Trip Report A Salute to All Nations, but Mostly America

Hey everyone! @blgauger and I are about to begin our Memorial Day tour of Walt Disney World, and since she is behind on her own report () I'm taking over the reporting for the day (and maybe longer, you never know)
For those of you who don't know me, I'm Brooke. Brittany and I met through this forum when we found out we would be teaching together, and now we hang out at Disney whenever we aren't at school. We've got lots of Disney adventures planned this summer (including a BTMRR challenge with @Tuvalu and @Longers ) so stay tuned!

 

[wishes2013]

Oh! And where did you get the little chip thing for the center of the bows? It's adorable!!!

I traced a Disney Starbucks mug for the fabric, use quilt batting and craft foam for the inside, and fabric glue

The little chip is a button that came in a pack from Joann’s

 

[wishes2013]

Help, I’m at AK without @blgauger and I don’t know what to do

In all seriousness, Sunday trips are some of my favorites. We did the Safari, and saw the springbok hopping around, the lioness was roaring, and all the animals were super active

We rode Dinosaur, and now are waiting for Everest. I’m not a fan, but I’m trying...

 

[becca_]

The buttons are seriously making me laugh so hard Only you, @blgauger

 

[blreinsel]

Help, I’m at AK without @blgauger and I don’t know what to do

Though I have enjoyed a day of sitting around.

and now are waiting for Everest.

SO PROUD.

The buttons are seriously making me laugh so hard Only you, @blgauger

We have almost 100 collected!

 

[melmel89]

Oh my gosh I need that pascal hat in my life!

 

[wishes2013]

This is turning into a mostly live report of my summer Disney adventures.

My sister turned 21 last week, so I took her out tonight to celebrate. We didn’t have reservations anywhere since we weren’t positive she’d make it here in time, so we headed to Springs and hoped for the best!

Of course it started to rain as soon as we got there, so there went our hair

I’ve really wanted to try Maria and Enzo’s, so we decided to try our luck with walking up. They were able to seat us right away, and the restaurant was somewhat empty, especially for it being around 6:30. We were quickly visited by the manager, super friendly, and our waiter. Bread was brought out, and we decided pretty quickly what we wanted.

They had a photographer coming around and taking pictures. You got a free postcard and had the option to purchase other copies of the picture.

Our food and drinks came quickly. I had the chicken linguine, which I don’t see listed online. Lauren had the spaghetti and meatballs, but with gluten free pasta and meatballs on the side (they had a little bit of breadcrumb in them). We both had the classic bellini

Thoughts on the food: sooooo good. I didn’t finish all of mine, but brought it home with me. Lo cleaned her plate in a short period of time. I tried a bit of the meatballs, they were incredible

After taking care of the check, the manager stopped by to tell us we couldn’t leave yet. A few minutes later he came back with a birthday treat, singing happy birthday in Italian.

It was some type of lemon ice/gelato, sine Lo is gluten and dairy free. The manager was so great the entire time, stopping to talk with us and then getting Lo a special treat.

Overall, it was an enjoyable time. The theming is nice, but nothing extraordinary. I’d like to try the first class lounge, but will probably end up trying some place new instead. The food was good, and while the manager was great, our server was average.

We popped over to the Edison, since I really wanted Lauren to see it. We shared the Time Turner, which was alright. I don’t think I’ll get it again

Then we wandered around a bit before heading home. We would have lingered linger, but the steady drizzle was making things uncomfortable. Of course as soon as we headed for the car it stopped

 

[wishes2013]

Popped over to MK last night (Friday) for a few rides with my family. We grabbed dinner at Pecos Bill (my sister was extremely disappointed about having to pay extra for guac) and I took no pictures because we were starving

Then we headed for Main Street. My parents hadn’t seen HEA yet

My dad was amazed at how they did the projections.
We pushed through the crowds and rode pirates, wait posted 10 minutes, but we walked right on.

Then we waited about 45 minutes for splash. There was a small stop, which led to bumper logs the entire time not enjoyable, but still a great ride

Then we decided to walk and see where we ended up, which turned out to be small world

We continued to Tomorrowland, where we walked into Buzz. For some reason, this curtain is covering Buzz

Not my best, but I still won

Then we took a quick trip on the People Mover before the park closed and we made our way out

We caught Kiss Goodnight on our way out.

My dad asked as we made our way into the park if it ever gets old. I’ve been here 11 months, and still get so excited every time I get off that monorail and head towards the castle. Nights like this are what I always dreamed about, and it’s hard to believe it is my real life now.

 

[wishes2013]

Today @blgauger and I didn’t go to Disney

But, we did something related to Disney AND teaching, and it was amazing, so I’ll share quick here

We went to a conference (EdcampMagic) that is super cool. Teacher people need to check out EdCamp in general. They happen all over the country. Anyways, this one is focused on bringing the Disney spirit and creativity to your classroom. Guest speakers today included Brian Collins, a former engineer, and Jeff Barnes (Dr. Disneyland) who teaches a college class on the History of Disneyland. It was super cool, and I would highly recommend looking them both up and checking out their websites/Twitter/books

 

[LadyBelle]

Now that’s a college course I would’ve taken in a heartbeat and never missed.

 

[wishes2013]

As @blgauger mentioned in her own report, I spent a week away from the parks on a cruise (Royal Carribean, it was great, but I want to do a Disney cruise sooooo bad)
After a week away, this was a very welcome sight

As Brittany mentioned, it took FOREVER to get to MK. I usually exaggerate when I say it takes an hour from parking to walking down Main Street, but today that was no lie

I finally made it to Starbucks, and was disappointed to find out I couldn’t use my reward there. Oh well

The coffee didn’t last long, and I took no pictures. Oops

I had FP for HS later, so I waited while Brittany rode Splash

There she is!

We did Little Mermaid

Then Carousel of Progress and People Mover

I’ve been wanting the “No Capes Just Crepes” sundae since I first saw it on the menu. I got the Nutella and strawberry one. It looked great, but the crepes were crunchy. I was slightly disappointed but glad I got it.

Then I headed out to HS to meet up with some family. They were on TOT so I met them there. We waited standby (60 minutes) for Rockin RollerCoaster and I planned to step through. Peer pressure had me riding this for the first time ever
Not a fan
We headed to Tapline so the rest of the group could snack and drink. We walked through Tattoine Traders, then One Man’s Dream to see the Star Wars models. We saw March of the First Order, and the Star Wars show. And I have no pictures again
The rest of the group had fast passes for RnRC and TOT, but I was sitting them out.

I had the pleasure of hearing every single person hit these bells as they walked by. Adults and kids alike

We did some shopping and then eventually made our way to Star Tours. I hadn’t done this since they redid it in 2010? I have since watched some of the Star Wars movies, so I had a tiny idea of what was happening

C3PO is by far my favorite character, I think he is hilarious, so I enjoyed him a lot. I don’t love the ride, it’s too jerky for me, but it’s tolerable
We ended up back at Baseline while a few members of the party went single rider on TOT.
Then, we had a 9pm dinner at SciFi! I didn’t know we had reservations, as it was a last minute thing, but I’d never been, so I was super excited!

I had the classic burger and fries, and tried a bit of the brownie dessert. It was really good!
Our waitress was great, super attentive and friendly. Another waitress spilled onion ring sauce all over my uncle’s leg, then just said “oh, you’re fine” as it ran down his leg. Uhmmm, what? She took forever to get us more napkins, and didn’t really seem too worried. It wasn’t terrible, but I think she could have cared more. Our waitress ended up getting us FP that we can use sometime this week.
Overall, SciFi was great and I will be back eventually!

We didn’t end up making our way out of the park until about an hour after close, so we had an empty park as we left!

Sorry for the text heavy post, I’m out of trip reporting, picture taking practice

 

[blreinsel]

Still can’t believe that you rode RnRC but so proud.

 

[Gurt]

I finally found your report I have seen Brittney mention it in hers but I couldn't find yours but I am finally here

 

[Swissmiss]

Me too! It's fun to see how the two of you report on your days together.

 

[wishes2013]

I finally found your report I have seen Brittney mention it in hers but I couldn't find yours but I am finally here

Me too! It's fun to see how the two of you report on your days together.

Glad to have you along!

 

[wishes2013]

My family was hitting Animal Kingdom rope drop today, so I was up and out the door early. This was my first experience rope dropping FOP and it was interesting to say the least...
I met them in the masses of people inside the gate, right next to a man throwing up into the landscaping (he would later be referred to as the “yakking yeti”)
We made it to Pandora- wow is that a crazy run. The way they maneuver people into the queue is wild!

We ended up waiting a little less than an hour.

We headed for Everest, our next FP, then waited almost an hour for Kali River. It was unbelievably hot today, so it was refreshing

We put our name in at Yak and Yeti and continues to dry out from our river run. 45 minutes later we were seated and ordering. I ended up just getting the potsticker appetizer as my main. The rest of the group that had ordered entrees ended up with huuuuuge plates of food. I tried a little of the chicken and waffles and it was really good, as were my potstickers

We headed to Dinoland, where we rode Dinosaur and some members of the group did Primeval Whirl. I caught this cutie as I was waiting on them

We headed back to Pandora for our Navi FP

There was talk afterwards that this animatronic was missing a toe? I didnt see it

We grabbed some Night Blossoms to enjoy while we waited for our next FP to open

Kilimanjaro Safari was up next. I’ve had some really great safaris recently, and this one was a little subpar, but still good

They’re a little hidden, but that is 3 giraffes lying down, which is super rare.

Baby!
No lions were out, and in general there was not a whole lot of movement from any of the animals. Still enjoyable though!

We grabbed a FP for dinosaur, but it was down. We decided to head back to FoP, posted time 90 minutes. It went down to 80 while we were in, but I didn’t keep track of our wait.
Our Dinosaur FP had turned into a multiple experience, so we planned on hitting Everest one more time, but an approaching storm had closed everything down, so we headed to the exit!

 

[wishes2013]

Today’s park: Epcot!
All week they’ve just glanced at my pass at the parking gates. Today, they scanned it, checked my id, and gave me a receipt? I’ve never been given a receipt, so not sure why that happened.

Now I’m hanging by the entrance waiting for my family. One of my favorite places, between the view and the music

Edit- people watching/listening is also a perk here. Some kid just pointed at SSE and said “Mom, let’s go inside Epcot”

 

[Gurt]

you are in Epcot right now and I am sat at my desk at work willing the next hour to go quickly so I can get out of here (UK time) have a great Epcot day.

 

[Doc Disney]

I met them in the masses of people inside the gate, right next to a man throwing up into the landscaping (he would later be referred to as the “yakking yeti”)

but also

 

[wishes2013]

We hopped on Soarin’ with our first FP, and waited for the front and center. It was sooo worth it, and everyone loved it!
We used our FP from dinner a few nights ago on Test Track, my car lost overall
Nemo was a short wait as usual, then we explored the seas for a long time.

This sea turtle was just trying to snack on some lettuce, but his fish friends wouldn’t let him
My cousins, who are “too cool” for a lot of things right now, were so into all of this. They wanted to stick around for the feeding demonstration.

We jumped on SSE with our FP, and got stuck here for a bit

One of my favorite rides, and everyone else likes it too, or at least they said they did to make me feel good

They’re on mission space now, and I’m finding hidden Mickeys before we head to World Showcase to find some food!

 

[wishes2013]

After Mission Space we were getting hangry. We headed for Mexico for margaritas. I wanted an empanada but held off since no one else wanted Mexican. They wanted to sit down, but no reservations were available. I suggested the bratwurst counter, so we headed for Germany. We got there and someone decided to check the wait at Biergarten. 5 minutes! In we went!

First plate: mac and cheese, pork schnitzel, potato dumplings, potato salad (cold), sausage, green beans, and pretzel roll. I also had the potato leek soup. It was all good, but I loved the schnitzel and dumplings. The Mac and cheese was really good too.

My second plate (no pictures) was more dumpling, warm German potato salad- sooo good. I think I also had some spaetzel and bratwurst.
Soon enough the entertainment began...

For dessert I tried the chocolate mousse roll, which was good, and the Black Forest cake, which was excellent. I tried the apple fritter, which would have been much better warm.

This was my first time here and it was excellent. The food was great, our waiter Maximillian was so full of energy, and the entertainment was fun. I’ll be back for sure!

A couple of the boys ran off, and the remaining 6 of us went to ride Frozen. We waited about 50 minutes. I love Oaken in the window, we were cracking up at all his comments and sound effects

We jumped on Soarin’ with a 20 minute wait. We got to the front and asked to wait for front and center. The guy said “sure, but it will be 20 minutes” uhhhh, what? I knew it wouldn’t be that long. Another cm came over and said “he lied. It won’t be more than 10, and he does that all the time.” It was so weird, and I’m not totally sure why he would have said that to begin with.

The rest of the crew wanted to do Mission Space again, so we met the boys and they all jumped in line. I waited outside and talked to the cutest little 3 year old about her trip.

We missed illuminations, but not the crowds afterwards