Small Po-taaaaa-toes! My 09/11 TR & Pics from 02/12!

[inkedupmomma]

omgoshhhh.. GFC killed me. I wanted to love it, so many people said it is a hidden gem. But man, I hated it! However, I had a lovely time with you guys and and chuck and mary. If I had to be stuck somewhere so long, I am glad it was with you guys!

and LOL at you and Joe going from table to table trying to get rid of that cake! btw, that cake was noms! I can't believe it molded so quickly though

I just can't even begin to understand why dinner there took 3 hours though, and if the waitress said Ok my friends one more time I was going to deck her!

Shopping in Japan was fun! I love going there! Can you believe I never did end up buying my sis in law a darn thing!

As for Duffy bear.. idk, I think build a bear made him nothing to me?? I dont get the hype, but he was cute to take pictures with!

omg and that lady.. that CREEPY lady at GFC.. I thought she was a mannequin until she moved!! All those dolls and bears, ***?? and she honestly looked like a character out of a scary movie with her make up!

and remember the bathrooms by GFC and 1900 were broken..what a pain that was!

LOVE the floral arrangement from Chuck and Mary, so thoughtful!

 

[labsrus1]

Hi Sophia,
Checking in late, sorry.
I couldn't believe the dinner at GFC took so long. The worst part was she offered no excuse as to why things took forever. they charged you 18% on the cake really.

I was like Joe I had to ask about Duffy, he was no where to be seen 1 yr ago.

Mary & Chuck

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Sophia. Before I make any comments, here is a link about the lady at the GF explaining who she is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2040919&highlight=grand+floridian+lady

I love the picture of Kayla with the hat...too darn cute.

Your pictures of Epcot are beautiful, as always. It was hot...and I don't normally complain about the hot.

I would have been furious if it had taken 20 minutes to get a drink and another hour to get dinner. And what is with the tip on the cake? That is just ridiculous.

 

[MamaJessie]

Great update, Sophia. Before I make any comments, here is a link about the lady at the GF explaining who she is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2040919&highlight=grand+floridian+lady

Fascinating.

I just don't understand Duffy the Disney bear.

Your cake looked good I guess it is a good thing it molded so quickly, means they were fresh, natural ingredients

I love your SSE pics!

 

[annmarieda]

Sorry your meal took so long.... it looks yummy though. if that is any consolation. AND...the cake. MMMMMM too bad I wasn't there I would have gladly taken a piece, especially since it went to waste. such a shame.

I don't' get Duffy either... but he is cute.

 

[kcandbella]

Joining in! Loving all of your pictures. Your trip is off to a great start!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

my husband and I have been together for 24 years now...22 of which we have been married. Now do you think I am not that old?

Oooh, drama? I hope it wasn't anything too bad.

We ventured over to POFQ last spring when we stayed at POR. I kinda liked the odd Mardi Gras theming.

Isn't it funny us girls always want what we don't have? Still... your hair is very pretty.

Hmm... a different glass? and you get more? Hmmm So you just say "please, would you put it in a different glass" I might just try that. [

I liked your pics from last year too. I can only imagine how awesome your pictures will be after you take a class.

Yes, I still think that you're not that old! I'm going to be ummm, half a century old on my next birthday.

You won't believe it when I get to the drama.

I kinda like the Mardi Gras theme too, in a weird sort of way.

Yes, it does seem like girls always want the hair that they don't have.

DEFINITELY ask for the "other glass."

I'm glad you like my pictures. That's so nice of you to say!

Sorry I'm late, but am all caught up now and loving every second

So glad that this trip was alot better than last year for you guys.

Yikes about your Anniversary dinner, I remember you said how long you were there, so shocking I tell you and the fact that they weren't that apologetic either. Your cake looked awesome though and humongous!!!

Looking forward to reading more

Hi Stef I'm so glad that you are here! I miss seeing you!!!

OMG, and Jenn reminded me that it wasn't 2 hours at GFC, it was 3! Yikes.

omgoshhhh.. GFC killed me. I wanted to love it, so many people said it is a hidden gem. But man, I hated it! However, I had a lovely time with you guys and and chuck and mary. If I had to be stuck somewhere so long, I am glad it was with you guys!

and LOL at you and Joe going from table to table trying to get rid of that cake! btw, that cake was noms! I can't believe it molded so quickly though

I just can't even begin to understand why dinner there took 3 hours though, and if the waitress said Ok my friends one more time I was going to deck her!

Shopping in Japan was fun! I love going there! Can you believe I never did end up buying my sis in law a darn thing!

As for Duffy bear.. idk, I think build a bear made him nothing to me?? I dont get the hype, but he was cute to take pictures with!

omg and that lady.. that CREEPY lady at GFC.. I thought she was a mannequin until she moved!! All those dolls and bears, ***?? and she honestly looked like a character out of a scary movie with her make up!

and remember the bathrooms by GFC and 1900 were broken..what a pain that was!

LOVE the floral arrangement from Chuck and Mary, so thoughtful!

I'm so sorry that you didn't like GFC. Granted the service was horrible but the food is usually good.

Love shopping in Japan and I can't believe that you never did get her anything. We only looked at everything...twice. LOL

Did you see Kathy's link on who that lady was at the GF?

I love the arrangement too.

Hi Sophia,
Checking in late, sorry.
I couldn't believe the dinner at GFC took so long. The worst part was she offered no excuse as to why things took forever. they charged you 18% on the cake really.

I was like Joe I had to ask about Duffy, he was no where to be seen 1 yr ago.

Mary & Chuck

I still can't believe the GFC. I don't think we will be going back there for a while.

I still don't get the Duffy thing. It just seems so odd to me.

Great update, Sophia. Before I make any comments, here is a link about the lady at the GF explaining who she is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2040919&highlight=grand+floridian+lady

I love the picture of Kayla with the hat...too darn cute.

Your pictures of Epcot are beautiful, as always. It was hot...and I don't normally complain about the hot.

I would have been furious if it had taken 20 minutes to get a drink and another hour to get dinner. And what is with the tip on the cake? That is just ridiculous.

Thanks for the link Kathy. I just had never seen her before so I was curious.

I love that pic of Kayla too. Loved the hat!

I can't get over the heat this year. It was unreal, wasn't it?

I was a bit miffed paying the tip on the cake too, especially when the service was so horrid.

Fascinating.

I just don't understand Duffy the Disney bear.

Your cake looked good I guess it is a good thing it molded so quickly, means they were fresh, natural ingredients

I love your SSE pics!

Hi! Thanks for being here!!

The cake was very good, but I must say, not as good as the amaretto filling that we usually get. It was fresh though, as evident by the mold.

Sorry your meal took so long.... it looks yummy though. if that is any consolation. AND...the cake. MMMMMM too bad I wasn't there I would have gladly taken a piece, especially since it went to waste. such a shame.

I don't' get Duffy either... but he is cute.

I would have gladly given you half of the cake!

I still don't get Duffy either.

Joining in! Loving all of your pictures. Your trip is off to a great start!

Hi! Nice to have you with us!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I interrupt my TR to share some awesome news with you guys!

We are going back to Disney with our good friends E & B!!! Woot!

E&B met us at Disney in 2000 when we were there for our honeymoon. I have always hoped that some day they would go back there with us again and now it's happening.

We are going from Feb 2 - 7 and staying at Pop. The AP rate was unbelievable....all 5 nights for $340! Woot! We don't really plan to be in the room much and we will likely be visiting some of the other resorts so that E&B can at least see them.

There's talk about Sea World too. E&B will definitely be going from what they said. Not sure about us yet as I have a super, duper hard time taking myself out of the 47 square miles of my happy place.

I asked them to check out the boards for restaurants that they may want to dine at. Since we were just there, I thought it would be nice if they got to pick, however, I really, really want to eat at Kona again. Those dang macadamia nut pineapple pancakes are calling my name!

 

[KatMark]

I interrupt my TR to share some awesome news with you guys!

We are going back to Disney with our good friends E & B!!! Woot!

E&B met us at Disney in 2000 when we were there for our honeymoon. I have always hoped that some day they would go back there with us again and now it's happening.

We are going from Feb 2 - 7 and staying at Pop. The AP rate was unbelievable....all 5 nights for $340! Woot! We don't really plan to be in the room much and we will likely be visiting some of the other resorts so that E&B can at least see them.

There's talk about Sea World too. E&B will definitely be going from what they said. Not sure about us yet as I have a super, duper hard time taking myself out of the 47 square miles of my happy place.

I asked them to check out the boards for restaurants that they may want to dine at. Since we were just there, I thought it would be nice if they got to pick, however, I really, really want to eat at Kona again. Those dang macadamia nut pineapple pancakes are calling my name!

sounds exciting!!! Mark and I just penciled in our September dates tentatively. You should go to Sea World...it's a great place and they've added so much since we were there last.

 

[annmarieda]

I interrupt my TR to share some awesome news with you guys!

We are going back to Disney with our good friends E & B!!! Woot!

E&B met us at Disney in 2000 when we were there for our honeymoon. I have always hoped that some day they would go back there with us again and now it's happening.

We are going from Feb 2 - 7 and staying at Pop. The AP rate was unbelievable....all 5 nights for $340! Woot! We don't really plan to be in the room much and we will likely be visiting some of the other resorts so that E&B can at least see them.

There's talk about Sea World too. E&B will definitely be going from what they said. Not sure about us yet as I have a super, duper hard time taking myself out of the 47 square miles of my happy place.

I asked them to check out the boards for restaurants that they may want to dine at. Since we were just there, I thought it would be nice if they got to pick, however, I really, really want to eat at Kona again. Those dang macadamia nut pineapple pancakes are calling my name!

exciting news!!! wow...those annual passes sure to make trips to the world a bit more affordable.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Day 3 was one that we were really looking forward to. Joe and I were finally going to meet Stef and Dave from London. We have been corresponding for the better part of a year and we were truly looking forward to meeting them in person.

Stef and Dave were on their Disneymoon and were docking that morning in Port Canaveral. Joe and I asked if we could pick them up since we had planned to spend the day together shopping.

The plan was that we'd pick them up, have breakfast at IHOP (Stef wanted to check it out) and then go shop until we dropped.

Joe and I got up early that morning and headed out however not before getting our dose of Small Potatoes. "Small potatoes on the mooooon, small potatoes in the seeeeeaaaaa." The weather was nice until we got about half way there.

Things were going along nicely. Stef called and let us know where they'd be. As we got within viewing distance of the ship, this is what we saw.

Then it turned to this:

I won't get into too many details about today because I know that Stef will probably want to write about it in her TR, since it was their Disneymoon after all.

We found the nearest IHOP and man, was it crowded. Some luck though as we were seated within about 5 minutes. Breakfast was yummy. I didn't take any pictures.

From there we went to the Mall at Millenia and had a grand old time. I got a couple of Pandora beads and we did a lot of browsing as well. We even went into the Jimmy Choo store but honestly, nothing said "I must have you now" to me...which was probably a good thing. I will let Stef describe her purchases.

From there we went to the Outlet Mall. OMG, I can't remember which one though. We both got a couple of things at the Disney Outlet and did other shopping as well.

After that we hit up WalMart. Stef and Dave had not been in a WalMart so we thought .... why not? It was fun. Joe got a kick out of Dave taking a picture of the WalMart sign. I have to say that if we were in England, I'd do the same thing with every store that we went into.

Our original intention was to also go to the shops in Kissimmee but we were running out of time, as we had dinner ressies at Cali Grille.

Those of you that know me know that I totally hated Cali Grille and said that I'd never go back. Stef and Dave convinced me that it was worth another shot and wow, they were oh so right.

We celebrated our anniversary that evening and the start of their Disney Parks portion of their Disney moon. Dave had a surprise for Stef but I don't want to disclose it in my TR, since I know that she will be writing about it in hers.

Sorry for the lack of details but I really want Stef to be able to talk about it.

I did take these pictures though of our meals and of Wishes from the Deck of the Contemporary. I only had the point and shoot with me this day so our pictures aren't all that fab.

During dinner we realized that the monorail was going to discontinue service soon. Joe and I had parked at the Poly, where Stef and Dave were staying so we had to figure out how we were all going to get back there! As luck would have it, our server was kind enough to get us the heck out of there so that we could catch one of the last monorails back to the Poly.

Joe and I had so much fun with Stef and Dave. They are a lovely couple and awesome people. We feel blessed to have met them and feel as though we have found life long friends!

We got back to our room and were pretty tired so we decided to watch some tv before calling it a day.

Next up....did we make Rope Drop at MK with Stef and Dave?

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

exciting news!!! wow...those annual passes sure to make trips to the world a bit more affordable.

Yes, they do. The room was under $60 a night except for Fri and Sat and I think they were around $62 those nights. It's amazing how much money Joe and I are able to save with AP's. When I finish with my TR I am going to take all of my receipts and totally it all up. This year we got a 10% discount on all merchandise that we purchased as well. Most years it was at selected stores only but this year it was everywhere.

I can't wait! Now to wait for airfare to come down.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

sounds exciting!!! Mark and I just penciled in our September dates tentatively. You should go to Sea World...it's a great place and they've added so much since we were there last.

Woot for September dates! We booked bounce back and for now, our Sept dates are the 14th - 19th. We thought we'd take a short trip near our anniversary and then in 2013, move our 12 day trip to Feb.

We had a Sea World here in NE Ohio for years and years and I went a lot. We may go though because it ha been forever since we've been. I just have the hardest dang time tearing myself away from the mouse!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Count me in!!!

Hi

It's nice to have you with us!!

 

[inkedupmomma]

YAY about E and B! That will be awesome!

Shopping sounded like fun.. sorry you didn't get the pics you wanted of the BIG boat though

We also LOVED Cali Grill! That cheese plate was to DIE for! My dessert was UHmazing too! It is def on our must do list for next time.. and now that will be with you

looking forward to your next day!

ps- we REALLY missed you this day! no more trips with so many days not together anymore!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Aww, I actually kind of like Duffy. I think he's cute.

That cake looked really good!

And yay for another trip! That is a great deal. I really think you should try Sea World. I think you'd survive if you left Disney for one day. It's nice to see something new for a change.

 

[Synndy]

Love the updates thus far.

I personally have never been all that impressed with GF Cafe. It stinks that they made you wait so long. If I were you I would have logged a complaint with guest services. In my experience, they are always willing to right and wrongs.

That cake looked awesome btw.

I really want to hotel hop. I've always wanted to stay at PO and based on your pics I think I would like it lots. Boardwalk is also on the top of my "to go to" list. Oh and Saratoga in the tree house villas, lol. Bucket list item is to stay at every Dis hotel at least once.

Woo for booking your February trip!

Also the family & I are in talks to do another Sept trip. I am SUPER hopeful we can make it work and spend some time with you guys while we're down there.

I LOVE the pic of Kayla with the frog hat. Too cute!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR.

 

[Stefy]

I interrupt my TR to share some awesome news with you guys!

We are going back to Disney with our good friends E & B!!! Woot!

E&B met us at Disney in 2000 when we were there for our honeymoon. I have always hoped that some day they would go back there with us again and now it's happening.

We are going from Feb 2 - 7 and staying at Pop. The AP rate was unbelievable....all 5 nights for $340! Woot! We don't really plan to be in the room much and we will likely be visiting some of the other resorts so that E&B can at least see them.

There's talk about Sea World too. E&B will definitely be going from what they said. Not sure about us yet as I have a super, duper hard time taking myself out of the 47 square miles of my happy place.

I asked them to check out the boards for restaurants that they may want to dine at. Since we were just there, I thought it would be nice if they got to pick, however, I really, really want to eat at Kona again. Those dang macadamia nut pineapple pancakes are calling my name!

Yay for a Feb trip and that you are sharing it with good friends

Ohmigoodness will you really consider leaving Disney property to go to Sea World? Mind you, its so close that you will never be far from your happy place

Love the update, was an amazing day and we had so much fun It has been so much fun getting to know you and Joe this past year or so and to finally meet in person was so exciting. Keep saying to Dave, I hope we can meet up again in Disney, if not I'm sure Cleveland isn't far off the cards

You can post as much as you want, I don't mind at all I still haven't started my TR and most prob won't til this weekend (hopefully). So post away what you like

 

[charming23]

Great updates and awesome news about going back. If you feel like you can tear yourself away from the mouse to go to Sea World, go. When we went a few years ago I loved it. I miss the one we used to have here so much and it was nice to see the whales and other animals again.