A Very Merry Un-21st-Birthday to Me! May 2015 Trip - Updated 10/27**

[kadrachb]

I really love you character-centric morning!!!

It was a lot of fun. I was hoping to get a lot of characters done by noon (which we did), or during their first meet and greet times so we didn't have to wait in HUGE lines.

 

[NJlauren]

First SO sorry! I don't know what happened but i missed the last few updates!

Looks like arrival day was great, the animals from your room AMAZING! I think it was great that they sent you a button and some birthday wishes!

I love that you took in so many characters and started off MK with a bang!

 

[kadrachb]

First SO sorry! I don't know what happened but i missed the last few updates!

Looks like arrival day was great, the animals from your room AMAZING! I think it was great that they sent you a button and some birthday wishes!

I love that you took in so many characters and started off MK with a bang!

No need to be sorry!
I loved meeting so many characters to start off our vacation! I was worried Kenny wouldn't really love it and he'd just put on a show for me, but I think he did enjoy it!

 

[kadrachb]

Magic Kingdom – Day 1 – Part 2​

Before diving into lunch, I think Kenny should have bought this Donald hat:

Sadly, he didn’t.

Now onto our lunch! By this time I was STARVING. We never ran into this last year because we had the deluxe plan (which was waaaayyy too much food) but being hungry in the sun is not fun. Thankfully, they took us early at BOG. We did pre-order our food, Kenny got the Prime Chuck Roast Beef sandwich, and I got the Tuna Nicoise Salad. Both were amazing! I wish they put more of the tuna on that plate, because it was probably some of the best tuna I have ever had, and I eat a lot of fish. The greens were a little too bitter for me though, and so I only ate about half of them. For dessert we got the Master’s Cupcake (The grey stuff IS delicious – but we had this last year too) and the orange chocolate éclair. The éclair we didn’t really like, a little too much orange-y taste for us.

Tuna Nicoise Salad, Master's Cup cake and Orange eclair at Be Our Guest

Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich with Pomme Fries at Be Our Guest​

However, since our original reservation was for 12:15pm, and even though we sat down at 12:00pm, we didn't get our food until 12:15pm. We did take this time to charge our phones with our portable battery though, and it was nice to sit down and relax!

After lunch we headed over to meet Minnie and Daisy at Pete’s Silly sideshow. However, while waiting in line, there was ABSOLUTELY NO line for Goofy and Donald.

So I guess we picked the wrong ones to meet at that time.

Both were okay interactions, nothing special. We then headed over to Space Mountain for our 3rd FP of the day! We really love this ride!

What kind of face is that, Kenny? ​

After riding, it was only about 1:15pm. We made a 4th FP for meeting Ariel at 7:00pm, right before our dinner at 7:45pm. Instead of sticking around for Festival of Fantasy, we decided we really needed a break and headed back to the resort. After waiting what seemed like forever with tired feet, we got on a bus and arrived at the resort. We took a nap, watched some animals, and then went swimming! I really did like the pool at AKL. Around 6:00pm we headed back down to the bus stop to head back over to MK.

Once back in the park, we took the train around to Fantasyland. We used our FP for Ariel, which I really enjoy her grotto. She also noticed my bow, which was a plus!

Slightly off topic: But here you can see those nail wraps I used pretty well! Two of them ended up being ripped off later in the night because of air bubbles and I wouldn't stop playing with them in line. I should have practiced putting them on with my samples before I did these, but oh well! I did get a lot of compliments on them. Even one day Aurora talked to me about them!

We then made a 5th FP for Jungle Cruise for 8:30-9:30pm. Originally we were going to do the Little Mermaid ride, but since we fit it in earlier, we chose something different. We then headed to the Crystal palace for our 7:40pm reservation!

Coming up next time – Crystal palace dinner and our night at MK!

 

[KathyM2]

Great MK afternoon!! That BOG lunch looked amazing! Love the pics with Ariel too!

 

[luvdisdogs]

I'm joining in! I really like reading trip reports but especially the ones with just a couple together. It is only my husband and myself (not blessed with children) and it's nice to see what other couples do.

 

[kadrachb]

Great MK afternoon!! That BOG lunch looked amazing! Love the pics with Ariel too!

BOG lunch is amazing! So glad you got a reservation there. Ariel in her Grotto has always been a great interaction for us. I really wish they had an Eric meet and greet because he's such a hunk.

I'm joining in! I really like reading trip reports but especially the ones with just a couple together. It is only my husband and myself (not blessed with children) and it's nice to see what other couples do.

I think Disney does a good job that at whatever you can do with children, you can also do as a couple! Like meeting characters. What do you guys like to do? I'm always looking for more tips for our next trip!

 

[kadrachb]

Magic Kingdom – Day 1 – Part 3 / Crystal Palace Dinner​

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

We ended up checking in at the Crystal Palace about 30 minutes early, hoping we’d get seated a little bit earlier than our reservation, which was at 7:40pm. However, that didn’t happen, but we were seated promptly at 7:40pm, so that’s good!

Our waitress was nice, and told us when all the character would come around. Piglett was just about to get to us, so before we got food we waited for him.
He’s a cutie, isn’t he?

We then went to go get food. The buffet is pretty standard here. Kenny LOVED the chicken nuggets (he’s still talking about them), I mean I liked them too… I guess he just really enjoyed them. Nothing else really stuck out to us in the buffet or desserts.

While eating we were visited by Tigger and Eeyore! Eeyore is one of my favorites!

Our waitress came back out, and brought me a cupcake with a candle in it, and she sang happy birthday to me! I was very surprised by this, but I loved it! I also got a card signed by Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, and Pooh. We still hadn’t seen Pooh, but Kenny and I kind of talked it out and decided if we didn’t see him it wasn’t the biggest deal in the world because there are so many other places to meet him. However, our waitress got him over to us right before we left!

After finishing up dinner, we headed over to Jungle Cruise. We ended up sitting at the back stairs, so it was sort of hard to hear everything. Once getting off, we headed to find a place for Celebrate the Magic / Wishes. I absolutely love Celebrate the Magic! Probably one of my favorite parts at being at Disney. We were there pretty early at 9pm, so a lot of waiting took place.

After the night show, we ended up leaving, Originally we were going to look through the shops, but we just didn’t want to and decided to play the game of “how many people will purposely ram us with strollers?”

It was 5. However, this year it was only the backs of my ankles and not my toes. After waiting forever for an AKL bus, we finally got back and I showered, and then was OUT! Tomorrow would be DHS!

And, according to my vivofit, we walked about 16,622 steps!

 

[DisneyKates]

Yay! This sounds like it was a perfect celebration....well, minus the strollers. Ugh to jerks driving strollers.

 

[KathyM2]

Great dinner pics!! CP is one of those places I think I'd like to go just to see the inside and the characters...but not so enthused about the food..but it looks like it's still worth doing!! Glad you got to see Pooh in the end!

 

[kadrachb]

Yay! This sounds like it was a perfect celebration....well, minus the strollers. Ugh to jerks driving strollers.

It was great! I understand if someone runs into me with a stroller and then apologizes for it. I mean, I've pushed my dad around in a wheel chair and things like that can be hard to maneuver in crowds. Its when people run into me with a stroller, and then GLARE at me is when it's super annoying. But, I mean, I'm at disney so I guess I can deal with it.

Great dinner pics!! CP is one of those places I think I'd like to go just to see the inside and the characters...but not so enthused about the food..but it looks like it's still worth doing!! Glad you got to see Pooh in the end!

Yeah, the food is nothing special. I'd like to try to get an ADR there for pre-park opening. But I don't think the whole meal is worth it if you don't want to see the characters. Totally worth it if you want to see them though! We got to see Piglet twice.

 

[kadrachb]

Hollywood Studios - Day 2 - Part 1

Our original plan was to not get to HS until 9:45am, because, we didn’t really have anything we wanted to do before then. However, my body decided to still be too excited to sleep past 6:30am… so there I was, at 6:30am, wide awake, ready to start to get ready.

By 7:30am we were at club level eating breakfast, thankfully, I ate more this time and was able to hold myself over until popcorn in the afternoon. And then by 8:20am, we were at the bus stop. We made it to HS by 9:00am. 45 minutes early. So we walked around the shops, I found a nightshirt I really liked, which I ended up buying on our way out.

However, we did end up getting to meet Minnie! It wasn’t originally in our plans, but we did get to meet her with little or no wait. We even had a conversation with her about her favorite type of cheese! (She had just gone on a break to nibble on some – and they gave her Swiss – not cheddar! )

She had also pointed out my ring. It’s my birthstone from my grandmother, it was actually a gift from my grandfather to her. We also had a mini conversation about how Mickey hasn’t given her a ring yet, and we'd try to put some pressure on him.

​

Next was time to stand in line for Mickey! We sat on the floor for a while. We were third in line. Once we were up, we talked to Mickey about how Minnie wants her ring. His answers were pretty adult like, about being a bachelor and wanting to ride that out as long as possible.

Then off to meet Mike and Sully! I’ve also always loved Monster’s Inc.
I thought this sign at their meet and greet was pretty cute:

​

Fun fact: Sully's paw accidently touched my butt when we were arranging for our picture. He didn't mean to, but it was still surprising!
We then had nothing to do until our Toy Story FP+, we walked around and met Dale.

Look at him lookin' all snazy in his tie and hat.
​

And we sat down and waited. Then it was time for the FP! I liked the ride, however, I don’t necessarily see all the hype for it, unless you don’t like thrill rides. Then it was time for more waiting! We met Donald Duck, and ended up getting a souvenir popcorn bucket and water bottles. I don't actually know why we bought the bucket, but its pretty cute. I think its because it came we a lid and so we could put it in the backpack without it spilling.

Then we thought, why not go look at RnR, as we walked up to it there was a 30 minute wait, and right before we got into line BANG! 70 minute wait. No thanks. Got icecream instead, and decided to not see the Beauty and the Beast show because we’ve seen it before. We finally had an idea to ride Star Tours before our FP, and then ride it again with our FP. We still had about an hour. But while we passed the Indiana Stunt show, we saw there wasn’t much longer until the 12:30pm show, and thought: why not?

I’m glad we did! We loved it! I didn’t think we would, but we did! And then once it let out, our FP+ was up, and we decided to go straight to Star Tours. I think if we weren’t so tired after lunch, we would have gone on Star Tours again, we like it so much.

It was only about 1:30pm by the time we checked into Sci-fi for our 2:00pm reservation, however, we only had to wait for about 5 minutes.

Part two of Sci-fi and our night coming up next!


Quick question for you all!

For anyone who has stayed at POR, POFQ, or Coronado, what did you like about them, and why? And if you’ve stayed at the other resorts, why you would pick one over the other?

I’m going back and forth for our next trip, and I know it’s going to be our last trip for at least two years since I’ll be going into grad school. I’ve decided to drop the GF, and go with a moderate (Because Kenny also said he'd take me back to the GF someday once he gets this new job ). I’m currently leaning towards Coronado.

 

[KathyM2]

Great update. Good point about the popcorn bucket having a lid..you know..just in case you can't eat it all in one sitting lol. Love your pictures!! Interesting take on TSMM....I am debating what to do - ie: run to that first thing and FP+ it to be able to get more than one ride in...but I'm not even sure if we will love it or not. I do love Buzz at MK though...sigh...what to do. Can't help much with your question as I've never stayed at any...though looking forward to POFQ in October. Great pics with Minnie...such a cute conversation you had with her too!

 

[ursalita]

Enjoying your trip report. I've never heard of that place you ate at in DTD Disney but it looks so good! Your room and resort are beautiful. I'm interested to hear about Club level since I'm considering it for next trip. Your Salad at BOG looks delish!

 

[MickeyReeds]

We loved Coronado Springs in 2008 and are about to head back!! We loved the atmosphere--it was quiet and peaceful.

 

[nilla]

Coronado, hands down. After that, POFQ, then Riverside.

Coronado has the best pool, best location, best layout, best food, and best scenery of the three, IMO. Best bussing, too.

I didn't like the layout of Riverside, but that's probably because I lack an inner compass. I need roads and walkways to be simple

Riverside does have that nutjob piano player, and that's fun.

That said, we enjoyed all three, but neither PO came anywhere close to winning our hearts like CSR. We stayed there on each of our 5 most recent annual trips, which makes our switch to CBR (for the heck of it) this year all the more difficult.

BTW, I LOVE Kenny's shirt! We got our son that one last year. He loved it, then wore it to middle school once, then hated it. Grrr. I'm thinking no one got the joke. If it were a Large, I'd probably be wearing it right now!

Single-rider is the way to go for RnRC without FPs.

 

[MagentaMulan]

I just noticed all those marker stains on Pooh's paw. Poor guy. haha Anyways, I stayed at POFQ my last trip and staying there again this December. I really like how small the resort was and how quiet and peaceful it was. I like being to walk to the lobby and bus stops in under 4 minutes. The water taxis to DTD are also great because you don't have to deal with the buses and traffic. There isn't too many food options at the food court, but it was fine for us, but you can easily go to Riverside or DTD.

 

[kadrachb]

Good point about the popcorn bucket having a lid..you know..just in case you can't eat it all in one sitting

I'm a destroyer of popcorn, its one of my favorite snacks. Probably why these ab workouts I've been trying to do since getting home have been destroying me!

Interesting take on TSMM....I am debating what to do - ie: run to that first thing and FP+ it to be able to get more than one ride in...but I'm not even sure if we will love it or not.

See, Kenny and I LIKE thrill rides. I think if the wait was 30 minutes or under we'd ride it again, but we probably won't FP it again or wait much longer than that.

Enjoying your trip report. I've never heard of that place you ate at in DTD Disney but it looks so good! Your room and resort are beautiful. I'm interested to hear about Club level since I'm considering it for next trip. Your Salad at BOG looks delish!

It was amazing! You should definitely try it sometime. I think we didn't get enough out of club level since we were in the parks so often, but all the CMs we ran into up there were very nice, and all the food was good! We never got around to trying dessert from club level though.

We loved Coronado Springs in 2008 and are about to head back!! We loved the atmosphere--it was quiet and peaceful.

Thanks for your input! It looks quiet and peaceful, and I think thats a plus for us.

Coronado, hands down. After that, POFQ, then Riverside.

Another one for Coronado!

BTW, I LOVE Kenny's shirt! We got our son that one last year. He loved it, then wore it to middle school once, then hated it. Grrr. I'm thinking no one got the joke. If it were a Large, I'd probably be wearing it right now!

I made Kenny buy it last year!
I mean... you could always wear it like a midriff

I just noticed all those marker stains on Pooh's paw. Poor guy. haha

I know! He must have a hard time opening or taking makers.

The water taxis to DTD are also great because you don't have to deal with the buses and traffic.

Thats one thing that was drawing me to both POFQ and POR!

 

[nilla]

I mean... you could always wear it like a midriff

I would love to, but don't really have the money for the time machine back to 1982 right now. But thanks anyway for the suggestion!

 

[kadrachb]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay in the update – Kenny got his liver biopsy done, so on Sunday I ended up going down to DC for a while. But before that I was just being lazy!
Anyways, here we go!

Hollywood Studios – Day 2 – Part 2​

We were seated in one of those car booths, which is what I wanted to begin with. And I have to say, Sci-Fi is the place for ambiance. I loved the walls with the stars!

The movies were odd/funny too. After we had finished eating, the first movie clip we had seen was just starting again, I think if we had to watch them again or two more times they wouldn’t have been as good. Also, its very dark, so sorry for the bad food pictures!

I got the St. Louis style ribs with coleslaw and baked beans. The ribs were really good, not quite fall off the bone, but they definitely weren’t the worst ribs I’ve had. I didn’t really touch the baked beans, but the coleslaw was good too. Pretty standard.

Kenny got the Make Your Own burger. He liked it. I mean, it’s a burger, what’s not to like?

I also got the Long Island Lunar Ice Tea, after he looked at my ID for FOREVER. I purposely paid to get my ID to a horizontal layout without my “UNDER 21 UNTIL XX/XX/XXXX” because sometimes in Maryland they won’t even serve you if you have that on it. Later Kenny and I found out why everyone was taking so long with my ID and not his.

Once stuffing ourselves with our entrees, since we were on the DDP, It was dessert time! Kenny ordered the Sci-Fi candy bar, which was DELICIOUS. And I ordered the donut with ice cream. We ended up sharing both, but I preferred his to mine.

It was about 2:30pm when we finished, and we decided to not stick around for Character Palooza, and to just head back to AKL. Once back we stopped up at club level to grab some lemonade (by the time we got up there, the afternoon snacks were gone and it was the break between that and the appetizers), we took a nap, and then swam. I have to say I really did enjoy the pool at AKL, and I wish we had spent more time at it. After swimming, we just hung out in the room for about an hour or so and got ready for dinner at Boma (which will be in my next post). But, we did change our nightly plans. After Boma we were just going to hang out, but we decided to go back to DTD!



Thank you all for your resort advice! It was much appreciated.