Trip Report We shoulda got the grouper! - F&W total domination

EDITED 07.07.17 - Photobucket has updated their policies so my photos aren't displaying. I'll try to switch them all over to Flickr eventually!

Hello, friends! It's been about a week since our trip and I figured I better do this report now before I forget everything. It was a fantastic trip (as usual), and we are already planning our 2017 trip. That one will be pretty big. We'll be celebrating our 5th anniversary and my 30th birthday!

I'll get to the explanation of the title eventually. It was a little joke with us on the trip, but hopefully it'll be funny to y'all as well

Day 1: Thursday

We got up around 4:15 to get ready to leave for the airport. We left out of the Memphis airport, which is 1.5 hours away. We figured that early in the morning the traffic wouldn't be bad, but we were wrong. They've been reconfiguring an interchange for a few years, and it bottlenecks really bad, apparently even at 6am! We had already gotten a late start because I left my AP and a giftcard at work and we had to stop by for them, so I was sweating when we hit that traffic. We still made it to the airport about an hour before takeoff, and Memphis security is really quick most of the time. So we got to our gate in plenty of time. Whew!

Here we go!

This is us on the plane, the fonorail and in line for the bus. The plane landed pretty early, but we didn't gain any time because we got lost finding the Magical Express. It's been 3 years since we flew down, so I had forgotten that you have to cross to B side

We hopped in line for the bus at 10:55 and were on the bus by 11! I also got the text that our room was ready, so everything was going super smoothly. I was just waiting for something to go wrong

The bus driver said the total route was 40 minutes, but we were the first stop, so it wasn't bad. Woot! We headed to our room at the Yacht Club to drop off our bags. We thought it seemed really far from the lobby because it was a lot of turns, but it really wasn't bad. I LOVED the lobby and the general atmosphere at Yacht Club. It smelled so good in there, I just wanted to bottle it up and use it as perfume

Here are some pictures of our room and the Yacht Club lobby

I want that headboard!



Bug spray that I didn't use...I'm the worst. Also, that lamp


The bathroom counters look a lot like my kitchen ones. My fav!


Didn't take a picture of the view, but it was just trees as you can see. It was unfortunately very close to the bus stop and some kind of loading dock, so it was pretty loud sitting out there on the balcony. I was able to tune it out though.


Here's a phone shot since I didn't bring a wide angle lens for my camera.


I wanted a picture with the captain, but I was too shy




This is R buying sunglasses. He realized after we were through security at the airport that he forgot his. We didn't think it was worth going back to get them, so he grabbed some at this gift shop before we left for Epcot. They were just as ugly as the ones he wears at home

That's it for now! I spent like an hour trying to get my pictures on Photobucket and organized, and they're still out of order. ARGH.

Up next, our first foray into Food & Wine Festival for the year!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Sorry but I can't like your post.

Now, ladies. Break it up. Let's keep this place magical!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 1: Thursday (continued)

After the show, it was 8, maybe even 8:15, so the parade was upon us. We decided to just head over to Haunted Mansion. I tried to get to Sleepy Hollow to cut up next to the castle, but we couldn't get across the bridge. We tried a couple more routes, but just ended up going behind the Christmas store and leaning on the rail near the Liberty Bell. We couldn't really see the parade, but just listened to the music. After it was over, we made our way to the Haunted Mansion. I don't remember what the wait was, but I don't think it was more than 10 minutes. A lot of people piled in there after the parade, but it wasn't bad. We passed a candy station, but the line was too long. Oh well!

After Haunted Mansion, It was after 9 I think. We looked around Momento Mori (my fav shop on property) and I finally bought the bookends I've been eyeing. I also got the "my other vehicle is a doombuggy" decal. Haven't put it on yet, but I will once I get my car washed. Oh I also bought a book! It's some kind of story book based on the ride. I'm sure it's terrible, but I'm going to read it anyway when I finish East of Eden (holy moly, y'all...that book is amazing. Don't know how I went almost 30 years without reading it).

Ok, enough book talk. After my shopping, we decided to just find a spot to watch Hallowishes. I can't deal with Main Street for fireworks, so we sat on a ledge in the hub. I want to say we waited around half an hour before Celebrate the Magic, but it may have been a little longer. We played on our phones and people watched. I saw a family dressed as the characters from Bob's Burgers and got so excited!

We could see the Hocus Pocus show but couldn't really hear it. I enjoyed seeing the castle projections since I couldn't see them from us close.






Hallowishes was amazing as usual! My favorite nighttime entertainment, hands down. The only negative was that this lady showed up behind us at some point before Celebrate the Magic started, and she was so obnoxious. Every scene that came up on the castle, she was like "oh, Tangled!" "Oh that's from blah blah blah" and just basically narrated every single one of her thoughts. That kind of thing annoys the crap out of me, especially when I've been up for almost 20 hours. She thankfully didn't seem to know Hallowishes that well, so she didn't sing along or anything. I sing along in my head, but not out loud because I know how annoying it is.

Aaaaanyway. Despite that lady, it was awesome. We had a great spot and enjoyed it so much! R didn't want to stay for Boo to You because he said we'd already seen it. I told him that seeing it through trees and people doesn't count, so he agreed to stay. We went to the train station and he fell asleep on a bench . We actually waited forever for the parade since it was at the end of the route, but we figured that would be better than fighting the crowds leaving after it. I really just wanted to see through the Haunted Mansion stuff, so we didn't stay the whole time.

Main Street during the party is pretty amazing




Could have gotten a better shot with a long lens . Next year!



Yay! Watching it come down Main Street was cool, but dang that thing moves slow!










(picture overload...continued in next post)

 

[sheriffwoody]

We left after the hitchhiking ghosts. Next year, I want to pick a parade spot that will be good for pictures. The last two years, we just find a spot wherever we can and both years have been bad photo spots. It's just so much fun to shoot! I'd love to get a spot on Main Street where the lighting is better.

We headed out, and I made R stop for one more picture in front of the train station. No squinting this time!


YAS! I kind of want to frame this one. It's so cool! I had no idea what we were supposed to be scared of until I saw it on the app.

We got to the bus as it was loading, but it was full, so we had to wait for the next one. Luckily it came in 5 minutes. I think we were leaving the party at about 11:45 and we were in bed by 12:05. Not too bad! We had really good luck with buses, but we didn't have to ride them very much this trip.

Next up: Hitting F&W hard!

 

[Doc Disney]

Could have gotten a better shot with a long lens . Next year!

Rest assured its 1000000 times better than my panic shot haha

 

[sheriffwoody]

I meant to add this to the end of my Day 1 post, but here are my Apple Watch stats:

18,046 steps (8.37 miles)

I'll start Day 2 later tonight hopefully, if photobucket decided to start working again. What does everyone else use for photos? Photobucket is terrible these days.

 

[Tiggerish]

Fantastic photos!

Love the ears.

You are on fire with the wordplay!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Great pictures of the parade, especially the Haunted Mansion ghosts.

 

[joshsprincess921]

I am enjoying your report. Fantastic photos as always! You make a cute couple!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I'm loving your trip report! And your pictures are so good! I'm really loving all of them, even the Boo to You pictures. I think you grabbed a great spot for pictures! The Jack Sparrow one is especially cool.

I LOVE your costume! Such a great idea to not go in a full-on costume that could be too hot or get in the way. The ears are amazing. Did you make them?

I also use Photobucket and have always liked it. I have noticed issues recently though. Hopefully they fix the bugs and it starts working again the way it used to.

I can't wait to read more and see what else you tried at the F&WF!

 

[LeighM]

Enjoying your trip report! Your pictures of the Boo to You Parade are so much better than mine Last year, all my pics turned out horrible. I could never find the correct setting to use

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 2: Friday

I wake up around 6:30 every day, and my body was still on Central time, so I started stirring around 7:30 in the morning. I could hear the family downstairs outside, and they had a little one who was definitely using his outside voice . I guess he WAS outside, but it was a little annoying at 7:30 in the morning.

I didn't want to wake R up, so I just played on my phone. We actually sleep in separate beds at Disney . We have a king at home, so those queens feel so tiny and we just each take one for ourselves. I would request a king bed, but I'm always afraid it will mean our room isn't ready until late! Aaaanyway, eventually I was tired of playing on my phone so I tried to quietly make coffee and then I sat on the balcony and read my book. This is when I realized how loud the area outside our room was. It was a hum of activity every time I sat out there, but oh well. I had showered the night before, so it didn't take me long to get ready and we headed out the door a little after 9.


Our view as we walked to the lobby.


I'm your captain now (I legit just typed craptain as a typo...probably more accurate)


Love the theming in the lobby!

It was a beautiful day already!

When we got to Epcot, we just headed over to Future World and wandered a little. Our FP+ was for Soarin', but we had a little time to kill. I ended up making us one FP+ in Epcot on three different days because all three we wanted were tier 1. Worked out fine since we wanted to spend all our time there anyway.


This area between World Showcase and Future World is just gorgeous. There's ample space to move around and just enjoy the booths over there! I was looking forward to coming back to the chocolate booth.


Good morning, beautiful!

We walked around Mouse Gear for a little bit and debated on a few things. I don't usually buy stuff early in the day, which is good because by the end of the day I'm too lazy to go back and get whatever it was I wanted. It's good for me...otherwise I'd spend ALL my money. I already spend most of it on Disney stuff

We went ahead and made our way over to The Land. I was PUMPED to see Soarin'. R doesn't care for it at all, but he rides it just to appease me. I used to skip it since I knew he didn't like it, but I will not be doing that anymore.

Before I get to that, we had a little time before our FP so we grabbed a snack to hold us over until Food & Wine opened. We got a pre-made wrap at Sunshine Seasons since they weren't serving lunch yet. It was decent.


Also, WHAT the heck is up with Living with the Land lately? I noticed the wait was like 20 minutes the whole time we were there. It used to be a walk on! Did they add something special to it, or are people just now discovering it? I thought that was interesting. Here's the line


Anyway, it was finally time for Soarin! We were in line behind some conference goers. There were LOTS of those around the Boardwalk area. Someone mentioned some conference in my pre-trip report, and he or she was right. It wasn't disruptive to me at all, but R said it was kind of weird to see people in suits walking around everywhere.




We were directed down Concourse C and away we went! R was siting next to a lady who had never ridden, and the guy next to me was telling us all that we'd love it. I told him this was our first time seeing the new film! I was so pumped. I took my sandals off just in case, and the lady next to R was like "does it go really high?!" I think I freaked her out . I just don't want to lose my shoes!

I was simply blown away by the new film. I'm a sucker for a good score, and this one gets me. I was crying by the end, and I'm not even ashamed. I am so pleased with the update! I wanted to go back on, but wasn't up for waiting in the crazy line, so we moved on.


I love this picture of us.



It was such a good morning already, and we had a lot of eating to get to!

Up next: Future World booths and more

 

[sheriffwoody]

Fantastic photos!

Love the ears.

You are on fire with the wordplay!!

Haha! Glad someone appreciated that

Great pictures of the parade, especially the Haunted Mansion ghosts.

Thank you! I liked the ghost ones pretty well too. I had to ask R at first if they were real people because they move so choppily like animatronics! It's crazy looking.

I am enjoying your report. Fantastic photos as always! You make a cute couple!

Thank you! We think so too

I'm loving your trip report! And your pictures are so good! I'm really loving all of them, even the Boo to You pictures. I think you grabbed a great spot for pictures! The Jack Sparrow one is especially cool.

I LOVE your costume! Such a great idea to not go in a full-on costume that could be too hot or get in the way. The ears are amazing. Did you make them?

I also use Photobucket and have always liked it. I have noticed issues recently though. Hopefully they fix the bugs and it starts working again the way it used to.

I can't wait to read more and see what else you tried at the F&WF!

Aw thanks! Glad you enjoyed the parade photos. I got the ears on Etsy from Doodadsbydesign, but I like ShopMyMouse's ears more. They're lighter weight and don't hurt my head. Photobucket is working for tonight, but it wasn't working for about the last day, which was annoying. I could still see the photos on my phone, but I kind of need them on my computer to do this report the way I do it. I guess technology isn't perfect :/ Thanks so much for following along!

Enjoying your trip report! Your pictures of the Boo to You Parade are so much better than mine Last year, all my pics turned out horrible. I could never find the correct setting to use

Thanks for reading! Boo to You is really difficult to shoot. You really have to be in a spot where the characters will cross through the light that comes from the tops of the buildings, otherwise it's much too dim on their faces. If you could sit right on the curb on Main Street, that would be ideal, but as we all know, that's not always easy to do.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I laughed at the start of your last post about your day when you mentioned that you two sleep in separate beds at Disney. Hubby and I like to have our own beds while on vacation at Disney too. It is so nice and luxurious to have all that bed space to myself. Especially when I barely get any room at home, my dog sleeps with us and even though she is a tiny 18 pound schnauzer she spreads out and literally pushes me to the edge. And of course I can't disturb her!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 2: Friday (continued)

After Soarin', it was pretty much time for F&W to have started so we headed over to the Future World booths first since we were over there.

First up was Greenhouse Guru

• Heirloom Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Aged Balsamic Vinegar, and Micro-Basil – $4.00
• Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Lump Crab Meat – $4.50

Both of these were fantastic and refreshing on a warm day. R didn't really like the salad, which was fine because that's what I was eying anyway. He ate most of the gazpacho, but I tried it and it was tasty!

In the same area, we hit The Chew Collective

• Ricotta and Zucchini Ravioli with Rustic Tomato Sauce – $4.75

This was fine, but honestly not that memorable. We loved the ambiance over there! I also enjoyed looking at all the tomato plants, and there were cast members around to educate guests about the gardens.



There were two more booths over in this general area, and we decided to go ahead and try the Chocolate Studio

• Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel – $4.50
• Fonseca Bin No. 27 Port – $4.50

Ok, I didn't really care that much for the truffle. It was so hard and frozen! It tasted fine, but it was too difficult to eat. It's a novel idea, but I've definitely had better chocolate dishes.

Next we came to one of my favorite booths.

• Mojo Pork with Black Beans, Cilantro Rice, and Pickled Red Onions – $4.25
• Jamaican Beef Patty – $4.75

These were two of my favorite things in the whole festival! Maybe it was just the perfect snack for that time of day, but they were so good. The beef inside the patty thing was flavored so well, and the port was also seasoned perfectly. I also really love pickled onions, so that was a plus.

This is where the title comes in. I ordered our food, and as I finished ordering, the lady next to me finished as well, and I walked behind her to the window. She had two teenaged girls with her that weren't in line, but they were talking. One of them asked about the grouper, and they proceeded to say the phrase "we should have got the grouper" at least 15 times in about 2 minutes. I am absolutely not exaggerating. R and I were dying laughing. They were like "Should we ask if we can switch it out? Maybe they can switch it. We should have got the grouper. Is that the grouper? Look, that looks good. We should have got the grouper." It was like a steady stream of talking like that until we wandered away from them. I almost just gave the lady a $5 bill and told her to go get the damn grouper. It's not like it was a $40 dish!

I'm sure that's not nearly as funny typed as it was in reality. I really wish you all could have been there. It was just so ridiculous, in a funny way.


We were enjoying it despite neither of us being able to smile like normal people.


That's better! This was an interesting spot for a photopass photographer, but I like the picture.

R pretty much beelined for his next item. He was really excited about Scotland.

• Traditional Scottish Lamb Stew with Neeps and Tatties – $4.75

He LOVED it. I think that was his favorite item of the festival. He didn't eat all his neeps though, so I finished those. In case you're curious, it's turnips and potatoes. We googled it . It's also just fun to say...neeps and tatties.

We were pretty full at that point, so we just strolled around World Showcase to make some room in our tummies. We shopped a little and just enjoyed the sites. I loved all the decor in France. I don't know if I ever noticed all these little details before!




I watched a little Pick a Pearl in Japan. I kind of want to do that someday. Maybe that would be fun to do with my sister in January.


I had forgotten about the Chase Lounge until we were walking by. We stopped in there and I had some coffee and we relaxed a bit.


We decided at some point that our end goal before heading back to the room would be to get R a jalepeno margarita from La Cava. He had one in April and loved it. So after the Chase Lounge, we continued on to Mexico. When we got there the line was long. It was about halfway up that ramp on the right. Really not the worst I've seen, but way too long for him. When we went in April, there was no line, and I tried to explain to him that it was rare. He never listens...

He was disappointed, but I promised we could try several more times. Surely we'd be able to get him one!

Since the Craft Beer place was nearby, we stopped in there.

• Orlando Brewing OTown Weiss, Orlando, FL – $4.00
• Florida Beer Company Passport 20 Belgian-Style Tripel Ale, Cape Canaveral, FL – $3.75
• Two Henrys Blueberry Vanilla American Wheat Ale, Plant City, FL – $4.00
• Piggy Wings: Fried Pork Wings with Korean BBQ Sauce and Sesame Seeds – $4.25

We actually got the flight, which was $9. All were good! R really liked the Passport 20 last year, which we thought was a special 20th anniversary brew, but I guess not. Those "wings" were really good! I will eat just about anything with sesame seeds or sauce or oil. That's one of my favorite flavors.

This stop really hit the spot, and we were ready for a little rest back at the room! We headed back that way. It wasn't a terribly long walk from that area, and with it being cloudy on and off, the temperature was fine. It was also not very crowded that day. I mean, it wasn't low crowds, but it wasn't wall-to-wall.

Up next: Rest, more food and fireworks.

 

[sheriffwoody]

I laughed at the start of your last post about your day when you mentioned that you two sleep in separate beds at Disney. Hubby and I like to have our own beds while on vacation at Disney too. It is so nice and luxurious to have all that bed space to myself. Especially when I barely get any room at home, my dog sleeps with us and even though she is a tiny 18 pound schnauzer she spreads out and literally pushes me to the edge. And of course I can't disturb her!

Same here!! Our beagle sleeps with us, and he takes up as much room as he possibly can . Bless him. I'm glad we're not the only ones that do this! I

 

[Tuvalu]

Have you ever eaten at a Pollo Tropical? We skipped Islands of the Caribbean because we can get similar food at our local PT.

Funny story behind your TR title!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Have you ever eaten at a Pollo Tropical? We skipped Islands of the Caribbean because we can get similar food at our local PT.

Funny story behind your TR title!

No ive never heard of it! Sounds like I would like the food though

 

[Tuvalu]

No ive never heard of it! Sounds like I would like the food though

My exact thought.

 

[sheriffwoody]

My exact thought.

Looks like there are a few near Nashville, so I'll make sure to give it a try when I'm out that way in a couple of weeks!

 

[PacNWTigger]

Same here!! Our beagle sleeps with us, and he takes up as much room as he possibly can . Bless him. I'm glad we're not the only ones that do this! I

I'll trade you guys your beagle and schnauzer for this "little" girl...

Sorry about the sideways pic...hehe