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

[that's nice]

Your boys look shot on the monorail! LOL I love taking a ride around on it!

I wonder if CM is slipping with their food quality? I've heard quite a few people say that the food wasn't that great.

Why didn't you just stop at the coffee stand next to Kona for your coffee? I need to remember that 'trick' and see if I get a freebee.

Did you enjoy watching wishes from the Poly? Was the music piped into the beach?

Waiting for more!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Okay on to more important topics……FOOD. Okay…dinner was…..meh. I really found the food somewhat disappointing, I definitely ate but it was not as good as I hoped for. This is our second time at Chef Mickey’s but our first time for dinner.

What was wrong with it? My kids are asking to do Chef Mickey's on the next trip since Liberty Tree no longer has characters at the meal. But I've heard enough lousy remarks about it that it has me worried now...

I heard that the coffee at Kona was good so I went upstairs and asked if I could buy some coffee to take with me to the beach for the fireworks, the CM said sure and went to the back, came out and handed me two cups of coffee. I asked how much and she said don’t worry about it. Sweet!!

Wow! So far, that's the only spot I've found that has decent coffee on property.

We have been wanting to do this for a while and Mark on the Dad’s thread had some pics on his TR and said it was a nice place to watch sooooo…….


Thanks Mark!!!

Sure! I take it this means you liked it? I love seeing the fireworks reflected on the water, stretching out on a beach chair while watching and then not having to deal with crowds when it's over.

 

[Disneychix]

Just found your TR! The video you made is excellent! Really great! The picture in your signature is also great! I've never seen one like it

Can't wait for more!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

What fun you are all having! Loved the Wishes pics

Thanks, we had a great time. This TR will keep me happy for a bit, but I feel an itch that I just can't seem to shake. Might be time to start planning another one.

Ok, but if you pull this trick again with "It's a Small World" we're gonna have words...

....give me time.

What a great day
We are going to the beach at the Poly to watch Wishes in March, we are really excited
Thanks for the calorie information by the way, I will make sure that when I leave the World I wear a disguise

I never thought of that, but that just might work.

So I'm a wee bit late joining the party Nick, but hey, you've had a great start to it all! Love the pics so far, and yes, you've had me laughing along too...




Back in the mid-90's, when DL turned 40 - they were marking the occasion by giving away 40 unique trading cards celebrating something unique from each year of the park's operations, only one year per day for 40 days, in year order. My office was just about 7 min from DL, and a couple of buddies and I took on the challenge of going and collecting each of those cards at lunch time... so then once it was all done, we realized, sure we could slip into the park and enjoy a ride or even two, grab a bite to eat and then get back all in our lunch hour. That was a blast!


Can't wait to read/see more of your adventures!

The boys really enjoyed collecting them this year, I try to not let them do all this stuff in one trip, that way we have something fresh each trip. We actually talked about doing the pressed pennies next time.

Okay, now I am seriously jealous. I have a Home Depot close to work that I go walk around in sometimes and .......forget it, its not the same.

Your boys look shot on the monorail! LOL I love taking a ride around on it!

I wonder if CM is slipping with their food quality? I've heard quite a few people say that the food wasn't that great.

Why didn't you just stop at the coffee stand next to Kona for your coffee? I need to remember that 'trick' and see if I get a freebee.

Did you enjoy watching wishes from the Poly? Was the music piped into the beach?

Waiting for more!

Yup the biys were very tired but they never admit, they keep truckin along until bedtime.
I didn't realize there was one. So I asked at the restaurant and the CM was sooo nice. Matthew thought you can ask anyone for transportation cards so he asked her as well, obviously she didn't have any but had a lanyard on with a pouch and had a safety card in it (it was Timon and Pumba talking about safety at the parks) she pulled it out and handed it to him.

Yes they piped the music in but it wasn't too loud. Being able to lay on the beach in a lounge chair and watch Wishes was very cool.

What was wrong with it? My kids are asking to do Chef Mickey's on the next trip since Liberty Tree no longer has characters at the meal. But I've heard enough lousy remarks about it that it has me worried now...



Wow! So far, that's the only spot I've found that has decent coffee on property.



Sure! I take it this means you liked it? I love seeing the fireworks reflected on the water, stretching out on a beach chair while watching and then not having to deal with crowds when it's over.

Ya, the whole family loved watching it from there. I agree that had to be the best coffee on property that I have come accross. Thanks again for the tip.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Just found your TR! The video you made is excellent! Really great! The picture in your signature is also great! I've never seen one like it

Can't wait for more!

Thanks and

I took the pic last year on our last night. We always like to close out our trips with Wishes. It had rained a little that evening and Spectromagic was cancelled but wishes was still a go. We like walking around until the CM's start to close stuff off behind you, they never really ask us to leave but they start to limit access to areas until they gently nudge you out the front gates. I asked the boys to turn around and look at the castle and that is what I got.

Here is the full shot

 

[FreezinRafiki]

We actually talked about doing the pressed pennies next time.

Wouldn't that be a pressed loonie?

 

[Emma's Dad]

Thanks and

I took the pic last year on our last night. We always like to close out our trips with Wishes. It had rained a little that evening and Spectromagic was cancelled but wishes was still a go. We like walking around until the CM's start to close stuff off behind you, they never really ask us to leave but they start to limit access to areas until they gently nudge you out the front gates. I asked the boys to turn around and look at the castle and that is what I got.

Here is the full shot

I love this picture It's like Disney set up the place just to take that picture!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

I will give a mini review of Chef mickeys since a couple of you asked about it. The interaction with the characters at Chef Mickeys is second to none, at no time did I feel rushed with any of the characters. The waiter was great, he was spot on, our drinks were never empty and our dirty plates were always gone by the time we got back to our table. For those of you who have never been, it is buffet style food. There is a salad station, a kid station, a carving station and a hot food area right next to the carving station. Then the dessert area.

The kids station had pizza, nuggets, fries, mac and cheese etc
The salad station had salad fixings cold pasta salads and corn bread
The carving station was roast beef and ham that night.

My first complaint about the food ws the temperature of everything, I didnt realize that luke warm was the temp hot food was served at these days. the carving station was decent other than that. They had mashed potatoes that really didnt resemble potaotes at all, they seemed instant to me, the scalloped potaotes were a soupy mess, the chicken was dry and the veggies were all cold.

To be honest I try to avoid the buffets at Disney, in the last few years I have found the food quality to not be as good as it used to be. It wasn't really a matter of quantity but one of quality.

Please keep in mind that I have been in the food service industry for most of my life. So in my opinion the food at this buffet is not terrible but I think the execution is where the entire thing falls apart. I believe the Chefs are all trying to produce good food but I feel that maybe Disney is trying get more for less.

.....steps off his soapbox....

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Wouldn't that be a pressed loonie?

You know whats funny, those machines don't take Canadian quarters, I don't know how it knows, but they know. So I have begun collecting American quarters and pennies for next year.

I love this picture It's like Disney set up the place just to take that picture!

Thanks, I think I got lucky with this shot. We waited a while but you can see it was only 9:15 pm so it was not that late. I fired 4 or 5 shots real quick and I hand held it no tripod on that trip.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Here is the full shot

That really is a great shot. It's funny how we take hundreds and hundreds of pictures just to get one like that. Thank God for digital!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

That really is a great shot. It's funny how we take hundreds and hundreds of pictures just to get one like that. Thank God for digital!

2700 to be exact. My kids are oblivious to the cameras now.

Bad pun, completly intended.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

2700 to be exact. My kids are oblivious to the cameras now.

Bad pun, completly intended.

 

[trennr]

I love this picture It's like Disney set up the place just to take that picture!

And I bet you could almost hear the crickets from Don's TR.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

And I bet you could almost hear the crickets from Don's TR.

Shhhhh....don't tell Don but secretly I'm trying to finish my TR before him...I feel like I have tons of time.

 

[burly]

Just found your TR. Great so far. Beautiful Family!

 

[Emma's Dad]

And I bet you could almost hear the crickets from Don's TR.

I know how soothing the sound of crickets can be for you, Corn Fuzz!

Shhhhh....don't tell Don but secretly I'm trying to finish my TR before him...I feel like I have tons of time.

Busted

 

[Disney Commando]

Great report so far, glad to see they are giving out the transportation cards again this year. Did you score all 18?

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Just found your TR. Great so far. Beautiful Family!

Thanks and

Busted

Great report so far, glad to see they are giving out the transportation cards again this year. Did you score all 18?

Ya, the boys loved asking for the cards. I think we got all the boats and buses but they are missing a few Monorail cards. I was told there are 12 monorail, I think they got around 5-6. They are a great keepsake.

 

[stopher1]

What an AWESOME picture!

 

[stopher1]

2700 to be exact. My kids are oblivious to the cameras now.

Cool - you're about on pace with me...our recent trip produced 3700+ as well as about nearly 200 Photopass ones. We were there for 10 nights though, so I had a bit more phototime than you...

Enjoy it while they are still oblivious - my boys are not any longer, and man do they make it hard to get that perfect shot any more. But yes as the Captain said - thank God for digital! My DW would kill me if we came home with so many pics via film to develop

Shhhhh....don't tell Don but secretly I'm trying to finish my TR before him...I feel like I have tons of time.

I love it!