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

[skier_pete]

That meal at Monsieur Paul looked very yummy. We have yet to eat a regular meal there - I assume this was a specialty food and wine meal, right? They are a little to rich for out wallet, but boy that makes it tempting to consider something like that next fall. I really would like to try one of the special meals.

Not sure how you drive your scooter straight after all those drinks...I'd probably put it into the lagoon!

 

[cruisehopeful]

there is place near my house that makes a pretty good cronut.

What is the name of the place? I am interested in trying one.

 

[franandaj]

That lunch looks awesome! Lots of awesome food and wine! Then you pulled such a Dis_Yoda move and got even more alcohol after such an alcoholic lunch! Go you! No wonder you took such a nap afterwards with a needing just a grilled cheese for dinner.

I knew they would be serving a lot of wine and I had planned on the nap. I just didn't know how long I would crash for. I though of you and your tequila lunch where you got more tequila after the initial tequila!

Holy crap I was soo far behind! Haven't been on Disboards for a bit as life is crazy, but first stop - your TR
Few quick comments:
Apple strudel with raisins- yuck! Although we don't agree on the whole cilantro thing, I'm with you here!

So far we are 4 for no dead grapes, 1 with the dead grapes!

I hope everything with your new baby is well, from what I understand you are in for quite a time, perhaps for the next year or more!

Too much ice cream in a float?!

Well when you pay like $6.95 and get mostly a cup of ice cream, yeah, I was expecting a little more of the hard soda.

How was Fran's cronut?

She liked it. She didn't say much, but it did disappear. She's a big fan of donuts etc. Me I'd rather have a big plate of pasta!

Very nice photopass pic on the bridge

Thank you!

The parm/swiss breadstick at your meal looks sooo yummy!

It was, though I would have liked more, everything was just the right portions.

GDB Beaujolais Villages is quite good- I had it the other day at a friends- yummy! I was totally counting your drinks and giggled when I saw your Dragonberry drink! Look at you go!

Normally I go with CA wines over French, but I know that GDB is a good solid wine. I knew someone would be counting!

Thank you!!!! You are the best.

I saw on your TR that you found all the Disney Food Blogs with the events and listing for the last two years.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I spoke to the contractor and he knows I’m a little squeamish, so he mentioned that the dishwasher was fixed, and I said, “yeah, Fran told me it was a cloggage”. He told me that was all I wanted to know.

Oh man. That sounds so ominous. But now I have to know!

We stopped at the Swolphin before heading to DHS, and those hopes were crushed. A ton of people got on and everyone was squished in like sardines.

Aw, come on! Rope Drop is supposed to be exclusive!

We found Remy in France.

That looks like a hard one to spot.

Seating was assigned and we paired with a couple from Ft. Lauderdale who were quite pleasant. They were nice enough, the man was about 20 years her senior and he admitted that he was 80 and seemed to enjoy complaining about everything in an old man kind of way.

I didn't realize they sit you with strangers there.

Our appetizer was a pate of pork, chicken and duck in a puff pastry crust.

Would that be called a porchucken? Or a pork chuck?

At one point the older gentleman (who was full of stories) told us all about how he met his wife, he was an avid boatman and basically she was the first one who didn't get violently ill on one of his wild rides, and when she was able to pilot the boat as well, he knew she was a keeper.

Seems like a legit way to make a decision.

For those of you counting, I think this was drink #9 in about 3 hours.

 

[franandaj]

The Remy $650 pp grab came from information on 2 disboard threads. Folks in concierge had been called and asked if they wanted to book it.... You know to avoid the rush of iverbooking...

Huh? That's interesting. I don't think we would be doing that one, at least until we have apartment #1 rented.

Glad you got your dishwasher fixed. Sure it wasn't blocked by balony left overs!

I doubt that the tenant in #3 ate baloney.

Nice to go see your parents and book some tourist time.

I have a feeling it might be Fran sleeps a lot and I get some DIS time. At least for the first three or so days.

Nice morning in DHS. Love that they have a boat option from VBC. Great photo of you on RnRc.

That's actually the only option, well other than walking.

Neat you managed to change both dining MDR times. Much better.

That's the problem with making reservations 6 moths in advance. You never really know when you're going to want to eat.

love the Marie items you got. Nice of Fran to buy them for you.

Unfortunately it's cold now so too cold for the T-shirt and iced coffee.

Le Creuset is common here also. Looks nice but oh my how heavy! Try boiling pasta who can lift that pan!

I can see it for small dishes, but I don't make enough meals that would benefit from their crockery. No, I can't imagine lifting a pot of boiling water in one of those pans. Personally I'm an All Clad kinda girl.

Your lunch looks amazing. Interestimg re the history on the sisters. Thanks for that. Looks like a love,y restaurant.

I have yet to eat there off the regular menu, but the French lunches have been exquisite!

We also love to fall asleep to the news.

Love the second RnRC pic!

Very cool to read about your French Family Meal--I also did one if those. Interesting to compare the food.

I can't wait to hear about yours!

I can imagine that aubergines would have been confusing. Sorry, I got a little behind this week. It was crazy. I was inspired to make Schinkennudeln on Friday though. Here you go:

Yeah, that was the most perplexing, since we call them zucchini or squash. I'm going to have to add this into the rotation. I'll use ham since I have so much of it. Sounds like a good side dish, but I'll have to wait until we come home from Christmas, actually more like the new year as I already have the menus and shopping lists planned up until we leave.

I like to serve this with marinara sauce.

That sounds odd to me, doesn't the marinara overpower the delicate cheese and Cream flavor?

I am glad that he managed to fix the dishwasher.

Yeah, saved us $658!

How nice that you get to spend Christmas with the family.

It is, we get them for one of the fall holidays each year.

That is pretty good for this ride

I thought so, it was crazy, like 55 minutes when I came back to use my FP.

I am glad that you managed to change your reservation times.

It worked out for a much less hectic day the next day.

I love those cups.

I have a whole collection, but now that it is cold, I drink my coffee warm.

Lunch looked nice. I think I would have enjoyed most of this.

It was all delicious, when we go back for F&W again, this is definitely on the list!

 

[dolphingirl47]

That sounds odd to me, doesn't the marinara overpower the delicate cheese and Cream flavor?

I don't think so. I seems to balance it out a little.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

Well, this is certainly exciting news!

Well I don't know if it's exciting, but it is news. No one wants to move over the Christmas Holidays, at least people who will be good tenants, in most casess.

Slow and steady wins the race!

I hope so!

A bath is perfect for EVERY occasion and cures ALL conundrums.

I'm thinking so. And my jacuzzi seems to be malfunctioning, so I think I may need to take an actual bath, in the house.

I fail to to see the "I fixed myself" part in this menu.

What? I poured the cereal in the bowl, brewed the coffee, poured the V8 in the glass, I think that constitutes "fixing" I didn't go to the store and get it!

That was me. Sad I missed it.

Sorry you missed it, but it isn't that big of a show, lot's of annoying accents and insults...

LOVE THIS!

I was channeling my inner @pkondz

OMG, I haven't had pate in years! That looks amazing!

It definitely was!

Holy Crap, Alison!

And you guys are like whoa, A-Z in 14 days. Pssh, I ain't got nuthin' on you!

The only thing I was saying about your A-Z drinks was that you were having to drink them in order. I had no doubt that you could drink that many.

That meal at Monsieur Paul looked very yummy. We have yet to eat a regular meal there

I have not eaten a regular meal here, but this is my second French lunch.

I assume this was a specialty food and wine meal, right? They are a little to rich for out wallet, but boy that makes it tempting to consider something like that next fall. I really would like to try one of the special meals.

Yes, it was a food and wine event. This one is pricey. But I thought for the amount of good wine and great food that it was worth it. You will see later that we also did a Mediterranean lunch and this was also worth it, but only 2/3 the price.

What is the name of the place? I am interested in trying one.

It's called Simone's Donuts on the corner of Palo Verde and Stearns in Long Beach, but I'm sure if you searched on Yelp in San Diego you could find much closer places with equally good reviews. Personally I prefer the Ham and Cheese Croissants over the Cronuts, but this is now my "go to" donut shop!

Oh man. That sounds so ominous. But now I have to know!

Shall I give you the phone number of the contractor?

Aw, come on! Rope Drop is supposed to be exclusive!

You would think!

That looks like a hard one to spot.

there were others that gave us more trouble.

I didn't realize they sit you with strangers there.

Only during the special events. Our last one, we were seated at a table of six, three couples, but we also had a great time. That one we had a guy who was into classic cars and he and Fran talked "shop" the whole time. It's kind of fun being seated with strangers, usually we luck out. Makes for fun conversation!

Would that be called a porchucken? Or a pork chuck?

I'm going to go with porchucken!

Seems like a legit way to make a decision.

I could work with that!

That's about what I did!

I don't think so. I seems to balance it out a little.

Corinna

I'll keep that in mind. I can see how it might work.

 

[DnA2010]

Ahh- it was "hard" pop- I get your annoyance- I missed that in my hast!

 

[cruisehopeful]

It's called Simone's Donuts on the corner of Palo Verde and Stearns in Long Beach, but I'm sure if you searched on Yelp in San Diego you could find much closer places with equally good reviews. Personally I prefer the Ham and Cheese Croissants over the Cronuts, but this is now my "go to" donut shop!

Good call on the Yelp search. I'll try some around here and I am going to have my daughter bring me one from Simone's when she comes down in a couple weeks.

 

[franandaj]

Ahh- it was "hard" pop- I get your annoyance- I missed that in my hast!

Had it been a regular root beer float, I would have been fine, but I wanted a little more of the soda since it was an alcoholic beverage.

Good call on the Yelp search. I'll try some around here and I am going to have my daughter bring me one from Simone's when she comes down in a couple weeks.

Does she live in/around Long Beach? I found Simone's because I wanted a place to get Ham and Cheese Croissants. The place we used to get them closed, was demolished, and they put in a Dunkin Donuts.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Does she live in/around Long Beach? I found Simone's because I wanted a place to get Ham and Cheese Croissants. The place we used to get them closed, was demolished, and they put in a Dunkin Donuts.

Yes. She goes to Long Beach State and lives and works within a few blocks from school. I think I know that Dunkin. Whenever I see the giant chocolate donut sign, I always want to take a bite out of it. I've never actually gone to it, though. Since my daughter lives right there, she doesn't even notice the giant donut until I comment about eating it.

 

[franandaj]

Yes. She goes to Long Beach State and lives and works within a few blocks from school. I think I know that Dunkin. Whenever I see the giant chocolate donut sign, I always want to take a bite out of it. I've never actually gone to it, though. Since my daughter lives right there, she doesn't even notice the giant donut until I comment about eating it.

You all have probably driven past my house. I live right near Cal State. My neighborhood has signs up that say "No Cal State Parking". My backyard backs up to Bellflower near Atherton (the street on the north side of campus). We've been to that Dunkin' once, but weren't impressed. Simone's is the close to home choice for donuts for us, and there is another good one on the other side of LB, closer to our old house.

That giant donut is iconic and part of the provision of Dunkin going in that spot (they tore down a liquor store and drive through Coffee house to build it) was that they preserve the donut.

 

[afwdwfan]

Well a few days later, I spoke to the contractor and he knows I’m a little squeamish, so he mentioned that the dishwasher was fixed, and I said, “yeah, Fran told me it was a cloggage”. He told me that was all I wanted to know.

I kind of want to know...

Baby steps.

Progress is progress.

By 8:50 they let us in the park, and I made a beeline for RnRC just like about half the other people in the line up. They hadn’t actually opened the queue yet so a huge line formed all the way out the courtyard. I lost a little bit of time parking the scooter and backtracking to get in line, but pretty soon we were heading into the regular queue and onto the ride. As I passed under the wait time sign it said 15 minutes, which may have been fairly accurate.

The more time that passes, the more I feel like FP+ really is having a negative impact on a lot of things. The ropedrop to RnRC being a prime example.

Then I grabbed my photo and headed right back over to the FP+ line just as the FP window opened.

So jealous...

Second ride accomplished I went back to the boat dock and caught the boat back to BCV.

In a way I'm thinking, you went to DHS for 2 rides and then back to the room.

But let's be real, for 2 rides on RnRC, I'd trek over from... umm... whatever the farthest resort from DHS is.

Seating was assigned and we paired with a couple from Ft. Lauderdale who were quite pleasant. They were nice enough, the man was about 20 years her senior and he admitted that he was 80 and seemed to enjoy complaining about everything in an old man kind of way.

Ok... I was a little confused at first. I didn't get why they'd seat you with another couple in a restaurant like Monsieur Paul's, but I assume that this seating arrangement was only in place because it was a F&W event?

For those of you counting, I think this was drink #9 in about 3 hours.

Why are you pacing yourself?

The TV still wasn’t working. At some point I woke up to find that Fran was next to me, I think it was about 6:15 and I had that whole disoriented feeling that it was morning instead of night. I think it was then that I tried the TV and it finally worked. I fell back asleep until about 8PM when I finally woke up. Fran was in the living room working on her computer and watching TV.

This is kind of weird... so was it that the TV wouldn't work at all? Like it wouldn't turn on, or did you just lose signal?

Believe it or not this was the plan, or back up plan, depending on how you look at it.

Not a bad plan at all. A light dinner and early bedtime makes a nice bridge from your big lunch to your early morning!

 

[cruisehopeful]

You all have probably driven past my house.

Yes, it sounds like we have several times.
I can't wait for my daughter to ask what she should bring me for Christmas and I can say a cronut from Simone's.

 

[dhorner233]

I'm finally getting caught up here! Lots of concerts during this time of year! I've seen a few of yours, which looked like a lot of fun but the saxes always look like they are having more fun than the rest of us :

the apartment is officially on the market

That's a big step in the right direction!

a moratorium on travel

I was back in the room by 10:15.

Wow! You went to HS, rode RnR twice! and were back in your room by 10:15

Epcot at 11:00AM

Wow! Great turn around time!

Lovely picture

Good eye!

I love Marie too! Nice find!

seemed to enjoy complaining about everything in an old man kind of way

Yum! That looks delicious and how nice to get caught up on your sleep while at DW!

I've never been upstairs to M. Paul's that was interesting. Looked delicious!

 

[Steppesister]

Well I don't know if it's exciting, but it is news. No one wants to move over the Christmas Holidays, at least people who will be good tenants, in most casess.

Well, ours have until next month to vacate. Too many violations and they're pigs. Buh-bye.

I'm thinking so. And my jacuzzi seems to be malfunctioning, so I think I may need to take an actual bath, in the house.

I really need to find a repair shop place to come and re-boot ours. Needs to be drained and reconditioned so we can enjoy it again. Winter hot tubbing is the BEST!!!

What? I poured the cereal in the bowl, brewed the coffee, poured the V8 in the glass, I think that constitutes "fixing" I didn't go to the store and get it!

Ok, I'll give you fixing. What would you call doing eggs benedict. (I'm REALLY craving that lately!)

Sorry you missed it, but it isn't that big of a show, lot's of annoying accents and insults...

OH! Well, that's not ok.

I was channeling my inner @pkondz

A fine one to channel.

The only thing I was saying about your A-Z drinks was that you were having to drink them in order. I had no doubt that you could drink that many.

Yes, I do remember this discussion. You and Fran were the final judges on that issue. Good thing you were on my side, too!

And I appreciate your support. Wait.... that sounds like you're encouraging debauchery. Hmm....

 

[superme80]

I'm in! I have had the worst week, but your trip reports have put a huge smile on my face. This is the 3rd one I have read this week. Can't wait to read more!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I always like to see what other people tried and how they felt about it. I know it's not a Disney Cronut, but next time you come to So Cal, there is place near my house that makes a pretty good cronut.

I will consider that when the next time I am in LB.

Those are nice pics of you on RnRC. It has been a long a while since I have been in Monsieur Paul or formerly Bistro de Paris restaurant. The lunch looked really good and fancy. I would say all those drinks were good even though I don't drink.

 

[pkondz]

Another little life update here….so remember the whole thing with the Dishwasher? Well the contractor got in there and checked it all out, turns out he was able to fix everything.

Good! Save a few $$$.

Fran told me it was a cloggage”. He told me that was all I wanted to know. Now I’m thinking about what kind of vermin was in there! Could Remy have been caught in the pipes?

Reminds me of something that happened here.
We had some mice get into the garage so we set traps. Caught them, too.
But one day, Ruby came home and there was a mouse. Not sure what exactly happened now (this was 2-3 years ago) but somehow this mouse wasn't killed by the trap and it escaped onto the street. Ruby was screaming because here's this mouse, trying to get away and yet she didn't know what to do about it. Some guy who was working across the street came over with a shovel and took care of it.

I would've paid good money to have seen Ruby jumping around screaming in the middle of the street.

I’ve taken a few calls from the sign in front, but I still need to list it at online marketing sites.

Any luck yet?

Even though we have a moratorium on travel, I’ve still managed to work in a trip to San Jose to see my parents over the Christmas holiday.

Nice!

I do have one room cleared out except for two pieces of furniture and empty boxes, but that still leaves two bedrooms, a bathroom, plus the living room, kitchen and dining room. Baby steps.

It'll get done. A little at a time.

I last left off with our second full day at the F&W Festival. These days were carefully selected as they were weekdays.

I do recall you warning me about that.

The day was dawning on Day 4 of the vacation and I was a Friday morning.

You were? Awww... all bright and sunshiny?

Fran and I are a little strange in our sleeping habits.

I've noticed, miss wake up at 4am girl.

We like to sleep with the TV on as it functions as a night light and the drone of the sound lulls us to sleep.

Not that odd. Ruby does the same thing.

Fran informed me that during the night the TV had stopped working.

Huh. Odd. TVs are usually pretty dependable these days.

I caught the Friendship boat right as it pulled up to the dock.

Good timing.

A ton of people got on and everyone was squished in like sardines.

Ugh. Well, that sucks.

Sorry, no pictures in this part as I was on a mission.

Totally get it.

I made a beeline for RnRC just like about half the other people in the line up.

And the other half went to One Man's Dream. Of course.

As I passed under the wait time sign it said 15 minutes, which may have been fairly accurate.

Not bad.

Great shot Alison!

Then I grabbed my photo and headed right back over to the FP+ line just as the FP window opened.

Nice timing. So nice not to wait.

Second ride accomplished I went back to the boat dock and caught the boat back to BCV.

That's it???? Wow. That was quick. Who goes to a park and only rides one ride and then leaves?



ahem

I thought it was kind of odd, but I guess they even need to trim the “natural” foliage, and quite aggressively, I might add!

I saw a boat doing that. Guess the waterway would get clogged if they didn't.

Turns out today, they had a 2:10PM available for tomorrow.

Really! That's one tough little place to get into.

I can't remember if this was the day that she HAD to order tickets for Game of Thrones in concert, but i know we were caught up in that one of our mornings.

That's a thing? Huh.
I've never seen an episode.
Want to, though. I'll have to either get the DVD or hope it shows up on Netflix.

Cute pic of you guys.

What the heck are those? Eggs?

Looking back out at the park, it isn’t very crowded yet.

You know it's not crowded when there's not a bum filling up every available space by that fountain.

Cute!

Fran purchased them for me as I went back to the restaurant

Aww... That was nice of her.

he admitted that he was 80 and seemed to enjoy complaining about everything in an old man kind of way.

I'm looking forward to being 80 and getting away with everything.

They gave us this breadstick coated with parmesan, Swiss, and some other spices I can't remember. It was delicious.

I'm weird (like I had to tell you that) I typically don't like cheese bread.

Our appetizer was a pate of pork, chicken and duck in a puff pastry crust.

How was that? It looks interesting.

The main course was next. This was served with an Albert Bichot Macon Villages. It’s a Burgundy White, but for those who are used to California nomenclature, it’s a Chardonnay. Again a fantastic wine! This was my favorite wine

So... if you had to pick one wine as a favourite, would it be red, white, rose? Sweet or dry?

What they failed to translate was that the dish would be served in a French style Casserole, le Creuset, a cookware manufacturer who also appeared to be the sponsor of the lunch.

Love Le Creuset. We got a fondue set as a wedding gift from my best man. Awesome. 26 years later and it still looks brand new. And yes. It's been used a fair bit.
Every time I go to a good kitchen store, I always admire the Le Creuset merch. Never buy any though, since I don't think it would be much used. I have All Clad for my pots and pans.
Those we got in Primm, Nevada. That mall was a bit of a bust, but the Williams-Sonoma there was awesome.

Fran gave up on her glass of wine so I poured her glass into mine. Seeing hers was empty, the server came by and immediately refilled hers. I finished that off waiting for dessert to be served.

At one point the older gentleman (who was full of stories) told us all about how he met his wife, he was an avid boatman and basically she was the first one who didn't get violently ill on one of his wild rides, and when she was able to pilot the boat as well, he knew she was a keeper.

They explained that the Apple Tatin was invented by accident. Since I’m a little foggy on the details by this point,

Odd you'd be foggy....

For those of you counting, I think this was drink #9 in about 3 hours.

Are you sure? Was Fran keeping count for you?

As soon as I got to the room, I got into bed for my nap.

I can't imagine why.

I think it was then that I tried the TV and it finally worked.

Really? That's... weird.

Don't know why, but that just really strikes me as cute.


Sorry it took so long to get to your update! But I did!

 

[franandaj]

I kind of want to know...

I'm going to go with "rat". Ever since we moved out of the building there haven't been Cats around to ward off the rats. When they replaced a dishwasher in another unit, there was a dead one behind it. Besides the pipes aren't large enough for a possum or racoon and I don't even want to think about it being stuffed full of water bugs.

Progress is progress.

And we even got a bit of work done yesterday. It's starting to look like we may get out that place in the near future.

The more time that passes, the more I feel like FP+ really is having a negative impact on a lot of things. The ropedrop to RnRC being a prime example.

I think it's really spreading out the crowds, making waits overall longer on everything.

So jealous...

Just a bit of good planning....

In a way I'm thinking, you went to DHS for 2 rides and then back to the room.

But let's be real, for 2 rides on RnRC, I'd trek over from... umm... whatever the farthest resort from DHS is.

I was inspired by your late night trip to MK that you covered in your TR.

Ok... I was a little confused at first. I didn't get why they'd seat you with another couple in a restaurant like Monsieur Paul's, but I assume that this seating arrangement was only in place because it was a F&W event?

Yes, at the F&W events they have communal seating. Since many of them sell out in minutes, they try to offer as many seats as possible.

Why are you pacing yourself?

This is kind of weird... so was it that the TV wouldn't work at all? Like it wouldn't turn on, or did you just lose signal?

It had no signal. You could see that it was coming on, but no picture on any station.

Not a bad plan at all. A light dinner and early bedtime makes a nice bridge from

It actually worked out well. A light supper was very filling after such a huge meal.

Yes, it sounds like we have several times.
I can't wait for my daughter to ask what she should bring me for Christmas and I can say a cronut from Simone's.

Cool! We went to a show at Cal state last night.

I'm finally getting caught up here! Lots of concerts during this time of year! I've seen a few of yours, which looked like a lot of fun but the saxes always look like they are having more fun than the rest of us :

We just had the one concert a week ago, and yes I think the saxes always appear to have more fun than everyone else. I'm glad I switched from flute, I don't have the personality of a flute player.

That's a big step in the right direction!

Well, we still have our old apartment. I calculated how long it will take to "make up" the cost of the renovation (we raised the rent $175 per month from the previous renter) and it's going to take 25 months to recoup the money for renovation. That doesn't even make up for the three months (so far) lost rent.

Wow! You went to HS, rode RnR twice! and were back in your room by 10:15

It wasn't too hard at all!

Wow! Great turn around time!

Fran knew she had to get up and she was almost ready when I got back.

Lovely picture

Thanks

Good eye!

We had a little help!

I love Marie too! Nice find!

Now I just need it to warm up so I can drink iced coffee again and wear short sleeved shirts.

Yum! That looks delicious and how nice to get caught up on your sleep while at DW!

It was a perfect lite snack because I hate waking up starved in the middle of the night.

I've never been upstairs to M. Paul's that was interesting. Looked delicious!

I've only been there for F&W events, I never ordered off the regular menu since it changed from Bistro de Paris. Maybe it will make the list when I get to plan a trip back to WDW.