Disney Sept 13 Part 3

6^th September

We had a late start this morning and decided to go to Wolfgang Pucks at the Marketplace for breakfast. I thought this was quite good but Rob wasn’t as impressed.

We went back to SSR to do some laundry and then we spent some time at the pool. It was obvious that a storm was coming but somehow we ended up getting soaked on the very short run back from the pool to the room!

The rain seemed set in for a while so we waited but we were going to Via Napoli for dinner so ended up getting wet again. We got quite wet on the way there but we had quite a nice dinner. We had eaten here on our last trip and this time I had a pasta dish. It was really nice but I couldn’t finish it. Managed to squeeze in a Tiramisu somehow :)

It was still wet when we were finished so we skipped Illuminations and went back to the room.

7^th September

This morning we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. On the way in we saw Mary Poppins again and I got her autograph after forgetting the other day!

 

We decided to have an early lunch at Pecos Bills, we took a quick ride on Pirates of the Caribbean on the way.

After lunch we took a ride on Splash Mountain and then Big Thunder – both had short waits.

 

 

We then went on Haunted Mansion before grabbing a fast pass for Peter Pan for later.

During our trip we had called home a couple of times (using facetime) and we had agreed to call Rob’s parents so that the children (niece and nephew) could see some of Disney. We had earlier called them from the Animal Kingdom but it wasn’t Disney enough for them!

We then proceeded to take them on a mega video tour of the Magic Kingdom.  They managed to hook up the apple TV and so we able to watch the picture on the TV.

We basically walked all the way around the park showing them all the landmarks. It was mega hot and really tiring as we weren’t walking slowly! I met Stitch on the way round cos the kids wanted to see a character.

 

 

Then when we ended up in Town Square the line for Marie was relatively short so I lined up for a quick photo and autograph!

 

 

We ended the call (after almost an hour) and then got a drink cos we were so hot! Then we headed back over to Fantasyland as it was almost time for our Peter Pan FP.

We had time for a quick trip on It’s a small world which Rob loves (or not!). Got on Peter Pan with our FP and then decided it was time for our afternoon break.

 

We caught a little bit of the parade on our way back - the beast saw me taking his picture and posed for me :)

 

 

 

We each got a frozen drink on the way out and sat on a bench just before the park exit to eat them before we left.

Back to the room for a shower and a rest before we headed to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier this evening.

 

 

Off we went to Epcot and headed over to Canada. We were a little early and when we arrived we heard them telling people that they were only checking you in 10 minutes before your reservation time. This was a theme across our trip – despite the Disney site recommending you arrive 15 minutes in advance we found that several of the restaurants contradicted this.

All checked in and we were seated right on time. Our server introduced herself and took our drinks order. As I have mentioned before I normally don’t eat steak but I decided that I should try it again tonight.

 

 

Rob ordered the Dry-Aged Bone-In Rib-Eye (Medium) and I had the Mushroom Filet Mignon (Well done). Whilst we were waiting we had the bread brought out, I tried all 3 types and the butter was lovely! Much better than the butter we normally find in the restaurants.

We had quite the surprise when the food arrived! Rob’s steak was massive and much bigger than we expected.

 

 

 

We decided that it would be his challenge for the evening to eat it! He did manage the steak but left quite a few of the potatoes!

 

 

After a suitable break we ordered dessert. I had the Neopolitan Cappuccino Cake and Rob had the White Chocolate Cheesecake. Somehow he managed to eat that as well!

 

 

Overall we had a great meal, my steak was lovely – I might consider eating it occasionally now. Rob said his was really good – I tasted a tiny bit but I don’t like pink meat!

I have read many mixed reviews about Le Cellier and I’m not sure why. The tables were not as close together as I was expecting (from the complaints) and both the food and service were great. We will most definitely return on another trip (although not in December).

We decided not to stay for Illuminations as we were so full!

8^th September

We had a fairly late start this morning and decided to get a sandwich from the Earl of Sandwich (we love them) before heading out to do some shopping.

We went to the Florida Mall because we always like a visit here – although we rarely buy anything! We had a look around and then decided to head to some of the outlets.

We went to Premium Outlets and were surprised at how busy the parking lot was. It was really hard to find a space – we refused to valet park and eventually got a space just as we were going to give up!

I got a few tops in Banana Republic and Ann Taylor whilst Rob got some new shorts in Timberland. Took us quite a long time to wander around all the shops and before we knew it we had to head back as we were having dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe.

I was super adventurous (well not really) and drove from Saratoga Springs to Downtown Disney....which was the first time I have ever driven over here!

After dinner we headed to Epcot to watch Illuminations again.

9^th September

We were up early this morning as we had breakfast booked at Tusker House at 8.45.

We got to the park and arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early. There was quite a long line for the photo with Donald but it moved quite quickly.

We were seated after our photo and it was much noisier in the restaurant than it had been at Cape May Cafe. We met Mickey quite quickly and then went to the buffet to find some food.

 

 

We got back to our table and it seemed as though Daisy was approaching but then all the characters seemed to disappear to do a dance.

Somehow when they returned Daisy managed to miss us out which was slightly annoying – we were a table in the middle of three and it seemed quite easy to miss out.

Thankfully Goofy had no such problems – and he also demanded my autograph book to sign! I had the book ready for Daisy but had met Goofy earlier in the trip so wasn’t planning on getting him to sign....but it seemed rude to refuse!

 

 

 

We waited to see if Daisy might reappear but there did not seem to be much chance so I mentioned it to our server as I was really keen to meet Daisy especially in her safari outfit.

We were told that we could meet her once we were done and sure enough we were taken to see Daisy once we were ready to leave.

 

 

We went for a little walk around and I really wanted to meet Russell and Dug so we went in search of them. I got in the lie as they were on a break...unfortunately only Russell returned which was a shame but I was still pleased to meet him.

 

 

We decided then to go and watch It’s tough to be a bug which we had never watched before. It was quite a good show although I was unhappy to be stung by the wasp and also creeped out by the bumpy seats at the end!

We then went across to Rafiki’s planet watch to see if we could find him. Sure enough he was there and had a reasonably short line so I went to meet him.

 

 

 

Afterwards we found the little dark rooms that you can sit in and listen to a little show. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting though!

We had unfortunately missed the procedures for the day and so we went to visit with the animals. We quite liked watching the goats – they would come out of the little ‘rest’ areas and literally run to the other area and dodge straight under the ropes!

 

 

We finished up and headed back to the rest of the park. We got a few photopass pics on the way out and then just after Rob came back from the restroom I noticed that he didn’t have the photopass plus card on his lanyard anymore!

We went to the photo place and explained (luckily I had taken a photo earlier in the trip) and they replaced the card with a new one (which I promptly took a photo of). We continued back to the resort and spent some of the afternoon at the paddock pool.

We got dinner at the Wolfgang puck express (Westside) and then popped across to the TTC to watch Wishes. It was a little more crowded tonight but better than watching from Main Street!

Disney Sept 13 Part 2

4^th September

We grabbed breakfast at Artist’s Palate again this morning. I forgot to mention earlier we were on the Disney Dining Plan for this trip – I know most people will say that breakfasts aren’t the best use of our credits....but it’s the only way we could even attempt all that food!

Afterward we headed over to the Animal Kingdom. We started off with the Safari and saw quite a few animals. No lions though I think we were a little late in the morning for them.

We then wandered one of the trails before heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey (although this seems oddly named now that the named characters meet elsewhere!).

I decided to join the line to meet King Louie and Baloo. Whilst we were waiting a family with small children for some reason decided to allow the children to creep past us. When it was time for us to meet the characters the small children had overtaken us and rushed in to see them!

To be fair it didn’t delay us especially but I do find it mildly annoying when people assume we won’t mind when these things happen. I know I’m 32 but if I get in a line to meet characters it’s because I want to meet them....not watch other people meet characters!

Rant over.....

We then decided to head across towards Everest...on the way we decided to watch Flights of Wonder. We have never watched this before and it was a fun show.

 

 

We picked up fast passes for Everest and then took a wander over to Dinosaur – it’s always a bit bumpy but we have to ride it once a trip.

The line for Dinosaur was about 30 mins which seemed quite a long line considering that the parks were extremely quiet but maybe everyone really likes Dino?! Anyway, I was quite enjoying a break in the air conditioning!

Finished up with Dino and headed back over to ride Everest but by this time it was experiencing technical difficulties. We decided to get the first soft serve ice cream of the trip and then afterward went to see the Tigers.

 

 

We popped back to see if Everest was back up but it was still broken so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

We had our much anticipated dinner at Be Our Guest this evening.

 

 

 

Our reservation was for 7.40 so we arrived a little early and were seated promptly. We were seated in the Ballroom which was just like the movie. The room feels a little big to eat in but that does fit the theme of a ballroom!

 

 

 

 

 

We were on the dining plan and I decided to try the steak (I don’t often eat steak). Rob was also having the steak and he had his cooked well done (rather than medium which is his normal preference) to make absolutely certain that mine would arrive well done as requested.

I think it would have been fine anyway but he offered! Oddly we did not get provided with steak knives but we didn’t have any major issues. The fries were lovely!

 

 

Then for dessert we had the chocolate cupcakes. As expected they were difficult to get into....but with a little perseverance we were in...and it was worth the effort!

 

 

Whilst we were eating the Beast left for his break and then when he returned he checked on all 3 dining rooms. I liked that all of the wait staff stopped what they were doing and bowed when the beast passed – it seemed to fit with the storyline from the movie.

After we had finished eating we took a quick look in the other rooms. I loved the West Wing – much smaller but the theme was fantastic. The other room was a little odd and had more of a counter service feel to it...but there were very few tables being used in this room.

I must admit I felt a little odd wandering around the other rooms whilst people were eating. I felt like I was intruding whilst in the West Wing....!

 

 

Before we left we headed in to meet the Beast, we had a short wait and then had our picture taken. Having not met the Beast before I was quite surprised by his height...he was much bigger than I expected.

As we left I stopped to take a few more pictures. The podium had been removed by now and the foyer was much quieter than when we had arrived earlier.

 

 

Overall we had a really good night. I do wish they had kept the chicken dish as the hen rather than the current choice as I would much prefer that as an option but the venue itself was excellent.

I have a reservation for our December trip so that I can show Rob’s mum the castle!

After dinner we decided not to stay in the park for Wishes, we hopped on the monorail and despite a brief holding period (grr) we managed to watch from the ferryboat dock. Much less crowded than in the park and more relaxing!

5^th September

This morning we had breakfast booked at Cape May Cafe. Our reservation was for 8.45 and we were quite early so we waited in the lobby before checking in.

Once we checked in we were seated quite quickly. Our server was a lovely lady who offered to take photos with the characters if we wanted them together.

We met a couple of the characters quite quickly and then got some food. The character interaction was quite good at this meal and it was quite quiet in the restaurant (considering the number of children around).

 

 

Overall I quite enjoyed breakfast here; the choice of food was good and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Now, I‘m not sure if we were slow eating or if the characters were fast, but we somehow managed to meet them all twice during our meal.

Once we were finished we headed across to Epcot. We had a quick ride on Spaceship Earth and then went to get fast passes for Test Track. We then decided to head to the Land so that we could pick up a fast pass for Soarin’ before riding Test Track.

On the way we popped into the Character Spot and met Mickey, Pluto and Minnie. I think it’s a shame you can’t see the characters from outside anymore. It used to be quite fun being able to see them inside as you walked past.

We continued to the Land to collect our fast pass for Soarin then we walked onto Living with the Land before popping back to ride Test Track.

The new Test Track was quite fun although the design bit felt a bit rushed. I did not know at this point that you could design the car at your leisure in the after show area.

We headed back to ride Soarin’ and then grabbed another fast pass as return times were still not too far away.

We headed back out and somehow along the way we spotted Peter Pan on his way to a Meet and Greet so I went to meet him and get another autograph.

 

 

Then we decided to ride the Nemo ride – I’m sure we have been on this before but not for a while because we completely forgot about all the fish in here!

We stayed and looked at the fish for a little while and then went to ride Soarin’ again. I may have mentioned before  that Rob is not a big fan of Soarin’ – he now calls it Snorin’ or Borin’ but I love it!

We were finished with Future World for the day so we went to the World Showcase. We saw Duffy on the way in so I got a photo.

 

 

Popped into Mexico to ride the boat, I wanted to meet Mexican Donald but his line is always long and so I skipped it and went on to Norway to Maelstrom instead.

We skipped past China and ended up getting an early dinner in the USA. I managed to get some fruit instead of more dessert! We got around to Morocco and then it started raining – really heavily. We sheltered in Fez House for a while and waited for it to pass.

 

 

Once the rain had stopped we continued round to the UK and had a looked in the shops. Rob was stunned by the cost of some of the items in the UK compared to that in the real UK! Really expensive!

We decided to watch the Canada movie as we had never seen it before – that is a weird feeling with the pictures all around you.

 

 

Once we got back outside it was like there had never been any rain all day!

We decided to find a spot for the fireworks in a fairly central position – just along from where Duffy meets. We sat on the ground for a while and eventually more people gathered. It was still quite quiet and it was not too crowded for the show.

We had a great view and it was a nice end to the day. I think this was the first time we had ever stayed at Epcot without having a midday break!

Fireworks over, we headed back to the parking lot. It was a short walk as we were in row 9!  

Disney Sept 13 Part 1

We were originally planning one Disney trip this year – a December trip which we would take with Rob’s parents staying at Saratoga Springs in a Tree House villa.

However, last year we found out about a discounted trip to WDW available through a club at work and so we registered our interest.

 

Whilst on our trip to Las Vegas we got a phone call asking us if we were still interested and somehow we had booked an extra trip whilst away! This time we would be in a studio at Saratoga Springs...

So, onto the trip!

31^st August

We were flying out on a Sunday this time and so did all of our holiday prep on a weekend day for a change. We dropped the dog off at kennels, had some lunch and then around 3pm we were picked up by our friend to take us to Gatwick (we are returning the favour for them next month!)

It took a little longer than expected due to some traffic but we arrived at Gatwick around 6. We headed into the terminal to do twilight check-in and drop off our checked luggage.

Then it was over to the Premier Inn to check in. We had stayed here in February and it was still a pleasant experience. Soon it was time for dinner – the Premier Inn was apparently booked up for hours so we went to the terminal and ate at an oddly themed restaurant called Joe’s Kitchen.

It was nice enough and reasonably priced. Then we headed off to bed for the night.

1^st September

Thanks to twilight check-in we had a leisurely start to the morning. We headed through security and then got some breakfast at Frankie and Benny’s. A little wander around the shops and then it was time to head to the gate.

We were a little late boarding – apparently some cargo had needed rearranging – really?! The flight itself was uninteresting, the food was fine and the time passed reasonably quickly.

We arrived a little late at Orlando International but I think in the end that wasn’t too bad. We seemed to be the only flight in the arrivals hall and so when we got off the queue for immigration wasn’t too bad.

I had selected seats near the front of economy and thankfully this worked quite well. We got off the plane relatively fast and managed to collect our bags and hire car within an hour of landing.

Around 25 minutes later and we had arrived at Saratoga Springs. We checked in and took our bags to the room.

 

 

We took a quick walk to get our refillable mugs and then we were off to get sandwiches from the Earl of Sandwich.

We walked to the boat dock only to find that for some reason the boat wasn’t running so we took the bus to Downtown Disney.

We arrived and headed straight to the Earl as we were really hungry! Once we had our sandwiches we felt a little better although by this point we were getting tired.

We quickly collected our photopass plus card and then headed back to the bus stop. For some reason the traffic was crazy this evening and it took us about 30 mins on the bus ride back!

This was enough to put us off the buses for the rest of our trip (although I must admit we don’t really like them anyway!)

We got back to our room and immediately as we entered we felt like there was something different about the room but for a few seconds we couldn’t work out why.

We then realised that 2 gift baskets had appeared on the side! Our friend Jennifer had sent them to us as birthday gifts (our birthdays had been earlier in the year but she told us the gifts would be a surprise!)

 

 

 

So we had a quick look at the baskets, sent Jennifer a message to say thanks and then headed for bed at 9.30!

2^nd September

We managed to stay asleep until almost 8 this morning!

Then we headed across to Artist’s Palette for breakfast. We popped our drinks back to the room and then we headed off to the Magic Kingdom. As we were in the car we parked at the TTC and then rode the ferryboat across the Seven Seas Lagoon.

Almost immediately we entered the park we saw Mary Poppins so I decided to meet her – I forgot to get her autograph though...would need to do that later in the trip.

(The gift basket had included an autograph book and so I finally had an excuse to collect autographs!)

 

 

 

As we had arrived in the park fairly late we started off with a wander around Tomorrowland. We picked up a fastpass for Space Mountain then took a ride on the Peoplemover followed by a whirl on the Carousel of Progress J

We then saw Stitch so I grabbed a photo and got my first autograph!

 

We had a quick ride on Space Mountain and then it was time to leave as we were planning on going to a Rodeo this afternoon.

As it turned out the Rodeo was a bit further away than we had thought. As a result we arrived about an hour after it had started – but the entry charge was only $10 each.

The rodeo was quite fun – lots of different activities including bull riding and some very fast horses! About an hour into the rodeo a mega storm arrived so we had to abandon the bleachers and stand really close to the fence to stay dry!

 

 

 

 

Once the rodeo was over we headed back to Disney. The rain had stopped as soon as it arrived (as it standard) although there was a little rain on the way back.

The plan for this evening was to head to the Boardwalk to have dinner at ESPN Club. For some reasons they don’t take advance reservations but as it turned out we really didn’t need them....we arrived and were seated immediately and the place seemed very empty!

Dinner was way too much food – and I took half of my dessert in a to-go box as I didn’t want to waste it!

We were still quite tired so we headed back and had an early night.

3^rd September

This morning we headed over to Hollywood Studios. As we had a lunch reservation we decided to skip breakfast and grab a little snack. When we arrived Toy Story Mania was broken down but we got a fastpass for later anyway.

We decided to head towards Star Tours and on the way we saw Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater so we got the photopass lady to take a few pictures.

The line for Star Tours was non existent as would be the theme for this morning as the park was extremely quiet! I was the spy on the ride.....which was the first time either of us had been picked.

 

 

 

 

Decided to head over to Tower of Terror and again we had a very short wait. We then decided to have a little rest and get a frozen lemonade J

I had never seen the Indiana Jones show so we decided to do that this morning. After it finished a short but heavy rain storm came over, we hid out in a shop for a few minutes and then ventured back out. We were waiting for our reservation at Sci Fi Diner.

We checked in and were seated a few minutes later. I always hear mixed reviews of this restaurant but we really liked it. I had a sandwich and cucumber salad so much less food than if I had fries and managed to get a fruit salad for dessert! I did have the milkshake for my drink though so I didn’t exactly miss out J

As we were leaving we decided to ask how much it would cost to upgrade our tickets to annual passes – we are coming back in December and had heard that the price can vary. With our DVC discount we were quoted $130 each to upgrade so we went ahead and changed our tickets.

We were heading back to the room for a rest and when we arrived our keys no longer worked. I was half expecting this as we had just done the upgrade. A quick trip to the Carriage house and a slightly confused cast member managed to fix our keys with the help of a supervisor.

It was all sorted fairly quickly and was just a minor annoyance as we now had to walk back to the room to get our mugs so that we could walk back across to get drinks!

We had a little rest in the room and then headed to the Magic Kingdom for a little while in the evening. We took a quick trip around on the railroad and got off at New Fantasyland.

We took advantage of the fact that Dumbo now doesn’t have such crazy lines to take a quick ride. Then we had a go on one of the new rides – the Little Mermaid.

We decided to watch the fireworks from Fantasyland – it’s different than from Main Street but much less crowded and you feel like you are in the middle of the display.

After the fireworks we headed off back to the room.