4/30/08 - Eating my way around EPCOT
10:45am
--1/2 double cheeseburger meal
I was and I wasn't hungry when I ate this. What seems to be happening is that I get hungry, but I fill up quickly. I don't know if that's from the constant steady drip of food or not.
We had decided to sleep in this morning instead of getting up early for breakfast. Unfortunately, I developed a crick in my neck sometime in the early morning and I just couldn't get back to sleep. I gave up around 7:00 or so and came out to the living room--thank goodness for the 1 bedroom. An hour later I had read everything that came with the room, flipped through the channels about 90 times, and figured out that I couldn't figure out how to get DH's laptop going. Long story short, I was bored.
DH didn't wake up until almost 10:00am and by then I was not only bored, but also tired, sore, and cranky. Lucky him. We headed out to EPCOT. Crowd levels were pretty heavy and we were both kind of stiff, so we quickly abandoned our touring plans and decided to split a breakfast at the Electric Umbrella.
We were too late for breakfast, so I just wound up ordering this. If I had been in a better mood I probably would have done better. While eating, I hatched the idea that we should just head for World Showcase since it was just about to open. I figured we could stay ahead of the crowds there.
11:45am
--part of a school bread @ Norway
We made it into World Showcase and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour and Maelstrom before stopping to get DH one of his favorite treats, the no sugar added chocolate mousse at the bakery in Norway. I had seen pictures of the school bread before I was intrigued, so I burned a snack credit to get one.
It's basically a very large doughnut. The base is a plain yeast dough--not very sweet at all. It's filled with a vanilla custard/cream, and then topped with basic powdered sugar glaze and sprinkled with coconut. The custard was very tasty, and I wound up using my spoon to dig all of that out. I had a few bites of the rest of the roll, but most of it went to the birds. They were quite eager to share and I just couldn't resist them, even though I knew I should. I still kind of feel bad about that.
After our snack, we ambled over to The American Adventure and ducked in just as a show was starting. It's always so nice to see those big stage shows in a nearly empty theater, though somehow, even if you're in a theater with 8 people, one of them will inevitably wind up being a loud cellphone talking, stop in the middle of the rowing, flash picture taking, doofus! I can't seem to get away from that sort. Or maybe I attract them.
12:30pm
--1 kaki gori
You thought I was kidding with this title, didn't you?
I love the kaki gori--it's just so sweet and smooth and refreshing. This was mostly an impulse grab--I was still cranky and sore and in a funk, and I saw this and wanted it.
What seems to be happening on this trip, though, is that every time we both start to get into a funk, something comes along that just totally lifts our spirits. We were about to leave the Japan pavillion when Miuki, the candy artist, came out.
I'd heard about her work before, but never had the chance to see her. This time, not only were we able to see her, but we were the second family there, so we got a candy made for us! It was so cool to watch her work--she uses this hot taffy-type candy and works it into the most beautiful animal shapes with just her fingers and a pair of scissors. It only takes her about a minute to create these adorable, brightly colored and fully detailed animal lollipops. I asked her to make a bird and she made the most lovely hummingbird, which I can't wait to give to my mom. I know she'll love it. That was definitely the highlight of our day at EPCOT and I would highly recommend finding out when her first show will be and getting there a bit early. She's worth it!
1:45pm
--1 crusty roll w/butter
--3 Cokes
--about 2/3 of a French Onion soup
--maybe 1/3 at most of a macaroni & cheese
--1 1/2 profiteroles
--1 smallish piece chocolate crunch cake.
What an experience at Les Chefs de France. The meal was quite good, but we also had the dubious entertainment of one of the most outlandishly obnoxious women I've ever seen!
It started it out normally enough. We placed our order and I was eating my roll and working my way through the wall of cheese in my soup when in they came. It was a young man and woman, wearing wedding ears, and an older lady, who another patron very accurately described as looking like Shelly Winters. Over the course of the meal, it was revealed she was his mother. Some honeymoon, eh? Just me & you and my mom!
This woman was just ear-splittingly loud. She seemed totally incapable of modulating her voice or speaking appropriately for the restaurant, to the point that I initially wondered if she was hard of hearing. Alas no--she just had no concept of "inside voice".
To make matters worse, she had this very pronounced New York/Long Island accent, which just made everything she said stick out that much more. It was late for lunch, so the restaurant was relatively quiet. Everything she said carried for miles.
Any thought that came through her head seemed to come out of her mouth. There was nothing to mundane, or too inane, to voice at high decibels. She went over and over their plans for what to order--I think by the end the entire restaurant knew that they were going to order 4 entrees for the 3 of them and share them between.
Luckily, I suppose, she was just so over the top that it turned out to be comical instead of irritating. DH nearly spit his drink out numerous times and my sides hurt from laughing so much. All the other diners were exchanging helpless and incredulous looks--you just can make this stuff up!
The kicker came toward the end of the meal. Their poor waitress, who was doing a remarkable job of staying composed and trying to serve them, asked how they were enjoying their honeymoon. Before they could answer, she piped in with "Oh, they're enjoying it all right. They enjoyed it all night. Good thing I'm next door--I didn't hear too much."
The poor waitress looked horrified and DH turned purple. It was just the funniest thing ever!
Our meal was quite good, but I didn't have much of an appetite after all the eating I did, so I boxed up almost my whole entree to go. I did get the desserts though, and they both were outstanding! I would definitley go back.
8:15pm
--1 piece Hawaiian bread w/macadamia nut butter
--1 order sticky wings
--about 2/3 Pan-Asian noodles
--most of a Kiluea torte
We wound up rejiggering our plans again. DH's foot is looking good, so we decided that if we could find him some water shoes we could go to Typhoon Lagoon. We changed around some ADRs and headed out to look. We struck out at Wal-Mart, but found a pair of sandals that would work well at the Target down the road.
With that settled, we decided to straight over to the Polynesian even though we were early. We walked to the TTC and decided to ride the monorail over to EPCOT, just for a scenic tour. We did it twice, and it was very strange. The first time, we had an entire car to ourselves on the way there and on the way back. The second time, we picked up quite a few people. So strange for being only about 20 minutes apart. By then it was time to get over to the Polynesian for dinner.
Our food was quite good. I love their sticky wings and my noodles were decent--I wouldn't go out of my way to get them again, but I didn't regret ordering it. The kiluea dessert was nice--it was a chocolate lava cake. DH got the NSA apple stack and he loved it! We were both happy with the meal.
Wishes was just starting as we were leaving, so we watched a bit of it through the windows before heading out. Once back at BWV, I decided to fire up the big soaking tub, which was an awesome way to end the day!!!
I know that when I am in a hurry to get things done, it seems like things have a tendency to go south. 
I think that if finances permit, I want to go next spring sometime. We have our annual trip in December and a trip in September w/ free dining, but we haven't been to WDW in April/May since 2003. 
Please take me with you! 
That "mystery weight" is always better when it mysteriously disappears.
I can relate on the vein issue. Having someone dig around is no fun, so I agree with you on using the vein that you don't have problems with. I unfortunately don't have easy to find veins, so I just go in asking them who is really good and who can get the draw the first time because there will not be a second time.
I'm not sure what that's about, but he's stalking up to it slowly, then very tentatively reaching a paw out and smacking at it, and then quickly retreating back to safety. He's never had a beef with the steam cleaner before, but maybe it looked at him cross-eyed this morning or something. Who knows with him? 
You just have to be excited about getting out of this crazy "spring" weather.
In December, we usually stay at BCV and we love walking around the Boardwalk and enjoying all that it has to offer. 
That was really nice of you to give your Dream Fast Passes to the honeymoon couple....You shared the Disney magic and gave them a wonderful memory from their honeymoon!
