September 2015 - The Disney Lover & The Grump! Video & Written Report!

[IvyWinter]

OK so i'm now officially reporting on a trip LAST YEAR...makes me sad to say that. But I've been slowly editing footage from it and wanted to do more of that before writing a report!

Anyway, the trip was from September 22nd to 27th. The cast of characters is myself(29) my boyfriend Peter(27) who was skeptical about the trip, having been as a kid but not caring to return as an adult. well, suffice to say, he hated the parks. He enjoyed what we did at the resorts and our nicer restaurant meals but... he won't be coming back to Disney with me again until we have kids.

It's ok, though, because he has no problem with me returning with my friends, who were also with us. Rob (28) has been my friend for 20 years. Laura (28) is a friend of his i met about 5 years ago.

Also down was my brother Greg (34), who obviously grew up with Disney as i did and equally loves it, and his girlfriend Kat (29). They were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

So on 9/22 Peter & I actually flew in after work. For once I decided a late flight and paying an extra night instead of a 7 am flight from NYC as I've done many times in the past. Was totally worth it. Even though our flight was 20 minutes delayed, we still made really good time and got to Port Orleans French Quarter around 11:00pm. Checked in with ease since we were the only ones doing so and got into our room.

Rob & Laura were already at Disney 2 days prior to us, so they had 2 full park days by this point. Greg had been there a day earlier. But, unlike us, they all were leaving the 26th and us the 27th.

We settled in and pretty much went straight to bed.

9/23 - Animal Kingdom

Peter knew my one rule of Disney was getting up early with me, and he was a trooper about it every morning, even with not loving the World. I gotta give him credit! We were at Animal Kingdom about 10 am, bright and early. Greg & Kat were there already, so we met them at Expedition Everest. Though Peter & I had fast passes, we were able to walk almost right on with the two of them so we did that first. Peter really enjoyed the ride (he's a thrill seeker), so as we left we went right back on with fastpasses.

Greg unfortunately left his sunglasses in the pocket for bags on the ride, and though CMs looked for him, they couldnt find them. Either they fell out or, sadly, possibly another guest took them.

After EE we had fastpasses for the safari but time to kill. It's a Bug's Life has a 5 minute wait (more like 2, we walked right in) so we decided to kill time with that. Peter didn't mind it!

From there we went on the safari and it was already getting pretty damn hot. We did get some really great close up looks at the animals though, better than I think I've ever had before.

Video for this part of the day is below!

I'll update tomorrow with the rest of the full day since this post is already getting preeetty long!

 

[IvyWinter]

9/23 Continued- More AK & Magic Kingdom/California Grill

After the Safari, we were sooo hot. We bought a couple of bottles of water to refill throughout the day because we forgot to bring some with us. We met up with Greg & Kat again at the new(er, since ive been there) market area to get a quick bite of some food. The skewers they had weren't bad but the line was ridiculously long and people in the group were starting to get grumpy because of it and the heat. Meanwhile Rob & Laura were waiting for us over by Dinosaur which had a minimal wait. Me, ever the crowd pleaser, I was trying to rush us so we wouldnt have them wait long but since i had grumpies with me, that didn't work. Poor Rob & Laura waited 30 min for us, though they claimed they didn't mind.

We finally got over to Dinosaur and it had broken down in the in between so now the wait was about 40 minutes, but it was the first time we were all together so we said screw it, we'll wait. Wait ended up more like 20-25 minutes and we got to all ride together. They put me in that front seat with the wheel, and that's when the running gag of the trip was born about me being a bad driver on rides! Still, enjoyed it as always, screamed at the last dino as always (and was made fun of, of course).

We had a reservation for 6 at Yak & Yeti afterwards but Rob & Laura wanted some pool time before later so it ended up 4 of us. No problem, they were pretty accommodating at the restaurant. I had heard good things, but came out a bit disappointed. It was just "meh" chinese food for us. And we're a bit spoiled, living literally in Manhattan, we have some of the best food you can find so that probably factors into it. Disney food has to be particularly "wow" to get us. This just didn't. Peter hated it and, well, complained a bit. Womp.

After that there wasn't much else to be done at AK, what with all the construction and not many big highlight rides. I did get to see some of where they were building the new night show so that was cool, but it was time to leave and head to the resort for a quick break before the Magic Kingdom.

We took some time to walk around French Quarter, which I am always impressed with especially now that I've been to the real place. The theming is on point! We also got our bottle of rose and chocolates I ordered to the room. It was...nice. Not worth the money I paid though, I'll be honest. Won't do that again.

We got to the Magic Kingdom around 6pm or so; we had reservations for California Grill at 8:45 so we figured we'd spend a couple of hours in MK. It was deceiving from the entrance... it was pretty packed! space mountain had like... a 50 minute wait. and it WAS a 50 minute wait. But Peter chose it and so we did it! He loved it and at the same time said it terrified him because he thought he was going to die. He said to me afterwards "I thought to myself, 'this is what it'd be like to die in a plane crash,' and then I couldn't get it out of my head the whole ride."

The other four of our group were also in the parks but we were all so far away from each other it was hard to catch up. Between wait times, being on rides, being in different lands, it just was getting harder and harder to meet up. So we headed over to the Haunted Mansion, a personal favorite. I thought Peter would poo-poo it because it wasn't a rollercoaster, but he really loved the theming. Hurray!

After that it was already getting dark so we decided to catch about... 5 minutes of MSEP. MSEP is the first parade i ever saw in 1988 when i was 2, obsessed over our family video of it. When i saw it again for the first time at 27, i cried. That's how much of an emotional connection i have to it and the music. So, of course I needed 5 minutes to see it!

Kind of bad idea. It was moving from Main Street to us, not vice versa, so getting out for California Grill took us FOREVER. We had to walk all the way through fantasyland and tomorrowland to get to the hub and then fight crowds standing in place for Wishes. Won't make that mistake again. Nostalgia be damned, just get out of MK if you have a reservation!

We walked the path from MK to the Contemporary which I've never done before. It was a nice quick 10 minute walk, totally easy to find the path and follow. When we arrived we were checked in by a CM originally from Queens, where I was born and raised. Turns out she was from the neighborhood literally next door to mine! Always fun to run into CMs from home.

We took the long elevator up, sat for dinner, got our drinks and our waitress got our food order right before Wishes. We got to stand outside on the terrace, glass of wine in hand, and watch the fireworks. i feel SPOILED! I never want to watch it in a crowd of people in MK again! Such a lovely experience. We came back, and our food was sitting at our table, hot and delicious! I ordered the pork two ways, and I believe Peter ordered the filet of beef. Both were SO GOOD. We also started with/split the goat cheese ravioli, easily my favorite thing we had. And then for dessert, the warm homemade fritters. Peter couldn't stop talking about them afterwards.

I know California Grill has a lot of hit or miss reviews on here but for us, a HIT. Coming from NYC where we have a lot of really nice dinners out, this was impressive and on par. Also our waitress was fantastic. Her name escapes me but I'm pretty sure I've heard it here before... something with a J, i think? Anyway, attentive, knew the menu well, kind, conversational... all the things opposite of what we heard were some experiences with customer service. Thank god!

After a VERY long day, we head back to the hotel to pass out for the next day which was... Hollywood Studios and then HOOP DEE HOOP DEE HOOP DEE DOOOO!

Two videos below of the rest of the day!

 

[IvyWinter]

9/24 - Hollywood Studios & Hoo Dee Doo

In the morning my friend Rob & I took a walk around the French Quarter while we waited for Laura & Peter to finish getting ready. We're early risers and they were a bit of stragglers. We were heading to Hollywood Studios for half the day and then going to Hoop Dee Doo that night! We were also meeting Rob's dad and sister, who live in Tampa. So at this point, we're now running around with a collective 8 of us. Suffice to say it was hard to keep everyone together.

We were also supposed to play Bingo at Hollywood Studios, but i admit after the first few, i sort of gave up. I was too into enjoying the parks than paying attention to doing things on my bingo card.

First thing we did was head straight for Rock n rollercoaster which i believe only had about a 20-25 minute wait. While we were lining up for the ride, we got rushed so quickly past the launch part that Peter completely missed seeing it! Rob and I were just giggling like school girls behind him realizing he didnt even see the launch and had no idea it was coming. When our limo launched he just let out a "whoa!" it was hilarious. We went on Tower of Terror right after that but Laura had to chill out on the thrill rides as she was feeling nauseous. We hit up the Great Movie Ride after that, which I admit I am not fond on the new version with the voice over. I miss the old way Alien was introduced, it was creepy and awesome. The voice over just ruins it now. And the end sequence of movies does not have the same impact as the old one. Not at all.

After this, we had to sit and wait for Rob's family to arrive so we could grab some food and keep on moving. We got to catch one of the streetmosphere performers, i don't know his name, but he was the guy who uses the camera and the megaphone to talk about people walking by as if movie teasers. He was hilarious! You can see some in the first part of the day video below, towards the end.

Because there was just too many of us, we couldn't get any last minute sit ins at restaurants, so we just ate at the commissary. I have no idea why i ordered a yuengling, the pours are way too big and i couldnt finish it before we were ready to move on! At least you get your money's worth on beer. From there we went to watch Muppets 3D. a classic in my eyes. I probably quote this ride more than I should in my regular day to day. Just before that Rob's dad and sister were able to get TSMM fastpasses within the last 10 minutes of all of our FPs, so we were planning to get there at just the right time for all of us to get on together.

After Muppets we perused the new Star Wars store area, far back near the backlot area. Being a huge Star Wars fan, i loved all of the added merch. And this was in September before they added more stuff in December! I am so ready for Star Wars land. Rob, Greg & I are ready to book a trip as soon as they announce when it'll be open. HS will be worth it for me again when that happens.

After that we killed some time in One Man's Dream, since we knew it was closing down, which is a shame. I get it, gotta make the most of your space in a theme park, but I always thought it was lovely and fascinating to look at. We were ready to hit TSMM at just the right time. It was a close one but... Peter totally beat me on it. I just don't have the arm strength for the last part! After that Peter was getting a bit grumpy from the heat, so he and Laura headed back to the resort to chill out and go pool side. I stayed with Rob and his family, and we rode ToT again and checked out more of the park before ending up leaving not more than 30 minutes after Laura & Peter. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough to do anymore in HS. So, we headed back for some much needed pool time. You can tell how red and heated I am in the end of the video. It was pretty bad.

Next update will be a review of Hoop Dee Doo and probably some of 9/25 too!

 

[IvyWinter]

OK I've been super behind on this. Work has gotten the best of me lately...and now I'm going on a solo trip to the World in 22 days! But that's a whole other mater.

Back to Hoop Dee Doo! So this was my second time ever experiencing Hoop Dee Doo. The first time I sat in the balcony to the right of the stage and that was fine with the turn around seats. But this time we sat to the left of the stage on he ground floor and it was MUCH better! We had a really great view and it was nice to not have to turn back and forth between food & show! The show was hilarious, as always, and the food was really good, though I enjoyed the chicken far more than the ribs. Those SIDES though. And that CORNBREAD. AAAAH. If i had a bottomless pit for a stomach, I could eat it every night. I mean, it's real comfort food and nothing fancy bu when that's what you want it is delicious. Plus with unlimited drinks as well, I went through about 4 glasses of wine. Needless to say we were all tipsy by the end of the show, and full. And that can be a super tiring experience! Luckily we did the latest 8:30pm show so after we just went to the French Quarter bar for 1 drink and then called it a night. I don't know if i could recommend an earlier show just because I'd be SO lethargic! I was able to record a good portion of the show below.

9/25 - MK & Epcot Food & Wine Festival
So Rob & I are up the next morning to head to MK but it looks like Laura & Peter are still riding out last night's events and in bed. Rob & I always want to make the most of our time there so we head off with the idea that Peter & Laura will meet us later as we go to Epcot. We get to MK and decide to ride Astro Orbiters, which I'm pretty sure I've never ridden before. Really! Well, we didn't think it through as two adults and both went to one spaceship.... and that was a BAD idea! We were so tightly squeezed together it was comical.

After Astro Orbiters we head out of the ride and run into our good friend Keith Lapinig (he's a pretty big Disney Youtuber, so some of you may know him from that, but Keith and I have been friends for 7 years!). We hadn't seen him since our Disneyland trip in August because he moved out to California to work for ABC a year ago. So it was really nice to have a few hours to meet up with him since he and some family were there. We rode Space Mountain and got on quicker than the wait it gave us, which is always nice. After THAT Rob's father and sister had arrived so we had to meet THEM (oy, juggling so many people, never again!) and rode on BTMRR, which is my favorite from a nostalgic kid sense as it was the first rollercoaster I ever rode in my life.

That was literally all we had time for, and we were set to meet Laura & Peter to head over to Epcot for Food & Wine, which is my favorite special event at Disney (MNSSHP is a close second!).

It was getting HOT. BLAZING. This may have been one of the most uncomfortably hot days of our time there. Unfortunately that was making Peter VERY cranky, and it was probably our roughest day together. He was already disliking the parks, disliking the heat and the crowds and i was getting upset with him for complaining. It wasn't ideal.

When we got to Epcot we first rode Spaceship Earth as that is pretty much tradition. The guys got into the video games as you exit the ride and that actually put Peter in a better mood (go figure). But as we were walking out of Spaceship Earth we realized it was pouring rain. We had to wait it out quite a bit until it got lighter because we left our ponchos in the hotel room. oops.

It was time to eat, so we headed to the Dominican Republic booth first, which is where my dad is from! The food was delicious and I loved the set up as you walked in that taught you about the country.

Our next food stop was France, which was the first place I ever tried Escargot some years ago. Instead of how they had it that year though, this was escargot in a croissant, which was good but not as good as I remember. And the rain started to pick up again, which was making everyone wet and cranky. We decided to watch Impressions De France, which I had never seen as I was never an Epcot "movie" sort of gal growing up. It was super impressive, I enjoyed it a lot.

From there we got some food from Belgium, took a stroll through Morocco (my fav pavilion) and then headed to America to watch THAT show. Guys. it was weird. I know a lot of people love it here, but it was really strange and sort of offputting! At least the Golden Wings song. It just felt...so strange I can't explain it! Rob had seen it already the first day he was there ahead of me, so he fell asleep during it, which was pretty funny! I did love the inside of that building it is housed in though, that was beautiful. I just didn't like the show. It also was SO LONG.

It was time to keep moving, so we stopped a China for some MORE food because why not? And we made it just in time because as we left with our food, the line had gotten INSANE. China's food was really good, if different. But Peter & I both liked it a lot.

Well, we had spent a lot of time in the World Showcase but it was time to check out Future World & meet up with a CM friend of mine to then close out the day with illuminations. Unfortunately, that pouring rain comes BACK in the next update!

 

[IvyWinter]

OK trying to knock this trip report out! I've been so slow with it haha!

So we headed to Future World to ride Test Track with everybody. The wait was about 25 minutes, and during the wait we kept hearing the announcement about inclement weather on the way possibly shutting down the ride. The announcement is so ominous we felt like we were in a Sci-Fi movie and a reactor was about to explode or something! We managed to get on before the rain really came and shut things down, thankfully.

So we met up with my CM friend but really wanted to do Mission:Space. she is not a big fan of the ride, so Peter and I went on ahead and she waited for us after. We had fastpasses and they allowed her to walk with us into the ride and then just leave at the second fastpass point, which was nice! We got on pretty darn quickly and Peter LOVED it. It was nice to hear a change of tune from him. It's my personal favorite ride (orange side, of course!) and I was really happy to hear it was his too. At least if we can't agree in Disney as a whole, we can agree on the best ride! I knew there was a reason we're together

After we spent some time trying to find my brother and his girlfriend who were drinking around the world. we caught up with them at the special craft beer set up and then walked to watch Illuminations, my favorite fireworks, in order to end the day. It's funny because towards the start you can hear my brother Greg saying the fire barge makes him think of like an action movie, like he wants to see Arnold Schwarzenegger running across the fire or something! It was hilarious. Peter goes "that thing is on fire." "yup." "is it supposed to be?" "yup."

That was pretty much the end of our day. We considered checking out Jock Lindsey's after but we were all so wiped we decided to go to bed instead! Especially because in the morning Peter and I had...PARASAILING!

I had never gone parasailing in my life and as we started to approach the contemporary docks I was getting SO NERVOUS. We booked it for I believe 10 am that morning, to get it done bright and early. The guys running it at Sammy Duvall's said we hi perfect weather. Was warm but not too hot yet, not too windy, just right. We got out on the boat with an older couple and their son, though the older couple was doing it and not the son, he was just there for the ride. I was SO nervous seeing how far up they were and how QUICKLY they got to that height! But Peter and I were going tandem because I weighed too little to go alone! So at least there was that!

I couldn't film it because I was afraid to lose my camera, but after the initial ascent I have to say it was...oddly peaceful up there. And you can really see everything. They gave us a good 12 minutes, at 600 feet up, which makes it the highest attraction in the world. The VIEW! I'll never forget it.

After we ate breakfast at the Contemporary, then took the walk from there to the Magic Kingdom to meet with Rob. We got on the Carousel of Progress and did a little shopping at Momenti Mori, but after just a couple of rides it was time for Rob to go home. He was heading out the day before us. With just Peter & I left, we took to Pirates. We actually had a really crappy experience with another guest there. The line was pretty long, back to the outside stanctions, and the cast members were telling people to move in and fill in space. well, one couple took that as "fill in and skip everyone ahead of you". There were some choice words from other guests, and they kept saying "they said to fill in!" like...yeah. fill in an respect those ahead of you, not just walk past people because the area is wide. I was SO angry and so was Peter. They were incredibly rude and must have skipped easily 30 people. No cast member saw or if they did, did nothing to stop it. It just made me so angry, and some of the little kids with their parents didn't understand and got upset, and the whole thing made a bunch of hot, crabby people even crabbier. Ugh.

The plus side was, we still got on the ride way faster than the wait time said and Peter LOVED the store afterwards, which was so funny. Like a kid in a candy shop! He just enjoyed playing around with all the weapons and hats.

Because that put us in a foul mood, plus crowds were INSANE, we went back to the hotel to shower and change for dinner at Flying Fish later that night. We took an uber from the French Quarter to the Boardwalk Inn which was really cheap and fast, and had a few minutes to kill so we just took in our surroundings. i LOVED the boardwalk! Such a wonderful atmosphere, made me think of the jersey shore I grew up going to, or Coney Island. Flying Fish was absolutely delicious. we loved the decor, the food, the drinks, and our server was lovely. All in all a great meal.

After dinner we were able to see not only Wishes, but later on, Illuminations, and hear the music! Ugh. Made me want to stay at the Boardwalk Inn, in the future, just to see that all the time!

While digesting we caught a magician, and Peter was picked to be a part of the show. He got nervous and didn't understand what the magician was saying at one point (he was definitely overthinking it!) but otherwise, did great. The show was awesome. I'm pretty sure this night was his favorite, what with the relaxed atmosphere, the good dinner and the entertainment. After we had a margarita, played some games in the arcade, then called it a night. Loved the boardwalk very much! Was a great last night for us.