LIVE: Our nearly-two week Disney extravaganza! UPDATE 5/10

[donaldsgal]

We headed to Mexico first, where we rode the Grand Fiesta Tour. A nice break from the heat and sun, it was a relaxing ride with my favorite Disney character!

As we walked out, these were the crowds (about 3:00):

Next up was Norway, where we rode the Maelstrom. We hadn't ridden this since our first trip in 2001, and it was much better than I remembered. We stayed for the movie afterward, again mostly for the break from the sun. Hannah got freaked out by the sudden loudness of the movie, so parents, keep in mind it gets loud fast!

We wandered to China, where Hannah got to meet Mulan. She was so pleasant, and the CM handler was also quite personable, too. They thanked us for stopping by as they left - how nice! Here are some shots from around China:

We found some topiaries on our way to Italy of our favorite pirate villain and his nemesis, so of course we got some shots there, too. Here are those pictures, as well as some shots of the next pavilions:

Germany:

Italy:

I was trying to get a shot of Lady and the Tramp, standing off to the side since I know I like pictures minus other people if I can manage it. Well, my politeness earned me a longer wait as several groups of people walked right up and posed. Finally, I said something as a mom and her daughter got ready to pose, asking them if they minded waiting since I had been standing there a while. She was very gracious and said sure, even offering to take my picture. I thanked her, said I just wanted the shot of the flowers, and wished her a good day. Conflict averted!

Again, more crowd pictures. As you can see, it was a light crowd day again today.

Japan:

More in the next post...

 

[donaldsgal]

We headed next to Morocco, and as we went, I remarked to Missy how nice it was to have such a low-key, relaxed day. The weather was so great, and I loved the freedom to take pictures whenever I wanted.

Aladdin said farewell as we left:

France was a welcome relief. We stopped in the Boulangerie Pattisserie for an apple turnover and chocolate mousse. Yum yum yum! We sat inside and enjoyed our treats before continuing on in our journey around the World:

There were some AMAZING periwinkle flowers outside the France perfume shop, on the backside toward the International Gateway entrance. They were breathtaking, and I'm not big into flowers. The flowers in that spot were particularly vibrant:

The back of UK was so quiet, you'd hardly know anyone else was just around the corner watching the UK Players:

Some shots from across the lagoon:

In Canada, we got more pictures (shocker!) and watched the O Canada film. I enjoyed it a lot - very funny, picturesque, and just the right length. Would be better if they could only install swivel chairs so you can sit but still have the freedom to turn around. Hannah loved this one.

We made our way back to Future World to watch the Universe of Energy for a much-needed break from the heat and sun. It was another record-breaking day at 93 degrees! Here are some pictures along the way:

Ellen was great as always, and we followed this up by a trip each on Test Track via the single riders' line. My wait was posted as 10 minutes and probably was about that. I rode with a pleasant Asian couple who seemed to really enjoy it. Missy's wait was shorter and she was back soon after she left. We then made our way, about 7:30 now, back around World Showcase for our 8 PM reservations at Tokyo Dining. We arrived about 7:50 and waited until about 8:15 to be seated. We got a window seat... sort of. We were seated near the windows that overlook the plaza outside the pavilion in front of the pagoda. Around 9, they did pipe in the music, but they didn't dim the lights. Hannah and I scooted outside to watch the show, and once again, the little tyke captured my heart. She kept wanting to move closer, showing no fear of the fireworks. She loved it and later said, "Mommy, that was perfect!" Yes!

The meal itself was good. I enjoyed my California Roll, and the meal - Grilled breast of chicken - was pretty good. The veggies were limper than I like, but it was still good. I'd say a 7 out of 10.

On our way out, I got some shots of Epcot at night. Such a beautiful park.

Tomorrow we head to Sea World. I'm excited to see this park. We had one in Cleveland growing up, but it closed about 10-15 years ago. Hannah loves all things animal, so I'm sure she'll just love tomorrow.

And with that, good night!

 

[disneyeeyorefan]

Love all them pictures, what a bummer that Crystal Palace wasn't as good for you this time. I want to try T-rex next year, my youngest will be 8.
Have a great day at Seaworld, I really want to ride the Manta.

 

[khertz]

Beautiful pics! I think I may have to start working on DH to convince him of a May trip in our future just to see those topiaries and those crowds (or lack thereof!). Hopefully it stays just as nice for the rest of your trip. Looking forward to the SeaWorld pictures!

 

[donaldsgal]

Sorry for the absence. We've had a busy couple of days. I hope to post an update tonight but if not, definitely tomorrow since we have another day off!

 

[tanyabanana]

love reading this!
Hannah is super cute
Looking forward to reading more..hope you are having a really geat time

 

[donaldsgal]

Sorry this post didn't come to you live... life got in the way here on vacation, so we let it!

We woke up on Thursday and headed to Sea World. We got there around 9ish and were greeted by a line just to park. It wasn't busy, yet we had to wait in line. It was clear we weren't at Disney anymore!

We headed in and it took a while to get our bearings. We knew that the Clyde and Seymour show was at 10 and the Shamu show was at 11:30, so we planned our morning around that. We walked all the way to the back of the park when hunger hit. We then headed all the way back to the front to get some food at Cypress Bakery. My blueberry muffin was great, but the croissant was too hard for my taste. Still, it was enough energy to get us back into the swing of touring.

Manta was open, but Journey into Atlantis was closed due to technical difficulties. We made our way to the Clyde and Seymour Show. I remember loving this as a kid. Now, it's still good, but the corny factor is pretty strong, thus dampening my enthusiasm a bit. We had decent seats - up high and out of the sun. Hannah seemed to enjoy it.

The mime before the show was pretty funny, too!

Miss went to the get the stroller while Hannah I wandered around for a few minutes. We visited the Shark Encounter, which was pretty cool. Hannah enjoyed walking underneath the sharks and other fish. It was pretty crowded in there because people would stop, but it was still enjoyable. There's an outdoor viewing area, too, that we enjoyed.

We decided it would be wisest to make our way to Shamu Stadium because we thought we'd sit in the soak zone. It was hot, after all, and we didn't think we'd get THAT wet.

Yeah, right. Insert ominous foreboding here.

We got there around 11:10 or so, and the best seats - front row center, above the soak zone, were filled. That was okay since we had planned to sit in the SZ. We walked down to the front right as you look at the stage. We were about eye level with the top rim of the tank, 3 rows above the cement walkway in front of the tank. We sat enjoying the ambiance for a while when I started to get a little nervous. I asked Miss if she thought we should move. She didn't think we'd get too wet. I asked if Hannah would freak out if she got wet, and she didn't think she'd mind too much. We debated moving, but by now we'd be sitting in the top section off to one of the sides, so we stayed put.

They opened the show with a salute to the veterans in the audience. That was pretty moving, and there were a lot of vets there on that particular day! Next up was Shamu swimming out. He slid onto the center stage and "posed". Our seats weren't great to see this, but we could see the end of Shamu (not sure what the correct terminology is for his rear area) pretty well. More stunts and flips in the center of the tank. We could see down into the tank pretty well, so that was neat. Hannah was loving this.

Well, then all the trainers came out and asked if we were "ready to get soaked." They were high-fiving the teeny boppers in front of us.

They had the whole stadium do some weird chant thing for Shamu, and out he came - with a splash. He waved "hello" - and we were done for. I'm not sure splashed is the right word. More like flushed down a toilet! We got 3 good ones before the show was over. That water felt nice and cold, but it was also salty and, therefore, sticky. Hannah no longer loved it.

The rest of the show was sort of hard to enjoy. It was great, but we were laughing, trying to avoid getting more soaked, calming Hannah, and keep my camera dry. Thankfully, it ended pretty quickly after our SZ experience.

We left the show around noon, I'd say, and I was pretty much done with the park. We opted to see the Penguin Encounter and the Pacific Point Preserve, but again, we were wet and sticky and hot. Yuck. Hannah loved those.

We headed out of the park and stopped to get our free 2nd day promotional tickets. They are having a deal where if you buy one day now, you get another day free within 7 days. We might go back and see the things we missed before - including seeing Shamu from way, WAY above the Soak Zone! Hannah continues to tell us, "I done with Shamu", but we think she'll like it much better from a drier location. She loves animals, so it should be a hit.

We came back to the room, changed into our swimsuits, and went swimming. That was refreshing and perked us all right up. We came back, and Hannah and I took a nap. Miss ran to Publix to get some more supplies, and about the time she got back, I was feeling sick again. Yuck! It passed about 2 hours later, so we had some spaghetti in the room, watched some TV, and headed to bed early. It was a good - albeit wet - day.

 

[donaldsgal]

By Friday, we were ready to add to our fun. Thankfully, Mom was scheduled to arrive by plane around 10 AM, so we loaded up the car and headed to Orlando International Airport. After a brief, panicked stop at a gas station to make sure we had change for the tolls (which, as it turned out, weren't needed since they had toll workers accepting bills and making change), we were on our way. Mom's flight got in about 10 minutes early, so we scooped her up and off we drove to Animal Kingdom. I had hoped we would arrive by 11, so when we pulled in at 10:43, I was pleased. We hopped aboard the tram from our parking space in Dinosaur 34 (why can't all our parking spots be that easy to remember?), and we were in the gates within minutes.

The first order of business was getting FPs for Everest. As you can see, despite being near 11 - prime arrival time for most guests - the park still was sparsely populated, IMO:

We picked up 4, and the return time was for 12:40ish. Pretty good, in my opinion. If were standby line kind of gals, we'd have considered doing the line as it was just 45 minutes long. Not too bad for smack dab in the middle of the morning. As it was, we got the FPs and headed back to Discovery Island for It's Tough to Be a Bug. There was no wait, so we walked right on in, getting some pictures on the way.

We enjoyed the show as usual. This is one of Mom's favorites, so she was especially happy to see it. Hannah wasn't a fan, but she just buries her face in someone's neck when she's scared.

We got some lunch at Pizzafari around 12:30, I think, and enjoyed the AC of the restaurant. This was a nice chance to rest and think through the rest of the day.

We returned to use some FPs for Everest next (after getting more for later - this time with a return time of around 2:15ish, I believe). We were in row 13 and got right back on, where we were seated in row 15. That was a much faster, whippier (is that a word?) ride. The first one knocked me around a bit and made me dizzy, but it's so worth it! We chuckled about the "No bad dancing on this ride" sign with each ride. I prayed silently as we ascended the lift hill, knowing I'd have a basket case on my hands (translation: older sister) if we got stuck. Safely delivered to the summit, we careened through the Yeti's turf and arrived safely to the photo viewing area.

I really wanted to see Devine - none of the rest of the group had seen her before - so I decided we'd head to the bridge between Africa and Asia. Sure enough, right at 1:00 or so, she glided her way out from backstage. What a sight!

Devine seen and experienced, we headed for Festival of the Lion King, another of Mom's favorites. We were in the elephant section, a first for us, and settled in. Hannah was on the end so she got several waves and smiles from the performers. Love that!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the show.

Next up was a ride on the safari. Despite it being supremely hot, we got to see a lot of animals. Hannah enjoyed this experience, as did we. Our driver had to give a friendly reminder to some of our fellow trekkers to remain seated, and they grumbled a bit but did comply. Here are some of the sights that welcomed us to the safari:

(From the standby queue - it was only 10 minutes standby at this time - about 2:15 - but we walked right on!):

Poachers safely captured, we next wandered to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. The gorillas were resting in the shade but close enough to viewing areas to admire and photograph.

We made one last trip across the park to use our last set of FPs. On our third ride, we were in row 6 and were feeling goofy. We decided to pose for our ride photo making the "Home Alone" face to each other. It turned out great, but we opted not to buy it. Next up we were in row 12 and posed again, this time with our hands up in front of us as if we were crashing. The first was cuter, but it was still fun. Everest conquered for the 4th time, we headed out of the park. It was close to the parade, but we were tired and hot. We bid the Yeti adieu and left.

We came back to the room and rested for a while before our reservations at Yachtsman Steakhouse at 6:20. We got gussied up and left.

We arrived about 6:15, later than we like, but thanks to the Tables in Wonderland card, we used the valet service for free. That was SUCH a nice feature, and one we continue to use. We were seated probably around 6:35 or so and had Linda as our server. I had the bisque, which I didn't care for. I could either taste too much of the alcohol, or the cream had been burnt as it had a slightly signed flavor - not awesome. I also (because I'm spoiling myself this trip) had the softshell crab appetizer. It was good, but I didn't know how to dissect it. I probably wouldn't order it again just because I felt like I must have left a lot of the juicy meat in the shell. For my entree, I had the Yachtsman Filet, but I substituted the potato gratin for the mashed potatoes. Mom had the caesar salad and New York Strip, while Miss had the bisque and the New York Strip as well. There was quite a lull in the meal between the appetizers and the entrees - I'd guess at least 30 minutes - and Linda left several plates on our table as she made her rounds into our little area. The entrees were superb, and by the time Linda cleared the plates, we were ready to go. It was about 8:15 when we settled the bill - two full hours after arrival! This was by far the longest meal we've ever had there. It's Mom's favorite, and she rated it at 10/10. I'd give it a 9/10, and Miss gave it a 9/10. I'm not sure how much of the lag was Linda's or not, but she was definitely adequate as a server. We picked up our car from the valet, tipped him, and appreciated his attention to turning on the AC for us. I appreciate that they literally run to fetch the car - it isn't necessary, but it's considerate that they know sometimes guests are in a hurry!

After dinner, we headed to the Poly for a viewing of the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes. Mom and Miss grumbled a bit - everyone was tired - but I knew we'd all enjoy it. I wasn't thinking and didn't bring my camera. Darn! Wish I had, but since then, I just take it everywhere as a precaution. We arrived, told the guard that we wanted to watch Wishes, and they directed us to park. We walked in, past the volcano pool (very cool, btw), and back to the beach. I dragged over two lounge chairs, Mom got one, and we settled in to watch the EWP and Wishes. We missed the music portion of the EWP apparently, even though we arrived around 8:45 and I understood it to go by around 9 or so. Oh well - still pretty. Wishes was gorgeous. I thought I had read the music is piped over to the beach, but I must be wrong. Still, thoroughly beautiful! It was a quiet, calm night. The waves lapped on the beach, the sand was cool on our hot, aching feet, and the weather was delightful! We have a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico scheduled for June 26-July 5, so that made me really excited for the moonlit nights on the beach!

After Wishes, we drove back to the room, where everyone pretty much collapsed into bed. It was a great day, and tomorrow would hold DHS and a trip to MK after dinner.

Or so we thought.

 

[donaldsgal]

DHS was having AM EMH Saturday morning, so we planned to be AT DHS by 8. Well, the best laid plans, right? We arrived around 8:05 and walked through the gates around 8:10 or so. Mom had had a rough day on Friday with walking, so she opted to rent an ECV. I went ahead with everyone's tickets to get FPs for Toy Story. Word of caution: make sure you have everyone's names on the room if you're a resort guest. I hadn't thought it would matter to have a KTTW card for Mom. We were at the acceptable occupancy for the room - 4, including Mom - so to me a card was unnecessary. I was seriously questioning that decision, however, when we walked up to the gate and had the CMs ask to see our resort ID. Miss showed hers, I showed mine, and they let us in! Oh. My. Goodness! That could have been a real detour in the day, having to wait outside the gates for 50 minutes! I'm not sure why they didn't ask to see Mom's, too. I guess they just assumed she walked up with us, so seeing two was enough. They were friendly and just doing their job, but I was so glad they didn't ask to see hers. I promise she was legit to be there - I'm not a rule breaker! Next time, we'll definitely add someone to the reservation, even if they're staying just one night, to avoid any potential pitfalls like this one.

It was another non-crowded day here at DHS:

We met up at TSM after Mom got her ECV. The standby line was already 35 minutes long at 8:20 with a FP return time of 9:55, so we headed to ToT instead. This is another of Mom's top 5 Disney rides/shows, so she wanted to ride! She and I rode first, and we requested the front row. We waited maybe 10 minutes, and off we went back in time and through the netherworlds! We went all the way up and all the way down a couple of times - great ride! Miss and I rode RnRC next, asking for the front row. We had a great ride here as well, though I did walk off with a headache.

We walked over to Little Mermaid next. We walked in about 9:25 and had to wait until 9:45 for the next show. Oh well. We took some pictures while we waited.

Ariel was a welcomed break from the heat that had already set in - another scorcher at a record 95 degrees. Hannah didn't love the Ursula scene but was happy again by the end. By now, our FP return time had arrived, so we walked down to TSM.

Hannah and I rode together, and she didn't play but sat quietly next to me. I got 107,500 and had an accuracy of 37%. Not too shabby. I'd have loved to do it more, but we have two more days at DHS, so I should get in lots more practice before we head home.

We opted to stop at Starring Rolls for some breakfast. We had muffins, croissants, and a chocolate chip cookie (which, as we settled our bills today, I realized they didn't charge us for). This was a great way to refuel, and we left there headed for a trip down Hollywood's memory lane on The Great Movie Ride.

The High School Musical show was rolling through at that time, so while Mom visited the restroom, I decided to use the video feature of my camera and get Hannah on film dancing. I'm SO GLAD I did, as this video is not only adorable but also hilarious! The sound is up pretty loud on the camera; I had the mic turned WAY up, so turn down your volume before hitting play. It's 1 minute 27 seconds, and you can hear me in the background encouraging her to get her groove on. I don't normally sound like that, but it's so funny, so please watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odTXBSCueVc

We rode TGMR and enjoyed our trip to the movies. We had the cowboy take over after our driver left. I think I recall a thread a while back on the Theme Parks board that no one ever gets the cowboy, so I was pleased. I can't remember getting the cowboy either, so it was a neat show. Our cowboy tried to get the horses to "giddy up" by hitting the front of the tram a few times, which was a clever touch. We were in the second row, right behind our driver, Liz, so we could actually hear the entire script for once! It was a good show, especially given the 5 minute wait it boasted at 10:45 AM!

We walked back to Star Tours next, where Mom and Miss rode while Hannah got her face painted. I had wanted her to do it since Wednesday at Epcot, but she was too hot that day, and Friday I didn't want her to do it since we had a nice dinner planned. So, today was the day! Luckily, she was in the mood and we had no dinner plans, so it worked great. She opted to be Tinkerbell, and here are some shots of the face painting in progress. I bet the guy was done in 5 minutes or less - amazing!

And the finished, happy product:

It was so worth it! She loved it and felt very "splarky", as she calls it!

We walked back to see Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage. It was about 12:00 now, and the show started at 12:30, so we wanted to arrive early for good seats. Little did we know that with Mom's ECV, we got priority viewing. We drove down to the front row, Mom transferred out to the second row of seats, center stage, and we settled in. These seats were fantastic! I got some amazing shots of the cast, which (of course) I'll post the best of here:

Afterward, we took a couple more rides on ToT, where it was so slow we literally got to walk ourselves into the elevator and pick our own seats! I've never had that happen before - love it! We followed that by one more ride on RnRC, where we got to ride behind two teen girls from Longview, Texas, who were at Disney with their band for a competition. One girl was especially nervous and asked many questions. I love riding with first-timers! She ended up loving it, by the way, and bought the ride photo as proof she had done it.

Once again, the heat of the day and beaten us, so I bought a vanilla milkshake and apple-cinnamon pretzel (yum to the former and yuck to the later) and we headed out of the park. So much for the afternoon parade. We left at 3:40, with a measly 5 minutes to wait, but it was still too much!

We came back to the resort and went to the pool. Again, sheer delight washed over us as we enjoyed the cool, beautiful water. We left after about 25 minutes, but it was SO worth it!

By now, you may be wondering about the title of this entry. Well, it comes into play here. You may remember that tonight (or last night, as the case may be), we were supposed to head into the MK while Mom watched Hannah. This would give Miss and I some primo riding time, especially since the park was open until 11 PM. Well, we made dinner in the room and left about 6:15. En route to the MK parking lot (or in reality the TTC parking lot), I started to feel.... you guessed: sick. Again. AGAIN!!!!! We pulled in, and I sat in the car with the AC on, feeling sick and uncomfortable and pained again. We sat there maybe 5 minutes before I realized it would be highly unwise to try to get to the park. I drove us back to the resort, where I spent the next hour very ill. AGAIN!!!!! Grrrrrr. So frustrating. Miss offered to head back in the moment I felt up to it, but that moment didn't come until it was almost pointless to try. She went to bed at 7 PM, and I stretched out on the couch. Mom fell asleep while Hannah watched some cartoons. I went to bed about 11 (after falling asleep around 8:30 or so). I guess we needed the sleep, but I was so bummed and disappointed that my body decided to declare mutiny against me once again. The rest was nice, but man! Why, oh WHY, can't we seem to get to the MK after dinner???

We've made plans to try to get there for some riding time before we leave in a week. I hope it happens. In the end, the rest certainly did us well, but I hope that's the last time our plans go awry this trip. We'll see, I guess!

 

[donaldsgal]

Well, at this point in this TR, today actually IS today! Yippee! I'm all caught up!

We started the day by.... sleeping in! After our unexpected night off last night, we were all very rested. We left for our 10:30 reservations at Boma about 10:15, only to be greeted by a detour from the route we'd have taken to get there. We detoured to over by Coronado Springs and arrived at 10:30. Yikes! We again used the blessed TiW card for free valet parking, and were inside within moments. Boma was swamped! I guess every mom wanted to splurge by having a buffet breakfast! They were handing out flowers, so Mom and Miss got a white and pink carnation. I got nothin', but I'm at Disney, so I'm all good!

I was nervous about this breakfast because I love breakfast food, but it tends to be greasy. After last night's disappointing finish, I really wanted to enjoy this. Ironically enough, the only other time we've been to Boma was in October of 2008, at which time I was also sick from my GI condition. Pills in hand, I was determined to enjoy myself.

Well, I did! I loaded up on everything I wanted and then some. I didn't care for where we were seated. We were on a bench area that was curving, so you sort of had to choose - do you want the tables to touch (we had two small tables pushed together), or do you want to have your table close to you? The line to get food was really long but moved quickly, so we got our food in short order. The food was great! I especially liked the scrambled eggs, the breakfast ham, the fresh pineapple and watermelon, and the pancakes. Only woulda been better had they been Mickey waffles!

We ended our meal about noon and wandered upstairs. Hannah and I headed out to the safari viewing area where we saw some Watusi cattle, giraffes, and zebra. I am excited to stay here at some point since Missy owns points at AKC also.

We made our way into the gift shop and went crazy! I found a Jasmine Barbie Doll-style doll for Hannah that I got for her as a surprise, an Animal Kingdom shirt for me, and Miss got a Peter Pan's Flight pin (she has a print from the same scene, of them flying over Big Ben, on the wall at home), a swimsuit cover-up, and Mom bought a pull-along duffel bag (for $20 when you bought $30 or more worth of merchandise), the soundtrack from FotLK, and a pair of shoes, I think. Oh, and Miss got Hannah a necklace of her birthstone in the shape of a Mickey head. We left about 12:43, had the valet get our car, and drove back to OKW.

We rested here this afternoon. I updated the TR from our Sea World day, we settled the bill between the three of us, and Mom and Hannah took a nap. Before long, it was time for Mom to pack up for us to take her back to the airport and for us to get ready for our meal at California Grill.

We left for MCO around 4:00 and got there about 4:25. We dropped Mom off, gave her a hug and kiss, and drove back to property. We went straight to the Contemporary, used the beloved valet service, and headed up to the 4th floor to check in. They delivered us promptly to CG, where we waited a few minutes until our table was ready and the restaurant officially opened at 5:30. I got some pictures while we waited.

We were seated, and Dawn was our waitress. She was great! Two for her! We had a MK view from our table, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We started the meal by Missy opening the gift from Hannah's babysitter, which was a book she'd made of pictures she had taken from Hannah and made into a book on snapfish. She has watched Hannah for the last 1.5 years and finished just before we left on this trip, so it was a sweet gift.

Hannah was a trooper during this meal. She was quiet, polite, and well-behaved. Dawn praised us for training Hannah to eat a variety of foods instead of always giving her French Fries or the like. We do think it's good that she'll try anything and likes a lot of stuff, from sushi to asparagus to broccoli to bananas to chocolate to potato chips. Given she's significantly behind in height and weight for her age (just now wearing 3T tops and 24 months bottoms, stands at 35 inches and weighs about 30 pounds), we've been instructed by pediatric specialists to give her whatever she'll eat and as much of it as she'll eat in order for her to catch up).

It has truly been more art than science in getting Hannah to simultaneously hold still, look at the camera, and smile this trip. That usually means 6 or 7 shots for every good one we get, but the good ones, as you can tell, are great! She brought her new Jasmine doll with us to the meal, which pleased me to see she enjoys it so much.

Anyways, on to the meal. I had the California Roll - yum! - and Miss had the Spicy Kazan Roll. She LOVED this - thanks, Yoshi! Next up, we both had the Maine Lobster Risotto.

Oh.
My.
GOODNESS!

This was perhaps the most amazing, scrumptious, delectable, flavorful appetizer I've ever had anywhere. I wish it was an entree. Dawn had recommended it, and she was sooooooo right!!!!! It was rich and creamy and had many layers of flavor to it. Wow, wow, wow. For our entrees, we both had the Filet of Beef. Great as usual. And we even splurged on desert - the Valrhrona Chocolate Cake. Dawn said we could have vanilla ice cream instead of strawberry, so we did. We all loved it. The bread was great, the food was great, the atmosphere was great, and Dawn was great. It was an 11/10! Dawn even made sure to find out if we were headed somewhere after dinner in order to know how to pace the meal. She was an excellent server.

We said goodnight about 7:30 and headed down to get the car from the valet. Again, they sprinted to get it for us and had the AC cranked upon delivering it to us. Thanks, guys!

We stopped by the store at OKW to get some snacks, a postcard for my coworker, a keychain, and look for a Mother's Day pin for mom. No luck on the last item, so we drove on back to the room. Shortly after we got here, we got a call from Mom that she had landed safely back in Ohio. We rewarded her good behavior at dinner by putting sparkly glitter in her hair, and I painted her fingernails with sparkly Cinderella nail polish. I did another mini photo shoot with Ms. Hannah all decked out:

Well, folks, we're all caught up! I'm off to bed for our day at Epcot tomorrow. Tomorrow night we're using Kid's Nite Out while we go to DHS for RnRC, ToT, and TSM! See you soon!

 

[shordiebecka]

hannah is too cute!!!! I must say...i am about wishes from the beach at the poly now! I was told that they do pipe in the music...I don't want to see wishes without the music!!! I will have to find out for sure..maybe it was just that one night???? Sorry to hear that you've been sick. luckily for you, you still have lots of time!

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Hi,

I have to tell you I am so enjoying your trip report. I love OKW and this year we are staying at AKL. Hope you continure to have a lot of fun.

Lisa

 

[Bagheera23608]

Anybody heard from her? I was loving the live reports and tons of pics!