Trip Report Oh the pressure...of a name

Hello WDWMagic-ers! I have debated with myself at length if I wanted to do a trip report or not. I am certainly no @Tuvalu, @fractal, @blgauger or @prfctlyximprct ... but I may have some useful information and insights! So I have decided to mostly report on what we did that was new and perhaps interesting to y'all! Here goes:
This is us: myself, pineappleprincess 49; DH MSUJafar 47; and DD19
We are DVC members through resale since 2011. Also AP Gold members, upgraded to Platinum Plus for no additional cost for this trip.
We stayed 5 nights at BLT Lake view studio, and 6 nights at BWV Boardwalk view.
I used to use a Nikkon 3100, but absolutely HATED carrying it around with me. DH bought me a Sony Alpha 5000 for Christmas and it was sooo much easier and more convenient! I am not a photographer by any means, but I was very happy with this camera. It allows you to send photos to your phone and I posted many shots on Instagram on this trip!
We arrived on July 30th to a room that was supposed to be Lake view, but was actually a view of the Contemporary and the marina. I am not one to complain BUT it was not what we were expecting, so we moved the next day which left us a little unsettled that first night, but it was our choice. This was the view we ended up with on day 2:

 

[amjt660]

Oh yeah
Who is the best dad every
This guy
Can't you tell by how much joy I bring to my daughter
Oh yeah
This guy
Up top - high five
Don't leave me hanging!

Max

 

[PineapplePrincess]

This ride photo placement is just about as bad as Pirates LOL

Yep. I had told my family that I wasn't sure where the picture would be taken. That's just not a "hands up" kind of ride!

I do like how happy the guy looks and how unhappy the little girl next to him. I have been to Le Cellier as well and like you I didn't care for it.

I must admit, I do like the cheese soup. Just not enough to make it a must do restaurant.

If I were friends with the guy in the front holding that cat, I would work on this photo in photoshop giving me ammunition to torture him for the rest of his life!
With a friend like you, who needs enemies?! Lol!
Enjoying the report!

Thanks! I'm enjoying writing it!

My daughter is around the same age, and when she's scared of something like this I act over the top excited in a vain attempt to get her excited instead of scared. I'd bet that's what he's doing but the results do look hilarious!!

I remember my daughter's first ride on POTC. She was 3 and I didn't want her to be scared so I kept mentioning the "dirty foot" pirate. She spent the whole ride waiting for him and was so excited when she saw him!

Mmmmm a Pina Colava You know how to relax!

Oh yes! Relaxing is an art for us teachers!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Oh yeah
Who is the best dad every
This guy
Can't you tell by how much joy I bring to my daughter
Oh yeah
This guy
Up top - high five
Don't leave me hanging!
View attachment 223642

Max

Your comments always crack me up!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Day 6, Saturday August 5: HS
We had really good luck with catching the boats on this trip. We realized (after two other stays here) that we could see from our balcony when the boat was on its way and would head down when we saw it coming.

My camera was still a little fogged up!
Our typical HS day goes like this: rope drop TSMM, FP+ for TSMM, FP+ for Tot, FP+ Star Tours. We always seem to follow the same schedule since there are so few rides. DD has never had any interest in Rockin' Roller Coaster so that never plays into our schedule.
After we checked out of the Hollywood Tower Hotel, we walked past the Great Movie Ride. When I had made FP+ for this trip, I don't think I knew that it would be closing or I probably would have made one for it. Anyways, the line was not too long and we realized it would only get longer, so we hopped in. We were all a little sad that this would be our last ride and DH and I reminisced about the first time we experienced it on our Disneymoon back in 1994.

We ended up with the western scene. I can't even recall the last time we got that one, so it made for an even more memorable last ride.
After Star Tours we were getting hangry and decided to try PizzaRizzo. We sat upstairs in the ballroom I guess it's called? It was super cute in there and DD warned that there would be annoying music, but it was quiet the whole time we were there.
We went and saw the Muppets which is not new for us, but the plants in the fountain were new. Last year Miss Piggy was stationary, but there was still water in the fountain.

We had never experienced the Frozen Singalong and I insisted that "my peeps" (that's you guys) said that the Historians are really funny and the show is very enjoyable. They grudgingly agreed to go, but both declared that they would not sing. "Well, I'm going to sing" I told them. "We know!" was their reply in unison. I didn't get many good pictures because we walked in a couple of minutes before the show was about to start and we were off to the side.

The Historians were hilarious...it was such a cute show! My family admitted that they liked it and were glad that I "made" them go. Small victories make me very happy!
We ended up going back to our room to rest up a bit.

When we were ready to go back to HS for dinner, the boats were not running due to lightning in the area. I had never heard of that before. I had picked up another FP for TSMM for just before our dinner ADR. We very unhappily walked to HS for our FP and dinner at Mama Melrose's. This was not a new restaurant for us, but it was our first time there for dinner. DD and I shared the steak and mac and cheese....it was divine!
We decided not to stay to see the Star Wars fireworks since we would be returning in a couple of days. We promised DH that he could do as much "Star Wars nerd" stuff as he wanted to on our second HS day.

 

[12in12]

I am so happy your family liked the Frozen sing a long, but honestly what's not to like?

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Day 7, Sunday August 6th: Happy 23rd Anniversary to us!
Since we would be in WDW on our actual anniversary, we wanted to do something special just the two of us. We originally were going to go with the Highway in the Sky dine around, but we weren't completely sold on it. With it being on a Sunday, I started researching the brunch options.
We Disneymooned at the Poly and ate at Narcoossee's . It was quite memorable because we thought it must be very fancy and we dressed for the occasion. As you will see, we were VERY overdressed! This was us in our first floor Poly room just before going to dinner. Our camera had a remote control which we thought was pretty awesome!

I'd like to say we haven't changed much, but time marches on and as Dolly Parton's character in Steel Magnolias says, "Honey, time marches on and eventually you realize it's marchin' across your face."
We decided that Narcoossee's Waterfront brunch would be a fitting anniversary date. It ended up being our favorite experience of this trip!
We weren't sure how long it would take us to get from Boardwalk to MK to the monorail so we left plenty early for our 9:30 reservation.
Monorail selfie:

This is a chocolate sculpture near the entrance:

And the view from our table:

We took our time and enjoyed every moment. It's not quite clear from the description, but it is an "all you care to enjoy" experience. We enjoyed "bottomless" mimosas. If you choose the Bloody Mary, it is not bottomless. However, you can enjoy your one Bloody Mary and then switch to mimosas. Although we both love a good Bloody Mary, they can be filling and we wanted to save ourselves for the food.
Our server was wonderful and I could kick myself for not remembering her name! She wished us a "Happy Anniversary" and we told her about our Disneymoon. She told us that her parents had Disneymooned at WDW as well.
We took a long time to order our entrees and that was when she informed us that it was "all you care to enjoy" and that we could order more than one. Nice to know but, we were already getting full from our yummy pastry basket and delicious appetizers.
Corn and crab bisque for me:

Shrimp and grits for DH:

I did not photograph our entrees. We both chose My Way Omelette. Mine had lobster and Gruyere, while DH chose the standard ham and cheese.
This is the dessert that is served:

We were very full, but managed to finish the chocolate and blueberry one!
As I said before, it was our favorite experience of this trip and one we hope to repeat next year.
If anyone is interested, they do take Tables in Wonderland and if you have the dining plan it's 2 TS credits.
We made our way back to the Boardwalk to collect our daughter and then to Epcot for an afternoon FP+ for Test Track.
Today would also go down in history as our last ride on Ellen's Energy Adventure! Not sure why, but this is a family favorite and it will be missed.

Dinner was at Via Napoli which DD decided to bow out of. We were put at a tiny two-top right in the middle of the high traffic area. Not very enjoyable especially after our lovely brunch, but the pizza was great as usual!
Tomorrow would be our second HS day.

 

[12in12]

What a wonderful way to celebrate your anniversary by eating at the same restaurant. I love the photo from your Disneymoon, I think you both still look great!

 

[myhappyplace]

We will be trying the Plaza Garden view Dessert Party in 20 days, so I'm glad you touched on that in your report

 

[fractal]

"We promised DH that he could do as much "Star Wars nerd" stuff as he wanted to on our second HS day." - that's all a day can ask for!

Happy Anniversary! You guys look great! Looks like you made the right choice for dinner. That crab/corn bisque looks delicious!

Cool that you rode TGMR and Ellen's. Looking forward to Test Track comments!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

What a wonderful way to celebrate your anniversary by eating at the same restaurant. I love the photo from your Disneymoon, I think you both still look great!

Thanks @RedNoseMickey ...you're so sweet!

We will be trying the Plaza Garden view Dessert Party in 20 days, so I'm glad you touched on that in your report

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

"We promised DH that he could do as much "Star Wars nerd" stuff as he wanted to on our second HS day." - that's all a day can ask for!

Happy Anniversary! You guys look great! Looks like you made the right choice for dinner. That crab/corn bisque looks delicious!

Cool that you rode TGMR and Ellen's. Looking forward to Test Track comments!

Thanks @fractal ... maybe Val would like Disney more if you took her to brunch with bottomless mimosas!
I don't really have any Test Track comments. We usually skip it, but DD likes it so we try to appease her sometimes. I will say this though...DH and I did not scan our magic bands when designing the car, only DD did. So our TT ride photo had some random people in it none of which were us!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Day 8, Monday August 7: HS day 2
We followed our typical HS schedule (see Day 6)
After our Star Tours FP+, I picked up another one for TSMM for before dinner.
We watched the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away at DH's request. I enjoyed it, but here comes a slight rant. I generally don't have a problem with kids sitting on a parent's shoulders. However, when the kid is not much older than one, I'm pretty sure she has no idea what Star Wars is so it's totally unnecessary to put her on your shoulders and block people's view!

We scooted around to the side of the stage just before the end of the show to see if I could get some shots of them coming offstage.

After the show we went to get photos with Chewbacca. The line for BB8 was 40 minutes, so we agreed to check back later. He decided to skip Kylo Ren this year since he met him last year and it was a little awkward.

He's a happy guy!
There was only about a 20 minute wait for ToT at this point, so we headed over there for one final visit to The Twilight Zone. DH was also very happy to get the red card on our way through.

We went back to Boardwalk to rest for a bit before heading back for dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby where I had this slice of deliciousness for dessert:

With full bellies, we waddled over to meet BB8 since the wait was only about 20 minutes.

We caught the 8:00 showing of The Music of Pixar Live! It was fantastic and I shed a lot of tears. I had read that it was not short so we were prepared, but apparently a lot of other people were unaware of how long it was. I couldn't believe the amount of people walking out in the middle!
We hung around to see the Star Wars fireworks show in front of the theater. Last year, we watched them from off to the side by Min and Bill's so we wanted to be able to see the projections. Even with seeing the projections, it didn't seem much better than our previous viewing spot. Maybe I was remembering it incorrectly, but I recalled there being more fireworks last year. Anyway...it's a good show and I absolutely love the music!
We exited with the masses and caught the Friendship boat back to Boardwalk. Tomorrow will be a super short report as it was our pool day.

 

[PrincessL]

Loving your report!

Happy belated Anniversary!

We celebrated 10 years on Aug 4th and postponed our anniversary trip until next month so we could enjoy W&F.

Can you elaborate on what you didn't like about Le Cellier? We currently have an ADR but am on the fence for out trip next month since you can get the cheese soup & steak at the W&F kiosk. Now I'm thinking I should change it to brunch at Nacoseees!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Loving your report!

Happy belated Anniversary!

We celebrated 10 years on Aug 4th and postponed our anniversary trip until next month so we could enjoy W&F.

Can you elaborate on what you didn't like about Le Cellier? We currently have an ADR but am on the fence for out trip next month since you can get the cheese soup & steak at the W&F kiosk. Now I'm thinking I should change it to brunch at Nacoseees!

Thanks for the Anniversary wishes! Happy belated anniversary to you!
I didn't order an entree at Le Celier...just the cheese soup. DH liked his steak, but he had better ones at Cali Grill and Brown Derby. I think my dissatisfaction with it had a lot to do with the mood my family seemed to be in at that moment. Everyone was kind of grumpy and sick of each other at that point!
I do highly recommend the Narcoosee's brunch though!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Day 9, Tuesday August 8th: Boardwalk Pool Day
DH went down and grabbed us some chairs right when the pool opened. I wasn't too long after him. We enjoyed some yummy goodness from Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast. Nothing like eating a big ole cinnamon roll and then spending the day in your bathing suit!
DD joined us eventually. I had booked a FP+ for Flight of Passage just in case we weren't able to rope drop it on our AK day. Even though we had ridden it, DH and I decided that we'd like to experience it again. DD didn't want to so she stayed down by the pool while we went up to get ready.
We got to AK a little early so we ducked into the Nomad Lounge for a drink. We found this to be a hidden gem and wished we had more time to spend in there. There were some complications with FoP...half the simulators weren't working. So our fastpass wasn't very fast. After our ride on the banshee, we rushed back to the Boardwalk for our dinner at Flying Fish.
I was really looking forward to getting the scallops that they show in the picture, but they weren't on the menu! I was disappointed, but determined that I would find something and not let it ruin my night. I ended up getting the octopus, sea bass and shrimp entree:

It was delicious, but every time I see a picture of those scallops I get angry! It really is a lovely restaurant and I liked people watching out the window. Check out this gorgeous flatware! @prfctlyximprct, you should register for these:

We made an early night of it because the next morning we had the DVC Soarin' tour booked for 8:00 a.m.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Happy belated anniversary! yoh both look the exact same!!!! Only the curtains give the photo away! Haha

I love that flatware!!!! I wonder if it's for sale anywhere! I checked the app and don't see it. Maybe we should plan a trip and bring, ahem, extra large purses?

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Happy belated anniversary! yoh both look the exact same!!!! Only the curtains give the photo away! Haha
Thanks...you're too kind!
I love that flatware!!!! I wonder if it's for sale anywhere! I checked the app and don't see it. Maybe we should plan a trip and bring, ahem, extra large purses?

I'm in for an extra large purse trip!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Day 10, Wednesday August 9th (our last full day): Epcot
We were lucky to book the DVC Soarin' tour for today. It's hard to get because they only do it on Wednesdays and it's FREE! I think luck was with us as our trip encompassed 2 Wednesdays and we were able to book it 180 days from the first day of our stay.
As with most of the tours, photography is not allowed, so unfortunately there is no evidence of the tour. A lot of the information I already knew, but we did learn some interesting information about the Land pavilion itself. Our tour guide showed us how they get the scents into the ride and where they are located on the ride. At the end of the tour, we got to ride Soarin' front row center! The Eiffel Tower looks a lot better when it's not curved!
The tour ended around 9:15 and we had a FP+ for it starting at 9:15. Since the standby wasn't long yet though, we rode standby and then used our FP. So we ended up riding it 3 times within 45 minutes!
We rode SSE and I got some not so great shots:

A glimpse into our future:

I honestly can't remember what our third FP was for, but it's safe to say we didn't use it.
DD was about done for this trip, so Erik and I spent some quality time at the Rose and Crown. Along with our pints we enjoyed some fish and chips. I had heard of Carol before, but had never been there to experience one of her sets. We had fun watching her (and one of the locals) perform. I was hoping for some bawdy Irish drinking songs, but settled for My Fair Lady.

We could have stayed there all day, but decided to go back and pack so we wouldn't have to do it after dinner.
DD decided not to join us for dinner at Trattoria al Forno. We like the food there and it's convenient when staying at Boardwalk, but we had perhaps one of the worst servers we've ever had. She was nice, but very scatter brained and hard to understand. I'm sure it didn't help that the post Disney blues had already settled in.
We called it a night fairly early. The Tragical Express was picking us up at 9:00.
I don't have any final thoughts for this trip. My mom came over yesterday to plan for our girls trip in March. I found it very difficult to plan for a four and a half day trip...first world problems!
Thanks for following...See ya' real soon!

 

[12in12]

Thanks for sharing! I had fun reading your TR.

 

[Tuvalu]

Enjoyed reading. Have fun with your mom planning!

 

[PrincessL]

Thanks for sharing and some new resturant ideas!