11th Anniversary Trip - WDW - 12/4-12/9 - p. 5, Epilogue and Final Thoughts

[lexmelinda]

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

I just fixed the broken Ahi pictures a few posts back. Sorry for the long silence. Between relapses and the holidays, we've had our hands full. I'm thinking we should have another installment out by this weekend...

 

[OhMari]

I love that sweatshirt with Pooh asking the tiger, Is that you Tigger?

I hope you guys are feeling better, great report. I hope I can get my husband to wear an anniversary pin. It is our 25th.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Day 3

Mrs. T taking the lead for this installment:

T got up and went to Picabu for coffee, but this time he remembered to buy the refillable mugs! There's nothing like refillable Starbucks...
We then went to the Fresh Mediteranean Market at the dolphin for their buffet breakfast. It was pricy, but okay. (No Mickey Waffles! )

After breakfast we were off to Epcot. I really love the walk to Epcot. It's really peaceful in the morning on the Boardwalk. When we got to Epcot we headed straight for Soarin' to get Fastpasses. (The line was already an hour long by 9:30). From there we went to see Journey into Imagination with Figment. The Kodak guy at the end, took our picture on some kind of indestructible paper (10 year guarantee). Then he gave it to us for free! I'm not sure if he does that a lot or if it was a product of the anniversary buttons. After that we saw Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which we enjoyed. We will have to prep our little one before we take him to that. The mice and the snake will freak him out.

Then we went to Canada where we heard Father Noel tell about Christmas in Canada. (Each country had a holiday storyteller). The nice thing about going without the kids is that we really could tour the different country pavillions. I never knew there is a nice waterfall behind the Canadian pavillion. We walked through and saw all the details of Canada and UK. We stopped for a photo opp at Pooh Corner.

After tourning UK, it was time to go back to Soarin'. Of course, before going on the ride, we pulled more fastpasses. We road Soarin' (by this time I had fallen in love with the ride). Now, as T said before, Star Tours is my favorite ride in all of WDW. That is still true, but I can say that Soarin' is the BEST ride in all of WDW. I just can't get enough of the scent of the pine trees. T is partial to the orange groves.

We left Soarin' and went to France, where again we took in the detail. We stopped for a snack at Le Patisserie (T had the Creme Brulee and I had a Chocolate Praline Mousse cake). Yummy!!!! Then we decided to try the champagne at the wine shop. A newlywed couple from Toronto had had the same idea, so we toasted each other. I also told them that we could meet them back there in a few years and our kids could babysit their kids.

After France we were off to Morocco. The Holiday Storyteller there told of Ramadan, which was really interesting. During the show, he had T play a drum along with him in his celebration of Ramadan. One neat thing about the Morrocan Pavilion is the detail of the tile work in the hidden areas. If you walk through the whole thing, it is extraordinary. Now, we have really been to Morocco. When we were there we got lost and almost didn't make it back to the tour bus. I have to say that Epcot's version was a lot more relaxing!

From Morocco, we went to Japan where we got to see the Drum Show. That is fantastic. Also we got to watch the famous candy woman. In case you don't know about her, there is a woman at the Japan pavillion who will make any animal out of candy and give it away. While we were there, she made a giraffe, a panda, and a pink parakeet. It was pretty cool. In one of the shops in Japan, we decided to try plum wine. T liked it more than I did, but the neat part was that the woman who sold it to us asked if we would like to try the plum out of the bottle. The plums are left in the bottle for many years while the wine ages. So the plums are potent! And again, they were free!

At this point, all we had since breakfast was sugar and alcohol. Keep in mind we rarely drink. So we stopped off at the American Pavilion and split a hot dog. We didn't want to eat much since we knew we were gonna have a big, early dinner at Le Cellier at 4:30. Once we could walk again, we went back to Soarin'. Once again, before we rode, we got new Fastpasses. By this time, I really needed a break, and that is the greatest thing about Soarin'. It is so relaxing. I just get on and relax and breath deeply. Wow!
Then we rode Living with the Land, looked at shops, and headed back to Canada for dinner. On the way we watched the dancing water.

At Le Cellier, we started with the cheese soup and the tomato stack for appetizers. Le Cellier is famous for it's cheese soup. It was really good. The waitress, Charlotte, brought us out a basket of breadsticks (sourdough, pretzel, and multigrain).

T had the mushroom fillet with risoto and St. David's merlot. I had the 7 oz. fillet (Maple barbeque glazed) with cream cheese mashed potatoes. It was all incredibly yummy. But no, we have not yet made it to my favorite meal! It just keeps getting better. Anyway, Charlotte asked if we wanted dessert, and we declined, since we already were pretty stuffed. Then she came out with a suprise dessert for our anniversary. It was Chocolate Mousse in a chocolate cup with raspberry sauce. In Chocolate, the word "Congratulations" had been written on the plate.

Are you keeping track of all the free stuff we keep getting?

After dinner, we needed a nice relaxing ride through the skies of California, so we headed back to use our last fastpass of the day at Soarin'. Then we walked back to the Hotel. Now, I didn't count how many times we walked back and forth to Soarin' that day, but poor T ended up with a nasty blister on his foot. Luckily, being the superhero that I am, I was able to find bandages in the gift shop at the Swan.

After a short rest, we refilled our mugs with hot coffee (it was getting colder out) and headed for the Yacht Club Marina where we met Grampini and his three grandkids.

Grampini had booked an illuminations cruise and offered to share it with us fellow Disers. Captain Ron took us on the boat and gave us a tour of the Epcot/MGM waterways. Ron was very funny (at least to me--his sense of humor was as corny as mine). Then he parked the boat so that it was just under the bridge between France and UK. He then offered us drinks and chips. From the boat we watched Illuminations, which was amazing from where we were. We even got covered in soot from the fireworks! Thanks again, to Grampini and family for sharing that experience with us.

After we docked back at the Marina, we walked back to the Swan by way of the Dolphin and refilled our mugs (herbal tea this time). Then we sat down and took notes on the first 3 days of our trip so that we could actually write this report! Good thing too: I didn't expect us to get sick and wait long periods between installments!

Next up: Day 4--more Epcot, First Class on Soarin', and my favorite meal at WDW...

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

I love that sweatshirt with Pooh asking the tiger, Is that you Tigger?

I hope you guys are feeling better, great report. I hope I can get my husband to wear an anniversary pin. It is our 25th.

Everywhere we went, people kept congratulating us and giving us free stuff. Also, wearing the pins made it easy to meet other couples on their anniversary trips.

I got the Pooh shirt at Animal Kingdom on our last trip. I got the same one in a t-shirt for our son. It's my favorite!

 

[lexmelinda]

Great installment, Mrs. T! Don't you LOVE the World Showcase? Very cute picture with Aladdin and Jasmine.

RE: Honey I Shrunk the Audience and kids....no preparation would have been enough for the girls on our 2000 trip. They were horrified! Really!! They wouldn't even go in the theater last trip and they are 13 and 17. So beware!

Thanks for the pictures of the Ahi.....wow.....YUMMMM. Which one was better? My money's on the Flying Fish.

Have a great day!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Thanks for the pictures of the Ahi.....wow.....YUMMMM. Which one was better? My money's on the Flying Fish.

Yup. Both of us agree that the Flying Fish Ahi was better. The recommendation at HBD was to have it medium rare. I think it came out more medium than medium rare. We're both partial to simple searing with the center pretty much raw bordering on rare. I introduced DW to sushi when we were first dating, and at this point, I think she's more into it than I am.

Thanks for the words of wisdom on the Shrunken Audience. DW will put together a regimen to desensitize before starting somewhere around late May that should get us to viewability by the time we go in July.

 

[Dobie]

Wow, what a trip report. Please, sir, I want more!

Did you ever make it to MK? Animal kingdom?

Did you like staying at the Swan? Was it "magical?" How was the walk to Epcot?

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Too late to start another installment tonight. We'll need to shoot for later this week.

Did you ever make it to MK? Animal kingdom?

Did you like staying at the Swan? Was it "magical?" How was the walk to Epcot?

We made it to MK briefly our last day. We did not make it to AK on this trip. I'm turning the keyboard over to DW to answer about the Swan...

The Swan was a very nice Westin, and it was great having access to Starbucks coffee, but it is definitely not as magical as a Disney Hotel. However, staying there for free (on Starwood Points) made up for that completely.

The walk to Epcot, on the other hand, was magical. I had never seen the Boardwalk before. It is really something special. It makes all the Epcot resorts into one big community.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Day 4 (Thursday Dec. 7,2006)

Mrs. T speaking:
This day started like all the others: Starbucks coffee from Picabu. We then walked over to the Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast. We sat outside eating an egg sandwich and a cheese danish. After breakfast, we walked back to Epcot.

Like every day at Epcot, we started by going straight to Soarin' to pick up FPs. To our suprise there was no standby line when we got there. So after picking up the FPs we went straight onto the ride. We walked right up to the final queue, when the CM realized they miscounted and we would have to wait for the next ride. (After standing in lines all the other times even with FPs, this did not bother us in the least). They wished us a happy anniversary and told us that since we were waiting we would be riding First Class. They had us sit front and center. Just before take-off they made an announcement: Congratulations to our first class passengers, David and Jenny, who are celebrating their 11th anniversary! That was cool!

After Soarin' we road Livin' with the Land (again) which we really enjoy. Then we pulled more Soarin' FPs and went back on Soarin'. (I just can't get enough of that one). From there we went to the Universe of Energy. I had not been on this ride since 1985, and I was pleasantly suprised by the changes. Ellen was great, and the ride was fun.

At this point we decided to leave Future World, so we gave away our FPs to some people walking by , and moved on to Norway. We went straight to Maelstrom (which T had ridden before, but I hadn't). We enjoyed it, but didn't stay for the movie afterward. Then we went to the Bakery and had a strawberry waffle (made fresh). It was good, but if we had to do it over, we would have gotten something more interesting. We walked through the shops and ended Norway at the little Viking Museum. As a former Minnesotan, I found this pretty interesting. I'm not sure if T was all that interested.

We then moved on to Mexico. By this time, we were starving for real food, so we went to the big restaurant inside the Pavillion and shared a Plata Mexicana. We also had margaritas (I had mango and T had strawberry). I love that restaurant because it feels like you are really outside in Mexico looking at an active Volcano. (We actually saw an active Volcano in Guatemala and it's pretty cool). Then we went on El Rio Del Tiempo. We like this ride, but we especially like the part near the end where it looks like local merchants are chasing after you trying to get one more sale. (That also reminded us of the marketplace in Antigua, Guatemala). Then we looked through the big shop before we left.

From there we went to the American Adventure where we heard the Chanukah Storyteller and the Holiday show of Voices of Liberty. Then we went into the main show, which was impressive.

We then went to Italy and saw the street show done by Sergio the mime. He was hysterical. During the show, he brought T into the show and had him participate. It was very funny. Sergio had a whistle in his mouth and was amazingly expressive with it.

After Italy, we went to China to see the acrobats. I was suprised that they were kids. They were fantastic. We also saw the "Monkey King" storyteller. Then we went through the shops and bought the girls small china dolls (their big request).

From there we went to Germany, where we went through the shops. We stopped at the wine shop where T had a glass of ice wine (made from frozen grapes) and I had a warm Christmas wine (warm like appple cider). They were both good, but since it was getting cold outside, I was really glad I got the warm stuff. It was really yummy (and it hit me pretty hard too).

We then took the Boat across the World Showcase, went to the International Gateway and walked back to the Swan, and napped and read.

Finally, the moment you all have been waiting for! My favorite meal of the trip: Flying Fish Cafe. What an amazing restaurant.

We had a cheese appetizer (a plate of gourmet cheeses, raisins, honeycomb and bread). For the main course, T had the Ahi (which we showed in a picture in an earlier post) and I had the Potato Wrapped Snapper. OMG it was sooooo good. When it was time for dessert, we went back amd forth as to whether we should get one or two desserts. Since we couldn't decide on what to have, we opted for two. David got the Pumpkin Cheesecake and I got the really chocolatey dessert. Had we known what was coming (which by this time we should have known), we would have ordered only one or none. The waiter brought out a creme brulee with "Happy Anniversary" written around the plate in chocolate. So yes, we had 3 deserts in front of us!!!

We rolled out of Flying Fish and stopped in the Boardwalk Inn to look around. They had an amazing Gingerbread cabin, showing the inside of the cabin. It was very impressive, not only because of the detail, but also because of the totally different point of view on the gingerbread house idea.

We then went back to the Swan and got a good night's sleep before our next early morning ADR.

Next up: New Pirates ride and the search for Jedi Mickey...

 

[lexmelinda]

We also had margaritas (I had mango and T had strawberry).

I had the fiesta margarita and got to try all the flavors and they were all so good it would be hard to pick just one. You could probably start out...first course, lime margarita; second course, melon margarita; but it would be unlikely you could give a very acurate assesment when it was all over!

the Holiday show of Voices of Liberty. Then we went into the main show, which was impressive.

I LOOOOOOVVVVEEE the VoL! I would just love to see the holiday show!

We then went to Italy and saw the street show done by Sergio the mime.

DD13 was Sergio's helper on our 2000 trip. I love that show. Were you the one that had to hold the net, T?

After Italy, we went to China to see the acrobats. I was suprised that they were kids. They were fantastic.

Aren't they amazing? They were boy children on our 2000 trip and girls this last trip. Did you get to see the twins who balance on one hand and do the mirror image thing?

From there we went to Germany, where we went through the shops. We stopped at the wine shop where T had a glass of ice wine (made from frozen grapes) and I had a warm Christmas wine (warm like appple cider).

Sounds delicious!

Finally, the moment you all have been waiting for! My favorite meal of the trip: Flying Fish Cafe. What an amazing restaurant.

I have wondered about the Flying Fish....everyone who eats there seems to love it. Have you eaten at Narcoossee's or Ca Grill? Wondering where would be the best place for a 2 credit meal? Thanks for another great installment!

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Please notice, everyone, that this is my first post under my own username. I wanted one more "r" at the end, but that made i too long. So now I just need to learn how to set everything else up.

Anyway, in answer to Lexmelinda's questions:

T did not hold the net in Sergio's show. I think he was a thrower, but I'll have him answer that later.

Yes, the mirror image thing was cool at the acrobat show.

Flying Fish was so good. Considering all our meals were good, that is an understatement. I definitely want to go back there again if we ever are kid free or are staying on that side of WDW again.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

You could probably start out...first course, lime margarita; second course, melon margarita; but it would be unlikely you could give a very acurate assesment when it was all over!

I might be up for giving that a try...

I LOOOOOOVVVVEEE the VoL! I would just love to see the holiday show!

Now we'll need to see the regular show. The singing from that group was just stupendous!

DD13 was Sergio's helper on our 2000 trip. I love that show. Were you the one that had to hold the net, T?

No. DW was right that I was one of the throwers. But, I also ended up being the straight man who he tried to get to disconnect the hoops. He would take several connected hoops and disconnect them, and then he would look over to me with some gestures indicating it was my turn...

Aren't they amazing? They were boy children on our 2000 trip and girls this last trip. Did you get to see the twins who balance on one hand and do the mirror image thing?

They were all children as I recall. I'm pretty sure that there was at least one girl and one older boy/young man (late teens maybe 20). The mirror image thing was pretty cool, but I don't think they were twins that we saw. They also did some pretty tremendous multiperson moves with hoops of varying sizes and heights.

I have wondered about the Flying Fish....everyone who eats there seems to love it. Have you eaten at Narcoossee's or Ca Grill? Wondering where would be the best place for a 2 credit meal?

I would say Flying Fish was was probably the best of the three.

We enjoyed CA Grill when we went during our trip in 2003, particularly the cholocate molten center dessert. I think part of my view on CA Grill may have been colored by some nagging anxiety over leaving the kids at the Neverland Club for the first time. They requested it, but we weren't sure how it would go. DS7 was then about a week shy of 4.

As to Narcoossee's, I recall enjoying it but not being overwhelmed by it. I've only eaten there once in the late 80s with a girlfriend. The view of the lake was very nice.

Thanks for reading along!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Day 5--Friday December 8,2006

Mrs. T writing:
Once again we begin our day with T running to Picabu for Starbucks coffe. We took the bus from the Swan to MK, so that we could go to our early morning ADR at Crystal Palace. On the bus we saw some MouseFesters who ended up at the table next to us at CP.

(T addition - It's interesting entering MK for an early ADR. It feels like you have Main Street almost to yourself.)

We have learned that the closer you get to 1st seating at these buffets, the better the food is. Even though we had an 8:20 ADR, it seemed that they were simply calling us on a first come first serve basis from mass of people with early ADRs. So the food was good. As the characters went by we took pictures of the MouseFesters for them and they took pictures of us with our camera. I was starting to feel a bit queesy at this point, but thought it would go away. I was not at the table when Tigger (the real Tigger) came by, but T was very excited, as you can imagine.

After breakfast we headed to Buzz Lightyear. T rode this one in Anaheim. DisneylandMama mentiioned in her TR that the ride is better at DL because the guns are removable. T agrees. However, he really enjoys beating the pants off me at that one. He is the master at fighting Zurg!

After riding twice, we went to the nearby store to look for a Jedi Mickey for T's office. We had seen one at MGM, but didn't buy it. (T addition - I had been looking at each of the shops we visited after MGM looking for a Jedi Mickey to buy; the Tommorowland stores were just my latest attempt and where I confessed my surreptitious attempts to locate one.) They were out of them at that store, but told us to check the Emporium. Then we went on the TTA. While there really is not much to TTA, it made me feel even more queasy (bad sign).

Our main reason for going to MK this trip was to ride the new pirates ride. So we headed across to Frontierland. On the way, we stopped for some pictures in front of the castle. As you can see, I was cold at the time.

As we passed the castle, we saw the new show that replaced Cinderellabration. It was very good. I like it better than C-bration. (T Addition - I never did see Cinderellabration, but I am happy I saw this one. I really like the Dream theme.)

Pirates was really cool, and we would have gone on it a few times, but at this point, I felt terrible. So we walked toward the front of MK. On the way we saw Jack Sparrow recruiting young pirates. (T Addition - I recognized the mate as the male comedic lead from the Hoop-Dee-Doo Review our first night - vaudeville to swashbuckling, quite a repertoire) Then we went into the Emporium in search of Jedi Mickey. T searched the whole place, while I bought presents for the kids. No luck. So we headed back to the Swan with no Jedi Mickey.

When we got to our room, I told T that I was going to take a long nap, and if he wanted to he should head to MGM in search of Jedi Mickey. I also told him to have a good time while he was there and not to worry about me. So off he went. In that spirit, I will now hand him the keyboard.

T writing:
I took the boat from the Swan/Dolphin dock to MGM and entered the park. I was a man on a mission. Jedi Mickey here I come.

I stopped at the stores on the street immediately upon entering. I worked my way methodically back to Star Tours. I looked at the always-present after attraction store that served as the exit for Star Tours. No Jedi Mickey! I did see that there was absolutely no line, so I rode Star Tours while I was there. It was still empty upon exiting, and the CM running the ride offered to let the entire group go again. Only three of us took him up on this, so we looped back to the start side of the simulator and rode again.

I then moved to the stores around Muppet Vision 3D. Again, no Jedi Mickey in sight! The CM at Muppet Vision told me a show was about to start, so I quickly entered the queueing area for the tail end of the preshow. Having grown up with the Muppet Show, I really enjoy this attraction.

I eventually made it back to the open air shop where we purchased the Lightning McQueen squishy toy for DS4. We had seen Jedi Mickey there several days ago. I was rewarded for my efforts as I picked up the one and only Jedi Mickey at that location. Do or do not. There is no try!

After that, I grabbed a quick bite to eat at the counter service next to the store. While visiting the Emporium in MK, I had seen a shirt with a particular embroidered sorcerer Mickey emblem that I wanted, but they did not have it in my size I was also on the lookout for this shirt in my size, so I spent some time looking at any of the stores that I missed on my way to get Jedi Mickey. Alas, the shirt in my size was not to be found. I also stopped briefly at the autograph and picture shop immediately to the left when you enter the park. I've been looking at various Disney art to decorate my office.

I gave up on the shirt and headed back to the hotel. I stopped at the Dolphin and Swan gift shops to see if they had the shirt, but alas they did not. I tried to pick up the package with the dolls for the girls that we had sent for hotel delivery only to find that DW had already picked it up.

Once back at the room, I rested a little while and frantically tried to make an ADR for breakfast for tomorrow, our last day. DW had attempted to do so earlier but could only get one of the Boardwalk restaurants. What we really wanted was the 'Ohana character (for me) breakfast (w/Hawaiian friendship bread for DW). I ended up calling 'Ohana directly and one of the managers indicated that he did have some availability. I snapped up a 9:30 ADR for us.

Mrs. T taking back the helm.

We had originally scheduled an ADR for dinner that night at Biergarten in Epcot. I really didn't feel like trekking back to the park, so we cancelled and went to Kimono's at the Swan. Kimono's is a sushi bar. We were told they don't take reservations, but if we got there at opening, we would definitely get seated. The sushi was good (supposedly the best in WDW), but it still wasn't as good as Happy Sumo in Atlanta.

After dinner, we headed over to Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk for a DISmeet. It was fun to meet DISers. There is a group that meets there in early December every year(DisMeet Jellyrolls Thread).

Notice the shirt I am wearing. I actually made this as a present for T, but it shrunk in the wash! On the back, it says T-i-double-g-err. Since it only fits me, I'm going to add "Mrs." to it before our next trip. (Sorry about that, T).

After that, we walked back to the Swan and packed for our journey home. I knew we wouldn't want to deal with that in the morning.

Next up: Gingerbread houses, parading with Lilo, and the trip home.

 

[lexmelinda]

That's my awesome fireworks spot!!!! And where we had our MNSSHP taken! Cool to see you in the same place!

I was rewarded for my efforts as I picked up the one and only Jedi Mickey at that location. Do or do not. There is no try!

Victory! Glad you got your Mickey and that you added my favorite Yoda quote. Wish I'd bought that shirt.

I've been looking at various Disney art to decorate my office.

That's so cute. "You know you're a Disney addict when...."

Kimono's is a sushi bar. We were told they don't take reservations, but if we got there at opening, we would definitely get seated. The sushi was good (supposedly the best in WDW), but it still wasn't as good as Happy Sumo in Atlanta.

BUMMER. I guess I'm always looking for a unique experience at Disney so sorry your sushi wasn't fab.

After dinner, we headed over to Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk for a DISmeet. It was fun to meet DISers. There is a group that meets there in early December every year.

Very cool that you got to meet some other DISers.

Great installment T2. Mrs. T....glad you got your own username. Thanks for posting on my report.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

That's so cute. "You know you're a Disney addict when...."

Hey, I resemble that remark.

In reality, I have too many princess, and my partners may raise a few eyebrows if that's all I put up. I would have more diversity, but the princess seemed to be mostly what Michael's had on special when I went on my initial purchasing run.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

I'm having such a good time reading your TR. Looks like you had a blast!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Blueyed Girl Thanks for reading! We definitely did have a blast!

I saw from your ticker that you'll be going in about a month. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Day 6 - Saturday, Decmeber 9

T writing at this point. DW has finally broken down and created her own login. Her journey to the lime side is complete.

We woke a little shocked to know that we were on our last day before returning to reality. Mrs. T made the morning Starbuck's trek to Picabu at the Dolphin. While she did that, I quickly showered and began assembling our last minute items for packing. We had our coffee and did our final packing.

(Added comment by Mrs. T: I learned a very important lesson while walking to the Dolphin from the Swan. When walking by the fountain, always walk on the side the wind is blowing from, not the side the wind is blowing towards. I got a bit wet on the way into the Dolphin. )

We completed our packing and thoroughly searched the room for any forgotten items. My guess is we made about 2 or 3 or 11 sweeps of the room. We then wished our room a fond farewell. We checked out of the hotel and had them store our bags.

We grabbed a cab from the Swan to the Poly for our 'Ohana character breakfast. We were a little early for our ADR, so we toured the lobby and the gift shops, searching for that elusive shirt in my size. I cannot say enough about the Poly lobby. It's simply stunning. We've stayed there on previous trips, and it's amazingly well designed. Since we were there our last three trips, it feels like our home at WDW. I cannot get enough of the theming at the Poly. I could keep going on about the Poly, but Mrs. T has just told me that I've gone on about the Poly quite enough.

In any case, I did not find my shirt at the Poly. We finished our touring a little before our ADR, so we went up to 'Ohana to check in. We met the manager who found us our ADR and thanked him profusely. We walked around the lounge area for a little bit while awaiting our table. Not too much later we were seated by a friendly cousin at a table for two not too far from the windows.

I'm passing the keyboard to Mrs. T to talk about the breakfast itself:
Every time we go to WDW we end our trip with this breakfast. We love the characters, the atmosphere, but most importantly the Hawaiian friendship bread! I love this stuff. When you stay at the concierge level of the Poly they have it at the complementary breakfast every morning. I just can't get enough of the stuff. It's sweet and has pineapple, and it's just really yummy. The other food is good at Ohana too. It's nice to go to a character meal where the food is brought out family style instead of having to get up and go to a buffet.

This breakfast was the first time that it felt wrong being there without the kids. The Poly (and Ohana) really is our "family home" at WDW. It should be interesting staying at WL for our upcoming trip (although we will end our trip at Ohana!).

Anyway, there is always a parade during this breakfast where all the little kids get maraccas and parade around the restaurant with the characters. Lilo must have thought T was pretty young looking, because she grabbed him by the arm and had him lead the parade with her. Maybe she has a crush on him or something.

All the characters came by the table, of course.

When Stitch came by, I asked him if he'd been causing trouble lately. In answer, he grabbed the sugar packets from our table and made a mess of them! :rotfl2

He also pulled T's hood up, but at least I got a really nice hug to make up for it all!

After breakfast, our plan was to look at all the gingerbread houses around the MK area. We boarded the monorail and got off at the Grand Floridian. The GF is famous for their gingerbread house. It's so big there is even a shop inside one part of it. After finding a few hidden Mickeys in the house, we searched the shops for the infamous shirt. In one shop we actually found the shirt, but not in his size! Finally, T went to the salesperson and told him the saga about trying to find the shirt in his size. (He actually asked at the other stores too). The salesguy said, "Let me look in the back". Low and behold, he came back with the shirt!!!!!

After the GF we took the monorail to MK and the launch to the Wilderness Lodge. The tree in the Lodge was fantastic. It was decorated with things from the WL period. It's too bad we didn't take a picture of that one. It was pretty cool. We had to side step some construction during our touring of WL.

After the WL we took the launch to the Contemporary. Here's a picture of WL taken from the launch.

The gingerbread scene at the Contemporary was really cool. There were lots of Mousefesters gathered around it searching for hidden MIckeys. We found quite a few. My favorite was the paint that spilled in the shape of Mickey. There were supposedly 9 hidden Mickeys there, but we only found 7.

From there we took the monorail back to MK and a bus back to the Dolphin. We stopped at the Dolphin because we wanted to refill our mugs at Picabu and have a quick bite to eat. At this point we got a call from the Saint. It turned out that DD9 had a fever. This was particularly bad, because she was supposed to be in a talent show that night which she had worked very hard for. Hearing this, I just wanted to get home to my babies, but we still had an hour to wait for our ride to the airport. So we went to the MouseFest room in the Dolphin and looked at all the info. It probably would have been more interesting if we could have done this at the beginning of our trip, but it wasn't open until the day before we were leaving.

We went back to the Swan (on the dry side of the fountain). While T got our luggage, I bought a Mickey purse I had been eyeing the whole trip at the giftshop. Then we called Bob from Sunray to see if he could come get us a few minutes early. It turns out he was waiting at a nearby gas station, so he came right away and took us to the airport.

From this point on, I must have said the words, "I want to see my babies" enough times to drive T crazy, but I could tell he was thinking the same thing. The trip home was a bit of a blur for both of us. We got back to Atlanta, got our luggage, rode MARTA back to our car and drove home, stopping only to get Gatorade for DD9.

Our kids were waiting up for us when we got home. It was a fun reunion, and it was good to be home.

Next up: Final thoughts, epilogue, and anything we may have forgotten along the way.

 

[lexmelinda]

Next up: Final thoughts, epilogue, and anything we may have forgotten along the way.

Over already?!? You guys posted fast! Maybe someday I'll get to see all the Christmas decorations and maybe stay at the Poly, too. You are so blessed to share a love of Disney. Maybe I can convert DH, too! Can't wait for the final chapter....