And Now For Something Completely Different...TR March 17-24

Hello there! Well, I certainly have been putting off this report. I figure, it's time to get to it! First, the cast and crew

Another lovely family trip for Mr Dreaming, DS Aaron (12) and DD Anna (7), and myself.

This was our fourth trip as a family, and third time for our Spring Break. However, this trip was to be a little different. If you want to catch up, check out And Now for Something Completely Different, the PTR. And if you don't, don't worry, I'll hit the highlights!

This is the trip that wasn't supposed to happen, until Mr. Dreaming was invited to view Hilton's Grand Vacation property, giving us an excellent rate at a Hilton hotel. Even he couldn't pass it up! We have never stayed off property before, never done a timeshare tour...Let's just say we were curious how it would all go. And, of course, just happy to be going!

Thursday March 17th

Wow, could hardly believe it was already here. The kids only found out about this trip a few weekends before, but DH and I had been working on this since last June! Everyone was packed and ready to go. And of course wearing green. DS makes sure we are all wearing green for St Patrick's Day. If you aren't, you are going to get pinched.

This was one of the easiest flights we have EVER had! The sky was blue, and no delays. The forecast for FL was supposed to be great! This is the first time we ever landed on time! And I was able to get a non stop flight. Already feeling a little spoiled.

We were all very happy to be headed to our happy place!

 

[MouseDreaming]

great report so far!

Thank you!

 

[MouseDreaming]

After checking in, we were off to MK for the day. Sunday means extra magic hours this evening, and we have our first dinner reservation for Tony's.

First, we had a bit of business to attend to, and we figured the best way around, was by train.

Love this view of the castle! Anyway, the kids really wanted to head to Tom Sawyer Island. We got a lilttle side tracked, though:

Yep. You saw that. And it was delicious. I am drooling now just thinking about it. Cool, refreshing...perfect.

Anyhow, back to Tom Sawyer Island. My kids can't get enough of that little island. I like all the places I can sit and relax for a bit while they wear themselves out...I mean explore. And it is also my favorite view of this place:

So, we wandered around, and just took it easy. Had a real vacation so to speak. I'm pretty sure this is the first time we ever felt like we had one of those while we were at WDW. It was really paying off to just have some down time.

Dinner at Tony's is something of a tradition for us. Always on the Sunday evening. I figure with EMH, it might be kind of hard to get food at a QS spot, so it is a very strategic reservation. And it is always great! DS and I both recommend the chicken parm. DH loves the salmon. And for dessert, just a little ice cream with some chocolate shavings, decked out for my birthday.

After dinner, the sun was starting to set, but we felt like we were just getting started. This, however, was a night that we were a little sad about. Let me explain. We are huge fans of Spectromagic. Even though I grew up with MSEP and have very fond memories of watching it at DL, I really like Spectro better. DH saw MSEP once at DL when we were there during our honeymoon, and that once was enough for him. So, we were really missing Spectro, and not at all looking forward to that synthesizer soundtrack of the same tune over and over and over...

I am happy to say, we were pleasantly surprised! It was much better with the updates than we had thought. I had to explain to the kids what a lot of the floats were, mostly Pete's Dragon. But, for the most part, it was alright.

But, once was enough for us, and we are looking forward to Spectro (*hopefully*) coming back.

After this, we had time for a Magic Carpet ride, and the best Jungle Cruise, ever! Our skipper was really great! He really paid a lot of attention to us, and my kids straight A pins (one of the few). But the real testament to how good he was--my kids are still repeating some of his jokes! And everytime they do, it makes me smile.

Well, that's it for today. It was a great day, but tommorrow we are off to try DHS, again, and enjoy a surprise ressie for lunch!

 

[MouseDreaming]

Monday, March 21

It is so great to wake up at POFQ! Grab some breakfast, and get going! Of course, it wasn't until later in the day that we actually got going. In fact, we almost missed breakfast. A very scary thought for a growing boy. But we just made it, did some swimming and had a lovely morning. This meant, however, no TSM fast passes. But we had a reservation for lunch.

Talk about a big surprise! Before this trip, my son had already mentioned there was no way he would eat at Primetime Cafe. Neither would my DD. they were very worried that they would get reprimanded, and have to stand in a corner. So, of course, I made a ressie at Primetime! We had never eaten there, I always have heard good things about it, and DH and I really wanted to try it. I was more than a little worried that when they found out, I would have a really hard time getting the kids inside. I wasn't really sure what would happen. And, on top of that, we had been really bored on our last stop at DHS. We were hoping since we were going earlier in the day, that maybe we could get some shows in.

The first bit of good news was this:

On our last trip, we were very sad to see this pony wasn't there. My DD absolutely loves it. On our first trip here, I had to leave her with DH. I was more than a little upset that we had travelled all the way here, and she just wanted to sit on a pony...that doesn't move...for hours. Now, we look for it, and kinda laugh about that first trip. But last trip, it wasn't there. I figured they must have gotten rid of it to clear some sidewalk space. Well, I can't tell you how happy my lilttle girl is that it is back!

DS on the other hand, was still upset that there would be no Star Tours on this trip. We wandered about the park, and all of the shows were already showing FP times for hours away. But, this is the first time we got to do the Back lot Tour. It is usually being refurb'ed when we are here, so we figured we would give that a go.

At the end, DS was happy to get a bit of a Star Wars fix:

Back to the outside world at DHS:

After a quick Muppets 3D adventure, we were ready for lunch. It was a while before our ressie, yet. There wasn't anything else that we wanted to do, so we were starting to feel a little bit like we were being held hostage by the park. It was not a comfortable feeling, and again, we realized how little there is for our family at DHS when Star Tours isn't running. We really were wishing we could hop to another park at this point. But we didn't have enough time for that. That's when we ran into the Public Works guys. They were absolutlely hillarious! DS then announced, "I'm hungry". That's great, because we are about 10 min early, but let's check in. When he saw where I was heading, he and his sister were not happy. There was a little resistance, until they realized that this was really there only chance at food right now. So, I went to check in, they were running behind, but I did request a TV table.

We waited outside, as the lounge was packed with people wating for tables. It was hot, the kids were getting hungry and crabby, and people that were hot and crabby and hungry were walking by and complaining that they couldn't get in anywhere to eat. Guess you should've known you would be hungry 180 days ago!

Mom was finally looking for us to come in and eat, and the kids had to set the table. Uncle Keith was a great waiter. However, it was kind of disappointing. No show. So the kids were all worried about nothing.

The food was ...not so great. The pot roast was good, but it isn't the only place I can get that on property. DH had the fried chicken. I had heard so much about it, and since he hadn't had fried chicken in a while, I think he was kinda excited about it. He later described it as almost as good as KFC. Ouch! I don't think we will be going back, but at least we can say we tried it.

After we wandered about a bit, and decided the line for Fantasmic! was already too long. We decided we would take the Friendship boat over to Epcot. DS and I caught Illuminations, while DH took DD over to Mexico.

The gardens for the Flower and Garden show were really pretty.

Then, it was back to POFQ for something that has become a bit of a tradition for us...11 o'clock ice cream!

Time for bed, and then off to Epcot in the morning, and another surprise ressie!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Great TR so far!! I'm so bummed you guys didn't like the food at 50s!! 50s is a tradition for us and everything we have had there is wonderful.. Maybe it was an off day on the chicken?? :shrug:

 

[gracie1]

What were the crowds like? We are looking at that exact same week (over the kids' spring break). On a scale of 1-10 how was it crowd wise? We've only been once before, in early May, and crowds were between a 5 & 6.
We had the same experience at 50's PT. I was SO looking forward to that meal and it was just ok. Our waiter wasn't near as fun or outgoing as some of the others. But like you said, I'm glad we tried it!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Sorry about the DTD Hilton! That place sounded terrible. But...like you said, at least it got you guys down there!

Sorry you didn't enjoy 50's Prime Time Cafe! DH and I loved it when we went...he had the Fried Chicken and I had the Turkey Sandwich. What did the rest of you order?? And bummer that they didn't make a show! I guess it just goes to show that sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Hmmm.

Glad to hear how much you love POFQ! We've never stayed there, but it looks like a cool resort! And glad to hear you guys took the "slower paced" route at the parks!