The ABC's of Sauntering Through WDW- J is for: Just Like That, It's Judiciously Ended! (4/23)

[Steppesister]

Hey Friends,

Keeping up with reading your comments and enjoy seeing them during my breaks and lunches, but can't respond really. By the time I get home, I'm too braindead and mushified to reply. But, it is my last day of work this week! I might be going on a little day trip with some photog pals on Friday over to Central Oregon and if I get any good images I'll share here. I REALLY need a day away.

Carry on....

 

[pkondz]

Take that day off and enjoy it!
Looking forward to seeing your photos.

 

[docsoliday1]

Hey Friends,

Keeping up with reading your comments and enjoy seeing them during my breaks and lunches, but can't respond really. By the time I get home, I'm too braindead and mushified to reply. But, it is my last day of work this week! I might be going on a little day trip with some photog pals on Friday over to Central Oregon and if I get any good images I'll share here. I REALLY need a day away.

Carry on....

Wait!!! The queen can't abandon her lowly sub....err faithful readers.

Hope you have a great time Liesa...sounds like you've been busier that a one legged man in a butt kicking contest.

Looking forward to more great photos.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The moral of the story is you have to be quicker than I am to get free dining at Disney.

Sneaky bugger

The hanger sounds like a really interesting place to enjoy a little break.

 

[Steppesister]

E is for: EPCOT's Alphabetical Treasures​

And here we are: the last 2 installments of my Epic ABC Scavenger Hunts. In some ways I thought my EPCOT Hunt was the best. I chose to incorporate a few CM interactions which immensely added to the fun. Now, as with all accurate Alphabetical Scavenger Hunts, let’s begin with A.

A is for Absolutely Amazing Apple Strudel. Another adventure in eating can be had in the Biergarten but, with a little sneaking in, this photo was taken to make your mouths water and to satisfy Letter A.

A is for: Apple Strudel

​

B-
While I wished her name was Bridgette or Betsy, Pauline began to banter with me about Bordeaux-

"Bordeaux is the most famous and highly coveted wine blend in the world. ... RedBordeaux is a red wine that is always made from blending Cabernet Sauvignon wine and Merlot wine together, though the proportion of each depends on the location of the winery that made the wine."- https://vinepair.com/wine-101/bordeaux-what-is-bordeaux-wine/

I explained to Pauline that I was on a scavenger hunt and needed to find a bottle of “Bordeaux” for letter ‘B’ and she smiled her fantastic smile and picked up this bottle.

“Will this one do?’’

“But that doesn’t say “Bordeaux” on it.”

She went on to explain that it’s by the SHAPE of the bottle that you can tell it’s a Bordeaux wine!! Who knew?!


The Bordeaux bottle



"If you buy a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, zinfandel, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, pinot grigio or one of the currently popular red blend wines, it will probably come in a bottle known as a Bordeaux bottle, also called a claret. It has high shoulders that may have been designed to hold the sediment in the bottle, or the shoulders could have been shaped that way to differentiate it from a Burgundy bottle, according to VinePair. The bottom of the bottle usually has a high indentation, called a punt or kick up. This indentation may also have been designed to help keep sediment in the bottle, but there is no conclusive evidence. The Bordeaux is the most widely used wine bottle shape used today."-
https://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/blogs/do-you-know-your-wine-bottle-shapes

B is for: Bordeaux


​

I’ve been schooled. Seriously, it was such a fantastic CM interaction and I thoroughly enjoyed using the 4 remaining French words I remember from High School French classes.

Clearly, my Alphabetical Hunt did not happen in order, because there are no Corvettes near France. Those are back at Test Track where I found a few cars that are roughly the same price as a Disney AP. And, since they only had yellow in stock, it was an even easier decision to pass.

C is for: Corvette


​

Diving right into the next letter, I found Dory. I found Nemo too, but that wasn't nearly as fun as the PP lady who gushed over my Dory Bounding. And because it's Disney and I have no shame, I really hammed up and went extra for a few minutes. (When you get to hang out with your 16 year old, you get to learn a lot about the most (semi)recent slang. "Extra"... I like it. It's like when you make REALLY stupid poses with acrylic fish and think how great of an idea it is until you see the photos. Then you have to ask yourself what the hell you were thinking.

D is for: Dory²


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Every time I see the Eiffel Tower here now, I have to wonder where the Disney Imagineers who worked on the Soarin' update got their degrees. Were they the first ones who Laurie Laughlin helped out? Did they hold their design sessions in The Ditch? Develop cataracts as the project progressed? Then again, like a lot of good things in life, you just need to be in the right place at the right time; in this case it's the top center row.

I present...A Building Badly in Need of a Little Blue Pill:

E is for: Erect Eiffel Tower

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Following our footsteps around the Lagoon, I found a few fezzes. Felt ones, at that. And I tried to get a bit artsy-fartsy with mediocre luck. With a fair bit of flair...

F is for: Fez

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I was on my game for letter G; I gathered my gear and got 'er done at Mousegears. Loads of them to choose from, but this one was easy because I could do it without actually going into the insanity that it is. If I'm looking for something VERY specific (a Food and Wine pin, a sweatshirt because I got carried away in La Cava, a shortcut through, or refuge from the rain) I don't go in. Anywho, these gears are on the outside so I could get a super easy saunterby shot.

G is for: Gears​

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Hopping back to Soarin' I snapped these just shy of the Hidden Mickey. Which makes this a double-double. Hot Air Hidden Mickey.

H is for: Hot Air Balloons​

I sauntered all over EPCOT in search of refreshment and wasn't disappointed. I've also discovered that ice cream and booze make a winning combination of such refreshment. So that's what I did. Twice. Both were delicious and both were strong. I wasn't buzzed enough to feel the urge to buy $400 sweatshirts, but they were strong enough to make me want to be lazy in the shade for a while. Not always a bad thing in my humble opinion.

I is for: Ice Cream​

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Just in time for finding Letter J, I came across these guys which you are probably thinking are the Jammitors. Ordinarily, you'd be right, except it was Food and Wine, and during Food and Wine, they are not. They are none other than the Jammin' Chefs. Which is even better because, they might have gone by the Baking Be-Boppers, or Sons of Saute, or the Frying Fellows. So, Food and Wine Festival or not, I got my J with...

J is for Jammin' Chefs​

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Keepin' on keepin' on, I killed some time in Mitsukoshi and had an amazing moment of inspiration. I was going to get some Koi fish for Letter 'K', but it was dark by the time I got to Japan (that is one heck of a long swim), and they'd gone to bed. BUT, the shops are still open. Shops bring in Disney cashflow, fish don't. Unless you smear some sauce on the plate around it and serve it in a signature restaurant. As I was saying, the store was still open and I had a flash of genius.

KIMONOS!!! I asked these incredibly beautiful and graceful ladies if I could take their photo for Letter 'K'. Maybe it's just me, but I always feel like the CMs in the Japan Pavilion aren't quite as proficient with English as in many of the other Pavilions. So I think the excitement and explanation of my quest was lost on them a bit. Nevertheless, they did make for a lovely photo and I was thrilled!

K is for: Kimonos​

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Letter L was by far the most fun to find! @Flossbolna this was 100% done for you since you so expertly pointed out that "liederhosen" is NOT a word, but rather I was meaning "lederhosen" when I wrote about my idea for Letter 'L' in my PTR. You teased me in good nature that, should I be looking for a "liederhosen", I'd be hunting for a "song pants". Which gave me an idea... why not a "liederlederhosen"??

Magdalene... I present to you not one but TWO LIEDERLEDERHOSEN- singing Germans with leather(ish) pants on. Both boys DID in fact inform me that they were not wearing authentic lederhosen as those have to be made of leather to be real. So these are DisneyReal lederhosen.

L is for: Leiderlederhosen




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The first one choked on his song and actually only made it look like he was singing because he was way too shy to actually do it. So I found another one who did sang... wait for it... The Alphabet. How ironically perfect!

Moving on...

I've never mooned anyone, except those times I went skinny dipping as a kid in SoCal at my friend's apartment pool. (Do you think I could still run for president?) So, question: Have you ever mooned someone? Have you ever BEEN mooned?

M is for: Moon


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There, now you can tell everyone at work tomorrow you were. You're welcome.

Okay, Folks, that does it for this update. I'll finish up my EPCOT ABC Scavenger Hunt next time. Have a super awesome week doing what you do. This weekend was full of ups and downs. I got to go out and do some outdoor photography... photos in a bit, had my kids over, and utterly FAILED at putting a BBQ together.

 

[Steppesister]

Obviously, it's not as easy to do since they got rid of the non-expiring tickets, but that's why we always did 1 park day, 1 resort day alternating. We found if we didn't, after the 2nd or 3rd day everyone would be on short fuses. Now we're local and AP holders, it makes the go go go mentality go away. I realize not everyone has that luxury, though.

I have 2 8 day non-expiring tix I want to sell soon because I'd like to renew my AP again in Sept. I'd have to think about how much I wanna ask...

But yes, having the AP makes touring a lot different. With my kids in Sept it'll be power touring again, so each style does have its place.

 

[Steppesister]

OMG I'm both scared and intrigued by this...

If you buy one let me know how bad it stinks up your place.

 

[Steppesister]

I love your Hangar Bar pics as this is probably one of my favorite hangouts in Disney World...

Thanks!! Mine too. I think I like the Nomad a bit more, and I'm sure there are others I haven't been to that could end up as new favorites.

 

[Steppesister]

I'm finally able to start doing this, now that I'm going more often.

Nice, isn't it?

Now look what you've done! You've upset Kim!

My heart is breaking.

Greed at its very finest.

propellers for fans! I like that.

I thought that was a cool touch too!

From what you've shown us of your photos, it certainly looks that way.

Easy to spend quite a while just looking at all the stuff on the walls.

And if you don't believe me, you're in...



Africa.

Love the fork stuck there.

I know!!!!

Hmmm... then again you did say it was the busiest you've seen. But thanks for the tip!

I think it was smack in the middle of HH which stands to reason it was busy. Then again, I've been at that time before and it wasn't bad at all.

I can't even remember what day it is... you want me to remember more????

Did you remember to change your underwear?

I remember reading that somewhere. Probably here?

Possibly!

Bring glass towards face, using one or both hands. Place lower lip on outer edge of glass closest to face. Place other lip on opposite side of glass from lower lip. Open lips slightly and tilt glass towards you until liquid begins to flow into mouth. Use caution that you do not tilt glass too quickly *** liquid will spill over mouth and run down chin. If you wish to spill, just tip it over on table towards your opposing seat mate.

Hey! I've done that!

You'd eat someone else's leftovers... that they've had in their mouth or had their hands all over?

Gross!

What? Great for building immunity.

See? Even the bird is having second thoughts.

Picky, picky, picky.

 

[Steppesister]

Ah! Like Body Wars in Epcot.

I never got to ride that one.

 

[Steppesister]

Again I'm sorry I'm so late. I try not to miss A Stepp report.

I'm SO glad you're here, Vanessa!!

Never too late to join in. Well, until I finish. But I still have 6 or 7 chapters to write before I leave in May.

I won't be back until December. But if Danielle gets into DCP she would be there when you go in Sept. Danielle loved the BTS concert!

OH!!! That'd be so fun to say a quick hello; Anara would LOVE to talk with her about BTS or KPop in general.

No she won't. We both really enjoyed it. Disney makes everything fun. She met lots of young Disney lovers.

So so much fun!!!!

 

[Steppesister]

I don't think I had seen the outside seating of Jock's before. It looks really interesting! Then again, I also completely forgot about this bar in Disney Springs. Guess I'm off to my planning spreadsheets to add this to the list of places to try and visit on our arrival night. (Stopping by the Edison and Jock Lindsay's isn't too much, right?)

And holy cow, that pretzel was huge. Between that and your taco picture, I would say the food there is pretty filling.

I sure hope you get to at least duck in and take a peek at the cool stuff. Sipping a drink would make it even better. If you're with the kiddos, they might enjoy sitting in the divebell table and do some pretending.

And NO, not too much. I'm taking the kids to see it/have an appie before our Raglan Rd. ADR in Sept.

 

[Steppesister]

I want to come to this place in my Disney travels. Not that I don't want my family tagging along, but I don't want my family tagging along...shhhh
I just look forward to one day being able to relax more on Disney trips and slow down to smell the roses.

I get it. Really I do. There's a freedom and ease that comes with solo traveling, but I also understand it might not (and certainly didn't for me) come along until the kids are a bit older and you can leave without guilt. And there won't be because they will are so wrapped up in their own activities and friends and stuff, a trip with Dad and/or Mom won't be missed as much. Or because of school stuff impossible. I'm pretty sure you'll get there. And by the time you do, your body will probably NEED to slow down and smell those roses.

Yep. That's where I am still. I really do enjoy that kind of trip too. I know one day part of me will miss having the girls on a trip and running from ride to princess to ride through the parks.

And in that case, take that occasional trip with the kids and do that running from ride to ride!! You can have the best of both worlds!

I would enjoy this place. I don't even recall walking past it. I was only at Disney Springs twice and both times was raining, so it was more of a dash from shop to shop. I also found it hard to get my bearings after all the changes in layout from DTD. Once again, something for the to do list next trip.
Just out of curiosity, did you notice any family's with kids there? Or can underage kids even go in?

I have been several times after the changes and STILL find it hard to find stuff. OY! It's a maze now. A fun one, but still a maze.

Yes, there were loads of kids there. I didn't notice how many inside vs the patio, but there were definitely kids outside. The food is good and there's a ton for them to see too.

I see what you did there.
I would enjoy finding all the hidden gems at that place. There is even an obscure Star Wars reference there. Great for the geek in me.

Once in a great while I dig down deep and find my waning sense of wit.

Yes, I'm positive you'd find all kinds of references and hat tips to several franchises, but mostly I.J.

 

[Steppesister]

AC for me!

It'd have to get pretty hot for me to choose indoor over outdoor. They keep the AC close to Siberian temps. Nothing like the buses, but too chilly for me.

This is really cool and may convince me to sitting outside.

Both areas are super cool!

Very informative for me. I don't drink much so I have lots to learn.

This was a new liquor to me. I'd recently discovered it about 3 years. ago.

 

[Steppesister]

I reached that point long ago....

You did a VERY long time ago!

So far it's been fairly true for me with only a few exceptions. I feel very fortunate too.

Enjoy it!

That's our exact plan for dinner tomorrow night!

And...?

I'm mildly aware of the backstory, but haven't done serious research into the whole thing.

I'm sure there's a TON more I haven't read or come across but I love to learn it as I can.

I didn't even know there was a patio! We had our drinks at the bar the time we went there.

It makes me wonder if it might not be open except during busy times now. I'm having a lot of readers say they've not noticed it before.

Very interesting, I had no idea. I'm well versed in Tequila, Wine, Sake, and know a little about Whiskeys and Vodka, but had no idea about this. Now I'm interested in trying a Pisco Sour!

Let me know what you think when you do!

Hmmmm, not sure where we will be that might have it. Think Yachtsman might?

It's possible?? I've not been there, but they sure might. I think it's a liquor that is in its infancy in popularity in the States, so it's just now catching on.

This sounds good, sans Jalapeno, it would be a perfect meal for me, even to split with Fran.

It would be for sure!

I would be a little scared about taking food that others had had their grubby little fingers all over...but then again you deal with people throwing up on you and all sorts of other gross things, so I'm not judging.

I sure do. Had a loogy fly my way from a little kid that was coming out of anesthesia who'd had dental work done the other day.

I try to get this point across to her. She thinks that we can't have fun or rest if there is work to be done. She is always complaining that we are going on trips, and I'm thinking, "With the way you put me through all this work, I deserve trips often!"

Well, as I said, there is always work to be done. Always. Does that mean you will NEVER rest... ever?

Actually that's exactly how we threw out the last occupant of this same unit. I was just about to get in line for gas at Costco when the nextdoor neighbor called and said that they were at it again. I called Fran and told her to get ready and meet me outside and we went straight over there and they were still going at it. She politely suggested that they find another place to live.

Sad. I wonder how many other places they were excused from for bad behavior.

Actually having been on both, it was nothing like Body Wars. As far as I remember Body Wars used the Star Tours vehicle, but went inside a human body. It kind of made me sick. Journey to Inner Space was a vehicle more like the HM clamshell and you "shrank" by the scenery around you becoming larger. Eventually you were the size of a molecule and there were many molecules on either side of you similar in size to yourself. Then you got bigger as the ride came to a close and you could go back out into the world a full sized human.

I wish I could have gotten to go on that before it closed.

 

[Steppesister]

I'm sure my mindset would change in a similar way if I was able to go once a year or more. It is what it is.

What it is.. is okay too. I did that, but even less than that for decades. Life has its seasons I guess.

So...negative numbers?

The odds diminish every time I see her newest fashion statements. Which are brief at best.

http://australia.myasalon.com/world...culous-it-looks-on-her-body-international-de/

That diving bell looks pretty awesome.

Your kids would love it!

Sold! That's all I needed.

I KNEW you'd approve!

I love it! The photos make it look amazing.

Seriously, Mark, it's right up your family's alley.

Thanks! You don't expect me to remember all this later, do you?

Nah, I can't even remember to get milk at the grocery store when I specifically go there for it. It's all good.

Nice. I'm sure it didn't take them long to figure out where the goodies are.

Little pec... er, thieves.

 

[Steppesister]

Take that day off and enjoy it!
Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Coming up....

 

[Steppesister]

Wait!!! The queen can't abandon her lowly sub....err faithful readers.

Hope you have a great time Liesa...sounds like you've been busier that a one legged man in a butt kicking contest.

Looking forward to more great photos.

No, not abandoning. Just sacrificing sleep and comfort to bring you a few more outdoorsy photos. I had a nice time, but not without a price. My body is pretty sore from the 7 mile hike into the Falls. In the snow. With boots that didn't fit. On the bright side, I am ready to get some boots that fit.

 

[Steppesister]

Sneaky bugger

The hanger sounds like a really interesting place to enjoy a little break.

Gotcha.

It's a cleverly themed place that's comfy to visit!

 

[Steppesister]

So, yeah, I took a little day tripping with a few folks from the local photog club and we ended up in Central Oregon near the towns of Bend and Sisters. It's really a gorgeous area, especially in Winter, but especially in late Winter/early Spring when there is a lot of contrasts and colors mixed in with the snow.

Here are a few of the best outtakes from the day which included a 7 miles hike in the snow to Tumalo Falls. Enjoy!

Mt. Washington:





The Deschutes River near Tumalo Park:







The Falls still mostly frozen:





If you're interested in seeing more of my photography which included a TON of Disney you can see them here:

https://www.facebook.com/lincolnlandingphotography/