The Disaversary day by day

pjweaver

just happy to be here
Joined
Oct 23, 2015
7/19 landed in MCO at 7:30 and made it to the Boardwalk. We can't check in until 4:00 so we grabbed some sweets at the bakery and sat on the lake front. Quiet with a nice cool breeze. After waking up at 2:00 in the morning to get to the airport, this lobby is perfect for a nap. Sitting in the lobby we got an education. New CMs were having their orientation tour.

We walked right into the big river brewery for lunch with no wait. In fact only one other table was occupied. Good food, but over priced. $28 for a 12 oz ribeye should have danced on my tongue, but by no way bad food.


As soon as lunch was over we got the text that our room was ready and settled in. Our room is the furthest you can get from the elevator or lobby, in fact we can see the Tower of Terror and I am listening to Fantasmic as I type.

An afternoon thunderstorm forced us to rest in our room, but by 3:00 we were in Epcot with 80 degrees and low humidity. Everyone else was there too, so wait times were long for every ride. Determined to ride something, we picked Figment because of the 5 minute standby line. We actually waited 40 minutes and had the ride break down just as we loaded the car. Two supervisors came and tried but couldn't fix it. Then two maintenance guys came and had to walk the track. We were all asked to exit the cars after my wife suggested (loudly) to 'hit control alt delete'. 20 more minutes and they had us back loaded for six minutes of torture. Remember, Pete knows best. Sorry @safetymom

We closed the day with a great pizza at Via Nappoli and creme brulé and a Napoleon in France. Now to shower and get ready for another early day. Breakfast at Garden Grill, more Epcot, and HS.
 
7/19 landed in MCO at 7:30 and made it to the Boardwalk. We can't check in until 4:00 so we grabbed some sweets at the bakery and sat on the lake front. Quiet with a nice cool breeze. After waking up at 2:00 in the morning to get to the airport, this lobby is perfect for a nap. Sitting in the lobby we got an education. New CMs were having their orientation tour.

We walked right into the big river brewery for lunch with no wait. In fact only one other table was occupied. Good food, but over priced. $28 for a 12 oz ribeye should have danced on my tongue, but by no way bad food.


As soon as lunch was over we got the text that our room was ready and settled in. Our room is the furthest you can get from the elevator or lobby, in fact we can see the Tower of Terror and I am listening to Fantasmic as I type.

An afternoon thunderstorm forced us to rest in our room, but by 3:00 we were in Epcot with 80 degrees and low humidity. Everyone else was there too, so wait times were long for every ride. Determined to ride something, we picked Figment because of the 5 minute standby line. We actually waited 40 minutes and had the ride break down just as we loaded the car. Two supervisors came and tried but couldn't fix it. Then two maintenance guys came and had to walk the track. We were all asked to exit the cars after my wife suggested (loudly) to 'hit control alt delete'. 20 more minutes and they had us back loaded for six minutes of torture. Remember, Pete knows best. Sorry @safetymom

We closed the day with a great pizza at Via Nappoli and creme brulé and a Napoleon in France. Now to shower and get ready for another early day. Breakfast at Garden Grill, more Epcot, and HS.
Awesome - thanx for sharing, Pete! Glad the humidity went down with the rain too. And hope you thought of (or will think of) Sorcerer Heidi when you heard/hear Fantasmic! :)
 
Pete, this was today, Tuesday? It sounds like the weather in Epcot was a lot different than in AK or Disney Springs. The humidity was ungodly. We actually bailed from AK about 3:30 because of it. We briefly went to DS but then the sun came out and it got even worse. My daughter was about ready to pass out so we just came back to the house. I'm hoping it breaks at least a little or else we're not going to get a whole lot done this week.
 


Yup that was Tuesday. The storms rolled in around 1:00. It actually felt better than Philly and about the same as Wildwood last week. I think the breeze off the lake helped some too.
 
Yup that was Tuesday. The storms rolled in around 1:00. It actually felt better than Philly and about the same as Wildwood last week. I think the breeze off the lake helped some too.
Maybe we should have headed there instead. The micro climates at Disney are something most people don't understand. The weather in one park can be significantly different than in another.

We're off to volunteer at Give Kids the World Village today. Have fun!
 


Day 2 pt 1
We had breakfast at The Garden Grill 30 minutes before Epcot opened. It was less than half full so Chip & Dale, Pluto and Mickey were by often but never made me stop eating (only two adults). I shouldn't say this, but for $30 it is the best all you care to enjoy breakfast I have had in WDW. We watched the 9:00 parade of rope drop rush to Soarin but ate for a good 90 minutes.

Living with the wasted enough time for our fpp to Soarin, but I was disappointed with the new version. It didn't help that we were on anend and everything was bowed. It doesn't help when people above you shake their feet, or the hairy guy in a tank top keeps rubbing against me.

We then did Nemo, more for AC than the ride, as it was nearly 90 and humid. We headed to the ball but was a wait time of 45 minutes so waited 30 for our fpp at Mission Space. I love the ride but it is getting old and worn.

We had a run through the countries, my wife had her margarita and I had a frozen mango tea in China. By then it was too hot to keep going so back to the Boardwalk. I took a sailors shower in the quiet pool, now resting for extra magic hours at MK.
 
Day 2 pt 2
Sorry for the delay, we didn't get back until 2:00.
After the afternoon storm we headed to MK. We did all the major rides thanks to extra FPP and EMH. Space, Dumbo, BTM, Splash, and even had time to grab a bite to eat.

We picked Pinocchio village house. The chicken parmesan was about on par with that at Pops food court but with the acrid sauce from Tony's, and for $12 not very filling. My wife had chicken in a white sauce and cared even less for hers. This is now on our pass list as our meals, which came with a so so Caesar salad plus drinks came close to $40.

As the park began to close we tried the jungle cruise, which I love at night, but it closed an hour before park closing. We tried for an Orange bird swirl, but they were closed. Now nearly 1:00 we decided to head home but stopped at the exit for two Mickey premium bars. As soon as we found a bench we sat to eat them and mine fell off the stick. My wife said I had this look on my face like a sad puppy who was just kicked, but she took it back to the stand and they replaced it for free.

By the time we got home and showered it was 2:30 in the morning. We canceled breakfast at kona earlier and decided not to set an alarm.
 
Day 3 Thursday 7/21
After EMH at MK last night we slept in. I woke up and had no idea where I was or what time it was. It took a few minutes to remember I was in Disney, and it was 10:30. We moved slowly but headed to Epcot for some food. By noon we were in France with some ham and cheese cuisaints and a coffee mousse.

We made our way to Canada, where we had not seen the circle vision in years. It seems Disney has really added a new land to WS between UK and Canada, they put in Venus with an average temperature of 650 celsius. The best part of circle vision is the waiting area which is kept cold and has benches. I could have spent an hour there.

We had BOG and fpp for MK, so hit the monorail. This is when I caved in. We had rented a wheel chair that I had been pushing, and my palms were now sore and red. My wife had offered to get me gloves before we came down, but I figured I'm a tough guy. Wrong. She order me some from Amazon that should be here Friday night while on the monorail.

Upon getting to the TTC we were directed to the boat because the monorail was down. I don't like crowds, I don't like heat, I don't like strangers sweating on or near me, but I knew the resort monorail was running and it was still faster and much cooler than the boat.

We made it past the crankiest security guard atbagcheck I ever encountered. This was made better by the family in front of us who spoke little English, had selfish sticks, and four backpacks filled with containers of food and beverages, several of which the guard made them dump out. After 15 minutes in the heat and sun she checked my wife's wallet sized bag and waved us through without a word.

We started down main Street just in time to realize a parade was coming and we were directed onto the sidewalk. Unfortunately the sidewalk wasn't moving much so I was running over some toes. I should mention that thanks to people trying to slip in front of us I am up to three ankles, four toes, and one broken flip flop. Note to all park goers, wheelchairs do not stop ona dime.

Since I was forced onto the right sidewalk our only choice was to head toward space mountain, which we had a fpp for 2 hours later, so we went the long way around. As we started up the big hill the rain started. It kept getting harder and every dry space in fantasy land was taken so we hit HM. It was a great way to stay dry, but we were already soaked from the rain and sweat. After the stretching room we were directed to the exit to drop off the wheelchair and board where everyone gets off. All was fine until we left and found the wheelchair sitting outside the exit getting soaked by a harder rain.

By now thunder was constant, which meant most rides were closed and the park looks like a refugee camp with everyone huddled under anything like the rain would make them melt. We were soaked so trodded through to space mountain. Our fpp was almost ready so we hopped in the line, that took up ten minutes and we got in. Best part was we got front row (I was front yesterday so my wife got it today) and that dried us off fairly well.

We wasted time in the smoking area so I could hurt myself some more, then BOG.

BOG has been a favorite since it opened, especially dinner. The French onion soup is some of the best I've ever had. We both got the NY strip steak that the waitress called the best on property (I liked it last time, but it's not yachtsman). Here it got weird; our steak came out within 10 minutes of ordering and five minutes after the soup came. It was cooked correctly, but not terribly hot, nor seasoned the way I remember it. It was also fatty by strip steak standards. Even with great service and excellent decor I'd only give this a 7 at $110 for one soup, two steaks, and two desserts. It just wasn't what it was, or we had an off night (they were about 15 minutes behind).

I should add that we left full, and somehow spent an hour and a half there without realizing it.

Our fpp for jungle cruise was starting as we left so we had plenty of time to stroll over. I love this ride, especially after the sun sets. We had a good Skipper, but he had to stop several time for the 'princess' that kept standing up and the grandmother who kept moving closer to the front until the Skipper had to ask her to move out of his 'fall zone'. Park goers, please don't ruin others rides by letting your special little snowflakes do anything they want. The safety rules are there for a reason.

Looking over this days post, it seems like I'm complaining a lot. The fact is we had a great day. I just have more time today to type out everything. We are following the "pack your patience" and are smiling more at the little things while taking it a little slower this trip.
 
Day 4 Friday
We had 8:30 ADR for Tusker House breakfast. Since it was 30 before park opening we took a cab to get there plenty early. I tried nearly everything on the buffet and everything was good. We got pictures with all the characters too, but for the same price I prefer the Garden Grill.

We hit our FPP at the safari then walked the gorilla trail. I really want to do these at night when the animals are more active. Next FPP was for Everest, and we got the back row. I really think it's the best place to sit.

By this time the soles of my shoes were melting to the concrete. We made one last stop to see Flights of Wonder, which is a cool bird show if you've never done it, then headed home.

After a shower and nap we went down stairs to get our credentials for the meet and walked the auction items. We talked to John and Kevin for a bit, but it was very busy in there. The is a framed painting Pete donated of sorcerer Mickey and the villains from Fantasmic that looks much better in person than on the app, I'm hoping I win it but probably won't.

We started for DHS but as soon as we started walking it poured. An hour later it finally ended and we headed for pizza and ice cream on the Boardwalk, equipt with dry socks and shoes. We did make EMH at DHS for ToT and toy story, but had avoid the Star Wars fireworks as much as possible since we are doing the dessert part tomorrow. I will try to have my wife post some pics from her phone here later.
 
Day 5 Saturday July 23

We had our HS day today, starting early. We walked from the Boardwalk and arrived right after rope drop with ourfastpasses ready. Before those though we went and met Kylo and Chewbacca. It was hard to interact with Kylo and his preset responses, but Chewie was fun and loved our shirts.

TSMWM was a short 20 minutes wait and we got the new track, which is no different except for the exit. RnRwent fine, but ToT was down to one elevator so the wait from the library to the ride was about 45 minutes. By the time we got off the stand by line was closed.

One of my highlight s of the day was 50's Prime Time. Fried chicken for me and stuffed pork chop for my wife (our cousin Amy even gave us Mom's recipe for the pork chop). Dessert was two peanut butter and jelly milkshakes to go. They are so thick you need to eat them with a spoon if you sit inside, but outside in the heat it only took a few minutes for them to be straw ready.

After some rest to we returned for Star Wars time. First we hit Star Tours, then popped in for pics with Olaf, finally the launch bay. We traded with the Jawwa's and got a slinky. The dessert party opened a little early and we got in right about 8:00. I tried to eat $65 worth of bread pudding and cupcakes, but my favorite was the nutella frozen in liquid nitrogen. I was looking for @maxrebo but the party was too packed. I did confuse several families by asking them if they were with the Dis podcast. We finally spotted him at the fireworks viewing area and got to say hi after the show. The show itself was awesome even though the VIP viewing area has some projections blocked with trees. As a warning if you don't do the party, people were staking out their spots two hours before the show.

Back to Epcot now...
 
As a warning if you don't do the party, people were staking out their spots two hours before the show.
I suspect this may be because it was Saturday night. We were there during the week, got there 30 minutes before showtime, and had no trouble getting a great spot right in the center.
 
Thanx for continuing to do a report, PJ, I'm enjoying it (and seeing your pics!) :)
 
Sunday day 6
Epcot day again with breakfast at the bakery in France then Soarin ( we got front row near the center this time but still had issues with buildings being warped) Spaceship Earth, and Mission Space. Extra FPP also got us test track, then frozen as the dauy went on.

Lunch was pizza at Via Nappoli, yes I love their pizza that much. This time half plain and half four cheese white.. Then we simply walked the countries. This was the third time we tried to get a stamped penny from each of the 11 countries. Once we couldn't find China, later to fine out it wasn't there but at the international gate way, and once the one in Italy was broke. This time Morocco was broken.

We picked up a late dinner and are in the room. Dinner consisted of a bag of Carmel corn, a chocolate Carmel cookie, and apecan caramel barfrom Germany. I had some weird dreams that night..


Monady day 7
The big podcast day arrived and we were off to Disney Springs, took the first bus and grabbed breakfast sandwiches at Earl of sandwich. Explore a bit and shopped but that really isn't my thing by 12:30. We chatted again with Carol, who we met at the icecream social, and after a while all the pieces came together that she is Michael Bowlings wife. Buy now you've seen the pod castso I won't beat on that.

After the show we met up with Mike and Steve from the boards, then headed to lunch at Art Smith's Homecoming at DS. They have real sweat tea and my wife tried a watermelon moonshine shereally liked. Thet weren't taking reservations yet and at 2:00 we were abbl to walk right in. We ran into Carol again, this time with Michael and Kathy.

We shared an app combo that had shaved ham, sausage, candied pecans, pickle slices, and pamento cheese with homemade crackers. My wife had pulled pork barbecue and I had the fried chicken dinner. We finished by sharing a huge slice of banana pineapple cake. At under $100 for that we agreed the we were stuffed and it was the best meal we had.

We bus hopped to get to AK next with our FPP. We walked ontoTough to be a Bug and Everest at sunset was cool, but doing the safari just after sunset was awesome and the whole park seemed to cool down just in time. There was even a thunderstorm on the horizon. The perfect end to a perfect day
 
Tuesday day 8
This was the day that broke me. For a week I packed my patience, smiled as kids cut me off yell "mi mama MAMA" and even tried not to hit people who cut us off or just suddenly stopped walking in front of me as I pushed a wheel chair. I was tired of lines blocked at every fast pass entrance by a family who couldn't read a clock or didn't know what a fast pass was. More importantly, I was fed up with eating at every quick service standing up because little Billy sunshine was holding a table for six playing Pokemon waiting for his parents to arrive with a tray of cups of free water.

The group of 11 kids wearing matching tour shirts sitting in Main Street clapping and cheering were fine for the first 10 minutes, so I put on my sunglasses and pretended to be blind as my wife yelled out instructions to me as loud as she could and guess what? People moved out of our way. Unfortunately it didn't work for the family in front of us on the exit of space mountain. The conveyor belt ends abruptly, so not the best place to all stop and look at a map. They got 3 warningsand then the foot rests of a wheelchair.

We did have one of my favorite lunch stops. LibertyTree Tavern lunch ( not the AYCTE at dinner) is always good for me. I still love the turkey, filling, and now they even have cranberry dressing. Everything was hot and great, unfortunately my wife's salad had way too much dressing on it and she only ate about half. We also had a very good waiter named muffassa, very prompt and quick with refills, but he sounded like the soup nazi from Seinfeld. Everything he said made me jump. The oowey goowey toffee cake was great and this came out as one of our cheapest table services.

Even as packed as the park was, we took full advantage of fpp and used a das to hop from ride to ride. Space, Splash, BTM, Pirates, HM, Pete pan, tea cups, under the sea, buzz lightyear, space again. We hopped the monorail to Epcot for snacks and Illuminations and more snacking.
 
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