The Family Trip that wasn't...

[rndmr2]

Now that I look back on my notes and think a little more as I write this, we did the Carriage ride first, then went back to the room for the rest I talked about in the last update...

I had seen on various sites (here and allears) about the carriage rides and I had thought that it would be fun to do. We went over to where the carriages were (there are 2 of them) and were able to get right on one. I forget what the lady's name was who was driving but I think she said the horse's name was Drummer, he was a nice horse, a Clydesdale, weighed 2,000 lbs and could pull at least that. He was a little "off" sometimes during our ride and went off the path a few times into the grass and at one point the driver dropped her walkie talkie and I had to get out and pick it up for her since it was easier for me than it would have been for her to get down from her perch. It was a nice scenic ride, though, about 25-30 minutes long. It went all through both Port Orleans resorts and it was fun to have people watch us as we went by and wave to us. I thought she would have talked to us more but she didn't. It cost $45 for a 25 minute ride (ours was more like 30+) I did get a few pics of the ride as well:

It was nice to see some of the French Quarter as I had stayed there a couple times and have good memories there. I was leaning heavily towards staying there this trip but Tim wanted Riverside.

After the carriage ride we went back to the room as I said above and had about a 30 minute or so rest and then headed out and took the boat to Downtown Disney. It was a nice boat ride but we waited a LONG time for the boat, it probably would have been faster to take the bus.

When we got to DTD, I was starting to feel headachey and dizzy. I thought it was from the heat or that I needed to get something in my stomach. I had planned for us to go to Wolfgang Puck express or EOS here but the boat dock is right by the Rainforest and Tim wanted to try it there. We asked if they had availability and they said yes and took our names. We were seated about 15 minutes later (Our "Safari" was ready!) We were seated on the end of a long booth/bench seat, with regular chairs on the other side in the Gorilla section. The atmosphere was fun and the food was pretty good too. Tim had the Pot Roast and I had the Tuscan Chicken--(Balsamic and tomato marinated chicken breast, charbroiled and dressed with cucumbers, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, and a honey-dijon mustard sauce) - this was really good. the Olive and cucumber was like a salad/relish type thing, and the chicken was really tender and flavorful, one of the best meals I had the whole trip. We passed on dessert because I wanted to get Ice Cream at Ghiradelli's later. Bill was $56 OOP.

I didn't get as much shopping in her as I wanted because it was getting late so we just went to the World of Disney store. I wanted to look at their kitchen stuff and I had to pick up a dog toy for my friend's dog (Her little dog had a dog toy from WDW that was his favorite toy ever and it had gotten too chewed up and they had to take it away from him, she asked me to pick up a new one so I got it there. Also got a few post cards. I didn't really see anything else, not that I had much opportunity as Tim is not a shopper and was rushing me somewhat (the store was also closing very soon). I kind of thought it was a little much for what I got but I didn't harp on it, It wasn't until a couple weeks ago when I looked at the receipt again that I realized she charged me for 2 of the dog toys, oh well, can't do anything about it now.

Everything in the Marketplace was closing down so I figured we would head over to Ghiradelli's and we got that Gold Rush sundae ( I think that's what it was called, the Peanut butter fudge one-Yummy!!)

I really wanted to do the Characters in Flight balloon ride (and it was open until late) but we were so hot and tired and it was all the way at the other end and I actually was still feeling a little light headed, I guess it wasn't my need for food as I had plenty of that... After we got to the room and I was sitting on the bed I realized I was still feeling like I was moving, so maybe it was the boat that made me a little sick. Maybe a combo of the heat and the boat because that kind of boat never did that to me before, oh well.

I was glad for the bed that night, it was also surprisingly comfortable for a hotel bed. I definitely slept well while we were there.

Up next: Day 3 Epcot

 

[tksbaskets]

Was the carriage ride hot? You had a nice lookin' horse. I was kind of hoping for a picture of the sundae. Sounds great!

 

[disneyloz1993]

im enjoying reading along about your time, and i am loving your pictures. for some reason i feel as though i have seen that picture of you on dinosaur before, bur i know i wasnt in it, spooky ey?
keep up the story

 

[KELLY]

Great Trip Report and pcitures. We usally stay at POFQ and are trying POR this year also.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[rndmr2]

Was the carriage ride hot? You had a nice lookin' horse. I was kind of hoping for a picture of the sundae. Sounds great!

It was hot outside but it wasn't too bad when the carriage was moving. He was a pretty one, wasn't he? DH didn't start to let me take food pics until Tuesday. It was a really good sundae, reminded me of the Reeses PB cup sundae at Friendly's (my Fave)

im enjoying reading along about your time, and i am loving your pictures. for some reason i feel as though i have seen that picture of you on dinosaur before, bur i know i wasnt in it, spooky ey?
keep up the story

That is spooky, maybe I have a look-a-like!

Great Trip Report and pcitures. We usally stay at POFQ and are trying POR this year also.

Thanks for sharing.

It is a beautiful resort, I really liked the Mansions, it was so pretty walking around and the Decor in the rooms was so much better that the Bayou section IMO.

Thanks for reading!

 

[TARAMEOW]

Loving it !

 

[rndmr2]

Tuesday May 4th Epcot

Got up early (for us!) and went to the food court for breakfast. Tim had the egg and cheese sandwich on Focaccia bread with OJ and I had the Mickey Waffle with Chocolate milk and Apple Juice. Used 2 CS credits but would have been about $25. Walked over to the bus stop and only waited a few minutes for a bus to Epcot. Arrived at the front gate at 10am and saw this

Also saw the first of the Flower and Garden Displays, I tried to get pics of as many of them as I could.

Here is the first of the pics taken by the Photopass Photographer (with our camera-I don't know how to post the Photopass pics). I kept forgetting to take the Photopass card with me the first couple days. It's not that great of a pic.

The Fountain of Nations

Went on spaceship Earth, waited about 10 minutes, then headed over to The Land. Got Fastpasses for Soarin' (I think the return time was 1:30) then went over and reserved spots on the Behind the Seeds Tour, I think it was 1130 or 1145. Went to see the Circle of Life Movie and looked at the stuff in the gift shop/kiosk outside the behind the seeds while we waited for the Tour to start. Our guide was a young girl named Melissa that just graduated from Rutgers in NJ and worked in the fish and alligator section at the Land. It was a really interesting tour, we got to feed the fish, released ladybugs and had a couple cucumber slices.

Here are some of the pics from the Behind the Seeds Tour:

These were from the tissue culture area where they snip a small piece of a leaf and grow it in special stuff and it roots into a little plant/cutting, they sell these in the store, we got MIL one, she is good with plants, and this was unusual and we thought she would like it. You can see the little jars in these pics. They have all different Varieties of plants, we got a Kalanchoe. (Tiny little clusters of flowers, not sure what color it will be)

Brussel Sprouts

Most of the rest are self explanatory

 

[rndmr2]

After The Behind the Seeds Tour we had lunch, it was good. I had the Rotisserie Chicken with the Strawberry Shortcake, and Tim had the Ham and Salami Sandwich with Chocolate cake, $33.

This cake was so good! I had been hearing about it for a long time before the trip and was so looking forward to trying it, it definitely lived up to the hype!

After Lunch we used our Fast Passes for Soarin, (the stand by line was 85 minutes) With the fast passes we only waited about 10. LOVED this ride! It was so cool! I really liked the scents they spray and it was great to reminisce about Horizons when we flew over the Orange Groves. Tim was really nervous going into this because of the motion sickness warnings but he was fine and loved it too.

After soarin' we headed over towards Test Track and got FP's, then went to The Seas. It was sometime around here that we saw these guys:

The "Jamminators"! They were calling themselves the "JamminGardeners" due to the F&G fest. They also were using Gardening equipment more than trach cans, etc, they had buckets, different size flower pots/planters, etc. Was really cool.

Then we saw these cute little guys:

Here is Tim outside the Living Seas

And some pics from inside:

It was somewhere around now that my Cell phone rang. It was Tim's mom. She said she was having a problem (she was taking care of our cat) and couldn't get into the house!! We all thought she had a key to the house and she even left one with the extra set of our truck keys on the kitchen counter because she was sure she had one. Well it was an old one. I had left extra dry food and he has an electric water fountain that he never empties, so he would be OK but we needed to get a key to her. We didn't have a car to get to a post office so I was going to have to send it from the hotel. At the time it was we figured we would not be able to get it out until the morning so we decided to stay at Epcot.

After The Seas we used the FP's for Test Track then we went to Imagination, I am so dissapointed in this but still go on it, I miss the Dreamfinder and the old Figment. We did the Email a photo to your friends or whatever it was called, Tim wouldn't let me do to much to the pic, I don't know if anyone ever got it. I got one in my email a week after we came home that was of people we don't know.

After Immagination we headed over to World Showcase and saw a couple countries on our way to Germany for our ADR at the Biergarten. We went on the Mexico Boat Ride, it was cute but I have to admit to missing the old one. Here are a couple F&G pics I took on the way.

We checked in at the Biergarten and waited about 15 minutes for our table. We were seated with 2 older couples and one about our age (but VERY tattooed! they were nice though) I had put Tim's B-day on our ressie for this one and there was another man at our table with a b-day too. The band announced different names and celebrations at different points during the dinner and sang Happy Birthday and did the toast to them as well, so it was fun. Food was good, I didn't take any pics since we were seated with other people. I did take a couple pics/videos of the band and restaurant. Used GC but Bill was $78 after tip.

After Dinner we wandered around World showcase a little but we did leave Epcot Early, we were hot and tired and we were going to be at Epcot 2 other days for ADR's so we would be able to get everything else done.

When we got back to the Resort we took a nap then went in the pool for a while, that was really refreshing. We went in the Quiet pool that was close to our room, there were a few people there but it fit it's name.

Next up: Day 4 Studios and a very expensive Key!

 

[tksbaskets]

Your topiary (If that is what the plants shaped like Disney characters are called) pictures are wonderful. I loved your picture of the sea horse too.

How long was your tour? Would you recommend it? Looks like another hot day~

 

[rndmr2]

Your topiary (If that is what the plants shaped like Disney characters are called) pictures are wonderful. I loved your picture of the sea horse too.

How long was your tour? Would you recommend it? Looks like another hot day~

I think it is advertised to be about 45 minutes but ours was closer to an hour. Highly recommend it, really interesting, and they have many different guides, it is not scripted so you can get lots of different info.

It was a really hot day. I liked the Sea Horse too, I don't think I had ever seen one in real life before so that was neat LOL.

 

[rndmr2]

Woke up around 9am, got ready and went right to the front desk (by now it was about 10:30) and explained the situation with the cat. The guy at the desk didn't seem to know what to do but the lady at the next window was a big help. We ended up having it sent UPS next Day Air to the tune of $35!!. I knew it wouldn't be cheap and it was cheaper than a locksmith but wow it was a house key!

By now it was 11am and we missed breakfast so we ate lunch instead. I had the Make your own pasta (chicken, peas, broccoli, alfredo, parm) and Tim had a roast beef sandwich. Tim had chocolate cake and I had a vanilla cupcake for dessert. 2 CS credits but OOP would have been $32.

Took the bus to the Studios and arrived at about noon. Went right to TSM, passing this on the way there

FP return time was 9p to 10p!! Standby line wait time said 80 minutes. we didn't really have any plans until dinner and we were not going to go on TOT or RnR so we went ahead and waited. The cue was pretty cool, here are some pics:

It felt like a long time but when I was looking at my clock and it was really only about 50 minutes. This ride was really fun, the fact that it is 3-D makes it even more cool. I was winning through most of it but the Tim pulled ahead at the end and got a couple big ones. I don't remember the score but Tim won.

After TSM we went over to the Great Movie Ride and waited about 15 minutes for that, Tim didn't remember going on this the last time we were there but liked it.

We then went to the Little Mermaid, got in the stand by line because it didn't look too long but it ended up being pretty long, we would have had to wait maybe 2 shows but then a man came along and asked us if we were a party of 2 and gave us fast passes! That was nice and we got out of line and back into the FP line and got into the very next show, ended up with decent seats as we were in the front part of the line. (wished the FP's were for something like TSM, but it was nice to get a little magic)

After the Little Mermaid we sat on a bench and talked about what to do next, Tim wasn't feeling too good this day and wanted to go back to the room but I convinced him to tough it out until dinner. I also wanted to see the B&B show as we had missed that one last time. We went over to the Back Stage tour and waited about 10 minutes for that one and Tim felt a little better with the walking during the early part of this one.

We then went to wait for the last B & B show, I think we went in at about 4 or 4:15 or so and the show was 4:45. Here are a few pics/videos:

After B & B we walked around a little but then had a bathroom break and headed over to Mama Melrose (early-it was about 10 after 6 and our ADR's were for 7:15 or 7:30 if I recall) and they seated us after just a few minutes, Tim had the Chicken Parm (big surprise) and I had a Caesar Salad and the 4 cheese flatbread, that was really good but wasn't crazy about one thing it may have been the Gorganzola, I scraped most of that off but otherwise it was good. I also had a Pina Colava, oh wow this was yummy! wish I had taken a pic. I did get one of the Salad. Used the GC but Bill was $78 after tip.

Tim was wearing his birthday button and we had noted his birthday on the ADR but other than saying Happy Birthday, there was nothing special done. We didn't order dessert, maybe that's why? Of note this was the first time I was able to convince him to wear it and let me tell you he got a LOT of people saying "Happy Birthday" to him! I got a kick out of it and I think he did to although I think he was a little embarassed too.

We left Mama Melrose and I went in the Muppet store (Sooo sad that this was closed when we were there!!) and then we headed over to Starring Rolls where I planned to get a Butterfinger Cupcake to take back to the room with us but was sad to see that it was closed, I didn't know they closed early (I think they close at 4:30 or something like that).

I tried to convince Tim to stay for Fantasmic but he really wanted to go back so we left, I felt bad for him that I kind if made him stay hours longer than he wanted to so I didn't push the Fantasmic issue which is why I wanted to kill him a couple days later when he asked me "when is that show with all the characters and the fire and lasers? I really wanted to see that one..."


We planned on going back in the pool this night after a short rest but he fell asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake him up, so it was an early night.


Up Next: Epcot and Le Cellier, Tim's B-day

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

great TR so far. What kind of camera are you using? Hope the cat is ok.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great report of your time at DHS. Too bad your DH wasn't feeling well. My DH gets a tad motion sick and on our last trip was off for almost the first day.

I love your pictures. You got a great one of Beauty and the Beast! I love that show. TSMM is one of our favs too.

No Rockin' Roller Coaster?? Now that's a shame

 

[Disneychix]

Great report so far! I can't believe how much you did, we were that at that time to and it was sooo hot! We didn't get that much done!

Man, that is one expensive key to ship home. Did it make it there overnight? Was your kitty ok?

 

[rndmr2]

great TR so far. What kind of camera are you using? Hope the cat is ok.

Thanks! It's a Kodak Easy share, not a real fancy one either but it takes fairly good pics I guess, I'm no photographer so it's all I need

Great report of your time at DHS. Too bad your DH wasn't feeling well. My DH gets a tad motion sick and on our last trip was off for almost the first day.

I love your pictures. You got a great one of Beauty and the Beast! I love that show. TSMM is one of our favs too.

No Rockin' Roller Coaster?? Now that's a shame

Yeah, he had some GI difficulties...

I can't do RnR, I don't like to go upside down and DH doesn't like Roller Coasters in General.

Great report so far! I can't believe how much you did, we were that at that time to and it was sooo hot! We didn't get that much done!

Man, that is one expensive key to ship home. Did it make it there overnight? Was your kitty ok?

It made it by 10am thursday and the cat was fine when MIL and FIL went in. He Had no food left but still had plenty of water and was, needless to say, VERY happy to see them!

 

[tksbaskets]

Glad kitty was fine

 

[rndmr2]

Glad kitty was fine

Yes, he was fine but today I got home to pick my DH up to go to work and he tells me, "I have bad news... I can't find the cat"

I almost killed him! He had been out working on getting our pool open and had left the side door to the garage open, the only thing was, the inner door that comes in the garage from the house was open too! I was real nervous about him being out because he is definitely an indoor cat, has never really been out and is all 4 declawed and thinks he's all that and there's another cat that hangs around and he tries to attack it through the glass door so I thought if he saw that other cat... I didn't want to think about it.

We searched all over the backyard and all over the house and nothing! I asked if he checked the pool and he said he wasn't in there. So we got ready to leave for him to go to work because he didn't want to be late and I was going to come back home to look more and ask neighbors since I only had one more patient to see, but we decided to take one more walk around and I went to the left and there he was!

I was so happy to see him, I opened the door and he ran into the garage and then into the house. I picked him up and checked him over and scratched his ears, etc and then put him down and he just sprawled out on the floor in the hall like it was nothing! And he's lying on the couch now sleeping.

Sorry this is very OT but I had to tell my story.

 

[tksbaskets]

Yes, he was fine but today I got home to pick my DH up to go to work and he tells me, "I have bad news... I can't find the cat"

I almost killed him! He had been out working on getting our pool open and had left the side door to the garage open, the only thing was, the inner door that comes in the garage from the house was open too! I was real nervous about him being out because he is definitely an indoor cat, has never really been out and is all 4 declawed and thinks he's all that and there's another cat that hangs around and he tries to attack it through the glass door so I thought if he saw that other cat... I didn't want to think about it.

We searched all over the backyard and all over the house and nothing! I asked if he checked the pool and he said he wasn't in there. So we got ready to leave for him to go to work because he didn't want to be late and I was going to come back home to look more and ask neighbors since I only had one more patient to see, but we decided to take one more walk around and I went to the left and there he was!

I was so happy to see him, I opened the door and he ran into the garage and then into the house. I picked him up and checked him over and scratched his ears, etc and then put him down and he just sprawled out on the floor in the hall like it was nothing! And he's lying on the couch now sleeping.

Sorry this is very OT but I had to tell my story.

OMGoodness! My cats are indoor cats too so I can share your fright. That would have scared the begeebers out of me Our little furry children can really put us through our paces

 

[rndmr2]

Day 5 Thursday 5/6/10 Tim's B-day and Epcot



we got a late start today and missed breakfast (ended at 11am) so we didn't eat since we had the 1pm ADR at Le Cellier. We got on the bus to Epcot and went over to Universe of Energy, it was just the right amount of time to kill before our ADR and Tim hadn't seen this one. I like Ellen she is funny, it gives the attraction a little humor and isn't as boring as it used to be IMO, (although I do Miss the 2 songs from it)

We headed over towards Canada and saw this on the way

We then headed to LeCellier. I'll admit, I have been to WDW many times (see my siggie) and I don't remember ever seeing LeCellier or really noticing the replica of the Victoria Garden, and I know I have seen the o'Canada Movie. Oh, well. Anyway here are a few pics from outside the Restaurant

Once Inside we checked in and got seated within about 5-10 minutes. Our waiter was from Toronto (just across the lake from us in Rochester) and we chatted a bit about the area. He was really nice and funny, the only thing was that we didn't get one refill on our drinks. We had the light Pomegranite lemonade that all the restaurants seem to have that's pretty good and I had ordered a Very Berry Punch (alcoholic drink) and it was ok but not great, pretty strong alcohol taste, but that lasted through the whole dinner. We both had the Cheddar cheese soup and it was really good but I don't know that it was all that "cheesy" but tasted more like a potato soup with cheese/bacon flavor. A lot of people rave about the pretzel bread with the soup and don't get me wrong, it was good but I actually preferred the white/sourdough bread with the soup but I did like the pretzel bread by itself ( I wanted to ask for mustard! The Philly girl in me likes mustard on her soft pretzels! )

For our Entrees Tim ordered the NY Strip steak (He hates Mushrooms so he wouldn't get the Filet) with some kind of potatoes, I forget what they were he thought it was good. I ordered the King Salmon 2 ways (some kind of Citrus/coconut and a Hoisin BBQ sauce) and Oh wow the BBQ sauce one was out of this world. I am not really a seafood fan but I have had salmon before and liked it but that BBQ sauce was really good on it. I even scraped off the coconut sauce from the other piece and used the rest of the BBQ sauce with it. It came with a spring roll/egg roll thing that I didn't really like. I also ordered a side of Mac and Cheese and one of grilled Asparagus that were good too.

For Dessert Tim got the Chocolate Moose and I got the Campfire S'mores. ( I had planned on trying the Moose or Creme Brulee because I didn't see the S'mores on any of the recent online menus but it was there and I really wanted to try it. It was OK, not great, not really a toasted marshmallow like I thought it would be, the top was basically a marshmallow coated with sprinkles and the cookie layers were more like a Brownie with graham cracker crumbs coating it. Bill was $102!! Before tip, I forget how much tip we left, and that was after Tim's dessert was "on them" due to his birthday. Here are a couple Pics:

Here are a couple of Random pics around the World Showcase:

Off Kilter, I finally after many trips got to see them and I couldn't get Tim to stay longer than a few minutes to watch them, he was a little cranky pants today and wanted to go back to the room early, I had told him I wanted to see Norway, USA, and Japan but he wasn't really wanting to let me browse much, unfortunately

We did see a performer in France and the Impressions de France Movie

The "Candy Lady"

During one of the 2 short rainstorms of our visit

Snow White

I guilted him into letting me go into the butterfly house and Fairy Garden before we left:

We left at about 7pm and headed back to the resort, we ate a late dinner in the food court, Roast Turkey/gravy, mashed potatoes, was pretty good, I think the OOP would have been about $35. I forget what I had for dessert but Tim had chocolate cake.

Up next: Day 6 Back to MK and Whispering Canyon

 

[tksbaskets]

Day 5 Thursday 5/6/10 Tim's B-day and Epcot

Up next: Day 6 Back to MK and Whispering Canyon

What is the delicous looking dish on the left....some type of potato? Did you feel the price of lunch was worth it? We've never eaten at Le Cellier.

I love the pic of you and your DH in France. He doesn't look cranky there

Is the butterfly house only there during the flower festival? I've never seen it.

I love the picture of Mickey and Minnie as American Gothic, plant version.

I really appreciate your taking the time to post your trip report. You have great pictures and I'm enjoying the heck out of coming along.