Summer at Saratoga Springs

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crazycatperson's picture
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Summer at Saratoga Springs

Day 1 - Arrival Day. The weather was perfect and traffic very light, so we made it to Baltimore in good time. We were amazed at how low the crowds were at the airport; baggage check and security took almost no time at all. At baggage check, an employee asked if we were going to WDW for ourselves or "for the kids." We said for us, of course, and I added, "Do you see any kids?" He was one of those people who don't get it - said he'd been once years ago and that was enough for him. At security, I got lucky; I was pulled from the regular line and given the TSA equivalent of a FastPass, allowed to skip the hassle of removing stuff from my carry-on, taking off my shoes, etc. This was especially convenient since I'd brought our laptop along, and repacking it in my backpack along with sundry items like underwear might have been a tad embarrassing. Hubby, unfortunately, was not so lucky, so I had to wait while he did the whole shoes and small bag of liquids check.

Once past security, we found our gate and then went looking for lunch. A Chipotle recently opened close to home, the first in our area, so when we noticed there was one among the several fast-food choices at the airport, there was no question where we would get lunch. Hubby got his favorite, a chicken burrito with loads of toppings, while I got mine, chicken tacos with just mild salsa and lettuce. By the time we'd finished eating, we realized we only had 15 minutes until boarding for our flight was due to begin. There were no adjoining vacant seats left near our gate, and since we were in the "A" boarding group, we figured we might as well just stand in our place in the boarding line. (For those who've never flown with Southwest, they don't assign seats, but you can pay a little extra for online check-in 24 hours before your flight, and the sooner you check in, the earlier you get to board.) As it turned out, though, our flight was delayed a bit and we didn't board until after the plane was supposed to have taken off, so we ended up standing in line rather longer than we'd anticipated. The flight itself was mostly smooth and completely uneventful, and the pilot put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, and got us to Orlando close to on time in spite of our late start.

We got our first taste of Florida summer weather upon landing. By the time we arrived at the Magical Express, the daily afternoon thunderstorm had started, and we drove to WDW with sheets of water cascading from the roof of the bus. Our bus was scheduled to stop at Old Key West, both Port Orleans resorts, and our resort, Saratoga Springs, and I was torn between hoping we'd be one of the earlier stops and wanting to check out POR and POFQ in person for the first time. Well, I got the first wish - we went to Saratoga Springs after OKW - so we'll have to check out the Port Orleanses some other time. The rain was still pouring after we checked in. I suggested waiting in the lobby for the rain to subside, but hubby wanted to catch a bus and get to our unit ASAP. Well, no problem for me - I had an umbrella - but he'd put his in his checked luggage, so ONE of us got soaked. (And before anyone says I should've shared my umbrella, that would've been useless for me - he's a good foot taller than I am, so when we share an umbrella, he gets all the benefit and I get wet.)

This is my first stay at Saratoga Springs. I know some people aren't overly fond of the resort, but I share hubby's opinion from his solo stay last November. I love it. The proximity to Downtown Disney is a real benefit since construction has made getting in and out by car or bus a lot harder than it used to be. We're staying in Congress Park, so it's just a short walk to the Marketplace shops and a boat ride to the West Side. (And we have a view slightly obstructed view from our balcony, blocked a bit by the tops of some trees but still pretty awesome.) Anyway, once the rain let up, we walked to Earl of Sandwich and got dinner. I had the holiday turkey, my very first time, and I agree with those who love it. I'm very glad it's not only on the menu during the holidays anymore. Hubby got the chipotle chicken avocado, which he's had before and says is his favorite. Since we're so close, I imagine we'll eat there again before this trip is over; my short list of other sandwiches to try includes the chipotle chicken avocado and the Hawaiian barbecue. We might also try the Wolfgang Puck Express, since it's also close and so many of you recommend it.

Our plan for Saturday evening was to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios to see some of the Frozen special events. Well, by the time we'd finished dinner and caught a bus, it was 8:15 p.m. and much to our dismay, half the parks' attractions had closed for the evening! There was a Frozen dance party going on, but we weren't really interested. We'd already missed FastPasses we had for Toy Story Mania (bummer!) and Star Tours (hubby only, so not a bummer for me). We tried to get over to Toy Story Mania, but a cast member wouldn't let us, and this is when we found out TSM was closed. How about the Great Movie Ride? Also closed, he said. Well, what IS open? I asked. Not much, as it turned out. Fantasmic was about to start, and we thought perhaps we could sneak into a back row seat, but before we reached the entrance we heard an announcement saying Fantasmic was at standing room only. No, thank you - we'd just started our vacation and would have other chances to see the show. So we headed over to Tower of Terror for our last FastPass of the evening, which was actually just for hubby because I can't handle anything like that due to motion sickness issues. He reported that the FP was no use at all; the standby line was as short as the FP line was. We killed a little time before the Frozen fireworks by hitting Hollywood Scoops for some ice cream. Amazingly, it was a disappointment. We usually get the butter pecan, but this time we mixed it up and got vanilla (hubby) and strawberry (me), and neither flavor measured up to the equivalent at a dairy back home that makes its own ice cream. Next time we'll have to go back to butter pecan.

As we ate our ice cream, we saw the Fantasmic crowds exiting the amphitheater and knew it was time to find a spot to watch the Frozen fireworks. Well, we were a bit late and had to stand over by Min and Bill's with trees and umbrellas in our way. And we couldn't see the stage show live and could barely see it on one of the video screens. The fireworks were excellent, fortunately, but beyond that we thought going to DHS that late was a waste of time since all the other Frozen events were done for the day by the time we arrived.

Well, so much for that. We caught a bus back to Saratoga Springs and started to unpack and get settled in. I'd already changed from my travel clothes to my "bum around the unit" clothes when hubby suggested walking back to DTD and getting a drink. It was past 11:00 by then, and I wasn't much in the mood, but he really wanted to go, and this is our anniversary trip, so I threw my clothes back on and out we went. Most shops and such were closed by then, although we did cruise through the Ghirardelli shop and picked out what kinds of chocolate we wanted to buy later in the trip. The first watering hole we encountered was Raglan Road, so we went inside, found a table, and perused the beverage menu. Hubby started with a Scottish beer, I think it was called Innis & Gunn, and I ordered a glass of riesling. The wine was okay; I like a dry to off-dry riesling, and this one was especially sweet. Hubby's beer, on the other hand, was awesome. I'm not a beer drinker, but I had a sip of his and then had a few more. I could order a glass of this stuff for myself. Hubby also ordered the scallops "pub grub," the one where you get six nice-sized sea scallops on forks with two dipping sauces. He let me have one, and I ended up having two, they were so tasty! A Celtic band was playing, and they were really good, so pretty soon I was quite glad I'd let hubby talk me into going, and we ended up staying a while. We even made plans to go back later in the week. Once hubby finished his beer, he ordered another (and I had another sip or three) while I got a glass of water (I'm a liquor lightweight, one glass is enough for me, aside from the occasional extra sip). Halfway through beer number two, hubby decided to try some good Irish whiskey and settled on a whiskey flight, with a "regular" whiskey, a 10-year-old whiskey, and a 16-year old all from the same distillery, Bushkill. He downed the least pricey in one shot while I took a sip of the 16-year-old variety. I am not a whiskey drinker, either, but OMG this stuff was awesome. Incredibly smooth and such an amazing flavor. I told hubby not to chug this one, to sip it slow and really savor it. He did and agreed that it was amazing. I could get a glass of this, also. So, thanks to Raglan Road, a disappointing Disney evening turned into an awesome one.

Around 1:30 in the morning the band ended their set and we headed out, only to discover that we weren't allowed to walk through DTD anymore. And the resort boats had stopped running, so we had to take the long way around to Saratoga Springs. We didn't get to bed till past 2:00 a.m. and had an alarm set for 7:30 so we could make it to the Magic Kingdom as close to rope drop as possible. But heck - we can sleep at home!

Next up: MK, Kona Cafe, and more liquid sunshine.

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Ahhhh fab first day! I too have slob about in the room clothes Wink I hope you make it to Wolfgang puck express as that was a total winner for me over EoS. What a bummer you couldn't walk back through DTD, but least you could take a nice stroll together on your anniversary Wink gotta look at the positives! Can't wait to read more xxx

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

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Wow! I LOVE nights that end up like that. Sorry for the long walk back but hopefully it added a little to the evening! biggrin

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Crazycatperson, a lot of the areas around and behind the hat is blocked off in the early evening due to the Frozen fireworks. That is why many of the attractions in that area are closed that early. I thought this was highly annoying that the fireworks actually interfered with the availability of these attractions.

Try Wolfgang puck express also for your meals in DD. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Zz.

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Sounds like you had a great end to your day. That was a good storm that came through last evening and I hope it's your only one you have for your week. Enjoy and Happy Anniversary!! mickey

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Glad that you guys made it safely. Sounds like Raglan Road was really awesome!

Magic Mirror's picture
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Yeah for unexpected treasured romantic moments!

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Since I consider it to be fall with school back in, when I saw you titled it "summer" at Saratoga Springs I thought you had booked another trip for next summer! I was thinking "She's just packed for a trip and she's already booking another?" laugh
Definatly a blonde moment laugh

Anyway, sounds like a great start to your trip! Iv'e never been to Raglan Road but I keep hearing good things about it. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

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Woohoo!! A live trip report!

Another delayed flight story. I'm as happy as the next person about not having a summer drought in the northeast for the first time in forever, but enough is enough already. This weather has made an airplane about as reliable as a hot air balloon.

So glad that you like Saratoga! We were very pleasantly surprised with our purchase there and even though we do want to try all of the resorts just to mix up the experience, I'm happy to stay at Saratoga any time.

Raglan Road sounds great! It's one of those places where we've always intended to go and just haven't made a point to do it yet! Happy to hear that you were able to salvage your evening there yay

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

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Sounds like you had an excellent first night, ands see, being a trooper and get dressed and going out again for your Hubby worked out. Those Whiskey Flights are awesome! awesome

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Hi, all! We're taking a midday heat break back in the room, but will be leaving soon for an early dinner at the Turf Club and then EEMH at DHS. I didn't have time this afternoon to write up touring summaries for yesterday or this morning, but I did type up some quick notes of both days so I won't forget anything. I also had the pleasure of meeting WDWFG member jhugo and hubbyhugo this morning at Animal Kingdom, and since we both plan on visiting Epcot tomorrow, who knows, we might run into each other again.

And I can't overstate how much I enjoy Saratoga Springs. It's a nice resort AND there's Downtown Disney right next door. Fingers crossed we get our Boardwalk DVC resale points, and if we do we'll probably buy any additional points there, but I would be very happy to stay here again.

Oh, and the weather. Oh my freaking golly it is HOT here! And humid. I can definitely see the point of taking a midday resort break when traveling this time of year.

I'm not sure when I'll have time to write the next chapter up - probably not tonight after EEMH but maybe midday Wednesday.

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Great meeting you and your hubby today. So much fun. We went and got drenched on Kali river rapids which helped with the heat. awesome

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Here are a few preliminary photos. These are all cell phone photos, so pardon the lack of quality. They include the view of Downtown Disney from the walkway near our building. We have that same view from our windows, but partially obscured by trees. Still, we can see La Nouba glowing all night long. They never turn off the lights! Also a photo of the band we saw perform at Raglan Road arrival night. More photos and more trip report to come.

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Day 2 - Magic Kingdom, Kona Cafe, and more liquid sunshine.

Sunday morning we had an alarm set for 7:30 so we could do as much touring as possible before the midday heat got really bad. We hit the snooze a couple of times but still made it to the Magic Kingdom just as the opening show was concluding; we even saw the train pulling out of the station. Someday we will see that darn show.

Our first stop inside the park was Guest Services so we could purchase tickets to Tuesday's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Claire, the cast member who helped us, was superb. When we asked about the Annual Pass discount, she told us she couldn't sell AP discount tickets, then pulled out the desk phone, called the number herself, handed the receiver to me, and gave me pen and paper so I could write down the confirmation number. She even chatted up hubby while I was dealing with business, and both of us while I was on hold, telling us how much she loves MNSSHP and goes every year with her grandkids. Once the tickets had been purchased, she took the number, handed us two pass cards, and wished us a good day. Love that Disney service.

At MK we used to start with Buzz Lightyear and then head for the Fantasyland attractions. But now, in the days of FastPass+, we found that heading in the direction of our first FP made more sense, so we were off to Adventureland. First stop was Pirates of the Caribbean using the standby queue, which was no problem since we literally walked right on and even had a boat to ourselves. We then stopped at Sleepy Hollow for breakfast - a Nutella and fruit waffle for hubby and a waffle with strawberries, hold the whipped cream, for me. Just a warning, if you ever get a strawberry waffle without the cream, be careful because the strawberry juice drips everywhere!

By the time we'd finished eating it was time for our Haunted Mansion FP, which was hardly necessary since we ended up in the same place as the standby folks. After that we checked Peter Pan's Flight, but the standby wait was already too long for my tastes, so we hopped onto It's a Small World using the standby queue. Next up was our Splash Mountain FastPass. We got lucky - later on I discovered an email saying our Splash FP had to be cancelled because the ride would not be running. If I'd read it first we wouldn't have gone over, and would've missed out because the ride was, in fact, open. This is one of our favorites, so I'm really glad they got it up and running in time for us to ride.

After Splash we had a little time to kill before our lunch ADR at Kona Cafe, so we decided to take the train around to the Main Street station and then boarded the resort boat over to the Polynesian. I'll try to add details about our lunch (which was excellent) and the rest of the day later this evening.

And now, it's on to Epcot and our first time dining at Akershus.

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Ahhh sounds a fab morning! I can't believe you held the cream?! Whit??! That's the best bit!!

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

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Sounds like a great trip so far! We've been finding that starting in Adventureland does seem to be a good strategy at MK these days.

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

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Yep, hold the cream. I'm a bit lactose intolerant - I can handle it sometimes, but too much is not a good thing, and we'd just had ice cream the previous evening.

Anyway, on to the rest of Day 2.

At Kona Cafe we ordered the pot sticker appetizer, hoping they would be the same as the ones at 'Ohana, and the steamed pork buns just because we very much enjoyed a similar item at Yak and Yeti last spring. The pot stickers were good, although not quite as tasty as those at 'Ohana, but the steamed pork buns were amazing. In the future we'll skip the other appetizers and just get two orders of those. Hubby ordered one of the two Polynesian plate lunches, the one featuring grilled teriyaki steak with grilled pineapple salsa along with sticky rice and pasta salad on the side. He loved the steak, although he wished it had been accompanied by a little more pineapple salsa and declared the pasta salad unremarkable. I had the fish tacos - seared tilapia with tomato salsa and mango mayonnaise served on house-made tortillas, also accompanied by that pasta salad along with a tiny portion of smoky bacon slaw. I generally don't care for pasta salad, so I never even tasted it, and the portion of slaw was so minuscule that I thought it was a garnish and didn't taste it either - I didn't realize it was part of the dish until I looked up the names and descriptions of our dishes online. As for the fish taco, this is something I make at home all the time, although I use battered fish fillets from the grocer's freezer, corn tortillas (not taco shells, real tortillas), and homemade chipotle mayonnaise. I do prefer the chipotle mayo to the mango mayo, but even so I loved the fish tacos. The tortilla was more like the gordita or chalupa shells you'd find at Taco Bell, but infinitely better, and the fish was perfectly seasoned and seared. I would definitely order this dish again. Apologies for having no photos, but I don't always feel comfortable snapping flash photos of the food at a table-service restaurant.

While we were eating, a brief but heavy rain shower passed by - more of that liquid sunshine they talk about in Florida. By the time we went back outside, the real sun was shining again. We split up at this point; I took the monorail back to MK to catch the bus to SSR, while hubby hopped a Downtown Disney bus so he could walk over to the Hess station and buy some cigarettes. As it was, he could've come with me; he texted when his bus arrived at DTD, and my bus was just pulling up to our bus stop at SSR, so he only saved a few minutes. But those few minutes were a very good thing because he only just made it back to our rooms before the heavens opened up again.
Meanwhile, I was lucky to get a shower in before the thunderstorm hit - also a very good thing because my midday shower breaks have been lifesavers for me in this hot sticky weather. I have never enjoyed showering so much. Same with our midday resort breaks - I usually hate to take precious time away from the parks when we're at WDW, but this time of year it's absolutely essential as far as I'm concerned.It rained for the rest of the day and evening. We tried waiting it out, but eventually gave up, grabbed umbrellas, and headed back to MK. Our first stop was Casey's, where we grabbed corn dog nuggets and shared an order of fries. Thanks to the rain, the line was nonexistent, although finding a table out of the rain was a bit of a problem. We ended up outside under umbrellas that were barely large enough to keep the rain off and ate our dinner while watching the ubiquitous begging ducks that hang out at every WDW outdoor food venue.

After dinner we passed by Peter Pan again, but even with the rain the line was still too long. Instead we headed for Winnie the Pooh, where we had FastPass+. Then we decided to ride Under the Sea. By now it was getting dark, and we somehow managed to miss the right entrance and ended up in line for the Ariel meet and greet instead. Surprise! I knew the attraction queue didn't look right, but we still didn't realize our mistake until we could actually see Ariel posing with other park guests. At that point it would've been a bit rude to walk out on the poor girl, so we dutifully took our turn. I must say, it was not a waste of time. The CM portraying Ariel did a fine job, seemed right in character, and interacted with us very nicely. Once we'd had our turn, we found the real Under the Sea entrance. And it was fine, except for the Ariel animatronic in the room where all the fish are singing - the animatronic had malfunctioned, and only Ariel's eyes were moving, plus her head was twisted at a very awkward angle. I hope they fixed it overnight, it was really rather creepy.

Hubby wanted to try the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train since the standby wait was relatively short, perhaps 30 to 40 minutes, but I definitely did not want to attempt it in the rain (and I'm still debating whether I should attempt it at all now that I've seen it in motion). I told him he could ride without me while I did It's a Small World half a dozen times, but he didn't want to, so we moved on to Tomorrowland and pretty much walked on or into Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc., and the People Mover.

At this point it was around 9:20. I suggested doing Haunted Mansion again now that it was dark outside because our eyes would be better adjusted to the conditions inside the ride. (For you young folks, we old farts need more time for our eyes to adjust to differences in the lighting. If we ride HM during a bright day, I can't see really clearly until a few minutes into the ride, meaning I miss some details at first. But when we ride at night, I can see everything.) It was 9:40 when we exited HM, so we decided to hit the Jungle Cruise on our way out of the park because it's always more fun in the dark.

Next I took a restroom break while hubby visited the nearby tobacco attraction, and while I was inside I heard the evening fireworks begin, which surprised me - even though the rain had let up some, it was still misting a little and I assumed there would be no fireworks. I headed over to the bridge between the Adventureland entrance and Liberty Square and was able to see most of the show. Hubby joined me after his smoke break. And then we headed for the bus stop and went straight to bed as soon as we were "home" - no nightlife for us this evening.

Next up - Animal Kingdom, the Turf Club for dinner, and EEMH at DHS

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Loving your trip report!

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Ahh sounds like a fun afternoon, I totally agree about jungle cruise in the dark, much better!

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

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Fantastic TR loving it live from the world!!!! sounds like you are having a great time!

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crazycatperson wrote:
Once we'd had our turn, we found the real Under the Sea entrance. And it was fine, except for the Ariel animatronic in the room where all the fish are singing - the animatronic had malfunctioned, and only Ariel's eyes were moving, plus her head was twisted at a very awkward angle. I hope they fixed it overnight, it was really rather creepy.

Almost every time we ride UTS we have the exact opposite happen with that Ariel. Usually, all of her body is moving fine, but her eyes are always messed up. One time one eye was fine but the other eye was rolled the whole way up in her head, so just one eye was all white. On several occasions, her left eye is not moving and it's turned so far off in the corner she's almost looking behind her, but the right eye is still functioning normally. Both scenarios were creepy too!

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crazycatperson wrote:
I suggested doing Haunted Mansion again now that it was dark outside because our eyes would be better adjusted to the conditions inside the ride. (For you young folks, we old farts need more time for our eyes to adjust to differences in the lighting. If we ride HM during a bright day, I can't see really clearly until a few minutes into the ride, meaning I miss some details at first. But when we ride at night, I can see everything.)

I understand exactly what you mean CCP!! We rode HM and Spaceship Earth at night and you can see so much more. It's been a while since we have done that, so I had forgotten all about the difference. awesome

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I'm a few days behind in writing up the trip report, but of course actually doing WDW is a much higher priority than writing about it. I can finish the trip report back home. But I wanted to mention that we had dinner at The Wave tonight, and OMG what an awesome meal it was. Definitely our favorite of the whole trip so far, and I can't imagine Coral Reef (tomorrow's lunch) can top it. If the food is that delicious at The Wave, I can only imagine how amazing it is at the California Grill.

Just one more full day and then we head home. We've decided to skip doing a park Saturday morning so we can sleep in a bit and not rush around trying to check out and visit a park. Instead we'll have lunch and prowl around Downtown Disney until we have to head back to Saratoga Springs to catch the Magical Express. Hard to believe the week is almost over, but I can't really feel all that bad since we have two more trips planned between now and February.

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I'm so pleased you posted about your amazing meal at the Wave! (Given that is where we are having our vow renewal meal after that 'animal' cancelled our Ohana ressie), can't wait for you to update with what you ate. We are fans of coral reef, I hope you have a good meal. If you have room the chocolate wave really is something special! And this is from a woman who doesn't like chocolate Wink it's that good...

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

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I'm also glad that you liked The Wave! I booked an ADR there for this trip and Benn was a little iffy about the menu. Enjoy the rest of your trip--looking forward to hearing more when you get home mickey

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

crazycatperson's picture
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I won't make you wait until I finally get around to writing up Thursday's touring summary to tell you about our fabulous meal at The Wave.

We shared the Wave Appetizer for Two: Two Lump Crab-Florida Rock Shrimp Cakes with Florida Corn Tomalito, Avocado Mousse, and Pickled Pero Farm Peppers; and Two Sustainable Fish Tacos with Apple-Jicama Slaw, Yuzu Gelato, and Soft Flour Tortillas. Both were fantastic, and the corn in the corn salad that came with the crab/shrimp cakes was real fresh summer corn!

I had Today's Sustainable Grilled Fish (which was swordfish). The online description says "on Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Artichokes, Tomato Broth, and Pancetta," but mine came with the potatoes, pearl onions, lightly grilled or sauteed tomatoes, and no artichokes, and I'm fairly sure the sauce was not tomato broth. But they specialize in seasonal produce, which probably explains the difference. Anyway, it was probably the best swordfish I've ever had, including the excellent swordfish entree that I had at Teppan Edo two years ago.

Hubby got the Curry Vegetarian Stew with Butternut Squash, Organic Beans, Asparagus, Pink Lady Apples, Locally-sourced Vegetables, and Jade Rice. He said, "You know a restaurant is great when they can make vegetables this delicious." The veggies were perfectly done and the curry broth was spectacular (we each had a taste of the other's entree). We aren't vegetarians, but if all vegetarian dishes were this good, I could be one.

And we also enjoyed Coral Reef very much; it's also made our list of favorite WDW restaurants, but I'll write that up later.

alicemouse's picture
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Joined: 10/22/2013
Posts: 2832

crazycatperson wrote:
I won't make you wait until I finally get around to writing up Thursday's touring summary to tell you about our fabulous meal at The Wave.

We shared the Wave Appetizer for Two: Two Lump Crab-Florida Rock Shrimp Cakes with Florida Corn Tomalito, Avocado Mousse, and Pickled Pero Farm Peppers; and Two Sustainable Fish Tacos with Apple-Jicama Slaw, Yuzu Gelato, and Soft Flour Tortillas. Both were fantastic, and the corn in the corn salad that came with the crab/shrimp cakes was real fresh summer corn!

I had Today's Sustainable Grilled Fish (which was swordfish). The online description says "on Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Artichokes, Tomato Broth, and Pancetta," but mine came with the potatoes, pearl onions, lightly grilled or sauteed tomatoes, and no artichokes, and I'm fairly sure the sauce was not tomato broth. But they specialize in seasonal produce, which probably explains the difference. Anyway, it was probably the best swordfish I've ever had, including the excellent swordfish entree that I had at Teppan Edo two years ago.

Hubby got the Curry Vegetarian Stew with Butternut Squash, Organic Beans, Asparagus, Pink Lady Apples, Locally-sourced Vegetables, and Jade Rice. He said, "You know a restaurant is great when they can make vegetables this delicious." The veggies were perfectly done and the curry broth was spectacular (we each had a taste of the other's entree). We aren't vegetarians, but if all vegetarian dishes were this good, I could be one.

And we also enjoyed Coral Reef very much; it's also made our list of favorite WDW restaurants, but I'll write that up later.

Wonderful! That sounds delicious. muchlove

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Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

RobynPrincess's picture
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Ahhhh that sounds wonderful! Glad to hear you also enjoyed coral reef Laughing out loud

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

JoAnn C's picture
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Joined: 05/20/2011
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sounds like a great trip. I am looking forward to trying the Wave next month.

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The Watchmaker's picture
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Joined: 07/08/2014
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Wow...I'am also glad you enjoyed The Wave as we have an ADR there also..Only because it's been reviewed as a hidden gem.Great report by the way.. awesome

crazycatperson's picture
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Check-out day, bummer! I wish I could stay another week. Today's agenda is one last trip to Downtown Disney and then ME to the airport in the early afternoon. I'm sure I'll want to write trip report as soon as we get home to keep the magic alive a little longer.