Going all out- A Birthday, Merry time, Land and Sea Extravaganza!

[Cali Cat]

Hello, I'm Cat. This is my first trip report, so please excuse me if I make some mistakes. I started out lurking on these boards a couple years ago and I really enjoyed reading all the trip reports. I've gotten so much great information from this site, that I figured I would try my hand at writing a trip report. I thank you for following and for being paitent with my first attempt.

First, let me tell you about my cast:

Cat(35)- That's me! I'm the chief planner, researcher, banker and daydreamer for all our vacations. I grew up going to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. I've always felt like they were my second home. But, it wasn't till my DD Kitty was born that I had a new appreciation for and love of the parks.

Tom(36)- DH. He has never been a Disney fan, even as a kid. But, he does love Star Wars and Marvel. The acquisition of both companies by Disney and seeing how much Kitty loves it, is slowly starting to turn him. Although he just admitted on this trip that he loves DCL and likes going to the parks. That's a big mile stone for him.

Kitty(5, turning 6) DD. She loves Disney and everything princess. Especially the modern princesses. She is one of those girls who likes to look pretty as she climbs the trees and plays in the dirt.

The plan was to surprise Kitty for her 6th birthday with a week in Orlando followed by a week on the Disney Fantasy.

During our week at Orlando we would spend two days at Sea World, three at the Disney Parks and one at Discovery Cove. Then we would drive to port Canaveral to board the Fantasy for a Western Caribbean cruise.

I started planning this trip almost two years ago. So I had a lot of time to obsess and plan every little detail. As well as discover and plan many new activities that I hadn't done before. This led to me spending more money then I probably should have. I just kept thinking about how happy it would make Kitty and how she won't be this age for much longer. That's why my report is titled going all out.

We did end up doing the Disney Dinning plan. I will try to add up what we would have spent, if you are interested in that sort of thing. But please be warned, I'm not really a food picture taker. Although I did try to take pictures of the food before we devoured it, I often forgot.

So come join me, if you will, on our two week extravaganza full of excitement and surprises!

"Come on everybody, here we go........ off to" Disney World!

 

[o&smom]

Great start! Cannot wait to read more of your report!

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 1 part 1 (Arrival)

We were up super early for our early flight out. Kitty was awoken with the surprise that we are going to Disney World for her birthday, right now! I've never seen her wake up and spring out of bed more quickly. There were big hugs, squeals and "thank you"s for DH and I.

We grabbed our big heep of luggage and headed to the airport. It was pretty much still the middle of the night when our plane left. Even with the excitement most of us were able to take a nap on the plane. When we landed we collected our bags from baggage clam, picked up our rental car for the next two weeks and headed to the most magical place on earth!



It was still mid morning as we were driving. So, I was completely surprised and delighted when I got the text that our room was ready. First floor, just like I requested! So, we decided to head straight to our Royal room at Port Orleans Riverside to clean up before lunch.

I had never stayed in a royal room before and it had been years since I stayed at Riverside. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was Dixie Landing the last time I stayed there. I forgot how beautiful it is. The Royal Rooms are themed so well, perfect for our little birthday princess.





The fireworks in the head boards were a big hit.

I love how they put items from the different princess movies in there.


The dog foot stool from "Beauty and the Beast".

Carpet from "Aladdin"



The resort itself is huge. But, our room was very close to the parking lot which worked out well for us since we used our car a lot to go places. But it was kind of a trek to get to the lobby and food court.

After we all showered and changed out of our travel cloths, we decided to go to the food court to pick up our refillable mugs for the dinning plan. They had mostly handleless mugs, but we were able to find the last three with handles. They are so much easier for one person to carry if they have a handle. We filled them with our beverage of choice them went over to the boat dock to catch the boat to Disney Springs. We lucked out as the boat pulled up as we arrived.

Next: On to Disney Springs!

 

[SonyaShay]

Reading along! I don't comment much but I read all the updates.

 

[Cali Cat]

Reading along! I don't comment much but I read all the updates.

Great start! Cannot wait to read more of your report!

Thank you both for following.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 1 Part 2 (Disney Springs for lunch)

I hadn't been to Disney Springs since it was Downtown Disney. I like the new look, although I do still miss pleasure Island. It was pretty neat seeing it from the water.




We saw a couple of the anphibicars out for a ride.


Kitty wanted spaghetti, so when the boat dropped us off at the market place we stopped in at Wolfgang Puck Express and ordered her some to go. I was very disappointed that the creme brûlée wasn't included as a dessert for the dinning plan. I really wanted to try it. Kitty got a sugar cookie instead with her meal, which she was just as happy with.

At this time it was afternoon and we all skipped breakfast. Kitty's meal smelled really good, but Tom and I had other plans. Off to D-Luxe burger. We hightailed it through the market place and town center.



By the time we made it to D-Luxe we were starving. Both of us ordered the Southern burger, fries and a root beer float (which counted as our drink. Hey, I got to get my money's worth for this dinning plan.)




It was delicious! Tom said it was the best burger he ever ate and that's saying something, that man loves a good burger. The portions were huge though. If we weren't on the dinning plan we could have split a burger and fries between two people. I like how they had different dipping sauces for your fries. Kitty and I liked the garlic ranch the best.

After lunch Tom decided he was tired and went back to the room to take a nap. Kitty and I decided to power through and go to bed early tonight. What do two girls do after eating a giant meal? Well, get a cupcake of course.



Kitty had a free birthday cupcake coming from sprinkles so we had to stop in and get one. We got a red velvet to share and it was tasty as always. I really wanted to try one of their cupcake sundaes. They don't have ice cream at our sprinkles. But, I couldn't justify buying a giant sundae that we probably wouldn't be able to make a dent in after our big meal.

After that we crossed over the "Springs". They really did make it look beautiful.


I really liked the ornaments they put on the water lights.


Up next: We travel back in time to 1998...

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 1 Part 3 (Disney Quest)

As we walked through Disney Springs we passed by Hanger Bar.

We had plans to go there later. Right now we were headed to Disney Quest. I had a couple of old non expiring tickets that we never used the pluses for. Since it sounds like Disney Quest is closing soon I thought this might be the only opportunity for Kitty to experience it.

When we walked in, it looked just the same as I remembered from seven years ago. Honestly it doesn't feel like it's had any updates since it opened in 1998. It sure is showing it's age. But, Kitty had a great time. We went on Aladdin's magic carpet, the virtual jungle cruise, pirates of the Caribbean and played a lot of arcade games.




Some of the bigger interactive games I remembered doing last time were closed. Kitty was too short for virtual space mountain so we had to skip that one too. I wouldn't pay the price they were asking to get in. But it was worth the "plus" on my old ticket for three hours of entertainment. At least Kitty got to see it before it closed.

After Disney Quest we strolled through town center and headed to the Jock Lindsey's Hanger Bar. Tom was suppose to meet us there for a drink before our dinner reservation.



We got to Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar and found a table. For those of you who don't know, It's a Indiana Jones inspired Bar named after Indy's pilot Jock Lindsey. The story is that Jock turned his airplane hanger into a bar and filled it with all the memorabilia from his travels around the world. The menu reads like a pilots log and even tells you what part of the world the items are from.



They did put in a little Christmas tree.


Tom was still on the boat back. So we ordered without him. I got a Reggies Revenge (named after the pet snake) and Kitty got a Diving Bell mock-tail. They were both good.



The place reminded me of Trader Sams with its signature drinks and walls full of a little details telling you the story of the place. It did lack the fun interactions with the staff though. The patio had a really nice view of the lake. I would go their again, especially to find new details hidden in the decorations.

After our drinks came, Tom finally arrived. He ordered the scotch flight. It came out on a propeller blade, which I thought was neat.

Up Next: Dinner at Frontera Cocina

 

[wdwnut61]

Following along great job!
We have stayed in the Royal Rooms when my then 18 year old princess loved it especially the fireworks in the headboard

We love Jock Hangers great appetizers and Reggies Revenge

 

[Cali Cat]

Following along great job!
We have stayed in the Royal Rooms when my then 18 year old princess loved it especially the fireworks in the headboard

We love Jock Hangers great appetizers and Reggies Revenge

Thank you! Kitty had to set off the fireworks every night before bed. Next time I go to Hanger bar I'll have to try the appetizers. They looked good, but since we had the dinning plan I didn't want to fill up on something before dinner.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 1 part 4
(Dinner at Fontera Cocina)

After we finished our drinks at Hanger Bar

it was time for our reservation at Frontera Cocina.

I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the place. I really liked the light fixtures and moseque, but apparently nothing else.

We've watched Rick Bayless's show on PBS and were excited to try his food. Tom and I decided to split the Oaxacan Red Chile Chicken and the Carne Asada. Kitty got the Kids enchiladas. Both Tom and I agreed the carne asada was good but the chicken was amazing. It had such a nice spice to it. Sorry, I forgot to take picture of them. I did however take a picture of our desserts (a girls got her priorities); the pecan pie bar and Coconut-Lime Quattro Leches Cake.


I really enjoyed the cake it was very creamy without being too heavy. Tom loved the Pecan Bar, it had a little too much cinnamon for me and I wish they used really ice cream instead of soft serve on top.

After dinner we started to walk back to the boat and we say this tree.

Then I remembered about the Christmas tree trail. We went to what I thought was the entrance, but what was really the exit and swam our way up stream to each tree. When we got to the end/beginning there was a toy soldier on stilts and snow. Kitty was very excited and started trying to catch the snow in her mouth. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was soap, weirdly she didn't seem to notice.


We ended up going through it twice as the boat dock was next to the exit. The experience was ok, I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again. They were just decorated regular Christmas trees, nothing spectacular. The most fun was watching Kitty with the snow.

When we got back to the resort Tom took Kitty back to the room and I stopped by the lobby to see if I could add my Disney visa rewards points to our room account. It turns out you have to come in the night before you leave to pay off your account using the rewards or a gift card. They won't credit your room like on the cruise.

The lobby was all decked out for Christmas too.



After that we all went to bed to rest up for our big day tomorrow.

DDP total

Wolfgang Puck express $24.45 (1cs credit)
D-luxe Burger $49.50 (2cs credits)
Fontera Cocina $106.50 (3 TS credits)

Total for the Day: $180.45
Overall Total: $180.45

TS credits left: 18
cs credits left:18
Snack credits left: 21

Up next: Three parks in one day?

 

[wdwnut61]

We didn't have time to make it to DS over Thanksgiving but can't wait to go during our March trip. All the new restaurants look great and the shopping. I agree when we first saw the pictures of the Christmas Trees in DS it was disappointing. I'm glad your DD enjoyed the snow.

Looking forward to your next installment.

 

[Cali Cat]

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Day 2 part 1 (Magic Kingdom)

I got up and got ready around 6:30am. I let Tom and Kitty sleep till 7am. Then I woke them before I heading to the food court to get coffee. We were in our car and headed to the MK by 7:30am. We had a pre park ADR at Be our Guest at 8:25am. We were at the TTC by 7:45am. I thought this would be enough time until I saw the line for the monorail. I asked a cast member about the ferry and he said it wasn't open yet. We had just got in the huge line for the monorail when the ferry line opened up. We sprinted to the ferry and took the first one over. It was 8:15am by the time we made it through security. We headed to the ADR line. They scanned our magic band to see our ADR and let us through the special turn styles. We made a B line to BOG.
It was weird to see Main Street so empty. We would not see this again on this trip.


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I had pre ordered our meal online so when we checked in, we were told to go to the line on the left to pay. This was really easy and short, they scanned my band to deduct the credit from my magic band and we were free to find a seat. We picked one in the ballroom.


We got our drinks and sat down. We decided to only order two entrees since Kitty could share with us and we had a big meal planned four hours later. I got the open-faced bacon and egg sandwich which was pretty good. I would have liked the yokes to be a little less solid, but other then that the bread was toasty and the bacon was crisp. It was a nice sandwich. Tom got the cured meat and cheese plate. He said it was ok. Kitty ate half the bread they gave him, so he wished it included more. She also ate most of the pastries. It's was actually a good amount of food and left us all satisfied.

We were finished and ready to go on some rides five minutes before the park opened. But, it seemed the park opened early as everything was opened and running. So, we walked across the park to Big Thunder Mountain.

I was excited to see what they did after the refurb. We had a short wait and sat in the front which Kitty was happy about. Other then the track staying out of the water during the town scene it seemed the same to me. I'm not sure if it was just because we were in the front, but it seemed like they slowed it down and made it more tame.

After big thunder we went over to the Jingle Cruise. It was also a short wait.

The skippers were joking around about this sign and how they only get to eat on the week days.

They also told Kitty that this is were all the Skippers live. But the boys have to sleep in the basement.

 

[Lumee23]

Following along! We are doing pretty much the exact same trip this December. We have about a week stay at the Poly planned before a Western Caribbean Merrytime Fantasy sailing. I have been calling it our "going all out" trip as well. Hubby is not too fond of that idea haha! Looking forward to your updates

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 2 Part 2

When we last left of we were about to go on the Jingle Cruise.

I was testing out my iPhone's portrait mode on this duck.

I took pictures of all the holiday stuff they added.








Overall, this version doesn't compare to Disneyland's Jingle Cruise. They use a lot more decorations and each scene tells a story of what the natives have done with the lost holiday shipments.

After the Jingle cruise we went on pirates of the Caribbean. That completed our planned rides for the morning. The waits were much shorted then I had anticipated and we were done about forty minutes early. So, we asked Kitty what she wanted to do and she picked The magic carpets.


It was pretty cold so the spitting camel was off. It was nice to not have to avoid him.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 2 part 3
After our Magic Carpet Ride we started to go on the Tiki room but we just missed the show.

The cast member told us it would be another 20 minutes before the next one.

That wasn't going to work since Kitty had an appointment at the Pirates league at 10:30am, which was in 20 minutes. We decided to head there early instead.

When we got there we were told we couldn't check in early. Instead of sitting and waiting for 20 minutes, we decided to try the Pirates Adventure. Kitty scanned her band and got the map and we started our quest. Our first stop was back at the Tiki room to find the giant pearl in the clam shell. Then we were sent back to the POTC gift shop to find the ship in a bottle.

At this point I was in need of a restroom break, so I sent them ahead and would meet them at Pirates league. While I was in the restroom I got a missed call from Victoria and Alberts......

Background:
While planning this trip Tom and I decided we wanted to try Victoria and Alberts. We'd been to Remy on the cruise before and we really loved it. Since Scott Hunnel (the head chef for V&A) is one of the two chefs that made the menu for Remy, we wanted to try out his restaurant. I had remembered seeing a show on the travel channel years ago were they went to the chefs table at V&A and it quickly went on my bucket list. I did lots of research and we decided that I would try for the chefs table since it was on both on our bucket list. But, since we knew that the odds of us actually getting the chefs table were low. We decided we would do the main dinning room as our back up. The Queen Victoria Room looked nice, but the main dinning room gave us more menu options. Plus we wanted to get the regular V&A experience if we couldn't do the chefs table.

When our 180 day window opened I was up at 3am (pst) booking all our ADRs. I was able to book the main dinning room for 5:45pm for Monday. But, the chefs table was not an option. At 6am exactly I called V&A directly. They answered right away and I gave them the dates of my stay. She checked every night for the chefs table but the only availability they had was the night we were leaving. Which wouldn't work since we would be on the cruise. She put me on the wait list and I fully expected to never hear from them again. A week before the cruise I got a call from V&A confirming my 5:45pm reservation in the main dinning room. A couple days later I noticed I missed call on my phone from V&A. Unfortunately, they left no message. I was a little bummed, thinking that they had called for the wait list and I had missed my opportunity.

Back to my story......
This time V&A left a message! They had a last minute cancellation for the chefs table on Monday night, the night we were planning to go anyway, and they wanted to know if we wanted it. I dropped everything and called back immediately. The phone rang but then went to voicemail. I left a message saying I would like the chefs table. Being the obsessive person that I am, I called right back hoping that I would get an actual person. Still no answer. Thinking that they were probably calling someone else to offer it to them, I continued to call. As I was calling and hanging up after getting the machine, I walked back to Pirates league to meet Kitty and Tom. I told Tom what had happened and he started calling while I checked Kitty in for her make over. We waited by the protium, all the while both Tom and I were calling V&A. (I told you, we're obsessive.) We finally were brought into the Pirates League main room to wait. It was then that I got a voicemail from V&A that they had transferred our reservation to the Chefs Table and there was no need to call any more. We were so excited! It definitely put us over budget, but we are never going to be able to do this again, right!?

With our Chefs table secure, we were able to concentrate of Kitty's make over.

She was getting the Empress makeover. She was already dressed in her pirate costume from last Halloween, so she didn't need the outfit. Her Pirate was very nice. He was very attentive, he did her makeup, gave her pirate goodies like a sash, bandana and sword, swore her in as a pirate and showed her the Pirates secret room were she got a pirate necklace.

After Pirates league we saw that the show with Jack Sparrow was going on. We went to go watch and Kitty got picked!

She was so happy and was able to fight Jack Sparrow and get a certificate.

Up next: Skippers Canteen.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 2 Part 4 (Skippers Canteen)

After our pirate adventure it was time for lunch. We put our pith hats on and headed over to Skippers Canteen.

We have never eaten here before so I was looking forward to trying it. I had of course done some research online, so when we checked in I asked the hostess if we could sit in one of the side rooms instead of the mess hall. She said yes, but it may be a little more of a wait. I told her that was fine, so we sat in the big wicker chairs on the patio while we waited. Only about five minutes later they were leading us to our table. Not only did we get a side room we got to sit in the butterfly booth. Kitty's jaw dropped when she saw it.

Here's the view from our booth.

The painting over the fireplace of the jungle cruise temple.

I notice a couple of those masks are from the Adventure's club.

A picture of the temple from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

I ordered Dr. Falls steak with avocado and chimichure sauce. It came with a side of fried Yuka.

It was very good, in fact I liked it better then the carne asda I had at Frontera Cocina. I believe both Tom and Kitty had fish and loved it. For dessert I had the coconut bar, it was good but not as good as the Quattro Leches Cake the night before.

Kitty had the raspberry chocolate lava cake. They even gave her a Happy Birthday chocolate.


Over all I really enjoyed Skippers Canteen. The atmosphere was fun the wait staff was corny (that's good) and in character the whole time and I was surprised at how much I liked the food. As we were leaving I noticed this holiday sign on the bulletin board.

After we headed out of Magic Kingdom, made our way to the monorail and back to the TTC were we had parked our car. We had some fast passes to get to.

Up next: Park 2 of 3

 

[Cali Cat]

Following along! We are doing pretty much the exact same trip this December. We have about a week stay at the Poly planned before a Western Caribbean Merrytime Fantasy sailing. I have been calling it our "going all out" trip as well. Hubby is not too fond of that idea haha! Looking forward to your updates

How exciting you're going to LOVE it! I love the Poly, but since I splurged so much on other things, I figured a moderate was the way to go. The two week version of a land and sea is so much more relaxing then the Disney version. I know you'll have a good time.

 

[ajluze]

We are doing this same trip in December of this year. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

 

[BAIC03]

Following along! Hope you keep going!

 

[Cali Cat]

(I know it's been awhile since I updated. Sorry, I got busy and to be honest it didn't seem like anyone was reading anyway. I'll continue, though there may be some gaps between updates. So, I'll apologize in advance.)

Day 2 Part 5 Animal Kingdom

Ok, I know it seems crazy that we were trying to do three parks in one day. But, as I told you before, this wasn't our first time and we know what we like. Plus we were using a three day park hopper and I wanted to get the most out of it.

When I was planning this day I tried to find the best way to get between parks. I seriously considered taking the bus. But, we had a car anyway and it seems like it would be quicker. Plus we were able to store things in the car like the stroller when we didn't need it. If they would've had the park to park shuttle that they have now, we so would've paid for it. But, the car worked out pretty well. Since we arrived so early in the morning our car was pretty close of the TTC and when we got to animal kingdom we got a pretty good spot within walking distance of the gate. Good thing we brought the stroller because Kitty fell asleep on the drive there. We transferred her to the stroller and headed into Animal kingdom.

The cranes were still there working on Pandora.



I had three fast passes booked at Animal Kingdom, the first didn't start for over an hour after we arrived. Since Kitty was sleeping Tom and I decided to go to the new Nomad lounge and grab a drink.

We got our first look at the entrance to Pandora.


The lounge was nice and not busy at all.



It was really nice outside and they had some nice couches and comfy chairs on the patio. We took a seat at a couch by the door and ordered a drink.



Tom got a beer and I got one off their specialty cocktails. I don't remember what it was called, Jenns Tatoo maybe? It was good though, on the sweet side but refreshing. It had a candied hibiscus flower as a garnish. Our waitress told us that it tasted like a fruit roll up, so I had to try it to see if she was right. I can see why she said that, but the texture seemed off and I think mentally it was weird to be eating a flower.



As we sat and relaxed it finally felt like we were on vacation. The view of the tropical foliage combined with a fruity drink in my hand made for a nice break in our busy day. I would definitely go back to the Nomad Lounge again. I'm not sure how much Kitty would like it if she wasn't napping, but for Tom and I it was perfect.

When Kitty started to stir we decided to leave. We headed towards Dino land. On our way Kitty saw the Doug and Russel meet and greet. She wanted to stop and get their autograph. The only problem was her autograph book was in the car. So, as they stood in line, off I trekked to the car to do my mommy duty. When I got back they were at the front of the line and Kitty got her autograph and picture.

Off we went to our first fast pass at Dinosaur. When we got there we encountered this line.



It turned out to be the fast pass line. Sadly, this turned out to be a common theme this trip. We waited for about ten minutes and the line didn't move. I went up to the front to see what was going on. Turns out the ride was broken and they just got it up and running again. When I got back to our place in line it finally started to move.

After dinosaur it was time for our Expedition Everest fast pass.