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Steve's Jan/Feb 2012 Trip - Day 4 of 6
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Steve Russo
Feb 10, 2012, 10:36:40 AM2/10/12
to
January 29 – February 3, 2012
Participants
• Steve –Your humble narrator.
• Barb – My bride of 39 years.
Beach Club Villas– Studio
Day Four - Wednesday, February1, 2012 “Mission: Space bites me.”
We’re up at 6:40 for coffee and bagels. I check the weather and find
it’s 55 now in Orlando and 52 in New York City. Weird. But it’s
forecasted to break 80 today here. I see a great quote by Herb Caen this
morning: “I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there."
I resemble that remark.
There was a time when making it to a park by 8:00 was easy-peasy. Not so
much anymore so I win and it’ll be Epcot today and Animal Kingdom tomorrow.
We walk over to Epcot and are held at a rope by the Security tables
until 8:50. A group of 13 people come to the front and explain they have
a reservation for the Princess breakfast at Norway. No problem. The
guards do their thorough (cough) search of all bags and in they go.
Except for the one woman (with a small child) that’s frantically
searching her purse for park passes. Sorry but wouldn’t you check that
before leaving your resort? After 5 minutes she gives up and heads back
to the Guest Relations booth muttering something over her shoulder to
the other 11 people about having her passes validated. I’m not sure what
that meant.
Naturally, two older women see this occur and saunter up from well back
in the line to ask the Security guard why those people got in and they
can’t. He explains it to them and they seem to buy it and, of course,
they hold their ground at the front of the line never returning to their
original spot. I love creative line jumpers.
At 8:50 they drop the ropes and we enter. Is there anything better than
walking through World Showcase with no one around? I take a few photos
in the UK when Barb suggested she take one of me. I’m usually the guy
behind the camera so there are precious few photos of me actually in
Walt Disney World. I decide it would be fitting to pose in front of the
Rose and Crown. I take up a spot in front of the doors, under a sign
that reads, “Pub”. Naturally, Barb frames it so the sign is not visible.
It’s basically just me standing in front of a door – any door. Oh, well.
We make it to Soarin’ at 8:57. I grabbed FastPasses for 9:45 (Damn you,
Wilmot!) and we rode twice via Standby queue – both times getting the
top row.
Next was a walk over to Test Track where the sign indicated a 10 minute
wait. It was a complete walk on. The pre-show wasn’t even running, we
just walked on through.
Next up: Mission: Space. We rode green again. Barb and I were the only
two in our module this time. When our mission ended, I tried to be cute
and started applauding like the guy yesterday. Barb giggled (she’s easy)
and I leaned up a bit to ask for a high five. At that point, the
shoulder harnesses released. My recollection is that you needed to raise
these yourself but these things flew up abruptly and violently. It
caught the bottom of my glasses and drove them up into the bridge of my
nose, opening a cut just at the edge of the eye socket. Barb saw this
and asked if I was OK. I said “Yes” and put a finger up to the wound and
saw it was bleeding.
Someone contact Martin, Harding and Mazzotti (or Dewey, Cheatum and
Howe) because this has law suit written all over it. Dare I say it?
Mission: Steve? The Experimental Prototype Community of Steve? Steve
Russo World? The sky’s the limit. Barb handed me a tissue and I dabbed
at the gaping hole in my head for several minutes before the copious
flow of blood abated. I took a photo of the tissue as evidence.
Still a bit wobbly from my brush with death, we hit Soarin’ using our
FastPasses. The FastPass queue was a complete walk-through.
Barb needed to satisfy her caffeine addiction here so we got her another
coffee from Seasons and yes, it was Nescafe.
It was about 11:20 so we headed toward World Showcase. We have an early
ADR this evening (5:05 actually) for dinner at the Kona Café. Because of
the early dinner, we wanted to avoid a large lunch so we thought some
“grazing” through World Showcase would be appropriate.
We stopped in Norway and I can recall hearing many positive reviews on
the School Bread so we shared one ($2.69). I thought it was good and
something I would get again. It’s more dessert than snack though so our
grazing will be a bit out of sequence.
We hit China next and spent some time with the Terra Cotta Warriors and
then browsing the shops. Then it was off to the Lotus Blossom Café where
we split pot stickers and egg rolls ($9.57). I know this place gets
panned a lot but I thought the food was fine. I guess it’s tough to
screw up pot stickers and egg rolls
To Italy where Barb sampled some perfume. She tried to spritz a bit on
her wrist but managed to spray a quart or so directly on her neck and
face. I’ve seen her aim at Buzz Lightyear so this is not as surprising
as you might think. We also purchased a bag of Amaretto cookies for Pop.
He’s a big fan of cookies and a bigger fan of Amaretto so we thought
this would be a winner – of course, with Pop, one never knows.
We enter the shop in the US pavilion and browsed for a bit. As we were
leaving, a cast member stuck her head in the door and warned the cast
member at the counter to watch out for the little ones. They come in the
shop, steal chocolates and take them over to the bushes by the main
entrance to eat. I didn’t hear the entire exchange and thought she had
a gang of children (or midgets) that was terrorizing Epcot’s shops. She
was talking about squirrels stealing the chocolates. They take them into
the nearby bushes to eat and then return for more. Not a bad life –
Epcot chocolates all day and Illuminations every night. Where do I sign up?
At the kiosk outside, I took a photo of two t-shirts: one with a Turkey
leg and the other showing Mickey bars – which I termed “entrée and
dessert”. The cast member asked if I was going to buy one and I said I
just wanted the photo.
The temperature had passed 80 degrees and we were ready for some pool
time. This is somewhat surprising but this is our 3rd stay at the Beach
Club and we have yet to stick a toe in Stormalong Bay. We’ve always used
the quiet pool. Unfortunately, this trip would be only a little
different. We hit Stormalong Bay but discovered a significant amount of
construction there. The “pool” was actually cut in half by a
construction wall. We got in and walked the sandy bottom of the Beach
Club side but the “lazy river” part was blocked by construction.
We sat for a while in some lounge chairs but between the construction
noise, the music blaring and the sound of the lifeguards running a game
for the three kids that were there, it wasn’t at all relaxing. We packed
up and headed to the quiet pool. We took a quick swim and went to the
hot tub which unfortunately was closed. We did spend the better part of
two hours in a couple of lounge chairs though.
Then it was upstairs for showers and a change of clothes. Housekeeping
had come and gone for trash and towel service while we were at the pool.
We were off again at 3:45 for a quick bus and a quicker monorail to the
Polynesian. Our plan was to be a bit early to have a drink in the Tambu
Lounge before it filled up with guests waiting to be seated at ‘Ohana.
We arrived right around 4:30 and grabbed a couple of barstools on the
“quiet” side – furthest from the ‘Ohana check-in desk. The bartender
came over and offered a couple of drink menus. We had thought hard about
ordering something out of a pineapple or with an umbrella and a straw
but, after reviewing the 37 pages of the drink menu, I stuck with my
usual Manhattan. Barb also went vanilla with a gin and tonic. Yeah,
we’re really adventurous.
We were chatting with the bartender when I happened to notice his
nametag: Clinta. That’s a distinctive name and one I remember from
several Sue Holland trip reports. I asked if he was a friend of Sue’s
and we spent the next 15-minutes chatting about her DVC Diva-bility.
Just kidding – most of our conversation was about the weather, travel, etc.
At 5:00, we checked in at the Kona Café and were given the mandatory
pager. It buzzed in 5 minutes and we were ushered in, given a tour of
the dessert table and seated in the far reaches of the restaurant, near
a window. We both heard our hostess say “I’ll be your server” as she
handed us the menus. What she really said was, “Thuy’ll be your server.”
And Thuy did a great job.
I’ll include some food porn in the photos (link coming at the end of
this tome). We started by sharing Pot Stickers (wok-seared pork and
vegetable dumplings with creamy ginger-soy sauce $7.49). They were very
good.
Barb ordered the Sustainable Fish, which tonight was Mahi Mahi with
black rice, swiss chard, and spicy cashew-cucumber relish. It was listed
as “Market Price” and a bargain at $18.99. She really enjoyed it.
I had the Teriyaki-style New York Strip, a sirloin strip grilled with
pineapple teriyaki glaze served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and
stir-fried broccolini ($28.99). Two points: it came with a scoop of a
sticky rice instead of the potatoes (the rice was good so no big deal),
and; what the heck is broccolini? I hadn’t heard of it until about six
months ago and now I see it everywhere. Here are my guesses - Broccolini is:
a) Thinner, longer broccoli (If broccoli is Jessica Simpson, then
broccolini would be Uma Thurman. Get it?);
b) Broccoli with dry vermouth and an olive;
c) A green tightrope walker or a member of a family of acrobats.
Cast your votes now (Psst – it’s ‘a’).
We concluded our meal by sharing a Crème Brulee and a presspot of Kona
coffee – both very good. We each had a glass of wine with dinner,
choosing the recommended selections with each entrée - a Riesling for
Barb and a Simi cabernet for me. After TiW and including tip, the bill
came to $92.
We both liked Kona Café. It’s a notch below places like Narcoossee’s or
the California Grill in its ambience but, in my opinion, it offers very
good value. The food is better than good and the service is above
average. It’s a bit louder and more brightly lit than some of the
signature restaurants but we’d definitely dine here again.
We rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, entered and walked up to
Fantasyland. We were going to take in a showing of Mickey’s
Philharmagic. We were walking toward the door and had a group of six in
front of us. They were an obvious group of business associates with one
of the many conventions here this week. As we walked through the door, I
was bumped (rather hard) by some idiot running to catch up with this
group. I voiced my, uh, displeasure as he sped away. In 5 seconds, this
same group was now blocking our way as they posed for pictures in the
otherwise empty queue. One of them could sense my feelings about this
and got everyone to move aside so we could pass through.
The theater was only about ¼ full. It seems the majority of the people
in the park tonight are on Main Street.
In deference to Barb, I now agree to ride “it’s a small world”. We got
to ride in our own boat. Yes, all alone amidst the hundreds and hundreds
of dolls singing that damned song. Ahhh, romance.
We moved down to the Hub, via the Tomorrowland bridge. It was about 7:35
and we were looking to take in the Magic, Memories and You show followed
by Wishes. We were a bit closer to the castle than I like but I thought
we could always move farther back later.
There was a show with Mickey, Minnie, Peter Pan, Wendy, et al going on
in the forecourt. We only caught the end so I had no idea what it was
about – but anything with Mickey has to be good, right?
We waited only a few more minutes for the Magic Memories and You. We’ve
seen this show, and liked it, once before. We viewed it from way down
toward the end of Main Street, by the Emporium. While the show is very
good from that vantage point, from up close it’s GREAT! We could see so
much more of the castle projections and special effects from here. I
strongly recommend it to everyone.
When the show ended, I expected a lot of folks to leave before Wishes –
if anything, the opposite occurred. More people come in later and it
seemed no one was leaving the hub area. I would have preferred being a
little farther back for Wishes but it simply wasn’t worth fighting
through the crowd.
Wishes, as always, was great. Being closer and off to one side a bit, it
appeared most fireworks occurred to the right side of the castle rather
than directly behind it – the effect if you’re centered in Main Street.
But it wasn’t a big deal.
A couple of peeves here… during the Magic, Memories and You show, maybe
2/3 of the way through, a dad decided to lift his daughter onto his
shoulders. I’ve seen this so many times over the years. I was to one
side so it didn’t affect me but the folks directly behind him went from
a fine view to no view. Please think about this before placing your
child on your shoulders. I’m all for giving the kids a better view but
simply lifting the child to your hip would put their face next to yours;
giving them the same view you have without disturbing those behind you.
It’s a small thing but a huge consideration.
Then there are those who insist on leaving during the shows. The lights
are dimmed, people are staring upwards and you push your stroller
through this mass of humanity and then stop in front of me expecting me
to move aside for you to get through? Ain’t happening. Either leave
before the shows start, or wait until they’ve ended. Please.
After Wishes, we waddled with a huge crowd to the bus stops and managed
to get seats on the first bus. Back at the Beach Club, I called Stephen
as we were walking to the room. We discussed the ongoing saga of the
stackable washer/dryer that Barb and I gave them as a Christmas present.
They’re STILL waiting for delivery but I won’t bore you with those
details (thanks, Lowes).
We grabbed a beer and a glass of wine and sat on our balcony waiting for
Illuminations. As expected, we could hear the music and narration, and
see the higher fireworks fairly well. The lower fireworks were only
visible through the trees. Not bad but the 5th floor is much better.
We hung out there for a while chatting and trying to reach Stephanie.
She returned from a business trip this evening and was relieving
Michelle at home tonight. She and Paul had gone out for some food but
she called when they returned. All was well at home.
Miles Walked Today: 4.58.
Things I Think I Think: I think I’ll stop wearing my glasses – the nose
guard is rubbing against the cut keeping it open. I typically only wear
them for distances anyway and a recent eye exam actually indicated my
vision has improved rather significantly. Hopefully, I won’t notice the
difference. I think I’ll have to pay attention next time I ride Mission:
Space to see if the restraints always lift that abruptly (and
forcefully). I think I liked the Kona Café. I think people should stay
put during the nighttime shows.
--
Steve
Participants
• Steve –Your humble narrator.
• Barb – My bride of 39 years.
Beach Club Villas– Studio
Day Four - Wednesday, February1, 2012 “Mission: Space bites me.”
We’re up at 6:40 for coffee and bagels. I check the weather and find
it’s 55 now in Orlando and 52 in New York City. Weird. But it’s
forecasted to break 80 today here. I see a great quote by Herb Caen this
morning: “I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there."
I resemble that remark.
There was a time when making it to a park by 8:00 was easy-peasy. Not so
much anymore so I win and it’ll be Epcot today and Animal Kingdom tomorrow.
We walk over to Epcot and are held at a rope by the Security tables
until 8:50. A group of 13 people come to the front and explain they have
a reservation for the Princess breakfast at Norway. No problem. The
guards do their thorough (cough) search of all bags and in they go.
Except for the one woman (with a small child) that’s frantically
searching her purse for park passes. Sorry but wouldn’t you check that
before leaving your resort? After 5 minutes she gives up and heads back
to the Guest Relations booth muttering something over her shoulder to
the other 11 people about having her passes validated. I’m not sure what
that meant.
Naturally, two older women see this occur and saunter up from well back
in the line to ask the Security guard why those people got in and they
can’t. He explains it to them and they seem to buy it and, of course,
they hold their ground at the front of the line never returning to their
original spot. I love creative line jumpers.
At 8:50 they drop the ropes and we enter. Is there anything better than
walking through World Showcase with no one around? I take a few photos
in the UK when Barb suggested she take one of me. I’m usually the guy
behind the camera so there are precious few photos of me actually in
Walt Disney World. I decide it would be fitting to pose in front of the
Rose and Crown. I take up a spot in front of the doors, under a sign
that reads, “Pub”. Naturally, Barb frames it so the sign is not visible.
It’s basically just me standing in front of a door – any door. Oh, well.
We make it to Soarin’ at 8:57. I grabbed FastPasses for 9:45 (Damn you,
Wilmot!) and we rode twice via Standby queue – both times getting the
top row.
Next was a walk over to Test Track where the sign indicated a 10 minute
wait. It was a complete walk on. The pre-show wasn’t even running, we
just walked on through.
Next up: Mission: Space. We rode green again. Barb and I were the only
two in our module this time. When our mission ended, I tried to be cute
and started applauding like the guy yesterday. Barb giggled (she’s easy)
and I leaned up a bit to ask for a high five. At that point, the
shoulder harnesses released. My recollection is that you needed to raise
these yourself but these things flew up abruptly and violently. It
caught the bottom of my glasses and drove them up into the bridge of my
nose, opening a cut just at the edge of the eye socket. Barb saw this
and asked if I was OK. I said “Yes” and put a finger up to the wound and
saw it was bleeding.
Someone contact Martin, Harding and Mazzotti (or Dewey, Cheatum and
Howe) because this has law suit written all over it. Dare I say it?
Mission: Steve? The Experimental Prototype Community of Steve? Steve
Russo World? The sky’s the limit. Barb handed me a tissue and I dabbed
at the gaping hole in my head for several minutes before the copious
flow of blood abated. I took a photo of the tissue as evidence.
Still a bit wobbly from my brush with death, we hit Soarin’ using our
FastPasses. The FastPass queue was a complete walk-through.
Barb needed to satisfy her caffeine addiction here so we got her another
coffee from Seasons and yes, it was Nescafe.
It was about 11:20 so we headed toward World Showcase. We have an early
ADR this evening (5:05 actually) for dinner at the Kona Café. Because of
the early dinner, we wanted to avoid a large lunch so we thought some
“grazing” through World Showcase would be appropriate.
We stopped in Norway and I can recall hearing many positive reviews on
the School Bread so we shared one ($2.69). I thought it was good and
something I would get again. It’s more dessert than snack though so our
grazing will be a bit out of sequence.
We hit China next and spent some time with the Terra Cotta Warriors and
then browsing the shops. Then it was off to the Lotus Blossom Café where
we split pot stickers and egg rolls ($9.57). I know this place gets
panned a lot but I thought the food was fine. I guess it’s tough to
screw up pot stickers and egg rolls
To Italy where Barb sampled some perfume. She tried to spritz a bit on
her wrist but managed to spray a quart or so directly on her neck and
face. I’ve seen her aim at Buzz Lightyear so this is not as surprising
as you might think. We also purchased a bag of Amaretto cookies for Pop.
He’s a big fan of cookies and a bigger fan of Amaretto so we thought
this would be a winner – of course, with Pop, one never knows.
We enter the shop in the US pavilion and browsed for a bit. As we were
leaving, a cast member stuck her head in the door and warned the cast
member at the counter to watch out for the little ones. They come in the
shop, steal chocolates and take them over to the bushes by the main
entrance to eat. I didn’t hear the entire exchange and thought she had
a gang of children (or midgets) that was terrorizing Epcot’s shops. She
was talking about squirrels stealing the chocolates. They take them into
the nearby bushes to eat and then return for more. Not a bad life –
Epcot chocolates all day and Illuminations every night. Where do I sign up?
At the kiosk outside, I took a photo of two t-shirts: one with a Turkey
leg and the other showing Mickey bars – which I termed “entrée and
dessert”. The cast member asked if I was going to buy one and I said I
just wanted the photo.
The temperature had passed 80 degrees and we were ready for some pool
time. This is somewhat surprising but this is our 3rd stay at the Beach
Club and we have yet to stick a toe in Stormalong Bay. We’ve always used
the quiet pool. Unfortunately, this trip would be only a little
different. We hit Stormalong Bay but discovered a significant amount of
construction there. The “pool” was actually cut in half by a
construction wall. We got in and walked the sandy bottom of the Beach
Club side but the “lazy river” part was blocked by construction.
We sat for a while in some lounge chairs but between the construction
noise, the music blaring and the sound of the lifeguards running a game
for the three kids that were there, it wasn’t at all relaxing. We packed
up and headed to the quiet pool. We took a quick swim and went to the
hot tub which unfortunately was closed. We did spend the better part of
two hours in a couple of lounge chairs though.
Then it was upstairs for showers and a change of clothes. Housekeeping
had come and gone for trash and towel service while we were at the pool.
We were off again at 3:45 for a quick bus and a quicker monorail to the
Polynesian. Our plan was to be a bit early to have a drink in the Tambu
Lounge before it filled up with guests waiting to be seated at ‘Ohana.
We arrived right around 4:30 and grabbed a couple of barstools on the
“quiet” side – furthest from the ‘Ohana check-in desk. The bartender
came over and offered a couple of drink menus. We had thought hard about
ordering something out of a pineapple or with an umbrella and a straw
but, after reviewing the 37 pages of the drink menu, I stuck with my
usual Manhattan. Barb also went vanilla with a gin and tonic. Yeah,
we’re really adventurous.
We were chatting with the bartender when I happened to notice his
nametag: Clinta. That’s a distinctive name and one I remember from
several Sue Holland trip reports. I asked if he was a friend of Sue’s
and we spent the next 15-minutes chatting about her DVC Diva-bility.
Just kidding – most of our conversation was about the weather, travel, etc.
At 5:00, we checked in at the Kona Café and were given the mandatory
pager. It buzzed in 5 minutes and we were ushered in, given a tour of
the dessert table and seated in the far reaches of the restaurant, near
a window. We both heard our hostess say “I’ll be your server” as she
handed us the menus. What she really said was, “Thuy’ll be your server.”
And Thuy did a great job.
I’ll include some food porn in the photos (link coming at the end of
this tome). We started by sharing Pot Stickers (wok-seared pork and
vegetable dumplings with creamy ginger-soy sauce $7.49). They were very
good.
Barb ordered the Sustainable Fish, which tonight was Mahi Mahi with
black rice, swiss chard, and spicy cashew-cucumber relish. It was listed
as “Market Price” and a bargain at $18.99. She really enjoyed it.
I had the Teriyaki-style New York Strip, a sirloin strip grilled with
pineapple teriyaki glaze served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and
stir-fried broccolini ($28.99). Two points: it came with a scoop of a
sticky rice instead of the potatoes (the rice was good so no big deal),
and; what the heck is broccolini? I hadn’t heard of it until about six
months ago and now I see it everywhere. Here are my guesses - Broccolini is:
a) Thinner, longer broccoli (If broccoli is Jessica Simpson, then
broccolini would be Uma Thurman. Get it?);
b) Broccoli with dry vermouth and an olive;
c) A green tightrope walker or a member of a family of acrobats.
Cast your votes now (Psst – it’s ‘a’).
We concluded our meal by sharing a Crème Brulee and a presspot of Kona
coffee – both very good. We each had a glass of wine with dinner,
choosing the recommended selections with each entrée - a Riesling for
Barb and a Simi cabernet for me. After TiW and including tip, the bill
came to $92.
We both liked Kona Café. It’s a notch below places like Narcoossee’s or
the California Grill in its ambience but, in my opinion, it offers very
good value. The food is better than good and the service is above
average. It’s a bit louder and more brightly lit than some of the
signature restaurants but we’d definitely dine here again.
We rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, entered and walked up to
Fantasyland. We were going to take in a showing of Mickey’s
Philharmagic. We were walking toward the door and had a group of six in
front of us. They were an obvious group of business associates with one
of the many conventions here this week. As we walked through the door, I
was bumped (rather hard) by some idiot running to catch up with this
group. I voiced my, uh, displeasure as he sped away. In 5 seconds, this
same group was now blocking our way as they posed for pictures in the
otherwise empty queue. One of them could sense my feelings about this
and got everyone to move aside so we could pass through.
The theater was only about ¼ full. It seems the majority of the people
in the park tonight are on Main Street.
In deference to Barb, I now agree to ride “it’s a small world”. We got
to ride in our own boat. Yes, all alone amidst the hundreds and hundreds
of dolls singing that damned song. Ahhh, romance.
We moved down to the Hub, via the Tomorrowland bridge. It was about 7:35
and we were looking to take in the Magic, Memories and You show followed
by Wishes. We were a bit closer to the castle than I like but I thought
we could always move farther back later.
There was a show with Mickey, Minnie, Peter Pan, Wendy, et al going on
in the forecourt. We only caught the end so I had no idea what it was
about – but anything with Mickey has to be good, right?
We waited only a few more minutes for the Magic Memories and You. We’ve
seen this show, and liked it, once before. We viewed it from way down
toward the end of Main Street, by the Emporium. While the show is very
good from that vantage point, from up close it’s GREAT! We could see so
much more of the castle projections and special effects from here. I
strongly recommend it to everyone.
When the show ended, I expected a lot of folks to leave before Wishes –
if anything, the opposite occurred. More people come in later and it
seemed no one was leaving the hub area. I would have preferred being a
little farther back for Wishes but it simply wasn’t worth fighting
through the crowd.
Wishes, as always, was great. Being closer and off to one side a bit, it
appeared most fireworks occurred to the right side of the castle rather
than directly behind it – the effect if you’re centered in Main Street.
But it wasn’t a big deal.
A couple of peeves here… during the Magic, Memories and You show, maybe
2/3 of the way through, a dad decided to lift his daughter onto his
shoulders. I’ve seen this so many times over the years. I was to one
side so it didn’t affect me but the folks directly behind him went from
a fine view to no view. Please think about this before placing your
child on your shoulders. I’m all for giving the kids a better view but
simply lifting the child to your hip would put their face next to yours;
giving them the same view you have without disturbing those behind you.
It’s a small thing but a huge consideration.
Then there are those who insist on leaving during the shows. The lights
are dimmed, people are staring upwards and you push your stroller
through this mass of humanity and then stop in front of me expecting me
to move aside for you to get through? Ain’t happening. Either leave
before the shows start, or wait until they’ve ended. Please.
After Wishes, we waddled with a huge crowd to the bus stops and managed
to get seats on the first bus. Back at the Beach Club, I called Stephen
as we were walking to the room. We discussed the ongoing saga of the
stackable washer/dryer that Barb and I gave them as a Christmas present.
They’re STILL waiting for delivery but I won’t bore you with those
details (thanks, Lowes).
We grabbed a beer and a glass of wine and sat on our balcony waiting for
Illuminations. As expected, we could hear the music and narration, and
see the higher fireworks fairly well. The lower fireworks were only
visible through the trees. Not bad but the 5th floor is much better.
We hung out there for a while chatting and trying to reach Stephanie.
She returned from a business trip this evening and was relieving
Michelle at home tonight. She and Paul had gone out for some food but
she called when they returned. All was well at home.
Miles Walked Today: 4.58.
Things I Think I Think: I think I’ll stop wearing my glasses – the nose
guard is rubbing against the cut keeping it open. I typically only wear
them for distances anyway and a recent eye exam actually indicated my
vision has improved rather significantly. Hopefully, I won’t notice the
difference. I think I’ll have to pay attention next time I ride Mission:
Space to see if the restraints always lift that abruptly (and
forcefully). I think I liked the Kona Café. I think people should stay
put during the nighttime shows.
--
Steve
Sue/WDW1972
Feb 11, 2012, 7:05:08 PM2/11/12
to
I could share the Larry Wilmot technique, but then I'd have to kill
you. I enjoy your trip reports too much to do that! We did used to
play the "thumb over the date" game but the real technique has
something to do with a button on the back of the machines. Sadly,
Disney has de-activated that button since reading about Larry.
Glad you got to meet Clinta - he's a great guy.
Your entire trip report was terrific! Sorry to hear the news about
Gunnar....only time will heal that wound. Congratulations on your
retirement, and hopefully that'll mean many more trips in future
years.
Sue/WDW1972
you. I enjoy your trip reports too much to do that! We did used to
play the "thumb over the date" game but the real technique has
something to do with a button on the back of the machines. Sadly,
Disney has de-activated that button since reading about Larry.
Glad you got to meet Clinta - he's a great guy.
Your entire trip report was terrific! Sorry to hear the news about
Gunnar....only time will heal that wound. Congratulations on your
retirement, and hopefully that'll mean many more trips in future
years.
Sue/WDW1972
Steve Russo
Feb 12, 2012, 11:00:15 AM2/12/12
to
On 2/11/2012 7:05 PM, Sue/WDW1972 wrote:
> I could share the Larry Wilmot technique, but then I'd have to kill
> you. I enjoy your trip reports too much to do that!
Awwww. Thanks, Sue.
> I could share the Larry Wilmot technique, but then I'd have to kill
> you. I enjoy your trip reports too much to do that!
We did used to
> play the "thumb over the date" game but the real technique has
> something to do with a button on the back of the machines. Sadly,
> Disney has de-activated that button since reading about Larry.
when the machine wouldn't cooperate. I guess I thought that was too
blatant a ruse and gave Larry too much credit ;-)
>
> Glad you got to meet Clinta - he's a great guy.
minutes or so.
>
> Your entire trip report was terrific! Sorry to hear the news about
> Gunnar....only time will heal that wound. Congratulations on your
> retirement, and hopefully that'll mean many more trips in future
> years.
--
Steve
Rudeney
Feb 14, 2012, 4:22:30 PM2/14/12
to
On 2/10/2012 9:36 AM, Steve Russo wrote:
>
> We walk over to Epcot and are held at a rope by the Security tables
> until 8:50. A group of 13 people come to the front and explain they have
> a reservation for the Princess breakfast at Norway. No problem. The
> guards do their thorough (cough) search of all bags and in they go.
Including a hernia check? Now *that’s* pretty thorough!
>
> We walk over to Epcot and are held at a rope by the Security tables
> until 8:50. A group of 13 people come to the front and explain they have
> a reservation for the Princess breakfast at Norway. No problem. The
> guards do their thorough (cough) search of all bags and in they go.
> Naturally, two older women see this occur and saunter up from well back
> in the line to ask the Security guard why those people got in and they
> can’t. He explains it to them and they seem to buy it and, of course,
> they hold their ground at the front of the line never returning to their
> original spot. I love creative line jumpers.
> At 8:50 they drop the ropes and we enter. Is there anything better than
> walking through World Showcase with no one around? I take a few photos
> in the UK when Barb suggested she take one of me. I’m usually the guy
> behind the camera so there are precious few photos of me actually in
> Walt Disney World. I decide it would be fitting to pose in front of the
> Rose and Crown. I take up a spot in front of the doors, under a sign
> that reads, “Pub”. Naturally, Barb frames it so the sign is not visible.
> It’s basically just me standing in front of a door – any door. Oh, well.
read “pub”.
> Next up: Mission: Space. We rode green again. Barb and I were the only
> two in our module this time. When our mission ended, I tried to be cute
> and started applauding like the guy yesterday. Barb giggled (she’s easy)
> and I leaned up a bit to ask for a high five. At that point, the
> shoulder harnesses released. My recollection is that you needed to raise
> these yourself but these things flew up abruptly and violently. It
> caught the bottom of my glasses and drove them up into the bridge of my
> nose, opening a cut just at the edge of the eye socket. Barb saw this
> and asked if I was OK. I said “Yes”
wrong thing to say!
> To Italy where Barb sampled some perfume. She tried to spritz a bit on
> her wrist but managed to spray a quart or so directly on her neck and
> face. I’ve seen her aim at Buzz Lightyear so this is not as surprising
> as you might think.
> We also purchased a bag of Amaretto cookies for Pop.
> He’s a big fan of cookies and a bigger fan of Amaretto so we thought
> this would be a winner – of course, with Pop, one never knows.
> We enter the shop in the US pavilion and browsed for a bit. As we were
> leaving, a cast member stuck her head in the door and warned the cast
> member at the counter to watch out for the little ones. They come in the
> shop, steal chocolates and take them over to the bushes by the main
> entrance to eat. I didn’t hear the entire exchange and thought she had a
> gang of children (or midgets) that was terrorizing Epcot’s shops. She
> was talking about squirrels stealing the chocolates. They take them into
> the nearby bushes to eat and then return for more. Not a bad life –
> Epcot chocolates all day and Illuminations every night. Where do I
sign up?
living in the wooded areas of Epcot, stealing cookies…
> At the kiosk outside, I took a photo of two t-shirts: one with a Turkey
> leg and the other showing Mickey bars – which I termed “entrée and
> dessert”.
> We were chatting with the bartender when I happened to notice his
> nametag: Clinta. That’s a distinctive name and one I remember from
> several Sue Holland trip reports. I asked if he was a friend of Sue’s
> Barb ordered the Sustainable Fish, which tonight was Mahi Mahi with
> black rice, swiss chard, and spicy cashew-cucumber relish. It was listed
> as “Market Price” and a bargain at $18.99. She really enjoyed it.
> I had the Teriyaki-style New York Strip, a sirloin strip grilled with
> pineapple teriyaki glaze served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and
> stir-fried broccolini ($28.99). Two points: it came with a scoop of a
> sticky rice instead of the potatoes (the rice was good so no big deal),
> and; what the heck is broccolini? I hadn’t heard of it until about six
> months ago and now I see it everywhere. Here are my guesses - Broccolini
> is:
>
> a) Thinner, longer broccoli (If broccoli is Jessica Simpson, then
> broccolini would be Uma Thurman. Get it?);
couldn’t you have at least used Adele in the metaphor instead?
> b) Broccoli with dry vermouth and an olive;
> c) A green tightrope walker or a member of a family of acrobats.
> We rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, entered and walked up to
> Fantasyland. We were going to take in a showing of Mickey’s
> Philharmagic. We were walking toward the door and had a group of six in
> front of us. They were an obvious group of business associates with one
> of the many conventions here this week. As we walked through the door, I
> was bumped (rather hard) by some idiot running to catch up with this
> group. I voiced my, uh, displeasure as he sped away. In 5 seconds, this
> same group was now blocking our way as they posed for pictures in the
> otherwise empty queue. One of them could sense my feelings about this
> and got everyone to move aside so we could pass through.
Roadhouse the other night who kept dangling her screaming toddler over
our side of the booth. I told Katie to try to catch the peanuts in her
mouth as I tossed them, but of course I am really bad shot (worse than
Barb) and several of them ended up in the other booth. One or two
bounding off the toddler’s screaming head. My feelings were felt load
and clear.
> In deference to Barb, I now agree to ride “it’s a small world”. We got
> to ride in our own boat. Yes, all alone amidst the hundreds and hundreds
> of dolls singing that damned song. Ahhh, romance.
> A couple of peeves here… during the Magic, Memories and You show, maybe
> 2/3 of the way through, a dad decided to lift his daughter onto his
> shoulders. I’ve seen this so many times over the years. I was to one
> side so it didn’t affect me but the folks directly behind him went from
> a fine view to no view. Please think about this before placing your
> child on your shoulders. I’m all for giving the kids a better view but
> simply lifting the child to your hip would put their face next to yours;
> giving them the same view you have without disturbing those behind you.
> It’s a small thing but a huge consideration.
>
> Then there are those who insist on leaving during the shows. The lights
> are dimmed, people are staring upwards and you push your stroller
> through this mass of humanity and then stop in front of me expecting me
> to move aside for you to get through? Ain’t happening. Either leave
> before the shows start, or wait until they’ve ended. Please.
are in the name of their children.
> After Wishes, we waddled with a huge crowd to the bus stops and managed
> to get seats on the first bus. Back at the Beach Club, I called Stephen
> as we were walking to the room. We discussed the ongoing saga of the
> stackable washer/dryer that Barb and I gave them as a Christmas present.
> They’re STILL waiting for delivery but I won’t bore you with those
> details (thanks, Lowes).
was great; they actually followed me in their truck right after I bought it.
> Things I Think I Think: I think I’ll stop wearing my glasses – the nose
> guard is rubbing against the cut keeping it open. I typically only wear
> them for distances anyway and a recent eye exam actually indicated my
> vision has improved rather significantly.
more far-sighted. Of course the downside is that it’s at the expense of
your near-vision. I was wearing bifocal contacts, but then my
prescription changed and I can’t get them, so I went with monovision
contacts (one far, one near). It works great for the computer screen,
but is horrible trying to watch TV or drive at night, so then I switch
to glasses. I’m not a candidate for surgery, so I guess this is just
the way it is until some new lens technology comes around.
--
- RODNEY
Next WDW Vacation?
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Steve Russo
Feb 15, 2012, 7:53:11 AM2/15/12
to
On 2/14/2012 4:22 PM, Rudeney wrote:
> > At 8:50 they drop the ropes and we enter. Is there anything better than
> > walking through World Showcase with no one around? I take a few photos
> > in the UK when Barb suggested she take one of me. I’m usually the guy
> > behind the camera so there are precious few photos of me actually in
> > Walt Disney World. I decide it would be fitting to pose in front of the
> > Rose and Crown. I take up a spot in front of the doors, under a sign
> > that reads, “Pub”. Naturally, Barb frames it so the sign is not visible.
> > It’s basically just me standing in front of a door – any door. Oh, well.
>
> Oh, please, there must be thousands of pictures of you under signs that
> read “pub”.
Nope. I do have a few me under barstools but nothing under a sign.
> > At 8:50 they drop the ropes and we enter. Is there anything better than
> > walking through World Showcase with no one around? I take a few photos
> > in the UK when Barb suggested she take one of me. I’m usually the guy
> > behind the camera so there are precious few photos of me actually in
> > Walt Disney World. I decide it would be fitting to pose in front of the
> > Rose and Crown. I take up a spot in front of the doors, under a sign
> > that reads, “Pub”. Naturally, Barb frames it so the sign is not visible.
> > It’s basically just me standing in front of a door – any door. Oh, well.
>
> Oh, please, there must be thousands of pictures of you under signs that
> read “pub”.
> > I had the Teriyaki-style New York Strip, a sirloin strip grilled with
> > pineapple teriyaki glaze served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and
> > stir-fried broccolini ($28.99). Two points: it came with a scoop of a
> > sticky rice instead of the potatoes (the rice was good so no big deal),
> > and; what the heck is broccolini? I hadn’t heard of it until about six
> > months ago and now I see it everywhere. Here are my guesses - Broccolini
> > is:
> >
> > a) Thinner, longer broccoli (If broccoli is Jessica Simpson, then
> > broccolini would be Uma Thurman. Get it?);
>
> Really, Steve, jumping on the Jessica Simpson basing wagon are we?
> couldn’t you have at least used Adele in the metaphor instead?
Snookie though.
>
> > b) Broccoli with dry vermouth and an olive;
>
> Blech!
>
> > c) A green tightrope walker or a member of a family of acrobats.
>
> No, that would be The Great Broccolini.
>
> > In deference to Barb, I now agree to ride “it’s a small world”. We got
> > to ride in our own boat. Yes, all alone amidst the hundreds and hundreds
> > of dolls singing that damned song. Ahhh, romance.
>
> OK, if you really find anything romantic about that...
>
> > After Wishes, we waddled with a huge crowd to the bus stops and managed
> > to get seats on the first bus. Back at the Beach Club, I called Stephen
> > as we were walking to the room. We discussed the ongoing saga of the
> > stackable washer/dryer that Barb and I gave them as a Christmas present.
> > They’re STILL waiting for delivery but I won’t bore you with those
> > details (thanks, Lowes).
>
> My one and only Lowe’s appliance delivery – a fridge for the office -
> was great; they actually followed me in their truck right after I bought
> it.
Friday - more than 2 months after I ordered.
>
> > Things I Think I Think: I think I’ll stop wearing my glasses – the nose
> > guard is rubbing against the cut keeping it open. I typically only wear
> > them for distances anyway and a recent eye exam actually indicated my
> > vision has improved rather significantly.
>
> One of the few pleasant side-effects of aging is that you tend to become
> more far-sighted. Of course the downside is that it’s at the expense of
> your near-vision.
smaller fonts on their Sunday crossword puzzles.
--
Steve
Rudeney
Feb 15, 2012, 2:35:55 PM2/15/12
to
Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> On 2/14/2012 4:22 PM, Rudeney wrote:
>
>> > In deference to Barb, I now agree to ride “it’s a small world”. We got
>> > to ride in our own boat. Yes, all alone amidst the hundreds and hundreds
>> > of dolls singing that damned song. Ahhh, romance.
>>
>> OK, if you really find anything romantic about that...
>
> Is your sarcasm sensor in the shop for repair?
>
>
Oh, crap! I knew that my outbound sarcasm filter quit working years
> On 2/14/2012 4:22 PM, Rudeney wrote:
>
>> > In deference to Barb, I now agree to ride “it’s a small world”. We got
>> > to ride in our own boat. Yes, all alone amidst the hundreds and hundreds
>> > of dolls singing that damned song. Ahhh, romance.
>>
>> OK, if you really find anything romantic about that...
>
> Is your sarcasm sensor in the shop for repair?
>
>
ago...now the inbound filter is broken, too?
--
- Rodney
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