PTR-Cheating on Mickey w/Harry!...OMG! Only a month to go!

[franandaj]

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And the Cadi and her room

More shots

Looking around more of the property

Our dining room

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[franandaj]

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By this time I was sort of on overload so I was just randomly shooting pictures

I took this for you Brandi, even cars need germ killer and I bet the shape of the sign is no mistake!

Another photo of me with the bell

Fran took these pictures to get ideas for our new house

This is our yummy dinner on the BBQ pit, Santa Maria style Tri Tip

And then it was time for dinner, green salad

Tri Tip

Bread cooked on the grill

Beans

Salsa

My plate

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[franandaj]

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Here’s a few more pics

Around 8:30 we decided to call it a night and returned to our room. The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove home. It was so nice to be away from home. I can’t wait until we get to do it for longer than just two nights.

The End (for now)

 

[franandaj]

OK, so this is supposed to be a Pre Trip Report so let's get back to the Pre Trip Reporting.

I finally sat down and worked out my ADRs. I know usually that's the first thing especially once hitting 180 days, but since this trip was only planned with 4+ months notice, I was already well within the 180 mark. I was also rather disenheartened at having made ADRs for October 2011, and canceling them. Making them for December 2011, and canceling them. Making them for May 2012, and canceling them. Making them for October 2012, and canceling them.

However, Fran has been in pretty good spirits lately and has had some drive and desire to do something, so I'm getting hopeful that maybe we can take this trip!

So I've sort of firmed up some of our plans with ADRs. Here goes the plan

Monday, Jan 28

Fly into MCO, pick up rental car.
Check into Lowe's Royal Pacific Hotel, Concierge Level
Dinner in the Lounge or at Jake's American Bar

Tuesday, Jan 29

Early morning hours at WWoHP
Come back and enjoy the pool and CL
Dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Tchoup

Wednesday, Jan 30

Early hours at WWoHP
Check out of hotel, check into AKV one bedroom
We'll shop on our way to Kidani'
Plan on making Dinner in the room
Maybe take the new nighttime Safari

Thursday, Jan 31

Quick breakfast in the room
Go to AK park
come back in the afternoon
Culinary tour of Boma and Jiko
Dinner at Sanaa

Friday, February 1

Quick breakfast in the room
Go to Epcot
Lunch at Chefs de France
Pick up our supply of Caramel Candy
Dinner is TBD, either Mara or in room

Saturday, February 2

Leisurely breakfast in the room, bacon and eggs or french toast
Not sure what during the day
Dinner will be at Fulton's in DTD

Sunday, February 3

Quick breakfast in room
Head out to DHS
Lunch at Sci Fi Dine in Theater
Not sure about Dinner
It's possible we might switch to BLT today if my WL comes through

Monday, February 4

We will move to BLT this day if we haven't already. It will probably take us until 11AM to get it together.
By now we will probably have returned our rental car.
We'll probably take a bus to the MK and then the monorail to BLT.
Check in and the room won't be ready, so maybe head back to the MK and see about having lunch at BOG.
Dinner is at 6:40 at Ohana, and we'll rush back to the room to see Wishes from the Balcony.

Tuesday, February 5

We'll head back to Epcot this day and lunch is planned for Via Napoli.
Dinner plans are for in the room to ensure that we see fireworks at least once from our MK view.

Wednesday, February 6

Leisurely breakfast in the room
Probably hit MK, but who knows, I do want a Croque Monsieur from BoG at least once this trip.
Dinner is at Narcoosee's

Thursday, February 7

ME will pick us up at either 9 or 10AM and it's back to MCO for our flight home.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alison - That is one heck of a collection. WOW! Thanks for sharing.
BTW - Your dinner plate looked amazing. So glad that you found the cause of the smokey BBQ and got to enjoy it!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Your plans for the trip look great.

When are you returning the hire car? Wouldn't it be easier to keep it until after you changed resorts before returning it?

 

[franandaj]

Your plans for the trip look great.

When are you returning the hire car? Wouldn't it be easier to keep it until after you changed resorts before returning it?

We don't know when we will return it. I haven't worked that out yet. The longer we keep the hire car, the more times I have to take the scooters in and out. With Disney transport they stay assembled and no heavy lifting required.

 

[usnuzuloose]

So after our fascinating little trip to the Carriage House, we decided that it was time to take advantage of that “ethnic” meal that we didn’t get for dinner the night before. So we headed back to Solvang in search of lunch.

We ended up at

This was a quaint little restaurant that was jam packed with people, and we were there for the Smogasboard!

This was my first plate from the offerings. Ham, Turkey and Danish Cheese (which I enjoyed on some onion cheese bread), pickled cucumber, fruit, salad, potato salad, cole slaw, pickles and carrots. I did skip the pate, pickled herring, curried cauliflower and the pickled beets.

This was my second plate. Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf and red cabbage.

It turns out that we were seated right next to a quartet of guys from the car club so we all took turns taking pictures of each other’s group.

Then we decided to mosey down the street and enjoy some baked goods.

We settled on some Cheese Danish, Cinnamon pull apart, and coffee cake. But first I had to get me some Aebelskiver. What? you ask? Well I would have said the same thing yesterday (well at the time yesterday). In researching where we should eat, I was checking Yelp on my phone. I came across a review, now this takes some explaining. Many of you probably have no idea who Huell Howser is, but in So Cal he is a local PBS Celebrity. He has had several TV shows all of which he goes all around the state and seeks out obscure and wonderful nooks and crannies of the natural beauty, local flavors and colorful folks. We have his shows on the TIVO and he’s a lot of fun. So when I read the review of “Solvang Restaurant” that said, “If Huell Howser tells me I need to get Aebelskiver at Solvang Restaurant, well who am I not to agree?” I thought the same thing, but what are Aebleskiver? So I googled it and turns out that they are dome shaped ‘pancakes’ served with powdered sugar and raspberry jam.

So with our other baked goods secured, we headed to Solvang Restaurant. They had a little walk up counter where you could order them togo.

This is how they are made while you can watch.

And these are the beautiful little pastries. They are light and fluffy, not too sweet, but the raspberry syrup/jam gave it just the right tangy flavor. This was almost too much, but I persevered and took one for the team by finishing them!

Next up, Dinner at the museum.

Looks like a mickey head..Yummy!

 

[usnuzuloose]

That is a cool place, all the old signs and cars. Nice pictures.

 

[ACDSNY]

What a collection! I'll take the Mustang.

Your plans are coming together nicely.

 

[Pinkocto]

Whew! That collection is amazing. Any story on the legs sticking out of the Cadillac?

Your plans look delicious. I just made a reservation for Sci-Fi Diner the other night. Excited to try it for the first time.

That's great Fran is in better spirits.

Is there a time frame on your move? or do you have lots to do before that will happen?

 

[dgbg100106]

I am so glad to hear that Fran is doing better that is great news.


That collection is amazing, lots of time to put that together.

Looks like there was plenty to see. The neigh about not touching the car is cute, I think I have seen it before but is still made me smile.

We're those your legs in the back seat?

 

[franandaj]

Alison - That is one heck of a collection. WOW! Thanks for sharing.
BTW - Your dinner plate looked amazing. So glad that you found the cause of the smokey BBQ and got to enjoy it!

Yeah, I felt a whole lot better about all our crap after seeing his. He had a bigger space thought to spread ot all out! The dinner was great, I wasn't expecting the tri tip to be medium rare like that. Everything was very good!

 

[franandaj]

Looks like a mickey head..Yummy!

I never noticed the hidden Mickey!

That is a cool place, all the old signs and cars. Nice pictures.

Thanks! In the beginning he told us they counted the number of light bulbs they requited and it was something ridiculous like over 1300.

What a collection! I'll take the Mustang.

Your plans are coming together nicely.

I don't think it's for sale!

Whew! That collection is amazing. Any story on the legs sticking out of the Cadillac?

Your plans look delicious. I just made a reservation for Sci-Fi Diner the other night. Excited to try it for the first time.

That's great Fran is in better spirits.

Is there a time frame on your move? or do you have lots to do before that will happen?

I should have asked, but i was just overwhelmed. There is no time frame on the move. We have to decide whether to buy or build. We meet with a financial guy tomorrow to find out what we qualify for, and what price range we can look in. If we build we couldn't even start do at least seven months, probably more. The thing is if we build we could get all the features that we want. If we buy, we keep the income from that unit. Lots to consider.

I am so glad to hear that Fran is doing better that is great news.


That collection is amazing, lots of time to put that together.

Looks like there was plenty to see. The neigh about not touching the car is cute, I think I have seen it before but is still made me smile.

We're those your legs in the back seat?

My legs don't look that good!!!

 

[franandaj]

So I just thought I would share with you all about the gig last weekend that was stressing me out so much. Here we are.

After we got the band set up, we took a few pictures on the stage.

Showtime!

The group above played for about 30 minutes while everyone was schmoozing and drinking their Mimosas. Then they put a screen down to show some photo montages, while we all moved around to reset the stage, many of us changed from our white jackets to black and Voila!

The thing that stressed me out the most was that half the first band was all hired musicians. Most of the regular band backed out at the last minute and I was forced to find subs for most of the band. The other stress was having to schlep in all our gear and get it back out. It turned out there were lots of wonderful helpful people and it was a breeze (other than Fran being cranky).

 

[ACDSNY]

I'm glad you had some good help schlepping the stuff in and out.

 

[rentayenta]

I'm totally behind and generally skim backwards before fully reading but had to tell you the Union 76 ball brings back such good memories. My folks owned a 76 station in Fountain Valley when I was very young. To this day I love the smell of gasoline.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm glad it's over, hopefully you have been able to get some relaxing in. You guys looked good though

 

[dgbg100106]

Alison the concert looked amazing and I hope you enjoyed it! When you work that hard sometimes it is hard to reflect and enjoy!
Glad it is over and now you can relax.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I missed the HoB update earlier and only just caught up on it now!

Glad that you had help to carry all the gear around and it sounds like the band played great. Time to de-stress now.