June comes before August & the APs will still be valid! I think we're done here!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

As I suspected would happen, we got rained on at AK. We rode Everest and Primeval Whirl, it poured for awhile. We went to the bird show (it wasn't TOO scary, even though I am quite afraid of birds). We walked the trail to see my precious gorillas. OMG, the baby is SOOOO fabulous!! The mama, daddy, and baby gorilla were right up at the viewing window. I could stand for days and watch them. It was raining again before we finished the trail.

We went in a shop for awhile, but the rain wasn't stopping. We dashed over to Pizzafari for some lunch, and the rain stopped while we were eating. From there we sort of gave up because the rain was supposed to go like that all day. As soon as we got back to AKL it was pouring again.

This afternoon was nice. There was a CM power washing the "watering hole" we can see from our room. One of the ostriches was "helping" him. It was pretty funny.

We left a little early for Boardwalk so we had time to browse around. We stopped by the gift shop to see what DVC stuff they had, we took another look at the evil chairs (one of them was missing - not sure where it went), then we walked around downstairs. It turns out there is a placard about the evil chairs next to the fireplace. On the carousels of the past, these chairs were called "Nanny chairs". They were seats on the carousels for the adults to sit in while the children rode the moving horses, etc. So now we know. And I promise you I would much rather stand on the carousel than sit in those freaky chairs.

It JUST SO HAPPENED that the DVC model of Boardwalk was open! Serendipity! The last time we went through was after Welcome Home Wednesday and it was PACKED! Today we got a proper look at it. And I have decided we need to stay there. The bathroom is divine! We should add on more points. We booked the Member Tour of BLT for Sunday.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The evil chair (look at the evil little toes).

DS in the evil chair.

Flying Fish

Blood orange margarita

Amuse bouche of something on a little crostini - it was good!

Sourdough bread (it was really good - not terribly sour, more subtle)

Calamari (this is only half, becasue DH and DS split an order)

Shrimp cocktail

NY strip steak

Asparagus

Salmon

Kids "fish sticks"

Trio of sorbet w/fresh berries (raspeberry, mango, and lychee)

 

[tmfranlk]

All of that food looks OH SO YUM!!!! Flying fish may need to make our list sometime!

This is a wonderful picture!!!! I agree with a previous poster...DS has really matured in the face over the last year or so. He looks so grown up!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

As we were finishing dinner it POURED rain again, but it stopped by the time we left Flying Fish. We took the boat to Epcot and watched IllumiNations, then back to AKL by 10 PM. It did not seem crowded at Epcot, and we were able to get out of the park fairly easily.

Tomorrow is MGM.

We JUST realized that it was AM EMH at AK this morning. Given the fact that we didn't get there until 9 AM and we got through the stand-by line for Everest in under 20 minutes, I will go out on a limb and say it was not crowded today! This also kind of screws up my schedule, because they have juggled which parks have EMH on which days.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Tia, we LOVE Flying Fish! I highly recommend it.

DS is growing a little.

 

[Tammi67]

GASP! Don't let any of those signature dining nazi's see that DS had french fries at FF!

I agree, the picture of the 3 of you is excellent.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

GASP! Don't let any of those signature dining nazi's see that DS had french fries at FF!

I agree, the picture of the 3 of you is excellent.

The menu said potatoes AND vegetables. He wanted to switch the potatoes for fries. But then the plate came out with a MOUND of fries. I made him eat some asparagus.

 

[Tammi67]

What's on tap for today?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Today is MGM. Hopefully we will be able to do all of the normal stuff today so all we need to do Friday will be Star Wars stuff.
Tonight is dinner with some local friends at Yachtsman.
Tomorrow we go to the Dark Side to see what all they Harry Potter hype is about.

 

[Tammi67]

Have fun! When we ate at Yachtsmand in January, I was really disappointed, comparing it with FF. I hope your dinner/atmosphere is better than ours!

Yesterday Chanon made my ressie for the Dark Side in December. I'm so excited to try experience it!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Have fun! When we ate at Yachtsmand in January, I was really disappointed, comparing it with FF. I hope your dinner/atmosphere is better than ours!

Yesterday Chanon made my ressie for the Dark Side in December. I'm so excited to try experience it!

Our atmosphere will be great because we will have our very favorite server. I e-mailed him to make sure he would be there. And our friends are a lot of fun. If the food is bad we'll take it up with a manager because our food in December was not that great. Six months is long enough for them to work out whatever kinks they had with the new chef.

I will let you know what I think of US/IOA on Thursday night when we get back.

 

[PNO4TE]

Trio of sorbet w/fresh berries (raspeberry, mango, and lychee)

This photo is spectacular! Is it the new camera? If so, I would say it was a great purchase.

 

[PghLybrt]

We got a LOT more food at Puck's for about $10 more. Plus I had a glass of wine at Puck's too, so I guess the food was actually about the same price as Tokyo Dining. Puck's takes the TIW card now, so that was awesome!

Good to know! Thanks! I will actually have one of those cards this time!

I had the opposite thought...I want to go to Tokyo Dining!
(I'm allergic to chicken and I've always ended up getting scared off because TD uses all kinds of chicken that would never actually turn up in the same oil in Japan. But, I may just have to chance it sometime. I miss good Japanese food.)

I admit it, I am a wimp when it comes to food. I will cook it, I just do not want to eat it! My GF would love TD but I knew I wouldn't. Pucks looks like it would be a much better compromise for us!

 

[mommykds]

Great shot!!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elin, yes that was the new Nikon. The camera was free (he just covered 2 shifts for the other guy) but the accessories have been expensive.

We go to Puck's on every trip - the food is always very good.

I just got a voice mail from Ricardo that he is not going to be at work this evening because his father is ill. Not sure if we will still go there tonight or not. I tried to call our friends but I had to leave them a voice mail, so we'll see what I can do to move next week's ADRs around and wait to hear what they want to do about tonight. I might be able to flip our Citrico's ressie with the Yachtsman ressie.

 

[mommykds]

Elizabeth, what would you say is better, Flying Fish or Yatchsman?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elizabeth, what would you say is better, Flying Fish or Yatchsman?

Well...
The food is better at Flying Fish. There were at least 3 appetizers and 3 entrees that I was trying to choose from last night. Their menu is outstanding.

At Yachtsman I always order the same thing - I never have to debate between things. But the service at Yachtsman is great. If Ricardo is there. We flipped our ADR to next Tuesday because we didn't want to go tonight and have some other server.

So now we are going to Citrico's tonight. The nice thing about signature dining is that it usually doesn't fill up. Making same day ADRs is not how I roll, but it is good to know it can be done!!

 

[PghLybrt]

I just got a voice mail from Ricardo that he is not going to be at work this evening .

Wow,he called himself? No wonder everyone raves about him. If he shows you that level of courtesy before you even get to dinner I can only imagine what actual dinner service is like!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Wow,he called himself? No wonder everyone raves about him. If he shows you that level of courtesy before you even get to dinner I can only imagine what actual dinner service is like!

Not only did he personally phone, he had to track us down through our resort reservation first. Then he left me his number and asked me to please call him back. Never, ever have I met a server who is so very cordial and gracious. In fact, I am not sure I know ANYBODY that gracious, no matter what profession they are in! He is one of a kind, and we are so lucky to know him. Can't wait to see him next week.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Dinner at Citrico's was yummy. DH likes Flying Fish better. I might like Flying Fish a little better, too. Mostly because there are so many things on the FF menu that I want to try.

So tomorrow we venture to Universal for the first time! Town car is coming at 7 AM. I will probably not post from Universal, but we'll be back at WDW Thursday night with a full report.

As I was organizing things today I realized I left the darn water park tickets at home. I must have moved them to another envelope in December (knowing we wouldn't use them on that trip) and never moved them back. DS is disappointed, but I think he might be pacified by a day at the resort pool/arcade/etc. There is a drumming class at Kidani that he wants to do. It is designated for adults, so I am not sure they will allow him to do it. But he does have 3 years of percussion training so we will at least go ask if he can participate.