Pasta and Potatoes Conquer Orlando - October 2-10, 2013 (Updated 1/31)

[IowaTater]

We finally reached the ride and it looked like another storm was overhead so we took a few pictures quickly and then rushed inside just as it started to sprinkle.





The wait was about 30 minutes for this ride as well but the queue was kind of neat, once you get past the outside area. The little video clips are cute.



The ride is the same motion simulator as Spiderman and The Transformers except that the vehicle doesn't move throughout the building. However, I can't be too sure about that because I literally only made it about 30 seconds into the ride before I had to close my eyes again. The guys seemed to like it, though they said Transformers and Spiderman were better.

We exited the building and stopped at the Kwik-E-Mart to pick up a souvenir for DH's brother, who's a big Simpsons fan. By this point, I was really wore out and I could tell Cody & Greg were fading fast as well so we decided to head to the City Walk for dinner and then head home. One final picture before we left Springfield.



We walked towards the Transformers ride to exit the park and to DH's delight, Optimus Prime was out!



He quickly got in line to meet him, while Cody, Greg, and I stayed back to take pictures (because I'm cheap and won't pay $20 for one picture ). DH looks a little intimidated but I love how it looks like Optimus is looking right at me.



We decided to keep on moving because I was hoping to catch Minion Mayhem before we left. I had already missed a lot of things I wanted to do because we got off to a late start, like meeting Shrek and the gang.



Alas, it was not meant to be. The wait for Minion Mayhem was at 45 minutes. I'm sure in grand scheme of things, that wait time isn't bad but I had been spoiled by the short wait times at WDW and we were all about at the end of our ropes. We took a few more pictures while DH hunted for pressed pennies.





Next time, my precious minions. Next time.



We stopped at the gift shop for a few more souvenirs and then made our way to City Walk. We debated on where to get dinner and ultimately decided on NASCAR Cafe. DH and I had eaten at the one in Vegas and liked it. Luckily the restaurant wasn't very busy and we were seated right away. At this point, we were all about to fall asleep at the table. I didn't even take any pictures at all and I don't even remember what we had to eat. I know DH and Greg both got chicken fingers but I have no idea what Cody and I got. I do remember that I wasn't that impressed with it but I don't know if it was just because I was too tired to enjoy it. Plus our waiter left a bit to be desired. He just wasn't that personable and acted like we were bothering him whenever we would ask him for something.

We ate, paid our bill, and made the long trek back to the car. Luckily, our room at ASMu was right off the parking lot so we didn't have that far to walk when we returned back to our room. Cody and Greg gathered their things because they had to drive back to Bradenton that evening. We talked for a little bit longer and said our goodbyes around 10:00 pm. I know DH stayed up to play on his laptop for a bit but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out for the count.

How would we spend our last full day at WDW? I'll let you know soon!

 

[IowaTater]

DH and I got up the next morning around 7:00 am because we wanted to make rope drop for the one park we hadn't visited yet, AK. It took a lot of convincing to get DH to agree to AK. He could care less about wandering around in the heat looking at animals. But after I told him about EE and FOTLK, he came around. I was hoping to make it a day-long adventure but would it turn out that way?

This day was our actual anniversary so we donned our matching anniversary shirts and headed out the door. We stopped to fill up DH's mug and he ended up buying me one to replace the one I lost at Epcot a couple of days earlier. The bus arrived fairly quickly and we were off to AK. We missed rope drop but not by much.



We were both hungry and since we had 2 extra TS credits from another couple paying for our 1900 Park Fare breakfast, we decided to hit up The Rainforest Cafe for some grub.





The restaurant was almost completely empty so we were seated right away. I didn't take any pictures of our breakfasts but I believe we both got omelets again. They were just okay, nothing spectacular. The waiter brought our bill and let us know that we were using our last TS.

Ummmm....what???? We are supposed to have 2 more left because those were extra ones. I quickly went back over our meals and realized that pizza delivery is 2 TS credits, not 2 CS credits. Unfortunately, that meant that we were going to have cancel our Cape May ADRs we had for that evening. If I had paid closer attention or if the waiter had let me know sooner, we would have just paid for our breakfast OOP and kept the credits for our ADR. Oh well, it was too late so I made the call and cancelled it. I was soo looking forward to that meal too.

DH and I gathered our belongings and headed to our first ride. I knew the safari was a big attraction so I wanted to get there as soon as possible. That meant no stopping to look at animals right then but I did get a picture of the Tree of Life.



That thing still fascinates me. We made it to Africa and kept on trekking.



That's when DH noticed that there wasn't hardly any line to meet Mickey & Minnie. Even though we had already met Minnie, we hadn't had a chance to see Mickey yet so I agreed to wait. This line seemed to take forever! I'm not sure if it was just because I really wanted to get to the safari or if it was because they only take back a few people at a time to meet the mousy couple. It was finally our turn and they were so sweet. They loved our shirts and wanted to know how long we had been married. I was hoping for a really cute pose with them but we got a traditional one instead.



We said our goodbyes and continued our adventure. We made it to Kilimanjaro Safari and the wait was about 30 minutes. I knew it wasn't going to get any better so we decided to just go ahead and wait. Plus our experience at WDW that with rides like this, being a 2-person party helps sometimes.



Our line was actually moving quicker than the FP line and we loaded into our jeep. We were towards the middle but DH let me sit on the left side so I could have a clear view of the animals. We saw a lot of the inhabitants and some were more active than others but I really enjoyed the Safari all in all. Of course, I could go visit our local zoo every day and be happy so take that as you will. I won't bore you with all the pictures I took but I will post some of my favorites.












After we got done with the Safari, we stopped for a PP...



and headed over to my next must-do.



I LOVED THIS RIDE. I can't even tell you how long we waited but it didn't feel like it was very long. All I remember is the ride itself. I could have gone on it a dozen more times and still loved it. You can see the pure excitement and joy on my face. The poor guy behind me...not so much!



Continued in next post....

 

[IowaTater]

After narrowly avoid capture from the Yeti, we headed over to Dinoland so find some pressed coin machines. Along the way, DH decided he wanted to do Dinosaur! I figured it would be a good way to get out of the heat for a bit so off we went.





The wait was only about 15 minutes and thank goodness for that because I personally thought the ride was a little cheesy. It was a good ride to do at least once or if it's absolutely sweltering out but I definitely wouldn't list as one of my must-dos.



By this time, DH and I were starting to get hungry. I had heard a lot of good things about Flame Tree and DH loves BBQ so that's what we got. They were really busy but we got our food fairly quickly. The most difficult thing was finding a place to sit. We finally found a table in the shade and was a little disappointed about how messy the area was. There was BBQ sauce all over the tables and utensils strewn about. All of the condiment dispensers were completely empty. Hopefully our meal wouldn't be a disappointment.

DH and I decided to share the ribs & chicken meal. We got the chocolate mousse for dessert and DH got an order of fries because he doesn't care for cole slaw or beans.



This was pretty good. The ribs were still a bit dry but they had a good flavor and the chicken was really juicy. I wish the BBQ dispensers had been full so I could have tried some sauce with them. DH ate all of his fries and I ate all of the cole slaw. I liked the baked beans too but they had a little spice to them so I ended up leaving about a third of them. And you can't go wrong with chocolate mousse.

I took one more picture of EE so people back home could see how steep it was.



We finished our lunch and then I saw one M&G I really wanted to do. Dug and Russell! UP is one of my favorite movies and it always reminds me of my grandparents. In fact, our shirts had Carl & Ellie on them. Dug & Russell had just gone off to find an adventure but their CM told us that they would be right back. We were about the 4th group in line and after about 5 minutes, they returned. I loved watching them interact with all the guests and I couldn't wait until it was our turn. Of course, they did not disappoint me at all and we got lots of great PP photos.

DH getting a hug from Russell


Russell pointing out Carll & Ellie



I had to tell Dug that there was a squirrel in his wagon. He went bonkers!




It was such a great interact. I actually felt a little bad because the handlers had to keep reminded Dug & Russell that there were other people here to see them.

DH and I debated on what to do next. I really wanted to see some of the animals but I knew DH was having none of that plus he was starting to get a little cranky with me again. I decided to take a quick bathroom break to give him a chance to cool down a bit and when I came back, DH said that he wanted to go see FOTLK. Another indoor attraction? I'm okay with that!!

Continued in next post...

 

[IowaTater]

We made it just in time for the next showing and were quickly shown our seats. The CM saw our shirts and sat us right in the front row! I thought it was awesome but DH thought otherwise. He hates being the center of attention and he just knew the front room meant he was going to have to do something in the show.

The first musical number began and I was instantly mesmerized. There is so much to look at and hear. I looked like I was trying to watch a tennis match!



The main performers came back out to introduce themselves and welcome their respective areas. Our performer came over to where we were sitting and kind of "flirted" with DH a bit. Then they told us that we would have to make the animal sound for our sections. DH and I were seated in the warthog section (When I was a young warthog!!!) and our performer tried to get DH to lead us in making warthog grunts. He politely declined and the lady was so sweet about it. She didn't make a big deal out of it at all and moved on to someone else. The animal noises called out all the animals of the jungle.







The first performance were the acrobatic monkeys. They were so entertaining and funny!



Next up was a fire dancer. I always love these guys just for the sheer ability to handle fire like they do.



Then came the aerial dancers. I couldn't get a good picture of them because of the low lighting but they were not one of my favorite acts. They were very graceful but I enjoyed the music more than the dancing.

Then it was time for the final act. All of the performers and animals came back out for it and it was just a colorful flurry for the senses. This show was wonderful, although it seemed really short to me. I guess I just really didn't want it to end.







As we left the theatre, we realized there was a character trail really close so we headed there next. Up first was Pocahontas. She had the longest line and we were the last people to get in before they closed it. Unfortunately, the interaction with her wasn't so great. You could tell she was really rushed to take her break so she just didn't really talk to us. It was just an autograph and a quick picture (and a horrible one at that).



Next up was Chip & Dale. We were behind a mother and her daughter, who had braces on her legs. It was so touching to see the little girl get out of her stroller and walk over to them. They were so gentle with her and made sure they got down to her level to interact with her. Our interaction with them was great as well. They were so funny and kept joking around with us.

They wanted to know why DH didn't have any pins of them on his lanyard.




Our last group was King Louie and Baloo. These guys are a hoot! We caught them just as they were coming back from break so I guess they must have been hyped up on bananas.





We left the character trail and headed to a shady spot to figure out what we wanted to do next. Even though it was only about 2:30 and we hadn't even gone on any of the animal trails yet, DH had had enough of AK.

He really wanted to go back to DHS so in an attempt to keep the peace, I agreed to it. The fact that he promised me we could ride ToT again and be able to catch Fantasmic helped persuade me too!

Continued in next post...

 

[IowaTater]

I don't really remember how we got there but for some reason I was thinking we took a bus straight from AK to DHS At any rate, we got there and headed for the real reason DH wanted to come back to DHS...Star Tours. Once again, the wait was only about 10 minutes and unfortunately, my motion sickness was really bad and I had to close my eyes shortly after the ride started.

We quickly walked through the gift shop (is that place ever NOT packed???) and headed over to Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Unfortunately they had just started a show so DH decided he didn't want to wait for the next one. Instead, we headed back over to do MuppetVision again. We just can't get enough of those crazy Muppets! After looking at the map, we decided to hit up The Great Movie Ride. The wait was about 15 minutes and I didn't take any pictures at all. DH and I both enjoyed the ride a lot though. I might have mentioned it before but we are big movie buffs and it was nice to relive some of those famous movie scenes. Just in case you were wondering, we got the gangster scene.

We looked at the times guide because I really wanted to meet my buddy Stitch but unfortunately he was done for the day About that time, DH noticed that we hadn't explored the Animation building yet. Once we got there, I really wished we had found it sooner. Holy characters, Batman! Minnie was there, Sorcerer Mickey was there. The two I really wanted to meet was there as well.



We went to get in line and were informed by the CM that Ralph and Vanillope would not be signing any autographs, just pictures only. They gave us a little trading card with their pictures on it and a PP code and we got in line. I realize we were going to be waiting for awhile because the line was really long! I decided it wasn't worth it and we moved along to the next characters, Mr. Incredible and Frozone.

These guys were hilarious! They were joking around with each other and with the guests. When it got to be our time, I stood by the ropes so I could take pictures (there wasn't a PP for them but there was for everyone else). The CM asked if I wanted her to take pictures so I could be in them but I politely declined. Frozone gestured "Why?" and I told him because I wanted to get some good pictures and there wasn't a Disney photographer there. He acted upset that there wasn't one and gestured "Why?" again. I told him that I didn't know why they didn't have but he needed to talk to Mickey about it. That goofball came over, grabbed my arm and started walking us over to where Mickey was! I started laughing and told him when couldn't do it now because he had other people waiting to meet him.



We told the guys goodbye and about that time, I realized that I hadn't had a Disney cupcake yet. We couldn't let the trip end without that happening. We headed over to Starring Rolls because I had heard such good things about their cupcakes but it looked like they were closed. I tried to pull on what I thought was the main door but it was locked. Does Starring Rolls close in the evening? It was probably about 5:00 pm or so, I think.

Disappointed that I couldn't get a cupcake, we stopped and watched Mulch, Sweat, and Shears play for a bit and decided to try our luck at TSMM and/or see if Woody was out. Both lines were horrendous so we chose to skip them. We realized that since our dinner ADRs had to be cancelled, we really had no idea what to do for lunch. After weighing our choices, we decided to attempt Pizza Planet.



DH got a pepperoni pizza, chips, and a cookie (I think) while I got the meatball sub, a side salad, and a cappuccino cupcake. DH devoured his pizza and said that it was really good. I don't like a lot crust on my pizza but the main part was good. He saved his chips and dessert for later. The meatball sub was delicious but unfortunately, it was so big I couldn't finish it all. I also couldn't finish all of my cupcake but I really wanted to! It was creamy and chocolatey with crunchy toffee bits and just a hint of coffee flavor. MMMMMMMM, I could go for one right now.

We finished eating and gathered our items (and I don't know why this surprised me but you cannot get refills on your soda) and headed off for ToT. I knew DH was not looking forward to another trip through the Twilight Zone but he is a man of his word. As we walked down the street to the Hollywood Tower Hotel, they announced that the upcoming showing of Fantasmic was now standing room only We both looked at each other and after talking about it, we decided we were too tired to stand through the show. Unfortunately that meant no Fantasmic for us this trip because we would not be able to attend the second showing. Oh well, I still had my ToT, right??

Nope

I looked at the stand by time and it was at 90 minutes!!!

Okay, well, we both liked RnRC. Let's go on that.

Nope.

Wait for that was at 90 minutes too!

By then, I was tired, disappointed, sore, and near tears. DH tried to make me feel better (bless his heart) but I just wasn't feeling it. It was our last night at WDW and I guess the blues just hit me. We chose just to go back to our room and make sure we had everything ready for the following day.

Our flight didn't leave until 6 pm the following evening so what will we do to keep our spirits up until then??

 

[PrincessInOz]

CAtching up. Nice to see you back posting!

I think we were at UO at the same time as well. And we were around the hub for the MNSSHP parade.

 

[enchantedmansion]

I've enjoyed reading your trip report! My daughter and I hope to go to MNSSHP and the Food and Wine Festival this year, so I was happy to see your pictures of those events. The picture of you kissing your husband in front of Italy is so sweet- loved the expressions on both of your faces.

 

[IowaTater]

CAtching up. Nice to see you back posting!

I think we were at UO at the same time as well. And we were around the hub for the MNSSHP parade.

Well for crying out loud! How is that we were so close on 3 different occasions and we STILL did not end up meeting??? LOL It's going to be sad when I'm finally done with this TR because then it will officially signal the end of the trip.

I've enjoyed reading your trip report! My daughter and I hope to go to MNSSHP and the Food and Wine Festival this year, so I was happy to see your pictures of those events. The picture of you kissing your husband in front of Italy is so sweet- loved the expressions on both of your faces.

Aww, thank you for the compliments. We really enjoyed MNSSHP and F&W so much that we've already talked about doing it again for our 5 year anniversary (hopefully). I hope you guys enjoy it too!

 

[IowaTater]

DH and I decided not to set the alarm for this morning. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave 6 pm and we didn't have to catch DME until 3 pm so we could be more leisurely about our day.

We got up around 8 am and made sure we had everything packed up and ready to go. We called for luggage service and they arrived about 9 am. Our guys was so nice and friendly. He loaded everything onto the cart for us and wouldn't let us carry a thing. We went to the DME desk first to drop off our luggage and get checked in. Everything went seamlessly there and since we had a box to ship back home, he then took us to Guest Services to get that taken care off. That took a bit of time but it really wasn't too much trouble.

DH and I decided to grab some breakfast at our resort this morning so we headed into our food court. We both got the bounty platters, DH got chocolate milk, and I got a water.



Good thing we were hungry because it was a lot of food! I thought it was all really good but my French toast sticks were a bit hard. I traded DH my biscuit for his potatoes.

Since we didn't have any park days left on our tickets, we decided to spend our few remaining hours at DTD. We managed to catch the bus pretty quickly and off we went.



We hadn't really done a bunch of shopping yet because I didn't want to carry a bunch of bags at the parks and we still had a few souvenirs to get for people. Since we were right there, we hit up Once Upon a Toy first. It was a cute store but after browsing for awhile, we didn't really find anything we wanted so we went to the next destination.

We stopped at pin station and got a few more pins. We had spent all week looking for a University of Iowa Mickey pin but no one had seen any. I guess maybe they just haven't made them yet I got another Stitch pin and I can't remember what DH got. We never got into the pin trading but it was fun looking at all the different styles. I've gotten a few more since we've been home but I don't know if I'd be confident enough to trade.

We decided to check out World of Disney next. Holy cow, they aren't kidding with "The Biggest Disney Store" thing. This place is endless. DH and I split up and I thought we'd never reconnect! You could pretty much find any souvenir in there that you wanted. We ended up with a couple of baseballs for my 2 nephews, a necklace for my niece, magnets for all of our parental units, and a couple of Stitch magnets for myself. As we left, I had to get a picture of my buddy being ornery.



DH wanted to check out the Lego store so we went there next. I'm not a Lego builder myself so I took pictures while he shopped. The pieces of art are so great there. I can't even imagine how much time it took to create each one.













Of course the Lego store was packed and DH didn't find anything he wanted/could afford so we didn't spend too much time there. We also stopped in the sports store but we didn't find anything in there that we couldn't live without. DH said that he was starting to get hungry (are you serious???) and he wanted to try Earl of Sandwich. I wanted to try WPE so I told him I could meet him back at Earl after getting my meal. However, when I got to WPE, I couldn't remember what I wanted to try and nothing on the menu grabbed my attention so I headed back to Earl of Sandwich.

Good grief, that place was crazy. There were so many people there, you couldn't hardly move and it was so loud, I had trouble hearing what the employees were saying. DH and I placed our order then I went to find a table while DH waited for our order. I was able to find a table outside, albeit in the sun, and DH followed shortly after with our food. We both got the club sandwich and share an order of mac n cheese.





We both enjoyed the sandwiches but didn't really care for the mac n cheese. It was partially cold and the cheese was really gummy instead of creamy. I kind of wish there was an Earl of Sandwich in St. Louis so I could try the other sandwiches.

After we ate, we decided that we were getting tired of shopping and the 2 places I wanted to go were on the way to the bus stop so we went off in that direction. First up was the kitchen shop. I love kitchen shops almost as much as Christmas shops They had kitchen utensils & gadgets, spices, coffees, etc. After a lot of browsing, I purchased a set of measuring cups and a set of Mickey hand tongs. Just as I was reaching for the last set of measuring spoons, a gentleman reached in front of me and grabbed them. Grrrrrrr!!!

I paid for my purchases and we headed for the Christmas store.



I'm sad to say I was a little disappointed in this store. They did have a lot of ornaments and decorations but it was the same selection in multiple locations throughout the store. We did find a couple of ornaments for our tree to commemorate the trip and then we headed for the bus stop. We figured we would have to wait a long time for the bus like our last trip to DTD but it arrived fairly quickly and we went back to our resort.

We still had a couple of hours before we had to catch DME and I had forgot to leave our swimsuits in our carry ons so we decided to camp out in the food court and keep ourselves entertained. DH played on his Nook while I read the magazines I had brought along. We still had 2 CS credits and 2 SC so I went to see if I could get them spent. I got a bag of Goofy gummies for myself and a box of M&M's for DH. I debated getting a CS meal and splitting it with DH but we were both so full, we figured it was pointless. As I got up to register to pay, I noticed a couple with their little girl so I decided to pass on the pixie dust that was sprinkled on us earlier in the trip.

I told the cashier that I would like to pay for their meals (I'm guessing their little girl was sharing with them because they only had 2 meals). They were so appreciative and thanked me over and over. It really made me feel good to make someone else happy.

Finally it was time for us to get on DME. We were the first ones on so we sat in the front row. It was such a sad time, I started to tear up a little bit. We had no idea if we'd ever be able to make it back to WDW again and we'd had so much fun, we didn't want it to end.



We arrived at the Orlando airport and headed for security. I had hoped to stop at some of the shops there but the line for security was so long, I was afraid that we'd miss our flight if we did. It took us about 25 minutes to get through security. We got to our gate and waited for our plane. It arrived right on time and we were heading back home with no problems.

Well, I guess that is the official end to my TR.

Thank you all for coming along with me. I hoped you enjoy reading about our adventure. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Now it's time to say goodbye
To all our company
M-I-C
See ya real soon!
K-E-Y
Why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's so sad that you've finished your TR.

Sounds like a fun morning at DTD. I always like spending time there.
Funny about the Christmas shop. I have to saw I was a little disappointed with the range there myself.

YAY for passing on pixie dust. Good for you.


Thanks for sharing.

And yes, we should have made firm plans to say hello to each other. LOL

 

[Denovagirl]

Great TR!