CheshireMelanie
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2004
- Messages
- 70
Cast
Melvis (a.k.a Melanie) Me (39 dangerously close to 40th birthday, which may have something to do with buying the Mazda Miata convertible and convincing all immediate family that we needed to spend an early holiday with The Mouse.)
Dr. D my dear, DH (54); purports to be Grumpy by wearing considerable items of clothing bearing said image, however, by nature, much more like Doc. University Professor, who taught a Winter Session class WHILE we were on vacation. Online classes and high speed internet are glorious things. (And yes, there is a 15 year age difference and all I have to say is Viva ldifference!)
Deanster DSis (34) total princess with an amazing, creative brain secretly wishes to be Ariel if only to find her Prince Eric. Professional independent photographer. (Family plug see www.deanamason.com) Between the two of us, we, this is NO LIE, took over 1, 000 pics during this trip. Our mutual scrapbooking habit is currently on overload.
Big Cal DFather (64) absolute salt of the earth. Would go anywhere, do anything just to please his wife and daughters (and to get them to be quiet!). Is used to being out numbered even all family pets have been female. Has great empathy for Dr. D being married to me for nearly 14 years. Big Cal is 6 5 by the way.
Mini Maureen DMother (NOT 64! Mysteriously as I get older, she gets younger we have suspicions that she is perhaps an alien this has been somewhat substantiated by her obsession with Elvis.) I have acquired my best queenly skills by watching her all my life. Best thing she makes for dinner is reservations. She is 5 1 by the way.
Crew
Pag (pronounced with a long a as in short for The Pagan Baby) (25) Long story here about how he got his name, but suffice it to say that he belongs to a select group of university students who have deemed themselves adopted by DH and me and is part of our family. He is the resident house sitter, limo driver to the airport, cat and dog feeder and all around cool guy. He, in essence, makes our vacations much more relaxing by knowing that all things are being taken care of at home.
Day 9 Lunch with an Imagineer & The Final and Mad Dash - Part 1
Our last day. Not quite sure how to feel about this
Truly a wonderful vacation. We got to spend time with my family and have wonderful new experiences together. Weve not had any unpleasant experiences (with the exception of a little cold alright, ARCTIC weather and my OEFYO syndrome see Chpt. 8) and managed to do almost everything that we had put on our list.
We are really excited about today. Dr. D and I plan to spend the morning at MGM, have lunch at the Brown Derby with an Imagineer and then meet Deanster at MK for a couple of rides and photo ops.
We get Big C and Mini Mo packed up, the ECVs returned and bid them a safe trip home. I make Big C promise not to drive straight through back to Texas, but I doubt it will take them more than 2 days. DF seems to be ready to get back home.
Ill tell you a little secret so am I.
I KNOW sacrilege!!!
Blasphemous thought!!
No one is supposed to be happy about leaving The World. In fact, I dont think Ive read a trip report that has ever said this unless someone has had an unpleasant experience. So Im gonna just put it right out there.
Id rate my vacation as A+++, but Im not upset at the thought of getting on the plane this evening. Ive been less than well the entire time and Im tired. Deanster and I have been discussing missing our babies (i.e. cats and dogs.)
{Couldnt resist putting these in Deansters big Maine Coon Tom Cat, Theo and her tiny Heinz 57 mix, Prada}
I think mostly, I just feel a sense of accomplishment. We did it and we did it well.
No one is going to the poor house and everyone had a wonderful time.
Mission accomplished.
Considering this some more, I dont think there is anywhere Ive vacationed that I didnt want to leave to come home. Hmmm .must mean Im pretty spoiled. Reminder to self to hug Dr. D real tight today many, many times.
OK so am I a freak of nature or just the only one who is brave enough to say it?
Ill let you decide.
Pal Mickey in tow, we bus to the Studios. We had seen a t-shirt in the Star Wars section that was a must have whadja bring me present for Pag.
For the love of Pete DONT DO IT!!!
I know - crass, eight year old boy humor perfect!!
Today is a little cool for me but what Dr. D considers shirt-sleeve weather. We enjoy getting to comfortably look at some of the statuary we missed earlier in the week when we were head down, shoulders squared to the cold.
Dr. D and one of his heroes, Sid Caesar.
I see Chip n Dale in their Christmas finery and walk over to get a picture. Just as I hand Doc my camera, a very inconsiderate woman nearly knocks me down to get to them. Actually MOVES me out of the way. I was simply too stunned to say anything.
(In retrospect this is a very good thing.) Ive joked around about hip checking children out of the way, but I was truly KIDDING!! I cant believe how rude she is, and what stuns me even more is that she is totally clueless at how deficient she is in the social skills department. Several others have gathered around by the time she departs and I just stand there so that some little ones can go ahead, but both Chip and Dale walk straight over to me, give me a kiss and pose for our picture. It puts such a big smile on my face. I laugh right out loud and tell them thank you and they give me another quick hug. I cant imagine how many times a day they have to go through stuff like that. Once again, my hat is doffed to these hard working employees.
It is nearly time for our luncheon, so we make our way to the Brown Derby. Id walked in earlier in the week but it was Dr. Ds first time in the door and I could tell he was already really enjoying it.
We check in at the desk and are asked to wait until the other 5 guest who are joining us arrive, so that we can all be seated at once. While we are waiting a lady and her mother sit down beside us, and guess what, her mom has a coughing attack just like I had the night before.
Maam, I feel your pain.
I rummage around in my back pack and come up with my last lozenge. I push it towards her and with watery eyes she takes it.
My last lozenge
Boy, Im counting on pixie dust BIG TIME for this last day.
Soon we are a party of two couples and family of 3 Mom, Dad and Teenaged Daughter. They lead us through the restaurant back to the private dining room The Bamboo Room, just as in the original Brown Derby.
We have personalized printed menus. On the left inside cover is printed;
On the right side is our menu get ready to drool.
Jim is running about 5 minutes behind, so we get our drink orders taken and introduce ourselves. The gentleman of the other couple is a Cast Member and his mate gave him this lunch as a birthday gift. The family is so cute very outgoing - Dad is a navy pilot.
Jim arrives and is so nice. His job is to be in charge of sound design for everything in WDW with the exception of the live shows. This includes all the ambient sound for the parks (his favorite was designing for AK the animal sounds change to reflect the animals activities during the course of the day), sound tracks for resorts (to reflect to theme and the season I pinch Dr. D, I want no discussion of Feliz Navidad today!) and sound design for the rides (he loved working with Aerosmith on the Rock n Roller Coaster).
He is so personable, tells us stories and answers all our questions. If you ever get to share a meal with this great guy, ask him to tell you about the test rides on Tower of Terror. Lets just say there is a BIG mechanical safety reason that the doors open at the top and that seat belts were added! And also about him taking his laptop WITH him on Rock n Roller Coaster.
The food is incredible. I am really surprised at the combination of flavors that are listed on the menu, but they are just the right touch and now maybe I know a little bit of what a sophisticated palette might enjoy.
The soup is exquisite. Ive could have just had that, bread and dessert and been wonderfully happy.
Wish I had a picture of the salad to share it was an individual salad but done in the traditional Cobb presentation with everything very finely julienned and in neat rows. (We were in such a nice place didnt want to play tourist too much and take pics of my food!)
Doc and I both choose the fillet and are not disappointed.
But let me tell you about DESSERT!!!!
Banana and cumin WHAT? (Which is exactly what I thought!)
Well, the concorde is a light chocolate souffléish sort of thing (those of you who are gourmands, please excuse my amateur descriptions). Lovely!
The chef has thinly sliced a banana length wise and baked it crisp, laid it across the concorde and drizzled the banana cumin sauce onto it (oohh, it was good!) This sits on a plate of the pomegranate reduction. Heaven.
All to soon were finished eating, but in reality, nearly 2 hours had flown by. Jim signed our souvenir keepsake 50th Anniversary plate. The restaurant manager had already inquired as to how to get these plates to where they need to go for each of us. Since Den and I are departing in the evening, he packed ours in bubble wrap and put it in a Disney pizza box which he discretely folded inside out, so as not to seem gauche
and after a few pics we say our goodbyes and are on our way to the MK!
Our table - see how intimate this space is! Makes you feel like a movie star.
Our Imagineer, Jim!
(This is something we will do everytime we visit. I highly recommend it!
Let me know if you have any questions.)
Now, how does one get a sealed pizza box through bag check and find the Deanster?
[thread=706844]Chapter 1 - The Prequel[/thread]
[thread=707410]Chapter 2 - T minus 48 Hours[/thread]
[thread=707456]Chapter 3 - 3,2,1 - We have Ignition[/thread]
[thread=708708]Chapter 4 - Together at Last[/thread]
[thread=709177]Chapter 5 - The Call of the Wild[/thread]
[thread=711162]Chapter 5.1 With Apologies to Rudyard Kipling[/thread]
[thread=713380]Chapter 6 Winter in the World Showcase[/thread]
[thread=741726]Chapter 7.1 Subzero MGM Adventure [/thread]
[thread=891702]Chapter 8 - News from The Dolphin Tank and the OEFYO Syndrome [/thread]
Chapter 9.1 - YOU ARE HERE
Melvis (a.k.a Melanie) Me (39 dangerously close to 40th birthday, which may have something to do with buying the Mazda Miata convertible and convincing all immediate family that we needed to spend an early holiday with The Mouse.)
Dr. D my dear, DH (54); purports to be Grumpy by wearing considerable items of clothing bearing said image, however, by nature, much more like Doc. University Professor, who taught a Winter Session class WHILE we were on vacation. Online classes and high speed internet are glorious things. (And yes, there is a 15 year age difference and all I have to say is Viva ldifference!)
Deanster DSis (34) total princess with an amazing, creative brain secretly wishes to be Ariel if only to find her Prince Eric. Professional independent photographer. (Family plug see www.deanamason.com) Between the two of us, we, this is NO LIE, took over 1, 000 pics during this trip. Our mutual scrapbooking habit is currently on overload.
Big Cal DFather (64) absolute salt of the earth. Would go anywhere, do anything just to please his wife and daughters (and to get them to be quiet!). Is used to being out numbered even all family pets have been female. Has great empathy for Dr. D being married to me for nearly 14 years. Big Cal is 6 5 by the way.
Mini Maureen DMother (NOT 64! Mysteriously as I get older, she gets younger we have suspicions that she is perhaps an alien this has been somewhat substantiated by her obsession with Elvis.) I have acquired my best queenly skills by watching her all my life. Best thing she makes for dinner is reservations. She is 5 1 by the way.
Crew
Pag (pronounced with a long a as in short for The Pagan Baby) (25) Long story here about how he got his name, but suffice it to say that he belongs to a select group of university students who have deemed themselves adopted by DH and me and is part of our family. He is the resident house sitter, limo driver to the airport, cat and dog feeder and all around cool guy. He, in essence, makes our vacations much more relaxing by knowing that all things are being taken care of at home.
Day 9 Lunch with an Imagineer & The Final and Mad Dash - Part 1
Our last day. Not quite sure how to feel about this
Truly a wonderful vacation. We got to spend time with my family and have wonderful new experiences together. Weve not had any unpleasant experiences (with the exception of a little cold alright, ARCTIC weather and my OEFYO syndrome see Chpt. 8) and managed to do almost everything that we had put on our list.
We are really excited about today. Dr. D and I plan to spend the morning at MGM, have lunch at the Brown Derby with an Imagineer and then meet Deanster at MK for a couple of rides and photo ops.
We get Big C and Mini Mo packed up, the ECVs returned and bid them a safe trip home. I make Big C promise not to drive straight through back to Texas, but I doubt it will take them more than 2 days. DF seems to be ready to get back home.
Ill tell you a little secret so am I.
I KNOW sacrilege!!!
Blasphemous thought!!
No one is supposed to be happy about leaving The World. In fact, I dont think Ive read a trip report that has ever said this unless someone has had an unpleasant experience. So Im gonna just put it right out there.
Id rate my vacation as A+++, but Im not upset at the thought of getting on the plane this evening. Ive been less than well the entire time and Im tired. Deanster and I have been discussing missing our babies (i.e. cats and dogs.)
{Couldnt resist putting these in Deansters big Maine Coon Tom Cat, Theo and her tiny Heinz 57 mix, Prada}
I think mostly, I just feel a sense of accomplishment. We did it and we did it well.
No one is going to the poor house and everyone had a wonderful time.
Mission accomplished.
Considering this some more, I dont think there is anywhere Ive vacationed that I didnt want to leave to come home. Hmmm .must mean Im pretty spoiled. Reminder to self to hug Dr. D real tight today many, many times.
OK so am I a freak of nature or just the only one who is brave enough to say it?
Ill let you decide.
Pal Mickey in tow, we bus to the Studios. We had seen a t-shirt in the Star Wars section that was a must have whadja bring me present for Pag.
For the love of Pete DONT DO IT!!!
I know - crass, eight year old boy humor perfect!!
Today is a little cool for me but what Dr. D considers shirt-sleeve weather. We enjoy getting to comfortably look at some of the statuary we missed earlier in the week when we were head down, shoulders squared to the cold.
Dr. D and one of his heroes, Sid Caesar.
I see Chip n Dale in their Christmas finery and walk over to get a picture. Just as I hand Doc my camera, a very inconsiderate woman nearly knocks me down to get to them. Actually MOVES me out of the way. I was simply too stunned to say anything.
(In retrospect this is a very good thing.) Ive joked around about hip checking children out of the way, but I was truly KIDDING!! I cant believe how rude she is, and what stuns me even more is that she is totally clueless at how deficient she is in the social skills department. Several others have gathered around by the time she departs and I just stand there so that some little ones can go ahead, but both Chip and Dale walk straight over to me, give me a kiss and pose for our picture. It puts such a big smile on my face. I laugh right out loud and tell them thank you and they give me another quick hug. I cant imagine how many times a day they have to go through stuff like that. Once again, my hat is doffed to these hard working employees.
It is nearly time for our luncheon, so we make our way to the Brown Derby. Id walked in earlier in the week but it was Dr. Ds first time in the door and I could tell he was already really enjoying it.
We check in at the desk and are asked to wait until the other 5 guest who are joining us arrive, so that we can all be seated at once. While we are waiting a lady and her mother sit down beside us, and guess what, her mom has a coughing attack just like I had the night before.
Maam, I feel your pain.
I rummage around in my back pack and come up with my last lozenge. I push it towards her and with watery eyes she takes it.
My last lozenge
Boy, Im counting on pixie dust BIG TIME for this last day.
Soon we are a party of two couples and family of 3 Mom, Dad and Teenaged Daughter. They lead us through the restaurant back to the private dining room The Bamboo Room, just as in the original Brown Derby.
We have personalized printed menus. On the left inside cover is printed;
Welcome to The Hollywood Brown Derby!
It is our pleasure to have (your name) here today, Friday, December 17, 2004. Your special lunch will be hosted by Jim Dotson, Media Designer, Walt Disney Imagineering.
Enjoy your Experience!
It is our pleasure to have (your name) here today, Friday, December 17, 2004. Your special lunch will be hosted by Jim Dotson, Media Designer, Walt Disney Imagineering.
Enjoy your Experience!
On the right side is our menu get ready to drool.
Introduction
Mulligatawny Soup with Chicken, Basmati Rice, Tart Apple, and minted Crème Fraiche
Individual Classic Cobb Salad with Chopped Greens, Turkey Breast, Bacon, Egg, Tomatoes, Crumbled Bleu Cheese, Avocado and Cobb Salad Dressing.
Center Stage Choice of one:
Grilled Filet Mignon with Boniato Mash, Crisp Peppered Onions, Horseradish Aioli, and Rich Cabernet Reduction
Thai Noodle Bowl with Barbecue Brest of Chicken, Sugar Peas, Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms in a Red Curry Broth
Pan-fired Grouper over Roasted Asparagus, Citrus Plugra Butter Sauce, topped with a Sweet Onion Marmalade
Finale
Bittersweet Chocolate Concorde with Banana Cumin Sauce and Pomegranate Reduction
Coffee, Tea and Non-alcoholic Beverage.
Mulligatawny Soup with Chicken, Basmati Rice, Tart Apple, and minted Crème Fraiche
Individual Classic Cobb Salad with Chopped Greens, Turkey Breast, Bacon, Egg, Tomatoes, Crumbled Bleu Cheese, Avocado and Cobb Salad Dressing.
Center Stage Choice of one:
Grilled Filet Mignon with Boniato Mash, Crisp Peppered Onions, Horseradish Aioli, and Rich Cabernet Reduction
Thai Noodle Bowl with Barbecue Brest of Chicken, Sugar Peas, Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms in a Red Curry Broth
Pan-fired Grouper over Roasted Asparagus, Citrus Plugra Butter Sauce, topped with a Sweet Onion Marmalade
Finale
Bittersweet Chocolate Concorde with Banana Cumin Sauce and Pomegranate Reduction
Coffee, Tea and Non-alcoholic Beverage.
Jim is running about 5 minutes behind, so we get our drink orders taken and introduce ourselves. The gentleman of the other couple is a Cast Member and his mate gave him this lunch as a birthday gift. The family is so cute very outgoing - Dad is a navy pilot.
Jim arrives and is so nice. His job is to be in charge of sound design for everything in WDW with the exception of the live shows. This includes all the ambient sound for the parks (his favorite was designing for AK the animal sounds change to reflect the animals activities during the course of the day), sound tracks for resorts (to reflect to theme and the season I pinch Dr. D, I want no discussion of Feliz Navidad today!) and sound design for the rides (he loved working with Aerosmith on the Rock n Roller Coaster).
He is so personable, tells us stories and answers all our questions. If you ever get to share a meal with this great guy, ask him to tell you about the test rides on Tower of Terror. Lets just say there is a BIG mechanical safety reason that the doors open at the top and that seat belts were added! And also about him taking his laptop WITH him on Rock n Roller Coaster.
The food is incredible. I am really surprised at the combination of flavors that are listed on the menu, but they are just the right touch and now maybe I know a little bit of what a sophisticated palette might enjoy.
The soup is exquisite. Ive could have just had that, bread and dessert and been wonderfully happy.
Wish I had a picture of the salad to share it was an individual salad but done in the traditional Cobb presentation with everything very finely julienned and in neat rows. (We were in such a nice place didnt want to play tourist too much and take pics of my food!)
Doc and I both choose the fillet and are not disappointed.
But let me tell you about DESSERT!!!!
Banana and cumin WHAT? (Which is exactly what I thought!)
Well, the concorde is a light chocolate souffléish sort of thing (those of you who are gourmands, please excuse my amateur descriptions). Lovely!
The chef has thinly sliced a banana length wise and baked it crisp, laid it across the concorde and drizzled the banana cumin sauce onto it (oohh, it was good!) This sits on a plate of the pomegranate reduction. Heaven.
All to soon were finished eating, but in reality, nearly 2 hours had flown by. Jim signed our souvenir keepsake 50th Anniversary plate. The restaurant manager had already inquired as to how to get these plates to where they need to go for each of us. Since Den and I are departing in the evening, he packed ours in bubble wrap and put it in a Disney pizza box which he discretely folded inside out, so as not to seem gauche
and after a few pics we say our goodbyes and are on our way to the MK!
Our table - see how intimate this space is! Makes you feel like a movie star.
Our Imagineer, Jim!
(This is something we will do everytime we visit. I highly recommend it!
Let me know if you have any questions.)
Now, how does one get a sealed pizza box through bag check and find the Deanster?
[thread=706844]Chapter 1 - The Prequel[/thread]
[thread=707410]Chapter 2 - T minus 48 Hours[/thread]
[thread=707456]Chapter 3 - 3,2,1 - We have Ignition[/thread]
[thread=708708]Chapter 4 - Together at Last[/thread]
[thread=709177]Chapter 5 - The Call of the Wild[/thread]
[thread=711162]Chapter 5.1 With Apologies to Rudyard Kipling[/thread]
[thread=713380]Chapter 6 Winter in the World Showcase[/thread]
[thread=741726]Chapter 7.1 Subzero MGM Adventure [/thread]
[thread=891702]Chapter 8 - News from The Dolphin Tank and the OEFYO Syndrome [/thread]
Chapter 9.1 - YOU ARE HERE
What a lovely family you have! 
, and I hope that this wintertime you (and your family) have stayed healthy. 
I hope the weather is a little milder for us than it was for you.
