Day 3 5/7/05
Plan: Wake up, breakfast at Boma, epcot or mgm in the am, dinner at le cellier, illuminations.
Actual:
We slept in a little later today, till about 8am or so. Today is early magic hours at AK, so we are avoiding that park. We quickly scrapped the Boma breakfast after Shell heard of the multiple busses wed have to take. Instead, we got dressed, called bell services to transfer our luggage, and boarded a bus right for epcot.
We get there, walk in, Shell immediately loves the flower and garden stuff, lots of pictures were taken, it smelled great (except I kept insisting that either someone with BO kept on following us around, or some of the flowers smelled kind of like body odor, who knows). We wandered over to the land first, went right to soarin. Immediately noticed that none of the escalators were working, making a traffic nightmare. The wait time said 40 minutes for standby, but fastpass return was only 40 minutes later. So we grabbed some breakfast at the food court (pastries, coffee, and juice), then went over to the boat ride (I can never remember the name), Its a tradition since I was a kid, every time I ride the land boats I even did a report on it in junior high (what a dork) a short 10 minute wait and we get crammed into the boat with two other rather large people no offense, but there were plenty of boats . Shell spends the ride half over the edge of the boat, I get squished between her and some random lady. Shell actually liked the ride, I loved the mickey shaped veggies and plants, and the tomato tree was cool
Out we go and its just about time for our departure at Soarin I had heard its a long que, I really didnt think so, even the standby line didnt seem that long, but it was kind of wide . Onto the ride, I love the pre-show guy (I only remember him from seinfeld), we got the center of the front row. Let me tell ya, the front row is wicked cool (my boston accent comin out), the first couple of moments when it lifts you up and the first scene is incredible, all the way to the fireworks at the end, I was amazed, incredible ride.
By the time we got out the standby line was 70 minutes, fastpass return was already 3pm (it was 11am or so then). We had originally wanted to eat in canada, the only time open that day was dinner at 7:30, kind of close to illumination I kept on calling trying to get an earlier seating no luck. We decided to walk over and see if there was anything earlier. Shell was getting hungry, but wanted a burger . It amazed me, all these great restaurants, and she wants a burger we wander over, enjoying the flower and garden stuff, lots of pictures of roses and gardens and such. We get to Le Cellier, nothing open that night, but they had a lunch seating sounded good to me . It was an hour away. I guess I shouldve checked with Shell (she was off taking pics). It was getting pretty warm around now, we stopped and grabbed some drinks, I was thinking American Adventure, since I have yet to see it we walk over, stop at france and watch some street performers (balancing on chairs) browse some shops, and realize its just about time for lunch time flies so we take the boat back, go to lunch and get seated in a couple minutes.
Id heard a lot about le Cellier, Im a big steak guy. Initially, I was kind of disappointed with the lunch menu. As stated, Im a big steak guy, I love giant hunks of meat cooked medium rare the lunch menu was rather unimpressive. So we order the cheese soup Shell was in heaven, I loved the soup, had quite a kick to it, add the breadsticks (which we had to ask for for some reason) and a nice glass of Canadian beer, and I was set. Shell went for the steakburger (she did say she wanted a burger ) and thought it was great, especially with bacon and on the English muffin. I ordered the filet mignon, missing the petite in the name. Now I know this is normally a smaller piece of meat, but if Id known I couldve inhaled it through my nose, I probably wouldve gone with something else okay I exaggerated a little, I ate it, it was wonderful, and I left full. Its definitely on my list for dinner again next time. Shell heartily agrees.
Shell is having endurance issues, shes tired, and its vacation, she wants to relax. We make a deal. We do a couple more things, then go check into wilderness lodge and relax there for the night, skipping illuminations (I was hoping I could talk her into it, its my favorite nighttime show, shes never seen it, and I know shed love it). We go right back to Soarin, use our fastpasses. The wait time is now 90 minutes, but I doubt that is right. This we get row two, and Shell has a woman next to her who doesnt want to ride, and is about to walk out. Shell talks her into riding, saying its not that bad well, this woman looked terrified the whole time, although she was shaking and laughing afterwards
We then do Journey into your imagination. Now, I rode the original as a kid, and during my college program I rode the horrible version w/out figment. This version, I loved. I thought it was very cute and fun. Shell liked it too, except for the skunk smell. We spent a lot of time playing with the pictures, got a good postcard printout, and emailed a picture of Shell as a pug which is now our desktop background at home. Sensing upcoming crankiness from Shell, I say one more ride, and head towards the big golf ball, its a tradition well, its no longer a tradition. That tired thing needs to go. The omnimover track was rough and rickety, the content stale and boring, even the air condition wasnt working well. To top it off, the exit used to have some neat att exhibits, not its completely empty, nothing oh well, we go to the busses, stopping at some stores on the way (always room for that, eh?).
We pull up to the Wilderness lodge, Shell of course loves it we go to check in. We run into the first rude CM weve seen yet. Once again, our only request was non smoking, and a king bed. Rude CM tells us he has us in a smoking queen bed room. Uh, no way. On the phone he goes, chatting with the reservation guy about anything but us...eventually he says no to the king, but we should feel lucky we got a non smoking room that put me over the edge, and I went off about the last crappy room, how we called to confirm the king bed, etc, etc . rude cm just repeated we should be lucky we got the non smoking not letting it ruin my vacation, I just walked away, noting his name (I never did anything, decided he wasnt worth the breath), we went up to our room 5109, an almost corner room that overlooked outdoor seating, the spring and the pool. Shell loved the view, it was right near the elevators and ice, and she thought the room was much cleaner. The queen size beds had magically gotten bigger too, I guess you get what you pay for. Quick warning for WL guests. I learned (repeatedly) to walk WIDE corners around the edges of the beds. The wooden frames stick out, and are hidden, and love to eat shins and toes. Ok, Youve been warned.
We call for our luggage, bell services says itll be awhile um, ok. 45 minutes later (and one ice cube fight later) it shows up. Shell decides to go do some laundry (why I dont know, habit I guess), I was going to shower and catch up with her. I do and then wander down and look around the hotel. I love it. I find the laundry room, see her plastic bad on top of a machine, and go outside knowing Shell is attracted to a beach like ketchup is to a white shirt, I head out to the pool no shell..there is a bar, I grab a blue drink w/alcohol, head down to the beach find her there, on the cell phone leaving me a message that shes at the beach, we sit, enjoy the view, and great mid 70s weather. I try and talk her into illuminations, but shes happy here, she says I should go alone eh, not my thing I get on the phone, call home and harass mom (and made sure she got her flowers we sent for mothers day), along with a few friends of mine, boston was cold and raining . I then decided to call Max, a friend of mine from the college program, he had just moved from boston down to orlando about a month ago, we had plans to meet up the next night (with his girlfriend) for a fantasmic dinner package . Turns out they tried to get into le cellier, but ended up at outback . I tell them Shells plan of sitting on the beach, they suggest I meet them for illuminations .hmmmmm .
After making sure (thoroughly) that this didnt annoy or anger Shell (you can never tell with women, she was saying go, but I couldnt tell if it would piss her off) eventually I decided to go, figuring we had enough together time it was 8pm, I had an hour to make it to Epcot the race was on . I get to the bus stop no busses .i wait and wait an animal kingdom bus pulls up and drops of two people and sits there..eventually it changes to epcot, I hope on, and am the sole rider. Disney bus drivers drive quite different when theres only one witness, at least thats my theory. We make it to epcot in record time. I walk in, even though my feet are killing me. I wore my new tevas the first day, I hadnt worked them in enough, and they were hurting..not planning on going out again that night, I wore them to the beach and didnt go back to the room to change..oh well. I make it into future world, and look for a bathroom, apparently my natural instincts tell me to walk away from bathrooms, it took me 10 minutes to find one. I get to world showcase, call max, he asks where I am, I say in front of the tower of terror Im such the comedian, we meet up in front of England very convenient place to stop for a couple of beers. We pick them up, and end up settings in front of italy (the nice viewing area down below was reserved for a private party). We chat, then enjoy illuminations (great as ever).
The three of us head out the back entrance, a call to Shell to make sure shes ok (she had already called once, thinking I left her the old room key she was wrong), and we stop at the bar next to the Yachtsmen steak house (dont remember the name) I get a lemonade/sour type mixed drink, and order a burger since I hadnt eaten since Canada and they were about to stop serving. Apparently the food comes from the same kitchen as the yachtsmen steakhouse, but was much cheaper great burger we stop at a few more bars along the boardwalk, including a nice small one past beaches and cream, inside one of the hotels, it has a fake fireplace, some chairs/couches, and three barstools. I think we tripled the bars normal business. The bartender was great, we chatted about Disney, the college program, etc. Around midnight we headed out, considered stopping in jelly rolls, but I thought of Shell, and hitched a ride home to the hotel, coming into the room to find Shell way off into dreamland. I followed soon after.
Tomorrow, mothers day, we have a busy day planned. AK in the morning, MGM and max at night, as well as extra magic hours till midnight..woohoo!
Plan: Wake up, breakfast at Boma, epcot or mgm in the am, dinner at le cellier, illuminations.
Actual:
We slept in a little later today, till about 8am or so. Today is early magic hours at AK, so we are avoiding that park. We quickly scrapped the Boma breakfast after Shell heard of the multiple busses wed have to take. Instead, we got dressed, called bell services to transfer our luggage, and boarded a bus right for epcot.
We get there, walk in, Shell immediately loves the flower and garden stuff, lots of pictures were taken, it smelled great (except I kept insisting that either someone with BO kept on following us around, or some of the flowers smelled kind of like body odor, who knows). We wandered over to the land first, went right to soarin. Immediately noticed that none of the escalators were working, making a traffic nightmare. The wait time said 40 minutes for standby, but fastpass return was only 40 minutes later. So we grabbed some breakfast at the food court (pastries, coffee, and juice), then went over to the boat ride (I can never remember the name), Its a tradition since I was a kid, every time I ride the land boats I even did a report on it in junior high (what a dork) a short 10 minute wait and we get crammed into the boat with two other rather large people no offense, but there were plenty of boats . Shell spends the ride half over the edge of the boat, I get squished between her and some random lady. Shell actually liked the ride, I loved the mickey shaped veggies and plants, and the tomato tree was cool
Out we go and its just about time for our departure at Soarin I had heard its a long que, I really didnt think so, even the standby line didnt seem that long, but it was kind of wide . Onto the ride, I love the pre-show guy (I only remember him from seinfeld), we got the center of the front row. Let me tell ya, the front row is wicked cool (my boston accent comin out), the first couple of moments when it lifts you up and the first scene is incredible, all the way to the fireworks at the end, I was amazed, incredible ride.
By the time we got out the standby line was 70 minutes, fastpass return was already 3pm (it was 11am or so then). We had originally wanted to eat in canada, the only time open that day was dinner at 7:30, kind of close to illumination I kept on calling trying to get an earlier seating no luck. We decided to walk over and see if there was anything earlier. Shell was getting hungry, but wanted a burger . It amazed me, all these great restaurants, and she wants a burger we wander over, enjoying the flower and garden stuff, lots of pictures of roses and gardens and such. We get to Le Cellier, nothing open that night, but they had a lunch seating sounded good to me . It was an hour away. I guess I shouldve checked with Shell (she was off taking pics). It was getting pretty warm around now, we stopped and grabbed some drinks, I was thinking American Adventure, since I have yet to see it we walk over, stop at france and watch some street performers (balancing on chairs) browse some shops, and realize its just about time for lunch time flies so we take the boat back, go to lunch and get seated in a couple minutes.
Id heard a lot about le Cellier, Im a big steak guy. Initially, I was kind of disappointed with the lunch menu. As stated, Im a big steak guy, I love giant hunks of meat cooked medium rare the lunch menu was rather unimpressive. So we order the cheese soup Shell was in heaven, I loved the soup, had quite a kick to it, add the breadsticks (which we had to ask for for some reason) and a nice glass of Canadian beer, and I was set. Shell went for the steakburger (she did say she wanted a burger ) and thought it was great, especially with bacon and on the English muffin. I ordered the filet mignon, missing the petite in the name. Now I know this is normally a smaller piece of meat, but if Id known I couldve inhaled it through my nose, I probably wouldve gone with something else okay I exaggerated a little, I ate it, it was wonderful, and I left full. Its definitely on my list for dinner again next time. Shell heartily agrees.
Shell is having endurance issues, shes tired, and its vacation, she wants to relax. We make a deal. We do a couple more things, then go check into wilderness lodge and relax there for the night, skipping illuminations (I was hoping I could talk her into it, its my favorite nighttime show, shes never seen it, and I know shed love it). We go right back to Soarin, use our fastpasses. The wait time is now 90 minutes, but I doubt that is right. This we get row two, and Shell has a woman next to her who doesnt want to ride, and is about to walk out. Shell talks her into riding, saying its not that bad well, this woman looked terrified the whole time, although she was shaking and laughing afterwards
We then do Journey into your imagination. Now, I rode the original as a kid, and during my college program I rode the horrible version w/out figment. This version, I loved. I thought it was very cute and fun. Shell liked it too, except for the skunk smell. We spent a lot of time playing with the pictures, got a good postcard printout, and emailed a picture of Shell as a pug which is now our desktop background at home. Sensing upcoming crankiness from Shell, I say one more ride, and head towards the big golf ball, its a tradition well, its no longer a tradition. That tired thing needs to go. The omnimover track was rough and rickety, the content stale and boring, even the air condition wasnt working well. To top it off, the exit used to have some neat att exhibits, not its completely empty, nothing oh well, we go to the busses, stopping at some stores on the way (always room for that, eh?).
We pull up to the Wilderness lodge, Shell of course loves it we go to check in. We run into the first rude CM weve seen yet. Once again, our only request was non smoking, and a king bed. Rude CM tells us he has us in a smoking queen bed room. Uh, no way. On the phone he goes, chatting with the reservation guy about anything but us...eventually he says no to the king, but we should feel lucky we got a non smoking room that put me over the edge, and I went off about the last crappy room, how we called to confirm the king bed, etc, etc . rude cm just repeated we should be lucky we got the non smoking not letting it ruin my vacation, I just walked away, noting his name (I never did anything, decided he wasnt worth the breath), we went up to our room 5109, an almost corner room that overlooked outdoor seating, the spring and the pool. Shell loved the view, it was right near the elevators and ice, and she thought the room was much cleaner. The queen size beds had magically gotten bigger too, I guess you get what you pay for. Quick warning for WL guests. I learned (repeatedly) to walk WIDE corners around the edges of the beds. The wooden frames stick out, and are hidden, and love to eat shins and toes. Ok, Youve been warned.
We call for our luggage, bell services says itll be awhile um, ok. 45 minutes later (and one ice cube fight later) it shows up. Shell decides to go do some laundry (why I dont know, habit I guess), I was going to shower and catch up with her. I do and then wander down and look around the hotel. I love it. I find the laundry room, see her plastic bad on top of a machine, and go outside knowing Shell is attracted to a beach like ketchup is to a white shirt, I head out to the pool no shell..there is a bar, I grab a blue drink w/alcohol, head down to the beach find her there, on the cell phone leaving me a message that shes at the beach, we sit, enjoy the view, and great mid 70s weather. I try and talk her into illuminations, but shes happy here, she says I should go alone eh, not my thing I get on the phone, call home and harass mom (and made sure she got her flowers we sent for mothers day), along with a few friends of mine, boston was cold and raining . I then decided to call Max, a friend of mine from the college program, he had just moved from boston down to orlando about a month ago, we had plans to meet up the next night (with his girlfriend) for a fantasmic dinner package . Turns out they tried to get into le cellier, but ended up at outback . I tell them Shells plan of sitting on the beach, they suggest I meet them for illuminations .hmmmmm .
After making sure (thoroughly) that this didnt annoy or anger Shell (you can never tell with women, she was saying go, but I couldnt tell if it would piss her off) eventually I decided to go, figuring we had enough together time it was 8pm, I had an hour to make it to Epcot the race was on . I get to the bus stop no busses .i wait and wait an animal kingdom bus pulls up and drops of two people and sits there..eventually it changes to epcot, I hope on, and am the sole rider. Disney bus drivers drive quite different when theres only one witness, at least thats my theory. We make it to epcot in record time. I walk in, even though my feet are killing me. I wore my new tevas the first day, I hadnt worked them in enough, and they were hurting..not planning on going out again that night, I wore them to the beach and didnt go back to the room to change..oh well. I make it into future world, and look for a bathroom, apparently my natural instincts tell me to walk away from bathrooms, it took me 10 minutes to find one. I get to world showcase, call max, he asks where I am, I say in front of the tower of terror Im such the comedian, we meet up in front of England very convenient place to stop for a couple of beers. We pick them up, and end up settings in front of italy (the nice viewing area down below was reserved for a private party). We chat, then enjoy illuminations (great as ever).
The three of us head out the back entrance, a call to Shell to make sure shes ok (she had already called once, thinking I left her the old room key she was wrong), and we stop at the bar next to the Yachtsmen steak house (dont remember the name) I get a lemonade/sour type mixed drink, and order a burger since I hadnt eaten since Canada and they were about to stop serving. Apparently the food comes from the same kitchen as the yachtsmen steakhouse, but was much cheaper great burger we stop at a few more bars along the boardwalk, including a nice small one past beaches and cream, inside one of the hotels, it has a fake fireplace, some chairs/couches, and three barstools. I think we tripled the bars normal business. The bartender was great, we chatted about Disney, the college program, etc. Around midnight we headed out, considered stopping in jelly rolls, but I thought of Shell, and hitched a ride home to the hotel, coming into the room to find Shell way off into dreamland. I followed soon after.
Tomorrow, mothers day, we have a busy day planned. AK in the morning, MGM and max at night, as well as extra magic hours till midnight..woohoo!
The phone call about the key is the giveaway.hehe..Keep the reports coming!
