Meet me at the Snuggly Duckling! A June 2018 TR. UPDATED 3/8

[emmaca]

Did you happen to notice if you can purchase the solar gel at the gift shop? I am already a huge fan of the h2o sea salt moisturizer, but it is hard to find sometimes, so I'm hoping to find that and maybe the solar gel at the gift shop.

Yes the gift shop at AKL sells the H2O solar gel, it can be found on a section of shelves close to the cash register, also you can buy cooling towels there as well for $15.00. I have been told that you can buy them cheaper from Amazon, Target or Walmart. They really do help keep you cool.

 

[Steppesister]

It's unbelievable how rude some people can be. I just don't get it. Sigh....

I'd not noticed those either! And they are quite lovely! I'll make sure to find them next time!

I really love this photo! So pretty and peaceful!

 

[OhMari]

I did not know there was a playground at the Animal Kingdom. We are trying to decide which resort to stay at. We will only being doing the Magic Kingdom and more time at the resort swimming.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'd not noticed those either! And they are quite lovely! I'll make sure to find them next time!

They run through the middle of the lobby. Looking at my photos there were fourof them.

I did not know there was a playground at the Animal Kingdom. We are trying to decide which resort to stay at. We will only being doing the Magic Kingdom and more time at the resort swimming.

If I were just doing MK with lots of resort time I would probably pick Wilderness Lodge or one of the monorails if your budget allows. I love WL as much as AKL though so that would probably be my pick of the Magic Kingdom area resorts.

 

[fallonkendra]

Just booked our accommodations for our September trip to the West Coast! We will be spending 6 days in the Rockies. We are doing things a bit differently this year and not staying in Banff itself but in Kananaskis Country which is just outside of Banff. Alek (my brother) wanted to spend all 5 nights in a tent as it is cheapest but my Dad suggested a compromise of three nights in a tent close to some of the hiking trails we want to explore and two nights in a hotel room at the end of the trip so that is what we did! We love going to the Rockies and try and go every year while visiting our Dad. It will be exciting to see a different part of the mountains as in the past we have always stayed mainly in the Lake Louise and Banff area.

Photos from google search and not my own. They are from two of the hikes we plan on completing.

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I’m following along, and will go back to quote other things but I had to jump in to say I LOVE Kananaskis! My best friend was married there, it’s absolutely beautiful!

Also, hi! Fellow Canadian here!

 

[paradesintherain]

It amazes me what a transformation Downtown Disney/Disney Springs has undergone. It was unrecognizable until we got into the old Marketplace section.

It's so crazy different and I get so turned around and lost there

This is adorable! I didn't see that when I was there!

They're so cute!!

But then, the most infuriating part, they threw their cigarette butt onto the savanna!!!!!!

OH wow that makes me so mad. Why would they think that's ok?!

Makes my heart hurt, I miss it!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 12 - Breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno

Leading up to the trip I thought over how to get to our breakfast at the Boardwalk a lot! Originally I had this meal booked for our departure morning but that is when I thought we would have a rental car. Then after I relized the rental car was going to be ridiculously expensive this trip I moved the reservation to our "day off" thinking that we would bus to Epcot, fastpass Soarin and then walk back to the Boardwalk through the International Gateway. Then I realized doing all that would make it a not so relaxing day off so I moved the meal to our Hollywood Studios day once I realized that it was going to be a half day at the park. I figured we would take the bus to Hollywood Studios and then the friendship boat to The Boardwalk. Well, Disney was doing bridgework by the Swan and Dolphin and Boardwalk and so the friendship boats between the Epcot resorts and Hollywood Studios weren't running. I briefly contemplated a Minnie Van or Uber but we had lots of time on our hands that morning so we decided to just stick with the bus/walking.

We grabbed a bus from AKL around 8:30. There was only one other family on the bus with us that morning. As the bus was driving towards Hollywood Studios music from the Harry Potter music started playing. I was baffled as to why Harry Potter music would be played on a Disney bus. I asked Mom if Disney was trying to drive people to Universal by reminding them of Harry Potter. At that point the mom from the family sitting across from us stated that she thought Harry Potter was at Hollywood Studios and that is why she was so pumped for the park. I was sorry to break it to her that she would have to travel about 30 minutes up the I-4 to Universal Studios if she wanted to see Harry Potter attractions. So any ideas why Harry Potter music was being played on a Disney bus?

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios we had no intention of going into the park yet but we did see a photopass photographer out front so we got in line for our first photopass of the trip. While in line we talked to a family that was visiting from LA and compared the two parks. I stated that I didn't like it when they duplicated rides/lands at the different parks because it makes the parks less unique and reduces the allure of travelling to each one. I get that some of the classic rides will be the same or similar but I don't like it when they put the same new attractions at multiple parks. At least as of now there is enough unique stuff still at all the parks that I still want to visit them all but I hope that as years go on that they don't all become cookie cutter with the same attractions. The LA family said even if there are the same attractions they will still visit WDW as it is bigger and a resort vacation vs Disneyland which is a one day visit for them. What do you think? Is it okay for Disney to put the same attratcions at all the parks or do you want things to remain unique?

Here is our photopass photo that we got after our interesting conversation.





After the photo I wandered towards the boat dock as I thought there was a walking path that started there that went to the Boardwalk but the path wasn't there. I pulled up the map on MDE and saw that the path was furthur back in the parkig lot. I looked in that direction and all I could see was a huge construction area for the Skyliner so I wasn't willing to walk all the way back there just to find out the path was also closed. That meant finding the bus stop for the Epcot Resorts. We figured we would get on the first bus that came along as we still had lots of time before our ADR so it didn't matter if we had to walk over from Yacht/Beach Club.

The first bus to show up was for the Swan/Dolphin so that is the bus we hopped on.

A few minutes later and we were getting off at the Swan. We have never been to these hotels before so it was interesting to compare them to the official Disney hotels. When we walked into the lobby of the Swan I was underwhelmed. It seemed so small and did not have the theming/magic of the Disney resorts. I have seen pictures of the rooms and they look nice but I didn't think much of the public areas.

We found our way to the back of the resort and started our short stroll over to the Boardwalk.

Looking towards the Dolphin





Can I just say how hot it was this morning? Oh my gosh.

My brother Alek wants to go to Jellyrolls/Dueiing Pianos on our next trip.











It was so hot so I sought the relief of the air conditioning in the gift shop.

There was this really cute Minnie Mouse swim dress and it was a decent price but I already had three swim suits with me on this trip so didn't need another.



While in the gift shop I managed to modify our breakfast reservation for 1015 from 1045. I was happy with that as we would only have to kill 30 minutes waiting to check-in.

Mom wanted to wait on a bench in the shade so that she could enjoy the view. I was taking selfies and a nice stranger stopped and asked if we would like a photo together.





At 1000 we went over to Trattoria Al Forno to see if they would let us check-in as they usually let you check-in within 15 minutes of your reservation. Sure enonugh they let us even though we were early. I went to look at the merchandise they were selling in the lobby and the cast member put this Pascal on my shoulder. It's legs wrap around the strap of your bag.



It was expensive so I did not buy it although I am sure it would have been a cute prop to bring into the meal.

For those of you that don't know Trattoria Al Forno has a character breakfast "Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast". The chacracters at this breakfast are Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Ariel and Prince Eric!!! What a great group of characters. I have to say that I was most excited for this meal out of all our reservations for the trip.

We waited about ten minutes to be seated which wasn't bad especially as we had checked in early.

To start off the meal we were brought a selection of pastries in a frying pan.



The sun pastry was so pretty! They were all delicious but I espeically liked the sun pastry and the chocolate twist.

As we were eating our pastries music started to play and Rapunzel was announced.



She started visiting on the opposite side of the restaurant so we had plenty of time before she would make it to our table.

Next up we were offered a bowl of fruit.



It was all so fresh and delicious! Our server said the fruit came from The Land pavilion in Epcot.

Slowly all the other characters were announced. Each of the "couples" would meet each other and have a little interaction in the middle of the restaurant before continuing on with visiting the tables.

There was also a little parade at one point.

I just love Rapunzel's hair. Well really, her whole outfit. She is one of my favourite princesses.



Flynn was hilarious and dropped out of the parade and came and leaned against the wall by our table talking about how he needed a break and these royal duties were too much work.

Our entrees came and boy did mine look good! I had been struggling between the calzone or the pancakes but the server advised me that I could get pancakes anywhere but that the calzone was a unique item for that restaurant. I took her advise and ordered the calzone and I was sure happy that I did!

King Triton's Shipwreck al Forno - Calzone with Scrambled Eggs, Bell Peppers, Soppressata, Bacon, Sausage, Blend of Cheeses, and Sunday Gravy





This was sooo good! I highly recommend ordering this if you get to have breakfast here. One of the best meals of the trip.

Sadly they take away the trident that spears your calzone but they let you get a picture first.

Mom had the Royale Breakfast - Oak-Grilled Steak, Cheesy-Egg Torte and fonduta, Crispy Onions and Roasted Potatoes



Mom said her breakfast was also really good.

The food here is delicious and I would recommend this restaurant even if there weren't some pretty cool characters there.

The charcter interactions were good here too. I was unhappy with all my photos though. Mom and I actually got in an argument about them after I reviewed them all. I was standing for the photos but mom took them sitting down so they were taken from an unflattering angle to begin with (everybody knows for the most flattering photos you don't shoot from down below but straight across or from slightly higher ), she also just quickly took one photo without checking to see if it was okay or waiting for me to look normal. So I look dazed or drunk in half the photos and my bra strap is showing and the double chin is amplified. Sigh. I don't want you to think I place all the blame on Mom's photo taking skills. I am also just awkward in photos and there is nothing that she can do about that or my general appearance.







When Flynn made his way to our table he sat right down and said "he had been meaning to come visit us for awhile".

I knew Mom was most looking forward to seeing Flynn as before the characters even started visiting she asked me what she could say to him. I told her to ask him if he had been to the Snuggly Duckling lately and reminded her that it was the bar where all the thugs hung out in Tangled. Well, that is just what she did and they had a conversation about how Rapunzel keeps him so busy with all his "Royal Duties" that he never had time anymore to visit the Snuggly Duckling. He said that when he did try and sneak out Maximus was always watching and would stop him. We then talked about how Maximus needed to find himself a girlfriend so he would be distracted/cut Flynn a break and Flynn could sneak out. We decided that Pascal might know a good girl for Maximus as he is always flitting about all over the place.

Before parting with Flynn Mom said that she hoped he would be able to sneak out and meet her at the Snuggly Duckling for a drink.

I teased her that she was a homewrecker trying to steal Flynn away from Rapunzel.







We had finished our meal and settled the bill while waiting for Ariel to make it to our table.



I seriuosly debated not sharing the photos of me from this breakfast as I look terrible in all of them but I decided to suck it up.

We loved this breakfast! The food was delicious and the characters were great. I enjoyed that it was not a buffet like most character meals. I highly recommend this meal.

Coming Up: Hollywood Studios

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I’m following along, and will go back to quote other things but I had to jump in to say I LOVE Kananaskis! My best friend was married there, it’s absolutely beautiful!

Also, hi! Fellow Canadian here!

I'm really looking forward to seeing a new area of the mountains. Maybe it will steal my heart away from Banff.

It's so crazy different and I get so turned around and lost there

I agree! I had to reference the map in MDE several times.

 

[cajunfan]

I keep seeing how wonderfull this breakfast is! It will have to be on my list for my next trip! And your photos are fine! You look so HAPPY in them!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I keep seeing how wonderfull this breakfast is! It will have to be on my list for my next trip! And your photos are fine! You look so HAPPY in them!

You definitely need to go! Great food and great characters! I will be back for sure.

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow, that family was definitely in for disappointment when arriving at Hollywood Studios! I know they both have Studios in their name but it baffles me that people can make that mistake.

Cute PP pics in front of DHS!

This breakfast always sounds so good! The interaction between Flynn & your mom sounded fun! I'm sorry you were disappointed in your photos. I still think they are nice

 

[jcc0621]

Hi Janet! Nice to see you on the boards! I thought all the Fockers had ditched the boards long ago.

I think they all have. I ventured over since we are heading down for the first time since '09. Seeing what is new, etc.

June 12 - Breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno

The food looks fabulous and the character interaction looks like a lot of fun too. Unfortunately Jimmy is now a teenager and I have been told in no uncertain terms that no way, no how would character meals be acceptable.

 

[petals]

The LA family said even if there are the same attractions they will still visit WDW as it is bigger and a resort vacation vs Disneyland which is a one day visit for them. What do you think? Is it okay for Disney to put the same attratcions at all the parks or do you want things to remain unique?

I've been to Paris (my latest trip report is linked in my sig from Paris), WDW and Disneyland California. I think it's nice that there are similar attractions in each of them because it makes you feel no matter which one you are in it's somewhat familiar and as Disney should be but I also like that each of them have something that the others don't like the different castles, California has Carsland which is amazingly themed if you haven't been there. Paris has the storybook boats, Ratatouille area and a few other bits the other parks though, although California does have the Storybook boats they're different from the Paris version. I don't see how California would be a one day park unless you were able to visit it alot. hen we went it took us three days to see everything in the main Disneyland Park because it's so spread out. Then WDW is just HUGE and has the 4 main parks and WDW is definitely my favourite of the three though.



Thanks for posting the Trattoria Al Forno breakfast pics. This is a new character meal I think since we were there and I'd seen the name but hadn't seen much about it. The Calzone looks yummy so it may be some place we need to consider for breakfast now

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow, that family was definitely in for disappointment when arriving at Hollywood Studios! I know they both have Studios in their name but it baffles me that people can make that mistake.

I know, kinda crazy but at least I burst her bubble before she got to the park.

This breakfast always sounds so good! The interaction between Flynn & your mom sounded fun! I'm sorry you were disappointed in your photos. I still think they are nice

Thanks, I am my own worst critic and I hate 90% of photos that are taken of me.

I think they all have. I ventured over since we are heading down for the first time since '09. Seeing what is new, etc.

Wow! Such a long time. I hope you guys have a blast, lots of fun new stuff to see! I hope that this vaca goes smoothly for you.

The food looks fabulous and the character interaction looks like a lot of fun too. Unfortunately Jimmy is now a teenager and I have been told in no uncertain terms that no way, no how would character meals be acceptable.

Jimmy! Tell him he needs to cut his mom a break.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I've been to Paris (my latest trip report is linked in my sig from Paris)

I will have to check it out! I would love to visit all the parks someday. I can see your point about the comfort of familiarity with the excitement of unique attractions.

Thanks for posting the Trattoria Al Forno breakfast pics. This is a new character meal I think since we were there and I'd seen the name but hadn't seen much about it. The Calzone looks yummy so it may be some place we need to consider for breakfast now

I highly recommend it!

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip!
My family just got back from a Canadian Rockies trip. We actually stayed in Canmore this time instead of Banff as there is a resort there that we could use our DVC points for. It was great, we love it there. Almost as much as Disney. We did some great hikes and saw some beautiful lakes. My DS14 couldn’t believe it when we were in a snowstorm in June! And we had a great encounter with a brown bear.
We still have not managed to use our DVC at AKL. Will definitely need to check that out.
Can’t wait to read more

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in! Sounds like a great trip!
My family just got back from a Canadian Rockies trip. We actually stayed in Canmore this time instead of Banff as there is a resort there that we could use our DVC points for. It was great, we love it there. Almost as much as Disney. We did some great hikes and saw some beautiful lakes. My DS14 couldn’t believe it when we were in a snowstorm in June! And we had a great encounter with a brown bear.
We still have not managed to use our DVC at AKL. Will definitely need to check that out.
Can’t wait to read more

What hotel did you stay in in Canmore? I'm glad you enjoyed your time in the Rockies, it is one of my favourite places and I am very lucky to go there almost every year.

I always hope to see bears when I am in the mountains but I am also afraid to see bears when in the mountains. I have this fear that one day on a hike we will encounter one. Even thoug we carry bear spray and I have read all aboout what to do in a close encounter I fear that would all go out the window if actually in the situation. I have pretty good bear luck though, one trip I saw nine bears! Last year we saw a Grizzly in Revelstoke right as we ended our hike. If we had been a few minutes slower we would have been cut off from the trailhead by the bear. The bears have always been far enoough away to not be a threat or seen from teh safety of the car.

 

[disneyAndi14]

The music on the HS bus which sounds a lot like Harry Potter is actually from Fantasia. My dd researched it! We were at MK one day and a family was literally yelling at a CM because HP World was not in the MK!

We also loved the Bon Voyage breakfast. I had the calzone and really loved it.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

We stayed at Falcon Crest Lodge. Would highly recommend it. It was in an easy location off the highway, had underground parking and the room had a nice little kitchen and fireplace. We were very close to the bear but we were also in the safety of our car! My husband was definitely concerned we’d run into one while hiking. We really love visiting Canada. Planning a Nova Scotia Cruise next summer and have Quebec City at the top of our list for the next city to visit

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The music on the HS bus which sounds a lot like Harry Potter is actually from Fantasia.

Really? Are you sure, I was 100% positive it was Harry Potter, it sounded just like it! I had some other weird music moments while at Disney. I heard music from An American Tale in the Soarin queue and the soundtrack to Emma (Gwenyth Paltrow version) in The Land; both non-Disney films. ????

We were at MK one day and a family was literally yelling at a CM because HP World was not in the MK!

That is wild. Way to blame somebody else for your ignorance/lack of research and planning.

We stayed at Falcon Crest Lodge.

Good to hear! That is where we booked for our two nights following our three nights of tent camping.

Quebec City at the top of our list for the next city to visit

Yay! I am so glad you are planning on a visit here. Quebec City is wonderful!!! Make sure to stay in Old Quebec City or very close to it. It is so charming and very walkable. You will love it.