Strmchsr
02-05-2011, 09:15 AM
Cast: Me, Renae (DW), Caleb (DS10), Cole (DS5)
When last we left our intrepid Disney lovers, Chris was off to teach at the Creativity Conference and Renae and the boys were off for a day on their own. So, Jan 31 went well. The boys had a blast staying at the hotel and playing at the CBR pool. They also went to DTD and did their shopping for the week. Nice to have some relaxation. My conference went well. Quite nerve wracking to step on stage for the final plenary session of the day after some of the Disney legends had been up before me, but I got through it.
Tuesday, Feb 2, was spent in Epcot. We took our conference participants to the parks and showed them how the principles we talk about in the conference play out in real life. In between my responsibilities with the conference I was able to meet the family for some fun and rides. The morning at Epcot was almost empty. The Brazillian tour groups were all gone and the crowds dropped considerably. However, things picked up some in the afternoon. Still not bad, but more crowded as dance teams arrived for a competition this coming up weekend. Most of the groups that arrived were from Central and South America (the USA teams arrived on Thursday) so the Brazillian tour groups were replaced by a bunch of yelling, cheering teenage girls. I kept trying to help my boys meet characters, but these girls kept sending a couple of their group to get in line and as soon as it was almost their turn, all 50 would turn up and jump in line. Some of the CMs seemed completely overwhelmed by this, but a couple handled it really well, telling the groups they couldn't have autographs or individual pictures, but only a group picture. Very annoying, though, as it kept my boys from meeting a couple of characters. In general, though, as long as we weren't near one of those groups crowds were low and the day was very enjoyable. Finished the evening off by eating at Le Cellier. Since Le Cellier is switching to 2 TS credits for supper come March, and I don't think the lunch menu is as good, that'll be our last time eating there. We really enjoyed it. Great steak as always. Fortunately, using the Disney cookbooks, I've been able to pretty much nail the cheese soup so we can still have that whenever we want it.
Wednesday I was back at the conference teaching all day (12 hour day), so no fun in the parks for me. Still, a lot of great learning and I sold almost 100 copies of my new book on Disney, which was nice. Renae and the boys started the day off at DAK as Cole was thrilled he is finally old enough to ride EE. They were able to do that a couple of times and then the Safari and Dinosaur. Then several of the larger dance team groups showed up so Renae and the boys left for MK. Unfortunately, the dance teams were all over MK being quite loud. Again, crowds weren't bad at all as long as you weren't around one of those groups. It was avoiding the groups that was tricky. They still had a lot of fun and managed to ride what they wanted.
I finished the conference on Wednesday and was able to just enjoy myself (finally) started on Thursday. Caleb is a life-long train nut and has wanted to do the Behind The Steam Trains tour since he was 4. Now that he's 10, he's finally old enough to do it. We were lucky enough to get Jack as our guide. He is the man who did all the research and actually wrote the tour so he was full of stories about Walt and the railroad. I learned quite a bit. From my research for my book, and all of my CM and WDI friends, I know quite a bit about Walt and "behind-the-scenes" Disney stuff, but I still found out stuff I had never heard and Caleb and I totally enjoyed this tour. For any thinking about doing it - you only spend a little over 1 hour of the 3 hour tour actually at the roundhouse. The rest is walking around listening to stories. Caleb is a unique 10 year old in that he has a passion for stories and history so he lapped that up. However, there was another young man on the tour who enjoyed the train part, but obviously couldn't care less about the rest. So, if you want to do this tour, especially with someone younger, be aware of what to expect. I thought it was awesome, but I could see where it wouldn't be for those with short attention spans or those who don't really enjoy listening to stories of history. After the tour we hit a couple of rides at MK, but it seemed all the dance teams were now in MK, including the newly arrived American teams, making it not much fun to be there so we left and went to Epcot. Epcot had pretty low crowds. Soarin was 30 min and Test Track 20 even in the middle of the day. Most everything else was walk-on. We managed to hit things just right so that we ended up (between FP and low standby lines at certain times) riding TT 4 times and Soarin 3 times, something I didn't think would ever be possible. Renae and the boys ate at the new Mexico CS place while I ate at my favorite fish n chips place at UK. Renae thought the Mexican place was excellent, though the divebombing sea gulls (not kidding - one actually swooped down, hit a lady in the head and stole the food she was holding) made for an interesting meal. We ended the evening at Rose n Crown, which is always a favorite for us. I love their steak, cheesebread, and desserts. Illuminations provided the perfect end to the evening.
We picked back up on Friday (Feb 4) at Epcot, riding the things the boys really wanted - MS, TT, JII, Nemo, etc. Crowds, again, were low in the morning so we got through most things quickly. Our lunch was a Via Napoli, another first for us. It was awesome! I'm an Italian food connoisseur, but it was easily the best pizza I've ever had. Charlie Restivo, the master chef who developed the menu for Via Napoli, was there and actually cooked our pizzas. Incredible. We will definitely be here again on our next trip. It almost made me ashamed to call Little Ceasar's or Papa John's "pizza." After lunch our trip was done and we had an 8 hour drive through the rain to get back home. Fortunately, Disney has already booked me to teach at the conference again next year, so we know we have at least 1 trip already planned. :mickey:
When last we left our intrepid Disney lovers, Chris was off to teach at the Creativity Conference and Renae and the boys were off for a day on their own. So, Jan 31 went well. The boys had a blast staying at the hotel and playing at the CBR pool. They also went to DTD and did their shopping for the week. Nice to have some relaxation. My conference went well. Quite nerve wracking to step on stage for the final plenary session of the day after some of the Disney legends had been up before me, but I got through it.
Tuesday, Feb 2, was spent in Epcot. We took our conference participants to the parks and showed them how the principles we talk about in the conference play out in real life. In between my responsibilities with the conference I was able to meet the family for some fun and rides. The morning at Epcot was almost empty. The Brazillian tour groups were all gone and the crowds dropped considerably. However, things picked up some in the afternoon. Still not bad, but more crowded as dance teams arrived for a competition this coming up weekend. Most of the groups that arrived were from Central and South America (the USA teams arrived on Thursday) so the Brazillian tour groups were replaced by a bunch of yelling, cheering teenage girls. I kept trying to help my boys meet characters, but these girls kept sending a couple of their group to get in line and as soon as it was almost their turn, all 50 would turn up and jump in line. Some of the CMs seemed completely overwhelmed by this, but a couple handled it really well, telling the groups they couldn't have autographs or individual pictures, but only a group picture. Very annoying, though, as it kept my boys from meeting a couple of characters. In general, though, as long as we weren't near one of those groups crowds were low and the day was very enjoyable. Finished the evening off by eating at Le Cellier. Since Le Cellier is switching to 2 TS credits for supper come March, and I don't think the lunch menu is as good, that'll be our last time eating there. We really enjoyed it. Great steak as always. Fortunately, using the Disney cookbooks, I've been able to pretty much nail the cheese soup so we can still have that whenever we want it.
Wednesday I was back at the conference teaching all day (12 hour day), so no fun in the parks for me. Still, a lot of great learning and I sold almost 100 copies of my new book on Disney, which was nice. Renae and the boys started the day off at DAK as Cole was thrilled he is finally old enough to ride EE. They were able to do that a couple of times and then the Safari and Dinosaur. Then several of the larger dance team groups showed up so Renae and the boys left for MK. Unfortunately, the dance teams were all over MK being quite loud. Again, crowds weren't bad at all as long as you weren't around one of those groups. It was avoiding the groups that was tricky. They still had a lot of fun and managed to ride what they wanted.
I finished the conference on Wednesday and was able to just enjoy myself (finally) started on Thursday. Caleb is a life-long train nut and has wanted to do the Behind The Steam Trains tour since he was 4. Now that he's 10, he's finally old enough to do it. We were lucky enough to get Jack as our guide. He is the man who did all the research and actually wrote the tour so he was full of stories about Walt and the railroad. I learned quite a bit. From my research for my book, and all of my CM and WDI friends, I know quite a bit about Walt and "behind-the-scenes" Disney stuff, but I still found out stuff I had never heard and Caleb and I totally enjoyed this tour. For any thinking about doing it - you only spend a little over 1 hour of the 3 hour tour actually at the roundhouse. The rest is walking around listening to stories. Caleb is a unique 10 year old in that he has a passion for stories and history so he lapped that up. However, there was another young man on the tour who enjoyed the train part, but obviously couldn't care less about the rest. So, if you want to do this tour, especially with someone younger, be aware of what to expect. I thought it was awesome, but I could see where it wouldn't be for those with short attention spans or those who don't really enjoy listening to stories of history. After the tour we hit a couple of rides at MK, but it seemed all the dance teams were now in MK, including the newly arrived American teams, making it not much fun to be there so we left and went to Epcot. Epcot had pretty low crowds. Soarin was 30 min and Test Track 20 even in the middle of the day. Most everything else was walk-on. We managed to hit things just right so that we ended up (between FP and low standby lines at certain times) riding TT 4 times and Soarin 3 times, something I didn't think would ever be possible. Renae and the boys ate at the new Mexico CS place while I ate at my favorite fish n chips place at UK. Renae thought the Mexican place was excellent, though the divebombing sea gulls (not kidding - one actually swooped down, hit a lady in the head and stole the food she was holding) made for an interesting meal. We ended the evening at Rose n Crown, which is always a favorite for us. I love their steak, cheesebread, and desserts. Illuminations provided the perfect end to the evening.
We picked back up on Friday (Feb 4) at Epcot, riding the things the boys really wanted - MS, TT, JII, Nemo, etc. Crowds, again, were low in the morning so we got through most things quickly. Our lunch was a Via Napoli, another first for us. It was awesome! I'm an Italian food connoisseur, but it was easily the best pizza I've ever had. Charlie Restivo, the master chef who developed the menu for Via Napoli, was there and actually cooked our pizzas. Incredible. We will definitely be here again on our next trip. It almost made me ashamed to call Little Ceasar's or Papa John's "pizza." After lunch our trip was done and we had an 8 hour drive through the rain to get back home. Fortunately, Disney has already booked me to teach at the conference again next year, so we know we have at least 1 trip already planned. :mickey: