I Got Work to Pay for My Disney Vacation! w/PICS - COMPLETE 11/21 - Last Hoorah at WL

[NorweJenNY]

Thanks for sharing!!!!

You're welcome!!!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Animal Kingdom Shows!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We've been to the Animal Kingdom many times before, but for some reason, we never saw Festival of the Lion King.

This trip, it was time. I really didn't know what to expect because I knew there were a lot of "human" characters... kinda dressed like animals, but clearly not meant to look as animal like as a Mickey or a Donald. I was trying to figure out if there would be a recognizable Simba and what he'd do.

Well, if you haven't been there before, Simba is there...

So are some of his friends...

But they kinda remain on the sidelines.

Still, it was a pretty good show... a lot of circus type acts, as well as audience interaction.

This guy was a great narrator/host...

He had a really deep James Earl Jones kinda voice... he's meant to do something like this!

There were acrobats and dancers doing all sorts of neat stuff too...

And this guy made me feel like I got a little taste of the Spirit of Aloha dinner show... (only cheaper )

They had kids parading around at one point, and one actor/acrobat/"human animal" (whatever you call them) made a special effort to wheel around a child that was confined to a wheelchair. I thought that was sweet!

And the show ends with a good photo opportunity (they pause with decent lighting and lots of colorful costumes)...

Of course, this is not the only show we did. We have a previous favorite, Finding Nemo: The Musical...

 

[NorweJenNY]

The only thing left on our list of what we had to do before we left AK was Finding Nemo.

It wasn't easy to rush over there though. The boys were kinda tired...

See what I mean?

We weren't going to wake them up and get on line, so we let them sleep and decided to wait for the next show.

Whaddaya know... they kept sleeping. Good thing for the stroller! They were completely out! We strolled them over to the Nemo show where the line was growing. Of course forget the fact that there was perfectly useable stroller parking space a bit closer... no the CMs said we couldn't go "over the line" so we had to keep walking further and further from the line. Then hubby decided he needed to make a pit stop. I figured I'd let the boys keep sleeping until hubby got back. It finally started taking so long and the show was gonna start in about 25 minutes, so I finally woke the boys. It was hard, but I had to if we were going to get in the line.

So finally hubby gets back as I'm just getting them out of the stroller. We finally walk way back to where the line was, and we stand in the blazing heat for several minutes. Soon the line starts moving. Great! Air conditioning, please!

A few minutes later we get a CM waving his arms saying, there's no more room in this show, and the next show is 4:00.



There were SOOOO many people, some in front of us, and quite a bunch behind us. WHY did they not cut off the line at a certain point? WHY did the CMs let us keep forming a longer and longer line... telling us to park our strollers way down there... and all that, if the line was at a point of far too many people?

I was ticked off! And I had woken up my sleepy kids for this?!?!

We tried to make the most of it... headed to Dinoland USA. The boys hadn't been before, but they were now "getting into" dinosaurs. There was a short wait for Triceratop Spin, so went on line.

Guess what... it was our turn and Little Guy decided he didn't want to go! It was like Dumbo, which he wanted to ride... but no, not the dinosaur? I don't think I'll ever figure him out. So I went on with Big Guy while hubby and Little Guy watched.

We browsed some toy stands and made a pit stop... and we sat in the shade of the giant dinosaur to let some time pass.

Finally, when it was about 50 minutes to show time, we decided to get in line for the next Nemo show, as we were not going to miss that one!

We had to wait some more, but fortunately we had some toys and water spray bottles to help pass the time and keep us cool.

Finally, we got inside... and waited some more. It was already show time, and Little Guy says, "I have to go potty."



So hubby took him, and fortunately he was able to get back in the theater just as the show started... which was like 10 minutes late.

At least we had pretty good seats... good for snapping pictures (without a flash of course, which can be challenging).

Sure, it was a pain to get into the show, but we love it! It was worth it! We just know that we're going to be on line for it 45 minutes in advance next time, because we're not going to wait on two separate lines again!

Needless to say, once the show was over, we were done... we left and headed back to Port Orleans...

The first stop was French Quarter, and we decided to get off to try their food court... and beignets, of course.

You can read about our dinner experience in our dining review.

A brief synopsis: great options, fabulous ribs, not particularly busy, & pleasant short walk to the boat afterward.

We took the boat back to POR. It was a nice way to end the evening. Both boys like boats... yes, even Little Guy, thankfully!

So I would be back to some workshops in the morning, but we'd have some fun at Magic Kingdom the next afternoon/evening with a special Polynesian dinner in the middle...

Stay tuned...

 

[NorweJenNY]

Our Fam, Our Plan, & My Cam

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Long morning... even into the afternoon... and I didn't get lunch even as it was nearing 2:00. Off to DTD!

On the way, I called hubby who said I could take my time getting back to them because the boys were napping... in the room this time.

Well, I walked around a bit, thought I might try Characters in Flight... but it is apparently a good walk from the Marketplace... so part way there I decided my tummy just couldn't wait for food any more. So I snapped a few pictures on my way to lunch...

Ahh... lunch...

I had a few bites, but took it to go. I had a fam that was waiting for me after all! Even if the boys were sleeping, hubby and I could at least catch up a bit, right?

I get back to POR with my All American, no tomatoes, in hand. My KTTW card doesn't work in the door!

I knock... and I wait... and I knock... and I wait... I call hubby's cell... and I wait... no answer... and finally, not wanting to be too loud and wake the boys, I decide I had to get out of the heat... so I went over to Riverside Mill. I refilled my mug (good thing I had that with me!) and ate my All American, no tomatoes, as it now approached 3:00.

Finally, hubby gives me a call back... he had been in the bathroom, his phone was on vibrate so he didn't know I had called... ugh... anyway, the boys were up and they would be waiting for me back at the room.

I got back to the room to meet up with my fam, and we headed toward the bus... to the Magic Kingdom. Guess what? It was pulling in as we were walking up! Sweet!

On the bus, my fam came up with a plan!

Straight to the Main Street Train Station, take that to Toontown Fair, and have fun there, gradually working our way back through Tomorrowland, until we have to leave for our 7:00 ADR at 'Ohana.

Let's pause for a brief explanation with my boys and Chip N Dale. Big Guy really wanted Chip & Dale at his birthday dinner originally, and I told him I'd try to find them some where... well, we planned on an ADR at Garden Grill, but ended up cancelling that. So no Chip N Dale. Little Guy suddenly fell in love with them when he met them at the Epcot Character Spot last year... he hugged them and wouldn't let go!

Back to our story... straight to Main Street Train Station... NOPE! Chip N Dale were out! I mean before you even get through the tunnel to Main Street... so much for the plan! So we stopped to take pictures with two giant rodents... after waiting on a line of course...

But we now had extra happy boys... and hot boys! Up to the train we went... look at how exhausted Little Guy looked when we finally sat on the train!

This was before we were even walking around... and after he had a good nap... exhaustion due to the summer FL heat alone!

He was ok though by the time we got to Toon Town. They played on the playground (even though the sign said for children up to age 5... doh! Big Guy was 5 just a few days ago, so we let him go with his brother anyway )

I grabbed some water and a frozen lemonade from the first refreshment stand I found... and we shared them around.

Here's what's available there in Toon Town...

Big Guy and I went to Goofy's Barnstormer.

Here we are crashing through the barn...

Of course, Little Guy was too scared for even this kiddie coaster... had we done this one before he tried BTMRR, I think he might have actually liked it. Oh well!

We explored Donald's Boat...

And Mickey's & Minnie's Houses...

Found a few Hidden Mickey's too...

But it was getting closer to our ADR time, so we decided to leave Toon Town and try to do one more thing before we left.

How about the teacups? Both boys were in agreement... that's what we headed toward. It was in sight, when we suddenly saw a parade of yellow shirts and flags headed our way... doh! Brazillians! By the hundreds! A separate parade of green shirts also followed close behind!

Stay away from the teacups... stay away from the teacups... please!

Where'd the Brazilians go?

 

[NorweJenNY]

The Brazilians headed straight toward… ToonTown... phew!

We waited 10 minutes or less for the Mad Tea Party, and the boys took turns trying to start us spinning...

The boys make the cutest faces when we're on the teacups! Especially Little Guy... spinning is one sensation he has always thoroughly enjoyed! And spin we did! Just check out the blur behind us when hubby took over spinning our teacup...

We got our last ride before dinner... (and it's probably wise to do teacups before dinner... not after )

We avoided walking through Tomorrowland, since we were out of time, and made our way to the hub, exiting straight down Mainstreet to the monorail.

We pulled into the Polynesian and headed straight to...

We were 15-20 minutes early, and got one of those pager things. They were busy! And some poor lady asked about a walk-up... Hour and a half wait! With our ADR, we were told 20 min.

We split up and utilized the lavatories, making sure we had plenty of room for our dinner. We met up again, and after just another couple minutes, our pager went off.

In we went!

Now you can read more details of my food reviews in my dining report (see signature), but I'll give you a few teasers...

And I think we were all pleasantly full... and happy...

As we were eating, these storm clouds rolled through... we thought we'd be doomed when it was time to leave and then walk to the buses to get back to POR!

Well, fortunately, we finished dessert, got on the monorail, and found nothing but a few drips as we walked down the ramp.

We were at MK... and the storm, we figured, had probably scared some people into leaving the park for the night... so we made a last minute decision to skip the bus for now and go back into the MK!



Since we missed it before, we headed straight for Tomorrowland.

We were headed the opposite direction of the crowds! Everyone was finding a spot on Main Street for the evening parade and/or fireworks.

We walked right into the queue for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor

We love that show... every time! Especially since hubby discovered he would no longer be picked to play Sully or "that guy" if he remained closer to the back...

After, we were off to the boys' favorite...

I was with Little Guy this time... and he likes to spin around a lot... which left me missing lots of shots, getting a pathetic 5-digit score...

I'd be back!

We tried to get on Tomorrowland Speedway, but because of the risk of lightning in the area, the ride wasn't operating. Too bad... that's the one time of day (no sun) that I find it acceptable to ride that. Otherwise, it's toward the top of the list for the hottest & longest queue/ride in the park!

Oh well... hubby took Little Guy to... uh... some place... maybe it was the teacups again? I can't remember...

Meanwhile, I took Big Guy to find something... we hadn't done Winnie the Pooh yet... so we went!

The ride stopped right when we were in Pooh's dream sequence... the weird spot. We just sat... for several minutes... then started, went for about 5 seconds, and then stopped for several minutes again!

Hubby and Little Guy were going to be waiting for us, and I didn't have a cell signal in there! I wished that "can you hear me now" guy would attempt one of those commercials from inside Disney attractions!

Well, since I'm typing this now, you can guess we did survive our ordeal in the hunny pot...

It was just before the time for fireworks, so we thought we'd make a break for it to avoid the post-pyrotechnic display exodus.

We got to the bus stop... and finally had to wait several minutes for a bus... doh! Would we survive the 10 minutes? Yeah, we survived... off we went... POR... time for bed!

What a crazy long night to have before attempting a pre-rope drop arrival at DHS the next day! It was vacation... it was Disney... we did what we had to do!

Stay tuned for our adventures in DHS!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Feel free to post a few brief comments... I notice page 5 is getting quite full, and I've still got so many pictures to post!

 

[bballbabe]

I really enjoyed the pics. I don't think that I could have survived the summer heat & humidity down there. I'm in MD and I can't stand it.

 

[NorweJenNY]

I really enjoyed the pics. I don't think that I could have survived the summer heat & humidity down there. I'm in MD and I can't stand it.

If only I'd had more of a choice... (couldn't choose the time for my work conference... though if the organization had thought about Orlando in the summer, perhaps they should have reconsidered the time of year!)

Certain bus conditions do make you forget all about summer heat though! (Think North Pole! )

You do have to consider the heat, but Disney is a lot different then say, Six Flags (which we used to go to in NJ during the summer). A lot of these other places have much more outdoor-only rides with fewer escapes from the heat.

Disney does a pretty good job of providing more indoor attractions, air conditioned areas, or at least fans and shade in outdoor queues.

Attractions like Dumbo, Aladdin's Carpets, Tomorrowland Speedway... those are the attractions you want to do either first thing in the morning, before long lines and greater heat... or in the evening after the sun goes down... and the crowd levels drop too!

And there are always Dole Whips, Mickey Ice Cream Bars, Slushies, etc. to keep you cool... find an air conditioned restaurant in the hot afternoon to enjoy them and relaxed!

It's doable, but if at all possible, I'd like to avoid the mid-summer trips in the future! Off-season, here we come!

 

[Dizzymrslizzy]

loving your trip reports. Can't wait to start ours in 38 days

 

[NorweJenNY]

loving your trip reports. Can't wait to start ours in 38 days

Are we really starting ours in that many days? Like while we're there? Don't want to pay internet fees, but if you guys have a way... sure we can go live!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Toy Story Mania or Bust!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Two trips... yes, two trips... a combination of eight days in total at Disney World last year. We made repeated attempts at trying Toy Story Mania last May & June... either the line was two hours or there was no line because it was broken down... that's all that happened.

Well, this trip, we had one day as a family to try TSM. And the only way I could see doing it (without waiting on too long of a line), was by going to rope drop.

Would we make it? Especially with hubby not really being a morning person, we had to question it, but the buses were in our favor, and we arrived at The Studios with about 15 minutes to spare! We made our way through security, and through the turnstiles, and finally got to the insane crowds on Hollywood Blvd...

Insane just because everybody was there and no one was able to get very far... within a few minutes the show started... nothing too spectacular I admit... just those people who dress like their from old movies, and a little audience participation. But we weren't there for the actual show anyway, we were there for TSM!

As soon as the crowds were released... it was a stampede!

Ok, no it really wasn't...that's just what I feared, especially having young kids along... didn't want anyone getting trampled!

Actually, the CMs kept the crowds moving very orderly to their first destinations in the park. Of course, TSM is quite the popular attraction first thing in the morning... lots of people headed straight to the FastPass lines... that's right, lines. Long lines just to get Fast Passes... kinda defeats the purpose a bit, doesn't it?

Anyway, even with the 40 minute wait already posted at 9:07,

...we decided to head straight in. Hubby looked at me like I was crazy... 40 minutes? Already? Are we really doing this?

I just kept repeating, "it's not near a 40 minute wait yet... I assure you." I had done my research after all, and I was confident in the trip reports of fellow DISers.

We moved right through the queue, which was kinda nice, but kinda not. I wish I had more time to snap pictures! It was one of the most entertaining queues... and with tons of nostalgia!

I did get a few shots though. I loved the Scrabble ceiling! (I love Scrabble!)

And of course I had to get Mr. Potato Head too...

I must say, it was fun! We spun, but not too crazy, and it didn't spin at the whim of the child you're riding with...

And it was a new place (besides Buzz) where hubby and I could be competitive. I don't think my first score was too shabby, and even though I got a higher score then my son, I don't think Big Guy did too bad either...

Here Big Guy is...

Yes, 3D glasses, but of course Little Guy didn't care to wear them. He was a little iffy about the ride when we got off, but later in the day he did say he would go back to it... just probably without the glasses. For him, it's more of a ride than a game.

Of course we were through the exit, and the boys ran straight for the souvenir shop (which for this ride is actually across the way, not something you have to even enter). Little Guy added more to his birthday/Christmas wish list...

I guess Toy Story is something that all little boys (and girls) can easily get into... us big boys (and girls) can get into it very easily through rides like TSM and Buzz...

If wait times were not a problem, I would say that TSM is one ride in DHS that I could do over and over. I love Aerosmith, and I love Star Tours, but I think I still love TSM over both of these!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Ha! I almost forgot to mention...

Yes, indeed, DISboards advice was right...

Even at 9:07am, and a 40 minute wait posted at Toy Story Mania, walking right onto the Standby line took no more than about 15 minutes to get through.

I hear that people have had even 30 minute waits just to get a FastPass at times! If you really want to ride, I strongly suggest just skipping the FastPass as the first stop and just heading straight onto the ride via the Standby entrance.

 

[SnowWhite09]

I'm really enjoying reading your trip report - I can't wait to hear more!

 

[NorweJenNY]

I'm really enjoying reading your trip report - I can't wait to hear more!

I'm glad - and you will!

 

[NorweJenNY]

A quick vent before I continue the better aspects of my report...

So after my family was done with TSM, we went to the line for Voyage of the Little Mermaid (which we've never been to before), and we can't find the end of the line. More and more of these people just kept appearing...

Now, this is just a small sampling... by the time all of these Brazilians (hundreds, easily) had gotten through, our family was the last to enter the theater. And because this group was filling the theater, my family (who had even gotten to the line before this group was entirely there) ended up getting split up... me with Big Guy, hubby with Little Guy... and we couldn't even see each other because we were so far apart!

Seriously... with such a large group, they could've let our little family of 4 squeeze into the line that kept growing... it wasn't even like there were other families around! It was just us, waiting for this group that just kept increasing with more of the same outfits running over.

Grrrr.... tired of these over-sized groups... why counldn't they split up into groups of maybe 20 or less? Why did they always have to be parading around by the hundreds?

 

[NorweJenNY]

More From Disney's Hollywood Studios - Not the Place for Preschoolers

Thursday, July 16, 2009

So we got through our separation fiasco at Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and managed to find each other shortly after the Brazillians cleared out of the theater...

Since we were in the area, we thought we'd try the Magic of Disney Animation, but when we got there, they closed the rope just in front of us. Don't you hate when that happens?

The good news is that we actually found a set of water fountains that could accommodate our whole family... check this out!

I can't recall any other places in Disney that I've seen four water fountains grouped together like that, with two tall ones and two short ones. Makes a lot of sense for the average family, don't you think? I also like being able to keep an eye on my kids while I'm drinking myself, as opposed to the normal fountains that are just side by side, where all you can do is stare at the wall while you drink.

Anyhoo, instead of boring you with my theories on water fountains, let's get on with our trip, shall we?

Big Guy and Little Guy spotted their old favorite show at DHS while we were in the Animation Courtyard... can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint... it's the only show that forces parents to sit on the floor the entire time...

Can you tell I was thrilled?

Well, anything for my boys... so off to Playhouse Disney we went.

I do find the characters kind of cute... like Little Einsteins.

And I'm glad they incorporate the main Disney icons too.

But do you see by my sitting-on-the-floor pictures how difficult it is to see what's happening? Unless the characters are right up in front of the stage, it's hard to see them! And think of it from the perspective of the kids whose line of sight is a good foot lower!

I'm thinking perhaps they shouldn't have worried so much about building a stage that had that much depth to it, and perhaps they should have incorporated at least some bleachers for the audience to sit on!

Ok, so I realize I'm a bit whiny and complainy this particular morning, but I assure you there are a few highlights...

We went to the Great Movie ride next.

We got a whole row to ourselves because someone left patch of gum on the seat and we couldn't slide all the way over

So there's a highlight! Our own seat!

Of course Little Guy got scared once again... I guess being in a scene from the Alien movie might do that to a four year old, but he calmed down when we entered Munchkin Land...

I'm sure the witch would have scared him more, but we were far enough away that it didn't have too much of an impact on him... (though he did cuddle close do his daddy.) Had we been right in front of the witch, I think Little Guy might have gotten shaken up a bit more.

Still, we exited the ride and got that response from Little Guy again "I don't like that ride..."

No, there's not a lot for this younger crowd at DHS.

We thought about maybe doing the Backlot Tour, but even though Little Guy had done that last year, this year was different, and a certain earthquake/flood scene more than likely would have made him say "I don't like that ride" again!

So we decided to just do some exploring... and we made it to our homeland...

 

[NorweJenNY]

DHS - Not the Place for Preschoolers - Part 2

Thursday, July 16, 2009 (continued)

Our native land... both hubby & I are from NY, and we get a kick outta this part of the Streets of America

I must say... very authentic (minus the taxis, horn honking, and typical crowds).

Though we do like the little Disney touches added...

We found the taping spot for the American Idol experience...

And may I present to you, the next American Idol...

Sorry, hubby, you're just too old...

(and might I mention the neighbor's dog stil runs every time that mouth opens...)



It was quite time for our ADR at Sci-Fi, so we just took a few pictures to pass the time.

I tried to get hubby to put on his "scared" face...

It didn't work. I think he was just hungry and tired of waiting for food.

We grabbed some fastpasses for Star Tours real quick, and then went in for our ADR at Sci Fi.

I must say... nice place! This is one place that is fun for kids!

Fun for mommy & daddy too! We got to sit next to each other in the seat in the car behind the boys, so we could keep an eye on them. But the movies were entertaining the boys so much that we could actually enjoy ourselves thoroughly!

Here we are:

And I must say that accompanying your meal with an oreo shake... good idea!

After our tummies were full, we took off for Star Tours, which Big Guy loves.

Little Guy, on the other hand, well, he sums it up real nice, "I don't like that ride..."

So, no repeats on Star Tours today. We thought about seeing Lights, Motors, Action, but we apparently just missed a show and there wouldn't be another one for a while.

So we waited around... took some more pictures...

I must say, the muppet area is full of fun stuff!

Did we dare go to Muppet Vision 3D with Little Guy? Well... no... didn't dare attempt it... he clearly mentioned he didn't want to go there, so we weren't going to take him. So hubby told me to take Big Guy while he took Little Guy elsewhere. There was a 45 minute wait, and Big Guy decided he didn't care to go!

And so that it wouldn't be a complete waste of an afternoon, we decided to find something the boys would appreciate... so we tracked down one of their friends...

I must say, this area was messed up... I get that they wanted to keep the cars in the garage... but really... not the best of lighting for the pictures if the sun is in the wrong spot... I even had to brighten this photo myself a bit. And the line, where the guests wait the longest, is out in the blazing sun! Hot, hot, hot!!!

We finally decided we were done for the day... not much for our family at DHS, and we still had another hour to go for the next Lights, Motors, Action show, which... the way we were doing this trip... probably would've been too scary for Little Guy... can't you just here him? "I don't like that show..."

But it was ok, because we had a pleasant afternoon & evening away from the parks...

Stay tuned to read about some fun in Disney without being in the parks... (with pictures, of course)

 

[NorweJenNY]

An Evening around the Port Orleans Resorts

Thursday, July 16, 2009

We returned back to our resort, Port Orleans Riverside, where we relaxed a little bit and got changed.

Changed? Why?

Here's a clue...

Pool time!

Earlier this week, hubby had taken the boys to one of the pools while I was attending some workshops at my conference.

This time, we decided to check out the main pool. The boys decided they liked being together and having the freedom they did in the kiddie pool. It was about one foot deep, maybe slightly more, but perfect for them to sit and splash, run around in, walk on the bottom with their hands, ...you know, all that fun stuff before kids can fully swim on their own in deeper waters.

Hubby started having a good time goofing around with his boys.

And hopefully this picture helps give the impression of how the pool is set up.

There is a "step" around the entire thing with just an inch or two of water over it, which is nice for hesitant children or adults that don't want to get completely soaked. But also, there are lounge chairs set up around over half of the perimeter of the pool, leaving plenty of space if adults just want to kick back while the kids play.

When we were done with the pool, we decided it was time to grab some food. We hopped on the boat to Port Orleans - French Quarter. It is a very nice boat ride, and to have both kids enjoy the same ride is a good thing.

This is one neat thing... we discovered Little Guy really likes boats! That'd be great, as we'd be on more, especially when we moved on to the Wilderness Lodge in a couple days.

The boat ride is nice and relaxing, and not terribly long either. Once at the French Quarter, it was only a short walk past the FQ main pool and playground to get to the food court. And we love that food court because it's small, but with good options for our family. Ribs and an oreo shake made me super happy this particular evening, even if I had eaten ribs and an oreo shake at lunch time at Sci Fi earlier that day!

We thought about taking the kids to the POFQ playground after dinner, but we had such a leisurely meal and we were kind of tired, so we decided to head back to Riverside. That meant another boat ride (even though there's a perfectly nice walkway along the river that we could have taken).

We got back to Riverside and stopped in Riverside Mill for refills in our mugs. But we heard the music from outside...

Yes, one wonderful part of staying at Riverside is that Yeehaw Bob performs Wed-Sat nights in the River Roost Lounge. He is quite the pianist/singer/entertainer!

We were a little too tired to stay that night, but we decided to plan on coming back the next night, which would be our last night at POR.

Anyone staying at POR (or even POFQ) should take the time to check out Yeehaw Bob's show! And don't forget to friend him on Facebook (Bob Jackson)... I promise you'll take note of his profile picture to distinguish him from others with his name!

I'll give you more photos with Yeehaw Bob in the next day's report.

But before we get to that, we had one more trip to Epcot to make after being in conferences all day on Friday...

Join us for the next report from the Canadian Pavillion!

 

[NorweJenNY]

O Canada!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Conferences all day, but my family was having fun in Epcot and we were to meet up in Canada for our ADR at Le Cellier!

Well, I got out of my last workshop and, since I had the van, I would be driving to Epcot. Except that it was a little early, and I decided to take a detour to the Boardwalk again.

I like the Boardwalk. One day, we will stay there. Hopefully we'll find somebody who can rent us DVC points when there's availability there.

Great place to make a pit stop too, might I add. I love washing up and using a real towel!

Anyway, I wandered the Boardwalk a bit... and of course, I stopped in the bakery for a drink. (I get thirsty a lot in the summer.) I don't know what it is about the Boardwalk, but the seeing the shops, the families going by on those surrey bikes, the ice cream parlor, the candy store... it all just seems so friendly and quaint.

Then it was time to head to Canada... and I was there in about 20 minutes! Only in Disney!

I hadn't really explored Canada much in a while, so I gave my camera some exercise...

And the Victoria Gardens (I think that's what they're called) are beautiful!

And look who I finally found...

My family!

The boys were spraying the flowers, and a nice Canadian CM was carrying on quite a conversation with Big Guy. I still wonder what they talked about. Whenever I ask Big Guy about these experiences, he tells me he "doesn't remember."

Just in time... 20 minutes to our ADR, so off we went...

I liked the sconces on the wall... very Canadian...

Good stuff there... will be writing more about it in my dining report.

Just check out this beautiful prime rib!

Only problem was that something at the end of the meal disagreed with me, and I had to leave. Fortunately we were done, but I had to get out of that restaurant. I think it was the slightly burnt part of my maple creme brulee... and it was just sitting there on the table taunting me... and just looking at it was making me feel sick to my stomach because I knew that's what must have made me feel kinda sick to begin with.

At least now I know what not to order for dessert next time!

After we got out to the fresh air, I started feeling better. We decided to stick around and visit O Canada! If you're not familiar with O Canada!, it's a movie that takes place all around you... 360 degree screens. The only bad part is that this means you have to stand the whole time. But I must say, Martin Short makes it quite entertaining! Big Guy even said that at one point it made him feel like he was on Soarin'. I enjoyed it. It didn't keep the boys' attention the whole time though, so they ended up sitting on the floor between hubby and me. They took out their coloring from Le Cellier, and somehow managed to see well enough to color during the movie. (I'm not quite sure how though.)

Well, I would've liked to browse a bit, maybe pick up some maple candy or something, but unfortunately I still wasn't feeling that great, so we decided to leave. It was a pleasant way to spend the evening though. I was glad we went.

The good news was that by the time we got back to POR, I was feeling better, so we headed over to the River Roost Lounge for some family entertainment...

 

[NorweJenNY]

Yeeeeehaaaaa at River Roost Lounge!

Friday, July 17, 2009

If you're in the main building at POR on a Wednesday-Saturday night - at the lobby, Riverside Mill, or even coming off a boat onto the dock - you're more then likely to feel a certain happy energy. It's all coming from the River Roost Lounge where Yeehaw Bob (Bob Jackson) is doing his "thing."

We had the pleasure of getting a taste for a few minutes another evening earlier in our trip, but this time, we went inside. (Yes, we found a table there on a Friday night!) We didn't feel pressured to order anything, but hubby got a beer, and we got waters for the kiddos. Some people at other tables didn't order anything, and just sat around drinking from their refillable mugs (Riverside Mill is just down the hall).

Yeehaw Bob has such a personality... his wardrobe reflects it...

He is big on audience participation. Look at him with the kids!

He had the kids singing, doing hand motions (which he assured the kids that they could follow the adults in the audience if they forgot what to do), and even marching around the room!

Big Guy & Little Guy are right up front...

And here they are marching around... even past the bar... only in Disney, right?

Even when he wasn't marching around the room, or in the spotlight, Big Guy was enjoying the show..

Little Guy enjoyed too... even though he wasn't big on the motions this evening. Hubby tried to show him what to do...

And look at Yeehaw Bob getting the adults really involved!

It takes a lot for hubby to loosen up to hand motions and sing-alongs... maybe it was a good thing he had that beer.

Overall... fun-filled experience... FREE (something this fru-gal loves!) ...a great experience for the whole family! I highly recommend checking this out!

One more full day to go... stay tuned for our last day at Disney, checking in at Wilderness Lodge Saturday morning!