The Long Awaited, Much Anticipated Trip To WDW: Part 5: A DeVine Day

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Starring:
Me: Most folks call me Beth, some call me Liz and when I’m in serious trouble I’m Elizabeth. Disney-holic. Been planning this trip for what seems like eons.

SDS: Dearest husband and best friend. Disney-holic.

Co-Starring:
M&A: Good friends from the other side of the pond. DVC owners at the OKW Resort. If they had not invited us to stay with them, this trip would not be happening

I am up bright and early…before 6 AM, to sneak into the bathroom and get ready for EMH in AK. I decide to be daring that morning and wear shorts (it’s been cold in the mornings and evenings while mid days have been warm). I let SDS sleep in while I do my “thing” in the bathroom (you women know what I’m talking about. It takes time to do the hair and make up). When I finish up, SDS is up and his toe is AMAZINGLY looking fine. (Yes, it still hurts a bit, but it is back to normal coloration. How the heck this happened is beyond me).

Before we head out, I make coffee for M&A (they claim I make good coffee. I always thought I did, but now that I has more positive reinforcement, I feel even better).

We get to AK just after opening. (I am a bit disappointed with our timing on this trip. We used to be able to make it before the parks opened). Dinoland is not yet open (unless you are having breakfast) and since Dinosaur is the one thing I really wanted to do, I have no set plan. So we set out for the Tree of Life. We admire the trunk (what an incredible job they did. The only problem with the tree itself is that it looks too green. Otherwise you would be sure it was a real tree). We head in to ITtbaB. Not my favorite 3D show (I am not a bug lover), but I do love my bug glasses and the pre-show music and posters (Get a photo of SDS in his bug glasses in front of the poster for The Dung And I).

After the show, we decide to head back to try the safari again. We luck out and there is no real wait. We even get the seats right behind the driver. I decided that this time I was just going to sit back and relax and not take any photos. That would have been the case if so many animals weren’t out and about and wandering close to our jeep. I really think this was one of the longest safaris that we have ever been on because the animals have the right of way (and I’m NOT complaining). The only thing we didn’t see on either this safari or our initial one (back on our first afternoon) were the lions. But there was so much else to see and SDS is snapping away once again. (And now more than ever I am loving the digital camera we borrowed from my brother).

SDS is not up to walking any of the trails (something else we’ll have to do on another trip), so we walk over to Dinoland. Walk right in with no wait. I have to admit there were 2 little girls behind us who were really nervous about this ride (why do parents insist on doing this?). I tried to reassure them that nothing bad would ever happen at Disney, but…

Since there are only 2 of us, we get pulled out of line to fill in a space in the front of a car. Excellent! Off we go! It’s another rocky ride, but once again we manage to make it back without getting smashed to bits by the asteroids (no thanks to Dr. Seeker). We go check out our photo at the end of the ride and it is so good, we buy it (Boy are these things overpriced though!). I really look like I’m screaming! And the guy in the back of the ride has “posed” with a “mock terror” look. While waiting to buy the photo, we see the picture of the family with 2 little girls pop up. Their tiny heads are buried. Guess my pep talk didn’t work out.

Then we have another magical moment, but once again I have to back track. My brother is getting married in July and he and his fiancé will be honeymooning in WDW (is there any other place?). I had decided that as a gift to them I would get them Bride and Groom pins. I found the Groom pin during my little adventure in World of Disney, but hadn’t found the Bride one there. I didn’t think it was a problem at the time, but for 2 days I had been searching various pin carts to try and find the Bride one. When we wandered into the carnival atmosphere of Dinosaur, SDS recommends that we check out the pin cart. And there it is! (SDS spots it, not me). So I snap it up! What a relief! I hadn’t seen one in the 2 days that I had been searching and I didn’t see how I could come home with one and not the other. Disney magic (and good eyesight on SDS’ part) saves the day.

We decide to wander over towards Asia. We were going to try either Tarzan Rocks! Or Flights of Wonder, but our timing was off. We did however see quite clearly construction going on (I’m guessing for Expedition Everest). There was no attempt at all to conceal it, which was very Un-Disney-Like (Michael Eisner can you hear me?). Do you really want to look out and see port-a-potties at AK? I’ll admit that I like to see behind the scenes stuff, but this was not behind the scenes at all!

I took a bathroom break, and when I came out, I stumble across another magical moment. There, slowly making her way towards me is DeVine! I had heard about her for years, but never seen her and she was on my list of things I really wanted to experience during the trip. I watch her as she slowly and gracefully walks by and then situates herself against a wall. She has incredible patience and agility as she moves ever so slightly. If I hadn’t seen her coming, I wouldn’t have even noticed her. Again, another “simple” thing that makes for a magical moment.

It was getting to be mid day, so SDS and I decided we needed to head back to OKW for our lunch at Olivia’s with Chef Stephan. As we leave AK, there are lots of characters out and about (but also lots of crowds). However, I did get to see my favorite tree, Wes Palm, and SDS snapped a photo of me next to him (although I didn’t get any time to “play” with him.). We also got to enjoy a live orchestra playing holiday music right outside the AK entranceway.

We go to the bus stop and SDS sits down to wait for the bus, while I stand in the sun. Ah…warm! Our wait is only about 10 minutes (I think the dispatcher called for us as he asked SDS what resort he was headed to). We got a bus all to ourselves. And a very friendly driver. Made the ride back all that much more enjoyable. We talked about commutes in FL and in NJ. I made sure to tell him how much I appreciated the transportation in WDW. I spend enough time in my Ford Escape going and coming from work every day, it’s nice to just sit back and let someone else do the driving.

From the bus stop we head over to Olivia’s. We are seated right away (it is not very crowded and it seems like most of the patrons are older and golf players, which makes sense since there is a lovely course right outside our room). John, our friendly server, brings out the chef. It’s not Stephan! It was Jimmie. And Jimmie did not get it. I was very disappointed, although it was not Stephan’s fault. When we asked we found out his car had broken down and he had to have it towed. L If there had been anyway we would have known about this, we would have skipped this meal (when I originally made our PS, I told SDS that we could skip this one if we wanted, but once we heard Stephan was there, we knew we ABSOLUTELY had to be there).

I wanted a hamburger with bacon and SDS wanted a cheeseburger. Jimmie said none of the rolls had ingredients on them. And then he said that everything was fried in the same oil so that I couldn’t have fries, unless I wanted him to go out of his way and heat up some oil just for my fries. Well I was not a happy camper, so I told him that I did want to have fries and that if he couldn’t find the ingredients for the rolls, I would have my burger without the roll. Maybe it was making him go out of his way a bit, but isn’t the customer the one who’s supposed to come first? Luckily, Jimmie found some Wonder Bread brand rolls which did have the ingredients on them.

We wait quite a while for our meal. Even, John, our server notices (I think he thought someone else was going to bring it out). He finally comes out with our meal. My burger is minus the bacon, but I’m not going to complain at this point. I’m just disappointed. However, John keeps the mood up at our table. He is funny and brings extra pickles when I ask and keeps us floating with all the refills (when we were only half done with the glass). Plus at the next table there is a group of 4 CMs. One of them, Roy, is having a birthday. So John comes out with a cake and makes the whole restaurant sing “Happy Birthday”. So while Jimmie wasn’t the best of chefs (or personalities), John was keeping spirits bright. An amazing contrast in attitudes.

After lunch (and wishing Roy a happy birthday as we passed the table, as well as showing SDS the infamous Town Crier Children photo), we head back to the room to rest for just a little while. We haven’t spent enough time in Epcot (of course one can never spend enough time in Epcot in my book). So after I get a little sunshine out on the patio, we catch the bus to Epcot.

I am still hesitant to go on Mission: Space, so we decide to pass it until Wednesday morning (before we go home). I want to check out Test Track. It says single riders have a 20 minute wait. What a lie! It was maybe 5 minutes. We went through the front entrance for the first time however (they used to divert singles to the side), so this was the first time we got to see the entranceway to the ride. I adore Test Track (especially the heat room). And when you burst outside…well I just love it, although I thought it was a bit faster than it had been in the past. But maybe I have just been away from it for too long.

After Test Track, we headed over to the World Showcase so that I could hear the storytellers (which was one of my goals). We took a “pit stop” at the rest rooms at Odyssey. Did you know you can hear the cars from Test Track there? I could sort of hear them roaring around from the ladies room, but SDS says you can really hear them in the men’s room!

We hit Mexico first and seeing that the 3 Magi are going to be there in about 15 minutes, we go inside to ride El Rio Del Tiempo again and when we come out it is perfect timing. The Kings are wonderful together and very gracious when it comes to photo taking. Our timing was off for Norway L but we were just right for the Monkey King in China. Boy he FUNNY! A not to be missed holiday treat!

Our timing was off again in Germany and Italy, but we did get to see the Living Statue (one of my favorite performances in the WS). There was quite a crowd there, so I didn’t get to interact with the statue (I am a big ham and love “playing” with the statue), but we did watch and do a lot of laughing.

In America I finally decided to purchase a Holidays Around The World ornament for our tree (was thinking about the sweatshirt, but thought I would prefer one from MVMCP, so I went for the ornament instead). Continuing onward, we saw the drummers in Japan, but our timing was off for Morocco. We had already seen Pere Noel and Father Christmas (on a previous trip in 2000). Although we did see Father Christmas coming into the park area at the UK and I have to say he had a wonderful singing voice!

We missed Papa Noel in Canada, but got to see Off Kilter! What is a trip to Epcot without Off Kilter. They were also very generously posing for photos after the show, so I got my photo taken. I told them I wanted to say that I was their biggest fan in NJ, but I know that honor goes to Debi. J They told me they’d have another cd out next year, so I’ll be sure to look out for it!

We then headed back into Future World to catch a long time favorite, Ellen’s Energy Adventure. My only concern was timing, as this is a long attraction (but fun every minute) and we were supposed to meet M&A at Victoria’s Falls at the Animal Kingdom Lodge before going down to dinner at Boma. I thought we would be cutting it a little close. But we enjoyed the show any way. I did find it curious that the center row of cars was missing, but appeared at the very last “room”. Must be having some sort of problem. Also another “glitch”. At the end when Jeopardy is finishing up, I had NO IDEA we were so close to the dinosaurs. Timing must have been off because you could barely hear the movie portion, but could very clearly hear the dinosaurs, which must be right behind the curtain. (And being the bad girl that I am, I was very tempted to get out of my car and climb under the curtain to check it out! But I didn’t).

Immediately after Ellen’s, we headed towards the bus. Again, time we very tight, but the Bus Gods were with us. There was an AKL bus just waiting for us and once we got on, it headed right out! How’s that for timing!

We enter AKL through the main entrance instead of through the Marketplace because we wanted to find that lucky spot that you’re supposed to touch for good luck. I thought it was between the two doors, but I was wrong.

Since we are actually early (due to good bus service), we go into the Marketplace and shop around a bit. I love this store! I was very much drawn to some of the framed sketches of the hotel (I already have ones of the GF and Poly hanging in our guest bedroom). And while we were there, whom did we meet? M&A who were also doing some shopping. We all went out to the lobby to take some photos of the tree and decorations (and I think this was the best of all the trees, but I think AKL is probably my favorite resort, so I’m very biased).

Then we went down to Boma. It was not crowded at all (although it would be later, so a word of advice: if you’re going to have dinner there, try for an early seating unless you really want to wait). I barely had time to go to the restroom to clean up before we were called to our table.

Our server brought over Chef Freddie upon our request and he spent a lot of time going over what I could and could not eat. He promised to make me a plate and said he would speak to the pastry chef about getting me some dessert too (without me requesting it. Again, what a contrast between Jimmie & Freddie). Everyone ordered drinks (I stuck to ginger ale because when I am nervous about eating I don’t want to have alcohol in my system. I wish I hadn’t because SDS has the Victoria Falls Mist and he thought it was WONDERFUL! I think A had one too. And then M&A shared a bottle of red wine). Everyone, but me, went up for starters. They ate. I drank ginger ale. They went and got more food. I drank ginger ale. I was feeling a little uncomfortable as everyone else was eating and I was just sitting there. And this went on for a good ½ hour if not more. I was kind of upset, thinking that Chef Freddie had made a plate for me and it had gotten forgotten.

Well, finally, Chef Freddie comes over with a HUGE plate and a cover on it. Now I know why I had to wait for so long. There were 3 boneless pork chops (LARGE), a HUGE piece of prime rib, some veggies (even more in a little dish on the side) and pap. He explained how everything was cooked and what was in everything. He had definitely gone above and beyond. I kid you not when I say that I could have survived for a week on all the food that was on that plate (I wanted to have the left overs shipped back to NJ, but…). Not only was it a delicious meal (and I shared some of it with my tablemates and they concurred.), but Freddie had really taken his time to make me feel comfortable. (and now I was really wishing I’d had a Victoria Falls Mist). And just as I had given up on this huge meal (and it looked as if I had barely touched the plate, that’s how much food there was! And it was sooooooo good!), our waiter came back with dessert for me. There was some sorbet (obviously no eggs in this one) and something else which I don’t know what it was, but it was so good. It was white and creamy and very sweet. I think the top of it had burnt sugar on it. I never quite got the name of it or what it was, but it was yummy. Again, a thumbs up to Chef Freddie for getting me a special dessert (whatever it was, there was something similar to it on the dessert buffet bar, but it was obvious that mine was slightly different). The rest of the table partook in the dessert buffet and SDS & A enjoyed the zebra domes.

After this delicious and filling meal, we went to find the animals on the savannah, but there weren’t ANY! This was the only time I’d ever been to AKL and NOT seen any animals. Oh well!

Hit the Marketplace again, where M insisted on buying me a framed picture of the AKL for Christmas. Then we got in the car (M&A had driven over) and headed back to OKW. I had thought about returning to Epcot, but decided after such a wonderful meal, a good rest was in order (plus SDS said there was no way we were going back!).

So we just relaxed around the OKW. We watched a bit of the holiday DVD M had bought (the many views of the Osbourne Family lights was really interesting, but the rest of the DVD was kind of lame). Then we turned in for an early night.

Tomorrow will be a full day at MK with MVMCP at night (and we will finally meet up with our friend Em. And for those of you wondering, we never did get to hook up with our friend Ken, despite several tries on the phone. This was the first year that we’ve been down there that we haven’t gotten together. L But there’s always next year!).

 

[Sinderella]

The mystery dessert sound like creme brulee. My favorite. Very nice report, thanks!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

But how would you make a creme brulee without eggs? Since I've never had one, is it kind of "jelly" like (consistency, not taste).