Ohana means... everything! A sentimental trip report - Fall 2018

[TeaForTulips]

I'd like to interrupt my current timeline to backtrack because I stumbled upon photos from our riding Seven Darf's Mine Train earlier in the morning.

Oopsies!





Now back to our regularly scheduled post...


SATURDAY | GIRLS DAY CONTINUES
September 29th

By 10:30 it was time for the People Mover!

What? She's my sister. I'm allowed to give her a hard time.


At 10:49 we walked on Buzz with our first FastPass.









This was the first time we declared Hallise got "Mike Wazowski-ed".


Continued in next post...​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | HALLISE IS FAMOUS
September 29th

We were hungry after our valiant attempt to defeat Emperor Zurg.
Snack time!



We opted for the Incredibles Pretzel instead of the standard Mickey.
The great thing about pretzels here in Tomorrowland is the cheese.
It's the good stuff. Not the kind in the package.



Hallise also got a blue Fanta slushie.



Sadly, before we knew it the pretzel was gone.

It was now time for Monster's Inc Laugh Floor!

Now, normally this is just quick fun and not much to say about it yeah?

We usually text our joke in and are excited when it's picked.

Welp. This was the first time our joke wasn't picked!


But then this happened...

Ahhh!

Could we be more excited that Hallise got chosen on her special day??
No. No, we could not!

It was so special.


Next Post: More Magic Kingdom to come and tea at the Grand Floridian!​

 

[Scse1029]

Following along, great trip report so far!

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | HIS NAME IS GOAT
September 29th

Our second FastPass for the day was for the wildest ride in the wilderness!

Our FP was for 11:40 am.
We arrived at 11:50 to see a giant line for the FP queue.
We walked right past the end of it not knowing!

Trista loves the goat you can see riding BTMRR. She was excited to see her goat.

"I get to see my goat."
"We should name him."
"His name is Goat."


I have us getting off BTMRR at 12:20 pm.



We took a potty break by Splash Mountain and jumped on the train because Tinker Bell had a 15-minute wait.

We had a FastPass for her after tea later in the afternoon, so I went ahead and changed that to a Haunted Mansion FastPass. Woot!

As we got on the train we decided to break out a bottle of water and some snacks.
Then we heard the announcement that there is no eating or drinking on the train.
Uh, guess it's been a while since we heard the rules!
For whatever reason, we found this hilarious and sneakily put away our snack time.

When we got into the blessed air conditioned line for Tinker Bell it was lovely to see her line so short.

Meanwhile, the main mouse himself had quite the wait...

Tinker Bell is one of Hallise's favorites.

I will say, I was disappointed in our Tinker Bell. Listening to her conversation with the group ahead of us did not give me the best impression. This little girl standing next to Tink was super young and Tink was going on about something to the adults while the child just stood there.

You had to see it perhaps.

When it was our turn, Tinker Bell asked if Hallise was a mermaid and asked if she was still in training.

The conversation was not bad really.
She chatted for a little over a minute with Hallise, but looked over to Trista and me constantly.
While her appearance was great, her personality just didn't seem Tink-ish to me?
I can't really put it into words, but I was disappointed.
I honestly think Hallise was as well.

After our visit to Pixie Hollow we caught the last minute of a Dapper Dans performance.
We were said to have missed it.
They're so lovely.

Our tea reservation was not until 2:05, but we figured we would head over and explore.

We took the boat to Grand Floridian, Hallise's choice, of course.
Our boat captain was the best I'd ever had.
He had a dry sense of humor and had us laughing.
Sure, some of the jokes might be standard, but he had the personality to still make it fun.

We got to the Grand Floridian at 1:23 pm.

We went ahead and checked in though and were sat by 1:38 pm.

Can I just say now, tea was an AMAZING experience.
A lot of that was because we had the best server ever.
Shout out to Patrick from Sarasota.
He was the best.


Continued in next post...



​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | NOT MY CUP OF TEA
September 29th

We were all super duper excited for tea time!

We had looked at the menus before our trip and knew what everyone wanted.

My original plan was to get the kid's menu tea.
I didn't want the amount of food the adult's packages would bring.

However, I learned that I could get the kid's menu food and beverage choices, but I had to get an adult package.

Well, I'm okay with this, but I wasn't going to pay the increased price for PB&J and ham and cheese either.











Here's why our service was so fantastic.

I am super picky.

I am allergic to caffeine, so already my tea choices were limited and I had to confirm which teas I could have.

I cannot stand onions.

I wanted to know of all the adult sandwiches, which ones were contaminated.

Every time I felt self-conscious and just needy, Patrick reassured me.
He was so nice about taking care of us.
He wanted to ensure I was going to get whatever I wanted.


On the menu for the adult sandwiches are cucumber, sweet curry chicken, egg salad, poached pear, gorgonzola cream cheese and fire roasted tomato with oregano-goat cheese.

I could have everything but the egg salad! I was shocked.

Honestly, almost in disbelief, that poor Patrick had been misinformed.

The next dilemma was the dessert options.

No caffeine means I cannot have chocolate.
The dessert option I wanted included a mousse filled swan, French macaron, and chocolate covered strawberry.

Patrick fixed me up so I would get extra macarons instead of the strawberry and would ensure my flavors were not the coffee or chocolate options.

I LOVED HIM.
Seriously. I've never had a server put me so at ease for all the trouble I was causing.
He kept saying I was no trouble at all.

For tea, I was told I could have any of the herbals and there was an all-day decaf option.

I was nervous, but I decided to be brave to try the Golden Caramel Rooibos.
"Blended with a hint of caramel flavor, to enhance the naturally rich depth of flavour results in an indulgent, caffeine-free tea with just the right level of sweetness."

Spoiler. I hated it.


We were already assured if we didn't like the teas we chose, Patrick could bring a new one.
I still felt so terrible!

After that, I went with the standard decaf black tea. I was content then.

Trista chose the Enchanted Forest option.
"Ripe forest fruits of raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry, a rich creamy vanilla to compliment the depth of this black China tea."

She was in HEAVEN.
Loved it dearly.

Hallise was also brave and chose the Nutty Chocolate tea.
"Rich Assam is a perfect partner to the flavour of delicious chocolate and creamy hazelnuts like a praline truffle."

She too was not keen and said, "This is not my cup of tea."


Gotta love this kid. She went with chocolate milk after that.
Patrick went at least 2 feet above her cup to pour the milk in.
He said he could do it with the milk because it wasn't hot to hurt anyone!
It was fun.






Continued in next post...

​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | IS THAT AN ONION TART
September 29th

Tea was off to a splendid start!




This is Trista's plate after I gave her my onion tart.


The very opposite of YUM and WOW.

Since I couldn't have the egg salad, my sandwiches just included an extra curry chicken.

The cucumber was refreshing and yummy.
Trista said the egg salad was good.
None of us cared for the poached pear.
The chicken curry was good, but not great.
The winner?
That gorgonzola cream cheese and fire roasted tomato with oregano-goat cheese.
SO GOOD.

If we ever go back, I will ask for all five of my sandwiches to be that one.

The next course was, dare I say, the best course.













That scone.
Delicious.
The double cream, lemon curd, and strawberry jam were SO GOOD.
Seriously, I cannot tell you how delicious this was.

I was getting so full and it made me so sad!
The strawberry tart was also on point yummers.

For the dessert portion, Trista got a swan, the chocolate covered strawberry, and I believe a chocolate and coffee macaron.

Hallise got the same, but with a strawberry and vanilla macaron.

I had the swan and pistachio, lemon, strawberry, and vanilla macarons.

The swans in all their beauty were meh.
I didn't even take a bite out of mine. I was so full and asked Trista and Hallise if I was missing out.
They both said I could leave it.

We all shared macaron flavors so we could try them.
They were standard macarons to me.
Very tasty, but not oh-my-heavens-yum like the scones and such.



We're obviously not British, but for us, this afternoon tea was worth it.
I've seen some pretty awful to fair reviews for this place.

The service and the food made for one of the best experiences for us.
Our Marmee would have enjoyed it immensely.

Next Post: We're headed back to MK! The day is only half over.


​

 

[TeaForTulips]

Following along, great trip report so far!

Thank you so much! Y'all are too kind. I'm thrilled to see anyone enjoying this with me!

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | HEFFALUMPS AND WOOZLES
September 29th

After our glorious tea time at the Grand Floridian, us girls were still pumped that the day was far from over!




We made it back to the Magical Kingdom by 3:10 pm and headed straight to our Haunted Mansion FastPass.



We had a lot of instances this trip where the FastPass lines were packed at the entrance.



I didn't note it, but it was still not a long wait at all. Maybe 10 minutes?

Don't you just love Haunted Mansion so much?

I'm one of those annoying people that say every word and sing every song, so I don't mind riding by myself.


Next, we got in line for some spinning teacups!
I made a promise while we were living in Florida that I would never ride the teacups without Trista.
I kept true to that promise so it had been a long time since I rode these bad boys.
I was excited!
My giggle box always turns over.

We were off the cups at 3:53 pm.
I grabbed a FastPass for Pooh at 4:20 pm.
We decided to kill some time by visiting Ariel and her friends.

The queue was posted with a 25-minute wait.

We swam back to land at 4:24 and headed over to see Pooh!
Though, let's face it... for us? We were heading to see Piglet!

I offer you a progression of selfie attempts...









Bouncing with Tiger, singing "the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down", singing "a Heffalump or Woozle is very confusel", and shouting "SAVE PIGLET!" was as fun as it always has been.


Continued in next post...
​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | IN THE HOT SEATS
September 29th

Soon it was 5:00 pm and we were due to head back to the hotel to meet up with Pierce and Mario.

The plan was to have a rest, eat some dinner, then head back to MK as it was open until midnight!

Heading towards the front of the park, we walked through the shops. Hello, air conditioning.

Hallise saw this baby Sully stuffy that we took a picture of because she may have needed him.



Hallise has a penchant for stuffies.
She already has a stuffy rotation at home where some are put away in the attic while others are out and then they rotate.

So the rule for this trip was she was only allowed to buy 1 stuffy with her spending money.
Both kids had gift cards to spend they accumulated over birthdays and Christmas.

Something else she had been looking at very closely was some Mickey ears, but so far nothing was a must-buy.

Until now!



Her first purchase and first set of ears!
She spotted these as we were approaching the front of the park and ran right to them.
They are very "Hallise" and everyone was thrilled for her pick.

After the purchase, we walked out and waited on a bus back to the hotel.

I have we began our wait at 5:12 and got the bus at 5:20.
Not bad at all!

Our bus experience was an unusual one.
At least, it seemed to be.
Our lack of bus knowledge became apparent for sure.

I do have noted, "saw a grown man pick his nose and eat his booger."
WHY I chose to note this, I don't know.




We chose seats in the back of the bus.
This is where our mistake came to play.
It didn't take long for us to all realize we were quite warm.
Our BOTTOMS were quite warm.

My notes read, "Sat on the hot seats in the back of the bus. Lesson learned. Never again."


Our seats were right over the engine, I suppose! We were so uncomfortable!

Mario and Pierce actually beat us back to the hotel.
They had the best time at Volcano Bay.
Both of them could not say enough good things about it.
I even want to go next time.

Because the park has strict rules about cameras and such on rides, Mario just put their things in the locker and enjoyed the day.

We all shared stories from our day and took a nice pool break.
For most of the trip, the pool breaks just included the squishies and me.
Trista and Mario joined in a couple times, but I don't think I noted exactly when.
I was surprised Pierce wasn't too worn out, but he was good!

Our plan after swimming was to head to dinner at Port Orleans French Quarter and then close down MK for the night.

I have multiple Buzz Lightyear score photos from this day and I cannot recall when they are from or who got what, so I'm just going to throw them out now and say...

I won every time.


So I know the high scores are all mine, but that's it.
I'm new at this note taking and photo taking business for trip reports!
The struggle was real.









Some may be from just Trista, Hallise, and myself and some might be from the evening with the gang.
I don't know...

Next Post: Dinner at Port Orleans and midnight at Magic Kingdom!​

 

[TeaForTulips]

Real Life Update
Woots and Woes.

I apologize that this report has lacked updates in a month or so!
I took on 5 classes this semester, along with working part-time, and the end of the semester was just a doozy.

I am pleased to say all my hard work paid off and I continue my straight A streak.



Sadly, now I am studying for a ginormous test with utmost importance. I must pass it to start my student teaching semester. The life of becoming The Greatest Teacher Ever.



So now I have got a break from heavy class projects and lesson plans, I will spend time this weekend catching up on everyone else's trip report and sorting through photos and video for my own.

I appreciate anyone who stuck around for this madness.

​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SATURDAY | A MAGICAL NIGHT
September 29th

I last left you when Trista, Hallise, and I met Mario and Pierce back at the hotel.
Swimming, naps, and showers took place throughout the group.

By 7:40 pm we were in the car on the way to Port Orleans French Quarter for dinner.

By 8:12 pm I noted we were sitting down to eat dinner.


Hallise got the "make your own pasta" with a Mickey brownie.


Pierce got the Philly Cheesesteak Poboy.


I got the steak with mash, mac, and green beans.


This was Mario's apple dessert.


Mario got the shrimp and grits.


Trista also got the steak dinner with carrots, mash, and green beans. She got a festive sugar cookie too.

This dinner occurred before we remembered alcohol was now included in the dining plan!
Womp womp.

The ribeye steaks were very thin of course so it wasn't like an amazing steak, but they were good.
Everyone was very happy with their meals, but Pierce won with the cheesesteak.
I didn't try a bite of his because onions , but everyone else said it was sooooo good.

After leaving Port Orleans with super full bellies, we headed to the Polynesian.
We parked at 8:49 pm and grabbed the monorail to Magic Kingdom!





While Trista, Halilse, and myself had been there all day, this was Pierce and Mario's first Disney park of the trip!
SO EXCITING.

While waiting for the monorail we played the game of guessing which color monorail we were going to get.
I'm pretty sure no one ever guessed right the whole trip. Ha.

At 9:35 we were in line for Pirates that showed a 20-minute wait. We had a FP for BTMRR at 9:40.

The wait for Pirates was, I believe, longer than the post. I have us getting on BTMRR at 10:17 pm.





At 10:42 we were in line for Buzz Lightyear!
Then, it was time to hit the Speedway! We drove around MK at 10:55.

I have to tell you... I wish terribly that the video came out for our Speedway ride.
Trista and I decided to ride together and it was fantastical and horrific.
We laughed the whole way because I could not drive that little car to save my life.
The ride was rough.

The video, sadly, is just 98% darkness with little bits of Trista and I laughing our heads off.

After our drive around Tomorrowland, we did Barnstormer and Dumbo.
It was almost midnight by this point, so we headed out.
We made it back to All Star Music by 12:30 am.

According to my FitBit, I walked 23,404 steps on this day or about 10 miles.
It was truly a glorious first day of Disney.

Next Post: Finally on to Day 2 at Hollywood Studios! Bobo joins the party!​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SUNDAY | HOLLYWOOOOOOD
September 30th

It's time for Hollywooooood Studios!

We left the hotel at 7:05 am and were in line at the park at 7:30 am.





I can't remember if I said it already, but Pierce was very determined not to partake in my photos this entire trip. I promise he's happy and healthy no matter what photographic evidence may lead you to believe.

We followed the masses to Toy Story Land, but we had a plan.
I'd managed to get Slinky Dog FastPasses, but not until our second day at Hollywood Studios.
So... our goal was to do Alien Saucers and Toy Story Mania. We were happy with this because the line for Slinky Dog was already more than an hour by the time we reached it. By the time we left Toy Story Land, it was about 4 hours long.

No. Thank. You.

Our first stop was Alien Swirling Saucers!





We got to ride 1.5 times because the first bout a woman's sunglasses went flying and they had to stop the ride.

Seriously, this ride was so much fun. It gave me the giggles. I loved it!

After fun with aliens we saw Jesse and Woody come out and there was no line!
At 8:08 am we stopped to say howdy!



After this, Toy Story Mania was posted at a 40-minute wait by 8:14 am.
We thought about getting breakfast at Woody's Lunchbox, but nothing sounded good and the line was also ridiculous.

We hoped the 40-minute wait posting was over-estimated.


Love some UNO.







We got off Toy Story Mania at 8:38 am. So including wait and ride, it was 24 minutes.

I don't remember who rode with who, but I won best in car.



Continued in next post...​

 

[cinderaimee]

I just found your report and am all caught up and following along. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip

I am so sorry about the loss of your mom. My own mother died very recently and very unexpectedly so I can see why this trip was bittersweet for you, it is such a tremendous loss.

 

[TeaForTulips]

SUNDAY | BOBO HAS ARRIVED
September 30th



We found the Bobo leaving Toy Story Land!

I have we walked on Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, did a FastPass for Tower of Terror, and then a FastPass for Rock 'n' Rollercoaster again.










We attempted a sleeping picture, but as you can see, Hallise was not on board.



Pierce cracks me up.


Let's just say Hallise is not keen on this ride...

Continued in next post...​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SUNDAY | WE HAVE A REBEL SPY
September 30th

The shirt Pierce bought was this one:

Very Pierce.

After riding RNR and TOT, we were in need of popcorn. No one had eaten and there are certain members of our party who may get hangry. *cough*the boys*cough*

We nabbed a Toy Story refillable popcorn bucket and caught the March of the First Order.
Love me some Phasma.

We were heading to Star Tours! We had a FastPass for 10:45 am.
I was constantly on my phone this trip trying to update FastPasses. Most of the time, it went really well.
I was often able to move FastPasses to closer times and just get new ones as well.

Everyone in our party loves Star Wars and was ready for Star Tours.
I, personally, was super excited because I had not ridden this ride in many, many years.

If you're not familiar with the seatbelt process, the CMs have a board that lights up, showing when all seatbelts are buckled. A long time ago, I struggled for a long time getting my seatbelt done. I was riding by myself so there was not a friend or family member next to me to help. It, for whatever reason, left me feeling so embarrassed as everyone starred and watched while I held up the ride.

So. I had not ridden it since then. Now, I've lost a lot of weight and I was pumped to get to ride this finally.
Similar to on the airplane, when I didn't need to ask for a seatbelt extender, I prolly could have cried when I sat down, buckled up, and had no issues.



Of course, we all were hoping to be the Rebel Spy.
As luck would have it... someone in our party was chosen!


Who was it?
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HALLISE!

I told her to do her Rebel Spy pose and this is what she did.
This girl was feelin' the magic after yesterday! And now she also got picked here?
WOO HOO!

Pierce and I were both super jealous. He let his envy show more than I.





After Star Tours, we decided to head out of the park.
There wasn't much else we wanted to do besides some shows.
We left at 11:24 am feeling very accomplished.

Made it to the car at 11:35 and to our destination by 11:42 am.

Where did we go?
Why, back to Port Orleans French Quarter!


BUT.

More Disney magic happened as we were leaving Hollywood Studios.




Apparently, a couple who were travel agents had a bunch of FastPasses to spare and asked us if we were going to EPCOT at all. WE ARE NOW. A man gave Mario any time FastPasses for EPCOT that expired that day.

Continued in next post...​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SUNDAY | REMEMBER THE ALCOHOL
September 30th

At Port Orleans French Quarter, we were all very ready for some lunch.

And this time, we remembered the alcohol!


Mario got the Cheesesteak Poboy with raspberry sorbet.

Side note for the poboy... they cooked these to order which is part of what really made these great. They offer it with onions and banana peppers. (both of which I think are gross)


Trista and I shared. This is the French Quarter House Salad with cornbread croutons and creamy lemon-parmesan dressing and chicken. SO GOOD.


I believe this is Bobo's. Also the Cheesesteak. And looks like a muffin. The muffin gives it away that it is Dad's.


This one is sans onions and peppers, so this would be the one I ordered for Trista and I to share.


Who got the hamburger? I believe this is Hallise.


I got a Mickey pecan praline. It left a lot to be desired.


Someone got the Margi Gras King Cake. This too was not that great.
We are partial, prolly, with this and the praline as we eat really amazing ones in Louisiana.


Someone got the Muffaletta. This must be Pierce.



Trista did remember alcohol!

Then sadly, she spilled it. Which, of course, meant we all cried out, "STELLLAA!"
But!
She improvised...



Mario gave her a hard time about it, but I said do it!
Hahaha.

Continued in next post...​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SUNDAY | BREAK TIME
September 30th

We got back to the resort at 12:50 pm.
I swam with Pierce until about 2 o'clock.
By 2:35 pm I was showered, dressed, and bored.
Everyone else was asleep.



I managed to grab a Soarin' FastPass for 7:20 pm that night.

Eventually, everyone got ready by 4:40 pm.
FINALLY.
(I cannot nap... it's a blessing and a curse)

By 4:53 pm we were pulling into EPCOT!

At 5:09 pm, Spaceship Earth was a walk-on.







Next, we stopped for a little pin trading action before heading to Club Cool.

We all had pins to trade (I hate wearing mine, they were in my bag) and often were on a mission for pins!

Club Cool.
Where I was bored because I couldn't drink of the sodas.











Hallise did not like it.


Mario almost bought a hat, but did not.
We waited while he bought a frozen Coke.

Then, we headed to Figment at 5:53 pm.
Imaaaaaaaagination.


Mario sat out to drink his Frozen Coke.
He wasn't sad.


Continued in next post...​

 

[TeaForTulips]

SUNDAY | EVENING AT EPCOT
September 30th

After leaving Figment, I was on a mission to find a photo booth.



When my parents came to visit in 2016 we took the top photo.
In the same booth, Trista, Dad, and I took a photo this year.
It meant a lot to me.

We stopped at the popcorn cart near Figment and tried the flavor popcorns. We got a mixture of sour cream chive and cheddar. It was quite tasty, but overall we all agreed we liked traditional best.

We planned to meander towards Test Track to use our any time FastPass and hit up some booths along the way!

We failed horribly at photos this evening.


We got Piggy Wings (Roasted Pork Wings with Korean BBQ Sauce and Sesame Seeds) and Charred Chimichurri Skirt Steak on a Smoked Corn Cake with Pickled Vegetable Slaw and Cilantro Aïoli from Flavors of Fire.
I tried the wings and they were meh. I didn't get to try the steak, but everyone said it was one of the best things they ate at the festival.

From the Wine and Dine Studio, I got the Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Vinaigrette, Parmesan Cheese and Pumpkin Seeds. I know that sounds simple, but ohmygah it was good for me. I was happy not many people wanted to try a bite.

From this booth, we also got the Seared Scallops, Truffled Celery Root Purée, Brussels Sprouts and Wild Mushrooms featuring Melissa’s Produce. This was great. Everyone liked it.

From the Cheese Studio booth, Hallise wanted Cheese Trio: Profiterole topped with Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs Cheese and Orange Apricot Jam; Smoked Salmon Pinwheel with Boursin Shallot and Chive Cheese and Everything Seasoning; Strawberry Macaron with Boursin Pepper Cheese.

We all had some and this was soooo yummy.



From Australia, we got Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies.







From Hawaii we got Teriyaki-glazed SPAM® Hash with Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and Spicy Mayonnaise.



I did not try this, but everyone else liked it.









Food and Wine had us off to a great start!
The weather gave us a light sprinkle here and there, but otherwise, it was a gorgeous evening.

Next Post: Test Track, Soarin', and dinner at Sunshine Seasons!
​

 

[TeaForTulips]

I just found your report and am all caught up and following along. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip

I am so sorry about the loss of your mom. My own mother died very recently and very unexpectedly so I can see why this trip was bittersweet for you, it is such a tremendous loss.

Thank you so much! I'm so sorry about your mother as well. It's the worst club ever.