December Orlando trip - Sheraton Vistana Resort - Part 8 up 1/26 - EPCOT, Garden Grill & I am going. About This Page:

[PrincessSharon]

Great update! Sorry the party was so crowded! But at least you enjoyed the parade. More, please!

[Smiley]

[ QUOTE ]
Another great update [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Sorry MVMCP was busy that night. It was a discount night for AP holders. We went on the Thursday instead, because I was afraid the Tuesday might be crowded, and it was quite empty on Thursday (but of course, it also rained)!

Glad you made the best of it anyway [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I had no idea about it being an AP discount night! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

I certainly will not let it stop me from trying it again if I get the opportunity to do so... It was such an extra special feeling being in Disney during the Christmas season... I am considering, however, maybe an October trip for 2007. I would love to enjoy all the Halloween things, however if I wait a couple of more months that will give me 2 full years to save up and we will get to miss some cold New England weather.

Hmmmmm......

More trip report soon! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Smiley]

Part VIII - EPCOT, Garden Grill & I am going to FANTASMIC!!!!

<u>Wednesday, December 14</u>

This morning was a pretty tough morning, due to the previous late cold night… Jordan and I both woke up achy. I also had an ear ache and a head ache from the damp cold of the night before… The battery of my scooter also was not fully charged… blah… what a pain it is not to be able to just use my own legs…

We have dinner reservations at the Garden Grill and did not purchase hoppers, to save money, so we will go back to EPCOT today. This is in no way a sacrifice!!!

There wasn’t a line at Spaceship Earth and Jordan and Joe wanted to go again, so we did, why not? It is always a fun ride. J Then onto Test Track where Jordan went on three times in a row… Hey, when the opportunity rises to do such a thing, one must take advantage!

We spent most of the day in the World Showcase, starting off with the El Rio del Tiempo adventurous boat ride in Mexico. Both Jordan and Joe enjoy this ride more than the “thrill” ride in Norway, Maelstrom, as they feel that it has more “flavor” and cultural details. Following the ride we, of course, need to spend plenty of time in the shops of Mexico… Mostly just exploring the different things that they have for sale, paying special interest to the items that are actually from Mexico. I snapped a picture of Jordan having fun trying on a sombrero.

We then moved on to Norway and rode the Maelstrom. **SPOILER ALERT **Although I tried to scare Joe by making him think that we were going over the falls backwards , he must have remembered it from our last trip as he was not buying into it… Pity, as he scares pretty easily on rides (more on this later) … **END SPOILER** Following the ride we checked out the shops and I was able to have Jordan transform into a Viking for photo purposes… lol!

Moving right along, we walked over to China and into the 360 movie, Reflections of China, which I found a bit dizzying… I know it was not the Mexican Margaritas because the machine was broken…. hahaha! While in the shops after the show Joe purchased me a set of the relaxation balls… They are very beautiful. J

Our next stop was Germany where, after exploring for a big, we sat around because our PAL Mickey told us about a special something that would happen soon…. **SPOILER ALERT ** Mickey told us to wait by the clock, so we did… Before the clock hit the hour these little animated German children came out and “hit” the bell alternating in sync with the chime. This happens every hour and starts about 5 minutes or so before the hour. It is pretty cute.**END SPOILER**

Shopping in Italy is fun, fun, fun! And what is there to buy in Italy that is rich and melts in your mouth? Chocolate!!! I will not even tell you how much money I blew on Italian chocolate… I purchased several sample sized pieces and a couple of larger sugar free items as well as a huge milk chocolate bar for Jordan. I will tell you that the sugar free chocolate is just delicious!! I actually found a place to purchase it online, although it is more than I would generally spend and I have been fighting it off since I ate my last bite, not too long ago…

Is It bad that it lasted longer than anyone else knew and it was my secret luxury???

Before moving along to the good ole USA I stopped in the wine tasting shop where I purchased a shot of Lemoncillo. Lemoncillo is an Italian liqueur that is made of 100 proof vodka, lemons, sugar and water. Although I am part Italian, I must confess that the first time I heard of this drink was while watching the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun.” If you have seen the movie, you may remember the picnic on the beach where the family who makes Lemoncillo introduce it to Frances, the main character. They made it sound soooo good that I wanted to try it right then and there, so when I spotted it on my “trip to Italy” I just had to try some!

While I found Lemoncillo to be very strong, it was also quite good. I am toying with the idea of making some myself so that I can make it with maltol or another good sugar substitute… not that I drink much, but it seems like an interesting project and might be fun to bring along to a summer cookout.

The following is a link with a recipe to make your own:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Beverage/Limoncello.htm

As we had enjoyed the American Adventure in the USA a couple of nights prior, we pretty much skipped over the USA and moved onto Japan, where we stopped for a few minutes to watch a musical show with drums before we headed over to Morocco.

I do not know what it is about Morocco that holds such an interest for me, but I really enjoy visiting this “corner of the world.” I find this area to be so detailed, full of wonderful sites and sounds that I cannot help but love. One of these days I am going to work up the courage to eat in Morocco…

By this time it was getting late so we were forced to skip through France, the UK and Canada… Jordan was pretty disappointed as we have been doing a bit of studying on France and he has been wanting to experience the flavors of France, specifically authentic French cheese. Apparently the cheeses of France are much more smooth in texture and flavorful as they do not pasteurize the milk before making the cheese like we do in the US. The pasteurization process does something to the milk… let me ask Jordan, he will remember this part as it fascinated him… (all of a sudden I have a craving for Lemoncillia, how’d that happen?) OK, I’ve got it... Thank you to Jordan! Pasteurizing milk kills the milk and the French believe that you cannot make a living cheese with dead milk.

So as we trek through the rest of the world, passed the amazing and tall tree at the entrance of EPCOT, passed the beautiful roses blooming in December and onto the Land Pavilion, we make plans to come back specifically to France… and I am thinking that some real Champagne might go good with some French cheese…

The Land Pavilion is pretty busy, but not overly so, which is a bit surprising… but we notice that there are no fast passes available for Soarin’ as we head over to the Garden Grill. The Garden Grill is a sit down “buffet” that is also a character meal. This is a real treat for us as we have never attended a character meal and were not prepared for how much fun it would actually be!

Not only is the Garden Grill a character meal… but what I neglected to tell Jordan and Joe is that it is a rotating restaurant. The restaurant rotates slowly making a full rotation every hour. It does so while overlooking the Land boat ride, which has some beautiful scenery… Around the time when Jordan starting to say that he hadn’t noticed that door there before, I started to giggle and asked if he noticed anything else…. Like maybe the entranceway was “fading away” too? lol… and with just a few hints he figured it out… at which time he started asking our waiter things like.. How does he find the tables when he goes into the kitchen and comes out and they are moved?

Anywho… Our food was really really good. Our first course was bread with a honey citrus butter and Caesar salad. The salad was so good and fresh that we had seconds of that. I could have eaten just that as a meal, it was so good but I was not passing up what was coming out next… Potatoes with onion and cheese, veggies, fried catfish, sliced turkey with a bit of warmed cranberry dressing and flank steak.

While enjoying our delicious meal we enjoyed the company of Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto. They all spent a good amount of time with us, and were a lot of fun! I think that it was at this meal that Jordan decided that he wanted his picture with as many of the Disney characters as possible… and Joe stopped thinking of the characters as being “just a bunch of cartoons” and “something for the kids.” It was just a great night!

Did I mention that the vegetables that they serve at the Garden Grill are grown downstairs from the restaurant in their greenhouse that we float by in the Living with the Land boat ride? I think that the catfish may come from there as well….

We were so pleased with our dinner that it was not a huge disappointment that the desert plate that they brought over for us was not as good as it looked. It was mediocre. The deserts consisted of 1 slice each of marbled cheesecake, pecan pie, brownie and lemon something, covered in whipped cream. Jordan really liked the lemon but could have passed on the rest…

While chatting and eating our deserts the restaurant was really clearing out of guests. Our reservation had been for 7:50, and although I am not sure when the last seating is made, I am guessing that it is probably around 8, or at least at this time of year it is… This made for a very relaxed atmosphere as the characters had been around to see everyone who was left about 3 times and now they were picking on the wait staff… hahaha!!! It was so much fun watching the way the characters interacted with the cast members… it was a hoot…

Even though it was late, we were never rushed… We were always offered more of whatever we wanted and our sodas were always filled. We would all say that the Garden Grill would be a must do, at least once, preferably with a later reservation so that the excitement of the lull can be fully enjoyed.

After dinner we went to check out Soarin’ which was amazingly pretty empty for the one and only time during our stay, so Jordan took this opportunity to ride it twice in a row then we went and checked out some gift shops, where Jordan purchased a Mickey sorcerer hat with light up gold stars… very cool…


<u>Thursday, December 15</u>

MGM!! We are going to MGM!!! Woo hoo!!! I am going to get to see Fantasmic for the first time ever! FANTASMIC!!!!

FANTASMIC!!!

I am just a wee bit excited… Fantasmic was on my personal must do list almost 2 years ago, February 2004, when we had a slight delay followed by bus problems on the night that we were planning to see Fantasmic, and I never got to see it… They only have one showing of it tonight and we will be there early, we will get a good seat and we will all enjoy it. lol!

To be continued…

Jordan in Mexico:


Viking Jordan in Norway:


Jordan with Mulan and Mushu in Japan:


Jordan and Joe at the Garden Grill:


Jordan with Chip or Dale… OK, I am NOT an expert here! lol!


Joe with Pluto:


Mickey and I at the Garden Grill:

[Colexis Mom]

Great update [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Glad you enjoyed Garden Grill [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I think we're going to have to give that a try [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[lauren-roxy]

Another wonderful update!!! Great pictures!! I really want to try the Garden Grill after hearing such great things about it!! Can't wait to read more!!!!

[PrincessSharon]

Terrific update! Glad you had a good day at Epcot! More, please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[luvnwdwgal]

Great trip report! Looking forward to your next installment! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]