I will try my best to finish this report. I didn’t have much luck with my first attempt at a trip report.
Who: Dory (me), B (my hubby), W (sister in law), D (brother in law)
When: 1/17/21-1/22/21
Why: my hubby has been itching to go back and needed a pick me up since finding out the refinery he works at is shutting down forever at the end of February. In order below : D, W, me, B
We headed toward the safari for our first ride of the day. Sorry no pics. There were plastic partitions between rows but it didn't bother us because the weather was absolutely beautiful. After we exited I suggested we take the train ride over to Rafiki's Planet Watch to catch the Animation Academy. It is my favorite thing to do at Disney. We started going to the drawing classes when it was at MGM (that lets you know how long ago it was). I keep a running list in notes on my phone of all the characters we have drawn. This visit makes about 20. One day I will have to get them all out and take a picture to post. BIL and SIL had not experienced this before and were up to the challenge.
I snapped the photo above and then we stopped for popcorn and chocolate covered bananas. We ate at a relaxation station and were able to see these guys float by.
Next we headed to Expedition Everest. B knows that it is one of my favorite rides but B and W were not interested in riding. So BIL and I went on the expedition by ourselves.
We were getting hungry for a meal so we didn't spend much time at AK.
We headed out to Freddy’s to grab a bite and over to the outlet mall to shop. Tip if you plan to go to Character Warehouse be sure to go there first to join the virtual queue so you can shop in other stores while you wait to enter. It was 1 ½ wait until we were called. I was able to grab a pair of light purple ears for our daughter and B found a Hades shirt from the MNSSHP so we got one for him and one for our son. Sorry for the pic quality.
It was a cold ride on the ferry in the shade. We entered the Magic Kingdom and walked through the castle. Where do four adults go for their first ride???
I couldn't tell you the last time we rode Dumbo. Clearly it is meant for 1 child and 1 adult per seat. lol.
Like I had said in a previous trip report, we all have been to Disney many, many times so it is not necessary for us to ride all the rides. We just love being at Disney. We journeyed under the sea to visit Ariel, photo op with Gaston, then skipped IASW in favor of Neverland with Peter Pan. (the queue for Pan had been extended into Columbia Harbor House since our last visit).
I have never been on Dumbo. I waited in line once after they started sending you to what I call the "play room" with a buzzer. I waited about 5 seconds with all of the "excited" kids and left.
I had missed my Dole whip the last visit so it was a must do. I love coconut so thought about the Kakamora float but wasn’t sure I wanted a float. BIL suggested we ask if I can have just coconut dole whip in a cup and you can! It was amazing! I hope coconut Dole Whip sticks around. Sorry about the after pic. Proof it was delicious I guess.
We headed over to Country Bears Jamboree. My family loves CBJ. They grew up watching the live action DVD and it is a must do for our family. BIL said his kids hate CBJ and they never see the show so he was so glad we were up for it.
We snapped this pic near Splash to send to the "kids".
We waited for today's smart remark.
Next we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. We all missed the mark but I think it is hysterical how opposite we are. BIL and SIL are into their phones and hubby and I are making scared faces.
We split up because SIL doesn't ride many coasters due to a neck injury. So B and I headed toward Space Mountain. We stopped at castle for a few PPP pics .
Gosh, now I know why I didn't finish my 1st attempt at a trip report...because I am terrible at it.
I am just realizing that sometime earlier we ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's. I had the spicy chicken sandwhich which reminded me of the spicy chicken waffle at Sleepy Hollow and B had a cheeseburger. We also hit up Carousel of Progress while in Tomorrowland.
B and I rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear while BIL and SIL went to the Emporium.
We met up with them outside of the Emporium and SIL showed me a pic of the Valentine ears she spotted.
I thought they were adorable and my daughter has quite a collection. I texted her to see if she wanted them but I didn't get an immediate response. My SIL convinced me to go ahead and get them because they might sell out. So I did.
10 minutes later I got the "Nah, they're cute tho" text from my daughter. We were already on our way out of the park so I would have to find a new home for them. She did put us on a mission for the Annual Passholder "It's a way of life" pin and the AP ears before we left home but were unsuccessful at MK. Everyone was sold out.
We left MK and headed back to OKW. BIL texted wanting to know what we were doing for dinner. Olivia's, Disney Springs, or offsite??? We replied we didn't care Olivia's was fine with us knowing he really wanted the Prime rib. So we freshened up and drove to Olivia's. We started with drinks, B - old fashioned, BIL - smoked turkey, SIL - antioxidant lemonade, me - Sangria. B really wasn't in the mood for anything on the menu so he had the chicken ceasar salad. SIL had the catch of the day which was salmon, BIL had the prime rib (which he enjoyed) and I ordered the West Indian tofu and coconut curry substituting the chicken for the tofu. The food was just okay, nothing spectacular.
BIL then offered to take us to one of his favorite dessert spots.
We had never been, but we will be back. There was a line so I didn't get to examine the menu. I just ordered what they were having... a vanilla cone dipped in butterscotch. It was soo good. B and I shared the cone because it was a lot of ice cream. Next time I will get the kiddie cone. I recommend them for your next trip.
Today was the day I had to process payroll so I intentionally reserved EPCOT since it had the latest opening. As usual, I was waiting on a manager to review and approve his timesheets before I could proceed. Surprisingly I was able to complete payroll remotely with the help of my co-worker at the office who printed the lone hard check. This is great news for scheduling future vacations.
We made our way around the walls to the relocated Mousegears in search of the AP ears. My hubby spotted them at the register YAY!! I purchased 2 thinking one of my daughter's friends would want one too.
We skipped Future world and headed to World Showcase.
Super light crowds. We entered the Festival Center to check out the eats.
We were pretty hungry at this point so we walked over to Via Napoli to see if we could be seated without a reservation. Thankfully we were seated immediately and could begin our order. B and I ordered the family style house salad and the individual carciofi signature pie and both were delicious. BIL and SIL got the large piccante signature pie (BIL can put away some pizza!) We then waddled our way to Germany for caramel popcorn.
Once around world showcase I stopped for the almond frangipane cake, sorry but I really didn't love it. We stopped for a couple pics on the way out.
