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.

Some of the roses.

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.

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]

After Sprinkles we had to figure out how to get over to Hollywood Studios. With the rain, we didn't think we could take the boat to Saratoga Springs and we didn't want to walk over there so we headed to the bus stop. The Saratoga Springs bus stop and the Port Orleans one were close together so we decided to take whichever bus showed up first. It was Saratoga, and we were wary as we have not had great luck with buses there in the past. Well we got off at the 1st stop and noticed that a Studios bus was scheduled to come in 10 minutes. And sure enough it came as scheduled and we thought we would have to go around to the other stops at the resort but it picked us up and off we went. Yay Saratoga!

We found a spot for the Star Wars fireworks, that's what the birthday boy wanted to watch. And we were able to see the new Movie Magic project show, and we both liked that a lot. So here are some pictures from that show.

Oh Indy! I love me some Indy!

Also Baby Groot! I love Baby Groot especially when he dances!

 

[fractal]

Margherita sampler looks divine!

Love Brad's BB8 shirt! How was Boma? We are thinking of switching to there one night on our trip.

Sorry you didn't hook up with @Tuvalu . If I ever got that chance...

I hope to get to Trader Sam's. Love the 7Dwarfs photo!

 

[Tuvalu]

Amy, you're killing me with your Poly visits......!!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

So the Star Wars show came on and Brad was enthralled. It is a good show.

When the show was done we decided to head to the Magic Kingdom. The line was kind of long when we got there and a bus came shortly after we arrived, but we were about 10 people too late. So we had to wait for the next bus, no problem we thought. It was park close so surely there will be another one fairly fast. Well about 40 minutes later one finally arrived. There were a lot of grumpy people. As we left, and we could kind of see it while we were waiting, all the other bus stops were completely cleaned out. It also didn't help that the Epcot bus came by 3 times while we waited. Well at least when we got to the MK the security line was short.

So we wandered around. We had a fast pass for Buzz but when we got there it was down (that's okay it turned into an anything fast pass for tomorrow), so we rode Dumbo and I did the tea cups. We wandered a bit more....

And got some ice water at Gaston's, we left and they were closing it up for the night.

The birthday boy wanted some popcorn. Well the stand in the hub was closed, so no problem we would go to the one by the train station, that one is always open late. Nope, closed too. Well time to head back to the resort then.

So we headed to the bus and it looked like we would have to stand, no biggie. The bus came fairly fast and yep we had to stand. We like to stand in the back doorway because then we have a spot to lean. So when we boarded instead of following all the people to stand in the back we ducked into the back stairway door. Turns out that was a great choice. Someone vomited on the bus, and we would have been in the line of fire. Happy Birthday Brad!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Margherita sampler looks divine!

Love Brad's BB8 shirt! How was Boma? We are thinking of switching to there one night on our trip.

Sorry you didn't hook up with @Tuvalu . If I ever got that chance...

I hope to get to Trader Sam's. Love the 7Dwarfs photo!

Thanks! I will tell Brad you like his shirt it is one of his favorites. Boma is good, it has been awhile since we have had dinner there but it was really good when we went. It doesn't sound exotic but I like their ham with the Boma mustard; very good. I think we will do dinner next trip.

It would have been fun to meet up with Tuvalu but she goes so often, the odds are fairly high of that occurring in the future. I do recommend Trader Sam's, I know some people like sitting outside there but I think the magic and fun is sitting inside.

Amy, you're killing me with your Poly visits......!!!!

Sorry!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

June 22: Just an Epcot morning!
The breakfast of champions!

Love looking at this!

We rope dropped Soarin' and then single ridered Test Track

Then we did the character spot

Then visited Figment. It wasn't very busy. We had the whole train thing to ourselves.

Then we created our own Figment. Its a good thing I took a picture of mine because I never got the email.

I spent some time drooling over the Figment merchandise. I'm sure @figmentfan423 understands.

 

[susan lees]

What a packed birthday day. Looked great fun

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Some more figment merch.

Then we went over to the Land, we used a fast pass. It probably wasn't needed but our main Fast pass for the day was Frozen so we needed to use them for something. Anyway I love the Land ride so time and fast pass well spent.

Then we wandered over by the fountain and did some pin shopping.

Then Spaceship Earth and that line was HUGE. So our fastpass was very handy.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

What a packed birthday day. Looked great fun

It was a great day. We both had a lot of fun.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

We stopped and did a Photopass before heading into World Showcase.

We headed to Mexico to La Cava de Tequila! I had wanted to stop here the last couple of trips but the line was always long. So we got there at 11 and thought we would have to ride the boat ride and then go to La Cava because it supposedly doesn't open until 11:30. Well, we were happy that it was open and we were the first customers. I wanted a snack, Brad didn't because we were going to have lunch at the Biergarten. I pointed out that the chips and salsa were only $4 and we didn't have to eat all of them. We got the chips and salsa, and yes we ate them all. There were plenty of chips but not overflowing, it did not ruin our lunch.

I got the avocado one, and encouraged Brad to get it too. He had not liked his margarita the last time and reluctantly (because he claims to hate avocado) took a sip of mine and he like it.

So this time he still hee-hawed around about getting the avocado one and still claimed he wouldn't like it because of the avocado. So he got the Maelstrom margarita that had mango, orange and habanero pepper. He was concerned about the pepper but more convinced he wouldn't like the avocado margarita. He liked this one better than the passion fruit one he got before. He said the heat wasn't strong but wished there was more mango taste. We did try a sip of each others and the heat wasn't bad but avocado is still for me. When we were walking away he told me he wished he had gotten the avocado one like me because he thinks he would really like it. Really!?! I just looked at him and we continued on our way. I bet anything the next time we go there he will tell me he doesn't like avocado and gets something else and then complains about it.

We had some time before our Biergarten ADR so we wandered the world, well at least until we got to American and turned back.

We were able to catch a performance of the Voices of Liberty, our second favorite musical act in WDW. Dapper Dans are number 1.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The Biergarten is one of our favorites. Being from Wisconsin sausage, beer, and polka music are part of being a Wisconsinite. I hated gym class but when we had the polka dancing unit, I actually liked going to class. I also liked the floor hockey unit, but that is a different story that involves some high sticking. Anyway, I wanted to go out a polka. It made me sad to see people doing improper polkas, but Brad was broadcasting the show on Facebook for his friend who used to live in Germany.

We hadn't done lunch in a while because we really like the sauerbraten roast and that is only served at dinner. But lunch worked better with our schedule. It was still a VERY yummy lunch and there were some good German style meatballs that were at lunch that tasted fantastic. Plus I make a really good sauerbraten so I'll just make it at home. I don't usually care for the desserts there but there was a new chocolate thing that was good, and it wasn't the black forest cake.

Our tablemates, at least the ones right next to us, were from California and were fun to talk to.

A very modest first plate.

Brad and I made a pit stop on the way out at the Art of Disney and some some cool stuff.

I wish I had more wall space in my kitchen. I would have loved this sketch to frame.

I'm not a huge Dumbo fan but I thought this painting was excellent. I couldn't stop staring at it, well obviously I did since I left the store.

 

[Figgy1]

I'm following and going to try and ketchup tomorrow

 

[amjt660]

I love the look on your face as you were sampling the margaritas at the. Brown derby!!

Max

 

[Figgy1]

June 22: Just an Epcot morning!
The breakfast of champions!
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Love looking at this!
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We rope dropped Soarin' and then single ridered Test Track
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Then we did the character spot
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Then visited Figment. It wasn't very busy. We had the whole train thing to ourselves.
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Then we created our own Figment. Its a good thing I took a picture of mine because I never got the email.
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I spent some time drooling over the Figment merchandise. I'm sure @figmentfan423 understands.
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Do I ever and thnx

 

[myhappyplace]

The improper polkas happening at Biergarten bugged me too! As a central Pennsylvanian...with the PA Dutch population nearby, as well as a big Polish population, you had better know how to polka when you went to a wedding!!

I shouldn't say 'bugged' because it was really cute to see the parents and kid dancing along no matter what, but I kept thinking that my Mom and I would have cut a rug in there!

 

[donaldtoo]

Our first Pandora attraction was the river journey and it was pretty impressive with the details. Here are a couple pictures, the shaman is a little blurry in the picture, but to be honest I was more into watching it than taking a decent picture.
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The drums were pretty cool, Brad was happy because he loves playing on the drums in the Africa section.
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We also checked out the shop. By the way Flights of Passage was about 150 minutes so there was no way were were standing in line for that, we had fast passes for later in the week. The shop had a lot of cool details in it too. Again for me, more picture taking in the shop and not a lot of shopping.
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Next up we decided to relax a little at the Nomad Lounge. It was pretty busy in there when we first arrived and then it cleared out. We like the food there but we were still really full from Homecomin' so we just had a drink.
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I had the beer sampler and really enjoyed the Kungaloosh one. It had spices in it so I didn't think I would.
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And Brad skipped his normal rum and coke and got the Lambu Libation.
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All looks nice!

The Nomad Lounge looks cool, and that beer flight looks delicious...!

 

[donaldtoo]

Here's what is in a Lambu Libation:
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A close up at the beer flight
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And there was a special guest at the bar. I guess since beastly kingdom didn't pan out, the dragon decided to make his home at the Nomad Lounge.
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Then we continued on our journey and next stop was Expedition Everest.
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Then Dinosaur
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After Dinosaur we were kind of hungry so we decided to share some ribs at the Flame Tree. There was a band going on nearby when we ordered and it was really loud. I don't think we heard the cast member correctly when she read back the order and she didn't hear us correctly so somehow when hubby ordered the St. Louis ribs we ended up with the sampler platter. Hubby was a little peeved that we didn't get all ribs. They offered to just give us ribs, but the sampler costs more so I said that what we had was fine and in the end hubby had no problem with the different meats. He also wasn't too happy that I wanted onion rings and not fries, but the onion rings at the Flame Tree are great. He had no problem eating his share of them either.
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We had a nice view of Everest while eating.
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And when we left some of the lighting was starting for the first Rivers of Life show. You can see the blue light on the tree to the left. I thought this looked pretty cool.
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The Lamu Libation sounds a bit like an African Lapu Lapu...!

I always get the ribs at Flame Tree, and they have never disappointed.
Might hafta' try the sampler platter next time...!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I'm following and going to try and ketchup tomorrow

Yay! Ketchup when you can.

I love the look on your face as you were sampling the margaritas at the. Brown derby!!

Max

Ha! My husband thinks its funny when I make weird faces when I drink or eat something when he is taking a picture. My laughs really hard, and I love his laugh so everyone wins!

The improper polkas happening at Biergarten bugged me too! As a central Pennsylvanian...with the PA Dutch population nearby, as well as a big Polish population, you had better know how to polka when you went to a wedding!!

I shouldn't say 'bugged' because it was really cute to see the parents and kid dancing along no matter what, but I kept thinking that my Mom and I would have cut a rug in there!

I know what you mean, it is nice to see people having a good time. It adds to the festive atmosphere.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

All looks nice!

The Nomad Lounge looks cool, and that beer flight looks delicious...!

The Lamu Libation sounds a bit like an African Lapu Lapu...!

I always get the ribs at Flame Tree, and they have never disappointed.
Might hafta' try the sampler platter next time...!

I knew you would like the beer flight. The ribs are the best at Flame Tree, but the meat platter has a nice variety.

 

[Missy_May]

How was Boma? We are thinking of switching to there one night on our trip.

My husband's favorite Disney restaurant is Boma. We plan our other reservations around it since they only have ribs occasionally, and they are his absolute favorite Disney food. Last time we went rib nights were Wednesday and Saturday.