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[lfredsbo]

for Chuck! Hope you are feeling better!

We used to do the DDP, but have switched over to the TIW and LOVE it!! We feel like we have so much more freedom - and are able to enjoy adult beverages with dinner - we find that we eat less therefore are able to snack more!

[Ashli]

Sounds like a great day (minus the dental troubles)!! I love all the characters that you just happened to run into over by LMA. I've never seen them there before! What a neat surprise!

[ChukkerB]

The multi-character thing was so cool,truly Disney magic. It wasn't announced,there was no line,or any indication it was going on. It was sort of,in the true meaning of the phrase, a free-for-all. There were maybe 3 or 4 people for each character, it was that intimate. Coop was reeling around taking pictures,and as she spun around,she was face to face with Pocahantas. She was very nice to us,and posed for that great pic. Jafar had a few kids he was signing their autograph books. That's what I'd personally like to see more of at WDW. Some special spontaneous activities that aren't listed in the schedule,or on a website somewhere,that anyone can enjoy.

[OneLittleSpark]

Omg, with Chucks teeth! Poor guy doesn't catch a break.

Sounds like a good day otherwise, with great food, and some fun unexpected character interaction.

Sorry to hear about the less than friendly CM.

[MikeL]

Originally Posted by ChukkerB

The multi-character thing was so cool,truly Disney magic. It wasn't announced,there was no line,or any indication it was going on. It was sort of,in the true meaning of the phrase, a free-for-all. There were maybe 3 or 4 people for each character, it was that intimate. Coop was reeling around taking pictures,and as she spun around,she was face to face with Pocahantas. She was very nice to us,and posed for that great pic. Jafar had a few kids he was signing their autograph books. That's what I'd personally like to see more of at WDW. Some special spontaneous activities that aren't listed in the schedule,or on a website somewhere,that anyone can enjoy.

Have to agree with yuou on this one Big Guy. I love it when I am lucky enough to in the right spot when Unannounced Character Meet/greet happen. I remember that years ago Disney did this when crowds were too large in one area and it was intended to draw crowds to less populated areas of the park

[OneLittleSpark]

Originally Posted by ChukkerB

The multi-character thing was so cool,truly Disney magic. It wasn't announced,there was no line,or any indication it was going on. It was sort of,in the true meaning of the phrase, a free-for-all. There were maybe 3 or 4 people for each character, it was that intimate. Coop was reeling around taking pictures,and as she spun around,she was face to face with Pocahantas. She was very nice to us,and posed for that great pic. Jafar had a few kids he was signing their autograph books. That's what I'd personally like to see more of at WDW. Some special spontaneous activities that aren't listed in the schedule,or on a website somewhere,that anyone can enjoy.

Originally Posted by MikeL

Have to agree with yuou on this one Big Guy. I love it when I am lucky enough to in the right spot when Unannounced Character Meet/greet happen. I remember that years ago Disney did this when crowds were too large in one area and it was intended to draw crowds to less populated areas of the park

I remember my very first visit to WDW in 1989. Back then there were NO meet and greets at all. Various characters would wander the parks, and if you happened across one...you happened across one. There was no locations, times, lines...nothing. Every meet was happenstance.

They still do it like that in DLP from what I hear, and it looks like a horror show, with the mass of people crowding the characters all trying to meet them at once.

I do agree though, that unannounced meet and greets would be nice.

[disneymom57]

Your bracelet is beautiful and a wonderful way remember your trips to Disney and anniversary. Glad that you were able to surprise Coop! Yet another restaurant to add to my list.

[Hugmonster]

I love the random character m&G, I want more of those.

[shazza]

Beautiful bracelet! Glad the teeth-fixing is behind Chuck - it's never fun, especially when something goes wrong on vacation.

[Cam22]

Oh boy, did I have some catching up to do. You all definitely dined in style this trip! Your bracelet is so beautiful! , Chuck!

[Grammy Grumpy]

I just spent an enjoyable evening reading this TR! So much fun, so much frustration! And so sorry to hear about the teeth. I have had a similar situation with cracked teeth and those darn flatbreads! Hope all goes well in January!

[Coop]

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Love the update ! Ouch about his teeth! I guess it's better it happened at the end of the trip. Yummy food! I've read about that hostess before. At least I'm assuming it's the same one. She's a grouch! Beautiful bracelet!

Wow - you'd think that they would find a better place for her since she's not that great with people.

Originally Posted by goofyboysmama

I love all the great days and updates! I am so sorry about Chuck's dental woes - I hope it gets better during your trip.
(Food porn = "bow chicka WOW WOW")

Are you hearing the music? There's more to come! Bow Chicka Wow Wow is right!

Originally Posted by chezp

Love the bracelet and how I hear you about dressing for signature dinners - it's one of my pet peeves as well.

Thank you - at least it's not just me!

Originally Posted by lauriep

for poor Chuck's teeth! I hope he really wasn't in too much pain. Aside from the hostess, your Citrico meal looks wonderful. Makes all the difference to have a pleasant and efficient server. The bracelet is beautiful and so sweet!

Thanks Laurie. He didn't let on if he was.

Originally Posted by disneydani

Two great meals! (save the snotty hostess). Pandora bracelet sounds lovely and full of thoughtful sentiment, though I only see a pic of the earful tower at DHS?

So sorry to hear about Chuck's dental issues....hopefully he could find plenty of soft, comfort foods to enjoy for the remainder of the trip.

Danielle

Oh yeah, we managed. I love my bracelet! Yeah - I didn't take too many pics on the Backlot tour.

Originally Posted by JKnott17

Great day! I've never seen characters back by LMA, how cool that you just came upon so many of them

Dinner looked great, minus the witchy hostess, of course! You'd think something would be done about her, especially if other CMs recognize her witchy behavior. Chuck is definitely a keeper, I love your charm bracelet! Sorry about his teeth though!

That was exactly what I thought. Especially now that Dutchdisneyfamily said that they heard about her too!

Originally Posted by MikeL

So sorry to hear about Chuck's dental problems. Can't think about anything worse than oral pain while on vacay.
On much happier note very happy to hear that CITRICO's was a hit for you two as much as it was for us. Our experience was fantastic from start to finish and food just fantastic. Lucille has it as #1 on list of places to go back to. Kudo's to big guy for bracelet
You see how many of those little lizards are in campground. We made a game of seeing how many we could see while we sat on deck for cabin and had our coffee

Those geckos were so cute. Harmless. He is a keeper (bad teeth and all!)

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Pixies for Chuck's teeth! Glad you had a great dinner at Citricos (despite the hostess)! Love the bracelet!

It was a good meal, minus the beginning.

Originally Posted by ChukkerB

Went to the dentist Friday,got fixed ,for now, we are tapped out insurance-wise so they put a new permanent crown,and re-bonded the other. Lot's of work to still be done,starting in January. UGGGH
The bracelet was quite a "pirate" event. I was sure I was gonna get caught.Coop's always watching,especially for Amazon packages,so I had to have some stuff shipped to a friends. I brought it in my carry-on,and was sure it would get noticed,or asked about,but no problem there. THEN Coop was looking at bracelets the very first night at WDW,so I had to diffuse the situation,but I still had till net Sunday to go!!! I almost gave it to her a couple of different times,and once she almost found it in my luggage,oye vay,the things I do that cause me to have an ulcer,but it's so much fun to see her face light up( known mostly as "Disney Face")
Not sure what the problem was with the hostess at Citricos. Maybe she thought there was nothing wrong with her attitude,but it was clear she was not acting in traditional a Disney-way.
The "food-porn" is starting to drive me crazy. I can't imagine eating like that all year round (we know people who do) it's so much better though in the bubble of WDW. Net time we are thinking of doing some different things like TIW card,and not do the DDP,maybe skip some ADR's and see if we can get some last minute Concierge help,BUT haven't really been set on anything yet,we have 54 weeks left till "next time"

Tapped out on insurance - hope I don't need anything before January! Yes - you are a sneak. A BIG sneak! But it was very sweet! And I love it! And yes - I'm thinking TIW next time. Def NOT DxDP!

Originally Posted by chezp

I feel for you with the dental work, being in the same boat as you right now.

Pixies back at ya!

Originally Posted by NanaTink

Beautiful bracelet!
I agree with you about the dress for dinner in the signature restaurants. I understand when the restaurant is actually IN the park wearing park attire, but if it's at a resort, why can't you smarten up? Sulley wears nice dockers and a polo shirt, I wear nice capris and top. Not hard!

Exactly! Not hard to go back to your room and put on a fresh shirt. Either that or just go to Pecos Bill's and have a burger.

Originally Posted by KMB733

Sorry to hear about Chuck's teeth, Your anniversary dinner looks delicious and that was a lovely present your received from Chuck.

It was so sweet - the bracelet, not his teeth!

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

for Chuck! Hope you are feeling better!

We used to do the DDP, but have switched over to the TIW and LOVE it!! We feel like we have so much more freedom - and are able to enjoy adult beverages with dinner - we find that we eat less therefore are able to snack more!

I'm the only one who has a FAB with dinner. But still, with the increase in the prices of the dining plan - I'm pretty sure we are going to do TIW.

Originally Posted by Ashli

Sounds like a great day (minus the dental troubles)!! I love all the characters that you just happened to run into over by LMA. I've never seen them there before! What a neat surprise!

I never had either! At first I thought we were interrupting something. But nope - everyone was just milling around like a big ol' street party! Too cool!

Originally Posted by ChukkerB

The multi-character thing was so cool,truly Disney magic. It wasn't announced,there was no line,or any indication it was going on. It was sort of,in the true meaning of the phrase, a free-for-all. There were maybe 3 or 4 people for each character, it was that intimate. Coop was reeling around taking pictures,and as she spun around,she was face to face with Pocahantas. She was very nice to us,and posed for that great pic. Jafar had a few kids he was signing their autograph books. That's what I'd personally like to see more of at WDW. Some special spontaneous activities that aren't listed in the schedule,or on a website somewhere,that anyone can enjoy.

It was very cool! Pocahontas was very sweet!

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

Omg, with Chucks teeth! Poor guy doesn't catch a break.

Sounds like a good day otherwise, with great food, and some fun unexpected character interaction.

Sorry to hear about the less than friendly CM.

Nope - he caught his best break back in 1996 (when he married me)!

Originally Posted by MikeL

Have to agree with yuou on this one Big Guy. I love it when I am lucky enough to in the right spot when Unannounced Character Meet/greet happen. I remember that years ago Disney did this when crowds were too large in one area and it was intended to draw crowds to less populated areas of the park

It was really neat. And no lines. There were some photopass people there as well. (we just got our own pics though)

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

I remember my very first visit to WDW in 1989. Back then there were NO meet and greets at all. Various characters would wander the parks, and if you happened across one...you happened across one. There was no locations, times, lines...nothing. Every meet was happenstance.

They still do it like that in DLP from what I hear, and it looks like a horror show, with the mass of people crowding the characters all trying to meet them at once.

I do agree though, that unannounced meet and greets would be nice.

It was cool - no lines and such a variety of characters!

Originally Posted by disneymom57

Your bracelet is beautiful and a wonderful way remember your trips to Disney and anniversary. Glad that you were able to surprise Coop! Yet another restaurant to add to my list.

It really is beautiful. I love it. Yes - you need to try Citricos (just ignore the attitude of the hostess)

Originally Posted by Hugmonster

I love the random character m&G, I want more of those.

The only other time I've seen that many characters is either in a parade or at The Character Spot in Epcot.

Originally Posted by shazza

Beautiful bracelet! Glad the teeth-fixing is behind Chuck - it's never fun, especially when something goes wrong on vacation.

I was worried.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Oh boy, did I have some catching up to do. You all definitely dined in style this trip! Your bracelet is so beautiful! , Chuck!

Thanks Cam! He's still got it.

Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy

I just spent an enjoyable evening reading this TR! So much fun, so much frustration! And so sorry to hear about the teeth. I have had a similar situation with cracked teeth and those darn flatbreads! Hope all goes well in January!

Thanks. He's doing better now that he got his crown but there's more to do.

[Coop]

Monday Sept 17, 2012 - WARNING! MORE FOOD PORN!


Today was another day to sleep in. I got up before Chuck and took my tea out onto the balcony. Chuck joined me shortly with his coffee. It was a slow morning. We didn’t plan on going anywhere before our noon ADR at HOB. So we just took it easy. We got ready and went to DTD early and did more shopping on the way over to the West Side. PI and West Side were really desolate!


I’ve never seen it this empty. We stopped at Sunglass Icon and Chuck was hemming and hawing over sun glasses. He wanted some but he was resisting. I kept telling him to get a pair. So after much ado, trying some on and walking out into the sunshine to test them, then coming back and switching, he finally got a pair of Maui Jim’s. The CM was very patient and extremely helpful. The Oakley’s that Chuck was looking at we figured would be too cold during the winter because of the aluminum frame. But I think the Maui Jim’s are a better choice. I think they look better on him.

We made it over to HOB just in time for our ADR. We didn’t even need an ADR because it was so empty!




These are reliefs of famous musicians that line the ceilings.


Chuck was still a little worried about his teeth, but he managed. We had a fabulous meal! They are serious about hot sauce!


Chuck had street fish tacos and I had pulled pork sliders for our apps.




Entrée was shrimp and grits for Chuck and fried chicken for me. There was so much we could have shared it (except that it was too crunchy for Chuck)





We shared desserts - key lime pie and bourbon bread pudding.





This is a definite must do again! Great meal!

After lunch - we shopped our way back to the buses - naturally. We went over to LaNouba to get a travel mug for Chuck. He saw it on Thurs when we were there but didn’t buy it because we knew we were coming back to DTD. We got some other things too, lip scrub from Basin, a blouse and a tee shirt for DD and DS’s GF. I got a purchase with purchase watch - new work watch. We made it back to the bus before my MasterCard went into meltdown.

Back at OKW, we had our usual afternoon thing. Swimming and hot tub time! During our swimming, Chuck saw a guy talking to some of the lifeguards. Next thing you know, the whistle blows and one of the lifeguards is jumping in! It was a test. The guy talking to the other lifeguards was the boss telling them not to respond because he was testing the one lifeguard. He also set up someone to “pretend” to be in trouble. The victim held his breath and sat at the bottom of the pool and the lifeguard got him - in really good time too! These guys and gals know what they are doing! He got a round of applause from everyone in the pool and a dry towel from the victim. This actually happened two different days when we were there. First they tested a guy and the second day, they tested a girl. Both of them, did great jobs. I feel safe.

After swimming and stuff, we got ready and went to MK




(for the last time this trip). We walked right into a parade











and then worked our way back to BTMRR. On the way, we stopped and learned about Sorcerers of the MK.


But we didn't play it. We went over the BTMRR and had about a 15 min wait but soon were riding. We worked our way over to HM.






It started raining when we went into the mansion and was still raining after we got rid of hitchhiking ghosts. So we walked over to the gift shop right across from CHH to buy our first ever Disney Ponchos! Rule one - buy a poncho and it will stop raining.

We wanted to see the MSEP and get some hot dogs, so I camped out with our ponchos as butt protectors and Chuck went for Casey’s. We were right on the hub.
It went from this:


To this:


in the amount of time it took Chuck to get 2 hot dogs!

Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the hub to see the parade and found that out before Chuck returned. While I was waiting for Chuck, people were trying to weasel in between me and Chuck’s saved spot and the trash can we had parked next to. They were also part of a BTG or something and kept trying to step on Chuck’s poncho and push their way in - that is until I yelled at them IN SPANISH! They were dumbfounded. They didn’t realize that this Midwestern woman sitting there understood and could tell them off in their own language! Hahahahaha. They left the area. But the lady to my other side who was also Hispanic was relieved that I could speak and understand some Spanish. She asked if we were in the right place for the parade. I explained that we weren’t. The parade was going to turn and go down to Frontierland before it got to us. I had to wait for Chuck before I could move though. Chuck came back with our dogs and some apple slices. I like that they have that option - a bit healthier. (With the way we've been eating and I'm concerned about an apple as a side? Am I for real?! ) Sometimes, you just want some crunch. After we ate, we gathered our things and let the BTG have the bad spot. We walked up Main St. and finally hunkered down by the Confectionary.


We weren’t right at the curb, we were back by the shop so our view was obstructed. (like all of our parade/firework views this trip - can’t win em all I guess) There were CM’s clearing people out of the way and I thought we were going to be told that we can’t stand there but they let us.




These were the only good pictures I got from the parade - everything else turned out blurry and obstructed.

After the parade, we went into the Confectionary because Chuck saw a couple of coffee mugs that he thought I would like. So we bought a Goofy coffee mug for Chuck and I got an Eeyore mug. Then we headed out to the buses - and we beat the rush! We made it to back to OKW in time for a glass of wine and journaling before bed!

Up next - random magic and more rain

[lfredsbo]

wish I could have seen the faces when you yelled backed in Spanish!

Food looked yummy! We haven't been there in years! Can't believe how dead DTD was! Nice to be able to actually walk and look around! Scott just treated himself to Maui Jim's too!

So glad that you guys are taking time each day to enjoy your balcony and pool/hot tub time! By the way, did you realize that the "lighthouse" at the pool is a sauna?

[Coop]

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

wish I could have seen the faces when you yelled backed in Spanish!

Food looked yummy! We haven't been there in years! Can't believe how dead DTD was! Nice to be able to actually walk and look around! Scott just treated himself to Maui Jim's too!

So glad that you guys are taking time each day to enjoy your balcony and pool/hot tub time! By the way, did you realize that the "lighthouse" at the pool is a sauna?

I took 5 years of Spanish in school and my sister took French. So we would have multilingual fights. I basically told them that the spot was for my husband. I'm surprised I remembered that much! LOL! But I can say "The red pencil is on the table" and "I understand a little Spanish"

I had to talk Chuck into the Maui Jim's. They are very nice but he feels guilty about "spoiling himself". (But he spoils me - so it's only fair)

Yeah - we went into the sauna once. Too much for me. I was good with the hot tub. (Sauna with hot flashes = not good!)