WDW 2011 Day 8 - DisjointedImages

Monday 1/17/2011

First morning in the new hotel. After a night and morning routine we give the hotel a 5 star view with a 2 star quality. The bathroom is tiny – the shower narrow and short (Chris at 6’1″ had to duck to wash his hair) and the water is so hard you couldn’t get a lather. Disney must be conditioning theirs separately as best we can figure since they must be on the same water treatment plant.

The TV was a bust – as a storm rolled in and they use satellite – not a single channel to watch. Every time it happened – Chris and I would laugh “lost another potential DirecTV customer!” as we were sure other people had to be annoyed as well.

The beds while nice and soft after the Coronado’s cement slab, but just weren’t totally comfortable for some reason. I woke up swollen enough to take off my wedding band before I lost the finger.

Then there was the Pizza Hut that was closed for lunch – unless you wanted to order a large via room service. It also had the most terrifying statue:

Still, I’d recommend it for anyone wanting a gorgeous view, in a spacious room, at a normal price rather than “Disney” prices. Honestly, it’s a great place, just not for me. Oh, and do make sure you print out and bring your room reservation confirmation. There was a total fiasco at check in that I won’t get into (Mom checked in with no problems…) but that’s a good tip for ANY hotel. Always bring everything with you just in case.

SO – on to the day. This was our second “day off” since we only had 10 days on the hopper tickets, and time to kill. It was supposed to (and did) storm most of the day so we decided on walking around Downtown Disney and then head out for dinner.

Poor Chris, this vacation was wearing him out!

I saw this squirrel in the flowers – who had no problem with my huge camera but bolted when Chris pointed the camcorder at him. We think it’s the IR light on the camcorder, spooked him.

Loved this:

Pinnochio

With Jiminy of course

Said hello to the lego family:

Toured the lego store:

Then ducked into Cooke’s for a deep fried candy bar:

(It was gross)

And some fish and chips:

(Which were just ok)

Finally we decided to head off to dinner – Kobe Japanese Steakhouse (wherein no one is Japanese…)

Now, my parents have wildly different tastes sometimes in food from Chris and I. Chris and I love just about all Japanese cuisine and eat it pretty regularly at home (I make an awesome gyudon), but it’s more Americanized fare that my parents go for when they say they like Japanese. My mom for example, hates most all kinds of fish – so I know she’s never going to go to a sushi place. So I admit to having concerns when they raved about this place from their last visit to Florida, that we might not like it. This was also our first experience at a hibachi.

Our chef:

The tray of ingredients:

Whatever this sauce was – it was addicting.

(Ranch on crack I say!)

Let the show begin!

Tipping the veggies out onto the hibachi grill:

Just before the slice and dice:

A very fast chef with a very sharp knife:

The veggie massacre:

The crowd favorite:

FWOOM!!

Enjoying the show:

We munched on the veggies while he tossed fettuccine on the grill:

(I still drool thinking about these noodles – again, dusted in crack!)

More fire!!

Deftly cutting the chicken breast:

Fried rice:

Needs an egg – spinning it on the cooktop before…

scooping it up…

and tossing it around,

then catching it delicately on his spatula.

A few more tosses:

Before skillfully cleaving it in two….

Ahem… moving on…

Aww, a heart

(ba-thump ba-thump with the spatula)

A steamy cleanup:

Oh man. THAT was just about the best meal of the trip. The steaks at Yachtsman were fantastic – but this ties it in a “very different but awesome” way. The chef loved my huge camera too – he hammed it way up for me.

Chris waiting outside: