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

dancingtodisney · Mar 21, 2015

HE'S MY FAVOURITE!!!!!!!!!

Our server was nice enough to take a group pic

This was my THIRD plate.... (side note: I've not eaten breakfast yet and this is making SO FRICKEN HUNGRY)

***TIP*** If you book a late breakfast then you get to eat from both the breakfast menu and the lunch menu as it'll change over while you're there. It's really handy if you want to fill up until dinner! Just make sure you sample all the breakfast items you want early on or they might change over before you get the chance.

Next to our table was Daisy

Isn't Daisy so cute

Then Donald

We had to wait quite a while to catch the big cheese, Sleepy was eager to get over to the flights of wonder show so he went on ahead and got some seats!

Eventually Mickey around, he is a busy guy I guess!

Before leaving we each got a takeaway cup of iced water, it was a hot day and this was really refreshing! With heading to the show next as well so it was nice to have this with us!

dancingtodisney · Mar 21, 2015

mrdrift said:
Great pictures from Magic Kingdom. The facial expression with the hat just made the whole family laugh our heads off. Better get sleepy a snickers bar before he really bites you. Following along.

Aw thanks glad I could make you guys laugh!

dancingtodisney · Mar 21, 2015

DisneyFreakEst1994 said:
Yay! You're back and writing more. Thanks for sharing I cant wait to read the rest.

So ye... I was only back for like a second... but I'm totally back now!
I've SO MANY photos from like 4 different sources so everytime I go to write more I realise I'm missing photos from somewhere... DOH :banghead:

I've got more uploading now so hopefully get lots more written in the next few days... Thanks for following!

dancingtodisney · Mar 21, 2015

mrdrift said:
Great pictures of the days events. Thanks for sharing the information about the fireworks viewing with any reservation at the California Grill, learn something new everyday reading the forums. You three sure did get a lot accomplished in just one day. Following along.

I know it was a jam packed day! Ye exactly I found out so much cool stuff from reading other people TR's so I try to share any tips I pick up on my trips!

dancingtodisney · Mar 21, 2015

Maggie Mae said:
loving your report, my sister and I were there from November 5-10!

THANK YOU!! That's cool that our trips overlapped!

dancingtodisney · Mar 21, 2015

surfsupdon said:
I am excited for the Wine and Dine part!

Ooooh me too... lol

DisSplash · Mar 21, 2015

Loving your trip report! You and your sister found the perfect outfits for AK!

FlaggNL · Mar 23, 2015

great additions

Flippin'Flounder · Mar 23, 2015

Following along, wish I could take an 18 day trip

mrdrift · Mar 23, 2015

Great start at Animal Kingdom. Once again the pictures are turning out really good. Following along.

dancingtodisney · Mar 24, 2015

We settled our bill and made our way over to the Flights of Wonder show where Sleepy had secured a good spot..

The show was really well put together and we were all very impressed at how well trained the birds were

The parrot was funny and was having a little bit of a off day, when asked to sign a song he just made some random noises and then eventually when the presenter was in the middle of speaking burst in the song unexpectedly!

Our next stop after the Flights of Wonder show was a photo opportunity with some Jungle Book favourites! I'd never met either before so this was a new one! YAH FOR NEW CHARACTERS!

Big smushy cuddle

Look at how excited Sleepy is

This was a really fun interaction, we got high fives and cuddles and each got separate photos as well as a group one

Group Shot

After our fun in the jungle we wandered over towards Dinosaur, along the way though we got a bit distracted. FIrst a cool photo spot with the might Everest

The we spotted Daisy with NO QUEUE so myself and Rachel took a quick detour, Sleepy was a bit charactered out and played around with his camera instead

BIG KISS for Rachel

dancingtodisney · Mar 24, 2015

Finally it was time for Dinosaur

Sleepy pointing out the obvious dangers

As you can see it was really busy AND the ride was down AGAIN... it just wasn't meant to be today!

We left and went to watch It's Tough to be a Bug and then made our way towards the exit.

Random Rachel pic

I have to note there that the construction in Animal Kingdom really does take away from the enjoyment of the park. There were boards up everywhere and it just didn't have that 'feel' that it had in previous years. We still had a great day though!

Bye bye Animal Kingdom

We spent a bit of time exploring our resort and chilling out in the room before heading to DTD for some shopping and food.

The construction all around DTD is such a nightmare! It took us AGES to get to Planet Hollywood for our dinner.

Lots of random things hanging from the sky

We ordered a big starter to share and some drinks.

MILKSHAKE

Our server wasn't great at all, we had to make a big effort just to get his attention to place our order.

Here's our food, lots to share, we ordered

I have to say… we were not impressed with the food either. It was OK but none of us would be in any hurry to head back. We spent quite a while trying to get a server to bring us our bill as well.

Random Fountain picture

We rambled around DTD and then made our way over to our SECOND reservation for the night. So I know what you're thinking… why two dinners? Well we just couldn't decide between Planet Hollywood and TRex. Myself and Rachel had been to TRex before and enjoyed the experience but Sleepy hadn't and really wanted to try it out. I'd always loved the look of the big Planet Hollywood ball and thought it would be cool to eat there so we decided we'd just do both and hence only getting a starter and drink in Planet Hollywood. I was actually glad that we made the decision to keep both after are not so good experience at our first choice!

There was a MASSIVE wait outside for TRex but I think we only waited about 5mins before being seated.

Mr TRex

The decor in here is fantastic

The view from our table back towards the entrance

The Ice Room

Our server was really good here and gave us lots of info on the alcoholic drinks available. The food was much better as well, I'm pretty sure we took food and drink pics but I can't seem to find them

dancingtodisney · Mar 24, 2015

DisSplash said:
Loving your trip report! You and your sister found the perfect outfits for AK!

Ye my sister had a cool outfit last year and the photos looked great so I made an effort this time round to find something more animal themed!
Thanks for reading along

dancingtodisney · Mar 24, 2015

2001DISNEYLIFE said:
Following along, wish I could take an 18 day trip

It still wasn't long enough lol

mrdrift · Mar 24, 2015

My family would agree with you that T-Rex is a much better experience with better food. Great pictures once again. Following along.

dancingtodisney · Mar 25, 2015

mrdrift said:
My family would agree with you that T-Rex is a much better experience with better food. Great pictures once again. Following along.

I was so disappointed with Planet Hollywood... We LOVED T-Rex though, having trouble finding our photos but I'll add them in when I do!

dancingtodisney · Mar 25, 2015

Day 5
Tuesday 28th October: Universal & Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Today we spent our first day in Universal Studios. We were really excited to go to the new Harry Potter area and that did not disappoint. When you go to Universal there are pretty strict no loose article rules so I never bring my camera in order to avoid waisting lots of time queuing for lockers both to put your stuff in and then again to take it back out. This means I end up with WAY LESS PHOTOS obviously so writing a trip report without photos is not nearly as much fun. SO... my point to this ramble is that I'll keep the recap of this morning brief but don't worry we did visit Universal and IOA again and that time we took photos

So first ride of the day was obviously going to be Harry Potter's escape from Gringotts. I purposely avoided reading ANYTHING about this ride. A few bits slipped through and I'd seen the odd picture of the new area but really did not want to know, I wanted it to be a surprise, I LOVE NEW RIDES!!

The new area in Universal Studios is absolutely brilliant. We jumped in the queue and wouldn't you know the stupid ride broke down! I'd read that this was a regular occurrence but it was back up and running in about 10mins. We entered the bank and O.....M.....G it's incredible, I WAS IN THE MOVIE... like actually IN THE MOVIE... I can't post pictures (as explained) but even still I don't think they would do the experience any justice. The goblins were REAL I'm telling you REAL!!!

The ride itself was great, of a similar standard to the Forbidden Journey in Islands of Adventure but different, both are fantastic rides. The Harry Potter section of both parks makes a visit to Universal a must in my mind. I'm not a massive Harry Potter fan but it's so much more than that.

We hopped on the Hogwarts Express over to IOA after exploring the area a bit (and witnessing some MAGIC) and this again was something I purposely avoided reading about. I did not realise that it was more than just a transport train that looked like the one in the movie, it was a ride in itself. Really cool!

In IOA we got on all the big guns. Hulk, Dueling Dragons (they're called something else now, don't care), Spiderman, Jurassic Park Ride & Ripsaw Falls. We then hopped back on Duelling Dragons (sleepy described Jurassic and Ripsaw as the 'wash' cycle and insisted we follow it up with the 'spin' cycle on Dueling Dragons. I think we rode twice in a row. We were pretty wet afterwards and made our way out of IOA and grabbed some food in the Nascaar bar while we finished drying off.

The queues were minimal with the exception of anything Harry Potter related but even that was fine if you were there early and also seemed to die down again later on. I love rollarcoasters and thrill rides and Universal hits the spot there for us in a way that Disney doesn't so we always visit when we come to Orlando. Also HARRY POTTER PEOPLE...

I had searched online that morning to find a place to pick up some costumes for me and Sleepy so we went there afterwards and both got sorted. We got ourselves home right that... we had a party to go to!

FlaggNL · Mar 26, 2015

No universal pics?

mrdrift · Mar 26, 2015

I would call your day at Universal an awesome day. I love all the Harry Potter areas but I haven't seen the new addition yet. I agree that Universal does give the major thrill rides that Disney doesn't and wish Disney will add sometime in the future. Following along.

blreinsel · Mar 26, 2015

Loving your TR and will be following along! I laughed so hard at your Mine Train ride photos.. the little girl in front of you looks so miserable and scared!!! I'm willing to bet that was their first and last ride on the train.