"Sip, Snack & Save the World" TR -- January 7-14, 2010 - COMPLETED 1/31 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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With marathon weekend behind us, I was ready for vacation to begin! It was another cold morning (below freezing) in Orlando. We headed to AK specifically to ride Expedition Everest. We arrived shortly after rope drop and headed straight to Asia. The standby line for EE was not bad -- probably around 25 minutes. We wound our way through the queue and were standing in our slot waiting for the next train to pull up so we could board. When the train arrived, there was a look of concern on the CMs' faces. After a brief delay, they announced that the ride was having technical difficulties and had to shut down the ride. They gave us Fastpasses that were good for any time through Friday.
We had about 45 minutes before our 11:00 ADR, so we stopped at the Royal Anandapur Tea stand to get some hot tea to drink. DH got the Rooibos Vanilla tea and I ordered the Black Assam tea. We strolled around Asia a bit and saw some monkeys frolicking (keeping warm?) near Kali River Rapids (which was closed), so we stopped to watch them for a while.
Around 10:55, we headed to Yak & Yeti (table service) for lunch. We were seated in the upstairs area, which had a nice cozy feeling and was also a nice, warm spot on a cold day. We had never eaten there before, so we wanted to try several different things. We ordered the dim sum basket appetizer, which had char siu bao (steamed buns with Chinese BBQ pork), shrimp siu mai and pork siu mai (a type of dumpling) and pork pot stickers. It was all good, and I thought the tastes were very authentic. For lunch, DH had the Kobe beef burger and I had a bowl of wonton soup with the Mandarin Chicken Salad. The salad was enormous and the meal was so yummy. But we were too full for dessert.
After lunch, we headed out to MK for the afternoon. We first went to get a Fastpass for Space Mountain. Then we rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates. We wanted to ride Jungle Cruise, but the line was unbelievably long, so we headed back toward Frontierland. On our way, we saw that the Pirate Tutorial was just starting, so we stopped to watch.
We then rode BTMRR after about a 20 minute wait. By that time, our FP window for Space Mountain had opened, so we headed back to ride that. We were eager to see the changes in the ride since the refurb that was going on during our last trip. Because we were in the FP line, we didn't get to see many of the changes in the queue, but we both enjoyed the ride itself, which seemed faster, darker and more like you were really zooming through space.
After Space Mountain, we decided to take a ride around on the TTA to give DH's legs a rest. Just after we passed through Space Mountain, the TTA stopped completely for a couple of minutes. Our second time that something had shut down that day!
We then headed over to DHS for an early dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby. We had never eaten here before and had cancelled this ADR on our last trip, so I was really looking forward to this meal. The atmosphere was nice -- warmly lit and fairly quiet. I had ordered a glass of Conundrum white wine and DH had a glass of Sequoia Grove cabernet. But both our hostess and our waiter had made repeated comments that the restaurant had a full bar. This struck us both as kind of odd that they emphasized it so much. So we thought we should order a cocktail just for grins.
For whatever reason, the "old Hollywood" atmosphere made us both think of a Harvey Wallbanger. We asked our waiter if they could make one at the bar. He had no idea what we were talking about and went to check. The bartender said it was no problem, and shortly thereafter, a Harvey Wallbanger arrived at our table. I had never had one before and didn't even know what was in it; it was just the drink I thought of when I thought about Hollywood glamour. Turns out it's orange juice, vodka and galliano. DH drank most of it, but I had a few sips and it was tasty!
For dinner, DH ordered the filet mignon (have you noticed that we like steak? LOL) with roasted fingerling potatoes, and I had the spice-rubbed black grouper with rainbow carrot slaw, sauteed haricots verts and sunchokes in citrus butter. This was the only meal on the whole trip where I cleaned my plate. I seriously would have picked it up and licked it if I could have! It was outstanding! The fish was cooked perfectly and the flavors were just lovely. For dessert, he had double vanilla creme brulee with dark chocolate-dipped biscotti and a Hungarian dessert wine. I opted for the Caramel Parfait on a Chocolate Praline Crisp with Citrus Raspberry Wine Reduction and a glass of 20-year tawny port. Guess what? I ate all of that too!
Here is my dessert:
And here is a picture of DH and me in the waiting area:
The reason we had eaten lunch and dinner so early was that I had booked (via Beach Club IPO) an IllumiNations cruise on the Breathless II as a surprise to celebrate DH's accomplishment in running the Goofy Challenge. I had also placed an order with Disney Florist to deliver a gift on Sunday after the marathon. But there was a snafu, and they delivered it on Friday, before marathon weekend was really even underway! That was disappointing, but not a huge deal.
Because the weather was so cold (forecast lows in the 20s), I confessed to DH earlier in the day what was going on and asked if he still wanted to go. There was a 48-hour cancellation policy, so we would have been out the money even if we cancelled at that point. We decided to go ahead with the cruise and went back to our room after dinner to get bundled up.
When we arrived at the dock, we noticed that the Breathless was gone and no one was in the office at the marina. Hmmmmm. We walked down the dock toward some of the other rental boats and found a CM. We told him we were supposed to go out on the Breathless for an IllumiNations cruise and he said, "Are you sure? We already took out the Breathless with a group of 6." He was so nice and walked us back up to the marina office to talk with the manager.
By this time, I was in tears. I was so incredibly disappointed that both surprises I had planned for DH had not worked out as planned. The manager, who was coincidentally named Shane, was very friendly and very understanding about me being so upset. He apologized and said that he found my reservation in the computer, but that the reservation had somehow not gotten transferred from the IPO. He said the Breathless was available the next night, but we had a late dinner ADR at Sanaa that night and wouldn't have been able to make it back in time. I had planned our whole schedule that day around the cruise! He offered to take us out on a pontoon boat, but that's not really what I wanted -- otherwise I wouldn't have booked the Breathless! So, of course, they just agreed that they would not charge our credit card for the cruise and that would be that. As much as I wanted to go, the weather was uncomfortably cold and so it was probably a blessing in disguise. Nevertheless, I was upset and disappointed.
To try to cheer me up, DH suggested that we walk over to the Boardwalk. We thought about going into ESPN, but decided instead to check out Jellyrolls because we had heard it was fun. We arrived about 9:30 and were easily able to get a table. It was SO much fun! The piano players were really talented and entertaining. We stayed for a couple of hours, and I wanted to stay longer, but DH was tired, so we headed back to the Beach Club for the night.
Up next:
Are we emitting an electromagnetic pulse?
The 1/2 Sip & Snack
and
An Idea is Born
Wow! I am loving this trip report! Can't belive how much you have packed in! Congrats!
Thanks! What's weird is that it felt really leisurely (well, at least for me -- DH might tell you something different, LOL). But being there without the kids allowed us to take things at a different pace, which I enjoyed.
the picture of the monkeys! I bet they are trying to stay warm because when we are there in June, they can be very lazy as they heat and humidity are high. The meals at Yak and Yeti and The Brown Derby both sound very good! I am so sorry about the messed up surprise -- that had to be disappointing.
What great meals you had today! Sorry about the cruise! How disappointing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
Sorry about the suprises not working! I would have been in tears dealing with the boat situation also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
the picture of the monkeys! I bet they are trying to stay warm because when we are there in June, they can be very lazy as they heat and humidity are high. The meals at Yak and Yeti and The Brown Derby both sound very good! I am so sorry about the messed up surprise -- that had to be disappointing.
Thanks. Even though I can now see it really was the best outcome, I couldn't help feeling disappointed when we were "in the moment."
However, we did have two awesome meals that day to help make up for it!
How disappointing that your two surprises got messed up. It sounds like you made the best ofthe situation though! I would like to visit JellyRolls - if we ever do WDW with out the kids.....
Just got caught up with your TR! Can't wait to read more!!
Thanks for reading!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick and Ryans Mom
How disappointing that your two surprises got messed up. It sounds like you made the best ofthe situation though! I would like to visit JellyRolls - if we ever do WDW with out the kids.....
You know, I had heard so many good things about Jellyrolls, but didn't really appreciate what a fun atmosphere it could be until I got there! Hope you get a chance to enjoy it some day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemap760
Sorry to hear about the mix-up with your cruise. But you are right. It was probably a blessing in disguise with how cold it was.
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I am more in awe of your awesome taste in desserts!! 
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It was outstanding! The fish was cooked perfectly and the flavors were just lovely. For dessert, he had double vanilla creme brulee with dark chocolate-dipped biscotti and a Hungarian dessert wine. I opted for the Caramel Parfait on a Chocolate Praline Crisp with Citrus Raspberry Wine Reduction and a glass of 20-year tawny port. Guess what? I ate all of that too!
I was so incredibly disappointed that both surprises I had planned for DH had not worked out as planned. The manager, who was coincidentally named Shane, was very friendly and very understanding about me being so upset. He apologized and said that he found my reservation in the computer, but that the reservation had somehow not gotten transferred from the IPO. He said the Breathless was available the next night, but we had a late dinner ADR at Sanaa that night and wouldn't have been able to make it back in time. I had planned our whole schedule that day around the cruise! He offered to take us out on a pontoon boat, but that's not really what I wanted -- otherwise I wouldn't have booked the Breathless! So, of course, they just agreed that they would not charge our credit card for the cruise and that would be that. As much as I wanted to go, the weather was uncomfortably cold and so it was probably a blessing in disguise. Nevertheless, I was upset and disappointed.
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the picture of the monkeys! I bet they are trying to stay warm because when we are there in June, they can be very lazy as they heat and humidity are high. The meals at Yak and Yeti and The Brown Derby both sound very good! 
Susan
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