Trip Report Waddling Around the World - 28 weeks pregnant, F&W Fall '18

This is probably going to be the most boring trip report because 1. I didn't take notes and 2. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as normal.

I will say that overall this wasn't one of my favorite trips, but we still had fun, so I wanted to share anyway. Plus I enjoy just documenting what we did (or what I remember that we did...)

When: October 11-16
Where: Split stay between Wilderness Lodge and Villas at the Grand Floridian
Why: Anniversary and sort of a babymoon, even though this was planned and the baby wasn't
Who: Me and my husband R (other reports linked in my signature)...and the unborn child, on her 3rd trip.

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Our morning on the 11th began at 3am when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Rather than lay there until my alarm went off at 3:30am ...I got up and started getting ready. R did the same and we made it out of the house around 4:10am.

We got to the airport with no issues and security was quick. Memphis was more crowded that normal, meaning there were 10 people instead of 2. Actually our flight was full, so it was a pretty crowded gate area.


Ready to go with my $5 water! I don't know why I do this...

Our flight was smooth and we landed on time around 10am. I think we were pulling away in our Magical Express around 10:30, and Wilderness Lodge was our first stop!

When we arrived, we headed to the bathrooms and changed clothes. Then we checked our bags with bell services and headed to the bus stop.



I was so thrilled to be back here! Wish our room had been ready early, but we had bad luck with that this time.





Two tired souls waiting on their bus. This picture was from my camera...


Can't see!

These are from my phone... I realized then I was probably going to be using my phone more. I upgraded to the X, and it's so much better than my old one! Plus I rented a lens for this trip and it was too big. I hated carrying it around! I will definitely stick with my compact lens next time.

We sat at the bus stop forever, and finally a bus for Epcot came. This would be the first of many times we waited quite a while for a bus while staying at WL I should have taken notes so I could really share the ridiculousness with you guys. I remember this being an issue last time as well, but R didn't remember that. He will definitely remember this time! The bus situation kind of spoiled WL a little for us.

Up Next: First things first, food!

 

[PacNWTigger]

Following along, and congrats on your anniversary!

 

[sheriffwoody]

The bus ride to Epcot didn't seem to take too long and soon we were heading to our first food booth.

Earth Eats

• The Steakhouse Blended Burger: Blended Beef and Wild Mushroom Slider with Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, Truffle and Blue Cheese Potato Chip on a Brioche Bun – $5.00
• The IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and Spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun (V) – $5.00

R contemplated one of the kombuchas, but ultimately decided against it.



This was the steakhouse burger, and the picture DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE! I will take a full-size version of this please and thank you. I'm really generous with my ratings, but I give this a 10/10.



A lot of people have been singing the praises of the impossible burger, but I thought it didn't live up to that hype. People had me expecting something that would change my life SOLID choice for a vegetarian dish for sure though. 7/10

We definitely would have revisited this booth if we didn't have so many other things to try.

Our next stop was in the same general area.

Active Eats

• Loaded Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers and Green Onions (KA) – $5.00

We've had this before and it's always one of my favorites. Seemed a little spicier this time than normal, which is definitely fine by me. 8/10

This area was crowded, but tolerable. We found somewhere to stand and eat at each booth thankfully. These Future World booths seem to have more space to eat than most of the ones around WS.

Next up was Flavors from Fire

• Piggy Wings: Roasted Pork Wings with Korean BBQ Sauce and Sesame Seeds (KA) – $4.75
• Smoked Corned Beef with Warm Crispy Potatoes, Pickled Onions and Blonde Ale Beer Fondue featuring BelGioioso® Romano and American Grana Cheeses – $5.00

I am SO MAD that we forgot to come back here for the other two menu items! We planned to and just forgot.




That last shot with portrait mode on my phone looked better than my camera shot, so I did more like that later.

Both dishes were good. I know we've had the piggy wings before, and I think we've had the beef too. The piggy wings were super tender and the flavor was great. The beef wasn't as good as I hoped. It was fine, but not a repeat. I did like the fondue on it!
8/10 for the wings, 6/10 for the corned beef.

After all that delicious savory food, we needed something sweet...one of R's favs.

Chocolate Studio

• Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Caramel (GF) (KA) – $5.00

I actually didn't care for this a couple of years ago when it debuted, but now I really enjoy it. I think it was TOOOOO frozen the first time, now it's just the outside and you can easily get the frozen bits and the nice soft mousse(?) in a bite on your fork. Plus that caramel is ridiculously good.
9/10

At some point between these food items, we used our FP for Soarin. I'm telling you, I'm the worst at remembering things if I don't take notes! I am pretty sure we hit the first two booths, went on the ride, then came back out for the rest.

When I was walking into the land pavilion, I was thinking about some friends of mine who were there and wondering if I'd see them. I actually knew several people there at the time, including a family we were on the same flight with. Well anyway, right inside the door to the land was my friends!

They were splayed out of the floor, which I would normally not approve of, but I like them so I let it slide . There's enough space in there that they weren't in the way, but it was kind of funny. It was their last day and I think they were worn out! ha! Their youngest was literally just rolling around on the floor Anyway, I chatted with them for a second before we rode Soarin. We got the middle...like the literal middle. Middle section, middle row, but on the right of the row. It was a good view, even with the feet dangling above us!

We hopped to the other side of Future World to hit up the Festival Center, and I grabbed some pins I wanted on the way over.




I can't wait to see this ride! I like Guardians well enough, and I hope it ends up being a fun ride.

Inside the festival center we tried Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar

• Frozen Apple Pie (Non-alcoholic) (KA) – $3.75
• Key Lime Mimosa with Key Lime Sparkling Wine and Cranberry Juice – $6.00

R went over to the craft beer thing and ordered a flight, so I ordered the mimosa for him. I was hoping no one noticed Also the guy who rang me up looked just like one of the OBs I've seen (my favorite actually) I didn't tell him that...





I was so happy with my non-alcoholic option, I had a whole photo shoot with it! I think by this time R had already had like 6 drinks, so I was feeling rather left out. I think the mimosa + the beer flight finished him out for the day...it was a lot.

The frozen apple pie was shockingly good! I'd get this over most of the alcoholic stuff I've had anyway. It was like a sonic slushy with enhancements. 9/10!

We got our passholder magnets and looked around at all the merch. R has been really wanting a polo with the F&W logo, but all they ever have is small and medium sizes. He MIGHT could wear a medium, but I think large would be more comfortable, and just haven't been able to get one. Oh well! I almost picked up the festival cookbook too, but I know we'd probably never try any of the recipes and it would take up space, so I skipped it.



On the way out. Bye SE! Definitely not for good We actually had a FP for it, but it was looking a little rainy and we thought we should head on out. We contemplated taking a monorail to MK and boat to Wilderness Lodge just because we wanted to get on the monorail, but again...rain. So on a bus we got.

And guess what?! As soon as we got to the bus stop, it started raining. We made a good decision...one of the very few good decisions on this trip

I don't think this was one of the long waits. This was the time when we saw the bus was there, but we were way too far away to run, but it ended up still being there when we walked up. I think maybe unloading took a while or something. Score!

Up Next: Checking in and FP issues (shocker)

 

[riverside]

Yay!! Looking forward to this!!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Alright so back to when we rode Soarin... my FP didn't work. It went blue, but thankfully the guy let me through and just recommended I check and make sure my band was linked to my account. Of course it was, I got in the park didn't I?

I really didn't think anything else of it, but at some point (maybe on the bus) I checked our FPs and noticed they all said 1 guest. And that 1 guest was R...not me, the person who MADE THE FAST PASSES.

Well ok, we're about to be back at our resort and still have no room, so I'll just go to the desk.

I explained what happened to the woman helping us, Wendy (God bless her, she was wonderful). I was just hoping she believed me and didn't think I was just trying to get some free fast passes . Well first she said our room was ready. Not sure why online check-in didn't work, but at least we had a room now! The only thing she could really do was add me to the existing FPs, and she said I didn't have to stand there while she did all that, so we grabbed our bags and went up to the room.



Pretty typical WL room. When we picked up our bags, our checked back was actually about to be delivered, so we met the bellhop at our door. He beat us there since he took the service elevator and we took the slow as Christmas elevator.




Our view was great! We were looking toward MK just like the last time we stayed here, so I was pumped about that. I'll have pictures later.

We got a little settled in and laid down for naps. I don't believe I ever fell asleep but R did for a bit. Then we both jumped out of our skin when the phone rang...it was seriously SO LOUD. It was Wendy at the front desk. She'd gotten me added to most of the FPs and got me non-inventory FPs for the things she couldn't add me to (Peter Pan, Aliens, and one other one I can't remember). Mind you this was well over an hour after I'd been down there! Hopefully she was able to do other things in between! I tweeted about her to WDWToday, but not sure if they saw it.

I think I made a cup of decaf coffee and enjoyed that with a little tv, then it was time to get ready for MNSSHP!

Up next: party time!

 

[krisri18]

Following!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I'm in! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Dory71]

Following too! I still have to finish my trip report from Sept. but already I see a lot of similarities in our stay at WL too. No room ready text and bus issues

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looks like a lot of good food and happy anniversary!

 

[LadyBelle]

I’m in!

 

[93boomer]

The bus ride to Epcot didn't seem to take too long and soon we were heading to our first food booth.

Earth Eats

• The Steakhouse Blended Burger: Blended Beef and Wild Mushroom Slider with Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, Truffle and Blue Cheese Potato Chip on a Brioche Bun – $5.00
• The IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and Spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun (V) – $5.00

R contemplated one of the kombuchas, but ultimately decided against it.



This was the steakhouse burger, and the picture DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE! I will take a full-size version of this please and thank you. I'm really generous with my ratings, but I give this a 10/10.



A lot of people have been singing the praises of the impossible burger, but I thought it didn't live up to that hype. People had me expecting something that would change my life SOLID choice for a vegetarian dish for sure though. 7/10

We definitely would have revisited this booth if we didn't have so many other things to try.

Our next stop was in the same general area.

Active Eats

• Loaded Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers and Green Onions (KA) – $5.00

We've had this before and it's always one of my favorites. Seemed a little spicier this time than normal, which is definitely fine by me. 8/10

This area was crowded, but tolerable. We found somewhere to stand and eat at each booth thankfully. These Future World booths seem to have more space to eat than most of the ones around WS.

Next up was Flavors from Fire

• Piggy Wings: Roasted Pork Wings with Korean BBQ Sauce and Sesame Seeds (KA) – $4.75
• Smoked Corned Beef with Warm Crispy Potatoes, Pickled Onions and Blonde Ale Beer Fondue featuring BelGioioso® Romano and American Grana Cheeses – $5.00

I am SO MAD that we forgot to come back here for the other two menu items! We planned to and just forgot.




That last shot with portrait mode on my phone looked better than my camera shot, so I did more like that later.

Both dishes were good. I know we've had the piggy wings before, and I think we've had the beef too. The piggy wings were super tender and the flavor was great. The beef wasn't as good as I hoped. It was fine, but not a repeat. I did like the fondue on it!
8/10 for the wings, 6/10 for the corned beef.

After all that delicious savory food, we needed something sweet...one of R's favs.

Chocolate Studio

• Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Caramel (GF) (KA) – $5.00

I actually didn't care for this a couple of years ago when it debuted, but now I really enjoy it. I think it was TOOOOO frozen the first time, now it's just the outside and you can easily get the frozen bits and the nice soft mousse(?) in a bite on your fork. Plus that caramel is ridiculously good.
9/10

At some point between these food items, we used our FP for Soarin. I'm telling you, I'm the worst at remembering things if I don't take notes! I am pretty sure we hit the first two booths, went on the ride, then came back out for the rest.

When I was walking into the land pavilion, I was thinking about some friends of mine who were there and wondering if I'd see them. I actually knew several people there at the time, including a family we were on the same flight with. Well anyway, right inside the door to the land was my friends!

They were splayed out of the floor, which I would normally not approve of, but I like them so I let it slide . There's enough space in there that they weren't in the way, but it was kind of funny. It was their last day and I think they were worn out! ha! Their youngest was literally just rolling around on the floor Anyway, I chatted with them for a second before we rode Soarin. We got the middle...like the literal middle. Middle section, middle row, but on the right of the row. It was a good view, even with the feet dangling above us!

We hopped to the other side of Future World to hit up the Festival Center, and I grabbed some pins I wanted on the way over.




I can't wait to see this ride! I like Guardians well enough, and I hope it ends up being a fun ride.

Inside the festival center we tried Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar

• Frozen Apple Pie (Non-alcoholic) (KA) – $3.75
• Key Lime Mimosa with Key Lime Sparkling Wine and Cranberry Juice – $6.00

R went over to the craft beer thing and ordered a flight, so I ordered the mimosa for him. I was hoping no one noticed Also the guy who rang me up looked just like one of the OBs I've seen (my favorite actually) I didn't tell him that...





I was so happy with my non-alcoholic option, I had a whole photo shoot with it! I think by this time R had already had like 6 drinks, so I was feeling rather left out. I think the mimosa + the beer flight finished him out for the day...it was a lot.

The frozen apple pie was shockingly good! I'd get this over most of the alcoholic stuff I've had anyway. It was like a sonic slushy with enhancements. 9/10!

We got our passholder magnets and looked around at all the merch. R has been really wanting a polo with the F&W logo, but all they ever have is small and medium sizes. He MIGHT could wear a medium, but I think large would be more comfortable, and just haven't been able to get one. Oh well! I almost picked up the festival cookbook too, but I know we'd probably never try any of the recipes and it would take up space, so I skipped it.



On the way out. Bye SE! Definitely not for good We actually had a FP for it, but it was looking a little rainy and we thought we should head on out. We contemplated taking a monorail to MK and boat to Wilderness Lodge just because we wanted to get on the monorail, but again...rain. So on a bus we got.

And guess what?! As soon as we got to the bus stop, it started raining. We made a good decision...one of the very few good decisions on this trip

I don't think this was one of the long waits. This was the time when we saw the bus was there, but we were way too far away to run, but it ended up still being there when we walked up. I think maybe unloading took a while or something. Score!

Up Next: Checking in and FP issues (shocker)

I’m in!!! Wasn’t that steakhouse burger a surprise??!! I could have eaten two of those they were sooo delicious!!

 

[Swissmiss]

I’m in too!

 

[Sabrina1705]

Also following!

 

[jkl2000]

Following along too! Wow, you got a lot done the first half of that day.
We'll be there soon, but we're not great at being early risers or at least being ready to scoot out the door on travel days.

 

[Doc Disney]

Anniversary and sort of a babymoon, even though this was planned and the baby wasn't

I realized then I was probably going to be using my phone more. I upgraded to the X,

SAME!! I used it way more than my camera in Disneyland it it so much lighter it makes me wonder why I even carry my camera
Can't wait to read more

 

[Balki228]

Following along

 

[LeighM]

Following along!

 

[ATLmouselover]

Love your report title! I had to giggle because I always feel like I'm "waddling around the world," not because I'm pregnant but due to the sheer volume of food I consume on my trip. Starting to think I may have to invest in a scooter when I actually am pregnant...

Also, you've got me a bit nervous with this less than stellar WL transportation sitch. We head down for our first stay in WL 5 weeks from today. Which reminds me, is there a particular room/resort area you suggest requesting?

 

[sheriffwoody]

Following along, and congrats on your anniversary!

Yay!! Looking forward to this!!

Following!

I'm in! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Looks like a lot of good food and happy anniversary!

I’m in!

I’m in too!

Also following!

Following along

Following along!

Thank y'all for joining in!

Following too! I still have to finish my trip report from Sept. but already I see a lot of similarities in our stay at WL too. No room ready text and bus issues

Ugh, it was rough. I hate that too, because WL is definitely my favorite resort as far as theme goes! If they could iron out whatever makes the busses so crappy, it would be perfect.

I’m in!!! Wasn’t that steakhouse burger a surprise??!! I could have eaten two of those they were sooo delicious!!

Yes! It was so good! I might try to get a copycat recipe for that one.

Following along too! Wow, you got a lot done the first half of that day.
We'll be there soon, but we're not great at being early risers or at least being ready to scoot out the door on travel days.

Ha, I guess we did get a lot done considering it was our travel day. I was surprisingly not super sleepy after such an early morning.

SAME!! I used it way more than my camera in Disneyland it it so much lighter it makes me wonder why I even carry my camera
Can't wait to read more

My camera maaaay have stayed in the room for a big portion of this trip

Love your report title! I had to giggle because I always feel like I'm "waddling around the world," not because I'm pregnant but due to the sheer volume of food I consume on my trip. Starting to think I may have to invest in a scooter when I actually am pregnant...

Also, you've got me a bit nervous with this less than stellar WL transportation sitch. We head down for our first stay in WL 5 weeks from today. Which reminds me, is there a particular room/resort area you suggest requesting?

Hahaha yeah I certainly waddle when I'm not pregnant too, especially after eating at a buffet! But it was a more noticeable waddle this time. I would have loved a scooter a few times this trip

You'll still love WL, and who knows, maybe you'll have good luck! Just go in with low expectations on the transportation, and I hope you end up being pleasantly surprised. I would say too, if you're in any kind of hurry, keep Lyft as a backup option. We used it a few times this trip since I had 50% off rides on weekdays.

As far as room requests, I'm not really sure. We've only stayed twice and we were on the 4th floor both times with views looking toward MK. Last time we were right over some kind of service area, but this time we had a very tranquil view, but it was a longer walk. @Tuvalu might have some suggestions, I think she has stayed there a few times as well.

 

[sheriffwoody]

After we rested in the room for a while, I was ready to get out to the Halloween party. I thought we should have a little something to eat before we went so we didn't have to get a full meal while we were there.

We headed down to Roaring Fork and picked up an entree to split. Definitely took longer than I anticipated between the very slow cashier and the wait time for our food to be prepared. No worries though, we had time!

Spicy Chorizo Sausage
served with Grilled Onions, Peppers, Cilantro, and Thai Chili Sauce on a Pretzel Roll



It looks messy and it WAS. We ate it in our room while we got ready. I was just "meh" on it. It was fine, but I wouldn't get it again. I usually love anything chorizo too!

We got our costumes on and headed down to the boat a little after 5. We waited a little bit for a boat, but nothing outrageous. I think we were headed over there by 5:20.






I love this view! Clearly I had my camera with me for the party.

@Doc Disney had told me she and her mom lined up for Pooh and friends around 6:15/6:30, so I was feeling good on time. That was the first thing I really wanted to do because of our costumes.



I know allll the pregnant people do Pooh as a costume, but I couldn't resist. Plus it was really easy (other than the bag, which was expensive and I almost didn't buy. I caved about a week before the trip).

R came up with his costume himself! We went and got the fabric together and I sewed the ears and attached them to the hat, but it was totally all his idea. I probably would have made the ears out of paper He's clearly the engineer of the two of us.

We headed in and went off to the right for the party entrance. I like this setup a lot, and I hope they continue this way. It's a lot more streamlined than it was a few years back!




We headed back toward the Pooh area to assess the situation.




The regular characters were still out meeting, so we decided to get a little treat before lining up.



Terrible horn placement, but this was actually pretty good! I wasn't sure what to expect with the lime, but I liked it. I planed to go back for the Peter Pan float another day, but we spent shockingly little time in MK this trip.




We ended up in line around 6:15, and bless my little Eeyore...he was so patient. He HATES waiting for characters, and he hates meeting them. But he knew it was important to me, and I had prepared him for this so we were good. It was the only picture I made him stand in line for.



I like this one because he actually looks sad



He doesn't look too miserable to me!



It's a bit fuzzy, but oh well.



They were super fun to meet! Pooh and I shared some honey from my honey pot, and Tigger acted really upset that I wasn't paying attention to him. Thankfully he obliged when I asked for a photo of just me and Pooh. I didn't want to offend him! I grabbed a hug from Eeyore and Piglet on the way out, but didn't really interact with them. R's opinion of the meet: "so weird."

At least soon I'll have a kid to meet characters with!

Next we went over to Big Top for me to get the pins I wanted. My mystery box was successful, and I only got one box because people have been getting a lot of duplicates. Unfortunately I went to the Emporium for another box later and got duplicates of the two I got before Still haven't been able to trade them and I'm so bummed!




Wish I could have ridden this

Up next: More MNSSHP