From the Sea to the World - Completed!

[Flossbolna]

Congrats on the new house!

Anxiously awaiting a new installment!

Jill in CO

Thanks! And am going to start writing now! Not sure I will get something up tonight, but will try my best!

 

[Flossbolna]

After some lovely lazy time at the pool we got ready for an evening of fun. Last year when I first heard of this years campaign of “Limited Time Magic” I thought this was pretty silly. The things they were saying that they were going to offer did not sound exciting at all and the name sounded very strange, too. Why would they limit the magic at Disneyworld??? But then they announced something for Limited Time Magic for when we were going to be there and that was not silly. It was actually pretty cool! A special Star Wars themed fireworks show at DHS on May 4th – as in “may the force be with you”. There was also going to be some Meet and Greets if I remember correctly, but for us the big draw were the fireworks. I had never seen fireworks at DHS and since I love fireworks, I knew that this was a must.

But before heading to the park, we got a quick and easy dinner. We took the car off-site again to Chick Fil A. I finally got to experience this place that seems to be so popular by people here on the DIS! It was an easy drive from AKL, less than 10 minutes I think. I liked it, but did not fall in love. But it was something different and also very affordable. Sorry, I forgot to take any pictures!

And then it was off to the parks. The park was already very crowded and there were people already camping out on Hollywood Boulevard waiting for the fireworks. I think we arrived about an hour before the fireworks were supposed to start, which was at 9:45 pm. The park was going to be open until midnight and we were intending to close it down.

As we got there I took some pictures which turned out surprisingly well:

Our first destination after having checked that everything had a long wait and was not really feasible to do before the fireworks, was Tower of Terror to pick up a FP. Surprisingly they were still giving them out. So with that done, we decided to slowly get into position for the fireworks. But we needed to get something to snack on while waiting. And since Michael loves Disney’s caramel apples and I always wanted to try one anyway we decided to split one I got in line for the sweets shop. Not surprisingly the line was out of the door, but we still had plenty of time, so we started waiting.

In the meantime Michael was also trying to get in touch with some of his friends who live in Orlando as today was obviously the time to be at DHS, so all locals seemed to be at the park. At some point he heard that someone had posted a rumour on Twitter that before the fireworks Bob Iger and George Lucas would get up on the stage to announce a new Star Wars attraction for DHS. We found that pretty hilarious and did not believe it at all, but it made for many funny comments.

The line was slowly moving and when I was starting to get close to the door, a huge bug appeared on the side walk. The poor bug was certainly as frightened by us as we all were by it! It was huge and my guess would be that it was one of those famous palmetto bugs. And I am not a big person at all! So I was one of the people in line who jumped a few times and screamed. The stupid bug then decided to hide in the sweet shop!! Where it quickly flew up to the ceiling to hide behind a vent pipe… So a CM started the bug rescue mission and managed to catch it to release it again outside (or kill it, I did not follow up on that).

Once we had our caramel apple we decided to find a spot for the fireworks and wait, it was still half an hour away, but the crowd was getting even more dense. While waiting we were being entertained by a DJ up on the stage in front of the hat.

Obviously, since you haven’t heard about it, the big announcement rumour turned out to be a false alarm, just as we had thought. But the fireworks did really happen. And they were wonderful! It was really great to see something else than Illuminations and Wishes and they were really great fireworks! Makes me want to be at WDW for New Years of July 4th one year just to see the fireworks!

After the fireworks our ToT FP was ready, so we headed there. Afterwards we considered a trip through Hollywood on a limo, but that still had very long lines. So we decided to search the emptier areas of the park and ended up riding Star Tours with no wait. At some point we met up with Michaels friends and walked around a dark and rather empty areas of DHS, but as soon as we returned to the two Boulevards it was still very crowded. Oh, and TSMM never got down in wait time either… So we just opted for another trip on Star Tours and then it was park closing time anyway.

This was not the most successful park touring evening, but it was great fun to be part of an event that was out of the ordinary. We had lots of fun and the fireworks were definitely worth the hassle!

Next: The Ultimate Biergarten Review Part 1 Part 2

 

[jedijill]

Hey! I was there that night too. In fact I think I was just behind you to the left! It was wall to wall people there that night...the fireworks were "out of this world" though!

Jill in CO

 

[eandesmom]

May the Fourth...I love that!

How fun, even with limited rides and scary big bugs. Definitely a special memory and that's what it is all about.

Congratulations on the new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CRdisMom]

Drea and I went over later that night and caught the tail end of the celebration. It was fun to see the rare characters.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

First of all, congratulations on your new home! I can certainly understand how that could keep you busy for weeks on end. I hope it's a beautiful place and serves you well.

After some lovely lazy time at the pool we got ready for an evening of fun. Last year when I first heard of this years campaign of “Limited Time Magic” I thought this was pretty silly. The things they were saying that they were going to offer did not sound exciting at all and the name sounded very strange, too. Why would they limit the magic at Disneyworld???

I agree; I felt the same way. It seemed like a weird promotion.

But then they announced something for Limited Time Magic for when we were going to be there and that was not silly. It was actually pretty cool! A special Star Wars themed fireworks show at DHS on May 4th – as in “may the force be with you”. There was also going to be some Meet and Greets if I remember correctly, but for us the big draw were the fireworks. I had never seen fireworks at DHS and since I love fireworks, I knew that this was a must.

That does sound like a lot of fun, though.

We took the car off-site again to Chick Fil A. I finally got to experience this place that seems to be so popular by people here on the DIS! It was an easy drive from AKL, less than 10 minutes I think. I liked it, but did not fall in love.

for Chick Fil-A! So you didn't love it, huh? Well, that's ok--there will be more for me.

As we got there I took some pictures which turned out surprisingly well:

I agree! Great shots, especially for low light.

It was huge and my guess would be that it was one of those famous palmetto bugs.

Ew...they make a big mess when you splatter them. Or so I've heard.

But the fireworks did really happen. And they were wonderful! It was really great to see something else than Illuminations and Wishes and they were really great fireworks!

 

[nodnol]

I'm glad you liked the fireworks and those nighttime pictures turned out really great!

One question: were the fireworks star wars themed then? Or only the music?

 

[Flossbolna]

Hey! I was there that night too. In fact I think I was just behind you to the left! It was wall to wall people there that night...the fireworks were "out of this world" though!

Jill in CO

How funny that you were so close!! It was a great evening, wasn't it? So much fun!

May the Fourth...I love that!

How fun, even with limited rides and scary big bugs. Definitely a special memory and that's what it is all about.

Congratulations on the new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have heard that the similar sound is the reason why Star Wars fans in general declare May 4th Star Wars day.

And the unique experience truly added to the trip, made me feel a bit special. I think it is something they ought to do for May 4th every year. At DLP they have these special fireworks at the beginning of November for the British Bonfire Night. I think that is a very neat event and I always think of making a trip there for that, especially as it is around my birthday (I think Guy Fawkes day is the day before my birthday).

Drea and I went over later that night and caught the tail end of the celebration. It was fun to see the rare characters.

I read about your adventures in your TR! It was such a fun party atmosphere!

 

[Flossbolna]

First of all, congratulations on your new home! I can certainly understand how that could keep you busy for weeks on end. I hope it's a beautiful place and serves you well.

Thanks! I am starting to feel at home there, but there is still plenty to do!

I agree; I felt the same way. It seemed like a weird promotion.

I am happy to see that others had the same feelings. I am not sure whether I think the new "Disney Side" promotion is any better though...

That does sound like a lot of fun, though.

It was! I was very lucky!

for Chick Fil-A! So you didn't love it, huh? Well, that's ok--there will be more for me.

Oh, that sounds too negative! It was really nice, but I don't have to make sure to eat there every time I am in Florida now.

I agree! Great shots, especially for low light.

Thanks!

Ew...they make a big mess when you splatter them. Or so I've heard.

That might have been the reason why they tried to catch it in the shop instead of just killing it. I would not have liked to have som bug-splatter on my candy apple!!

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm glad you liked the fireworks and those nighttime pictures turned out really great!

One question: were the fireworks star wars themed then? Or only the music?

They had only Star Wars music. There were no exploding death stars or similar effects. I think they were introduced by Yoda, though, if I remember correctly.

 

[jedijill]

They had only Star Wars music. There were no exploding death stars or similar effects. I think they were introduced by Yoda, though, if I remember correctly.

You are correct. They used the Star Wars score by John Williams. It was amazing! Worth putting up with the crowds!

Jill in CO

 

[Flossbolna]

You are correct. They used the Star Wars score by John Williams. It was amazing! Worth putting up with the crowds!

Jill in CO

I see, someone else is a bigger Star Wars fan than me!

 

[Flossbolna]

Day 12:

After our late night at DHS we slept in the next morning. Once I woke up I spent some time sitting outside on the balcony, I think with a cup of coffee which I made with the free coffee we had got and the coffee maker in the villa. I read for a bit, but kept enjoying the savanna view. I met our little friend Fred (that’s the name we gave him, he liked to hang around under our balcony):

I also attempted a panoramic shot from out balcony:

At some point late in the morning we finally got started. A very different approach to park touring than what I normally do. But then normally I don’t hang out in the parks until after midnight. I actually really liked our very relaxed touring speed. There is not much at WDW that I MUST see. I have a few favourites and I was sure that we would get to do those at some point everything else was a bonus. And after the cruise I was so relaxed that I rather wanted to keep that relaxed pace and have time to enjoy our wonderful villa and our hotel.

The plan was to go to Epcot and check out the Flower and Garden Festival and then meet a friend of Michael’s at the Biergarten for lunch.

I have to warn you, there are going to be a million pictures of flowers coming up… The first ones are of course just behind the entrance:

The next addition we found seemed to be rather unintentionally though:

This is up in the entrance sign to Mousegears. I thought it was funny, but also a bit un-Disney-like as a birds nest directly above an entrance could easily lead to quite a few people getting hit by bird poo…

Then we headed to the festival center – the old Wonders of Life pavilion. It is one of those eternal regrets one has as someone who has never seen the last century’s EPCOT Center that I only know of this space as a Festival center. I wish I could have experienced the attractions in there…

But I thought it looked very pretty outside:

They had quite a few interesting exhibits in there if you are into gardening. Michael also picked up a fan in the form of a tomato which the Florida tomato society was handing out for free. We had quite a bit of fun with that!

There was also an exhibit about Disney horticulture that was very interesting, I learned quite a few new things about the parks and their plants.

And I also picked up a food item at the little café in there. This was the first year that the F&G Festival also had some food booths. At first I was not impressed when I heard that as I find the food booths at Food & Wine a bit too much, they kind of clutter the World Showcase in my opinion. But since there were far fewer of them for F & G it did not really bother me. We had intended to try quite a few items, but in the end I think, this was the only food item that I picked up in the whole time we were there:

It was some kind of lemon pie and it was quite delicious, but also rather large.

We also picked up a F & G Passport with which we could collect stamps at the different stops. So we decided to slowly head towards Biergarten for our lunch reservations while checking out all the different flower exhibits.

This is not about flowers, but the entrance to the refurbished Test Track – which we did not get to ride that day either!!

This was a garden that was all about feeding the birds and planting flowers for them:

Next we walked through Radiator Springs:

They had some special flowers there:

Continuing on:

Then we headed into the butterfly tent:

I really loved those banks along the lake:

Continued in Part 2

 

[Flossbolna]

There was a Wizzard of Oz garden where they sold interesting ice cream:

Wild pinapple!!

Then we came to a garden that was all about water conservation:

And then we got to the World Showcase with all the character topiaries, starting at the UK:

The UK also has a Twinings Tea Garden and as a tea lover I had to check it out in depth:

And my favourite tea of them all:

And then it was getting close to our lunch reservation, so we moved a bit quicker through the other countries to Germany.

Once we got to Germany we met up with Michaels friend and then checked in at the Biergarten. We had a bit of a wait and then we were seated at the same time as another group of 3. We were all lead to a table that already had a couple seated at the table for 8. They were sitting opposite of each other, so there were three seats open on each side and the other people just picked one side of the table, all three of them next to each other. So we ended up sitting all in a row as well and that was a bit awkward for the meal. I was lucky and was in the middle, but it really was not possible to make conversation amongst all three of us thanks to this seating arrangement. But then we were busy with getting food from the buffet, eating it and listening to the band.

When our waitress came I ordered in German and that totally threw her off as she just wasnt expecting to hear someone speaking fluent German. It also was her first day as a waitress and while she was very nice, she also was a little overwhelmed. The service was still fine, just not excellent.

There were quite a few people at the buffet, so I did not get shots of the buffet, but I did get pictures of my plates. And I tried a lot of different things!!

Plate #1:

In the bowl in the top right there was a little bit of beer-cheese soup. This was delicious! I liked it much better than the similar one I had at Le Cellier. I never had a cheese soup here at home, but I have seen recipes for it in German cook books. So I cant say that it is not traditional. But dont go into a restaurant and expect it be a standard on the menu.

Lets start at the top of the big plate then and then going clockwise:

Pretzel roll  this was ok, but not that good. I kind of expected more, but then here at home I am very specific from which bakers I usually buy my pretzels and pretzel rolls as there are huge differences in quality. And it really was not anything worse than a standard factory bakery produced pretzel roll here in Germany.

Next you can see a pickle spear hiding under the sausages that come up next. I picked two different kinds, both served cold. The larger slice is called Bierschinken which translates into beer ham. It is one of my favourite sausages. I had those as an open faced sandwich on the pretzel roll which I sliced in half (like a hot dog bun). Both sausages tasted like the real thing.

Next there is a blob of mustard  which obviously was real German mustard. I find it amazing how in every country that I have been to, mustard always tastes slightly different. And this was definitely German!

About the same position on the clock as the mustard, but further to the center is some pasta salad. It had peas and ham in it and was made with mayonnaise. Yes, thats the typical German pasta salad that I grew up with.

Then there is a cold meat ball. They were serving meat balls cold as Berliner Bouletten and then also warm as Frikadellen. The warm ones were larger. And both ways of eating them are very common here, usually the cold ones are just the left overs of the warm ones, they dont have different names. But I guess here they dont want to give you the impressions that they are serving leftovers! And it was quite fitting that the cold one was called Berliner Boulette as in traditional restaurants and even pubs in Berlin, you can usually get a cold meat ball as a snack. So they might have the most tradition there. The meat ball was very tasty!

Next we have some potato salad. The one with sour cream  which I think is the more Northern German variety. It was good. The Bavarian variety would be just with vinegar and oil, nothing white in it (well, onions maybe)

Next we have some cucumber salad and then some tomato salad. Both were fine. They are also very traditional restaurant fare. In traditional places you usually get a side salad with your meal. This is made up of different salads like this tomato salad and cucumber salad. Typically you would also get a cabbage salad, a carrot salad, a few slices of pickled beets and then two or three leaves of lettuce on top. All salads are usually made up with a vinaigrette.

And then finally there is a little ball of butter and a few sliced of red beets. The beets were not as sweet as they are here usually, but not too off that I would say they are unusual.

So the verdict on plate #1: everything very tasty and nothing that would not be served in Germany as well. I was very pleased!

So I proceeded on to plate #2 then:

Lets start at the top again:

The dark liquid is actually sweet mustard. It belongs to the white sausage that comes next so we will review these two together. The name of the sausage is Weißwurst which means nothing else than white sausage!! They are made from veal and are a Bavarian specialty. They used to be so delicate that there was the rule that a white sausage may not hear the bells ring noon, meaning they had to be eaten fresh the day they were produced, and even in the morning. They are traditionally eaten for a second breakfast at around 11am. They are always eaten with sweet corse mustard and a pretzel and traditional one would have a wheat beer to go with it (yes, at 11am!!). The sausage skin is not eaten, you have to peel the sausage, which is a little bit difficult, or you can just suck it out of the skin as it is rather soft. I did not use the second method at the Biergarten, I think out table mates would have thought me very strange!! The sausage was good, I had better ones in my life, bot also ones that I liked less.

Next we come to a rather large portion of noodles  Spätzle. In the front there are plain Spätzle with some red wine sauce. And in the middle of the plate are the Käsespätzle  cheesy Spätzle. The plain ones were as expected, the sauce was good The cheesy ones however were too plain. They had quite a bit of cheese on them, but no taste. Usually you use a rather strong tasting cheese for the cheesy Spätzle and this cheese was just far too mild. I was really disappointed as I had looked forward to them quite a bit! This was the first dish that let me down as I never had such boring cheesy Spätzle at home. This was the only dish that felt Americanized to me as I get the impression that in general the taste for cheese in the US is for the milder varieties than for the strong ones that are favoured in Europe.

Next we have another pretzel roll  yes despite my slight disappointment with the first one. But I could not eat the white sausage without it!! And the second one was tastier than the first one, less dry.

And finally we have a small pork schnitzel. The real Viennese Schnitzel would be veal, but pork is the most common variety. Unfortunately this was a repeat of my disappointment on my first day of the cruise. It was far too dry.

And then there is plate #3  yes, there was more to try! After all I had a mission here: to try as many different things and report back on the quality and authenticity from a German perspective!!

We start at the top again  with another tiny portion of cheesy Spätzle, They had come out with a new dish and I just wanted to be sure that I really did not like them. However, I must say, this portion was slightly better, I felt that I had more cheese on them and that added some taste. It still remained the least authentic dish though.

Then we have another two slices of pickled beets, just because I really like them!

Then we have some Sauerkraut (no translation needed here!). This was good, I really liked it. Not too sour.

The next one is a tiny slice of Leberkäse  the official Disney translation is veal loaf. I always call it a Bavarian meatloaf  not a lot of veal in it usually, if any. The literal translation is liver cheese  however, it does not contain neither liver nor cheese. It is made from raw sausage meat that is then baked in the oven. Freshly baked it is very delicious, here in Bavaria there are many places where you can buy a slice of warm freshly baked Leberkäse in a roll  kind of like a burger. Once it is cold, it is eaten thinly sliced on sandwiches or you can have thick slices that then are warmed up in a frying pan it is often served with fried potatoes and a fried egg (yes, thats a lot of frying!!). This one here was served warm and was really very good! I had some German mustard with it.

And then there is a mystery item on the plate. I think it must be scalloped potatoes, but since I dont remember I cant tell you more about it. Oh and then there is a tiny piece of asparagus that was not memorable either.

After all this food, I needed a bit of a break and tried to capture the atmosphere a little bit:

I really loved it in this restaurant. I thought it did such a good job a recreating the real thing  albeit in a romanticized version. But it did not feel overly kitschy and artificial. I really liked it!

The band was also really quite good and they did play a lot of songs that I knew and kept singing along to myself. Thats what you do: Sing along to the band. Would be fun to go there with a group of Germans and really sing along!

Then it was time to check out the desserts. I did get some coffee to go with this and we did not get charged extra. The non alcoholic drinks are included in the price and we were allowed to get different ones (i.e. coke first and then coffee).

Dessert plate #1:

I do think that this is someone elses dessert plate. It has apple strudel with vanilla sauce, a vanilla pudding and strawberries. Since I did not eat it, I can only say that all of these things are authentic. Pudding is a very standard dessert here, often you would have some kind of fruit added, like cherries to the vanilla pudding or pear to chocolate pudding.

Dessert plate #2:

Note the cute coffee mug in the back! I must say that while I kind of liked the décor of the dishes, this was one fo the things that looked the most fake to me. To me it looked like a pattern that might have been used on paper party plates in 1975.

But you want to hear about the food!

In the back we have a red fruit jelly with vanilla sauce. The German name is Rote Grütze. It is a very typical summer dessert  more from the North of Germany than the South. It also is often eaten with cream (not whipped, just poured) on it.

Then we have the apple strudel and since this is the one that I ate, I must say that it was very good! However, I could tell that they used a different type of apple than the standard German cooking apple (called Boskop). I thought the pastry was very good even though it was more like puff pastry than the real strudel pastry which is more similar to the dough you make for making pasta. But it is allowed to make strudel with both types of pastry, so I cant complain too much!

The cake was what we would call a Käsesahnetorte  meaning a cheese-cream-torte. This has nothing to do with cream cheese. All cheese cakes in Germany (unless you get one of those imported American cheesecakes which have gained in popularity over the last years) are made with something called Quark. This is kind of similar to cottage cheese, but without the little kernels, it is softer than your typical cream cheese, but far less liquid than yoghurt. If you never had quark, it is difficult to describe it. It does not taste cheesy at all! For the Käsesahnetorte it is not cooked at all, it is just is mixed with cream cheese and gelatin (to prevent it from flowing away) and then put on a sponge cake bottom as a filling. It is very delicious! Often it is decorated with canned tangerines.

So all the desserts I had very good and fully approved. Really, the only slightest criticism I could have would be that cake is not dessert here in Germany. Cake is something that is being served at some time between 2pm and 5pm with coffee.

And with that I was so full that I thought I would never eat again!! When we paid our check we chatted a little bit with our server who told us how she was planning to drive all the way to California at the end of her time at WDW and before returning to Germany. However, she had no plans to visit Disneyland while there! All three of us were quite shocked and told her that she really should not miss out on Disneyland! I think we at least got her thinking about it!

All in all it was a really good meal, I was surprised by the great quality of nearly everything I tried and how it really tasted like home. I think they do have a German chef there (I know that there are quite a few Germans working as Disney chefs as I have seen them being mentioned in the Parks blogs posts). The only thing really that is a bit unusual is that it is served buffet style. We really do not have many buffet restaurants here in Germany and the few that exist seem to be there to cater to busloads of tourists (from Asia or America). Also, for lunch the price was somewhat reasonable for a buffet at WDW and there are DVC and AP discounts available. I enjoyed it so much, that I can very well imagine to return here on my next trip!

Next: New Attractions!

 

[Poolrat]

What a great review of Biergarten!!!

A place I have not tried and honestly a bit cautious of all the potential allergens I might encounter,so not sure if I will.

I enjoyed hearing about all the food there and how authentic( or not ) it all is.

 

[englishrose47]

Wonderful report on Biergarten. I have been there 3 times and really enjoyed it , but had no idea if the food was authentic , I just knew that it was good . They have a poast pork they carve and that was wonderful.Carol had some german decent in her and was raised on many german foods and she went to town in there !!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Love the Floer Fest pix !! I have been twice for it and just loved it !!The very first Disney Trip was during it and we were very impressed .

 

[CRdisMom]

Once we got to Germany we met up with Michael’s friend and then checked in at the Biergarten. We had a bit of a wait and then we were seated at the same time as another group of 3. We were all lead to a table that already had a couple seated at the table for 8. They were sitting opposite of each other, so there were three seats open on each side and the other people just picked one side of the table, all three of them next to each other. So we ended up sitting all in a row as well and that was a bit awkward for the meal. I was lucky and was in the middle, but it really was not possible to make conversation amongst all three of us thanks to this seating arrangement. But then we were busy with getting food from the buffet, eating it and listening to the band.

This is one of the reasons my kids love this place. They never know who you get to sit with. They have made quick friends with kids there and danced a good portion of the night away

Plate #1:

Next we have some cucumber salad and then some tomato salad. Both were fine. They are also very traditional restaurant fare. In traditional places you usually get a side salad with your meal. This is made up of different salads like this tomato salad and cucumber salad. Typically you would also get a cabbage salad, a carrot salad, a few slices of pickled beets and then two or three leaves of lettuce on top. All salads are usually made up with a vinaigrette.
The cucumber salad is a mainstay at all of our family gatherings on the Schue side. They call it gooomerslaw? Bu the stuff in WDW is almost dead on to the family reciepe. Interesting that is is fairly authentic

So I proceeded on to plate #2 then:

Next we come to a rather large portion of noodles – Spätzle. In the front there are plain Spätzle with some red wine sauce. And in the middle of the plate are the Käsespätzle – cheesy Spätzle. The plain ones were as expected, the sauce was good The cheesy ones however were too plain. They had quite a bit of cheese on them, but no taste. Usually you use a rather strong tasting cheese for the cheesy Spätzle and this cheese was just far too mild. I was really disappointed as I had looked forward to them quite a bit! This was the first dish that let me down as I never had such boring cheesy Spätzle at home. This was the only dish that felt Americanized to me as I get the impression that in general the taste for cheese in the US is for the milder varieties than for the strong ones that are favoured in Europe.



mmmmmm Spätzle



Dessert plate #2:
The cake was what we would call a “Käsesahnetorte” – meaning a cheese-cream-torte. This has nothing to do with cream cheese. All cheese cakes in Germany (unless you get one of those imported “American cheesecakes” which have gained in popularity over the last years) are made with something called Quark. This is kind of similar to cottage cheese, but without the little kernels, it is softer than your typical cream cheese, but far less liquid than yoghurt. If you never had quark, it is difficult to describe it. It does not taste cheesy at all! For the Käsesahnetorte it is not cooked at all, it is just is mixed with cream cheese and gelatin (to prevent it from flowing away) and then put on a sponge cake bottom as a filling. It is very delicious! Often it is decorated with canned tangerines.
Quark! There is a receipe for a filled pasta and no one of the family could remember what their grand parents used. We had taken to using dry cottage cheese in its place. They all said it was close but not right. I now have a mission to find Quark

Loved all the photos

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

After our late night at DHS we slept in the next morning. Once I woke up I spent some time sitting outside on the balcony, I think with a cup of coffee which I made with the free coffee we had got and the coffee maker in the villa. I read for a bit, but kept enjoying the savanna view.

Cynthia will be very happy that you were enjoying coffee on the verandah.

I have to warn you, there are going to be a million pictures of flowers coming up… The first ones are of course just behind the entrance:

Looks beautiful!

This is up in the entrance sign to Mousegears. I thought it was funny, but also a bit un-Disney-like as a birds nest directly above an entrance could easily lead to quite a few people getting hit by bird poo…

Not a very magical experience, I'm sure.

It was some kind of lemon pie and it was quite delicious, but also rather large.

Mmmmm...can't go wrong with pie.

I really loved those banks along the lake:

Me too! I remember being disappointed when I saw that Disney didn't keep it like this all year round!

“Wild” pinapple!!

Future Dole Whips!

I enjoyed it so much, that I can very well imagine to return here on my next trip!

Thanks for the detailed review of Biergarten! It's great to know that they get enough things right to satisfy a German visitor! I have never tried this place, but I think I'm going to have to go.

 

[glennbo123]

I just sat here for a "Magdalene-fest" and got all caught up! And what a perfect time to do so -- to catch your review of Biergarten. I am really glad to hear that it was a hit in the authenticity department! I really wasn't sure that it was. I knew that we liked it, but wasn't sure how "true" it was to real authentic German cuisine.

I'm also glad that you enjoyed your cruise so much (yes, I had to go waaaay back to catch the end of the cruise ), and that you were able to catch some fireworks at DHS. It really sounds like it's been a wonderful trip.