Day 143

Day 143...

Another beautiful and warm day again today.

This time last year we were in a very warm and very busy Disneyland Paris...I suspect that while the weather may be the same the crowds will definitely not!

A very busy entrance to Disneyland Paris, 8th August 2019

But starting the day with lovely sunny and warm weather got us reminiscing about our last trip to Walt Disney World back in 2013 when we were lucky enough to be staying at the Wilderness Lodge Resort as a result of a free upgrade from the Coronado Resort.

We loved being able to grab a breakfast from Roaring Forks and eat it outside soaking up the sunshine and the atmosphere. Nothing better than eating Mickey waffles off paper plates, with plastic cutlery, enjoying the crispy bacon and fruit compote with plenty of syrup...so not the food we eat nowadays but we would love to be able to eat breakfast there right now! Been too long since we were able to get to Walt Disney World and I fear it will be a while yet before we are able to get there again :(

Breakfast outside, waffles, bacon, syrup and more!

Enjoying pancakes with fruit and maple syrup!!

And talk of Disney food meant we couldn't mention breakfast without mentioning Tonga Toast from over at the Polynesian Resort - sourdough bread, bananas and cinnamon...mmmm....

Tonga Toast

Still I really enjoyed my breakfast this morning, my usual of sausage, bacon (with a little brie) and two poached eggs.

But once we got ourselves moving today we had some paperwork to sort for our other house which meant messing about online and a couple of phone calls. I had laundry to sort thanks to Molls return home last night and Simon had the new box/cover construction to lightly sand in a few places followed by another coat of varnish.

We had another visit to our 'other house' this afternoon to paint over a few holes in walls that had been filled where we had taken down some pictures and things. We also boxed up some of the items that we have decided to sell and brought them home so that we can start getting that process underway.

Once back home and fueled by coffee we had a new plant to put in the garden along with the removal of a couple of very old plants that had seen better days. I also decided to cut back a few off our larger plants to give them a bit more room to grow. While I was doing that Simon had some work to complete on his R2D2 build; a little sanding and then primer painting.

We had a treat tonight and had our first take-out meal since lockdown began from our local kebab shop; this is great for us and our low carb way of life as we eat just the meat (chicken and steak - yummy) and salad but discard the pitta bread.

We have been chatting today about the impact of Coronavirus and what we should or should not be doing. How it affects us on a day to day basis and what to do with the information that we are receiving from governments and scientific bodies - it is all very confusing, open to interpretation and all we can try and do is what we think is the right thing to do.

We have tried to do as much as we can to limit our risk and therefore we hope the risk to others. We will continue to 'risk assess' anything that we want or need to do and only move forward when we are happy to do so. To have a take-out meal tonight was lovely and was a treat as it would have been prior to lockdown. We have not been out to a restaurant for a meal yet but we didn't eat out that much before the lockdown...I am sure we will have a meal out at some point but we are in no rush to do so. We have shopped online as much as possible but have ventured out when we have needed to but taken all the precautions that we can; face masks, distancing and hand sanitiser!

We are taking things slow and steady and will do our part, as much as we can, to help keep this virus under control but it can be very frustrating when seeing reports that imply there are those who appear to not be taking as much care and consideration as us.

So whatever you are up to please take care, keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a mask.

xx

WDW Summer 2013 - Day 13

We have now reached the penultimate full day of our vacation, day 13.

So what did today bring us?  Well it started off with a boat trip across Bay Lake to the Contemporary Resort...

Waiting for the boat at Wilderness Lodge dock

...so that we could hop aboard a monorail to the Polynesian Resort...but why? Two words...

TONGA TOAST!!!

At Capt. Cooks enjoying our breakfast of Tonga Toast - yummy!!!!

So for anyone who doesn't know what Tonga Toast is let me explain.  It's a THICK slice of sourdough bread that is stuffed with bananas, deep fried and then coated in cinnamon sugar and it is AMAZING!! We chose to visit Capt. Cooks and had breakfast there but you could, if you wanted, push the boat out and eat at the Kona Cafe but as we had the Quick Service Dining Plan we were more than happy with Capt. Cooks. It also reminded Simon and I of the year we first stayed in a Disney Resort (Port Orleans French Quarter) and on our first morning we had breakfast here at Capt. Cooks, although back then we were unaware of the lure of the Tonga Toast!  But from now on this will be a must do for all of us.

After we had stuffed our faces we decided to have a wander around the Polynesian and soak up the atmosphere...

A little shopping!!

Enjoying the beautiful surroundings

We then hopped back onto the monorail and headed off in the direction of Epcot.  We decided to head over to the World Showcase with a little detour first to get Fastpasses for Test Track later in the day.  We headed over to The American Adventure and were lucky enough to catch a performance by the Voices of Liberty; this is one of my favourite attractions and a must do every trip.  We were lucky enough to do the Backstage Magic tour a number of years ago that took you behind the scenes at The American Adventure which really gives you an appreciation of all that is involved with an attraction like this.

Beautiful day at Epcot

As it was now about lunch time we headed to one of our favourite counter service restaurants - Katsura Grill in the Japan pavilion.

Enjoying lunch at Katsura Grill in the Japan pavilion

After lunch saw the kids partaking in yet some more Phineas & Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure.  This time we headed to the United Kingdom pavilion, although the kids were rather perplexed at the choice of tea during one of the clues...chai tea...mmm perhaps not our choice for a typical British tea!!

Kids playing Phineas & Ferb in the UK pavilion and being somewhat perplexed by the choice of tea!!

And of course whilst in the United Kingdom they just had to have their photo taken in the traditional red telephone box...after all the chances of finding an operational one in the actual United Kingdom are few and far between.  We do have one where we live but it has been turned into a tourist information point and has leaflets and maps on the surrounding area but no telephone!

When in Epcot!! Only chance we Brits get to experience one of these nowadays.

It was then time to head over to Future World and use our Fastpasses for Test Track followed by a ride on 'The Seas with Nemo and Friends'.  We had a quick walk through Innoventions before making our way over to The Land pavilion and Sunshine Seasons for a spot of something to eat, which for me consisted of some lovely grilled salmon and strawberry shortcake - yummy!

Inside the Land Pavillion, looking down onto Sunshine Seasons

We then took the monorail from Epcot to the TTC (Transportation & Ticket Centre) and then over to the Magic Kingdom.  It was 'Extra Magic Hours' this evening and the park would be open until 3.00am!!!

Arriving at the Magic Kingdom, all decorated for Halloween!!

One thing we had not yet tried but that was on my 'to do' list was the cinnamon roll over at Gaston's Tavern. Now previously the Main Street Bakery had been THE place for cinnamon rolls but since the re-vamp and Starbucks take over the rolls had been removed from the menu but had emerged on the menu at Gaston's Tavern in New Fantasyland.  They were as yummy as ever but I swear they've grown in size!!

Now THAT'S a cinnamon roll!!

Had to take some photos of the inside of Gaston's Tavern because the theming inside here (and all of new Fantasyland) is fantastic!

Even at 6 foot 2'' Ethan couldn't fill this chair!

Interior decoration Gaston style

The rest of the evening was spent with a ride on the Haunted Mansion and plenty of shopping!!  Although when it decided to rain the shops did get rather busy and put a bit of a damper on my shopping experience!  But thankfully the rain cleared so that we were able to watch that evening's premier performance of the Halloween version of 'Celebrate the Magic', which included a number of Disney villains!  The advantage of taking our vacation at the end of August meant that as we were now into September (the first to be exact) we got to experience a little of Halloween Disney style.

We finished the evening off by riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover during a performance of Wishes.  We eventually left the park at 12.15am well and truly worn out from our day.

Arriving home after a long day....but with shopping!