3 in 1! A PACKED trip report! 8/11/14UPDATE!- TRIP 3! Many Updates and a new TR!!

[dreamerchic33]

Awesome update! Love that trip over to Epcot in the morning. Sorry to hear about stomach issues, I'm sure they ruled out gallbladder problems?

Hey. Thank you! I actually had it removed at the end of 2010 and shortly into 2011 all my symptoms came back ughhhhhh lol but, I am doing okay now so that's good!!!
Hope all is well! Xxoo

 

[dreamerchic33]

Hi!

The food at Flying Fish Cafe looks delicious - we've not eaten there for a few years but really enjoyed it


Happy new year!



Emma x

Hey Emma!!!

thanks for reading along!!!

 

[dreamerchic33]

Happy weekend everyone!!!!

Continuing Epcot day!!!

i was MIND BLOWN by what Disney was able to do!! AMAZING!!!!!
We left the countries and went over to FW!

the clouds were rolling in and fast!!! so we quickly walked towards the buses and then it was a CRAZY typical DOWNPOUR! Only, it wasn't the normal 10-15minute one...i was getting nervous because we had a reservation for momma's surprise, but i didn't want to be soaked either....We waited it out and then it let up a bit and we were on our way!

 

[disneybarbie]

The flower and garden festival looks beautiful! Great photos, I really like the flowers over the water near Future World



Emma x

 

[dreamerchic33]

The flower and garden festival looks beautiful! Great photos, I really like the flowers over the water near Future World



Emma x

thank you!
those were some of my favorites, too!

 

[dreamerchic33]

Time for momma's surprise!!!
we took the bus to Saratoga Springs!

Beautiful resort! We arrived early so we went by the main pool and had some drinks!
it was REALLLLYYY hott today, but thankfully my stomach was calming down!
So we went to the main rec area, and mom still had NO idea what was going on!
Even seeing this:

the CM came (sorry, i do not remember her name) and introduced herself and told mom why she was there. Mom started crying! ohhh mom! So the CM spoke about what she did, how the weddings work and the disney florists works along with flowers on the resorts and so on and so on! Then it was onto creating! She did one section at a time...her first then mom and so on. I felt she spent too much time on hers and not enough teaching, but thats okay, mom had a BLAST!

that mickey holder is a MUG! SO cute! I love that you got a keepsake from the experience! Mom uses it all the time!

I thought momma bear did wonderfully!
So a few things about this experience:
-I highly recommend it!
-It was just enough time!
-I got to use the DVC discount! woot woot!
-it was held in the area where they do kids activities, and i wasn't too thrilled with this as i felt it could have been a tad more exclusive (there were a lot of kiddies in there, which is fine, of course...but it is considered an exclusive experience).
Mom LOVED it, so that is all that matters to me!
We went back to the BW to drop off flowers and freshen up!

i ADORE hidden mickey's!
Back off to Epcot we went!!!!

 

[dreamerchic33]

HELP! hehehe
So i posted this on another board, and i got a really great response, but would like to see what others would do!
THANKS!!!

Hey everyone!

Hubby and I are going back to our "home" from 11/30-12/8
I am trying to come up with an itinerary and i REALLY could use some help!!!
So i thought I would give the list of what we would like to do and where we would like to dine- and maybe you could tell me how you and yours might do everything??? Now, we are open to pretty much everything with just a few exceptions- i wouldn't want to do a full park day on the arrival day and if possible, i would like to have a little relax time.

*wilderness lodge for Artist point and a carriage ride
*Epcot- we would like to do Akerhaus for breakfast and also les chefs and le cellier (just not all in the same day)
*MK- MK DAY, CRT and Mickey's Christmas party
*DHS-Dine with an imagineer
*Downtown- Shopping,Splitsville and Wolfgang puck's dining room
*the BW area - blue zoo OR fkying fish, maybe cape may?? and beaches + cream
*Monorail area: california grill, 'Ohana (dinner) and GCF or V&A
*AK- wild africa trek


AND GO!!!!

Thank you so much!!!!

xxoxooooxxxxoooo

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi!

I had no idea about that florist experience at Saratoga Springs.. I'll have to add it to my WDW 'to do' list!

HELP! hehehe
So i posted this on another board, and i got a really great response, but would like to see what others would do!
THANKS!!!

Hey everyone!

Hubby and I are going back to our "home" from 11/30-12/8
I am trying to come up with an itinerary and i REALLY could use some help!!!
So i thought I would give the list of what we would like to do and where we would like to dine- and maybe you could tell me how you and yours might do everything??? Now, we are open to pretty much everything with just a few exceptions- i wouldn't want to do a full park day on the arrival day and if possible, i would like to have a little relax time.

*wilderness lodge for Artist point and a carriage ride
*Epcot- we would like to do Akerhaus for breakfast and also les chefs and le cellier (just not all in the same day)
*MK- MK DAY, CRT and Mickey's Christmas party
*DHS-Dine with an imagineer
*Downtown- Shopping,Splitsville and Wolfgang puck's dining room
*the BW area - blue zoo OR fkying fish, maybe cape may?? and beaches + cream
*Monorail area: california grill, 'Ohana (dinner) and GCF or V&A
*AK- wild africa trek


AND GO!!!!

Thank you so much!!!!

xxoxooooxxxxoooo

So excited for you to have your next trip booked!!

Here are my thoughts...

Wilderness Lodge - beautiful resort, I've not eaten at AP but heard nothing but great things about it - the carriage ride was fun when we did in 2010.. although it was sooo cold the night we went (under 40 degrees!), but it was great to see all the holiday decorations around the campground

Epcot - lovely restaurant choices! Les Chefs and Le Cellier were excellent (have you also looked at the menu for the new French restaurant, Monsieur Paul?)

MK - Christmas Party is fantastic! I enjoyed CRT in 2009 (even as a party of all adults!)

DHS - lunch with an imagineer is meant to be excellent, another thing on my 'to do' list

DTD - Splitsville looks really good fun, lots of food options there too apparently!

BW - Blue Zoo was amazing when we went in October, but also love Flying Fish and Beaches & Cream. The Belle Vue Lounge is a nice place to hang out too

Monorail... all of those restaurants are wonderful! Looking forward to seeing what California Grill is like when it reopens too.

AK - Absolutely do the Wild Africa Trek.. one of my best Disney experiences so far the first tour of the day is usually 8am.. fun to be in the park before it opens (if not an EMH day!)




Emma x

 

[pattyw]

Nice TR!! I love the flower experience at SSR! I've never heard of it before! How much is it and how do you book it?

 

[Disney9.9.10]

All caught up!

Gorgeous pictures of the Flower and Garden Festival! So beautiful.

I love that surprise for your mom, what a great experience! The arrangement turned out great, and it is nice that she has a keepsake from it too

And I'll give my opinion on your questions here…
*wilderness lodge for Artist point and a carriage ride - WL Is gorgeous and very romantic. So while I haven't done this, it sounds great!

*Epcot- we would like to do Akerhaus for breakfast and also les chefs and le cellier (just not all in the same day) - We've eaten at Akershus and Le Cellier and really enjoyed both. The character breakfast is less crowded than eating in the castle, and the restaurant is very pretty. Le Cellier was delicious, and a good romantic spot. Personally, I'm not sure if I'd want to use 2 dining credits for it though.

*MK- MK DAY, CRT and Mickey's Christmas party - CRT is questionable. I have heard and experienced good and bad. It is hit and miss. The atmosphere is unparalleled though. The MVMCP is a must do though! I loved it! Lower crowds, snow on Main Street, unique parades and fireworks.

*Downtown- Shopping,Splitsville and Wolfgang puck's dining room - This should be easy to squeeze in. I'd probably do this on an arrival day, or a day when you get up to go to a park early and don't plan on being there all day.

*the BW area - blue zoo OR fkying fish, maybe cape may?? and beaches + cream - I've only done Cape May for breakfast out of all of these. It is one of our favourites though! Pretty restaurant, good food, good service!

*Monorail area: california grill, 'Ohana (dinner) and GCF or V&A - 'Ohana is amazing - beautiful location, great service, food, etc. GFC is also an excellent choice, one of my new favourites. V&A I haven't done (it is expensive) but it looks amazing.

*AK- wild africa trek - I haven't done this, but I've seen it in TR's and it looks like a great experience.

You have quite a few "big ticket" dining locations (CRT, Le Cellier, CG, V&A) so that is going to use quite a few dining credits (although not V&A, that is OOP). I'm not sure what plan you are going to be using, but this is something you might want to think about.

 

[dreamerchic33]

Hi!

I had no idea about that florist experience at Saratoga Springs.. I'll have to add it to my WDW 'to do' list!

So excited for you to have your next trip booked!!

Here are my thoughts...

Wilderness Lodge - beautiful resort, I've not eaten at AP but heard nothing but great things about it - the carriage ride was fun when we did in 2010.. although it was sooo cold the night we went (under 40 degrees!), but it was great to see all the holiday decorations around the campground

Epcot - lovely restaurant choices! Les Chefs and Le Cellier were excellent (have you also looked at the menu for the new French restaurant, Monsieur Paul?)

MK - Christmas Party is fantastic! I enjoyed CRT in 2009 (even as a party of all adults!)

DHS - lunch with an imagineer is meant to be excellent, another thing on my 'to do' list

DTD - Splitsville looks really good fun, lots of food options there too apparently!

BW - Blue Zoo was amazing when we went in October, but also love Flying Fish and Beaches & Cream. The Belle Vue Lounge is a nice place to hang out too

Monorail... all of those restaurants are wonderful! Looking forward to seeing what California Grill is like when it reopens too.

AK - Absolutely do the Wild Africa Trek.. one of my best Disney experiences so far the first tour of the day is usually 8am.. fun to be in the park before it opens (if not an EMH day!)

Emma x

Thank you! And thank you for the feedback! Any idea on how you may plan out these ideas???
Thanks! Xo

 

[dreamerchic33]

Nice TR!! I love the flower experience at SSR! I've never heard of it before! How much is it and how do you book it?

Hello! Thanks for reading along!
I booked it through recreation over the phone! I have to go thru my itinerary and check for you! I will let you know as soon as I find it!

 

[dreamerchic33]

All caught up!

Gorgeous pictures of the Flower and Garden Festival! So beautiful.

I love that surprise for your mom, what a great experience! The arrangement turned out great, and it is nice that she has a keepsake from it too

And I'll give my opinion on your questions here…
*wilderness lodge for Artist point and a carriage ride - WL Is gorgeous and very romantic. So while I haven't done this, it sounds great!

*Epcot- we would like to do Akerhaus for breakfast and also les chefs and le cellier (just not all in the same day) - We've eaten at Akershus and Le Cellier and really enjoyed both. The character breakfast is less crowded than eating in the castle, and the restaurant is very pretty. Le Cellier was delicious, and a good romantic spot. Personally, I'm not sure if I'd want to use 2 dining credits for it though.

*MK- MK DAY, CRT and Mickey's Christmas party - CRT is questionable. I have heard and experienced good and bad. It is hit and miss. The atmosphere is unparalleled though. The MVMCP is a must do though! I loved it! Lower crowds, snow on Main Street, unique parades and fireworks.

*Downtown- Shopping,Splitsville and Wolfgang puck's dining room - This should be easy to squeeze in. I'd probably do this on an arrival day, or a day when you get up to go to a park early and don't plan on being there all day.

*the BW area - blue zoo OR fkying fish, maybe cape may?? and beaches + cream - I've only done Cape May for breakfast out of all of these. It is one of our favourites though! Pretty restaurant, good food, good service!

*Monorail area: california grill, 'Ohana (dinner) and GCF or V&A - 'Ohana is amazing - beautiful location, great service, food, etc. GFC is also an excellent choice, one of my new favourites. V&A I haven't done (it is expensive) but it looks amazing.

*AK- wild africa trek - I haven't done this, but I've seen it in TR's and it looks like a great experience.

You have quite a few "big ticket" dining locations (CRT, Le Cellier, CG, V&A) so that is going to use quite a few dining credits (although not V&A, that is OOP). I'm not sure what plan you are going to be using, but this is something you might want to think about.

Hey!!
Thank you!
I'm not sure if we are doing the dining plan this trip???? We go back and forth so we are still debating!

Thanks for your feedback! Any idea how you would fit these into a trip if you were planning it?
Thanks! Xo

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Hey!!
Thank you!
I'm not sure if we are doing the dining plan this trip???? We go back and forth so we are still debating!

Thanks for your feedback! Any idea how you would fit these into a trip if you were planning it?
Thanks! Xo

I'd definitely take a look at dining plans vs. no plan and see what works out to be best for you. I typically take a look at my trip overall, and choose which days I will be going to which parks as a starting point. Never go to MK on a Saturday or Monday, and I check crowd calendars for pretty much everything else. Then I schedule my meals around park days to minimize travel and back-and-forth time and maximize park enjoyment time. Other things I look at are whether I'm going to be at a park all day, if we are going to a park every day of the trip, if I want more than one sit down meal in a day, etc. And then I move things around if need be to find which works best on which days.

 

[dreamerchic33]

I'd definitely take a look at dining plans vs. no plan and see what works out to be best for you. I typically take a look at my trip overall, and choose which days I will be going to which parks as a starting point. Never go to MK on a Saturday or Monday, and I check crowd calendars for pretty much everything else. Then I schedule my meals around park days to minimize travel and back-and-forth time and maximize park enjoyment time. Other things I look at are whether I'm going to be at a park all day, if we are going to a park every day of the trip, if I want more than one sit down meal in a day, etc. And then I move things around if need be to find which works best on which days.

woa, that is impressive!! I need to look into some of there things!!
thank you!
and I just subscribed to your TR's! Will start reading this weekend! woot woot!

 

[dreamerchic33]

Hello everyone!
I hope everyone is okay after Nemo!!!

I have a LOT to share!!!

*I got to take photo's in the snow today! here are some pictures!

BRRRR! it was cold, but i had a blast!!!!

*I entered a contest with the above photographer!
entry

*i wanted to start a blog after my hubby and i first got married, I had it all situated, but never got to it...FINALLY published it!
Starting off small and sharing it here and on instagram (follow me at cpreston1030)
http://xxoo-christina.blogspot.com/

phew! glad i was able to do all of this!!!

Now, back to our report!

Back to Epcot we went!

we headed to Italy for our reservation!
We were unable to select a time slot we wanted, and i was surprised, because it was EMPTY!

we had a waiter about my mom's age and one maybe my age?? Both were adorable! They always are here! They were flirty, but the older one was VERY flirty with my mom! lol

our meal was amazing! AND i didn't get sick after! woot woot! They also were great about my allergies!
we walked around the other countries!
how insane was this view!

We went to mexico, I had my avocado margarita and momma bear did some patron shots lol...a very funny few minutes!
We then got settled for the amazing illuminations!

It was a fantastic day!!!!
Tomorrow we park hop!!!!

 

[dreamerchic33]

Hey everyone!
It was so nice to have new followers on Instagram! LOVE seeing other Disney people! (cpreston1030) and today on my blog I posted about DVC! Blog!

Onto our trip!!
Today was the day of hopping! I should tell you, my family is not a family of hoppers! We like to take it easy and not rush around! Well, mom and I had a blast hopping!

We started the morning at Kouzzina again!
Same chef and again he was AMAZING!
He made me these!

What is it about a mickey waffle?!? The BEST!
We then took the boat over to DHS (ahem, MGM-sorry still not over it lol).
We took our PP pictures (which I can't believe I have not been posting) and there was the cutest family in front of us! however, the LOVE bugs were everywhere! NON stop!

Momma had one thought in mind ToT! She is obsessed! There was a 5 minute wait! We had a blast and she was giggling away! We went on 3 more times in a ROW! I believe I tweeted, "disney magic is going on ToT 4x in a row with no wait!". I was a bit dizzy after 4x and she wanted to go on more! I needed a break! We went on the great movie ride and walked around for a bit.

we stopped for a little snack

we then went back to ToT- Lord help me! lol
We walked around the shops before heading out and getting attacked by more love bugs!!!

Backtracking here to some PP pics from Epcot!

 

[dreamerchic33]

So momma and I had plans to go to the GF for dinner tonight!

Oh love bugs, you were EVERYWHERE!

oh GF you are so perfect!

mom fell in LOVE with the GF, I was reminiscing about our honeymoon!

We were seated right away and the chef came over to talk about my allergies, he was great and they made accommodations for me!

Salads to starts-Delish!
Then our meals

while we were eating, we realized there were literally no other people in the restaurant, and this was the theme during our trip! We asked about this and the staff didn't seem to understand either...especially since no reservations were available and clearly, there were plenty of tables!!
Dessert was next- momma wanted some chocolate

All in all a wonderful meal!
We walked around quite a bit before catching the monorail!

We are here!!!!!

momma

she was crying! awww mom, love you!!!
up next! our adventures in MK!

 

[Jillpie]

Awesome update and yyyyyum chocolate dessert I could taste it!! Keep it coming!!

 

[dreamerchic33]

hey everyone!!!
sorry for the delay!

let me get moving!!!

oh main street, you are perfection in every way!

we are so silly!!

Perfection!

Trying to be creative!

We went right to adventure land!

Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me! And with no wait! Woot Woot!!!

Then to our favorite mansion! Again, no wait! but we had the special fast pass! (more on this in a jiffy!)

After this, momma bear was craving the ever amazing funnel cake! the woman never eats fried food, EXCEPT in disney and it is always a funnel cake!

so amazing! ughhh I want one right now! I wonder how many weight watchers points it is???
Then we went over to the mountain of splash! Also known as momma bear's second favorite ride!

NOW here is the thing!
Remember the fast passes we were given at the airport???
So the lady at the airport asked for me to give her a time frame...I gave her the time frame, and she told me she would make it a little bit earlier...i told her that wouldn't work, because we would be at dinner. She told me, it wouldn't be a problem! Everyone see that---WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM! lol
So we go to splash, whip out the cards, only to be told we were too late! too late??? The CM went to get another CM and we explained the situation, and she explained that we should not have been told that, but either way, no problem!
Fabulous ride on splash mountain as always! we got pretty wet as well!

We then wandered over to the land of fantasy! it was soo cool seeing all the new construction!

Small world first!

we walked around a bit and did some window shopping! momma bear was getting a bit tired, but we trekked on!
A ride with Mr Peter Pan and our special fast passes were next! AGAIN, the same issue! This CM was not as nice though! Quite rude, but eventually, she let us go on!

Over to meet the sweetest little honey bear! and the nastiest CM to date! Same issue with the fast pass! I explained about the woman at the airport and how it had been an issue for 2 of the rides today, she basically insinuated that I lied and that I did not know how to follow directions! I was really appalled! I am not a 10 year old! she wouldn't let us on the fast pass side....honestly there was a small wait, so it really wasn't an issue...but just they was she spoke to use was terrible!
My tired momma bear was an angry momma bear now! it really put a damper on the evening! And we had a little squoffle over it!

Hahahah, i always try to make a happy situation out of a not so happy one! Pooh and friends were adorable as per usual!

We went went to go see Wishes! I got us a great seat with a great view! We watched the Magic, memories, and you! Mom kept asking about going closer to main street, but i wanted her to have a great view!

After the fireworks were over, I thought we would take a leisurely stroll out of MK and go through the shops, but Momma Bear was a bit tired and cranky...So we left, through the crazy crowds! The bus situation was INSANE! It was also making other people insane! I kind of stopped as we were walking to see if maybe we should get on the swan/dolphin bus and this man thought i was cutting the line! And he yelled at me and I told him he shouldn't yell at woman in disney and in front of his daughters. I tried to explain to him that I wasn't cutting and I was looking at the other bus options. He continued to give me a really hard time...I told my mom we should go on another bus line, he said something again, and i really thought my mom was going to lose it! (did i mention she was attempting to quit cigarettes this trip?!?!?) So we went along our way...we were both upset by this man and my mom was upset I just made her walk away...so began squoffle # 2!

So of course there was an issue with the bus! I am not quite sure what had happened but it took FOREVER to get back to the BW! We got to the room and I showered and was ready for bed! Mom needed some quiet time and she then went to bed too!

Ughhh what a way to end a fun day!