Cast:
Rawry: Thats me! 43
Mitchy Mama: My partner in Disney 39/40
Devo: The oldest son 16/17
JoJo: The middle child 13
Sissy: Her Highness 5
MeMe: Mother in Law ????
The day of Nightmares
Friday, June 13th / Day 3
The boys decided to go and hit the parks early again today and we would meet them for breakfast. I flip on the weather channel again today and it looks like its going to be a clear day back home. I am relieved. We have also been blessed with good weather here. There has been a couple thunderstorms pop up in the late afternoon, but they were always at a distance. Mitchy MaMa decided to call our neighbor who is watching our puppy to see how things are going. From the tone of her voice I can tell things are not going well. The pup has been pretty much housebroken for a couple months now, but I guess she has had a setback while with them. Mitchy MaMa is apologetic and hopes that everything works out. I of course am prodding her to ask about the weather. Finally, she asks. She said that it had been nice until last night. 4 inches of rain overnight. ------ My heart sank. I broke out into a sweat. Its all coming true. My worst nightmare has just occurred. Maybe it wasnt my worst nightmare, but it was a really bad one. Not only did it rain just a little, it rained a whole lot. I even had thoughts of flying back home just to check on things but I knew nobody would understand. They just said theres nothing you can do about it now, so just enjoy yourself. Right,,, like thats going to be easy.
Today is Mithcy MaMas birthday. I am determined to not be a stick in the mud, so I kept my mouth shut the rest of the day about my worries. Mitchy MaMa and I quit exchanging birthday gifts a number of years ago. We came to a point in our lives where we decided that if we needed anything we would go out and buy it anyway. It didnt really make sense to go out and buy things that we really didnt need. Instead we try to spend the day together doing something we all enjoy and have a nice dinner. Since last October, I had been asking her if she would like to eat at Emerils on her birthday. She said no, that she would like to try something else. As a result, I never made reservations. Finally about three weeks before we were to leave, I told her that shes need to nail down where she wanted to eat. And what does she say Emerils. Great. She couldnt have said that six months ago when I could have got a reservation, she waits until now. I called anyway but nothing was available of course. On a whim, I decided to check Tchoup Chop. Afterall, its also owned by Emeril. They had a spot open at 6:30, so I grabbed it. She was not as thrilled as I had hoped, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.
Where was I? Oh yea. We told the boys to meet us at the Cinnibon right inside the entrance to Island of Adventure. When we got there, they were waiting on us. The boys did not inherit their punctuality from their mother. We grabbed some rolls and spent some time watching the crowds roll into the park while enjoying our breakfast. Of course I managed to use the Fan Club card. Would you expect anything less? Sissy made sure that the Cat in the Hat was a priority today, so it was our first stop. We worked our way through Seuss Landing quickly and then caught the Poseidon show. Walking through the water tunnel was a nice effect. It was now close to noon and I knew that if we didnt eat now, we would be stuffed when it was time to eat with Emeril. For what I knew I would be paying, I wanted to make sure they were hungry come dinner time. We stopped at Mythos and had a quite tasty lunch. Everyone really enjoyed the interior of this restaurant. Very unique and it was delightfully cool compared to the outside temperature. I reached for the Fan Club card, but was cut off in my tracks. Our server said that they dont accept it, but if I had a AAA card they would take that. Well, what do you know? I just so happen to have one of those also. Reaped my 10% and we were on our way.
We rode several more rides including the front row on Dueling Dragons, and then the girls said they wanted to head back to the hotel and hit the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The boys wanted to keep riding, so we split up and I stayed with the boys. Now it was time for some serious thrill ride action. We rode Spiderman a couple times, Dudley Do Right, and then The Hulk. I was doing fine until we got the last row seats. The extra whipping action on the back of the train and the head restraint that was resting on each side of my ears about beat me silly. I felt like I had just gone three rounds with Mike Tyson. Time to throw in the towel. I was done.
When we got back to the hotel I was surprised to find everyone still in the room. We decide to join them at the pool for a quick swim before dinner. Everyone except for MeMe. She has this thing about getting her hair wet. If I had hair, I might feel the same way. The kids only got to go down the slide a couple of times when we heard our first rumble of thunder. A couple of rumbles later, and it was time to evacuate the pool. Everyone headed upstairs except Mitchy MaMa, Sissy, and I. We decided to wait it out awhile and just lounge in a chair and soak up some sun. It was another of those distant storms. Close enough that they closed the pool, but distant enough that it never rained and the sun kept shining. Finally they closed the area around the pool also and so we had no choice but to head back upstairs.
We decided to take the boat tonight for dinner instead of walk. Didnt want to be all hot and sweaty for dinner. We managed to time things perfectly. Just as we were pulling into the dock at CityWalk, the boat from the Royal Pacific was pulling in as well. We hopped off of one boat right onto the other. Once at the Royal Pacific, we checked in to Tchoup Chop and our table was ready. When I made the reservations, I indicated that it was Mitchy MaMas birthday just to see if they would do anything special. As we were being led to our table, I was discreetly asked who was having the birthday. At that point I knew they would do something, just didnt know what. We had a beautiful table in the center between the open kitchen and the water with lily pads. Just gorgeous. Coming into the restaurant, Mitchy MaMa knew exactly what she was going to order. It was going to be the Macadamia Nut crusted Salmon. That was until she heard the special of the day. Some veal dish with lots of wine sauces. She absolutely loves veal, and decided to change her mind. Our waitress brought us a salmon appetizer on the house. It was a bunch of little ceramic Japanese spoons filled with a spiced salmon concoction. Quite tasty, but then I saw something that disturbed me. I was not quite sure how to eat the salmon as the spoons were very deep and almost too big to shove in your mouth. I along with the rest of the group used our salad forks to scoop out the salmon and eat the appetizer. After we were done I laid my fork back down. Soon a gentleman came by and picked up our silverware and took it away. I saw him putting them back in the silverware drawer to be used for future parties. Im sure he thought we hadnt used them since we didnt have a salad, but now I made sure and examined what was left of my silverware very closely.
Dinner came and everything was perfectly prepared. The wait staff was very attentive but not overpowering. I believe that they are pretty well trained in how they are to take care of their diners. At one point when we were almost through, Devo indicated that he didnt need any more water in his glass. The girl asked if she could please fill it anyway, so I guess they are all watched pretty closely. The kids really enjoyed these Japanese sodas that had a marble in them. They were drinking them like they were going out of style. I didnt find out until the bill came that they were 5 bucks a pop. This was a special occasion so I didnt object to loudly. We ended up splitting three different desserts. Two that we paid for and one on the house for Mitchy MaMas birthday. After the appetizer and dinner I was expecting these to be kicked up a notch, but was a little disappointed. They were o.k., but nothing special. I didnt even try to use the Fan Club card here. Tonight, I paid retail!
We headed back to CityWalk but didnt spend much time looking around. We needed to get back and get some rest because tomorrow is the day that we head to Disney World.
Rawry: Thats me! 43
Mitchy Mama: My partner in Disney 39/40
Devo: The oldest son 16/17
JoJo: The middle child 13
Sissy: Her Highness 5
MeMe: Mother in Law ????
The day of Nightmares
Friday, June 13th / Day 3
The boys decided to go and hit the parks early again today and we would meet them for breakfast. I flip on the weather channel again today and it looks like its going to be a clear day back home. I am relieved. We have also been blessed with good weather here. There has been a couple thunderstorms pop up in the late afternoon, but they were always at a distance. Mitchy MaMa decided to call our neighbor who is watching our puppy to see how things are going. From the tone of her voice I can tell things are not going well. The pup has been pretty much housebroken for a couple months now, but I guess she has had a setback while with them. Mitchy MaMa is apologetic and hopes that everything works out. I of course am prodding her to ask about the weather. Finally, she asks. She said that it had been nice until last night. 4 inches of rain overnight. ------ My heart sank. I broke out into a sweat. Its all coming true. My worst nightmare has just occurred. Maybe it wasnt my worst nightmare, but it was a really bad one. Not only did it rain just a little, it rained a whole lot. I even had thoughts of flying back home just to check on things but I knew nobody would understand. They just said theres nothing you can do about it now, so just enjoy yourself. Right,,, like thats going to be easy.
Today is Mithcy MaMas birthday. I am determined to not be a stick in the mud, so I kept my mouth shut the rest of the day about my worries. Mitchy MaMa and I quit exchanging birthday gifts a number of years ago. We came to a point in our lives where we decided that if we needed anything we would go out and buy it anyway. It didnt really make sense to go out and buy things that we really didnt need. Instead we try to spend the day together doing something we all enjoy and have a nice dinner. Since last October, I had been asking her if she would like to eat at Emerils on her birthday. She said no, that she would like to try something else. As a result, I never made reservations. Finally about three weeks before we were to leave, I told her that shes need to nail down where she wanted to eat. And what does she say Emerils. Great. She couldnt have said that six months ago when I could have got a reservation, she waits until now. I called anyway but nothing was available of course. On a whim, I decided to check Tchoup Chop. Afterall, its also owned by Emeril. They had a spot open at 6:30, so I grabbed it. She was not as thrilled as I had hoped, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.
Where was I? Oh yea. We told the boys to meet us at the Cinnibon right inside the entrance to Island of Adventure. When we got there, they were waiting on us. The boys did not inherit their punctuality from their mother. We grabbed some rolls and spent some time watching the crowds roll into the park while enjoying our breakfast. Of course I managed to use the Fan Club card. Would you expect anything less? Sissy made sure that the Cat in the Hat was a priority today, so it was our first stop. We worked our way through Seuss Landing quickly and then caught the Poseidon show. Walking through the water tunnel was a nice effect. It was now close to noon and I knew that if we didnt eat now, we would be stuffed when it was time to eat with Emeril. For what I knew I would be paying, I wanted to make sure they were hungry come dinner time. We stopped at Mythos and had a quite tasty lunch. Everyone really enjoyed the interior of this restaurant. Very unique and it was delightfully cool compared to the outside temperature. I reached for the Fan Club card, but was cut off in my tracks. Our server said that they dont accept it, but if I had a AAA card they would take that. Well, what do you know? I just so happen to have one of those also. Reaped my 10% and we were on our way.
We rode several more rides including the front row on Dueling Dragons, and then the girls said they wanted to head back to the hotel and hit the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The boys wanted to keep riding, so we split up and I stayed with the boys. Now it was time for some serious thrill ride action. We rode Spiderman a couple times, Dudley Do Right, and then The Hulk. I was doing fine until we got the last row seats. The extra whipping action on the back of the train and the head restraint that was resting on each side of my ears about beat me silly. I felt like I had just gone three rounds with Mike Tyson. Time to throw in the towel. I was done.
When we got back to the hotel I was surprised to find everyone still in the room. We decide to join them at the pool for a quick swim before dinner. Everyone except for MeMe. She has this thing about getting her hair wet. If I had hair, I might feel the same way. The kids only got to go down the slide a couple of times when we heard our first rumble of thunder. A couple of rumbles later, and it was time to evacuate the pool. Everyone headed upstairs except Mitchy MaMa, Sissy, and I. We decided to wait it out awhile and just lounge in a chair and soak up some sun. It was another of those distant storms. Close enough that they closed the pool, but distant enough that it never rained and the sun kept shining. Finally they closed the area around the pool also and so we had no choice but to head back upstairs.
We decided to take the boat tonight for dinner instead of walk. Didnt want to be all hot and sweaty for dinner. We managed to time things perfectly. Just as we were pulling into the dock at CityWalk, the boat from the Royal Pacific was pulling in as well. We hopped off of one boat right onto the other. Once at the Royal Pacific, we checked in to Tchoup Chop and our table was ready. When I made the reservations, I indicated that it was Mitchy MaMas birthday just to see if they would do anything special. As we were being led to our table, I was discreetly asked who was having the birthday. At that point I knew they would do something, just didnt know what. We had a beautiful table in the center between the open kitchen and the water with lily pads. Just gorgeous. Coming into the restaurant, Mitchy MaMa knew exactly what she was going to order. It was going to be the Macadamia Nut crusted Salmon. That was until she heard the special of the day. Some veal dish with lots of wine sauces. She absolutely loves veal, and decided to change her mind. Our waitress brought us a salmon appetizer on the house. It was a bunch of little ceramic Japanese spoons filled with a spiced salmon concoction. Quite tasty, but then I saw something that disturbed me. I was not quite sure how to eat the salmon as the spoons were very deep and almost too big to shove in your mouth. I along with the rest of the group used our salad forks to scoop out the salmon and eat the appetizer. After we were done I laid my fork back down. Soon a gentleman came by and picked up our silverware and took it away. I saw him putting them back in the silverware drawer to be used for future parties. Im sure he thought we hadnt used them since we didnt have a salad, but now I made sure and examined what was left of my silverware very closely.
Dinner came and everything was perfectly prepared. The wait staff was very attentive but not overpowering. I believe that they are pretty well trained in how they are to take care of their diners. At one point when we were almost through, Devo indicated that he didnt need any more water in his glass. The girl asked if she could please fill it anyway, so I guess they are all watched pretty closely. The kids really enjoyed these Japanese sodas that had a marble in them. They were drinking them like they were going out of style. I didnt find out until the bill came that they were 5 bucks a pop. This was a special occasion so I didnt object to loudly. We ended up splitting three different desserts. Two that we paid for and one on the house for Mitchy MaMas birthday. After the appetizer and dinner I was expecting these to be kicked up a notch, but was a little disappointed. They were o.k., but nothing special. I didnt even try to use the Fan Club card here. Tonight, I paid retail!
We headed back to CityWalk but didnt spend much time looking around. We needed to get back and get some rest because tomorrow is the day that we head to Disney World.
I cant believe about the silverware. Something to remember in the future..
or, as our Japanese friends would say, totemo oishii desu ne!
