We ate the World, but did we get to ride Soaring??

[AlienBrain]

I just saw your TR today... it's great! It's a shame what happened to you with that unhospitable CM.

I am so sorry to hear about the congestive heart failure ... I hope your health improves.

You have another reader on board, so keep it up!!

 

[heavenleigh412]

I just saw your TR today... it's great! It's a shame what happened to you with that unhospitable CM.

I am so sorry to hear about the congestive heart failure ... I hope your health improves.

You have another reader on board, so keep it up!!

Well thank you! Glad to have you aboard!
Luckily whatever they did to that inhospitable CM, she will not be there anymore when I go back ;Epcot people are only here for 1 year!
My health is slowly improving, as long as I don't overdo... which is hard because I like to DO things, but I am trying! Luckily I get to start planning our next vacation... I need to change my countdown, we are not going for Christmas this year, instead we are doing a cruise!! 4 days in Disney and 4 days on The Wonder... the ship leaves on DD's birthday, April 12, 2009. Which is how we talked DH into letting us go! (he will of course be staying home with "his" dog)

I see from your countdown that you are having a Disneymoon... congratulations! I hope it is fantastic (and I expect a trip report )

 

[heavenleigh412]

I usually pride myself on my sense of direction. I am a New Yorker and can come out of a subway train anywhere and not take more than a few steps in the wrong direction. It's almost like I can SMELL it!

Well... I guess my nose was full of the smell of rice cream or funnel cakes or popcorn... because this part of the trip I really screwed up!
I had found my way to the T&TC with no problem in the morning, so we decided to leave Epcot on the monorail and walk back to Hawaii from there.
I made one little teensy wrong turn somewhere on the grounds of the Polynesian and bam... DM goes into melt down... DD starts whining about how she will NEVER get to swim at this rate... DF walked with his head down pretending his family had not all lost their minds at one time.

We ended up walking up the beach... one would think this was easy... it wasn't. DM's leg was bothering her and walking on the sand was making her more irritable by the second.
Except...
I couldn't find a way off the beach and there was no way in this world I was backtracking!!

Then...
The beach ended...
WHAT??
Exactly...
It completely cut off and Hawaii was nowhere in sight!
I could feel the death-rays boring into the back of my head...
What was I going to do?
I made my own path... I told DD to be quiet, this was an adventure and whining wasn't letting her enjoy it... and I refused to turn around to look at DM... she didn't raise any fools!!
The walk was beautiful, but I wasn't stupid enough to take out the camera.

There was the quiet pool!!
Hawaii was right around that little bend!
DD ripped out her KTTW card and raced up the stairs of the lounge, she was in our room, and in her bathing suit before I made it there.
Actually she raced past me to the pool, in the hallway, almost yelling " Meet me down there with the camera"

I went into the room, put down the camera case, and headed off to the lounge for a cappucino and some fresh fruit. I also got some goldfish crackers and a few cokes for DD.

I went back to the room and out on the balcony to stare at the incredible view while drinking my cappucino.
DF went out on the beach for some sun.
DM was in her room doing something...

After I relaxed a little, I headed down to the pool with the camera.
I caught this little beauty:

DD came down the slide at the Volcano pool, and I caught her upside down!


Up next: Return to the room and dinner at Le Cellier...

 

[heavenleigh412]

We had 6PM ADR for Le Cellier, so after snapping a few pictures of DD, I ripped her out of the pool (that would have been an interesting picture!) grabbed DF from the beach and dragged them into Hawaii.
After they showered, we were off!
This was DM and DF's trip so all the restaurants were new to them. DD and I had never eaten here because we always went with either a large group of people who for some reason wanted to eat at Denny's (we still had meals on property without them) or my cousin who is a vegetarian (and somehow taking him to a steakhouse seemed inappropriate!)

DM's leg was bothering her quite a bit, so we went into the Great Ceremonial House, to get Christmas ears and catch the monorail.
DF, who didn't want to come on this vacation, could not pick out which ears he wanted because they were all so cool!
Dm and I got the striped santa Mickey ears that light up around the band, DD got a Goofy Santa Hat that lights up through the long Goofy ears, DF got a Mad hatter like hat (and it was a rough choice for him between that and the Rastafarian ears and the pirate ears!)

Here is them wearing their ears:

and one with me in it (that of course I had to take myself!):

Then we all hopped on the monorail and headed for the ticket and transportation center (from here on referred to as T&TC because that is a lot to type out!)

We checked in at the podium and were told there was a bit of a wait. So we headed for the DSA outside of Canada overlooking the lake.

On a side note, we found most of the DSA's to be in beautiful spots away from the main traffic on the walkways.

Here is a pic of DD I took while at that DSA:

Then we headed back to Canada, and checked the podium again. After about a 5 minute wait, we were called.

Inside Le Cellier:

Sorry that it is angled more at the ceiling, I liked the decorations and I was really trying not to bother anyone eating with my camera!

For appetizers, DF had the Prince Edward Island Mussels, DM had Steakhouse Shrimp Cocktail, DD had the Tomato Stack and I had Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. I had to order the soup after hearing people rave about it for so long... I didn't like it Everyone else enjoyed their appetizers a lot.

Ok, so I didn't like the soup... but I couldn't wait to try the filet mignon!
I raved about it so much, DM, DF and I ordered it for dinner. (DF does not like filet mignon, but he said he had to see what all the hoopla was about)
DD does not eat beef, so no steak for her! She ordered Seared King Salmon ... which she said was ok, but she would have liked with a little more flavor.

We all LOVED the filet mignon!! So if you have raved about it on the DIS boards, thank you!! You helped my family enjoy their dinner immensely!
(well except for DD)

Then came dessert... I had to order the chocolate moose (otherwise known as mousse) and so did DF, DM and DD ordered creme brulee (I have somehow NEVER had creme brulee, and I tasted theirs... it became an obsession of mine ... how in the world have I missed this all my life?? Ben and Jerry's makes a creme brulee ice cream that is heavenly, that I found when we got home, and DH keeps a pint or 3 in the freezer at all times for us!)

My moose:

Isn't he cute?? It was almost hard to eat him, he was so cute... but I managed to devour him in about 4 seconds! yummmmmmm!

DF thought our waiter, who by the way was from the same region of Canada as my mother's side of the family was a bit strange... I found him amusing, but I have my sense of humor from my mother's side of the family...

We got our check, handed over our cards, signed our receipts and rolled out Le Cellier.
I was actually surprised how quickly DF got this down pat... I bought him an MP3 player last Christmas (the year before this trip) and he has yet to remember what it is called... he calls it his thingie... yes, he really does... so imagine the sheer embarrassment I experience when he says he needs me to look at his thingie in front of people in, let's say, a STORE.

Some shots of the Epcot tree at night:

DD in front of Christmas decorations at Epcot:

We now had to leave Epcot because we had tickets for MVMCP!!!

So I leave you with a shot of the monorail we took to get there:

Up Next: Why yes, those are my toes!!

 

[heavenleigh412]

Okay, remember the list that started back on page 3?
So the list to this point was:
1) The iron in DM and DF's room did not work
2) The iron in my room did not work (I do not iron but DF asked for my iron after he couldn't iron with his)
3) The alarm clock in DM and DF's room did not work (mine did, and I think they were just doing it wrong)
4) Jenny B the server
5) the buses
6) World Showcase doesn't open until 11 AM
well then they added:
7) The strange Canadian waiter
8) people who must take pictures of everything they see (wonder who they were referring to?)
9) People who crowd together for a tree lighting ceremony and block the ENTIRE walkway because EVERYONE must be up FRONT! (we got crushed and almost knocked off our feet)
10) People who stop short right in the middle of a path and then get mad when you walk into them/ trip over them
11) Baby carriages running into the back of your ankles

* disclaimer* please remember that this list was our joke throughout our vacation, no one is picking on anyone!

 

[AlienBrain]

Great update ... I am going to Le Cellier this August ... I definitely have to try the filet mignon.

LOL on #10 and #11 on your list. You can also add ECVs to #11 on that list. Oh yeah, and I would also add another things to my "list" ... when I went this past New Years, I had a few encounters where people would cut in front of us in line and then play the whole "no speak english" card.

 

[heavenleigh412]

Great update ... I am going to Le Cellier this August ... I definitely have to try the filet mignon.

LOL on #10 and #11 on your list. You can also add ECVs to #11 on that list. Oh yeah, and I would also add another things to my "list" ... when I went this past New Years, I had a few encounters where people would cut in front of us in line and then play the whole "no speak english" card.

I can drool just thinking of Le Cellier's filet mignon... you could cut it with a spoon!
Also the bread is out of this world... eat the pretzel bread... eat it ALL... beg for more...
It is on my list for next April

Oh the whole ECV and wheelchair thing is coming... and no I would never pick on the disabled, my mother was in a wheelchair for most of her childhood and I am listed as permanently disabled, but they even had her using some colorful language!

Don't you love the convenient language barrier? Like other countries don't have lines so if you can't speak English, you don't have to follow the rules!
Again, not picking on people, but hey c'mon... a line is a line no matter what language you speak!

 

[LEXAVE]

Still interested! Still interested!

Keep 'em coming, but DON'T over do-it. We will be here. Great report. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gnbuggy]

Glad to see you back HL. Hope you continue to get better.

 

[heavenleigh412]

Still interested! Still interested!

Keep 'em coming, but DON'T over do-it. We will be here. Great report. Thanks for sharing.

I am taking it slow... should have more a little later today.
Glad to see you are interested

Glad to see you back HL. Hope you continue to get better.

Thank you!
Long time no talk!!! I am glad to BE back... bedrest was BORING and long, it feels incredible to be able to get up without someone yelling at me !


BTW your bug drove me crazy for a minute! He is very realistic... ewwww!!

 

[RachelTori]

Great report! Love the pictures!

I have to laugh when I see the pictures of you, which YOU have to take!! (been there too!) Next trip, ask one of the CMs (the character handlers do this all the time) to take a picture of YOU! That's what I finally started doing and it's nice to have a photo of ALL OF ME @ WDW!

 

[heavenleigh412]

Great report! Love the pictures!

I have to laugh when I see the pictures of you, which YOU have to take!! (been there too!) Next trip, ask one of the CMs (the character handlers do this all the time) to take a picture of YOU! That's what I finally started doing and it's nice to have a photo of ALL OF ME @ WDW!

Thank you!
I always say I am going to ask the CMs to take pictures, but I never do... So I end up looking like I went to Disney from the belly button up!!
Next trip we are taking DD's best friend so I will make her take some pics of DD and I together.
When we went with DM and DF... DF is electronically challenged, my camera would have flipped him out completely, and well you saw how anti-camera DM is!!
Now I have to laugh because DM calls me every few days and wants to know if she can come over to see the pics to see which ones she wants printed! So I told her " If it was up to you, there wouldn't be any pics!!! Maybe next trip you can not give me the eyeball of death every time I take the camera out!!"

 

[heavenleigh412]

Well... when last I posted, we were taking the monorail to MVMCP.

Magic Kingdom looked so pretty, and I got so excited, my pictures blurred... sorry

We walked in and DM and DF looked completely awe-struck...
It was the end of the first parade and this was what we saw:

The MK tree:

THEN...

The Castle:

... and it was SNOWING!!

I absolutely LOVE Disney!!

DD decided she needed a ride on the teacups before the fireworks show:

I don't do teacups, they make me queasy.

We picked up an ornament from the party along with the party hat on our way to view the fireworks.

I really wanted these:

but we couldn't find them ANYWHERE!!!

A few pictures from the castle show:

We found the perfect spot to view the fireworks...
I don't think I have any pictures because I think it was all video... but I will see if I can pull some nice stills from that tonight.

It was not crowded in our spot and we were all standing there looking up, when all of a sudden I heard "Why yes... those ARE my toes!!!!"
and it sounded like DM!

A woman in an ECV had parked on my mother's bad foot...

DM was almost in tears... and that woman NEVER cries in public!

At the end of the fireworks she turned to me and asked how she could get back to the hotel... yes DM and DF missed almost ALL of MVMCP because she was run over!

DD and I walked them back down Main Street, and offered to leave with them... DM wouldn't even discuss the option, so I explained where the monorail was and they went back to Poly so DM could ice her foot (which stayed swollen the rest of the vacation)



Up next: The argument over POTC

 

[Leonsmom]

Fellow New Yorker here, I am in too!!!
I hope you are doing well!
I love all your pics! This is getting me exited for my Dec trip!!

I am so happy to see someone is interested!
I will continue with the trip report a little later today...
For now, I will fill you in on what happened as a result of my problems getting a guest assistance card.

As I mentioned before, I sent e-mails and snail mails to Disney when I got home explaining the horrible way I was treated by Guest Services in Epcot.
I included the name of the person who "helped me"
I received an e-mail in return asking me to fax some information including a copy of the front and back of my tickets so they could finish investigating the incident.
Within a few days of doing this, I received a phone call from Disney.
The woman who called apologized repeatedly about the poor treatment I had received, and then told me Disney was sending my whole family 4 day park hoppers (so 4 park hoppers with 4 days each... and they do not expire)
They also started a file for me, so that I will always get the assistance card I need, and will not have to explain repeatedly what is wrong with me... I just give them my file number and all the information is there approved by corporate, including the stamps that will assist me!

All in all it was more than I had even hoped for!!
My original thoughts in reporting the situation were that I might save someone else the trouble of going through the same thing (including myself at a later date!)

I am so glad they did something for you! Now if onlty they would add a stay in the castle
I will need a GAC too. I'll be sure to get mine in MK and NOT Epcot.
I also have an invisible disability.

DD came down the slide at the Volcano pool, and I caught her upside down!
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What a great shot!!!!!!

It was not crowded in our spot and we were all standing there looking up, when all of a sudden I heard "Why yes... those ARE my toes!!!!"
and it sounded like DM!

A woman in an ECV had parked on my mother's bad foot...

DM was almost in tears... and that woman NEVER cries in public!

At the end of the fireworks she turned to me and asked how she could get back to the hotel... yes DM and DF missed almost ALL of MVMCP because she was run over!

DD and I walked them back down Main Street, and offered to leave with them... DM wouldn't even discuss the option, so I explained where the monorail was and they went back to Poly so DM could ice her foot (which stayed swollen the rest of the vacation)

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Up next: The argument over POTC

Oh no poor mom!!