BethKo and Son February 2020 Disney Trip!

bethko1

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 24, 2009
Who: BethKo (45 year old DIsney Addict); Son (12 year old Disney addict in training!)
Where: Pop Century
When: 2/15-2/20 2020
Why: I was speaking at a conference at the Marriott World Hotel

Arrival day: We took a 7 am flight out of Philly and arrived in Disney around 9:30. We flew Spirit and it went great! Great deal and easy flight. We headed straight to Downtown Disney as we had 11:00 am reservations for Chef Arts Homecoming
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Fried Green tomatoes: So good! Wasn’t sure I would like the ham addition but I did!
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Chicken Biscuit sliders: Good. Didn’t love the glaze but very tasty!

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Chicken and Donuts: Son LOVED THIS!

Overall: I would give a solid B. It was all really good but I had such high expectations that I think I was a little underwhelmed. We are a planning a trip for September and plan to eat at the Boathouse.
 
Continued Day 1: After shopping Downtown Disney, we headed over to the POP in hopes of an early check-in. We did online check in and asked for the 50’s or 60‘s but agreed to take 1st available. We did not get an early check-in and we got the 80’s which actually turned out better. Close to buses and the 90’s pool (main pool was closed) PLUS we love PAC-Man! LOL.

We waited in the restaurant area and got some snacks:491187
Sad looking cheesecake. I remember seeing pics of the slices years ago so I was shocked to see this. BUT it was tasty. I give it a Thumbs up!

Son got a cookie: 491188

It was just okay. I mean it’s cookie so he liked it.
 
Day 1 Continued: we had dining reservations for the Wave and Pirates and Pals cruise. 491189
Bread with Himalayan Sea Salt: Bread was really good!!

And then, the dish I had planned this night around, stalked pictures of and dreamed about how it would taste.......

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BACON AND EGGS!!! It was...........okay. Disappointingly just okay. Egg was interesting, pork belly was alright and grits were okay.

Son got the seasonal salad although modified it so much that it was just a sad salad:

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We both got the filets except Son subbed in mashed potatoes:491195
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No dessert since we were heading to the Pirates and Pals Cruise!
 
Day 1: The ending: Pirates and Pals Cruise

This was fun but would not do again. I had not seen Happily Ever After and the fireworks were good but without the castle projections, it was not tear producing like it was our last night. Plus, we got the wrong side of the boat so our view was obstructed

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He loved the gold coins. We really didn’t eat the snacks but included: mini cupcakes, carrots, bagged chips

Obstructed view:
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Day 2: AK

We roped drop for Pandora so we ate a granola bar in the room. We had dining reservations for Tusker house for 3:30 (Linner) so we ate snacks until then:491410
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So Good!!! One of the best Snack Credits was the pulled pork French fries from Flame Tree....filling and tasty!


We then hit Tusker House: 491412
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Solid A++++ love the characters! Love the food! We rolled out of her full for the rest of the night!!!
 


My son and I love Tusker House too! :lovestruc
Three boy mama! I have 3 boys too! Oldest needed to stay for classes and youngest, we wanted to wait to we were together to see him enjoying Disney! We have a trip planned for September.....fingers tightly crossed.
 
Day 3: I had to speak today so we ate breakfast at the Pop, rope dropped HS for Toy story and Star Tours and then sadly had to leave. As an aside, we had not even thought about ride of the resistance but we were there 1/2 hour early and by the time we made it through the gates, it was already gone! While we were on the 4 day 4 park discount ticket, I had planned a special surprise for DS! I bought tickets to MK after hours so after I spoke we hit Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner and then had the park to ourselves. I can not tell you how awesome after hours was! Given we were there during Presidents and Race week, the parks were 10/10 on crowds...we did EVERYTHING we wanted to after hours! Like over 10 rides. It totally made the trip!!
Onto food- Breakfast at the Pop! 491681491683
Solid but eggs needed seasoning and the potatoes had to much salt BUT combine them together and Magic!!
 
Day 3 continues! LTT- we planned this trip late since it was a work trip and so we only got restaurants we could get but this was a place that I always wanted to try but, when we go as whole family, we usually eat outside the MK like O’hana or California Grill. But this was so good and so solid!!! I highly recommend...especially for a family as there will be something for everyone! 491684491685491686
All in all a solid A!!! Keep us full for the night of running around MK after hours!!!
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Empty castle area!491688
Main Street after hours!!
 
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Three boy mama! I have 3 boys too! Oldest needed to stay for classes and youngest, we wanted to wait to we were together to see him enjoying Disney! We have a trip planned for September.....fingers tightly crossed.

Oh funny! I took my youngest on a "just us" trip in September 2017 when he was 8 and we seriously had the absolute best time. Link is in my signature if you're bored and want to take a look :goodvibes
 
DAY 4: EPCOT and the art festival!!! We LOVED this festival and we even bought artwork that one of the artists was painting when my son talked to him!!!! I spoke again today so we arrived hangry. Like REALLY hangry.....

we started off at the Mexico stand
This was the Sopa and it was SOOOOOOOOO good, I could have eaten 20.
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DS got the the bao at a China outpost and it was okay.

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Paint Brush Churros were a hit but a bit stale.

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Short Rib dish outside of Germany ....:.get it.....slurped it up, just get it!!!
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This was a caramel dessert, again in the Kiosk outside Germany, I was good. I wanted the knee-bending caramel flavor and this was VERY mild.
MORE OUTPOSTS COMING!!!
 
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More food coming but Artwork and Artist from the festival! 492130
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Artwork by Michael Summers!!!! It is totally not huge but it means so much to us and I hope my DS, who loves art, treasures it as he literally spoke to the artist as he was painting it! That is what is SO cool about this festival. I have been to food and wine (and it is phenomenal) and flower and garden (which is okay) but I actually liked this one the best.......
 
Do you remember the Indiana Jones and The Holy Grail where the Nazi bad guy and Indiana Jones are with the old Knight Templer picking the Grail? And the bad guy picks the fancy cup and drinks then basically incinerates, and the Knight says, “He chose poorly.” That is a catch phrase in our family for poor decisions and we made one tonight. We made 9:30 reservations for Chefs de France. I would love to tell you that we loved it but we went and couldn’t eat more than a few bites because we were stuffed from our delicious festival food.....hence we chose poorly. Take away: if you indulge in festival food and use your snack credits wisely, you don’t need any dining credits used....we wasted our dining credit.... 493661
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Here is what I can say: the service was outstanding and understanding. The food we did taste was as delicious as food can taste while stuffed. I would absolutely go back since we did not give this a fair shake and what we did was experience was really good. Sorry for no pics of dessert, after a few lame attempts of eating the entrees, we got everything wrapped up to go and I never even opened the boxes......insert crying emoji.....
 
Thanks for sharing and now making me hungry :earboy2: How fun you and your son got some Disney time together.
 
DAY 5 MK: we had a lunch reservations and basically hit the wall after all of our rope drops. So we slept in and made it MK just in time for our Be Our Guest reservations. We did hit a snag as the dining system was down so they had to charge us out-of-pocket and told us to stop by MK guest relations at the end of the night. Spoiler alert- they were wrong. Which we only found out after a 45 minute wait in line. Instead, you have to do it guest relations at the hotel which was another 20 minute wait. Honestly, I was not in the best of mood as we tired by the time I reached the guest service agent at the Pop. However, god bless this agent who—and I can’t explain it—got me and my son talking and, by the time we were done, turned our moods around. I later discovered that he not only refunded our money but didn’t take our credits so we got extra snacks to bring home!!! Anyway, onto to food:494037
Turkey sandwich! Really good!
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French Dip and vegetables...it was okay. I would get the Turkey next time though
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The gray stuff!!! Omg....this was amazing. It is not a straight “cookies and cream”and it isn’t overly sweet.

We ate in the littlest of rooms which is the Beast’s bedroom and it was the best themed in my opinion. And we loved the lunches being rolled out in the carts! Given 1 quick service credit, this is a must do!
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