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[experiment627]

sigh... there are so many great places to eat - and I only have a couple of weeks left!  :wink:

Ah... poor you. I feel so sorry for you man!  

Thank you for your honest sympathy!  :wink:

Just got back from a lovely stroll around Epcot (managed to ride "Soarin'" twice... what a wonderful, amazing ride... and did "Mission: Space" which is just awesome) - and I finally, after all the recommandations, went to "Seasons" at the Land Pavillion.

What a great place to eat!!! Went there for lunch and had a delicious Toasted Beets and Goat Cheese Salad. I returned later to savour their amazing sweet treats and got myself a Strawberry Shortcake.
This place is truely the best counter service venue at WDW...!!!

[Fantillusion]

im sooooooo jealous!

[Maarten]

Thank you for your honest sympathy!  :wink:

You're welcome!  :wink:

Just got back from a lovely stroll around Epcot (managed to ride "Soarin'" twice... what a wonderful, amazing ride... and did "Mission: Space" which is just awesome)

It's such an amazing ride indeed. In my humble opinion Soarin' is the best attraction of Epcot. I really do hope that the rumours about Soarin' in our Studios might be true. It's really is as great as the Tower of Terror (although the theming of the queue was less impressive then the whole Hollywood Tower Hotel package ofcourse). Although a video can capture the movie and mechanism of Soarin', it can't really capture the excitement and feeling when your flying over the Golden State. Let's get Soarin' to Walt Disney Studios!  

By the way; didn't you think the entrance of Soarin' was a bit odd? I mean, it's was somewhere in a corner of a 80s style mall. Really strange set up if you ask me. I guess it's the concept of The Land Pavillion.

What a great place to eat!!! Went there for lunch and had a delicious Toasted Beets and Goat Cheese Salad. I returned later to savour their amazing sweet treats and got myself a Strawberry Shortcake.
This place is truely the best counter service venue at WDW...!!!

Indeed! I am glad you took my advice...  :wink:

I will say it for the last time; the food in Walt Disney World is great. When I was there I haven't eat something that was cold like I have had in Paris. Besides that, there was so much to choose from. Every restaurant or counter service offered other food. I have only eaten one hotdog and one hamburger on my entire trip, and that was only the case because I wanted to eat it (well, your in America he? If you haven't eat a hamburger you haven't been there ofcourse...   )

But my point is... Disneyland Resort Paris should really learn from this. Walt Disney World shows that it's possible to spend a day (or even two months, haha) in a themepark while eating great, healthy food without extremely high prices. When I return from a trip to Paris, if have eaten enough fries, hamburgers and hotdogs for a whole month...

[experiment627]

Yeah, "Soarin'" would be wonderful to have in Paris... Though probably not the California movie with it... But if they should ever make another movie, they have to be very careful about one thing: music.
The current "Soarin'" is so amazing (among other things) thanks to the late Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful, very emotional score. It just takes one with it on a flight over California...

I finally found a restaurant that didn't impress me that much!  :wink:
Went to "Bongo's Cuban Café" with some friends last night... and the food was only so-so, in my humble opinion. The place looks nice, though - and they have an amazing cocktail selection. But that's about it. Not bad. But not as good as it could have been. (But then again, it was only one meal... but the first one that didn't win me over, none the less...)

The "new" parade started today. Calling it "new" is even more of a stretch than calling the "Princess Parade" new... They removed the snowglobes from the floats (which at least made the parent different looking) and it's now called "Dreams Can Come True Parade".
They replaced the music with something that is - reportedly - coming from an old TDL show / parade. At least that one is more fun and a bit more catchy. But still not as much fun and not as catchy as "Dancin' a Catchy Rhythm".
The parade is actually more fun now. Though it still has to be said: DLP's entertainment is better than WDW's. And that's one of the biggest surprises around here...

[experiment627]

Went to Typhoon Lagoon yesterday - and had an awesome time!

We only had three hours but we got quite a bit done: two raft slides, the Storm Sliders, "Humanga Kowabunga" (a very steep slide in the dark), the lazy river around the park, the very fun "Crush'n'Gusher" (a slide *upwards*), ...
We didn't get to the the "Shark Reef" (too much of a line), but we got a peek at it through the capsized submarine.
And then there's the wave pool... WOW! The waves are just breathtaking (also literallly). We had such a great time there!

The theming at the Lagoon is wonderful with lush gardens everywhere. And then lots of sandy beaches... and flowers... and the remains of that fateful typhoon.. in short: we had so much fun!

The only regret: that we didn't get to spend more time there...!

[Kristof]

I guess the water parks are much better in high season than in off season.  Blizzard Beach was aweful last year: abandonned, dirty and the lifeguards were very impolite.  Typhoon Lagoon seemed somewhat better, but the lifeguards were the same here aswell.  

(Not sure if you really missed something by not going to the shark reef.  The water is FREEZING cold and slimery and you'll hear screaming CM's that want you to keep on swimming...  :lol: )

[experiment627]

Sigh... this was my last full day at the parks before leaving...

So we went to Epcot. And I finally got to see "Turtle Talk", which is really awesome (except for the long wait). But the interaction between Crush and the audience was simply amazing.

Then one more trip to Mars (I love the ride), a ride with Ellen (I really need to get the DVDs of her show now  :wink: ) and then one more flight on "Soarin'"... sigh... and that was pretty much it.

We then went into "Character Connection", which is *the* best spot to encounter the big star characters (no wait!). And I finally got to ride "Maelstrom", which is a fun introduction to Norway - but not an Epcot-must... but still fun...
We saw "Reflections of China" once more (and the Chinese girl who was with us was actually impressed) and I showed my colleagues the German pavillion. We also watched Mizuki, the candy sculptor, in Japan... she's just amazing...

Then a bus ride to Downtown Disney where I got dinner at the Earl of Sandwich...

And now I've just got one more week to go...

[experiment627]

Just got back from an AWESOME meal at the "Hollywood Brown Derby" @ the Studios.

The restaurant is beautiful - nice dark colours.
I got an AMAZING portobello goat cheese tortelloni as appetizer, followed by a wonderful roast duck - accompanied by a nice glas of Zinfandel. My company for this evening got a nice arrugula salad and salmon.
For desserts she got a delicious cheesecake while I ate truely amazing grapefruit cake.
All in all: the Brown Derby was one of the *best* dining experiences I had this summer. Highly recommandable.

The only downside: the whole meal took as longer than anticpitated so we missed "Fantasmic!"...  :?

But all in all, this dining experience gets a very high 9 out of 10 tasty points from me.

[Kristof]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!  I can't believe your adventure is almost over! Times is flying by so fast!!!

[experiment627]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!  I can't believe your adventure is almost over! Times is flying by so fast!!!

Don't tell me... I'm surrounded by people who are not allowed to drink here in the States - and I have to ask myself: am I that old?!?!?

Anyhow...

I spent a very cool day at SeaWorld yesterday. It's a pretty park. Okay, it's not Disney quality. Far from it. But I had a good time nevertheless. The animal exhibits are wonderful. I enjoyed the very goofy sealion show, the nice dolphin show and I saw Shamu! Though I have to say that the killerwhale show "Believe" is kinda sappy. (And the "Salut to Our Heroes" commercial at the beginning did nothing to put this pacifist to peace...) And "Journey to Atlantis" is the weirdest ride I've ever been on: we start of in a Greek port, then there's a seahorse and we are under the sea and a mermaid greets us to Atlantis. Then there's more of that seahorse that manages to anger the Hydra (I think) and up we go... and then there's the splash and another scene with some ships and candles and the coaster portion... really weird.
"Kraken" is cool, though. And very smooth. A very good coaster that isn't too hard on you, in my humble oppinion.

The highlight of the day for me however was the following: I got to feed a dolphin! This was such a wonderful moment. I was so close to the animal and even got to touch it... That single moment was worth the price of admission (and the price for the fish to feed the dolphins) alone.

Sigh...

[Dlrpfan]

Though I have to say that the killerwhale show "Believe" is kinda sappy.

lol when i saw that show this year when they where trialing it there was a rather emotional part where a lady was talking about her life with the killer whales and how her mum stood by her all the way. once she finished she mentiond that her mum passed away to months ago and at that time all the audiance fell silent and some started to cry.