Going Live from the Big Meet Up in 3...2...1...

Here we are now at day 2!

Monday

We got to sleep late today! We NEVER do this at Disney!! It was really nice to just get up and take it easy.

Finally we decided we were hungry and would go down to try the new breakfast offerings at Sanaa. They have a grab and go section and also a menu to order a hot breakfast from. We chose to order. We got the same thing except Joe got the platter that also had sausage. Mine was the Savanna Platter and Joe's the Boere Platter.

We grabbed a table by a window, there was maybe 4 other families in there. I really don't know how long they will keep this going. Seems like a lot of work for not many people. Maybe it was busier before and after we left? We waited maybe 5 minutes for our food. It was good but nothing outstanding. It wasn't very hot food and I will not eat eggs unless they catch your mouth on fire so I didn't eat many of them. The hash browns were really good and Joe loved the sausage. We also never got our tomato chutney. Would we go again? Maybe in a pinch but there are many other options out there. I can at least say we tried it.

After we made our way to MK. The line at the monorail was awful, the boat wasn't a better option and they even had buses taking people over. I've never seen that before. The security and ticket lines were massive also. We finally got in and just started taking our time strolling thru all the shops on Main Street. We watch Sky making blown glass ornaments which was pretty cool. I could have watched all day. We finally made it over to Tomorrowland. The newly painted rocks look great in person! There was a massive line for the PEOPLE MOVER!?!?!?!? So we kept walking. Our first FP was our first time on Tomorowland Speedway and probably our last time.... again, I can say I did it right? They we wasted more time strolling around and getting a pretzel for a snack before Space Mountain. I. Hate. Space. Mountain. I feel nauseous for hours every time I ride it but I Joe requested and I caved! We were both tired and my ankle is killing me so now we are at the room resting and going to head to Epcot soon! I need Food and Wine!!!!!!

We made our way over to Epcot around 5 or so. I have NEVER parked as far out as we were. Last row... I was worried about the crowds but they were not bad at all. We entered the gates and we didn't stop until we got to our first F&W booth! We started with the Chew and started making our way around World Showcase to the right. We hit just 6 booths tonight. Favorites were the Ravioli at the Chew and the Nitro Chocolate at the Chocolate Studio! I've also found a new wine, Acrobat Pinot Noir. It is an Oregon wine and we are quite fond of a couple of others from there.

We managed to make it all the way around WS but I ain't gonna lie, I'm having some serious issues with the foot and ankle. I'm trying not to get upset but the tears were flowing as we were walking out. I guess I'm going to have to have one of the procedures done.

Safe and sound back in our room at AKL, we sat on our balcony and watched the Star Wars Fireworks. Not a bad way to end the day if you ask me!

Thanks, I was expecting to have some issues with it but not like this. The accident put a lot of extra strain on it and it is showing. Joe is golfing this morning so I am going to try to take it easy until he gets back. Key word is "try" with all of WDW at my fingertips, I don't think I can.

I've always joked that we are going to be coming for so many years it may lead to that at some point. I just didn't think it would be this soon. As we were walking to the front of Epcot last night was the first time I even thought "maybe I should"

Tuesday

Joe had a tee time at Lake Nona today for golf. He was pretty excited when he got back. He saw Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose warming up. Then while he was about to tee off on #10 a lady pulled up and said, "go ahead, I'll wait." He took his first shot and as she drove around him stopped to say "great shot!", it was Annika Sorenstam. So I guess he had a pretty good day LOL. He's wanted to play this course for a while now and he was pretty happy when he got back! (all 3 are professional golfers for all you non-golf people. Henrik just won the 2016 Open Championship and the Silver in Rio, just behind Rose who won gold! Sorenstam was one of the most successful female golfers in history before her retirement.

OK, enough of all that!

We popped down to Sanaa for breakfast again, we were in a pinch... I just grabbed a croissant this time. Nothing spectacular again. Joe headed off for golf and I walked out to the observation deck to hang out for a bit. I was undecided on what I was going to do. I really didn't want to do food and wine because well, it's a lot of food for one person. Guess where I went??? Food and Wine LOL. I started in the Festival Center where I tried wine. At 10:15ish... Hey, it's 5:00 somewhere. Then I strolled over to WS which wasn't open yet. I found a shady place to rest for about 10 minutes. I hit 5 booths and the Chase Lounge. My favorite yesterday was the grilled spicy edamame in Japan and Happy Peach in China! I just strolled and took my time and did a little shopping (got the Pandora chef Mickey!) and people watching. I was on the bus when Joe text that he was heading back.

Back at the room we took a little break before heading to AK. It's been slow going for us this time so we took out time just walking and looking and stopping for photographers. We hopped right on the safari (10 min wait) then headed to Y&Y Local Foods for eggrolls and fried rice which we shared. This was a great appetizer/snack for us. We walked the trail and then headed for Everest. 15 minute wait and when we got off, NO LINE so we rode again. I happened to look to the right as we were going up around the big circle part of it and BOOM DIZZY! Holy moly was I feeling sick. So we sat and watched the ride a bit after that and headed to Flame Tree for BBQ fries. We sat for a long time just talking before out night time safari. again, 10 min wait. We saw tons of animals again including the lions! It was almost closing time when we got off so we started the long slow walk back to the exit. Pretty early to bed again just for me to be up before dawn today.

Hollywood Studios, Jiko Wine Tasting and Food and Wine are the plans for today!

*lots of pictures on The Huotari's Disney Adventures Facebook page!!

I think it is worth it just for the lions!!! Other than that, nothing new or different.

Wednesday - or as I now call it, Wine Wednesday!

Our morning started a bit lazy for us again. I haven't done one single rope drop this week and I don't plan on it for the rest of the week. Our first stop was Target. We needed Tylenol stat and I wasn't paying resort prices. There is a Super Target not too far from AKL, we were over there and back in about half and hour.

HS was our first stop. We had RnRC, ToT and ST fast passes. First stop was Starring Rolls for one of their MASSIVE sandwiches. We went with turkey, pesto and mozzarella. We split the meal and Joe had a cookie. We headed to out 1st FP Rock n Roller Coaster and lucked up with front row seats! After we browsed the shop a bit and Joe had a work call to return.

I always get anxious about ToT so we actually ended up skipping it. It's not one of Joe's favorites (I told him to ride with out me) and we have FP to ride with Blondie when they get here. We stopped in Sweet Spells and all it took were the words maple and bacon for Joe to stop. We picked up a Maple Bacon Whoppie Pie. It was good but would have been MUCH better if they would have given us one from the display case instead of the fridge. Buttercream icing is not good straight out the fridge and the middle of it was like solid butter. Other than that it was pretty tasty.

We just roamed around until it was time for our Star Tours FP. I am seriously done with this ride now. We get the exact same scenario every time. Nothing different. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??? According to the interwebs, there are 54 possible combinations. I call BS! Hopefully Rogue One will add a couple more combinations and I will MAYBE try again...

We were done with Studios and headed back to AKL, we had a WINE tasting to get ready for! I'm thinking Jiko, signature restaurant, wine, dress code (it's all on the Wine Tasting page) so I took it as a chance to dress the part. We were the only ones to dress the part. I guess the 3:00 time means anything goes. Oh well, to each their own. We arrived a little before 3 checked in and waited to be escorted to our table. Shellie our "Somm" as she kept calling herself was wonderful. She reminded me of a cross between Kathy Najimy and a Chihuahua on steroids. LOL Seriously though, I loved her. She did admit to having 6 shots of espresso prior to our class so there is that...

There were only 12 people in attendance, they keep it small for a reason. participation and fun. We had 3 lovely wines, a white, rose and red. There were 3 cheeses, some type of brittle (I'm pretty sure it was pumpkin seed), strawberry and fig crostini. We learned a lot about S African wines and production and how to fool people at fancy parties where wine is served. (I'm not giving up this secret!!)

All in all it was a wonderful experience. I would go back if I knew there would be different wines or just to enjoy the same ones. I wish other restaurants offered this. I would try to go to one every trip.

We rushed back to Kidani after to change, we were meeting Joe's old boss and his wife for another trip around Food and Wine. We hit a few more booths, enjoyed more cocktails and had lots of laughs. I finally tried the grapefruit beer, it is good, I'm not going to lie but not something I would gush and rave over. It smells of grapefruit more than it tastes and I just can't get past the smell to drink a lot of it. We ended the evening with another nitro chocolate and I was in bed asleep before 10.

Blondie and my parents arrive today! Moving to a 2 bedroom villa at AKL. More food and wine!

Thursday

So far it's been a quiet day for us. I was up a little after 4 but Joe slept until almost 8... I was craving Krispy Kream so after packing up the room to take our stuff to Bell Services we hopped in the car to head off property!

After stuffing ourselves with sugary goodness we bolted over to Epcot. I needed more food and wine! We made a pit stop at Soarin. We waited a little longer than the posted wait time because of "fog on the runway". I really like the new movie but the distortion is awful! Unless you are middle or top row of the middle section it's kind of a bust.

Joe wanted to check out the DVC Member Lounge so our next stop took us to the top of the Imagination Pavilion I really wish they had charging stations WITH cords up there instead of just the ports and plugs.

Food and Wine were next and we slowly made our way around Epcot one more time. Today was the hottest it has been in my opinion, I even got a little of a sunburn. Before heading out we stopped and picked up our AP tumblers and ran thru the Festival Center.

I had gotten the text that our room was ready and it was a welcome message. I was hot, tired and sore... We checked into our 2 room villa wow this is an awesome room. So much more detail! And the jacuzzi tub!!

We relaxed in the room until mom, dad and Blondie arrived. We explored the resort and rode over to Jambo House to grab a bite from The Mara. We are all back at the room now resting up for tomorrow!

Friday

I can't believe it's Friday already. At times I feel like we just got here. Then I think "I'm so ready to be home!"

We got up pretty early this morning because Blondie still had her school alarm on. 5:50am Rihanna Work Work Work blasted thru the 2 bedroom villa... Needless to say, we were all wide awake. Joe and Dad had a tee time for Sunrise 9 at 7:30 so we might as well be up. They had to leave a little early since we got a screw in our tire yesterday and Joe was dropping the car off at the Car Care Center before heading to the course.

Mom, Blondie and I left around 8:15 for Animal Kingdom. We got to see the birds fly in and we started to the right. Blondie will not see It's Tough to be a Bug so we walked on to Dinoland... he talked me into riding Primeval Hurl... There was no one in line so "yay surprise" they let us ride twice *insert puking sound here*

We walked right onto Everest twice and strolled down to meet my dad and Joe. We took the train back to Conservation Station to waste time until lunch at Tusker House. It was really good food but the character interaction was short and pretty disappointing. If you are paying for the character experience then you should get it. Hi - picture - bye... after we just strolled the park for a bit before heading back to AKL for naps.

We were up and moving to Hollywood Studios. We had our first fastpass at 4:30 TSM. Joe won and I was mad but that's how it always is. We watched the 8 min Dr Strange preview at the end of One Man's Dream and now I really really want to see this movie. Next was the Frozen show.... I LOVED THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! The historians make this show worth the time. I laughed and sang until I had tears in my eyes. A quick ride on Star Tours and we went to claim a spot for the Star Wars fireworks. WOW!!! This is so much better up front! WOW again.... WOW!!!!

We grabbed dinner at The Mara and about to fall into bed now!

Last full day tomorrow

Saturday and Sunday

Man kids, I am wore slap out! We packed a lot into our last 2 days! I am really bummed we missed the meet up Saturday but by the time dad was almost to the MK it was almost time for the fireworks. We are safe at home and I still have my MagicBand on. I keep telling myself I will be back in less than 2 weeks but it's not working very well. I will say yesterday in the car and resting last night has done a world of good for the ankle. I think the last few days I was just numb to the pain and wanting to push on to do all we had planned. So without further ado.... Here is how Saturday went.

We got up and met with Candi from Magical Pics. She is just about the sweetest thing ever. We went to Jambo for our pics and I can't wait to see them all! She is on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/magicalpixbycandi/?fref=ts and does some wonderful pictures. I was curious about the whole process, seems Disney wouldn't want photographers all over the place but they allow it in all public places with the exceptions of the 4 parks. She can even do sessions at Disney Springs. She has 3 price packages so if you are looking for some professional pictures while you are there, check her out.

We ran back to the resort to change and headed to Epcot. I was already nervous as it was a Saturday Food and Wine. The line to get in was MASSIVE and the parking lots were pretty full already but we went forward with our plans. We stopped at the pin shop and got a Hide and Squeek map for Blondie before eating. We arrived at World Showcase just a little before 11 and the booths were already open. We made pretty good time getting around WS, we tried LOTS of items, found Remy in every country and I finally got a souvenir wine glass. By the time we left close to 2, it was PACKED. The lines just to scan MBs was all the way back to the gates. Nope, never, no freaking way! Those of you who braved it, my hats off to you.

We headed back to AKL for naps (B gets sooooo cranky and I have no idea WHO she gets it from). Mom and I headed out to MK well before anyone else. Blondie was still sleeping, dad was watching the game and Joe was napping on and off. We just strolled around taking in the sights. I went in the Tiki room for the first time. How cute is that??? Yes really, first time! Joe text to let us know they had made it and B wanted her face painted, we met them by Space Mountain. She does make a cute Tink! They wanted to ride Tomorrowland Speedway and hopped in line, mom and I walked to Fantasyland. They were done very quickly. While they were in line a guy came up and asked "how many in your party?" Joe told him 2 and they guy handed him 2 fastpasses and said "Roll Tide" (Joe had on his Alabama shirt and it's something Alabama football fans say to each other) When they met back up with us it was time for our 7DMT fp. I love that ride in the dark, it seems much faster for some reason. We also rode Peter Pan before grabbing a bite at Pinocchio's. It was starting to get late and I was worrying about dad getting to us on his own When he finally found us it was a little after 9 so we just sat to rest a bit and wait on the show. We stood by the carousel for Wishes, I love being surrounded by the fireworks, it's so much fun back there. Right after we hopped on Small World and headed to HM for our last FP. I wanted to stay until we got kicked out but no one else was up to it. Someday.....

Sunday morning we woke up to pack and load the cars. Breakfast was at Whispering Canyon. Everyone got the all you can eat skillet except me. I can't turn down benedicts and this one had pulled pork. YUM!!! Everything was yummy and it was a great way to end the trip.

It's been a few days and I will be headed back to the world in a couple of days... I've been thinking a lot about this trip. There really were no negative aspects of it at all. (other than my own health at times )

The only problem we had (which really wasn't a problem) (well, kind of cause it has happened twice now) was that when I checked in online, it lost my phone number and we didn't get a text that the room was ready. We still effortlessly checked in but I like skipping that part.

I went to Savannah with the girls this weekend, a friend who lives down there was with us, she said her favorite thing at F&W was the SPICY HUMMUS FRIES!!!! I knew those things were good LOL

I'm really glad I got to meet many of you this trip and sorry I missed the others! I think this is a great idea and we should do it again for sure!