περιπλάνηση

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I woke up Tuesday morning, thinking about how much time we would have to waste in the evening staking out a spot for World of Color, and decided that since we'd only eaten at one table service restaurant the whole vacation, it was time to do something spontaneous.

I called the dining line at 10:00 asking about lunch seating for that day and they had an 11:50 open.

The restaurant is designed as a smaller scale replica of the Carthay Circle Theater on San Vicente Blvd in LA during the golden age of Hollywood. It opened its doors in 1926 and hosted the world premier showing of the very first movie-length animated feature film, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (as well as Gone with the Wind). It was demolished in 1969.

Some pictures:

The exterior with neon sign, like its namesake.

The interior lounge area. Stairs to the left lead to the dining room.

We were seated in the center of the room. The mural was painted in the style of the backgrounds of Snow White. The chandeliers had an iron heart hanging from the center.

The pattern in the wood of the table hides the Evil Queen's silhouette.

I should have ordered what Samantha chose. It is a Udon Noodle Bowl, with red Thai curry broth, shrimp, and mussels, shitake mushrooms, bok choy, diakon, mint, cashews and fresh coriander. $19

Instead, I went for the Angus Burger with Tillamook Cheddar, black pepper bacon, grilled onions, and house made pickles. It was the pickles that tricked me. Two very lame burger slices that were not particularly tasty or crunchy. $22 (Bob got the same)

To get the preferred seating passes into World of Color, everyone must not only order an entree, but also a dessert or an appetizer. In hindsight, probably should have tried some of the appetizers. The desserts run $12-$15 each and are.... tiny.

This is Bob's face when he realized this was the Fried Banana Split Monte Cristo Sundae. $15

I loved the flavor of mine, just not the portion. This is the Toasted Lemon Pound Cake with marinated blueberries, lemon curb cream, and tahitian vanilla chantilly. $12

This is Samantha's Simple Scoop of Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. The "chocolate cookie croutons" are, for us mortal folk, brownies. $12

The walls were filled with great old memorabilia of the theater's heyday and of vintage Disney photographs.

Overall, after discovering entry in to the "preferred" area landed up directly behind a very large light pole, although we did have a spot along the upper rail, we still couldn't see the surface of the water and had to camp out an hour ahead of time here anyway, I'd probably not do this one again. Seeing the interior of the place and dining here was nice, but not worth the $150 tab once you added in drinks and tip.

10-25-12 Fall-ing

Falling fast

Thursday morning 10/18/12

Thursday morning 10/25/12

The tree had not even turned golden when we left Saturday and was almost totally turned five days later. The leaves were gone, save a few staunch hold-outs you can see see peeking through the snow covered branches this morning.

Monday, October 22, 2012

10-22-12 Howard Johnson Disneyland Review

So one of the big things about trying out Disneyland instead of our usual Disney World is that you have much more competition for hotel rates since Disney does not own miles and miles of property around its parks.

We joked that the walk from the HoJo to the front gate was about the length of several of our walks from the resort bus stop to our rooms at WDW.

When we first started going to WDW, in 2000, we scored the best room rate ever, which was about $144.00 a night for a top of the line view at the Wilderness Lodge under a state-employee discount rate they discontinued the next year. To stay in that room on those dates this December, the cost is $537.00 a night not including the 12.5% tax. Even with an amazing discount, that's highway robbery for a room that is 340 square feet.

So the idea that we could snag a bigger room, less than a 10 minute walk away from the front gates, for $135.00 a night was pretty appealing. Add to that air fare being cheaper to California than to Florida and it was Disney on the cheap (relatively.)

The room with two amazingly comfortable queen beds, flat screen, fridge, etc. with private balcony.

View from said private balcony at night.

And the Matterhorn peeked in the window in the mornings from the bathroom mirror.

A few downsides:
1. The internet connection was LOUSY
2. There weren't enough accessible plugs for laptops, camera batteries, and cell phones
3. My personal pet peeve: no creamer. And they charged .35 cents each for the tiny little single servings in the shop. Better than the sunscreen we forgot. That ran us more than $20! We started comparing costs of things in sunblock -- breakfast at IHop for all three of us was than than 2 sunblocks, etc.

But overall, great room, great location, clean, with very friendly service. We'd stay here again. We'd just remember the sunscreen, creamer, and power strip next time.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

10-21-12 Thanksgiving practice

So, we're back from the Disney trip, which was the requirement before I would start talking about Thanksgiving, and here we are.

We've made the move back to butter and whole milk, as well as organic and cage-free eggs. I keep wishing I lived on a farm where I could have my own chickens and milk cow, but alas, this is as good as it gets for now.

In the vein of more natural, we've also been trying to get away from meals with so many ingredients, especially preservatives, so I was keen to try a few recipes that didn't rely on so many canned goods for the Thanksgiving feast.

Tonight we did a trial run of a green bean casserole and a sweet potato bake. Both will be making the cut for the big turkey dinner.

The sweet potato dish was so good. Canned sweet potatoes have had almost every nutrient killed during their processing, with additional preservatives pumped into them to keep them from "turning".
Yechhhh. Don't get me started on the marshmallows typically plopped on top with their gelatin and corn syrup. It was time for something a little fresher.

One big sweet potato, peeled, cut, and boiled to soften, whipped with cream, butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnammon, nutmeg, topped with a brown sugar, butter, and flour mixture made the most amazing dish. It was so simple and so.freaking.good.

The green beans were fresh, so I'm still learning how long to cook them. Tonight's trial run they were still a little crunchier than I wanted, but honestly, look at a can of green beans and compare it to this:

And instead of a can of mushroom soup, a cream sauce that was really delectable: butter, milk, flour, with bacon, garlic, and onion sauteed and mixed in with sharp cheddar. You could make one heck of a soup out of this stuff.

So, add a turkey breast and voila -- Thanksgiving practice #1 gets a grade of B, for too crunchy beans and, obviously, not having any of Dad's spiced apples!

10-21-12 Vintage Walt Disney World

From the out-of-print Walt Disney World: The First Decade

Roy O. Disney, dedicating Walt Disney World on opening day.

The first family to ever enter Disney World on Opening Day October 1, 1971: The Windsors

One thousand and seventy-six instruments are in the band led by "Music Man" Meredith Willson as part of the Grand Opening parade. And yes, there are 76 trombones leading the big parade.

Over 5000 performers and 500 doves join in the Grand Opening celebtration and dedication ceremonies, October 25, 1971

The Central Hub, with so many trees

Christmas at the Magic Kingdom, including fireworks from Bay Lake and the Candlelight Processional creating the living Christmas Tree at the Railroad Station. "The Night Before Christmas" was read by such celebrities as Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and Perry Como.