Trip Report - September / October 2023

[Noreen411]

Sunday 10/1/23 Continued
After swimming we showered and changed for the evening.

We drove to Caribbean Beach Resort for our dinner at Sebastian’s Bistro.

We went early to have pre-dinner cocktails at Banana Cabana. The chairs were missing from around the bar; last time we were here there were chairs to sit at the bar.


I had a Banana Cabana drink and Scott had Maker’s Bourbon.


We were seated on time. We enjoyed our meal. It was even better than our visit last trip.


We didn’t like the Mickey shaped bread since it tasted like Parmesan, but it was cute to look at. The other rolls were good, but would have been even better if they were warm.


We did the shrimp add on and enjoyed that even though I would have preferred the sauce on the side to dip.


Everything was very good. The salad is very fresh, the sides go well with the meat platter, the meat platter was good. They added fish to the platter which was a nice addition.




The bread pudding was better here than at Tambu Lounge this trip.



After dinner we watched the Epcot fireworks from right outside the restaurant.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 10/2/23
We went to the gym about 6. Back in the villa our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, and showers.

We didn’t make breakfast since we have a breakfast reservation that was a hard one to get…

We drove to the Riviera for breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace.


Scott had Cappuccino; I had Iced Caramel Cappuccino.


We were brought a cute bucket of pastries, both of us liked the apple crumb one the best. Of course we had to take a bite of each to see what we thought.



Scott ordered the quiche.


I chose the waffles.


This was so much fun. It’s definitely distracting waiting for the characters to come around but we both enjoyed it. It would be great if they had a photopass photographer walking around with the characters since all our pictures were either Me or Scott but none of us together.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 10/2/23 Continued
Scott kept laughing at me since I was so focused on watching for the characters to visit; he would remind me to eat and they won’t skip us. Of course as they were getting close I would stop eating and be ready to take pictures.





This picture cracks me up; Scott didn’t realize Minnie was behind him when I took the picture.


We went out on the deck after breakfast just to see what’s out there since we saw people going out to look


We enjoyed breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace and would definitely do that again.

We picked up a Riviera special cookie (wrapped for later) from Primo Piatto.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 10/2/23 Continued
We went to Epcot after breakfast.



Scott went on Guardian’s of the Galaxy. I haven’t tried it, Scott has been on a few times and thinks it would make me sick so I’m happy to find a spot to wait while he rides.


Of course I’ll still pose for the cute pictures.





We went on Soarin over California next. This is such a nice attraction. I like the original California version; Scott prefers the Soarin around the World version.

We went on Living with the Land which is always a peaceful ride.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 10/2/23 Continued
We decided to head to Magic Kingdom.


It was very crowded. There isn’t a Halloween party tonight so that’s probably why it’s so crowded.




We went on Big Thunder Mountain.
I think we rode the People Mover.

We bought a few more shirts in one of the shops on Main Street. There was a shirt I saw but didn’t remember where that we were looking for.

Since the park was so crowded we decided to try to find the shirt I wanted at one of the resorts. We started at the Contemporary since they usually have a good selection but didn’t find it there. Next was the Polynesian which had the shirt I wanted.

Scott got a cup of Kona coffee from the little stand by Kona cafe.


We headed to Hollywood Studios.




Up first was my favorite attraction here - Tower of Terror.


We walked around the park a bit enjoying the atmosphere and browsing through some of the stores.

We went on Toy Story Mania trying to remember some of the tips we read about. We’re going to have to read up on those again.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 10/2/23 Continued
We drove to the Boardwalk for dinner at Trattoria al Forno. As we often do, we went early to have pre-dinner cocktails at Abracadabar. We walked around the Boardwalk area a bit first.

Once at Abracadabar I had the Hoodunit Punch (my favorite cocktail of the trip) and Scott had Bombay Sapphire straight up, stirred with 3 olives.


As we were sitting there chatting about our day, we realized we hopped between 3 parks. We didn’t plan it out like we did when we planned the 4 park challenge. This was a lot of fun just hopping around to do what we were in the mood to do.

It wasn’t as crowded today as it was on our last visit and we were seated on time.


We started with the Bianca pizza; the off menu pizza that we saw the couple sitting near us eating the other day that they raved about. This was great.


We ordered too much food. We ordered both the gnocchi and the lasagna. Both were pretty good but we didn’t finish either one.



We skipped dessert at Trattoria al Forno and drove to Saltgrass for dessert. We shared the Pumpkin Cheesecake that we’ve been really enjoying this trip.



Back at the resort, we started watching Hotel Transylvania 4

 

[Paulaparm]

I really want to try Abracadabar next trip!

 

[BellaBaby]

I love how you two just follow your hearts to wherever it leads you and have so much fun!
I liked that photo with the poncho--cute!

 

[Noreen411]

I really want to try Abracadabar next trip!

You definitely should - that Hoodunit Punch was great.

 

[Noreen411]

I love how you two just follow your hearts to wherever it leads you and have so much fun!
I liked that photo with the poncho--cute!

Hi. That’s what vacation should be…Just follow your heart and have fun. It took me a while to realize that since I’m a type A planner and like to make plans and spreadsheets. I’ll still make my plans and spreadsheets but am happy to go with the flow too. I sort of think having the plans helps make going with the flow easier since you have a plan to fall back on or follow the plan if you want.

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 10/3/23
We went to the gym around 6. Back in the villa, our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, breakfast, etc.

We headed to Hollywood Studios.


Toy Story Mania was our first attraction. We tried using some of the tips we read about to get a better score, basically working together rather than competing against each other. It was fun to do that, but we only remembered a few of the tips.

I love this picture; Scott matches the mannequin in the window.


My favorite attraction in the park was next - Tower of Terror.



Scott went on the single rider line for Rock & Roller Coaster while I waited and struck up a conversation with someone also waiting for someone riding Rock & Roller Coaster. It’s very easy to chat with people at Disney like this.

Scott has been talking about wanting a hot dog so we stopped at Rosie’s and got him a foot long hot dog, fries, and soda. Of course I had a few fries and a bite of the hot dog.


We headed out of the park and back to the resort. We went to the pool. It’s not very crowded today and there were plenty of chairs and even cabanas available. We set up at one of the cabanas. We don’t spend a lot of time at the pool at once so would never be those people claiming their spot early in the morning to spend the day there, but this was a pleasant surprise.

There was Poolside Bingo happening so we played. This was a cute activity, without a charge to play, and the prizes were things like candy. There are a lot of activities at the resort but we’re usually busy running around that we don’t take advantage of them.

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 10/3/23 Continued
Later we showered and changed for the evening. We drove to the Yacht Club for our dinner reservation at Yachtsman Steakhouse. We went early to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail.

We went to the Crews Cup Lounge and got settled at the bar. I had a raspberry mojito and Scott had a Martini. The bartender asked if we were eating at the bar or waiting for a table in the restaurant.


When it was time for our reservation, the bartender checked us in and we were brought to our table in Yachtsman Steakhouse.


The onion rolls are delicious.


We started with the shrimp cocktail appetizer. This was very good. The sauce is what made it stand out.


For an entree we had the short rib which was another great choice.


Of course we had the Mac & cheese which Scott said was “pretty good”


The Brussels sprouts were the weakest item we chose, they were OK but not as good as everything else.


For dessert the waiter recommended the Brûlée Cheesecake which was good and very artistic.


We enjoyed our meal at Yachtsman Steakhouse and will put this back on the list of restaurants to return to.

We walked around outside enjoying the atmosphere for a bit before heading back to the resort.

 

[VAtink]

Late to the party, but joining in! We were there the same time as you!

 

[Noreen411]

Late to the party, but joining in! We were there the same time as you!

Welcome. I’m enjoying your report too, and keep looking for us in the background of your pictures.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/4/23
We went to the gym at 6. Back in the villa our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers and breakfast. Scott went to pick up Starbucks while I finished getting ready.

We went to Epcot.




When the park opened and we were able to get an ILL for Guardian’s for Scott, we were pleasantly surprised to have many time choices available so picked one maybe 20 minutes later. I found a bench to wait for Scott while he rode.

Of course I took the cute pictures.





Scott will often mix up the words to songs and sometimes it sticks and we’ll sing it with the wrong words. It must have been from the Frozen singalong when they sing “Do you want to build a snowman?” In Scott’s version it was “I want to be a Snowball.”. Somehow this cracked us up and we would keep singing it that way.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/4/23 Continued
We went on the Figment ride then got in line for pictures with Figment. As we were waiting we noticed something we thought was odd, several people were giving Figment little presents. We couldn’t see exactly what they were giving him but one of them looked like friendship bracelets. Is that a thing, giving Figment presents?

When it was our turn, Figment spent more time interacting with Scott than me so we have some great pictures of him with Figment. Scott is usually kind of laid back and reserved when meetings a character and Figment was great, really interacting with him.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/4/23 Continued
We headed towards World Showcase stopping for some pictures.





We finally stopped at one of the Food & Wine booths, Bubble & Brine, and ordered the Jonah Crab claw (no mustard) for Scott. I’m surprised we’ve been here almost 2 weeks already and this is the first time we stopped to get something from a food and wine booth. Scott enjoyed the crab claw.


We went to Mexico and rode the boat ride.


It was time for us to ride Remy, but when we got there the attraction was down so we have an anytime return on the app.




We decided to hop over to Hollywood Studios and took the Skyliner since we were right near the International Gateway. We wanted to find the picture that I like where it looks like you are looking down on us from the sky and we look little; the Hollywood Studios version since we have that picture from Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Magic Kingdom. We asked in the photo place near the entrance and they directed us to near Star Tours. We walked over there but nobody was there. We spoke to a few of the cast members who said they haven’t seen it there in a while but didn’t know where it was.

We rode Star Tours which we both enjoyed.

Then it was time for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. This is always cute.

We couldn’t pass up my favorite attraction…Tower of Terror.



Remy was running again so we left Hollywood Studios.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/4/23 Continued
We took the Skyliner back to Epcot.

Since Remy was back up we were able to ride; this is another cute attraction.

We walked around World Showcase and picked up various snacks to wrap and bring home with us. There were several things we wanted to try but kept running out of time to try everything.

In France we purchased a pack of Macarons, an almond croissant, and a Nutella filled powdered donut.




In Germany we purchased a Gingerbread cookie and an Apple cookie.



In Norway, we purchased an Epelkake, School Bread, and a chocolate pretzel looking cookie.




We left Epcot, drove back to the resort to pack the pastries up and put them in the refrigerator.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 10/4/23 Continued
We got ready to head out for the evening and drove to the Riviera for dinner at Topolino’s Terrace, arriving early to have a pre-dinner cocktail.

At Topolino’s bar, I had a French Rose and Scott had Tanquerey 10 straight with olives.


We were seated on time


The bread is adorably shaped.


For appetizers we had the Octopus and the Gnocchi.

The octopus was great; probably the best octopus we’ve had


The gnocchi was OK but we wouldn’t get it again, it paled in comparison to the octopus.


While we often will split an entree, today we ordered two entrees (of course we shared both)

One entree we ordered was the Sole Munierre on the waiter’s recommendation as their signature dish. We weren’t thrilled with it. The sauce was too watery and just tasted like lemon.


Another entree we ordered was the filet mignon with the scallop enhancement. The filet was delicious and the scallops too.



For dessert we had the crème brulee. This was very good.


I thought this was a very artistic looking picture of Scott’s Grand Marnier; how you can see the name of the restaurant on the napkin through the drink.


We enjoyed our meal at Topolino’s Terrace and will add it back to the list of restaurants to eat at again.

We headed back to the resort and started watching another movie: Meg2 - The Trench

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 10/5/23
We went to the gym about 5:45. Back in the villa our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast. We tried the school bread from the Norway bakery in Epcot; neither of us liked it. The cream tasted lemony and just odd to us.

We drove to Magic Kingdom. Today is our last park day before we start the drive home tomorrow so we knew we wanted to go to Magic Kingdom and take in as much of that magic feeling before we leave. This is why we like to start our trip at Magic Kingdom too (even though we didn’t this trip); getting right into the Magic.


Of course we need to take pictures as we’re walking up Main Street. We ended up with some nice PhotoPass pictures.










We also realized we don’t like how the hugging pictures usually come out. So we tried this pose when they said to hug and we like how this comes out better.


This looks like a postcard but we’re on the bottom right.