Trip Report A Not So Scary Very Merry Wine and Dine Dashing TR *updated 12/15

Finally getting around to writing my Trip Report!

If you want to read my PTR check it out here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/a-not-so-scary-very-merry-wine-and-dine-dashing-ptr.888402/

In summary:

Dates:

Arrival Date: 24th October

Departure Date: 11th November

18 NIGHTS IN DISNEY!!!!!!!!!

Accomodation:

24th October – 4th November – All Star Sports
4th November - 7th November - Animal Kingdom Lodge (renting vacation points) with dining plan
7th November - 11th November - Art of Animation

The Cast

Me - Karen (26)

My Sister – Rachel (21)

My boyfriend – Sleepy

Here we go!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 10 (cont)
Sunday 2nd November: The Polynesian & HS

We parked up at HS and made our way into the park for our 5.30pm reservation at 50's Prime Time. We checked in and were asked to wait at the bar.

Just chilling at Disney

I was playing with Grump's camera and snapped a few pictures, the decor here is great, it's definitely worth popping in to just have a drink at the bar

We had just ordered drinks when we were called to our table and look how cool our table was

Our drinks had cool light up ice cubes in them

Food time!

We ordered fried herb and garlic cheese to start as our server recommended it

It was really delicious!

Myself and Rachel went for A Sampling of Mom's Favorite Recipes

and Grumpy chose Grandma's Chicken Pot Pie

The food was really good like a proper home cooked meal, comfort food at it's best I think!

Some fun with the ice cubes

Group shot

We were too full for desert
There was a teenage kid and his mother at the table across from us and he sat the entire time on his ipad not speaking to his mother. The interaction during the meal was great and our server was sure to teach us some maners and give out to us for having our elbows on the table. She also told this kid off for sitting on his ipad the entire time but he just continued to play away

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 10 (cont)
Sunday 2nd November: The Polynesian & HS

After our meal with our tummys full we took some more pics out at the bar as it was quiet now that most people were having their meals.

We basically claimed this place as our new sitting room

Best hiding place.... ever

We didn't fancy a ride with our tummy full up so we made our way over to the animation academy for our first shot at the drawing class ever!

The drawing class was lots of fun! We drew Tiger although for some reason I can't find the pictures of our drawings

THEN as we were leaving the strangest thing happened... a guy comes up to me and asks if I post on the forum, he said he'd read my trip report last year and even recognised Sleepy (now Grumpy) too!

The park was empty around the animation building so stopped for some photos.

We made our way to Sunset Boulevard for once last ride before calling it a night... of course it was on my favourite! TOWER OF TERROR... the CM's are always so much creepier at night!

We wanted to get some photopass photos and even though the park was still open there just wasn't any around, we noticed this a few times particularly during EMH.

We settled for a shot with our camera

Time to call it night... Bye Bye hat

Bye Bye water

Bye Bye fountain

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 11
Monday 3rd November: Seaworld & BE OUR GUEST DINNER

This morning we took a trip to Seaworld.

There is one thing that brings me to Seaworld....

MANTA

But... in all honesty... I wasn't that fussed on going this year. Grumpy was being rather anti all things Disney and wanted so wanted more time in the likes of Seaworld and Busch Gardens. For my next trip in January we won't be buying tickets for either of these parks.

I'm going to just photo a photo summary of our day at Seaworld for anyone interested

The new penguin ride is really strange... the viewing area afterwards it's pretty cool though.... also VERY cold..

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 11 (cont)
Monday 3rd November: Seaworld & BE OUR GUEST DINNER

We popped back to our room after Seaworld get ready for the meal I had been most excited about... Be... Our... Guest!!

We arrived at MK to a nice surprise... they had put up some of the Christmas decorations

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I love all things Christmas!

We got a couple of photos on mainstreet as the main street philharmonic were coming down

Before dinner we had a very important meet and greet to attend

We had the highly in demand Anna and Elsa meet and greet fastpass to use this evening and I'm so glad we did...

Elsa was first up and she told us that she kept getting blamed for the cold weather but that it definitely wasn't her

Then came Anna which was probably the best interaction we had all trip

All was going well until Grumpy stepped in for a picture and Anna made a gap between herself and Rachel so he stood in there. She made it SO AWKWARD for him... she had him get his arms out to be linked and then awkwardly linked him and then she did the whole 'This is awkward. Not you’re awkward, but just ‘cause we’re–I’m awkward.'

It was hilarious... Grumpy went so red and she continued to play up on it. 'Oh you can change colour too?'

teheeeheee

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 11 (cont)
Monday 3rd November: Seaworld & BE OUR GUEST DINNER

It was time... I've said it before but Beauty and the Beast is my all time favourite Disney movie and tonight I was getting to meet the beast himself for the first time and have dinner in his castle....

Waiting nervously

Our view as we waited to enter

And then... finally... it was our turn...

We were handed our very own candlestick to guide us to our table

Eeeeeeek I was beyond excited at this point
This was one of those 'I can't believe I'm actually here' moments. You know when you've been planning a trip like this for ages and have a certain moment you keep thinking about and getting excited...

 

[Cetta]

Loving your trip report! you guys are having so much fun!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Loving your trip report! you guys are having so much fun!

Aw thank you! Thanks for reading

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 11 (cont)
Monday 3rd November: Seaworld & BE OUR GUEST DINNER

We were seated in the west wing (WHOOP) so photos were particularly difficult but the atmosphere was perfect!

Our server Frankie was AMAZING! He was so knowledgeable about the menu, spent ages talking us through the options and really made this experience so much more special for all of us.

We got some Chimay Ale to start and our server brought us fresh bread and salted butter

Rachel got potato and leek soup to start (this is on the lunch menu)

This soup is AWESOME!

I got the mussels

WOW.. they were delicious!

Onto mains and Grumpy had the Pan-seared Salmon on Leek Fondue which Frankie had loads of info on from where it originated to how it was cooked etc

I had the Sautéed Shrimp and Scallops

And Rachel went for the Pan-seared Chicken Breast

Everything was delicious... This meal was everything I had hoped it would be

The desert trolley was brought over for us to choose from

We were so full at this point but I still wanted desert so I ordered a Lemon Meringue Cupcake

We chilled for a little bit afterwards just enjoying the atmosphere, we never felt rushed

Next it was time to meet the master of the castle.. EEeeeeeeeeeeek!

I think he took a bit of a shine to me

Back off Rachel he's MINE

Photopass shot

On our camera

One last photo as we left

I cannot recommend this experience enough, I know the reservations are hard to get it but it was totally worth it.

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 11 (cont)
Monday 3rd October: Seaworld & BE OUR GUEST DINNER

After dinner I was feeling all happy and giddy! We decided to go on the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel which I hadn't been on since I was kid.

I took a video while we went around and you can just tell how giddy we were feeling. So we pick our horses and Rachel is on one beside me when we start moving around my horse goes up high and then back to the starting position and this repeats up and down as you go round in the carrousel. Rachel's on the other hand went down from where she started so she was really low and then just came back to where it started, it never went up. Well... we thought this was the funniest thing EVER and had a massive giggle about it! I'll share the video when I dig it out!

In our childish giddy mood we decided we'd have a go on the teacups next. We decided for whatever reason that we had to have a yellow cup so we darted towards that one when we were let in.

Such a silly idea for someone like me who gets motion sickness! I kept trying to make them stop spinning it but of course that just encouraged them... luckily I didn't feel ill afterwards!

We had fastpasses for the Wishes tonight so we made our way to the viewing area. During our trip we got fastpasses for Wishes and Illuminations and I definitely think the Wishes one is far better. It was nice to be able to chill and not have your personal space invaded while enjoying the fireworks. Everyone in the area was sat down on the grass so that's something to keep in mind too.

Of course there is always one person who is inconsiderate and these guys left their stroller up despite their child being on grass

END SCENE

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 11 (cont)
Monday 3rd November: Seaworld & BE OUR GUEST DINNER

We took our time exiting the park afterwards, strolling down main street and having a look around the difference stores

I really liked watching this guy working on the glass, so intricate and impressive. We spoke to him for a while as well.

Time to head home and get to bed, a fantastic evening with great food and amazing memories.
Tomorrow we were moving resort for my first ever stay at a Delux... Animal Kingdom Lodge here we come!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 12
Tuesday 4th November: AKL EP & Ohana

We had a bit of a lazy start to our morning today, we were moving resort and had to pack up our room, it’s amazing how much stuff you can have in all sorts of places after 10nights at Disney! We packed everything into the car and made our way to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I WAS SO EXCITED!! I remember a about 9years ago when I came to Orlando with my boyfriend at the time and I was looking around on different forums to plan our trip I came across Animal Kingdom Lodge and I thought it looked incredible. Since then I always thought of it as the hotel I would love to stay in one day but never thought I could afford to. Roll forward to now and having discovered renting vacation points I was actually going to be staying there! Unfortunately we were only able to get three nights due to availability but I was BEYOND excited.

We arrived at AKL and were greeted by our new WELCOME HOME sign

The service we received checking in was really nice, the atmosphere was far more relaxed and you could just FEEL the difference of the delux resort.

Our new Magic Bands

Our room was already available which was great and we made our way straight there to dump our stuff. It was about now that I realised that I had done something VERY VERY stupid.

Our tickets to Universal were in the paper pocket you get when you check into a Disney hotel back in our old room in All Star Sports which was most likely about to be cleaned. Had it been our Disney tickets it would have been fine but these paper tickets had been posted to us by our agent in Ireland and if they were gone they were gone! We dashed back down to guest services who phoned across to All Star Sports and advised them of our situation and if the room had not been cleaned to insure it wasn’t now and that our tickets weren’t thrown out.

We drove back to All Star Sports and headed straight into guest relations and here is where we had the most un-Disney experience I’ve ever encountered. First off nobody at the desk had any idea about the phone call made from AKL. The girl I was dealing with disappeared for about 10mins, I explained my situation to another CM and also the fact that it was time critical to avoid our tickets being dumped in the trash. We were left waiting another 10mins and I was getting more agitated. Nobody seemed to able to tell us whether or not our room had been cleaned they just kept disappeared and calling people on the radio and just looking rather confused the whole time. Three different CM’s came to speak to us and we had to keep explaining what happened, I kept asking them if we could just go to the room and eventually that’s what we did. We went with a CM to the room and a cleaner was just finishing in there and our paper packet with our tickets were right at the top of one of her bin bags. I was so relieved to get our tickets back, had we just missed the cleaner and that bag been mixed with all the other rubbish we might not have been so lucky.

Drama over with we drove back to AKL as we were meeting our friend there before heading to Epcot. We parked the car and hopped right in hers and she drove us to Boardwalk. It was nice coming into Epcot from a different entrance and the walk from Boardwalk is enjoyable too.

Helloooooo Epcot

Our plan was to focus on the world showcase today but we did wander into futureworld initially.
We took some snaps before starting our trip around the world...

Food and Wine Festival Time!!!

My first purchase was a Kalua Pork Slider slider from Hawaii kiosk.

O.....M....G
This was unreal
So delicious
NOM NOM NOM

Apparently we got some melon too... I don't remember this

We then made our way over to Mexico and it was time for a DRINK

But we got side-tracked... ride first... drink after

This place...

I mean look at this beauty

Shrimp taco from mexican F&W kiosk

Rachel went for the margarita from the F&W kiosk

Aaaaaaand we decided to get some tequila

We were really going for it in Mexico!

By the end of the trip we wanted to get to every country and have something and we had a little booklet with the details of each kiosk and where you could a stamp too to show that you'd had something from that kiosk. As we all had drinks we skipped a few and stopped at South Korea where I got a Bokbunjajoo which is a raspberry wine.

It was OK... not great...

I'm not really sure what this is... but she looks happy

 

[dancingtodisney]

I'm pretty sure I still have my F&W book at home so I'll have to check that for the names of the stuff we were eating!
I think this could be Beef Tenderloin Tips from Africa

This is the South African Bobotie with Turkey and Mushrooms from Africa

And we also got The Wolftrap Red wine from Africa

And then we ate and drank so much that we grew into MASSIVE GIANTS and everything below us looked tiny

My sweet tooth was bugging me so it was on to Italy next for some Cannoli al cioccolato

 

[dancingtodisney]

We continued with our tour around the world... a birra moretti from Italy for Grumpy

Some prosecco for our friend

I spotted this book in one of the stores and totally regret not buying it!

Next stop was Japan

This drink was very strange but I really liked it!

You had to shake it loads and then when you drank it the consistency went like jelly in your mouth.

Next up was Belgium

On the right is the Potato and Leek Waffle with Braised Beef and on the left is the Belgian Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache and Whipped Cream and both were delicious

Onto France next for a Crème brûlée caramel fleur de sel (Sea salt caramel crème brûlée topped with caramelized sugar).

This was UNREAL... It wouldn't be our last!

Grump got a La Passion Martini Slush from the F&W stand and I got the original orange slush from the permanent stand.

Next was Ireland... Whoop!
(seriously why is there not a permanent Ireland pavilion?!?!?! Also they sell IRISH stuff in the UK pavilion like Butlers chocolate and Guinness Grrrrrrr)

Rachel got the Warm chocolate pudding with Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur Custard

And I got the Lobster and seafood fisherman’s pie which also became one of our favourites!

We were about done with food and drink at that stage and I think we'd put a good dint in our goal to get something for every booth.

Highlights from F&W wine today were the pulled pork slider from Hawaii, the creme brulee from France and the fishermans pit from Ireland.

 

[Flippin'Flounder]

I have the Hidden Mickey book.

 

[dancingtodisney]

We had booked fast passes for Soarin so we said goodbye to our friend and made our way there.

I hear this will be having a big refurbishment from January 2016 and in my opinion it does really need it. I do enjoy the enjoy the ride but personally I don't get the major fuss about it and prefer Test Track.

Next we went on living with the land
Incredibly blurry photo

We had a bit of a wander around afterwards, looking in a few stores and enjoying a relaxed pace. It wasn't long before we felt our appetites come back and we decided to head to Canada for this beauty

“Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce

I forgot to mention earlier but we were now on the dining plan. This made a really good snack credit at just over $7.

We strolled around the world showcase again and I picked up a Grey Goose slush

View of the lagoon as we walked around

SO MANY NICE THINGS TO EAT

The world showcase is so pretty when it gets dark out

Our next stop was at one of my favourite places (we like pointing at signs)

My mouth is watering right now

Mmmmmm marshmallow goodness

There is seriously too much to choose from in this store

 

[dancingtodisney]

I have the Hidden Mickey book.

Oh I'm jealous!!! I might pick it up in January!

 

[Cetta]

World Showcase at night is the main reason I love outdoor lighting! During our last trip we stayed extra late at Epcot and was able to just wander around the countries with very little people around late at night. It was just so beautiful to see everything lite up. Now every time we drive through fancy neighborhoods and I see their houses all professionally lite up, I think of Epcot!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 12 (cont)
Tuesday 4th November: AKL EP & Ohana

I wish I could buy a bag of this popcorn right now

We finally dragged ourselves out of the store and made our way towards the exit

I really like Mexico, I think it's favourite but that changes as I make my way around the world so you never know.

Pretty pretty Epcot

It took us a good while to get out of the park, it's nice to stroll out and soak up as much of the Disney magic possible.

I was so excited that our bus stop was for ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

We were getting the bus back to our resort before heading out for the evening for dinner at Ohana.

Look at our new home... isn't it just so pretty

We had a quick change and went to get the bus to Magic Kingdom. We just missed one and an Epcot bus showed up so we hopped on that instead thinking we'd get the monorail from there.

Hello again....

Here's our ride

I was excited to be heading back to the Polynesian for dinner tonight...

This little photo set up is so cute

We just can't resist pointing at a sign

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 12
Tuesday 4th November: AKL EP & Ohana

We fooled around for a little bit getting some more photos as we were early for our reservation

We were still about 20mins early but we decided to check in anyway and grab a drink in the tambu lounge.
There was one drink I'd heard so much about and SUPER excited to try

A Lapu Lapu of course!

It was SOOOOO GOOOOOD! Really strong though!
I love the novelty of it being in a pineapple too...

We were called early to our seats.... perfect!
Our reservation was really late this night, we had changed our minds about where to eat while on the dinning plan so this wasn't booked at the 180day mark and we could only get a 9.40PM time but we were seating around 9.20pm.
We were HUNGRY... Ohana is served 'family style' which basically means a sharing platter for the table. We kinda demolished the first plate before I remembered to take a picture... Oooops!

I think this was like a mixed greens dish

Mmmmmm bread...

Next was the honey coriander chicken wings and pork dumplings.

SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOD! Get in my BELLY!

Egg noodles (I steered clear of the evil greens)

Sweet and sour pork

Szechuan Sirloin Steak

Grilled shrimp

Apologies for the lack of food in my food photos we were just SO HUNGRY! We asked for seconds of a couple of things and they were more than willing to bring it out for us.

I saved just enough room for this awesome bread pudding desert

It was pretty empty when we were finishing up
I was still cherishing my lovely drink

With our bellies awfully full we made our way back out to the monorail

We got to the Magic Kingdom and waited for a bus to AKL.
About 3 buses for Coronado Springs came before ours... typical!

Welcome HOME

Off to bed in a our lovely new room Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 13
Wednesday 5th November:

This morning was supposed to be a lazy one as we planned to spend the day at our resort. I woke up pretty early and decided that I wanted to get out and go to MK for a little bit. As I was getting ready Rachel woke up and I guess for myself and Rachel a lazy morning just doesn't happen at Disney! I waited for her to get ready and we made our way down to the bus stop.

Good morning Magic Kingdom

We waited at for the gates to open... I get excited every time!

Unfortunately the railroad was still under refurb so we didn't have the classic opening ceremony

It was already looking really christmassy! Christmas and Disney combined... two of my favourite things!

We decided our first stop of the day would be to meet mickey mouse! I LOVE his meet and greet in Magic Kingdom and now that he's come over all talkative it's even better!

WOW Mickey is super popular

We get into the theatre and are waiting just outside his meeting area with two other parties, the one in front of us is a little boy maybe 5years old and who I'm guessing was his mam. The boy looked really nervous and excited and he was wearing a make a wish t-shirt. His mam was really friendly and explained to us that all he wanted to do was meet Mickey Mouse, that it was his dream. He was adorable and we couldn't help but feel moved by this cute little boy and his excitement. We went in and he was nervous at first but Mickey was so friendly and patient with him and soon after they were flying around the room together. Mickey spent a long time with the boy but we were more than happy to wait and allow him to have his special time. It was another one of those heart

Helloooooooooooooo Mickey

Mickey asked us if we had traveled far and we told him we came from Dublin, he said he was very happy we had traveled all that way to come and visit him...

Don't mind me... I'm just throwing out my Mickey pose

I think this is the cheesiest grin of the entire trip... I always say Goofy is my favourite but you just can't help that special feeling meeting Mickey

He asked Rachel to dance (so not jealous )

She even got a twirl

Mickey was on top form this morning

We wandered outside and stumbled across another character meet... Snow White! Well I never turn down an opportunity to meet a princess....

We only really had one ride we wanted to go on this morning before heading back to chill at our lovely resort and that of course was SPACE MOUNTAIN

Apparently we were quite sleepy... I think this other guy looks so funny next to us!

We got a text from Grumpy that he was up so we started to head towards the exit.

ALWAYS time for a photoshoot

Practicing our princess poses... Disney will be calling us any day now to set up our own meet and greet!