The Scooter Strikes Back-A F&W 2017 TR- Bonus Features, Link to new TR 3/22

[franandaj]

Day 5


I woke up a few times in the night but not enough to notice the time and when I finally woke enough to find Fran out of bed, I asked her what time it was and it was already 8AM! We had talked about leaving at 8:30 and at this point that was not looking likely.

We were meeting Pam at DHS this morning, so I texted her to make sure she would be on her way. Then I made coffee and we got dressed. Fran had toast two ways, and a yogurt, plus some V8. I ate the last of the spaghetti, some with butter and parmesan, and also had some with the rest of the sauce. I couldn't believe that I got four meals between the two of us out of that! I had some V8 as well and at 9AM we were finally ready to leave the room. Today was going to be a high of 68. I didn't plan for weather like this! I didn't bring a jacket on the trip at all because it had been so hot in the two weeks before.

When we got to the bus stop at 9:10 it said that the bus would be there at 9:33AM and when we were finally strapped in it was actually 9:40, and 10:11 before we were actually entering DHS. At SSR there are five bus stops and luckily we are the first one, so we usually get on the buses, (They can only hold two scooters) but then it takes another 10-15 minutes to pick up the rest of the passengers. We were texting back and forth. She had already arrived and parked and we were taking our own sweet time, or the bus driver was….I wanted to get a picture of the Sorcerer Mickey Topiary.

By the time we met up with Pam inside the park our RnRC FP was already in play. Pam and I rode together.

Then I went back by myself to ride with Fran’s FP.

Next was ToT and when we decided to head over for the ride, it was down. There wasn't too much else we wanted to do in that park. Both TS and ST are identical in .CA and I can ride them almost any time.

That morning when Fran realized that Pam had a car she was all excited to go off campus. Pam was game for whatever we wanted to do, as she was just here to hang out with us. Fran wanted to go to the Think Geek store at the Florida Mall, she buys a ton of stuff there online at home, but she thought that maybe the physical store would have better stuff. First we needed food. We were able to cram both scooters into Pam’s car and fit the three of us.

We headed over to DS to get some Fish and Chips at Cooke’s. Fran and I got an order of one piece of fish with chips. It was a huge piece and plenty of protein to split between the two of us.

Fran and I ordered onion rings as well. Cooke’s makes some great onion rings and the serving is very generous. We took a few of these home with us.

They were able to make a Gluten free version for Pam. And no, her tartar sauce is not green, that's Fran’s Mtn Dew bottle shading her plate.

After lunch we had lots of tasty choices for dessert, but we had been sitting in the sun, it wasn't a hot day, but gelato sounded really good.

Pam got coconut and chocolate (I think).

I think Fran got salted caramel.

I got the Trifecta of Tiramisu, Salted Caramel, and Straciatella.

We found a Bench in the shade outside Art Smith’s place and ate our treats, and then we headed back to the parking lot to embark on our adventures for the day.

First we went to the Florida Mall where the Think Geek store was located. We saw lots of neat stuff but a lot of it we already had because Fran had bought it online. Pam found something and then we headed out of the mall.

While we visited all these stores Fran rode my scooter, but we ended up using her battery as that one was put in after mine. Since I was loading and unloading the car, and my scooter weighs a few pounds less, I preferred to use the one that weighed less.

Pam mentioned that the Disney Character Warehouse at the Premium Outlets was nearby and Fran was all over that! She ended up with two Jumbo sacks full of stuff and asked me to be proud of her restraint for all the things that she didn’t buy! Some of the stuff had actually already sold on eBay too.

By this time it was getting close to our dinner ADR so we headed back to the Disney bubble. Traffic was horrible and it took almost an hour to go less than 5 miles. We spent over 10 minutes trying to make a right turn!

We unloaded the scooters said our goodbyes to Pam (until Tuesday) and headed off to dinner at Morimoto Asia. On our way, we realized that Fran's battery was almost completely dead. We switched scooters to get there and once we were at the restaurant, we asked if we could bring in the battery to charge while we ate dinner. Luckily they had an out of the way back room and we got a small amount of charging while we ate.

Last time we were here the food was great, but we had service issues possibly due to a language barrier with our server. This time we had an excellent server who was very knowledgeable about sake and he helped me make a great choice, albeit rather expensive. We were seated with a great view of the open kitchen. I learned from our waiter that this side is a classical Chinese kitchen and all the Chinese items are made on this side.

The menu is Pan Asian so all the non Chinese dishes are made on this side.

So our server helped me pick out a nice sake. My biggest peeve last time that I was here was that the server couldn't tell me what portion of sake I was getting for my money. On the menu, three prices were listed but it didn’t say how large a serving they were. I ended up going with the Watari Bune sake in the medium size which he assured me was similar to 300ml. I believe it was something like 11oz, why they can’t standardize their drink measurements is beyond me!

I started off with Tuna sushi, Magaro. This is always a good indicator for how fresh the fish is in a restaurant. It’s one of the most popular and commonly ordered raw fish, if the tuna isn’t good, I would think about ordering cooked food for the rest of the meal. This was the freshest tuna that I think I've ever had!

We decided to split a Tempura shrimp roll, since they are cooked, Fran can eat these.

Our three hot appetizers all arrived at once. At the last moment i decided to add the Tempura Rock Shrimp in spicy aioli. While we did like this and ate almost all of it, I probably wouldn't order this again.

The Pork shumai have been a favorite of mine for a while. These were very good too, Fran only ate one of hers, so we took the other one home.

The Morimoto Ribs were offered in an Appetizer size and an entree. We got the appetizer of three. These were as good as our server advertised them, we each ate about half of one rib before we started to get full and we decided that the ribs would travel better than the shrimp, so we focused on finishing that.

And here's where the service started to slip. We rounded off our dinner of appetizers with an order of Beef lo mein. Being in such close proximity to the kitchen, I could see the orders when they came up and I sort of made a game of trying to guess what they were. Not sure if you noticed, but in quite a few of the food pictures you can see Fran with her tablet, so I didn't have the most “present" dinner companion that evening.

So when I saw a plate of what looked like Beef Lo Mein come up I was hopeful that would finally have all our food. And it sat there. Several other dishes came up and their servers snatched them away, but the poor lonely plate of Beef Lo Mein was left by itself.

More dishes came up, and left, yet the poor Beef Lo Mein sat there, just waiting. It was under the warmer, but I kept hoping that it was not ours by this point. I would have said something to our server, if I saw him.

Anywhere.

Maybe it was his break time.

Eventually he came back and grabbed the plate and whisked it to our table. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't piping hot either.

It was good, and between the two of us we ate half of it. This was when we decided to concentrate on eating the tempura shrimp, as the noodles, the ribs and shumai were good leftovers. The shrimp would be soggy. So we took the other things home for later.

As we headed towards the bus stop, even though we had charged her battery some her Scooter started acting up on the way home. Twice it stalled and I had to push the reset button to get it started again. Eventually we switched scooters and I rode hers since I would use less battery power. I babied it home, never reaching full speed and was able to get it to the room with no further incident, and immediately put it on the charger. We figured that all it needed was a full charge for the battery and everything would be fine. Right?

I started some more laundry, and waited up to throw it in the dryer, then I took a bath and went to bed.

 

[franandaj]

You can stop trying to convince me!

I must be trying to convince Liesa! who also eats like a bird! I just can't wait to go back! Only 103 days to go!

 

[pkondz]

I asked her what time it was and it was already 8AM!

You slept in!!! Is this a first?

We were meeting Pam at DHS this morning, so I texted her to make sure she would be on her way.

Who promptly texted back "I came early because you always wake up at 6am!"

Fran had toast two ways

I forgot. What's that again?

Today was going to be a high of 68. I didn't plan for weather like this! I didn't bring a jacket on the trip

Jacket?

When we got to the bus stop at 9:10 it said that the bus would be there at 9:33AM

That's max time. 20 minutes, no?

By the time we met up with Pam inside the park our RnRC FP was already in play. Pam and I rode together.

Looks like you guys were having fun!

Whooooo!!!! Go Alison!

Next was ToT and when we decided to head over for the ride, it was down.

Well, that sucks. Especially since there isn't one at DL.

Fran wanted to go to the Think Geek store

oooh.... sounds like my kinda store.

Holy Tetris!

Those look... puffy. In a good way.

And no, her tartar sauce is not green, that's Fran’s Mtn Dew bottle shading her plate.

Thank goodness you explained that!

it wasn't a hot day, but gelato sounded really good.

Gelato is good on a hot day.
Or a warm day.

Or a cold day.


Any day, really.

Pam got coconut and chocolate (I think).

ew. No.

Since I was loading and unloading the car, and my scooter weighs a few pounds less, I preferred to use the one that weighed less.

I guess so!

Pam mentioned that the Disney Character Warehouse at the Premium Outlets was nearby and Fran was all over that! She ended up with two Jumbo sacks full of stuff and asked me to be proud of her restraint for all the things that she didn’t buy!

Traffic was horrible and it took almost an hour to go less than 5 miles. We spent over 10 minutes trying to make a right turn!

So it felt like home, then?

we asked if we could bring in the battery to charge while we ate dinner. Luckily they had an out of the way back room and we got a small amount of charging while we ate.

"No, I'm sorry. You can't charge it."
"Well, I guess we'll be here all night then."

We were seated with a great view of the open kitchen.

I love that! I love watching them cook.

I started off with Tuna sushi, Magaro. This is always a good indicator for how fresh the fish is in a restaurant. It’s one of the most popular and commonly ordered raw fish, if the tuna isn’t good, I would think about ordering cooked food for the rest of the meal.

Interesting!
I don't eat enough sushi to make that determination, I think.

This was the freshest tuna that I think I've ever had!

Nice.

Not sure if you noticed, but in quite a few of the food pictures you can see Fran with her tablet, so I didn't have the most “present" dinner companion that evening.

Oh. That's too bad. I promise to not have my phone out. Well.... maybe to take a picture of the food... but then it's put away.

Eventually he came back and grabbed the plate and whisked it to our table. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't piping hot either.

I'm surprised you didn't send it back.
But you did say it was still good.

This was when we decided to concentrate on eating the tempura shrimp, as the noodles, the ribs and shumai were good leftovers. The shrimp would be soggy. So we took the other things home for later.

Smart.

We figured that all it needed was a full charge for the battery and everything would be fine. Right?

I doubt it.
I find that once a battery starts to go... it goes.

I must be trying to convince Liesa! who also eats like a bird! I just can't wait to go back! Only 103 days to go!

"Only"!

 

[Pinkocto]

I’m glad Fran is feeling better, those symptoms sounded grisly there’s a nasty bug going around here, I got it for 2 weeks.

 

[dizneeat]

All caught up! I did read along all the time, but somehow I never got to reply to your thread in quite some time. Sorry for that.

You actually slept in .... well, just a bit. 8am is not late.

Awesome to spend the morning with Pam at the Studios. She is fun!

And wow! I would have never believed that you would be able to cram the scooters into the back of the car. That is perfect packing!

We love that Disney outlet, even though the one at Lake Bryant is closer. We have bought a lot of GREAT stuff there, a whole collection of Disneyland's 60th, even before we were on our way to visit the CA parks.

Food looks yummy at Morimoto. We only went there once and we both enjoyed the food, but if memory serves me right, we did have a little service snag as well.

And the saga of the scooter continues ............ (I guess )





AND .........


Happy new year to you both!

​

 

[Pinkocto]

That was such a fun day!!!

That gelato was magnificent. Next time I’ll remember to order my fish separately since it takes longer to make. I didn’t think about it since Fran was so generous and treated me to lunch.

I did find 5 t-shirts at the mall when Fran came out with nothing. Also found some goodies at the Character Warehouse.

Dinner sounds delicious. Shame on that server though. Somebody else could have brought it over as well. Usually there’s a head server in charge of what comes ready.

 

[disney212]

Love reading your trip reports!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Fran is feeling much bbetter today.

I am glad that Fran is feeling better.

I woke up a few times in the night but not enough to notice the time and when I finally woke enough to find Fran out of bed, I asked her what time it was and it was already 8AM!

That is what I call a result.

By the time we met up with Pam inside the park our RnRC FP was already in play.

This seems to have all worked out.

Fran wanted to go to the Think Geek store at the Florida Mall

Oh, I never saw this on our most recent visit to the Florida Mall. It looks like a store that I would love to browse in.

We were able to cram both scooters into Pam’s car and fit the three of us.

Wow, that is some impressive loading.

Straciatella.

I love this. It is so simple, yet so tasty.

On our way, we realized that Fran's battery was almost completely dead. We switched scooters to get there and once we were at the restaurant, we asked if we could bring in the battery to charge while we ate dinner. Luckily they had an out of the way back room and we got a small amount of charging while we ate.

Oh no. I am glad that you managed to charge it.

We decided to split a Tempura shrimp roll, since they are cooked, Fran can eat these.

They look delicious.

More dishes came up, and left, yet the poor Beef Lo Mein sat there, just waiting. It was under the warmer, but I kept hoping that it was not ours by this point. I would have said something to our server, if I saw him.

That is not very good.

We figured that all it needed was a full charge for the battery and everything would be fine. Right?

I am thinking probably not given the title of this trip report.

Corinna

 

[pooh'smate]

I think your trifecta of gelato choices sounds excellent.

 

[franandaj]

You slept in!!! Is this a first?

I do it at home all the time!

Who promptly texted back "I came early because you always wake up at 6am!"

I know Pam, she doesn't like to get up early unless she has to.

I forgot. What's that again?

One slice with peanut butter and another slice with a piece of pasteurized processed cheese food (microwaved for 10 seconds to melt it).

Jacket?

I know. I still haven't worn one yet this year. The night we went out with my parents over Thanksgiving I wore a wrap.

That's max time. 20 minutes, no?

Pretty much.

Looks like you guys were having fun!

We were!

Whooooo!!!! Go Alison!

Well, that sucks. Especially since there isn't one at DL.

I know, and we kept checking the app, it was down while we ate lunch too.

oooh.... sounds like my kinda store.

Check them out online. It's the place to go if you're looking for a Death Star wafflemaker or a phaser TV remote.

Holy Tetris!

I've gotten pretty good at loading the car!

Those look... puffy. In a good way.

They are sooooo delish!

Thank goodness you explained that!

And I did it just for you!

Gelato is good on a hot day.
Or a warm day.

Or a cold day.


Any day, really.

Truth.

ew. No.

I know, she got that last time too.

So it felt like home, then?

Well no. This was surface street congestion. I'm used to freeway congestion.

"No, I'm sorry. You can't charge it."
"Well, I guess we'll be here all night

Well no one would probably care until security cane around to do their final sweep of the place.

I love that! I love watching them cook.

You couldn't see a lot because the walls were kind of high, but you could see everything as it came up. I tried to guess what dishes were what as they came up.

Interesting!
I don't eat enough sushi to make that determination, I think.

You'd know if it was spoiled.

Oh. That's too bad. I promise to not have my phone out. Well.... maybe to take a picture of the food... but then it's put away.

Good! It will be nice to hold a conversation over dinner.

I'm surprised you didn't send it back.
But you did say it was still good

It was warm, but I like my food piping hot!

I doubt it.
I find that once a battery starts to go... it goes.

Actually not with the scooters. We replace the batteries annually, but scooters last 4-5 years.

"Only"!

Day after tomorrow it will be double digits!

 

[franandaj]

I’m glad Fran is feeling better, those symptoms sounded grisly there’s a nasty bug going around here, I got it for 2 weeks.

Ugh. She's on the mend, but it's been a week already.

All caught up! I did read along all the time, but somehow I never got to reply to your thread in quite some time. Sorry for that.

That's OK. You're a busy lady.

You actually slept in .... well, just a bit. 8am is not late

Not early either.

Awesome to spend the morning with Pam at the Studios. She is fun!

We had the whole day with her.

And wow! I would have never believed that you would be able to cram the scooters into the back of the car. That is perfect packing!

I've had practice.

We love that Disney outlet, even though the one at Lake Bryant is closer. We have bought a lot of GREAT stuff there, a whole collection of Disneyland's 60th, even before we were on our way to visit the CA parks.

Pam said we went to the closer one. Maybe I got them confused.

Food looks yummy at Morimoto. We only went there once and we both enjoyed the food, but if memory serves me right, we did have a little service snag as well.

The service was much better the second time around.

And the saga of the scooter continues ............ (I guess )

Ya think?

Happy new year to you both!

And Happy New Year to you and Tom!

 

[Pinkocto]

I know Pam, she doesn't like to get up early unless she has to.

You are so right

I know, and we kept checking the app, it was down while we ate lunch too.

Hopefully we’ll all be able to ride it together, later this year!

I know, she got that last time too.

You guys are too funny!

Ugh. She's on the mend, but it's been a week already.

Pam said we went to the closer one. Maybe I got them confused.

It was the larger store closer to Disney. I’d only ever been to the smaller one before so it was nice to see the differences.

 

[pkondz]

I do it at home all the time!

You were not at home.

I know Pam, she doesn't like to get up early unless she has to.

Okay!

One slice with peanut butter and another slice with a piece of pasteurized processed cheese food (microwaved for 10 seconds to melt it).

Ah!

My favourite is on a slice of toast, peanut butter and liquid honey over top.

I know. I still haven't worn one yet this year. The night we went out with my parents over Thanksgiving I wore a wrap.

I have worn a jacket this year.



And that's a wrap!

Check them out online. It's the place to go if you're looking for a Death Star wafflemaker or a phaser TV remote.

I have it open in another tab and will check it out in a few minutes.

I've gotten pretty good at loading the car!

I've noticed!

And I did it just for you!

For l'il ol' me?

Well no. This was surface street congestion. I'm used to freeway congestion.

Ah. So it didn't make you home sick.

Well no one would probably care until security cane around to do their final sweep of the place.

Then they'd walk up to you and you'd be all: "Hah! You have to push us!"

And they would. Right out the door, where they'd abandon you.



Alison sits alone in the dark. Unable to coax her scooter to life.

You couldn't see a lot because the walls were kind of high, but you could see everything as it came up.

Oh. Unfortunate.
Ask for a high chair next time.

You'd know if it was spoiled.

Well, yes. But I haven't had enough sushi to really know what's good.

Except once.

Went to a sushi place with a friend. I ordered something boring... probably California rolls. Or even teriyaki chicken.
It was okay.

But then the waiter brings us each one piece of nigiri.
He says "Compliments of the chef."
Holy crap that was amazing.

Good! It will be nice to hold a conversation over dinner.

That's what dinners are for. Otherwise you can just get the food to go.

Actually not with the scooters. We replace the batteries annually, but scooters last 4-5 years.

Ah.

Day after tomorrow it will be double digits!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Well we are down to one vacant apartment and it's the one that they were fixing up while we were gone!

Only one vacancy now? That's great!

With all the incentives that the are offering to get their numbers up, we might be able to get 0.00% financing on a spiffy new model of a Ford Escape. We'll see if that turns out.

Always fun to get a new car. Although I guess you won't be taking that one to any shows.

The lady in blue in the back...

Now that is a treat you can argue is healthy since there is an apple underneath the caramel!

I'm convinced!

I told Fran that I didn't need a poncho, I would just go fast and beat the rain.

Wow, you must be really fast.

She was calling me. She had gotten lost in the dark, her scooter had stalled and she had no idea where she was.

D'oh! Did you tell her she was in Epcot?

I ate the last of the spaghetti, some with butter and parmesan, and also had some with the rest of the sauce.

Breakfast of champions.

We were able to cram both scooters into Pam’s car and fit the three of us.

Wow, that's some next-level Tetris playing there.

After lunch we had lots of tasty choices for dessert, but we had been sitting in the sun, it wasn't a hot day, but gelato sounded really good.

Ice cream is always a good idea.

She ended up with two Jumbo sacks full of stuff and asked me to be proud of her restraint for all the things that she didn’t buy!

Traffic was horrible and it took almost an hour to go less than 5 miles.

Oh my goodness. I'd say drive the scooter down the shoulder, but it sounds like that wasn't a great option, either.

So when I saw a plate of what looked like Beef Lo Mein come up I was hopeful that would finally have all our food. And it sat there. Several other dishes came up and their servers snatched them away, but the poor lonely plate of Beef Lo Mein was left by itself.

More dishes came up, and left, yet the poor Beef Lo Mein sat there, just waiting. It was under the warmer, but I kept hoping that it was not ours by this point.

The downside of an open kitchen.

Eventually we switched scooters and I rode hers since I would use less battery power. I babied it home, never reaching full speed and was able to get it to the room with no further incident, and immediately put it on the charger. We figured that all it needed was a full charge for the battery and everything would be fine. Right?

Oh, sure! Nothing to worry about. Nothing to see here, move along.

 

[franandaj]

That was such a fun day!!!

It was nice having some time off property.

That gelato was magnificent. Next time I’ll remember to order my fish separately since it takes longer to make. I didn’t think about it since Fran was so generous and treated me to lunch.

No worries, we weren't in a hurry.

I did find 5 t-shirts at the mall when Fran came out with nothing. Also found some goodies at the Character Warehouse.

We did laugh about how Fran found nothing and you ended up with a bunch of stuff!

Dinner sounds delicious. Shame on that server though. Somebody else could have brought it over as well. Usually there’s a head server in charge of what comes ready.

Yeah, I don't know what happened with that.

Love reading your trip reports!

Thanks!

I am glad that Fran is feeling better.

She still has a horrible cough, though.

This seems to have all worked out.

Pretty much.

Oh, I never saw this on our most recent visit to the Florida Mall. It looks like a store that I would love to browse in.

They have really great stuff on their website. I gotten some neat dresses and T-shirts.

Wow, that is some impressive loading.

I've had practice!

I love this. It is so simple, yet so tasty.

This was the flavor I liked best when I was in Italy and first had gelato many years ago.

Oh no. I am glad that you managed to charge it.

Too bad it didn't seem to help much.

They look delicious.

It was!

That is not very good.

Nope.

I am thinking probably not given the title of this trip report.

Foreshadowing....

I think your trifecta of gelato choices sounds excellent.

Thanks! It was yummy!

 

[franandaj]

You are so right

You're always the one sleeping in on vacation while everyone else is hitting rope drop!

Hopefully we’ll all be able to ride it together, later this year!

Hopefully. The parks are going to be mobbed that weekend!

You guys are too funny!

I think you're one of the few here who actually likes coconut! And Brussel Sprouts!

It was the larger store closer to Disney. I’d only ever been to the smaller one before so it was nice to see the differences.

I think we had been to that store many many years ago when we rented a car for the week.

You were not at home.

And your point is....

Ah!

My favourite is on a slice of toast, peanut butter and liquid honey over top.

Well she buys the peanut butter that has honey mixed in with it. I have my own which is pure peanut butter.

I have worn a jacket this year.



And that's a wrap!

Bu, dum, chuck!

I have it open in another tab and will check it out in a few minutes.

So did you find anything?

For l'il ol' me?

I knew you'd make some sort of remark about the green tartar sauce.

Ah. So it didn't make you home sick.

Not at all.

Oh. Unfortunate.
Ask for a high chair next time.

so my feet can dangle?

Well, yes. But I haven't had enough sushi to really know what's good.

But you would know if it was really bad.

Except once.

Went to a sushi place with a friend. I ordered something boring... probably California rolls. Or even teriyaki chicken.
It was okay.

But then the waiter brings us each one piece of nigiri.
He says "Compliments of the chef."
Holy crap that was amazing.

If you could tell it was amazing, you could tell if it was good sushi!

That's what dinners are for. Otherwise you can just get the food to go.

Usually we go through the drive through. Or watch TV at home.

Only one vacancy now? That's great!

Well what would be great is no vacancies!

Always fun to get a new car. Although I guess you won't be taking that one to any shows.

And we missed the window on the new car. Fran got really sick and then the promotion ended.

The lady in blue in the back...

Everyone seems to like her!

Wow, you must be really fast.

Like the wind....

D'oh! Did you tell her she was in Epcot?

Yeah, somewhere near Epcot!

Breakfast of champions.

Spaghetti sounds good right now.

Wow, that's some next-level Tetris playing there.

I practice. A lot.

Ice cream is always a good idea.

Oh my goodness. I'd say drive the scooter down the shoulder, but it sounds like that wasn't a great option, either.

There weren't many options.

The downside of an open kitchen.

You get to see your food getting cold.

Oh, sure! Nothing to worry about. Nothing to see here, move along.

Move right along.....into the next update. dun, dun, dun!

 

[franandaj]

Day 6 - The Day The Scooter Hits The Fan!


Now really I could have titled this chapter something similar but perhaps not used the word “scooter” and substituted another word, but as you know this is a family board and language like that is frowned upon. Today started off like any other day in WDW, little did we expect what was to be in store for us today.


I woke up at 6:30. Fran had been up half the night listing pins and stuff (that she purchased the previous day at Character Warehouse) on eBay. I prepped our breakfast and then took another tub. After that I popped the muffins in the oven, started coffee, and began to fry the bacon. I scrambled some eggs, and voila breakfast! No pictures though.

We had a little time to kill before we had to leave so I posted an update of bonus features on the previous TR that I had nearly completed before we left home.

We left the room around 10AM and miracle of miracles only waited about 5 minutes before an Epcot bus showed up. Good thing too because it was 56° out that morning! Not something you expect in Florida in October!

Today was the first day we arrived in Epcot without having to rush off to a lunch, FP or something so we took a picture at the sign.

Our first stop at Epcot was Mouse Gears. Evidently we weren't the only ones looking for warm clothes as they had a rack of heavy jackets freestanding in the women's department and I found one right away which fit the bill perfectly. Fran got another sweatshirt and a Figment hat to keep her head warm.

Then we went outside to take a few PP pics.

That morning @chunkymonkey and her DH were flying in for the weekend. Their plan was to head directly to Epcot after dropping off their bags at their resort. We had been texting and planned to meet up that morning. While we were in line for some of the pictures we met up with them. Fran and I took a few.

Then we all got in on the fun!

We walked along together to the International Gateway and took a couple more pictures and then parted ways. They wanted a Margarita and we were heading towards France.

Unbeknownst to us, this would be the last picture of Fran in her scooter.

We looked through one of the shops and I got a festival T-shirt and then we stopped in Canada for cheddar cheese soup. I can't believe this was our first kiosk of the trip!

Oh and we got the Ice Wine too!

We strolled along through Canada and over to the UK where we used the facilities. As we moved on we were rolling along past the Rose and Crown and konk! Fran's scooter stopped. So we switched scooters and I rode about six feet.

Konk!

Hit reset. Six feet.

Konk!

Hit reset. Hit reset. Hit reset. Click. OK I heard it this time. Three feet.

Konk!

At that point it was getting closer to our reservation at Spice Road Table, so we decided to just park the scoot and come back to get it. Obviously it was going to have problems going over the hill between the UK and France. We got it to limp to the entrance to the bar near Rose & Crown and took all our valuables and parked it.

When we got to France we needed a drink, so she got a Grand Marnier Slush and I got a Gray Goose slushie.

Then we went to see if there was any new Marie merchandise in the store, but there wasn't anything I couldn't live without. It was 20 minutes until our lunch so we decided to head towards Morocco and then we bumped into @chunkymonkey and her DH again.

No pics this time.

When we got to Spice Road Table they started us off with a glass of champagne.

We waited in the bar/entry area until they were ready to seat us.

When we were seated it turns out the woman next to me recognized us from the DIS! Her name was Martha and she was visiting from NJ.

Fran started looking for a rental scooter and while she was on the phone reserving it, the presentation started.

Since she can’t get up easily, I took her phone into the entry/bar area to finish the call. She was trying to be discreet and was talking on the phone with her hand cupped over the mouthpiece end. I didn’t want her to be “that person on a phone” and it was good I took the call out to the foyer where I could talk freely because the guy on the other end got our CC billing address wrong and I had to correct him. Turns out that wasn't all he got wrong…. Once we were all set for a 4PM delivery at SSR, I went back in to enjoy the luncheon and the wine!

The menu was pretty much identical to the one they served last year, but I was OK with that as it was fantastic! Martha did not eat seafood, so for the first course she was served hummus fries.

I was plenty pleased with mine. The shrimp was delicious!

The second course was a spicy tuna with eggplant, zucchini, capers and basil oil. While I was on the phone with the scooter rental company, she ordered me an eggplant free tuna (last year I chanced it and didn't taste any eggplant) but she said with everything that has gone wrong this trip, she didn't want to chance it.

Since Martha wasn't eating seafood, they substituted stuffed grape leaves for this course.

This was the dish as it was intended to be served.

This was my portion, they left off the “salad" part.

It was very good! The wine was a temperanillo but without the skin contact on the rose.

We had a nice view out the window during lunch. We lucked out at both this and the Tequila lunch.

Martha's guest was a Pescetarian, so she had a substitution for the thrid course. She was served fried calamari.

Next we were served lamb chops with saffron rice and I couldn't tell if the veggie was cucumber or zucchini. Either way it was good.

The wine was also a temperanillo, but this time the wine spent more time with the skins, hence the rich color. I had to take one chop home as well as some of the rice and veggie.

We were served a nice Muscat with dessert.

Then we had baklava three ways. The long skinny one was almond, there was a pistachio square and a traditional walnut. That last one was my favorite, it tasted like it had cinnamon in it but the chef swore that it did not, only honey and sugar.

As soon as the event was over we darted out of there. However not before stopping at the France kiosk for another slushie.

[Continued in Post after Next]

 

[pkondz]

And your point is....

Point?
I have to have a point?


I'm sorry, but that's just never going to happen!

Well she buys the peanut butter that has honey mixed in with it.

This exists????

Never knew.
Don't think I'd do it anyways.

Bu, dum, chuck!

So did you find anything?

Nope!
I did look. But I have to be in the right frame of mind.
"You know what I want right now? A shirt with a Porg on it."

I knew you'd make some sort of remark about the green tartar sauce.

Wha?
Me?????

I would nev......




Yeah... Okay. Point taken.

so my feet can dangle?

I'd pay to see that.

But you would know if it was really bad.

Well.... yes.

If you could tell it was amazing, you could tell if it was good sushi!

Good point!

I'm a sushi expert!! Alison says so!

Usually we go through the drive through. Or watch TV at home.

Story of my life.

Well what would be great is no vacancies!

Any luck? Updates?

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

During lunch we decided to try and get the scooter to the Beach Club and get some sort of transport from there rather than trying to get back to the front of Epcot. The scooter was right where we left it before lunch and part of us were a little disappointed. Then again there was a bag on the back we wanted to keep, plus a bar under the seat (which makes it easy to attach to the scooter lift on the back of the car) that we also wanted to keep. It seemed to be working a tad bit better and got about ⅓ the way up the hill before it konked out again, and spilled some of my slushie on my knee. The scooter limped along (so to speak) and just before we exited the park, we were told we couldn't take the drink, so we chugged it and pushed forward. It was this point that we realized that we wouldn't make the 4PM meet up to get the new scooter, so we called and postponed it until 5PM.

Luckily the last time we stayed at the Beach Club we learned of a path that bypassed the large hill and we took that. There was a slight hill at the end and that's when everything went totally south. You see we had tried on several occasions to put the scooter in neutral and just push it, but for whatever reason it still seemed to be in gear. It never freewheeled as it should have when not in gear, so easily pushing it wasn't an option. In fact it was somewhere around this point that we realized that one of the back wheels wasn't even spinning any more. So now, instead of just walking the scooter along, I was walking it while leaning it onto one side so that it was two-wheeling it. After much difficulty we got it out to the port cochere and the valet/Bellman called us a cab.

We broke down both scooters into the back of the van and rode back to SSR. Going back to the room, the wheels turned enough that I didn't have to tip the scooter onto two wheels. Here it is back in the room, and you can see the tread has been worn off the wheel from me pushing it when it wouldn't spin.

It was quarter to 5 so we parked the dead scooter in the room and then made our way to the front of the hotel. We were right on time, and by 5:15 Fran was commenting that they were late. At 5:25, I called the scooter company, and while I was on my phone they called on Fran's phone. She told them we were sitting out front.

A few minutes later they called back, she handed me the phone and said, “you talk to them”. It turns out the driver had been sent to someplace called “Saralago” and not our hotel. So another 20 minutes goes by before we finally see the scooter. At that point I wanted a “drink” drink, so we went to the Turf Club bar. Fran noticed they had mushroom soup so she ordered a cup.

I had a Belvedere martini with a twist of lemon.

She had a Margarita.

While we were waiting for or we were in the cab or whenever we deduced that the scooter got messed up when it fell from the lift (for those who didn’t follow along on the real life updates in the last TR, you can read about that here)

The Last Trip: An (Eastern) Fantasy Food Adventure-And we're home! Return of D'land Ltd RR 10/30

While we didn’t notice any problems initially, something probably got out of whack and as Fran rode on the scooter, it must have just gotten farther and farther out of alignment until it just wouldn’t work anymore. We had decided to leave the scooter in Florida but there were still a few parts of the scooter that we wanted to keep.

After our drinks, we went back to the room and tried to watch the movie Avatar. You can't connect your own DVD player to a Disney TV as it won't recognize the input, so “two technicians and a trip to community hall to rent a non Blu-ray version” later we were watching the movie.

While watching, I finally got hungry and I heated up our leftovers from the day before. We had the spare ribs and some beef lo Mein. I also had a shaomai. Fran was still hungry after the leftover Chinese, so I made her a bacon sandwich with some of the bacon we had left from breakfast.

Once the movie was over I wanted to take a bath, but I had started a load of white laundry and I added the towels to make it a little larger, with our own clothes I barely had a quarter or a load. Unfortunately they weren't dry yet and I was so tired from pushing the stupid scooter around I just went to bed.

 

[pkondz]

The Day The Scooter Hits The Fan!

uh, oh...

Now really I could have titled this chapter something similar but perhaps not used the word “scooter” and substituted another word, but as you know this is a family board and language like that is frowned upon.

The day the Disney Dragster Hits the Fan!

I really don't see what's wrong with that?

little did we expect what was to be in store for us today.

Dun dun dunnnnnn!!!!!

I prepped our breakfast and then took another tub.

Where did you take it? How did you get it out of the bathroom?

After that I popped the muffins in the oven,

Is this a euphemism?
OMG! Congrats!!!!

voila breakfast! No pictures though.

Meh. Pictures aren't that tasty anyway.
I usually skip pictures for breakfast.

Good thing too because it was 56° out that morning! Not something you expect in Florida in October!

How about now?

Look at those smiles!

Little did you know what was in store....

Nice one!

Hey! I know those people!

They wanted a Margarita and we were heading towards France.

France? What is that?
Don't you mean Grey Goose slush land?

Unbeknownst to us, this would be the last picture of Fran in her scooter.

Here it comes.......

we stopped in Canada for cheddar cheese soup. I can't believe this was our first kiosk of the trip!

Why?

Oh and we got the Ice Wine too!

How did you like it?
Want another?

Konk!

Hit reset. Six feet.

Konk!

Hit reset. Hit reset. Hit reset. Click. OK I heard it this time. Three feet.

Konk!

oy.

Not good.

When we got to France we needed a drink, so she got a Grand Marnier Slush and I got a Gray Goose slushie.

See????

we bumped into @chunkymonkey and her DH again.

Who got knocked down? I'm betting it was her.

When we were seated it turns out the woman next to me recognized us from the DIS! Her name was Martha and she was visiting from NJ.

Cool!
I've never had that happen.
Probably never will.

Since she can’t get up easily, I took her phone into the entry/bar area to finish the call. She was trying to be discreet and was talking on the phone with her hand cupped over the mouthpiece end. I didn’t want her to be “that person on a phone”

I get that.
Kinda bad timing, but.... I get it.

the guy on the other end got our CC billing address wrong and I had to correct him. Turns out that wasn't all he got wrong….

Uh, oh.....

mmmm!!!! Want!

Since Martha wasn't eating seafood, they substituted stuffed grape leaves for this course.

That looks really interesting.
I wonder what the stuffing was.

Dang that looks good.

The wine was a temperanillo but without the skin contact on the rose.

Ah yes. Quite right.
(He says knowingly as he chugs his Coke)

I had to take one chop home as well as some of the rice and veggie.

Because now they were your friends?

Then we had baklava three ways. The long skinny one was almond, there was a pistachio square and a traditional walnut.

Huh! I had no idea there was more than one way to make baklava.

As soon as the event was over we darted out of there. However not before stopping at the France kiosk for another slushie.

Man those things are good.

The scooter was right where we left it before lunch and part of us were a little disappointed.

spilled some of my slushie on my knee

Nooooo!!!!!

and just before we exited the park, we were told we couldn't take the drink

Had the same issue when I was there with Kay.

So now, instead of just walking the scooter along, I was walking it while leaning it onto one side so that it was two-wheeling it.

Oh, man....

We broke down both scooters into the back of the van and rode back to SSR.

When you say "we"... you mean "you".

Here it is back in the room, and you can see the tread has been worn off the wheel from me pushing it when it wouldn't spin.

Holy smokes. It was really stuck... and.... you must've been just wiped out after that.

A few minutes later they called back, she handed me the phone and said, “you talk to them”. It turns out the driver had been sent to someplace called “Saralago” and not our hotel. So another 20 minutes goes by before we finally see the scooter.

Saralago. Of course. Been there many a time. I can see why there'd be some confusion.

That looks soooo good.

While we were waiting for or we were in the cab or whenever we deduced that the scooter got messed up when it fell from the lift

Ah!

we went back to the room and tried to watch the movie Avatar.

First time?

You can't connect your own DVD player to a Disney TV as it won't recognize the input

Really? Odd.

I also had a shaomai

A what?

I was so tired from pushing the stupid scooter around I just went to bed.

I can imagine.
I can also imagine you are going to be sore the next morning.