• Disney,  Food,  Photography

    Pop Goes the Century

    When we last left off – we had a delicious dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, then drove off into the sunset to check in at Pop Century. Skip to the 32:22 mark for a reminder of our arrival. The decade signs stand outside the front of the building. This caution sign was nicely lit in the dark – I don’t know what it was cautioning against, but I had to stop for a photo. We get our room – and walk through the pool area (that we didn’t have the energy to try). The room had more “fun” touches to it than our Kidani stay – with actual animal towels.…

  • Disney,  Food,  Travel

    Our Last Disney Dinner – Yachtsman Steakhouse

    From EPCOT we drive over to the Yacht Club Resort for our last DDP meal. We start with an amuse-bouche I get the Farmer’s Market Salad – I love granny smith apples in a salad. Chris gets an amazing looking Caesar Salad. We wisely stick with what we love, and go out on one more order of 12-oz Prime New York Strip Steak. Chris also goes with a side of au gratin potatoes. My delicious pile of mushrooms We’re treated to this lovely dessert sampler Chris got the The Yachtsman Sundae for his dessert choice. A Trio of Gelato and Amarena Cherries While I had the Fig Cheesecake – with…

  • Disney,  Photography

    Last day in the Kingdom – with a dash of Epcot

    Friday morning and we have to pack up. :(  It will be our last day visiting the magical lands. I start it off with some Lucky Charms in the hopes it will enchant me and make the day seem as long as possible. We wave to the animals as we roll our things out to the car. These grasses are so soft and pretty! I’m sure they’d hate the weather back home, but I’d love to have them in my yard. Chris stops to grab himself some ‘breakfast’. Nuggets and crack sauce. Then we roll out to the Magic Kingdom. Fred was an awesome driver! Very engaging and humorous. I…

  • Disney,  Photography,  Travel

    Melting Around the World

    Welcome to Wednesday! Today we are hitting Epcot. Two park closures in a row meant I slept in. So we just had time to hoof it to the boat and ride over to the other side of the lake for our lunch ADR. The beautiful blue skies leaving the Village. Here is the full day’s video – but keep reading for the pictures and comments. Walking into Epcot. The Food and Wine Festival was going on. It wasn’t exceptionally crowded as far as we could tell though, while we were here. A quick shot of us. Unintentionally coordinated in blues – right down to the lanyard and magic bands. I…

  • Disney,  Photography,  Travel

    Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

    My most favoritest reason for being here finally arrives! Magic Kingdom in FULL HALLOWEEN GLORY. Despite a strongly afflicting phobia of certain things with 8 legs (to the point where not only is the technical term for them absolutely too much, but even the common s****r term is generally avoided) Halloween continues to be my #1 holiday. It is undeniably difficult to avoid the thing which I hate most at that time of year but thankfully it’s on the spookier end of things enough that Disney chooses not to use it in decorations so I am SAFE! Seriously – I had to speed read/half skip *that* part of Harry Potter…

  • Disney,  Travel

    Toy Wars Stunt Spectacular of Terror

    Thursday! We managed to get up a bit earlier than the day before, but still didn’t actually get to the park until noon. Grabbed “breakfast” at the little shop in the lobby. First we finally got down to check out the pool. No pictures of the pool area as I don’t have a waterproof case. These guys crack me up. Hidden Mickey! Love the other details – like the well-worn English to Spanish dictionary. The hat is no more here – glad for the shots I got of it. Off to the Pixar area… To use a FP for Toy Story Mania! Scores Look! Castles under the Castle sign. As…

  • Disney,  Photography,  Travel

    Thundering and Splashing In the Magic Kingdom

    Now it’s time to ride! We have a Fastpass so make our way over to the other side of the park. On the way out of lunch, I spot this balloon, and boy was I tempted to get one of my own. We didn’t have time to stop to talk with Belle, but I love the sign. The windmill moves the gears which makes the candlestick ‘arms’ dance. Rapunzel’s tower is still beautiful. I managed to come around in time to catch the Liberty Belle and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad lined up. Speaking of BTMRR – that’s our Fastpass destination! I grab an awkward shot from the ride before…

  • Disney,  Photography,  Travel

    Lunch at Be Our Guest

    I had heard many mixed reviews on Be Our Guest, and decided that if I got the mysterious invite email directly from Disney then I would reserve a lunch there. I did get the email, and so here we are. After checking in and confirming we had reservations (the CM was visibly relieved, she said it was so hard to tell people trying to just walk up that it basically wasn’t possible on most days to get in without an ADR) we walk along the bridge to the entrance. Such a sad gargoyle. Once inside – you walk down a hallway, and you can hear Lumiere and Cogsworth whispering. Then…

  • Disney,  Photography,  Travel

    Our Morning in the Magic Kingdom

    Tuesday morning arrives – and runs off while we’re sleeping. Hey, I never pretended to be a morning person, and that 6am start wasn’t going to be a trend. Eventually we get going and head to the car. I snap a shot in the elevator. Let me take a quick moment to say THANK YOU to my ever patient husband for always toting the camera gear. It’s hard to see the size here, roughly an average diaper bag, and at least as insanely packed. He knows how much my photography profession (and obsession) means to me. The parking garage of course had Lion King theming – we were most often…

  • Disney,  Photography,  Travel

    Return to the Yachtsman Steakhouse

    First fancy dinner night! After initial sticker shock over the prices (I did not yet know the beauty of a prime steak) in 2011, the Yachtsman Steakhouse fast became and stayed our favorite (and yes, most expensive) meal. Since he was our waiter each time (and a few times on my parents’ earlier visits) previously, we wanted to make sure we had the impeccable David guiding us through our meal again. I tried to call and get David’s section, but sadly only got a voicemail. Once we arrived and checked in, we had a little wait for our table, so of course that meant picture time! Yup, we’re goofs. At…