Sharon & Evan's Magical Adventure - Day 2

[Pugsly]

Day 2 – Monday, June 1, 2009
Can we be any more relaxed?

After our late-night on Sunday, we sleep in – or at least – it’s the latest we’ve probably ever slept in before at Disney. Our wake-up call comes at 7:45. I’m first up in the shower while Evan continues to snooze. Once I have finished blow-drying my hair, it’s Evan’s turn to shower. And herein my first “issue” with the Poly is revealed. Because all parts of the bathroom (shower, sink, commode) are enclosed within one “room”, I must move to the “bedroom” to do my make-up. The Poly rooms have poor lighting in which to accomplish this task. I open the curtains (and yes, the beautiful Florida sun is out and bright), but without an overhead light in the room, I am left with light from the balcony (which isn’t much considering the desk is all the way across the room from the balcony) and a small lamp on the table. Oh well. I didn’t scare too many small children once I exited the room, so my guess is the lighting wasn’t too bad after all.

We took a leisurely walk to Kona (have I mentioned how much I love the Poly?) and arrive just in time for our ADR – except I have to request it be modified – from a party of 8 to a party of 2. While we wait, we admire the Poly lobby below. This is the waterfall, taken from the 2nd floor, outside Kona.



We have much better service today and are very pleased (unfortunately, I didn’t write down the CM’s name). I have the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes, which are soft, but which I cannot finish (had I thought beforehand, I should’ve looked to see a children’s menu or even ordered a la carte). Evan ordered the Big Kahuna and enjoys every bite. Kona coffee for me and Lilikoi juice for Evan complete our meal. While waiting for our order, we make a couple of phone calls and actually talk to live humans rather than voice mail recordings this time. Evan calls my mom and I call my friend Billie. Both are dying to know how Evan liked the surprise and how the resort is.

The Stringers are having a lie-in and then probably a pool day. So we opt for a more relaxed day as well. We have to explore the Wyland Gallery and fall in love with one of the artist’s works (David Miller). He paints these beautiful, relaxing scenes that appear as if you are looking out a window (picture complete with shutters). Unfortunately, we won’t be plunking down the $1500 for a print (at least not today). But the gallery employees just couldn’t be nicer! We stop in Captain Cooks to pick up a refillable mug and some Mickey Rice Krispie treats. Yum! Back in the room, I throw down a pill while Evan finishes getting ready (the boy is terribly particular about his hair!)

We decide a trip to Downtown Disney is in order and so make our way to the TTC. Only to find out that we must catch the bus to DtD at the Poly. So back we go and finally manage to find the bus stop. It seems to take quite a while for a bus to arrive (while a dozen Animal Kingdom busses come and go, it seems) and then quite a long drive to DtD. Our first stop is in the Christmas Store, where we pick out several things which we decide we will buy on the way out. Next up is Pin Traders, where Evan picks up a few items. Thank goodness, he did not go on the pin-buying spree like last year! Once Upon a Toy is close by, and we always enjoy going in and seeing the Mr. Potato Head pieces. We pick up a few for our Potato at home (including the Mad Hatter hat and Maleficent horns – which Evan LOVES!) We also pick up a couple of the “green” bags for good measure. Here, the CM warns us not to go to the Magic Kingdom on Saturday as it will be very crowded due to a “special event.” I have to ask what the event is (and am honestly thinking we may be able to spy a celebrity or two) and she reminds us that this week/end is “Gay Days.” No worries. We were going to be in the MK on Saturday – but not until the evening – and that certainly won’t keep us from going to see Wishes on our last night. We make a stop in Trend (at which time, Evan makes a b-line for the adjoining sports-related store). This is a very cute little store and if I must state the obvious, which carries very trendy wear for women. I tried on a shirt which I thought was just too adorable, but it just didn’t fit right. Bummer.

Next, it’s off to the mother of all Disney stores, The World of Disney, after, of course, we stop to snap a few pictures and avoid being “spit on” by an inconspicuous Stitch over the door.





Once inside World of Disney, we enjoy covering every inch of the store. Some of our favorite things include the new characters from “Up!” (which we saw the day before we left home) – we loved playing with the talking plushes. In the room for housewares (mugs and stuff), we run into Susan and Dot. Now … we knew they would be at DtD this morning, but what are the chances that we would run into them? This was reminiscent of the last trip we took together, when we were staying in the same resort as Susan and her friend LuBeth (WL) – and we kept running into them throughout the trip. We finally decided on our purchases, and decided to make our way back to the Christmas store. Evan and I each picked out our ornaments this year and I actually came away with two (including one that has a picture of the Poly painted on it with the year). We utilized Resort Delivery for all of our purchases, which came in handy, since we didn’t make it back to the resort before our evening adventure began.

If you managed to make it through Day 1 of my report, then you may be thankful for what happens next … I have no other notes from this day, so what follows is based on my very poor memory.

I do recall that we caught a bus to Port Orleans and once we arrived at POFQ (and after talking about the memories from Evan’s first trip, when we stayed at POFQ), we hopped off the bus and immediately on to an Epcot bus that was just leaving.

Susan had left her phone with the Stringers since she had arranged a meeting time/place and an alternative meeting time/place in case she and Dot didn’t make the first one. I do believe we were supposed to meet the Stringers in Epcot, so we called while standing in line for Mission Space (which showed a 30-minute wait for the Orange Team) and they were at Beaches and Cream. They agreed to wait for us if we’d like to meet them for a snack. Since Evan and I hadn’t really eaten yet, we left Mission Space and got to Beaches and Cream as quickly as we could. The Stringers shared a Milky Way Sundae and Evan and I split an order of onion rings and a chocolate Sundae (hey! We are on vacation – I suppose this could pass for lunch.) Afterwards, we’re off to explore Epcot via the International Gateway.

At some point, we have met up with Susan and Dot as they join us as we settle in to watch Off Kilter. I have never seen them perform (unless you count the times we have caught just part of a song as we are walking past). Moosehead beers all around and I have to say I really enjoy this (the show, as well as the beer). Until, that is, I try to take a picture with one hand and end up sloshing part of my been in my lap with the other! This apparently provides Kevin with the much-needed humor he had complained the trip was lacking. His simple words to me are “beer goes in the mouth, Sharon.”

Nevertheless, you have to love a man in a skirt … er … kilt.



After seeing Off Kilter, we see that the British Invasion are getting ready to begin a set and we decide this is always a fun show. Kevin graciously offers Evan his first-ever Guinness, which is definitely an acquired taste and one Evan says he does acquire just about the time he drains his cup. This group is terribly funny, including singing a song about ducks since a couple of them stood directly in front of the band for some time and then drew everyone’s attention to them as they walked around.

[Pugsly]

We stroll World Showcase slowly, just soaking in the atmosphere. Through France, then Morocco, then whatever pavilion is next. The Flower and Garden Festival ended the day before, and while there are still remnants of it around (various topiaries and such), I also notice there are flower beds or other topiaries that have already been removed and some replaced overnight.

Dinner will be served tonight (for us, anyway) at Teppan Edo, 7:00. This is mine and Evan’s first Teppanyaki experience and we are very much looking forward to it. Our party of 8 has a table all to ourselves (conveniently because the tables seat only 8). We all enjoy the hot towels beforehand. As it has been very hot out today, I wonder if it would be inappropriate for me to sponge off right at the table. I opt not to in the interest of other guests. Evan and I both order the same fruity-tasting blue-colored drink, which is very good. Evan is hankering for sushi, so he orders California rolls for an appetizer. For dinner, Evan has the steak and I have the combination chicken and shrimp. Our chef is very good and we notice that all of the chefs have the same schtick (make a volcano out of sliced onions and make steam come out of the volcano, make a mickey-head out of the onions, make the shrimp wag it’s tail, etc.). Sounds corny, but we enjoyed watching each of them, even playing around with the other chefs who tried to hide what they were doing from us when they noticed we were all watching them. Back to the food! With our meals, we also received white rice, noodles, and grilled zucchini (and some other veggies I can’t recall). The steak and shrimp were excellent, but I wasn’t a fan of the chicken (though I do remember cleaning my plate, so it couldn’t have been all that bad). This was the most expensive meal of the trip ($95 for the two of us) and in my opinion, worth every penny. I would definitely highly recommend dining here if your palette (and budget) allows – the food, service, and entertainment make this one of Walt Disney World’s newest shining stars. (budget note: our bill would’ve been right in line with some of our other sit-down meals, $79, had Evan not had the California rolls – plus, you must note, we both had drinks.)







Afterwards, I’m sure it’s off to find desserts of some kind, though I can’t exactly recall. I do know that Kevin and the younger set headed to Norway to find a spot for Illuminations (our favorite spot from which to view the show). He couldn’t find one open, so we ended up just a little further down, closer to the Italy pavilion. We stood underneath a lamp – which wasn’t turned off and so, it took away from the show a bit. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it as much as we possibly could – which is still a great deal! The music just gives me goosebumps (and that would explain why, after a long day at work, it is one of my favorite things to listen to on my long drive home). Afterwards, we discuss the concept behind Illuminations and that it is designed to show 3 parts (courtesy of the Stringers, from the book, “Marking of the Millenuim”): Chaos, Order, and Meaning.

India, Georgia, and Susan (otherwise known as the UK/OK Catering Co. Ltd.) had planned for us, an Un-Merry Birthday Party on Tuesday evening and the girls had given us our invitations the night before – just as we were walking through Fantasyland and in front of the teacups – very appropriate. Part of the party involved us drawing names and getting gifts for each other – with a $6 limit (this was quite a challenge if you are at all familiar with the prices around The World). So we drew names – Evan had Susan and I had India. To celebrate our Un-Merry Birthdays, we had planned a progressive dinner around World Showcase, having drinks, appetizers, main course, dessert, and after-dinner cocktails in different pavilions.

We ended the day with a leisurely stroll through a sparsely populated World Showcase and just took in the sites and sounds of Epcot. Somewhere around the Morocco pavilion, we realized we weren’t sure how long the monorail ran following park closing and the park had closed roughly 45 minutes before this, so Evan and I hastily said our good-nights and hustled to the monorail. But not before I took this rather artsy shot of Spaceship Earth (unfortunately, this is about the only nighttime photo that remotely came out okay – I was working with a new camera and had not figured out how to take pictures at night.)



A short monorail ride later and we were back at the TTC, back to the Poly, and back to Room 2911. Finally, it was off to bed and ready for another great day ahead.

[SusanEllen]

Look how much you managed to write after announcing you had no more note for the rest of the day! You did as good a job of remembering as writing this installment.

[suzycute]

The meal at Teppan Edo sounds lovely - not sure we could stretch to $95 unless the premium bonds come up between now and our September trip!

[natalielongstaff]

what a lovely relaxing day, i love your idea of what passes for lunch

[cap'njack.]

What a great day.

Teppan Edo sounds awesome...I remember going somewhere like that in Kissimmee about 10 years ago and loved every second of it!

[mandymouse]

Another great day Sharon. I love the sound of Teppan Edo, the food looks delish, I really must give it a try

[Chilly]

Must try Teppan Edo

[Tammy Stringer]

Another great day Sharon - bringing back memories.

I could just eat the food at Teppan Edo now as it is my lunch break.

Tam

[irongirlof12]

what a lovely day. you describe your trip beautifully