Oct 2005 Trip Report

[luvpooh]

really enjoying your report, it's so detailed
some of those things at PFTS sounded great, I missed it in 2005, and I'm still upset that I didn't push harder for us to go...
looking forward to the rest!

 

[kathymc]

enjoying your reports - you really did a lot!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 6 - Afternoon - Downtown Disney

The one I thing I decided I really didn't like about the Disney tansporatation system was that to get to DTD I had to take a bus from a resort, and not from a park. So, since I was at AK, I ended up taking a Yacht Club bus, and then from there a DTD bus, so it took me almost an hour to get to DTD from AK, but luckily, I only went to DTD twice the entire trip, so the buses were rarely and issue.

I've always liked to shop, and I've always been able to spend hours in a mall with nothing inparticular to buy. DTD beats any mall I've ever been to. The shops there are amazing. This is also the only part of the trip I'm glad DBF wasn't with me, he hates shopping, especially when I'm just mostly browsing, and don't have anything I "need" to buy.

I only visited the Marketplace section, so on my next trip I'm going to make a point of getting to Pleasure Island and West Side, which works out since I'm planning ADR's in both of those sections anyway.

I visted, (this is not the order I visited them, but just a general overview,) Art of Disney, which has lots of various Disney-themed paintings. I didn't buy anything here, a lot of this stuff is very expensive, but I'd love to have a lot of these paintings for my dream house, (a house I've had planned out since I was little which I'm probably never be able to afford, but that's why it's a dream house, isn't it?) I remember seeing a painting of Simba and Mufasa, from The Lion King, that was done in all tones of golds and browns that I really liked, but that would of been around $2,000, so way out of my price range.

Basin, is a store I really liked, which sells all different kinds of bath products, soaps, gels, and salts. I meant to buy some stuff from here, but never did. I don't know why. It's okay though, AP's get a 10% discount I think, so I'll get some this year.

Disney's Days of Christmas may be my favorite DTD store, and while I didn't buy anything here this trip, I know that during my Dec trip this year I'll probably end up buying a bunch, since Christmas is just a week away from my return date. They did have some nice ornaments that I wouldn't mind having.

Disney's Wonderful World of Memories is one of the only stores I actually bought something in. It wasn't a huge purchase, just a $15 page kit for my scrapbook, with pages and stickers for each of the parks. Which, for me, was well worth the investment, and I still have some pages to use from it yet.

Goofy's Candy Company quickly became another favorite of mine, and though I didn't buy anything there that day, what self-control I had, wait until my next visit a few days later, (see day 9 when I post it.)

Once Upon a Toy is now my favorite toy store, and almost everything in there is Disney-themed. I almost bought a box of My Little Pony items, but decided against it, since it would probably be one of those things that would just end up taking up space and collecting dust in my room. Well, the more I think about it, the more I still want it, so that's on my list for Dec. I'm a child of the 80's, so grew up with the original MLP, so why wouldn't I want one that I could dress up in Disney costumes? I did, however, end up buying a few more CD's here, the soundtrack to Cinderella, the soundtrack to Cinderellabration, (really like this show,) and a CD called Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, which is all of the Disney love songs played on piano.

At Disney Tails I considered buying some souviners for my pets, (who always get presents from me,) but held off. All of this stuff can be found out other shops, but it is nice to have them all in one location.

World of Disney is a huge store, and I'm not sure I got to every room, but here's what I ended up buying; a journal with Cinderella Castle on the cover, cat toys, (little fluff balls with the Disney cats on them,) a cat dish with the Disney cats on it, a dog dish with the Disney dogs on it, a magnet that says -the pets have been fed, and a paw thing that flips over that says yes and no, and a photo album, for my character pictures.

Somewhere in the middle of all this shopping I decided to try Ghiradelli's, and having all of the menus memorized, (really saves time,) already knew exactly what I wanted, the very berry sundae, which is strawberry and blueberry cheesecake ice creams smothered with strawberry and blueberry toppings, topped with whipped cream, and chocolate berry balls. This was one of the best sundaes I've ever had, and I heard that Beaches and Cream was even better, so that's on my list for Dec. I also visited the chocolate shop, which I'm glad I did after eating ice cream, because otherwise I would have been hungry enough to spend a fortune in there.

I had the sundae at about 3:00, and at around 5:00 I decided to head over to AK Lodge, and figured I could just spend more time looking around there, so I was able to get an AK Lodge bus, (almost all to myself except for two other people, the buses are almost always empty except for park opening and closing,) and headed to the resort.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 6 - Animal Kingdom Lodge

The AK Lodge has a really great gift shop. Sure there are a lot of the regular Disney souveniers, like autograph books and postcards, but there are things such as glass work and African masks. If you ever visit AK Lodge, and enjoy shopping, you should make a stop here.

My reason for visiting the shop in the first place though, was to trade in a vocher I had gotten about a month before my trip with my DME papers, for a free pin and landyard.

I was thinking I wasn't going to collect pins, but this was a free one, so what the heck. I got one of a Disney bus, which I decided I could trade for one with a character or something the next day.

Day 6 - Jiko

I had made a pretty early ADR for 6:30, so I could be finished eating and back at AS Music for Desperate Housewives that night, (I know, I have such high priorities, and yet another pro for being solo, since if I was with my family, we would not be scheduling and making plans around television shows.)

When I checked-in I was asked if I would like to sit at the Cooking Place, which is bar-type seating where I could watch all the appetizers being made. (They offered this to me since I was solo, but I'm sure anyone could be seated here if asked and there was room.)

More on my meal later.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 6 - Jiko Continued

I was seated at the Cooking Place with two nice ladies who were from near my hometown, and were there for some kind of convention or other and had come down to eat at the restaurant while their husbands stayed in their rooms watching football. I would never pass up an oppurtunity to try a restaurant for any sports game.

Watching the chefs work was enjoyable, and some of the plate presentations there are really gorgeous. They weren't very talkative, though they would answer questions when asked.

Again, I knew even before being seated what I wanted, and that was the appetizer sampler for two, which was large enough for me to double as my entree.

On the sampler were; a duck and pork firecracker, lamb patis, lentil pastilla, and a maize and sweet potato tamale. The duck and pork firecracker were a lot like spring rolls with Hoisin sauce and jicama-apple slaw. The menu made it sound like it would be spicy, but it wasn't spicy at all, it was flavorful though, and very tasty. (African food, based on my experiances at Boma and Jiko, is spiced, but not necessarily spicy.) The lamb patis, on the other hand, made of lamb rolled in phyllo, with mint-cilantro chutney, were slightly spicy, and were also good. The lentil pastilla which were, lentil filled phyllo pockets with a sweet and sour sauce were the only thing on the plate I didn't really care for, the lentil filling, I thought, was kind of dry, and they didn't have much flavor. The maize and sweet potato tamale was made of herbed maize pudding and truffled sweet potato mash with shredded goat cheese in a corn husk boat. I've had tamales before, but never were they made with sweet potatoes. This was really good, and usually I don't like sweet potatoes that much, but I'd return to Jiko just for this. So, overall, I was glad I had the sampler, since I really enjoyed three of the four things on it.

For dessert, I also had the sampler, (neither sampler is on the menu, but they are available, just ask your server,) which had on it, pistachio creme brulee, fried-shredded apples, flourless chocolate cake, and a cranberry-quince napoleon. The sampler was beautifully prepared, but the taste wasn't nearly as good as the appetizers. The flourless chocolate cake, was very dry, and I like cake moist, but it did have a good chocolate flavor. The fried-shredded apples were served with a granny apple sorbet, and a buttermilk sorbet. The apples themselves, and the granny apple sorbet were okay, but a little to tart for me. I did however, really enjoy the buttermilk sorbet. The cranberry-quince napoleon, was, by far, my least favorite on the plate. It was too tart for me, making it inedible. The pistachio creme brulee was the only item on the sampler that really stood out. It had a layered chocolate bottom, which I thought would have more of a chocolate chip like hard texture, (like the bottoms of the chocolate mousse crunches,) but instead the bottom was more like pudding, but the pistachio and chocolate flavors blended very well together.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 6 - Night

I went back to AS Music early that night, I was back in my room by like 8:00, (earliest I ever went back the whole trip,) and had a quiet night watching Desperate Housewives.

Day 7 - Morning - Magic Kingdom

I woke up early this morning, after my very slow night the night before, once again ready to hit the MK at opening. I had already, on previous days, covered Fantasy and Tomorrowland, so I planned on getting right to Frontierland.

By now I was so used to manipulating the FP system to work to my advantage, that I headed straight for the Thunder Mt. Railroad machines, and then instead of riding Thunder Mt. right away, headed for Splash Mt.

Splash Mt, has always been another of my favorites, even though I've only riden it a few times. I really like the whole story aspect, and it also has some of my favorite music of all park attractions, the Song of the South medley - Laughing Place, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, and Moving Along, (not sure if that's the right name of the song or not.) I don't think first-timers, non-DISer's, realize that it's actually a ten minute ride with a whole story line, and just think it's a big flume-type ride.

After riding Splash Mt, I still had a few minutes before my FP time, but there was only a five minute wait in stand-by for Thunder Mt, so I got in the stand-by line so I could then just use my FP after using stand-by, and would then get to ride it twice.

Thunder Mt, is another one of my favorites, and it's much quicker moving then Splash Mt, so I was glad to be able to ride it twice. I was also glad to have that FP, since by the time I used it, (about fifteen minutes after riding Thunder Mt on stand-by,) the stand-by line was getting long very quickly.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I just want to take a minute before I go back into my report to thank everyone with their supportive comments. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying my report, and was suprised to see that it's almost reached 1,000 views, and I never imagined that many people being interested in what I did on my trip, otherwise I probably would of gotten around to writing this sooner.

Day 7 - Morning - Magic Kingdom Continued

I think this may have actually been on Sat morning, (day five,) but I'm pretty sure it was this morning, but I rode Aladdin's Flying Carpets, and I'm sorry if I'm posting about this ride twice, because I know for sure I only rode it once, but I remember being over in this general area both days, and just can't seem to remember what day I rode it on. But, anyway, it was a walk-on, and a decent attraction, the same style Dumbo is, but the carpets tilt, so I like this one better.

Also, when I was in Adventureland, I saw Peter Pan and Wendy. Wendy I had already seen at CRT, but I was able to get Peter's autograph, and a picture with the two of them. The two CM's here were really good, especially Peter. He made a fuss over signing my book with a pink pen, since pink is a girl color. That reminded me of my DBF, who will have nothing to do with the color pink.

After that it was around 10:30, so I went to see the 10:40 showing of Cinderellabration, which was actually the last time I ended up watching it. I was starting to get a little upset over stupid things at this point. I still had three full days in the parks after this day, but I was thinking that some things were the last time for this trip, and that's a little upsetting to me. At least now I have my Dec trip to look foward to, but I hadn't decided to go back to Disney until a month or two after I got back home, (money issues,) so I wasn't sure when I'd be back.

Anyway, after Cinderellabration it was a few minutes after 11:00, and I had an ADR at Kona at 12:00, so decided to head over there. I spent the half-hour before my ADR time going down to Captian Cook's, getting a drink, and sitting at a table outside watching some birds.

Kona Cafe

I'd been looking foward to Kona, since I really like any kind of Asian or tropical food, so after reading many good reviews, and thinking the menu was awesome looking, an ADR hear was an easy decision.

After having several full meals at other places - to be exact Le Cellier and Brown Derby, I knew I didn't want a full meal here, so I decided to get two appetizers and a dessert, (which, to me, is the most important part of a meal.)

The waitress seemed a little tiffed that I wasn't getting a full meal, (I guess she was worried about tips?) but I didn't let that bother me. I mean, the people at the table next to me only got a sandwich, and going by the menu prices, my "meal" cost more then there's so I don't know why it would be an issue. This is the only place I had any trouble doing this, which is suprising, since every other place I did this were signature restaurants, and I had no trouble at all getting appetizers there. As a matter of fact, the servers at Coral Reef and Artist Point, (days nine and ten,) brought out one before the other so I wouldn't have to eat both at once, (so they didn't get cold or anything,) which is good because I'm kind of a slow eater.

For my "meal", and I feel the need to put meal in quotations, since it was, I can't think of the right word, like condescending that I wouldn't get an entree. Anyway, I had the crab cakes, which were three small sized ones, about the size of golf balls I guess, which came with pineapple relish and Asian tartar sauce, and also some kind of salad with some kind of dressing, could of been the honey-lime one from Ohana, but I didn't ask. I wouldn't want my waitress to feel over-worked for my "meal." The crab cakes were very good, but were kind of cool, the pineapple relish and tartar sauce were good accompinaments, very tasty.

I also had the duck pot stickers, that had a creamy ginger soy sauce, and a pickled cucumber salad. These were also very good, but also weren't hot, kind of luke-warm. Wasn't a huge issue for me, but could arrise some sanitation questions, since who knows if it was ever heated completly, though I assumed it was more of the waitresses lack of interest in my "meal," and decided to eat it anyway. The cucumber salad was good, and reminded me of the one I had with my crab cake at Brown Derby, could of been a similar recipe, and one I'd like to have.

For dessert I had the Kilauea torte, which is one of the best things I ate all week, (though I say that to about a dozen different things.) I've read that it comes with ice cream, but I didn't get any. Again, assuming waitresses fault, but didn't mention it, since I didn't really care about it. It did have a great plate presentation, and had small dallops of raspberry and lemon sauces. This was horribly rich, and I couldn't finish it. The lava center was like hot fudge, so that gives you an idea how rich it was, (and when I post the pic, you can see how much chocolate there was.)

So I enjoyed the food here, but the service put a damper on the experience, and it's not like I just spent a few dollars here, $25, so if the service had been better, I would have left at least a $5 tip, (I almost always leave around twenty five or thirty percent,) but, other then that my meal was good.

 

[p2oh]

Great report! I am heading down for my first solo visit and was worried about eating alone in the TS restaurants, did you have any problems?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Great report! I am heading down for my first solo visit and was worried about eating alone in the TS restaurants, did you have any problems?

No, aside from that comment at Akershus, but that was more out of suprise that someone would eat at a princess meal by themself, then an actual problem. In most cases, the service was superior, especially at Jiko, Coral Reef, Mama Melrose's, CRT, and Artist Point. Another observation I made, and this may of been random, and I don't mean to sound sexist, but I thought all of my male servers were better then the girl servers with a few exceptions. Also, the two oldest servers I had, (at Kona and 1900 Park Fare,) were probably my least favorite, but that could of also been random.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 7 - Afternoon - Epcot

After my lunch at Kona I took the monorail from the Polynesian to the TTC, and then switched to the Epcot monorail.

This is something I observed that I'm going to give as a tip. The line at the TTC for the monorail that goes directly to the MK, the one that doesn't stop at the resorts, had a huge line, while the one that stops at the resorts had no line. Instead of waiting for the MK one, I'd suggest taking the one that stops at the resorts, you wouldn't have to wait in line, and even if it did take the same amount of time, or even a little longer, to get to MK, you'd be sitting in an un-crowded monorail car, other then a completely mobbed one.

After getting to Epcot, which I always prefer going to by monorail instead of bus, since the monorail goes over Future World, there was a Characters on Holiday bus stop in a few minutes, so I headed over to the area by World Showcase Lagoon, and saw Pinnochio and Geppeto, got Pinnochio's autograph, and a picture with the two of them, a really good picture with Pluto, and one with me, Baloo, and King Louie.

After the character meet and greets, I started my way around World Showcase counter-clockwise, in Canada. Now, I wasn't very hungry, since I had just had lunch about an hour ago, but I had eaten almost no items from the Food and Wine Festival booths yet, and that was something I had really wanted to do on this trip, so I decided to do some sampling.

The first item I tried was the sauteed shrimp with lime and ginger chutney from the Florida shrimp booth, along with a glass of Florida Orange Groves coco polada wine. I thought the shrimp was very good, and for the price I paid, I think like $4, I got four good sized shrimp, with tons of the chutney. I thought it had a good taste, but I didn't like that the shrimp was hot, and the chutney was cold, I would of liked both things to be hot or cold, since that gave it a wierd, not taste, but more texture in my mouth. The wine, on the other hand, sweet, which I enjoy, and tasted a little bit like a pina colada, but I'd rather have an actual pina colada then the wine.

I then tried the moussaka, which is a casserole of lamb and eggplant with a cream sauce. I had moussaka a few years ago, when I first started really liking lamb, and this was very good, but the portion, was also huge for the price, $2.50, and I wasn't able to finish it, so unfortunatly, some of it ended up in the trash. This is another time I wish DBF could have been with me, since I could of shared everything with him, and then could of tried more.

I then, being full from the shrimp and moussaka, walked around the Canada and United Kingdom pavillions, and taking pictures, which is something I had been meaning to do, since I had pretty much no pictures of World Showcase on my cameras, and it is, on the whole, very beautiful.

While exploring the United Kingdom I stopped for a mocha frost at a little coffee booth by the entrance to World Showplace, (the building where Party for the Senses is held,) which was okay, though I prefer iced lattes and frappacinos, (i.e. Starbucks and Dunkin' Donoughts,) chain versions over the one I had here.

There's a topirary in the United Kingdom garden of Mrs. Pott's that I found. I've never really been into plants or floral arrangments, but I've always enjoyed the Disney topararies and gardens. I don't know why.

I spent the next hour or two exploring eastern half, Canada, United Kingdom, and also France. Going into all of the shops, and taking lots of pictures.

My dinner ADR wasn't until 8:00 at Marrakesh, so I decided to take an actual break. This is the only time I actually went back to my room to do nothing, (I did end up making several phone calls, and watching some tv,) as opposed to just going back to my room to get something or change, or whatever.

It was this afternoon that I started buying and trading pins. I was thinking, I'll just buy a few for souveniers, not realizing how obsessed I'd become with pin collecting. I started with buying one for the Happiest Celebration on Earth with the princesses on it, making that my first pin purchase, and trading away the bus one I had gotten the night before for one of Pooh. Well, I figured I'd spend around $50 at most. . . I ended up spending $100 that day alone. Though I did get some that I really liked.

While near Italy I stopped at the champagne booth to try the Rosa Regale I had kept on reading about on these boards, and it sounded like something I'd like. It was so good, it has, mainly a raspberry flavor, with hints of rose and chocolate. This is now my all time favorite wine or chamagne, (knocking out of first place the Inniskillin ice wine and the Pommery pink pop I had at the Party for the Senses,) and I can't wiat to be in "Italy" again in December to have another glass of this along with those Italian truffles / chocolates I keep hearing about.

By around seven I was a little hungry again, so I stopped at the U.S.A. booth, and tried the lobster corn chowder, which was good, but reminded me of tomato soup, and didn't have much of a lobster taste, though they did put a good spoonful of chopped lobster on top, so I got my $2 worth.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 7 - Marrakesh

I arrived at Marrakesh a little early, and was seated a few minutes before my ADR, so it does pay off to be early for your ADR. The restaurant, was busy, but not as busy as most of the other ones I had been to, like Le Cellier, or any of the character meals. At lunch, there were never any crowds at the restaurants, with the exceptions of CRT and Akershus, for obvious reasons. But every restaurant I had been to at dinner, especially later in the night, had been crowded, and turning away walk-ins. (Le Cellier and Akershus were probably the two most crowded all trip.) But Marrakesh, while full, was still accepting ADR's and walk-ins, so not nearly as bad as the rest of the places.

I had already decided that I had wanted night in Casablanca, which is a sampler platter of roast lamb meshoui, a chicken kebab, and seafood bastilla, that was served with rice.

The lamb meshoui, was good, I thought the lamb was a little well done, but it wasn't bad tasting, and it had a good sauce. The chicken kebab, which was covered with Morrocan herbs and spices, was my favorite thing on the sampler. The chicken was perfectly cooked, and very flavorful. The seafood bastilla, I didn't really care for. The filling didn't have a lot of taste to it, and it was kind of dry.

My dessert, the Marrakesh delight, which is, fruit salad topped with mint ice cream, toasted almonds and orange blossom water, was very good, and also very refreshing. The mint ice cream, was actually chocolate chip mint, not an issue for me, but I believe that it should say chocolate chip mint on the menu, since what it someone who can't eat chocolate were to order it? This is probably, without a doubt, the healthiest dessert I had all week, since the main component in it was fruit. The orange blossom water, was more like a thin sauce, that was slightly sweet, and very good with the fruit. Though, the only bad thing about this dessert, is since I'm a slow eater, the ice cream was melting as I was eating it, so by the time I had eaten most of the fruit, it had been getting a lot of liquid, this mixture of the orange blossom water and melted ice cream. But that's really my fault for being a slow eater, and would order the ice cream in a seperate dish next time.

The service here was okay. My server was pleasant, but extremely slow. Not a huge deal to me, but whenever he came over to get my dessert order, I had to ask him for a refill of diet Coke, and then as soon as he brought the check out I asked him for the bill, so I wouldn't be stuck waiting for awhile. Also, I paid in cash, (only time I paid in cash for a TS,) so I wouldn't have to wait for a credit reciept.

Day 7 - Night - Epcot

Aftet dinner I was able to see Illuminations, (last time I saw it,) and then headed back to AS Music.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 8 - Morning - Epcot

I was originally going to spend all day at MGM, but had decided several days before to go to Epcot that morning for a wine tasting that looked very intresting to me, sweet and lucious wines. That, was right up my alley. The tasting was at 11:00, and I was at Epcot around 10:00, so the first thing I did, before getting in line for the wine tasting, was get a FP for Soarin, which was good at 12:00, so I could use it immediatly following the wine tasting.

Before the tasting, I stopped at Fountainview Cafe for something for breakfast. I had the breakfast pocket, which is like the toaster scramblers that you can buy in the stores, only better. It was loaded with eggs, cheese, and bacon, and the pastry was excellant.

At the wine tasting, I met a nice couple who I also saw again at a cooking demonstration, (see day 9,) who complemented me on being so independant and mature for traveling by myself when so young.

This was my favorite of all the wine tastings I went to, and I enjoyed all three of the wines I sampled. The first I can't remember what it was though, was my least favorite, but the second, honey wine, was sweet, and cheap at $15 a bottle, and then the ice wine, which marked the third time I was able to sample it that trip, were by far my favorites.

If I had to pick my five favorite wine and / or champagnes the whole trip, this is how they would rank, my favorite being number one.

1. Rosa Regale (Italy and the Champagne Booth)
2. Ice Wine (Canada, Party for the Senses, and Wine Tasting)
3. Pommery Pink Pop (Party for the Senses)
4. Meadde Honey Wine (Ireland and Wine Tasting)
5. Chateu de Charmes Sauvignon Blanc (Party for the Senses)

As you can tell from my list, my favorites were mostly at Party for the Senses, so I look foward to that again in 2007. Also, my favorite mixed drink all trip was the Lapu Lapu at the Polynesian, but, mind you, I only had three mixed drinks all trip, so it has a lot less to compete with.

Anyway, after the wine tasting, I was going to use my FP right away, but opted instead to go see the characters on holiday bus, since it was right by the lagoon again, and convienlantly, I was also right there.

I was able to add Gideon, Smee, and, one I had been looking for for a few days, Robin Hood.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 8 - Morning - Epcot Continued

After meeting the characters, I decided to go back to Fountainview Cafe for a snack, since I had seen so many sweets that looked really good. I, being my usual self, couldn't decide between a bunch of things, so ended up getting both the orange creme brulee, and a fruit tulip.

The creme brulee was excellant, and is even as good as the TS ones, and surpasses most others I had. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Disney is really amazing when it comes to creme brulee, and is really innovative with the flavors. The fruit tulip, is really a beautiful presentastion, and the fruit and custard filling are very good, though the outside cookie thing, which is, by the way chocolate-coated, seemed to be a little on the soggy side, and I imagined it would be crisp.

Fountainview Cafe, I have decided, is my favorite CS place in all of WDW. It used to be Columbia Harbor House, but when they got rid of the bread bowls. . . then a few days before that I considered Tusker House my new favorite, but it is now Fountainview Cafe. The only drawback, is that it closes in the early afternoon, so I have to be in Epcot during the morning. I actually intended to get my breakfast there on day ten, but opted for Sunshine Seasons.

After my snack I used my FP for Soarin. I requested a seat in the front row, since a few days before, a lady had said that if you sit in rows two or three, you can see people's feet, and that takes a little bit away from the flight feeling. Since I was solo I guess it was easy to fit me in the front row. It seems there's always room for one extra person.

Day 8 - Afternoon - MGM

After riding Soarin, I was ready to head to MGM. I walked through Canada and France to the International Gateway, stopping at the shop there and buying a cute pair of Tinker Bell earrings, as well as some pins.

I had never taken the ferry from Epcot around the resorts there, and when stopped at the Boardwalk, considered getting out to stop by the bakery there, and also considered getting off at the Beach Club, thinking of the sundaes at Beaches and Cream. Thank you very much food porn thread. But, it was after 2:00 then, and I wanted to be able to see the Star and Motor Cars parade, which was at 4:00, and I had a dinner ADR at 4:30, so decided not to, (there's always December, though I don't know how I'm going to fit it in with all of my planned ADR's.)

So I was at MGM around 2:30, and decided to check the character spot where I saw Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto before. And sure enough, there was another new one for my collection - Mr. Penguin from Mary Poppins. I don't think many people know who he is though.

I also ended up going shopping again, buying both the Desperate Housewives, and Lost companion books. I think this is the day I spent the most money in the parks, with those two books, and a pin guide at Epcot, which was expensive at $35, and also another $100+ worth of pins. (I do have it written down in my Pass Porter exactly how much I spent each day. The pins totaled about $500 by the end of my trip.)

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 8 - Afternoon - MGM

I was a little hungry at that point, and stopped at the Tune-In Lounge for a snack, onion rings and diet Coke. The bartender there was very friendly, and commented, that, unlike me DBF, he would never let his DGF travel that far by herself, even to Disney. (DBF was probably more nervous then me at the thought of me traveling by myself.)

After my snack, there was still about an hour before the parade. I had decided to watch the parade from its starting point, since that was the closest to Mama Melrose's as possible, and my ADR was half an hour after the parade had started, so I knew I'd be cutting it close.

Since I was in that area, and there was a short standby line, I was able to ride Star Tours again, before staking out my spot for the parade.

I got a really good spot, a seat on a bench with a woman and her maybe 7 or 8 year old daughter, who was fascinated with my pins. We talked a lot about different attractions and shows and such, (we were both there pretty early, that's how we got bench seats,) and had a very pleasant conversation.

 

[luvpooh]

still loving your reports, and still envious about your solo trips! still wondering how I can pull that off!

 

[rmom50]

I was there at ASM solo the beginning of Oct. too. The fun thing is that I didn't do hardly any of the things you did on your vacation. I was there for eight days too! I'm really learning a lot about what I missed and things I definitely want to do next time. Isn't going solo just the best? I'm married with two teens - we've been there several times as a family. I've never had such a great time as I did solo. Highly recommend it!

 

[luvpooh]

Disneyfav4ever - looking for more!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Okay, I don't have my notes with me, (I'm not on my home computer,) but I have a whole three-day weekend coming up, and will, hopefully, be able to use that to finish this, including uploading all of my pictures.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Okay, as promised, my three-day weekend is here, and I have every intention of getting this thing done. I realize that I haven't worked on my report for over a week, so to my fans, I'm sorry, but in my "real" world, (there are two worlds, the "real" a.k.a. boring world, and "the" world a.k.a. Disney,) there's been several meetings at work, and have also had family, responsibilties. Anyway, here is the continuation.

Day 8 - Afternoon - MGM

It was, at that point the start time of the Stars and Motor Cars parade. My plan, to recap, was to watch the parade, and then hurry along to my Fantasmic dinner package ADR, (hence the early ADR time,) at Mama Melrose's.

The floats, were, for the most part, very good. Some, I liked more then others, and I felt that some that aren't represented, should be. The first float/car was very plain compared to the others, the Chicken Little one, and that may be because it was a new movie and didn't have a proper car/float.

This is a good parade to see a lot of some rarer characters, like Little Bo Peep, who, before this parade, I had never actually seen myself. I also found that I was able to get better pictures of the car floats, then of the snow globe floats at MK, though that may of been because the cars are more eye level, and the snow globes are up higher.

The Toy Story and Mary Poppins cars were next, and I thought that the Toy Story one was themed better, but I've always loved the carrousel horses in Mary Poppins, so enjoyed both of those floats.

The Muppets float I didn't really care for, it was well done, but the rainbow-colored blimp thing stood out to much, over-shadowing the characters. And, if you've read my entire report, you know by now how much I like the characters.

Then there's the Star Wars car, which I thought was kind of plain, though it did resemble Luke's speeder from the movie. And, as much as I love Star Wars, it always seems a little out of place at Disney. (Most people I know, when they say Disney is for kids, or girly, I'll mention Star Tours, though to these people I call it the Star Wars ride becuase they know nothing about Disney World, and they're always suprised of two things, 1. that me, a girl, likes Star Wars at all, because all of there DGF's or DW's hate Star Wars, and / or 2. Star Wars has nothing to do with Disney.) Anyway, I was also a little dissapointed that Leia wasn't in the car with Luke, since she is one of my favorite characters, her and Han, I also really like Chewie and R2-D2, and there is an R2-D2 in the parade.

Next was the Mulan car, which I thought was pretty, but nothing spectacular, though the Mulan's seat part seemed very intracite. And then the Monsters. Inc car, which was just a regular red and no one would have known it was a Monsters Inc car, unless you look closely, and see that the flags in the front have that M symbol.

The Aladdin float I liked, and it was cleary an Aladdin float, since the whole car is in the shape of the Genie. This car is pure Disney.

Then there was the villians car. I don't understand why Hades is in the actual car, as he isn't as well known, as say Cruella. And the car itself, is again, not that impressive. Just a regular black car with flames.

The Lilo and Stitch car was better, with a definate Hawaiin theme, and palm trees and surf boards. A better car, though I've never really cared for the characters, could be becuase Stitch is everywhere, and it's just to much.

I also really liked the Little Mermaid car, with the seahorse, and giant sea shell back. And of course, Ariel as a mermaid. And, if I'm not wrong, this is the only parade that has Ariel as a mermaid, with Sebastian and Flounder.

Then there were the Power Rangers and Snow White's cars. Neither of which were that cleverly done, and neither characters I've ever really cared for.

Then of course, in a Hollywood themed car, you had Mickey and company.

I don't mean to sound so negative about this parade. The music I really like, and it does have a lot of characters. But, there were cars that just didn't seem very Disney. So the parade is worth seeing if you want to see the characters, but the cars themselves, for the most part, just aren't that special.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 8 - Mama Melrose's

I made it to my ADR early, even though I had worried about being late due to the parade. My ADR was for 4:30, and I was seated a few minutes early, so I probably shouldn't of worried so much. I had, also considered cancelling my ADR here, since I had such limited time at MGM, but this was my only meal of the day, so kept it.

I had booked the Fantasmic package, and knew that I would be getting a salad, flatbread, entree, and dessert. Usually, though, everything, correct me if I'm wrong,) is shared by the table, except for the entree. And it's usually one salad and faltbread for every four people.

Well, since I was solo, I was entitled to my own salad and flatbread. This is a pro and con of being solo, I don't have to share, and can eat as much of any one thing I like, but on the con side, there's no way I could eat this much food, and being at a theme park, taking a doggie bag, (always do that at home restaurants,) was out of the question, so there is some food wasted.

The waiter here, was very nice, and informative. He was also very quick, ane while I wasn't rushed, I never had to wait for any drink refills or anything. He first brought out a breadstick with a pesto-garlic-sun dried tomato dip thing. This was very good, and I know the recipe is on All Ears or somewhere, so I'll have to make it myself.

The salad, was, awesome. It was made from spring mix, which suprised me, since this was the first time, that I remember, ever going to a restaurant, and getting spring mix on a house salad. Which, don't get me wrong, I prefer. It's just that I'm used to getting iceburg. I would, much rather have the spring mix, and always eat at least three spring mix salads a week. It also had balsamic vinaigrette and gorgonzola cheese, which I thought was very gourmet for a Disney/family restaurant.

My flatbread, and I ended up choosing the grilled chicken one with sun-dried tomato pesto, pancetta, asiago cheese fresh chives, which I wasn't sure I would like, was also wonderful. I'm not sure how to describe it really, but it had a great flavor, and was perfectly cooked. I ate about half of the flatbread, (this is usually for four people remember,) so it was really that good.

For my entree, which I really didn't need after half a flatbread, and most of the salad, was the charred butcher tender steak over roasted red pepper polenta, grilled asparagus, with gorgonzola butter and red wine reduction. The steak itslef, was good, but huge, and I ate a little less then half of it, mostly cutting off the charred well done edges, to the rare steak inside. The asparagus was good, and something I hadn't had in awhile. I didn't eat a lot of vegetables during the trip, and, apparently, had missed them, since I ate probably more asparagus then steak. The polenta I didn't really care for, but it was all right as far as polenta goes, and I've never really liked polenta, so that's not suprising. I'd had polenta three times before this as far as I can remember, and only enjoyed it once of the three times, so really not something I enjoy much.

Somehow, after all of that food I managed to get the tiramisu for dessert, which was the best tiramisu I've had in awhile.

I'd definatly go back to Mama Melrose's, but probably not on the Fantasmic package again, at least not solo, as it is just way too much food for me, and I'd never order that much food for myself a la carte. But, it was well worth the price, as those items would of cost over $40 a la carte, and I paid, (before tip,) less then $30, but I did leave a rather large tip, close to $10.