Third Time's a Charm PTR - May 2012 - I should give up on planning trips.

[franandaj]

I may not go to DL anymore, but I can still live it through the pictures you take. Thanks for sharing. Thats alot of strawberrys.

Never enough strawberries.

Never too many strawberries!

I must say, the orange tigger tail (are they all called tigger tails or just the orange ones? ) look pretty tasty. Have you ever tried that one?

I'm sure you know why they don't fly in their carpet anymore right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv_tR9w6LMw

I'd be scared out of my mind! You can even hear the poor girl playing Jasmine yelling. Scary.

But you guys got excellent seats. It's been a while since i've seen that show. Sounds like I need to go watch it again.

Only the orange are Tigger Tails and they are really tasty, they don't taste orange. They used to have Cheshire Tails and sold those at all the candy stores. They were good too, I like the crunch of the sparklies. The other ones are called Marshmallow Wands.

About the carpet, OMG! I had no idea. For the last hour I've been obsessed watching YouTube Malfunction Videos. That was awful. It looks like it had been having problems for a while because there was another one where they couldn't get the carpet back into the wings of the stage and Jasmine and Aladdin just waved as everyone left the theater.

Excuse me - do we have a winner? Very competitive and VERY nosy. Smiling.

I realized after looking at another's TR that I should have taken shots of our scores. I got 112,000ish, Fran got 68,000ish and Arline got 28,000ish. Oh and shortly after this I thought of you when I saw Duffy the bear in his sailor's suit! He was just leaving the Meet n Greet, otherwise I would have snapped a photo, but he ran away too quickly.

Yum on the strawberries. Nice shot as well.

Thanks!

Great pics. My kids love the tigger tails. When in Pooh Corner though, I must have a caramel apple.

I have a whole list of things that I get at the candy stores. I bring them home and eat them over the next week or so!

Final DL Update coming soon!

 

[franandaj]

Saturday, February 11, 2012 (checkout day )

So on the final day, we decided that we would concentrate on packing up and checking out, then hit the park. We made our last trip to the Concierge Lounge for breakfast and Arline and I got there in the nick of time. Fran requested that I bring her a bagel and some strawberries. I had my usual cereal, fruit and croissant sandwich, with coffee and cappuccino.

Fran always dawdles on checkout, it drives me nuts, we’re supposed to be out of there at 11AM not calling the bell services! But since there is not really anything I can do without causing a fight, I just put up with my discomfort at her not being ready.

Oh yeah and before I forget, I snapped these pics of our view before we left the room. I wasn’t thrilled with it and had I had a Paradise Pier view, I would have probably sat out on the balcony sipping wine, but oh well!

Once we hit the park our first stop was Tower of Terror. I warned Arline that the elevator goes up and down multiple times, but the first one caught her by surprise. She caught air on the drop and hit her hip on the seat on the way back up. Next time she was ready and held on so her butt didn’t get any more sore. She says she’ll try it in Florida, just to see the difference, but it’s not one of her faves.

Next we moved on to

We were hungry and there are some new restaurants around Paradise Pier. I sort of wanted a corn dog, but got out voted, so we decided to check the other places. One is a Mediterranean style restaurant with skewers, (choose your meat, choose your sauce) over rice pilaf, and a Greek Salad.

The other place was pizza, pasta and salad. We decided on that one and I can’t remember the names of either place! but it’s getting late in the TR and I am tired. Arline got a salad with lots of funky things, and no meat. I got the kids Alfredo Pasta, she also got the kids spaghetti and meatballs, we got a BBQ Chicken Flatbread, and Fran ate off of all of them.

We were entertained by these folks while we ate.

We went on a ride that I have never been on before

Then it was time for Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Death. See back to my picture from the previous night, I didn’t get a wide shot of this ride today. Arline wanted to ride in a swinging car. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a swinging car before and I’m not sure that I want to ride in a swinging car again.

It wasn’t that bad, but if I’m going on that ride, it is for the vantage of seeing the whole park, not to make me nauseous. I didn’t get sick, but I certainly didn’t feel great. However it wasn’t anything that a Mickey Head Ice Cream Bar wouldn’t fix!

So after that they wrapped me up in a box and took me home.

Alicia, here is the pin that they gave us for doing the tour of Walt’s Apartment

Next up Valentines Day!

 

[Leshaface]

Do the CM's ever look around for children when you ask for a kids meal? Sometimes the kids meals just sound good at the time, but wasn't sure if I needed to have a child with me in order to get one. Because that spaghetti and meatballs meal looks pretty big with the applesauce and milk.

I'm not a huge fan of the swinging vehicles either. I used to back in the day, but now ferris wheels just scare me. I think i'm afraid that the entire wheel will tip into the water and i'll be stuck in the cage and drown (dang i've been sounding morbid lately! )

Ooh! I love that pin! So neat. Wonder how much they're going for on ebay. What is that pin next to it? Looks like a cup of coffee or something? Don't think i've seen that one.

 

[focusondisney]

I was behind but just caught up. What a great trip you guys had!! Gonna be hard to top that at WDW. We do concierge at WDW but never at DL. After reading here & seeing all the strawberries, I might have to con DH into booking it in Nov. But we really like DL Hotel, I wonder if they have the strawberries there too. I am actually thinking about staying at Grand Californian, but I'm afraid we'll miss DL hotel. Guess I've got a few more months to decide.

I loved all the pictures, except the one from the ferris wheel. I am absolutely terrified of heights; I could feel myself hyperventilating & panicking just looking at the pictures! But Arline's "funky salad" looked very yummy to me. I love those kind of salads!

So how did Arline like it? Think she'll enjoy WDW?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ahhhhh...the swinging gondolas. I always enjoy that feeling of reacquainting the pits of my stomach with the top of my lungs.....NOT!

 

[Pinkocto]

Leaving day already! It always comes too fast. Now to look forward to the next trip

Yes, please tell us what Arline thought. I forgot to mention what an excellent idea it was to show her some of the Disney movies to get her ready.

Thanks for sharing the adventure

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm sure you know why they don't fly in their carpet anymore right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv_tR9w6LMw

I'd be scared out of my mind! You can even hear the poor girl playing Jasmine yelling. Scary.

That video was terrible! I never heard that that happened. Does anyone know if someone was killed on Splash Mountain at DL? We did one of the Backstage tours last year and our guide told us that they were putting seat restraints on the one at WDW because someone died in DL. I hope he was just trying to scare us. I never looked into it, guess I was scared it was true.

 

[rentayenta]

My favorite treat is the dark chocolate rocky road. I was so focussed on those stupid candy canes, I totally forgot to grab some. Three days is not enough time. I won't make that mistake again!

Hate hate hate Mickey's Sunwheel of Death. The swinging cars are overwhelming.

 

[bangzoom6877]

So, how does the Tower of Terror at DL compare to the one at WDW? ToT is my DH's favorite ride at WDW.

You are brave going on the ferris wheel, especially the swinging car! I would be scared out of my mind! At Coney Island here in Brooklyn, NY, they have the famous Wonder Wheel...there are swinging cars on it and regular ones. I have watched it numerous times and wow, it's crazy! I have never been on it though! And I agree with you about the Mickey ice cream bar...it is the solution to everything!

Glad you guys had such a nice trip!

 

[franandaj]

Do the CM's ever look around for children when you ask for a kids meal? Sometimes the kids meals just sound good at the time, but wasn't sure if I needed to have a child with me in order to get one. Because that spaghetti and meatballs meal looks pretty big with the applesauce and milk.

I'm not a huge fan of the swinging vehicles either. I used to back in the day, but now ferris wheels just scare me. I think i'm afraid that the entire wheel will tip into the water and i'll be stuck in the cage and drown (dang i've been sounding morbid lately! )

Ooh! I love that pin! So neat. Wonder how much they're going for on ebay. What is that pin next to it? Looks like a cup of coffee or something? Don't think i've seen that one.

The CM didn't seem to bat an eye that we were buying two kids meals and two adult meals. I'll tell you we didn't even eat the applesauce until a couple days later. I keep applesauce like that around the house for a snack so it was perfect. I'm going to look at the kids meals more often because the chocolate milk was really good and the Alfred Pasta was just enough with a piece and a half of the flat bread. I don't think you could get away with it at a TS, but at a CS, how do they know that someone is not at the table with a bunch of kids?

I like the non-swinging cars, but don't think I want to do the swinging one again.

The one next to it is a cup of coffee, I also have a Mickey Waffle with butter. My focus on pins is if they are food or wine related. I have Mickey flying on a cork, a DDP pin, some F&W pins and I just picked up a Mickey Bar and a Popcorn.

I was behind but just caught up. What a great trip you guys had!! Gonna be hard to top that at WDW. We do concierge at WDW but never at DL. After reading here & seeing all the strawberries, I might have to con DH into booking it in Nov. But we really like DL Hotel, I wonder if they have the strawberries there too. I am actually thinking about staying at Grand Californian, but I'm afraid we'll miss DL hotel. Guess I've got a few more months to decide.

I loved all the pictures, except the one from the ferris wheel. I am absolutely terrified of heights; I could feel myself hyperventilating & panicking just looking at the pictures! But Arline's "funky salad" looked very yummy to me. I love those kind of salads!

So how did Arline like it? Think she'll enjoy WDW?

I bet DLH has a lot of strawberries too. They are almost always in season here, in fact all the roadside stands just opened up. They have become very healthy at DLR, lots of salads with odd things that I personally don't like (cranberries, raisins, nuts), give me a salad with bacon, steak, turkey, chicken, or antipasto and some lettuce and I'm a happy camper!

Arline had a blast! Even though we didn't get to do everything, she was on sensory overload. I think she'll enjoy WDW there are so many more things to do and staying at AKL can't be beat, plus all the dining experiences that we have planned, it will seem just as special as concierge level!

Ahhhhh...the swinging gondolas. I always enjoy that feeling of reacquainting the pits of my stomach with the top of my lungs.....NOT!

Yeah, probably won't be repeating that one. I've heard people say about how they can do ToT, CA Screamin, and everything else. I didn't get sick, but the feeling wasn't fun and exhilirating, more like disconcerting and nauseating!

Leaving day already! It always comes too fast. Now to look forward to the next trip

Yes, please tell us what Arline thought. I forgot to mention what an excellent idea it was to show her some of the Disney movies to get her ready.

Thanks for sharing the adventure

As I said above she had a blast! We still have to continue her education though. We walked through a Bug's Land and she didn't get it, so needless to say we didn't take her on It's Tough to Be a Bug. We don't have A Bug's Life so Fran ordered from the Disney store (they were having a 50% off sale the other day). She's coming down early before our trip, so we'll watch a few more of the movies she hasn't seen. Hopefully we'll get another day out at DL before we go to WDW. We can do the monorail, the Bugs and some Fantasyland Rides.

That video was terrible! I never heard that that happened. Does anyone know if someone was killed on Splash Mountain at DL? We did one of the Backstage tours last year and our guide told us that they were putting seat restraints on the one at WDW because someone died in DL. I hope he was just trying to scare us. I never looked into it, guess I was scared it was true.

I hadn't heard about the Aladdin ride, but no one was killed on Splash at DL. It has been years since there was an accident out there. I think the only person killed in recent times was on BTMRR and that was in 2003.

My favorite treat is the dark chocolate rocky road. I was so focussed on those stupid candy canes, I totally forgot to grab some. Three days is not enough time. I won't make that mistake again!

Hate hate hate Mickey's Sunwheel of Death. The swinging cars are overwhelming.

I wish we could justify more than three days, but luckily we can do day trips if all our apartments are rented and we are caught up. Hopefully that will happen in the near future!

Nuff said on the swinging gondolas!

So, how does the Tower of Terror at DL compare to the one at WDW? ToT is my DH's favorite ride at WDW.

You are brave going on the ferris wheel, especially the swinging car! I would be scared out of my mind! At Coney Island here in Brooklyn, NY, they have the famous Wonder Wheel...there are swinging cars on it and regular ones. I have watched it numerous times and wow, it's crazy! I have never been on it though! And I agree with you about the Mickey ice cream bar...it is the solution to everything!

Glad you guys had such a nice trip!

It's been almost a year since I was on WDW's ToT, but my recollection is that the ride is a little better there than in DCA. They are virtually identical, but there are subtle differences, just like all the rides. In most cases I prefer the DL versions, but ToT is one that it seems I like WDW's better.

 

[franandaj]

So this will be the last of my off topic updates for a while, but since everyone loves food porn, I’m sure you’ll indulge me in this last diversion. We went to our favorite restaurant for Valentines Day. We had a party of five and it was quite a lot of fun. I really didn’t get any shots of our dining companions, just the food!

So here was our table setting. Each course came with a wine pairing so there were plenty of glasses!

They started us off with a glass of champagne, but my picture didn’t come out. I also ordered a Belvedere Gibson Up.

I also forgot to take a picture of the goody bag that they gave us, but it had a champagne flute with the logo and date etched on it. We also got a box of chocolates, four truffle style chocolates, which I have eaten almost all of them now!

Here is the evening’s menu

It’s nice and a blessing when you have choices, sometimes you can’t decide and others it’s obvious. We all started off with the same first course.

Strawberry Gazpacho, Pistachio Crusted Rhubarb, Dehydrated Fromage Blanc accompanied by a Rucsak, Sauvignon Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley 2009

For our next course we got a choice, Maine Lobster Cocotte, Heirloom Tomato Nage

Or Oregon Mushroom & Asparagus Croquette, Salted Cholate Froth, everyone but Fran got the Lobster. I took one bite of hers and thought it was nasty, seemed to be OK for her, but she got part of both mine and Arline’s Lobster thingy. Both were served with a Williams Selyem, Chardonnay, Chalk Hill Vineyard, Russian River 2007.

On the Main, we had three choices no one chose the vegetarian, but again the table chose the Beef Short Rib.

Fran wants you all to be proud of her for being healthy and ordering the vegetarian appetizer selection and the Salmon. This was served with the Flora Springs Trilogy, Napa Valley 2007.

Next up was the dessert. This time Arline was the odd one out. Everyone else went for the Minted Valrhona Dark Chocolate Fondue, Milk Chocolate Orange Madeline. The chocolate was awesome, in fact once I ran out of cookies and things to dip in it, I just dug in with my spoon. Not pictures because it wasn’t pretty!

Arline did the Angel Sponge Cake, Crème Choud-Froid, Raspberry Coffee Anglaise, both were accompanied by an Edge Hill, Vintage Point

We got all kinds of yummy truffle chocolates on exit, and we left definitely full and happy!

We will return to your regularly scheduled pre-trip report programming after this.

 

[rentayenta]

For Valentines too? Literally I feel like an out of water big mouthed bass every time I read your report; mouth agape, unable to breath. What a beautiful way to celebrate love. Tell Fran that I, some random 2D friend, is proud of her for her salmon selection.

 

[Leshaface]

Love that they put rose petals on the table. So pretty.

Okay, i'm sure you've answered this question before but what is a belvedere gibson up? I know it must have belvedere vodka, but that's all I know. Also, I hope you took that picture after you took a few sips, right? Or do they only fill it half way?? That short rib looks amazing!

 

[franandaj]

For Valentines too? Literally I feel like an out of water big mouthed bass every time I read your report; mouth agape, unable to breath. What a beautiful way to celebrate love. Tell Fran that I, some random 2D friend, is proud of her for her salmon selection.

Fall and Winter are times a plenty for member events since they are only open for dinner on Fri, Sat and Sun. They usually have them once a month, but this month there is a second one next week. A guy from the film restoration department will be there deomonstrating how they keep the old animated films from deteriorating and some of the processes that they go through so as not to lose the heritage. I'm sure we'll have a fabulous meal to go with it!

Fran says "thank you" for being proud of her!

Love that they put rose petals on the table. So pretty.

Okay, i'm sure you've answered this question before but what is a belvedere gibson up? I know it must have belvedere vodka, but that's all I know. Also, I hope you took that picture after you took a few sips, right? Or do they only fill it half way?? That short rib looks amazing!

I had a sip or two, but they don't pour very big drinks. Considering we had five other glasses of wine and Arline gave me most of hers, I was fine!

Belevedere - vodka (you were right on that one)
Gibson - Onion instead of Olive
Up - strained in the Martini glass, not on the rocks. Most Martinis are served up, but I have sometimes received them on the rock and so now I just specify.

One time I got it wrong and said Gimlet instead of Gibson.

They do valentines nice up there. I always hear about people who go to regular restaurants and how awful it is because they pack in the crowds, turn the tables quickly, and make it just not fun. We had our table all night, in fact we stayed for an extra hour or so just chatting about silly things and having a general good time. When they walked us out the park was completely empty.

 

[rentayenta]

Now I think you're just bragging. I can't wait to read all about it.

And Gimlets are nasty.

 

[franandaj]

Now I think you're just bragging. I can't wait to read all about it.

And Gimlets are nasty.

Yes! I suppose I am!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I am always seeing the food porn before I eat! Dang it! I give, what is a gimlet? All the food looks so good. At least Fran was trying to stay on the healthy track. Hey went it comes to chocolate, a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I am always seeing the food porn before I eat! Dang it! I give, what is a gimlet? All the food looks so good. At least Fran was trying to stay on the healthy track. Hey went it comes to chocolate, a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.

 

[franandaj]

I am always seeing the food porn before I eat! Dang it! I give, what is a gimlet? All the food looks so good. At least Fran was trying to stay on the healthy track. Hey went it comes to chocolate, a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.

I'm not exactly sure but it was sweet and limey, yuck!

 

[rentayenta]

A Gimlet is a martini made with gin and lime juice instead vermouth. I don't like gin though. Horrific! I prefer my martinis dirty and with vodka.