We are going to Disney in 3 weeks, for our Spring break! update 6/12 Boma

[mousegear]

Yes, true to the title, I booked this trip exactly 25 days before. When I booked this trip, I was sitting at home because we had Category 3 Nor'easter and getting tired of cold weather. I decided that it has been entirely too long since we've been to Disney (1 year ago- DS's last spring break) and the weather in Florida around this time is just too gorgeous although the crowd level is insane. I had enough points on my Amex SPG to cover our entire trip so I started to search SPG site to see the availability at Dolphin/Swan. And my luck is that they didn't have the availability for the whole week. I know, I am super late into booking lodging for prime Spring break so I am willing to do split stay. I quickly checked, next year's school calendar and noticed that next year's Spring break falls a week before so if I bough APs, we could make at least two trips. So I bought APs and started searching for lodging with AP discounts. Thankfully, they had some, if not many choices. I decided to settle for AKL standard view (only thing available) for a part of our stay.
So in the end,
4/7~4/9 Dolphin
4/9~4/12 AKL
4/12~4/13 Dolphin
Normally, I would not do this many split stays for a short trip but I had to accept it since this was booked only 3 weeks before. Only thing available for our whole stays were Deluxe resorts with 2-bedroom CL which the prices are pretty scary during Spring break and the value resorts. BTW, we don't do value resorts. We've stayed over at Pop for a night and never again. Once was enough for us. I would much rather stay for a longer trip but W could only miss one weekend for his extracurricular activity so I decided to the weekend before the Easter rather than Easter weekend.

So who are on this trip? It's two of us this trip, DS 13, we will call him W and mom, G. We've been to WDW more than 20 times so we don't do all day at park. We are both morning birds so we like to do morning EMH and do few rides and relax at the resort and eat good food. We've mostly eaten at TS restaurants with TIW but we do have a few favorite CS. We haven't done crazy TS ADRs in the past several trips. We would make an ADR the night before or on the day of depending on the availability. However, on this trip, there were a few that I wanted to make ADR before we left for the trip like ROL package and Cali Grill brunch (b/c we haven't done it before). And I got the crazy idea that maybe we should do a deluxe dining plan for the AKL stay. Yep, I was crazy. I am not a big eater. I actually eat smaller portions than normal people. However, after going through possible place, I would like to eat during our vacation, it just made sense to to DxDP. Although it's 18 TS credits, it's spread out over 4 full days, so it's much more doable. Besides, W usually eats double portions these days so he could definitely help me finish.


So three weeks flew by pretty quickly between my work and W's school and activities. We said our good by to our dog, Coco. He is 1.5 y/o yorkie. My parents took care of him while we were away.

We arrived at Orlando pretty early around 9:30am. We debated while driving the rental car to Dolphin, if we should grab something to eat on the way or at Dolphin/Swan. However, we didn't have much choice since we hit the traffic on I-4. It was just bad and I could see W getting really hangry. W is very mild tempered and easy child despite his teen years. However, when he gets hangry, he doesn't like to talk and gets moody. It's usually very easy since I just have to make sure too feed him. After stuck on traffic for 45 minutes were more, I finally pulled out of I-4 for Disney Springs exit. I had to feed DS ASAP and I am not going to sit on I-4 for any longer. After quickly talking over our options, we decided on McDonalds for quick drive through for their breakfast options. Nothing great but did the job of filling our tummies. Instead of taking I-4, I decided to drive over Disney Springs to Dolphin. Besides hitting some traffic lights, we are cruising and got to Dolphin around 10:30.

After unloading the car for the bell service, I went to park car while W decided to wait in the lobby. Dolphin's lobby was bursting with activities. There were many people in and out also quick a few people were in line for the check-in as well. I didn't have much hope for our room to be ready since this was one of the busiest week and it seems that both Dolphin/Swan were having some kind of conventions. Much to my surprise, the girl at the check-in desk said that our room was ready and also found me a room on high floor and somewhat near elevator/lobby. Those of you who are not familiar with Dolphin, the resort has two wings, East and West and if you get a room towards the end of a wing, it could be a mile walk each time from the lobby.

 

[mousegear]

So our room was ready and it's 14th floor. I rather get a high floor room in Florida, it seems to me the lower floor rooms tend have musty smell due to humidity and dampness. We were one of the rooms in the pyramid so it was very short walk to the elevator/lobby to ground floor which leads to the boat dock and restaurants. We didn't get any upgrades since they are solidly booked but at least we got renovated room. Everything looked clean and new.









We rested bit in our room and talked over what we should do. I didn't make any ADRs and only thing I made were some FPs for Epcot at night. W wanted to do egg hunting around the world and I was all up for it. The weather was gorgeous this day. It was in low 70s with nice wind. We decided to take the boat to Epcot to save our legs. There was no hurry and just beautiful day to absorb the scenery. After YC/BC and Boardwalk, we were at International Gateway. Before we could go in, we had to change our AP vouchers to real AP tickets at Guest Relations.



There was no line to get in and we bough Easter Egg hunt at World Traveler. W decided to make a right to France and with the excitement of looking for the eggs, he started running. I don't know about you but 40+ old body does not like running especially with the crazy amount of crowd. Eventually, somewhere in America, I told him that either he goes by himself or we have to slow down. I already felt like I did a marathon at this point. Also, at this point, it was around 3pm and only food we had was McDonald's breakfast so I had to remind him that we should get something to eat. However, W was having so much fun that he didn't feel hunger and he just wanted to finish the map. Around Mexico, I finally convinced him that I am hungry and he should eat something as well. So we looked and found Shrimp Skewer at La Isla Fresca.




This was so good! It had five decent sized shrimps skewered to a bamboo stick. The shrimps were cooked to perfection and the sauce had lots of flavors. W suddenly realized how hungry he was after sharing the shrimps and decided that he wanted another one.



Spicy Hot Dog with Pineapple Chutney and Plantain Chips from Pineapple promenade. This sucker was really spicy. It has great flavor and texture was really fun with crunch plantain chips but it really had nice kick. It was spicy enough that we had to buy a water. W kept saying it's spicy but continued eating it. We ended up finishing the egg map to UK and back to World Showcase promenade to collect the egg. I believe W chose a Nemo egg since he collected Stitch and Cheshire cat eggs last year.



Next more things to eat...

 

[mousegear]

After collecting the egg with satisfied W, we were in a search for some food. I quickly looked into MDE app to see the availabilities but didn't find anything we would like to eat. We still had about an hour before hour first FP+ so we decided to try Sunshine Seasons. As much as we've been to WDW, we've never eaten lunch/dinner at Sunshine Seasons. I've read some great reviews from various reports so was looking forward to it. When we went to Sunshine Seasons it was basically empty other than people rushing to Soarin or 45 min line of Living with the Land. We looked around our options but didn't find many things too appetizing despite our hunger. However at this point, we were too lazy to get out and search for another option so we settled for

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Jasmin Rice and Mangolian Beef with Jasmin Rice and Strawberry Shortcake



W described the food as "just like school food." That just sums it up. It wasn't any good. Beef was actually pretty salty and Chicken was dry and just swimming in sauce. We were pretty hungry at this point so ate some. Even the strawberry shortcake wasn't that fresh and we've had some good ones from the past.
After our unappetizing meal, we've used our FP+ for much waited Soarin. It was our first time riding the new version and I love Soarin. It's my favorite ride in WDW and had high expectations. After a short wait, it was our turn and we love the new version as well. We will surely miss the old one (I guess we could get our fill at Disney Land) but new one is definitely cool. Living with the Land posted 10 minute wait so we lined up and rode that. Afterwards, we experimented with the purple dragon with FP, we didn't want to wait almost an hour for our next FP for MS to open up. We decided to slowly walk back and maybe try more F&G booth as we were still a bit hungry after our not so stellar dinner.

Beef Tenderloin Tips, Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce, Whipped Potatoes with Garden Vegetables from Northern Bloom - Canada



This was good. Beef was tender and mushroom sauce was rich and went well with potatoes.
Nothing in Cider House -UK was appealing so we decided to move onto France.

Poulet aux Ecrevisses, Riz Pilaf: Baked Chicken with Crawfish served with Rice Pilaf from Fleur de Lys



This was yuck! Chicken had that poultry smell and the crawfish also had fishy taste. We had one bite and went into the trash can. Such a waste! W and I decided at this point, we need to clean our palate with some ice cream from L'Artisan des Graces.
W got a mango and I got coffee. As usual, ice cream was creamy and flavorful.



After that we decided to call it a day. Illumination was about to start so many people were staking seats around the showcase and we were tired from traveling. Side note: W had a massive allergic reaction about a week before and he was still on his last of steroid pills. He would normally never nap but since the reaction, he wasn't himself. He's allergic to apple and peach but only in a raw form. So he is fine with apple juice or apple pie. However, since he is allergic to them, he stays away from any form and he hasn't had a allergic reaction in many, many years so we really don't know where this one was triggered.

 

[kastoney]

I'm here, I'm here. Love that you got the AP's to get the discount Hate that we won't have one for the first time in a while this year. That chicken aside everything is looking great so far. Can't wait to see more.

 

[mousegear]

I'm here, I'm here. Love that you got the AP's to get the discount Hate that we won't have one for the first time in a while this year. That chicken aside everything is looking great so far. Can't wait to see more.

Thank you for joining! This is only the beginning. I felt like we didn't start the night well by eating at CS. We should have just come back to the resort and tried our luck at one of the restaurants.

 

[mousegear]

On our first full day, we got up nice and early and drove over to AK. We were in line by 7:40 for 8 EMH. We had maybe a few groups ahead of us before the turnstile. It's always very interesting at AK how people split into two either for Safari or EE. Well, we were one of those people who were going for EE and when we were near Yak and Yeti, there was a CM telling everyone that EE is down and may not be up for awhile. Many just continued on for the hope that it would soon run but we decided to turn around and head for Safari. By the time we got to Safari, it was posting 20 minute wait. It was more like 15 minute wait and we had a great ride as the animals were so lively that morning. Giraffe and white rhino literally came right next to our car and hung around a bit. Afterwards, we did Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl and It's Tough to Be a Bug. We booked our FP+ for another park for the evening and we were so glad that we did. EE ended up not running the whole time we were there. At this point we were a bit peckish so we headed for Creatures of Comfort. While I decided for liquid diet, W wanted chocolate cake pops.





I thought I took picture of our drink and the cake pop but I can't find it. Well, I got warm green tea latte as it was bit chilly that morning. We enjoyed gummy frogs I got the night before from Germany while people watching and talking over what we should do at this point. It was barely 10am and we were pretty much done with rides since EE was still down. We debated if we should watch Festival of Lion King but better idea came. We decided to walk over to Safari and see if there's any opening for the Caring for Giants tour. It is pretty new (only three weeks old at that time) tour about the elephants that lasts an hour long. I've read about it online before we left but didn't want to commit to a certain time since I didn't want another appointment and this tour is offered many slots through out the day. I walked over to the kiosk and asked if there's any opening for the tour and the girl said how about one that's about to start in 15 minutes. Perfect! I quickly paid for it (there was AP discount 15%) and used bathroom since there's not one available during the tour. We were taken to the back stage for a van ride to where they keep the elephants.

The whole time one CM or another would tell you very interesting facts about elephants either in real life or the one they have. We were taken to the back of Safari where elephants are. We could see many Safari trucks pass as we are watching and listening about the elephants. Three CM's took turn explaining about elephants and one of them was keeper of the elephants at AK, the other talked about saving elephants from poaching and he was an ambassador from one of those countries who are trying to protect the elephant herds, and the other CM talked about elephants and their presence in African farming. Overall, it was very interesting and educational. We also enjoyed just watching the beautiful creatures away from the hustle and bustle of the park crowd. It almost felt unreal and serene to be staying there on the beautiful day making observation of the baby elephant (Stella) and it mother and the whole herds. Towards the end of the presentation, a CM who seems to be in charge of this whole tour took pictures for each group (if desired) and also approached me separately and asked me how I heard about this tour since we were the only one in the tour who are just regular guests. There were three groups/families including us and one of them was doing a college program and the other, I guess she's pretty high up since the most CMs recognized her and her young son by names.












W declared that the tour was the best thing we did this trip and I totally agree with him. It was one of the most inexpensive tour Disney offers and it gave wealth of information. I think also that our small group of 6 in the tour really helped setting the peacefulness of the tour. I really recommend this to any age group. I thought since I am not doing full trip report but this tour is so new that there was no report yet, I would included this here. But up next post, Yak and Yeti lunch.

 

[mousegear]

When we got back infront of Safari, it was 11:15 and we were getting hungry. Off to our favorite TS restaurant in AK. Yak and Yeti is our go to TS when we are hungry at AK since it's Landry's restaurant, no need to make a reservation. By the time we got to the restaurant, it was 11:40 and still no EE running. There were quit a few people waiting to be seated in the lobby. I showed my laundry's card and we were seated less than 10 minutes. We were seated second floor by the windows and this was our view.





We decided to share an appetizer. Firecracker Shrimp - crispy fried shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce, Asian slaw



Crispy shrimps and the sauce had lots of heat. However, the slaw helps cut down the heat. This was just as good as last time.

W choose Crispy Honey Chicken -tempura chicken, sugar snap peas, carrots, honey sauce with jasmine rice



What could go wrong with this option? It is something basic and comfort food. The chicken was piping hot and the vegetables were nice al dente just the way we like.

I choose from their seasonal offerings. Sriracha Fish Taco - Crispy Sriracha battered cod, flour tortilla, asian slaw, jasmine rice and stir-fried vegetables.



The taco was really good. Perhaps too much heat because of our choice from appetizer to this entree but it did taste good. Each taco was huge and I could only finish only two despite my best effort. I really didn't see the point of jasmine rice to this dish. And also the stir-fried vegetables were really soggy. I like my veggies al dente so I helped myself from W's plate but there were plenty of veggies in my taco. Overall, really good meal and we will probably return here again on our next visit to AK.

 

[tigerlilly]

Awesome reviews! Sounds like you had a great time!!!

 

[DaisyNY]

Never heard of the Giants Tour...my DD would love that! Is there a special kiosk near Safari where you sign up? Pricing? Thanks!

 

[kastoney]

Wow your elephant tour looks and sounds amazing. Where did you hear about that? Sounds like a great experience.

Glad you all enjoyed Yak n Yeti, its become one of our favorites too. Your tacos look delicious.

 

[mousegear]

Awesome reviews! Sounds like you had a great time!!!

Thank you. We did have a great time. I think we had a perfect start of our vacation.

Never heard of the Giants Tour...my DD would love that! Is there a special kiosk near Safari where you sign up? Pricing? Thanks!

There is a kiosk right across from Safari entrance to sign up (back corner of Tusker House building) or if you know your date and time, you could call disney reservations and sign up prior. The price was $30 pp and they gave 15% discount for AP. I think they have almost 10 tours through out the day so it's hardly likely that it fills up.

Wow your elephant tour looks and sounds amazing. Where did you hear about that? Sounds like a great experience.

Glad you all enjoyed Yak n Yeti, its become one of our favorites too. Your tacos look delicious.

You know, since I only booked this trip only 3 weeks before, I tried to do some researching and last minute reservations. While doing that I was actually looking for tours that could be done at AKL but those were long gone when I called the reservations. However, I stumbled upon this tour while reading through possible tours Disney offers. Interesting thing was that this tour is so new that no one put a review yet. It is fairly priced (compared to other tours) and only take an hour or little longer so doesn't really require huge commitment. Also, walking is minimal.

Yeah, we really like Yak and Yeti and we've been going there every AK day.

 

[HolRae]

I was so excited to see your thoughts on the caring for giants tour. I have this booked for next week. Those tacos at yak and yeti look really good.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I totally want to do that tour! How cool that you were able to add it at the last minute. We are having lunch at Yak & Yeti on our next trip, too. I am really looking forward to it!

 

[mousegear]

I was so excited to see your thoughts on the caring for giants tour. I have this booked for next week. Those tacos at yak and yeti look really good.

Hopefully you like the tour as much as we did. We just had a wonderful time and the best memories from it.

I totally want to do that tour! How cool that you were able to add it at the last minute. We are having lunch at Yak & Yeti on our next trip, too. I am really looking forward to it!

We felt pretty lucky to add it so last minute and without waiting long for it was plus! The park was insanely full due to EMH that morning and back of the park was just so peaceful. We have many good reviews to come! Thank you for reading!

 

[mousegear]

After our tummies full, we quickly excited AK as it was too crowded and rested and relaxed back at the resort. We decided to eat something at the resort tonight since DHS does not offer many CS options. We wanted to go to Kimonos but they open at 5:30 which would result us losing first FP+ at DHS. So we decided to go down to Picabu and get their Nachos.



Picabu's nacho is huge! It comes in a huge plate full and they load up the toppings to your liking.
Loaded Nachos - topped with chili, jalapenos, scallions, sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, melted cheese, and shredded cheddar cheese. Best part is it's priced fairly. $10.99 and if you have AAA card, they give you 20% discount. I think I paid $8+ and charged to the room so I don't remember exact. However, this is so big that it filled both of us and we couldn't finish all the way.

We took the boat to DHS and used our FP+ for Star Tours, watched Muppets (because we had time till next FP+), FP+ ride of TSM and TT. We were finished about 8:30 and decided to get our spot for Star Wars: A Galatic Spectacular. On the way, we grabbed a strawberry ice cream bar and enjoyed it while waiting for the show to start. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of Star Wars. I saw all the movies once and that's it. However, I really liked the whole show a lot.



This was FP+ line. It took about 15 minutes for us to scan MB and than it was pretty much walk on.




Until last trip, I won every TSM/Buzz Lightyear ride against W but this year, W won every game.

 

[mousegear]

We got up really early this morning as it was our resort changing day to AKL. Between our park plans and ADR we were going to do the move early. However, I received a note from Dolphin's front desk the night before asking guests if they could check-out by 8am, Dolphin would give 1000 points to SPG account. This sounded good! We loaded up our stuff to the rental car by 7:10 and off we went to AKL. We dropped our luggage off to bellman and checked-in on the front desk to see if they could expedite our room. Guess what? Our room was ready! At this point, we couldn't just head off to the park, so we decided to see our room. 3rd floor Ostrich Trail. It was overlooking handicapped parking lot and the room as clean. We could take the stairs from the lobby and not that far from the lobby. I noted that there's a ice machine/vending machine next to our room.








We were little hungry so we decided to go down to Mara before we go to DHS for it's morning EMH. We got our mugs and I got my morning coffee and W got hot chocolate. It was pretty chilly this morning in low 50s.



Bounty Platter - scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage, pap, chakalaka, and a waffle. I asked no chakalaka or pap since we don't like them so CM serving asked if I would want more eggs. Yes, please! More protein! Everything was good minus the bacon. Disney bacon is not good. It's really thin, not much of meat.

We enjoyed hot breakfast and decided to take the bus DHS instead of driving. The bus literally pulled up as we walked do the stop. There were a few families waited but not many. Guess what! We actually made to DHS before the rope drop. I know! Pretty awesome! We moved our resort and had a breakfast and still made to DHS rope drop. We rode TSM, Rn'R, ToT, and Star Tours. We were finished by 9:30 and decided to go back to AKL and rest a bit before we go to our ADR. When we got to the bus stop, we waited about 2~3 minutes with one women in front of us. Disney white van pulled up and said that he will take us to our resort. I guess they didn't count that the guests would head back to their resort that early??? We got our private ride back to AKL.

After a little rest in the room, we changed to lighter and more presentable clothes as it was getting warm, I drove to Contemporary. While driving, just noted how far the MK area is from AKL. I gave the key to valet and went up to 4th floor to check-in at Cali Grill. Both of us were pretty excited about this ADR as we've dined at Cali Grill several times for dinner but new to their brunch. I was handed a mimosa on our way to our table. I figure I would be okay with one drink since this meal is kind of long. We were shown two top table and there were already 3 tables of twos already seated before us.

 

[mousegear]

continued....












my first plate... and didn't bother to take second plate. We tried their Charcuterie and salads as well and they were so yummy. I know that DS after his fill of sushi tried second and third plate of Charcuterie. But their sushi just is so fresh and well done!


W ordered hanger steak medium and the steak was very good. It was tender and juicy! It was really well done for the fact that the meat itself isn't a great part but cooked really well. W concentrated eating the meat although the eggs and potatoes were tasty as well.
We were having great conversation with the couple who sat next to us. Those two top tables were so closely seated together that we didn't have difficulty talking. They moved down from NJ 14 years ago but still call NJ home. They shared their experience working for Disney and having DVC and Disney Cruise. We talked about some of the great restaurants in NJ and other things.



I ordered Shrimp and Grits - gulf white shrimp with Tillamook cheddar grits, Spicy infused tomato broth, Espelette-spiced tomato ragout. Shrimps were succulent and well cooked as well. The tomato broth was really good! I cleaned the plate.



I ordered just one Blueberry Pancake. I think it comes in a stack of 3 or 4 but I didn't want to waste that much food so just asked for one. This was so good. It was light and fluffy and packed with blueberry flavor. W doesn't like blueberry pancakes and said that next time, he will be ordering this as his main meal.

The whole meal lasted little over 2 hours but both of us really enjoyed the food and company. Overall, we really enjoyed the Cali Grill brunch. We won't do it every trip but we will definitely return to try their other entrees.

At this point, I should tell you guys that we were on DxDP during our three nights at AKL. The points were spread over 4 full days with nice amount of signatures so we weren't constantly eating. So far we've used 4 TS credits for Cali Grill and I kept the receipt to compare what my OOP cost vs DxDP cost. We've definitely came out head with DxDP. I will post the total at the end of my review.

 

[tigerlilly]

What a great day! You seemed to time everything just about perfectly! So you did all 4 rides in that short amount of time?! We are in our debating early entry phase in my planning. We are staying at the Boardwalk and as of right now have our Hollywood Studios Day Saturday and MK day Sunday but we have thought of switching the two. I have a reservation for BOG for both mornings at 8:10 (once we decide we will cancel one of them). Doing EE is hard call to make when you live on the west coast... I am so worried about that time change switch!

Again great reviews and you guys seem to have amazing timing

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Yum, your brunch looks and sounds like it was fantastic!

 

[kastoney]

Wow, you packed a lot into one morning. How awesome you got points to check out early. I think that may have even motivated me to do so.

I can't believe your AKL room was ready so early and your location looks great. One of our favorite resorts.

I think we may finally try CG brunch on our next trip and your pictures have me totally ready now. My only hesitation is paying $50 for the kiddo to eat. Mom to mom, how difficult of a pill was the cost for the kiddos to swallow?