A Lot of First's this trip

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Let me start with letting you all know there are NO pictures on this mini trip report plus my computer skills do not help in being able to post if there were any.

We did seem to think that this was the busiest holiday season we have been to at WDW so far and we have been there 4 times over the last 8 years so about every other year.

1st  we did Oktoberfest for our Christmas dinner and my oldest son (26) asked why we have never been there before, this is now is favorite restaurant but his mind will change a few times before this trip was over.

2nd We finally got to see Pandora land and yes the theming is wonderfully done, we rode the River ride first and would say we were glad we had a FP as even tho it is very nice it is not worth the wait, day 2 at AK we went to rope drop scheduled at 7am to find out they started letting people in at 6, so when we finally go to the line at Flight of Passage it was all the way to the bathroom area by the Lion King show so overall wait was 1 1/2 hours but I will say the line kept moving so was not that bad. We did get to ride it twice that day with a FP in the afternoon. GREAT RIDE it's just I am not a line person and feel no ride is worth a 5 hour wait.

3rd O'Hana for dinner, guess what? My son changed his mind again on favorite restaurants. We really enjoyed it and plan to return on future visits. Also a  added bonus I got to meet up with Ray here for drinks and we had a great time, Ray thanks for taking time out and coming to meet us, looking forward to seeing you again hopefully somewhere in OK

4th Geyser Point for lunch, we really enjoyed it there plus made for a great break form the crowds, I got the bison burger and as Dave has said before the waffle fries are the best, had a nice spot down overlooking the lake towards  the Fort and highly recommend this spot to all the Fiends I do not think you will be disappointed.

5th kind of a split dinner here, me the wife and youngest met Jason ( Mouse Counselors) for dinner at Via Napoli while is lovely wife met the oldest and went to Cape May for the seafood buffet which by now is the oldest son's new favorite restaurant  ( notice a pattern with him), he was very proud to leave 3 buckets of empty crab legs behind. He resides in New Mexico and really misses the east coast seafood.

For now this is all but there are other things we did that were new to us and will add more later. I will have to say that remembering all we did and trying to report on it is a very hard job, thanks to all the previous folks like TCD, Norm the Troll,  Ray, Dave in Tn. and so many more I can not remember to list I could never do as great a job as they all have done. I just hope our thoughts on things we have done and places we have ate might help someone else in the future. Thanks for reading and sorry for no pictures.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Oktoberfest, Ohana, Geyser Point.....WOW!  You know how to do it, Rennie.   

Oh, and FIRST!

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

2nd.. 

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Pandora... we were at WDW in October and November and have yet to even walk to that part of AK.  Guess we'll need to try it, next time out 

Oh...and 3rd (which, BTW, is the new 1st  )

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

Glad you had a good trip!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Biergarten and ohana are our favorite restaurants at WDW.   The boy has great taste in restaurants. 

That SMB that they opened the gates an hour early.  But glad the wait wasn’t too long. 

It was an absolute honor to meet you and your family.  And look forward to seeing you in Oklahoma this year  

BTW. Some of you may not know this but it seems that all FF men marry way up. And Rennie is no exception. His DW is as beautiful as she is friendly and kind.    

 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

Thanks for sharing about your trip.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Nice job, Rennie. LOL at your son's changing favorite restaurant. That's great that you had good meals at all those places during a busy holiday period. 

Bummer about them letting guests in before the posted opening time. Great for them, bad for you. Pandora is great, but they should have added at least one other attraction. This unpleasant overcrowding will repeat itself when they open the new lands in DHS. 

TCD

[dblr....Rennie 224]

4 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

Oktoberfest, Ohana, Geyser Point.....WOW!  You know how to do it, Rennie.   

Oh, and FIRST!

As they say go big or go home!!!!!!! Congrats at being first.

4 hours ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

2nd.. 

Thanks for joining 2nd is good but look Dave comes back and gets in first, remember It's All Dave's Fault.

4 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Pandora... we were at WDW in October and November and have yet to even walk to that part of AK.  Guess we'll need to try it, next time out 

Oh...and 3rd (which, BTW, is the new 1st  )

You will not be disappointed in either.

4 hours ago, Dalspot ... Karen said:

Glad you had a good trip!

Thank you.

3 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

Biergarten and ohana are our favorite restaurants at WDW.   The boy has great taste in restaurants. 

That SMB that they opened the gates an hour early.  But glad the wait wasn’t too long. 

It was an absolute honor to meet you and your family.  And look forward to seeing you in Oklahoma this year  

BTW. Some of you may not know this but it seems that all FF men marry way up. And Rennie is no exception. His DW is as beautiful as she is friendly and kind.    

 

Ray, glad she does not follow the board it would be even harder living with her if she read your compliment.

2 hours ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

Thanks for sharing about your trip.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

Your welcome and thanks for reading along

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Nice job, Rennie. LOL at your son's changing favorite restaurant. That's great that you had good meals at all those places during a busy holiday period. 

Bummer about them letting guests in before the posted opening time. Great for them, bad for you. Pandora is great, but they should have added at least one other attraction. This unpleasant overcrowding will repeat itself when they open the new lands in DHS. 

TCD

Thanks, my son really lives for the moment, I agree they could use more in Pandora but with planning you can get both attractions in, Jason said the food was good at the Canteen but we did not try to eat there, I actually forgot about it.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Regarding  the massive crowds there for the holidays I will say that Disney has improved controlling the crowds a lot better then the first time we went at the holiday. Now I am not saying there isn't grid lock at times but it seemed for the major things like parades Castle shows and fireworks that was where I saw improvement. You have to use the fast passes if you really want to enjoy the major attractions but we did hit a couple of rope drops and then used FP for the afternoons.

[Beckers 1,136]

Dang it! Page 2!

 

I can add a picture for you [emoji23] the only one you sent me while you were there. 

 

[kadancer 82]

Sounds like a lovely trip!  Now I am REALLY hoping to go to Geyser Point in February. 

I have wondered about a trip report without pictures. My computer skills are pre-historic and on top of that I often forget that I should photograph our fun.  Perhaps I will try my hand at this for our summer Fort trip. 

In the meantime, thanks for relieving the cold weather blues.  My DH and DS are turning around to come home as I type.  They left last night to run in one of the Disney races this weekend and had to give up in Roanoke, NC because the I95 was too dangerous.  Now they are beginning the slow trip home.  You have successfully lifted some of my sadness for my DS - this would have been his first race and he is disappointed.   Thank you for sharing!!!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

10 hours ago, Beckers said:

Dang it! Page 2!

 

I can add a picture for you the only one you sent me while you were there. 

 

Thanks Beckers

37 minutes ago, kadancer said:

Sounds like a lovely trip!  Now I am REALLY hoping to go to Geyser Point in February. 

I have wondered about a trip report without pictures. My computer skills are pre-historic and on top of that I often forget that I should photograph our fun.  Perhaps I will try my hand at this for our summer Fort trip. 

In the meantime, thanks for relieving the cold weather blues.  My DH and DS are turning around to come home as I type.  They left last night to run in one of the Disney races this weekend and had to give up in Roanoke, NC because the I95 was too dangerous.  Now they are beginning the slow trip home.  You have successfully lifted some of my sadness for my DS - this would have been his first race and he is disappointed.   Thank you for sharing!!!

You won't be disappointed!!!!

Enjoying this blizzard we are getting?

[dblr....Rennie 224]

While over following Dave in Tn. birthday cruise trip report and reading about his dog encounter I will say that this trip to WDW we saw a lot more service dogs then ever before in the park, and they were of all sizes. We even saw a couple that each had a rather large size dog that was labelled a diabetic alert dog, I have never seen that before. I do know that trainers use crowded places to get dogs used to crowds but all the dogs we saw none were labeled as training. Even the vests they had on were lettered in different colors and some dogs had nothing at all saying they were service dogs.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

We did go to Disney Springs a few times this trip and this was the first time since it has been upgraded. It was nice on Christmas Eve as we saw a few places with entertainment which was very nice. One night our group split up to dine at different locations, my son and his friend went to Bongos which they enjoyed and thought the food was very good we wondered around a bit and ended up at Splitsville, this was the 2nd time we ate there and what was nice was that at a very crowded time of the year we were able to walk up and get seated right away as there is PLENTY of seating there and you can bowl also and the prices for it are not that much more then home.

 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

1 hour ago, dblr....Rennie said:

We did go to Disney Springs a few times this trip and this was the first time since it has been upgraded. It was nice on Christmas Eve as we saw a few places with entertainment which was very nice. One night our group split up to dine at different locations, my son and his friend went to Bongos which they enjoyed and thought the food was very good we wondered around a bit and ended up at Splitsville, this was the 2nd time we ate there and what was nice was that at a very crowded time of the year we were able to walk up and get seated right away as there is PLENTY of seating there and you can bowl also and the prices for it are not that much more then home.

 

We went to Disney Springs in November and had the poutine.  It won't fool anyone who's had good poutine in Canada but we enjoyed it.   We thought about going to Splitsville but it never happened.   

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Ok so now on with another couple of first time things we did:

Yee Haw Bob, we went with Jason & Sil but were not able to score a good seat, ended over where the comfy chairs and couches are but with people talking around us it was very hard to hear. I do know that what we did hear was funny and it will be something we will plan to get to earlier the next visit and also stay for the later shows which we have been told are shall we say a bit more risqué.

Also another first was 50's Prime Time Café, I have always wanted to try it so the wife was able to get us a ressie for lunch time. food was good and we enjoyed the atmosphere, plus I got in trouble for hiding my green beans under my chicken bone and was called out on it and fed some beans Choo Choo style, like when you were a kid. Our waitress got a big kick out of my oldest sons shirt and even took a picture of him with what she called those new fangled walkie talkies, so I would say she broke character. I will see about getting a picture of him to show why his shirt was liked so much.

[Beckers 1,136]

Forget the shirt (is it the d one?) I want pics of you and your choo choo bean feeding ?

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

13 hours ago, dblr....Rennie said:

While over following Dave in Tn. birthday cruise trip report and reading about his dog encounter I will say that this trip to WDW we saw a lot more service dogs then ever before in the park, and they were of all sizes. We even saw a couple that each had a rather large size dog that was labelled a diabetic alert dog, I have never seen that before. I do know that trainers use crowded places to get dogs used to crowds but all the dogs we saw none were labeled as training. Even the vests they had on were lettered in different colors and some dogs had nothing at all saying they were service dogs.

Yep.  Pet peeve of mine, for the reason that (some) folks are now bringing Fido into parks, restaurants, markets, etc... simply because they don't want to leave them.  I've personally met people, who have flat out told me that they didn't want to leave their pet, so they simply buy (which anyone can do) a "service animal" vest and in they go.  One couple at the Fort, actually went so far to have friend whose a doc, write a letter to say that their 4lb mutt "needed" to be with them for support (just in case anyone asked...but people are so afraid of not being "PC" anymore, that they rarely ask),   This because (he admitted) they didn't want to leave their dog behind.

Service animals, like handicap parking, should be protected.  It's boils my blood, to see people abuse the system because there are people who truly need assistance.  Some, whose lives may depend on it, and there are people who (basically) flick mud on that need because they want to bring their pet with them.   

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I do have to agree that Disney has stepped up their game when it comes to crowd control. 

Love YeeHaw bob. But it is difficult to get a seat even during the slow times. 

We also went to splitsville this trip. It was our first time. We sat outside and listened to the live music they had at the bar.  We really enjoyed hanging out there.  As a matter of fact we got the two man band guys to pose for a picture with Beckers moms b-day sign. 

We too say a lot of “service” dogs including a pit bull.  And most of them were not well trained.   We also say the two golden retriever diabetic service dogs at HS.  They were well behaved dogs. 

Shame on you for trying to hide your green beans.  You should know better. Lol

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

4 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

...but people are so afraid of not being "PC" anymore, that they rarely ask

Thanks to HIPPA (why that clause was added is anybody's guess) they can't ask. It definitely encourages abuse.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Just now, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Thanks to HIPPA (why that clause was added is anybody's guess) they can't ask. It definitely encourages abuse.

That's what a police officer told me at the Daisy Festival last year.  We saw a few people just walk in with dogs (even though pets are not allowed), so I asked the office of the policy.  Of course, our daughter especially, always wants to bring and show off her pup, so she kept asking why we didn't bring Simon.  I keep explaining to her (at the Daisy Festival, in Costco, at the market, etc...) that Simon is not a service animal and we're not going to lie, just to bring him with us.  

See...this upsets me, just typing this.

It's, just... WRONG.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

8 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Service animals, like handicap parking, should be protected.  It's boils my blood, to see people abuse the system because there are people who truly need assistance.  Some, whose lives may depend on it, and there are people who (basically) flick mud on that need because they want to bring their pet with them.   

Agree X1000

It’s like the old guest assistant card. Too many people were taking advantage of the system. So Disney did away with it. And in my opinion the people that suffered the most were the ones that needed it the most.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

1 minute ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

Agree X1000

It’s like the old guest assistant card. Too many people were taking advantage of the system. So Disney did away with it. And in my opinion the people that suffered the most were the ones that needed it the most.

Yes.

This (video) is a true example, of a service animal.  Now... I do understand that some people with severe PTSD can benefit from an emotional support animal and I would never want to dismiss that...but we're talking about a very, very small number of people.  And those dogs (I believe, could be wrong), are small and not seen.  They are not a disruption.  But for the most part, it's abused and those people.. well, I don't know.  It's just horrible.

https://www.facebook.com/theCHIVE/videos/10155696374126742/

 

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Okay... last I'll say and then I'll stop hijacking (sorry).

My mom has lived with chronic severe pain, her entire life.  She has horrible arthritis. It's attacked every part of her body.  Her first memories of being in severe pain, were age 8.  Age 8.  And yet, she never used the handicap spaces until her mid-60's, when she (basically) could not walk.  She never used those spots because she would say, "I remember being with Grandpa, who truly needed a spot, and people had abused the system and taken up those spaces, so he didn't get to go to the store that day.  As long as I can walk, I will walk".  

You don't abuse the system.  You don't dismiss the people, who need the help.