Trip Report Movin' In? Two Weeks in the World!

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

The first real day of our trip started on my husband's birthday June 21st! (Although we stayed in Minneapolis the night before as we had an early flight and I didn't want to get up at 3 am to get to the airport.) As a birthday gift to him I surprised him with seats in first class as a little luxury for him and for me too. I had made sure I got online at the 24 hour before mark so I could get the the first class upgrade if it was available.I couldn't get us seats together but we were on the aisle and he was behind me, but at least I got them. I was excited for my surprise. Funny thing was, as we were at the hotel the night before flying out, hubby said we should check and see if we could upgrade, so I pretended to check (I just played a game on my phone) and told him sadly no upgrades (hehehe! I am such a fibber!)

Even though we knew we would have breakfast on the plane we wanted a little something to tide us over, and I needed my coffee. So we had a quick bite at Caribou Coffee. If you are ever in the Minnesota/upper Wisconsin area and like coffee go to Caribou it is so much better than Starbucks.

Excited to board and less than an hour from departure!!

On the plane!!! Are we happy for Disney, or that we just drank a little adult beverage (me: coffee with Baileys and him Rum and Coke). Or maybe both!?

Landed!

Don't worry our Magic Band's have been on since the gate area in Minneapolis!

When we landed I had a text from Disney saying our room was ready, and a text from Garden Grocer that our groceries had been delivered and waiting for us. We had ordered some snacks, water, seltzer (I don't drink a lot of soda but I still like the bubbles), and Coke Zero to have on hand and save a little money. So with everything ready we were able to go right to our room, refresh a little, and head out!

So we just had to relax on the Magical Express and wait for the gate!

Since we were staying for 2 weeks and wanted to stay within a range we did one week at the All Star Music and one week at the Caribbean Beach. The Music was a new resort for both of us, and we hadn't been back to the Caribbean since our honeymoon (11 years ago).

We were assigned the Broadway section of the Music which seemed like a long walk to the bus stop, but it was about 5 minutes. The shortest route to our room took us through the main building which gave us a blast of AC!

Our Room

And the view from our room, which I really don't care about a view at Disney. I suppose I would if I wanted to spend more time in the room but not at the All Stars.

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

Since it was Brad's birthday I let him pick the park he wanted to go to. He thought about MK but since he is a huge Star Wars fan, he wanted to ride Star Tours on his birthday so off to Hollywood Studios we went. When we got to the park we were both a little hungry and dinner wasn't until 6:30, hours away....so we went to the Brown Derby Lounge. It is starting to become a tradition for us to go there. If you haven't every tried it, you should.

I had the margarita flight (pomegranate, mango, and original flavors), they were all lovely. Hubby had a rum and coke, you'll notice his drink of choice doesn't change a lot. Although he did like the mango margarita (he took a huge sip, but I didn't say anything as it was his birthday).

We both got the Derby Sliders, one is waygu beef and the other is duck confit. Both are scrumptious!

We then caught the first order march, or whatever it is call. Hubby was excited for it.

Then the birthday boy got his Star Tours ride.

Our next fast pass was for Toy Story so we checked out the construction walls. I was surprised to see so much of Streets of America left up. I guess they haven't gotten to that part of demolition yet.

I tried to take a decent picture through a gap in the fence.

Finally on Toy Story. My husband has always beaten me on this and Buzz (still does on Buzz), but those times I played on my solo trips must have honed my skills 'cuz he got smoked!

Zipadeelady · Jul 9, 2016

I'm in too!!

betty rose · Jul 9, 2016

ajrwdwgirl said:
The first real day of our trip started on my husband's birthday June 21st! (Although we stayed in Minneapolis the night before as we had an early flight and I didn't want to get up at 3 am to get to the airport.) As a birthday gift to him I surprised him with seats in first class as a little luxury for him and for me too. I had made sure I got online at the 24 hour before mark so I could get the the first class upgrade if it was available.I couldn't get us seats together but we were on the aisle and he was behind me, but at least I got them. I was excited for my surprise. Funny thing was, as we were at the hotel the night before flying out, hubby said we should check and see if we could upgrade, so I pretended to check (I just played a game on my phone) and told him sadly no upgrades (hehehe! I am such a fibber!)

Even though we knew we would have breakfast on the plane we wanted a little something to tide us over, and I needed my coffee. So we had a quick bite at Caribou Coffee. If you are ever in the Minnesota/upper Wisconsin area and like coffee go to Caribou it is so much better than Starbucks.

View attachment 150228

Excited to board and less than an hour from departure!!
View attachment 150229

On the plane!!! Are we happy for Disney, or that we just drank a little adult beverage (me: coffee with Baileys and him Rum and Coke). Or maybe both!?
View attachment 150230

Landed!
View attachment 150231

Don't worry our Magic Band's have been on since the gate area in Minneapolis!
View attachment 150232

When we landed I had a text from Disney saying our room was ready, and a text from Garden Grocer that our groceries had been delivered and waiting for us. We had ordered some snacks, water, seltzer (I don't drink a lot of soda but I still like the bubbles), and Coke Zero to have on hand and save a little money. So with everything ready we were able to go right to our room, refresh a little, and head out!

So we just had to relax on the Magical Express and wait for the gate!
View attachment 150233

View attachment 150234

Since we were staying for 2 weeks and wanted to stay within a range we did one week at the All Star Music and one week at the Caribbean Beach. The Music was a new resort for both of us, and we hadn't been back to the Caribbean since our honeymoon (11 years ago).

We were assigned the Broadway section of the Music which seemed like a long walk to the bus stop, but it was about 5 minutes. The shortest route to our room took us through the main building which gave us a blast of AC!
View attachment 150235

Our Room
View attachment 150236

And the view from our room, which I really don't care about a view at Disney. I suppose I would if I wanted to spend more time in the room but not at the All Stars.
View attachment 150237

Following along, thanks for the "trip"!

King Racoon 77 · Jul 9, 2016

I'm aboard

PacNWTigger · Jul 9, 2016

I'm excited to hear more about your trip!! Keep those lovely food pics coming so I can continue to salivate and dream about it later!

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

Welcome aboard to all of you. Let's continue...

So we made our way out of the Studios and Brad had picked Morimoto's Asia for his birthday meal so we had to head to a resort to get to the Springs. So we took the boat over to the Yacht Club, for some reason hubby didn't want to get out at the Swan/Dolphin so the next stop was the Yacht. We saw the new fencing that was put up along the shore and I took a close up of the new signage.

We spent just a couple minutes at the Yacht Club bus stop before the Disney Springs bus showed up. We were both excited to see the "springs" and new area. I had gone there briefly in March but a lot was still behind construction walls.

The Springs area is really nice and well themed. I like that the buses drop guests off right at the entrance, it saves a little walking. The walk back to the bus though...I think that is about the same as the walk from really any of the other parks to the bus, maybe a little closer.

I spy Morimoto's....we'll be there soon!

Writing on the wall at Morimoto's, I love the Mickey.

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

We checked in, seated, and it was time to eat! As we were seated the hostess told us that Chef Morimoto was in the house and might be talking to diners. We were excited, but we never saw him.

This was the chandelier in the entryway. It is really cool how they used the bottling theme and put bottles in the chandelier.

This is the main dining room, with more cool chandeliers.

The table setting, and no we didn't use the chopsticks.

Let's start with the food....There was a lot we wanted to try so we decided to share plates. First up pork belly bao.

5 Spice Chicken Wings, I thought these would be spicy hot, but it was a very pleasant flavoring.

Morimoto's Spare Ribs, these were the best. I could've eaten them all. They were fall off the bone tender, and they are fried with what seemed like a panko crust.

Peking Duck. I'd never had Peking Duck before so I didn't know what to expect. It was really tender but didn't have a lot of flavor, but that was fixed with some of the sauces that came with it, an apricot and a hoisin. There steamed flour pancakes with it but I wasn't too into those. I preferred the duck on its own.

Hubby really enjoyed watching the kitchen, and look at all those ducks. I was really afraid the duck was going to come to our table with the head on.

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

We were pretty full, but I always have room for dessert. We got the MM parfait, with chocolate cream puff, vanilla gelato, hazelnut chocolate crunchies, sesame mochi, and lots of whipped cream. It said it was for 2 but we had no idea how big it would be. It was delicious, except for the sesame mochi (disgusting), but way too big. I think it would have been good for 4 people!

It's a good thing I always check the door to the bathroom before entering....I might have been confused by the pictures on the wall. Hubby said their were girls on his wall, he didn't take a picture though.

After dinner we were going to walk around Disney Springs, but we were just too full. We were a little tired from our early flight and traveling so we headed back to the Music and relaxed the rest of the night.

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

Day Two: June 22

We were up bright and early today, we had a 8 am breakfast reservation at Garden Grill. It was nice to enter Epcot with just the early morning breakfast reservation guests.

Just a couple quick pictures around the All Star Music.

We ended up having the bus to ourselves to Epcot as well. This actually happened quite a bit throughout our trip.

Yay for Epcot!

Breakfast at the Garden Grill was fantastic, the food was good and the characters came to the table right away and they checked in every once in awhile too. We'd never eaten here before so it was fun to have a new experience. Plus the turning of the restaurant was pretty cool, it wasn't fast but every once in awhile it was like "whoa we are moving!".

the cinnamon sticky rolls were good but could have used some butter (which I later got).

And the plate of the main dish, the chocolate hazelnut sauce was terrific with the waffles...

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

Pluto was the only character that came to our table once. But he was a character.

When we were done eating we had about 10 minutes or maybe just a little more before the park officially opened. And Soarin' was already loading. It was strange to go through the empty queue and we had our pick of seats. The new Soarin' was really good, I do miss the orange smell but the new smells were good too. The new locations were fun to see too.

I love that they kept Patrick in the safety intro.

We did go back into the Soarin' line immediately after and the line was longer but we still only waited about 15 minutes. When we got out the second time the line was super long. So we moved on to the Livin' with the Land ride. I really love going through the greenhouses, the plants are so pretty.

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 9, 2016

We then headed to Test Track to use our Fast pass but it was down, so we wandered through Mouse Gear for a little bit before heading back to Test Track.

I was really diggin' both of these ornaments, in the end I didn't buy either one.

I thought the reflection was pretty cool in the the Test Track window.

Our car, we were the winners in our car at least.

Next we headed to Spaceship Earth, we both thought the yellow blooms were pretty on the tree.

Spaceship Earth stopped for a bit in one scene so I did a bit of picture taking, Brad took a nap. I have a picture of him sleeping but I don't think he would want me to share. It is a funny picture though.

We headed to do something else that has been on the back burner for awhile...La Cava in Mexico. We only got margaritas but they were good ones.

Hubby got the passion fruit one, he thought it was just okay. I got the avocado and it was fantastic. Hubby hates avocado but I made him try it and he loved it. He said he wished he had listened to me and gotten it. I told him it was supposed to taste like melon, which I knew he would like, but he didn't listen.

After drinks we got the cheese empanadas from the stand outside the pavilion.

Alright: I'm out for the night. Coming up soon...more exploration of World Showcase, Springs, and fireworks!

WDWDarling · Jul 9, 2016

Loving your report so far! You always have such great pictures

.

I have been reading great things about Garden Grill recently and that's so awesome about getting to ride Soarin' before park opening with your early ADR. Going to have to put that on the must-do list.

More than anything though are those empanadas! OMG they look so good!!! I'll be in WDW the week after next and I know where I'm going for my EPCOT QS meal :hungry:

.

Following along

.

JenniferS · Jul 10, 2016

You look like you've lost weight.
Good for you!

Loving the pics and narrative, and the food p-orn, of course.

Figgy1 · Jul 10, 2016

I may have found our Christmas ornament to get on our trip and as always you're off to a great start!

MinnieM123 · Jul 10, 2016

Great start to your TR and looking forward to the next installment! :happy:

As for the All Star exterior and lobby, it was a big over the top; however, the picture of your actual guest room was pleasant.

The photos and descriptions from Morimoto were fabulous!! Wow! And that chandelier--OMG!! :jawdrop:

The Garden Grill looked like an enjoyable breakfast. I love Pluto!

You and Brad have so much fun together on your trips!

Figgy1 · Jul 10, 2016

I just put BDL on our to do list, sans kiddos :joyfull:

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 10, 2016

WDWDarling said:
Loving your report so far! You always have such great pictures .

I have been reading great things about Garden Grill recently and that's so awesome about getting to ride Soarin' before park opening with your early ADR. Going to have to put that on the must-do list.

More than anything though are those empanadas! OMG they look so good!!! I'll be in WDW the week after next and I know where I'm going for my EPCOT QS meal .

Following along .

Glad you are enjoying the report so far. The empanadas are fantastic and the slaw that came with it was flavorful too and I'm not too into slaw.

JenniferS said:
You look like you've lost weight.
Good for you!

Loving the pics and narrative, and the food p-orn, of course.

I haven't lost as much as I would like, but I did a lot of walking before Disney. Just trying to keep it up. I knew I would be eating a lot at WDW. More food p-orn to come.

figmentfan423 said:
I may have found our Christmas ornament to get on our trip and as always you're off to a great start!

Yeah, I love the Epcot ornament. I don't know why I didn't buy it. I might have to do a little shopping on the parks ap.

figmentfan423 said:
I just put BDL on our to do list, sans kiddos

Sans kiddos of course!

ajrwdwgirl · Jul 10, 2016

MinnieM123 said:
Great start to your TR and looking forward to the next installment!

As for the All Star exterior and lobby, it was a big over the top; however, the picture of your actual guest room was pleasant.

The photos and descriptions from Morimoto were fabulous!! Wow! And that chandelier--OMG!!

The Garden Grill looked like an enjoyable breakfast. I love Pluto! You and Brad have so much fun together on your trips!

I don't mind the All Stars at all, the rooms are fine for me or for the two of us. If there were more adults it might be tight. The Music, even though it was fine is my least favorite mainly because it didn't have as many Disney character statues around as the Movies and Sports. The Garden Grill was good, it will be a do again for sure, and yes Pluto is a hoot.

Trip Report Movin' In? Two Weeks in the World!

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member

betty rose

Well-Known Member

King Racoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

WDWDarling

Well-Known Member

JenniferS

Time To Be Movin’ Along

Figgy1

MinnieM123

Figgy1

ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl