Trip Report - August 9-16 at AoA

[srauseo]

We just returned from our week in Disney World and, overall, it was a fabulous trip. Things went really smoothly - in some cases even better than expected. I'm not sure if I would go back at this time of year again - it was really hot and humid and crowded - but even with those issues we still had an amazing time. I put a lot of planning into this trip and it really paid off.

Day 1: Our traveling party of 7 people (Me, DH, Sister, BIL, Niece-6, Nephew-3, and my Mom) left at 4:30AM, for the airport. We had signed up for Magical Express so we tagged our bags and waved goodbye to them at the check-in counter. We flew Southwest which my Mom was nervous about because she had never experienced the open seating experience. So, she paid for the early-bird check-in upgrade and our boarding numbers were A45-51. Not too bad. We ended up in the middle of the plane all together. It was a 3x3 configuration. Sister, BIL and Nephew sat in one row and Mom and Niece and Me and DH in another. No one ended up taking the third seat in either of our rows so we had extra space. Bonus!

The flight was uneventful. Both kids slept most of the way and we landed about a half hour early! Bonus, again! We put on our Magic Bands and headed for Disney Magical Express Check-in. We glided through check-in using our Magic Bands and walked right on to a bus, dropping the stroller and some carryons to store underneath. A few minutes later we were on our way to Art of Animation. It was an easy ride - less than 30 minutes I think. When we arrived the lobby was very crowded. We got in the online check-in line which was much shorter than the regular check-in line. Probably about 10 minutes later we were checking in and our rooms were ready! The check-in agent was very helpful. We had reserved two Cars suites and had requested upper floor and close to transportation. We ended up in Building 1 (Mater!) in rooms 1738 and 1740. These rooms were on the third floor at the end of the hall, right next door to each other, with a view of the parking lot. All-in-all, this was a great location. It was at the far end of building from the main hall and Big Blue Pool, but it was just a minute or two to walk there. I liked being at the end of the hall as there was less foot traffic. And, we had a great view of the Frozen Summer Fun fireworks at Hollywood Studios! Every night at 9:45 we could watch the show. Bonus!

The rooms themselves were super cute and comfortable. With me, DH and Mom in one suite, we had tons of space and our own bathrooms. I thought the decor in these rooms was fun and not obnoxious at all. Also, the rooms seemed very quiet to me. I couldn't hear my sister or the kids in the next room at all. Heard an occasional toilet flush but that's it.

It was about 11AM by this point so we decided to get some lunch. The food court was very crowded and loud but we were able to find a table and we went up in small groups to order food. At this point, some stations were still serving breakfast and some had switched to lunch. The station I really wanted to try - World of Flavors - was still doing breakfast. Bummer. So I went to the Pasta station and got campanelle with shrimp and pesto. We had to wait about 5 minutes in line to order and then a little bit longer for them to prepare the food. However, the pasta was really good - cooked al dente and tasted good. It was a large portion. My Mom and I should have split one bowl and I ended up giving half of the bowl to DH who had just got some fruit and yogurt out of the cooler. They had half bottles of wine in the drink coolers as well and my Mom and I split one. The cashier offered us small plastic wine glasses to drink from. Nice. I noticed that by 11:30, the food court had emptied out and seemed much quieter. I thought that was strange. Hmm.

I had received a text message that our Garden Grocer order had arrived. I had asked for 1-3pm as a delivery time but the order arrived early! So we went to Bell Services to pick up the bags. Bell Services would had delivered them but since we were already there we carried them up ourselves. We went back to the room and changed into our bathing suits (we had packed our suits and a change of clothes in our carryons). We hit the Big Blue Pool. It was very crowded but we were able to find a few lounge chairs. The pool area was great. The kids loved it. I swam for a while and then we got some $10 frozen drinks at the Drop Off Pool Bar. The drinks were delicious. We hung by the pool for an hour or so and then went back to the room. By that point our suitcases and the boxes we had shipped down in advance had been delivered so we got unpacked and showered to get ready for the evening.

My sister's friend joined us for part of the week. She is a DVC member and AP holder. This presented some of the bigger issues we dealt with this week. It became a big issue to add her as a guest in my sister's room because she wasn't on our "package" but, as an AP holder, she didn't need a ticket. Disney needs to figure out a better, more consistent way to deal with this situation. We weren't trying to cheat the system. We were just trying to have a friend join us for the week and not pay for anything she didn't need. They made it seem like we were just trying to sneak her in for EMH or something. Seriously, she's giving Disney enough money already. Just work it out.

We had a 5:00 reservation at Chef Mickey's. At about 3:30PM we walked over to the bus stop to catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom. I think it was sprinkling a little bit so we brought our coats and ponchos. We waited about 10 minutes for a bus. We rode over to MK and then walked to the Contemporary Resort via the walking path. We were there by 4:30. So we did a little shopping in the gift shops and checked in for dinner about 20 minutes later. There were already a number of people that had checked in and were waiting in the lounge area. We had group photos taken by a Photo Pass Photographer (we had pre-ordered the Memory Maker package). Then we waited a few minutes until our buzzer went off. We were one of the first groups to be sat (this was a recurring theme all week!) and had a large round table in the corner of the room. We quickly hit the buffet before the lines started and the characters started coming.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the food quality. I'd heard some bad reports on these boards but everyone in my group was happy and went for seconds on several choices - especially the lobster mac 'n cheese. I thought the dessert options were really tasty and fun. Three of us split a bottle of wine. The character interaction was great! Hugs and photos and autographs. All the characters made an effort to interact with my nephew who was in a high chair and a little shy. It was super fun. We had met all the characters and eaten as much as we wanted by 6:00PM so we settled the bill and headed off to the monorail. We rode the monorail to the TTC and then switched to the EPCOT monorail. The kids loved the monorail ride. Once we got to EPCOT, Mom, BIL, and the kids got a bus back to the hotel. Me, Sister, DH and Friend went to Test Track. We had a FP for 6:30-7:30. The timing worked perfectly and I have to say, being able to schedule an evening FP for a headliner ride on our arrival day was an awesome feature. We were in the room customizing our cars in no time. I had never ridden Test Track before and I thought it was really fun. By the time we got out of Test Track it was about 7:30 so we headed over to Canada to catch a little of the Off Kilter show. For the rest of the night, we strolled around the countries on that side of the Lagoon, enjoying some adult beverages and doing some shopping. We encountered one or two groups of rowdy, drunk adults who were pretty obnoxious and tacky. I was embarrassed by the way they acted with some of the cast members. Sigh. We had some frozen drinks in France, some beer in Morocco, and some sake in Japan. We didn't really stake out a spot early for Illuminations. We just watched from the street in England as we had an After Hours reservation at Rose & Crown. The event was in the pub and we checked-in with a cast member at the pub entrance. It was very quiet and there weren't a lot of other people there. It was a really nice experience. We had our flight of beers - or rather three beers and one cider - and an appetizer sampler that included the scotch egg, a sausage pastry thing, and a little cheese. I thought the food was great and it was a good quantity. I was glad we had eaten dinner a while ago and I hadn't snacked! We got to chat with our servers a little and had nice, relaxing time. We even mixed our cider with some of our beers to make "snakebites", etc. I would definitely do another After Hours event. It was nice strolling out in the peace and quiet. We got right onto a bus to go back to our resort and called it a night. Not bad for a first day!

 

[MommaPeel]

Sounds like a great first day! Happy to hear you got a good room and could see the frozen fireworks! Gives me hope! Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[srauseo]

On our second day we went to Hollywood Studios. We had an 8:10 ADR at Disney Jr. Play and Dine at Hollywood & Vine. We were out the door around 6:30 and waited a short time for a bus. We were just about the first people to arrive at Studios that morning. It was so cool and we took some fun pictures in front of the Fantasia topiary scene.

We walked over to get in line at the special entrance for breakfast guests and after a little while, someone came over to confirm our reservation. They also passed out take along Olafs and park maps and times guides, which I thought was nice. Probably around 7:45 they let us scan into to the park and we strolled over to H&V. We waited on the porch for a little while - they had ice water and cups set out which was nice. And, again, we were one of the first parties called in to sit. I learned a pro tip from a server here - let the host/hostess know that you need a high chair when you first check-in and they'll have one waiting at your table for you.

The Play & Dine Breakfast was great. The kids absolutely loved meeting these characters - Handy Manny, Sofia, Doc McStuffins and Jake - and my niece loved participating in the dancing and singing. We thought the breakfast buffet was really good! The corned beef was a bit hit with our group. The service was good. One of the chefs snuck up behind DH and held two drinks trays behind his head to give him Mickey ears. We got a cute photo of that. Once again, we had met all the characters and had plenty to eat within 45 minutes so we settled the bill and headed outside. They had a rope at the end of the street but they opened the gates a few minutes later and we walked up and got into to position at the rope to the right of the Sorcerer Mickey hat stage. The opening show with Olaf was kinda cute. The march to TSMM was not fun. It felt very crowded and a little scary until we were finally in the real queue. People were not following instructions and trying to squeeze in to the entrance without looping around to the end of the line first. Rude. They really need to set up a better system for this. In any event, we waited about 20 minutes to get on the ride and it was fabulous. The kids loved it.

After this, we split up into two groups. One group went to tackle ToT and RnRC. The other went to Wandering Oaken's Frozen Funland. We also sent one member of our group to pick-up tickets for the Frozen Sing-Along show at 6pm. We waited 20 minutes for ToT and 40 for RnRC. These are still great rides. After that, we went to rejoin the rest of our group. The Frozen Welcome Parade and Sing-Along was just ending. The other group was not as successful. They liked the Frozen Funland but then decided to go on Great Movie Ride - with the 3-year old. Bad decision. I would have strongly advocated against it had I been with them. He was really scared and freaked out and my sister ended up getting very upset. Lesson learned.

We had a FP for VotLM so we walked over to check-in. I love puppets so I always enjoy this show. DH decided to do the Indiana Jones stunt show instead. We met up after and headed back to the hotel for our midday break. We all went swimming and relaxed at the hotel and had a very light lunch before heading back to DHS for the evening. By this time it was raining. When we got the park, one group headed straight to see the 4:15 Beauty and the Beast show and others went to see the car stunt show. As always, BatB was fantastic. My niece really wanted to go to the HIStK play area, but it is closed in the rain. A few of us went on Star Tours with no wait. We walked right in! We went to the Wookie planet! Yay!

It was still raining and it took a little while to get our group reassembled to get in line for the Frozen show. This, too, was a little chaotic. There just isn't a good spot for the queue for this and people were jumping in and out of line and didn't have their whole party together when they tried to check-in. Ugh. My nephew had had enough so Grandma took him back to the hotel. The rest of us got our seats for the show. The show itself was really cute and a lot of fun. We had a FP for TSMM so we walked back over to Pixar Place to ride for a second time. Still awesome! It had stopped raining so Niece got a few minutes at the playground before it closed for the day. A few of us went to Tune-in Lounge for a drink and a snack. I had a wedge salad that was just OK. Probably the least favorite thing I ate all week. It wasn't terrible - I've just had much better wedge salads. I think it was bacon bits and not real bacon. Then we met the rest of our group who were eating on Sunset Boulevard. My niece was exhausted so S and BIL decided to take her back to the hotel. DH, Friend and I made a game time decision not to stay for our ToT FP or Fantasmic but to walk over to Boardwalk instead. This ended up being a great idea. The walk was peaceful and pretty. It felt really nice to be away from the crowds. When we got to Boardwalk, we got seats at the bar at Flying Fish. This place was fantastic. Great menu. I wanted to stay there for hours and try everything! I had a tuna appetizer that was amazing. Then we split a cheese plate and I got a dessert wine sampler. So good! I would definitely go back there. We walked back to DHS and got a bus back to the hotel. It was nice way to end a busy day.

 

[Amirah95]

I am not rushing you at all, but I've been waiting a couple of days for day 3.

 

[srauseo]

Sorry for the long delay!

Day three was Animal Kingdom day. Today there was some kind of car accident on the resort entrance road. They had to back cars up and send them around and reroute the buses through another entrance. It was kinda nuts. So, our bus took longer than 20 minutes. We still got to Animal Kingdom before rope drop but we weren't at the front of the line like we were on most other days.

At about 8:45, we were scanned in to the park and allowed to walk up to the bridge to Discovery Island. We were held there for a few more minutes. Once they dropped that rope we walked straight to Safari and waited in a line outside the queue area for a few more minutes until they opened the ride. We walked through the queue basically without stopping. If you bring your stroller into the queue they make you drop it off as you approach the loading area. They park it for you near the ride exit. Basically we walked right into the loading area and onto the vehicle with almost no waiting. I like doing this ride in the morning as the animals seem more active. It was originally going to be an EMH morning at AK but Disney changed that a couple weeks before our trip which really annoyed me. I specifically planned to be at AK on an EMH morning to see more animals. By the time they changed it I didn't want to try and reschedule everything else to switch our AK day. If they make you make your reservations 60-180 days in advance, they shouldn't change EMHs after that time. Not really fair.

In any event, the Safari was still pretty good at 9am. We saw lots of animals and the kids enjoyed it. After Safari we walked over to Expedition Everest and rode that with about a 10 minute wait. I love this ride and the queue is so detailed. Great stuff.

After Everest, we walked to DinoLand and it was basically empty. We rode everything there with little to no wait and my niece absolutely loved the Boneyard. She would have stayed there all day if we let her.

Flame Tree BBQ wasn't open just yet so we staked out a table in a pavilion near the water with a view of Everest and relaxed until they opened at 11. They do a cute little "open for business" show. Flame Tree is one of my favorite counter service restaurants. I had the smoked chicken salad which was big and tasty. My mom and I easily could have split one. Lots of chicken in it. The fruit plate was enormous! Big chunks of pineapple, cantaloupe, grapes, etc., etc. Everyone enjoyed their lunch and it was quiet down by the water.

After lunch it started to rain - and then it started to pour. Luckily our plan had been to do the Nemo show at Noon so we walked over there, waited a few minutes outside, and then walked in and got seats. I love this show. The sound was a little loud at points. My b-i-l took my nephew to the rear of the theater where he was a little more comfortable. By the time the show was over the rain had basically ended. Nice!

We walked back to Africa and rode the train out to Rafiki's planet watch. No line for the train. We spent some time checking out the animals out there - the petting zoo and all the funky bugs. There were cast members out with a red tail hawk and a really cool owl. It was great to see those birds up close. Rafiki was there for pictures and autographs with a pretty short line. We got on a train back to Africa - again with no line.

Once we got back to Africa we walked the Pangani Trail to check out the animals. The birds were really active! And we saw a gorilla. My niece had picked up one of the explorer badge books and was getting stickers from cast members for completing tasks. She seemed really into it!

We had a FP for the 3:00 Lion King show so we got in line. The FP scanner wasn't working so they basically just ushered us through. I'm sure people could have cheated if they knew but people were still getting in the standby line. I don't think we NEEDED a FP for this show, but we might have gotten slightly better seats than the standby folks as I think we were let in first. I don't think the show has changed too much from the old location. But it's still a really fun show and the performers are really into it and it's nice to be in the A/C!

After Lion King we had a FP for Everest so we rode again, only this time my Mom rode instead of my sister. She screamed and laughed like a maniac the whole time. Everyone on the train around us was laughing. It was hilarious. We had to wait in the FP line for a little while - probably around 10 minutes. The standby line was pretty long at that point. I think 40 minutes or longer. So that was worth it.

After that, we had a FP for Kali River Rapids. Again, we probably waited about 10 minutes in the FP line vs. 40 in the standby line. Last time I did the rapids I was in the spot that gets the tidal wave going backwards down the falls. This time I was a few spots away so I didn't get hit with that. Still got pretty wet though!

We planned to do Rapids last so if we were drenched we could head back to the hotel. So, we called it a day and got a bus back to AoA. That night, the kids stayed at the hotel with Grandma and we went to Downtown Disney. DD was packed. We did a little shopping and then went to Raglan Road to check in for our 8:15 reservation. The restaurant was likewise packed. I was a little surprised how busy everything was on a Monday night. We waited a few minutes past our reservation for our table. We got one of the large booths near the front of the restaurant. Unfortunately that meant we couldn't see the stage but because of the high walls it was quiet and we could have a normal conversation without shouting at each other. The food here was all around excellent and the service was very good. I had the fish and chips which was very good. DH's lamb dish was delicious and sister raved about her braised beef. The bread pudding I had for dessert was absolutely decadent. Once we finished we stayed a few minutes to catch one of the step dancing shows. I was amazed to see families with very young children checking in at like 9:30 for a table. Yikes! Obviously they aren't rope-droppers like us!

After dinner we did a little more shopping. It seemed even more crowded and by this time it was around 10pm! The Lego store was nuts and there were still a lot of families waiting outside T-rex for a table! Maybe all the construction keeps the crowds more condensed?

I think we had a very short wait for a bus a headed back to AoA. We were pretty pleased with our day.

 

[Amirah95]

 

[BurleyGirl]

Thanks for your detailed TR! It's good (OK not really good, but informative) to read that the standby waits for rides are at 40 minutes (or whatever) so I can know what to expect for those rides we have to ride but don't have a FP for. Guess I'll just take the mindset of waiting with me! Particularly AK, as we'll be hitting that park midday without any FastPasses (as we're using them later that night at MK) and we only want to ride EE and the Safari...

Also, glad to read about your experience at Raglan Road. I certainly don't want to have a table where we won't see the entertainment, so I've made myself a note to check in with them sometime prior to our reservation that day (while my guys are doing their DisneyQuest thing) to put in a request for a table/booth where we can see the action!!

 

[Webb4Disney]

.

 

[gericoronado]

Thanks for letting us coast along (virtually) on your trip. I'm enjoying the details of this and look forward to reading about the remaining vacation days. I hadn't considered Raglan Road at all when doing my ADRs but interest is now peaked upon reading your mention of a lamb dish. I love lamb and it's hard to find on any menu. May have to consider adding RR to my DTD day.

 

[srauseo]

Thanks for your detailed TR! It's good (OK not really good, but informative) to read that the standby waits for rides are at 40 minutes (or whatever) so I can know what to expect for those rides we have to ride but don't have a FP for. Guess I'll just take the mindset of waiting with me! Particularly AK, as we'll be hitting that park midday without any FastPasses (as we're using them later that night at MK) and we only want to ride EE and the Safari...

Also, glad to read about your experience at Raglan Road. I certainly don't want to have a table where we won't see the entertainment, so I've made myself a note to check in with them sometime prior to our reservation that day (while my guys are doing their DisneyQuest thing) to put in a request for a table/booth where we can see the action!!

When are you going? Crowds may be different.

Re: Raglan Road. Yes, definitely make a preference known - although you may end up waiting longer.

 

[srauseo]

Thanks for letting us coast along (virtually) on your trip. I'm enjoying the details of this and look forward to reading about the remaining vacation days. I hadn't considered Raglan Road at all when doing my ADRs but interest is now peaked upon reading your mention of a lamb dish. I love lamb and it's hard to find on any menu. May have to consider adding RR to my DTD day.

We are big fans of lamb as well. DH definitely enjoyed this dish!

 

[BurleyGirl]

When are you going? Crowds may be different.

Re: Raglan Road. Yes, definitely make a preference known - although you may end up waiting longer.

We'll be at AK on Saturday afternoon, Nov 22, which is the weekend before Thanksgiving, so I'm anticipating summer-like crowds.

And, nothing else planned after Raglan Road that evening, so I think we can afford to wait and it would be worth it...

 

[srauseo]

So, this day went all kinds of awry but things turned out all right in the end.

The plan was to head to EPCOT for EMH. My nephew was feeling sick in the morning so BIL stayed back with him while we went to catch the bus. Someone had the brilliant idea to take the stroller with us so BIL only had to handle my nephew and not the stroller too. Smart idea.

The rest of us headed off to the bus stop and we waited...and waited. And no bus! Buses kept showing up for other parks but no EPCOT bus. The line was backing up and people were starting to get antsy. Eventually a driver stopped and asked how long we had been waiting. We told him it had been nearly 30 minutes and he said he would call in to dispatch. About 10 minutes later a bus finally showed up.

We still got to EPCOT before rope drop but there was definitely a line at this point. We only waited a little while before they started scanning people in. We dropped the stroller off at the first stroller parking section we saw and texted BIL to let him know where we left it. Then we headed straight for Soarin'. We walked in and I think we were the second flight of the morning! Perfect!
After this we rode Listen to the Land with no wait. I find this attraction really interesting and am sad it seems to get overlooked.

After the Land we got some snacks and coffee in Sunshine Seasons. BIL texted that he had arrived so we met him outside and headed over to the Living Seas. We walked right in and into our clam shell for the ride. The ride is pretty cute and has a neat visual effect at the end. The kids really enjoyed the aquariums. We spent time exploring and then went to the 9:40 Turtle Talk with Crush show. This was my first experience with this show and I thought it was great! Everyone was laughing and participating. My niece was a little disappointed she didn’t get picked to ask Crush a question but she still really loved it.

After this, we headed over to Imagination. I’ll confess I’m kinda a fan of the old ride but I don’t hate on the new version as much as some people seem to do. The butterfly effect and the “explosion" at the end are pretty neat. The audio could be better though. I’d like to see them beef up the play area with more stuff. Niece seemed to enjoy it though.

After this, me, DH, Sister and friend went to Captain EO and we sent the rest of the family on to World Showcase. We grew up in the 80s and were all dancers (well, not DH) so this movie hits all the right notes with me. The moves are so classic. I can see how it’s not for everyone and won’t be too sad when it gets replaced with something new.

Once we got out of the movie we got word that nephew’s conditioning was worsening so we all were off to first aid. After a lot of back and forth, my Mom and Sister decided to leave with my nephew and the rest of us continued to the World Showcase. My niece did the Agent P scavenger hunt in Mexico. It was pretty cute and the effects were neat. It seems like a nice way to keep little ones engaged.

My niece had a gaggle of people (some friends we met up with) helping her on her hunt so DH and I went to Maelstrom. We enjoyed a little of the Mariachi but it was really too hot to stand around in the sun for long. I pitied them in their costumes! The posted wait for Maelstrom was 20 minutes. It was probably around 11:30. I’m pretty sure we waited longer than 20 minutes. I think it was more like 30, and I was wishing we went to the bakery before instead of after. I don’t like how they leave the theater doors open and people just walk through while you are watching. I think it’s rude. I understand that people don’t want to watch the movie over and over (it is pretty dated) but they need to set up a better system for this.

After Maelstrom we went to the bakery for a snack. The line was really short and we ordered some School Bread and a Linie Glacier shot to split. We sat on the back patio which was nice and quiet. The Linie liquor was very strong but interesting. The School Bread, as always was great. We sort of started a drinking around the World afternoon. We grabbed a Carlsberg at a cart in Norway and walked around the gardens and shops in China for a bit. DH challenged me to pick out the samurai sword he chose from the display wall (there are probably 30-40 on display). I chose right on the first try. We are a perfect couple.

We ended up running back in to our group and decided to head to Germany to check in for our 1:15 lunch reservation at Biergarten. Since we lost three people we asked some friends we had met up with to join us instead. We checked in early and were seated just a few minutes later. We got a great table right in the center on the dance floor. Big smiles from us!! Our waitress showed up quickly and took our drink order (liters all around!) and we quickly hit the buffet and sat down just as the first show of the day was starting up. I really enjoy Biergarten. I like the atmosphere. I like the entertainment. I like a glass of beer bigger than my head! I like the food here, too. Maybe nothing is amazing but there’s good variety and everything is pretty tasty. Niece ate some roasted turkey, cheese, fruit, bread and desserts. I enjoyed different sausages and meats, spaetzel, potato salad, pretzel bread, some cheeses, etc. Two guys joined us at the end of our picnic table. They weren’t super chatty but they were friendly enough. I think they were really there for the beer and the show. My niece danced up a storm. She really had fun. It’s nice that kids can cut loose a little in there. We ended up seeing two shows. By the second show, the place had really emptied out. It was much more crowded though not full when we had arrived. It’s a great place to take a long lunch break in air conditioning. DH and I were refreshed enough that we decided to forgo the afternoon break back at the hotel. BIL and niece rode a boat across the lagoon and headed back to the hotel without us and we said goodbye to our friends and went separate ways.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my sister was concerned enough about my nephew that she decided to take him to a walk-in clinic. I think they went to the Centra Care clinic near Downtown Disney. She said the service from Centra Care was outstanding. They diagnosed him with an ear infection, filled his prescription, and got them back to the hotel via free shuttle service. She was impressed.

So, now officially on our own, DH continued drinking around the world. We went to Tutto Gusto and had a wine flight and a nice plate of cheese and bread. The bartender was gorgeous. I tried to speak a little Italian but I had forgotten so much from our honeymoon. This was a nice experience, even though there are no seats at the bar. But we had just been sitting for two hours so we didn’t mind standing and we didn’t want to get a table because we weren’t sure how long we would stay. Two annoying things happened here however. One, a younger women was eating by herself at a table and she talked on her phone the whole time, kinda loudly. I get that some people use their phone as a crutch when they are eating alone but I think you should just own it and not annoy the folks around you by yapping on the phone the whole time. Second, a group of middle-aged women came in. They had obviously been drinking and had obviously visited the bar earlier in the day. They were a little rowdy and kept calling for the bartender (pronouncing his name incorrectly every time). “DANNN-YILLLL – WE’RE BACK FOR MORRRRAHHH!” Luckily they didn’t stay long. It’s so unattractive when people can’t hold their liquor. After we finished our wine flight I asked the bartender to pick a glass of red for me. I gave him a few preferences and he picked out a really nice glass. The bar was not crowded at this time of day – it was probably around 3:30 or 4. We stayed for a while, enjoying our wine and chatting.

After this we heard from my Mom and Sister. They were on their way back to the park. So we met them at Cava de Tequila. We had some nice margaritas there. I really liked DH’s avocado margarita – very cool and refreshing. This bar, as opposed to Tutto Gusto, was pretty crowded. We ended up standing at the bar again. We been to Cava de Tequila on an earlier trip and went right when they opened (12:30? 1?) and it was pretty quiet then and we got a table no problem.

Next we went to watch the movies in Canada and France. I enjoy the travelogues and the kids weren’t with us so no one complained! The French film is a little dated but I love the music and scenery. This is one of my Mom’s favorites.

We walked over to Spice Road Table and saw that there were plenty of seats so we decided to give it a try. It was pretty quiet in the restaurant and the service was quick. We ordered a sampler that had some grilled meats, stuffed grape leaves and lamb sliders. I also got another wine flight! I enjoyed the food and I would definitely go back though it’s open air seating so I maybe wouldn’t do it in the middle of a hot day. In the evening with the fans on it was quite comfortable though. We got a baklava sampler for dessert. Yum! My mom suddenly announced that she wanted to ride Test Track since she didn’t get to go with us on day one. We suggested she go hop in the single rider line and she was off. It was pretty funny.

The rest of us walked over to check in for our reserved Illuminations viewing area FP. By the time we got there the area was already pretty full – it was just a little before 9 at this point. It is a pretty nice vantage point but I don’t think I would use a fast pass for this again. I’m happy pulling up to spot outside Italy a little before show time.

We left a few minutes before the show ended and hightailed for the bus. By an amazing coincidence, my mom ended up back at the bus at the same time as us so we all rode back together. We got home in time to watch some of the Frozen Fireworks from our room (bus service worked well this time!). It had been a long day and we lost some time here and there but it still beat working!

 

[srauseo]

On Wednesday, the kids took a break day with BIL and Grandma and DH, Sister, Friend and I went to Universal. We booked the Mears shuttle bus. It was $165 total for round-trip bus service, a two-park one-day pass, and taxes, etc. This worked really well. The bus picked us up at AoA at 7:20. We were the last stop in WDW before heading to Universal. I don't know if this would always be the case but given where AoA is located in relation to I-4 I think it might be. We got to Universal at about 7:45 and got our tickets from the will-call kiosk outside of the entry gate.

This week they were doing the strange staggered opening thing where Universal Orlando was opening at 9AM and Islands of Adventure was opening at 8AM. We thought about getting in line to wait for UO to go straight to Diagon Alley but decided to go to IA instead since it was probably opening soon if not open already. It was, in fact, already open, so we walked in and headed straight toward Hogsmeade. There were people in the area but it was not crowded yet so we stored our bags in the lockers in between the Dragon Challenge and the new train station and headed to Forbidden Journey. The wait was not too bad. From getting in line to walking out the exit it was less than 45 minutes. The queue for this ride is just great. It was my sister's first time and she was loving it. After the ride we got butterbeer from a cart and a chocolate cauldron cake from the bake shop (decadent!). There were no lines in the area at this point.

It was getting close to 9am so we decided to ride the Hogwarts Express to London. Note - you have to show your park pass before entering the queue for the train so they can confirm you have a two-park pass. We waited a short time for a train - maybe 10 minutes. We were super geeked out once we boarded and were directed to our compartment. Each compartment seats 8 so we shared with another group. This was a really cool experience. It really feels like you are riding the train in the movie. The effects are great!

The Kings Cross train station in "London" is impressive. It feels so authentic. Once we exited the station we were directed to walk around in a big loop to reenter London from the other side. I think they do this to manage crowds going in and out of Diagon Alley on really crowded days or for the initial morning rush because later in the day, when we rode the train to London for the second time, we could walk straight to the Diagon Alley entrance and didn't have to do the loop by Men in Black.

We entered Diagon Alley. Yes, the brick wall doesn't actually move, but it's still a pretty cool entrance. Everyone was a little blown away. They really did an amazing job. There is so much to see and so many little details. We turned into Knockturn Alley. It's dark and spooky like it should be. Lots of little "wizards" were walking around with the interactive wands casting spells that resulted in cool effect in different windows, etc. When we came out the other end we were near the restrooms and the bar and ice cream shop. Then we had our first experience with the Gringott's dragon breathing fire. We weren't expecting it (though you can learn to anticipate it as there is some heavy breathing and a popping sound preceding each like the fire spurts in the Fire Swamp...sorry...wrong movie). It is really cool. One lady actually screamed she was so surprised.

The Gringotts ride was down when we arrived and we heard them say it was a 4 hour wait! We weren't up for that so we did some shopping and exploring and watched a little of Celestina Warbeck's show. We also did the Ollivander wand selection with no wait in the Diagon Alley shop. They chose a couple – either engaged or newly married – and wands selected them. It was pretty cute.

By this time it was close to 11 so we went to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. You order at the counter and get a candlestick with your order number to bring to your table. A host seats you. We had no wait for a table. The dining room looks so much like the movie! We were all members of the clean plate club here. Grub was good. They also had beer on the menu – Witch’s Brew and Dragonscale. I’m not sure what they are really.

We finished in plenty of time to head over to the 11:30 Beetle the Bard puppet show. We all really enjoyed this show. It’s a nice re-staging of the shadow puppet show from the movie with some cool little effects.
At this point we decided to head back over to Hogsmeade so we took the train from Kings Cross. The way they handled getting on to Platform 9 ¾ was another neat effect. I won’t spoil it. The “view” on this ride is, of course, different than the view heading the other direction so it’s definitely worthwhile to go both ways.

Once back in Hogsmeade we did the Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff, both with about 10 minute waits. We shopped a little more and then got on the train to back to London. We asked a CM about the wait for Gringotts and it was still around two hours or more and they suggested to come back later in the afternoon. So we decided to take a break from the heat – this was one of the hottest days and there was no afternoon storm to cool things off. We walked back out to CityWalk and grabbed some seats at the bar at Bubba Gump’s. It was pretty empty and quiet at this time of day around 1:30/2. We sat there for a while enjoying the air conditioning, a frozen cocktail, and some shrimp, of course.

After this nice long break, we headed back to Diagon Alley and headed for Gringott’s. The wait was posted at 90 minutes (accurately as it turns out) so we hopped in line. The extended queue goes into a former backstage area that is covered and has some misting fans. There is also a concessions cart selling water and other drinks back there so it’s not too bad. Once you get into the line in the actual bank it’s really amazing. The trolls are great! The lines heads back into the security area where you are photographed “for security purposes”. Then you move on to the pre-ride area where one a troll and Bill Weasley set you up for the ride. You move on to the elevators which take you down to vault area. You pick up your 3D glasses and ascend a staircase to the ride loading area. The ride itself was deemed worth the wait by our group. I might still like Forbidden Journey better but Gringott’s is way cool.

Having seen everything we wanted to see of the Wizarding World we discussed seeing some other parts of Universal. No one was up for another long wait and many lines were still 30 minutes or more. ET had a short line so we did that. I wished we hadn’t. That ride is just so weird. I mean, I definitely have nostalgia for ET but what the heck is going on in there?

We had arranged for our bus pick-up at 6:30 and it was getting close to that time so we headed out. My sister stopped to pick up her packages (they hold purchases at the gift shop near the entrance for you) and we went to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream. The guys were tossing scoops of ice cream back and forth. It was kind of impressive! However, there was a really annoying group in front of us that took forever to place their order. They kept asking for samples and half their group was outside and people were back and forth and changing their orders and on and on. They were so oblivious to the fact that other people were waiting. It was obnoxious.
We finally got our ice cream and headed to the bus stop. The bus stopped at Sea World on the way back to pick up more WDW resort guests and AoA was the first stop once we were back onsite.

The Kids, BIL and Mom went to Sanaa at AKL for lunch. They had a nice time exploring the resort and enjoyed Sanaa. Sanaa is one of the few resort table service restaurants that is open for lunch, which I find interesting. I like the idea of exploring resorts on a break day but if you want to have a table service lunch you have to be careful which one you chose! They also went to Downtown Disney for a while and the kids rode the carousel and train there.
That night, DH and I did laundry while we swam in the Cozy Cone pool. It was around 8:30/9pm and there several moms doing laundry at that time but we scored a washer and then a dryer with no wait. We also got to see the Frozen fireworks from our room again.