Trip Report COMPLETED The not as bad as the Griswalds report as we go....Now with Wild Africa Trek pics!

All the PTR funtivities can be had here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/16th-anniversary-ptr-first-time-cruise-here-we-come.885906/

So my wonderful DW and I wake before the crack of dawn,04:00 to be exact, for our trek from the beautiful north Georgia mountains to the MouseHouse. If you can believe it, it was the quickest 7.5 hour trip, including two pit stops, that we've made. Pulled into the Bay Lake lot about 11:45. As soon as you walk though the doors, WHAM, probably one of the most pleasant smells you'll experience smacks you in the face. We proceed to check-in. Rooms not ready, no biggie they'll text us when it is. We leave the luggage with bell services.

On to the Kingdom!

I won't lie this, is how we felt walking to MK from BLT:
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A bit warm and muggy today, no biggie as we're basking in the Magic. Park seems a little busy, I gave it and 8 out of 10, DW says 6. It's a little after noon now and we're pretty much killing time til our 1:20 BOG test ADR. We make our way to the Fantasyland via Adventureland taking in a few shops along the way. After some sight seeing and a ride on Little Mermaid we head over to eat

Be Our Guest, but only if you can provide proof you should be eating here via a live internet page:

So naturally there is a mob of confused guests at the entrance to the bridge dumbfounded that they are not allowed to wait to eat. No bother for us, we have test ADRs! Or do we..... We go to check in and give our name and are asked if it would be under another name. Nope just us. I tell the CM that I have the confirmation number to which she replies "a confirmation number does me no good, you need to log into the website and show me your reservation on the website." Not particularly thrilled, I say "ok" and just stand there going through the motions on my phone to provide proof. Page loads and I show her to which she says " ok go to the FP line, you'll probably have to reorder your food." Whatever, we just want to eat. Not the most pleasant of CMs, of course she is having to deal with this test ADR all day. So we go through the queue, reorder, and go to sit down when whoa! Whoever was complaining about this new test not making use of all the tables can stop worrying, this place was a MADHOUSE! Loud and overflowing with people it took us about 5 minutes to find a table that was being cleaned by a CM and claimed it as ours. 15 minutes later our leek soup, onion soup, and turkey Sammy arrives. Food is very good but still CS food. My DW says it smells and feels like a cafeteria now in there now and I agree. As we leave, and to our surprise, people are queued up on the bridge waiting to get in for lunch. I guess they opened up standby again.

Fast pass Space Mountain and a leisure TTA trip before our SDMT FP.

Barnstormer 2.0, I mean the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!
I was so amped up for this only to exit with a feeling of "that was it!?!?". The ride itself is very smooth and has a few quick bursts that are immediately followed up with a " ha ha just kidding" slowdown. As many have said, the mine scene is excellent but the ride itself is lacking but perfect for the wee kids. It's 3:30 and no text about our room yet, surely just a clerical error...

4:00 check-in ain't what it used to be.

So we make it back to BLT a little concerned we haven't received a text for our room, it is aft 4 now. The CM says she she can't tell me when it will be ready. I asked why it wasn't ready by 4 to which she replies "oh, we have until 5 to get it ready for you." Again, still a little miffed and confused why it's taking this long but we decide to grab some drinks at the pool bar and wait. 4:38 we get the text. So while we wait on our 8:00 Citricos ADR I figured I'd throw some words and a few pics up at ya.
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We're still deciding if we hit the EMH after Citricos or come back and watch illuminations and Fantasmic from the balcony.

Beach Club Villas and HS tomorrow!
 
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Coco Cadillac time. Neither the DW or I have had a martini before so we were excited about this one. I’m pretty sure the caddy was far from a traditional martini but we enjoyed it.
Ice in the shaker waiting on the cream and alcohol

Ready for the ride


BAM, perfection

Don’t forget to keep those pinkies up!

B52s up next and I aint talking about a Rock Lobster…
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Final mix of the day, B52 shots. This another first for the DW and I. The DW volunteered for this demo.

The goods

Laying down the base.

Followed by the second layer

Final layer

DW’s finished product

Our host’s take on it. Dang perfect right there

Left to right shots: Mine, DW, and, Host. My shot was chosen as best shot so my reward was the host’s shot!

Bottoms up and feel the burn!

And done!


Up next, our Palo experience...
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Heading back to our room after Mixology to rest and change. We purposely picked Palo for “Pirates Night” as we had no interest in the party, but would take in the fireworks. On the way back they had a lot of meet & greet action going on along with a little party.




That Carnival eyesore left while we were mixing it up and now we had a nice view of the Norwegian



While we were dressing we pulled away from Nassau.



Still to come: Palo, Pirates fireworks, and Castaway Cay!
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
I think your Carnival comments are a bit uncalled for. Not everyone can afford Disney yet can still enjoy a cruise experience. What you call shanty accommodations may very well be someone else's dream trip.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Finally, Palo night! The menu at Palo looked pretty decent to us heading in. In addition to the menu, we were also looking forward to eating a meal without a dozen kids dressed as pirates running laps around us. On to Palo!

Selfie in an elevator, not as exciting as “fun” in an elevator




Spaghetti & Meatballs





Bread service


Antipasti [Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan-Reggiano, Marinated Olives, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes]


Mozzarella and Tomatoes with arugula salad


Lemon sorbet with berry [pallet cleanser]


The DW went with the Rombo al Finocchio [Turbot, potatoes, pancetta]


I went with the Beef Tenderloin "Palo" with Barolo red wine sauce and gorgonzola sauce


We both went with the soufflé to finish our meal. As we would find out later, this was THE thing to get at Palo for dessert. It was OUTSTANDING! We were notified when we were given our entrees that it would talk about 20 minutes to make this dessert and if we would like it to let our host know sooner than later to avoid a long wait after our main course was complete.


Little celebratory plating


Followed by an after dinner drink


Thoughts on Palo:
Well worth the $25 charge for the experience.
All the food was excellent and appeared to be made to order, unlike our Enchanted Garden experience the night before.
The wait staff was excellent.
The atmosphere was, you guessed it, excellent.
We would absolutely do it again but maybe on the first night since it seems the first night of food in the regular rotation may be weakest.


Still to come: Pirates fireworks, creepy towel creations, and Castaway Cay!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
The drinks looked awesome. Glad to hear that Palo is an excellent choice for a quiet romantic dinner. Great firework pictures. Following along.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So after the fireworks we head back to our room after the fireworks to find our navigator, gratuity vouchers and chocolates.


Then…..we look up and see this


My first thought was “WHOA, what the…..” Now, I’ve seen photos of this in the past but it still doesn’t prepare you for seeing it in person for the first time hanging from the ceiling in a dimly lit stateroom. My DW says it’s a monkey but I can’t see anything but a plucked chicken. I don’t know, still creeps me out a bit.

Up next, Castaway Cay….
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DAY 2 Castaway Cay:

We woke up early on day two to a beautiful sunrise and the silhouette of Castaway. Being the awesome DH that I am, I made a breakfast run so we could enjoy the view pulling into CC and get ready for the funtivities of the day.








Backing in















Still to come: Our journey to Serenity Bay
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2 continued…. An Unexpected Journey

So we disembarked bright and early and headed off for Serenity bay. We opted for the scenic walk rather than taking the tram. What a walk! The weather was perfect but the distance from dock to bay was much further than I expected. Point A all the way to Point X:


While we were only passed by two trams on our journey it seemed like forever but in actuality less than 20 minutes.

Here are a few as we disembarked. It’s amazing how clean they keep the exterior.







The start of our journey to Serenity Bay



About the halfway mark to the Bay. I believe this is a runway or was at least used as a runway once.


Here is the turnin for the watchtower loop, Point Z


Up next, we’ve finally made it!
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Serenity Bay!

After our short trek we arrived to the adults only beach and it was so peaceful and quiet with plenty of spots to choose from.



The water was perfect and cool.


In all seriousness, this is about as busy as it got over here, a far cry from the madness at the family beaches. We were so thankful to have this area almost to ourselves
.

Since all my photo taking was done with my iPhone I’m sorry to say that I did not take any close up water picture but we did see more wildlife than expected! About 10 minutes of wading into the Bay a three foot wide stingray lazily made its way over to the DW and me. I’m not sure I’ve seen my DW move as fast as she did that day! The ray was just out for a stroll and didn’t really care that I was less than a foot away from it and off it went to open waters. Then there were the conch shells. Never before have I seen so many inhabited conch shells. They were scattered all about and we even say a few walking around. They tend to like to convene around the grass patches under water.

Still to come: Serenity Bay food and drink!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
So peaceful and relaxing, that truly looks like paradise. Pick a chair or lounge chair with hardly anyone around. Was there a lifeguard on the beach?
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So peaceful and relaxing, that truly looks like paradise. Pick a chair or lounge chair with hardly anyone around. Was there a lifeguard on the beach?
Nope, signs were posted informing us of that. What was awesome is how we could use those little chairs that sit in front of the large chairs. We pretty much moved those right into the water and just soaked for hours with our drinks in hand(pics to come)! it was so nice.
 

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