Trip Report The Sweet 16th(with a few surprises thrown in)!!

Hello friends!! Welcome one & all to my 2nd trip report!! To those who followed along on my first one(https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/whats-going-on-with-my-clothes.945539/) it's great to have you along again & to anyone new joining in thanks for coming on board. I'm excited to have you all here!!

WHO: my niece H(the birthday girl) & myself

WHEN: Tuesday, August 21st - Saturday, August 25th

WHERE: For anyone that read my first TR I'm sure you can guess where but for those of you that don't know me..... my home away from home, POR

Looking forward to sharing the birthday celebration with you!!

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND(CONT.)

Our waitress was nice but was she ever slow. We didn't see her for so long at one point that we honestly thought she walked off the job or something. It didn't help that we were sitting near a kitchen so we constantly saw other servers coming out but never ours.

We finally got food & drinks. H & I both got the French Onion soup. E got the Lobster Bisque & J got a fruit plate.
All of the appetizers were good.

Can you tell who that is sitting next to us? Speedy & her husband(he is sitting across from her though you can't see him).
And let's just say by the end of dinner E & I both came to the same conclusion regarding the "arrangement" of their marriage.

E had the Center Cut Filet Mignon

J had the kids mac & cheese.

H & I both had the Smoked Ricotta and Corn Tortellini

We all enjoyed our food.
I wasn't a huge fan of the dessert, especially the chocolate thing on the end. It was extremely rich.

Kids get the same dessert as the adults except they get to "paint" Chip.

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND(CONT.)

H got a candle in her dessert for her birthday.

J having fun with Chip.

We all enjoyed our meals here!!

Time to meet the Beast!!

The Beast was flirting with H.

Overall it was a great dinner & we enjoyed our meet and greet. None of us had met him before & we all had fun!!

We took a trip Under the Sea before heading out for the day.

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND(CONT.)

I should probably just title this the Purple Wall post. Funny thing is I had to explain to E & H what the purple wall was all about. I am not one of the "cool" ones in our family so they found it quite amusing that I knew about the purple wall & they didn't. I still think they didn't believe me until they saw a PP photographer there to take pictures. Then E told me I must have too much time on my hands if I know all about the purple wall.

We were all a little perplexed as to why the photographer threw this prop into it....

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND(CONT.)

As we were walking away E was making fun saying that she was going to start a fad of her own by having her picture taken by garbage cans.....

We went through the stores on our way out & we both bought this wallet/clutch to match our purses. Hence, why I shouldn't buy the new HM Dooney.

A Riverside bus was waiting there!!

When we got back E gave J a bath and H took a shower while I went to secure us a table at The River Roost to see none other than YeHaa Bob!!

I got a Magical Star Cocktail.

J wanted the glow cube out of my drink in the worst way.

E had a Pina Colava.

I told J with the way he was pointing his finger he looked like James Bond. He obviously had no idea who I was talking about.

 

[Tuvalu]

Now trending.....selfie with a trash can! Love it!!

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND(CONT.)

The man of the hour had arrived!!

He called H to come up on the stage so he could sing Happy Birthday to her!!

He brings all the kids down front to do "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes".

We were a little hungry so we ordered the Loaded Potato Puffs!! Excellent as always!!

Bob's shows are so much fun!!

He had H lead the train around the room since it was her birthday.

The kids up front for another number. H sat that one out but J still went up.

 

[riverside]

Now trending.....selfie with a trash can! Love it!!

I'll make sure I tell her you said that!! I told her she was goofy but now she'll think she's cool!!

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND(CONT.)

The amount of energy this man has is totally amazing!!

E & J left so he could go to bed. H was still hungry so we ordered wings.

Photos taken during intermission

Notice on the left hand side all the pictures he has hanging up.

He pointed out some of the pics he has up of my family from over the years:

There's D, C, A & E(they were in my last TR)

There's J, J, me, A, E, C & my mom

There's my cousin K, H & myself(from 2014!!)

I asked for a glass of wine & a water with lemon. I thought the lemons were so cute & commented on it. The waiter told me he did that b/c it was getting towards the end of the night & they have to throw out all fruit that wasn't used so he was trying to use them up. Why did he have to tell me that?

Anyhow, Bob put on a great show as always & it was good to see him again!!

 

[LadyBelle]

Our waitress was nice but was she ever slow.

That must be a thing. My waiter was slow when I was there last.

 

[riverside]

That must be a thing. My waiter was slow when I was there last.

So frustrating.....

 

[MinnieM123]

Awww . . .

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD

I was up bright & early for my walk around Port Orleans.

They were painting this bridge.

I spied this cutie on my way to FQ.

Time for beignets!!

I had texted E & asked her if she wanted me to drop some off at her room. She said no. Well, I misunderstood what she meant. I thought she meant that they didn't want any at all so I left the rest in our room. Here she just meant not to go out of my way to bring them to them. When we met at the bus stop J asked me where his doughnut was I felt so bad & was going to run back to the room to get them but an Epcot bus was due to come any minute so I told him he could have it later. I felt like the world's worst aunt.

J must not have been too upset with me b/c on the way to Epcot he told me how he was going to ride SSE with me. I wasn't sure what to expect b/c last time he clung on to me for dear life. What would today bring?

He was all smiles!!

It was unbelievable. He kept pointing out things on the ride acting like this was the first time he had been on it. I would assume he had been so scared in the past(primarily b/c of the dark) that he never really paid attention to what was going on during the ride so in a way he was seeing this for the first time.

A far cry from when he wouldn't let go of me in June!! He really was interested & kept asking a lot of questions about the ride.

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

I don't think you could even see his picture last time b/c he was too afraid to look up!!

He thought it was funny to see his face on the screen!

I snapped this b/c you could see all 4 of us. E's clowning around in her photo(bottom row center).

H is sporting her new Dole Whip hat.

Cousins....

Uncool me now had to tell E & H about the bubblegum wall. E wanted to know how she should pose.

Not sure what this is all about....

Good one H!! Maybe E should take some lessons from her.....

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

H wanted to take a ride on Mission Space. It was a walk on. I told her I will only do green(even though it's as lame as can be now). Orange is way too much for me. She said she wanted green anyways so it worked out.

J got a snack while they were waiting for us.

Horray!! The water is back!! It was drained when I was there in June.

Time for our next FP.

Ready for takeoff!!

J & I with the matching shoes again. Last time(his first time) on Soarin' he had to take his shoes off b/c he was wearing crocs. He kept questioning his mom & I as to why we weren't having him take his shoes off this time. It's amazing what kids remember!!

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

Our last FP was for LWTL so we headed there. I really enjoy this one!!

It was approaching lunch time & E said she wanted to get J something to eat(probably b/c the poor kid didn't have breakfast thanks to me) and wanted to get it at Sunshine Seasons since we were right there. H wanted to eat in one of the countries so we headed back there & planned to meet back up with them in an hour or so.

Preparing for Food & Wine.

It was nice b/c WS was not crowded at this point but my was it ever hot!!

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

H was having a hard time deciding where she wanted to eat but ultimately Lotus Blossom won. I haven't ate here in a few years so I was happy to try it again.

H wanted Sweet and Sour Chicken but it was only on the kid's menu. I asked if she could have an adult portion and was told yes.

I got the shrimp fried rice with an egg roll.

H's sweet and sour chicken.

We both enjoyed our meals. I made sure to stay away from the soy sauce b/c that dehydrates me like no other and with as warm as it was I didn't think it was a good idea. Unfortunately, this is when I also started to get sick. I take a medication once a week that can have some side effects(fever & body aches-basically you feel like you have the flu). I've been on it for quite awhile so I'm used to it & I'm fortunate that most times the side effects aren't too bad. That was not the case today. I could feel the fever coming on(throw that in with the heat) & I knew the body aches would be coming next. I looked on the app & saw that FEA had a 20 minute wait. I suggested that we do that since we were right there(plus it would get me out of the heat for a bit).

By the time we got there it was 25 minutes.

By the time we boarded it had turned into a 35 minute wait. I really didn't mind it though b/c it was cool in there.

I took this picture & sent it to R to show him that The British Revolution wasn't playing today. He really likes seeing them & gets upset when I plan an Epcot day & it's a day that they aren't there. He texted me back, "You always pick the wrong day to go to Epcot".

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

E texted me & said she was at Rose & Crown. I told her we would work our way down & meet her there.
H & I stopped in a few stores on the way there.

It was about here that the body aches kicked in and it was sheer torture to even move my legs at that point. I was glad we didn't have that far to go.

I snapped a pic of these cute bears in Canada. H & I went into the store there also. I know this may sound odd but the door to the store was closed. It looked so strange to me b/c I've always seen it wide open. We joked that maybe they were trying to conserve some AC.

I took this picture to send to my BIL D. He loves Rose & Crown so anytime I'm here I make sure I take a picture & send it to him.

I ordered a Half & Half. I believe E had the same thing.

She really didn't eat at Sunshine Seasons so she ordered an order of English Chips & the House-made Seasoned Crisps for us to share.

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

I told H she could feel free to walk around WS if she wanted. At that point I couldn't but I didn't want her to be bored hanging out in the bar either. I stepped outside a bit later to go across the street to use the bathroom & I could tell a storm was coming. I texted her & told her that it was going to rain so if she was close come back to Rose & Crown but if not she needed to find shelter.

The poor hopscotch game was going to be washed away soon...

H made it back to Rose & Crown and we hung out there for a bit until it was time for dinner. E didn't get a reservation for Chefs de France so it was just H & I. She was going to walk around WS & meet us when we were done.

We both went with the prix fixe menu.

I was shocked at how big this restaurant is!!

 

[riverside]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23RD(CONT.)

We were seated at a table right by the window so it made for fun people watching.

They had just started serving dinner when we got there so the restaurant wasn't busy. If the waiters & waitresses weren't congregating there I felt like they were standing there watching you from afar b/c as soon as you finished one thing they were bringing you the next or filling your glass right away. It was good service but at the same time we both felt it was kind of creepy. I wanted to take a picture of them when they were lined up watching everyone but I felt it would be too awkward.

The bread was so hard. Wow--it was tough! I thought I remembered reading that in someone else's TR that they said the same thing. Maybe that's how bread is in France??

I started with the French Onion Soup. It was good but BOG's was better.

I had the Boeuf Bourguignon, linguine. It was very good. It actually reminded me a lot of pot roast.

H got the Gratin de macaroni. She wasn't that impressed unfortunately. @Zipitidoda wasn't it you or your daughter that felt the same way?
There's H doing something new & different...

I went with the apple tart. I liked the ice cream better than the tart & that's not saying much considering my love of ice cream...

H had the cream puff. She thought it was pretty good.

After dinner we met up with E & made our way towards the front so we could work our way out. I missed half the WS which I was bummed about but I knew I was better off not pushing myself much more. I was really disappointed that I didn't make it into the pyramid in Mexico. That is my favorite pavilion & I never miss it. Oh well-something to look forward to next time!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Glad to see that H does have teeth!