Cafeen takes it slow in Sept (and not by choice) – 23 Sept 2010 – 01 Oct 2010

[KatMark]

Allan, I am a few updates behind.

Looks like you and mom had a blast at Tusker House (we've never done it and one of these days I have to squeeze it in).

You got some great shots of the baby elephant on the Safari as well as Baby Lily.

I love how the MeekRats always look as if they are standing at attention.

 

[Cafeen]

Allan, I am a few updates behind.

Looks like you and mom had a blast at Tusker House (we've never done it and one of these days I have to squeeze it in).

You got some great shots of the baby elephant on the Safari as well as Baby Lily.

I love how the MeekRats always look as if they are standing at attention.

No worries Kathy, this will stay posted until you get a chance to read though, it's not going anywhere .

Tusker House was quite fun. It's one of the two places that she decided was a must do for this year (Boma being the other one, both of which I had already planned on .) The food is quite good and the characters are fun, even for two adults.

I also completely forgot (even when I was there) about the baby elephant. She's going to be much bigger this year! Lily, meanwhile, won't be that much bigger, so she'll still be adorable and I can get some better shots.

I also have a thing for the Meerkats. I've always liked those little things, remind me of Prairie Dogs with the way they sit. I thought it was pretty neat to catch them actually walking too, they look like a totally different animal heh.

At any rate, hope all is going well. It's getting close to ADR time for Sept now (my date in a week from next Saturday). I'm still conflicted on one lunch of mine. Originally had planned CS, then a lunch in Epcot, I think now I have myself trekking all the way to AKV for Sanaa for that lunch (am hopping between DHS and Epcot that day, so will just bus to AKV from DHS, then take the Epcot bus back).

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On other fronts, work has been busy as I mentioned. We just moved our office to a larger building about half a mile down the street, and since my boss is pretty much over the entire engineering department (excluding Development), we got saddled with moving what we didn't trust the movers with (servers and other high end electronic stuff) as well as the vast majority of the setup. Pulled about 14hrs on Friday followed by another 12 on Saturday. I'll tell ya, those servers can be heavy (and don't even get me started about the UPSes (Uninterrupted Power Supplies), they're basically a set of several batteries that keep servers going... some of ours have 16-20+ big batteries in them, weighing in around 250-350 pounds each (and we have 6 of those puppies). Yep, not a fun weekend.

It wasn't all bad though, OT will go toward Disney stuff (more than likely that one more lens I want), and I was awarded with our "Difference Maker" award for February (basically like an Employee of the Month type deal where we get recognized for going out of our way to make a difference in the company). So an extra $50 in lunch gift cards and $50 to Amazon, also helping the Lens purchase . (Though, I have to admit it's a bit intimidating having the CEO come up and say "Hey Allan, I need to talk to you..." first thing in the morning after the move ><.)

At any rate, that's what's going on with me, now time for an update (and I'm going to be up late... just woke up about 30 minutes ago from a 4 hour nap...)

 

[Cafeen]

Day 3 pt 4 - The rest of the Animal Kingdom day (Pretzel Disappointment Act II)

So, after taking in the bird show, which was mildly interesting (it resembled pretty much every other bird show I've seen, guess I'm just not that into them), we headed off for Everest.

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We hopped in the 10 minute standby line. This was the first time I'd been on Everest and was a bit nervous (insert "Yes, we skipped it in 2009...") as I usually get on big rides. Having been a ride chicken growing up, I do get butterflies while waiting in line for these things. We quickly move through the queue and I avoid taking pictures. I think this year I'm going to put a sign on me that says "Taking pictures, feel free to walk past me if I'm just standing here with my camera" so I can get some queue line shots . Or maybe I have to go during busy season so I'm actually waiting in the lines rather than just walking through them...

At any rate, we hopped on Everest and I will say it was amazing. I didn't even see Ms Yeti (the first time ), but the ride itself was quite thrilling. As everyone mentions, the backwards helix in the dark does feel like you're going upside down. It's a very strange feeling. It's even more strange because you don't feel that way on some other corkscrew type coasters that actually do go upside down!

After Everest, we headed over to Dinoland USA.

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I think I'm one of a very few people who "get" this land. It's supposed to be campy, it's supposed to be like a little bit of a carnival type atmosphere. Could Disney have gone a better direction? Probably. Does it fit entirely with the other themeing of AK, not entirely. Does it work on it's own? Sure thing. The story of the land is pretty solid and how they designed the place just works with that. So, mini rant over, we checked out the Dinosaur wait times. They were upwards of 30 minutes, so we grabbed FPs and then headed off to Discovery Island (well, not the "real" Discovery Island, the new one, in AK).

We shopped a bit and took in It's Tough to be a Bug and hung around a bit more. I was getting hungry (our return time was 1:50pm, so it had to be after noon at this point) and I had heard about jalapeno stuffed pretzels. We quickly found the cart (mainly because I remembered them while we were standing outside the cart) and picked one up. Mom got a different pretzel, but for the life of me I can't remember what. (Note to self: Next time take notes on what Mom got for meals and stuff...).

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Well, we'll just say Disney Pretzels 2, Me 0 . Definitely not all it was cracked up to be. Of course, these are cream cheese and jalapenos, and I'm not a fan of cream cheese (cheddar + jalapeno though, mmmmm good). Again though, the pretzel part was just nasty. So there's strike two for Disney Pretzels.

Once the FPs were up, we headed over to Dinosaur. We got on pretty quick and were quickly wisked away back in time. I gotta say, this ride had a pretty big "scary" hype built up from responses on this board. The ride was great, but not nearly as "scary" as I was led to believe.

After Dinosaur, we headed back over to Everest...

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And picked up FPs since the wait was huge (15 minutes! haha!). We had FPs from the Safari still, so we headed over to use them. We breezed through the FP line, mainly just to give a CM the passes (the standby wait was about 5 minutes).

I took quite a few more pictures, and here are some of them...

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By the way, if you're ever lucky enough to sit in the front two rows of an accessible vehicle on the safari (without someone needing the accessible part), make sure your camera is ready. Having only two people in a row gives you great vantage to both sides of the truck! Obviously, if someone needs it, they should get the spot, but I was lucky enough this day that no one needed it and it came up in the "rotation".

After the Safari, I ducked behind Tusker House. This was a blue square spot in 2009, so I assumed it still was. Well, it wasn't officially, but I was bad (ok, I didn't realize it until after, so I wasn't THAT bad!)

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After my break, our Everest FPs were already coming up which leads me to believe I have something out of order here, but that's how I originally wrote this all up, so it's staying that way! We headed over to Everest for one last ride before heading out. Yep, still amazing.

I did leave my camera on the seat of the car though. Luckily, I noticed just as we were exiting the shop and gave them a heads up, not two minutes later, a CM came walking out with it. Phew, that would have been bad. This would have been a pretty boring TR if that had happened! (Or, I would have had to share my not-so-pro paint skills in attempting to illustrate)

After Everest, we decided to start heading out for dinner. We had reservations at Boma for 5:35 (it was around 4pm at this time).

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[Cafeen]

Day 3 pt 5 - Boma Dinner (and AKL pre-dinner)

It was now about 4pm or so, and we had Boma reservations for 5:35. After 3 days of touring (well, 2 full days), my feet were aching and I was already tired. Was I going to make it through all 9 days?

We hung out in the lobby for awhile, pretty much just sitting there and not doing anything. Mom found a book to read, I dozed a little bit and took a few pictures...

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Eventually I got up and went out to the little viewing area and took some animal pictures. Most of them relay the need for a new camera that I was facing on this trip...

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And then we were called up for Boma. This was the one place (well, one of the places, but the only one of the places that I actually had reservations for) that I wanted to do in 2009, but we missed. It was that phone tag, super hot AK day that ended in near meltdown phase from all involved. I'm very glad I got to do it in 2010 though.
First dish was

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Some sort of tomato and lentil soup, field greens with chili vinaigrette, watermelon and tomato salad, and some watermelon rind salad. I'm not a big soup fan, but it was good. The other salads were also pretty good, and the dressing was very good.

Next up was

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Flank steak with various sauces (only one I remember was some sort of mustard-based sauce, which was very good), bobotie, saffron rice, and something else that I didn't write down and couldn't remember even when I put all the pictures up in my original gallery.

I also decided to try a couple of beers, but I'm very uneducated about the differences, so I asked the server for what he liked and he brought out

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Yup, apparently it's just Special Beer. It was a tasty light-colored (I don't know the official term) brew from Ethiopia.

Now, what I'm sure some of you have been waiting for, dessert! Though, I think I got another plate of dinner type foods first, but I didn't take a picture and therefore it didn't happen.

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I'm sure most everyone knows what's front and center there. It's the Zebra Dome. Next to it (on the left) is a Cinnamon and Chocolate Mousse thing, behind that is the Peanut Butter Mousse, and tucked way in the back left corner is a Mango and Tangerine Colada. Also, in back of the plate is some Pita with White Bean, Black Olive, and Sun-dried Tomato hummus.

The desserts were all yummy, and the hummuses (hummii?, hummus?) were mostly good. I could have done without the Black Olive one, but the other two were very good.

I finished it up with another beer, this time from Kenya...

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After dinner, we headed back to the resort and just hung around until bedtime. The next day would be Epcot with Le Cellier, Via Napoli, and Illuminations.

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[Cafeen]

Day 4 pt 1 - Epcot Morning

So, Day 4 dawned and I was up with it. I headed out to my normal spot and took some early pictures.

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I really like how these all came out, however you can see a slight lean to the left (and to the right in the last picture). Let's just say that this is the reason that I bought

this little thing for my new camera. No more titled horizons! (I know, I could fix a lot of these issues in post processing, but I didn't bother with any of that for this trip).

Note: I have since reprocessed and reuploaded these photos, so the lean is either gone, or at least considerably better.

Ahem, so yep, I was up early which was good, because we wanted to hit Epcot Rope drop. We got ready and made it to Epcot at around 8:45am.

Soon enough, they did the countdown and let us loose in the park. Of course, we headed straight for Soarin'. This is yet another ride I wanted to do in 2009, but didn't. I mean really, it seems like we did absolutely nothing that trip looking back. So many missed rides and attractions... this year was a different story though!

We arrived at Soarin' with about a 15 minute wait, not too shabby so we hopped in line. Now, before going into this I was a bit nervous about Mom on here. She's not good with heights, no panicky or anything, just doesn't like them. However, it was well worth it and the ride was amazing (and it became her favorite of the trip). We grabbed FPs on the way out to use later and headed over to Living with the Land.

Now, you may remember from my Day 1 portion that I mentioned this used to be a favorite of mine when I was little. If I didn't mention it then (no, I'm not scrolling back!), I'm mentioning it now anyway, so it doesn't matter. We took the boat ride again and it was just as nifty as it was the first time (minus the cute CM girl feigning pity (in a good way) when saying the party number though).

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This Dragon Fruit I was a little infatuated with. I found this Acaci-Dragon Fruit vitamin water zero (or maybe it was the 0 sugar Sobe Lifewater) and was currently on a big kick with Dragon Fruit and Pomegranate.

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Big hidden Mickey! (Not the best angle, but it's there)

After Living with the Land, I took a break...

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And then we headed over to Test Track and hopped in the 15 minute long Standby Line. (Have I mentioned that I love September!) Again, was a great ride. I think it was the first time that Mom had ridden it, not sure though. At any rate, we grabbed FPs for it afterward. (So, now we have Soarin' and Test Track FPs in our hands!). There was also a great CM working there at the time. I don't remember her name (which is probably a good thing, since she could likely get in trouble since she wasn't actually supposed to be where she was), but she was between rotations and just having a good time with those of us waiting for the pre-show. So, if you're reading this, which I highly doubt. /thumbsup .

After TT, we took a spin through MouseGears. It was shopping. I'm not good at shopping. I looked through stuff and didn't buy anything. I also didn't take any pictures, simply because it was "just" shopping (yes, shopping at Disney is a little different than normal... but still).

We then hit up the ride in the Imagination Pavilion. The shell of its former self. It was walk-on as always because it's so bad now. I also didn't take any pictures, because it's so bad now (at least in comparison to the old one). I guess I just need my Eric Idle and Figment fix, even if the ride is so bad now, otherwise why would I even ride it, since it's so bad now.(Ok, enough of that repetition).

After the Figment ride (I'm struggling in not calling it by it's actual name, it doesn't deserve that since (c'mon everyone say it with me!) it's so bad now!) it was just about lunchtime, so over to Le Cellier it was.

We waited for a little while until the restaurant opened, and then were wisked away into the basement by a French-Canadian lady. Now, normally I wouldn't bother writing that she was French-Canadian, but seeing as how my whole dad's side is French-Canadian, it kinda stands to reason that I may point it out. Mom chatted with her a little about that fact, and soon enough we had our bread. Again, the sourdough was my favorite (I love the pretzel bread too, but sourdough is always my favorite).

Of course, I pretty much repeated my order from last year with...

Bacon Cheddar Cheese Soup


NY Strip with Yukon Gold Potatoes


And, for something a little different (at Kathy's suggestion), Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake
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All of it was as good as it looks (or even better!)

After lunch, the Spaceship Earth smell caught us again and I just had to ride it, again. I swear they put something in that scent that just pulls you in. Maybe it's memories of one of my favorite rides when I was little (and I was frightened of the motion tunnel in World of Motion...), or something. I don't know, but I just have to do it every time I'm in Epcot.

We then stopped by Mission Space for FPs. I still hadn't ridden it yet, so again, I figured just after a meal would be begging for trouble. Then started heading out of the park for a midday break. We ran into Stitch on the way out and he was all alone (no line at all!), so I figured that I'd keep him company until some kids showed up. That was awful nice of me.

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Back at the resort, I then took some pictures for Kathy. I don't know if she used any of these (I know she used some of mine), so you may have seen them before...

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[sjs314]

Enjoyed the updates, now I have my "disney fix" for the day

I have been going back and forth about maybe skipping AK this trip, you got some really good pics but I swear it does not matter if I go on the safari ride morning , mid-day or late afternoon, the animals always seem to be hiding. In fact in 4 different times I have yet to see the lions

I do want to do breakfast at Boma this trip so maybe we will head to AK for a couple of hours.

Will be trying Le Cellier for the first time, not sure yet if we will do lunch or dinner since dinner is now 2 credits

I am going to attempt to go on soar'in again my first time I about freaked out, yes I am afraid of heights and ended up in the front row, having never rode it before , what did I know that was in 2006. 2009 I waited outside while everyone else did it.

No test track for me I hate speed Your Mom is a brave woman!

I hope your feet made it through the rest of the week...I will be here waiting to read and see how you faired

 

[rndmr2]

Great couple of updates! I have wanted to try Boma for a while now. MIL is there now (they come home tomorrow) and they went there Sunday and she raved about it. We may just try to fit it in to our plans when we go in May.

Looks like you had a nice morning at Epcot, I couldn't agree more about "the Figment Ride", I really miss The Dreamfinder.

I love that cheddar soup at Le Cellier, I like to dip the sourdough bread into it. I love the pretzel bread but I would rather have that plain.

 

[KatMark]

You are just an updating machine! Great photos on the safari ride and at the AKL (gee, I can't wait to stay there in September!).

You did great at Epcot too. Soarin' is my favorite ride there, although I do like Test Track too. See, I like Journey Into Imagination. NO, it is not nearly as good as the original one, but it is 100X better than the one in the middle.

Mission Space -- no thank you; did that once, never again.

Thank you for the pictures of my "home away from home"--they are great and I know I used some of them.

And I'm so glad you liked the Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake at LeCellier (we're not going this year, so I'm going to miss it two years in a row ).

Can't wait to hear about Via Napoli (that's where we are going for the first time instead of LeCellier).

 

[Cafeen]

Enjoyed the updates, now I have my "disney fix" for the day

I have been going back and forth about maybe skipping AK this trip, you got some really good pics but I swear it does not matter if I go on the safari ride morning , mid-day or late afternoon, the animals always seem to be hiding. In fact in 4 different times I have yet to see the lions

I do want to do breakfast at Boma this trip so maybe we will head to AK for a couple of hours.

Will be trying Le Cellier for the first time, not sure yet if we will do lunch or dinner since dinner is now 2 credits

I am going to attempt to go on soar'in again my first time I about freaked out, yes I am afraid of heights and ended up in the front row, having never rode it before , what did I know that was in 2006. 2009 I waited outside while everyone else did it.

No test track for me I hate speed Your Mom is a brave woman!

I hope your feet made it through the rest of the week...I will be here waiting to read and see how you faired

I absolutely love AK. Of course, I mainly just like the atmosphere, but it's an amazing place to take pictures. (As you'll see a little later on). I can for sure agree with those who think it's a half day thing, but to each their own, at least they're not taking up my paths or my Everest/Dinosaur/Safari line!

I culled quite a few safari shots as well, shots of nothing, shots that make it look like I wasn't wearing glasses, etc. My camera just wasn't good enough for a lot of it (that'll change this year... the camera will be good enough, I may not be though )

I'm actually planning Le Cellier again this year too, but especially for the dinner. Really wanted to try the new menu. Though, after seeing it I'm not quite as excited as I was. I'm still on the fence a bit (may move my Flying Fish to that day, and then Sanaa on my Flying Fish day... hmm...)

Boma was amazing. It was one of the two must repeats for Mom this year (and myself too).

Soarin' isn't too bad, if nervous about the height, I hear the back row sits lowest to the ground, so just ask the CM for the lowest row and they'll hook you up. After all, most people want to sit in front anyway . Now, if the movie bit is what made you nervous, there isn't much helping that unfortunately, but it's worth another shot.

Mom was great the days she was there. She's certainly nowhere near her age (which I won't divulge here, no worries Mom )

Great couple of updates! I have wanted to try Boma for a while now. MIL is there now (they come home tomorrow) and they went there Sunday and she raved about it. We may just try to fit it in to our plans when we go in May.

Looks like you had a nice morning at Epcot, I couldn't agree more about "the Figment Ride", I really miss The Dreamfinder.

I love that cheddar soup at Le Cellier, I like to dip the sourdough bread into it. I love the pretzel bread but I would rather have that plain.

Yep, Boma is great and it's definitely worth a shot. It fits nicely with AK day since it's close and AK closes early anyway. Heck, I think I'd go just for the desserts!

Epcot was a nice morning. Feet were still hurting, but with the other shoes on it wasn't that horrible. The old Journey into Imagination was my ultimate favorite.. so it's saddening to see it in its current state.

The cheddar soup is one of the reasons I had to go back. That, and Kathy "forced" me to try the cake. (By forced, I mean she showed me a picture while I was hungry one day).

You are just an updating machine! Great photos on the safari ride and at the AKL (gee, I can't wait to stay there in September!).

You did great at Epcot too. Soarin' is my favorite ride there, although I do like Test Track too. See, I like Journey Into Imagination. NO, it is not nearly as good as the original one, but it is 100X better than the one in the middle.

Mission Space -- no thank you; did that once, never again.

Thank you for the pictures of my "home away from home"--they are great and I know I used some of them.

And I'm so glad you liked the Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake at LeCellier (we're not going this year, so I'm going to miss it two years in a row ).

Can't wait to hear about Via Napoli (that's where we are going for the first time instead of LeCellier).

I figured that some people may be missing my 2-3am updates (sleep schedule has been wonky this week), so I though I'd toss in a midday one for good measure, then I hit my CSR sunrise pics and just had to get those up.

I'm happy I missed the middle one. The last time I went when I was young was 1992 (I think?), which was the old version, then I went in 2009 which is the current. I've heard about the abomination of the 2nd one and so glad I missed it. The current version does make me concerned for the whole pavilion though, since it's really not that great, and they lost their sponsor a little while ago (it used to be Kodak). Don't think they'd ever demolish the place, as the pyramids are as iconic to Epcot as Space Mtn is to Magic Kingdom, but it's horribly utilized. (It's mostly storage and "dead" area right now).

You'll have to wait to see my reaction to Mission:Space , though with the way all the "I wanted to do this in 2009" rides have been going, you can probably guess.

Via Napoli will be coming up shortly. However, it may not be the best judge. They were still very new (had been open for about a month and a half) and still weren't done fine tuning. That doesn't mean it was bad though, far from it. But, you'll have to wait and see.

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And now for something completely different.

I've been hemming and hawing over staying at POR and upgrading to a River View or moving to another resort in particular. After much internal debate (since it's solo, it's not like anyone else has a say ), I decided to pull the trigger on a King Size - Preferred room at a different resort.

Kathy, I'll keep your hammock warm for you . (It was actually cheaper than a River View at POFQ too (no POR River Views were available)).

 

[KatMark]

You're coming "home!"

And you are there when we are there, which means a definite drink (or two) at the pool bar.

 

[Cafeen]

Wait, what's this color for? Oh yeah, that's right, it's stuff about the next trip!

Today was my 180 day, as such, I got to make all the Dining Reservations that will end up changing a few times. But, at least for now, let's see what we got!

You all know the details, so I can spare that

• Thu 9/22 - I arrive at CSR! at around noon (10:30 landing). Mom arrives around 5:30 (driving from her house after work).
  • Breakfast: Some place in the airport in Mobile or ... um, Memphis I think is my connecting? This is more of a reminder so I don't end up with a migrane again.
  • Lunch: CS @ Epcot, probably Cantina again. (Remind me to mention it's DxDDP, so the guy doesn't think I have 0 credits left). Otherwise, if I'm too hungry when I get to CSR, I'll just pop into Pepper Market.
  • Dinner: Jiko @ 7:15pm
• Fri 9/23 - MK in AM, MNSSHP at night
  • Breakfast: Kona Cafe @ 8am. Yep, I'm stealing this from Kathy! Also, I want that brick of potential sourdough and banana goodness. It also helps keep the cost down for Mom
  • Dinner: The Plaza @ 5:10pm. A good quick(ish) meal before the MNSSHP. Also keeps Mom's bill down somewhat.
• Sat 9/24 - DHS
  • Lunch: Mama Melrose @ 12pm - This is tentative. It's not that pricy, so it may work. We'll need something for lunch though, as Dinner is a bit late...
  • Dinner: Kona Cafe @ 7:30pm - Yep, doing Kona for dinner to. The steak there sounds too good to pass up. Plus, we'll head out to the beach to watch Wishes afterward
• Sun 9/25 - Epcot (Why am I always at Epcot on Sundays?)
  • Lunch: Coral Reef @ 11:35am
  • Dinner: Hacienda @ 8pm - Hopefully we'll get a decent table to watch Illuminations from
• Mon 9/26 - AK, Mom leaves after dinner, DHS EMH after dinner (for me)
  • Breakfast: Tusker House @ 10am. - I figured this would either let us take advantage of AM EMH that day or allow us to arrive a little later.
  • Dinner: Boma @ 5:20pm
• Tue 9/27 - Epcot in AM, MNSSHP in PM
  • Lunch: San Angel Inn @ 11:30am - <3 San Angel
  • Dinner: The Wave @ 5pm - This should be good for a quicker/lighter meal before MNSSHP #2
• Wed 9/28 - AK in AM, Epcot in PM EMH
  • Lunch: Sanaa @ 11:50am - Been wanting to try Sanaa since it first opened. Couldn't fit it in last year, had to rearrange days (canning my 2nd DHS day) to get it in this year , but I fit the piece in, so it's all good
  • Dinner: Flying Fish @ 7:05pm - Me.. at a "seafood" place? WTH? Yup, they've got a good steak from what I hear.
• Thu 9/29 - MK in AM. Epcot in PM
  • Lunch: Grand Floridian Cafe @ 12pm - Been wanting to try this for awhile.
  • Dinner: Le Cellier @ 7:05pm - Looking forward to the menu changes here. Not sure if it'd be worth 2 credits on DDP, but DxDDP gives me the flexibility.
• Fri 9/30 - AK in AM (it has EMH, but not sure if I'll go that early), another MNSSHP at night!
  • Lunch: Tusker House @ 11:30am - Enjoy this place for breakfast, but have wanted to try another meal there too.
  • Dinner: Citrico's @ 5:30pm - Did this before the 1 MNSSHP I did last year. Worked out great except for the Monorail going down after I got over there from Epcot. Will probably just leave from AK to GF.
• Sat 10/01 - Epcot in AM to say goodbye. ME should pick up around 1:30pm
  • Lunch: Marrakesh @ 11:30am

Now, I'm still not sure on Mama Melrose and Marrakesh (the timing on Marrakesh may not quite work, though I should have about an hour after I eat, may still be pushing it though...). Unfortunately, Epcot doesn't really have anything for breakfast (and I may look creepy at the princess meal as a 32 year old straight single guy ).

 

[KatMark]

Allan, the ADR's sound great! I really wanted to do Flying Fish this year, but with only a short stay, I didn't want to use 2 TS's per person for one meal. I'll be curious to see how you like it.

Are you planning on any down time at the pool while you are there? If not, maybe we can meet at the AK on Monday (we'll be there that day too) or Epcot on Tuesday a.m.

 

[sjs314]

ADR's are looking good. Glad to see you are getting to try some places you have been wanting to try during this trip. I had to giggle a bit when I read you mention about changeing them already. I am so hopeing I can get the times I want the first try and then this time my plan is to put it away and not make any changes What's the chances of that happening? LOL

 

[Cafeen]

Allan, the ADR's sound great! I really wanted to do Flying Fish this year, but with only a short stay, I didn't want to use 2 TS's per person for one meal. I'll be curious to see how you like it.

Are you planning on any down time at the pool while you are there? If not, maybe we can meet at the AK on Monday (we'll be there that day too) or Epcot on Tuesday a.m.

I don't have definitive plans for downtime or anything, but I'm sure I can find some time . I am certainly keeping you guys in mind in my plans and it's not like I have to check with anyone or anything.

AK would work too, and I spoke with Mom today to let her know all of this stuff above (well, at least the time she'll be there) and we're likely going to hang out at the resort that AK morning and then head over for the late breakfast. Not the best plan on an EMH morning, but it's Sept and it won't be that busy anyway.

In fact, looking over my planning list, I could potentially push up Flying Fish and then head back to CSR after that for some time before Epcot EMH. That's on that Wed 9/28. I do need to hit up Epcot that night though, as there's lots of Low-Light photography I want to attempt (you'll see some of the inspiration in a few updates on this report).

I think that the 3 parties is kinda messing with my schedule too... so much prime night time taken up by them. Of course, they are well worth it too.

Oooh, and if we drive there, we can take the parking lot tram. That was one of my favorite rides when I was real little ><. I didn't like the time (that I remember) that we didn't drive to the parks (I think it was when we stayed at CBR when it was new) because I didn't get to ride them! (Well, I liked that time, but I missed those trams for sure). Yeah, my parents could have saved a ton by just letting me ride those trams all day instead of going into the parks (I may not have been a normal kid)

I'm really looking forward to FF as well. Everything coming out of there lately has been spectacular. Regular DDP is tough with 2 TS meals. There's little room between the worth it/not worth it from a cost per credit perspective that it's difficult to fit them in. I think that's one of the reasons that I prefer Deluxe myself. (I've also done a LOT of math on the different plans)

ADR's are looking good. Glad to see you are getting to try some places you have been wanting to try during this trip. I had to giggle a bit when I read you mention about changeing them already. I am so hopeing I can get the times I want the first try and then this time my plan is to put it away and not make any changes What's the chances of that happening? LOL

It's kinda funny, I went into this trip without a clue, and really didn't have one for the last 4 days until this morning. I wrote up a bit long post asking for input on the dining boards last night, and finished up some in the 45 mins or so it took me to write it up , and then changed/tweaked the times this morning.

I got all the times I wanted this morning (well, within 15 mins tops, and most of them work better that way ). Le Cellier wanted to give me a 7:50 for going alone, so my friend "Bob" decided to say he'll come with me and I got the 7:05. Unfortunately, "Bob" is pretty unreliable and I doubt that he'll actually make it down . (LC has had this issue with solo diners for years now... )

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I also decided that I can't hold a surprise for 6 months, so I told Mom that I'm taking her to the MNSSHP on 9/23. (I'm buying her ticket too, such a good son I am). At first, she didn't really get it, but once I described it a bit (as best as I can, the atmosphere is just too good to describe) she got it and was excited for it. She also appreciated my planning the less pricey meals at the time she'll be there.

 

[MEK]

I am just doing a drive by. I really need to catch up and read your updates, but I just have to comment that your sunrise/sunset pictures are gorgeous!

 

[Cafeen]

I am just doing a drive by. I really need to catch up and read your updates, but I just have to comment that your sunrise/sunset pictures are gorgeous!

No worries, take your time .

I really like the way those sunrise pictures came out too. Pretty good for my little P&S that I was using. It really shows just how bad I am at horizon lines though, which has always been an issue with me as long as I can remember. This year, with fancy spot metering and such on the new camera, I'll be trying to recreate them (as long as I can get up that early again )

 

[Cafeen]

Day 4 pt 2 - Epcot Afternoon and Via Napoli Dinner

So, after taking a nice respite back at the room (and I think I may have even dozed off for a bit. Much <3 for afternoon naps!), we headed back over to Epcot at about 4:30pm.

Since we had collected FPs in the AM, we decided to use them in the PM and hit up Mission:Space (Orange) first. It was pretty amazing. The sensation of being glued to the floor and seat was quite nifty, and there was certainly no spinning sensation at all. The quarters are very tight though, so for those that don't like little spaces, probably not the best idea.

Did spot a Hidden Mickey outside of Mission:Space too

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After Mission:Space, we hit up Test Track again with our FPs. Always a good ride. Lastly we used up our FPs for Soarin'. However, at this time, it was getting close to our 7pm dinner at Via Napoli, something I certainly didn't want to miss. The FP line was quite slow though, and it took us nearly 20 (or maybe 30) minutes to get through it. I was contemplating jumping out as the time approached closer and closer (even discussing this with the CM at the ride).

At any rate, we soared over California and then hoofed it all the way across the park (gee, could I have planned this any worse? Probably should have done Soarin' first, then MS then TT, as that would have put us closer to Italy!) and arrived at Via Napoli at 7:05. We got our pager and explored a little bit.

Soon enough we were sat and waited for our server. And waited, and waited. Not a good sign. We asked another server for water, since ours had yet to show up.

While we were waiting, I snapped a picture of our view. We had a very nice table against the window in the front of the restaurant.

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(I really like this picture too, the reflections and blur to distant objects conveys the idea that we were sitting inside looking out and I think that it's better like this than if the tower and other building had been in proper focus. At least, that's the story I'm sticking to)

Eventually, our server came by to introduce himself and take our drink orders. I want to say that we ordered food as well at this time, but I don't remember if we did.

I tried the La Rossa beer with my meal, it was very good. For food, I tried something that I'd never heard of for my appetizer. Aracini. I know, I'm not very knowledgeable about food, this is probably something common to restaurants in general, but I had never had it! Of course, I started to dig in before I took the picture, oops.

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For my entree, I picked out the Quattro Fromaggi pizza.

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This was likewise very good and really hit the spot. A considerably simpler dish than I had been getting at most places this trip, but cooked to perfection (and I had intentionally eating a piece before taking the picture, really....). In that second picture, along the top, you can see what happens to straw wrappers when I'm forced to wait. They tend to get torn up as I fiddle with them ><.

Last was the Tiramisu dessert. How can one go to an Italian restaurant without getting Tiramisu? At least once?

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And I took a couple bites first to illustrate the cross section here, really again. Had nothing to do with me forgetting for the 3rd time. This was quite delicious. I don't like coffee, but there was only a hint at that flavor and it worked out well.

Overall, I thought the food was delicious. Our server though, not so much. He was VERY slow and inattentive. More than once did we have to ask other servers for refills or to get our server for whatever reason. Now, I know they were still new (this was about a month and a half after they opened) and timing wasn't quite down, so I took it with a few grains of salt, but he was really bad. The other servers seemed great though, so I certainly didn't hold it against the whole restaurant. It was just luck of the draw.

After dinner, we headed out to explore Italy a little bit. I think Mom dropped into the shops, as I hung around outside taking some (erm, attempting to take some) night shots.

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(going to have to try this one again with a Tripod)

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(flash washed this out a bit, but still looks pretty neat)

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(really like how this turned out. Not too bad for low light P&S handheld)

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(I took quite a few more, but I'm starting to be a bit more selective with what I post.)

After dinner, we took in Illuminations. We arrived walked up to the edge about 5 minutes before the show was to start. It was a great view, though the pictures don't do them justice as I was steadying on a trash can so the viewpoint is a bit lower than I stand.

I do think I did pretty good, especially considering equipment. Hopefully I'll get a chance to reshoot this though this year with the better camera, tripod, and remote shutter.

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(Keep in mind that there are only a fraction of the shots I took. I took 32 in total and there are 12 here. Making my success rate about 37.5%, deleting and/or not showing bad pictures is a huge "secret" to successful photography! Though, the first 6 here were all in a row, so that was a good stretch)

We meandered out with the masses, and hopped on an only slightly full (we still got seats) bus back to CSR. I plopped down into bed to get ready for an early morning at DHS the next day.

 

[KatMark]

Excellent update, Allan. Your pictures turned out great. I'm still debating if we are doing Illuminations this trip or not (it's probably third on my list of favorites after Wishes and Fantasmic). Your food at Via Napoli looks yummy and I'm really looking forward to our ressie there.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Allan, your pictures are absolutely beautiful! We didn't get to see Illuminations last year because of our dinner ADR times but hope to see it this year.

 

[Cafeen]

Made a slight change of plans today...

Tue 9/27: Cancelled The Wave and replaced it with California Grill @ 5:30pm. This may bump against the party a little, but it's ok, I have 2 others to enjoy (I'm sure I could ask to be hurried along a little bit too)

Wed 9/28: Moved Flying Fish from 7:05pm to 5:30pm. I figure that here I'll go to DHS after Sanaa, then go eat, then head back to the resort for a couple hours until EMH is starting. Of course, that also means 3 parks in a day... maybe I should just go to MK after dinner just to make it 4