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Old 01-27-2014, 02:41 PM   #151
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A great morning at DHS! Love the pictures!
Thanks! We had lots of picture line time

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A good morning visit to DHS! That photo with R & V is too cute.
Thanks, so worth the short line!

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Great morning at DHS!
It was, thanks!

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Just found this TR! Love all your details and the photos! Can't wait to read more!
Thanks and welcome along!
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Old 01-27-2014, 02:50 PM   #152
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January 3, 2014: Day 6, Part 2 - New Fantasyland at night


Rouge picture from the morning at DHS


I’m going to give you a fair warning in this update. I did NOT like Be Our Guest. Almost nothing about our dinner there was enjoyable for me. And I have now eaten lunch and dinner there, and don’t plan on going back for either. I feel like I’m going to lose some friends after this, as everyone always raves about this restaurant. But I am just. not. impressed.

We never did make it over to play Mini Golf, but eventually we walked over to the GF because I wanted to check out their stores for the Vera stuff… I was going to need a second suitcase to take home so the duffle sounded like an ideal purchase They had only the new blue pattern, but that’s the one I like! We got that and my mom’s perfume (Which she normally gets in Epcot) sent back to the Poly for later pickup. I also browsed around for a sweater or sweatshirt but didn’t see anything I liked here. It was going to get very cold very fast once the sunset.

We hopped on the monorail over to MK shortly before dinner since all our FP+ were set for this evening and we wanted to stay out late-ish if we could because there were some looong hours with the holiday rush of guests

I was amazed to see that the majority of the Christmas decor was still up, including the Dream Lights. It looked like they haven’t even been touched! (But decorations were coming down elsewhere!) We headed into the Emporium because while I packed some cold accessories, I didn’t quite pack enough. I was going to need one more layer before the night was through. I had liked a blue pullover men’s sweatshirt, but the only size left was about 3 sizes too big on me. So I settled on my third gray WDW pullover sweatshirt. Stashed it in the bag for after dinner and we were off What I wish I had a picture of, was the ransacked stores and a sea of guests wrapped in the “add on” blanket. It was seriously MADNESS inside that store, I had never seen it so nuts!


As you can see, it was a QUITE crowded night!









One of my fave pics from the whole trip!

It was a beautiful night, although veryy cold! We headed back into New Fantasyland, my first experience back here at night. The lighting is quite lovely but we just headed right over to check in for Be Our Guest. They informed us they were running about 15 minutes behind, well okay whatever, it’s not like we can do anything except wait for the table at this point.

What kept me sane with the waiting here (because of course it was longer than 15 minutes) is they first of all let people wait inside (Which kind of ruins your exiting, but it was cold!) AND they offered free warm apple cider to everyone. I thought that was a nice touch. As usual, my mom headed off to the bathroom (where the CM gave her a hard time insisting someone from our party must wait in the waiting area and we could not go potty together… um hi I’m sitting on the floor across the way, clearly not heading off with her) anyway it was hard to find a place out of the way to wait, but we did. It ended up being about a 35 minute wait but we ended up with a lovely table in the Ballroom (which I had requested) so I was happy with that. Although eventually the table next to us got quite disruptive with little kids running around and into my chair/me.

Anyway, our server was fine, she wasn’t very friendly and she wasn’t very helpful. She didn’t exactly mess our order up, but when I asked what the “seasonal vegetable” she told me broccolini and asparagus, and you’ll soon see that is not at all what it was. She was very clearly pushing the most expensive things on the menu and just trying to get her checks high and her table times short so she could make the most of her tips. Quite disappointing really.

That brings me to the food, which I’ll go into a bit more detail here than usual since it’s newer. Normally I’m just picky so I don’t like a lot which is why I just tell you if our meals were good or not… but here, nope here gets details! My salad trio was fine, I don’t like tomatoes so while I tried that option, I didn’t like it. The other two didn’t “wow” me. My mom’s soup was served warm, not hot. Her seafood dish was fine but she was quite glad she asked for extra sauce, because there was hardly any. My pork was the real issue. It was served almost raw and was not only bland, but also so tough that my mouth got tired from chewing it. AND it was served with green beans, which I like fine, but this was Day 6 of this trip and green beans came with almost EVERYTHING up until this point. Blahh. The mac and cheese it came with was tasty though! Our waitress did bring me broccolini when I was like “uhh these are the wrong vegetables” but by the time she came back to actually ask how the food was, my mom was done and my pork was left uneaten. I asked that it be taken off the bill, it was THAT bad. Then we got “The Gray Stuff” which was served atop a dry, kind of hard chocolate cake/cookie thing. It was good but could have been much better.


Seasonal Salad Trio

Three Individual Bowls of:
Roasted Beet, Gold Raisin and Orange Salad
Green Been, Tomato and Roasted Shallot Salad
Watermelon, Radish, and Mint salad


Potato Leek Soup


Thyme-scented Pork Rack Chop - with au gratin macaroni, seasonal vegetables ("broccolini and asparagus") and red wine au jus


Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops - with seasonal vegetables served in puff pastry with a creamy lobster sauce


"The Gray Stuff" (am I the only one who thinks the "decoration" makes the plate look worse?)




Not the best picture of me, but for size reference on the dessert

We then headed over to meet the Beast, something I was really looking forward to. And after two quick snapshots he was done with us. No fun interaction or anything despite only one other family waiting. The one part I was looking to the most!

So at this point our spirits were a little low from dinner, but we had some favorites in Tomorrowland we just had to attend to! We had a little time to kill before our first FP+ and noticed not-too-bad of a wait for Ariel, so we headed that way. Quickly we were under the sea with a beautiful princess, and commented on how warm it was under there! She was super adorable and very much in-character, asking what that wonderful thing was I was using to carry all my belongings!


We headed over to Tomorrowland and rode Space Mountain via FP+ before settling in on the Tomorrowland Bridge to watch Wishes. We grabbed a FP for Buzz Lightyear on the way as we didn’t think we were going to make it long enough for our FP+ window! For once I took no pictures of the fireworks and just enjoyed the show. But BRRRR did it get cold just standing there, no Main Street crowds buffering the wind!

We then headed over to use our FP+ for Monster’s Laugh Floor (unnecessary at this point, as I think we beat the post-fireworks crowd) and then headed over to Buzz, which is easily one of our favorite rides. One of these days I’m going to break into the next score rank, and I’m going to hit that 999,999 score one day too!


So into the game

We were cold and worn out at this point and decided to call it a night There will be more pictures of BoG and the character meets to come, they were just on real cameras this time

Day 6 Recap
Today in one thought: BRRR!
The best thing today was: Meeting Wreck it Ralph
The worst thing today was: my inedible pork
Today we tried: Dinner at Be Our Guest
The result was: a huge let down
Plans we missed: Mini Golf, although we completely changed our whole morning!

Up Next: Family throws plans out the window!
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Old 01-27-2014, 03:25 PM   #153
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Sorry you didn't enjoy BoG! I have to say the Pork Rack Chop looks kind of unappealing. You don't have to feel bad for not liking a "popular" restaurant. On my last trip I was very much looking forward to eating at 50's PTC. I'd read so many great things about it that I went in with very high expectations. Well I didn't think it was all that. The meal was nothing to write about and I had no interaction from the server whatsoever.
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Old 01-27-2014, 03:59 PM   #154
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Sorry you didn't enjoy Be Our Guest. I am one of those who was wowed by it, but I have to say before we went, we heard so many bad reviews of it that I was pretty concerned by the time we went there, so it's certainly a place that divides people.
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Old 01-27-2014, 05:04 PM   #155
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Sorry you didn't enjoy BoG! I have to say the Pork Rack Chop looks kind of unappealing. You don't have to feel bad for not liking a "popular" restaurant. On my last trip I was very much looking forward to eating at 50's PTC. I'd read so many great things about it that I went in with very high expectations. Well I didn't think it was all that. The meal was nothing to write about and I had no interaction from the server whatsoever.
I'm right there with you on 50s PTC! I keep wanting to like it and getting let down, so I just stick to the Tune In Lounge next door for the vibe, then get food somewhere else!

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Sorry you didn't enjoy Be Our Guest. I am one of those who was wowed by it, but I have to say before we went, we heard so many bad reviews of it that I was pretty concerned by the time we went there, so it's certainly a place that divides people.
Yeah I had read lots of mixed things, so my expectations weren't even high! I think our server's attitude just made the food seem that much worse, which can really happen anywhere
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Old 01-27-2014, 05:12 PM   #156
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January 4, 2014: Day 7, Part 1 - Family throws plans out the window!

So both my mom’s brother and my dad and his family live over in the Tampa/St Pete area. So it often happens that while we’re in the Orlando area they pop over for a visit. My uncle decided to drive up on this Saturday and said he would tag along with whatever plans we had (he has an AP) For this morning we had FP+ scheduled at DHS but felt like we got our fill the day before. We were also up quite late hanging around Tomorrowland so we opted to sleep in and decided we would just head over to Epcot when my uncle arrived and see what we could do.

Mom was just finishing up getting ready when he arrived, so he stopped and got a coffee at the Kona Cafe sushi/coffee bar and I walked over to meet him (since he needed one of us to get into Hawaii!) He gave me two books on London since I’m still trying to plan a Europe trip in August, so thoughtful (except man were they heavy!) He grabbed a banana and sat in the lounge while I went and rushed mom a bit to get going so we could get to Epcot! We walked over to the TTC and were quickly on our way, with the two of them comparing camera notes We also tried to potentially get some FP+s, thinking I could link my Uncle to my account and get them for us all, no such luck Since he hadn’t stayed on site since the testing began, no FP+ for him!




Mom and Uncle Tom with their toys


We arrived around 11am I want to say, and we headed over to Imagination. A quick ride with Figment and over to Captain EO and we were ready to hit the World Showcase! Now, I’m not usually much of a margarita person, but I LOVE the ones from inside the pavilion. They open the bar at noon and it was maybe 11:45 at this point. So we headed off to the boat ride and went on a hunt for Donald before returning! Well, there was a line waiting for them to open now! It moved pretty slowly, although there were tables available. I asked the adults if they wanted a table and some chips etc to snack on and they said no, although once we were through the bar they were like “do you want to sit in here?” Um no, we just waited in line for the bar so we could be mobile with these bad boys!


My margarita!

Jalapeno for Tom, Cucumber for mom, and seriously I forget what I got.

We continued to wander around slowly, stopping for a pic with Donald and eventually I decided I wanted a School Bread from Norway. It was kind of dry but I still love the flavors! It was a little line but quick moving. We took a seat and enjoyed, as it wasn't too crowded in their little seating area at all


Yummy

We also checked on the Anna and Elsa meet and greet, people were already lined up for the 3pm time, no thank you! However, a 20 minute wait for Malestrom sounded good, so off we went! We spent some time in the Norway shop where I purchased Vodka and cookies for Cody and really debated some Helly Hansen stuff, that would have come in handy the day before for sure!


Typical Norway Pic!

The things you can find in China...



My new headband

Next up, Italy!


We were all getting hungry for something a little more substantial at this point, and my Uncle mentioned how awesome Tutto Gusto was last time he was here, so we headed over. We were quickly sat and ordered our beverages while we looked over the menu. We were able to order from most of the Tutto Italia menu, but I'm not sure if this is just because it was Holiday time and they needed to feed extra people, but we appreciated it! We decided to get a few things and share, because no one could really decide on what they wanted!


Wine Flight

Gnocchetti Sardi - Cavatelli pasta, sweet sausage ragu, tomato, pecorino

Tortino Di Zucchine - baked zucchini, pomodoro, mozzarella, parmesan

One of the Gusto Plates

It's a great place for sharing!

With stuffed bellies we headed off for more shopping, and surprisingly my mom wanted a henna tattoo! I stopped for an adult beverage outside Morocco while she went in to get started, then quickly caught up and decided I’d get one too


Too freaking cute. I love Pokemon.



With glitter, of course.





We thought we’d get in line to meet Aladdin and Jasmine in their now-permanent seeming indoor location. And we waited for a little while but they never came out? I guess they were running late but we decided just to move on. I also grabbed a box of macaroons from France for later and we swung through the Rose and Crown pub on the way out




France holiday decor

We hit the Visa character spot on the way out and headed back to the resort. I was impressed with how much we got done and how many of the countries we had explored in just one afternoon. We stopped for the evening apps in the lounge, getting my Uncle his “dinner” before the drive home since he didn’t want to stay for Cali Grill with us. I’m sure there will be lots more great pictures to come from this day, as the fam was constantly taking pictures and comparing their shots!


My small snack

I tried not to eat too much and eventually we said our goodbyes. I’ll be seeing him again in May as he’s also running the Everest Challenge! (He is an actual runner, doing marathons and such, so he’s going to smoke me, but it’s all good fun!)

Up Next: Dinner, with a view?
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Old 01-27-2014, 05:42 PM   #157
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Looks like you a great time at DHS, even with the wait at Tower of Terror. Love the pictures of MK at night. I'm sorry you weren't a fan of BoG. I would be disappointed too with the Beast. Sounds like a great time at Epcot. The henna tattoos came out really nice! I had to laugh at the picture of your Cavatelli pasta. That is what I'm having for dinner tonight!!
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Old 01-27-2014, 06:22 PM   #158
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Love the Henna tattoo! How long do they last?
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Old 01-27-2014, 07:40 PM   #159
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So sorry that BOG was a bust for you. Nothing worse than lousy service and a badly cooked dish. We don't care for Sci Fi and everyone raves about that. We were just not impressed at all with our dinner there and thank goodness we were on the dining plan because I was glad we did not pay out of pocket for it. Now we might go there again for lunch someday as I here that is better but we will see. Not high on my list for sure. You got a lot done that night.

Glad you could spend some time with your Uncle. Looks as if you had great fun!

Looking forward to more.
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Old 01-27-2014, 08:02 PM   #160
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Sorry you didn't care for BoG, but it's okay - everyone is not going to love the same thing
Looks like you made up for it at Epcot though! What a great day with lots of good food and beverage!
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Old 01-27-2014, 10:14 PM   #161
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Sorry you all didn't enjoy BOG, but not every restaurant is for everyone as we all have different tastes. I can't believe how cold is was that evening. Brrr! Your Epcot day with your uncle looked like it was relaxing, yummy, and fun.
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Old 01-28-2014, 01:45 AM   #162
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Great day out with the family. I was also wondering how long the henna tattoo lasts...
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Old 01-28-2014, 08:35 AM   #163
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Sorry BoG was a disappointment! It looks like you had a great time in Epcot with your uncle, and some great eats as well (and drinks )! Love the pictures!
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Old 01-28-2014, 09:23 AM   #164
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Looks like you a great time at DHS, even with the wait at Tower of Terror. Love the pictures of MK at night. I'm sorry you weren't a fan of BoG. I would be disappointed too with the Beast. Sounds like a great time at Epcot. The henna tattoos came out really nice! I had to laugh at the picture of your Cavatelli pasta. That is what I'm having for dinner tonight!!
It was a great morning, I was more concerned with the characters than the rides LOL! Yumm I hope you enjoyed dinner We had Italian last night too but it just isn't the same (although our local place is delish too!)

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Love the Henna tattoo! How long do they last?
They last 1-2 weeks usually if you take good care of them. Moisturize and don't exfoliate and they last on the longer side

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So sorry that BOG was a bust for you. Nothing worse than lousy service and a badly cooked dish. We don't care for Sci Fi and everyone raves about that. We were just not impressed at all with our dinner there and thank goodness we were on the dining plan because I was glad we did not pay out of pocket for it. Now we might go there again for lunch someday as I here that is better but we will see. Not high on my list for sure. You got a lot done that night.

Glad you could spend some time with your Uncle. Looks as if you had great fun!

Looking forward to more.
Yeah we always do lunch at Sci Fi and stick to burgers and shakes, I don't know about the rest of the food there!

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Sorry you didn't care for BoG, but it's okay - everyone is not going to love the same thing
Looks like you made up for it at Epcot though! What a great day with lots of good food and beverage!
Oh yes, the Epcot food made BoG a distant memory!

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Sorry you all didn't enjoy BOG, but not every restaurant is for everyone as we all have different tastes. I can't believe how cold is was that evening. Brrr! Your Epcot day with your uncle looked like it was relaxing, yummy, and fun.
Yep, not even Florida escapes the cold sometimes (but most of the time they do!) The relaxing day was just what we needed!

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Great day out with the family. I was also wondering how long the henna tattoo lasts...
It was great to get the family time in. My tattoo ended up lasting about a week and a half, although it was too cold back here in Texas to matter

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Sorry BoG was a disappointment! It looks like you had a great time in Epcot with your uncle, and some great eats as well (and drinks )! Love the pictures!
I love the small plates in Epcot, makes it so easy to just nibble your way around. And when it's not one of the festivals, I remember that the great food is ALWAYS there (the holiday booths were long gone at this point)
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Old 01-28-2014, 09:36 AM   #165
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January 4, 2014: Day 7, Part 2 - Dinner, with a view?

Not long after Uncle Tom headed out we had to start getting ready! Getting dressed up is one of my favorite parts of Signature Dining. Thankfully, I had packed a sweater dress since it was still kind of chilly! I’d heard mixed reviews of the “reimagined” California Grill but we have always had a great meal there even though I’m a little more picky than the menu tends to allow. I’ve been known to order off the kids menu once or twice…

Soon we were back on the monorail and on our way! We headed down to level 2 where we checked in within minutes of our 7:45pm ADR time, woohoo! We headed up and were sat almost immediately. But first we asked for a pic with the wine rack, as suggested by our lovely elevator attendant


We were sat all the way in the back of the restaurant, the side facing Epcot, and were greeted with a surprise at 9pm, when we could see Illuminations of in the distance!








Not good pics, but you get the idea!

Our server, I think Billy? was wonderful! He was also a sommelier so he was helping us with our wines, and yum! My first Conundrum and so tasty, so tasty in fact that we are upgrading our Cruise Beverage Package to Premium so I can enjoy it on that trip too! That was paired with my entree though, and the one he paired with (both) my appetizers was to-die-for. SO GOOD. I still have to locate it back here somewhere


My beautiful mama

Bread and Butter Service, we both agreed the slices were better than the rolls

The amazing wine with my apps!

Carrot and Cilantro Soup - Spiced Paprika Oil, Lime-blckened Halibut, Citrus-Coriander Bloom (maybe? I'm not actually sure, but this is the soup on Allears)

Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli - Tomato-Fennel Broth, crispy Mushrooms, Basil, Benziger Estate Olive Oil



Heirloom Apple and Kale Salad - crisp pink apples, marcona almonds, cranberry, feta, cider vinaigrette

Sweet Potato Gnocchi - cauliflower cream, root spinach, hazelnut emulsion, minus 8 vinegar

Pork Two Ways - Grilled Tenderloin, Goat Cheese Polenta, Mushrooms, Lacquered Belly, Applesauce

All of the food was amazing. Best meal of the trip amazing! We loved it! We ordered the two things that have been on the menu consistently, the goat cheese ravioli and the pork two ways and were NOT disappointed. My only complaint? I would have loved more gnocchi on my dish. But all three of my courses were divine We also didn’t find it too noisy although as I mentioned, we were off to the back corner, so maybe not too much in the center of things? Either way we really liked it. This is saying a lot, because we didn’t even stay to watch Wishes! This is where we get super lame… we bailed after our entrees and headed back to the lounge for desserts and pjs I was finally starting to get my mom’s sinus infection so we were both just getting worn out so easily this trip. The cold and rain certainly didn’t help that though. Anyway, we settled up our bill, and once again LOVE our TIW discount


I'm thinking chocolate mousse, carrot cake, and oatmeal raisin cookies



Dug into these from earlier too


Day 7 Recap
Today in one thought: Yum, yum, & more yum
The best thing today was: all of the delicious new food we tried
The worst thing today was: not getting to use FP+
Today we tried: Tutto Gusto
The result was: a hidden gem if you don’t want to bother with ADRs
Plans we missed: nothing too major, just never got in our TSMM ride this trip! This was also the day we had HBD planned, but we had cancelled it a few days prior.

Up Next: A Royal Breakfast
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