Wait, what? We Drank Four Pitchers Not Five! Feb. 2011 TR - Update 9/6 Pg. 20

IOA looks like fun, and the Harry Potter part is so cute (even though I haven't seen the movies or read the books!) but I just can't bring myself to go there! I don't know why, I really should do it on this trip, since it's such a long trip, I should be able to tear myself away from Disney for one day! :rotfl: We'll see, maybe we'll go spontaneously when we're down there! :confused3 I'll have to watch the HP movies first! :thumbsup2
 
Yay on going back to IOA! :cool1:

Love all the pictures esp of the inside of The Forbidden Journey :thumbsup2 I was with you on hoping that you kept your eyes open this time around and was happy to read that that is exactly what you did!! :woohoo: Btw all this talk about WWoHP is making me soo excited for my visit in September.

Your food does look good and once you find out the criteria for the awards please do share! I am also curious.

Trust me I was glad that I kept my eyes open too!

So apparently this voting is by theme park insider and it looks like it's just by individuals that review on their website or something. Mythos is no longer number one, it's the Bistro de Paris, which I wholeheartedly agree with btw.

IOA looks like fun, and the Harry Potter part is so cute (even though I haven't seen the movies or read the books!) but I just can't bring myself to go there! I don't know why, I really should do it on this trip, since it's such a long trip, I should be able to tear myself away from Disney for one day! :rotfl: We'll see, maybe we'll go spontaneously when we're down there! :confused3 I'll have to watch the HP movies first! :thumbsup2

I had a hard time tearing myself away in the last, but now with WWoHP it makes it more worth it to me. However I would suggest watching the movies or at least a few of them.
 
Awwww... last full day but WOOT more IoA! So glad to see you were going on the Forbidden Journey to take some more pictures and keep your eyes open on the ride. It sounds like fun and you seemed to enjoy it. I love the pictures you took along the queue and of... Is that Poseidon's Fury or something? I haven't been to Universal before so I don't know hahahaha

The food at Mythos looks really good! If I end up going to WWoHP when I go back to WDW, I may have to check that out. I love Pasta (and Pasta, as in NOT spaghetti), so that Pasta dish seems to be calling to me. :goodvibes

Can't wait to read more! :mickeyjum
 
Awwww... last full day but WOOT more IoA! So glad to see you were going on the Forbidden Journey to take some more pictures and keep your eyes open on the ride. It sounds like fun and you seemed to enjoy it. I love the pictures you took along the queue and of... Is that Poseidon's Fury or something? I haven't been to Universal before so I don't know hahahaha

The food at Mythos looks really good! If I end up going to WWoHP when I go back to WDW, I may have to check that out. I love Pasta (and Pasta, as in NOT spaghetti), so that Pasta dish seems to be calling to me. :goodvibes

Can't wait to read more! :mickeyjum


I think it was Poseidon's Fury. Good catch with not having been to Universal before!

Mythos was really good, and I found it to be the only good food in Universal. The rest is kind of scary. :scared1:
 


Great Universal Update. Good to see that you were able to conquer the Forbidden Journey this time around. You got some nice pictures of the queue also. :thumbsup2

Oops, accidentally posted before I was done..

I agree that the CS food in Universal is lacking. Perhaps we'll try Mythos next time around for lunch. I have seen enough people scratch their heads at that best theme park food rating but at least it seems better than the CS food.
 
Great Universal Update. Good to see that you were able to conquer the Forbidden Journey this time around. You got some nice pictures of the queue also. :thumbsup2

Thanks! I knew I wanted to get some pictures inside the castle. It would have been a shame not to. They did such an amazing job on all of the details.
 
We wrapped up our lunch at Mythos and made the decision to head over to Universal Studios since we had done all we wanted to at IOA. There were a few attractions that we had missed on the Universal side.

We headed over to Disaster!

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I hadn't been on this ride since they revamped it a bit and added Christopher Walken.

I love Christopher Walken. I think having him on this attraction really made it much more enjoyable to me. He just cracks me up. You're welcome! (if you've been on the ride, you'd get that last part). Christopher Walken says that constantly during the attraction and it just made Jason and I crack up the whole time.

After that, Jason and I decided to take another turn on Men in Black. We love our shootin' rides!

The last ride on our agenda was ET. So we're heading over there, and people are just moving through the queue so slowly as the doors opened up. We missed the door by milliseconds. I mean, if people had been moving just a touch faster, we would have made it through.

For some reason, we had a really long wait after we missed the door. I was puzzled. I've been on the attraction before and I know the pre-show doesn't take all that long. We finally made it in and got on the ride. I like this ride, but I think it needs an update. It just feels a little dated and a bit cheap now.

Jason said that the thing he doesn't like about Universal is that it feels like they just grabbed a bunch of attractions, tossed when in the air, and just let them fall where they may. That the park overall feels a little bit mashed together without a real sense of continuity. I could agree with that.

While we were waiting in line for ET, we decided that when we were finished there, we would head over to City Walk to see Harry Potter 7 part 1. Jason still hadn't seen it, and I don't think that being at the WWoHP was helping the matter a bit.

We putzed around the shops on City Walk for a little while before the show time.

In this sense, I made a little bit of an error. I completely forgot the movie was 2 1/2 hours long, and was operating under the impression that it was 2 hours. Well, we had dinner reservations at the Bistro de Paris at 6:30pm. We got out of the movie at 5:30pm. We had to hustle for sure. I was glad we were staying at the Boardwalk.

We made it to the hotel at about 6pm, both freshened up a bit, and made it out of the room by 6:15pm. We made it just in time. It was busy in the restaurant, and the girl at the podium was turning people away because it was reservation only. I felt kind of bad for her, because people were getting irritated. When people would check in, she would also ask people if they were on the dining plan. I think maybe they have problems with people thinking that they accept the dining plan.

The funniest exchange ever happened here between a guest and the CM at the podium. So this woman comes rushing into the restaurant and asks, "where is the bathroom?" The CM looks at her and politely says "in Morocco." The woman then says angrily, "no......where.....is.....the.....bathroom?", as if the CM was stupid and didn't understand her the first time. So the CM says to her again, "the bathroom is in Morocco."

The woman basically stomps her foot and says to the CM, "well there has to be a bathroom in the restaurant, doesn't there?" So the CM simply says, "down the stairs to the right." I think she just didn't want to deal with her anymore. Love how at the nicest restaurant in Epcot, a guest just thinks you can walk in and use the bathroom. Just sayin'.

Jason and I were seated shortly after this exchange. I didn't take many pictures. I didn't want to blind customer's with my flash and be irritating. I felt like the restaurant was too nice. Maybe I'm weird.

The atmosphere is really nice. Our server was named Thibaud, and he was really good. We ordered drinks, both Kir Royale to start.

We had decided that we weren't going to do the wine pairing.

Then the amuse bouche came out. It was crab on a piece of toast. Sounds simple, but it was oh so good.

I ordered from the tasting menu, because I wanted a three course meal. Jason opted out of that.

Here's the few pictures I took.

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I got escargot for appetizer, beef tenderloin for dinner, and creme brulee sampler for dessert. Here is my dinner.

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Jason got the rack of lamb and the Grand Marnier souffle for dessert. He had to put the order in for the dessert right away because it takes some time to make.

My escargot came and Jason was hesitant. I could have taken a bath in it. I'm not kidding, it is one of the best things I have ever tasted. It was everything, the sauce, how it was cooked. Oh man. I gave Jason some, and of course he wanted more.

Our dinner was so good overall. I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Everything was amazing. Jason said that the Grand Marnier souffle was the best dessert he had ever had. It's not the kind of dessert that you get anywhere.

All in all, it was absolutely worth every penny that we spent on it, and I'm so glad we made it to the restaurant on time. I had actually contemplated canceling the reservation earlier in the trip because of the budget, but I'm so glad that I didn't.

After that, we headed into World Showcase to walk around a bit and drink some more. I got us both a glass of Nuvo from the France kiosk. This is one of my favorite drinks and I buy it regularly at home. Jason had never had it. This lady was funny, because she said that my drink looked good. I told her it was very good, that it was sparkling fruity vodka. When I said that, she made a face like she thought that didn't sound so good. Pretty funny. It's very sweet and desserty.

We walked through Italy and both got a glass of Rosa Regale wine from the Italy kiosk. Again, my favorite wine. That says a lot though, seeing as though I'm not a wine drinker.

After that, it was off to Spaceship Earth. Jason hadn't been on it since they changed the ending, so he got a kick out of that.

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After that, the park was closing up, so it was time for us to start heading back. This ended our last full day in the parks. :sad1: We did have a morning to enjoy before our flight the next day though.

Up next: We end at Hollywood Studios
 


Sounds like you had a good day! Oh no on the wait at ET.

Yay on watching Harry Potter whilst at Disney World! I'm glad you managed to get to your ADR on time and it looks like it was worth the rush - the food looks great! :thumbsup2

Love the SE pics and am sad that your TR is coming to an end.
 
Sounds like you had a good day! Oh no on the wait at ET.

Yay on watching Harry Potter whilst at Disney World! I'm glad you managed to get to your ADR on time and it looks like it was worth the rush - the food looks great! :thumbsup2

Love the SE pics and am sad that your TR is coming to an end.

I was glad we made it too, the food ended up being so worth it.

I'm sad it's ending too, but all good things, right?
 
Hi Danielle,

I am with you on Disaster and Christopher Walken. Anything with Christopher Walken in it is better. I had no idea they added him in later. It's a fun attraction especially the ending.



Jason said that the thing he doesn't like about Universal is that it feels like they just grabbed a bunch of attractions, tossed when in the air, and just let them fall where they may. That the park overall feels a little bit mashed together without a real sense of continuity. I could agree with that.
I can see that as well. For example, what does the Mummy and Twister have to do wtih New York?

We still had a good time in the park though.

Bistro sounds amazing but I don't think I will be headed there unless my wife and I get a night out on our own someday. If I do though my camera is coming out for the experience as well.

Some people don't seem to like the change to the ending of Spaceship Earth but my family is easy to entertain and we always get a kick out of it.
 
Hi Danielle,

I am with you on Disaster and Christopher Walken. Anything with Christopher Walken in it is better. I had no idea they added him in later. It's a fun attraction especially the ending.




I can see that as well. For example, what does the Mummy and Twister have to do wtih New York?

We still had a good time in the park though.

Bistro sounds amazing but I don't think I will be headed there unless my wife and I get a night out on our own someday. If I do though my camera is coming out for the experience as well.

Some people don't seem to like the change to the ending of Spaceship Earth but my family is easy to entertain and we always get a kick out of it.

Oh yeah, anything with Christopher Walken is just better. I love him.

Exactly, what does the Mummy and Twister have to do with New York? Just strange. It's still a fun place to visit, I just don't love the layout of it all.

The Bistro is definitely an every once in a while restaurant. And unless the kiddos are adventurous, I wouldn't bring them along.

I have mixed emotions about the end of Spaceship Earth. My favorite part before used to be the descent back. I just loved to look around at everything. I guess I'm indifferent. I like making funny faces though. :laughing:
 
...all caught up! :thumbsup2 We've been talking about not spending all our $$ with the Mouse, but haven't made any real plans for that. Even though I know I'd end up making comparisons, I think it would be great to do Universal for the change of pace.

Wow, your dinner sounded amazing. We've never been there, but we may have to do that, sometime. Maybe sometime when/if it's just the DH and I. :goodvibes
 
...all caught up! :thumbsup2 We've been talking about not spending all our $$ with the Mouse, but haven't made any real plans for that. Even though I know I'd end up making comparisons, I think it would be great to do Universal for the change of pace.

Wow, your dinner sounded amazing. We've never been there, but we may have to do that, sometime. Maybe sometime when/if it's just the DH and I. :goodvibes

I've talked about going down to Orlando and not do Disney, but I honestly don't know if I could go down there and stay away from the mouse. :rotfl:

I highly recommend the Bistro. :thumbsup2. It is definitely a place worth going to, but I do agree, it's a grown up restaurant.
 
The last Harry Potter movie made me want to re-read the books too, I'm up to Order of the Phoenix already. Such a nerd :rotfl:

We felt the same way about ET. Cute, but it could use an update for sure!

And I agree with Jason, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason at Universal, it's totally random.

Glad you liked Bistro. We had a no-so-great experience there, which is a bummer, but I think we'll give it another try. I wonder if the holiday season had them off their game.

Love your face on spaceship earth. I always forget the picture is coming and have a totally normal but slightly bewildered face.
 
The last Harry Potter movie made me want to re-read the books too, I'm up to Order of the Phoenix already. Such a nerd :rotfl:

We felt the same way about ET. Cute, but it could use an update for sure!

And I agree with Jason, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason at Universal, it's totally random.

Glad you liked Bistro. We had a no-so-great experience there, which is a bummer, but I think we'll give it another try. I wonder if the holiday season had them off their game.

Love your face on spaceship earth. I always forget the picture is coming and have a totally normal but slightly bewildered face.

I want to re-read the books, but I'm such a book nut, I don't want to put aside my new books for it yet. :lmao:

I remember reading about your experience at the Bistro. It could have been the holiday, because we thought everything was faboo.

I always make a funny face on Spaceship Earth. I'm a dork like that. :rotfl:
 
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After that, the park was closing up, so it was time for us to start heading back. This ended our last full day in the parks. :sad1: We did have a morning to enjoy before our flight the next day though.

Up next: We end at Hollywood Studios

Groovy boots! :thumbsup2

Walking around World Showcase is a nice ending to a day. :goodvibes

You still have a little time left before that bad bus comes to get you. We will enjoy that!
 
The last day. Here is my poem about the last day of Disney.

Disney, I love you, I don't want to go home
Disney, I'll miss you, and I don't mean this as a joke
Disney, I need you, which is why I write this poem
But Disney, if you don't stop taking my money, I will be broke

Lame, I know. But true. I hate going home. If I could stay in Disney forever, I would. But let's face it, I would be broke if I did.

We had done most of our packing the night before. We managed to get all of our stuff ready and down to the resort airline check-in by 8:20am.

And guess whose luggage was overweight. :scared1:

Mine. By two pounds. I pulled a few things out of there, stuffed them in my carryon, and we were good to go!

I love checking in at the resort. It makes things so much easier, not having to worry about going through the check-in process at the airport.

We were on our way by about 8:30am. We headed over to DHS and had actually forgotten that it was magic hours in the morning. I was excited, because we would be able to go into the park already. Score! :banana:

The first place we headed was to TSM. We grabbed fastpasses and then headed over to Fairfax Fare to get some breakfast. Just the right size, since we had a reservation at the Sci Fi Dine-In for lunch.

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After that, we decided we would head over to TSM and see about waiting in line. The wait time was posted at 40 minutes, but we weren't too concerned.

I love the ceiling here.

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While we were waiting in line, drama ensued. So, in line, Jason realizes that he doesn't have his inhaler. He thinks he left it on the bed at the resort. Great. I thought I had checked everywhere, but I didn't check HIS bed.

Argh. :mad:

I always double and triple check, and I thought I had checked everything after him. Apparently not. We were just about to get on the ride when this was happening, so I said that I would call the resort after we got off the ride. This is a pattern with the men in my family. Just have mom or Danielle call. We're not adults that are capable of doing ANYTHING for ourselves. :rolleyes1

The ride was good. Who won you ask?

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Um, me duh!

I decided to head over to Guest Relations, because I thought that would be easier. It actually was, because the phones they have connect you immediately with someone who can get you to the resort. I got to hospitality at the resort, explained the situation, and she took my number down. She said that she needed to get housekeeping to stop them from cleaning the room. I gave her my number and headed back.

We headed over to the Great Movie Ride.

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While we were waiting in line, the CM from hospitality called me back already. She said they found Jason's inhaler and that we could pick it up at the front desk later. I thanked her profusely for helping me out, and I told her we would be by later.

Crisis averted. My mini rant is that it's typical Jason style to do something like this, and then to rely on me to take care of everything. He has pretty severe asthma, and going without his inhaler for a while is not ideal, especially with our flight back around the corner. I was glad I kept it together, because I seriously felt like having a meltdown.

We did get to Munchkinland though!

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We had our reservation for Sci-Fi at 11:30am, but decided we would see if we could get in at 11am. They were checking people in early, and they said that a party of two shouldn't be a problem. They were fully booked otherwise. Score!

We were seated right away. We got a car, which made me happy. Jason and I both ordered the cheeseburger and the adult oreo shake. That was really yummy, but a little bit of a letdown. I was hoping for a full size shake, and it was in a small glass. :sad1:

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Lunch was good. After that, we decided that instead of using our fastpasses for TSM, we would head out for the day and go Downtown for some shopping. We also had to run back to the resort to pick up Jason's inhaler. We got the car and headed over to the resort. I parked outside while Jason ran in. There were so many people there! :scared1:

The entire drop off area was jam packed there. Fortunately, Jason wasn't in there for too long, otherwise I would have felt bad for sitting there.

Then it was off to Downtown Disney. It was pretty busy there too and took a while to find parking. We found a space by Pleasure Island. Jason was on this mission to find the big Lottso for Joaquin. To make a long story short, we didn't find it. I figured that was the case, but you know. He had to check.

We headed over to Goofy's Candy Company. Wouldn't these rice krispie treats be awesome!?

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We picked up some snacks for the plane, and then we were on our way. It was a sad moment for me. :sad1:

We made good time to the airport and went to drop off the car. They noticed a scratch and wanted to report it. Jason told them that the scratch was there when we got the car. They had to file a report. I freaked a little, because I didn't want to be held responsible. They said I wouldn't be though, so I calmed down a bit.

The line for TSA was long, which is normal for MCO. It took us about 30 minutes to get through. Then, I did a stupid.

Took the wrong stupid fake monorail to the wrong stupid terminal. :rolleyes1

In my defense, I was heading over like I was flying Southwest, and not AirTran. We figured it out right away and it only wasted about 5 minutes.

Even though we weren't extremely hungry, we ate at Burger King, because it was already 4pm and we didn't want to be starving when we got home. After that, we boarded the plane and were on our way.....for the SCARIEST TAKE OFF EVER!

I'm not a nervous flyer. Not at all. But we took off, and it seriously felt like the pilot was losing control of the plane. We tipped to the left and to the right quite a few times and it was scary as all get out. I've never experienced that before. I have no idea what it was, but it freaked me out. :eek:

Before we knew it, we were home. Boo. I hate the end of a trip. I love being home, but I hate having to go back to the daily responsibilities.

Up next: Photopass pictures (finally!), and my thoughts
 
Beautiful poem, Danielle, just beautiful :') I'm tearing up... please, please, please look away, look away (Hahahaha) Okay, so we're on the last day :( Always something you don't like to reminisce on or write in a TR, but it seems you got a lot in, so you are ending this trip off nicely :-)

Sorry about the missing inhaler. Thank goodness you knew where it was and they found it in that exact spot. I'm guessing this trip wouldn't have been a very happy TR if that had occured ;)

Of course, you beat your brother again on TSM :/ I'm pretty sure you have to be the queen of the ride games at WDW. I mean you seem to figure out away to get the highest score possible... :sad2: I'm so trying out those tips you gave me :D

Good to see you got a nice meal at SciFi, not a big fan of that place, but I won't go into that. (;

Luckily you got out of studios in time to get back to the resort so Jason could get his inhaler. I'm guessing the crowd only got bigger, right?

Those Rice Krispy Treats look so awesome! I mean, what's better than treats shaped and decorated to look just like Mickey and Minnie? I could totally find myself and my friends trying to buy one hahahaha

Awww... this trip ends at this part? Awww... I'm sorry you didn't have a nice take-off, but at least you made it home safely. :thumbsup2

I must say now again (I'll probably say it again on your final update :rolleyes:) I've definitely enjoyed reading your TR and this has probably been the funniest TR I've read yet. Your certain take on things are... just great :laughing: Glad I joined in when I did :mickeyjum
 
Oh no on it being the last day :sad2: Great poem and I think we would all happily live at Disney World if we could afford it!

I knew you would have the highest score at TSM again! :thumbsup2 Them rice krispie treats look great!
 

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