A Croc For All Seasons - It's done! Epilogue, p. 52

[MeLaNie9]

Uh oh...Scutes "haters"??? I have 2 pairs. Actually, I wouldn't describe them as "cute" either but they are the most comfy "sandals" I have ever worn and I wear them everywhere. I just cannot wear flip flops for any sort of distance because I am so bothered by the part between the toes so the Capris were out for me. Plus I had some of those Adidas shower shoes in college and literally wore them until they fell apart The Scutes are even better though. DH is getting me a pair of the Patra style for my b-day...I hope that I can wear them when walking distances because I think they could be described as cute

V-So sorry about the stroller. I am the same way with trying to find a bargain and would have done the same thing! I'm glad the clock itself wasn't ruined, that would have been such a shame! I cannot even imagine being at GG and NOT ROTATING!!!! We love that place - going back after skipping it our last trip so I am glad to hear that the food is still yummy!

 

[LurrrvtheDuck]

Dining Review 10 – Garden Grill

Oooooh! Garden Grill, I think I may have to try that one!

The rotating restaurant, however, was NOT ROTATING.

Awwwww Those are great! Loving Gramma's face.

Finally, about halfway through dessert, a man appeared out of the kitchen, stuck a key into a wall socket across from our table, turned the key, pushed a button, and

SUCCESS!!! We s l o w l y began our counter-clockwise journey. Fifteen minutes later, we’d finshed dessert, drank our coffee and paid the bill. And only seen a few feet of the rainforest scene. I knew what our first EP ride would be.

After that, I think we roamed around Future World a while, checking out the Flower & Garden Fest displays and no doubt riding in the Big Ball. We probably did some other stuff, too, but by the last day I’d stopped writing anything down and we rarely have a detailed itinerary for EP.






I KNOW!!!!!

Ya know, I never take notes. Who has time for notes? It all goes ingrained into the memory banks.

Yep, we rode the new and “improved” Mexico river ride thing. I don’t have much to say about it. I can’t stand Donald, so featuring His Duckness wasn’t doing anything to endear me.

Maelstrom was – GASP – closed for refurbishment, so we missed out on that. But I hear it’s still a Fast Pass.

Maelstron has a FP?

Next up was China, one of my favorite spots in EP.

I can easily spend an hour in the store! But Leo’s never seen the movie and I haven’t seen it in about 10 years,

When we got back to the stroller…. it was a total WRECK. As some of you may already have guessed, my idiotic attempt at saving a few bucks resulted in one soggy mess of a stroller. The cheapo rain cover was flipped backward, protecting only the freaking handles of the ride. The seat was soaked. Lucky for Leo, I was also too cheap to spring for the seat cover, so the mesh could probably be dried off with some paper towels. Unluckily for V, the rain poured right through the mesh seat. Into the bag with my friend’s Tink clock. The clock was fine, but the packaging was a little rough.

Oh no! At least the clock was fine though.

Two days after we got home, I ordered the Maclaren rain cover. It hasn’t rained since at any time I’ve had the stroller out.

That's always the way. Just don't do what I did with my ponchos and forget the rain cover for your upcoming trip. In fact, pack it now (if its not already packed). V's Fuzzy Disney Law will strike again and you know if you forget that sucker it's gonna rain half the time your in the World.

 

[luvmyboys]

So sorry 'bout the non-rotating rotating restaurant and also the soggy stroller! I am the same when it comes to saving a buck-- but then my *ahem ahem* frugality always seems to come back & haunt me.

I'm with you about China-- my favorite part of Epcot. It is the only store that all 4 of us love equally. Can't wait to hear what you thought of dinner in Morocco (was it at Marrakesh?) We ate there 2 years ago. Food, not great-- much better here in D.C.-- but the belly dancer was definitely a hit with the boys...

 

[Goofyluver]

I'm ashamed to say I had no idea that Garden Grill rotated. Sooo...how does this work exactly???

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hey V,

I am joining in late in the game for this trip report

I just read through all your posts and they are great, you are one funny lady!

That mess with the smelly rooms at CSR would have really ticked me off as well At least they were able to make good with your dinner ADR at Ohana Too bad you were not able to track down that wonderful CM who helped you out.

Leo sounds exactly like my brother Erich when he was young. We went to WDW back in 1997 and he must have been about 7 or 8. He was terrified of the water slides but my parents convinced him to go down the family slide at Blizzard Beach with us. He scremed and cried the whole way down and then Photopass took a lovely family picture at the bottom. It was classic as Erich looks terrified and his face is all read from the crying. It was great so of course I purchased it.

I felt so bad for little B and all his pukeyness At least he bounced back the next day. Too bad he had to yak all over everybody though

Your last day at Epcot sounds great but that is a bummer about the restaurant not rotating while you were there.

Can't wait to hear about how the rest of your day went!

 

[Glendamax]

Hey V! Sorry I won't get to see you this year! Hope you have fun in August!

After reading your review of the Garden Grille, I'd like to check it out. I hadn't heard much about that restaurant, so I never considered it! Maybe next year!

 

[sorul82?]

Rutabagas....YUK!

 

[boysmom5150]

Thanks for the review on the capris. I thought I would like them and after you gave them a and ordered them I did too. Im just waiting for them to arrive.. Glad to hear when you got them you LOVED them, Im sure I will too.

You know I always forget about garden grill. We have never eaten there with the boys and I think they would like it. I also forgot that it rotates as they would really like that. The new menu looks so-so but Im going to see if I can get an ADR for our Oct trip. Sorry it wasnt rotating for you until the last few minutes.

Our Maclarens came with the rain hoods however we had 1 stoller get wet a few weeks ago as some nice people decided that it would be funny(i guess) to take the rain hood off. So when we got back to the strollers after SM one was covered and one not

Cute pics!!

BTW...LOVED the Love Boat. I wanted to be Julie soooo bad.

 

[boysmom5150]

On my last trip, the negative stuff came from other guests, not my Mom (thank God). As I've hinted at before, there are those who dont expect to see, stand, or sit next to Black people on their vacations. There are 2 incidents that stand out from last year:
1. A little girl who looked horror struck that the last seat where she was standing was next to my Mother. The child's parents told her to go ahead and sit down - that it was okay, even though the child looked at us and looked back at them like "are you sure"? Her parents actually looked at her very seriously and said "It's okay". When she did sit, she was on the very edge of her seat, and keep looking at us cautiously. Her parents wouldnt look at us and seemed a bit disgusted that this is where her daughter HAD to sit. My Mother just looked at me and smiled.

2. A DISer spotted me on the bus so I sat near her. Another lady asked the DISer about info on Coral Reef, but the DISer differed to me since I'd just been there. You should've seen the look on her face She didnt want to hear a word I said, but I kept talking anyway. Later when the DISer chimmed in, she did look at her and respond but not to me. When we got off the bus, my Mother asked me if I noticed how the lady treated me. I must be a GREAT actress, since even my Mother couldnt tell I noticed!

Sadly enough, this happends alot. But those were the top 2 from last year.

GMAX
I am so sorry that you had to encounter this ugliness. It is so sad that people feel the need to think/act like this.

 

[PaMom001]

The Garden Grill sounds good to me. I'll try to check it out the next time I go.

 

[MissMichelle]

OK, so a CROC CAPRI update:

I wore them last night and the walk was just over 2 hours long. I took the back path through a park here that has hills and dirt covered roads, then I made my way over to the cemetary (I love to go read the headstones as ALL are from the 1800's and before and beautifully kept up with). There are old cobblestone stairs that I take to the top of the hills and back down again, broken terrain and I walked it all, in my Croc Capris...From there I walked about an hour looping through the streets until I arrived back at home. My feet felt----MARVELOUS still! I have done that same trek with my Pumas (which I own 7 pairs as they just "work" so well for me and you'll only see Pumas on my feet for sneaks in my report pics) and there are times my feet feel very tired. I am overjoyed to know I can do WDW in these flip flops!!!

 

[PrincessV]

Day Six continued… again.

Sorry – the end of my last update may have been misleading. We were heading to Morocco for dinner. We were not having another TS meal.

Dining Review 11 – Tangerine Café

I’d been reading wonderful reports of the food at Tangierine for the past year that I’ve been DISing and figured it was about time we gave it a try.

I ordered the Chicken Shawarma sandwich, Gramma got the Chicken Mediterranean wrap, and Leo had… pizza. They didn’t have mac & cheese.

Everything was SUPERB!!! My roll was fresh, the chicken cooked just right, and the seasoning oh-so-yummy. Gramma’s “wrap” was really more like a gyro, making me wish I’d gotten one, too. She said hers was fantastic, too. Even Leo’s pizza was really, really good. I know. I “tested” it.

As a final meal for the trip, we couldn’t have done much better. Three thumbs’ up!

We rarely take the time to walk around Morocco, so we took the opportunity.

Afterward, we backtracked a bit to check out the kids’ play area in the Festival’s Outdoor Living display. Leo was hurting for some play time and had a blast there! A CM was stationed to oversee the play and was blowing copious amounts of bubbles, much to Leo’s delight.

It was nearing our time to turn into pumpkins – or whatever one becomes when one leaves the magic of WDW behind – and we had one last stop to make.


Some of you already know this, but for those who don’t: I love France. I mean, I really, really, really, LOVE France. I’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of visiting and someday living, in France. I took 6 years of French in school. I was not at all surprised to learn that several branches of our family tree that were thought to be of English and Bavarian origin were, in fact, of French descent. When I finally made it to Paris 2 years ago, I fell even more in love with the country and its people than I could have imagined.


What I’m saying is, we were STOPPING in France. Disney’s version thereof.


We took in the movie, which gives me tingles every time.

And then we took in some crepes. Avec café crème et champagne. Bien sur.
(That’s “with coffee w/steamed milk and champagne. Of course.” For all you non-French speakers.)

It was almost like being in Paris again. Almost. Except that it was like 20 degrees in Paris. And you could enjoy a cigarette with your café. And except for the lack of any canine patrons at the table next to us. Oh, and except for the size of the crepes, which were a fraction of their French cousins. Don’t believe me? Look for yourselves:

Other than that, it was exactly the same.


The time had come and we headed up toward the front of EP for a bus back to CSR, where our chariot awaited. It was a beautiful evening and we stopped for the traditional departing EP shots.

We actually had one more stop to make before hitting the road…. I needed to pass Fritzie on to his next Croc sitter.


Remember Fritzie? Let me tell you something about adding a mascot to our touring group: it was one thing too many for V to keep track of. Sadly, he wound up in a bag for most of the trip. But I was hopeful that he’d enjoy the next leg of his journey as I entrusted him to the front desk at POP.





That was it.

With no further business in The World, Gramma turned the car West and we made our way back to Reality.





It’s funny. I read so many TR’s in which the last day is filled with a great deal of angst, knowing that the end is near. I’ve honestly never experienced that. I’m sure knowing WDW is so close helps. But, as Leo gets older and our lives get busier, there are fewer and fewer days available for a day trip to see The Mouse. I find myself scheduling more and more “traditional” WDW trips, in which we spend a week or so touring The World much like most of Disney’s travelers.

So, the end of our trip isn’t really so different from other visitors. Why no angst for V, then?


I think it comes down to this: At WDW, I fill up on the good feelings spending time with those dearest to me brings. By the time we leave, I’m full to bursting. “The end” of our trip is hardly the end of anything. We know we’ll be back. Ready to fill up on those good feelings once more.












Except for Gramma. Who would still rather vacation anywhere else.




But we’re working on her.







Stay tuned for the Epilogue, including final Hair and Croc reports. Coming soon(ish.)

 

[MissMichelle]

Oh V I love the ending...I actually feel the same way at the end of my trips--No real sadness...Yes I do stare up at the glowing Epcot ball my last night there, or cry a tad bit at the final set if Wishes---even take in the stinky air on the last bus ride a little deeper...but when I am about to board DME I am just ready to go home. I feel "done" and don't want to push it any longer. I know that if I did I may not feel the same about WDW. I just get right into the thoughts of planning my next trip.

waiting for the nxt installment. All the pictures were great---My favorite HAD to be:

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Dining Review 11 – Tangerine Café
Everything was SUPERB!!! My roll was fresh, the chicken cooked just right, and the seasoning oh-so-yummy. Gramma’s “wrap” was really more like a gyro, making me wish I’d gotten one, too. She said hers was fantastic, too. Even Leo’s pizza was really, really good. I know. I “tested” it.

Oh goody! I have this place set up as a CS for August. I've read good things and now that you've confirmed it, it's a done deal, baby!

I know you already know this but, you're son is so flippin' adorable!

Some of you already know this, but for those who don’t: I love France. I mean, I really, really, really, LOVE France. I’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of visiting and someday living, in France. I took 6 years of French in school. I was not at all surprised to learn that several branches of our family tree that were thought to be of English and Bavarian origin were, in fact, of French descent. When I finally made it to Paris 2 years ago, I fell even more in love with the country and its people than I could have imagined.

Ooh you lucky girl! I'd love to visit France, except no one in my family would, so it'd have to be a solo trip.

And then we took in some crepes. Avec café crème et champagne. Bien sur.
(That’s “with coffee w/steamed milk and champagne. Of course.” For all you non-French speakers.)

Yes, thank you for the translation.

Oh, yum-o! Those look so yummy!!!

Love the bottle!! Oh yeah and the crepe, too!

Remember Fritzie? Let me tell you something about adding a mascot to our touring group: it was one thing too many for V to keep track of. Sadly, he wound up in a bag for most of the trip.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. I have a feeling Faolan will be spending lot of quality time in my backpack.

Stay tuned for the Epilogue, including final Hair and Croc reports. Coming soon(ish.)

I'm so sad to see this ending, but it can only mean one thing:
Lapu's Coming Soon to Bar Stool Near You!!!

 

[Marshay]

Leo and the bubbles is an amazing picture -- captures the joy and innocence of children at play!

Ok, I admit it...I'm one of those people who feel sad and cry the night before (just ONE more look at the castle...really, just one more look) and the day of...even though I know we'll be back, I just love the magic, the getaway, the sights ... and hate to think of the laundry, unpacking, cleaning house, etc. For me it is tears of joy and sadness combined...

 

[PrincessV]

Help me out????

A root vegetable, kind of like a turnip. I Googled an image!

:Oh no!!! Does the saying go something like you get what you pay for?

Oh no! I have always wanted to try GG since it rotates but we are missing it this trip---hopefully it'll actually rotate when we do decide to go ;0)

Of all the things I imagined could go wrong with lunch, not rotating was not one of them!

Poor you about Garden Grill. At least the characters and food were good. Those are the MAIN attractions. But I know how you feel about where you're sitting.

Yep, teh chracters are ALWAYS so funny there and we just love the food!

What a bummer! Going to the GG and one of the features of the place isn't working! Although, it is kinda hard to tell you're rotating anyways so I think you didn't miss much on that part.

It moves really slowly, but the best part, for us, is moving through all those cool scenes. If I'd known it wasn't moving that day, I'd have asked for a tbale stuck in{/] a scene!

I believe you also read oybolshoi's dining review, no? You both make me a little scared to go back to anything we liked!

That's right - I DO remember her saying that, too! So far, the only repeat meal that's measured up for me was Boma.

Wasn't that just your dream life around age 10?

OMG, it was even worse: I wanted to be one of two things - an executive secretary like on Dallas, or a PLayboy Bunny wroking in our local Playboy Club. This from the daughter of a raging feminist.

Don't you hate when the great find doesn't work out??

YES!!!

We just bought a Mac stroller but it came with the rain cover...haven't tried it out yet but good to know the Mac works well in WDW!

I can't say enough about the Mac! I felt sort of foolish, buying it when my child was 4 and no longer in need of a stroller outside of WDW. I'm glad I bought it EVERY time I use it, though!

Great pics!

Thank you!

We sort of do the same thing at Epcot. It just seems so more laid back than the other parks

I agree. Now that Leo rides Soarin', it takes a bit more planning, and I'm sure it'll take even more when he's ready for TT and MS. But the rest of the place is so easily navigable without a Plan

V-So sorry about the stroller. I am the same way with trying to find a bargain and would have done the same thing!

I just knew I wouldn't be alone on that!

Maelstron has a FP?

Thanks for the pick-up Lurrrv!

That's always the way. Just don't do what I did with my ponchos and forget the rain cover for your upcoming trip. In fact, pack it now (if its not already packed). V's Fuzzy Disney Law will strike again and you know if you forget that sucker it's gonna rain half the time your in the World.

As soon as I got the new Mac cover, I folded it up into the stroller

I'm with you about China-- my favorite part of Epcot. It is the only store that all 4 of us love equally.

I never thought about it till now - Leo really likes meandering around in there, too!

I'm ashamed to say I had no idea that Garden Grill rotated. Sooo...how does this work exactly???

Hmmm.... picture a record player. the middle of the record, where the label is, is walled off and houses the kitchen. The vinyl part of the record is two tiers of seating. the whole record/restaurant rotates slowly, passing through the three scenes of LWTL. Usually, your meal is just long enough to have made one full rotation. It's very fun! When it's ROTATING, that is.

I just read through all your posts and they are great, you are one funny lady!

Thanks so much and welcome aboard! While this one's coming to an end, it's entirely possible I'll cough another TR up for my Aug. trip. Would love to have you along for the ride!

 

[PrincessV]

Hey V! Sorry I won't get to see you this year! Hope you have fun in August!

Thanks Gmax! I know - I can't believe we're missing each other in Sept. AND Dec. We really must work harder on coordinating our schedules.

Rutabagas....YUK!

Really? I've never tried one. And now I won't.

You know I always forget about garden grill. We have never eaten there with the boys and I think they would like it. I also forgot that it rotates as they would really like that. The new menu looks so-so but Im going to see if I can get an ADR for our Oct trip.

Do it T - I think your guys would love it!

BTW...LOVED the Love Boat. I wanted to be Julie soooo bad.

I wanted to bo Charro. Or Audrey Landers. It was a toss-up.

The Garden Grill sounds good to me. I'll try to check it out the next time I go.

OK, so a CROC CAPRI update:

I wore them last night and the walk was just over 2 hours long. I took the back path through a park here that has hills and dirt covered roads, then I made my way over to the cemetary (I love to go read the headstones as ALL are from the 1800's and before and beautifully kept up with). There are old cobblestone stairs that I take to the top of the hills and back down again, broken terrain and I walked it all, in my Croc Capris...From there I walked about an hour looping through the streets until I arrived back at home. My feet felt----MARVELOUS still! I have done that same trek with my Pumas (which I own 7 pairs as they just "work" so well for me and you'll only see Pumas on my feet for sneaks in my report pics) and there are times my feet feel very tired. I am overjoyed to know I can do WDW in these flip flops!!!

YAAAY!!!!! Thanks so much for being the thread's guinea pig and reporting back

Oh V I love the ending...I actually feel the same way at the end of my trips--No real sadness...Yes I do stare up at the glowing Epcot ball my last night there, or cry a tad bit at the final set if Wishes---

even take in the stinky air on the last bus ride a little deeper...

Now you've lost me.

I know you already know this but, you're son is so flippin' adorable!

Thank you!

Ooh you lucky girl! I'd love to visit France, except no one in my family would, so it'd have to be a solo trip.

I'm hoping to go back either next summer or next Thanksgiving. Want me to kidnap you?!

Love the bottle!! Oh yeah and the crepe, too!

Can you believe we didn't bring ANY wine home? 10 pounds of chocolate, yes, but wine, no. The day we meant to go stock up, it was sooooo cold, we wound up getting some more crepes form the creperie next door and holed up in our room, watching Dallas dubbed into French. Pathetic, no?!

I'm so sad to see this ending, but it can only mean one thing:
Lapu's Coming Soon to Bar Stool Near You!!!

WOOOO HOOO!!!!!!

Leo and the bubbles is an amazing picture -- captures the joy and innocence of children at play!

Thank you!

 

[DisneyJo]

I ordered the Chicken Shawarma sandwich, Gramma got the Chicken Mediterranean wrap, and Leo had… pizza. They didn’t have mac & cheese.

Oooh I'll have to keep that one in mind

It was almost like being in Paris again. Almost. Except that it was like 20 degrees in Paris. And you could enjoy a cigarette with your café. And except for the lack of any canine patrons at the table next to us. Oh, and except for the size of the crepes, which were a fraction of their French cousins. Don’t believe me? Look for yourselves:

We had a great crepe on the Champs Elyesse (sp?) it was enormous with sugar and lemon, yummy

Remember Fritzie? Let me tell you something about adding a mascot to our touring group: it was one thing too many for V to keep track of. Sadly, he wound up in a bag for most of the trip.

I think my Croc may well spend quite alot of time in the bag too

I think it comes down to this: At WDW, I fill up on the good feelings spending time with those dearest to me brings. By the time we leave, I’m full to bursting. “The end” of our trip is hardly the end of anything. We know we’ll be back. Ready to fill up on those good feelings once more.

Oh V that was beautiful

Except for Gramma. Who would still rather vacation anywhere else.

But we’re working on her.

I'm so sad to see this ending, but it can only mean one thing:
Lapu's Coming Soon to Bar Stool Near You!!!

 

[jess98ac]

Love the report as usual!!

This last day was when I saw you there! You must have been heading for your crepes. We missed all the rain because it was the day we got there...it started to POUR while we were on the bus from POR, and cleared up just as we walked into Epcot!!

 

[boysmom5150]

Afterward, we backtracked a bit to check out the kids’ play area in the Festival’s Outdoor Living display. Leo was hurting for some play time and had a blast there!

I think they should put some sort of play area in permanetly. My kids enjoyed this area so much and with a spot for them to "let loose" they toured EP so much better.(OK so is there a spot like this already that I dont know of??)

I love France.

mee too

I mean, I really, really, really, LOVE France. I’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of visiting and someday living, in France. I took 6 years of French in school.

ok maybe I dont love it as much as you

Remember Fritzie? Let me tell you something about adding a mascot to our touring group: it was one thing too many for V to keep track of. Sadly, he wound up in a bag for most of the trip.

I agree, Flora spent alot of time in my bag.

I have once again thoroughly enjoyed your TR. You are a great writer and I always feel like I am with you on your trip.
I am sad that this has ended but look forward to another one real soon. So it it too late for a Pre-TR for Aug??I do hope we get a TR..
I will most def stay tuned for the croc and hair reports.