What are we celebrating? Everthing! A January 2018 Trip Report - THE END - New TR link added

Yippee! Your installment is a nice way to begin the weekend.

Awww, thanks. Two more are up and ready.

Loving your report!

Thank you so much! I enjoy writing it.

I'm enjoying your updates! Can't wait to read more :).

Two more updates are posted!

The resort looks good. Looking forward to your next instalment :thumbsup2

It is such a cute resort. And it is spread out so it never really seems crowded. The next update is posted.
Like:drive: bad weather travel :sad:

I don't mind driving in yucky weather. But other drivers make me nervous.

Awesome! Can't wait to read the rest!

Two more updates are posted!

What a great guy!

He is pretty awesome. I'm a very lucky person.
 
Before I start the next installment, I must confess that I am a very bad DISBoards report writer in the following area - I took no food pictures. I know friends, you're probably thinking "what the heck Ruthie - we need comprehensive information!". A million apologies. It just seemed odd to me to take pictures of our meals. I did jot down notes of what we ate, and will do my best to use my internet searching abilities to find pictures of what we ate. Now, back to where we left off . . . finding our dining destination.

When we first made the reservations for this trip, we were well within the timeframes to make dining reservations. And if you read my PTR, the dining changed often. I was very excited though to get a reservation at Art Smith's Homecoming Restaurant. After we left the sunglasses store, we once again found a "you are here" map and was able to find the restaurant. At this point, the sun had gone down and it was COLD. We were a few minutes early, but went on ahead and checked in. The poor hostess was stationed outside. After checking in, she asked us if we wanted to sit inside or outside and that the outside had heaters.

Good heavens woman - my teeth are chattering - I'm going inside!


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The place was packed, but there were seats in the front for people to wait, so that is what we did. I think we probably waited about 20 minutes before our table was ready. We had a four top table close to the bar. It was comfortable and we had more than enough room. Our waiter was named David (I only remember because that's my brother's name - this is not something I wrote down!) and he was very attentive to us without being obnoxious. I hate going to restaurants where the server is either on top of me every two minutes or a ghost. I got a diet coke and Tony an unsweet tea and we began to look at the menu. We had the dining plan which entitled us to one table service, one counter service and two snacks per person per day. I very much liked having the dining plan. Everything was paid for (except the tip) and it was just an easy process. David brought us our drinks and scanned my magic band to confirm we were on the dining plan. Now it was about 7:00 PM and neither Tony or I had eaten since the eggs that morning in Valdosta, so we were starving. Although it was not part of the dining plan, we wanted an appetizer.

Bee Haven Bay Fried Green Tomatoes - Shaved ham, remoulade sauce and dressed local greens.


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They were so good. I do not eat ham, so I pushed that part aside, but the greens and the sauce on the tomatoes were delicious. Definitely worth having to pay extra for these. Our entree's were served just a few minutes after the empty appetizer plates were taken away.

I ordered "Art's Fabulous Fried Chicken - Chef Art Smith's signature dish! Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, cheddar drop biscuit and love." No gravy on the taters and all white meat please.


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The red sauce on the picture above was not on my plate (I'm not sure what that is). Again, delicious. The servings were huge and it was piping hot. I absolutely loved the cast iron skillet that the taters were served in.

Tony ordered "Fried Catfish accompanied by hushpuppies, grits and a side of remoulade."


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Again, no red stuff on his plate (seriously, what is that?) but everything else is accurate. I ate a bite of his fish and it was also so good. The fish was flaky and even though the batter was thick, it was cooked thru.

Neither one of us could finish our dinner. There was just so much food. Had I been paying attention to other tables and the sizes of their meals, we would have passed on the appetizer. But those tomatoes were really good too! David could clearly see that dessert would need to be boxed up to go.

I got "Hamilton County Chocolate Pecan Pie a 100-year-old traditional Smith Family Farm recipe, served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream." Since it was to-go, I opted to not have the ice cream.


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This was good, but very rich. The ice cream would have been a nice addition, but there was no way in the world I would have been able to eat another bite at that point.

Tony got "Shine Cake Chef Art's signature dessert. An adult-only butter cake soaked with moonshine syrup, served with seasonal fruit gastrique and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream." Again, we passed on the ice cream. Tony really liked this. I did not. I've tasted moonshine before and it is not a flavor that I enjoy. When they say it was soaked, they mean it.


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After we settled the bill, we gathered everything up and waddled out of the restaurant. Still cold and we had to figure out where the busses might be. I'm really not this challenged when it comes to directions, but I was definitely driving the struggle bus on this day. But before we left, I wanted to get up close with one more thing.

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The Characters in Flight balloon was all lit up, but due to the winds, not operating that evening. I know that Tony really wanted to get up in it, but luckily for me, we couldn't do it. I am very, very, very afraid of heights. Remember these words for later in the trip. After checking out the balloon, we managed to find our way to the busses. I was done with the less than helpful maps. At this point, I just asked someone for directions. We waited probably 10 minutes for a bus and thankfully the heat was chugging nicely. Coming out of Disney Springs took a while because the traffic was pretty congested. But I wasn't driving, so I just enjoyed the ride. We got back to the resort and we immediately went back to the room. Our desserts got put into the refrigerator and we were snuggled down in bed shortly after that. It was really a perfect first day (other than the weather of course) and I was just over the top excited to be in Disney with Tony. Tomorrow was our first park day - Magic Kingdom.

Up next - honey why is this map in Japanese?
 
A great update and the food pictures came out well. Don't you just love the internet :thumbsup2

I didn't realise you had opted for the dining plan. Did it work out well for you?
 


Love reading about your trip. Can't wait to hear if or how you and Tony maneuvered your two scooters using Disney's transportation. DH and I will both need scooters when we go. I'm concerned about using buses and boats with two of them. I am also curious to see if you thought the dining plan was worth it.

Sheila in Mobile, Alabama
 
Happy February everyone! And happy Friday! I hope that everyone is doing well and staying warm!!! Let's keep moving along with this trip report. Because we have officially arrived at our first park day!

MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

Every trip that I have any memory of always started off at the Magic Kingdom. That park above all others have such special memories for me. You walk in and you immediately go from a professional mature adult to squealing with delight like a five year old with all of the magical-ness of it all. Yes, that's why it's called the Magic Kingdom. I know. So in the planning of this trip, I insisted that Magic Kingdom be our first park day. Tony really didn't care, so day one was MK. I had tinkered with our FP+ so that our first ride was around 10/10:30. Knowing that we needed to plan plenty of travel time, so we left the room by 8:30. A quick stop at the food court to refill our mugs, and we were waiting for our bus.


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Yes friends, another cold day. Poor Tony was all layered up with a long sleeved shirt, an Under Armour sweatshirt and his Carhart jacket. And the toboggan and gloves from yesterday! You might also notice that he was wearing a "happy birthday" button. Technically it was not his birthday, but since we were celebrating everything, we threw that in also. My button was more all encompassing!

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We waited maybe five minutes before a bus arrived. We got loaded up first and then the rest of the passengers were loaded. This is normal procedure when traveling in an ECV or wheelchair. You get loaded to the bus first and unloaded last. That way there is no chance of running over the toes of the other passengers. And before we knew it, we had arrived at the bus stop for Magic Kingdom. I could tell immediately that the crowds were going to be insane. There were extra magic hours that night and this was race weekend, so things were jammed packed. This made for challenges when there are two people in your party in ECV's. When you ride side-by-side, it takes up quite a bit of room. When Tony is behind me, I cannot see him or talk to him, so that increases the chances of us getting separated. We tried very hard to not bump into people or be in the way, but there were numerous situations where people must have thought we were invisible. Folks would dart in front of us or literally charge into us. I know it was crowded, but just taking 5 seconds to see where you're going can make all the difference in the world. Sorry - rant over. Since I had a bag, we had to go thru that security line. I appreciate that they take the time to look thru bags to ensure safety. They also checked the ECV, including the battery bag on the back. And then I saw this sign and knew I had found my happy place.

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We went through the tunnel and there we were - in the heart of Main Street USA. The holiday decorations were still up and Christmas music was playing (which I could have done without - I wanted regular Main Street USA music). I was soaking everything in, so I sent Tony over to grab a map. He came back and I opened it and found that it was in Japanese (no picture - sorry). I started laughing hysterically and showed the map to Tony and then showed him the front that clearly said it was in Japanese. Since neither one of us have ever been to Japan, we tried again and got an English speaking map. Oh honey, you're so precious.

Our next step was to head down Main Street. If you have read my PTR, you know that our trip that was scheduled with my mom a couple of years ago ended up getting cancelled and in November, 2016, she passed away. Disney was her happy place and although I was determined to not get sad during this trip, she loved rounding the corner and getting that first glimpse of the castle. And I knew that when I first saw it, it would be a difficult moment. And it was. I sat by the entrance to the Emporium and took a minute to remember how much this place meant to her and how much I missed her. It was my only sad moment that day, but not the last one for the trip. After I gathered myself together, I spied my first photo pass photographer!


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We got Memory Maker for this trip. We stopped for tons of pictures, but there were quite a few of them that were just "meh". When we go again, I will probably not do it again. I do like the option of cropping and adding borders. You'll see more of that later. But now that we're here and we've zig-zagged thru the crowd, it was officially time for our first FP+ - Peter Pan's Flight. I just adore this ride. It's such a classic story. The stand by line was around 100 minutes. Seriously people - who waits 100 minutes for a five minute ride? Not me. Our magic bands were scanned and it took about 15 minutes to get up to the ride. I had asked the cast member if the moving walkway could be slowed down. Tony's balance is not the best and I was very worried he would stumble. They were not able to slow it down, but the nice cast member did hold onto both of us as we stepped on to the walkway and into our pirate ship. Once we were in we received our pixie dust and began to fly! No pictures of the ride, but it was as fabulous as I had remembered. When we got off the ride, another cast member offered assistance when we exited. I cannot begin to talk about how nice everyone was during this trip. After the ride, we absolutely had to see the most beautiful bathroom in the world - can we all say "Tangled"?

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Yeah, they are so nice. Tell me again why these are bathrooms and not a ride or show? After this pit stop, I heard music coming from the hub area. I had no clue what it was, but we had nothing but time that day, so we checked it out. It ended up being the end of "Move it/Shake it" parade up to the castle.MK day 19.jpg

We stayed around for a few minutes watching the show. It was cute, but we were pretty far away and the crowds were deep to try to get closer. I did want to get another castle picture so, we went to one of the picture spots. There was a group there trying to take a picture, so I offered to snap a few for them if they would do the same. It turned out pretty well.

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Up next - Frontierland!
 
A great update and the food pictures came out well. Don't you just love the internet :thumbsup2

I didn't realise you had opted for the dining plan. Did it work out well for you?

Google is definitely my friend when I realize I didn't get the picture I needed to keep the report flowing!!!

I was very happy with the dining plan. I'm not sure it was the most cost efficient route (I didn't save all the receipts to compare). But we were able to eat at any (non-signature) restaurant and not worry about prices. Also having it all pre-paid except for tips was nice. It made it much easier to budget for the trip.


Love reading about your trip. Can't wait to hear if or how you and Tony maneuvered your two scooters using Disney's transportation. DH and I will both need scooters when we go. I'm concerned about using buses and boats with two of them. I am also curious to see if you thought the dining plan was worth it.

Sheila in Mobile, Alabama

Hi Sheila - we used Disney transportation for everything, which ended up being busses, monorail and the friendship boat. Let me just tell you not to worry. The cast members are there to help. If you don't feel comfortable driving your ECV they will do it for you. There were a few times on the busses I just couldn't get it parked and they took over and got me in my spot. We used Buena Vista Scooters and they were right there waiting on us upon arrival. When I reserved them, I called and actually got a discount (10%) for reserving two at one time. Easy peasy. And yes, we thought the dining plan was worth it for us.
 


It's great to get a picture together we have often had people offer to take one for us and it is really appreciated so we try to do the same for others.

The sky looks so blue you wouldn't think it was so cold. We had days like that in December before.
 
Hi Ruthie-we are neighbors! We live in Frankfort, KY also! I just happened upon your report today, I'm here for the ride :).

BTW-the red sauce on the plate at Homecomin' is Art Smith's own Hot Sauce-delicious if you like hot sauce.

Love the pic in front of the Castle!
 
Hi Sheila - we used Disney transportation for everything, which ended up being busses, monorail and the friendship boat. Let me just tell you not to worry. The cast members are there to help. If you don't feel comfortable driving your ECV they will do it for you. There were a few times on the busses I just couldn't get it parked and they took over and got me in my spot. We used Buena Vista Scooters and they were right there waiting on us upon arrival. When I reserved them, I called and actually got a discount (10%) for reserving two at one time. Easy peasy. And yes, we thought the dining plan was worth it for us.

Thanks Ruthie you have been a big help. I was worried about both of us having to use ECV's our next trip.
 
Our next FP+ was for Thunder Mountain. And by "our" I mean only Tony. I am not a girl who enjoys roller coasters. I've ridden them before and it is just more than I can handle. So the plan was that Tony use his magic band to ride and then go again on my magic band. As we got close to the ride, we noticed a lot of people standing around, but no lines were really moving forward. I got situated in a good spot for people watching and Tony went on ahead. Only to come back five minutes later with the sad news . . . the ride was down. And there was no anticipated time that it would be back up.

Cue the sad music. But they did give us a "use any time today" fast pass as a consolation prize. So I immediately got on the app and got us into Mickey's Philharmonic for later that day. I realize that this ride usually doesn't need a FP, but the crowds were insane, so we took the opportunity. Splash Mountain was also down for repairs, so that ride was out. Not that we had any intention of riding it. Remember - freezing cold. So I got my bearings to see what was around me. And it was then that I saw the sign for a show that is an old family favorite. It was the "Country Bear Jamboree". Now I am hearing moans and groans from the crowd. The show is silly and corny. The jokes are old. Nobody wants to see a bunch of old dusty bears. Those are all good points. But it also reminds me of old family times watching a show that everyone enjoyed. And it was probably warm in there, so we zipped over just in time for a show to start. And it was packed. I'm guessing for the warmth and not to see "Big Al".


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After the bears sang to us, it was time for lunch. And everyone else in the park had the same idea. I had the idea that maybe moving out of Frontierland and over to Liberty Square might be a good plan. And everyone else in the park had the same plan. Are these people in my head??? But with purpose in mind, we meandered over to Columbia Harbour House for lunch.

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This is not my picture - thanks Google.

I had never eaten here before, but had heard and read good things about it. Tony loves fresh seafood, so I was happy to have lunch here. Along with what appeared to be 500 of our closest friends. There was a line for those that had pre-ordered that was moderately long. And then there was a line for us poor unfortunate souls who just had to wait. And wait we did - for about 30 minutes before we got somewhat close. There was a cast member handing out menus, so that helped pass the time. If you have been to CHH, you know that it is fairly jammed packed. As we snaked thru the line, I had Tony move to the side. There was no reason for both of us to get jammed up when we got to the register. As I got close to the register, I quickly realized that I had a problem. I was in my ECV and the space between the register and the counter to get the food was very, very small. Not to mention the family in front of me had all four of their screaming children with them and it was just slightly unpleasant. So when I got to the register, I told the cast member we would need some help. She immediately got on her headset and asked for a helper dude. After just a minute or two, we got our new best friend - Carlos. He got my receipt and grabbed our food and said "follow me". So we did. We easily got past the mass of people in line and found ourselves in a quieter section of the restaurant. He moved around chairs for us and while Tony and I got situated, he got drinks and utensils for us. Carlos was, without a doubt, the sweetest kid (he couldn't have been more than 20). Before he left, he asked us numerous times if there was anything else we needed, were we comfortable, etc. I tried to give him a tip, but he refused. I insisted and he still refused. He deserved recognition for going above and beyond, so I've e-mailed guest services to praise him.

So what did we eat you ask? Well, Tony had the lobster roll.


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It came with homemade chips. The roll we got did not have near as much mayo as the picture. Tony said it was very yummy. I didn't taste it since mayo on any fish that isn't tuna I don't care for. And as for me, I got the shrimp macaroni and cheese.

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This was also very yummy. I don't normally like macaroni and cheese that has a Velveeta kind of taste, but this was really good. And it came out piping hot! We passed on dessert. While I really like using the dining plan, dessert at every meal is really unnecessary. At this point, Tony finally admitted that he was freezing and maybe he should go back to the resort. Ummm, no. We paid a lot of money for this trip, and he was going to participate in all the plans we (well me) have made. This is easily fixed. SHOPPING! So we gathered up all of our things and made our way towards Main Street USA. We were headed to The Emporium and eventually the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

Up next - my inner band geek is doing flip flops!
 
I really like your new purse! It's subtle but then clearly Disney when you take a closer look.

Thank you so much! I really like it.

It's great to get a picture together we have often had people offer to take one for us and it is really appreciated so we try to do the same for others.

The sky looks so blue you wouldn't think it was so cold. We had days like that in December before.

It was an absolutely picture perfect day if it wasn't so cold. And as soon as the sun went down, it was really, really cold.

I completely agree with you on Main street music. I prefer Surrey with the Fringe on Top!

Prior to the trip, I had been streaming You Tube videos of Main Street USA music. That was what I had hoped to hear. Even when we went back for our last day, the holiday music was still playing. I enjoy festiveness as much as the next person, but enough was enough!

Hi Ruthie-we are neighbors! We live in Frankfort, KY also! I just happened upon your report today, I'm here for the ride :).

BTW-the red sauce on the plate at Homecomin' is Art Smith's own Hot Sauce-delicious if you like hot sauce.

Love the pic in front of the Castle!

Hi neighbor!!! What a very small world. Thanks for clearing up the mystery of the sauce. I'm glad it wasn't on our meals.

Thanks Ruthie you have been a big help. I was worried about both of us having to use ECV's our next trip.

Ask me any questions you want to. I'm very happy to help.
 
I still enjoy the Country Bear Jamboree, too. I like the corny jokes and songs. It's a feel-good attraction. Plus, I like that it has been around since Walt's time.
 
For future reference, the last I knew, you can substitute the dessert at a counter service for a yogurt or applesauce.
 
All caught up on your TR! The cold temps do put a damper on things! We were there mid January to get DS set up for his CP. We encountered a couple of record low days for Florida! And while their record lows are heavenly for us Buffalo, NYers, a high of low 50's and lows below freezing are not what we long for in a Florida vacation!!

Glad you liked ASMU. We stay at the values when we want to save $$ and I agree, they are clean and comfortable and the extra $$ is better spent on dinner or shopping!
 

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