Christmas morning, a quick goodbye to the very squirmy pets...
Then off to the airport...economy parking of course, our last little flirtation with saving money for a while.
I think this was the kid's first time at the new airport. I'd been last February for a work trip and Debra and I flew to LA in the spring.
At the airport, once through the luxurious TSA PreCheck security (so nice I was tempted to ask if I might go through a second time!), we got churros, and split a Guy's Deli hot pastrami sandwich. Pretty good!
Once the boarding started, we were at the tail end of the "B" section in a very full flight, so it was chaotic. Thankfully we had checked our bags. We managed to find one place where two people could sit together, so the kids sat there alone and Debra and I just found random single seats. There was a Chiefs game going, and I sat directly in front of this loud older lady who was watching the game with maybe her adult son and hearing her play by play, which she interspersed with an ear-grating "Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhhh!" whenever anything good, or bad, or possibly good or bad, happened was a bit challenging.
We landed in Orlando, collected each other and then our bags, and ordered an Uber, which was amazingly efficient. They had cancelled the "Magical Express" complimentary bus service last year, and this was easily as affordable as the rival paid shuttle services, and much more private and comfortable. We got to the resort, the Port Orleans Riverside, which was the place we stayed the first time we went to WDW. Lots of horse buggy traffic...
After dropping our bags off in our room, we wanted to head towards Disney Springs...our plan was to catch the boat to the second Port Orleans resort (French Quarter) and get beignets, and then on to Disney Springs, but we realized the walk to the other resort was pretty minimal so we headed down that way on foot.
Beignets with a salted caramel dipping sauce...
Then loading up onto the boat...in an effort to keep with the theme they had jazz playing, but at one point I realized it was like Miles Davis style bebop. Wrong jazz, guys!
No alligator sightings on the way...some kind of tethered balloon though, over Disney Springs.
I think this is a poncey restaurant done up as a riverboat.
The place was absolutely packed. It was a good inoculation, on the first night, to the crowds we should expect.
Finally made it to the food truck, which had a sizably long line. Kids parked over on the left.
They didn't have their famed taco cone, alas, so we got the quesabirria and street tacos (with a quesadilla for Pete). Birria tacos became kind of this crazy trend all of a sudden...we tried them and I was kind of underwhelmed. It's salty, pot-roasty beef, in a taco with a broth to dip it in. For me, the street tacos were better and more flavorful. With Mexican food, I dunno, I require a lot of vegetables (onion, cilantro, chilies, avocado, etc).
Rainforest Cafe "erupting" somewhat regularly. Reminded me of the Larry the Scary Rex ride at Dinosaur World.
We then took the boat back, hopped off at the French quarter and walked the rest of the way to our room. Next morning, up early and onto the bus for the Magic Kingdom, aka Walmart Great Value Disneyland.
They let the hotel guests in maybe 30 minutes early.
In fairness, the castle is bigger here than in Disneyland (but it's not -Walt's- castle).
Animals-accidentally-in-Disney-parks is the thing that tends to fascinate Gretchen the most.
First ride was Autopia, since it was basically no line.
Pete was mildly stressed by the driving.
Next up, the demonstrably less exciting "People Mover".
Quick snack of some kind of frosted donut thing, and a pepper jack pretzel for us.
In my notes I had something written down..."cheshire cat and p" and I don't have any idea what that was, but keeping the note there just in case it comes back to me or Debra. Here's a pic of the castle in lieu of explanation.
Then onto Big Thunder, a kind of easy quasi-coaster. I like this image for all of the drama it seems to capture.
Then we did Pirates of the Caribbean, and picked out some Mickey ears at the shop. From there to the Tiki Room...
It has a different loading area than in DL.
In more "accidental animals", Gretchen found a lizard.
We did Haunted Mansion, and then the Little Mermaid ride. Then, Dumbo:
The Mickey ears are expensive but honestly, kind of cute.
We picked up some food (breakfast sandwich and tater tots), then rode the Barnstormer (very very mild coaster). Then, Peter's protestations notwithstanding, we did It's a Small World.
Next up was Tron, which we paid for with a Lightning Lane. Peter opted to do it but was on the edge. He had a kind of panic attack of fear, but he kept his composure through most of it. There's a fine line parents have to walk...encouraging kids to face fears and push through things...or not forcing your kids into terrifying experiences lol. Apparently Peter's mostly silent tears hit Debra (riding behind him) on the ride as it was going. So...ahhh, yeah....sorry little guy. He doesn't have to ride it again for sure!
Then we did the Hall of Presidents which was fan-tastic. I think the Biden automaton was more lifelike than Biden. Then, waiting for a food order, Gretchen and I spotted a cormorant.
Lunch at the Liberty Square area, with ibises begging for food.
Then onto the monorail towards the Polynesian resort.
Dole whip floats while I wait in line outside of Trader Sam's to reserve a table for later.
We had about a 90 minute wait, but it was at least in a nice spot.
Pete and I went exploring to kill time.
Knobbly tree from southeast Asia...possibly a kapok tree.
Then waiting inside the main hall.
Pete took the chance to rest.
Then into Trader Sam's!
Our basement tiki bar has a long way to go.
Mai Tai...paid more to keep the glass...
A variety of juice drinks for the others. Pot stickers and a "Thai" (read: vaguely Asian soy-peanut sauce based) flatbread pizza as another snack to share.
Then back on the monorail, and then to the shuttle buses, and back to the resort. Pete and I went and swam, and the pool was completely undisturbed but for us. Absolutely luxurious.
Pete, Debra, and I walked to the food court where Pete got pizza and we shared a disappointing jambalaya...Gretchen stayed in the room by choice, missing out a bit on the horses and a frog we happened across.
Next day, Animal Kingdom. A tight busride there, but we got there.
Coffee and some kind of breakfast first.
Alligator.
Straight onto the Dinosaur ride which is basically Larry the Scary Rex.
Next, Expedition Everest (but only me and Debra).
A fake mountain is a good way of hiding a coaster.
Loud primates of some variety in the kind of "Asia-ish" section.
Pete takes a lot of pictures on trips now. I'd say I should use some of his but going through my own is enough work!
We did Kali River Rapids and got very, very wet, and then went to Avatar-Land to ride Flight of Passage (just me and Debra again).
Debra got very sick on the ride, like "sea levels rising and lapping over the backteeth" sick, but she managed not to misplace the cookies. We got cheeseburger bao, which we remember kind of liking, and pointedly did not get the noodles (with the disgustingly sweet "popping" boba that have no place at all in a savory noodle dish). They come with "vegetable chips", which strikes me as a technically accurate, though hilariously misleading, way of describing a combination of potato and tortilla chips.
We hustled back to the Feathered Friends show.
It was fun, and one of our priorities to see. Pete was a little tiny bit credulous about the "unscripted" things that went "wrong" in the show.
I didn't get a picture but Gretchen raising her hand to volunteer was so out of character (but in character, given what it was for) I was amused. Here she is looking like she wants to ask the handlers something, but no, she's just looking at the bird behind them.
Then onto the safari ride. Gonna batch these pics...because I can, and you don't really need me to just name off animals that you can obviously just identify.
Then we did the gorilla trail in that area...
Silverback...
More sights along the trail.
Then we saw the "It's Tough to Be a Bug" show, which was a 3D show with various special effects, and regardless of the merits of the show itself by far the most amazing thing about it was witnessing the effects on small kids, like pre-K kids. Kid next to me was so cute about it, when the well-meaning spider character started shooting off quills at the audience, the girl chastened him more in sorrow than in anger, crying out "No, Chili, NOOO!". Other kids, when the "bad bugs" took over, devolved into outright, lost-their-minds panic. It was a marvelous sight.
Then onto the, for lack of a better term, "Asia trail" which had an aviary that of course fascinated Gretchen.
The birds are pretty used to humans at this point and just go on about their day.
A quick train ride and we were at the petting zoo area.
Animals could escape zealous little humans by going into these roped off areas.
We let the kids take some time here. Debra at one point, yelled out sharply to Peter "PLEASE WALK!", but right in front of her was a lady in a fatcart...um, I'm sorry, that's an offensive term. A lady in a -chubbsmobile-, that's better. And it was not clear that Debra was yelling that to her son further up ahead who tended to run unnecessarily, and might have intended it for the lady and her personal mobility chonkoscooter. I found it much too funny.
In the "African marketplace" area we got a small snack with a shared shrimp salad, chicken nuggets, and we split a single serving passionfruit cheesecake four ways. We eat a lot in small increments on Disney trips. This guy playing a kora was VERY good.
Then a shuttle to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which we would never want to pay for. We got the bread service to share, to try various flatbreads and chutneys. I liked the red chili and spiced garlic ones, and the coriander (by which I mostly mean cilantro) one was a favorite as well. Definitely would do this again! The children nursed their SIX DOLLAR LEMONADES
Exploring the lodge area...a variety of animals on show duty outside the balconies.
It's a cool looking place though.
Bit more exploring inside, and then we caught a couple shuttles to end up back at our place.
After some rest time Pete and I repeated our pool visit, likewise interrupted by no other swimmers.
Then walking towards the food court area...I hardly remember what we ended up getting. I think I got chicken parm with a dramatically boring tomato sauce (it seemed to be literally just canned crushed tomatoes), Debra got a meat dish mainly for the sides, Gretchen mac and cheese, and Pete penne and meatballs.
Walking back, noted they had A Muppet Christmas Carol on the lawn playing.
Up early on a rainy morning to get to EPCOT.
The Moana water exhibit was a family favorite but I have to think it would be more enjoyable in the hot sun than in the unrelenting rain.
Still they loved it!
Sensors track your movement so you can control the water.
I should explain...our plan this time was to do rides in the morning, mostly, and then do food at the world showcase at night, separated by a rest break back at the hotel. First up was Soarin', which is always a hit, but a fellow rider was a young man of early elementary school age who had a full fledged screaming and kicking panic attack. The parent basically dragged them on, but when it became clear that the child was VERY MUCH NOT going to calm down, carried them back off before we "took flight". This version was happily the original California version...the best!
Then Pete and I, the only ones fairly well steeled against motion sickness, did Mission Space. It was fun. I think that's actually when we did the Moana stuff above, but I'm not worried about being out of order. Next up, Living With the Land, just top-grade EDUTAINMENT right there.
All morning I had been talking up our planned visit to Club Cool, but in my Austrian Hans/Franz accent "You know zey don't just let anybody into Club Cool! Hopefully zey will see our enormous muscles and let us in, how embarrassing would it be not to get into Club Cool!". It did not disappoint!
The much maligned Italian "Beverly" soda was a delight, a soft drink bitters basically. The Chinese sour plum soda was the most challenging for me, an almost salty, shoyu flavor (would go great with grilled meat), but I liked it. The others did NOT enjoy them.
A quick jaunt into Norway for some lefse, kringla, and eplekake.
Then we got Gretchen a boba tea and shared a pork egg roll.
Bit of a rest break in the China pavilion, and looking around the shop.
Then the Frozen ride, which gets to the climax for little kids "are you ready to see Elsa????" at which point the little girls no doubt scream with anticipation, it dumps you into this area, and animatronic Elsa sings her signature tune..."Fools Rush In", of course. But we got stopped there due to a ride breakdown! Wheeee! Fortunately she just sang the song a couple of times before it went to just instrumental music.
Then we did Spaceship Earth in the big golfball, with Peter setting the language setting to German for some reason, and headed back to the hotel. But we saw something interesting in the parking lot...
This bird had laid claim to that Hyundai for sure.
We took an afternoon break, and then headed back at night...
First off was Figment, a kind of terrible ride through "IMAGINATION!!" narrated by Eric Idle, possibly motivated by the demands of alimony or other financial pressures. Debra rode this one on repeat as a kid on a marching band trip to Orlando. I threatened to make us do it again and again but did not follow through with my threat.
Then over to Britain...
Waiting in line for our fish and chip shop order.
We split an order of fish and chips, I got a pint of Bombadier (good!).
Sun definitely going down at that point and my pictures will get fuzzier and fuzzier....
We rode Soarin' again (since we had the lightning lane option) and crossed over to the other side of the World Showcase.
I got a sample of baijiu, the Chinese sorghum (and other grains) spirit in the China showcase...had never tried it before. It was a bit wild and not at all what I would expect. Nothing at all like the mild complexity of shochu, or the plain simpleness of soju. Baijiu is concentrated flavor for sure. The Hong Kong brand I had is known to be a "gateway" style for Western palates and I found it lovely. A Sichuan variety I've tried since...MUCH more of an acquired thing (barnyard is not something I normally look for in taste/aroma descriptors).
Then into Germany where we got a pretzel and bratwurst.
Little too much kraut on the wurst for my preference. Then they got caramels at the caramel shop there.
Over to Japan, we did a quick service option there.
Pete's favorite...katsu curry! Along with some sushi and nigorizake.
It's my favorite section at EPCOT, the Japanese showcase.
Pictures are rubbish, but it is very pretty.
We went to France intending to get crepes, but the lines were very, very long and we bailed. We did stop to get a Kir Royale...the French girls serving it were a bit stingy with the cassis, so it mostly tasted of champagne. It happened to be our 21st anniversary, so we shared the flute in celebration.
To cover for the lack of crepes, I waited in line for maple popcorn in Canadaland.
Heading out, a little bit of a light show on the golfball:
Next day, we first did our Southwest checkin, getting B09, a lovely victory I felt, that sustained me all day. After breakfast we headed into Hollywood Studios, a mostly throwaway park but for the inclusion of Star Wars Land.
Replicating the Grauman's Chinese Theatre...
First up was Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. Again like in Disneyland, for some unsavory reason Minnie is still going topless, and after the train accident they decorate the walls, floors, and railings with spatters of red paint, assumedly representing blood. It's a dark ride!
Kind of odd to have kid-style writing in the style of a kid's lunch box list but then still need to wedge in alcohol under the guise of "grown-up drinks".
Then to Star Wars Land, with an odd greenish tree.
It's a fun place!
Ronto Roasters for breakfast is our usual.
Pete was somewhat obsessive about drawing things on his phone with a broken glass face. He's pretty good at it!
Animatronic animal in a cage...
Then onto Smuggler's Run, which we didn't score too highly on.
Pretty fun area.
I was pressured to buy them Coke thermal detonators. Don't want to know/remember what they cost.
Then, with our Lightning Lane, we went onto Rise of the Resistance.
It has a lot of sections and was a good amount of fun.
Then we went to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show. While in line, Pete realized he didn't have his phone. No one knew where he had it last, and much stress was experienced. Fortunately we found it via location checking and it was obviously on Smuggler's Run, likely in the storage pocket. I left the line and hoofed it there, asking for them to check...I may have also made it ring (sorry). They eventually found it for me, and I got back just as the show started (they let me in since I had been in line before) and I stood at the very back.
It's an entertaining show...and this is not a real plane, but it does look like something the Germans would have come up with.
Really cool tank replica in the exit queue.
Then we did Toy Story Mania, a dark ride shooting gallery, Star Tours, and then bought some cotton candy for the kids while we did a Walt Disney walk-through exhibit...these being props from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Then we did the Muppets show, which, I mean, the Muppets are great! How can you not?
Pizza at the neighboring restaurant.
Gretchen pointed out the deeply depressed dinosaur.
Bird watching before we go back to the hotel.
Debra pointed out how rude it was to put this sign up in front of these poor people.
We had dinner reservations at 'Ohana, and headed back out that evening.
First stop is Magic Kingdom, albeit not going in.
Then onto the boat to head to the Polynesian.
First stopping off at the Grand Floridian on the way...noting an anhinga resting next to the boat on the pier.
Arriving at the Polynesian...
I hate to say it, but Pineapple Princess may in fact be the worst ostensibly "Hawaiian" song I've ever heard. Hapa-haole doesn't even cover it, that at least assumes half Hawaiian. Sorry Walt, I know Annette was a Disney artist but man, get some better Hawaiian music.
It was quite busy and we were there early, which was a bit of a mistake.
Waiting for our eventual reservation time.
A dim view of some Magic Kingdom fireworks through the palm trees.
We finally got in! The waiter was nice, possibly Cuban, but I wish I could remember the Hawaiian word he "corrected" us on our pronunciation of. If I remember I'll edit and put it here.
The meat grilling was all done in this closed off area.
I got a pineapple drink because...I mean, you've already paid enough to get in, go ahead and get the ridiculous hollow pineapple drink. They started us out with a salad with a fantastic citrus vinaigrette, a delightful coconut/pineapple bread, some unoffensive "generic Asian" noodles (whose reputation is maybe a trifle unwarranted), steamed veggies, pan-fried dumplings, and sticky chicken wings.
Then the meat came...large hunks of sirloin with a generic teriyaki glaze and shell-on shrimp. They came later with grilled chicken thighs with chimichurri. There was no way we could even hope to eat this food, and we were leaving early in the morning, so I resigned myself to it going to waste. Each of the meats have a retardation feature designed to slow you down (probably reducing people from eating too quickly and asking for seconds)...the steak would ideally have been sliced thinly (as I usually do with steak), the chicken similarly should have been deboned and then sliced after grilling, and the shrimp were messy to peel. Not complaining, just interesting and its my theory that it is intentional to slow down diners from eating too quickly.
Finally the bread pudding, with ice cream and caramel sauce. The kids who had said they could not possibly eat more, somehow found the space.
The cost was breathtaking but it is a once in a lifetime experience. Which I mean literally...I wouldn't go back. Too much food, some of which I suspect I could make as good or better myself, and just too much money, but it is delicious...the items that stuck out as "I don't know how to do that!" are the salad dressing, and the bread (and by extension the bread pudding). The mains were great, but nothing unattainable. If hype had not driven the price and popularity of this place up into the stratosphere, I would say it is a favorite place.
Then back on the monorail to Magic Kingdom and then the bus back to the resort to try and get some quick sleep.
Next morning we got up at 3am, yes, 3am. Basically the night's sleep was looked upon as an extended nap. We got ready and met our Uber at 4am and got to the airport.
The flight back was much better, with our better seat selection (Debra sat with the kids and I lucked out with a "person of size" opting to sit next to me in the aisle seat, making the middle seat undesirable and ultimately unchosen, given both of us plenty of room). We got back and were happily reunited with our pets, including this goofy dumb dog who was very pleased (later falling into a nap and snoring, as shown below).
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