Celebrating 20 years at WDW - Bonus features, A few posts from May, Updated 9/11

[afwdwfan]

We stopped for some beignets after that, I stole this picture from Liesa’s TR!

Haven't seen that one. I'm clearly farther behind on the Dis than I realized...

The Plaza Inn was our choice for this meal and I split this Chicken Dinner plate with pkondz. Who says he doesn’t know how to share?

And do you still have all your fingers???

We had lots of laughs, especially watching Liesa spill her drink!

Party foul!

And when they saw Kay’s Birthday Button, they brought her out a dish of ice cream!

Awesome! Looks like you all had a nice day together. I look forward to seeing day 2.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That looked like a really nice day with a good selection of attractions.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

It looks like the big brother for Durian. Only not as pointy.

For a while I actually confused the Jackfruit with Durian, that was another reason I didn't want to try it. I thought it was stinky, and Fran pointed out that I was thinking of Durian.

Wish I lived closer to meet you more often!

Me too! For a while there we were meeting up regularly!

What a great group of Dissers.

It was lots of fun.

Yum! No one has ever told me that pkondz doesn't share.

I was hassling him about that on his TR....

Totally pineapple green with envy!

Sorry that statement made me laugh!

Oh wow! You're totally rubbing it in now.




Fantastic day!

Not trying to, actually I didn't care for either of those since they had cilantro in them.

What a fun day!!!! And lots of yummy eats


I'm ready!

Less than three months now!

 

[franandaj]

Haven't seen that one. I'm clearly farther behind on the Dis than I realized...

I saw that you caught up there in the last couple days....

And do you still have all your fingers???

Actually he was quite kind...

Party foul!

But you saw on her report how accommodating the bartender was!

Awesome! Looks like you all had a nice day together. I look forward to seeing day 2.

It was a fun day, but I'm not sure my day 2 coverage will be all that enthralling.

That looked like a really nice day with a good selection of attractions.

Corinna

It actually was. I didn't do so good on photos and documentation as I was just enjoying the time!

 

[Pinkocto]

Less than three months now!

 

[Steppesister]

most of you know I’m usually happy to take a day or two (if I’m not swamped) to come out for a DISmeet!

And of Course Pirates of the Caribbean! Both Liesa and I ended up with soaked butts!

It was uncomfortable for a spell. IBS happened.

We wants the red head!!!!!

Powder sugar bombs!!

Lookin' good!

(I suppose we look tolerable as well. )

they thought it was just as stunning.

Unbelievably so!! Thank you for that!

OH look!! The beautiful drink I decorated the table with.

We got the Pad Thai Lobster Roll and the Chicken Roll.

Which were absolutely delicious on my flight home!!

We had lots of laughs, especially watching Liesa spill her drink!

 

[Steppesister]

But you saw on her report how accommodating the bartender was!

He was amazing! Oscar was it?? That kinda rings a bell? Anyway, the service was impeccable there.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I didn't care for either of those since they had cilantro in them.

That's a shame.

 

[franandaj]

Now we're down to Two and a Half months!

I hope you'll plan another trip soon!

It was uncomfortable for a spell. IBS happened.

Hmmm IBS? I would say more WBS.....

We wants the red head!!!!!

Powder sugar bombs!!

I think I mostly averted mine!

Lookin' good!

(I suppose we look tolerable as well. )

Maybe it's late, but I'm confused who else was in the picture?

Unbelievably so!! Thank you for that!

Yes, I gathered from the amount of stoppage for picture taking it worked out well!

OH look!! The beautiful drink I decorated the table with.

Which were absolutely delicious on my flight home!!

I'm glad they didn't go to waste.

He was amazing! Oscar was it?? That kinda rings a bell? Anyway, the service was impeccable there.

I have no idea. I'm horrible with names.

That's a shame.

I don't know why people feel the need to put cilantro in nearly everything!

 

[franandaj]

The next day

So I have to admit that I was spending so much time enjoying the company that I mostly failed with pictures over these few days. Those who are following the triumvirate of Trip Reporting (@Steppesister, myself and @pkondz, who has yet to start his TR on this adventure), you’ll have read in Liesa’s TR that they had another DISmeet of their own for breakfast in the morning. I knew that I would be tired from the touring of the day before. Normally when I go out to the park, I pick a ride or three to go on and call it a day. Lately it’s been the new Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout ride.

But back to today….I took the morning off which means that Fran and I had a (somewhat) leisurely morning at home. We didn’t have to leave until 11:30AM. We had made arrangements to meet around 12:30 in the parking lot of Tiffy’s where Fran and I would pick up the whole crew and they would ride in with us, so as not to have to walk all the way to the new security entrance.

If you’re reading Liesa’s TR, you know about her incident with the camera, and all’s well that ends well. She ended up meeting us at the newly designated meeting point at DTD right at about the same time we arrived, so it all worked out fine. We then headed into the park for our fancy pants luncheon spot. But first we took a picture to document the meet and the fact that we all clean up decently.



After ascending the staircase we entered the lounge to have a drink before lunch. I had a Diamond Martini, one of the holdovers from the 60th Anniversary celebration.



Liesa had a Hurricaine



And I don’t know what this was the pkondz had. Some sort of fizz with egg whites or something like that.



I was able to dig up a few pictures of the lounge itself.







I love this picture of the musicians. When the instruments in the picture are playing in the ambient music, the performers leave the picture and take their place at their instruments in the bar. Very cool!



Then we walked through the lobby to the dining room.





We were seated at our table and handed menus.



I only took pictures of mine and Fran’s food and occasionally Liesa’s, but I think for the most part everyone ordered similar things. We’ll have to see when pkondz gets around to his report, I can’t remember what he and Kay ordered, but I think on almost each occasion, either Liesa, Fran or I ordered the same thing. I believe that Fran and I started with the Wild Blue Crab Cake, Celery Root, Fennel Apple Slaw.



I know that Liesa went with the Sauteed Escargot, Parsley Garlic Butter, Toasted Brioche. This was definitely the most odd presentation I have seen for Escargot.



Next course quite a few of us ordered the Club 33 Five Onion Soup, Brioche Croutons, Gruyere Cloud. This was good, but not at all what I expected.









For the entree, I went with the Seared Fish of the Day, Garden Vegetables, Lemon Creme Fraiche. I want to say that it was Halibut, however, I don’t really remember. It was very tender flaky and quite tasty.



Those of you who know Fran will realize that she went with the Chicken Schnitzel. Sweet Potato Bacon, Buttermilk Dressing. She enjoyed this but would really prefer a proper Wiener Schnitzel.



In lieu of dessert, Liesa went with the cheese plate. She was getting full, so she let me have a good portion of this so I didn’t have to order my own.



For dessert Fran and I both went with the Manjari Chocolate Cake Bar, Caramel, Raspberry Coulis, Fresh Gooseberry. It was very rich and difficult to finish.



By the end we were all stuffed and rather happy. We behaved ourselves for the most part, however, I do remember Liesa offering a taste of her wine to pkondz, telling him that it was “a little woody.” He seemed to take offense at this and retorted something back that made us all laugh.

After lunch we split up, pkondz and his daughter went off to ride some rides, Fran probably went shopping and Liesa and I rode POTC. Then she realized it was getting chilly and we did some shopping. We met up with Fran at our designated spot to watch the parade and fireworks. Somewhere in there corn dogs from the little red wagon happened.

I didn’t take any pictures of the MSEP, so I stole these from Bret’s TR. That’s before he started putting his name in the corner of the pics. mvf-m11c is his DIS name. While we were waiting for the parade and fireworks Bret actually stopped by where we were waiting and we caught up a little bit.

Pkondz and his daughter found us just in the nick of time before the nighttime spectaculars started.

While we waited for the fireworks to start, they kept making the announcement “Due to high winds, there is the possibility the fireworks may be cancelled.” I’m not sure how many time we heard that so we were thrilled when they dimmed the lights and the show started! It was a really good show. Not the five minutes (original fireworks show from DL opening), but a show that highlighted many of the classic Disney movies. It was very similar to the 60th Anniversary fireworks. There was a Jungle Book section, and just as “I wanna be like you.” started the lights came on the music stopped and an announcement came over the PA. “Due to high winds, the fireworks have been cancelled this evening.” The collective groan from the audience was definitely sad, but what can you do when an entire community builds itself around a major tourist destination. That’s one of the unfortunate realities of Disneyland Resort. A mistake that Walt did not make a second time.

I said goodbye to pkondz and Kay who would be on their own for the duration of their trip, they had their own plans for the rest of the night. we made our way out of the park with Liesa as we offered to drive her back to her hotel. For months we had been going back and forth about what to do, Dim Sum, shabu shabu, in the end on the way back to her hotel we settled on Trader Sam’s for the afternoon the next day.

This was a trying day. For us we had a situation brewing that we had to address before we could actually go have fun. I can’t talk about it in case it actually comes to fruition, but we couldn’t leave until we had this completely solved on our end. Liesa and I were texting and rather than make it out there by noon to 1:00PMish like we had hoped, we didn’t make it there until around 3PM. I won’t give away Liesa’s day and I will keep our escapades to a minimum so as not to give away anyone’s thunder. We got a table inside after much lurking and we ordered some drinks and appetizers. Due to unforseen circumstances, pkondz was even able to join us.

I believe that this was Fran’s Krakatoa punch.



I got the Piranha Pool, this is normally my go to drink here.



Fran ordered a burger.



We got an order of the Chicken and Lettuce cups for the table.



I got the Tuna Poke, no one wanted to share it with me.



Eventually Liesa ordered an Uh-ohah, sorry if I’m stealing your fire!





After a while, the crazy antics got to be a little loud and we got tired of the constant clanging and sirens wailing and decided to part company. We said “goodnight” and that ends my part in the Liesa and pkondz saga, though as I understand it, their story continues just a little longer. You’ll have to see their TRs for that part of the story…..


My TR returns to F&W at DCA.

 

[Pinkocto]

A fabulously fun couple of days!

How is the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride????

The food looks scrumptious

How sad about the fireworks, but at least they did the pre show. That Jungle Book song is one of my favorites!

Fun to catch up with Bret.

I'm sorry about the situation that you can't talk about. Hopefully everything worked out.

The fire on the drink is too cool, great shot.

 

[dolphingirl47]

When the instruments in the picture are playing in the ambient music, the performers leave the picture and take their place at their instruments in the bar. Very cool!

That is really neat.

It was very similar to the 60th Anniversary fireworks.

Oh, that is good to know. I loved those fireworks.

Corinna

 

[krrrristen]

All of that food looks delicious! And the drinks, mmmm Glad you got to enjoy tasty treats with good company!

 

[franandaj]

fabulously fun couple of days!

How is the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride????

The food looks scrumptious

It was very fun, and we still are getting out there in the next few updates.

GotG is GREAT! I'll have updates on that eventually! I like it! I think its better than the old one, meaning ToT.

How sad about the fireworks, but at least they did the pre show. That Jungle Book song is one of my favorites!

Fun to catch up with Bret.

They really didn't have any preshow. We watched MSEP and then fireworks. They just stopped abruptly midway through. I know I'd never had it stop after starting.

Seeing Bret was bittersweet, he had some unhappy news.

I'm sorry about the situation that you can't talk about. Hopefully everything worked out.

Well hopefully it never comes to fruition and I can tell you all about it in person in 2 and a half months!

The fire on the drink is too cool, great shot.

Thanks!

That is really neat.

I wish I'd known about it when we were there.

Oh, that is good to know. I loved those fireworks.

I need to get back out there and see them again!

All of that food looks delicious! And the drinks, mmmm Glad you got to enjoy tasty treats with good company!

It was definitely a great day!

 

[Pinkocto]

GotG is GREAT! I'll have updates on that eventually! I like it! I think its better than the old one, meaning ToT.

I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!!

They really didn't have any preshow. We watched MSEP and then fireworks. They just stopped abruptly midway through. I know I'd never had it stop after starting.

Ahhhhh

Seeing Bret was bittersweet, he had some unhappy news.

Oh no! That doesn't sound good

Well hopefully it never comes to fruition and I can tell you all about it in person in 2 and a half months!

 

[franandaj]

I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!!

We'll have to go on it until you get all six songs!

Oh no! That doesn't sound good

He won't be visiting nearly as often anymore.

You have less than two months until you go, but we're not only 63 days from when we meet up now!

 

[franandaj]

Saturday April 1

On this day we had our second Celebrity Chef Demo, it was Guy Fieri. We knew that people would be lining up pretty early for him as his was the only sold out demo. We got out there later than we had intended and we were pretty far back in the queue. While waiting Fran sent me to get something to eat and I got one of the Teriyaki Chicken Pineapple sliders from the booth close by. I probably also got myself a glass of wine to sip while we were waiting.

When we sat down we had this handout on what he would be making.









Honestly this was three months ago and I didn’t take notes, so I’m going to keep this one short and sweet with some pictures and my recollections. He came out all smiles and such.



And then we were immediately given a margarita.



He demonstrated how to make it, and I took notes, but obviously the glass of wine and the margarita had affected me as my writing is sloppy and instructions are very succinct.





He brought his son Hunter up on stage and as he seems to do now, Hunter ended up cooking everything.





The first thing that he made for us was Rhode Island Calamari. It was pretty good, but there was a big difference between what he cooked on stage and what we were served





Then he went on to make the Pork Chop. The thin sliced pepperoni was rendered down in the pan.



They seared the pork chops, made a pan sauce and then topped it with arugula and baby mozzarella. This is the on stage version.



This is what we were served. I thought it was pretty good, but it was a little salty, and I’m not a huge fan of arugula.



After the presentation ended (half an hour overtime), we had the opportunity to meet and have a photo op with Guy, but I was tired. This was our fourth day in a row that we were at Disney. Plus I got a photo op with him the year before. When we came out of the theater, Bret was waiting for us. I would have liked to stick around and chat with him, or go on a ride or two, but I was so exhausted I was lucky to get back to the car, load Fran’s scooter on the back and stay awake on the drive home!

 

[dolphingirl47]

That looked interesting. I have to admit though that my favourite would probably have been the Margarita.

Corinna

 

[Mac Brew]

Hi Alison
I would just like to coment on your day and a half in Disney land with Liesa.Pkondz and Kay.It must have been great for them to meet up with yourselves and have yourself and Fran guide them around the park.With a meal at club 33 involved as well what a memorable day it must have been. Just a pity that the fire works had to be stopped before the end. Then Traders Sams the next day for another meet up Wow.

 

[afwdwfan]

Dang... that's a great place to take the group for lunch!!!! Looks like a good time with good friends. Sorry the fireworks show couldn't go to completion, but it sounds like maybe if it was the old show it might have been over by the time they had to shut it down?

Sounds like an exhausting F&W visit with Guy Fieri. I hope it was all at least good even if you were too tired to really fully take everything in.