The Family, Friends, Fun, Food, Five pounds (well 7 really) and....*UPDATED 12/31*

[stopher1]

Will Turner: "This is either madness or brilliance"
Jack Sparrow: "Its remarkable how often those two traits coincide"

More great pics!!! The food does look good. My wife is of middle eastern/mediterranean descent on her dad's side, so we've enjoyed a lot of those kinds of dishes over the years. Plus my bro's best friend growing up was Greek born, so lots of yummy stuff at his place through the years. Perhaps we'll have to add Kouzina to our list next time around.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

BIG NEWS........

We decided that because we were not on the dining plan this year and we were going to dinner with a larger group tonight and we are planning to come back in 2011 and for a possible anniversary, no kids trip this year, we bought Annual passes.

YAAAAAAA...I am officially an Annual pass holder at Disneyworld

and of course my future pic....apparently I will have a two huge holes in my head in the future.

Um...that's not good.

We ordered some apps and got a drink as well, Carrie got this little beauty called an "Ouzotini"

Carrie ordered Baklava for herself and I ordered a Greek dessert called Galaktobouriko.

Now I know where George Lucas gets all those Star Wars names from.

Nice update! Your night-time pics of Disney are really terrific. Tell your wife it was totally worth bringing the tripod.

In honor of your update with the Jack Sparrow Pictures...I would like to implement a Hijacking of favorite POTC movie quotes.

That's got to be the worst pirate I've ever seen.

 

[dvczerfs]

great update!!! food looks good, well have to try it!!

 

[Emma's Dad]

Another great update... it even has the words "booty call" in it!! Can't go wrong with that!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Mmmmmm.... Dole Whip... only 34 more days to get one... NICE update!! I love your pics! Turn and flee! Love it!

Thanks, Matthew thought it was pretty funny. The jack Sparrow was very good.

Only 33 left to finish your TR

DOLE WHIP

Hey Nick - any chance you'll be serving Dole Whips in your restaurant?

We watched the Captain Jack show on our trip. That guy is pretty spot on to Johnny Depp.

I'd love to know how to make them. I think I would have Disers from all over coming to get their Disney fix.

Great pics!!!!

Awesome that your boys got picked!!!

MMMMMM Dole Whip!!!

Nice to see you are a FLOAT type of guy!

You wouldn't be the kind of guy that tracks down a photopass photographer to get a pic of himself with his Dole Whip?

Errrrrrrr..... I think that was someone else.

If you are going to get a Dole whip you may as well do it right...floats all the way.

More great pics!!! The food does look good. My wife is of middle eastern/mediterranean descent on her dad's side, so we've enjoyed a lot of those kinds of dishes over the years. Plus my bro's best friend growing up was Greek born, so lots of yummy stuff at his place through the years. Perhaps we'll have to add Kouzina to our list next time around.

If you like those flavours, I think you would really like it. I think the people who are having a hard time with this restaurant, maybe are not used to some of the flavour combinations. It really did feel comfortable. We would not hesitate to go back.

Um...that's not good.



Now I know where George Lucas gets all those Star Wars names from.

Nice update! Your night-time pics of Disney are really terrific. Tell your wife it was totally worth bringing the tripod.



That's got to be the worst pirate I've ever seen.

She appreciates having pictures for her srcap books now but at the time it was tough to convince her to give me 10 minutes to set up and take a few shots.

great update!!! food looks good, well have to try it!!

Another great update... it even has the words "booty call" in it!! Can't go wrong with that!

It was kind of funny how that came about, I mentioned to Carrie how it sounded like Booty Call when our waitress said it and she repeated it and our waitress overheard. She told us that it was they called it when they first heard the name of it. We all got a good laugh out of it.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I'd love to know how to make them. I think I would have Disers from all over coming to get their Disney fix.

Do you have a soft serve machine?
http://www.precisionfoods.com/foodservice/bnd_products_details.cfm?skuid=10922&id=103

 

[DisneyFed]

Great update man

"Welcome to the Carribean Love...."

I may have used that one before.....

 

[stopher1]

No good! no good! what're you doing?! You're burning the food... the shade... the rum!

 

[praisehisname]

Great updates! I've never seen such amazing pictures from Haunted Mansion!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Do you have a soft serve machine?
http://www.precisionfoods.com/foodservice/bnd_products_details.cfm?skuid=10922&id=103

Im working on it for the summer.

Great update man

"Welcome to the Carribean Love...."

I may have used that one before.....

No good! no good! what're you doing?! You're burning the food... the shade... the rum!

Elizabeth Swann: It never would've worked out between us.
Jack Sparrow: Keep telling yourself that, darling.

Great updates! I've never seen such amazing pictures from Haunted Mansion!

Thanks so much. Disney is really a place where there is so much to shoot. It really makes it a lot easier to get good pictures. I still have a lot to learn about photography, but that is what makes it so fun.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

After a well deserved rest we got up and decide to head on over to Downtown Disney this morning and do a little shopping. You see the kids have been saving up and we topped up a little and they both had $100 to spend on "stuff". Both boys collect pins and have a nice collection going, we have a shadow box that they display pins at home and only brought the ones that they we willing to trade with them. They usually buy some starter kits and then trade for what they like and sometimes Daddy-o will buy them a pin if they see something they really like.

This is one of the reasons we love POR, we can get on the boat and enjoy a morning boat ride. we have decided in the last couple of years that we would take as much alternate transporation as possible (meaning not buses). We have really seen a ton more of disney property that way.

Getting Jonathans pins ready for a big trading day.

We love taking the boat.

Was thinking of Stopher when I took this pic, wondering how he liked it.

Time for the breakfast of champions...

Checking out the candy shop

We did some shopping and hung out for a little while, I came across this fella, working on a picture of Minnie. I stood and watched him for a while and he was amazing, truly an artist.

So, with a full belly and a lanyard full of pins we decided to get our day started, we jumped back on the boat and we headed back to POR.

I wondered as we were riding back if I could beat the boat in foot race, so like any good Dad I grabbed Jonathan and said we are walking back from POFQ to our room and left Carrie and Matthew on the boat.

The race was on baby...

We won BTW, by a mile. When Jonathan and I got back to the room we pretended to be sleeping.... Matthew didn't think it was too funny, but Jonathan got a kick out of beating his brother in the race. There was a little smack in the boat being thrown around before the race started.

Mommy-O said "Your worse than the kids" not sure what she meant by that.

When we got back to our room we found this little beauty holding the souvineir that we should not have brought back to Canada..I mean...uh..er..."it wasn't me officer, it was the kid, he did it"

After re-grouping we decided to hit Epcot, we got a little taste but it was time to leave our mark. After reading Don's TR, I said to Carrie and the boys lets check out some of the other stuff Disney has to offer, other than the main attractions. But first another trip on Spaceship Earth (brought to you by SIEMENS )

Now theres a face only a mother can love....I'm talking about mine Mommy-O There is that mysterious hole in my head...I'm starting to get a complex.

Next up Sum of all Thrills, this is a very cool attraction, you design your own rollercoaster and then get to ride it in a simulator. Of course mine has every crazy loop and steep hill, Mommy-O was all for it as well so we went all out. We put the two boys together and let them design their own as well. You get a card with the info on it and go upstairs, you empty your pockets into a locker and then get on. This is really cool, on the screen you are watching you can also see the face of the person riding with you. I recommend this to anyone. Lots of fun and you can make it as intense as you want or as lame...I mean calm as you want. That was mean throwing down the gauntlet, apparantely if you keep the card there is a website you can go to and expereince it at home again. I haven't tried this yet, but I will let you all know how it goes.

We read a lot about the Kim Possible expereince, well, who am I kidding, I read a lot about the Kim Possible experience and decided that the kids, ya thats right the kids would really enjoy it. Time to get my Kimunicator, I mean time for the boys......you know what I mean.

Next stop was time to meet up with an old friend..... Beverly.
Oh the unsuspecting fools....*daddy-o rubs his hands together and laughs outloud..ha ha*

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Mommy-O said "Your worse than the kids" not sure what she meant by that.

Allow me to translate: "Daddy-O, I'm thankful to have you as a wonderful husband. The kids are lucky to have such a great father and role model. But you're a hoser."

When we got back to our room we found this little beauty holding the souvineir that we should not have brought back to Canada..I mean...uh..er..."it wasn't me officer, it was the kid, he did it"

You read it here first. By 2035, all of Canada's natural vegetation will be wiped out.

Next up Sum of all Thrills, this is a very cool attraction, you design your own rollercoaster and then get to ride it in a simulator. Of course mine has every crazy loop and steep hill, Mommy-O was all for it as well so we went all out. We put the two boys together and let them design their own as well. You get a card with the info on it and go upstairs, you empty your pockets into a locker and then get on. This is really cool, on the screen you are watching you can also see the face of the person riding with you. I recommend this to anyone. Lots of fun and you can make it as intense as you want or as lame...I mean calm as you want. That was mean throwing down the gauntlet, apparantely if you keep the card there is a website you can go to and expereince it at home again. I haven't tried this yet, but I will let you all know how it goes.

I've been chomping at the bit to do this. The kids are a bit young yet, though. If you can share the thing online, post a link. I'd love to see it!

 

[Emma's Dad]

WOOHOO!! I got a shout-out! Isn't it cool checking out some of the other stuff that often gets overlooked? Question is... did you get caught by loop and hook?

Pretending to be sleeping!! Oldest trick in the book!

Ummm... yeah... as far as that hole is concerned... I think Nate has something to do with that I think I heard him mumbling the other day... something about "... you just wait, Nick... good thing I work for Siemens... cause you need a raise like you need a hole in your head..."

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

This is one of the reasons we love POR, we can get on the boat and enjoy a morning boat ride. we have decided in the last couple of years that we would take as much alternate transporation as possible (meaning not buses). We have really seen a ton more of disney property that way.

Totally agree! The kids always like the boats and monorails more than the buses anyway.

We won BTW, by a mile. When Jonathan and I got back to the room we pretended to be sleeping.... Matthew didn't think it was too funny, but Jonathan got a kick out of beating his brother in the race. There was a little smack in the boat being thrown around before the race started.

Nice! The important thing is, the rest of us neutral observers think it's funny.

There is that mysterious hole in my head...I'm starting to get a complex.

You mean that's not really there?

I recommend this to anyone. Lots of fun and you can make it as intense as you want or as lame...I mean calm as you want.

I'm allergic to loops and drops. It's a medical condition, not just me being lame.

You really have some great pictures! I'm looking forward to hearing about the Kim Possible missions...I have a feeling my kids (ok, and me) would love them!

 

[trennr]

There is that mysterious hole in my head...I'm starting to get a complex.

Siemens is using a facial recognition program to pick out faces...it looks for the eyes and work from there...I think it's your hat that caused the software trouble. You need to tip it back more or take it off for the picture....the next time you make it down there that is.

My son had his so low on one time on Spaceship Earth last year that his face did not register at all. So the postcard from the future had DW and default replacement character.

They used the same technology in Base21 (secret Siemens place above project tomorrow)...here's my son hijacking your TR...via the magic mirror...

 

[stopher1]

This is one of the reasons we love POR, we can get on the boat and enjoy a morning boat ride. we have decided in the last couple of years that we would take as much alternate transporation as possible (meaning not buses). We have really seen a ton more of disney property that way.

Oh yeah! I love the "alternate" transportation options. Taking boats is one of my favorite things to do. Great job!

We love taking the boat.

Was thinking of Stopher when I took this pic, wondering how he liked it.

WOO HOO!!! I got a shout out here! Awesome, thanks Daddy-O!
We loved it, but if you haven't finished reading through it, I detail it quite a bit in my own T...oh wait, never mind, there's really nothing to see, and I really didn't say anything. But yeah, those treehouse villas are incredibly sweet. I highly recommend them as an option sometime when you are going with family or friends (up to 9 people total).

Time for the breakfast of champions...

Wider Nick, gotta open wider!

I wondered as we were riding back if I could beat the boat in foot race, so like any good Dad I grabbed Jonathan and said we are walking back from POFQ to our room and left Carrie and Matthew on the boat.

The race was on baby...

We won BTW, by a mile. When Jonathan and I got back to the room we pretended to be sleeping.... Matthew didn't think it was too funny, but Jonathan got a kick out of beating his brother in the race. There was a little smack in the boat being thrown around before the race started.

Mommy-O said "Your worse than the kids" not sure what she meant by that.

What Dad wouldn't take on that kind of challenge? I mean really. That's pretty awesome.

Just tell Mommy-O that you're just training them for when they are dads too

When we got back to our room we found this little beauty holding the souvineir that we should not have brought back to Canada..I mean...uh..er..."it wasn't me officer, it was the kid, he did it"

Oh wow, it looks quite similar to the two that just happened to, somehow, end up in Indiana with our luggage. I don't know - I think there's some kind of a pinecone invasion heading northward from Florida.

Next up Sum of all Thrills, this is a very cool attraction, you design your own rollercoaster and then get to ride it in a simulator. Of course mine has every crazy loop and steep hill, Mommy-O was all for it as well so we went all out. We put the two boys together and let them design their own as well. You get a card with the info on it and go upstairs, you empty your pockets into a locker and then get on. This is really cool, on the screen you are watching you can also see the face of the person riding with you. I recommend this to anyone. Lots of fun and you can make it as intense as you want or as lame...I mean calm as you want. That was mean throwing down the gauntlet, apparantely if you keep the card there is a website you can go to and expereince it at home again. I haven't tried this yet, but I will let you all know how it goes.

We definitely want to experience that on our next visit. Being there with the grands in Jan was more focused on them, so we kind of didn't get to do as much as we might have enjoyed while at Epcot - especially Soarin'...but I won't dredge that up again now.

We read a lot about the Kim Possible expereince, well, who am I kidding, I read a lot about the Kim Possible experience and decided that the kids, ya thats right the kids would really enjoy it. Time to get my Kimunicator, I mean time for the boys......you know what I mean.

Julie and I got a communicator "for" our boys in January, but see the statement above...it applies here too. So it didn't work out. Maybe next time.

Next stop was time to meet up with an old friend..... Beverly.

Ahh yes, Beverly... personally I much prefer my old watermelon friend from China than Beverly.

 

[dvczerfs]

nice pics, whats up with that hole in your head?

 

[itJeff]

Great update!

I think, instead of writing my own trip report, I'm going to just plagiarize all these great experiences of everyone else. We're staying at POR, and plan to take the boats to DDT at least once. So, I can just borrow this section of your TR right? I'll just have to substitute my own pictures. My wife tends to roll her eyes, so I may have to merge yours and Barry's TRs though.

Seriously, I'm reading all you've done saying to myself... we're going to do that, we're going to do that, we're going to do that.....

I can't wait to try SOAT. My girls are REALLY excited about the Kim Possible Experience in Epcot... and my wife too!

 

[DisneyFed]

Blaming it on the kids....wow, that's one I haven't heard before...

Smack talk....



Sooo, you tried to sneak the pine cone into Canada, eh?

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

So we make our way over to Club Cool, I have been planning this trick for a long time, being the one on the boards and seeing a thread with just pictures of people trying this nasty little beverage, it was time. Muh ha ha ha ha

I quietly asked each of them to try it and these are the reactions I got.

Then it was my turn, Mommy-O thought she would take my picture since I was soooo mean to our kids.

Honestly, I did not find it soooo bad, it was a little bitter not not terrible.
We then walked a round a little and I took some more pics, here is one that I like.

Next up was Test track, all of us really love this ride. The posted wait said 40 minutes, we thought, lets just get in line maybe it will be a little quicker....well.......wrong.....it was a lot quicker, we walked right up to the doors for the pre-show. BONUS

I wasn't driving Fed, I was a passanger, I swear.

Nice!!

Next up was soaring and maybe some lunch....so we headed on over to the other side of the park and got o Soarin, it was about a 40 minute wait, we figured lets try our luck again....this time....40 minutes ..Doh, oh well, we were getting to ride Soarin. No pics that would be wrong.........plus there were not worth posting. shhhhh

We thought we would try the restaurant in the Land Pavillion called Seasons, here are the pics of our lunch.

Lunch was great, one of the best counter service restaurants in Epcot, the food was fresh and really tasty!! I would recommend this place to anyone.

Next up....Trennr's fave ride....?