Trip Report, better late than never.. 12/10-12/16

[beachta1]

I was so excited for our trip. I went with my boyfriend (DB) Jon on December 10^th-16^th. I had not been to Disney since I was in middle school and he had gone in high school so it had been a long time since we’d been to the happiest place on earth. For months I was reading Josh’s blog as well as allears.net to make plans. My DB thought I was a little insane for doing so much planning and organizing, but in the long run, we were better for it. I really enjoyed being able to sit and chat about what we wanted to ride, see, eat and drink. I wanted to make sure I had all of the information I needed before we left!

Saturday, December 10^th: We flew into MCO and landed at MCO at 12:35pm and waited at least 30 minutes for DME. Although we waited awhile, our line for the CBR was not as long as some of the value resorts. We got to the hotel around 2pm and thankfully our room in Aruba was ready. I was happy we were staying there ; it was a close enough walk to Old Port Royale if we needed, but not close enough where we’d hear people by the pool and food court. Our room was on the 1^st floor and we had a view of our little courtyard so it was very nice. We freshened up and made our way to the bus for Epcot! I knew we weren’t going to hit any of the major attractions but thankfully we were able to accomplish a lot at Epcot! As soon as we got there and got over the initial shock of OMG WE’RE HERE, we headed to Sunshine Seasons for lunch. I had the tofu noodle bowl and DB had the Mongolian beef. My meal was a little more like soup then I was hoping, but it was definitely delicious. From there we hoped on Living with the Land since it was right there and there was no wait. We didn’t even look at the return times for Soarin, I knew we would fit it in another day. From there we ventured to Innoventions and enjoyed the activities there. My favorite was definitely making ourselves video game characters. From there we went on Captain EO (which we both loved since we’re big Michael Jackson fans) followed by Journey Into Imagination and the Cool Club. We walked through Innoventions West where we fell upon SOAT and had our first of many rides there. After that we went on Spaceship Earth and sent the postcard of our future to our families. It was starting to get late and we had 850pm dinner reservations at Coral Reef so we wandered over to the Sea Pavilion. I loved Turtle Talk with Crush, wandering by the aquarium and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. We were done wandering the Sea Pavilion just in time for dinner. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and were seated right away. I was happy because we were seated at the table right next to the aquarium and we had a little privacy. I had the lobster ravioli and DB had the catch of the day. His meal was definitely better than mine. For dessert I had the chocolate wave, which was excellent, and the DB had the Baileys and Jack Daniels Mousse. I would honestly go back to Coral Reef just for the Mousse… it was delicious. After dinner we took the bus back to CBR and our luggage was in our room. We called to get our groceries delivered from the Garden Grocer and it took bell services a little longer then we had liked to get to our room. It took a long time for the hot water in our room to turn on (we had called the front desk and they told us to let it keep running, supposedly no one had stayed in our room in awhile). We showered and crashed, it was a long day of traveling for sure.

Sunday, December 11: DB and I woke up at 7am and were out the door around 730am to get to MK for 8am opening. We made it through the turnstiles a few minutes after 8am and walked right to Space Mountain. I had no interest in riding so I waited outside while DB rode. The line was so short he asked if he could ride again, and although my touring plan didn’t have it on the schedule, I thought, why not. While he was riding, I saw Chip and Dale come out and I took my photograph with them. From there we rode (in this order): Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan’s Flight, IASW, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain x2, Pirates, Swiss Family Treehouse (waste of time!) and Tiki Room. At that point, it was about noon so we went to Main Street to wander the shops and watch the Move It! Shake It! Parade. It was really great because one of the cast members in the parade was a friend from high school! After that we headed to our 12:40 ADR at Crystal Palace. As soon as we were seated, the characters were headed our way. We got photos with Pooh, Tiger, Eeorye and Piglet within the first 15 minutes of arriving. It was nice we did photographs early because from that point on, we could enjoy the meal. After lunch we wandered down Main Street and took the bus back to CBR. DB and I swam for a little while and then napped. We had a 7pm reservation at San Angel Inn but we left CBR a little early so we could ride SOAT before dinner. The wait was long so we ended up riding Mission: Space instead. DB really wanted to ride Orange, but I said I wanted to try Green first. He loved it, I was not really a fan. I was glad we only did green! After that we ran in the rain to dinner. The restaurant was crowded but the meal made up for it. After dinner we rode Three Caballeros x2 (there was no one else riding and we were trying to find hidden mickeys) and went outside to find a spot for Illuminations. We stood to the left of Mexico and I thought it was an OK spot. I really enjoyed Illuminations but standing for that long was exhausting. We were happy to stand right near MX because didn’t have a really long walk back to the bus. We only waited about 10 minutes for the bus, which was not too bad. I was sad to leave Epcot but I knew we were headed back tomorrow to Drink Around the World!

[Bunny]

Great report so far! I can't wait to hear about Drinking Around the World! DH and I may attempt that this year!

[Rogue 35]

That is amazing how much you got done in MK before Lunch. I'll be going around the same time (end of November) and hope I can get 1/2 that. :)

[beachta1]

Monday, December 12: DB and I were up early and made it to Epcot right after 9am opening. I was the FPV for Soarin while DB headed to ride MS orange. There was no line, so I let him ride again. From there, we road TT, which was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. I had no idea it went outside! After TT, we went back to Innoventions for another SOAT ride. After SOAT, it was Soarin time! It was a great ride, but I couldn’t believe all of the people standing in line waiting, why not just FP and move along?? We headed over to Ellen’s Energy Adventure, but neither of us knew it was such a long show. It was almost 11am, WS was opening, so it was time to drink around the world!
Mexico: We both had margaritas. We were hoping to go to La Cava inside Mexico but it was not open when we started drinking (11am). I really wanted to drink there but we ended up having them at La Cantina de San Angel. They were strong so I was a little nervous we weren't going to make it through the day. While in Mexico, we did a little shopping and rode three caballeros again.

Norway: I had Baileys and coffee, DB had Carlsberg beer. I'm a coffee drinker and hadn't any that day so I needed my fix. The only "truly" Norwegian drink they had to offer was the Carlsberg beer, at least according to the CM we asked! I really liked going through the church and of course taking our picture with the giant troll. We also rode mallaestrom while we were here.

China: DB and I shared a cantaloupe loopy from the Joy of Tea stand which was delicious!! We also bought a tsing tao beer. I loved walking through the stores here, and we were able to catch a performance by the Monkey King.

Germany: We of course had beers and pretzels while in Germany! We both had the Oktoberfest from Sommerfest. There was NO seating available so we sat almost in China to enjoy our pretzels. As far as theme, I enjoyed Germany the most. It seemed like there was more to look at and wander through then some of the other countries.

Italy: We both enjoyed some sparkling wine. We tried the "asti spumanti" and the "rosa regale.” It was great because La Bafana came out and told Italian Christmas stories so we had some entertainment while having our drink!

American Pavilion: We of course had Samuel Adams! Outside, we listened to a CM in costume tell the story of Kwanzaa which was pretty cool.

Japan: I had plum wine (which I did not like) and DB had Sake from the Kabuki Cafe. I don't like Sake either so I knew that I was not going to enjoy a drink here in Japan. I should have just had a beer! We caught a tail end of a performance by the drummers and spent some time walking through the museum and shops here.

Morocco: At the drink kiosk we tried the imported moroccan beer. They said it was the only thing "truly" Moroccan they served there. They had a lot of fruity drinks available but we wanted to try and stay true to the countries and what they had to offer. I loved walking through Morocco; it may have been my second favorite country.

France: We of course had the Gran Marnier Orange Slushes and they were aaamazing. I probably could have had five of them. I loved wandering through the shops in France, especially the bakery!!

UK: We were able to grab a drink inside the Rose & Crowne which was packed! The server was really nice and everyone in the bar seemed drunk and chatty. I had a whiskey ginger, DB had Guinness. While in the UK we chatted up a CM and played a game about translation of words from American English to British slang. We also looked up our last names and saw what our crest was. That was pretty cool.

Canada: We both had torontopolitans at a drink kiosk. We were certainly a little tipsy at this point and had great conversations with the CM working the stand. They weren't busy at all so they were probably entertained by our drinking. We wandered through the shops but honestly, the country is blurry in my memory!


After drinking in Canada, we headed back to the UK and enjoyed fish and chips from the Yourkshire. It was delicious!! From there we decided it was best to take our butts home. We bought mickey ears ice cream and rode Spaceship Earth again. I’m not sure what inspired us to take this drunk ride, but it was fun.
We started drinking 11am and ended around 7-7:30pm so we absolutely took our time drinking and wandering around the country. It was nice to be able to move through the shops with our drinks, I think it helped us not be so intoxicated by the end of the journey!

[beachta1]

Tuesday, December 13^th: I thought DB and I would be hungover/exhausted from drinking around the world the day before, but thankfully we felt just fine. I think taking our time drinking and wandering helped with that. We slept in till about 9am and had bagels and juice courtesy of garden grocer out by barefoot bay. After lounging for a little bit, we went running around the CBR grounds. It was a beautiful run; I enjoyed checking out the entire property. It felt good to sweat out a little of the booze. From there, we showered and made our way to Hollywood Studios. By the time we arrived, it was about 1pm. We grabbed FP for ToT and then split a turkey sandwich from starring rolls café. It was a good size sandwich, perfect for splitting. From there we rode ToT, FP RnR, saw Indiana Jones, Star Tours, rode RnR and then it was time for the Pixar Pals Parade. This may have been my favorite parade since the Pixar movies are some of my favorites. Before the parade started, I found a CM and asked her if there were any photo opportunities with any of the UP! characters at HS (I had read online they used to be out by the Art of Animation). She told me that I could probably find them at AK, and that during the parade if I blew kisses to Mr Hendrickson, that he would shake his head, point at his wedding ring as if to show me that he is taken. We grabbed a piece of curb across from American Idol and a few minutes later, the parade started. She was right about Mr Hendrickson, somehow under that costume and within all the crowds he saw me blowing kisses. It was pretty cool. From the parade, we went and watched Beauty and the Beast. I loved the show and the songs; I thought they did such an amazing job. After the show we wandered the shops, rode the Great Movie Ride and by then it was time for dinner at the Sci-Fi Café. I wanted to make reservations elsewhere, but I thought the theme of the restaurant would be something different than a typical TS dinner. It took about 15 minutes to be seated, which seemed like forever. The service was slow, it took awhile for us to see a waiter once we had been seated. I had the Angus Chuck Burger; DB had the All American Picnic Burger. They were both very filling. The service was so slow that the same movie clips we saw when we were first seated were playing when we were waiting to get our card back. Overall, I wish we had chosen somewhere else to eat. Either way, I learned my lesson! It was dark enough out after dinner to wander through the Osbourne lights. How amazing is that?! I probably took 1000 pictures of all of the lights and we found most of the hidden mickeys within the light displays. All of the holiday decorations and trees at the parks were amazing, but this really put me in the holiday spirit. After wandering through the lights, we headed home.

[beachta1]

Wednesday, December 14^th: Another MK day! We were at the park right at the 9am opening. The lines for security seemed to take extra long today for no reason. Once we got inside, we headed right to SM again. There was no line; so again, my boyfriend rode twice in a row. From there we hopped onto the speedway, which was a total mistake. The line took FOREVER and the ride was not that exciting for two adults. We figured we would do it since we were there, but I wouldn’t do it again. From there we hopped right on the tea cups. I wasn’t keen on going on the ride so early in the morning, but I found if I just kept staring at my boyfriend, I could ignore the fact we were spinning. After the tea cups we were headed to fantasyland. There was a short line for Dumbo and although my boyfriend didn’t really want to go on, I eventually convinced him. We waited probably 10-15 minutes. I loved being able to see the tops of the other rides and get a better view of the fantasy land construction. After Dumbo we went onto Pooh, Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, BTMR, Splash and Pirates in that order. The lines were fairly short for each of these rides which was perfect. The rest of our afternoon was devoted to rides that were “secondary” to us. Before we went on any more rides though, it was time for lunch! We headed back in the other direction and ate at Cosmic Rays. My boyfriend had a burger and I had a chicken sandwich. We decided to lunch there because wanted to hit the other rides in tomorrowland. The food was pretty good and it was nice that there was a ton of seating options. From there we did buzz lightyear (I lost again) and onto Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor. We LOVED this show. We ended up on the screen a few times. They put us up on the screen once with an arrow pointing to me saying that I liked to kiss monsters (obviously my boyfriend being the monster!). My boyfriend also ended up on the screen a few times as part of the random dance party. They couldn’t have picked a better person to put on the screen for this- he really loves to dance. From here, we went onto Stitch which I hated. I was FREEZING on the ride and thought it was a waste of time. We walked back to the other side of the park to go to tiki tiki tiki tiki room and Hall of Presidents. The tiki room song was stuck in our head for the rest of the day!! Before heading out of the park, we had to stop and try one of the famous Dole Whips. We spilt the dessert and I must say it lived up to the hype. Enjoying a cold treat on a warm afternoon from a bench at WDW- it doesn’t get much better. We left the park after that and headed back to the resort for a few hours. My boyfriend napped while I enjoyed the pool all to myself J We showered and go back on the bus to head to Epcot. We had a 720 ADR at Chefs de France but got to the park plenty early to do SOAT again. Dinner in France was incredible; it was our “date” in France. We split a bottle of wine and both had the three course meal. The lobster bisque was amazing and so were the beef short ribs! This was by far my boyfriend’s favorite meal of the trip. For dessert I had Profiteroles au chocolat and my boyfriend had the crème brulee. We were stuffed. After dinner we walked around the world showcase, mainly to walk off dinner and walk through the UK and Canada since we were a little drunk the last time we had visited those countries. On our way out of the park, the line was very short at the character spot so we got our pictures taken there. I would highly recommend waiting until the end of the night to visit the character spot! We took the bus back to the CBR and crashed. Tomorrow… back to HS!