Sunday, October 12th - Maybe Leaving the Cell Phone in the Safe isn't Such a Smart Idea After All ...
We skipped out of Bistro Paris happier than two ears of corn at a shucking party.
What?
We were both born and bred in the Midwest.
Jay's family owns a farm in a godforsaken section of Missouri that time has forgotten.
We eat corn.
And we sometimes avail ourselves of the phrase "aw, shucks" in conversation.
It all fits.
Anyway, we were happy happy happy after our lunch at Bistro and I felt ten pounds lighter in spite of everything I'd eaten because I was no longer worried that I'd chosen an event that would leave us gagging on the bitter taste of disappointment once it was finished.
We headed back to Saratoga Springs to soak up some sun at the pool, but before we did that, I checked my handy-dandy ADR / DIS-meet calendar and saw a reminder that I contact Whogirl'smom about a quick meet-n-greet at the MK around 6:30PM. I always feel a little odd about calling people even after we've exchanged phone numbers and agreed upon a meeting ... I feel like I'm being pushy and rude and intrusive when more likely than not the person on the other end of the phone is thinking:
I didn't really want to meet you in the real world ... now that I think about it, you're a little too weird and scary for me so could you please just hang up now and forget we ever spoke?
Luckily for me, if Jamie was thinking along those lines she did a fabulous job of masking her apprehension. We confirmed that we'd meet at 6:30pm in front of City Hall - right next to the park bench where the bronze figure of Mayor Goofy is perched.
There are many things wrong with the above statement but rather than spoil the fun right away I will leave it stand for now and tell you that as soon as the call was ended ... you guessed it ... just like my conversation with Erica two days earlier, I promptly turned off the phone and tucked it away in the room safe to think on it no more.
Do you wonder if Erica and Lionel shared an involuntary shudder 40 minutes to the east of Orlando just as I locked the room safe???
Jay and I enjoyed our afternoon at the pool and sometime along the way we decided that we wanted to cancel the dinner reservation we had for the Kona Cafe and enjoy the first nice weather evening of our trip by snacking around Epcot instead. Before we left for the bus stop I made sure to call Disney Dining and cancel the reservation so someone else could hopefully take advantage of it. While I regret not having the opportunity to try the Lapu Lapu, I'm convinced that we made the right decision and we had a fine old time doing things completely unplanned.
Why do we always look so much more attractive while on vacation?
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom with about thirty minutes to spare and since there was no time for rides Jay and I did the only other thing we know to do ... eat! Casey's Corner has long been a favorite of ours - big old juicy hotdogs with squinky-squishy fries that beg to be dipped in freshly melted pretend cheese. We always order the the All Beef 1/4 Pound Hot Dog Meal which comes with a drink and a choice of french fries or fruit. Our drink of choice was water and of course we ordered the french fries ... why spoil a hot dog with a "healthy" side dish? Unless you're planning on dipping those apple slices into a vat of hot, melty pretend cheese, that is.
I was especially interested to see for myself whether or not the great bun debate that had raged here on the DIS was really worth all the energy and angst that it had generated. For what it's worth, I think the wheat buns are a stupid move on Disney's part. They weren't awful, but they were very dry and added nothing to the meal. My personal opinion is that Disney ought to offer patrons a choice as to the type of bun they'd prefer. Eating a hot dog on a whole wheat bun does not make it a healthier food option, nor does offering up pre-sliced, vacuum sealed, slimy apple chunks in place of french fries. I'd much rather make my own choices about what constitutes healthy or unhealthy food ... I don't need the Walt Disney Company to save me from myself and neither does anyone else.
So there!
The unhealthiest kind of processed meat, but it tastes so good!
It works like this: fry, cheese, mustard, eat; repeat until fries are gone.
Jay and I thoroughly enjoyed our quick dinner at Casey's and then made our way back down Main Street to City Hall. Only it wasn't City Hall that I'd been thinking of when I talked with Jamie ... it was Exposition Hall. Even that might not have been such a bad thing except for the fact that the bench and the Goofy statue were gone, replaced by a wide swath of stroller parking for patrons eating dinner at Tony's Town Square.
Awwwww, crap!
I smell a potential disaster.
Jay's suggestion was profoundly simple and logical: just call Jamie and let her know where we were waiting and that we got the buildings confused.
Brenda: That's a great idea and I'd do it in a heartbeat but my phone and your phone are locked in the safe.
Jay:
Again? You did that again after what happened Friday night?
Brenda: I like to live dangerously.
Jay: Do I even want to know if you have any clue what this woman looks like?
Brenda: I also like to make things difficult.
I consoled Jay by telling him that I'd know Jamie when I saw her, even though the only picture I'd seen was from her avatar here on the DIS. That did not make him feel better as we circled the main street hub, walking back and forth between City Hall and Exposition Hall and annoying CMs who were stringing rope barriers for the parade that was scheduled to begin at 8PM. I'd just about given up hope as the clock chimed seven when I spied someone hurrying along the sidewalk ... I rolled the dice and walked up to her and said hello, crossing my fingers that I'd picked the right person from the multitudes swarming into the park.
WOOOO-HOOOOTY-HOO!!!!
I turned to Jay and said, "Nailed it!"
Imagine our relief when Jamie proceeded to tell us that they were late due to some driving / parking kind of issues and would have called to let us know but didn't have their cell phone with them!!!
We had a good laugh at ourselves and spent a few minutes chatting before releasing Whogirl and her Whomom and Whodad for dinner. They were just the cutest family and I even managed to snag a picture of Jamie and me before we all parted ways.
Someone's got the chompers out again!
Jay and I hopped the monorail over to Epcot and decided that some snacking was in order before Illuminations started. We began in Poland, where they were selling a drink that I'd been dreaming about ever since seeing the food booth menu: Chopin Vodka Raspberry Cocktail. It was the most expensive drink being offered at the food booths, aside from champagne, and I made the silly assumption that it was a taste combination that would be impossible for anyone to screw up.
You know what they say about people who assume, and in my case it's totally true.
We ordered both food options that Poland was selling: the Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup and the Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Carmelized Onions and Sour Cream. Our gravest mistake of the evening was ordering the Vodka Raspberry cocktail to wash it all down.
It all sucks if you ask me!
To be fair, Jay said the mushroom soup in Poland was pretty tasty but I don't like mushrooms so there was no way I was going to try even a smidge of it.
The kielbasa, which is almost impossible to see in our picture because it was buried under stringy, greasy onions that looked like burnt tentacles, was not very good - lukewarm and greasier than any sausage has a right to be. The pierogie was bland and disappointing ... those bits that I could manage to eat that hadn't been tainted by sour cream.
And the drink ... how do I say this politely?
...
...
...
Your drink is like swill to us. Do I have that right ... only a swine would drink this?
It was vile. An uber-sweet, syrupy, gloppy mess that you will never convince me contained a drop of alcohol. We will never darken Poland's doorstep again ... unless they bring back the Okocim Beer that they used to peddle.
It took half of the world showcase and another whole bottle of Dasani before either Jay or I could stomach the thought of eating anything else. And when we found ourselves in Morocco we decided to split some Mint Ice Tea, Grilled Beef and Hummus in a Pita Pocket, and a Chicken Brewat Roll.
Second time's a charm!
This was a much better and much more satisfying food booth visit. The mint ice tea was wonderfully refreshing with just a hint of mintiness that in no way overpowered our tastebuds. The beefy hummus pocket was delicious but I think I would have liked it a little better with no beef and more hummus. And the chicken roll was like an eggroll that had been made with chicken instead of pork or shrimp - there were some veggies tucked into it as well. Jay and I agreed that our stop in Morocco was a fine old way to end the evening at Epcot ... it was growing very crowded and we decided to head back to SSR while Illuminations was taking place - we were in the mood for dessert and planned on making our way to Ghiaradelli's for a sundae!
So stay tuned for our dessert mad-house ... review coming soon (relatively speaking)!!
for us to take them to F&W but that's not happening for several reasons. DD15 plays varsity tennis, and fall is tennis season; it's too hard to pull them out of school now that they're in middle & high school; and then there's the fact that I want to do F&W sans children
How could they do that to us???? 
