Trip Report Revisiting 2016's War and peace I took one for the team

Hello it's me again and if you want to know what the title means you'll have to stick around for a while. Sorry but no spoiler This trip was 3 years in the making and the official countdown started at 439 days. Surprisingly the time seemed to fly by. Our little adventure was taken by me (for those who don't know I'm Figmentfan423 Figgy to my friends here), my dh and our 2 boys James 14 and fellow Disney planner and M who's a bit older autistic and doesn't like getting his picture taken or me talking about him. Our trip began at

am on July 30th. We sang happy birthday to my little guy while driving down the street on our way to Disney. I'm a very mean mommy who made my baby spend his birthday in the car. Any way it was smooth sailing until half way through Virginia where we hit rain and traffic all the way to the North Carolina border. It was bad enough we worried a bit about making it to our hotel for the first night but once we hit NC the skies cleared and so did the traffic and we made it to Florida

to take the obligitory first Florida picture of the boys. With a bit of luck and excitement we made it to Ormond Beach to get a good night's sleep.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Just catching up on the TR. Love the drink selections! I will definitely have to add some of them to my list!

 

[DisneyJeff]

I was a bit worried about lunch at Whispering Canyon because my dh takes his BBQ very seriously, he has a smoker nobody dares touch, soaks his wood in buckets for each type of wood, gets the meat to a certain temperature before putting it in the smoker etc.. Any way the boys wanted to go and it was all you can eat so why not try it. The guys got the all you care to eat skillet and I got the quinoa cakes to eat and I got a glass of Gunsmoke red wine (it seemed only right being a western themed restaurant) and Jim got a glass of red moscotto. The guys all liked the meat and even got seconds. They said it wasn't bad for a restaurant, high praise coming from picky BBQ eaters. The gluten free corn bread was pretty good but a bit too sweet but the guys did not like the beans. They could tell they were canned and doctored up, note to self do not make home made baked beans just before going to Disney. Just a little FYI I soak beans and then cook them in the oven on low for hours. The quinoa cakes were excellent and Chef Philippe was nice enough to give me the recipe. Both glasses of wine were nice.View attachment 159914 View attachment 159915 View attachment 159916 View attachment 159918 Because of our allergies they seated us in the quiet section but with a full view of all the goings on and our waiter sang the funniest way off key version of Happy Birthday to my ds All in all it was fun

Do you remember what time you were at Whispering Canyon? I was there around 1:30 that afternoon for lunch with my wife and niece. We were seated near the check-in desk and were encouraged to sing happy birthday to the family sitting near us. Could that have been your family?? I believe we had the same waiter as you did.

 

[Figgy1]

Do you remember what time you were at Whispering Canyon? I was there around 1:30 that afternoon for lunch with my wife and niece. We were seated near the check-in desk and were encouraged to sing happy birthday to the family sitting near us. Could that have been your family?? I believe we had the same waiter as you did.

Could have been we were seated by oneish. I heard some other people singing.

 

[Figgy1]

We spent much of that afternoon just going with the flow and having fun in WS. We stopped in Japan where I got to pick a pearl, the boys got a few things to put away for Christmas, the only real plan we had was our 4pm FEA fp, It was nice just to take time and look around until dinner. Of course the boys did a few Agent P missions along the way while we were window shopping

 

[Me 'Earties]

We met back up in the Land and went over to see Figment before heading to World Showcase for the rest of the day. The boys were hungry (they're always hungry) so they went to the American Pavillion for chicken nuggets and fries and I'll spare you the details. The boys liked them they looked ok but seriously nuggets in EPCOT Jim and I popped into Spice Road Table for some real food I got the veggie platter and a sparkling Sangria and Jim got the mixed grill and white sangria we both liked what we got. Jim did try one of my stuffed grape leaves which I liked but he did not. View attachment 160078 View attachment 160079 View attachment 160080

Dolma (that's what we would call them as kids/growing up; aka stuffed grape leaves) are definitely an acquired taste LOL. Really loving the food choices, and it seems like you and the fam had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

View attachment 160088 View attachment 160093 View attachment 160094 We spent much of that afternoon just going with the flow and having fun in WS. We stopped in Japan where I got to pick a pearl, the boys got a few things to put away for Christmas, the only real plan we had was our 4pm FEA fp, It was nice just to take time and look around until dinner. Of course the boys did a few Agent P missions along the way while we were window shopping

I recognise that figment in the last photo .

 

[Scoppin]

View attachment 160088 View attachment 160093 View attachment 160094 We spent much of that afternoon just going with the flow and having fun in WS. We stopped in Japan where I got to pick a pearl, the boys got a few things to put away for Christmas, the only real plan we had was our 4pm FEA fp, It was nice just to take time and look around until dinner. Of course the boys did a few Agent P missions along the way while we were window shopping

Did they have fun doing the Agent P missions? I have this as a must do as a family. as mentioned above, they love P&F.

 

[Figgy1]

Dolma (that's what we would call them as kids/growing up; aka stuffed grape leaves) are definitely an acquired taste LOL. Really loving the food choices, and it seems like you and the fam had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing!!

I think if I had said dolma everybody would have asked me what they were LOL as soon as you said that I knew you had to be from Jersey

 

[Figgy1]

Did they have fun doing the Agent P missions? I have this as a must do as a family. as mentioned above, they love P&F.

I'm surprised they still like doing them even though they remember most of the clues. A must do for P&F fans

 

[Figgy1]

I recognise that figment in the last photo .

Yes poor Figment got borrowed again

 

[Figgy1]

We had a wonderful dinner that night at Rose and Crown and the 7:35 ADR worked out perfectly. We got seated at the railing

The boys got the baked fish and chips, Jim got the corned beef and loved it. I'm quite surprised he not only ordered it but loved it. I got the veggie curry and it was great! Chef Tyler was amazing as was Obi our server. Jim got a Welsh Dragon which he liked better than my Leaping Leprechaun. I beg to differ with him on that!

 

[Figgy1]

Jim and my older ds got the gf trifle, James got a nice big bowl of strawberries and I got a second drink as I was too full for anything else. Jim said his dessert was good but not great. Here's our view of Illuminations

We each got one of these to take home

We all liked leaving EPCOT after the rush of people were already gone!!!!!

 

[Songbird76]

Sunday August 7th was a nice quiet day spent at Typhoon Lagoon. I wasn't sure after BB if I could convince my dh to spend any more time at a water park but he gave in and even managed to have fun. That being said he spent most of his time in the water on the lazy river.View attachment 160060The boys had a blast they spent the day on the slides, crush n gusher and in the wave pool. We packed a picnic lunch and had dinner in the condo. I made a simple stir fry with veggies and tofuView attachment 160062 BTW I can neither confirm or deny that I may have found a Grey Goose Slush at TL

Huh....that's interesting to me, because our nightmare experience was at Typhoon Lagoon, and we had a GREAT time at BB. Good thing we did BB first, because if we'd have gone to TL first, we might have canceled our plan to go to BB. I'm not even sure we were at TL for 2 hours before giving it up.

 

[Songbird76]

Monday August 8th another rope drop at EPCOT and like I've said before I love RD. We got on Soarin, Living With the Land and the Seas with Nemo all as walk onsView attachment 160067 View attachment 160068 View attachment 160069

All as walk ons? Wow....we got there at rope drop and STILL had a 20 minute wait for soarin and the other rope drop day, we went to test track first and it was still a 25 minute wait. You lucked out!!!

 

[Songbird76]

Dolma (that's what we would call them as kids/growing up; aka stuffed grape leaves) are definitely an acquired taste LOL. Really loving the food choices, and it seems like you and the fam had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing!!

There are also a lot of different recipes, some better than others. My friend from Iran makes them and they are pretty good, but one time she didn't have time to soak the leaves long enough and they were REALLY salty. And I also had a Greek version that I liked better, and a Turkish version that I didn't like as much. It varies SO much!!

 

[Songbird76]

I'm surprised they still like doing them even though they remember most of the clues. A must do for P&F fans

Ok I have a question, because we wanted to do this, but Hubby said you had to use your own phone and his phone battery was dying, so we couldn't do it. Is it true or do they give you a device to use?

 

[MinnieM123]

Then it was time for us to go off and do Behind the Seeds. I forget exactly how much it was but it was under 20 per person with the Birnbaum's coupon. I think it was well worth it to see everything up close and with a guide. We even got some yummy Mickey shaped cucumbers to try and we got to feed the fish

Yup, my favorite tour, too! (Think I've been on it 4 times now in the past 7 years.) Not only is it a great experience, but it's just one hour and doesn't take too much time out of a busy park day. I also used the Birnbaum's coupon and saved a few dollars.

 

[Bugz]

Jim and my older ds got the gf trifle, James got a nice big bowl of strawberries and I got a second drink as I was too full for anything else. Jim said his dessert was good but not great. Here's our view of IlluminationsView attachment 160121 View attachment 160122 View attachment 160123 We each got one of these to take homeView attachment 160125 We all liked leaving EPCOT after the rush of people were already gone!!!!!

Trip report excellent so far!! Best yet to come??

 

[prfctlyximprct]

CAN I COME WITH YOU NEXT TIME? Such a fun report, and you are seriously doing EVERYTHING! Want to try Tusker house, that is on my bucket list!

 

[coachwnh]

BTW I can neither confirm or deny that I may have found a Grey Goose Slush at TL

You did a great job trying many adult beverages on this trip! Cheers to that!