'Ohana Means Family - An April 2013 TR Updated 8/26!!

[jedimeg16]

After two full days at the Magic Kingdom we were ready for a new park and a new to us restaurant.

Ian pointing in the Art of Animation lobby while waiting for some of the adults to finish getting their morning caffeine.



He also had a little bit of extra energy and was running back and forth





We had a few minutes to snap pictures of a little bit of the Flower and Garden Festival as we walked through the empty Epcot. My mom is an avid gardener, and F&G is her favorite festival.











By now it's no surprise that we were eating at Akershus. We are actually part Norwegian on my dad's side of the family, and yet we always went to a different country to eat because that food is more familiar to us (and we eat there later on our Epcot day). I know that the breakfast menu isn't remotely close to having any traditional food, we were there for the princesses. I made shirts for the boys that read "Future Prince Charming", mostly because I wanted to see what kind of reaction this would get from the princesses.





Our pictures with Belle:





We had two group shots because the pictures are included in the price of the meal at Akershus and groups of 5-8 people automatically get two pictures. Belle is also my favorite princess of all time, so this meal was perfect for me. Unfortunately it was too busy to also get a picture of her with the amigurumi Belle, which would have been perfect since I made the version of her in the gold dress.

Next up: Food and Princesses, and maybe some flirting?

 

[KatMark]

I like the cut pictures of Ian in the lobby at the resort.

Beautiful pictures of Flower & Garden. I have to say this has become a favorite time of year for us to visit (Christmas still holds the edge). The work they do on those topiaries is amazing.

Very nice pictures with Belle (seems in that first picture your hubby had his eye on Belle ).

We've only done lunch there (we didn't like it) so curious to hear your thoughts on breakfast.

 

[jedimeg16]

I like the cut pictures of Ian in the lobby at the resort.

Beautiful pictures of Flower & Garden. I have to say this has become a favorite time of year for us to visit (Christmas still holds the edge). The work they do on those topiaries is amazing.

Very nice pictures with Belle (seems in that first picture your hubby had his eye on Belle ).

We've only done lunch there (we didn't like it) so curious to hear your thoughts on breakfast.

While I'm not as much of a gardener as my mom (I'm allergic to just about anything that blooms), F&G is one of my favorites too. I've never been in the fall or during Christmas, so I can't judge if Halloween or Christmas would edge out going in the spring as my favorite.

Hahaha! I did not notice that Ryan was almost checking Belle out! I think he was just trying to make certain that Logan wasn't going to wiggle out of his arms. And I will post my thoughts on the food in the next update.

 

[jedimeg16]

After our pictures with Belle we were seated quickly at a table next to the windows that overlooked the courtyard of the Norway pavilion. The servers had placed the high chairs for the boys at the end of the table so that the princesses would be able to stand in one place to get pictures with both of them.

The food was good, with the hot food brought directly to the table (eggs, bacon, and sausage are what I remember being on the plate, there might have been more, but I don't remember), and the fresh fruits and pastries were on a small buffet in the center of the restaurant.

The first princess to approach was Aurora



Ian was clearly more interested in his grapes at the moment, and we don't have a clear picture of her and Logan before she turned to go.

Then it was Cinderella



She loved his shirt, even if Ian was paying more attention to my croissant than to her.

The Snow White come to our table. She was very interested in their shirts and was very sweet.







And in an instant Snow White became Logan's favorite princess





In between Snow White and the final princess they had the kid's parade around the restaurant. The boys were more interested in their food than joining in, so we didn't force them to participate.

And then Ariel appeared.



While Ian doesn't seem very impressed in the picture, after the Sofia the First episode that features Ariel he decided that she was his favorite princess.



Overall, breakfast there was delightful, and it is definitely high on my list of places to return to in the future.

Up next: Do we take fight or take a journey along the EAC?

 

[KatMark]

You updated while I was gone.

Love the pictures of the boys with the princesses, even if they are more interested in their food.

We may have to go there sometime for breakfast; we've only done lunch which we were not very keen on.

 

[jedimeg16]

You updated while I was gone.

Love the pictures of the boys with the princesses, even if they are more interested in their food.

We may have to go there sometime for breakfast; we've only done lunch which we were not very keen on.

It seems like Tuesday nights are the only regular time I have to post any update other than replies.

We haven't had lunch or dinner there so I don't have any other experience to compare it to, but breakfast was very nice.

 

[jedimeg16]

After breakfast I had my most crucial run as our designated FastPass runner - from Norway to The Land.

My parents took more pictures of the F&G Festival while they leisurely caught up to me.







A quick shot across World Showcase Lagoon at the under construction Spice Road Table in Morocco





The glass poppies were really pretty



And by the time they made it to where I was sitting outside The Land, Logan was already asleep. Even with trying to clean off the lipstick print from Snow White some of it remained until his bath that night.



We had about an hour until our FastPass time for Soarin', so Brandon and Rochelle went off to Test Track while the rest of us went to The Seas with Nemo and Friends.







The line was non existant and we walked right on - after winding through the mile long queue that had no bypass...

The boys love watching Finding Nemo so they had no problem with the ride through part of the attraction. We didn't walk through a lot of it because Ian was mostly interested in running around in the little room that has the wheels and the giant Bruce that people can pose in (excuse the crazy eyes from me and Logan - the room is dimly lit and the flash was extra bright) and because we wanted to stay close to the Turtle Talk with Crush area.





We were able to get seats in the next Turtle Talk show, which was really neat to see. Ryan and I didn't see it when we were on our honeymoon, so it was new to all of us. In the middle of the show Logan decided to freak out and screech, probably from everyone sitting still for so long, and without skipping a beat Crush commented "Whoa, somebody speaks dolphin!"

Then it was time for our Fastpasses!! We all walked up to the FP return and got confirmation about how the Rider Swap would work since both of the boys were too short and my parents took the boys and sat by the exit while Brandon, Rochelle, Ryan, and I all entered the line. It was so busy that morning that even the FastPass return line had a half hour wait! But the time went quickly and we were able to request the front middle section. I love this ride so much, and I'm so glad that the young adults got to ride it together. Then we sent my parents and Brandon and Rochelle to the line while Ryan and I used a meal credit for food for the boys since it was already lunch time. This was the one and only time that I remember getting any kind of questions or attitude about what food I was getting with the meal credit, simply because I chose to get the smaller whole milk carton instead of the largest drink I was able to get. But I knew this is what I wanted to get for the boys so while the encounter stuck in my mind I didn't let it bother me too much. Ryan and I weren't eating yet because we had other plans for lunch, which we were nearly already late for because of the wait to ride Soarin'.

Up next: Where the heck is this restaurant?

 

[IheartDDuck]

It's so funny, reading your update and talking about being the FP runner, because now that job is gone! It's crazy, isn't it?!

Awww, his Snow White kiss mark! That's just the cutest.

 

[KatMark]

No more heading off for fastpasses unless you are in search of a kiosk for that extra fastpass after the first three have been used.

They speak dolphin! I love it.

 

[jedimeg16]

It's so funny, reading your update and talking about being the FP runner, because now that job is gone! It's crazy, isn't it?!

Awww, his Snow White kiss mark! That's just the cutest.

While I know the whole FP+ is still under going changes, I think that the best change is eliminating the need to have a runner. Maybe by the time we go back (in 2017) most of the kinks will be worked out.

And over a year later he still loves her! He constantly asks to see the pictures from the trip and tries to kiss that picture.

No more heading off for fastpasses unless you are in search of a kiosk for that extra fastpass after the first three have been used.

They speak dolphin! I love it.

And at least going to the kiosk you don't have to run!

And it was hilarious during the show when Crush said that! For split second I was mortified that Logan was disrupting the show, but all of the parents chuckled and the show continued as if it never happened.

*************************************************************

Unfortunately I will not have time for an update this week because we are busy preparing for Ian's 4th birthday party this weekend. It's a Star Wars theme and I'm busy cleaning and trying to make a few last minute gifts for him. If things get done ahead of schedule I might be able to update later this week. Take care everyone and prayers and pixie dust for those who need it.

 

[KatMark]

Unfortunately I will not have time for an update this week because we are busy preparing for Ian's 4th birthday party this weekend. It's a Star Wars theme and I'm busy cleaning and trying to make a few last minute gifts for him. If things get done ahead of schedule I might be able to update later this week. Take care everyone and prayers and pixie dust for those who need it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN! I hope you have a magical day.

 

[jedimeg16]

First, a couple of pictures from Brandon and Rochelle's first ride on the refurbished Test Track prior to our Soarin' FP times:



Playing the games in the exit area:





After mom, dad, Brandon, and Rochelle finished their ride on Soarin' Brandon took our cards so that the young adults could get a Fastpass together for a different attraction later in the evening. We would be meeting up again in just a few minutes for lunch anyways. Mom and dad picked their lunches from Sunshine Seasons while we waited with the boys. The returned in just a few minutes, just in time for me and Ryan to take off towards World Showcase. And of course we would pick a country on the opposite side of the lagoon for our young adults lunch. This was Brandon's one food request, that the young adults would have a sit down lunch together. With all of our other food plans as a family, lunch at Epcot was the only meal to fit into our plans.

Photopass pictures on their way to our lunch location





Which brings us to new restaurant number 7 on this trip: Teppan Edo in Japan.

When I was almost 14 I was lucky enough to be able to go on a Sister Cities student exchange to Asahikawa Japan, which is on Hokkaido. We also had a couple of days in Tokyo and a day in Sapporo. Ryan and I are also fans of anime cartoons, so we are fairly familiar with Japanese culture.

After walking all the way over to the Japan pavilion in the super muggy heat, we checked in with the Cast Member at the little podium outside the main building that makes up most of the pavilion. She asked if everyone in our party was there, which made me pause and say "uhhh" because I hadn't seen Brandon or Rochelle there yet. Then I heard my name from above - they were standing on the balcony of the second floor. This is where I have my first "Duh" moment, because scouring the maps of Epcot I couldn't figure out exactly where Teppan Edo was located. I had only ever paid attention to the shopping portion of the pavilion and never knew that the restaurants were upstairs.

We were given our pager and directed up the steps to wait until our table was ready. We stayed on the steps right inside the door, enjoying the air conditioning, and having our second "Duh" moment because we still didn't exactly know where to go! Our pager went off not long after and we quickly realized that there was a nice seating area right next to the entrance to Teppan Edo. Duh.

We were escorted to our table, and were later joined by another couple and a mother and daughter.



I think Rochelle, Brandon, and I all ordered the salad for our appetizer, while Ryan chose the Wafu ribs. He had to wait until our chef started cooking the food in front of us, but he said it was well worth the wait. For our entrees Rochelle and I went with the Steak and Shrimp, while the guys went with just steak. Our chef was quite happy that we all ordered our steak medium! Unfortunately I don't remember our chef's name, but he was fantastic!









For dessert Ryan and I chose the vanilla ice cream (though we were almost too full to eat it) and Rochelle went with the chocolate ginger cake (Brandon skipped dessert).



It was an excellent meal, the perfect combination of formal Japanese customs, a meal, and show.

For F&G there were several bonsai trees all around the Japan pavilion, this one was Ryan's favorite.



Up Next: Will Ian ever find his trains?

 

[jedimeg16]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN! I hope you have a magical day.

Thank you! His birthday was on Thursday last week, but since he doesn't have much of a grasp on telling days of the week we only celebrated on Saturday with family. The R2-D2 cake my friend made was amazing, and we all had a great time.

 

[KatMark]

Sorry I missed this update (it's been a rough two weeks).

We LOVED our meal at Teppan Edo in 2013 for Mark's surprise 60th birthday trip (well, with the exception of the screaming child at the table next to us whose parents did NOTHING to calm him down).

I'm with you...never knew where the restaurant was located until Nicki and Todd directed us. So don't feel bad about your "duh" moment.

I had the shrimp and steak too and remember it being quite yummy.

 

[jedimeg16]

Sorry I missed this update (it's been a rough two weeks).

We LOVED our meal at Teppan Edo in 2013 for Mark's surprise 60th birthday trip (well, with the exception of the screaming child at the table next to us whose parents did NOTHING to calm him down).

I'm with you...never knew where the restaurant was located until Nicki and Todd directed us. So don't feel bad about your "duh" moment.

I had the shrimp and steak too and remember it being quite yummy.

It's been busy here too, plus we've been having Internet issues so I haven't been online a lot lately.

While I know kids have meltdowns, I truly dislike parents who do nothing about it.

 

[jedimeg16]

I'm sorry about the lack of updates this summer - it has been jam packed! This week is Vacation Bible School at church and I have been in charge of the games. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to post a few more real updates.

 

[jedimeg16]

After lunch Ryan and I headed downstairs and browsed through the Mitsukoshi department store that makes up most of the Japan pavilion. As we were exiting from the area that has most of the snacks I looked to my right and noticed that there was a small secluded exhibit on mythical animals in Japanese culture. There were several featured, including the kitsune and the kappa and showed old images of them as well as modern interpretations. I didn't take any pictures in there, but I think that was one of our favorite moments of the trip because we took the time to slow down and just explore.

In texting with my mom I knew that they were approaching Germany, so we took off in that direction.

And where did we find Ian and my dad?



By the trains!!! Ian was so excited to see them, and probably would have stayed there the rest of the day if it hadn't been so darn hot.

I had one more princess to catch because I knew that breakfast was just too busy of a time to try to get pictures of the amigurumi princesses, so Ryan and I went to stand in line for Snow White.





She was super sweet, but we didn't linger long because I had one more princess I had never met and I really wanted to try to find her. But on our way to her country we were stopped by the bridge being raised so that the globe for Illuminations could be brought from backstage out into the lagoon.

But once we made it to China we were informed that Mulan was not there that day. While the Cast Members didn't say so specifically I've been using the line that "She was off saving China". Oh well, there's always the next trip, right?

So back to Germany we went.

Ian hadn't moved much



We decided that it was just too hot to stay there, so we headed over to the boat dock to catch a ride back to the front of World Showcase.

While waiting for a boat to arrive the afternoon storm showed up, and while the rain came down fast and hard it was so brief that it just made it muggier and more uncomfortable. As we were sitting on the boat waiting for other guests to board my mom and I recieved a group text message from my brother asking "You guys enjoying the lake swim?" and he attached this picture.



Since most of the adults had iPhones we often used the Find My Friends app to get a rough idea where everyone else was, or we would just use the group text function in iMessages. And while the locations were usually accurate (Brandon and Rochelle are the blue dot and they were in fact waiting in the singles line at Test Track), even on the boat we weren't quite that far out into the lagoon.

After our short trip across the lagoon the six of us went on Spaceship Earth together. It was nice to be able to relax in the air conditioning. I thought the refurbishment was very well done.

After we returned to the modern day we split off again because it was time for Ryan and I to rejoin Brandon and Rochelle to use the Fastpasses they had secured before lunch - our first ride on the refurbished Test Track since our honeymoon in 2007.

And I was not impressed. While designing your own car was pretty neat, the rest of it just fell flat. Most of the screens displaying how your car did were either not working or they were showing the data from the ride vehicle prior to ours.

But our ride photo made up for all of that. This was the one ride that we planned in advance because we wanted it to be epic.

And it was:



We bought a dollar store checkers board and glued down the pieces so that we could pretend to play the game while going 60mph!

Then it was time to blast off to Mars on Mission:SPACE (Green team). Brandon was a bit bummed to not ride the Orange team again, but I knew that with how hot it was I couldn't handle it, so I was grateful that he didn't press the issue. Ryan chose to wait in line with us but not ride.

During the preshow I reminded Brandon about the time we rode Mission:SPACE when he and my parents visited me during my first internship - while Gary Sinese was giving us the instructions Brandon shouted out from the back corner "Lieutenant Dan!" All of the kids looked up at their parents with confused looks while the parents were laughing. I tried to get him to do it again, but he didn't.

Back on Earth Brandon and Rochelle tried to get in one more ride on Test Track before dinner while Ryan and I tried to go to the Festival Center for the Flower and Garden Festival, but sadly it was already closed for the day.

Thankfully my mom, dad, and the boys had gone in there after their lunch and took a few pictures.







My mom took this picture just for me because the Disney Vera Bradley bags had been announced just weeks before our trip and I was incredibly anxious to see them in person. Since then I have been lucky enough to get a couple of pieces in the Midnight With Mickey and Where's Mickey? prints. I'm just a little bit of a Vera addict...









Up next: Our traditional Epcot dinner

 

[jedimeg16]

So every time we go to Disney World there is one specific restaurant we have to eat at in Epcot. Sure we've eaten at many of the other places, but we keep coming back to one of them.

Which one?



The Beirgarten!

Year and years ago, before you had to make ADRs so far in advance, on our Epcot day we stopped there to see how long the wait was, which was only about 10-15 minutes I think. So my dad gave the hostess our last name and automatically started spelling it too because it is an Americanized German name and people usually pronounce it right or spell it right, but not both. The hostess stopped my dad as he was spelling it and said "I've got it sir". Curious, my dad peek over at the sheet and saw that the hostess spelled our name the old German way, with the umlaut. We were so impressed, plus the food is nearly identical to what we would eat when we visited my dad's parents, and we have eaten there every trip since.

Even when Ryan and I came on our honeymoon, since all of my Cast Member benefits were in my maiden name they spelled it "correctly" when we ate there that trip.

Brandon and Rochelle on their way to dinner





I absolutely love the themeing and the ambiance inside!

But Ian was less than impressed with the polka band!



Rochelle was excited for milk



While my dad decided to enjoy a different kind of drink



Dinner was great, and the band is always fun to listen to (despite what Ian thinks), but after dinner is when things started to go downhill. The heat of the past 3 days unfortunately got to my mom and she was sick before we left. Ryan also wasn't feeling the best, and he decided to head back to the room right after dinner. After settling our bill and stepping out into the courtyard my dad laid into me, blaming me for pushing everyone so much and saying that it was my fault that my mom got sick. He also chastised me for trying to do everything with everyone, when I had only tried to find a couple of things for all or most of us to do together that I thought would be special. My mom was sitting with the boys near the Germany restrooms, so I helped with diaper changes and I apologized to my mom, though she insisted that there was nothing to apologize for. After that they headed back to the room too while I caught up with Brandon and Rochelle. I wanted to do a little bit of shopping, and they wanted to catch Illuminations.

We walked past the stage at the American Adventure pavilion and caught the end of one of the performances by The Village People. We danced like dorks to the "YMCA" as we continued on and selected spots near Japan. While Brandon and Rochelle stayed there, I ran in to Mitsukoshi and bought a fan and a lucky owl figurine. The Cast Member personalized my fan by writing my name in Japanese on the outside of it. I still use it often, especially if the sanctuary at church gets too warm on Sunday mornings.

Then it was time for Illumnations!









After Illuminations was over I wanted to continue around to the UK to pick out a Winnie the Pooh plush for Kim as a thank you for watching the house and our cats. She loves Pooh, so I knew that it would be the perfect gift for her. Brandon wanted to go back to Germany to get a flag, so they split off and we agreed to meet in front of the Monsters University topiaries because that was right at the front of World Showcase.

By the time I was done shopping and I sat down all of the miles of walking caught up to me and I realized just how bad my feet were doing - I had multiple blisters on each foot despite wearing the shoes that I wore every day at home for months. Eventually Brandon and Rochelle rejoined me and we headed back to Test Track because Epcot had evening Extra Magic Hours that night. We managed to get in two more rides before the park was closed.

The funniest part of these particular rides is that during each section of the ride we recited the old sequence of tests, which definitely made it better (at least for me).





I think the best thing to come from the refurbishment of Test Track is that they moved the camera to the side of the vehicle so that everyone is visible in the picture since in the old spot you were lucky if you saw everyone.

At this point my feet were hurting even more so I took my socks and shoes off and walked barefoot out of the park.

We did pause to get one last Photopass picture, since we hadn't gotten one from the front side of Spaceship Earth before breakfast.



A quiet bus ride back to the resort, followed by the LONGEST walk EVER, I relaxed with a nice cold bath and crashed after an exhausting day.

Up Next: Hooray for Hollywood!

 

[KatMark]

Great updates!

I'm with you...not a fan of the new Test Track at all. In fact, we did not book a FP+ for it in June or in September. I just don't care about it to waste my FP selection on it. LOVE the checkerboard idea...very clever.

Love that the little one was enthralled with the train. My "little one"--"hubby" is enthralled with it too.

Glad you had a good meal at Biergarten. We used to go every other year but were very disappointed in our meal (chicken schnitzel instead of veal? I don't think so; we save our German meals for Hofrahaus now).

Great photopass pic as you left Epcot.

 

[jedimeg16]

Great updates!

I'm with you...not a fan of the new Test Track at all. In fact, we did not book a FP+ for it in June or in September. I just don't care about it to waste my FP selection on it. LOVE the checkerboard idea...very clever.

Love that the little one was enthralled with the train. My "little one"--"hubby" is enthralled with it too.

Glad you had a good meal at Biergarten. We used to go every other year but were very disappointed in our meal (chicken schnitzel instead of veal? I don't think so; we save our German meals for Hofrahaus now).

Great photopass pic as you left Epcot.

I probably won't waste a FP on it either as long as they keep the tiered system at Epcot.

When we go to conventions in Rosemont we're walking distance from the Hofrahaus there, but we haven't eaten there yet. Would you recommend it?

I'm surprised the picture looks that good because between the late hour and being exhausted I could barely stand at that point.