Johnson - November 2004

November 4, 2004

We drove to our friend Deb's house in Orlando.

November 5, 2004 - Magic Kingdom

This was day one of the Annual Passholder's preview of Stitch's Great Escape. Chris is a huge Stitch fan, and couldn't wait for the ride. He also loves pins, so was thrilled that we were there in time to get the limited edition pin for the event. We parked at the TTC, and after a stop to look at Deb's brick, Chris and I bought our new AP's. Then we took the ferry over. On the ride over, we realized how good it was that we'd forgotten the bathing suits- it was too cold for swimming. I was even beginning to rethink not having at least a sweatshirt with me. On the way over, we watched them putting up the Christmas tree outside of the Contemporary. They only had two pieces up, and were using a crane to put the rest on top.

Once we made it through the gates and under the train station, I scanned the Town Square area to see if there were any new characters out. There was one I didn't recognize, so I asked Chris who it was, and did we have him. He said it was Darkwing Duck, and promptly got in line for his autograph. We had the rest so then we took our time heading up Main Street. I LOVE the Castle. It's my favorite thing in the world, I think. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing it, and since we'd actually let our AP's expire in Sept, and had been without them for almost two months- it was even better. I know it's sad, we both knew we'd be back, and that it was better to shift the renewal date, but it was still a relief to actually have the passes in hand.

Chris headed off for a quick stop somewhere, and Deb and I headed on to Tomorrowland together. We took the path out of the Hub and past the Rose Garden, to see why there was a big tent set up. Apparently they're in the process of setting up the world's largest house of cards. After checking out the sign we continued on into Tomorrowland, passing Stitch and Buzz Lightyear. We stopped across from the entrance to wait for Chris, who promptly called me to see where we were. As he rounded the corner, he spotted us, and after catching up, we decided that we'd go get the pins first, and then head back to get on the ride.

At the Merchant of Venus, I checked with one counter and was directed to the other one. When we approached that counter, we found a pretty odd Cast Member who told us that the pins were three stores down. She was kidding- but then went on to tell us how she used to work the Disneyana convention and complained about how much stuff people would buy. It was pretty weird, but we got our Stitch pins and then headed out. They have a lot of new Stitch holiday stuff, but there wasn't anything Chris felt he couldn't live without, so we headed off to the ride.

When we'd gone into the store, there was no one in line for Stitch, but when we made our way back over, it was packed! Chris and I had happened to be in FL for the Annual Pass Preview of Mission Space, and there was a constant log jam of non-AP people trying to get on too. The same thing was happening for Stitch, but we eventually made our way around the crowd, and into the building. After the ride, we headed back out and decided that it was simply ok. Not as good as we expected. Then we decided it was time for some food, and made our way to Casey's. Chris and Deb got the food while I found us a spot on the bleachers in the other room.

After a hot dog and splitting some fries with Chris, we set off through the shops to make our way out of the park. We decided to take the monorail back, and while waiting for it, Chris called and made a Priority Seating for later that night. We also noticed that the tree at the Contemporary was all put together.

On the monorail, we got squished and stepped on by a little girl who's parents didn't seem to have a problem with her sitting on top of the divider thingie in the middle of the car. She'd climb up, then fall off, then climb up again. After about the 5th time, her father did realize she came close to landing on us, and he told her maybe it wasn't a good idea. A few times later he told her not to go up there, and that worked for about a minute and a half, when she made some sort of deal, and he let her back up there (we know because she screamed it to her mother). We were quite happy to get out of that car, and make our way back to the parking lot.

We drove over and headed into Epcot. We headed into the park, making our way to the France pavilion, where we started our tour of the Food & Wine booths. In France the offerings were Escargot Provencal, Crepe au Fromage et Jambon, Coquille St. Jacques au Gradtin, and Chocolate Creme Brulee. Deb got the escargot and the creme brulee while Chris and I split a creme brulee. She tried to get Chris to try the escargot, but he wasn't in the mood to try it, so passed.

We munched as we made our way through the pavilion and checked out the temporary set up for Valencia Spain. In Spain the choices were Savory Marcona Almonds, Gazpacho, Manchego Cheese and Ham, Paella, and Turron. Chris chose the Savory Almonds, which tasted a lot like cashews, they were very salty, and I tried the Turron. It was prepackaged, it's almond nougat, basically a hard candy bar. Both were very good.

We decided to bypass the next three stands, Morocco & Mediterranean, India and Japan. Some of the food sounded quite good, but since we couldn't eat everything, we decided to wait for what we really wanted. Our next stop was in the US, where Deb tried the Lobster Corn Chowder, Cabot Cheddar Crab Cake, and Chris got the Apple Cranberry Tart. I was a bit tired, so while they waited in line, I went to another stand and got a soda, then sat and waited for them by the fountain. We stayed there while we munched, and then made our way to the next country.

When we got to the Piedmont stand, Deb and I decided that we had to try one of everything. We opted to share them, and each got a glass of Rosa Regale. After gathering all our plates, we headed to a little patio seating area they had to try all our goodies. We had Torta Gianduja a chocolate torte that was just okay. There was Chocolate Bonet, which was wonderful. I have no idea what it is, but it was yummy. Then there was a Hazelnut Flourless Chocolate Cake, it was like fudge with hazelnuts in it, very good! And lastly Italian Cookies with a chocolate dipping sauce. All of it went wonderfully with the Rosa. We spent some time here chatting for a while, and then made our way over to Germany.

In Germany, Chris decided to get the Apple Strudel with a Vanilla Sauce, and Deb and I waited for him while he was in line. After eating the strudel, we continued on to our next stop, which was China. We skipped over Australia, South Africa and Southeast Asia. In China, we headed to the Lotus Blossom, and introduced Deb to the egg rolls. We rested here for a bit before heading off to the next stop.

We decided to skip Scandinavia and headed to Ireland to get some Whiskey Flan. Chris and I had tried it last year, and loved it. This year it had a stronger whiskey taste, but was otherwise good. The last stop was Mexico for Chris to get his customary churro.

After debating about what to do next, we headed down past the Odyssey to see what the wait was like on Test Track. Unfortunately, the single rider line was 25 minutes, so Deb and Chris decided to skip it. Instead we set off for Innoventions, to see what they had there. We went through the one side, and realized it wasn't the one that Chris wanted to go to. There was a new plastics display he wanted to see, so Deb and I settled on a bench to wait for him.

When Chris came back, we headed over to the other Innoventions to see if we could find the Aibo's. They've removed the exhibit though, so it was a short trip. Our next stop was the Gallery to see what was new. After we finished checking out the Gallery, we decided that we'd finish up the last few stops in the World Showcase and then head back to the house for a while before dinner.

We made our way back to the World Showcase, and made our last few stops. Deb stopped for some Spicy Florida Shrimp with Jimcama Slaw at the Florida stand. Then she got some Baklava at Greece. In Canada Chris got me Honey Maple Glazed Salmon with Pecans, Maple Walnut Fudge and a glass of the Inniskillin Vidal Ice Wine. After a short break to eat our new goodies, we made our way out of the park, and headed back to the house.

Back at the house, Chris decided to take a nap, and Deb headed back to the internet cafe. I ended up watching some tv, and then got ready for dinner. We all headed back out and over to the Yacht Club where we left the car with the valet. We went through the lobby, checking out the Christmas tree and garlands that were already up, and made our way back to the restaurant.

Chris got us checked in, and we were quickly escorted to our table. We settled in and were greeted by our waiter, Sam. He handed out menus and the wine list, and quickly recommended a Fess Parker Reisling for me, as the sweetest wine they offered. I ordered a glass, Chris ordered a Corona and Deb got iced tea. Chris and I both opted to skip an appetizer, while Deb chose the Baby Spinach Salad with a bacon sherry vinaigrette, maytag blue cheese, bacon and toasted pecans. She said it was one of the best salads she's ever had.

Sam brought out the wine, which was wonderful, very light and sweet, but not overly so. And then came the bread basket, with onion rolls and sourdough rolls. I love onion bread, but since Chris doesn't care for it, I rarely have it unless we're out. These rolls were very good, they had a light, sweet onion flavor, not at all overpowering. The closest thing I can compare it to is the onion flavor in a sour cream and onion potato chip. Even Chris enjoyed it when I got him to try a bite.

After a while it was time for the main courses. We had each opted for something different. Chris got the New York strip steak with a baked potato. Deb got the Charred Angus Bourbon Strip Steak, it's marinated in bourbon and served with mashed potatoes. This is an awesome choice, I tried a bite of it and loved it. I chose the Yachtsman Filet Mignon, served with a red wine sauce and mashed potatoes. The steak just melted in your mouth- it was one of the best I've ever had.

Then of course, came my favorite part of the meal- dessert! Deb decided to skip dessert, and I told Chris he had no choice, we were splitting the Dessert Sampler Platter for Two. It's a chef's sampling of the desserts, served on a plate shaped like an artist's palette. Among our selections were a cheesecake, key lime pie, a blackberry or current sorbet in a chocolate cup, a chocolate mint torte thing, and creme brulee. They were all wonderful, but my favorite was the chocolate mint thing. The meal was wonderful, as was the service. Our last few experiences at the Disney restaurants had been less than positive, so this was a great surprise. We enjoyed Sam so much that we flagged down the manager to let him know how he had added to the meal.

We headed back to the house, with a quick stop at Walgreen's for a few odds and ends. When we got back, we sat and talked for a while, and watched a rerun of the Apprentice before heading our separate ways for the night.

November 6, 2004

The next morning Deb was up and out before we were. She was going to SeaWorld to see Jack Hanna, while Chris and I decided to sleep in. We got up, and packed up, cleaning up after ourselves, and then just spent some time at the house relaxing. Deb called after the show, and we made plans to meet at Downtown Disney for lunch.

After loading up the car, we were on our way. We met Deb outside of Earl of Sandwich, and we headed in for lunch. Chris and I ended up splitting a club sandwich- and it was awesome, as usual. Once we finished the meal, we made our usual shopping rounds.

The first stop was Disney's Days of Christmas, where we were able to see the Disney Christmas buildings that are in the Disney catalog. This only convinced me that I had to have them, but I decided to hold off for a bit. We did our normal tour of the Scrapbook Store and the Gallery, and then went to Disney at Home. Next up was the Pin Store, where Chris found a cute Stitch pin he needed. It's Stitch sitting in the sand, with the sand being a rubbery material.

Here we said goodbye to Deb, as she had some other plans for the afternoon. It's always hard saying goodbye to her, and she was so wonderful for letting us stay with her this trip! We had soo much fun with her! After she left, we headed to Once Upon a Toy, where I bought Chris the Haunted Mansion Clue in a keychain size.

After that we were pretty much done. Chris wanted to see the Lego store, so he headed that way. I toured World of Disney, and he met me in there. We picked up a new hat for Chris, an antennae topper for my grandfather and a Tinkerbell purse for me and then we headed out. The trip home was typical, I watched tv, and then we came home and unpacked.