June 2009 Visit.

2009 Pin-tiquties - Wife's Birthday  - Our 38th Anniversary

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge during this visit arriving in late afternoon by Taxi from the Airport. We never use the Disney transportation Bus to our resort, just do not want to wait. After a minor change to our assigned room we began our Disney Visit. We always request a room close to the bus stop, food, the 911 Defibrillator and smoking for the wife. We prefer to be in the building facing the parking lot as it is the closest to the buses and resort store - This time we had a room on the back side of the pool which was only a couple hundred more feet. The room was on the bottom floor, clean and with all the stuff you come to expect at a Disney Resort. For those of you who have not recently visited the Animal Kingdom Lodge, they now have two bus stops.

Because our plane was a bit late we had to rush to be in time for our dinner reservation at the new Animal Kingdom restaurant the "Sanaa". Both my wife and I were excited to eat at the new African- Indian cuisine being offered at the new Disney Resort themed restaurant. You can imagine our disappointment when the heavy smell of chemicals and turpentine hit us as we walked down the stairs towards Sanaa's reservation desk. (My wife is very sensitive to chemical smells, however it is extremely rare for them to bother me.) Immediately when the  chemical fog hit us we both experienced light headiness and nausea. When we the brought the smell to the staffs attention, the Reservation desk Cast members said "They smelled something and had been wondering where the smell was coming from".

When our waitress arrived she too stated that the smell was really heavy the past 20 minutes and bothering the staff.  Both my wife and I started feeling more light headed, dizzy and she more nauseous. At which time a male manager came to our table with our menus we presume to apologize for the smell. He stated: I understand you can smell the odor. We just discovered they are painting in the garage and asked maintenance to stop. Because it was making the cast members ill as well. That was it - "Oh yea we smell it too and it is making us sick!" At this point my wife had to have fresh air and stated she  had to leave.  The manager simply snatched up the menus and walked off.  No sorry we made you sick - come back to have a drink, appetizer or meal on me. Once we got in outside into the fresh air we both started to feel better and with in 15 to 20 minutes we were both back to normal.  We grabbed a quick meal at the Resorts food court and after my wife felt better headed to Downtown Disney to check out the new pins.

This was a very hot and wet visit to Disney World , however we really didn't notice as most of our time was spent indoors at the 2009 Pin-Tiquties Convention in the Epcot Park. This being our 1st Pin Event we had no clue what to expect. In fact prior to this event I had no real interest in Disney Trading Pins and absolutely no idea how big Disney Pin Trading is as a hobby and kitchen table business. I was amazed at the enthusiasm and intensity of the Disney Pin crowd at this event. Although we attended this event for my wife and I was really bored at first, I got into the fun after a short time. I stood in every line with my wife to trade two Pins off the boards with absolutely no clue what I was looking for on the board. So my uneducated strategy was to pick Pins that had depth to them from 3D layers. With not knowing what I was doing at the time I found 6 Limited Edition's and 3 Artist Proofs. The most fun for me was watching the people and attempting to get a full set of the "Coins" with purchasing 6 random packages and making trades. My wife harvested numerous limited Editions and 3 Artist Proofs from the trading boards. We were lucky enough to pe number 1 and two on three of the new boards that they brought out every 1/2 hour.

The second night we waited on our bus as we planned to go to the Magic Kingdom. After only a four or five minute wait we could see the bus for the Magic Kingdom pull up to the outer gate of the Resort and stop as the gate would not open. We are not sure what happened, however for some reason the bus could not go forward so he backed up on to the road divider and killed the bus. The short of it after 40 minutes we all walked out to the road to board buses for our desired Parks. Just another Magical experience at Disney World that had gotten some people very upset. Where as we just take it in stride because we are not in a hurry to be anywhere. My wife and I will swear that Disney finds out which Park we want to go to for the day and delays just those busses as well as the return busses to our Resort. If we stay at the Animal Kingdom then all the other resorts will have 3 busses arrive before we get one. We know it is not true, however it is a running joke for us. My wife and I were able to join other Annual Passholders to preview the new Hall of Presidents attraction. They made some nice changes to the program, continuing with honoring our Country and Presidents. We both are of the opinion that they could have done a better job on President Obama's face, it appears to us as pinched and too small. It is still one of my favorite exhibits.

3rd Night - There were no reservations to be had at the 'Ohana restaurant in the Poly resort - We had a 6:30pm reservation at the Kona Cafe. While waiting for our sitting I walked over to the 'Ohana reservation desk and jokingly offered to trade a 6:30pm Kona reservation for any time that night at the 'Ohana. The desk was staffed by a young man and young lady who said she didn't believe they could do that. The young man said to wait a second and after typing on the computer he said that he would make that trade. We not only got to eat at the 'Ohana we were seated almost immediately. The table was at the window with a perfect view of the Castle - Magical Night was had by all. Food was hot and plentiful starting with their signature Welcome Bread and ending with they dessert specialty that we had to pass - just wasn't any room. The appetizers of Honey-coriander chicken wings and pork dumplings arrive shortly after the light salad followed by the never ending Grilled Turkey, Pork Loin, Steak and shrimp. (I love shrimp, however it was peel and eat so after the legs freak me out, I know - Wimp.) Included in the meal is Lo mein Noodles tossed in Teriyaki sauce with fresh veggies. The 'Ohana is a great place for a good meal especially if you like mass quantities and flavors.
 

When asked about the food at Disney I always say " You do not go to Disney for fine cuisine". The food at Disney is usually acceptable, even the fast food burgers that once you find a place to seat is tastes like a lukewarm streams meat by-product patty. At most the fast food (Stand-up meal) stands the best tasting meals are usually the Kids meals and if you are not on the dining plan much more affordable. We have found that their is no consistency in the quality of the food served the Disney guests from visit to visit. For example: The fish and chips stand up in England was great during our May visit. The fish and chips both had been freshly deep fried to a crispy outside texture and flaky interior . However during our June visit the fish was soggy and the white fish had an over abundance of the nasty black scaly looking stuff inside (Just a thing I have about it, grosses me out).

Epcot's Le Chefs in France one visit the Filet de boeuf grille (Grilled Beef Tenderloin) is great one visit, then underdone and chewy the next. We did see something new at Le Chef's - A waiter came around with a food cart with a covered dish. He stopped by our table and lifted the cover to reveal an animated Fuzzy little Rat with a Chefs hat. Very Cute. This was one of those moments when my wife and I wished that we had the Grand Daughters with us.

The Margaritas at the stand in front of Mexico in Epcot are always cold and tasty. They are a perfect compliment to the stand up meal at the Cantina de San Angel also in Mexico at Epcot. You also must not forget to have a funnel cake from the Kisok in front of Liberty Inn or pastry from the Boulangerie Patisserie at Epcot's France. If you time it right you can enjoy a street performance in front of Le Chef's while enjoying your French pastry.

Although I may be the only German American who does not drink beer. It is a must that we eat at least one meal at the Biergarten. It is all you can eat of many German and Bavarian foods while enjoying the German band.

As a side note - Even if you are on the dining plan and you do not feel your meal is unacceptable because it is cold, over or under cooked or simply just gross. Send it back and request that you are not charged for your meal. It may be Disney, however you are still a consumer who deserves the goods you ordered to be as advertised and palatable.

Best thing I ate on this trip was a simple dessert found in the food court at the Animal Kingdom. I believe they called them "Zebra Cakes?". They are four small round pastries with a smooth rum after taste priced at $2.69 or you can use one of your snacks from the Dining plan. (Choose your snacks carefully to get the most out of your dining plan's snack option. Pick the snacks that give you greater value, for example do not choose a single serving bag of Cheetos, instead pick the Disney cakes, Mickey Mouse rice crispy ears, Cotton Candy etc.)

June Trip: Eventful - Fun and Memorable in it's own way.

We traded over 100 pins on this trip. I even found 3 new Grumpy pins for my Disney Hat.

We plan to bring the good and the not so good about our Disney adventures.