Mimosas, Mickey Ears and Magic! 17 Days of Disney Delights *Complete

You guys are troopers with that drive and then heading out to a late-night party! It’s that magical “I’m in Disney” adrenalin, I guess. Sorry your check-in was less than welcoming. A preferred view for the full stay would have been great. Very smart to head to Top of the World and miss the craziness of “regular” guests exiting. I love TOTWL. 99% of the time it is practically empty. Score on the free snacks!! What a fun night at the MK! I went to one of the very first DVC magic events maybe 2 years ago now. It was fun but sounds like they’ve made a lot of improvements. I’m planning to go to the AK event in a few months. Wonder what the Flight of Passage wait times will be like...

Looking forward to your next installment!
 
I still can't believe you guys do that drive overnight. I would have been dead to the world after arriving even with the nap!

I need to get back to Top of the World especially if they have the classic Monorail drinks! They got rid of them from Outer Rim right around the time I turned 21 and could enjoy them! Maybe next weekend when I do a drink around Bay Lake with Betsy!

Hopefully your room transfer will be less of an unmagical experience!

Those Magical Experiences look so awesome! We've never been around for them so we haven't gotten a chance to experience yet. One of these days we will!

Glad it worked so well for the lines for the rides and you got some nice free foods!
 
Hi Jeri! I'm so in for another one of your amazing reports!!!

I can't believe you all made it to the party after an all nighter of driving. I'm not sure I would have had anything left in me. But the party sounds amazing and I don't think I've ever seen such few people in the hubs for fireworks. Definite DVC perk.

I can't believe they couldn't get you in the same room for your entire stay. Disney certainly does odd thing sometimes

Yay! Thanks for joining in with me again!

Ugh, I know. That drive gets worse as the years go on lol. I have found that it is better when I take the first shift. And as long as traffic is good and there's no rain or snow I feel like I can't complain. I was beat but I was not missing this event. We tend to avoid the fireworks because of the crowds, but this was so perfect. I wish it could always be like that!

Yeah, it was just a whole awkward conversation. This woman was not hearing me out. Oh well, what can you do. At least I'm in Disney, regardless of what room it is!

I am here my friend!! I know how exciting the first day of check in is and what a buzzkill to get a grouchy CM. We had very rude CMs when we checked into the DL Hotel back in December and I hate starting off that way. All the food offerings look delicious on the start of your trip. I enjoyed following along on IG and look forward to reading more.

Yay! Hi Lori! Exactly! After such a long drive we are SO excited to be there and getting an unhappy CM just takes the wind out of your sails. That's a bummer about the start to your DL stay. On a side note, I am so excited that I will be staying there next month! It looks like such a cool hotel.
 


You guys are troopers with that drive and then heading out to a late-night party! It’s that magical “I’m in Disney” adrenalin, I guess. Sorry your check-in was less than welcoming. A preferred view for the full stay would have been great. Very smart to head to Top of the World and miss the craziness of “regular” guests exiting. I love TOTWL. 99% of the time it is practically empty. Score on the free snacks!! What a fun night at the MK! I went to one of the very first DVC magic events maybe 2 years ago now. It was fun but sounds like they’ve made a lot of improvements. I’m planning to go to the AK event in a few months. Wonder what the Flight of Passage wait times will be like...

Looking forward to your next installment!

:laughing: That's exactly what it is! I have super human endurance that first day off the excitement. We literally don't even care about our view, we just want to be close to Disney Springs. We want the shortest walk possible lol. And actually we ended up with a better room, from a view and Disney Springs distance perspective, at the Paddock part of our stay, so go figure. Going to TOTWL first did work out nicely. I'll give Rob credit for that good idea. I'll bet the AK one will be a blast for you! I would love to make it down for another one this year, but that is some wishful thinking. Yeah, I'll bet everyone will still be all about FoP that night. I wonder when the lines will ever die down for that ride. It's craziness!

I still can't believe you guys do that drive overnight. I would have been dead to the world after arriving even with the nap!

I need to get back to Top of the World especially if they have the classic Monorail drinks! They got rid of them from Outer Rim right around the time I turned 21 and could enjoy them! Maybe next weekend when I do a drink around Bay Lake with Betsy!

Hopefully your room transfer will be less of an unmagical experience!

Those Magical Experiences look so awesome! We've never been around for them so we haven't gotten a chance to experience yet. One of these days we will!

Glad it worked so well for the lines for the rides and you got some nice free foods!

I don't know how many more years I can do the overnight thing. We may need to start leaving super early in the morning and just missing out on park time that fist night. I'm getting too old for that mess lol. The room transfer was a pain, but our new room was much better. We liked where they put us for the rest of the stay. Hopefully you get to do one of the Moonlight Magic nights soon! It was so much fun.

Hi Jeri! Your trip reports are so much fun and I look forward to each and every one of them...
Hey Jenny! Thanks so much! Thanks for joining in with me again!
 
After a very long day the day before, we decided to just sleep in today. Our original plans didn't have us in the parks until later in the day because this should have been our arrival day, so there was nothing we needed to rush out and do. I didn't bring in a lot of our stuff since we were switching rooms but we got ready and packed up what we did bring in and loaded it back in the car and left for Epcot for the day.

We got to Epcot around 10:30am and were greeted by this fabulous sight!



Ahhhh!!!! It was so cute! Today was the first day of Festival of the Arts 2018. And since it was the first day I hadn't seen what everything looked like already as is usually the case when I come for the different festivals. It was fun to be surprised by what the front of the park looked like.

And I have to tell you guys, bag check was unbearable this trip. The lines were insane every day at every park. It's the worst I have ever seen it. I lost patience petty quickly and for the rest of the trip I went bagless most days, which is something I have never done. Because of this I only had my iPhone on me, so most of my food pics were on the phone this trip, but for the most part turned out pretty well. So, I apologize if my pics aren't quite as good as usual, but like I said, they still turned out pretty good. And it was kinda nice to not carry a bag around. Very freeing.

We made our way back to WS to see if the booths were open yet and they were not, so we walked around WS a bit.



I just love all of the artwork that is at the different character meet and greet areas.





We also started scoping out the different paintings from Figment's Brush with the Masters, which was pretty much exactly like last year's hunt as far as what the paintings were and their locations.



Once WS was fully open at 11am we rode Gran Fiesta which I love. I made Rob watch Three Caballeros three or four times the week before we left. It's one of my favorite Disney movies ever.

Then we stopped at Mexico's Festival of the Arts Booth called The Hungry Artist and finally got some food for the first time this day.

Rob got the Mixiote de Cordero. Wrapped Slow Braised Lamb marinated in Tres Chiles Paste and Spices.



They had him this paper bag and he looked and me like, ummmm I think I made a mistake. But then he opened it and this was inside.



It smelled heavenly and tasted amazing! It was super flavorful and tender. I was actually feeling like I was the one who made the bad decision, but fortunately he let me have some of his. It was phenomenal.

I never met a taco I didn't like so I got the Tacos de Puerco. Two Corn Tortillas with Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder marinated in Ancho Paste, served with Sweet Plantain Purée and garnished with Pea Tendrils.



OMG! These were so good! The pork was melt in your mouth tender and the ancho paste had a ton of flavor. I was skeptical of the sweet plantain puree, but it went perfectly with the pork. I could have eaten 10 of these.

After this we circled around WS again and ended up deciding on Nine Dragons for lunch after they opened at noon.

We ate here for the first time last January and really liked it a lot! I feel like this place gets no love from people on here, but we really really enjoyed it. We were hoping to have another great experience.

We were seated immediately and had the sweetest server who came and took our drink orders. I got a raspberry iced tea which was sweetened and it was so good. I got like, four refills on this tea. Rob wanted hot tea and was hoping for green tea, but they had jasmine tea, so he got that.



He loved this and it seemed like there were infinity cups of tea in this tea pot. :laughing: This was seriously a ton of tea.

The appetizers all sound good here, so we both started with appetizers. Rob got the Sichuan Dumplings. Classical Sichuan chicken dumplings in a spicy chili oil sauce with a bouquet of fresh vegetable toppings.



This looked a little prettier before Rob mixed it all up. We both dropped the ball a few times this trip and started eating before I snapped a picture. However it looks, it was delicious according to him. He really enjoyed the sauce it came in.

I got the Potstickers. Pan-fried chicken and vegetable dumplings served with Soy dipping sauce.



I am suddenly a total sucker for potstickers. I love them. Can't get enough of them. And these were very good. I wish the sauce was a little more interesting, but it was good.

For his entree Rob got the Kung Pao Shrimp with peanuts and dried chili peppers.



This was so much shrimp! Such a huge portion for the price I thought. He really enjoyed this and ate every bite that was on the plate.

I was really torn and ended up getting what he got last time. Peppery Shrimp with Lightly Spiced Spinach Noodles.



This was so good! And it was so much food! I ate and ate and ate and it didn't even look like I put a dent in those noodles. I loved how they flavored the noodles. Last time the shrimp were not fried, which I would prefer, but the breading on these were very light. I was just not feeling fried food in that moment very much, but it was still very good.

We were both stuffed, but loved our dessert here last time and wanted to have it again. We split the Banana Cheesecake Eggrolls. It comes with a choice of ice cream and we went with the Caramel Ginger.



This is so delicious! The ice cream flavor was not my favorite, but it was interesting. I preferred the strawberry red bean one that we got last time.

This was such a good meal! We loved all three courses and our drinks and the service was excellent. Not sure why this place gets all the hate, but we love it. This is quickly becoming a must-do for us.

After lunch we used our Fastpasses to ride Soarin', Living with the Land and Spaceship Earth. By 2:30 we decided to head out for the day.



 


Glad you slept in! You probably needed that!

Those tacos do look good! Glad they were a hit for you.

Nine Dragons looks like it was a success for you! We haven't gone there in years (in fact, the last time I went I'm pretty sure I was in High School) That noodle dish with the shrimp looks very tasty.

I think the hate could be relative among the choices in EPCOT or because the options aren't 100% traditional take out.
 
Hi! I am here to follow along! I have read your previous dining reports, just never commented! Excited to follow along on this trip.
 
You are cranking on the updates. I love it!! So nice to sleep in. You’re so right on bag checks. I’ve found them to be frustrating lately as well. A combination of being extra thorough (which I understand and appreciate from a security standpoint) and guests being totally unprepared. Those who wait until they’re at the table to unzip, get the bag out of the stroller etc make me crazy.

I have to say, that lamb dish looks like... :eek: I’m glad it tasted better than it looked. I’ve got Nine Dragons on my list for an upcoming trip. Friends went over the holidays and raved about it.
 
Hi neighbor! Yay!!! I've been waiting for your DR for this trip! We'll be at WDW during Festival of the Masters next January, and I can't wait, since this will be a first time for us going during this event. Wow, your meal at Nine Dragons looks so good! We've always had good meals there, too, so I also don't know where all the hate comes from. Looking forward to reading more!
 
Hey Jeri, my favourite selfie queen!!! Sorry about your windshield, hope you managed to get it repaired OK when you got back. That sucks about the grumpy Cm at check-in but I love the fact that you both just threw yourselves straight into all that Disney magic. Moonlight Magic was so great, totally happy we got the chance to do it too.

Looking forward to more - and I know there is MUCH more to come....
 
Loving this one too. I can't wait to get there, it's really helping!
 
YAY! So glad you've already started on your DR! I loved following along on your Insta. My parents went to the Moonlight Madness too and loved it. I was shocked as they are usually in bed by 9pm every night lolol.

Just booked our next trip for January 2019. Can't wait to hear all about your trip :figment:
 
Joining in! It’s awesome that you got to do a Moonlight Madness event, I hope they keep doing these. There were two at AK during our last trip but late nights aren’t even an option with a toddler. I thought about going alone and decided that didn’t sound very fun.

Your Nine Dragons meal looks great, I want to try that restaurant after your review and Josh at easywdw.com always reviews it positively. Those Sichuan dumplings are right up my alley.

Looking forward to the rest!
 
Woot- jumping in early this time! Between your report and a podcast while there, I am def dying to go to FOTA!
 
Loving your report so far Jeri! It’s fun to re-live and hear more from when I insta-stalked you throughout your trip lol!!
 
Yay I’ve been waiting for your report since I saw your trip on instagram!

I wanna be brave and go bagless so bad, but I don’t think I can. Maybe I’ll be brave! 3 days till we leave!
 

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