This Gonna Be Good! Updated 8/16- Pecos Bill
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chocolateMinnie
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How awful but thank God it wasn't more serious. Will look forward to more reviews when life settles back to normality for you 
irishsharon
DIS Veteran
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sending some hugs and prayers for both of you
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
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Thank you, I certainly will!
How awful but thank God it wasn't more serious. Will look forward to more reviews when life settles back to normality for you
Yes, we are so thankful he wasn't hurt more seriously. He said he was headed straight for the pole but at the least second the car swerved to take the impact on the side. We hope everything settles soon.
Thank you, I'll pass word along!
Thank you very much!
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
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Cant wait to read the rest...when this calm down for ya
Thanks for sticking around!
Can't wait for more!
Aw, you're all so encouraging, thanks!
Jasmine_710
And they lived happily ever after...
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can't wait to hear more.
we are going to EOS for the first time our next trip and this got me extra excited to try it!
we are going to EOS for the first time our next trip and this got me extra excited to try it!
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
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Aww, I hope you very much enjoy it!
Annnnnd we're back! It's double apology time for having neglected my two report threads. I have been a very bad Dis'er I know, but Naveen and I have been very busy little bees. After his accident, there was much recuperation for him and settling that had to be done concerning it. We've since decided to both go back to school in the fall- he starts Tuesday and I'm so very very proud of him! At any rate, I'm very excited to continue this journey with anyone who is still out there reading. Thank you so much for your patience and interest! I promise there will be a real update posted before sunrise in the morning featuring 'Ohana.
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
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Day One: Dinner- 'Ohana
After our exhausting wild goose chase at Downtown Disney and a very brief rest at POR, we boarded an empty bus to the Magic Kingdom for our first park visit of the trip. After traveling into the world of tomorrow and fighting evil action figures in space, I batted my eyelashes and puckered up my lips in my very best Ariel impression in hopes of both cheering up Grumpy- I mean Naveen- and getting to have one of my very favorites snacks on property. He looked at me like I was about to drag him all the way to the other side of the park, but never fear my sweet Prince, I'm just heading to the Lunching Pad. Oh, yes indeed, I had a sweet treat on my mind. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Cream Cheese Pretzel! Tada!
Mmm, soft baked pretzel with warm, sweet cream cheese filling. I love these. My only regret is that we shared one with the intentions of returning at a later date for another but, sadly, we never did.
After sticking around in the park until the beginning of Wishes, we hopped on Naveen's very first monorail to head to the Polynesian. Unfortunately, my camera battery fizzled out before we could reach dinner but I do have pictures from my February of 2010 meal there so at least I have a few photos to share!
Once we arrived at the hotel and made our way to the check-in counter, we noticed the place was swamped. Our fears were confirmed when were told they were at least half an hour behind on seating. With a shrug, we snagged two comfortable wicker chairs. Being that it was only my second time visiting the Polynesian and Naveen's first, we decided to enjoy our visit. My plan of action was perusing shops, but the look in his eye told me he had an idea of a different sort. Before I knew it, he was browsing a drink menu and ordering a Kentucky Peach. Aloooooha!
I somehow managed to squeeze a few seconds out of my camera to snap a photo, but not before half the glass was guzzled. Refreshing I guess? I'm not a drinker so I only took a sip, but I don't think I was very fond of it. Naveen must have enjoyed it because the sounds of slurping air soon filled the open room!
According to a menu I found, this snazzy little drink contained peach schnapps, sweet and sour, Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon and was all topped with Sprite.
Having been a member of these fabulous forums for a little while now, I've read many mixed reviews about 'Ohana. In February of 2010 my mother and I ate there for the first time and I have to say it was absolutely amazing. We had such a good experience that I talked Naveen into trying it for our first dinner of our vacation. As I'd been talking about it for, oh, seven months I really hoped it would make a good impression. But sometimes, a person just gets a feeling that something is going to come amiss. From the moment our names were called, I had that terrible sense of foreboding like I was about to regret my decision. Trust me when I say this folks, being right one hundred percent of the time isn't all it's cracked up to be!
We were seated with our bread in the center of the table where we met our two CMs. Again, all pictures from this meal were actually taken at my previous dinner in February and not in September. It all looked the same to me, though.
I enjoy the atmosphere inside the restaurant, the music playing and the games for the kids. A couple announced they were celebrating an outstanding fifty-four years of marriage so they danced to our very favorite Elvis song. I'm not a particularly mushy person, but every now and then my Prince surprises me with romanticism. Thank you for the lovely dance, Naveen.
From there, though, it seemed that the good things were starting to come to an end. That tingly sense I was getting came to light the moment we received our salad and appetizers before our drinks even made it to the table. It was quite some time before our drinks arrived, unfortunately.
I love the sweet dressing they use on the salad, like bathing the lettuce in a tub of tangy sweet goodness.
The sticky wings were as delightful to me this time as they were the first, but I love honey. Pot stickers were a little too crispy on the outside, but I didn't mind so much.
I can't remember the name of these sauces, but the peanut one is my favorite. It pairs so well with the poultry.
The noodles and veggies! I didn't try the broccoli, but the noodles were my favorite part of the meal the first time I ate there. I couldn't wait to dive into these! They were a little dry, but I still really enjoyed them.
I don't have a picture of the meat selections, sorry.
We had asked if we could request our steak to be well done, which they said was fine. We didn't mind waiting for it since it was a special request and would take a little longer. I am not a huge seafood fan so I didn't try the shrimp, but Naveen chowed down on it quite a bit. The poultry (I still haven't figured out if it was chicken or turkey) was our favorite, but they only gave us one small piece despite asking for another several times. I had warned Naveen that the pork was almost minty to me, but did he listen? Of course not! The look on his scrunched up face was priceless, I only wish my camera had been working so I could capture it!
Lastly, came the incredible bread pudding with the banana foster sauce. Oh my goodness, this is so buttery smooth. It's almost like a flan to me, a nice eggy custard that just melts in the mouth. And the contrast of the warm pudding with the cold ice cream? Amazing!
Throughout the meal, we kept having to ask for things. We hated to do it because we really aren't difficult people, but our glasses were never once refilled despite being empty until dessert came. We all but had to beg one of our CMs for another drink. We let it go that they never came back with a couple more pieces of meat or the noodles, but I honestly hated sounding like a broken record asking for another drink. I finally understand the points of views from other reviewers who have complained about the service. I know it won't always be like that because out first meal there was wonderful, but it's unfortunate that Naveen had such a bad first experience with it. My opinion of the restaurant has been dampened, which is disappointing to me. I may give it another chance in the future if I return with my mother, but I'm honestly not so sure.
Before I get into the meat of the review, pun intended, I'd just like to say thanks to all of those board members who expressed well wishes and prayers for me after my auto accident a few months back. I'm doing great, and I appreciate all of the positive energy coming my way. Now, on to the review.
I'm not sure why my darling princess is convinced that I'm some kind of dour dwarf, considering I am a jovial and fun loving prince, albeit in frog form. Truth be told, Miss Charlotte does a better impression of Ursula than Ariel, trust me on this one folks. The cream cheese pretzel was indeed a wonderful snack. I'm not a big fan of sweets myself, but the pretzel had just enough sweetness to be quite tasty, but not so much as to rot my teeth out. Indeed, my only regret about it is that we didn't come back to get another one, or that we didn't get two the first time around.
Usually not a big drinker myself, I decided that as long as we had to wait for our dinner, I might as well avail myself to what the bar had to offer, and I was on vacation, after all, so I decided to have the Kentucky Peach. It was hard not to drink this concoction down quickly, as it was sweet and had almost no hint of alcohol that was in it. Very smooth. My only real gripe with it was that it was indeed, just a bit too sweet at times, and it probably would have been better if it just had straight bourbon in it, as opposed to the black cherry stuff. Nevertheless, I'd definitely order it again.
What can I say? I am a prince, and if there is dancing to be had, I should be doing so, yes? And I'm romantic all the time, excuse me if I don't have a singer in a Hawaiian shirt playing a ukulele follow me around all the time so I can dance with my Princess. As touching as this moment was, one of the best memories of my life, in fact, dinner went downhill from there, in almost every manner.
I'm not a particularly big salad fan to begin with, and while the dressing was interesting, to say the least, sweet and salad just doesn't go together well with my taste buds, apparently, not to mention the fact that it seemed like my salad was all hearts and no leaves. I know plenty of people like the taste and the crunch, but not this frog.
As far as the appetizers went, they were good, though not great. The pot stickers were nothing to write home about, tasting about like what you could get at any Chinese restaurant, or even out of a grocer's freezer. The sticky wings had a little more depth of flavor than your normal chicken wing, though the biggest downside to me was the fact they were served at room temperature. Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know, but either way it detracted from the dish in my opinion.
The vegetables that came next suffered from the same problems as the appetizers, good, but not great. The broccoli seemed hardly cooked to me, and no matter what sauce it was dipped in, the raw flavor could not be covered up. The noodles were indeed quite dry, and also cold, though the temperature seemed to suit them better than it did the sticky wings.
Finally the main course arrived, and with it, still more mediocrity. The steak was fine, nothing really special, and considering I asked for it, I can't complain that the chef turned it into a piece of charcoal. The chicken (or turkey) was indeed very tasty, seasoned perfectly and was nice and tender. The simple glaze they used for it was also delicious, and not at all overpowering. The same cannot be said for the pork, however. I'll gladly admit that I should have heeded my Princess's advice on this one. I'm not exactly sure which flavor fried my taste buds, either the heavy mint or the citrus. Either way, unless you're a fan of really, really strong flavors, I would avoid the pork at all costs. The barbecued shrimp were the star of the show for me, even if it was a bit tedious to have to peel the entire shell and legs off the little fellows. They were flavored very subtly with just a hint of citrus, allowing their fresh flavor to come out, and they went with almost all of the sauces to one degree or another.
With the arrival of dessert, the only real up side of the dinner came with the bread and butter pudding. While it was exceedingly sweet, I could care less, as all of the flavors came together to create a truly inspired dish. It was so simple, bread, butter, caramel, and bananas, but it was truly wonderful. Perhaps one of my all time favorite desserts.
As far as our service at 'Ohana, it was found severely lacking in my opinion, and I am an easy frog to please. While we had two waitresses, it seemed that we could never find one of them around when we needed one, which seemed to happen a lot, as they were both MIA through most of the meal. While the food was mediocre, I would have loved to have some more of a few dishes, yet repeated requests were fruitless. I'm willing to cut our cast members a little slack, considering one of them was a trainee, but even still, to not have a drink refilled until dessert is a bit extreme to me. Considering how late we dined, I have the sneaking suspicion that perhaps the wait staff had decided to slack off early, but who knows?
All in all, the food was hit or miss, and if it was based solely on that, I might give 'Ohana another shot sometime in the future, but the lack of service has really turned me off to the place. The place certainly has its own special ambiance, and I would recommend it based on the decor and the luau setting, but until the aforementioned problems are remedied, I would say avoid it for now.
Pricing:
Lunching Pad= $4.56, 1 Snack used
Tambu Lounge= $10.12, paid out-of-pocket
'Ohana= $66.01, 1 TS used per person
After our exhausting wild goose chase at Downtown Disney and a very brief rest at POR, we boarded an empty bus to the Magic Kingdom for our first park visit of the trip. After traveling into the world of tomorrow and fighting evil action figures in space, I batted my eyelashes and puckered up my lips in my very best Ariel impression in hopes of both cheering up Grumpy- I mean Naveen- and getting to have one of my very favorites snacks on property. He looked at me like I was about to drag him all the way to the other side of the park, but never fear my sweet Prince, I'm just heading to the Lunching Pad. Oh, yes indeed, I had a sweet treat on my mind. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Cream Cheese Pretzel! Tada!
Mmm, soft baked pretzel with warm, sweet cream cheese filling. I love these. My only regret is that we shared one with the intentions of returning at a later date for another but, sadly, we never did.
After sticking around in the park until the beginning of Wishes, we hopped on Naveen's very first monorail to head to the Polynesian. Unfortunately, my camera battery fizzled out before we could reach dinner but I do have pictures from my February of 2010 meal there so at least I have a few photos to share!
Once we arrived at the hotel and made our way to the check-in counter, we noticed the place was swamped. Our fears were confirmed when were told they were at least half an hour behind on seating. With a shrug, we snagged two comfortable wicker chairs. Being that it was only my second time visiting the Polynesian and Naveen's first, we decided to enjoy our visit. My plan of action was perusing shops, but the look in his eye told me he had an idea of a different sort. Before I knew it, he was browsing a drink menu and ordering a Kentucky Peach. Aloooooha!
I somehow managed to squeeze a few seconds out of my camera to snap a photo, but not before half the glass was guzzled. Refreshing I guess? I'm not a drinker so I only took a sip, but I don't think I was very fond of it. Naveen must have enjoyed it because the sounds of slurping air soon filled the open room!
According to a menu I found, this snazzy little drink contained peach schnapps, sweet and sour, Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon and was all topped with Sprite.
Having been a member of these fabulous forums for a little while now, I've read many mixed reviews about 'Ohana. In February of 2010 my mother and I ate there for the first time and I have to say it was absolutely amazing. We had such a good experience that I talked Naveen into trying it for our first dinner of our vacation. As I'd been talking about it for, oh, seven months I really hoped it would make a good impression. But sometimes, a person just gets a feeling that something is going to come amiss. From the moment our names were called, I had that terrible sense of foreboding like I was about to regret my decision. Trust me when I say this folks, being right one hundred percent of the time isn't all it's cracked up to be!
We were seated with our bread in the center of the table where we met our two CMs. Again, all pictures from this meal were actually taken at my previous dinner in February and not in September. It all looked the same to me, though.
I enjoy the atmosphere inside the restaurant, the music playing and the games for the kids. A couple announced they were celebrating an outstanding fifty-four years of marriage so they danced to our very favorite Elvis song. I'm not a particularly mushy person, but every now and then my Prince surprises me with romanticism. Thank you for the lovely dance, Naveen.
From there, though, it seemed that the good things were starting to come to an end. That tingly sense I was getting came to light the moment we received our salad and appetizers before our drinks even made it to the table. It was quite some time before our drinks arrived, unfortunately.
I love the sweet dressing they use on the salad, like bathing the lettuce in a tub of tangy sweet goodness.
The sticky wings were as delightful to me this time as they were the first, but I love honey. Pot stickers were a little too crispy on the outside, but I didn't mind so much.
I can't remember the name of these sauces, but the peanut one is my favorite. It pairs so well with the poultry.
The noodles and veggies! I didn't try the broccoli, but the noodles were my favorite part of the meal the first time I ate there. I couldn't wait to dive into these! They were a little dry, but I still really enjoyed them.
I don't have a picture of the meat selections, sorry.
We had asked if we could request our steak to be well done, which they said was fine. We didn't mind waiting for it since it was a special request and would take a little longer. I am not a huge seafood fan so I didn't try the shrimp, but Naveen chowed down on it quite a bit. The poultry (I still haven't figured out if it was chicken or turkey) was our favorite, but they only gave us one small piece despite asking for another several times. I had warned Naveen that the pork was almost minty to me, but did he listen? Of course not! The look on his scrunched up face was priceless, I only wish my camera had been working so I could capture it!
Lastly, came the incredible bread pudding with the banana foster sauce. Oh my goodness, this is so buttery smooth. It's almost like a flan to me, a nice eggy custard that just melts in the mouth. And the contrast of the warm pudding with the cold ice cream? Amazing!
Throughout the meal, we kept having to ask for things. We hated to do it because we really aren't difficult people, but our glasses were never once refilled despite being empty until dessert came. We all but had to beg one of our CMs for another drink. We let it go that they never came back with a couple more pieces of meat or the noodles, but I honestly hated sounding like a broken record asking for another drink. I finally understand the points of views from other reviewers who have complained about the service. I know it won't always be like that because out first meal there was wonderful, but it's unfortunate that Naveen had such a bad first experience with it. My opinion of the restaurant has been dampened, which is disappointing to me. I may give it another chance in the future if I return with my mother, but I'm honestly not so sure.
Before I get into the meat of the review, pun intended, I'd just like to say thanks to all of those board members who expressed well wishes and prayers for me after my auto accident a few months back. I'm doing great, and I appreciate all of the positive energy coming my way. Now, on to the review.
I'm not sure why my darling princess is convinced that I'm some kind of dour dwarf, considering I am a jovial and fun loving prince, albeit in frog form. Truth be told, Miss Charlotte does a better impression of Ursula than Ariel, trust me on this one folks. The cream cheese pretzel was indeed a wonderful snack. I'm not a big fan of sweets myself, but the pretzel had just enough sweetness to be quite tasty, but not so much as to rot my teeth out. Indeed, my only regret about it is that we didn't come back to get another one, or that we didn't get two the first time around.
Usually not a big drinker myself, I decided that as long as we had to wait for our dinner, I might as well avail myself to what the bar had to offer, and I was on vacation, after all, so I decided to have the Kentucky Peach. It was hard not to drink this concoction down quickly, as it was sweet and had almost no hint of alcohol that was in it. Very smooth. My only real gripe with it was that it was indeed, just a bit too sweet at times, and it probably would have been better if it just had straight bourbon in it, as opposed to the black cherry stuff. Nevertheless, I'd definitely order it again.
What can I say? I am a prince, and if there is dancing to be had, I should be doing so, yes? And I'm romantic all the time, excuse me if I don't have a singer in a Hawaiian shirt playing a ukulele follow me around all the time so I can dance with my Princess. As touching as this moment was, one of the best memories of my life, in fact, dinner went downhill from there, in almost every manner.
I'm not a particularly big salad fan to begin with, and while the dressing was interesting, to say the least, sweet and salad just doesn't go together well with my taste buds, apparently, not to mention the fact that it seemed like my salad was all hearts and no leaves. I know plenty of people like the taste and the crunch, but not this frog.
As far as the appetizers went, they were good, though not great. The pot stickers were nothing to write home about, tasting about like what you could get at any Chinese restaurant, or even out of a grocer's freezer. The sticky wings had a little more depth of flavor than your normal chicken wing, though the biggest downside to me was the fact they were served at room temperature. Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know, but either way it detracted from the dish in my opinion.
The vegetables that came next suffered from the same problems as the appetizers, good, but not great. The broccoli seemed hardly cooked to me, and no matter what sauce it was dipped in, the raw flavor could not be covered up. The noodles were indeed quite dry, and also cold, though the temperature seemed to suit them better than it did the sticky wings.
Finally the main course arrived, and with it, still more mediocrity. The steak was fine, nothing really special, and considering I asked for it, I can't complain that the chef turned it into a piece of charcoal. The chicken (or turkey) was indeed very tasty, seasoned perfectly and was nice and tender. The simple glaze they used for it was also delicious, and not at all overpowering. The same cannot be said for the pork, however. I'll gladly admit that I should have heeded my Princess's advice on this one. I'm not exactly sure which flavor fried my taste buds, either the heavy mint or the citrus. Either way, unless you're a fan of really, really strong flavors, I would avoid the pork at all costs. The barbecued shrimp were the star of the show for me, even if it was a bit tedious to have to peel the entire shell and legs off the little fellows. They were flavored very subtly with just a hint of citrus, allowing their fresh flavor to come out, and they went with almost all of the sauces to one degree or another.
With the arrival of dessert, the only real up side of the dinner came with the bread and butter pudding. While it was exceedingly sweet, I could care less, as all of the flavors came together to create a truly inspired dish. It was so simple, bread, butter, caramel, and bananas, but it was truly wonderful. Perhaps one of my all time favorite desserts.
As far as our service at 'Ohana, it was found severely lacking in my opinion, and I am an easy frog to please. While we had two waitresses, it seemed that we could never find one of them around when we needed one, which seemed to happen a lot, as they were both MIA through most of the meal. While the food was mediocre, I would have loved to have some more of a few dishes, yet repeated requests were fruitless. I'm willing to cut our cast members a little slack, considering one of them was a trainee, but even still, to not have a drink refilled until dessert is a bit extreme to me. Considering how late we dined, I have the sneaking suspicion that perhaps the wait staff had decided to slack off early, but who knows?
All in all, the food was hit or miss, and if it was based solely on that, I might give 'Ohana another shot sometime in the future, but the lack of service has really turned me off to the place. The place certainly has its own special ambiance, and I would recommend it based on the decor and the luau setting, but until the aforementioned problems are remedied, I would say avoid it for now.
Pricing:
Lunching Pad= $4.56, 1 Snack used
Tambu Lounge= $10.12, paid out-of-pocket
'Ohana= $66.01, 1 TS used per person
butiflfeet
I drink and I know things
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2008
- Messages
- 1,397
I'm glad you're back and continuing your reviews! It sounds like you've had quite a stressful time this summer. I wish you both the best with school this fall! I've always planned on going back but it's been about 8 years now since I finished my Bachelors so I'm not sure when exactly I'll get around to it 
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
- May 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,427
I'm glad you're back and continuing your reviews! It sounds like you've had quite a stressful time this summer. I wish you both the best with school this fall! I've always planned on going back but it's been about 8 years now since I finished my Bachelors so I'm not sure when exactly I'll get around to it
Thank you! It's been 8 years for me and 10 for him so we're both a little nervous but very excited.
I agree that the star of the show at Ohana are the shrimp. My poor DH doesn't like the steak there he says it's like leatherSo he eats the sides and I eat the shrimp. We both love the dessert there, one of the best on property.
Leather is a very good way of putting it!
I might would try the shrimp if it didn't look at me. 
I have a problem with my dinner's eyes staring back at me. 
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
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- Messages
- 1,427
Day Two: Lunch- Pecos Bill Cafe
After our dinner at 'Ohana, I could hear my bed calling me by name all the way from POR. It was like I suddenly slipped into a trance, my feet trudging forward toward the Monorail on their own accord. I was just about to the gates when a CM blocked the other groups of zombie-guests with us. I'm sure what my ears heard and what the CM actually said were quite different, but to me it was more like "Sorry, folks, we CMs like to have a little revenge on you guests that linger in the parks way after closing. We don't sleep so neither should you, muahahahahaha. Off to Downtown Disney with you!" At any rate, the herds were denied the simple ride back to a close park because of the late hour so we were redirected toward the bus depot at the Polynesian and sent to Downtown Disney where we boarded another bus back to our resort. About an hour later, we were finally back in the comfort of our room. Oh, dear bed, I'm not sure if you're a mattress made of stone but I don't care! Thankfully, I was too tired to even notice the logs that frog was sawing over from the other bed.
With a very early wake-up call from our favorite little mischief maker Stitch, we were off to the Magic Kingdom for EMH. It really seems to me like the majority of the magic happens here, but I honestly had no idea how incredibly wonderful this morning was going to be for us. We took our time strolling through the gates, pausing to take pictures and perusing a couple of shops. We were even able to catch the opening show on Main Street where that darn song about the trolley dinging and ringing was stuck in my head for the majority of the day. Afterwards, onward we marched down Main Street toward the castle until I saw something that made me pause in my tracks: the fire truck.
I hope that no one minds this bit of information about my personal life, but it's necessary to divulge a little in order to explain why seeing such a simple object brought forth so much emotion from me. I know this isn't my trip report and should be reserved for dining, but this moment was so wonderful I wanted to share it here, too. My parents divorced and remarried other people when I was very young, but when I was fourteen my dad passed away from a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. The day he told me about his diagnosis, he asked my step-dad to come inside his house with me. There, he told us that he thought my step-father would be good to me after my dad was no longer around. So, my second dad raised me into adulthood. Three years ago on August 19th, we lost my step-dad after a three week struggle in the hospital due to complications from surgery after suffering a heart attack. He was a good man who tried to help his community in any way he could, and touched the hearts of so very many people. He was a former soldier who loved his country, but he had been a firefighter for the majority of his life. Now, he wasn't a Disney fan by any means. On the few trips he went with us, he grumped and griped his way through it. In 1997, we actually thought he suffered a heart attack in Epcot so we spent half of our vacation with him there in the hospital. But what he did love was antique cars; in fact, he dragged my mom and me all over the country for car club meetings so when I saw that antique fire truck I couldn't help when my heart skipped a beat. I knew it was there somewhere, but I'd never seen it before.
I ushered Naveen over to it for a quick picture by it, but a CM stopped me. Instead, she instructed him to sit down in the driver's seat. When tears flooded my eyes, I explained why I was so emotional. It was then that she and a photographer spent quite a bit of time with us taking pictures. Words cannot express how much that meant to me, how magical of a gift she gave to us just by taking a few minutes out of her day to let us have that moment there with an old fire truck. My father may not have been a Disney man, but it was like he somehow set it down on that street just for me to see as if he was saying to me that no matter where I go or what I do, he will always be with me. Those are precious memories I will cherish for the rest of my days, and to that wonderful CM Barbara, we are forever grateful.
After drying my eyes and thanking them both again, we moved on to Cinderella's castle and to Fantasyland where we spent some time flying over Neverland and traveling with Donald to retrieve that magical hat. I did have a mission for this day, which was to venture over to Tom Sawyer Island on the very first raft and try to look for these infamous paintbrushes. With some time to spare, we headed into Frontierland for our favorite mountain ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It looks like there's no one there so we rush toward the entrance only to find, wait, it's closed. With a sigh, we head to our second favorite mountain for a little splashing. We're zippity do-daa-ing along and about to head up to the big drop when we all of a sudden stop. Five minutes passes, ten, fifteen. I realize I'm missing the first raft over to the island just as two CMs come out to say we're being evacuated off the ride. Hold on, you mean I have to try to climb out of this boat at a slight incline and try to step over on that ledge? I'm super tall with long legs, but I am not a graceful ballerina. With my clumsiness, I'm imagining all sorts of bad outcomes. Thankfully, I made it with assistance and we were soon taking the grand tour backstage. With fast passes in tow, we rush over toward the rafts for Tom Sawyer Island. Unfortunately, we missed the first one so needless to say we never found those paintbrushes. After a little exploring, it was time for lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe.
It was just before 11 so, thankfully, it wasn't quite crowded yet. My mom and I ate there for the first time back in February of 2010, but I didn't have that great of an experience. I ordered a taco salad, which was a mistake, but my mom's burger looked really good. Plus, the topping bar is pretty cool. The service there had been so slow, which wasn't about to change. We waited for a while on our food, but the CM was extremely friendly.
According to my receipt, this is the Deluxe Angus Cheeseburger with fries. A thick beef patty with an onion ring, bacon, and barbecue sauce this burger was one of the best I've ever had on property. So juicy, hot, and fresh.
Mmmm. I loaded my fries up with cheese and ranch.
We both had the chocolate cake with the fudge and the cute little Halloween sprinkles. The fudge on top is good, and definitely offsets the dryness of the cake itself.
After our rather disappointing outing at 'Ohana the night before, not to mention the round-about way they went about getting everyone back to their resorts, I was ready for a simple day at the Magic Kingdom. Nothing fancy here, you can't go wrong with good 'ol Americana. After a heartwarming photo shoot with an antique fire truck and a frolic through Fantasyland, we soon found ourselves in Frontierland, home to some of our favorite attractions, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. As my much perturbed Princess has said, there was a slight mishap on the wetter of the two mountains. Being a frog, the thought of splashing along in the river didn't really bother me, but the climb out of the logs was a bit treacherous and slippery for those of you that didn't have webbed feet. While it was interesting to get to see what happens behind the scenes at one of the parks, I'll be honest with you, it isn't all that magical, especially when the corner of the park you are in is close to some dumpsters. With disaster averted, we made our way out to Tom Sawyer Island with snatching up one of those paint brushes in mind. We searched high and low, but to no avail. I wouldn't recommend some of the caves for people who are claustrophobic, because even I, a fearless Prince, found myself a little bit unnerved while wandering around in the deep darkness. With our fruitless search over, we had at least worked up a good appetite, which soon led us to our watering hole for lunch, the Pecos Bill Cafe.
Arriving soon after they opened, placing our orders was fast and easy, though because it was just after opening, it took a bit longer than expected for our food to be ready. Nevertheless, the Cast Members were apologetic about it, and I'm a patient frog, so everything turned out fine. Like I mentioned before, this was certainly a no frills kind of meal. Having the barbecue bacon cheeseburger with fries was quite enough, but the topping bar was what really made the meal shine. Being able to slather everything in grilled onions and cheese sauce certainly made for a delicious, if a bit messy, meal. I might have liked the meal just a bit better if they didn't impose the wheat hamburger bun on you, but really, with all the cheese sauce I poured over everything, you really couldn't tell. The generic fudge iced cake was just that, generic. Though the Halloween-themed sprinkles were a nice touch, even if the cake was on the dry and tasteless side of things. All in all, it was a good meal, it's hard to mess up a cheeseburger and fries, and Pecos Bill certainly did better than I had expected.
I am so glad to have had a better experience here than the first time I went. The burger definitely earns a big thumbs up from me. Like I said, the service is a little slow and the restaurant can become rather crowded very quickly, but I think I'd definitely return here in the future.
Total Price= $32.75- 1 CS used per person.
After our dinner at 'Ohana, I could hear my bed calling me by name all the way from POR. It was like I suddenly slipped into a trance, my feet trudging forward toward the Monorail on their own accord. I was just about to the gates when a CM blocked the other groups of zombie-guests with us. I'm sure what my ears heard and what the CM actually said were quite different, but to me it was more like "Sorry, folks, we CMs like to have a little revenge on you guests that linger in the parks way after closing. We don't sleep so neither should you, muahahahahaha. Off to Downtown Disney with you!" At any rate, the herds were denied the simple ride back to a close park because of the late hour so we were redirected toward the bus depot at the Polynesian and sent to Downtown Disney where we boarded another bus back to our resort. About an hour later, we were finally back in the comfort of our room. Oh, dear bed, I'm not sure if you're a mattress made of stone but I don't care! Thankfully, I was too tired to even notice the logs that frog was sawing over from the other bed.
With a very early wake-up call from our favorite little mischief maker Stitch, we were off to the Magic Kingdom for EMH. It really seems to me like the majority of the magic happens here, but I honestly had no idea how incredibly wonderful this morning was going to be for us. We took our time strolling through the gates, pausing to take pictures and perusing a couple of shops. We were even able to catch the opening show on Main Street where that darn song about the trolley dinging and ringing was stuck in my head for the majority of the day. Afterwards, onward we marched down Main Street toward the castle until I saw something that made me pause in my tracks: the fire truck.
I hope that no one minds this bit of information about my personal life, but it's necessary to divulge a little in order to explain why seeing such a simple object brought forth so much emotion from me. I know this isn't my trip report and should be reserved for dining, but this moment was so wonderful I wanted to share it here, too. My parents divorced and remarried other people when I was very young, but when I was fourteen my dad passed away from a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. The day he told me about his diagnosis, he asked my step-dad to come inside his house with me. There, he told us that he thought my step-father would be good to me after my dad was no longer around. So, my second dad raised me into adulthood. Three years ago on August 19th, we lost my step-dad after a three week struggle in the hospital due to complications from surgery after suffering a heart attack. He was a good man who tried to help his community in any way he could, and touched the hearts of so very many people. He was a former soldier who loved his country, but he had been a firefighter for the majority of his life. Now, he wasn't a Disney fan by any means. On the few trips he went with us, he grumped and griped his way through it. In 1997, we actually thought he suffered a heart attack in Epcot so we spent half of our vacation with him there in the hospital. But what he did love was antique cars; in fact, he dragged my mom and me all over the country for car club meetings so when I saw that antique fire truck I couldn't help when my heart skipped a beat. I knew it was there somewhere, but I'd never seen it before.
I ushered Naveen over to it for a quick picture by it, but a CM stopped me. Instead, she instructed him to sit down in the driver's seat. When tears flooded my eyes, I explained why I was so emotional. It was then that she and a photographer spent quite a bit of time with us taking pictures. Words cannot express how much that meant to me, how magical of a gift she gave to us just by taking a few minutes out of her day to let us have that moment there with an old fire truck. My father may not have been a Disney man, but it was like he somehow set it down on that street just for me to see as if he was saying to me that no matter where I go or what I do, he will always be with me. Those are precious memories I will cherish for the rest of my days, and to that wonderful CM Barbara, we are forever grateful.
After drying my eyes and thanking them both again, we moved on to Cinderella's castle and to Fantasyland where we spent some time flying over Neverland and traveling with Donald to retrieve that magical hat. I did have a mission for this day, which was to venture over to Tom Sawyer Island on the very first raft and try to look for these infamous paintbrushes. With some time to spare, we headed into Frontierland for our favorite mountain ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It looks like there's no one there so we rush toward the entrance only to find, wait, it's closed. With a sigh, we head to our second favorite mountain for a little splashing. We're zippity do-daa-ing along and about to head up to the big drop when we all of a sudden stop. Five minutes passes, ten, fifteen. I realize I'm missing the first raft over to the island just as two CMs come out to say we're being evacuated off the ride. Hold on, you mean I have to try to climb out of this boat at a slight incline and try to step over on that ledge? I'm super tall with long legs, but I am not a graceful ballerina. With my clumsiness, I'm imagining all sorts of bad outcomes. Thankfully, I made it with assistance and we were soon taking the grand tour backstage. With fast passes in tow, we rush over toward the rafts for Tom Sawyer Island. Unfortunately, we missed the first one so needless to say we never found those paintbrushes. After a little exploring, it was time for lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe.
It was just before 11 so, thankfully, it wasn't quite crowded yet. My mom and I ate there for the first time back in February of 2010, but I didn't have that great of an experience. I ordered a taco salad, which was a mistake, but my mom's burger looked really good. Plus, the topping bar is pretty cool. The service there had been so slow, which wasn't about to change. We waited for a while on our food, but the CM was extremely friendly.
According to my receipt, this is the Deluxe Angus Cheeseburger with fries. A thick beef patty with an onion ring, bacon, and barbecue sauce this burger was one of the best I've ever had on property. So juicy, hot, and fresh.
Mmmm. I loaded my fries up with cheese and ranch.
We both had the chocolate cake with the fudge and the cute little Halloween sprinkles. The fudge on top is good, and definitely offsets the dryness of the cake itself.
After our rather disappointing outing at 'Ohana the night before, not to mention the round-about way they went about getting everyone back to their resorts, I was ready for a simple day at the Magic Kingdom. Nothing fancy here, you can't go wrong with good 'ol Americana. After a heartwarming photo shoot with an antique fire truck and a frolic through Fantasyland, we soon found ourselves in Frontierland, home to some of our favorite attractions, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. As my much perturbed Princess has said, there was a slight mishap on the wetter of the two mountains. Being a frog, the thought of splashing along in the river didn't really bother me, but the climb out of the logs was a bit treacherous and slippery for those of you that didn't have webbed feet. While it was interesting to get to see what happens behind the scenes at one of the parks, I'll be honest with you, it isn't all that magical, especially when the corner of the park you are in is close to some dumpsters. With disaster averted, we made our way out to Tom Sawyer Island with snatching up one of those paint brushes in mind. We searched high and low, but to no avail. I wouldn't recommend some of the caves for people who are claustrophobic, because even I, a fearless Prince, found myself a little bit unnerved while wandering around in the deep darkness. With our fruitless search over, we had at least worked up a good appetite, which soon led us to our watering hole for lunch, the Pecos Bill Cafe.
Arriving soon after they opened, placing our orders was fast and easy, though because it was just after opening, it took a bit longer than expected for our food to be ready. Nevertheless, the Cast Members were apologetic about it, and I'm a patient frog, so everything turned out fine. Like I mentioned before, this was certainly a no frills kind of meal. Having the barbecue bacon cheeseburger with fries was quite enough, but the topping bar was what really made the meal shine. Being able to slather everything in grilled onions and cheese sauce certainly made for a delicious, if a bit messy, meal. I might have liked the meal just a bit better if they didn't impose the wheat hamburger bun on you, but really, with all the cheese sauce I poured over everything, you really couldn't tell. The generic fudge iced cake was just that, generic. Though the Halloween-themed sprinkles were a nice touch, even if the cake was on the dry and tasteless side of things. All in all, it was a good meal, it's hard to mess up a cheeseburger and fries, and Pecos Bill certainly did better than I had expected.
I am so glad to have had a better experience here than the first time I went. The burger definitely earns a big thumbs up from me. Like I said, the service is a little slow and the restaurant can become rather crowded very quickly, but I think I'd definitely return here in the future.
Total Price= $32.75- 1 CS used per person.
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
- May 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,427
Thanks for sharing your story about the fire truck, it's such a lovely way of remembering your Dad
Thank you very much
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