Summer at Saratoga Springs

I'm back home with a bunch of very happy cats.

The trip home was mostly uneventful, aside from (1) one very cranky toddler who screamed through half the flight because she didn't want to do whatever games/activities the parents (and grandparents, from the look of the people with her) thought to bring along, didn't want to stay in her seat, etc.; (2) some minor turbulence as we flew through the cold front passing over the east coast; and (3) an unpleasant encounter with sunscreen. More on that...

My seat was on the right of the plan forward of the wings, and I watched through the window as the baggage handlers loaded everyone's luggage into the plane. We've all seen YouTube videos and TV news exposes of baggage handlers tossing people's luggage around with no concern for what was inside. This did not happen on our flight, at least from what I could see through that window. The Southwest employees appeared to be taking proper care of all the luggage. However, I was a bit surprised to see some of the things people had checked, such as backpacks, soft-sided totes, and even a very pretty Hello Kitty tote that I wouldn't even lay on the ground, much less allow to be put in the cargo hold of an airplane. But apparently someone on that plane had the exceedingly bad idea of stashing what must have been a large bottle of sunscreen in a soft-sided tote or bag and then checking that bag, because there is now a stain at least a square foot in size, maybe more, on my suitcase that reeks of Coppertone. The goop must've gone everywhere. I'm sure whatever else was in that bag is ruined, and I really really hope that Hello Kitty tote bag wasn't holding the sunscreen, or anywhere near it for that matter. And I can't really blame that on the baggage handlers. They may very well have put all the smaller, soft-sided bags on top of the larger, heavier bags, but they can't predict how stuff will shift during the flight.

Before I get back to writing trip report, I'll catch up on comments and such:

Robyn and Zapper, we checked the menu at Wolfgang Puck Express Friday evening, but after our Coral Reef lunch we weren't very hungry, so we shared a holiday turkey sandwich at Earl of Sandwich instead. Hopefully next trip. And Robyn, you will be pleased to know that the next time I got the Sleepy Hollow waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, I did not ask them to hold the cream.

Speaking of Earl of Sandwich, we ate there four times total, sharing sandwiches twice. Hubby says his favorite is still the chipotle chicken avocado, which he first tried last year, while mine is the Hawaiian BBQ, with the holiday turkey and the chipotle chicken avocado also on my short list of favorites.

Spook, we have no kids so as far as I'm concerned, fall doesn't start until the autumnal equinox, hence Summer at Saratoga Springs occurring in early to mid-September. But I'm sure we'll be in seasonal agreement when I write up Autumn at Animal Kingdom Lodge (November) and Winter at Wilderness Lodge (January/February).

We did make it back to Raglan Road (more on that when I get to Friday's touring summary) and had as much fun as the first time. I think we're going to have to reconsider having dinner their again - the first and only time we dined there two years ago we were not impressed, but after our very enjoyable late-night visits I think they deserve another chance.

Alicemouse, I would happily stay at Saratoga Springs anytime. It's a fine resort all on its own, and IMO being able to take a short walk or boat ride to DTD puts it almost in the same league as the MK or Epcot resorts.

Watchmaker, that hidden gem review is why I booked an ADR at The Wave, and very glad I did. It was a very last-minute change to our dining plans for this trip.

Okay! Tomorrow the trip report resumes!

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom, Turf Club, and Evening Extra Magic Hours at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Monday morning we had the alarm set for 7:30 again, we grabbed a couple of granola bars in lieu of a real breakfast and actually made it to Animal Kingdom before rope drop by a few minutes. This was the day we had planned to meet jhugo, so I texted her shortly after arriving at the park and hung out a bit in Harambe Village on the odd chance she and hubbyhugo might pass by. But they didn't, so we headed over to the new Lion King theater for our first FastPass, with an entry window starting at 9:30. While we waited, I got a response from jhugo saying they were on their way to their first FP, Kilimanjaro Safari; we eventually agreed on meeting by the Harambe stage after Festival of the Lion King ended. Once inside the theater we were allowed to sit anywhere, so of course I asked where the lion section was. The show was as superb as always, and the new theater is very nice and seems much more at home in the park's Africa section.

Our next FP was for Kilimanjaro Safari, with an entrance window from 10:30 to 11:30, so we figured we could delay entrance until near the end of the FP window and spend a little more time with jhugo and hubbyhugo. They found us rather quickly thanks to the description of our T-shirts (see photos below). We made our introductions and chatted a bit, commiserating about the incredibly horrible Florida heat and humidity. They're from Wisconsin and we live in Pennsylvania, so none of us were at all comfortable. We also exchanged cat stories and fun on the WDWFG forum, and then the band showed up and both jhugo and I got into the show! Fun times! Just before we split up, jhugo held out two lovely beaded bracelets and told me to pick whichever one I prefered. So now we have matching bracelets to remember our meet-up. Thanks much, jhugo; hope our vacation plans put us all at WDW again someday.

Hubby and I made our way to Kilimanjaro Safari and arrived with just a little time left in our FP window. The animals were not terribly active, no doubt due to the heat. Guess we should've done the safari first and then the Lion King show. Once the ride ended I realized we hadn't left enough time to get to our third FP, Finding Nemo: The Musical, with an entry window of 11:30 to 11:50. Bummer! Instead we went in search of food and a FastPass kiosk so we could get a Nemo FP at a later time. I'd told hubby about the vegan food cart somewhere in the Asia section of the park, and since we had an early dinner ADR at the Turf Club we both agreed that a lunch on the light side would be a good idea. I had no idea where the cart was, but hubby happened to notice it, and we ordered the Asian noodle salad and the samosas, both to share. The salad was okay, not awful but not great, nothing I'd have any need to eat again. But those samosas were awesome! If we ever eat there again, we'll just get two (or more) orders of samosas. After we ate, hubby went in search of the nearest tobacco attraction while I went looking for the FP kiosk. I found one quickly and secured FP reservations for the very next Nemo show; meanwhile, hubby had to wander from Asia (where the smoking area near Everest was closed due to construction) all the way around to Dinoland. Even so, he returned well before they let us in for the 1:00 showing of Nemo. Thanks to FP+, we were able to sit in the first row of the back section and had a wonderful view of the stage as well as all the action that took place on the walkways throughout the front section of the theater.

We headed back to Saratoga Springs as soon as the show was over and I enjoyed another afternoon shower. We didn't have a lot of time between returning to SSR and heading out for our dinner ADR at Turf Club; I'd made the reservation for 5:00 to leave us plenty of time to head over to Hollywood Studios for evening extra magic hours. We were the first dinner guests to arrive at the restaurant, and at first I was a little concerned that we were underdressed in nice shorts and polo shirts, but once other patrons arrived I saw that we fit right in. We were asked whether we preferred eating out on the patio or inside, but the weather seemed threatening so we went with indoors (and though it did get rather dark and windy, it never did rain). Hubby and I both enjoy seafood and debated between the steamed mussels seasoned with fennel, shallots, white wine, tomato pesto, and fresh herbs or the fried calamari, which came with two dipping sauces, and ended up with the mussels, an excellent choice. The mussels were small and tender and the wine broth was delicious (we asked for extra bread to sop up as much as we could). Before we left a family at the table beside us ordered the calamari, and it looked just as good, so I think we would've been happy with either selection. For our entrees hubby ordered the prime rib with mashed potatoes, broccolini, and cherry-peppercorn sauce and I got the root beer brined pork chop with sweet potato hash and sauteed greens (spinach). I made my selection based on an assumption that the pork chop would be a smaller serving of meat than the prime rib and also because the side dishes that came with it appealed to me more than mashed potatoes and broccolini. Well, I should've gotten the prime rib. It was delicious (we tasted each other's dishes again). The pork chop was good, don't get me wrong, and the sides definitely were more to my liking, but IMO the prime rib was definitely superior to the pork chop. All in all, the Turf Club is a good place to go if you're staying at Saratoga Springs, want a table-service dinner, and don't have an ADR, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there.

After dinner it was on to DHS for EEMH. Our first stop was the FP kiosks, where we got FPs for the 10:00 showing of Fantasmic. Then we hit the Great Movie Ride and got the gangster version. Our tour guide, Ash, did a great job; our Muggsy was a little over the top, but it worked for that role. Once off that ride, hubby tried to visit the tobacco attraction that used to be near Toy Story Mania only to find it closed, so we walked down near the Backlot Tour and found that smoking area still open, and hubby lit up while I visited the bathroom attraction. On our way past we'd noticed the TSM standby line was only 45 minutes (pretty short for that ride) and decided to do that next, only to discover that the posted standby wait was down to just 35 minutes when we returned! And in actuality, it ended up being closer to 25 minutes from getting in line to walking out the door. Hubby beat my score (he doesn't usually), but it was close and we both got the beaver. We also both noticed that the 3D was out of whack on a couple of the screens; hope that's easily fixed. I tried a trick Alicemouse suggested on TSM, aiming for the lower targets, but discovered that was difficult for me; because of my extreme lack of height the gun blocks my view of some of the lower targets, although on subsequent rides I started to find ways around that and eventually got my highest score ever. (But dang it, still a beaver!) After TSM we wandered past the Backlot Tour, strolled around the Streets of America, passed by the Muppets Theater, and eventually found our way over to Star Tours. This is one of several attractions that I can't handle due to motion sickness, but I'd seen video of the amazingly themed ride queue and wanted to see it for myself. The line was nonexistent, so this was my best chance without wasting a FP on something I wasn't actually going to ride. Hubby went ahead and did the ride while I meandered past the assorted droids. He got a new variation on the story, which made him happy since last year he got the same version every freaking time he rode Star Tours.

By now it was time for Fantasmic, and we got excellent seats thanks to those FPs. We were especially pleased to see the show this visit since it got rained out when we came last April. This is hubby's favorite of all the nighttime fireworks-type shows. After Fantasmic we headed back to TSM and were in and out in even less time. I beat hubby this time around, but we were still both beavers. (Later in the week I sort of got the kitty, more on that soon.) And after that we decided to call it a night. We just missed a Saratoga Springs bus and had resigned ourselves to a long wait when the driver of the Old Key West bus (next stop after the SSR stop) called over to us and said he'd take us to SSR after he made the rounds of OKW. Love that Disney service. Back at SSR I accompanied hubby over to the smoking area just to look across the pond at Downtown Disney, and then it was off to bed.

Next up: Epcot, Be Our Guest lunch, and MNSSHP

Photos from Festival of the Lion King.

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Meet up with jhugo

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The band in Africa, the safari, lunch, and Star Tours

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The samosas are vegan. I know they have potatoes and peas inside, not sure what else. And spices, the spices are what make them yummy.

I'm not sure what to think about "flight test" mode - since many people ride in the same simulator, it's hard to believe they would force most of the group to give up a big part of the experience just so I wouldn't get sick. I'll have to research that further.

I might be wrong about the food's being vegan. Definitely vegetarian, though. And you definitely should try the samosas. You don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy them.

Day 4 - Epcot, Be Our Guest, and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Tuesday was going to be a long day, what with morning extra magic hours at Epcot and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that evening. We set the alarm for 7:00 am this morning and made it to Epcot around 8:20 - the first time we'd ever made it to MEMH. The Spaceship Earth line was all but nonexistent, so we got on and then changed the FastPass we had for that attraction to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Then we practically walked onto Test Track, but kept the FP we had later in the day because I love that attraction. Hubby and I decided to take turns designing our demo car; I took the first turn and designed a sporty hybrid in an attempted to come up with a car that was ecofriendly but still powerful. And it did pretty well, but wasn't the top design in our ride vehicle. Next up we headed over to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast. Hubby got whatever they call the big breakfast over there, the one with eggs, potatoes, sausages, pancakes (or was it French toast?), and a biscuit, while I got a pastry of some kind, don't remember exactly what, and shared a little of his breakfast as well. While we were eating hubby spotted jhugo and hubbyhugo walked across the ground floor beating feet to an attraction, but they didn't notice us and we never ran into them again that morning.

After breakfast we noticed that Soarin' had just a 15-minute standby wait! I can't ride that one, but hubby hopped into line while I went back to the FP kiosk to move The Seas with Nemo back a bit to accommodate hubby's turn on Soarin'. As it turned out we should've gotten the FP for Turtle Talk with Crush instead; there was no standby line at all for The Seas with Nemo, but we had to wait a good 20 minutes for Crush. Our Test Track FP was next, and we swung by Club Cool on our way over to chug some Beverly along with some of the other flavors. Over at Test Track it was hubby's turn to design the car. When we got to the ride platform, I also touched my Magic Band to the reader and discovered that the car I'd designed earlier was still in the system, so we got to see how our cars compared head-to-head. We were both just a bit under 200 points, with his car rating three points higher than mine.

Then it was time for us to catch the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom for our Be Our Guest lunch FastPass. By this point in the day it was hot as Hades and we Northerners were starting to feel miserable. We had to wait a bit to get into BOG, which did not help with the heat issue, and then we had minor problems ordering at the touchscreen. But that was nothing compared with the problem trying to find a table. We wandered from room to room and couldn't find a single one until finally we managed to snag a table that still had other people's lunch debris strewn all over it. We took it anyway and flagged the first cast member we could find to get it cleared. Meanwhile, I went off to get us both new drinks because the first fountain we'd seen only had child-sized cups! Eventually our food found us, and I must say it was pretty good. Hubby got the braised pork coq au vin style, which I sampled and liked very much, and I ordered the tuna nicoise salad, which was very tasty with tuna that was done perfectly by my standards, seared on the outside and rare on the inside. But even though we enjoyed the food, the hassles of having lunch here far outweighed our enjoyment of the food and we will not take advantage of any future BOG FP invitations, at least not until the crowds thin out a bit. If we can ever get an ADR we might try it for dinner, since that would eliminate most of the problems we had at lunch. After we'd finished eating, we wandered through all three rooms a second time to actually take in the decor instead of just worrying about finding a seat, and it really is a beautifully themed restaurant.

On our way out of BOG we stopped by the rose so I could get a photo "touching the rose." Yeah, right. Try touching the very bottom of the rose's stem, and that was with reaching almost as high as I could. I'm so short that when hubby took the photo he cut the actual rose right out of the picture! (I also got a photo of the entire mosaic.) By now the heat was absolutely unbearable, so we headed for the exit. And who should I find there but Marie the kitten! So I hopped into the line and quickly texted hubby to get his butt over there (he had stopped at the tobacco attraction) so he could take my picture with Marie. The CM running the show saw the kitty pins on my hat and Lil' Bub on my T-shirt and let Marie know I was a cat lover, and I showed her the Marie pin on my hat. Then hubby and the PhotoPass guy snapped their photos and we got the heck out of the heat.

This afternoon I was exhausted, so I took a short nap before hitting the shower for my afternoon cool-down. Then we put on our "costumes," consisting of T-shirts and ears for both of us (see photos below), and caught the bus back to MK for MNSSHP. At the last bus stop at Saratoga Springs, a couple wearing the most amazing costumes boarded. He was Carl and she was Russell from Up, their costumes were absolutely perfect, and she even had a little Dug stuffed animal in her backpack! When we arrived I asked to take their photo and they graciously agreed; I will post it below, with their faces blurred since I didn't ask their permission to post the photo online. We also saw a young woman in a pretty spiffy "Frozen Anna" costume, by which I mean she was portraying Anna in her frozen state just as she saved Elsa from the evil Prince Hans. She was blue all over, including her face. I asked to take her photo, but she was in too much of a hurry to get into the party (although a little way down the sidewalk she managed to find the time to ask someone else if she could take their photo). While we're on the subject of costumes, it seemed that half the little girls, a good number of the teenage girls, and even a few grown women were dressed as Queen Elsa, with several more wearing Princess Anna costumes. Pity all those Elsas couldn't make the temperature drop a little.

We made it inside MK about an hour before the party officially began, so we rode Carousel of Progress while it was still open and then got dinner at Cosmic Ray's, with hubby getting the pork barbecue and me getting a hamburger. The party had started by the time we'd finished eating, so we started trick or treating beginning in Tomorrowland and working our way around the park clockwise, going through Adventureland, then Frontierland, then Fantasyland, and finally returning to Tomorrowland via the Trick or Treat Trail between Storybook Circus and Tomorrowland. By the time we reached the Fantasyland train station, hubby was really tired and just wanted to get on the train for a while, but unfortunately it wasn't running so he had no choice but to keep on walking.

Once we'd finished collecting our candy, it was getting close to fireworks time, so we found a spot on the bridge between Tomorrowland and the hub that would've been fantastic if a whole family of taller people hadn't decided to park their sorry keisters right in front of me. @$&!+?%! And they even looked right at me before standing there. Do average and tall people just not realize short people cannot see over them? I think they must, because they're always aware of what their children can and cannot see. (End of rant.) So I slid over a little and grumbled at hubby, who did not deserve to bear the brunt of my frustration. Fortunately I still had a decent view of the fireworks, which I declare to be the best in all of Walt Disney World and well worth seeing. Even if you're not going to MNSSHP, if you're at WDW in September or October, stop at the Ticket and Transportation Center and watch from the boat dock, or from the ferry itself.

After the fireworks we rode the Peoplemover so hubby could sit down for a while, then we got something cold to drink. Hubby was a bit out of sorts, partly because of being tired, partly because I'd snapped at him when those taller poopheads stood in front of me, but mostly because he was coming down with a cold (which I didn't realize at the time). Now, we all know that viruses cause colds. The weather does not cause colds. Yet somehow hubby is especially susceptible to catching colds when he's exposed to extreme variations in temperature, such as when he's touring WDW on a beastly hot summer afternoon and then gets onto an ice-cold bus to return to our resort. But anyway. We were getting pretty close to the start of the second parade. Since this was one of the least crowded MNSSHP dates, being a weeknight in early September, and this was the second parade scheduled that evening, I rather expected to be able to walk up to the parade route 15 minutes before the parade started and get a spot right by the curb. This did not happen. We were lucky to find a spot between Liberty Square and Frontierland behind a fenced-in area containing bushes and other vegetation. We had a fair view of the parade, if at a bit of a distance, but it was a crappy spot for taking photos so I don't have any. I enjoyed the parade very much, though, especially some of the more obscure villains at the end of the parade, such as bowler hat guy from Meet the Robinsons. Once the parade had passed hubby found a bench to sit on while I visited the villains party at the Diamond Horseshoe, which was definitely not my thing so I didn't stay long, although it was cool seeing Dr. Facilier and Cinderella's evil stepfamily in there.

The party wasn't over yet, but hubby was feeling so miserable we decided to leave early. Overall, hubby and I had differing opinions of MNSSHP. He said it wasn't worth the 60-some dollars and would not do it again (although that might have been the cold talking). I disagree. So the next time we're at WDW in September or October, I will hope that some of you are there also and we can meet up for the party because it will be much more fun doing it with my fellow Disney fanatics.

And then we caught the bus back to Saratoga Springs, collapsed into bed, and for the first time this trip did NOT set an alarm to get us up the next morning.

Next up: DHS Epcot, and dinner at Akershus.

Photos! The rose at BOG, me "touching the rose," and me and Marie the kitty.

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Photos from MNSSHP. Russell and Carl, me as a black kitty, and hubby as a giraffe.

Edited to add: I just noticed that "frozen Anna" is visible in the background to the left in the photo of Russell and Carl. Not a great view, but at least you can check her out.

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That very nearly happened to me at Animal Kingdom a couple of years ago. I let a little girl stand in front of me, then she started reaching back to pull her mother up with her. I crowded Mom out and am not ashamed to admit it. And if Mom had been pushy, I would've told her, "Look, I'm 4'10" tall. Your daughter is welcome to stand in front of me because I can see over her head. I can't see over yours. So if you must be right next to each other, she's gonna have to move back where you are."

I sampled the potatoes and some of the meat - I can't recall if it was just sausage or sausage and bacon. Whatever, it was all quite tasty. Can't speak for anything else, but it must be good because hubby keeps ordering that big breakfast at every counter service restaurant that serves it. He's had it at Saratoga Springs, Pop Century, and now at Sunshine Seasons and enjoyed it every time.