A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 1 COMPLETED 2/16 About This Page:

[chezp]

Originally Posted by goofyboysmama

Ok, I need me some seafood curry. Just googled the Yak and Yeti recipe! Laurie - you got skillz girl

She has!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Great day! Love the pics with your donkey boy especially!

I remember when Laurie told me she was working on your ornament. I knew it would be special and it certainly is! Laurie!

So you were in on it? You're good at keeping secrets.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Yep, Modge Podge gloss.

Thanks everyone, for the compliments!

I'm glad you gave me a vague idea of what Modge Podge was - I was wondering...

[chezp]

Saturday 8 December – part six: where’s my cardigan?

Around 5:00pm, we headed out, as we had tickets to the early show of Cirque du Soleil. As it was a Saturday, I knew Downtown Disney would be busy, but naively, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad at the West Side. Wow, was I wrong! We tried about three parking lots, before we went back to the one by Cirque, and managed to snag a spot in there.



We walked over to the Cirque store, with me snapping some photos on the way.



Into the store we went, and after much debate, we each found a T-shirt, and I went to pay for them. It was at this point I realised that one of the tops I was carrying, a black smart cardigan that I’d only just bought before leaving home, had disappeared. I was no longer carrying it. Mark had a look in the store, but couldn’t see anything, so quickly we retraced our steps all the way to the car, and double checked I hadn’t left it in there. I hadn’t.

We walked back to the store, and I figured it was gone. It hadn’t cost a lot, but it was more the fact I’d looked for something like it for ages, and I didn’t want to go through that again. Mark asked a Cast Member in the shop, and she said she’d seen one of the ushers carrying a black object, heading for the Box Office, so we headed that way. I got in line for the Box Office, but Mark spotted the guy with my cardigan, and we were quickly reunited.

That was enough excitement for us for the day, and we headed inside, taking our seats only about 10 minutes or so before the show was due to start. We had seats in the first row, but around to the left. As soon as we sat down, I said to Mark that we’d end up with the bikes right in front of us. He wasn’t sure, but I was spot on!

The show seemed to be a little late starting, with more from the clowns than we’ve seen before. When it did get underway, we immediately started to see differences, not with the acts themselves, who we’ve seen before. The skippers that open the show were new last time, as was the juggler, who is just unbelievable but a lot of the music had changed. How do I know? Well, I was listening to the CD on the flight over, and I do know it pretty well…

It was quite a good audience, and they were very appreciative of everything they saw. I could see that the guy next to me was a newbie. You can tell after a while… usually they tend to gasp at the first part of every act you see, as you can’t believe what you’re seeing, not realising that there’s so much more to come from each act.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese girls once again bought the house down, as they always do, but I loved the bikes, because they did literally screech to a halt in front of Mark, and he even spun the bike just in front of our faces. Wow!

Our seats had some definite minuses, but also some pluses. For the acrobats, we were literally right underneath them, and had to crane our necks all the way back, and because we weren’t centre, we did have points where the acts were facing forward. However, the tickets had been cheap, so we knew they wouldn’t be perfect. Personally, I loved experiencing it, as you got to see the acts close up, and there was a lot that I hadn’t spotted previously in all the times we’ve seen the show. It was a very different perspective, and I’m glad I got to experience it.

When the show finished, we headed outside, and we walked through first the West Side, getting lots of night time shots on the way.



The West Side really was heaving, and it was quite a nice atmosphere, although I couldn’t help but think how similar it was to Disneyland, with the shops the same here, which I think is a shame. I hate it when they start making the parks around the world similar to each other.

Soon, we were heading into Pleasure Island, and I was expecting this place to be quite dead, but despite the number of clubs that are closed, with no replacement, I have to admit Disney has done a good job of making it still seem very lively, with musicians and performers everywhere you look. I did have a sad look at the Adventurers’ Club. Now you wouldn’t even know what was once there.



We made our way towards Fulton’s, which had a wonderful Christmas tree in front of it.



I checked us in, and here if you don’t have a reservation, they give you a pager to wait outside, while if you have a reservation, you’re straight on to the boat, which was a nice way of doing it.



We were seated within a couple of minutes, with a member of staff explaining about the little details of the place, after seeing me taking photos of the interior. He told us that the designers put their names into the beams in the main dining room, which was neat.

Our server was Kate, who was absolutely wonderful. I was going through water at quite a speed, and she did a great job keeping up with me. She was also very chatty, but she wasn’t too much. I found her to be just perfect, attentive, and fun at the same time. Really, so far, apart from the awful experience at Chefs de France, we’d lucked out completely with servers this trip.

Neither of us was really that hungry, as we were still full from lunch, but heck, we’d give it our best. First off, I ordered a coconut martini – very different for me, but very nice, although my goodness, you could taste the alcohol in it! Kate asked if I wanted a second, after I finished the first, but I told her I wouldn’t get up from the table if I did!



I went for the lobster bisque for appetiser, but was a bit concerned about it, as bisque can sometimes be a bit sickly. Not this. As Kate explained, they use a tomato base, and as soon as she said it, I could taste it, to stop that sickly taste. It was just lovely.



Mark opted for a Caesar salad…



For entrée, we both went for the Alaskan King crab, a whole one pound of it. Heck, it’s their signature dish, and is flown in daily. it’s insanely expensive, but then again, that’s not surprising, given how much trouble these guys give. We’ve watched the Deadliest Catch, and know what people go through to catch these things. I had some trouble getting to grips with mine. Kate told us that one implement was for hooking out the crabmeat, but to be honest, I found it more useful to use it to push the meat out the other end. I have to be honest though, I had more of a struggle than Mark did, which probably helps to explain why he managed to finish his, and I gave up with one leg left. I could’ve done it, but it wouldn’t have been pretty, as I had pretty much reached my limit.



Look at that concentration

Look at that enjoyment!

Much as I’d loved my crab, I needed something to cleanse my palate. I looked at the dessert menu, but it was all too heavy, so I asked Kate if they had any sorbet, and they did, so I had a scoop of mango sorbet, and that was the perfect end to the meal.



I’ll say a word here about how long the meal took. I was expecting it to take a lot longer, and be a very late night. We were seated I reckon at 8:15pm, and we left at around 9:45pm, which for a three course meal, was a good time. We weren’t rushed, but equally, the meal wasn’t strung out at any point.

The bill came to $165, which actually wasn’t as much as I’d expected, given that each of our entrees had cost $58.

Fulton’s Crab House:

Appetiser 9 8
Entrée 9½ 9½
Dessert 8½ N/A
Service 9½ 9½
Atmosphere 8½ 9
Value for money 9 9

Average score: 9.00

We headed out, and made our way back towards the car, taking the route via the car park, as we knew it would be a lot quieter.



From there, it was back to the room, and bed.

The weather today was cloudy and humid in the morning, and hot and sunny in the afternoon with temperatures in the 80s.
The best thing today was seeing so much wonderful animal activity at Animal Kingdom.
The worst thing today was how hot it got during the day.
The funniest thing today was Lilly playing with her mum.
Today we tried having dinner at Fulton’s Crab House
And the result was it was an amazing experience.
The most magical moment today was getting such a wonderful 40th birthday present from Laurie.

Next: have they got the Sunday morning blues?

[Disneybine]

I'm glad to hear you had two great servers at Yak and Yeti and at Fulton's! Bad service can really spoil an otherwise wonderful meal.

[patclairesmom]

I'm glad you enjoyed Fulton's. I've read such bad things about it, but it's actually one of our favorites.

[lauriep]

I'm glad you found your sweater! Sounds like another great visit to Cirque and also Fultons. It was a good day for restaurant servers! I agree with you that the different parks around the world ought to stay.... different! That's why, even though I'd love to see Carsland at DHS, because I think it would fit perfectly there, I do think it's nice to have it be only at DLR.

[MikeL]

Cirque uis a favorite for us Can't wait to tell my wife that there are some minor changes

[DMA]

Glad you found your sweater!
What a great day - you really managed to pack in quite a bit!

[shazza]

I think you've just described a perfect day - animals, friends, gifts, good food, good service, good entertainment, and a lost item recovery.

[dutchdisneyfamily]

We had snow crab legs yesterday and we were trying to explain the difference between snow crab and Alaskan King crab. Thanks to your pics I was able to show them. I had no idea Fulton's had it. Yum! Though you are right, it is tough to get at! I'm glad you had such a good ending to your day.

[honeybee723]

I love the ornament Laurie gave you! It's beautiful, and even more special since she made it herself. Glad you found your cardigan. I guess you must had dropped it somewhere??? And being from Maryland, we have to know how to eat a crab. It's a lot of work, but so worth it since they're absolutely delicious.

[Principessa_di_Fata]

I love the ornament - Laurie is so awesome, isn't she?? And wow, those crab legs... divine!!!

[rlb38]

Great gift from Laurie ! AK, Cirque and a great meal, a very good day all around.

[disney_duke]

Glad you could enjoy Cirque from a different perspective. You two made a great effort for dinner! And it sounded like a lovely evening.