Gotta Perfect That Hula - A July 2010 PTR - UPDATED 8/3 - I STARTED THE TR!!!!

[dawnbu40]

If you love mashed potatos you must try the ones at Wolfgang Puck Express! Caitlin them and has withdrawal between trips


Love the Ohana pics! My favorite dessert in all of WDW is their bread pudding! That stuff is the best!

 

[wdwgirl03]

LOL, you know I am not a fan of those birds either. Maybe if people stopped feeding them they'd go away.

That picture near SM is crazy!

 

[Cat0727]

GREAT update! I am so obsessed with Disney food

You are going to love Le Cellier! I could make a meal out of their pretzel bread & cheddar cheese soup. 'Ohana looks really good, I haven't tried their dinner yet- been thinking about making an ADR there for when we go in November.

Oh my goodness, my sister LOVES that lemonade slushie in DHS! I can't remember the name of the place, either, but I am pretty sure it was at the beginning of Sunset Boulevard. I am running back to get one for myself next time, maybe I'll try the raspberry slush

yes and YES to EoS and Main Street Bakery! I really wish we had an EoS here in NY. Main Street Bakery's cinnamon roll is the best one I've ever had. I always devour the whole thing, it's heaven

 

[MarieTheCat24]

If you love mashed potatos you must try the ones at Wolfgang Puck Express! Caitlin them and has withdrawal between trips


Love the Ohana pics! My favorite dessert in all of WDW is their bread pudding! That stuff is the best!

Ooo I've heard lots of good things about Wolfgang Puck's Express. I definitely think I'll have to try it this year. And yes, the bread pudding is sooooo good. I always make sure to leave extra room for it, which is hard considering the actual meal is also sooooooooo good.

LOL, you know I am not a fan of those birds either. Maybe if people stopped feeding them they'd go away.

That picture near SM is crazy!

I know, right? And I don't know how whoever took that SM picture did it. The second I saw all of those birds camped out, I would have booked it in the opposite direction.

GREAT update! I am so obsessed with Disney food

You are going to love Le Cellier! I could make a meal out of their pretzel bread & cheddar cheese soup. 'Ohana looks really good, I haven't tried their dinner yet- been thinking about making an ADR there for when we go in November.

Oh my goodness, my sister LOVES that lemonade slushie in DHS! I can't remember the name of the place, either, but I am pretty sure it was at the beginning of Sunset Boulevard. I am running back to get one for myself next time, maybe I'll try the raspberry slush

yes and YES to EoS and Main Street Bakery! I really wish we had an EoS here in NY. Main Street Bakery's cinnamon roll is the best one I've ever had. I always devour the whole thing, it's heaven

See, that's what I'm afraid of about Le Cellier. I mean, I'll probably stuff myself with so much pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup that I won't be able to eat an entire entre. Maybe I'll just order a salad or something. And DEFINITELY make an 'Ohana reservation. You won't regret it.

And OMG I wish there was an Earl of Sandwich in Ohio. I also wish I was rich so that I could open one here. Maybe I'll have to start trying to talk rich people into franchising. I wonder if Oprah would be up for it? We could start a campaign to get the Earl in all 50 states. Hmm...

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

YUM!!!

I'm with you on the DDP. DH and I got in once on just a 4-day trip and we ended up with 5 CS credits left over!! Sometimes we just want to snack!! Or share a small meal and then snack!

You will love Le Cellier! The app and dessert are the most important part so don't worry about the entree!

THANK you for posting that picture of the cinnamon bun from the Main St. Bakery! I have NEVER eaten there before and it's totally on my list of July!!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

YUM!!!

I'm with you on the DDP. DH and I got in once on just a 4-day trip and we ended up with 5 CS credits left over!! Sometimes we just want to snack!! Or share a small meal and then snack!

You will love Le Cellier! The app and dessert are the most important part so don't worry about the entree!

THANK you for posting that picture of the cinnamon bun from the Main St. Bakery! I have NEVER eaten there before and it's totally on my list of July!!

You DEFINITELY need to eat at the Main St. Bakery. Definitely. It's so worth it. There's something so special about eating a giant pastry of your choice while watching the morning crowds make their way up Main St.

 

[irishdancer86]

can't wait to visit main street bakery! that cinnamon bun looks so good! DBF will probably try to restrain me as we have a 7am breakfast at chef mickey's but I think i could fit it in!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

can't wait to visit main street bakery! that cinnamon bun looks so good! DBF will probably try to restrain me as we have a 7am breakfast at chef mickey's but I think i could fit it in!

Go for it! Disney has a magical way of making sure that you have plenty of room to eat as much junk food as you want.

And a random side note to all of my lovely readers...

I don't know if any of y'all are sports fans, but the Cavs just got knocked out of the NBA playoffs and I am pretty sure that my hometown of Cleveland, OH is about to implode. I keep getting angry texts from friends. And my entire news feed on facebook consists of people's angry status updates. It's hilarious. I'm not really a big NBA fan (I'll stick to baseball and football - Go Indians! Go Browns! Go Buckeyes!) so the loss isn't really a big deal for me. But my goodness, I don't know if the city of Cleveland is still going to exist in the morning!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I can help with the Slushie locations. We are on the dining plan and I listed snack credits. Since it will be so hot, and my girls love slushies, I noted their locations. (I know. not. normal. I am okay with that.)

MK- Auntie Gravity's Tomorrowland
Sleepy Hollow Liberty Square
Enchanted Grove Fantasyland
Sunshine Tree Adventureland (rasp lemon slush)

Since you spoke about eating ice cream for dinner...have you been to Beaches and Cream? We are excited to try it. I too love Ohana, so that is the only place I would say is a must do! DH loves 1900 for breakfast, so that is the other I recommend (only if it is important for you to spend $$$ on breakfast. Using the DDP makes this okay for us.)

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I can help with the Slushie locations. We are on the dining plan and I listed snack credits. Since it will be so hot, and my girls love slushies, I noted their locations. (I know. not. normal. I am okay with that.)

MK- Auntie Gravity's Tomorrowland
Sleepy Hollow Liberty Square
Enchanted Grove Fantasyland
Sunshine Tree Adventureland (rasp lemon slush)

Since you spoke about eating ice cream for dinner...have you been to Beaches and Cream? We are excited to try it. I too love Ohana, so that is the only place I would say is a must do! DH loves 1900 for breakfast, so that is the other I recommend (only if it is important for you to spend $$$ on breakfast. Using the DDP makes this okay for us.)

Your girls are AWESOME for loving slushies. And you are AWESOME for making that list! I didn't know that they sold Raspberry Lemonade slushies in the Magic Kingdom, so thank you for letting me know! I will definitely be getting one.

And I haven't been to Beaches and Cream yet, but I definitely want to try it. I've been trying to talk my family into getting the Kitchen Sink for years now. Maybe this year I'll finally be successful.

I've always wanted to try 1900 Park Fare(the pictures of their breakfast look delicious and I really want to try the Strawberry Soup), but I'm not really a breakfast person while at the World. I usually just eat a poptart while getting ready, or stop and get a pastry when we get to the parks. It's funny because at home breakfast foods are pretty much my favorite thing ever. I'm addicted to omelets and hashbrowns. But at WDW we're usually rushing to get to the parks, so we don't have time to stop and enjoy a sit-down breakfast.

 

[Nermel9]

See, that's what I'm afraid of about Le Cellier. I mean, I'll probably stuff myself with so much pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup that I won't be able to eat an entire entre. Maybe I'll just order a salad or something. And DEFINITELY make an 'Ohana reservation. You won't regret it.

And OMG I wish there was an Earl of Sandwich in Ohio. I also wish I was rich so that I could open one here. Maybe I'll have to start trying to talk rich people into franchising. I wonder if Oprah would be up for it? We could start a campaign to get the Earl in all 50 states. Hmm...

I'm a little late, but I'm joining in, love your PTR so far!

You can NOT go to Le Cellier and just order a salad!!!! It's just not right...I have the same problem when I go there, I have to have the cheddar cheese soup and they can't just place breadsticks on the table in front of me and have me NOT eat them. So by the time I get my steak, I'm pretty much full...but everything there is SO good, trust me, you will find room for more! Just make sure you don't eat a few hours before going there!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I'm a little late, but I'm joining in, love your PTR so far!

You can NOT go to Le Cellier and just order a salad!!!! It's just not right...I have the same problem when I go there, I have to have the cheddar cheese soup and they can't just place breadsticks on the table in front of me and have me NOT eat them. So by the time I get my steak, I'm pretty much full...but everything there is SO good, trust me, you will find room for more! Just make sure you don't eat a few hours before going there!

Thanks for joining!!

And I know what you mean, so I'll probably end up ordering a steak. I mean, I am not one to turn down a good steak (and potatoes) so watching other people eat steak would KILL me. I'll just have to pace myself. And not plan to ride anything intense for a few hours after the meal...

 

[MarieTheCat24]

Meeeeeemory. All alone in the mooooonlight.

Ok, self. No more singing show tunes. Especially songs from Cats. I highly doubt that the readers want to hear them. But you guys should know that I do love me some musical theater. I grew up listening to the music from Annie and The Sound of Music. Which I adore. Actually, I more than adore it. I just hope my daughter doesn’t hate me when I name her Liesl. Or Brigitta. But seriously, I love musicals. “Defying Gravity” is my go-to shower song. I was obsessed with Hairspray long before Zac Efron made it cool. And I’m not going to lie, I burst out into “Jesus Christ Superstar” far more often than is socially acceptable.

Okay. Where was I? Oh, right…Memories.

I thought I’d use this update to share with you some of my random Disney memories. It’s about time I shared them with people who “get it”. I mean, I’m sure you’ve all had that experience where you’re all excited to tell everyone you know about the HILARIOUS things that happened to you at WDW, but then when you actually tell them, they don’t respond nearly the way you want them to. Because they honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Or they just don’t care all that much about how funny it was when you tripped over Tigger’s foot. But you guys would think it’s funny. Because you “get it”.

So I’m going to tell you. And you will all laugh hysterically. Or at least pretend that you’re laughing hysterically. There’s no way for me to know that it’s fake. And I don’t mind having my ego stroked every once in a while.

So here it goes…

We’ll start with one of my FAVORITE memories from last July. We were at ‘Ohana, stuffing our faces, and just enjoying a nice relaxing meal together as a family. But shortly after our waiter brought over the meats on the giant skewers, hilarity ensued.

There was a family sitting at the table next to us. They had a couple of younger children – one was young enough to require a high chair. For the most part, the kids were really well behaved. They were quietly enjoying their meals. And it was adorable watching the youngest one eat some of the Asian noodles out of a little plastic bowl that the parents had brought along.

It looked kind of like one of these-

Anyway, our waiter had brought our main course, so we were all hard at work trying to devour as much of it as we could. Then, out of nowhere, that little plastic bowl came flying in the direction of our table, hitting my unsuspecting mother on the head. I completely lost it. From my spot at the table, I saw the entire thing happen and it was just too funny. You know how in movies whenever something is about to spill, they do it in slow motion? Well, I felt like I was watching the whole thing happen in slow motion.

The parents felt terrible and were apologizing over and over to my mom, who just laughed the whole thing off. Thankfully, the bowl was empty when it took flight, so it’s not like anything was ruined. She was a little surprised though, which was to be expected. I mean, not many people go out to restaurants expecting to get hit in the head with a flying plastic bowl.

So after a few more laughs, we got back to our meal. Looking back at the whole experience still makes me laugh, though. I mean, who ever thought that something that happened during a meal at ‘Ohana would end up being more memorable than the actual meal? That food is GOOD. It’s hard to top it in the memorable department. But apparently all it took was a little plastic bowl.

Another one of my favorite memories from last July happened here:

I’m kind of a MAJOR Idol junkie. I’ve barely missed an episode since the show started. It’s horrible, and frankly I need to stop watching. But I. Just. Can’t. No matter how hard I try, every Tuesday night at 8:00 I park my butt on the couch to watch. And it doesn’t help that Glee is on right after. I figure if I’m going to be watching Glee anyway, I might as well watch Idol. And you know the obsession is BAD when I really don’t like any of the contestants left this season, but I still watch. I told my mom I would stop watching after Tim got eliminated, but that hasn’t happened. And yes, before you all ask, I DID vote for Tim Urban. Was he the best singer? No. But he sure was entertaining to watch. And I felt bad because of the way the judges were handling him. I mean, grading his performances on a special “Tim Scale”? Real mature, Randy, real mature.

Ok. Idol rant over.

So, I was really excited to finally get to see the live show at MGM. And it didn’t disappoint. We spent 2 days at MGM, and I’m pretty sure I sat through at least 5 of the shows. I’m just a sucker for anything related to that stupid show. And it didn’t hurt that one of my celeb crushes and last season’s winner, Kris Allen (and of course he’s married – boo!!) was featured heavily during a couple of the shows I saw.

Anyway, hilarity ensued during one of the evening “finale” shows. For those of you who have never been to the American Idol Experience, before the actual singing portion of the show starts, there’s an actor who comes out to pump up the crowd and explain how the show (voting, etc.) works. They play Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” and Mr. Warm-Up Guy has the audience clapping and swaying along.

However, during this particular finale show, Mr. Warm-Up Guy went out of his way to really interact with the audience. There was a family of at least 20 people sitting down the row from us wearing matching lime green t-shirts. (Side Note: I just happened to be wearing my lime green Ohio State t-shirt at the time…I almost asked to switch places with some guy so that I could join the family. HAHA) Mr. Warm-Up Guy noticed them immediately, and we soon learned that they were the Greenhorn family and they were at WDW for a family reunion. Mr. Warm-Up Guy was talking with the grandfather and he was absolutely hilarious.

Seeing the opportunity for comedic gold, Mr. Warm-Up Guy gave “Papa Greenhorn” a special job. If one of the judges gave one of the contestants a harsh critique, Papa Greenhorn was supposed to stand up and yell out, “What you talkin’ about, Judges?” Mr. Warm-Up Guy made us practice a few times and it was hilarious. We were all just hoping that Papa Greenhorn would get the chance to deliver during the actual performance.

So the show starts, our host, Not!RyanSeacrest, does his best Ryan Seacrest impersonation, the first contestant comes out to sing. She does an ok job. “Randy” and “Paula” are kind to her, but then “Simon” criticizes the performance. Right on cue, Papa Greenhorn stands up and shouts out his line. The whole place breaks out into hysterical laughter. “Simon” had no idea that would happen, so even he was laughing. It was amazing.

So the show continues, the next contestant does well and all of the judges praise her. The third contestant was a little rough, so when “Randy” starts to criticize, Papa Greenhorn stands right up and yells out his line again. It was even funnier than the first time because people didn’t really think he’d do it again. “Simon” jokingly tells him to sit down and stay out of it.

The next time the judges start to criticize a contestant, Papa isn’t as quick to deliver. So the entire audience starts chanting, “PA-PA! PA-PA!” to get him to say his line. It was the funniest thing ever. Even my sister, who at first really didn’t want to be there because she would much rather have been riding the Tower of Terror, was laughing hysterically. I was literally crying I was laughing so hard.

I am eternally grateful that Papa Greenhorn wasn’t afraid of being silly, because that Idol show was one of the most memorable moments of our trip. Take note all you uptight WDW vacationers. You’ll have the most fun if you just let yourself loosen up a bit.

And also, I think we can all agree that the shows at WDW are even more fun if you luck out and wind up with an audience willing to play along. For instance, my FAVORITE ever experience in the Country Bear Jamboree happened during the Evening EMHs when a group of college-aged guys were loudly clapping and singing along. They got the whole crowd into it, and it was so much fun. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have been known to get the crowd clapping at the end of the Tiki Room. I just can’t resist.

Another one of my favorite Disney memories also happened at MGM. In this case, we were waiting to see Block Party Bash on Hollywood Boulevard. It was REALLY hot out and very sunny.

Here’s a picture I took of the sky. As you can see, it was really nice out.

My mom and sister found a bench while my dad and I went to get some drinks. Imagine our surprise when we returned only to find them sitting on the bench surrounded by little plastic traffic cones. One of the police officer Streetmosphere characters was “patrolling” and was determined to keep them safe. He even “questioned” me and my dad before we were allowed within the designated area. It was really funny. I’m really upset that we don’t have pictures of this. They were on my dad’s camera and got lost in the aforementioned Great Computer Crash of August 2008.

Eventually he moved on and more of the Streetmosphere characters stopped by. While we were enjoying their performances, the weather started to change. A good old Florida summer storm was brewing. The sky started to darken, and it got really windy. Like, REALLY windy. So windy that a huge chunk of bark flew off of one of the palm trees and landed right in front of one of the characters.

In this pic, you can see just how dark it started to get.

So, this huge piece of bark had fallen and these guys, being as good at improv as they are, ran with it. They picked it up and over-dramatically exclaimed that it could have killed them. Then, one of the actors realized just what the fallen bark looked like…

A corset.

We were all dying. They were just so funny about it. And they never put the darn thing down for the rest of their performance. Someone was always “wearing” it. And they were constantly asking the other characters if they liked their new fashion trends. When they all lined up to “march” out before BPB started, the actress in blue wore it. I can only imagine what the other people lining the streets who hadn’t seen the whole thing happen were thinking as this crazy woman marched down the street holding a piece of bark to her chest.

So these are some of my favorite WDW memories. They're kind of random, but when I sat down to try and think of what to put in my next update, these stories kept popping into my head.

Thanks for reading! And I hope that you're all having a WONDERFUL day!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

OMG, I am not kidding, we must've had the same "pump up guy" because we had someone have an audience member shout out "WHAT'CHU TALKING ABOUT JUDGE?!" too. hahaha that was great.

I am such an Idol junkie too. That was lame of them to judge Tim on the Tim scale. I am rooting for Lee though. And I actually kind of liked Aaron too. SOOO cool that he actually got his start at the AIE! Can you imagine if you saw him perform there and then saw him on the show?! Crazy!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

OMG, I am not kidding, we must've had the same "pump up guy" because we had someone have an audience member shout out "WHAT'CHU TALKING ABOUT JUDGE?!" too. hahaha that was great.

I am such an Idol junkie too. That was lame of them to judge Tim on the Tim scale. I am rooting for Lee though. And I actually kind of liked Aaron too. SOOO cool that he actually got his start at the AIE! Can you imagine if you saw him perform there and then saw him on the show?! Crazy!

OMG. No way!!! That's so funny.

And yeah, I like Lee. I really liked his performance on Sinatra night. And when he sang Hey Jude with the bagpiper. It was so ridiculous that it was awesome. And Crystal is obviously really good, but she isn't really my style. My favorites from the whole season were Didi (I might have done some bad things to get a copy of her singing Terrified in some Access Hollywood video after she got eliminated ) and Alex Lambert and Katelyn Epperly. When those two got eliminated right before the Top 12, I threatened to quit watching...but of course never did Oh, and I really liked Siobhan's performance of Paint It Black, but then I never really liked any of her other ones. But yeah, I mean, all of these contestants have had their moments, but I'm just not CRAZY about them like I have been about previous season's contestants. *cough*KrisAllen&JasonCastro*cough*

And yeah, that was really cool that Aaron got his start at the AIE. Next season I'm definitely going to be looking for this one girl who won the Finale show last July. I can't remember her name, but she was 18 and REALLY good. I'd totally recognize her if I saw her. I hope she uses her Front of the Line Pass and actually tries out, because as an experienced Idol viewer(that sounds so snobby...maybe I should audition for Simon's seat on the Judging panel), I really think she could do well.

 

[dawnbu40]

I love all your funny memories! It sounds like your family has a lot of fun together!

As for American Idol....we Tim too! He wasn't the best singer but made up for it in charisma! Caitlin and I are totally rooting for him to end up on the Disney channel or a Disney movie. We think he could be the next Zac E

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I love all your funny memories! It sounds like your family has a lot of fun together!

As for American Idol....we Tim too! He wasn't the best singer but made up for it in charisma! Caitlin and I are totally rooting for him to end up on the Disney channel or a Disney movie. We think he could be the next Zac E

Exactly! I mean, he's an attractive guy with a passable voice...he could totally succeed on the Disney Channel. He's already got "the slide" down. Plus, he just seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and he handled all of the criticism so well. I'd love to see him do well in the entertainment industry.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Oh, such fun!! I love random Disney World memories. The best stuff is always the things you don't plan for. I love Streetmosphere. They are the best part of MGM, IMO.

And I'm right there with you on the show tunes although I only know Defying Gravity from last season on Glee but Annie is one of my all time favorites and I had to explain to my in-laws just last night after watching a commercial with the song "I am 16 going on 17" all about Liesl and Rolfe and how he delivered telegrams so he could see her but then he sold them out in the end. All they wanted to know was what that song was from...

 

[MarieTheCat24]

Oh, such fun!! I love random Disney World memories. The best stuff is always the things you don't plan for. I love Streetmosphere. They are the best part of MGM, IMO.

And I'm right there with you on the show tunes although I only know Defying Gravity from last season on Glee but Annie is one of my all time favorites and I had to explain to my in-laws just last night after watching a commercial with the song "I am 16 going on 17" all about Liesl and Rolfe and how he delivered telegrams so he could see her but then he sold them out in the end. All they wanted to know was what that song was from...

They ARE the best part of MGM. I love that MGM gives you that old Hollywood feel. Having these hilarious police officers, public works department guys, directors, talent scouts, aspiring actors, and established actors stolling around helps immerse you in that era even more.

I saw that commercial last night and had the song stuck in my head for hours. And I'm totally the same way. I can't just be like "Oh, the song is from so and so." I HAVE to give an in-depth plot description, even when the person I'm talking to doesn't want to hear it. Because they SHOULD know. I mean, The Sound of Music, for instance, is a classic. EVERYONE should know about Liesl and Rolfe's love story. And that's the know-it-all, Rachel Berry from Glee in me coming out.

 

[Nicole786]

Great memories!! And FYI i am addicted to Wicked!! Love that show!!