A Savanna, A Wizard, and Oodles of Food - AKL/DxDP/WWoHP (COMPLETE!)

[SimplyGoofy]

Updates!

Ugh, I had to go through and fix my punctuation too some of my posts had weird codes instead of punctuation, and other posts had no punctuation whatsoever! So I thought the exact same as you, I don't want people thinking I don't know how to use an apostrophe!! I'm glad I only had a few days of my first TR written though, the OCD in me would've been overwhelmed if I had hundreds of posts!!!

I'm glad you got to see the Tiger, he wasn't out on our last trip. You got some great pictures on the trail, I love how you could probably convince people you were in India. No one does theming like Disney!

It sounds like Anika and I have matching Yetis ! I also bought one back in 2012

You saw Divine! I've never spotted her, but I've taken note of what you've said - next time I see a group of tourists staring into the bushes I'll pay a bit more attention!

You didn't like Festival of the Lion King?!!!! To each, their own, but I LOVE that show! Maybe give it a second chance sometime

Your meal at California Grill looks incredible!!! I know it's changed a little since then, but your report has seriously made me consider booking it for our upcoming trip! We did it back in 2012 and had an amazing meal, but we both ONLY ordered main courses.. (what were we thinking?!?!?!) I would really like to try some of those desserts!

So funny that Anika thought she was ordering fish Although "filet of beef" makes me wonder how on earth she got that mixed up...!! "I didn't know you could eat fish other than well done!" Brilliant!

Great updates, excited to hear more!

I'm so glad I'm not the only one whose OCD got the better of them! I know they may "fix" those issues, but I just couldn't stand it!

I love watching the tigers. They really do remind us of our parents' dog!

It was such a treat to see Divine! We spotted her on our trip in 2013, too!

I know, I don't understand it either! I thought the spectacle was great, but we just couldn't get into it. I think we plan to try it again this trip as it definitely needs another shot!

Our meal was AWESOME! I can't speak for the restaurant since the renovation, but we're both really excited to eat here again. Although your ADR window opens in March, I'm happy to send you a message about our meal in case you'd like to book it. If you go, YOU MUST GET DESSERT as it was incredible!

I don't know why she didn't figure it out either! I saw Anika today and mentioned that story, and she had no idea why she thought she was ordering fish. I think she zeroed in on "filet" and missed the rest of the description!

Another update coming up shortly (if the pictures cooperate!).

Oh lord I don't even want too think about previous chapters and reports and potential issues after the DIS change. The biggest for me was font size. But to go back and fix it, uh uh, not happening.

But also, good on you for sticking with this one Jenny. This is why I never unsubscribed. There are many that I did that went awol, but not this one because I somehow just knew you'd get 'er done. So two

Oh I agree, the trails are fantastic. I love anything in a theme park where you can go at your own pace.

Aww, seeing your Everest photopass photos makes me nostalgic. My last two trips, that area has been behind walls. But I do love that spot. Maybe they'll be down by May for you.

I often wonder if non-Disney folk just assume people are replaying the Jungle Cruise skipper's "Favourite Plants" when pointing out Divine. Spotting her is ALWAYS a cool treat.

Oh I hope you give Lion King another try, maybe earlier in the day before you wear out. I find it amazing and beautiful. But that's also what makes a Disney trip so great. Everyone has their favourites and that's ok.

That is definitely a beautiful restaurant. And wow, what a view.

Yes, I wish the font size had remained the same, but at least mine is readable! And I will DEFINITELY get 'er done - thanks for sticking with me!

I LOVE the trails! They're a bit tougher when it's hot, but I still love them anyway.

I hope the walls are gone - I love that spot!

I hope we manage to spot her in May as well. We've been lucky the past two trips.

We definitely plan to give Lion King another try! We have TWO Animal Kingdom days planned for the next trip, so we should be much more fresh this time around. We certainly didn't hate it - it just wasn't an immediate favorite thing. We'll see what happens when we see it again!

The restaurant was beautiful before, and I like how it looks after the remodel even more! We're SO EXCITED to visit here again!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Good Morning, Eeyore!
Day 7 – Friday, February 10th

It was time for another morning in the Magic Kingdom! We were both super excited for our pre-park opening breakfast and our opportunity to enjoy a nearly-empty Main Street. Rather than take the bus this morning, we drove to the Disney Car Care Center to return our rental car. Shockingly, we were running a little late.

Before beginning our story about returning our car, I swear that I started this morning in a good mood.

We easily made it to the Magic Kingdom resort area and found the closest gas station to refill the tank. I popped out of the car and attempted to figure out how to open the gas door on the car.

There was no button.

There was no indent or doohickey to manually open the door.

HOW THE HE** DO YOU OPEN THIS D*MN DOOR?!?!

We were late, I couldn’t refill the gas tank, I didn’t want to pay the rental car company to refill the gas tank, and WE WERE GOING TO BE LATE TO OUR BREAKFAST!



I was practically hysterical at this point. I returned to the Car Care Center and was a hot mess. I don’t think my poor sister knew what to do except pat my arm and tell me it would be okay? The first Car Care person I came across was super nice, and said they would show me how to open the gas door so I could get the gas tank refilled. I was still hysterical as I NO LONGER HAD TIME TO REFILL THE GAS TANK (in my own mind at least). The second wonderful employee saw that I was such a hot mess and stepped right in. They told me not to worry, they would refill the gas tank and not charge me, and they’ll take me immediately to the closest spot to Magic Kingdom so we can make our breakfast. They drove us immediately to the Grand Floridian so we could catch the monorail from the closest spot.

God bless those fantastic and wonderful people from the Car Care Center. To this day I have no idea why I was so hysterical about such a small thing, but I think my exhaustion from the vacation just got the better of me. I thanked the guy that drove us to the Grand Floridian over and over again (and gave him a $20 tip for our short ride).

If you're renting a car on Disney property, rent from the Car Care Center! They were WONDERFUL!

**In order to redeem myself slightly, I never once yelled at or was upset with the Car Care folks as I knew it wasn't their fault that I couldn't figure out the gas door . I was just crying about running late and being able to do what I was supposed to. This doesn't make it better, per say; however, at least I can laugh about this story now rather than be ashamed of it!

Officially on our way, we caught the monorail at the Grand Floridian and were here just a few minutes before 8:00:

We made it!

Our reservation wasn’t for another ten minutes, so we took advantage of the nearly empty main street with a few Photopass pictures:

Plus one more a bit closer to the castle:

I also took a few pictures with my own camera by the castle. I was loving these pre-park opening breakfasts and the lack of crowds in my pictures!

After a few great pictures, we made our way to our breakfast destination:

We were seated in just a few minutes and made our way over to the buffet:

Here were our plates. My plate included some of the breakfast lasagna, Pooh’s French toast, strawberries and whipped cream, pineapple, cheese, and bacon:

Anika’s plate was filled with Mickey waffles, Pooh’s French toast, eggs, bacon, a cinnamon roll, and grapes:

As you can see, we also got coffee and orange juice.

The characters started arriving just a few minutes later. First up was my favorite guy, Eeyore!

Next to Goofy, Eeyore is my next favorite Disney character. I don’t really know why, as usually I’m a pretty peppy and optimistic person as opposed to being filled with doom and gloom (other than this morning, I guess?), but I’ve always loved Eeyore.

Next up was Piglet:

Followed by everyone’s favorite bouncing Tiger:

You’ve gotta love Tigger.

Pooh was still pretty far away (and I’d already seen my Eeyore), so we decided to wrap up our breakfast and head into the park ahead of the rope drop crowd. We needed to make up for our late arrival the previous Saturday!

I grabbed a few pictures of the Pooh-centric display on our way out of the restaurant:

Onward to Fantasyland!

Final Thoughts – Crystal Palace
Despite our crazy journey to get there, we LOVED our breakfast at Crystal Palace. Walking down an empty Main Street was magical and well worth the morning’s craziness. We thought the food was tasty (it was buffet food, but certainly good) and the characters were great here. We ate here again in 2013 (and love it again!) and plan another pre-park opening breakfast for our trip in May. This ADR has become a must-do for us! Highly recommended!

Up Next: Magic Kingdom, Our Touring Plan Do-Over

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hooray! I FINALLY FIGURED OUT how to post pictures properly on these crazy new boards!



I only had to spend an hour "fixing" the posts from yesterday. (They're basically the same posts, but with a few extra pictures and a few more smilies!)

Thank goodness. I was having one heck of a time with "too many characters" causing me issues with my attempts to include all of my pictures and update the text size, text color, etc. Now, time to go to bed!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

First, I totally feel your pain. There should be a universally accepted gas door spot on all cars. It drives me nuts trying to first find the door, and yes, in some cases how to open said door. But wow, what great employees at the Car Care Center. That is such a lovely thing to see.

YAY, so glad you made it with time to spare AKA time to enjoy the early park entry wihthout having to rush right to Crystal Palace.

I do love the whole Hundred Acre Wood gang. I think I love Eeyore because I just want to cheer him up.

 

[MEK]

Was your rental car a Mitsubishi?

I ask because we rented one once and we could NOT figure out how to open the gas cap. I googled it on my phone. Apparently you have to PUSH really hard on the external door to the gas cap. If you lightly push on it, it will not open. Oh - and those instructions are NOT in the manual. Thank goodness they were so nice to you at the Car Care Center. I was freaking out a bit when it happened to me as well.

Love your pictures from Crystal Palace. that is absolutely one of my favorite breakfasts and I LOVE Eeyore. He's so cute. How can you not just love him?

 

[SimplyGoofy]

First, I totally feel your pain. There should be a universally accepted gas door spot on all cars. It drives me nuts trying to first find the door, and yes, in some cases how to open said door. But wow, what great employees at the Car Care Center. That is such a lovely thing to see.

YAY, so glad you made it with time to spare AKA time to enjoy the early park entry wihthout having to rush right to Crystal Palace.

I do love the whole Hundred Acre Wood gang. I think I love Eeyore because I just want to cheer him up.

Yes, there should be! I still remember how frustrated I was about being unable to open the darn door!

The Car Care Center folks were AWESOME! Picking up my vehicle was super easy, and the way they handled everything at the end was top-notch. If I'm renting a car on property, I won't be renting from anyone else!

Early entry was GREAT! We enjoyed it at the other parks as well, but it was pretty magical to be on an empty Main Street. We also got great pictures!

EEYORE! I just love that guy. Perhaps I just want to cheer him up, as well!

Was your rental car a Mitsubishi?

I ask because we rented one once and we could NOT figure out how to open the gas cap. I googled it on my phone. Apparently you have to PUSH really hard on the external door to the gas cap. If you lightly push on it, it will not open. Oh - and those instructions are NOT in the manual. Thank goodness they were so nice to you at the Car Care Center. I was freaking out a bit when it happened to me as well.

Love your pictures from Crystal Palace. that is absolutely one of my favorite breakfasts and I LOVE Eeyore. He's so cute. How can you not just love him?

We actually had a Chevy Malibu, but it sounds like it has the same mechanism for opening the gas door as your Mitsubishi. It was a pain in the royal rear end!

I cannot recommend the Car Care Center enough! They were FABULOUS!

That is our favorite park breakfast as well. It's tasty, the characters are fun, and you can't beat early entry to Magic Kingdom!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Beating the Rope Drop Crowd
Day 7 – Part II

After our excellent breakfast at Crystal Palace, we followed a small group of fellow breakfast-goers into Fantasyland. We had succeeded on making it into the park in front of the rope drop folks! Hooray!

Look how few people that were traveling in front of us (plus a cool view of the castle):

We started our day with everyone’s favorite pirate ship:

The only negative of this ride is that I can never get a successful picture on the inside of the ride!

Next up was a journey with our pals from breakfast:

I LOVE what they did with this queue. Although we didn’t play with it very much, it’s so well done!

(Okay, we may have played with the honey wall…)

After our journey through the hundred acre woods, it was time to say goodbye to an old favorite:

Doing all three Magic Kingdom slow-moving dark rides in a row showed us how much we LOVED Snow White. It was (and likely still is!) our favorite of the three.

As we’d gotten through the first two attractions so quickly there was almost no one in line for Snow White. Since the ride was so quiet, we were given our own cart! What does one do when you have your own cart and you’re on a ride that’s slated for demolition? Why, you break the cardinal Disney attraction rule, of course! Welcome to few flash photographs from the now extinct Snow White’s Scary Adventures!

First, the non-flash photos from the beginning of the attraction:

This was my last "legal" photograph - everyone's favorite creepy magic mirror:

Now, the "illegal" photos!

I LOVED that attraction. So long, Snow White! (I can’t wait to ride your new mine train!)

(continued in next post)

 

[SimplyGoofy]

(continued from previous post)

As we were on a dark ride streak, we jumped over to Liberty Square to ride the dune buggies. I’ve always loved the Haunted Mansion and looked forward to recording this particular journey. I had no issues in the interactive queue or the stretching room, but the minute I pulled out my camera on the ride the CM told me to turn off the camera. I was a terrible human being and turned it back on the minute we went around the corner. I wanted to experience this haunted experience from home, darn it!

After our encounter with spooks and spirits and another spin on our favorite teacups, it was time to head into Tomorrowland. First up was a spin with our favorite space ranger:

Anika and I are TERRIBLE at this ride, but we enjoy it anyway! At least it’s a very colorful attraction!

Next up was one of our favorite Disney attractions – it was time to sing along with the Carrousel of Progress! After I’d already broken a few rules this morning to record the memories, why not break one more? Before our trip I’d seen a few trip reports with illicit Carrousel of Progress photographs, and I wanted a few of them, myself!

Does anyone else adore that the “modern” scene of this ride includes references to car phones and laser discs? Perhaps they should think about a bit of an update!

Holy cow, we LOVE this attraction. A trip to Disney World is simply not complete without several spins on this!

Since we were right next door, our next stop was our favorite mountain in the dark:

Followed by an attraction we’d never tried before:

MIKE WAZOWSKI! And, you’ve gotta love Roz.

Here's a view of the inside of the theatre. The show involves a line up of monster comedians that interact with the audience in order to "collect" your laughter.

For those of who that haven’t tried the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor – go! It’s absolutely hysterical, and Anika and I were thrilled that we gave it a shot. It is such a great time and has now become a must-do attraction for us!

It was getting close to lunch time, so we made our way over to Main Street to peruse the shops for a bit. I purchased a few postcards and souvenirs, and I had to get a hug with my favorite alien:

Does anyone NOT love Stitch?!

Up Next: Lunch at Tony’s Town Square

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Lunch with a Lady (and a Tramp)
Day 7 – Part III

Our lunch plans for the day involved one of Anika’s favorite Disney movies:

I wasn’t super excited about our lunch (given its usually poor reviews ), but I did really like the inside of the restaurant. It was quite well done!

Anika started with a lighter appetizer, the mixed greens house salad with feta and tomatoes:

I ordered the Garlic Cheese Bread:

Both were fine. Nothing super special; but not bad, either.

For entrees, Anika couldn’t think of ordering anything else but the Spaghetti and Meatballs with Marinara Sauce:

We were eating in Lady and the Tramp’s restaurant, after all!

I chose the Shrimp Scampi, which has linguini with sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus in a garlic sauce:

Anika definitely chose the better of the two main dishes. Anika enjoyed her spaghetti, and I should’ve known better than to have ordered a dish with shrimp and asparagus in a restaurant with “poor reviews.” It was edible, but not spectacular.

As you know, we can’t eat anywhere without dessert! Anika ordered (prepare to be shocked, here!) the cheesecake, which at that time was a chocolate mocha:

I ordered the Tiramisu:

Isn’t the cocoa dusting of Lady and Tramp adorable?

Our desserts were actually pretty good, and so we had a bright note on the end of our meal.

Final Thoughts – Tony’s Town Square
This wasn’t our favorite meal, but overall, it wasn’t as bad as I feared. Anika really enjoyed eating in the restaurant and she thought her food was good. My appetizer and dessert were tasty – I would just order a different entrée next time. I think we would be willing to return someday, but other Magic Kingdom restaurants would make the cut, first. It’s hard to compete with Liberty Tree Tavern!

Up Next: More fun in the Magic Kingdom, and an afternoon at the Grand Floridian

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

That's quite impressive and the best of all worlds there. Early entry, empty street, breakfast, and still ahead of rope drop. Well done.

AHH I love the honey wall!!!!! I played on that one night so long we almost missed riding since it was near park close. Oops!

WOW!!!!!! THAT brought back some memories right there. Snow White's Scary Adventures. See now this is one benefit of having a long runing TR. How many other's are posting about that??? What a lovely trip down memory lane.

Hmmmm, I don't know that I've ever had a CM tell me to put away a camera before. Strange.

I simply adore that you love CoP so much. Most in your age group would normally just have no interest. Only true Disney fans get how good it is.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

First, I LOVE the fact that you are finishing your TR from 2012! I have an unfinished TR from July 2012 and I think you have inspired me to finish it.

I have to second your opinion on Festival of the Lion King! I know so many people LOVE it and say its the best show in all of WDW but we weren't as enamored with it. I think we were also in the giraffe section... maybe that makes a difference?? I mean, we liked it, we just didn't LOVE it.

Loved reading about your adventures thusfar!! Can't wait for the next chapter!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

That's quite impressive and the best of all worlds there. Early entry, empty street, breakfast, and still ahead of rope drop. Well done.

AHH I love the honey wall!!!!! I played on that one night so long we almost missed riding since it was near park close. Oops!

WOW!!!!!! THAT brought back some memories right there. Snow White's Scary Adventures. See now this is one benefit of having a long runing TR. How many other's are posting about that??? What a lovely trip down memory lane.

Hmmmm, I don't know that I've ever had a CM tell me to put away a camera before. Strange.

I simply adore that you love CoP so much. Most in your age group would normally just have no interest. Only true Disney fans get how good it is.

That honey wall is SO FUN!!! We both played with it on each of our last two trips!

We really loved that ride. I'm still sad that it's gone...

It was rather bizarre. I know Universal is pretty insane with their camera rules, but that's the only time I've ever been told to put away my camera in Disney! I don't know if they were concerned that I would turn on the camera light to get better video? (I wouldn't and didn't.) Who knows?!

We both LOVE that attraction! You'll love this - I saw Anika this weekend and asked her for her favorite attractions so I can include them in my upcoming pre-trip report. Her answers? The Tower of Terror, The Great Movie Ride (?!), and... The Carousel of Progress! (Do I have her well-trained, or what?!

First, I LOVE the fact that you are finishing your TR from 2012! I have an unfinished TR from July 2012 and I think you have inspired me to finish it.

I have to second your opinion on Festival of the Lion King! I know so many people LOVE it and say its the best show in all of WDW but we weren't as enamored with it. I think we were also in the giraffe section... maybe that makes a difference?? I mean, we liked it, we just didn't LOVE it.

Loved reading about your adventures thusfar!! Can't wait for the next chapter!

Thanks! If you can swing it, absolutely go back and finish your trip report! I love all the memories that I've recorded, and it just wouldn't seem right not to wrap it up! (On another note - I REALLY want to write a trip report for our upcoming adventure in May, and I figured people would be more likely to come along if they thought I would finish it! )

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I liked it as well (and would certainly try it again), but it's not yet made it onto the "must-do" list. We skipped it completely in 2013!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

An Adventure in the Kingdom
Day 7 – Part IV

Having accomplished most to-do items in Fantasyland, Liberty Square, and Tomorrowland, we headed over to Adventureland after lunch.

I convinced Anika to give a more offbeat attraction a try:

It was time to sing along with the birds!

We stood in front of the tiki guy for a while – we must’ve gotten into line near the beginning of a show? We eventually made our way into the theatre.

I love that they returned this to the original, traditional attraction. I never saw it with the “re-do” with Iago and Zazu, but I didn’t feel so bad that I missed it.

A few views of the inside of the Tiki Room:

Our thoughts? I always enjoy a traditional Disney attraction, but this one didn’t hold me the same way the Carrousel of Progress does. At least I liked it better than Anika… “We don’t have to do that again, do we?”

(As a side note, this attraction must TERRIFY small children! Between the noise, the thunderstorm, and the dark, I would think many kids would not be amused! )

Our next choice was a favorite in Adventureland:

It was time to sail with the pirates!

I’m sad that we may not see this attraction on our upcoming trip (have they announced the official dates for the refurb yet?), but I’m glad we got to do it several times on this trip! This attraction actually had our longest wait time of the entire week – we were in line for almost 20 minutes. (I realize that’s not actually that bad, but I managed to use our early entrances, attraction order, and Fastpass- pretty effectively and the result was we didn’t wait in lines!)

Look at all those people in front of us!

Pirates of the Caribbean is such a nostalgic attraction for me! My dad videotaped the ride during our visit in 1988, and I remember watching that video A LOT as a child. Here are a few scenes from Pirates:

I LOVE this guy! (I even love his dirty feet – nice work, Disney!)

This part always makes me crack up! “Come on, here doggy! Bring us the keys! DARN IT, DOGGY!”

Such a great attraction.

We made our way back Tomorrowland to use a Fastpass that we’d collected earlier. On our way we saw a very special preview board:

At the time we were SO EXCITED about New Fantasyland – especially Be Our Guest restaurant! (Our 2013 trip confirmed that we were right to be excited. Be Our Guest was GREAT!)

We took another spin on our favorite mad mouse coaster:

Space Mountain is ALWAYS awesome!

We had one thing left to accomplish in Magic Kingdom that afternoon and decided to get there through the castle:

Along the way, and I grabbed a few photos of the beautiful mosaics on the walkway though the castle:

Even the detail on the castle door is incredible!

If you’ve never taken a moment to stop in this walkway and enjoy this beautiful artwork, please do so! It’s lovely!

This was our final stop for the day:

I stopped for this character meet for a very special reason – I have two good friends with young kids (one boy and one girl) and I wanted to send each of them a signed postcard from a character. Meeting Mickey and Minnie was the best way to accomplish this!

The Photopass photographer got a great shot of all of us:

If you have a good photographer, they will also get a few random shots of the “action” before and after you pose for your picture. The shots the photographer got were HILARIOUS, as they beautifully illustrate our thoughts on meeting characters.

First, there’s me:

MICKEY MOUSE! I’M HUGGING MICKEY MOUSE!



And then there's Anika:

Um, yeah… I can’t believe I agreed to come in here. Why are you touching me?! No, seriously, do you really have to touch me?



(In case you’re new – my sister HATES meeting characters. She was okay with the character meals as they got us into the parks early, but she was not very happy about any extra meets. As she so often says, “You never know what creeper is in the costume!” Oh, Anika. )

It was now 3:00 and we needed to hightail it out of there to get to our next destination!

Up Next: Tea at the Grand Floridian

 

[SimplyGoofy]

A Grand Afternoon of Cheese and Tea
Day 7 – Part V

Rather than take the monorail around the resorts, we decided to get to the Grand Floridian via boat:

What a fun way to travel! As long as you don’t wait long for the boat, it’s a heck of a lot faster than the monorail, and the views are great!

As we made such good time on our journey from the Magic Kingdom, we had time to soak up some of the grand atmosphere of the resort:

Anika LOVED this resort and chatters on in the video I took that she wants to stay here someday. (Good grief, Anika, couldn’t you fall in love with a less expensive resort?!)

I must agree, though, that the lobby is truly stunning:

We checked in for our afternoon “snack” and waited just a bit before being seated. Soon we were in!

This is a very small restaurant – no wonder getting an ADR is such a challenge!

Back in 2012, you were still able to order a la carte without buying a package. It’s too bad that this is no longer an option (as some of those packages are expensive!), but I certainly understand this due to the limited seating capacity for the afternoon tea. Since we didn’t have this restriction in 2012, we each ordered tea, and also ordered a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit and a few pastries to share:

Here’s Anika enjoying her tea:

Anika ordered the Vanilla Rooibos tea, and I ordered the Garden View Blend tea. Both were wonderful and we loved them!

Our server here was absolutely a delight! She took her time going through the menu and explaining our tea choices, and was great about checking in with us throughout the tea. She got a very big tip!

Our tea took us about an hour, but we took extra time to relax in the restaurant. It’s hard to beat the views, as the restaurant is just along the back of the grand lobby and looks onto the resort grounds.

Final Thoughts – Garden View Tea Room
This has become a must-do reservation for us! It was wonderful to take a break from the Magic Kingdom, enjoy the beauty of the Grand Floridian, and have a relaxing break with some tasty food. It’s now a rather spendy meal (as the packages are a requirement), but I think the break from the parks and the unique experience makes it worth it. We did the tea again in 2013 and I’ve already made the ADR for this year’s trip! I would absolutely try it at least once!

Up Next: Off to Epcot!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

The Coral Reeks
Day 7 – Part VI

Since we’d taken the boat to get to the Grand Floridian, we decided it would be fun to take the monorail to get to Epcot. (That may also be the ONLY way to get to Epcot from the Grand Floridian?) We journeyed through Magic Kingdom and the Contemporary before switching monorails at the TTC. The monorail ride from the TTC to Epcot is LONG, but a really fun ride with some great views!

We stopped for a Photopass picture:

Then we headed straight in to the first ride we saw:

Is there anyone that doesn’t love Spaceship Earth? It’s such a great attraction!

Due to our dinner location, we decided to warm up by visiting a few of our favorite sea creatures:

We started with a journey with Nemo and friends, and then stopped by an attraction we’d never done before:

Similar to our thoughts on the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, we thought this was a hoot! Since it’s been so long I don’t remember any of the questions asked by the kiddos, but I know both Anika and I were impressed. After all, how could you not love this guy?

Chaa, totally righteous, dude!

After viewing the tanks for a bit, it was time for dinner! We checked in at:

I will start by saying that it’s SO HARD to choose restaurants in Epcot as (1) there are so many of them, and (2) most of them are great!

I chose Coral Reef due to the atmosphere and to be able to say that we’d eaten there. I knew the food may be iffy, but I decided it may be a good choice since we had the dining plan. A good choice? Eh….

We started our meal by our longest wait ever to be seated. We checked in about ten minutes early and then waited fifteen minutes after our ADR to get our seat. Not as bad as I’ve read on other reports, but this seemed crazy after our never-topping-five-minutes waits at our other restaurants.

I will say that the atmosphere at Coral Reef is top-notch:

They even give you a list of fish and other sea creatures that you can spot them in the tanks, which is pretty cool:

We started with our bread and butter basket:

It was a far cry from the signature restaurant bread and butter selections, but it was fine.

When it came to ordering our food, I had an idea of what I wanted before I arrived. I’d planned to get the lobster soup, but our waiter had other ideas. He seemed insistent on someone ordering the fried shrimp… so I ordered that:

Anika managed to get what she came in for, and ordered the Crab Cakes:

My shrimp were pretty comparable to what I could make from a box of frozen shrimp at home, but at least they were edible. Anika’s was able to pick at her crab cakes, but we’ve certainly had better.

Then came our entrées.

Mine was passible. Due to our waiter’s very strong recommendation, I ordered the Seared Mahi Mahi, with Laughing Bird shrimp, Hearts of Palm, jasmine rice, and a coconut lime sauce:

Anika ordered the Lobster Ravioli:

I don’t think I can express how HORRENDOUS Anika’s dinner was. I saw her pick her way through one piece of ravioli, and then put down her fork. I figured she was being picky so I tried it.

It was like eating paste. Chewy paste that had been allowed to go bad. Very, very bad.

If we had actually been paying for that meal instead of using the dining plan, I would have demanded to have my money back.

Thankfully, our desserts improved our experience a bit (and gave Anika some of her first chunk of sustenance of the meal).

I ordered the Bailey’s and Jack Daniel’s Mousse:

Anika ordered the Chocolate Wave with raspberry gelato:

Both of our desserts were pretty tasty. They didn’t come close to our desserts from the California Grill, but at least we were able to eat them.

We paid our bill and got the heck out of there.

Final Thoughts – Coral Reef Restaurant
Yuck. You couldn’t pay me enough to get me back in this restaurant. You DEFINITELY couldn’t pay Anika enough to get her within twenty feet of this restaurant. Our server was pushy and rude, our food ranged from passible to very, very bad, and we had to deal with a long wait and were surrounded by cheerleaders. (Arguably the teenagers were not the fault of the restaurant, but they certainly didn’t make the evening any better.) If you’re dying to eat next to the tanks, buy a pretzel, walk into the Seas, and sit next to those tanks while eating your pretzel. Do yourself a favor and eat dinner somewhere (anywhere!) else.

Up Next: Extra Magic Hours in Epcot

 

[SimplyGoofy]

A Nighttime Tour of World Showcase
Day 7 – Part VII

It was time to put our horrible meal behind us and enjoy our time in the World Showcase!

We needed a bit of humor, so we stopped here:

I’m not sure if we’d seen this movie before (I didn’t remember seeing it, but who knows?), but we LOVED it! You spend the movie standing and enjoying a 360 degree view of the sights from Canada. I think it’s my favorite movie in World Showcase (the other two belonging to France and China). I adored the music, the beautifully scenery that surrounded us, and loved being entertained by Martin Short. This immediately put us in a much better mood!

We meandered through the shops in World Showcase, including France where Anika found this hat:

World Showcase at night is so beautiful! We enjoyed wandering through France:

And Morocco:

Morocco, especially, has so many fun shops and nooks and crannies to explore. You simply must take your time when exploring these countries! And make sure you look up, or you might miss things like this:

Stunning!

It was around this time that it started to rain. It was a light rain and made for some interesting and artsy looking pictures. We continued through Japan:

We ended our evening with two World Showcase favorites. First was the now defunct Maelstrom:

I think we’ll really miss this attraction! Perhaps we hold it in higher esteem as we’re Scandinavian (not Norwegian, but Swedish and Finnish), but we always thought they journey through Norway was fun. Thankfully, as we were deep in extra magic hours, the movie was no longer playing. As a side note to the re-do, I hope they keep the troll in the shop – I love that guy!

Our final event of the night was a trip through Mexico with Donald and his friends:

I’ve always thought of this attraction as rather bizarre, but it was an easy choice as there was no line at all!

My last few photographs of the night were in Mexico:

Yet another country that’s beautiful at night! (And you can see that it was still raining!)

If you've never wandered around Epcot at night, I HIGHLY recommend it! The park is beautiful and there are so many fun things to explore. It's a completely different experience at night!

There was more time left to extra magic hours, but we headed out of the park in order to get some much-needed sleep.

Up Next: Morning EMH in Hollywood Studios

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Tiki Room is something I haven't done since I was a kid. I'm sure I would have pretty much the same reaction as Anika, but it is hard not to at least appreciate an original. I will try this one day.

Pirates is a must do though. I always get a kick out of dirty hairy foot guy.

Yup, I just can't wait for New Fantasyland to finally open!!!!!!

I love the complete polar opposite photos of you and Anika. That's so awesome. You could not be happier, and Anika, well she's a good sister.

I am quite thankful that while I do enjoy a visit to the GFlo, I genuinely have no desire to actually stay there. My bank account thanks me greatly.

Haha, yes, I am a new convert to the joys of Turtle Talk. And yet, I still missed it last trip. But you're right, it's great.

So sorry about your awful Coral Reef experience. But if there is one universal truth, Martin Short is a Canadian treasure and will always turn that frown upside down.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Lol! Anika's face while meeting Mickey & Minnie! Priceless! I totally get what she means though... you never know who's under that mask! Your tea at the GF looks exquisite! I would love to do this some day but with the new packages, I think I'll wait until my daughter is old enough to appreciate it. Not sure she would quite get the ambiance at 5 years old.

Holy guacamole! So sorry you had such a terrible experience at Coral Reef! It looks awful! Your shrimp look like regular old grocery store deli counter frozen shrimp and Anika's lobster ravioli.... ugh... even the color of the sauce looks unappetizing.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Catching up!

Omg, Snow White's Scary Adventure.. This ride was just pure childhood memories to me, I loved seeing your photos of it!! Thankfully, the one at Disneyland Paris is still up and running, and even though it's quite different, I still have that one to enjoy this year (even if I can't understand a word they're saying.)

I love the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor too!!! I really want to get Jamie on the big screen, preferably as "the guy who always has the urge to get up and dance" - or whatever it is

Regarding the Tiki Room.. “We don’t have to do that again, do we?” I really love the initial "In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room" song, but after that, I just want out

Aww I love your Mickey and Minnie pictures, you girls are so pretty

I haven't done turtle talk before, but like I said, I love monsters inc laugh floor, so I might have to pay Crush a visit this year! Thanks for the inadvertently recommending it

Love the nighttime World Showcase photos!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Tiki Room is something I haven't done since I was a kid. I'm sure I would have pretty much the same reaction as Anika, but it is hard not to at least appreciate an original. I will try this one day.

Pirates is a must do though. I always get a kick out of dirty hairy foot guy.

Yup, I just can't wait for New Fantasyland to finally open!!!!!!

I love the complete polar opposite photos of you and Anika. That's so awesome. You could not be happier, and Anika, well she's a good sister.

I am quite thankful that while I do enjoy a visit to the GFlo, I genuinely have no desire to actually stay there. My bank account thanks me greatly.

Haha, yes, I am a new convert to the joys of Turtle Talk. And yet, I still missed it last trip. But you're right, it's great.

So sorry about your awful Coral Reef experience. But if there is one universal truth, Martin Short is a Canadian treasure and will always turn that frown upside down.

I'm so sad that Pirates will be down during our next trip! It's not our favorite ride, but we do it at least a few times each trip. At least I know we'll do it again one day!

Those pictures of us with Mickey and Minnie are CLASSIC. I love them!

If only my bank account would be thanking me... it may not after May!

Turtle Talk (and the Laugh Floor) were both very pleasant surprises!

That Oh Canada! movie just saved our evening. We were in much better moods after that show!

Lol! Anika's face while meeting Mickey & Minnie! Priceless! I totally get what she means though... you never know who's under that mask! Your tea at the GF looks exquisite! I would love to do this some day but with the new packages, I think I'll wait until my daughter is old enough to appreciate it. Not sure she would quite get the ambiance at 5 years old.

Holy guacamole! So sorry you had such a terrible experience at Coral Reef! It looks awful! Your shrimp look like regular old grocery store deli counter frozen shrimp and Anika's lobster ravioli.... ugh... even the color of the sauce looks unappetizing.

I know, I love it! I do understand her thinking, but must admit that I get caught up in the Magic. I'm not five and realize that I'm not actually hugging Mickey Mouse... but it's the closest I'll get to it!

We love the tea at the Grand Floridian! The price is somewhat ridiculous, but we think of it in the same way we think of a character meal - you pay for both the food and the ambiance. They do have the Mrs. Potts tea for younger ones (if it's still called the Mrs. Potts tea?), but agree she may enjoy it more in a few years. As long as it's not completely cost prohibitive at that point, I would highly encourage you to give it a whirl!

That. meal. was. HORRENDOUS. I've read several trip/dining reports since our meal where people really enjoyed their dinner there, but our experience really soured me from ever wanting to eat there again. With all the wonderful choices in Epcot, I can't see myself returning (but I guess I understand that others may still enjoy it ).

Catching up!

Omg, Snow White's Scary Adventure.. This ride was just pure childhood memories to me, I loved seeing your photos of it!! Thankfully, the one at Disneyland Paris is still up and running, and even though it's quite different, I still have that one to enjoy this year (even if I can't understand a word they're saying.)

I love the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor too!!! I really want to get Jamie on the big screen, preferably as "the guy who always has the urge to get up and dance" - or whatever it is

Regarding the Tiki Room.. “We don’t have to do that again, do we?” I really love the initial "In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room" song, but after that, I just want out

Aww I love your Mickey and Minnie pictures, you girls are so pretty

I haven't done turtle talk before, but like I said, I love monsters inc laugh floor, so I might have to pay Crush a visit this year! Thanks for the inadvertently recommending it

Love the nighttime World Showcase photos!

We LOVED that attraction! Please enjoy it this fall for Anika and I!

Anika absolutely doesn't let us sit in a row where we might become part of the show. I'll either have to sit by myself or go with a new travel partner in order to get onscreen!

I thought Anika's comment was pretty funny. I agree with you - I love the original song, but after that, I'm good to leave!

Thanks so much!

Yes, please pay Crush a visit! It's a fun show!

Thank you! Depsite the rain, wandering around World Showcase was lots of fun!