Trip report- A Jedi craves not these things

I think by 3 or 3:30 everything was shut except Casey's, Plaza, Emporium and the DJs.

Anyway, I get out of the park at 6am, waiting over an hour for a bus, get back to POP at almost 8 and we have to check out by 11. So we just got some coffee and breakfast, packed, checked out and caught a cab to BLT. Naturally our room wasn't ready, so we checked the bags and laid around the pool. The room was ready at about 12 or one and we crashed until dinner. We had a 7:10 ADR at Cali Grill and we made it up there after a few hours sleep.

We were pleasantly greeted by Ohio and her DH and we made arrangements to meet after dinner at TOWL.

The view from our table:

The view on our table:

This meatball appetizer was very good. Spicy!

A single goat cheese ravioli floating in watery tomato sauce.

Pork belly sushi- was cold. I sent it back to be heated up.

Filet of Beef

Complimentary dessert

Cali Grill is good for Disney, but probably wouldn't last in the real world with those prices. But it's enjoyable.

I think we hit it off immediately with Ohio and her DH. I had a grand time chatting and drinking I know that. The evening flew by at TOWL. Too bad they were leaving the next day. Hopefully we'll meet up again on the big cruise trip.

Some Wishes shots from TOWL. Hand-held so not that bad.

Yep- they really only tweaked a few things. I do think the beef tenderloin used to be better though.

Some thoughts on BLT. I've visited before and been to TOWL but never actually stayed there. We had a studio on the ground floor as I wasn't being picky after being up all night. It turned out to be convenient to the MK walkway and was around the corner from the elevator, so getting to the Contemporary walkway was also easy. I loved walking to and from MK as I love walking to and from Epcot and HS.

The studio was the smallest I've ever stayed at. The problem is most DVC studios have the bath and toilet in a separate room so that although technically one bathroom, two people could get ready at the same time. BLT did not have that. They did have a nice galley kitchen with lots of storage. However, that was useless to us since we do not cook. We only use the frig for storing drinks. On the other hand I've heard the 1 BR units have the luxury of two bathrooms.

BLT has a definite lack of charm. It seems like an apartment house to me. There were times I went in the lobby and there was no one there; no check-in, no concierge...hello? And the pool area is pretty hum drum. And there is pretty much no Disney theming at all. But who needs theming when you can look out the window and see the MK. And it is convenient to MK, the monorail resorts and even Epcot. And the TOWL is a nice touch also.

POP Century. This was our first stay at a non DVC hotel. It kind of reminded me of a Jersey Shore hotel with really over the top theming. We got a preferred room that was convenient to the pool and transportation. The pool was nice. The transportation was nice. A dedicated bus just for POP. I'm not used to that. The food was a food court and was alright. POP Century...not that bad!

Freakin Zombies in Epcot

I know most people are familiar with the miniature train village in Epcot. But in all the years, I've been going there, I never noticed the zombies. They only make themselves visible on the hour for a few seconds. I will try to show what I mean.

The village- normal

The village with some zombies walking among the citizens

Can't see it?- let me take down the exposure

here's another

See the glowing eyes and the extended arms? Freaky!

Ok maybe not as freaky a I thought.

I'm going to study that miniature train set up next time. Who knows what else is in there.

I did not see the arms move but they are definitely in different positions.

A quick note: the Egg Roll Cart was removed from Adventureland in MK. Apparently it disappeared a couple of months ago. I have made inquiries with guest relations and will keep you posted. I never even got a chance to try the cheeseburger spring rolls.

Oh, and if you want a Dole whip with pineapple and vanilla swirl, forget that. Pineapple is at one stand and vanilla at another. What Disney genius thought of that?

I was in the American Pavillion, and two young Asian guys sat at the next table. They bought a Turkey Leg. But they asked for a plate and they sat down and carved every piece of meat off that turkey leg with a knife right down to the bone. They had quite a pile of meat. It definitely was enough for two people. It actually looked like a good way to eat a Turkey Leg rather than walking around with it in your hand like Fred Flintstone.

High on my to-do list was a visit to Trader Sam's. Since I was staying at BLT it was a perfect opportunity to check it out. I went prepared for a long wait. I got there in the afternoon and signed in and was told it was about an hour and a half wait. The wait is very pleasant; we went on the deck and ordered drinks and there was a singer with a guitar who was enjoyable. Before we knew it, we got called in. I think it was less than an hour.

Trader Sam's is very small. I don't think the occupancy can be more that 50 bodies total. It looks kind of like the inside of the Tiki Room. There is a bar and a bunch of various tables. We were seated at a big surf board table with a few other couples. People came and went randomly. I liked the big surfboard table because you pretty much had to talk to the others at the table and that was fun.

The drinks at TS are very strong and very big. I saw people get tipsy sharing one drink. There was a couple at our table who were there for a while before we got there and they were in the advanced stages of merriment. So you get buzzed pretty fast and then everyone gets friendly and its all a lot of fun. I drank a beer flight, half of Mrs C's Margarita and two zombies and when I got up to use the bathroom I realized that I had better have a bottle of water for my next drink.

All the drinks come with a little show, some more elaborate than others. The show is done with lights, sound effects and the general silliness of the waitstaff who are fantastic. They are performers. At one point the two waitresses were "swimming" around the bar with tubes and snorkels and goggles. A lot of time I was just asking, what are they doing now?

When I got there I was seated on a stool and about 15 minutes in, I was about eye level with the table. My stool had slowly sunk about two feet. So naturally that lead to jokes like I'll get a drink when I grow up and stuff like that. I played along getting on my knees on the stool and demanding a drink because I'm a big boy. Very silly and very funny.

I did order some food. Sliders that sounded excellent in the menu weren't really that good. When I go back, I'll drink in TS but eat in Kona.

Oh yeah and you get to keep the very cool glasses the drinks come in.

Anyway, it was lot of fun. Disney needs more stuff like that to keep the big kids like me happy.

Here are random pictures.

from the deck waiting

zombies and sliders

Breakfast at BOG- About $25 for scrambled eggs in a puff pastry/croissant type of affair, some fruit and some God-awful self-service coffee. No characters. Draw you own conclusions.

It makes $10 spent at Starbucks for decent coffee and a muffin seem reasonable.

I'm done with BOG. Been there, done that.

A light lunch at Spice Road. Our first time there. Uncrowded, cool, tasty food, good service and a fantastic location. Perfect.