MillieHubbard's TR

Still having trouble copying in text from Word. TR Day 3 - Pt II attached.

Thanks Life...we have so much fun on our WDW trips. That's why we'll be DVC members some day. I can't imagine not going to WDW at least once a year...although, I keep thinking to myself that there is a whole big world out there. We're starting to save for our 25th wedding anniversary which we hope to spend in France (can you say Disneyland PARIS!!) But then there is always the DVC being built in Hawaii

Also, thanks for posting the content of the attachment. I don't know why my text won't paste into the text box but I keep getting an error message each time I try it.

Still no luck copying into the text box. I'm trying to figure it out but no luck. Hope you all can access the attachment.

Millie

Bali, thanks for posting my TR...I just don't get why I keep getting the error message. I just cant' figure it out.

We were lucky with Test Track...the second storm didn't seem to have the lightening that the first did...just a lot of rain. Evenually the weather cleared up for most of the rest of the day...no problem with Illuminations that night...

Test

bear with me

this is a test

thanks for the tip Bali, seems like that will work for me too

No problem Brad, THANK YOU for all of your efforts in supporting the forums!

Day 4 � Part II Le Cellier and the World Showcase

We made our way to Canada via ducking into gift shops along the way...with the side benefit of checking out CM lanyards along the way! We arrived at the pavilion about 15 minutes ahead of our 2 pm reservation so we took a couple of minutes to enjoy the gardens at the pavilion. One of my "life list" things to do is visit the Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC so it's always a treat to see a mini replica of them at Canada. I'm attending a conference in Seattle in October so I'm hoping to be able to take a day trip up to BC while I'm there...hoping...iit depends on how quickly I can get my passport renewed...I'm really mad I let it expire. Anyway, we ducked into Le Cellier just in time to avoid another mini downpour along with a whole bunch of people who were either hoping to get a table (good luck with that!!) or just avoiding the rain!

We had originally wanted a dinner reservation but even though we called the morning of the 1st day of the 90 day window, the dinner slots were all full. We took a chance and asked the hostess if there was any chance of switching to a dinner slot and she all but chuckled and suggested that we were best to keep the ressie we had! So be it...we accepted our fate and sat and waited to be called to our table. We didn't have a long wait at all, maybe 3-4 minutes at most. We were led to a charming table for two in the back corner of the restaurant. It really felt like we were in the wine cellar of a fine chateau. Our waiter arrived promptly and I was delighted to find that he was French Canadian, from Quebec City. I struck up a conversation with him about Quebec, sharing how much I had enjoyed the city on a conference trip in Oct 2006. It really is a beautiful city, I think the most European city in all of North America...add it to your life list if you've never been. An interesting thing he told me that I had never picked up on is that the Canadian Pavilion building is modeled after the Chateau Frontenac, an absolutely gorgeous 5 star hotel high on a hill overlooking the St. Lawrence River. Sadly my conference was NOT held at the Chateau!!

Any way, back to our delicious meal at Le Cellier, since we had a lunch reservation, the menu was not quite as extensive as the dinner menu but we still had a nice variety to choose from. That said, when in a steakhouse order STEAK!! Both DH and I ordered the NY Strip Steaks and were very pleased, both were cooked to our exact preferences, with a delicious bercy butter sauce. I did struggle though between the NY Strip and the Filet Mignon...the wild mushroom risotto and white truffle herb butter sauce offered with the filet sounded really good. But as I said, this is a STEAK house!! With the strip steak instead of the Yukon potatoes, the side was delicious Canadian cheddar au gratin potatoes. We also thoroughly enjoyed the break sticks that were brought to our table, crispy and warm. We both declared our favorite to be the pretz''el bread stick.

After finishing our entrees we were really looking forward to delicious desserts. I had the Maple Creme Brulee and DH thoroughly enjoyed his chocolate Canadian Moose Mousse!! The presentation of the mousse was very cute, sorry I don't have photos. We're not really photo people...just one of those things. Well, sad to say, lunch was over and it was time to leave and free up the table for the next family to enjoy a delicious meal. We exited the restaurant and walked over to take in the O' Canada 360 Vision movie. Having lived 60 miles from the Canadian border (western NY) most of my life, it was a common experience to cross the border into the great nation of Canada. Although having visited different regions of Canada, the border along Niagara Falls and the US while slightly different is very familiar. The movie gave us the opportunity to see places we have visited, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Canada is such a beautiful country and the people are as friendly as depicted in the film. After the film we stopped in the gift shop and had fun trying on the Moose hats and chatting with the CMs. We took the Canadian Trivia quiz and did fairly well...despite quite a few questions on hockey statistics. We received a certificate for our participation had a few laughs with the CM and headed on our way.

Our next stop after Canada is always the United Kingdom. DH developed a taste for Cadbury chocolates while we were in Ireland and ALWAYS stops in the UK pavilion to pick up some candy bars. I like the teas from the UK and usually pick up a couple of boxes but I resisted this year since I had plans for shopping in France!! We exited through the back of the tea shop to step out into the Knot Garden, one of my favorite garden areas in Epcot. I especially love it during the FGF but really it's beautiful anytime of the year. From the UK we headed on our way to France and my first planned shopping expedition!! As we were crossing the bridge between the UK and France a few raindrops started to fall so we picked up the pace and arrived in France just ahead of another downpour! We made it into the shops and I made a beeline for the Provence shop and the French-milled Verbena soap that I just LOVE. I always purchase several bars and try and stretch them out as best I can to last the year. This time I splurged a bit and purchased 6 bars; 4 Verbena, 1 Lily of the Valley and 1 Mandarin Orange. I have learned that the same soap can be purchased online but there is something about remembering my trips to WDW as I shower in the morning. After making my purchase and arranging for resort delivery, we made our way through the remainder of the shops in France and stopped in Boulangerie Paitisserie just to window shop a bit...we had no room for pastries after the meal we had just enjoyed!! But, it was a good "fact-finding mission" which will come in handy later in the evening.

After exiting the pastry shop we stopped in to enjoy the Impressions de France film. France, and Provence specifically are also on my "life list" and I'm really holding out hope that we'll spend our 25th anniversary in France...strolling the lavender fields of Provence!! Anyway, we enjoyed the film very much and exited the pavilion to beautiful sunshine. Seems the afternoon storms had finally "wrung themselves out" and we would be rain-free for the remainder of the day.

From France we moved on to Morocco to stroll the shops and corridors. It is a different experience to stroll the "warren-like" walkways in Morocco, feels a little like a foreign country right smack in CFL!! DH always enjoys checking out the drums in the Moroccan shops and I enjoy the ceramics. We both resisted shopping in Morocco though since our next shopping stop would be Japan and we both love Japanese candy and had plans to pick up a couple of more dishes to add to our set started last trip.

After doing a bit of shopping and cooling off in Japan we headed to the American Adventure pavilion. I'm embarrassed to say that we had never gone to the American Adventure show...you know how it is, the "locals" never take in the "tourist" exhibits in their home town!! Well since this was the year to do the things we'd never done before, we decided to see the show this time. We both really enjoyed it...DH especially since he's a history buff!

After America we made our way on to Italy and Germany. We basically did a "stroll-by" of Italy, enjoying the container gardens and moved on to Germany. I have to say it was a tough decision to not eat at the Biergarten. We both love
German food but since this had become the "never before" trip, so to speak, and we had eaten in Germany on every previous trip we decided to pass it up. I could feel my heart tug as we passed by the restaurant...I just love the sauerbraten and braised cabbage!! Oh well, next trip!

We strolled the shops in Germany and did a little lanyard scanning and then moved on toward Norway and China. We passed up China this trip since we usually visit it each trip and the feet by this point were really starting to scream. We moved on to Norway to ride the Maelstrom. I'm not a roller coaster fan so the up and down of the Maelstrom is about as close as I get!! I just love the trolls in the ride and again Scandinavia is an area of the world that's on my "life list" so it's a little mini Scandinavian fix!! We always enjoy the shops in Norway, I just love the sweaters but now that I live in NC I have absolutely no need of heavy wool sweaters!! One thing I miss in the gift shops are the troll dolls, I'm so glad that on our last trip before leaving Orlando I purchased a large Troll doll with green hair. I had received my first troll doll, with purple hair, from my Dad when I was about 5 yrs old. They just hold special memories for me...I wish they still had them in the shops. I guess there's just not enough demand for them .

Oh forgot to mention, that DH had picked up a Kimmunicator over by Canada so we were on a mission in Norway...the country we wanted to learn more about. While I rested my aching feet, DH scurried around completing his "mission"!! I enjoyed a bit of rest in the seating area outside the pastry shop, doing a little crowd watching. After completing his mission DH and I headed over to Mexico. A ride on 3 Caballeros is a must do for us. A chance to ride an air conditioned dark ride is a MUST on a hot July CFL day! I do have to express though, in my opinion, that the addition of the 3 Caballeros ruined this ride. Sorry to Duck fans out there but I just find them annoying!! Despite that, it's still a relaxing enjoyable ride, I especially like the LED fireworks during the fiesta scene. I would love that in my living room!!

Well we'd made our way around the World and it was time to think about getting some dinner. We both had plans, my plan was the Shogun platter at Yakitori House and DH was going for a Shawarma Platter at Tangierene Cafe in Morocco. We made our way back to our dining destinations fairly quickly. I love the environment in the Japan pavilion, I really find it so relaxing up in the garden area by Yakitori House, I could sit there for hours listening to the bamboo fountains and enjoying the zen landscaping. Sadly, I was not destined to enjoy a meal at Yakitori House this year. We were on the dining plan and their system was down, there was no way to apply our QS credit toward our meal. To say I was bummed would be an understatement; I really love the ginger seasonings on the rice. Oh well, next trip. So we were on our way to our next destination in Morocco for DH's meal. I was starting to get a little headachy since lunch had been 7 hours ago, so DH, being the chivalrous fellow that he is, offered to run over to France and pick up a Ham & Cheese Croissant in the pastry shop while I saved a seat for us in Morocco. DH came back with my croissant and then headed to the counter to order his platter...oh no, the system was down here too and he wasn't able to order his meal either. Since I had waited for him to return with his meal, I shared my croissant with him to give each of us a light bite.

With a little brainstorming, we decided that we'd head to Sunshine Seasons to pick up dinner there. Epcot had EMH on this night, so we were hoping that Seasons would still be open. Otherwise our only other QS option would be the food court at our resort...not that the resort food is bad, but the food at the parks offers more options. We were in luck, Seasons was open and we both ordered from the Asian menu. After a nice meal, we both decided that it was time to head home to our resort. We had both decided that for this trip, we would not kill ourselves. Having been to Disney so many times, we don't have the "once in a lifetime" mentality that drives so many 1st timers to see and do all!!

We had just spent a couple of fun-filled days at the parks but the plan for the next two days was to enjoy our resort. We had upgraded from Pop Century to PO Riverside and wanted to be sure to spend a couple of days enjoying the pool, hot tub, and just the resort in general. The grounds of Riverside are so lush and beautiful, I can spend an enjoying day just walking the grounds. So that was the plan, after getting a good nights sleep in the super comfortable beds at Riverside!!

Day 5 & 6 - Enjoying our Resort

Hi Folks,

Glad you all are enjoying the TR, me too! It's like revisiting my vacation

In Japan, I LOVE the gummy candies and DH loves the Rice Candy. The gummies come in flavors like mango, muscate grape, apple, yuuuummm.

I also picked up a package of the rice snack mix which I love. However, I discovered that this package contains one particular piece of snack mix that tastes like fish....yuck!!! Fortunately it's easy to pick out of the mix so my furbabies get that one!!

OMG!!!!! WEGMANS!!! I so miss Wegmans! I grew up in WNY,home to Wegmans and actually worked for them for 12 years. Best grocery store in the world!! When I travel north I always stop at the store in Woodbridge VA...right off I-95...it's like a pilgrimage! You are so right, they have everything!

Where are you located that you're lucky enough to have a Wegmans??!!

Day 5 - Resort Day - Dinner at Boma

Even though we weren't going to the parks today we still got up early...no sense wasting precious vacation time sleeping!! Our plan was to get up early, head to French Quarter for some Beignets and a swim in Doubloon Lagoon and a little pin trading along the way. Midway through our trip we discovered the "Pin Boards" at the resorts, from then on we visited them at least once a day to see if there was anything new.

We remembered to bring our resort mugs with us...that's really the only downfall of the mugs is having to remember to bring them! We ordered our Beignets, a half dozen was plenty for the two of us...and got our coffee while we were waiting for them to be fried up. They are so crispy when they're fresh out of the fryer - but very hot - word of caution, let them cool a bit before you take that first bite! They were so good...but we resisted ordering a second order! We stopped in the gift shot to scan some CM lanyards - if we had seen 1 "cutie princess" pin we had seen 200!! Oh well, next we headed out to the pool. There isn't much shade at the FQ pool...I guess if you're going for the "tanned, football" look that's OK. However, we are both of Irish/Scottish descent and the sun is not our friend! We swam for a little while but both came to the same conclusion fairly quickly that the Riverside pool is much better...at least in our opinion. So we headed back to our resort and went for another swim there. Unfortunately all the rain earlier in the week had dropped the temperature of the pool by at least 10 degrees...it felt downright chilly. Quite a change from the nice warm water on Sunday, we didn't stay in the pool long.

One of the advantages of staying at Riverside is the ferry to DTD, so we decided head off to Downtown to do a little shopping and pin trading and get some early lunch. We didn't want a big lunch since we had dinner reservations at Boma at 4:30 so we stopped in McDonalds quickly for small burgers and a shared order of fries. Mostly we wanted to shop and pin trade. We stayed in Marketplace so we would be closer to the ferry in order to make it back to our resort by 3 to shower and change for dinner. We like to arrive a little early for dinner at Boma so we can enjoy AKL and the view of the savannah. I love the artifacts in the lobby of the Lodge, especially the ceremonial mask. It is amazing that one man wears that mask on his head...the thing weighs 200 pounds!! After relaxing in the lobby for a few minutes, we headed down to the restaurant to check in for our reservation. Since it was so early we were seated immediately.

The other advantage of an early reservation is that the buffet is fresh and not yet "mangled"! Not that they don't keep up with refilling but it is nice to be one of the first to sample from the wonderful dishes they serve there. I had made plans to meet up with a friend from my former place of employment. We planned for her to drive down and pick me up at AKL after dinner...I had extended the offer for her to join us for dinner if she could get out a little early. In our line of work we never know whether "last minute" grant application is going to come across our desk so that was an offer that neither of us were sure she could take us up on. Well, as it worked out she was able to get out early and arrived at the restaurant about 4:45...we had literally just sat down with our first plate, so we were able to enjoy a relaxing dinner together.

We just love the food at Boma and especially that we can sample so many different tastes. I enjoy the roast prime rib with all of the seasonings and sauces, the couscous, cornmeal pudding, sausage and lentil soup among other dishes. The variety is always good...Nan and Hummus, roasted vegetables. All with African and Middle Eastern spices. My friend did sample several of the salads and especially like the watermelon rind salad. We made sure to save room for dessert since Zebra Domes are a must. There were at least 8 different desserts on the buffet...yummmmo!!

DH had plans for "guys night" with one of his buddies from the area so he took the truck and met his friend back at our resort and my friend and I walked out to the savannah viewing area. She had never been to AKL...so true for so many Orlando locals. There is a distinct divide between the locals who love Disney and those who are at best indifferent and those who down right disdain Disney. My friend is on the fringe of indifferent, although I may have nudged her a little toward the "love" category but I don't think she'll ever cross over completely. She's a nature/hiking trail buff and hates to lose the "native Florida" environment that development tends to gobbles up.

My friend did enjoy the savannah and the giraffes, we saw 4 including 2 "youngsters" one male about 16 months old and a female about 2 yrs old. It was nice visiting with the guide that was there. She was at Disney for a year-long internship and was due to go home to Namibia the following March. Her plans were to return to university when she returned and eventually work with the major travel/safari company in her country.

After we viewed the animals we headed back into the lobby and we walked around to look at the artifacts which she found very interesting. After we finished touring the lobby we decided to head over to Kidani Village to see what the area looked like. We didn't see much since neither one of us was up for going inside the lobby. But my friend did get to see some of the native Florida "swamp" that she is so fond of, I guess it's a "native" thing!

Coming from Western NY and the deciduous forests found there, I was never a fan of the FL scrub pines and palmettos. Just one of the factors influencing my decision to move to NC...that and the traffic situation in CFL.

My friend and I just wanted some time to visit and catch up on what was happening in our lives. We generally get to see each other twice a year, once when we head down to Orlando and once at the annual conference we attend for our professional organization. We decided to head back to Riverside to dangle our feet in the pool and enjoy a cool frosty drink. It was a very pleasant evening and early enough that the majority of the resort "crowd" was still at the parks. We had a nice visit but called it an early evening since my friend had a 45 minute drive home and had to be up early for work the next day.

I was just as happy to go back to my room and surf the web a bit before hitting the sack. Part of our goal for this trip was to really get some rest, both DH and I had had "hellacious" workloads in the Spring of the year and the R&R was really needed. DH also came back early from his "guys night", they had gone to Wet 'n Wild and he was exhausted from climbing the water slides...neither of us is as young as we used to be...hehehehe!!

Day 6 - more Resort relaxation and Whispering Canyon to follow

Yeah!!

I figured out how to add a ticker. I'm looking forward to a trip next April. It's not booked yet, but one can always hope right?