Torjohnson
we are all interested in the future because that i
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2006
- Messages
- 173
the pictures are small, but they are full of heart....if you click on them they might grow
also
it might not hurt to clap your hands together and say
I believe
Well, we are back from the fantastic first trip to wdw. The prologue is as follows...We are seasoned Disneyland Travelers, this was our first trip and our first experience with staying on property and the dining plan. The cast of characters are myself, DW, and DS8. We stayed at the Pop Century... First off, let me say, as pop culture freaks, it was the best choice. To fill ourselves with the giant spectrum of people that go to WDW, we couldn"t ask for a better place. WE LOVED POP!!!! Never waited more than ten minutes for a bus,always had a place to sit down,loved the music and the staff. I would go there again in a heartbeat.
Day 1. We get there at 6 in the evening. We decided to food court it, and swim. It is a beautiful evening. 85 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. where are the rains and crushing heat, I think. Everything Pop is often in our travels. We turned snacks into breakfasts. But tonight, overwhelmed by the pure popness, They get Very Sloppy Joes, I get the Moms Night barbeque pork . The food is fine. Nothing amazing, but totally doable. The one thing we loved is the flatbread sandwiches. So good. We loved the Ham and Havarti(but we are from the West Coast, what is Havarti. ) While at Pop we also had waffles, chocolate chip pancakes,(the waffles are great, made right there), Chicken Penne Alfredo...and a breakfast Sandwich. We didn"t eat this all the first day. But for convenience, this place rocked.
Day 2. First day in the parks, MGM Studios. Food wise, again, nothing extraordinarily profound. We checked out Pizza Planet, hoping it would be just like the place in Toy Story. The heat has kicked in slightly, there are people everywhere. Ahh, I am finally getting the idea of WDW in the summer. We had pizzas(hmm, creative choice). The funniest thing about the dining plan is how often they try to push stuff on you. "No dessert?, you get dessert.) And we consumed the pizza like hyenas. Not "Good Pizza" per se, but fun, and my son loved the arcade(Our events today consisted of Tower, Rocknroller,Great Movie Ride...weird thing,that..loved it, but it was very odd. Let's see, the studio tour, Narnia...my choice for worst attraction, but my son was into it... Star Tours,
Indiana Jones Stunt Show<so cool for kids>...and surely more... But Dinner was at Sci Fi, which we absolutely loved.
SCI FI. First off, one of my favorite things about the whole experience of wdw are the people you meet. We had two "hitchikers" in our cars, a woman and her daughter from Philadelphia. We chatted, drank milkshakes, watched the worst movie trailers ever. We had a wonderfully charming CM. We ate salads, onion rings(mmm...onion rings), my son had a burger, my wife had a steak, and I had ribs. The ribs were awesome, tender, off the bone loveliness. My wife and son loved their food, too. This is a truly wdw experience, and I would highly recommend it.
Day three a zoo
Ok, so we're the same, 2 adults and an eight year old, rockin in the world for the first time. The sun set on our beautiful day at MGM, my son and I swam in the bowling pin at pop(My son, who is, at 8 a brilliant linguist has come up with phrases that you could never understand anywhere else but Disneyworld..one is "let's swim in the bowling pin)
It is my son's call on parks today. He chooses Animal Kingdom, which no matter how much people say "nahtazu"(read NOT A ZOO), is pretty much a zoo...especially since the induction of expedition Everest, which is so cool, and wins my award for the best line ever. So much to look at...you can ignore a few things, 1) that there are people actually waiting for a ride, and 2) IT IS FINALLY HOTTER THAN HELL, AND SOME KIND OF STORM FRONT IS MOVING IN.(Everyone is clear that this is a weather system, not a typical 12 minute Orlando thing). I will admit here and now that Animal Kingdom got the short shrift of our travels. We rode EE, Kali River, walked through both treks(Loved them, almost like being in another world...my favorite moments of disneyworld lie in the times when the magic takes over, and suddenly you are in those places, and the throngs of anticipation filled ride goers drift away, so it is you and jungle birds.
and before our fast pass for KS we get sucked into a great african acrobat show...whisked into Harambe and one of those spontaneous Disney moments when you happen to be in the right place at the right time...Then there is a rumbling!!!! Thunder, or stomachs... right now, stomachs, and we go to Tusker House.
TUSKER HOUSE was great. The counter service work here is so far superior to Disneyland is the speed department. This comes from a man who stood forty five minutes at a counter service meal at California Adventure. I mean at WDW we never waited more than ten minutes, and there are always people to talk to, or observe. My son had Mac and Cheese, and feel in love with those Mickey Goldfish. My wife and I, to begin the consolidation of counter service, split the chicken salad. Thoroughly yummy, and we sat at a beautiful table, shaded by the back of the bar, and next to a disney river...
a wonderful experience.
Kilimanjaro Safaris was so much fun.. though audio animatronic little red paled in comparison to the actual animals.
Rain settled in and we got on a bus to Pop... tok a little break and then were off to one of our anticipated meals, Ohana at the Poly. So, here is another thing I love about Disney World...the transportation. Traveling somewhere by monorail is the coolest. Stopping at other hotels like the Retro...oh, sorry, I mean the Contemporary was so fun. The Polynesian wasn"t quite as Polynesian as we had hoped, but you are dealing with Tiki Freaks here. But we were ready for the Ohana experience.
OHANA After reading so many scathing reviews about Ohana, and the changes and such, I was a little afraid, and maybe my fears were taken away by bubbly CMs, and Lapu Lapus, but we loved Ohana. You know, things change, that"s the way it goes....but when reviewing this you should look at what there is, not what there isn"t. The shrimp was great, the won ton chips good, the salad and potatoes (especially the potatoes...mmm, ohana potatoes) were amazing!!!! And the meats were great!!!...Yes, the meat CM(skewer princess) was slow with the second set of skewers, but we thought they were excellent.
and my family had seen a thing about ohana, were ready for pineapple and caramel, but those moments of readiness were ferried away by the wafting currents of Bread Pudding and bananas foster. Ok...eeeek. That was one freakishly good dessert.
Day 4...Same people involved. It is the magic of those bonuses you add to your ticket...the water parks, disney quest...yeah!!!! Born to rock...in the morning there are clouds(weather system...I heard two things alot. Everyone referring to a weather system...and the word "fastpass" . ) My wife works her snack magic, working Pop for all the intricacies....and we are off.
Typhoon Lagoon was awesome. That Shark Reef, so cool(and cold). We have actually snorkelled in Hawaii and it was still cool. Fun wave pool, storm slides, family raft, lazy river, crush'n gusher....one fear filled moment was when the heat and stairs set off my asthma and I had a bit of an attack. I could see going to the pearly gates and explaining that I died fake snorkelling at a disney water park.
We go to our hotel, ham and havarti, baby...flatbread discovery. Even my wife, self proposed "I only eat things I have eaten before...I know, 18 years and I still havent figured it out...is digging the havarti and ham. My son, pig lover extraordinaire, is digging the havarti without the ham.
Then we are off to Disney Quest. Ok, my son is not a crazy obsessed video boy but when we heard about Cyberspace Mountain we really wanted to do it. Ok, so you design a roller coaster and you ride it virtually. I know this is in the guise of dining...but here is where the pixie dust hits. You get a card, scan it in the console, Bill Nye talks ya through it and you design a coaster and name it.Our name....Cosmic Chariot Then you stand in a line, go to a virtual pod, they scan your card and you ride it....Ok cue the pixie dust. We go up to CM Jeff, he scans the card, there is no cosmic chariot to be found.
Wow, this never happens, he says. So he let"s us jump the line and design again...We design...go up again, basically fastpassing . We go back to him. No name of our coaster again. So, he says "Ride one of ours, and then go do another one". We do that...and he gives us a brand new card. We make another one, and he allows us to fastpass again, and ride it twice, once with my son and wife, and once with me and my son...and then we finish that, and he gives us a fastpass for the pirates of the carribean virtual ride, which is spectacular.
It totally made my night, but wreaked havoc on our reservation at Captain Jacks...all the way across DD. So as the weather system raises it's rainy head we decided to, as a joke, walk to Wolfgang Pucks...
they seat us immediately.
Wolfgang Pucks is hip, sort of slow moving, with really top notch food. I had crab cakes, and shrimp and scallop fettucine, My wife ordered the"Zwivelrostbraten " just so she could say "Zwivelrostbraten", the CM said
ok, but what is that? So much for being cool. A lot of work for steak. My son had a grilled cheese and smiley fries. The food was well done, but the meal was slow. Oh by the way, we always had great service on the dining plan. I don"t think the slowness was because of the dining plan. I think the slowness was to provide leisurely dining. I"m not always so refined, so even though the meal was good, this was not my most cherished dining experience.It felt a little pretentious.
Day 5
Food, thy name is Epcot,though we spend the first bit of the morning doing our snack thing at Pop. Pop in day five has started to create a consistency for us since the music mix is the same every morning. There was an old movie called If It"s Tuesday, it must be belgium. Our version was If it is Breakfast , it must be Jimi Hendrix "Fire", "Grease" ,and Pointer Sisters "Jump". We leave the building to Alanis Morrisettes "Head over Feet: and are on the bus by Mrs Robinson.
Our first section of Epcot is spent on rides, Soarin is a favorite of ours at California Adventure, and the theming is a little different here. In California the line is dedicated to California Aviators, here California is never mentioned, but implied by the fact that you fly over it the whole ride. Test Track was a big family hit. For my son,it was fast and sciency. For my Wife, it featured John Michael Higgins from A Mighty Wind. For me,whatever, I"m happy.
Ellens Energy Adventure was cool and amazing...Was that all we did in Epcot that day?
Well, we rode El Rio Del Tiempo...fun in a look back at Disney Way. And my son loved Maelstrom. God knows.
OK, so I Loved The World Showcase!!!! And not because of the food...I just was really transformed. Sitting by another Disney Water Feature, eating good soft tacos from the Cantina, tortured by aggressive long beaked shore birds...Our cantina meal was one of my favorites. My wife got a combo platter, my son a burrito and I got soft tacos. And now it is my chance to extol the virtues of Disney Margaritas. Had one there, had three at my hotel, (not on the same day). Hey, let"s remember that it all started with a mouse. Well that mouse was some mixologist, let me tell you...
Our tour got really fun when we came across a chinese acrobat show, and reflections of china...super fun...and then it poured...and we took solace in Germany.
There is something about that experience that will always make my think of hordes of wet people when I smell Sauerkraut...and I don"t mean that in a sad way. Too me, this is what traveling is, the ebb and flow of that other member of your party, the weather. It can be your favorite uncle, or the crazy relative that no one wants to invite. For our family, it has always been an element we would gladly put in our christmas photot. We enjoy the pouring torrents while they are there. We had a caramel apple in our panchos.
By the way, the world showcase is so authentic seeming. Why is it,however, that Morrocco gets authentic music, as does Italy, Germany and France but america is filled with schmaltzy orchestral filler, and Eagles cover bands. We saw the American Experience...and though it was Disney, and moving, I wondered how much this was every amaericans experience.
Then, it was on to Teppanyaki
Teppanyaki. Japanese for soaked to the bone with wet Panchos. And I entered with the idea that it was going to be bad. Many of the reviews here have mentioned restricted dining plan rules and that the restaurant was not better than the local japanese steakhouse back home.
Are you getting a thread here? We loved Teppanyaki. You sit with a family from Ohio, who are totally impressed by you being from California. You can"t get Lobster, or sushi for appetizers...but you can get anything else. And our Chef, Mitsuko I think, was excellent. She did the fantasic onion volcano and then made Mickey Mouse out of onions, and then sent mickey to a demise by blade. The Ohioans were amazed, but said it was no better than the one they had in Columbus...just kidding. We had steak and scallops, steak and chicken, and chicken( it was the one kids meal that wasn"t chicken tenders, though I almost thought she was going to Teppanyaki some Mac and Cheese.)
It was so fun!!!! I loved it. And I envy those people in Jackson, Ms who have a steakhouse this yummy.
And kids love it.
Ok, The rain cleared, and we drifted through a rain soaked World...going home to swim, and listen to the Crew Cuts sing Sh Boom. Oh my god, it"s ShBoom, must be time for bed.
Day 6 -when you wish upon a crowd
So, we finally get to Magic Kingdom. My wife creates a concept called "grab and go", which consists of croissants, bagels and cream chesse, and our Pop best friend....the bowl of fruit.(Melon and grapes). We eat our "grab and go" on the "hold and stand"(Pop bus to Magic Kingdom). These bus rides are as much of the essence of Disney. Tired, sleepy eyed families, teenagers on the brink of breakdowns, being pushed through one more twelve day. The people planning their fastpass attack, and the stories...the minister from Alabama, the schoolteachers, the grandparents, parents, kids, the 25 person family reunion from Chicag. It's all here.
and we walk into the Magic Kingdom, and with one view of Main Street, we are home, back in California at Disneyland. I am thrust back to the time my brother and I rode Pirates when it was brand new...the many childhood memories of family time. We ride Space Mountain, Buzz, My son loves Stitch so we rode the much maligned Great Escape, okay everybody, wait for it, wait for it....twice. Carousel of progress, Big Thunder...and then we are off to Pecos Bills
Pecos Bills...to base a dining experience on a fixin bar seems bizarre to me, but Pecos Bills has great burgers, and a fixins bar. Man, the burger was good with all those mushrooms and fake cheese sauce. My wife has a great non experimental fixin bar burger and my son has a grilled cheese.
This was the first day of insane crowds...one which turns people surly, and other things. A guy in a Dale Earnhardt shirt says," I"m going away from this crush of humanity". How bad are the crowds, is the heat, the impending rain. They all combine with a profundity crazy enough to turn a nascar enthusiast poetic.
We go to Tiki Room. OK, what? The DLand Tiki Room is a classic. Walt is rolling in his crygenic state as Gilbert Gottfried sings hot hot hot. Hated it.
We fast Pass Splash Mountain, son and I leaving the front row lookin like drowned rats
..and we go back to the Pop, rest and then go to the Wildrness Lodge for our experience in
WHISPERING CANYON LODGE. More like YELLING COWBOY PLACE. If you are not shy, and like meat, this is the place. Crazy CMs, people yelling for ketchup, large skillets of meat. We are Barbeque people, and the pork is amazing. Sure, there are men singing songs about buttercups, and pony races...but the food was awesome, and the desserts, some sort of chocolate decadence bomb thing, and a bread pudding extravaganza are fantastic...and the Wilderness Lodge is great!!!!
__________________
Day 7
Allright, let me start off by asking this question, and those of you who are tv watchers staying on property will know what I am asking? Who is Stacy, the perky MC on the 7 top things at Disney Video...Ok, she grew on me. Is her name really Stacy? I am an actor so I know that she is just doing a role, but I found myself looking for her, you know...riding Miission Space, dancing with the guys from Animal Kingdom,eating black market beaver tails from Canada, and searching through the trash behind Ohana for any old pineapple and caramel.
Ok, dining!!!!
Fruit and bagels at pop, and off to an incredibly sunny morning a blizzard beach. We did the wave pool, the family slides, another tube thing, and then onto the lazy river, which we have taken to call the hectic crazy river. This was day two of the crush of humanity...and at one point in the lazy river, you go into a tunnel,,,oh my god, it is the scariest moment ever. Screaming, splashing, darkness. Stacey never told me about this.
and our counter service is at the warming hut. Nachos, burgers...pretty straight forward, nothing terrible...
We decide to head back to Pop, maybe hear part of the loop we haven"t heard, and then head back to Downtown Disney. Miles and I experience more of Disney Quest including the virtual Jungle Cruise. And two more Virtual Roller Coasters. My wife shops. We watch candy makers dip chocolate in the window. But, you know, if it was me, I would be a little more tuned into the people watching me. You know, smile or something. Candy makers at DD are pretty serious.
Then, we go to Raglan Road.
RAGLAN ROAD.
Irish pub food, yeah. Get your black and tan, boil some beef, throw a little cabbage on there. My father is a retired postal worker who belongs to every retired agency. We have taken to calling March Corned beef and cabbage month.
But I will go on record as proclaiming Raglan Road my favorite Table Service meal. So arty, so yummy. I had crab salad appetizer, which was amazing, and fish and chips , far beyond H> Salt. My son had some sort of arty pigs in blanket thing, and my wife had irish stew. For dessert, bread pudding, chocolate bomb and ice cream with the most addictive butterscoth sauce ever.
You really gotta try this place. It is beyond belief.
Day 8
Ahhh, the magic of day 8. Wake up to snacks, pop music and Stacy going on about La Nouba, and we are off to another day of MGM and Epcot. Yes, many people don"t like MGM I guess. but we have taken to it. We are not people who need to have constant action, and we are more than happy with puns like Toluca Legs Turkey Company. They have a villian shop there. I would"ve called it "A Scar is Born". Oh, by the way, I think there is a new movie coming out called Pirates of The Carribean...I"ve seen a few things about it.
So we are onto Tower of Terror again. It is my favorite ride. And, the one in WDW does things that the Cali one doesn"t do. I'll admit it. It is a more complete experience. Then we do the Sounds Dangerous thing. Maligned, maligned. I thought it was cool. We saw The Walt thing, which was really amazing. I could just live in there. You see I was born in California in 1958, and grew up watching all the disneyland propaganda. Imagine anyone having enough money to have a tv show to sell their amusement park today???
Then We were onto the Prime Time.
PRIMETIME 50'S CAFE....
If there was one place we were excited about,it was the Prime Time. First of all, we wish our house was the Prime Time. My wife,ogling all the 50's kitsch,said "I wish it was in my house". An elderly CM said "Well, don"t bother. It's bolted down". She then proceeded to tell us about all the things that were taken before they were bolted down, and that even after the bolting and luciting someone stole a picture of Perry Como out of the lucite.
My wife had been dreaming of fried chicken. Her grandmother would fry chicken for snack, which she would call a "snacky". My son and I dutifully washed our hands, smelled them to make sure they were nice and fresh. We sat down in boomer paradise. Unfortunately it was not as abusive as we had expected.(My wife and I were both improv comedians in other life forms) We has Liz, who didn"t want to be called anything but Sister Liz. She was too young to be Aunt Liz, but maybe cousin? Sister Liz made it feel like she should be singing "I Will Follow Him" with Whoopi Goldberg. And she just was nice, and occasionally would throw off some kind of packaged quip. She seemed a little uninspired, though pleasant enough. Meanwhile, the party of thirteen next to us was responding like they were on nitrous oxide . Their CM was a little like a macho Paul Lynde. He would day things like "You want more Soda? Don't you think you"ve had enough? Look there are thirteen of you. You wanna do some math? If you each want extra soda, that"s 26 drinks, and shoot, I am just not doing it."
Meanwhile, Sister Liz seems to be going off and looking at some developed phrase book."You are a pack of hyenas...see how you are?" And she did a good job of serving us. My son had the hot dog, I had onion rings,chicken pot pie, my wife had a salad and the fried chicken. She loved it,which is what counts. I liked the pot pie. I think it"s sad however that restaurants want to do arty things with pot pie, you know, puff pastry topping with guyere filling and laseur peas, when we ordered pot pie thinking about Swansons.
For dessert we had sundaes and some toasted marshmallow smore thing that was awesome. I tried not to over eat. It was lunch, and I had a foreboding sense that my son's love for Star Tours would beckon him to riding.
All in all, the food was great, the environment pleasant..as was sister Liz....but I think I was so excited that it was a slight dissapointment...but what other restaurant would that be the complaint...the server being to nice, I Mean?
On to Epcot afternoon. We explored The Living Seas, which was awesome. It was day 8 so we just ignored the crush of humanity trying to see the humanized Crush. My son did come up with an idea for a new ride which would be a ride called the line ride. And believe me, I am fine with lines. Actually some of our very fun times have been spent in lines. You talk to people, you talk about life. I don"t find it that bad. But I have noticed that people will line up for anything. "What's this line? Oh twenty people lined up to get a hug from Rafiki". "What's this line? !6 people trying to see a live rabbit". and the spontanaety(sic) is gone. In olden times, you hunted for characters. Now you know, Chicken Little will be outside the Prime Time at 3:30. and the characters won"t stop. If you see them spontaneously, no way. They have a train called consumerism to catch. Timon is late for his 2:45. And they all have bodyguards now.
We go to the club cool place to taste coke products from other countries. I go for everything. There is one called Beverly from england that is an "apertif style soft drink product" that must translate into "A small cup of bitter". Otherwise the melon soda is yummy, Mozambique being known for their coke products.
We ride Maelstrom again. My son is into it. I find a hidden mickey. In the mural to the left there is a viking boat. In the boat one of the rowers is wearing Mickey Ears. And then we head to Marrekesh.
Marrekesh was suggested by my wife, how had been a nanny for a girl, and took the girl to WDW, The girl was one, my wife was part of an entourage, and really didn"t experience much of it. However, she remembered Marrakesh. This is comic. I am easily the most experimental person is our family. My son calls me "The eater of Gopher Snake Dog" . If I had suggested Marrakesh, they probably would"ve gone, but would've given me that "We love you and your three heads " sort of look.
Well, we all loved Marrakesh. My wife and I had feasts, and my son had Kefta. Kefta translated from the arabic means...hamburger. Grilled meat, puff pastry filled with seafood and chicken, couscous,vegetables, exotic sauces, belly dancing, live music, a CM named Ali, fez wearing male servers...really, what else could you ask for. Another of my top picks. If you are looking for something different, this is it. Oh and I forgot, my dinner was called A night in Casablanca, which sounded like a prom theme to me...and let me praise the beef brewat rolls. Ok, it is seasoned ground beef(kefta), rolled in an eggroll type wrapper, deep fried and then powder sugared. Sounds like gopher snake dog, but my whole family loved them....the food chain works this way. I try it . Run it through the wife filter. If she likes it, then my son knows that it is possible.
Finally we duck into a small art museum of middle eastern artifacts, and I am again filled with the feeling of immersion...that lovely magical feeling I love about Disney. Away from the mouse ears, and the photoshoot for Puumba, the strains of Frank singing "What is America to Me?" and the beatles cover bands, it is just us three, admiring an ud. It is as though we have actually travelled to Morraco(sic), and not negotiated some bus schedule there. We breath in the solace of this moment, a moment for me as rich and disney-filled as Expedition Everest..we step out into the crowds, and head back to swim in the bowling pin, once again.
day nine
Anybody ever been to Graceland? When you visit Graceland for the first time, you go to bed, close your eyes and see images of Elvis. We, as a culture must inundate ourselves to the point of panic...
There seems to be a lot of panic over reservations, by the way. The concept is that your world will crumble if you don"t eat with Cinderella or don"t consume that cheddar soup. I think we pass this onto our children and it frankly isn"t very helpful or healthy. Guess what? There is always a place to eat. We walked into our vacation with a few holes in our reservations. This because I wanted a few spontaneous days. These days were filled by Wolfgang Puck and Raglan Road...and the day before this, our last day, my wife snagged a Crystal Palace lunch...
So we get to the Magic Kingdom early. I was a little worn out by our last journey there. It was overbearing, especially up in the mountain range of splash and big thunder. We wanted to see philharmagic, and frankly, Fantasyland was so barren I thought It was closed. I immediately figured that Stacy, the spokesperson for Disney on the resort TV was maybe filming a fantasyland section...but it turned out, it was just a light morning.I soak it in as one of those beautifu Disney moments...You and the unspoiled world Walt created.
We did philharmagic, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, got a splash fastpass, rode the train to ride stitch, (ok, my son really likes it...and darnit, so do I....) and rode the train back to splash, rode that ...and finally the throng began to appear as we jumped into bear country jamboree. We saw it and some of Cinderellabration(which is all the princesses, but I guess Princess abration sounds like they got hurt in a fall). And we watch the afternoon fireworks from the deck of The Crystal Palace.
The waiting was pretty throngy. A guy was wearing a shirt which said "I"m grumpy because you"re dopey". Large groups were piling out of the crystal palace as we waited. Now, In disneyland there is a restaurant called The Crystal Palace. It serves fried chicken and stouffers products. This has a little of that...but I thought the food was awesome!!! I mean, mac and cheese next to ancho chili glazed salmon next to plantain salad next to cornbread. I thought it was a rockin buffet. Buffet is a word that puts panic in many people, but this was superly fun.
The restaurant also has the character thing down to a science. When they seat you they tell you each character(Winnie, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger) will come to your table individually. Then our CM said "You can have at the buffet as soon as you are visited by Pooh". And it was fun. My son, the product of two actors, is only impressed by Darth Vader. Pooh is a hot actor is a costume . This should be respected. Darth is real and should be feared. My son takes pictures of pooh and Piglet and us between the massive scarfage of buffet. My wife at one point came back with 6 desserts on her plate.
We say goodbye to pooh and his friends, browsing through the main street shoppes, you know, the ones that are all connected. and we move towards downtown disney, for one more fling at disneyquest, and one more fling at shoppping.(my wife loves it so much that there are three "p"s.
Can anyone explain to me why it is easier to catch a bus from the value pop than it is from the delux Retro, I mean Contemporary. Why the delux Poly has to share a bus while Pop has it"s own line? Hmm, a strange snag.
Our final meal has us eliminating appetizers, eschewing dessert, and getting burgers. Can you guess? No more dining plan. But the burgers at House of Blues are great, and the margaritas are even better. House of blues is good,solid food, and a great last night dinner.
So, the only thing left is one more delving into ham and havarti at the pop, an avalanche of memories...pony express rides,shrimp flipping chefs, a parade of characters created for a young boy named Christopher Robin, being served by people who call you cousin while you drink from pineapples, a machine made margarita by a man made lake, belly dancers...and more. Indelible are the images of people: the minister from Alabama, the thrill seeker from Ottawa, teachers on their summer break,the cms wearing different names. The families running their kids ragged, the families by the pool, ultimately all of us, destined to leave this place, go back to our homes and when we close our eyes we see images of a mouse.
also
it might not hurt to clap your hands together and say
I believe
Well, we are back from the fantastic first trip to wdw. The prologue is as follows...We are seasoned Disneyland Travelers, this was our first trip and our first experience with staying on property and the dining plan. The cast of characters are myself, DW, and DS8. We stayed at the Pop Century... First off, let me say, as pop culture freaks, it was the best choice. To fill ourselves with the giant spectrum of people that go to WDW, we couldn"t ask for a better place. WE LOVED POP!!!! Never waited more than ten minutes for a bus,always had a place to sit down,loved the music and the staff. I would go there again in a heartbeat.
Day 1. We get there at 6 in the evening. We decided to food court it, and swim. It is a beautiful evening. 85 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. where are the rains and crushing heat, I think. Everything Pop is often in our travels. We turned snacks into breakfasts. But tonight, overwhelmed by the pure popness, They get Very Sloppy Joes, I get the Moms Night barbeque pork . The food is fine. Nothing amazing, but totally doable. The one thing we loved is the flatbread sandwiches. So good. We loved the Ham and Havarti(but we are from the West Coast, what is Havarti. ) While at Pop we also had waffles, chocolate chip pancakes,(the waffles are great, made right there), Chicken Penne Alfredo...and a breakfast Sandwich. We didn"t eat this all the first day. But for convenience, this place rocked.
Day 2. First day in the parks, MGM Studios. Food wise, again, nothing extraordinarily profound. We checked out Pizza Planet, hoping it would be just like the place in Toy Story. The heat has kicked in slightly, there are people everywhere. Ahh, I am finally getting the idea of WDW in the summer. We had pizzas(hmm, creative choice). The funniest thing about the dining plan is how often they try to push stuff on you. "No dessert?, you get dessert.) And we consumed the pizza like hyenas. Not "Good Pizza" per se, but fun, and my son loved the arcade(Our events today consisted of Tower, Rocknroller,Great Movie Ride...weird thing,that..loved it, but it was very odd. Let's see, the studio tour, Narnia...my choice for worst attraction, but my son was into it... Star Tours,
Indiana Jones Stunt Show<so cool for kids>...and surely more... But Dinner was at Sci Fi, which we absolutely loved.
SCI FI. First off, one of my favorite things about the whole experience of wdw are the people you meet. We had two "hitchikers" in our cars, a woman and her daughter from Philadelphia. We chatted, drank milkshakes, watched the worst movie trailers ever. We had a wonderfully charming CM. We ate salads, onion rings(mmm...onion rings), my son had a burger, my wife had a steak, and I had ribs. The ribs were awesome, tender, off the bone loveliness. My wife and son loved their food, too. This is a truly wdw experience, and I would highly recommend it.
Day three a zoo
Ok, so we're the same, 2 adults and an eight year old, rockin in the world for the first time. The sun set on our beautiful day at MGM, my son and I swam in the bowling pin at pop(My son, who is, at 8 a brilliant linguist has come up with phrases that you could never understand anywhere else but Disneyworld..one is "let's swim in the bowling pin)
It is my son's call on parks today. He chooses Animal Kingdom, which no matter how much people say "nahtazu"(read NOT A ZOO), is pretty much a zoo...especially since the induction of expedition Everest, which is so cool, and wins my award for the best line ever. So much to look at...you can ignore a few things, 1) that there are people actually waiting for a ride, and 2) IT IS FINALLY HOTTER THAN HELL, AND SOME KIND OF STORM FRONT IS MOVING IN.(Everyone is clear that this is a weather system, not a typical 12 minute Orlando thing). I will admit here and now that Animal Kingdom got the short shrift of our travels. We rode EE, Kali River, walked through both treks(Loved them, almost like being in another world...my favorite moments of disneyworld lie in the times when the magic takes over, and suddenly you are in those places, and the throngs of anticipation filled ride goers drift away, so it is you and jungle birds.
and before our fast pass for KS we get sucked into a great african acrobat show...whisked into Harambe and one of those spontaneous Disney moments when you happen to be in the right place at the right time...Then there is a rumbling!!!! Thunder, or stomachs... right now, stomachs, and we go to Tusker House.
TUSKER HOUSE was great. The counter service work here is so far superior to Disneyland is the speed department. This comes from a man who stood forty five minutes at a counter service meal at California Adventure. I mean at WDW we never waited more than ten minutes, and there are always people to talk to, or observe. My son had Mac and Cheese, and feel in love with those Mickey Goldfish. My wife and I, to begin the consolidation of counter service, split the chicken salad. Thoroughly yummy, and we sat at a beautiful table, shaded by the back of the bar, and next to a disney river...
a wonderful experience.
Kilimanjaro Safaris was so much fun.. though audio animatronic little red paled in comparison to the actual animals.
Rain settled in and we got on a bus to Pop... tok a little break and then were off to one of our anticipated meals, Ohana at the Poly. So, here is another thing I love about Disney World...the transportation. Traveling somewhere by monorail is the coolest. Stopping at other hotels like the Retro...oh, sorry, I mean the Contemporary was so fun. The Polynesian wasn"t quite as Polynesian as we had hoped, but you are dealing with Tiki Freaks here. But we were ready for the Ohana experience.
OHANA After reading so many scathing reviews about Ohana, and the changes and such, I was a little afraid, and maybe my fears were taken away by bubbly CMs, and Lapu Lapus, but we loved Ohana. You know, things change, that"s the way it goes....but when reviewing this you should look at what there is, not what there isn"t. The shrimp was great, the won ton chips good, the salad and potatoes (especially the potatoes...mmm, ohana potatoes) were amazing!!!! And the meats were great!!!...Yes, the meat CM(skewer princess) was slow with the second set of skewers, but we thought they were excellent.
and my family had seen a thing about ohana, were ready for pineapple and caramel, but those moments of readiness were ferried away by the wafting currents of Bread Pudding and bananas foster. Ok...eeeek. That was one freakishly good dessert.
Day 4...Same people involved. It is the magic of those bonuses you add to your ticket...the water parks, disney quest...yeah!!!! Born to rock...in the morning there are clouds(weather system...I heard two things alot. Everyone referring to a weather system...and the word "fastpass" . ) My wife works her snack magic, working Pop for all the intricacies....and we are off.
Typhoon Lagoon was awesome. That Shark Reef, so cool(and cold). We have actually snorkelled in Hawaii and it was still cool. Fun wave pool, storm slides, family raft, lazy river, crush'n gusher....one fear filled moment was when the heat and stairs set off my asthma and I had a bit of an attack. I could see going to the pearly gates and explaining that I died fake snorkelling at a disney water park.
We go to our hotel, ham and havarti, baby...flatbread discovery. Even my wife, self proposed "I only eat things I have eaten before...I know, 18 years and I still havent figured it out...is digging the havarti and ham. My son, pig lover extraordinaire, is digging the havarti without the ham.
Then we are off to Disney Quest. Ok, my son is not a crazy obsessed video boy but when we heard about Cyberspace Mountain we really wanted to do it. Ok, so you design a roller coaster and you ride it virtually. I know this is in the guise of dining...but here is where the pixie dust hits. You get a card, scan it in the console, Bill Nye talks ya through it and you design a coaster and name it.Our name....Cosmic Chariot Then you stand in a line, go to a virtual pod, they scan your card and you ride it....Ok cue the pixie dust. We go up to CM Jeff, he scans the card, there is no cosmic chariot to be found.
Wow, this never happens, he says. So he let"s us jump the line and design again...We design...go up again, basically fastpassing . We go back to him. No name of our coaster again. So, he says "Ride one of ours, and then go do another one". We do that...and he gives us a brand new card. We make another one, and he allows us to fastpass again, and ride it twice, once with my son and wife, and once with me and my son...and then we finish that, and he gives us a fastpass for the pirates of the carribean virtual ride, which is spectacular.
It totally made my night, but wreaked havoc on our reservation at Captain Jacks...all the way across DD. So as the weather system raises it's rainy head we decided to, as a joke, walk to Wolfgang Pucks...
they seat us immediately.
Wolfgang Pucks is hip, sort of slow moving, with really top notch food. I had crab cakes, and shrimp and scallop fettucine, My wife ordered the"Zwivelrostbraten " just so she could say "Zwivelrostbraten", the CM said
ok, but what is that? So much for being cool. A lot of work for steak. My son had a grilled cheese and smiley fries. The food was well done, but the meal was slow. Oh by the way, we always had great service on the dining plan. I don"t think the slowness was because of the dining plan. I think the slowness was to provide leisurely dining. I"m not always so refined, so even though the meal was good, this was not my most cherished dining experience.It felt a little pretentious.
Day 5
Food, thy name is Epcot,though we spend the first bit of the morning doing our snack thing at Pop. Pop in day five has started to create a consistency for us since the music mix is the same every morning. There was an old movie called If It"s Tuesday, it must be belgium. Our version was If it is Breakfast , it must be Jimi Hendrix "Fire", "Grease" ,and Pointer Sisters "Jump". We leave the building to Alanis Morrisettes "Head over Feet: and are on the bus by Mrs Robinson.
Our first section of Epcot is spent on rides, Soarin is a favorite of ours at California Adventure, and the theming is a little different here. In California the line is dedicated to California Aviators, here California is never mentioned, but implied by the fact that you fly over it the whole ride. Test Track was a big family hit. For my son,it was fast and sciency. For my Wife, it featured John Michael Higgins from A Mighty Wind. For me,whatever, I"m happy.
Ellens Energy Adventure was cool and amazing...Was that all we did in Epcot that day?
Well, we rode El Rio Del Tiempo...fun in a look back at Disney Way. And my son loved Maelstrom. God knows.
OK, so I Loved The World Showcase!!!! And not because of the food...I just was really transformed. Sitting by another Disney Water Feature, eating good soft tacos from the Cantina, tortured by aggressive long beaked shore birds...Our cantina meal was one of my favorites. My wife got a combo platter, my son a burrito and I got soft tacos. And now it is my chance to extol the virtues of Disney Margaritas. Had one there, had three at my hotel, (not on the same day). Hey, let"s remember that it all started with a mouse. Well that mouse was some mixologist, let me tell you...
Our tour got really fun when we came across a chinese acrobat show, and reflections of china...super fun...and then it poured...and we took solace in Germany.
There is something about that experience that will always make my think of hordes of wet people when I smell Sauerkraut...and I don"t mean that in a sad way. Too me, this is what traveling is, the ebb and flow of that other member of your party, the weather. It can be your favorite uncle, or the crazy relative that no one wants to invite. For our family, it has always been an element we would gladly put in our christmas photot. We enjoy the pouring torrents while they are there. We had a caramel apple in our panchos.
By the way, the world showcase is so authentic seeming. Why is it,however, that Morrocco gets authentic music, as does Italy, Germany and France but america is filled with schmaltzy orchestral filler, and Eagles cover bands. We saw the American Experience...and though it was Disney, and moving, I wondered how much this was every amaericans experience.
Then, it was on to Teppanyaki
Teppanyaki. Japanese for soaked to the bone with wet Panchos. And I entered with the idea that it was going to be bad. Many of the reviews here have mentioned restricted dining plan rules and that the restaurant was not better than the local japanese steakhouse back home.
Are you getting a thread here? We loved Teppanyaki. You sit with a family from Ohio, who are totally impressed by you being from California. You can"t get Lobster, or sushi for appetizers...but you can get anything else. And our Chef, Mitsuko I think, was excellent. She did the fantasic onion volcano and then made Mickey Mouse out of onions, and then sent mickey to a demise by blade. The Ohioans were amazed, but said it was no better than the one they had in Columbus...just kidding. We had steak and scallops, steak and chicken, and chicken( it was the one kids meal that wasn"t chicken tenders, though I almost thought she was going to Teppanyaki some Mac and Cheese.)
It was so fun!!!! I loved it. And I envy those people in Jackson, Ms who have a steakhouse this yummy.
And kids love it.
Ok, The rain cleared, and we drifted through a rain soaked World...going home to swim, and listen to the Crew Cuts sing Sh Boom. Oh my god, it"s ShBoom, must be time for bed.
Day 6 -when you wish upon a crowd
So, we finally get to Magic Kingdom. My wife creates a concept called "grab and go", which consists of croissants, bagels and cream chesse, and our Pop best friend....the bowl of fruit.(Melon and grapes). We eat our "grab and go" on the "hold and stand"(Pop bus to Magic Kingdom). These bus rides are as much of the essence of Disney. Tired, sleepy eyed families, teenagers on the brink of breakdowns, being pushed through one more twelve day. The people planning their fastpass attack, and the stories...the minister from Alabama, the schoolteachers, the grandparents, parents, kids, the 25 person family reunion from Chicag. It's all here.
and we walk into the Magic Kingdom, and with one view of Main Street, we are home, back in California at Disneyland. I am thrust back to the time my brother and I rode Pirates when it was brand new...the many childhood memories of family time. We ride Space Mountain, Buzz, My son loves Stitch so we rode the much maligned Great Escape, okay everybody, wait for it, wait for it....twice. Carousel of progress, Big Thunder...and then we are off to Pecos Bills
Pecos Bills...to base a dining experience on a fixin bar seems bizarre to me, but Pecos Bills has great burgers, and a fixins bar. Man, the burger was good with all those mushrooms and fake cheese sauce. My wife has a great non experimental fixin bar burger and my son has a grilled cheese.
This was the first day of insane crowds...one which turns people surly, and other things. A guy in a Dale Earnhardt shirt says," I"m going away from this crush of humanity". How bad are the crowds, is the heat, the impending rain. They all combine with a profundity crazy enough to turn a nascar enthusiast poetic.
We go to Tiki Room. OK, what? The DLand Tiki Room is a classic. Walt is rolling in his crygenic state as Gilbert Gottfried sings hot hot hot. Hated it.
We fast Pass Splash Mountain, son and I leaving the front row lookin like drowned rats
..and we go back to the Pop, rest and then go to the Wildrness Lodge for our experience in
WHISPERING CANYON LODGE. More like YELLING COWBOY PLACE. If you are not shy, and like meat, this is the place. Crazy CMs, people yelling for ketchup, large skillets of meat. We are Barbeque people, and the pork is amazing. Sure, there are men singing songs about buttercups, and pony races...but the food was awesome, and the desserts, some sort of chocolate decadence bomb thing, and a bread pudding extravaganza are fantastic...and the Wilderness Lodge is great!!!!
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Day 7
Allright, let me start off by asking this question, and those of you who are tv watchers staying on property will know what I am asking? Who is Stacy, the perky MC on the 7 top things at Disney Video...Ok, she grew on me. Is her name really Stacy? I am an actor so I know that she is just doing a role, but I found myself looking for her, you know...riding Miission Space, dancing with the guys from Animal Kingdom,eating black market beaver tails from Canada, and searching through the trash behind Ohana for any old pineapple and caramel.
Ok, dining!!!!
Fruit and bagels at pop, and off to an incredibly sunny morning a blizzard beach. We did the wave pool, the family slides, another tube thing, and then onto the lazy river, which we have taken to call the hectic crazy river. This was day two of the crush of humanity...and at one point in the lazy river, you go into a tunnel,,,oh my god, it is the scariest moment ever. Screaming, splashing, darkness. Stacey never told me about this.
and our counter service is at the warming hut. Nachos, burgers...pretty straight forward, nothing terrible...
We decide to head back to Pop, maybe hear part of the loop we haven"t heard, and then head back to Downtown Disney. Miles and I experience more of Disney Quest including the virtual Jungle Cruise. And two more Virtual Roller Coasters. My wife shops. We watch candy makers dip chocolate in the window. But, you know, if it was me, I would be a little more tuned into the people watching me. You know, smile or something. Candy makers at DD are pretty serious.
Then, we go to Raglan Road.
RAGLAN ROAD.
Irish pub food, yeah. Get your black and tan, boil some beef, throw a little cabbage on there. My father is a retired postal worker who belongs to every retired agency. We have taken to calling March Corned beef and cabbage month.
But I will go on record as proclaiming Raglan Road my favorite Table Service meal. So arty, so yummy. I had crab salad appetizer, which was amazing, and fish and chips , far beyond H> Salt. My son had some sort of arty pigs in blanket thing, and my wife had irish stew. For dessert, bread pudding, chocolate bomb and ice cream with the most addictive butterscoth sauce ever.
You really gotta try this place. It is beyond belief.
Day 8
Ahhh, the magic of day 8. Wake up to snacks, pop music and Stacy going on about La Nouba, and we are off to another day of MGM and Epcot. Yes, many people don"t like MGM I guess. but we have taken to it. We are not people who need to have constant action, and we are more than happy with puns like Toluca Legs Turkey Company. They have a villian shop there. I would"ve called it "A Scar is Born". Oh, by the way, I think there is a new movie coming out called Pirates of The Carribean...I"ve seen a few things about it.
So we are onto Tower of Terror again. It is my favorite ride. And, the one in WDW does things that the Cali one doesn"t do. I'll admit it. It is a more complete experience. Then we do the Sounds Dangerous thing. Maligned, maligned. I thought it was cool. We saw The Walt thing, which was really amazing. I could just live in there. You see I was born in California in 1958, and grew up watching all the disneyland propaganda. Imagine anyone having enough money to have a tv show to sell their amusement park today???
Then We were onto the Prime Time.
PRIMETIME 50'S CAFE....
If there was one place we were excited about,it was the Prime Time. First of all, we wish our house was the Prime Time. My wife,ogling all the 50's kitsch,said "I wish it was in my house". An elderly CM said "Well, don"t bother. It's bolted down". She then proceeded to tell us about all the things that were taken before they were bolted down, and that even after the bolting and luciting someone stole a picture of Perry Como out of the lucite.
My wife had been dreaming of fried chicken. Her grandmother would fry chicken for snack, which she would call a "snacky". My son and I dutifully washed our hands, smelled them to make sure they were nice and fresh. We sat down in boomer paradise. Unfortunately it was not as abusive as we had expected.(My wife and I were both improv comedians in other life forms) We has Liz, who didn"t want to be called anything but Sister Liz. She was too young to be Aunt Liz, but maybe cousin? Sister Liz made it feel like she should be singing "I Will Follow Him" with Whoopi Goldberg. And she just was nice, and occasionally would throw off some kind of packaged quip. She seemed a little uninspired, though pleasant enough. Meanwhile, the party of thirteen next to us was responding like they were on nitrous oxide . Their CM was a little like a macho Paul Lynde. He would day things like "You want more Soda? Don't you think you"ve had enough? Look there are thirteen of you. You wanna do some math? If you each want extra soda, that"s 26 drinks, and shoot, I am just not doing it."
Meanwhile, Sister Liz seems to be going off and looking at some developed phrase book."You are a pack of hyenas...see how you are?" And she did a good job of serving us. My son had the hot dog, I had onion rings,chicken pot pie, my wife had a salad and the fried chicken. She loved it,which is what counts. I liked the pot pie. I think it"s sad however that restaurants want to do arty things with pot pie, you know, puff pastry topping with guyere filling and laseur peas, when we ordered pot pie thinking about Swansons.
For dessert we had sundaes and some toasted marshmallow smore thing that was awesome. I tried not to over eat. It was lunch, and I had a foreboding sense that my son's love for Star Tours would beckon him to riding.
All in all, the food was great, the environment pleasant..as was sister Liz....but I think I was so excited that it was a slight dissapointment...but what other restaurant would that be the complaint...the server being to nice, I Mean?
On to Epcot afternoon. We explored The Living Seas, which was awesome. It was day 8 so we just ignored the crush of humanity trying to see the humanized Crush. My son did come up with an idea for a new ride which would be a ride called the line ride. And believe me, I am fine with lines. Actually some of our very fun times have been spent in lines. You talk to people, you talk about life. I don"t find it that bad. But I have noticed that people will line up for anything. "What's this line? Oh twenty people lined up to get a hug from Rafiki". "What's this line? !6 people trying to see a live rabbit". and the spontanaety(sic) is gone. In olden times, you hunted for characters. Now you know, Chicken Little will be outside the Prime Time at 3:30. and the characters won"t stop. If you see them spontaneously, no way. They have a train called consumerism to catch. Timon is late for his 2:45. And they all have bodyguards now.
We go to the club cool place to taste coke products from other countries. I go for everything. There is one called Beverly from england that is an "apertif style soft drink product" that must translate into "A small cup of bitter". Otherwise the melon soda is yummy, Mozambique being known for their coke products.
We ride Maelstrom again. My son is into it. I find a hidden mickey. In the mural to the left there is a viking boat. In the boat one of the rowers is wearing Mickey Ears. And then we head to Marrekesh.
Marrekesh was suggested by my wife, how had been a nanny for a girl, and took the girl to WDW, The girl was one, my wife was part of an entourage, and really didn"t experience much of it. However, she remembered Marrakesh. This is comic. I am easily the most experimental person is our family. My son calls me "The eater of Gopher Snake Dog" . If I had suggested Marrakesh, they probably would"ve gone, but would've given me that "We love you and your three heads " sort of look.
Well, we all loved Marrakesh. My wife and I had feasts, and my son had Kefta. Kefta translated from the arabic means...hamburger. Grilled meat, puff pastry filled with seafood and chicken, couscous,vegetables, exotic sauces, belly dancing, live music, a CM named Ali, fez wearing male servers...really, what else could you ask for. Another of my top picks. If you are looking for something different, this is it. Oh and I forgot, my dinner was called A night in Casablanca, which sounded like a prom theme to me...and let me praise the beef brewat rolls. Ok, it is seasoned ground beef(kefta), rolled in an eggroll type wrapper, deep fried and then powder sugared. Sounds like gopher snake dog, but my whole family loved them....the food chain works this way. I try it . Run it through the wife filter. If she likes it, then my son knows that it is possible.
Finally we duck into a small art museum of middle eastern artifacts, and I am again filled with the feeling of immersion...that lovely magical feeling I love about Disney. Away from the mouse ears, and the photoshoot for Puumba, the strains of Frank singing "What is America to Me?" and the beatles cover bands, it is just us three, admiring an ud. It is as though we have actually travelled to Morraco(sic), and not negotiated some bus schedule there. We breath in the solace of this moment, a moment for me as rich and disney-filled as Expedition Everest..we step out into the crowds, and head back to swim in the bowling pin, once again.
day nine
Anybody ever been to Graceland? When you visit Graceland for the first time, you go to bed, close your eyes and see images of Elvis. We, as a culture must inundate ourselves to the point of panic...
There seems to be a lot of panic over reservations, by the way. The concept is that your world will crumble if you don"t eat with Cinderella or don"t consume that cheddar soup. I think we pass this onto our children and it frankly isn"t very helpful or healthy. Guess what? There is always a place to eat. We walked into our vacation with a few holes in our reservations. This because I wanted a few spontaneous days. These days were filled by Wolfgang Puck and Raglan Road...and the day before this, our last day, my wife snagged a Crystal Palace lunch...
So we get to the Magic Kingdom early. I was a little worn out by our last journey there. It was overbearing, especially up in the mountain range of splash and big thunder. We wanted to see philharmagic, and frankly, Fantasyland was so barren I thought It was closed. I immediately figured that Stacy, the spokesperson for Disney on the resort TV was maybe filming a fantasyland section...but it turned out, it was just a light morning.I soak it in as one of those beautifu Disney moments...You and the unspoiled world Walt created.
We did philharmagic, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, got a splash fastpass, rode the train to ride stitch, (ok, my son really likes it...and darnit, so do I....) and rode the train back to splash, rode that ...and finally the throng began to appear as we jumped into bear country jamboree. We saw it and some of Cinderellabration(which is all the princesses, but I guess Princess abration sounds like they got hurt in a fall). And we watch the afternoon fireworks from the deck of The Crystal Palace.
The waiting was pretty throngy. A guy was wearing a shirt which said "I"m grumpy because you"re dopey". Large groups were piling out of the crystal palace as we waited. Now, In disneyland there is a restaurant called The Crystal Palace. It serves fried chicken and stouffers products. This has a little of that...but I thought the food was awesome!!! I mean, mac and cheese next to ancho chili glazed salmon next to plantain salad next to cornbread. I thought it was a rockin buffet. Buffet is a word that puts panic in many people, but this was superly fun.
The restaurant also has the character thing down to a science. When they seat you they tell you each character(Winnie, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger) will come to your table individually. Then our CM said "You can have at the buffet as soon as you are visited by Pooh". And it was fun. My son, the product of two actors, is only impressed by Darth Vader. Pooh is a hot actor is a costume . This should be respected. Darth is real and should be feared. My son takes pictures of pooh and Piglet and us between the massive scarfage of buffet. My wife at one point came back with 6 desserts on her plate.
We say goodbye to pooh and his friends, browsing through the main street shoppes, you know, the ones that are all connected. and we move towards downtown disney, for one more fling at disneyquest, and one more fling at shoppping.(my wife loves it so much that there are three "p"s.
Can anyone explain to me why it is easier to catch a bus from the value pop than it is from the delux Retro, I mean Contemporary. Why the delux Poly has to share a bus while Pop has it"s own line? Hmm, a strange snag.
Our final meal has us eliminating appetizers, eschewing dessert, and getting burgers. Can you guess? No more dining plan. But the burgers at House of Blues are great, and the margaritas are even better. House of blues is good,solid food, and a great last night dinner.
So, the only thing left is one more delving into ham and havarti at the pop, an avalanche of memories...pony express rides,shrimp flipping chefs, a parade of characters created for a young boy named Christopher Robin, being served by people who call you cousin while you drink from pineapples, a machine made margarita by a man made lake, belly dancers...and more. Indelible are the images of people: the minister from Alabama, the thrill seeker from Ottawa, teachers on their summer break,the cms wearing different names. The families running their kids ragged, the families by the pool, ultimately all of us, destined to leave this place, go back to our homes and when we close our eyes we see images of a mouse.
Did you see anyone famous? 
your DW / ... 
yourDS
