Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Tale of Two Trips (finally moving on from the PTR)

Hello everyone!!! I'm sorry for the long delay, but I am finally starting my TR I apologize in advance for the insane amount of pictures I got a new camera and took over 3000 pictures and videos! If you did not read my PTR I went on two trips in the span of a few weeks...hence the title I will split them in two but keep it all in the same thread. Also, I have a lot of last minute residency requirements to navigate through the next few weeks or so so I'm sorry if this takes me forever! Anyway, enough of me rambling - let's begin!

First trip!
Who?
From left to right: Me (Megan), my Mom (Mary), and my sister (Jill)

When?
March 11, 2017 - March 18, 2017

Where?
First time staying an entire trip here...the Polynesian!

Why?
I had to take an exam in Kissimmee on the 14th and I got the whole week off from work to go My Mom and sister came along for the ride.

 

[Doc Disney]

Finally caught up!
Your itinerary is to be envied. You fit so many fabulous things in!
Having fun just reading along!

Aw thank you! It seems like we did take is slower this trip, but probably not haha

I just locked in reservations at V+A's Friday October 27th for my daughter and me. Let me know of any pointers you can give. Thinking about the wine pairings with the dinner. Should we do it?

Oh you will love it! The only pointer I can give you is to go with as empty of a stomach as possible. And avoid the bread (besides a taste)! I would definitely do the wine pairings! I would have done it if I wasn't so tired, and I also ordered this extra beef instead which cost a ton of money! Other tables got served quicker than us so I think that will help you I had way too much time to digest which is why I got so full.

 

[MinnieM123]

As someone who usually ends up at Cosmic Ray's, I must say that your V&A food photos were quite stunning. However, as nice as V&A was, it's lacking in entertainment. A really classy joint needs Sonny Eclipse!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 4 continued
For entrees Jake, Adnaan and I ordered the Australian Kobe Style Beef Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce. We also elected to pay the whopping price of $110 to try Miyazaki Japanese Beef. This beef is apparently super rare in the U.S. so thats why it costs so much. I was wishing I wasn't so full since the beef was so expensive. Sorry this picture is so blurry I must have been getting really tired

The Japanese beef is to the right. That was incredible. Words can not describe how tender and delightful it was! I think we ended up calling it meat butter. I was able to eat all of that It was definitely worth the money (for a once and a lifetime thing). The rest of the meat was good too Elizabeth had the Lamb Loin with Cassis, Rutabaga, and House Made Ricotta. I have a picture thats incredibly blurry because Jake took it, but I will include it for completion sake.

Our wait staff was incredible. They even brought Elizabeth some Advil at some point for a headache she had. Anyway they kept boxing everything up for me and saying things about Chef says this or that and I was worried he was about to come out and yell at me for not eating everything
Adnaan ended up ordering coffee and it came in this really cool thing!

Next up was the cheese plate. I actually ate every bite of this (second wind) and the waitress praised me for finally eating something I think Adnaan got the Honey Ice Cream with Warm Whiskey Butterscotch but I stopped taking pictures of everyone else foods at this point.

Next up was dessert. I got Caramelized Banana Gateau. Im not even a big banana person but they said it was very popular and I could see why...it was delicious

Adnaan got the Tanzanian Chocolate Mousse with Orange Scented Milk Chocolate Gelato. He said it was great. He was born in Tanzania which is why he chose it Jake got the same thing as me and I think all Elizabeth could eat was some sort of sorbet.
Last up (how was there more?!) was the coffee, tea, chocolate course. I got a cherry cordial (which they call a whiskey bomb, and rightfully so) and a truffle. This is all hand made by their pastry chef

I mentioned that my sister Jill also likes cherry cordials and they gave me one to take home to her Super good chocolate!
At the end of the meal we got roses (well the girls did)

We were literally the last people to leave the restaurant so we got our picture taken!

We ended up leaving around 11 and thanks to a monorail delay it took me about 30 minutes to get back to the Polynesian. Overall we were there for over 4 hours . But again, slower than everyone else. I would highly recommend V and A's. It was a once in a lifetime (or blue moon...don't want to entirely rule out another visit) visit! I am not a fancy food person by any means, but it was fun to try new foods. Plus, it was nice to just sit and relax with my friends and decompress from our boards. I just wish I wasn't so tired! Also, the atmosphere was great! They had a harpist the entire time and even though we were in the main dining room it was still really intimate. Don't let the price scare you, you actually do get a ton of food for the money.

Next up: Day 5

 

[Doc Disney]

As someone who usually ends up at Cosmic Ray's, I must say that your V&A food photos were quite stunning. However, as nice as V&A was, it's lacking in entertainment. A really classy joint needs Sonny Eclipse!

They actually had a harpist who played Disney music which was rather incredible, and dare I say better than Sonny?

 

[Doc Disney]

Sorry guys my computer is acting weird and deleting things and typing so slowly, had to edit my post like 10 times . Sorry if you got a weird version of it !

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5
We got up around 7 am (not sure how) and got ready and had breakfast in the room. It was super cold out which is why we had breakfast in our room, no room at Capt. Cooks.
My Mom got me a present for my new job while they were at DS the night before so she gave it to me in the morning

So cute! Its a paperweight
Our final destination was AK and the bus was there so we had our first run of the trip

We actually made it in time to see the opening/bird show. While we waited we took some pictures. Jills face can tell you how cold it was. Some people were in shorts . I mean we are from Buffalo and we were in pants and jackets!

When the park finally opened we headed to Everest but was down so took time time exploring the Kali River Rapids area because I had actually never really looked over there.

We watched these moneys forever. They were so active!!

Next up: probably more monkeys

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued

I was really digging my new camera this day

Look at these cute little ducklings

We finally actually went over to Kali River Rapids after this

Look at this poor freezing kiddo. He actually told me to take this picture haha I promise I'm not a creeper

Next up: trekking

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
We headed to the Tiger trek after this

My Mom is really not a big fan of birds so she slid through here but Jill and I spent some time here

Next up: likely a 100000 more animal pictures

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
More and more monkey pictures...can not emphasize enough how active they were!! Literally tons of people were watching them

After finally tearing ourselves away from the monkeys we stopped for a photopass picture

Our photopass CM was great and he was so excited about how active the moneys were, and about the baby elephant Stella
Apparently we had a lot of time because we also did the Africa trek before the safari

Next up: more and more animals

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
Gorillas!

I see you

They must have been really cold

Hey, chew with your mouth closed

We finally made it to the safari

Next up: more and more

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued

Baby Stella was very good at hiding but you can kind of see her in these next two pictures

This is not Stella, but was trying to steal Stella's milk if you know what I mean

Next up: I promise I'm done with animal pictures

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Ahhh finally all caught up!!!

You all look so cold in your animal kingdom pictures, it seems so strange to me! That park is always 10 degrees warmer than anywhere else in disney world! Lol

What an experience V&A was! I am so proud of you for trying all of those menu items! I need to really expand my horizons and try more food! Everyone always says duck is so good! I loved all the pictures, seemed like such a wonderful experience! I'm sold on just the bread!!

Megg had me cracking up and Joe is asking me what the heck I am looking at. LOL! I never knew they gave you a prize for finishing the egg hunt! How cool is that! Megg reminds me of this school project my brother had to do with the paper man called Flat Stanley and he sent him to my uncle in Florida and he was photographed with flamingos and at the beach, etc. I really loved your Megg photo shoot!

Enjoying this all so much. And Coke is better than Pepsi!!

 

[Doc Disney]

Ahhh finally all caught up!!!

You all look so cold in your animal kingdom pictures, it seems so strange to me! That park is always 10 degrees warmer than anywhere else in disney world! Lol

What an experience V&A was! I am so proud of you for trying all of those menu items! I need to really expand my horizons and try more food! Everyone always says duck is so good! I loved all the pictures, seemed like such a wonderful experience! I'm sold on just the bread!!

Megg had me cracking up and Joe is asking me what the heck I am looking at. LOL! I never knew they gave you a prize for finishing the egg hunt! How cool is that! Megg reminds me of this school project my brother had to do with the paper man called Flat Stanley and he sent him to my uncle in Florida and he was photographed with flamingos and at the beach, etc. I really loved your Megg photo shoot!

Enjoying this all so much. And Coke is better than Pepsi!!

It was freezing! It did slightly warm up that day but not until like 6 pm and even then we will still comfortable in pants! Duck is fine, honestly not my favorite! However, at V and A everything was sooooo good because of all the different flavors and everything. Joe probably thinks we are nuts haha! I had to of Flat Stanley too We took him to Disney I think once ! Pepsi is better, except for Disney and McDonalds coke. Those two places for sure still have crack in their Coke its so good

 

[DisneyJeff]

I have to say that your Africa Trek and Safari pictures are some of the best I have seen. Good job!!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
After our safari we headed over towards Dinosaur

They changed some things in the ride during the refurb but I won't give them away

After our ride we were starving and Everest was still down so we decided to grab some lunch. We have this thing where we give ourselves checks for trying new stuff, so we earned a check by going to Restaurant-osaurus

I really loved it inside! Super cute, well themed!
Jill and I both got bacon cheeseburgers

These were so yum! I loved the toppings bar. I'm obsessed with avocado and guacamole so I was happy to have that option for my burger.
My Mom had chicken nuggets of course

After lunch we headed over towards Everest since it was finally back open!
First we stopped for photopass pictures. This picture with snow could not be more accurate. Really felt like it could snow .

Next up: Everest

 

[Doc Disney]

I have to say that your Africa Trek and Safari pictures are some of the best I have seen. Good job!!

Thank you Jeff! New camera for the win

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
I forgot to include this light picture from Restaurant-osaurus - how could I forget?!

This picture is weird, but kind of cute!

Anyway, it was finally time for Everest!

The line was crazy since it was down all day! I had to sit with a random kiddo who was trying so hard not to scream the whole time

Teenage boys . Its like 30 degrees. Put your shirt back on
After our ride we decided to head home.
When we got back to the hotel my Mom and Jill grabbed a vanilla Dole Whip

I actually ate the rest of my V and A dessert

Next up: we drink a big drink

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
Our room wasn't ready and since it was way too cold to go to the pool we decided to hit up the next drink on our Must Try Drinks.
For this we headed over to the Contemporary

Our final destination was The Wave. I had actually never been in there before. The dining room was closed but the bar and lounge were still open. It was pretty dead in there!
Our drink of choice was the Seven Seas Lagoon. Drink 5/6 done!

This thing was massive. 24 ounces to be exact. Complete with tons of candy inside. We asked the bartender if he hated making this drink and he said no!

It was good, just very sweet and hard to drink! I think in the end we drank like 1/3 of it The bartender insisted we take a to go cup of our drinks (did not know you could take alcohol to go) but we politely declined
When leaving the Contemporary we waited forever. Both the express monorail and the ferry were closed for some reason so it was a nightmare. Luckily we were able to squeeze on the second one, all in different monorail cars.
Back at the hotel our room was done

We relaxed for a few minutes then headed back to DS for our evening plans. This time the bus only took 25 minutes. The new bus lanes do make a huge difference!
Our final destination was The Boathouse With all the new buildings its a little confusing to get there but we finally made it!

For my Moms Christmas gift we told her we would take her on one of the Amphicars since it was on her Disney bucket list. So we chose this day to fulfill her gift. Luckily it was actually a bit warmer at this point in the day. My Mom and sister did not know that they could have saved the receipt from their dinner for a discount. Oh well!

My contacts were not cooperating at all this day. Hence my glasses

Next up: car/boat ride

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
Our captains name was Dave and he was great. You could tell he just loved his job!

In the water he gave us a good history of all the boats they have at the boathouse with some fun Disney trivia and facts along the way. We were trying to pretend like we didn't know any of the things he was saying so that he would not feel bad that we knew all of it . It wasn't like hard Disney trivia haha

Anyway, in the end it was super cool! Was it worth the money, probably not But, it was definitely something cool to try once!
After our ride we wandered around a bit before our dinner time.
I tried to be a model but it wasn't working out too well with all the layers of clothes I had on

Finally it was time to check in at our dinner spot. Here are some lights to give you a hint

Good for you if you got this right! Its Chef Art Smith's Homecoming

Next up: food

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 5 continued
We had the weirdest waiter. His name was Anthony and he must have said "nice to meet you" at least 10 times. Like every time he came to our table . Anyway, the restaurant was super cool and he said Art Smith himself is there a lot. He also gave us a good history of Art Smith himself which was good to hear.
Jill started off with some wine. I was still exhausted from my boards so did not get a beverage. They have a great cocktail list, though, so I can not wait to go back.

Our eyes were WAY bigger than our stomachs as usual. My Mom and I intended on splitting a meal and instead got our own meals AND an extra side .
We both ordered the fried chicken with potatoes as a side

We also ordered an extra side of Mac and Cheese to share amongst us

Jill ordered the Fried Chicken Sandwich

We all really enjoyed our meals!!! It was all excellent! The chicken was really tender, with just a little bit of spice. The mac and cheese was great also! The potatoes were potatoes...haha. The biscuits were really great (can you tell I'm hungry...haha). I heard so many great reviews of this place so I was hoping it did not disappoint, and it didn't! We for sure should have shared though, could not eat it all
My Mom ordered chocolate cake

Jill ordered pecan pie

I tried the cake, it was good - just too much for me. Jill said the pecan pie was great.
After our dinner we had some time to kill before our evening entertainment so we walked around (in any shop that had heat, because it was cold again ).
My Dad always wants these motorcycles

We walked into that Uniqlo store to look around. Since its supposed to be fast fashion we hoped they would have some pants for Jill because she didn't have any and it was supposed to be cold again tomorrow .
What are room shoes?

We were less than enthused with their selection. Everything seemed just a little too cheesy so we left with the plan of Jill borrowing my leggings for the next day. They do have a cool chandelier though

Next up: show time!