40?...Face?...Bovvered? - Day 9

[Guest]

THE SMALL PRINT: When we decided to do Trippies for this most recent holiday the old man (Sweeney Todd) and I couldn't agree on whose Dibb name to post under - I won! We also couldn't agree on content parameters for each report as we both have different styles of writing; I tend to be short and snappy and he tends to suffer from verbal diahhroea – yes, I do mean he goes on a bit and talks a load of sh**e! Anyway, we (well I) decided the best way was to do a day each. Since it was HIS birthday trip I let him start with Day 1 - therefore he gets to do the odd days and I get the evens!
This is our first time writing trippies so please bear with us.
Enjoy!



Cast

Brian – aka Sweeney Todd. 39 at the start, 40 by the end!
Himself, the man, the legend, there’s a film out about him don’t ya know?
Husband, father, workaholic.
Loves planning, Florida, Minerva Mouse, food, Hull City, coaster nut, the original gadgetman

Sue – aka Soozi. 43 on the trip but now 44
Wife, mother
Put-upon, bag holder, etc etc
Loves Florida and everything that goes with it. Was desperate to get away and spend QT with family

Rosie. 14 (turned 15 on trip)
Daughter, sister
Brainiac, Alternative, lover of all things Japanese, Karate, Manga, Anime, wannabe Harajuku dweller

Rowan. 12
Daughter, sister
Girly-girl, owner of the Worlds Biggest Pet Lip, the original Kevin the surly teen.
Loves Tigger, music and all things pink

Sam. 12
Son, brother
Twin of above, little swine, winds his twin up like a top.
Lover of gadgets (see Father above) computers, Hull City, his electric guitar, Dad’s coaster buddy. Hates school

----------------------------------------


DAY NINE - Saturday 9th Feb 2008 - The BIG FOUR-0…MK & Epcot

(Today's instalment written by Sweeney Todd)


AM

Up at 6.30am (my 40th birthday and I can’t even have a lay in!) to be wished Happy Birthday by my wife and kids and spoiled rotten with loads of pressies. Just to make sure that everyone else got the picture that it was my 40th they had adorned my t-shirt with assorted badges…


I had a good look in the bathroom mirror to see how many more grey hairs I had inherited overnight (one or two! ) and after ablutions we made our way via the monorail to MK for our 8.05 ADR at Crystal Palace.

It wasn’t enough for my family to just let everyone know I was forty….no! – they needed to provide maximum embarrassment by ‘forcing’ me to wear a pair of Elvis shades and ‘burns…


As a consolation Rosie allowed me a “for sure” amnesty for the rest of the day. Within just a couple of days of this vacation (I mean holiday) I had got into the habit of replacing “yes” with “for sure” (in an American drawl) for which I got a punch in the arm or shoulder from my eldest every time I uttered it. Today though, I could use it as much as I wanted – bruise free (and I really made the most of it!)

We arrived at CP at 8.10 (well, I am allowed some dispensation for my tardiness due to my new found infirmity!) and waited about five minutes more to be seated; the table was decorated accordingly…


We were served by Rob (from Orlando) and had a great breakfast – the food here is nice, with plenty of choice (I like the eggs made to order) and the whole place has an airier and more relaxed feel to it than Chef Mickeys.

Just some of what I ate…



(the pink stuff is pastrami smoked salmon – rather tasty!)


The character interaction was good too – even from Piglet who on our last visit was a right miserable….well, pig!


(Sue’s 2nd favourite donkey……………………………………………….and Eeyore!)




With the DDE discount plus the gratuity the bill came to a palatable $97.99 – cheaper too than Chef Mickeys!

Afterwards we took a gentle walk up to Tomorrowland where I got Fast Passes for Space Mountain before we traveled on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority – don’t know why we hadn’t done this before! Sue and Rosie opted out of Space Mountain so the twins and I rode it with our FPs (the stand-by line was posted as 20mins); then the twins used the other two passes.
Sam and I tried out the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor the night before, which was a bit of a hoot, so we decided to subject the rest of the family to it today. Beforehand though, I grabbed some FPs for Buzz. For those of you who haven’t done the Laugh Floor before I won’t give the game away – just to say that it is an interactive show with audience participation. For those that have done it before…..yes!... the spotlight and camera homed in on me – I was the ugliest guy!
Next up was Buzz with our FPs (standby posted at 25mins) – I checked out the kids’ scores and punched the air after beating them with my 107,000…only to be knocked back down to size by the missus with her 111,000! At least I beat the kids though – HA!... not that I’m competitive dad or anything!
Just before we went on Buzz I got some more FPs but they didn’t start until 12.20 and as it was not yet midday Sue didn’t want to hang around – I think she was just scared that I would beat her high score! Therefore, I did my own bit for the Year of Million Dreams by giving away the five FPs – it wasn’t easy though as most people faced with a badged-up greying Elvis approaching them turned and practically ran the other way!

We took a walk to Toontown where we caught the train back to the entrance – and then onwards via the monorail back to the Poly for some pool action. We had a great laugh in MK this morning and I lapped up the attention from people wishing me Happy Birthday or complementing me on my ‘burns….”Hey Elvis, great chops!” – “Uh Huh!” (needed a bit of practice on the old lip curl though!)


.

[Guest]

PM

Upon our return to the room there was a surprise waiting for me…

you can’t see from the photo but it was laid out on a large tray with plates, silverware, candles and matches – tasty it was too!

After scoffing a good part of the cake we made our way down to the Volcano pool where Sue made sure she was definitely in the shade (with a towel over her legs) while the kids and I larked in the pool. Don’t worry…I had removed my shades and chops – but still frightened the kids with my yet un-tanned (old)man boobs!
I took the opportunity also to have a walk around the resort and find out from the concierge desk the best way to get to the Boardwalk later.

A few more snaps from around the place…


(above & below – the Volcano pool)


(the quiet pool)



(view from the beach in front of Tahiti)


(our room is the one with the balloons on top of the balcony)


(view from inside our room)


Just after 3pm we returned to the room to get freshened up and changed before heading out for the rest of the day. We took a gentle walk to the TTC (closer to Tahiti than the resort monorail) and caught the express monorail to MK where we then got a bus to the Boardwalk – bit convoluted but I was assured it was the quickest way to get there!
When we disembarked we had a walk around the Boardwalk with a short toilet stop for Sam and I at the ESPN Club - well I never …..tellies in the bogs! While we waited for our 5.30pm ADR time at Spoodles to come around we sat down for a while to people watch. Rosie should have concentrated on seagull watching – because one dropped a package on her shoulder……”that’s lucky bairn!”

It was now almost 5.10pm and we were all a bit peckish so I went to see if we could get in early – we could! We were seated and then greeted by our server Angela and a guy that was training. If you don’t know Spoodles (this was our first time) most of the tables are sited in front of the open kitchen area. I don’t know whether it was because we had kids or because we arrived early (the former I think) but we were sat quite a way from the main seating area in the corner of a wing off it. It was not as well lit and it felt like the ‘naughty corner’ – in fact it must be where they put all the trouble makers because the table even had graffiti scratched into it…I’m not joking either! If I was a year younger (yesterday) I would have opened my trap but I was chilled out and Sue gave me that look as if to say, “leave it!”

Rosie and Sam had a flatbread each while Rowan had a kid’s chicken meal, with the dessert substituted with chicken noodle soup…


Sue had the Pan-roasted Fillet of Red Snapper, with saffron Israeli couscous, wilted greens, and spicy tomato broth…

…I would have gone for that but the couscous had Chorizo in it – Sue though said the dish was over salted and she wouldn’t have it again.

I plumped for the Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Linguine with preserved lemons, Italian parsley, shaved garlic, and butter…

…I’m glad I did because it was quite tasty with loads of shrimp in it!

The kids had a Pirate Punch drink each, Sue had a Blue Glow-tini and Cypress Sunrise while I tried a Blue Spoodle (bit sweet!)
Nobody fancied a dessert apart from the birthday boy so I went for the Chocolate Financier cake…

…nice but not worth $7!... ………(check out the graffiti in the corner!)

The bill came to $103.97 after the 20% DDE dizzy. She didn’t add on the regulation 18% gratuity – just as well because the service wasn’t that great and we got charged extra for Rowan’s exchange….therefore, she only got 15%!

We booked Spoodles quite a while ago and had since read both favourable and not so favourable reviews and thus decided to keep the ADR and make our own minds up. Conclusion: won’t bother again and would not recommend it! I would have probably preferred the Flying Fish but that is quite pricy and there was nothing on that menu that the kids would have gone for.

After leaving Spoodles we caught the boat to Epcot – our captain Jorge wished me a happy birthday as I boarded then, as the lights went down, he got everyone on board to sing “Happy Birthday”!

When we landed at the International Gateway we took a slow walk anti-clockwise checking out the countries along the way – a good chunk of the time was spent in Japan where Rosie put a load of Naruto purchases on her room card and Sam was fascinated with the pearls….I tried to spoil his illusions by telling him a dozen Japanese kids had been up through the night putting the pearls in the oyster shells and sealing them again!

By the time 8pm came I decided it might be wise to claim my pitch for Illuminations. I found what turned out to be an ideal spot at Showcase Plaza just in front of the shop on the left. There was just enough space for me between a lady and the rope separating the viewing area for disabled guests. The rest of the clan stood back a bit on slightly higher ground while I faffed about with the camcorder and chatted with the American lady next to me – she must have thought I was someone famous! Rosie, meanwhile did a grand marshalling job at the rope – raising it for disabled guests and chastising able bodied guests who weren’t with disabled guests but thought they had a given right to use that reserved area!
When it got to within 15mins of the start I chuckled silently to myself at all the folk just turning up and chuntering because they couldn’t get a spec at the front! Ha!
Eventually the lights dimmed and it started….the slow drum beat that became faster and faster until……the cymbals….then... wheeeee……the first fireworks go up! You know the rest…but that first bit really does send a shiver up your spine. Fantastic!
I must say, we have twice viewed Illuminations from a pontoon under the bridge at the International Gateway and had a really good view from there – but the view from where I was stood was better…….and is was free!
Sorry but no photos to post – I got it on camcorder and cannot get stills off it. Sometime in the future I will upload the video.

Afterwards we slowly made our way towards the monorail and joined the huge queue waiting. It was after ten when we got back to the room. The kids were flaked out so they went to bed. If I was a younger man I might have fancied popping over to MK but it closed early at 7pm tonight to make way for the Pirates and Princess Party. There wasn’t a Wishes on tonight – instead there appeared to be a special fireworks display for the P&P party, which Sue and I enjoyed from our balcony whilst drinking champagne... nice way to end a fantastic birthday!




Tomorrow – Animal Kingdom and MK




Regards,

Sweeney


Trip Report INDEX here

[Sue]

Oh - what a fantastic birthday B - some lovely things done, you lucky boy!
Shame about Spoodles - I quite enjoyed our meal there, but think the menu is very limited?

[lthewliss]

What a fab birthday! Shame about Spoodles, but the rest sounds fab

[Carol_G]

What a brilliant day !

Sounded like you had a brillinat birthday and i loved your T Shirt

Looking forward to the rest of your trippies.

[Guest]

A great birthday! Love the photos.

[ely3857]

Well, are you Bovverred?



Jodie

[TinkTatoo]

Thank you very much for sure for that trip report

[purple myra]

what a great way to spend your birthday...love the elvis specs and shops!

[BarryandCaron]

Excellent day and what a way to end it Thanks for sharing.

One of those sun-beds at the Poly quiet pool has got my name on it

Caron