The End of an Era - Where Dreams Come True at Pop & Kidani **NEW 5/28 FINALE

[disneyaddicted]

I try and be super understanding of babies and children on a flight, especially if they're going to Disney, but you are right it does get tiresome after a while when a child can't sit still for more then a few minutes, I always tried to keep my babies/kids as entertained on as possible on flights. It's not easy and I always felt sorry for people around me.

I want to do sum of all fears! I can't wait, it sounds so cool. I didn't explore any of the inovention places enough on my last trip.

What's not cool? People making fun of your accent, totally not cool. I'm sorry that happened to you guys.

I loved the picture of the Simba and Rafiki topiary.

 

[jenbear123]

Your frogs are adorable!

Thanks They're our prince charming's in disguise

No, not cool to laugh at someone's accent! But I do love listening- I think that's very cool!

I agree. Whenever I'm in the UK pavilion, I just want them to talk to me forever. Love their accents!

Mary told me about the Sum experience, and it's gone way up to the top of our lists. Can't wait!

Great! It wasn't too busy when we were there. We waited maybe 5-10 minutes. It's something you gotta try a few times to see the creations you can make.

I never feel attracted to Innoventions- I need to re-think that I think.

Yes. Yes you do.

I know where you took that China photo! Did you try the echo thing??

Echo thing? I am not aware of this... please elaborate!

A CM really should know better than making fun of other guests... I wonder why people don't realize that they sound "funny" to you as well? It goes both ways...

Exactly. It's usually fine when people point it out and you have a good laugh over it. But this guy made it some joke. Like he's never heard anybody speak differently. Ever. Or like there was some inside joke we weren't in on

Sounds like a good start to your day at Epcot. Did you have to wait long for Sum of all Thrills? I read somewhere that it gets pretty long lines.

Nope. The lines were actually decent. It took us maybe 5-10 minutes to get into the "briefing" room.

Wow, those frogs are cool! We'll definitely have to try them when we're there in April. We always enjoy Innoventions. It's a nice break from the heat & crowds - or in your case, the cold & crowds.

Most of the time it's not very crowded in there. Most people are too busy with the big ride attractions. It's definitely a nice break. Plus there's a lot of nifty, hands-on experiences to be found.

I want to try the Sum of All Thrills. I do get motion sick, but usually have my Psi bands on anyway. I would love to try a tame plane ride.

I think you'd be able to handle the mild experience. You can really be mild, I mean REALLY. You control everything, from the speed to the height of the hills. Finally, you control the thrills!

Making fun of someone's accent is so uncouth. I can't believe a CM would make fun of yours. You'd think working for Disney they'd hear all kinds of accents all the time.

You would think. I dunno. Maybe he was new? Or never stepped outside his front door

I love hearing different accents & the different words/phrases people use! I never laugh, but I have been known to "adopt" the accent of the person I'm talking to. It's a strange habit that I try to control so as not to embarrass myself & others. Somer does the same thing, so it must be genetic!

That happens to me too! Especially with British accents. Just can't help it!

And you know what, I call pants trousers. It wouldn't even occur to me to think that was different. But I do LOVE to hear the "aboot" and "eh" from my friendly Canadian neighbors! It's nice to hear & see different cultures, languages, dialects, accents, etc. I think it makes life interesting. How boring would it be if we all talked the same?

I'm glad you're very open-minded. The world needs more people like us open-minded folk

That's pretty funny! I'm sure you still enjoyed your dinner sushi. I will be posting something sushi-related in a few days on my PTR.

Of course! The sushi was ten times better than what we got at Sunshine Seasons. Just sayin'

I had seen that there was a velcro display thingee, but I didn't know you got to make and keep some cool frogs. Score!

It's the cheapest souvenir Disney offers

The kids and I did this one. It was pretty cool, but I didn't take any pictures. I figured I could take pictures of my computer screen at home since it said they would e-mail our games to us and I had entered my e-mail address. None of us ever received anything. Bummer.

I got the link but it doesn't work

I can never keep them straight either. I think the Epcot is upside-down , north/south wise, from what I think it should be. It drives me crazy because I usually have a pretty good sense of direction.

With that compass in your back pocket?

We have to do this! I think I read that blog too, but now that you're reminding me about it I need to put it as a "must do" for when we visit Epcot.

Yes definitely! It's really neat. Try to go in the morning so there's less of a crowd.

What a hoser! I enjoy hearing other accents. I like to try figure out where other people are from. I wonder if we'll lose this as people become more mobile.

I don't think we'll use our home accents. Unless we stay in the destination for longer than a month at a time.

That is a beautiful picture you took in China....and....I have no idea where.....but I will soon when you tell me.

I'll give you a hint: I really had to look up!

I am looking forward to trying sum of all thrills and I will try to make a scarier coaster than I normally would based on your review.

Mild is definitely mild. The more extreme versions looked pretty intense (based on what I saw) Those arms can really throw you around

I try and be super understanding of babies and children on a flight, especially if they're going to Disney, but you are right it does get tiresome after a while when a child can't sit still for more then a few minutes, I always tried to keep my babies/kids as entertained on as possible on flights. It's not easy and I always felt sorry for people around me.

I know I'd get annoyed with myself if I couldn't control my kids. Especially in such a confined space like a plane.

I want to do sum of all fears! I can't wait, it sounds so cool. I didn't explore any of the inovention places enough on my last trip.

You definitely should. You'd love it! Especially the more extreme version

What's not cool? People making fun of your accent, totally not cool. I'm sorry that happened to you guys.

It was pretty annoying. We just shrugged it off and kept up our Disney high

I loved the picture of the Simba and Rafiki topiary.

The Flower and Garden festival should be pretty good this year. I got to see quite a few topiaries. It was a nice preview. It'll be completely underway when we go back in April.

 

[All7OfUs]

Well, if the picture was taken inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, apparently, if you stand perfectly in the middle of the round part you can hear your own voice echo back to you. It only works in teh middle. It is so accoustically perfect that you only need to whisper!! cool huh?!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ahh, sweet magical Disney air...one month until I get to breathe that in!

Great update! I think we are going to try the Sum of All Thrills thing but maybe the bobsled.

It is pretty funny how the topiaries seem to move around. I've noticed several that I'd seen before but somehow they are in different places.

 

[jenbear123]

Well, if the picture was taken inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, apparently, if you stand perfectly in the middle of the round part you can hear your own voice echo back to you. It only works in teh middle. It is so accoustically perfect that you only need to whisper!! cool huh?!

That is pretty cool! I never knew that before....

Ahh, sweet magical Disney air...one month until I get to breathe that in!



Great update! I think we are going to try the Sum of All Thrills thing but maybe the bobsled.

Definitely give it a try. I used the next one up from bobsled (coaster) but even that was tame.

It is pretty funny how the topiaries seem to move around. I've noticed several that I'd seen before but somehow they are in different places.

It's kinda eerie.... I noticed that they had the giraffes back but the hidden mickey is gone.

 

[jenbear123]

LIFE UPDATE:
That's the best way to describe the last two days. Yesterday I was at the barn all day. The weather was beautiful but man, are my muscles sore today. I was doing a lot of heavy lifting with hale bales and water buckets. When I woke up this morning, I could barely move my arms. I felt like an old person Today I was at a training seminar all day for work. I had to be up by 7am (on a Sunday! My usual day off...) to be at this place until 5pm. It was major information overload. Really, how much do we need to know about Europe? Most of the information I already knew about. Such a waste of a day.

END LIFE UPDATE


Now for the big reveal. Where was that China picture taken?

*Drum roll*

It was the ceiling inside the temple in China - the acoustically perfect room where you will hear yourself when you speak. Pretty cool huh? Congrats to Liesa who got the right answer! And the only one who made a guess

I now return you to our regular scheduled program:

We trekked towards the temple while taking in the lovely landscaping and scenery of China.

When we entered the temple, there was a lady playing one of the string instruments. I love the music of the Chinese. So calming. We watched Reflections of China and had a stereotypical chinaman escort us around his country. At the end, our passports were stamped for entry into our next country.

Guten Tag! Willkommen in Deutschland.

I love Germany. And I haven't even visited the country yet! My family must have some German blood because both my dad and Bubba have learned the language in school. It is quite the vulgar language and the country does have quite the history. Despite all that, it doesn't persuade me from wanting to visit the country. For now, I settled with Disney's "mini" Germany.

We explored the shops and pondered over the cuckoo clocks.

These are gorgeously crafted with a pretty price tag. I have a love for cuckoo clocks since my Great Aunt (who sadly passed on last year) always had a cuckoo clock at her house. Everytime the clock would "cuckoo", it would remind me of those days during my childhood at her old farmhouse. Sadly, this clock was auctioned off when she passed on.

There were a variety of goodies that caught my eye while we perused the shops.

If that Bambi is still there in April, I'm dropping the $50 for it. Look, Liesa! I think those are wine bottle toppers just in behind Bambi. I think you said you were planning on getting some? Don't know if it's within your budget though....

Germany is well known for their beer but not so much for their wine. Or at least in my case, I had never tried their wine. To treat ourselves, Bubba and I tried the Wine Tasting. This gave us a choice of 3 wines that came in small little cups.

The names of the wine were written on the napkins. Good thing too since I would've never been able to tell the difference. We got a Riesling, Dessert wine and Ice Wine. I really enjoyed the Riesling - very fresh and fruity tasting. The Ice wine didn't do it for either of us. We'll stick to our Canadian Inniskillin ice wine We found the German Dessert wine to be more like the Canadian ice wine. If you're avid wine drinkers, I highly recommend this experience.

Feeling happy and even more high on life after the wine, we found ourselves here:

Ciao, Italia!

Ohhhh, Italy. What more can be said about you? Romance. Incredible Food. Wine. This country has it all.

We saw the evidence of the new restaurant going in:

No construction noise that day though. All the construction workers must be nocturnal in Disney.

We ventured into the shops to find some creepy masks. These are only creepy if you've seen Eyes Wide Shut. Liesa.... you did some research into the movie right? You know what I'm talking about The creepiest thing about these, is that a couple were very similiar to the one's in Kubrick's film. Allow me to demonstrate:

First is the mask in Disney, then the mask as seen in Eyes Wide Shut

Creepy.

I even tried one on for size...

I even scare myself!

... but the Italian man behind the counter did not approve of my attempt to find the perfect mask for the masquerade ball. Right after the picture was taken, he stated "NO PICTURES! DON'T TOUCH!" Whoopsie! We hightailed it out of there pretty fast.

On our way out, we saw that Lady and the Tramp had returned

We left Italy to head towards Japan, where I was destined to pick the very biggest and brightest pearl.

 

[glennbo123]

When I woke up this morning, I could barely move my arms. I felt like an old person

Hey, I resemble that remark! (That's the second time today I've had to use that line.)

I love Germany. And I haven't even visited the country yet! My family must have some German blood because both my dad and Bubba have learned the language in school. It is quite the vulgar language and the country does have quite the history. Despite all that, it doesn't persuade me from wanting to visit the country. For now, I settled with Disney's "mini" Germany.

I'd love to visit Germany too.

Sadly, this clock was auctioned off when she passed on.

That happens all too often, that meaningful items get sold at auction when someone passes on, and relatives realize it too late.

Germany is well known for their beer but not so much for their wine. Or at least in my case, I had never tried their wine.

Careful, I think you might get some people who would object to this statement....but we'll forgive you. The Rhine and Mosel regions are just a couple that are very famous.

I really enjoyed the Riesling - very fresh and fruity tasting.

Judy and I are big fans of Rieseling.

We saw the evidence of the new restaurant going in:

I didn't realize there was a new restaurant under construction. I'll have to keep my eye on that.

No construction noise that day though. All the construction workers must be nocturnal in Disney.

I imagine as much work goes on in those parks at night as there does during the day.

... but the Italian man behind the counter did not approve of my attempt to find the perfect mask for the masquerade ball. Right after the picture was taken, he stated "NO PICTURES! DON'T TOUCH!" Whoopsie! We hightailed it out of there pretty fast.

Busted!

 

[jenbear123]

Careful, I think you might get some people who would object to this statement....but we'll forgive you. The Rhine and Mosel regions are just a couple that are very famous.

I stand corrected. What I should've said was that I am not familiar with German wine

Judy and I are big fans of Rieseling.

We'd get along well at dinner parties

I didn't realize there was a new restaurant under construction. I'll have to keep my eye on that.

From what I hear, it's going to be a quick service pizza place. It'll be good since Italy doesn't have a quick service restaurant. Not sure when it's planned to open. Maybe in the summer?

I imagine as much work goes on in those parks at night as there does during the day.

I'd hate to have that graveyard shift. My hat goes off to them as I'm sure there's a big mess to clean up every night!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Hey there! I didn't know you were doing a TR for this trip, or I'd have been over sooner. I thought you were just going to weave it in to your PTR. But I'm sure this will work better, since you are getting so close to your next trip that you'll need all the space over there to plan.

Wow, you have a lot of ADRs planned in such a short time! Can wait to hear the dining reviews.

I really like German wine. My DH and I used to drink Piesporter by the case! Never tried ice wine, German or otherwise...

 

[janloz]

Since Bubba had already checked in, all was left to do was find our fridge. This was my first time trying a fridge swap so I didn't really know where I was going. I had to ask where Luggage Services was since I had never needed to use it before. When we finally found LS, the place was hopping with lots of people. It didn't take long to receive attention from one of the nice CMs. I was nervous since I didn't know if what I was doing was against Disney rules, or if they wouldn't be able to find our fridge. Bubba had little faith in me already about this so if anything went wrong, she'd never trust me again! I just couldn't take that kind of rejection!

After the longest 2 minutes of my life, the CM came out to tell us the box was there and would bring it up to our room. PHEW!
LS beat us to our room and had already unpacked the fridge by the time we got there. He was very friendly and helpful. I was so caught up on finding the fridge and making sure it was the right one that I forgot to take a picture of it! I could've sworn I did but oh well.

Thanks for taking such good care of our Fridge.

 

[MEK]

Your pictures in Epcot are stellar - really vibrant colors! I had no idea you could not touch the masks in Italy! why? That's one of the things I love about WDW - you can touch and play with everything.

That wine looks pretty yummy!

 

[All7OfUs]

Yay!! I guessed right!! Now you HAVE to try out the accoustics trick when you go!!

Also, the clocks in Germany are fun to catch right on the hour!! The noise will drive you batty, but it's pretty fun to watch all the cuckoos all at once~

oopsie, mask faux pas!! Oh brother. No pix?? That's stupid.

ummm... yeah, I did some research. That goes way beyond any sort of normal hubba-hubba!! Gave me the serious willies!

I think the wine country is in the northern and eastern parts of Germany?? Am I right? I think the south is more beer. I may have that backwards though. Magdelene just PM'd me the other day about all this, but I've forgotten which is which.


The lady playing the Chinese Zither is one of my absolute favorite memories from my 2004 trip!! Soothing, beautiful, amazing- no words really to descibe it!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh shoot, I forgot to post a guess to that picture! I know I was looking at your post and was even thinking it was the Temple of Heaven. Oh well.

I love that Lady and the Tramp topiary. That was probably my favorite one from the F&GF in 2008.

 

[jenbear123]

Hey there! I didn't know you were doing a TR for this trip, or I'd have been over sooner. I thought you were just going to weave it in to your PTR. But I'm sure this will work better, since you are getting so close to your next trip that you'll need all the space over there to plan.

How did you miss the boat?? I was wondering if you had come over and were just lurking. Welcome back!

Wow, you have a lot of ADRs planned in such a short time! Can wait to hear the dining reviews.

It was our last "hurrah" so we had to go out with a BANG!

I really like German wine. My DH and I used to drink Piesporter by the case! Never tried ice wine, German or otherwise...

Clearly I'm the only one that wasn't in the know about German wine

Thanks for taking such good care of our Fridge.

Anytime! Can't wait to have Nemo again next month

Your pictures in Epcot are stellar - really vibrant colors! I had no idea you could not touch the masks in Italy! why? That's one of the things I love about WDW - you can touch and play with everything.

I was confused too. They shouldn't have the masks out like that if they don't want them touched. A 5-year old could easily pick one up and start playing with it....

That wine looks pretty yummy!

It was very good!

Yay!! I guessed right!! Now you HAVE to try out the accoustics trick when you go!!

I will for sure

Also, the clocks in Germany are fun to catch right on the hour!! The noise will drive you batty, but it's pretty fun to watch all the cuckoos all at once~

Oh, I never thought of that. Something to put on the list for next time.

oopsie, mask faux pas!! Oh brother. No pix?? That's stupid.

Agreed. Word to the wise, be on your guard next time you're in Italy and can't resist the masks.

ummm... yeah, I did some research. That goes way beyond any sort of normal hubba-hubba!! Gave me the serious willies!



I think the wine country is in the northern and eastern parts of Germany?? Am I right? I think the south is more beer. I may have that backwards though. Magdelene just PM'd me the other day about all this, but I've forgotten which is which.

Now I know which parts of Germany to visit

The lady playing the Chinese Zither is one of my absolute favorite memories from my 2004 trip!! Soothing, beautiful, amazing- no words really to descibe it!

I know. I'd love to get the music. I would've tried to seek it out in the store but Bubba wasn't keen on looking

Oh shoot, I forgot to post a guess to that picture! I know I was looking at your post and was even thinking it was the Temple of Heaven. Oh well.

Don't fret. I'll try to work in another picture guessing game. I took a few out-of-place photos that I'd love to see you folks guess.

I love that Lady and the Tramp topiary. That was probably my favorite one from the F&GF in 2008.

Oh they've been around for a few years now. Amazing how they keep them in such good shape. I know Bambi is back again but wasn't up when I was there. Can't wait to see that topiary!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I'm in!

I'm really enjoying your TR so far!

I am jealous though I really wanted to do Sum of All Thrills but we never got around to it

 

[jenbear123]

I'm in!

I'm really enjoying your TR so far!

I am jealous though I really wanted to do Sum of All Thrills but we never got around to it

Welcome! Glad you joined in! Put Sum of All Thrills on your list for next time. When was the last time you were there?

 

[shelbys mommy]

Joining in! Can't wait to read more!

 

[jenbear123]

Joining in! Can't wait to read more!

Woohooty! Another update soon to come

 

[jenbear123]

I decided to Pick a Pearl at the very beginning of the trip. Just couldn't contain my excitement! We walked over to Japan, munching on some chocolate we purchased from Germany (or was it Norway? I can't remember). What I do recall, is that it was very yummy. Melt in your mouth deliciousness.

I didn't really know where to go when we got to Japan. I knew it was in the store but where? Bubba had done this experience before but was oblivious to my confusion. Then, I saw the large crowd around this large tank, full of oysters. Someone had just picked a pearl and they were celebrating by hitting the drum. It sure attracts attention! There was a lot of people standing around the tank, but nobody was buying in to pick a pearl. I elbowed my way up to the cash register to pay the $17 for the pearl. While the money was exchanged, I eyed the settings I could get with my new pearl

I kinda liked the dolphin, but seemed a bit cliche - as if everyone would choose that one. I couldn't decide on a setting until I knew what size pearl I got.

They put me on center stage as I sought out the ugliest oyster my eyes could see. With my choice sealed, the CM opened the oyster to reveal a lovely shiny white/ivory 6 3/4mm pearl. The drum was drummed. I was congratulated. I got so caught up in the whole ceremony that I was dumbfounded on what to do at the end. Right! Now I need to pick a setting. There was a particular cage for a necklace that had caught my eye. Here's what I ended up with.

This setting cost $19.50 + tax. I already had a silver chain to go with this. If you wanted the silver chain, that was an additional cost too. The price can add up quickly if you want the whole works. I would recommend this experience to all you jewelry lovers out there. Picking the pearl is one thing - but to decide what to do with it afterwards is a whole new price tag!

We looked through the rest of the store and bought us some delicious Hi-Chew candy. I also tried my tastebuds on these almond caramel chewy candy. I was very pleased with my selection

Bubba likes the Hi-Chew candy so much that she bought an entire box of it!

By this point, my feet were starting to get a bit tired. (Hey, it was winter back at home and it's not like I was getting out walking a marathon every day in the freezing cold.) So we took a break on a bench in the nice sunshine

When I was thoroughly rested, we headed over to the American Adventure.

I had never seen the show so this had to be fixed. Perhaps a 20 minute show never worked into my crazy itineraries It was a good show but didn't pluck my heart strings like most. Although, it did make me want to learn more about American history. I found it a bit silly having Tiger Woods in there, especially after all the bad publicity he's been getting lately. Not something America can be very proud of at the moment.....

Somewhere in between we had another fastpass for Soarin'

I recall the lines not being terribly long. Maybe 45 min tops for Soarin', which is pretty good considering I've seen the wait times up to 120 min. Yikes. The ride was serene and calming, as always.

We still had time before our date with Tokyo Dining so we made one last stop

We took our time looking at the fishies and visiting the manatees until we had about 15 minutes to get our butts over to Japan.

OOOOOhhhhhh I was looking forward to this meal! We were seated with haste at a table in the middle of the dining room. The table was big enough for 4. Certainly ample room, especially when compared to the puny tables at Le Cellier.

I started with a bowl of Miso soup. It was your standard soup found at any sushi place, but still good. For our main meal, I ordered an Avocado roll, Salmon roll, and Tempura roll. (No Dynamite roll for me this time!)

Bubba ordered the Sashimi Sampler (again) and the Eel sushi

All of this was delicious. Another wonderful meal in Tokyo. My eyes were bigger than my stomach and had to get Bubba help finish my Salmon roll. We were in and out of there pretty fast too. All in all, it took us about 30 minutes from start to finish. I would make this place a must-do on every trip - if only I could convince my mom to try sushi. This place does sushi right, maybe not the right price, but you won't be disappointed. Sushi lovers, go to Tokyo Dining on your next visit.

Total was $51.96 with TIW

Despite my already bloated stomach, I had saved room for dessert. The sun was disappearing behind World Showcase to welcome a cool breeze. Florida in February is definitely unpredictable when it comes to weather. We walked the path from International Gateway over to the Epcot resorts. On our way, nature welcomed us with a lovely view

There was a little confusion when it came to finding our dessert spot. But with a little wandering in the hallways and following signs that lead us in all sorts of directions, we made it!

 

[shelbys mommy]

I love the Pick A Pearl. When we went in 07, my mother in law said the countries were a waste of time, so we never went. I am planning to do that with me & my daughter & make it a tradition that everytime we go, we pick a pearl together.