Dr. Jones and the Spitting Camel - Link to Alaska Cruise TR 9/18

[GreatBiscuit]

Hey Cythia - caught back up. Glad to hear ABC hit the spot. I was cracking up at the stormy weather beach lounging. Y'all are such rebels!

(Does anyone else remember the "Story Weather" video from D-TV?)

 

[eandesmom]

Hey Cythia - caught back up. Glad to hear ABC hit the spot. I was cracking up at the stormy weather beach lounging. Y'all are such rebels!

(Does anyone else remember the "Story Weather" video from D-TV?)

no but now the song "stormy weather" is stuck in my head



It was pretty funny, we knew we were going to get yelled at but did it anyway. I can't say the beach really held any appeal though. I mean, it's kind of a tease. You can't actually go IN that water but I guess if you want to escape kids and lounge in the sun it could make sense. Beach volleyball is cool and maybe if you had a frisbee but other than that I think I'd stick to the lounge chairs by the pool.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

no but now the song "stormy weather" is stuck in my head.

You're welcome.

My work here is done.

 

[eandesmom]

You're welcome.

My work here is done.

for the moment

 

[All7OfUs]

3 days?



3 hours was too much at my house. Not really of course but it was a bit exhausting!

I am a big fan of not thinking too hard....

I could care less about when they all leave (they were all still there- all 17), as long as they are all gone when I get back in 3 days.

 

[eandesmom]

I could care less about when they all leave (they were all still there- all 17), as long as they are all gone when I get back in 3 days.

And the question is....will they be?

 

[All7OfUs]

And the question is....will they be?

Let's just say they'd better be. My poor aching nerves were shot with no one cleaning up after themselves and the whole eat for 20 minutes/ clean up for 3 hours routine.

 

[eandesmom]

Let's just say they'd better be. My poor aching nerves were shot with no one cleaning up after themselves and the whole eat for 20 minutes/ clean up for 3 hours routine.

that would send anyone over the edge! I hope they are gone too.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

One of us will get around to posting this on the Garden TR but I thought I'd announce here that our intrepid 6th is joining us for our East West (which is now East/West/South lol) and is ready to come out of the closet. So stay tuned for a pretty new ticker and welcome...

How did I miss that you had a group trip planned? Sounds fun!

 

[eandesmom]

How did I miss that you had a group trip planned? Sounds fun!

I'm so excited and ready NOW for a break! Calgon take me away!

 

[glennbo123]

Okay, I'm caught up again Cynthia!

Sorry you got rained out at DHS, but I'm glad to read that your unexpected, unplanned meal at the ABC Commissary was good. I've never eaten there either....like you, I've never planned on it. I'll have to see if someday the rain or other circumstances drive me there, like happened to you folks.

That's great that your PChef products came in handy in short order and that you're enjoying them. If you need anything else, you know I can hook you up. Judy thanks you, and Tammie too, for the shout-out.

Judy asked me if you would like to be added to her monthly e-mail customer newsletter?

I had to laugh at your "Calgon, take me away!" reference. I say that every now and then, but my kids have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

[englishrose47]

I'll be back with replies later today but wanted to thank everyone for the lovely Christmas wishes, and I hope all of you had a magical day!

We were pretty busy, Christmas eve at my mom's, for which I made an apple pie, and then 10pm service. That was the original plan for a lovely lazy day but...a week ago my brother in law decided to attempt a ski jump he shouldn't have and broke his clavicle in 3 spots. Added quite a bit of stress to a very strained situation with my sister Melissa and he. Typically she hosts Christmas day but between their personal stuff and surgery weds it was just too much. so...I had 30 people for dinner last night! Which meant my Christmas eve was a bit of running around as well as a last minute visit to Santa!

We were at my mom's for brunch which my youngest sister Kerri cooks every year and then back to our house for dinner.

Needless to say it's been a little nutty and I'm avoiding the dishes as I type! They are frightening.

People were here until 11 and it was all we could to do rinse and stack!

It was a lovely lovely Christmas all around, even with the craziness and the challenge of wrestling with 24 pounds of prime rib (yes, a small cow). And I've learned a lot about cooking that much meat. Though, as Jeff said, we are really fine with Melissa doing Christmas Day Dinner next time, yikes!

Santa was very good to me and Glenn, Judy may be happy to know my in laws got me a couple of pampered chef goodies that actually were put to use within an hour of opening! That cutting board with the measuring cup cut outs on the end is pretty slick, I love it!

My in-laws arrive weds and I do go back to work tomorrow so I'd better get to those dishes but hope to be around more this week as it will be very quiet at work. Jeff and I have a date night tonight which should be lovely, dinner and Burlesque.

Love the pix Cynthia !!! I thought I had posted here but was prolly another Dosey Rosie Day!!!

 

[eandesmom]

Okay, I'm caught up again Cynthia!

Sorry you got rained out at DHS, but I'm glad to read that your unexpected, unplanned meal at the ABC Commissary was good. I've never eaten there either....like you, I've never planned on it. I'll have to see if someday the rain or other circumstances drive me there, like happened to you folks.

I was immensely relieved it did not live up to my expectations!

That's great that your PChef products came in handy in short order and that you're enjoying them. If you need anything else, you know I can hook you up. Judy thanks you, and Tammie too, for the shout-out.

Judy asked me if you would like to be added to her monthly e-mail customer newsletter?

Sure I'll PM you my real email....

I had to laugh at your "Calgon, take me away!" reference. I say that every now and then, but my kids have no idea what I'm talking about.

So sad isn't it that they don't know! I said "Red Rover Red Rover, send Evan right over" the other day and they looked at me like I had 3 heads.

Love the pix Cynthia !!! I thought I had posted here but was prolly another Dosey Rosie Day!!!

Thanks Rosie! He is the BEST Santa ever. I had so much fun the other day looking at 10 years of pictures iwth him and I swear he's the real deal. Looks exactly the same 10 years ago!

 

[eandesmom]

Though I was immensely content with my chai cream, my book and a lovely rum and coke, I sadly said goodbye to the balcony and proceeded to get ready for dinner
As we got ready I wondered what the crew would think about our dinner plans. No one really knew about this one, it was a last minute add on with the date and resort changes and even Jeff hadn’t paid all that much attention to it. I was excited about the location, and had heard some pretty fun things about it. It would be perfect, we thought, for dinner before late night EMH at the Magic Kingdom.

The location required only a short boat ride.

It was still pretty wet out but a very pretty night for a ride. The rain had stopped and the sun was trying to come out…except it was time for it to go to bed!

We headed down to the dock

We needed to get on one of these (sorry for the blur!)

So that we could go, and wait, …..

Here!

All the gang knew was that it was a buffet, and it sounded good. We enjoyed the GF lobby and strolled around a little, Kendall and I ducking into the shops off the lobby. Which, of course the minute we did, our table was ready!

Now I have to admit, I was a little (more than a little) disappointed in the overall ambiance of the room. It is the Grand Floridian after all and 1900 Park Fare, on the inside, to me, looked like a bit like a flowery outdated cafeteria.

However, there were other things that more than made up for that. Immediately upon being seated the stars of the show were announced!
They proceeded into the room and stopped directly behind our table!

Upon which they commenced to dance

And the princesses flocked!

Oh my goodness! It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen, I was completely choked up. All these adorable done up little princesses, in their gowns and hair, dancing around Cindy and her Prince. It was a magical moment and they weren’t even my children!

The dance moved on and we proceeded to the buffet to load up our plates. As many of you know, I’m just not really much of a buffet person, at all. However, my family is and this had some different options. I know a lot of folks go there for the breakfast so I thought I’d post the dinner menu.

Starters - spring mixed greens, Caesar Salad, Dressings, Broccoli Salad with cashews, Greek salad, ambrosia, tomato mozzarella salad, macaroni salad, apple with port vinaigrette, peel and eat shrimp

Soups - cream of mushroom, tomato florentine, and chilled strawberry
Accompaniments - sweet potato and red bliss mashed potato, brown gravy, carrot and broccoli medley, sauteed squash with chives, niblet corn

Entrees - Chef's freshly prepared pasta, roasted prime rib of beef, mojo marinated turkey breast, salmon with a caper butter sauce, curry chicken with Israeli couscous, apple chutney stuffed pork loin with apple glaze, portobello raviolis with a pesto cream, mussels in ginger broth, salmon with a dill cream sauce, chicken marsala, cheese lasagna, Italian sausage with peppers, chorizo stuffed pork loin with mango barbeque sauce, vegetable egg rolls, mussels in tomato broth

Children's Corner - chicken nuggets, cheese and macaroni, mini corn dogs, pasta marinara, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, niblet corn, cheese pizza and fresh vegetables

Desserts - apple cobbler, bread pudding, brownies, key lime tarts, linzer torte, rice krispie treats, chocolate chip cookies, lemon cheesecake tart, Edy's Soft Serve Ice Cream

I’d liked the look of the menu as it wasn’t your typical buffet food. The gang definitely approved!

Continued in next post……………….

 

 

[eandesmom]

For those that haven’t been, they do an AMAZING job of coming by and making sure every character has visited. It was nonstop! I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

I must say, Charming was just that!

A girl and her Prince

As Cindy, the step sisters and Lady Tremaine worked the crowd, and our table, they latched on to the little boys first. But then…a question for Taylor.

“Have I visited you yet?”

“Would you like a picture with me?”

“Well….I wouldn’t mind!”

One of my favorite lines out of anyone the entire trip

All of the characters having visited (and the handlers making darn sure they had, one of the stepsisters had actually been fetched back to visit us) they all danced out of Park Fare, done for the night. Which meant it was time for us to dive into dessert.

The kids REALLY liked the serve yourself soft serve and toppings, definitely a buffet highlight for them. And I confess…I didn’t mind a serving of soft serve toppings solo on the side….my secret weakness. Gummi bears.

All in all I would give it a huge thumbs up. Ranked individually (ambiance, food) it wouldn’t score nearly as high but the overall evening was just outstanding. The food was good, and a nice variety but for me, still a buffet. The characters, watching the kids (both mine and all the little princesses) were outstanding. The kids had been surprised, but pleasantly so and I think the “real” characters (versus fur as Heidi puts it) was a good choice for their ages.

We had hoped to be done in time to head over to MK for the summer Nightastic, perhaps even seeing it from the boat, but for some reason, settling our bill took forever.

As it was, we ended up dashing out the GF in hopes of watching it from the dock or beach.

Would we catch the show? Would we be able to stay dry at EMH?

 

[All7OfUs]

What an outstanding evening, despite it being relegated to "buffet status". I guess the interaction and "charm factor" made up for it. I"ve never heard a bad review of the place, which makes me sorta want to give it a try.

I can see how you could say it was an outdated flowery cafeteria, though, any place with THAT much use, could get worn in a hurry.

Your sunset pix were really great! Couldn't have asked for a lovelier evening!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Great review! I can't wait to go there in a few weeks....I think it's going to be a hoot!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

What a fun evening. I can't get over the gorgeous sunset pictures you got. Those are amazing. I am not a buffet fan either but your dinner sounds fantastic. And sounds like those handlers are really on top of things!

Hope you catch the show AND that it stays dry!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Sounds like you had a wonderful evening. Great pictures, too!

 

[MaryAz]

Great sunset pics. Really pretty. We ate there in Dec and your review is much more favorable. There was no dancing and I had 2 very beautiful princess-one even a mini Cindy. They seemed rushed-it was Dec. The buffet was ok and I totally agree with you on the decor.