DisneySarah80
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2010
- Messages
- 1,198
Ok, here's a little background... We booked this trip (10/23 - 10/30) back in January of this year. We got a 2 bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs because my parents were also to come with us. We kept it a secret from our daughters 5 & 6 for all that time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q35SUJoF0kQ
I had several surprises scheduled into this vacation, which I will get to day by day. So here we go!!!
Day 1: Drive to the airport early, get on the flight. Everything went well - no delays! Get to the hotel around 1:30pm, check in, and then head off the DHS. First ride - Tower of Terror!!! My DDs LOVED it, and by the end of the trip, we ended up going on it 3 more times. Originally, we had reservations to eat at Sci-Fi at 5:20, but we just couldn't wait that long to eat, so we went to Starring Rolls. My husband saw the offerings, and refused to eat there... so much for my awesome cupcake dessert.... We went to the ABC Comm for lunch. I got a burger with fried shrimp on top. They were OK, but rather greasy.
Day 2: Off to Epcot! We were there at rope drop, and the moment we got in, we headed to Test Track. We stood there. And stood. And stood. Finally, at about 9:10 someone comes out and says that they were having technical issues, and they didn't know how long it would be. We waited another 10 minutes, then went and got fast passes, and went off to Soarin. This was our first time on Soarin, but not our last! We all loved it - However the guy behind us wasn't as much of a fan... Apparently, he was scared of flying and heights, and kept telling his family that if he goes on it (which he insisted on doing), he was scared he was going to throw up. I was happy he wasn't above us!!!! From there, we went to the Land Pavilion, did some stuff there, then back to Test Track. It was back up and running... or so we thought.... While we were in there waiting for our turn, it shut down again, but we did make it on after about 15-20 minutes. From there, we went into the World Showcase, where I had lunch with my youngest daughter in Morocco at the Tangierine Cafe. I had the chicken and lamb Shawarma Platter. The meat was very good, as was the humus, but the Tangierine Couscous Salad was not for me. My daughter shared it with me, and they were very nice, and gave her her own drink, and her own baklava. She really enjoyed it. For (another) dessert, I went to the candy shop in Germany, and got dark chocolate covered caramel - Wow, that was SOOOOO good!!!! That night we went to MK for dinner at CRT. I had the rock shrimp appetizer, which while it wasn't as impressive as I had imagined, it was good. For my main course, I had the Roasted Beef Tenderloin. It was very good, nothing to complain about here. And dessert was a pumpkin souffle. It was good, but I don't recall tasting any pumpkin really...
Day 3: Animal Kingdom! We had breakfast at Tusker House. The juice was good, I had a few glasses of it, along with some coffee. I liked the spicy corned beef hash, but it was a bit runny. Nothing else really note worthy at this meal, other than the fact that you get Mickey, Donald & Goofy! The kids loved that. We spend the entire day at AK, doing everything we could - some twice! The only thing we didn't do was Nemo because my husband refused... Guess he didn't like that show last time! LOL From here, we went to AKL for our dinner at Sanaa. At this point, I should tell you that due to a heart attack suffered by my father, my parents were not able to come to Disney with us. This is the meal that I had ordered the surprise custom cake for my Mother. She has breast cancer, and blood clots on her lungs, which makes it very difficult to breath / do anything. This trip was probably our last chance for all of us to go on vacation together. So anyway.... We get to the dinner, and they have placed a note in one of the menus with a quote I had given them - Celebrating Love, Life & Togetherness. All the employees had signed it - it was very thoughtful, and I really appreciated it. The food! From the menu, I had the Indian Style Bread Service for my appetizer. I got the Naan, Onion Kulcha, Papadum, and paired them with the Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus, and a Coconut Chutney. All were very good. My husband got the Potato and Pea Samosas. He does not eat Indian food, but really enjoyed these. It came with a Tamarind sauce that he wouldn't use, so I had it with the bread. For my main course, I got the Coconut Curry Lamb and Spicy Durban Shrimp with Basmati Rice. The waiter warned me that the shrimp was super spicy.... But I didn't listen! From what everyone on these boards said, nothing at Sanaa was overly spiced, plus I can take a lot of heat so I wasn't worried.... It was H-O-T!!! My husband got the Beef Short Ribs which were really tasty. So now its dessert time. I told the girls that we were not ordering dessert, but the waiter knew to bring out our cake. So he goes and gets it....
Its looks NOTHING like what I had been discussing with the chef. Long story short, I had emailed the chef pictures of 4 different cakes. I said, that my #1 cake would be to have the first cake I emailed him, but if that was going to cost to much, I send him pictures of 3 other cakes that I wanted certain aspects taken from. He told me that he would do the first cake - However the cake that came to the table looked nothing like it, and actually looked more like the other 3 cakes. So, I was disappointed, but we accepted the cake. I asked the waiter "Are you sure this is our cake? Because it looks nothing like what had been ordered." He told me that it was the only cake in the entire restaurant. So I sat there, thought about it a bit more, and decided that I needed to speak with the manager, because there was no way I was paying $125 for this cake. After speaking with the manager, she came back to my table with paperwork, proving that this was in fact, my cake, because they had emails, and it had my name on it. She left, and then the waiter came back - Woops, they had actually found the correct cake, and were about to bring it out. Here's the real cake I had ordered:
It was amazing looking, and tasted even better. Bavarian cream inside with strawberries and bananas and a marble cake inside. And the Mickey Mouse on top - AMAZING! The sugar flowers, and a little sugar butterfly - it was all perfect down to the last little thing.
Day 4: We got the MK at rope drop on this morning. We got on to every single ride pretty must as walk ons - it was awesome! Peter Pan had a bit of a wait, but no more than 15 minutes. Big Thunder Mountain had about a 15 minute wait too, but that was it. We did IASW 2x walked right on each time. We walked right into the Country Bears - got there just in time! We got done with most of our rides so early, so we decided to have an early lunch at Columbia Harbor House. I got the Lobster Roll which was good. It was so wide, I wasn't able to eat it on the roll, so I just ate it with a fork. My daughters both had the tuna sandwiches - Its nice to find a restaurant that actually has something semi-healthy for kids! My husband opted for the Broccoli Peppercorn salad which he said was very good. Every day, we went back to the hotel for a short rest, then back out to the next park. This night we went to Via Napoli in Epcot. One regret I have for this meal is that we paid OOP - I got the super tasty Linguini with seafood (can't remember the real name!) - it was so good, but a little on the pricey side, so I wish we had done out dining plan on this meal. My husband got a pizza which was very good, as did my one daughter, and the other got the meaty macaroni. All very good, and I wouldn't hesitate to make 1 if not 2 reservations here next time!
Day 5: We did MNSSHP on this night, so we tried to take it easy during the day... But telling my husband to "take it easy" on a Disney vacation isn't easy! We went to DTD for some shopping - I got a new Christmas tree blanket and some new ornaments at the Christmas store... Also got a custom made MM rice krispie treat at Goofy's Candy Co which was very good. I had made reservations for the Tea at the Grand Floridian for myself, my daughters, and my mother. Since she wasn't able to make it, my husband tagged along. I got the Grand Tea. It was very good, though I didn't care for the pate like thing they served with it. It was nice, but tasted way to fatty for me. My husband got a tea and strawberries and cream. Thankfully, he noticed the little hitch-hiker that tagged along on his whipped cream (fruit fly) before he ate it! LOL Originally, I wanted to order just one of the Ms. Potts tea service for my daughters, but I was told that I wasn't allowed, and had to order 1 for each of them. Not what I wanted to do, but oh well.... They enjoyed their food and tea (only one cup spilled!!). I ordered the Cindy's slipper with mousse for them for dessert. It was a surprise for everyone, and though I didn't care for the white mousse, they also had a dark chocolate mousse on the plate that was TO DIE FOR! So from here, we went to the Barber Shop to get my girls all done up for MNSSHP. One had her hair put into a very messy bun with gel and fairy dust, and the other had a side braid with gel and fairy dust. It looked really nice, though getting it out of their hair that night (didn't get home till after 10pm) was not fun. We had seats at a special VIP viewing area for the 8:15pm parade. We got there a little early, and my husband was still hungry (he only had the strawberries and cream, and some of my trifle - not enough for him!), so he went to the closes place for food, but it was just a stand, and they didn't have anything he wanted. Oh well! We watched the headless horseman come through - He actually stood on the bridge where we were for about 2 minutes, so that was really neat for the girls. Then the parade started - it was so great! I guess since we were in this VIP area, they paid special attention to the kids in this section - All the ghouls and goblins came over while dancing, and so did the regular characters. We got more lollypops that I could count! After the parade, we walked around a bit more, did a few more rides, and by then DH was super hungry. We tried to get a hotdog, but the line was jut to long, so we decided against it. Back to the hotel for a little sleep!!
Day 6: We went back to Epcot this morning, and right over to the Land Pavilion. Walked into Soarin and Living with the Land, then had breakfast at Sunshine. I really wanted to eat here, but I'm not a huge breakfast person - Would have rather had lunch or dinner. But it was still good, and we all shared 2 breakfasts so we wouldn't be to full - World Showcase was opening soon..... We did a few more rides the over to World Showcase to test some items. I didn't eat all these items on this day, but here's what I had from here... Tuna and Salmon Sensation from the Japanese Pavilion. If you like sushimi, then you MUST try this - it was out of this world! However, pass on the Cosmo at the French Pavilion - I had to throw mine out after have drinking about half of it. I had the Flan at the Mexican Pavilion - It was so yummy! My husband HATES stuff like that, but he fell in love with it as well! I also had the steak on a stick on a stick with chimichurs sauce from the Argentina Pavilion, while my husband got the Enchilada from there. I can say that the steak on a stick was very good, but can't comment on the Enchilada, because my husband ate it before I could even blink! Lastly, I had the Rock Coconut Mojito from the Carrabian Pavilion which was very good, as well as the Lobster and Scallop Pot Pie from Ireland. Very good as well. Ok... We went back to the hotel for a rest, and after that, we back to Epcot for dinner at Rose and Crown. I got the friend fish and steak meal, which I really adored - Every aspect was done very well. Also got the Sticky Toffie dessert which was very good. I made these reservations for 8pm in hopes to see Illuminations at 9pm.... However Epcot extended their hours to 10pm - My girls were very good this entire trip, but there was no way to keep them up that late. Little Sophie fell asleep in her food!!! During dinner, while waiting to order dessert, I ran over to a shop and bought myself a Paddington Bear and a "Who" shirt.
Day 7: This day we went to DHS - But not at rope drop. We didn't get there much after, but it was towards the end of our trip, and we were just losing steam! We road ToT a few times, caught the Indiana Jones Show (though due to rain, they only did half the show!!) and then off to lunch. I was ready for another meal at ABC, but DH insisted that we go to Starring Rolls because he knew I wanted to. I enjoyed their turkey sandwich, and got the butterfinger cupcake. To mhy dissapointment, I wasn't a huge fan. The cupcake itself was very good, but under the Butterfinger, was some white stuff that was just way to sweet for me. Oh well - Next time I'll get a different cupcake!! Back to the hotel, my parents and one of my brothers actually made it for the last full day. My parents had to drive back up to Jersey, and going through Orlando was the way, so they figured why not stop by - I was very happy. The evening, we went to Wolfgang Puck Cafe. Never again will I eat there. My parents didn't want to go there in the first place because they had been once years before and said they were dissapointed, but I wasn't to try it, so we did. First of all, there was a hair in my DHs steak. We handed it back - the waitress (who we were lucky to even see most of the meal) didn't even appologize. She took it back into the kitchen, where they took the hair out, flipped the steak over, and sent it right back out to us. The way I know they did this, is because there were frizzled onions on the steak - Some were stuck together rather oddly, and we had commented on it before finding the hair. Those same onions where still on the steak. Plus, DH asked for it to be medium, and it was MORE than well done. I got the sushi sampler - it was OK, but nothing special. My father got the fish special, and he was less than impressed with that as well. For a celebrity chef, we were all very dissapointed in this place, and will not go back again. This night, since my parents were there, DH and I went to Epcot to walk around the World Showcase. Thought it was a Saturday night during F&W, we didn't find it overly crazy at all... though there were several very drunk people (mostly women actually) walking around! lol
Day 8: Our final, and most disappointing day. Originally, I had reservations for Chef Mickey's at 7:40am, but no one was up for that. So I canceled them, and got Kona Cafe for 10:25. I was excited about this reservation because I wanted to try the Tonga Toast, though I wasn't happy that it was so late on our last day. So we get there just in time via the Monorail - It was having issues, and they had to take a train off the tracks, which held us up. But we still got there in time for our reservations. I get to the desk, and put our name in. The guy informs me that they are very busy, and it could be 45 minutes. I said "Even if we have a reservation??" He says "Oh no, not for people with reservations, we will seat you very close to your reservation time." I said OK, and walked away..... 25 minutes later, still not seated. So I go up, and they tell me just a few minute longer, just waiting for a table of 6 to open up. 10 minutes later, one does, and we go up again.... "Yes, that will probably be your table, we just have to wait for it to be cleaned." 10 minutes later, the table is still sitting there dirty, no one bussing it, or even looking at it. I should also mention that there are 3 people at the check in counter - One checking people in, two standing there, doing nothing. Why couldn't one of these two people bus the table??? So 55 minutes later, I go up for the final time, and explain to the moron... I mean woman... that this is our final day in Disney, we should have been out of the restaurant by now and in the MK - What is going on?!? She just stares at me. I put the buzzer down in the crayons and walked away more pissed off than you could imagine. I should have asked for the manager, but OMG - We had been waiting for 55 minutes, and had gone up to the counter several times - I'm pretty sure they are aware of the situation. So we go down the Captain Cooks - I can get the Tonga Toast there!!!! My spirits lifted a bit with that, till I realized that it was 11:30 at this point, and they were no longer serving breakfast. I can't even remember what I got - nothing good.... At the end of the meal, we said our goodbyes to my parents who were getting in their car and driving back home, and we went to MK. According to Touring Plans, this day was supposed to be the least crowded day of all - it was at a 1 and MK was the recommended park for that day!!! I don't know if that was a mistake, or what, but darn was it crowded. Earlier in the week, we were able to just walk on every ride, twice! No problem - This day, we were only able to ride IASW once, and that was it - no time for anything else. From there, we went back to our hotel, and though no one was really hungry, we got something to eat, sat, and waiting for ME to come get us.
So all in all, other than the last day (did I mention that I also forgot my car keys on the bathroom sink in the hotel, and didn't realize it till the plane landed at Newark Liberty Airport..... Yeah, $120 cab drive later, I will never do that again!!!!), and the fact that my father suffered a heart attack, and they were not able to make it, or receive all the surprises I had planned, it was a great trip. Walk on all rides for most of the trip, pretty good food, and we also did rides we had never been on before. I don't know when we will go back again, but I know Saratoga won't be where we stay.... Not the resort for us at all - But I still can't wait to go back!!!!
I had several surprises scheduled into this vacation, which I will get to day by day. So here we go!!!
Day 1: Drive to the airport early, get on the flight. Everything went well - no delays! Get to the hotel around 1:30pm, check in, and then head off the DHS. First ride - Tower of Terror!!! My DDs LOVED it, and by the end of the trip, we ended up going on it 3 more times. Originally, we had reservations to eat at Sci-Fi at 5:20, but we just couldn't wait that long to eat, so we went to Starring Rolls. My husband saw the offerings, and refused to eat there... so much for my awesome cupcake dessert.... We went to the ABC Comm for lunch. I got a burger with fried shrimp on top. They were OK, but rather greasy.
Day 2: Off to Epcot! We were there at rope drop, and the moment we got in, we headed to Test Track. We stood there. And stood. And stood. Finally, at about 9:10 someone comes out and says that they were having technical issues, and they didn't know how long it would be. We waited another 10 minutes, then went and got fast passes, and went off to Soarin. This was our first time on Soarin, but not our last! We all loved it - However the guy behind us wasn't as much of a fan... Apparently, he was scared of flying and heights, and kept telling his family that if he goes on it (which he insisted on doing), he was scared he was going to throw up. I was happy he wasn't above us!!!! From there, we went to the Land Pavilion, did some stuff there, then back to Test Track. It was back up and running... or so we thought.... While we were in there waiting for our turn, it shut down again, but we did make it on after about 15-20 minutes. From there, we went into the World Showcase, where I had lunch with my youngest daughter in Morocco at the Tangierine Cafe. I had the chicken and lamb Shawarma Platter. The meat was very good, as was the humus, but the Tangierine Couscous Salad was not for me. My daughter shared it with me, and they were very nice, and gave her her own drink, and her own baklava. She really enjoyed it. For (another) dessert, I went to the candy shop in Germany, and got dark chocolate covered caramel - Wow, that was SOOOOO good!!!! That night we went to MK for dinner at CRT. I had the rock shrimp appetizer, which while it wasn't as impressive as I had imagined, it was good. For my main course, I had the Roasted Beef Tenderloin. It was very good, nothing to complain about here. And dessert was a pumpkin souffle. It was good, but I don't recall tasting any pumpkin really...
Day 3: Animal Kingdom! We had breakfast at Tusker House. The juice was good, I had a few glasses of it, along with some coffee. I liked the spicy corned beef hash, but it was a bit runny. Nothing else really note worthy at this meal, other than the fact that you get Mickey, Donald & Goofy! The kids loved that. We spend the entire day at AK, doing everything we could - some twice! The only thing we didn't do was Nemo because my husband refused... Guess he didn't like that show last time! LOL From here, we went to AKL for our dinner at Sanaa. At this point, I should tell you that due to a heart attack suffered by my father, my parents were not able to come to Disney with us. This is the meal that I had ordered the surprise custom cake for my Mother. She has breast cancer, and blood clots on her lungs, which makes it very difficult to breath / do anything. This trip was probably our last chance for all of us to go on vacation together. So anyway.... We get to the dinner, and they have placed a note in one of the menus with a quote I had given them - Celebrating Love, Life & Togetherness. All the employees had signed it - it was very thoughtful, and I really appreciated it. The food! From the menu, I had the Indian Style Bread Service for my appetizer. I got the Naan, Onion Kulcha, Papadum, and paired them with the Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus, and a Coconut Chutney. All were very good. My husband got the Potato and Pea Samosas. He does not eat Indian food, but really enjoyed these. It came with a Tamarind sauce that he wouldn't use, so I had it with the bread. For my main course, I got the Coconut Curry Lamb and Spicy Durban Shrimp with Basmati Rice. The waiter warned me that the shrimp was super spicy.... But I didn't listen! From what everyone on these boards said, nothing at Sanaa was overly spiced, plus I can take a lot of heat so I wasn't worried.... It was H-O-T!!! My husband got the Beef Short Ribs which were really tasty. So now its dessert time. I told the girls that we were not ordering dessert, but the waiter knew to bring out our cake. So he goes and gets it....
Its looks NOTHING like what I had been discussing with the chef. Long story short, I had emailed the chef pictures of 4 different cakes. I said, that my #1 cake would be to have the first cake I emailed him, but if that was going to cost to much, I send him pictures of 3 other cakes that I wanted certain aspects taken from. He told me that he would do the first cake - However the cake that came to the table looked nothing like it, and actually looked more like the other 3 cakes. So, I was disappointed, but we accepted the cake. I asked the waiter "Are you sure this is our cake? Because it looks nothing like what had been ordered." He told me that it was the only cake in the entire restaurant. So I sat there, thought about it a bit more, and decided that I needed to speak with the manager, because there was no way I was paying $125 for this cake. After speaking with the manager, she came back to my table with paperwork, proving that this was in fact, my cake, because they had emails, and it had my name on it. She left, and then the waiter came back - Woops, they had actually found the correct cake, and were about to bring it out. Here's the real cake I had ordered:
It was amazing looking, and tasted even better. Bavarian cream inside with strawberries and bananas and a marble cake inside. And the Mickey Mouse on top - AMAZING! The sugar flowers, and a little sugar butterfly - it was all perfect down to the last little thing.
Day 4: We got the MK at rope drop on this morning. We got on to every single ride pretty must as walk ons - it was awesome! Peter Pan had a bit of a wait, but no more than 15 minutes. Big Thunder Mountain had about a 15 minute wait too, but that was it. We did IASW 2x walked right on each time. We walked right into the Country Bears - got there just in time! We got done with most of our rides so early, so we decided to have an early lunch at Columbia Harbor House. I got the Lobster Roll which was good. It was so wide, I wasn't able to eat it on the roll, so I just ate it with a fork. My daughters both had the tuna sandwiches - Its nice to find a restaurant that actually has something semi-healthy for kids! My husband opted for the Broccoli Peppercorn salad which he said was very good. Every day, we went back to the hotel for a short rest, then back out to the next park. This night we went to Via Napoli in Epcot. One regret I have for this meal is that we paid OOP - I got the super tasty Linguini with seafood (can't remember the real name!) - it was so good, but a little on the pricey side, so I wish we had done out dining plan on this meal. My husband got a pizza which was very good, as did my one daughter, and the other got the meaty macaroni. All very good, and I wouldn't hesitate to make 1 if not 2 reservations here next time!
Day 5: We did MNSSHP on this night, so we tried to take it easy during the day... But telling my husband to "take it easy" on a Disney vacation isn't easy! We went to DTD for some shopping - I got a new Christmas tree blanket and some new ornaments at the Christmas store... Also got a custom made MM rice krispie treat at Goofy's Candy Co which was very good. I had made reservations for the Tea at the Grand Floridian for myself, my daughters, and my mother. Since she wasn't able to make it, my husband tagged along. I got the Grand Tea. It was very good, though I didn't care for the pate like thing they served with it. It was nice, but tasted way to fatty for me. My husband got a tea and strawberries and cream. Thankfully, he noticed the little hitch-hiker that tagged along on his whipped cream (fruit fly) before he ate it! LOL Originally, I wanted to order just one of the Ms. Potts tea service for my daughters, but I was told that I wasn't allowed, and had to order 1 for each of them. Not what I wanted to do, but oh well.... They enjoyed their food and tea (only one cup spilled!!). I ordered the Cindy's slipper with mousse for them for dessert. It was a surprise for everyone, and though I didn't care for the white mousse, they also had a dark chocolate mousse on the plate that was TO DIE FOR! So from here, we went to the Barber Shop to get my girls all done up for MNSSHP. One had her hair put into a very messy bun with gel and fairy dust, and the other had a side braid with gel and fairy dust. It looked really nice, though getting it out of their hair that night (didn't get home till after 10pm) was not fun. We had seats at a special VIP viewing area for the 8:15pm parade. We got there a little early, and my husband was still hungry (he only had the strawberries and cream, and some of my trifle - not enough for him!), so he went to the closes place for food, but it was just a stand, and they didn't have anything he wanted. Oh well! We watched the headless horseman come through - He actually stood on the bridge where we were for about 2 minutes, so that was really neat for the girls. Then the parade started - it was so great! I guess since we were in this VIP area, they paid special attention to the kids in this section - All the ghouls and goblins came over while dancing, and so did the regular characters. We got more lollypops that I could count! After the parade, we walked around a bit more, did a few more rides, and by then DH was super hungry. We tried to get a hotdog, but the line was jut to long, so we decided against it. Back to the hotel for a little sleep!!
Day 6: We went back to Epcot this morning, and right over to the Land Pavilion. Walked into Soarin and Living with the Land, then had breakfast at Sunshine. I really wanted to eat here, but I'm not a huge breakfast person - Would have rather had lunch or dinner. But it was still good, and we all shared 2 breakfasts so we wouldn't be to full - World Showcase was opening soon..... We did a few more rides the over to World Showcase to test some items. I didn't eat all these items on this day, but here's what I had from here... Tuna and Salmon Sensation from the Japanese Pavilion. If you like sushimi, then you MUST try this - it was out of this world! However, pass on the Cosmo at the French Pavilion - I had to throw mine out after have drinking about half of it. I had the Flan at the Mexican Pavilion - It was so yummy! My husband HATES stuff like that, but he fell in love with it as well! I also had the steak on a stick on a stick with chimichurs sauce from the Argentina Pavilion, while my husband got the Enchilada from there. I can say that the steak on a stick was very good, but can't comment on the Enchilada, because my husband ate it before I could even blink! Lastly, I had the Rock Coconut Mojito from the Carrabian Pavilion which was very good, as well as the Lobster and Scallop Pot Pie from Ireland. Very good as well. Ok... We went back to the hotel for a rest, and after that, we back to Epcot for dinner at Rose and Crown. I got the friend fish and steak meal, which I really adored - Every aspect was done very well. Also got the Sticky Toffie dessert which was very good. I made these reservations for 8pm in hopes to see Illuminations at 9pm.... However Epcot extended their hours to 10pm - My girls were very good this entire trip, but there was no way to keep them up that late. Little Sophie fell asleep in her food!!! During dinner, while waiting to order dessert, I ran over to a shop and bought myself a Paddington Bear and a "Who" shirt.
Day 7: This day we went to DHS - But not at rope drop. We didn't get there much after, but it was towards the end of our trip, and we were just losing steam! We road ToT a few times, caught the Indiana Jones Show (though due to rain, they only did half the show!!) and then off to lunch. I was ready for another meal at ABC, but DH insisted that we go to Starring Rolls because he knew I wanted to. I enjoyed their turkey sandwich, and got the butterfinger cupcake. To mhy dissapointment, I wasn't a huge fan. The cupcake itself was very good, but under the Butterfinger, was some white stuff that was just way to sweet for me. Oh well - Next time I'll get a different cupcake!! Back to the hotel, my parents and one of my brothers actually made it for the last full day. My parents had to drive back up to Jersey, and going through Orlando was the way, so they figured why not stop by - I was very happy. The evening, we went to Wolfgang Puck Cafe. Never again will I eat there. My parents didn't want to go there in the first place because they had been once years before and said they were dissapointed, but I wasn't to try it, so we did. First of all, there was a hair in my DHs steak. We handed it back - the waitress (who we were lucky to even see most of the meal) didn't even appologize. She took it back into the kitchen, where they took the hair out, flipped the steak over, and sent it right back out to us. The way I know they did this, is because there were frizzled onions on the steak - Some were stuck together rather oddly, and we had commented on it before finding the hair. Those same onions where still on the steak. Plus, DH asked for it to be medium, and it was MORE than well done. I got the sushi sampler - it was OK, but nothing special. My father got the fish special, and he was less than impressed with that as well. For a celebrity chef, we were all very dissapointed in this place, and will not go back again. This night, since my parents were there, DH and I went to Epcot to walk around the World Showcase. Thought it was a Saturday night during F&W, we didn't find it overly crazy at all... though there were several very drunk people (mostly women actually) walking around! lol
Day 8: Our final, and most disappointing day. Originally, I had reservations for Chef Mickey's at 7:40am, but no one was up for that. So I canceled them, and got Kona Cafe for 10:25. I was excited about this reservation because I wanted to try the Tonga Toast, though I wasn't happy that it was so late on our last day. So we get there just in time via the Monorail - It was having issues, and they had to take a train off the tracks, which held us up. But we still got there in time for our reservations. I get to the desk, and put our name in. The guy informs me that they are very busy, and it could be 45 minutes. I said "Even if we have a reservation??" He says "Oh no, not for people with reservations, we will seat you very close to your reservation time." I said OK, and walked away..... 25 minutes later, still not seated. So I go up, and they tell me just a few minute longer, just waiting for a table of 6 to open up. 10 minutes later, one does, and we go up again.... "Yes, that will probably be your table, we just have to wait for it to be cleaned." 10 minutes later, the table is still sitting there dirty, no one bussing it, or even looking at it. I should also mention that there are 3 people at the check in counter - One checking people in, two standing there, doing nothing. Why couldn't one of these two people bus the table??? So 55 minutes later, I go up for the final time, and explain to the moron... I mean woman... that this is our final day in Disney, we should have been out of the restaurant by now and in the MK - What is going on?!? She just stares at me. I put the buzzer down in the crayons and walked away more pissed off than you could imagine. I should have asked for the manager, but OMG - We had been waiting for 55 minutes, and had gone up to the counter several times - I'm pretty sure they are aware of the situation. So we go down the Captain Cooks - I can get the Tonga Toast there!!!! My spirits lifted a bit with that, till I realized that it was 11:30 at this point, and they were no longer serving breakfast. I can't even remember what I got - nothing good.... At the end of the meal, we said our goodbyes to my parents who were getting in their car and driving back home, and we went to MK. According to Touring Plans, this day was supposed to be the least crowded day of all - it was at a 1 and MK was the recommended park for that day!!! I don't know if that was a mistake, or what, but darn was it crowded. Earlier in the week, we were able to just walk on every ride, twice! No problem - This day, we were only able to ride IASW once, and that was it - no time for anything else. From there, we went back to our hotel, and though no one was really hungry, we got something to eat, sat, and waiting for ME to come get us.
So all in all, other than the last day (did I mention that I also forgot my car keys on the bathroom sink in the hotel, and didn't realize it till the plane landed at Newark Liberty Airport..... Yeah, $120 cab drive later, I will never do that again!!!!), and the fact that my father suffered a heart attack, and they were not able to make it, or receive all the surprises I had planned, it was a great trip. Walk on all rides for most of the trip, pretty good food, and we also did rides we had never been on before. I don't know when we will go back again, but I know Saratoga won't be where we stay.... Not the resort for us at all - But I still can't wait to go back!!!!
