Trip Report Double Double Dip Trip June 2017 (Completed!)

Hello all and welcome to my trip report. My husband, Brad, and I just got back from a WDW trip and a Disney cruise on the Dream. Why am I calling it a double double dip? Well, we checked in and out of WDW twice, our cruise was a double dip (2 stops at Castaway Cay), and we had 2 birthdays to celebrate. So sit back and relax and enjoy my trip report.

Dates of vacation: June 18 to July 1

Resort: Pop Century (both times)

Cruise: Disney Dream

Travelers: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad)

I'm tagging a few people that have followed my past reports. If I missed you, sorry, but please follow anyway. If you are new, welcome. And if I tagged you and you don't want to read, no problem! :)

@figmentfan423 @MinnieM123 @Cesar R M @donaldtoo @MySmallWorldof4 @MOXOMUMD @JenniferS @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @Gabe1 @betty rose @Songbird76 @sheriffwoody @bee @blgauger @BuddyThomas @fractal @93boomer @MouseDreaming @Wrangler-Rick @PUSH @Mr Ferret 88 @amjt660 @Minnesota disney fan


June 18: Our first day of vacation was not a Disney day. We live near Minneapolis (about 1 hour 15 min from the airport) and we decided to spend the night before at a hotel so we didn't have to get up so early. When my husband got home from work around noon we headed over to Minneapolis and went to one of our favorite spots, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We go here a lot and I was hoping to catch the peonies in full bloom but we missed the full bloom by about 4 days. That was disappointing as it is my favorite flower, but there were still some peonies and the roses were blooming nicely. We had a nice time walking around, and a local symphony was giving a concert so we listened to that for a bit. Hubby was pleased when they played a Star Wars medley. So here are some pictures.

The peony walk, as you can see not in full bloom.
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Some of the roses.
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The Arboretum often has changing botanical displays and so for these might be my favorite. It is a kaleidoscope and the bowl with the flowers spins, it is fun to look through.
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After the Arboretum we headed to the Mall of America and did the Flying over America attraction since I had a 50% coupon. It is a take on Disney's Soarin. We had done the America version here before and they were running a limited showing of Flying over Canada so we opted for that. It was fine but no Disney. Although the seats at the Mall of America version are more comfortable.

Dinner that night was a the Hard Rock Cafe, we hadn't eaten at a Hard Rock in years. Neither of us could make a decision about where to eat so we settled on this since it was a few steps away from the exit of Flying over America. Now when I say settled, that soon changed when we started eating our burgers, hubs got a special Memphis burger and I had a Guinness burger. We both had herbed fries. And the meal was fantastic. Sorry no food pics of this, perhaps on another visit.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
June 19: We're Going to Disney!!!

Our flight wasn't super early, but we were still glad we had stayed the night and were able to "sleep in" a little and drive basically stress free to the airport.

When we booked our flights many months ago, we must have had hit some sort of sale for Sun Country (a regional carrier) and first class was only $50 more a person than coach. So we decided to go first class. Other people on our flight must not have hit the sale or decided not to upgrade because out of the 12 possible seats it was only half filled.
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Here we are!
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I may have had 4 of these....coffee with Bailey's. To readers of past trip reports you may remember that my husband tends to stick to one alcoholic beverage, so he enjoyed a rum and Coke.
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Up in the air!
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We landed! I was hoping to catch a glimpse of WDW from the air, but it was too cloudy. Being in first class has a couple advantages like easy access to the bathroom, but being first off the plane means I get to the Magical Express area faster!

We were in row 7.
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And within about 5 minutes of scanning our band at the first desk we were on the bus.
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I took a picture of this reflection while we were waiting. Why? No clue.
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And then Gus started his spiel.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Soon we were passing through the gates....home! Our room at the Pop wasn't ready, no biggie I'm sure we would get a text later. So we dropped our bags with bag check and headed to Disney Springs. We had a good lunch waiting for us.

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On the bus to Disney Springs!
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It was a little shocking to see the demolition at Caribbean Beach. We thought about changing resorts when Disney ran that gift card promotion but ultimately we didn't. I am glad because I think it would have made me sad. My family stayed there a lot and I have many fond memories. I'm sure it will be lovely when it is done, but staying during construction would be too much for me.
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So anyway, where did we eat.......Homecomin'! I was looking forward to this meal so much, and I was not disappointed. Well, maybe disappointed that I couldn't eat more than I did! ;)
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I love devilled eggs but my traveling companion does not so I rarely get eat them. So I was hee-hawing about getting them at Homecomin'. I thought, 6 eggs! I can't eat 6 eggs on my own. Well, clearly you can see I went for it. And really it is 3 full eggs cut in half. We also got the hush puppies with pepper jelly and pimento cheese.

Yum, just yum. It was so good. :hungry: And yes, I ate all the eggs, and I am not ashamed. I let Brad have a couple extra of the hush puppies since I had the eggs.
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Okay, I may be looking a little crazy-eyed with anticipation of the eggs.
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Our plan was to share entrees. We were going to get chicken and maybe the BBQ pork. Well that didn't work out. We both got the fried chicken (again no regrets). I had all white meat and he had all dark. Brad also got fries instead of mashed potatoes.
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Shortly after we were seated Brad spotted Art Smith, so the goal was to get a picture if we could. We missed getting one of Morimoto last year. So I eventually got a stalkery type of photo and Brad got one with Art behind me walking with what looks like me picking my nose (it was just a scratch on the outside really) so that picture isn't going up here. He, Art, seemed to be pretty busy so we didn't want to bother him.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Love all the flower photos! Can't wait to read the rest!

Thank you so much.

Yay! Excited to read your latest trip report. We are hoping to take a Disney cruise in the next year or two, so I love reading TRs that include a cruise. Your flower photos are beautiful! I'll be following along!

Disney cruises are the best! Thanks for following!

I'M HERE!! So looking forward to this!!

Welcome and hope you enjoy!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
A few more shots of some stuff I found interesting, mostly details at World of Disney. I think I took more pictures there than actual shopping.
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I'm sure these mosaics have been in the jewelry/purse room for a long time, but I just really looked at these for the first time this trip. They are pretty amazing.

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And a shot of Uniqlo, very cool shop.
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amjt660

Premium Member
First off thanks for the tag
I really enjoyed you DLR report and I am looking forward to this one

The flowers looked beautiful
I am a Hard Rock Cafe fan so I am glad you enjoyed the food
I have not made it to the one in Minneapolis ( my only stay there was a 2 hour layover so no time for excursions)

I really want to hear your take on the cruise- my family is not really sea worthy

Following along
Thanks for sharing

Max
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
So by the time we left Disney Springs, it was raining and we still hadn't gotten our text about our room. It was about 3:30 pm by the time we left Disney Springs so we should have gotten our text. So once back at the Pop we spent 20 minutes at the check in desk waiting to get our room number, most of that time was spent waiting for some big groups to get taken care of. Turns out the system for texting and emailing was down, that is why we didn't get a text.

We were in the 50's section this time, we have always been in the 70's and one time in the 90's. So it was nice to be in a new section. We unpacked our carry- ons and charged up our phones a little then headed to Animal Kingdom. I lamented the fact that my Teva sandals and our ponchos were in my checked bag, I was not looking forward to getting my tennis shoes wet or buying another poncho.

As I took this picture the elevator arrived, and out came the bell man with our luggage on a cart from Magical Express. So since we wanted our ponchos and I wanted my shoes we followed the bellman to our room. So now I was happy it took so long at the front desk, otherwise I would have had soggy shoes and had to put out some $$ on new ponchos (when we have 6 of them already).
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When we got to Animal Kingdom we had about 30 minutes before our fast pass for the River Journey so we spent the time wandering the land of Pandora. I just watched the movie for the first time a week prior to this, and it was pretty good. I hadn't been a fan of this land and really wasn't looking forward to it but watching the movie helped me get excited for it and appreciate what was built here. I was a little bummed it was rainy and cloudy when we were in there for the first time but it was fine. I only took a few pictures, because it wasn't ideal conditions and I really wanted to stop and notice things. And upon first impressions I was impressed. Well done Disney. And it made me excited to see what would be done with Star Wars, a movie people actually care about.

Here are some rainy first impression pictures of Pandora.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
First off thanks for the tag
I really enjoyed you DLR report and I am looking forward to this one

The flowers looked beautiful
I am a Hard Rock Cafe fan so I am glad you enjoyed the food
I have not made it to the one in Minneapolis ( my only stay there was a 2 hour layover so no time for excursions)

I really want to hear your take on the cruise- my family is not really sea worthy

Following along
Thanks for sharing

Max

You are welcome for the tag. If you ever make it to Minneapolis again with more than two hours, the Mall where the Hard Rock is located in connected to the light rail system that connects to Minneapolis and St Paul as well so it is easy to get to.

My husband was very concerned on his first cruise about the motion of the ship and that it would make him sick. He gets motion sick on some rides. But in the 3 cruises we have done, we have had decent water and no motion sickness.

I love all the pics of the t-shirts! So many fun designs. Looking at the pics of Homecoming is making me sooo hungry! I've read so many rave reviews that it has gone straight to the top of my must try list :hungry:!

I got hungry looking at the photos again too! Homecomin' really is one of the restaurants in Disney that lives up to the hype.
 

susan lees

Well-Known Member
Hello all and welcome to my trip report. My husband, Brad, and I just got back from a WDW trip and a Disney cruise on the Dream. Why am I calling it a double double dip? Well, we checked in and out of WDW twice, our cruise was a double dip (2 stops at Castaway Cay), and we had 2 birthdays to celebrate. So sit back and relax and enjoy my trip report.

Dates of vacation: June 18 to July 1

Resort: Pop Century (both times)

Cruise: Disney Dream

Travelers: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad)

I'm tagging a few people that have followed my past reports. If I missed you, sorry, but please follow anyway. If you are new, welcome. And if I tagged you and you don't want to read, no problem! :)

@figmentfan423 @MinnieM123 @Cesar R M @donaldtoo @MySmallWorldof4 @MOXOMUMD @JenniferS @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @Gabe1 @betty rose @Songbird76 @sheriffwoody @bee @blgauger @BuddyThomas @fractal @93boomer @MouseDreaming @Wrangler-Rick @PUSH @Mr Ferret 88 @amjt660 @Minnesota disney fan


June 18: Our first day of vacation was not a Disney day. We live near Minneapolis (about 1 hour 15 min from the airport) and we decided to spend the night before at a hotel so we didn't have to get up so early. When my husband got home from work around noon we headed over to Minneapolis and went to one of our favorite spots, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We go here a lot and I was hoping to catch the peonies in full bloom but we missed the full bloom by about 4 days. That was disappointing as it is my favorite flower, but there were still some peonies and the roses were blooming nicely. We had a nice time walking around, and a local symphony was giving a concert so we listened to that for a bit. Hubby was pleased when they played a Star Wars medley. So here are some pictures.

The peony walk, as you can see not in full bloom.
View attachment 213969

Some of the roses.
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View attachment 213971

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The Arboretum often has changing botanical displays and so for these might be my favorite. It is a kaleidoscope and the bowl with the flowers spins, it is fun to look through.
View attachment 213974

View attachment 213975

After the Arboretum we headed to the Mall of America and did the Flying over America attraction since I had a 50% coupon. It is a take on Disney's Soarin. We had done the America version here before and they were running a limited showing of Flying over Canada so we opted for that. It was fine but no Disney. Although the seats at the Mall of America version are more comfortable.

Dinner that night was a the Hard Rock Cafe, we hadn't eaten at a Hard Rock in years. Neither of us could make a decision about where to eat so we settled on this since it was a few steps away from the exit of Flying over America. Now when I say settled, that soon changed when we started eating our burgers, hubs got a special Memphis burger and I had a Guinness burger. We both had herbed fries. And the meal was fantastic. Sorry no food pics of this, perhaps on another visit.
Looking forward to your report.
 

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