The Golden Girls Do Disney! ~ FINISHED!!

[PNO4TE]

Great start! Can't wait to see more pics of The Golden Girls!

Our last meal at Jiko (Dec. 2008) wasn't so good. We'll have to try it again on our next trip.

You know, that was our one bad meal there... Christmas trip 2008.

 

[honeydiane1953]

You know, that was our one bad meal there... Christmas trip 2008.

Is it just me??? Can u simplify what your vanity plates says.

 

[micandminforever]

Great start, I look forward to the rest of your report.

 

[PNO4TE]

Is it just me??? Can u simplify what your vanity plates says.

It says PNO4TE = piano forte (I teach piano!)

Thanks for joining in!!

 

[PNO4TE]

Great start, I look forward to the rest of your report.

and thanks for joining in!

 

[Tink rules]

It says PNO4TE = piano forte (I teach piano!)

Thanks for joining in!!

I had to figure it out too (long ago, though...)

Mine's Bdelia (it's the name my grandfather called all of his cars.)

 

[Angel16]

Elin, I just found out you have started your TR

I love the pictures of the three of you together, looks like you were having a great time. How great that conciege put you in three rooms next to each other. You view looks great!

Thanks for sharing your trip and the time it takes to write it all and upload your photos.




Angel16

 

[PNO4TE]

Elin, I just found out you have started your TR

I love the pictures of the three of you together, looks like you were having a great time. How great that conciege put you in three rooms next to each other. You view looks great!

Thanks for sharing your trip and the time it takes to write it all and upload your photos.

Glad to have you on here, Angel! The only bad thing about the trip was that it was too short!

More to come today.

 

[PNO4TE]

I am a morning person. I wake up before the sun does. Boy am I glad I am like this when I go to WDW. I sometimes see the most amazing things!

Every morning the AKL zoo keepers put out food to tempt the animals back to the savannas and they also count heads of those creatures who do not go back to the barns for the night. Here is what we saw every morning. And you should have heard the pelicans greeting them. Who knew they were so noisy??

And then I was greeted with this event:

I was still up way before I needed to meet my friends so I wandered around the resort and took a few photos:

Nackie and Ann met me in the lounge for breakfast.

After a fine meal we jumped on a bus bound for Epcot. We wanted to get FastPasses for Soarin' and do a few other things there before going to the MK for a couple of hours.

These gorgeous topiaries and other flowers greeted us. WDW gardeners certainly spend hours and hours making sure everything is perfect for the Flower and Garden Festival!

We made our way to The Land and got FPs for later in the morning. There was no wait for "Living With the Land" so we rode that too.

On our way back to Spaceship Earth we saw a whole group of young people. We wanted to steal their backsacks! For some reason we thought they would be appropriate for the three of us.

We saw the giraffe topiaries and I thought Nackie's face would split wide open with her grin! She LOVES giraffes. So we had to take lots of pictures.

And then we rode Spaceship Earth. I love this attraction. And I am thrilled with the changes mad since Siemens took over the sponsorship. The whole communications angle makes so much more sense and is up-to-date now.

Up next... the Magic Kingdom!

 

[TigerKat]

LOVE the early morning pics, so interesting! I love the new Spaceship Earth too!

 

[PNO4TE]

After our first monorail ride the Magic Kingdom held no surprises and we got to ride lots of favorites. We also ate at Columbia Harbour House, which I personally love!

We have a theme to our pictures, it seems. There are lots of photos that the three of us took with someone pointing at something. Then there are the shots of someone taking a photo of something else. But my favorite themed collection is of Ann with outstretched arms!

Here is the first example:

As you can see, the MK was fairly empty! We had very little wait for anything at all. Pirates and Haunted Mansion were both less than 10 minutes. (Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan were both 45 minute waits so we decided to skip them this time around.) We never even got over to Tomorrowland!

We had to take a picture of this dress. The original is in the James Monroe Library here in Fredericksburg.

After a water break at Pinnochio's Village Haus we set off on a return monorail to Epcot.

Soarin' was awesome and we managed to do a complete walk-on for Nemo and Friends!

Dinner and a show up next!

 

[PNO4TE]

Then it was time for dinner!

We were on the second tier and it was not bad at all. The booth was comfortable and we could all see the aquarium very well. (Except for the very first time our family ever ate at this restaurant we have had front and center tables right along the tank, so I had some doubts. But the seats were very good!)

There were lots of creatures swimming and a lot of divers. I mean a LOT!

While we were deciding what to eat I ordered a glass of MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir and Ann and Nackie had a Riesling that they were pleased with.

We started with the Appetizer for Two which was perfect for the three of us! Ann doesn't like Lobster Bisque, so Nackie and I had that and shared one of each of the other items on the plate and Ann had no trouble eating the rest. Included were grilled shrimp with cucumber salad and BBQ beef skewer with creamy polenta as well as tiny crabcakes served with a slaw and chutney. Everything was wonderful.

Entrees we chose were:

Grilled Mahi Mahi topped with shrimp over cashew-jasmine rice finished with a coconut rum beurre blanc

Red Snapper with wild mushroom and scallop risotto with celery root Nage finished with parsley-truffle oil

Roasted Scottish Salmon with leek fondue, risotto, asparagus, and white wine reduction

Desserts were accompanied by a glass of a sparkling cava. Perfect!

The Chocolate Wave served with raspberries

Butterscotch Cremé Brulée with seasonal berries

We had a good time at dinner. Our server was attentive for the most part and the meal was very nice. (I do have to say that the salmon I had in December was far superior to what I had this evening.)

I think the theming of this restaurant is spot on.

As we were leaving we caught a bit of Illuminations and took our time looking at the wonders in Future World.

When we returned to AKL we decided to find the night vision goggle area to see what we could see. Wow! This was an amazing experience. I highly recommend it to anyone at AKL in the evenings.

We decided to turn in a little early (11:30) because we have a big day tomorrow. We are doing the Sunrise Safari!

 

[RachelTori]

Great pictures, Elin! Your new camera is awesome!!

What setting did you use in the Nemo ride? (Once I'm not in natural light, I have problems figuring out what setting to use!! )

 

[PNO4TE]

Great pictures, Elin! Your new camera is awesome!!

What setting did you use in the Nemo ride? (Once I'm not in natural light, I have problems figuring out what setting to use!! )

Believe it or not, I used the AUTO setting the entire time I was at WDW. I haven't figured out all those new-fangled settings yet!!

ETA: According to Photobucket, I had it on auto flash with red-eye reduction. I don't know if it flashed or not!

 

[TigerKat]

Great update El!!!!

We haven't been to Coral Reef since '07 as we were disappointed in the seafood offerings. Looks like they've really increased the variety of seafood available!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Lovely update!

 

[CJsMom]

Great update! What could be better than sunrise at AKL?

 

[micandminforever]

I enjoyed the update. You covered a lot of rides and two of my favorite restaurants Columbia Harbour House and Coral Reef.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

My word. I've been so out of it I didn't even know that you had an opportunity to go back! Good for you! LOVE the Golden Girls theme. I can tell already that you gals had a fantastic time. Club Level is something I would love to do someday and I am anxiously awaiting a review of the sunrise safari! Loved the early am pictures of AK but not so sure about this waking before the sun while on vacation business.

I see you have 145 days til F&W... I have 150 something... I wonder if we will overlap?

Looking forward to hearing more. Oh and the pics from your new camera are awesome!!

 

[PNO4TE]

I am on a TR hiatus while I spend time planting my garden! Back again soon!