Updated: Feb Trip plans "It's a Bit Less Humid Today, Right?" - a September 2018 Trip Report

Wednesday September 19th:
Hollywood Studios and Dinner at Ohana!

After getting to the Boardwalk for our break, we took a nap. I thought we slept for a while, but according to my uber receipt, we grabbed an uber to Hollywood Studios at 3:30. So, a 90 minute nap--not too bad. :)

Once at Hollywood Studios, we first did Star Tours--the lines were super short. We got Hoth, and then Naboo. Naboo seems to always be there! But I like the fight on Hoth, so oh well. Trevor elected to stay and do Star Tours again while I went to do Rock n Roller Coaster. We wanted to do the 4 pm Indy show, so I was trying to use a 3:30 Rock n Roller Coaster fastpass I found...literally ran down there and after riding ran back up to Indy! You never know how long RNRC will take. But I did see the Streetmosphere people
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And I took a photopass picture
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Rock n Roller Coaster was awesome as always. :)
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I made it a bit early for the Indy show, so we got to sit up front and play Disney Trivia with a CM while waiting! I won a "multiple stage show" paper fastpass for answering a question about Bambi being a Disney prince. Doing the trivia was super fun, and helping little kids around me get the right answer and win the fastpass. Things like, what Disney princess is lefthanded and how do we know? (Mulan, cause she writes the characters on her right arm)

Once the show started, Trevor and I were picked to be extras, but lightning stopped the show, so for the second time we didn't get to see it. We tried to see it on our first trip and weather stopped it again. Oh well! The CM did say that we could come back to any show later and tell them we were picked to be extras in a canceled show, and they'd let us be extras in that show. So we figured, hey we'll try the next show tonight! hahahahahahaha
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Well, with the Indy show canceled, I decided to ride Tower of Terror (I think Trevor went back to Star Tours :) ). Went all the way back down Sunset Boulevard, getting slightly wet in the process (it was raining off and on the whole time), took a picture, and hopped in line for Tower of Terror. The line wasn't too bad, though as we were standing on the numbers waiting for the elevator I was by a family from Sao Paulo with a very scared little boy, and we had fun talking. I always like using my Portuguese :) And the poor little boy did enjoy the ride, but I don't think he wants to do it again!
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After the ride, we decided to try the 5:30 Frozen show, and then go for the 6 pm Indy show. Cause why not? :) So I was running up Sunset Boulevard (again...) to meet up with Trevor to go to the Frozen show. We were a minute or two late, but they still let us in. The lights were dark but they hadn't actually started the show yet, so I call that perfect timing. The show was *hilarious*. I highly recommend it--it's a bit of a hidden gem. The historians/narrators are really funny with their improv. The kids love it 'cause it's Frozen but there's plenty of humor to keep the adults entertained.
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We exited very quickly, ready to run over to the Indiana Jones stadium for the 6 pm Indy show, but it was POURING. SUPER hard. We eventually decided to risk it, since the covered space by Frozen was getting more and more crowded. We made it pretty quick, but we were still soaked. Of course the 6 pm show was cancelled due to heavy rain, so we stayed there for a minute, then decided to go over to Backlot Express for their restrooms, and then over to Star Tours. Cause the line was crazy short--a walk on, essentially. And what else are you going to do in the crazy heavy rain?

We had luck again this time. Our first ride we got Tatooine and then the salt planet from the Last Jedi. On our second ride, we got the wookiee planet and then Naboo (boo!), but I got picked as the Rebel Spy! That was exciting. I think they really should sell a pin or something saying "I was the Rebel Spy", besides just a t-shirt. But I was prepped and got a picture--we must have been talking to the CM or something to make me think one of us would have a chance at getting picked. I don't remember honestly...oops!
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After that, the rain had let up a bit, so I went back down Sunset Boulevard to ride Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. I can't remember if the lines were short, or if I'd gotten these as extra fastpasses, though I think maybe I did single rider for RNRC and a fastpass for Tower of Terror. Either way, I didn't wait too long to ride them. :)
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Trevor stayed up to do Star Tours again, and he got to be the rebel spy! Yay! :)
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Afterwards, we met up in the Toy Story gift shop at the top of Sunset Boulevard. We'd decided we wanted to buy the Alien claw cups, and as we were looking around in there, we ended up buying the AP Toy Story Land ornament too. They were kind enough to send it back to the resort, and we headed out of the park, as we had a late dinner reservation: 'Ohana!
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(you can see how we got wet in the rain earlier...)

We got to the bus stop and a bus came fairly quickly--we left at 8:02 and arrived at the Poly at 8:10. This was our first time at the Polynesian--Trevor loved the fire. :) We got a picture with the statue in the lobby (I really like how they have photographers in the lobbies of these resorts)
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Then we were looking for Trader Sams! We were hoping it would be dead and we'd be able to look around before our ADR at 8:30. Silly us. :)
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They quoted us a 45 minute wait, even though there were empty seats. So we left and checked in at Ohana. We checked in at 8:20 for our 8:30 ADR, and were seated at 8:45. Most everywhere else we were seated early, so this was the one difference. The fireworks probably put them behind a bit?

We were seated right next to the kitchen (behind the grill) and waited about 10 minutes to see our waiter, but he brought us our drinks promptly. We didn't get any bread, and after watching people around us get seated with bread, we ended up asking the waiter for some (I wanted to try it after hearing all about it!). He brought it quickly, so that was nice. It was good bread! Even Trevor liked it and he doesn't like pineapple in things, at all. Course I also just love butter on bread, so there's that too.
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We then got a skewer of chicken, and after that we got our appetizers. The appetizers were yummy--both the salad and the noodles...yum. We actually both liked the appetizers better than the meats.
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The grilled chicken was good, but the steak was overcooked and we didn't much care for the sauce. Same with the shrip--Trevor didn't really like the sauce or that they came in the shell thing.
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Our waiter was very distracted and didn't really talk to us at all--I assume he was overwhelmed or busy or something. If he'd been a bit more attentive, we might have asked about getting another skewer of steak, cooked better or maybe a portion without the sauce, but as it was we didn't want to bother him. So entrees were "meh", but we liked the appetizers.

Dessert was another one that I knew was a Disney thing, so was excited to try, but found it underwhelming. It's a huge portion for just two people, and it was good, but I think it was a bit bland for me. The waiter also dropped off a festive rice krispie treat? He didn't say anything about it, just dropped it off with the bread pudding. Is that normal? Maybe it was a birthday thing, but he never said... *shrugs*
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So all in all, not our favorite. Underwhelming, especially considering the hype. I might try the bread pudding again from the Tambu Lounge, but probably won't be back for dinner. Trevor said it's a toss up between Ohana and The Edison as the worst meal of the trip, which honestly doesn't mean they were bad, but that we had so many yummy/enjoyable meals!

After dinner, we stopped by Trader Sam's again and were quoted the same 45 minute wait, despite the empty seats. They did let us just peek in super quickly and leave. In retrospect, we probably should have waited--it likely wasn't 45 minutes. But...we were on a quest to figure out if the Abracadabar had the poison apple glow cubes, and we made it back too late Tuesday night, and so we were determined to make it back tonight before they closed at 10:30 (side note--I did try to call the bar to figure out if they had them but I COULD NOT find a number directly for the bar. Super irritating).

So we grabbed an uber at 10:15 and were back at the Boardwalk at 10:25. We flew down the stairs to the Boardwalk proper and to the Abracadabar, only to find that they wouldn't have the poison apple glow cubes until Oct 1st, but Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar did have them now. So, as it was only 10:30 (again, in retrospect, should have stayed for Trader Sams...), I decided to head over to Disney Springs to get one. :)

The bus to Disney Springs came at 10:45; I don't remember if it stopped at the other resorts...probably not? Disney Springs wasn't super crowded when I got there (which makes sense for a Wednesday). Jock Lindsay's was pretty empty, and the bartender let me buy the glow cubes with the purchase of a bottle of water, so that was nice.

On the way back I stopped in at Sprinkles and got my birthday cupcake (Dark Chocolate Banana), and then to the bus stop. Oosh, that was a mistake. The bus was sharing with Swan/Dolphin/Yacht/Beach Club, and had a crazy long line. I didn't get on til the second bus, which took a while to come. I thought about bailing and grabbing an uber, but that would have required walking to one or the other end of Disney Springs, which I didn't really want to do (the guys in front of me in line were having the same debate!) so i ended up just waiting. Didn't get back to the room until about midnight. Later than I wanted, but hey, I had my glow cubes and a cupcake for breakfast the next day! :)

Fun with Metrics!
Steps Walked: 20,946 (9.1 miles)
Total AP Discount: $25.69
Ride Total (Tiffany): 13.5 (Expedition Everest x2, Safari, Flight of Passage, Star Tours x3, Rock n Roller Coaster x2, Tower of Terror x2, Star Tours, Frozen, Indy (sort of) )
Ride Total (Trevor): 9.5 (Safari, Flight of Passage, Star Tours x6, Indy (sort of), Frozen)
 
Glad you had a great lunch at Sanaa! That bread service is amazing. The Red Chili Sambel is my favorite and I'm happy I get to have it in 2 weeks time!

Successful morning in AK!

Now to find out how long you nap for ;)

It is SO GOOD. I think I'm going to start trying to make the sauces one every week or something, cause they were all so good. I don't think I could choose a favorite. Yum. Jealous you get it so soon!

LOL Not as long as I would have thought.... :)
 
Aw, what a bummer about Ohana. I have wanted to eat there of course, but this makes me feel a little better about missing out.
 


I always feel like I should try Ohana again because of the rave reviews it gets but my thoughts were pretty much the same as yours last time so I will probably avoid it still! There are just too many really great options in Disney!
 
Ohana’s Chaos is why we skip it as there is so much better food out there.

Also only 90 minutes? You are going to need a vacation your vacation
 
I definitely want to stay at AKL! It looks beautiful. I'm glad your meal was yummy. It looks great!
So good! I used to think going to the resorts for meals was too far out of the way but I think I’m a convert now. The food is (usually) really good and the resorts are gorgeous!

Aw, what a bummer about Ohana. I have wanted to eat there of course, but this makes me feel a little better about missing out.
Might be better with a family? They had a cute coconut race for the kids.

I always feel like I should try Ohana again because of the rave reviews it gets but my thoughts were pretty much the same as yours last time so I will probably avoid it still! There are just too many really great options in Disney!

Yea, I’m glad we did it but probably won’t be back.

Ohana’s Chaos is why we skip it as there is so much better food out there.

Also only 90 minutes? You are going to need a vacation your vacation

Yea, not worth it. Definitely worth trying, but we likely won’t be back.

Lol it worked for us! We didn’t really set alarms or anything, just when we naturally woke up. And I was smart—we came back Saturday and had Sunday to ease back into things so the “need a vacation from the vacation” feeling wasn’t quite as strong! :)
 


Oh man. That's such a bummer about Ohana. ...BUt...I guess I didn't realize just how close AKL is to AK park. I think I'm gonna try to squeeze in a trip to one of the AK restaurants on my vacay. That bread service looks AMAZING! I live for all things spicy!

and I'm envious! You BOTH got to be the rebel spies?! How cool is that?! *thumbs up*
 
Oh man. That's such a bummer about Ohana. ...BUt...I guess I didn't realize just how close AKL is to AK park. I think I'm gonna try to squeeze in a trip to one of the AK restaurants on my vacay. That bread service looks AMAZING! I live for all things spicy!

and I'm envious! You BOTH got to be the rebel spies?! How cool is that?! *thumbs up*

It is *super* close--definitely worth the trip. Even if you only get the breadservice. So yummy! And the last two sauces are pretty spicy :D

Right? That was super cool! I wish I could have been riding when Trevor was picked, but still--we got really lucky. :D
 
And I was smart—we came back Saturday and had Sunday to ease back into things so the “need a vacation from the vacation” feeling wasn’t quite as strong! :)

Agree with this strategy......long gone are our days to go back to the daily grind after getting back from vacation - even a quick weekend trip - we need an extra day before going back to work.
 
Ok, so I’ve gotten behind on your trip report bc of work...blah! It’s looking like a great trip. V&A looks awesome!

I did want to say that was my family right in front of you waiting to go into EMM! My son is leaning on the trash can with the phone, my husband is to the left and my dgtr has the green backpack on! (I didn’t make it in your pic) So weird to see us (them) on here. Also, thanks for not reporting on the weird family in line with you! :hyper2:

We could have had an impromptu dis-meet!

My SIL had got us all those shirts, eight of us, so we wore them that day. I’m not into matching so much, but you know...

She was in an ECV bc she fractured a bone in her foot right before the trip. She was walking on in sooo slowly and in so much pain my brother rented one. It was great for her, but we spent the rest of the trip worried she was going to run us, or some else, over!

We all enjoyed the bread service at Sanna a lot. My favorites were the garlic and the green one. We stayed at Jambo House again, this time for the whole trip bc I love it so much. (Last time was 4 nights on a split stay). I have never been to another resort to compare it to, but that’s where I want to stay again when we come back! I would live there if I could!
 
Ok, so I’ve gotten behind on your trip report bc of work...blah! It’s looking like a great trip. V&A looks awesome!
I'm sorry about work! Hopefully it calms down a bit for you :) (and yes V&A was amazing.... :D )

I did want to say that was my family right in front of you waiting to go into EMM! My son is leaning on the trash can with the phone, my husband is to the left and my dgtr has the green backpack on! (I didn’t make it in your pic) So weird to see us (them) on here. Also, thanks for not reporting on the weird family in line with you! :hyper2:

We could have had an impromptu dis-meet!

My SIL had got us all those shirts, eight of us, so we wore them that day. I’m not into matching so much, but you know...

She was in an ECV bc she fractured a bone in her foot right before the trip. She was walking on in sooo slowly and in so much pain my brother rented one. It was great for her, but we spent the rest of the trip worried she was going to run us, or some else, over!
OH MY GOSH! I remember your sister in law, mostly 'cause of the ECV! Too bad indeed--impromptu dismeet would have been super fun! And you guys weren't weird at all :D The matching shirts were cute--you're a good sport to wear them (I'm not a fan of huge group matching shirts either. :) )

We all enjoyed the bread service at Sanna a lot. My favorites were the garlic and the green one. We stayed at Jambo House again, this time for the whole trip bc I love it so much. (Last time was 4 nights on a split stay). I have never been to another resort to compare it to, but that’s where I want to stay again when we come back! I would live there if I could!
I don't think I've ever read that anyone doesn't like the breadservice. And I love that there are so many dips, so there's something for everyone. But I agree with you on the green dip--super yummy :) Also, that's awesome that you got to stay in Jambo House the whole time! I definitely understand the sentiment of wanting to live there--we've been daydreaming about what we would do if we won the huge lottery jackpot and Trevor's like "we would DEFINITELY live at the Boardwalk!" :)

How cool that you were picked as extras! Sorry you didn't get to actually participate, though.
It's ok, we remedied that a bit later in the trip :D
 
We first stopped in the gift shop, because I remembered an article I read in one of the disney blogs about how you could buy the serving set for the Sanaa bread service,
Whaaatttt!!!!!!!!!

It was more expensive than we were expecting (and no AP discount, bummer), but we were successful! We've used it already for some dips with vegetables, but I do look forward to making some of the bread dips.
I am beyond jealous that you have this!!!! My poor husband searched and searched for this for me for a Christmas present this past year with no luck.


YUM! So fun!


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Trevor got the Lamb Kefta Skewers (with Tunisian Couscous Salad and Peppadew-Goat Cheese.
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Both of these sound really good. I might need to try both next time.

Our waiter was very distracted and didn't really talk to us at all--I assume he was overwhelmed or busy or something. If he'd been a bit more attentive, we might have asked about getting another skewer of steak, cooked better or maybe a portion without the sauce, but as it was we didn't want to bother him. So entrees were "meh", but we liked the appetizers.
Sounds like you had a bad waiter!

Dessert was another one that I knew was a Disney thing, so was excited to try, but found it underwhelming. It's a huge portion for just two people, and it was good, but I think it was a bit bland for me. The waiter also dropped off a festive rice krispie treat? He didn't say anything about it, just dropped it off with the bread pudding. Is that normal? Maybe it was a birthday thing, but he never said... *shrugs*
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They usually give the kids the rice krispee treat, I think. Did you waiter offer to pour the carmel on the bread pudding? It's part of the fun. I feel like there is a correlation between what time you eat dinner there and the service, the earlier the better the service. We ate there as part of the first seating and I feel like our waitress was great! Sorry it didn't live up to the hype.
 
I am beyond jealous that you have this!!!! My poor husband searched and searched for this for me for a Christmas present this past year with no luck.
https://wdwnt.com/2018/06/photos-ta...vice-serving-board-on-sale-at-kidani-village/ It was a bit of a hassle trying to buy it, but next time you go, head on over there if you have some time! :)

Sounds like you had a bad waiter!
Yea...I'm always hesitant to call waiters bad 'cause I know it's a hard job and all, but yea, this guy wasn't great.

They usually give the kids the rice krispee treat, I think. Did you waiter offer to pour the carmel on the bread pudding? It's part of the fun. I feel like there is a correlation between what time you eat dinner there and the service, the earlier the better the service. We ate there as part of the first seating and I feel like our waitress was great! Sorry it didn't live up to the hype.
Interesting! We didn't have any kids with us, so not sure why. And nope, he didn't pour the caramel on. That would make sense though, about the timing--we had a late ADR and then it seems like he had a bunch of tables that all got seated within 5 minutes. Maybe we'll try it again and do the first seating!
 
OMG!!! Thanks so much. I don't think we are going to Sanaa in Feb. But hopefully in August...

This is what I ended up with as my christmas gift... not too bad!
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I do love that they give you the recipes for all of them as well.

Nice!! Not bad at all. It looks yummy :) We're going to try and make all the dips for Thanksgiving this year, since its the first year we'll be at our house for Thanksgiving (not going to family), and as neither of us are big turkey fans, we thought this would be more fun :)
 
Nice!! Not bad at all. It looks yummy :) We're going to try and make all the dips for Thanksgiving this year, since its the first year we'll be at our house for Thanksgiving (not going to family), and as neither of us are big turkey fans, we thought this would be more fun :)
Our family did Indian for Christmas last year. It was actually a lot of fun and different.

Try this dip too if you want. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017492-muhammara-red-pepper-and-walnut-spread
I highly recommend it!
 

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