Oops, We Forgot to Leave Our Weather at Home! A Fantastic Festival of the Arts 2025 TR! (RL Update 4/6 x2!!)

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Day 3, Part 3: Still Braving the Rain​

We last left off heading toward the American pavilion to get some food at the festival food booth.

Mom snapped a quick pick in front of a festival sign on the way!



Here I had mom save a table that was under the roof since it was raining, while I got the food. The crowds hadn’t quite made it back there yet, so there were only like 2 people in line so it was quick. I picked up the deviled eggs for my mom, the chicken pot pie and the chocolate peanut butter stout for myself, and somehow made it back to the table without spilling any of it!





We really liked everything here, even the fake deviled eggs!

After finishing that round of food, I ran up for a second round! This time there was a line so it was about a 15 minute wait, but still not horrible. I got the deviled eggs for myself and the hummingbird cake for my mom.





Again, we were really impressed with the food here.

While eating my mom was really starting to freeze, so when she finished before me, I offered to clean everything up after I finished and she could go right into the art store next to us immediately to warm up and I’d meet her once I finished. She liked that idea so headed over to the store.

I took a few more minutes to finish up the food and drink, then cleaned the table off before joining my mom.

We browsed the store a bit, and there was so much there I liked, but I finally just got a small print of the Yacht Club.



Mom was still freezing at that point, and it was just getting rainier and windier, so we decided to head out.

On the way, we decided to pop into Japan to do something I've been wanting to do for years...pick a pearl! There was one family ahead of us in line, so we went and paid and got our number and went to watch their ceremony while waiting for ours. Before long it was our turn, and it was so fun! I tried to pick the ugliest oyster since I've heard those have the best pearls, not sure it's true, but I got a pretty decent pearl in mine!
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https://flic.kr/p/2qS2q9Y

This was so much fun, I love the little ceremony they do, I'm so happy we finally got around to doing this!

After getting the pearl we continued our way out of the park.

We were almost out when mom suddenly remembered we had a DAS for Remy, so we headed back there.

We scanned in and made our way and quickly made our way to the loading area to wait for our rat. Just as we were about to get on, the ride went down! Nooooo! Seriously, this ride does this a lot to us!

We got the anytime LL just in case, then made our way out of the park to warm up and dry off for a bit!

Next up: What Would Be Our Last Jellyrolls Visit​

 

[summerlvr]

I'm really enjoying reading your trip report! Also just have to mention that I think have that exact same umbrella that you have!

 

[zanzibar138]

It looks like you were there the week after us, and considering how awful our week was with the weather, I'm not too surprised the waits jumped up the following week, but still wild to see LWTL with over a 30 minute wait when it doesn't have the holiday overlay!

Yeah we'd heard about the terrible weather immediately before our visit so figured some of the crowds were due to pent-up demand from people waiting for nicer weather.

We arrived at 11:01, and there were tons of people there already! What?!?! Seriously, where did all these people come from? The previous few days the parks were empty, which was expected due to the rain, but it was STILL raining this day and of the past few days this was the worst weather of the three days! Why did everyone decided to come on this random rainy Thursday?

Yeah I would not expect a pub to be that busy at 11am lol! Did you ever find out why it was so crowded that day?

We really liked everything here, even the fake deviled eggs!

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what made them fake?

On the way, we decided to pop into Japan to do something I've been wanting to do for years...pick a pearl!

Ooh, I didn't know that was a thing - sounds like fun! What are you going to do with the pearl?

We were almost out when mom suddenly remembered we had a DAS for Remy, so we headed back there.

Good thing you were exiting from the international gateway - that would have been a long walk back from the main entrance! Particularly only to have it break down once you got there

 

[Wood Nymph]

On the way, we decided to pop into Japan to do something I've been wanting to do for years...pick a pearl!

The pick a pearl is a lot of fun. I know someone who does it every year.

We scanned in and made our way and quickly made our way to the loading area to wait for our rat. Just as we were about to get on, the ride went down! Nooooo! Seriously, this ride does this a lot to us!

We got the anytime LL just in case, then made our way out of the park to warm up and dry off for a bit!

I hate when that happens! The rain and cold didn't help, either. At least the food at the American pavilion was good. It was nice to be so close to the Yacht Club for an easy return.

 

[VAtink]

I'm really enjoying reading your trip report! Also just have to mention that I think have that exact same umbrella that you have!

Thank you! Oh the polka dot one? I love that umbrella! I like bright happy umbrellas to cheer up a rainy day.

 

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Yeah we'd heard about the terrible weather immediately before our visit so figured some of the crowds were due to pent-up demand from people waiting for nicer weather.

Yeah, I'm not surprised, the first sunny day of our trip the parks were crazy packed, I think a lot of people were waiting for the sun to finally come out and for it to warm up!

Yeah I would not expect a pub to be that busy at 11am lol! Did you ever find out why it was so crowded that day?

Right? I was so surprised to see how many people were already there! I have no idea why it was so crowded that day, I guessed that people were just sick of waiting for the bad weather to leave and started to come back, but who knows. There may have been an event or something that weekend that brought the crowds.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what made them fake?

They were just hardboiled eggs with toppings, so the yolk wasn't mixed in with the topping.

Ooh, I didn't know that was a thing - sounds like fun! What are you going to do with the pearl?

It was so fun, I kind of want to do it again! I ended up buying a cheap setting for it while there, but I'll probably bring it to a jeweler here at some point to get a nicer setting. I'd like to use it on a necklace.

Good thing you were exiting from the international gateway - that would have been a long walk back from the main entrance! Particularly only to have it break down once you got there

Oh I know, if we had been at the front of the park I'm not sure we'd head all the way back to Remy!

 

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The pick a pearl is a lot of fun. I know someone who does it every year.

It really is, I do want to do it again, the family ahead of us got a black pearl and a pinkish one, and now I want to try to get one of those too!

I hate when that happens! The rain and cold didn't help, either. At least the food at the American pavilion was good. It was nice to be so close to the Yacht Club for an easy return.

Me too, and it seems to happen a lot with that ride. I think pretty much at least once a trip it has gone down just before we've gotten on.

 

[summerlvr]

Thank you! Oh the polka dot one? I love that umbrella! I like bright happy umbrellas to cheer up a rainy day.

Yes! I love mine too, and it always comes to Disney with me!

 

[Mary Pops In]

Ok, I need to crowdsource some ideas for our June trip. I'll be coming in a day before my mom, and staying at CSR club level that first night before moving over to WL CL. I've been debating what I want to do that first day and I cannot make up my mind! I should be getting in sometime in the morning so have a good amount of time that day for something (and yes, I realize I probably just jinxed myself ) So far the options I've come up with are:

1. Spend the day exploring the resort and enjoying the pool and grounds (and club level).
2. Head to AK to get food at Nomad and see the baby tiger.
3. Go to MK to get another silhouette or two done of my other pets. (and I also kinda want to get a funny one of me with the dolphin we met on the Dolphins in Depth tour).
4. Go to Disney Springs for food and retail therapy.

Soooo, what would ya'll pick? Or do you have other ideas? I'm open to anything! (mostly)

Make a reservation at the Spa at the Grand Floridian for a massage. I've been doing this my last few trips & it's a wonderful experience. On our Farts trip, I made a reservation for my daughter who landed around noon. She changer her Mear's drop off point to the Grand and checked her bag before her 230 appointment. She had enough time to enjoy the sauna.

 

[VAtink]

Make a reservation at the Spa at the Grand Floridian for a massage. I've been doing this my last few trips & it's a wonderful experience. On our Farts trip, I made a reservation for my daughter who landed around noon. She changer her Mear's drop off point to the Grand and checked her bag before her 230 appointment. She had enough time to enjoy the sauna.

Ohhhhh, I like that idea! I would worry about flight delays though, especially for me since my flights are delayed more often than not!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Umm...what is a snakebite??

 

[VAtink]

Umm...what is a snakebite??

Hard cider mixed with a lager (I think typically Harp). It's pretty good, and my mom LOVES them!

 

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Day 3, Part 3: What Would be Our Last Jellyrolls Visit ​

We last left off heading back to the room for a break to warm up and dry off.

Around 2:30 we started to chat about what we wanted to do that afternoon. Originally, we had planned to go back to Epcot, but with the rain and the crowds that didn’t seem very appealing anymore. Seriously, even though it wasn’t a downpour, this day had the worst weather. It was just a constant rain all day long that never stopped, and it was freezing! We ended up deciding to head down to the Boardwalk Deli to get some dinner there instead so made our way down there.

I ended up getting the turkey sandwich with the tomato basil soup, and mom got the mixed berry salad with chicken again.

Once we had the food, we swung by the margarita place where I picked up the sunshine margarita since I frankly needed SOME sunshine this day!

We took the food upstairs to enjoy in the room before showering and getting ready for the evening. For some reason the only picture I got of the food was my soup.



The food was really good, although I still think the turkey sandwich at the YC is better.

We hung around the room for a bit longer, and my mom was having the hardest time with this one pillow on her bed. It was like a bolster pillow, and she had no idea what to do with it so kept moving it around and trying different configurations. At one point I look over and it looks like she's trying to make a pillow fort on her bed!

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We were in a silly mood at that point and when we got to discussing what to wear that night since I didn't really want to bring my umbrella, my mom decided that we should wear bags over our head.

Sometimes we have a little too much fun.

Around 6:45 we made our way out to our next activity, Jellyrolls!

We got there at 6:52, and arrived just after a large group. We chatted with them while we waited for Jellyrolls to open, they were all really nice.

The doors opened just past 7, and we made our way in. We were worried the large group ahead of us would take the entire front row, but they ended up sitting towards the back, so we were able to snag our usual table!





We really really really hoped our favorite pianist would be there that evening, Scotty, but sadly he wasn’t. So all the pianist were completely new to us, but they were good! Not as good as the pre-pandemic guys, well, two of them were, the other two didn’t know a lot of the words to the songs and only seemed to be able to play todays top hits.

The first two who played were the really good ones, Michael and Spencer. It’s funny, Michael reminded me a bit of the former player Ray, and Spencer reminded me SO much of the former player Michael.

These two interacted with the crowd a lot more, including my mom and I. They ended up playing my mom’s song first, Walking on Sunshine (appropriate for such a rainy day!), and after they asked who requested that, so I yelled that my mom had. We had a fun interaction before they got back to playing.

After a while the second duo came out, and they just didn’t work the crowd the same, and so many of the songs they messed up the words! They also didn’t do all of the funny bantering that we’re so used to from the pianists, so they just weren’t as entertaining to us.

The good news is, they switch off every hour or so, so eventually Michael and Spencer came back out!

We ended up staying until a bit after midnight, just before midnight, my mom ran back to the bathroom and ran into Michael back there and he asked her if there was any song she requested that hadn’t been played yet, so she requested Pretty Woman, and he promised he’d play it when he was back on the piano.

So we waited until Spencer and Michael came back out, and sure enough, the second song they played was Pretty Woman!

We decided to stay for one more song after that before heading out. It was so funny, as we were leaving Spencer stopped playing to wave goodbye to us!

Overall it was a fun night, but I do really miss the old players, while Spencer and Michael did a great job and were pretty equivalent to them, the other two were not at that same level. Another thing we noticed, that we never saw pre-covid, was the place cleared out so early! By about 10:30 there were tons of empty tables. Also, the crowd this evening was so different than what we were used to seeing in the past. While there were a few tables really into the music and singing and interacting with the players, the vast majority were not. Most people were just playing on their phones most of the time until the song they requested came up where they’d pay attention for that before immediately going back to playing on their phone.

We left a bit after midnight, and were shocked when we got outside there was a few groups who left shortly before us running around yelling up and down the Boardwalk. I felt so bad for people with rooms in that area, I’m sure this happens a lot, but we’ve never seen it in all the years we’ve been going to Jellyrolls. And then when we got to the Village Green, there was a group hanging around smoking pot. It hit me then why Disney might not want Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk anymore! I’m still so sad it’s leaving though, we LOVED that place so much, I really hope it moves somewhere close enough we can still visit occasionally.

Next up: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow!​

 

[Stacybaeasm]

You know, that's one thing I've never done - Jellyrolls. It somehow just never fits into the day. Now it's leaving. Whelp...there goes another one.

 

[Wood Nymph]

It hit me then why Disney might not want Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk anymore! I’m still so sad it’s leaving though, we LOVED that place so much, I really hope it moves somewhere close enough we can still visit occasionally.

We have been staying at the Epcot resorts since the 1990's and have never been in Jellyrolls. It never looked like anyone was in there.

 

[VAtink]

You know, that's one thing I've never done - Jellyrolls. It somehow just never fits into the day. Now it's leaving. Whelp...there goes another one.

Aw, I mean if you book a quick trip in the next few weeks you could go! And they claim they're just moving, so maybe if they're nearby you can make it over at some point.

 

[VAtink]

We have been staying at the Epcot resorts since the 1990's and have never been in Jellyrolls. It never looked like anyone was in there.

It used to be super busy back before covid, there were times we'd leave at midnight and there was still a line outside to get in, but since then its popularity has waned. It's unfortunate since it really is a lot of fun, but a lot of the fun depends on the crowd, and with the dwindling crowd it's just not the same these days. Hopefully the move revitalizes it!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Long time lurker, but I LOVE your TRs!!!

DH and I went to Jellyrolls on our honeymoon back in 2014 and had an absolute blast. They got a kick out of the fact that we requested they play Biz Markie's "Just A Friend" on our honeymoon- we thought it'd be funny to see them play and sing it, and they crushed it!

Strangely (despite the fact that we frequently stay at BWV), we have only been the one time. Bummer its moving, but like you said, hopefully somewhere close!

 

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Day 4, Part 1: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow!​

Well, actually, the sun finally came out today!

It took a while to see the sun, but at least the rain FINALLY stopped!

We got to sleep in again this morning, waking up around 8:30. We ate breakfast in bed before getting ready for the day.

We headed out to Epcot at 9:30 and were happy to see the line to get in was much shorter this morning!

We noticed this pretty Mickey flower bed on the way in this morning, it’s amazing how much more you notice when its not raining!



Once in, we made our way towards the front of the park getting photopass pictures! We really wanted a bunch of pictures where it wasn’t raining!











Afterwards we started to make our way over to Guardians for our LL, but just as we got there, it went down. So we discussed what we wanted to do and ended up booking a DAS to meet the characters. The return time wasn’t for a little bit though, so we ended up heading back to the center area (I really hate calling it world celebration ) to get more photopass pictures! (Picture dump time!)













Next up: Sunny Day = Photoshoot!​

 

[VAtink]

Long time lurker, but I LOVE your TRs!!!

Thank you!!

DH and I went to Jellyrolls on our honeymoon back in 2014 and had an absolute blast. They got a kick out of the fact that we requested they play Biz Markie's "Just A Friend" on our honeymoon- we thought it'd be funny to see them play and sing it, and they crushed it!

That's awesome! The players are so incredibly talented, I'm always amazed when they don't know a song they go back and learn it during their break, it's so cool!

Strangely (despite the fact that we frequently stay at BWV), we have only been the one time. Bummer its moving, but like you said, hopefully somewhere close!

Yeah, I really hope it stays nearby. It would be nice to go occasionally still!