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still alive check-in
As is becoming my habit, I have just enough time/mental energy to get this post out. I'm still reading all y'all--really there are days when hearing from you is absolutely the highlight of it all--but I suspect I'm doing pathetically at commenting.
RL, such a bitch these days.
It's my birthday next week, so D & I went to our favorite little restaurant last night, where I had a super-fun cocktail with a crème de cassis base, topped off with Prosecco and edible glitter. (I mean, the food was really good, too, roasted swordfish and some baked burrata, but yeah, having a pretty, berryish drink in a pretty glass where the prosecco bubbles kept the glitter suspended was really the highlight, :D ). Very festive!
We also were able to do the Food & Wine festival again at Epcot.
D & Oldest & I drove down a few days early to give D a chance to even out again after the journey. I had some Marriott points I needed to use before the end of the year, so I was able to get 1 room at the Swan for free and a second room for a very reasonable cost given that they're nice hotels within walking distance to 2 parks. We hung out a the pool & hot tub and then went and ate steaks as big as our heads at Shula's. (Well, Oldest passed on the steaks, but found pancakes the next morning so all was well there.) #2 & BabyBoy went from their morning classes to the airport to the Irish pub where the rest of us were eating/drinking an early dinner to join us on Friday. Our waitress deserves all the kudos b/c she dealt with a large party, gluten allergies, people wanting drinks all the time, people ordering appetizers even when we were gunning for desserts, people arriving at various times and lord knows what else. I mean, I know I tipped about 25%, and the other people making payments did too, but I feel like I should continue to sing her praises.
I'd been able to get a boat reservation for Friday night, so we got to see the new Epcot fireworks show from there (also good for D not having to fight the crowds there.) And the new buy-your-way-onto-the-popular-rides program had just started a few days earlier, so after some bitching and moaning about Disney and our money, as a group (there were 15 of us) we decided we'd pay for the (also brand new) Ratatouille ride so I set an alarm for 6:45 and after some stupidity with the WDW app (because, as long-time readers know, there is *always* some stupidity with that damn app), I was able to get overlapping reservation times for all of us.
The ride itself is fun (not a thrill ride by any means, and a clone of the ride in Disneyland Paris), but the area they built out around it is really the star. Very charming streets and atmosphere--once it's not INCREDIBLY MOBBED b/c it's new, it'll be lovely.
The rest of the trip was your standard The Beach Crew Does F&W: tenderloin in Canada (though it was too damn hot for the otherwise excellent cheese soup), vodka slushies & escargot in France, barbecue in America, some super-tasty brisket tacos in Mexico. Newly added favorites included all the pho and curry ramens in the Noodle Shop (good pho is not what you expect in a US theme park, but this was goood) and the caramel corn in Germany (not a F&W option so you can get it any time.) We went in early to get D a pre-crowd ride on Soarin' (his favorite) took a break mid-day and then closed the park down in the evening. Let's just say the drive home the following day was not fun.
tl;dr - ate lots, drank lots, were exhausted for at least a week following.
Will try to do the Wednesday reading meme b/c I finally have finished a book or two, \o/
RL, such a bitch these days.
It's my birthday next week, so D & I went to our favorite little restaurant last night, where I had a super-fun cocktail with a crème de cassis base, topped off with Prosecco and edible glitter. (I mean, the food was really good, too, roasted swordfish and some baked burrata, but yeah, having a pretty, berryish drink in a pretty glass where the prosecco bubbles kept the glitter suspended was really the highlight, :D ). Very festive!
We also were able to do the Food & Wine festival again at Epcot.
D & Oldest & I drove down a few days early to give D a chance to even out again after the journey. I had some Marriott points I needed to use before the end of the year, so I was able to get 1 room at the Swan for free and a second room for a very reasonable cost given that they're nice hotels within walking distance to 2 parks. We hung out a the pool & hot tub and then went and ate steaks as big as our heads at Shula's. (Well, Oldest passed on the steaks, but found pancakes the next morning so all was well there.) #2 & BabyBoy went from their morning classes to the airport to the Irish pub where the rest of us were eating/drinking an early dinner to join us on Friday. Our waitress deserves all the kudos b/c she dealt with a large party, gluten allergies, people wanting drinks all the time, people ordering appetizers even when we were gunning for desserts, people arriving at various times and lord knows what else. I mean, I know I tipped about 25%, and the other people making payments did too, but I feel like I should continue to sing her praises.
I'd been able to get a boat reservation for Friday night, so we got to see the new Epcot fireworks show from there (also good for D not having to fight the crowds there.) And the new buy-your-way-onto-the-popular-rides program had just started a few days earlier, so after some bitching and moaning about Disney and our money, as a group (there were 15 of us) we decided we'd pay for the (also brand new) Ratatouille ride so I set an alarm for 6:45 and after some stupidity with the WDW app (because, as long-time readers know, there is *always* some stupidity with that damn app), I was able to get overlapping reservation times for all of us.
The ride itself is fun (not a thrill ride by any means, and a clone of the ride in Disneyland Paris), but the area they built out around it is really the star. Very charming streets and atmosphere--once it's not INCREDIBLY MOBBED b/c it's new, it'll be lovely.
The rest of the trip was your standard The Beach Crew Does F&W: tenderloin in Canada (though it was too damn hot for the otherwise excellent cheese soup), vodka slushies & escargot in France, barbecue in America, some super-tasty brisket tacos in Mexico. Newly added favorites included all the pho and curry ramens in the Noodle Shop (good pho is not what you expect in a US theme park, but this was goood) and the caramel corn in Germany (not a F&W option so you can get it any time.) We went in early to get D a pre-crowd ride on Soarin' (his favorite) took a break mid-day and then closed the park down in the evening. Let's just say the drive home the following day was not fun.
tl;dr - ate lots, drank lots, were exhausted for at least a week following.
Will try to do the Wednesday reading meme b/c I finally have finished a book or two, \o/