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

[jenbear123]

When I opened up the post, I thought, " How did we get to Walmart??" I thought, is it over already?? What'd I miss??



That's ridiculous timing for a restaurant of that kind! I'd have complained. If they try that stunt on my at Cali., someone's gonna hear about it!

From my experience, Cali Grill are very respectful of the pacing of your meal. You should be good!

Regardless, the food looked great!! Mmmmm... How can 1 appie and 3 glasses of wine cost over $60?? (before TIW) THat's some serious cash! I need to look at the menu!

You see, Ice Wine is the big pricetag here - $26.00 a glass The red wine cost $13, white wine $8 and the Tomato Stac $8.99. It all adds up I guess. But yes, definitely serious cash. Word to the wise, don't dine at Le Cellier with Bubba - she'll bring you out poor!

Boo for it being that quick of a meal. At least they fit the template given in the Unofficial Guide that tables turn every 45 minutes. However, in my RideMax plans I'm allowing about 90 minutes for our TS meals (including checkin time). I think I'd rather be rushed than take forever though. My friends and I went up to the really fancy restaurant in town last week and we were there for THREE hours. We were so impatient by the end. Here's to hoping for a happy medium!

Three hours!?! Wow. I'd be like "Let me outta here!" by the end of it. It all depends on your schedule. I'm sure many of the servers are accommodating if you're in a bit of a hurry. When it comes to the nicer restaurants in Disney, I like to take my time. Especially something like Le Cellier since a table is so hard to get!

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Nice Epcot update! Food looks good, especially the maple creme brulee. Sorry the veal was disappointing.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Ugh, Walmart - that'll bring you right back to earth!

Wow, $26 a glass! Maybe that's why I haven't tried it yet! How much is a bottle (not at a restaurant, but back home)?

 

[jenbear123]

Nice Epcot update! Food looks good, especially the maple creme brulee. Sorry the veal was disappointing.

The creme brulee never disappoints It might have just been a fluke with the veal. Can't win 'em all!

Ugh, Walmart - that'll bring you right back to earth!

It was HUGE inside. I was so overwhelmed. It was all Bubba could do to get me out of there

Wow, $26 a glass! Maybe that's why I haven't tried it yet! How much is a bottle (not at a restaurant, but back home)?

A bottle runs about $60CDN here at home. But it's SO good

 

[jordanyosh]

Mmmm....filet. I like meat and red wine the best!!!!!! mmm....

that creme brulee looks sooo good.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Note to self...try and avoid Barry!

Okay, serious question...

Should I be greedy and get the creme brulee or should I take one for the team and order the chocolate Moose and let my kids split it?

Most of the time I will be letting the kids split my desserts BUT I've never actually had creme brulee and I REALLY want to try it here. What are your thoughts??

Can't wait to hear more...

 

[jenbear123]

Mmmm....filet. I like meat and red wine the best!!!!!! mmm....

that creme brulee looks sooo good.

I swear by Le Cellier. Their food never disappoints!!!

Should I be greedy and get the creme brulee or should I take one for the team and order the chocolate Moose and let my kids split it?

How about you get both? That way it won't matter! Seriously though, I would highly recommend the maple creme brulee if you haven't tried it. It's SO good!

 

[jenbear123]

Once our delightful meal at Le Cellier came to an end, we started to walk off those excess calories around World Showcase. First stop was at the Twinings Tea shop in the UK pavilion so I could pick up a box of Peppermint Tea

Bubba wanted to go find some British chocolate (I forget which one exactly she was looking for) so while she did that, I walked around the suprisingly quiet pavilion.

Take note of the sky. There was a reason why nobody was around....

Eventually Bubba came back and posed for the camera

I know, she looks like she has to pee....really badly.... but that's not the case....seriously!

It started to drizzle a bit so we took refuge inside the store. Look who we found once we went inside:

I have never seen Mary Poppins and/or Alice in the store before! I guess they had to seek refuge from the wet weather as well. I was so neat being able to see them up close and personal. They were being so nice with the kids. It was the perfect Disney moment. I had a nice conversation with Alice about something I can't remember but she was very pleasant none the less. Am I the only one that starts speaking with a British accent when I'm speaking to another British person? I can't help it.

The skies grew darker and darker as we made our way around WS

I had made it a necessity to explore Morocco to its fullest as it's always the one I skip over. It wasn't until I took the Segway tour that I found out how interesting this pavilion is.

We found this place called "Morrocan Style", which was like a mini-museum. Many people were just walking by, without even taking notice. Probably due to the fact that the exterior of the building was being refurbished so nobody thought it was open.

Bubba took her chances and tried to open the door. It was open! We went inside to a very quiet room full of moroccan artifacts. Nobody was in there!

A few people came in while we were in there, but they didn't spend more than 1 minute inside. Sometimes you just gotta take the time to appreciate the little things in Disney. The walls were intricately crafted in mosaic design. There definitely was a lot of work put into this place. We really took our time in there - probably because it was so miserable outside... but it was still interesting to read about moroccan culture! We continued to walk around, exploring all the shops.

They had these lights everywhere! Must be some sort of fad? Bubba wanted to buy one

The skies really started to open up while we were browsing but still enough to handle while walking outside. This was really unfortunate considering I hadn't brought my poncho with me... Bubba was the smart one and wore a jacket! After about 10 more minutes of walking around, we headed towards China. Then it happened.....

MOTHER NATURE OPENED THE FLOOD GATES

It poured. And I mean POURED. You know those big, fat drops that feel like small gumballs? That's the kinda rain it was. I started freaking out about the rain. The conversation between me and Bubba went like this:

Me: Wow, it's really raining.

Bubba: Yeah, I know

Me: No Bubba, it's REALLY raining

Bubba: *giggle*

Me: No I'm serious! I'm getting really wet!

Bubba:

Me: I'm freezing Bubba! I need to get a jacket, poncho.... SOMETHING!

Bubba: Okay, okay. It's okay. We're going to get you a poncho. Right now. It's okay. We'll get you a poncho.

It was a very comical moment but at the same time, I was getting drenched. We darted into the Italy pavilion to see if they were selling the lovely $8 Walt Disney World ponchos. While we were inside, there were people trying to buy an umbrella. The CM was digging in this back closet and pulled out this sad looking umbrella covered in dust. I was shocked when they said they'd actually buy it. Are we desperate or what? Thankfully they had fresh ponchos that had not been sitting in their back room for 10 years. Bubba kindly bought one for me and I put it on right away. What a relief to be dry!

We SPEED walked (hey, that sounds familiar....) over to China and went directly inside. A lady was playing on a chinese instrument. It was lovely to listen to. But here we found where all the people had went! The seating area
was filled with people. Instead of trying to take a seat, we walked around the area where the warriors were.

It was nice to not feel rushed while doing this. I was able to read all the plaques filled with information. It was like I was in a detailed museum. On other trips, I've always skipped over places like this in a hurry to get onto Soarin' or to catch our next ADR. If you haven't taken the time to really dig into the information available at these pavilions, I highly recommend. Especially if you're a history buff.



Continued in next post....

 

[jenbear123]

When we left China, the rain had let up a bit which made it rasonable to walk outside in. It was still wet and soggy outside. We decided to ride Spaceship Earth to warm up and get out of the yucky weather.

I made sure I remembered to stay seated and that the vehicle can turn backwards at any time.

Then we took our trip through the decades until we came to this really out of this world era

Spooky.

We were then blasted into outer space with a beautiful view of our home

On our return to Earth, we even saw our future! It was madness!

But not as nutty as this...

After Spaceship Earth, we did a little shopping in MouseGears. Bubba found this underwear and wanted to see just how big the sizes were. I think what she pulled out there was a Medium. That sure was a BIG medium!! We took some time determining the size of her butt until she finally decided on a size. I'm going to have to get me a pair of Mickey Mouse undies next time I'm there. Note to self....

Nightfall came and it became bitterly cold. It was still raining and we were soaked through to the bone. But I was determined to stick it out and watch Illuminations! Even if it meant sitting on a soaking wet bench and shivering. This was our only chance to watch Illuminations for the whole trip. We watched the ducks for a while until we decided to get up and find a good viewing spot near Canada for the show.

There were a group of people standing beside us. I was staring off into a daze, trying to ignore just how cold and wet I was. Suddenly, a man that was part of the group was slowly bringing his hand towards me. I didn't realize at the time that something was moving on his hand. Once he grabbed my attention he said "You want a snack?" and there was a big, fat beetle type insect on his hand. GROSS!!!! I hate when people do that! I hate bugs! Yuck! If he was trying to break the ice, he needs to get some new material.

The show started and it was beautiful. I knew the music inside and out thanks to bellebookworm9. Both Bubba and I were in tears by the end of it.

Even though both Bubba and I had seen Illuminations countless times in the last year, this particular show meant something. It was the last time we'd be together while Bubba was a CM. It was a really heartbreaking moment. This last year must've been incredible for Bubba and it had been incredible for me too. My own sister was working at the most magical place on earth! It was then that I realized it was the end of an era.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Awww, what a sweet moment! Illuminations always moves me too, but you had special reason to be emotional.

We kinda ran into the same situation on our trip last May - our last day and Epcot and it totally poured! We were up to our ankles, literally, as we waded through World Showcase. I was still cold and wet after our dinner at Garden Grill, so we skipped Illuminations and went back to the hotel after dinner. I wished we hadn't, but wet socks really makes you miserable. I wish I'd worn my Tevas that day. Glad you got to see it with Bubba one last time.

 

[bellebookworm9]

I the UK Pavilion. I have such great memories of sitting on the curb with my friend and watching the WS Players absolutely butcher Camelot! That Morocco exhibit looks really cool, but like you, it might take me a few trips to get back there! I literally laughed out loud at your convo about the rain. Glad you finally got a poncho. I'm hoping it doesn't continually rain like I hear it did last May-there's pictures of water in WS up to people's ankles! I agree, those are some really large "Medium" sized underwear. But they're kind of cute-probably outrageously expensive though...Ewww about the guy with the bug That's just gross! I'm actually listening to the IllumiNations music right now-I already forewarned my mom that I will probably bawl while watching IllumiNations and Wishes and possibly Spectro-but happy tears because we're finally there! Sometimes I get teary just listening to them in the car, so I can only imagine the emotion I'll feel watching them in person.

 

[jenbear123]

Awww, what a sweet moment! Illuminations always moves me too, but you had special reason to be emotional.

I'm generally an emotional person, but especially when it comes to family stuff. And when Aunt Flo is around, I'm TEN times worse with the crying and the mood swings

We kinda ran into the same situation on our trip last May - our last day and Epcot and it totally poured! We were up to our ankles, literally, as we waded through World Showcase. I was still cold and wet after our dinner at Garden Grill, so we skipped Illuminations and went back to the hotel after dinner. I wished we hadn't, but wet socks really makes you miserable. I wish I'd worn my Tevas that day. Glad you got to see it with Bubba one last time.

It must be Epcot or something. I've only ever seen or heard about pouring rain in World Showcase. It was up to our ankles too. I think getting changed into my bathing suit crossed my mind at one point! Wet socks are the worst for sure. That and wet pants...

I'm actually listening to the IllumiNations music right now-I already forewarned my mom that I will probably bawl while watching IllumiNations and Wishes and possibly Spectro-but happy tears because we're finally there! Sometimes I get teary just listening to them in the car, so I can only imagine the emotion I'll feel watching them in person.

When I hum along to it in the car or when I'm at home, I always start to get teary eyed. The Illuminations music makes me want to be there right now - with the torches lit, the pavilions aglow, and the globe spinning in front of me Wow, I just got shivers up and down my spine as I thought about that. I'll be there in 5 days!!!! Wowzers. I think we'll end up seeing Illuminations more than once! Thanks again for the music

 

[redlight]

We found this place called "Morrocan Style", which was like a mini-museum.

It looks so enchanting. Thanks for posting.

I love the "medium" underwear! Talk about vanity sizing.

 

[glennbo123]

After my defeat at TSM (It's not over yet!!) we headed back to Pop for a nap.

Yeah, I think it's pretty much over!

I had a couple of installments to get caught up on so I won't do a lot of detailed comments, but it looked like you had a really nice day. Sorry that it rained on you in the evening, but it sounds like you managed.

I'm also sorry to hear that it sounds like your cruise was less than fantastic. What cruise line was it? You may have mentioned it before, but I forget. We took a cruise on Royal Caribbean a couple of years ago and the food was top-notch. We loved it.

 

[jordanyosh]

sorry about the rain and the end of an era.....at least you have great memories to remember it by...

 

[wdwgirl03]

OMG, what the heck?! That is so crazy about the guy with the bug!

I usually start getting misty-eyed watching Illuminations too. I don't know when I started getting so emotional.

Cool WS pictures. One of these days I'll get around to spending more time in the pavilions. There is so much to see.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

It must be Epcot or something. I've only ever seen or heard about pouring rain in World Showcase. It was up to our ankles too. I think getting changed into my bathing suit crossed my mind at one point! Wet socks are the worst for sure. That and wet pants...

Yeah, right? They must have a drainage issue, or something!

I love that Moroccan pavillion. I don't know why nobody goes in there. Of course, I think a lot of people are just clueless. They zoom through WS, only popping in to each pavillion long enough to see if there is a ride in there. Then they move on. There is so much to see if you take your time!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Okay, WHAT is the deal with the freak with the bug??

That behaviour really creeps me out!!! Didn't you just want to ask him if he forgot to take his meds that day?? Or at least throw him a sarcastic "good one!"

I tear up constantly at the World!! Of course I'm prone to that reaction when my heart strings are being plucked anyway but it's just so STRONG at Disney. I'm so happy that you were able to enjoy (albeit bittersweetly) the moment and that you successful at enjoying the day despite the torrential rain.

I leave in THREE days!!! And I'll be thinking of all my DIS friends when I am there.

 

[jenbear123]

I love the "medium" underwear! Talk about vanity sizing.

They sure leave room to grow

Yeah, I think it's pretty much over!

You better bite your tongue! We'll see where we stand when I get back....

I had a couple of installments to get caught up on so I won't do a lot of detailed comments, but it looked like you had a really nice day. Sorry that it rained on you in the evening, but it sounds like you managed.

I wondered where you had disappeared to. Then I read on your PTR that you had gone away for a couple of days? The rain never stops me from having a good time!

I'm also sorry to hear that it sounds like your cruise was less than fantastic. What cruise line was it? You may have mentioned it before, but I forget. We took a cruise on Royal Caribbean a couple of years ago and the food was top-notch. We loved it.

It was with Norwegian Cruise Line. I'm itching to try another cruiseline after this experience. It did not meet my expectations at all. The food was gross. The ship was small and underwhelming. I'll go into more detail when I write my mini-review. I've heard Royal Caribbean and Carnival are great. Disney Cruise Line is fantastic, but who would expect any less from them?

sorry about the rain and the end of an era.....at least you have great memories to remember it by...

The memories are definitely what matters most. It has been an incredible year!

I usually start getting misty-eyed watching Illuminations too. I don't know when I started getting so emotional.

Being emotional comes with being female

Cool WS pictures. One of these days I'll get around to spending more time in the pavilions. There is so much to see.

You really must take your time in WS. Almost a full day could be allotted to doing that alone.

Yeah, right? They must have a drainage issue, or something!

They must. Puddles were everywhere!

I love that Moroccan pavillion. I don't know why nobody goes in there. Of course, I think a lot of people are just clueless. They zoom through WS, only popping in to each pavillion long enough to see if there is a ride in there. Then they move on. There is so much to see if you take your time!

Some people just have low attention spans. I'm amazed at what I find each time I'm there.

Okay, WHAT is the deal with the freak with the bug??

I know, seriously!

That behaviour really creeps me out!!! Didn't you just want to ask him if he forgot to take his meds that day?? Or at least throw him a sarcastic "good one!"

He was a little wonky upstairs. Who picks up creepy crawlers and then SHOVES them in a ladies face?!

I tear up constantly at the World!! Of course I'm prone to that reaction when my heart strings are being plucked anyway but it's just so STRONG at Disney. I'm so happy that you were able to enjoy (albeit bittersweetly) the moment and that you successful at enjoying the day despite the torrential rain.

It must be a reminiscent childhood thing that makes us so emotional. I loved Disney movies as a kid. I only got to go to Disney World a few times when I was really young, like 4 or 5 years old. Then my parents got divorced and I didn't go back until I was 19 years old. I seriously missed out! Disney movies and Disney World remind me of better times before my parents split so that is probably why I get so emotional. But if they hadn't split, I wouldn't have such great step-parents and step-siblings!

I leave in THREE days!!! And I'll be thinking of all my DIS friends when I am there.

3 days?!? Are you leaving on the 21st?? That's when I'm leaving!!! I need to refresh my memory on your PTR.

 

[onelilspark]

Wow. What a creeper. Seriously, who does that??

(re: the man with the bug)