Is It Time Already?! OKW and POR, November 2013 About This Page:

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by rosanna

Just found your trip report this morning and have enjoyed reading the whole thing (although I should probably be doing something besides laying on the couch). I am so sorry about all your noise troubles. We always use our dream machine app on the iphone and even pack a portable speaker. We haven't had much trouble with noise at night, but we usually have "second bedtime" in the middle of the day. Even if we are right by a noisy pool, the "white noise" drowns it all out and we sleep just fine. I know some people can't sleep with that kind of thing, but it sure makes our travels go smoother.
You have inspired me to maybe start my PTR for my Spring Break trip. Reading yours has me ready to go!!

Please do start your PTR soon! I really wanted to do an early PTR for this trip, but I just got so busy with daily life that I never got around to it!

I hadn't thought about the white noise app. I actually sleep fine with white noise, so next time I'll make sure I have that app!

[Shari2137]

Trying to catch up on reports. So sorry about your noise issue. We stayed at OKW as part of our December trip. We were also on Peninsular Road, but were at building 28, close enough to walk to either HH or Peninsular bus stop. And luckily for us did not have the noise issue you experienced. However we were on 3rd floor of building. Looking forward to reading more.

[Dlandmom2]

After FotLK, we left AK and headed to Epcot. I can't remember how we got there...I think there was a bus that went from AK to Epcot, but maybe we had to go through the TTC. Either way, we made it to Epcot!

We began at Spaceship Earth...I can't get enough of this ride! After that, we decided to check out Innoventions since it's something we hadn't done yet...and back in 2009, we hadn't spent much time there at all.

The kids designed a roller coaster on Sum of All Thrills and then had fun with all the interactive displays throughout (pictures to come in the pictorial!).

We were thirsty, so we walked over to Club Cool for a few samples. Then we headed over to the other Innoventions. The kids did the fire safety game, and then we headed over to The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. Guess what the kids decided to save for! Another Dream Vacation! I guess they were having fun and didn't want it to end! Neither did I!



Then we headed over to Test Track because Evan wanted Sophia to design the car this time!

Next Evan wanted to save Mexico, so we went to the Agent P kiosk and asked if we could get Mexico for our next assignment. We headed over there and had fun inside the pyramid.

By now, we were getting hungry. I was in the mood for German food, so we headed toward Germany. Near the Refreshment Outpost, we saw some open tables and chairs by the water, so I told the kids to sit down and relax while I went on to Germany to get dinner.

I headed on to Germany where it was packed! I wanted a hot dog with sauerkraut, but I couldn't figure out where the QS place was! I finally figured it out and got in line. I have to say, the young German guys working there were quite handsome in their lederhosen! I decided to got a "regular" hot dog for Evan, a bratwurst for Sophia, and a Reuben for myself (my favorite sandwich!). I also got an order of the curry/paprika potato chips to try. Well, for some reason it was going to take a few extra minutes for my Reuben, so they gave me the two dogs and I told them I would be back in a few minutes to grab the Reuben. It was a bit of a walk back to the table, but I figured it would give them plenty of time to get my sandwich ready. I dropped off the dogs and walked back. The sandwich wasn't ready yet, and the nice (and handsome!) CM said I should go sit down and he would find me and bring me my sandwich. I told him we were seated far away, so I would just wait.

A few minutes later, the sandwich was finally ready. The CMs felt so bad that I had waited for such a long time that they gave me a free order of the potato chips. That was really nice, but as it turned out, the kids didn't like the chips so I had the task of trying to eat it all!

Blurry picture of the regular frankfurter:



The bratwurst smothered in sauerkraut and the paprika chips below that:



My Reuben (that came with chips! ) and the free order of chips the CM gave me!



These guys looked so cute in their outfits!



The frankfurter was a hit, but the brat wasn't. Sophia didn't eat much of anything and said she wished I had ordered a frankfurter for her instead of the brat. I said I'd go back and get her one, but she said no. I tried to eat the rest of her brat along with my Reuben...I didn't get very far. We also had 2 and half orders of chips to go through, and neither kid was interested in the chips. I ended up walking away with half my Reuben and almost two whole orders of chips! I liked those chips, but I was so full from the sandwiches that there was no way I could finish them! I ended up eating the rest of the sandwich later that night, and the chips lasted until the end of the trip!

After dinner, I wanted to go check out the famous new caramel shop! It was getting cold, so it was nice to walk into a nice warm sweet smelling shop! There was a bit of a line, but it moved quickly. I wanted an order of the caramel popcorn to try because so many people have raved about it! I asked Sophia if she wanted anything, but she was a bit cranky and said no. I ordered a large bag of caramel popcorn. The CM brought it over to us and told us not to close the bag because it was still warm inside and closing the bag would make the popcorn really chewy. I also ordered two caramel and chocolate covered pretzel sticks.







At this point, the kids were tired and cold, so we headed back toward the bus stops and caught a bus back to OKW. Back in the room, I munched on some of my Reuben and had a caramel chocolate pretzel stick for dessert!

Then I got down to the icky task of packing. We were moving to POR the next day, and we had an ADR for breakfast at Kona Cafe.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by Shari2137

Trying to catch up on reports. So sorry about your noise issue. We stayed at OKW as part of our December trip. We were also on Peninsular Road, but were at building 28, close enough to walk to either HH or Peninsular bus stop. And luckily for us did not have the noise issue you experienced. However we were on 3rd floor of building. Looking forward to reading more.

I had requested Peninsular Road when I did the online check-in, but I guess we weren't lucky enough to get it! I think our 2nd floor bedroom just turned out to be right next to the Perfect Storm for noise that week!

[lauriep]

The photo of your reuben isn't showing up right now. I'll check back later to see if it's appearing. I'm sorry Sophia wasn't happy with her meal and hope she at least overcame her sulks to try some of the popcorn that evening! It does sound like you got quite a bit done and the kids had a great time at Innoventions!

[chezp]

Oh wow, those goodies in the caramel shop look really good! I love the fact that the kids wanted to save up for another dream vacation - sounds like you've bought them up well!

[xwewhisper]

Ooo the caramel shop looks Devine! I'm hoping to get over there this week to check it out


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[Colexis Mom]

Great night at Epcot! Sorry the braut wasn't a hit! Love the pictures from the caramel shop!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by lauriep

The photo of your reuben isn't showing up right now. I'll check back later to see if it's appearing. I'm sorry Sophia wasn't happy with her meal and hope she at least overcame her sulks to try some of the popcorn that evening! It does sound like you got quite a bit done and the kids had a great time at Innoventions!

Thanks, Laurie, I fixed the picture. Sophia's mood did get better...I forgot to mention that when I ordered the two pretzel sticks, she decided she wanted one too, so I got one for her!

Originally Posted by chezp

Oh wow, those goodies in the caramel shop look really good! I love the fact that the kids wanted to save up for another dream vacation - sounds like you've bought them up well!

Yes, they were having such a great time, they didn't want it to end! They decided to start saving now for our next big trip!

Originally Posted by xwewhisper

Ooo the caramel shop looks Devine! I'm hoping to get over there this week to check it out

I hope you do! It was the perfect place to be on a cold night at Epcot!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great night at Epcot! Sorry the braut wasn't a hit! Love the pictures from the caramel shop!

I thought the brat was quite good, but Sophia didn't. Her mood got better when I ordered her a pretzel stick, and the caramel popcorn was a hit as well.

[Principessa_di_Fata]

Oh the caramel shop! Yummy! I love it! Delicious! I'm glad Sophia's mood improved - I know a good pretzel stick / caramel popcorn would improve MY mood...

You guys got a lot done! I can't wait for the pictorial!!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata

Oh the caramel shop! Yummy! I love it! Delicious! I'm glad Sophia's mood improved - I know a good pretzel stick / caramel popcorn would improve MY mood...

You guys got a lot done! I can't wait for the pictorial!!

The pictorial is going to be long! I took pictures on my phone and two cameras. So far I've only posted the phone pictures. I'm still uploading all the other pics to Shutterfly. Plus, I just ordered my PhotoPass pictures, so once I get those I'll have to upload those as well!

[Cam22]

Nice time at Epcot! Lunch especially looked good, but then I grew up with German food. The goodies in the caramel shop also looked quite delicious. Okay, I've had supper, but now I'm hungry again.

[Dlandmom2]

Today is Day 8, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It was also moving day from OKW to POR. It was also supposed to get VERY cold and VERY wet as a big cold storm front that stretched up and down the East Coast was supposed to be bringing in lots of rain and lots of cold!

I forgot to mention that when we got back to the room last night, there was a phone message for us. It was a recording from the OKW General Manager thanking us for our stay. It was nice enough, but I can't say I slept very well during our stay! And since it was moving day, I had set the alarm for 7am, so even though it was finally quiet this morning, I couldn't sleep in!

We had a breakfast ADR at Kona Cafe for 9:30. I had to make sure we were packed up so I could call Bell Services to come grab our stuff and send it on over to POR. Considering all that we had amassed in the past week, we only had 4 bags to give them...two suitcases (I had almost filled the empty suitcase!), one backpack, and Laurie's gift which we filled with all our remaining snacks. We actually planned it perfectly and finished all of our refrigerated stuff.

I was thinking that I would take those 4 gift cards I bought at DHS a few days ago and pay off the charges to our room before we checked out this morning, but the receipt was already printed out and hanging on our front door. I guess I should've paid off our bill last night! I suppose I still could've gone to HH to use my gift cards, but now we didn't have to make that extra stop, so I was fine with it. I was pretty sure we'd be using up the rest of the gift cards on meals and last minute gifts in the next few days!

We said goodbye to our room and headed to the bus stop around 8:30. We caught a bus to MK, and from there we hopped on a monorail to the Poly.

Saw this on the bus ride...it would be really cool to have a fancy home right by WDW, but I think part of the magic is being able to stay at the resorts!



I love this picture of Evan and his crooked ears!



Welcome to Polynesia!



We made our way over to Kona Cafe and were seated pretty quickly. I was thinking maybe I would have the Tonga Toast, but I had tried that during our 2009 trip. When I saw this, I knew what I would be having:



Also back in 2009, I had ordered Kona coffee and got a cup of Kona Blend. It tasted ok, but it didn't taste anything like that great coffee smell pervading the restaurant. Well, it turned out the "real" Kona coffee was the pressed pot coffee. Well, this time I had to have the real thing! It's meant for two, but I figured what the heck, I'll order it anyway! It was yummy, but it was probably the most expensive cups of coffee I've ever had! I think I had about 2.5 cups, and that was my limit!



I wasn't kidding earlier when I said Sophia's favorite meal is breakfast. She ordered the Big Kahuna breakfast and ate every bit of it!



Evan had the Mickey pancakes with bacon...and I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a real Mickey pancake. Anyone who's been to the River Belle Terrace at Disneyland will know what I mean. I thought they made real Mickey pancakes throughout the Disney parks! Is it just Kona Cafe that puts three pancakes together?



Here's my pumpkin pancakes, and the grits I just HAD to order! Yum!





I ate every bit of those yummy creamy grits, but I only made it through about 1/3 of the pancakes. I really didn't want to waste them, and I figured they would last through the day without being refrigerated, so I packed them up in a to-go box to take with us. I could have them for dinner!

After breakfast, we walked through the Great Ceremonial House a bit and enjoyed the holiday decorations.



Hey Evan, don't put your head up like that!



LOL!



This one is my favorite!



We hopped back on the monorail and headed over to MK. Now keep in mind, both Sophia and I were carrying backpacks filled with stuff we didn't check with Bell Services. Then I was carrying a to-go box filled with my pancakes. I had my big camera around my neck an my smaller camera in my backpack. I also had some water and two cans of Coke from Laurie's gift bag (I have no idea why I brought the cans with me!). On top of all that, I was carrying our three rain ponchos since rain was supposed to hit us by midday. Those weren't heavy, but they weren't light either! To say we were loaded down would be an understatement! Luckily, we made it into MK, and I immediately headed over to the lockers so we could unload as much as we could!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Nice time at Epcot! Lunch especially looked good, but then I grew up with German food. The goodies in the caramel shop also looked quite delicious. Okay, I've had supper, but now I'm hungry again.

I love kraut, and sausages, and Reubens, and all that yummy stuff! We did Biergarten in 2009, but that was back when Evan was having a lot of difficulty eating anything but round chicken nuggets, lol, and I unfortunately spent much of that meal trying to find him things that he would eat (I think he ended up eating only bread during that meal because the awesome server brought him an entire plate of chicken strips, but Evan wouldn't have anything to do with it since they didn't look like the round nuggets he usually ate!). I had asked Sophia if she wanted to go back to Biergarten this time, but she isn't crazy about German food as you could probably tell!

[SuperDave]

Sounds like a great time in Germany and at Kona Cafe. Too bad no one could finish everything in Germany! Nice of the CM there to give you some free trips as Disney doesn't give much away for free! The Kona breakfast looked good. Would love to try the Kona coffee some day, but I usually wing it to WDW alone and I've had breakfast here on a few occasions and I think that's probably too much coffee for me and it's a bit pricey too!

Looking forward to POR as I'll be staying there at the end of March for the third time!