The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, The Dancing, The Dark Side, And A Cruise!!!

The next morning (June 22, 2017) I was up at 6:10am. We found the beds comfy enough. Smaller than home but we were ok. I showered and then Skye and then Cary and then Tyler. We were out of the room by 7:30am...a little later than I planned but what are ya gonna do???

Here's our room star....

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And our "wonderful" view...

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We headed to the food court to fill up our mugs and then out to a bus stop. A bus was there when we arrived but there was a huge line. So we had to wait for another bus. We watched 4 Animal Kingdom buses come through but not much else. Finally an Epcot bus came and we were on it at 8:03am. We left at 8:05am and arrived at Epcot at 8:23am. Much later than I planned but what cha gonna do???

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We headed in and Tyler had to wait in the bag check line. So the three of us headed in at 8:34am and to our first destination of the day and he'd meet us shortly.

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We were at Soarin' at 8:43am and waited for Tyler. Standby was at 15 minutes at this point. Tyler arrived at 8:47am and we headed into line. We were on Concourse B all the way down first row! We did wait a bit as I think they just sat the ride ahead of us but we were off the ride by 9:09am. By this time stand-by was at 25 minutes. Funny thing. Tyler is always looking out for girls. Well, there was one who caught his eye (now he's too shy to actually talk to them but he does look!) and when we walked off we were kidding around about how the Eiffel Tower is curved (because the screen is curved and the way it looks in the movie is that it is more "C" like than leaning) and she was walking off in front of us and turned around and informed us that it's not really curved in real life. Obviously, we know that, we were just playing around but she was serious! We didn't laugh right then but as soon as she was gone, we sure did. She was cute but she really seemed to believe we thought the Eiffel Tower (and other large items in the movie) were curved. But really...this film is great but I never seemed to notice the curve in the film in the old version. Maybe there weren't as many tall structures in the center of the screen on the old one so it wasn't as noticeable??? We love this version but I think we loved the old version better maybe...just a slight better though. The old one had more smells and I think that is the biggest miss. But we do love that we are getting other places than just California. And it never hurts to fly over a herd of Elephants!

After Soarin' we headed across the park.

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We got into the 5 minute single rider line at Test Track at 9:22am...we were in cars at 9:38am..Cary and Me together...Ty and Skye together. We were walking off at 9:40am.

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Things like this are the reason Tyler needs to stay in school and get a great job when he gets out!

We jumped on Spaceship Earth with our Fastpass then headed for something to put in our bellie
 
We ended up at Fountainview (Starbucks) for snacks.

We ordered 4 Venti Frappuccino Blended Beverages. Skye got the Strawberries & Creme (coffee-free), Tyler got the Vanilla Bean Cream (coffee-free), Cary got the Caramel and I got the Mocha.

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Above is mine and Tyler's...below is Cary's...

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I guess I don't have a pic of Skye's...unless the one above was hers and not Tyler's...not sure. Hers was very light pink but was definitely strawberry! Hers was very good...like a strawberry milk shake. Tyler's was simple...a vanilla milk shake. Mine and Cary's were both as expected. We all liked our choices.

We also got some snacks. Skyler got the Mickey Oreo Cupcake...
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She liked it but it was very chocolate!

Tyler got the Summer Cupcake which was dreamcicle.

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He liked it but the middle was a bit frozen so it was very hard to eat...and it was a lot of orange!

I got a Blueberry Scone.

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It was very good and moist (very unlike any scone I have had before). I'd say it was more like a blueberry muffin that a scone. But I was good with that...it was very good!

Cary got a Coffee cake...

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It was also very good...moist and soft. He liked it a lot.

Our wait here wasn't bad but there are not very spelled out as to what all is considered a snack credit and for that matter what is what for a person who does not generally frequent Starbucks. I found it rather nerve racking! Plus no one who waited on us spoke much English which makes asking questions very difficult also.

And then we get to the cost. Now I was aware that Starbucks is million dollar coffee before heading there but Skyler had been bugging me at home to go and I wouldn't because I didn't realize they actually made non-coffee drinks but also because I'M NOT RICH! So I told her while we were at Disney, she could use snack credits and indulge her inner Starbucks lover. So if you haven't caught on by now, no, we will not be using my hard earned cash in the real world Starbucks. The bakery items were no better than anywhere else you can get fresh bakery items. And while I drink coffee and like the stronger, better coffees, I am not a coffee connoisseur plus, the kids' frappes were milk shakes! Ok, ok, you got me,...we have done Starbucks a time or two but I can only bring myself to order the smallest drink and it has only been when they are advertising some new flavor I just have to try...Skye can get a milk shake at McDonalds! But anyway...


Our total was $42.30!!!!! I would only return on a dining plan using snack credits...there's nothing special here for that cost!
 
OH yes... my girls love starbucks but I can't stomach the cost at home... but at Disney they love to use their snack credits. I think there is actually a bigger size than venti, called trenti. So I try to get my girls to split a Trenti. Most Starbucks will split it for you for no extra charge:).
 
I am falling so far behind!!!!

We are going through a couple of MAJOR system and procedural changes at work so I just haven't had time to get here but I am at the point where I am longing for Disney. Seems like with Tyler in college and all the stuff Skyler does and getting ready for high school, the next time we are going to get there will be in about 4 years (2021) when tyler is 23 and Skyler will be 17...YIKES!!! So this will be my lifeline till then so maybe it taking a while is a good thing, from my side anyway!

In our real life, besides my crazy job...Tyler is working with a local adult football team but somehow isn't in season. He's not enjoying school but did just have an interview at Home Depot. So keep your fingers crossed.

Skyler is Clara in The Nutcracker again so we've been running and three full days of regular dance classes. Plus all the getting prepared for high school stuff.

Cary got a promotion to a supervisor.

So we've been so busy but I am needing some Disney in my life so hopefully I will be able to get here soon!
 


So, as we left off...we sat and ate out Starbucks under the covered seats near the Baymax meet and greet. It was already really hot. When we headed back over to the west, we stopped in the little bridge and there were a ton of birds looking around for food and Cary noticed one only had one foot...it didn't seem to limit hos mobility but it did slow him down a little when running for food kids were throwing (not my kids, other kids).
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We headed into Journey to Imagination to see our favorite purple guy! We love this ride...it's just fun! The standby sign said it was a 25 minute wait (!!!Its usually a walk on!!!) but we got in line at 11am and were on at 11:18am so not quite 25 minutes.

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So we headed back to World Showcase for lunch at Teppan Edo.

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We checked in at 11:46am and they don't start seating until 12pm so Skye and I stayed in the nice, cool lobby while Tyler and Cary went downstairs to check out the awesome store.

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They returned just before the opening ceremony. We were called to be seated at 12:03pm.


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Cary tried to teach Skye how to use chop sticks but in the end she had the waitress fix hers.

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So we were first all brought out our garden salads.

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Its a small salad with a light ginger dressing. Cary and I really liked it (it was just an iceburg lettuce mix), the dressing was really good. Skye kinda liked it. Tyler wouldn't even touch it.


I ordered the Assorted Tempura - shrimp and vegetables served with Japanese tempura dipping sauce for Skye and I to share.

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We really enjoy these. It was two shrimp, a zucchini, and a squash. Skye snatched a shrimp and I had the rest. It is a light battering and they are never the least bit greasy.

Everyone else ordered the Wafu Ribs - sake, soy sauce and ginger braised pork ribs. Skye and I shared. They seemed more fatty this time around. Cary and Tyler enjoyed theirs but the one Skye and I were sharing went about half uneaten.


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Then we met our chef (who spoke very good English) and our dipping sauces were poured...


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We placed our orders and the chef got to cooking...

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Noodles and veggies were served...

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The kids don't eat these. Well, Skye did try a noodle but for some reason didn't like them...which I really don't understand since she loves all noodles. But they were really good and he did not drown them in sesame seeds this time (which I usually am not a fan of).

Then the beef rice was brought out.

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Which was really good. Skye tasted hers but didn't eat more and Tyler was not even trying it. But I thought it was really goo and preferred it to the plain white rice used to serve.

For entrees Skye ordered the Nihonbashi - steak and chicken breast which she loves! It is the sirloin not the filet but she loves it.

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She actually asked for another plate because she didn'tant it touching her noodles she didn't eat.

I ordered the Asakusa - steak and shrimp that is also sirloin but it seems this is my usual here. It is all very good and fresh.

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Both the boys ordered the Filet Mignon - 6 oz. beef tenderloin USDA choice steak which they loved. It was melt in your mouth good.

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For dessert my three weirdos ordered ice cream...Cary ordered the vanilla-green tea swirl...

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...and he really liked it...said the green tea gave the vanilla something extra but not an overpowering flavor.

Then kids both got vanilla. It was Vanilla.

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I ordered the Mango Mousse Cake - mango-flavored sponge cake with a smooth and flavorful mango mousse decorated with a tropical glaze. It was super good.

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Everyone except Tyler liked it too.

Our total here was $243.04 and we there about 45 minutes. Our table mates kept to themselves as did we. I always thought the table sharing would be a problem for me, but it has always been fine. We seem to return here every trip lately. It is one the kids ask for religiously.

 
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After lunch we walked aouund the store and outside. Japan is one of our favorites!

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Skyler tried to hold the ball in the palm of here hand...

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We ran into Max! I don't think Skyler has ever met him...the last time I think we saw him out and about Tyler was like five years old I think!

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He was fun!

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We checked out Germany.

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Love the hand carved Cuckoo Clocks! Some day maybe!!!

We always need a picture of Skyler and the pickle tree.

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And then China...one of our other favorites!

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Skyler and Cary love all the flavored waters in the back of the China Pavilion so they grabbed a Kiwi Melon ($3.14).

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It was really good...refreshing and not too sweet but had good flavor to it. I even tried it and I am not a fan of watermelon flavored things.

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And on our way again, we travelled to Norway.

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We met some Vikings! We have never seen them out before. There wasn't really a line to see them so we had to wait our turn and remember who was there before us.

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And watch out for oblivious people photo-bombing your pictures.

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They were enamored by Cary's bald head. LOL

Then we headed towards our destination.

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We ended up being a little early due to my mis-remembering fast pass time and the lady wouldn't let us in. It was about 10 minutes early. So after waiting in the hot sun for about 5 minutes before the fast pass line got to the entrance, we had to leave and come back. So we went to look around.

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When we returned, there was no line to get into the building at all. But we did wait inside for about 15 minutes in the fast pass line. Standby was at 70 minutes. It is so neat looking in there and I always try to get good pictures of it but they never turn out too great.

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Now, we do really like this ride. Not necessarily in place of the old ride. I just wish they had kept the troll ride and put Frozen somewhere else. I don't think it belongs in World Showcase. But nobody asked me.



 
So we headed back out into the heat of the day.

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And we headed out the International Gateway. See, Tyler had been in NEED of a Banshee. We had heard they were back in stock as of this morning. So we trekked off to the boat. The first stop was Boardwalk Inn so we got off there and headed to the bus stop. We waited a bit (my biggest complaint about Deluxe resorts is the bus service) then stopps at the Swan and the Dolphin before arriving at Animal Kingdom at 4:55pm.

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We headed straight to the Rookery...and since this was everyone except Tyler's first look around Pandora we had to explore! It looks AWESOME!

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...and guess what? They were sold out!!!! He was so mad!

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We didn't eat here but we did check it out. lots of seating and it looks cool. Any time we were over here, there were not huge lines to order either. The outside seating did have signs saying the seating was only for patrons of the venue.

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We did stop at Pongu Pongu for 3 Night Blossom - non-alcoholic mixture of limeade with apple and desert pear flavors topped with passion fruit boba balls...we are trying to locate Boba Balls locally but so far no luck!

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We really enjoyed these. Good flavor and not sickly sweet. Plus boba balls were a bit hit with my group! Three of these were three snack credits but would have been $19.13 out of pocket.

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Since we were so hot and didn't really have a ton of time to blow, we headed out (of course, while looking around a bit) and went to wait on a bus to our next destination.

 
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So we headed to the bus stop for Grand Floridian. We were on the bus quickly with a family of four that consisted of 2 small children the parents let sit together across the isle from them and right in front of me. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem except that the parents did not seem to care what the kids were doing...like AT ALL! They were hitting each other and screwing around and yelling and screaming very loudly...right in front of me!!! It was so unbelievable that they would allow their children to act like that in an enclosed space with other people around. Finally I think they heard me say something to Cary about it and they told them to stop. They did for a couple of minutes and then were right back at it shortly after. And nothing was said to them again.

Anyway, they got off at the Poly at 6:07pm and we got off at the Grand Floridian at 6:19pm.

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The boys changed and Skye and I freshened up. We sat in the lobby to cool off for a bit before heading outside to walk to Narcoossees at 6:47pm. We arrived and only had to sit in the lobby a few minutes before being seated at an awesome table!

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We were all very pleased with our seats. We ordered drinks and water (it was very hot outside!) and our bread arrived. The kids both got Mickey straws in their drinks.

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Love the pink salt. We even bought some for home!

For appetizers I had the Barbecue-Grilled Shrimp and Grits - Wild Florida shrimp with Budgie's barbecue sauce, low country grits, cherrywood-smoked bacon, and pickled green tomato chow-chow

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It was really good but the shrimp were pretty spicy. Paired with the grits though, they balanced each other out perfectly.

Tyler ordered the Crispy Rhode Island Calamari - Peppadew-Banana Pepper-Olive Relish and Tomato Coulis.

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These were really good and shared among us all. It was a decent sized portion too so very sharable.

Skye and Cary ordered the same appetizer. The Slow-poached and Chilled Shrimp - with Citrus Remoulade, frisee salad, pickled shallots.

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Very cold, refreshing, and good. Of course Skye wouldn't eat the one on the bottom in the remoulade so she traded Cary. But she did like the oranges that had the remoulade on them so go figure. I almost liked theirs better than mine but I don't get grits at home so I think that makes it my winner.

For entrees I ordered Butter-Poached Twin Main Lobster Tails - Brentwood corn souffle, malted popcorn sauce, jumbo asparagus, citrus gremolata.

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Yum! Skye discovered her love of asparagus on this trip so she was grabbing it whenever she could. The lobster was super soft and not chewy at all. Skye and Tyler had some too. I enjoyed the soufflé too but Skye wouldn't even try it. Almost like corn bread but fresher.

Skye had the Line Caught Swordfish - dirty rice, creamy braised collard greens, red roux cream, Brentwood corn maque choux.

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But at the time it was being served with a potato base. This was really good. She ate all of her fish and some potatoes. The swordfish had a good browning but was not dried out inside at all! The potatoes were crispy in spots and soft in others. They were seasoned well and went great with the fish. It was nice seeing something other than a light veggie with a fish dish.

Tyler had the Grass Fed Filet Mignon - Boniato- potato mash, broccollini, with red wine-oxtail reduction

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He did not eat the mashed potatoes or the veggies (Skyler ate some of them) but downed the steak, sauce and all, and loved it.

I thought they had removed Cary's entrée from the menu but when we got there it was back on it so her got the Surf & Turf.

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It was the sirloin and twin butter poached lobster tails. It came with mashed potatore and the same veggies Tyler had. He cleaned his plate! Tyler's steak was better but he didn't have lobster (although I think he did get some of Skyler's lobster).

For dessert Skyler got the Plant City Strawberry Shortcake - strawberries and cream with vanilla genoise and wild strawberry sauce.

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It was very good and probably my second favorite of the night.

Cary and I got the Almond-crusted Cheesecake - with Lambert Cherry Sau...which may be one of my favorite desserts of all time!


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Cary got his to go for later because he was full.

Tyler got the Narcoossee's Candy Bar - Dark chocolate-mocha bar with house-made guanaja chocolate gelato.

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Very good but a lot of chocolate...another dessert that should come with a class of ice cold milk.

Our only complaint was that our waiter, Michael, was not very nice. He was short and spoke really fast and quietly. He did not return often to refill drinks. He did not clear away plates we were done with in a timely manner. He was just not extra like our wait staff usually is at Narcoossees. But other than that, we have always had great food, usually get a great table (although the one time we were not seated at the window was not a bad view either), and just love the delux bit not stuffy atmosphere on this restaurant. I am sure we will return. Probably even if not on a dining plan. It is expensive but so far, worth it.

Our total tonight was $365.26.


 
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We headed out to the boat dock and had quite a wait for the boat to arrive but it was a nice night (albeit a bit warm) so we didn't mind sitting a while. But there is not a clear explanation of where to wait for a boat here. It's just a big open dock. There were not many people waiting so it wasn't an issue but if there were a lot of people waiting, it could be really messy out there.

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The Electric Water Pageant pulled out while we were waiting.


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And then our boat pulled up.

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As you can see I haven't quite mastered night time and moving in night time pocture taking but I am trying! It was a nice ride to the Poly and then to Magic Kingdom. The water parade and fireworks all from the boat, a very neat perspective.
 
Of course when we arrived at the dock we had to go through security.

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Skyler found a frog in her hair!

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Fireworks were still going on when we arrived.

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We got to oour bus stop and luckily had beat the masses leaving after the show. We waited a short while before we were on a bus, standing! UGH! But we were heading back and it was cool on the bus at least.

When we arrived back home we filled up our mugs and returned to our non-preferred preferred room to this...

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I don't know what exactly the Cuddle Party has the birds so enthralled with but whatever!

We all got ready for bed and I do not think anyone made it even 10 minutes after their heads hit the pillow!
 
Well, the next day (June 23, 2017, Day #3) dawned at 5:30am. We all showered and got ready, headed to fill our mugs, and were at the bus stop shortly after 7am. There were a lot of people waiting for the bus for early magic hours at Magic Kingdom. We ended up on the second bus through, sitting, at 7:37am...a bit later than I had hoped. We arrived at Magic Kingdom at 7:47am. We headed through security while the CMs were yelling directions and most people were not listening to them.

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We entered Main Street and it was mostly empty.

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Until we hit the straight away to the castle...

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But it really
wasn't' that bad...just a lot of people entering at the same time.

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Unfortunately, I had not investigated the new EMH procedures prior to arrival so we headed to the left of the castle. We encountered the teen aged version of the baby ducks we saw the day before.

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Again, they were not effected by humans at all!

Anyway, I can tell you, I DO NOT like the new procedures at all! We got to the area just to the left of the castle heading into Liberty Square hoping to round out the Peter Pan side of Fantasyland....but nope, that's not open anymore. In fact the only way to get in way way back at the start of the hub near The Plaza. Somehow we missed the ONE sign that would have pointed us in that direction. So rather than people approaching from all sides, everyone is fed through one walkway. Now, I am no expect but that doesn't seem like the best way to do it except from the point of view that Disney does not have to have so many CMs working that early watching all the possible walkways people used to be able to walk. Somehow, they keep cutting costs and my bottom line of my vacation is not getting smaller! I was also noting that at 8am-ish there was an awful lot of garbage on the ground. Like napkins, and sucker sticks, and straws, etc...and not near garbage cans. And the park was only now opening so contrary to what all the mean people who replied to my Facebook post claim, it was too early for all (or even most) of it to be new...plus it didn't look new. And no man walking around with a broom and dust pan picking it up like there used to always be. So anyway, we figured cool, we'll head in this way and hit Buzz. Well apparently, unlike years before, Tomorrowland is not open during EMH anymore. I also got flamed for that observation because I must be stupid because only Fantasyland is open during EMH...well it didn't used to be. So we headed to Fantasyland.

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Pooh had a 10 minute line so we jumped in...

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That is a good ride even without little kids.

We headed towards Peter Pan...

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...but standby was at 32 minutes so we didn't wait...although we should have.

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Small World was at 10 minutes but was really a walk on for us.

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Skye was Disbounding as Belle today.

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The Goodbye signs at the end were not working. No goodbye to us. One more thing to add to my list of little observations of the flagship Disney World Park that have disappointed us while our cost of vacation keeps climbing.

 
So we headed to towards the Tangled Bathrooms.

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And found some Pasquales...

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At this point it was about 8:45am and we were at a loss as to what to do. We had gotten up early for EMH and really, with the new procedures, we shouldn't have. So we went to stand just to the side of the Tangled Bathrooms thinking we could get a quick ride through the Haunted Mansion in before it got crazy in there.

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Does he count as a Pasquale?

Well we waited at the edge of the rope while some CMs tried to entertain the people slowly gathering in the hot sun waiting for the rope to be dropped.

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A view behind us and in front of us...

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It was really hot standing there and the sun was crazy. It seemed like forever we stood there. At about 9:05am the CMs walked (slowly) with the rope up towards the Haunted Mansion. We get in line and NOTHING! We're in line where we should have been in the first or second group brought into the stretching room and we're standing still! What the heck? Well we did not start moving until 9:15am. So we now not only wasted our sleeping time but also the first 15 minutes of everything being open. We have ridden two things in over an hour...and it was resort guests only...what the heck??? So once we get moving we go through the play zone and walk right into the stretching room and had a great ride from there.


So needless to say, I don't like the EMH process any more. It was not the most magical morning. It did not ruin our day but it did put a damper on our morning.
 
After all of that business we were hot and thirsty. So we headed back into Fantasyland...

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...and headed to Gaston's Tavern.

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We ordered 2 warm cinnamon rolls and a

LeFou's Brew
Frozen Apple Juice with a hint of Toasted Marshmallow and topped with All-Natural Passion Fruit-Mango Foam


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These are some of the best cinnamon rolls ever! They are served warm and soft and gooey! Tyler usually wants one for himself and the rest of us share one...makes sense right? The Brew is a really sweet, really cold apple juice. In the lobby they had containers of ice cold water and cups to help yourself with. So we had some of those too. it was really hot out already.

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Relaxing in Gaston's chair.

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While we were there they were setting up for a kid's party. It was kinda weird...I didn't know they did that kind of thing but it was the CMs setting it up not just a mom and they were using multiple tables in a place where they aren't many to begin with. Before we left the party showed up and it was about 20 little girls. And we handed off our table to one of the many families standing around with trays of food without a table to sit at.

We love Gaston's and I am sure it will be in regular rotation.

We used 3 snack credits but the cost would have been $15.42.



 
It was 9:27am when we purchased our breakfast at Gaston's. After that we walked back through New Fantastland.

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The Ariel ride was at a standby of 10 minutes so we hopped in line.

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It was a fun ride as usual. Ariel is still a favorite in our house. She still has top spot on the Christmas tree!
 
After our ride with Ariel, we headed over to Tomorrowland.

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We were able to catch our ride on Buzz. Standby was 40 minutes at 10:10am. Luckily we had a fastpass. We headed over to Stitch...where there were a lot of people around but we didn't wait long. I do think the whole theater was full...don't think I have even seen that! We were off of Stitch at 10:58am.

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Then we jumped on the People Mover at 11:03am and were off by 11:13am.

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After Stitch we headed around towards Fantasyland again.

We were hot and thirsty again so we stopped at Cheshire Cafe for a Mickey Mouse Frozen Lemonade.

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This was 1 snack credit but would have been $5.32.



 
We had fastpasses for the Mine Train so we headed over there.

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We were in line at 11:34am. They were changing off with fastpass line and standby pretty well on this one...which is great if you're standby, not so much if you're fastpass but it was working really well so it wasn't a problem this time. We were on in mo time. This is the one ride that is uncomfortable for me. The lap bar is U shaped and is about the size of a five year old child. No, I'm exaggerating, and everyone else fits fine, even Tyler who is 6feet 3 inches tall, except me. But that is my problem and i accept it and just smoosh my chub in and hope to god the ride does not break down for a very long time!

After that it was time to start heading to lunch so we went around the back of the castle and headed that way.

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Where the Fairy Godmother was meeting.

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But her line was really long and it was really hot and no one really wanted to wait. So we took a picture of someone else's kids with the Godmother and kept on our way.

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I love this little alley-way. Skye loves that at the end is the dance studio upstairs and you can hear classes going on.

We stopped in the Chapeau and Skye listened on the phone...

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We were there because Tyler wanted a graduation hat. For some reason I do not have a picture of it here but I am sure it will show up somewhere. It was $25.54.

 
After hat shopping we got to our lunch destination. One of many a discussion on the boards. Tony's Town Square.

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We went in and checked in. We were a little early but we were seated quickly.

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We were seated in an area we have never been sat before. Right by the kitchen. And actually it wasn't all that bad. And it was a table for five so we had plenty of room.

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Our server was Josh and he may have been the best server of our whole trip. We placed our drink and water orders and our bread and oil was brought.

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The kids are not fond of the dipping oil but that did not stop them from eating the bread!

For appetizers I got the Zucchini Fries - breaded seasoned zucchini with creamy sun-dried tomato dressing for dipping.

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These are my go to here. I love them...they are soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. The serving is less than it used to be, not that I need more but the cost did not go down with the quantity. Luckily the quality is still good!

Skyler got the Caesar Salad - Romaine lettuce tossed in Caesar Dressing topped with Romano and croutons.

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She loved it. It was nice and cold and crisp with the perfect amount of dressing and she loves the big shavings of romano.

Cary ordered the Pasta Fagioli - traditional meatless Italian soup with pasta and beans.

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Which seems to be his go to here also. He is not a huge soup person but he loves this one. It has great flavor and everything is cut on the small side so it is easy to get a spoonful of multiple things not just a huge chunk of carrot with a little broth like sometimes happens.

Tyler ordered Calamari - served with a side of lemon-caper aioli.

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Again, his go to here...however this time it had the lefs not just the rings and he was not fond of that. Skyler got a kick out of playing with them (although she also played with the raw liver and dissected the heart from the turkey on Thanksgiving so you can't judge anything by her! LOL) and I ate one. this was the first time we have had anything other than the rings. It was actually good but I couldn't get past the though that I was eating octopus legs, suckers and all...and normally I do not have food hand ups! But otherwise the rings were all eaten and enjoyed!

For entrees I got the Shrimp Scampi - Linguini tossed in white wine and garlic butter.

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Which was good as usual...but a bit less scampi-y. This dish is normally not super heavy on the scampi. It is not heartburn inducing (which I have had happen as a result of scampi before) but this time the garlic and butter was almost non-existent...not a big problem as it was still delicious but it was missing a bit of garlic and a more buttery sauce. It is a large portion so it could probably be shared by two people especially with an appetizer and/or dessert.

Cary ordered the New York Strip Steak - with arugula, onions, peppers, potatoes, and romano topped with chianti butter.

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He was on a steak kick this trip which surprised me. He really liked this, even the arugula salad. Normally he would miss the potato or something like that with a steak but there was enough from others to share he was good. The steak obviously is not a fillet but it was cooked well and to his desired done-ness. He really enjoyed this one.

Tyler does not miss his chance at Chicken Parmigiana - Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast topped with Melted Mozzarella and Tony's Marinara sauce over Spaghetti.

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He will practically lick the plate clean here. I guess you can't base your dining decision on us though because my kids are plainish eaters so he loves the plainish marinara sauce here. He has had this many times and it is always a large portion and he consistently loves it.

Skyler couldn't decide so she got the Italian Trio...Three classic favorites on one dish - Chicken Parmigiana, Baked Rigatoni, and Fettuccine Alfredo.

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Sorry for the bad picture. The portions were smaller than a regular portion but by no means were they small. The rigatoni is in the bowl, the chicken parm is on the plate covered in marinara and the the alfredo is next to it. She had to ask for an extra plate because she hates things touching. She loved the alfredo. She said she should have just ordered that but on the menu they all have shrimp or chicken with them and she didn't want that. She tasted the rigatoni, discovered it has a meat sauce so Cary ate that. Except for the bite i got and it was really good. Cheese was layered throughout the dish with little pieces of meat too. The chicken parm was just the chicken...no spaghetti. So she traded part of her chicken (she ate a few bites) to Tyler for some of his spaghetti. She said she does not think she woudl order this again unless they woudl let her substitute the rigatoni for spaghetti. They might, we'll see when we're back again. But, I think I might ditch my scampi for this next time. Otherwise she will stick with the alfredo and ask for the chicken or shrimp on the side.

For dessert, Cary ordered a Cappuccino.



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He just wans't in the mood for sweets...odd! But he said this was really good but not super hot.

I got the Cannoli - ricotta cream-filled shells capped with chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar.

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I love cannolis and i don't get them at home much. So pretty much this rounded out my whole go to meal at Tony's. I was so full though, Cary had to help me finish...so much for not wanting any sweets. The filling in these is so good and combined with the crunchy shell, perfect!

One of the kids got the Raspberry Sorbet and one got the Vanilla Gelato. I'm not sure who got which but Tyler ate a little of his and Skye ate most of hers and his by mixing the spoon half with sorbet and half with gelato. The sorbet was very tart and the gelato calmed it down and she loved it that way.

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All this time Josh kept drinks full before they were even needed, talked to Skyler like she was a big girl not a baby possibly even flirted a little (appropriately) which she loved, and gave suggestions when asked. He was friendly and very competent. We had parade passes here and he explained where to go and when.

We have been coming here almost every trip since the first time we dined here against all the advise out there and we love it. It is not some place on our "must do" list but whenever we need to fill a spot while at Magic Kingdom, this is our first choice. In fact, other than Cinderella's, it is probably our favorite overall venue in the Magic Kingdom...although that's not saying much. In our opinion, we don't see the hype in Liberty Tree Tavern or Be Our Guest...and while we had a decent meal at Be Our Guest, it wasn't an overall "Oh WOW" from us. But we like Ragu and Olive Garden so maybe that gives you more of a frame of reference. We go in expecting good food. Is it gourmet...no. Is it authentic Italian...no. But it is an overall hit with our family.

We were here about an hour...becaue we were enjoying ourselves not because the meal actually took that long...we probably could have been out of there in 45 minutes if we had wanted to. I assume we will be back.

We paid 4 dining plan credits but the meal would have cost $213.70 without it.
 

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