thumper*
Disney Dreamer
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2010
Typical for AKL I hate their bus service but love the quietness of the resort
Cue the Music: How we MADE money and slept with Ariel! Done!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Really? I had no idea that the bus service was bad at AKL.
Love the memory with Paige Turner at DHS. She's my favorite. With the cutback at the Citizens of Hollywood she isn't out daily anymore which is sad. I know her real life husband.
Glad you enjoyed Caring for Giants. I loved that tour. Now I definitely recommend Up Close with Rhinos. Same low price and you can even touch the Rhinos!
Glad you enjoyed Caring for Giants. I loved that tour. Now I definitely recommend Up Close with Rhinos. Same low price and you can even touch the Rhinos!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
I am so glad that you posted her name because I couldn't remember it.
We loved the tour. I am seriously considering the Up Close with Rhinos tour!
BarbieGal457
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2007
I absolutely cannot wait to do that tour in the fall! I love elephants and it looks wonderful. Your reports always cheer up my day!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Bugs? Why'd it have to be bugs?
One of the things that I had forgotten to mention is the fact that the Caring for Giants tour went a little over the estimated 60 minutes. The cast member asked if anyone had Fastpasses that they would have to rush to or had missed because it went over. We had a Fastpass for Dinosaur and I was pretty sure that we would be able to make it. The cast member heard me talking with John and offered to give us another pass that could be used anytime that day.
Knowing that we didn't have to rush to Dinosaur made it for a less stressful time. Instead, we had gotten to eat at Mara which was something new for us. It's always nice to work those into the plans.
John was in need of some coffee and there is no better place to use a snack credit than at Starbucks. Caramel something or other. Doesn't matter the name because it was YUM and that's all that matters.
We wandered the trails around the Tree of Life while John sipped on his drink. We found large catfish.
And kangaroos. There was a castmember in the exhibit with them and a cast member in the viewing area. She was telling us that the cast member was doing an observation on the kangaroos and a bit of training. The kangaroos were getting a little frisky and I wondered if it were mating season.
Even after seeing the Tree of Life since the year the park opened, I'm still intrigued by all of the various carvings.
Continued in next post
One of the things that I had forgotten to mention is the fact that the Caring for Giants tour went a little over the estimated 60 minutes. The cast member asked if anyone had Fastpasses that they would have to rush to or had missed because it went over. We had a Fastpass for Dinosaur and I was pretty sure that we would be able to make it. The cast member heard me talking with John and offered to give us another pass that could be used anytime that day.
Knowing that we didn't have to rush to Dinosaur made it for a less stressful time. Instead, we had gotten to eat at Mara which was something new for us. It's always nice to work those into the plans.
John was in need of some coffee and there is no better place to use a snack credit than at Starbucks. Caramel something or other. Doesn't matter the name because it was YUM and that's all that matters.
We wandered the trails around the Tree of Life while John sipped on his drink. We found large catfish.
And kangaroos. There was a castmember in the exhibit with them and a cast member in the viewing area. She was telling us that the cast member was doing an observation on the kangaroos and a bit of training. The kangaroos were getting a little frisky and I wondered if it were mating season.
Even after seeing the Tree of Life since the year the park opened, I'm still intrigued by all of the various carvings.
Continued in next post
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Bugs? Why'd it have to be bugs? continued
Mingos!
One more sip of the Starbucks drink and one more picture of the Tree of Life and we were ready to move on.
So, why'd it have to be bugs? Because the wait time said 25 minutes and everything else had a wait time a lotttttttt longer than that. And, the castmember said that the 25 estimated time was probably lots shorter.
Wanna see John and I looking all cute in our bug eyes? Yeah, I do too. Unfortunately, that ain't happenin' with this pic.
Soon enough, we were looking for Flik in the ceiling and singing "We're pollinators!". Ahhh, I love bugs. Seriously, I have no problems with bugs at all. It's snakes that I can't stand.
**Up next: We're having a rip roarin' good time!
Mingos!
One more sip of the Starbucks drink and one more picture of the Tree of Life and we were ready to move on.
So, why'd it have to be bugs? Because the wait time said 25 minutes and everything else had a wait time a lotttttttt longer than that. And, the castmember said that the 25 estimated time was probably lots shorter.
Wanna see John and I looking all cute in our bug eyes? Yeah, I do too. Unfortunately, that ain't happenin' with this pic.
Soon enough, we were looking for Flik in the ceiling and singing "We're pollinators!". Ahhh, I love bugs. Seriously, I have no problems with bugs at all. It's snakes that I can't stand.
**Up next: We're having a rip roarin' good time!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
It is well worth it! I forgot to look to see if you had a countdown. When in the Fall are you going?
So glad that you are enjoying the report. I want to hurry up and finish this one so I can start on the next. I already have a title picked out.
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Good morning guys and gals!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
We're having a rip roarin' good time!
After the show, we stood off to the side and let some of the other guests filter out before we followed the path back into the park. We figured now was as good a time as any to use our any time Fastpass for Dinosaur.
We were thankful that we had a fastpass as the stand by line was all the way outside. You can see the guests in the line in the picture above. It is a tradition on our family to take a silly picture while on Dinosaur and John and I carried on that tradition. However, the picture didn't show up when we went out to check. DARN IT!
Just across the way, was Primeval Whirl and the line didn't look too long. Probably because everyone was either in Pandora or standing in the line for Dinosaur. Despite the fact that I don't like heights and John doesn't like this attraction because it yanks you around, we got in line.
Hum, I guess that I was bored or something because I took a couple of random pictures.
But were soon on our way. I filmed the whole thing but, other than uploading them to youtube, I am not sure how to post them here. If you guys know how, please let me know and I'll post it. I was trying my best not to sound like a hick but my Southern accent definitely can be heard.
You can tell from the picture below that this area of the park really wasn't all that crowded.
Our evening plans included a meal at a "new" restaurant at Disney Springs. My hair was looking a mess given that it had gotten wet during the short rainshower. We both wanted to change clothes and freshen up before our reservation.
On the way out of the park, I stopped long enough to snap a really bad picture of the Christmas tree. Bad enough that I'm not even going to resize it and post it here.
**Up next: Snarflat! Bless you!
After the show, we stood off to the side and let some of the other guests filter out before we followed the path back into the park. We figured now was as good a time as any to use our any time Fastpass for Dinosaur.
We were thankful that we had a fastpass as the stand by line was all the way outside. You can see the guests in the line in the picture above. It is a tradition on our family to take a silly picture while on Dinosaur and John and I carried on that tradition. However, the picture didn't show up when we went out to check. DARN IT!
Just across the way, was Primeval Whirl and the line didn't look too long. Probably because everyone was either in Pandora or standing in the line for Dinosaur. Despite the fact that I don't like heights and John doesn't like this attraction because it yanks you around, we got in line.
Hum, I guess that I was bored or something because I took a couple of random pictures.
But were soon on our way. I filmed the whole thing but, other than uploading them to youtube, I am not sure how to post them here. If you guys know how, please let me know and I'll post it. I was trying my best not to sound like a hick but my Southern accent definitely can be heard.
You can tell from the picture below that this area of the park really wasn't all that crowded.
Our evening plans included a meal at a "new" restaurant at Disney Springs. My hair was looking a mess given that it had gotten wet during the short rainshower. We both wanted to change clothes and freshen up before our reservation.
On the way out of the park, I stopped long enough to snap a really bad picture of the Christmas tree. Bad enough that I'm not even going to resize it and post it here.
**Up next: Snarflat! Bless you!
Attachments
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Snarflat! Bless you!
I don't remember waiting a long time for the Art of Animation Resort so I'm thinking it was within an acceptable time frame. The afternoon was a pretty one and the rain that was there earlier had disappeared.
I decided to walk around our area of the resort and take a few pictures. The Little Mermaid section of the resort had "props" from the movies and was done really well. Notice the leaning light pole and what's that? That in the distance?
Why, that's a snarflat! Bless you!
There's King Triton guarding the buildings and a treasure chest too.
Just across the way was Ursula standing tall in between another two buildings.
Our room was in building seven and it faced the lake. I love how Disney used plants that looks like they could have been found under the ocean.
Once in the room, we rested a little bit before freshening up for the evening. It was getting a little cool and I wanted to change from my capris to a pair of longer pants. I may have taken the refillable mugs to the food court to get a refill but I could be wrong about that too. I seem to remember that I had to charge my phone so I used John's to take some pictures and maybe some video as I walked around. I'm not seeing them uploaded to my computer and John (along with his phone) is in the shop working on custom made music boxes and I don't want to disturb him. But, if I find any evidence of what I recall, I'll get the pictures and videos and post them later.
We were ready to head out again and go try that new restaurant I had referred to earlier. Some pictures that I took as we walked to the main area of the resort. I had clients who were staying at Art of Animation that December and they were booked in a Lion King suite. Some of the clients going were friends of Hunter's. I took the next picture and sent it to them and said "I'm not Scar-ed!".
There weren't many guests swimming in the Big Blue Pool at the time.
Enough picture taking, we had a bus to catch! Food awaits!
**Up Next: Tuck your napkin in like a proper southern gent!
I don't remember waiting a long time for the Art of Animation Resort so I'm thinking it was within an acceptable time frame. The afternoon was a pretty one and the rain that was there earlier had disappeared.
I decided to walk around our area of the resort and take a few pictures. The Little Mermaid section of the resort had "props" from the movies and was done really well. Notice the leaning light pole and what's that? That in the distance?
Why, that's a snarflat! Bless you!
There's King Triton guarding the buildings and a treasure chest too.
Just across the way was Ursula standing tall in between another two buildings.
Our room was in building seven and it faced the lake. I love how Disney used plants that looks like they could have been found under the ocean.
Once in the room, we rested a little bit before freshening up for the evening. It was getting a little cool and I wanted to change from my capris to a pair of longer pants. I may have taken the refillable mugs to the food court to get a refill but I could be wrong about that too. I seem to remember that I had to charge my phone so I used John's to take some pictures and maybe some video as I walked around. I'm not seeing them uploaded to my computer and John (along with his phone) is in the shop working on custom made music boxes and I don't want to disturb him. But, if I find any evidence of what I recall, I'll get the pictures and videos and post them later.
We were ready to head out again and go try that new restaurant I had referred to earlier. Some pictures that I took as we walked to the main area of the resort. I had clients who were staying at Art of Animation that December and they were booked in a Lion King suite. Some of the clients going were friends of Hunter's. I took the next picture and sent it to them and said "I'm not Scar-ed!".
There weren't many guests swimming in the Big Blue Pool at the time.
Enough picture taking, we had a bus to catch! Food awaits!
**Up Next: Tuck your napkin in like a proper southern gent!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Tuck your napkin in like a proper southern gent!
Ya'll, I cook every night except on Fridays and sometimes Saturdays. It's too darn expensive to eat out all the time so I cook. I cook good ol' Southern classics with a few "made up" recipes thrown in for good measure. Because Mama lives next door, I cook enough for her too and walk a plate over to her house for her. I call it McBride Meals on Wheels (except there are no wheels involved). Anyway, I cook a lot of her favorites like squash, steam cabbage, lima beans, peas, cornbread, baked chicken, meatloaf and the like. I know that if I cook that kind of food, she will eat. Her health has declined a lot over the last two years and she just doesn't do as much as she used to.
Sorry off topic. As I was saying, i cook lots of southern dishes at home. Therefore, when we dine out, we tend to stay away from restaurants advertising "home cooked" or "Southern style" cookin'. With more and more new restaurants opening at Disney Springs, it was hard to chose where to eat. Most reviews of this one particular restaurant gave very good or excellent ratings. Given that, i booked an ADR at Art Smith's Homecoming.
The Disney site described the restaurant as follows:
Comfort Food You’ll Crave
Capture a welcoming, down-home vibe when you pull up a chair at this Florida-inspired kitchen and shine bar. Admire views of the bustling open kitchen from a table inside the restaurant—or try snagging a spot on the cozy, screened-in porch overlooking the springs.
From starters to main plates, the cuisine at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin' pays homage to Florida’s bygone era, with the vast majority of ingredients sourced from local farms, ranches or fisheries.
Based on the reviews and the description, I figured that we would both find something that we would enjoy. After about a fifteen minute wait outside, we were shown to a very small table. Soon after we were seated, our waitress came by and took our drink order and gave us menus to peruse.
My sweetie took a picture of me
and I took a picture of my sweetie!
See how John's arms are crossed? That's the size of our entire table. It was small. John had a chair and I had to slide into one really long booth seat that went all the way across that area of the restaurant.
One of the things that had gotten good reviews were biscuits topped with ham, jam and pimento cheese. I am not seeing them on the menu now. These were good and I'll go ahead and tell you now that I wish that I had just stuck with this and not ordered the entree that I selected.
John and I shared the biscuits while we waited on our entrees.
When ordering I couldn't decide what I wanted. The waitress suggested the short ribs as the customers have always been very satisfied with them.
This is the description from the Disney World website:
Braised Short Ribs
This fancy “pot roast” is made by slow-cooking boneless beef short ribs until they are fork tender. Served over creamy mashed potatoes with a demi-glace sauce and French green beans. It was served with a corn succatash when we were there. No green beans.
John ordered:
Art's Famous Fried Chicken
Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love
**Continued in next post
Ya'll, I cook every night except on Fridays and sometimes Saturdays. It's too darn expensive to eat out all the time so I cook. I cook good ol' Southern classics with a few "made up" recipes thrown in for good measure. Because Mama lives next door, I cook enough for her too and walk a plate over to her house for her. I call it McBride Meals on Wheels (except there are no wheels involved). Anyway, I cook a lot of her favorites like squash, steam cabbage, lima beans, peas, cornbread, baked chicken, meatloaf and the like. I know that if I cook that kind of food, she will eat. Her health has declined a lot over the last two years and she just doesn't do as much as she used to.
Sorry off topic. As I was saying, i cook lots of southern dishes at home. Therefore, when we dine out, we tend to stay away from restaurants advertising "home cooked" or "Southern style" cookin'. With more and more new restaurants opening at Disney Springs, it was hard to chose where to eat. Most reviews of this one particular restaurant gave very good or excellent ratings. Given that, i booked an ADR at Art Smith's Homecoming.
The Disney site described the restaurant as follows:
Comfort Food You’ll Crave
Capture a welcoming, down-home vibe when you pull up a chair at this Florida-inspired kitchen and shine bar. Admire views of the bustling open kitchen from a table inside the restaurant—or try snagging a spot on the cozy, screened-in porch overlooking the springs.
From starters to main plates, the cuisine at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin' pays homage to Florida’s bygone era, with the vast majority of ingredients sourced from local farms, ranches or fisheries.
Based on the reviews and the description, I figured that we would both find something that we would enjoy. After about a fifteen minute wait outside, we were shown to a very small table. Soon after we were seated, our waitress came by and took our drink order and gave us menus to peruse.
My sweetie took a picture of me
and I took a picture of my sweetie!
See how John's arms are crossed? That's the size of our entire table. It was small. John had a chair and I had to slide into one really long booth seat that went all the way across that area of the restaurant.
One of the things that had gotten good reviews were biscuits topped with ham, jam and pimento cheese. I am not seeing them on the menu now. These were good and I'll go ahead and tell you now that I wish that I had just stuck with this and not ordered the entree that I selected.
John and I shared the biscuits while we waited on our entrees.
When ordering I couldn't decide what I wanted. The waitress suggested the short ribs as the customers have always been very satisfied with them.
This is the description from the Disney World website:
Braised Short Ribs
This fancy “pot roast” is made by slow-cooking boneless beef short ribs until they are fork tender. Served over creamy mashed potatoes with a demi-glace sauce and French green beans. It was served with a corn succatash when we were there. No green beans.
John ordered:
Art's Famous Fried Chicken
Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love
**Continued in next post
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Tuck your napkin in like a proper southern gent!
Once the food was on the table, our waitress disappeared. As a matter of fact, we noticed that happening at several tables around us. Like as soon as the food was place on the table, they scattered.
My short ribs were so tough that I couldn't hard cut the meat even with a knife. The corn wasn't properly cooked and the potatoes were cold everywhere except for underneath the short ribs that they had placed on top. I ate maybe two bites of the ribs and what little mashed potatoes were underneath the ribs.
John's chicken was better by far but the season tasted a little weird. Not sure what it was but it was a different taste. John! Tuck your napkin in like a proper southern gent!
We were disappointed in both of our entrees and didn't put much more than a little dent into either of our entrees. Once we had pushed our plates from in front of us, the waitress magically appeared with a dessert menu. John had to ask if we could have drink refills because she didn't even ask. I ordered the chocolate pecan pie.
And John ordered the hummingbird cake. The cake far outshined the pecan pie.
Overall, I'd give the restaurant a C+ rating. It will be quite some time before we go back as there are other places to eat.
We walked through Disney Springs and found a cute little shop called Sugarboo and it had some really cute things.
We didn't buy anything that I can recall. We ended up calling it a semi early night. Tomorrow, we had another part to visit!
**Up Next: Title to be decided
Once the food was on the table, our waitress disappeared. As a matter of fact, we noticed that happening at several tables around us. Like as soon as the food was place on the table, they scattered.
My short ribs were so tough that I couldn't hard cut the meat even with a knife. The corn wasn't properly cooked and the potatoes were cold everywhere except for underneath the short ribs that they had placed on top. I ate maybe two bites of the ribs and what little mashed potatoes were underneath the ribs.
John's chicken was better by far but the season tasted a little weird. Not sure what it was but it was a different taste. John! Tuck your napkin in like a proper southern gent!
We were disappointed in both of our entrees and didn't put much more than a little dent into either of our entrees. Once we had pushed our plates from in front of us, the waitress magically appeared with a dessert menu. John had to ask if we could have drink refills because she didn't even ask. I ordered the chocolate pecan pie.
And John ordered the hummingbird cake. The cake far outshined the pecan pie.
Overall, I'd give the restaurant a C+ rating. It will be quite some time before we go back as there are other places to eat.
We walked through Disney Springs and found a cute little shop called Sugarboo and it had some really cute things.
We didn't buy anything that I can recall. We ended up calling it a semi early night. Tomorrow, we had another part to visit!
**Up Next: Title to be decided
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
I feel as if I am losing you guys. Are y'all still interested in reading?
I'm here Lisa! I'm the absolute worst at commenting on reports, but I love reading about your adventures. I think we actually may have been in Disney at this same time - I celebrated my 50th there on 11/21/2017 - did we overlap?? It was a great trip, but boy did the crowds move in the day before Thanksgiving! Luckily, that was also the day we headed home to spend Thanksgiving with our family.
We've stayed at POP a couple of times, and love walking around Art of Animation - they really did a great job with the theming there.
Excited to read about the rest of your trip!
We've stayed at POP a couple of times, and love walking around Art of Animation - they really did a great job with the theming there.
Excited to read about the rest of your trip!
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