05/05/2013: OHANA MEANS FAMILY
We decided to make it a bit of a lazy morning today we were all pretty tired, and the girls didnt arrive back until around 3am after the run.
By the way, they had a great time at the EE Challenge last night! It was a mixture of solving clues and with tackling obstacles along a 5k route. There were lots of CMs along the way cheering everyone on, and a bunch of characters too they said they were pretty much the fastest character meets ever! A great experience though!! They were in the last group to be set off for the race as they had picked the slowest run time beforehand, meaning that they didnt end up finishing until around midnight. They then had a great time doing some of AK in the dark, especially Expedition Everest. They topped off all their hard work with a McDonalds at 3am! Their medals looked amazing; you could open them up and they had a compass inside!
I woke up around 9am this morning, but the others were still out for the count. I started to get ready whilst the others woke up and decided theyd spend a little down time next to the pool this morning. As appealing as that sounded (plus it was sunny for the first morning in a while!), my foot was still a mess and I decided Id have to finally make the journey to the pharmacy.
I caught a bus to DTD and then a Lynx bus to the area just past the Crossroads and walked to Walgreens. I ended up buying so many various dressings and tapes that I could pretty much open up my own first aid station now! I also managed to pick up some Neutrogena make-up that I cant buy here in the UK, and some flavoured cigariilos for my Mum. I also stupidly bought four big bottles of Gatorade and iced tea. D'oh! These were super heavy in my rucksack. Funny that! When I started making my way back I realised that I had just missed a bus, so decided to keep on walking from Crossroads straight back to DTD. It wasnt the longest of walks, but boy did it feel like it now the sun was out! I decided to drink one of my Gatorades to lighten the load and because I was parched I felt like I was training for the army or something, marching along with a heavy rucksack on my back! I also managed to acquire another blister. Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh! It seems that any shoes I own are not made for walking more than 20 minutes in! I vowed that I will never come to Florida without a car in the future!
Not a bad job, even if I say so myself! It definitely helped!
Finally, I got to DTD, and again had just missed a bus to OKW. Whilst I waited for another I managed to devour half a family bag of cheese Bugles that I had also picked up from the shop! I sat next to a group on the bus; it looked like they had not long arrived as they asked me about the bus route when we pulled into OKW. We all got off the bus at South Point, and they continued walking next to me as I walked to the back towards building 55
were they following me haha?! We jokingly commented that this was too weird, as we ended up being in rooms next to each other!
I arrived back at around 12.30 and saw that the girls were still by the pool. That morning, when we woke up, we all decided that wed go to DTD that afternoon. Now that the girls were comfortable in the sun though, they werent sure if they wanted to leave. Tanya and I decided that we craved an Earl of Sandwich too much however and we headed back to the room for her to get changed. Emma also quickly changed her mind and decided shed come with us. Not many people can resist an Earl
! Jo however, is just too much of a sun worshipper!
We caught a bus to DTD and headed straight to EoS I decided I should try something new, and went for the holiday sandwich (turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberries) it was gurrrrrrrd! Where's the drooling smiley?!
I also had some potato salad and a cherry Coke. I wasnt sure if it was due to the thick, creamy potato salad and the super sweetness of the cherry coke over here or whether it was due to the fact that I had eaten so many cheesey Bugles a couple of hours earlier, but I was only able to manage half my sandwich. Shock horror
- that is inheard of for me!!! I wrapped the remaining half, and decided itd make a good breakfast tomorrow morning.
After lunch we did a spot of shopping. First was the Memories/Art of
Disney store; when I was here a couple of years back I remembered them selling some really nice pens which I thought would be nice to get, what with starting a new job and all. Tanya also wanted to visit her friend who now worked here. We were both out of luck however Tanyas friend was on break and the pens were no longer in this shop. I had to take a photo of this though (my Mam enjoys painting, and painted a copy of the original Girl with a Pearl Earring for an exhibition)
The Daisy version
and Johannes Vermeers original
Not too dissimilar!
Next we headed to the pantry shop
when I get my own place, I will be spending a lot of money in here on future trips! I want
all the kitchenware! I loved the coffee range, and ended up buying a container of around ten pots of differently flavoured Disney coffees. Since returning home, Ive already made my way through the coconut crème and caramel toffee flavours
.mmmm! They are very good and smell gorgeous! Next to try is the cinnamon pecan flavour Ill report back!
I was also about to buy the ceramic coffee mug that was insulated like a travel mug and with a plastic lid. However, Tanya told me that during her program, when stocking these mugs in the shop, she noticed that the rubber seals kept popping off the top so that the lid was not watertight. Phew - this made me decide not to buy the mug. I had bought a different travel mug at Disney in 2011 and started using it to drink coffee on my drive to work. I always used to get dribbles of it down my tops and at first thought I was just being a messy puppy and considered investing in a bib
. Eventually, I realised that the threads in the mugs lid had worn slightly after a few uses, and the coffee was coming through the seal and down my top. I wasnt going to splash out on another mug for the same thing to happen
Ill get a reputation as a dribbler! People already think Im weird without having stains all down my shirts!
We headed over to Trend-D next Im so glad that I was never a CM working here, as Im sure I would have spent all my wages before the end of a shift! We also bumped into Nick whilst he was working. He looked very authoritative and managerial in his shirt and tie and various phones and beepers on his belt he didnt get the third degree from me this time around though! (I've also just found out that he's been offered a full-time position as a Leader after his Professional Internship program ends - great news!) After a quick chat, we headed over to the World of Disney and had a good look around.
We ended up at the jewellery counter (as usual!) some of those earrings cost over $4500
. One day my friends, one day! I then picked up the bits and bobs that I needed to get for people back at home: a gift for my friend Michelle to thank her for lending me her underwater camera, some postcards for my Disney friends back at home who unfortunately couldnt make this trip with us, and some sweets and biscuits for my cousins and grandparents. I also found the nice pens that I had been looking for I decided on the perfect pen, it was all sparkly and shiny and I loved it! However, it didnt have a pocket clip on it, and I knew Id probably lose it after one day on the job! Pens are a commodity on the hospital wards you know! I left it for now and decided Id buy one the next time I returned to WDW in a few years. Instead, I opted for your standard big Mickey head pen no one could get away with stealing that one from me
!
The afternoon had just flown by, but we were back at OKW for around 5pm.
We had reservations at Ohana this evening, and planned on going into MK afterwards for Extra Magic Hours. We got ready and headed to the bus stop. Emma suddenly remembered that we were doing MK tonight, but couldnt possibly do so in her current dress. She ran back to get changed, but of course in this time, an MK bus turned up which we were hoping to catch. She got back but luckily we didnt have to wait too long for another to arrive. We hobbled to the monorail, and again ended up stopping twice in the middle of the tracks for traffic clearance. We were making a habbit of this! We eventually made it to the Poly, and checked in at 7:15, so just a teeny bit late. Phew!
We noticed that in our car in the monorail, there were two older men who were talking about hoping to eat at Ohana this evening but without a reservation. They ended up being infront of us in the line at check-in and we heard the CM turning them away. A lady behind us in the line also overheard this and interrupted to tell them that as luck would have it, two members of their party were no longer able to make dinner at Ohana this evening so they were welcome to fill in those two spaces and have dinner with her and her family! Theyd obviously never met before, and this was just so sweet! Only in America!
It didnt take long for us to get called in, and we were all in awe at the restaurant especially when the hostess mentioned this was practically like a meat buffet but we didnt have to get up to get our food; it would just be brought to us! Perfection - all the makings of a great restaurant! We sat down and before we'd even spied the drinks menu, we had already decided on four Lapu Lapus. We also ordered some soft drinks, and soon after the appetisers arrived.
We now tucked into the bread Jo and I were impressed! Coconut and pineapple, are two of my favourite flavours. And who on Earth doesnt like bread?!
Therefore, three for three! Tanya and Emma were not so keen
The appetiser also included salad, honey-coriander chicken wings and pork fried dumplings. The chicken was very sticky and messy (which is in no way a bad thing!!), and we were really greatful for the hot hand towels. Thats when we realised that we hadnt used our hand towels at the Spirit of Aloha dinner show the other evening we had definitely been doing something wrong there then! My guess is eating ribs with a knife and fork haha
Both the chicken and the dumplings were good. I didnt have a favourite when it came down to taste, but overall I slightly preferred the pork dumplings purely due to the fact that they were easier to eat!
Next was the meat. Oh the meat! So much meat! Again, never a bad thing! Mr Atkins would have been proud tonight haha! First the prawns arrived, then the chicken, then the steak and followed lastly by the pork. This was all accompanied by noodles and stir fried vegetables. I was surprised by how much I'd managed to escape fries this trip! My favourite out of this lot was definitely the prawns. Possibly due to having so much meat over the past week, but they were soooo good irrespective of that! The pork was also gorgeous, but it came at the point where I had eaten so much of the other stuff that I couldnt squeeze it in! I of course managed to have a taste though!
Bethys tip for Ohana:
pace yourself. You dont know is going to turn up next!
Prawns, noodles and veggies
Continued in the next post...