Pre-Trip 2 Broke Guys (now with Table of Contents!)

Tony the Tigger · Dec 15, 2016

Now the main reason we were going to Epcot that night was because I scored a fast pass for frozen beginning at 8:50 PM. But earlier in the day, I saw this:

SSH · Dec 15, 2016

Yup...our FP for Frozen was that same night - about an hour after yours - ended up waiting in a pretty long fastpass line when it reopened later that night. One thing I didn't realize about Epcot: everything food and drink related - and I mean EVERYTHING - shuts down right at park closing - nothing was open for the 2 extra magic hours that night that we could find. Unless we missed it? I asked a few castmembers as we wanted coffee or a drink, but they said all food and beverage service closes and is not avail for extra magic hours. I always remember a few places being open in the past.

MK was definitely crowded last night, but so much better from 11 to 1am. I was hoping for cooler weather this trip, as I get more than my fill of summer year round down here! But I'm sure it was a delight for those flying in.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

OK Tuesday night at Epcot – after a couple of shots of Crown at the room, I want to say we got there around 7 PM. The frozen fast pass looked normal again. We did not have formal plans for dinner, but wanted to try the special little bites around the world. Now from what I have read, I got the impression this was not the first year they did this? Or was it? We were here last year around the same time and don't remember any little food and wine type booths.

Either way I have to say, we were very pleased with the booths and thought they were better than food and wine. They were also better than flower and garden. They were bigger portions, reasonable prices, fewer in number, and we just liked them better than what we've been getting at the other festivals lately.

At first we were being picky, walking past the first few booths. We stopped a moment in the UK to see the tail end of the British revolution show. They were actually good.

I felt a little bad for them because they didn't get much applause, and at the end, the announcer said you could come up to the stage and meet them, but mostly everyone was walking away. That has to be a bummer.

Then we walked by this giant Christmas teapot

which I thought was hysterical because I had just ordered matching mugs to go with my mother-in-law's entire set with this pattern!

So we texted her a picture of the teapot and asked if she had that piece but told her it was a good 4 feet high LOL.

The first thing we tried was the duck confit which was absolutely excellent, and some kind of frozen alcoholic concoction with tea and apple that was surprisingly good. Wait, here is the whole thing about the tea and apple:

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

Now, I may get some of this out of order. The countries were not as clear as during food and wine. Especially with the two shots of Crown and some chocolate apple stuff. (drinking at Epcot, oh the horror!)

We stopped in the Japanese pavillion and store, which I don't remember doing lately (ever?) and found out that hello Kitty has a last name and may be related to Betty White?

Also she makes square lip balm

We did stop to watch the trains and walk through the middle of them, but I think most of my pictures didn't come out.

And then we were behind a scooter gang

There were like four or five of them in a row!

By now we were hungry and thirsty and every booth seems to have a crummy version of alcoholic eggnog that was more about a brand than a flavor. We did not go for any of those. And I don't remember which happened first, but we found ourselves back at the beginning where the tree is

And had a fantastic sandwich that was basically all of Thanksgiving dinner in one bite – it was a nice piece of turkey on cranberry bread with mashed potatoes and gravy right on the sandwich. We loved it. But I don't think we got a drink there. We walked up a little further to try to find a booth with a decent drink but it was getting too close to our frozen fast pass time, so we reversed course and headed back to Norway.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

Now, for all you Frozenstrom haters, here it is:

First, it was dark, the area was not lit, and there were two lines: one very long line, and one very short line. You could see the posted wait time was 110 minutes. You could also see tons of people walking backwards out of the short line. Why? Because the fastpass line was the long line. It was a more than 30 minute wait, I'm guessing because things got backed up when the ride was apparently down earlier in the day.

With that said, and without reservation - I loved it!!

Now, I have seen the movie exactly one time on cable quite some time ago, and may or may not ever see it again. (That's context, folks.)

And I liked Maelstrom well enough, but it was never great. It was just the best ride in World Showcase, which to be grammatically correct should really be the better ride in World Showcase, because the only other ride in World Showcase is Los Tres Caballeros. (I remember the first time I ever went to Epcot - going to Mexico, Norway and...hey, where are the rides in these other countries? wth?)

You've probably heard it all, but there was a moment of actual excitement where I could not stop myself from smiling and it was at the top where Elsa is singing the song that is supposed to be so annoying and I should be so sick of, but I really thought it was fabulous.

The ride is so well done. And it kept just the right touches from the original. If I had to make any minor criticisms to the imagineers: the projections on the left and right walls could be sharper, and the first Anna animatronic should move. She looked a little, er, frozen.

Olaf was a hoot, and he and the moose were exceptionally well-done. Everything had that cartoon-y feel. If Walt wanted us to ride the movie, this was riding the cartoon to a tee. The animatronics are the technology of the Seven Dwarfs, but I feel they improved upon it somehow. It was seamless. Brilliant. The up, the down, the splash, all of it. Well done, worth the wait. We thought we might do it again if we were lucky, since it was extra magic hours and all, but we exited the ride less than 10 minutes before Illuminations started.

Illuminations has long been a favorite of mine - correction, THE favorite of mine. I don't even watch Wishes, like ever. I like Fantasmic and will watch it once every other year or so. But Illuminations carries emotional weight for me, always has, especially when I saw it right after 9/11. I knew there was a holiday ending and wanted to see it. We've half-heartedly watched the show a few times recently through crummy tree-blocked views and even the back of the fastpass area, ho-hum. I really wanted an unobstructed view for this, and we found one after walking from Norway towards the Christmas tree again. And luckily, we got behind short people. Loved the show, loved the ending, got choked up for the first time in years. I feel a very negative vibe in the country since the election I keep pretending didn't happen, and keep ignoring by still not watching the news (which is crazy.) Anyway, the new administration will be against me and my family. And I just deleted several sentences because it was too much. The point is, "We Go On" gets to me. And we do, and we will. And those fireworks are as emotional as the music.

So now it's 9:45 and we've over-abstained from drinking far too long. But extra magic hours, right? Not so much. As @SSH stated, everything was closed. The booths were closed, the carts were closed. We thought, let's just run into Mexico for a drink and an appetizer, or even if the restaurant closed, the tequila bar will be open, right? Nope. The tequila door was closed just as we neared it, and the restaurant was only taking their final customers with reservations. So the "quick drink in Mexico to wait on line for Frozen again" idea bit the dust. We didn't want to keep walking around just to find everything closed, and were more interested in sustenance than Nemo or Spaceship Earth. So we exited. Not so Magic Hours LOL. What was the point of 90 minutes past Illuminations if everything closed anyway?

But the main takeaway of this post - to the naysayers of Frozen - just stop it. It's an awesome freaking ride, better than anything in new Fantasyland, and I don't care if they put an IP in World Showcase. More, please. (ducking tomatoes.)

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

Stopped in a shop on the way out – almost bought this ornament

but thought it was kind of big. I wanted something for now to put on the little Charlie Brown Christmas tree and then take home for the big tree.

On the hook directly below it, was the glitter Mickey Santa hat that we bought last year that broke when our little 4 foot tree fell over. Not falling for that ornament again! Tree killer! (even though we have a floor-to-ceiling tree this year LOL.) Not falling for it!

One thing I will say on the AA (Annoying Alcohol) thread is the resort bars and lounges really do need to stay open later especially in relation to the parks schedule. Even leaving Epcot around 10 made it nearly impossible to get to our home resort's lounge which closed at 11. For a moment we thought about driving to our favorite Caribbean beach pool bar which is open until midnight, but sometimes they close early, and we didn't feel like driving over for nothing. The Saratoga Springs bar is kind of a bummer. There's no place to sit and talk to the bartender or other vacationers. There's a pool table, blah blah blah. Why waste money on a good drink there when we were practically back at the room with our own special bottle of crown? But the gift shop was attached. I decided to check for a Saratoga Springs related ornament. Found one! I was so glad I didn't have to use a pin or a keychain this time LOL. It was a legit Christmas ornament. Brian got us a couple of sandwiches – mine was a really nice lobster sandwich, and we went back to the room and made our own drinks.

I added the ornament to our little Charlie Brown tree and moved it over to the top of the TV to be safe.

And here's a close-up as it has been promoted to our big tree at home - Front and back – again nice tie in to my dad now permanently in our tree ornament collection.

And with that, Brian was out like a light and I was shortly after doing a little light work on the computer.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

So, Wednesday - the last full day! Boo. On the agenda: most importantly, seeing my friend Gwyn at the Flying Fish for an informal drinking/food sampling get together. (Or so we thought.) We had heard from her the night before and she said we would meet at the Fish around 5PM. So I actually didn't mind relaxing that day. I somehow slept until 10AM, which is absolutely kooky for me (yes, I woke up at 3AM and stayed up past 5AM, but still...) I didn't mind if we relaxed - I liked the resort that much, it was warm enough (low 80's, Hallelujah!) to sit by the pool, and so, for the first time in ever - I sat by a Disney pool.

Also for the first time in ever, we didn't pack bathing suits.

Every time we go, I tell Brian, "Make sure you pack your bathing suit, you never know." I think one day we might end up in the pool at night, or in a hot tub area, or even take a break in the afternoon and take a dip - never happened. This time, neither of us even thought to bring a bathing suit, we were thinking about long-sleeved shirts.

I had a pair of gym shorts, which were fine. Brian only had cargo shorts. I offered to go to the gift shop and spring for a bathing suit for him, but he didn't want one. So we were near the pool, on comfy chaise lounges, watching the Disney Springs balloon go up and down and slightly move. The weather was beautiful, not too hot, got a little color, back to the room for a drink and back to the chaise. But we never went into the pool. And it was one of the little pools so there was no pool bar. Not complaining, it was perfect. Getting back to the room was like 10 steps. And mission accomplished, we didn't look pale-faced anymore.

It was so uncharacteristic of me to be so blase about it - not planning anything, not feeling like we were missing out on anything, just seriously relaxing and enjoying the moment. I gave up on my second Christmas surprise being a surprise - the chestnuts - because when I googled how to roast them, there were too many variations and I figured I'd mess it up. (I'm not an instinctive cook by any means. I need a recipe.) Brian OTOH is good with all that. He put them in for X minutes at X00 degrees and I asked, "How did you know how to do that?" And he answered that he had simply read the directions on the tag at the top of the net-bag thingy they came in.

Anyway, they came out great, and continuing my day of ease, we went back to Disney Springs for a late lunch or even just picking just for the sake of taking the boat from our room to lunch. Nevermind, Overthinking Tony, that we could go to Disney Springs on any Sunday or anytime we didn't even have park tickets, I didn't care. The boat thing was still a first, and so was finally going to Jock Lindsey's.

Jock Lindsey's sucked.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

The decor was cool. Being inside of anything Indiana Jones related was cool. Here's some of the cool stuff:

Our waitress was less cool. She kind of had an attitude. From the get go, I was interested in a bourbon drink that came with both sour mix and simple syrup, which I thought would be a little too sweet for me so I asked for just a teeny bit of the simple syrup because I don't like really sweet drinks and also those will be the first ones to make you sick.

She argued that it isn't sweet and she likes it the way it is. Well, my version of sweet tends to differ from the average American diet. I have almost no processed sugar in my general diet. So "normal" sweet tastes kind of very sweet to me. I don't know what the result of our discussion was, I don't know what I received. It tasted good, and I didn't want to push it further.

Brian ordered some kind of monkey drink that came in a monkey cup. It had a few juices in it - like watermelon juice, something else juice LOL and rum. it was very good and surprisingly not sweet, probably because the watermelon thins it out.

We ordered two small plates to start, which is basically all they have are small plates, and we thought based on those we might order more.

We picked the ahi tuna tacos and the brisket sliders. Grumpy cat the waitress asked if we would like fresh squeezed lime juice on the tacos. That sounded great.

That was not great.

She must have just picked a bad lime, because the tacos had such a bad flavor we had to force ourselves to finish them. Actually there were three tacos and three sliders. I insisted on eating two of the tacos to spare Brian the awfulness of the tacos LOL. I actually apologized for bringing him there at all and confessed we would not even be there if it wasn't for how damned sexy Harrison Ford was in that second Indiana Jones movie. Of course, there is no trace of Harrison Ford anywhere in this building.

We weren't mad or upset - if anything we were just kind of making fun of the situation. But needless to say, we did not order more appetizers. We just got the check and left.

Since it was now just after three, and we were to meet the others around five, and especially since the boat dock was right there, we decided to boat back to get ready for a fun night.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

The boat situation was slightly confusing, because it does not drop you off where it picked you up. It picked us up pretty close to our room and in a place we knew how to get to and back from. It dropped us off near the bar/gift shop place, which was a longer walk and we were less sure of our direction (especially me, Mr. Nosenseofdirection.)

We got back to the room, and within minutes got a text from Gwyn saying that Craig had the night off from Flying Fish and they were at Disney Springs LOL. I told her we had just left there, so they all got on the boat to come to our Villa. Ta-da! I had to walk out there to meet them or they'd never know how to get to our room (as they have no numbers on the outside of anything.) In the meantime, they insisted on getting a drink from the bar to bring along.

I kind of felt bad we didn't have much to offer them - Crown? Chestnuts? LOL. It's funny - when we stay off property with a kitchen, we stop at Publix and get the basics. Here, we never went off property to pass by a Publix and grab stuff. We brought stuff from home - chips, nuts, carrots, mixers. But really not much to offer.

So we had Gwyn, Gwyn's sister, Gwyns' sister's daughter who is married to Craig the bartender from FF, plus Craig and their 2 year old kid.

We had a really nice visit until just before 7 - it turns out Craig's wife is good friends with our fave Tune-In bartender (It's a small world, after all) when they headed back to DS with my instructions to see the drone show.

And in the next post you will see a pic of me and Gwyn, because if you haven't noticed, you're basically getting a post of mostly pics and then a post of mostly text because I am going back and forth between my phone and laptop. :facepalm:

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

Gwyn and I have been friends for around 25 years. She was my boss at a pharmacy in New Jersey where I started when I was 20 years old. She and I were there when I got the call that my father had suddenly passed from a heart attack at age 45. She and a few others drove the better part of an hour to come to the wake even though I had known them less than a year.

She is the one I may have mentioned who hated Halloween because her mom died on Halloween. And one year she invited a select few of us to a secret Halloween party, which for obvious reasons we thought was very odd. She had just come back from a cruise and she told us to meet at the pharmacy parking lot, where a bus picked us up and we had no idea where we were going.

It turned out to be a wedding reception. She had gotten married on the boat and she and her husband arrived dressed as Frankenstein and the bride of Frankenstein. I can't tell you how much I love that she took a painful time and turned it into a joyous time. It's brilliant and reflects such spirit.

So that's Gwyn and myself - and here are a couple of pics of the drone show from our little patio area after they left:

Now, I swear there's a portion of that drone show, represented by the top picture, that pays homage to the Osborne lights show. I could be wrong, but it definitely reminds me of that. The same music, similar flashing shapes, etc.

So now here it was our last night, no dinner yet, plans all changed. Magic Kingdom was open until 11 PM with extra magic until 1 AM. It was already after seven. What to do?

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

So again to nod to the AA thread, we decided not to go to dinner at Magic Kingdom because number one: no alcohol and number two: not really great places to eat.

So I decided to do basically what I had tentatively planned for Thursday morning before our departure: I made a reservation at the grand Floridian café, and took Brian to dinner there and to see the gingerbread house. And I told him that's where we would be spending our 10 year anniversary, and we explored some of the first floor but wanted to leave most of the building unseen until that trip.

Dinner was very nice. He had the ravioli and I had the salmon. Both were great. I probably wouldn't recommend the shrimp cocktail starter, as at $16 it worked out to four dollars per shrimp LOL. But it was good and had a nice avocado citrus salad with it.

We used our annual passholder discount again, and I think I keep forgetting to mention we really aren't missing tables in Wonderland so far. There were only two times we could have used it – one was for the sandwiches at the gift shop which was a negligible purchase, and I can't remember the other one right now. But for most meals we got the 20% off food with the annual pass, which was nice - and off the ornament as well.

The grounds really are gorgeous and we are very much looking forward to staying there.

I did buy a shingle, although wasn't initially thrilled with it. it tasted better the next day LOL. Then I had to go back to the booth because the pamphlet I picked up showed they had no sugar added cookies, so I went back for those for my husband. I love when I can find special stuff for him that is not just a token bland sugar-free puck.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

And as I mentioned earlier, there was a murder.

We killed that poor bottle of Crown!

It wasn't full to start. And there's plenty more at home LOL.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 17, 2016

So it turned out to be a lovely, relaxing, romantic night. Early to bed, and of course I woke up in the middle of the night to start packing and then went back to bed.

In the morning, we finished packing while taking turns in the fab tub, and got to the Magic Kingdom around 10 AM. Maybe shouldn't have done that, and it up making the whole day rushed – still it's always worth it.

I wanted to go on big thunder Mountain Railroad ever since I read that article about kidney stones LOL. I think I'm in the clear in that department, but I figured this would prove it one way or the other.

They say the back car is the most bumpy and therefore recommended for this particular purpose. So this was my view:

Yes, the very first car. By myself. Brian decided to sit this one out. We were both slightly concerned about both of our backs.

But of course, the front car is not that bumpy! But I had my second exciting moment of the trip on a ride. Thoroughly enjoyed it, hands up and woo-ing!

And then the journey home begins – on the ferry, going past The GF

Bye for now, GF!

And home to the puppy. And how sweet was Trysch The puppy sitter to leave this gift full of gifts for Kylie!?

Bones, toys, treats – the works!

And we didn't spend anything from our last green number post. So our savings are the same.

Next trip tentatively planned for early May after Record Store Day in April - tied in with a music biz convention in Nashville, which may include a stop in Atlanta.

And – bummer – on the way home, in the car, getting work done, I saw an email from Disney with a bounce back code that would have worked before we checked out. It's the first one we ever received, and we blew it LOL.

But realistically, even though I have September already booked through Disney, I'm probably going to rebook it through DVC rental to save money, so it doesn't really matter.

MinnieM123 · Dec 18, 2016

Tony the Tigger said:
OK Tuesday night at Epcot – after a couple of shots of Crown at the room, I want to say we got there around 7 PM. The frozen fast pass looked normal again. We did not have formal plans for dinner, but wanted to try the special little bites around the world. Now from what I have read, I got the impression this was not the first year they did this? Or was it? We were here last year around the same time and don't remember any little food and wine type booths.

Either way I have to say, we were very pleased with the booths and thought they were better than food and wine. They were also better than flower and garden. They were bigger portions, reasonable prices, fewer in number, and we just liked them better than what we've been getting at the other festivals lately.

At first we were being picky, walking past the first few booths. We stopped a moment in the UK to see the tail end of the British revolution show. They were actually good.

View attachment 180154

I felt a little bad for them because they didn't get much applause, and at the end, the announcer said you could come up to the stage and meet them, but mostly everyone was walking away. That has to be a bummer.

Then we walked by this giant Christmas teapot View attachment 180155 which I thought was hysterical because I had just ordered matching mugs to go with my mother-in-law's entire set with this pattern!View attachment 180156

So we texted her a picture of the teapot and asked if she had that piece but told her it was a good 4 feet high LOL.

The first thing we tried was the duck confit which was absolutely excellent, and some kind of frozen alcoholic concoction with tea and apple that was surprisingly good. Wait, here is the whole thing about the tea and apple: View attachment 180158

That's not the ideal location for a band. I've often felt bad for bands playing in that small yard area, as they don't get the crowds that the open area bands get (such as the stage over by Canada, for example). I also realize that some people just pass through and move along, but I've often stopped to say hello to band members after a break in their songs (or at the end) and thank them. It's not easy to play to an audience that just walks away.

The teapot was awesome! I recognize that -- Spode. That's a famous Christmas pattern of theirs.

That tea looked delicious!

MinnieM123 · Dec 18, 2016

Tony the Tigger said:
It's an awesome freaking ride, better than anything in new Fantasyland, and I don't care if they put an IP in World Showcase. More, please. (ducking tomatoes.)

Glad you enjoyed the ride. I'll go on it the next time I visit WDW (which is usually once a year). But as for ducking tomatoes--you're right about that!

(It doesn't belong in Norway!)

Tony the Tigger said:
And home to the puppy. And how sweet was Trysch The puppy sitter to leave this gift full of gifts for Kylie!?

Oh, that is precious! How nice is your puppy sitter to do that?! :cat:

Lastly, about the Jock Lindsey's bar, that was ridiculous. Wait staff know enough to adjust drinks or food to a customer's expectations (within reason, of course), to ensure a good tip. I don't "get" how the waitress could be argumentative, when it's her livelihood to please the patrons. Sorry you had to deal with that.

Oh, about the Grand Flo--those were some very nice photos you shared. That is such a lovely property and happy to hear that you and Brian enjoyed your visit.

The "murder" of the Crown Royal was funny!

SSH · Dec 18, 2016

Enjoyed your TR - we were at several of the same places, nearly at the same time. And despite my husband who's not nearly as keen on the idea, we'll also be back in May. (Sorry hon! :hilarious:

)

But I promise we're not stalking you.

I have to say I was a wee bit disappointed with Frozen. Sacrilege, I know! I definitely liked the movie and the ride was fun, don't get me wrong. But maybe because it was so hyped up, I was expecting a little more. I saw several blank walls/dead spots in plain view that you never see in most disney dark rides - usually wherever the eye can see, there's theming to fill the space. That probably sounds overly picky...but it kind of jarred me out of the experience. And Dean, who isn't nearly the Disney nerd I am, said the same thing. But we're definitely the odd one out with that opinion - most people seem to really love it.

Now that we're passholders again, I may treat myself to one of those behind the scenes MK tours when we go back in May - never did that in all the years we've been going and I think we get a discount?

By the way - if anyone has ever thought about a side trip to Crystal River, just updating you that the snorkeling with manatee excursion was wonderful. Less than 90 min drive time from WDW and a unique experience. We did this on a Sunday morning, before visiting WDW. It did involve leaving a warm, cozy bed at 5:30am to be on the first morning tour departing at 7am, which is the "best" time to go apparently. :in pain:

It was 55 degrees that particular morning and I think I drank a gallon of coffee to wake me up enough to deal with donning a bathing suit, wet suit and boarding that boat. Soooo cold. But it is definitely worth it! Just to see and swim with these gorgeous animals up close in the wild. It's not like dolphin swims or other forced animal interactions. This is 100% natural - you go into their world, just float and stay very still and let the manatees come to you if they want to. And they do. We'll definitely do it again.

Tony the Tigger · Dec 18, 2016

SSH said:
Enjoyed your TR - we were at several of the same places, nearly at the same time. And despite my husband who's not nearly as keen on the idea, we'll also be back in May. (Sorry hon!)

But I promise we're not stalking you.

I have to say I was a wee bit disappointed with Frozen. Sacrilege, I know! I definitely liked the movie and the ride was fun, don't get me wrong. But maybe because it was so hyped up, I was expecting a little more. I saw several blank walls/dead spots in plain view that you never see in most disney dark rides - usually wherever the eye can see, there's theming to fill the space. That probably sounds overly picky...but it kind of jarred me out of the experience. And Dean, who isn't nearly the Disney nerd I am, said the same thing. But we're definitely the odd one out with that opinion - most people seem to really love it.

Now that we're passholders again, I may treat myself to one of those behind the scenes MK tours when we go back in May - never did that in all the years we've been going and I think we get a discount?

By the way - if anyone has ever thought about a side trip to Crystal River, just updating you that the snorkeling with manatee excursion was wonderful. Less than 90 min drive time from WDW and a unique experience. We did this on a Sunday morning, before visiting WDW. It did involve leaving a warm, cozy bed at 5:30am to be on the first morning tour departing at 7am, which is the "best" time to go apparently.

It was 55 degrees that particular morning and I think I drank a gallon of coffee to wake me up enough to deal with donning a bathing suit, wet suit and boarding that boat. Soooo cold. But it is definitely worth it! Just to see and swim with these gorgeous animals up close in the wild. It's not like dolphin swims or other forced animal interactions. This is 100% natural - you go into their world, just float and stay very still and let the manatees come to you if they want to. And they do. We'll definitely do it again.

Sometimes it really is a game of expectations. I was not expecting as much as I got out of Frozen. Maybe it's just that simple, and why it nearly blew me away. I expected more out of SDMT, and found it underwhelming.

And I take your point about dead wall space.

Love the manatee idea, I wonder if we have that down here. I know we have manatees.

Re: the tours: yes, we get a discount on most of them. I did the Keys To The Kingdom tour probably more than 15 years ago and loved it. I think it's around $100 per person now and includes a decent lunch.

A mini version of that is the Marceline tour, which is also focused on MK, overlaps the KTTK tour in several spots, but it's shorter (in a good way) and doesn't include lunch. We were one of the last tours before Snow White closed, and got to ride it with the lights on. (Egad!) The Marceline tour is considerably less expensive, something like $39 per person (?) and I think the better value of the two and "enough."

That said, I'm considering the KTTK tour again in September because Brian has never done it, and something doesn't sound quite as fabulous about the Epcot tours - although I want them to be just as fabulous LOL. I will debate that with myself in the coming months.

Maybe we'll finally see you in May! (It may be a quick one-day on the way up to Nashville, and one day on the way back, depending on whether we are bringing the dog, etc.)

Despite the AP's, I actually don't want to overdo it this year. I want us to be a little hungry for it and missing it by the time we go for September.

Tuvalu · Dec 18, 2016

Sounds like you guys had a fun trip! Sorry our paths didn't cross this time. We have plans to return in early May too, so perhaps we'll run into each other then.

Pre-Trip 2 Broke Guys (now with Table of Contents!)

Tony the Tigger

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MinnieM123

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Tuvalu