Rajah
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
The only problem we've really had at the Dolphin hit us again last night: that's with the strange way the room air conditioning systems are operated. In order for the A/C to turn on and actually cool, you have to have both the regular door and balcony door (if you have a balcony) closed and *locked*. Otherwise, the A/C won't cool the room beyond its pre-set temperature. Which is somewhat strange with how cold the hallways are.
Well, I don't know if we didn't have the sliding door locked or what, but it took until about 3am for the room to cool off enough to really sleep, and then until 5 am for it to get cold enough to actually be cold. Whatever the case, neither of us slept very well that first night, and when the alarm went off at 6:10 am, neither of us was ready to get up. Or perhaps I should say when the alarm fizzed, because the radio station I'd set the alarm to last night apparently wasn't on the air that early so all we got was static
We snoozed until about 6:45 when I'd asked for a wake-up call (just in case we slept through the alarm), and by 7am I was up and about. Not too awake, but at least up and about. First thing I did was make Michael some coffee to try to lure him out of bed because he always without fail has a harder time waking up at Disneyworld than I do. At home, it's usually the other way around
Then, while he was sitting half-up and staring blankly at his coffee cup (I so love not being addicted to coffee and the morning caffeine myself
), I finished getting ready for the morning. While Michael was finally getting ready, glaring at anything that could be glared at because he didn't want to be up yet, I stepped out on our balcony and took a few shots of the sun coming up over the Boardwalk (our balcony faced toward the big fountain then out to the back end of the Boardwalk). Did you know that the sun actually *rises* in the morning as well as sets at night? I've seen sunrise so rarely that it's a strange phenomenon to me
I'm very glad I stepped outside though because unexpectedly it was COLD this morning, and very windy. I was glad I'd brought a light sweater that I could throw on against the morning chill while still wearing a t-shirt to be ready for the afternoon warmth because I knew the afternoon was supposed to be closer to the mid-80's. Michael, however, was very surprised by the cold and commented that in March we'd run out to get him some shorts...this time we might have to go out and get him some long pants instead.
While Michael was getting ready (it typically also takes him about twice as long to get ready in the mornings than it does me for some reason), I ran downstairs to the Disney guest services counter to have our park hoppers checked from March. Michael and I both remembered having 1 day left on one hopper and 2 on the other, but I decided I'd rather be safe than sorry and so down I went. Sure enough, the counter was open and the hoppers had the days we remembered. So I put them in my pocket again...without noting which was which
Back up to the room where Michael was pretty much ready. After grabbing all our park paraphernalia (sunblock, cameras, batteries, camera media, tickets, radios, and so on and so forth), we made our way down to the bus stop. The long way again, because it wasn't until later in the trip that we discovered we could walk out the door by Daisy's Garden and be right on the path to the bus stop.
I took a few pictures this morning as we waited for the bus, but we didn't have long to wait. The Magic Kingdom bus was the first to arrive at about 8am, and in we climbed where the bus was thankfully nice and warm. It took a little longer than I expected to get to the Magic Kingdom because in March there was one bus for the Swan and Dolphin, one for the Boardwalk, and one for the Yacht and Beach Club. But another apparent sign of the times: for all bus routes, those five resorts were now packed into one route with the Swan and Dolphin most often the first stop. So we had to sit through a stop at the Yacht, Beach, and Boardwalk before continuing on to the Magic Kingdom.
When we got off the bus, I made note of where we were to be picked up for future reference, and away we went to the entrance. Another change for security was that they now had the walkways roped off so that everyone coming from the busses, boats, or monorail was funneled through the security tables. They had about 8 or 10 tables set up on that big image of a castle in the ground, and typically had two guards per table.
Getting through the bag check was very quick and easy and Disney Security was very friendly. They did check all areas of our bags, but we made sure to try and keep things open and easy for them to examine and we were through the security tables in less than 2 minutes even with what short lines there were. We were even allowed in the gates at 8:15, which surprised me since it wasn't an Early Entry day at the Magic Kingdom (at least last I checked it was supposed to be an MGM EE day. This was just before EE was canceled) and the park didn't open until 9am.
Our first stop was getting a locker, as usual, then we went straight to check in (about 5 minutes late as always) for our 8:20 breakfast PS at Crystal Palace. I swear we can't ever make a PS at the Crystal Palace on time, no matter what time we make it . We were checked in with no problem though and seated within five minutes.
Breakfast went pretty much as usual. We were greeted by our server and told the way things worked, then went up to the buffet to stand in line and stand in line and stand in line in order to get to the omelet maker -- apparently we hit the buffet just as a crowd came in, because the lines at the buffet varied from long to nonexistant. The breakfast seemed more crowded than usual, but that's what I expected since the only time available when we called was 8:20 when we were hoping for 9:30. As we waited in line, I took some pictures of the buffet and buffet area, then watched as Pooh and a little girl had a cute classic encounter.
Pooh was standing alone near the flowers at the center of the restaurant, and a young girl in the buffet line saw him. As Pooh spotted her, he started clapping and the girl looked with this "oh wow" expression before running up to him for a hug. It was very cute, and an encounter for the picture books (which means, naturally, I got a picture ).
The Crystal Palace was decorated very nicely with fall foliage, wreaths, and other fall decorations all over the buffet area (though the Christmas decorations last year were even better). There were even two things of festival corn on the cob right where the CM makes omelets! The only problem with the buffet this morning was that they ran out of the breakfast lasagna by the time we made it up there. No problem, we just did our omelets instead for this run.
One surprise of the trip, to me anyway, was when they suddenly started playing music and the CMs told people to pick up their napkins and start twirling them. They hadn't had napkin twirling at Crystal Palace any of the last visits, and this was quite a surprise to me. It was more of a surprise to Michael that I didn't know, though, because I usually would have known about this the day they started since I follow the DIS so much -- but he gloated over how he knew something I didn't for once. I don't know how I missed this one.
The rest of breakfast wasn't too memorable. Michael looked miserable and like he really didn't want to be there this morning. He was so extremely tired after two nights of only about 3 hours of sleep if that, and even his coffee wasn't doing much to wake him up.
Piglet and Eeyore came over fairly quickly after we started eating, and Eeyore was such a sweetie this trip. When Tigger came by, I put my Safari Tigger hat on and got a little bit of a reaction out of him, but after that he rushed away before Michael could get his picture taken with Tigger. Michael didn't care this morning. Actually, he didn't care about much at all this morning except his coffee, omelet, and breakfast lasagna (which he was able to find fresh out of the oven on a second trip to the buffet).
After breakfast, we walked along Main Street until we found the watch shop because the batteries on Michael's watch chose this time to go out. No wonder he couldn't figure out how to set the watch to local time. We weren't able to find any batteries for the watch (which surprised me -- I expected *somewhere* at MK to have watch batteries), but he was able to find a $20-$30 Mickey watch that he didn't mind having so we made our purchase and got his new watch on him before starting to walk back to Fantasyland.
All during this time, and during the latter half of breakfast, we toyed with the idea of sending Michael back to the room to sleep some more. I was doing fine and wanted to get some pictures so wouldn't mind if he wanted to go get a nap. It took walking to Fantasyland and Michael not wanting to be there let alone do any rides, walking toward Adventureland and Michael not wanting to be there let alone ride any rides, and then walking back down Main Street to look at the pin cart then back once more up toward Fantasyland before I finally turned him toward the entrance and said go. He didn't argue after I assured him I didn't mind, I wouldn't be angry, I'd be just fine, and he could come find me with the radios when he got back. He needed an hour or two nap more than he needed to be walking around the parks with me. So off he went, us checking the radios to make sure we were on the same channel and me reminding him to get his hand stamped and that he needed to be back before 3pm so we could see the parade but other than that to go get some rest and not worry about me. He left around 9:40.
For the next several hours, I wandered the park and took pictures. I looked all through Main Street, checking out the new extension to the Emporium and the pin carts. I purchased a few pins, including a couple of the Magical Moments pins, as well as a new glasses strap for my sunglasses. I hunted for names on windows and found Elias Disney, Ub Iwerks, and Frank Wells before I gave up -- I know Walt is supposed to be around there somewhere but I couldn't find his window. I also watched some of the characters interacting with guests. Friar Tuck of all characters was the funniest: he was set up at the flag pole and at one point, when no guests were approaching him but the omnibus was coming around the corner, he walked out into the street and turned to see the bus. Doing an "eek" motion, he turned and started running away a few steps. Pause, turn, eek, turn, run. Repeat almost until the bus had stopped, when he returned to the flag pole to sign autographs.
Then I headed for Liberty Square, another land that I had always just rushed through in the past and wanted to examine more closely this visit. On the way to Liberty Square, I stopped to watch the show on the castle stage called Cinderella's Surprise Celebration which I *really* enjoyed. To me, Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was kinda like what Fantasmic would be if it were really scaled down to fit on the Castle stage. It was the best show I think I've ever seen on the Castle stage, even beating out the Christmas production I really enjoyed last December.
I'd intended to just stop for a moment or two to watch the show and leave the *real* watching for after Michael joined me, but I ended up staying for the entire production and really enjoyed it. It was at that point that it really hit me: that we were back in Disneyworld. Even if I was by myself at the moment and kinda wishing I had my cell phone as well as radio so I could call and check on Michael.
After the show was over, I continued my trek to Liberty Square and wandered around there for a bit (and doing a little shopping in the Heritage shop where I found some 4th of July Mickey Antenna balls) before crossing into Adventureland to take a look at the new Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride and the changes they'd made to the shopping area there. Then it was back across the hub to give my feet a little bit of a break. Tomorrowland is another place that I have failed to really take in all the details in the past, and I intended to do the same looking around there that I did in Liberty Square and Main Street, but I was too tired. So instead I decided that since Michael wasn't back yet (it was approaching noon), I wanted to ride TTA. So ride it I did, and by the time I came off I was too tired to look any more, despite the coke I had purchased somewhere along the line.
Checking my watch, I saw that the next performance of Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was likely to start in about 20 minutes, so I decided to find a place to sit there, where I could then stay to watch the entire performance from a better spot. I found a place to sit on the stone bench/planter that runs around the hub, and planted myself there. I wasn't there long before Mickey and the gang all went back up on stage to perform the last part of the show, a part I didn't realize existed. All the characters that had come out to greet guests around the hub went running up on stage and came out to do some poses, all very cute. I was glad I got to see (and videotape) that one.
Turned out I had a pretty good place for watching the show once it really did start, and this time I got video of it just in case Michael didn't get to see it. I did have to stand on the seat (which was allowed though sitting on the railing was not) to get a shot over people's heads -- the area seemed rather crowded actually for the "low crowds" that we expected to encounter. But I did enjoy watching it for the second time.
After the second show, which was over at close to 1pm, I realized I was hungry. I'd intended to wait for Michael before getting lunch, but by 1pm I needed something to eat. So, actually learning from my past mistakes, I went to get food. (In the past I would have ignored my hunger and ended up turning into a grouchy tigress). Back I trekked into Fantasyland and beelined for Pinocchio's Village Haus. I was *going* to get my Figaro Fries this time, which I'd missed in March due to bad timing.
I almost turned right back around and left. There were long lines at every register, but I decided I was already there, that's what I wanted, and I couldn't wait until later without ruining dinner, so I grit my teeth and got in line. The wait actually wasn't that bad for how many people were around, and before I knew it (and after I'd taken a few pictures of the inside of Pinocchio's), it was my turn to order.
I asked for the hot dog (Cleo's dog?) with Figaro Fries and the CM at the register was able to comply: gave me a plain hot dog with no side then an order of Figaro Fries instead of the normal fries that came with the hot dog. When I got my food, I added the condiments (cheese, ketchup, etc) then took my food out to the chairs by the old 20,000 Leagues lagoon where I was actually able to find a place in the shade to crash and eat.
Only now I couldn't eat. Though I was hungry and knew I needed something to hold me together until dinner, I just couldn't eat well. Again, nothing had much flavor, though I'm sure that was me and not the food since almost nothing had any flavor the entire trip. I made myself eat almost all of the hot dog itself (though only a couple of bites of the bun) as well as a few of the Figaro Fries that I'd so wanted, but my heart just wasn't in eating and after about 30 minutes of picking at the food I gave in and threw the rest away.
More radio calls to Michael yielded no more response than calls had been getting all morning (and it was about 1:40 by now) so I decided I was tired of being in the Magic Kingdom without riding any rides. A check of the Pooh line found fast pass times to be during the parade and a 35 minute wait in line, and though I wanted to ride I didn't want to stand in line for 35 minutes (and it did look like about a 30 minute wait). So I went over to Snow White instead, the next ride around the corner. 10 minute wait there. Okay, I can do 10 minutes.
I can especially do 10 minutes when the Fantasyland Woodwind Society, four guys with saxophones including one huge sax, decides to stop and entertain guests in the Snow White line. They were really a cute act. They played some fun songs, including doing one Elvis song (Heartbreak Hotel I think) and even doing the "Elvis" moves with the Sax instead of the microphone. Then they started walking in single file while playing Baby Elephant Walk and walked around and around one small family about three or four times before following one lone guy all the way past the Snow White attraction. It took that guy until almost the edge of the queue to realize he was being followed (or at least to react) and he proceeded to weave in and out of the columns and displays at the shop next door -- the band following every move. I don't know how long the Society followed that one person, but last I saw they were turning the corner toward Pooh and still playing follow the leader. They were hilarious!
In a much happier mood, I tried calling Michael one last time before getting on the ride, but still no answer. So in I climbed and enjoyed my run through Snow White's adventures. I tried getting some video, but it was really too dark in there and I made every mistake in the book: leaving it on autofocus until half-way through the ride, quick zooms, ducking from one side of the car to the other...let alone trying to get a decent video in the first place in such a dark attraction. At least I remembered to leave the spotlight off. Actually, I don't even know how to turn that spotlight ON in the first place, but that's beside the point
When I got off the ride, I tried once again to reach Michael -- this was almost 2pm. Finally, he answered. He was at Main Street, where was I. I told him, and said come meet me in front of Snow White's Adventures then busied myself looking for a lamp post "TSI_Fan" from the DIS had included in his trip report as a "where did I find this?" item. I never did find it, though I knew the general area in which to look.
When Michael caught up with me, he looked WORLDS better. Sending him back for the nap was definitely the right thing to do. He looked more relaxed, still looked a little tired, but he was much happier and much more ready to be in the park. He said he hated that morning because he absolutely hated being in a park and not wanting to be there. But now he was ready to really begin the vacation.
So, now that he had rejoined me, it was time for some rides. Since it was right there and had very little wait, we turned right around and went on Snow White again - this time I just rode and enjoyed myself instead of trying to get either pictures or video.
Once we got off Snow White, we walked around past Pooh. The wait was still too long, but now the fast pass return window was late enough that we'd be able to ride after the parade, so we picked up a couple of fastpasses. Then it was on to Tomorrowland. As we walked past the Teacups I asked about riding, since I kinda wanted to ride the teacups, but Michael wasn't awake enough for that yet and said let's go on. So on we went.
First, we ducked into Comic Ray's Starlight Cafe where we finally saw Sunny Eclipse performing. We've talked about stopping to see him several times in the past but kept forgetting. Michael also pointed out the old control booth in the restaurant from when they had live performances on the stage where Sunny now resides.
Then we slipped into Mickey's Star Traders in order to look at pins. Michael also wanted to look at belly bags because my bag was a real mess before we left. Somehow I'd missed a piece of chocolate in the bag and on our trip in May it ended up melting all over everything inside
Well, he apparently didn't realize that after washing the bag out and letting it dry, my belly bag was still in perfectly good shape so he'd been looking for a similarly-sized belly bag as a replacement. Such a sweetie.
Just as we were on our way out, I paused to look at the CD and Video collection and was greeted by a CM named Joe. Joe was a really friendly CM, and *very* talkative. What started out as a brief friendly conversation ended up lasting almost 20 minutes! I didn't mind too much since we *had* been to the parks many times before. We chatted about everything from the new parades to Rock 'N Roller and some health problems he had that he blames on the roller coaster, to our jobs (he used to work in I believe he said Aerospace Engineering and I currently work for a NASA contractor) to the space program to the terrorist attacks.
During this time, Michael got to know Star Traders very well. He's not as outgoing as I am, so as soon as a conversation started, he disappeared. I'm kinda glad he did, though, because in his explorations of Star Traders he discovered a fun little game: Take the original Super Mario Brothers, turn it into a little hand-held black and white, and make Mickey the main star. That's what this little hand-held game was. Only, it had a catch... if you took the game around to various attractions, you would activate a *new* addition to the game! There were mini-games for Space Mountain, Small World, Cinderella's Castle, as well as several other attractions in each park.
Naturally, we had to have it (I'm very much a game person). And we also had to have the Magic Kingdom Magical Moments pin, which they had run out of at the Emporium when I purchased pins earlier this morning. So we made our purchase and then continued on to what had drawn us to Tomorrowland in the first place: Space Mountain. Only the line for Space Mountain was posted as 25 minutes, which would have run too late to catch a good spot for the parade. So we decided on doing TTA instead to see if we could tell if those 25 minutes were accurate or not.
As we went around TTA, it looked like we probably could have gotten on Space Mountain in much less than the 25 minutes posted, but we didn't want to take the chance. We'd be back tomorrow night for the Halloween party and figured the line would be shorter then. Plus, Michael was hungry and needed a little something to hold him together until dinner. So we departed TTA and headed for Main Street by way of the Tomorrowland Plaza Pavilion. There Michael was able to find a small pepperoni pizza which he scarfed down in record time.
On to Main Street where we had only about 10 minutes before the parade would officially start, which meant about 20-30 minutes before the parade would arrive on Main Street. Already all up and down Main Street people were lining up one and two deep, but we kept going and were able to find a place almost on the curb down at Town Square.
From there, it was a time to wait. I left Michael with the things as I returned to the locker to leave our purchases from Star Traders and to get some more batteries and the sunblock. He then disappeared briefly to get us both another bottle of water. Then I set up the cameras and made sure batteries were all good. By that time, the parade was about to begin.
I had fun watching Mickey's float when it stopped down the street over by the Confectionary. I also enjoyed watching the Pinocchio float go by. The Aladdin float stopped right in front of us so we got a good look at it: it had Dumbo, the Stork who delivered Dumbo, the Rescuers, Pooh and friends in Blustery Day decor, and Mary Poppins on it, with Genie holding the snow globe part up and Aladdin riding Carpet inside the globe. The only problem was the "pixie dust snow" didn't really fly in Aladdin's globe. My favorite float though was either the Villain's float or the Princess float that came next. Although I really liked the Mickey float too...
One "magical moment" during the parade that was really neat was when the Villain's Float came by (though it unfortunately didn't stop). Cruella DeVil was on our side of the float and started going wild, pointing at her shirt then at the lady next to us. When I turned to look at the lady next to us I saw that she was wearing a white blouse with black spots on it -- very much like a Dalmatian pattern, which really grabbed Cruella's attention
As the float went around the curve and Cruella went out of sight, I think she called something like "we should talk" back to the lady with the spotted shirt
I'm not really sure how I feel about the Share a Dream Come True parade. I really liked the floats (though I hadn't liked the pictures). They were really neat and original concepts, and it was really neat to examine them and try to identify all the various points on them: some had multiple shows represented, others had multiple characters from the same shows. And I liked the snow-globe effects.
But the parade did seem a little short, and I'm afraid the music just didn't do it for me (or Michael). A good parade is one that we can be humming for several minutes (30-60) after the parade is over. However, with this music, we couldn't even remember the tune two minutes after the parade finished...instead, I was humming the music from Cinderella's Surprise Celebration on the Castle stage. I remembered the lyrics to the Dream parade being pretty good, but the tune itself wasn't memorable. And the way that they had the characters talking to the music instead of singing along just kinda grated on me. The music can really make or break a parade to me, and this one kinda broke it. So I'm afraid I give this parade the lowest rating of all the 100 Years of Magic Parades -- but even having said that, I still want to see it again and still recommend it I want to watch it another two times, though -- this time to get better pictures
Something that might also be influencing my opinion on the Share A Dream Come True parade is that I was operating both the video and still cameras at once. Before the parade started, I asked Michael if he could operate the video. But he does video at work all the time and wanted NOTHING to do with any audio/visual equipment on this trip. As I had left the tripod at home and the chest brace at the room (even though I knew I would need it, be prepared indeed), I was trying to figure out how to balance one camera with one hand and the other camera with the other. It was quite a balancing act and didn't work out that well this time (though I learned how to do it by the end of the trip). Usually, I can operate the video or still camera while watching a parade or show and still enjoy the show just as much (sometimes more) but I do admit that trying to figure out how to operate both at the same time without getting the camera in the video or the video in the picture or jostling the video too much did decrease my enjoyment of this parade.
Once the parade was over, we headed back to Fantasyland while critiquing the parade. I guess you can say you've been to Disney too often when your first reaction after seeing a new parade is to critique it (not necessarily criticize) . We discussed the music and what we would have done to change it -- we both had things we thought would have improved the music to make it more memorable. As well as a couple of things we would have done a little differently with the floats -- mostly increasing the visibility of the "snow".
By this time, our fast pass window was open on Pooh, so we cut back through Fantasyland to one of our favorite Fantasyland attractions. This time, I opted to put the camera away and instead videotape. After all, I have several good pictures of the ride and no good video. I think I even got the Owl and Toad picture on the video.
After bouncing with Tigger and floating with Pooh, we ducked through the Pooh shop just in case we could find something to add to my Tigger costume (no luck) then continued around Fantasyland. Next stop was another ride on Snow White... other than the short line, I don't know why we rode Snow White so many times this trip. We rode that more than any other Fantasyland attraction, and it's not our favorite (though we do enjoy it).
Then it was on to Peter Pan. But when we got there we saw that the wait time was around 35 minutes and fastpass return was well after when we needed to be out of the park. It was approaching 4:30 by this point and we needed to head over to the Contemporary around 5. So instead we ducked into It's A Small World, where I again decided to take some video.
But we had quite a surprise while on this ride. Before the Share a Dream Come True parade started, I put on the Magic Kingdom Magical Moments pin just in case it would interact with the parade. If it ever lit up during the parade, I didn't see it. But as we entered the finale room in Small World where everyone's in white and blue, my pin started going crazy! And not only was it flashing, it was essentially flashing to the music! As the kids started singing the slightly slower verses, the pin was more sedate. But as the music started up into the chorus of "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all it's a small, small world" (got the song in your head yet? ) my pin started flashing like crazy! It was really neat and made buying the pins worthwhile.
After getting off Small World, we cut through Liberty Square on our way to Adventureland. We had only a few minutes left in the park and decided we wanted to try the new Aladdin's Magical Carpet ride. It was cute and fun, but it's little more than Dumbo to the next level. Though we found out that apparently Genie speaks Spanish. At least according to Aladdin's announcement on the ride he does, anyway
After our brief flight on Carpet, we stopped at a shop in Adventureland. Earlier in the morning, I found something that I decided I wanted to get: My Tigger Safari hat was back in stores!! My mom had been lamenting the fact that she didn't get one ever since I got mine in Jan 1999... so I had to pick up one for her. And I have so much fun out of my hat that I would be devastated (well, maybe not that bad but would definitely be unhappy) if anything ever happened to my hat. So Michael said not only could I get one for my mom, but I could get another one for me just as a backup.
Only problem: we failed to look at the tags. Luckily, the CM at the counter when we went to check out asked us to check the size. Turns out, the only hats they had available were kids hats
. But the kids hats came in all sorts of different sizes, including some that barely would fit. Not as comfortably or securely as my current one, but it would work. So we proceeded to try on every single Tigger hat in her inventory (she even went in the back to get some more for us to try) until we found two that would work. Thanks CM!!! (As always, I failed to note her name... I really need to do a better job of noting CMs names).
Our purchase complete, and after many thanks to the CM, we resumed our trek out to Main Street. But there was one more stop we *had* to make: the Expo Hall. In my earlier explorations, I'd found a pin in there that I really wanted. But I wanted to show it to Michael before getting it to make sure he wanted it too. Specifically, it is a pin with VonDrake on it -- Michael's DIS namesake! I'd expected to find it elsewhere in the park, but the only place I saw it all day was at the Expo Hall and Michael luckily remembered me wanting to show him something there so on our way out we stopped inside.
Luckily, they still had several VonDrake pins left, so I showed it to Michael and he said yes. Then I decided to take one more look at the country-flag pins on the display behind us. And there was one of the pins I was looking for this trip: The US flag in the shape of Mickey's head! I quickly grabbed four and handed them to Michael: One for me, one for him, and one for each of my parents since they specifically asked for a patriotic Disney pin if we could find one.
I then left Michael to stand in line and buy the pins while I left to get our stuff out of the locker and return the locker key. (On the way out, one CM actually noticed my Guest of Honor badge and called me by name. ) Michael wasn't quite done checking out by the time I finished with the locker and came back to meet him. But when he did finish, he said he'd only been allowed to buy two of the flag pins. Apparently they were in enough demand that guests were limited to two per purchase.
Oh well. Not enough time for me to stand in line as well, and there was always the big pin cart at the Contemporary, so we left the park and caught the monorail over to the Contemporary for dinner. As we got off the escalator from the monorail, we made note of where the pin station was (it's grown from "just" a pin cart, which is all it was when we were last at the Contemporary several trips ago) then went the long way to the elevators.
This was a part of the trip that I was dreading...not the dinner at the California Grill itself, but getting there. You see, I *hate* elevators. I'm not exactly afraid of heights (in fact I love them if I feel the thing I'm on is stable)... I'm not exactly afraid of tight spaces (in fact, I love caves, which I should hate if I were just claustrophobic)... But I *hate* elevators. I think this fear (maybe even enough to be a phobia) started from my one and only encounter with an elevator drop ride. Then it was just made worse after some bad encounters with the elevators in the dorms at college. I'm now to the point that if it's 6 floors or less, I *walk*. And if it's going down, I'm more likely to walk stairs than ride the elevator. And don't even try to get me on a parking lot elevator!
Well, we were on the 4th floor I think. The California Grill was on floor 15 So it was with some trepidation that I waited for the elevator (though I did enjoy seeing the model of the original Small World display/facade from the World's Fair back in 64) then got in. But much to my surprise, by the time I thought we should be on floor 6 we were already at floor 15. How fast do those particular elevators go, anyway???? I don't know, but I do know the ride wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, though I did get a little dizzy by the time we got off at the top, which says they were going pretty fast.
We arrived at the California Grill at about 5:28 for our 5:30 PS. First thing we did was check the menu to make sure there was at least one thing on the menu that I could eat. There was, so we checked in and were given our little coaster-pager and told it would be a couple of minutes. Since the restaurant wasn't even open yet, I asked where the nearest restroom was and said please don't tell me back on the fourth floor. The CM grinned and directed me around the corner and I left Michael with most of our stuff while I went back to freshen up a little.
As it turns out, I had just turned the corner when the coaster-pager lit up and so Michael had a nice five minute conversation with our seater (I want to say her name was Renee but I'm not sure on that). When I rejoined him, we were seated at a nice table right next to the window. Though the sun was shining almost in our eyes, we were able to look out over a very nice view of the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian.
The atmosphere at this restaurant was very comfortable. Our server was Steven (I actually caught his name) and he did an excellent job. He wasn't ever intrusive, but the second we needed anything he was right there at our elbow to get it.
Oddly enough, one of my favorite things from that restaurant was of all things the square glasses they served our drinks in. They were kinda neat.
I do have to complain a little here, though... well, not really complain, but roll my eyes. Ever since we got married in January of 2000, Michael has wanted to visit the California Grill. I have several food allergies and am not fond of fish, so I was hesitant to try it. Every time in the past when I looked at the menu, there were too many dubious choices on the menu for me. But this time, we were prepared for what to expect because of the menus on Deb's site www.wdwig.com . I'd been watching the menus there for the Contemporary for a while now, and even though the menu changed occasionally, as I grew to know more of what the "mysterious" spices or cheeses and such were on the menu, I discovered that there were indeed things on the menu I could eat. So I agreed to give it a try this trip.
Well, what Michael had wanted to try in the past was the "Californian" cuisine. It's just about all he talked about. But what did he order when we finally had PS there...? Sushi Not even just sushi as an appetizer, but a full sushi plate dinner. Now, granted, the California Grill reportedly has some of the best sushi on Disney property, but still.
Anyway...as an appetizer, I ordered the sweet potato soup. Michael just stuck with his sushi platter. My soup was very good, but I couldn't eat more than half of it before it started building up too much on me. It was very rich, and the bread had a similar enough flavor that it couldn't be used to cut the flavor. The soup needed some plain saltine or club or similar crackers with it to make it perfect.
For a main course, I ordered the BBQ Tenderloin. It was fantastic, that's all I can say. (Okay, so it's not all I can say). The flavors blended very well. It came on a bed of mashed potatoes, which served perfectly to keep the sauce from being too strong. The meat was cooked exactly as I liked, and was almost fork tender. Michael agreed it was what he wanted when I gave him a bite (so why'd he order sushi??).
Michael had the sushi platter (name???) and overall he really enjoyed it. It had rolled sushi, just straight fish (sashimi?), something that looked like tempura, and some interesting little seaweed cones filled with what Michael believes was marinated calamari. He had sake with his dinner, which he said was the best sake he's ever tasted. Overall, he was really happy with his meal... except for one piece that ruined the entire experience for him.
Of the pieces of sushi in which a piece of meat was pressed over some rolled rice and secured with a thin strip of seaweed, there was one that was solid white and scored. It was the only piece that was scored and was actually one of the prettiest pieces on the plate (I think sushi is only good for looking at myself). When he took a bite of that, his face went from pure bliss to horror. Scared me for a moment... I was afraid he was choking on it or something because of how sudden the change was and he wouldn't talk to me. Plus he stuffed the entire piece in his mouth in one bite . When he finally answered me (after what seemed like 5 minutes but was probably more like 30 seconds), he said that was the worst tasting thing he had ever put in his mouth. Texture, flavor, everything was horrendous -- which meant it was probably a delicacy in Japan.
Apparently, that one piece was so bad that it ruined the rest of his meal for him. Luckily, it was one of the last pieces he tried, so he was able to enjoy most of the platter. He said he only regretted that he hadn't tried the calamari before the white thing (which he thinks was either eel or octopus but isn't sure which) because he loves calamari and the white thing left such an aftertaste that he couldn't enjoy the remaining pieces on his platter.
By this time, I only had about 3 bites of my steak left and I was getting full, so I let him have that in an attempt to cut the aftertaste of the white thing. It didn't work that well, but it worked enough that he could at least eat dessert.
At the beginning of the meal, back when we ordered our main dishes, Steven came up and asked if we planned to get the lemon souffle for dessert. Well, we hadn't intended on it, but when he said that it was one that had to be started now to be ready by dessert time, we got curious. Especially when it was reported that one of Walt's favorite desserts was lemon souffle (hence it being on the menu for the 100th). So we'd ordered one souffle to split between the two of us.
It came out almost immediately after we were finished with the main course. Another CM brought it out, and behind him came Steven. The other CM (with our permission) "popped" the top of the souffle and then poured the lemon sauce (like a meringue but not so stiff) into the souffle. Steven then delivered the two plates so we could split it, and they left.
Heaven.
That's what that dessert was. I don't think I've ever had a lemon dessert that was so good!! If it wouldn't have been poor manners to pick up the dish and lick it clean, Michael and I both would have done so! This was definitely one of the absolute best desserts period we've ever had at Disneyworld, and we've had some excellent ones.
After dinner, we paid our bill (leaving Steven with a good tip) and then headed for the observation deck overlooking the Magic Kingdom. I'd put my Tigger Safari hat on before stepping out the doors. Well, the second I got outside, it came off again. The wind was really heavy outside, and I would have very easily lost my hat! We stayed on the Magic Kingdom side for a couple of minutes before cutting back through the restaurant to go to the observation deck on the *other* side. We'd never been on that side before, and if anything the view from there was even neater.
From the other side of the Contemporary, we could look out over the Disneyworld Property. In clear view were the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Wilderness Lodge. Several non-Disney hotels (probably along I-4) were visible. Spaceship Earth with the word Epcot on it was clearly visible in the distance, as were the tops of the Swan and Dolphin. And just barely visible if you knew pretty much where to look: a couple of buildings from MGM (including Tower of Terror though it was partially obscured by the Swan and Dolphin) and the MGM Earful Tower.
What a view! We stood on that side and watched the sun set behind the Grand Floridian. And for perhaps the first time (or one of the few times we've ever seen it) you could actually *observe* the sun set. It wasn't just a feeling of "it's getting darker", you could actually put your sunglasses on and look at the sun and see it disappearing below the horizon. It was a very, very wonderful sight. Perhaps the concrete observation deck of the Contemporary wasn't the most romantic of places, but it had a very romantic view of the sunset
Once the sun had disappeared below the horizon, we returned to the Magic Kingdom side of the Contemporary to watch the Magic Kingdom come alive in evening lights. I would have stayed out there longer to watch if Michael hadn't reminded me that I wanted to stop at the pin station (without Michael to remind me this trip, I would have forgotten a ton of things) and we still had to get over to Epcot in time for the last showing of Tapestry of Dreams.
So, back into the restaurant we went and summoned the elevator. Then didn't get on it when it arrived. Why not? Because just before it arrived, a group of VERY energetic and hyper kids joined us in waiting. I don't remember what I said about them to Michael (something along the lines of I'm not riding down with a bunch of wild kids), but he heard me say "I'm not riding down with a bunch of DRUNK kids"!! I most definitely didn't say drunk, but it sure was good for a laugh.
So we let the kids all pile into the first elevator and just stood back to wait. We waited until the doors closed before pushing the elevator call button again, and noticed that another lady had done the same thing. "Didn't want to ride with the kids, huh?" she asked. "Nope." "You don't have kids, do you?" she asked with a grin (she wasn't being mean -- after all, *she* didn't want to ride with them either!). Well, true, but that wasn't why I didn't want to ride. Riding an elevator is bad enough for me... riding with a bunch of rowdy kids would have had me glued to the wall and Michael would have had to pry my fingers off the handrail when we reached the floor. Either that, or there would have been a few flattened kids as I ran out once we reached our stop if they hadn't gotten off first
Anyway, our ride down was uneventful and fast (and would you believe I was *still* a little dizzy from our ride *up* over an hour earlier??) and I still hopped off fairly quickly. I did figure out part of what makes an elevator a problem for me, though: when it rattles. If it's quiet, smooth, and fast, then it's not bad. But if it rattles, is slow, or makes noise then I turn into a basketcase (or close to it). So I'll actually be willing to ride the elevator in the Contemporary again.
Once off the elevator, Michael went into a store at the Contemporary (B-something) to see if they might have any of those cool glasses from the California Grill. No luck there, but I went on to the pin cart and found a couple of pins I really liked. One was of the Sage of Time from Tapestry of Nations. We had all the other pins from Tapestry, so naturally we had to get this one. But I didn't see the American Flag Mickey that I wanted. I looked several times, and finally gave up and turned toward the register. But when I looked, there was one sitting there where another lady had two pins down being "held". I asked the CM at the register if she had any "more"...
...I didn't even have to finish the sentence before she finished it for me. "More of the flag pins? Sure do, two per customer." She was very friendly as she pulled two out of a box at the counter and rang up my purchase. I was happy: I now had completed that mission. One patriotic Mickey pin for each of my parents, as well as one for each of us. We chatted for a few minutes more before I rejoined Michael at a bench nearby (he had finished shopping at B-whatever...BVG?) and we hurried to catch the monorail.
As we rode, we discussed our options. We could return to the Magic Kingdom and catch a bus back to the Dolphin where we could drop off all the stuff we'd bought during the day, but that would require us rushing a great deal. Or we could just monorail to TTC then take the monorail over to Epcot. I kinda wanted to return to the Dolphin since as I'd feared something from dinner was giving me a stomach ache, but when we checked how much time we had left we decided we'd rather not risk missing Tapestry of Dreams so would monorail. I'd just suffer the tummy ache. They usually go away within 30 minutes anyway.
Other than the stomach ache, it was a nice leisurely ride to Epcot. It was very neat to ride the Monorail past the dancing fountain and see where they appeared to have added extra under-water lighting. It was really neat, but the fountain wasn't going at all (only the water that cascades down the rocks).
This was the only time that the bag check at the entrance to the parks was irritating. And that was only because I wasn't feeling well and wanted to sit down for a few minutes. But, it only took us about five minutes (if that) to get through security and the gate and head around to World Showcase.
Along the way, we stopped in Ice Station Cool. Despite the steak, sake, and lemon souffle, Michael *still* had that bad aftertaste in his mouth and he decided only one thing would help it: Beverly. So we went through the not-so-cold walkway (where was the snow this time?) and found an open dispenser where Michael picked up a sample of his favorite "love to hate it" beverage and we left. When he finished the sample about the time we entered the UK, I asked if it had done the trick. Yup.
We continued around through World Showcase, in just a little bit of a hurry but not too much, making our way to our usual viewing area at Morocco. We loved this area for Tapestry of Nations because you could see both the beginning and ending of the parade since one of the entry/exit gates is there in Morocco. As we staked out a spot, Michael wandered across the way to get his favorite Moroccan wine. I left the camera with him as I started making sure the video camera was set up. We still had another 25 minutes because it was only 8:05, so I wasn't in a hurry.
Anyone see a problem with this picture? Two problems, actually?
First, it turned out that for Tapestry of Dreams they had cut one leg of the parade. The entry/exit gate at Morocco was now only an exit gate. We'd get a perfect view of the ending of the parade, but wouldn't see the beginning at all, which really disappointed me. Even moreso since I usually know this kind of thing.
Second, the parade started at *8:10*, not the *8:30* I had noted in my notes. Finding that, I was doubly glad that we had opted to take the monorail over and not stop at the Dolphin! As it was, the parade itself started before Michael finished getting through the line at the wine booth. I had a good spot on the rope, but the crowds packed in tight enough that Michael couldn't make it back to me 15 feet away.
We still enjoyed the parade anyway Though that parade isn't nearly as good when all you can see is guests walking by as music is playing (that is, when the parade hasn't reached you yet ). I had the video recorder running to get the soundtrack, so I decided to experiment with zoom. When I looked out across the World Showcase Lagoon, I could see movement over at China. So I zoomed and zoomed and zoomed in until I had the blur that was the China gateway centered in the frame. I had to go to digital zoom to get there, which was rather out of focus, but I could at least watch things moving by and by knowing the Tapestry of Nations parade as I did I could identify what was what.
Finally, the parade made it to us, and then it got good again. It's hard for me to decide which Disney parade is my absolute favorite, but Tapestry (in whatever form) is definitely in the top 3! I loved watching the guest interaction, and the new elements they've added to the puppets (musical instruments in most cases) or to the CMs controlling the puppets was great. I thought Tapestry of Nations was "complete", but these additions made Tapestry of Dreams even more "complete".
After the master Dreamseeker (Leonardo) completed his goodbyes and instructions to "Dream On", the crowd started dispersing very quickly. I rejoined Michael, who had a very serious expression on his face. Not a bad one, but one of those intense "I just saw/found something that others don't know" looks. He all but grabbed me by the elbow and said "walk this way" and we walked out into the center of the area where the Dreamseekers do their farewell speech. As we walked by, Michael nonchalantly bent down and picked up something from the ground, then grabbed my elbow again and kept walking. He handed that something to me: it was a bell off of one of the costumes. It had fallen off of the "hair" of one of the discmen and apparently Michael was the only one to see it. So we have a unique souvenir from our favorite parade!!! Granted, it's only like a 50-cent bell or somewhere around there, but it has a lot of sentimental value now
I put the bell in my belly bag and we started our hunt for a place from which to watch Illuminations. We weren't really looking too hard, just started walking toward Japan and America where we usually watch the show. As we walked, we talked... first was what happened? I'm supposedly the Great Disney Planner (okay, out of our group anyway)... how did I not know that the parade only ended in Morocco, or that it started at 8:10 instead of 8:30? I can only blame that lack of knowledge on the short notice for this trip, for there's really no excuse... especially not when I'd tried to do my research on the parade.
Aside from that, we discussed the changes made to Tapestry of Nations to make it Tapestry of Dreams. Neither of us liked it as much this first time around as we did the original Tapestry of Nations (before they changed what the Sage of Time said/did at the end of the Millennium Celebration). We both really missed the Sage and thought the voice-overs from the children were a little over-done. But we both liked the "CATS"-like addition (that's what the narration from the Dreamseekers reminded us of) and I really liked the addition of the musical instruments (bells, chimes, and other noise makers) to the costumes as well as some of the additions to the music. Michael, however, was adamant that he liked the original Tapestry of Nations much better. Even still, he wanted to see the parade again later in the trip if we could.
We finally ended up stopping along the railing in America on the side of the stage that is farthest away from Japan. There wasn't anyone there, and we found out why: a bit of tree cover. Since there were several feet to either side of us still open, we continued wandering on down into Italy. But the people in Italy were two or three deep already, and we decided we'd rather have a view slightly blocked by trees but on the railing over having a view unblocked but three people deep. Plus, over by America, we had a view where Spaceship Earth was almost directly through the point at which the primary action takes place.
So while we waited for Illuminations to begin, I experimented with the camera. We toyed with taking some video instead of photos of the show this time since we didn't have digital video yet, but the wind was blowing somewhat in our direction and I didn't want a video of nothing but smoke. So we opted to use the still instead.
By the time the show was ready to begin, people had joined us. I ended up stepping in front of Michael and then sitting or kneeling on the curb where I could brace the camera on the railing while Michael stood behind me and just watched. This performance, I toyed with other settings on the camera and ended up with some time-lapse shots of one and two seconds -- just enough to get several bursts of fireworks, but not enough to flood the view most of the time.
As we had feared, though, the wind did turn in our direction a bit which sent the smoke coming our way some of the time. By the time the show was over, both of our eyes were burning. But we'd enjoyed the show.
As we left our position and started for the International Gateway, Michael tapped me on the shoulder and said to look up. Look up I did, and above us were two brilliantly bright beams coming from behind the main building in America: one was green, and one was white. It was really neat to see, and somehow something we'd missed in the past. I think this was the only time we'd looked up when the smoke was still somewhat heavy.
We walked back to the Dolphin by way of the Boardwalk this time. I just love being on the Boardwalk at night, even if we don't actually stop to do anything. It seemed all the entertainment was out in full force tonight. Every door seemed open, every booth was active. At least one of the vaudeville-style acts was in full swing with people 3 or 4 deep near the boat dock, and as we approached the pin cart we encountered a street magician who was just beginning his act. I stopped to watch him for a few minutes while Michael disappeared around the other side of the pin cart then hovered around nearby (he does NOT like being picked for interactive stuff so always keeps well back, while I do think it's fun sometimes). He and I were both rather tired, though, so we didn't stay to watch the magician for long.
By the time we got back to our room it was about 10:00. Not too late by our normal standards, but it had been a long day. Normally, we would run over to Disneyquest for about two hours of fun (especially since we had our Disneyquest annual passes), but this time he and I were both too tired, we were both getting a slight sore throat, and we decided let's not push ourselves too long. We're on vacation... why not take it easy. Relatively, anyway. Michael also had mentioned wanting to try Pleasure Island earlier this evening, but by the time we left Epcot he just wanted to go back to the room and watch the day's videos.
So up to the room we went and hooked up our digital video recorder to the TV (after a bit of scratching of heads to figure out how to reach the back of the TV) and we put the videos in while I took notes on the day. All in all, even though there were several points at which we weren't as prepared as usual, it was a good day
Well, I don't know if we didn't have the sliding door locked or what, but it took until about 3am for the room to cool off enough to really sleep, and then until 5 am for it to get cold enough to actually be cold. Whatever the case, neither of us slept very well that first night, and when the alarm went off at 6:10 am, neither of us was ready to get up. Or perhaps I should say when the alarm fizzed, because the radio station I'd set the alarm to last night apparently wasn't on the air that early so all we got was static
We snoozed until about 6:45 when I'd asked for a wake-up call (just in case we slept through the alarm), and by 7am I was up and about. Not too awake, but at least up and about. First thing I did was make Michael some coffee to try to lure him out of bed because he always without fail has a harder time waking up at Disneyworld than I do. At home, it's usually the other way around
Then, while he was sitting half-up and staring blankly at his coffee cup (I so love not being addicted to coffee and the morning caffeine myself
), I finished getting ready for the morning. While Michael was finally getting ready, glaring at anything that could be glared at because he didn't want to be up yet, I stepped out on our balcony and took a few shots of the sun coming up over the Boardwalk (our balcony faced toward the big fountain then out to the back end of the Boardwalk). Did you know that the sun actually *rises* in the morning as well as sets at night? I've seen sunrise so rarely that it's a strange phenomenon to me I'm very glad I stepped outside though because unexpectedly it was COLD this morning, and very windy. I was glad I'd brought a light sweater that I could throw on against the morning chill while still wearing a t-shirt to be ready for the afternoon warmth because I knew the afternoon was supposed to be closer to the mid-80's. Michael, however, was very surprised by the cold and commented that in March we'd run out to get him some shorts...this time we might have to go out and get him some long pants instead.
While Michael was getting ready (it typically also takes him about twice as long to get ready in the mornings than it does me for some reason), I ran downstairs to the Disney guest services counter to have our park hoppers checked from March. Michael and I both remembered having 1 day left on one hopper and 2 on the other, but I decided I'd rather be safe than sorry and so down I went. Sure enough, the counter was open and the hoppers had the days we remembered. So I put them in my pocket again...without noting which was which
Back up to the room where Michael was pretty much ready. After grabbing all our park paraphernalia (sunblock, cameras, batteries, camera media, tickets, radios, and so on and so forth), we made our way down to the bus stop. The long way again, because it wasn't until later in the trip that we discovered we could walk out the door by Daisy's Garden and be right on the path to the bus stop.
I took a few pictures this morning as we waited for the bus, but we didn't have long to wait. The Magic Kingdom bus was the first to arrive at about 8am, and in we climbed where the bus was thankfully nice and warm. It took a little longer than I expected to get to the Magic Kingdom because in March there was one bus for the Swan and Dolphin, one for the Boardwalk, and one for the Yacht and Beach Club. But another apparent sign of the times: for all bus routes, those five resorts were now packed into one route with the Swan and Dolphin most often the first stop. So we had to sit through a stop at the Yacht, Beach, and Boardwalk before continuing on to the Magic Kingdom.
When we got off the bus, I made note of where we were to be picked up for future reference, and away we went to the entrance. Another change for security was that they now had the walkways roped off so that everyone coming from the busses, boats, or monorail was funneled through the security tables. They had about 8 or 10 tables set up on that big image of a castle in the ground, and typically had two guards per table.
Getting through the bag check was very quick and easy and Disney Security was very friendly. They did check all areas of our bags, but we made sure to try and keep things open and easy for them to examine and we were through the security tables in less than 2 minutes even with what short lines there were. We were even allowed in the gates at 8:15, which surprised me since it wasn't an Early Entry day at the Magic Kingdom (at least last I checked it was supposed to be an MGM EE day. This was just before EE was canceled) and the park didn't open until 9am.
Our first stop was getting a locker, as usual, then we went straight to check in (about 5 minutes late as always) for our 8:20 breakfast PS at Crystal Palace. I swear we can't ever make a PS at the Crystal Palace on time, no matter what time we make it
. We were checked in with no problem though and seated within five minutes.Breakfast went pretty much as usual. We were greeted by our server and told the way things worked, then went up to the buffet to stand in line and stand in line and stand in line in order to get to the omelet maker -- apparently we hit the buffet just as a crowd came in, because the lines at the buffet varied from long to nonexistant. The breakfast seemed more crowded than usual, but that's what I expected since the only time available when we called was 8:20 when we were hoping for 9:30. As we waited in line, I took some pictures of the buffet and buffet area, then watched as Pooh and a little girl had a cute classic encounter.
Pooh was standing alone near the flowers at the center of the restaurant, and a young girl in the buffet line saw him. As Pooh spotted her, he started clapping and the girl looked with this "oh wow" expression before running up to him for a hug. It was very cute, and an encounter for the picture books (which means, naturally, I got a picture
).The Crystal Palace was decorated very nicely with fall foliage, wreaths, and other fall decorations all over the buffet area (though the Christmas decorations last year were even better). There were even two things of festival corn on the cob right where the CM makes omelets! The only problem with the buffet this morning was that they ran out of the breakfast lasagna by the time we made it up there. No problem, we just did our omelets instead for this run.
One surprise of the trip, to me anyway, was when they suddenly started playing music and the CMs told people to pick up their napkins and start twirling them. They hadn't had napkin twirling at Crystal Palace any of the last visits, and this was quite a surprise to me. It was more of a surprise to Michael that I didn't know, though, because I usually would have known about this the day they started since I follow the DIS so much -- but he gloated over how he knew something I didn't for once. I don't know how I missed this one.
The rest of breakfast wasn't too memorable. Michael looked miserable and like he really didn't want to be there this morning. He was so extremely tired after two nights of only about 3 hours of sleep if that, and even his coffee wasn't doing much to wake him up.
Piglet and Eeyore came over fairly quickly after we started eating, and Eeyore was such a sweetie this trip. When Tigger came by, I put my Safari Tigger hat on and got a little bit of a reaction out of him, but after that he rushed away before Michael could get his picture taken with Tigger. Michael didn't care this morning. Actually, he didn't care about much at all this morning except his coffee, omelet, and breakfast lasagna (which he was able to find fresh out of the oven on a second trip to the buffet).
After breakfast, we walked along Main Street until we found the watch shop because the batteries on Michael's watch chose this time to go out. No wonder he couldn't figure out how to set the watch to local time. We weren't able to find any batteries for the watch (which surprised me -- I expected *somewhere* at MK to have watch batteries), but he was able to find a $20-$30 Mickey watch that he didn't mind having so we made our purchase and got his new watch on him before starting to walk back to Fantasyland.
All during this time, and during the latter half of breakfast, we toyed with the idea of sending Michael back to the room to sleep some more. I was doing fine and wanted to get some pictures so wouldn't mind if he wanted to go get a nap. It took walking to Fantasyland and Michael not wanting to be there let alone do any rides, walking toward Adventureland and Michael not wanting to be there let alone ride any rides, and then walking back down Main Street to look at the pin cart then back once more up toward Fantasyland before I finally turned him toward the entrance and said go. He didn't argue after I assured him I didn't mind, I wouldn't be angry, I'd be just fine, and he could come find me with the radios when he got back. He needed an hour or two nap more than he needed to be walking around the parks with me. So off he went, us checking the radios to make sure we were on the same channel and me reminding him to get his hand stamped and that he needed to be back before 3pm so we could see the parade but other than that to go get some rest and not worry about me. He left around 9:40.
For the next several hours, I wandered the park and took pictures. I looked all through Main Street, checking out the new extension to the Emporium and the pin carts. I purchased a few pins, including a couple of the Magical Moments pins, as well as a new glasses strap for my sunglasses. I hunted for names on windows and found Elias Disney, Ub Iwerks, and Frank Wells before I gave up -- I know Walt is supposed to be around there somewhere but I couldn't find his window. I also watched some of the characters interacting with guests. Friar Tuck of all characters was the funniest: he was set up at the flag pole and at one point, when no guests were approaching him but the omnibus was coming around the corner, he walked out into the street and turned to see the bus. Doing an "eek" motion, he turned and started running away a few steps. Pause, turn, eek, turn, run. Repeat almost until the bus had stopped, when he returned to the flag pole to sign autographs.
Then I headed for Liberty Square, another land that I had always just rushed through in the past and wanted to examine more closely this visit. On the way to Liberty Square, I stopped to watch the show on the castle stage called Cinderella's Surprise Celebration which I *really* enjoyed. To me, Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was kinda like what Fantasmic would be if it were really scaled down to fit on the Castle stage. It was the best show I think I've ever seen on the Castle stage, even beating out the Christmas production I really enjoyed last December.
I'd intended to just stop for a moment or two to watch the show and leave the *real* watching for after Michael joined me, but I ended up staying for the entire production and really enjoyed it. It was at that point that it really hit me: that we were back in Disneyworld. Even if I was by myself at the moment and kinda wishing I had my cell phone as well as radio so I could call and check on Michael.
After the show was over, I continued my trek to Liberty Square and wandered around there for a bit (and doing a little shopping in the Heritage shop where I found some 4th of July Mickey Antenna balls) before crossing into Adventureland to take a look at the new Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride and the changes they'd made to the shopping area there. Then it was back across the hub to give my feet a little bit of a break. Tomorrowland is another place that I have failed to really take in all the details in the past, and I intended to do the same looking around there that I did in Liberty Square and Main Street, but I was too tired. So instead I decided that since Michael wasn't back yet (it was approaching noon), I wanted to ride TTA. So ride it I did, and by the time I came off I was too tired to look any more, despite the coke I had purchased somewhere along the line.
Checking my watch, I saw that the next performance of Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was likely to start in about 20 minutes, so I decided to find a place to sit there, where I could then stay to watch the entire performance from a better spot. I found a place to sit on the stone bench/planter that runs around the hub, and planted myself there. I wasn't there long before Mickey and the gang all went back up on stage to perform the last part of the show, a part I didn't realize existed. All the characters that had come out to greet guests around the hub went running up on stage and came out to do some poses, all very cute. I was glad I got to see (and videotape) that one.
Turned out I had a pretty good place for watching the show once it really did start, and this time I got video of it just in case Michael didn't get to see it. I did have to stand on the seat (which was allowed though sitting on the railing was not) to get a shot over people's heads -- the area seemed rather crowded actually for the "low crowds" that we expected to encounter. But I did enjoy watching it for the second time.
After the second show, which was over at close to 1pm, I realized I was hungry. I'd intended to wait for Michael before getting lunch, but by 1pm I needed something to eat. So, actually learning from my past mistakes, I went to get food. (In the past I would have ignored my hunger and ended up turning into a grouchy tigress). Back I trekked into Fantasyland and beelined for Pinocchio's Village Haus. I was *going* to get my Figaro Fries this time, which I'd missed in March due to bad timing.
I almost turned right back around and left. There were long lines at every register, but I decided I was already there, that's what I wanted, and I couldn't wait until later without ruining dinner, so I grit my teeth and got in line. The wait actually wasn't that bad for how many people were around, and before I knew it (and after I'd taken a few pictures of the inside of Pinocchio's), it was my turn to order.
I asked for the hot dog (Cleo's dog?) with Figaro Fries and the CM at the register was able to comply: gave me a plain hot dog with no side then an order of Figaro Fries instead of the normal fries that came with the hot dog. When I got my food, I added the condiments (cheese, ketchup, etc) then took my food out to the chairs by the old 20,000 Leagues lagoon where I was actually able to find a place in the shade to crash and eat.
Only now I couldn't eat. Though I was hungry and knew I needed something to hold me together until dinner, I just couldn't eat well. Again, nothing had much flavor, though I'm sure that was me and not the food since almost nothing had any flavor the entire trip. I made myself eat almost all of the hot dog itself (though only a couple of bites of the bun) as well as a few of the Figaro Fries that I'd so wanted, but my heart just wasn't in eating and after about 30 minutes of picking at the food I gave in and threw the rest away.
More radio calls to Michael yielded no more response than calls had been getting all morning (and it was about 1:40 by now) so I decided I was tired of being in the Magic Kingdom without riding any rides. A check of the Pooh line found fast pass times to be during the parade and a 35 minute wait in line, and though I wanted to ride I didn't want to stand in line for 35 minutes (and it did look like about a 30 minute wait). So I went over to Snow White instead, the next ride around the corner. 10 minute wait there. Okay, I can do 10 minutes.
I can especially do 10 minutes when the Fantasyland Woodwind Society, four guys with saxophones including one huge sax, decides to stop and entertain guests in the Snow White line. They were really a cute act. They played some fun songs, including doing one Elvis song (Heartbreak Hotel I think) and even doing the "Elvis" moves with the Sax instead of the microphone. Then they started walking in single file while playing Baby Elephant Walk and walked around and around one small family about three or four times before following one lone guy all the way past the Snow White attraction. It took that guy until almost the edge of the queue to realize he was being followed (or at least to react) and he proceeded to weave in and out of the columns and displays at the shop next door -- the band following every move. I don't know how long the Society followed that one person, but last I saw they were turning the corner toward Pooh and still playing follow the leader. They were hilarious!
In a much happier mood, I tried calling Michael one last time before getting on the ride, but still no answer. So in I climbed and enjoyed my run through Snow White's adventures. I tried getting some video, but it was really too dark in there and I made every mistake in the book: leaving it on autofocus until half-way through the ride, quick zooms, ducking from one side of the car to the other...let alone trying to get a decent video in the first place in such a dark attraction. At least I remembered to leave the spotlight off. Actually, I don't even know how to turn that spotlight ON in the first place, but that's beside the point
When I got off the ride, I tried once again to reach Michael -- this was almost 2pm. Finally, he answered. He was at Main Street, where was I. I told him, and said come meet me in front of Snow White's Adventures then busied myself looking for a lamp post "TSI_Fan" from the DIS had included in his trip report as a "where did I find this?" item. I never did find it, though I knew the general area in which to look.
When Michael caught up with me, he looked WORLDS better. Sending him back for the nap was definitely the right thing to do. He looked more relaxed, still looked a little tired, but he was much happier and much more ready to be in the park. He said he hated that morning because he absolutely hated being in a park and not wanting to be there. But now he was ready to really begin the vacation.
So, now that he had rejoined me, it was time for some rides. Since it was right there and had very little wait, we turned right around and went on Snow White again - this time I just rode and enjoyed myself instead of trying to get either pictures or video.
Once we got off Snow White, we walked around past Pooh. The wait was still too long, but now the fast pass return window was late enough that we'd be able to ride after the parade, so we picked up a couple of fastpasses. Then it was on to Tomorrowland. As we walked past the Teacups I asked about riding, since I kinda wanted to ride the teacups, but Michael wasn't awake enough for that yet and said let's go on. So on we went.
First, we ducked into Comic Ray's Starlight Cafe where we finally saw Sunny Eclipse performing. We've talked about stopping to see him several times in the past but kept forgetting. Michael also pointed out the old control booth in the restaurant from when they had live performances on the stage where Sunny now resides.
Then we slipped into Mickey's Star Traders in order to look at pins. Michael also wanted to look at belly bags because my bag was a real mess before we left. Somehow I'd missed a piece of chocolate in the bag and on our trip in May it ended up melting all over everything inside
Well, he apparently didn't realize that after washing the bag out and letting it dry, my belly bag was still in perfectly good shape so he'd been looking for a similarly-sized belly bag as a replacement. Such a sweetie.Just as we were on our way out, I paused to look at the CD and Video collection and was greeted by a CM named Joe. Joe was a really friendly CM, and *very* talkative. What started out as a brief friendly conversation ended up lasting almost 20 minutes!
I didn't mind too much since we *had* been to the parks many times before. We chatted about everything from the new parades to Rock 'N Roller and some health problems he had that he blames on the roller coaster, to our jobs (he used to work in I believe he said Aerospace Engineering and I currently work for a NASA contractor) to the space program to the terrorist attacks.During this time, Michael got to know Star Traders very well. He's not as outgoing as I am, so as soon as a conversation started, he disappeared. I'm kinda glad he did, though, because in his explorations of Star Traders he discovered a fun little game: Take the original Super Mario Brothers, turn it into a little hand-held black and white, and make Mickey the main star. That's what this little hand-held game was. Only, it had a catch... if you took the game around to various attractions, you would activate a *new* addition to the game! There were mini-games for Space Mountain, Small World, Cinderella's Castle, as well as several other attractions in each park.
Naturally, we had to have it (I'm very much a game person). And we also had to have the Magic Kingdom Magical Moments pin, which they had run out of at the Emporium when I purchased pins earlier this morning. So we made our purchase and then continued on to what had drawn us to Tomorrowland in the first place: Space Mountain. Only the line for Space Mountain was posted as 25 minutes, which would have run too late to catch a good spot for the parade. So we decided on doing TTA instead to see if we could tell if those 25 minutes were accurate or not.
As we went around TTA, it looked like we probably could have gotten on Space Mountain in much less than the 25 minutes posted, but we didn't want to take the chance. We'd be back tomorrow night for the Halloween party and figured the line would be shorter then. Plus, Michael was hungry and needed a little something to hold him together until dinner. So we departed TTA and headed for Main Street by way of the Tomorrowland Plaza Pavilion. There Michael was able to find a small pepperoni pizza which he scarfed down in record time.
On to Main Street where we had only about 10 minutes before the parade would officially start, which meant about 20-30 minutes before the parade would arrive on Main Street. Already all up and down Main Street people were lining up one and two deep, but we kept going and were able to find a place almost on the curb down at Town Square.
From there, it was a time to wait. I left Michael with the things as I returned to the locker to leave our purchases from Star Traders and to get some more batteries and the sunblock. He then disappeared briefly to get us both another bottle of water. Then I set up the cameras and made sure batteries were all good. By that time, the parade was about to begin.
I had fun watching Mickey's float when it stopped down the street over by the Confectionary. I also enjoyed watching the Pinocchio float go by. The Aladdin float stopped right in front of us so we got a good look at it: it had Dumbo, the Stork who delivered Dumbo, the Rescuers, Pooh and friends in Blustery Day decor, and Mary Poppins on it, with Genie holding the snow globe part up and Aladdin riding Carpet inside the globe. The only problem was the "pixie dust snow" didn't really fly in Aladdin's globe. My favorite float though was either the Villain's float or the Princess float that came next. Although I really liked the Mickey float too...
One "magical moment" during the parade that was really neat was when the Villain's Float came by (though it unfortunately didn't stop). Cruella DeVil was on our side of the float and started going wild, pointing at her shirt then at the lady next to us. When I turned to look at the lady next to us I saw that she was wearing a white blouse with black spots on it -- very much like a Dalmatian pattern, which really grabbed Cruella's attention
As the float went around the curve and Cruella went out of sight, I think she called something like "we should talk" back to the lady with the spotted shirt I'm not really sure how I feel about the Share a Dream Come True parade. I really liked the floats (though I hadn't liked the pictures). They were really neat and original concepts, and it was really neat to examine them and try to identify all the various points on them: some had multiple shows represented, others had multiple characters from the same shows. And I liked the snow-globe effects.
But the parade did seem a little short, and I'm afraid the music just didn't do it for me (or Michael). A good parade is one that we can be humming for several minutes (30-60) after the parade is over. However, with this music, we couldn't even remember the tune two minutes after the parade finished...instead, I was humming the music from Cinderella's Surprise Celebration on the Castle stage. I remembered the lyrics to the Dream parade being pretty good, but the tune itself wasn't memorable. And the way that they had the characters talking to the music instead of singing along just kinda grated on me. The music can really make or break a parade to me, and this one kinda broke it. So I'm afraid I give this parade the lowest rating of all the 100 Years of Magic Parades -- but even having said that, I still want to see it again and still recommend it
I want to watch it another two times, though -- this time to get better pictures Something that might also be influencing my opinion on the Share A Dream Come True parade is that I was operating both the video and still cameras at once. Before the parade started, I asked Michael if he could operate the video. But he does video at work all the time and wanted NOTHING to do with any audio/visual equipment on this trip. As I had left the tripod at home and the chest brace at the room (even though I knew I would need it, be prepared indeed), I was trying to figure out how to balance one camera with one hand and the other camera with the other. It was quite a balancing act and didn't work out that well this time (though I learned how to do it by the end of the trip). Usually, I can operate the video or still camera while watching a parade or show and still enjoy the show just as much (sometimes more) but I do admit that trying to figure out how to operate both at the same time without getting the camera in the video or the video in the picture or jostling the video too much did decrease my enjoyment of this parade.
Once the parade was over, we headed back to Fantasyland while critiquing the parade. I guess you can say you've been to Disney too often when your first reaction after seeing a new parade is to critique it (not necessarily criticize)
. We discussed the music and what we would have done to change it -- we both had things we thought would have improved the music to make it more memorable. As well as a couple of things we would have done a little differently with the floats -- mostly increasing the visibility of the "snow". By this time, our fast pass window was open on Pooh, so we cut back through Fantasyland to one of our favorite Fantasyland attractions. This time, I opted to put the camera away and instead videotape. After all, I have several good pictures of the ride and no good video. I think I even got the Owl and Toad picture on the video.
After bouncing with Tigger and floating with Pooh, we ducked through the Pooh shop just in case we could find something to add to my Tigger costume (no luck) then continued around Fantasyland. Next stop was another ride on Snow White... other than the short line, I don't know why we rode Snow White so many times this trip. We rode that more than any other Fantasyland attraction, and it's not our favorite (though we do enjoy it).
Then it was on to Peter Pan. But when we got there we saw that the wait time was around 35 minutes and fastpass return was well after when we needed to be out of the park. It was approaching 4:30 by this point and we needed to head over to the Contemporary around 5. So instead we ducked into It's A Small World, where I again decided to take some video.
But we had quite a surprise while on this ride. Before the Share a Dream Come True parade started, I put on the Magic Kingdom Magical Moments pin just in case it would interact with the parade. If it ever lit up during the parade, I didn't see it. But as we entered the finale room in Small World where everyone's in white and blue, my pin started going crazy! And not only was it flashing, it was essentially flashing to the music! As the kids started singing the slightly slower verses, the pin was more sedate. But as the music started up into the chorus of "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all it's a small, small world" (got the song in your head yet?
) my pin started flashing like crazy! It was really neat and made buying the pins worthwhile.After getting off Small World, we cut through Liberty Square on our way to Adventureland. We had only a few minutes left in the park and decided we wanted to try the new Aladdin's Magical Carpet ride. It was cute and fun, but it's little more than Dumbo to the next level. Though we found out that apparently Genie speaks Spanish. At least according to Aladdin's announcement on the ride he does, anyway
After our brief flight on Carpet, we stopped at a shop in Adventureland. Earlier in the morning, I found something that I decided I wanted to get: My Tigger Safari hat was back in stores!! My mom had been lamenting the fact that she didn't get one ever since I got mine in Jan 1999... so I had to pick up one for her. And I have so much fun out of my hat that I would be devastated (well, maybe not that bad but would definitely be unhappy) if anything ever happened to my hat. So Michael said not only could I get one for my mom, but I could get another one for me just as a backup.
Only problem: we failed to look at the tags. Luckily, the CM at the counter when we went to check out asked us to check the size. Turns out, the only hats they had available were kids hats
. But the kids hats came in all sorts of different sizes, including some that barely would fit. Not as comfortably or securely as my current one, but it would work. So we proceeded to try on every single Tigger hat in her inventory (she even went in the back to get some more for us to try) until we found two that would work. Thanks CM!!! (As always, I failed to note her name... I really need to do a better job of noting CMs names).Our purchase complete, and after many thanks to the CM, we resumed our trek out to Main Street. But there was one more stop we *had* to make: the Expo Hall. In my earlier explorations, I'd found a pin in there that I really wanted. But I wanted to show it to Michael before getting it to make sure he wanted it too. Specifically, it is a pin with VonDrake on it -- Michael's DIS namesake! I'd expected to find it elsewhere in the park, but the only place I saw it all day was at the Expo Hall and Michael luckily remembered me wanting to show him something there so on our way out we stopped inside.
Luckily, they still had several VonDrake pins left, so I showed it to Michael and he said yes. Then I decided to take one more look at the country-flag pins on the display behind us. And there was one of the pins I was looking for this trip: The US flag in the shape of Mickey's head! I quickly grabbed four and handed them to Michael: One for me, one for him, and one for each of my parents since they specifically asked for a patriotic Disney pin if we could find one.
I then left Michael to stand in line and buy the pins while I left to get our stuff out of the locker and return the locker key. (On the way out, one CM actually noticed my Guest of Honor badge and called me by name.
) Michael wasn't quite done checking out by the time I finished with the locker and came back to meet him. But when he did finish, he said he'd only been allowed to buy two of the flag pins. Apparently they were in enough demand that guests were limited to two per purchase.Oh well. Not enough time for me to stand in line as well, and there was always the big pin cart at the Contemporary, so we left the park and caught the monorail over to the Contemporary for dinner. As we got off the escalator from the monorail, we made note of where the pin station was (it's grown from "just" a pin cart, which is all it was when we were last at the Contemporary several trips ago) then went the long way to the elevators.
This was a part of the trip that I was dreading...not the dinner at the California Grill itself, but getting there. You see, I *hate* elevators. I'm not exactly afraid of heights (in fact I love them if I feel the thing I'm on is stable)... I'm not exactly afraid of tight spaces (in fact, I love caves, which I should hate if I were just claustrophobic)... But I *hate* elevators. I think this fear (maybe even enough to be a phobia) started from my one and only encounter with an elevator drop ride. Then it was just made worse after some bad encounters with the elevators in the dorms at college. I'm now to the point that if it's 6 floors or less, I *walk*. And if it's going down, I'm more likely to walk stairs than ride the elevator. And don't even try to get me on a parking lot elevator!
Well, we were on the 4th floor I think. The California Grill was on floor 15
So it was with some trepidation that I waited for the elevator (though I did enjoy seeing the model of the original Small World display/facade from the World's Fair back in 64) then got in. But much to my surprise, by the time I thought we should be on floor 6 we were already at floor 15. How fast do those particular elevators go, anyway???? I don't know, but I do know the ride wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, though I did get a little dizzy by the time we got off at the top, which says they were going pretty fast.We arrived at the California Grill at about 5:28 for our 5:30 PS. First thing we did was check the menu to make sure there was at least one thing on the menu that I could eat. There was, so we checked in and were given our little coaster-pager and told it would be a couple of minutes. Since the restaurant wasn't even open yet, I asked where the nearest restroom was and said please don't tell me back on the fourth floor. The CM grinned and directed me around the corner and I left Michael with most of our stuff while I went back to freshen up a little.
As it turns out, I had just turned the corner when the coaster-pager lit up and so Michael had a nice five minute conversation with our seater (I want to say her name was Renee but I'm not sure on that). When I rejoined him, we were seated at a nice table right next to the window. Though the sun was shining almost in our eyes, we were able to look out over a very nice view of the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian.
The atmosphere at this restaurant was very comfortable. Our server was Steven (I actually caught his name) and he did an excellent job. He wasn't ever intrusive, but the second we needed anything he was right there at our elbow to get it.
Oddly enough, one of my favorite things from that restaurant was of all things the square glasses they served our drinks in. They were kinda neat.
I do have to complain a little here, though... well, not really complain, but roll my eyes. Ever since we got married in January of 2000, Michael has wanted to visit the California Grill. I have several food allergies and am not fond of fish, so I was hesitant to try it. Every time in the past when I looked at the menu, there were too many dubious choices on the menu for me. But this time, we were prepared for what to expect because of the menus on Deb's site www.wdwig.com . I'd been watching the menus there for the Contemporary for a while now, and even though the menu changed occasionally, as I grew to know more of what the "mysterious" spices or cheeses and such were on the menu, I discovered that there were indeed things on the menu I could eat. So I agreed to give it a try this trip.
Well, what Michael had wanted to try in the past was the "Californian" cuisine. It's just about all he talked about. But what did he order when we finally had PS there...? Sushi
Not even just sushi as an appetizer, but a full sushi plate dinner. Now, granted, the California Grill reportedly has some of the best sushi on Disney property, but still.Anyway...as an appetizer, I ordered the sweet potato soup. Michael just stuck with his sushi platter. My soup was very good, but I couldn't eat more than half of it before it started building up too much on me. It was very rich, and the bread had a similar enough flavor that it couldn't be used to cut the flavor. The soup needed some plain saltine or club or similar crackers with it to make it perfect.
For a main course, I ordered the BBQ Tenderloin. It was fantastic, that's all I can say. (Okay, so it's not all I can say). The flavors blended very well. It came on a bed of mashed potatoes, which served perfectly to keep the sauce from being too strong. The meat was cooked exactly as I liked, and was almost fork tender. Michael agreed it was what he wanted when I gave him a bite (so why'd he order sushi??).
Michael had the sushi platter (name???) and overall he really enjoyed it. It had rolled sushi, just straight fish (sashimi?), something that looked like tempura, and some interesting little seaweed cones filled with what Michael believes was marinated calamari. He had sake with his dinner, which he said was the best sake he's ever tasted. Overall, he was really happy with his meal... except for one piece that ruined the entire experience for him.
Of the pieces of sushi in which a piece of meat was pressed over some rolled rice and secured with a thin strip of seaweed, there was one that was solid white and scored. It was the only piece that was scored and was actually one of the prettiest pieces on the plate (I think sushi is only good for looking at myself). When he took a bite of that, his face went from pure bliss to horror. Scared me for a moment... I was afraid he was choking on it or something because of how sudden the change was and he wouldn't talk to me. Plus he stuffed the entire piece in his mouth in one bite
. When he finally answered me (after what seemed like 5 minutes but was probably more like 30 seconds), he said that was the worst tasting thing he had ever put in his mouth. Texture, flavor, everything was horrendous -- which meant it was probably a delicacy in Japan.Apparently, that one piece was so bad that it ruined the rest of his meal for him. Luckily, it was one of the last pieces he tried, so he was able to enjoy most of the platter. He said he only regretted that he hadn't tried the calamari before the white thing (which he thinks was either eel or octopus but isn't sure which) because he loves calamari and the white thing left such an aftertaste that he couldn't enjoy the remaining pieces on his platter.
By this time, I only had about 3 bites of my steak left and I was getting full, so I let him have that in an attempt to cut the aftertaste of the white thing. It didn't work that well, but it worked enough that he could at least eat dessert.
At the beginning of the meal, back when we ordered our main dishes, Steven came up and asked if we planned to get the lemon souffle for dessert. Well, we hadn't intended on it, but when he said that it was one that had to be started now to be ready by dessert time, we got curious. Especially when it was reported that one of Walt's favorite desserts was lemon souffle (hence it being on the menu for the 100th). So we'd ordered one souffle to split between the two of us.
It came out almost immediately after we were finished with the main course. Another CM brought it out, and behind him came Steven. The other CM (with our permission) "popped" the top of the souffle and then poured the lemon sauce (like a meringue but not so stiff) into the souffle. Steven then delivered the two plates so we could split it, and they left.
Heaven.
That's what that dessert was. I don't think I've ever had a lemon dessert that was so good!! If it wouldn't have been poor manners to pick up the dish and lick it clean, Michael and I both would have done so! This was definitely one of the absolute best desserts period we've ever had at Disneyworld, and we've had some excellent ones.
After dinner, we paid our bill (leaving Steven with a good tip) and then headed for the observation deck overlooking the Magic Kingdom. I'd put my Tigger Safari hat on before stepping out the doors. Well, the second I got outside, it came off again. The wind was really heavy outside, and I would have very easily lost my hat! We stayed on the Magic Kingdom side for a couple of minutes before cutting back through the restaurant to go to the observation deck on the *other* side. We'd never been on that side before, and if anything the view from there was even neater.
From the other side of the Contemporary, we could look out over the Disneyworld Property. In clear view were the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Wilderness Lodge. Several non-Disney hotels (probably along I-4) were visible. Spaceship Earth with the word Epcot on it was clearly visible in the distance, as were the tops of the Swan and Dolphin. And just barely visible if you knew pretty much where to look: a couple of buildings from MGM (including Tower of Terror though it was partially obscured by the Swan and Dolphin) and the MGM Earful Tower.
What a view! We stood on that side and watched the sun set behind the Grand Floridian. And for perhaps the first time (or one of the few times we've ever seen it) you could actually *observe* the sun set. It wasn't just a feeling of "it's getting darker", you could actually put your sunglasses on and look at the sun and see it disappearing below the horizon. It was a very, very wonderful sight. Perhaps the concrete observation deck of the Contemporary wasn't the most romantic of places, but it had a very romantic view of the sunset
Once the sun had disappeared below the horizon, we returned to the Magic Kingdom side of the Contemporary to watch the Magic Kingdom come alive in evening lights. I would have stayed out there longer to watch if Michael hadn't reminded me that I wanted to stop at the pin station (without Michael to remind me this trip, I would have forgotten a ton of things) and we still had to get over to Epcot in time for the last showing of Tapestry of Dreams.
So, back into the restaurant we went and summoned the elevator. Then didn't get on it when it arrived. Why not? Because just before it arrived, a group of VERY energetic and hyper kids joined us in waiting. I don't remember what I said about them to Michael (something along the lines of I'm not riding down with a bunch of wild kids), but he heard me say "I'm not riding down with a bunch of DRUNK kids"!! I most definitely didn't say drunk, but it sure was good for a laugh.
So we let the kids all pile into the first elevator and just stood back to wait. We waited until the doors closed before pushing the elevator call button again, and noticed that another lady had done the same thing. "Didn't want to ride with the kids, huh?" she asked. "Nope." "You don't have kids, do you?" she asked with a grin (she wasn't being mean -- after all, *she* didn't want to ride with them either!). Well, true, but that wasn't why I didn't want to ride. Riding an elevator is bad enough for me... riding with a bunch of rowdy kids would have had me glued to the wall and Michael would have had to pry my fingers off the handrail when we reached the floor. Either that, or there would have been a few flattened kids as I ran out once we reached our stop if they hadn't gotten off first
Anyway, our ride down was uneventful and fast (and would you believe I was *still* a little dizzy from our ride *up* over an hour earlier??) and I still hopped off fairly quickly. I did figure out part of what makes an elevator a problem for me, though: when it rattles. If it's quiet, smooth, and fast, then it's not bad. But if it rattles, is slow, or makes noise then I turn into a basketcase (or close to it). So I'll actually be willing to ride the elevator in the Contemporary again.
Once off the elevator, Michael went into a store at the Contemporary (B-something) to see if they might have any of those cool glasses from the California Grill. No luck there, but I went on to the pin cart and found a couple of pins I really liked. One was of the Sage of Time from Tapestry of Nations. We had all the other pins from Tapestry, so naturally we had to get this one. But I didn't see the American Flag Mickey that I wanted. I looked several times, and finally gave up and turned toward the register. But when I looked, there was one sitting there where another lady had two pins down being "held". I asked the CM at the register if she had any "more"...
...I didn't even have to finish the sentence before she finished it for me. "More of the flag pins? Sure do, two per customer." She was very friendly as she pulled two out of a box at the counter and rang up my purchase. I was happy: I now had completed that mission. One patriotic Mickey pin for each of my parents, as well as one for each of us. We chatted for a few minutes more before I rejoined Michael at a bench nearby (he had finished shopping at B-whatever...BVG?) and we hurried to catch the monorail.
As we rode, we discussed our options. We could return to the Magic Kingdom and catch a bus back to the Dolphin where we could drop off all the stuff we'd bought during the day, but that would require us rushing a great deal. Or we could just monorail to TTC then take the monorail over to Epcot. I kinda wanted to return to the Dolphin since as I'd feared something from dinner was giving me a stomach ache, but when we checked how much time we had left we decided we'd rather not risk missing Tapestry of Dreams so would monorail. I'd just suffer the tummy ache. They usually go away within 30 minutes anyway.
Other than the stomach ache, it was a nice leisurely ride to Epcot. It was very neat to ride the Monorail past the dancing fountain and see where they appeared to have added extra under-water lighting. It was really neat, but the fountain wasn't going at all (only the water that cascades down the rocks).
This was the only time that the bag check at the entrance to the parks was irritating. And that was only because I wasn't feeling well and wanted to sit down for a few minutes. But, it only took us about five minutes (if that) to get through security and the gate and head around to World Showcase.
Along the way, we stopped in Ice Station Cool. Despite the steak, sake, and lemon souffle, Michael *still* had that bad aftertaste in his mouth and he decided only one thing would help it: Beverly. So we went through the not-so-cold walkway (where was the snow this time?) and found an open dispenser where Michael picked up a sample of his favorite "love to hate it" beverage and we left. When he finished the sample about the time we entered the UK, I asked if it had done the trick. Yup.
We continued around through World Showcase, in just a little bit of a hurry but not too much, making our way to our usual viewing area at Morocco. We loved this area for Tapestry of Nations because you could see both the beginning and ending of the parade since one of the entry/exit gates is there in Morocco. As we staked out a spot, Michael wandered across the way to get his favorite Moroccan wine. I left the camera with him as I started making sure the video camera was set up. We still had another 25 minutes because it was only 8:05, so I wasn't in a hurry.
Anyone see a problem with this picture? Two problems, actually?
First, it turned out that for Tapestry of Dreams they had cut one leg of the parade. The entry/exit gate at Morocco was now only an exit gate. We'd get a perfect view of the ending of the parade, but wouldn't see the beginning at all, which really disappointed me. Even moreso since I usually know this kind of thing.
Second, the parade started at *8:10*, not the *8:30* I had noted in my notes. Finding that, I was doubly glad that we had opted to take the monorail over and not stop at the Dolphin! As it was, the parade itself started before Michael finished getting through the line at the wine booth. I had a good spot on the rope, but the crowds packed in tight enough that Michael couldn't make it back to me 15 feet away.
We still enjoyed the parade anyway
Though that parade isn't nearly as good when all you can see is guests walking by as music is playing (that is, when the parade hasn't reached you yet ). I had the video recorder running to get the soundtrack, so I decided to experiment with zoom. When I looked out across the World Showcase Lagoon, I could see movement over at China. So I zoomed and zoomed and zoomed in until I had the blur that was the China gateway centered in the frame. I had to go to digital zoom to get there, which was rather out of focus, but I could at least watch things moving by and by knowing the Tapestry of Nations parade as I did I could identify what was what.Finally, the parade made it to us, and then it got good again. It's hard for me to decide which Disney parade is my absolute favorite, but Tapestry (in whatever form) is definitely in the top 3! I loved watching the guest interaction, and the new elements they've added to the puppets (musical instruments in most cases) or to the CMs controlling the puppets was great. I thought Tapestry of Nations was "complete", but these additions made Tapestry of Dreams even more "complete".
After the master Dreamseeker (Leonardo) completed his goodbyes and instructions to "Dream On", the crowd started dispersing very quickly. I rejoined Michael, who had a very serious expression on his face. Not a bad one, but one of those intense "I just saw/found something that others don't know" looks. He all but grabbed me by the elbow and said "walk this way" and we walked out into the center of the area where the Dreamseekers do their farewell speech. As we walked by, Michael nonchalantly bent down and picked up something from the ground, then grabbed my elbow again and kept walking. He handed that something to me: it was a bell off of one of the costumes. It had fallen off of the "hair" of one of the discmen and apparently Michael was the only one to see it. So we have a unique souvenir from our favorite parade!!! Granted, it's only like a 50-cent bell or somewhere around there, but it has a lot of sentimental value now
I put the bell in my belly bag and we started our hunt for a place from which to watch Illuminations. We weren't really looking too hard, just started walking toward Japan and America where we usually watch the show. As we walked, we talked... first was what happened? I'm supposedly the Great Disney Planner (okay, out of our group anyway)... how did I not know that the parade only ended in Morocco, or that it started at 8:10 instead of 8:30? I can only blame that lack of knowledge on the short notice for this trip, for there's really no excuse... especially not when I'd tried to do my research on the parade.
Aside from that, we discussed the changes made to Tapestry of Nations to make it Tapestry of Dreams. Neither of us liked it as much this first time around as we did the original Tapestry of Nations (before they changed what the Sage of Time said/did at the end of the Millennium Celebration). We both really missed the Sage and thought the voice-overs from the children were a little over-done. But we both liked the "CATS"-like addition (that's what the narration from the Dreamseekers reminded us of) and I really liked the addition of the musical instruments (bells, chimes, and other noise makers) to the costumes as well as some of the additions to the music. Michael, however, was adamant that he liked the original Tapestry of Nations much better. Even still, he wanted to see the parade again later in the trip if we could.
We finally ended up stopping along the railing in America on the side of the stage that is farthest away from Japan. There wasn't anyone there, and we found out why: a bit of tree cover. Since there were several feet to either side of us still open, we continued wandering on down into Italy. But the people in Italy were two or three deep already, and we decided we'd rather have a view slightly blocked by trees but on the railing over having a view unblocked but three people deep. Plus, over by America, we had a view where Spaceship Earth was almost directly through the point at which the primary action takes place.
So while we waited for Illuminations to begin, I experimented with the camera. We toyed with taking some video instead of photos of the show this time since we didn't have digital video yet, but the wind was blowing somewhat in our direction and I didn't want a video of nothing but smoke. So we opted to use the still instead.
By the time the show was ready to begin, people had joined us. I ended up stepping in front of Michael and then sitting or kneeling on the curb where I could brace the camera on the railing while Michael stood behind me and just watched. This performance, I toyed with other settings on the camera and ended up with some time-lapse shots of one and two seconds -- just enough to get several bursts of fireworks, but not enough to flood the view most of the time.
As we had feared, though, the wind did turn in our direction a bit which sent the smoke coming our way some of the time. By the time the show was over, both of our eyes were burning. But we'd enjoyed the show.
As we left our position and started for the International Gateway, Michael tapped me on the shoulder and said to look up. Look up I did, and above us were two brilliantly bright beams coming from behind the main building in America: one was green, and one was white. It was really neat to see, and somehow something we'd missed in the past. I think this was the only time we'd looked up when the smoke was still somewhat heavy.
We walked back to the Dolphin by way of the Boardwalk this time. I just love being on the Boardwalk at night, even if we don't actually stop to do anything. It seemed all the entertainment was out in full force tonight. Every door seemed open, every booth was active. At least one of the vaudeville-style acts was in full swing with people 3 or 4 deep near the boat dock, and as we approached the pin cart we encountered a street magician who was just beginning his act. I stopped to watch him for a few minutes while Michael disappeared around the other side of the pin cart then hovered around nearby (he does NOT like being picked for interactive stuff so always keeps well back, while I do think it's fun sometimes). He and I were both rather tired, though, so we didn't stay to watch the magician for long.
By the time we got back to our room it was about 10:00. Not too late by our normal standards, but it had been a long day. Normally, we would run over to Disneyquest for about two hours of fun (especially since we had our Disneyquest annual passes), but this time he and I were both too tired, we were both getting a slight sore throat, and we decided let's not push ourselves too long. We're on vacation... why not take it easy. Relatively, anyway. Michael also had mentioned wanting to try Pleasure Island earlier this evening, but by the time we left Epcot he just wanted to go back to the room and watch the day's videos.
So up to the room we went and hooked up our digital video recorder to the TV (after a bit of scratching of heads to figure out how to reach the back of the TV) and we put the videos in while I took notes on the day. All in all, even though there were several points at which we weren't as prepared as usual, it was a good day
