Day 6 - Disney's Hollywood Studios Revisited

This day was probably my least favorite of the entire trip.  Although Hollywood Studios is one of my favorite parks, I just wasn't feeling it today.  Rod and I were a little slow moving, and when we finally arrived at Hollywood Studios decided not to go through baggage check, but head straight for the ferry boat that would take us to Cape May.  We had a 10:30 breakfast reservation.  This breakfast is a character breakfast with Goofy, Minnie and Donald in their beach attire.  We met the kids there since they were already in Hollywood Studios when we arrived.  While the food was good, the atmosphere was unorganized mass confusion.  I don't know how else to describe it.  One family was so desperately trying to get photos with Donald Duck, that upon returning from the buffet, Mary stood for nearly 10 minutes waiting to get back into her seat. She tried to excuse herself, but the family either didn't understand English or just didn't care.  The whole breakfast experience only served to worsen my already bad humor.

We returned by ferry to Hollywood Studios, and had some photos taken, the gang did their favorite rides, and the heat continued to build.  We did the Beauty and the Beast show again, and when the cast member directed me to the handicapped area, he told me to leave my scooter parallel parked to the bleachers.  The seat on the Demon Scooter didn't turn, so I ended up watching the show by turning my head - another addition to my bad humor.  We went to the Animation building again, but before drawing this time, we decided to watch the movie, "The Magic of Disney Animation".  None of us had seen it previously, and it was a history of Disney animation as told by an animator and the character of Mushu, from the movie Mulan.  I found it to be quite interesting and amusing.  Then it was on the the drawing class.  We rode "The Great Movie Ride", and managed to see the Pixar Pals Parade, although it was delayed because of still more rain.

We did dinner at Hollywood and Vine, for which we had booked the Fantasmic Dining Package.  We got some Disney Magic when our server offered to go next door to get Peanut Butter and Milkshakes for part of our group.  And they were soooo good.  When we left Hollywood and Vine, it was raining again.  And although Fantasmic is one of my favorite shows, I was tired of the rain and begged to go back to the hotel.  I don't know if Rod was really ready to leave, but he tries to give me whatever I want and so we left Hollywood Studios.  The kids stayed for Fantasmic, but said it wasn't as great in the rain.

Tomorrow - EPCOT and Mary and Jimmy leave for home.

Happy Anniversary EPCOT

We are all so excited about Monday - EPCOT's 30th anniversary and our first day at the Food and Wine Festival.  The day started out badly - Jimmy had a case of the "throw-ups", they weren't sure if it was a flu or  food poisoning from his meal the night before.  But whatever the cause, he wouldn't be joining us and that left Mary to bring the two kids to the park on the bus.  Upon our arrival to the park, we were each given one of these pins. (Of course they are already on ebay for $7.95). The twins were already doing their favorite rides, so Rod and I headed to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast.  The twins met us there, and shortly after Mary and the kids arrived.    Since we were already in the Land Building, we did the Living with the Land attraction.  This is another of my favorite attractions - you tour one of Disney's greenhouses.  It's amazing to see how Disney manages to grow so many items in so little a space.  We visited the Food and Wine Festival Center while the others road Soarin'.  It was not surprising to see so many items available for purchase to celebrate this Festival.

As lunch time approached, Mary and the twins headed for Via Napoli while Rod and I went to lunch at Coral Reef.  Although this restaurant would appear to be quiet and calming as you dine with the aquarium in view, it is most times very noisy.  Rod and I were seated on the top level, but had a great view of the aquarium. Our server was from Pittsburgh, and was very attentive.  I had decided to try some new things on this trip, and since I enjoyed the smoked salmon at Raglan Road, chose to try the Orange Ginger Glazed Scottish Salmon.  My appetizer was a creamy lobster soup with tarragon and brandy.  The soup was wonderful, the salmon not so much.  When our server noticed that I wasn't eating the salmon, he offered to bring me another entree and the seared chicken with spaetzle was much more to my liking.  I had told our server that we were going to be celebrating our 38th anniversary, and before bringing our desserts, he surprised us with a flute of champagne with a strawberry on the rim.  It was a large bit of Disney Magic.  For dessert I had the creme brulee (I never pass up creme brulee), and Rod had the cheesecake.

After lunch, we went to the aquarium and did Turtle Talk with Crush.  This show is so much fun.  Through Disney's magic, Crush can interact with the members of the audience.  He answers questions that the kids ask, and teases some of the adults.  It's fun, and Rod and I have done it without any of the kids.

After Crush, I braved the line at Mouse Gear to buy some 30th Anniversary pins.  The line had been really long, and some people stood in that line for as high as 5 hours.  There was nothing I wanted that badly.  I bought 2 pins, an anniversary lanyard (It was orange, how could I resist!), and a baseball cap - also orange.

The kids had gotten Fast Passes for Soarin', so they headed that direction while Pat and I made a potty stop.  And that's when it happened - my moment of embarrassment when my Demon Scooter chose to leave my butt behind!  In my blog post from Saturday, I described my fall.  As I lay there on the floor, I could see little girls looking at me in horror, I could hear the attendant asking if I needed a medic, and yet all I could think was that I would be on the 11 o'clock news with the tag line "Fat Lady Falls in Disney - Takes 4 men and a crane to get her up".  But it wasn't like that at all.  Thank God the news crew wasn't there!!  But the people in the bathroom couldn't have been kinder and more concerned.  In an attempt to alleviate my embarrassment, they offered me juice boxes, bottles of water, applesauce, fruit snacks, and cookies.  I declined their offers, and Rod bought me a bottle of Smart Water.  Guess he figured I needed something to make me a little smarter!!  We then proceeded to the Land Building where they rode Soarin' and I sat quietly in tears.  After Soarin', we did Journey into Imagination with Figment, and  while in the gift shop, Rod found a remote control Monorail.  He rarely buys anything at Disney for himself, but this was added to our purchases.

We had an early dinner at Garden Grill, and met Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale and Pluto.  I don't know who gets more excited to see Pluto - Bubby or Pam.  Our meal was excellent, and included roast turkey, sliced flank steak and a fish topped with a roasted tomato and pepper compote.  I sure wish I had the recipe for that one.  Rod took Mary back to her resort to get Bubby's pills while the rest of us finished our meals.  It was a wonderful surprise when they returned, and Jimmy was with them.  By this time, the heat had zapped my enthusiasm and I was stiffening up from my fall.  I had braved the crowds more than I cared to.  So, as the rain began to fall once again, Rod and I returned to our resort.  After a quick shower, we watched some of Monday Night Football before an early lights out.

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom and Raglan Road

Day 4 started with an early morning breakfast at Kona.  Kona is known for it's "Tonga Toast", a banana stuffed sourdough bread rolled in cinnamon sugar.  It looked delicious, believe me; but not so healthy for a diabetic.  So, I passed on the tonga toast, and instead chose a breakfast of steak and eggs.  The steak was cooked perfectly, and with the scrambled eggs and a large glass of tomato juice, was a very satisfying breakfast.

I had never seen the opening show at the Magic Kingdom, and was hoping that with a 7:30 breakfast I could make it via the monorail in time to see it.  I wasn't in time to see the beginning with the singers, but I did make it in time to see the characters arrive on the train.  Jimmy got permission for us to leave the rental cars at the Polynesian since we wouldn't be gone all day, and so the rest of the group met Pam and I just outside the Magic Kingdom when they arrived on the monorail.

We had some photos taken with the pumpkin people in town square, and proceeded to the Town Square Theater for more character meet and greets.  I overheard someone say that Rapunzel was appearing in the princess section, so I chose to head in that direction.  I met and had my picture taken with Cinderella, Belle, and Rapunzel.  Rod and I went outside to wait for the others, and saw Snow White posing for photos and signing autographs.  I went and got in line just as she was leaving for a short break.  When all the people in front of me left, I was then first in line.  She was gone only a few minutes, and when she returned, I was first.  The family showed up right before Snow White, and we had a group photo taken with her.  We decided to check out the Emporium, one of the gift shops on Main Street.  It was a quaint "little" shop, loaded with Disney merchandise.  But around the top of the rooms were antiques, and I spotted a clock much like the one my grandmother had when I was a child.  In this shop, I purchased a box of salt water taffy for my mom, divided plates for Izzy and Jake, and vinylmation figures for Krissy and Bubby.  The rest of the time was spent seeing our favorite shows and riding rides.  Rod and I did lunch at Columbia Harbour House, where I tried the lobster roll and found it to be a good choice.

Rod and I returned to our resort, and took a boat ride down the Sassogoula River to Downtown Disney and our dinner reservation at Raglan Road.  I had wanted to give this restaurant a try for several trips, and finally found a chance.  Raglan Road is an authentic Irish pub which was built in Ireland and shipped to Downtown Disney.  I had heard good things about the food here, and was anxious to give it a try.  For my appetizer I chose smoked salmon, which I had never eaten before.  It was served with capers, chopped shallots, and creme fraiche.  Rod didn't care for it, but I found it to be delightful.

For my entree, I chose Kevin's Heavenly Ham.  This was an Irish mist glazed loin of bacon (fresh, not smoked) and came with cabbage and colcannon potatoes.  My dinner certainly lived up to it's reputation.  Rod had ordered the colcannon soup for his appetizer and chose Sod the Stew, a beef stew infused with Guinness for his main course.  He said the stew was good, but he's not a big fan of Guinness.  For dessert we chose Ger's Bread and Butter pudding, a deliciously rich dessert, but way too much for one person.  We probably ate less than half of that dessert.

We were in no big hurry to leave because of the entertainment. This little stage was in the center of the restaurant, with a stage with a band off to the right.  I love the Celtic sounds, and am fascinated with the dancers, so we just sat for a while and enjoyed the entertainment.  In the gift shop, I found family crests for Burton and Hall (daughter Kristin's name) so I bought a couple of pins with the crests on them. We had planned on doing some shopping in Downtown Disney, but when we exited Raglan Road, it was pouring.  We got my poncho on so that my scooter and I were covered, and headed for the boat to return to our resort.  We did not want to get stuck using the buses in the event that it stormed.  We arrived back safely, went to the hotel food factory for some beverages, and returned to our room to watch Sunday Night Football.

Tomorrow - EPCOT on the 30th anniversary.

Day Three - Saturday at Hollywood Studios

Although I don't ride a lot of the rides here, I believe that Hollywood Studios just might be my favorite of the four parks.  The twins had gone to the park early and had already been on several rides when Rod and I arrived. Rod and I stopped at Fairfax Fare for a breakfast sandwich while they went to get Fast Passes for Rock n Roller coaster. We got a bacon, egg, and cheese English muffin, and it was quite good - much better than an Egg McMuffin.  While they rode the roller coaster, I hung around the Tower of Terror area and had some pictures taken.  The Photopass photographers do what they refer to as "Magic Shots", where characters are photoshopped in.  I had one taken in front of the Beauty and the Beast sign where they shopped Chip in, and another with Mickey on a bench.  When I get the PhotoPass CD, I'll post some of those shots.

The rest of the crew rode Tower of Terror, however I did not.  I don't like elevators much, let alone ones that drop you 13 floors unannounced.  I am a champion shopper, though and since every ride and attraction in Disney exits you through a gift shop, I shopped.  In this gift shop, I bought a tee shirt for George and a "do not disturb" sign for our house. It is from the Hollywood Tower Hotel, and since our house is sometimes like Grand Central Station with a revolving door, I think it was a sensible purchase.

The Burton 4 had reservations for lunch at the Sci Fi Dine In Theater.  It's really cool.  The tables are set up in "cars" and you are dining at a drive in theater complete with clips from 50's movies.  My appetizer of artichoke/spinach dip was excellent, however my medium steak arrived very well done.  One good thing about this venue is that you can get unlimited milkshakes.  I stopped with one, and didn't order dessert.

Following lunch, we visited Muppetvision.  I've always loved the Muppets, and this 3-D attraction is made more hilarious with the side comments of these two old geezers.

Then we headed toward the Animation Courtyard.  Before entering the Animation Building, I waited in line for a meet and greet with Handy Manny and Jake from the Neverland Pirates.  In the Animation building, I met Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, and Winnie the Pooh.  Then onto my favorite part of the Animation building - drawing in the Animation Academy with a Disney Animator.  We usually do this twice during our trips.  This trip we drew Eyeore and Grumpy.  We had our picture taken with Sorcerer Mickey.  Before long it was time to drive to the Yacht Club for our dinner at the Captain's Grille.

Dinner here was  probably the best meal I had on this trip.  I chose the crab legs with corn on the cob and roasted new potatoes.  I ordered a shrimp appetizer, but gave it to Jimmy.  The corn and crab legs were so filling that I only ate one of the potatoes, and again didn't order dessert.  Don't these crab legs look delicious - sure wish I had some now.










Last year I booked a cruise to view the Wishes fireworks from the Magic Kingdom Park.  It was spectacular.  This year I decided to try the Illuminations cruise to view the fireworks at EPCOT.  It was a good choice.  Although the cruises are expensive ($346), we find that they are worth the money.  The cruise takes place on a 25 foot Tracker pontoon boat, and can take up to 10 people.  It comes complete with a captain, bottled water, soda, and bagged snacks.  You can see in this photo of Pat how cushy the seats are.  We left from the Yacht Club Marina at about 8:30 and cruised the Seven Seas Lagoon past the Boardwalk, Hollywood Studios, then proceeded to EPCOT, where we tethered with two other boats under the International Gatway for the fireworks at 10 p.m. It was a magical experience, to be sure.  Some of our group liked the Wishes cruise better, but I preferred the Illuminations cruise.  After the fireworks, we were taken back to the Yacht Club and were back at our car by 10:30.  It was great not having to fight the crowds afterward.  We returned to our resort for a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow will be another busy day.

Tomorrow -- a return to Magic Kingdom and a special dinner at Downtown Disney.

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom and the Halloween Parade

Day Two began with breakfast at the Tusker House, one of my favorite breakfasts.  It is a Safari Breakfast hosted by Donald Duck. Before you enter the restaurant, you have your photo taken with Donald decked out in his safari gear. The food here is really delicious.  It is a buffet, complete with all the usual breakfast foods - sausage, bacon, eggs, pastries, cereals, but there is also carved ham, a yam casserole complete with raisins, a spicy corned beef hash, and frittatas.   During the course of the meal, you are visited by Mickey, Daisy Duck, and Goofy in their safari clothes.

After breakfast, we met up with Mary's family and did the Kilimanjaro Safari.  We really love the safari, and were lucky to see quite an assortment of animals this trip .  We even had an unplanned stop due to a giraffe who decided to stand in the middle of the road.  And we did the Festival of the Lion King show.  This is truly one of the most magnificent shows on property.  And it didn't disappoint.  Following the show, some did Expedition Everest, others did the Jungle Trek.  Rod and I headed toward the front of the park, shopping as we went.  We just don't handle the heat as well as the kids.  Since the twins were going to swim with Mary's family that afternoon, Rod and I returned to our resort, shared a shrimp po' boy and chocolate iced brownie, and then returned to our room to take a nap.

 We met the group at the Magic Kingdom for the Halloween Party.  Rod and I hadn't had dinner, so we headed to Cosmic Ray's.  I got the chicken nuggets and fries, and Rod had a burger and fries.  We hadn't planned on watching the first parade; but as it neared parade time, we found ourselves near the handicapped viewing area, and so we found a spot and watched the first parade.  The beginning of the parade is heralded by the arrival of the headless horseman.

The parade features many of the Disney characters  and some of them are in costume.  The Pooh characters are always in some sort of costume.  Captain Hook and Smee are aboard one pirate ship being closely followed by the crock, while Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbosa are aboard another.

One of the highlights of the parade for me are the gravediggers.  They perform much like a drill team, scraping their shovels along the pavement and creating sparks.  It really is an impressive thing to see.








The Hallowishes fireworks are always spectacular, and Mary found us a perfect spot in front of the Crystal Palace to watch them. It seems like  Rod and I were party poopers, but the heat was taking it's toll on us, so after the fireworks we decided to head back to our resort for an early night.  We watched a little tv before turning in for the night.


Tomorrow,  Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Day 1 Trip Report

After leaving Pittsburgh before the crack of dawn, we arrived in Orlando at 8:10 a.m.  The weather was beautiful, although the heat was building already.  After picking up our rental car from Budget (the best price we found was through Costco and we had a free upgrade coupon), we proceeded to drive to our resort, Port Orleans French Quarter.  I had pre-registered, and so they knew to expect us early.  Our rooms were ready, Rod and I in a handicapped accessible room right next door to the twins.  Armed with my "bag of necessities for park exploration", we proceeded to Magic Kingdom.

The first thing I needed to do was to buy a new hat.  No ears!  I thought it was a cute hat, but unfortunately Krissy looked better in it than I did.

The twins, Rod and I were on the Deluxe Dining Plan; Mary's family had the regular dining plan.  The Burton 4 headed to Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch and would meet up with the Hogue 4 after lunch.  Liberty Tree Tavern is a must do for us each trip, but we prefer lunch to dinner there.  The others chose fried cheese for their appetizer, while I picked the creamy chicken with wild rice soup. It was delicious, and sadly when I asked for the recipe, I was told there was none available.  After lunch, Rod and the twins decided to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and I went back to the beginning of the park to get our PhotoPass Plus activated.  It was more expensive than the basic Photopass plan, but included all ride photos and character meal photos, which are usually an extra fee so it was worth the extra money.  As I was motoring down Main Street, I came across the Dapper Dans, the barbershop quartet in the Magic Kingdom.  My dad was a barbershop lover, and I guess I inherited that love.  I had not seen them on past trips, and so was glad to be able to stop and listen a spell without the others.

I drove back to Big Thunder Mountain, where the others had regrouped, and they rode Big Thunder Mountain again.  We moved onto the Hall of Presidents, which was air conditioned and one of Pat's favorite nap spots.  Then it was onto Mickey's PhilharMagic.  It's a 12 minute 3D show that is so cute and features some of Disney's most recognizable tunes.  We continued to tour the park, trying to concentrate on attractions that were air conditioned.  We did the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, always a fun show.  We went down to Storybook Circus, a new area which is not fully completed at this time.  The Big Top Souveniers Tent had just opened that morning, and we loved it. Krissy was able to find the Oswald ears she had been searching for, and the fudge there was to die for.  The rest of the group rode the Walt Disney Railroad from the new Fantasyland station, but I didn't want to leave my scooter behind, so Rod and I walked down toward the castle.

 We went at Kona for dinner.  I always get the duck pot stickers as my appetizer, and was a little disappointed to discover that they were now pork pot stickers.  The creamy ginger soy sauce was still the same, and they were just as delicious.  Instead of the normal steak, I decided to order the Kona-coffee rubbed pork chop which was served with mashed sweet potatoes.  It was an excellent choice, and I rounded off my meal with the chocolate-banana creme brulee.  A great meal, to be sure.  After dinner, Jimmy got permission for us to leave our rental cars parked at the Polynesian while we returned to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes fireworks.  (Sprinkle Disney Magic Here)

We proceeded to the handicapped viewing area to watch the parade.  Disney sets aside specific areas for handicapped individuals and their families to view parades and fireworks.  Standing next to me was an extremely tall man with his wife and three daughters - none of whom were handicapped.  I couldn't see past him.  Two different cast members came to him at three different times and asked him to move to the back and he refused.  This man was so ignorant that he even stood in front of his own daughters to watch the parade.  Pat finally asked him to remove his back pack so that I could look behind him to see the parade.  He was quite nasty, but finally obliged.  (Remove some Disney Magic here) I told him that I hoped he was proud of the example he was setting for his children.  The parade was stunning, we got video, but no snapshots.

After the parade, we proceeded up Main Street to view the Wishes fireworks from a position a little closer to the Castle.  As usual the fireworks were magnificent.  We left after the fireworks to make our way to the monorail so that we could return to the Polynesian and retrieve our car.  While we were in line for the monorail, a family cut in line in front of us, and daughter Pat called them on it.  They replied with a barrage of not-so-nice expletives and continued to berate us the rest of the way up the ramp in a language we didn't understand.  There was a long wait since there were technical difficulties on one line.  (Remove some Disney magic here)  Still at the end of the day, we had some Disney magic left - no one could take that away.

Tomorrow - Animal Kingdom and the Halloween Party

Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Last night,  after a long delay at the Orlando airport due to electrical storms, we were finally able to leave Florida and return home.    It was along week, way to hot and humid for this fall-lovin gal. It was a semi magical trip.  I rented an ECV, it's much more sturdy than mine.  I rented from the same company that I used last year, but this year they sent me a scooter that was possessed - the Demon Scooter, to be sure.  The first day there we planned on seeing the Main Street Electrical Parade followed by the Wishes fireworks.  Of course, it's dark and the park is packed.  But I discover that the Demon Scooter has horns and a headlight that don't work.  Furthermore, it seems to have no concept of what the speed control is for.  At one point in Hollywood Studios, it sped up without warning, and I ran into a metal pole, slamming my stomach against the tiller.  It hurt like a  . . . well you get the picture.  All night I worried about whether I would need to have my spleen removed.  You know in "movie land" people who are injured always need to have their spleen removed.  And, I was, after all in Hollywood Studios!

The next day we were in EPCOT.  I went to go to the bathroom and turned off the key just like I always do.  When I came back, I had my left foot on the scooter when it suddenly lurched forward, knocking me to the ground. It had to be possessed to move on its own.  First my left knee twisted, followed by my sitter hitting the ground, then my back, followed  immediately by my noggin - ooof, oh, thump!  And all I said was "oh no".  Pat ran out and got her dad - his first visit to the ladies room.  I asked for another big strong man, but instead a big strong lady came to my rescue.  And she, Rod and Pat had me on my feet in no time. DEMON, for sure.

And the battery charge indicator wasn't any better.  It showed that I still had three green dots when the scooter just stopped dead, and Rod had to push me and the scooter to the car.  Thank goodness we were nearly out of the park. When I tried to call with my complaints, I got a voice mail that was so garbled that I couldn't understand a word of it.  I returned the scooter with a note to the renter that I was extremely disappointed in the scooter they had provided. And when it was returned to bell services, I bid it a glad farewell.  I'll take my "old blue" any day.