We're 2 Empty-Nesters on the Deluxe DDP! December 2012 trip to Orlando....COMPLETE!!!!!

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

And princesses (Aurora, Ariel, and Cinderella)....I think there should be one more but I don't seem to have a pic. Possibly we wanted to get out of there before the park opened so I could get more pre-park opening pics?

World Showcase pics:

Back to Norway...check out the statue of World Class Runner Greta Waitz, pride of Norway and some pre-park opening landscaping:

More of World Showcase:

A lackluster view of France, Dolphin and Swan:

Moroco:

America:

We had hoped to time getting to Futureworld to right BEFORE rope drop.....but apparently we were late or they were early. Here's the line to Test Track:

We make it inside and design our car (this is the first time we've done this):

We get in our car:

Safety first:

JaMMitors:

Another go around for Test Track.....had a FP this time so we didn't build our own specs:

Next up Captain EO.

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

And MJ

When will I learn that trying to take a picture through the 3d glasses never works?

And because we're geeks:

We're still hangin' at futureworld because, well, World Showcase still isn't open yet. Let's check out that cute clown fish!

Don't touch!

It's about 11, magic hour, and we're looking to see some santas......this is my favorite time of the year and the last time we were at Epcot during the holidays was about 15 years ago.

First up, China!

We have a few minutes so we decide to share an adult beverage:

I'm not a fan of cold coffee drinks but this was super yummy and warmed the tummy!

How about some Monkey King? He's so spry and a great storyteller. I had lots of photos of him.

Next up, Italy's La Befana.....next post.

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

As we will later see, every single storyteller is fantastic and very believable and passionate about their stories.

Italy:

It is really awesome to see how other cultures celebrate the holidays.

More of Italy's decorations:

Let's go next door! We walk to America and see this:

Yep, that was awesome....I'm the girl that get's choked up listening to patriotic music...heck, I'm getting choked up just looking at those pictures. I'm such a sap. We stay in the area to learn about Kwanzaa.

We learn about the 7 principles of Kwanzaa.

She was so animated and lovely!

We're heading to Japan so choose to imbibe in another adult beverage, sharing, of course:

We're in Japan so let's listen to some drumming:

So precise and very entertaining!

Let's continue with Japanese New Year!

Very interesting to learn about the Daruma doll and O'Shogatsu.

Next up, back to America and Hanukkah!

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

It might seem like we are moving around an awful lot, skipping countries....and that is true. When you enter Epcot the times are listed for each of the storytelling areas and I suppose if they put them all in order huge crowds would gather and move at the same time? I actually took all the times and figured out a way to see them all. We weren't able to do that last time.....it added to the walking but no big deal......that is, until after I revisited my blisters later on! :crutches:

Back to Hanukkah:

Next we visited Germany and learned how they celebrate the season. Germany is my heritage so this was fun:

Advent calendar:

Nutcrakers:

And a life-sized nutcracker:

When in Germany, never miss the opportunity for:

It really doesn't matter how long the line is, this is a must-do!

Now, let's see what we have inside :woohoo:

Well, we have this guy

making these:

And then there's this:

and these:

We got the dark chocolate caramel with sea salt and the milk chocolate version. We used snack credits because since we were on the DxDDP we had 2 credits each every night.

For some reason we were inundated with seagulls. I guess they like chocolate too.

Next up, lunch! We saved our caramels for much later in the trip....as a matter of fact, I think we even took them home along with a lot of snack credit items we picked up our last day at DTD. Our lunch ADRs were at 2:15 and it was around 2pm.....always good to check in to your ADRs a little early, just in case they can get you in a few minutes early, right?

Will we get in early? We'll see, next post!

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

We are here:

And it's before Le Cellier became a 2 TS credit place for lunch.....so we were excited to check out the food that everyone raves about. I mentioned before I had some major foot problems. I brought several pairs of well broken-in shoes but it didn't seem to help. Fortunately I knew about moleskin so I already had that. The problem is, I couldn't wear any of the shoes I had brought. So while we were at Epcot, we visited the Croc cart which I think was over by Journey to Imagination or somewhere thereabouts. So sure, I was not making a fashion statement but I WAS able to walk without pain.

This is my poor bandaged up foot:

I mentioned we checked in.......before 2pm.......and it was now 3pm and this is the check in desk:

The CM was probably crying in the bathroom because angry would-be diners were yelling about the long wait.

Clearly people were losing their cool and I witnessed behavior that should have embarrassed the people exhibiting it. We were hungry too but I didn't see any point of losing my cool. We just stayed outside, enjoying the outdoors and away from the negativity. At about 3:15 we were able to sit for our lunch. I was a bit worried because our dinner ADRs were supposed to be a little over 4 hours away but we were in Canada now so let's see what's on the menu! As you can see, the restaurant was pretty crowded from the lunch crowd.......in 45 minutes it woud be time to start the dinner service!

Our waiter apologized profusely for our wait and brought us this yummy bread:

I recommend ordering the cheddar soup and save that pretzel for dipping in that!

I ordered this appetizer:

Spicy Chicken and Chipotle Sausage-with roasted corn pollenta and sweet onion jam $9.99

And Steve ordered the soup mentioned above:

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup-made with Moosehead Beer and bacon $6.99

We can't both order the same items so I let him get the soup because I knew I'd get to dunk my pretzel in it.......and I'm glad I tried the sausage appetizer. It was tasty and just spicy enough without setting my mouth on fire.

For our entrees I ordered the well-known fillet:

Wild Mushroom Fillet Mignon-Le Cellier Signature Dish with wild mushroom risotto and white truffle butter sauce. $27.99

And Steve gave this a crack:

New York Strip Steak-topped with berry? butter and cream cheese mashed potatoes. $31.99

Clearly the fillet is the favorite here. It's like butta.....the strip steak was good, don't get me wrong but we both LOVE risotto so it's a no brainer to us. As a matter of fact, this is the one place dh wanted to return to but given the fact that it's a 2TS credit place now, we're skipping it. It was especially easy to give it up because we will be there during F&W (and we can get a taste of that fillet at the Canada booth).

Dessert? Why, sure! One of us got this:

Chocolate Pecan Pie "On-the-Rocks"-Chocolate whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, sugared pecans, and Canadian Whiskey-chocolate sauce $7.99

And I ordered the following, no longer on the menu (neither is the above)

No-Sugar Added Spice poached apples, puff pastry, and vanilla-honey Mascarpone cream $6.99

Many of the items we ordered on this trip are no longer on menus....bummer but I guess they want to keep things new and fresh for folks who tire of good food easily...lol That apple dessert was so good and fresh tasting......dare I even say, healthy tasting? :eek:

So we are done with lunch at about 4:15pm and we're eating again at 7:40. This should be interesting! Since we are already in Cananda let's see some holiday stories.

Um, are we early, Le Pere Noel? Apparently you aren't done getting dressed!

Um, are you lookin' at ME?

I think he WAS lookin' at me.......pointing even. Loved his story!

Next up France!

Another le pere Noel, or Father Christmas:

Don't you just love the Madeline doll?

More holiday stuffs.....Morocco

So here's a little hint if you are shopping at WDW.....if you see something you like, BUY IT! I loved this shirt but thought I'd search for it once I got home. Never could find it!

Interested in seeing what Sergio is up to in Italy? I am.....next post!

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

Italy is my favorite country of all time....other than my own, I mean. We spent 8 days in Italy on a recent whirlwind trip to Europe and I'm lovin' all the Christmas decorations there.....and I'm lovin' Sergio! Sergio is a talented, whistle-blowin', jugglin', mime who makes me laugh! You should catch his show if you have the chance because he is sure to put a smile on your face.

This statue of Neptune is a popular photo spot, a similar statue can be seen in Neptune's fountain in Florence and in the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

Not sure where these stairs lead to but I'm curious!

Doesn't this make you think of your childhood? Something about trains.....my uncle had a huge train set in his basement and he would work on that thing for hours/days at a time. It took up the whole room!

How about some of these goodies in Germany:

This is a special booth (set up in Germany) for the holidays and he does beautiful work. I could just kick myself for not getting one of his ornaments for my tree....but I was a little worried about it breaking in transit.

Time for Norway and Julenissen

We're only missing a couple holiday storytellers and we're close to Mexico so let's go and celebrate Three Kings Day:

It's pretty dark now and I can't resist taking a picture of the big ball:

And topiaries:

And the Epcot Christmas tree:

We're making our way around and we didn't realize it at the time but this would be the one and only chance we would have to see Off Kilter in Canada:

I am sad they are no longer performing in Epcot because they were a real joy!

It's time to head over to Yacht Club for our dinner ADR. Let's go, next post!

ksromack · Aug 9, 2015

Part of the reason we wanted to dine at some of the Deluxe resorts was to also get to see the holiday decorations. Tonight we had Yachtsman Steakhouse reservations at 7:40pm. We left Epcot through the International Gateway and headed in the general vicinity.....but we were a little early so we thought we'd try to see Boardwalk first:

Close up of the gingerbread eaves:

As we exit the Boardwalk we are entertained by the bell ringers playing Christmas songs:

Making our way to our destination we hit Beach Club first

I love gingerbread!

And trees:

Hm......I'm pretty sure the decorations above were at the Beach Club but I don't seem to have any of Yacht Club? That evening was a bit of a mess......we arrived to check in at 7:30.

We were told at that point that the wait was running 45 minutes late.....I didn't argue and went back to tell Steve....then I heard a few other groups say that they could cancel their reservation and not pay a "no show" penalty.....so that's what we did too. We really weren't starving (esp enough to spend 2 TS credits each) and it was a really long day. We headed out but on our way past the restaurant I glanced inside it sure didn't look like they were super crowded so I have no idea why they were running so far behind schedule!

I'm pretty sure we jumped on the bus and went to DTD, then we took the boat to our resort at POR. At this point it was after 8pm and believe it or not, we were a tad bit hungry! We're walking past Boatwright's and decide to grab a bite there.

We order adult beverages...

First is Steve's Southern Hurricane-Southern Comfort, OJ, Pineapple juice, Grenadine $7.25 I ordered the Magical Star Cocktail-light up your celebration with X-fusion organic Mango and Passion fruit liqueur, Parrot Bay coconut rum, pineapple juice and a souvenir multicolored glow cube. $10.50

Drinks were yummy and a happy end to the hectic evening. Next we ordered our appetizers but first we had this yummy cornbread:

Steve ordered this:

Bourbon BBQ Shrimp-with grilled grit cake $10.99

And I had the salad:

Romaine salad-romaine parmesan croutons, prosciutto with house dressing $6.99

My salad was decent enough and Steve LOVED his shrimp. He wanted to eat at Boatwright's ever since he saw the menu. He did his basic training in Louisianna and loves cajun/creole food. Our entrees were coming up, Steve's first.

Jambalaya-a creole recipe with spiced chicken thighs, Andouille sausage, shrimp, rice, and vegetables $17.99

I ordered:

Slow roasted prime rib-red wine demi glace, Horseradish sauce with Yukon gold potatoes, watercress and balsamic
vinaigrette $27.99

I don't know how but perhaps it's because we are staying there.....next we got a cute anniversary card signed by our Disney buddies and 2 complimentary glasses of champagne! It was a nice touch and added to the perfect meal.

Steve's dessert:

No sugar added lemon pound cake with seasonal berries $6.49

I had:

Bananas foster angel food cake-served with vanilla bean ice cream $6.49

Both desserts were fantastic. We were almost happy to have missed our Yachtsman meal! Plus, we were already home so neither one of us would fall asleep on the bus ride home.

That's it for day 6!

Tomorrow we'll be at AK for rope drop so it's off to sleep!

ksromack · Aug 12, 2015

Today is Animal Kingdom day......friday, Dec 12, 2012.
This is proof:

Our meal plans for the day:

Kusafari (sp?)breakfast
1pm Yak & Yeti lunch
9pm Narcoossee

Pretty tree:

Close up of said tree:

First we have to get inside the park. They pull a few of us aside to see if these guys work:

This is before magic bands......so we scanned our KTTK cards and waited for the green Mickey head to pop up. This is how we did our pre-chosen FP also.......

The special scanning devices were over to the right at the entrance:

We are there at rope drop. These guys were chatting it up and probably talking about all of us waiting behind the gates like race horses.....

This guy says, hey, we're going to make you think you are getting in early but really we're just letting you scan your tickets in and we're going to make you wait a little further down the road......he doesn't exactly use those words but that's what he means.

Look, here we are! People heading to EE to this side, Safari folks to the left side.

See, those guys want to go on a safari:

Here comes the rope drop gals:

Our destination:

We're here already and get fast passes but also ride first:

We were a little sneaky and instead of following the rope drop gals, we cut through (learned that trick from the DIS) and beat the rope drop gals:

Cool inside the queue pictures.......we were walking fast so I didn't get as many this go around but I would the next time through:

Looks like I only got ONE queue picture!

We're ready to ride and managed to get in the 4th car on the first ride.

We put all our camping gear off to the side:

It cracks me up to see the ponytail holders off to the side.....like the Yeti scared the ponytails out of the girls

Rut-roe......ran out of tracks!

And we make it back alive:

more next post

ksromack · Aug 13, 2015

Beautiful!

No blurry pics......suffice it to say the show was very good! I recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

So we're headed out of AK but first had to stop for this:

Cotton-top Tamarin Cupcake, at the coffee kiosk at the entrance to Discovery Island (also found at Kusafari) combines white and dark chocolate to make the face, sits atop a layer of buttercream and inside, moist choc cake (no filling) $3.99.

We took this to go and ate it later......even 2 days later is was delicious!

We head out of the park to the bus stops:

Open our POR resort door to find

So why did we leave AK park and head back to the room? Why, we had some big plans in DTD! We were going to La Nouba! No pictures allowed although I did not know it at the time. I swore I read No FLASH pictures but a nice CM politely informed me NO pictures! I snapped this one before said scolding:

and this one:

And this one was the very very beginning, so it doesn't do any good to take non-flash pictures anyway, lol!

La Nouba was a special treat and an exciting addition to an already perfect vacation! There is so much to see in this show and I highly recommend everyone to see it! If you are interested, join their club, you can get discounted tickets if you plan far enough in advance! Cirquedusoleil dot com.

We head out of DTD to the buses, as we have dinner ADRs at the Grand Floridian.

We arrive at Grand Floridian with no time to waste! Not very fond of the buses from DTD! They were very crowded but we were really cutting it close to making our ADRs in time. Once on the bus a very nice couple helped us get to where we needed to go as Narcoossee's is deep inside the resort. Maybe we should have taken a taxi?

Anyway, we arrive close to our ADR time and sit down only to see that Wishes is starting. We give our lovely waiter our appetizer order and we proceed outside to the porch to view Wishes. This was a great spot to view the fireworks!
My pictures aren't the greatest but here are a couple to show you the viewpoint:

Our appetizers:

Crispy crab cakes? Southern slaw and cajun remoulade sauce $13.00

I cannot find this on the menu. It was my appetizer and I swear it was a mushroom bisque......I know it wasn't seafood because I'm allergic.

Surf and Turf-Medallions of fillet mignon, lobster tail, duchess potatoes, broccolini, red wine butter $59.00

Grilled fillet mignon-potato gratin, wax beans, and shallot-red wine butter $41.00

YUMMY!!! Best dinner, of course, it should be as it is a signature meal which means 2 TS credits each. When we have nice dinners we tend to order water as our beverage and coffee with dessert....this was no different. Desserts:

Almond-crusted cheesecake finished with Lambert Cherry Sauce-$10.00

Banana Mango tart-with bruleed banana and caramel sauce $10.00

And Coffee-premium signature blend coffee-brewed and pressed at your table, $6.29 pp

The almond crusted cheesecake seems to be a fan favorite and it did not disappoint. The other dessert was great also and we still talk about how great that cofffee was!

Since we're at the Grand Floridian and we have some time.....let's see what it has to offer as far as holiday decorations! Next post!

rndmr2 · Aug 13, 2015

Love the safari pictures! I can't believe you got all 3 Lions! and they were AWAKE! I haven't even seen them at all on the safari the last few times.

Yummy lunch at Yak and Yeti! I wanted to try that one on our most recent trip to but we cancelled it in favor of using a 2nd credit on Artist Point. We did have the CS lunch, though, that's good too.

Great that you could see Wishes from the patio at dinner.

ksromack · Aug 13, 2015

rndmr2 said:
Love the safari pictures! I can't believe you got all 3 Lions! and they were AWAKE! I haven't even seen them at all on the safari the last few times.

Yummy lunch at Yak and Yeti! I wanted to try that one on our most recent trip to but we cancelled it in favor of using a 2nd credit on Artist Point. We did have the CS lunch, though, that's good too.

Great that you could see Wishes from the patio at dinner.

That was actually the first time I've even seen ONE lion! I was actually thinking of skipping the Safari this next trip but who am I kidding? We'll rush there with the rope drop crowd, but then we'll miss EE. Decisions, decisions!

ksromack · Aug 13, 2015

The Grand Floridian sure knows how to decorate for Christmas! I love Gingerbread houses but this one tops them all!

And the beautiful tree:

close up of an ornament:

Classy:

Grand staircase:

Now I'm not positive which route we took to get back to our resort. I thought we took a bus but we would have had to take it to DTD.....so I'm thinking we took the monorail back to MK and the bus back to POR. That is one of the things I loved about POR....the ability to use bus OR boat to get to places. The boat was always a nice leisurely and scenic ride!

It was pretty late and tomorrow, as every day of this trip, we'll have a full day!

ksromack · Sep 7, 2015

Time for some more fun!
We are getting ready to start Day 8 of our Disney vacation and on the schedule is:
FP: TSMM, Star Tours, ToT
No plans for lunch
Dinner 9:15 ADRs at Ohana

So we head out of POR at o'dark 30......no, really it was more like 7am. Hollywood Studios has early EMH at 8am!
Our chariot arrives:

As you can see, it's pretty froggy out (this was true many mornings of our trip):

We are headed to TSMM to grab a set of Fast Passes so we can ride again later. As it stands, we have FPs for TSMM at 9:05 but we'd like to ride this again!

We see this beautiful icon, which I understand is now gone

And it looks like we aren't the only ones with this idea:

We grab fast passes and this is the return time, which stinks because we planned to leave after the Pixar Pals parade at 3pm.

We're hungry so we head for something that I've read lots of reviews about......but on the way we see this. We never did do it and I understand it is no longer either:

So, we're pretty hungry but I didn't think we should have food in our stomachs for this:

What a ride! That first few seconds really knocks the wind out of me.....and I think what makes it worse is the fact that I'm anticipating it! We're off to a good start! Now let's eat some cupcakes!

We arrive at our destination:

What should we get? I'm a cupcake girl so I KNOW what I'm getting. But still, let's look at we we have:

And some closeups:

And some cute holiday offerings:

So what did we get? It was a tough choice between the Red Velvet and the Butterfinger cupcake for me. The Butterfinger won out......and I must say, it was a superb choice! Dh had the Napollean and we both had a latte:

Check this out:

Sufficiently filled up we decide to walk around and see what strikes our fancy........I love the holiday accents:

We do NOT do this....but I promise to do it when we return, and I hope it's still there:

I'm guessing it's getting close to our FP time:

We're 2 Empty-Nesters on the Deluxe DDP! December 2012 trip to Orlando....COMPLETE!!!!!

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