8/27 - Woo-Hoo! We finally arrived! 8/28 added

[ReneeA]

We arrived at CSR at 11:00 am starving to death! We had only eaten a breakfast of Tim Horton's coffee and donuts, and while that is the breakfast of champions, it doesn't take long for the belly rumblings to begin. Of course, the kids had been snacking on granola bars and such, and didn't seem overly excited at the prospect of lunch. Oh, well! Off to the Pepper Market with our keys to the world and lots of meal credits loaded onto it.

Pepper Market was nearly empty and we were excited when we saw the offerings and portion sizes. DH and DS wandered over to the Wok area and were enticed by the Asian combo of bourbon chicken and some sort of pork dish. It also came with broccoli and Asian noodles on the side. DH couldn't resist the cheese danish for dessert. I didn't make it past the first stop - the Mexican offerings. The chicken burrito looked so, so good, and my baby girl is a huge fan of Mexican food just like her Mama. Of course, the M & M cookies right behind us caught her eye and she no longer wanted lunch...just the cookie. I knew at that point, I was going to be out of a dessert. After seeing the portion sizes, we had decided that sharing 2 meals was going to be way more than enough food...and it was with lots leftover. DH only managed to get about 3 bites of a HUGE danish - DS decided that he loved it and wanted it. The food was great...DH dreamed of the pork the rest of the week. Total was $38.26, but we used 2 of our CS credits.

While we were at lunch, DH's cell phone rang. It was Garden Grocer, and they were 5 minutes from CSR with our bottled water and beer! Yay, beer!! We gave them our room number and met him (I can't for the life of me remember his name!) I had ordered a 12 pack of Killian's for DH, a 12 pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade for me, and a 32 pack of water for the family...with a grand total of $52.00 (including tip). Not so bad when you figured what it would have cost to pay for otherwise.

Off to the MK. I was anticipating the worst. DD still occasionally takes naps, and she was resisting...who can blame her? We are at Disneyworld!!! However, we had all been up since 4:15am and the kiddos wouldn't sleep on the plane. MK was crazy busy, but we did a few rides before getting soaked...I mean literally drenched to the skin soaked in one of Florida's notorious afternoon thunderstorms. I was getting nervous...we were all exhausted, DD and DS were on the verge of meltdowns and now we were positively soaked and looking like really sad drowned rats. Who the heck wants to go to a decent steakhouse looking like they had been dragged through a carwash?

We had 5:30 ADRs for Concourse Steakhouse and I wanted to call and cancel...just go back to our room and crash very early instead. DH would have none of it. He really wanted him some steak. DD's teeth were chattering and she was softly crying that she was cold and tired. I felt so bad! We stopped on Main Street and bought a Princess beach towel to wrap her in with the hopes I could rock her to sleep. Nope...she caught a second wind and we decided to try and get into the Concourse early since it was still storming and MK was so busy. We checked into the Concourse at 4:55 and were seated 5 minutes later with both kiddos watching intently for the monorail to glide overhead. They both ordered salads, mac and cheese, and then the cookie palate for dessert. DH had the Onion soup to start, the Chipoltle glazed Ribeye, and Vanilla Creme Brulee for dessert. I had the Caesar salad to start, the Filet for dinner, and a cheesecake for dessert. DH and I shared the Wild Mushroom side dish. Kids loved it, but were stuffed after their dinner. They had fun decorating their cookies, then got them packed up to take for breakfast the next day. My filet was heavenly...so tender I could cut it with my fork and the mashed potatoes were wonderful. DH liked his...he was glad I suggested to order the sauce on the side. He said his meal was about a 7 out of 10...and he's fussy, so that's pretty good. Everyone just had pop to drink, and our server was great...kept everything refilled promptly and took dirty plates away quickly. This was a rather quick meal...those that like a leisurely dinner may have to request they sloooow things down as the courses came out right on top of one another. We were happy with that, since I kept waiting for one of the kiddos to fall fast asleep with their heads on a plate or for a major meltdown to occur. Not my angels!! Both were perfectly behaved, other than being a bit twitchy. Within 65 minutes, we were on our way back to CSR. Total for this meal was $127.82, with an extra $5.00 left for our server (or 4 TS credits used).

Back at CSR, kiddos were thrown in for a quick shower, teeth brushed and put to bed with thoughts of Animal Kingdom planted firmly in their sweet little heads (by 7pm!) Break open the beer, Hon...it's time to put our feet up and relax.

Next up - Animal Kingdom - Flame Tree and Boma.

 

[latexscooter]

Woo-hoo a live trip report, I love it! Keep going because we're following in your footsteps. Glad to hear that Concourse was good, I've heard mixed reviews lately. Can't wait to hear about Flame Tree. We haven't been in several years (we keep opting for Tusker House) but are looking forward to a return trip.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying ~ Can't wait for more.

 

[ReneeA]

8/28 - Animal Kingdom - Flame Tree BBQ and Boma

We were up early as usual, kids had their cookies from the night before and DH and I ate granola bars for lunch. Got to AK at 8 for EMH morning.

By 11 am, everyone was starving...or so I thought. We decided on Flame Tree for CS lunch. DH and I both had the pulled pork sandwiches, DS had the chicken leg meal and DD had the hot dog meal. I should have known better than to order the pulled pork for DH and I...I make my own by cooking it in a crockpot with my own special seasoning about once a month and it is absolutely wonderful! Flame Tree's was cold and a little grisley tasting, the flavor was okay, but not great. All 4 pieces of the corn were so overcooked that the kernels didn't even hold their shape. I will say that the baked beans were wonderful. DD took one bite of the hot dog and no more. She did eat all of her applesauce. DS ate a few bites of chicken and that was it.

We had also ordered 2 frozen lemonades, one piece of chocolate cake, and one piece of key lime pie for dessert. Maybe one of the reasons the kiddos weren't eating all that great was that dessert was staring them in the face the entire meal. Anyway, too much dessert, so we passed the chocolate cake along to another family sitting by us and they all shared it. The key lime pie was good, and the kiddos each had the lemonade. Our total for this meal was $45.67, or in our case 4 CS credits. I don't think I would do this meal again...next time I plan to try Tusker House instead.

Since we got to AK so early, and by noon the crowds were super thick (Kali had a 90 minute wait by 1 pm!) we decided to be done right after seeing the Lion King Show. We hopped a bus back to CSR by 1:30 and put the kids down for a nap. By 4 pm, we were back at the bus stop waiting for a bus to AK where we planned to catch the bus to AKL for Boma dinner. We were the only ones getting on the AK bus, and I mentioned to the driver we were going to Boma for dinner. He told us he would do us a favor and drop us right off at the AKL!! Yay, magic!!

We checked in at Boma, wandered out by the pool to take a look around, and within 10 minutes, our pager was going off. I love the AKL! It's beautiful and so earthy feeling. We tried everyday to get into Boma for dinner during our last trip, and there was never any openings, so I was excited to try it out. It didn't disappoint...the food was very, very good. I think DH tried a little of everything. I wasn't horribly hungry (my appetite really suffers in the heat!), so I had a small piece of prime rib, a huge bowl of the Mulligatawny Stew (which was so, so delicious!), a few little bites of salads, and a big pile of dessert. I loved everything I tried. The kids ate great, also. They are big soup fans and enjoyed it tremendously. Our waitress was very friendly and made some suggestions as to what to try, yet disappeared for most of the meal and left our glasses empty for long stretches. No worries...I don't let myself get too fired up about that stuff much. Our consensus was that this was a great meal, and we would definitely do it again. Total was $103.45 or 4 TS credits.

Next up: Akershus Princess lunch, and Liberty Inn.