Trip Report We tried New Things/Invasion of the Mother-In-Law- September 2016

myhappyplace · Nov 1, 2016

You're just gonna leave it like that for now?! I need to know!!

catmandoo · Nov 1, 2016

Sorry @myhappyplace, I had to get some sleep so I wasn't completely useless at work! But here we go!

Up the big staircase and into the restaurant we went! We were seated right away at a lovely table by the window, looking out toward the rest of the pavilion. I tried to get pictures of all our menus... I think I did, but we'll see as we go along.

We were greeted by our waitress, Mei, who hailed from Tokyo, Japan! I have to say, she was a fantastic waitress, and the standard to which we held everyone else the entire trip. We were still looking over the menu, so just ordered our regular drinks that came with the dining plan, Lemonade for me and Orange Soda for Frank.

Full disclosure 6?ish?- I love food. I love trying new food, I love trying weird food. So, any restaurant in World Showcase is great to me, and that's one of the reasons I love the dining plan. It lets me try new foods that I wouldn't normally try due to cost. (I especially love that the dining plan was free!) So, I had a pretty difficult time deciding what to get.

Anyway, when Mei came back, we ordered, and got ourselves a couple of refreshing adult type beverages. Frank got the Tokyo Sunset, and I got the Grape something or other. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was called and couldn't find the drink menu online anywhere. But it was mostly red wine with a bit of other stuff. It was fairly delicious.

While we waited, I took a picture of Frank where he *Almost* smiled.

Note- he was still wearing his Anniversary button.

This is the view from behind Frank

After a short wait, our food came, and I was ready to dig in.

Miso-Yaki Black Cod for me.

So very delicious.
And Teriyaki Butter Grilled Chicken for Frank.

I think he liked it. I can never quite tell with him. He's not an adventurous eater.

AND NOW, The moment you've all been waiting for.

Done with our dinner, Mei came to clear our plates and bring our dessert. It's important to note at this point in the story, my back was to the entire restaurant. SO, I'm just chitchatting away with Frank, and I see him look over my shoulder and say "Oh."
"What?" I say, then, we are surrounded by LITERALLY the entire staff of the restaurant. We are presented with our desserts with candles, and they proceed to sing, quite loudly, some version of "If you're happy and you know it" in Japanese (that's what the tune was anyway). And all shout happy anniversary to us.

Now, while some people might find this charming, I was mortified. I do not like to be the center of attention. Sure, I do silly things on occasion, there will be picture evidence of it later in this report in fact... but this was just a bit much for me to be comfortable.

I hope that wasn't too disappointing.

Anyway, here are our desserts, post candle removal.

Ginger Mousse cake for me, and Mango Mousse cake for Frank. Both were quite tasty.

So, we finished up our dinner, paid for our drinks, and were on our way. At this point it was nearing 8:30, and since we'd been up since around 4 that morning, we decided to head to our room and call it an early night. I paused to take a picture looking out from the top of the stairs.

We headed back the way we came through World Showcase, wondering if Frozen Ever After might have a shorter wait... On the way, I got this lovely shot of the dusk sky, a colorful Spaceship Earth, and Mexico.

As we passed through Germany, Frank decided to stop for his favorite World Showcase drink, Schofferhofer Grapefruit beer.

We got to Norway, and I didn't see a crazy line for the ride, so we walked over... and it was closed. Oh well. Not meant to be that day.

Coming up- We head out of Epcot, and try to find our room at the sprawling Caribbean Beach Resort.

catmandoo · Nov 1, 2016

As we were walking out, we decided to swing by Test Track to see if the wait for that was down as well. But, nope. 65 minutes, so we continued out. The fountain was doing it's thing, so I snapped a few pics.

At the front of the park, I turned around and got one last pic of Spaceship Earth all lit up for the night. After three tries, I got a decent shot.

We headed to the bus stop, and didn't wait too long. And we actually got seats on the bus as well. We had to stop at the check in desk since I hadn't gotten a text about our room. Frank picked up my backpack from the bell service window while I got our room number. Now, having no idea where the room was in relation to the main building, we got onto the internal resort bus and headed around. I remembered reading somewhere that Old Port Royale was where the food court was located, so we stopped there to get our mugs and a snack. I actually really like how it was set up.

We got our mugs and some snacks, and headed back towards the bus stop. Side note- I miss the handles on the mugs. Also, I think we only used the mugs one more time the entire trip. The resort is not set up well... and after long days in the parks, we just didn't feel like going back to the room, then out, then back to get refills. But I digress.

We made it to our room, which was actually located in a good place in relation to the Trinidad South bus stop and the pool.

We stepped inside and I was thrilled. I love Pirates, and my inner boy was squeeing with joy. I may have even squeed out loud. I'll never tell for sure (But I totally did).

Waiting on the table for us was the Anniversary gift I'd ordered for Frank. Cooler filled with snacks and beverages.

For some reason, I didn't take a picture of what was inside.

Anyway, here's a few pictures of the room to wrap up the first day.

Overall, it was a long first day. But we had a great time, and it was nice to be back in the World after a long year.

The beds were uncomfortable.

Coming up next- a post of picture through the eyes of Frank. And on Day two- our first trip to a Disney Water Park, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, AND our first trip to Disney First Aid!

catmandoo · Nov 1, 2016

So here we go, a glimpse into Frank's mind...

He wanted me to stand in the fountain.

A water Fountain.

Frank's caption- "I wanted to get a picture of how you truly are."

And, Starbucks, of course.

A Mickey Mouse sticker on the ground... or wall.

THE BIRD from my previous post.

A grouping of closed cash registers

I think this is on the Mexico Pavilion.

A.. speaker maybe?

And finally, some lights.

Don't worry folks, there's going to be one of these for every day.
See ya real soon for Day Two!

catmandoo · Nov 3, 2016

Day 2- Friday September 16

We started off this day with something new, a trip to Typhoon Lagoon. We had never gone to a Disney Water park before, but, thinking that this might be our last trip for awhile, I thought we should just go for it. Plus, to add the Water Parks and More to the tickets was only something like 64 dollars total.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures from this portion of our trip. Neither of our cameras were waterproof, and we didn't know how our phones would fare in the pools and slides and such, so... You'll just have to use your imaginations.

We didn't wait terribly long for the bus in the morning, and got to the park just about 10:15 or so. We got in pretty quickly and headed over to get a locker for our towels and shoes and such.

We weren't sure what we wanted to do, so we just followed the path until we came upon something that looked fun. We happened upon an entrance to Castaway Creek, and decided to go for a spin in the lazy river. It was then that I found out I was a bit too large for the inner tube to fit around me, so I somehow managed to climb on top. But I did not like having no control over where I was floating to, so... we didn't make it far around before we got our near the surf pool.

At this point we'd been in the park about 20 minutes.

We went to the wave pool and thought we'd give it a go.

Full disclosure6? 7? I don't know- I am clumsy. My day is not complete until I trip over something and spill something. Just the other day for example, I tripped going UP the stairs.

We were about waist deep in the pool when the first wave came. It was a split second before it hit when I realized that it was a bit stronger than I anticipated. The wave hit, and down I went... hard. And the waves kept coming and I couldn't quite get up, and Frank, of course, was laughing at me. After the waters calmed down, I headed for higher ground. It was around when we got out of the pool that I noticed the blood on my knee.

*sigh*

So, we headed to a bathroom so I could assess the damage. It wasn't bad, just a small scrape. I thought it might be a good idea to just leave at that point, so we headed up toward the front. On our way, we happened to pass the first aid station, so I went in.
I signed in and the very nice cast member gave me some gauze and bactine to clean it up. She offered a band-aid, and put it on. "I want to make sure it's on there good so you'll be okay in the pool," she said. "Oh, I was going to leave since it was bleeding." "It's fine with the band-aid. Have fun!"

So, we were off again. We headed to Keelhaul falls, and picked up our tubes for the trip down. At the top of the stairs, I went first I was glad there was a cast member to direct the flow of the tube. Now here's where my anxiety kicked in. "Ohmygod,it'sgoingtoflipover. I'mgoingovertheside. Thiswasabadidea.stupidstupidstupid. I'mgoingtodrowninthebottomcauseiwon'tbeabletogetout." Literally all went through my head. But, as you know, none of that happened and it was actually fun.

After that, we headed over toward Crush -n- gusher. I don't remember which one we did, but it was one of the double rider ones. I was in front, sitting down, and Frank got on behind me, swung his leg over and promptly kicked me in the head. The slide was fun, and after that, it was getting towards noon, and we were a little hungry. None of the options there looked good to Frank (I can find something to eat anywhere), so we decided to call it a day and head back to the resort for lunch. We planned to go to Blizzard Beach later in the week, so I was fine with cutting the visit early. (spoiler alert- we did not make it to Blizzard Beach)
We collected our things and headed out.

Lunch at the food court, Frank had a cheeseburger and I had a Blackened Mahi sandwich. Frank had a cupcake for dessert and I had something. I can't read my scribbling. It looks like "Pudc" But I don't think I had a pudding cup. And I don't have pictures since we went right there. I'm pretty sure I only had half of it, and Frank had the rest.

We decided, since we were already in our bathing suits, to head to the pool near our hotel room. There was one other family of three, so it was a nice relaxing time. After we swam for awhile, we laid out in the sun to dry off.

We headed in to change into real clothes since it was getting close to our ADR and time for the Halloween Party. There will be lots of pictures of that.

Coming up- A new restaurant and RAIN.

LeighM · Nov 4, 2016

I'm known in my family and friends for being the clumsiest one. I'll trip over nothing, choke on my spit...you get the picture LOL. Surprisingly, the only thing I've ever done at WDW is forget about the tracks on Main Street and trip - and I didn't even fall. It really is a magical place!!!! Enjoying your trip report so far.

catmandoo · Nov 6, 2016

We did not dress up for the Halloween party this year. Because we are boring.
But Frank was wearing the awesome Captain America shirt (That I bought for myself, but it didn't quite fit.)

We were still a little early, so I had the idea to go to Epcot and take the monorail over toward the Magic Kingdom, and maybe stop and explore the resorts along the way. We got to Epcot and made it through security, and to the monorail. It wasn't too long before it came pulling into the station.

After a switch, we rode some more and stopped off at the Poly. Now, this is one of those resorts I would love to stay at, but it's never going to happen due to the cost. It's such a pretty resort.

We wandered around outside a bit, then decided to stop at the pool bar for a drink since it was a bit warm out and we still had some time.
A Sunken Treasure for Frank.

And a Moscato Colada for me.

Frank actually drank a good half of mine cause evidently I was drinking it too slowly for him. After that, we headed over toward the Magic Kingdom, and made it through security with no problems. They were funneling people into two groups, Halloween party and Non, so we headed to the Halloween Party entrance. When we got there, our hard tickets did not work. And the Cast Member was all, "Are you sure you have tickets?" And I was all, "Uh, yes."
Then she called her manager over and she got us all straightened out. Somehow the tickets had become deactivated. But then we were on, and got our little bracelets and were on our way!

Fun Fact- It's been so long since I've been to Disney World not at Halloween time, I don't really know what it looks like without the Halloween decorations.

We were in just a few minutes after four, and our ADR wasn't until 5:15, so we decided to see if we could squeeze in a ride or two. We got to go in the back alley way, which was fun cause they already had a candy station there. We got out of the alley, and there it was, in all it's glory.

The Crane. Shame that Castle was in the way.

Since we were already that way, we decided to head to Tomorrowland and take a spin on the PeopleMover. Frank was very excited for our trip.

I'm sure you can see that Frank is glistening in this picture... did I mention it was hot?

Coming up- We save the galaxy, and some dinner.

DimpledDevil18 · Nov 6, 2016

Following along! Don't feel too bad. The wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon scratched me up pretty good the last time I was there too. It happens... Can't wait to read about the Halloween party!

WDW Zandt · Nov 6, 2016

I haven't read that many, but this trip report is glorious. You are awesome. I'm anxious for more!! And congrats on your anniversary!

catmandoo · Nov 6, 2016

After we completed our Tomorrowland loop, I noticed Buzz Lightyear had a 5 minute wait. As I've said, I'm a tad competitive, so... I made Frank go to see if I could redeem myself after the Colortopia defeat. Here is a blurry picture of Buzz.

We got in and were on our way. I have to say, this may be one of the best On-Ride pictures of us ever.

Anyway, here is Frank's Score...

And here is MY score...

To be perfectly honest, I do not know how this happened. I usually score in the 80000 range... but, I won, and all was right with the world once again. After I was accused of cheating, we were on our way to dinner.

Here's something fun... I literally never knew this restaurant existed until I was making the ADRs for this trip. After a brief wait, we were seated at...

I don't remember our waiter's name, and I didn't write it down... this will become a theme. He was a fine waiter... kept our drinks filled Pomegranate Lemonade for me (Side note, I just discovered the stuff this year and it is freakin delicious!) and Orange Soda for Frank.
We were positioned so we could both see outside at where people were coming in for the Halloween party, and thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the fun costumes.
There was also a family sitting across the way from us who were fighting the entire time they were there, so that was also entertaining.

As for dinner, I had a terrible time deciding between the Fried Green Tomato sandwich and the Reuben. In the end... I think I chose well...

It was very good.

Frank got the Cheese Steak Sandwich, and he enjoyed it. Though it was quite large and he had a hard time figuring out how to tackle it.

Done with our meals, our waiter brought out the dessert menus. Frank Opted for the Brownie Sundae and I got the Caramel Apple pie thingy. I almost forgot to take pictures, so there may be a bite or two taken out of these...

Mine was quite tasty. Frank enjoyed his, but the brownie was a tad dry. We finished up and paid, then headed out for some more fun before the Halloween Party officially started.

Once outside, I looked up to get another look at the Castle to see if the crane had been moved so I could get a decent shot...

and this is what I saw.

Oh... that sky doesn't look so good.

**so this is all typed up, and looking through my Photo Pass pictures, I realize I missed some that we had taken in front of the Castle before dinner... SOOOO those will be in the next post**

Coming Up... The Halloween Party begins.... and so does the RAIN.

Trisha Lynn · Nov 7, 2016

catmandoo said:
The Crane. Shame that Castle was in the way.

That's a great way to have a good attitude about the refurbishment stuff going on.

LadyBelle · Nov 7, 2016

catmandoo said:
Waiting on the table for us was the Anniversary gift I'd ordered for Frank. Cooler filled with snacks and beverages.

That cooler is awesome!!

catmandoo · Nov 7, 2016

Trisha Lynn said:
That's a great way to have a good attitude about the refurbishment stuff going on.

I honestly can't remember the last time I've been there when the Crane wasn't. It's like it belongs.

catmandoo · Nov 9, 2016

So, as promised, let's start off with a couple of Photopass pictures!

These are just your standard front of Castle pics...

And then one where the photographer tortured Frank and made him hug me.

So after, dinner, we headed back toward the hub, where I snapped a picture of my favorite statue.

And then noticed there was some work going on, so I got this shot of some workers just hanging around.

Then, we decided to move along onto some more adventures... and what better place for adventure than...

Remember when the bridge used to be a hump? Good times.

I thought these guys spit water, so I made Frank go stand by them. (He does not like to get wet if he is in real clothes)... but they did not spit on him, so... it was a little disappointing.

I wanted to take a spin on my favorite boat ride, The Jungle Cruise, but the wait was something ridiculous like 50 minutes, so we headed over to another classic...

We were seated in the back row and did not get wet. I got my camera out and tried a few more pics. It would still be awhile before I gave up on my Dark Ride picture quest... this one came out decently.

After we got out of the ride, we browsed around the gift shop a little, then looked outside and saw the rain. The pouring, pouring rain.

So we decided to hang out in the gift shop a little until it let up... which it didn't. In fact, it got a bit harder.

So, after 10 or so minutes, I decided to bite the bullet and get in line for ponchos... and of course by the time I got to the front and purchased them, the rain had let up enough that we didn't need them...
So we ventured out and headed back to the hub to catch the Hocus Pocus show...

coming up... an abbreviation... a parade... and lots of standing around.

catmandoo · Nov 19, 2016

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last update... I've had a busy couple weeks... but I'm going to try to finish out day two today...

So, after the rain cleared up, we headed to see the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular! We got to the hub and got a decent spot in front of the castle.

As you can see, there are some workers milling about the stage. They were cleaning up from the rain and testing out the effects to make sure everything was working. It was an entertaining little pre-show.

We were standing for quite awhile before the show started, and I was just playing with my camera lenses to see how much zoom I had (I think Ihave decided I don't like the hassle of the DSLR camera and changing lenses and all that). And I took a close-up of this guy.

It got dark outside... and then there was the announcement "Ladies and gentleman, due to inclement weather, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular had been delayed." Okay, no problem... then it was repeated.... and again.... and again. Finally, about twenty minutes after the show was scheduled to start, it did... I glanced at the time, noting it was 8:20 and the Parade was due to start at 8:30...

So, out come Winnie, Mary, and Sarah to start the show.

They spoke a bit about Halloween and coming back, then welcomed their friends...

And

Then they sang "I put a spell on you"... and this happened.

And then it was over...
Now, here's a little back story. Last year on the day of the Halloween Party, I had a horrible cold, so my brain was a little fuzzy...
Back to this year...
I turn to Frank and say, "Um... wasn't it longer last year?" And he says, "I don't know... I have a bad memory." And I say, "Didn't Dr. Facilier and Oogie Boogie sing songs?" Frank says,"...maybe?" Then the woman next to us says, "I hope that wasn't the real show, cause it wasn't worth it." And i say, "I'm sure it was longer last year... maybe this was the abbreviated version cause it was delayed?" We all decided that was probably the reason... and then they announced that they Parade was starting, so we turned around to watch... We were right on the curb in front of the castle. and Frank let the lady's daughter go in front f him so she could see (Did I mention he's 6'4?) ANd the lady kind of wedged in between us.
It was entertaining because people kept trying to stand in the road in front of us and then Cast Members would tell them they needed to be off the street, so they'd try to just climb up, expecting us to move back... but no. The little girl, the lady, and I stood our ground. We'd been standing there for over an hour and we were not moving.

So of course, before the parade, they came around with the little light up toys to sell.

And then the parade started!

Coming up... The Boo To You Parade!

catmandoo · Nov 19, 2016

I'm going to have minimal commentary on the next batch of pictures... and let them speak for themselves. I do love this parade, and after several years of Halloween parties, I find myself singing along. Anyway, without further adieu.... The Boo to You parade!

A blurry Jack Sparrow...

Shoutout to my brother... who I don't think would do this...

Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts...

Coming up... A change of Pace...

catmandoo · Nov 19, 2016

In kind of a jarring change, we go from Haunted Mansion to... Cowboys...

And look... Dale! is pointing at Dale!

And then... back to scary villains...

And that brings us to the end of the Parade. A good time... Frank and I waited for the area to clear a bit, and then I asked if he minded if we waited the 15 or so minutes until the next Hocus Pocus show to make sure I wasn't crazy. We moved up a bit closer to the stage since it had cleared out...

Coming next... the REAL Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular and a rematch.

catmandoo · Nov 19, 2016

It wasn't but a few minutes before the show started... as soon as the dancers came out, I knew I wasn't crazy and settled in for the show... Here is just a sampling of the many pictures I took

So, now armed with the knowledge that I was not crazy, Frank and I headed out of the Castle area... after an approximate 2.5 hours of standing in the same place.

catmandoo · Nov 19, 2016

We headed into Fantasyland, where the moon was looking particularly bright.

Since it had recently re-opened and had a 5 minute wait, we headed to "it's a small world". It was remarkably clean and fresh looking. At the bottom of the ramp, I turned to take a picture and these gentlemen just barged on in.

What made the ride particulary fun was the family behind us, who, judging by the accents, were from Minnesota or thereabouts.
They kept commenting on how they were glad they changed the ride and made it smaller, took out some of the dolls, etc.... and SO many of the things that were left we "Sooo k-yoot." As far as I know, the ride is the same as it ever was... so.... It was entertaining. Here's a few pics from the inside.

The Hippo's eyes were not blinking, winking, or anything. His eyes were fixed open and staring.

As we stepped outside, the fireworks were going off. We'd skipped them this year cause we waited so long for the other stuff... but I got a few pics from Fantasyland.

We then headed out toward New Fantasyland... seeking out some candy stations (We'd stopped a few places throughout the way already)...

Coming up- We go under the sea, into the woods, and take a spin.

catmandoo · Nov 19, 2016

On our way to the candy stations, I saw that "Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid" (That is such a clunky name) only had a 5 minute wait. And since Ariel is my favorite Princess, I made Frank go on it. We made our way through the queue, and when we got in side, to my horror...

SCUTTLE WAS MISSING!

Somehow, I managed to move on and we boarded our clamshell and off we went. Here's a little story that Frank tells me every time we're on this ride... He went with his Mother and Neice and Nephew a few years ago... the kids were maybe... 4 and 5? or so. Anyway, he was riding with his neice, and had her convinced that they were actually going underwater and she was not happy about it. And he laughs and laughs.
Anyway, we also went "under the sea"

Fun fact- I do sing along with this ride. I have a special love for The Little Mermaid. I first heard about it on my first ever trip to a Disney Park- Disneyland in August of 1989. After the daily parade, there was a float announcing the movie that was coming out that fall... My mom too me to see it about 6 times that November.... 27 years ago! So... yeah. Good times.

Ursula is now, and will always be, my favorite Disney villain. In Nursing school we had to do a report on a Disney character and what psychological disorder they might have... I chose Ursula and her narcissistic personality disorder... I even wrote a poem detailing her history and how she became who she was.
This picture came out really good.

After the ride, we headed back toward Storybook Circus... on our way, we passed a weird photo pass setup where we saw people standing very still while a cast member walked across the back of the picture with a tall stick... Just because I was curious, I made Frank stop.... and this was the fun result!

We headed into Storybook Circus and into the gift shop... Frank wanted a drink. I saw these apples and was tickled to see Elliot from the better version of Pete's Dragon (My third favorite movie of all time)

I did not get one, however. Just looking at all that sugar kind of makes me a little queasy.
We went to the candy stop in the.. place where the meet and greets are normally held? I think. On our way back out, we headed back the way we came, with no real plan. I made Frank stop for this silly picture.

Then we had to take a picture of Frank's favorite fountain...

He just laughs and laughs when he sees it for some reason.
Then, We stopped by the Beast's castle and I took this picture, which I think is pretty neat.

We headed back toward fantasy land... Checked the Mine Train, but the wait was still over an hour, so we skipped it as we had a fastpass for later in the week.
Coming up.... a trip to the woods, we go for a spin, a rematch... and something strange awaits us at our resort.

Trip Report We tried New Things/Invasion of the Mother-In-Law- September 2016

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