Boma
Since J. R. had to pick up his bib for the half marathon, Janie and Rebecca accompanied him to Wide World of Sports. It was the first time Becca had been back there since she had played in the 3v3 championships many years ago. She was packing to leave for Bama the next day, so we made reservations at Boma for a going-away dinner. We stopped for drinks at Victoria Falls where J. R. had the Avatar-themed drink and then we ate African-inspired buffet and a polished off a few zebra domes.
Magic Kingdom
After binge-watching Bake Squad on Netflix, we both had a hankering for chocolate cake and one of the best we have found was at Steakhouse 71 at Disney's Contemporary Resort. So we made a reservation for the Magic Kingdom, planning to stop for lunch along the way, visit MK and then go get cake. J. R. found a reservation for the Jungle Navigation Company so we made that our lunch stop. We ordred the delicious bread and Janie had the Tastes Like Chicken (because it is) and J. R. ordered the pork. The pork was dry and hard and couldn't even be cut by the knife he was given. When the waiter came by and asked how the food was, J. R. told him it was overcooked. The waiter offered to bring him the chicken dish, which he did, and it was very good. Great service from Disney.
We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Big Thunder Mountain. Janie looked at Splash Mountain as it was closing weekend but the lines were 200 minutes and we didn't want to wait. We did a little browsing in the stores and then walked to the Contemporary. We had a few drinks at the bar and split some onion rings and then had the magnificent chocolate cake.
Epcot Festival of the Arts
The Festival of the Arts was in full swing so we made a dinner date to wander Epcot. We had some great food and drinks and just walked around World Showcase. We ended up not riding any rides since the Living Seas was broken down and we watched people being walked off it as we viewed the fish in the aquarium.
Post-Race at Epcot
After J. R. finished the Princess 10K, we stayed at Epcot for the day. We started off with a trip through Spaceship Earth and then headed to World Showcase to view the shops. We planned to do Soarin' before lunch but the advertised 20-minute wait was a dead stop in the long queue, so we exited and when we reached the start again, it now said 45 minutes so it must have broken down. So instead J. R. rested his feet on The Land and then we had a soda and waited for lunch.
Lunch was at the Garden Grill, which we had not been to in quite some time. The food was very good and we had a chance to visit with some characters and relax.
Sangria University
For the ladies' birthday, they attended Sangria University at Coronado Beach where they made their own sangria while J. R. walked the resort to serve as designated driver.
Tron
Rebecca made the drive down from Tuscaloosa to join us for the Annual Passholder Preview of the new Tron: Lightcycle Run ride at Magic Kingdom.
Easter
Around Eastertime, we visited the resorts to see the decorated chocolate Easter eggs.
Topolino's Terrace
Before we headed off to Australia, we spent a Sunday evening having dinner at Topolino's Terrace atop Disney's Riviera Resort.
Animal Kingdom
Janie and Becca made a quick visit to Animal Kingdom in May to see the animals and ride Expedition Everest a few times.
Mini-Golf
We had a week at home with Rebecca before she went off to D.C. for her internship, so we visited Winter Summerland for golf, where Janie scored a hole in one on hole 18 from the 17th tee.
Animal Kingdom
We spent a morning at Animal Kingdom to visit the Safari and do the animal walks.
Mini-Golf
Since our annual passes get us free mini golf before 4PM, we tackled Fantasia Gardens and sent Becca a picture of her favorite hole, the vaguely racist mushrooms.
Fourth of July
Since we had never done the fourth of July at Disney, we decided to book a room at the Wilderness Lodge so we wouldn't have to fight the monorail and traffic home. We checked in on the 3rd and explored the resort and had dinner at Artist's Point. Then we spent the 4th at Magic Kingdom and saw the fireworks. After breakfast at Whispering Canyon, we headed home.
Animal Kingdom and Saana
We'd been craving butter chicken so we made a reservation for lunch at Saana. We went to the Animal Kingdom in the morning to ride Everest and the safari before heading over to AKL for bread service and butter chicken.
Magic Kingdom & Epcot
Around Halloween we drove up to the Magic Kingdom to look at the directions and ride some rides and also visited Epcot for the Food and Wine and Holiday festivals.
Steakhouse 71
We stopped by Steakhouse 71 at the Contemporary to see the gingerbread house, have some lunch and chocolate cake.
Disney Springs
After lunch at Enzo's Hideaway, we strolled Springs to see the Christmas trees and collect our pins for finding them all.
Wild Animal Trek
After Thanksgiving, we went to Animal Kingdom and rode Pandora and Expedition Everest before embarking on our Wild Animal Trek. We got to see a trainer feed the rhinocerous and walked on a rope bridge over the crocodiles before going on a safari and having lunch overlooking the flamingos and giraffes.
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
Becca had to work but Janie and J. R. headed up to the Magic Kingdom for a day of rides and lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. Rebecca was able to join us late afternoon and we attended the after-hours Christmas party where we collected cookies and cocoa and watched the holiday parade and rode a few more rides.
Christmas at Disney
Rebecca had a few days before her annual pass blackout for Christmas so we went to all of the parks so she could get in some final park time for the year.
