disneysteve
DIS meet junkie
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2002
- Messages
- 16,200
Cast: Me (45), DW (45) and DD (13)
My 27th visit, DW's 20th, DD's 15th
DAY 10
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Our day started at the Polynesian where we rented Sea Raycers. We usually take them out for 30 minutes but splurged this year and stayed out for 45. That was partly because we were having so much fun and partly because we got delayed for nearly 10 minutes because they had to take a ferryboat out of service and take it through the channel by the Contemporary, so no other boats were allowed through there for a bit.
Our next stop was Coronado Springs. I have read so many times about the Pepper Market that I decided it was time for us to try it. That turned out to be quite a mistake. We were not at all impressed. The food wasnt all that terrific. The service was lousy and the prices were ridiculous. This turned out to be the most expensive meal we had our entire trip and it was absolutely not worth it. I would not recommend this place for anyone.
After lunch, we spent some time touring the resort and searching for Hidden Mickeys. That was fun, though it was quite hot outside.
I think we went back to the house from there are relaxed a bit and cooled off. We headed back out at dinner time and made what turned out to be our second dining mistake of the day. We went to Shoneys. We had eaten there earlier in the trip and done the buffet, but it was earlier in the day when it was mostly breakfast food and we all enjoyed that. We did the buffet again but their dinner buffet isnt nearly as good. None of us particularly enjoyed that meal. At least it wasnt nearly as expensive as Pepper Market.
We used to shop at Belz outlets all the time but actually havent been back there since they tore it down and built the new Prime Outlet center, so we took a ride there. The Disney outlet there is much nicer than the one at LBV outlets. We walked around a bit. DD got ice cream in the food court (which looked like it would have been a better choice for dinner than Shoneys) and by then, we were all kind of tired, so we headed back home.
DAY 11
Monday, August 24, 2009
Back to Hollywood Studios today. Again, we started by me heading for TSM to get FPs. DW and DD went to Great Movie Ride to search for Hidden Mickeys and I met them there. I actually was near the front of the mob and it only took me a few minutes at TSM. Our FPs were for 10:10. We wandered around searching for Mickeys until it was time to ride. When we got inside to the CM who takes your FPs, we discovered something bizarre. The stand-by line was empty! Totally empty! The CMs were standing there talking about it. The one CM said she had just called her supervisor to find out what was going on. She said she has worked there since the ride opened and had never seen that happen. It was a bizarre fluke, though, because by the time we got off, there was a big line again.
We worked our way through the park, catching things we had missed the other day we were there. That included seeing Indiana Jones again. Nothing went wrong this time and we got to see the full show. DD and I did Rockin Roller Coaster. She was a bit hesitant (though she has done it many times) but really enjoyed it. She used to hate the launch, but found that it didnt bother her now. She is 2 years older and a foot or so taller, so that probably explains why. I did TOT myself. It was fun because I was with a group of people doing it for the first time. In fact, we noticed several times during our trip that there seemed to be a lot of people visiting for the first time. It is always fun to see people experiencing things at Disney for the first time. I think we tend to become kind of blasé about stuff. Hearing people scream on TOT and laughing at all the jokes in MuppetVision or marveling at the Singin in the Rain umbrella enhanced our enjoyment of the trip. Speaking of that, I had DD spread a little pixie dust. We had passed the umbrella and looked back to see a family taking pictures at it but they didnt have the water on. DD ran over and showed them how to get it going, which they thought was great.
Lunch was on Sunset Strip at Rosies/Eddies. After we were pretty well wilted from the heat, we headed back to the house to take a break. Then we hit Sweet Tomatoes again for dinner. Very good, as always. Time for more hidden Mickeys. We went to Grand Floridian first. They are doing some renovations there, including installing a new marble floor that will contain images of various Disney characters. Im looking forward to seeing that. After we found all the Mickeys there, we hopped the monorail to the Contemporary to search over there. Then we headed back to GF and sat out on the beach until the Electric Water Pageant came by. DW and DD had never seen it, though DW and I had seen the floats docked when we did a backstage tour years ago. DW always used to joke with me that it didnt really exist so I finally proved it to her.
My 27th visit, DW's 20th, DD's 15th
DAY 10
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Our day started at the Polynesian where we rented Sea Raycers. We usually take them out for 30 minutes but splurged this year and stayed out for 45. That was partly because we were having so much fun and partly because we got delayed for nearly 10 minutes because they had to take a ferryboat out of service and take it through the channel by the Contemporary, so no other boats were allowed through there for a bit.
Our next stop was Coronado Springs. I have read so many times about the Pepper Market that I decided it was time for us to try it. That turned out to be quite a mistake. We were not at all impressed. The food wasnt all that terrific. The service was lousy and the prices were ridiculous. This turned out to be the most expensive meal we had our entire trip and it was absolutely not worth it. I would not recommend this place for anyone.
After lunch, we spent some time touring the resort and searching for Hidden Mickeys. That was fun, though it was quite hot outside.
I think we went back to the house from there are relaxed a bit and cooled off. We headed back out at dinner time and made what turned out to be our second dining mistake of the day. We went to Shoneys. We had eaten there earlier in the trip and done the buffet, but it was earlier in the day when it was mostly breakfast food and we all enjoyed that. We did the buffet again but their dinner buffet isnt nearly as good. None of us particularly enjoyed that meal. At least it wasnt nearly as expensive as Pepper Market.
We used to shop at Belz outlets all the time but actually havent been back there since they tore it down and built the new Prime Outlet center, so we took a ride there. The Disney outlet there is much nicer than the one at LBV outlets. We walked around a bit. DD got ice cream in the food court (which looked like it would have been a better choice for dinner than Shoneys) and by then, we were all kind of tired, so we headed back home.
DAY 11
Monday, August 24, 2009
Back to Hollywood Studios today. Again, we started by me heading for TSM to get FPs. DW and DD went to Great Movie Ride to search for Hidden Mickeys and I met them there. I actually was near the front of the mob and it only took me a few minutes at TSM. Our FPs were for 10:10. We wandered around searching for Mickeys until it was time to ride. When we got inside to the CM who takes your FPs, we discovered something bizarre. The stand-by line was empty! Totally empty! The CMs were standing there talking about it. The one CM said she had just called her supervisor to find out what was going on. She said she has worked there since the ride opened and had never seen that happen. It was a bizarre fluke, though, because by the time we got off, there was a big line again.
We worked our way through the park, catching things we had missed the other day we were there. That included seeing Indiana Jones again. Nothing went wrong this time and we got to see the full show. DD and I did Rockin Roller Coaster. She was a bit hesitant (though she has done it many times) but really enjoyed it. She used to hate the launch, but found that it didnt bother her now. She is 2 years older and a foot or so taller, so that probably explains why. I did TOT myself. It was fun because I was with a group of people doing it for the first time. In fact, we noticed several times during our trip that there seemed to be a lot of people visiting for the first time. It is always fun to see people experiencing things at Disney for the first time. I think we tend to become kind of blasé about stuff. Hearing people scream on TOT and laughing at all the jokes in MuppetVision or marveling at the Singin in the Rain umbrella enhanced our enjoyment of the trip. Speaking of that, I had DD spread a little pixie dust. We had passed the umbrella and looked back to see a family taking pictures at it but they didnt have the water on. DD ran over and showed them how to get it going, which they thought was great.
Lunch was on Sunset Strip at Rosies/Eddies. After we were pretty well wilted from the heat, we headed back to the house to take a break. Then we hit Sweet Tomatoes again for dinner. Very good, as always. Time for more hidden Mickeys. We went to Grand Floridian first. They are doing some renovations there, including installing a new marble floor that will contain images of various Disney characters. Im looking forward to seeing that. After we found all the Mickeys there, we hopped the monorail to the Contemporary to search over there. Then we headed back to GF and sat out on the beach until the Electric Water Pageant came by. DW and DD had never seen it, though DW and I had seen the floats docked when we did a backstage tour years ago. DW always used to joke with me that it didnt really exist so I finally proved it to her.
