WDW - This is gonna be a long one...

Ok, so bored at work + recent vacation + guilt for ignoring B-Log = new post. This post will contain my recommendations for a 4-day vacation to Disney World. Side note: I am soooo cold right now.

Friday, Dec 7
We left for FL at about ridiculously-early-o-clock (i.e., like 6 or something, but I had to get up at llike 4). Mad ups to JRR for the lift to BDL. I slept and slept on the plane to Charlotte, which I recommend for anyone traveling on a plane...sleeping. It's the best, except for the neck cramps. What's the alternative though? Not sleeping? Nope. We ate in Charlotte at some sort of "stock car racing" cafe. Don't eat there. It's crappy. I got grits. They were watery, and the waitress was sucky. She was never around. Not good for an airport restaurant. I could have been in a hurry. I think either she was real lazy or had a crush on someone else that worked there and was in the back talking to them all morning. The other waitress there was good. She even brought me my food, despite not being my designated waitress.

After our second plane ride of the day, we arrived in Orlando about 1ish. I had a tenacious headache, unaltered by my measly dose of non-prescription pain killer. However, renting a car was surprisingly easy. The lack of line at the car rental facility should have tipped us off to the supremely-excellent timing we had scored for our trip to Disney (usually the most whiny-kid-filled place on earth, but not in early December...yesssss!!!). I asked at customer service when we had to have the car back, and they said at the same time we rented it, which was kind of a downer, since that was like 1:15, and our plane home didn't depart until, like, 5 on Mon. Later in the week I looked over the paperwork, though, and found that we had until 4:15. It must have been the travelocity trip package that arranged that little miracle. Yeah!! Sweet!!

We found E's pad (we stayed w/ her for the entirety) fairly easily with only a couple minor detours, but on the plus side, we did get to loop around the airport one more time...We hung out and talked audiology for a while, much to Mark's dismay, and she made us smoothies with her awesome $400 contraption that makes hot soups, cold smoothies, and diamond jewelry with the press of a button. She's like the spokesperson for that thing. It is awesome, and I totally would have bought it too, for like, $100. Maybe even $200, but not $400. I'll just use a regular blender and then heat my soup on the stove, thank you. Then I had to take a nap. My headache totally was getting the best of me. So I took a not-long-enough nap and woke up to go to dinner.

We went to Jiko's, an African restaurant of my choosing at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. We arrived early, so we got to look around the lodge for a bit. It was nice, but I don't really dig African decor, so I don't really want to stay there. There was a nice buffet-looking place, that I wish we would have eaten at in hindsight. I will elaborate following my review of Jiko's. Jiko's is a nice restaurant. Like, nice. You would have to dress up if you weren't on vacation at Disney. They had a dress code, but jeans were allowed, so I don't think that counts as dressing up. They bring you hot towels before dinner, and everything is expensive. We were super hungry, which didn't help keep the tab down. We ordered appetizers, even. By the time my food came, I was kinda full. Also, I hadn't eaten, like, all day, so my stomach freaked out when I did start to eat, which it does...which sucks. We didn't get out of there for under $100, seriously. That being said, the food was phenomenal. Everything tasted more perfect than I could have predicted. I had breads with dipping sauces, including lentil-spinach-cilantro dip, kalamata hummus, and some tomato thing. For dinner I had grains, veggies, and tofu. It had all the vegetables I would have wanted in a mix: spinach, broccoli, pea pods, rutabega (?), onion, etc. It also had edamame, barley, and lentils. Also, tofu, of course. The sauce was excellent, too. I think that's what made everything so awesome: the sauces. My conclusion is that although the food was awesome, it was too expensive for my budget. I wish we would have gone to the African buffet because I'm sure the food would have been totally good, and we would have saved $50 at least. My recommendation is to go to Jiko's if you want superb African food and money is no object.

We just went home and went to bed about 10:30, all the while worrying whether or not I was going to eat those $20 worth of leftovers over the course of this trip...

Saturday, Dec 8
Epcot day!! I was so excited because Epcot was my choice, as it is my favourite of all Disney parks. We woke up at, like, 7 something, took showers, and we were off to IHOP...probably the cheapest meal we had all trip, but it was still totally good. 1/2 order of Harvest Grain and Nut pancakes w/ butter pecan syrup and hash browns (w/out syrup of any kind)...yummmm....

We got to Epcot just after it opened. It was sparsely populated, and even though it did fill up slightly as the day went on, we never waited longer than an hour or so for a ride, and that only happened once. Everything else we kind of just walked right on. We saw Ellen and her energy dream, and I made recycled paper that I'm going to give to my mom.

E and AZ met us in the early afternoon, I wanna say, and alternately went to attractions/waited for us to go on attractions for a few hours. The only part we didn't get to see at all was the Sea part of Epcot. We did all the science stuff first because that part of the park opens/closes earlier than the countries. We headed over toward the countries when we got hungry.

After some confusion about which Japanese restaurant was which (not our fault, Disney changed names in some places, but not others), we chose the hibachi restaurant (still not sure of the name), which I had eaten at before with good experiences. Also, they had sushi, which I was happy about for Mark, since I had already chosen my restaurant (Jiko's) and wanted him to have something he wanted, too. This restaurant was also expensive, but not as bad. We paid as much for 4 of us as for 2 at the other restaurant, and we got appetizers here as well. The adorable Japanese chef entertained us, and that was the first time I've seen a female Japanese chef at a hibachi restaurant. She was great, though, and the food was great. I got mine first because I didn't want it to touch other people's meat, particularly the shrimp. Oh, I had edamame for an appetizer, which you can never go wrong with. Mmmmmm...edamame....I recommend this restaurant for people who either like or have never experienced Japanese hibachi-style dining. It's really not too expensive, unless you get the chicken/beef/shrimp combo plate, which none of us got, but others at our table did. Of course, it is more expensive than the same type of restaurant back home, though. You may just want to eat at a local one. You'll usually get salad and soup with your meal then, too, which is a plus. However, I did have asparagus in my vegetable medley, which I doubt you'd see at a regular place. As far as food goes, I had tiramisu in Italy and chocolate mousse in France, which were good.

Then we quickly toured more of the countries, and E and AZ took our picture in a bunch of them. I wanted to have a picture of us in each country, but due to a myriad of reasons, this goal was not accomplished. These reasons include, darkness/camera flash situation, E and AZ leaving, and camera battery dying. Plus we had to hurry because we had gotten a FastPass for the test track ride. Now, the FastPass is the best idea Disney's had since...I don't know when. Unlike stupid loser Six Flags (it's like, $75 there or something), the FastPass at Disney is free. You just go to the ride and swipe your ticket, and it gives you a pass to come back at a certain time. You can only do one FastPass at a time, I think, but still. It really helps with the line situation, which can get mighty frustrating during the busy seasons.

So we went back to the test track, which ended up being my favourite ride at Epcot. They take you through a number of tests they would do on a car, like you're the crash test dummy. The best was the acceleration part, but it is Disney, so it doesn't get that fast. Maybe, like, 65 mph. Then we finished up the countries. E and AZ had left by that time, so it was just the two of us. We did feel kind of rushed, picking and choosing which parts of the countries to see, and not seeing any of the movies. We went on the Mexico and the Norwegian rides though, and I had never been on those before. They were ok, but then we got stuck on the Norway ride. We were right towards the end of the ride, like, we could have gotten off the ride and walked to the exit, but they wouldn't let us. We sat there for about ten minutes, while the college kids in our boat who were trying to "Drink Around the World" shouted complaints/pleas to the ride attendants (including "Come on, I can WALK to the exit...please??" "We're never going to make our goal" and "This ride sucked anyways").

So we were trying to finish up our tour of the countries and get a good spot for the famous Epcot fireworks show when we stopped in England to take pictures in the classic phone booths. Then the phone inside the booth rang, so I picked it up. On the line was a guy who asked me if I had heard of the Year of a Million Dreams at Disney, or something like that, to which I replied, "No." He proceeded to explain to me, after commenting on my boyfriend's clothing and our activities (taking pictures in phone booths, that I had won a prize as a part of that program. I could claim my prize as soon as I ran down the street shouting "The British are coming" and walked back to the phone booth. Of course, it sounded like a hoax, but what if it wasn't? So I did it. No one even noticed on the street, so it was fine, and as you've probably already guessed, it was a hoax. At least the dude did call me back and let me know I was punk'd. I didn't get mad at him or anything; I just put on my best despondent voice, and I'm pretty sure he felt bad. I didn't care that I had done that and wasn't embarrassed, I was just sad not to get a prize. I guess I provided the comic relief for one college kid's Disney trip. See what drinking around the world does? Turns you into a bad person. Yeah, not a terrible person, but certainly a bad one.

After being yelled at twice to get off the wall in Canada, we watched IllumiNations, and it was awesome. They have the best fireworks at Disney (and Foxwoods, cause they're made by the same people), and they had this big globe in the center of the lake that they had projected pictures onto the land parts of the world as it rotated during the performance. It was cool. We went home exhausted and too full to eat our leftovers. Probably got to sleep about 11.

Sunday, Dec 9
Woke up at 7 something (maybe closer to 8) am to go to MGM, Mark's pick. I was super excited about this too because I hadn't been in ages, and they really didn't have much there last time I went. We ate at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, which may have actually been our cheapest meal, actually.

First we saw the Beauty and the Beast live show, which I had to explain to Mark because we missed the beginning and he's NEVER seen the movie. Then, I was so scared about the Tower of Terror, but Mark really wanted to go on it, and he really wanted me to go with him. I figured, what the heck. I'm not going to die on it or anything, so I might as well go. The ambiance of the hotel was perfect. They really do think of all the details at Disney...those Imagineers. And the ride wasn't what I had expected at all. They have a free-falling elevator type ride at Six Flags, and it's out in the open so you can see what the whole thing's about. It's about free falling in an elevator type thing. Not cool. That's what I thought this would be like. Mark kept reminding me it was Disney and couldn't be that bad. He was right. The details of the hotel really kept my mind off things before the drop, and they also showed you little things in the right, like, twilight zone people in the hotel and stuff. Then when the drop did come, it wasn't that bad. You did go up and down a lot, but it didn't feel out of control or anything. I think that ended up being my favourite ride of all. Then we got our FastPass for the Aerosmith rollercoaster...yesssss...FastPass rules!

We experienced a couple more attractions, like the Little Mermaid puppet show and the Indiana Jones show before E and AZ met up with us again. We went to eat at the '50's restaurant, but it was all booked, so we ate at the bar. That was ok because E and AZ weren't eating anyways, and we were super hungry. I wished we could have eaten in the actual restaurant though because there was a tv at each table, and the whole place was decorated like a '50's style house. They even had a '50's couple calling the waiting list people, like, "Smiths!! Time for lunch!!!" The couple walked around the restaurant gossiping to each other about townsfolk and stuff too. It was cute. I got a milkshake, and Mark got a root beer float so that I could experience both. Yay!! They were great. We also got food, it was pretty good. Not awesome, and I still wish I had gotten the turkey sandwich. I got a stuffed pepper. It was stuffed with plain rice though, and not the type of grains I thought.

AZ really likes the stunt show, and they've seen it a billion times, but it is cool, especially for boys, so we saw that. It let us out too late to get on the back lot tour, which I'm still kinda sad about, but we did get to see so much, so I'll be ok. We saw the Muppet 3D thing and some show about Walt Disney, and we also saw the Spectacle of Dancing Lights. That was cool. It was, like, a street made to look like NYC and all the buildings were covered in lights and fake snow was falling (suds). Then the lights shut off and began turning on/off to Christmas music. It was awesome, but we didn't get a picture/video of it because by then the camera had totally died.

E and AZ left, and Mark and I went to Fantasmic. That was awesome, too. It was, like, the Mickey sorcerer part of Fantasia, except with a different story line. They worked in fireworks, fountain shows, lasers, movies, and Disney characters into the mix. Again, no pictures/videos due to camera battery situation.

We noticed that, even though the park was "closed," rides still seemed to be going on. It was extra magic hours for those who stayed at WDW resorts. We tried to stay and go on more rides too, but you needed a bracelet, and they actually checked for them. D'oh.

So we decided to check out the Disney Boardwalk. It's a pretty cool place, and we saw a lot of the Disney resorts in the process, the most notable of which is the Yacht Club. The pools have sand in them to be like the beach, but it's not that dusty sand, so it doesn't make the water dirty. The only bad thing about staying in the Boardwalk area (Epcot-adjacent) is that the fireworks-exhaust gets blown your way every night. That might get annoying. We made it home even later and tireder than the previous night and went right to bed.

Monday, Dec 10
Woke up around 8:30 to go to the flea market (yeah, not my choice). I managed to eat most of my African leftovers, but they weren't as good 2 days old and 1/2 reheated. Plus, I didn't want to fill up because I had Sweet Tomatoes plans for that day. Me, Mark, and E went to the flea market, and it was lame, as are most flea markets. Then we toured some more of the Disney resorts via car and monorail. They were neat, but we were so tired. And my on-again-off-again headache was making another appearance.

So we decided to get lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, finally!! I think Mark wasn't super excited about it, even though my glowing praise could be heard throughout the land for days, but he was eventually won over as we sat down to eat. He thought it was a really great deal for all the food, and he really likes salads he makes himself. When you don't have to cut up all those ingredients, who doesn't??

Then we went back to E's, gathered our belongings, and we were on our way. Sadness in leaving E's was tapered by the fact that I will likely see her in a few months at AAA. We filled up the tank w/ $2.99 gas. Take that car rental lady who said it was 3.10 when trying to convince me to prepay for a full tank at 3.07 upon pick-up. Also, I didn't even use a whole tank, B-word. I can't believe they make you pay almost $8 a gallon if you don't fill it up. That's so gay. Whatever, I guess you can guarantee getting your cars back full of gas that way because who would really allow an $8 a gallon situation to occur. Well, maybe people who pay for valet when you can park your own car for free...maybe them. All in all, renting the car was super easy though, and returning it was even easier. We said goodbye to our little Chevy Cobalt, and we were on our way to the airport via Hertz bus. I thought Hertz was a fitting company to rent from given my profession (Hertz = cycles per second...ha!).

I slept and slept again on the plane. Then we got some food in Charlotte again. Burger King was a better experience than the cafe of Friday. I also got some amaretto gelato, which was good, but too rich for my everyday tastes, anyways. The plane ride home was ok. We got the emergency exit row, so more leg room, but not as comfortable armrest/seating situation. Then the best JRR in the world picked us up again, after the quickest baggage return experience I've had a BDL in a while. We went straight to bed.

Final Thoughts
I've been writing for, like, an hour and a half now, so this is going to have to come out as quickly and disjointedly as possible now. (Also, I'm not proofreading all this.) It was great to see E and AZ again. Probably spent way more on this trip than necessary. Travelocity deals are a great way to do things. Renting cars is way easy. Disney is super fun if you like everything themed, which I do. Pictures forthcoming, maybe. Stay tuned for upcoming trip summaries...(like, skiing in Jan).