offwego
09-10-2009, 12:44 PM
Cast..all of offwego's family
Friends ElenitaB and DS
Mickey'sGirl and DH, DS1 and DS2 & her Dad
Cantgetenuf
Plans AK in the morning to afternoon and Citrico's for 7:15
Well we managed a pretty good start to the day and were at AK just past opening..we managed to find Mickey'sGirl en famille at bag check area (thus avoiding texts which tell ya nada) and headed in to the park.
It's hot with some extra Hot by the way in this park, bring water, fans, hats, whatever you need cause it's Hot!
We headed over to the central fastpass system to get them for Everest, while we liked this we did find guests to be confused thinking they could just go from one machine to the next and get them all. (in fact one gentleman who we chatted with was likely quite disappointed to find his little pieces of this is not a fastpass paper don't work so well).
After that (and as the rest of the party was not yet at AK) we headed to do a standby run on the safari. Despite my engrossed email of work (work I'd like to remind some readers) stuff and attempt to wander off the edge of the platform in search of bars we headed off for the two week journey in fairly good time.
Lots of animals out and about (despite the hot) we saw baby elephants, girrafe's, rhino's etc and had excellent views and time to see them all.
After this our other folks were inbound but our FP's for Everest where also good to go. So those who weren't doing that waited in one spot while those that were trecked over (and picked up another fp for it at the same time for those who were just getting there).
We really enjoyed it and when finished after a bit of confusion met up with everyone (texting doesn't work as well here as we all seemed to have issues with keeping bars). In the meantime the teenage boys found a pile of fastpasses for Everest meaning all who wanted a redo could do a redo! Fantastic! (quite the thing to leave on a garbage can)
Whilst I waited for ice cream cart to open (a mickey sandwich for a friend and a frozen banana for me!!) and then there was some frozen lemonaide also consumed by the group.
It was hot, with some hot..and extra hot so we got fp for Kali and then went and enjoyed Tough to be a bug.
Well almost enjoyed it, this is one of the very few places where despite designated seating for ECV and wheelchair parties we were unable to sit with our friend. In fact only her DS was with her. (as a large group we could have understood a max of say 2 or three but only 1 was permitted)Was the area full? Nope empty in fact but as you couldn't wait near there and are funnelled in to a mostly darkened theatre you cannot figure out how to get back to the area where they are. It seemed foolish to me to force the parties to seperate in this manner with no instructions as to how to regroup etc.
Not at all how we anticpated this working.
Well after that and a short time of monkey watching those who wished went for the wet ride. Some wetter than others but it was after all HOT.
Due to all the HOT we soon broke up after this, some to go take care of things like school pick ups etc, others to different adventures and we headed back for some pool, rest regroup time before our dinner.
(shoes for this were a truly amazing pair of green with pink ribbon slight wedge flip flops that I just adored..many thanks again to the generous person who gave them to me)
The weather today had been sunny and hot but we would be just dashing in to Citrico's under heavy rain that would last our entire dinner and beyond.
We had dressed up for this a (I had packed a skirt and matching top, the guys had short sleeved button shirts and dressier shorts) bit at least (shoes were pink skimmers as the skirt is ballerina inspired)
We did find most but not all patrons had dressed for the location quite well, also it was the busiest we had seen it. The check in staff also confirmed the details fo the dining plan prior to seating you here which was interesting.
Our waiter was nice but we found the service to be not as prompt and seemless as before. Our appetizers arrived in short order but my order was incorrect (DS asked for the crab cake, DH the quail appetizer and I the goat cheese salad they brought two crab cakes in error). Also the crab cake was far more heavily weighted to cream then in the past where it was lighter in texture than this. (not otherwise changed in it's description though so that was a surprise to DS). The presentation was all lovely however.
Then prior to our plates (empty) being removed our entree's arrived via runner who was standing there going uh oh for want of a better phrase.
The waiter soon showed up and removed the app plates and our entree's were served.
I had the berkshire pork two ways (lovely), DH had short ribs I believe and DS had ordered the fillet medium rare (it came however far closer to blue rare a cut that I enjoy and that he does not, as the waiter didnt come back for some time to enquire he made the best of it but was pretty disappointed)
For dessert DS had the tiramsiu (which he enjoyed) and DH had the creme brulee I was able to sub a dessert for my beloved cheese course (with nice port to go with)
One thing that had changed is the removal of the wine flights (by the glass and bottle are still available). We did miss that as it was a great way to sample the correct type of wine at a reasonable cost for your dish.
Also we had noticed that more families were here (which is by and large great!!) however one family that struggled with their toddler and one could not help but overhear that it was the first time ever they had taken him to a sit down restuarant. I'm not sure this the right place or pace for those that have never done a sit down with a 4 year old (guess on my part) but I do know these parents didn't much enjoy their dinner. (their son cried often, knocked over all their drinks, tossed cutlery etc..the conversation between the parents was not avoidable by us as they were in the adjacent table and conversing at a volume to be heard over the boy not under him..)
It was still overall a great experience but it may remind us that free dining doesn't enhance the dining experience due to the strain it puts on all locations.
The weather was still unsettled so we opted to call it a night afterward and headed back for more swim (and for DS arcade) time.:thumbsup:
Friends ElenitaB and DS
Mickey'sGirl and DH, DS1 and DS2 & her Dad
Cantgetenuf
Plans AK in the morning to afternoon and Citrico's for 7:15
Well we managed a pretty good start to the day and were at AK just past opening..we managed to find Mickey'sGirl en famille at bag check area (thus avoiding texts which tell ya nada) and headed in to the park.
It's hot with some extra Hot by the way in this park, bring water, fans, hats, whatever you need cause it's Hot!
We headed over to the central fastpass system to get them for Everest, while we liked this we did find guests to be confused thinking they could just go from one machine to the next and get them all. (in fact one gentleman who we chatted with was likely quite disappointed to find his little pieces of this is not a fastpass paper don't work so well).
After that (and as the rest of the party was not yet at AK) we headed to do a standby run on the safari. Despite my engrossed email of work (work I'd like to remind some readers) stuff and attempt to wander off the edge of the platform in search of bars we headed off for the two week journey in fairly good time.
Lots of animals out and about (despite the hot) we saw baby elephants, girrafe's, rhino's etc and had excellent views and time to see them all.
After this our other folks were inbound but our FP's for Everest where also good to go. So those who weren't doing that waited in one spot while those that were trecked over (and picked up another fp for it at the same time for those who were just getting there).
We really enjoyed it and when finished after a bit of confusion met up with everyone (texting doesn't work as well here as we all seemed to have issues with keeping bars). In the meantime the teenage boys found a pile of fastpasses for Everest meaning all who wanted a redo could do a redo! Fantastic! (quite the thing to leave on a garbage can)
Whilst I waited for ice cream cart to open (a mickey sandwich for a friend and a frozen banana for me!!) and then there was some frozen lemonaide also consumed by the group.
It was hot, with some hot..and extra hot so we got fp for Kali and then went and enjoyed Tough to be a bug.
Well almost enjoyed it, this is one of the very few places where despite designated seating for ECV and wheelchair parties we were unable to sit with our friend. In fact only her DS was with her. (as a large group we could have understood a max of say 2 or three but only 1 was permitted)Was the area full? Nope empty in fact but as you couldn't wait near there and are funnelled in to a mostly darkened theatre you cannot figure out how to get back to the area where they are. It seemed foolish to me to force the parties to seperate in this manner with no instructions as to how to regroup etc.
Not at all how we anticpated this working.
Well after that and a short time of monkey watching those who wished went for the wet ride. Some wetter than others but it was after all HOT.
Due to all the HOT we soon broke up after this, some to go take care of things like school pick ups etc, others to different adventures and we headed back for some pool, rest regroup time before our dinner.
(shoes for this were a truly amazing pair of green with pink ribbon slight wedge flip flops that I just adored..many thanks again to the generous person who gave them to me)
The weather today had been sunny and hot but we would be just dashing in to Citrico's under heavy rain that would last our entire dinner and beyond.
We had dressed up for this a (I had packed a skirt and matching top, the guys had short sleeved button shirts and dressier shorts) bit at least (shoes were pink skimmers as the skirt is ballerina inspired)
We did find most but not all patrons had dressed for the location quite well, also it was the busiest we had seen it. The check in staff also confirmed the details fo the dining plan prior to seating you here which was interesting.
Our waiter was nice but we found the service to be not as prompt and seemless as before. Our appetizers arrived in short order but my order was incorrect (DS asked for the crab cake, DH the quail appetizer and I the goat cheese salad they brought two crab cakes in error). Also the crab cake was far more heavily weighted to cream then in the past where it was lighter in texture than this. (not otherwise changed in it's description though so that was a surprise to DS). The presentation was all lovely however.
Then prior to our plates (empty) being removed our entree's arrived via runner who was standing there going uh oh for want of a better phrase.
The waiter soon showed up and removed the app plates and our entree's were served.
I had the berkshire pork two ways (lovely), DH had short ribs I believe and DS had ordered the fillet medium rare (it came however far closer to blue rare a cut that I enjoy and that he does not, as the waiter didnt come back for some time to enquire he made the best of it but was pretty disappointed)
For dessert DS had the tiramsiu (which he enjoyed) and DH had the creme brulee I was able to sub a dessert for my beloved cheese course (with nice port to go with)
One thing that had changed is the removal of the wine flights (by the glass and bottle are still available). We did miss that as it was a great way to sample the correct type of wine at a reasonable cost for your dish.
Also we had noticed that more families were here (which is by and large great!!) however one family that struggled with their toddler and one could not help but overhear that it was the first time ever they had taken him to a sit down restuarant. I'm not sure this the right place or pace for those that have never done a sit down with a 4 year old (guess on my part) but I do know these parents didn't much enjoy their dinner. (their son cried often, knocked over all their drinks, tossed cutlery etc..the conversation between the parents was not avoidable by us as they were in the adjacent table and conversing at a volume to be heard over the boy not under him..)
It was still overall a great experience but it may remind us that free dining doesn't enhance the dining experience due to the strain it puts on all locations.
The weather was still unsettled so we opted to call it a night afterward and headed back for more swim (and for DS arcade) time.:thumbsup: