Finding Walt: a DL TR: Update 2/23/12 - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I'm really glad I was able to meet you guys! It really was pretty funny that we were all wearing red!
Bengal BBQ is one of my favorite places...there was a rumor a while ago that it was being shut down, but I'm glad that so far it has stayed open!
Your room looks cozy. Be glad you don't have a room closer to the rides (like the Goofy Sky School ride). I'd be really bummed if I were trying to sleep in a bit and heard people on the ride screaming in delight every few seconds!
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I don't know what I expected, but the room doesn't look as luxurious as I'd expected, given that the nightly rack-rate is so high. But it looks comfy enough. I love the photos of the group wearing their Christmas red. How nice to meet Jeannie!
It is a pretty standard DVC room and I was not thrilled with the towel quality. I kind of wonder if they are the same in the regular rooms or if the DVC rooms get the shaft on towels.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pics from DL and of your room! More please!
Coming up
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Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Those reindeer were so cute! And I loved getting to chat with Santa.
That's why I always force myself to finish one before I start another. I hate going back to the "old" one.
Right--like I said I'm going to get this done before my next trip!
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great group photos! They look great with everyone in red!
Very Christmasy, no?
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Originally Posted by shnewell
What a fun day! I would love to visit DLR at Christmas. I mean, live reindeer--that rocks!!!
And that tortilla soup looks like some serious yummy goodness. If the weather is cool-ish on our upcoming trip, I'm definitely heading to Rancho Zocalo for some of that soup!
The soup was great and I was sad that it was warmer at home than in Cali
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Originally Posted by chezp
Your room looks lovely! I love the shots of all the PassPorters together - you're right, everyone did get the memo on the dress code!
Good planning! (well not exactly)
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Originally Posted by KMB733
The little Santa area looks so cute!! Great view from your room. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on World of Color!!
I have lots to say!
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Originally Posted by Dlandmom2
I'm really glad I was able to meet you guys! It really was pretty funny that we were all wearing red!
Bengal BBQ is one of my favorite places...there was a rumor a while ago that it was being shut down, but I'm glad that so far it has stayed open!
Your room looks cozy. Be glad you don't have a room closer to the rides (like the Goofy Sky School ride). I'd be really bummed if I were trying to sleep in a bit and heard people on the ride screaming in delight every few seconds!
I think I was pretty close, but I did zero sleeping in at all this trip and I didn't notice much noise at night
My apologies everyone. I forgot one major stop before nap time. Everyone, but me had gotten FP for the Aladdin show courtesy of their Gold Card status. Fortunately those little beauties are good for more than one person. Sharon and I went to DCA to catch the show. I was amazed that Disney is putting on a full scale Broadway type production that is FREE with your admission. Yes FoTLK is wonderful and B&tB is good, but this, this is amazing. The show is in a Broadway style theatre complete with mezzanine and orchestra level seating and decked out! The performers are just as good as any I've seen in the traveling productions that come to New Orleans--maybe not as good as Broadway, but really great all the same. Disney could easily charge extra for admission, but I'm glad they don't. The show is about 45 minutes long and includes all the major songs from the film and nicely condenses the story line. The guy they have playing the Genie completely steals the show--it's clear that he's worked on his lines and changes some of the one liners regularly. Blown away. This show is worth the price of your one day admission to DCA. I know there is a lot of complaining done about DCA, but in 1 day I saw 2 shows that absolutely blew my mind.
Sharon and I checked the line for TOT and decided to grab FP for later instead.
THEN it was break time.
I arrived a little before our appointed meeting time so I wandered around a little taking some photos near Paradise Pier. I must have about 50 shots of the Mickey Wheel from this trip.
I love the detail on the King Triton on the top of the Little Mermaid building. To give you some perspective--here's the front of the building:
Then it was time to meet the gang for dinner at Wine Country. Talk about a difference in service. The young woman who waited on us was wonderful. Zack wasn't feeling well and she had no problem canceling his meal once he decided he wasn't going to make it through dinner--even after the first course had arrived.
I believe we had three options for our first course: An arugula salad with walnuts and fig balsamic dressing, minestrone or Italian wedding soup. The salad was out for me and it was chilly so I went with the Italian wedding soup. It was pretty tasty, but I could have honestly used a bigger bowl to help fight my cold!
I know it doesn't look super appetizing, but it was soothing in a home cooking kind of way. Plus I love those little meatballs!
There were more options for the entree: Chicken, Seafood Pasta, Fish, Filet, and a veggie pasta. I think Karen went for the roasted chicken and Sharon and I both had the seafood pasta.
It was full of shrimp and scallops and tossed with a lovely light tomato sauce. It tasted great, but I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the shrimp have the tails on. This is one of my big pet peeves. I have no problem with head on/tail on shrimp if you are supposed to eat the dish with your hands, or as in the case of New Orleans BBQ style shrimp, if it is for flavor. There was zero purpose for leaving the tails on in this case--except to make your diner work at removing the tail with his/her knife and fork, or have the other diners at the table gawk at him/her when they pick the shrimp up by the tail to eat it. I don't know if Karen and Sharon gawked or not, but I picked those suckers up. I hate fighting with my food, plus the fork and knife method leaves some of the shrimp behind. Good thing they were perfectly cooked! So were the scallops for this type of dish--a pasta application is the only time I don't prefer my scallops way under done. (Notice a food trend here--I like things cooked as little as possible or raw if it's safe--please make sure to cook your chicken all the way through. If it's your first time reading a Heather trip report I even eat my pork medium.)
This must be Karen's plate:
Dessert was served "family style" except for mine--because of that nut allergy again.
I believe it was a tiramisu, a panna cotta, and a salted cararmel chocolate something. I ate all of it, but I don't remember anything sticking out as particularly memorable. I do remember having a discussion about the tiramisu because someone had just had an unbelievably good one at an office party and this didn't stand up to the previous version.
All in all it was a wonderful meal. I would definitely return to Wine Country for another go round, in fact I thought about it, but on the day I was thinking of going back for lunch I got a strange craving for gumbo. I know, I know I live in New Orleans and I can eat all the gumbo I want, but maybe I was feeling a little homesick on that day.
When the check arrived we had preferred viewing for the early World of Color, which was very close to starting--so we asked for the later show and the waitress had no trouble switching our tickets.
Karen went back to the room to check on Zack, promising that one of them would be back to see World of Color with us. Taking Zack's meal off meant that we also lost his ticket to see the show.
Sharon and I took off to take in some attractions. We had FP for ToT from earlier in the day--the Disneyland version is different from the WDW version--and while Sharon likes WDW better . . . I think that DL is just as good in it's own right. There's a scene that doesn't appear at WDW that I thought was just awesome. I know we wandered through the animation building and a Bug's Land, but I don't remember what else--except that I made a bathroom stop and was sort of weirded out by all of the trappings for Electronica--they just don't feel like they fit in.
Then it was time to go to our appointed meeting spot for World of Color. Karen had texted that neither she nor Zack would be joining us so we headed back to the Wine Country area to meet our group.
We eventually headed down to a spot with perfect views right opposite the Mickey Wheel. Sharon and I decided to brave the splash zone. We also decided that it was a good idea to just watch and not risk wet cameras, plus I really wanted to see the show and not from the other side of my camera. I have zero photos of World of Color. I'm sorry, but the fireworks and such at MK I've seen a million times--this I just wanted to experience.
I'm glad I made that decision because the show was amazing. There was a Christmas segment featuring Prep and Landing at the beginning of the show and then the regular show. All I can say was the whole thing was amazing from start to finish. It blows everything at WDW out of the water. Lights, colored water jets, fire and scenes from classic and recent Disney films. Zack is of the opinion that the Pirates scene is too long and doesn't belong at all. It was my favorite part, but I love the Pirates movies and especially the most recent installment. It even included my favorite line from the movie--after Jack ends the Mermaid attack he says something to the effect of: I hope everyone saw that, because I will NOT be doing it again. If you've seen the fountains at the Bellagio, this doesn't even come close to comparing--even though both shows are produced by the same company WET the Bellagio doesn't hold a candle to WOC! (They are also responsible for the Fountain of Nations, the Imagination Pavilion, DTD etc in FL) Bet you just learned something didn't you?
I really wanted to buy something World of Color related, but I've resolved to buy less T shirts and didn't like the adult sweatshirts and don't need another coffee mug/travel mug/towel. I ended up with a magnet later in the trip. Funny but I bought almost nothing on this trip because I was completely uninspired by the merchandise. I would have bought a Noah Maleficent T--but it wasn't available in my size anywhere. I guess lots of XL women like Maleficent. I saw some Little Mermaid merch that appealed to me but again with the T shirts and I felt the price tag on the scarf was a little high--considering that I bought a similar Tinkerbell scarf at WDW for 1/2 the tag on this one. OK less than 1/2 because they were mismarked at AK--$5.95 instead of $15.95. (I know--I looked at the same scarf in more than one store before I bought it.) Anyway same make, different model was $29.95 at DL.
Sharon and I parted ways after the show and I headed back to VGC. I grabbed a glass of wine to go at the bar and sat at the outside fireplace for a little while before going to bed. I was planning on another early morning.
Wow, I can't wait to see both of those shows! I saw a program on the Travel Network about the water show company, WET. It showed how they design and produce the shows. Incredible stuff. I know I'm not going to have enough time to see everything at DLR since I'll be with the ABD tour most of the time. I'll just have to get back again soon! Thanks for the great descriptions!
Glad you enjoyed the shows. We always enjoy watching the Aladdin show. The unusable space in the room works great for us, as when we stay at VGC we bring a large tote with drinks, snacks, etc. So it's a great spot to store the tote and when we have our grandsons great spot to park the stroller. I thought there was also small bench there, but I could be wrong about that. Hope you found the bed comfy.
I also like the DL version of ToT! Glad you enjoyed Aladdin and WoC. We haven't seen Aladdin. I'll have to put it on my to do list.
The WoC meal at Wine Country Trattoria was just ok, in my opinion. We tried that on our first trip to DLR. Last June, we ate there off of the regular menu and I liked it better, though it still didn't knock my socks off.
You got some great nighttime photos of DCA!
Oh, and we actually did have a villa right next to Goofy's Sky School (but it was still Mulholland Madness back then). It actually brought a smile to my face to hear the screams of delight from the passengers, even late at night. You could hear it, but it wasn't so loud that it was sleep-depriving. Now, when they lit up the rides and started playing music at like 4:00 a.m. on the morning of the half-marathon, that was another story....!!
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Now I'm sad that I missed Aladdin when I was out there. I guess it's just another reason to head back again!! Glad you enjoyed WOC so much. I totally agree that it's an amazing show well worth setting time aside to watch!
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WoC sounds amazing! I can't wait to see it someday! I am in complete agreement with you about the shrimp with tails on in a meal that is not meant to be eaten with your hands. Why do they do that?!?
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We missed the Aladdin show because they were having problems with the Magic Carpet. It's on my list for next time!
I'm glad you enjoyed WOC. For me, it was the highlight of my trip! I think it's awesome how they can change the show around to work around a season or a new movie. When I saw it, they had added The Lion King to promote the movie out on Blu-ray. Sounds like you had a great evening!!
What a great evening! I can't wait to go to DL someday - in a few years.
Sorry Karen & Zack weren't able to join you at WoC. Hope Zack was feeling better soon!
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The more TRs I read about DL - the more I want to go back. There were so many things we didn't get to do (Aladdin) and new things (WoC) that I really want to see and do....
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I love the shots of all the PassPorters together - you're right, everyone did get the memo on the dress code! 
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I guess it's just another reason to head back again!! Glad you enjoyed WOC so much. I totally agree that it's an amazing show well worth setting time aside to watch! 
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