[alilmagical32]

yeaaa! I love llama trip reports! Thanks for making me giggle!

[mickeysgirlz]

Originally Posted by llama

With tears just about welling in my eyes, I was gathered into the Mouse's Gentle Bosom - almost hearing him whisper "Welcome Home". Neil on the other hand says he never feels the gentle arms of the Mouse, but he does feel a large white glove gently lifting his charge card out of his wallet.

Oh my, that made me laugh 'till tears flowed! Too funny . . . some just don't get it do they? Can't wait to read more!!!

[Voldemort]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Oh, I do, too!

My favorite billboard on 75 is "Jesus is Lord at Sheffield's" because DH always adds "and Night Manager", which never fails to crack me up.

Now that's funny, I don't care who you are...

As for driving in Atlanta, chere llama....it was something I did frequently during my eight years in North Carolina, and I learned four crucial things:

1. It's good to have a sports car. Sports cars don't break a sweat when you ask them to cruise at 85 m.p.h. just to keep up with the flow of traffic. Vrroomazoomzoom.
2. The HOV lane (also known as the hovercraft lane) is your friend. When driving in Atlanta, bring a buddy along in your sports car. Get in the HOV lane and STAY THERE as long as you can. It's usually a good move.
3. If you're the one driving, you had best know exactly where you're going. If you don't, it WILL come back to haunt you.
4. For the love of God, whatever you do, avoid rush hour at all costs. Your blood pressure will thank you.

Loving the TR! Ready for more!

[Franco54]

I am in awe of men like Neil and MJD and all the
others who drive looooong miles on vacation!
I would be a complete lunatic!! Helena would
be talking Portuguese to da boys telling them not
to be afraid and everything will be ok
My vocabulary would be down to mere grunts and
words that only me, drunken sailors, and Donald
Duck know! So, a big cheer for those
stout hearted men who drive those miles for the
loves of thier lives!!

[MissDisney]

Hahahaha.... this is a great trip report... Hey llama, are you a writer in real life?

Hey Neil... it's coming after your wallet! >>>

[llama]

Originally Posted by Voldemort

Now that's funny, I don't care who you are...

As for driving in Atlanta, chere llama....it was something I did frequently during my eight years in North Carolina, and I learned four crucial things:

1. It's good to have a sports car. Sports cars don't break a sweat when you ask them to cruise at 85 m.p.h. just to keep up with the flow of traffic. Vrroomazoomzoom.
2. The HOV lane (also known as the hovercraft lane) is your friend. When driving in Atlanta, bring a buddy along in your sports car. Get in the HOV lane and STAY THERE as long as you can. It's usually a good move.
3. If you're the one driving, you had best know exactly where you're going. If you don't, it WILL come back to haunt you.
4. For the love of God, whatever you do, avoid rush hour at all costs. Your blood pressure will thank you.

Loving the TR! Ready for more!

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!

I plan to correct the Atlanta situation by NEVER DRIVING TO WDW AGAIN. I'm getting way too old for that.

[woohoo]

I nearly died about the mickey glove and the credit card- I read it out loud to Ed- and he said "smart man!" ugh!
And dont tell us that you did not sunbathe in the buff.... you brought it up.... you must have contemplated it at least! LOL

[Cosmicwaves]

Originally Posted by llama

- we did have a very nice Mallard Duck couple, but she was SO NOISY. Neil said it reminded him of someone - hmmmm

hahahaha...sorry, but that's funny. Did Neil sleep on the patio that night?

[ssn]

Great TR...your writing style is very entertaining! It's just what I need to fight the, I'm not going to Disney for 270ish days blues!

[llama]

So - we shall continue with DINING:

After two years of the Dining Plan (and months of therapy following to banish all thoughts of CAKE from my memory) we decided to forego it this time. It's just too much pressure on us. So, we opted to purchase the Disney Dining Experience Card with our APs. With the card everyone at the table (up to 10 people) get 20% off dining and alcohol. It cost $65.00. A much better choice for us. Not so much pressure to eat!!!! I had made some different choices this time - including the tableservice Yak & Yeti and the Tutto Italia in Italy. Ah - the best laid plans of mice and men....

Our first tableservice dinner was at The Turf Club at SSR. This was just for Neil & myself, as Sarah hadn't arrived and Emily was working.

The Turf Club isn't a big restaurant. It's in the lobby complex of SSR. It's got a very relaxed "clubby" atmosphere - the attached bar has big armchairs and billiards. They did a very good job creating a warm, club theme. I think it will remain one of those little "hidden" gems, overlooked because of it's location and sort of "themeless theme". But if you're staying at SSR give it a try - you won't be sorry! The menu isn't large - but a nice, simple selection. We had a nice table overlooking the patio (it was too chilly to eat outside). We were seated by a very nice young lady who informed us - with passion - that we "had to have the onion rings". Which caused Neil to ask what would happen if we didn't?

I would have dearly loved to have the onion rings - but the following guilt wasn't worth it - so we regretfully passed on those. I did see an order (huge!) with dipping sauces and they did look good!

It was neat to order real Saratoga Springs Sparkling Water which came in gorgeous dark blue bottles. We got hooked on Sparkling Water in Austria. Saratoga Springs is a good one.

Neil settled on an Angus Cheeseburger and I had a grilled chicken pasta. (see, it's that kind of a place, very simple food) Neil was a little sulky - cause he was looking forward to ordering the Reuben Sandwich he'd seen on the lunch menu - but it had been taken off for dinner. He said the cheeseburger was good. He had just been looking forward to the Reuben. As for the pasta - it was delicious. Very simple, with oil and garlic, sundried tomatoes and julienned vegetables. I ate every bite - which is not normal for me. But, looking back, I think it was the meal I enjoyed the most on the whole trip. I'm going to try and replicate it. We had coffee but didn't order dessert - because we have a little first dinner tradition for us. And on our way back to our suite, Neil bought a brownie and I bought a Princess Cupcake - oh yes - PRINCESS cupcake . We walked back to the suite, brewed a pot of good coffee and had our traditional first night brownie and cupcake. I guess you can tell "we ain't those fancy kinda folks". We just really like well-prepared food and simple pleasures. And I'd been dreaming about that cupcake (always vanilla with mounds of pink icing - and Princess Crown, of course - for a long time. And I took a long time to lick that icing off! A very nice meal, in a friendly casual comfortable atmosphere - two Ears up!

The next tableservice meal we had was at Chefs de France in Epcot - I know not many here put Chefs on their list (which is odd, cause the place is always crowded) but we really have enjoyed our last two meals there. We took along Emily and her friend Janique (they had started on the IP Program the same day and Janique (pronounced JanNICK - now you'll know that if she serves you at LeCellier ) is from Wpg. too.) They both had that deprived, starved, "I've lived on cereal for too long" look in their eyes and could hardly wait to get seated.

I had the poached salmon on potato cake with red pepper sauce (it was yummy), with a glass of good chardonnay (mmm, chardonnay ) Emily had a filet (and Lord help anyone that came between her and that piece of steak - she looked like Nala eating her first meal after Scar's Reign of Terror ended). Janique is a vegetarian, so she had the vegetarian lasagna and judging by her clean plate - loved it. Neil had the set French meal - as he always does - and which drives me NUTS. Because he only orders it for the soup - he doesn't really like the braised chicken (I thought it was good) and I always have to eat the salad. I keep telling him to just ORDER THE SOUP and whatever else he wants - but no - he always goes back and orders the meal. The girls shared the creme brulee which came with Neil's meal (I got a couple of spoonfuls) and I ordered the profiterolles with chocolate sauce (to die for) and they were delicious - what I had of them - with three other spoons dipping into them. All in all a nice meal. (except for Neil who kept mumbling "he should have had the steak" - well ORDER IT THEN!!!) So, if you haven't tried Chefs - try it - it's good. And not pretentious at all. And don't be scared of the French - they won't make you speak French (although I think a little French gets you extra good service - so bone up on your s'il vous plaits and mercis )

Now - let me see - I'm thinking, I'm thinking...

Right - our next meal was at the Sushi House in Japan. To try this restaurant we had to sacrifice Tutto Italia. But after reading the menu there we all decided that we'd be caught in that "too much food" situation. So a vote was taken and sushi was the winner.

After months of being closed, we finally got a look at the renos. Now there are only 2 restaurants in the building - the Teppanyaki - from what I could see it's been put in a more "traditional" theme of private rooms for dining - I'm anxious to try it next time out and the Sushi House (forgive me if that's not the proper name - everyone was calling it "Sushi House" )has taken over the front part of the restaurant - very bright and contemporary and clean.

Of course the Japanese servers are beautiful in their kimonos and they bring you hot towels to clean your hands before the dinner. So civilized. A very nice atmosphere. A lot of bowing going on. It was so cultured and classy. I loved cultured and classy.

Now, my children will walk on burning coals to get to sushi. Neil likes it - me - not so much. It's that darn seaweed - I just do not like the taste of it no matter how hard I try. As Sarah is the sushi expert in the family we let her order for all of us (good job, Sarah!) I can say this for the Sushi House - the portions are huge! and the prices are beyond reasonable! So Sarah ordered a selection of sushis for the three of them - I remember California Roll and Inside-Out Roll - I'm just not a sushi expert - but they all looked gorgeous when they arrived - and she ordered some tempura shrimp and vegetables for me. I really couldn't believe my eyes when they set it down - YIKES!- about six enormous battered shrimp and a ton of vegetables, including yams, asparagus, zucchini - all sorts of things. The batter was totally greaseless. And this was served with sticky rice. I had two shrimp and some vegetables and was stuffed. But nothing was left - Emily and Neil saw to it that the shrimp was taken care of and they all battled over the remaining tempura vegetables. We ended the meal with green tea - which was lovely as I could feel my cold starting up and Emily had a cold. They don't take any discounts here - so beware of that! However, even Neil didn't complain, because the cost of everything we had came to something like $35.00. And we left with a big box of left-over sushi rolls which Emily instantly comandeered.

So - my review on the new revised Sushi House is try it - even if you don't like sushi - the tempura is wonderful. And I can't wait to try Teppanaki House again. Another meal we really enjoyed.

Our next meal was one I had been looking forward to - thanks to Disney Teacher who always raves about The Plaza at MK. I FINALLY was going to try it. It was an exciting night because for the first time in about 10 years we went to Extra Magic Hours at the MK and got to do SM in the dark and I got my first real experience of Wishes. OK - so it was exciting for ME! (I don't get out much). Our ADR was for 6:20, but it was about 7 p.m. before we were seated. They really seemed disorganized here. Everybody waiting was grumbling a little. Once we were seated, I had a chance to look around. It was the first time I had ever been in The Plaza. Of course it has the feeling of an Old Time Ice Cream Parlour - but I think it would have been more charming during the day - by the time we were seated it looked like it had served too many people - napkins on the floor, chairs every which way, dirty tables. Neil finally got to order his Reuben which he said was very good. And a milkshake, which was delicious. I ordered the Clubhouse, and Sarah must have ordered some sort of vegetarian sandwich - I think it involved hummus - but she was hungarily eyeing the 4 year old at the next table's grilled cheese. I told her she should have asked if she could order it, but she wouldn't. I enjoyed the Clubhouse, but could only eat half of it. It was HUGE! We would have liked to substitute a green salad for either the french fries or potato salad, but we couldn't do that - so Neil ordered the yam fries and we had the FF. I don't really feel like potato salad at night for some reason. I know the ice cream concoctions here are delicious and I had fully intended on ordering a sundae - but again - too full. ( does anyone else ever feel "guilty" about ordering "the good stuff"? the ice cream sundaes, etc? Cause I always say I'm going to - and then just feel too guilty - I have never had a banana split or a MickeyBar in my life - I think I need some counselling to be reassured that it's alright to have treats once in a while). So, I didn't have my sundae. I really wanted too - but I didn't want to deal with Neil's comments. As for my review of the Plaza - very good food - but the night we were there it was just too busy and too loud. I'm going to go back at a less crowded time. And have a sundae. All by myself.

I was looking forward to Yak and Yeti - Asian food is our favourite and the menu looked good. Our favourite restaurant here is Asian and I guess I was expecting it to be the same....

Our reservation was for the latest time possible at AK - so there weren't many people in the restaurant. We were seated immediately and of course, Disney has done a fantastic job of "themeing" it. Lots of artifacts and statues and such. We were seated at a window table - so we had a nice view of AK. Our waiter was on drugs. Yes - I know this is a family forum - but there is no nice way to say it - he was totally out-of-it. Weird. He'd ask us a question, we'd answer and he'd be staring off into space. Honestly, when you're use to Disney service, it was a little creepy. I don't know how he slipped through. We had to repeat everything to him about three times and he'd just look at us blankly and stare. I don't know, maybe they were using real hemp in the decorations....and he was smoking it....totally bizarre. So, anyway, Neil ordered the duck, Sarah ordered the vegetarian low mein, Emily ordered the Dim Sum selection and I ordered the Sweet Crispy Chicken. Although there was hardly anyone in the restaurant we waited a long time (I think this was due to the waiter ). Neil liked his duck and Sarah's low mein was very good. Emily's dim sum was served in the traditional steam basket and was huge - it had about 8 huge dumplings of different varieties. It's an appetizer - I don't see how anyone could eat that and then a meal She liked some of the dumplings more than the others - but that's the way it is with dim sum. The sauce on my chicken was tasty and the jasmine rice and broccoli were delicious. But the chicken pieces were TOUGH. I mean HARD. After eating that beautiful, greaseless tempura, this was a disappointment. The batter was hard to get through - you really needed a knife to cut through it. I wasn't impressed. (just a note - the orange chicken at the counterservice in China is about 100 times better than this and half the price).

Once again they told us they didn't take the DDE (or the DDP) (or our DVC Discount card) - KingoMiami has now told me his was accepted - so I don't know if this was due to our spacey waiter or what. So, regretfully, we have to say that Y & Y wasn't as great as we hoped it would be. I have to admit we didn't leave a great tip - that waiter just ruined it for us. Would I go back? Maybe. I'd definitely order the low mein if I did. It was yummy.

I hardly know how to bring this up. Our next tableservice was for LeCellier - on a night when we could see Emily working - but it was not to be. By that time the bug I had caught had taken hold and I was sick as a dog! We had to cancel. I told Neil and Sarah to go themselves, but they wouldn't. So we called Emily who didn't seem to mind and I guess we made someone's day with our cancelled ADR. I really hated to miss it. But that's life. We did go and visit Emily a couple of time at the restaurant and everything smelled as good as always and the crowd of people hasn't lessened. If you want those ressies, make them in good time. Or go right before they open for dinner. We were there talking to Em and two walk-ups were taken. A little early to eat at 4 - but better than nothing.

And that's all the table services we had. Our other meals we ate at the suite (Neil foraging Boston Chicken for us - yes, I know, but we can't get BC here and we love it - we always must have it for one meal). We had some counterservice dinners. I still think the best counterservice is the Sunshine Seasons in The Land. We thought the pizza at Pizza Planet was dreadful and won't eat there again. As I said above - the orange chicken in the China Pavillion is excellent and the Cloudberry Horns in the Kringla Bakery in Norway are still the best treat in the whole of WDW. Fish 'n Chips in the UK were fresh and hot! And I still think Restaurantosaurus has the best burger - sorry Pecos Bill fans (I honestly think it's the ole' McDonald's FrenchFries that make it the best for me - I rarely have them anywhere but here). Hollywood Studios HAS to improve their food - except the carrot cake cookies in the Writer's Stop. Those can stay. Forever. And Ever. World without end. Oh! and of course! a Tip o the Ears to the best sandwich in the World - The Original (heavy on the horseradish sauce and a dollop of Grey Poupon - excuse me - do you have any Grey Poupon?) at Earl of Sandwich - so good I had to have it TWICE.

[yankeevttch]

Great TR. I have a quick question about DDE. Does it last the whole year? DH and I are thinking about doing this but were unsure about it.

[llama]

Originally Posted by Cosmicwaves

hahahaha...sorry, but that's funny. Did Neil sleep on the patio that night?

After 27 years I have become adept at ignoring Neil's comments. And she was a nice duck. Just a little talkative.... And he was probably a dope...like most men....

[llama]

Originally Posted by yankeevttch

Great TR. I have a quick question about DDE. Does it last the whole year? DH and I are thinking about doing this but were unsure about it.

Yes - it actually lasts 13 months - which is good for us - because we'll probably be back in Sept and try and squeeze a trip in at the end of January. We kept track - we had saved $65. by our third dinner. And liquor is included in the discount.

[llama]

Originally Posted by Dopey

I am married to your husband's doppelganger Never enough time to pee, much less to eat.
Also the delusion of being pick pocketed by Mickey Mouse himself

Doppelganger! How come German is so much more expressive than English?

[llama]

Originally Posted by cinderbella

Silly Llama!! The mansions aren't anywhere near the highway!!
Come visit me and I'll take you to the historic plantation white column homes that line my town and to Charleston and we can walk down King St. just like Scarlett!

I am holding you to that Bella. That's a trip I've always dreamed of taking - to Savannah and Charleston....so, when would be good for you?