Trip Report - February 2023

[Noreen411]

Thursday 2/9/23 Continued
Later we showered and changed then drove to the Dolphin and valet parked. We have dinner reservations at Blue Zoo. We’ve never been here before so were excited to try a new restaurant.

We got there early to have time to walk around the Boardwalk and have pre-dinner cocktails.



I’m short so had to stand on my toes so you can see my head above the sign.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 2/9/23 Continued
We went to the Blue Zoo bar.

I had a Zoo Berry and Scott had a New Old Fashioned. We both enjoyed our drinks. The bartender was funny and we chatted with him for while.



They also served us some spicy nuts with our drinks.



We were seated on time. The waitress was very friendly and gave us a few recommendations.


We started with the scallop and short rib appetizer that we shared. They split this in the kitchen for us so this picture is half the portion. This was really good. We were excited that we were off to a good start at Blue Zoo.


We were given bread with fennel butter. We both liked the crispy cracker looking pieces.



Scott had the lobster bucatini. This sounded so promising but fell short. It tasted like lemon, just lemon. Scott likes lemon and squeezes it on his seafood, vegetables, etc. This wasn’t a lemon flavor, it was just overpowering lemon.



I had the simply fish choosing Mahi Mahi, served with creamy risotto and seasonal vegetables. I had salsa verde sauce on the side. The flavors were good and I enjoyed my dish, but the fish was a bit on the tough side; I had to cut it with a knife. Scott had some of my food as he didn’t finish much of his.


We also ordered the corn which was way too tangy. We didn’t enjoy the corn at all.


For dessert we shared the strawberry angel food cake. I thought this was good, but Scott thought it reminded him of freeze dried food.


Maybe we chose the wrong items, but we were both a bit disappointed, Scott more than I was. We will probably give BlueZoo another try on a future trip since the drinks and appetizers were such a great start.

We walked around a bit more after dinner then headed back to the resort.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 2/10/23
Scott went to the gym at 5:30 and I went at 6
We bought Genie+ right before 7 and booked our first attraction at 7

We did our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast before heading out to the park.

At park opening we must have bought Individual Lightening Lanes for Rise of the Resistance since we went on the attraction and had a decent return time.

We got to Hollywood Studios just before 10.







We headed to Star Tours; this is always cute with the different versions.

We walked right into MuppetVision but just missed a show so waited for the next one.

It was time for us to head over to Rise of the Resistance. While some of the visuals are great, and I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but we’re sort of underwhelmed by this attraction. The best part is the last bit that reminds us of Star Tours.



You could tell the photographer who took these photos enjoyed his job, he had us posing different ways. There also wasn’t a line so it probably made that easier.





Scott went on Rock N Roller Coaster. I can’t go on that ride anymore so waited on a bench for him. He enjoyed his ride and was out quickly.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 2/10/23 Continued
We saw the Frozen show which is always cute. The historians really make the show fantastic.

We found another photographer who had some different magic shots for us




At some point today we cancelled our dinner plans wanting to just wing it and see where the day/night takes us.

We headed over to Slinky Dog Dash next and enjoyed our ride.


Soon after we went on Toy Story Midway Mania trying to remember some of the tips Scott read about.

We headed back towards the Star Wars section to ride Smugglers Run. We both enjoy this attraction more than we enjoy Rise.



I thought this next picture was really cute how they have us looking at each other over our shoulders.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 2/10/23 Continued
We headed over to one of our favorite attractions at Hollywood Studios - Tower of Terror. Our ride photo didn’t appear on our app after we tapped it at the end of the ride, but we figured it would show up a bit later (sometimes we’ve noticed a delay before the ride photos show up).





We wandered around the park some more. Our Tower of Terror ride picture still didn’t show up so we stopped at the photo area near the entrance to ask about it. Often when pictures don’t appear, if you know the time you went on they can search for it and add it to your app. The Tower of Terror pictures from that timeframe were missing in general, not just ours.

While I was taking care of that, Scott wandered off and said he would be right back. I assumed he went to the bathroom but he found a photographer and took some solo pictures to surprise me when they popped up in the app.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 2/10/23 Continued
We decided to head to the Polynesian and see if we could get into Trader Sam’s. We put our name/phone number on their list and were told it would be 1.5 - 2 hours. If we get called, it doesn’t guarantee you a table/seat just that you can get in.

We walked around the Polynesian a bit then decided to go to Tambu Lounge. We always enjoy Tambu Lounge.
Scott had a Martini and I had the Backscratcher. My drink was cute with the little wooden backscratcher but it was a bit too strong/alcohol tasting for me so I wouldn’t get it again.



We were hanging out and chatting with some of the other customers and the bartender having a nice time. We decided to eat at the bar (they have an appetizer menu).

We ordered potstickers which were really good, a California roll which was good, and the O’Hana noodles which were even better with a little of the potsticker dipping sauce on them.




We got a text from Trader Sam’s that we could go there, but we were already settled in at Tambu Lounge and enjoying ourselves so decided we’ll try Trader Sam’s another day.

Of course we had the bread pudding - our absolute, hands down, favorite dessert


We headed back to the resort and watched a movie. Later that night Scott was hungry so ordered pizza from Mod Pizza. He also ordered a little premade Tiramisu cake since the pizza alone wasn’t enough for them to deliver. He said the Pizza was good. The little cake sat in the fridge the whole trip and we threw it out before going home so never tried it.

 

[Bama Mom]

For appetizers we ordered the onion rings and the fried pickles. I don’t like pickles but Scott does. He enjoyed the pickles. I like onion rings but not the actual onion inside, just the crunchy part; the texture of the actual onion in the ring is odd to me so I pull it out. I like onions in other things just not the onion ring inner.

I thought I was the only one who pulled the onions out of onion rings and just ate the breading part.

 

[Noreen411]

Bama Mom - thank you for mentioning the onion rings. I also wondered if I was the only one who did weird things like that. I have many food quirks, not liking the inner of the onion ring being one of them.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 2/11/23
Scott went to the gym at 5:30 and I went about 6:15
Just before 7 we bought Genie+ and right at 7 booked our first attraction.
I say we because while I’m the one on the app clicking around, I’m letting Scott know what’s going on so he’ll be in the loop. He’ll usually give me a thumbs up when I tell him what I booked.

Our normal morning routine followed of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast before we were ready to head out to the park.

We got to Epcot around 9:30






We posed as the photographer suggested pointing, but Figment isn’t where we’re pointing. Sometimes the pictures that are a bit “off” are so cute and funny.


We went into the Nemo ride. We spent a little time looking at the fish in the tanks and started talking with one of the cast members. One fish, a yellow headed jaw fish, kept Scott’s attention for several minutes. The cast member told us various facts about the fish. You could tell she really enjoyed her job.

The next photographer had us pointing at Figment also



We went on Soarin. We both enjoy this and are surprised that they haven’t figured out how to fix the screen so the landmarks are straight regardless of where you sit.

We went onto Living with the Land next, very convenient being right in the same pavilion as Soarin.

We headed back towards the front to go on Spaceship Earth. We try to change up the future we build each time.

Journey into Imagination with Figment was next. This is always cute. Figment has become so popular; he’s always been a favorite of ours too.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 2/11/23 Continued
We headed towards World Showcase and walked around the countries a few times. We enjoy walking and it’s really nice just wandering around World Showcase stopping when we want to take a picture, browse through a shop, watch a performance, ride an attraction; it’s a great place to walk and just enjoy our time together.





We rode Frozen. We both like this. I liked it before it became Frozen too and was focused on Norway; it wasn’t as popular before it became Frozen.



I think we rode Remy but don’t have pictures from it.

At the Odyssey area we bought a Pop Tart which was OK but not as good as the Raspberry one at Hollywood Studios.


How could we not get the cute Figment popcorn bucket. Unlike the crazy waits when it first came out (last year I think) we just ordered it along with the pop tart.


We shared the Beef Wellington from the Craftsman courtyard. This was pretty good - better than we expected it to be.


After walking around the countries (I think we did three loops) and looking at some of the different exhibits they had for the Festival of the Arts, we headed back towards the front of the park.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 2/11/23 Continued
Later that evening we drove to the Dolphin and valet parked for our reservation at Shula’s.

We sat at the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail and decided to eat at the bar rather than moving to a table. We were having a nice time chatting with the bartenders and some other guests. We let the host know so they could use the table for others looking to eat in the dining room.


I had a white sangria and Scott had Bombay straight with olives.


For an appetizer we had the tuna tartare. This is very good here. The wonton chips they serve it with is a nice change from the normal chips served with tuna tartare in most places.


The bread here is great. Warm, crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. It’s hard not to fill up on the bread.


We shared the dry aged cowboy steak, which is a special not on the menu. This is so good; it just melts in your mouth.
And it’s huge.


We also had the macaroni and cheese. This is Scott’s favorite Mac & cheese at Disney. I like this one too and I’m not a huge Mac & cheese person.


For dessert we had the chocolate souffle. This is a fantastic dessert. The ice cream goes great with it and cuts the richness of the soufflé very well. With my food quirks, I like that you pour the sauce yourself as much or as little as you want. Scott always has that job to pour the sauce so I can take a picture.



After dinner we walked around the Boardwalk a bit then drove back to the resort.

We walked over to one of the other sections of the resort and stopped at the Breezes Bar. Being a pool bar, they don’t serve their drinks in glasses, just plastic. Scott had a martini and I had a Blue Raspberry non alcoholic drink.



Karaoke was going on at the bar so we stayed to watch/listen for a bit. It was kind of like nails on a chalkboard; the singers were not very good. I guess that’s the fun of it; I’m sure several of them had a few drinks before getting up to perform. Instead of sitting right by the bar, we moved towards the pool area; we could still hear the Karaoke but it wasn’t quite as loud. Several others had the same idea and we had a nice time chatting with other people sitting near us.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 2/12/23
We both went to the gym about 6:15
Just before 7 we bought Genie+ and right at 7 made our first selection

Back in the villa, we did our normal routine of laundry, jacuzzi, showers, and breakfast before heading to the park.

This was SuperBowl Sunday. I don’t follow football so it was just another day to me. Scott likes football but isn’t a diehard fan where he’ll spend every Sunday watching games. He wanted to watch some of the game tonight because it’s the SuperBowl. His favorite team isn’t playing, but it’s still the SuperBowl. We’ve been trying to find a good place for him to watch some of it. It wasn’t really a big thing at Disney when we asked at several bars if they were doing anything special. At Vistana Villages, they were going to have the game shown at several of the bars and also had a large screen set up at the pool that our balcony faced. They may have done similar at the other pools but we didn’t check. Our original plan was that we would come back to the resort during the game so he could watch some of it. We cancelled our dinner plans so we could play things by ear. He didn’t have a set time he wanted to get back for part of the game.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom about 9:30



We went on the safari. It’s a bit chilly out and we’re both wearing hoodies.



We walked through the gorilla trail. It’s so odd to us to be cold at Disney. It’s actually kind of nice. You can always put on a sweatshirt and it’s nice to wander around like this.

I think this next picture is so cute. Many of the photopass pictures are similar so it’s nice when you get something a bit different.



We headed to the Navi River Ride. Very calm and peaceful.



We watched the Feathered Friends show at 11:30. We always like this show. While waiting for the show to start, I was randomly checking the app to see what dinner reservations were available tonight. Imagine my surprise when Space 220 Lounge showed up for 8:35. I quickly booked it. Scott knew I‘ve been trying to get a reservation for Space 220 so was happy that I was able to get it, even if it limits the time he’ll possibly have for watching part of the SuperBowl.

We headed to Expedition Everest for Scott to ride the Single Rider line. He came back out really quickly because the single rider line was full and they weren’t having anyone else join right then.

We headed over to Dinosaur next, our picture never appeared.

We played some of the carnival games in Dinoland. One of the games I like playing (and even have won something in the past) is the one where you toss a colorful ball at the slots and if it lands in one of the colored cups you win a prize corresponding to the color it landed in. While I didn’t win anything today, Scott won an “Extra Large” prize. Looking at the choices for Extra Large, they weren’t that cute. Instead he downgraded to the ”Large” prize and picked a cute green dinosaur. The lady working there was a bit surprised by his request since I guess most people want the bigger one if they win it, but she ended up giving him the cute dinosaur he preferred.

We headed towards the front of the park and went on Tough to Be A Bug.

We posed for another picture that I like when I saw the photographer there since the last picture we took like this at Animal Kingdom my head was blurry.


We took a few pictures by the tree with our newly won Dinosaur included.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 2/12/23 Continued
We headed out of the park, but couldn’t pass up a few more pictures.







We went to an offsite place for lunch, Bahama Breeze. It’s a chain restaurant. We went to one many years ago in New Jersey and thought it was pretty good.



We sat at the bar.



Scott had a Gin & Tonic. I had a Sunrise Moscato Sangria. This was another really good Sangria.



As we often do, we shared our food.

We ordered the Empanadas from the appetizer menu. Scott liked them a lot, I thought they were OK.



We also had the Coconut Shrimp from the appetizer menu. These were really good. We both enjoyed them.



After the appetizers, we weren’t sure if we wanted anything else. The bartender recommended the Buttermilk fried chicken. She said it’s one of their most popular dishes. We ordered it and were pleasantly surprised by how good this was.



We enjoyed our meal at Bahama Breeze and would definitely recommend it if you are looking for an off property place to eat.

We stopped at Publix for a few items then headed back to the resort. We did some more laundry and watched some more of a movie Scott started.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 2/12/23 Continued
We went to Epcot a little later.







We went on Spaceship Earth choosing a new future for ourselves than our prior rides.

We went to Test Track next. This was the first time we rode together in ages. We normally do the single rider line and skip the pre ride parts, often riding a row or car apart. It was a much longer process going through building the car first. However, it did make it more interesting to see how our car does. Since it was cold out this probably wasn’t the best choice of attraction to ride; we were freezing during the outside part.





We walked around the park for a little while.





These next pictures were interesting how they did them. While you stood and posed, someone walked behind you waving a wand type thing that made the rainbow or colorful wave. The wave picture would have been better if my eyes were open but I’m including it anyway since it was one of the more unique photos

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 2/12/23 Continued
We checked in at Space 220 for our reservation in the lounge. The person checking us in asked if we wanted to sit at the bar or at one of the lounge tables; mentioning we would be seated quicker at the actual bar. Since we often choose to sit at the bar to eat anyway, we were fine with sitting at the bar.



It’s cute how you go in the elevator and blast off to Space.



I had the Imagination Drink. Scott had the Nebula and the bartender asked him if he wanted him to make him an off menu variation of the drink. Scott took him up on the offer and had the off menu version. We both enjoyed our cocktails.


In the Lounge you have the option of ordering the full pre-fixe menu that you get in the restaurant or you can order from the appetizer and dessert menu. Since we had a larger than normal lunch today, the appetizer and dessert option sounded perfect for us.

We started with the Fried Calamari. This was very good, not greasy, and cooked well. Probably one of the better fried calamari we’ve had at Disney.



We also had the sliders. These were served with fries so more like a meal than an appetizer. We enjoyed this also.


For dessert we had the carrot cake. This was very good too





This was our view sitting at the bar if we were facing the bar. There is a mirror that we were able to see what was going on behind us.




We enjoyed our experience at Space 220. We would definitely come back, if we can get a reservation. We would like to try the full pre fixe meal, but need to be hungry to do that. It’s nice in the lounge having the option to choose between the full pre fixe or ala carte. While we normally like sitting at the bar, we would ask for a table next time to have the view without having to turn around or look in the mirror. The lounge area in general is raised and not as close to the windows but you still have the same view.

When we left Space 220, the fireworks were going on so we saw the end of the show.

Spaceship Earth looks so pretty lit up and changing colors.






We headed back to the resort and Scott was able to catch the very end of the Super Bowl.

 

[rdkeim]

Really enjoying reading about your trip! Your meals (and drinks) all look so good. You got some great photo pass pictures. Thanks for taking the time to share your time at Disney!

 

[snikki]

I always enjoy your reports and your laid bank touring style.

I’ve always thought “my gosh they do a lot of laundry” and then it dawned on me that you guys go to the gym daily and the parks so you accumulate plenty of laundry. Keeping up with it daily is best!

 

[Noreen411]

Really enjoying reading about your trip! Your meals (and drinks) all look so good. You got some great photo pass pictures. Thanks for taking the time to share your time at Disney!

Thank you. We definitely had some great meals and drinks. Scott used to hate taking pictures but he knows how much I enjoy having pictures and with photopass we can both be in them; he’ll often find the photographers for us.

 

[Noreen411]

I always enjoy your reports and your laid bank touring style.

I’ve always thought “my gosh they do a lot of laundry” and then it dawned on me that you guys go to the gym daily and the parks so you accumulate plenty of laundry. Keeping up with it daily is best!

Thank you.

It’s convenient since the washer/dryer are right in the villa. Between the gym and parks, we have a lot of laundry. At the end of the trip we‘ll go home with mainly clean clothes to put away.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 2/13/23
Scott went to the gym at 6 and I went at 6:30
Just before 7, bought Genie+ and right at 7 booked our first selection.

Our normal morning routine of laundry, jacuzzi, and showers followed but we didn’t make breakfast in the villa. We were going to go out for breakfast today. We didn’t have a reservation but figured we’d see what was available in the app when we got in the car.

Our morning didn’t go quite as we planned. When we got in the car a few lights came on about brake malfunction and engine failure. We are not having any luck with these rental cars. We called and were told to bring the car in and they would swap it out for us. When I explained that we weren’t home in New Jersey, but in Florida, they recommended we go to Enterprise at the airport since they would have a larger selection of cars than the smaller locations.

Since we had to drive to the airport we decided to stop for breakfast first. We read about and have been wanting to try an off property place…Keke’s. It had good reviews and several locations. I had a dog named Kiki that passed away a few years ago so the name (even though it’s spelled differently) was another draw to give it a try.

This first picture - they need to fix their sign…it’s missing the e in cafe



This sign looks better



We were quickly greeted and seated. The menu is large so it took us a little while to look through it. The waitress was very friendly and gave suggestions on her favorite dishes.

Scott had coffee and I drank Sprite.

I went with her suggestion of the Apple Cinnamon stuffed French toast with crispy bacon. This was so good, I ate the whole thing.





Scott had a make your own combo with eggs, bacon, sausage, and French toast. He enjoyed his and finished all of his food.



We were very impressed with Keke’s and would definitely recommend it if you are looking for an offsite breakfast place. We will definitely come back. The food and service were both very good.

We drove to the airport and pulled into the Enterprise section. They had us speak with the manager and explain what was going on, that we just needed to swap out the car because of the lights that came on. I’m a bit of a chatterbox so told the poor manager the whole saga of the various cars. Unfortunately, because the Daytona 500 is coming soon, they didn’t have as many cars available as they normally would. The only types of cars they had available were either minivans or trucks. He walked us up and down the rows looking at the different options available. Scott picked out a 2023 Ford F150 truck for us to drive. The manager was really helpful and easy to work with; he understood our issue, and while he couldn’t get us into a similar type of car, he tried to get us something we would be happy with. Not only will we use the car here, but will need to drive it back to New Jersey.

Pretty soon we were headed back to Disney World.