Trip Report The Sweet 16th(with a few surprises thrown in)!!

ELeigh · Sep 6, 2018

Finished your other report and just caught up here! Can't wait to read the rest

riverside · Sep 6, 2018

ELeigh said:
Finished your other report and just caught up here! Can't wait to read the rest

Thanks so much!! If you're not sick of me & my family by the end of this be on the lookout for another one b/c I'll be back in a few weeks!!
Thanks for following!!

ELeigh · Sep 6, 2018

riverside said:
Thanks so much!! If you're not sick of me & my family by the end of this be on the lookout for another one b/c I'll be back in a few weeks!!
Thanks for following!!

Yes! I will be following again for sure

my son is the same age as J and has been peeking as I read and keeps saying "Hey there's my friend at Disney World!"

Rista1313 · Sep 6, 2018

riverside said:
Thanks so much!! If you're not sick of me & my family by the end of this be on the lookout for another one b/c I'll be back in a few weeks!!

And there's the secret!

krause · Sep 6, 2018

riverside said:
She said the sandwich was really good but there was way too much turkey on it.

@Tuvalu have you tried this one yet?? Is there truly such a thing as too much turkey? :hilarious:

riverside · Sep 6, 2018

ELeigh said:
Yes! I will be following again for sure my son is the same age as J and has been peeking as I read and keeps saying "Hey there's my friend at Disney World!"

Awww...that’s so cute!!

riverside · Sep 7, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

As H & I approached Muppets a CM was announcing that it was 3 minutes until the next show. Perfect timing!!

I had just enough time to snap a few pictures.

Then I noticed H sticking her nose where it didn't belong. I asked her what would possess her to open that & she said she was curious.
I guess she probably isn't the first one to do this.

She got a kick out of herself for doing it. BTW-all it held were more trays of 3D glasses.

After Muppets we headed to lunch(not like we had far to go).

I was excited to eat here again. It had been awhile since I ate here last--3 years to be exact!!

Our reservation was for 12:45. E & J's was for 12:50. I asked if we could be seated together. The hostess seemed a bit put off by it & said that they were booked solid so she would see what she could do & it may take us longer to get seated. I told her that was fine. Not 2 minutes later was our table ready. E hadn't even made it to the restaurant yet. Also, there were quite a few empty tables around us all throughout our lunch.

I saw E & J through the window.

That is our waitress on the left. I wish I could remember her name. She was so sweet!!

Queen "Arora" · Sep 7, 2018

riverside said:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

It was now time for uncool me to introduce my niece to the latest wall to become an instagram sensation.
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I guess she likes pictures with her hair up & down.
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The more I looked around the more details I noticed. It is pretty cool!!
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Oh my goodness. Loving the pics. of TSL. So cool and Cute at the same time. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see it in person. Enjoying your report thus far

riverside · Sep 7, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

After hearing such great reviews on these forums about the Charred Strip Steak I thought my mind was made up. Things were a bit complicated though b/c I ate steak on Tuesday & Thursday so I wasn't really feeling it today. I'm also a HUGE pasta fan & can next to never turn that down.

There's J diving into the rolls.

I may not have went with the steak but I had to try the Mama's Margarita after hearing how much @TrolleyFollower91 enjoys it. At first I felt a little weird ordering a margarita in an Italian restaurant. I must say though that it was one of the best margaritas I have ever had!! I'm thinking it may have something to do with the orange juice or limoncello?? Regardless it's a great drink--Mad Mex has nothing on them!! Since I tried the drink this time I will make sure I go for the steak on my next trip there!!

It looks to me like someone is double dipping.....

H had Mama's Italian Pasta & really enjoyed it.

I had the Shrimp Campanelle. It was excellent!!

E had the Polenta Cake, Mushroom & Herb Cauliflower & J had the kids pizza.

I had chocolate gelato for dessert.

I'm not quite sure what H had.

riverside · Sep 7, 2018

Queen "Arora" said:
Oh my goodness. Loving the pics. of TSL. So cool and Cute at the same time. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see it in person. Enjoying your report thus far

Thanks so much!! TSL is pretty fun. I probably could have spent a lot more time there just walking around & taking in the details.

amjt660 · Sep 7, 2018

riverside · Sep 7, 2018

amjt660 said:
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Haha!! I’m cracking up at this!! You’re too funny Max!!

riverside · Sep 7, 2018

SEPTEMBER 7TH(NOT PART OF THE TR BUT DISNEY RELATED SO I FIGURED I WOULD POST)

R bought me tickets to see Aladdin for my birthday. The show was excellent!! The genie was absolutely amazing & totally made the show!!

TrolleyFollower91 · Sep 8, 2018

riverside said:
I may not have went with the steak but I had to try the Mama's Margarita after hearing how much @TrolleyFollower91 enjoys it. At first I felt a little weird ordering a margarita in an Italian restaurant. I must say though that it was one of the best margaritas I have ever had!! I'm thinking it may have something to do with the orange juice or limoncello?? Regardless it's a great drink--Mad Mex has nothing on them!! Since I tried the drink this time I will make

I love me some margs at Mexican restaurants, but this one is the BEST. It just tastes more sophisticated? Definitely more citrusy which I love. So glad you liked it!!!

riverside said:
SEPTEMBER 7TH(NOT PART OF THE TR BUT DISNEY RELATED SO I FIGURED I WOULD POST)

R bought me tickets to see Aladdin for my birthday. The show was excellent!! The genie was absolutely amazing & totally made the show!!

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GrammaTuvalu and I are going in a few weeks when it comes to Atlanta!! So excited it’s good. And R is such a keeper :inlove:

riverside · Sep 8, 2018

TrolleyFollower91 said:
I love me some margs at Mexican restaurants, but this one is the BEST. It just tastes more sophisticated? Definitely more citrusy which I love. So glad you liked it!!!

I think it is the citrus flavor that definitely makes it stand out. I know what drink I'll be ordering my next time there!! I'm glad I remembered how much you liked them!! If not for that I would have probably ordered a glass of wine.

TrolleyFollower91 said:
GrammaTuvalu and I are going in a few weeks when it comes to Atlanta!! So excited it’s good. And R is such a keeper

You will have a blast!! It was a great show(esp. the genie--I can't say enough about him). He is a keeper--he has never seen Aladdin so he was kind of lost even though I explained the plot of the movie to him. It was nice of him to get them!!

riverside · Sep 8, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

Throughout the meal E kept telling J he had a special dessert coming if he ate his food. He was thrilled to get a cupcake that looked like spaghetti. He thought it was pretty neat!!

Unfortunately when we left lunch it was like deja vu(referring to when we left our lunch back in June at Sci-Fi). It was pretty much a monsoon & E made the same comment she did back then, "Great-the stroller isn't covered". The good news is J must have remembered that experience(when he wouldn't stay with R & I and took off after his mom then ended up needing new clothes & shoes b/c he was thoroughly soaked) so he stayed put with H & myself.

And the longer we waited the harder it came down....

All three of us got a bit tired of the scenery after about a half hour of waiting so we decided to make a run for it to the Muppets store(that's where E was). Ironically, this time J did not want to go out in the rain at all so I finally scooped him up & took off with him.

riverside · Sep 8, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

We met up with E & she said it was a good thing that J didn't decide to run out & brave the rain with her b/c she wasn't buying him another pair of shoes!!
We(along with what felt like everyone else who was in HS that day) hung out in the Muppets store for a bit.

The good thing is I again paid more attention to things that I normally don't.

Haha!!

The rain started to slow down to a manageable level so we headed over to Sunset Blvd. J was due for a nap so I said I would push him around while E & H went on RNRC. I gave E my band & told them to use some of those bonus FP's that I got from going to the DVC presentation. I tried to find a quiet spot to get J to fall asleep near the exit to ToT. That wasn't happening so I stayed in the gift shop but every 10 seconds someone would ring one of those bells(there's that table in the gift shop that has about 100 of them on there :banghead:

). I would hate to be a CM working there and have to listen to that all day. Who knows though, maybe they get used to it & tune it out??

I ended up in the area near the Joffrey's stand & pushed him back & forth. Unfortunately, he didn't fall asleep for me though. E is much firmer than I am when telling him to go to sleep. She wasn't too happy with him when she came back to find him still awake.

The FP line was so long that they decided to utilize the single rider line instead.

H looks like she has something in her eye.

riverside · Sep 8, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

E said she was going to walk around & try to get J to go to sleep. I secretly wished I could trade places with him b/c the dreaded moment was now upon me....SDD.

I'm short but unfortunately I still met the height requirement.

I kept my mind occupied by taking pictures. I was secretly hoping it would start raining again for my sake but I did want H to experience it so I stopped doing the rain dance. I told myself that I needed to grow up & just try it.

The moment of truth.....

riverside · Sep 8, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

The verdict....I smiled more than I cried(even though I have no proof b/c our ride photo-as with many others during this trip-never showed up in my account)!! And actually, I really didn't cry. I kept telling myself that this is a "family friendly" roller coaster so how bad could it be? I will say though that @Tuvalu you were right-I had to close my eyes for the last hill. I also had to close them for the first one too. I'm glad I went on it but it's kind of like the ToT is for me. If I never go on again I won't be in the least bit upset. But, I will go on if someone else wants to.

At least I have these pictures as proof that I was on it!!

We met back up with E & J(who never did nap that day) but had to part ways b/c H & I were headed to MNSSHP & we had that 10 mile walk to get to the bus stop. E & J stayed at HS awhile longer b/c she wanted to get dinner for J at Woody's Lunch Box. She told me the next day that they didn't care for it much. She got one of the lunch box tarts(I can't remember which one) which she didn't like at all. J got the grilled cheese which she said was good but he didn't like it. She thinks there were too many varieties of cheese in it & when a kid hears a "grilled cheese" they think of the traditional sandwich. They also got an order of potato barrels which she said were soggy.

Heading out...

Some gondola construction.

Almost there!!

Finally!!

A bus pulled in just as we got there!! Perfect timing!!

riverside · Sep 8, 2018

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24TH(CONT.)

We pulled into the East Depot at 4:42. The next bus was due to arrive for MK at 5:02. I told H we had just enough time to drop our things off in the room & make it back in time for that bus. There was a nice note from our mousekeeper. We were greeted by that other piece of mail to the right first unfortunately. We had left so early that morning that it wasn't there when we left.

We made it back to the East Depot with 3 minutes to spare & the bus pulled in right at 5:02.

I'm always excited to go to MK but especially today. This was my first time attending MNSSHP!! H & I had discussed wearing costumes but things were so crazy the weeks leading up to the trip that costumes got pushed on the back burner & it never happened.