July and October reports...and in December, the end of this era

[Sherry E]

Glad that birthday Mickey is gettin' some appreciation. I nearly fell on the floor laughing when I saw it, and that is NOT the kind of thing one can explain to the 8 year old wondering what just happened!


Lipstick plants? Fun name, and very accurate!


Sherry, they used to put ice cream on them? Wow! We realized this time that the butter is sweetened, so they seem to be working our way back towards ice cream on pancakes, but in the form of butter, LOL. We don't even use the syrup, and it's all just SO sweet. But we usually (and did this time too) get the potatoes and eggs platter (Mark Twain?), so the eggs help with the sugar. Alas I really disliked the eggs this time, but that gave more to Eamon. The potatoes were ridiculously tasty, so that made up for the eggs.

I don't know what SNL is going to do, either. (did Sudeikis leave, too? what will I do without his dimples? and his sports announcing with horrible product placements at women's events?) Then again, I've felt that way before, but I have just about always loved SNL. (though frankly I was getting tired of the one expression Wiig was making for every character)

Yep! The Mickey pancakes of my youth could have bricks of ice cream on them if the customer wanted it! It's been so long since I've eaten a Mickey pancake - especially one with ice cream on it - but what River Belle Terrace used to do was give us a choice. I think that whipped cream was the alternate option. We could either get whipped cream or a brick of ice cream on the pancake, and then they'd put the small scoops of butter - or whatever it was - in little white cups on the side.

Of course I wanted the ice cream instead of whipped cream on my pancake. So the people behind the counter would go into a freezer and grab a wrapped brick of vanilla ice cream - probably a little bit larger all the way around than a deck of cards - unwrap it and plop it on the pancake. The ice cream was frozen solid, but it would begin melting pretty fast because the pancake and plate were both warm. By the time the syrup hit the pancake, it blended in with the melting ice cream! It was soooooooo good. I mean, sooooo bad. But soooo good.

I remember the flavor of the potatoes in the Mark Twain very well! If I recall, when I was a kid I didn't like the flavor of those potatoes much. In fact I didn't like potatoes in general when I was a kid (unless they were French fries) - and, of course, now I love potatoes and all their starchy goodness!

Yes, I think Jason Sudeikis left SNL too. It was hard to tell because on their season finale a few months ago, the focus was all about saying goodbye to Wiig. That's right - I had totally forgotten Jason Sudeikis' announcer skits, with the product placements! Well, I should say that I remember the skits well, but I'd forgotten that he was part of the skits.

Oh wow. SNL is losing 3 heavy hitters all at one time. Thankfully, they still have Bill Heder (is that how his last name is spelled? Or is it Hader?). His face is enough to make me laugh - he has one of those perfectly twisted, expressive faces that is just right for SNL. I was beginning to tire of K. Wiig a bit too, but the way they sent her off was as if she was the best thing that ever happened to the show. She was good for a long time, and I still love her skit with the singing sisters and her giant forehead and tiny doll hands, but I wouldn't say she was the best thing to ever happen to SNL! I will greatly miss that skit, though.

 

[bumbershoot]

The Wiig goodbye was pretty good. I had read the rumors, but it took me a minute to realize that's what they were doing.

After, the FB SNL page was full of "why didn't they do that for the others?", acting like something bad was going on...and all I figured was that it was a combo of the others not wanting such a goodbye, and, maybe, the other members of the cast just not being close enough to the others to do it? I figured the others were saying their goodbyes in different ways.


I think E and I were watching Olympics water polo, and one of the announcers sounded SO much like Will Forte doing his announcing stuff that I wanted them to show the guys talking. I love the fake announcing, but Sudeikis is just so loveable (though his ex wife might disagree) even while saying super-gross things...


I'm uploading to photobucket right now....

 

[bumbershoot]

That day... Space? Maybe Star Tours (but I don't think so). Innoventions was *OK* but not great b/c kids were seriously hogging the videogames that E wanted to try. Except for the driving "spy" game, but you had to hold your spot and be alert for sneakers coming in!

Eventually we made our way back over to DCA.

I do not understand these "hats", but E really wants one. I can't do it. They are just too useless. Maybe I'll get a balloon (that will then sit in the hotel room the rest of the trip) on a future trip, but no Luigi's hat.

We sat and had some popcorn, watched CMs give away cute buttons to other kids, and whoa, looked over, and there's Mater!

Neon...

Cars Land neon. Oh wait, a story.

As we left CL that morning, I asked a CM what time their dusk activities started (the neon turning on). He immediately gave me a VERY specific, DEFINITE, time. I thanked him heartily for knowing so quickly and exactly!

We went back to DCA nicely ahead of time, though I wanted to be walking in to CL at that time so we could have the effect of the lights going on, etc. But we went in early, around half an hour early.

And almost as soon as we walked in, the music started and the neon started coming on.

Lesson? Even if a CM really really REALLY sounds like they know what they are talking about, don't trust that they actually know what's going to happen. And if it's important to you, to not miss something like that, ask several CMs and get there early.

The CM at the door of Flo's had menus, so people didn't have to get in line to find out the menu. They had a vegetarian option, the name of which I've managed to forget. Some sort of grain meat-substitute with mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots. Man it's hard to mess up something like that.

Gulp.

It was so so so so so BAD. I mean seriously bad. This was a non-budgeted trip done on the fly. We didn't have the easy money to get something else. I took a bite, looked at Eamon, and told him that. (and felt terrible doing so) So we became comrades in eating TERRIBLE food, just to get the calories in.

Compared to our dinner the night before at Pizza Press, which he LOVED, this was just sad. I had to go to the condiment bar and get packets of salt and mustard. One or two packets of salt between the main dish and the peas and carrots, and mustard just drenching the whole thing, made it at least something that could be eaten.

I could have complained, gotten a refund, etc...but we were really very hungry, had been at the parks nearly 12 hours at that point and were tired of walking around, and, of course, there is nothing else in CL for a veggie to eat. That was it. So we ate it.

Ugh.




More happiness.

Blurry, but fun.

Decided to go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree (that's what it's called, yes?) in the evening. We were going to finish off our night with Grizzly, but it got COLD after the sun went down, and we just couldn't do it.

It's like the teacups on steroids. We liked it, but you get really slammed around every few spins.


After that, we were good! (too many images...I'll be back!)

 

[bumbershoot]

As we crossed Harbor, we heard boom boom booms. So, from the sidewalk we saw some fireworks.

When we got back to the room, I arranged late checkout, got us as packed as possible, and complained that our room was cleaned that day despite the "do not disturb" sign. The sign that was missing when we got to the room. The front desk said it was "probably kids" who took the sign away, and I learned not to trust the sign, and to call Housekeeping to tell them not to give service if that's what I want. I'd left no tip, I had clothing strewn about the room, hadn't put things as "away" as I normally do. Oh well!

And we said goodnight and got some rest!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh my gosh the vegetables looked so dry and unappetizing. Yuck, you poor things.


The neon lights are just so pretty.

 

[bumbershoot]

I love neon, and yes they were dry and gross. I should have put some butter on them, but I didn't think about it. I was never so glad we hadn't each gotten an entree and had already planned to share! (we were hungry but had, indeed, eaten during the day, in case I said that wrong earlier)

 

[Sherry E]

It's too bad that Flo's was a bad experience in terms of the food quality. Now I am hesitant to eat there. That's been one of the places I've been most eager to try on an upcoming trip because the lines were just too long in June when I was there and I didn't have the time & patience to wait.

The items on the Flo's menu seemed interesting to me. Don't they kind of promote it as being "home style" food (whatever that means in the middle of a theme park)? I hadn't yet read any horrible reviews of the food - although some of the reviews were just so-so (as I expect will be the case with most DLR restaurants) - until yours. I wonder if it's mainly the vegetarian option that is really bad? Hopefully someone else who eats it will complain or send an e-mail to Guest Communications because if it's that bad, it needs to be fixed so that it's at least edible!

 

[nancy drew]

(snip)

The CM at the door of Flo's had menus, so people didn't have to get in line to find out the menu. They had a vegetarian option, the name of which I've managed to forget. Some sort of grain meat-substitute with mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots. Man it's hard to mess up something like that.

Gulp.

It was so so so so so BAD. I mean seriously bad. This was a non-budgeted trip done on the fly. We didn't have the easy money to get something else. I took a bite, looked at Eamon, and told him that. (and felt terrible doing so) So we became comrades in eating TERRIBLE food, just to get the calories in.

Compared to our dinner the night before at Pizza Press, which he LOVED, this was just sad. I had to go to the condiment bar and get packets of salt and mustard. One or two packets of salt between the main dish and the peas and carrots, and mustard just drenching the whole thing, made it at least something that could be eaten.

I could have complained, gotten a refund, etc...but we were really very hungry, had been at the parks nearly 12 hours at that point and were tired of walking around, and, of course, there is nothing else in CL for a veggie to eat. That was it. So we ate it.

Ugh.

(snip)

I've been scouring menus trying to figure out a loose plan for how I'm going to eat next week, and this is what I've found, too. I know it is tough to find vegan and gluten free food anywhere, but it seems like there aren't even possibilities in CL, which is disappointing. I'm sorry to hear the veggie "shepherd's pie" was such a disappointment. It sounded promising.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sherry, I haven't done in-depth research on Flo's, but all I've read is glowing reviews on their meat options. Everyone in the dining area seemed to be devouring, happily, their chicken, etc. I think it was just the veggie option.

ND, hopefully I just got a bad plate of it? But it's *tiny*. Probably not tiny in calories (or points for my WW program), but it's a really small portion. If you go and try it, maybe you'll get a good one! If so, please tell us. If it's bad, hopefully you'll have the time to take it back, and won't have exhaustion and hunger keeping you from doing it. But if those are also factors for you, grab some mustard packets, LOL.

I should mention that the roll was tasty!

 

[kaoden39]

I love neon, and yes they were dry and gross. I should have put some butter on them, but I didn't think about it. I was never so glad we hadn't each gotten an entree and had already planned to share! (we were hungry but had, indeed, eaten during the day, in case I said that wrong earlier)

Molly, you would think that a business as large as Disney would work to be more diverse in their food. We are not all a "meat and potatoes" society and I wish people would realize it.

 

[nancy drew]

ND, hopefully I just got a bad plate of it? But it's *tiny*. Probably not tiny in calories (or points for my WW program), but it's a really small portion. If you go and try it, maybe you'll get a good one! If so, please tell us. If it's bad, hopefully you'll have the time to take it back, and won't have exhaustion and hunger keeping you from doing it. But if those are also factors for you, grab some mustard packets, LOL.

I should mention that the roll was tasty!

I'm pretty sure I can't have it, since the "meat" is likely made of gluten and probably has egg or whey in it, and there is cheese on it, too. So I can't report back on whether you got a bad batch. I'm debating trying out Carthay, though, as table service restaurants seem to be the most accommodating for people like me. I'm just not sure I want to spend all that time eating! I've heard it is a long meal, for whatever reason.

Molly, you would think that a business as large as Disney would work to be more diverse in their food. We are not all a "meat and potatoes" society and I wish people would realize it.

AMEN!!!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Tried to post this last night at the witching hour when the Dis goes to sleep (1am pacific time).

I'm pretty sure I can't have it, since the "meat" is likely made of gluten and probably has egg or whey in it, and there is cheese on it, too.

Oh, yes, of course. Sorry for momentarily forgetting!


Have you called the people that can help with dietary stuff? I wonder if they could get gluten free pasta at Boardwalk for you? Or if they have it? They make stuff there on the spot, so if they had the pasta (if you even each such a thing?)...

Or the veggie/tofu skewers next door at Paradise? Though you'd need the ingredients in the dipping sauces, and the yogurt ones are out of course.



But of course those aren't in CL. Which is what you're trying to figure out. I'm sure this is no surprise to you guys, but sometimes I get a little rambunctious in trying to help, and forget what people are actually trying to get help with. (or if they even WANT help to begin with)

 

[bumbershoot]

The next morning.

This was the day we were due to be picked up by Robert, who was on his travel day from one place to another. We figured that the timing would be such so that we could spend some time in the park in the morning, and maybe have lunch with R then hit the road.

I arranged a late checkout so we didn't have to store our bags, and that all worked out well. Of course, this time they did NOT clean our room, even though I'd straightened things and left a tip. OH well! They would have cleaned it later, after checkout, and would get the tip later. We didn't even leave the doortag out, since we had no doortag; you know, the *kids* that must have taken it previously.



This morning found us in this line bright and early!

That's Matterhorn, by the way. I got to sit in the very very front, and E sat in the seat just behind me. The ride was good, but wowza was it bumpy and slammy. Slammy= slams you around the car. I had a purse, not a typical park bag with me, and it was crammed with things and the design made it have an open top, and I was totally worried about things flying out. So I spent an inordinate amount of energy worrying about the purse, and allowed myself to be slammed around even more than I would have. Thanks to that, I got a lovely bruise on my right leg just above my knee, and it lasted for more than a week. Delightful!

Eamon withstood the fear of Harold just fine, and the ride was good.


I think there was Alice, and even teacups. Since it was just the two of us, and E was struggling to torture me with spinning the cup, I played the part of Robert and helped him spin it so that I would feel sick. Yay me? It brought the kidlet joy, and honestly it doesn't make me anywhere near as sick as I pretend to be, so in a way it was a win win. On Alice, I had this crazy orangey yellow nail polish on that was doing really wild things in the blacklight area, so I was just staring at that most of the time. I'm sure the people monitoring the ride thought there was something wrong with me.

Boy-o, anticipating the swirly teacups.

Getting too big to get through that door!

Whoops, eyes shut. Didn't notice that.

Got Space FPs for later. Did some crazy FP stuff and ended up on Star Tours 3 times *almost* in a row. I think there was a bathroom break in the middle, though. Quiet morning and people not focusing on FPs = awesome Star Tours'ness!

And then there was breakfast.

Tomorrowland Terrace goodness. Look at that fruit plate choice I made! OK so I ate the muffin. But still, fruit plate choice! In the immortal words of London Tipton, "yay me!"

I was saving the Space FPs in hopes that the traveling man would want to ride it with E, so E and I got in the standby line, which was just a terrible choice. Long, hot, and boring!

So boring I took a whole series of shots of the sun coming through the canopy. Here's one.

So boring I took pictures of the wall. OK so it's this funky blue almost sparkly, glazey paint, but still, it's a WALL. The whole time we were in line I was envisioning crossing the chains and getting into the FP line since we totally could have. But I'm a rule-follower, and the space outside of the chained line is forbidden to me.

Meanwhile, Robert was approaching the area rapidly!

Just before you go in the building, the big group of gorgeous family members in front of us suddenly erupted into excitement. We'd waited nearly an hour with them just being nice and sweet and funny and beautiful, then suddenly there were screams and such. Now, people, come on! If you're going to be a screamy group, do it from the beginning so we KNOW. Don't surprise us like that! We were right behind them, and they were nearly running through the inside queue, and we slowed down a bit so as to not have our eardrums pierced. The people way behind us might have been annoyed, but the people in earshot of the family understood!

Space has gotten hard for me to enjoy, but it did indeed end, and we raced out to the hotel to meet Robert.


This is possibly the best new shirt out there. It's only in KID sizes. If anyone out there has a kid (or a very small adult) who likes Star Wars and might want this shirt, if you see it, GET IT. It's new (only 2 weeks old when we were there, according to the Star Traders CMs) and it *sells out*. Seriously, get it if you want it and you see it. There's no guarantee that it'll be there on your last day at the park when you finally decide to get it.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we go back on our planned (and fully funded and budgeted) Fall trip, I think I might get that shirt in all future sizes Eamon might be, so he doesn't have to be without the shirt for years.


Oh and for those who buy souvenirs, the merchandise dreamer-uppers are really earning their keep recently. They have some fabulous stuff. Nothing I can actually remember right now, but I was in pain, not having a nice souvenir budget for this trip. I wanted SO many things.

 

[nancy drew]

So the Matterhorn is still bumpy and slammy? Boooo! What was all that refurbing about then? Is Thunder Mountain bumpy and slammy too? We've never been on it, and there is a very small chance (verrrrry small) that we might try it out (if we can go, that is). But I want to be prepared and be able to prepare the kids.

That fruit plate looks awesome! I must remember that one.

 

[kaoden39]

That shirt is cute! Too bad they don't have the t-shirt in grown up sizes. I haven't ridden the Matterhorn or Space Mountain for years. I seriously doubt I will next time either. I always feel so jarred when we are done.


I would love that fruit plate right now.

 

[bumbershoot]

The refurb was for the new ride vehicles, I guess.

A CM there said that it's supposed to feel like you're in a bobsled, hitting bumps and whatnot. I say that they don't have to make it EXACTLY like it! After all, we're not *dressed* for winter-time bobsledding with puffy winter snow pants and coats, are we?



The shirt is so cute. I went looking on ebay the other week, and it seems there are other "pew pew" shirts being made, just not in that color combo.

 

[nancy drew]

The refurb was for the new ride vehicles, I guess.

A CM there said that it's supposed to feel like you're in a bobsled, hitting bumps and whatnot. I say that they don't have to make it EXACTLY like it! After all, we're not *dressed* for winter-time bobsledding with puffy winter snow pants and coats, are we?



The shirt is so cute. I went looking on ebay the other week, and it seems there are other "pew pew" shirts being made, just not in that color combo.

Right? And we'd have to wear helmets to simulate actual bobsledding. Geez.

 

[kaoden39]

Molly, I wanted to tell you I am back on Richard Simmons diet.


Now back to the regular programing. I am sorry but if I want to be beat up like I was really bob sledding I would actually go bob sledding.

 

[bumbershoot]

Right? And we'd have to wear helmets to simulate actual bobsledding. Geez.

Good point!

Molly, I wanted to tell you I am back on Richard Simmons diet.

Ooh, that's exciting!