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

[eandesmom]

So glad you got to ride Kali...it is a favorite of mine (DH never wants to ride it though).

I'm not sure which park is hotter -- AK or the Studios??? To me they can both be brutal.

For me, AK but I think that's just b/c we seem to find more inside things to duck into quickly at the Studios. Not to mention the fact that this trip we got drenched at the studios, not once but twice. That said...for the WDW part of this trip, F! was by FAR the hottest, most miserable thing we did in the august heat. So I guess if I think about it that way, the Studios win, and it was 10pm at night. UGH

Jeff and I were just talking about this today, and my sister and I last night.

We've been considering an August 2012 trip with my entire side of the family as it's what works best with kids schedule and late august is better rates and my dad really wants to go to both WDW and WWOHP. But...we aren't terribly thrilled about August in general.

So, as of last night, if my sister and I get our way we will be going for Christmas/New Years in 2012 instead! We'd all rather do that. If we are going to pay premium rates, it might as well be at a new time of year than in July which will be just as miserable as August!

Fingers crossed that the rest of the clan buys into it, I'm uber excited about the idea!

 

[eandesmom]

It might have been a long cab ride but as payment for our wait we were treated to one of my favorite cab drivers ever, at WDW. I’m not sure what it was about this guy. He had a good mood that was seriously infectious and was just downright fun to talk to.

Arriving at DTD we found our crew already seated at the Rainforest Café. A quick seat swap and the girls were off. I honestly thought bout skipping food but K and Sandie needed to eat so off we went to WPE. Thankfully the line wasn’t bad and we got our food pretty darn quick. Given how rushed we were, I didn’t take a single picture. Next to Sandie and Kendall I REALLY looked like a drowned rat, both looked very pretty, all dressed up for the tea. I was still a bit chilled as I wasn't quite dry yet but, it was getting better. For the life of me I’m not sure what I had, it might have been the greek salad and I think for some reason (of all things) K got mac and cheese. Whatever it was, we all really really liked it. We kept it light, knowing there would be some food with our tea but needing more than that would provide.

Food inhaled (it would have been really nice to linger and enjoy but we were uber short on time) we headed out to the GF bus stop.

And waited, and waited and waited. Which often seems to be the case at DTD. Not really a surprise but still a bit annoying.

Finally we decided we’d grab a poly or contemporary bus, whichever came first, and then hop the monorail as we were starting to stress a bit. So we did. Which….was probably not the best idea. Switching to the Monorail at the contemporary seemed to take longer than I’d have expected. Needless to say, we were late. I’m not sure how late but…late. I can’t recall if we were in that 15 minute window but somehow I think not. Luckily it didn’t seem to be a problem when we checked in. We waited maybe another 15 minutes and then were seated.

Sandie was just eating the whole thing up, all dressed up and out for something girly with Kendall

Soon, we placed our order

Sandie and I ordered the same thing

The Grand Tea - The classic English tradition of Afternoon Tea, Grand Floridian style. We offer you a variety of tea sandwiches, scones and jam tarts, followed by your choice of our freshly baked tea pastries or English trifle, accompanied by a glass of Domaine Ste.-Michelle sparkling wine and your choice of tea. $25.50 per guest

We chose different teas.

For me: Lemon Verbena - Naturally caffeine-free, a refreshing infusion of lemon verbena, lemongrass, lemon balm, and lemon peel; a favorite during the summertime

For Sandie: Princess Breakfast Tea - A sweet custom blend of South African organic rooibos flavored with vanilla bean and a hint of strawberries. Rich in antioxidants and vitamins, and naturally decaffeinated.

Kendall chose this offering

Lemon Pound Cake

I think this is the tea she chose but am not positive. She’s not much of a tea fan but got it, I think to please Grandma and see if she’d like it.

Mad Hatter - A blend of passion fruit, pomegranate, and vanilla for a clean and sweet finish. Perfect with decadent desserts and companions.

Soon, our tea and bubbly arrived, Sandie was pretty excited about the latter.

I love the presentation

Tea sandwiches, tarts, etc.

These two didn’t seem to sure about whatever was going on at that moment

But whatever it was, it must have been funny. Somehow I think it involved pretending to be very proper English ladies.

It was starting to clear out (about 4:30 by now)

They were still cracking up

So pretty!

The food was delish and both Sandie and I loved our teas (and bubbly). With our “dessert” or last course, they brought us roses. Sandie has a habit of having her eyes closed in most pictures so while I try to avoid those…this is the best rose shot. LOL.

Somehow, and it was a lovely surprise, we were able to “trade” the option of trifle or pastry, for strawberries and cream.

As some of you may recall, Kendall is a big fan of the self portrait and wanted to test out her skills at the tea. It’s pretty amusing!

After each of these we’d laugh and laugh at Sandie’s expression. K was determined to get a better shot

Trying to fit all 3 of us in didn’t work so well, her arm isn’t that long!

Better

A one-eyed Cynthia

Smiling..and one-eyed

Almost my whole face!

Oops, over compensated

And a new use for our roses

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

My favorite of them all, I have this one framed

This one is ok too but I love that first one

Sandie snatched the bill before I could get my hands on it, it was a lovely treat! Apparently Paul did the same thing at the boys lunch which was also awfully nice! As we finished up and headed out, with plans to check out the shops, we were treated to this:

We shopped a little, enjoyed the music, stopping in all the shops I think but surprisingly didn’t buy a thing, not even at Basin. We left the GF around 6. In total, the tea took about 2 hours I’d say. We really really enjoyed the tea. Part of it was the tea, the ambiance, the yummy noshes but most of it was the company. We had a really really fun girls afternoon, just enjoying each other and not feeling rushed at all. I think, but am not positive, we took the Monorail to MK and then a bus “home” but really can’t recall! I think we got back to the YC around 6:30. We stopped in the gift shop on our way up and noticed all the cute little sundresses. Sandie had been itching to buy Kendall something and instead, bought us all a cute little dress and we all decided to wear them to dinner that night. I’ve gotten quite a bit of wear out of mine since then, as an easy sundress or swimsuit cover up and it brings back sweet memories when I see it. It’s funny, other than my Epcot “ears” coffee cup (which I drink out of ALL the time), it’s the only souvie I have from the WDW part of that trip, nothing was jumping out at me so it’s even that much more special.

I’d deliberately made a very late dinner ressie, 8:40 at Teppan. This allowed us time to get back, still do a quick jump in the pool and go to dinner. Not to mention digest all that food!

When we arrived poolside, the boys were already in the pool, having been there for only about 30 minutes.

They’d enjoyed their lunch and had done some damage at DTD while we were having tea. Paul had bought the boys some goodies. A hat for Eric, a shirt for Evan and something for Tay (but I forget what...I think it was a shirt or hat but it wasn't Disney anything, just some brand he liked). Evan’s shirt cracked me up.

They’d then gone to Ridemakerz and Eric had spent all his souvie money building a car.

I decided it was now or never.

A certain slide was calling my name.

That sucker is FAST! And…if you don’t plan appropriately, a GREAT way to get a ton of water up your nose.

I swear. Evan didn’t warn me on purpose! But I’m glad I did it. It had been a great day and this was a perfect end to our last visit to SAB. A nice way to say “goodbye”.

Cooled off, we headed up to get ready for our last dinner at Disney, tomorrow night we’d be on the dark side. The kids were very excited about dinner, Teppan having been THE favorite of all the kids on the last trip. Would it live up to their expectations?

How are you getting home?

 

[eandesmom]

For those of you that aren't already following Liesa's (All7ofus) TR I thought I'd include a link to our Northwest meet

which really should be called

a can, a can and a can

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great update Cynthia! I love reading about your tea. You may recall that Laura & I had a reservation for tea last fall but didn't make it out of DTD in time! I'm a little sad that we missed it... I'll have to see about trying it out on my next girls trip.

Alex got that same brown ESPN shirt in March. He wears it all the time.

 

[glennbo123]

It looked like you had a really nice time at tea. That shot of Kendall that you have framed is really nice.

And I'm glad you made it to the pool!

 

[cdotla]

Finally all caught up!

I have to admit...you have me thinking twice about that Illuminations Cruise. If money were no object, and time limitless, I would have done this by now. But in my head, I always felt I could have a better view standing around World Showcase, while at the same time soaking up all of the atmosphere I so love around WS at nite. And totally FREE to boot! Now you have me thinking and second guessing....hmmmmmm. You have made a rather convincing case to maybe give this a second look.

Kudos to you for thinking to ask the photopass photographer for a few pics! But tell me...how did you retrieve the photos afterwards?

Just so I am clear...you are thumbs down on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, right?

Sounds like a perfect afternoon splitting up for some boy time and girl time. The tea is such a fun girlie thing to do, isn't it?

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at Teppan Edo. We are looking forward to dining here in October.

 

[mermaid764]

What an awesome last day you guys had, the tea looks amazing. I haven't heard that much about this and was happy to hear you guys gave it such a positive review.

Hopefully Teppan Edo did live up to the hype and I can't wait to hear all about it

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

All of the self-protraits from your tea were hilarious. It's funny how many times you have to try to get one that looks good. I love the picture of the table that is all set up & empty. It is beautiful!

My mom really wanted to do that tea on our last trip, but I had not read anything about it, so we let the idea go. After seeing your review, I know she would have loved it. We will have to remember for next time.

 

[KathyRN137]

Cynthia, the GF Tea looks wonderful... I will certainly have to make plans to do it sometime! You three "proper ladies" look like you're having a practically perfect time!



Kathy

 

[eandesmom]

Great update Cynthia! I love reading about your tea. You may recall that Laura & I had a reservation for tea last fall but didn't make it out of DTD in time! I'm a little sad that we missed it... I'll have to see about trying it out on my next girls trip.

Alex got that same brown ESPN shirt in March. He wears it all the time.

I do remember that! We thought about doing it on our girls trip, some of us had done it, some not, and it really would have been fun. We decided on a different big "extra" instead but it would be lovely with a girlfriend.

I love that shirt, Evan wears it quite a bit too.

It looked like you had a really nice time at tea. That shot of Kendall that you have framed is really nice.

And I'm glad you made it to the pool!

Thanks! I love that picture of her and I'm glad I got to finally go on the slide, even if it was only once. Now I can at least say I did.

Finally all caught up!

I have to admit...you have me thinking twice about that Illuminations Cruise. If money were no object, and time limitless, I would have done this by now. But in my head, I always felt I could have a better view standing around World Showcase, while at the same time soaking up all of the atmosphere I so love around WS at nite. And totally FREE to boot! Now you have me thinking and second guessing....hmmmmmm. You have made a rather convincing case to maybe give this a second look.

Well, once you split the cost with someone (in our case, Sandie) it's not nearly so painful. I really had the same feeling you did about it, she was far more sold on the idea than I was but I am SO glad we did it and it really was such a different perspective. Absolutely magical and something we will all remember long after the trip.

Kudos to you for thinking to ask the photopass photographer for a few pics! But tell me...how did you retrieve the photos afterwards?

I had my card with me so he just scanned it like a regular PP guy would.

Just so I am clear...you are thumbs down on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, right?

ya think?

Sounds like a perfect afternoon splitting up for some boy time and girl time. The tea is such a fun girlie thing to do, isn't it?

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at Teppan Edo. We are looking forward to dining here in October.

The tea was just wonderful and it sounds like the boys did very boy appropriate things. A good day was had by all.

Teppan will be fun with your large group in Oct, good choice.

What an awesome last day you guys had, the tea looks amazing. I haven't heard that much about this and was happy to hear you guys gave it such a positive review.

Hopefully Teppan Edo did live up to the hype and I can't wait to hear all about it

It was really fun, I'd read a couple of reviews on it and knew Sandie would like it but wasn't sure if K would get into it or not. I may try to add this in if we do our huge family trip in dec of 2012 and take my mom, sisters and niece. That would be really cool!

 

[englishrose47]

Loved your "TEA" update !!I am pretty sure Christine and I are doing that in December 2012 !! I have never done it although have been to a few locally and of course do my own version for the Consumers at leat twice a year !!! I love the pretty cups and the elegance of GF !!

 

[Native NYer]

The GF tea looks lovely! It seems like such a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Looking forward to your report on the dark side.

 

[MEK]

Well - you look pretty darn good for being drenched right before tea. It looks like a lovely way to spend the afternoon. The food looks delish. So glad you all had a good time while the boys were off eating and shopping. Now there's a switch - the boys shopping and spending.

Great pictures!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I agree with Mary Ellen - you look good for a "drowned rat!" I'm so glad you all made it where you needed to be and got to enjoy some nice time together. I really want to take my girls to tea, but they are a little young and I am not sure they'd appreciate it that much yet. Maybe in a couple years...
Great pictures - the rose Kendall shot is beautiful!!

I can't wait to hear how Teppan Edo went! We had so much fun there!

 

[natebenma]

Great photos from your tea! It looks like it was so much fun to have some girly time.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Cynthia. It looks as if the girls had a great time at the Tea...and I love the photo with the rose.

Great t-shirt...and I agree, sports needs more characters...at least characters of that type.

 

[Happydog]

Okay! I did it! I caught up! Two posts and some conversation! OH, and BTW, those Fizzes are originally named such b/c they are modified from Ramos Fizzes, which are gin based and have an egg white in them! My uncle changed the alcohol to vodka. AND you are right the total is for two blenderfuls.... so mix it all up, cut it in half with ice and blend, TWICE!!! Once you fill everyone's glasses, of course!!! Not pink lemonade, though! I wondered how that tasted!!!??? I bet good?

So the train that left you deserted! Oh man, I would have been worried! But you always seem to just roll with these things, but I guess in that situation what could you do!! You know we have never done that train, etc. Always other things we are doing want to do, etc. GLAD you got to do Kali, though, and you don't look worse for it at your Tea!! SO Much fun.. I would love to do that one time, but alas with my boys, not a chance!!! DH and I did Tea at the Ritz on our honeymoon in London. It was quite an affair! I would totally do that again, and with Mrs. Potts, why not!! Champagne was definitely a must!

Great photos of you all....

Can't wait to hear about Teppan Edo...one restaurant we have not been to... I can't get past Tokyo Dining!

I can't believe you are leaving Disney I am sure your trip felt longer than the posts!! Or maybe because I am reading them all together!! LOL! But, it sure seems like you got your R & R and family time in even still, and just had a nice time... The illuminations cruise does seem like a wonderful way to celebrate together.. CANNOT wait to hear your take on the next leg of your trip!!! That is our destination in 2012!!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Cynthia! I'm glad to see you finally got rescued from your stalled out train! Now, I would not have felt so smug, as I and my nephew nearly succumbed to heat stroke on our 2007 trip. It was the first truly hot day of the year, and we went from cart to cart and stand to stand all day trying to get something to drink. The computers kept shutting down due to the heat and the carts were closed. It was really difficult to get a drink. I finally had to throw a fit on the steps of one snack stand that was closing, and the manager let me in. Bad Form, Disney. The hottest park in the World, and no drinks to be had! sorry, this is just a sore spot for me

Your tea party was so special! It is wonderful to see the 3 of you having so much fun together! I'm glad you had such a perfect afternoon together - AND you got some pool time in too! Looking forward to your Teppan Edo dinner!

 

[Flossbolna]

Cynthia, I am really loving your TR! I am still in awe about how you managed that large and diverse group... And wow, a trip with your side of the family! It sounds like it would be a very fun event!! I will be looking forward to that report, especially since I have met a few of the cast in person!