said, we did have a FP+ for Soarin’ between 9:40 AM and 10:40 AM. So we were fully prepared to be out to the bus stop by 9:30 AM.

I do have to mention that it was another beautiful day weather-wise. We really have absolutely no complaints about the weather. A tad warm maybe mid-day for my preference, but clear and warm and not overly humid is far from the worst weather you could get at WDW.

Back to the story – we were at the bust stop waiting for a bus, and it seemed our good bus karma for the trip came to a screeching halt. We were waiting for the bus about 10-15 minutes, when an EPCOT bus came round the bend. However, it never came into our bus loop, and scooted completely past the Congress Park bus stop. :EEK! Now, we were thinking “that’s OK, their must be another one right behind it”. Nope, we sat there through 3 or 4 of every other bus possible, but no EPCOT. Finally after about 35-40 minutes total we got a bus.

The problem now was making our FP+. Again, the window closed at 10:40 AM, and it’s now like 10:10 AM and we are getting on the bus to go to the park. We knew we had a little bit of late flex, but would’ve been pretty pissed had we missed our FP window since this was really the only FP we cared about today.

Well, I’ll cut the suspension and tell you we JUST made the window by about 1 minute. Yeah for Soarin’!





When we got off the ride, it was after 11 AM already. Damn to Future World, there’s food to eat and Wine to drink!



We decided today to head in the same direction we have every time, towards Mexico. We had a few sporadic booths that we had not hit yet, though the first of them (Mexico) we skipped right over. Instead, we went 3 countries deep and stopped in China.





In previous year’s round we had the Black Pepper Shrimp, and while it was good the portion of pasta was large, so we decided to try something else. I had the Bejing Roasted Duck on Steamed Bun.



The duck was tasty, while the bun was extremely bland. The garnish didn’t add much, so I gave this one a 3 out of 5. I also had a Tsingtao beer, a light Japanese pilsner type that I actually enjoy much more than most American pilsners and rated a 3 out of 5. (Somehow our drinks are in the wrong pictures.) DW had a glass of the Coppola Reisling which she liked very much (4 of 5) but didn’t think there was anything special about the pot-stickers, and I agreed (3 out of 5).



After China came South Korea (I missed the picture of the booth) where I can’t say we were too enamored of the choices. I actually thought we tasted something here the first night, but the pictures don’t lie. We had a Kimchi Dog with Spicy Mustard. The best I could say is we liked the mustard. Only a 2 for this dish from both of us.



The next stop on our list was for some reason right outside of Germany; Singapore.





DW ordered the Seared Mahi Mahi with Jasmine Rice and “singa” sauce. She thought the fish was OK but didn’t much care for the sauce and gave it a 2.



I ordered the other dish- the Lemongrass Chicken Curry with Coconut and Jasmine Rice



I have to say I usually like curries, but this one I didn’t care for. Maybe it was the lemongrass and the coconut, but I didn’t think much of this and gave it a 2 on our taste scale.

If nothing else though – we found a nice place to enjoy our Singapore treats, looking out across the lagoon:





As we headed for Italy, DW insisted on getting another portion of the Schinkennudeln, which she rated a 5 on our fist day. Still a five!



Our fourth booth of the day was the Italian booth. We had timed our travels so that we would just catch the new act in Italy, so we picked out some food and went over to the nearby Pavillion.





DW got the Ravioli alla Caprese. She loves Caprese salad (Mozzerella, Tomato and Basil) but thought that this dish was just OK. I agreed, and we rated it a 3.



As I loaded my photos I discovered that somehow I don’t have a picture of my dish, the Filletto di Pollo con Fungi al Marsala – in other words, Chicken Marsala. This was EXCELLENT and a rather large portion too. The chicken tasted fresh and the sauce was delicious. DW noted that this dish reminded her of childhood. (I’m just reading her notes.) We both gave it a solid 4.

To Be Continued...

 

[skier_pete]

In the meantime, the flag troops marched out from behind the scenes.







This new show, called Sbandieratori Di Sansepolcro, I suppose replaced the Ziti sisters, which I didn’t think were all that great. Well, this was a great show, as it was brief (about 10 minutes) entertaining, ethnic to the region (I’m looking at you Lumberjack show) and something you probably have never seen before. The four performers and 5 musicians did a display of flag twirling and throwing. This may sound sort of lame, but it was very impressive. I hope these pictures can capture some of that.





















This show was brand-brand new (like this was the 2nd day of it) so my guess is they will tweak the show a bit, but it was great fun and the cast was willing to pose with guests after the show was over.



Once that was done, the timing was just right to go and see the Voices of Liberty. DD and I had seen them for the first time the year before, and I knew DW would love the show because she loves choirs and sings in one herself.

Not surprisingly their show was great. They did about ½ a dozen songs as a “opening act” for the American Adventure.





Panoramic View of Voices of Liberty:



After the show we didn’t want to see the American Adventure, so we decided to check out the CHASE lounge, where Chase credit card holders could come in, get a free non-alcoholic beverage, and rest a bit. This was up on the 2nd floor of the American Pavillion, and it was kind of cool. They even had a couple of videogame stations for the kids. DD would’ve been in heaven!





While we were here we discovered that Chase also sponsored the “Eat to the Beat” concerts, and as such we could get a reserved seat wristband for the show tonight. I forget now which show we picked (I think the middle one) but they gave us wristbands we wore the rest of the day.

After our little rest break we went back outside. We actually didn’t have a ton of time left before our wine/culinary seminars started, so we stopped at one more food booth, Hops and Barley.






This used to have one of our favorites, the lobster roll, but they decided to change it up this year. Instead, the served a Lobster Alfredo. I have to say that this was a bit disappointing. The Alfredo was just OK, and the little chuck of lobster was hidden in the very center of the pot. I’d rate this a 3 and at the price point of $6.50 I would NOT buy this one again.



In honor of one of our DIS-friends, I tried a Hanson Brothers MMMM-HOPS! The beer was quite good.



We made one more quick stop on our way to catch a boat across the lake. One our favorite stops…Karamel Kuchen!! I had the caramel coated marshmallows and DW got something that was basically just caramel and cream.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I have to say that I am ashamed to have not noticed that you were posting Day 5 after Day 3. My excuse is that Day 3 to Day 5 was so seamless that I really didn't notice at all.


But what a great Day 4 so far! Glad to see you made Soarin' with a minute to spare. I wonder if they still have the 5 minute grace period or if the cutoff is harsh.
That flag throwing act looks great! It does look really impressive and I hope to catch it someday.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

First, very sorry to hear about your step-father ... sounds like it was quite the shock which can make it even harder.

Glad you made it in time for your Soarin' FP+ ... I do think they need to figure something out for when it is legit not your fault for missing a FP+ - such as like this with the bus being delayed or if a meal runs long/starts late, that sort of thing

I recall last year really like the steamed bun at China - sounds like this years was pretty good too, though maybe not as good.

Glad you enjoyed the Flag show and happy to see that at least this change was to something more legit to the region and a good show

 

[skier_pete]

I have to say that I am ashamed to have not noticed that you were posting Day 5 after Day 3. My excuse is that Day 3 to Day 5 was so seamless that I really didn't notice at all.


But what a great Day 4 so far! Glad to see you made Soarin' with a minute to spare. I wonder if they still have the 5 minute grace period or if the cutoff is harsh.
That flag throwing act looks great! It does look really impressive and I hope to catch it someday.

Sorry for the confusion. You did not miss something! I haven't posted Day 5 yet. I write my TRs in a word document and then I post them in bunches. This way I can work on it in whatever time allows. In this case, I had written about 1/2 of day 4 already before I left home - but I thought I had posted it a few days before my step-dad died. In the meantime, I finished writing Day 4 and started on Day 5. Then I went back to the TR today to post the 2nd part of Day 4, only to discover I never posted the first part!!! So the TR is still in order, it's just my own muddled mind that is confused.

First, very sorry to hear about your step-father ... sounds like it was quite the shock which can make it even harder.

Glad you made it in time for your Soarin' FP+ ... I do think they need to figure something out for when it is legit not your fault for missing a FP+ - such as like this with the bus being delayed or if a meal runs long/starts late, that sort of thing

I recall last year really like the steamed bun at China - sounds like this years was pretty good too, though maybe not as good.

Glad you enjoyed the Flag show and happy to see that at least this change was to something more legit to the region and a good show

Thank you for the sympathy. It's been a difficult week.

I agree that the big difficulty of restricting FP+ return times is that risk that you could miss it through no fault of your own. And if it's a "big" ride (I.E. one that "Sells out" early) then there is no way to move it to later because it's all booked up. (Our being stranded on Pirates is another example of this.) One of the tricks of this as a good planner is to avoid these situations as best you can. So far, we have never missed a FP+ that we didn't intentionally miss.

The meat in the steamed bun was quite tasty. I just didn't think the texture of the bun itself was very good. (I expect it to not be "flavorful", it's a steamed bun, right?)

The flag show is great! They made a good call on that one. I'll get to my comments on the "other" show (lumberjacks) when I get to Day 5!

 

[franandaj]

First off all, I'm very sorry to hear about your Step Father and so suddenly that's awful. I know you had some far away plans with your mother and step father involving Disneyland. I hope that mother is able to get through this. So very sad.

I got very behind with out of town guests, getting sick and more out of town guests (family) who just left today so I'm going to play catch up today.

I'm glad that you hit all 13 of your rides in MK, that's quite a few as far as my book goes. I kind of like the idea of FP+ that you can bypass some of the lines, but don't like the idea that you micro manage your days two months in advance.

Sounds like you got a lot done during F&W in a short period of time. Your DW picked my favorite candy from Karamel Kuche, I love that one!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Dang! I really thought I'd put my sympathies in for your stepfather as well. I'm absolutely sure I wrote my condolences but it seems to be missing.

Condolences on your step-father. I wish you all peace and long life.

 

[Tinker326]

So sorry to hear about your loss- especially at the holidays. And I know from experience how much stress & work it is dealing with the affairs of a parent. It really takes a lot of you. I hope you were able to salvage a little bit of the holidays........

You guys are doing a great job hitting all the food & wine booths! Bravo!

I had real Beijing Duck in Beijing. It was gross. Plus it's served with it's head still attached which makes it grosser. Ha!

Oh and Kurt caved. Becca was relentless with her Disney request for Christmas & 13th Birthday combined. She asked for nothing else.. so we gave her a trip to Disney. Just her & me.. (and her BFF Annie with her friends' mother). I think we are doing October. Charlie is pissed. Becca's planning the whole shebang and she spent all Christmas researching hotels and declared " Mom, I've decided on the Grand Floridian". So I declared "Un-decide the Grand Floridian and try again"

Have a Happy New Year!

 

[skier_pete]

First off all, I'm very sorry to hear about your Step Father and so suddenly that's awful. I know you had some far away plans with your mother and step father involving Disneyland. I hope that mother is able to get through this. So very sad.

Thank you. We were really hoping to take them both, though my step-dad was maybe not going to go to the parks. I'm still hoping we can take my mom next February. I think she'd really enjoy it, especially if we can get into VGC DVC.

I'm glad that you hit all 13 of your rides in MK, that's quite a few as far as my book goes. I kind of like the idea of FP+ that you can bypass some of the lines, but don't like the idea that you micro manage your days two months in advance.

Sounds like you got a lot done during F&W in a short period of time. Your DW picked my favorite candy from Karamel Kuche, I love that one!

Yeah, we were perfectly happy to get the 13 we wanted. I don't mind the micromanaging of FP+, that's my style anyways!

I think my favorite thing at Karamel Kuche is...anything at Karamel Kuche.

Dang! I really thought I'd put my sympathies in for your stepfather as well. I'm absolutely sure I wrote my condolences but it seems to be missing.

Condolences on your step-father. I wish you all peace and long life.

Thank you so much.

So sorry to hear about your loss- especially at the holidays. And I know from experience how much stress & work it is dealing with the affairs of a parent. It really takes a lot of you. I hope you were able to salvage a little bit of the holidays........

It hasn't been the greatest, Christmas was very hard to be away from DW and DD. At least we've had nice weather!

I had real Beijing Duck in Beijing. It was gross. Plus it's served with it's head still attached which makes it grosser. Ha!

Eek!

Oh and Kurt caved. Becca was relentless with her Disney request for Christmas & 13th Birthday combined. She asked for nothing else.. so we gave her a trip to Disney. Just her & me.. (and her BFF Annie with her friends' mother). I think we are doing October. Charlie is pissed. Becca's planning the whole shebang and she spent all Christmas researching hotels and declared " Mom, I've decided on the Grand Floridian". So I declared "Un-decide the Grand Floridian and try again"

That's a good one! Now you gotta get Kurt to cave on that DVC purchase!

Have a Happy New Year!

DD keeps asking to play minecraft with your girls. Hope we can arrange it after the new year!

 

[khertz]

First off, so sorry to hear that about your step-dad. That's really terrible, especially around the holidays.


Day 4 looks like it's off to a good start. Despite that bus drama, you still made it in time for Soarin' so yay!

Lots of good F&W eats today. Y'all definitely made the most of your F&W time! I love the idea of timing some of your snacks with the World Showcase entertainment. I'll admit, I was skeptical about the flag show in Italy, but it actually looks very cool in your photos. We will have to make sure we stop for that next trip. And the Voices of Liberty are always a treat.

In honor of one of our DIS-friends, I tried a Hanson Brothers MMMM-HOPS! The beer was quite good.

Wonder who that could be??

 

[Teetah]

FINALLY catching up...I am so sorry for the MIA-ness! Can't wait to read thru this...love the bus karma idea - I think you are right on with being kind in the parks...imagine if everyone operated that way!

 

[Teetah]

I also texted “Teetah”, the DISer who we were planning on meeting up with for a time today. As it happens, we beat them to the park! (How far did you guys have to travel?) It took us a while to catch up with them, but eventually we did.

I probably didn't tell you - but we did Harry Potter World that morning! So we were heading over from another amusement park...I honestly can't believe we made it thru that entire day. And you would know this if I had completed my trip report! :