nickglover
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 23, 2000
To continue: I think we actually ate at Tony Roma's on Sunday night and then had an excellent meal at Hooks Pointe on Monday night, with half-Caesar salads, some excellent bruschetta as an appetizer, and then I had a bbq, chicken, corn and cilantro pizza, and DW had the roasted vegetables (and some pizza).
To finish up with Tuesday now - Disney did really well with no notice. They announced that all video games in the game room were free and they showed some movies on the tv and in a ballroom for the kids. Although DD was also closed, they arranged for free soda and all games free at ESPNZone, which was only open for hotel guests, and for free movies (Rock Star and 2 others) at the AMC, free popcorn and a free soda. So they tried, and they did well, under the circumstances. They first said Tuesday night would cost $89 for anyone needing to stay over, and then announced it was free. We had already paid through Tuesday night with points, but they wound up letting us stay Wed. and Thursday night for free, which was very gracious of them. The hotel was about 1/3 capacity, I would guess, maybe 40%. We decided to drive out to Newport Beach, and were surprised to see Disney security had done a complete "sweep" of the parking lots and we had a green card on our car, indicating they had confirmed we were a guest through Wed. morning. It was not an easy drive to the beach, and we were not impressed with the parking options and decided against the Balboa Ferry - drove back to the mainland for lunch at a neat kinda French farm-house looking place that was called something like "Mimi's Cafe". We returned to Tony Roma's for another excellent bbq ribs meal.
Day 5 - Wed. - DL - Finally! I had planned to surprise DW with the Blue Bayou and had made Tuesday reservations back in August. I spilled the beans Tuesday and re-scheduled for this day. She did not know they even had a restaurant inside a ride! We entered around 10:30, and although it was more crowded than CA, there was hardly a wait for any of the rides except Peter Pan (go figure). We went straight to Indiana Jones and loved it! (thanks, everyone, for all the good info on this board - I felt like we were so far ahead of most people looking at there maps and wondering where to go!). We then rode Pirates with no wait and then headed for Mr Toad's Wild Ride. We especially wanted to ride this one, as they took it away from us in Florida! So we rode it twice - no lines and no wait! We then road Pinnochio and then had a wonderful lunch at Blue Bayou. The atmosphere was great - so cool and calm - probably the most quiet restaurant on our trip - even the kids cried quietly! Here's the kicker: the food was excellent. I think they are trying harder here. There was no bronzed chicken - just a chicken on pasta with an alfredo type sauce. We both had the jerk-seasoned pork with creamy scalloped potatoes with onions, and green beans. Everything was excellent. Perhaps the best meal of the trip! The cook even stopped by and then went and got us the recipe for the potatoes. Cool! We then road Splash Mountain with no wait (unbelievable) and then the train and the monorail. The train was cool because they actually make it a little like a ride when you go by the Grand Canyon and the donosaur dioramas. The monorail was interesting because it also has some twists and turns in the park, as if it is more a ride than the MK one, and also because the windows were open - something you rarley see in Florida! .....(continued - just one more time, I promise!)
To finish up with Tuesday now - Disney did really well with no notice. They announced that all video games in the game room were free and they showed some movies on the tv and in a ballroom for the kids. Although DD was also closed, they arranged for free soda and all games free at ESPNZone, which was only open for hotel guests, and for free movies (Rock Star and 2 others) at the AMC, free popcorn and a free soda. So they tried, and they did well, under the circumstances. They first said Tuesday night would cost $89 for anyone needing to stay over, and then announced it was free. We had already paid through Tuesday night with points, but they wound up letting us stay Wed. and Thursday night for free, which was very gracious of them. The hotel was about 1/3 capacity, I would guess, maybe 40%. We decided to drive out to Newport Beach, and were surprised to see Disney security had done a complete "sweep" of the parking lots and we had a green card on our car, indicating they had confirmed we were a guest through Wed. morning. It was not an easy drive to the beach, and we were not impressed with the parking options and decided against the Balboa Ferry - drove back to the mainland for lunch at a neat kinda French farm-house looking place that was called something like "Mimi's Cafe". We returned to Tony Roma's for another excellent bbq ribs meal.
Day 5 - Wed. - DL - Finally! I had planned to surprise DW with the Blue Bayou and had made Tuesday reservations back in August. I spilled the beans Tuesday and re-scheduled for this day. She did not know they even had a restaurant inside a ride! We entered around 10:30, and although it was more crowded than CA, there was hardly a wait for any of the rides except Peter Pan (go figure). We went straight to Indiana Jones and loved it! (thanks, everyone, for all the good info on this board - I felt like we were so far ahead of most people looking at there maps and wondering where to go!). We then rode Pirates with no wait and then headed for Mr Toad's Wild Ride. We especially wanted to ride this one, as they took it away from us in Florida! So we rode it twice - no lines and no wait! We then road Pinnochio and then had a wonderful lunch at Blue Bayou. The atmosphere was great - so cool and calm - probably the most quiet restaurant on our trip - even the kids cried quietly! Here's the kicker: the food was excellent. I think they are trying harder here. There was no bronzed chicken - just a chicken on pasta with an alfredo type sauce. We both had the jerk-seasoned pork with creamy scalloped potatoes with onions, and green beans. Everything was excellent. Perhaps the best meal of the trip! The cook even stopped by and then went and got us the recipe for the potatoes. Cool! We then road Splash Mountain with no wait (unbelievable) and then the train and the monorail. The train was cool because they actually make it a little like a ride when you go by the Grand Canyon and the donosaur dioramas. The monorail was interesting because it also has some twists and turns in the park, as if it is more a ride than the MK one, and also because the windows were open - something you rarley see in Florida! .....(continued - just one more time, I promise!)
