Return to the Scene of the Crime: The Lurkyloos’ First Anniversary at WDW! New VIDEO!

Nothing wrong with that - if a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet, and we're all "meeting" each other in cyberspace, then we must be friends! :goodvibes

really?? Cause it is to the point where I accost strangers in Barnes & Noble and say "LOOK!!!! MY FRIEND'S WEDDING IS IN THIS MAGAZINE!!!" or "MY FRIEND GOT MARRIED ON CASTAWAY LAST NOVEMBER AND WE ARE IN A NEW BOOK TOGETHER!!!!"

:rotfl:
 
I am jumpin' onboard too (albeit kinda late). :surfweb:

I am really enjoying reading a fellow Los Angeleno's take on WDW (I just got DBF to agree to our first WDW trip).

Your writing is superb and completely enthralling. Can't wait for the next installment:rolleyes1
 
I don't know why, but this thread always makes me hungry :rolleyes1

I tried to convince myself that the tuna fish and ritz crackers I had for lunch are as good as cake. It didn't work :upsidedow

Me too...
I was looking at it yesterday and my fiance goes "Think Disney will ship some of that out from Orlando for my birthday?":rotfl:

You're such an interesting writer, I'vebeen hooked from the beginning...

You had me at hello:rotfl2: :rotfl2:
 

Betsy - I did actually tell some girl in BooksAMillion that my "Friend" is in that destination wedding mag she was reading! LOL Also you are my friend and we were in a book together...no lie. LOL :rotfl:
 
oh good..I don't feel so bad!!


except that SOMEONE promised the "good stuff" but she apparently is too busy doing her real job!!
 
O.K......I want to be in on this my friend is in a magazine thing too!!!! Please, please....and how do I get in the magazine!!??!!??!! ;)

cheryl
 
We decided to do a photo reenactment of DH’s sick day so we’d have picture for the trip report.... which I forgot to put in at the appropriate day of the trip report...


IMG_0343.jpg

:lmao:
 
O.K......I want to be in on this my friend is in a magazine thing too!!!! Please, please....and how do I get in the magazine!!??!!??!! ;)

cheryl

Cheryl!! Where have you been!!! Carrie's wedding was featured in "Destination Wedding" magazine available in Barnes & Noble
IMG_9374-1.jpg
 
GET OUT!!!!

Well good for you!!! I guess I am going to have to run over there and take a look. I guess that with our trip coming up, I just didn't see this piece of info....I don't know how I could have missed this.

And I was all excited when Disney asked me for some quotes from our VR experience so that they "might" use it in their upcoming brochures...some people just have an in!!!:cutie:

Cheryl
 
:rotfl: that photo of Patrick was hilarious! Funny stuff!!

My dh is going to freak when he realizes how many "friends" i'm meeting down there in December! :scared1: But I want to meet ALL MY FRIENDS that i talk to here! :lovestruc
 
Well I'm finally caught up on day 7. Great pics as usual. Nine dragons looked intersting. You are causing me to 2nd guess my ADR's. Who am I kidding...1128th guess my ADR's. The re-enactment photo from DHS? Priceless. On transportaion, loved the motage of Disney mass transit there. And, having taken the friendship from DHS to the boardwalk, I'm not surprised you beat it back to your resot. That was some SLOOOOOOOOOOOW going there Ethel, let me tell you. Looking forward to yet more fun and mayhem.
 
Umm Patrick tossing his cookie is pretty darn funny! I will never look at a paint spot the same way again lol!
And it is totally normal to say "I know so and so" from here, the other day I told DF "we get to meet some of the DisBrides while we are in FL" he then told his friend Tim that "Samantha and I are meeting her online friends when we go to FL", Tim then looked at us like we were telling him that 'Jessica Simpson is genius'... thats when it hit me how high our creepy factor could potentially be when discussing our "DisPals" with "normal" humans... oh well!
So I love how the boat driver knew it was Toni's wedding lol!
 
really?? Cause it is to the point where I accost strangers in Barnes & Noble and say "LOOK!!!! MY FRIEND'S WEDDING IS IN THIS MAGAZINE!!!" or "MY FRIEND GOT MARRIED ON CASTAWAY LAST NOVEMBER AND WE ARE IN A NEW BOOK TOGETHER!!!!"

:rotfl2: I love the crazy-Opus-shouting implications of the all-caps....

I am really enjoying reading a fellow Los Angeleno's take on WDW (I just got DBF to agree to our first WDW trip).

Your writing is superb and completely enthralling. Can't wait for the next installment.

Hey, thanks for the kind words! I'm so happy to hear you got DBF to agree to the trip. It's hard not to compare WDW to Disneyland, but the differences are what makes it fun (well, except Space Mountain, which is just plain lame).

and by maybe, I meant undoubtedly!

Thatta girl! :thumbsup2

Me too...
I was looking at it yesterday and my fiance goes "Think Disney will ship some of that out from Orlando for my birthday?":rotfl:

You're such an interesting writer, I'vebeen hooked from the beginning...

You had me at hello:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Aw, thanks! You know, Disney probably should start a food-shipping service. All of us have at least one treat we'd buy regularly! popcorn::

Betsy - I did actually tell some girl in BooksAMillion that my "Friend" is in that destination wedding mag she was reading! LOL Also you are my friend and we were in a book together...no lie. LOL :rotfl:

Cute! :cutie:

except that SOMEONE promised the "good stuff" but she apparently is too busy doing her real job!!

It's coming right up at the bottom of this reply. :thumbsup2 And it's in multiple installments, so don't you go posting your little zingers between them, lady!

Your husband works for Henson Studios, right? Does he happen to work on Sid the Science Kid? I just wanted to pass along that my DD 3yo LOVES Sid. She sings the songs all the time.
http://pbskids.org/sid/#/playground

Awww! That show is so cute. DH teaches puppeteering and sometimes builds in the Creature Shop, but I'm afraid his only connection to Sid the Science Kid is his grown-up sized version of Gerald's dino T-shirt!

O.K......I want to be in on this my friend is in a magazine thing too!!!! Please, please....and how do I get in the magazine!!??!!??!! ;)

OK, first, you have the Roots photograph you doing something.... It could be anything, really, even (wait for it....) tossing your cookies!

Well good for you!!! I guess I am going to have to run over there and take a look. I guess that with our trip coming up, I just didn't see this piece of info....I don't know how I could have missed this.

It should be on newsstands til March 30. Now I wanna see the brochure you're going to be in! :hyper:

My dh is going to freak when he realizes how many "friends" i'm meeting down there in December! :scared1: But I want to meet ALL MY FRIENDS that i talk to here!

Yeah, I was surprised how cool with it DH was. I think we met someone almost every day of our trip! Maybe the secret for you is: Don't tell him in advance. ;)

Who am I kidding...1128th guess my ADR's.

Isn't that always the way? I feel like "OhmygoshImaynevergetbacktoWDWagainIhavetotryeverysinglerestaurantI'veeverwantedto!!!" And then if I don't like a place I'm kicking myself cuz we coulda been eating at another one that I might have liked... really, one practically needs therapy... :scared:
 
That night we had an ADR at Narcoossee’s, so we took a little time to get spiffed up. Originally our reservation had been for right after the MK’s fireworks, since I’ve heard that you can’t see the show from your table anyway because everyone runs out to the balcony and blocks the windows. However, a few months before the trip I got to thinking about how we’d only seen Wishes from inside the MK once, and that it might be nice to eat at Narcoossee’s early and then take a boat over in time to see the show. So I switched our ADR to 5:45pm.


Um, yeah, it’s totally impossible to take your own picture with an iPhone!
photo-32.jpg


Because the trek from the Grand Floridian’s self-park lot rivals the trek to the Attic (but with more traffic lights) DH dropped me off and I went ahead to check in for our reservation. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the Tables In Wonderland card gets you free valet parking when you’re dining at the resorts – d’oh!


IMG_0354.jpg



IMG_0355.jpg



As I waited to be seated, a cook came to the bar end of the kitchen near the lobby and put these guys out for the kids to look at:

Doomed lobsters
photo-33.jpg


That was... depressing. But what was even more depressing was the table they eventually lead me to: I kid you not, it was right by the door to the other end of the kitchen! I didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings the way I apparently did back at Liberty Tree Tavern, so I made up some lame excuse about not wanting to sit so close to the cooking smells, and he moved me forward about five tables to a window seat with a view of the castle!

photo-36.jpg


Of course then I felt like a real jerk when the manager had to come out and make sure I was far enough away from said cooking smells... gulp!

When DH finally got there (hours later – it might have been days!), I guess he took a few pix from the balcony, cuz we have these:

IMG_0356.jpg


IMG_0357.jpg



Gee, I haven’t run into anyone from the Internets in pages and pages – how about Bobbie & David? They got married the day before we did and had a reception at Italy Isola that looked like a lot of fun. A few days before this trip, I discovered that they were having their anniversary dinner at Narcoossee’s right around the time we’d be there! So just a few minutes after we were seated, they were shown to a table nearby and we finally got to meet in person and take a picture together.

If you can believe it, Bobbie is even more beautiful in person than on the Internets!
photo-35.jpg


David is very DIS-savvy and knew all about trip reports, the Weddings & Honeymoons board, and the various abbreviations. He commiserated with DH about the whole “DH” thing. Bobbie and David are so much fun to talk to – we probably could have spent our whole evening standing by their table chatting. Fortunately for them, our waiter distracted us by waving personalized menus under our noses, and we left them to enjoy their romantic anniversary celebration without the Lurkyloos looming over them.


The bill of goods –er, I mean the “bill of fare”...
photo-34.jpg



We’ve eaten at Narcoossee’s twice now, and since we had the same experience both times, I am going to make the grand proclamation that the place is overrated. The food just isn’t that great! The service was efficient, the view of course can’t be beat, but the quality of the ingredients and their preparation... meh... However, it didn’t really matter, because we still had a great time. I don’t know if it was because we sat next to each other instead of across from each other or because it was the eve of our anniversary and we were thinking about where we’d been a year before at that moment or what, but the evening just felt really romantic.

Apparently DH started with a fruity drink, cuz we have a picture of one:

Probably a virgin piña colada
IMG_0358.jpg



Narcoossee's Seafood Bisque - Maine rock crab and sourdough crostini
IMG_0359.jpg


OK, this was very good and had nice chunks of crab in it.



But this....

Grilled Scallops - corn and crab risotto, tomato-shallot confit and sherry vinegar reduction
IMG_0360.jpg


IMG_0361.jpg


... was not good at all. The scallops were not fresh – they tasted metallic and chewy.


But I didn’t care. We were snuggled up together and DH was kissing my hand and the sun was setting – it was perfect!

Toward the end of dinner the waiter disappeared for a long time. We were just about to do a runner when he reappeared with this:

FREE DESSERT #5: Warm Chocolate Almond Gateau - with vanilla bean whipped cream

IMG_0362.jpg


Whohoo!

After dinner it was too cold to take a boat, so we hopped the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We wandered up to the Hub and were surprised to find plenty of good spots still available for Wishes, so we stood in one for 45 minutes waiting for the show to start. It was so cold, we had to hold hands in DH’s jacket pockets most of the time, except for when he took these:

IMG_0363.jpg



IMG_0364.jpg



IMG_0365.jpg


FINALLY the fireworks started and.... we could barely see them! I felt so dumb – at Disneyland, where the castle is short, the Hub is the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. But it didn’t occur to me that the view might be different with a taller castle. No wonder no one was standing up there with us – we were too close! So we dashed back toward Main Street as far as we dared without disturbing other people and got a pretty decent spot.

In fact, it was like I was seeing Wishes for the first time! Now I know why so many people like the show. We’d spent the past year watching them from everywhere *but* in front: California Grill, the Polynesian, Cinderella’s Royal Table, our room at the Grand Floridian. What a waste of time – you gotta be right there!

So pardon the copious amounts of photos – we were kinda excited....

photo-37.jpg



photo-38.jpg



photo-39.jpg



photo-40.jpg




photo-41.jpg




IMG_0368.jpg



IMG_0369.jpg



IMG_0370.jpg
 
photo-43.jpg



photo-44.jpg



IMG_0371.jpg



IMG_0372.jpg



photo-42.jpg




photo-45.jpg



Real camera
IMG_0374.jpg



IMG_0373.jpg



iPhone!
photo-46.jpg



photo-47.jpg



photo-48.jpg



IMG_0375.jpg



photo-49.jpg




IMG_0376.jpg




photo-50.jpg




After the show we allowed ourselves to be swept out of the park in the sea of humanity and were carried up to the monorail back to the GF. Then we trudged what felt like an similar distance from the lobby to the self-park lot to retrieve Clementine and zip off to Downtown Disney to see T-REX!

DH was excited – what dinosaur lover wouldn’t be?

IMG_0378-1.jpg


Inexplicably, the speakers outside “T-Rex Cafe: A Prehistoric Family Adventure” were blaring smooth jazz. It may have been playing inside too, but it was kinda hard to hear over the death screams of a pterodactyl caught in a regularly reoccurring meteor shower.

IMG_0393-1.jpg


The noise level in this place makes Rainforest Cafe look like the public library. Normally, it’s set to 11, but when the meteor shower hits, it’s set to stun.

It’s like a prehistoric TGI Fridays!
IMG_0379-1.jpg



It’s like a roadside attraction in Dubai!
photo-10-1-1-1.jpg



It’s like a Mesozoic Madonna Inn!
IMG_0387-1.jpg



OK, I’m outta quips...
IMG_0385-1.jpg



When you walk in, it’s chaos. The store is next to the check-in desk next to the bar. People are milling about with their heads tilted back, eyes as big as saucers, and mouths gaping open – and those are just the servers!

IMG_0394-1.jpg


Finally someone at the check-in desk realizes you’re actually there to eat and not just gape, so they toss you a rope and reel you in through the sea of humanity. A perky host or hostess walks you two steps into the 30,000-square-foot, 600-seat restaurant and gives you the table by the door as you crane your neck to see what you’re missing in the main rooms.

What you’re missing
IMG_0383-1.jpg




IMG_0390-1.jpg



“Hi, my name is Steve, I’ll be your waiter this evening. Can I start you off with some Prehistoric Pizza Shooters?”
IMG_0395-1.jpg
 
Since we’d already had dinner and picked at dessert, we figured we’d just get something light – you know, like 8 square inches of stacked ice cream sandwiches drowning in fudge and Heath Bars.


Ice Age Indulgence - Layers of ice cream sandwiches, fudge sauce, whipped cream and Heath Bar Crunch
IMG_0380-1.jpg


After we ate, we wandered around the main parts of the restaurant taking pictures and marveling at the spectacle. But once you really start to look at the animatronics, you wish they’d hired Disney to do them. They’re very creaky and simplistic, with just one main motion repeated endlessly.

IMG_0392-1.jpg



IMG_0391.jpg



I don’t know if these guys moved at all...
photo-2-1-1-1.jpg


So then you think, well, OK, but it’s really supposed to be a restaurant, not an E-Ticket ride. But the food isn’t very good, so, um, I guess it’s really just a big shop to sell build-your-own-dinosaurs and push smooth jazz!

We knew it was time to go when our ears started bleeding. When we got back to our room, we discovered a package had been delivered. It turned out to be an anniversary surprise of two honeymoon pins and lanyards from our Wedding Consultant, Joe!

photo-3-1-1-1.jpg


What a great kick-off to the next day’s anniversary celebration! (And no, I didn’t let DH trade away either of the pins.)

Next up: Best. Anniversary. Ever.
 
And it is totally normal to say "I know so and so" from here, the other day I told DF "we get to meet some of the DisBrides while we are in FL" he then told his friend Tim that "Samantha and I are meeting her online friends when we go to FL", Tim then looked at us like we were telling him that 'Jessica Simpson is genius'... thats when it hit me how high our creepy factor could potentially be when discussing our "DisPals" with "normal" humans... oh well!

Yeah it's funny how there's still this stigma about having online friends, yet everybody does it! I mean, my mother-in-law is on Facebook fer cryin' out loud! :lmao: (Hi, Moma! :wave2:)
 
The bill of goods –er, I mean the “bill of fare”...
photo-34.jpg

Gotta love a restaurant whose chef recommends a big plate of @ss. :eek:

Since we’d already had dinner and picked at dessert, we figured we’d just get something light – you know, like 8 square inches of stacked ice cream sandwiches drowning in fudge and Heath Bars.


Ice Age Indulgence - Layers of ice cream sandwiches, fudge sauce, whipped cream and Heath Bar Crunch
IMG_0380-1.jpg

<Ahem>
You know.
:headache:
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom