When We Get to Heaven, We'll Hear "ALOHA!" - Update 10/17, Day 6

[DebbyLof428]

I enjoyed reading your latest installment. I have to agree with you on Flying Fish. We ate there in April and weren't impressed at all. Service was spotty and the scallops just were overwhelmed with garlic. This won't be on our "must do" list again. Glad to hear you're feeling better and looking forward to reading more. Aloha

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Let's see, what did I eat @ Flying Fish...

My app was Yellowfin Tuna Tartare and Crispy Tempura Tuna-Vegetable Sushi Roll.

My entree was...darn it, I have no idea. And we didn't save the menus they gave us, and it's not on any menu I can find now. I'll have to look further into this...

Food report is getting started, folks! Link in signature!

 

[SpaceEngTM]

Great trip report! Your photos are very good, I love the early morning photos when everything is so still. We will be heading to the Poly in 31 days and eating at a lot of the same places so your reviews are very helpful. Can't wait to read the next installment.

 

[guitarob]

Day 6 - 9/23/10

Our last full day began early again with a huge moon in the sky as I emerged into the pre-dawn Polynesian landscape to take care of some more photo taking.

As the sun emerged from behind the TTC I returned to the room to wake up Mrs. B. for our final breakfast at the Kona Cafe. Mrs. B. had her last Tonga Toast for the year, and I had another Big Kahuna (Yeah, breakfast is a bit predictable at this point, but oh… so… yummy).

We made our way out to the monorail and over to the Magic Kingdom to finally ride the “new and improved” Space Mountain. We made our way down Main Street and cut over to Tomorrowland and got into line for the Monsters’ Inc. Laugh Floor.

This is another attraction that we’ve heard such good things about but have never managed to make our way over to, so we were both excited. We got into line and watched the amusing pre-show. As the pre-show ended we followed the cr… oh, wait…

The pre-show stopped about 2/3 of the way through and we were told that the attraction was being shut down for some kind of malfunction, and to exit the queue area through the side doors so that we could receive our fast pass for any other attraction in the park (which is, incidentally, still in my wallet as we had no line to use it on for the rest of the day).

We decided to take a ride on the Peoplemover, and then headed over to Space Mountain! I was really excited to try the new version of my old favorite. Mrs. B. was also looking forward to it (although skeptically) because she found the original version of the ride to be a bit too rough for her liking.

We breezed through the new queue area and didn’t really have much of a chance to check out any of the additions. I was happy to find the “star tunnel” area intact and featuring the same music. I like the way that they’ve now blocked off the final boarding area and the neat new neon all over the place.

I’m happy to note that the ride is really much darker now, and the new music and sound effects are pretty cool.

Sadly, that’s about all I’m happy about. Somehow they have managed to make this ride even rougher. I (being a larger person) even found it a little painful as we took one drop and was launched, belly first, into the lap bar with enough force to illicit a pretty loud “OOF!” I am a huge coaster buff. Rough, twisting, dark, air time, steep, sharp, loud, bring it on. For some reason the new Space Mountain did what even the Coney Island Cyclone in the rain failed to do for me. It made me really reluctant to ever return. Mrs. B. was NOT happy at all. She doesn’t like the Rock N’ Roller Coaster because she finds that a bit rough. The new Space Mountain was torture for her.

I’ll admit, the ride of the wheels on the track felt smoother. The ride felt faster. But it NEVER felt that jerky to me over the hills and through the turns before. I’m over it, and it is a sad, sad day. I’ll probably not ride it again until I have a child that is dying to go on it sometime in the future, and I’m sure Jen will be sitting that ride out.

After the ride we headed back over to see if the Laugh Floor was open yet, and it was, so we got in. I snapped this picture (without a flash) right before being nicely asked to put my camera away. (Sorry, I didn’t notice any signs saying no photography, but, then again, knowing me, there was probably one about 6" in front of my face at least 3 times…)

We thoroughly enjoyed the Laugh Floor. We both decided that we could probably spend a lot of time in this “theater”. The show is funny (corny funny, which is just fine), the room is air-conditioned, there is seating, and the show changes enough to be very entertaining through multiple visits. This is definitely a hit and I’m sorry that we didn’t check it out much earlier.

Afterward, we made our way out of Tomorrowland and headed over to the Haunted Mansion for one more visit with the Happy Haunts, then over to Fantasyland to see Philharmagic again. We then headed over to the Christmas Shop to buy our 2010 tree ornament. We settled on a nice red one with “3D” representations of each of the park icons adorning it’s Mickey head shape. Here’s a photo of it that I have shamelessly stolen from Google Image Search because I am too lazy to dig it out and take a picture of it myself:

By now it was getting into the afternoon so we decided to take a last walk down Main Street...

...do some browsing at the Emporium and head back to the resort for a snack, a drink, a swim and possibly a nap.

We headed over to Captain Cooks because Mrs. B. had been wanting to try the Adult Grilled Cheese since she had read about it on the boards. I decided to grab a Flat Bread (Three-Cheese, because I’m boring like that).

The ordering was easy enough and we received our buzzer and waited for our food. The wait was a little long, but it was pretty crowded. We finally received our food and had our little snack there in the restaurant.

The food was pretty good. I found the flat-bread to be a little greasy, but I guess that was to be expected. Overall it was pretty tasty. Mrs. B. enjoyed the Grilled Cheese and we found it to be a great place to grab a quick snack or a meal.

We headed over to the room to change and then out to the pool to grab another blast of “Tween Disney” and “Adult Beverage”. We had another relaxing time sitting, swimming, drinking and talking. I thoroughly enjoy spending time at the pool, just gazing, drinking and relaxing the afternoon away.

Jen decided it was time to head back to the room for a nap, and I hopped onto the monorail to head over to the Grand Floridian to do some shopping. I picked up a couple of windbreakers for my Aunt and Uncle as a thank you for taking my Dad for the week. I also stopped debating and comparison shopping and made the final decision to grab my watch for this trip.

I buy a watch on every Disney trip. It’s usually my big souvenir for the trip, and it goes back to my 1993 trip with the family when I got my first one (which was a great watch that I can sadly no longer even find. I was a kid… I didn’t understand the significance yet. I have since vowed to never let that happen again, and have a nice collection of 6 watches (I know I said "...A watch on each trip...," but I bought two last year because I found one I liked more after impulse buying the first, hence my waffling throughout this entire trip. I also got two the year before, because one was a promotion watch for cheap after buying over “x” amount of merchandise at the Emporium and I couldn't pass that up) that I absolutely treasure. My case is filling up nicely. This years’ is in the top-center of the photograph.

By the time I returned it was time to get showered up and ready to head over to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for what is apparently becoming our traditional last evening meal.

I was looking forward to a pre-dinner drink at the Crew’s Cup Lounge but it was not to be, as we were seated immediately (hey, no complaints here). So I ordered up a Kentucky Peach (which had easily become my favorite mixed concoction of the trip) at the table and settled in to study the menu.

I started off with the Lobster Bisque.

Mrs. B. had the Charcuterie Board.

For my main course I had the Porterhouse, medium rare (this is the DxDP after all, and I may as well get my money’s worth), with Smoked Paprika Fries and the Truffle Mac and Cheese.

Jen had the Filet, Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach.

We received a Happy Anniversary chocolate & gelee plate.

For Dessert I had the Banana Napoleon.

Mrs. B. had the Crème Brulee.

The meal was, as usual, excellent, and ended way too quickly. I would have loved to linger over this last evening meal forever. But, it was not to be. The waiter brought over our check and we were off to Epcot to view Illuminations (Err... after I cleaned the beef juice squirt off of my shirt in the bathroom. ::sigh:: You can’t take me anywhere).

We arrived in World Showcase later than we had planned to once again (I don’t know what it was on this trip, normally we leave plenty of time to get in and get a good spot for Illuminations, but for some reason it was just not to be this time around) and settled on a spot located on the bridge between the UK and France. The wind was blowing at us slightly and it felt really good, and hey… the special fireworks cruises were parked right underneath us. I know better than this, I really do. But really, how bad could it be? Right?

It turns out it can be a little distracting. Not enough to ruin the entire show, mind you, but distracting. The spot offers a pretty great view, but never… ever… view Illuminations with the wind in your face. No matter how faint the breeze seems. The smoke can be overwhelming at times, and I actually had a few ashes on my shirt from the exploded shells.

Oh well, so… it wasn’t perfect, but it was still beautiful, and still oh so moving as Illuminations always is. It wouldn’t be a trip to WDW if I didn’t get to see this show. To me, it is the perfect combination of musical score and spectacular effects. I know the score by heart, but it still moves me to tears each time I hear “We Go On”. It is simply so uplifting, so hopeful, and so promising, and exactly what I needed after the year that we had experienced. I know that this show will eventually be remade into something new, and I fear for the day that it is. Because, even though I know it will probably be great, I truly can’t imagine loving it more than I do now.

While watching the show, I held the camera against the fence and aimed it up, then triggered the continuous shot mode to see if I could get a decent shot. To my surprise, I actually did.

That brings us to the end of Day 6. We planned to spend day 7 in World Showcase, having lunch at Le Chefs De France and then heading back to the pool before leaving for our flight at 6:30 in the evening. We shall explore how that went in our next installment.

Thanks for reading!!!

 

[guitarob]

 

[kmrein]

More wonderful photos! I'm sad that your trip will soon be ending....it was helping me pass the time until our trip in November so nicely!

Dinner at Yachtsman sounded so good, I've never been there and am hoping to try it one of these visits.

And, I have to say, I feel exactly the same way about Illuminations. One of my absolute favorite things in the World (and, actually, in the world in general!)

 

[DebbyLof428]

Absolutely gorgeous pictures!! Those steaks and the creme brulee made me very hungry. We are having dinner at Yachtsman in a few weeks. Can't wait!!

 

[guitarob]

More wonderful photos! I'm sad that your trip will soon be ending....it was helping me pass the time until our trip in November so nicely!

Dinner at Yachtsman sounded so good, I've never been there and am hoping to try it one of these visits.

And, I have to say, I feel exactly the same way about Illuminations. One of my absolute favorite things in the World (and, actually, in the world in general!)

Absolutely gorgeous pictures!! Those steaks and the creme brulee made me very hungry. We are having dinner at Yachtsman in a few weeks. Can't wait!!

Thank you both for reading and commenting!

The Yachtsman has been a must do for us for years now and it has never disappointed! It is one restaurant that I have not noticed any changes in quality or service at. I hope you both enjoy it!

 

[Joyciemc]

Love your pictures!

Yachtsman Steakhouse is officially on our 'future ADR' list. It is- I actually wrote it down.

 

[soarinup]

I really just love your trip report, maybe its because I love the POLY so much! A food-centric report, very in-depth on the topic of food. But I guess when you have the DDxP, you spend a lot of time with food!

 

[JMat]

More great pics of course Just got home from my own magical vacation, and enjoying your photos to help stave-off the home-from-dis-blues

 

[lindsey]

I enjoyed your trip report - your pictures are absolutely wonderful. What a great way to celebrate your 2nd anniversary.