First Ever TR, Anniversary and F&WF, October 2010

[dgbg100106]

Today DH and I went to Baltimore to the Hippodrome and watched Cirque Dreams Illuminations and it was so amazing. We really enjoyed it and were only 8 rows from the stage.

 

[dgbg100106]

I will be landing in MCO in 24 hours from right now......

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I will be landing in MCO in 24 hours from right now......

Yes you will!!!!!!
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You're only a day away!!!!

Thanks for all the beer festival pictures, and esp. all the Baltimore stuff. I really miss it. I'm not a beer drinker, but I can tell you guys had a great time.

 

[dgbg100106]

Yes you will!!!!!!
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You're only a day away!!!!

Thanks for all the beer festival pictures, and esp. all the Baltimore stuff. I really miss it. I'm not a beer drinker, but I can tell you guys had a great time.

We try to have a great time no matter where we are or what we are doing...

Thanks again for all the help in getting this plan together.

 

[John's Mom]

Brandi,

I hope you and David have an awesome vacation!

Don't forget to take plenty of pics!

Kathy

 

[dgbg100106]

Brandi,

I hope you and David have an awesome vacation!

Don't forget to take plenty of pics!

Kathy

I plan on taking so many that you all will beg for me to stop

Thanks again for all the help..

Brandi

 

[podsnel]

Hi Brandi!

I just found your PTR- wanted to wish you a GREAT trip!! I just got back from AKV CL, we had a blast- I'm sure you will, too!!

Ellen

 

[dgbg100106]

Hi Brandi!

I just found your PTR- wanted to wish you a GREAT trip!! I just got back from AKV CL, we had a blast- I'm sure you will, too!!

Ellen

Thanks!!!!!
We are waiting here at the gate just waiting to start our trip.

Have a beautiful day
Brandi

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Brandi,

Today's the day!!!!
I hope you have a safe, fun, magical trip! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!

 

[vllygrrl]

I will be landing in MCO in 24 hours from right now......

Oooh - have a great time! Lurker here - I've been enjoying your PTR immensely, and will be waiting with baited breath for your reviews when you get back!

 

[dgbg100106]

I plan on taking so many that you all will beg for me to stop

Thanks again for all the help..

Brandi

Just so you know.... The total 1506 pictures.... So i need to pair that down a little before I post but I will do so shortly.

I am on travel now for work and will get back home to my camera and pictures on Sunday.

Brandi

 

[dgbg100106]

Brandi,

Today's the day!!!!
I hope you have a safe, fun, magical trip! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!

Oooh - have a great time! Lurker here - I've been enjoying your PTR immensely, and will be waiting with baited breath for your reviews when you get back!

Thanks for the well wishes, we are back and fat and happy!

Hopefully we will have pictures and reviews next week.

Thanks again,
Brandi

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Thanks for the well wishes, we are back and fat and happy!

Hopefully we will have pictures and reviews next week.

Thanks again,
Brandi

Cool! I can't wait! Glad you had a great time!

 

[dgbg100106]

Day one of vacation October 12- Tuesday

Out of the house at 5:45 AM drove to the airport, and went through security easy enough, got to our gate B8 and waited for the plane.

The plane was on time and we landed right on time in Orlando, at 9:55 AM.

Right to the Magical Express, it was very easy. Brought us to Animal Kingdom Villa’s – Jambo House, the Concierge CM Greeter was waiting outside the lobby for us, and escorted us to the bell hop area to drop off our bag. Then she walked us to the Elevator and brought us up to the 6th floor.
We were checked in very quickly, I had checked us in online and that seemed to make it very easy.

Our room was not ready but she told us that we would be in 6202, the same room we were in last year; funny we did not even request it.

So we headed to Animal Kingdom Park, the bus was waiting for us when we got there and the trip was very quick.

We walked up to will call, and got our Annual Passes, which is so cool, the woman there gave us “Happy Anniversary” pins to wear….Then we entered the park, walked to guest relations and picked up our Tables In Wonderland card.

As soon as we walked to the park, there was a kiosk that was selling Jalapeño and Cheese stuffed pretzels; so we had to try it, it was pretty good, the cheese was very soft and good and the peppers were good too. We enjoyed it…$4.29.

Then we headed for the Mt Everest ride and it was a 20 minute wait, no bad at all, the ride was great, then we jumped into the single rider line and rode again. We had fun

Next was Dinosaur, there was a 60 minute wait, so we picked up a fast pass for 2:00pm and stood in line to ride, it took 45 minutes and the ride was fun, we made faces for the picture, when the ride ended it was 2:01 and we headed for the fast pass line, and rode again.

 

[dgbg100106]

Then we headed back to the resort, the bus came about 5 minutes after standing there for the short ride back and we came up to the CL lounge and our room was ready.

We dropped off the luggage and picked up snacks.

 

[dgbg100106]

We only had a couple of animals in view, Ostrich, Giraffe, Zebras, Crowned Crane, and the Kudu.

We relaxed for a little bit and tried to figure out what we were going to do and we decided to wait for the finger foods and then head to EPCOT. So at 5 they brought the food out, we picked up some cheeses and beer and some finger foods. We sat on the porch and watched some of the animals; we had Zebra’s, Giraffe’s and Eland’s. The 5 country cheddar cheese was wonderful, the humus was great.

 

[dgbg100106]

We walked down to catch the bus to EPCOT and 5:30 and went straight to the Festival Center.

We picked up a Banner Bag for the America Pavilion, which has the Crawfish and flur de lay and Pin and a Gift Card to purchase the food and drinks.

As we left the festival center we passed the 15 beers for 15 years first, and decided to pass on that this time around. The first country we got to was New Zealand,

and we tried the Seared Sea Scallop with Vegetable Slaw and Lemon Oil, the onions in the slaw were very raw and very strong, so overpowering. The scallop was cooked perfectly and seasoned lightly and it was huge, 3 inches in diameter. We also had the Lamb Slider with Tomato Chutney, The lamb was cooked perfectly and seasoned perfectly, the bun was hard, almost old tasting and the Chutney was way too sweet, we scrapped it off, just too sweet.

The next country was Greece.

We had the Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki, cooked perfectly, the bread was soft and fluffy and the sauce was so good, I mean very good.

Next we hit the Charcuterie & Cheese booth,

we had the Nueske’s Charcuterie Plate with Applewood smoked beef, Duck and Ham, the ham was the best, it was not salty at all, it was good, the beef was a little salty to us and the Duck was very bland, almost no taste at all. Then we had Cheese Fondue with Croutons and Roasted Potatoes, the potatoes we purple and yellow, and roasted wonderfully. The croutons were very soft and white bread. The Fondue was very strong, maybe a mix of Swiss and something else, but it was very strong, I would not recommend to someone.

Canada was the next stop;

we had the Maple-Glazed Salmon with Lentil Salad. First, the salmon was perfect, seasoned perfect, and cooked perfectly. Wished that was the whole dish. The lentil’s were very sweet and tangy, maybe the sweet was from the maple syrup but the combo was not good.

we stopped to listen to the Canada Rock Band for awhile, they were really good.

Ireland was next;

we had the Lobster and Scallop Fisherman’s Pie, and the Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Bailey’s Irish Crème Ganache. The Fisherman’s pie was very hot…. Burning your mouth hot. The Lobster was very think, about 1.5 inches cubed inside the pie and we had two pieces and there was something in the sauce like Nutmeg, it was different but good like you had to keep eating it (David licked the bowl). The cake was oh so good, like melt in your mouth and the sauce was wonderful, we licked the plate.

We came back to the resort, had a drink and dessert in the lounge.

Then crashed in the bed and slept all night long.

 

[vllygrrl]

Oh yay, you're posting! I was hoping I'd get to see some of your pictures before we leave....tonight!

Looks like you had a great time - I'm looking forward to our first AKL CL experience!

 

[wendypooh]

Brandi - everything looks great!!!!!! Can't wait for more!!

 

[John's Mom]

Great start! You shouldn't worry about posting too many pictures! The more, the better!

Kathy