Winging it with No Dinning Plan! A Feb. Trip Report

Following. Curious as to how your dining budget turns out vs DDP. We may not do the DDP either this year
:welcome: Welcome! Glad you are following along! We did the dinning plan in September and didn't use ALOT of our counter service credits but we had some pricey sit down meals, so we broke even, for sure. We only did 3 sit down meals this trip, so it was completely different. To me, personally, I think it depends on how your family likes to eat.

Following along. Poor Morgan. It's terrible being sick on vacation!
:welcome: Thanks for following along! I was so so so worried about it that day when we were traveling. It is horrible to be sick and not at home and worse to have to travel while being sick. But she was a trooper. Disney was calling, nothing was going to stop her!

Cute family selfie on Big Thunder! Wow, how cool to get some shots on the ride too! Your staredown is hilarious!
Thanks! It was so strange, he was just kind of standing there, I don't know how many folks he tried to get pictures of, because he gave us a card, so he had to take the picture and remember us as we came off the ride. I am really surprised they don't have a photo location for this ride.

I haven't set foot on Tom Sawyer Island since my very first trip in 2000. Maybe by the next time I go, the refurb will be done :)
You guys most def should! Jimmy would love it. Lots to explore!

I cannot get enough of her faces!!! She's the best!
She is something that one, for sure! And there are more good poses and faces to come!

Following along...anxious to hear how this trip goes...I'm such a planner!
:welcome: Thanks for following along! It was def hard to not plan everything out! I was so tempted here and there.

I haven't been to Tom Sawyer Island since before I had a kid! I think we need to fix that on our next trip; such a fun place to explore!
It was fun. I wouldn't call it a must do, but it was def a nice way to get away from the crowds a bit. And I def think we like it better than Swiss Family Tree House. Less stairs!

We’ve never ever been to Tom Sawyer Island. It looks like we really should check it out!
Def check it out. it is def an over looked attraction. By no means is it a "E-ticket' attraction but a fun little exploration! I def recommend during the busiest part of your day.

Great update. We came home with that Thumper that was in the Splash Mtn gift shop.
Gwen was checking out the Dumbo version. She calls those "Cuties" I believe she purchased Thumper in September!
 


I hope everyone is warm where they live because it is still cold here and there is a potential 4th Nor'Easterner coming our way. It is still unclear whether we will get snow and how much but just the talk about it exhausting enough!

Uggh. I'm SO ready for spring. We keep getting days where the sun peaks out and it feels like it's going to happen...and then more gross cold weather.

This is about when we started to notice the large amount of CM training! Our raft had 2 CM being trained on how to drive the raft.

We noticed this in February, too! I remember hearing on someone's youtube channel that a new group of college program kids had arrived in January, so I figured that might be the reason.

The girls stopped to read the sign and asked why everything was spelled wrong.

:laughing: Legit question though!

We found the wonders of the cave. The girls mentioned it looked just like the jewels in Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Good observation! Strangely less popular than 7DMT though. :rotfl2:

Andy felt the need to take a picture of the Alligator Sign. No worries, everyone, we did NOT see any alligators this trip!

Aggh! I saw a video a while ago of a CM trying to poke a gator with some kind of stick in the water right beside splash mountain while there were still logs floating by...*shudder* I try not to think about them...

So, while on the ride, I do try and take in the views here and there, and I happened to notice a Photo Pass Photographer over by the geyser taking photos. Well, when we got off, he gave us a card and said he got our pictures...

BTMR_Staredown_01
Yup! yes he did! He captured me starring him down! Or least it looks that way!

:rotfl:

Kinda cool that he happened to get photos of you all though! It's rare to get a "ride photo" on Big Thunder! :-)
 
Hi Everyone!

We are hunkering down for the 4th Nor'Easterner tonight! They are calling for 8-14" of snow here snowing from 5:30 this morning till at least 7:00 tomorrow night. Soooo, pretty sure the girls will have no school tomorrow and probably Thursday. YEAH!!!! Anyway, back to warmer things!


Day One: We made the cannons shoot!

So, I left off with us headed toward Adventureland. As we were passing the Golden Oak Outpost, I checked out to see what they had for waffle fries. They used to have a BLT one, that I always wanted but never got because it wasn't a snack credit. But it was just plain waffle fries. :worried: I turned to Andy and explained all of this to him. And a girl overheard us and stopped us. She asked if this was the place she was looking for. And I had to sadly inform it was and that they did used to have the fries she was looking for but they must have changed it.

We continued on, since I passed on plain waffle fries. As we were walking, I noticed this sign.


I suggested giving it a try. And explained what it was. Morgan was up for it but Gwen was starting to lose steam and didn't want to. But we went in anyway, she was out voted. :confused3

We went inside the building and there was a CM member inside. She told us to tap to start. I TOTALLY didn't understand what she was saying. So, Morgan grabbed a map and started to head out. The CM didn't stop us but I figured out that there were touch screens and tapped THAT! It was weird, that the CM didn't try to explain it better since we clearly were confused. But at any rate, we figured it out. Morgan scanned her ban and it told us which map to choose.

I want to say there was 6 or 8 different "adventures" you could do. We headed out to find our first location, a clock int eh dump shop after Pirates.


We weren't sure what to do once we found it. We finally figured out that we needed to put Morgan's magic band to the symbol that matched the symbol on the map.


I took a bunch of videos as the stations did there reveals. This is the first video. You can't hear the girls but this first one, got them super excited and suprised by it. They were so well hidden, you would never know they were there. (At least see didn't....)

We were sent outside next to the "best" reveal item...

Cannons shooting on this videos scared Gwen. She wasn't expecting it at all. After the fact, she thought it was cool. But at first she was NOT happy.


We were sent back inside the dump shop to find this hourglass.

And then back outside and down the side alley after Pirates (towards Jungle Cruise) to this boat.

This video was the grand finale..

I missed the boat lifting up, but oh well.

The whole thing took about 15-20 minutes, I think. I am so glad we tried it! We will def do another one on another trip. Thanks @kastoney!

After our pirate adventure we decided we needed something cool and something we had been meaning to try....


Citrus Swirl!



I have wanted to try this since they started serving the float with orange soda.

Thankfully the line wasn't too bad, maybe 5 or 6 families in line.

We split a Citrus Swirl and a Citrus Float. Gwen wanted... wait for it... pringles chips...


Morgan and Andy mostly split the Swirl. Morgan liked it but Andy was just meh on it. He said that the orange was too tart. I think he was hoping for more orangesicle taste.


I did like it a little better with the orange soda. But I sucked the soda down too fast.

We liked them but all agreed that we all liked the Dole Whips better. Although I did see that they now have two versions fo the orange, and from the sounds of it, we might like that better.

It was about 2:40 by now, and I wanted to get us across the parade route before it started as we had fast passes to get to! So, we headed out and towards Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We made it over to 7DMT right at our fast pass window opened up. So, we headed in! And didn't have to wait too long. When we were loading the girls asked if they could go together. And the CM asked there ages and then gave her them the go ahead. The CM put us in a different car than the girls. Which was fine, but it was strange. And then when the CM on the other side came by she asked the couple behind Morgan and Gwen if they were there parents. The look on there faces was hilarious. They were just like NO! no! NO!




Here is Morgan and Gwen's ride photo. I think they enjoyed it. Looking at this photo, the guy does look young. Probably thinking "God I hope not!"


And then me and Andy.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was fun as always! We always love it. But rarely wait in the line, always fastpess only.

After this, we were getting hungry for real meal and tired. So, we discussed where we wanted to do. The girls had one request before dinner, to get there "one" thing. So we headed towards main street to check out the emporium.

On the way, Gwen asked to give the sword another try.



So, we stopped and let her try... Nope.

Next up some shopping and dinner! Where would we go? It was something I was looking forward to trying.



 
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We are hunkering down for the 4th Nor'Easterner tonight! They are calling for 8-14" of snow here snowing from 5:30 this morning till at least 7:00 tomorrow night. Soooo, pretty sure the girls will have no school tomorrow and probably Thursday. YEAH!!!! Anyway, back to warmer things!
Stay warm! I'm sure after 4 you all are over it, but it appears this is the first one we're actually going to get something out of. Schools are already closed and I'm 95% sure the government will close due to the timing as its due to hit hard during rush hour. Casey and I are beyond thrilled!

As we were passing the Golden Oak Outpost, I checked out to see what they had for waffle fries. They used to have a BLT one, that I always wanted but never got because it wasn't a snack credit. But it was just plain waffle fries. :worried:
I didn't realize they had changed out the waffle fries, they looked so good. Like you we'd never had them, but largely because it was closed everytime we were there.

First Clue
I took a bunch of videos as the stations did there reveals. This is the first video. You can't hear the girls but this first one, got them super excited and suprised by it. They were so well hidden, you would never know they were there. (At least see didn't....)
We ended up doing 3 of them and I don't think this was one we ever got. Glad they have so many options for the kiddos.

he whole thing took about 15-20 minutes, I think. I am so glad we tried it! We will def do another one on another trip. Thanks @kastoney!
So glad to hear they girls loved it!!! Casey is already asking to do it again.

We split a Citrus Swirl and a Citrus Float. Gwen wanted... wait for it... pringles chips...
That girl is gonna turn into a pringle before this day is over :P

We liked them but all agreed that we all liked the Dole Whips better. Although I did see that they now have two versions fo the orange, and from the sounds of it, we might like that better.
We're totally with you in the dole whip family. I like an orange swirl and all (and we love orange bird) but pineapple is clearly the new orange o_O

We made it over to 7DMT right at our fast pass window opened up. So, we headed in! And didn't have to wait too long. When we were loading the girls asked if they could go together. And the CM asked there ages and then gave her them the go ahead. The CM put us in a different car than the girls. Which was fine, but it was strange. And then when the CM on the other side came by she asked the couple behind Morgan and Gwen if they were there parents. The look on there faces was hilarious. They were just like NO! no! NO!
Odd they separated you all, but nice of another family to adopt them so quickly :P
 


This sounded like fun! And it's amazing to me how much of Disney I have still not discovered - who knew?! :thumbsup2

Gwen wanted... wait for it... pringles chips...
:laughing:

And then when the CM on the other side came by she asked the couple behind Morgan and Gwen if they were there parents. The look on there faces was hilarious. They were just like NO! no! NO!
How strange the CM would ask their ages first, but then split you up. I :rotfl: when reading about the couples' reaction though :laughing:
 
We are hunkering down for the 4th Nor'Easterner tonight! They are calling for 8-14" of snow here snowing from 5:30 this morning till at least 7:00 tomorrow night. Soooo, pretty sure the girls will have no school tomorrow and probably Thursday. YEAH!!!! Anyway, back to warmer things!

UGGH! I'm SO done with all the snow storms! We're supposed to get hit with this next one later tonight/tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad here, but where Nathan has to go for work this weekend is supposed to get dumped on with a foot of snow, which is NOT ideal for travelling. Winter. I'm over it. It's spring now. Come on!

We went inside the building and there was a CM member inside. She told us to tap to start. I TOTALLY didn't understand what she was saying. So, Morgan grabbed a map and started to head out. The CM didn't stop us but I figured out that there were touch screens and tapped THAT! It was weird, that the CM didn't try to explain it better since we clearly were confused. But at any rate, we figured it out. Morgan scanned her ban and it told us which map to choose.

Weird!! You'd think she'd be more careful to make sure people actually understood.

The whole thing took about 15-20 minutes, I think. I am so glad we tried it! We will def do another one on another trip.

This looks like a really fun little experience! Even without kids we might still have to try this someday :)

When we were loading the girls asked if they could go together. And the CM asked there ages and then gave her them the go ahead. The CM put us in a different car than the girls. Which was fine, but it was strange. And then when the CM on the other side came by she asked the couple behind Morgan and Gwen if they were there parents. The look on there faces was hilarious. They were just like NO! no! NO!

:rotfl:
 
Enough with the snow, Mother Nature!! Didn't she hear, the first day of Spring is here--time to go! But,
Soooo, pretty sure the girls will have no school tomorrow and probably Thursday. YEAH!!!! Anyway, back to warmer things!
Snow days are pretty awesome :)

We haven't ever stopped to do the Pirate adventures, but Jimmy (and Rob!) love to do Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, so I'm sure they'd love it. We aren't totally cut throat about it like some people though. We don't have a binder to keep our cards in or anything. We just pick up the free ones and play as we have time.

26607161918_f1a8a75e14_z.jpg
One foot is good for leverage....maybe two feet would do the trick :)
 
I knew I was behind, but I had no clue how far! Hope you guys are warm and safe out there. It's oddly warm here in Michigan, not that I have anything to compare it to as this is our first Spring, but weather everywhere is crazy these days!

I'm trying to channel this trip in my own plans; just today I asked my mom if we maybe could pop onto Tom Sawyer Island in September. I'm not sure how much Elora would like it, as she's not a huge fan of dark places, but at least the play areas!

Those photos from Big THunder are hilarious! :rotfl:

That Pirate's Adventure looks awesome!!! Definitely gonna try that in a few years! I'm glad the girls were having such fun just kinda cruising along, but you guys still got a lot done.

I quoted a few things about the Citrus Swirl, but they're gone. I'm glad y'all got to try it, and it sure does seem like Andy might like the newer one better. I've read it's just like a cremesicle.

Why do they separate families in the cars? I get that your girls are safe but the photos don't line up! That drove me bonkers in Sept.

Glad y'all are enjoying the chill, this day was kinda awesome to read about; can't wait for what's next!:cool2:
 
Finally caught up! Definitely glad Morgan started to feel better, I am hoping that it stays that way for the rest of the trip. The Nutella waffle is always a must for me, it is just so delicious! Cannot wait for more.
 
We were coming up on our first fast pass of the day, Tomorrowland Speedway and the girls were ITCHING to do this
I actually made a FP for this for next week :rotfl2: When everyone finds out they're going to think I lost my mind. But we haven't done it in AGES, and I don't know, something just compelled me on FP day and I haven't felt like changing it! I think the thing that bothers me the most is the smell of the fumes :snooty:
Andy dug into the Turkey Leg. There is no good way to eat this thing!
I always laugh at people eating these because they look so uncomfortable!

He captured me starring him down! Or least it looks that way!
OMG it does, those pictures are hilarious :laughing:

And then back outside and down the side alley after Pirates (towards Jungle Cruise) to this boat.
I've seen some of these portals working when kids around me are doing them but never the boat one, looks neat! The ones I've seen are cool and I keep wishing Chris would do this but sadly he has no interest. Might have to beg him one of these days.
 
Hi Everyone!

Well, we got probably 8" of snow yesterday and the girls are off from school again today. I am hoping to fit in another update while I am "working from home" today. So, stay tuned!

Uggh. I'm SO ready for spring. We keep getting days where the sun peaks out and it feels like it's going to happen...and then more gross cold weather.
I think the only reason this storm hasn't completely beaten me up is that we leave for California this time next week!!!

We noticed this in February, too! I remember hearing on someone's youtube channel that a new group of college program kids had arrived in January, so I figured that might be the reason.
It makes sense with the college schedule. What I found weird was that we had been at this exact time of year 2 other time and never noticed that many CM training. Maybe I am just more aware of?....
Good observation! Strangely less popular than 7DMT though. :rotfl2:
That can be my "tip" If you can't get 7DMT go to Tom Sawyer Island..... It's just like it!

Schools are already closed and I'm 95% sure the government will close due to the timing as its due to hit hard during rush hour. Casey and I are beyond thrilled!
How did you guys fare? School and work today? Jersey likes to extend it out. The girls have had 5 snow days this year! They will be in school a full week longer in June. Yikes!

I didn't realize they had changed out the waffle fries, they looked so good. Like you we'd never had them, but largely because it was closed everytime we were there.
Sounds like they change them a lot. I wanted them when they were BLT Waffle fries, the girl I talked to wanted them with Pulled Pork on them, they were plain when we there and I think they now have them with something on them...

That girl is gonna turn into a pringle before this day is over :P
Go figure, the skinniest has the worst eating habits.

And it's amazing to me how much of Disney I have still not discovered - who knew?! :thumbsup2
Isn't it! I didn't know about it either. Kari had it in her trip report. It's really what makes Disney great!

UGGH! I'm SO done with all the snow storms! We're supposed to get hit with this next one later tonight/tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad here, but where Nathan has to go for work this weekend is supposed to get dumped on with a foot of snow, which is NOT ideal for travelling. Winter. I'm over it. It's spring now. Come on!
How do they handle the snow up there? I would imagine better than here. 2 snow days for 8" of snow.

Weird!! You'd think she'd be more careful to make sure people actually understood.
Really, if we left without scanning our band, we wouldn't have been able to do anything. Maybe the CM was just not having a good day.

This looks like a really fun little experience! Even without kids we might still have to try this someday :)
I think it is nice to do as adults too, it's not a huge time commitment, which is nice. I love seeing how they hid the things. You really would never notice them!

Snow days are pretty awesome :)
Sadly, I can work from home, and am expected to work from home. So, not quiet as exciting for me.

We haven't ever stopped to do the Pirate adventures, but Jimmy (and Rob!) love to do Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, so I'm sure they'd love it.
We did the Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom once, and loved it. But just have never seemed to get back to do it again. This felt like less of a commitment, somehow.

One foot is good for leverage....maybe two feet would do the trick :)
I will have to tell her that!

I'm trying to channel this trip in my own plans; just today I asked my mom if we maybe could pop onto Tom Sawyer Island in September. I'm not sure how much Elora would like it, as she's not a huge fan of dark places, but at least the play areas!
It really helped that we had the trips so close together. We didn't feel like we HAD to hit EVERYTHING this trip. We also tried to hit the things we missed the last trip. I can't say every trip will be this way, but it was a nice day!

Definitely glad Morgan started to feel better, I am hoping that it stays that way for the rest of the trip.
Spoiler Alert, she said that way! Thank Goodness!

The Nutella waffle is always a must for me, it is just so delicious! Cannot wait for more.
We "recreate" them at home. And they are good but just missing that Disney magic.
I actually made a FP for this for next week :rotfl2: When everyone finds out they're going to think I lost my mind. But we haven't done it in AGES, and I don't know, something just compelled me on FP day and I haven't felt like changing it! I think the thing that bothers me the most is the smell of the fumes :snooty:
Maybe you can try and all get in the different lanes, so you can "race" against each other. That would be fun! You would have to gage where you all are in the line. But you should keep it!

I always laugh at people eating these because they look so uncomfortable!
It will probably be the last time we have one. It isn't worth it!

I've seen some of these portals working when kids around me are doing them but never the boat one, looks neat! The ones I've seen are cool and I keep wishing Chris would do this but sadly he has no interest. Might have to beg him one of these days.
That's right Chris doesn't want to do Sorcers of Magic Kingdom either.... I feel like this was shorter, so if they REALLY don't like it, you won't have to torcure them for too too long.
 
How do they handle the snow up there? I would imagine better than here. 2 snow days for 8" of snow.

Depends on who you ask! :P People have their complaints, but people will find something to complain about no matter what you do. We've had a very good winter this year with only a few major storms. But in past years we've just been dumped on over and over and they haven't been able to keep up. But it all depends on the timing of the storm whether we get a snow day or not. We get delayed or have half days and go home early sometimes. The universities are less likely to close than the grade schools, too. It would be very rare to have two days off in a row at the universities, but the younger schools occasionally do. If we got 8 inches and the storm stopped before nighttime the first day though, there's no way we'd be cancelled the second day because they'd have it all cleaned up by the next morning. Our biggest problem here is not getting enough salt/sand on the roads, even if the snow is cleared. The resources and employees just aren't always plentiful enough it seems. Often we'll be driving on roads as slick as a bottle at home, and the moment we cross the border into Maine they're suddenly not icy anymore. That's exactly what happened when Nathan and I drove to Maine to fly out for our December trip!
 
Day One: A relaxing end to the day!

So, I left off with us headed to the Emporium to do some shopping. We headed over there and the girls looked around for there one thing. If you are new to my trip reports, somewhere along the way, we developed a "policy" that the girls could pick one thing a day. It was worked out well, in the sense that they take it seriously in weighting what they want. We do limit the number of plush and size of thing, as we do need to fly home.

It was about 3:30 and I wanted to get moving soon but they were taking there time. I hopped onto the app to see if I could get a 4th fast pass for anything good. Best I could get was Buzz Lightyear for later in the evening.

When I looked up from making the fast pass, this is what I see...



She is SOOOO going to be trouble as a teen!

The girls picked out there items and we headed out. I grabbed photos of the ladies with there items:


Morgan choose Baby Scamp (Tramps son apparently) He came in a blanket that looked like a Storks pouch.


And Gwen went with Baby Sully. She called these with the big feet "Cuties" And she wanted to collect all of them. So, this added to her collection.

With purchases made, we headed to the monorail. One was pulling in as we were walking up, so we did the light jog to catch it and jumped onto the first open car.... That was NOT air conditioned. Blek! And I have to say it was very dirty!


The girls made there new plush at home on the train. We made our way all the way around to the Poly! I just love this resort. When we came in September to go to Ohana, the girls wanted to stay here as they loved the water area and pool. One day, maybe...

We were headed to Trader Sam's. As we were heading in a woman stopped us and gave the girls and me lei's! She said they gave her too many. We thanked her and headed in!

I knew they opened at 4:00 and I knew it was small inside. It was about 4:15 when we got there. We went in and all the seats were already taken. Boo. The hostess who wasn't actually seating people, said it was first some first serve for seating. I knew there was seating outside as well, so we went and checked that out next.

We headed out there, and there was plenty of seating, so we grabbed a table. I was bummed that we couldn't sit inside but this worked out just fine.

First order of business was drinks! I briefed Andy on the fact that the drinks with fun looking cups, came with the purchase of a cup.




I decided on the Krakato Punch, mostly because I wanted the glass. And Andy decided on the Hippoopomai-tai for basically the same reason. And Morgan and Gwen split a Polyanesian Punch, which I also picked out for them because it came in a plastic souvenir cup. But the waitress said they were all out but that it was really good. So, they went with it.

So, it turned out that the dishwasher was broken and they weren't serving the drinks in the actual glasses but that we could still get the glass to take home. I was surprisingly ok with this. I think I would have been more disappointed if we were inside and that was the case.

At any rate, we had our first cheers to vacation!

We usually do this in the airport on our way down, but we ran out of time this trip. Our waitress was great! She gave the girls little umbrellas in there drinks to make them a little more special for them.

And then we moved over to food...

So, at first we thought we would only order food from here. So, we decided on 3 things to share, and picked 2 that we thought the girls would eat. We ordered and noticed a table over bring food over from the Captain Cook's (the quick service inside). So, we asked the server if it was ok to get food from there as well. And she said it wasn't a problem at all.

So, I took Morgan inside and we ordered food for the girls in there. They give you a buzzer once you order and bring the food to your table. I asked the CM if it would reach all the way over to Trader Sams' area and she said yet. I was skepitcal but took her word for it. So, we went back to our table to wait.

First item we got was the Hawaiian Poke with Siracha Aoli.

These were SO good!!! The Poke was fresh and cut up evenly. The housemade chips were perfect. So, good. I could have eaten it all by myself.

We also ordered the Pan Fried Dumplings with Soy Sauce and the Corn-Battered Portuguese Sausages with Curry Ketchup.

The dumplings were just ok. We eat dumplings all the time, so we figured the girls would eat them. If we knew that we were getting them other food, we probably would have picked something else. But dumplings are always good!

And the Portuguese Sausages were great! I wasn't so into them, but Andy wanted them. So we tried them. They were really good! And the Curry Ketchup was amazing! I also loved the dishes that they served them in.

I kept an eye out for our CM with our food for the girls. And just as I expected, the guy came to the entry of the area looked around and then turned around and walked away. We were def too far for the hockey puck thing to work. I got up and followed him back inside and got our food. Not a big deal.


Morgan choose the Chicken & Pineapple Skewer Kids meal. It was grilled chicken & fresh pineapple (not canned) and it came with a side salad. A really nice healthy kids meal! Morgan ate all of the toppings from the salad and I ended up putting the leftover curry ketchup on the lettuce as a dressing and ate it like a salad.

Gwen went with chicken nuggets.

Her nuggets were standard fare, but they are good.

All of the food was really good and I really appreciated the fact that we were able to get the girls food from the counter service. I am sure we would not have been able to do that inside. Which is why I said it worked out for us.

It was a beautiful afternoon/evening and super comfortable temp to be sitting outside. They had a guy come out for a bit and play the yukalalie.

We ordered another round of drinks.

I ordered the Mosquito Mojito next. And I liked this MUCH better. Just the kind of drink I like better. The Krakato Punch was good but I am a sucker for mint and lime!

And went with a Pineapple Cider.

When Andy ordered it the Waitress said that it was really good. And it was! Seriously, you need to try this if you like the Grapefruit Shoffenhoffer! We found it in EPCOT at the African Outpost later in the week. So, good!

At this point the girls were done eating and just entertaining themselves with there plush and apparently straws and little umbrellas. They made me take a picture of there "creation"


Pretty awesome right?

Then they discovered that they could shoot the umbrellas out of the straws. And asked me to video it in slow mo...


Here is the Video, I tried to clip it so you didn't have to watch the painful part before they actually blew the straws out.

They watched the video a million times.

They thought it was HILARIOUS!

We had a nice relaxing dinner out on the patio there. By now it was about 6:00.I gave the girls the choose of hopping back on the monorail and hit a couple rides at Magic Kingdom or head back to the hotel and do some swimming. They decided on swimming.

We stopped in the gift shop, as Andy's sister was looking for a Hei Hei and he wanted to see if they had any.

Found him! For some reason we decided to get 2... I don't remember why but we did. We made our purchase and headed downstairs.

A CM stopped us on the way out and asked the girls about there plush. We chatted with her for a few minutes but had to head outside, as Andy had called an Uber to take us back to the hotel.

I grabbed a couple photos as we made our way out.




I am already trying to figure out how we can stay here for a couple days. it is so pretty.

The über ride back was uneventful and we headed back to our room to change into swimsuits.

We were at the pool by 6:36, according to my pictures! Not bad.


The sun had gone down in that time, though and it wasn't warm. So, I refrained from swimming. Andy did get in with the girls. But I did get some good pictures of them and the pool.

The Clam Shell with the Gators was really cute and the girls liked swimming under the water.


And of course the slide was a big hit.


Morgan went first. She said she was "testing" it for Gwen to see how far you would go under water.


There she goes!


Morgan reported back that it wasn't bad at all. So, Gwen gave it a try! I think the pool at Caribbean Beach is still the best pool, for slides at least. But this was a great pool as well!


I snapped this one from walking up the bridge that looks like part of the serpent. I couldn't actually see what I was shooting, as the sides were too high, but I just held my hands over my head and hopped for the best. It came out really cute!

We let them swim till about 7:30. We wanted them to get to bed on time to make sure Morgan didn't get sick any more than she already was. So, Andy headed back to the room with the girls, and I went over to the quick service and ordered Beignets!

I took them to go and headed back to the room.

We shared these in the room in our pjs in bed! It was a great way to end the day. The beignets were good, but def need to be eaten warm!

It was a great first day!
Tomorrow we were headed to Animal Kingdom. It was Extra Magic Hours for Animal Kingdom from 8-9, would we make it for any of EMH?



 
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Cute plushies for the girls! (I feel like I always need to comment on their cute choices )

I guess it really did work out that you had to sit outside Trader Sam's! Sounds like a nice time and the drinks all look so yummy! Love the slo mo video of the girls, very cool! And I love the photo of the 3 of you watching it back, everyone looks so happy!

I've only visited the Poly once and it was at night and during construction. I really want to go back and enjoy it more one trip!
 
Food Breakdown: Day One

Today we definitely took advantage of the fact that we wanted try snacks and keep the day open. Sleepy Hallow doesn't accept the dinning plan for some reason. And I don't think that the Turkey Leg is eligible either. So, those items would have been out of pocket. Along with everything we ordered at Trader Sam's. So, even thought I am putting the whole cost of the day against what the dinning plan would have cost, it really isn't apples to apples but it would be way to complicated to break it out otherwise.

Sleepy Hallow Meal: $17.02
Cheshire Cat Snack: $10.63
Liberty Square Lunch: $17.77
Captain Cook's Dinner: $15.64
Trader Sam's Dinner: $75.54
Beignet Dessert: $5.85
Total Cost: $142.45


The dinning plan would have cost us: $1,791.86

Travel Day: Food Total: $37.56

Day One: Food Total: $142.45
Remaining Balance: $1,611.85
 

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