Off to college and our 2nd trip of 2010-August 8-20th

[MEK]

Enjoying your TR. Nothing like combining college drop-off with a trip to Disney. I think little kids love POP - nothing better than the crazy icons and color schemes.

I am an SSR owner too and I love it there, although I have been busy DVC hopping for the last couple of years. I love my DVC membership, too.

 

[taymacsmom]

Looking forward to the review of Via Napoli. It is on our short list of places to try next summer! Those ponchos sure are hot in August aren't they!?

 

[Mindy5767]

Hi folks, I'm back! How dare life get in the way of my disboard use!

So, we arrived in a lovely thunderstorm. It seems every time we go through a turnstile it causes rain. So we make our way to Via Napoli. We arrive at 8:15pm as the downpour continues. We give our name and the hostess tells us 1 hour. Fine... I'm too wet to care. WE reviewed the menu. Looks good. I head to the ladies room. Very nice, it was clean and the decor fit with the rest of the place. We decided to pass the time by walking over the alps to Germany. We saw they have a wine passport and 3 wine tastings for $9.95/ 2 oz glass (plastic). Ok, we must try that later. The wine passport was $20 and you try several wines in each country. I think there were 2 that you pick, but you had 6 maybe to choose from, so you'd say choose 2 from France, 2 from Germany and 2 from Italy. This is a good idea and we must save this idea for some adult time during our November trip when we hopefully will be drier and less hot. The only thing we want right now is something VERY cold. We return to Italy and take cover in the outdoor seating area. I would imagine on a nice day, this area would be crowded, but not right now it isn't. We'd gone over to the hostess to tell her of our return before we sat in the outdoor seating area. She indicated more wait time. I guess she didn't want to move from her comfort spot because when we went back up again, they were ready to seat us and she mentioned that she could have seated us at least 10 minutes ago. Figures. Total wait time 45 minutes.

We sat down and looked at the menu and ordered 2 glasses of Centine Bianco at $8 a glass. The wine came right away, and then Francesca was back and ready to take our order.

I ordered the Tortino di Melanzane $18, Francesca says this is normally an appetizer, but I see nothing on the menu that says that. She says many people order that for a meal. It comes with baked spaghetti. Never had that. Sounds interesting. Heidi ordered the kids spaghetti meal. Our orders are taken at 9:00pm, I decided against the spinache lasagne (Lasagne Verde) because with the cheese in the Bechemel (sp? can't read my handwriting) cream cause, I am thinking with my lactose intolerance, it might be too much cream even with Lactaid. Too risky... Leave that for maybe next time. The wine by the way came in what I thought was a smallish glass. Maybe I meant the amount of the serving? Handwriting. It was very good though. Light and fruity, not too sweet. Our table was near where the servers got the plates, olive oil and stuff. So Henry ordered the Quattro Formaggi. The food arrives at 9:10pm. wow .. that was fast. I guess because the menu isn't too large, they can keep cranking out the entrees. I ask for red sauce for my baked spaghetti and Francesca went to get it.

Poor girl, this pic is not flattering to her:

Henry's Quattro Formaggi (Four Cheese)

Heidi's child's meal (she is not a meat ball person so she picked them out)

Nice view of the baked spaghetti and the sauce:

My eggplant (Tortino di Melanzane)

bread and oil (also tasty)

I wasn't sure how Henry was going to finish that pizza. It looked so big, but this was the single serving size. It had a nice thin crisp crust, which is actually how I like it. He did finish it all. Heidi picked all the meatballs out of her sauce. Mental note: next time ask for no meatballs. We decided that we hadn't stuffed ourselves so we had room for dessert if we shared. We decided on the Torta Mamma Rosario something or other, forgot the name. It was an apple fritter dessert. It was delicious too. There were many other good options to get next time.

We asked about the AP discount and found it was lunch only. Please make a note. We were done by 10:00pm.

We took a picture of the family across from us enjoying the family sized (meter ) pizza.

nice for telephoto, I took this discreetly.

We went outside and we were surprised to find that we could actually see the summernightastic fireworks in the MK from the little bridge in front of the Italy pavilion. Cool

Such a perfect end to a lovely meal. Next up.. the rest of the evening.

 

[Mindy5767]

After our lovely meal at Via Napoli, we headed over to Norway to ride Maelstrom, which I cannot help but call Nordstrom. Shopping on the brain! No wait, so we finish that and zoom on over to Mexico and ride the Gran Fiesta Tour. Heidi loves that one. Its always so festive in there. I guess that's the point! So then we decide to see if we could get on Test Track. During our March trip we couldn't seem to get on that thing between thunderstorm closures and long lines, not to mention not being in the right place at the right time. So we head to Test track. The sign says 30 min wait. Ok, that is not past my wait limit. We waited in line much less than 30 minutes. We rode and it was a lot of fun. We got to scan our photopass card at the ride picture viewing station and load the card right on, we didn't have to buy it right there at that moment. I like that. I hope other rides have that option. So we load our ride photo on and visit the new car showroom at the end of the ride area. We look at some of the new SUV's. Umm.... they think this is roomy? NOT... disappointment with GM again. My van seats 8 people and gets nearly the same gas mileage and is way roomier. What are they trying to sell me here? True the gas gauge in my van doesn't work anymore... knowing exactly how much gas I have was a nice feature... hard to give up... but really!! I've been living with keeping track of the miles per tank for a while. I just have to reset the trip o meter with each fill-up and fill up the next time I get to 400 miles for city/town driving and 550 for highway. Although technically I get 600 miles per tank highway. Goodbye GM and goodnight EPCOT... we go for the Pop bus, not much wait., its a fairly short ride anyway and we're back at our room by 12:29.

 

[annmarieda]

Nordstrom. I have thought that too....

Although all of your dinner looked good, your dessert looked very enticing! DD and I always gauge where we want to eat based on not only what entree we want, but what desserts are offered. Yummmm

 

[taymacsmom]

Wow! You waited longer than it took you to eat. Everything looks delish! Will put Via Napoli on our list for sure!

 

[dolfinjuls]

So how was the baked spaghetti? It looks like it would be pretty good? Glad you got to ride Test track...I remember in the summer you had a lot of problems trying to get on.

And fast forward to next trip. Do you know your schedule yet? I just found out that I'll be in Orlando starting 11/24! So was wondering what your plans are.

 

[Mindy5767]

So how was the baked spaghetti? It looks like it would be pretty good? Glad you got to ride Test track...I remember in the summer you had a lot of problems trying to get on.

And fast forward to next trip. Do you know your schedule yet? I just found out that I'll be in Orlando starting 11/24! So was wondering what your plans are.

Ooooh ..now we might actually get to meet. I am working on our plans as we speak. I will let you know asap.

Oh, and the baked spaghetti was very good. It made a really nice complement to the eggplant.

 

[MEK]

Fun update! Your meal looks really good. That pizza looks yummy. I am eating there in May, so thanks for the preview.

I didn't realize that you could see the MK fireworks from Epcot. That is pretty cool.

Enjoyed your update!

 

[Mindy5767]

Fun update! Your meal looks really good. That pizza looks yummy. I am eating there in May, so thanks for the preview.

I didn't realize that you could see the MK fireworks from Epcot. That is pretty cool.

Enjoyed your update!

I never before saw the MK fireworks from EPCOT. It could be because of 2 reasons; the summernightastic fireworks were a really BIG more extravagant show than Wishes and/or we were standing in Italy by the bridge. That location is probably not a spot we often went to in the past.

Also, EPCOT normally closes at 9:00pm after Illuminations. MK fireworks are at 10:00pm, so we had to be there during EMH.

 

[tinacaplan]

Fun update! Glad to hear you liked Via Napoli. We have an ADR there for February and that you had a great time in EPCOT, which is definitely my favorite park.

 

[carrie6466]

Mindy I couldn't wait one more day. I'm in!

I definitely have to add Via Napoli to my to do list, if not for Dec, for next time.

 

[Mindy5767]

Mindy I couldn't wait one more day. I'm in!

I definitely have to add Via Napoli to my to do list, if not for Dec, for next time.

Hey Carrie!!! Good to see you again. Tomorrow I have to wait for the HVAC guys to come for our fall furnace check up. Big $$ because we have to renew our service contracts for another year. We have 2 furnaces, so double the cost. Lucky us! Hopefully while I'm waiting I can work on August 13th which was Friday the 13th!

 

[Mindy5767]

Why is life always getting in the way of my DIS time? So, here we are back again. So, we are at Friday the 13th. We let ourselves sleep in until 9:30ish. All the business of the previous weeks has caught up to us and we were exhausted. We got up and dressed and headed to Everything Pop for breakfast. I brought my Kashi Go Lean again, and enjoyed refilling my refillable mug with coffee. After breakfast we headed to the bus, short wait, and then back to Hollywood Studios. Gee... we seem to be in this park more than we ever have in the past. We went right to Toy Story Midway Mania... and Guess what... we finally got to ride it! Amazing. Gee... that was fun.

We came out, and grab the ponchos, its raining again. No, not raining.... downpouring. Major downpour. Hmmm where can we go? We decide to check out the Narnia, Prince Caspian thing. Never did that before. Whose Price Caspian? Doesn't matter. He's dry. So we go in and see that experience. I wasn't sure if it was a ride or a show. It was more of a presentation.

After we got out of Narnia, we made our way over to Pixar Place. I am still bummed that we missed Carl from UP by 20 minutes on our last trip and then found out he was discontinued! We visited with Lotso instead.

We browsed in a few shops and looked at some paintings that were really cute, but I have absolutely no wall space for in my house, despite its large size.

We walked back to the front of the park, it was just about 3:00, we spent some time enjoying the "Hollywood People" and then watch the block party bash.
this pic was actually taken at 12:50pm after arriving at the park.

There were more Hollywood people on our way back to the front.

Block Party Bash

 

[Mindy5767]

After Block Party Bash, we decided that we were done with DHS, so we decided to take the boat over to EPCOT. WE arrived and once again... rain. It seems to rain every single time we go through the turnstile. We were really quite hungry by this time. We didn't know where we were going to eat because many of the quick service options in EPCOT are outside. We walk around the world. The rain gets harder and harder, so we take cover in Morocco.

we explored some areas of the pavilion we hadn't before.

We talk over our eating options. We decide to head to the America Pavilion because it has a large indoor eating area. Its dry. We look over the menu board. Not much we can eat. The options look very unkosher with chili on a hotdog with cheese and bacon double cheeseburgers! Double... not even an option for a plain single hamburger. So we notice that on the menu, it says Kosher meals, and has a price range. We decide to ask about them. The CM pulls out a 3 ring binder and opens to a tab that says Kosher. There are other tabs I noticed including Gluten Free and Vegetarian. We look over the options, and Henry and I choose the hamburger with potato croquets and Heidi chooses the kosher hotdog. We wait, and out meal is brought out. It is very interesting. It was heated inside of a special package so as not to contaminate it with traif (non-kosher food). We peel back the plastic cover on the tray. Then there is another tray inside that we peel back the plastic on. The hamburger is actually completely ensconced in this roll. We have to cut the roll open to find the burger. I've never seen it done that way. We cut it open and add ketchup and mustard. Heidi's hot dog is also inside the bun the same way. Now we're hearing lots of thunder and lightning.
The meal comes from a kosher caterer in Miami called
Weberman's Traditional Foods
webermanfoods@bellsouth.net 305-751-7100 GLATT

We eat our food, which I did not take a picture of. It was actually very good. Tasty. We sort of take our time because the rain is really bad. After finishing our meal and waiting about 20 minutes, we finally decide to make a break for it. We race to the Land Pavilion. First, we ride the Behind the Seeds ride. Heidi always loves that one. The part of this ride that goes through the greenhouse you can see and hear the rain really loud. Its pounding the greenhouse and i"m glad we're inside. Then, we go over and look at what the wait is for Soarin'. Gee... 60 minutes. Normally I will not wait an hour for any ride, but since its raining so hard, I might as well. So we get in line for Soarin'.

While waiting in line, we meet such a nice family from England. Just delightful people. We got to talk with them for a whole hour waiting. We talked about politics and compared what was going on here with what's happening in England. Very interesting. This family seems to have similar view to ours. Its always so nice to hear what people from England think about politics and what's going on in our country and what they've heard on their TV news. The wait seems so much shorter when you're enjoying the company of those around you. We finally board the ride and we are seated in the lowest carriage and are near the edge of the screen. I can see the feet of the people above dangling and the edge of the screen if I look. That actually is helpful to me as I can't stand the feeling of falling. Did I mention that I always put that child's crotch strap on. It makes me feel more secure.

After we finish on Soarin' we find the rain has let up. Finally!! We go over and stake out a spot for Illuminations.
We usually view from England, but this time we went over to Germany.
Henry went and got a beer, and I got a glass of wine.

This is the first time we watch Illuminations from Germany. There is a lady who thinks that its ok to sit on the back of the bench with her feet on the seat where people put their bottoms! There's ALWAYS someone!

After Illuminations we went back to the Pop for dinner. I had the fish sandwich, which was fantastic. It was so good that I'd say that it can compete with the fish sandwich at a local chef owned restaurant in town. Excellent. Way better than you'd expect at a food court. Henry had a meatball sub that he enjoyed and Heidi of course, had the kids hamburger. After our dinner, we headed back to our room for bed. We have to get up earlier tomorrow for our breakfast at Ohana.

 

[dolfinjuls]

Glad you were able to get on Toy Story finally! How long did you wait in line to see Lotso? I know he's mean, but he's soo cute! And we've liked most of the things we've had at the Pop food court...definitely better then I would have expected!

 

[Mindy5767]

Yeah it took forever to finally get into Toy Story. A comedy of errors!

I don't think we waited too long to see Lotso, maybe 20 minutes. I'm not a waiter... if lines are long, I come back later. There definitely was a line though. The waiting area had a Sunnyside Daycare theme... so it was kinda fun to look at what was one the walls. Kids handprints and stuff. Plus "window vinettes" of the daycare center. I still am grouchy about missing the UP crew!

I think for a food court, the Pop is tops! SSR's food court is really geared toward, I dont know what... not large crowds that's for sure. But being in the DVC resort, they expect people to eat elsewhere. We'll be eating our breakfast in the villa each day, we might even come back for lunch. Hopefully the pool bar will be open. I love the tuna sandwiches there. Nice thick whole grain bread too. We also never ate at the Turf club. HAve you?

 

[dolfinjuls]

We saw the UP characters last July. It was the one thing Tamayra wanted to do. But the line didn't look really long, but went sooo slow. I think the characters took 3 breaks before they got to us, it was ridiculous. I was wondering if it was the same for Lotso.

And we've never been to the Turf Club. We were thinking about it last year, but never ended up going. I've seen some good reviews on it lately though!

 

[Mindy5767]

I've had so much going on with my health that I haven't gotten to finish my August trip story. This is a rush now because we leave in 10 days.

Saturday August 14th:

Saturday was Ohana day! After getting showered and dressed, we drove over to the Poly for our breakfast. They gave us a beeper and we lined up for our family picture with yellow flower leis. We had barely a wait when it was our turn to be seated. Initially, I forgot to request turkey sausage, so they brought the food platter out with pork sausage. I tried to eat around it. Then I finally told the waitress that we needed some turkey sausage. She said they had turkey bacon. She brought out a plate of turkey bacon. Heidi liked it. I didn't like it because, well, it tastes like bacon... which is probably the point. But I would have preferred turkey sausage like you get at IHOP. During our meal, the characters led a parade of children. They handed maracas to the children. The best part of the breakfast probably was the delicious sweet Hawaiian bread. It has bits of pineapple and... yum!! The tropical fruit drink was also very good. I think it was orange mango. Extra yum!

That delicious bread:

After breakfast, we strolled through the hotel and stopped at the gift shop to visit with the Tiki Gods.

Stitch had some fun with this one:

admired the Dooney & Bourke purse that is way too expensive for me to buy:

We walked down to the main lobby and a hula demonstration was going on. That was very enjoyable to watch. They were from a local hula school.

After the hula demonstration ended we decided to leave our car at the Poly for now and take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Mindy5767]

We entered the Magic Kingdom and stopped someplace that we never have been to. We went to the Magic Kingdom barber shop. We did this because Henry actually needed a hair cut. We hadn't had time in all the frantic last couple weeks with getting Max's Eagle Court of honor done and getting him packed and ready for college and all the last minute preps for our trip. We found the barber shop tucked away in an easy to miss corner.

We didn't have to wait long before Henry's turn. Just a few little girls had come in for "pixie dust".
Before:

and AFTER:

Just around the corner from the Barber shop is this trolly garage.

It was a lovely day... you can't see the heat yet!

We went over to Tomorrowland, and for the first time, we tried Stitche's Great Escape. We were disappointed. It really didn't "do" anything. Heidi didn't like the dark and she was too short really. They should replace that attraction with something more attractive!

Next, when in Tomorrowland... we visit Tomorrowland Motor Speedway. That's always a favorite. Then Heidi wanted to try Space Mountain for the first time. I did not. So, while they went to that ride, I went over to the cool and refreshing respite that is the Carousel of Progress. Then on to Adventureland, where we visited the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.. now.. that actually isn't all that great in THAT much heat! It was alot more fun in April. Mental note! We were beyond sweating at this point... so there was only ONE thing to do DOLE WHIP That was very refreshing:

After our Dole Whip, we took the Jungle Cruise, then walked back to Main Street and stopped in the bakery. I got a ginormous piece of crumb cake... that really was too big! And Heidi got some ice cream. After that we left the park by bus and returned to our car parked at the Poly.

We arrived back at the Pop. Got ready in our swim gear, and headed to the Hippy Dippy pool. After our dip in the pool, we got dressed and headed to the Pop food court for dinner.

We waited a short wait for the bus back to the Magic Kingdom and seat about finding a good place to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade. I like the parade... but I'm really not thrilled with the syntho-voice that starts at the very beginning. It just grates on my nerves somehow. The music is fine once the voice shuts up! We ended up sitting over in Liberty Square near the Liberty Bell. We chatted with a family from England and a family from New Jersey.

We then went to find a place to watch the SummerNightastic Fireworks. IT was REALLY crowded. Our spot was a bad spot. I couldn't see because I was blocked by tall people. When the fireworks started, there was something being projected on the side of the castle. I missed most of that because there was a tree in the way. We ALWAYS end up marooned by that same tree. I thought that maybe we should move to the bridge, that was a bad idea because I lost Henry and Heidi. I sure hoped that he had a good hold of her.

There is nothing in my diary for the rest of the evening. I obviously found them eventually and we made our way back to the buses and returned to the Pop.