Food, Wine, Hot weather, and TL at Night.

[Mtsplash]

Last January I was at WDW, when I decided to change my photography aproach while at a Disney Park. In the past, (especially after I got a new camera) I would take as many pictures as possible. I would take pictures of pretty much anything I laid eyes on. One thing I seamed to lack was pictures of people (you know, a nice portrait in front of the castle). So it came to pass that in January, I started my strategic photography system, which lowers quantity, and raises quality. My first TR in this style can be found here.

~This trip took place October 25th - October 30th 2009~

The first three pics are actually NOT DISNEY! duh duh duh....
They are my phone camera's feeble attempt to document a local event called the Haunted Woods Trail. Though it is claimed to be in the woods, it is actually on a grassy knoll and the town ice rink.... woot Nearly four thousand people came and lined up to walk the trail with their kids. The kids were handed candy from local businesses. It doubles as a food shelf, and last year it received one thousand pounds of donations.


About halfway through the trail, I, in a state of jealousy towards the candy filled children, rationalized that Great Clips was not a "local" business, and that I would ask for candy. Upon doing so, the candy giver said (and I quote!) "NO!, but you can have a coupon 'cause you need a haircut" . ......I was very offended.



But later on on the trail, my sanity was saved by the Caribou Coffee booth, which was handing out free coffee!!!!!!

At another booth, I had enough courage again to ask for candy
This time, the kind individual handing it out said that candy is for big kids too!!!!



BTW this event happens the weekend before Halloween. It also happened the day before we left for WDW.

Speaking of leaving for WDW, here is a picture of the plane that would take us there. It's a 757-300.


And here is the most exciting part of the flight.... the beverage cart!


They also gave us "complimentary gourmet" cookies.


We were very excited...


Before the cart made it's rounds, they announced the selection of soft beverages they would serve. When they mentioned Tea, I suddenly begot a craving for some. When I ordered it, the flight attendant (FA) said "I can check, but I don't think we have any. It's about once in every hundred flights that someone actually asks for tea!" She then checked but couldn't find any. Later, after the cart had gone through, a different FA came walking down the aisle with a cup, and sure enough, there was a tea bag in it!

Yummm...


After that excitment, my mom and I played Pinochle, and drank coffee.


It wasn't really a red eye flight per se, but with delays we arrived in Orlando at about 12:30 AM


Let's kick things off with a hidden mickey!!


Our room was at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa




We didn't rent a car this time, because of the huge hassle that causes.
With a rented car you need to..

Spend more time at the Airport,
Go to the gas station...ewww
Drive to the parking lot
park
walk to the tram
wait for the tram
get on the tram
the tram stops to pick up more people
get off the tram
wait for the monorail
get on the monorail
get off the monorail
then repeat in reverse at the end of the night when you're way to tired.

OR

Take the free bus, and sip coffee on the way.


It takes you right up front








It's me! (In an awesome tee!)


Now is the time when you make a mental note about the fact that I took a random picture of the mayor.








That's an awesome shirt!


One problem with being a photographer, is that you are never happy with pictures people take of yourself. This one isn't bad, but it reminds of that.






Lizard!


The buzzer is going off!! That means it's time to eat at the Plaza Restaurant.


Remember when I told you to make a mental not about the mayor?

Well..

He randomly walked in and got everyone's attention. He then told them that we (yes we) were the 100th guest of the Plaza that day, and that we would get free desert!





Patiently awaiting desert.


We split a banana split




This was tailing behind one of the many colorful characters on Main Street




I love this sun, but it goes to fast in WDW. In DL it's just right.


The Princess Tianna's Showboat thing was happening.






Something tells me this movie is going to be amazing!






We saw the new HOP show with Obama. It was really good. I think it flows better now, and it's very awesome when you just see old Abe.

I have to say though, this new show makes it pretty clear which way the Disney CO leans politically.

We did the Halloween Party that night.




CANDY!








That's it for the time being, BUT STAY TUNED!

I'm hungry, so I'll post this, eat a snack, and then post the other 27 pics.

[aimster]

Nice shots! Yay for the Mayor! He is the sweetest guy. I got my pic with him last year.

[Mtsplash]

PART II

It was a four day park, but I only brought my camera in for two of the days. The reason for this is that it is large, I worry about bringing it on attractions (i e RRC, EE, SM, Splash..) , and it gets tangled in the strap for my pin book.

But anyway, I will start this section as we started each day of out magical trip... With a hearty Sausage and Eggs breakfast.


We ordered the grocerys ahead of time from the resort, and they were in our room when we got there! It was really easy. The only two bad things are that they didn't have the apples we asked for (for which they substituted grapefuit), and it was rather expensive. 5 bucks for a box a pop tarts!

I love coffee....


So does my mom.


Fast Forward to more eating! (It was a day at Epcot..... Which really is a great place for food)

We had lunch at Teppan Edo. That's the place where they grill your food right in front of you.




Can you find the hidden mickey?


I got Green tea

I love tea almost as much as coffee.

I ate the entire meal with chop sticks, and this was the only food I dropped.


Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce in Germany!


The Food and Wine festival was happening, which I've decided is amazing. This was the first time I had ever participated in it, and I was astounded. The Lobster and Scallop Pie from Ireland was great, but the cheese plate with apple chutney from Ireland was divine! (Mouth waters...)


Gotta get all that vanilla sauce..




I ate a lot that day. Not pictured is me eating chocolate in germany, a Napolean in France, some other pastry in France that I can not pronounce, Lobster Pie, and Cheese. Below you see me eating Kringla from Norway







I do sincerely apologize for the extremely high ISO on the next two photographs. It was after a failed attempt to take a picture in a dark place. After forgetting to turn the ISO back down, I took these pics.




Moroccan Mint Tea.


I'm not sure what kind of food that is...


We got our own EMV for Dinosaur.


We bittersweetly took the magical express back to the airport.


Can anyone guess what kind of plane this is?








Answer: Boeing 757-200

There's Ozewvski in that bag.




I got more Tea!


We were flying along... nice and sunny up above the clouds.... then we started our final descent into Atlanta (where we had a layover). We landed in this foul weather.


This picture was taken from the MD-88 we took from Atlanta to Minneapolis St-Paul. It is also a picture of the 757 we were just on from Orlando.


>something I forgot to mention was that I saw a cockroach in Epcot! We don't have these in MN, so this was very exciting to me...

Well... that's it I guess... I hope you found some enjoyment in this... and see you next time on!.....the...something....show....

[danyoung]

Nice pics - thanks for posting.

[Mtsplash]

Thank you!

[DisneyIPresume]

Nice pictures and a very fun trip! Ok. Now you have to start coming back to the place where it all started!

Oh and don't drink so much coffee. It stunts your growth!

[Mtsplash]

Originally Posted by DisneyIPresume

Nice pictures and a very fun trip! Ok. Now you have to start coming back to the place where it all started!

Oh and don't drink so much coffee. It stunts your growth!

Thank you, and we will! I promise, but it might be a year from now....


Also, I am 6' 3''. So, either I'm living proof that it doesn't stunt your growth, or it's really good thing it DID stunt my growth!

[Disney1978]

It looks like you had a great time with your parents (which is not always easy to do). Great pictures and thanks for making me really hungry now. I am craving apple strudel and tea now. I guess that is a good thing.

[SplashMoun10]

Great trip report and photo update. I am really craving another WDW trip now. Looks like you guys had plenty of fun. And, those shirts are pretty cool.

[Mtsplash]

Originally Posted by Disney1978

It looks like you had a great time with your parents (which is not always easy to do). Great pictures and thanks for making me really hungry now. I am craving apple strudel and tea now. I guess that is a good thing.

LOL, my parents are pretty cool. They're not exactly..."conventional"...

Sorry I made ya hungry.. Just be glad I didn't take any pictures of the 2 French pastries I had! ...Or the Wetzel's Pretzel.... or the German chocolate... or the angus chuck burger.

Originally Posted by SplashMoun10

Great trip report and photo update. I am really craving another WDW trip now. Looks like you guys had plenty of fun. And, those shirts are pretty cool.

Thanks about the shirts man!
I love finding cool shirts like that. We got those outside the HM at Madam Liota's Cart. I have a whole droor dedicated to Disney clothing.

[Juliestrip7]

Great pictures! Very much enjoyed these! I bet you guys would be a hoot to go to WDW with!

[DLRP_bopazot]

Delta 757 in MCO !

American Air Carriers are changing their Aircrafts by adding new Blended Winglets . Then the 757 with winglets can fly from New York JFK to Europe . This save on Fuel .

New Delta 757 with Winglets !
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviatio.../7/1600789.jpg

[Mtsplash]

Originally Posted by DLRP_bopazot

Delta 757 in MCO !

American Air Carriers are changing their Aircrafts by adding new Blended Winglets . Then the 757 with winglets can fly from New York JFK to Europe . This save on Fuel .

New Delta 757 with Winglets !
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviatio.../7/1600789.jpg

That's pretty cool! The 757 is such a beautiful aircraft.

My guess is though, that Delta will replace their intercontinentally traveling 757s with the 787s Northwest ordered. I wouldn't want to be stuck in a narrow body all the way to Europe!

[seenoevil]

Great pics! I'm 28 days from my next trip to WDW! I would have like to see the "before" pic of that banana split!

[Mtsplash]

Originally Posted by seenoevil

Great pics! I'm 28 days from my next trip to WDW! I would have like to see the "before" pic of that banana split!

Yea, I suppose I should have taken a picture before we devoured it, but we were too excited to eat it! lol..

Have fun on your trip! You might have already made plans for this, but I recommend not renting a car. It's a lot cheaper and easier.