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Old 14 Jan 20, 01:05 AM  
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walt4it
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:) Going Out in a Blaze of Glory - Summer of Sorcery 2019 - DAY 7 - Golf,Studios and 20th Anniversary.

Obviously, not in that order
Ran out of room to include Yachtsman's Steakhouse too

Welcome back again - you made it...I hoped you would!

Thanks for your continued reading

Today was our 20th wedding anniversary, I'll get the gag in first about Alison getting less time for murder! I would also say I can't think of a better place or way to spend it. Hope you enjoy reading.

If you missed Day 6 it can be read by clicking here.

If you would like locate the whole index, please click here to get back to the start of this whole trip.


Welcome to DAY 7 - Tuesday 30th July 2019
Our 20th Wedding Anniversary.



After so many late nights and early starts , we decided today would start with a lie in.
It was needed and everyone was still asleep after 9.

We took our time before heading down to the Yacht Club shop for coffee and pastries in exchange for some snack credits











and then off to remember where we had last parked the car!
Did manage to get a lovely shot of the water feature spray though!




The boys fancied some mini golf whilst we needed a restock of non dining plan essentials! So Fantasia Gardens was the selected venue for brotherly golfing warfare without my obvious skill and expertise to add to the occasion






The Fairways Course at Fantasia Gardens was where we dropped the boys off and we knew that would mean around 90 mins to get to Target or Walmart and back. This is s stern test of putting and I have to admit, I was glad to be heading elsewhere, the heat today was immense and as a result I was to avoid those moments when you stand over a putt and your sunglasses fill up with sweat.

Our first stop was Super Target at Rolling Oaks - opposite Orange Lake, on the 192 - where we very quickly decided Walmart was cheaper for what we needed, so jumped back in the car and got to the 27.

Away from Disney it is amazing the only picture we managed to take was this one! Life on the 'other side'



Replenished and with the time ticking on, we arrived back at the mini golf as the boys were finishing the 18th.




They had been held up on every hole with an American family unwilling to let them play through - for any golfers reading, it is possibly the biggest wind up for anyone playing - thankfully the boys chose to treat it as putting practice!


We were then headed to Hollywood Studios for some fast pass fun! A journey that used to be just a matter of 400 metres from the golf - now involved a lengthy detour to the brand new entrance and layout of the car parks.

As we had the car, it allowed us the chance to experience the new car park experience for the first time.

It was so much better than our last experience here and it was great to see just how good the guest experience on arrival now was.

With no bags, we were straight into the park and with boys in need of a drink we took a quick lunch at Pizza Rizzo- never dined here before, usually because it has always been shut!




It was busy today and the food better than we had been led to believe! I was great to actually see it open too!

Alison even had a cheese-less pizza made especially for her.(the photo does not do justice to how good it was)

They even had Moretti as a beer option here too.

It was a pleasant surprise in here, a bit noisy for some, but it was a nice amount of food -including a salad too.






It avoided the excessive amount of food we experienced when at the ABC Commissary last year.
As a result we left here without that stuffed feeling, but with a refreshed spring in our step, with no food wasted and with nothing left on our plates - the salad even got polished off too!

As we headed to Slinky Dog for our fast pass, that was very shortly about to run out, we noted that the early pass holder or press previews of Galaxy’s Edge was open, they had obviously missed our invite in the post!
















It was tellingly noticeable that there were many more people in the park today, Toy Story was showing a 105 minute wait in comparison to our near walk on of a few days ago, Tower of Terror was showing a 150 minute standby wait in the heat today, I was just glad this was our next fast pass.

Although, as when we arrived the fast pass queue was close to the front gate.




The refurb side of the ride was close to being completed



30 minutes later we got a seat in the elevator - what a worthwhile wait it was, a drop to start and two juddering moments when you just don’t know what is happening next.
As much as I love this ride. I don’t think I could bring myself to wait 2 1/2 hours in the baking heat of today.

It was not too many years ago that this ride had a consistently short queue time and often allowed the chance of time to take photos as you walked in -no chance of that anymore and as a result the CM’s on the ride don’t seem to have the amount of time to enjoy their role as much either. Still the most amazing ride though and remains my favourite.



We still had some time to wait until our final FP of the three , with Alison succumbing to the heat and heading to Starbucks for a drink and some air con , we headed to Rock ‘n’ Roller and most importantly the single rider line option.

It trimmed some time off our day and we then headed back to the Yacht Club in the car and cancelled the family R’n’R FP that was still half an hour away.

At this particular moment of the day I think we could all have just settled down for a siesta, we hit upon a plan to keep us all awake ( possibly!)

We walked into Epcot with the specific intention of enjoying one final showing of O’ Canada before it closed for a lengthy refurb.



When a film is described as ground-breaking from 1982 you begin to understand why this is in need of some TLC and possibly to get rid of Martin Short too!

We took some photos of the Victoria Gardens as a reminder of our visit to Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in 2007. A beautiful place if ever you get the chance to visit.





Joe got another rivet for the leather band he bought a few years ago and at that point the boys were heading to France for ice creams.



Whilst we decided that a walk around Boardwalk would refresh us, we spotted a possible place for lunch tomorrow and also decided to share a beer in the ESPN bar.




One boat ride later we were back at the hotel to get ready for tonight.

The boys were still in Epcot and had stopped off in Starbucks for iced tea before heading back.


Before too long we were all ready for dinner at the Yachtsman’s Steakhouse.




It has been a long time since we last ate here and the expectations were high. The first thing to note was that it was not really that busy, certainly not as busy as when we were last here around 8 or 9 years ago.






Our server was superb, which is always a good start when you mention you are on the Dining Plan in a 2 credit place – a previous anniversary meal in Citricos had been overshadowed by a server who gave up on us the minute we mentioned the Dining plan.




Anyway, tonight was different – we ordered and with a bit of a covering our bases approach went for two NY Strip steaks and two Rib-eye.






The first star of the show was the bread service, with a garlic experience like nothing else!

Slow roasted and certainly something that would keep the vampires from the door tonight.





This was really something else to taste and to be honest was something I promised to try to replicate at home – I have yet to pluck up the courage! Garlic bread like no other.

Now a sign of a good server is that when things go wrong they deal with it very quietly and with a great deal of compassion and professionalism.

The table next to us, who were most definitely not on the dining plan had expressed considerable displeasure and despite all of our nosiness we never found out what it was about – we did think these nice white chocolate light houses they brought for the kids were a bit tasty though!




This seemed to hold up service for rather a while, like I said, it was hardly busy.

Our food arrived after a longer than expected wait, I had ordered dauphinoise potatoes as opposed to the French fries, I’m glad I did.


At the moment we all were served we just wished there was another bowl arriving with some veg, it would really have made the difference, I’m pretty sure it would have added to the quality of the meal too.

Now, don’t get me wrong I’m not big on the veg at home, but the plate just cried out for a bit of colour and the limp bit of rocket was not the answer!

There was the option of the add on list when you ordered – additional to the DDP obviously.

“Oscar-style Enhancement - Asparagus, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Béarnaise - $18.00
Beef Fat Potatoes - Beef Fat, Marbled Potatoes, Crème Fraîche - $11.00
Bone Marrow - Fennel-Apple Jam, Toasted Green Onion Brioche - $9.00
Broiled Half Maine Lobster Enhancement - - $28.00
Butternut Squash Risotto - Italian Sausage, Delicata Squash, Rapini - $16.00
Grilled Delta Asparagus - - $12.00
Melted Raclette Cheese Enhancement - - $5.00
Sautéed Mushrooms - Garlic Butter and Sherry Wine Sauce - $9.00
Zellwood Creamed Corn - - $11.00 “


As you can imagine, none of the above really appealed nor did the additional pricing either. So, this is what we ended up with …










The steak was good, the NY Strip cooked exactly as we had each wanted ours cooking – Alison prefers not to have any blood visible, whilst I think that is sacrilege to a nice steak!

The Rib- eye steak was good too, but with way too much marbled fat for the liking of Joe , who simply took it apart to eat the meat.




Both cuts of steak were good to eat, the NY strip a little tough but nothing that you would not expect.
Yet, (yes you knew this was coming!)

It was nothing better than a Longhorn steak and certainly nothing like we had in our minds expected, especially after the steak yesterday evening at Spice Road in Epcot.

Nothing you would feel the need to have a complaint about, but for the advertised price just lacking a certain quality or wow factor – no not just the veg!

We had stopped eating in 2 TS credit places in the past because of this, there is better food and better value to be had elsewhere, the former Captain’s Grill in the Yacht Club was superb when we dined there at just 1 credit.

Maybe we expected too much?

I don’t know, none of us did. As it was a lovely meal, but just fell short on what we had experienced in other Disney restaurants this year and certainly looking at past dining experiences lacked a the sparkle or impact of Flying Fish, Be our Guest (before it became a two credit evening meal) or indeed that experienced last night.

Anyway – it did not put us off enjoying dessert and having a chat with our server, whose husband works in the offices at Orlando City Soccer Club.







As our 8pm reservation drew to a close at 10 pm we had a plan to end the day with a bit of a flourish.





Goodbyes said and tip paid, we raced up to the room, cameras and phones put away, changed for the pool and Alison and I filled our refillable mugs with the nice wine we had bought in Walmart earlier.

What a great way to finish a 20th anniversary day, wine, hot tub and the last 45 minutes of pool opening time.
With thoughts of where does the time go we reminisced of our moments in time. where exactly does 20 years disappear to?

I did post this on our pre trip report possibly as to a reminder of just how young we both looked!



Here's to the next 20.

As always, a great way to end the day at the Yacht Club and, once showered, sleep was quick in catching up with us all.

Thanks for reading

See you real soon for Day 8

Just click here to read all about our 18 hour Disney Day!
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Going out in a Blaze of Glory- Our Summer of Sorcery 2019 - COMPLETE! 4 Weeks, from The Yacht Club for 10 nights onto much more Florida fun too

All of our previous Trip reports and escapades can be read here.

Edited at 01:54 AM.
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Old 14 Jan 20, 08:30 AM  
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Tinkermom
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Happy anniversary ❤️🥂...
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Old 14 Jan 20, 08:33 AM  
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Sparksy72
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What a Lovely Anniversary day There is nothing more awesome than nice wine in a refillable Disney mug! Throw in a swim in the pool and that is just the cherry on top I sometimes do this when I am at home and need a quick Disney fix!

I’m sorry that your meal was just ok, it’s tricky when there isn’t actually anything wrong with your meal but I completely agree, how hard is it to give you some vegetables on your plate! We tried the DDP last year but it honestly just isn’t for us, we really enjoy eating offsite. Plus I nearly had a heart attack every time I saw the bill (even though we only had to pay the tip)

Another great day

Edited at 08:42 AM.
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Old 14 Jan 20, 10:37 AM  
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What a lovely anniversary and a perfect way to end the day!
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Old 14 Jan 20, 11:09 AM  
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That was a lovely way to spend your anniversary :spin

Congratulations


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Old 14 Jan 20, 01:28 PM  
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Belated congratulations on your anniversary. Sounds like the perfect way to spend it. I've never done ddp but its shocking that you didn't get any veg on a 2 credit meal!
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Old 14 Jan 20, 04:37 PM  
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Many congratulations on your 20th anniversary and a refillable mug of wine in a hot tub in Disney sounds like the perfect way to celebrate 🍾🍾
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Old 15 Jan 20, 01:12 PM  
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walt4it
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Originally Posted by Tinkermom View Post
Happy anniversary ❤️🥂...
Thank you 👍🏻🥂
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Going out in a Blaze of Glory- Our Summer of Sorcery 2019 - COMPLETE! 4 Weeks, from The Yacht Club for 10 nights onto much more Florida fun too

All of our previous Trip reports and escapades can be read here.
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Old 15 Jan 20, 03:13 PM  
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Congrats on 20 years- You haven’t changed a bit
You certainly achieved loads (as you always do) and topped off with the classy wine in the hot tub
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Old 15 Jan 20, 04:53 PM  
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Happy belated anniversary! A packed day that you celebrated in style. And I just can't fathom a £300 meal without a few veg...never been to YS...those prices are eye watering without DDP IMO.
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