Where Can We Get One of Those Whip Things? A Wine & Dine TR (Nov. 2019)

Very true! I'd also bought an off brand of guards on Amazon that the reviews said were wonderful...next time, I'll stick to Band Aid brand
So upon review... not so wonderful...
If I had sat down and allowed my muscles to tighten up, I probably wouldn't have been able to move for days :rotfl:
No! Not in Disney!

If you had work the next day... that's okay.
I've had 2 meals at Mama Melrose's now and it hasn't disappointed. It's not life altering food but it's very tasty!
One of my best meals at Disney was there. :)
He's STILL complaining that they should warn you in advance that there's a button to push!
:laughing:
 
I hope everyone is surviving this winter! I can't wait until my April trip to WDW, I'm so sick of the cold and snow! Apologies for the crazy amount of pictures in this update, but how can you go to Animal Kingdom without taking a zillion pictures?!

Monday, Nov. 4th

No running today! And it was my birthday! When I booked our trip, I knew I wanted to spend my birthday at Animal Kingdom, I wanted to do a special tour, and I wanted to have a nice meal...would we check all the boxes???

We slept until about 8am today and used some snack credits at Sassagoula for some cinnamon rolls, which were fairly dry.

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Then my dad made us go back to the room because he forgot he’d brought me a birthday card and it was still in his bag 😍 Then we headed to the buses and made it to AK around 9:20. I’d asked Kitty and her dad if they wanted to join us on our tour and lunch at Tiffins today but she thought they were leaving early. Then, right before our trip she changed her departure until later in the day but our tour was sold out but I was able to add her to our ADR. As we were on the bus, she texted me to say she was already at AK and our tour had a last minute cancellation so she’d be joining us! Birthday magic!

The tour I booked was Up Close with the Rhinos and I couldn’t wait. They require closed in shoes, so I had to shove my poor feet into my sneakers again, but I brought a large backpack with sandals for later. We watched the monkeys and storks for a bit and walked some of the Gorilla Trail to pass the time until check in, then met Kitty at the tour kiosk. She’d already gotten herself a dole whip and my dad was looking very interested in that possibility for later!
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The tour was amazing! We took a van backstage to the rhino barn and they talked a little bit about how the house and care for them, then we went behind the barn to meet our rhino for the day. Mr. Dugan had decided to be our superstar and he came right up to the fence so we could pet him. His skin was NOT what I was expecting! I was thinking more like a cow or bristly like an elephant but it was super rough like sandpaper. He seemed to be enjoying himself and leaned right in for more attention. The CM’s were excellent at answering questions and they also took some pictures with a special frame when we got back into the park. I was so impressed and delighted with this tour.
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We were hot and thirsty afterwards and I desperately needed to change shoes so we stopped at the Starbucks for drinks- this was my dad’s first Starbucks experience, since he doesn’t drink coffee! I think he had a flavored ice tea and Kitty and I got frappuccinos. I thought mine would be free for my birthday but they didn’t do that in the parks. No worries, I have plenty of gift cards :) We grabbed a table outside to drink and I carefully peeled my shoes and socks off my blisters and switched to sandals. Completely worth having to carry a big bag around all day!

Our Tiffins lunch was at 1pm and Dad and I had the Rivers of Light package since it gave us a free appetizer on the dining plan. I didn’t know if we’d actually go see RoL but more free (prepaid) food is always worth it. I got the corn chowder as an appetizer and I think my dad got a charcuterie, Kitty had some type of salad, and we all enjoyed the appetizers. He ordered a beer while Kitty and I got specialty cocktails but I didn’t make note of which ones- oops. I think we all got the braised short ribs as an entree and they were amazing! Dad got a Lion King dessert that was a caramel mousse and he enjoyed it but I thought it was too sweet. I got the dessert sampler which was very tasty, and then they brought out a special birthday dessert for me too! We all really enjoyed eating here and would come again.
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Kitty had to leave after lunch and we had a Safari FP to get too. Our safari was great and we saw most of the animals. My dad was really impressed with it! I drag him to a lot of zoos and he said this was the best so far.
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I wanted to walk the jungle trail next since I rarely get to do them. We got up to the komodo dragon when it started to pour, so we joined the CM under her umbrella. Her name was Emma and she was amazing. She told us all about their dragons and about a lot of the other animals and how they care for them. We spent about 20 minutes with her and she almost made me want to get a twitter account to send her a cast compliment! The rain lightened up and we continued on, and all the animals were so active! The tiger was out laying in the grass and we got some pictures. The water buffalo were having a blast and kept running from one end of the enclosure to the other while kicking up their feet. Even the CM posted there was laughing.
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We spent a long time in the aviary looking for all the birds, since I’ve spent years specializing in avian veterinary medicine and birds are my thing. Most of the pigeons were out playing in the puddles too and the giant pheasant was perched over the trail.
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Our second FP was for Flight of Passage at 5pm, so we headed into Pandora. My dad loves Avatar and he was pretty amazed by the land. I strongly dislike Avatar and I’m amazed by it too LOL. He wanted to stop and take a bunch of pictures in the queue but he also kept holding up the people behind us so I tried to keep him moving. He loved the ride and I was so excited to be riding it again. The line for Na’vi was ridiculous so we just enjoyed the land a bit.
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Our final FP was for Expedition Everest at 6:30 but I didn’t realize our RoL show was seating at 6. My dad really wanted to see the show so I sadly cancelled our FP. We decided to try and get on Dinosaur before the show because MDE said a 20 minute wait but when we got there the line was out of the building and down the sidewalk. We stood there for a while but it never moved and we had to leave. Boo, no Everest and no Dinosaur. This was originally going to be our only AK day but I had a plan! We’d already done everything at Epcot so I was hoping to change our 2nd Epcot day FP’s to AK instead.

We grabbed some drinks (ice tea again) and headed to RoL. I’d seen the original and thought it was very pretty but this new version did not impress me. I didn’t understand the message they were going for and was honestly bored. And mad that I gave up my EE FP for it.
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another super flattering picture :rotfl2:
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We decided to get a QS dinner afterwards and I wanted to try Flame Tree BBQ. I’d had the pulled pork fries previously and wanted to try an actual meal.

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We got there right before they closed, I didn’t realize the park was closing at 8pm today! I had the half chicken and Dad got the ribs. These were both huge and pretty tasty for quick service. It was a beautiful evening to sit in the pavilion and enjoy our food and the perfect ending to an amazing birthday!
 
Then my dad made us go back to the room because he forgot he’d brought me a birthday card and it was still in his bag 😍 Then we headed to the buses and made it to AK around 9:20. I’d asked Kitty and her dad if they wanted to join us on our tour and lunch at Tiffins today but she thought they were leaving early. Then, right before our trip she changed her departure until later in the day but our tour was sold out but I was able to add her to our ADR. As we were on the bus, she texted me to say she was already at AK and our tour had a last minute cancellation so she’d be joining us! Birthday magic!

That amazing, so happy she was able to join you! This tour always sounds so good! I feel like some many people try it and i haven't seen a bad review on it!

We spent about 20 minutes with her and she almost made me want to get a twitter account to send her a cast compliment! The rain lightened up and we continued on, and all the animals were so active! The tiger was out laying in the grass and we got some pictures. The water buffalo were having a blast and kept running from one end of the enclosure to the other while kicking up their feet. Even the CM posted there was laughing.
Always nice when you have a great cast member, i do feel like it really can improve on your day, and you seemed to already be having a pretty good one!
 
how can you go to Animal Kingdom without taking a zillion pictures?!
You can't!
And it was my birthday!
Happy birthday!

Um... slightly belated. or very early. Your pick.
Then my dad made us go back to the room because he forgot he’d brought me a birthday card and it was still in his bag 😍
Awww... :)
she texted me to say she was already at AK and our tour had a last minute cancellation so she’d be joining us! Birthday magic!
Score!
The tour I booked was Up Close with the Rhinos and I couldn’t wait.
Ah! That'd be one I'd like to try too.
The tour was amazing!
Yay! Glad you liked it so much.
His skin was NOT what I was expecting! I was thinking more like a cow or bristly like an elephant but it was super rough like sandpaper.
Really! Cool!
I desperately needed to change shoes so we stopped at the Starbucks for drinks-
Of course. When one needs a change of shoes, one should always go to Starbucks.
I wanted to walk the jungle trail next since I rarely get to do them.
Love how you mention poor blistered feet and then in the (almost) same breath you want to walk the trails. :)
it started to pour, so we joined the CM under her umbrella. Her name was Emma and she was amazing. She told us all about their dragons and about a lot of the other animals and how they care for them.
Love when that happens!
And you don't need twitter.

You can also stop by Guest Relations location in the park or at your resort or email Guest.Services@DisneyWorld.com.
 


Apologies for the crazy amount of pictures in this update, but how can you go to Animal Kingdom without taking a zillion pictures?!

You can not.

When I booked our trip, I knew I wanted to spend my birthday at Animal Kingdom, I wanted to do a special tour, and I wanted to have a nice meal...would we check all the boxes???

What a perfect plan! I chose to spend my birthday in AK also- great minds :goodvibes

Then my dad made us go back to the room because he forgot he’d brought me a birthday card and it was still in his bag

Aw :love:

As we were on the bus, she texted me to say she was already at AK and our tour had a last minute cancellation so she’d be joining us!

That's awesome!

I was so impressed and delighted with this tour.

Agreed. It's such a good price point too.

We all really enjoyed eating here and would come again.

I just booked Tiffins for the first time so I was glad to read your review!

I’d seen the original and thought it was very pretty but this new version did not impress me. I didn’t understand the message they were going for and was honestly bored.

Exactly how I felt too.
 
That amazing, so happy she was able to join you! This tour always sounds so good! I feel like some many people try it and i haven't seen a bad review on it!
It was really great, I'm glad we booked it and that she could join us.

Always nice when you have a great cast member, i do feel like it really can improve on your day, and you seemed to already be having a pretty good one!
It was such a nice break and interaction!

Sounds like a wonderful birthday!!!
It was really great! I'm already trying to figure out if I can do it again next year 😁
 


Happy birthday!

Um... slightly belated. or very early. Your pick.
Thanks! It still feels like the same season and I don't want to rush another year, so we'll go with slightly belated :rotfl:

Ah! That'd be one I'd like to try too.
Do it! Completely worth an hour of time and $30

Of course. When one needs a change of shoes, one should always go to Starbucks.
To be fair, I did wait until we were sitting outside to change ;)

Love how you mention poor blistered feet and then in the (almost) same breath you want to walk the trails. :)
I'm not stopping when I'm at Disney!

Love when that happens!
And you don't need twitter.
Thanks! I'll send them a belated email
 
What a perfect plan! I chose to spend my birthday in AK also- great minds :goodvibes
It seems like a nice, calmer park for a birthday, plus it's my favorite park 😍

Agreed. It's such a good price point too.
I can't believe they don't charge more :poop:

I just booked Tiffins for the first time so I was glad to read your review!
It was really good, I hope you like it! The portions aren't huge so I'd definitely recommend an appetizer with your meal.
 
It was really good, I hope you like it! The portions aren't huge so I'd definitely recommend an appetizer with your meal.

Thanks for the tip! We went your route and did the ROL package. Since we're gonna do the dining plan anyway, it seemed like a no brainer to book the package for the appetizers. If we don't end up wanting to watch ROL (which we probably won't), maybe I can pixie dust the show vouchers to some one.
 
Thanks! It still feels like the same season and I don't want to rush another year, so we'll go with slightly belated :rotfl:
Okay! :laughing:
Do it! Completely worth an hour of time and $30
I'd sure like to. No idea when I'll be back, though.
To be fair, I did wait until we were sitting outside to change ;)
Phew!
I'm not stopping when I'm at Disney!
This is so true!
 
I can't wait until my April trip to WDW, I'm so sick of the cold and snow!
See I like snow and we haven't really had much yet! When in April are you going and where are you staying? We have one park day after our cruise and I think our oldest wants to do AK. Then I need to wait until July for another trip :(
The tour I booked was Up Close with the Rhinos and I couldn’t wait.
LOVE this tour! I did it with friends last year and really want the kids and my DH to do it so I may try to get it for July. But I'm probably too late, that one books up fast!
We all really enjoyed eating here and would come again.
Such a great AK day between the tour and Tiffins :goodvibes It's one of our favorite signatures,
I just booked Tiffins for the first time so I was glad to read your review!
You'll love it! Never had a bad experience there.
 
See I like snow and we haven't really had much yet! When in April are you going and where are you staying? We have one park day after our cruise and I think our oldest wants to do AK. Then I need to wait until July for another trip :(
We're supposed to get another 4" this weekend, you're welcome to my share of the snow! I'll be there April 16-23 and running the Star Wars Rival Run Weekend. We're booked at Caribbean Beach in a pirate room (all that was left), a new resort for me!
At least July isn't THAT far away!

Such a great AK day between the tour and Tiffins :goodvibes It's one of our favorite signatures,
It really was the perfect way to spend a birthday!
 
68 days until my April trip!! Our flights are booked now and we're planning for Fastpass day next Sunday. Really hoping we can grab a Runaway Railway FP for sometime during that week! I've also been watching closely to see if Space 220 becomes available for ADR's. I'm not doing a PTR for this trip but here's a quick rundown for anyone who's interested:
April 16-23 at Caribbean Beach (new resort for us), I will run the Star Wars 5k, 10k, and half marathon on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
ADR's: Terralina Italian (new for us), Akershus (new), Sebastian's (new), Wine Bar George (new), Storybook Dining (new), Teppan Edo, and Sanaa (new). It will just be me and my cousin A on this trip.

Tuesday, November 5th

The plan for today was to go to Magic Kingdom, then have dinner at The Wave, and then head back to MK to watch Happily Ever After.
We stopped at Sassagoula to get some coffee cakes with snack credits for breakfast and these were much better than yesterday’s cinnamon rolls.

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The bag check line at MK was insane and it took forever to make it in the front gates. The fingerprint scanners also hate my dad and it always takes multiple tries for him to get through. This happened a few years ago when we went to Univeral too.
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Our first FP was for Pirates at 9:25 and we made it without a problem. My dad was a little confused about why we were riding this again, since we did it a few days ago...apparently he only rides attractions once!
We headed over to Haunted Mansion next and made it through with a nice short line. My dad decided to snap more pictures of me, but this time I realized what was happening!

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It was blazing hot outside today and I was still hobbling around so we decided to ride the Liberty Belle next. I’d never done it before and it was a nice ride to relax on (in the shade).
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Our second FP was for Peter Pan at 11, so our timing and distance to walk was perfect. I thought my dad would enjoy the nostalgia factor here and he said it was cute. Oh well, I tried!
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We were starving afterwards and started paging through the QS options on MDE. We thought Columbia Harbor House would be okay but the lines were crazy when we got there so we walked back to Pinocchio’s. I hadn’t heard good things about this restaurant but we each ordered a bowl of pasta and they came with a side salad and all the food was decent. Nothing spectacular but it wasn’t bad and the portions were huge. The place was almost empty at lunchtime too.
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We walked over to Tomorrowland next and headed in to the Carousel of Progress. I think I dozed off but my dad enjoyed it. (I enjoy it too, but I was hot and tired lol)
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We were trying to decide what to do next to kill time until our 1:20 Space Mountain FP and Dad really wanted to do Buzz Lightyear again. The wait time said 50 minutes and it was at least that long. He beat me this time, 155k to 120k. We went to Space Mountain next and I was so excited for him to get to ride. When he took us as children, this was the ride he waited for but I freaked out when I saw you rode alone and we never got on the ride. Unfortunately, the Peoplemover was broken and they had all the tunnel lights on for this ride. He didn’t mind but I was sad he didn’t get to experience it the way it was meant to be.

It was crazy outside because the Festival of Fantasy parade was starting so we just stopped to watch. I’d never seen it before and it was nice. I’m not a big parade person but we weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere either.

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Afterwards, I wanted to check the shops on Main Street for the Arendelle Aqua spirit jersey. I’m not a huge Frozen fan but I loved the color and the sparkles. Unfortunately, only youth sizes were left everywhere, even when the app said they were available. The CM said they were sold out everywhere and maybe try Ebay. I didn’t want one that badly so we wandered around a bit. As we entered Adventure Land, my dad said isn’t this where we get those whip things? So of course, we each got a citrus swirl float. These were pretty good but I think the Peter Pan was better. After sitting around for a bit, we grabbed the monorail over the The Contemporary. The gingerbread houses had just gone up and I wanted to see it before dinner and it was impressive! We also wandered through the gift shop to kill some time and there was an entire rack of aqua spirit jerseys!!
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We headed to The Wave a bit early and were seated right away. We decided to splurge again and got seasonal salad appetizers first, they were delicious! I ordered the filet with broccoli and au gratin potatoes and my dad had the ribeye with asparagus and au gratin potatoes. We were both very happy with our meals and then I got the fruit trio for dessert and he went for the chocolate trio. The food and service were amazing tonight, and we had the same server, Joseph, that I had last time.
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We walked back up to the monorail to head back to MK and I grabbed us a FP for the Jingle Cruise to see if we could get a better Skipper. While we were waiting for the monorail, the sky opened up and it poured. And lightninged. And thundered.
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We got on the monorail and rode through the other resorts with no sign of improved weather. When we got to MK, we decided to ride around once more instead of getting soaked. Our FP became an anytime FP. The radar showed a ton of rain moving through so when our second loop stopped at MK we made a run for the bus stop and headed back to POFQ. I was super sad we didn’t get to see HEA but at least we’d gone to Fantasmic a few nights earlier, which we hadn’t planned for! My final note for the days says “British stroller joker on bus” but I can’t for the life of me remember what that meant. :rotfl2: When we got back to our room, I changed our FP’s for the next day from Epcot to Animal Kingdom, since there wasn’t anything at Epcot we wanted to do and the construction was very annoying!
 
68 days until my April trip!! Our flights are booked now and we're planning for Fastpass day next Sunday. Really hoping we can grab a Runaway Railway FP for sometime during that week! I've also been watching closely to see if Space 220 becomes available for ADR's. I'm not doing a PTR for this trip but here's a quick rundown for anyone who's interested:
April 16-23 at Caribbean Beach (new resort for us), I will run the Star Wars 5k, 10k, and half marathon on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
ADR's: Terralina Italian (new for us), Akershus (new), Sebastian's (new), Wine Bar George (new), Storybook Dining (new), Teppan Edo, and Sanaa (new). It will just be me and my cousin A on this trip.

AH so exciting so soon! Did you get Runaway Railway? I am dying to try this ride! So jel of the Star Wars races! We wanted to check it out, but are doing princess and count justify the second trip so soon... Well DH couldn't i could of course justify it!

We walked over to Tomorrowland next and headed in to the Carousel of Progress. I think I dozed off but my dad enjoyed it. (I enjoy it too, but I was hot and tired lol)

One of my favs! I am so sad i havent been able to ride it in a while! Trying to make sure and get a spin in in 2 weeks!

We headed to The Wave a bit early and were seated right away. We decided to splurge again and got seasonal salad appetizers first, they were delicious! I ordered the filet with broccoli and au gratin potatoes and my dad had the ribeye with asparagus and au gratin potatoes. We were both very happy with our meals and then I got the fruit trio for dessert and he went for the chocolate trio. The food and service were amazing tonight, and we had the same server, Joseph, that I had last time.

I love the Wave!~ I think its underrated, but we also don't make a specially trip there when we aren't staying at the Contemporary!
 
AH so exciting so soon! Did you get Runaway Railway? I am dying to try this ride! So jel of the Star Wars races! We wanted to check it out, but are doing princess and count justify the second trip so soon... Well DH couldn't i could of course justify it!
We've still got a week until FP day but I have my fingers crossed! Do Princess this year and Star Wars next year 😉

I love the Wave!~ I think its underrated, but we also don't make a specially trip there when we aren't staying at the Contemporary!
The Wave is so much better than any of the MK table services that I've tried that I'm happy to transport over there for dinner!
 
So happy you enjoyed the Rhino tour. We also met Dugan, such a good boy!
I would pick AK to spend my Birthday. I love this park so much!
We had lunch at the Wave in January and we really enjoyed it!
Bummer the rain didn’t let up!
 
I'm a bit behind but I just read through your entire report! Congrats on doing all the F&W races! That is such an achievement and I'd love to be able to even attempt more than a 5k one year. I also did the Galloway to train for the Princess 5k that one year but then I broke my ankle and basically all was for naught, LOL. Hope to attempt another race in the future as I'd love another medal! Your trip sounds like so much fun and how cute that your dad came along, he looks like he's having a blast! All the food you ate looks delicious, Tiffins is a huge favorite of mine. I think I need to go back there soon!
 
So happy you enjoyed the Rhino tour. We also met Dugan, such a good boy!
He was so cool!

We had lunch at the Wave in January and we really enjoyed it!
I really like The Wave, it seems to get overlooked a lot

Sounds like a nice day! But stinks that you weren't able to see HEA because of the weather!
I was so sad about missing HEA, especially after the boredom of RoL, but you can't control the weather!

I'm a bit behind but I just read through your entire report! Congrats on doing all the F&W races! That is such an achievement and I'd love to be able to even attempt more than a 5k one year. I also did the Galloway to train for the Princess 5k that one year but then I broke my ankle and basically all was for naught, LOL. Hope to attempt another race in the future as I'd love another medal! Your trip sounds like so much fun and how cute that your dad came along, he looks like he's having a blast! All the food you ate looks delicious, Tiffins is a huge favorite of mine. I think I need to go back there soon!
Thank you and welcome! I loved bringing my dad along, I don't think he quite understands my Disney obsession yet but he had a great time. The races are definitely addicting and I'm trying to figure out if I should register for Wine & Dine again next November or not...
 

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