Monthly Archives: July 2015

Disney’s Magic in Norway – Geiranger

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Disney’s Magic in Norway – Geiranger

This particular day of our vacation was so bazaar!  Commodore Tom had made it clear – the ship’s arrival in Geiranger was NOT to be missed and strongly recommended we make our way to the ship’s upper-most deck at 5:30 am.  Yes, 5:30 IN THE MORNING!  On vacation!  But we were completely swept up in the excitement and did indeed rise (certainly without one whit of shine), bundle up, and make our way up-top to see the famous Seven Sisters waterfall on one side and another waterfall named The Suitor across from them.  RM-Geirangerfjord-WaterfallIf it had been sunny instead of raining, the view would have been absolutely breathtaking.  Even in the rain, it was pretty darn amazing.

What we loved about crowding at the railing to see the ship make her way along the fjord toward Geiranger was the number of familiar Cast Members we saw – their excitement was contagious!  RM-GeirangerfjordAs we approached the quaint and tiny town at the end of the fjord, the excitement built and so did the number of people on deck to watch the show.  Finally, the ship actually spun around – seemingly in place – to be in the right spot for the floating dock to come out and meet her.

We were exhausted.  Exciting excursions, early starts and late nights were taking their toll.  Luckily, our excursion for this day in Geiranger was not until after lunch.  While we normally are the family who does not slow down on vacation, we needed to be more rested for our Sky to Fjord bicycle adventure – I got some strange looks when I suggested a nap, but nobody disagreed that it would be a huge help.  At about 7:00 am, we headed back to our cabin and promptly fell asleep.  Three-and-a-half hours later, we were feeling much better and ready to get out there and discover what Geiranger was all about.Geiranger-Guide-Bicycle-Tour

We met our group in Fathoms at 12:45 pm, bundled in layers.  Our guide was waiting on the pier to lead us on a short walk to the bicycle tour headquarters where we would get our helmets, vests, and gloves.  Bicycle-Tour-PrepIt was cold and misting, but we were genuinely excited about the adventure ahead of us.  Once we’d received our gear, we boarded a bus for the trip up the mountain above the town.  Geiranger-Street-Signs Geiranger-RoadwayAs we made our way along what felt like an endless series of switchbacks on the narrow roadway, our guide (I know, I should know his name, but I don’t) filled us in on the history of Geiranger – which happens to be such a popular vacation destination that the 250 year-round residents are nearly all employed in the tourism industry.  During the short summer months, the population swells with seasonal workers and tourists.

Our guide was excellent and sprinkled his history lesson with safety information – if we see a bus coming as we’re bicycling down the mountain, we should stop well before any switchback as the bus will take up the entire road to make the turn.  Hmmm- Good to know!  We were also informed that due to the steep grade, our bicycles were equipped with hydraulic disc breaks rather than the usual ones.  This was the first indication that this adventure might be terrifying extra exciting!Geiranger-Bus

We kept getting higher and soon, we were above the trees in a wide-open, completely frozen landscape.  The snow walls along the roadside were incredibly tall!  RM-Geirangerfjord-Snow RM-Geirangerfjord-Bicycles Geiranger-Sky-to-Fjord-Frozen-Lake There was a frozen lake right next to the area where our bicycles were set out.  Our first task was to find a bicycle the right size for each of us.  This took a while – long enough for us to start getting very wet from the sleet that was falling.Geiranger-Meg-on-the-MountainThen we were off.  At first, in spite of riding into a stiff wind, I was doing a pretty good job of keeping up with Raymond and Joseph.  Megan was not far behind me.  This lasted only a short time.  I was shaken by the warning signs along the road about the steep grade – I rode very conservatively, breaking regularly to slow my speed on the slick roads.  Especially after that first stop where I learned that Joseph had wrecked and would be sporting a bit of Norwegian road rash as a souvenir.  Geiranger-Family-PhotoStill he was thrilled about this excursion and later announced that is was the best and most fun vacation adventure we’d ever had.  As we rode down that mountain, my attention was completely focused on two things – how hard I was shivering and how much I did not want to plummet to my death.

When we finally reached Geiranger, I felt elated (and traumatized) – Raymond, Megan and Joseph were waiting for me in the bicycle barn.  We spent a few minutes in town looking around in some shops.  We found the merchandise heavy on the cheesy souvenirs with  “made in China” labels.  We decided to wait until the next port to do our shopping.  Soaked to the skin and still freezing, I left everyone else behind and ran the length of the floating dock all the way back to the ship, visions of a hot shower in my head.

Luckily, we managed some first aid for Joseph’s poor elbow (the worst of his injuries is under the Band-Aid) before we left our stateroom for the evening.  Geiranger-Road-RashWe were back in Carioca’s for dinner which was the “Captain’s Gala” and very delicious.  The show that night, The Magic of Light, featured a dance act that had been featured on Italia’s Got Talent called Evolution. Carioca's-Captain's-GalaShow-Magic-of-LightLobster-TowelHonestly, we were too tired to enjoy the show as much as we might have otherwise.  The next day we would reach our final port, Bergen, for yet another big day of excitement and adventure.  Stay tuned!

I was too nervous to even try to film with my GoPro as we rode, but I did manage to film some of our stops.  You can see that video on YouTube here.

Links to the other parts of this trip report:

 

 

 

Disney World Restaurant Review: Narcoossee’s

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It’s finally the weekend!  And you know what that means…Saturday’s With Nick!  I love when Nick does reviews of restaurants I’ve reviewed so I can compare our experiences.  I also love when Nick reviews a Walt Disney World restaurant I’ve not yet tried, or in the case of today’s installment, tried so long ago (25 1/2 years to be exact) that I cannot recall much of anything about our meal – other than we enjoyed it, the service was good, and we ate something with alligator in it.  We are going to give Narcoossee’s another try and have an ADR (advance dining reservation) booked for late December.  I’ll be curious to see if things are as good as we remember and if our experience is similar to Nick and Barbie’s.  I’ll tell you this – If scallops are still on the menu, I’m going to order them!

Disney World Restaurant Review:  Narcoossee’s

by: Nick

Since becoming a blogger, I travel differently, keeping an eye out for interesting topics to write about.
Blogging also influences dining choices at restaurants. I usually try to choose different items than Barbie, so I have at least 2 menu selections to review.  This doesn’t always work out. When we visited the Yak and Yeti Restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on our trip in October of last year, we both ordered the Chicken Lo Mein. But at least I had other photos from previous trips to write about.
What I’m getting to is this, the review of Narcoossee’s is going to be slim in the food review portion, because we both ordered the exact same thing, and as this was our first visit, there’s nothing else to fall back on.  Also, I apologize for how dark the photos are, the lighting in the evening at Narcoossee’s is pretty intimate.

Narcoossee’s is located on the shores of Seven Seas Lagoon, at the end of the Grand Floridian transportation boat dock.

We gave our names at the podium, and were handed a pager. We decided to have a look at the menu, so headed for the bar area.

On the way, we passed the open kitchen and the wonderful staff. Be sure to say hello!

 
I was impressed with the beer menu, not overwhelming but a nice selection.
 

We asked the bartender for a food suggestion, and he said his favorite was the scallops.

As I perused the beer list, our pager went off. As we were being brought to our table, Barbie spotted a man wearing a vest covered in Disney pins. She approached him, and they spoke at length. He came over to introduce himself and his wife. They were locals, and they also suggested the scallops, as well as the calamari.

If you time it right, and have a table facing Cinderella Castle, you can see Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I made our advanced dining reservation at 180 days out for 8:00 pm, thinking the fireworks would be at either 8:00 or 9:00 pm. They were at 10:00 pm that evening, and while I could have changed our ADR, we both agreed that was rather late for dinner.

The menu is somewhat limited.

As our bread was being set on the table, we asked our server for an entree suggestion, and weren’t really surprised when she said the scallops.

The bread was very crunchy with a soft center, almost a sourdough. I love butter with salt, and this was course, better yet!

We shared the  Crispy Rhoade Island Calamari with pepperoncini-olive relish and tomato coulis appetizer.

I thought it was very light and crispy yet tender, not chewy. The relish was just the right kick, and the tomato coulis was the perfect acidic addition. Barbie thought they were the best Calamari she’d ever had! With a salad, this could easily be an economical choice for an entrée.

For dinner, we both ordered the Pan-seared Georges Bank Day Boat Scallops with Trofie pasta with Sultana raisins, Marcona almonds, young string beans and herb creme with wild mushrooms, lemon-thyme-mustard au jus and arugula.

We both agreed these were the best scallops we’d ever had. They were perfectly prepared, and as good as they were, the pasta and mushrooms in the lemon-thyme-mustard au jus was even better. Shhhh, if you listen carefully, you can hear my stomach growling now as I write this!

We would have loved dessert, but were too full!

There is no doubt we will return to Narcoossee’s in the future, and we will try to choose different food selections, but it won’t be easy!

Be sure to follow Nick and Barbie on all their adventures (so you won’t miss a thing)!  You can find Disney Musings on your favorite social media sites:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

 

 

 

The Domestic Dispute Named Duffy

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EPCOT_WRLDSHOW_7072234034This article is dedicated to our darling children, Megan and Joseph.  We adore them…in spite of their views on the subject of today’s post.

If there could possibly be a more polarizing topic in our household, I can’t name it.  Disney’s sweet bear, Duffy,  is to blame for a house divided!  Our house, to be exact.  Exactly how such an innocuous, cuddly, mild-mannered being could create an unprecedented level of strife, I cannot explain.  It’s true nonetheless.

Here’s the deal…years ago, when “Duffy the Disney Bear” first began to appear at Walt Disney World, our kids were suspicious – WHO is this guy and WHY is he a “thing”?  The more he showed up, the greater the suspicion grew – before long, that seed of doubt (about Duffy’s legitimacy as a “real” Disney character) sprouted into annoyance and swiftly grew into active dislike.  One or both of our offspring would frequently complain, “HE. IS. NOT. A. REAL. CHARACTER.!!!!!!!” – every time they saw poor Duffy in any size, shape, or form.  He’s not a movie star, not part of any ride or attraction, and NOT part of any of their happy childhood memories.  Duffy haters they became – both of them vying for who could dislike Duffy the most.  Trust me when I tell you that the snarky comments that accompanied Joseph’s “modeling” of the Duffy ears were epic.  That smile is NOT genuine – it’s straight up vicious.Disney Duffy Ear HatThanks to Duffy’s popularity at Tokyo Disney, he became legit – and part of Walt Disney World in the form of stuffed animals (and dress-up costumes for them), pins, and his very own Character Meet-n-Greet.  Raymond and I did not board the Duffy-hater bandwagon with our children.  We were rather ambivalent for a long time, certainly not offended by the poor guy, that’s for sure.

Fast forward to October, 2014 – Raymond and I are at Disney World to celebrate our 25th anniversary by enjoying the Food & Wine Festival sans kids.  Raymond suddenly recalls (as we’re approaching the World Showcase at opening time) that there’s a Duffy meet-n-greet on the Mexico side, near World Showcase’s entrance.  He suggested, based on all of the above, that we have our picture made with Duffy for our children.

We laughed the entire time we waited in line for Duffy’s arrival.  We laughed harder when Duffy showed up in his pumpkin costume!  This was going to be GREAT!  We’d get the Cast Member to take pictures with our phone and upload our Duffy pictures directly to Facebook.  When our turn came, we were laughing like loons.  What we didn’t expect, was to fall in love with Duffy.Duffy-FB-Post

Of all the characters we’ve “met” at Walt Disney World, Duffy was one of the very best.  For a character that doesn’t speak, he conveyed a world of information.  We got the distinct impression that Duffy knows his reputation as a fringe, slightly sketch character and does his level best to make up for it.  Duffy was cute!  Duffy was funny as all get out!  Duffy won us over!!!  AND caused us no small amount of grief when we confessed our newfound adoration for Duffy and his charming ways.EPCOT_WRLDSHOW_7072234039

So, there you have it.  Duffy loathers on one side, Duffy fans on the other.  No small shortage of snarky comments from one corner and fond Duffy memories from the other.  I don’t imagine this will change anytime soon…sigh.

Do you have any Disney controversy in your home?  What’s it all about?  Tell me!

Junior The Wonder Dog Turns Five

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Junior-looking-sneakyQuite some time ago, I introduced you to my BFF (Best Furry Friend), Henry Jones, Jr. – a.k.a. “Junior”.  I’ve never known anyone like Junior before and words cannot begin to describe the fun we have together.  He’s a great family member, full of zest for life along with a healthy dose of concern for our well-being…especially when the doorbell rings or a delivery vehicle pulls into the driveway.Junior-upside-down

This month, our four-legged, good-natured, sweet-tempered, super-patient, cookie-loving family member is turning five years old.  I can’t believe how fast time has flown – seems like he was just a baby and in a couple more years, he’ll be older than me!  Goodness, the fun we have together every day!!!  From the time we wake up to the time we turn in, we have a great time.  Junior has a wicked sense of humor and is always up for a game of chase or fetch or even hide-and-go-seek.  He knows so many tricks and is always interested in learning something new.Junior-with-messy-hairRecently, I got home from work and Junior talked me into a rousing match of chase-the-toy where we sort of take turns holding the chosen stuffed animal and chasing each other by turns around the living room coffee table.  When it was my turn to hold the toy and be chased, I realized that there was every chance I’d break my neck running around in high heels.  I thought it best to go change into more appropriate rough-housing attire.  To distract Junior, I tossed the toy across the foyer as I ran for the bedroom to change.  I was laughing hysterically, certain he would chase me once he’d retrieved his toy. Junior-the-Aussiedoodle

Surprised and a little disappointed that I got to hang up my work clothes in peace, I changed and headed back out to the living room.  As I turned to go through the door, I noticed the toy we’d been playing with was on the floor – in the very center of the living room entrance.  I, of course, bent down to pick it up and see if the game was still on.  At that exact moment, Junior jumped out from behind the doorway (where he’d been hiding in wait) and snatched that toy right out from under my hand.  As he ran off, I swear I could hear him laughing.  I was shocked!  He totally tricked me!  Then I was laughing so hard I could barely stand up – and as I staggered into the living room, I was so thankful!  I felt so fortunate and blessed to have this crazy, loving, perfect “person” in my life.  Junior-wants-a-cookieHappy Birthday, Junior!  And many happy returns of the day. (Don’t tell him, but I ordered a BarkBox subscription for his birthday gift – I’ll post a YouTube video when he opens it!)Junior-on-my-shoulderDo YOU have a Best Furry Friend?  Who is it?  I’d love to see a picture and hear how you met!