Tarheel Tink
Cosmos mariner-destination unknown
- Joined
- Aug 21, 1999
- Messages
- 1,766
We have time to unpack, shower, change and rest a bit before we go to see La Nouba (Cirque du Soleil) at 6:00
p.m. on the West End of Downtown Disney. We took the boat from the marina at Riverside but as our luck would
have it, the day before was the last day they offered stopping at the West End boat dock (right by Cirque) and took
you to the Marketplace (the furthest possible stop from Cirque in all of Downtown Disney). Taking a bus or
walking are the only options so we hoof it- about a 20 minute walk which gets us there around 5:00. We decide to
get a drink and appetizer at House of Blues, which is next door but there is no room at the bar and the could really
care less hostesses have us wait about 15 minutes. At this point we are getting too close on time to get an
appetizer so we let our waiter know we are in a hurry and want a drink only- to his credit he really hustled and got
us our drinks. We pretty much slam them down minus the appetizer we had planned (note the time- 7 hours no
food except for shared dessert about 4 hours before) so we were feeling pretty loose and easy when we entered La
Nouba.
We had seen it once before a year before; as then, we were blown away by the performances and time flew by. I
found that my eyes were hurting; it turned out I needed to remind myself to blink! The show lasted 1 hour 45
minutes. After the standing ovation, we headed back to the Marketplace for our 9:00 dinner reservation at
Rainforest Cafe- we are Safari Club members and this guaranteed reservation over a priority seating is nice. We
had some shopping planned along the way at the Disney Store and at the Christmas Disney store; we have a yearly
tradition of purchased a Christmas ornament collection and have found the store to be almost deserted this time of
year compared to the madhouse it is in December. At both locations we got our Disney Club 10% discount and
had it all sent to our resort room. We then wandered through the Disney Art store- big mistake for our budget
trip! We of course saw plenty we craved but managed to drag each other out and checked into Rainforest Cafe.
We were seated within 10 minutes (we were early) and I happily pulled out our Buy One Entree/Get One Free
coupon we had received in the mail the previous week from the Safari Club as an anniversary present (one of the
questions on the application form along with birthday date). Our waiter was very upbeat and professional. Earl got
his usual Gold Iguana (tequila based drink) and we shared an appetizer of Chicken Rain Stix (a favorite of mine- a
long spring roll-like wrap with chicken, corn, etc. with a dipping sauce). Our choices for dinner was a full rack of
ribs for Earl (Mojo Bones) that came with waffle fries and slaw and the Maya Grill for me- a sample of the Mojo
Bones, 2 skewers of teriyaki beef and a skewer of 3 large peppered shrimp with Napa Slaw. Now, as hungry as we
were at this point (11 hours since a small mid-morning meal except for that shared dessert), we could not finish the
huge servings, delicious as they were. I loved all of mine (well, except for the raisins in the Napa Slaw) and Earl
tried mightily to finish his dinosaur-sized rack of ribs that were falling-of-the-bone tender. Alas, he ending up
leaving a few ribs and I also left a bit; at least no one was urging me on, poor Earl had both the waiter and I egging
him on! Unable to even entertain the thought of dessert, we tallied up the bill and left. Well, actually, I struggled a
while with the bill since apparently all the blood left my brain to assist my stomach with the massive digestion
process I had started. I had a difficult time calculating 1- how much a 20% tip would be if we had paid for the free
entree and 2- how to pay the amount with a $25.00 gift certificate plus cash including the tip so we wouldnt have
to wait for change. The following day I could have worked it out in seconds, but at that point I was as clueless as a
monkey with a road map!
Luckily for our distended stomachs, the boat dock is right outside of the restaurant and a boat was docking just as
we waddled up. It was a lovely 20 minute boatride back to the resort- weather in the low 70s, light breeze and
beautifully lit scenery at 10:30 at night- passing all of Downtown Disney and then the river trip past the treehouse
villas, the French Quarter and then Riverside. We stopped briefly for some breakfast pastries at the food court and
took the softly lit pathway back to our room- we had planned for a swim (pool open 24 hours) but were too full and
sleepy to attempt it. We turned in for some very deep sleep; tired and happy!
next- Monday - Magic Kingdom, Fort Wilderness, Illuminations
p.m. on the West End of Downtown Disney. We took the boat from the marina at Riverside but as our luck would
have it, the day before was the last day they offered stopping at the West End boat dock (right by Cirque) and took
you to the Marketplace (the furthest possible stop from Cirque in all of Downtown Disney). Taking a bus or
walking are the only options so we hoof it- about a 20 minute walk which gets us there around 5:00. We decide to
get a drink and appetizer at House of Blues, which is next door but there is no room at the bar and the could really
care less hostesses have us wait about 15 minutes. At this point we are getting too close on time to get an
appetizer so we let our waiter know we are in a hurry and want a drink only- to his credit he really hustled and got
us our drinks. We pretty much slam them down minus the appetizer we had planned (note the time- 7 hours no
food except for shared dessert about 4 hours before) so we were feeling pretty loose and easy when we entered La
Nouba.
We had seen it once before a year before; as then, we were blown away by the performances and time flew by. I
found that my eyes were hurting; it turned out I needed to remind myself to blink! The show lasted 1 hour 45
minutes. After the standing ovation, we headed back to the Marketplace for our 9:00 dinner reservation at
Rainforest Cafe- we are Safari Club members and this guaranteed reservation over a priority seating is nice. We
had some shopping planned along the way at the Disney Store and at the Christmas Disney store; we have a yearly
tradition of purchased a Christmas ornament collection and have found the store to be almost deserted this time of
year compared to the madhouse it is in December. At both locations we got our Disney Club 10% discount and
had it all sent to our resort room. We then wandered through the Disney Art store- big mistake for our budget
trip! We of course saw plenty we craved but managed to drag each other out and checked into Rainforest Cafe.
We were seated within 10 minutes (we were early) and I happily pulled out our Buy One Entree/Get One Free
coupon we had received in the mail the previous week from the Safari Club as an anniversary present (one of the
questions on the application form along with birthday date). Our waiter was very upbeat and professional. Earl got
his usual Gold Iguana (tequila based drink) and we shared an appetizer of Chicken Rain Stix (a favorite of mine- a
long spring roll-like wrap with chicken, corn, etc. with a dipping sauce). Our choices for dinner was a full rack of
ribs for Earl (Mojo Bones) that came with waffle fries and slaw and the Maya Grill for me- a sample of the Mojo
Bones, 2 skewers of teriyaki beef and a skewer of 3 large peppered shrimp with Napa Slaw. Now, as hungry as we
were at this point (11 hours since a small mid-morning meal except for that shared dessert), we could not finish the
huge servings, delicious as they were. I loved all of mine (well, except for the raisins in the Napa Slaw) and Earl
tried mightily to finish his dinosaur-sized rack of ribs that were falling-of-the-bone tender. Alas, he ending up
leaving a few ribs and I also left a bit; at least no one was urging me on, poor Earl had both the waiter and I egging
him on! Unable to even entertain the thought of dessert, we tallied up the bill and left. Well, actually, I struggled a
while with the bill since apparently all the blood left my brain to assist my stomach with the massive digestion
process I had started. I had a difficult time calculating 1- how much a 20% tip would be if we had paid for the free
entree and 2- how to pay the amount with a $25.00 gift certificate plus cash including the tip so we wouldnt have
to wait for change. The following day I could have worked it out in seconds, but at that point I was as clueless as a
monkey with a road map!
Luckily for our distended stomachs, the boat dock is right outside of the restaurant and a boat was docking just as
we waddled up. It was a lovely 20 minute boatride back to the resort- weather in the low 70s, light breeze and
beautifully lit scenery at 10:30 at night- passing all of Downtown Disney and then the river trip past the treehouse
villas, the French Quarter and then Riverside. We stopped briefly for some breakfast pastries at the food court and
took the softly lit pathway back to our room- we had planned for a swim (pool open 24 hours) but were too full and
sleepy to attempt it. We turned in for some very deep sleep; tired and happy!
next- Monday - Magic Kingdom, Fort Wilderness, Illuminations
