Monday - February 1st
Well, we made it! Woke at 630am, with fresh coffee already brewed in our handy-dandy coffee maker we brought with us to POP. We were out the door at 730am, and headed straight to the hotel front desk to inquire about changing rooms. Our room was perfect except that it had 2 double beds and we found ourselves keeping to separate sides of the room. That's just not for us.
The cast member took a couple of minutes and got us new keys to our new room. Now, we're in the 60s building, 3rd floor, king bed … and it's a handicap room. What does that mean? Well … a complimentary fridge, a large bathroom with a handheld shower and more than enough places to hang items such as wet clothing and towels (you know, with all those bars around for assistance.)
E found the new toilet particularly entertaining - it sits several inches higher than a normal one, so his legs swing around when he's on it, like when he was 6.
We scored!! Now, this is truly a preferred room!! Oh, and the best part is that it's really really close to the shuttle buses and the main dining hall. We're directly overlooking the Hippy Dippy pool. Love love love it!!!
So, after the big room switchover (really it only took us about 30 minutes to do it) we headed out to Animal Kingdom. The morning weather was perfect! First, we headed right over to the Kilimanjaro Safari. This was the first time that I did the ride in the morning. We saw a lot of animals and they seemed to be lively, not the usual laying around and sleeping or hiding. It was great! Afterwards, it stared sprinkling and we were starved. We went to the Flame BBQ on Discovery Island. Delicious! Nothing beats eating barbequed meat in an animal park! I got the pork sandwich, while E got the ½ slab of ribs. We both had the key lime mousse for a dessert item. 1 credit each. I think the bill was around $35. Ouch!
Again, this is where the dining plan comes in handy. Without the dining plan we would've only split one lunch item and no dessert. There again, even with the dining plan, having a desert included with every meal is a bit excessive. You're already being given more food in a day than any reasonable person should have - tossing a cake or mousse on top if it should only be done if you absolutely want to be fat. Why not send a letter to Richard Simmons calling him an asshole while you're at it? (We really should all do that anyway, come to think of it.)
After eating the sky unleashed the rain. We hit up a couple more rides then decided a nap was in order. Back to POP we went.
Up again around 4pm, we headed out to Hollywood Studios. Rode Tower of Terror first. It was empty.
I don't mean the line was really short - I mean it was empty. Vacuous. The middle of Ted Nuggent's head. Just nothing to be found empty. We walked up to the line, and never found it - we just kept walking until we reached the reading room where they show you the Twilight Zone video made for the ride. Then more unobstructed walking until we were inside an elevator with just two other people. (Two girls, who asked us if it was okay that they were going to "high five" each other when we got to the part where the ride takes everyone's picture.)
I didn't mind - neither did E. He had other things to worry about. He doesn't handle these rides very well, and I know he goes on this one for me. Still, each time before we go, I can see little veins popping out on his forehead as he imagines our horrible, impending death. He's so cute.
Next we were onto Star Tours. We are both sad that these are the last days of this so we do it every chance we get. They are shutting it down soon for a "re-imagining" renovation, with a new 3D version of the ride. I look forward to the newness, but will miss the original.
We had a quick snack of splitting a pizza and salad from over by the Aerosmith coaster (No, we didn't ride that one. I can't tell if E's more terrified of a rollercoaster or Aerosmith.) Yum for a quick snack. The park doesn't have much to offer in terms of actual rides. Toy Story had a 45 minute wait, so we decided to pass on it for tonight. Instead we went into "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid." Cute (for kids) but a bit dull. Didn't enjoy the rain shower they give you during the show either. We had plenty of that outside all day.
For dinner, we had reservations at Cap'n Jack's Restaurant in Downtown Disney at 955pm. It was something out of my comfort zone so thought I'd give it a go. For starters, I had the vegetable soup and E had the New England clam chowder. Both yum! I had the Cajun shrimp and chicken etoufee. This was something completely different for me. I enjoyed the chicken part of it but didn't really care for the dish overall.
E had the big lump crab cakes. What a most appetizing name, no? I believe Gordon Ramsey was the first to describe dishes the way others describe their tumors. When I tasted them I nearly gagged, but Seaman E the seafood fan thought they were okay. They were crab cakes. Nothing outstanding. But the side potatoes and asparagus were great and the desserts were (again) the highlight of the meal. I had the double chocolate cake drizzled with caramel sauce (it also had a raspberry sauce but I asked them not to put it on - I'm not so much a raspberry fan), with vanilla ice cream. Do I need to say more?! E had the white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce. He even licked his plate. It was hot. (Well, no it wasn't.)
The meal cost us 1 meal credit each, but without that would have run about $77.00 not including the tip. That was much more than I would have paid for that meal. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't $77.00 worth of good either.
And did I mention this was our 5th anniversary? It wasn't, but that's what we told them! Why? We'd heard that sometimes people get freebies at their meals when they're celebrating something. So we spun up a tale about it being our 5th anniversary - because that would be easier to remember. (Five years ago, met Feburary 5, 2005, five years ago, fifth anniversary… we went heavy on the 5s. It's a lot easier to remember crap like this when you load it with the same number over and over.)
For our trouble we got a little clip light of Tinkerbell for me and Lightning McQueen for E, clipped to a card that says, "Happy Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. [my last name]." Not E's last name, you know - the boy. But mine. I'd set the meals up under my last name, then his last name. So from that they assumed E was the chick.
After a long day, we decided to head back home. The weather finally cleared up and we got to enjoy sitting out by the pool area to enjoy a drink and a smoke. It was a nice way to end an evening.
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