A Salute to all things Disney, but mostly Magic Bars; a July 4th 2019 TR*update 11/28 new TR link!

I don't know, I kind of think driving around in one might be nice. Probably a pain in crowds but still kind of fun?
I guess for some it would be lol! But for him he was just tired of having to do anything because of an injury!
That will be nice!!! That lobby was beautiful!
It is for sure. And the rooms are decent' not deluxe decent but nicer than the other moderate rooms although even being new French Quarter remains my favorite mod.
Did you guys go to 3 Bridges last time? I can't remember. We loved it.
Yes! We were able to see Illuminations from there which was nice and the drinks were good but we weren't fans of the food we tried. I'd go again if we were meeting friends there :) but after seeing the Dahlia Lounge upstairs last month I really want to go there!
 
This is heartbreaking, I might have actually lost it :sad: It's not quite in the same category to me as Great Movie Ride... but sometimes I wish Disney would just leave well enough alone :sad2: #changeresister :laughing:
I feel the same. I never LOVED Illuminations but I still morn Wishes and I totally loved GMR more than Illuminations; I feel that loss whenever we're in HS :(
 
It's just for summers and only the last couple years - maybe since GotG 2 came out?? I'm sure they'll keep it coming at least until the new ride opens just to keep up the hype...................
Makes sense.
Forever to Forgotten to ?????? I bet Forever will be the better of the shows and we'll all want to Forgotten the new one
Funny you should say that... sometimes Disney’s ideas of good is great... sometimes not so great. (I’m looking at you ROL.)
believe that's going to be part of the coming soon extra ticketed event, "Magic Kingdom After AFTER Hours ;) 🧜‍♀️
:rotfl2:
Your Disney snack goody box is getting bigger and bigger 🥥
Nope!!!
Ah apparently you share some of the same tastes as @pkondz lol
Because @Wood Nymph is smart!
 
Funny you should say that... sometimes Disney’s ideas of good is great... sometimes not so great. (I’m looking at you ROL.)
Oh boy :rolleyes: ROL......

We saw it about 3 weeks after it began with the ROL dining package at Tiffins. Fabulous, wonderful meal for a @$**& show. That was May 2017? So we just kept skipping it until this past September when I got the wonderful idea to see it again. WHY???? :scared: I mean they'd added a different ending kind of but otherwise same old ROL and not worth our time sorry to say. I guess that's why I didn't have high hopes for Epcot Forever but at least it's getting decent reviews? Hopefully I'll find out in a couple weeks!
Because @Wood Nymph is smart!
Well I certainly won't argue with that :thumbsup2:thumbsup2
 


I feel the same. I never LOVED Illuminations but I still morn Wishes and I totally loved GMR more than Illuminations; I feel that loss whenever we're in HS :(
I'm with you. And I honestly don't even know that I've sat through an entire Illuminations more than 3 times :scared1: But the music is beautiful and so Disney. I mourn "old Hollywood" whenever I'm in HS... or, as @kastoney accurately calls it, MGM. I love Star Wars beyond belief, but I really think HS has gone in a weird direction over the last several years.
 
THREE of those precious magic bars and 2 of these for good measure:

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Ooh, I'm familiar with your magic bar obviously, but what are these pretty things?

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I can't remember which 'munk it was but from this side view it looks like Chip?

Hard to say! The nose looks a little like Dale's maybe? Either way, such a cutie! My first watch on Disney + when I get through my school work is totally gonna be Rescue Rangers! (That, and that imagineering show!)

I know it's not discolored and no bones are sticking out, but see that bump on the side? Yeah, that's NOT supposed to be there. It was huge and soft and moved around when you touched it like a bubble or sack of water 🤢 so not good.

Ew. :( Poor Ricky! I'm so glad it wasn't a long-term issue.

I know you'll all be surprised to hear that Chris agreed to stay behind with him lol.

lol

Oh and this had been on the bed when the kids got back, they knew enough not to mess with it before I saw it!

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Smart kids not to mess it up. Soo cute!


Oh my gosh, these are so cute! I looooove the Olaf one.

I'll be in Universal for training and then our quick holiday Disney visit; can't wait!!!

Yay!

The main reason I wanted to come back here was to see the Guardians of the Galaxy show they offer just during the summer as we hadn't been the previous summer when they had the show for the first time.

I wish we'd had a chance to see this.

There was a lot of dancing but those aren't my best pictures and also singing and we liked it! I think the boys would have liked it too.

Awesome!!

FYI as we drove backstage on our VIP tour last month we saw the disassembled Illuminations globe lying around :(

:sad1:

And this pink slush?? I have no recollection of what this was called or what was in it but I do remember it was a special seasonal offering at Les Halles and it was good, I think it had the words summer slush in it:

Maybe la vie en rose? Looks tasty!

And I adore Geir Ness :love: On an earlier trip this year I was lucky enough to meet him and he even lotioned me up

:rotfl:

We monorailed back to the CR, Chris had been nice enough to go down to Contempo Cafe at some point and get dinner for both of them so Ricky could stay off his still swollen foot.

Aw Chris, such a good brother! Poor Ricky.
 
I'm all caught up!

Poor Ricky with that foot! I'm glad he was able to tough it out for FOP though, what a trooper!

Your evening looked nice even though the kiddos stayed back!

How exciting you are going to WDW in December! We will be missing you by a little over a week! But I think you will LOVE the Gran Destino Tower! Dan and I did in August! We even added on CL and their CL is SO pretty! I would also recommend at least checking out their Dahlia Lounge and if you have time we really enjoyed our dinner at Toledo! Their special gin and tonic was amazing!!
 


Well, as of yesterday 3 college apps submitted, 3 more to go! It's fun, it's sad, it's exciting, it's expensive 🤑 not to mention time consuming! And stressful, although Ricky isn't stressed at all just me!

In other news I have 10 days until I leave for Universal and then 13 until Disney
:mickeyjum I don't know why but I've gone a bit overboard with the new shirts for what will be just under 3 days in the parks! Besides the 2 I posted in my last update I ordered these from Tee Public:

xmasshirts.jpg🥵

The green sleeve baseball jersey for Steve and the red for me to wear to MVMCP and then the "Joy" shirt to wear to Epcot
🌐 Lovin' them! And I have to say Susan @suse66 has the same wonderful taste as I do since she also ordered the "Joy" shirt for her Dec. trip lol.
Just like I did with my WDW work trip I'm going to give you a little peak into what I'll be doing on my work Universal trip but first I want to recap our July trip that you all so happily and gratefully followed along here with!

This was our first ever July visit; I hadn't even ever gone in July with my parents when I was younger. The 4 of us have done August a few times and I have to say I thought July was less humid; still hot lol but less humid! I can tell by whether or not I need to put my hair up to keep from passing out 😓 Being there for the 4th of July was really cool! We loved the holiday tag of Illuminations and although that won't be the same anymore I'm hopeful they'll still have a special holiday addition to whatever show is there next 4th of July.

Crowd-wise we didn't feel it was any busier due to the holiday! Not nearly as busy as Thanksgiving (our absolute favorite time to go) and DEFINITELY nowhere near spring break crowded (the one time we've gone that I have no desire to return). MK got a bit crazy later in the day on the 4th but otherwise it was business as usual, similar to our May and Sept trips this year. Even Presidents and MLK weekends seem busier than the 4th. I guess what I'm saying is we really enjoyed being there this time of year, swollen foot aside, and won't hesitate to do July 4th again. Maybe even next year.....................

I'm also going to add that for our boys, at their ages and given the # of times they've been to WDW mixed in with their differing levels of loving/liking being there, this 5 night stay was perfect. Their previous trip (Thanksgiving 2018) had been 8 nights and it was just too long for them. Five - again foot aside - was long enough for them to do what they wanted to really do, short enough to keep the fighting to a minimum (actually nonexistent this time) and not have them complaining they were ready to go home! Which only one of them ever really does anyway ;)

Finally, my thoughts on the Contemporary. We didn't like it :duck: I know I know, lots of you love it and that's ok with me, I still love you. To all of us it was way too plain and reminded us of any old regular nice hotel, just with a little train going through it......the room size was definitely a plus and it's nice walking to the MK but not nice enough that we'd stay there again unless it was our only option up against values and mods other than POFQ.

And that's it! Thank you all for following along! If you want to leave now, have a great weekend :wave2: I do plan on starting my TR about my Oct. work WDW trip very soon so please feel free to follow along there too! For now though I'll leave you with a few details about my upcoming Universal FAM work trip so if you'd like to hear about it, read on!
Dec. 1st:🤮 I'll be flying out early and landing at MCO at 10:15 am along with my work wife/roommate/travel buddy Cathy. We'll Lyft to our Universal Resort

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I stayed here last year for our Universal FAM; rooms are nice and the resort is pretty. We were told to eat lunch before our tour of the resort begins at 3:00 which gives us plenty of time and then at 5:30 we're ALL (all 100 of us) having dinner on CityWalk at the one restaurant I actually like!

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Look good to you? Yeah they don't really serve dolls, or have those dolls serving you; they just hang out on the wall by the restrooms at Antojitos Mexican Restaurant 🇲🇽 It's not the BEST Mexican by any means but it is very good and if you ready either of my previous Universal work TR's you know that in addition to my not being a big Uni food fan they food we get on the Uni trips is generally SUPER sucky. This is the best restaurant we've eaten at for work and where we went as a family last year on our 1 Universal Day in Nov. so it'll be a good first night dinner.

Dec. 2nd: Today we start out with "classroom training" again on CityWalk. Breakfast and lunch will be catered as part of the training 🤮 and we'll be in the main room of Rising Star

risingstart.jpg


This is like a karaoke bar in the evening which I've never been to but we did have training here last year too! After lunch we'll be touring a few other on site resorts and while we haven't been told for sure the rumblings are that it'll definitely be Aventura and Endless Summer. I hope so as these are the only 2 Universal resorts I haven't either toured or stayed at before. Endless Summer is a bit "far" from the other resorts but some of our other agents have toured it already and it looks adorable:

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Not my kids FYI

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Right now there are not solid plans for that evening so hopefully we're on our own for dinner and then some park time! I want to see the holiday parade by Macy's; we saw it last year and it's really great. I know Cathy wants to see it and hopefully Kelly @buzzrelly will join us! A couple pics from last year:

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Oh man!



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I won't post too many and spoil it as hopefully I'll have lots more to post here and on FB soon! But the floats and balloons were awesome and it was a nice LONG parade.

Dec. 3rd Today we get to do what a bunch of us did in WDW last month - a Universal VIP tour!!!!! We also did one of these last year and it was neat; I think it was even neater for huge HP fans and huge Universal fans in general. You do a couple "backstage"things and of course walk on everything which we were doing anyway as we all had the EP but this year we're hoping it includes Hagrid's since EP doesn't work for that. Our tour starts at 10; not sure how long it'll be but then we're FREE! It's supposed to be park time and again no set plans for the evening but my guess is our owner will set something up as this is our last night. On the off chance THAT doesn't happen I would like this to happen:

hmxtt.JPG

DS Tree Trail! I'll take Lyft over with some friends if it works out that way because I don't think Steve and I will be able to fit this in. We walked the trail last year and while it isn't the end all and be all of Disney holiday decor it's cute! I've seen most of this years' trees and some are new/different from last year so I'd like to do it again. The HM tree from last year was my fave

:hmghost:

I will also add here that last year when we stayed at Sapphire Falls, myself, Cathy, and our friend/coworker Pam enjoyed some serious time at the bar down in Amatista Kitchen later in the evening(s) :

lemondropshots.JPG

That ain't water! Those are actually lemondrop shots and not the only trio of them we saw in our time there. Needless to say I am not opposed to sitting my butt at that bar again next month 🍸 FYI this is also where we'll be eating breakfast the morning of the 3rd and what we did last year; it was ok but the snacks we had at the bar at night were really good! That brings me to

Dec. 4th: and the end of my Uni FAM! We are required to stay over but have no training on the 4th so as soon as I'm up and ready I'm out the door, in a Lyft and on my way to Gran Destino Tower to wait for Steve!


Once again thank you all for following along; see ya real soon!
 
Ooh, I'm familiar with your magic bar obviously, but what are these pretty things?
Those are decadently delicious very chocolate brownies! I've never seen them anywhere else but it's probably because I'm not real observant :rolleyes: The kids loved them, I took a couple bites and while I still chose my magic bar these were a great runner up option!
(That, and that imagineering show!)
Ooh we need to watch the next episode! Loved the first one
Maybe la vie en rose? Looks tasty!
It looks just like it but that's only available during the festival 🤔 My memory is slowly coming back and I do believe they had a special summer version that did taste much like the La Vie En Rose :)
How exciting you are going to WDW in December! We will be missing you by a little over a week!
That figures! Where are you guys staying this time?
But I think you will LOVE the Gran Destino Tower! Dan and I did in August! We even added on CL and their CL is SO pretty! I would also recommend at least checking out their Dahlia Lounge and if you have time we really enjoyed our dinner at Toledo! Their special gin and tonic was amazing!!
Last month we toured the rooms on our work FAM and they are definitely nicer than the regular CSR rooms! I will also enjoy having an inside room, the one downside to the other mods. We also went up to Toledo and the Dahlia Lounge - the views are gorgeous! Not sure why they needed to add the "do not stand" sign out on the lounge deck :rolleyes: pretty sad lol but I would love to be able to hang there. We went back to the conference rooms and sw the awesome test kitchen too!
 
The main reason I wanted to come back here was to see the Guardians of the Galaxy show they offer just during the summer as we hadn't been the previous summer when they had the show for the first time.

We didn't get a chance to see this in June and I'm sad we missed it.

FYI as we drove backstage on our VIP tour last month we saw the disassembled Illuminations globe lying around :(

:sad1: :sad1:

We shared this; it's the FROZEN STRAWBERRY LEMON SUNSET from Joffreys: layered frozen strawberry and lemonade with topped with grey goose vodka

Oo sounds delicious.


I love these! So cute.

Today we get to do what a bunch of us did in WDW last month - a Universal VIP tour!!!!!

Oo that's awesome. I hope you get to ride Hagrid's on it! It's such a good ride!
 
The green sleeve baseball jersey for Steve and the red for me to wear to MVMCP and then the "Joy" shirt to wear to Epcot 🌐 Lovin' them!

Those are super cute! I fully intended to order a couple shirts and then didn't so it looks like I'll be throwing even more of my money at the mouse!

Crowd-wise we didn't feel it was any busier due to the holiday! Not nearly as busy as Thanksgiving (our absolute favorite time to go) and DEFINITELY nowhere near spring break crowded (the one time we've gone that I have no desire to return). MK got a bit crazy later in the day on the 4th but otherwise it was business as usual, similar to our May and Sept trips this year. Even Presidents and MLK weekends seem busier than the 4th. I guess what I'm saying is we really enjoyed being there this time of year, swollen foot aside, and won't hesitate to do July 4th again. Maybe even next year.....................

That's good to hear and, yes! Go again! We'll be there July 1-8 :thumbsup2


I'm also going to add that for our boys, at their ages and given the # of times they've been to WDW mixed in with their differing levels of loving/liking being there, this 5 night stay was perfect. Their previous trip (Thanksgiving 2018) had been 8 nights and it was just too long for them. Five - again foot aside - was long enough for them to do what they wanted to really do, short enough to keep the fighting to a minimum (actually nonexistent this time) and not have them complaining they were ready to go home!

Eek...and now I'm a little nervous because we will be there 8 nights. I think it'll be okay though. They'll probably go off on their own a bit too which is fine with me.


Finally, my thoughts on the Contemporary. We didn't like it :duck:

Ummmm....that's ME throwing that rock at your head!

It's okay...we all have our own tastes. I don't like Animal Kingdom Lodge and would happily choose just about any other deluxe or POFQ over staying there. To each his own :goodvibes

I also think I'm really emotionally connected to The CR because it was where we stayed when the kids were little on my mom's very first trip :love:


We were told to eat lunch before our tour of the resort begins at 3:00 which gives us plenty of time and then at 5:30 we're ALL (all 100 of us) having dinner on CityWalk at the one restaurant I actually like!

I was REALLY excited to read that, especially since you said all the food was horrid last year.


Right now there are not solid plans for that evening so hopefully we're on our own for dinner and then some park time! I want to see the holiday parade by Macy's; we saw it last year and it's really great. I know Cathy wants to see it and hopefully Kelly @buzzrelly will join us!

Of course!

Dec. 3rd Today we get to do what a bunch of us did in WDW last month - a Universal VIP tour!!!!!

I'm super excited for this and really hoping to get on Hagrid's!

Dec. 4th: and the end of my Uni FAM! We are required to stay over but have no training on the 4th so as soon as I'm up and ready I'm out the door, in a Lyft and on my way to Gran Destino Tower to wait for Steve!

I have the same plans! Maybe we should Lyft together!
 
The green sleeve baseball jersey for Steve and the red for me to wear to MVMCP and then the "Joy" shirt to wear to Epcot 🌐 Lovin' them! And I have to say Susan @suse66 has the same wonderful taste as I do since she also ordered the "Joy" shirt for her Dec. trip lol.
It's such a great shirt! I didn't even notice the mouse ears on world until I saw yours up close. I am excited to wear it on my Epcot day!
Finally, my thoughts on the Contemporary. We didn't like it :duck: I know I know, lots of you love it and that's ok with me, I still love you. To all of us it was way too plain and reminded us of any old regular nice hotel, just with a little train going through it......the room size was definitely a plus and it's nice walking to the MK but not nice enough that we'd stay there again unless it was our only option up against values and mods other than POFQ.
Yes, I think I'm on the same page as you about the Contemporary. Stuart wants to stay there for a couple of nights the next time he comes down but it is really not top of the list for me at all.
Dec. 3rd Today we get to do what a bunch of us did in WDW last month - a Universal VIP tour!!!!! We also did one of these last year and it was neat; I think it was even neater for huge HP fans and huge Universal fans in general. You do a couple "backstage"things and of course walk on everything which we were doing anyway as we all had the EP but this year we're hoping it includes Hagrid's since EP doesn't work for that. Our tour starts at 10; not sure how long it'll be but then we're FREE! It's supposed to be park time and again no set plans for the evening but my guess is our owner will set something up as this is our last night. On the off chance THAT doesn't happen I would like this to happen:
Your work trip sounds like it will be super fun! Another VIP tour is so exciting!
 
I love the holiday T-shirts you picked out.
I was lukewarm with the CR, however I loved BLT there!
I hope you enjoy your FAM training and how nice to have the additional Disney time and meeting up with Kelly!
 
Being there for the 4th of July was really cool! We loved the holiday tag of Illuminations and although that won't be the same anymore I'm hopeful they'll still have a special holiday addition to whatever show is there next 4th of July.
We really enjoyed our 4th of July trip. We stayed at the BC and they had all kinds of activities scheduled that took full advantage of the pool, the beach and volleyball court. It was a very festive atmosphere and being able to walk into Epcot for the special fireworks was great.
MK got a bit crazy later in the day on the 4th but otherwise it was business as usual, similar to our May and Sept trips this year. Even Presidents and MLK weekends seem busier than the 4th. I guess what I'm saying is we really enjoyed being there this time of year, swollen foot aside, and won't hesitate to do July 4th again. Maybe even next year.
We avoided MK on the 3rd and 4th and stayed away from Epcot until it was time for the fireworks on the 4th. We didn't think the parks were crowded at all. We were surprised to get a great AP discount for the BC and might book a bounce back when we are there in December.
Finally, my thoughts on the Contemporary. We didn't like it
We don't like the Contemporary, either. It is too sterile and cold. I would rather stay at WL and take the boat to MK then stay at the CR. :)
 
And I adore Geir Ness :love: On an earlier trip this year I was lucky enough to meet him and he even lotioned me up:

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This picture still just cracks me up every time. A Norweigan man massaging your hands in Epcot is a totally normal activity

Well, as of yesterday 3 college apps submitted, 3 more to go! It's fun, it's sad, it's exciting, it's expensive 🤑 not to mention time consuming! And stressful, although Ricky isn't stressed at all just me!
Wow!!!! I can't believe he has to put in applications already. Way too fast. But tell him to be sure to check out some of our wonderful Virginia schools so his Mama can come visit me :D

Love these! Disney at Christmas really is the best

This was our first ever July visit; I hadn't even ever gone in July with my parents when I was younger. The 4 of us have done August a few times and I have to say I thought July was less humid; still hot lol but less humid!
We may have to give July a go instead of August. With the crowds getting so bad I'll take less humidity any day

Finally, my thoughts on the Contemporary. We didn't like it :duck:
We've never stayed there but I'm 99% sure we wouldn't like it either. Besides it being one of the original hotels it just doesn't seem to have any character or specialness to it. Pretty sure with the crazy prices too we'll likely never stay there

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Look good to you?
Just want I like from a restaurant creepy dolls staring me down while I eat. Do they do hand massages too? :P

lemondropshots.JPG


That ain't water! Those are actually lemondrop shots and not the only trio of them we saw in our time there. Needless to say I am not opposed to sitting my butt at that bar again next month 🍸
Love the way you "work"
 
Those are decadently delicious very chocolate brownies! I've never seen them anywhere else but it's probably because I'm not real observant :rolleyes: The kids loved them, I took a couple bites and while I still chose my magic bar these were a great runner up option!

Ooh we need to watch the next episode! Loved the first one

It looks just like it but that's only available during the festival 🤔 My memory is slowly coming back and I do believe they had a special summer version that did taste much like the La Vie En Rose :)

That figures! Where are you guys staying this time?

Last month we toured the rooms on our work FAM and they are definitely nicer than the regular CSR rooms! I will also enjoy having an inside room, the one downside to the other mods. We also went up to Toledo and the Dahlia Lounge - the views are gorgeous! Not sure why they needed to add the "do not stand" sign out on the lounge deck :rolleyes: pretty sad lol but I would love to be able to hang there. We went back to the conference rooms and sw the awesome test kitchen too!

We’ll be at CBR for one night and then moving over to Boulder Ridge for the rest! Which I am sooooo excited for!

I don’t think they had the no standing signs when we were out there the last time! There were tons of people standing and waiting for fireworks lol someone probably ruined it for everyone!
 
if you have time we really enjoyed our dinner at Toledo! Their special gin and tonic was amazing!!
AHH Cloe! I have this booked for March and I cannot wait!!!!

Being there for the 4th of July was really cool!
This is actually one of my fav times to visit!!! Glad you liked it too.

Crowd-wise we didn't feel it was any busier due to the holiday! Not nearly as busy as Thanksgiving (our absolute favorite time to go) and DEFINITELY nowhere near spring break
I agree 100%.

Finally, my thoughts on the Contemporary. We didn't like it :duck: I know I know, lots of you love it and that's ok with me, I still love you. To all of us it was way too plain and reminded us of any old regular nice hotel, just with a little train going through it......the room size was definitely a plus and it's nice walking to the MK but not nice enough that we'd stay there again unless it was our only option up against values and mods other than POFQ.
I'm sorry you didn't fall in love with the CR. It was the first Disney resort I ever stayed at so I think it just holds a bit of nostalgia for me...Values just suck (except for Pop, I really like the remodeled rooms). POFQ is another fav!!!

I am not opposed to sitting my butt at that bar
I am ALWAYS up for this, especially with good friends. 😘 Counting down the days...
 
I like your new shirts!! And I can't wait to hear about your trip! I agree about Antojitos - the food is good, and the dolls are CREEPY.

Ooh we need to watch the next episode! Loved the first one

I've heard it's good! Maybe I'll watch one tonight...

That figures! Where are you guys staying this time?

Offsite, once again. I love being on property, but it's hard to beat the price of "free." :lmao:
 

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