2 Haunted Mansions, 1 Day (Plus Free Dining!)
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belle0517 · 03-25-2009, 02:08 PM

Great update! Good to know about the view from Italy for Illuminations.

**Elastigirl** · 03-25-2009, 02:29 PM

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Originally Posted by MaryEL8775

Great update. I can't wait for more...

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Originally Posted by MayraLR

Great update!!

Glad you enjoyed it!

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Originally Posted by WeRDisneyFanatics

Great update! Sounds like a terrific day at AK and EPCOT--other than the lousy desserts from F&WF--what a bummer about that.

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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great update and pictures!! How cool to see the EE control room!! Sorry the chocolate creme brulee was a let down! But some other good eats along the way today!!

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Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

You got a lot done today!

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Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

Sorry about the desserts. How weird for both to be bad.

Well, I couldn’t really complain, considering how many desserts I’d already gobbled down on that trip!

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Originally Posted by cajunlace

That must have been awesome learning the behind the scenes at Everest.

Totally! We were so grateful for the opportunity!

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Originally Posted by Tinkerboo

It must be so lovely for you to be able to go back to the exact spot where you were married ...yet another reason why I wish our wedding had been a Disney one...

I think you’re definitely a good candidate for a Disney vow renewal!

I am kinda sad we can’t go back to the reception spot cuz it’s a private room, but I really can’t complain because Morocco and the UK are free to all who pay the $$$ for admission!

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Originally Posted by Minnie Lor

Awesome update! Very interesting behind the scenes info on EE. I've heard that there are design problems with the Yeti but I wonder why the bird and steam effects aren't used.

I think he said something about it being too cold to have the steam effect on in the morning cuz it gets the guests wet. But the bird thing is a mystery to me.

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Originally Posted by theschuhows

Carrie, This is perfect!! You are making me want to be in the park right now!! Just so I'm not confused, you got married in Feb 08 in Epcot (and I read your TR on that, totally fun! ) now you are talking about your trip that you took Sept 08? And you are also there now?? Wow, I'm jealous!

I *wish* I were there now! We did go back a few months ago for our anniversary, and I’ll be posting that report when I’m done with this one!

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Originally Posted by vfair

Did he look at the price of these pieces before he started pin trading? Oh my goodness. You definitely got the better end of that deal...

Tell me about it! So far, my collection hasn’t even started, for that very reason. I’m waiting for it to start raining $100 bills from the sky...!

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Originally Posted by janicelovesmickey

great update, love the photos and I am sooo happy I am not the only one who is NOT CRAZY ABOUT ZEBRA DOMES!!! I kept hearing how fantastic they are, so I tried one, didnt like it.

I know! I am grumpy that they ruin a perfectly lovely dessert with kahlua.

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Originally Posted by belle0517

Great update! Good to know about the view from Italy for Illuminations.

It’s definitely in my top three now!

theschuhows · 03-25-2009, 04:03 PM

I can't wait to see if you were able to make it to both HMs and read about your Feb anniversary trip!! I'm so excited

rhinohunter · 03-26-2009, 12:34 AM

great TR. I am still panting from all of the park hopping. Three times on EE is awesome. I did that right after it opened (three times in less than 20 minutes--standby, single rider, and fastpass.) The arms of the Yeti were definantly moving. Haven't seen it like that since. Your choice of food was wonderful. I have used a whole box of tissues wiping down the desk. Sorry about the two desserts. I probably would have complained at least once. Looking forward to the next TR and how you did both HMs in one day. Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**HiddenMickey** · 03-26-2009, 09:40 AM

I think I remember the bird from early trips on Everest....it was at the end of the broken rail. And I noted how it was no longer there when we were on it this September.

Tinkerboo · 03-26-2009, 11:57 AM

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I think you’re definitely a good candidate for a Disney vow renewal!

If we ever do, you guys will have to all come and make up the guest list - I can't see our families coughing up hundreds more pounds (even though they

us) to travel all that way for what they would undoubtably term "an unnecessarily expensive party".

You've no idea how much co-ercing it took to persuade DH's parents to come from the UK to New York for our actual real wedding...and his sisters and brother simply wouldn't budge. I appreciate that not everyone has the ££ available, but we were offering to pay for them by the end and they still wouldn't!! My lovely family did though (they know an opportunity for a holiday when they see one!!) and that's all that mattered to me.

In-laws, eh?? 100% definitely the worst part of the whole marriage deal!!

**chezp** · 03-26-2009, 02:28 PM

Another great update Carrie!

PrincessSharon · 03-26-2009, 02:43 PM

Just caught up, Carrie, and have been enjoying your TR immensely. You are a great writer and photographer (well, I guess it's your DH who is the great photographer). More, please!

**Elastigirl** · 03-27-2009, 12:03 AM

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Originally Posted by theschuhows

I can't wait to see if you were able to make it to both HMs and read about your Feb anniversary trip!! I'm so excited

It's getting closer!

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Originally Posted by rhinohunter

great TR. I am still panting from all of the park hopping. Three times on EE is awesome. I did that right after it opened (three times in less than 20 minutes--standby, single rider, and fastpass.) The arms of the Yeti were definantly moving. Haven't seen it like that since. Your choice of food was wonderful. I have used a whole box of tissues wiping down the desk. Sorry about the two desserts. I probably would have complained at least once. Looking forward to the next TR and how you did both HMs in one day. Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo! Sounds like you're pumped and psyched (as DH likes to say)

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Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

I think I remember the bird from early trips on Everest....it was at the end of the broken rail. And I noted how it was no longer there when we were on it this September.

Lucky! I wish I'd had a chance to see that and the Yeti in A mode at some point.

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Originally Posted by Tinkerboo

If we ever do, you guys will have to all come and make up the guest list - I can't see our families coughing up hundreds more pounds (even though they

us) to travel all that way for what they would undoubtably term "an unnecessarily expensive party".

I definitely understand that - no way would ours trek all the way back to WDW if we were to do it. But I would love to be on the guest list if you did....

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Originally Posted by chezp

Another great update Carrie!

Thanks for reading!

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Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Just caught up, Carrie, and have been enjoying your TR immensely. You are a great writer and photographer (well, I guess it's your DH who is the great photographer). More, please!

Wow, thank you for the kind words! More coming right up...

**Elastigirl** · 03-27-2009, 12:16 AM

Boy, if you thought I’d been live-blogging a lot during the rest of the trip, wait til you read today – we ate our way around the World Showcase on the first day of the Food & Wine festival, and I posted a pic of each thing we got, when we got it!

The day started with checking out of Pop Century....

... and into the Polynesian!

So nice... wish we coulda stayed more than one night! We left our luggage in the trunk and decided to walk to the TTC to catch a monorail for Epcot, since our building at the Poly was actually closer to the TTC than the Poly’s monorail station. Along the way, whom should we meet but one of the Very Special Guest Stars of “2 Haunted Mansions, 1 Day”... Jennifaerie!! Wearing THE cutest belt ever, I might add...

She and her DH were headed to a water park. We read them their last rites – er, wished them luck and said we’d see them at Ohana that night (our ADRs were 40 minutes apart).

Views from the ride in to Epcot on the monorail...

From my iPhone camera...

From our real camera...

Off we went to... Cities in Wonderland! None of which were quite open yet, so we lurked.

Open... open... open...

At last – Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup & Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn.

Soup: Delicious!
Salmon: Meh...

We had this idea we were going to outsmart the crowds by taking the boat to Morocco instead of walking counter-clockwise around World Showcase to the UK, France, etc.

Instead, we got to wait at the counter in Morocco for 20 minutes for their cash registers to start working properly. Plus, people were EVERYwhere – there was no outsmarting anyone!

Marrakesh, Morocco: Grilled beef and hummus in a pita pocket

Pocket: Pretty gross. Tough beef with watery salad, no hummus to be found. The food at the counter service place in Morocco is way better!

Wellington, New Zealand: Bay scallops with baby greens and cranberry vinaigrette & Lamb slider on a brioche roll

Slider: OK, but nothing to write home about
Scallops: Kinda fishy and too small.

Exotic San Francisco, CA: Seared beef medallion with cheddar cheese polenta & California Strawberry shortcake

Beef medallion: tasty!
Shortcake: I think DH liked it....

Cork, Ireland: Potato leek soup with Dubliner cheddar cheese stick & Boxty with bacon chips, garlic and fresh herb butter

Soup: A little bland, but the cheese stick helped.
Boxty: Tasty, but not enough bacon!

Munich, Germany: Apple strudel, Spaetzle with creamy mushroom ragout & Sausage with sauerkraut in a pretzel roll

Strudel: Dunno – DH prolly liked it....
Sausage: Meh... I’m not sure what the big deal is about pretzel bread.
Spaetzle: Holy mother, that stuff was good! I could have made lunch from it!

Melbourne, Australia: Pepperberry prawns on the barbie with sweet potato hash & grilled lamb chop with carmelized onion jam

Prawns: Overcooked, as prawns usually are....
Lamb Chop: Really good! This was another one that made me wish I had room for seconds.

Shanghai, China: Chicken sha cha & Ginger ice cream...

...me snapping an iPhone pic of the pot stickers

...and the picture I snapped (it’s almost existential!!)

Sha cha: Tasted like mall food court Chinese food.
Ginger ice cream: I think DH liked this (he likes everything, basically)
Pot sticker: See “mall food court,” above.

Vienna, Austria: Beef Goulash with bacon dumpling

About this time, the flavors were all starting to blend together for me. This one tasted meaty and doughy.

Not on the menu...

It seemed about time to meet another pal from the Internets! The night before I had been emailing the woman who rented us DVC points for our honeymoon, and I discovered she also happened to be at WDW that week - crazy! So we finally got to meet in person – two dames from California meeting in fake China in real Florida! We had a nice chat and finally let her go so she could continue drinking around the World with her buddy.

Off to Espana!

Madrid, Spain: Chilled tomato and garlic soup (a.k.a. gazpacho) and churros with chocolate sauce... And if you're wondering whether I drank the leftover sauce, the answer is YES!

Gazpacho: Not really my cup of... soup!
Churros: Best. Food & Wine Fest Dessert. Ever.

From Madrid to Mexico City...

Mexico City: Capitotada (Mexican bread pudding with white chocolate sauce), Horchada (cinnamon rice milk), Chilaquiles

Horchada: DH approved.
Capitotada: Very tasty – but it woulda been even more tasty smothered in chocolate sauce from Madrid!
Chilaquiles: Cheese, tortillas and mild salsa – what could be bad? In fact, it was so good, I went looking for the recipe in the official Food & Wine Festival cookbook. Unfortunately, it was a lame “greatest hits” collection of recipes from festivals past, so unless what you liked in 2008 was a repeat, you wouldn’t find the recipe there.

So just for you, dear readers, here is a fabulous facsimile courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food (which I tried when we got home and is very close! Just use more cheese on top):

Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Sauce

Prep: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 55 minutes
Serves 6

To make these up to a day ahead, prep and assemble the enchiladas (steps 1 to 3); cover and refrigerate. Go to step 4 when you're ready to bake and serve.

Before filling, soften the corn tortillas by stacking them between damp paper towels and heating for a minute in the microwave. This makes them more pliable and prevents tearing.

Ingredients
3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
Coarse salt and ground pepper
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 jars (16 ounces each) medium green salsa
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 corn tortillas (6-inch)
12 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely shredded (3 cups)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper; place with garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine salsa and cream.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, shred meat, discarding skin and bones. Peel and chop garlic. In a large bowl, combine chicken, garlic, and 1/2 cup salsa mixture.

Stack tortillas flat, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute to soften. Working with one tortilla at a time, dip in salsa mixture, lay flat, and fill with 1/3 cup chicken mixture. Roll up and arrange, seam side down, 8 enchiladas lengthwise and 4 crosswise in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with remaining salsa mixture, then cheese.
Bake until cheese is browned and salsa is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes; let rest 10 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with cilantro, if desired.

At this point, we decided to sit a spell in Mexico to eat our food and blog about it....

“Cheese, tortillas and mild salsa – what could be bad?”...

Then it was off to Argentina for even more food! Actually, DH had thrown in the towel at this point, but I was bound and determined to try everything we’d marked on our program as potentially interesting.

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Grilled Beef with Chimichurri Sauce and mashed potatoes

This was nothing to write home about... but it was something to blog about!

By this time we were hot and thirsty, so I was very excited to discover neon slushies near Argentina – they look weird, but they were actually normal flavors!

Kiwi and Blue Lemonade

Having made one nearly full circuit of the World Showcase, we decided to check out the far-flung Festival Center, which was so distant from the actual festival it was practically in Disney’s Hollywood Studios....

... The Pavilion Formerly Known as Wonders of Life

Besides useless festival cookbooks, the gift shop also stocked off-model Swedish Chef dolls...

There wasn’t a whole lot to do there if you didn’t want to wait in a long line for a demonstration or buy wine. So after DH had his fill of photographing the defunct attractions and I’d rested my feet, we set off on the trek back to the World Showcase.

We’d just picked up my next taste (see below) when who should come by but... Jennifaerie and Rob!

But first – the review:

San Juan, Puerto Rico: Mofongo (plantain mash with shrimp)

I actually threw this away. I love plantains and I love shrimp, but it just tasted like bad....

Polly want a mofongo?

Jennifaerie and Rob graciously dropped any plans they might have had (solve global warming, uncover the secret of life, find a cure for cancer, etc.) to join us on a boat ride to Morocco for some wandering around.

Smartphone pissing contest...

I got very excited to see a private event setup at my beloved UK Lochside and had to snap a pic...

Immediately after stepping off the boat in Morocco, we walked to...

Where we had our picture made with some oversize condiments.

New Orleans: Praline bread pudding with bourbon caramel sauce (on the side in case it was gross.... and it was!

Again, things were all sorta starting to blend together for me at this point. I think the bread pudding was good, but it no doubt would have benefited from some Spanish chocolate sauce!

Finally, we began to think about getting seats for the free Big Bad Voodoo Daddy show that was part of the Eat to the Beat concert series. We bid Jennifaerie & Robifaerie adieu for about 2 hours, with promises to accost them at Ohana later.

Patrick found us pretty dang good seats – you can’t really sit in the middle at America Gardens Theater b/c the middle is an aisle. Also, the sun was at that totally annoying low angle where it shines right in your eye....

With a throwback stage set like that, I half expected MC Hammer to come out...

The show was really fun – it was hard to resist the urge to get up and swing, but the crowd-control CMs seemed really stern. I was pleased to see BBVD turn in a solid show, instead of phonin’ one in for the Disney freaks – hee hee!

It was great to be so close – I could never afford to sit that close at a BBVD show at Walt Disney Concert Hall or the Hollywood Bowl. It was also DH’s first real concert (can you believe it?) so he really enjoyed it.

It only lasted about 30 minutes, though, and they didn’t play “I Wanna Be Like You” from Jungle Book – their biggest Disney hit! I guess they were saving it for one of their two other sets that night. I wished we could have gone to a later show, but we had that ADR at Ohana.

After the show we hopped the monorail back to the Poly to check out our room and freshen up for dinner.

Gratuitous room shots...

Roll-in shower!

OK, where were we...? Ah! Dinner at Ohana...

Tiki One...

Tiki Two...

Tiki Three...

Freaky Tiki!

So.... don’t hate on me, but I think I’m the only person on the planet who doesn’t like Ohana. It was SO LOUD!!! And the food was aggressively mediocre...

They sat us right next to the Coconut 500 Speedway, and we watched as every child in the place came running or screaming or conga-ing or coconut-coaxing right past our table. I had neglected to bring my earplugs, so I was not a happy camper. I’m not sure why it didn’t bother me at Whispering Canyon – maybe we weren’t in the flow of traffic there.

The essence of Ohana...

Exotic Polynesian “salad”...

Trader Joe’s frozen gyoza?

Donde está el SPAM?

Tastes like sweet!

Hmmm.... I seem to have no pictures of the meat, but we all know what shoe-leather looks like, right?

Apparently Polynesians like their bread drowning in high-fructose corn syrup

Finally something snapped for me and I decided if I couldn’t beat ‘em, I’d join ‘em! DH and I began exhorting the racing children to go faster, faster, FASTER! And farther, farther, FARTHER away from us!

On their way out, Jennifaerie and Rob came by to chat, and I hope I thanked them again for switching ADRs with us. We were all politely vague about our post-dinner plans, not wanting to obligate the others to hang out. DH and I planned to go watch HalloWishes from the Poly beach again, but we almost didn’t make it cuz it took so long to get the bill.

We raced down the beach trying to find an open spot, and finally ended up at Sunset Point, where we perched in the damp grass.

At the end of the show we stood up to leave, and who should be sitting right behind us but... Jennifaerie and Rob! It was really shameless the way they stalked us on this trip... We all walked back to toward our rooms together, talking and talking until we finally almost fell asleep on our feet. DH and I are so used to being solo on our Disney trips – it was nice to feel like we were on vacation with friends!

Coming up next... Do we really get to ride Haunted Mansion at Disney World and Disneyland on the same day?! (Those of you who know, pipe down!)

**chezp** · 03-27-2009, 03:34 AM

What a great day you had eating around the world!

**Colexis Mom** · 03-27-2009, 08:23 AM

What a great day! Boy, that was a lot of food!!!

Great pictures!!

**disneydani** · 03-27-2009, 08:45 AM

Whew.....I am simply exhausted....you guys have just an abundance of energy....Glad WDW is the perfect outlet!

Two Haunted Mansions in One Day??? Bring it on!

danielle

mpwife153 · 03-27-2009, 08:51 AM

I was soooo far behind I just caught up.

the F&WF pics ~ sorry to hear not all of it was good, the pics look yummy yummy. It's making me even more excited to go in Oct. DH's Tiki impersonations

I wonder how I can trick my DH into silly photo ops.....hmmmmm? I had always wanted to stay at GF, that was my Pipe Dream resort, but after seeing the Poly pics I am a changed woman

. Can't wait to see if the coast to coast HM experiment worked out!