Monday, May 28, 2012

The Rest of our WDW Weekend

This will be the last post on our recent May trip to Walt Disney World. In earlier posts we covered some Flower and Garden Festival fun and the Everest Challenge 5k race/scavenger hunt.

After checking in at Bay Lake Tower we had time to catch a late dinner at The California Grill. We both ordered the filet mignon. Holly's was a little overcooked, and Dave's was fine, but the side dishes were off. GREAT appetizers. Holly had the mushroom gnocchi and Dave had the onion tart. We split the kid's sushi dessert which consists of rice crispy treats with fruit roll-ups, Swedish Fish, etc. our waitress Jenny was lots of fun! Afterwords we made it for a drink to the Top of the World Lounge in Bay Lake Tower. This bar is only available to DVC members staying at BLT on points. Thanks to the nice bartender Mike, we got to start our Blanton's whiskey bottle top collection.

The next morning was Epcot and rope-drop. We picked a quick turnstile row and would have made it to be first in line for Soarin', but it was broken. So to make up for it we got to be the first guests on Living with The Land. Soarin' was still down when we exited Living with the Land so we hit The Living Seas, Art of Disney, and Spaceship Earth. As we got back to the hub Soarin' was listed as open with a 20 minute wait. We hauled it over there and found a 60 minute wait. No Soarin' today. We capped our Future World time with The Fairy Garden, Butterfly House, F&G Festival Center and a few shops. We also saw the Test Track All-stars. This is a singing group placed to entertain the crowds in front of the under-renovation Test Track. No comment....

Lots planned for World Showcase today. We saved the world twice playing Kim Possible in Norway and The UK. We of course made it into La Cava del Tequilia right when they opened. Lunch plans were kinda up-in-the air and we lucked into a Via Napoli walk-up. Four cheese pizza and a pitcher of La Rossa because it's a better deal.







After lunch we visited Tutto Gusto, Italy's new wine bar. This place rocks. Good wine selection by the glass, a few beers on tap, full bar, and decent food/dessert choices.



We played Pick-a-Pearl in Japan, watched Miyuki make candy, and Dave tried on kimonos. No silky ones in his size so he didn't buy one. We caught a set from The British Revolution and our favorites Off-Kilter.

Dinner was at Bluzoo over at The Dolphin. It was not that great. Bad service, mediocre entrees.... Our last visit was better, but now having a second look at the menu it seems rather limited for our tastes. We'd absolutely go back for drinks at the bar, but that's it for now. We walked back to The Boardwalk and sat at the bar of The Flying Fish so Dave could get his favorite dessert: Banana Napoleon. We each tried flights while there: Holly had the pinot noir flight and Dave the dessert wine flight. Fun! We headed back via cab to BLT.

Next up was Magic Kingdom and race day. We checked out of Bay Lake Tower and put our car as close as we could to the MK walkway. We watched the opening train station show and made our way into the park. As we power-walked Main Street a bunch of car dealership owners lined the street to welcome us. It was their corporate convention event. We bee-lined to the new Dumbo location and made it first in line. There really wasn't anyone behind us. We don't think people know it is open yet. The new ride looks good, but we missed Timothy Mouse on the top of the ride.



We also gave Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom a try. This is a new game that is a cross between Kim Possible and Pokemon. Players get a key card, 5 character spell cards, and a map. Players visit portals (video screen) around the MK and use their spell cards to beat the villains. You get new cards each MK visit and your cards level up the more you play them. There are 70 cards and they make nice collectibles. This has the potential to be fun, but it's slow. You end up waiting on lines all day (and lines not for attractions) because it's popular and games can take 2-5 mintues a turn. We quit after our 2nd terminal.

The rest of the day was covered in our  Everest Challenge race report.

The next morning we got up late. Dave went and grabbed us breakfast from The Mara (AKL quick service restaurant). We boarded a bus for Disney Hollywoods Studios and arrived after ten. Waits weren't too bad for Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Rock n Rollercoaster. We didn't bother with Toy Story.....we visited the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. Looked like fun for the kids. We had a pre-lunch snack of Dad's Lemonade and Peanut Butter & Jelly Milkshake at Tune-in Lounge. Then we had lunch at the boat hot dog stand. Too full......

We left the Studios with the plan to walk to Epcot. It was really warm and the Epcot bus just happened to stop right next to us on the path.........

We spent the rest of the day doing what we do best: Walking around the World Showcase. We watched some Off-Kilter, enjoyed ciders in The Rose & Crown, played our last Kim Possible in France, visited Tutto Gusto one more time (where Dave started to spontaneously combust), toured more F&G Fest displays, etc. we left relatively early and ended up packing up to leave the next morning. Before dinner we went to the animal viewing area of Jambo House, participated in the marshmallow roast, sat by the fire pit and had a drink at Victoria Falls Lounge. We enjoyed a great meal at Jiko which included favorites such as the wild boar, BBQ flat bread, and filet mignon with mac and cheese. After dinner we used the night vision goggles to view animals and watched some of the outdoor movie by the pool (Winnie the Pooh). After that it was time to pack it in and get ready for our 3:30am wake-up call.

Once again another great trip.



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