BONZO
<font color=660066>Has been known to go off topic!
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2001
- Messages
- 2,100
Day 5 - Saturday 23rd August 2003
Cast list:
Shaun - 40 something 'If it's not alcoholic I won't drink it'
Alison - 30 something 'If it spins I won't even look at it'
Alexandra - 10 'If it goes upside down I won't ride it'
Laura - 8 'If it's not pizza I won't eat it'
Up and at 'em this morning at 7am and gingerly opened the curtains to see if yesterdays rain had disappeared - woo hoo! Bright and sunny already!! Over to Epcot for the first time this trip - this was especially exciting as we had a PS for the new Princess Breakfast at Norway.
We arrived at about 8.15 to find that at last Disney had got their act together - there was a separate queue and turnstile for early entry to Princess Breakfast - the CMs checked our names off the list and in we went.
As we walked through Future World it was eerily quiet apart from the odd CM and cleaner. I felt like a naughty schoolboy who'd just "bunked in" over the fence to run around after hours. We slowly worked our way to World Showcase - I just wish wed taken a few photos of Epcot when it was so deserted!
My initial impression of Norway was that the female CMs had let themselves go a bit since I was last there - I mean, last time they were tall, blonde and svelte - compared to brunette and dumpy this time - maybe my beer-fuddled memory is playing tricks with my mind!
We were seated by Prince Sven - no relation - who seemed like a nice boy , and he took care of our every need. The food was better than we'd previously experienced at Cindy's - there was a platter of pastries and another of fruit (melon/strawberries etc) waiting for us on our table. Sven came round with juice and coffee as soon as we were seated and about 10 minutes later the hot food came out. It was served in a large skillet for us to help ourselves - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage patties, breakfast potatoes and waffles with a jug of maple syrup. Yummy!
After a while they wheeled out the Princesses for a quick tour of duty - this included Mary Poppins, Mulan, Belle and Jasmine (Hubba Hubba!).
I was very impressed with Jasmine as she'd managed to fill out her costume a lot more since we last met. Somehow I appeared to have taken more than one snap of her! - LOL
Sven came round to refill our skillet and to give us the bill (about $70). We did enjoy this - but Im not sure it was particularly good value.
It was about 9.40 by the time we came out and as World Showcase didn't open until 11 o'clock we headed back to Future world to try and get the jump on the queues.
We grabbed Fast Passes for Test Track, then did Universe of Energy, Journey into Imagination and Spaceship Earth before going back to Test Track. It was the girls first time on Test Track - they would only do it because of the video on the DIBB - it really reassured them that there was nothing to be afraid of! Well, they really loved it! A definite favourite for the future!
After TT, we thought wed go and have a look at Mission Space, but as it was 12.20 by now, we assumed that all the fast passes would be gone for the day and that it would have a huge standby queue - but no! The queue was only about 30 minutes long, but as the girls were hot and desperate for a swim by now, we decided to grab fast passes and return later - they were for 7.20-8.20.
It's getting hot, hot, hot, so it's time for an ice cream! Laura had an Iminajacuzzi .no I mean an Imabitofafloozy no I mean Dadsgoneallboozy .grrr, Ill get it right in a minute!! It was an Itsakadoozie! Yeah - got it at last!!
Time to beat a retreat to Typhoon Lagoon to chill out. This place never fails to impress - perhaps it was something to do with the sound of the Beach Boys and Hawaiin shirts a plenty that just makes me smile inside.
Wooomf! - ah yes! - it's that wonderful noise of the big surf wave going off - and I just can't wait to strip down to my Speedo's - steady girls! - LOL
After a few slides/goes in the lazy river/swims across the shark reef/tidal wave surfs it's looking dark in the sky so we decided to make a move before they close the park and head back to WL.
The security guard called out "Welcome home folks" - I love this place!
(Actually - DW thinks this is because it's a DVC location - but I'd rather think that it's just for us!).
The girls decide to go for another swim - so we left them at the pool while we took the bags up to the room. Wed only been in the room a few minutes when a deafening alarm went off - and it didnt stop! And it was only in our room!
(Note here - Alexandra is paranoid about alarms going off - shes got really sensitive ears, and wont go near dogs for example because their bark hurts her ears. We stayed at a Travel Inn a couple of months ago and the fire alarm went off twice in the middle of the night and shes been worried about hotels ever since, so we were praying that she didnt come back til we had it sorted!!)
Alison phoned the switchboard (screaming down the phone! LOL) and they sent an engineer up to the room, but we had to wait in the corridor til she came because the noise was so loud! Once she turned up, she just fitted a new smoke alarm, explaining that this happened all the time, due to either particles of dust or the humidity.
After a few minutes the girls came back asking where we were - so we rapidly got changed and had a quick dip.
Tonight we thought we'd give Bahama Breeze a whirl near Little Lake Bryan. Parking was a bit of bun fight, but they were offering free Valet parking if required.
The food was very good - we all shared a couple of starters - West Indian Patties and an ENORMOUS onion ring tower! Laura had pizza, Alexandra had chicken strips and fries, Alison had jerk salmon and I had a spicy beef risotto. Sad to say we couldnt do justice to the main meals because wed eaten too many onion rings!
I had a glass of Aruba Red beer, the girls had kids cocktails and Alison had a large rum based cocktail. The bill came to $67. Not too bad - and the food was delicious, but the portions were HUGE! - with a big emphasis on fish dishes.
Bellies filled up and it was back to Epcot ready for Mission Space.
Alisons opinion - I thought it was great! It was all the anticipation that was so good, and the build up. Very effective! I dont like spinning rides at all - and I cant even watch the tea cup ride as it makes me feel ill, but I didnt feel the spinning at all on this ride. It was over very quickly though.
Shauns opinion - Mission:space ? - don't believe the hype - I was very disappointed, over much too quickly.
The girls didnt ride it so they cant give you an opinion! We did our usual good parents bit, and sent them off to ride Spaceship Earth on their own!
We collected the girls, wandered over to the World Showcase and rode El Rio el Tiempo in Mexico and then decided to wait to see Illuminations, but we fussed about arguing about the best place to stand! - Grrrr As it happened it didnt matter much because there was hardly anyone around - we stood near the fence in Norway. Lovely to see this again!
Just before it ended we started to walk towards Future World and saw the last bit from the bridege. Out we went and gave into to demands for mini golf so we went for a quick round at Wintersummerland (half price for AP holders), where I let Alison win for a change. (Alison - yeah right!!!!)
Back to WL by about 11pm for some some snacks etc and so to bed.
Brits Count - lots and lots again!
Weather - hot and sunny all day!
Rain impact - none.
Tomorrow's plan - thats it, were back in commando mode! Its an early start for us to do MGM!
Cast list:
Shaun - 40 something 'If it's not alcoholic I won't drink it'
Alison - 30 something 'If it spins I won't even look at it'
Alexandra - 10 'If it goes upside down I won't ride it'
Laura - 8 'If it's not pizza I won't eat it'
Up and at 'em this morning at 7am and gingerly opened the curtains to see if yesterdays rain had disappeared - woo hoo! Bright and sunny already!! Over to Epcot for the first time this trip - this was especially exciting as we had a PS for the new Princess Breakfast at Norway.
We arrived at about 8.15 to find that at last Disney had got their act together - there was a separate queue and turnstile for early entry to Princess Breakfast - the CMs checked our names off the list and in we went.
As we walked through Future World it was eerily quiet apart from the odd CM and cleaner. I felt like a naughty schoolboy who'd just "bunked in" over the fence to run around after hours. We slowly worked our way to World Showcase - I just wish wed taken a few photos of Epcot when it was so deserted!
My initial impression of Norway was that the female CMs had let themselves go a bit since I was last there - I mean, last time they were tall, blonde and svelte - compared to brunette and dumpy this time - maybe my beer-fuddled memory is playing tricks with my mind!
We were seated by Prince Sven - no relation - who seemed like a nice boy , and he took care of our every need. The food was better than we'd previously experienced at Cindy's - there was a platter of pastries and another of fruit (melon/strawberries etc) waiting for us on our table. Sven came round with juice and coffee as soon as we were seated and about 10 minutes later the hot food came out. It was served in a large skillet for us to help ourselves - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage patties, breakfast potatoes and waffles with a jug of maple syrup. Yummy!
After a while they wheeled out the Princesses for a quick tour of duty - this included Mary Poppins, Mulan, Belle and Jasmine (Hubba Hubba!).
I was very impressed with Jasmine as she'd managed to fill out her costume a lot more since we last met. Somehow I appeared to have taken more than one snap of her! - LOL
Sven came round to refill our skillet and to give us the bill (about $70). We did enjoy this - but Im not sure it was particularly good value.
It was about 9.40 by the time we came out and as World Showcase didn't open until 11 o'clock we headed back to Future world to try and get the jump on the queues.
We grabbed Fast Passes for Test Track, then did Universe of Energy, Journey into Imagination and Spaceship Earth before going back to Test Track. It was the girls first time on Test Track - they would only do it because of the video on the DIBB - it really reassured them that there was nothing to be afraid of! Well, they really loved it! A definite favourite for the future!
After TT, we thought wed go and have a look at Mission Space, but as it was 12.20 by now, we assumed that all the fast passes would be gone for the day and that it would have a huge standby queue - but no! The queue was only about 30 minutes long, but as the girls were hot and desperate for a swim by now, we decided to grab fast passes and return later - they were for 7.20-8.20.
It's getting hot, hot, hot, so it's time for an ice cream! Laura had an Iminajacuzzi .no I mean an Imabitofafloozy no I mean Dadsgoneallboozy .grrr, Ill get it right in a minute!! It was an Itsakadoozie! Yeah - got it at last!!
Time to beat a retreat to Typhoon Lagoon to chill out. This place never fails to impress - perhaps it was something to do with the sound of the Beach Boys and Hawaiin shirts a plenty that just makes me smile inside.
Wooomf! - ah yes! - it's that wonderful noise of the big surf wave going off - and I just can't wait to strip down to my Speedo's - steady girls! - LOL
After a few slides/goes in the lazy river/swims across the shark reef/tidal wave surfs it's looking dark in the sky so we decided to make a move before they close the park and head back to WL.
The security guard called out "Welcome home folks" - I love this place!
(Actually - DW thinks this is because it's a DVC location - but I'd rather think that it's just for us!).
The girls decide to go for another swim - so we left them at the pool while we took the bags up to the room. Wed only been in the room a few minutes when a deafening alarm went off - and it didnt stop! And it was only in our room!
(Note here - Alexandra is paranoid about alarms going off - shes got really sensitive ears, and wont go near dogs for example because their bark hurts her ears. We stayed at a Travel Inn a couple of months ago and the fire alarm went off twice in the middle of the night and shes been worried about hotels ever since, so we were praying that she didnt come back til we had it sorted!!)
Alison phoned the switchboard (screaming down the phone! LOL) and they sent an engineer up to the room, but we had to wait in the corridor til she came because the noise was so loud! Once she turned up, she just fitted a new smoke alarm, explaining that this happened all the time, due to either particles of dust or the humidity.
After a few minutes the girls came back asking where we were - so we rapidly got changed and had a quick dip.
Tonight we thought we'd give Bahama Breeze a whirl near Little Lake Bryan. Parking was a bit of bun fight, but they were offering free Valet parking if required.
The food was very good - we all shared a couple of starters - West Indian Patties and an ENORMOUS onion ring tower! Laura had pizza, Alexandra had chicken strips and fries, Alison had jerk salmon and I had a spicy beef risotto. Sad to say we couldnt do justice to the main meals because wed eaten too many onion rings!
I had a glass of Aruba Red beer, the girls had kids cocktails and Alison had a large rum based cocktail. The bill came to $67. Not too bad - and the food was delicious, but the portions were HUGE! - with a big emphasis on fish dishes.
Bellies filled up and it was back to Epcot ready for Mission Space.
Alisons opinion - I thought it was great! It was all the anticipation that was so good, and the build up. Very effective! I dont like spinning rides at all - and I cant even watch the tea cup ride as it makes me feel ill, but I didnt feel the spinning at all on this ride. It was over very quickly though.
Shauns opinion - Mission:space ? - don't believe the hype - I was very disappointed, over much too quickly.
The girls didnt ride it so they cant give you an opinion! We did our usual good parents bit, and sent them off to ride Spaceship Earth on their own!
We collected the girls, wandered over to the World Showcase and rode El Rio el Tiempo in Mexico and then decided to wait to see Illuminations, but we fussed about arguing about the best place to stand! - Grrrr As it happened it didnt matter much because there was hardly anyone around - we stood near the fence in Norway. Lovely to see this again!
Just before it ended we started to walk towards Future World and saw the last bit from the bridege. Out we went and gave into to demands for mini golf so we went for a quick round at Wintersummerland (half price for AP holders), where I let Alison win for a change. (Alison - yeah right!!!!)
Back to WL by about 11pm for some some snacks etc and so to bed.
Brits Count - lots and lots again!
Weather - hot and sunny all day!
Rain impact - none.
Tomorrow's plan - thats it, were back in commando mode! Its an early start for us to do MGM!
) - and no rain...woohoo!
