Trip Report COMPLETED: So why is it you’re cruising so much now: A NYE TR that doesn’t contain cruising. Now with Tuna/Egg talk!

No real back story here or PTR to reference. We’ve been to the bubble many times. We’ve gone during Spring Break, Christmas, 4th of July, and even Memorial day. We realized we’ve never done NYE so we figured we’d give it a go. I mean, surely everyone will go home on New Year’s day leaving an enjoyable park experience with lite crowds the rest of the week, right?

So if you don’t know us by now I guess that rock you were under didn’t have any internet or you just have a strong distaste for sarcasm, poor grammar, and pictures of decent food. This trip included the DD and would be the first trip we drove to in over a year, getting back to our roots and all.

The beginning of the end:
We had a plan of leaving the cold and wet North Georgia Mountains by 04:30 on NYE morning. I’m proud to say my ladies stepped up and were AIS by the deadline. Now, I have a standard 1-stop itinerary for our road trips to the bubble and can make it there in less than 7 hours provided we stick to the itinerary. My copilots decided we needed more stops. All this to say we made the Orlando area in about 7 hours 10 minutes. Now typically we hit 429 and take Western Way into the bubble to avoid the I-4 madness. This trip, however, the DW decided she wanted to hit the Disney outlet so I-4 here we come!

We have never been to this outlet but on the way down the DW read about parking horror stories but I was insistent we do it so she could check out the outlet. All I can say is DAYUM! Whomever designed the layout of that outlet needs to be taken out back and flogged. It was lunch time on NYE and this place looked like it was running a 75% sale on a Black Friday. I did one pass through the lot and decided to drop the ladies off so they could hit up the store while I looked for parking. Fast-forward 20 minutes and the DD calls saying they are ready to go and I still have yet to find parking. I’ll let the DD describe the inside of the outlet since I only got to see the parking lot.

After the outlet we hit up Publix to get our Entenmann's donuts, a WDW staple. We were in and out in minutes and on our way to DTD for lunch.

As we approached the parking deck we noticed they changed the flow of traffic coming from the parks to DTD. You now have to drive past the green deck and u-turn back to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if that direct all traffic coming from the parks to the new deck across the street when its complete and start charging for the green deck. We quickly parked and I was pleasantly surprised to see lite crowds at DTD, this gave me hope! DW and I wanted Polite Pig for lunch but the DD loathes BBQ. We walked over to Morimoto CS to grab her some noodles to go. The portion was huge and she enjoyed it. We made our way over to PP, grabbed a table, and enjoyed some food.

DW went with the sausage and Brussels sprouts

I went with the pulled pork sandwich

We shared Ravenous Pig by Cask & Larder. Untappd Notes: 4/5 A nice lite Belgian that almost wants to be sweet.

The food, as usual, was excellent. The ladies must have been hungrier than me, or motivated to shop, as they smashed their lunch and decided to head to Basin to get some bath bombs while I finished my lunch. By the time I finished and met up with them we got the room text!

 

[lostpro9het]

Enjoying the report so far and Love the AKL tree, we didn’t make it there to see the decorations last trip.

Thanks! AKL is true, nontraditional, holiday gem!

I feel like I got called out in the name, LoL
were going to have to hit the pig for lunch.
okw has been a nice low pt gem. especially after the recent refurbs. dad's home is Saratoga and he hates it.

Called out? Yikes, I don't know that I intentionally did that! I disagree with your Pops a bit, though. I actually enjoy SSR. It isn't the most Disneyish of resorts but it has nice, quiet, rooms and I like its location relative to DTD, it might be in our top 4 of Disney Resorts but may need to reevaluate after this trip. PP is a winner! You must give it a go. I highly recommend the Butcher Board for two, it is a great way to sample all the meats and really more than 2 could share it.

Shortly after making it back to the lobby the text came through, it was time for Jiko!

For a while we really enjoyed Jiko's menu and were a bit bummed when they changed chefs and things started changing. I must say, though, with each change new items have been added to the menu that are winners and it has taught us to try more new items and we have NEVER been disappointed here. The menu had been modified a bit since our last visit.

Another change is they now serve a complimentary mint tea before your meal. It came out in a metal kettle and I thought it was going to be hot and unsweetened. It turned out to be cold, sweet, and very refreshing. Another Jiko win!

The kiddo went with a non-alcoholic Sunriser

If you've followed along before in the slightest you know what we went with.

Red Jasper is a fantastic African red blend with great taste. With our drinks the bread came out. This bread was also a change from our previous visit. The butter was sweet, savory, and did the multigrain rolls justice.

 

[Pardonmypixiedust]

sorry i was being sarcasric dragging him to springs is hard. he doesn't much like it since the change. it's a must do for food for sure. sunriser looks TASTY!

 

[lostpro9het]

sorry i was beinf sarcasric dragging him to springs is hard. he doesn't much like it since the change. it's a must do for food for sure. sunriser looks TASTY!

Ahhh, gotcha! Springs, foodwise, is so much better than DTD was. Homecomin is worth the visit, alone, and has become an "every trip" meal for us.

So now the tricky part. I know there is always something here for me. The DW knows there is always something here for her. The DD, well, we just hoped she would enjoy the flatbread. We went a little tapas style tonight and got a few plates.

For me, I can't come here without getting the Bobotie, think Mac & Cheese for adults ;-). It did not disappoint tonight!

The DW ordered the Heirloom Tomato Flatbread.

I also thought the Egyptian Kushari looked good too and ordered it for us to share. It had ancient grains, pasta, chickpeas, chakalaka, olives, and roasted vegetables. I enjoyed it, the DW enjoyed it, and surprisingly the DD really enjoyed it! It may have been the most underrated dish of the night and I would get it again.

Now the moment of truth, what would the DD choose. I thought for sure a flatbread or the chicken. To my surprise she chooses the Bo Kaap Malay Seafood Curry... with lobster, calamari, red shrimp, mussels, coconut-curry sauce, and saffron Rice

I'm like:
It has calamari in it, you know that's squid, right?

She's like:
Yeah, I know, I like calamari.

I'm like:


But ok, seafood curry it is!

DD and DW really took to the curry while I enjoyed my Bobotie and Kushari. It's was a strange sight seeing your kid eat like an adult. NEVER would I eat anything in that curry when I was her age! Props to her!

The entire dining experience so far had been excellent. I couldn't eat anything else but the DD was jonesing for some dessert. I told her I'd get her a Mickey bar if she wanted but the waiter made a point of telling us there was just one Kilimanjaro dessert left. This triggered the "gotta have it" gene in the DD so we "shared" a Kilimanjaro. It was good, not great, and super chocolaty. I'm not a big dessert person but if I was this would probably be a winner.

When we were done I couldn't believe the words coming out of the DD's mouth when she said, and I quote, "That was the best meal I've ever had at Disney". All these years we've been keeping her form it thinking she would hate it and it turns out she loves it, go figure! We all left AKL full, happy, and ready for New Year's.

Up next: Things that go boom from your balcony.

 

[imahistorygeek]

The seafood curry was excellent. I took a good, hard look at it before I tried it. The DD ate the mussels in record time. She also didn't waste any time with the calamari rings. You can also see the purple cauliflower, which was delicious. The lobster was not in pieces, but instead, a whole lobster tail. The one thing neither of us could eat was something with tentacles. I had to do some googling on squid because I have no idea how it's cooked, what parts are edible, etc. The rings are the sliced top portion of the squid. The bottom portion with the tentacles is also edible. The bottom portion was also in the curry. If you look at the bottom center of the dish, you'll see some of the tentacles. If you like this kind of stuff, you should definitely try this dish.

 

[littleroo]

We are staying at AKL in June. I have a few Sanaa reservations already. Looks like I am changing one to Jiko (I have never been!). I certainly trust your judgement after visiting Il Mulino! You are killing me

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

Following! I'm glad you lucked out with the Jiko dinner - how awesome that DD loved it!

P.S. I thought of you the other night - we went out to dinner and I noticed that Golden Monkey was soon going to be on the tap list at the restaurant! That's the first time I've seen it on tap in Michigan!

 

[DisneyGigi]

The seafood curry was excellent. I took a good, hard look at it before I tried it. The DD ate the mussels in record time. She also didn't waste any time with the calamari rings. You can also see the purple cauliflower, which was delicious. The lobster was not in pieces, but instead, a whole lobster tail. The one thing neither of us could eat was something with tentacles. I had to do some googling on squid because I have no idea how it's cooked, what parts are edible, etc. The rings are the sliced top portion of the squid. The bottom portion with the tentacles is also edible. The bottom portion was also in the curry. If you look at the bottom center of the dish, you'll see some of the tentacles. If you like this kind of stuff, you should definitely try this dish.

I love calamari, and my favorite is the tentacle portion- I guess that is what it is, :-/ but fried. Big Kudos to your DD for trying it and loving it! I would have not tried it at her age.. I love seafood Curry but if the squid was not fried, at 45, don’t know if I could try it. Lol
*edit to add, I googled it, I wish I had not lol

 

[imahistorygeek]

I love calamari, and my favorite is the tentacle portion- I guess that is what it is, :-/ but fried. Big Kudos to your DD for trying it and loving it! I would have not tried it at her age.. I love seafood Curry but if the squid was not fried, at 45, don’t know if I could try it. Lol
*edit to add, I googled it, I wish I had not lol

I asked DD about it yesterday. She said she did eat the tentacle portion and that it was good.

 

[Zipadeelady]

The seafood curry was excellent. I took a good, hard look at it before I tried it. The DD ate the mussels in record time. She also didn't waste any time with the calamari rings. You can also see the purple cauliflower, which was delicious. The lobster was not in pieces, but instead, a whole lobster tail. The one thing neither of us could eat was something with tentacles. I had to do some googling on squid because I have no idea how it's cooked, what parts are edible, etc. The rings are the sliced top portion of the squid. The bottom portion with the tentacles is also edible. The bottom portion was also in the curry. If you look at the bottom center of the dish, you'll see some of the tentacles. If you like this kind of stuff, you should definitely try this dish.

I think I'm going to have to agree with Sean on this one.

 

[PacNWTigger]

When I was a kid I ordered a seafood platter kind of thing, and my parents had me try everything without really knowing what it was first. Turns out I like calamari, but if I had been told what it was prior to eating it I probably wouldn't have even tried it. Good for DD for giving it a shot!

 

[Spash007]

Now, historically, I've been pretty harsh about OKW and even swore off of it unless absolutely necessary. Well, welcome to absolutely necessary. Vacation creep set in a month or so prior when we decided to turn a New Year's day trip into a NYE trip. Naturally with such a short amount of time during a busy holiday all we could find was a CSR cash room so we booked it. A week later a OKW DVC popped up and preferred it simply because of it's proximity to DTD, it being a 1-bedroom was a nice bonus too. Again, history harshing on OKW is about to be undone! As we approached the door not only did all our magic bands work, a legitimate first for us after so many MB trips, but we scored a refurbed room and it was simply beautiful! We had a massive balcony, a huge jetted tub, and a ton of space. I would absolutely come back here again if it meant getting this room. Great start to our trip!
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Up next: Pool time and a NYE dinner cluster....

I'm a little late to the game, but agree that room looks great. But I gotta ask - that tv placement, looks awkwardly low. I wouldn't not book a place for a tv, but it just looks a little out of place

 

[lostpro9het]

I'm a little late to the game, but agree that room looks great. But I gotta ask - that tv placement, looks awkwardly low. I wouldn't not book a place for a tv, but it just looks a little out of place

It actually worked with how the furniture in the living room was laid out. It would also pull away from the wall and swivel. The tv in the master bedroom was in a more traditional place.


So, we finished up a great meal at Jiko and had some decisions to make. Where to watch the fireworks from! We went back and forth between HS and EC. The main concern among the three of us was the traffic horror stories we heard about with NYE. We ultimately decided we wanted nothing to do with traffic and went back to our room for the countdown. As midnight hit we soon realized we had some pretty good EC fireworks viewing from our balcony!

We had no regrets deciding to watch from our room because as soon as the booms were over we hit the bed! WE had plans to rope drop HS in a few hours.

The next morning we built in enough time to enjoy some coffee and relax before heading out. While a bit foggy, the balcony view was pretty cool.

After breakfast we finished up packing and made our way over to BCV to drop our gear off with bell service and make our way to HS. While I dropped our bags off and parked the ladies went inside to check us in. We didn't expect the room to be ready, and it wasn't, but just wanted to get our name in the queue.

As I entered the lobby the traditional BC fragrance combined with gingerbread smacked me in the face. The source of that gingerbread?

Up next: a short walk to HS.

 

[lostpro9het]

After meeting up with the ladies we made our way to HS. Quickly the wonderful smells of the BCV faded into the dank, stale, seafood aromas of Cape May, bleh. Took the Stormalong Bay bypass over to YC and then this view hit us.

The fog today really added something cool to our trek over to HS.

It was nice being able to walk to HS. I'm certain be bested the ferry boat in time from BC/YC to the front gate.

 

[lostpro9het]

So we were quickly at the entrance and joined by a few friends.

Plus one

We did a phased rope drop to Hollywood Boulevard. Again, joined by just a few friends.

About 10 minutes later and the Toy Story Land 1k was on! There were several rubes trying to sprint around and cut through some side alleys only to have CMs waiting for them and holding them while the main crowd walked by. The herd continued, shoulder to shoulder, until we all started forming the Slinky queue.

We finally came to a single file queue across from the Woody and Jessie M&G. There were only two rides the DD really wanted to get in this trip and we were in the queue for one of them.

 

[amjt660]

DD trying the seafood curry dish - very nice
I remember the first time my younger DD told me she liked sushi and would go out and eat it with her BF.
It was like - cool - we like the same thing!!!

The stink from Cape May is the reason I have no interest in Beach Club.
We stayed at Yacht twice and will probably try BW before Beach
(although the Clown Pool freaks me out a bit)

Nice to know you have a lot of friends with similar interests (wanting to ride Slinky on Jan 1)

And I am curious how early were you there before park opening, when did they let you go to stage 1, then did they release you for your 1K ?

Max

 

[lostpro9het]

(although the Clown Pool freaks me out a bit)

Pennywise the Pool is a true Disney horror.

And I am curious how early were you there before park opening, when did they let you go to stage 1, then did they release you for your 1K ?

We hit the turnstile queue around about 30 minutes before park open. They early released us around 8:45 and then unleashed hell at about 8:55


So our time in the queue was a, relatively, short 40 minutes from the time we achieved single file to the time we exited. As we exited the ride it it was at 120 for standby. The ladies enjoy the ride. Its still such a letdown, for me, to go from that launch sequence to a snails pace at the first hill after the launch. The ladies agreed that the ride was fun but not 60 minute wait fun let alone 120+. I'd hate to deal with this queue between June and September

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

You are brave souls to try a NYE trip to the World! I would never drive in that Outlet mess! Congrats on your Jiko reservation! Even more exciting that your daughter enjoyed trying something new! Night Vision at AKL sounds amazing! I will have to put it on our list for a future trip! SCORE on the fireworks from your balcony---way to enjoy it without crowds!

I love Slinky Dog Dash but those rope drop crowds man....definitely worth a fastpass in my book if you plan it early enough!

 

[dizfan917]

Is the Bobotie mac & cheese the same as the mac & cheese that used to be served with the filet (or some other cut of meat...) at Jiko? That was THE most delicious thing I've eaten pretty much anywhere. When we made reservations again to enjoy said mac & cheese we discovered that they had pulled it from the menu. We (nicely) complained again in July. Perhaps it's back?! If I didn't have to order the meat to get that side dish, I'd be one happy camper!! I even have a framed photo of that plate in my kitchen. Boy, it was good.

 

[lostpro9het]

Is the Bobotie mac & cheese the same as the mac & cheese that used to be served with the filet (or some other cut of meat...) at Jiko? That was THE most delicious thing I've eaten pretty much anywhere. When we made reservations again to enjoy said mac & cheese we discovered that they had pulled it from the menu. We (nicely) complained again in July. Perhaps it's back?! If I didn't have to order the meat to get that side dish, I'd be one happy camper!! I even have a framed photo of that plate in my kitchen. Boy, it was good.

Well be prepared to be a happy camper! It is a stand alone dish now and it is what they once served with the filet. The recipe has probably changed twice since you last had it but its still very good and a must have for me.

 

[LeighM]

Someone else who uses AIS? Yes!!!!