Salute to All Things Disney but Mostly Disneyland

Earlier this year, the Anaheim Convention Center played host to WonderCon--a smaller sibling to the gargantuan San Diego Comic Con.

While there wasn't a huge Disney presence in either the Exhibitor's Hall or the panel presentations, there was the usual abundance of costumes and cosplayers out and about.

Guillermo del Toro, still said to be connected to a future Haunted Mansion film for Disney, was there presenting a newly-cut trailer for his newest film, Pacific Rim.

Although it's tough not to get behind giant robots battling alien dinosaurs, I might be the only one wanting to see it just to hear the voice of GLaDOS from the Portal video games.

Even in the Trek Nation panel, it was possible to find hints of Disney, if you knew where to look.

Of course, Disney's grandest new acquisition was well-represented in costumes and booths and build-your-own construction projects and pretty much anything else you could imagine.

Some familiar Disney creators were also out in force, such as The Avengers' Joss Whedon, promoting his new independent film Much Ado About Nothing.

Also in attendance was Once Upon A Time writer Jane Espenson, on panels for both Buffy Season Nine and her internet series Husbands.

If finding characters for photo opportunities was too hard at Disneyland, guests had only to walk down the block to find a plethora of costumed folk from properties as recent as Wreck-it Ralph...

...and its Academy-award winning accompanying short, Paperman.

While WonderCon is historically held in San Francisco, recent renovations being done to their convention center have necessitated its move down south for last year and this year. It is unknown as to whether it will stay in Anaheim next year, or return to San Francisco.

Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos from Walt Disney World.

I had a great opportunity my last morning at Walt Disney World. The Imagineers were conducting a public "play test" of A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas. This is a new interactive experience that will be opening in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom in the near future. The testing started earlier in the morning and I managed to make it there about 11:45am and was one of the last groups through, they shut down around noon. The adventure begins at the Enlistment Quarters, the old Crows Nest.

The only signs it was open for the play test was an open door.

On the other side a cast member was out to answer questions and he also gave the introduction to the game.

We were shown inside by the cast member and he explained what we were about to embark on.

He then issued us a talisman that would be our key to unlock the game.

We then could go to one of the three kiosks to start our adventure.

You put the talisman on the symbol and the video begins to play your first clue and it tells you which quest you will be embarking on.

There were five maps out. Since this was a play test they stressed what we were seeing may not be the final set of maps or content on the maps.

Our quest was the Guardian's Curse. Here is a look a the map.

The introduction text on the map.

The map. We were told to head for the compass first.

Before heading off a look around the room.

Overhead...

The wall behind you (assuming you are facing the kiosks).

Our first stop was the compass. This is located across from Pirates. When you put the talisman on the symbol the compass springs to life and points to where you will be heading next (there is narration too). We were directed across the plaza to the parrot for further instructions.

Approaching the parrot symbol, it is on the gun handle which is on the crate. The parrot itself is in the shadow on the left in this picture.

A video clip of the parrot in action.

Next up for us was the bulls-eye. This stop is located down near the Swiss Family Tree House.

A couple video clips of the cannon fire and treasure unveiling and our final clue.

Our final stop, the captain's hat. Located where the mini Jungle Cruise boats once sailed.

Video of the finale to our quest. After this played an Imagineer approached us, thanked us and asked for feedback.

They shut down the test at noon which was about the time we wrapped up our quest. So I did not have a chance to try any of the others or learn more. Here is a look at a couple of the other maps. Again note they stressed these are still works in progress.

Hope you enjoyed this look at a play test of the upcoming Pirates Adventure. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full updates I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos from his trip to the parks on Friday, April 12, 2013.

A new exhibit opened at Innoventions this weekend. Iron Man Tech presented by Stark Industries. This exhibit is being listed as part of the Limited Time Magic promotion. On Friday there was a Disneyland Annual Passholder Preview event where you were able to see the exhibit and then Tomorrowland remained open for two hours after park closing. To attend you just had to have a valid Disneyland Annual Passport and show up to get a wristband for the event. Distribution started at 1:00pm at Innoventions. I arrived a little after 1pm and the line wrapped around the first floor and stretched down the old entrance and out into Tomorrowland.

The line moved rather quickly as they had cast members scanning passes, then a second group putting wristbands on and then you walked by a table and were given an Iron Man 3 poster.

Here is the poster.

Innoventions has received some new banners for the Iron Man Tech.

The event started at 6:00pm. I arrived about quarter to 6:00 and the line was the longest line I can remember seeing for Innoventions. It filled the upper level, ramp, and down into Tomorrowland eventually.

The entrance to Innoventions received some Iron Man signage too.

The line stretched into Tomorrowland.

The line took about 45 minutes to get through. Once inside the former Honda/Segway area houses this exhibit. There are two parts, the first is Tony Stark's Hall of Armor featuring the Mark I through VII suits and the 42 suit.

The Mark I through VII suits.

The second area of the exhibit is the Suit Up experience where you can virtually try out an Iron Man Suit.

Some more props in the queue for the experience.

After working through the queue you are directed to one of two stations and are fitted with your suit and given a chance to test it out. Here is a video clip of a guest going through some of the experience.

A closer look at the screen during a test run.

After the experience you exit through a walkway lined with images from the film.

Hope you enjoyed this look at the Iron Man Tech presented by Stark Industries at Innoventions. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Disneyland Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

Disney's Limited Time Magic offering at Disneyland for the week of April 8-14 was Long Lost Friends Week. Prior to the event guests were able to participate in an online poll to select the characters that would appear at the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree. It included characters from both classic and more contemporary Disney animated cartoons and features.

Disneyland has done these sorts of character events in the past, and this followed the same sort of format. There were five backdrops in the Festival Arena, each with a separate queue. There were 10 sets of characters rotating every 30 minutes.

At the beginning of each session there was usually a character procession, where the new sets of characters came out and were introduced before going to their meet areas.

There was a Disney Photopass photographer at each area. They would also take a photo with your camera. In the interest of moving people through they requested only one photo/camera per group. They also requested no autographs - instead they handed out autograph cards at each station. As you can see in the photo below, the autographs were on one side, and the name of the movie was on the other side. I was very happy that they did this - it really made the lines move a lot faster, and gave the characters an opportunity to interact with the guests instead of signing autographs.

Friar Tuck, Robin Hood, Prince John, and Sheriff of Nottingham. Ooh de lally!

They alternated with The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.

The characters seemed to be having a good time playing off each other.

Scrooge McDuck and Ludwig von Drake.

Mulan (disguised as the warrior Ping) and Mushu. She was especially good about suggesting various poses for the photos.

Frollo, Esmeralda and Clopin.

The most popular group was Wendy, Peter Pan, Mr. Smee and Captain Hook. They took quite a bit of time with each set of guests. The pirates were gleeful when I said I wanted to pose with them.

Governor Ratcliffe, John Smith, Pocahontas and Meeko.

Jane Porter and Terk. (What about Tarzan? I think Tarzan would have been VERY popular...)

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. I don't think I'd ever seen these three except in a parade. They were very sweet.

Lilo and Stitch were obviously having a lot of fun. Stitch was getting into all kinds of mischief - like tying their handler's pigtails in a knot.

At one point Lilo had to leave, so Stitch did a number of poses for us while we were waiting.

There were some special food offerings available, like these Monte Cristo Bites.

Though there were park-wide announcements throughout the day describing the event, those I talked to in line around me were annual passholders who knew about it in advance rather than day guests. It was consistently busy but not over-crowded when I was there. I thought it was a very nice event and the guests and the characters seemed to be enjoying themselves and the opportunity for more personal interaction.

First it was the Goofy Challenge, then the Coast-to-Coast Challenge and the Dumbo Double Dare. Now the evil geniuses at runDisney have developed a new series to tempt their loyal running fan(atics): The Dopey Challenge.

runDisney is introducing a new 10K race into the 2014 Walt Disney World marathon weekend lineup. And they are convinced that there are plenty of runners who are, well, Dopey enough to want to run the 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon and earn the Dopey medal to go along with the 5K, Minnie (10K), Donald (half), Mickey (marathon), and Goofy medals.

Yes, that's right - six medals for four races. If you're a bling junkie like me, how can you pass that up? :-) And I couldn't. Lee and I are both signed up to run the Inaugural Dopey Challenge next January. "Are you insane?" is the question I most often hear when I tell people that. :-)

I loved the observation one of my fellow Team AllEars members made - that at various points during this challenge we would probably feel like all of the Seven Dwarfs...definitely Grumpy and Sleepy! (I hope not to have much experience of Doc and Sneezy, though...)

And speaking of Sleepy...to be honest, the thing Lee and I are most concerned about is not the distance (48.6 miles over four days), it's having to get up really early four mornings in a row. It starts with the 5K on Thursday, January 9 and finishes with the marathon on Sunday, January 12. Followed by a really long nap...

Bring on the Dopey Challenge!

Registration for all of the events during Marathon weekend opened on April 9. For more information, visit http://www.rundisney.com/disneyworld-marathon/.

And Team AllEars 2014 is now open to new and returning members. Lee and I are back for what I'm sure will be a memorable year - it's the final year for Team AllEars. See http://land.allears.net/blogs/teamallears/ for more information.

Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos of the window dedication ceremony at Disneyland on April 9, 2013 honoring Harrison (Buzz) Price with a window on Main Street USA. One of his key contributions to the Walt Disney Company was doing the site survey and identifying the location where Disneyland sits today.

The ceremony started just past 9:00am as the park opened. The west (left) tunnel was blocked off for the ceremony. The window is located on the left side of City Hall.

The new window is covered and ready to be unveiled.

Jack Lindquist (former president of Disneyland, left), Marty Sklar (former Imagineer, sun glasses), and Tony Baxter (former Imagineer, back to us) were on hand for the dedication.

A full video of the ceremony.

The Dapper Dans of Disneyland kick off the Celebration.

Michael Colglazier, President of the Disneyland Resort.

Tom Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

Mickey Mouse arrives.

Michael does the honors with Mickey.

A closer look at the window. It reads:

David Price, Buzz son, spoke on behalf of the family.

Mickey unveils a replica for the family to wrap up the ceremony.

Hope you enjoyed this special Disneyland event. For additional photos and details from this trip and others (including a full look at all the Windows on Main Street USA in the by request section) on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

The spring break season is wrapping up this weekend and the parks were fairly crowded but not insane. Upon entering the park spotted a new popcorn bucket offering, you can now purchase Dumbo buckets for $12. The two carts on Main Street and the one in the Small World Mall had them.

The Big Thunder project continues to roll along. You can see some holes cut into the mountain now.

Rainbow Ridge has really taken shape. The plywood is up.

Spring has arrived at the Big Thunder Ranch and Jamboree.

The Jamboree was quiet since it was between performances.

Some Rodeo Games are now out. Next week it will not be so peaceful out here since Long Lost Friends week will be using the Jamboree for character Meet and Greets as part of the Limited Time Magic Promotion.

The photo backdrop has been decked out for Spring too.

Cowboy Mickey was roaming around (as was Minnie). If you are looking for quiet character photos try stopping by the Ranch. More times than not it is not crowded and characters are roaming around looking for guest interaction.

Vending carts have encircled the old Kodak Information kiosk near Small World.

Walked back toward the hub by way of Tomorrowland, not much happening there, just guests everywhere. Here is a peaceful garden shot near the entrance.

Noticed there was no stroller parking set up along the hub. So guess Fantasy Faire is holding its own ok now. The wait at the Royal Hall was posted at 60 minutes.

Coke Corner/Refreshment Corner now has a new arch and sign (it says Corner Cafe on it).

One last look at Town Square and Main Street before heading over to DCA.

At DCA the Spring Issue of the Buena Vista Bugle is on news stands. Be sure to pick up a copy if you are in the park, its a fun read!

The Oz preview is gone from the Hollywood Backlot and the Muppets have returned to their theater.

Fastpasses gone for the day and 65 minute wait. The Spring Break crowds do enjoy Tower.

Out in Cars Land there is a Limited Time Magic offering, Cozy Cone Hats ($24.95) available at Sarge's Surplus.

If you really want to go crazy buy both hats and make a "Flying Tires" game out of it.

Had to share at least one picture of Ornament Valley this afternoon

DJ rolling out for a Dance Party.

Goofy walking out for an Instant Concert.

The swings have returned and the line was using the extended queue underneath.

Walked through the Grand Californian, noticed they still have the plain carpet. Wonder if the other carpet is ever coming back.

Spring break! Life guards in warm clothes... the temps topped out about 70 today with a breeze. It was cooler by this point of the afternoon. The pools themselves had a fair number of guests in them.

Out in Downtown Disney the work has wrapped up and a new, more permanent stage is set up near ESPN.

Downtown Disney had a lot of guests roaming around.

The window ads at the Grand Californian on the way to Downtown Disney have been updated recently. One is DVC, another D23, and then this one Carthay Circle/Napa Rose.

Walked through the World of Disney on my way back to the parks. Some Spring Break shirts.

Due to the later sunsets the Mad T Party kicks off in the daylight now.

Returned to Disneyland for Mickey's Soundsational Parade

Elvis, Scot Bruce, was performing at Tomorrowland Terrace.

Some scaffolding up on the exterior of the Alice in Wonderland building. Looked like facade work.

Buena Vista Street. The Carthay with Mickey in front.

The Mad T Party is more impressive at night. The lights make a big difference.

Tower of Terror was up to an 80-minute wait now.

Finally seeing Remember...Dreams Come True (been trying to see it since it returned in January but between cancellations, fog, and other distractions I have missed it till tonight). I made it to Main Street with only about a minute to spare, thanks to only four turnstiles being open to enter Disneyland.

Hope you enjoyed this highlight tour of the Disneyland Resort. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Disneyland Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

Decent lines at the ticket booths this morning as I arrived at the parks.

The Disneyland Train Station on Main Street has reopened.

Spring is in bloom around the park.

Stopped by the Royal Theatre to catch a performance of Tangled.

Mr. Smythe and Mr. Jones open the show.

Mother Gothel and Rapunzel

Ive Got a Dream (Clip)

A clip of I See the Light being performed.

A clip of the finale.

Walking through Frontierland.

As part of the Big Thunder Mountain refurb the town of Rainbow Ridge is being rebuilt.

The Mark Twain is still in dry dock.

A couple of clips from the Columbia. First up a train of the Disneyland Railroad passing by. Then over to the other side to catch the cabin.

Once back on the mainland walked through the Big Thunder Trail and out to the Ranch. Thought this goat looked rather lazy with its leg out that way and sitting atop the barrels.

Looks like they have paused the Small World Mall painting project during the spring break rush. No scaffolding up this week, but still three or four towers to go.

About two months to go until the new Mickey and the Magical Map show debuts in the Fantasyland Theater. Lighting and other rigging is being installed.

In Toontown Goofy'ss Backyard has reopened. Looks like they may have resurfaced or at least cleaned it.

Over to Disney California Adventure now. In the Pacific Wharf Cafe there is Easter Bunny shaped bread this week.

Noticed these new Red to the Rescue Firefighter hats in Cars Land ($24.95 each).

I bet the blue car wins!

Back to Disneyland.

The exterior of the Main Street Train Station looks great. Look at the ceiling above the queue.

The scaffolding around the new arch at Coke Corner is gone. Now just awaiting the signage and lights.

Walked through the Market House and Disneyana Shop. It was officially announced this past week that both will be closing in April to make way for the new Starbucks on Main Street. Should be interesting what this looks like after the conversion.

Over at Disney California Adventure the drink stand has returned to Bugs Land.

Walked through the Mad T Party.

The light has been fixed on the Packard at Oswald's. Both were on this evening.

A look at the Market House windows on Main Street. They have been updated recently for Spring/Easter.

This week all the lights were on at the Fantasy Faire.

Hope you enjoyed this highlight tour of the Disneyland Resort. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Disneyland Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

Contributing photographer Jason of disneygeek.com sends us these photos from his trip to the parks on Friday, March 22, 2013. In this posting we take a look at two Limited Time Magic events that were going on at the Disneyland Resort.

At Disney California Adventure there was a Vinylmation Easter Egg Hunt going on this week.

You buy the map for $4.95 (no discounts) from one of several stores around the park and then go off to find the eggs. Once you are done you head to Elias & Co to redeem your prize. It is an honor system event. There are no cast members with the eggs. As I walked the park there were a good number of guests participating and all I overheard/observed seemed to be having a good time.

Once you had completed the hunt you took it to the redemption center in Elias & Co.

To redeem your prize you show them your map, they stamp it, then you pick an egg and get a Vinylmation keychain two pack.

The eggs are scattered around the park. I did not buy a map, but I did go seek the eggs. Mickey at the Carthay Circle.

Next stop Cars Land. Do you see the Mater Egg?

A closer look.

Lightning at the Curio store.

Out on Paradise Pier, Donald near the swings.

Can you spot Goofy?

Daisy near the Wharf, this was the hardest one for me to find. I kept looking in the dining area.

Dale hanging out near the Tower of Terror Fastpass Distribution.

Chip was across the street near the entrance to the attraction.

Can you spot Minnie?

Last last egg.. Pluto hanging out where else.. by the Hot Dog stand!

The other Limited Time Magic Event today was for Disneyland Annual Passholders. As you entered the park a sign by the train tunnel letting you know the check in location was the Main Street Opera House.

At the Opera House was another sign explaining the event, a special presentation by Dave Smith, and there were cast members checking passes and issuing wristbands. Once you had a wristband you were told to report back to the Opera House about half an hour before the start time.

The back of the sign about the event.

Waiting for the presentation to being. They had a chair for Dave on stage and two displays set up to show his slides.

Shortly after 5:00pm Dave was introduced by a Cast Member and took the stage.

My view was not the best and I did not want to get in the way of other guests so here is one wide shot of the scene.

Now some slides. Due to the refresh rate of the screens my pictures are pretty bad. For better pictures check out my D23 section and his presentation as part of the Destination D: Disneyland 55 event. This is a picture of the Disneyland Property.

The castle under construction.

Everyone know this attraction? Yes the Mad Tea Party. One child in the audience yelled out it was a hidden Mickey and Dave quickly responded that it sure does look like it, must have been the first one.

The Keel boats got a good response from the crowd.

The Chicken Plantation Restaurant that was removed for New Orleans Square.

Recognize the display case in this New Orleans shop? It was from 20K Leagues Under the Sea.

The Motor Boat Cruise... not one of Dave's favorite attractions.

The Flying Saucers.

He wrapped up with a picture of Walt.

Thank you Dave Smith for the great presentation!

Hope you enjoyed this highlight tour of the Disneyland Resort. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Disneyland Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.

It's not a Disney trip without a food blog, right? Here's my thoughts on our dining experiences during our recent Princess Half Marathon weekend trip.

We arrived at Coronado Springs on Thursday night (actually Friday morning) way too late to have anything to eat there. I believe Coronado Springs is the only moderate hotel with room service, but that was closed, too.

Friday morning we went to Pepper Market for breakfast. They have changed it around a bit since we were last here. Each person still gets their own "food log", which is stamped at each station you get food from, but instead of paying on your way out you simply pay your server.

It was about 9:00 in the morning and fairly crowded - the lines at most of the food stations were 12-15 deep. I'd planned to get the standard eggs/bacon/potatoes breakfast but I saw the scrambled eggs they were serving and they were kind of runny. I hate runny eggs. So I had a pre-made ham and cheese omelet instead, which came with potatoes and fruit. The omelet was just barely warm, and nothing special. The potatoes were pretty good, though.

Lee had the breakfast platter with the "fiesta" scrambled eggs - which were also a little runny, so he wasn't very impressed, either. His roasted potato wedges were good, though.

That afternoon we were in the Studios...my least favorite park when it comes to trying to find a decent counter service meal. We tried the Studio Catering Co., in the back of the park near the Backlot Tour and the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground. We were with my Evil Twin Pam, and we all ordered the Pressed Turkey Club. This was more like "squashed turkey" - it was pretty flat. The bread was my favorite part - it was a multi-grain roll and was crisply toasted. The sandwich came with choice of coleslaw, fries, or sliced apples. It just worked out that we ordered one of each. I had the coleslaw, which was pretty good. The fries were just ok - not very hot or crispy.

Later in the day we went to Epcot. It was National Margarita Day, so we HAD to have frozen margaritas at Mexico. I was surprised that the line was not very long. Pam and I both had the Fiesta Margarita - frozen lime, mango, and strawberry. Yummy.

For dinner we went to Tangierine Cafe in Morocco, which has been one of our favorites for a long time. I had the Vegetarian Sampler - falafel, hummus, lentil salad, couscous, tabbouleh, marinated olives, and pita bread. They have changed the falafel since I last had it and I thought it was better - more of a patty shape and not as dry. It was a lot of food and I didn't quite clean my plate, but I really enjoyed it!

Lee and Pam had the Mediterranean Sliders - we had not seen these before. There were three small "burgers": one with chicken, one with lamb, and one with falafel. Served with hummus and tabbouleh. They enjoyed that.

Under a nearby table a small rat was foraging. I told him he belonged next door in France. Everyone seemed to find it rather amusing (after all, aren't we used to seeing lots of rodents at Disney?), but the poor cast member clearing tables was appalled and asked us to please, please complain about it. (I thought it was pretty cute, for a rat.)

We still had room for dessert, so we went to Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie in France. This re-opened in January in a much larger space, with a much bigger selection of food items, like soups, salads, quiche and sandwiches. Mmmm...and so many wonderful looking pastries!

I had the chocolate mousse, which was really good - silky chocolatey goodness.

Lee had a caramel cream and chocolate mousse tart, and he really enjoyed that one, too. We'll definitely be going back to check out some of the food items as well as some of the other desserts.

Saturday morning we went back to the race Expo again. While we were waiting for the entering crowds to subside we went back to Pepper Market for breakfast again. Yeah, because it was so good the day before...

I didn't take any photos, but I had oatmeal. It was fine oatmeal, but all they had for toppings were brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon. The oatmeal at Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom is a lot better - they give you chopped apples and Craisins. Lee had the cinnamon French toast, and he said that was pretty good. Much better than what he'd had the day before.

We were in Animal Kingdom for lunch, and went to Yak and Yeti Local Food Cafe (aka the counter service restaurant). I ordered the side of chicken fried rice and the side of pork egg rolls. The chicken fried rice was surprisingly good, and had some peas and a few other vegetables in it. My only comment is that the chicken was rather microscopic bits, but that was fine. The pork egg rolls were crispy and tasty and filled with pork and veggies (cabbage, mostly). I've found that there's often an odd aftertaste in egg rolls, but these did not have that. I was really happy with my lunch!

Lee had the Beef Lo Mein, with stir-fried veggies. He enjoyed that, also.

It was a lovely warm afternoon in Animal Kingdom. After we saw the Finding Nemo show we stopped at the very colorful Anandapur Ice Cream Truck for some ice cream. This one always seems to have the best-tasting soft serve at WDW.

That evening we stopped at Mara in Jambo House to get dinner, which we took back to our room at Kidani Village. I forgot to take pictures, though. I had the Half Chicken Dinner with couscous and vegetable stew. The chicken was pretty tasty - a little dry. The vegetable stew had lots of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and pieces of squash, I think. I had to pick out the peppers, but otherwise it was good, and definitely different than fries or mashed potatoes.

Lee enjoyed the Chicken Flatbread - a BBQ chicken pizza by any other name. We also picked up a cookie and a chocolate muffin for dessert.

Our breakfast on the morning of the race was bagels, yogurt and a banana that we'd picked up at Mara the night before. After the race we snacked a little bit on what was in the runDisney boxes they gave us at the end of the race - crackers, hummus, fruit and nut mixes.

We returned to Kidani to shower, then went back to Epcot where we were
meeting some Team AllEars members at La Cava del Tequila in Mexico. Lee and I ordered the Wild Passion margaritas, though if I'd realized I could've ordered a frozen margarita like some of our tablemates did I would've done that instead. The one I had was good, though. We also ordered Chips and Guacamole. Those were quite good - it was real guacamole with real avocado. Though I don't know that either the chips or the margaritas would be the recommended post-race nourishment. :-)

That evening we met Pam and several Team AllEars members for dinner at Sanaa. We had a 5:10 priority seating and had no problem getting right in and being seated. We had an excellent server who described the menu to the members of our party who hadn't dined at Sanaa before. She recommended the bread service, and we'd already decided to get two orders of that. There are four breads - two different naan breads, pappadum (a flat bread made with lentil flour) and onion kulcha, which is filled with melted cheese. There are nine different accompaniment (sauces and chutneys) and you can choose five, but our server just brought us all nine. :-) I forgot to take a picture - we were all hungry and dove into it. So good. I could easily just order bread and an appetizer here and be very happy. (This is a photo from a previous dinner at Sanaa.)

Lee and I ordered two of the wine flights. The flights had the same names as before but some of the wines were different. They still had the Chakalaka that Lee likes. (I'm not sure how much he likes the wine or if he really just likes saying: "Chakalaka". :-) )

For our entrees, we all ordered variations on one of Sanaa's specialties - dishes that are Slow-cooked in Gravy, Simple and Well-Seasoned. There are six choices, and you choose two, with a choice of basmati rice or five-grain pilaf. Between five of us we had Butter Chicken, Spicy Durban Chicken, Lamb Vindaloo, Beef Short Ribs, and Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce. The only one we didn't try was the Spicy Durban Shrimp.

Butter Chicken and Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce:

Short Ribs and Spicy Durban Chicken:

Lamb Vindaloo and Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce:

Sanaa has a number of vegetarian dishes, and Mike ordered the Vegetarian Sampler. It also comes with choice of two and rice or pilaf. He had the Spicy Peas, Chickpeas, and Potatoes (which our server said was her favorite) and Stewed Lentils.

Desserts are the one thing at Sanaa that disappoints me a little - they fit the theme of the restaurant, but just don't really appeal to me that much. I also think they are rather small for the price. I tried the Chocolate Cake with raspberry-mint sorbet. It was pretty good cake - moist and chocolatey.

Lee had the Warm Rice Pudding, which we've had before. Sticky rice with coconut syrup and some mango.

Ellie ordered the Banana Kulfi Sundae. Obviously not your traditional sundae!

Monday morning we packed, loaded the car, and drove to Mara for breakfast. Mara is often VERY busy in the mornings, but it was fairly quiet and we didn't have to wait for our food. We both had the Bounty Platter, with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, small Mickey waffle and biscuit. It's quite a bit of food for $8.99. Thankfully the eggs were cooked and not runny.

We had lunch in Magic Kingdom - this is the first trip in quite a while where I've had a meal in all four theme parks! It was prime lunch time so most of the counter service restaurants were quite busy. I remembered hearing about the waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow and suggested we go there.

It had a very short line, but they were so disorganized! We ordered, and the cashier told us we picked up our waffles at the first window, drinks at the second, and water bottles at the third. The waffle window was total chaos because they couldn't make waffles fast enough to keep up with the demand. And then they weren't checking tickets to make sure people were picking up what they had ordered. I don't think anyone was abusing this, but it was still very odd. If an item you ordered appeared on the counter you grabbed it, regardless of whether it was "yours", or should belong to the person standing next to you.

Lee and I both had the Ham, Prosciutto, and Swiss Waffle Sandwich. It was a very large serving (half would have been plenty for me), but it was just really odd. The waffle didn't work with the meat at all, though by itself it was ok (though I like my waffles crispy, and this one was soft). Ham AND prosciutto was also overkill - I would have preferred it with just the prosciutto.

Pam ordered the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Waffle Sandwich, and she didn't care for it at all - and as she told me, normally she eats just about anything. I think if we try this place again it will be for the Nutella waffle - those two things go together!

Unfortunately that was our last meal at Disney World - we definitely didn't leave on a high note. But at least we'd had that terrific meal at Sanaa the night before. That's definitely in our top three - it may even be #1 at the moment.

The Good:
Sanaa

The Bad:
Waffle sandwiches

The Ugly:
Runny scrambled eggs

Thanks for reading!