Sunshine Seasons Food Fair

Here's what we got at the Sunshine Seasons Food Fair:

Two Entrees and Two Sides (Sweet & Sour Pork with Rice and Broccoli)



Seared Ahi Tuna Salad and Fruit Tulip

Day One: Epcot (Porkchop)

Note to self:

Never go to Disney Quest again. Especially the very first night that you arrive at Disney World. The “rides” will make you so sick that you break out into a drenching sweat and throw up in your mouth. You will be dizzy and sensitive to light and noise, both of which are in abundance at DQ.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I woke up this morning to a slight disappointment. The phone rang at 6:45am and I grabbed it, anxious to hear my pal Mickey wake me up. Instead of Mickey, I was greeted by the sound of silence. Murrrrr…

This morning we looked fresh and ready to go, all bright-eyed and clean out of the shower with our matching trip shirts on. Inside, I felt more hung over than I have in a long time. Much like German beer and French wine, Amanda and Disney Quest just do not mix well together. I was definitely still feeling the effects this morning.

We were early to the bus stop and within 15 minutes we’d arrived at Epcot. While first in line at the turnstile we made conversation with a CM named Robert and my DQ hangover was temporarily eased with the delight of watching Carrie voluntarily whip out her pins and start trading with the CM. Here's a picture of me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the turnstile.



After getting fast passes for Soarin’, our first ride was on Test Track and it was a lot faster than I remembered. Our next stop was Mission: Space and I was hesitant about whether or not I should go on it after last night’s virtual reality fiasco. Thankfully, they’ve developed a less intense version of the ride so I was able to go on it without too much trouble. I did close my eyes in a few parts, just because the motion was starting to get to me.

Little did I know that I would spend a good portion of the rest of the afternoon closing my eyes and putting my head between my legs. Since when did Epcot become an acronym for Every-Place-Causes-Offensive-ThrowUp!?!?!?! Maybe I was just a little extra sensitive today because of last night, but it seemed like so many of the rides involved some sort of gigantic screen with loud noises and lights and larger than life images.

In no specific order, here are the rides that I went on and had trouble with: Nemo, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom, and Journey into the Imagination were also a little troublesome but more because of jolty motions than anything else.

The only ride that I was able sit back and fully enjoy was “Living with the Land.” Yay for hydroponic plants and for fish farms.



Also enjoyable today were the flowers all around Epcot. Very very pretty. Here are a few more pictures for you.






We ate lunch at the Sunshine Seasons Food Fair and had snacks in the World Showcase. I attempted to use some dining plan snack credits at the Boulangerie Pattiserie in France but after I already had my croissant in hand and was at the cash register, the French girl told me that only their drinks counted as snacks. Pptpththhh! That’s what I think about that.

We loosely followed the Unofficial Guide’s one day itinerary today but kind of lost track of it a couple of hours into the visit. I was surprised though by how quickly we knocked out the main attractions. By 7:00, we were both exhausted and ready to get out of there.

It’s 9:00 now and Carrie is fast asleep. We might go down to the pool for a little bit… but judging by the way Carrie is snoring, we might not. Probably better to rest up for our big day at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow. Another early arrival is planned and we’ve got a lot to do before our Flying Fish reservations at 7:30pm.

Good night!

Day One: Epcot (Carrie)

It’s 8:00 Friday night, and we are back at our hotel room. We just picked up a turkey sandwich and grapes to share from the POP food court. In a little bit, I think we’re going to hit the swimming pool.



Today was an excellent Epcot day, even if we’re missing Illuminations. We decided it’s more important to maintain our energy and sanity than to see a fireworks/laser show that we’ve both seen before.




Anyway, the morning started with us rising at 6:45 to get to Epcot a little after 8:00. We were first in line at one of the turnstiles. Awesome! During the 45 minute wait before entering the park, we chatted up a Dream Team member and traded pins with him. At 8:45, we were allowed into the park, where we waited at a rope near Innoventions West. Again, we got to chat up some cast members and Porkchop was hugged and high-fived by many cast members.



Our first stop after the rope drop was picking up Soarin’ fast passes. After that, we rode Test Track and Mission Space (green team). After Soarin’, we ate lunch at the Seasons Grill (seared ahi tuna salad and a fruit tart for me) and then rode Living with the Land.

Living with the Land is definitely my favorite ride at Epcot. I love the crazy horticulture projects! Tomato trees, giant hanging pumpkins, and squash grown in the shape of Mickey ears!



Before heading to the World Showcase, we also did the following:

• Had a character picture taken at Innoventions. Since we have a Disney Visa, we were able to get a free 5x7.




• Sampled sodas of the World at the Coke pavilion place.



• Scoped out the Flower and Garden festival displays. Very nice living topiaries.





• Rode the other usual rides, such as Spaceship Earth, Journey into the Imagination, and Universe of Energy.


• Saw Turtle Talk with Crush. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, but I did because of the live improv, interactive performance.

So…the World Showcase…

The World Showcase always disappoints me. It makes me embarrassed because of the superficial look at different cultures. I don’t want the international cast members think that I just want to buy their goods. Overpriced goods at that. For example, the Japanese candy is WAY overpriced (no surprise), but why would I spend $5.00 on candy that I can get for a $1.00 at the international grocery in our neighborhood?

Anyway, the World Showcase makes me feel weird.

We did, however, catch an acrobatic performance at China, and it was the best thing ever.




Also, last complaint about the World Showcase, it’s always really HOT over there. And crowded.

After “visiting” Mexico, Porkchop and I decided to skip Illuminations and head back to the hotel. But before leaving, we stopped back at Innoventions and took a Segway for a spin. So much fun!

Two Memories
This is where I reminisce about a previous trip to Disney World.

When the Disney bus pulled into the Epcot parking lot this morning, my mind flashed back to pulling into the same parking lot with my dad and sister back in 1993. My dad is someone who doesn’t think rules and regulations apply to him, even simple etiquette guidelines. If there is a rule to break, he will do it. If you’ve ever driven to Disney World, you might recall that Disney staff members guide you into the parking lots so that the furthest spots are filled first. My dad decided that wasn’t going to walk across the parking lot to the tram, so he pulled out of the line of cars and piloted us to a closer spot. As we were walking to the tram, staff members were chasing us and yelling at my dad.

It was embarrassing.

Things improved once in Epcot. You might remember that Spaceship Earth was once sponsored by AT&T. If you used a lot of long distance minutes like my parents did, you received some special promotional things, like getting to ride a secret elevator inside Spaceship Earth and enjoying light refreshments in a secret AT&T reception area. Afterwards, you were ushered down to the part of the ride where people were exiting the cars. So, you were already seated in a car when it came up to the loading area. Awesome!

Wolfgang Puck Express

Here's what we ate at the Wolfgang Puck Express:

Tomato Basil Garlic Linguini



Cobb Salad with Salmon (and Creme Brulee for dessert)

Departure

Today has been the longest day EVER, but oddly enough, I don’t feel that tired. This makes me think that I must only receive four and a half hours of quality sleep regularly. Heck, I guess we could have gone to the Magic Kingdom’s extra magic hours! Except for a few things….

First, I really am tired and will be extra tired tomorrow if I don’t get at least seven hours of sleep tonight.

Second, we needed to get back to POP to pick up our fridge from the most recent person in the refrigerator swap that Porkchop signed us up for. We also had to buy breakfast items in the food court for the week (soymilk and bananas for me, powdered donuts for Porkchop).

Third, we cut our Disney Quest time short after Porkhop became sick during the virtual reality game. She has very sensitive equilibrium, and the stupid game made her break out into a sweat and feel generally yucky.

Before the VR game, I managed to beat a handful of 8-year-olds on the Daytona USA racing game. Yes, victory is mine!



Here are other highlights from our day:

• The enchanted phone call that I received from Mickey Mouse at 6:45 this morning. Porkchop arranged this a couple of months ago, and last night she programmed the phone number into my cell phone so that “Mickey Mouse” appeared on my caller ID. So tricky! Anyway, it was quite funny to receive a call from Mickey while we were waiting for our flight.


• The yummy salmon cobb salad from the Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney. I think I’ll be quite surprised by the food selections that Disney has to offer now. From what I recall from my 1997 trip, I was lucky to shell out $8 for a measly baked potato with broccoli-cheese sauce at Epcot. I was vegetarian at the time, but food choices overall seemed a bit meager.


• Buying two pins at Downtown Disney. Yes, I voluntarily selected two pins for my lanyard! One is Spring 2007 with Flower and Thumper (my favorite Bambi characters when I was a kid). The other is Tax Day 2007 with Stitch at a calculator. Because I’m nerdy like that. Tax Day.


• The awesome gift basket waiting in our hotel room when we finally returned to POP after a 45-minute bus wait. Porkchop told me that she had arranged for the delivery of a 12-pack of water, so I was expecting something in our room. However, I didn’t expect the water to be accompanied by dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, English Breakfast tea (in a decorative tin), pretzels, snack mix, gummy characters, and a plush Stitch. Fun! I feel bad for not arranging anything for Porkchop. I just didn’t know these services exist. Murrr!

Off to bed! We have a big day planned at Epcot tomorrow! Hopefully Porkchop won’t get motion sick!

Wake Up Call

The past few months, I’ve had this game I like to play called “Pretend-we’re-at-Disney-World”. The game mostly consists of me and Carrie lying on the bed pretending to be asleep. I make a noise like a phone ringing and then reenact the typical Mickey Mouse wake-up call. Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I roll over and give Carrie a few quick shoves.

“Wake up,” I say. “It’s 4:30 in the morning and time to get ready to go to the Magic Kingdom.”

It’s at this point that Carrie breaks out of the role-playing and snaps at me…

I am NOT getting up at 4:30 in the morning while we’re at Disney World.

Finally, all those hours of preparatory role-playing paid off. When the alarm really did go off at 4:30 this morning, we jumped out of bed and were on our way.

In my pre-trip fantasy about this morning, I imagined a long lonely walk to the bus stop, where we would wait alone in the cold darkness for an empty bus to pull up and whisk us away to the MetroLink train.

In reality, the walk was loud with the sounds of rolling baggage on pavement. The bus stop was shared with a couple of other people and the bus was crammed so full of people that I wondered if we’d even be able to squeeze on with our luggage. The train ride was spent in separate seats. And when we arrived at the airport, I sprinted ahead of Carrie, my eyes set ahead on the ticket counter.

During my brisk walk through the terminal, I turned and caught sight of Carrie lagging behind and had to stop and laugh at myself. I’ve waited so long for this trip to get here that I figure I’d better slow down and actually take the time to enjoy it.

Ready to Roll

The bags are packed, the yellow Magical Express tags are on, we're pre-checked in for our flight and we're ready to roll!

Hopefully we'll be successfully reunited with our bags at our hotel tomorrow evening. In the meantime, we made sure to pack a carry-on bag with necessary toiletries and a change of clothes just in case.

While scrambling to finish our last-minute preparations, we took the time to watch American Idol and LOST. This is not Disney related, but I must say I am incredibly grateful that Sanjaya is no longer on the program. Despite the fact that I got teary-eyed during his final performance, I think it's finally time to get down to business on American Idol.

Now we're off to grab a few hours of sleep before our early early flight and even earlier bus and train ride to the airport. We're going to attempt to get out of bed at 4:30am to catch a 5:30 bus to a 5:45 train to a 7:25 flight to Disney World. Carrie is worried about not getting enough sleep but I don't think I'll sleep too well tonight, even if I tried.

We're going to write about our adventures nightly but may not be able to update the blog quite that often. While we'll be taking the computer with us to WDW, internet access is costly and, after all, we're on vacation! You can expect several updates over the next week, so stay tuned...

And have a Magical Day!

Countdown

Here is a look at the countdown calendar which I have been diligently marking off daily since November 2006.



I can hardly believe it!

In just forty short hours, we'll be preparing for landing in Orlando, Florida, and within spitting distance of the Happiest Place on Earth.

I've been packed for at least a week now, but Carrie resisted until this weekend. Although originally reluctant to pack, she was glad that she didn't wait until the night before. When laying out potential outfits, it was discovered that Carrie was in need of a few essentials. Tonight after work, we did a little last minute shopping in preparation for the trip.

Other than that, I think I'm pretty much all ready to go. The only thing I really had left to do tonight was finish up my many trip-related craft projects.

First of all, a disclaimer: I have two masters degrees in art and also work at a UPS Store where I have access to lots of fun things like colored papers and color copiers and laminating machines and binding equipment. My job also offers a lot of down time, so I've been able to make a lot of ridiculous things for this trip. Here are a just a few of them:

My favorite project was a little pocket sized organizer to carry with me in my bag. In addition to important numbers, airline information, and reservation numbers, the book has a page for each day of our itinerary and maps of POP Century and Walt Disney World. As an afterthought, I also added lots of plain note pages throughout to jot down my reminders and observations. Carrie makes fun when I write things like: Sit at the front of the Magical Express Bus! But we'll see who's laughing when I'm the first one off the ME bus to make it to the check-in counter at POP.



For my trip two years ago, I made matching shirts for myself, my brother, and his family. I kind of did it as a joke... but had so much fun with it that I decided to make me and Carrie shirts for our trip. I drew a picture of us. (Guess which one is Carrie.) For this image I pasted it on to the Year of a Million Dreams castle background. Yes, I know... the background is stolen... but I'm not selling these, so hopefully the Dream Squad won't pull me behind the castle and dump my bludgeoned body in the Seven Seas Lagoon.



For our shirts, it's just the two of us on plain backgrounds. Mine is the reddish shirt and Carrie's is the black.



Since the discovery of quality ink-jet, iron-on transfers, I pretty much make most of the t-shirts (designs) that I wear. In addition to the Amanda/Carrie shirt, I'll also be sporting a Carousel of Progress image that my brother "re-drew" in Illustrator for his recent trip.



I will also be taking a Kidney Donor t-shirt that I made in celebration of my October donation to my father. Don't mean to toot my own horn... but kidney donors are awesome. Might as well make a shirt for the occasion.



I also salvaged a toddler's Mickey Hockey t-shirt and used it as a sewn patch on a shirt for me. So much fun!



If only I had more time for more crafty-fun... but I'm leaving in forty hours!

Little Porkchop c. 1981

This was my first trip to Disney World and I was scared to death of the characters... especially Donald! But look at how frighteningly small Donald is! What on Earth!?!? Is there a robot or a child or a little person inside of that costume? I just don't understand. I'm the horrified little girl on the right. My brother seems completely unfazed by Donald's diminutive stature and is spending his photo-op examining his giant orange feet.



Looks like I had calmed down a little bit by the end of the night. Maybe because my Mom is holding me this time. Or maybe because Goofy isn't trying to touch me like creepy tiny Donald was.

Carrie's Disney History

I've been to Disney World twice - once when I was fourteen and again when I was eighteen. Unlike Porkchop, I'm not a big fan. I would rather be camping in nature or traveling the back roads through a place I've never been.

Also, I think the Disney empire is a bunch of heteronormative, consumerist hooey.

If you're here from the Disney boards, you probably hate me now.

My family never had a family vacation until I was 26, so I don't have any sunny childhood Disney memories to look back on. My first trip to Disney World included my dad, my sister, and me. For most of the trip, my dad stayed at the off-site hotel, trying to take care of business problems from afar. On the second trip, I went with a high school friend with whom I've since lost contact.

Neither trip was very well planned, which gives me hope for this trip. Porkchop started planning last summer and has an excellent itinerary drawn up.

Even though Disney makes my head hurt, I will enjoy this trip for Porkchop. Also, I'm ready for a vacation ANYWHERE. Unlike Porkchop, who doesn't mind going on a trip when we don't actually have the resources, I can't. I haven't gone on an honest-to-God vacation in FOREVER. Since I'm going to be paid while I'm at Disney World, it's almost okay.

I'm going into this trip with a positive, can-do attitude. I will have fun and enjoy Disney World with Porkchop.

One thing that I'm truly looking forward to is the restaurants. We have reservations lined up for the Flying Fish, Boma, and the California Grill. I can't wait to have a good meal and a glass of wine every night. This, my friends, is exciting for real.

Don't worry, I'm not going to turn off my inner critical monologue while at Disney World, I might just not speak my criticisms. This isn't selling out, this is self-protection. I've read the Disney boards...hardcore Disney World fans can be dangerous. I will keep my mouth closed and my pin lanyard on and blend in.

Porkchop's Disney History

I wouldn't really say that I'm in love with all things Disney, but I do love Walt Disney World. It's hard to explain to someone who has never been. Those who ignore all the "magic" and gut-wrenching sentiment and view the Disney Company only as a evil money grinding empire, usually don't understand.

Looking back on my childhood, I'd say I was pretty fortunate in that I got to go to Disney World at least a half dozen times. My family didn't celebrate most holidays, so all the money that would've otherwise gone toward Christmas and birthday presents often went toward family vacations. It helped that my grandparents wintered around Naples, Florida. The long drive down to visit them would usually be broken up by a day or two at "The World".

We never stayed in one of the Disney Resorts. Back then, they didn't have any "value resorts", and even if they had, I doubt my parents could have afforded them. With three kids and a tight budget, we were happy enough to end up at a budget motel somewhere along the gaudy strip outside Disney. My dad would usually get our park tickets at one of those overadvertised discount vendors along the highway. I still don't know how my parents did it. I didn't fully appreciate it at the time.

I have a notoriously poor memory and only remember bits and pieces from those early trips. The most exciting part for me was driving from the hotel to the parks on the first day. As soon as we crossed under the signs welcoming us to Walt Disney World, everything seemed different somehow. The air smelled different. Everything was cleaner. I think the sun might have even shone a little brighter. I remember hurdling through Space Mountain, and plunging down Splash Mountain for the first time. I remember the dazzling Captain EO and visiting a boring MGM right after it first opened.

My last family trip to WDW was my freshman year of college. I was 18, grumbly, irritated with my little brother, and too cool for Disney. I wouldn't return to Walt Disney World for another seven years.

My older brother started his own tradition of Disney trips as soon as his daughter was old enough to realize what was going on. In the spring of 2005, I was invited to accompany his family on their annual Disney vacation. Never mind the fact that I was in my last semester of graduate school, broke and frantically trying to finish work for my MFA exhibition. It would be my longest Disney trip ever and my first opportunity to stay at a REAL Disney Resort. There's no way I was missing that!

Needless to say, the trip was incredible and I was thrilled with my stay at the fantastic POP Century hotel. As soon as I returned, I began a full fledged campaign for my return to Disney. It took a lot of whining and moaning and groaning and sighing and pining and convincing and saving and planning and waiting... but I am now just two weeks removed from my 2007 Disney Vacation.