Saturday, August 10, 2002
We had breakfast at the WL concierge lounge, and then took the bus to Epcot. We went to Test Track to get fastpasses, and the CM there gave us fastpasses for right then. When we got in, another CM gave us re-entry passes! The CM at the departure point asked us for our names and then congratulated us and had the crowd in line cheer for us. It was really fun!
We walked around the World Showcase, then went to Coral Reef for lunch. I started with cold Stone Crab Claws, and had the seafood ravioli. It was a big square of pasta, on top of salmon & mahi mahi, which was very oily there were pools of orange oil floating on top of it - gross. For dessert, I had the trio of sorbets: coconut, raspberry & hot mango, with chili pepper flakes in it. The hot mango was very spicy, and the heat seemed to accrue as I ate more.
Andy had a scallop dish in veal sauce w/ paddlefish caviar, which was AMAZING! They were by far the best scallops Ive ever tasted, and the caviar was very light. His entrée was a blackened catfish on top of pepperjack cheese grits. It wasnt too oily, and tasted a lot better than my ravioli. For dessert, he had a chocolate cake with a liquid center & white chocolate ice cream. We really enjoyed watching the fish, scuba divers, turtles, sharks, sting rays, and Andy took lots of video.
After lunch, we walked around World Showcase more & stopped at all the countries. We met a really nice CM, Jonathan, who worked in Pringles of Scotland. We were talking to him for a while, and when we went to leave, he gave us each a pin from his lanyard! He gave me a Minnie pin, and Andy a Mickey pin. It was truly amazing, how people would bend over backwards to make our honeymoon special, even people who werent Disney employees, like the two couples who bought us drinks. Jonathan was the first CM who gave us something of his own, so it was a truly gracious, wonderful gesture.
We then had a wine tasting at Germany. Andy had the flight of 4 types of wine, and I had a glass of Auschlese. Franzi, the CM doing the wine tasting, was funny she was impatient with the questions people would ask her. One couple asked her What wine do most people like? We could tell that Franzi was a little irked with them, for that question. The couple ended up leaving without buying a glass of wine. She was very pleasant with us, though, b/c we knew what we wanted.
We had had our picture taken when we first got into the park, so we dashed to buy the pictures, and while we were there, we met another couple who was honeymooning there. Then we ran to Germany to try to get a seat for the parade. We had asked a security guard earlier which place would be a good one to sit at for the parade, and he had recommended the bench right before getting to Germany, because one parade would begin there, and another parade would end there.
We got back there about 10 minutes before the parade began, and there were still 2 seats on a bench there! So fortuitous, because people all around were sitting on the ground! Then Franzi and another CM (the woman in Germany who we kept seeing and talking to) came out to direct the crowds during the parade. It was so funny, because Franzi and this CM walked by and waved to us, and then the security guard walked by and waved to us, so we felt like we knew people there.
Then the parade started, and we had the PERFECT view. No one was allowed to walk in front of us, so Andy was able to videotape the whole thing, unobstructed. We just watched the tape 2 days ago, and I started crying it was such a perfect time. We had the mouse ears on, of course, and the puppets would come out and bow to us. One puppet held out its hand for me to touch, and another one clanged its cymbals over our heads. Then one of the puppets holding a smaller puppet brought it over to dance with me it was so amazing! The only sad part was at the very end one of the puppeteers fell down, and he couldnt get up, because the puppet was too heavy. When they helped him up, he limped away, and it was pretty sad.
I had been wanting to ride a surrey bike, so we walked over to the Boardwalk and rented a surrey bike. We rode two laps around, and that was enough for us! Too many people, darting out in front of the bike. They dont pay any attention at all to the bell; I would never leap in front of a bicycle, the way these people were doing. It was really nuts. And all these unattended children seemed to be just stumbling around the road.
After we returned the bikes, we were walking back to Epcot and saw a HUGE line to see the Buccaneer cheerleaders. It was hilarious this crowd of three 8 year old boys was so excited about seeing the cheerleaders. They kept exclaiming.
I had seen a glowing red rose, that I really wanted, so we walked around Epcot for a while, trying to find the rose. We found it, and I was so happy, skipping around and waving the rose around. After we would pass people, some of the women would say, I want a rose like that! It was so much fun, waving this silly glowing rose around.
Then we went for our PS at the Bistro de Paris. Our waiter was very nice, from Strasbourg, not Paris, luckily. He seated us on a booth seat, right across from the window. It was the kind of booth where Andy and I could sit next to each other, so we liked that. During dinner, we had a great view of Illuminations! We hadnt planned on getting to see it, so it was fun to get to do that unexpectedly. We had no idea that the Bistro had a good view!
For dinner, I had foie gras; it was really creamy, yum. My entrée was lobster in its own bisque, but it had some shell stuck on it (besides the shell used in the presentation), so that wasnt good, but the taste was great. For dessert, I had an underdone grand marnier soufflé it very custardy & deflated right away, to about ½ inch thickness.
Andy had thinly sliced scallops in a curry cream sauce, with shrimp on top & goat cheese in the middle, and he LOVED this. Thought it was even better than the Coral Reef scallops. He also had lobster in its bisque, with veggies on top, and delicious mashed potatoes. For dessert he had crepes suzette fixed tableside, which was a good show, and to drink, we had a bottle of Vouvray.
This was a beautiful restaurant, with great food (much better than Chefs below), and it had a very elegant, quiet atmosphere. The only problem was the other patrons there: the table across from us had two children, ages 6-8 who roamed around during the entire meal. It was pretty dangerous, b/c they often got under the waiters feet, and would try to come up to inspect the crepes suzette while they were flaming! They were just generally irritating, blowing out candles at other tables. Then a woman there had a baby who kept bawling, and she wouldnt take it outside or get it to be quiet. Finally, she walked by, and she wasnt wearing a shirt! She had a string bikini top on! I was so surprised, as this seemed like a very nice restaurant, with a nice atmosphere. I would never have thought theyd let a woman in who wasnt wearing a shirt, especially since I thought they had the No tanktops rule for men. Hrm
We came back to the room pretty late, and went to sleep after packing up a few things.
Next day: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Breakfastasaurus
We had breakfast at the WL concierge lounge, and then took the bus to Epcot. We went to Test Track to get fastpasses, and the CM there gave us fastpasses for right then. When we got in, another CM gave us re-entry passes! The CM at the departure point asked us for our names and then congratulated us and had the crowd in line cheer for us. It was really fun!
We walked around the World Showcase, then went to Coral Reef for lunch. I started with cold Stone Crab Claws, and had the seafood ravioli. It was a big square of pasta, on top of salmon & mahi mahi, which was very oily there were pools of orange oil floating on top of it - gross. For dessert, I had the trio of sorbets: coconut, raspberry & hot mango, with chili pepper flakes in it. The hot mango was very spicy, and the heat seemed to accrue as I ate more.
Andy had a scallop dish in veal sauce w/ paddlefish caviar, which was AMAZING! They were by far the best scallops Ive ever tasted, and the caviar was very light. His entrée was a blackened catfish on top of pepperjack cheese grits. It wasnt too oily, and tasted a lot better than my ravioli. For dessert, he had a chocolate cake with a liquid center & white chocolate ice cream. We really enjoyed watching the fish, scuba divers, turtles, sharks, sting rays, and Andy took lots of video.
After lunch, we walked around World Showcase more & stopped at all the countries. We met a really nice CM, Jonathan, who worked in Pringles of Scotland. We were talking to him for a while, and when we went to leave, he gave us each a pin from his lanyard! He gave me a Minnie pin, and Andy a Mickey pin. It was truly amazing, how people would bend over backwards to make our honeymoon special, even people who werent Disney employees, like the two couples who bought us drinks. Jonathan was the first CM who gave us something of his own, so it was a truly gracious, wonderful gesture.
We then had a wine tasting at Germany. Andy had the flight of 4 types of wine, and I had a glass of Auschlese. Franzi, the CM doing the wine tasting, was funny she was impatient with the questions people would ask her. One couple asked her What wine do most people like? We could tell that Franzi was a little irked with them, for that question. The couple ended up leaving without buying a glass of wine. She was very pleasant with us, though, b/c we knew what we wanted.
We had had our picture taken when we first got into the park, so we dashed to buy the pictures, and while we were there, we met another couple who was honeymooning there. Then we ran to Germany to try to get a seat for the parade. We had asked a security guard earlier which place would be a good one to sit at for the parade, and he had recommended the bench right before getting to Germany, because one parade would begin there, and another parade would end there.
We got back there about 10 minutes before the parade began, and there were still 2 seats on a bench there! So fortuitous, because people all around were sitting on the ground! Then Franzi and another CM (the woman in Germany who we kept seeing and talking to) came out to direct the crowds during the parade. It was so funny, because Franzi and this CM walked by and waved to us, and then the security guard walked by and waved to us, so we felt like we knew people there.
Then the parade started, and we had the PERFECT view. No one was allowed to walk in front of us, so Andy was able to videotape the whole thing, unobstructed. We just watched the tape 2 days ago, and I started crying it was such a perfect time. We had the mouse ears on, of course, and the puppets would come out and bow to us. One puppet held out its hand for me to touch, and another one clanged its cymbals over our heads. Then one of the puppets holding a smaller puppet brought it over to dance with me it was so amazing! The only sad part was at the very end one of the puppeteers fell down, and he couldnt get up, because the puppet was too heavy. When they helped him up, he limped away, and it was pretty sad.
I had been wanting to ride a surrey bike, so we walked over to the Boardwalk and rented a surrey bike. We rode two laps around, and that was enough for us! Too many people, darting out in front of the bike. They dont pay any attention at all to the bell; I would never leap in front of a bicycle, the way these people were doing. It was really nuts. And all these unattended children seemed to be just stumbling around the road.
After we returned the bikes, we were walking back to Epcot and saw a HUGE line to see the Buccaneer cheerleaders. It was hilarious this crowd of three 8 year old boys was so excited about seeing the cheerleaders. They kept exclaiming.
I had seen a glowing red rose, that I really wanted, so we walked around Epcot for a while, trying to find the rose. We found it, and I was so happy, skipping around and waving the rose around. After we would pass people, some of the women would say, I want a rose like that! It was so much fun, waving this silly glowing rose around.
Then we went for our PS at the Bistro de Paris. Our waiter was very nice, from Strasbourg, not Paris, luckily. He seated us on a booth seat, right across from the window. It was the kind of booth where Andy and I could sit next to each other, so we liked that. During dinner, we had a great view of Illuminations! We hadnt planned on getting to see it, so it was fun to get to do that unexpectedly. We had no idea that the Bistro had a good view!
For dinner, I had foie gras; it was really creamy, yum. My entrée was lobster in its own bisque, but it had some shell stuck on it (besides the shell used in the presentation), so that wasnt good, but the taste was great. For dessert, I had an underdone grand marnier soufflé it very custardy & deflated right away, to about ½ inch thickness.
Andy had thinly sliced scallops in a curry cream sauce, with shrimp on top & goat cheese in the middle, and he LOVED this. Thought it was even better than the Coral Reef scallops. He also had lobster in its bisque, with veggies on top, and delicious mashed potatoes. For dessert he had crepes suzette fixed tableside, which was a good show, and to drink, we had a bottle of Vouvray.
This was a beautiful restaurant, with great food (much better than Chefs below), and it had a very elegant, quiet atmosphere. The only problem was the other patrons there: the table across from us had two children, ages 6-8 who roamed around during the entire meal. It was pretty dangerous, b/c they often got under the waiters feet, and would try to come up to inspect the crepes suzette while they were flaming! They were just generally irritating, blowing out candles at other tables. Then a woman there had a baby who kept bawling, and she wouldnt take it outside or get it to be quiet. Finally, she walked by, and she wasnt wearing a shirt! She had a string bikini top on! I was so surprised, as this seemed like a very nice restaurant, with a nice atmosphere. I would never have thought theyd let a woman in who wasnt wearing a shirt, especially since I thought they had the No tanktops rule for men. Hrm
We came back to the room pretty late, and went to sleep after packing up a few things.
Next day: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Breakfastasaurus
Its always so nice to hear reports of that happening.
