Trip Report MAY THE SPORK BE WITH YOU!!! - a Kid-Free F&W Trip Report

Hi all!!! Well, we’re back from our 6 kid-free days at WDW (yes, much sadness), but now I at least get to share our trip with all of you! If you’re new to my trip reports, my name is Sandy. I did a pre-trip report for this one, but it wasn’t exactly my best work…i.e. I neglected it much of the time. Bad Sandy! Oh well, the real report will be significantly better. I swear, this is probably one of my best trips to WDW- EVER!!!

As many of you know…my reports are heavily picture infused things…mainly because I take TONS of pics so you can “walk” along with me. I took close to 4,000 pics this time…some better than others…but all to help paint the full picture of this trip. I will get into all of the pictures and heavy duty Disney stuff, but first a little background on the days leading up to the trip. Sorry- not much in the way of pictures in this portion, but I promise you…there really are TONS of pictures to come.

So, it’s the evening of November 4th and I’m prepping for our departure on November 7th. DH gets home as I’m putting our girls to bed and informed me that his mom was coming by to talk to us. Ok, so I’m now freaking out. His mom was supposed to have the girls stay with her so we could go on vacation, so this didn’t sound good. We’ve also have really bad luck before all of our recent WDW trips. I think we’d all agree that the car accident last year was the worst, but I am starting to think we’re cursed. In any event, my MIL comes by and drops a bit of a bomb on us. It’s really sad and scary stuff…I’m not at liberty to share the details…but from a safety standpoint, we couldn’t have the girls stay with her at her house. Thankfully, she was willing to stay at our house- so the big problem was solved, but now I had to work in time to deep clean the house. I mean, I was planning on a light cleaning…but I had to pack for me as well as for the girls (school day stuff, softball stuff, etc.) + I had to make a birthday cake!

Many of you know me from the Cake Talk thread over in the dining section, but I also make my own custom cakes on the side. My younger one’s bday is Nov 6th, so I had to have a cake the day before we went out of town…and of course she wanted something crazy (gee, I wonder who encourages this kind of madness??? ;) ). She wanted a 'fluffy' killer whale cake…just like her furry Shamu-esque plush named “Shammie.” Thankfully, the cake was fairly easy…well, minus the nearly 7 tubs of black food coloring I needed to achieve black buttercream. So, here’s the finished product as well as a pic with my ‘model.’

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Day 1

So, the house is clean, the cake is done and we’re pretty much packed…and it’s after midnight…so, it’s officially our departure day!!! Our flight from Houston Hobby was supposed to take off at 6:15am, so we had to leave the house around 4am. I got about 3 hours of sleep, packed up the car, said good-bye to the girls (who were still in bed- asleep - MIL was in the guest bedroom), and drove to the airport. The roads were dead, but the airport was surprisingly busy. It took a while to get through security, but we at least had a good laugh when checking our bags. The ladies helping us overheard that it was a kid free trip to Disney and they made sure everyone in the area knew we were heading there without the kids. Most of the people just looked really confused, but we got a good laugh.

After DH forgetting to empty his pockets at security and having some minor issues, we make our way out to the gate and wait. Hey, at least it looks like we’re going to be on time.

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Boarding and take off are pretty uneventful. I’m utterly exhausted and fall asleep shortly after. I mean, I tend to sleep on planes even when I’m well rested, but this was that uncontrollable … sort of passing out … kind of deep sleep. I didn’t sleep for the entire flight. In fact, I woke up to a lovely cloud filled sky…

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Actually, shortly after this pic the clouds started to clear and I could tell we were approaching the Florida coastline…

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Ok, I actually took a series of pics as we approached. I guess this is the air equivalent of people taking pics of the state signs when crossing the state line on a road trip…

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I also realized that we were flying over the Tampa/St Pete area. My parents lived just outside of St Pete for a few years after leaving Gainesville and before heading to the Ft. Lauderdale area. I took this pic because I noticed a large pink building right at the coastline. Anyone who knows this area knows this is the Don Cesar hotel. Unfortunately, even when cropping, blowing up and saturating the colors in the pic below…you can’t really see that there’s a big pink hotel…but it’s there- I swear it is!!!

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Now, I really enjoy being able to pick out familiar sites from the air. I regret not having my DSLR out with the telephoto hooked up for this, but you’re just going to have to take my word for it with the pics below. See, I usually can pick out Epcot from the air with no problem- in fact, it's why I intentionally sat us on this side of the plane. I mean, the “Swalphin” is super obvious and SSE kind of stands out. Still, for whatever reason, I couldn’t find them for the life of me. Then I spotted something…something I’ve never noticed before from the air. I’m sitting there thinking, “man, that white blob over there kind of reminds me of Space Mountain.” Then I realize the buildings I’m looking at to the right are BLT and the Contemporary!!! And while it was more a white blip from the air…I could see…THE CASTLE!!! And as my eyes adjusted and started picturing the WDW map in my head, I realized I could see the Poly, the GF, and yes…I was also able to pick out SSE and the Swalphin too! I could see all of this until shortly before landing. Talk about WELCOME HOME!!! I'll share one of these pics, but it's really tough to spot any of this...

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I tried cropping and zooming, but it’s still really hard to pick them out…but I swear they are there!
So, landing was uneventful and we were soon ready for the first “ride” of our trip.

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Kind of sad...I am now using the DSLR (vs my phone), but I'm so jittery from excitement that I can't take a decent shot!

I also had temporary amnesia…or magical euphoric memory loss (your pick)…and forgot where to find DME. Of course, the jetways now have it labeled on there…but I guess I also had some selective blindness upon arrival. So, I sucked it up, went to Information, and got directions to DME. I was kind of embarrassed, but clearly I needed the help. At least the info was correct…

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As we get down to the ground level and start heading towards the DME area, I start seeing DME and DCL buses…and I’ll admit it, I got kind of misty. Thankfully, DH didn’t notice because I would have been mocked considerably. We had our magic bands on, so getting through everything was a breeze. In fact, the only tough part was convincing DH that our checked baggage would be delivered to our hotel. It’s like he’s never been to WDW before!!! We’re directed to line 2 and make our way all the way to the front.

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We’re the only ones there and it kind of looks like we just missed a bus for our grouping of resorts. Just then the CMs manning that section of lines asked which resort we were headed to for our trip. I said we’re going to the Poly and magically, they opened the ropes and led us out to a bus. Sadly, it was a magical yellow Mears bus, but hey…it would get us where we needed to go.

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Although, I was kind of jealous with all of the DCL buses around us…just something about having the Disney labeling on the bus. OK- feeling quite shallow right about now!

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Still, I really can’t complain…we were on a bus, that bus was nearly full and about ready to go. I think we waited less than 5 minutes to start heading towards the resorts. This was also our first time seeing the new DME video and can I just say…I HATE IT!

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Before ever crossing onto Disney property, we saw a sign that Disney was near!

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Yeah- the Characters in Flight balloon is kind of a give-a-way that Disney is near! Shortly after spotting the balloon, one of the best views on earth came into sight…

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I was obviously not in a good seat to snap any good pics, but I think most of us know that we were getting ready to pass under the Maingate!!! I remember being really frustrated after this as well. I wanted to check in on Facebook, basically confirming that we’re officially “inside the MAGIC BUBBLE,” but it wasn’t until we were farther in that I was able to get ‘Walt Disney World” to come up as a check in option. i.e. I didn’t want any of the parks or resorts. OK- minor annoyance…I know!

More to come on Day 1! Thanks for reading!
 
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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Josh is Peter Pan's friend, Becca is the clamshell girl winking, and Dan is a friend of Flynn. Also, Thom is the tall African American Scottish Highlander. ;)

Took a bit to respond since I was down there this weekend. Ironically hanging out with Josh at one point. And another tall, dark, strong and handsome brute.

I rode BTMRR in the back row this weekend...by myself. I thought I was going to die. It was everything I could do to center myself and hold on.

This is so awesome! Now I have all of these names to put with the CM faces in this portion of my trip report. It's funny how you describe them b/c I can automatically see their pics in my mind and am like...oh yea, I remember Thom :)

That is a good point about BTMRR. DH and I usually wind up squishing each other throughout the ride as it pushes us back and forth. When riding with the kids, we usually have to try to lock in place so we don't squash either one of them.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, here we are ... our last night, and DH is indulging me with one last ride on IASW. Yes, this is a sure sign he's had quite a bit to drink! I didn't want to question it though, so we set sail...

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A little advice here…never take your loudmouth husband on IASW after he’s been on a monorail crawl. I got him to quiet down, but he was waaaaaaay too silly and excited at the start. I think there may have even been a little bit of singing and dancing...and let's just say, he doesn't dance and he should never sing in public.

I managed a few pics during the ride that aren't totally awful.

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Bye-Bye IASW face...

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After IASW, we popped by the Tangled bathrooms…

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(so pretty at night)

And then we went to the Haunted Mansion…

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Finally…yo ho yo ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me!

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We practically had the boat to ourselves. Too bad the mist screen still wasn't working. Oh well, I still love PotC!

It was pretty late at this point and we were both chilly and tired, so we decided to call it a night. On the way out…I snapped castle pics...

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And a handful of MSUSA/Castle pics on our way out.

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(yeah- still miss the garlands...but I do love Maleficent...so, I guess I can handle it)

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And finally, on to the boat so we can head back to the Poly.

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Of course, this was another night of cake picnicking and then off to bed.

***Coming up- day 6...our last day (tears, crying, sadness).
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The one thing that is Earth-shattering for my wife about this dish is its gluten free as is!!!!!!!!!!!! Its the only calamari she can eat.

Wow! I had no idea it was the same calamari! I've had my share of gluten free dishes, and most of them are...well...cardboard-esque. That is really truly impressive that the dish is gluten free. Fooled me! :) WOW!
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wow, I cannot believe I'm getting ready to start day 6...our last day.

So, here we are … our last day. We have no parks or much of anything planned for the day, but I still planned to make the most of it. The plan was to not set the alarm and just wake up when we’re ready. That hit me much earlier than DH. I think I was up by about 7:30am. So much for sleeping in! I packed up my bags (for the most part)…which wasn’t too difficult, since I never really moved into the room. Not sure why I don’t like moving in, but I really only do it in smaller rooms…like when we stayed at AKL. Oh well…It was a beautiful day outside, so I pulled myself together to head out to investigate something that had me curious…more on that in a bit.

So, leave our room and head out…snapping pics along the way.

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OK- I kind of got carried away!

My so called curiosity leads me to the GF.

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I make a quick run by the gingerbread house…

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There are engineers of some sort playing around with the structure, but the pastry chefs are not out yet…so, I move on (sorry engineers).

My curiosity brings me to Gasparilla Grill.

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I was still highly disappointed from the lack of pecan sticky buns at 1900 PF from the previous day. It had me wondering if they were gone from the resort altogether. A while back, someone had informed me that these beauties were also available at Gasparilla, so I had to find out for myself. Of course, I was finding out right in the middle of peak breakfast crowds, so I had a bit of a wait…

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Then I realized I could skip the line since I was only trying to get pastries out of the case. i.e. the line was for people ordering hot food. SCORE!

And there they were…my beloved pecan sticky rolls. There were 2 left, so I bought them both. My only concern…they looked a little bit larger than rolls from our previous trips. Still, these were them.

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It was a madhouse inside, so I pretty much escaped the madness as soon as I paid. There were a number of tables outside, including a handful right by the water. There was nobody outside, probably because everything was a bit damp with dew, but that wasn’t stopping me. I wiped off a chair and sat down to this GORGEOUS view. Not sure if you can hear Wishes from here, but it wouldn’t be a bad spot for watching.

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***Sorry guys...just realized that there are a few things I forgot to do before the girls went to bed...so, I need to do them now. So, this is it for tonight. Thanks for reading.
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
What a score on the last day, finding the pecan sticky rolls. The pictures showed us a beautiful morning and a great day to ride the monorail around the resorts. Following along for the conclusion of your trip report.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What a score on the last day, finding the pecan sticky rolls. The pictures showed us a beautiful morning and a great day to ride the monorail around the resorts. Following along for the conclusion of your trip report.

It was such a pretty morning. It's kind of sad when it's nice on your last day. I mean I love a nice rainy day, but somehow a nice sunny day at WDW just says, "rebook your flight and stay another day!"

Boma has really good pecan sticky buns too, and they are warm and there is always a lot of extra sauce in the pan that I try to scoop up.

I'd heard about the ones at Boma...even had breakfast booked there for some time prior to our 2013 trip (since we were staying at AKL)...but it just wasn't in the cards. At some point I'll have to make it over there, because it's worth it for good sticky buns!
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, back to day 6...I was just sitting in my perfect little spot taking all kinds of pics...

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Now as for the rolls…sadness. The tops were pretty good, but the ones that used to be at 1900 PF were really gooey. These were definitely not nearly as gooey…hence the leftover bready pieces I chose not to consume.

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I sat for a little bit longer just enjoying the peace and solitude. Every now and then I’d see a couple pass, but for the most part…it felt like I had the place to myself and it was HEAVEN! I’m still not sold on the décor of the GF’s guest rooms, but this spot right here is really helping sway me even more towards trying the resort at some point.

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I decide to head back inside to check on the gingerbread house when I just happen to get behind the woman transporting the cake for the Perfectly Princess Tea later on that morning. Leave it to me to sort of stalk cake! LOL!

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OK- time to check on the gingerbread house! There are no decorators yet, so I just snap some pics of the area just so I can monitor progress throughout the portion of the day we have left.

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And there’s that first brick we saw being put on during the previous day.

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I head up to the monorail after this, but it’s pulling away.

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I don’t feel like waiting for the next, so I head back into the GF and take some pics.

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Then outside to catch some splashpad pics by day…

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I decide to head to the dock…

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And here comes my boat…

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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just snapping more pics as I wait on the boat...

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Boat is getting closer...

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Yeah...I know the pics are a bit redundant, but it really was me photographing as it got closer. Yes, this is the silly stuff I do on my last day.

I’m thinking that probably would have been my monorail had I waited. Oh well.

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The boat is now here.

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Taking pics before we depart...

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And now I'm on my way back to the Poly…

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I like the looks of these, but I’d never pay what they’re charging…

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Seriously, for that kind of $$$ I'd go to actual Bora Bora!

You can also get a pretty good idea of what the Poly beach looked like during our visit- lots of construction…

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Yet from this side, it looks just lovely...

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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I decided to go in through Captain Cooks…

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I then went upstairs to do a little shopping. I still needed to buy some gifts for coworkers…after looking at stuff over the last few days…these seemed like the best option…

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Yes, the Donald one is mine! What’s funny…that conference that my mom was attending earlier in our trip was also giving out Bentcils. So, I got a pair of blue Mickey Bentcils in addition to my Donald pen…

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Oh, and while I was buying the pens…some lady kind of tried to ruin my shopping experience. I think she just meant to commiserate on prices and meant well, but I don’t need to hear you whining about the cost of a pen.

DH was finally up, so we decide to walk around the Poly grounds a bit after dropping our bags off with bell services (TEARS!). Thankfully, they had the means to refrigerate the white chocolate castle topper from the cake too. Oh yea…I had my last few bites of cake before leaving the room. We actually made a decent dent in the cake over the course of this trip…so, it was totally worth having an 8” IMO. I also kicked my feet up on the balcony one last time before leaving…

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So, off to wander around the Poly. I know it’s not the same as being down at the beach, but it’s really difficult to tell from this part of the resort that there’s any construction…

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Now, do you remember that bench I pointed out yesterday? Well, here’s a very similar one positioned over by the Poly’s quiet pool. I don’t know if this is always there, but the benches are suspiciously similar…even remind me of some I saw at the GF. It just looks very out of place at the Poly IMO.

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Watch one of you Poly loving people know some great story behind this bench.

OK…more Poly pics…

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We decide to head up to the monorail to head over to the GF and hopefully see progress being made on the gingerbread house…

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And we're on the monorail...

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And we have arrived...

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YES! I see decorating in progress! I also smell the molasses…which wasn’t out the previous day. While I like the smell of gingerbread, it’s this molasses coating smell that is truly awesome to me.

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***OK, I'm exhausted! this is it for tonight. I swear, I will be finishing this report at some point over the weekend. Whew!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
You took some really nice photos at the Grand Floridian and the Poly. It's sad and now I realize that my family never slows down to enjoy all the different features found at the different resorts. Thanks to you we have learned to slow down and smell the roses as the saying goes. I be watching for the sad conclusion of your trip report as the end is coming.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You took some really nice photos at the Grand Floridian and the Poly. It's sad and now I realize that my family never slows down to enjoy all the different features found at the different resorts. Thanks to you we have learned to slow down and smell the roses as the saying goes. I be watching for the sad conclusion of your trip report as the end is coming.

I think the slowing down is really the only way I can truly justify booking a deluxe...at least that's what I tell myself. While I always take a lot of detail pics, being kid-free this time certainly allowed me to do a bit more in that area.


Now the real issue would be dealing with all of the flights to get there. A coworker of mine went several years ago and I think they had to take several flights to get to Tahiti, before getting a final flight on a tiny plane into Bora Bora.

Really enjoyed the trip report and loved all of your pictures. Im always taking resort shots as well. Thats a part of Disney so many people forget about. Its nice to take your time and enjoy it!

PS I love that the boat ride from MK to GF. The ride from GF to Poly is nice, too

Thanks! I think it's all of these details that are lost on the people who wonder why I like returning to Disney so frequently. i.e. they can't see it as much of anything beyond the rides/attractions. Those are fun too, but it's nice to be able to appreciate the bigger picture :)
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, I don't have to wake up early tomorrow as I won't be putting in my Saturday miles until the afternoon. Soooooooo, my goal is to finish up tonight. We'll see how this goes.

We had just walked in to the GF when I left off.

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I will warn you that this became the theme for the day…or at least one of them.

After checking on the progress, we head out of the GF and grab the monorail.

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(looking in on the tea)
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(we will return!)

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OK, he hasn’t been up that long…he can’t be sleepy already!?!?!?

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We’re at the MK station…

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And then a bunch of pics as we leave MK and head to the Contemporary…

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We have arrived...

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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
...more Contemporary arrival...

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When we arrived at the Contemporary, we got an awesome surprise.

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Yes, they were working on their Frozen themed gingerbread sculpture…

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Little nod to IASW?

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The model...

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On top of that…pastry chef Jeff Barnes was in the mix!

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We shopped a little bit after this, but found nothing…

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So we decide to wander towards the escalators (of course, taking pics all along the way) because DH is now feeling a bit hungry and shockingly, it’s nearing lunch time!

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We head down to the Wave…

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The place is dead and apparently we’re about 40 minutes early for lunch. This was also my first sign that DH was becoming disenchanted with his time in the bubble and was ready to go. He looked at the price of a burger at the Wave and went off on this….they must really love their burgers- rant. We moved on, but I was a bit disappointed as I would have liked one last TS meal and I've wanted to try the Wave.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, we head out of the Wave and past the lobby area (to which DH started to whine that its lobby – just like the Poly’s – isn’t as impressive and Disney-ish as other resorts)…

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…and we head up to…

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Contempo has always been reliable for us, so I don’t mind the choice. Plus, it is a little nicer to the wallet. It also afforded me the time to take some close ups of the Mary Blair mural…

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Gotta LOVE Mary Blair!

After we ordered, I snapped a few pics as we waited on our food.

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Lunch was really nothing exciting…burgers and fries…but I did try and make it more interesting by showing you before and after pics in terms of toppings!

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Yes, this is officially the most boring meal we ate at WDW this trip; however, it was still significantly better than that seafood mac & cheese at CHH.

***OK, I was a bit too ambitious in thinking I'd be able to finish tonight. I may not have to wake up early tomorrow, but my body is saying it's bedtime. Thanks for reading!
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK...so, back to the TR! When I left off, we were sitting down to lunch at Contempo...

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(sad that they hadn't switched over yet to the holiday cups)

I snap pics as I eat, including a few where I’m peaking into Chef Mickey’s. Hey…I see Goofy and Minnie.

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And we also have a friend joining us for lunch.

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Actually, birds inside like this kind of freak me out.

After lunch, we head back to check on the progress of the Contemporary gingerbread. What’s nice…there’s also has that awesome molasses phase smell.

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Back up to the monorail…

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And various pics along the way on the monorail…

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(I took this for WL, not the white truck)

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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We head back into the Poly…

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Had to get one obligatory Boutiki pic before leaving…

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Saw this Donald shirt while we were in there. Not a fan…maybe I’d like it better if it weren’t pink.

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A little more Poly décor…

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A side note, we were there when the drum was removed. Kind of sad/odd to see things like this changing while you’re there.

OK…back to the GF…

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I told you, that gingerbread house is an obsession and I MUST see how far they’ve progressed…

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I don't think I noted this in my earlier post, but today's samples were the chocolate backed varieties. Yes, I enjoyed some samples!!! OK, back to more gingerbread progress...and by the looks of things…there’s quite a bit of progress…

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We’re technically killing time and essentially doing our farewell to the MK area, so we head up…

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Pass Basin on the way out (love these soaps)…

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And then off to the monorail…

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