ltjrrich
01-18-2010, 07:10 PM
Day 4, 1/6 - Our Anniversary: Kim and I started dating on 1/6/09 so this was our 1 year anniversary. We got up early and had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. This meal isn't as fun as 'Ohana, but I think the food is much better. I had the best cream cheese ever on my bagel at 1900 Park Fare. It may have had salmon in it, I'm not sure. Whatever was in it, it was delicious. Like with my birthday, all the reservations said that it was our anniversary. All day we kept getting asked how long we were married, but rather than correct anyone we just went with it and said we were married for a year. The second time the characters came around, Pooh had been with the table behind us for a while and Tigger was getting impatient, so Kim and I were treated to the sight of Tigger softly kicking Pooh in his backside! Oh my, did we laugh! It's fun when the characters interact with each other. After breakfast we went to the gift shop and I bought Kim a Mickey Mouse ring that she had seen on our first day. I got two Disney gift cards for Christmas, and I used most of one of them on her. Fine with me, though. A first timer should have as many souvenirs as possible, I think. We went to the MK, and we did pretty much everything we hadn't done yet there, including buying pineapple floats from Aloha Isle! That day was actually one of the warmer days on the trip, so the float wasn't totally inappropriate. We did the Jungle Cruise, The Tiki Birds (I prefer the new show, but I do miss hearing all of the opening song), and we got to finish up Fantasyland. We even did Mickey's Toontown Fair, which I don't think I've done since it was Mickey's Birthday Land. We walked through Minnie's house and then took the train to Frontierland. We also did HM, which I will admit - I don't like. Never did, never will. Although I do think it's a little better now, better meaning less scary. Yes, yes - HM scares me, and that's why I don't like it. I just do not like being scared. I don't understand the appeal of it, but that's just me. At least they don't have as many of those heads that pop up from behind things. That's an improvement - those are what scare me the most. Although my worst nightmare almost came true - the ride did stop twice. Both times it was very brief - maybe 30 seconds at most. But considering I don't like the ride, I was really upset. My absolute worst nightmare would be if HM stopped completely while I was on it, and then they had to evacuate the ride. They'd probably need to call paramedics for me if that ever happened. That's also why we waited until now to ride. We could have done it during the EMH on our first day, but I absolutely will not ride it at night under any circumstances. The rare occasions when I will ride are only in daylight. We met up with my parents in the afternoon and had lunch at Tony's. We always eat at Tony's, but more so out of tradition than any actual love for the restaurant. It's good, certainly, but not great. Although I was quite happy with my meal, and my appetizer of calamari. Even the tiramisu was good. We always joke about not getting dessert at Tony's because my mother - who is Italian - does not like Italian desserts. No one in her family does. So we're always disappointed in the dessert menu at Tony's because it's almost always nothing we want - although this time it was good. As luck would have it, the 3:00 parade began just as we left the restaurant. We stayed to watch, then Kim and I left to go to the AK just to do the safari - the one thing we had yet to do there. We first went to the buses to get one to the AKL, but none ever came. Eventually we saw a ferry approach, so we got out of the bus queue and took the ferry to the TTC and got a bus directly to the AK from there. We managed to get to the safari right before it closed. We were in the last row of the last safari for the day. I don't know if it was because we were the last safari or if the ride is actually different now, but the only voice on the radio was Wilson. What happened to the woman who was with Wilson? Doctor somebody. There also seemed to be no reference to Big Red, and only a couple to Little Red.
Old Man Mode
Back in my day, the ride ended with somebody with a gun holding off the poachers! The kids today don't know what they're missing.
Old Man Mode over
We got to see the AK parade, which I had never seen before, because I'm typically done with AK by lunch. I've never been there for closing. The park had EMH that evening, but we had done everything we wanted to so we got the bus to Port Orleans - French Quarter in order to take the boat to DD. I had never done that before either, because I've never stayed at either PO resort.
Old Man Mode
Back in my day, they were called Port Orleans and Dixie Landings! None of this Riverside and French Quarter hoo hah!
Old Man Mode over
We didn't have much time at DD, but we got to go to Goofy's Candy Kitchen and Kim got a huge lollipop, which actually counted as a snack on the meal plan. We got the bus to the Contemporary, and then took the monorail to the MK just to see the fireworks. We got a spot at the Main Street strain station. We would have had a better view if not for the Christmas tree that was still up. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Everywhere we went still had Christmas decorations up. Even the parks were still playing Christmas music up until the day we left. Does anyone know if the decorations are down yet? I mean, it was very nice to still see when we arrived, but by January 6th enough is enough. We went back to the Contemporary for dinner at the California Grill. It was nice to do for our anniversary, but I doubt I'd ever go back. The portions are far too small, especially since we got dinged for two meal credits on the plan. I will say though that my bison was delicious! I just thought that bison were...big. What I got was tiny. Crazy Californians and their tiny hip foods! We had a great view of the MK though, and we got to see the electrical water pageant.
This concludes day 4. Coming up: Days 5 and 6, and Days 7 and 8 - the farewell.
Old Man Mode
Back in my day, the ride ended with somebody with a gun holding off the poachers! The kids today don't know what they're missing.
Old Man Mode over
We got to see the AK parade, which I had never seen before, because I'm typically done with AK by lunch. I've never been there for closing. The park had EMH that evening, but we had done everything we wanted to so we got the bus to Port Orleans - French Quarter in order to take the boat to DD. I had never done that before either, because I've never stayed at either PO resort.
Old Man Mode
Back in my day, they were called Port Orleans and Dixie Landings! None of this Riverside and French Quarter hoo hah!
Old Man Mode over
We didn't have much time at DD, but we got to go to Goofy's Candy Kitchen and Kim got a huge lollipop, which actually counted as a snack on the meal plan. We got the bus to the Contemporary, and then took the monorail to the MK just to see the fireworks. We got a spot at the Main Street strain station. We would have had a better view if not for the Christmas tree that was still up. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Everywhere we went still had Christmas decorations up. Even the parks were still playing Christmas music up until the day we left. Does anyone know if the decorations are down yet? I mean, it was very nice to still see when we arrived, but by January 6th enough is enough. We went back to the Contemporary for dinner at the California Grill. It was nice to do for our anniversary, but I doubt I'd ever go back. The portions are far too small, especially since we got dinged for two meal credits on the plan. I will say though that my bison was delicious! I just thought that bison were...big. What I got was tiny. Crazy Californians and their tiny hip foods! We had a great view of the MK though, and we got to see the electrical water pageant.
This concludes day 4. Coming up: Days 5 and 6, and Days 7 and 8 - the farewell.