Sean and Mommy's Sept 2017 WDW trip...aka "Best trip ever!" COMPLETE!

Day Two-Sunday, September 17, 2017 (Part One)

The next morning I was up early and decided to hit the AKL gym for a run. This became a habit for me on this trip. For the past several months I had been training for a 10K and also going through some personal things that, combined, resulted in me losing about 30 pounds. I really, REALLY did not want to gain any of the weight back on this trip and as a result I did not indulge as much with my WDW food choices as I might have otherwise (though you will notice I didn’t hold back on the drink calories). I ran at least 5 miles every morning, in addition to all the walking we did. Most days I ended up with over 30,000 steps! I ultimately managed not to gain weight during the trip, while still eating and drinking mostly what I wanted, which is some serious Disney magic right there.

ANYWAY, I finished my run and grabbed Sean some breakfast at The Mara—a chocolate croissant, chocolate milk, and some grapes. No pictures of any of that but I think we all know what croissants and grapes look like. We were checking out of AKL this morning and heading over to the Beach Club for the next seven nights—we were SO excited! We absolutely fell in love with the Beach Club the previous October and couldn’t wait to stay there again. As we drove up to the Beach Club that morning our favorite song was playing on the radio and we both said “this is the best trip ever!”

As planned, we checked in, dropped our bags at the Beach Club bell desk (after taking a giant sniff of that wonderful vacation-y lobby smell we love so much) and then walked over to Epcot to really get our trip started!

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We used our FastPass+ for Spaceship Earth and then made our way back to World Showcase to hit up our first Food & Wine Festival booths. Sean got some of the Chicken Pot Stickers from the China booth:

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He loved these the year before and loved them again this time as well. It was once again super hot, which obviously meant I needed a Shoffferhoffffer:

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While I was enjoying the delicious grapefruitiness that is that beer, Sean decided to get a Kaki Gori from the stand in Japan. He got half melon and half blue raspberry:

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This was an excellent decision. It was so hot out and this was so yummy, I totally “helped” him eat it. He looks less than thrilled in this picture but probably because it was a million billion degrees that day. From there we backtracked to Norway to finally ride Frozen Ever After with our second FastPass+ of the day. On the way I grabbed an Ace Pineapple Hard Cider from the Refreshment Cool Post because why the heck not (see also that it was a million billion degrees out):

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FEA was cute but geez, I can’t believe people were waiting in 80 minute stand by lines to ride it. From there we walked back over to Future World, used our 2:00 p.m. FastPass+ for Nemo, and then killed some time chatting with a CM about the manatees. Sean was getting crabby on me but we still hadn’t received the text that our room was ready. Thankfully I got it as we were hanging out in the aquarium, so we headed out. On the way we picked up our Halloween popcorn bucket at the stand outside of The Land. Sean opted for cheese popcorn. Another excellent decision on his part. I don't seem to have a pic of the bucket for some reason...photo fail.

We made the trek back to the Beach Club and were in our room by 4:00 p.m. Once again we had Disney magic sprinkled on us and scored an AWESOME third floor room overlooking the back entrance to the Beach Club that leads to the walkway to the Boardwalk and Epcot. We had a huge corner balcony and a water view—seeing as how I had only paid for a standard room I was totally thrilled. It was approximately 1.7 miles from the elevator but we didn’t even care, it was such a great room:

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We were dying to get in the pool and spent the next hour and a half enjoying Stormalong Bay, the beautiful weather, and just finally being in our happy place. I am not sure that I will ever stay anywhere other than the Beach Club again. Just a couple pics of us soaking up the Beach Club awesomeness. I promise there is more food in the next post!

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Day Two-Sunday, September 17, 2017 (Part Two)

We finally dragged ourselves away from the pool around 7:00 p.m. and got ready to head back to Epcot for our 7:50 p.m. ADR at Rose & Crown. The walk from the Beach Club to Epcot is just the best. It was so convenient for us this trip!

We checked in for our ADR and I was hoping that we’d at least have a partial view of IllumiNations (which was at 9:00 p.m.) from our table at Rose & Crown. Once again luck was on our side and we were seated at a two-top on the upper portion of the patio with a perfect view of the lake:

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This was the start of our seriously awesome table assignment mojo for this trip. And the weather was gorgeous. We got so lucky! Like we kept saying...this is the best trip ever! :D

Sean got the Kids’ Fish and Chips and an Orange Fanta:

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...and I got the regular order of Fish and Chips and a Strongbow Cider in a souvenir glass. We both loved our food—the fish was cooked just right and wasn't greasy, and the chips were the wonderful salty carby goodness we’d remembered:


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“Rose & Crown’s Signature Dish” Beer-battered and served with House-made Tartar Sauce. And my delicious cider:

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Our waiter, Will, was totally adorable though maybe not the most attentive server we’ve ever had. He was so cute that it made up for it though, and we weren’t in any hurry. We had a great view of IllumiNations, which we enjoyed as we finished our drinks:

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After the fireworks we walked back to the Beach Club and were in our room by 9:40 p.m. On our way into the park earlier I had bought a cute Food & Wine baseball hat that I’d seen earlier in the day. As we were walking out of the park Sean commented on another guest’s paper chef’s hat as she walked past us, so she gave it to him. More Disney magic! This called for a goofy selfie of us in our new hats:

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Sean apparently also was given a dessert to go. This many months later I honestly have no idea what this was (all that's on the online menu is a trifle and that doesn't look like a trifle to me?). I don't really remember him eating much of it, but it was still nice that they gave it to him:

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Whew! That was a busy first full day. With moving resorts and all the back and forth to/from Epcot, we did a lot of walking:


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It was definitely time for bed at that point, as we were heading to Animal Kingdom early the next day for morning EMH and our first look at Pandora!
 
Sean apparently also was given a dessert to go. This many months later I honestly have no idea what this was (all that's on the online menu is a trifle and that doesn't look like a trifle to me?). I don't really remember him eating much of it, but it was still nice that they gave it to him:
It looks like a butterfly (cup)cake!

Loving your reviews! We also enjoy staying in the Epcot area for walking to/from Epcot, so nice. And getting workouts in during Disney trips is another thing we like doing as much as we can. Major score with that huge corner balcony at Beach Club :)
 
Joining in! I’m loving reading about your “Mommy & Me” trip, so fun! I hope I get to do that with my son someday.
 


Wait until you see the room we scored at the Beach Club!
Can't wait....

For the past several months I had been training for a 10K and also going through some personal things that, combined, resulted in me losing about 30 pounds
Good for you, but I hope everything is ok.

It was once again super hot, which obviously meant I needed a Shoffferhoffffer:

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Obviously!!!! Our local beverage store finally carries these so I may have partaken of a few this weekend.

We had a huge corner balcony and a water view—seeing as how I had only paid for a standard room I was totally thrilled. It was approximately 1.7 miles from the elevator but we didn’t even care, it was such a great room:

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Best trip indeed!!!!! We have a standard room next month and I put in a touring plans request for just about this same spot. Maybe even the same room! Never tried that before but we've had good luck with the reservation finder I wanted to give this a whirl.

Once again luck was on our side and we were seated at a two-top on the upper portion of the patio with a perfect view of the lake:

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Awesome spot and view!

I'm not sure I've seen Illuminations pics from Rose and Crown. What a stunning vantage point
 
Can't wait....


Good for you, but I hope everything is ok.


Obviously!!!! Our local beverage store finally carries these so I may have partaken of a few this weekend.


Best trip indeed!!!!! We have a standard room next month and I put in a touring plans request for just about this same spot. Maybe even the same room! Never tried that before but we've had good luck with the reservation finder I wanted to give this a whirl.


Awesome spot and view!


I'm not sure I've seen Illuminations pics from Rose and Crown. What a stunning vantage point

Aw, you are sweet. I am OK. Going through a divorce so first I lost the 30 lbs and then I lost the other 200 lbs :rolleyes2

I was looking through my pics today while working on the report and realized that at some point in my wine fueled haze I did manage to take a pic of our room number! We were in #3680. Hook that up if you can! Such an awesome view and perfect for people watching from the balcony while your kid does whatever the hell in the room (Sean and Casey would so get along). And you'll burn off your Schofferhofffer calories walking there from the elevator so it all works out in the end! :D
 


Joining in! I’m loving reading about your “Mommy & Me” trip, so fun! I hope I get to do that with my son someday.

I would do a solo trip again in a heartbeat. Probably not with my almost 16 year old or my almost 14 year old (sorry guys), but Sean was the perfect traveling partner at 8.5 and would be awesome to take again before he crosses into evil teenage-dom. We just did whatever we felt like and it was SO much fun! :thumbsup2
 
Loving the reviews and photos.
How lovely to get one on one time at Disney.
Your son looks delighted by it all and both rooms look fantastic.
 
Three boy mama here, too! I would love to take a solo trip with one of them once they're a little older or if we lived closer. We were there during September last year. Looks like you just missed the Irma drama. Enjoying your reviews!
 
Loving the reviews and photos.
How lovely to get one on one time at Disney.
Your son looks delighted by it all and both rooms look fantastic.

We had such a great time! It was really fun having it just be the two of us. He gets a little bit of a raw deal being the youngest of three ;) We had great luck with our rooms on this trip!

Three boy mama here, too! I would love to take a solo trip with one of them once they're a little older or if we lived closer. We were there during September last year. Looks like you just missed the Irma drama. Enjoying your reviews!

Just barely, it hit the week before we went. We were very lucky with our timing! How old are your boys? :)

Loving your review so far. Looks like such a wonderful mommy son trip.

Thank you! It really was so much fun :)
 
Aw, you are sweet. I am OK. Going through a divorce so first I lost the 30 lbs and then I lost the other 200 lbs :rolleyes2
Hang in there. I'm divorced myself so I know first hand how hard that can be. I probably lost about 30 lbs when I got divorced. Then I married Jason and I eat when I'm happy so the 30 lbs plus some came right on back :P

I was looking through my pics today while working on the report and realized that at some point in my wine fueled haze I did manage to take a pic of our room number! We were in #3680. Hook that up if you can! Such an awesome view and perfect for people watching from the balcony while your kid does whatever the hell in the room (Sean and Casey would so get along). And you'll burn off your Schofferhofffer calories walking there from the elevator so it all works out in the end! :D
That is my exact room request. Small world. Here is my room request for the Beach Club.
Bldg Disney's Beach Club Resort,Flr 3,SE-facing room.Exmple:3680,3682

We may have never met but perhaps we'll sleep in the same bed :P
 
Day Three-Monday, September 18, 2017 (Part One)

Our plan for this day was to ride Flight of Passage standby and then use our remaining FastPasses in AK, with an early lunch at Yak & Yeti somewhere in the middle. Even getting to the park early and taking advantage of EMH we still had to wait almost an hour to ride Flight of Passage. Seeing as how the posted wait time was 90 minutes, that didn’t seem too bad. The ride was, as everyone knows by now, completely amazing. Sean really wanted to ride it again but I knew that wasn’t going to happen on this trip, unfortunately. We both loved it though! We also thought Pandora was very cool:

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Aren't we cute in our UP shirts and matching MagicBands? :D By the time we were done with Flight of Passage it was time for our FastPass+ on the safari so we walked over and did that, and then backtracked to Pandora to use our FastPass+ for the Na’vi River Journey. We then headed to Yak & Yeti for our 11:00 a.m. ADR.

For whatever reason I just was not feeling great this day. I’m guessing it’s because I had fried fish and chips for dinner the night before when I am pretty much used to eating grilled chicken and veggies most of the time—my stomach was rebelling on me. This was a bit of a bummer as I was looking forward to eating here and there were several things on the menu I wanted to try, but it just was not happening. I explained this to our very nice server and ordered Sean some pot stickers and myself a big glass of ice water.

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Pork Pot Stickers-Pan seared or steamed, soy lime dipping sauce.

I ordered them seared and was later informed that he prefers them to be steamed, so I will have to make note of that for future reference :rolleyes2 At any rate, Sean gobbled these up regardless and we were out of there in under a half hour. I apologized repeatedly for taking up the table but it was early and wasn’t at all crowded and our very nice server said it was not a problem. I left him a $5.00 tip on a $10.00 order so hopefully that made up for it a little bit.

We originally had a FastPass+ for Kali River Rapids but Sean said he didn’t want to get his clothes wet so I switched it for Dinosaur and then Sean freaked out about riding that (he has it in his head that it’s too dark/scary for him for some reason) so we sort of stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do. At this point it was HOT and very humid. We called an audible and decided we were done with AK for the day and were on a bus back to the Beach Club within a half hour. Sean chilled out in the room while I went down to the gym for a run. At that point Stormalong Bay was once again calling our names and we spent the afternoon swimming and playing poolside bingo. We even both won cups because…this was the best trip ever! :D

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Mine was a glittery Beauty and the Beast one that I don't seem to have a picture of for some reason. After our awesome pool time we decided on some down time in the room before dinner. Sean played his Kindle and watched TV and I sat on the balcony and drank wine and people watched. It was heavenly.

I eventually pried myself away from my wine drinking and people watching and we hopped on a bus headed to Disney Springs for our 6:45 p.m. ADR at The BOATHOUSE:

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I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant, as was Sean since he wanted to try the kids’ salmon. We checked in a few minutes early but were seated immediately. Our awesome table mojo continued and we were seated right along the railing on the deck with a perfect view of the lake, boats, and Saratoga Springs:
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(Continued in next post...and yes, I promise there will be more food pics!)
 
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Day Three-Monday, September 18, 2017 (Part Two)

They started us off with some rolls and butter:


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I only had a bite or two and thought they were fine—soft and warm—but Sean loved them and ate at least two. I'm also noticing now that he took this picture :laughing: I continued my one person/one bottle of wine ordering ratio and went with a bottle of Clifford Bay sauvignon blanc:

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I’m sure this was delicious. What’s not to love about sauvignon blanc? Especially sitting waterside on a gorgeous evening with good dinner company.

So when I originally planned for us to eat here I was sure I would get the sliders or the lobster roll, but just wasn’t feeling either that night. This was probably due to my changed eating habits since having booked the ADR six months previously. At any rate, wanting something lighter I decided to do two salads:

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Jumbo Lump Crab and Avocado-Tarragon Remoulade

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Caesar-Traditional Dressing, Parmesan Cheese, House-made Croutons

These were both delicious, especially the first one. I love tarragon and the remoulade was really lovely with the crab and avocado. As predicted, Sean went with the Kids Grilled Salmon with Fresh Cut Fries:

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He loved the salmon. And the fries…OMG, they were absolutely delicious. So much so that we ordered another “small” order of them. I say that in quotes because this was no small order of fries—I was really glad I didn’t get a full order:

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Holy smokes those fries were so good. I seriously couldn’t stop myself from eating a bunch of them. We were also treated to an absolutely gorgeous sunset as we finished our meal:

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This was pretty much a perfect evening. We were on a bus back to the Beach Club not long after we finished dinner and arrived back to the resort before 9:00 p.m., where I proceeded to drink more wine on the balcony. This is something at which I am rather skilled :rolleyes1

At some point Sean decided he wanted ice cream so we made our way over to Ample Hills Creamery where I believe he got a vanilla cone which their menu describes as Vanilla Bean Ice Cream made with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans. There is no photographic evidence of this but I do have a blurry picture of him walking over to the boardwalk just before 10:00 p.m. so I can only assume that’s what we were up to :laughing:

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This ended up being one of my favorite days of our trip. It was a fun, relaxing day from start to finish and we really enjoyed our dinner at The BOATHOUSE. Up next…we finally make it to MK!
 
That restaurant location and seating is stunning.
Have never really considered it before but now it looks great
 
I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant, as was Sean since he wanted to try the kids’ salmon. We checked in a few minutes early but were seated immediately. Our awesome table mojo continued and we were seated right along the railing on the deck with a perfect view of the lake, boats, and Saratoga Springs:
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Wow! That view is awesome, you're not kidding about good luck with the tables on this trip!


The kids meals are served in little paper amphicars? That is so cute!!

This ended up being one of my favorite days of our trip. It was a fun, relaxing day from start to finish and we really enjoyed our dinner at The BOATHOUSE.
Those really are the best days, some of my favorites were like that too.
 
Today was our arrival day. Yay!!!!! We were so excited that we were up early and on the road leaving Atlanta by about 7:15 a.m. after a Starbucks stop. WDW, here we come!
YAY!!! That's my same drive too!

she upgraded us to a savanna view!
pixiedust: amazing pixie dust! Off to a great start for the best trip ever for sure!!!

We hit the pool at Jambo but Sean really wanted to go over to the Kidani pool since he remembered how much he liked it when we stayed at AKL the previous October. He was calling the shots for this trip so off to the Kidani pool we went.
Uh huh, and allllll those folks on the AKL thread are bellyaching about the Jambo pool being closed. :rolleyes: I mean, I wouldn't be too thrilled if Disney pulled that bait and switch on me either, but the Kidani pool is also fantastic!

I started with a bottle—yes, a bottle—of Pinot Grigio. When the CM brought it to the table I said, by way of explanation, “I just drove all the way here from Wisconsin, just the two of us” and she was like “here, you NEED this!” Amen, sister.
OMG :rotfl: I've missed my boozy comrade-in-arms!

I see a cute little face through that wine bottle...

As an aside, why can I not find any copycat recipes online for the bread service?! I would so make this at home. My kids would go bananas. :banana:
:confused3 I suspect it would take about 45 hours to make at home! And you'd need a tandoori oven! lol

Did you know about this thread? https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-official-disney-recipe-exchange-1850-recipes.1575103/ It has a TON of Disney recipes.

It doesn't have all the dip recipes, but it does have my favorite, the coriander chutney!

Green Coriander Chutney
Sanaa, AKL

2 cups cilantro, thoroughly washed and dried, large stems removed
½ cup mint leaves, thoroughly washed and dried
1/4 of one small jalapeno pepper, seeds and stem removed
2 teaspoons minced ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons, finely chopped yellow onion
Juice from one or two lemons, depending on the size (To taste)
1 teaspoon Granulated Sugar
2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Water as needed

Combine Cilantro, Mint, Jalapeno, Ginger, Onion, Lemon Juice, Sugar and Salt in a food processor.
On high speed quickly process into a paste. Remove the paste from the food processor and add water drop by drop to obtain a thick "pesto"-like consistency. This is served with the breads at Saana.

Cooks' note: Wash fresh herbs by submerging and agitating in ice water to allow the dirt to be removed while refreshing the leaves, dry thoroughly between sheets of paper towels before using.

Here's my contribution...obtained from one of my friends who is a WDW CM.

Naan Bread
Sanaa, Disney’s Animal
Kingdom Villas



3 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted


1. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in the bowl of an electric
mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; stir to combine.

2. Combine milk, water and oil in a medium bowl; whisk to combine.

3. With the mixer running, pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. As
soon as the mixture comes together, switch attachment to a dough hook,
and mix until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Do not overmix.

4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

5. Place a pizza stone on a top rack of the oven, positioned approximately 6
inches below the broiler. Preheat oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes.

6. Divide dough evenly into 5 pieces. On a lightly floured
surface, roll each piece into an 8-inch circle.

7. Turn oven to broil. Carefully slide one circle of dough onto the
preheated pizza stone, and broil until bread is bubbled and golden
brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Watch carefully, as the bread can
burn very quickly. Repeat with remaining dough rounds.

8. Brush the warm bread with melted butter and serve immediately.


Makes 5 (8-inch) breads
You'll note that I clearly labeled Sean so I would not confuse him with some other child and/or forget his name once I was done with my wine :laughing:
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Y'all are so cute! Great start! So glad you are back!!! :hug:
 

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