Trip Report Lessons in Geography

We've been back for about a month now, and I got my pictures all sorted, and I don't have daily rehearsals or performances now, so I guess this is the time to start my trip report.
I never finished the one from 2016, but I took notes this time, which should make it a bit easier, but it's still a 3 and a half week trip, so there's a LOT to cover.

The basic details:
July 20th-August 3rd at Disney with my four: Myself, my husband M, my Daughter E (13) and my son A (11)
My brother's family joined us for the first week: My brother J, his husband also J, and their daughter N (6).
My cousins met up with us the first day, and we all had dinner together....I believe there were 20 of us in total.
August 4th-6th was just whatever we wanted to do.
August 7th-11th at Universal Orlando
August 12th- Flying home

We stayed at Caribbean Beach resort for the Disney portion of the trip, and at Royal Pacific (Universal's version of the Poly) for the Universal part. In between we were at the Doubletree at Seaworld, and for the last night before we flew out, we were at Allure resort.

Here's my 4, my brother's 3, and 3 of the cousins' group.
Adults left to right:
My brother-in-law J,my brother J, me, my cousin's boyfriend K, my cousin C, my husband M.
Kids:
My niece N (6), My cousin's daughter L (8...yes, she's tiny), my son A (11) and my daughter E (13)

Got all that? Good! Let's go!

 

[Songbird76]

It is 14 to take any age child on a ride.
7 and older can ride by themselves.
@Songbird76 your mature daughter looks 14, which is probably why she wasn’t stopped.

Thank you! I figured you would know! I don't feel too bad about breaking the rules...she's a mature 13, and as long as N's parents didn't have a problem with it, I was ok with it, too. E was so good with her and kept her in line. E said N tried to climb on railings and such and E told her that if she didn't behave, E wouldn't be able to take her on the ride and they'd have to leave. N straightened right up. She really wanted to go on it again and she realized E wasn't going to allow any shenanigans. She was better behaved for E than she was for her daddies.

 

[Songbird76]

Is it just me? I can't see your pictures for this post.

It's not just you...that's why I said at the bottom that the pictures aren't working and I'll try again later. Not sure what's going on. I can upload them, but the file numbers go wonky and they won't insert correctly.

 

[Songbird76]

It's still not working....not sure what's wrong, so I'm going to try a few things and see if I can work it out. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Is anyone else having problems with pictures?

 

[MinnieM123]

It's still not working....not sure what's wrong, so I'm going to try a few things and see if I can work it out. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

View attachment 415662View attachment 415662

Is anyone else having problems with pictures?

Can't see them either, but I was reading someone else's posts today, and they also could not load any pictures. Maybe try again tomorrow -- probably just a temporary glitch of some sort.

 

[MoragL]

Thursday, July 25th

It's J's birthday!! I had offered to take N with us for the evening so JJ could have a date night for J's birthday, and I wasn't entirely sure what they had planned, but N is a water baby, so since we had already visited all the parks, I planned this day as a waterpark day. With somewhat later opening times than the regular parks, this meant we could take our time in the morning, too. We got up and got breakfast at Old Port Royale and we were soon joined by JJ and N. It was raining...a lot. I knew that if there was lightning, they'd close the waterparks down, but so far it was just grey and dreary, but not cold, and why go to a waterpark if you don't intend to get wet? The rain wasn't going to interfere in our plans!

We got to Blizzard Beach a little before rope drop. There was a woman outside the shop with bubbles and N and E stopped to play with the bubbles on our way in. (The CM in the pictures is not the one who was doing the bubbles. She stood off to the side and let me take pictures)
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We dragged the girls away and decided to look at the map to see where we wanted to look for a place to sit once we were allowed in. It was pretty dead, but the few people I saw were all headed to the right side of the pools, so I figured we should probably go left. I had asked the CM about the covered areas...what's free, what's not. She told me that if it wasn't chained off, it was free. This turned out not to be true. I was waiting at a rope to the path that would lead back to some covered areas that were not chained off, but another guest told me if we hadn't paid, we'd be kicked out. I asked another CM and he pointed out the areas that were free and confirmed that the guest was correct about the ones with the umbrellas. He couldn't tell me how much they cost, but said those seats were indeed an upcharge. So we lined up with the other guests at the other rope, still to the left of the park. There were about 10 people besides us there.

The rope dropped and we walked back to the back right by the bathrooms where there was a covered platform. I liked this spot because it was not in the sand. I HATE sand on my feet. I always wear slippers at home, my feet do not touch the floor. I don't like the feeling of sand, grass, dirt, concrete, etc. But even with slippers or sandals on, sand gets in if you walk through it, so I liked our concrete platform. Everyone else seemed to go for the ones in the sand, and a bunch of those areas were reserved, so we were happy to get the one at the back...and we liked the proximity to the bathrooms. We grabbed some towels, and everyone went their separate ways while I sat on a lounge chair and read. It was SOOOOO nice. Relaxing, peaceful, and just....nice downtime. From our little corner, I got to watch the lifeguard make several "rescues" of little kids coming off the slide that just weren't quite strong enough swimmers to get to the edge to get out.

After a while, I walked around the park. I guess I didn't take any pictures, which I find odd...probably because I didn't want to get my phone wet? But I waved to JJ, N, and E as they went by on the lazy river. N stuck to E like glue most of the trip, and E was a very good babysitter. JJ didn't have to worry about N, because if she started wandering too far, E reeled her in. I wasn't surprised to find them together on the lazy river. Then I passed M and A. I got into the lazy river with them, and we floated for a bit. We were all a bit hungry. I don't know where JJ and N got lunch, but I know at least E and I, and I THINK M also got hotdogs at Avalunch. E and I both got the Bacon mac 'n' cheese dog...A was upset they didn't have anything he wanted. He normally likes hotdogs, but food gives him anxiety and I think he was afraid the hotdogs would be different from what he is used to. I know we all offered him our chips, but he didn't want just chips, either. I don't think he ever actually ate anything. E went and got us Salted Caramel shakes from Lottawatta Lodge while I waited in line for mini donuts. I think donut girl may have charged me twice. There was only one other group in line for donuts when I got there, but it took forever, and they got their order and then realized it wasn't what they wanted....I don't know if it was their mistake or the CM's, but they were handing back the donuts because they wanted sugar on them. It was my turn, and I ordered, but the dipping sauce doesn't come with them...it's extra. But the donuts themselves are a snack credit. So I wanted to use snack credits for the donuts, but pay cash for the sauce. She got really confused, and I did scan my band and punch in my code, but then she said it wouldn't ring the sauce up separately, so I had to pay for the whole thing out of pocket...so I think she deducted snack credits AND I paid in cash, but E had been waiting forever with the melting milkshakes, and we had snack credits galore, so I wasn't too worried about it.

Again, everyone went their separate ways while I read a bit more, and then we decided to head back to the resort to get ready for dinner. JJ had asked me for suggestions on where to go for their date. I told them I thought Sanaa would be a good choice. They are not picky, and like to try new things, but Sanaa is also not usually booked solid, but has good food, and it's a nice ambiance, and is not as expensive as a signature. They managed to snag an ADR while we were still sitting at BB, which never got crowded. It was PERFECT. No one was there, because it was raining, but it wasn't cold at all, and there were no lines for anything. As long as there's no lightning, the water parks are a perfect option for a rainy day!

We did get confused with the buses heading back to the resort...each bus shelter serves more than one resort, and the buses post which resort they are going to, but there was already a bus for Coronado Springs at the next shelter over, when a bus for Coronado Springs pulled up into our stop. We asked if he was sure he had the right stop and he said he did. Eventually, a bus for Caribbean Beach came, and we made it back to the resort and got showered and changed.

I got a message asking if I was ready to accept delivery of some munchkinness, and we were, so JJ brought N up to our room.

JJ were off for a nice evening alone....they apparently didn't realize that Sanaa was not in the park, so they headed to AK and wandered around for a while...they had time before their ADR.
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They went to a bar...perhaps Nomad lounge? I'm pretty sure they did Navi River journey as they didn't have a fastpass for that one and wanted to do it. They said it was beautiful. The bartender was the one who let them know Sanaa was at the lodge. JJ posted pictures of the drinks, but I'm not sure if this was at Sanaa or at whatever bar they went to.
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They were given a window table, and he said the view was awesome. He said they ordered the bread service...I had recommended that, and that they ate so much of it, they hardly had room for their entrees, but it was all very good. One of them must have gotten the potjei inspired, and I'm not sure what the other thing is.

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They actually managed to make it back to the resort before we did.

Coming up, our evening adventures.

oh yay - I'm not the only one that doesn't like dirty feet. I despise sand and usually wear shoes or at least socks at home. You will never find me barefoot!

 

[Songbird76]

Can't see them either, but I was reading someone else's posts today, and they also could not load any pictures. Maybe try again tomorrow -- probably just a temporary glitch of some sort.

Good to know, thank you! I will try again.

View attachment 415868Nope....still not working today. Boo!!

 

[Rista1313]

Good to know, thank you! I will try again.

View attachment 415868Nope....still not working today. Boo!!

Hmmm mine are working fine.

 

[Songbird76]

oh yay - I'm not the only one that doesn't like dirty feet. I despise sand and usually wear shoes or at least socks at home. You will never find me barefoot!

You're definitely not the only one. I might have bare feet if I'm lying on the couch, but I have slippers right there so I can step into them without putting my feet on the floor. It was not nice at Disney...I had a pair of those shoes you wear in the water, but there was one part where the material was uneven and it rubbed my skin off. I had to throw the shoes away when we were done at BB, because I couldn't wear them, but I had to wear them until we got back so I didn't have to have bare feet.

 

[MinnieM123]

Good to know, thank you! I will try again.

View attachment 415868Nope....still not working today. Boo!!

You may want to check with Steve from WDWMagic, up in the forum help and announcements section. He may be able to assist you.

 

[Songbird76]

You may want to check with Steve from WDWMagic, up in the forum help and announcements section. He may be able to assist you.

It's already fixed now, but thank you! I went back and redid the one post with pictures.

 

[Songbird76]

Sunday, July 28th, continued...

After singing happy birthday to whomever was having a birthday, we continued on to Carrots, as I mentioned, but our picture never showed up, and Alice wasn't working, so we couldn't give her a pair of ears, which was good because the one pair broke and we needed to fix it.

Then we did our first fastpass. It was hot, and we wanted to get wet...apparently the girls in front of us did not, and they couldn't figure out the rain ponchos, so they were holding them up above their heads, blocking our view of everything for a while.

I did this ride for the first time in 2016...I don't like heights, and I had always been too scared to do this ride because of the drop. Now I love it!

We got a bit wet, but not soaked by any means. And when we came off the ride, it started raining, so we were going to get more wet anyway. We had an ADR, so we started walking on the now deserted path, but I discovered it was deserted because we were going the wrong way, toward BTMR, which was temporarily closed due to weather. We switched gears and got back on track. (No, I have no sense of direction....like...practically zero, and often find myself lost and Google maps rarely helps because I can't figure out which way the little blue dot is facing and I end up pacing back and forth trying to figure out in which direction I'm moving in relation to the map. I'm like Joey. I need to be IN the map.)

Where was our lunch ADR? Here are some clues:

We were announced and seated at a little corner next to a frosted window and the host told us that Jack Frost had just been by....or maybe he said Elsa. I don't remember, but he explained away the frosted glass that kept us from being able to see outside. It was a really nice spot though.

One thing I found amusing: You know how in the World Showcase in Epcot, each pavilion is staffed by cultural representatives from that country? Well, here we were in what is absolutely Americana, and our server was Khalid from Morocco.

We both ordered the Bill of Fare. I had been so looking forward to this meal...all my favorites that I can't get in the Netherlands. Stuffing, mac 'n' cheese, turkey with gravy, dinner rolls, etc...E was pretty much only there for the mac 'n' cheese. We have this inside joke in our family when something is soooooo good we wish we didn't have to share, we say "Oh no,...it's terrible. You shouldn't try it. Leave it up to me....I will make that sacrifice so you don't have to eat it."
So our food came...

First our Patriots Slushies: Blueberry, Lemonade, and Cherry flavors.....sooooooooo good

And our salad:

and the dinner rolls

And finally our main meal and sides:

Oh thank you Lord for this magnificent feast...POTROAST!! I haven't had potroast for YEARS....DECADES even. Oh how I have missed it. And stuffing....I LOVE stuffing.

And then I taste the mac 'n' cheese. Well...they SAID it was mac 'n' cheese, but I'm not convinced it was anything more than wallpaper paste. It was NASTY. It was not smooth and creamy, but had a graininess to it, and there was no flavor to it at all....it was just like....mush. I immediately covered my mouth and told E that it was BAD and she should not eat it, and she looked at me and she asks "Are you being serious right now, or is this one of those 'It's so bad' because it's really good things." I told her I was absolutely serious. She of course wanted to know just how bad it was...so she tasted it. "OMG! That's awful!" I maybe should have complained, because wow was it inedible, but we had SO much other food that was amazing, it seemed petty to send back one dish and maybe get someone in trouble for it. And I don't like confrontation if I can help it. So we just pushed it to the side and ate everything else.
E doesn't care for stuffing, so she gave me hers. And same with the mashed potatoes. She LOVED the pork with mushroom sauce...I think she'd have licked that mushroom sauce off her plate if it was not considered rude. We ended up ordering more stuffing, mashed potatoes, and the pork in mushroom sauce. Our waiter was so great about it.

Next to us was a table with a family and the oldest girl obviously had something....maybe autism, maybe something else, but she had some sort of disorder. And it was her birthday and she was just so excited to be there on her birthday and it was so so sweet. I think she was turning 16? But of course the server sang happy birthday, and E and I both being singers ourselves, sang along, and then E told the girl "Happy birthday", but the girl didn't hear. A few minutes later, the girl came over to our table and asked E "Did you say 'Happy birthday to me?" and E said "Yes, I did." and the girl just got teary and said "That's so sweet! Thank you!!" Something so small made her feel so happy, that a stranger wished her a happy birthday. Please, if you see someone wearing a birthday button, or a honeymoon button, or whatever celebration, wish them a good one...it can mean so much to them and make their day.

And I've attatched the max number of pictures, so....on to the next post.

 

[Songbird76]

Sunday, July 28th continued...

We were already pretty full, having ordered extras of some of our favorites. We didn't even touch the salad, and I had one of those ziplock baggies from Splash Mountin that I put the rolls in and shoved them in my purse for later. Do those count as "purse rolls" @Tuvalu ? They were so good, and E really wanted more, but she didn't have the room for those AND dessert, and well....dinner rolls travel easily.

This was another reason I had booked this ADR. I had heard so much about the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake, and I so wanted to try it. Would it live up to the hype? I had read that it was no longer served warm and goey, and this worried me. But, I do LOVE sweets.

The moment of truth.

Well, I don't know if this has always been the presentation, but it was warm, and melty, and oh so delicious. We devoured it. Khalid came back and asked if we'd like more...we were so full, but it was sooooo good. And who knew when we'd be back to enjoy it again. Khalid very gently twisted our arms....yes please. E sent pictures to her best friend, who sent drooling emoticons back and was wishing she was with us. (poor girl has never been further than Germany, which is only 15 minutes from where we live.) E decided maybe when they graduate high school, they will have to make a Disney trip together.

Overall, Liberty Tree Tavern was great. We loved that slushy, and most of the food was great. The only negative was the mac 'n' cheese. Seriously, how in the world can they serve that to people?? Do they not taste their food before they serve it? Who thought this was restaurant quality that people would voluntarily pay to eat??

We moved on to IASW.

Aren't there supposed to be girls on both sides of the pool? I'm sure Hope could tell me, right? @Figment Forever

I love that the Dutch scene is right next to the cowboy...a little taste of both my homes.

Then we went to visit Ariel and her friends.

And, well, I guess they aren't ALL her friends....

We waved goodbye to Ariel and Eric, but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of us waving.

Then we went to Carousel of Progess for our Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, and who should we see, but the birthday girl and her family from LTT. She smiled and waved at us. We wanted to go for a round on the People Mover, but the line was SOOOO long. We went to the Laugh Floor instead...I think it may have been a FP, because it's one A had really wanted to do, so I made a FP for it, but he wasn't here this day. It was fun.

We decided to go back to Carrots and see if Alice was finally working...we did have 2 pairs of the carrot ears, and only one was broken. But she wasn't there and the line was too long for a ride, so we went to Pecos Bill for a rootbeer because it was HOT. Then we went to the Christmas store. @ajrwdwgirl takes pictures of the things she likes instead of buying a bunch of stuff...I took a page out of her book and took a ton of pictures, but in our case, it was more so we could maybe see if we can recreate some of the ornaments we love.

Someone noticed our Stitch shirts and ponchos and told us that Stitch had a meet and greet across from the laugh floor and it would be a kick to get a picture in our Stitch attire with him...her boyfriend is a huge stitch fan, so she noticed our Stitch clothes right away. We really had nothing else planned as our last fastpasses (I guess Laugh floor WASN'T a FP) weren't until the evening. So we decided to go meet Stitch.

 

[Figment Forever]

Aren't there supposed to be girls on both sides of the pool? I'm sure Hope could tell me, right? @Figment Forever

Hope says, "Leave it like that." Which translates to - no they are only on the one side. @Tuvalu - can you confirm? lol (I thought they were on both sides too.)

 

[Tuvalu]

Hope says, "Leave it like that." Which translates to - no they are only on the one side. @Tuvalu - can you confirm? lol (I thought they were on both sides too.)

Yes, the dolls have only ever been on the right side of the pool.

 

[Rista1313]

Yes, the dolls have only ever been on the right side of the pool.

Wow... I could have sworn they were on both sides too. Isn't it funny how our brains trick us into thinking something that isn't accurate!?

 

[Figment Forever]

Yes, the dolls have only ever been on the right side of the pool.

I knew I could count on you!

 

[Tuvalu]

I knew I could count on you!

And on Hope.....she's usually right!!

 

[Figment Forever]

And on Hope.....she's usually right!!

You're right! lol

 

[Songbird76]

Sunday, July 28th, continued...

We were on our way back to Tomorrowland to meet Stitch!

Boo.

On the upside, the line for the Peoplemover was now doable. So we did that, another round of CoP, and then we stopped in to Merchant of Venus and bought a bracelet for N.

I went to the restroom there, but they were FILTHY...unflushed toilets, toilet paper on the floor...bad enough that I decided it could wait. We went to Tomorrowland Terrace instead. Then we walked over to Hall Of Presidents. I love history.

@MinnieM123 , I tried to make sure I got the signs in the pictures and that they aren't too blurry. I LOVED all the stuff in there!!!

I thought these were particularly cool.

We watched the show and just as it finished, our Fastpass window for Jungle Cruise would be opening, so we had perfect timing!
Except we came outside to pouring rain, which was quickly becoming worse and worse...thunder and lightning, lots of wind....we apparently just missed a brawl between family members...we heard about it the next day by some people who witnessed it. Something about one person taking too long to put on a rain poncho or something, and it turned into a fist fight and people being escorted out by security, and apparently it happened right by the LTT, so we must have just missed it. I'm not sorry to have missed that, actually.

Obviously our fastpasses for Jungle Cruise and then BTMRR were canceled...it was brewing up a huge thunderstorm. The sky turned that dingy yellow color that my mother always taught me to keep an eye on, because that can mean tornados. We put on our rain ponchos and went through the Christmas store to the path that goes by Crystal Palace and Casey's. (This photo was taken earlier in the day)

We figured we'd better eat something and then get back to the resort. It was really coming down and CM's were pulling people into shops and stuff because it wasn't safe to be outside in that, so they were herding us in anyway. But it was PACKED...there was no place to sit anywhere...several people who weren't eating were hoarding tables while people with food were wandering aimlessly, nowhere to set a tray.
Thank the Lord for mobile order!! While everyone else was getting close and personal with the people in line with them, I was already getting my food without standing in line! But because there were no tables, there were people in front of the silverware dispensers and condiments, using the counters as tables. A gentleman kindly handed me some silverware and napkins and we vultured to get a space in the halway before entering the shops. There was a little space on a counter there, no chairs, but I set my tray down next to a woman who was sprawled out with her laptop and other stuff taking up as much of the counter as she could, even though she had no food. There wasn't much room, so E and I were just standing there, and I kept bumping the lady's arm...I mean, she had more than enough room, so I didn't feel too bad about bumping into her...it was her own fault. She kept scooting over inch by inch every time I bumped her, so finally I had room to stand there and eat. As soon as we could get some chairs, we grabbed them, and then once we were done eating, we waited for a family with food to give our place to so that the rude people who didn't need table space couldn't snag our place when we left. I realize everyone is being driven inside because of the weather, but if you aren't eating, you don't need the table! We walked through the packed stores to the exit. E was scared of the weather...it was BAD...the lightning was almost constant, right above us. So we sang My Favorite Things to pass the time and distract us from the storm. We got to the bus stop and there was a huge line already. They really need to extend the cover over that walkway so that you don't have to walk in blazing sun or pouring rain to get to the bus stop. CBR is almost always one of the furthest stops, and there's no cover until you get to the line, IF the line isn't backed up past the end. It was already coming out the back. We waited for more than 30 minutes before a bus came and obviously we didn't make it on the first bus. I think we made it on the....3rd or 4th bus? The good thing was that once one bus came, more followed one right after the other. We were SO glad to be back at the resort!!!

I LOVE the days with just E and I...she's the ideal traveling companion. She's by nature a happy person, and she's really mellow and easy-going, so she's up for whatever, and she'll say "Oh that looks fun, should we give that a try?" or "Shall we just sit and have something to drink and people watch?" She's so much fun. I think my favorite moments of the trip were mostly just the two of us. I'd love to do a mother daughter trip with her some day like @Tuvalu and @TrolleyFollower91 , or @Doc Disney and Mary.

So will everyone be healthy and ready for some parks tomorrow? Will everyone be in a good mood?

 

[Songbird76]

Monday, July 29th

The plan...or I should say my plan, was to rope drop Epcot. I was packing my bag for the day. A hates sunscreen. He doesn't like the feel or the smell, but he refuses to use the spray. They have roll-on stuff here that I buy for him because that's the only one he will use. The rest of us prefer the spray, so I put the spray in my bag, which is PACKED now with cooling towels, power banks, my notebook, the kids' autograph books, hand wipes and kleenex (you wouldn't believe the mess A can make with food, even at 11 years old), sunglasses...you know. So I ask M to put A's sunscreen in his bag. "Why don't you put it in yours?" "Because mine is full and really heavy, and yours is almost empty." "But you're going to have him most of the day anyway..." "Oh....are you doing your own thing?" "Am I not?" I wouldn't have minded at all....IF he'd said something. He had left early on our last Epcot day, and I had A that whole day, and then he'd been sick yesterday so he stayed at the resort, so it's not like he didn't deserve to have some fun, and it IS hard for him to have A because A doesn't like the same stuff. So I get that, but he hadn't mentioned wanting to do anything specific that day, or that he'd like to have a day to himself. We had ADRs and fastpasses and everything...
I told him "Well, you never said anything about it, so I thought we'd all be together." and he just didn't respond...no reply at all... So it kind of irked me that he just announced it that way, like I didn't get to negotiate with him about times to meet up, or anything, just a "You're taking him." He plays Ingress a lot on weekends, often leaving me home with the kids for a day or a weekend. (He's gone today, and all of next weekend in fact) so he gets a lot of time to play and to do his hobbies. I want him to have that time, but I also want to negotiate it with him, not have it just announced and just sprung on me with no thought to what might be planned that day. So I was in a rather bad mood already before we left the resort because now our "family time" had turned into mostly "him time". On our last trip, he refused to do anything that we didn't ALL want to do together, and he got more and more frustrated that A didn't want to do must things, and he didn't get to go on the things he wanted to do most. Now he realizes that doesn't work, but now he just wants to be by himself the whole time so he can do his thing, and he gets grouchy if he isn't doing his own thing. I wasn't sure how this day would play out.

We had an ADR for Garden Grill breakfast. It's sooooo much smaller than I was expecting. I knew it rotated, but I didn't know it was such a small space. I also did not realize they don't serve pancakes. We were seated right away and I snapped a picture from the restaurant to the Land pavilion.

Darrin took our drink orders...the Raspberry mimosa was not what I expected. I thought mimosa was orange juice and champagne, so I assumed a raspberry mimosa meant it had raspberry puree added to it...kind of like a smoothie with champagne. But it is not. It is mostly champagne, which I do not care for on its own. Oops. My husband, trying to be nice, ordered one as his beverage, too, thinking it was too early for beer, so he might as well use his specialty drink for me.
The food came. That cinnamon roll was sooooo good! That's the raspberry mimosa on the left, and I ordered a rootbeer just in case, thank goodness. I really should just stick to non-alcoholic drinks.

A wouldn't eat any of the food, and DH asked if there would be pancakes coming. Darrin said he'd check with the chef because it's the same batter as the waffles...not too hard to just make some into pancakes, and he totally delivered. Thank you, Darrin and chef...you saved the morning.

The characters come by pretty quickly! We had barely sat down when Mickey came by the first time.

Then came Pluto, I think? Well, I'm not actually sure in which order they came, but they came.

I think this must be Chip, because we had quite a long conversation with Chip, but I don't seem to have any pictures WITH the kids. I remember asking him if they fed him well, because he had a really hard job. And he turned around to show us how much his back hurt from all the hard work.

And Dale came by, and we said hello and when I went to ask if we could get a picture, he left...like, he literally walked past our table while I was talking to him. I asked Darrin if he'd be coming back, and he said it's hard for them to see, so maybe he hadn't noticed us. A handler came and asked if we were waiting for Dale and we said we were, so she brought him back over.

Overall impressions, it was cute, but I think it was a one and done. I liked the cinnamon roll, but the food was nothing special and I prefer the buffets where I can get what I want without wasting the stuff I don't. The character interactions were not great. Pluto spent SO much time with the family next to us and they were laughing and having a great time, and then he got to us and we tried to make some conversation, but it was just awkward and it was pretty much sign the book, take a picture and go. And the thing with Dale was just weird. We said hi, he waved, and I went to ask him for a picture and hand him the books and he just walked away. It was pretty cool to get to see down into the Living with the Land ride, but I thought the tables would be against that wall so you could really look down into it without getting up. E took some pictures for me, though.

How would the rest of the day play out? Would M stick with us or go his own way? Would I borrow a frying pan and clobber him with it?