Hot Times in the World: A June 2011 Trip Report!

We’ve been home for a week, I’m back at work, and reality is truly setting in. Time to escape it with a trip report!

The cast includes myself (Shannon, 27) and my husband Will (26) spending 8 days in WDW for our second anniversary!

Since this was an anniversary trip and all, here we are a little over 2 years ago on our wedding day…

…and 2 days later on our honeymoon!

We’ve been together since February 2005, and we met in math class during my junior and his sophomore year in college. NERDS.

This was our fourth trip to WDW together after the aforementioned honeymoon in May 2009 (Boardwalk Inn), a quick Thanksgiving trip with the in-laws in November 2009 (Boardwalk Inn – no trip report! For shame.), and another quick trip in February for the 2011 Princess Half Marathon (Port Orleans – Riverside).

For this trip we decided to rent DVC points for the first time as a way to save some cash. Will suggested we do a split stay (great idea since I couldn’t decide on one resort anyway) and we put our requests in with excellent results. For the first 3 nights we scored a savanna-view studio villa at Kidani. For the remainder of our trip we’d be traveling back to the Atlantic coast, staying in a “preferred/boardwalk-view” studio at the Boardwalk Villas. Woot!

Pretty early on in the planning process we ultimately decided that we also wanted to fit in a one-day trip to Universal, primarily to spend a morning frolicking in HP-land. Of the two of us, I am the giant Harry Potter fan (admittedly, more a fan of the books than the movies), and being the fabulous husband that he is, Will tags along with me to the movies and enjoys them, though I don’t think he fully grasps the awesomeness of HP since he refuses to read the books.

Other than that, we made our ADRs, put down some cash for a tour, changed said ADRs a million times, and had some major face palm moments along the way

Above all else, I was most excited to get to spend some quality time with Will. It seems like we were both (separately) super busy for the entirety of spring, and I was more than ready to put real life aside and have another adventure together in WDW!

Onward!

 

[Ariel484]

We ordered drinks…3 Cape Ladies for me (a red blend) and the St. George for Will, which was from Kenya, I think. Will said it was sort of “meh.”

The delicious bread with garlic, ginger and cilantro butter:

And then it was time for dinner!

Something new for Will…the grilled-marinated Lamb Loin with Chickpea and Chorizo, Spicy Swiss Chard, and Apple Cider Reduction

Part way through the meal, Will sighed “this is the best thing I have ever eaten!” It was really, really tasty. Those chickpeas were spicy!

As for me…well, I had a slight heart attack a few months back when the mac and cheese that is paired with the fillet disappeared from the menu…and then it was back…only to be gone again in May! Sad. When looking over the menu I mentioned that I really liked that mac and cheese, and before I could ask, Hassan said “Yes, you can get the macaroni and cheese with your fillet!” Awesome!

Ah, yes…hello, my love:

Delicious…especially the mac and cheese. It’s a good thing I can’t properly make it (I’ve tried twice)…we’d eat it every day. The little girl at the table next to us didn’t think so…she’d been Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique’d earlier and was attempting to obnoxiously bully her parents into leaving for Downtown Disney RIGHT NOW to go to Ridemakerz…her child-sized bowl and mac and cheese left untouched. Her mother just sort of gazed at her, calling her an “angel” every now and then. Ugh. I wanted to launch onto the table and take the mac and cheese, while simultaneously telling the mother and daughter to just shut up already, but somehow I restrained myself.

Hassan then brought out a complimentary dessert (the Amarula crème brulee) and a phone, since a call came in for us – Mickey and Minnie sang to us again!

I probably won't mention it again, but every time we got something for our anniversary - a dessert, a table with a view, whatever - we felt a little funny about it, because we saw people who were clearly married longer than we have been celebrating as well. How many people celebrate 2 years?? Oh well! So just assume each time you see us getting some anniversary pixie dust (because it happened a lot) that we were pleased but felt slightly guilty about it.

Anyhoo, we also ordered the One Last Cup to share…delicious chocolate mousse cake with chocolate for pouring and chocolate squares.

And we got some small cookies with the bill:

This was our third time at Jiko, and that place knocks it out of the park every time. The ambiance, service and food have been great for 3 out of 3 visits, and that’s why it remains our favorite.

 

[Ariel484]

After dinner we headed back up to the room to grab our stuff…it was finally time to go to a park!

Admiring that view again:

In case you forgot what the view looked like!

Finally, it was off to the bus stop. Being completely dependent on a bus was the reason I didn’t want to commit to spending the entire trip at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but it wasn’t too bad at all.

Finally, we were there! Hello, Epcot!

Our first stop was to Guest Relations to pick up anniversary buttons, and then it was off to see Crush Dude!

Don’t worry, we just looked.

We thought this show was really cute…Will was amazed at how well the animation matched up with the dialogue.

Cameo appearance from little blue!

 

[Ariel484]

Epcot had evening extra magic hours that night…gotta love strolling the World Showcase at night!

This picture isn’t so great, but I have to post it because it came at a price. On our last trip, I left my lens cap on the monorail, so I got “leashes” for all of my lenses. I didn’t have a tripod with me, so with my camera strap around my neck, I set my camera on the bridge near the International Gateway to get this shot. Then as I stood back up, the leash got caught on the bridge post and the lens flew off the camera and down into the bushes below. My mouth literally hung open for a few seconds as Will laughed at me…oops!

So here it is…the picture that cost me a lens cap. I mean, I cut the top off of the Eiffel Tower! Ugh.

I decided to drown my sorrows in a wine flight from France, and we bought a slice of cake from Norway to share (the consequence of such an early dinner, I guess). I don’t remember what wines I had, but they weren’t very good.

Yet I drank it anyway, and I’m such a lightweight that I felt it quickly. Facepalm!

At that point we made our way toward the front of the park, stopping at Spaceship Earth on the way, which had a 5-minute wait. We walked right on…if you can believe it, this is the first time we’ve ever been on the ride, and the video at the end caught us completely off-guard. We laughed so hard we were crying.

In the future, Will is going to have a machine that picks out his clothes for him…

…and I will be a crazy person.

After our glimpse into the future, and our unsuccessful attempt at emailing the video home, we were back at our hotel and sound asleep by 12:30. My sleeping problems from that first night were gone…a full day in the heat will do that to a girl!

I think I’ll stop here for today…thanks for reading! :wave:

 

[SleepingMonk]

So that was our mini-trip to Universal. We liked it, but we don’t think we’ll be back. It was just missing…I don’t know, something. It’s hard to describe, and we were trying to figure it out the rest of the week. Overall, I just don’t think it immersed us in another place the way Disney does, except for the Harry Potter area, which looks great. Congratulations Disney, we’re still hooked on you!

Did you actually ride anything other than Potter?

Maybe another trip when it's cooler and less crowded would allow you to do more and get a better feel for the park?

 

[diddy_mouse]

Happy Anniversary! I really like your trip report so far!

I always wondered how the bus transportation was from AKL. My DH and I visited briefly when we ate at Boma but don't know if we'd ever end up staying there. But I guess never say never, right?

LOVE the Bort license plate reference! We are huge Simpsons fans! Before we take a trip to WDW we always watch the episode where they go to Itchy & Scratchy Land. "Hey it's the 12 noon robot parade! Hurry up or we'll have to wait for the 12:05 parade." :lol:

All of your pictures of Wizarding World looked awesome and thanks for posting about Forbidden Journey. I really don't know if we'll ever make it to Universal

That is such a bummer about losing your lens cap. I know I'm always paranoid of dropping my camera in the water when I take a shot on a bridge or railing.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

I'm glad to hear someone else has an appreciation for Professor Snape! I always knew since the very first book that he was a good guy and no one believed me! I got excited when you showed the picture of the boxes of his wand because I own one of those!!! It's unfortunate you guys had kind of a stinky day there, maybe try it again sometime when its less crowded? I went in January and the only place with a major wait was Ollivanders. The Forbidden Journey never went over an hour wait I believe all day. The themeing in the WWOHP is just amazing.

And I love the view you guys had at AKL! I would love to stay there one day! But for now I can live it through your report so thank you!

Can't wait to read the rest of your wonderful trip at the World!

 

[mouselvrmom]

I'm so enjoying your trip report! Great pictures!

 

[Ariel484]

Did you actually ride anything other than Potter?

Maybe another trip when it's cooler and less crowded would allow you to do more and get a better feel for the park?

Nope, just Forbidden Journey. We were hoping to go on at least Spiderman and the Hulk coaster as well...it just didn't happen.

I think you suggesting that we try again sometime during the year when it's cooler is fair - and you bring up a good point that the crowds/heat really did have an effect on us - but we circled the park a good 2-3 times and something about the atmosphere just didn't draw us in. Plus (and it sort of sickens me to say this), that day at Universal cost us $240...2 tickets at $80 apiece, 2 $19 shuttle tickets, and the $42 cab ride. The park would have really had to draw us in to make us want to spend that kind of money again, and it just didn't do it for us. I completely understand why it appeals to other people, and despite how it may have come off, we didn't HATE our time there, but I just don't think it's for us.

Happy Anniversary! I really like your trip report so far!

I always wondered how the bus transportation was from AKL. My DH and I visited briefly when we ate at Boma but don't know if we'd ever end up staying there. But I guess never say never, right?

Thanks for the anniversary wishes! I don't think we waited more than about 10 minutes for a bus, and the rides themselves weren't very long at all...the worst was the night we went to Downtown Disney, but I think that's true of other resorts as well (?). However, we never took the bus to the Magic Kingdom from AKL, so I can't comment on how long that would have taken. :shrug:

LOVE the Bort license plate reference! We are huge Simpsons fans! Before we take a trip to WDW we always watch the episode where they go to Itchy & Scratchy Land. "Hey it's the 12 noon robot parade! Hurry up or we'll have to wait for the 12:05 parade." :lol:

YES! :lol: I'm glad someone knew what the was! I love that episode. We just watched another called "Selma's Choice" (Season 3 or 4 I think) where they go to Duff Gardens and spoof It's a Small World and The Hall of Presidents (there might be others that I can't come up with this early in the morning). Love it!

All of your pictures of Wizarding World looked awesome and thanks for posting about Forbidden Journey. I really don't know if we'll ever make it to Universal

Thanks! They really did an excellent job with the themeing there. I'm glad we checked it out.

That is such a bummer about losing your lens cap. I know I'm always paranoid of dropping my camera in the water when I take a shot on a bridge or railing.

Yes, I was concerned about losing the camera...at least that didn't happen! I'm annoyed about the lens cap, but it really was pretty funny!

I'm glad to hear someone else has an appreciation for Professor Snape! I always knew since the very first book that he was a good guy and no one believed me! I got excited when you showed the picture of the boxes of his wand because I own one of those!!! It's unfortunate you guys had kind of a stinky day there, maybe try it again sometime when its less crowded? I went in January and the only place with a major wait was Ollivanders. The Forbidden Journey never went over an hour wait I believe all day. The themeing in the WWOHP is just amazing.

Yes, Snape! I really like the books more than the movies, but I love Alan Rickman as Snape. He does such a great job! I'm really curious to see how the second part of the 7th movie goes, because I felt like they sort of glossed over him a bit in the last few.

I'm not sure we'll try Universal again. As I said above, it was an expensive day. The other issue we have is that Will is a teacher, so we really CAN'T go at one of the less crowded times of the year Boooo.

And I love the view you guys had at AKL! I would love to stay there one day! But for now I can live it through your report so thank you!

Can't wait to read the rest of your wonderful trip at the World!

We loved the view too...I wish we'd been around to take advantage of it more! It was really neat to get up in the morning and see the animals tottering around. I'd wanted to stay at AKL since our honeymoon in 2009 so I'm glad we got to do it.

I'm so enjoying your trip report! Great pictures!

Thank you!!

 

[foreverbelle]

Great Trip Report thus far, and I really can't wait to read more!!!

You mentioned celebrating your 2nd anniversary there and how you felt silly. My hubby and I celebrated our 2nd as well, and we are going in 3 weeks and celebrating our 5th! But I know what you mean, it was strange to look around and realize how much longer everyone else had been married and 2 didn't seem like such a big deal. Though I think every year should be celebrated!!

I love the pics they are fab!! We stayed at AKL last year and really enjoyed it. We had an incredible view as well. It reminds me a lot of your view...sigh memories. lol.

I have always debated about Universal but in the end I don't know if it would be worth it for us either. Neither of us are Harry Potter fans, so we have no desire to see it, though curiosity may get the better of us one of these days!

Can't wait to read the rest...

 

[plaz10]

Loving your TR! You have me almost convinced of 2 things

1 - I don't believe I want to see the WWoHP. At first (as a Potter fan but not fanatic) I figured I should go check it out. I get crazy motion sickenss so Forbidden Journey was already out of the question. So after reading how bad the shops are...which would be the only thing I'd probably get out of it - I think I'll pass. Was there anything else really worth doing at Universal? My cousin gave us 1 day passes she never used so we figure we should head down there at some point. The only thing I'm interested in is panda express at city walk and you don't even need a ticket for that! :lol:

2 - I think I NEED to try the Jiko Filet and mac. looks amazing. We're thinking of adding a few signatures to our ADRs for the next trip and I think Jiko may just make the cut! We tried Sanaa in May and loved AKL so I think it's a safe bet saying we'll be trying Jiko!

You and the hubby are so adorable. Can't wait to read more!

 

[tink65]

Happy belated Anniversary! Love reading your trip report! We went to Universal Islands of Adventure once too and I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Although we had a good time....it's not immersive like Disney is. I just felt like I was at a theme park....not taking a break from reality!

Love all the great photos and narration. Can't wait to read more!

 

[grwnupprincess]

…can you tell we don’t have kids yet?

I can totally relate! My husband and I will be married 2 years in September and our old english sheepdog is our kid for all practical purposes...so hard to leave the pups...but at least you were leaving him to go to WDW!

great trip report so far and happy anniversary!

 

[Ariel484]

Great Trip Report thus far, and I really can't wait to read more!!!

You mentioned celebrating your 2nd anniversary there and how you felt silly. My hubby and I celebrated our 2nd as well, and we are going in 3 weeks and celebrating our 5th! But I know what you mean, it was strange to look around and realize how much longer everyone else had been married and 2 didn't seem like such a big deal. Though I think every year should be celebrated!!

Thank you! You're totally right that every anniversary should be celebrated. One morning we were on a bus and saw a couple with the anniversary pins and "#37" written on them, and we were just like, "what are we doing??" :lol: We did get a couple of funny looks from people when we told them we were celebrating our second, but most everyone else just congratulated us.

And congratulations to you on your upcoming 5th!

I love the pics they are fab!! We stayed at AKL last year and really enjoyed it. We had an incredible view as well. It reminds me a lot of your view...sigh memories. lol.

Thanks! The view really was awesome...that hotel is just so great!

I have always debated about Universal but in the end I don't know if it would be worth it for us either. Neither of us are Harry Potter fans, so we have no desire to see it, though curiosity may get the better of us one of these days!

Can't wait to read the rest...

We honestly would not have gone if I wasn't such a big HP fan. I'm glad we checked it out though.

Loving your TR! You have me almost convinced of 2 things

Thanks!

1 - I don't believe I want to see the WWoHP. At first (as a Potter fan but not fanatic) I figured I should go check it out. I get crazy motion sickenss so Forbidden Journey was already out of the question. So after reading how bad the shops are...which would be the only thing I'd probably get out of it - I think I'll pass. Was there anything else really worth doing at Universal? My cousin gave us 1 day passes she never used so we figure we should head down there at some point. The only thing I'm interested in is panda express at city walk and you don't even need a ticket for that! :lol:

Oops! It really was not my intention to scare anyone off or bash Universal, just give my honest opinion. But yes, if you get crazy motion sickness, you probably should skip Forbidden Journey. If you do go, maybe you can check out the queue but skip the ride (not sure if they do that at Universal, but I know they do at Disney). Others have suggested trying again during a time of year when it's less crowded, which won't work for us with Will's work schedule, but maybe it could for you? I think there's enough detail in the area itself that any Harry Potter fan will really appreciate seeing it. I'm glad that I did, and I do wish we'd been able to really just wander around and take our time looking at everything. It just wasn't in the cards.

The rest of Universal didn't appeal to us. We thought Seuss Landing was cute, and the Marvel area was neat, but that was it. That's just our opinions though...it might be different for you. If you have free tickets, why not check it out?

2 - I think I NEED to try the Jiko Filet and mac. looks amazing. We're thinking of adding a few signatures to our ADRs for the next trip and I think Jiko may just make the cut! We tried Sanaa in May and loved AKL so I think it's a safe bet saying we'll be trying Jiko!

Yes, you DO need to try that fillet! Stat! And they had no problem adding the mac and cheese to my dish, even though it was no longer on the menu. I cannot recommend Jiko highly enough.

You and the hubby are so adorable. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks!

Happy belated Anniversary! Love reading your trip report! We went to Universal Islands of Adventure once too and I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Although we had a good time....it's not immersive like Disney is. I just felt like I was at a theme park....not taking a break from reality!

Love all the great photos and narration. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you!

Sounds like you and I are on the same page with Universal. I completely agree with your "theme park" assessment, and I think that's a great way to describe it. I completely understand that people love Universal, it's just not for us.

I can totally relate! My husband and I will be married 2 years in September and our old english sheepdog is our kid for all practical purposes...so hard to leave the pups...but at least you were leaving him to go to WDW!

great trip report so far and happy anniversary!

Aw, sheepdogs are so cute! Yay! We did have a hard time leaving the Monster, but he really, really loves doggy camp, so we knew he was in good hands.

And thank you for the anniversary wishes!

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Wednesday, June 15.

Our wake-up time was a little more humane this morning – more like 6:45 – and we were in the Mara by 7:30 for some breakfast. First-ever Mickey waffles for the two of us! Yum.

We hopped on a bus headed for the Studios and got there around 8:15.

It was super hot that morning. I felt like I was drenched in sweat within minutes.

The stampede began as usual, and everyone headed for Pixar Place. We grabbed Toy Story fastpasses with a 10:15 return time, hopped in line for the ride, and promptly hopped right back out minutes later…the line was back past the Backlot Tour and moving slowly. The Studios really needs another family-friendly ride to take some of the pressure off!

We strolled out of Pixar place in hopes of meeting some friends…and they were out waiting for us!

Some dapper ‘munks:

A pup (who made me miss my own pup a bit ) and a Goof:

And we met the ducks before taking off in search of some AC:

Our destination was the Art of Disney Animation. I’d told Will about the drawing classes after reading about them here, and he was pretty interested.

The class was pretty small, and from what I remember it was pretty evenly mixed between children and adults. We headed to our work stations and learned to draw Pluto!

The finished products…mine on the left and Will’s on the right:

For anyone that is thinking about doing these classes...the pencils don't have erasers! Oh well.

This was a blast! We agreed we wanted to fit another class in on the trip, if at all possible.

 

[Ariel484]

Back to the Hat…I had one more must-get character photo on my agenda before returning to Pixar Place…Minnie!

By then it was just about time to use the Toy Story fastpasses. I tried to get some tips from this guy before the Midway Mania began, but alas, he stayed strangely silent.

As usual, Will kicked my sorry butt. Arg!

After Toy Story, we traveled back behind the Backlot Tour in hopes of meeting some monsters.

Specifically, these guys:

They seemed to have fun dancing and interacting with one another, ignoring the guests for the most part.

Unfortunately, Sulley had to “go to a board meeting” about 3 families in front of us. Darn! We still got a picture with Mike though…and it is soooo awkward.

 

[Ariel484]

After meeting Mike, we made our way up to the front of the park in search of a snack.

I had a few goals for this trip (some food-related, some not), and one of the food-related goals was to try a cupcake from Starring Rolls!

Decisions, decisions…

The winner today was the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcake.

Cross-section:

Holy deliciousness, Batman! If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you MUST get this. So tasty. :slurp:

While splitting our cupcake, I convinced Will that since the counter service in the Studios is (in our opinion) not so great, it would be worth it to go to Epcot for something better for lunch. He reluctantly agreed. Rather than walk the whole way, we took a boat to the Swan and Dolphin and made the rest of the trek from there at about noon.

I’d had my heat-related meltdown the day before…today it was Will’s turn. Our original intent was to head to the counter service eatery in Norway, but Will pointed out that the tables were outdoors…and we needed AC at this point. We made it to Sunshine Seasons before the heat really got to us, but he was still struggling. We ordered delicious turkey sandwiches with potato salad on the side:

And got 2 giant cups of ice water, which helped a lot. Second heat-related crisis averted! Whew.

 

[Ariel484]

After lunch, we got out of the park and onto a bus quickly. We needed a swim break, pronto!

After admiring the view once again D)…

…we decided to try the Kidani pool for the afternoon. Like our first night, we took the walking path to the lobby of Kidani and got directions to the pool as dark clouds rolled in overhead. That pool is really far removed from the hotel itself, and I was surprised to see that this is where the gym is located as well. Interesting.

The path to the Kidani pool takes you down a small hill, and this rock pond was the first area that we saw. I thought this was the hot tub at first…that would have been cool! Of course, looking at the picture now it does look a little shallow to be a hot tub…

And the actual hot tub. It’s further down the hill after the rock pond…the pool itself and loungers are at the bottom of the hill.

We grabbed loungers and headed straight for the slide!

This slide was super fun! (We didn’t go on the Jambo slide…it seemed to be aimed more at younger children and we would have felt silly!)

In comparing the pools at Jambo and Kidani, I thought that the Kidani pool was better themed with the rocks and landscaping, but seemed very small compared to Jambo’s pool. Both were pretty empty during the afternoons that we used them.

We weren’t at the pool for very long (10-15 minutes maybe) before we began to hear loud thunder. I was a lifeguard for 5 years, and any time we heard thunder, the pool was automatically closed for 20 minutes. Apparently Disney doesn’t have the same policy, because guests were still merrily swimming and the lifeguards didn’t seem worried. I felt a little uneasy about it, so we began to pack up our stuff as it began to rain. Finally, lightning was spotted and the pool was closed. As we made our way up toward the lobby, we saw two ladies still sitting in the hot tub, sipping cocktails, despite the lightning. Crazy ladies!

Before returning to Jambo, we headed in to the small Kidani gift shop in search of an AKL coffee mug…success!

So for anyone keeping score, if you want an AKL shot glass, head to Jambo. If you’re a coffee person like me, Kidani has you covered!

 

[Ariel484]

Just like the previous day, once we were back in the room we showered and took a glorious afternoon nap There was no more thunder and lightning at this point, but the sky was still a bit dark.

Our dinner reservation was later this evening, so we had time to check out the resort bar!

I love the lamps in Victoria Falls…so cute!

Fun fact – Victoria Falls takes the Tables in Wonderland card! Woohoo! :sohappy:

For me, the Victoria Fall’s mist, and for Will, a Corona:

I’m not exactly sure what was in my drink – I just asked if they had a “signature drink” and this is what the bartender came up with - but I do remember it being sort of lime-y/melon-y/sour tasting, which I don’t normally go for (the sour/lime taste especially), but it was pretty good.

After enjoying our drinks, we headed out to the bus stop to wait for the Downtown Disney bus. This was the longest we waited for a bus (maybe 15-20 minutes?), and the longest ride we had in our short stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge since we had to stop at Blizzard Beach. But eventually we arrived.

Our first stop was the Christmas Store. I try to get a personalized ornament on each of our trips, and I couldn’t really find one that I thought was really representative of an anniversary (plenty of “just married”-type ornaments though), so I just went with a red-tinted glass Mickey head. We decided to bite the bullet and pay the $10 to ship it home after the personalization. Ouch…but they wouldn’t ship it to our hotel since we were switching resorts the next morning, and we doubted we’d be able to make it back to Downtown Disney to pick it up later that week. I received the ornament last Thursday (return address was on Dopey Drive! :lol and I’ll have to remember to add the picture in here.

 

[Ariel484]

Ornament purchased, we decided to check out the new Lego Store next. When we were in DTD in February, the Lego store was in the yellow temporary tent. The new set-up is nice, and we loved the new Lego sculptures (for lack of a better word) out front.

This one was our favorite:

I thought this one was fun too!

We then ventured inside the store…after unsuccessfully searching for a Lego Little Green Man keychain in February I was hoping I’d have more luck this time.

We couldn’t find any Little Green Men, so I asked a Cast Member for some help. She said she didn’t think they had any more, but that she’d check in the back. After about 5 minutes, she came out with a sort of funny look on her face and one of her hands clenched in a fist…I knew she’d found one! And then something awesome happened…

Cast Member: We don’t have any more of the keychains…but shake my hand…
Me: Oh…okay?

At this point I knew she had one in her hand, so I wasn’t sure what was going on…did she just want to secretly let me know that I could buy the last one without causing a riot?

*shake shake shake…Little Green Man appears in my hand*
Cast Member (smiling a sneaky smile): Happy Anniversary! *beckoning me toward the exit*

So not only did I get my Little Green Man keychain, I got it for free! Awesome!!

Will and I were giddy at our good fortune as we exited the store…pixie dust at its finest. We paused to admire the other Lego sculptures before checking in for dinner.

 

[Ariel484]

We arrived at Raglan Road at about 7:50. We’d eaten here in May 2009 on our honeymoon, and I think it left more of an impression on Will than it did on me. The wee Irish lass within really wanted to like it, and it wasn’t bad at all, but I remember my dinner just being okay, so I was hoping I’d have better luck with a different entrée.

The whole point of such a late dinner was to try to see the band (I thought they started at 8 every night, so we would have been fine with an earlier reservation. Oh well). When the host saw me taking a picture of the above sign, he grinned and said “don’t worry, you’ll be able to see them!” He wasn’t kidding…our table was right in front of the stage! We were maybe 10-15 feet from the band members.

In the above picture you can see the stage for the dancers (the light-colored wood). Our table is right on the other side of the small microphone! After taking that picture, the guy on the left said “oh wait, the paparazzi is here!” Oops!

We had a front-row seat for the dancers as well!

With the band and dancers, it was a really fun meal. We had a younger girl at the table next to us, maybe 7-8 years old, who was just LOVED the band. Every song, she’d get up from the table and try to do her own Irish step dancing. She was even putting in requests. It was adorable.

Anyway, the food! I felt like having a salad with my dinner, so I chose the Hail Caesar…basically a Caesar salad with tomatoes and prosciutto:

The salad was good, but the prosciutto was not…I guess they put it on there to balance out the creaminess of the dressing? At any rate, it was a bit too salty for me, so I ended up just taking the prosciutto off. Yum!

Will went with the same dinner he had in May 2009, the Sod the Stew:

I think my issue in 2009 was that I ordered their sirloin steak the day after having the fillet at Jiko. I don't want to make it seem like the steak was bad, because it wasn't, but come on...a sirloin the day after that awesome fillet just wouldn’t compare! That was sort of stupid of me. :hammer: After reading MillerPoppins’ rave review of the risotto, I knew I had to try it.

Behold, the Raglan Risotto (add chicken, hold the mushrooms):

And behold, another rave review. This was so, so delicious. The risotto was so creamy and the parmesan flavor was mighty tasty. Will tried a bite and was insanely jealous…lucky for him I didn’t finish the whole thing anyway. A big THANK YOU to MillerPoppins (Karen I think?) for the awesome recommendation! I would have never tried it otherwise. *high five*

Gotta leave room for dessert, right? We split the Bailey’s Brulé Tart.

It was very delicious, but I wish we’d gotten the bread pudding. Next time!

I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting much from this meal, but everything was really good and the atmosphere was so fun. Raglan Road really surprised me in a good way, and I was glad that we were 3 for 3 on our dinners on this trip.