Posted at 12:37 pm by taryngirl, on October 21, 2021
9/30/21
It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten at Mama Melrose in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so I wanted to check it out! The last time we ate there, I really wanted to try the famous steak and JUST THAT WEEK they removed it from the menu. After lots of customer complaints, they brought it back, so I was anxious to try it, and honestly, by the time we made reservations, our choices were limited with both location and times.
We got to Hollywood Studios at around 3:30 p.m. Our reservation was at 4:45 p.m.
We walk through some of the shops on the way in, then checked wait times on the rides. Toy Story Midway Mania only had a 20 minute wait, so we went on that. Once we came out of there, we made our way over to Mama Melrose right on time.
The decor and atmosphere are super cozy and cute inside this restaurant. To access the menu at the table, you scan a barcode and it pops up on your phone.
To start, they brought us some amazing bread. It was warm and had a great olive oil dip. I also asked for straight up butter.
Jamie ordered the Mama’s Caesar Salad–Fresh Romaine Lettuce, Housemade Caesar Dressing, Herb Croutons, and Parmesan. $11.00.
For her main dish, she ordered the Oven-Baked Chicken alla Parmigiana–Breaded Chicken Breast with Marinara Sauce topped with Melted Mozzarella over Spaghetti $25.00.
I ordered the Charred Strip Steak–Four Cheese Macaroni with Pancetta, Aged Balsamic Shallot Butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction $33.00. At Italian restaurants I always order some type of pasta, just because I feel like I should! But I’ve heard so many amazing things about this steak, that I had to give it a try. I LOVED IT! Both the steak and mac and cheese were so good! If I come back here, I 100% will be ordering this again.
We were so full there was no way we could do dessert here. Plus, I still had Gideon’s cookies back in the room!
After we left here, we went and stood in the standby line for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which had a posted time of 30 minutes I think. We were pretty beat at this point from traveling, so we took some photos and then headed back to the resort.
Up next…Magic Kingdom for the 50th Anniversary Celebration!
Posted at 2:35 pm by taryngirl, on October 20, 2021
9/30/21
As I stated in an earlier post, I was lucky to score a DVC reservation here on short notice! I kept checking back since things were completely booked immediately for the start of the anniversary celebration. I had stayed here one time before, when Magic Kingdom had the 24 hour party. The rooms had recently been refurbished, and the sofa bed was replaced with a murphy bed, so I was excited to check it out!
After I got back from Disney Springs, I changed (had my swimsuit in my backpack), and headed to the pool to relax and have lunch until my room was ready. I got the text around 12:30 p.m. that my room was ready, and it was super close in The Springs section. Here you can see the pool, where the bus stop is in this section, and the main lobby. My building was where the 4101-4436 rooms are marked. Super convenient! I did reserve a “Preferred’ room. I went to Bell Services first and got my luggage, then headed to the room.
This resort is inspired by a historic New York retreat famous for its horse racing. It’s 65 acres and a short boat ride or walk to Disney Springs. There are 2 feature pools and 3 leisure pools, whirlpool spas and aqua-play areas.
The Deluxe Studios can accommodate 4 people with a queen bed and a double size pull down bed.
Here’s the view when entering the room:
Here you can see the small sofa with the double pull down bed above it.
The coffee table also can be raised up if you want to use it as a table while sitting on the sofa.
I love the Deluxe Studios because they have a microwave, toaster, mini fridge, coffee pot and sink. This is great for quick breakfasts or snacks in the room.
I loved our view! We did enjoy sitting out there in the evenings once we were back from the parks.
Overall, I loved the room and the resort, and would definitely stay here again in the preferred section. I love that they are adding the pull down bed. It’s so much more comfortable than the regular sofa bed.
Up next…Dinner at Mama Melrose and Around Hollywood Studios!
Posted at 10:58 am by taryngirl, on October 8, 2021
9/30/21
After I finished my breakfast, I made the walk over to Disney Springs. It was about 9:20 a.m. at this point, and Disney Springs opened at 10:00 a.m. My main goal was to check out Gideon’s Bakehouse, which I still had not been able to visit since they opened! Their cookies weigh almost half a pound, and they also have delicious looking cakes, and possibly the most popular item…the Peanut Butter Cold Brew.
Here you can see just how big the Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa is. There are several sections and several bus stops. I was starting near the Carriage House and had to make my way through Congress Park to the bridge that connects to Disney Springs.
It’s important to note that previously, the line for Gideon’s has been long. They sometimes have to utilize a virtual line, giving people a return time to come back. I had no idea what to expect when I got there.
The line stretched back to the Morimoto entrance. I was about 20th in line. No workers were out yet. I got there around 9:45 a.m. Once the workers came out at 10:00 a.m., they did not offer any kind of virtual line. I got inside around 10:15. They were limited the number of people inside. I was out with my goodies in 10 minutes! The line was even longer now stretching down around Morimoto, and they still were not offering a virtual line.
September’s Menu
Some pics of the inside decor:
Cookie options:
Cake options:
I had looked at the menu online, and read some reviews ahead of time, so my choices were somewhat narrowed down.
Coffee Cake Cookie
I had read one review where the lady went back 3 times…just to get this particular cookie. So I figured I had to try it! This is an extra buttery, vanilla bean cookie, filled with cinnamon strudel and topped with homemade double baked butter crumbs. This one is only available in the morning until they sell out. This was SO GOOD! Tied for my favorite of the 4 different kinds I got! Also, these things are HUGE. It took days to finish them, and I didn’t even eat it all! 10/10 for this one.
Lemon Poppyseed Cookie
Also tied for 1st place for me was this delicious Lemon Poppyseed Cookie! I love lemon desserts…lemon meringue pie is one of my favorites, so I knew I had to try this. This was a special flavor for the month of September only. Besides lemon and poppyseed, this cookie also has a mix of white chocolate chips and mini lemon chips. 10/10 for this one! This is the only cookie I finished completely and it took me 3 days.
Peanut Butter Crunch Cookie
Next up is the Peanut Butter Crunch Cookie. I love all things peanut butter, so definitely had to try this one. The dough for this is made mostly with peanut butter, and it’s topped with candied peanuts and peanut butter chips. This was also good! 8/10 for this one.
Original Chocolate Chip Cookie
The last cookie I had to get was the original chocolate chip. It’s the foundation for the who the company is, and who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies?! This cookie is packed inside and out with a variety of chocolates, infused with different vanillas. This was just okay to me. I wasn’t blown away. It’s also the last one I tried, and because I loved the others so much maybe this just underwhelmed me? 6/10 for this one.
True Red Velvet Cake
I had also read amazing things about the cakes! So of course I had to try a piece… This was my hardest decision because they all sounded great. I decided on the True Red Velvet. This is a traditional buttermilk cake base with thick layers of cream cheese frosting, and lined with baked, candied walnuts. This was SO GOOD and super rich! I only was able to eat one layer. Super moist and lots of frosting. 9/10
Overall, I absolutely loved this place! I will definitely be returning on future trips. I actually brought everything back to the resort before trying anything, and was able to refrigerate the cake. Bell services held it for me until my room was ready.
Posted at 10:07 am by taryngirl, on October 7, 2021
9/30/21
I was so excited to be able to get away during the middle of my daughter’s soccer season, and visit the most magical place on Earth for the 50th anniversary celebration that was set to officially begin on October 1st! My friend and fellow travel agent Jamie, booked a room the second they were released for our dates. We knew it would book up quickly. I was unlucky with trying to make a reservation with my DVC points. She booked us at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room. Just a few weeks ago, I was browsing the DVC website to see if there was any availability, and Saratoga Springs Resort popped up! I snagged a Deluxe Studio in the Preferred section. I was excited to stay here because the rooms have recently been refurbished!
My flight was SUPER early…5:40 a.m. from Philadelphia. I was hoping to avoid a crowded airport with this early time, and make the most of my arrival day.
Upon landing at MCO, I was greeted with these cute wraps on the monorail shuttle to the main terminal.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as wait times for the Magical Express, but I decided to get my luggage from baggage claim and head that direction before making a decision to Lyft to the resort.
To my surprise, I was the ONLY person there! One person came after me, so there were only 2 people total on my bus besides the driver.
It was a quick trip to our resort, as we were the only stop. Upon arrival at the resort, there was some construction/refurbishment going on at the main lobby area and around bell services. This caused a little bit of crowding and confusion, but the bell services cast members were working hard trying to get everyone handled! There were little kiosks set up outside for those checking in.
I was starving, so after checking my luggage with bell services (since my room wasn’t ready), I went directly to The Artist’s Palette to check their breakfast options. You no longer HAVE to mobile order, although it is still an option with signage all over the place telling you how to do it. You can walk in here and order your food. I chose to do this so I could take some pictures.
There is a grab and go section, which I did not get to experience on my last trips in May and June! So things are slowly getting back to “normal.”
Here is the breakfast menu:
I always order the kid’s meal. It comes with two sides and a drink! (Mickey waffles are my must do breakfast…)
When I was finished eating, my plan was to walk to Disney Springs and check out Gideon’s Bakehouse! That’s up next.
Posted at 11:23 am by taryngirl, on September 22, 2021
5/17/21
Today was our Epcot day. We slept in and got to the park around 10:00 a.m. The posted opening time was 11:00 a.m., but I knew they would open the gates prior to that.
Our Touring Plan:
10:07 a.m. we were allowed in, and we made it to Test Track at 10:13 a.m. The gates there didn’t open until 10:17 a.m. though. We were on the ride by 10:25 a.m, then headed directly to Soarin’ and were in line by 10:42 a.m. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, however, we were out at 11:22 a.m. From there we hit Living with the Land, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends.
Our plan was to just eat and walk around the countries! Everything looked so beautiful with the pretty flowers and amazing topiaries.
After walking around the countries, we took a Skyliner ride to Riviera Resort to check it out. We then went back to Epcot and hit the DVC Lounge for a drink and snack. We watched Pixar Shorts and went on Journey Into Imagination with Figment. We had dinner reservations at Via Napoli and then stood in a longgggg line for Frozen Ever After.
Here are some of the sights from around Epcot during the International Flower and Garden Festival:
ImaginationHeading into MexicoChinaGermanyItaly
This photo is my favorite!
FranceFrance
We were able to catch a glimpse of new Ratatouille ride area that is opening October 1st!
Located between the United Kingdom and Canada:
Located near The Seas with Nemo were these really gorgeous butterflies! The perfect backdrop for two Instagram loving teens!
Overall, it was a fabulous day in Epcot! We saw everything we wanted to. Up next will be my dining review of Via Napoli, which is one of our favorite restaurants!
Posted at 12:29 pm by taryngirl, on August 29, 2021
5/16/21
We had lunch reservations at Yak & Yeti Restaurant (the table service) and were SO EXCITED for it! We have eaten here several times before, and it remains a family favorite. This restaurant features pan-Asian cuisine and the theming inside is perfect!
For starters:
Pork Egg Rolls with Chili Plum Dipping Sauce $11.99
These must have been good, because they disappeared quickly!
Entrees:
I chose the Korean Beef–Wok fried beef, peppers, onions, pineapple, and Korean BBQ sauce served with jasmine rice. I ordered without the pineapple. $21.99
This was excellent! The beef was slightly crispy on the outside, but super tender on the inside. I love the flavor of the sauce!
My daughter LOVES Garlic Noodles, and these were offered as a side dish. Since she couldn’t decide between this and something else, she got both!
Garlic Noodles $12.99
Of course she loved these! She couldn’t eat them all, so we took them back to the room and she ate them for breakfast the next day.
For her “regular” entree, she ordered Honey Chicken–tempura chicken, fresh vegetables tossed in honey sauce, served with jasmine rice. $20.99 This also comes with pineapple, but she ordered without.
This was delicious!
Another entree (I’m not sure which adult ordered this!).
Lo Mein Shrimp–lo mein noodles, carrots, cabbage, green onion, bean sprouts $21.99
I *think* someone ordered this as their entree with a side of fried rice…
Firecracker Shrimp–crispy fried shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce, Asian slaw $13.99
And finally, my youngest daughter’s choices:
Steamed Rice–Jasmine $5.99, Fries
Of course she loved these! She’s my super picky eater, so this was perfect for her.
Overall, everyone loved their food! My only complaint is it seems prices are rising and portions are not. It did help that I have an Annual Pass discount though! We definitely will be back!
Our plan on this day was to get to the bus stop earlyyyy. Mission accomplished, and we were off the bus at 7:15 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. opening. Here you can see the crowd level at this point.
Tree of Life
Since I don’t ride Avatar: Flight of Passage, I went directly to Na’vi River Journey by myself. I was maybe 10-15 people deep in line at 7:30 a.m. They didn’t open the ride until 7:48 a.m.
Everyone else in our party went to Flight of Passage and were on and off the ride before 8:00 a.m.
While I was waiting for them to get off of the ride, I headed to Pongu Pongu Lounge to get a refreshing Night Blossom beverage.
This drink gets a 10/10 in our family! The flavors are wonderful, and it’s so refreshing on a hot day. I don’t love boba balls, by my daughter does! Also, this stand has some quick options for breakfast, but we did not try any of them.
Next we headed for the Kiliminjaro Safari. We were in line at 8:30 a.m. with a 30 minute posted wait time. Actual wait time was 23 minutes.
After exiting the Safari, we checked out Zuri Sweets Shop, which has some amazing desserts at the counter. Here are just the cupcakes!
We took a bathroom and snack break here, sitting in Harambe Market area. My daughters also took this time to take some photos with amazing back drops.
Next we went to Kali River Rapids. It was 9:50 a.m. with a 15 minute wait posted. After that, we headed to Expedition Everest which also had a 15 minute wait posted. We also watched It’s Tough to be a Bug and the Winged Encounters bird show.
We had dining reservations for lunch at Yak & Yeti and went there next. See my next post for a full review of one of our favorite places to eat!
The last thing we did was watch the Festival of the Lion King, which had just started showing!
It was so good to finally welcome this show back. You could tell the cast was so happy to perform again! Although it is altered slightly, it was still amazing!
After this show, we shopped and headed back to the resort to swim and rest.
We had mobile ordered our lunch from ABC Commissary, and our pick up time was 11:50-12:20. This is what you see once you place your order:
Once your arrival window opens, you can click a button that says Prepare My Order.
Once you arrive to pick up your food, you are greeted at the entrance by a cast member with an iPad. They check to make sure you are on the list to receive your food, and then you may enter. We were able to find a table easily, and it was definitely more quiet than we were used to in here!
My mom ordered the Mediterranean Salad with Chicken. $11.99–Chicken breast served over mixed greens with tomatoes, cucumber, pepperoncini, kalamata olives, and feta, tossed in a Mediterranean vinaigrette with hummus and grilled flatbread.
This was a nice, light, refreshing dish and a fairly large portion.
My sister-in-law ordered the Curry Rice Bowl with Shrimp. $13.99–sauteed shrimp and vegetables with red curry sauce, served with jasmine coconut rice.
I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich. $10.99–grilled sourdough toasted with buffalo chicken, Monterey, provolone, cheddar and cream cheese, served with a side of buffalo sauce and fries (you get a choice of sides.)
This was SO GOOD! My daughter split this with me and she also loved it. Think buffalo chicken dip inside a grilled cheese. Why haven’t I thought of this sooner??!! Here’s a close up of the inside:
My daughter ordered the Chicken Club $12.49. Marinated chicken breast served on a toasted brioche bun, topped with bacon, provolone, guacamole, ranch dressing, lettuce and tomato, served with choice of side.
This was also very good! Everyone loved their food and we will definitely come back here.
I like that the options are different than the normal quick service options. There’s also a lot of indoor seating to get out of the heat.
Today was the day…our first attempt at getting into the queue for Rise of the Resistance! If you know anything about this process, you know you have to be on My Disney Experience wherever you are to score a spot. All of my clients get detailed notes on how to get the best chance of securing a place in the virtual queue! If you do not have a spot, you do not ride! (There is a second chance at 1:00 p.m. as well, but you have to have a park reservation for that day, and you have to be in the park to actually get into the queue.)
So I arose at 6:45 a.m., logged onto the My Disney Experience app. This is what you see when you scroll down a little bit on the home page:
When you click on Check Status, it will take you to this screen:
When you click Join Virtual Queue, it takes you here:
On my daughter’s phone I used the time.is website to check the time down to the second. This is very important! These spots get taken within seconds and then they are totally booked.
And it’s a fail…I’m telling you, it’s difficult to get! You cannot wait until exactly 7:00:00. You have to hit the join at 6:59:59.
Hollywood Studios opened at 9:00 a.m. today. I could not get my crew moving! We didn’t leave the room until 9:30 a.m. This destroyed all of my plans for rope dropping since they open the gates at about 8:15 a.m. Luckily a bus came immediately, and we arrived at DHS at 9:55 a.m.
The night beforeitannounced that there would be no more masks while outdoors in common areas at Disney! So I was anxious to see how this was indicated in the parks.
Right before we got to security, they had cast members announcing NO MASKS! So it really was true.
I had to stop at Guest Services to pick up my physical Annual Pass card, and my family headed to Alien Swirling Saucers because it had the lowest posted wait time of 30 minutes. My plan was to meet them there.
Wait times were already rising…BECAUSE WE DIDN’T ROPE DROP! So we went to Toy Story Midway Mania, which had a 40 minute wait posted. This was fairly accurate. The queue for this started wayyyyyyyyy back near the old entrance for this ride. Here we are at the end of the ride. There are a few different “walls” here to get good IG pics!
At the end of this ride, we took some time to mobile order our lunch from ABC Commissary. I will have a whole separate post reviewing our experience and food here. Stay tuned! At this point, my sister-in-law and niece were just arriving at the park and were able to meet up with us for lunch, as they also placed a mobile order.
While at lunch, at 1:00 p.m., we again attempted to secure a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance. SUCCESS!!! We had about 2-3 hours to kill before our group would be called, so we forged on.
After lunch, we got in line for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway which had a 45 minute wait posted. This was accurate.
The crew, with the exception of my mom and I, headed to Star Tours which had a 25 minute wait posted. We just sat on a bench and people watched.
Next we headed into Galaxy’s Edge to look around. Our boarding group was called at 3:15 p.m. We got in line at 3:25 p.m. and were off the ride at 4:10 p.m. We still had to go through the entire queue, it wasn’t a Fastpass situation.
At this point we decided to take one more ride on Toy Story Midway Mania (20 minute posted wait) and then head back to the resort to relax and swim. Overall, it was a great day, but there was so much we didn’t get to do yet.
Welcome to my latest Disney World trip report! This one was a girls only trip that included my mom, my two daughters, my sister-in-law, and my niece. We originally were supposed to take this vacation in May 2020, but we know what happened there…
We were arriving on Friday, and sis-in-law on Saturday.
Our drive to the Philadelphia Airport was quite eventful. Usually I take 76 to the Blue Route and for some reason Waze had other ideas. We went over the river and through the woods, and made it to our parking reservation right on time. We would have been late for sure if we would have gone our usual route! All I could see on those routes was red, red, red. We used Park N Jet on this trip. It was a Groupon and a great value. This is who we typically use so I wasn’t worried. The parking lot was PACKED! They were turning people away if they didn’t have a reservation.
We arrived at the airport around 3:30 p.m. and our flight was to leave at 5:12 p.m. Thankfully, security was a breeze with not too long of a wait. We had not even boarded our flight from Philadelphia, when I received this text. Our room was ready! (Be sure you do online check in in My Disney Experience and you can completely skip the front desk!)
Our flight was on Frontier, and it was packed full! It took forever to board and we actually got off the ground about a half hour late. However, we somehow arrived on time in Orlando, but then had to sit on the runway for 15 minutes. Just a reminder that Disney’s Magical Express no longer handles your luggage. You are responsible for getting it from Baggage Claim, then toting it with you to the Magical Express line. Sometimes this requires you to go from Terminal A to Terminal B.
This is a tradition pic! Every year, we have a picture of Devon trying to touch the sign, or running and jumping trying to touch the sign (down by the Magical Express). This year she didn’t have to jump!
I had been hearing and reading about realllllllly long wait times for Magical Express. This is due in part to less buses running, seating every other row, etc. I was super pleasantly surprised when we arrived and this was the line! THERE WAS NO LINE! This was about 9:00 p.m. on Friday night. I was fully prepared to call for an Uber/Lyft.
Look how empty!
I do want to say, my sis-in-law arrived on Saturday morning and the line was very long. They got a Lyft!
We boarded at 9:10 p.m.
As stated in my previous post from my trip in November, they are assigning seats. They are seating only every other row (at the time of this trip). We did tip the driver once we got off.
We arrived at Old Key West at 9:45 p.m. We were the first stop! They were going to 4 other resorts after our stop. The Bell Services desk is located right at the drop off outside of the lobby. We never even stepped foot inside the lobby!
We had placed an order with Dizzy Dolphin Delivery several weeks ahead of time and it was awaiting us at Bell Services. This resort is huge! Like 5 bus stops huge. So we were extremely thankful that one of the bellman drove us to our room in this golf cart! He also carried everything up to our room for us. We tipped him well!
We were in Room 2420, which was located on the second floor at the Peninsular Road area bus stop. I put in a request for this building because of it’s location. The bus stop at Peninsular Road is the first bus stop. I didn’t want to chance not having a seat by being directly at the Hospitality House. That is the last stop. We did experience passing by a few stops on a few different occasions with the driver letting them know they will have to catch the next bus.
The Deluxe Studios are about 390 square feet, with 2 queen beds. This is the only DVC resort studio that has 2 regular beds. (Not a sofa bed, not a pull down)
It features a table with two chairs and a tiny tv (this is my only complaint!) in the bedroom area.
Between the bedroom area and the bathroom is a little kitchenette area. Here you can find a microwave, toaster, fridge, coffee pot, sink, etc. Some paper products are provided in the room and are individually sealed. There’s also a roll of paper towels under the sink.
The bathroom is on the smaller side, so we just had to stagger our “get ready” times with four females in the room!
There’s a closet with extra bedding, a vacuum, safe, and ironing board.
I had mentioned we ordered from Dizzy Dolphin. I just wanted to mention that they were great! I received a text from them when the goodies were delivered to the resort. It stated very specifically where our items could be located by Bell Services. Everything was packaged with the greatest care and we were extremely pleased.
Besides the muffins pictured above, we also ordered Panera bagels and cream cheese,
these amazing trays from Publix, which come in various sizes, as well as a few other grocery type items.
We had these for breakfast, snacks in the room, and even packed some for snacks in the park. It was perfect for a later evening arrival. We were all starving!
Up next, our first park day…Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Taryn Travels 