Hello...LIVE from 30,000 ft above the Atlantic

[disneyholic family]

Since I've retired.....I have to do something with my time!

and now i hate you even more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DISWolves]

and now i hate you even more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be patient.....your time will come
Thanks for reading

 

[DISWolves]

Started this morning off with breakfast in the hotel, but forgot to take any pics on my phone. Must remember tomorrow
We caught up with our friend John Paul, who is a server here. We keep in touch via Skype and email. he is also a keen gardener and has invited us to his home in Altemonte, during the next few days. Pool time next, and the sun seems a little shy this morning, but eventually we coaxed it out

See ya later

 

[PJB71]

Great pictures Nigel

Really looking forward to more updates

 

[DISWolves]

Dining tonight was at The Cheesecake Factory. Martin had mentioned yesterday that it was National Cheesecake Day (over a period of a few days), so we were prepared for a long wait. On arrival, the parking lot was jammed, but luckily I managed to nip into a space being vacated.

Once inside, we were informed of a 50 minute wait, so buzzer in hand, we headed off to A&F. Right on cue, Martin decided to Face Time me and he was greeted with a screen full of this.

He was about to have his final sleep in the U.K. before heading out to join us.

After returning from the shops, we headed back to the front desk and a further 15 minute wait, saw us heading to our table. It was extremely busy inside.

Sue and Emma decided to share an Orange Chicken, whilst I opted for Bang Bang Chicken.

Sue decided to wash hers down with a Mai Tai cocktail.

Service was very quick and efficient, with coke refills appearing as if by magic.

Soon the unenviable task of Cheesecake selection was upon us. Just where do you begin?

Our server appeared many times, only to hear "not decided yet", but we eventually bit the bullet

Nigel: 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

Emma: Chocolate Mousse Cheescake

Sue: Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake.

Suitably stuffed, we waddled out towards the exit. The queue was bigger than ever, stretching out towards the parking lot.

The only sensible option now was to go for a lie down and so we wisely headed back to base, and called it a day

 

[wayneg]

We had the Orange chicken, off the menu last year, back on this year.

No idea how you ate 3 cheesecake, we all shared 1 and were stuffed.

Cheesecake is my fave dessert but not a fan of them at CF, I prefer the cheesecake at Texas Roadhouse. I want traditional not into all the different flavours. Our local farm shop does a whole lemon one for £1.45 amazing.

Just seen on FB Mart is on his way.

 

[DISWolves]

Just seen on FB Mart is on his way.

Yeah, sent me a pic from inside the cabin

 

[disneyholic family]

OMG.... incredible food porn!!!....
do you think i'll get electrocuted by all this drooling i'm doing over my keyboard?????

.

 

[DISWolves]

OMG.... incredible food porn!!!....
do you think i'll get electrocuted by all this drooling i'm doing over my keyboard?????

.

That's just SHOCKING !

 

[disneyholic family]

That's just SHOCKING !

 

[scoobydooby]

I've not eaten off WDW site for over 10 years but I'm off to the Cheescake factory next trip! Only for the cheesecake though. Couldn't do a meal then a slab of that. I am drooling over that double chocolate affair. Am currently dieting!!!!!!!!!

 

[DISWolves]

Today sees the start of the annual Back to School Tax Free weekend, so we have decided to take advantage and do our shopping over the next few days.
Breakfast again was in the hotel, and I remembered to take a few photos.
I am fond of the cook to order omelette, and today I choose, jalapeño, spinach, mushroom, onion and cheese. Scrambled egg, sausage and bacon completed the plate. I still cannot get my head around the way the bacon is cooked!

After breakfast, we headed over to Florida Mall for a tour of the shops.
We called in a number of shops and purchased clothes in many of them. Emma, who is a huge Marvel fan, managed to buy hats, figures and a phone case.

Apple store had a very generous sale on, but this excluded phones.

We returned back to base, around 15:00 and we just crashed out in our room.
I am not sure of our dining plans for this evening, as we will be making our first visit to Cirque du Soleil at DTD.
What concerns me is the parking availability. As we passed the various entrances last night, it was complete grid lock, including Team Disney area. The police were fighting a losing battle

 

[wayneg]

Police at every set of lights last month. We didn't even attept to park just passed a couple of times, I avoided the area in the evenings just went at 10am to do a little shopping.

 

[dixonsontour]

Great cheesecake factory pics

 

[scoobydooby]

Scrambled egg and omelet is a bit weird!!!!! Agree about the bacon.

 

[gillybeaaan]

Looks like you're having a fab trip so far, I'm also insanely jealous that you're there for so long!

Would love to try the cheesecake factory, it looks divine and I'm not even a big cheesecake fan!

Looking forward to keeping up with your trip and following your experiences

 

[DISWolves]

Scrambled egg and omelet is a bit weird!!!!! Agree about the bacon.

When I'm hungry......I will eat most things!

 

[disneyholic family]

Police at every set of lights last month. We didn't even attept to park just passed a couple of times, I avoided the area in the evenings just went at 10am to do a little shopping.

when we were there last august, i couldn't even find handicapped parking spaces....that lot was insanely bad then, and from what i understand it's even worse now...

 

[DISWolves]

I started out tonight with two plans of attack. If I could not make the parking lot at DTD, I was going to take the back road into OKW, (past Reedy Creek Fire Station and along Disney Vaction Club Way). Once there, I was going to call in to request a preference for block 19-21 for our upcoming stay, then catch the boat into DTD. However, approaching the first entrance to DTD West Side parking lot, an electronic information board was showing that DTD parking was available further along, to the right (I guess this was at Team Disney) The left filter lane had about 3 car waiting to turn left, so I decided to take a chance and join them. The parking lot was almost empty!!!!!. In a couple of minutes we were walking past HOB and into the heart of West Side.

I was amazed at the transformation since my last visit almost a year ago. Starbucks had sprung up from nowhere. I must admit to losing my bearings a few times as we made our way between the temporary wooden walls, towards Marketplace. Since we hadn't eaten for a while, we decided to call into Earl of Sandwich. The building was packed solid, but we opted to join the queue and wait our turn. It seemed rather strange having to pay for our food, as we are usually on DDP when we visit here.

A variety of Phiily Cheesesteak, BBQ Chicken and Hawaii BBQ, washed down with a Diet Coke and we were soon back up and running. It was also our first visit into Co-op and I felt that it was a welcome improvement.

It is nice to see the wheel has been fixed on that AK vehicle!!!

The World of Disney store was our next stop, as Sue has seen a couple of Dooney & Bourke bags that she would like to take a closer at. As we made our way back towards West Side, we stopped off for a few moments to listen to a trio playing mainly classical music. They are called Nova Era, and are well worth a listen to. Cookes of Dublin and Raglan Road were extremely busy, and as we walked passed the Characters in Flight balloon, I heard the unmistakable sound of the didgeridoo. When he had finished his set, Dominic Gaudious came over for a chat to us. We discussed briefly about setting up my GoPro camera onto his guitar, for use in one of his videos. Time was pressing on, so we made our way towards Cirque du Soleil.

I have read various mixed reports about this show, where people have compared it to other Cirque shows around the world.. As it was our first visit, I went with and open mind and I must admit to being amazed at what I was about to see.
Our seat in centre section row HH, gave an excellent view of the whole show. The skills, balance and judgment of all the performers, was just amazing. I must admit that the cyclists, Diablo cotton reel spinners and the final scenes of walking up the building, were the highlights of the show for me..
We eventually made our way outside, at around 22.50. Getting out of the parking lot was a breeze. Myself and Emma decided we were still feeling peckish, and so we headed over to the 24 hour McDonalds, just outside of Alll Star Resorts.

A combination of double quarter pounder with cheese, chicken nuggets with fries, saw us fuelled up for the day. We made short drive back to base and hit the sack

 

[heatherbelle]

The food on Air Lingus looks good.