Holiday Hootennanies with Scarlett and the Fam Damily! Day Two, Part 4, Updated 4/25 - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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My mouth is watering at the thought of your uneaten Brownie Mousse! I had one last summer and it was so good
I'm cracking up at the thought of you sharing BTMRR with two teen boys and also your thoughts on the Family Fun Parade. I'm trying to picture my DH out there whooping it up and I think he would enjoy himself, but I doubt he'd come back and tell all his co-workers about it!
Sure, choose the one week when I am away to have a burning desire to do a bazillion updates! I am so glad you and the fam are having a great trip and taking some time to smell the roses ~er~ eat french toast loaf....if Izzy ever outgrowns her allergies, there are about 20 goodies on my list to try and that is definitely one of them!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
OK so i finally caught up on your trip report...and i have to say my DH had to hear all about it at dinner tonight...we went to outback and i told him every fun thing you said in you tr so far and about your passporter meet and drink...
that story made me really want to meet up with you guys sometime in the world...even though i am not sure if i could keep up...lol.
I'll join you in the "afraid of Haunted Mansion until her teen years" group. I even went to far as to use my 3 y/o brother as an excuse to skip the ride - "But Andy is afraid; someone has to stay here with him...." I can honestly say that the first time I enjoyed that ride was this past September!
Enjoyable, laugh-out-loud update, as usual. Keep 'em comin'!
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Holiday Hootennanies with Scarlett and the Fam Damily! Day Two, Part 3, Updated 3/24!
On our way out of the park, I realized that I had lost the case to my camera. After the lost hoodie, the phrase “would lose my head if it wasn’t screwed on tight” comes to mind. Geez! Luckily it wasn’t an expensive case, and could be easily replaced. I made a mental note to look for another one here at WDW (along with the bath poofy and the sweatshirt…).
We found just a few folks waiting at the Old Key West bus stop. This was probably one of our longest waits for a bus – around 20 or 25 minutes. The time went by pretty fast (it was early in the week and our feet weren’t killing us quite yet ) and soon we were loading up and then arriving at Old Key West. At this resort, the buses visit all five or so stops throughout the resort before making the last (and main) stop at the Hospitality House, which also happens to be “our” bus stop, as it is closest to our room. This is nice if you’re staying near one of the other bus stops, because you can hop on any bus and ride it to the Hospitality House if you’re wanting to visit the gift shop, restaurant, main pool, etc. There’s an internal shuttle as well, but at least you have more options.
This also means that we (technically) have to ride through all the stops before we get to ours. This was the first and last time we did that, though. Not realizing how close the first stop is to the Hospitality House, we sat and waited to get to our stop. The ride through the resort takes a good fifteen minutes – at one point, the bus has to do a three-point turn and back up, etc. It’s much faster to get off at the first one, which is just behind the Hospitality House and take a very short walk back to our room.
Here are a couple of pictures at the main bus stop just in front of our building (including those extra 2007 poinsettas that Cheryl (chezp) mentioned in her TR ):
Back at the room, we all settled in for a little nappy-nap. Really, nothing beats a nice 45-minute snooze in the middle of the afternoon. It’s just what I need to rest and recharge before heading back out.
After we had all gotten in some shut-eye, we all took a little time to freshen up and peruse the weather on TV before heading back out to the bus stop. We only had to wait about five minutes before we were boarding an Epcot bus and on our way to meet up with the Millers.
Once we arrived to Epcot, I called Krista to let her know we were on our way back to Canada. She said they were watching the Canadian Christmas storyteller and we could meet her around that area. We were basically right on time, so we took a leisurely walk towards the Canada side of the World Showcase. I had had the privilege of seeing all the cool Christmas decorations here the evening before, but this was Mama’s first glimpse at them, and she was quite impressed.
Soon we spotted the Millers standing right by the posted menu to Le Cellier. We all made our way down to check-in, where I checked us in and was told that they were running about 15 to 20 minutes behind this evening. We stood off to the side and waited, which gave us a chance to catch up on what everyone had been doing this afternoon.
I don’t remember the details of what the Millers had been doing for the last few hours, but I do have notes that they rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Maeve was able to convince Mackenzie to ride the Haunted Mansion (I suppose nothing will get your motivation up like your little sister showing you up ).
They had also attempted to meet Pooh and friends in Fantasyland. The Hundred Acre Wood gang was meetin’ and greetin,’ and they got in line to meet Piglet. Soon, the characters had to go in for a snack, and Krista asked one of the CMs how long it would be before they came back out again. The CM told Krista about 10 minutes, so they decided to wait. Well, 10 minutes turned into 30 minutes, and still no characters. Krista says that after 15 or so minutes, she asked the CM a couple of times how much longer it would be, who kept saying, “Just a few moments!” Finally, around the thirty minute mark, a manager came up and said that Pooh and the gang would not be back at all this afternoon. Apparently the first CM had been misinformed. The manager offered Krista and her family a set of Golden Fastpasses to be used that evening at any Magic Kingdom attraction, and Krista told her thanks, but that they were actually getting ready to leave for Epcot. So then the manager told her they could have Golden Fastpasses for Epcot waiting for them at Guest Services. Krista took her up on that offer, and picked up seven Golden Fastpasses at GS after arriving at Epcot (the manager gave her enough for the entire fam damily). Now that’s pretty good customer service!
Here are Krista's pictures from their afternoon sans Mama, Dad and Cooey:
Here are some of my pictures from the short time we had been in Epcot:
Mama and Dad took a little stroll around the gardens while we waited for them to call our name at Le Cellier. Finally, after about thirty-five minutes, we heard, “The...the...um, Lilies party?” (for some reason, people find my last name, Liles, to be hard to say. I’m sure I add to the confusion by pronouncing it the “southern” way, which means it basically comes out as a one-syllable sound [almost like “Liawls”], not a two-syllable name [northerners say it “Lye-els]). I answer to just about anything that sounds remotely close to Liles, including Lilies (hey, at least it’s a pretty flower – I’ve been called worse ), so we gladly followed the hostess to our table.
Our waitress was very pleasant and attentive, although I can’t remember her name or what part of Canada she was from. The first thing she told us was that since we were on the DDP, we could get any of their smoothies as our drink. I was sooo tempted to get one, but as I wasn’t absolutely ravenous, and our meal included an appetizer, entrée and dessert, I wanted to save as much room as possible for our food. I passed, but Maeve did get a chocolate one and Mackenzie got a mango smoothie. The rest of us got either iced tea or Diet Coke, and Dad just had to have a margarita on the rocks (and no, there is nothing Canadian about a margarita – but if there’s a bar available, that’s what Dad is having. It’s the only alcoholic drink he likes. Beer Girl does not understand this either : ).
Once those smoothies got to our table, Mackenzie let me have a sip of hers and man-oh-man was it good! I ended up stealing a few more sips during the course of the meal. I also got to taste Maeve’s, although it was a secret. Maeve doesn’t like other people to drink out of her drink (which, in my family, is not understood – you mean some people have boundaries? ), so we all waited until Jeff took her to potty to pass around her smoothie. It was delicious as well, and I’m kicking myself right now not for ordering one, if not just for a taste!
I took a picture of Mackenzie sipping on her smoothie, and she wanted to take one of me taking a sip of my tea, resulting in some of the worst and most unflattering pictures ever (of her and I), but too funny for me not to post:
This picture really explains a lot of things. For example, why people often ask me if I'm drunk when I haven't been drinking. Now I know to just reply with, "No, this is just the way I look, okay?"
Krista, Jeff and Maeve being photogenic on vacation. Which, how rude.
Some of the pretty Le Cellier decorations just above our heads:
We placed the rest of our order and got our pretzel bread and appetizers in a timely matter. The lighting in here is so low that I was forced to use the flash and therefore, some stuff looks really washed out – however, I assure you that it all looked and tasted fantastic!
I was glad that everyone in my family was so understanding about my need to take pictures of the food (okay, so sometimes Dad got a little trigger happy and started eating before I could get to his ). Krista admitted to looking at “food porn” (i.e. pictures that people take of their food while on vacay) on the Internet prior to trips. In all seriousness, Jeff was like, “Yeah, sometimes I even look at it with her.” I raised an eyebrow at this and was like, “Kinky!” which prompted Krista to laugh so hard there were tears rolling down her face, and Jeff turned about four shades of red. There’s nothing I like more than making Jeff uncomfortable.
For appetizers, I got the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, as did Krista. Jeff went with the Prince Edward Island Mussels (served chowder style with applewood smoked bacon and potatoes), Dad got the Shrimp Cocktail (with wasabi slaw and horseradish-chili sauce) and Mama had enjoyed her Steakhouse Cesar Salad so much on our last visit that she just had to get it again (romaine lettuce, parmesan-black pepper crisp, sour dough croutons, creamy Caesar). I should say that it says sourdough croutons on the All Ears Net menu, but hers just came with this giant chip-like thing (which I assume is the crisp). It was just as divine, though!
The white glare under the bacon and parsley is Cheddar Cheese Soup, I swear.
Kenz got the Cheddar Cheese Soup (like her aunt, she’s never met a cheese she doesn’t like) and Maeve selected carrots and celery with ranch.
Since I was sitting next to Kenz, I got to teach her how to dip her bread sticks in her soup for optimal Soup/Bread Performance. I also noticed that she was having trouble spreading butter on her bread and since she had her own little container of butter, I advised her to just dip her bread directly into the butter. Classy!
Soon our entrees arrived – Krista, Jeff and I got the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon with Baby Bella wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb butter sauce, topped with fried parsnips), Mama had the Herb Crusted Prime Rib (roasted Yukon potatoes, finished with a veal demi glace) and Dad went with the 14 oz. New York Strip Steak (with balsamic red onions, watercress, and roasted Yukon potatoes, finished with veal demi glace). [still trying to figure out what’s Canadian about New York Strip].
This entire trip, Jeff made a point to get the most expensive thing on the menu that he actually likes (the “actually likes” is what stopped him from getting duck confit as his appetizer). Maeve chose the hot dog (that’s my girl! ) and Mackenzie went for pasta noodles (with no sauce). Jeff just about had an aneurysm when both girls refused to get the kid’s filet as their meal, but luckily he survived.
I must have been a little late getting my camera out, as it appears everyone has a fork and knife on their plate in these pictures. Sorry 'bout that. The kids would get offended when I'd put my camera away before taking pictures of their plain noodles/hot dog. And don't even ask about the chopsticks with Mackenzie's pasta.
Everything was super delicious. I really enjoyed my filet – it’s one of the best I’ve ever had – although I think next time I’ll go back to the free range chicken that I got on my September 2006 trip. No complaints at all on the steak, but thinking about that chicken makes me drool.
Everyone enjoyed their meals, and this was a perfect first-night dining experience – you can’t get much better than Le Cellier! We love steak in our family, so this restaurant ranks top on our list.
When it came time for dessert, everyone was mostly stuffed, but of course, we ordered anyway. Dad and Krista went for the Chocolate Moose, Jeff got the Chocolate Whiskey Cake, Mama choose Mango Sorbet, and I selected the S’mores. (no fancy descriptions on All Ears Net, sorry!)
Let me tell you – these were the fanciest s’mores I’ve ever seen. As for taste – the ice cream was frozen so solid I could barely eat it, and I honestly played with it more than I ate it (there were all sorts of pretty colored gels on the plate to swirl the cookies around in ). This was totally fine, as I didn’t want to eat anything else anyway! Mackenzie did the kid’s sundae and Maeve had to have one of those Chocolate Moose…Mooses…Meece..whatever, as well. This washed out blob is Mama's sorbet:
Once we had done as much damage as we could to the desserts, we settled up our bill, got our Candlelight Processional Stickers and headed out.
Up next: Warning: The Candlelight Processional May Be Hazardous To Your Health
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Scarlett
Last edited by Disney_Scarlett; 03-24-2008 at 07:04 PM..
Great update! Love the pics too! Congrats to Krista and fam for scoring the golden fastpasses Your dinner at LeCellier looks delish!! Glad everyone enjoyed it Sorry about the camera case Hope you find another one soon
The moose desert reminds me of a conversation I had with some coworkers about eating food that's looking at you on the plate. Although I'm sure you had no problem with these "animals".
LeCellier!! YUMMO!! Can't wait to hear about the Candlelight Processional.....I'm trying to figure out what kind of health hazard that poses (although last time we saw it, one of the guest choral performers kept passing out, while the others kept catching her.....finally they sent someone out who slithered in and managed to get her out of there witout causing too much of a scene....DH & DS didn't even notice the whole escapade)
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You would have to give my husband the kinky look as well because he was looking over my shoulder as I was reading your update. Wanting to know where that was at and if we had an ADR for there.
Great update and pics. Look forward to your next update.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
mmmmm Le Cellier looked yummy...I got the smores for desert when i went last trip just because i saw someone had got it on there tip in a TR...I had mad smore envy...it is really fun to play with.
Mmmm. Sounds like a fantastic meal at Le Cellier (and y'all would be too much fun to dine with ) When I dine with my fam damily, the food photos always have bites taken out of them. But I guess just by looking at us, you can tell how we're practically starving. More! And I'm so proud of you for keeping up with your TR so well lately
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I am so glad you and the fam are having a great trip and taking some time to smell the roses ~er~ eat french toast loaf....if Izzy ever outgrowns her allergies, there are about 20 goodies on my list to try and that is definitely one of them!
I can honestly say that the first time I enjoyed that ride was this past September! 
) and soon we were loading up and then arriving at Old Key West. At this resort, the buses visit all five or so stops throughout the resort before making the last (and main) stop at the Hospitality House, which also happens to be “our” bus stop, as it is closest to our room. This is nice if you’re staying near one of the other bus stops, because you can hop on any bus and ride it to the Hospitality House if you’re wanting to visit the gift shop, restaurant, main pool, etc. There’s an internal shuttle as well, but at least you have more options. 
):
Apparently the first CM had been misinformed. The manager offered Krista and her family a set of Golden Fastpasses to be used that evening at any Magic Kingdom attraction, and Krista told her thanks, but that they were actually getting ready to leave for Epcot. So then the manager told her they could have Golden Fastpasses for Epcot waiting for them at Guest Services. 
The first thing she told us was that since we were on the DDP, we could get any of their smoothies as our drink. I was sooo tempted to get one, but as I wasn’t absolutely ravenous, and our meal included an appetizer, entrée and dessert, I wanted to save as much room as possible for our food. I passed, but Maeve did get a chocolate one and Mackenzie got a mango smoothie. The rest of us got either iced tea or Diet Coke, and Dad just had to have a margarita on the rocks (and no, there is nothing Canadian about a margarita – but if there’s a bar available, that’s what Dad is having. It’s the only alcoholic drink he likes. Beer Girl does not understand this either 
: ).
), so we all waited until Jeff took her to potty to pass around her smoothie. 
There’s nothing I like more than making Jeff uncomfortable. 
Glad everyone enjoyed it 
Can't wait to hear about the Candlelight Processional.....I'm trying to figure out what kind of health hazard that poses (although last time we saw it, one of the guest choral performers kept passing out, while the others kept catching her.....finally they sent someone out who slithered in and managed to get her out of there witout causing too much of a scene....DH & DS didn't even notice the whole escapade)
More! And I'm so proud of you for keeping up with your TR so well lately 
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