It's The End of the World as We Know It-The TCD Gang's Last Fort Trip (BC)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'll bet you thought the parade was never going to end.

 

Well, we will get to the end of it in this post.

 

And, then we will move on to other things that are not Star Wars.

 

At least for a little while.

 

Last year, when the TCD gang was at DHS for a Star Wars Weekend, Twin #1 spotted this shirt in the big gift shop:

 

 

I wish we had bought one.

 

Then we could have had Billy Dee sign it.

 

Provided we camped out in the parking lot all night.

 

But we didn't do any of that.

 

Too bad, because here is Lando himself!:

 

 

Note that he has no front seat passenger.

 

And note that he appears to have a regular, non light saber cane there next to him.  Plus no jorts:

 

 

Smooth.

 

But, remember, he is being paid to be here.

 

Hey, it's Darth Maul:

 

 

I believe that he was the third and final African American in the parade, in case you're keeping count:

 

 

More sand people but no more sand people babies:

 

 

 

Wow!  Someone pinch me!  It's Tom Kane, the voice of Yoda from a cartoon that I have never seen:

 

 

Please note that the iPad guys are still at it.

 

 

 

Next came some alien woman whom I have seen around a lot.  In fact, this year, she dances with slave Leia and white pants Padme in the Hyperspace Hoopla, although I doubt anyone notices her:

 

 

I feel sorry for her, whoever she is.  Even green iPad guy stopped taping when she came by:

 

 

Whoever that is, I believe that this next actress provides her voice in another cartoon which I have never seen:

 

 

Note that big head woman almost successfully blocked that shot.  I was thinking of asking her if it would be OK for me to take my photos by taking a photo of the display screen on her camera since for some reason she had stopped looking at it, and took every photo by putting her camera in front of my face.

 

Here is another alien unknown to me:

 

 

I was going to say that this is Boba Fett, but I caught myself.  It's Jango Unchained Fett:

 

 

iPad guy made sure to get the bounty hunter recorded:

 

 

Here comes another bad guy.  I guess she's a bad guy anyway:

 

 

This alien woman shows up a lot of places during SWW.  I think I've asked who she was before, and I believe Marty knew.  But I don't remember what she said.  I do remember that this woman alien has really long fingers- even longer than Peter Mayhew's:

 

 

For good measure, they threw in a few more stormtroopers:

 

 

And this is Boba Fett:

 

 

Here is some guy with a fish face but a human body and a guy who looks like he just got off work over at the Medieval Times:

 

 

So why do aliens all have arms and legs and walk like humans?  You would think in such a diverse universe they would have other ways of locomotion.  And, they all breath in the Earth's atmosphere fine.  What are the odds of that happening?  And they have flags?  Why do they have flags?  It's not like they're sailing around oceans on ships.  Do they tie the flags onto the antennas on their space ships? 

 

Hey, wait, before everyone leaves, here comes another huge celebrity!

 

It's James Arnold Taylor.  The voice of another unknown cartoon character.  Just before I took this photo, he was using his iPhone to video all the people watching him in the parade.  No doubt he wanted that to show to mommy before he heads down to the room in his basement when he gets home:

 

 

Now, finally, here is someone cool.  Darth Vader! :

 

 

And, then the parade ended with stormtroopers on those moving platforms like we saw when we first came in this morning:

 

 

A huge mob of people walked in right behind the parade.  This must be all the dummies who arrived while the parade was in progress:

 

 

So, here we were.

 

We had arrived at just after 7, and have enjoyed Toy Story twice as well as RNRC, TOT  and Star Tours.  I have Fastpasses that will be good from 5:05 to 6:05, and people are pouring in to the park.

 

What to do?

 

We decided it was time to bounce.  DHS was going to be packed for the rest of the day.  We would come back later to use those FP's.  But for now, we had to go.

 

On the way out, I snapped a shot of the guests lining up for bag check. There were tons of folks just showing up now.  I have no idea what they thought they would do arriving at this hour, yet here they are at 11:25 am:

 

 

We decided to take the car and drive to our next destination.  We are stopping by a resort first before moving on to another park for lunch.  Let's see if anyone can guess which resort we stopped at and where we went for lunch.

 

The bag check off to the side for those walking in from the parking lot was backed up a bit too,   Check out the girls in the long dresses made from Star Wars material.  They will get a lot of geek love inside.  Mo and Nicki, pay attention:

 

 

From here, we got in the car and took off.

 

We will pick up the story at our next destination, and will then move on to lunch and the rest of our day.

 

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

....'cause we need another excuse to abandon our families and go wreak havoc at WDW together?   :rofl2:

 

 

 

 

Yes.

 

And, you could wear Star Wars dresses and have the Star Wars geeks buying you Darth Vader cupcakes and the slushie drinks all day long.

 

TCD

 

I am in on the wrecking havoc and I can come up with an excuse right now.... but I assure that Melty Mo wouldn't be able to take the Star Wars dresses in the Florida heat.

 

"Hey Mo...... Let's ...."

[devores 382]

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

Next came some alien woman whom I have seen around a lot.  In fact, this year, she dances with slave Leia and white pants Padme in the Hyperspace Hoopla, although I doubt anyone notices her:

 

 

 

 

 

 

She is actually the most versatile character in the parade.  Paint her blue and she could work the parade when Avatar Land opens at AK.   

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Build your own pasta?

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Yes.

 

And, you could wear Star Wars dresses and have the Star Wars geeks buying you Darth Vader cupcakes and the slushie drinks all day long.

 

TCD

 

 

I am in on the wrecking havoc and I can come up with an excuse right now.... but I assure that Melty Mo wouldn't be able to take the Star Wars dresses in the Florida heat.

 

"Hey Mo...... Let's ...."

 

 

GO!!!!!!

 

And remember, meltiness is all about the neckline. 

 

Not sure about a dress, but I'd bet we could come up with some sweet SW fabric shorts/shirts!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am in on the wrecking havoc and I can come up with an excuse right now.... but I assure that Melty Mo wouldn't be able to take the Star Wars dresses in the Florida heat.

 

"Hey Mo...... Let's ...."

 

Uh oh.

 

Here we go.

 

 

Wow.

 

I can't believe a group of grown men got together and made the effort to take that photo.

 

I think it's disrespectful to real military personnel.

 

She is actually the most versatile character in the parade.  Paint her blue and she could work the parade when Avatar Land opens at AK.   

 

Yeah I guess.

 

But I think they would need to slap a tail on her.

 

Them blue Avatar people have tails.

 

I think.

 

Build your own pasta?

 

Good guess!

 

But no.

 

Although that may have been on the menu of the resort we visited.

 

GO!!!!!!

 

And remember, meltiness is all about the neckline. 

 

Not sure about a dress, but I'd bet we could come up with some sweet SW fabric shorts/shirts!

 

Those awesome dresses deserve a closer look. 

 

Check this out:

 

 

and the hat:

 

 

TCD

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Thanks for the picture of Ashley Eckstein.

[ajcjmom 8]

The blue dress lady... my brothers had Star Wars sheets and comforters just like that!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the picture of Ashley Eckstein.

 

You are welcome.

 

Although I'm not so sure about this:

 

 

 

The blue dress lady... my brothers had Star Wars sheets and comforters just like that!

 

Maybe she made the dress out of a sheet set?

 

TCD

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Ashley is obviously saying "Tell FWGuy I said hello!"

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

I don't get the people who spend actual Earth money and time on making costumes so they might be able to join a group and march in a parade once a year at Disney World, but to each his own. And you gotta wonder...is that the whole group? Or are there pledges who have to somehow earn their stripes in order to be able to march?

 

I think parade watching brings out the rudeness in so many people. That's why we don't waste a lot of time watching them. But when we were there for the MNSSHP parade there was a kid next to me that would jump up and stick his phone way out in front of my face everytime a new character came by...and he was a castmember! I was sorely tempted to "sneeze" and knock his phone right out of his hand.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

GO!!!!!!

 

And remember, meltiness is all about the neckline. 

 

Not sure about a dress, but I'd bet we could come up with some sweet SW fabric shorts/shirts!

 

I remember only the sweet fan of misty spray....

 

Bring it on.. Ms Designer of Something Artsy Woman..

 

 

Uh oh.

 

Here we go.

 

 

 

and the hat:

 

 

TCD

 

 

Well you did mention something and we are always looking for a reason... and I could totally rock that hat!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Oh and I think that alien lady with the long fingers is Ventress or Ventrix...something like that. 

[caveat lector 181]

You are welcome.

 

Although I'm not so sure about this:

 

 

TCD

Too funny. A majority of the folks in the background are already looking for " what's coming next." Even the little girl in the lower left, with the rainbow teamwork shirt, looks irked that her view is being blocked.

[Starbuc71 162]

I like Star Wars. I wouldn't call myself a Star Wars geek, but I do enjoy the movies and when I was a kid I always looked forward to new Star Wars toys for Christmas. I don't buy t-shirts, I don't watch the cartoons and I'm not into the video games. I will say bringing the people who voice in the cartoons is lame, at least for me. That is where the geeks will come out. I could maybe see waiting to see Billy Dee, definitely Harrison Ford and maybe even Carrie Fisher. That would be like waiting in line somewhere to see the stars of the "Price is Right" only to see the old flamboyant Rod Roddy and not Bob Barker (am I showing my age..lol). I will say James Arnold Taylor is quite a good impressionist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM4RMo0R2Vc

[thecplusplusguy 7]

I like Star Wars. I wouldn't call myself a Star Wars geek, but I do enjoy the movies and when I was a kid I always looked forward to new Star Wars toys for Christmas. I don't buy t-shirts, I don't watch the cartoons and I'm not into the video games. I will say bringing the people who voice in the cartoons is lame, at least for me. That is where the geeks will come out. I could maybe see waiting to see Billy Dee, definitely Harrison Ford and maybe even Carrie Fisher. That would be like waiting in line somewhere to see the stars of the "Price is Right" only to see the old flamboyant Rod Roddy and not Bob Barker (am I showing my age..lol). I will say James Arnold Taylor is quite a good impressionist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM4RMo0R2Vc

 

 

That was cool and impressive.

 

Dan

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Ashley is obviously saying "Tell FWGuy I said hello!"

 

That's true.  I would have passed on the message, but I thought she was talking to the folically challenged guy in the red shirt.  I guess she thinks all you guys hang out together or something.

 

I don't get the people who spend actual Earth money and time on making costumes so they might be able to join a group and march in a parade once a year at Disney World, but to each his own. And you gotta wonder...is that the whole group? Or are there pledges who have to somehow earn their stripes in order to be able to march?

 

I think parade watching brings out the rudeness in so many people. That's why we don't waste a lot of time watching them. But when we were there for the MNSSHP parade there was a kid next to me that would jump up and stick his phone way out in front of my face everytime a new character came by...and he was a castmember! I was sorely tempted to "sneeze" and knock his phone right out of his hand.

 

There were some bonus features on a disc with came with the Star Wars Blu-Ray set.  One of the bonus features was a documentary featuring a group of Star Wars geeks who had stormtrooper costumes and marched in the Rose Bowl parade.  There are some interesting dynamics in the Star Wars fan world.

 

Yeah, we used to always skip the parades.  The twins did not really want to watch this one.  But, they ended up liking it.  It's quite a spectacle.

 

I remember only the sweet fan of misty spray....

 

Bring it on.. Ms Designer of Something Artsy Woman..

 

 

 

Well you did mention something and we are always looking for a reason... and I could totally rock that hat!

 

That hat would be super-easy to make, too.  I wonder how one of those Troll^TM approved roll up cowboy hats would look with a little ribbon and a cut out of a space ship?

 

Oh and I think that alien lady with the long fingers is Ventress or Ventrix...something like that. 

 

If you say so.

 

I am keeping my distance from that one.

 

 

Too funny. A majority of the folks in the background are already looking for " what's coming next." Even the little girl in the lower left, with the rainbow teamwork shirt, looks irked that her view is being blocked.

 

Yeah.  It is interesting to look at he faces of the crowd across from where I was in a lot of those shots.  There are some very interesting facial expressions.

 

I like Star Wars. I wouldn't call myself a Star Wars geek, but I do enjoy the movies and when I was a kid I always looked forward to new Star Wars toys for Christmas. I don't buy t-shirts, I don't watch the cartoons and I'm not into the video games. I will say bringing the people who voice in the cartoons is lame, at least for me. That is where the geeks will come out. I could maybe see waiting to see Billy Dee, definitely Harrison Ford and maybe even Carrie Fisher. That would be like waiting in line somewhere to see the stars of the "Price is Right" only to see the old flamboyant Rod Roddy and not Bob Barker (am I showing my age..lol). I will say James Arnold Taylor is quite a good impressionist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM4RMo0R2Vc

 

Wow.  I didn't know the guy was so talented.  That act could totally get him booked on a cruise ship.  Somebody should tell his mom.  I think she would encourage him to get out of the basement.

 

That was cool and impressive.

 

Dan

 

Hmmm.

 

Cool?

 

Impressive?

 

Oh, I see, you posted this at 12:36 am.

 

Somebody is going to have a hangover today.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

There were some bonus features on a disc with came with the Star Wars Blu-Ray set.  One of the bonus features was a documentary featuring a group of Star Wars geeks who had stormtrooper costumes and marched in the Rose Bowl parade.  There are some interesting dynamics in the Star Wars fan world.

 

You watched the bonus features? 

 

Geek. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You watched the bonus features? 

 

Geek. 

 

1. It was an accident.

 

and

 

2.  I didn't watch all of them.

 

and

 

3.  I never said I wasn't a geek.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, so only one person guessed where we headed next.

 

Thanks for reading, GDF!

 

I guess it's you and me for the rest of this report.

 

I knew all the Star Wars geeks would jump ship as soon as I said that there were no more Star Wars photos.

 

The joke's on them, though.

 

How do they know that we aren't going to go back to Hollywood Studios and maybe see Hyperspace Hoopla.

 

Which, I am sure I do not need to remind anyone, includes real live human girls dancing in skimpy outfits.

 

And lots of the cool bad guys in their cool uniforms.

 

Since we decided to hop from Hollywood Studios, we could go anywhere on property for lunch.

 

We discussed this, and came up with a unanimous choice:  Be Our Guest (hereinafter referred to as BOG) (that is almost as good an acronym as GAG) (sorry for all the parenthetical comments) (I will stop now)!

 

OK, so that meant we needed to get to the MK.

 

There's no easy way to get there from Hollywood Studios.  If we wanted to use Disney transportation, we would need to take a bus to the TTC and then a monorail or ferry to the MK.

 

Or, we could catch a bus to a hotel and catch an MK bus from there.

 

The thing was, we needed to go to a particular resort anyway.

 

So we drove there.

 

There was something that Twin #2 wanted for her dorm room which apparently is only available for sale in one place at WDW:  The Art of Animation Resort.

 

So, we went.

 

And I spent my hard-earned money on this:

 

 

That's an Ariel shower curtain.

 

Twin #2 thought it would look cute in her dorm bathroom.

 

She and her soon to be roommate agreed on this choice.

 

Which is very nice for them.

 

But, I'm the one who had to buy it.

 

And, I was shocked by how much it cost.

 

You would think I wouldn't be shocked at Disney World prices.

 

But, I was shocked this time.

 

But, I did get my 10% passholder discount.

 

So, it could have been worse.

 

But, it was still pretty bad.

 

We took a little break in the Art of Animation food court.

 

I thought it would be a great idea to just go ahead and eat our lunch here.

 

But the twins said no way.

 

Maybe we could come back here for dinner, but we had to have lunch at BOG.

 

I saw something new here.

 

One of the new Joffrey's coffee machines:

 

 

I already posted that photo on another thread, but I am re-posting it here in case you missed it.

 

These machines (or a smaller version) will eventually replace every single Nescafe machine on WDW property.

 

This is the first time I've seen one.  The Fort, Wilderness Lodge, and the Polynesian Resort don't have Joffrey's machines yet.  I've been to all those in the past couple of weeks. It's interesting that the machines went in here first.

 

From here, we decided to catch a Disney bus to the MK.

 

Yes, I left our car in the AoA parking lot.

 

When we got here, I told the guard that we were here to buy something in the gift shop.

 

Which we did.

 

He told us where to park.

 

He didn't say there was a time limit.

 

There were plenty of open spaces.

 

So, we left our car there.

 

Did we break a rule?

 

Not any that I am aware of.

 

Guess what pulled up to take us to the MK?

 

One of the new buses! :

 

 

 

If you read all of this long TR, you know that we saw one of those new buses on duty at the Fort over Memorial Day weekend.  That bus at the Fort had an outside PA system which was making announcements as the bus approached the Settlement Bus Stop.  Lou told me that they were experimenting with these outside PA systems to make announcements to the guests waiting at the stops.  Such as to tell them to fold up their ginormous strollers.

 

Well, this bus didn't have its outside PA system on, so these geniuses didn't realize that they had to remove their precious cargo from their ginormous stroller and fold it before entering the bus.  No problem, though, they took care of that right at the door. Of course, it took them a while to unload all of their crap and then figure out how to fold it. The rest of us barely minded standing out there in the 90 degree heat while they did that:

 

 

I have seen the outside of these buses, but had not yet been on one.  Well guess what?  The inside is indistinguishable from the existing bus fleet.  Very generic.  Nothing new to see here:

 

 

Note that you can see the bus pilot's face reflected in the mirror.  We did not have Lou or TJ.

 

We had an uneventful drive to the MK.

 

We passed all the new bus stop area construction on the way to the MK bus loop.

 

That is a much bigger project than I expected it to be.  I was on the wrong side of the bus, and couldn't get any good photos on the way in.

 

The construction walls are very high.  I couldn't do a reach over:

 

 

The MK entrance area didn't look too bad as we drove up.  But, after our bus parked and we walked up, we ended up behind a complete ferry load of guests.  Bad timing:

 

 

But, we didn't have any problem getting in, and we were soon heading down Main Street, straight to BOG.

 

I had seen the new Starbucks signs on Main Street when we had been here two weeks before.  We were in a giant mob at the time, and I couldn't get any photos.  So I took some.  Of course, this is all old news, as the Main Street Starbucks has since had a soft opening, and I believe is open for real today, June 18th. 

 

So, you may have seen photos of all the things I'm going to share right now, but too bad if you did.  I took the photos, so you have to look at them.

 

Here's a Starbucks sign:

 

 

And a sign promoting the coffee which is now available at the Main Street Starbucks:

 

 

I mentioned earlier that there would be more mermaid photos, and here's one now:

 

 

Let's pause here for a moment and look at that thing.

 

No offense, but that is the ugliest mermaid I've ever seen.

 

And what's with the two tails?

 

Who ever heard of a mermaid with two tails?

 

I actually made the mistake of googling for information about this Starbucks logo.

 

Guess what?

 

That is not a mermaid.

 

It's a satanic image.

 

I knew it!

 

Disney made a deal with the devil.

 

Look it up for yourself if you don't believe me.

 

But, since I've already wasted several minutes of your life, I highly suggest that you don't.

 

Call me old fashioned, but I would prefer that there not be satanic images on Main Street.

 

I can't tell if that satanic image has clam shells or not.

 

But, it's of no importance to me, since that is not a mermaid.

 

I am never going to look at that thing again.

 

I will avert my eyes.

 

It might cast a spell on me or something.

 

Be careful.

 

As we headed back to BOG, I suggested to the girls that we get some Fastpasses for something that we could ride after lunch.

 

They suggested the Little Mermaid ride.

 

They really like it.

 

Unlike some of the disgruntled bitter old men who frequent this board.

 

As far as I know, it's all real mermaids in there.  One tail. With clam shells.  No satanic images.  At least not that I've heard.  What's not to like?

 

So, we headed around the left side of the castle:

 

 

Hmmm.

 

That's a big cloud, isn't it?

 

Typical summer weather in Florida.

 

The forecast said there would be a chance of an afternoon thunderstorm.  Nothing major.  Typical forecast.  It's the same every day.

 

So maybe it would rain later.

 

Or maybe not.

 

We weren't worried about that.

 

As you may be aware, BOG is a very popular place.  There are numerous tales of very long waits to get in for lunch.  To this point, our strategy has been to arrive late, like around 1:30, and we have still had to wait, but not for too long.

 

But, we were hungry now.

 

The twins were just here two weeks ago while I was back at the camper packing up.  They had a car with them, and planned to stay later than me.  But, they told me that they got in line at BOG right at noon, and the line moved just as quickly then as it did later in the day.

 

So, today, we approached the restaurant at 12:34 pm.  We found that there was a line to get in which extended all the way across the bridge, right up to the end.  We have seen the line turn and go around the corner toward Gaston's Tavern.  But today, it was just to the end of the bridge.  So we joined the line right here:

 

 

The sun was briefly behind the clouds when I took that photo.  Right after that, it was blazing down on us.  It was a hot, humid day.  Probably around 90 degrees, and we were standing right in the direct sun.  There is no shade anywhere to be found in this line.  BOG first opened for lunch around November/December, and back then I wondered what it would be like standing outside the restaurant on that bridge on a hot summer day.  Well, I found out today.  It is HOT!

 

But I knew there was cool AC at the end of the line.

 

So we waited.

 

And enjoyed the sights:

 

 

They are going to town with the fake rock making over there on the mine train ride:

 

 

I love this part of New Fantasyland:

 

 

When they first opened this all up, I loved how they had planted so many trees down there below the bridge.  Some of them are very tall, mature trees.  Since it was winter then, I expected that the ones that had dropped their leaves would be nice an green once spring and summer rolled around.  I'm sorry to say, some of the trees didn't get the memo that it is spring.  You can see that there is a big one on the left in that photo above that appears to be quite dead.

 

This gargoyle didn't seem to like the heat any more than we did:

 

 

We had moved about half-way across the bridge in the first 10 minutes we were waiting.

 

But, it was so hot.

 

I should be used to it by now.

 

But, I'm not.

 

Guests around us were complaining about the heat, and I would not have been surprised to see folks start to faint.

 

Just then, I saw something cool.

 

A CM came out of the restaurant with a cart and what looked like cold water to serve to the guests in line.  Ah, that would be great!

 

But, the ding-dong kept right on going past us, and set up to give water to the guests just entering the line:

 

 

No cold water for us peasants who had already been roasting in the sun.

 

But, in just a few more minutes of roasting, we were invited in to the cool air of the restaurant.  We still had a line to wait on, but at least we were no inside and out of the heat:

 

 

It seemed much longer because of the heat, but we had waited outside for just 15 minutes. 

 

The line had not grown any shorter in the time we were out there.  You can see the poor guests who were still out there sweltering in this photo:

 

 

Even though we were very happy to have escaped the heat, this guy was not:

 

 

There was a change made on the lunch menu since I had last been here.  The steak sandwich is gone, and has been replaced by a roast beef sandwich.  The digital menu had the new sandwich listed, even if the spacing was a bit off:

 

 

This change was previously discussed here on this very board, and Brandy/Momma Bear said that the roast beef sandwich was wonderful.  She has never steered me wrong before, so I was all in.

 

Hmmm.  That says the roast beef is prime roast beef and that it is served warm with some kind of sauce.  Sounds good to me.  What does not sound good to me is the warm tuna salad or the quinoa salad- which sounds like a bunch of stuff that has been scooped out of a garbage disposal- including golden beets.  Golden?  Really?

 

Here's the kid's menu, for any who may be wondering:

 

 

I've commented on this before- I think that kid's menu is a dirty trick used by Disney to discourage guests with kids from coming in to this restaurant for lunch. There is some gross stuff on there, and the prices seem high for a kid's menu.

 

The soup and dessert menu:

 

 

The line moved really quickly once we got inside, and we were at our ordering station in less than 10 minutes.  I noticed that the paper menus they have at the ordering stations call the roast beef sandwich prime chuck roast beef.  That didn't make a difference to me, but I wondered why the word chuck is omitted from the digital menus:

 

 

That last photo was taken at 12:57, and we placed our order right after that.  This next photo was then taken when our food arrived at our table at 1:05.  I think that is pretty outstanding. Now, the sandwich, I am sorry to say was not outstanding.  Here it is:

 

 

I was kind of surprised that there was so much of that sauce on my sandwich.  For some reason, I expected it to be on the side.  Or at least not all over my sandwich like that.  And they weren't lying about the sandwich being served warm.  It wasn't cold.  It wasn't hot.  It was warm.  Lukewarm.  The sauce wasn't bad- but it was bland.  No bite at all from the horseradish.

 

Also, I have had this sandwich before.  They serve the identical roast beef sandwich at the Wilderness Lodge, only the gross sauce there has blue cheese in it instead of horseradish.  I also believe that I've had this sandwich at the Port Orleans Riverside food court.

 

The sandwich is not bad.  But it's not great either.  I would give it a solid Lou on the DIT scale.

 

The girls had the turkey sandwiches, which they really like:

 

 

I hate to complain, because I really like BOG, but things are starting to slip there just a bit.

 

Note that I did not get any ketchup for my pommes frites (French Disney fries to you).  Not a big deal.  I can live without it.  But, what if I really wanted ketchup?   Or more sauce for my roast beef? The servers drop the food and run.  They never come back to check.  If there's a problem with your order, I'm not sure what you're supposed to do.  When the place first opened, the servers at lunch time were out and about in the dining areas.  Now, they hide.  This is going to be a problem.

 

All in all, though, this restaurant is still our favorite place in all of WDW for lunch, and we enjoyed ourselves and the nice cool air very much.  We will be back.  But, I'm not getting the roast beef sandwich again.

 

As we were finishing up our meal, a family sat down at the table next to us. They had a yellow rose.  Yellow rose?  Why?  A server came up and spoke to them.  Apparently, they had ordered on line.  I am not sure how that works.  Do you still have to wait in line to get in the restaurant?  How do you pay?  Where do you pick up the yellow rose?

 

I needed a photo of that yellow rose, so I did the old fake selfie trick:

 

 

Am I good?

 

Or am I good?

 

We lingered just a bit after we finished our meal to wait for our Ariel Fastpass return time, and then we headed back out into the oven outside.  It was 1:44 when I took this photo. The line was just as long then as it had been when we got here at 12:30:

 

 

So, based on this visit, that arriving late strategy seems like it doesn't provide much benefit.

 

We made a left at the end of the bridge and headed over to Prince Eric's castle.

 

This is the side of the mine train ride adjacent to the Little Mermaid ride- look at all the detail which has emerged:

 

 

I am still saying that building there is going to be a mermaid gift shop.

 

Well, that puts us at 30 photos, so we need to stop.

 

There will be a slight delay in the next update.

 

Remember way back when this report began how I told you that Twin #2 heads off to college on June 19th?

 

Well, look at the date!

 

That's tomorrow.

 

That means at zero dark thirty tomorrow, the TCD gang will be heading north to Tallahassee.

 

And I will be personally hanging that new and expensive Little Mermaid shower curtain in Twin #2's dorm room.

 

And, I will be performing a few other tasks.  Mostly involving manual labor and hauling a lot of clothes and shoes up five flights of stairs in an ancient building with one slow elevator.

 

And, then Mrs. TCD and I will give twin #2 a kiss goodbye, get in the car, cry a little (maybe a lot), and return home.

 

So, all of that will interfere with the trip report progress for a little bit.

 

I'll be back to finish it, though.

 

I promise.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

Here's a Starbucks sign:

 

 

 

I mentioned earlier that there would be more mermaid photos, and here's one now:

 

 

 

 

Huh....that is interesting.  The sign clearly says "Starbucks Fresh Roasted Coffee".  It does not say "Main Street Bakery, Featuring Starbucks Fresh Roasted Coffee".  With the wording they chose for those signs, one would think that maybe this is not just a remodeled MSB which now serves Starbucks coffee....but rather is a full blown Starbucks. 

 

Do they still serve the MSB cinnamon rolls?? 

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Ok. So now I feel like cryin for you and Mrs TCD. And maybe for the Twin too

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Good luck tomorrow to Twin #2 (and to her parents).  :hugs2:

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Starbucks and Satan both SMBP.