faline
09-25-2008, 03:40 PM
Date: Thursday, September 4, 2008
Plan for the Day:
Epcot
Boulangerie Patisserie for lunch
Le Cellier for Dinner
Mileage: 5.09 miles
What Actually Happened:
I’m slow moving this morning. My throat is sore but the sinuses are not clogged – at least not yet.
Now, it looks like Hanna won’t affect us at all but may do a number on the beaches. Ike, on the other hand, is now a category 4 with winds of 145-185 mph depending on which tv station you watch. It’s heading straight to Orlando or Miami, again, depending upon the forecaster.
As we’re getting ready for our day, I realize we forgot to use the Disney Dining Experience card at dinner last evening! The great folks at concierge fix that for us before we’ve even had breakfast.
I have a bowl of cereal this morning – for some strange reason. I’m not a big cereal person and haven’t eaten it in years. A woman who is celebrating her 25th anniversary stops to talk. They were upgraded to the concierge level due to some issues they’d had with their initial room assignment. She’s a regular on a rival Disney related site and says she has never heard of Intercot!!!
While we’re chatting, a bride and her attendants emerge from one of the rooms. She’s wearing a lovely gown – very simple lines but very elegant. I’m sure she was a beautiful bride!
Gene discovers a chocolate he had thrown into his fanny pack his melted – silly guy – what does he think will happen to chocolate when it’s 90 degrees out?! Anyway, he needs to do some cleaning up!
It’s after 10 before we arrive at the bus stop for Epcot. Once again, we only wait about 10 minutes for a bus.
Our first stop this morning is the Land as it was so crowded in here the other day that we didn’t do more than step foot inside just to turn around and leave. Soarin posts a 15 minute standby time but we choose to get fast passes. Continuing the theme of low crowds, Living with the Land is a walk-on. We arrive at the Circle of Life just as they are opening the doors to the theater so we walk right on in.
Time for Soarin’. The standby line now posts a 45 minute wait time! Apparently, they experienced some sort of problem that backed them up. We’re in the fast pass line for close to 10 minutes. They let everyone in front of us through and asked us to wait. The cast member then asks for a party of two and, without thinking, I offer us up. Now mind you, we were in excellent position for being seated in the front row before I responded to the cast member. We’re placed in row 3. Oh well! When we enter the ride, we find the cast member miscounted and there’s only one seat available for the two of us. In the interim, they’ve also miscounted for another glider and they are in the process of leading a single gentleman back out who also had no seat. He gets seated in the single seat in our glider and we’ll just have to wait for the next lift off! Yippee! We’ll now be in Row 1!
By the time we finish Soarin’ over California, it is after noon so we head to the Boulangerie Patisserie in France.
As we head toward France, I make a stop in the rest room. A woman in there commented to me that one would need to be crazy to come down at this time of year as it’s so hot. I replied that it had been much worse when we got here the week before. She replied that she knew because she lives here???!!!
In the past, we’ve only gotten desserts from the Ptisserie. We each have a ham and cheese croissant which is very, very good! It must be good if I wouldn’t hesitate to come back for another as I’m not a big fan of ham and cheese sandwiches! We each also have a French beer to go along with our sandwiches. As much as I would have liked to partake of one of those wonderful desserts, I’ve been doing so much eating and I really am full from the sandwich so we reluctantly decide not to indulge.
After lunch, we wander the shops in the French pavilion and take in Impressions de France.
In Morocco, we have our picture taken with Jasmine (no-one was in line at all). We watch the drummers in Japan for a bit.
As we pass the American pavilion, it appears we’ve missed the 2:15 performance of the American Adventure but, no, they’re still letting folks in so we can go right into the theater. After the show, we circle round to see if The Voices of Liberty are performing. They are; so we stay until they finish their set. Unfortunately, we missed the beginning of their performance. In the shop, I purchase a CD and have it sent back to our room. The Fife and Drum parade (http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/518/2708130690104031159S600x600Q85.jpg)is about to stop so we stay to watch that. We recite the Pledge of Allegiance (http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/41183/2625125450104031159S600x600Q85.jpg)along with the performers and other guests. Quite moving!
There are very few people in this area of World Showcase. The park is bordering on empty! In Italy, we’re offered a glass of wine to celebrate our anniversary but politely decline. There are only two trains running in the display outside of Germany. One train, off in the distance, appears to have derailed. The China pavilion seems to have a lot of construction going on – even beyond the refurbishment of Nine Dragons. Still, we make our way inside and see Reflections of China.
In Norway, we’re asked to carry the timer tag to the boarding cast member. This is almost silly exercise as there is no wait at all. We walk right onto a boat. However, the boats stop just as we’re about to move into the unloading area at the end of the ride. A spiel comes over the loudspeaker asking us to stay seated and remain where we are and announces someone will be right with us to assist. This is repeated several times. Uh – we can see the cast members from where we’re seated. In fact, two of them are having a race around the dock area with the scooters of a couple of guests. Not sure the guests would appreciate that if they knew! While we’re waiting for the ride to begin functioning again, and despite the announcement that cast members will assist us, not one cast member ever says a word to anyone in our boat. Finally, the ride is restarted and we slide into the unloading dock and disembark. By now, though, they’ve started the movie and closed the doors so we need to wait 5 more minutes or so until the doors reopen. Since we saw the movie the other day, we pass on through.
Next up is the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. My cold is starting to bother me some. We briefly stop in each of the two little stores between Mexico and Canada and then head directly to Le Cellier, arriving approximately one-half hour before our scheduled reservation. We’re told we may need to wait the half-hour or we may be seated in five minutes. We’re seated in less than ten minutes.
For dinner, we share a Tomato Stack. I have the Filet Mignon while Gene selects the New York Strip. Too stuffed for dessert, we settle the bill. I’ve found that, while the food is generally always good here, my overall experience varies based on where we’re seated and how crowded it is. On our last few visits here, we’ve been seated at a lovely table outside the flow of traffic which helped raise this location to one of our favorites. This evening, we’re seated at a table just around the corner from the entrance and right in a very busy area. We’ve been seated in this area once before and that was when Le Cellier had fallen off our list of favorites. I find that, having a cold and being seated where we were, both impacted our overall impression of this evening’s dining experience. It was good but not stellar.
Tomorrow is slated to be a long day so we decide to call it an early evening and had back to Wilderness Lodge. We wait about ten minutes for a bus. We end up being the only two on the bus. Another couple had boarded with us but they are trying to make their way to Downtown Disney so are redirected to the Saratoga Springs bus stop which is adjacent to the Wilderness Lodge stop.
On the way out of Epcot, it had felt like one of my toes was rubbing against another. What’s that about? When we got back to the room, I discovered, yup, there’s a blister!
Overall, the weather today was quite lovely. It was sunny but the humidity was quite low so you did not feel like you were slogging through the day covered in a sheen of sweat. By dinnertime, it had become quite overcast and even looked like it might rain.
At 10, I step out on the balcony to watch Wishes. The skies have cleared and I can see stars. After the fireworks, it’s lights out.
Plan for the Day:
Epcot
Boulangerie Patisserie for lunch
Le Cellier for Dinner
Mileage: 5.09 miles
What Actually Happened:
I’m slow moving this morning. My throat is sore but the sinuses are not clogged – at least not yet.
Now, it looks like Hanna won’t affect us at all but may do a number on the beaches. Ike, on the other hand, is now a category 4 with winds of 145-185 mph depending on which tv station you watch. It’s heading straight to Orlando or Miami, again, depending upon the forecaster.
As we’re getting ready for our day, I realize we forgot to use the Disney Dining Experience card at dinner last evening! The great folks at concierge fix that for us before we’ve even had breakfast.
I have a bowl of cereal this morning – for some strange reason. I’m not a big cereal person and haven’t eaten it in years. A woman who is celebrating her 25th anniversary stops to talk. They were upgraded to the concierge level due to some issues they’d had with their initial room assignment. She’s a regular on a rival Disney related site and says she has never heard of Intercot!!!
While we’re chatting, a bride and her attendants emerge from one of the rooms. She’s wearing a lovely gown – very simple lines but very elegant. I’m sure she was a beautiful bride!
Gene discovers a chocolate he had thrown into his fanny pack his melted – silly guy – what does he think will happen to chocolate when it’s 90 degrees out?! Anyway, he needs to do some cleaning up!
It’s after 10 before we arrive at the bus stop for Epcot. Once again, we only wait about 10 minutes for a bus.
Our first stop this morning is the Land as it was so crowded in here the other day that we didn’t do more than step foot inside just to turn around and leave. Soarin posts a 15 minute standby time but we choose to get fast passes. Continuing the theme of low crowds, Living with the Land is a walk-on. We arrive at the Circle of Life just as they are opening the doors to the theater so we walk right on in.
Time for Soarin’. The standby line now posts a 45 minute wait time! Apparently, they experienced some sort of problem that backed them up. We’re in the fast pass line for close to 10 minutes. They let everyone in front of us through and asked us to wait. The cast member then asks for a party of two and, without thinking, I offer us up. Now mind you, we were in excellent position for being seated in the front row before I responded to the cast member. We’re placed in row 3. Oh well! When we enter the ride, we find the cast member miscounted and there’s only one seat available for the two of us. In the interim, they’ve also miscounted for another glider and they are in the process of leading a single gentleman back out who also had no seat. He gets seated in the single seat in our glider and we’ll just have to wait for the next lift off! Yippee! We’ll now be in Row 1!
By the time we finish Soarin’ over California, it is after noon so we head to the Boulangerie Patisserie in France.
As we head toward France, I make a stop in the rest room. A woman in there commented to me that one would need to be crazy to come down at this time of year as it’s so hot. I replied that it had been much worse when we got here the week before. She replied that she knew because she lives here???!!!
In the past, we’ve only gotten desserts from the Ptisserie. We each have a ham and cheese croissant which is very, very good! It must be good if I wouldn’t hesitate to come back for another as I’m not a big fan of ham and cheese sandwiches! We each also have a French beer to go along with our sandwiches. As much as I would have liked to partake of one of those wonderful desserts, I’ve been doing so much eating and I really am full from the sandwich so we reluctantly decide not to indulge.
After lunch, we wander the shops in the French pavilion and take in Impressions de France.
In Morocco, we have our picture taken with Jasmine (no-one was in line at all). We watch the drummers in Japan for a bit.
As we pass the American pavilion, it appears we’ve missed the 2:15 performance of the American Adventure but, no, they’re still letting folks in so we can go right into the theater. After the show, we circle round to see if The Voices of Liberty are performing. They are; so we stay until they finish their set. Unfortunately, we missed the beginning of their performance. In the shop, I purchase a CD and have it sent back to our room. The Fife and Drum parade (http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/518/2708130690104031159S600x600Q85.jpg)is about to stop so we stay to watch that. We recite the Pledge of Allegiance (http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/41183/2625125450104031159S600x600Q85.jpg)along with the performers and other guests. Quite moving!
There are very few people in this area of World Showcase. The park is bordering on empty! In Italy, we’re offered a glass of wine to celebrate our anniversary but politely decline. There are only two trains running in the display outside of Germany. One train, off in the distance, appears to have derailed. The China pavilion seems to have a lot of construction going on – even beyond the refurbishment of Nine Dragons. Still, we make our way inside and see Reflections of China.
In Norway, we’re asked to carry the timer tag to the boarding cast member. This is almost silly exercise as there is no wait at all. We walk right onto a boat. However, the boats stop just as we’re about to move into the unloading area at the end of the ride. A spiel comes over the loudspeaker asking us to stay seated and remain where we are and announces someone will be right with us to assist. This is repeated several times. Uh – we can see the cast members from where we’re seated. In fact, two of them are having a race around the dock area with the scooters of a couple of guests. Not sure the guests would appreciate that if they knew! While we’re waiting for the ride to begin functioning again, and despite the announcement that cast members will assist us, not one cast member ever says a word to anyone in our boat. Finally, the ride is restarted and we slide into the unloading dock and disembark. By now, though, they’ve started the movie and closed the doors so we need to wait 5 more minutes or so until the doors reopen. Since we saw the movie the other day, we pass on through.
Next up is the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. My cold is starting to bother me some. We briefly stop in each of the two little stores between Mexico and Canada and then head directly to Le Cellier, arriving approximately one-half hour before our scheduled reservation. We’re told we may need to wait the half-hour or we may be seated in five minutes. We’re seated in less than ten minutes.
For dinner, we share a Tomato Stack. I have the Filet Mignon while Gene selects the New York Strip. Too stuffed for dessert, we settle the bill. I’ve found that, while the food is generally always good here, my overall experience varies based on where we’re seated and how crowded it is. On our last few visits here, we’ve been seated at a lovely table outside the flow of traffic which helped raise this location to one of our favorites. This evening, we’re seated at a table just around the corner from the entrance and right in a very busy area. We’ve been seated in this area once before and that was when Le Cellier had fallen off our list of favorites. I find that, having a cold and being seated where we were, both impacted our overall impression of this evening’s dining experience. It was good but not stellar.
Tomorrow is slated to be a long day so we decide to call it an early evening and had back to Wilderness Lodge. We wait about ten minutes for a bus. We end up being the only two on the bus. Another couple had boarded with us but they are trying to make their way to Downtown Disney so are redirected to the Saratoga Springs bus stop which is adjacent to the Wilderness Lodge stop.
On the way out of Epcot, it had felt like one of my toes was rubbing against another. What’s that about? When we got back to the room, I discovered, yup, there’s a blister!
Overall, the weather today was quite lovely. It was sunny but the humidity was quite low so you did not feel like you were slogging through the day covered in a sheen of sweat. By dinnertime, it had become quite overcast and even looked like it might rain.
At 10, I step out on the balcony to watch Wishes. The skies have cleared and I can see stars. After the fireworks, it’s lights out.