We Got No Troubles; Life Is The Bubbles! 04/18 - Complete!

[jodi90]

After reading your post about Kona and the Tonga Toast and I went out and booked an ADR for our trip coming up.

Hopefully it's as yummy as it looks!!

Jodi

[PracPerfPatricia]

Originally Posted by natebenma

Kona is my favorite breakfast at Disney. Perhaps in the whole world. But it is not the Tonga Toast that does it for me.

The Macadamia Freakin' Pineapple Pancakes are what rock my world. Although others in my family get the Tonga Toast, so I get to sample that too.

Yes... I have to agree with this although Tonga Toast def comes in a close second... you get this macadamian butter that should be an illegal substance too... awesome...

Kona is also a nice place for dinner... it kind of flies under some people's radar but the food is really rather good...

Sorry about the rushed service... I think earlier at breakfast seems to get you better service at most of the Dis breakfasts... At Kona I have seen this at breakfast and I don't totally get it because it isn't usually totally booked like at the character breakfasts...

& if you had to kill some time somewhere there are worse places... your photos were really good and those tiki statues are a lot of fun...

[teekathepony]

Originally Posted by SoNotAPrincess

Kona is my favorite place for breakfast in all of Disney World...just thinking about Tonga Toast and macadamia nut pancakes makes my mouth water. It's a must on every trip...Yumm-o!

Love the photos...'specially the waterfall. Do you mind if I highjack it and use it for my wallpaper? The pink hibiscus one is lovely, too!

I'm pretty sure that the tonga toast will be a must do for us now too!
And thanks, and go for it!

Originally Posted by jodi90

After reading your post about Kona and the Tonga Toast and I went out and booked an ADR for our trip coming up.

Hopefully it's as yummy as it looks!!

Jodi

YAY! I approve! I think you'll love it. I certainly did!

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

Yes... I have to agree with this although Tonga Toast def comes in a close second... you get this macadamian butter that should be an illegal substance too... awesome...

Kona is also a nice place for dinner... it kind of flies under some people's radar but the food is really rather good...

Sorry about the rushed service... I think earlier at breakfast seems to get you better service at most of the Dis breakfasts... At Kona I have seen this at breakfast and I don't totally get it because it isn't usually totally booked like at the character breakfasts...

& if you had to kill some time somewhere there are worse places... your photos were really good and those tiki statues are a lot of fun...

The macadamia nut sounds good, but I hate pineapple so I guess I'll pass on the pancakes, but Johnny loves pineapple! I should tell him to try them next time!

[teekathepony]

Hey all! I'm relaxing a bit for the rest of the day. I fell on the ice two days ago with the kitten in my arms... horror of horrors! In order to not let him get bumped, as I fell I wrenched my back, successfully holding Oscar off the ground, but banging both my knees. I didn't think I hurt myself, but today my whole back is aching! I felt fine when I woke up so I changed the water in all the fish tanks... carrying all those buckets of water apparently hurt whatever was going on. Ouch. So I'm taking it easy. What better to do than to Dis?

Wait... I have to go get some chocolate. I can not go on without chocolate. It's a woman's prerogative, right?

Ok I have some chocolate. Ready to go!

We left off having just had the breakfast to shame all breakfasts at the Polynesian and we were heading out to the monorail. So where were we headed?

Wednesday September 19th
"This is not a vegetable torture device!"



Where else? Our favourite park.

We got to the park fairly early, roughly 10:00 or earlier. We headed straight to the obvious first choice in Epcot (especially when Test Track is closed!)



We wanted to see about a fastpass, but as it turned out the fastpass time wouldn't have worked for us, it would interfere with our first back stage tour. We decided to wait in the standby line instead. It was a fairly long wait (I believe 60 minutes, though I didn't write it down) but we just had to do Soarin' and had nothing better to do than to wait.





We finally got there and were directed to the middle set, in the very middle of row one. Wow.







Score! Best seats in house! We enjoyed our ride and I even noted that it looked like the film had been cleaned up since our 2011 trip.

When we got out of Soarin, the fastpass time was better and would be after our tour, so we got two. Then we went on Living With The Land, a favourite of ours!







So interesting in here. I love reading all the signs.







And of course, what trip report would be complete without a picture of THE nine pound lemon?




...




Where is the lemon!?

The ride continued on as if my whole WDWorld had not just been dumped upside down, and most people around us didn't notice anything, though I did hear a voice or two exclaiming their shock at the empty sand.



At least the Mickey lettuce was there.



And Blueberry Boy.

We exited the ride and didn't know what to do next. We didn't want to go too far since our tour time was coming up. We were feeling a little tired this day so we went somewhere to sit comfortably for a while.



While I do thoroughly enjoy this video and its message, I can't help but shake my head at the irony of a massive theme park perched in a swamp preaching the hazards of cutting down trees and destroying water systems in order to build a fancy resort...

Annnnyway... It was lunch time and though our Tonga Toast had filled us, we figured something small might be nice to top us up and hold us over until dinner.



YUM! Best strawberry shortcake ever, anywhere. And Johnny loves that apple cake thingie. We chatted about the day and took our time and eventually it was almost time to check in to our tour!

... Continued in next post.

[teekathepony]

... Continued:

We checked in at the desk by Soarin for our first ever behind the scenes tour -- Behind The Seeds! We chose this tour because it is inexpensive and we love Lwtl. We had to wait a little while since we were early, we waited on the benches by the bathroom there. People began to fill up the area and soon we were a group of (I believe) 12. We were introduced to Bethany, our guide for the tour, and we were escorted behind the Cast Members Only signs!





She explained that the Mickey's Mini Gardens they sell are started in a lab using just a few cells. Very interesting.



We moved on into the greenhouse a little farther and she told us about how they were growing plants with no soil and how it worked.





She also showed us how to make our own hydroponic tank -- a tank of water that houses plants. I asked about putting fish in it. Her concern was that the fish would eat the plants, but I know which fish won't bother with plants and am still considering making my own!



Bethany was a fantastic guide. She was interesting and intelligent and loved answering all our questions. She encouraged us to take lots of pictures. So I did!



And GUESS WHAT I FOUND:



The lemon!! My trip report is complete now!

Bethany explained that the Nine Pound lemon was actually the name of that type of lemon, not an exact description! She passed it around and asked us how heavy we thought it was. It was actually about 7 pounds. Neato!



She showed us how they make the Mickey pumpkins and also Mickey cucumbers. "This is not a vegetable torture device!" she said.

Then we got to go inside and check out the fish, shrimp and alligators.







And back out into the other part of the greenhouse.





The passengers in the boats mostly stared with curiosity. A few waved. I took pictures of them as though they were the attraction.



We played a game where we guessed the household item by smelling different plants -- pepper, allspice, cinnamon, etc.



Then we concluded and walked back to the main building. We asked questions which Bethany was happy to answer, then Johnny and I asked for her help in picking out a couple of Mickey's Mini Gardens. She showed us the Sundew carnivorous plant (which has sadly passed to plant heaven at this time) and the kalanchoe which is still thriving. We thanked her and told her she had been a fantastic guide and off we went.



So? What did we think?

*Tour Review*

We thought it was a great little tour, and definitely well worth the $18 price tag. Very informative and interesting. If LwtL has ever interested you, you might just like this tour. I definitely recommend it.

Continued in next post...

[teekathepony]

Our fastpasses for Soarin' weren't quite ready to use yet so we walked over to The Seas. When the sunshine hit our eyes we realized how long we had been in The Land!



As much as I love Soarin', The Seas is my favourite pavilion. I've always loved water -- lakes, rivers, oceans, sea creatures, puddles, etc. -- and this place is somewhere I could stay forever. Especially if no one was around. We decided to ride the ride to get to the other side.

Jellies!






Once off the ride, we took our time inspecting all the tanks around.

This one makes me a little sad...

Maybe wistful is the right word. We tried a saltwater tank and found it to be too much work and very delicate. Also in a tiny town like ours, none of the gorgeous corals are available so it was boring too. This picture just represents what we wanted and just couldn't get. Oh well, I'll just have to visit Epcot's!







We watched the dolphins for a while too but it was fairly crowded in here. A lot of people trying to get out of the sun.

Doesn't look it in this picture though...






Back out and back to The Land! Our fastpasses were good to go!

Obviously we went straight there and got through the line very fast, because this is the next picture I have:



Row 3. Oh well! You can't have it all.


We had another great ride!

Continued in next post... (holy cow I made a much longer update than I meant to!! )

[teekathepony]

Continued...


For the first time this day we found ourselves mostly without a plan. We headed to Spaceship Earth, hoping to finish as much of Future World as we could before heading to WS for dinner.



SE was just a 10 minute wait. Soon we were boarded and traveling through time! I love this ride!

Here we go. Press play and listen while checking out my pictures. It will help you really get into it.



I'm getting chills just hearing this video going. Ahhh to be back there again.

Maybe my favourite scene. I love the ponies.




This poor guy hasn't made ANY progress since last trip!






(Ok guys seriously, I'm full of goosebumps. If anything could make me crack and go back to WDW like... NOW, it's Epcot soundtracks.)



I had tried soooo hard not to look like a total goof when my picture was taken... the result is that I look like I'm trying really hard not to look like a goof. Could be worse! Johnny on the other hand, looks mean!


Another wonderful ride.

Next we thought we would do something we had never done before.

It would require a bit of a walk, but at least it was in the direction we had to go for dinner.







Yes that's right. We were aiming to travel back in time to go to the future with MJ!

We fought the crowd...


but the CM told us that a show JUST went in and that we would have a half hour wait, then the 20 minute show. No, sorry! We'll be back later. That could interfere with our dinner.

While we were up here I wanted to take pictures of the fountains. I have very fond memories of these things from my first trip in '91 as a kid.







After a bit of photography we decided to head on over to World Showcase and in the direction of our dinner. I'll leave it there for now.

Have a good weekend everyone!

[DisneyFreak06]

Great update! And I have to say that I love that strawberry shortcake too! I will definitely be getting that when I get back to WDW.

[SimplyGoofy]

Great update! Again, beautiful pictures... I'm especially impressed with your photos from Spaceship Earth. Mine never seem to turn out very well!

I look forward to seeing where you headed for dinner!

[SoNotAPrincess]

I've always wanted to do the Behind the Seeds tour...I mean, just the name itself is uber-cool! Now that I've read about your experience, I must make it happen soon!

The next time I'm making a salad, I'll totally be thinking "Vegetable Torture" as a I chop celery and shred carrots!

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Originally Posted by teekathepony

Awww love him!!!

The Behind the Seeds tour sounds really interesting! I've always considered booking it for us, but wanted to make sure that we wouldn't be too bored, since we really aren't gardeners! But it sounds like a fun tour, even for the not-green-thumbed!

[Queenofallthings]

Officially caught up

Your picture quality is just amazing....gorgeous!!!

[cheekypoppins]

mmmmmmm strawberry shortcake (homer drools goin on)

[teekathepony]

Originally Posted by DisneyFreak06

Great update! And I have to say that I love that strawberry shortcake too! I will definitely be getting that when I get back to WDW.

I could totally go for one of those shortcakes right now!

Originally Posted by SimplyGoofy

Great update! Again, beautiful pictures... I'm especially impressed with your photos from Spaceship Earth. Mine never seem to turn out very well!

I look forward to seeing where you headed for dinner!

Thanks! Spaceship Earth is really dark and hard to get pictures in! I had to jack up my ISO as high as it goes.

More replies later, too hard to do on my iPad!

[Linda67]

Great update and wonderful photos

I've never noticed blueberry boy before but will be sure to look out for him on my next trip !!