faline
08-07-2010, 07:01 PM
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Plan for the Day Saturday, July 31: Disney Studios; Il Mulino New York Trattoria for Dinner
Plan for the Day Sunday, August 1: Animal Kingdom; Restaurantosaurus for lunch; Anniversary dinner at Citrico’s
It’s 5 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and I have about ½ hour before we’ll be leaving our room again. Let me try to catch you up a bit on what we’ve been up to for the last couple of days.
On Friday evening, we did stay home as we had planned and watched the fireworks from our balcony before heading off to bed. We left a 6 a.m.wake up call in order to get to Disney Studios by 8 for extra magic hour. Again, I had to call the front desk to set the wake up call. Calling the wake up number from my room phone results only in static each time the line is answered.
The wake up call came as scheduled on Saturday morning. We got up and dressed and headed out to the bus stop. We didn’t need to wait very long before our bus arrived. We’ll definitely arrive at the park by 8. Well, I guess park hours changed a bit since I set my plans. There were very few people there when we arrived and we were told that extra magic hour had occurred the day before. Ooops!
Okay. Change in plans. We walk to Boardwalk and get a cup of coffee and a Danish. We finish that and walk back to Disney studios. By now, it’s opened.
The line we’ve selected for security bag check hits a glitch. The man in line several folks in front of us has a swiss army style knife in his backpack. They need to call over a supervisor. I don’t hear exactly what they say they will do with it but I think it involved him needing to rent a locker to put the knife into but that they would be holding onto the key. It seems that security has been somewhat increased this week. Guards are often conducting more thorough searches on bags but there are still some who give the bags a cursory look. We even see a guard with a dog walking back and forth in front of the entrance turnstiles. Still, once the man with the knife is pulled aside, we get through security pretty quickly.
We head to Toy Story Mania. It’s hard to determine if the long line we encounter is for fast pass or for the ride. Someone in line says they don’t know what the line is for. Someone else responds that it’s for fast pass. We walk around the side of this line and encounter a second line that is nearly as long as the fast pass line. Still, at this time of morning, the standby line is little impeded by fast pass users (and most of those who got fast passes are in the standby line along with us) so the line moves pretty quickly and we are on the ride within the posted 25 minute standby time. We head over to Tower of Terror where we collect fast passes and then join the standby line for Rock n Roller Coaster. Standby is posted as 30 minutes and it takes about that long. When we emerge, we have 5 minutes left until we can use our Tower of Terror Fast passes. We use the time to take a few pictures in the area and then walk all the way through to the library. After this, we ride the Great Movie Ride which is literally a walk on. There are fewer people in the park than when we were here a few days ago. On that day, the streets were really crowded.
When we emerge into the hot, bright sunlight, we head over to the Tune In Lounge. We sit at the bar and share a turkey club sandwich, Caesar salad and a side of onion rings. Tummies happy, we exit the park and return to our resort.
I’ve decided I don’t feel like traipsing all the way over to the Swan for our dinner at Il Mulino. I call dining and am able to get a 5:40 reservation at Narcoosee’s. I then cancel our 6 p.m. reservation at Il Mulino.
We head down to the pool for a couple of hours. Back in our room, we change and get ready for dinner. The monorail is quite crowded. A family of three has taken one entire seat with their tween-aged son sprawled across most of the available seating. Neither parent says a word to this child as people are boarding. Dad is sitting in one corner; mom in the opposite corner. I pointedly say “excuse me” to the child and he moves enough to allow me to sit between him and his dad. Still no response from either parent.
We exit at the Grand Floridian. The last time we were here, they were putting down new carpeting in the lobby. That project has obviously been completed by now. We stop in Misner’s for a pre-dinner drink. Unfortunately, we are leaving just as the band is arriving.
We walk across the grounds to Narcoosee’s. It is still very hot out. We are seated after just a few minutes wait. Our table is decorated with Mickey confetti and we are given keepsake menus and an envelope to put them in. We are also provided with a complimentary glass of champagne. Very nice! We’ve also been seated at a table for two right at the windows so we have a lovely view to enjoy during our meal. We share calamari for appetizer and we each order fillet mignon and a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, there was a mistake made with our wine. The wine is brought to our table. We taste it and decide we like it. We are each poured a glass and then the waitress takes the bottle with her. We thought this was a bit odd but assumed she was just getting a container for the wine. A while later, when we had finished our glass of wine, the waitress asked if we wanted another pour of the wine. When we point out we had ordered a bottle, she looks at her order slip and realizes she has made a mistake. She leaves, returns to tell us the rest of the bottle has already been poured out and pours us each a second glass of wine and again leaves with the bottle. The manager stops by our table to ask about our experience and we explain the confusion with the wine. We’ve now had two pours of wine (with my second pour being quite a bit less) so now we’re not sure if we’re getting the bottle we’re being charged for. The manager apologizes and a short while later, the waitress returns with the remainder of the second bottle she had opened. She seems stressed and we’re feeling badly as this was clearly an honest mistake. Apparently, the manager told her to bring us the remainder of the bottle and leave it at our table. We explain to our waitress that we understand it was a mistake and she says it is fine and the manager will check with us again during dessert. I had ice cream – don’t remember what Gene had. The manager does come by again and we tell him she has been a good and professional waitress but we understand she just made a mistake which could happen to any of us. At the end of the meal, we talk some more with the waitress and leave feeling all is good.
After dinner, we take the boat to the Magic Kingdom. I intend to see the Main Street parade again. However, by time we arrive at the Magic Kingdom, it is turning very dark and there is thunder and lightning in the distance. We decide to return home instead and make the walk back to Bay Lake. We sit on the balcony and watch the lightning. It never does rain and we end up watching the fireworks from our balcony once again.
It’s really lightning and thundering out there once again while I am typing this! More to come but we’ve got to run!
Plan for the Day Saturday, July 31: Disney Studios; Il Mulino New York Trattoria for Dinner
Plan for the Day Sunday, August 1: Animal Kingdom; Restaurantosaurus for lunch; Anniversary dinner at Citrico’s
It’s 5 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and I have about ½ hour before we’ll be leaving our room again. Let me try to catch you up a bit on what we’ve been up to for the last couple of days.
On Friday evening, we did stay home as we had planned and watched the fireworks from our balcony before heading off to bed. We left a 6 a.m.wake up call in order to get to Disney Studios by 8 for extra magic hour. Again, I had to call the front desk to set the wake up call. Calling the wake up number from my room phone results only in static each time the line is answered.
The wake up call came as scheduled on Saturday morning. We got up and dressed and headed out to the bus stop. We didn’t need to wait very long before our bus arrived. We’ll definitely arrive at the park by 8. Well, I guess park hours changed a bit since I set my plans. There were very few people there when we arrived and we were told that extra magic hour had occurred the day before. Ooops!
Okay. Change in plans. We walk to Boardwalk and get a cup of coffee and a Danish. We finish that and walk back to Disney studios. By now, it’s opened.
The line we’ve selected for security bag check hits a glitch. The man in line several folks in front of us has a swiss army style knife in his backpack. They need to call over a supervisor. I don’t hear exactly what they say they will do with it but I think it involved him needing to rent a locker to put the knife into but that they would be holding onto the key. It seems that security has been somewhat increased this week. Guards are often conducting more thorough searches on bags but there are still some who give the bags a cursory look. We even see a guard with a dog walking back and forth in front of the entrance turnstiles. Still, once the man with the knife is pulled aside, we get through security pretty quickly.
We head to Toy Story Mania. It’s hard to determine if the long line we encounter is for fast pass or for the ride. Someone in line says they don’t know what the line is for. Someone else responds that it’s for fast pass. We walk around the side of this line and encounter a second line that is nearly as long as the fast pass line. Still, at this time of morning, the standby line is little impeded by fast pass users (and most of those who got fast passes are in the standby line along with us) so the line moves pretty quickly and we are on the ride within the posted 25 minute standby time. We head over to Tower of Terror where we collect fast passes and then join the standby line for Rock n Roller Coaster. Standby is posted as 30 minutes and it takes about that long. When we emerge, we have 5 minutes left until we can use our Tower of Terror Fast passes. We use the time to take a few pictures in the area and then walk all the way through to the library. After this, we ride the Great Movie Ride which is literally a walk on. There are fewer people in the park than when we were here a few days ago. On that day, the streets were really crowded.
When we emerge into the hot, bright sunlight, we head over to the Tune In Lounge. We sit at the bar and share a turkey club sandwich, Caesar salad and a side of onion rings. Tummies happy, we exit the park and return to our resort.
I’ve decided I don’t feel like traipsing all the way over to the Swan for our dinner at Il Mulino. I call dining and am able to get a 5:40 reservation at Narcoosee’s. I then cancel our 6 p.m. reservation at Il Mulino.
We head down to the pool for a couple of hours. Back in our room, we change and get ready for dinner. The monorail is quite crowded. A family of three has taken one entire seat with their tween-aged son sprawled across most of the available seating. Neither parent says a word to this child as people are boarding. Dad is sitting in one corner; mom in the opposite corner. I pointedly say “excuse me” to the child and he moves enough to allow me to sit between him and his dad. Still no response from either parent.
We exit at the Grand Floridian. The last time we were here, they were putting down new carpeting in the lobby. That project has obviously been completed by now. We stop in Misner’s for a pre-dinner drink. Unfortunately, we are leaving just as the band is arriving.
We walk across the grounds to Narcoosee’s. It is still very hot out. We are seated after just a few minutes wait. Our table is decorated with Mickey confetti and we are given keepsake menus and an envelope to put them in. We are also provided with a complimentary glass of champagne. Very nice! We’ve also been seated at a table for two right at the windows so we have a lovely view to enjoy during our meal. We share calamari for appetizer and we each order fillet mignon and a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, there was a mistake made with our wine. The wine is brought to our table. We taste it and decide we like it. We are each poured a glass and then the waitress takes the bottle with her. We thought this was a bit odd but assumed she was just getting a container for the wine. A while later, when we had finished our glass of wine, the waitress asked if we wanted another pour of the wine. When we point out we had ordered a bottle, she looks at her order slip and realizes she has made a mistake. She leaves, returns to tell us the rest of the bottle has already been poured out and pours us each a second glass of wine and again leaves with the bottle. The manager stops by our table to ask about our experience and we explain the confusion with the wine. We’ve now had two pours of wine (with my second pour being quite a bit less) so now we’re not sure if we’re getting the bottle we’re being charged for. The manager apologizes and a short while later, the waitress returns with the remainder of the second bottle she had opened. She seems stressed and we’re feeling badly as this was clearly an honest mistake. Apparently, the manager told her to bring us the remainder of the bottle and leave it at our table. We explain to our waitress that we understand it was a mistake and she says it is fine and the manager will check with us again during dessert. I had ice cream – don’t remember what Gene had. The manager does come by again and we tell him she has been a good and professional waitress but we understand she just made a mistake which could happen to any of us. At the end of the meal, we talk some more with the waitress and leave feeling all is good.
After dinner, we take the boat to the Magic Kingdom. I intend to see the Main Street parade again. However, by time we arrive at the Magic Kingdom, it is turning very dark and there is thunder and lightning in the distance. We decide to return home instead and make the walk back to Bay Lake. We sit on the balcony and watch the lightning. It never does rain and we end up watching the fireworks from our balcony once again.
It’s really lightning and thundering out there once again while I am typing this! More to come but we’ve got to run!