Pinch me, did it REALLY happen????? - All wrapped up, and yes, it DID happen!

[franandaj]

After a couple glasses of wine, we headed down to our dinner location.

Last time we dined here I didn’t take any pictures of the room, so I fixed that this time!

Another one just for you, Lisa!

Shrimp chips with a spicy sauce are served in lieu of bread.

The menu

This is going to become a theme for our trip, we decided again on a menu of tapas and chose this Alsacian Gewurtraminer to accompany our choices.

We really need to learn. Order two things at a time! This was the crispy tempura Blue Crab with Bibb Lettuce and Creamy Mango-Caesar Dressing. This was the split portion.

This was the Pan Seared Jumbo Lump Crab Potsticker

This was my favorite the Slow Roasted Filipino Adobo Pork Shoulder with Chinese Chive Pancake. I love scallion pancakes! And to use them like a taco wrap was just great!

Here it is served up (sorry it’s blurry).

And lastly the Konwe Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Even though we could not finish all the tapas, we certainly had room for dessert. They brought us the dessert menu…

But in the end I really wanted the dessert from the Chef’s Tasting menu. Warm Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Whiskey Caramel Sauce and Cinnamon Ice Cream. It was F*A*B*U*L*O*U*S!

Fran wanted the Warm Lemon White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Blueberry Sauce and Strawberry ice Cream.

After dinner we returned to our room and I worked on getting us consolidated and packed for our move over to Disney the next day.

 

[dgbg100106]

that resort is gorgeous, it looks like you are the only ones there. No one is in your photos...

 

[dgbg100106]

oh food porn I love it...

When I was looking at the menu, I thought the blue crab salad, and the lemon dessert would be my order.

The cinnamon ice cream sounds really nice too.

So out of all the savory offerings, which was your favorite?

 

[TruBlu]

I asked Fran, she said that they are now offering a different promo, but we will definitely look.

It's hard to tell her anything! But hopefully she's not pushing too hard. She is getting in several hour naps every day so that helps!

Thanks for keeping an eye out for the bag.
I bought mine in the store across from the Country Bears in MK, if that helps.

I'm glad Fran is taking breaks & resting some. I know how stubborn people are... because I'm one, too!

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[TruBlu]

Yay! A picture of you two together!!!! Love it! You look so happy!

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[franandaj]

that resort is gorgeous, it looks like you are the only ones there. No one is in your photos...

There was a convention of eye doctors going on which was why only CL rooms were available when I rebooked. They were either in seminars, or I just waited for them to leave the shot.

oh food porn I love it...

When I was looking at the menu, I thought the blue crab salad, and the lemon dessert would be my order.

The cinnamon ice cream sounds really nice too.

So out of all the savory offerings, which was your favorite?

The cinnamon ice cream was really unique and good! I thought I mentioned that the Adobo tacos with the chive pancakes was my fave....

Thanks for keeping an eye out for the bag.
I bought mine in the store across from the Country Bears in MK, if that helps.

I'm glad Fran is taking breaks & resting some. I know how stubborn people are... because I'm one, too!

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When I was looking out for them, I saw them everywhere. Aren't you glad she likes to shop?

Yay! A picture of you two together!!!! Love it! You look so happy!

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It's hard to get pictures together when it's just the two of us, but I think we got a few of them this trip.

 

[franandaj]

I couldn’t sleep from 4AM on the next morning. I don’t know if it was excitement, the bed was too small or just the time change really took me for a turn. I watched some TV and finally around 6AM I was DISing from my cellphone and our tablet. I got dressed by 7AM and went across the way to the lounge. I grabbed a coffee for me and some donuts. Chocolate for Fran and what I thought was jelly for me, but it turned out that it was chocolate filled. A little odd, but what the heck, it was still good!

We had decided the previous day that even though we still had another day on our Islands of Adventure passes, it just wasn’t worth it for us. I like thrill rides, but I don’t like them “just to go fast and upside down”. That’s why I love the Disney rides so much, they are overly themed. It’s not that there aren’t any rides at US/IOA that aren’t super themed, I’m just not into the Marvel Superheroes or Simpsons. I did those in 2008 and really don’t need to do them again.

So we had another goal in mind for today. We packed up our bags and headed over the lounge to get a little more breakfast. I didn’t take pictures because we pretty much had the same thing as the day before. I had cereal and fruit. Fran had a bagel, some pastries and fruit. Not all that exciting. We called for the bellman (which actually took the longest out of everything). And Fran went downstairs to get the car from the Valet.

We loaded everything up and were pulling out of the parking lot by 10:15AM. Our destination?

For those of you who have been following me forever, you know that we did the sister exhibit in Las Vegas back in January 2011. This wasn’t nearly as big as the Vegas show. The problem with both of these is that they won’t let you take pictures inside. (If you’re interested in seeing what little I have from that exhibit here is the link Titanic Exhibit in Vegas from 2011 )

The show in Vegas has all the cool stuff, there isn’t as much here, but they definitely capture the essence and have a few things. Here are some photos from the lobby where they let you take pictures.

This is a piece of coal recovered from the ocean floor. Evidently the only legal thing you can own from the Titanic is coal. Fran has a piece of wood from the debris that was recovered, evidently it was once a deck chair. It’s the size of a fingernail and framed in an 11x14 frame with an image of the ship and description of what it is. Supposedly it has a certificate of authenticity.

They take you through the launch, the various accommodations and possessions of the passengers, starting with first class down to steerage. We opted to do the tour on our own, but tagged along with the guided tour once they caught up to us. If you do this in Orlando, choose the guided tour and then go back and read the signs. That’s essentially what we did. As you near the end they have various methods to simulate what the passengers went through (as humanely to visitors as possible).

They also have a piece there called “The Little Big Piece” (see Vegas report for full explanation). We spent about two hours there because after the exhibit there was a gift shop. They had some replicas of the jewelry for sale there.

I did end up purchasing this one, as it will match some of my Swarovski crystal earrings.

I also got a ceramic copy of a menu (for display in our “Titanic” part of the new house). I really wanted one menu that I saw in the display that you will like PIO. They served “Potatoes, Baked in their Jackets” for one of the meals for the First Class Passengers!

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention. While we viewed the exhibit, Fran took her scooter. She was going to try and walk it, but we had agreed that it would be prudent to bring the roast with us instead of leaving it inside the car for a few hours. So in the back of Fran’s Scooter bag, the roast enjoyed the exhibit as well!

 

[franandaj]

Here’s another one for those who have been around since the inception of my original PTR…..so by this time it was nearly 1PM and we were definitely starving, so where did we go?

I grew up in New England and as a kid I used to always eat the Friendly’s Frankfurters. When I was in the planning stages of this trip, I found out that one was on International Drive and since it was only a few blocks from the Titanic Experience, we went there.

I couldn’t resist ordering a Chocolate Fribble Milkshake along with my Frankfurter. Notice the cool bun that it comes in? We don't get those in California, I really like those!

And Fran ordered the Senior Version of the Cheeseburger

Which came with a free Hot Fudge Sundae!

But no we were not yet ready to check into Kidani. There were the Premium Outlets with a Disney’s Character warehouse….I won’t go into the GPS and direction problems that we had with our phones, but it caused much frustration, especially since I was now getting tired and cranky. But in addition to a couple T-shirts she got these.

I then used my GPS to map us to the closest Publix to Kidani (from my memory of our last trip). And when we got there, it had closed! So we went back to the other one that I knew about on Vineland. Once we had everything we needed, we mapped ourselves back to Kidani, of course we passed a BRAND SPANKING NEW PUBLIX that was twice as close to Kidani on the way there AND it was twice as big and nice! At this point, I was so tired, I didn’t even care, by this point I think it was 6:00PM!

We were finally on approach.

We pulled up and the nice Valet unloaded our car. I told him that we would need two carts, but amazingly enough he got it all on one cart. Then we went to check in. I had to capture as much of the lobby as my exhausted little brain could fathom.

More light fixtures, Lisa!

And then we were on our way to our room. I caught my first glance of animals! “Look, look, Fran! There are Zebras!” I cried.

“Those are giraffe.” She said in a dead pan tone.

Yes. I was THAT tired.

 

[dolphingirl47]

From the pictures that I've seen, I would go for the one in London. That's the REAL sets and they look very cool. This was OK, but so much was just facades to house shops. It was cool, but not THAT cool.

Of course, for us the added bonus is that London is a lot closer, too.

I loved all the resort photos. I especially loved the fountain and the orchids. Your dinner sounded delicious. I have always meant to go back to the Titanic exhibition. We went once when it was still at the Mercado and enjoyed it, but I heard they had expanded it since then.

Corinna

 

[ACDSNY]

Nice new necklace and Disney stuff.

Ah Home Sweet Home at AKV! Your roast certainly had a nice vacation before being cooked.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Love the necklace. Congratulations. Love that you and Fran were happy to just swap Universal for the Titanic!

That menu sounds awesome! I would put it out on Tuesdays in my place.

And.....welcome home.

 

[Linda67]

Wow, I had a lot to catch up on!

Great photos of the WWOHP - sorry the ride made you fell sick

I don't really suffer from motion sickness so did the ride many, many times when we visited but the coolest thing about it is the walk through the castle to get to the ride

Glad to see you have arrived safe and sound at Kidani, and I hope you are going to get some rest - you must be shattered!!

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Another great update, and you're right Alison, I am living vicariously though your TR, I think it helps that your practically doing it live! We are staying just one night post cruise in a Savannah Studio, so I can't wait to see your resort pics!

 

[rentayenta]

Kidani!!!!!! Your photos make me so happy. home!

The Titanic info is cool however it's also the reason Joshua is waffling between a Disney Cruise and Disneyland. I'm also afraid that they'll be bored with 2 full days at sea. I need a planning intervention! I'm glad the roast enjoyed the exhibit too. That's hilarious!

The Friendly's treat looks so good. How are the fries? Fries are my thing. I love me some salt and grease and carbs.

Glad you got your groceries. Full pantry = happiness.

Emeril's looks delicious too. The pot sticker looks huge. And pineapple upside down is one of my can't-pass-up-desserts.

Hope you get some good sleep.

 

[dgbg100106]

Welcome Home!!!!

 

[sarahk0204]

Now I am all caught up!

LOL about the roast and the Titanic exhibit. Definitely the best option from a food safety standpoint.

Looking forward to more.

 

[disney ny]

I just had to comment and let you know how much I enjoy your trip reports. I read your Destination D one as one of the first trip reports I ever read and was amazed at the detail. Now I am always excited when I see a new one. You guys know how to travel! And it sounds like you will have the kind of house I want someday- so cool. It must be fun to have a partner in life that shares the same interests and gets excited about the same things. My husband doesn't "get" my Disney thing and he would never be about designing a house around the things I love. And my favorite part so far "Look, Fran there are zebras...................."

 

[TruBlu]

It's hard to get pictures together when it's just the two of us, but I think we got a few of them this trip.

I know what you mean! We only get a few each trip of the four of us. I don't really like asking strangers in the parks, but the Photopass people usually take one with our camera, too.

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[TruBlu]

When I was looking out for them, I saw them everywhere. Aren't you glad she likes to shop?
.

I <3 you both!!!!!
And you are very lucky, the only shop I can get my spouse to willingly go in is the Christmas one!

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[TruBlu]

Ibut we had agreed that it would be prudent to bring the roast with us instead of leaving it inside the car for a few hours. So in the back of Fran&#146;s Scooter bag, the roast enjoyed the exhibit as well!

OMG - I'm laying here in a hospital bed beside my DS11 while he's having a sleep study. We are on camera & I'm supposed to be quiet. When I read this I BURST out with a very LOUD laugh! I know the nurses think I'm crazy...


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