DisneyTogether #2

WARNING! You may get jealous while reading this post. This is going to be quite long (as anyone who's read enough of my blog posts can expect anyway), so for the sake of an optional short version:
It turns out that our week-long Walt Disney World Resort vacation was even more exceptionally satisfying than we expected it to be.

As for the long version...let's start with the hotel.

[Note: As with the first DisneyTogether post back in January of '11, the part of Amanda's additions will be played by italicized sentences.]

The Resorts (and their restaurants)

At the risk of sounding smug about it, I'm just gonna be honest and say how great everything was (I did warn you!).

This guy.

Quite a while ago we had booked a room at Port Orleans French Quarter, a "moderate" resort. The "moderates" are the notch above the "value" resorts, such as where we stayed last time (Pop Century). But on the day we arrived in Orlando, Amanda got a call that due to some booking error (she'll explain?) Yes.  There was no booking error, but the only room that fit all the requests that we had made only had a "walk-in shower" and although the inconvenience was minor and certainly nothing we would ever have complained about, the cast member who was checking us into the room offered an upgrade anyway.  Possibly, the fact that we were on our Honeymoon and this was mentioned in the room reservation information swayed their decision, but who really knows?  Either way, I'm sure glad we didn't pass up such an offer.), we were offered a complimentary upgrade to a DELUXE resort, the Yacht Club. Even though we were already looking forward to the beignets and serpent water slide of POFQ, and we (or at least I) didn't know much about the YC, it would seem silly to pass up the opportunity. We were already on the bus to Port Orleans when we called back anyway, so after looking around a bit - and yes, grabbing some beignets...which were we-watched-our-server-make-them-after-we-placed-the-order fresh - we took another couple of buses to Disney's Yacht Club Resort. It is SUPER-DUPER posh. To give you an idea, the restrooms near the lobby each have a basket of neatly rolled-up washcloths for hand-drying/face washing. Many of the guests were dressed more as if they going to attend a fundraiser or somethin' than attending a theme park. I alternately felt like we were tricking people into thinking we were quite rich and feeling like everyone could tell we couldn't really afford to stay in a place like that. The room itself was excellent, with a great view of the boardwalk area and only a brief walk to the boats to Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios. We were even able to walk from the room to Epcot's International Gateway in 8 minutes. I later found out that the room rate is normally double that of the likes of Port Orleans. Suffice to say it was a well-appreciated upgrade! The only thing the value and moderate resorts seem to do better is the breakfast/quick service options. I suspect this is because the people who usually stay in the deluxes don't bother with cafeteria style fare anyway. We had breakfast sandwiches from the Beach Club's quick-service place, but I thought they were on the bland side. I'm just guessing here, but I bet I would've liked Port Orleans's choices better.

Tonga-tastic

On Sunday, the first night, we stopped at the Polynesian to have a late dinner at Ohana, which is now my favorite restaurant ever. Maybe my intentionally not eating much that day had an effect on how much I loved the food there, but oh man. The salad. The noodles. The pineapple bread. The pork dumplings and peel and eat fired shrimp! The all-you-can-eat meat skewers! The chicken, it was fire-grilled so perfectly. All of it even overshadows the bread pudding with bananas. AND  to our surprise it turns out you can see the Magic Kingdom fireworks show Wishes from the restaurant. They even pipe in the music! I don't think any of the books we read even mentions this (I even later checked the Unofficial Guide and the Birnbaum's Dining Guide)! Why the heck not? We happened to be surprised to find out for ourselves shortly after our reservation time. Talk about serendipity! And the ukelele player sang to us and other celebrating couples, which managed to make it an even more perfect experience. Wearing a lei makes anyone feel extra special. We came back to the Polynesian on Wednesday morning too, this time for Kona Café. Particularly, its famous Tonga Toast. It's an ultra-indulgent french toast that I would love to have for breakfast every morning even if it meant being bloated with carbs and sugar. Also I think it may be the fanciest breakfast I've ever had ever. You sure wouldn't get your Denny's server to take the time to eloquently describe the menu items and how each of them is made with which ingredients.
Wednesday night we ate at California Grill. I'll let Amanda take over here. Seated atop the Contemporary Resort on the 15th floor, this restaurant is considered the 2nd or 3rd best restaurant not only in Disney World but in all of Florida after Victoria and Albert's (which is on the bucket list).  It's painfully easy to see why and if you ever get the chance to eat here, DO.  The floor to ceiling windows offer extravagant views of the entire property and when the fireworks start, the lights are dimmed and the music piped in (not blasting like it is in the park, but at a tasteful volume).  Should you choose to sit at the counter, you are treated to an impromtu show as the open kitchen is swarming with some of the best chefs, sushi chefs, and pastry chefs around.  

We were lead into "the wine room."  It's a slightly smaller section of the restaurant that is much quieter and while there are still floor to ceiling windows on two sides, the other two sides are floor to ceiling wine bottles.  White table clothes, white napkins and white plates of unusual shapes were the standard here, and there was a sprinkling of glittery mickey shaped confetti as a nod to our celebration.  Our waiter Saad who mentioned he had served for 16 years at this restaurant gave us a tour of the menu pointing out the most popular items, his favorites, and generally painting a verbal picture for us.  

We chose to start with the Cheeseburger Brick Oven Flatbread.  Sounds casual, but turns out to be very fancy. Wagyu Beef, Tillamook Cheddar, House-made Dill Pickles, Heirloom Ketchup (no ketchup will ever taste good to me again compared to this).  It was almost like a thin crust pizza and it was fabulous.  We split a first course of Handmade Potato Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms, Edamame, Smoked Pork, Organic Soft-poached Egg.  I've had store bought gnocchi before and I've also made some from scratch on my own.  Compared to this dish even the gnocchi I made myself had the consistancy of library paste.  These two menu items were so good that I couldn't bare skipping a sushi dish and ordered the Dragon Roll.  It was outrageous and I'm so disappointed that I was too excited to taste and missed out on the photo.  It was a gorgeous and monstrous roll with black eggs on top.  Normally I prefer salmon over tuna, but there was absolutely nothing I would have changed about this preparation.  It even came with a cute little calendula garnish.  Main course time.  Kevin had the Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta, Roasted Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze and Crispy Sage.  Saad said it was arguably the most popular item on the menu.  It looked amazing, the portion was huge and while Kevin is usually a well done meat sort of guy, he had this done medium and the taste he gave me was tender, juicy, and incredibly flavorful.  I had the Seared Diver Scallops with Southern Sweet Corn Risotto, Spiced Tomato Broth and Micro Popcorn Shoots.  I didn't even know what a popcorn shoot was until it reached the table.  Each scallop was nearly the size of my fist, the risotto was creamy and the popcorn shoots as it turned out were micro greens of corn plants cut while they were still only a few inches tall.  They were grassy and refreshing and the entire meal made so much sense together!

This restaurant only uses the freshest in season ingredients and in fact the dessert menu has already changed since we were there!  At the time, Kevin had Heather's chocolate sampler with buckeyes, whoopie pies, lava cake and pot de creme.  I had a pear and almond crust tart.  Both were amazing and each were decorated with chocolate signs which said Congratulations from the California Grill.  Saad even brought out complimentary champagne.  And speaking of Saad again, he is easily the best server I've ever had at any restaurant.  He worked silently while we were eating (We had fresh utensils for every course and I hardly noticed when it happened as it was so smooth) and recognized when we were interested in chatting.  At the end of this meal I was stuffed, but pleasantly so and I'll certainly never forget it.

Even with poorly light photography and a blurry camera this dessert looks great!

All I have to add is that I (somewhat sheepishly) asked for a pomegranate lemonade for my beverage (which I do for every single non-breakfast table service restaurant at WDW) only to be politely told they do not serve the pomegranate lemonade there, but would I like a lemonade? I said yes and at the first sip could tell that I was given an actual freshly-made lemonade. I'm pretty positive it was made with actual lemons and sugar. And it was so dang refreshing. So yeah, basically I was intimidated by the classiness of it all.

Here is a view from the waiting area of Sanaa.
How many restaurants are there in which you wouldn't
mind waiting longer to be seated?

We also visited the Kidani Village of Animal Kingdom Villas on Friday to dine at Sanaa, which - (copy) - "serves African cuisine with Indian flavors." Hard to say whether or not it's better than Boma - Flavors of Africa. They're both level with each other and way up there. Sanaa scores points though because I got to hear the servers sing the best Restaurant Server Happy Birthday Songs I've heard yet.
 Too bad I can't seem to find YouTube evidence of it. Hm, come to think of it that would be an interesting thing to catalog, whether on YouTube or wherever: the different birthday songs you get at different restaurants. I remember getting the traditional one at Tony's and I believe at Rose and Crown too in '11, but Sanaa's was unique. Holy smokes, I can't even imagine what lengths California Grill would go to for a birthday celebration.But anyshoe, I also mention the birthday song because the servers also played music to us for our honeymoon celebration - with no lyrics, but enjoyable nonetheless.
And, what else? I think it was one of the latter days of the stay that we picked Cape May Café on the same day (I think the latest reservations we've made We're talking same day type thing!). My memory is foggy here as I recall being either worn out or a bit under the weather at the time, and as I'm not one for seafood it wasn't exactly tailored to me, but it did have enough that I do like to fill my tummy. Also I certainly remember the adorable desserts bar.
You guys who visit Walt Disney World without visiting the other hotels, you're all missing out so bad.

We were set to just crash at the hotel for the rest of the day after the plane trip on Sunday, but we must have been itching to get started and had a pass for the day anyway, so we headed to...

The Magic Kingdom

Bride and groom Mickey hats are a must.
Also, try to ignore the sleepy kids in the background.

Our schedule didn't have us visiting TMK 'til Tuesday but we found out that The Pirates of the Carribean would be closed then so made sure to get that in first thing. I hear tell the same ride at Disneyland is even twice as long and has more to it. But the WDW has so much that I can't even imagine what else there could be?

Let's talk Sorcerors of the Magic Kingdom. It can be described as TMK's answer to Epcot's World Showcase Adventure, in that it's an interactive and virtually line-free experience. It's a different type of technology, though - whereas WSA uses a handset with all of your progress information and reacts to the "hot spots" using - I'm assuming - Wi-Fi or GPS technology, SotMK has your progress stored on a separate computer linked to your "key" card and the cameras at each of the spots react to the individual cards you display to it. And it works kind of amazingly well. I expected having to hold up each card in a very specific spot at a certain height and arm's length and line it up with a rectangle or something, but - as long as you're standing on the mark on the ground - simply facing the card to the portal worked just fine each time we played. A bit of a shame that we didn't get the full experience, since one of the portals wasn't "turned on," keeping us from finishing one of the "missions," but it's really neat to know we'll be able to keep the cards we collected and bring them to use next time. Another plus for Sorcerors vs Showcase is that it is far more convenient to carry around the cards and slip them into your pocket and just play at your leisure as you go, whereas the Kimmunicator/F.O.N.E. tends to beep at you intermittently until you decide you're done playing altogether. Now from what I hear, unlike WSA there is an element of strategy involved in the Sorcerers game, what with card selection and combining spells and even being able to boost attacks if you wear a special shirt you can buy? But we never got far enough into it to see the difficulty come into play. Also, the cards themselves are designed similarly to Magic/Pokémon game cards, leading me to suspect there's a "home version" that can be played between two or more people with enough of the cards, and that's awesome in itself, especially since the set (of four) you get for each MK visit is free. From a Disney business standpoint, it's a great idea because anyone who goes is likely to upgrade to park hopper passes just to get free cards every day of the trip.  Maybe even US!?
Liberty Tree Tavern (Tuesday late afternoon)! Like Ohana, it's "family-style," but with a Thanksgiving-style feast. The food was great, but it's hard to call it better than actual home-cooked Thanksgiving food.  Debatable.  It was a well-prepared meal and I enjoyed it very much. The rolls were still hot from the oven and softer than a marshmallow and the meat variety is certainly a step up from home.  What I really love best about it is the atmosphere. The place is designed to serve several (many) diners yet still give each table a cozy at-home feel. I was astounded at how large this restaruant really is because each founding father themed room is so very cozy.  If you dine here, take a moment to walk the entire restaurant.  It's much larger than you can imagine just sitting at your table and while most of the artifacts are created for the restaurant, I've heard that there are a couple real ones around. The window seats we got were especially nice. Also, I really liked those huge glass mugs.
A quick-service worth mentioning was Sleepy Hollow Refreshments, because they have waffle sandwiches. Now that's the kind of food I'd like to have at my hotel!
The Enchanted Tiki Room is very comparable to the Country Bear Jamboree in that they both take you back in time to when people, ah, had different entertainment sensibilities, let's put it that way. I'm glad I saw it, and I would be inclined to recommend it over CBJ, but it's one of those shows that I can only simply call "cute."
It was nice to see a lady at the helm of the Jungle Cruise. She had an, I dunno, Janeane Garofalo-esque demeanor? It's interesting to see the different "styles" the different skippers can use to tell the same jokes. I'd like to see a Mad Magazine-esque interpretation of the way in which well-known stand-up comedians would go through the Jungle Cruise lines. Maybe that's just me.
I can now report back to say that the famous Dole Whip is worth its acclaim. I think it's going to be a must for each trip from now on.
We were able to practically walk onto Splash Mountain thanks to very early visiting. It certainly has better theming than, say, Cedar Point's "Shoot the Rapids." Well...Disney does a lot of things better than Cedar Point. Sorry, Cedar Point. Okay, okay, fine. You're better at specializing in record-breaking thrill rides. I'll give you that. But come on. Splash Mountain has singing animatronic chickens on a riverboat, and that's an automatic win right there. Speaking of mountains, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is still as fun as ever. I wonder what it would be like if they combined two different rides like that? I know Universal Studios has the Dueling Dragons with two roller coaster tracks that run simultaneously and near-miss each other, but what if there was a wheel-track coaster that passed by, under, over and around a log flume ride like Splash Mountain? Ooh, and what if in the middle was a third tower-drop type of ride, such that each of the three different intertwine rides could see the other two throughout? Just thinking aloud here.

Eek! A spooky old mansion in the
middle of the day!

CONFESSION TIME: I slept in the Hall of Presidents. I'm sorry but I don't completely regret it since I believe it refreshed me to stay up for the rest of the day. And who knows, maybe I subconsciously absorbed American pride during my REM cycle. I could say it was a PATRIOTIC POWER NAP. I didn't sleep during presidents, but I did close my eyes until the roll call.  I have a weird desire to recognize all of them by face. I shamefully admit I'm not there yet.
At least I didn't sleep in the Haunted Mansion, lest the audio gives me very silly not-quite-nightmares. The new interactive queue for it is neat, and though I'm sure it must provide satisfactory entertainment when the lines are long, when they aren't you aren't given enough time to play without feeling like you're not keeping the line moving quickly enough. The interactive organ being given the name Ravenscroft was a nice touch. I thought the moving books were also particularly interesting.  Someone else in the line was thinking out loud that you were always pushing against books that were being pushed by people on the other side of the shelf, but I really couldn't see the pattern of it and am happy to continue being bamboozled.
Poor Mickey's Toontown. I'll miss you but you're in a better place n-...hang on. Where do the major "retired" ride props and such go? I think the backlot tour in Disney's Hollywood Studios has a Captain Nemo sub, right? And a lot of them are auctioned too, I've read? Some recycled? Where is Donald's boat now? All of Mickey's furniture? Here's my suggestion that the Disney people won't actually read because they're legally unable to take suggestions like this: Move the Toontown houses to the Art of Animation resort. Every resort seems to have a waiting area with a TV constantly running cartoons for the kiddies, right? Use the set pieces from Mickey's and Minnie's houses for that area in one or two of the AoA waiting areas. You've already got the TV that shows cartoons. Just have them sit on Mickey and Minnie's chairs. It'll fit the theme of the resort anyway, right? And bam, anyone nostalgia for the ol' Toontown can revisit it in spirit by taking a sidetrip to AoA. Which can also help as a promotional point! Feel free to not read but still use that idea, Disney Parks.

What the? Several other identical elephants who can also fly?

We got to see glimpses of the new expanded Fantasyland but mostly the modified versions of pre-existing attractions. It seems we were too early by a few weeks to get the chance to check out Under the Sea with Little Mermaid or whatever it's called. Also construction in the background of what I'm guessing will be the Seven Dwarfs mine train ride.Will some of it be outside? Will it reach as high as it seems to looking at it from the ground? I'll be interested to see updates on that one. Speaking of updates, it's still a small world after all. Took the Mad Tea Party for a spin. Can you believe it was the first time ever for both of us? I admit I almost got sick.  G forces on that thing can really mess with you. I still like Mickey's Philharmagic and one of the best effects is the one that's easy to miss happening at all. Amanda left her sunglasses on Space Mountain and I think my handkerchief fell out of my pocket there too so I guess if we had to lose things at least we both lost our things on the same ride. Awww. Tomorrowland Transit Authority wasn't as pointless as I expected it to be, as it is neat to - though briefly - see the interiors of Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin while on another ride. Also the little kid in front of us cried and freaked out just because it gets dark for seconds at a time. And that was plenty amusing. I got another level of appreciation out of Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress after having found the connection that the dad is the narrator from A Christmas Story. You know what would be neat? If you could get that space-flyer video game video as a screensaver for your computer. And while I realize there are videos and points tips for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, I wonder if there exist an online resources with maps/layouts that one could study meticulously to get the highest score possible. Not that I would do that sort of thing. *shifty eyes* I'm just saying, I've seen the Haunted Mansion track made in Google Sketchup. And there's a website dedicated to WDW park fonts. So it's the sort of thing that I wouldn't be surprised to find and maybe expect exists.
I love the overall idea and execution of Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor but I wonder how often I can see it until it turns into an "I don't mind missing it" attraction. At least not before Amanda or I get "the spotlight" for once.
I'm glad we got the chance to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. A Magic Kingdom visit just doesn't seem "complete" without it.

Character greetings
It seems I am more interested in character meet-and-greets than Amanda is. I don't even know why I am; I just think they're very neat pictures to get. We got "Frontierland" Chip & Dale because it was early and the line was short.

Look at Chip, looking all coy for some reason.

Merida confided in us that she is actually scared of gargoyles. Who knew?

Though there was a considerable line for her, I just had to get a Merida picture. Possibly limited time character! And it's a good representation of the year we visited anyhow.
I find it interesting that Merida seems to be the only "meetable-and-greetable" Brave character. If she the only movie, or at least Pixar movie, with one m&g character? Not counting the sequels? Wait, I guess WALL·e had one, but creating the interactive WALL·e was impressive enough, much less than having to figure out an EVE. Did Finding Nemo even get any? At least that's understandable, when you think about it. But I wonder if any other meetable Brave characters were ever considered. Maybe they just wouldn't fit as well in the character station setting. Like if Merida was just hanging out with her mother all cool and stuff? The solo character thing is all the better, I suppose. Oh, and another trivial thing: Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't she the first Pixar "face" (non-masked, that is) character?

Attractions we opted out of for the second trip in a row: Astro Orbiter, Dumbo the Flying Elephant (but I got a picture sitting in the specialty "just for photos" Dumbo, which I think was a great idea on their part), The Flying Goofini (fka Goofy's Barnstormer), The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (if you're reading this, sorry again Kayla), Prince Charming Regal Carousel (fka Cinderella's Royal Carousel), Frontierland Shooting Arcade, Liberty Square Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island, How did we manage to miss it again??  It closes early seemingly every day! Tomorrowland Speedway, Walt Disney World Railroad (But I got a cute video of folks waving to us while they rode it.), ..seems like a lot when I write them all out but a lot are missable.
Last time but not this time: Snow White's Scary Adventures (partly on account of it having not existed anymore), Swiss Family Treehouse (eh), Peter Pan's flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Country Bear Jamboree (was closed, but still), Stitch's Great Escape. (Also, Goofy's Barnstormer... which I only mention here because Kevin insists on semantic truths only.)


EPCOT

Future World

The ride that I am not at all interested in going on again ever is Mission: Space. Last time we opted for the tamer "green card" experience, and while I was a bit woozy for a few minutes afterwards I thought it was considerably tame. So this time out of curiosity we went for the "orange card" experience to see just how more intense it was. During the ride itself I thought, "This is more exciting, but hey I can handle it." It was just as I left the capsule thing and actually got back on still ground that I felt terrible. It probably didn't help matters that I unwisely had some Club Cool drinks (by the way, standing around and looking for people who choose Beverly is a great fun thing to do) shortly before riding. I was hoping the nausea would pass within a few minutes but even after the entirety of Ellen's Energy Adventure my head was still swimming. Happily though after getting a couple of snack booth snacks it cleared quickly enough. But yeah, Mission: Space itself is a fun experience but not worth the after-effects. For me, anyway.  I for one loved it.  Last time I thought the green card version was cute, but way too tame.  The orange card version was much less frightening than I had imagined and I felt no after effects whatsoever.  Interestingly enough, more traditional motion simulator rides like Star Tours disorient me horribly.  The sensation of orange card mission space is less like a bumpy jerky coaster or simulator and more like a gradual but significant increase in gravity.  You really feel your body being pushed back and compressed.
Let's see. We also rode Spaceship Earth twice (not in a row), skimmed through some Innoventions offerings (sadly no Velcro demonstration in which I could be silly), explored The Seas with Nemo & Friends, and of course went on Soarin'. Everybody who visits Epcot must go on Soarin' - it's a rule! The steady stream of a "line" that you can see first thing in the morning outside as everyone and their mothers head straight for The Land is a bit of an attraction itself. It's a shame though that Living With the Land doesn't get more love. I get the impression that most of the lines are formed by people who hop on as something to do until their Soarin' Fastpass time comes up. And though LWTL doesn't sound exciting on paper and a tad dated,  it's interesting enough that we rode through twice. Here's my suggestion: What if it wasn't a boat ride? Imagine if you replaced the entirety with a foot path so you could stop and take an extra few moments to observe the fascinating plants if you so choose. Or maybe both: What there was a boat river and sidewalk (lower than the boat's bottom so the pedestrians don't block the view) so that you can choose between your-own-pace and the audio-guided tour?  Next time, I fully intend to take the Behind the Seeds tour.  I am apparently one of those nerds who is really into learning about farming.
We also had extra time to do Journey Into Imagination with Figment, which is still not at all a must-do but has its moments, and...yes, Captain EO. The Walt Disney World attraction that I bet Amanda and I most disagree on. I love the unabashed cheesiness of the movie and can't get enough of it. I think I may even like those Michael Jackson songs non-ironically. Also apparently it's gained quite a cult following - our showing had a group of avid and enthusiastic fans cheering and laughing throughout. Does Captain EO regularly get followers like that? Did we just happen the same showing as a rare rabid set? Were those people just watching it over and over and over that day? Whatever the case, I think their presence enhanced the experience and for that I passively thank them. I can't say that I hate Captain EO, but I do greatly prefer Honey I Shrunk the Audience and hope one day to be one of those hooting hissing rabid fans.  Truthfully I can understand the camp appeal that EO has.  I completely see the parallel between EO and something such as Rocky Horror.  Perhaps if someone started a yell at the screen and sing along script, maybe I'd like it a little bit more.  I too appreciated those crazed MJ fans.
We "browsed" through Innoventions but nothing much to report there. One of these days I'd like to try Sum of All Thrills, but...yeah, as a whole the place is like going through a science fair. The best of the best in science fairs, but still.

World Showcase

May I brag that I found my shirt
weeks prior at a Salvation Army
store for like $2?

Though lamenting along with Amanda that it was no longer the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, I pushed to try just the one mission of what is now Agent P's World Showcase Adventure. Mostly to see the difference. According to the sign-up cast member (who remarked on the "retro" style of the handsets, which made me feel out-of-touch for having that same flip-open style for my only cell phone) they've done away with the "sign-up at one place that leads you to another place to get started" step, which is good. And judging from the Mexico mission we did, and some that we noticed others doing, it does pretty much use the same props and steps and clues as the Kim Possible version did, just with the characters and storylines changed. Now I understand the decision to change the theming from a show that hasn't been on the air in a while to one that is on the air and is popular to boot. And it's not just because I think Kim Possible is a fundamentally better show than Phineas & Ferb (it's silly to even compare, but if I had to...it is better) that I think it made more sense and worked better for this game/activity/experience/whatever. It's already established in the show that Kim's job takes her around the globe and there are even already bad guys who happen to fit into the world showcase nations. So it's neat to hop from country to country and thwart a different villain each time. But with the Agent P retrofit, it looks like you just go against Dr. Doofenshmirtz each time, which is...well, not as exciting. And the use of the Kimmunicator was actually a thing in the show, whereas I doubt there's a "F.O.N.E." in Phineas and Ferb. And so on, things like that. Those complaints being said though I am at least glad that the WSA wasn't done away with altogether, since I love the idea of also including non-ride/non-show/non-food things to do. And I hope they kept the tea shop part of the United Kingdom mission, because that was one of my favorite parts.

Hi!

If you were to ask us why we decided to get married on October 6th, of all times of the year, we would have to be truthful by telling you that we wanted it to coincide with our second Walt Disney World trip, and that we planned the trip around Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival. Man, so much to say here. First and foremost I have to say that it lives up to the hype and I now wish we had planned on some demonstrations perhaps.
I remember that on our previous trip we were too conservative with our Disney Dining Plan snack credits through the first half of the week and had to try hard to use them up before we left on the last couple of days. This time, thanks to the IF&WF we used them all up easily and then some. In theory, I wanted to try every single snack offered ... er, except the shrimp and various other seafoody things...but actually doing so would (or at least should) require spreading it out over the course of multiple entire days. I had as many as I could of the snacks I found interesting, and even then there were some that I had to skip. Eating around the world stretches the stomach quicker than I realized it would, and I'm sure the wallet stretching would add up quickly too.
I won't mention everything we ate but as for the highlights:
-I had escargots (persillade en brioche) for what I believe was the first time ever. Surpringly delicious, even with the weird texture.
-Swedish meatballs with lingonberries were very good. I've never been to an IKEA but if/when I do I'll have to try theirs for comparison.
-I just had to have the Artisan Cheese Trio. Cheese! Too bad I'm not enough of a cheese snob to detect the subtle differences between the different types. Still good though.
-Canada's Cheddar Cheese soup made me want the "full-size" version. I'm pushing for Le Cellier next trip.
-"Griddled Greek Cheese with Pistachios and Honey." It really is just that... a little plank of cheese that's been griddled. Like grilled cheese without that pesky bread in the way! That was one of my favorites.
-Germany's roast bratwurst in a pretzel roll wins my award for most hilarious snack. Here, tell me if you laugh out loud when you see it too. Ridiculousness aside, it was also delicious...ness.
- And let's not forget the Lobster Roll and Sushi that I had.  Quite delish and shockingly large portions for "just a taste!"

IMPORTANT TIP: I learned to spread the wisdom to anyone interested in the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival to enjoy as much of it as you can during the weekdays. Yes, it's common sense that any of the parks are busier on Saturdays and Sundays, but the foodies packed the Festival kiosks on Saturday IN DROVESSS. On Wednesday and Thursday I would pick things to try at a relaxed pace, figuring, "I'll be here on Saturday too. No rush." And getting whatever you wanted on those weekdays was very easy and convenient - the line for any given kiosk would be, oh, an average of five people ahead of you at the busier ones? But Saturday that all changes. The lines would typical sprawl past the queue dividers, so you do have to make more of a commitment for any given nation's food. I get the impression there are more people going for the drinks than the food (Did I mention it was only the "food" part of "food and wine" that interests me? You may have picked up on that on your own, though.), which makes me wonder what it'd be like if there were separate lines for food and drink. I guess that wouldn't be fair to those who want both, would it? How about lines for food, drink, and food and drink? No, that'd be too much.
Slight gripe time here, against certain other park guests. I don't have anything against those who happen to enjoy the "drink" part of the food and wine/beer/imbibement experience (though yes, the rowdiness quotient is ratcheted way up on the weekends), but I find it... puzzling... that there was such a huge line on Saturday for the "margaritas" kiosk. I'm not knocking having or experience something "that you could have back at home" (it's nice to have a Mickey ice cream bar that doesn't actually taste any different than a standard bar-shaped ice cream treat) in Epcot, but it's curious that so many people were willing to wait in such a long line for a margarita there, as opposed to using that time to soak in any number of other Epcot (Food and Wine or not) offerings. Maybe it's something I can't understand because I've never had one. Are they THAT good? Are the Epcot margaritas especially better than any other margaritas in any way? Is just a social thing of being able to say that you had a margarita, as part of the other many drinks you've had? Feel free to enlighten me here.
But if anything the crowd levels of Epcot on Saturday made me appreciate the quiet atmosphere of Restaurant Marrakesh. It is kind of "tucked away" around the back of Morocco, and it's a shame that it wasn't busier, at least judging by when we were there. Maybe the Epcot restaurants are all less busy during FoodAndWineFest because everyone's pigging out at the kiosks instead? Or is Marrakesh normally sparsely occupied at other times of the year, not only because of the location but because of the exotic-ness of its fare? Either way it deserves more business. I would recommend it to anyone as a break for anyone who wants to visit Walt Disney World but is concerned about the overexposure to...well, Disney. Having never actually been outside of the country, I can't honestly speak for its authenticity, but of all the international experiences within the parks, this is the place that, well, does the best job of tricking me into really feeling like I am where it's "supposed to" be. At The Rose and Crown, I'm well-aware that it's an idealized version of an English pub, and I do sort of wonder if Africa is as Africa as Animal Kingdom's Africa tries to be. I think it's because Restaurant Marrakesh is more tastefully and subtly (even with the musicians and belly dancer) themed. Instead of screaming "Morocco," it lets you know. I hope you're not sick yet of hearing it by now, but yes, the food is amazing. I am thankful that though it took me 28 years to get the chance or even know about it I was able to enjoy a dish called bastilla. If you've never had it yourself, you may be skeptical that seasoned minced meat even belongs in a pastry topped with cinnamon and sugar, but you'd just have to trust me on this. It does. It so belongs. Best new thing I've eaten in a long time. You also might be skeptical about having mint ice cream and toasted almonds served in orange blossom water. But you'd have to admit it's the damn fanciest and most elegant way to have mint ice cream.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to comment on the belly dancer.  I get a free pass with this one.  I thought she was beautiful and graceful and I'm a little sad that Marrakesh isn't busier more often because her act clearly benefits from guest interaction.  I was highly amused when she picked out the oldest man in the room to pull to the dance floor and instruct to do as she does.  Also cute, very young children trying to mimic the moves.

Speaking of live entertainment: MARIACHI! Those guys are great. I now remember the Mexico pavilion as being the place where I got my new serape shirt (is there an official name for it, or are they just called serape shirts?), which might be my favorite "practical" souvenir, and I bet one of the most reasonably priced articles of clothing you can find within Disney Parks.
I looked up a video of The Gran Fiesta Tour as it was without The Three Caballeros, and I will say...I'm okay with the current version, thanks. Having experienced the ride both ways, I'm probably one of those rare folks who is okkay with both versions.  I mean, as a Mexican, I appreciate the heritage... but also as a Mexican, I appreciate that people just want to have a good time.  I happen to like the Three Caballeros, but I'm more curious about why Panchito doesn't get higher billing here.  I mean, Jose is from Brazil. Donald is just a tourist. Just sayin'.
Continuing through the world tour, Norway's Maelstrom is still...pleasantly freaky.We had a quick service bite or two at Lotus Blossom Café in China, which was pretty decent for quick-serve and a notch more interesting than my average Chinese take-out places. China also has excellent live performers, the Jeweled Dragon Acrobats. One of the girls dropped her drum a couple of times, but the sun was in her eyes, the poor girl. And that balancing guy sure was a ham!
SECOND EAGLE-CRYING CONFESSION: I also slept through the American Adventure show too. I'm sorry! Nothing against America. I slept through Impressions de France last year. My only defense is that power naps are necessary. 
Japan might be my favorite pavilion, for two big reasons. One, its main shop Mitsukoshi is worthy of bold type for its range of traditional to contemporary souvenirs and gifts. This is where we each got lanyards - one Mario-themed and the other Legend of Zelda, because hey, those regular Disney lanyards are too big and clunky-looking.
The second reason is Miyuki, the performer easily worthy of boldface. I'd heard about her and her candy art before, but was surprised by just how entertaining her "show" is. I expected a quiet, slow-paced demonstration akin to the other small-scale artists, like the glass figurine makers. But the wonder that is Miyuki is how quickly she can make candy sculptures and how well she makes them. It's an incredibly unique talent and fascinating to watch. In addition to making one or two "scripted" candy animals, she takes requests for animals to create on the spot. The requests are expected to be from children. But ... if no one else speaks up for a few beats, is there anything wrong with someone like, say, me shouting "Chicken!"?

[Click here to see the video.] - [in a new window]

Seeing her make a small set of improvised animals at a few minutes apiece is a real treat, and I think an undermentioned one, as far as WDW shows go. None of the books I've read give it a big enough mention (one even mistakenly refers to Miyuki as the candy art itself), but I would recommend anyone visiting Epcot to take the time to see her demonstration. Check the Times Guide and browse the Mitsukoshi store or nearby pavilions until her next show. It's worth the wait. You may even want to see her twice, like we did.
I don't have anything particular to say about the other "countries" other than that I always enjoy their sights, sounds, and smells. How about you, Amanda?  Thank you, Kevin.  In general, I love visiting the countries.  It's a shopaholic's dream.  I'm not a shopaholic, but Epcot really puts me into a mood to just go along with it.  China and Japan definitely have the most items that appeal to me personally, and I have to admit I spent a minute or two in Norway studying some knitted sweaters.  Most of all I think anyone visiting really needs to take the time to check out the live performers.  They all hail from the country in which they perform and in most cases, their acts have some heritage in their origin country as well.  Except for way back in Morocco, you'll never be fooled into thinking you're really in a particular country, but you can best experience them through the cast members and performers. 
And as always the best way to end any Epcot day is with Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. Good job of Amanda's foresight to stake out spots extra-early for it.

Character greeting
I guess at three times, Donald is now our most "greeted" character. But we couldn't pass up Mexico Donald!

That's one snappy serape.

Attractions we "did" last time but not this time: The Circle of Life, Turtle Talk With Crush, O Canada, Impressions de France, Maelstrom's movie
Things we have yet to do at all: Reflections of China (next time, for the heck of it?) and Test Track (refurbishment! B'oh.)


Disney's Hollywood Studios

Near the entrance of the park there was a cast member handing out surprise Fastpasses for Lights Motor Action Extreme Stunt Show, which makes sense because they've gotta fill those earlier shows somehow, cause, come on, who heads to LMAESS early on? It was worth seeing again - those stunts still awe and impress me. There was even that one gag they pull that fooled me again because I had forgotten about the "reveal." And now we've been able to see both the Herbie the Love Bug and Lightning McQueen alterations of the show! It's neat to see the full-size operational Lightning but the excitement the scene tries to build up falls a bit flat. I think it'd be neat if we could see Herbie and Lightning interact with each other. But that's just me dreaming. Also, speaking of L McQ we got to have our pictures taken with McQueen and Mater because we happened to be at their picture spot when there was no line whatsoever for it. Easiest character greeting ever! Ka-chow!
The new experience (for me) I was most looking forward to in this park was Star Tours. At the time of our last trip it was being renovated to what is now Star Tours: The Adventure Continues. I had heard about the "over 50 different scenarios" that you would randomly get for each ride and was hoping to be able to get Amanda to ride it with me as many times in a row as I could to see as many different scenarios as possible. Well on our first DHS day we rode twice in a row and each "scenario" had only a different intro piece. The third time later we got to see another planet. Later on after I got home I looked into it and it turns out that there are over 50 different /combinations/ of randomized scene elements. So if each ride has you visit two of six possible planets, and the intro and segue between planets is also different each time, then...I...don't know the exact mathematical probability of it. I'd have to ask. In hindsight I was expecting a bit too much that there would be over 50 different /destinations/ - are there even that many recognizable Star Wars locales? So while it may not be worth riding all day or anything, it is worth riding a second or third time if you get the chance. But aside from the randomization element that may or may not be misleading it's still a new favorite of mine. Oh, and at the shop Tatooine Traders I picked out a favorite souvenir in a Donald-Duck-as-Darth-Maul mug. I don't even care for Darth Maul, but I do like Donald. And having something in which to drink tea. That happens to be amusing.  For the record, we rode 3 times total throughout the trip.  I definitely felt sick twice but got over it quickly such that Kevin didn't even notice.  It just goes to show that no matter how well you think you know the feel of an attraction, you never really know until you know, you know?
Disney/Star Wars note: I don't remember where it was exactly, but in one of the art shops was a painting of Minnie Mouse not just as Princess Leia but as SLAVE LEIA. It's...an off-putting idea, to say the least. While I'm on it, doesn't casting love interests Mickey and Minnie as Luke and Leia overlook a certain key plot point in the Star Wars trilogy? Same goes for Kermit and Piggy cast likewise. At least Family Guy knew what it was doing.
Toy Story Midway Mania  is still as fun as ever. When we checked into our hotel we got the "Happily Ever After" pin buttons which seem to cover honeymoons and anniversaries. Wearing them usually got us warm congratulations, but for TSMM we got our first tangible perk: At the Fastpass terminal thingie the attendant spotted my pin and, as a "honeymoon gift" we each got double Fastpasses! I wonder if he happened to find forgotten Fastpasses and looked for someone to give them to or if he used his access to override the number distributed to each guest? And if so how many guests get this bonus? Anyway it was highly appreciated. Speaking of Toy Story, we ducked into Pizza Planet Arcade in case there might be a Fix-It Felix Jr. machine or at least reference to it. None at the time there, but...well I'll get back to this in a little bit.
Afternoon lunch on Monday was at Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater, where as promised by just about every review I'd read, the ambiance far outshines the food. I do like that they serve fried pickles as an appetizer. My "picnic burger" (hamburger with hot dog pieces) was good, and I also ordered one of my few alcoholic drinks of the trip, partly because it was called a Space Monkey. But the combination of a chocolate shake, coconut rum, and banana liquer, sounded great too, and I liked that it didn't even taste too alcohol-y. And it comes with a glow cube! Which later came in handy during the Fantasmic pre-show. I enjoyed the movie screen's film loop, but wondered if maybe it was a tad short - the whole thing runs twice over the course of the meal. But I do appreciate that it includes trailers for PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and ROBOT MONSTER. Also, surprisingly: Non-Disney (gasp!) cartoon shorts! Tom and Jerry, what are you doing here? Normally you only see outside franchises on T-shirts of people who went to Universal Studios on a previous day of their current trip.
Last time we went on The Great Movie Ride we got the "gangster" version, so it was neat that this time we got the "cowboy" storyline. It could stand to be updated, though. I've got it! A "Twilight" section, which audio-animatronics of Bella and Edward! It might take quite a bit of Imagineering to perfectly recreate the stiff acting and mumbly dialogue, though. Sorry. Moving on..
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! is, admittedly, fairly epic. It's another one of those shows that I enjoyed and am glad I saw but not sure if it would stand up to repeated watchin's. Also when the giant stone rolled over Indy I really wanted to jump up and yell out, "STEVE, NO!" (50 points if you get that)
Revisited 50s Prime Time Café but briefly this time to try out their peanut butter and jelly shake, which I can confirm is delicious and something I may want to make into an every-trip tradition. Hmm, I wonder if the peanut butter and jelly shake goes well with a turkey leg?
Muppet*Vision 3-D might just get my vote for best queue jokes/sight gags. I remembered to check under the mat for the key this time! Speaking of Muppets, I didn't mention before that the post-ride shop for Journey Into Imagination with Figment has a few Gonzo trinkets. Is this an intentional connection seeing as how Dave Goelz voices both Gonzo and Figment? HMMMM...
The Magic of Disney Animation is sure to be one of my favorite places to revisit, as even though the Drawn To Animation demonstration will probably be consistently similar for a while (who could replace Mushu?), it's cool to see the ever-updated newest-feature gallery section. Last time for us it was showcasing art, models and "props" from Tangled, and this time around it was all about the then-to-be-released Wreck-It Ralph.

Also this is the area where one can look at - but not play, as it's behind a glass wall - a "functioning" Fix-It Felix Jr. arcade machine. At least, it shows the "insert quarter" animations and such. I took a video but it doesn't really do it justice. Also I've heard that other playable cabinets have popped up in other officially sanctioned places. And I found out after the movie's release that, indeed, Ralph and Vanellope are now greetable (mask-style) characters.
Anywho the other nifty repeatable thing-to-do is the Animation Academy, in which a select small group (it's very exclusive! to whoever gets there first) is given a short (it seems short..in a good way) how-to-draw class, with you and the other "classmates" drawing along on a free souvenir piece of drawing paper. Ah, it was nice to draw on a proper drawing desk with the stool and lighted table and everything. We did this activity twice, one drawing Stitch (the class votes for one to draw from a choice of three characters) and one Phineas and Ferb (competing option example: Jack Skellington). Would you like to see and compare the results?

Post in the comments section whose you like better! Ha, just kidding.......(?)

I recommend it...for nerds who like to draw, at least. And nerds who like Beauty & the Beast are sure to like Beauty & the Beast - Live on Stage, which is exactly what you expect it to be, unless you expect it to be like the Broadway musical. It's more like Disney on Ice...but without the ice. Fascinating to see the entire movie squished into the span of roughly a half hour. And, you know, the songs are nothing to sneeze at.
Speaking of Disney on Ice, does it seem strange to anyone else that the one place you can't see a Disney Ice show is within Disney World itself?  I love Ice shows and I'm just shocked that there isn't a rink either tucked away in one of the parks or as a separate paid attraction at say.. Downtown Disney.  Disney people... if you read this... that idea's a free one!
I was very skeptical about the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, even with Amanda's reassurances that I could handle it. But similarly to Expedition Everest (see later), the build-up is more frightening than the ride itself. Having to watch the people ahead of you in line being shot forward and screaming is quite intimidating. I was also very iffy about riding a coaster with loops, as I'd never tried one before and found it hard to believe Amanda's insistence that "you can't even feel the loops" ("Maybe for you," I thought). But I'm glad I tried it! That initial launch (0-60mph in 2.8 seconds) is so quick that by the time you realize how fast it is it's already passed and - Amanda was right - I never even noticed ever being upside down, despite the ride having three inversions. It's weird, it was so unnoticeable that I kind of don't believe that the loops were there. Maybe one of them. But three? Really? But yeah, that one was a blast and I can't wait to ride it again. Maybe next time I'll actually pay attention to the music (which I guess is meant to be a main point of the ride) instead of focusing on screaming a lot. Get the front seat like we did if you can.  It's so much better when you have a good view of the vignettes even if you're too adrenalized to remember afterwards.
The FastPass wait time for RNRCSA was perfect for grabbing a QuickBite at Rosie's All-American Café, of which I don't have anything special to say except I can mark it off for my DisneyEats checklist (which is a theoretical checklist that I just named right this moment ago).
In the spot that I believe formerly housed the Chronicles of Narnia exhibits was a building with a "HOT SET" sign, foreshadowing an upcoming attraction. I'm willing to bet that's where "The Legend of Jack Sparrow" (which I've since found out about what with being just obsessive enough to follow the Disney Parks blog) will be. I can't not point out that we're talking an attraction based on a movie based on an attraction.
For Fantasmic! we repeated what could be a new standard of having a Toluca turkey leg while waiting for the show. Still a great show, and like Illuminations even better when I'm not super cold. To add to my earlier Twilight joke, I'd just like to mention the pre-show segment hosted by two DisneyRadio-quality personalities, one of whom asked an audience member a trivia-ish question: "What is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror named for: A science fiction show from the 50s or a really awful book series?" Yeah, Disney burned you, "Twilight" series! Feel that burn.
To end this section somewhat anticlimactically, DHS is the park where I bought pajama pants that have Disney Comics patterned on them. They were part of a pants-and-tank-top set and meant to be a Christmas gift and I think for ladies but I liked it for the pants and bought it for myself despite my being a dude because I liked them. Speaking of unique things bought, I'll let Amanda tell about what she found at Sid Cahuenga's One of a Kind shop. I might have cried a little when I saw it.  We are now the proud owners of a signed photo of Carroll Spinney posing with Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.  I spent more on this one item than on any other single item of the entire trip and it was worth it.  I will treasure it.  I will drape a piece of sheer black tulle over it when he dies and weep before it.  I will have it professionally framed.  I will pass it on to my child (should I have one). 

Character greeting
It's not quite a character greeting exactly, since there's no interactivity element (unless they were revving their engines at us?), but maybe closer to a backdropped photo op. Are there any other photo greeting characters from whom you can never get a signed autograph?

If humans were introduced into the Cars universe, would people be able to "control" the Cars cars from the inside by moving the steering wheel and pushing the pedals and stuff? Is there still a key-controlled ignition that can be turned off and on? In the first movie there's a joke where two passing cars make beeps as if they're "locking" themselves and it makes me wonder what happens when their doors are opened and that sort of thing makes me think way too much about a movie starring Larry the Cable Guy.

The last-time-but-not-this-time stuff: Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey (not sure if it was even running at the time but it's not worth seeing a second time anyway), Studio Backlot Tour (It was being refurbed, but not Phineas and Ferb'd), Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, Voyage of the Little Mermaid (a fun show, but it seems it was worth swapping for Beauty & the Beast), Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
The twofer no-gos: American Idol Experience (still a bit curious about this, mostly the process of it exactly), Disney Junior Live on Stage (one of these days I want to see it "ironically"),  Star Wars: Jedi Training Academy (also curious), Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! Parade (the parade I haven't seen that I most want to see), The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (my hesitancy plus the wait times)


Animal Kingdom

Appropriate gear for tacking Mount Everest: T-shirt, shorts, and the ever-important lanyard.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of characters from "Up" haven't been retired yet as meet-and-greeters. Russell and Dug are now seen near the park entrance as wilderness explorers, which is a cute way to incorporate them.

Socks!

New favorite: Expedition Everest! I have to admit I was scared at first. But I didn't want to /not/ try it at all, especially since I've read only positive things about it. Just looking up at the top "in person" made me consider chickening out, but I'm so glad I didn't. It wasn't as stomach-tossing as I worried it might be. And I'd say most of the thrill is in what's coming up, especially for the first ride when you don't know exactly what to expect, than the sensation of the movement itself. Though that is loads of fun too. Loved it so much we rode it twice, and look forward to challenging it again! I now deem it an Excellent Excuse to Not Skip Over Animal Kingdom.  I also have to mention the amazing views of the property you get here.  Most of the time when you're in a park, you can't see any of the other parks or even any of the outside world and that's done by design.  You are meant to be totally engulfed in the atmosphere and the outside world doesn't exist.  EE is one of those rare exceptions.  If you happen to be in the front car (and maybe the front seat of the second car) you'll come to a place where the track "breaks" and hang out there just long enough to see Spaceship Earth and a wide spanning view.  Next time we ride, I might have to try for the front seat again and attempt a snapshot.  It'll be tricky!
It's Tough To Be a Bug! is still child-nightmare-inducingly hilarious. This time around I couldn't help but notice that the audio-animatronic Hopper was absent. Was a bit awkward for the scene where he's supposed to be "off-camera." Amanda noticed AA Flik's eye was wonky, too.
Finding Nemo: The Musical was at least as, if not more, enjoyable as the first time seeing it. Since that first time we'd been semi-regularly listening to the CD we had bought, so this time we knew the songs and could follow along. I had even forgotten just how elaborate a lot of the visuals are, like the aerial stunts and back-and-foreground elements. And this time we sat  behind the middle of the audience, which gives a slightly different (though it's hard to say better or worse) show experience.
Speaking of CD merchandise, that's something I was surprised to not find this time around. We bought Finding Nemo: the Musical and the Four Parks One World 2CD set in 2011 and while considering getting the Wishes and/or Illuminations we ultimately passed. This time around, a mere... 21 months later, I checked various shops regularly and could not find any park music CDs! They had some movie soundtracks and those Song and a Story albums but not what you would expect would have a high enough demand to be easily found. I should be glad I got the ones that I did when I did, but I would've bought Wishes and Illuminations if I did find them this year. Was it just a shadow between different edition releases? If they re-release 4P1W with an updated track listing will I be compelled to add that to my collection especially if it has Captain EO on it? We'll see next time.
Oh, and Finding Nemo the Musical is the other EETNSOAK.
What no props for Festival of the Lion King? Yes, it's still as amazing as last time and I'm forever amazed by how many guests can fit in that theater and still have nearly every seat with a near perfect view!  The moving features Timon also never gets old.  On the one hand, I hope that more characters get that treatment for walk around situations... on the other hand, I know that character greetings would then take 4 times as long with the wait to match.
Fastpass-time-until-Dinosaur was spent with quick-serve lunch at Restaurantasaurus, which is worth noting for its burger bar. It's not the tidiest assortment of fixin's, but I really like the concept. I think I mentioned it in my D52 review, but Dinosaur the ride is much more entertaining than the movie off of which it's based. Last time the whiplashiness made my neck too stiff, so this time I tried to loosen my neck to avoid any of that unpleasantness, but I think focusing too much on that kept me from appreciating what was going on in the ride itself. Gotta find a balance there. Speaking of D52, this might be a good enough excuse as any to mention that, before we set out, I gave myself a mini "side goal" of seeing if I could snap one picture for each of the 52 full-length animated Disney features. My rule was that it had to be something in the parks (or resorts) that references the movie but any merchandise does not count. A lot I got in the animation building at Disney's Hollywood Studios, what with the displayed concept art. If it wasn't for this ride still being up, I wouldn't have expected any trace of anything "Dinosaur." I didn't get them all, but I am proud to have spotted Bongo the Bear as seen on the back of one of the Little Golden Books just as you're zipped on the ride first thing in Toy Story Midway Mania. But if you happen to have seen my Google Plus uploaded pictures album, this should explain why I took a lot of those.

Oh geez!

No character greetings for DAK,
unless you count this guy.

 Try to have a dollar bill handy if you're taking in Flights of Wonder! Enough said. I still say the chicken is the best part.
Kilimanjaro Safaris was different this time around, as there's apparently no longer a storyline about poachers tied into it. I can understand the choice, since I remember finding it weird to see a fake rhino baby after having seen all of the real animals, but because I didn't realize the change was made the second time I kept expecting to see the "story" part the end of the ride gave me that "Huh. That's it?" feeling. It is though still a very entertaining ride. It was also made, um, different by the family sitting next to/behind us who sure were...ah, boisterous about the experience.
Still, Animal Kingdom (while offering much more) is still the best zoo experience, you're ever likely to have.  Animals roaming (seemingly) freely with other animals just like they would in Africa is much more enjoyable to me than one animal, one enclosure.
It seems like there isn't as much to say about Animal Kingdom, but it is more about soaking in environment details than watching or doing spectacular things. And I am fine with that.

The skipped-agains: Everything else in Dinoland U.S.A.except for a quick snapshot of Kevin in a dinocar, Camp Minnie-Mickey, Kali River Rapids. Also, though not by choice, we did not spot DiVine.
Then but not now: Conservation Station/Rafiki's trail.


Downtown Disney

Man, Phineas and Ferb sure are popular nowadays! Mostly Agent P/Perry the Platypus. It probably helps that the designs were practically made to be T-shirts and plushies and the like.
As far as I'm concerned, a visit to Downtown Disney is worth it just for the new Lego Store. Even if you're not buying anything, you've gotta appreciate the massive dragon-vs-Prince Philip model and the Buzz-and-Woody-on-a-rocket that seems to defy its own sense of balance.
Picked up more spices from The Spice & Tea Exchange. I bought loose leaf caramel pear tea.  Usually I'm the kind of person that likes a little tea with my sugar if you know what I mean, but this stuff is amazing and I barely add 2 teaspoons! I think it was at Pin Traders here that I bought a Pop Century pin as a token of having stayed there previously but I didn't find a Yacht Club pin and regretting not getting it when I saw it back at the Animal Kingdom Lodge shop. That'll be one to look for next time, anyway.
And though there's not much else I have anything special to say about here it's always really cool to soak in everything that DD has to offer, whether or not you're literally being soaked by the jumping fountains or a giant spitting Stitch.

Conclusion

What else is there to say that a great time was obviously had and we couldn't have asked for a better experience? It was worth the wait and savings and, naturally, we're making mental notes on what we want to do on our next trip...whenever that may be! Mental Notes, nothing!!  I consider this blog entry a documentation of what we missed and wanted to do.  Not only that, next time we go there will be the all New Fantasyland to explore and I'm definitely going to want to try the Be Our Guest restaurant.  What will the Dwarfs Mine Ride be like? Will we try to go during a different festival (perhaps the Flower and Garden show?) I definitely want to take the Behind the seeds tour.  This time will we finally plan a spare day when we DON'T go to the parks and instead hang around the resort and perhaps visit a spa? And what of Aulani? And Disneyland? So much we still haven't experienced!

DisneyTogether

I have this habit of writing very long-winded reviews of certain things. I apologize ahead of time for the length! And I, Amanda, have a habit of butting in using italics. Kevin Amanda

I had been to DisneyWorld twice before the trip this year: once when I was way too young to remember anything about it, then later in 1995 when I visited with my family. But the '95 trip was only for one day, and only the Magic Kingdom, and there wasn't really any research (as far as which attractions are the must-dos) put into it, so I wasn't left with much in the Magical Memories Department. So this year was my chance to make up for that and do DisneyWorld "the proper way," with five-and-a-half days to cover all four of the parks, as thoroughly as possible! Starting with...

The Magic Kingdom

One of the first things we saw was a parade made especially for rainy weather, which I liked. Because how can you be upset about rain when the song is telling you to "Splish splash! Tinkle tinkle!"

I loved the improvisation-based technology of Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and appreciated that the improv actors in both of the showings we saw (well, Amanda and I just had to see it again later on a different day!) were actually quite good at it. I submitted a joke that I made up just to see if it would make it into the show, and sure enough it did! I'm not telling you what it was, though. Well now you HAVE to tell me which joke it was! Update! I didn't get it lol!

Stitch's Great Escape! was one of the weaker attractions, but well-done for what it is. There are a lot of attractions that can be equally enjoyed by adults and kids, but this is one that really is mostly made for the younger set. And that's very ironic because it was originally Alien which was too scary for most kids to begin with. Even I was pretty startled back before the rehash.

I don't mind telling you that we went on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin three times. I suppose at this point I should mention that, since we chose the fourth week in January to visit DisneyWorld, the parks were not nearly as crowded as they would be if we had chosen, say, July. Frankly, we were spoiled with the line non-waits. The wait for BLSRS, for example, each time was only as long as it took to walk through the queue area. Do I even need to stress how great it felt?
Anyway, I do enjoy slow-moving shooting gallery game/rides. It's essentially the same as King's Island's Scooby Doo ride*, except that one didn't seem to make perfect sense. When has the Mystery, Inc. Gang ever shot at any ghoulies? And since the ghosts always turn out to be humans, then...well, I'm digressing. You would think that trying to aim a tiny periodically appearing red laser dot (amidst a handful of other identical red dots) at moving targets while in a track-trailing and spinning car would be frustrating and annoying, yet somehow it manages to be really fun. I don't get it!


[*Now that I'm looking it up, it turns out that this has been genericized, as all traces of Hanna Barbera and Nickelodeon characters are now gone from King's Island. A lot of the rides that used to be Hanna Barbera themed are now Peanuts themed, which makes me imagine how funny it would be if they had tried to incorporate the Peanuts characters into this spooky dark ghost-shooting ride. First of all, duh it would be about the Great Pumpkin! And second of all, what?? Peanuts? But I thought Peanuts were a Cedar Point thing! When did Cedar Faire Inc buy out King's Island? Have they always owned it?]


I hope Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is never removed from the park. It's corny and amusingly approaching out-of-dateness, but that's what's so great about it! It predicted that, in "the family of the future," a grandmother could enjoy playing video games, even though I think it was meant to be a joke at the time! Also I think it's one of the best chances to get a good, up-close look at the classic Disney animatronics. It was so much so that I kind of had to resist the urge to just walk up onto the stage and poke around at the set.

The actual Space Mountain ride is waaay better than the video game. Holy crap! There's a video game???

Mickey's Philharmagic might just be my favorite 4-D film; I'll tell you which is my second-favorite when I get to it. But I don't think there's anything I can say about this one that might potentially spoil it for those who haven't experienced it. Let's just say I highly recommend it!

Speaking of spoilers, SPOILER ALERT: It turns out that it's a small world after all. A small, small world.

Tony's Town Square was a great first-day restaurant. We were definitely spoiled. The recent emptying of the park due to rain left this restaurant over staffed and therefore we had the fastest service of the entire trip. And our server Parvil sang Happy Birthday and lit a candle in Kevin's gelato.

I want to mention the Disney Dining Plan. We had originally planned to take the trip the week before such that my birthday would fall on it, but our trip adviser had found a special promotion that would allow us to have free dining for the entire stay if we pushed it to the next week. Let me just say that the next time we go (whenever that may be), I hope we can get the credit-based dining plan again.

I wouldn't be too surprised if at some point in the future the Swiss Family Treehouse is removed or renovated to fit the theme of another movie. And in 3-D!! And more interactive. It was nice to look at, but I really wanted to play with things, but it was all behind ropes that were not to be crossed.

I just want to say that our Jungle Cruise skipper reminded me of Paul of Paul & Storm. Also, I wonder what it would be like to listen to Weird Al's Skipper Dan on a personal music player while riding the Jungle Cruise.

Here's a question for the comments section. How do you pronounce "Pirates of the Caribbean? Do you say "ca-ribyan" or "cara-bee-in?" I think the latter sounds more pirate-y somehow, but I caught Amanda using the former. Anway, since this ride is rather dark, I recommend preparing a "pirate eye." Cover or close one eye and keep it closed for several minutes before you go inside, then when you enter, open it and close the other. Your cones will now be prepared for the darkness! Or just buy a scurvy eye patch from the shop before entering. It's the perfect pirate eye preparer!

The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management!) was closed. Aww.

I could ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad all day. It is just my perfect level of roller-coaster tolerance, and a blast to boot!

Country Bear Jamboree was, um...well, let's just keep an eye out for the IDGet comic about this one.

Three hundred years from now, The Hall of Presidents will still exist, and the Imagineers of the Future will have to find a way to fit all 100+ Audio-Animatronic presidents on the stage at once. And the Audience of the Future will have to listen to each one's name being stated in the roll call. One at a time. Slowly. I predict by then the caretaker presidents will be phased out... bless their hearts.
And then the presidents will of course gain sentience and kill everyone.

Speaking of dead people, The Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides, though I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because the song is so darn catchy. It totally needs to be played on the radio around Halloween. Also, if I was allowed to pick one "cast member" job, it would probably be this attraction's host. Staring creepily at all of the guests sounds like fun!

Peter Pan's Flight, Snow's White's Scary Adventures, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh are all sort of variations on the same experience, but if I had to pick a favorite, I'd probably go for Pooh's. I wonder if the part about Heffalumps and Woozles confuses the younger fans, now that there is an actual Heffalump character in the series. Also, why does the store into which the ride leads not sell honey? In adorable little Pooh-shaped squeeze bottles? Or honey straws! Which is what I really wanted.

Besides the furniture being hard and uncomfortable, it would be pretty great to live in a Toontown-style house. What? Minnie's House totally had soft usable chairs!
The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm is fun and too short, but is it worth going through the line for the ridiculous visual gags along the way.

And if you ever get to see Wishes Nighttime Spectacular, all future Fourth of July hometown fireworks will seem like piddly little sparklers by comparison. Just so you know. I swear to you, the imagineers who orchestrate the end of day displays are beyond ARTISTS. They're more like psychologists who know exactly what music and what images to show to make a person all choked up. I didn't even have a good view and I was still ready to cry cry cry.

Attractions in which we chose not to partake: Astro Orbiter, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (these three are all pretty much the same ride, right?), Cinderella's Royal Carousel, Frontierland Shooting Arcade, Liberty Square Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island, Mad Tea Party (I would've but Amanda dislikes spinniness), Splash Mountain (it was not hot enough for a wet ride), Tomorrowland Speedway, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Walt Disney World Railroad. I suppose a recurring theme here might be "riding around in a circle outdoors."

EPCOT

I highly recommend any Kim Possible fan or even person-who-has-occasionally-seen-Kim-Possible-but-enjoyed-it-when-he-has to try out the Kim Possible Save the World Missions. You basically follow instructions to different countries of the showcase from a programmed cell phone, and you can use it to activate various "events" at different locations. And part of the fun is seeing the reactions to the events of the other people around who aren't privy to the game! I would recommend though, that if anyone wants to try it, they should set aside time to do the missions all in one go (perhaps after perusing the showcases at leisure), because the Kimmunicator does not have a sleep mode and gets impatient if left unused for a certain amount of time by abandoning your current mission.

At Innoventions, I got to take part in a funny game show about velcro! And we also briefly tried out Segways for the first time! And posed for a silly green screen video game together! Please please please check out the photos. This was so very worth participating in despite the fact that it was the "shill our products" section of Epcot.

At Club Cool we tasted sodas from around the world, a couple of which were good, others were decent, but the Italian soda "Beverly" is downright nasty and I suspect only included as a cruel joke.

I suppose I don't have much to say about each individual showcase pavilion, but I will say that Japan's was my favourite shopping (well, just browsing in my case) stop. If they had the weird-flavor (like wasabi) Doritos, I would've bought those, though. It also turns out that you can't get poutine from the Canada pavilion (Amanda asked) and though I found no Twiglets at the United Kingdom, I did try Jammie Dodgers as a consolation. We enjoyed lunch at U.K.'s The Rose and Crown, where Amanda has fish and chips and I bangers and mash. And as I was still wearing my birthday button from the day before I got another song! By the way, all of the restaurants at which we sat down and dined had what I would call perfect portions. They were large portions, but not so large that you felt stuffed and roll-y afterwards, but just good and satisfied.

I watched the rear screens for most of the O Canada! 360 Circle-Vision film because I felt bad that no one else seemed to be watching them. I felt a bit dizzy because I was turning round and round and back and forth trying to look at everything all at once!

Captain EO. Oh, man oh man. So the thing is, I had never seen and Amanda was eagerly looking forward to re-seeing Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. It wasn't until we were actually at the building where it used to be that we find out it had recently been replaced. It turns out that this happened just this past July, which is confounding because I even remember having mailed to us custom park maps, which did show HIStA. Even if I made those maps before July, you would think they would know that it was going to be replaced soon and make some sort of footnote for it (as in, "Oh by the way this won't be here for long just so you know").
This leads me to looking up its history: It debuted back in 1986 and ran until it was replaced by Honey I Shrunk the Audience in 1994. So Captain EO was given about eight years, with HISTA getting twice as much time afterward. And I am surprised that "Honey..." even lasted that long, considering the film it's based on frankly hasn't been terribly relevant for a long time.
But is Captain EO relevant enough for its revival? Aside from Michael Jackson's enduring popularity...nnno. It's pretty bad. Like, not "Bad" bad, but like Nostalgia Critic review bad. But I actually enjoyed it for its badness, especially since it happened to be the type of bad movie that I can easily laugh at (not with).
If you want an idea what it's like consider:
-It was written and produced by George Lucas
-It features Lucas-esque creatures
-Michael Jackson plays the sort of fantasy version of himself seen in his music videos and uses the power of his music to transform
-There is a bumbling elephant-thing named Hooter whose sole purpose, it seems, is to sneeze on you.
We were surprised to later stumble upon plush toys of Hooter and one of the other Captain EO characters (a butterfly-cat-mouse named Fuzzball) in a couple of the park shops! But what would surprise me even more is if we actually saw anybody buying or carrying either of them around. Did you look that name up or did you actually remember it from the show? Because really? Fuzzball? Really?

So because I haven't seen Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, I didn't get at the time that the character Nigel Channing, who hosts Journey Into Imagination With Figment, is a carried over character from the other show. This could be one case against doing away with HISTA.
The ride sure does try to be as whimsical as possible! But what exactly is Figment? Channing says he "created" Figment, but does that mean he created him using his imagination, or is Figment a work of science designed to demonstrate the effects of imagination, or...I don't know. It doesn't really make sense but there's a part of the ride with an upside-down bathroom on the ceiling and that makes up for everything.

The Land Pavilion has an odd distinct smell whenever I enter it. It reminds me of hospital food, specifically the type you get as a meal in the tray with the foil edges you peel back to uncover the paper lid, you know the type? I don't know if the smell was from the restaurant(s) or the plant-growing area, but it hit me even stronger than the scents piped into some of the WDW rides and shows. Like, for example...

Soarin' was praised and praised in all of the WDW vacation books I'd read, and did not fail to disappoint. And it also goes to show that you don't need 3D to make a film-based ride engaging and immersive!

Living With the Land made me hungry for strange types of foodplants that I had never heard of before.

The Circle of Life was a nice enough film about the impact of humans on the Earth, but it's another for the "I won't be surprised if it gets updated/replaced soon" bin.

Mission: Space was a blast, and I thought the tamer "orange" version that we did was too tame, and would've liked to try the diehard "green" version, but Amanda wasn't up for that. Maybe next time :) But we had a lot of fun "getting into character" throughout. Would you like to see our video postcard?

To me the most fascinating part of Ellen's Energy Adventure was the mechanics of the ride seats, the way that the people sitting to the left or right of you become the people in front of or behind you after the short film ends and the ride gets going. Apart from that and the energy "lesson" (I know it sounds weird, but it wasn't as educational as I was hoping it would be), it doesn't really offer anything that you can't get from another ride. Well, at least you do get to see an out-of-date Jeopardy! set and Alex Trebek with a mustache.

Speaking of things that I expected to be more educational than they were, I'm not sure if anything was really taught in the interactive Turtle Talk With Crush. But I guess the educational content is determined by the questions the kids ask, and the questions at our showing were, um. Well, one of the questions was "Are you in Nemo?" and I'll leave that without comment. But the bulk of the presentation is pretty much an extended audience warm-up routine. Which is not to say it isn't fun and worth attending, though.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends ends with a "How did they do that effect" that, to me, is at least as impressive as the effect that ends Haunted Mansion. And come to think of it, the rides are kind of similar in structure. Hm, I call copycat!

Not liking seafood didn't prevent me from enjoying Coral Reef Restaurant. I had the excellent dish called wild mushroom lasagna, which I can only dream to find in the menu of any other restaurant I ever go to. Seriously. Are there any restaurants in the Parma, Ohio area that serve wild mushroom lasagna? Wrapped in phyllo dough too. Oooo fancy!

Let me talk a bit about the Photopass service. It is a terrific idea: numerous professional photographers around the parks can take pictures of you in front of landmarks or with characters. All of the photos taken during your stay are sent to the same account via the free Photopass card that you hand to each photographer. You can later view the pictures online, but unfortunately to get prints or even download them costs quite a pretty penny. To give you an idea: to download one of the pictures costs fifteen bucks. Yep.

At the Epcot Character Spot, we had our pictures taken with Pluto, Donald, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy (no Daisy, though. She must be to Disney character gatherings what Betty Rubble is to Flintstones chewable vitamins)! I wish I could have taken a video of Donald reacting to a girl who was wearing a Donald Duck butt hat. And we did end up getting a backwards Goofy picture! But it's on Photopass...

Spaceship Earth is probably my favorite audio animatronics-based ride and is an awesome way to get an idea of just how huge that giant "golf ball" is. A newly updated version lets you select your own personalized future. Here's ours!

Illuminations: Reflections of Earth was worth the colder-than-I-expected temperature I had to endure during it. I suppose at this point in this post Amanda will comment about how I am a "cold baby." You are a cold baby. I was wearing a thinner jacket and was totally fine. Come on, it was FLORIDA. hee hee

Things we did not do: Reflections of China (never got around to it) and Test Track (I think Amanda was scaredy-pants)

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Toy Story Midway Mania has got to be without a doubt and by far the most popular attraction at the moment (not counting the night time celebrations...though, maybe still...). Before noon it had run out of Fastpasses. And this was during a light January week - remember what I said earlier about the other rides having pretty much no lines? So this is the only ride for which we waited a long time in line. But the queue is charming enough that it's hard to mind. Where else can you see a life-size ViewMaster reel? And yes, the ride itself is totally worth the wait. Whereas Space Ranger Spin uses a button for its shooting, TSMM has you pulling a ball on a string. Though this helps the game feel more interactive, man does it wear out your arm! The only first person shooting game I've ever beat Kevin on! He never made it past beaver, but I got to wildcat!

Muppet Vision 3-D is a blast, and I loved it mostly for the "real" outside-of-the-screen characters. Sweetums's appearance makes me wonder why there aren't any Muppet character greeting opportunities. Is it because they wouldn't talk? Also, Waldo C. Graphic is a parody of Figment, right?

Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey was the second show-featuring-a-stand-up-comedian-turned-self-titled-sitcom-star-now-known-for-being-the-host-of-a-daytime-television-series that we saw. It was, well, pretty much what I expected. Do you think people are going to get used to seeing Trim Drew Carey on The Price is Right and then be a bit jarred whenever they see him as Bigger Drew Carey in anything older he's been in? In case you have to ask... and I did... the other person was Ellen. I am clearly not all there when it comes to sitcom stars.

The Great Movie Ride was, well, great! We saw the "gangster" version. I like to think of what live-action movies of today will be considered "classic" enough decades later to be possibly added to the Great Movie Ride. Any suggestions, commentators? I was thinking maybe Titanic? ET?

I haven't played Epic Mickey, but I figure seeing Walt Disney: One Man's Dream is the next big thing. Maybe better?

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is a stage show, not to be confused with the upcoming Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, which will be a ride in the Magic Kingdom. The show is a fun treat, but I'm glad we saw it before another certain aquatic stage show that I'll mention later, as that one blew VotLM out of the water. But still see it if you're a Little Mermaid fan.

I want The Magic of Disney Animation to stay around forever, but what of the new-fangled computers and things?
After the "show" part, we met and gret Lotso! And yes, he does smell like strawberries! While we were waiting in line he was excused to leave the room for a few moments. I'm sure he needs to use the restroom every once in a while, but I bet he has to periodically freshen up his strawberriness too.
There was also a meet-and-greet area for Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. It says a lot for the popularity of Pixar movies that their characters from 2004 are still making the rounds in WDW. I'm just sayin', it's not like I saw any G-Force or Meet the Robinsons characters hangin' around.

I'm glad I was able to dine at 50's Prime Time Café even if only to see the set-up itself. I had seen the 1950s-style-home look in photos before, but what surprised me was how well the layout of the restaurant itself was made to be like one really big family house. As for the theming
from the actors, we didn't get much from our server but I did get a kick out out of watching the table across from us. It makes sense in hindsight that the concept works better for large families and kids than for, say, a grown-up couple. And I guess it didn't help that I kept my elbows off the table and ate my veggies on my own anyway. And I've always been a dish stacker.

I had already seen a video of a lot of the Lights, Motor, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, and I'm afraid that spoiled the experience of the live show, since there weren't really any surprises for me. But it is still all very impressive. It turns out that the show has its own music soundtrack, even though I could've sworn the soundtrack was just VRRROOOOOOOM-ROOOOM, ERRRRRRGGG! BANG-BANG-FWOOOMP, SQUEEEEEEAL, etc.

The Studio Backlot Tour is Disney World's way of saying, "What, you want to go to Universal Studios? F that! Here, we'll give you a thing that's just like half of Universal. You'll like it." I think the only movie prop I recognized was the souped-up lawnmower from Home Improvement, and I don't know whether that says more about my knowledge of movies or about Disney's influence with live-action movies and television shows. I agree with this a lot. Also I was a little sad that it was too cold for audience participation in the pre-show, because really, that's what I remember as one of the best parts.

The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure is still up! What are the odds that it'll soon be rebranded the "Gnomeo and Juliet Movie Set Adventure"? That's actually really clever and I'm proud of you for thinking of it.

One of the minor things we wanted to experience was the Disney World turkey leg. A lot of the vacation books mentioned that certain food vendors sell turkey legs, and you know it must be "a thing" because you can also buy a t-shirt with an image of a cartoon turkey leg and the simple straightforward caption "turkey leg." So we used one of our counter service credits (note: an entire turkey leg, it turns out, is meant for one person and we later learned that one turkey leg is on average 1.5 lbs or 680 grams for you metric folks) and shared one as we waited in line for Fantasmic. This would turn out to be a great idea.
Fantastic was easily my favourite of the nighttime spectaculars. And I'm not just saying that because it's the only one of the three in which the audience gets seats! Anyone who sees this has no choice but to be amazed and entranced and in awe. It's like a law of physics or something. What with the explosions and the water and the videos and the stunts and the dragon that -you know what? Just make sure you see it for yourself.

Also as we exited Fantasmic, we choose to leisurely stroll through the shops instead of allowing ourselves to be herded by the many many other people straight to the park exit. We decided a good snack would one of the giant chocolate covered rice crispie treats. Yes, we only needed one and the counter worker graciously split it for us. Each HALF was bigger than a rubik's cube and it only counted for ONE snack credit. Sheesh!

The no-gos: American Idol Experience (You know, I would have been interested in this if I knew for sure I was going to be one of the three on stage but that's about it.) , Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian (for both: NOT interested), Star Wars (was undergoing renovation. B'OH!), Rock & Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (I was skittish about both), Beauty & the Beast - Live on Stage, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (never got around to either) We did try to see Indy by hopping parks on one of the last days, but darn it, we didn't check the times guide and ended up a mere 10 minutes late to get in.

Animal Kingdom

The Kilimanjaro Safari is basically the land version of Jungle Cruise, but taken more seriously. And with real animals. I was amused by the storyline built into it. I was impressed with how natural the surroundings were! I was also impressed by the way they create opportunities for you to see the animals by making the out in the open spots the most desirable for the animals to stay in.

Is it weird that of all the different types of birds featured in the Flights of Wonder, the one that most entertained me was the chicken? Perhaps because I'm partial to chickens, but also because it was hilariously the least exotic of them all. Also, the idea of a chicken chasing a person around is hilarious. Also, one of the hawks flew so close to us I quite literally felt the wind from its wings as it flew by.

Festival of the Lion King is not to be missed, especially for the monkeys. And the talking walking Timon, which intrigues me, anyway!

What seemed like I had read most about It's Tough to Be a Bug! was that, for every show, there is at least one crying child. And sure enough! But wow, it does seem as if the show does as much as it can to go out of its way to try to terrify small children. There are bugs in front of you! Bugs above you! Bugs in your back! Bugs on the floor! BUGS EVERYWHERE THERE'S NO ESCAPE!!
Though I'm thinking that if it weren't for the horrified screams, the show itself would only be that much less remarkable.. Am I a bad person for thinking the screaming terrified children were hilarious? Maybe. I'm okkay with that.

The Conservation Station was one of the least crowded character meeting spots, and I sort of felt kind of bad that not many other people (besides us) wanted to meet Jiminy Cricket. He's a classic character, people!

Finding Nemo: The Musical was better than I expected it to be! It seems a missed opportunity that it doesn't lead into a store at which you can buy the CD. But we did eventually find it! I think if not for it being only 30 minutes long, it'd be worthy of being shown in venues outside of "the World." If it were to be extended into a full 1 or 2 hour show, I would absolutely go to see it again or try out for it if it came to a theatre near me.

If you love bumpiness, you'll love the Dinosaur ride! But really, it is terrifically fun. Just...not as fun for those with stiff necks! Loved it. All I have to say about that. Loved it. Also around this time I was thinking it would be very convenient to be able to put the automatically taken ride photos on your photo pass card.

Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade was my favorite parade if only for a bit where I caught Timon flirting at a distance with a park guest. I didn't realize he was such a ladies' man!

The "Maybe Another Time"s: We avoided Kali River Rapids for wetness reasons. TriCeratop Spin is, yes, another going-around-in-circles-at-a-height-outside ride. Primeval Whirl was closed, and Amanda seemed uninterested anyway. Nah, I woulda tried it :) As for Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain? I was considering trying it out - I figured, hey I can tackle the other mountain-based rides - until lunchtime when, from across the water at the Flame Tree Barbecue, we could hear the screams of the people riding Everest. And also to see just how huge the thing is. I was, um, kinda scared.

The Resorts

We stopped at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at the highly-praised Boma: Flavors of Africa. Which was easily worth its praise! I had heard a lot about the superb zebra domes, but the other similar truffles were equally delicious.

I can't not mention the on-site hotel at which we stayed, right? Disney's Pop Century Resort had a lot of great Stuff-on-the-Walls and Giant Decorate things to look at. The room itself was ... budget. Nothing bad about it, just very basic. Table chairs beds TV bathroom. I couldn't help but notice that the TV showed only local television channels and Disney channels (ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, Disney XD). Are the television channel lists edited to only cycle through those or do they get a special cable package made especially for Disney? And how can we get in on that package???
As you may or may not know, the Pop Century buildings are divided into different "decade" sections. We chose 80s just because we like 80s things, but in hindsight it would've been more practical to choose the 60s so that our walks to and from the shuttle curb and dining area would be shorter. Pop Century's dining, incidentally is... well, not great in contrast to our other Disney dining experiences. Though they do offer waffles in the design of the Pop Century logo, which is darn pretty special. Do all of the Disney resorts each serve their own style of waffle?

We visited the Contemporary Resort for a dinner at Chef Mickey's. I couldn't help but have a character meal, for novelty's sake! The most memorable part of the buffet meal was definitely the Mickey Truffle.

Downtown Disney

I got to go to the Lego store! Oh and there were some other stores we went to I guess. But, Lego store! I was a big fan of Little MissMatched which sells nothing but socks, tights, gloves and armwarmers and other things that don't match. Plus everything came in sets of three so not only is it okkay if you lose one, but you could buy any number of trios and they would all go with all the others! I already want more and will be on the website for a while now.

Overall

I had never theme parked for more than a couple of days in a row. This may be why, at around the fourth day or so I felt a bit...overwhelmed. It was unusual to have that much constant stimulation for that long; I admit I actually felt like I needed a break from it. But aside from that - which I got mostly got over anyway - it was an incredibly memorable trip and I find myself reminiscing an awful lot about it. I learned that I need to schedule nap breaks in for Kevin because seriously, he slept on the bus to and from each park. He slept in some of the educational theater shows, and he fell asleep INSTANTLY every night. Usually he does a little fidgeting and a little scratching, but MAN did he fall asleep fast.



So. When can we go again? (!)