Rides, Slides, Eats & Meets Oct DISmeet Trip. 5/6-Ch 14 Closing Thoughts

[FauntleroyFAN07]

7 weeks and 1 day since the last update...yeah sounds about right.

you realized you went the entire month of october without an update.
i even bumped this around to the next page for you to start towards the top....you are welcome.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

nothing a long 3 hour nap can't cure. I did better this time than last time.

Last time I crashed for 12 hours.

at marvs age, a three hour nap can turn into a full nights sleep

 

[KatMark]

at marvs age, a three hour nap can turn into a full nights sleep

Oh my...I just fell off my chair.

 

[Poolrat]

at marvs age, a three hour nap can turn into a full nights sleep

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Oh my...I just fell off my chair.

 

[glennbo123]

 

[Poolrat]

I like mine better..... The thumb and bear....

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I like mine better..... The thumb and bear....

marv must have gotten to cozy with that thumb and bear and forgot he had a TR going.

 

[englishrose47]

Marv you have a toooo good memory !!I had forgotten I shared the BLOOMERS tale , but leave it to you to remember !!!!Just proves Rosie has been Rosie for a VERY long time !!!!

 

[MEK]

This really IS pretty funny!

 

[marvali]

nothing a long 3 hour nap can't cure. I did better this time than last time.

Last time I crashed for 12 hours.

Always nice when your trips get better! I guess you learned how to make things go more smoothly than in the past.......

7 weeks and 1 day since the last update...yeah sounds about right.

you realized you went the entire month of october without an update.
i even bumped this around to the next page for you to start towards the top....you are welcome.

Thanks for looking out for me Dan!

at marvs age, a three hour nap can turn into a full nights sleep

Oh my...I just fell off my chair.

I like mine better..... The thumb and bear....

marv must have gotten to cozy with that thumb and bear and forgot he had a TR going.

Sorry I missed this conversation..........guess I slept through it all!!!

Marv you have a toooo good memory !!I had forgotten I shared the BLOOMERS tale , but leave it to you to remember !!!!Just proves Rosie has been Rosie for a VERY long time !!!!

Don't ever change my friend!

This really IS pretty funny!

Et tu Mary Ellen???

 

[Poolrat]

So waiting for a couple more posts to push you to the top of the next page????

 

[KatMark]

So waiting for a couple more posts to push you to the top of the next page????

Is that his excuse these days? He needs to be at the top of a page?

 

[englishrose47]

at marvs age, a three hour nap can turn into a full nights sleep

Hey there you young whipper snapper !! If Marv's 3 hour nap turns into a nights sleep I guess mine would turn into a weeks sleep

 

[marvali]

So waiting for a couple more posts to push you to the top of the next page????

Well, as it turns out.......very helpful!!!

Is that his excuse these days? He needs to be at the top of a page?

One excuse is as good as another, right???

Hey there you young whipper snapper !! If Marv's 3 hour nap turns into a nights sleep I guess mine would turn into a weeks sleep

Not sure I should take that as a complement or not.......

Love ya Rosie!!!

 

[marvali]

Chapter 13 – The Marvical Express and Garden Grill



I had gotten to meet some special DISfriends this trip, and had the chance to spend quite a bit of time getting to know them. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly you feel comfortable in person with those who you have only chatted with on the DIS before. After spending the morning at Epcot with Tanya, it was time for one last visit with my new friends from our northern neighbor Canada. I had enjoyed getting to know Jen better plus meeting her friend Stitch between our meal and the parks. Sadly, this was their final day and they would be heading to the airport for an afternoon flight back home.

Earlier when we talked Jen and Stitch had been trying to decide if they wanted to take Magical Express to the airport, or maximize their final day by waiting later and taking a cab. In spite of their expected and polite protests, I told them that I had a car and there was no way I was letting them take a cab to the airport when I was perfectly capable of driving them there. Not only would we have one last chance to chat while we were heading to the airport, but they wouldn't have to worry about making sure they had the cab there on time, especially if they were delayed for some reason. So at the agreed upon time I headed off to Coronado Springs to pick them up for the inaugural voyage of the Marvical Express.......it's a tradition! The rest of the family decided they would rather cool down at the pool or the water parks, so I headed off alone.

I arrived at Coronado Springs and after getting some direction from the Valets out in front, I pulled over towards the side to pick up my "fares" and waited. I texted Jen that I was out front and she informed me they were on their way out. I wanted to make sure they recognized me when they arrived since the Marvical Express is a discrete method of transportation, so I waited outside the car.

When they arrived I helped Jen and Stitch collect their belongings from Bell Services where they had cleaned out their room earlier in the day. I know how low on funds the average traveler can be after a long stay at The World, so I am more than willing to accept trade for my transportation services. Actually Jen and Stitch had quite a bit of "groceries" they had ordered for their stay left over they didn't want to throw away, so they used them to barter their ride on the Marvical Express, which was fine with me because feeding a family, especially teenage boys, can be challenging at times. Thanks again Jen and Stitch for the milk, juice, fruit, cereal and other items you donated to our cause. We enjoyed them very much! (And for those who don't recognize tongue in cheek comments, Jen and Stitch did NOT have to barter a ride to the airport using leftover food items.........)

We had a very good ride to the airport, and it was fun getting to chat with Jen and Stitch a while longer. Sadly it also meant that new friends were leaving and this would be our last chance to spend time together, at least for now. Hopefully we will get to spend some more time together in the World sometime in the future!

As everyone here knows, if you don't get a picture it didn't happen, so Jen and I posed for a couple of final photos at the airport when I dropped them off.

Sadly Stitch was taking the pictures and we didn't even think to get another one with her in it. Actually I was so sad to see my new friends go, I never even thought to get my camera out of the car and had to rely on Jen to supply me these pictures, so giving credit where credit is due..............Thanks Jen!

The family had decided to all stay at OKW and enjoy the pool area for the afternoon, so when I got back from the airport I rounded them all up so we could get ready for our dinner ADR at Garden Grill. This would be a first for us and I had wanted to give this a try. Even though it was a short bus ride to Epcot from OKW, you never know how the bus schedule will work out, so I decided we would be better off driving over so we could make sure we were at our ADR on time.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Garden Grill, it is located in the Land Pavilion above the Living with the Land ride. It is a Character meal that serves American cuisine, some of which is actually grown in the Land greenhouse. The seating area of the restaurant rotates slowly during your meal, so if you are in the "lower" seating area (tables instead of booths) you get to look down on parts of the ride below (desert, rainforest, etc.).

We arrived in plenty of time for our ADR, and it didn't take long to be seated. We were soon seated in the lower seating area at a table, and would get to enjoy the changing scenery below us as we enjoyed our meal. When we arrived at our table, we were greeted with a "not so" Hidden Mickey.

The meal is served family style. There are lots of opportunities to visit with the characters that appear there (Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey). Thankfully the boys don't feel like they are too old to goof around and enjoy the interaction with the characters, and with each other. I hope they never lose that willingness to just let loose and enjoy life!

In this picture you can see some of our mostly eaten meal. The salads were very fresh, and the rolls and honey butter were delicious!

The part of the meal served family style included fish, roast with vegetables, and turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy.

More character interactions.........

For those of you familiar with the Living with the Land ride, there is a farmhouse on the left just before the ride turns right and heads towards the greenhouse area of the ride. This is the last area of the ride you overlook during your meal before looking out of the restaurant towards the Sunshine Seasons area of the Land Pavilion. On the wall behind the farmhouse is a large mural, which contains a Hidden Mickey. We had a hard time locating this one and it took some help from our server to finally find it. See if you can spot it in this first picture before I finally zoom in on the specific area.

You have to look for a classic Mickey, not the one most people are familiar with today. It is the one from earlier cartoon/movie shorts with the big eyes and the elongated nose and mouth. Look for the ears and eyes between a couple of the palm leaves, and the nose and mouth between the two below it. Mickey is facing slightly to the right.

The characters are very good at making the rounds at Garden Grill, and we were actually there long enough to see Mickey a second time. Andrew took the opportunity for another picture so he could ham it up a little more.

Dessert is a fruit crisp topped with ice cream. The boys didn't really want this so they were able to get the child's dessert, which was ice cream with oreo cookies on the side.

The fruit crisp with Jonathan's oreo cookie contribution to make another Hidden Mickey.

All in all I would say this was a good meal and a lot of fun, but not something overly special. It was comfort food and definitely healthier than some other options so that was good, and it was also different from most of our other meals, so that was good too! The character interactions were great and they were not in any hurry so you had plenty of time with each of them if you wanted. I would probably eat here again sometime in the future, but there are quite a few restaurants much higher on my list.



Coming up Chapter 14 – Back to DHS

 

[glennbo123]

An update?

Nice of you to start the Marvical Express. I'll remember that, next time I'm there.

I love the "Sarcasm" shirt!

The food at the Garden Grill looked pretty good, but I agree, there are so many other places I want to try that it may never make the rotation.

 

[marvali]

An update?

Nice of you to start the Marvical Express. I'll remember that, next time I'm there.

I love the "Sarcasm" shirt!

The food at the Garden Grill looked pretty good, but I agree, there are so many other places I want to try that it may never make the rotation.

Well you know, I figured if I am going to finish this sucker up, I better get it done before 12/21 right......

As for the Marvical Express, now you just have to be there when I am, and you have to have flown and I didn't!!!

Jonathan loves shirts like that! His way of expressing his sense of humor, without actually having to..........

 

[KatMark]

How sweet of you to provide the marvical Express to Jen and Stitch for their ride to the airport. I always knew you had a sweet side to you.

And you are a very good DISer to remember to get a picture for proof.

Love the character interaction with the boys at Garden Grill (and good to see Ali get in on a picture or two as well). We've not eaten there since they used to have a lunch many, many moons ago with the boys. After seeing your pictures of the food, I think we will continue to skip it...too many other places that I would like to try yet or old favorites to go back. But you certainly couldn't beat the attention from the characters.

And please notice that I did NOT that you ACTUALLY did an update.

 

[Flossbolna]

Great update!!

Had to laugh so much about the Marvical Express! It's great that you got to spend some more time with Jen!

Loved the pictures from your meal, it is so rare to see pictures from Garden Grill. However, it confirmed it for me that I have no interest in that meal, only the salad, bread and dessert sound good to me...

My first thought when I saw Jonathan's t-shirt was how fitting it was!! I can understand why he loves this shirt! And Andrew looks like he got some serious tan, I guess that's all his sports that keep him out in the sunshine so much?