Happy 40th to me *Live from the bubble*

I'm still getting caught up on other people's trip reports and saved yours for a time when I could read it all.

We stayed at Pop Century last spring on the advice of several people here, especially DisneyDee who was staying there when we met her in 2012. I love the place. Sure, it's a value, but the rooms are nice and the theming is great. I expect we'll be back someday when we don't have timeshare points to exchange.

California Grill sounds awesome. We've got an ADR there for our next trip, and if the scallops are still on the menu I think hubby will get them. And it seems you had a lot of ADRs that we'll have this winter - we also have Via Napoli for our first visit then.

I envy you a bit being up so early and being able to work on your trip report. I'm a night owl and insomniac so I'm lucky to get up early enough to get to the parks before they're crowded.

Loved that salad at BOG when we went there in September.

There's an entrance to AK through Rainforest Cafe? Tell me more! Do you have to go into the restaurant or just past it?

Oh, dang, now you've got me wanting to do Yak and Yeti next trip, but we're planning Sanaa for that day since we love it so much (and your photos of the bread service have convinced me to keep it). Both of those new dishes sound and look awesome.

We bought our resale DVC at Boardwalk (for easy access to the Food and Wine Festival) but loved Kidani Village so much. I know we'll be back there someday, so I think you'd love it if that's where you buy.

OMG where is the bacon hash recipe? We missed out on that but really wanted to try it.

Turns out I can't finish this all at one time, but I've finished at the end of page 3 so will continue at the top of page 4. Love the photos. Might add a link to your trip report on my trip report just so people can see all the awesome food I didn't take pictures of.

Fantastic trip report!!

Thanks so much for sharing everything with us while you were traveling, it was awesome.

Hoorah for DVC! Do it do it do it! DVC is the best thing that we have ever bought.

JMed wrote:

We are between AKL and GF.

I've typed this next part several times and rewritten it to make sense. Hopefully this does.

Cost of DVC points only goes up, and each new resort that is built has historically had higher points per night cost for your stay. So when you choose your resort, be sure that you buy enough points that you could stay for your estimated time every year at the newest resort (right now GF). That will help you combat future point inflation.

For instance... (using arbitrary round numbers to help avoid confusion)
If you plan on staying at Disney for one week every year, and it costs 100 points to stay at AKL, it may cost 150 points for that same week/ same room at GF. If it is financially viable for you, be sure to purchase enough points (no matter where you buy those points) that you have the 150 points for the week. That way, if you want to try and stay at resorts that aren't your home resort, you will have enough points to spend without having to bank and borrow.

crazycatperson wrote:

I'm still getting caught up on other people's trip reports and saved yours for a time when I could read it all.

We stayed at Pop Century last spring on the advice of several people here, especially DisneyDee who was staying there when we met her in 2012. I love the place. Sure, it's a value, but the rooms are nice and the theming is great. I expect we'll be back someday when we don't have timeshare points to exchange.

California Grill sounds awesome. We've got an ADR there for our next trip, and if the scallops are still on the menu I think hubby will get them. And it seems you had a lot of ADRs that we'll have this winter - we also have Via Napoli for our first visit then.

I envy you a bit being up so early and being able to work on your trip report. I'm a night owl and insomniac so I'm lucky to get up early enough to get to the parks before they're crowded.

Loved that salad at BOG when we went there in September.

There's an entrance to AK through Rainforest Cafe? Tell me more! Do you have to go into the restaurant or just past it?

Oh, dang, now you've got me wanting to do Yak and Yeti next trip, but we're planning Sanaa for that day since we love it so much (and your photos of the bread service have convinced me to keep it). Both of those new dishes sound and look awesome.

We bought our resale DVC at Boardwalk (for easy access to the Food and Wine Festival) but loved Kidani Village so much. I know we'll be back there someday, so I think you'd love it if that's where you buy.

OMG where is the bacon hash recipe? We missed out on that but really wanted to try it.

Turns out I can't finish this all at one time, but I've finished at the end of page 3 so will continue at the top of page 4. Love the photos. Might add a link to your trip report on my trip report just so people can see all the awesome food I didn't take pictures of.

I loved Pop for the value, pre DVC as I will start calling it LOL, was perfect for us. The rooms are basic but the bed was really comfy and our TA got us just steps away from Everything Pop so it was great!

Cali Grill was great but being on top of Disney for fireworks was the BEST!! I think I mentioned it in the TR about VN, it took me right back to our trip to Naples in 94!!!! The pizza was exactly the same and perfect!!!!!

I wish I could sleep in but it has never been a thing of mine... Maybe one day lol

The salad at BOG was amazing, one of my top salads of all time... I have a couple local places I always get salads and this one is right up there with them.

For Rainforest Cafe, I think I got the tip on here somewhere... If you walk into the restaurant and turn right and walk thru the store, you exit and there is a magic band station right there. There is only 2 (I think) but it was awesome and I am so glad I remembered reading about it, saved us tons of time standing in line.

We did a 1:00 lunch at Y&Y then an 8:00 dinner at Sanaa the same day. We both skipped a lot of the rice and noodles served with the dishes since we knew we would be having a big dinner. The bread service is DEVINE!!!!!!

I am pretty sure we will decide on AKL for DVC... Unless we find a remarkable resale we can't pass up.

Bacon Hash.... I am a part of a FB page for Disney food on FB and someone posted the recipe, I will check the rules and see if I can post the FB page on here. I love it... Here is the link for the Bacon Hash.

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/bacon-hash-epcot-international-food-wine-festival-kitchen

Borrow all you want or steal pics from my facebook!!!!!! I don't mind sharing at all!

JMed wrote:

When Joe left this morning to go work He said "Gotta pay for DVC somehow" I love that man!!!!

Priceless!

I am slow catching up ...but I wanted to thank you for the awesome trip report! I enjoyed seeing your likes/dislikes

JMed wrote:

Magic Mirror wrote:

I am slow catching up ...but I wanted to thank you for the awesome trip report! I enjoyed seeing your likes/dislikes

You're welcome and thanks! I loved doing it while I was there. I am a bit OCD and I like to get things down before I forget and the no sleeping thing really helped lol!

I'm already nervous about not being able to post day to day while on the cruise! Will just have to take the laptop and save it all to post when I get home!

I write down shortish notes on my iPad and take pictures of everything to jog my memory (though I think you take enough pics already lol).