Disneyworld LoT meet.

[Prudence]

We're heading to the airport! Yay!

[Not Afraid]

Have a GREAT time!

[Prudence]

Okay, so the point of going in May was to NOT have it be 95 degrees. I will have to speak with the weather department on that one.

It was a fun yet exhausting trip. More later, somewhere, but I will try to put some highlights here -

*My grandparents are still keeping on keeping on, which is good.
*Rainy day at the Magic Kingdom meant no lines.
*Rainy day at the Magic Kingdom meant getting SOAKED on Splash Mountain even before the first dip (from the axuiliary spray pumped out when a log splashes down) didn't really matter.
*Expedition Everest was SO AMAZING! I can not adequately describe how cool of a ride that was. It was totally Disney. It was totally amazing. It was a great mix of slight thrill with the family-friendly style coaster and the anamatronic was amazing. If you haven't made the trek (ha) out to see it yet, do so immediately. Do not pass go; do not collect $200.

And, of course, getting to spend the afternoon with Matterhorn Fan, a tres swanky individual. That was an extra bonus. Candy shopping around the world! And she contributed to my jewelry deliquency by encouraging me to try on the Mikimoto necklace, which of course meant I had to buy it. (If only I had a spare $5500 instead of a spare $250!)

So, I'm pooped. Jet-lagged. And in the post-vacation funk. And deciding where to stay next time.

[Prudence]

Oh - and before I forget - when we were eating at Liberty Tree Tavern there was this couple straight out of a Dokken concert audience. They looked like a perfectly lovely couple who were having an excellent time, getting photos with the characters and what not, but we couldn't help a few glances because their appearance, from head to toe, was SO stuck in time that we wondered if they were doing a costume event of some kind.

I mention this mostly because in my head I was imagining Ally doing a commentary, which was absolutely hysterical.

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by Prudence

I mention this mostly because in my head I was imagining Ally doing a commentary, which was absolutely hysterical.

Oh honey, that wasn't your imagination. That was Ally doing a commentary. She's good like that.

[CoasterMatt]

Originally Posted by Prudence

*Rainy day at the Magic Kingdom meant getting SOAKED on Splash Mountain even before the first dip (from the axuiliary spray pumped out when a log splashes down) didn't really matter.

For who knows what reason, they turned that spray up to ridiculous some time last year - that was the ONLY place we got really wet our last couple of rides.
If you wanna try something crazy, try seating 3 across for all 4 rows of a log -

photo courtesy themeparkreview.com

[Drince88]

Glad to hear you had a good time - the weather was a tiny bit cooler right before you got there, if that helps any (but was way too hot right before that!)

EE is great. Was Mission:Space doing the non-moving version when you were there, and did you get a chance to try that version?

So spill on where all you guys ate!

[Prudence]

I think M:S lite was debuting the non-moving version on our last day, but we would never be caught doing the weenie version, so it didn't really matter.

So, um, we ate at Biergarten and Liberty Tree the first day, both good. Well, Biergarten was as yummy as last time, and Liberty Tree seemed slightly less good in the meat department. Everything else was as good, but the meat seemed really dry and the beef was not of particularly good quality. Biergarten is just yumyumyum. It's the food that is most comfortable to me. Everything I try is tasty. I blame genetics.

Second day we did lunch at the Sonny Eclipse place, which was average. BT liked the toppings bar - all the grilled onions and mushrooms he could pile onto his plate. It was raining, so people were camped out at their tables for long periods of time. I had no idea Floridians were water soluble! Dinner was at Ohana, which was also average. Actually, I liked the starters and appetizers and dessert (yummy bananas foster sauce!) but the meats were blah. And since the skewers are allegedly the focus, I'm not sure I'd go back. The entertainer walked around chatting with folks and we learned that he almost opened a restaurant up here in Oak Harbor or somesuch place. Staff seemed friendly, but it was so slammed it was hard to get attention. We were also checking out the Poly for our next visit, since I think we're about AKLed out now.

Third day was Brown Derby for lunch - excellent as usual. Sadly, I had the exact same thing as last time: cocount shrimp appetizer, cobb salad, and orange chocolate "impression" for dessert. So predictable I am! The little bit of pinot noir (I think) reduction on the dessert was so amazingly tasty. I could have just had a bowl of that with a spoon. Dinner was at Hollywood & Vine. Not bad, but nothing stellar. AND, I don't consider a 45 minute wait with reservations acceptible. ESPECIALLY if one is doing the Fantasmic package. Fortunately, I built in plenty of extra time just in case. However, it shouldn't have been necessary. 20 minutes when it's slammed is okay. 45 minutes, to me, indicates a serious lack of planning. We did get drinks with blinky ice cubes, which was mildly amusing. Still, food wasn't bad, (corn spoon bread stuff was particularly tasty), but there was was nothing worth the hassle.

Fourth Day was lunchy bits at whatever the China pavillion quick service place is (yum) and the Moroccan cafe (SUPER yum!) The cafe is a much better deal than the sit-down restaurant in that pavillion. The lamb wrap sandwich was quite a deal for the price, I think. Couscous was yummy, too. For dinner we braved the princesses at Akershus, which was worth it, I think. Venison stew for me, cod for him. Both excellent meals, I must say. The desserts were also great. And we got photos with Mulan, which was a score. (Also: Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel-with-legs, and Belle not-in-ballgown.) I would actually do this again. Incidentally, the wait for the slammed princess meal was significantly less than the wait for H&V. And would have been even less had we elected to forgo the "official" Ariel photo. Oh yeah -we did breakfast at Boma that day, too. Way yum! Lots of stuff and tasty juice! I hate breakfasts where they give you teensy glasses of juice with no free refills. Here, juice (with refills) was included. There was some hot sauce stuff Ryan loved.

Day five was lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. I'd do this again. I think I liked it better than Tusker House. None of it is super novel food, but it was tasty. The ribs were smoked and not dripping in sauce, so they were actually possible to eat and look presentable afterwards. Seasoned fries were unreasonably tasty; I recommed them particularly. Dinner was at Boma. Service always seems to be slow here at dinner, although the food was super tasty. I have a list of four items for which I MUST get recipes: chicken corn chowder (a soup I LOVE anyhow, and this was the best I'd ever had), cassava cake, chocolate crunch mousse, and a fruit salad.

Last day was lunchy bits split between UK fish and chips (don't ask me - I'm not a fish and chips fan anyhow) and Yakitori house, which was a mixed bag. We got a combo plate and the terriyaki chicken, tempura bit, and sticky rice were good, as was the ginger cake. The beef bits were very fatty and rather tasteless. Most fun was watching the couple next to us pick off all the little pickled ginger bits off the rice. How evil! Pickled ginger! And a chocolate crepe from the cart outside France. Yum..... We were going to grab a snack at Norway's bakery, but there was a ginormous line, out the door, in the sun, not moving. So no tasty pastries for us. Something for next time, I guess.

I have had a queasy tummy this past week, which put a damper on dining a bit. But through will power I perservered in order to bring you these peerless comments.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Oh, I did warn you that I'd heard mixed reviews of the Yakitori House, didn't I?

I'm curious about the slow service at Boma--I've never noticed that, but since it's buffet, maybe my service expectations have been pretty low? I have noticed that if you want a plate cleared or a soda refilled, all you have to do is leave the table for a few minutes. (So maybe you just didn't eat enough?)

Links: Chicken Corn Chowder
Chocolate Mousse Crunch
Cassava Cake
Watermelon Rind Salad (Is that the fruit salad you wanted?)

[Prudence]

Yeah, you warned us. But we were there, hungry, had a counter service meal to use up, and were curious. Alas!

We had a lot of trouble at Boma getting things like....water. Water refills didn't ever materialize, I don't think. And no one ever cleared our plates, which on a small table was becoming a problem.

And why didn't I know that there were recipes online?! YAY! Although we were looking for the African Fruit Salad we had. But allears has the creamed corn spoon bread recipe from H&V, which is making me happy.