Taggin' along with the hubs-Aug 18-22, 2010---NEW 9/9 FINAL THOUGHTS & BREAKING NEWS!
- Thread starter Disneygrl36
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Disneygrl36
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We have that DVD. Eric's sister got it for us for Christmas. Love it.
The tour was incredible. I want to stay at WL again sometime-we did just a quick overnight stay once when we went to MNSSHP before a cruise. Lunch was OK....the cobbler was delish but the rest was just so-so.WOW...the tour sounds pretty amazing so far! Can't wait to hear what else is in store for you!
Isn't the Wilderness Lodge amazing? I just love that place!Looks like your lunch was really good!
Hope to get another update today with the rest of the tour. Photos uploading now to photobucket.The tour must have been amazing... I am jealous!!!Can't wait to read more!
Yes, this tour is a must do for Disney fans who like to know How do they do that.
Please put the tour on your list! Yes your description really helped. The food was good but both days we had to wait for someone to get our drinks which seemed weird.
Yeah lunch wasn't my fav either. I try to eat a pretty low fat diet & I was scared to eat it a bit because everything was really fatty & I was afraid it would upset my stomach...so I really didn't eat much. The cobbler was yummy though.What a fantastic tour so far! Sounds like something I would love, your lunch - not so much though. Kinda stinks that you couldn't order from the menu. I'm not a fan of corn bread, cole slaw, ribs, sausage, baked beans or cobbler of any kind - I may have left that lunch just as hungry as I was when I got there
It would have been more relaxing if it wasn't so HOT but I really did like the ways I chose to spend my free time. I would do the tour again in a heartbeat. More coming up later.Hi Melanie! I love you you spent your down time so far - relaxing!The tour sounds really interesting so far! It's so cool you got to see so much of the utilitor! I'm excited to see what happens next!
Jennifer48
Not a Disney bride but engaged and honeymooned at
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That tour sounds awesome so far! We are doing the KTTK tour this week when we are down there. I can't wait! 
Can't wait to hear what else you saw!
Can't wait to hear what else you saw!
FauntleroyFAN07
Commander of Donalds Crew Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy
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that a girlWhen I went to a conference at Disney years ago.......we snuck out early several days.
great start to the tour update...now i have to ask, because i would have tried it, when walking backstage, where were the tour guides, was one in the back and one in the front of the group?
i would have tried to be sneaky sneaky and taken some pictures on the down low.
also while in the tunnels, did you happen to see any characters down there with there heads off?
Disneygrl36
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You will love the KTTK tour. I had no idea you were heading to the world so soon!!!!! Have a blast. Are you doing a trippie?That tour sounds awesome so far! We are doing the KTTK tour this week when we are down there. I can't wait!
Can't wait to hear what else you saw!
They broke us up into 2 groups most times & it was on the honor system pretty much for pictures. They had told us all the rules & I think most people would have felt funny breaking them after they had spent time talking to us about what was appropriate.that a girl
great start to the tour update...now i have to ask, because i would have tried it, when walking backstage, where were the tour guides, was one in the back and one in the front of the group?
i would have tried to be sneaky sneaky and taken some pictures on the down low.
also while in the tunnels, did you happen to see any characters down there with there heads off?
I did not see any characters in the utilidors. I did see a few people throughout the day carrying large black bags & I know from taking Keys to the Kingdom in the past that those bags contain character costumes but the only character I saw backstage was Goofy as they were lining up for the parade & he was intact.
Have been having some issues with photobucket....have reached my limit so trying to get that sorted out so I can continue with the trippie.
Disneygrl36
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After lunch, we headed to our next destination which was Disney Hollywood Studios aka MGM 
.
Our first stop was creative costuming. Walt Disney World has 3,000,000 costumes at any given time. There are 2 kinds of costuming at Disney. The first is operational costuming which is where most of the cast members get there costumes.....like ride operators in the parks, waiters & waitresses, hotel cm's, our tour guides. They go to their designated area & go to their jobs section & scan the pieces they need into a computer system so they can keep track of who has what pieces. Disney used to launder all the costumes, but now CM's can choose to launder their own or turn them in at the end of the shift for Disney to wash. Stu said he checks out several Disney Institue shirts at a time to save himself time so he can get ready at home & not have to allow for time to go to costuming before his work day starts.
The other is creative costuming where they make costumes for specific individuals. This is where character costumes, ball gowns for the princesses, parade performer costumes etc are made. When we walked in there was a small reception area with beautiful artist renderings of costumes & some mini mock up costumes that were gorgeous. While standing there 2 people walked in for fittings. The girl had in her hand what looked like the vests that the girl dancers in Beauty & the Beast wear so I assumed she & the guy with her were dancers for that show. Pretty cool. We walked down a hallway that was packed with concept art & then went into a big work room that was filled with people sewing & working on costumes. Saw lots of bright colorful fabrics, lots of red with white polka dots, etc. We looked at a huge digital cutting table that is used for precisely cutting out patterns & fabrics. They also have an embrodiery department that makes all the embrodiered pieces. They only have 1 or 2 of those machines so they make the proto-types & then farm the work out on those kinds of pieces to companies that can do more mass production. They have a huge fabric library to pick from, but if they cannot find a particular fabric they want, they just make it themselves. An example is the parfait lady in Beauty & the Beast....her pink & silver sash is handmade fabric made from 2 separate fabrics sown together to make that candy cane like fabric because they could not find it already made with a sparkly sheen like they wanted.
They also have one person who's job it is to do documentation of all the costumes so that they can reproduce them in the future. This person takes the artist renderings then breaks them down into pieces & draws up drawings of each piece of the costume down to how many pleats, etc on each. This process seems tedious but was fascinating!!!!
Our next stop was behind Tower of Terror. We got to go into a work bay like area where there was an elevator that we could look at up close--it was off-line. When Disney first started researching how to make the elevator free fall sensation, they tried working with OTIS to come up with a plan, but quickly discovered that Otis is in the business of keeping elevators safe & not free falling so they had to go back to the drawing board & figure it out themselves.
At ToT there are 2 upshafts, 1 horizontal hall & 2 downshafts. They figured out the best way to get the free fall sensation is actually to have the elevators pulled down at faster than the speed of gravity so that is where the thrill comes from. We talked about the maintenance on the ride which has a daily inspection with a magnet that goes along the cables checking for fraying. The cables are changed every 18 months regardless, but are replaced more frequently if any wear is seen or detected. Nice to know. We also talked here about the changes made over the years & the reasoning behind them.
This is the only picture I can share here & this was taken when we went in from backstage to take a bathroom break.
Then, we got back on the bus & headed towards Animal Kingdom. We talked about some of the history of AK development. Walt had an early interest in environmentalism & was a ground breaker in film making with animals with the Tru-life Adventures. So, it was only natural to consider a theme park like AK as the 4th gate.
Stu told us that when Walt bought the land, he set aside a portion to never be used & to be conserved as Florida Wetlands. Well, over the years, they have had to use some of the areas that were earmarked for conservation because of different practical reasons so now for every 1 acre that Walt wanted preserved that they use, they buy 7 acres of land to preserve in their Wildlife Preserve in Poinciana.
Backstage at Animal Kingdom, our first stop was the headquarters for Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade. So we got to see all the parade floats up close & personal. The parade originally at Animal Kingdom was called March of the Artimals which had lovely colorful animal puppets. It did not go over so well & people didn't seem to "get" the concept, so they decided to add in the characters & then it became Mickey's Jammin' Jungle parade. Now people love it & they use all the cool Artimals in it mixed in with the characters we all know & love. It was amazing to see details & colors on the floats up close. We learned that as opposed to the parades elsewhere that rely on speakers in the areas of the park where they go (which is why you see windows raised on Main Street at parade time), for this parade all the sound comes from the floats. The percussion comes from the actual drums on the floats that are being played along with the soundtrack. Pretty cool. In this same area is the cafeteria for AK workers which is called Pride Rock & Stu said it was the best one of property.
Back on the bus, we headed to the next area & questions were asked about being a Disney character. There are 3 kinds of characters. Fur, face & equity performers who are the ones in the shows that do the singing & dancing. The fur characters are all height specific & have nothing to do with gender specificity. The people that are fur or face characters talk about "being friends with" whoever their character is so as never to be overheard by a child or adults like me that "believe" & give away the magic.
We passed alot of animal buildings but didn't see any animals. We saw some fencing driving along & it was explained that there is a double containment system in place at AK with double fencing in order to keep the AK animals in & the local wildlife out.
Our next stop was the "Tree Farm" which was here before Animal Kingdom was built but is now within the AK area. It was the area used for growing trees back in the earlier days, but is now more the base of horticulture operations. They have about 600 staff members constantly working in all 4 theme parks & all over property keeping all the plants & flowers beautiful.
This was the area where we got to take pictures, so you are about to be overloaded with pictures of the one back stage area where they allowed us to use our cameras. Looks alot different back stage.
Here you can see some of the greenhouses that store plants.
In this shot, you can see the "understudy" trees for the Liberty Tree in MK in case something happens to it & you can also see our bus for the day.
We learned the difference between the 2 kinds of topiaries.
These are box topiaries in which the plant is planted & grows up into the form & it gradually shaped into the character. These take years to grow.
Mickey & Minnie & Mary Poppins are all examples of box topiaries.
We also walked through a trial garden area that was cool. Disney uses 6,000,000 anuuals a year some that are grown here & some that are gotten from other nurseries.
And saw hanging basets which they have 35,000 of at any given time.
They use a principle of landscaping that has an acronym CITES....
C is for constant color--which is why we see things beautiful all year round no matter the season.
I is for instant landscaping--which is why they are always growing things so that pouf they can appear on-stage fully grown.
T is for theming--which is obvious.
E is for experimentation--which means they are always looking for new plants & new methods of growing them etc.
S is for speciality--which refers to different areas like annuals, baskets, topiaries etc.
Other cool looking backstage areas.....
One of my favorites.....I just love the way the sky looks in this one.
Then, we went to this warehouse that was filled with the other kind of topiaries. Stuffed topiaries are the ones we see more frequently. These are stuffed with moss & then covered in plants so these are not live & will eventually die. Wow was this place filled with great stuff.
Proof that I was actually there & backstage.
You can see tour guide Bryan in this one in the wheelchair....I forgot he told a really touching story about a family that wanted their daughters picture taken with him one day when he was at Ariel's Grotto checking on Ariel's day. He was dumbfounded until he saw the daughter was also in a wheelchair. The family said that she had always wanted to be a Cast Member but they hadn't encouraged her because they had never seen a CM in a wheelchair, but now they could since they had met him. What an awesome story.
After walking around the "tree farm", we loaded back onto the bus for our final stop of the tour.
Cont in next post.
. Our first stop was creative costuming. Walt Disney World has 3,000,000 costumes at any given time. There are 2 kinds of costuming at Disney. The first is operational costuming which is where most of the cast members get there costumes.....like ride operators in the parks, waiters & waitresses, hotel cm's, our tour guides. They go to their designated area & go to their jobs section & scan the pieces they need into a computer system so they can keep track of who has what pieces. Disney used to launder all the costumes, but now CM's can choose to launder their own or turn them in at the end of the shift for Disney to wash. Stu said he checks out several Disney Institue shirts at a time to save himself time so he can get ready at home & not have to allow for time to go to costuming before his work day starts.
The other is creative costuming where they make costumes for specific individuals. This is where character costumes, ball gowns for the princesses, parade performer costumes etc are made. When we walked in there was a small reception area with beautiful artist renderings of costumes & some mini mock up costumes that were gorgeous. While standing there 2 people walked in for fittings. The girl had in her hand what looked like the vests that the girl dancers in Beauty & the Beast wear so I assumed she & the guy with her were dancers for that show. Pretty cool. We walked down a hallway that was packed with concept art & then went into a big work room that was filled with people sewing & working on costumes. Saw lots of bright colorful fabrics, lots of red with white polka dots, etc. We looked at a huge digital cutting table that is used for precisely cutting out patterns & fabrics. They also have an embrodiery department that makes all the embrodiered pieces. They only have 1 or 2 of those machines so they make the proto-types & then farm the work out on those kinds of pieces to companies that can do more mass production. They have a huge fabric library to pick from, but if they cannot find a particular fabric they want, they just make it themselves. An example is the parfait lady in Beauty & the Beast....her pink & silver sash is handmade fabric made from 2 separate fabrics sown together to make that candy cane like fabric because they could not find it already made with a sparkly sheen like they wanted.
They also have one person who's job it is to do documentation of all the costumes so that they can reproduce them in the future. This person takes the artist renderings then breaks them down into pieces & draws up drawings of each piece of the costume down to how many pleats, etc on each. This process seems tedious but was fascinating!!!!
Our next stop was behind Tower of Terror. We got to go into a work bay like area where there was an elevator that we could look at up close--it was off-line. When Disney first started researching how to make the elevator free fall sensation, they tried working with OTIS to come up with a plan, but quickly discovered that Otis is in the business of keeping elevators safe & not free falling so they had to go back to the drawing board & figure it out themselves.
At ToT there are 2 upshafts, 1 horizontal hall & 2 downshafts. They figured out the best way to get the free fall sensation is actually to have the elevators pulled down at faster than the speed of gravity so that is where the thrill comes from. We talked about the maintenance on the ride which has a daily inspection with a magnet that goes along the cables checking for fraying. The cables are changed every 18 months regardless, but are replaced more frequently if any wear is seen or detected. Nice to know. We also talked here about the changes made over the years & the reasoning behind them. This is the only picture I can share here & this was taken when we went in from backstage to take a bathroom break.
Then, we got back on the bus & headed towards Animal Kingdom. We talked about some of the history of AK development. Walt had an early interest in environmentalism & was a ground breaker in film making with animals with the Tru-life Adventures. So, it was only natural to consider a theme park like AK as the 4th gate.
Stu told us that when Walt bought the land, he set aside a portion to never be used & to be conserved as Florida Wetlands. Well, over the years, they have had to use some of the areas that were earmarked for conservation because of different practical reasons so now for every 1 acre that Walt wanted preserved that they use, they buy 7 acres of land to preserve in their Wildlife Preserve in Poinciana.
Backstage at Animal Kingdom, our first stop was the headquarters for Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade. So we got to see all the parade floats up close & personal. The parade originally at Animal Kingdom was called March of the Artimals which had lovely colorful animal puppets. It did not go over so well & people didn't seem to "get" the concept, so they decided to add in the characters & then it became Mickey's Jammin' Jungle parade. Now people love it & they use all the cool Artimals in it mixed in with the characters we all know & love. It was amazing to see details & colors on the floats up close. We learned that as opposed to the parades elsewhere that rely on speakers in the areas of the park where they go (which is why you see windows raised on Main Street at parade time), for this parade all the sound comes from the floats. The percussion comes from the actual drums on the floats that are being played along with the soundtrack. Pretty cool. In this same area is the cafeteria for AK workers which is called Pride Rock & Stu said it was the best one of property.
Back on the bus, we headed to the next area & questions were asked about being a Disney character. There are 3 kinds of characters. Fur, face & equity performers who are the ones in the shows that do the singing & dancing. The fur characters are all height specific & have nothing to do with gender specificity. The people that are fur or face characters talk about "being friends with" whoever their character is so as never to be overheard by a child or adults like me that "believe" & give away the magic.
We passed alot of animal buildings but didn't see any animals. We saw some fencing driving along & it was explained that there is a double containment system in place at AK with double fencing in order to keep the AK animals in & the local wildlife out.
Our next stop was the "Tree Farm" which was here before Animal Kingdom was built but is now within the AK area. It was the area used for growing trees back in the earlier days, but is now more the base of horticulture operations. They have about 600 staff members constantly working in all 4 theme parks & all over property keeping all the plants & flowers beautiful.
This was the area where we got to take pictures, so you are about to be overloaded with pictures of the one back stage area where they allowed us to use our cameras. Looks alot different back stage.
Here you can see some of the greenhouses that store plants.
In this shot, you can see the "understudy" trees for the Liberty Tree in MK in case something happens to it & you can also see our bus for the day.
We learned the difference between the 2 kinds of topiaries.
These are box topiaries in which the plant is planted & grows up into the form & it gradually shaped into the character. These take years to grow.
Mickey & Minnie & Mary Poppins are all examples of box topiaries.
We also walked through a trial garden area that was cool. Disney uses 6,000,000 anuuals a year some that are grown here & some that are gotten from other nurseries.
And saw hanging basets which they have 35,000 of at any given time.
They use a principle of landscaping that has an acronym CITES....
C is for constant color--which is why we see things beautiful all year round no matter the season.
I is for instant landscaping--which is why they are always growing things so that pouf they can appear on-stage fully grown.
T is for theming--which is obvious.
E is for experimentation--which means they are always looking for new plants & new methods of growing them etc.
S is for speciality--which refers to different areas like annuals, baskets, topiaries etc.
Other cool looking backstage areas.....
One of my favorites.....I just love the way the sky looks in this one.
Then, we went to this warehouse that was filled with the other kind of topiaries. Stuffed topiaries are the ones we see more frequently. These are stuffed with moss & then covered in plants so these are not live & will eventually die. Wow was this place filled with great stuff.
Proof that I was actually there & backstage.
You can see tour guide Bryan in this one in the wheelchair....I forgot he told a really touching story about a family that wanted their daughters picture taken with him one day when he was at Ariel's Grotto checking on Ariel's day. He was dumbfounded until he saw the daughter was also in a wheelchair. The family said that she had always wanted to be a Cast Member but they hadn't encouraged her because they had never seen a CM in a wheelchair, but now they could since they had met him. What an awesome story.
After walking around the "tree farm", we loaded back onto the bus for our final stop of the tour.
Cont in next post.
Jennifer48
Not a Disney bride but engaged and honeymooned at
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Thank you! Its our 1st wedding anniversary
I plan on doing one, we'll see if it happens
Disneygrl36
Happy DVC member!!!!
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Working on this part.....sorry.
Jennifer48
Not a Disney bride but engaged and honeymooned at
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That tour sounds awesome! I'm sorry Eric missed it but it just means you have to do it again!
btw, what was the specific drink & snack you wanted to try?
btw, what was the specific drink & snack you wanted to try?
Disneygrl36
Happy DVC member!!!!
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Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you do a trippie!Thank you! Its our 1st wedding anniversary
I plan on doing one, we'll see if it happens
I know I would like to do it again in the future. I wanted to try a lost of safari & a jalepeno cheese stuffed pretezel that Michelle had raved about in her report.That tour sounds awesome! I'm sorry Eric missed it but it just means you have to do it again!
btw, what was the specific drink & snack you wanted to try?
You are welcome. It is such a great experience.
You know Disney always improving things.
I AM GOING BACK & REWORKING PART 2 OF THAT LAST POST, SO GO BACK & LOOK AT IT AGAIN ONCE I REPOST IT CAUSE MY VIDEOS WERE SCREWED UP.
Disneygrl36
Happy DVC member!!!!
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Our last stop was back at the parade float area where they were getting all the floats lined up & ready for the parade. We saw Goofy chillin in his vehicle which by the way is so tall that he has to be cherry picker type machine lifted up to it's level & then walks on to it. Along the path to on-stage, we saw people riding DAKcycles which are bicycles that can be picked up & ridden by whoever backstage to get to whatever area they need to be in. There was a really cute sign backstage about taking care of the DAKcycles that I wished I could have taken a picture of. We came out in a nice shady area next to the Creature Comforts shop where we had a great place to watch the parade. I took a few pictures of cute things around me.
Before we knew it, the parade was coming-click it's a video
Beautiful peacock-one of the Artimals from the original parade.
Example of drums on the floats being used-click it's a video
The vehicles like Minnie's jeep are all run on batteries & are really being driven like a real car.
Minnie being cute-click it's a video
Brer Rabbit gets CLOSE!-click it's a video
The Goof
Another Artimal
Donald & his leaky boat.
And here comes Mickey...........Click it's a video
What a great treat to get to watch the parade, after seeing the parade HQ earlier!!!!
Now here was my only disappointment of the day, I had read about people being let free after the parade, so I was all set for some wandering around Animal Kingdom. I even had a plan for a specific snack & drink I wanted to try....but NOPE, they loaded us back on the bus & took us back to EPCOT. Boo!!!!!!!!!!!!
On the bus back to EPCOT, we had a chance for final questions. Stu ended up talking about working within the Disney culture & how they all take a class called Traditions that teachs them the foundations, principles & history of the company. He talked about how when Walt Disney was alive & had his apartment over the fire station in Disneyland, that there was always a light on in the window so that the CM’s knew when Walt was there & could be on their best behavior. After Walt died, the CM’s continued to go up & turn the light in the window of Walt’s apartment on & it has remained on all these years so that all cast members can know that Walt is still present in there & to always be on their best Disney behavior. I was feeling a bit misty listening to this story especially since I have had the rare priviledge of being in Walt’s apartment when we went on our Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic trip to California. Great way to end the tour on a touching note about Walt.
Except for that though it was an AMAZING day & I could not believe all the cool stuff I got to see & that I learned that day. I would highly recommend this tour if you like to know how Disney works & think you would like to see backstage areas. I don't feel like it ruins the MAGIC at all. It was something I had wanted to do at WDW for a long time & being there with Eric in meetings, this was a perfect time for me to do it. Now, we need to go back & do it again when he can go too!!!!!
Before we knew it, the parade was coming-click it's a video
Beautiful peacock-one of the Artimals from the original parade.
Example of drums on the floats being used-click it's a video
The vehicles like Minnie's jeep are all run on batteries & are really being driven like a real car.
Minnie being cute-click it's a video
Brer Rabbit gets CLOSE!-click it's a video
The Goof
Another Artimal
Donald & his leaky boat.
And here comes Mickey...........Click it's a video
What a great treat to get to watch the parade, after seeing the parade HQ earlier!!!!
Now here was my only disappointment of the day, I had read about people being let free after the parade, so I was all set for some wandering around Animal Kingdom. I even had a plan for a specific snack & drink I wanted to try....but NOPE, they loaded us back on the bus & took us back to EPCOT. Boo!!!!!!!!!!!!
On the bus back to EPCOT, we had a chance for final questions. Stu ended up talking about working within the Disney culture & how they all take a class called Traditions that teachs them the foundations, principles & history of the company. He talked about how when Walt Disney was alive & had his apartment over the fire station in Disneyland, that there was always a light on in the window so that the CM’s knew when Walt was there & could be on their best behavior. After Walt died, the CM’s continued to go up & turn the light in the window of Walt’s apartment on & it has remained on all these years so that all cast members can know that Walt is still present in there & to always be on their best Disney behavior. I was feeling a bit misty listening to this story especially since I have had the rare priviledge of being in Walt’s apartment when we went on our Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic trip to California. Great way to end the tour on a touching note about Walt.
Except for that though it was an AMAZING day & I could not believe all the cool stuff I got to see & that I learned that day. I would highly recommend this tour if you like to know how Disney works & think you would like to see backstage areas. I don't feel like it ruins the MAGIC at all. It was something I had wanted to do at WDW for a long time & being there with Eric in meetings, this was a perfect time for me to do it. Now, we need to go back & do it again when he can go too!!!!!
Disneygrl36
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After my wonderful tour, I got on a bus at EPCOT & got back to CSR around 4:45. I texted Eric & he heading to the gym to work out. I was so thirsty even though I had made sure to drink many bottles of water during the day. I stopped at the El Centro stop to get a drink & then walked back to the room. I spent some time relaxing in the room eating a snack & drinking a nice cold Diet Coke while waiting for Eric to come back to the room. When he got back he was soaked in sweat from working out & then walking in the horrendous heat back to the room. YUCK. I felt sooooo gross after being out in the heat all day too even though I was on & off an air conditioned bus it was soooo hot that I felt like I sweat like a (well I better not say that) . We both relaxed for a bit & then showered & got ready for dinner.
I had made us all reservations at Flying Fish. We drove over to the Boardwalk & valet parked the car. We waited in the lobby like planned for about 10 minutes getting anxious because it was getting close to our ADR time when Eric got a text that they were waiting on us in the restaurant. DOH .that kind of miscommunication seems to happens when you have to deal with a group. So, we headed down to join them.
We ended up waiting in the candy shop next door for around 20 minutes before our table was ready it really was too hot to wait outside which is a shame because the Boardwalk is so beautiful. We finally got seated & everyone ordered a glass of wine or a cocktail before dinner. I had a lovely glass of Fess Parker reisling. So, tongues got loosened with the alcohol & some hilarious stories were told.
For dinner, Eric & I both had the mozerella & tomato salad. OMG this was sooooo delicious. The cheese was soft & the tomatoes were perfectly ripe & it had just the right amount of salt, pepper & balsamic vinegarette.
I had the potato wrapped snapper as my entrée along with everyone else at the table but Eric. I had eaten it before & told everyone how good it was.
Eric had scallops with risotto that he swears is much better than the fish.
Then for dessert, we shared the trio of sorbets which was perfect. Some of the others went to get ice cream after dinner.
Eric & I went over to the railing overlooking the lake.
It wasnt long until we were rewarded with getting to see Wishes over the Yacht & Beach Club.
I was kicking myself for not bringing the good camera. Everyone gathered around & watched the fireworks for a minute. We had planned to go to Jellyrolls but they were all looking a little pooped, so after a picture in our favorite chair, we headed back to CSR.
I wanted to go to Jellyrolls, but once we got back in the room, it wasnt long before I was glad we had come on back & we were snuggled up & ready to head off to dream land.
Up next Unsupervised Disney shopping!
. We both relaxed for a bit & then showered & got ready for dinner.I had made us all reservations at Flying Fish. We drove over to the Boardwalk & valet parked the car. We waited in the lobby like planned for about 10 minutes getting anxious because it was getting close to our ADR time when Eric got a text that they were waiting on us in the restaurant. DOH .that kind of miscommunication seems to happens when you have to deal with a group. So, we headed down to join them.
We ended up waiting in the candy shop next door for around 20 minutes before our table was ready it really was too hot to wait outside which is a shame because the Boardwalk is so beautiful. We finally got seated & everyone ordered a glass of wine or a cocktail before dinner. I had a lovely glass of Fess Parker reisling. So, tongues got loosened with the alcohol & some hilarious stories were told.
For dinner, Eric & I both had the mozerella & tomato salad. OMG this was sooooo delicious. The cheese was soft & the tomatoes were perfectly ripe & it had just the right amount of salt, pepper & balsamic vinegarette.
I had the potato wrapped snapper as my entrée along with everyone else at the table but Eric. I had eaten it before & told everyone how good it was.
Eric had scallops with risotto that he swears is much better than the fish.
Then for dessert, we shared the trio of sorbets which was perfect. Some of the others went to get ice cream after dinner.
Eric & I went over to the railing overlooking the lake.
It wasnt long until we were rewarded with getting to see Wishes over the Yacht & Beach Club.
I was kicking myself for not bringing the good camera. Everyone gathered around & watched the fireworks for a minute. We had planned to go to Jellyrolls but they were all looking a little pooped, so after a picture in our favorite chair, we headed back to CSR.
I wanted to go to Jellyrolls, but once we got back in the room, it wasnt long before I was glad we had come on back & we were snuggled up & ready to head off to dream land.
Up next Unsupervised Disney shopping!
heaven2dc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 26, 2003
- Messages
- 4,126
I would love to go on a backstage tour sometime (hint to my children for early Christmas gift 
). I loved your TR about your trip behind the scenes in Disneyland and hope to one day get a chance to do that. Loved the pic of you guys chillin' on the sofa
). I loved your TR about your trip behind the scenes in Disneyland and hope to one day get a chance to do that. Loved the pic of you guys chillin' on the sofa
FauntleroyFAN07
Commander of Donalds Crew Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2007
- Messages
- 8,611
wow great updates, thanks for all the detailed stories, that tour sounds like alot of fun, and im sure some time in the future we will take it.
SoonerGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 4,850
That tour sounds awesome!! I so want to do that one day, thanks so much for the detailed review It was so weird to see all the topiaries from the F&GF sitting in that greenhouse - seemed strange to see them that way after seeing them on display at Epcot!
I gotta say, I think Eric had the edge on dinner, those scallops looked scrumptious!
It was so weird to see all the topiaries from the F&GF sitting in that greenhouse - seemed strange to see them that way after seeing them on display at Epcot!I gotta say, I think Eric had the edge on dinner, those scallops looked scrumptious!
Disneygrl36
Happy DVC member!!!!
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2004
- Messages
- 4,269
That is really a great place to watch Wishes & you can see the Illuminations fireworks from the Boardwalk too!Wow, it sounds like your tour was FABULOUS!!!
You need to give it a try. We have been 3 times now & it has always been good. The snapper is sooooo good. The potato crusting is thin & crunchy & the leeks with sauce under the rish is really delicious.
Hope they catch the hint.....Glad to have you with me again. That ABD trip remains my favorite trip EVER!!!!!I would love to go on a backstage tour sometime (hint to my children for early Christmas gift
Thanks Dan......you need to put the tour on your to do list.
I knew it was going to be weird for you looking at the topiaries after seeing them at F&G. It was sooo cool being back stage though.That tour sounds awesome!! I so want to do that one day, thanks so much for the detailed review
I gotta say, I think Eric had the edge on dinner, those scallops looked scrumptious!
I tasted Eric's scallops & risotto & it was pretty darn tasty.
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