3:00 AM
Unknown
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Posted in: ChristmasPort Orleans Riverside Resort
The Port Orleans Riverside Resort is located at Walt Disney World Florida, in the Down Town Disney area. It is considered a Moderate Resort.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Tenuous Travel Related Post
Ok, so this isn’t really travel related, but I really want to post a review about this company, without having to sign up to any review sites to do so – I get enough junk mail as it is thankyou!
I recently purchased my wedding dress, online through www.perfectbridal.com. It arrived yesterday and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a genuine Maggie Sottero dress, which came with an authenticity certificate, and by ordering it online through this company I got it for less then half the price I would have paid by buying it locally.
I dealt with both Cherie and Denida, and both ladies were prompt with replying to most of my emails, and helped me out every step of the way.
The only downside – and it’s very minimal, is that I requested a swatch, and even though it’s written on the invoice, it didn’t come with the dress. (I wasn’t charged for it, so I’m not overly concerned, but a swatch would be extremely handy… I wouldn’t have asked for it otherwise.)
I know there are many brides out there, who are concerned about buying their dress online, and I don’t blame them, you seem to hear many horror stories about all the things that can go wrong, but everything went perfectly with this purchase, and I’d do it again!
I’d like to thank everyone at Perfect Bridal, it’s been quite a hassle free experience!
I recently purchased my wedding dress, online through www.perfectbridal.com. It arrived yesterday and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a genuine Maggie Sottero dress, which came with an authenticity certificate, and by ordering it online through this company I got it for less then half the price I would have paid by buying it locally.
I dealt with both Cherie and Denida, and both ladies were prompt with replying to most of my emails, and helped me out every step of the way.
The only downside – and it’s very minimal, is that I requested a swatch, and even though it’s written on the invoice, it didn’t come with the dress. (I wasn’t charged for it, so I’m not overly concerned, but a swatch would be extremely handy… I wouldn’t have asked for it otherwise.)
I know there are many brides out there, who are concerned about buying their dress online, and I don’t blame them, you seem to hear many horror stories about all the things that can go wrong, but everything went perfectly with this purchase, and I’d do it again!
I’d like to thank everyone at Perfect Bridal, it’s been quite a hassle free experience!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Just a small update
I've been very busy planning a wedding, and all the things that come with that, like getting fit and the honeymoon. So I haven't had the chance to go any where special to write about.
I will however give a quick update on the wedding side of things.
For those familiar with Disney World, you will know that getting reservations for the restaurants you want to eat at is important. We just passed our 180 day mark, which is the magical date you can start making reservations.
We are now booked in at the following restaurants;
I will however give a quick update on the wedding side of things.
For those familiar with Disney World, you will know that getting reservations for the restaurants you want to eat at is important. We just passed our 180 day mark, which is the magical date you can start making reservations.
We are now booked in at the following restaurants;
- Raglan Road Irish Pub
- Yak & Yeti
- Teppan Edo
- Chef Mickey's
- Sci Fi Dine In
- Les Chefs De France
- Fulton's Crab House
- Whispering Canyon Cafe
- California Grill
- Yachtsman Steakhouse
There will possibly be more added as time goes on, but they're confirmed. I will attempt to do reviews (with pics!) on each of these restaurants when the time comes... Just 6 more months! Part of me wants time to fly, the other part of me is petrified that it's coming so quickly!
Also, I've been dealing with Liberty Travel, who have gotten me a great deal on return flights to Cancun and 7 nights accommodation at the Excellence Riviera Cancun. This is part of it that I'm not torn on. I can't wait for this at all!
Actually that reminds me, I haven't given my details to Liberty Travel yet to be able to book it... Better do that tonight.
I've been trying to use Google's new GMail Voice phone call option, but it doesn't seem to want to work for me. I thought that being Australian was the problem, but I've spoken to other Aussies that are using it fine. So it must just be my computer...
Monday, July 5, 2010
Small Updates
Just thought I'd let you all know where I'm up to when it comes to my next big holiday in Feb/March of next year.
For those who don't know, we're having a Destination wedding at Walt Disney World in Florida, followed by our Honeymoon in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.
Last night I booked our accommodation at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort from Feb 23rd to March 5th. Because of the wedding we get a slight discount on our rooms, but I'm hoping for a better rate to come out some time in November, this at least secures our room for us.
I've contacted 3 separate travel agents to see what they can do for me when it comes to booking the Honeymoon, so far only Escape Travel has been able to get back to me... I've been waiting a couple of weeks now for a response and I don't think any more are coming...
I'm going to do a bit more research before booking the honeymoon, as we wanted 10 days in Mexico and direct flights there, however Delta only do direct flights on Saturdays, which would only give us 7 days, JetBlue also do direct flights, but they haven't released them for March yet, which is a real pain!
Also, on a slight side note, we went dress shopping in Newcaslte over the weekend. We shopped for my wedding dress at Belles & Beaux, I was told that they were quite pushy here, but I didn't find that at all, they were helpful and attentive. We went bridesmaid dress shopping and Mother of the bride shopping at a shop called Shazzam By The Lake over in Toronto, they were also very friendly and helpful.
We had lunch on Honeysuckle Drive at a restaurant called Twist. The service was a little slow, but the food was great and well priced. Usually when I eat on Honeysuckle Drive I eat at a Japanese restaurant called Nagisa, which is an awesome place! However we had some people with us who don't like Sushi, so Twist was safer.
For those who don't know, we're having a Destination wedding at Walt Disney World in Florida, followed by our Honeymoon in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.
Last night I booked our accommodation at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort from Feb 23rd to March 5th. Because of the wedding we get a slight discount on our rooms, but I'm hoping for a better rate to come out some time in November, this at least secures our room for us.
I've contacted 3 separate travel agents to see what they can do for me when it comes to booking the Honeymoon, so far only Escape Travel has been able to get back to me... I've been waiting a couple of weeks now for a response and I don't think any more are coming...
I'm going to do a bit more research before booking the honeymoon, as we wanted 10 days in Mexico and direct flights there, however Delta only do direct flights on Saturdays, which would only give us 7 days, JetBlue also do direct flights, but they haven't released them for March yet, which is a real pain!
Also, on a slight side note, we went dress shopping in Newcaslte over the weekend. We shopped for my wedding dress at Belles & Beaux, I was told that they were quite pushy here, but I didn't find that at all, they were helpful and attentive. We went bridesmaid dress shopping and Mother of the bride shopping at a shop called Shazzam By The Lake over in Toronto, they were also very friendly and helpful.
We had lunch on Honeysuckle Drive at a restaurant called Twist. The service was a little slow, but the food was great and well priced. Usually when I eat on Honeysuckle Drive I eat at a Japanese restaurant called Nagisa, which is an awesome place! However we had some people with us who don't like Sushi, so Twist was safer.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Getting cheap flights with V Australia
Chris and I are planning a destination wedding for March next year. If you're a follower of my blog it should come as no suprise to you when I say we're getting married at Disney World in Florida.
Plans are going great, and I will make sure to post many pictures and stories of our travels while we're over there.
We've just booked our flights for the trip, and we got an awesome price! From Sydney to Orlando return we're paying $1243 per person. At the moment you can't even get that price to go from Sydney to Los Angeles with V Australia, so we were very happy with it.
I'm now trying to encourage my guests to book their flights with this great offer, as many have expressed an interest in taking the same flight from Sydney. However many are reporting that they are unable to find these cheap flights.
So, what follows below, is my attempt at step by step instructions so our guests can get cheap flights to the states. - They might even help those who are looking for flights around the same time!
1. Go to http://www.vaustralia.com/
2.On the left hand side under find flights select Sydney as the departure and Orlando (MCO) as the destination.
3.For the dates I’ve found that 22/02/11 and 4/03/11 work really well, however when you press find flights it shows you all of the available days, and how much for each flight. So you can select what works best. I’ve just done the search and it shows $648 on the 22nd, and $598 on the 4th – total of $1246 return.
4.Now here’s the tricky part. We have booked our flights leaving Sydney on the 22nd, however when we arrive in Los Angeles we’ve arranged to catch the connecting flight the following morning. You don’t need to do this, however we’ve decided that we don’t want to be flying through the night, so this works best for us.
5.To do this though, you have to call to book your flights. Usually it costs more to book flights by phone, then what it does online. So you need to explain to whoever is on the phone that you’ve found the flights online, however you want to do a one night stopover in LA. Tell them how much the flights are you’ve found, and they should be able to find a similarly priced flight.
6. You’ll need to pay by credit card, so have it ready, they may also ask for passport numbers but this isn’t needed right now.
7.If this doesn’t pan out, Delta are currently offering cheap flights, and I believe so are United.
Good luck!
Disneyland Resort 2009
Due to how cheap the flights were at the time, the fact that half of Chris' family lives over there, and I LURVE Disneyland, we decided to go back again. In May 2009 we boarded another plane back over to the US, and this time we took my 15 year old brother with us.
I didn't write up a full blown trip report for this trip like I did the last one, but I did do a food report, because I know that the good folks on www.disboards.com love to see food pics. So this post is all about the food we ate at Disneyland.
If you're interested in finding out more information about anything Disney, I highly recommend the disboards.
So let's get started.
Day 1 – Lunch at Naples
We didn’t have a reservation, but it was early for lunch, so we were seated right away. Service was quick and friendly, with drink top ups offered regularly, which is a big plus in my books.
The complimentary sour dough came out and was served with olive oil and herbs. It was really nice.
I ordered the Pollo Panini - Roasted chicken with caramelized onions, fontina, and mustard dressing. $13.95
It was nice, but not as good as I was hoping. It was huge though, so I only managed to eat half of it, plus I had trouble holding it. It’s a slippery sucker!
Chris had the Spinaci Insalate - Baby spinach, pancetta, goat cheese and candied pecans tossed in a light balsamic dressing. $12.50
He said it was really good, but a bit vinegary. It was also apparently enough to fill him up!
Hayden, my brother had the Pizza Pancetta E Ananas - Roasted fresh pineapple, crispy pancetta, tomato sauce and mozzarella. $16.95/$26.95/$43.95
$16.95 one pictured. This was awesome!! We each stole a slice, plus went back and ordered it as a take away for dinner one night. Highly recommended!
All in all, we were pretty happy with our meals. We will most likely eat here again… If given the chance.
Day 2 РLunch at Carnation Caf̩
We had a reservation, but I got the times a little mixed up, so we were there about 20 minutes early. We spent the time looking around the shops, but a lot of people who “appeared” to be walk-ups were seated almost immediately. I didn’t mind, but if we could have been seated earlier it would have been nice.
To begin with the service was great, then it was almost like our waiter went to lunch himself or something, because after our meals were brought to us we didn’t see him again. No drink top ups, no checking if everything was alright or anything.
Oscar did swing by at one stage though to make sure we were happy.
I naturally got the Loaded Baked Potato Soup – Creamy, hearty potato-cheese soup, with chives, bacon, sour cream, Cheddar and Jack cheese. Bowl $5.49, Cup $3.29
Bowl pictured. Oh my God so good! The chunks of potato in it are so yummy, and the flavour of it is something not to be missed!
Chris got The Chicken Pot Pie – it’s not on the menu because I think it was a special or something.
Very tasty, and the pastry was just the right amount of crisp! The salad that it came with was also very nice, and the raspberry vinaigrette was just right. He got some weird looks from people at the neighbouring tables though, and one even had to ask "Why are you putting ketchup on your pie?" Don't American's put sauce on their savoury pies!?!?! It's the only way to eat them!
Hayden got the Café Steak Melt - Grilled beef slices, melted pepper-Jack cheese and caramelized onion on grilled sourdough. With potato salad, green salad or fresh fruit. $10.99
He said it was very peppery, but mustn’t have been too bad, as he is still talking about how good it was!
Dinner at Steakhouse 55.
Sorry, no photos. I know! What was I thinking???
We were late to our reservation, but it was the last seating of the night, so we went straight in. Service here was really good, they were quick and friendly and checked up on us. They were also very knowledgeable and were able to answer any questions we had about the menu.
We each had a different steak, and each of us thought our steak was one of the best – if not in Chris’ opinion THE Best steak we’d had.
I had the filet mignon. Chris had the Bone in Rib-eye, and Hayden had the New York Steak. For sides I had a type of macaroni and cheese that’s not on the menu. It was really nice, but really rich. Chris had Steamed Asparagus Spears, Hollandaise $7, and Hayden had the Classic Baked Potato $7. Neither of them really ate their sides, and only got them because they thought they were part of the meal, however you are charged separately for your sides a it's A la Carte. We probably wouldn’t worry about sides next time, but would happily eat here again. Even though it is pretty expensive.
Day 3 – Dinner at ESPN Zone.
Once again no photos! I really need to work on this.
Service here was really good.
I had the Baby Back Ribs - A full slab of slowly roasted ribs basted with barbecue sauce, served with french fries. $23.99
They were really yummy and really filling. Usually I find there’s not much meat to be had on ribs, but these ones had quite a bit. I couldn’t eat them all.
Chris had the Shrimp Scampi and Penne - Shrimp, tomato, garlic, and wine sauce with parmesan cheese. $16.99
He said it was really good and hit the spot, it was just what he was in the mood for.
Hayden had the Angus New York Strip - Charbroiled, served with a baked potato or mashed potatoes topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives. Choice of garlic butter or blue cheese butter. $25.99
My brother is only 15, so his comments tend not to vary too much. This came under the heading of “Good” which I translate as just right. I don’t think he had any meals that he didn’t like, which is saying a bit, because he is a very picky eater.
I really liked it here, and I think we’ll try and go here again… If given the chance.
Day 4 – Dinner at Blue Bayou.
We’ve eaten here before, and mainly come for the atmosphere. I don’t think there’s enough on the menu.
Service was pretty good, but nothing great. We had a late sitting, and felt a little rushed.
I had the Isla-Cruces Crab Cakes - Succulent pan-seared Crab Cakes, topped with her-citrus beurre blanc and mango slaw. With blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $30.99
It was nice, but I don’t think it was really what I was in the mood for. Eating a little of everything off the plate each time I took a bite was the way to go though, the flavours all just went together really well. I had it with the Gumbo, which I found to be a lot spicier this time around.
Chris had the Bayou Surf & Turf - A succulent, sweet petite lobster tail from the Pacific Northwest, paired with an expertly broiled filet mignon, sauce bearnaise. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $39.99
It was really good. The Filet Mignon didn’t quite compare to the steak from Steakhouse 55, but must have been pretty close. The lobster was lovely! I made sure to snavel some of it too.
Hayden had the Five-Pepper Roast New York - Seasoned with the Chef's signature pepper rub blend, then slow roasted over rock salt. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $33.99
I didn’t get any photos of it, but he said it was pretty good. Not sure what this translates as, but I think he enjoyed it. Hayden also had the gumbo, but didn’t like it.
One day I’ll be smart enough to just get a starter and a dessert. One day…
Now just because we like them, here are some photos from Pooh Corner.
I had one of the Mickey Apples. I wish I hadn’t, it was so sickening. Next time I’ll be smart and get a chocolate covered strawberry like Hayden did…
I didn't write up a full blown trip report for this trip like I did the last one, but I did do a food report, because I know that the good folks on www.disboards.com love to see food pics. So this post is all about the food we ate at Disneyland.
If you're interested in finding out more information about anything Disney, I highly recommend the disboards.
So let's get started.
Day 1 – Lunch at Naples
We didn’t have a reservation, but it was early for lunch, so we were seated right away. Service was quick and friendly, with drink top ups offered regularly, which is a big plus in my books.
The complimentary sour dough came out and was served with olive oil and herbs. It was really nice.
I ordered the Pollo Panini - Roasted chicken with caramelized onions, fontina, and mustard dressing. $13.95
It was nice, but not as good as I was hoping. It was huge though, so I only managed to eat half of it, plus I had trouble holding it. It’s a slippery sucker!
Chris had the Spinaci Insalate - Baby spinach, pancetta, goat cheese and candied pecans tossed in a light balsamic dressing. $12.50
He said it was really good, but a bit vinegary. It was also apparently enough to fill him up!
Hayden, my brother had the Pizza Pancetta E Ananas - Roasted fresh pineapple, crispy pancetta, tomato sauce and mozzarella. $16.95/$26.95/$43.95
$16.95 one pictured. This was awesome!! We each stole a slice, plus went back and ordered it as a take away for dinner one night. Highly recommended!
All in all, we were pretty happy with our meals. We will most likely eat here again… If given the chance.
Day 2 РLunch at Carnation Caf̩
We had a reservation, but I got the times a little mixed up, so we were there about 20 minutes early. We spent the time looking around the shops, but a lot of people who “appeared” to be walk-ups were seated almost immediately. I didn’t mind, but if we could have been seated earlier it would have been nice.
To begin with the service was great, then it was almost like our waiter went to lunch himself or something, because after our meals were brought to us we didn’t see him again. No drink top ups, no checking if everything was alright or anything.
Oscar did swing by at one stage though to make sure we were happy.
I naturally got the Loaded Baked Potato Soup – Creamy, hearty potato-cheese soup, with chives, bacon, sour cream, Cheddar and Jack cheese. Bowl $5.49, Cup $3.29
Bowl pictured. Oh my God so good! The chunks of potato in it are so yummy, and the flavour of it is something not to be missed!
Chris got The Chicken Pot Pie – it’s not on the menu because I think it was a special or something.
Very tasty, and the pastry was just the right amount of crisp! The salad that it came with was also very nice, and the raspberry vinaigrette was just right. He got some weird looks from people at the neighbouring tables though, and one even had to ask "Why are you putting ketchup on your pie?" Don't American's put sauce on their savoury pies!?!?! It's the only way to eat them!
Hayden got the Café Steak Melt - Grilled beef slices, melted pepper-Jack cheese and caramelized onion on grilled sourdough. With potato salad, green salad or fresh fruit. $10.99
He said it was very peppery, but mustn’t have been too bad, as he is still talking about how good it was!
Dinner at Steakhouse 55.
Sorry, no photos. I know! What was I thinking???
We were late to our reservation, but it was the last seating of the night, so we went straight in. Service here was really good, they were quick and friendly and checked up on us. They were also very knowledgeable and were able to answer any questions we had about the menu.
We each had a different steak, and each of us thought our steak was one of the best – if not in Chris’ opinion THE Best steak we’d had.
I had the filet mignon. Chris had the Bone in Rib-eye, and Hayden had the New York Steak. For sides I had a type of macaroni and cheese that’s not on the menu. It was really nice, but really rich. Chris had Steamed Asparagus Spears, Hollandaise $7, and Hayden had the Classic Baked Potato $7. Neither of them really ate their sides, and only got them because they thought they were part of the meal, however you are charged separately for your sides a it's A la Carte. We probably wouldn’t worry about sides next time, but would happily eat here again. Even though it is pretty expensive.
Day 3 – Dinner at ESPN Zone.
Once again no photos! I really need to work on this.
Service here was really good.
I had the Baby Back Ribs - A full slab of slowly roasted ribs basted with barbecue sauce, served with french fries. $23.99
They were really yummy and really filling. Usually I find there’s not much meat to be had on ribs, but these ones had quite a bit. I couldn’t eat them all.
Chris had the Shrimp Scampi and Penne - Shrimp, tomato, garlic, and wine sauce with parmesan cheese. $16.99
He said it was really good and hit the spot, it was just what he was in the mood for.
Hayden had the Angus New York Strip - Charbroiled, served with a baked potato or mashed potatoes topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives. Choice of garlic butter or blue cheese butter. $25.99
My brother is only 15, so his comments tend not to vary too much. This came under the heading of “Good” which I translate as just right. I don’t think he had any meals that he didn’t like, which is saying a bit, because he is a very picky eater.
I really liked it here, and I think we’ll try and go here again… If given the chance.
Day 4 – Dinner at Blue Bayou.
We’ve eaten here before, and mainly come for the atmosphere. I don’t think there’s enough on the menu.
Service was pretty good, but nothing great. We had a late sitting, and felt a little rushed.
I had the Isla-Cruces Crab Cakes - Succulent pan-seared Crab Cakes, topped with her-citrus beurre blanc and mango slaw. With blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $30.99
It was nice, but I don’t think it was really what I was in the mood for. Eating a little of everything off the plate each time I took a bite was the way to go though, the flavours all just went together really well. I had it with the Gumbo, which I found to be a lot spicier this time around.
Chris had the Bayou Surf & Turf - A succulent, sweet petite lobster tail from the Pacific Northwest, paired with an expertly broiled filet mignon, sauce bearnaise. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $39.99
It was really good. The Filet Mignon didn’t quite compare to the steak from Steakhouse 55, but must have been pretty close. The lobster was lovely! I made sure to snavel some of it too.
Hayden had the Five-Pepper Roast New York - Seasoned with the Chef's signature pepper rub blend, then slow roasted over rock salt. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $33.99
I didn’t get any photos of it, but he said it was pretty good. Not sure what this translates as, but I think he enjoyed it. Hayden also had the gumbo, but didn’t like it.
One day I’ll be smart enough to just get a starter and a dessert. One day…
Now just because we like them, here are some photos from Pooh Corner.
I had one of the Mickey Apples. I wish I hadn’t, it was so sickening. Next time I’ll be smart and get a chocolate covered strawberry like Hayden did…
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Shoal Bay - August 2009
For my sister’s birthday last year, my mum and I took her for a weekend in Shoal Bay. It was August, so it was cold, so we knew we wouldn’t be spending much time by the beach. So we weren’t too fussed with our location, knowing that we’d have a car and could pretty much get anywhere.
We stumbled on the Shoal Bay Beach Club Apartments, found that they were reasonably priced, could fit us comfortably and not in a bad location. We arrived quite late, and had to buzz to be let in; we were met by the owner who cheerfully checked us in, even though we possibly woke him. He ran through a few things with the hotel, and gave us our room keys.
Our room was two bedrooms, with a full kitchen, large lounge/dining room, and a narrow, but long balcony. We were pleasantly surprised with how modern and clean everything was. If I hadn’t known better I probably would have assumed that it was only recently built.
Next we headed over to Nelsons Bay for a little bit of shopping. I tried the fairy Floss ice cream from Baskin and Robins, it was awesome, so I bought a take home tub of it. We shopped around for a bit, but didn’t really find anything.
We stumbled on the Shoal Bay Beach Club Apartments, found that they were reasonably priced, could fit us comfortably and not in a bad location. We arrived quite late, and had to buzz to be let in; we were met by the owner who cheerfully checked us in, even though we possibly woke him. He ran through a few things with the hotel, and gave us our room keys.
Our room was two bedrooms, with a full kitchen, large lounge/dining room, and a narrow, but long balcony. We were pleasantly surprised with how modern and clean everything was. If I hadn’t known better I probably would have assumed that it was only recently built.
Don't mind the date on these photos, I couldn't be bothered setting it when I replaced the batteries.
We hit they hay in preparation for a long day full of pampering, shopping and eating.
We woke up bright and early in the morning, and headed into town to have breakfast at the Sandyfoot Cafe. I knew my limits and only had a small meal, while my sister and mum tucked in – and of course couldn’t finish their meals. It was a good breakfast though.
Next we headed over to Nelsons Bay for a little bit of shopping. I tried the fairy Floss ice cream from Baskin and Robins, it was awesome, so I bought a take home tub of it. We shopped around for a bit, but didn’t really find anything.
We dropped back to the hotel to store my ice cream and then headed over to Salamander Bay; we all had appointments booked in at the Body & Soul Day Spa. We got there a little early so we stopped in at the Salamander Bay Shopping Centre for some lunch. We just grabbed some quick counter service meals from the food court, nothing special, but filling enough. I think I had Chinese.
There was some pretty good shopping here, nothing out of this World, but we all bought a little something we couldn’t pass up.
There was also a little shop – out of the shopping centre – that we thought was great. It was called Bay Living, it had beautiful stuff, and at great prices. Mum picked up a beautiful cupboard with a mirror in the back of it, very nice. It was half price or something too, so it was a bargain! Unfortunately it was huge, and we’d walked quite a way from the car. We managed to find a trolley though, and half balanced it on top, and struggled our way back to the car.
By this time it was Day Spa time!!
Mum and I were both booked in for the “Anti Ageing Stress Buster” which is a 120 minute treatment which included an Oxygen Therapy Facial, followed by a 30 minute Swedish Massage, Scalp Massage and finished with a relaxing Foot Massage. I also had an eyelash tint done.
The girls here were great! I was so relaxed the whole time, the girls were very professional and while they give you a list of recommended items for you to purchase, they definitely don’t push or pressure you. They also give you some complimentary tea while you’re waiting.
I didn’t buy any of the recommended items, but I did buy some mineral foundation. Personally I probably wouldn’t get the Oxy-Facial again; it just didn’t have that much effect on my skin.
Mum however looked great. It really plumped out her skin.
We headed back to our hotel for the afternoon, and spent a bit of time in the gym.
That night we had a reservation at the Rock Lobster (yes like the song, but not related!). It’s a lovely seafood restaurant in Nelsons Bay. They must have changed the menu since we were there, because for a starter I had prosciutto wrapped lobster, and my main was a chicken dish and I can’t find either on there.
The lobster was amazing! There was some sort of sauce drizzled over it, and the three flavours of the lobster, prosciutto and this sauce were beautiful! A perfect mix. I also really enjoyed the chicken dish, however I will admit I should have asked for the lobster to be served as a main, as it was really that good.
I also had chocolate soufflé for dessert, and it was outrageously good! Have you ever had a glass of Milo (chocolate milk for those not in the know) where you’ve got mainly Milo and maybe a couple of drops of milk to moisten it up? And it’s like this rich, chocolatey goo? Well that’s what this was like, plus it was warm, and had strawberries and cream on the side. I ended up cutting the strawberries up into little pieces and mixing the whole lot in together. Awesome, just awesome.
The soufflé is still on the menu. I highly recommend it.
The service here always seems warm and friendly, and another bonus for it is that it is Celiac friendly. This is a restaurant that we will continue to return to, every time we’re in the area.
We headed back to the hotel feeling uncomfortably full.
We headed back to the hotel feeling uncomfortably full.
The following morning we headed back to Nelson’s Bay for breakfast. I can’t find the name of the cafe, but it’s in the same complex as Rock Lobster, and seemed extremely popular. Most tables had people sitting at them, and the wait staff seemed run off their feet.
I’m not really a breakfast fan, but the food here was good. The service was slow, but that could have been due to the amount of people there. I got a milkshake when we ordered our meals, and I could have finished it three times over before the food got there. I ordered another one when the food got there, and I’d finished eating before it came back. I hate that, I need to have a drink with my meal, and never managed to do that while here...
We also managed to get in a brief stint of whale watching. *giggle*
After that we said goodbye to Shoal Bay and started the trip home.
Extra photos of our trip.
This really is a beautiful part of the world.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday 10th March. Last day!!!
No photos today, just a heck of a lot of writing...
Once again we woke up today bright and early. Most of our stuff had been packed the previous night, so we finished off packing and checked out of the hotel. They stored our stuff for us for the day as well.
Today wasn’t going to be a full day, because unfortunately we were flying home... It was a late flight, but we wanted to make sure we had enough time for everything.
First we went into DTD to pick up a few more souveneirs, then we caught the monorail into DL.
I’d brought my Mickey ears with me to get embroidered today, and I took them into the embroidery place to get them done. There were a few people lined up to purchase their ears, but there was only the CM at the embroidery counter, so I walked in through the door and up to her, and asked if I could get my name on my hat.
She got the name off me – I wanted Bec, and said “no problem. Where’s your receipt?” And I said “ahh, packed in a suitcase” ...? This is when she proceeded to tell me that they couldn’t embroider the ears without a receipt. I asked “Well how about I buy another set and you use that receipt to embroider the ears?” I had a plain set of ears, but I wasn’t against buying a fancy set too, that way I could have a personalised one, and a pretty one... But no go, they wouldn’t do that either. The CM called the manager over and he just said the same thing. He asked me when I bought them and I told him, 2 days ago at the World of Disney store. He asked where the receipt was and I said, buried in amongst one of 3 suitcases. I’m not sure which, and they’re stored in the hotel... It was at this stage that I was getting very disappointed, and worried, I was starting to think that they were going to take my ears off me because I didn’t have a receipt. So I said “Whatever!” and stormed off. They were not going to take my ears off me! I was pretty pissed that they were treating me like I stole them too! Well, they may not have really thought that, but it was starting to feel that way.
So now I was grumpy... hehe – not the dwarf, but you know what I mean. Luckily, Chris had spotted that there was another embroidery place right next door. So we headed in there to try again. Now in here was a lovely CM. I explained my problem to him, and put on big puppy dog eyes, and I may have even started quivering my lip... But hey, what it comes down to, is that he did it for me! Sure I had to pay to get it done, but I got to choose the font and the colour. I stuck as close to the free one as I could anyway, but I felt good knowing that I had the choice. He told me that it would be ready at 12pm. Great.
So I spent time wandering the shops, and then decided that I hadn’t really gotten my sister anything, and the first thing to spring to mind for her was one of the painted parasols with her name on it. So I went and ordered and paid for one of those. It would be ready by 2pm... Not so great, but manageable...
You see, while our suitcases were already packed, they were most likely extremely over weight. Plus, we’d just bought a heap more stuff. So we knew that we had to head to Target before heading to the airport to buy another suitcase. It had been the plan all holiday, but we’d never made it to Target. So we had to fit that into our time.
We hung around until 12, and I picked up my ears. Then we decided we’d head to Target, get what we needed, and then come back into the park for the other stuff.
We got the same taxi driver to Target as we had the other day. So, we had some more laughs, at unknown subjects. Seriously – couldn’t understand half the things he was saying!
First we headed to the suitcase section of Target and picked out a bag. Then we decided to stroll around and see if there was anything else there that we could want. We ended up picking up some noise cancelling headphones. I was dying for something like this on all of our other flights, so it was good to know that we finally had some.
We grabbed a couple of drinks and headed back out to catch a taxi back to DL. We ended up catching a bus. Stupid taxis... But that was fine.
We got back and by now it was after 2pm. Chris went and collected our bags, while I headed into DL to pick up the parasol. It was pretty sad knowing that this was the last time I’d be here for ages, and I didn’t have time to do anything... So I walked slowly anyway. I really had to because it had gotten so busy!
I picked up the parasol and it was beautiful. I wish I gotten myself one now, and I started the slow journey back to the gates. It wasn’t very nice... But at this stage, I still had no voice whatsoever, I was coughing constantly and I’d given up on my new contact lenses, because I didn’t think they were right. It was time to go home.
We waited for the bus for ages. I could have sworn that the time table said it picked up and dropped off every half hour, but no, apparently it drops you off a DL every half hour, but only picks up every hour...
We finally got to the air port and the check in and everything went fine. It was only once we went past security though, that we found out our flight had been delayed. It wasn’t going to be flying out until 12am... It was only 6pm... So we got some dinner and then wandered through the shops. I wasn’t as impressed as I’d hoped I’d be with the duty free, but it annoyed me more that the only time I was offered help by anyone who worked there was in a small little store that I only looked in because I’d looked in all the others. I probably could have spent a fortune in the cosmetic shops...
We ended up sprawled out on a few chairs waiting for our plane. It was then that I discovered we’d put our headphones into our checked luggage... D’oh!
So we sat, and waited, and waited and sat... We played games on Chris’ phone, and waited and sat... Then an announcement came over. Our flight was further delayed until 1am... Sigh...
I decided I'd go back and buy one of those neck rest thingies for the flight and I wanted a hot chocolate. So I headed back towards the shops. To discover that they’d all closed!! Fair enough, it was 12am. I’m sure the poor people wanted to go home, but I honestly thought, that in large international air ports, with flights coming and going at all times, that these shops would be open 24 hours... I was wrong, and very annoyed...
Once again, back to the chairs... Getting very tired. As I’d found out during the last few weeks. When I got tired my cough would start up, and get really bad. Tonight was no exception. I was sick of cough lollies – or cough drops, whatever you call them - that didn’t work, and I was sick of cough medicine – not that I had any on me, but it hadn't worked all week anyway. But still, I kept on sucking on my cough lollies hoping that they would change their minds, and start doing something, but no they didn’t and my cough just got worse...
After all this though, the thing that really pi**ed me off the most during my entire holiday, was when some bloke – probably doing it out of the kindness of his heart – gave me another pack of cough lollies and said “It’s going to be a long flight with that cough...” I mean this really annoyed me! I politely said thankyou and took them from him, and even popped one in my mouth. But on the inside I was fuming!! Who was this man, to think that I’d done nothing about my cough! That I was just waiting for someone to introduce me to cough lollies, like I’d never seen them before!?! Did he really think that I was ok with my cough!?! Like it wasn’t bothering me, like it was everyone else!?!? I mean I must have gone through 3 bottles of cough medicine, and several packets of cough lollies to stop my cough, to help me get even 1 full hour of sleep during my holiday, and nothing had worked. This JERK decides that I haven’t tried his cough lollies and they make all the difference!!! Jerk...
Sorry, that was a bit of a rant there. But it really got to me...
Anyway, we eventually hear one person, who had been speaking to a flight attendant say to their friend that if the plane wasn’t ready by 1:30am, they were going to put us all in the hotel for the night. They were apparently working on the plane’s engine...
Now I didn’t want to spend another night, sure it would be like extending my holiday for a whole day! But, like I’ve mentioned. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t stop coughing and I couldn’t talk. I just wanted to go home. However, I would much prefer that they take their time with the air plane engine, then to rush it and for us all to die a horrible death... I must say that I was surprised to see a lot of people lined up at the desk complaining about how long everything was taking... Were they happy with an air plane that could fall from the sky???
Eventually at 1:15am they boarded us onto the plane. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find that Chris and I had 4 chairs between us! So we managed to sleep most of the flight home. It went super fast!!
We were greeted at Sydney air port by my whole family, which was really nice.
The End!!
Once again we woke up today bright and early. Most of our stuff had been packed the previous night, so we finished off packing and checked out of the hotel. They stored our stuff for us for the day as well.
Today wasn’t going to be a full day, because unfortunately we were flying home... It was a late flight, but we wanted to make sure we had enough time for everything.
First we went into DTD to pick up a few more souveneirs, then we caught the monorail into DL.
I’d brought my Mickey ears with me to get embroidered today, and I took them into the embroidery place to get them done. There were a few people lined up to purchase their ears, but there was only the CM at the embroidery counter, so I walked in through the door and up to her, and asked if I could get my name on my hat.
She got the name off me – I wanted Bec, and said “no problem. Where’s your receipt?” And I said “ahh, packed in a suitcase” ...? This is when she proceeded to tell me that they couldn’t embroider the ears without a receipt. I asked “Well how about I buy another set and you use that receipt to embroider the ears?” I had a plain set of ears, but I wasn’t against buying a fancy set too, that way I could have a personalised one, and a pretty one... But no go, they wouldn’t do that either. The CM called the manager over and he just said the same thing. He asked me when I bought them and I told him, 2 days ago at the World of Disney store. He asked where the receipt was and I said, buried in amongst one of 3 suitcases. I’m not sure which, and they’re stored in the hotel... It was at this stage that I was getting very disappointed, and worried, I was starting to think that they were going to take my ears off me because I didn’t have a receipt. So I said “Whatever!” and stormed off. They were not going to take my ears off me! I was pretty pissed that they were treating me like I stole them too! Well, they may not have really thought that, but it was starting to feel that way.
So now I was grumpy... hehe – not the dwarf, but you know what I mean. Luckily, Chris had spotted that there was another embroidery place right next door. So we headed in there to try again. Now in here was a lovely CM. I explained my problem to him, and put on big puppy dog eyes, and I may have even started quivering my lip... But hey, what it comes down to, is that he did it for me! Sure I had to pay to get it done, but I got to choose the font and the colour. I stuck as close to the free one as I could anyway, but I felt good knowing that I had the choice. He told me that it would be ready at 12pm. Great.
So I spent time wandering the shops, and then decided that I hadn’t really gotten my sister anything, and the first thing to spring to mind for her was one of the painted parasols with her name on it. So I went and ordered and paid for one of those. It would be ready by 2pm... Not so great, but manageable...
You see, while our suitcases were already packed, they were most likely extremely over weight. Plus, we’d just bought a heap more stuff. So we knew that we had to head to Target before heading to the airport to buy another suitcase. It had been the plan all holiday, but we’d never made it to Target. So we had to fit that into our time.
We hung around until 12, and I picked up my ears. Then we decided we’d head to Target, get what we needed, and then come back into the park for the other stuff.
We got the same taxi driver to Target as we had the other day. So, we had some more laughs, at unknown subjects. Seriously – couldn’t understand half the things he was saying!
First we headed to the suitcase section of Target and picked out a bag. Then we decided to stroll around and see if there was anything else there that we could want. We ended up picking up some noise cancelling headphones. I was dying for something like this on all of our other flights, so it was good to know that we finally had some.
We grabbed a couple of drinks and headed back out to catch a taxi back to DL. We ended up catching a bus. Stupid taxis... But that was fine.
We got back and by now it was after 2pm. Chris went and collected our bags, while I headed into DL to pick up the parasol. It was pretty sad knowing that this was the last time I’d be here for ages, and I didn’t have time to do anything... So I walked slowly anyway. I really had to because it had gotten so busy!
I picked up the parasol and it was beautiful. I wish I gotten myself one now, and I started the slow journey back to the gates. It wasn’t very nice... But at this stage, I still had no voice whatsoever, I was coughing constantly and I’d given up on my new contact lenses, because I didn’t think they were right. It was time to go home.
We waited for the bus for ages. I could have sworn that the time table said it picked up and dropped off every half hour, but no, apparently it drops you off a DL every half hour, but only picks up every hour...
We finally got to the air port and the check in and everything went fine. It was only once we went past security though, that we found out our flight had been delayed. It wasn’t going to be flying out until 12am... It was only 6pm... So we got some dinner and then wandered through the shops. I wasn’t as impressed as I’d hoped I’d be with the duty free, but it annoyed me more that the only time I was offered help by anyone who worked there was in a small little store that I only looked in because I’d looked in all the others. I probably could have spent a fortune in the cosmetic shops...
We ended up sprawled out on a few chairs waiting for our plane. It was then that I discovered we’d put our headphones into our checked luggage... D’oh!
So we sat, and waited, and waited and sat... We played games on Chris’ phone, and waited and sat... Then an announcement came over. Our flight was further delayed until 1am... Sigh...
I decided I'd go back and buy one of those neck rest thingies for the flight and I wanted a hot chocolate. So I headed back towards the shops. To discover that they’d all closed!! Fair enough, it was 12am. I’m sure the poor people wanted to go home, but I honestly thought, that in large international air ports, with flights coming and going at all times, that these shops would be open 24 hours... I was wrong, and very annoyed...
Once again, back to the chairs... Getting very tired. As I’d found out during the last few weeks. When I got tired my cough would start up, and get really bad. Tonight was no exception. I was sick of cough lollies – or cough drops, whatever you call them - that didn’t work, and I was sick of cough medicine – not that I had any on me, but it hadn't worked all week anyway. But still, I kept on sucking on my cough lollies hoping that they would change their minds, and start doing something, but no they didn’t and my cough just got worse...
After all this though, the thing that really pi**ed me off the most during my entire holiday, was when some bloke – probably doing it out of the kindness of his heart – gave me another pack of cough lollies and said “It’s going to be a long flight with that cough...” I mean this really annoyed me! I politely said thankyou and took them from him, and even popped one in my mouth. But on the inside I was fuming!! Who was this man, to think that I’d done nothing about my cough! That I was just waiting for someone to introduce me to cough lollies, like I’d never seen them before!?! Did he really think that I was ok with my cough!?! Like it wasn’t bothering me, like it was everyone else!?!? I mean I must have gone through 3 bottles of cough medicine, and several packets of cough lollies to stop my cough, to help me get even 1 full hour of sleep during my holiday, and nothing had worked. This JERK decides that I haven’t tried his cough lollies and they make all the difference!!! Jerk...
Sorry, that was a bit of a rant there. But it really got to me...
Anyway, we eventually hear one person, who had been speaking to a flight attendant say to their friend that if the plane wasn’t ready by 1:30am, they were going to put us all in the hotel for the night. They were apparently working on the plane’s engine...
Now I didn’t want to spend another night, sure it would be like extending my holiday for a whole day! But, like I’ve mentioned. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t stop coughing and I couldn’t talk. I just wanted to go home. However, I would much prefer that they take their time with the air plane engine, then to rush it and for us all to die a horrible death... I must say that I was surprised to see a lot of people lined up at the desk complaining about how long everything was taking... Were they happy with an air plane that could fall from the sky???
Eventually at 1:15am they boarded us onto the plane. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find that Chris and I had 4 chairs between us! So we managed to sleep most of the flight home. It went super fast!!
We were greeted at Sydney air port by my whole family, which was really nice.
The End!!
March 9th, Part 2
I really enjoyed the Napa Rose. However, both Chris and I were pretty under the weather, and not very hungry, but we knew that we had to eat something. We ended up ordering the hot rock appetiser... Between us... The waiter tried desperately to convince us that we’d want more then just that, so Chris told him that we’d just arrived in the US that day, and we were jetlagged, very tired and not hungry...
That seemed to satisfy our waiter. We enjoyed the appetiser, and believe it or not, it filled us up... Well, you know, what I mean. It’s all we wanted.
It was lovely, but we’ll have to go back next time, and have a proper meal there.
We strolled through DTD and headed back into DL. We spent a bit of time looking around. I’m not sure what happened here, because I wanted to catch the first showing of Fantasmic! And then watch the fire works afterwards, but somehow, we missed the beginning...? So change of plans, fireworks first.
I finally bought a Dole Whip. Yes it was yum! I was originally going to buy a float, but chickened out at the last minute. :sad2:
We then found a neat little posy to watch the fireworks from. I wanted to video tape them this time. And look who made a proper appearance tonight!!
This really is an amazing show!
So next we headed over to watch Fantasmic! :mickeyjum :maleficen This time we managed to get a position right in front of the stage, but back from the water a little. Everyone was seated waiting for the show to begin. I mentioned to Chris how good it would be if everyone stayed seated throughout the show, because it was a lot easier to see over everyone’s head. I doubted it would happen though, as there was one bloke at the very front of the group who was standing while he waited. I have a feeling that he may have suffered from back problems or something like that, because his family were all seated, and there was enough room on the ground for him to sit, but still he stood. I didn’t mind, because of this thought, but I figured it would mean that everyone would stand eventually.
The show was about to start, and just as I predicted, the crowd all started shifting as to get up. One fella in particular was motioning to all of his friends for them to stand up... But no one did!! The bloke from the front sat down, and although there was shifting to stand up, no one made that first move, so everyone stayed down! It may not seem like much, but this made my night! So I got great footage of the whole show, from my seated position! :banana:
After the show as everyone dispursed, I dragged Chris over to Fantasyland. No we were not going home until they made us! We rode Toad’s Wild Ride, Canal boats, Pinocchio, and I think something else... It wasn’t Alice or Dumbo though, we didn’t end up riding either this trip... Then we finished the night off riding Casey Jr. This ride was more fun then what I thought it would be! I was pretty disappointed with the Canal boats, and had a feeling that Casey Jr. Would be the same, but I really enjoyed it!
After that, it was time to go back to the hotel... Damn. So we walked as slowly as we could back down along main street. I would have liked to have shopped a little, but was a bit sleepy. So back to the hotel, to fall asleep watching the Disney channel.
That seemed to satisfy our waiter. We enjoyed the appetiser, and believe it or not, it filled us up... Well, you know, what I mean. It’s all we wanted.
It was lovely, but we’ll have to go back next time, and have a proper meal there.
We strolled through DTD and headed back into DL. We spent a bit of time looking around. I’m not sure what happened here, because I wanted to catch the first showing of Fantasmic! And then watch the fire works afterwards, but somehow, we missed the beginning...? So change of plans, fireworks first.
I finally bought a Dole Whip. Yes it was yum! I was originally going to buy a float, but chickened out at the last minute. :sad2:
We then found a neat little posy to watch the fireworks from. I wanted to video tape them this time. And look who made a proper appearance tonight!!
This really is an amazing show!
So next we headed over to watch Fantasmic! :mickeyjum :maleficen This time we managed to get a position right in front of the stage, but back from the water a little. Everyone was seated waiting for the show to begin. I mentioned to Chris how good it would be if everyone stayed seated throughout the show, because it was a lot easier to see over everyone’s head. I doubted it would happen though, as there was one bloke at the very front of the group who was standing while he waited. I have a feeling that he may have suffered from back problems or something like that, because his family were all seated, and there was enough room on the ground for him to sit, but still he stood. I didn’t mind, because of this thought, but I figured it would mean that everyone would stand eventually.
The show was about to start, and just as I predicted, the crowd all started shifting as to get up. One fella in particular was motioning to all of his friends for them to stand up... But no one did!! The bloke from the front sat down, and although there was shifting to stand up, no one made that first move, so everyone stayed down! It may not seem like much, but this made my night! So I got great footage of the whole show, from my seated position! :banana:
After the show as everyone dispursed, I dragged Chris over to Fantasyland. No we were not going home until they made us! We rode Toad’s Wild Ride, Canal boats, Pinocchio, and I think something else... It wasn’t Alice or Dumbo though, we didn’t end up riding either this trip... Then we finished the night off riding Casey Jr. This ride was more fun then what I thought it would be! I was pretty disappointed with the Canal boats, and had a feeling that Casey Jr. Would be the same, but I really enjoyed it!
After that, it was time to go back to the hotel... Damn. So we walked as slowly as we could back down along main street. I would have liked to have shopped a little, but was a bit sleepy. So back to the hotel, to fall asleep watching the Disney channel.
March 9th, Part 1
We woke up bright and early – compared to the rest of the trip for today. I told Chris I didn’t care what he said, we were opening and closing the park today. I jumped up to get ready and Chris asked me what the time was. I glanced at the clock and in doing so, remembered that Day Light Savings had either started or finished that night. I don’t remember which one it is, but it meant that it was an hour later then what the clock said... Damn! The park was already open!
So we scrambled in to breakfast grabbed stuff quickly and headed out the door. We were almost at the crossing for the park when Chris realised he’d left something vitally important in the hotel room. I say this with sarcasm, but in reality I think he forgot to take his blood pressure pill, so it was a good idea to head back and get it. So we grabbed that and took off back towards the park again. We didn’t get quite so far this time when Chris realised he’d forgotten his cap. Too Bad!! We continued into the park. Almost at the ticket booths and I realised that I’d forgotten my Mickey Ears that I’d purchased the day before. I wanted to get them embroidered. But this was also Too Bad!! We’d be back in the park again tomorrow.
I wanted to do as many Fantasyland rides today, and early, because we hadn’t really done any yet. So we took on Snow White and the Tea Cups.
They didn’t make Chris feel too good, so we grabbed a drink and I had a pineapple stick and we took a stroll around the back of BTMRR and bought Chris some McDonalds fries. Then we sat and talked to the ducks for a little.
We then rode on the Haunted Mansion – the longest line we’d seen for it so far and it took maybe 20 minutes. And then POC again.
It wasn’t long before it got really busy again. Being the first Sunday of Spring Break in the area. We headed over to DCA, mainly just to hang around. I’d brought my video today, and we planned on riding in the front of Screamin’ and taping it.
We headed over to it, but noticed a large group of people heading back towards us. As we approached Screamin’ we noticed that one of the trains was stopped right up the top of the track, and another one was stopped further along. For some reason Chris was fascinated by this, so he insisted we watch them fix it... I think it has something to do with the fact that he works on air compressors, and they’re what run the ride. So we stood by the railing and watched them get all the people off the ride. We felt sorry for the poor people who were stuck in the train that was right near the platform. So close to being able to get off, but so far away! They had to wait until the train was able to move again to get off. Unlike the people who were stuck up the top, who just had a long walk ahead of them.
I left Chris to watch the inaction, and I went a bought a nummy frozen drink, and a packet of chips. I took a little longer getting back to Chris. The fact that Screamin’ was broken down did hold a bit of interest for me, but not enough that I could sit and watch it doing nothing. So I got back and Chris and I sat and watched Screamin’ and ate chips and drank the nummy frozen drink. Finally they started testing the ride again, and it started getting interesting again.
We decided to head a little closer to see if perhaps it would be worthwhile to line up for yet. We noticed that a line had formed, and it wasn’t very long. So what the hey, we lined up for it. It somehow felt like it had more purpose, then just sitting watching the ride...
Some cast members told us that it could be upwards of an hour before the ride started again, which made the line halve in size! Very handy. Note to self – Next time, befriend a CM, and see if they’ll follow me around announcing this to the people in line for rides that I’d like to go on.
It would have been less then ½ an hour and they started loading the ride. Yay! Not long at all. So we asked to be seated at the front, and had a great time video taping the whole ride. It may sound weird, but my most favourite part of the ride is the start, and I don’t mean where you zoom off into the distance. I mean where the announcement comes over “Get ready screamers! Head back, face forward...yada yada yada”
We then wandered around the park, taking in the sites and people watching.
We found a nice shady spot, as it was getting pretty hot and busy, and just watched everyone walk by.
We spent some time in one of the shops, and I bought a few little whatnots for me. Then we headed back over to DL. I decided that I wanted to go on Jungle Cruise again, and video tape it.
Now keep in mind, it’s been several months since we got back from our trip, so I’m a bit lost here as to what else we did this afternoon. I think we did some shopping... I don’t think we spent too much time back at DL, because we had a PS at Napa Rose tonight. So we must have headed back to the hotel for showers and changing.
So we scrambled in to breakfast grabbed stuff quickly and headed out the door. We were almost at the crossing for the park when Chris realised he’d left something vitally important in the hotel room. I say this with sarcasm, but in reality I think he forgot to take his blood pressure pill, so it was a good idea to head back and get it. So we grabbed that and took off back towards the park again. We didn’t get quite so far this time when Chris realised he’d forgotten his cap. Too Bad!! We continued into the park. Almost at the ticket booths and I realised that I’d forgotten my Mickey Ears that I’d purchased the day before. I wanted to get them embroidered. But this was also Too Bad!! We’d be back in the park again tomorrow.
I wanted to do as many Fantasyland rides today, and early, because we hadn’t really done any yet. So we took on Snow White and the Tea Cups.
They didn’t make Chris feel too good, so we grabbed a drink and I had a pineapple stick and we took a stroll around the back of BTMRR and bought Chris some McDonalds fries. Then we sat and talked to the ducks for a little.
We then rode on the Haunted Mansion – the longest line we’d seen for it so far and it took maybe 20 minutes. And then POC again.
It wasn’t long before it got really busy again. Being the first Sunday of Spring Break in the area. We headed over to DCA, mainly just to hang around. I’d brought my video today, and we planned on riding in the front of Screamin’ and taping it.
We headed over to it, but noticed a large group of people heading back towards us. As we approached Screamin’ we noticed that one of the trains was stopped right up the top of the track, and another one was stopped further along. For some reason Chris was fascinated by this, so he insisted we watch them fix it... I think it has something to do with the fact that he works on air compressors, and they’re what run the ride. So we stood by the railing and watched them get all the people off the ride. We felt sorry for the poor people who were stuck in the train that was right near the platform. So close to being able to get off, but so far away! They had to wait until the train was able to move again to get off. Unlike the people who were stuck up the top, who just had a long walk ahead of them.
I left Chris to watch the inaction, and I went a bought a nummy frozen drink, and a packet of chips. I took a little longer getting back to Chris. The fact that Screamin’ was broken down did hold a bit of interest for me, but not enough that I could sit and watch it doing nothing. So I got back and Chris and I sat and watched Screamin’ and ate chips and drank the nummy frozen drink. Finally they started testing the ride again, and it started getting interesting again.
We decided to head a little closer to see if perhaps it would be worthwhile to line up for yet. We noticed that a line had formed, and it wasn’t very long. So what the hey, we lined up for it. It somehow felt like it had more purpose, then just sitting watching the ride...
Some cast members told us that it could be upwards of an hour before the ride started again, which made the line halve in size! Very handy. Note to self – Next time, befriend a CM, and see if they’ll follow me around announcing this to the people in line for rides that I’d like to go on.
It would have been less then ½ an hour and they started loading the ride. Yay! Not long at all. So we asked to be seated at the front, and had a great time video taping the whole ride. It may sound weird, but my most favourite part of the ride is the start, and I don’t mean where you zoom off into the distance. I mean where the announcement comes over “Get ready screamers! Head back, face forward...yada yada yada”
We then wandered around the park, taking in the sites and people watching.
We found a nice shady spot, as it was getting pretty hot and busy, and just watched everyone walk by.
We spent some time in one of the shops, and I bought a few little whatnots for me. Then we headed back over to DL. I decided that I wanted to go on Jungle Cruise again, and video tape it.
Now keep in mind, it’s been several months since we got back from our trip, so I’m a bit lost here as to what else we did this afternoon. I think we did some shopping... I don’t think we spent too much time back at DL, because we had a PS at Napa Rose tonight. So we must have headed back to the hotel for showers and changing.
Saturday March 8th
This was a scheduled day off. We slept in late, had a late breakfast and headed over to DTD.
We had souvenier shopping in mind, because really, we’d bought nothing for anyone back home. I love the stuff I bought for everyone. It was nothing special, but it all had that special little Disney something about it.
I bought a bunch of glass and crystal stuff for my mum, and was advised to take it as carryon. The lady who served me told me that I shouldn’t have any trouble with the glass stuff, but apparently you can’t see through crystal with the air port’s x-ray like things, so they may pull me aside with it... I found this really interesting...
We caught a taxi down to a chemist to get some stronger cold and flu stuff for me. None of this stuff works though. Our taxi driver was a lovely bloke with a very hard to decipher accent. Had a good laugh with him. Don’t remember what about... I may not have even known what I was laughing at, at the time...
Any hoo I really don’t know where the day went. We spent some time doing laundry at the hotel, and for some reason sat around the pool for a little bit. Fair enough it wasn’t as cold as it had been in NY, but there was no way we were going swimming, but for some reason we sat there...
I’d seen some sort of soup ad on the TV during the day, and decided that I was dying for soup for dinner. So we headed down to the 7 Eleven to see what they had. I stocked up on soup, Chris on Beer, and then we headed across the road to get Indian for Chris for dinner. While waiting for dinner I sat mesmerised by an Indian music channel that the restaurant had on. We don’t have anything quite like that in Australia.
Then it was time to walk back to the hotel, and watch the Disney Channel... We also watched the fire works from our hotel room, we had a pretty good view of them, and enjoyed guessing which sequence of fire works were for each part of the show. It was nice to sit down and watch them.
Apparently we didn’t take any photos today... Weird because pretty much for my whole trip my camera was an extension of my arm... I lie, we took a couple, but nothing of great importance, and not like the 200 per day that I had been taking...
We had souvenier shopping in mind, because really, we’d bought nothing for anyone back home. I love the stuff I bought for everyone. It was nothing special, but it all had that special little Disney something about it.
I bought a bunch of glass and crystal stuff for my mum, and was advised to take it as carryon. The lady who served me told me that I shouldn’t have any trouble with the glass stuff, but apparently you can’t see through crystal with the air port’s x-ray like things, so they may pull me aside with it... I found this really interesting...
We caught a taxi down to a chemist to get some stronger cold and flu stuff for me. None of this stuff works though. Our taxi driver was a lovely bloke with a very hard to decipher accent. Had a good laugh with him. Don’t remember what about... I may not have even known what I was laughing at, at the time...
Any hoo I really don’t know where the day went. We spent some time doing laundry at the hotel, and for some reason sat around the pool for a little bit. Fair enough it wasn’t as cold as it had been in NY, but there was no way we were going swimming, but for some reason we sat there...
I’d seen some sort of soup ad on the TV during the day, and decided that I was dying for soup for dinner. So we headed down to the 7 Eleven to see what they had. I stocked up on soup, Chris on Beer, and then we headed across the road to get Indian for Chris for dinner. While waiting for dinner I sat mesmerised by an Indian music channel that the restaurant had on. We don’t have anything quite like that in Australia.
Then it was time to walk back to the hotel, and watch the Disney Channel... We also watched the fire works from our hotel room, we had a pretty good view of them, and enjoyed guessing which sequence of fire works were for each part of the show. It was nice to sit down and watch them.
Apparently we didn’t take any photos today... Weird because pretty much for my whole trip my camera was an extension of my arm... I lie, we took a couple, but nothing of great importance, and not like the 200 per day that I had been taking...
March 7th, Part 2
I didn’t really know what to expect with Dreams and Fantasmic!, because I purposely hadn’t allowed myself to watch them on the internet before I got to see the real thing. I’m so glad that I didn’t too!
I loved the fireworks!!! They were great! I couldn’t believe how much trouble they go to! Tinkerbell was all set to fly down from the Matterhorn, but must have gotten stuck, so they turned the spot light off her, and somehow pulled her back to the mountain. I’m actually watching video footage of the show as I’m typing, it’s so great!
(NB: The photos without dates are screen shots from my video camera.)
We then somehow made our way over and watched Fantasmic! This is also a great show, but not quite as good as the fireworks were. I really liked the whole Dragon thing and the flames, but the hyper coloured monkeys dancing at the beginning was really good too, I just really enjoyed the beat to the music that was playing.
We were standing over to the right, behind one of the lights. It was a really good uninterrupted view, but I got sick of standing pretty quickly.
As much as I would have liked to have hung around after the show, because I knew the park was open until 12am, I was marched home. Apparently still too sick.
So, once again found myself back in the hotel, eating left overs, and watching the Disney Channel.
I loved the fireworks!!! They were great! I couldn’t believe how much trouble they go to! Tinkerbell was all set to fly down from the Matterhorn, but must have gotten stuck, so they turned the spot light off her, and somehow pulled her back to the mountain. I’m actually watching video footage of the show as I’m typing, it’s so great!
(NB: The photos without dates are screen shots from my video camera.)
We then somehow made our way over and watched Fantasmic! This is also a great show, but not quite as good as the fireworks were. I really liked the whole Dragon thing and the flames, but the hyper coloured monkeys dancing at the beginning was really good too, I just really enjoyed the beat to the music that was playing.
We were standing over to the right, behind one of the lights. It was a really good uninterrupted view, but I got sick of standing pretty quickly.
As much as I would have liked to have hung around after the show, because I knew the park was open until 12am, I was marched home. Apparently still too sick.
So, once again found myself back in the hotel, eating left overs, and watching the Disney Channel.
March 7th, Part 1
Back to Disneyland today!
Still deemed too sick to be allowed to have an early morning... But we got there relatively early still.
I was excited to discover that the Jungle Cruise was open! It wasn’t scheduled to open until the following day, so on we toddled.
I love the corniness of this ride. I get a good chuckle out of the jokes. Chris wasn’t as impressed with it though.
Unfortunately they hadn’t completely ironed out all the wrinkles and we got stuck just before the end of the ride. Next to the head shrinker... whatsis name... We sat there for ages. It got a little embarrassing for the poor skipper. He asked us if we had any questions after he ran out of all of his skit, a few people had questions, but it sort of ruined it for me. On the Jungle Cruise you’re supposed to be out in the Jungle, but the skipper told us that during the 6 weeks that it had been closed, he was just working on Splash Mountain. He could have lied, and made something up about being on safari or something...
He did redeem himself a little when a little girl asked him why the head hunter had stopped moving. He simply said “Yeah, his arm gets tired”
We then rode BTMRR again, and then spent a little bit of time in Big Thunder Ranch. I was hoping to take a photo of “The Happiest Turkey’s on Earth” but they weren’t there...
We spent a bit more time in Disneyland before heading over to DCA. I wanted to see Aladdin.
This was a really great show. I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t follow the exact same story as what the movie does, but I got over it enough to enjoy the show. But I ask you!? What is Aladdin without Abu?!?! It just didn’t sit just right with me.
After the show we stumbled on where you buy the Turkey legs from.
Chris really wanted one of these. We come from a family where every Sunday we have a baked dinner. Since we were on holidays, we hadn’t had one for a month. This was the closest we could find.
We then headed back to Disneyland. Yes I know, we bounced around a lot.
We somehow ended up at The Hungry Bear, I grabbed some lunch, and enjoyed a little while with some of the Disney cats.
This cat was really friendly, and was more then happy to sit and stare blankly at me while I talked to it.
This one wasn’t nearly as friendly (or as pretty) but I love white cats, so I’m obliged to like him too.
After lunch we looked around NOS, I wanted to find the Jewel of Orleans because I thought there might be some really nice jewellery there, but despite them being one offs, they weren’t exactly all that different to what you’d find in any jewellery store.
We then caught the train around the park and got off at Main Street and headed back to the hotel to rest. I had been once again deemed too sick... *sigh*
When we headed back to the parks it was night time. We went into DCA because I wanted to go on the sun wheel at night, and Chris wanted to go on Screamin’ at night. So we did.
We eventually headed back into Disneyland, tonight we were going to watch the fireworks and fantasmic! No illness would stop me from seeing these shows!
Still deemed too sick to be allowed to have an early morning... But we got there relatively early still.
I was excited to discover that the Jungle Cruise was open! It wasn’t scheduled to open until the following day, so on we toddled.
I love the corniness of this ride. I get a good chuckle out of the jokes. Chris wasn’t as impressed with it though.
Unfortunately they hadn’t completely ironed out all the wrinkles and we got stuck just before the end of the ride. Next to the head shrinker... whatsis name... We sat there for ages. It got a little embarrassing for the poor skipper. He asked us if we had any questions after he ran out of all of his skit, a few people had questions, but it sort of ruined it for me. On the Jungle Cruise you’re supposed to be out in the Jungle, but the skipper told us that during the 6 weeks that it had been closed, he was just working on Splash Mountain. He could have lied, and made something up about being on safari or something...
He did redeem himself a little when a little girl asked him why the head hunter had stopped moving. He simply said “Yeah, his arm gets tired”
We then rode BTMRR again, and then spent a little bit of time in Big Thunder Ranch. I was hoping to take a photo of “The Happiest Turkey’s on Earth” but they weren’t there...
We spent a bit more time in Disneyland before heading over to DCA. I wanted to see Aladdin.
This was a really great show. I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t follow the exact same story as what the movie does, but I got over it enough to enjoy the show. But I ask you!? What is Aladdin without Abu?!?! It just didn’t sit just right with me.
After the show we stumbled on where you buy the Turkey legs from.
Chris really wanted one of these. We come from a family where every Sunday we have a baked dinner. Since we were on holidays, we hadn’t had one for a month. This was the closest we could find.
We then headed back to Disneyland. Yes I know, we bounced around a lot.
We somehow ended up at The Hungry Bear, I grabbed some lunch, and enjoyed a little while with some of the Disney cats.
This cat was really friendly, and was more then happy to sit and stare blankly at me while I talked to it.
This one wasn’t nearly as friendly (or as pretty) but I love white cats, so I’m obliged to like him too.
After lunch we looked around NOS, I wanted to find the Jewel of Orleans because I thought there might be some really nice jewellery there, but despite them being one offs, they weren’t exactly all that different to what you’d find in any jewellery store.
We then caught the train around the park and got off at Main Street and headed back to the hotel to rest. I had been once again deemed too sick... *sigh*
When we headed back to the parks it was night time. We went into DCA because I wanted to go on the sun wheel at night, and Chris wanted to go on Screamin’ at night. So we did.
We eventually headed back into Disneyland, tonight we were going to watch the fireworks and fantasmic! No illness would stop me from seeing these shows!
