I run back to SSE (another acronym) to grab the stroller (sorry…no acronym for that) which we brought it in case Eric got tired later on this night, and I meet them at the Land. Soarin is jammed, as expected, but we're staying top-level to eat at the Garden Grill.
We've read conflicting reports about the quality of this place over on Deb Wills' site, but we figure we'd give it a try, because we don't know how much longer the boys will still agree to character meals. We get there about 20 minutes before our actual reservation time, but we are seated within a couple of minutes. We were looking forward to seeing the boys' reactions at the revolving floor. Too bad it was down again tonight. I ask the hostess if I can arrange for all the tables to get up and move one table to the left every 3 minutes. The hostess looked over at Sheri, and Sheri gave her this "you should try living with him" look. Anyways, we get seated pretty much next to the entrance, where the 35,922 people per hour who come in to ride Soarin can gawk at you eating and tell you that you have some gunk in the corner of your mouth.
Let's just say that this dining experience ranks right up there with Mama Melrose's in our eyes (Just search for Mama Melrose here on the blog) Hey, this one's almost done, so you might as well go re-read an older one, right?! I wrote that one better than this one, anyways. Here are a couple of pics while we waited for the food.
…and another one while we were still waiting for our food…
We get salads and rolls, and I dive in, completely forgetting about my tooth.
Hard roll + painful tooth = @#%)^@%$!@#$!#@$!#%%$&)%$%#$!#@%$!#%!!!!!!!!!!
A few minutes later, a mailman stops by and asks if I am Chris. Puzzled, I say, "yes." He hands me this envelope and leaves. I open it up, and it's empty. I then look at the return address, and all it says is "Fred"
Bastard! He made one final call on me…and awaaaaayayayayayay I head to the bathroom. I had to hit it 3 times that meal. Apparently Dyshitzula was not pleased with something I did and sent her minion Fred to do her bidding again. One time I went, Aaron had to go, too, and, he finished up before I was done. He headed out of the bathroom BY HIMSELF (against my pleadings), so I had to run out to find him…He made his way back to the restaurant and booth with no wrong turns. Not bad for a 6 year old who has never been to this restaurant or that bathroom before. He definitely gets that from me.
Okay…Fred's paying a visit, and my tooth is exploding in my mouth with every chew. At least we got our food. I'll just stop there about the food. Now, some of my fellow Disney freaks might be concerned about this portion of the trip report. We're 97% positive on what Disney does, and we cheer right along with most people. It is a business, however, and, occasionally, things do go wrong. I'm not going to sugar-coat everything. When Disney does well, we make sure to mention it. When things don't go well (avoidable things…not "it rained" or "I didn't get the exact room I wanted" stuff), we're going to mention it, too.
Eventually we got to dessert, where the boys got to make their own sundaes. They also bring out a cupcake for Aaron. Ten minutes later, they bring out ANOTHER cupcake for Aaron's birthday as he's eating the first one. I think this was the server's way of trying to make up for forgetting to bring Sheri's tea for 20 minutes and 3 requests. Sheri was about to jump over the balcony nearby and drink from Living with the Land…she had already downed her tea, her water, and my water.
Aaron was happy…
…until he realized that we weren't going to let him have 2.5 cupcakes (he connived Eric into letting him have some of his cupcake, too).
We pay and run away as fast as we can, nearly leveling Pluto in the process (we were there over an hour and a half). I text DD and Mare to get a 10-20 on them. Debbie texts back that they are in the park and working on finding a place to eat (Japan or Italy were in their sights). We decide to head sub-level to ride Living With the Land again (I suggested it to the boys when Sheri was contemplating the swan dive in, and they both wanted to ride it). We hop on and look up at where the Garden Grill overlooks the attraction. I noticed 2 other parched patrons climbing over the wall to jump as we passed by underneath. Aaron was asking questions left and right about how they do stuff, and Sheri and I both agree that we see a "Behind the Seeds" tour in our future in a few years for the boys.
We hop off and start to make our way out in search of our favorite attractions in Epcot…DaisyDebbie and Badelves! We get a call from Illinois to talk to Aaron, and he does his best to try to hear her as we go by the Fountain. DD and I trade texts as we head into WS. They're heading over to Mexico for a margarita fix, so we make a beeline left by the tree and find them in about 4 minutes. We exchange hugs/handshakes with Dan, Debbie, Lexie, Austin, Mark, Mare, and Renee. The Delswife crew was hoping to make it that night too, but things didn't work out, and they couldn't make it.
Dan and Mark head over to the Cantina for a beer. I pass on their offer to get one for me, and I immediately regret is as IT'S EPCOT, IT'S MY LAST NIGHT HERE, AND I'M WITH FRIENDS!!! Screw it! France is a ways away to get my Gray Goose Slushie fix, so, when I got Sheri her margarita, I ordered one myself, even though I'm not a huge fan of them.
Now, what do you think the next topic of conversation would be among friends who are fellow Disney Freaks?
WE TALK ABOUT STRATEGIES IN MOB WARS AND BAR FIGHTS FROM FACEBOOK!!!!
We hang out for a bit and enjoy watching the boys talk to Renee. We joke about the water bottle still floating in the lagoon (yet another trip report…the first one I did…you'll have to search for it as I don't think there's a 2005 list of reports…just search the Trophy Room until you get to a date around the end of July 2006 as that's where the last replies are). They just came from WS and haven't been to FW yet. We just came from FW and are heading to FW. They want to do TT, but we tell them that it's down…haven't heard that familiar WHOOOSH as the cars go by overhead. We decide to part ways while we do a quick tour of WS and will meet back up with them. We head towards Norway, completely forgetting that the boys haven't done the Gran Fiesta Tour. I crane my neck to see the female CMs in Norway as we pass by but only see one through the windows at Kringola. That was enough….(sigh) .
We bypass China and head over to Germany to see if the model trains are running. The boys are like me in that they can just spend hours there. I get a text from one of my sisters to see if it's okay to call for Aaron. I reply, and a couple of minutes later, Aaron's talking to Aunt Emily. We continue our tour past Italy and by the American Adventure. The Candlelight Processional is going, with Abigail Breslin as the narrator. I can't help but chuckle as I watch for a couple of minutes…when we were over by Mexico, we talked a bit about the CP and Breslin. Lexie quips something about her needing ridiculously-high heels for anyone to see her. We show the boys Ms. Breslin and tell them who she is (and what movies she's from). They're not interested…if this were a few years from now, however, we wouldn't be able to pull Aaron away.
Part IV can be found HERE.
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