It's Hot, Hot, HOT!

[LONE-STAR 370]

13 hours ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Remember the days when Disney used to,do,maintenance at night when the park was closed to prevent guests from experiencing anything that would take away the magic?  I do.  Barely.  I don't think I've had a picture of the castle without that ugly crane in it for over 20 years.

I forgot about that

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

10 nights down at the Fort ... 20 nights to go ... and already I don't want to go home!  Could I just live here, please?

[Travisma 1,317]

Potato salad in a Greek Salad is the real way to make the salads.  There was an article recently in the Tampa paper about how the potato salad got started in Greek Salads.

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/dining/how-did-potato-salad-get-in-the-middle-of-tarpon-springs-greek-salad/2280459

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

7 hours ago, Travisma said:

Potato salad in a Greek Salad is the real way to make the salads.  There was an article recently in the Tampa paper about how the potato salad got started in Greek Salads.

I hope that never catches on at home.  It doesn't sound good to me.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I just heard Kassie bark.  That low half bark, half growl she made when she heard something odd.  I looked up to find her.  

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

39 minutes ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

I just heard Kassie bark.  That low half bark, half growl she made when she heard something odd.  I looked up to find her.  

Hugs my friend...

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

19 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

 

 

 

SPOILER ALERT!:

SPOILER ALERT!

I just experienced the new Soarin' film this past weekend too.

My girls have already seen it, but the last few times I was in Epcot, we were focused on riding the Frozen ride, so that's where our Tier One FP+'s got used.  No way was I willing to wait on the Soarin' standby line.  Never have.  Never will.

Since I hadn't seen the new film, I had carefully avoided reading any discussion about it.

I wanted to keep an open mind.

I did not care for the new film.

We had seats in the center section, so I did not see the bend in the Eifel tower like you did.  But, that is a common complaint from people sitting in the two outer sections.

What did bother me a lot was all of the CGI they used in the film.  All of the animals are fake.  The polar bears and elephants shown in your photos are fake.  So is the entire Taj Mahal scene.  The building, the people, the stupid bird that flies in front of you- all of it.

What I enjoyed about the old Soarn' film was seeing the natural beauty of California and scenes that actually exist.

I don't like watching this fake stuff anywhere near as much.

Bad show, Disney.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

was Anna and Elsa in it waving at you?

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

3 hours ago, Travisma said:

was Anna and Elsa in it waving at you?

Thankfully they left the two of them out.

 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

3 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

What did bother me a lot was all of the CGI they used in the film.  All of the animals are fake.  The polar bears and elephants shown in your photos are fake.  So is the entire Taj Mahal scene.  The building, the people, the stupid bird that flies in front of you- all of it.

 

What about the Great Wall of China?  Is it fake too?

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

The first Greek salad I ate was at Pappa's, so I think ALL Greek salads should have the potato salad in the middle and am disappointed when it's not there.

I sent the article to the friends who introduced me to Pappa's, this is the answer from one of them.

 

" I know. It just isn't a Greek salad without potato salad dressed only in mayo; then the olive oil and oregano from the outside mix with the inside and make it delicious."

 

 

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Weird...tried to quote Travisma and ended up with Gwen's first post in this thread.  Tried to edit it out and couldn't do that either.

 

But thanks to Travisma for the link to the newspaper article.

[Travisma 1,317]

Florida has loads of food controversies, Greek salad with potato salad, who invented and has the best Cuban sandwich,. What goes in deviled crabs and stuffed potatoes.

[Seals 111]

5 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

SPOILER ALERT!:

SPOILER ALERT!

I just experienced the new Soarin' film this past weekend too.

My girls have already seen it, but the last few times I was in Epcot, we were focused on riding the Frozen ride, so that's where our Tier One FP+'s got used.  No way was I willing to wait on the Soarin' standby line.  Never have.  Never will.

Since I hadn't seen the new film, I had carefully avoided reading any discussion about it.

I wanted to keep an open mind.

I did not care for the new film.

We had seats in the center section, so I did not see the bend in the Eifel tower like you did.  But, that is a common complaint from people sitting in the two outer sections.

What did bother me a lot was all of the CGI they used in the film.  All of the animals are fake.  The polar bears and elephants shown in your photos are fake.  So is the entire Taj Mahal scene.  The building, the people, the stupid bird that flies in front of you- all of it.

What I enjoyed about the old Soarn' film was seeing the natural beauty of California and scenes that actually exist.

I don't like watching this fake stuff anywhere near as much.

Bad show, Disney.

TCD

Well, dang. I really liked the new Soarin and so did my family, We were so impressed with the photogrpahy. And now I'm not. Bad Bad Bad Disney.  

[dvccamper 32]

6 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

SPOILER ALERT!:

SPOILER ALERT!

I just experienced the new Soarin' film this past weekend too.

My girls have already seen it, but the last few times I was in Epcot, we were focused on riding the Frozen ride, so that's where our Tier One FP+'s got used.  No way was I willing to wait on the Soarin' standby line.  Never have.  Never will.

Since I hadn't seen the new film, I had carefully avoided reading any discussion about it.

I wanted to keep an open mind.

I did not care for the new film.

We had seats in the center section, so I did not see the bend in the Eifel tower like you did.  But, that is a common complaint from people sitting in the two outer sections.

What did bother me a lot was all of the CGI they used in the film.  All of the animals are fake.  The polar bears and elephants shown in your photos are fake.  So is the entire Taj Mahal scene.  The building, the people, the stupid bird that flies in front of you- all of it.

What I enjoyed about the old Soarn' film was seeing the natural beauty of California and scenes that actually exist.

I don't like watching this fake stuff anywhere near as much.

Bad show, Disney.

TCD

I agree. We saw it out at DL in June and my first thought was that it was all fake. I mean, what are the chances of them filming polar bears and suddenly a killer whale jumps out of the water?

I already miss Soarin over California, especially since we got to see a lot of those places when we were out there.

Am enjoying reading along on your trip, Gwen! Just about 2 1/2 weeks for us and we'll be there for F&W. Can't wait! Is it still super hot?

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

I got behind on the live show.

Major fail on the peach cobbler America!!!

Love the flower/diamond picture, just beautiful.

Soaren looks like it could use a little work, kinda ruins the effect I think lol.

Your Cobb salad and dessert at the MK looks way better than the Greek salad the other day. 

Tears and sad heart about Kassie. Man it's so hard when they are no longer with us. Make my heart ache for my puppy.

Savor every . single . moment of your trip Gwen.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

14 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

What about the Great Wall of China?  Is it fake too?

Of course not.

The new film was created for use at Shanghai Disneyland.  I'm sure that they were real careful and respectful with how they depicted the China scenes.  That said, I think the people walking on the wall may be CGI people and not actual people.

Also- do you know that they have a different ending for the film for each of the parks where it is shown?  The folks in Shanghai don't get the big golf ball with the fake fireworks scene, nor do the Californians. 

By the way- how were the scents working for your viewing?  When I went, I only smelled one, but there are three.  I miss the orange and pine scents from the original.

TCD

[Duane 152]

I can understand all of the talk about the "fake" stuff... but I want to know did they get rid of that "real" speck of dust that used to float across the screen on the previous movie?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

3 minutes ago, Duane said:

I can understand all of the talk about the "fake" stuff... but I want to know did they get rid of that "real" speck of dust that used to float across the screen on the previous movie?

LOL.

The projection is all digital now, so all of the dirt and dust on the old film copies is gone.

So, you will have a clear view of the cartoon animals and the bent Eiffel Tower.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

19 hours ago, dvccamper said:

Am enjoying reading along on your trip, Gwen! Just about 2 1/2 weeks for us and we'll be there for F&W. Can't wait! Is it still super hot?

Yes, it's been around 90 every day!

9 hours ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Savor every . single . moment of your trip Gwen.

Thanks!  We are!

 

8 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

By the way- how were the scents working for your viewing?  When I went, I only smelled one, but there are three.  I miss the orange and pine scents from the original.

TCD

I remember scents, but they only specific one I can remember right now is the dirt in the elephant scene.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Okay, guys.  Wi-fi in the 700 loop went out about dinnertime yesterday.  We've been out of town all day, and now it's working again.  Will try and get some updates posted.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Tuesday, 9/13:

Another MK day.

I spent more time and money in the Pandora store.  We visited a few attractions and then had lunch at BOG.

After lunch we walked around awhile.  It was a very low crowd day.  Standby at Space Mountain was only 10 minutes!

It looked like a storm was coming, so we hopped on the monorail and went over to the Contemporary.  The Orlando Eye from the fourth floor:

Went back to the Fort and looped awhile, and then it stormed hard for hours.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Wednesday, 9/14:

We went to the Golden Corral on Vineland for breakfast.  It was just so-so.  Then to the Disney outlet and the Coach outlet.  I got some bargains:

Starting at the top and going clockwise:  Black Mickey shirt, Coach bag, Disneyland cap, winter scarf, Mickey rain hat.  I'd been watching this purse at our local Coach outlet, and they had it $63 less here!  

This was our first day with no plans and no FP+.  For the next few weeks we're winging it.  We decided to go to F&WF in the early afternoon.  We thought we'd be smart and drive to DHS and take the boat over so David wouldn't have to walk through Future World to get there.  

Big mistake!  It took us over an hour to get to EPCOT!

Our first stop was at Hops and Barley for David to get a lobster roll.

It was much better than it has been in previous years.

We stopped at Australia for me to get a lamb chop.  Sorry, I took a bite out of it before I remembered to take a picture.

Next we stopped at Hawaii for the slider.  I took a huge bite out of it before I remembered to take a picture.  Sorry.  But it looked just like and tasted the same as last year.

While we were eating the slider, I found the smallest pineapple I've ever seen.  It was only 2" tall.

Our last stop was at Ireland for the Cheese Plate and the Warm Chocolate Pudding.

David said he would walk back to DHS rather than spend another hour on the boat, so off we went.  It was a short walk to the Boardwalk area.  This was all a first for us.

The trip back took 20-25 minutes, and it was a very pleasant walk.

Once back at the Fort we went looping again.  We'd been seeing this "golf cart" for days:

The 200 loop was emptied out several days, and tree work has been going on:

And some kind of work was going on across the street from the Settlement bus stop, but we never figured out what they were doing.

 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Thursday, 9/15:

We had breakfast again at TE.

Then we went to AK for another first -- Flights of Wonder.

I had the opportunity for some truly great photos, and I blew it.  I was seated in the direct center on the last row.  Several of the birds flew directly over me -- some so close that I had to duck.  And I didn't get a single shot of them.  Next time I will be prepared.

We went through the Maharajah Jungle Trek to see the tiger, but he was over the hill in the shade.  But we did find this guy:

It was so hot in AK!  We walked the rest of the way through Asia and then left.

Once back at the Fort we went looping again.  The 200 loop is looking really bare.  They have cut back the shrubs and removed some large trees -- including one beautiful oak tree.

We then checked out Bob's dock.  He wouldn't like what we found.

 

[Travisma 1,317]

Where do you get the FP for Bobs Dock?