(Updated 9/17) 10th Anniversary at the Contemporary! - May 2024 TR

[Araminta18]

What a fun day!

It was such a fun day - low key and hot but still so fun.

 

[Araminta18]

Genie Magic and Topiaries - Tuesday, May 7, 2024 (part 3)​

After resting for about an hour, we woke up and were ready to get going again. Well, I was - I was in the corner and comfy with throw pillows, but apparently Trevor didn't get quite as rested as I did. Oh well. We got some snacks and some mint tea (which was weirdly refreshing), and then met the Genie!


This was really fun - Genie was super playful and funny. And the wait was only like 5 minutes, so a super nice perk.

We left at about 5:10, with the plan being to enjoy the food booths and the topiaries, ride Guardians, and head back to the hotel - super leisurely.

First off, we picked up some cherry cookies from the stand in Morocco (these are delicious - if you haven't had them I highly recommend it!), and then started walking. We ran into the Japan booth and got the watermelon strawberry lemonade.

I'm not a big watermelon fan but this was delicious and super refreshing. Also, did you guys all know that watermelon and strawberry is a good flavor combo? I was pleasantly surprised! Trevor also like this - he said it was better than he thought.

We also saw the dragon topiary!

The topiaries really are my favorite part of Flower and Garden.

We kept walking, and running into the fun displays.

I love how this is not just Tiana but a whole setting. She looks so good!

Hi Snow White!

And her dwarves!

I also thought these non-IP dwarves/trolls were super cute:

My mother in law loves this style - she'd love these cute little guys!


This one isn't a topiary but so cute with the little houses/garden thing. Not sure what to call it, but I liked it. More of this please Disney!

This was also where we got some more food - Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with black forest ham and melted cheese.

This doesn't look like much, but I really liked it. Yummy and cheesy. Trevor liked the pretzel bread but didn't love the cheese 'cause he's weird and doesn't like melted cheese.

 

[Araminta18]

More Topiaries and More Snacks - Tuesday, May 7, 2024 (part 4)​

After the hot cheesy bread we needed something cold, so we continued to Refreshment Port and Trevor got the Tangerine Soft Serve in Red Cream Soda.

Now he really got this 'cause it was red cream soda, but adding the ice cream didn't hurt at all! Trevor loves red cream soda but it's not a common flavor around here, so any time he sees it he always gets it. But he said the soft serve was good enough that he absolutely would have gotten it on it's own.

We kept going - look at these adorable panda bear topiaries!

We lost our panda bears at the National Zoo here in DC so I'll take the panda topiaries in the meantime.

Course we had to get food, cause they had House-made Cheesy Crab Wontons and I love cheese wontons. One nice thing about the heat and being a Tuesday is that there were no lines at the food booths!

These were as good as you'd expect - the sauce was a bit spicy, just a hint of crab...yum. We won't think about how you can get cream cheese wontons at panda express, 3 for $2.00 and these were $8.25.

More topiaries!


These are fun! I kind of want these...they seem easy like I couldn't kill them. I'd probably still kill them. My thumb is black.


Hi Donald!

We made it over to Guardians so we tapped in, and I realized just now that we'd used a lightning lane earlier - this was when we used our virtual queue. And the line was ALL backed up.

Backed up basically to the entrance. But it was about 6:15, and we had no plans except to watch fireworks in our room at 9, so meh. Might as well wait. And it was good a/c.

It ended up not being horrible - we were the last people in the first pre-show room, but the first people in the room with the cosmic generator (and no, I didn't push or shove - I just know where to go stand. ) We even waited one extra cycle to get row 9, but we were on the ride at 6:54 - about 40 minutes. Not bad!


Course, then the song we got was September so...*sigh*

Nah I know you all love it, and I don't hate it, but it is one of my two least favorite songs.

On the way out, we of course stopped for pictures!

Picture limit!

 

[Araminta18]

Winding Down - Tuesday, May 7, 2024 (part 5)​

Look at this super cute shot of Groot!


Since it was about 7 and we had a bit of free time, we went looking for a couple more topiaries-

Groot topiary! We got to hear it play "The Pina Colada Song" but the wheels didn't really turn except a tiny bit at the end. Not sure if that's normal or if it's broken?

Still fun to see and hear though.


We also found Buzz - gotta love a classic.

And since we were near Club Cool, we of course had to stop in and get a drink.

The raspberry soda from Moldova is my favorite. I wish they'd sell full size fills of it!

We started making our way out of Epcot, stopping at the stores there on either side of SpaceShip Earth to look around, and then we got sidetracked again by the SuperZoom shot in the front of SpaceShip Earth.

I think the SuperZooms are so fun - I wish they'd add them to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom!

We also got to see the Asha topiary! Too bad it wasn't quite dark enough to see her lighting up.

Super cute though. And the little donkey!

We saw the monorail pulling up right as we started to head up the ramp to catch the monorail. It was a LONG ramp, but we made it! Woohoo! We settled in and despite forgetting that the monorail goes the long way round to the Contemporary from the TTC, we were back in the room by 8:30. We showered and got all ready to watch the fireworks from our room - Trevor even ran downstairs and filled the refillable mug (twice!). We even had the glasses from our DVC tour that turned lights into Mickeys - we remembered them this time.

That added a fun element to it.

You can hear the echo of the "Happily Ever After" post-fireworks.

Now, what else did we have for the night? Bedtime?

HA! Dinner at California Grill! We ate here last year but I was getting a bit of a cold and couldn't really taste anything, so I wanted to go back and see how the food actually tasted. And it was so nice to just go downstairs to check in and upstairs to be seated - no fuss no muss.

We were seated by 9:40 - it was a pretty good view! Would have been nice for the fireworks (but still nicer from our room).


We started with drinks - I got a shirley temple and Trevor got a blackberry lemonade.


I think these are the same drinks we got last time, actually.

(boo picture limit)

 

[Araminta18]

California Grill Redux - Tuesday, May 7, 2024 (part 6)​

The service was pretty fast tonight - I think the staff wanted to go home! And that's definitely not a complaint. We eat fast, so fast service works. They brought us out sourdough bread with butter- delicious and warm. Yum. But super crumbly...I kind of made a mess. There was also a dip of roasted tomato garlic and olive that was good, if a bit too tomatoe-y for me. A good thing to hold us over til our appetizers came out - though again we didn't have to wait long.

I got the goat cheese raviolo:

This was delicious - and I could taste it this time, unlike last time. The dried mushrooms were actually really good (I don't usually like mushrooms). Trevor says that the worst part about mushrooms is the texture, so making them dried maybe fixes that.

Trevor got the surf and turf roll:

Trevor liked this - the red sauce was spicy, and the roll itself had lots of avocado and tuna and shrimp. It was too fishy for me, but he liked it.

Then our entrees. I got the Wagyu, which came with a bunch of accompaniments that they didn't really explain and I'm not entirely sure what they were:

Really I just wanted the wagyu, and the wagyu was indeed delicious. I didn't eat much of the rest.

Trevor got the ahi tuna:

This was good, though there was a bit of a weird crust on the tuna. Well weird crust for me - Trevor liked it. Which is the important thing since it's his dish, right?

While we were waiting for the desserts, the manager stopped by to wish us a Happy Anniversary and ask how we were enjoying the food and such. It was super nice! We're very awkward but it was really nice of him to stop by.

Then dessert! I got the cheese plate:


From left to right, the cheese was Ossau-Iraty, then Valencay, then Fourme d'Ambert (a blue cheese). I liked the Ossau-Iraty and thought it was good. the Valencay is coated in ash and that was good too - well, more interesting than good, but still. The blue cheese was meh - not my favorite. Then there was also an onion torte, a blueberry torte, and then pickled pear. The goat cheese with the onion tart was really good - I enjoyed mixing and matching all of them, really.

Trevor got their chocolate torte:

Super rich, but with some passionfruit jelly to help cut it. So a bit more interesting than just straight chocolate cake. They also brought us a mickey cake to celebrate our anniversary, since we don't drink (otherwise it would have been champagne, which is such a nice touch).

Not so hidden mickey.

Overall a really great dinner! We had fun enjoying the ambiance and the food, though it was a bit louder than I would have liked - there were some very happy people at the bar, laughing and talking VERY loudly. Reminded me of the drunk lady we met in line at GIdeon's the night before - just a ton of very very loud laughter. Glad they're having fun, I guess?

After dinner, it was super nice to take the elevator down just a couple floors and be immediately back in the room, before it even hit 11 pm. Lovely end to a nice day.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 20038 steps (9 miles)
Ride count: 3 (Guardians x2, Rise)
Savings due to AP discount: $67.35 (merch discount + 10% off at California Grill)
Refillable Mug Tally: 2 fills today (10 total)

 

[VAtink]

Love all the pictures of the topiaries, they do such an amazing job with them. Also love seeing the fireworks view you had from the Contemporary, less than two weeks until we finally get to experience that view!

I think the SuperZooms are so fun - I wish they'd add them to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom!

They actually do have a super zoom at HS (or at least did on our last trip)! It's right at the entrance to Docking Bay 7.

That goat cheese ravioli at California Grill is so good, I tried to make it at home but it wasn't even close to being as good as the one there.

 

[Araminta18]

Love all the pictures of the topiaries, they do such an amazing job with them. Also love seeing the fireworks view you had from the Contemporary, less than two weeks until we finally get to experience that view!

I hope you have an amazing time - can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!!!

They actually do have a super zoom at HS (or at least did on our last trip)! It's right at the entrance to Docking Bay 7.

Oh right! Duh. We haven't done that one in a while, though I kind of think one on Sunset Boulevard or on the main entrance could be fun.

That goat cheese ravioli at California Grill is so good, I tried to make it at home but it wasn't even close to being as good as the one there.

That's impressive! I feel like it would be hard to make. Where'd you find the recipe?

 

[erinch]

Love your reports!
You want to check ride count for May 6! I think that is the date. You did not count any of your MK rides.

 

[Araminta18]

Love your reports!
You want to check ride count for May 6! I think that is the date. You did not count any of your MK rides.

Oh good catch!!! I definitely copy and paste from each day and then update but clearly missed that one. Thanks!!

 

[Araminta18]

Split Day Trip Report - Wednesday May 8th 2024 (part 1)​

Welcome to another split day trip report! Trevor decided to head over to Universal today, so I was doing the day all by myself.

First off though, sunrise timelapse again.

Breakfast was the breakfast of champions - cherry cookies from Morocco and chocolate crumb cake on the balcony!



These cookies are definitely some of our newest favorite treats - they look hard but inside they are super soft and delicious. Highly recommend.


This one was interesting - it's like the coffee cake cookie, but in a cake form. We liked the cake itself, but there was a whole layer of cinnamon in between the frosting and the cake and it was OVERWHELMINGLY cinnamon-y. Too overpowering. Not our favorite. Oh well!

We got ready for the day and then headed downstairs- Trevor to catch an uber and me to head over to the Magic Kingdom. Trevor got suckered by uber again - it said cars were like 4 min away and then when he hit confirm, it was 16 minutes! Boooooo. I don't understand how uber does the algorithm - it looked like the uber who accepted our ride was not even on Disney property yet and still had to drop someone at the TTC, and so it ended up taking a solid 20 minutes. Boo.

Of course, it wasn't 20 minutes for me to get over to the Magic Kingdom. I walked over in about 10 minutes, and was soon passing under the train station! The Omnibus pulled up right as I walked in, so I was like "sure! why not take a ride down to the castle"

I was the first one on, so I got the front row on the upper deck!

I've never ridden this particular main street vehicle before, so it was a new experience to see Magic Kingdom from up above!


Highly recommend, if you ever get the chance.

Makes you feel all sorts of special!

Once at the castle, I decided to head over to Tomorrowland and ride Buzz. That seems to be my go-to in the mornings! Sadly though, Buzz was down, so I veered to the left and headed to the Peoplemover instead.

The peoplemover is so nice in the morning. And you can kind of see our room at the Contemporary there! Trevor says next time we stay theme park view at the Contemporary we should bring something to decorate our balcony to make it easier to spot from the peoplemover.

Right as I was on that last loop of the peoplemover, I saw that they'd let the crowds in a couple minutes early so I was like OH NO! And scurried over as fast as I could to try and beat the crowds to Buzz. I just made it! Phew. Sadly, I didn't make it as a Galactic Hero this time - 916900!!! So close.

But as I was lamenting being so close, the CM was like "just you? go again!" So I got to go around again and this time...

I got it!! 999,999 - and this was justly earned, no convenient stops in front of high value targets. Honestly, what put me over the top was the 25k target on top of the volcano - no one else was aiming for it, so I was able to aim and know exactly which red dot was mine and get like 350k just from that one target. Then I got a couple at the bottom of the ship to put me up to 999,999. Woohoo!

And of course, got my sticker!

But wait....had Trevor made it yet? Was he planning to rope-drop Hagrid's?! Picture limit...find out next time.