The flight left a little late on but we made it to Florida only about 5 minutes late.  We lost a lot of tip using Disney’s Magical Express.  We had to wait in line for our bus that would take us to Bay Lake Tower.  Aside from the wait for the bus it took a while before we left for WDW.  We ended up being the last stop.  The driver stopped at the Poly first, then the Grand Floridian, then over to Wilderness lodge and then the Contemporary where Bay Lake Tower is.  Kim and I were close to missing our reservations for Tony’s.  We checked in and our room was ready.  We went up to the room, dumped off a few things and walked over to guest relation at the Magic Kingdom to pick up our Annual Passes (AP). The line was huge and we were still in line when our lunch reservation was up.  We got to the window to exchange our vouchers for or actual APs and I did not bring my wallet so i had no ID on me. To process the voucher I needed my drivers license which I left in the room.  Since we needed the pass to get into the Magic Kingdom Lunch at Tony’s was out.

We rode the monorail back to the room.  Even the monorail was taking forever.  We had to wait in the station before leaving because of “traffic”.  Once we cleared the Magic Kingdom station we didn’t get to far as we had to wait for clearance into the Contemporary Resort.  We finally made it to Bay Lake Tower (BTL) we were going to go back with my ID to get our passes but we had blown our reservation and it was close t 2:00pm.  Our thought was to go to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC)  and ten have lunch at the Grand Floridian.  We were running out of time and to shorten the storey we ended up eating lunch in the Contemporary at The Wave.  Lunch was OK.  We had eaten dinner here about 18 months ago.  We liked the food but not our server.  The lunch offering is not that exciting and we did not want to eat here but we were pressed for time.  We were seated and low and behold we have the server that sucked the last time we ate there. I had a chicken sandwich which was OK but nit great.  Kim had a bacon cheeseburger which she liked. We would have preferred Tony’s. 

It was late and we did not want to go back and deal with getting the vouchers exchanged so we went to the pool.  We stayed at the resorts pool the rest of the afternoon until dinner at Ohana’s located it the Polynesian resort.

 My next trip is coming up on September 4th.  I took a break from blogging on my last trip in August 2009 and this year my May vacation was off of Disney property.  This is a rarity for the wife and I but we spent 9 days aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise ship.  We had a great time and dare I say Disney Cruise Line as great as they are could learn a thing or two from Princess Cruises.  If you want to read about it head on over to my wife’s blog My Magical Journeys. 

  This trip we will be staying at Bay Lake Tower.  I am very excited about this visit as it was always a dream of mine to stay in the Contemporary Resort and this is going to be as close as I can get.  For those who may not be familiar with Bay Lake Tower it is a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resort built on the former site of the North Garden Wing of the Contemporary Resort.  The wing was demolished and replaced by Bay Lake Tower.  My only disappointment was we were unable to get a Magic Kingdom View and have to settle for a Lake View.  That is OK, I am hoping that I can still hear the sounds from the Magic Kingdom when I am relaxing on my balcony.

Bay Lake Tower Sits to the Left of Disney's Contemporary Resort

photo courtesy of stock.xchng

 

  I am surprised how many people are looking for the availability of crab legs in Walt Disney World.  My blog statistics show that several people are reaching my blog searching for “crab legs in Walt Disney World”.  They are finding my post about the Cape May Cafe’ buffet dinner I had that included crap legs as a test item.  I have learned that the testing is over and that the legs have yet to return but hope is still on the horizon.  (UP DATE August 2010) I am inserting this sentance because I have learned that the “all you can eat” crab legs have returned to the Cape May Cafe’. 

Crab Legs are available at the Captain’s Grille (formerly known as the Yacht Club Gallery) located inside Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.  Although not a

There is a new tab at the top of the blog.  “Photos” links to another blog I set up to display a few of my photos.  There isn’t a lot right now but I will be adding more so keep checking back.

Narcoossee's

Narcoossee’s is set right over the waters of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. This signature dining establishment has been delighting palates since June 28, 1988.

Restaurant: Narcoossee’s
Location: Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
DDP: Yes 2 Credits (Signature Dining)
Tables in Wonderland: Yes
Meal Eaten: Dinner (Breakfast and lunch are not served)
ADRs: Recommended
Dress Code Guidelines: Men: Khakis, slacks, jeans, dress shorts, collared shirts.  Sport coats are optional.
Ladies:  Capris, skirts, dresses, jeans, dress shorts.
Not permitted in dining room: Tank tops, swimwear, hats for gentleman, cut offs, or torn clothing. While T-shirts are now allowed, the policy remains that T-shirts with offensive language or graphics are not acceptable.

Restaurant: Tony’s Town Square Restaurant
Location: Magic Kingdom Park, Main Street USA (Park Admission is required)
DDP: Yes 1 Credit
Tables in Wonderland: Yes
Meal Eaten: Lunch
ADRs: Recommended
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu
Dessert Menu

 Through the years I have actually avoided Tony’s solely based on mixed reviews I have read on the web.  Back in 2007 Kim and I tried Tony’s to decide for ourselves, and to give you an idea about my opinion of  Tony’s, this review was my third trip back.

Walt Disney World has opened up its highly anticipated online dining reservation system.  The system is really easy to use and is similar in experience as shopping online, however the links to make the reservations are a bit hard to find.  The new system allows you to search by restaurant for available ADRs around a specific time. 

So I am finally starting to catch up from the last vacation and I remember I have to make ADRs (advanced dining reservations) for our August trip.  Kim and I have decided on what restaurants we want and I call 407-WDW-DINE.  We had 3 places we wanted to eat at Le Cellier in the Canada Pavilion over at Epcot, Ohona located at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, and Whispering Canyon Cafe` at the Wilderness Lodge.  Now I know I am a little late, Disney allows making reservations 90 days before your first day but my 90 day mark was the Sunday I was on property and I learned you can’t make ADRs for upcoming trips at the hotel, you still have to call WDW-DINE.  So I waited until I got home and called 85 days out.  Well

  Sanaa is the new restaurant located in the Kidani Village section of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  This restaurant offers African cuisine with Indian flavors for lunch and dinner as well as views of an African savanna. Sanaa means “work of art” in Swahili and the dinners here are worthy of the name.  It boasts a great décor and could be an alternative to Animal Kingdom Lodge’s premier restaurant Jiko.

We spent all of Thursday night packing so we could get to Disney’s Hollywood Studios ASAP so Kim could see American Idol winner Kris Allen.  Our plane was leaving at 2:20pm so we had enough time to see him at his scheduled time of 10:00am.  I realized before we left that today was setting up to be a very crowded day at Hollywood Studios.  For starters it was early entry day for Walt Disney World resort guests.  It was the start of the second Star Wars weekend and Kris Allen was there.  Back at Animal Kingdom Lodge we packed up the last of our stuff and I called valet and bell services for our hasty departure.  We skipped eating and decided to get some food in the park at Staring Rolls Bakery next to the Hollywood Brown Derby, this would later be proven to be a mistake.   We made it to the park at 8:40am there was a huge line waiting to get in at 9:00am so I was glad we could get in early with our resort room key.   Inside the park it wasn’t that crowded.  We headed down to the American Idol Experience building.  For those of you familiar with Disney’s

Today is a sad day as it is the last full day on property.  For our last day I wanted to see the Legend of the Lion King show over at Animal Kingdom.  We took the car over to Animal Kingdom and hopped on the tram to take us to the front gate.  Made it through dreaded bag check and made our way to the theater for the 11:00am show.  I like this show and had not seen it in a few years and it was as good as I remembered.  After the show we headed over to the Yak & Yeti restaurant for lunch.  We did not have reservations but we were able to get a table.  Kim started her meal with a side order of fried green beans and I had the pot stickers.  For our entrees Kim had the honey sesame chicken and I

Today is our 14^thwedding anniversary.  We decided to celebrate in the Magic Kingdom.  We started in Tomorrowland to see the new Stitch show.  We stopped at the Buzz Lightyear ride to pick up a fast pass. The Stitch show was disappointing as it seems to be a show about singing and dancing and very little about Stitch.  The singing and dancing was good but it was not what I expected. We went on Buzz and then went to the Monster’s inc. Laugh Floor.  I love this show and Kim and I always try to see it every trip.  The show was as great as ever and very funny.  We headed over to Pirates Of The Caribbean traveling through Fantasyland.  We stopped at Mrs. Potts so Kim could get an ice cream.  We went back toward the castle

Disney's Hollywood Studio's

We started our day at Disney’s Hollywood Studio’s to ride the new Toy Story’s Midway Mania.  We got to the park before it opened and there was quite a sizable crowd lined up.  The gate opened up and like everyone else we headed to the rope for the official opening of the park.  At 9:00am the rope dropped and several hundred people headed for the same location, Toy Story Mania.  We got in line and despite the number of people the wait was around 30 minutes.  I took a glance at the fast pass sign as we passed and it was already up to 1:00pm.  The line for fast pass was growing faster than the stand by line. I have to say this ride went way beyond my expectations.  The game is simple, you ride in a car equipped with a gun that uses a pull string instead of a trigger to shoot.

Monday was spent in Epcot.  My goal was to take pictures of the Flower and Garden Festival.  I have to say that both Kim and I noticed a huge reduction in displays and exhibitors this year.  If you never saw it before you would probably think it was OK but it is a lot smaller than previous years.  Kim and I went into Innoventions West to try the new Great Piggy Bank Game.  Before that we went to see the Velcro show.  Yes you read that right a show about the hook and loop fabric that solves so many problems.  The two hosts were from the now closed Comedy Club that was on Pleasure Island.   They were funny and the show is entertaining.  It is set up like a game show and the final round featured two men who raced to diaper babies and stick them to their Velcro aprons.

Sunday started kinda slow.  Kim slept in and I worked on the blog and transferred some photos from the camera to my computer.  We left the room thinking we were going to Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom but after thinking about how late it was we decided it would be better to go to lunch.  We went to the car and headed to The Pepper Market a food court located in Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.  Kim and I love the food here but the prices are high so we don’t go every trip.  I had a steak quesadilla and Kim had rotisserie chicken. 

I have updated the Great Food Good Times page and added pictures as promised so be sure to check it out.  I will post about yesterday when I have some more time.  We went to see Wishes (fireworks show) over at the Magic Kingdom last night.  Had dinner at he Wave located in the Contemporary Resort.  Most of the day was spent at the pool and the pool bar, we had lunch over at the Pepper Market in Disney’s Coronado Spring Resort.

Will update later!

We woke up to pretty good weather Saturday Morning.  It was cloudy but it did not look like it was going to rain.  The weather report claimed rain chances would increase throughout the afternoon and then tail off as evening progressed.  We did some animal spotting from our balcony and ate in the room before packing our ponchos and heading to Epcot.  We decided to use our rental car and not wait for the bus because of the weather and it is just so much faster than waiting for the buses.  Because the bus stops at Kidani first it would be standing room only I’m sure so the car was the best bet.

We left the room yesterday around 4:00pm to head out for dinner. Kim and I spent some time in the great lobby here at the Animal Kingdom Lodge before heading out to dinner at Sanaa located in Kidani Village. If you are not

We woke up late this morning and were both well rested.  It was overcast but did not look threatening.  Kim took her refill cup down to the Mara for a coffee.  I went out to the balcony.   There was a giraffe and a zebra out this morning along with some local pelicans splashing in the watering hole.  The giraffe was behind some trees and did not get a shot of it but Kim got a picture of the zebra.

I forgot to mention that we did buy own refillable mugs last night.  For those of you who are curious here is a picture.  We had lunch at Tony’s in the Magic Kingdom.  We took the bus from Animal Kingdom Lodge.  The bus was crowded and we ended up standing.  The bus stops at Kidani Village first so

We left for the airport about 15 minutes later than we wanted but we made up some time driving and arrives about an hour before our flight.  We stopped to get some food from the food court.  Kim got McNuggets  and fries from McDonalds and I got a slice of pizza from Original Pizza of Boston.  My pizza was good and under $4.00.  Kim’s food was $9.50, for McNuggets!  What a gaff (that was for you Bob).