~A XMAS STORY~decorations, crowds, pixies..AND A BLOODY NOSE~ACTUAL UPDATE 11/9 p190

[shane&jakesmom]

When I was there in July there were a lot of Brazilian tour groups. They sure have a lot of pep. Even in 90+ degrees they were singing and having a great time.

 

[punkin413]

I love all your Epcot pics...the one you liked with the colors is gorgeous! We love Teppan Edo. They have some yummy food! (And my kids LOVE the monorail dishes!) I think it's the new "in" place to eat. Le Cellier used to get all the hype but TE is so much better!

Soarin' is a great ride. My mama loves it! This was their first time riding it. It's her new favorite!

Looking forward to hear the next installment!

thanks! we've eaten at le cellier and it was good but honestly ray can grill a better steak for me at home. i guess i'm a lucky girl! glad to hear your mom liked soarin! it's a great ride but i have to admit the first time i rode it was like, "is that it?" i think it was because of all the hype. but now i love it! it's grown on me.

I was emotional...not scared! LOL

oh, okay! i figured that since you'd rode ToT but i wasn't sure!

So glad to see your day at Epcot wasn't all rain. The sky looks like it was really beautiful in some of those pictures. You get a big for walking through those birds! I would have done the same thing, grabbed BF's arm and just made a run for it. But if one of them came near me idk what I'd do I love all the photopass shots too, especially the silly ones of Luke. That boy is just too cute!

it really did turn out to be a pretty day after all that rain. about the birds, i don't know if one of them came near me or not because i honestly did have my eyes closed and told ray to walk fast while i was holding his arm!

Okay... just noticed your new siggie.... love the Tink pic. I cannot wait to hear/see how that happened!

you're the first one to say something about it! you will have to wait for our MK day to see.

Very cute Photopass pics, I always like the seasonal borders.

Luke is such a character himself, always seems like he is enjoying himeself.

Love the topiaries, alot of work must go into them. So pretty.

Soarin'... what isn't to like about it. Amazing ride. Glad you had fastpasses and could still make your ADR.

Your pups may have gotten some Disney magic in those dog tags.

Can't wait to hear bout Tepan Edo, it's on my ADR list for August.

thanks! i love those borders, too. luke is a trip - plain and simple! my pups have gotten lots of disney magic with all the trips we've taken over the last 2 years!

great update and pics.

ooh Brazilian tour groups. we did not see any while we were there but I am sure IN June we will.

Glad he liked Soarin'.

Birds, Biff would have walked around the other way. no matter how long it took.

thanks! i can't believe you guys didn't see any! we saw them a lot. come to think of it, i think saturday (the day i saw you) was the last day we saw them so maybe they left when you guys showed up! lucky! oh, believe me, if it wasn't for our ADR being in 5 minutes i wouldn't have walked through those birds, either! but i knew that was the quickest way and so i just closed my eyes and grabbed ray. i'm sure it was a funny sight!

When I was there in July there were a lot of Brazilian tour groups. They sure have a lot of pep. Even in 90+ degrees they were singing and having a great time.

they sure do! every time we saw them they were chanting!

 

[VandyFan10]

You rival Erica for great pix......

I know.....I'm the best

Keep the pictures coming for about the next seventy days until I get back there again.

Our TR might still be going in 70 days ....we haven't moved very quickly on it but I've enjoyed dragging it out. I don't want it to be over


Dawn, Like the new siggie pic....I'm kind of jealous though

 

[Megablocks]

I love your new siggie picture!! I'm hoping to be able to meet the fairies next month.

Luke cracks me up in the pictures, especially the Photopass ones. I know you said that he doesn't really like to have his picture taken, but I would not have known that if you hadn't said it. It's great that he acts silly instead of getting mad. I also think that he is pretty polite for not making a scene with the Beverly and just quietly dumping it out.

I'm looking forward to reading about Teppan Edo. I also might need to find that tag engraving machine--I think my dog might like a new one.

 

[MeMom]

Our TR might still be going in 70 days ....we haven't moved very quickly on it but I've enjoyed dragging it out. I don't want it to be over

I like people dragging their reports out. That way, between everyone's comings and goings and then making them last longer, we're kinda always there!

 

[LISAMWDW]

I like people dragging their reports out. That way, between everyone's comings and goings and then making them last longer, we're kinda always there!

I agree!!

 

[jordanyosh]

I know.....I'm the best

I can't deny that you're among the best I've seen....

 

[rentayenta]

Hi kids!

 

[End_User-X]

Look at Luke chillaxin' all cool like ....that's pretty funny.

 

[mansionterror]

Just subbing so I can find it to read over the weekend.

 

[glennbo123]

Just to confess, I'm another lurker who now feels like I've officially turned stalker.

I think I was originally going through one of Eeyore's Tailfinder's restaurant reviews, then saw the Vandy girls link and started reading that one. It was so enjoyable, with all of the pics and stories, that off and on over the last couple of weeks, I've gone through that one and now am caught up through this one. It's been great reading your diary, I mean, trip reports. It's getting me psyched-up for our family's trip to the new Animal Kingdom villas (Kidani) in June. So...thanks for posting!

 

[punkin413]

I know.....I'm the best

Our TR might still be going in 70 days ....we haven't moved very quickly on it but I've enjoyed dragging it out. I don't want it to be over

Dawn, Like the new siggie pic....I'm kind of jealous though

it's okay - we need to drag it out so i can still pretend i'm there! the only problem is i hate TV so i kill time when i don't want to work by updating my TR. good thing i have this one too!

don't be jealous - i have like 5 best friends: tink, melanie, anna, erin and you. or did you mean you were jealous that i met tink?

I love your new siggie picture!! I'm hoping to be able to meet the fairies next month.

Luke cracks me up in the pictures, especially the Photopass ones. I know you said that he doesn't really like to have his picture taken, but I would not have known that if you hadn't said it. It's great that he acts silly instead of getting mad. I also think that he is pretty polite for not making a scene with the Beverly and just quietly dumping it out.

I'm looking forward to reading about Teppan Edo. I also might need to find that tag engraving machine--I think my dog might like a new one.

well, let me tell you - i won't give much away but we went over to toontown as soon as the park opened and waited. i got to the rope there at like 9:10. they opened it at 9:45 and we met her by 10:02.

luke is such a HAM! yeah, i'm glad he acts silly....usually at least!

teppan edo comin up!

I like people dragging their reports out. That way, between everyone's comings and goings and then making them last longer, we're kinda always there!

I can't deny that you're among the best I've seen....

i agree!

Hi kids!

hi, jenny.

Look at Luke chillaxin' all cool like ....that's pretty funny.

he's one cool dude....that's for sure.

Just subbing so I can find it to read over the weekend.

welcome and thanks for reading!

Just to confess, I'm another lurker who now feels like I've officially turned stalker.

I think I was originally going through one of Eeyore's Tailfinder's restaurant reviews, then saw the Vandy girls link and started reading that one. It was so enjoyable, with all of the pics and stories, that off and on over the last couple of weeks, I've gone through that one and now am caught up through this one. It's been great reading your diary, I mean, trip reports. It's getting me psyched-up for our family's trip to the new Animal Kingdom villas (Kidani) in June. So...thanks for posting!

thanks for saying hello! did eeyore's tailfinder ever start on her TR/dining review from this last trip? if so i've somehow missed it! yes, these are like my diaries except i don't share the bad stuff. glad to help with getting you excited about your trip!

 

[punkin413]

ray and i barely made it for our ADR at teppan edo and checked in right at 4:35, 5 minutes late! when i checked in they asked if our entire party was there yet and i told them that the rest of them were on their way. they said that was fine and told us to have a seat. all the hostesses at teppan edo were VERY friendly and SMILEY.

this was the first i'd been in here. it was so pretty! this is the tokyo dining area.....

and this was the area going back to teppan edo.....

anna, chris and luke showed up within about 5 minutes and the very smiley hostess gave me a buzzer. don't the boys look happy????

within about 10 minutes we were shown to our seats. the hostess that took us to our seats was also very nice and smiley. she told us her name (which i don't remember) and bowed to us and said, "saaaaaaaaank you," before she showed us to our table.

she handed out the menus and did her little schpill and then anna asked her to take our picture.

we had another family on the other end of the table - a mom, dad and a little girl. but the dad was gone about 90 percent of the meal, walking around and talking on his cell phone. i felt bad for his wife.

they gave us warm towels to wash our hands with - i thought this was such a nice touch. luke, however, wasn't impressed.....

i thought the menu was really pretty.....

our server showed up and her name was yoko. and i'm not kidding. i'm not making fun of her - i think that's an AWESOME name. i wonder how many beatles jokes she hears and doesn't get?

she also gave a little speech about where she was from and how the restaurant works. then she too said, "saaaaaaaaaank you," and bowed with a big smile.

this is her making the rubber-banded chopsticks for kids and the chopstick-inept like me.

we ordered drinks and ray and chris decided on a sake flight. i have no idea what kinds of sake came with this but they were all.....sake!

i got a green tea martini. it sounded good and it was good.....if all you care about is getting tanked! it was the strongest drink i've ever had besides straight liquor. it tasted like cough syrup. not horrible - i mean, i drank the thing. but i don't think i'd order it again. i don't remember tasting any green tea at all.

while we were waiting for yoko to come back and take our order, ray and chris worked on their sake flights....

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29578000&postcount=334

 

[punkin413]

notice in that last picture that luke has a camera? well, this is the picture he took!

pretty good for a 4 year old!

yoko came back with a big smile and a bow and took our orders. ray and i decided on tori (chicken breast) and new york strip steak (i guess there's no japanese word for that). we were each gonna get a combo but we figured we'd save some money and then just share the chicken and steak.

i think the sake started to go to ray's head after that.....

he was really being silly and luke was getting a kick out of him. i'm glad nobody else in the restaurant was paying attention!

then my husband proceeded to do this thing where he moves his finger up the chopstick but it looks like he's moving the chopstick up his nose.....nice. yes, he's 37 years old.

luke was TRIPPING out over it!!!

i'm pretty sure nobody used those chopsticks.

luke's food came out first, which i love. i used to be a server and i would always ask if parents wanted their kids' food out first because i know how it can make life so much easier for everyone!

he got chicken tempura and it came with broccoli, rice and fruit....ON A MONORAIL PLATE! so cool!

i love his face in this one!

anna asked yoko for ketchup and of course she brought it back with a smile and a bow and said, "saaaaaaaank you."

anyone notice the mickey head? so cute!

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29578008&postcount=335

 

[punkin413]

next our hibachi chef showed up. so i'm waiting for his name and i'm expecting some really ethnic japanese name that i can't pronounce and what does he say his name is? TOM.

doing his thing!

a mickey head volcano!

a choo-choo train!

tom was really nice. he was from hawaii, not japan. oh, well. but he was good at what he did so that's all that matters. someone asked him what brought him to florida and he kind of paused and smiled. i believe chris said, "it was a woman, wasn't it?" and he just smiled and laughed.

then he brought out the raw meat to cook. luke didn't think it looked too appetizing....

go, tom! go, tom! it's your birthday!

here's our food before we mixed it all together to share. ray's new york strip steak....

you can kind of see the sauces back there too. i liked the two brown sauces and not so much the white one.

here's my chicken.....

it was all very yummy! i tasted some of anna's shrimp and it was SO GOOD. i wish i would've gotten that!

dinner was very good and i'd definitely eat here again. our service was good and yoko was a trip. i'm really not making fun of the servers and hostesses here - i think they're awesome! i'm fascinated by their culture and they were so polite and friendly. they bowed EVERY time they would talk to us and then say, "saaaaaaaaaaank you." it was really an experience!

the only complaint i have is that this restaurant is not on the DDE card, so no discount for us. but i knew that going in so it wasn't a surprise. i don't think it's on the DDP, either. i wonder why?

by the end of dinner someone was out!

i'm going to leave you here and return with the rest of our night at epcot! i will have video in the next installment. however, that means i'll have to wait until i get my DVDs back. i sent off my hi-8 tapes to have them converted to DVD about 2 weeks ago so they should be back soon. until then...you'll have to wait!

 

[disneymom1980]

I'm so GLAD to hear that you enjoyed your dinner here. However, note to me, don't order the Green Tea martini......I'm not a big fan of drinks that actually taste like alcohol.

Teppan Edo is on the dining plan, although they were one of the last restaurants to sign on. My guess is that the reason the don't take the DDE is the same reason it took them forever to sign on to the plan. They're not owned by Disney. We were actually going to cancel the reservation if they didn't sign on to the plan. We didn't want to pay for the Deluxe Dining plan and then still have to pay out of pocket for a meal.

Oh, and LOVE the pics of Ray with the chopsticks !

 

[KatGarcia]

I want a monorail plate- how neat was that! I actually think I wanna try eating there, usually I'm anti asian food elsewhere because we have really good stuff here...but the more I read the more I may try it.

 

[tinkgurl]

Oh wow! It looks like you had a great meal! I've never eaten there before, but you definately have me interested in trying it!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I LOVE Teppan Edo! It is on the DDP. We ate here twice using the plan. See the guy in the background of your picture? That was my waiter this past time. He had some girls working with him but he was the main attraction. He had such an accent....extremely nice but you could barely understand him and he can barely understand us too. My sister had a crazy time trying to order ICE CREAM! It was hilarious! I can't wait to go here again. I think it's my new favorite Epcot restaurant. I'm not crazy over the dessert selection though. "Saaaaaank you for a wonderful update!"

 

[Megablocks]

That looks like such a great place. I LOVE the monorail plate--how cute is that?!

Honestly, all the Japanese CM's I have encountered are SO sweet. My mom, my sister, and I picked a pearl last year and the CM doing it was awesome--she got really excited over each pearl, and after doing the three of ours, lined them up and pointed out subtle differences in them that we probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise, like the different tinges of color each one had.

I was cracking up at the pictures of Ray! Those are priceless.

ETA: I totally forgot to tell you thanks for the info about meeting Tink!! I think that we are trying for an early day at MK at least once so I will definitely try what you did.