Back to reality

As we reminisce about vacation it is back to reality. A yard to mow, grocery shopping to do, dogs to take out, etc. It is also less than 90 days until our next trip and Chris called to make dining reservations. We still can 't get into O'hana or LeCellier but we added a couple of new ones to the list... Liberty Tree Tavern and Tokyo Dining.
We went to see the movie Up! today and liked it very much. Although I don't think it is really a kid movie. A little too serious.
Hopefully Chris will have his pictures on a disk soon so I can see and scrapbook.
Glad to be home!

On our way home...

Well we are at Orlando Airport waiting for our flight home. Although I am sad vacation is over I can't wait to see my dogs. This morning we checked out early and headed to Hollywood Studios to see Kris Allen, the winner of American Idol. It was pretty cool. We saw Deb Wills and the filming of a commercial by Kris and some really excited fans. Then Kris rode in a car with Mickey down Hollywood Ave and went on stage for some questions. He sang the song "Heartless" which he did on American Idol and sounded great. We left shortly after but I found out through Deb's tweets that he made a short appearance at the 11am show of American Idol Experience.

Overall it was a great trip.

Day 7 - Final Full Day

Today was our last full day here at Disney. Now is when Chris starts his panic about all the things we didn't do. The fact that we are returning in less than 3 months helps ease the pain.
We headed to Animal Kingdom today. Chris wanted to see the Lion King show. This is always a favorite of mine as it is my favorite Disney movie. We then figured we'd try to get into Yak & Yeti for lunch without an ADR. We got right in and once again had a great meal. I had the honey chicken and fried green beans. Chris had tempura shrimp and the pot stickers.
After lunch we had to make a quick stop by the World of Disney store to exchange a shirt I had bought for a different size. Of course by now it was raining again.
We stopped back at the hotel room for a bit and then headed to Hollywood Studios. I wanted to see the American Idol Experience. When we got there the Block Party Bash was going on. It was ok. Then we went to the Idol show. I really liked this. It was very authentic.
By now we walked around the park. We were going to do Toy Story Mania again but the wait said 80 minutes and fast passes were gone. The line was shorter than when we went the other day but I think based on the number of fast passes the stand by line would take longer. Our dinner at the Brown Derby was scheduled for 6:40 but we figured we'd see if they could take us early at 5pm. We were able to sit right away. This restaurant, another newbie for us, was neat inside. The dinner started off good. We both ordered the strip steak but the server kind of disappeared during the meal to the point that we had to ask another waiter to find him for drink refills. The bad service and the ok meal did not put this restaurant on the return trip list.
We are now back at the room packing to go home tomorrow. We have to leave early to get to Hollywood Studios to see the American Idol winner. Of course, Chris is only going because his friend Deb Wills from allearsnet.com will be there as well and maybe we can meet up with her. Whatever it takes.....

Day 6 Wednesday - Our 14th Anniversary!

Today was our anniversary and it was another great day. We started the day by going to the Magic Kingdom. We wanted to see the new Stitch show which was a disappointment. Then we did Monster Laugh Floor because we had gotten a Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear. So after Monsters we did Buzz and good thing we had the pass... it was crowded.

Then we walked along the back side of the park so I could get Mrs. Potts soft serve, another favorite. We headed to Pirates of the Carribean and rode that. Keep in mind that along the way Chris takes pictures of everything. By now it was noon and we decided to eat lunch. I got chicken nuggets because I knew Chris wanted to have the tacos. The Taco restaurant is never open when we go so this was a treat for him.
We decided after lunch we would go to Downtown Disney. On our way out of the park the Move It, Shake It Dance party was going on. It was pretty good.

We headed on the monorail to the Contemporary to catch the bus to Downtown Disney. By now there was another thunderstorm going on. I know... big surprise. We pretty much missed it during our travels. It was slightly raining when we got there. We bought the dogs some treats and stuffed toys as promised as well as a couple of items for us.

For our anniversary dinner we went to Narcooseeses.

We have never been here before and we were really looking forward to it. This restaurant did not disappoint. It was FANTASTIC! My favorite meal thus far. I had green goddess salad (ceasar salad with avacado) for my appetizer and the crab crusted halibut for my dinner. This was unbelievable. I would never have ordered the halibut in my younger days.... but I am brave now. Chris had the shrimp and lamb with Moroccan spices. He liked his too.
We decided to come back to the room after dinner. We love this resort and feel very comfortable just hanging out in our room.

Only one more full day to go and then I got the news that Kris Allen the American Idol winner will be at Hollywood Studios on Friday morning. Now I have to figure out how we will get packed and checked out and to the park in enough time to get a good spot and then to be done in time to make our plane at 2:20pm. Better go start packing....

Day 5 Tuesday

Today was a great day. We got out early today so that we could ride Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios. We got there before the park opened only to find that everyone else was there to do the same thing. As soon as the park opened everyone headed for the same place. We only had to wait for about a half hour and the ride was great. Similar to Buzz Lightyear... you have to shoot things for points. I actually did better on this.
After that we headed for Tower of Terror, a favorite of ours. We waited approximately a half hour on that as well.
We had to leave after to reach Raglan Road, the Irish pub at Downtown Disney. We had lunch reservations at 11:30. It was very good. I had the fish and chips and Chris had a shepards pie made with prime rib and lamb. We will definitely visit this again.
The next highlight of the day was for Chris who finally went up in the fake hot air balloon. It is a large balloon teathered to the ground that goes up 400 feet and overlooks the property. He LOVED it. He says this is a must do on every trip.
We returned to the hotel around 2pm because I needed to do some work and the rain was on its way. Shortly after 3:30pm a large thunderstorm rolled through. We decided that we would not make it to our reservation at Epcot's Bistro de Paris for 5:30 dinner reservations so we went down to the lobby to cancel. They have a new reservation system and all of the cast members seem to be having trouble navigating the screens. The only thing available according to the system was Flying Fish at 8:40pm. Although we enjoy this restaurant we were not sure if it was our choice for the evening so we took it and decided to search for other options.
Since the news said we would get another batch of rain this evening we decided we wanted to eat in a hotel where we could valet park. We picked the Beach Club because we had several options in the area to pick from. Of course Chris's first choice was Cape May Cafe clambake. We figured we would give it a try. They told us they could fit us in within 45 minutes so we were happy. We went to cancel Flying Fish and our table was called in 6 minutes. As we were escorted to our table by Andrew who was earning his ears, we came upon a BIG surprise... crab legs were part of the buffet (apparently this is just a test for this week). To say that Chris was the most happiest I have seen him is an understatement. We then were greeted by our server Roger who has worked at Disney for 37yrs. We remember having Roger before and we told him how happy we were. Not only were there crab legs on the buffet but they brought the buckets back. This was something we loved and they did away with. The buckets are great for transporting the clams. Needless to say we are both back at the resort stuffed from dinner and still talking about what a great day we had!

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure!

I had read about this new section of Innoventions on allearsnet.com and thought it sounded fun. The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is a game that you can play to teach you about the importance of financial planning. First you pick a goal....the ultimate vacation, retirement, college fund, or bedroom remodel. Then you get your pig. I just loved the pig! You proceed to play three games:

1st - a game to try to direct your money between saving and spending

2nd - a game about inflation and how the wolf takes your money

3rd - a game about spreading the money into different investments so the wolf can't get it.

At the end you weigh your pig to see if you reached your goal.

We came close but did not reach our ultimate vacation but we had a blast playing! I LOVE THE PIG!

Day 4 - SAFARI TIME

One of the great things about staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is that we can do the Wanyana Safari. Only available to resort guests, this safari consists of 1 1/2 hours in a safari truck on the hotel savannah followed by a family style meal at Jiko, one of the hotels restaurants. Although expensive we felt this was a once in a lifetime experience.


Along with two other parties we boarded the truck and got up close and personal with the many giraffes, antelope, zebras, and birds on the savannah. We learned many things about them including their names and habits. It was also great to see the Lodge from a different perspective. What we thought was Kidani Village Lodge was really Jambo house. As you can see in this picture the animals are really right outside the hotel roaming freely. Did I mention that this is Chris's new favorite resort??

Day 4 Monday

Once again we started late. Chris gets up early and I seem to sleep until 8:30/9am which I haven't done in a long time at home. We decided to go to Epcot to take pictures of the Flower and Garden Festival since it was a nice day. This seems to be the weakest show I have seen in a while. Not as many displays and vendors as I have seen in the past.

We went to Innoventions first since I had read online about the Piggy Bank game. We watched a show about Velcro first which was great because we recognized one of the hosts as the comedian from the old comedy club. Then we did the Pig game... I will post later about that.

We ate lunch at the outdoor Mexican cantina which was ok. Not great but ok. We walked from Mexico towards Italy. We stopped and watched the China movie which we had never seen and continued on our way. It got really hot and Chris took many pictures. We took the boat from Morrocco back to future world as we needed to leave soon to go back to the hotel. We stopped by the butterfly farm and then caught the bus back to our hotel. Today is our safari day and we need to meet at 3:45pm at Jiko.

Day 3 part 2

We left rather abrubtly this afternoon for the Contemporary resort. We had dinner at the Wave and the sky looked very ominous. We wanted to get there prior to the rain. We valet parked again (which is free for Tables in Wonderland members) and once again there was a chuckle regarding our last name based on the impending weather. We went straight to dinner and we were really impressed with the atmosphere of this new restaurant. The food was delicious. I ordered the pork tenderloin .... I tend to always order the beef but decided to be adventurous.

We then took the monorail tour and stopped at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian just to look around while the rain stopped. By the time we got to the Magic Kindom the rain had stopped and there was a beautiful rainbow.

We then found a seat in Tomorrowland to setup for the fireworks. Chris wanted to take pictures with the new camera. I got my ice cream and he had popcorn and we waited for an hour and half and then watched the fireworks. We met a few more people and then headed back to the Contemporary to get our car. Its been really better the last couple of days...just rain at night for an hour or so. It's been 3 days and we have only been on one ride which is weird but fun.

P.S. Check out my facebook page....Bob Jackson posted his photo of us!!

Day 3 Sunday

Today is a lazy day again. We got a late start so we just ventured out to lunch at Coronado Springs Resort. The Pepper Market is one of our favorites although it is kind of pricey. I had the rotisserie chicken. Delicious!! The most embarrasing thing happened though. Some guy came up to us and said to Chris "I know you.... you're the guy with the youtube videos. I thought I recognized you and when I saw your wife I was positive it was you." Chris is now officially a celebrity.
Then we came back to our resort for some pool time. It is sunny today and Geoffrey the Giraffe seems to like our area and visits often.



Soon we will be heading to the new restaurant the Wave at the Contemporary and then to the Magic Kingdom tonight. No rain yet today and in three days we have only ridden one ride. I like this vacation though....slow and relaxing.

Rain...

Chris had a picture of the walkway between Beach Club and Epcot.... I told you it rained.

For you mom!

Just outside our room this morning!

Day 2 Saturday

Day 2 - We thought we were in the clear today of the rain. This is a picture from Friday's afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. Overall we had a good day. We started off in Epcot and rode Soarin' ...only a 20 minute wait. We walked to the Boardwalk and had lunch at ESPN which was good once again. We walked back to the car and headed to the outlet store. We didn't find much of anything. We then headed back to the lodge to go for a swim. We had a few drinks at the pool bar and relaxed by the pool and hottub. We then got ready for dinner and went to Yachtsman Steakhouse. We have only been twice...once good and once bad. This was another good. The food was great. The only complaint was they had an air conditioning issue and it got really warm fast. After dinner we headed to Epcot to see Illuminations and this is when it went downhill. Our first clue should have been that the pools were closed for inclement weather. We made it to Italy and then we met some nice cast members who hooked us up with VIP seating for Illuminations. As we headed back to England for the viewing it started to rain. We ducked in under Japan's building overhang and this is where we spent the next hour and a half. We met a nice couple from Texas but it POURED, there was very vivid lightening and tons of thunder. At approximately 8:30 they canceled Illuminations and the rain let up so we could walk back to the Beach Club to get our car. Or so we thought.... The pathway from Epcot to the Beach Club was flooded. The water had to be at least a foot deep and it was the funniest thing I have ever seen here. Tons of people wading through the water to get to the other side. We were smart and just waited for the boat. We tried to take picutres but it was too dark out. Kevin had it right.... TYPHOON!

Overall we just love vacationing here!!!

Day 1 Friday

These are pictures from the view from our balcony. Day 1 is very stormy! We just had a tornado warning and it is thundering, lightening, and POURING right now. We did make it to Tony's at the Magic Kingdom for our great lunch. I had the Bomb dessert of course. We headed back to the room because it was not very fun in the rain. We are still having a good time but are hoping the rain stops so we can enjoy the week. Love our balcony and just relaxing. Tonight is dinner at the new restaurant here, Sanna, and then we are headed to visit with friends at Port Orleans resort.

Vacation

Well vacation has finally begun. Started out kind of iffy... Our nonstop flight turned into a stop in Raleigh NC. We had to refuel. Apparently the long runway at Bradley was being redone and we had to dump some fuel in order to take off with the weight capacity on the short runway. So this meant we needed to stop for gas. We arrived in Orlando about 45 minutes late. We walked passed the long line at Budget rental and we were very happy we are FastBreak members so we could just get our car right away. It is raining but not hard.
The Animal Kingdom Lodge is fantastic. Of course we arrived in the dark so I can't be totally sure of my view but the night view is great. Everyone was extremely friendly here. At checkin we received two buttons... Happy Anniversary and Happily Ever After. The girl who checked us in was awesome and gave us a map of the new area. We can't wait to venture out tomorrow. Our view is in the zebra section and it is so nice at night with all the sounds outside. We went to the store and overpaid for the convenience of breakfast food and we got our mugs so we can get free soda and coffee during our stay. We are both exhausted and have unpacked. Our room has a flat screen TV and DVD player. I am finishing my movie since the battery on my portable DVD player died before we arrived.
Hopefully the weather will start to improve. We will get ponchos tomorrow and make the best of it.
Until then....