Trip Report COMPLETED Flowers, Family, and ??Fireworks?? (and lots of FOOD): A Memorial Week Trip Report

ScarletBegonias · Jul 6, 2016

figmentfan423 said:
I should have listened to the warning it all looked soooo good!!!!!!!!!! Oh well kale and berry smoothie time. I was thinking about booking Jiko but the guys all wanted Sanaa so we have that booked for this summer. The GF naan gets excellent reviews so none of us will go hungry there

They have GF Naan?? OH MY!

Figgy1 · Jul 6, 2016

ScarletBegonias said:
They have GF Naan?? OH MY!

I haven't had it but it gets excellent reviews

bee · Jul 8, 2016

Day 4, cont.

After Jiko we walked back to the Jambo bus stop. It had been raining before dinner and it was still raining now. An Animal Kingdom bus came soon and we transferred to shared Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin bus.

Eek!

We were soon back in our room and changed into our Disneybounds (M as Minnie and me as Daisy) to go back to Epcot for nighttime EMH. It was still raining but we’re from Florida and, to paraphrase a certain snow queen, the rain never bothered us anyway! So we grabbed our umbrellas and had a fun run through the rain and puddles to the International Gateway. We showed our S&D room keys and made our way to Future World.

The MDE app said the wait for Spaceship Earth was under ten minutes so we headed there first. The wait was actually ZERO minutes as literally no one was in front of us in line. I think this time the future photos part worked.

Empty time machines!

We knew Test Track would be down due to the rain so we wanted to try for a (relatively) short Soarin’ wait time. Once we got inside The Land we saw that LWTL was a walk on, so we...walked on! The photos I took this time didn’t turn out as well as others but I am including a few of them. A fellow rider remarked, “it’s raining in here too!”

F&G displays gone

FLOWERS

It was about 10:30 when we got off LWTL and the posted wait time for Soarin’ was 45 minutes. We guessed that it wouldn’t actually take so long so we got in line. The wait was about 25 minutes and it was the best way to end the night.

A little bit of our outfits. So much yellow!

After we Soared over California for the last time EVER, we enjoyed an empty, quiet walk through the park.

<3

We waited a few minutes for a Friendship Boat and had the boat to ourselves. We stopped to admire the lighting effects outside the Swan and Dolphin and went back our room for the night.

Sorry it's so blurry but I wanted to show this cool light display between the Swan and Dolphin. The colors kept moving across the trees.

Next up: Day 5

bee · Jul 8, 2016

Figgy1 · Jul 9, 2016

bee said:
View attachment 150146

Sympathy like

MinnieM123 · Jul 9, 2016

bee said:
We waited a few minutes for a Friendship Boat and had the boat to ourselves. We stopped to admire the lighting effects outside the Swan and Dolphin and went back our room for the night.

I love the lighting display along the walkway between the Swan and Dolphin. It's really beautiful.

sheriffwoody · Jul 9, 2016

bee said:
View attachment 150146

BOOOOOOO

Beckett · Jul 10, 2016

lostpro9het said:
Went to EC yesterday and were told EVERYONE without a bag has to go through the metal detector. I'm totally cool with this, drop the "random" BS and make some magical metal detectors for us ALL to walk through. BOOM, facade deterant set!

Universal has them already. I was very surprised when I realized they did not have it at WDW yet.

bee · Jul 12, 2016

figmentfan423 said:
Sympathy like

Thanks

MinnieM123 said:
I love the lighting display along the walkway between the Swan and Dolphin. It's really beautiful.

I agree! We enjoyed watching it from our room as well.

sheriffwoody said:
BOOOOOOO

Agreed!

Beckett said:
View attachment 150349 Universal has them already. I was very surprised when I realized they did not have it at WDW yet.

Good to know! Thanks for the photo.

bee · Jul 12, 2016

Day 5: Wednesday, June 1

After our late night the previous night we were glad to have not planned any early activities for this morning. We had a late breakfast reservation at Trattoria al Forno so we slept in and took our time walking to the Boardwalk. We arrived at the restaurant early and were seated almost immediately.

Waiting in the lobby

Our friendly server (again I should have recorded her name somewhere!) greeted us promptly and of course we started with the press pot.

SO GOOD

The reason we chose this restaurant, besides great reviews, is the espresso mascarpone that comes with the waffle. Of course M ordered the waffle, and since we told our server we are vegetarians she offered to substitute breakfast potatoes for the meat. I ordered the poached eggs on polenta without the sausage.

Poached eggs and polenta

Waffle and ERMAHGER MERSCAPERN

...

This was one of the best breakfasts we’ve had at Disney. I think I’d choose Trattoria over (*blasphemy gasp*) Kona Cafe. In fact I am trying to think of a table service (not buffet) breakfast at WDW I liked more than Trattoria and I’m not coming up with anything. The polenta was creamy and cheesy and the poached eggs were exactly what I wanted. And I could have eaten (drunk?) an entire bowl of the tomato gravy on its own had it been offered. The waffle was great and the espresso mascarpone was heavenly. I jokingly asked our server if we could have a bucket of it when she asked if we needed anything else. Or maybe I wasn’t joking.

Did I enjoy the meal?
Yes!

Would I eat there again?
Yes! Especially if we’re staying at the Swolphin, or want to hop over from Epcot.

We had FPs at MK in the late morning and early afternoon so we walked to the Boardwalk bus stop to wait for a bus. The bus arrival times screen said a bus was 30 minutes away but a bus actually arrived just a few minutes after we got to the stop.

On the way to the bus. I think these flower trees by the Boardwalk building are so cute!

Next up: Back at the Magic Kingdom

ScarletBegonias · Jul 13, 2016

That breakfast looks delicious!!!

dclfan · Jul 13, 2016

Omg @bee i thought I was the only one who loved breakfast at trattoria al forno. It is hands down the best breakfast in property. So relaxed, and the food is amazing. I also had the pressed pot.

I booked this breakfast on a whim for my moms 50th birthday. I wanted to surprise her and take her out for breakfast before our Epcot tour and this was in walking distance and I ended up being blown away. We were the first reservation of the day so I'm not sure if it gets loud like other Disney breakfasts later in the day but I really enjoyed the pace and ambience of this place.

Tiggerish · Jul 13, 2016

bee said:
Day 4, cont.

Luckily the resort monorail was running again. We hopped in and got off at the Gluten Free. I mean Grand Floridian. M and I have been calling it that for years because of all the decorations that say “GF.”

On our way!

If you’ve read my previous reports, you know that we like to shop at Basin at DD/DS and Basin White at GF. And what store do you see immediately to the left when you enter the GF from the monorail? Basin White! We were on a mission to find some dry shampoos that would be good for traveling and good for hair as I tend to have a dry scalp that is sometimes prone to flaking.

Basin!

Not only did they have a variety of shampoos AND conditioners, but they have a special of 4 bars for $25 (normally $8 each), AND they have an AP discount too. We bought two sets of matching shampoos and conditioners.

Basin White (that's the scent/formula name, not just the store) shampoo and conditioner, from the Basin website

Sunny grapefruit shampoo and conditioner, also from Basin website

M also picked out some variety packs of soap for her coworkers.

All our spoils

We were hungry at this point but wanted something light since we had big dinner plans ahead of us. We went down to Gasparilla Island Grill and shared a beer and a sushi. We picked the Kona Brewing Co. Big Wave Golden Ale and the cashier opened the bottle for us and gave us a plastic cup for it! The sushi appeared to be the same as the one we had eaten previously at Katsura.

I know, I know...this is not the right place to enjoy a Kona beer!

Veggie sushi

Did I enjoy the beverage?
Yes

Would I drink it again?
Sure. It was a pleasant, refreshing beer.

Did I enjoy the snack?
Yes

Would I eat it again?
Sure

When we were ready to go we headed upstairs to the monorail and a train was just arriving. We took the monorail one stop to MK and headed down to the bus stop. One arrived within less than five minutes and we made our way back to the Swan to get ready for dinner.

View from the monorail

Bus!

What’s a Disney day without ice cream?? M’s feet were hurting so I made my way to the Fountain at the Dolphin once again. This time I ordered from the window and went with Cappuccino Caramel. This was the best ice cream we’d had so far! It was most coffee and the caramel didn’t overpower.

Ice cream

Did I enjoy the snack?
Yes!

Would I eat it again?
Absolutely!

You may have noticed that so far we’ve had some kind of ice cream and some kind of sushi every day of the trip. Keep reading to find out if we can keep it up!

Next up: Fun times at AKL

Oh, that ice cream looks good. Coffee ice cream is my favorite, and caramel is pretty high up there, too. Combining them must be excellent.

And one of my few WDW vacation rules is, "ice cream every day, from a different location". I've never been to the Fountain, so it'll be a a must-do next time!

Gorgeous photos from the monorail loop.

bee said:
WARNING: DON'T READ WHILE HUNGRY!!!

Day 4, cont.

We checked in a little early at Jiko and were seated immediately. Our server (whose name is escaping me! Ugh! Should have taken notes!) quickly greeted us and explained the menu and wine list. We asked for vegetarian menus (they have a separate veggie menu and I’m pretty sure they also have a separate vegan menu @figmentfan423!) and he recommended his favorites. We sometimes experience servers in Disney and in general who either have little to no knowledge about the vegetarian options, and/or immediately check out when we tell them we are vegetarians because they know we’re not ordering the filet mignon or lobster. There was none of that on this trip.

Front of menu

Back of menu

Anyway, we were both in a red wine mood. I selected the Post House “Missing Virgin” red blend and M picked another pinotage: the Painted Wolf “red den.” We really enjoyed both. For appetizers I selected the Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup and M picked the Taste of Africa (a selection of several breads and dips). Our server brought us some complimentary bread (guess I didn’t get a photo, oops) while we waited for the appetizers.

Wine lists

And wine glasses!

I don’t have enough good things to say about this soup. It may have been the most delicious soup I’ve ever eaten. It was savory, creamy, spicy, and lightly sweet in perfect balance. And the presentation was beautiful! I could have eaten about ten bowls of it.

Soup

The Taste of Africa was similar to the bread service at Sanaa on a smaller scale. I’m not remembering exactly what each dip was but one was a hummus and the others were similar to chutneys you would get at an Indian restaurant. One had a kick of spice to it but the others were mild.

Taste of Africa

We continued to be wowed by the entrees. It was tough to choose between the four options, but I went with the Egyptian Kushari and M picked the Maize-Crusted Tofu. Again the presentation for both was so beautiful. The Kushari consisted of different legumes and grains with baby squash and roasted whole peppers. Raisins added a bit of sweetness. It was so good but too much and I had to ask for a box to go!

Egyptian Kushari

As a vegetarian for over eight years I have eaten a lot of tofu in my life. I’ve had some that was prepared very well and some that was not prepared so well. I tried a bite of M’s tofu and it was cooked perfectly with a crispiness from the cornmeal crust. The sauce was full of flavor, quite necessary when dealing with tofu.

It was so pretty we had to photograph it from two angles!

As I said I was too full to even finish my entree so eating dessert was not an option. Drinking dessert, however…

M's Nutty African

My Zebratini

And then our server brought a small chocolate pot de creme to share for M’s birthday! He also brought little coconut cookies. They were tasty and light and the right size to follow this huge meal.

Desserts

From beginning to end this was a fantastic meal and experience. I so appreciate how accommodating Jiko is of various dietary needs even beyond food allergies.

Did I enjoy the meal?
Yes!

Would I eat there again?
Absolutely! At least once every other trip if not every trip.

After eating at Jiko, we have now had at least one meal at each of the AKL restaurants. I like that the three are all so good but so different from one another. Jiko is my favorite at the Lodge and may be my favorite restaurant in all of WDW (that I’ve tried so far, anyway).

Next up: Running in the Rain, Drenched Disneybound, and Empty Epcot

Victoria Falls is a lovely bar, I like it a lot. Thanks for all the great drinks advice!

I'm booked for my very first meal at Jiko in September, and after this post, I'm really excited for it. Pretty sure I'll try that soup!

bee said:
Day 4, cont.

After Jiko we walked back to the Jambo bus stop. It had been raining before dinner and it was still raining now. An Animal Kingdom bus came soon and we transferred to shared Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin bus.

Eek!

We were soon back in our room and changed into our Disneybounds (M as Minnie and me as Daisy) to go back to Epcot for nighttime EMH. It was still raining but we’re from Florida and, to paraphrase a certain snow queen, the rain never bothered us anyway! So we grabbed our umbrellas and had a fun run through the rain and puddles to the International Gateway. We showed our S&D room keys and made our way to Future World.

The MDE app said the wait for Spaceship Earth was under ten minutes so we headed there first. The wait was actually ZERO minutes as literally no one was in front of us in line. I think this time the future photos part worked

Empty time machines!

We knew Test Track would be down due to the rain so we wanted to try for a (relatively) short Soarin’ wait time. Once we got inside The Land we saw that LWTL was a walk on, so we...walked on! The photos I took this time didn’t turn out as well as others but I am including a few of them. A fellow rider remarked, “it’s raining in here too!”

F&G displays gone

FLOWERS

It was about 10:30 when we got off LWTL and the posted wait time for Soarin’ was 45 minutes. We guessed that it wouldn’t actually take so long so we got in line. The wait was about 25 minutes and it was the best way to end the night.

A little bit of our outfits. So much yellow!

After we Soared over California for the last time EVER, we enjoyed an empty, quiet walk through the park.

<3

We waited a few minutes for a Friendship Boat and had the boat to ourselves. We stopped to admire the lighting effects outside the Swan and Dolphin and went back our room for the night.

Sorry it's so blurry but I wanted to show this cool light display between the Swan and Dolphin. The colors kept moving across the trees.

Next up: Day 5

I tried and failed to capture those light effects the last time I was at WDW. DH and I stayed at the Swan in 1995 and I can tell from your view that our room was in the same vicinity. Great location. At the time, the Swan was the nicest hotel we'd ever stayed in, and I would definitely go back there if we hadn't joined DVC.

Tiggerish · Jul 13, 2016

Breakfast looks amazing, too. Coffee mascarpone? Yes, please!!! :hungry:

bee · Jul 13, 2016

ScarletBegonias said:
That breakfast looks delicious!!!

It. Was. ! ! ! !

dclfan said:
Omg @bee i thought I was the only one who loved breakfast at trattoria al forno. It is hands down the best breakfast in property. So relaxed, and the food is amazing. I also had the pressed pot.

I booked this breakfast on a whim for my moms 50th birthday. I wanted to surprise her and take her out for breakfast before our Epcot tour and this was in walking distance and I ended up being blown away. We were the first reservation of the day so I'm not sure if it gets loud like other Disney breakfasts later in the day but I really enjoyed the pace and ambience of this place.

We were the last breakfast reservation (10:50) so there were a few lingering tables but I wouldn't describe it as loud. Not sure about the 9:00-10:00 range though.

Tiggerish said:
Oh, that ice cream looks good. Coffee ice cream is my favorite, and caramel is pretty high up there, too. Combining them must be excellent.

And one of my few WDW vacation rules is, "ice cream every day, from a different location". I've never been to the Fountain, so it'll be a a must-do next time!

Gorgeous photos from the monorail loop.

That's a great rule! And thank you.

Tiggerish said:
Victoria Falls is a lovely bar, I like it a lot. Thanks for all the great drinks advice! I'm booked for my very first meal at Jiko in September, and after this post, I'm really excited for it. Pretty sure I'll try that soup!

Yay! Best soup EVER. I think you'll love Jiko!

Tiggerish said:
I tried and failed to capture those light effects the last time I was at WDW. DH and I stayed at the Swan in 1995 and I can tell from your view that our room was in the same vicinity. Great location. At the time, the Swan was the nicest hotel we'd ever stayed in, and I would definitely go back there if we hadn't joined DVC.

They are tough to photograph! My phone camera does pretty well in day time light but at night...not so much.

Tiggerish said:
Breakfast looks amazing, too. Coffee mascarpone? Yes, please!!!

I totally wasn't joking when I wished for a bucket of it. I've hoping to try a dupe recipe sometime.

bee · Jul 16, 2016

Well, I had hoped to have this report finished by now, but of course life happens. M and I took a quick weekend trip to DC and are having a great time even though it's a non-Disney trip. We are staying at a Westin, which is the same brand as the Swan and has the same scent of toiletries! We ate at a German Biergarten last night. And it's pretty darn hot and we are sweating all over the place so it's almost like Disney...

bee · Jul 18, 2016

I've finally finished writing the report and should be able to finish posting it over the next few days! I'm still working on my final thoughts (I have a lot of them!).

Day 5, cont.

We had an uneventful journey to MK and were soon going through security. This time we picked a medium-long line and were NOT selected!

The ferry on the MK side

We originally had FPs for Big Thunder, Space, and Seven Dwarfs, but changed the 7D to an earlier time for Peter Pan since we hadn’t ridden PP in a LONG time. There was no jogging through the park this day and we took the WDWRR to Fantasyland.

Waiting for the train

Cool lights

On our way!

Next up: Mermaids, mines, and the Main Street Philharmonic

bee · Jul 18, 2016

Day 5, cont.

I’m really glad we swapped Seven Dwarfs for Peter Pan. As I said, neither of us had ridden Peter Pan for many years and I remembered almost nothing from the ride. I forgot that it changes from the track below the ship to the track above the ship and I got to experience that magic of “flying” after the switch. We didn’t want to take any photos on the ride so we could just take it in, but we got stopped while we were above the mermaids so we took a few photos.

Mermaid

Ariel???

After PP we walked back through Fantasyland to catch the train to Frontierland. We watched the various rides and even spotted the Main Street Philharmonic preparing for a show.

Mine Train

Members of the Main Street Philharmonic

Fans

Soon we were scanning our bands to ride BTMR. Big Thunder has become one of my new-old favorite rides. I remember liking it as a teenager but didn’t ride it for several years because of long lines and generally not spending much time in MK as we spend most of our time in Epcot. We have ridden it several times in the last year and it’s always thrilling and fun.

We were hungry after the ride and wanted to try the new(ish) Pecos Bill menu. We decided to share the vegetarian version of the nachos (black beans instead of beef). We obviously loaded up on toppings and got a seat in the “additional seating” area. It was not cool enough in this area but it was still better than sitting in direct sunlight. The meal was quite tasty and the portion was plenty to share. The guacamole was better than your average non-table side guacamole. The pico was pretty good though I didn’t care for either of the other salsas.

Nachos

Toppings

The area where we sat

Did I enjoy the meal?
Yes!

Would I eat there again?
Definitely! It hits the right balance of affordable, quick, and tasty.

We originally had a Space Mountain FP but got an email that it was down. We didn’t feel like waiting for it or riding anything else, so after lunch we headed to the monorail to do some resort hopping.

Next up: Poly time and Future World

ScarletBegonias · Jul 19, 2016

We really liked Pecos Bill's. It was a nice change of pace from everything else in the park!

bee · Jul 22, 2016

Day 5, cont.

We had no monorail issues today (thank goodness!) and were soon exiting at the Polynesian. The first stop was Capt. Cook’s for a refreshing beer. We went with the Red Stripe lager but unfortunately there were no cups so we drank it from the can.

Beer

Did I enjoy the beverage?
Yes

Would I drink it again?
Sure

Of course no trip to the Poly, or Disney for that matter, is complete without a dole whip! We shared again because they are so huge.

Dole whip time!

Did I enjoy the snack?
Of course!

Would I eat it again?
Absolutely!

The original plan was to go back to MK and take a bus to the Swan and then go to Epcot for the rest of the night including Illuminations. But we were impatient to get to Epcot so we went right there instead. I scored a FP for LWTL before we were even on the resort monorail.

Ew.

Monorail!

Our first stop in Epcot was Test Track. Someone on the forums mentioned that you can design a car in the post-show area and then use that same car on the ride. I can’t remember who it was or I would give a shout-out, sorry! If it was you, thank you!

Sexy

The single rider line said 30 minutes and we actually waited about 20. I will always love this ride, even when things don’t quite work as they should (and I wish they would!)

We made our way to the other side of Future World to sail through some greenhouses. I guess I didn’t get photos this time since it was all the same stuff we had seen before.

Future World

Next up: Coffee cocktails

Trip Report COMPLETED Flowers, Family, and ??Fireworks?? (and lots of FOOD): A Memorial Week Trip Report

ScarletBegonias

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Trip Report *COMPLETED* Flowers, Family, and ??Fireworks?? (and lots of FOOD): A Memorial Week Trip Report

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Trip Report COMPLETED Flowers, Family, and ??Fireworks?? (and lots of FOOD): A Memorial Week Trip Report