We made it up for rope drop today! Well, “we” being CP and me. We grabbed some energy bars for breakfast and were out the door by 8:10, and were at Epcot by 8:30. The crowd at the turnstiles was … Continue reading
Although our May trip turned CP and me into rope drop converts, rope drop just didn’t happen this morning. Given the low crowds in early December, though, we weren’t really sweating it. We got up around 8:30 and had cereal, … Continue reading
Other than arriving at the airport on the first day, I don’t think there’s a better feeling than waking up on your first full day of vacation. Especially a long vacation, when you know there’s nothing you have to do … Continue reading
As you can see, I’m catching up on trip reports.
Sunday, May 8 – Mother’s Day.
We slept in this morning until the late hour of 7:15, and like the day before, we ate breakfast in the room (this time accompanied by some Starbucks Double Shots to give us some caffeine), dressed, and were out the door by 8:10am. Unlike yesterday, however, we decided not to drive or take a boat, and instead walked to Hollywood Studios. We waved to the passing Friendship boats, enjoyed watching the ducks with their babies, and raised our eyebrows at the passing joggers who looked far too tired and sweaty to truly be enjoying their hot morning runs.
Another beautiful morning in WDW.
Before 8:30 we were in line, only the 4th or 5th people deep at the turnstile. We were let through the turnstiles by 8:40, and were at the front of the crowd awaiting the rope drop show. Rope drop happened promptly at 9, and we joined the throngs of people headed to Toy Story Mania! Oddly, for all the horror stories I’ve heard of the TSM dash at rope drop, we both found it to be a more civilized experience than we had the day before at Epcot.
Really want to underscore the whole "beautiful day" thing.
Once arriving at Pixar Place the majority of the crowd headed for the TSM Fast Pass line, so we instead got right into the standby queue and walked right onto the ride, perhaps the 40th and 41st riders of the day. We were both delighted to finally break 100k, and once off the ride we headed to the now clear Fast Pass machines to get a FP for 11:40am-12:40pm. Adrenaline rush of the day over, we both leisurely stroll over to Sunset Boulevard, where CP reads on her iPhone while I ride Tower of Terror alone. The ride was a walkon and deliciously terrifying as usual. Once off I meet up with CP, and we continue our leisurely stroll around the Studios and end up deciding to visit the Muppet dump shop (two things: 1. I hate the term “dump shop”; and 2. what happened to all the Muppets merchandise? The Muppets dump shop (AAAGH) contained mostly the same generic WDW merchandise you can find anywhere else. Sad) and browsing the backlot streets before stopping to grab a snack at Starring Rolls.
Our aimless wandering continues as a grab my zoom lens and start taking pictures of Sunset Boulevard. While sitting down to change my lens I’m approached by a survey taker, and I happily agree to take a survey, this one a fairly general one about the number of times I’ve visited, what kind of tickets I have, and whether I’m doing anything else in Orlando.
Friday, May 6th.
In spite of going to bed at 1am we were both wide awake before 8am. We dressed and headed out to this fantastic Whole Foods, where we stocked up on breakfast food and snacks for our room (again, the fantastic benefit of having both a rental car and a studio with refrigerator, microwave, and dishes), and then created a custom six-pack of beer, which included some old favorites and some new samplings from Florida breweries.
Checking out the view from our balcony on our first morning
For those of you who are curious, the total was around $82, which included the six-pack of beer, some reusable bowls, plenty of fresh fruit, cereal, and yogurt, and snacks. After that we made a quick stop at a local Starbucks for coffee and a breakfast pastry, and then we headed back to the BoardWalk to unload our groceries.
By 10am we’re back in the Camry and headed to the Magic Kingdom, where we are scheduled to have our traditional (tradition because we’ve done it once before) first-day Magic Kingdom lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. We arrive a bit before our scheduled 11am lunch, and thus take our time browsing the shops on Main Street. It’s sprinkling lightly, and is very grey and damp. By the time we reach the Plaza it’s outright raining, so we hope by the time we eat the weather will clear and we can enjoy an afternoon in the Magic Kingdom.
Our server is Ileana, and she is lovely and friendly without being overbearing; although the Plaza sees its fair share of visits from the Mayor and other “streetmosphere” characters, they seem to have a good sense of which tables are into that sort of thing (not us), and who wants to just enjoy a meal and observe the action. CP orders a Diet Coke and I order a strawberry milkshake (hey, it’s vacation!), and we split a vegetarian sandwich and a Plaza club. We certainly enjoyed our meal, but we were seated in the main room this time (unlike our last visit, where we had a table in the solarium) near several tables of loud diners. We didn’t linger, thanked Ileana, and were on our way.
Dessert for breakfast. Also known as "vacation."
Sadly, by the time lunch was over the rain had gotten worse, not better. We had umbrellas with us, but after a few minutes of traipsing through the rain trying to dodge strollers and large families (and again feeling like we were swimming upstream through crowds), I turned to CP and admitted that I just couldn’t do it. Maybe if we didn’t visit as often as we do I’d feel more compelled to push through bad weather or no, but we both just weren’t feeling it. We headed back toward the entrance, stopping for a few minutes to listen to the Dapper Dans sing to the gathered crowd, and then walked back to our car and returned to the BoardWalk.
By the time we returned to the hotel the rain had let up, so we walked around the BoardWalk, snapping pictures, watching the boats go by, and enjoying the
The BoardWalk on a cloudy day.
creak of the wooden boards beneath our feet. We returned to our room to nap, as the rain had started again and we couldn’t think of anything else that sounded better than a snooze on a grey afternoon. We awoke around 3:30, and after some last minute hemming-and-hawing on my part, decided we would in fact keep that evening’s Jiko reservation for dinner. We showered, dressed in our fancier duds, and decided to stop by Downtown Disney before our 5:35pm reservation.
This is yet another moment where no amount of trip planning can make up for momentary insanity. It was Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day. Add those two things together and of COURSE DD was going to be mobbed. After deciding not to voluntarily place ourselves in that madness, we drove back to the BoardWalk, because – neurosis alert – I couldn’t remember if I had turned off my flat iron before we left.
Still beautiful even on a rainy day.
CP ran in and confirmed that I did, so we got back in the Camry and headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, since we had decided to browse the hotel and the savanna views before dinner. We poked our head in the Zawadi Marketplace, arguably one of Disney’s best resort gift shops, and then visited the Arusha and Uzima overlooks to take in the animals.
Around 5:30 we checked in for dinner and were promptly seated in Jiko’s wine room, a cozy, dark-paneled dining room that featured a floor-to-ceiling wine rack than ran the expanse of a long rounded wall. For nearly half an hour we were the only diners in the room, and our server, Stephanie, was phenomenal from start to finish. She helped me select a lovely South African pinotage and CP a tasty Kenyan beer, Tusker. After bringing us warm cloths to wash our hands, Stephanie helped us select appetizers – originally we were going to have a (ubiquitous in Disney) tasty-sounding flatbread, but Stephanie suggested the “Taste of Africa” breads and spreads and two salads: the Jiko salad for me (with peaches, plantains, hazelnut praline and goat cheese) and the Market salad for CP (with poached egg, homemade croutons, bacon, and greens). The Taste of Africa included lentil papadum, fresh naan, and pita, and for spreads included chermoula, kalamata hummus, lentil and spinach dip, and sambal. We greatly enjoyed our appetizers, sitting in the quiet wine room taking in the sights. Even the family seated next to us with four children was lovely, with Stephanie doting on the children and the children behaving themselves admirably.
Why, hello....
For our entrees, CP ordered the Peri Peri chicken, a fantastically spiced dish named for a former college program cast member at AKL who shared the dish’s recipe with the staff. As for me, I splurged and ordered the $41 (!) oak-grilled filet, which was served with tender roasted potatoes and fresh grilled asparagus and which was worth every single penny.Full but undaunted, we continued with dessert, CP ordering something chocolate (which wasn’t on the menu then, nor is it now – it was perhaps a pastry chef’s experiment?) and me ordering the Cape Malva pudding, a terrific bread pudding served with two fruit sorbets and a lovely vanilla custard. My dessert was accompanied by a terrific South African dessert wine, and CP ordered a pot of the most delicious chai tea either of us have ever tasted.
Our meal at Jiko was by far the best either of us have had…ever? We felt this way not only for the food, but for Stephanie’s impeccable service. She was attentive without being overbearing, was honest about her suggestions and took the time to chat with us and really get to know us. We had hoped to make a return trip to Jiko on this trip, but ended up not going back for fear of having an experience that could diminish the joy of this one.
Evening on the BoardWalk...
Floating on cloud nine, we departed Jiko and headed back to the BoardWalk, where we freshened up, ditched our bags, and walked to Epcot via the International Gateway. Well, first we debated going to Epcot, as at this point CP wasn’t sure if she was feeling well or not (dinner? something else?). So before we (maybe) left for Epcot, I decided to walk the BoardWalk by myself, taking pictures, watching the street performers, and just generally enjoying the atmosphere. A few minutes later, however, CP called my cell phone, asking where she could meet me so we could head to Epcot. Success! When we arrived the park was mobbed that night (not surprising, given that it was an Extra Magic Hours evening and the Magic Kingdom had closed at 7pm for Grad Nite), so we decided to avoid the IllumiNations crowds and headed instead to Future World.
Dear Disney: Can we talk about your newest marketing strategies? Signed, Dubious.
We browsed the Art of Disney store, road Spaceship Earth, and ended with a browse through MouseGears, which was nearly empty until IllumiNations ended, at which point it was instantly packed with people. To avoid another swim upstream through yet another hot and sweaty crowd, we saw outside MouseGears and people watched, and headed back to the BoardWalk to get a good night’s sleep, as we were determined to give rope drop a fair shake and see if it would change our WDW experience. Oh, would it ever.
Sigh. Last day.
A vehicle you *don't* want to see at your bus stop.
We were up this morning at 8:45, after deciding late the night before that as much as we’d love one final TSM ride, we just weren’t up for the morning dash, and Fast Passes would be useless since they would likely have a return time that fell after our departure from WDW. Instead we ate another Mickey waffle, drank our coffee/hot chocolate mix, and mused that maybe going to a park on our last day was a bad idea: we were just so sad. In any case, we finished packing, checked our luggage and obtained our boarding passes, and then returned to our room to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind. We grabbed our carry-on luggage and checked it with Bell Services before leaving for the bus stop, where we found a Hollywood Studios bus had broken down, its lift immobilized with a scooter still on board. A giant bus tow truck came out, as did two replacement buses and voila! The original bus was fixed. This was good, as the broken-down bus was blocking the entire bus stop, and thus no one could get through until the broken bus was gone.
In any case, we hopped on a very full Epcot bus, where we found very large crowds, not altogether
Retro Epcot logo...a nod to WDW's upcoming 40th anniversary?
unexpected on a Saturday during Food and Wine. Our first stop was Mouse Gears, where I hoped to find a vintage, very soft cotton Mickey shirt that I had seen somewhere during our trip, but I of course could not remember where. Alas, no luck at Mouse Gears, but CP found a Pluto shirt, so all was not lost. Then it was off to Club Cool for some soda and sticky feet, plus one last check of the International Gateway stores to look for my shirt. Again, no luck. Although we originally had chosen Epcot this morning because we wanted a Kaki Gori (we kept forgetting during the week), we decided it was too hot, too crowded to go trudging around the World Showcase.
Dragon boat racing at DTD.
Feeling defeated and sad about our imminent departure, we headed out to the bus stop and caught another bus to Saratoga Springs, where we departed at Congress Park to walk to DTD. On our way, we stopped to watch the dragon boat races that were taking place on the water, and then headed to Once Upon a Toy to buy more Toy Story buddy packs (having bought one we loved the night before at the Emporium). After a bathroom break we then hit World of Disney, where I found my beloved shirt! We then walked through Pleasure Island and the DTD West Side (according to my notes of this day: “sad, smoky, and tacky”). On our walk back to the Marketplace, CP was blessed with good luck (read: pooped on by a bird, luckily I had brought Shout wipes!), and we watched the exciting final moments of another dragon boat race as we headed toward Earl of Sandwich. As it was around 1pm, it was mobbed, so instead we decided to try Wolfgang Puck Express.
Delicious...until the hair.
Our hearts of romaine salad was great, the margherita pizza was pretty decent, but our crème brulee came complete with a long black hair, and our server had disappeared earlier, never to be seen again. Blech.
Following vacation protocol that clearly states the need for daily if not hourly dessert consumption, we tossed aside the crème brulee and headed to Goofy’s Candy Company, where we procured the following delicious treat:
Hello, sweet mother.
We took it to go and headed to an ATM to get cash to tip bell services, and then remembered we hadn’t been back to Art of Disney to purchase any prints from the Art on Demand kiosk. Art of Disney was, however, completely mobbed, and a bunch of kids were enjoying randomly pressing the kiosk buttons far too much for us to get in and actually use it to order prints. Business card in hand to call and order later, we headed back to the bus (driven by a woman with a death wish) and were in the AKL lobby by 3:30. CP magically repacked our carryons to fit all of our new purchases, and by 4:05, we were on the (Not So) Magical Express bus, headed to the airport. After a quick stop at Pop Century, we were gone.
JFK airport at night.
Our return to Connecticut was largely uneventful: we had a gate change at MCO, but still had plenty of time to shop at Lush and Borders and eat our Goofy’s snack before boarding. A group of TSA agents sat playing cards in the corner. All was quiet. Our flight, blessedly uneventful; we sat next to an off-duty Southwest flight attendant who was perhaps more enamored with our JetBlue flight than we were. After some confusion with finding our bags (they were on a belt that said…Aruba.), we were on our airport shuttle and home by 12am.
Home and sad.
Nerds in Wonderland 