Sleepy and Grumpy visit Tatooine–A SWW TR! - The End - All done and Link to new TR

[Pinkocto]

You have some great trips lined up! Sounds like you're a bit tired of traveling though?



Spice Road Table was delightfully delicious. I had the calamari and it was no 'small' plate. Very scrumptious though.

You lucked out missing the monorail that got stuck. I know you still had to wait quite a while but getting stuck sounds awful.

How nice you still managed a nap. And dinner looks great. I will have to get there one day.

 

[franandaj]

You must have been in food heaven that day. Like you, I love Middle Eastern and North African food and that restaurant is definitely on my to do list for next year.

What a shame that the weather put paid to your dessert plans. I had to smile about Fran stopping to get the Photopass pictures. What a pain with the monorail breaking down and you having to wait so long for a buss.

Narcoossee’s is my favourite restaurant and the Caesar Salad is my go to appetizer. Everything looks delicious.

On a completely unrelated matter, a certain package is showing as having been loaded onto the delivery vehicle so it should be in my greedy hands tomorrow.

Corinna

That was a great day for food. I would go back to Spice Road Table in a heartbeat. I loved everything there. Those are some of our best photopass pictures ever!

I will be sad not to visit Narcoosee's on the next trip, but I think we're going to try Artist Point instead. I hope you have received it by now!

Soarin never gets old. It has been a long time since Soarin over California debut in 2001 during DCA opening and at EPCOT a few years after DCA Soarin. It will be nice when they do an update for Soarin.


The food at Spice Road Table restaurant at Morocco pavilion looks so nice. I keep saying this over and over on your trip reports, PiO and others hatt I should try this restaurant when I go back to WDW. The only problem is that you can't do all the restaurants during the trip. But all the food looks so good. I will have to do a lot of research and choose which places to eat.

Wow it was pouring when you were at Morocco pavilion.

I'm sorry to hear about the Monorail having problems. The Mark VI Monorails are almost 25 years old and I think that WDW should upgrade them. I do enjoy the Mark VI Monorails at the WDW and it has not been the same since we can't ride in the front cabin. It is so nice that the DLR updated the Mark V Monorails to the Mark VII seven years ago.

That's the worst part about a WDW trip is that you can never fit in all the restaurants that you want to try. You are really a Monorail buff to know that much about all the Monorails. I know that they run and hope they don't breakdown, but that's about the extent of my knowledge.

Look at that rain! And what great work by that PP Photographer.

Love, love, love the food. I did have a go at the Golden Spoon and came in at over 30%. It will be a long time before I push it along. Good for you for working at it.

We don't get rain like that in So Cal. I couldn't believe how long it went on for!

I am really hoping for a 50% badge after my next trip. We are going during F&G and since they have F&W style kiosks, we are going to try a little something from each one. There aren't as many as F&W, plus we are hitting a few other new places (in addition to some old favorites). ADRs are coming up in just two months for that trip. Can you believe it?

Just like me and my family!

I tried to put the number of laughing smileys in here that the above comment deserves, but I went over the limit! Well you have tried some very interesting burger joints. And I'll have to say you take the cake on exotic locales for consuming PB&J.

Looks like a quality spot.:

It was and even better to have the place to ourselves!

Wait, is that Noah?:

Murphy's Law strikes again! Disney's Poncho Profit Team thanks you. :

Yeah, and then some....

:

They're actually some of my all time favorites Photopass Pictures!

Ugh. That's becoming so commonplace.

Well let's see if your engineering folks can take a look at this and figure it out.

Spice Road Table is one of my favorite WDW eateries. I really like their wine flights; the tapas also are awesomely good. Just seeing your photos makes me want to hurry back.

Kate

I really hope that other people like it too. I would hate to see them take it out because no one "gets it."

Hi there!! I had to stop by here to say hello. I will do my best to try and catch up with this TR...I miss reading your TR's!! I've missed you...it's so great to "see" you!

DH, my parents, sister and her family and I are in the early planning stages of Southern California and Disneyland for next summer! So, we will make it there the summer of the 60th anniversary! I know I had mentioned doing this a few years ago to you and Alicia. My parents and sister are also planning to drive up to San Francisco from there, but DH, the boys and I are gonna spend some more time in Southern California. Probably a total of 7-10 days, beginning in San Diego and then staying in anaheim and accessing the beach and LA from there.

Bonnie! So great of you to stop by! I hope that Alicia and I can meet up with you sometime during your trip. What month are you planning it during? My summers keep getting filled up with all kinds of exciting stuff and it is wearing me out!

 

[franandaj]

All the food looks amazing! I really want to try the new Spice Road next trip. Narcoosee's is one of my faves....I fell in love with the cherry cheesecake there a long time ago!

Jill in CO

When is your next trip? Are you going to WDW before or after your cruise?

Lol re that PP photographer that is a classic I love it! We have many ponchos in our locker, as soon as it rains they all but one hide! They are in the same scheming club as socks in the wash.

Tapas looks great. We have many Tapas restaurant chains. Very good too. It's very popular. Well done on scoring some more on your Golden spoon. That does look fun trying to achieve that!

I think I have about 12 left to go to the next level, so with F&G kiosks and a few new TS places, I should hit it on the next trip.

This place doesn't seem to get much love, but I'm glad that you enjoyed it. It certainly looks like a prime location with a great view while you're eating.

Really? I haven't heard much about it at all. A few folks I know have loved it, but I just haven't heard of many people eating there at all.

That's just how it works. The one time you actually need them, you forget to grab them on the way out the door.

I thought I had both of them in our scooter bags, but evidently not. Now we have three in the OL!

Great action shots!

I thought so too!

Yuck... the whole transportation ordeal just sounds awful. I'm glad that you made it back at least in time for a nap before dinner.

That's the only time we have ever had a really bad time with transportation. Well and the time that we stayed at the AK and had dinner at Flying Fish. It took us an hour and a half on the buses to get home transferring through DTD.

Whew, I'm finally caught up. I left off back at at the car show.

Glad you are caught back up.

What a delicious day! Spice Road looks wonderful. Michael would love that place.

Photopass took those pics of you in the rain?

I'm sure he would, you probably would too, lots of great choices.

Yeah, the PPP was just sitting at the turnstiles, snapping photos of guests on their way out in the rain.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That was a great day for food. I would go back to Spice Road Table in a heartbeat. I loved everything there. Those are some of our best photopass pictures ever!

I will be sad not to visit Narcoosee's on the next trip, but I think we're going to try Artist Point instead. I hope you have received it by now!

Artist Point is nice, too. Yes, the bag arrived on Monday and I adore it. It is slightly smaller than I thought, but it is still a perfect size for taking to work and of course now that I have slightly downsized from my beloved iPad2 to the iPad mini to carry everywhere with me, this works even better.

Corinna

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hi! We should be there either the last week of July or the first week of August. It would be great to meet up with you!

 

[franandaj]

I would have been sleepy AND grumpy after that kind of deluge and delay.

I really liked Spice Road table, I am sad it isn't doing better, it is just lovely inside and everything I tried I liked.

No, not as flavorful as it could be but for Disney, more so than most.

Your dinner looks delish!

Love the photopass, those are fun!

We definitely were, and a nap was the perfect thing right then!
I'm sad to hear it is not doing better, I felt the same way and I know Ellen liked it a lot too.
Yes definitely the dishes were more flavorful than most places!
I love eating at Narcoosee's and so glad Fran grabbed those PP pics!

Ooh, what is Eat24?!

Eat24 is a website/app where you can order food for delivery or pick up. It depends on how many restaurants in your area participate on how good it is. Ours is really good at home. We have a lot of choices, it's easy and all you do is order online and the food shows up. No tipping, you can include it in the delivery charge or not, so if they take forever, you can take some off the tip.

I didn't know you liked Mission Space, much less the orange side! It's been a while, I think since 2010. I thought it was really cool but I felt so claustrophobic that that is all I remember now.

I'm usually up for anything, high, fast and loud. Oh wait that's in music. Well close in rides. The only thing I can't do it spin. Tea cups, no way, Mader's JyJ, maybe, but anything else, bring it on!

That's cool that they made some World Cup topiaries.

I thought it was cute. Our guides on the SWW tour were saying that the Brazilian tourist traffic all depended on the World Cup. If their team was eliminated quickly they would all go to WDW, but if they stuck in there, he said, "We're in the clear!"

good job on correcting the server. I'm surprised she didn't know already? The food looks really delicious though!

I wasn't really correcting her, I just commented that I thought it was funny that when the restaurant opened the menus read "merguez" but now it was changed to "lamb sausage" since most American's don't know what that is.

She insisted that it still said "merguez", but I had noticed that when we ordered. I hate that WDW has to dumb things down, but I guess if it sells more food, it's OK. Folks just won't know when they go to France or Morrocco that Merguez was that wonderful lamb sausage that they had at Spice Road Table!

I love the photos of you and Fran in your panchos! Perfect!

Ugh, that really stinks about the monorail. Especially the part where you had to wait for a bus and people still gave you guys dirty looks after you had been waiting.

I thought it was quite cute with us trying to out run the rain in our ponchos and especially the monorail breaking down.

We're used to the dirty looks. If able bodied people have to wait because scooters need to be loaded they get upset. Nobody likes to give up their seats to load the scooters. Most often it's the ones with multiple strollers and kids. (no judgement here to my friends with kids, you have all been most wonderful and understanding) It's like they feel kind of like what my friend Darcy's brother Jim said when they saw a kid in Walmart in a serious wheelchair, "I don't know why they bother to let THOSE people out anyways."

Some people just have attitude. We don't let it ruin our vacation.

I really do need to give Narcoosses's another chance. Just definitely won't be ordering the Surf and Turf again.

I've heard that is the worst dish to order there. We have loved the lobster and the pasta. Dessert was good last time, but this time we were just too full.

You have some great trips lined up! Sounds like you're a bit tired of traveling though?

Yes, as I sit here in my hotel room in Indiana, I am ready to stay home for a good while. At least two months. But that's a Disney Cruise and more Band Friends so by then I'll be up for it again.

Spice Road Table was delightfully delicious. I had the calamari and it was no 'small' plate. Very scrumptious though.

You're right, it totally filled us up when the rest didn't.

You lucked out missing the monorail that got stuck. I know you still had to wait quite a while but getting stuck sounds awful.

How nice you still managed a nap. And dinner looks great. I will have to get there one day.

We're lucky to have missed that monorail. You should put it on the list for when you stay there next. It really is a nice place. They specialize in seafood, but I'm sure they have a vegetarian entrée for your mom.

Artist Point is nice, too. Yes, the bag arrived on Monday and I adore it. It is slightly smaller than I thought, but it is still a perfect size for taking to work and of course now that I have slightly downsized from my beloved iPad2 to the iPad mini to carry everywhere with me, this works even better.

Corinna

When I get home, I'm going back to my HM purse. The one I'm using now is just too small. I love that the HM bag is large enough to hold everything I need. Even a small body if I needed! LOL!

Hi! We should be there either the last week of July or the first week of August. It would be great to meet up with you!

I should be around until the 3rd or 4th of August next year. We definitely need to keep in touch and hang out while you are there!

 

[franandaj]

We woke up the next morning feeling even more refreshed. I felt compelled to use up some more eggs and the rest of the bacon on breakfast, but this time I took the same ingredients (sort of) and twisted them up to make this. French Toast and Bacon.



Now if you were following along on the PTR you should be scratching your head and asking, “Weren’t they supposed to pick up a rental car last night? Wasn’t today the day for Theme Park Connection?” Well a couple weeks before the trip we sort of hit a proverbial wall. That’s when the plans for the Haunted Mansion Theater Room went on hold. We also decided that there wasn’t a need to accumulate more stuff (yeah you could tell that by the way we put the reins on our shopping, right? ) But believe it or not, Fran did exercise restraint this trip.

Since we were not going to be spending all that money on a rental car or new merchandise, I took it upon myself to find another way to use up that money. I booked myself into here starting around 11:00AM, but I headed over a little earlier to make use of the other facilities.





I took a couple extra pictures while I was over there. The BBQ grills are right next to the spa. They are sort of a ways from the Villas, so when using them you might want to plan your meal around the tables provided.





Back to the spa. They frown upon pictures in places like locker rooms, so I had to be very careful. Here is the changing area.





Even though my treatment included a spa bath, I still used this for a little while.



And then I laid down on one of these tile loungers. Now anyone who knows how these things work, please share! When I laid down on the thing, it was room temperature or close to it. By the time that I finally got up, the lounger was toasty warm and I can totally see how people fall asleep on them. Just looking at it you wouldn’t think it was so comfy being all rigid, but after laying on it, wow! I’m going to book the Rainforest Room on one of my days on the cruise!



Anyways, I had two treatments booked, one was from 11:00-11:45 and the next from 12:10-1:00. The same technician would be doing both treatments and she asked if I wanted to do the concurrently and I was happy to oblige. That way I wasn’t wasting half an hour just sitting in the spa. I had a bath with some special minerals in a really cool tub, then she rubbed my body with mud or salt or a little of both, wrapped me up in a cocoon, and gave me a scalp massage and a foot massage. Then I showered, and she massaged the rest of me. When I left there, I was so relaxed, it was wonderful.

I came back to the room to find Fran still in bed enjoying the Disney Satellite TV. Finally I decided that we needed to have our Chinese Chicken Salads that I had been planning on making for the past couple days. I had the smaller one because I wanted to finish off my shrimp pasta from the night before.



While I was working with the chicken, I decided to put together some chicken salad mixture so that we could have chicken salad sandwiches the following day. No I didn't put any butter in the Chicken Salad mixture, but I love it how the butter dish seems to make it's way into all of our pictures. I only bought two sticks of butter for this trip and we didn't even use them both!



We were fed, rested and ready to go again, so we headed off to a park. We were thirsty when we got there and decided some free drinks were in order.



They have changed the flavors since our last visit so it was interesting to check out these new flavors.



Then we were off to make good on a wrong that we were going to make right today. The new Ice Cream shop in France. The Menu.



They had lots of delicious flavors.



And a cute Mickey head.



I went for the Ice Cream Martini with Grand Marnier. People confused me before telling me the flavors of Ice Cream. I thought it was predetermined, but you can choose your own flavors. I was very happy with that. I think I got Salted Caramel and Chocolate Chip. It was quite yummy!



Up next, our attempt at drinking around the world, and a documented DISmeet!

 

[Leshaface]

Whaaa?! No TPC?! I was looking forward to seeing what you guys picked up.

The spa sounds sooo nice and relaxing! Can you believe I have a free massage that was given to me at my baby shower....almost exactly 2 years ago, and I still haven't used it! Sad.

Good call on making the chicken salad for sandwiches

Oh my, the ice cream martini looks phenomenal!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

What a lovely day! You see this is the bonus of being DVCers and being lucky enough to go many times. We get less frantic about park days and learn to enjoy other qualities such as the spa as we should! How nice re two treatments! A true vacation! Most people's vacations consist of sitting by a pool every day! Whilst that's not for Jo and I it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of Disney and forget to relax! I am so pleased I love being able to just pop in and out of parks now even for an hour or two at a time do you guys?

That ice cream shop in France looks great! I must check this out and hey no rain this time I am pleased you stayed dry. Your lunch looked great and your breakfast too. I wonder where you landed for your dinner!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oooh! You relaxed at Senses. Looks fantastic.

Your salads look great.

Nice Icecream Martini.

 

[afwdwfan]

We also decided that there wasn’t a need to accumulate more stuff (yeah you could tell that by the way we put the reins on our shopping, right? )

But Star Wars stuff isn't just "stuff."

Since we were not going to be spending all that money on a rental car or new merchandise, I took it upon myself to find another way to use up that money. I booked myself into here starting around 11:00AM, but I headed over a little earlier to make use of the other facilities.

Not a bad idea at all!

I went for the Ice Cream Martini with Grand Marnier.

Now, that seems interesting...

Up next, our attempt at drinking around the world, and a documented DISmeet!

Should be a good time.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Now if you were following along on the PTR you should be scratching your head and asking, “Weren’t they supposed to pick up a rental car last night? Wasn’t today the day for Theme Park Connection?”

Uh, right...that's exactly what I was thinking...

And then I laid down on one of these tile loungers. Now anyone who knows how these things work, please share! When I laid down on the thing, it was room temperature or close to it. By the time that I finally got up, the lounger was toasty warm and I can totally see how people fall asleep on them. Just looking at it you wouldn’t think it was so comfy being all rigid, but after laying on it, wow! I’m going to book the Rainforest Room on one of my days on the cruise!

Well, from my extensive experience with spa treatments, I can say for a fact that...I have no idea how it works.

No I didn't put any butter in the Chicken Salad mixture, but I love it how the butter dish seems to make it's way into all of our pictures. I only bought two sticks of butter for this trip and we didn't even use them both!

Mmmm...butter...

They have changed the flavors since our last visit so it was interesting to check out these new flavors.

Along with plenty of Beverly, right?

 

[jedijill]

No trip in the works yet although I've heard rumor of a special Harry Potter event at Universal in January that I'm contemplating going to.

The new spa looks amazing! I haven't been there since all the renovations. The salads and the gelato all look awesome!

Jill in CO

 

[bangzoom6877]

Whaaa?! No TPC?! I was looking forward to seeing what you guys picked up. The spa sounds sooo nice and relaxing! Can you believe I have a free massage that was given to me at my baby shower....almost exactly 2 years ago, and I still haven't used it! Sad. Good call on making the chicken salad for sandwiches Oh my, the ice cream martini looks phenomenal!

Hello there!!! It's great to "see you" here!

I'm planning our summer 2015 vacation to California including a few days at Disneyland!! Even though we just returned home on August 3rd from our WDW road trip, lol!

 

[bangzoom6877]

That spa looks amazing! Last year on our Carnival cruise, DH and I got the couples' spa pass to use throughout the whole cruise. We went there every day and used the thalassotherapy pool (huge jacuzzi basically, but with different places to sit and relax), saunas and steam rooms. It was heaven and a very relaxing vacation. The boys went to the kids' camp every single day because they loved the activities so much, so that's when we went to enjoy the spa. We did use the tiled loungers and they didn't look very comfy but they sure were terrific! I also wanted to fall asleep!

Now on our next WDW trip, I will have to find a way to fit in a spa visit. It just looks so wonderful! Either Senses or I could go to the Swan/Dolphin Mandara Spa since it's a short walk from BWV to get there.

I'm also loving the food pics! We absolutely loved the new ice cream shop in france. That was some of the best coffee ice cam I've ever tasted. No, it was THE BEST coffee ice cream I've ever tasted! It actually had very fine coffee grounds throughout, but you couldn't tell by the texture. It just added more of that delicious rich coffee flavor that I love. I didn't get the ice cream martini though, I stuck with other drinks around Epcot. We went to the ice cream shop in France two days of our trip. The first day, DH had hazelnut ice cream in an iced coffee float. I tried it and it was delicious! I had the brioche ice cream sandwich with coffee ice cream and chocolate sauce. Oh my, was that heavenly! The second day we went there, DH had the apple cinnamon ice cream in a waffle cone...I tried it and it was great! I had a scoop of coffee and a scoop of hazelnut in a waffle cone. Those flavors together were terrific. I didn't really need the cone though the ice cream is just so incredible by itself!

 

[Leshaface]

Hello there!!! It's great to "see you" here!

I'm planning our summer 2015 vacation to California including a few days at Disneyland!! Even though we just returned home on August 3rd from our WDW road trip, lol!

Bonnie! Great to see you back on here!

Oh yay! I'm assuming you'll be spending a few days at DLR, yes? Too bad you don't have the time for TR's anymore. I really enjoyed yours

 

[bangzoom6877]

Bonnie! Great to see you back on here! Oh yay! I'm assuming you'll be spending a few days at DLR, yes? Too bad you don't have the time for TR's anymore. I really enjoyed yours

Hi! I'm sure I will do a TR for our first DLR trip! Right now, it's almost certain that we will end up staying at Desert Palms Hotel & Suites so we could just walk to the parks. We don't have enough DVC points for the Grand Californian, and we are returning to WDW the summer after DL.

The plan is a couple of nights in San Diego first, with visits to the San Diego Zoo and Legoland. Then over to anaheim for the rest of the trip. A 3-day park hopper for DL, a visit to LA to see cousins, and one day at Universal studios. Possibly a short beach trip too. Of course I have to get on a plane for this trip, first time flying since April 2000! We will be renting a car. My parents, my sister, brother-in--law, my nieces and nephew will be joining us, except while we will stay a couple of more nights in anaheim than they will, they are driving up to San Francisco for a couple of nights and flying home from there.

Oh and yes, I said my nieces and my nephew...my sister had another baby this past December...actually he was born on the afternoon of December 31st so his bday is New Year's Eve! He will be a year and a half old when we go to California and we all can't wait to see his reaction to Disneyland!

I'm really looking forward to planning this trip, and our first time on the west coast! It would be great to see you if we can!

 

[mvf-m11c]

That's the worst part about a WDW trip is that you can never fit in all the restaurants that you want to try. You are really a Monorail buff to know that much about all the Monorails. I know that they run and hope they don't breakdown, but that's about the extent of my knowledge.

Definitely. The only problem for me is that I barely do any sit down restaurants at WDW. I do one to two on average on a seven day while I mostly eat off-site. I haven't even done all the sit down restaurants at the DLR and I've been going a lot these last few years. But it is nice to try all these different types of restaurants. I didn't mentioned this on my trip report yet that I am currently writing during the July trip which I ate at a restaurant that you recommended. My DB his GF and I were able to eat at UVA Bar and Cafe for lunch and it was great. I had the Lamb Burger and the fries were awesome. I got to thank you and PiO during the September 2013 trip where you ate there that night.

I am a Monorail guy. It is my favorite ride/transportation at the Disney parks. There were times where the WDW Monorails were down or not running when I was about to ride them.


It's always nice to relax while at WDW. That sounds like a nice relaxing day at Senses.

The food looks very nice and the Ice Cream Martini sounds good.

 

[Pinkocto]

The spa sounds heavenly! I'd also like to know how those loungers work. You'll love the rainforest room on the ship.

That icecream shop was so delicious. We went there each of the three days we were at BCV post cruise


Odd place for the grills at VGF...

 

[dolphingirl47]

The spa looks amazing. I have to admit that I have yet to try one of the Disney spas on land, but I am hoping to put this right at Aulani. The ice cream Martini looks delicious. I can't wait until I get the chance to try one.

Corinna