Mind what you have learned. Save you it can. - Rebel Challenge TR Jan 2016 - Completed!

AJollyHoliday · Feb 11, 2016

What a great race recap! Congrats on your run and feeling mentally and physically better with the race. It is amazing how you can run close to the same time, but given your mental state, can have completely different experiences. Reading your TR has gotten me totally excited about doing a Star Wars race. DH is a HUGE Star Wars fan (as am I, I still have my R2D2 underoos from when I was 3). I told him about this tread and he is going to read it and we will start talking about a Star Wars race this weekend

.

franandaj · Feb 13, 2016

I'm glad you felt like you had a major win, but that really bites that they didn't have the medals waiting for you! But I'm sure if they didn't find the extra box, Disney would have printed extra medals and mailed them to you, I know they wouldn't want anyone to not have something they were promised!

I know that I could probably power through trying to figure out how to run, but I just don't like it enough to want to try. I would much rather swim with Fran or just go ride the bicycles at the gym. When she had her broken leg, I would go ride the stationary bikes and I much preferred that or even walking on the treadmill. I don't think there is any way I would want to run a three hour race, to me that seems crazy, but I'm a lot older than you. Back in my youth I was training for the Olympics in swimming and I went into disrepair sometime about 10-12 years ago when Fran's parents went downhill. I'm not trying to justify anything, its just coming back to me how everything fell apart once they hit their spiral of unhealthiness. We were going to the gym and doing decently until we had to go to the hospital every day.

Sorry to go on about me, you did great! Even if it wasn't exactly your best, you felt good about it and that's what's important. I'm glad that you were in a better place than the last year. I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but it sounds like this year was a much better place and you were happy about it all and that's what's important!

ADLFAN · Feb 13, 2016

Whoo hoo! Congrats on finishing! I love your trip reports and I look forward to reading about the rest of your DL trip!

Dis_Yoda · Feb 13, 2016

AJollyHoliday said:
What a great race recap! Congrats on your run and feeling mentally and physically better with the race. It is amazing how you can run close to the same time, but given your mental state, can have completely different experiences. Reading your TR has gotten me totally excited about doing a Star Wars race. DH is a HUGE Star Wars fan (as am I, I still have my R2D2 underoos from when I was 3). I told him about this tread and he is going to read it and we will start talking about a Star Wars race this weekend .

Thanks for reading along

It is amazing how different similar times can feel. I was in the midst of a deep depression last year that probably didn't help how I felt about this race. I was surrounding myself with people that didn't really help as they didn't see I was pretty much screaming for help and it was a bad spiral I was in. I really didn't recognize those issues until later last spring. Cutting those people out along with seeking some professional help has turned myself around.

Are you guys doing Dark Side or Light Side next year? I have a feeling a lot more people are going to be going for the Kessel Run next year!

franandaj said:
I'm glad you felt like you had a major win, but that really bites that they didn't have the medals waiting for you! But I'm sure if they didn't find the extra box, Disney would have printed extra medals and mailed them to you, I know they wouldn't want anyone to not have something they were promised!

I know that I could probably power through trying to figure out how to run, but I just don't like it enough to want to try. I would much rather swim with Fran or just go ride the bicycles at the gym. When she had her broken leg, I would go ride the stationary bikes and I much preferred that or even walking on the treadmill. I don't think there is any way I would want to run a three hour race, to me that seems crazy, but I'm a lot older than you. Back in my youth I was training for the Olympics in swimming and I went into disrepair sometime about 10-12 years ago when Fran's parents went downhill. I'm not trying to justify anything, its just coming back to me how everything fell apart once they hit their spiral of unhealthiness. We were going to the gym and doing decently until we had to go to the hospital every day.

Sorry to go on about me, you did great! Even if it wasn't exactly your best, you felt good about it and that's what's important. I'm glad that you were in a better place than the last year. I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but it sounds like this year was a much better place and you were happy about it all and that's what's important!

Some of the people were about to revolt about them not having the Rebel Challenge Medals waiting. You run 19.3 miles and you expect them to be ready once you go to the booth. Unfortunately with Bib Bandits, more people claim medals they shouldn't which could create that problem. I know Disney would have made the additional medals if needed at least.

I get wanting to swim or bike more! Running isn't for everyone. That is awesome you were training for the Olympics in swimming back in the day! Real life happens - having to take care of Fran's parents is way more important than going to gym in the scheme of things and getting back in the gym life pattern is hard. Its a struggle to keep that up even without real life hitting you hard!

Last year was really rough. Looking back, its easier to recognize I was in the midst of a deep depression that I later took steps to address. I'm glad I'm in a better place now and ensuring my mental needs are taken care of!

ADLFAN said:
Whoo hoo! Congrats on finishing! I love your trip reports and I look forward to reading about the rest of your DL trip!

Thank you

It always makes my day to know people love my reports

I'm falling behind on my plan on getting this report done before I leave for Princess Glass Slipper this weekend! I need to step it up!

Dis_Yoda · Feb 13, 2016

The Half Marathon - The Aftermath

After finishing the half marathon, I slowly walked myself back to the hotel room. I chugged my powerade and ate my banana before leaving the finisher’s chute so I only had my food box and water bottle to carry. My husband was already back in the room, cleaned, relaxing and watching youtube and wearing compression socks. I was the complete opposite. I started filling up the tub once in the room and putting in the rest of the Epsom Salts in there and proceeded to take off my running clothes with great pain.

I took my cell phone, Salted Caramel Puffed Rice, Goldfish and Water and proceeded to just soak for the next 30 minutes. I’m not one to eat in the tub but my body was starving but craving a nice bath at the same time. Goldfish have never tasted so good to me! Eventually, I limped out of the tub and slowly got back to the bedroom to put on my bright pink compression socks (obviously the most important part of my clothing right then!) and then got dressed for real in my new sparkle skirt and a non-matching t-shirt. My husband wasn’t much better in lime green compression socks, gym shorts and a t-shirt and jacket. We decided we would our Rebel Challenge medals to lunch.

Post Half Marathon - Outfit Choices

At 11:15AM, we started walking towards Storyteller Cafe where we had set up an ADR at 11:30AM to have lunch with Betsy post race as we knew we all would be starving and it seemed like a nice choice for all of us! I checked us in and was told they would start sitting lunch ADRs right after 11:30AM so we sat outside until we were called. Once we were called, all three of slowly followed as each of us were in some type of pain. For me, it was my lower back and quads. For my husband his feet and calf.

We were quickly served some bread & butter while we looked over the menu for our meals. It wasn’t a shock we all were going to get an appetizer and an entree as we all needed (or wanted) lots and lots of food. We enjoyed the white bread and the cheesy cornbread!

Bread & Butter!

I also got myself a glass of sparkling wine as why not? I just finished running 22.4 miles in 3 days and denied myself the normal amount of alcohol I have while on vacation! It wasn’t the best sparkling wine but at that time, I didn’t really care.

Sparkling Wine

So apparently when you get an opening lunch ADR, you’ll still get visited by the characters from breakfast! Dale visited our table so we had to get a photo with him!

Once he was done visiting us, our appetizers came out! My husband had went roasted corn chowder which he really enjoyed. There was a nice hint of the bacon throughout the slightly sweet soup!

Charred Nebraska Corn Chowder w/ Rotisserie Chicken, Bacon, and Cilantro

I went with the chicken quesadilla as did Betsy. We both were happy with these! Chicken and Cheese? How can you go wrong?

Chicken Quesadilla - Seasoned Shredded Chicken Breast and Melted Cheese between Soft Flour Tortillas served with Guacamole, Salsa & Anaheim Pepper

After we had our appetizers, we had more characters visit us!

Briar Fox

Chip

I actually got another appetizer for my entree as I really just wanted meat. What better way to eat meat than by getting pork ribs? Mmmm, protein! The ribs were good like they were that first night at Hearthstone Lounge!

Sticky Spare Ribs - Pork Spare Ribs, Sweet, Spicy and Tender served with Napa Cabbage Slaw

My husband wasn't in the mmm, protein mode like Betsy and I were. He did the four-cheese ravioli which he did enjoy. Way more veggies on top than he was expecting but he was full once eating all the pasta underneath.

Four-Cheese Ravioli served with a rich Vegetable Broth w/ Roasted Peppers, Spinach, Asparagus & Whole-Roasted Garlic Cloves

While we were enjoying our meals, Meeko came to visit us! Betsy offered him some fries which he debated on taking.

Meeko

Pins

We all really enjoyed this lunch for a post race treat! We didn’t feel rushed at all and were served quickly enough that we didn’t putter out at the table. We enjoyed getting to see the characters without doing a character breakfast meal. We parted ways with Betsy and headed back to the room.

Back at the room, I took a photo of all our medals and settled into relaxing for the afternoon.

All The Bling!

My husband was watching the playoff football games. I proceeded to invert myself against the headboard to reverse blood flow in my legs. The afternoon was pretty much a combination of napping, computer time, watching football and stretching. At 4:30PM, the cleaning lady finally came to our room for the day and we told her that she could just replace the towels and take the trash since we were in the room. She was super chatty but I guess she isn’t used to people actually being in the rooms when she is there!

Simple Inversion

Mr. Dis_Yoda napping

Dis_Yoda · Feb 14, 2016

Chef’s Counter

At 5:00PM, we got dressed like real adults for the day without compression socks as well! I kept my KT Tape on for my ankle though.

We headed downstairs towards Napa Rose as we had been able to reserve the Chef’s Counter for us this evening. We were placed at the area right in front of the meat cooking stations and the main plating area.

I’m kicking myself now for not taking a photo of the menu as my husband had went with the 4 course “Vintner’s Table” menu while I had went with the 5 course “Chef’s Choice” after I had told the main chef my dislikes and likes. I also went with the wine pairings for this. My husband went with a Diet Coke. I think I made the better drink choice

I love how their bread basket had different selections, each great in their own way. I also really like bread in general as does my husband.

Bread Basket

We both were given this as the amuse bouche for the evening. It was a very sweet start to the meal but enjoyable at the same time.

Amuse Bouche - Butternut Squash Mousse, Orange Whipped Cream & Candied Pecans

View from Seats

For my initial course I was given a harvest salad with apples, field greens, a blue cheddar cheese, radicchio and cashews. I am not a huge blue cheese fan but this cheddar style blue cheese wasn’t as strong so it was enjoyable when eating it with the bitter lettuce in the salad.

Harvest Salad w/ Apples

My husband had the winner though of the two initial courses. He had a pancetta wrapped monkfish. Covering any white mild fish with fatty pork products should be amazing if done at a place like Napa Rose!

Pancetta Wrapped Monkfish

My 2nd course was the winner between our two selections. The Diver Scallop was perfectly seared and broke apart like butter. The sauce was very rich which worked well with the delicate scallop.

Pan Roasted Diver Scallops w/ Sauce of Lobster & Lemon Accented with Vanilla

My husband had a fried dove wing for his 2nd course. I think this is one of the few times he’s actually kinda felt bad for whatever food we were given but he said it was super flavorful but he would only eat it again in tasting menus.

Fried Dove

While we waited for the next course, we got to see them preparing all the plates of filet for the main restaurant!

All the pretty filets being plated

For my third course, I was given a meatloaf made of wild boar. When initially served this dish, I thought it was weird to be given meatloaf in a place like Napa Rose but once I started eating it, I was blown away. It wasn’t gamey. The butternut squash worked great with the meat and ensure it wasn’t dry at all.

Wild Boar Meatloaf

My husband actually wasn’t supposed to have a 3rd course with his Vintner’s selection, but the chef decided to serve him a 3rd course since my dinner was going to have 5 courses and he didn’t want my husband to have a lull. He really liked this even without being a mushroom fan! The mushroom flavor wasn’t overpowering as it was more like a thick flavorful soup than anything in particular. I still won between the two of us

Portobello Mushroom Bisque “Cappuccino” w/ Brandied Thyme “Froth”

We were given a palate cleanser prior to our main entrees

Lemon Sorbet

Both of us had winners for our main courses. We couldn’t decide whose was better! I was given a grilled eye of the rib-eye with top cap and potatoes. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The top cap was the perfect melty fatty beef flavor that balanced out the leaner rib-eye. The horseradish creme wasn’t too much of a kick but was great when mixed with the potatoes.

Grilled Eye of the Rib-Eye & Cabernet-braised Top Cap w/ Colcannon Potatoes & Horseradish Creme

My husband had buffalo. He loved this! He hasn’t liked buffalo previous times he has tried it but he said they must not have prepared it as well as Napa Rose did! The steak was a perfect medium rare as well and was perfectly lean. The short ribs melted in his mouth as well.

Buffalo Two Ways - Filet/Short Ribs

We were allowed to pick our own desserts (despite my husband’s vintner’s coming with a set dessert) since we both wanted chocolate.

I had their Best Hot Chocolate which came with a mini donut, pastry and almond cake. This was awesome! It was totally one of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had!

Hot Chocolate w/ Donut

My husband had the chocolate cake with a mango sorbet. He really loved this as the cake was densely chocolatey but the richness was broken up with the tanginess of the mango sorbet.

Chocolate Cake w/ Mango Sorbet

We paid our bill and walked back to the room. We really enjoyed the Chef's Counter and will totally do it again next year after the Half Marathon. Because we hadn’t had enough food in our lives, we decided to watch Food Network with Guy’s Grocery Games and Worst Cooks in America although we both fell asleep about 15 minutes into the 2nd show. We were wiped!

tnbrowne2004 · Feb 14, 2016

Dis_Yoda said:
Chef’s Counter

At 5:00PM, we got dressed like real adults for the day without compression socks as well! I kept my KT Tape on for my ankle though.

We headed downstairs towards Napa Rose as we had been able to reserve the Chef’s Counter for us this evening. We were placed at the area right in front of the meat cooking stations and the main plating area.

I’m kicking myself now for not taking a photo of the menu as my husband had went with the 4 course “Vintner’s Table” menu while I had went with the 5 course “Chef’s Choice” after I had told the main chef my dislikes and likes. I also went with the wine pairings for this. My husband went with a Diet Coke. I think I made the better drink choice

I love how their bread basket had different selections, each great in their own way. I also really like bread in general as does my husband.

Bread Basket

We both were given this as the amuse bouche for the evening. It was a very sweet start to the meal but enjoyable at the same time.

Amuse Bouche - Butternut Squash Mousse, Orange Whipped Cream & Candied Pecans

View from Seats

For my initial course I was given a harvest salad with apples, field greens, a blue cheddar cheese, radicchio and cashews. I am not a huge blue cheese fan but this cheddar style blue cheese wasn’t as strong so it was enjoyable when eating it with the bitter lettuce in the salad.

Harvest Salad w/ Apples

My husband had the winner though of the two initial courses. He had a pancetta wrapped monkfish. Covering any white mild fish with fatty pork products should be amazing if done at a place like Napa Rose!

Pancetta Wrapped Monkfish

My 2nd course was the winner between our two selections. The Diver Scallop was perfectly seared and broke apart like butter. The sauce was very rich which worked well with the delicate scallop.

Pan Roasted Diver Scallops w/ Sauce of Lobster & Lemon Accented with Vanilla

My husband had a fried dove wing for his 2nd course. I think this is one of the few times he’s actually kinda felt bad for whatever food we were given but he said it was super flavorful but he would only eat it again in tasting menus.

Fried Dove

While we waited for the next course, we got to see them preparing all the plates of filet for the main restaurant!

All the pretty filets being plated

For my third course, I was given a meatloaf made of wild boar. When initially served this dish, I thought it was weird to be given meatloaf in a place like Napa Rose but once I started eating it, I was blown away. It wasn’t gamey. The butternut squash worked great with the meat and ensure it wasn’t dry at all.

Wild Boar Meatloaf

My husband actually wasn’t supposed to have a 3rd course with his Vintner’s selection, but the chef decided to serve him a 3rd course since my dinner was going to have 5 courses and he didn’t want my husband to have a lull. He really liked this even without being a mushroom fan! The mushroom flavor wasn’t overpowering as it was more like a thick flavorful soup than anything in particular. I still won between the two of us

Portobello Mushroom Bisque “Cappuccino” w/ Brandied Thyme “Froth”

We were given a palate cleanser prior to our main entrees

Lemon Sorbet

Both of us had winners for our main courses. We couldn’t decide whose was better! I was given a grilled eye of the rib-eye with top cap and potatoes. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The top cap was the perfect melty fatty beef flavor that balanced out the leaner rib-eye. The horseradish creme wasn’t too much of a kick but was great when mixed with the potatoes.

Grilled Eye of the Rib-Eye & Cabernet-braised Top Cap w/ Colcannon Potatoes & Horseradish Creme

My husband had buffalo. He loved this! He hasn’t liked buffalo previous times he has tried it but he said they must not have prepared it as well as Napa Rose did! The steak was a perfect medium rare as well and was perfectly lean. The short ribs melted in his mouth as well.

Buffalo Two Ways - Filet/Short Ribs

We were allowed to pick our own desserts (despite my husband’s vintner’s coming with a set dessert) since we both wanted chocolate.

I had their Best Hot Chocolate which came with a mini donut, pastry and almond cake. This was awesome! It was totally one of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had!

Hot Chocolate w/ Donut

My husband had the chocolate cake with a mango sorbet. He really loved this as the cake was densely chocolatey but the richness was broken up with the tanginess of the mango sorbet.

Chocolate Cake w/ Mango Sorbet

We paid our bill and walked back to the room. We really enjoyed the Chef's Counter and will totally do it again next year after the Half Marathon. Because we hadn’t had enough food in our lives, we decided to watch Food Network with Guy’s Grocery Games and Worst Cooks in America although we both fell asleep about 15 minutes into the 2nd show. We were wiped!

Between the pictures of the medals and the food pictures I don't know which I am envying more now! Everything looks delicious. Great job on all those miles. I totally eat and drink in my epsom salt + Lush Bath Bomb post run baths, to me a bath needs to be a relaxing luxurious experience even if it is eating Goldfish! Also, I enjoyed the Club 33 review, we were fortunate to be able to eat there (a wedding gift from my husbands childhood friend who had worked there prior and had some connections) over 13 years ago, I still have some of the club 33 towels/napkins that I snagged from the bathroom as a souvenir.

kastoney · Feb 15, 2016

I fell woefully behind, but am all caught up now. Congrats on not one, not two, but your 3 races. So inspiring and love all your pictures. Gonna have to share with my hubby so he can get all pumped for the WDW Star Wars half.

And thanks for the lip balm tip. Not only is the name perfect (hello its mine) but I'm always on the hunt for a good lip balm. Already ordered from Sephora ; )

And now onto my favorite topic: FOOD. Love all your southern goodies at the jazz kitchen. Especially those shrimp and grits, one of my all time favorites. And your pizza looked divine too. But I'm a sucker for all things prosciutto.

And Napa Rose. We ate there on our honeymoon in 2007 and it still holds the award for our favorite Disney meal ever. The Chefs Table looks amazing. Gonna have to add that to my must do list for whenever we get back there!

AJollyHoliday · Feb 15, 2016

I love reading your reports! I am so glad you had some yummy meals after your race! You certainly earned it. I was chuckling reading this most recent post having just read on the Aulani PTR that your DH is now vegetarian

. He went out with a bang

. I am also happy to read that you were able to recognize that you were having issues and were able to seek help and clear out of your life the things that did not work. Life is just way too short to deal with negativity that can be removed. I hope you are proud of yourself, you work hard and you inspire others!

Oh, in terms of Star Wars, I would love to do both races, but I don't think that is possible. We still have to talk some more about it, but maybe we will start with the WDW one first since it requires me to take less time off work. I am a professor so I don't have vacation time to use, but I do have to be mindful of taking time off during the term.

Dis_Yoda · Feb 15, 2016

tnbrowne2004 said:
Between the pictures of the medals and the food pictures I don't know which I am envying more now! Everything looks delicious. Great job on all those miles. I totally eat and drink in my epsom salt + Lush Bath Bomb post run baths, to me a bath needs to be a relaxing luxurious experience even if it is eating Goldfish! Also, I enjoyed the Club 33 review, we were fortunate to be able to eat there (a wedding gift from my husbands childhood friend who had worked there prior and had some connections) over 13 years ago, I still have some of the club 33 towels/napkins that I snagged from the bathroom as a souvenir.

I think its ok to envy both the food and the medals the same

So glad I'm not the only one that eats post race in the bath! That soaking just feels so good when your body doesn't want to move anymore. I'm hoping they have the Salted Caramel Puffed Rice at Princess but I have a feeling it won't be there (people were really upset at the lack of cheese in those boxes) That is awesome you got to experience Club 33 once as well

We behaved ourselves in the bathroom but my mother totally stole a California Grill napkin back in the day! At least I have all the photos to remember it by!

kastoney said:
I fell woefully behind, but am all caught up now. Congrats on not one, not two, but your 3 races. So inspiring and love all your pictures. Gonna have to share with my hubby so he can get all pumped for the WDW Star Wars half.

And thanks for the lip balm tip. Not only is the name perfect (hello its mine) but I'm always on the hunt for a good lip balm. Already ordered from Sephora ; )

And now onto my favorite topic: FOOD. Love all your southern goodies at the jazz kitchen. Especially those shrimp and grits, one of my all time favorites. And your pizza looked divine too. But I'm a sucker for all things prosciutto.

And Napa Rose. We ate there on our honeymoon in 2007 and it still holds the award for our favorite Disney meal ever. The Chefs Table looks amazing. Gonna have to add that to my must do list for whenever we get back there!

You had a lot of personal stuff going on so being behind is reasonable :hug:

I am sorry for your loss.

Your husband hopefully will really enjoy the Dark Side Half! I'm hoping they have Kylo Ren out on the course and Captain Phasma. The light side didn't really have any of the 'bad guys' out this time around except for Stormtroopers so I'm hoping for more of them on this coast!

You should love that Lip Whip if you need something moisturizing! A little pricey but if it works, that's what matters!

Prosciutto can make almost anything heavenly! Mmmm, salty pork products! Perfect pre-running food I say

The thought of that pizza has made my boring lunch of leftover fried rice seem really sad.

I was really pleased with their Chef's Counter. It isn't super private like some of the Chef's Tables in WDW but I was ok with that. I liked being able to watch the chef's work and it made the time go by so fast! The meal took almost 3 hours but it didn't feel like it which is to me a sign of a great pace for the meal. Your husband and yourself would really enjoy it knowing your tastes! Now you just need to decide when you are doing to Disneyland, I mean your husband could totally go for the Kessel Run next year :goodvibes

AJollyHoliday said:
I love reading your reports! I am so glad you had some yummy meals after your race! You certainly earned it. I was chuckling reading this most recent post having just read on the Aulani PTR that your DH is now vegetarian . He went out with a bang . I am also happy to read that you were able to recognize that you were having issues and were able to seek help and clear out of your life the things that did not work. Life is just way too short to deal with negativity that can be removed. I hope you are proud of yourself, you work hard and you inspire others!

Oh, in terms of Star Wars, I would love to do both races, but I don't think that is possible. We still have to talk some more about it, but maybe we will start with the WDW one first since it requires me to take less time off work. I am a professor so I don't have vacation time to use, but I do have to be mindful of taking time off during the term.

The best reason to Run Disney is to Eat Disney in my opinion :rotfl2:

Yes, he totally went out with a bang on his meat eating. This is why I'm not sure his being a vegetarian now is going to last, TBH. His favorite food used to be burgers. I have a feeling he will end up adding fish and/or poultry back into his diet in the coming months but either way I'll adjust accordingly. At home its easy to deal with as on the nights he is home, we'll usually end up getting take out or going out. Tropical Smoothie is right next to the gym so its super easy for dinner. He likes their vegan buffalo 'chicken' wrap and I can get a turkey sandwich or a smoothie with protein added in.

Also thank you for your next comment about inspiring others :grouphug:

Life is way too short for negativity that can be removed! I deal with enough stress in my line of work that I don't need interpersonal crap added in.

Yeah, Star Wars - Light Side being right at the start of the semester - I could see not wanting to take time off for that! Hopefully you decide to do the Dark Side next year! It should be a great race if the course is what its speculated to be.

franandaj · Feb 16, 2016

Seeing your dinner at the Chef's counter has made me miss going there. We haven't been in years and I used to really enjoy it. Maybe once we get all moved out we can do that as a treat! I assume that Chef Sutton is now too busy to be there any longer which is too bad. I'm still a little blown away by your husband's vegetarian turn. My parents did that to me back in the 80s or so, but luckily saw the error of their ways. Well I don't mean to be meat centric, but I can't imagine why folks do this, however I have had several friends who have now gone vegan and I don't understand it. I don't hold it against them, but just don't get it. Even if I would consider it, Fran would never have it and I wouldn't know what to do!

Anyways, your dinner looked lovely and I now I want to go there sometime soon! They just announced that F&W is comeing back and I so hope that the Napa Rose cooking school will be part of that!

bcarey2k · Feb 16, 2016

Do you just call to get the chef's counter? secret handshake?

Brian

Dis_Yoda · Feb 16, 2016

franandaj said:
Seeing your dinner at the Chef's counter has made me miss going there. We haven't been in years and I used to really enjoy it. Maybe once we get all moved out we can do that as a treat! I assume that Chef Sutton is now too busy to be there any longer which is too bad. I'm still a little blown away by your husband's vegetarian turn. My parents did that to me back in the 80s or so, but luckily saw the error of their ways. Well I don't mean to be meat centric, but I can't imagine why folks do this, however I have had several friends who have now gone vegan and I don't understand it. I don't hold it against them, but just don't get it. Even if I would consider it, Fran would never have it and I wouldn't know what to do!

Anyways, your dinner looked lovely and I now I want to go there sometime soon! They just announced that F&W is comeing back and I so hope that the Napa Rose cooking school will be part of that!

I remember you weren't the biggest fan of Sutton for a while, IIRC. He definitely was not there that evening. I'm sure Club 33 gets the most attention out of any of the three he's executive chef of.

If you haven't been in years, time to go again! Knowing your tastes, you and Fran would really enjoy it. I liked being able to tell them things I liked and didn't like. I kept it simple as I'm usually pretty open to most things at least once - I don't like mushrooms and I wanted protein after having run 19.3 miles. I think they totally nailed that for me!

I can get people that go vegan or vegetarian for ethical reasons but that isn't my husband. I'm embracing the change at home and I think it will be ok mostly when we are at Walt Disney World this weekend. Morimoto Asia has a lot of options for him. Boathouse - he should be ok with side dishes and a salad. California Grill should be easy as well. Although, we went to Moe's tonight and I don't think he really realized he ate meat with the Chili Con Queso they gave him for free for his chips. So who knows! I just roll with it. I eat meat at lunch at work to make it easier for the evenings when we don't go out.

That is awesome that their Food & Wine Festival is coming back! I hope it sticks around for more than a year or two so I actually get a chance to get out there for it.

bcarey2k said:
Do you just call to get the chef's counter? secret handshake?

Brian

I just called the restaurant and asked if they had availability about 30 days out! They only have 8 seats for the main counter and 4 seats at the dessert one. No special handshakes needed!

Dis_Yoda · Feb 16, 2016

Finishing Up Disneyland

We woke up sometime after 7AM and got ready for the day. Disneyland was opening at 8AM so we got to the gate a little before that time so we could open the park!

We headed into Tomorrowland!

Our first stop was to get another ride on Space Mountain before the lines became horrible!

We really enjoyed this ride! I loved the overlay for Star Wars. We had no wait to get on the Astro Blasters where we at least did better than our try at this ride in 2015 but still no where as well as I we do at the Magic Kingdom for their version of the ride.

We headed over towards Fantasyland in order to knock out two attractions we missed earlier in the trip - Alice in Wonderland & Casey’s Train

Waking The White Rabbit

Not Crazy Enough For That

The wait for enjoying Casey Jr was totally better than waiting on the slow moving Storybook Boats!

We then headed into Toontown for a quick spin on Roger Rabbit before heading over to Indiana Jones & Pirates!

Fastpasses!

I stepped on the diamond

Dead Men Tell No Tales

But They Do Tell Tales

After our wildest ride in the wilderness! we decided we were hungry and decided to take the monorail over to Downtown Disney. We had accomplished a lot in the 2.5 hours we were in the park!

franandaj · Feb 17, 2016

It did seem like you got on quite a few rides in that amount of time. Was that one of the few rainy days we had here?

Dis_Yoda · Feb 23, 2016

franandaj said:
It did seem like you got on quite a few rides in that amount of time. Was that one of the few rainy days we had here?

We did get a few rides in that morning! It wasn't rainy that day.

Dis_Yoda · Feb 23, 2016

Over Indulgence

Leaving our lovely monorail ride, we headed to Rainforest Cafe to check in for lunch. They hadn’t quite started sitting for lunch yet so we wait a few minutes until we were brought upstairs and sat at our table. I remember walking up those stairs sucking a lot as my quads and lower back were still not happy with me! We looked over the menu and order ourselves some cocktails!

Menu

Long Island

Fruity Drink

We went with an old standby for our appetizer! You can't go wrong with fried cheese, especially when they are now apparently served on top of a bed of onion straws. Two of my favorite indulgent bar foods I love!

Mozzarella Sticks

My husband went healthy with his option for lunch with the turkey club. He had gotten this the year before when we had lunch here. He finished it surprisingly!

Turkey Club

I went with the chicken barbecue wrap! I felt bad as I was only able to finish about half of it but I really enjoyed the flavors there.

Barbecue Wrap

We headed back to the hotel for a little bit to relax and start packing some. I was texting some with Betsy and we decided to meet up at California Adventure while we got an afternoon snack of ice cream.

The soft serve ice cream cone was insanely long so we decided to head over to Pacific Wharf instead and get Ghirardelli instead.

I went with this huge sundae! I was shocked I was able to get most of it eaten as well. It was so good with all the lovely toppings and the ice cream.

Crissy Field - Cookie Bits Sundae - Vanilla Ice Cream Nestled Between Cookies ’n Cream Ice Cream smothered with our handmade hot fudge. Topped with whipped cream, Colossal Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumbles and two Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Caramel Minis

My husband went with one of his favorites with a warm brownie sundae. He finished his!

Treasure Island - Warm Brownie Sundae - Vanilla Ice Cream paired with warm Ghirardelli Chocolate Brownie and smothered with homemade hot fudge. Topped with whipped cream, chopped almonds and a cherry

After our breakfast, I decided to pick up some sourdough bread loaf to bring home. I figured we could eat it for dinner the next night with soup for something easy since I knew we wouldn’t want to go anywhere.

Donald & Daisy

We parted ways with Betsy who was just going to hang around until she had her pick up for the airport later that evening as she was taking the redeye home.

franandaj · Feb 23, 2016

OhMyGod! That sundae of yours looked absolutely wonderful! If I lose some weight, I'm going to go out there and get that!

kastoney · Feb 24, 2016

Dis_Yoda said:
We really enjoyed this ride! I loved the overlay for Star Wars.

Beside the photo pass pictures, what else do they do to make this star warsy (if that is even a word)?

Dis_Yoda said:

I had no idea DL had a Casey Jr train ride. My daughter would be thrilled to ride something with her name on it.

Dis_Yoda said:
We went with an old standby for our appetizer! You can't go wrong with fried cheese, especially when they are now apparently served on top of a bed of onion straws. Two of my favorite indulgent bar foods I love!

You said it. One can never go wrong with fried cheese or onions or beer ; )

Dis_Yoda said:
Crissy Field - Cookie Bits Sundae - Vanilla Ice Cream Nestled Between Cookies ’n Cream Ice Cream smothered with our handmade hot fudge. Topped with whipped cream, Colossal Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumbles and two Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Caramel Minis

Think I've died and gone to ice cream heaven.

Dis_Yoda · Feb 25, 2016

franandaj said:
OhMyGod! That sundae of yours looked absolutely wonderful! If I lose some weight, I'm going to go out there and get that!

That sundae was wonderful. Totally worth every fat/carb filled calorie it was full of! Definitely a special treat & not an everyday thing!

kastoney said:
Beside the photo pass pictures, what else do they do to make this star warsy (if that is even a word)?

There was Star Wars music playing. They also had projections of the ships for both the Imperial and Rebel Sides of the Force and part of your mission is to blow up an Imperial Star Destroyer. It was a nice overlay!

kastoney said:
I had no idea DL had a Casey Jr train ride. My daughter would be thrilled to ride something with her name on it.

The photo opportunities for your daughter would be so cute! I could see some now if she was in one of her photogenic moods!

kastoney said:
You said it. One can never go wrong with fried cheese or onions or beer ; )

Think I've died and gone to ice cream heaven.

You & I have similar food tastes. Some days you just need the bad for you food and on vacation, you can totally indulge in it all (especially after running 22.4 miles in 3 days) I'm sure your husband will have similar ideas after his race in April!

Mind what you have learned. Save you it can. - Rebel Challenge TR Jan 2016 - Completed!

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Earning My Ears

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I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!

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I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!

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I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!

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