Wednesday was a day of repeat attractions and ones we didn't get to on Tuesday. The guys had already ridden the new Rapunzel attraction in the new-ish Fantasy Springs area, so Leo didn't want to do that again, but Kenji said he'd ride with me. It was super cute and at less than a 15 minute wait, it was even better. The animatronics are really so very well done. They truly are life-like moving figures of animated characters in the movies. The technology is so amazing. I absolutely loved the lantern scene! It was as beautiful as it was in the movie. We also rode the new Tinker Bell attraction, as Leo wasn't interested in riding that one at the moment, either. He was off in another part of the park. This was a real little kids ride, but we enjoyed it! The colors and attention to detail were spot on. It's the little things, people.
Kenji and I sat in a shady place and waited for Leo to get to us as it was time for our Priority Pass for Anna and Elsa's Frozen Adventure. While not an E-ticket (Disney-speak for one of the best rides in the park) attraction, it is the favorite in Fantasy Springs and was much anticipated when it opened. It seems to be a cross between the Frozen Ever After at Disney World and a little bit of something all it's own. It follows the movie and tells the story in about 6.5 minutes. We floated along gently in a flume log-style vehicle and had a couple of low slopes down a couple of small waterfall drops. The attraction also employs the technique of moving the boat sideways and floating backward a couple of times. Fun! I think this attraction actually made it onto Leo's Top *Ever* 10 list for how well it was done.
It was a day for snacking as we had Linner (lunch/dinner) reservations for 4:00 pm, so we found the potato churro we had heard about and shared that. It was interesting. It seemed to be mashed potato extruded into a churro form and had a demi glace squirted into the middle like a jelly donut, but the whole things was very savory. Leo liked it more than I did, but it was ok and I was glad to try it. We also had a smoked chicken leg (so much better than the enormous, overly smokey turkey leg in the US parks) and a Lost Kids' Snack Box (we mobile ordered at Lookout Cookout, themed to Peter Pan) and we chose the butter chicken snack box. It was 3 chicken tenders with seasoning to resemble butter chicken seasonings. It wasn't wet. There were a couple of shrimp chips (remember in the 80's the dehydrated disks that you dropped in hot oil, they expanded and got crispy? Those.) and 3 seaweed fritters. It was yummy and we each got to taste each piece. And even better, Kenji didn't want his shrimp chip so Leo & I got to share it! And there was one popover that we each had a bite of.
We rode the Electric Railway back to the American Waterfront and found a New York Deli serving pastrami sandwiches, so we got 1 to share. It was good, but there was definitely more sauce and sauerkraut than pastrami. I'm really enjoying the different options of soft drinks. The melon Fanta is amazing! That they offer other Fanta flavors is fun, lemon and orange, but their orange is not as sticky sweet and tastes more like real oranges. I've also had apple/tea soda and really need Disneyland/DCA in Anaheim to get on the ginger ale band wagon!
We rode Journey to Center of the Earth and waited like 30 minutes for it. I remember enjoying it when we were here before. The guys rode it yesterday while I was resting in the room. It was super fun! Then I needed a coo off break and went back to Ariel's Playground and got myself a Sparkling Drink (seriously, that's what it's called on the app) which seemed to be like Sprite Light with some blue syrup and jelly bits as well as small chunks of pineapple. I was given a large straw like you'd expect to get for a boba drink. It was super refreshing and I had fun popping the jelly bits and pineapple in my teeth.
Then it was time for Linner. Leo had made reservations for the food/show with Duffy & Friends. If you're not familiar with Duffy, he's a small teddy bear that Minnie gave to Sailor Mickey to keep him company on his voyages. He was introduced in 2002 as the "Disney Bear", and that's how Kenji & I knew him when we were here in '04. Mickey gave him the name Duffy, because Minnie gave him to Mickey in a duffle bag. His face is a hidden Mickey. Since then Disney has introduced a few more "Friends" characters: ShellieMay, Gelatoni, StellaLou, CookieMay, 'Olu Mel, LinaBell and TippyBlu. So. Duffy and his friends put on a stage show for us while we ate. When we got into the restaurant Leo showed our confirmation and we picked up the pre-determined meal of a large bao bun folded like a taco tortilla and was filled with salmon trout (a type of trout raised in Japan known for its firm texture and balance fat content, similar to salmon) that also had avocado, tomato, lettuce, cream cheese and red onion on it. It was an unusual combination, but I didn't hate it. I don't need to repeat it again any time soon, though. Have y'all met my half Japanese husband who doesn't eat seafood unless it's battered, deep fried and called fish & chips? This wasn't that. He managed to use Google Translate and let the folks at the counter know that he is allergic to seafood and they gave him a bowl of curry & rice and he was very happy! We also got a small salad and a gelatin-type dessert and a drink of our choice. We didn't understand a word of the show but Duffy & his Friends seem to have a good time. I guess Leo wanted to see the show since we don't have a large Duffy presence at the domestic parks. I think his girlfriend may have also played a role in us seeing the show. He bought a stuffed Gelatoni for the 2 of them to adopt and share.
I went back to the room to cool off, rest and change clothes before our dinner reservation at the SS Columbia. It's the steamer ship in the American Waterfront that resembles the Queen Mary. I met the guys there and Kenji & had a drink in the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge before dinner, although we almost didn't. There was a lot of language barrier confusion about having a drink and being able to make it to our dinner ressie on time. Kenji said most people come there and stay for an hour our more and order appetizers. We just wanted a quick drink and the CMs thought that was very odd, but accommodated us. We had our drink (Moscow Mule for me and a gin & tonic for Kenji) and we made it to our dinner reservation one floor up in plenty of time.
The SS Columbia dining room is themed as you'd think it would be, to a cruise ship dining room. It was elegant and Leo said it reminded him of the Enchanted Garden restaurant on the Disney Dream cruise ship. We agreed, although that one is more highly themed and decorated than this was. It was explained to us that the meal is served in courses (like a cruise ship) and we could choose 1 of 2 appetizers and 1 of 3 entrees. In between the appetizer and entree course was a fish course. Kenji said we could split his between us. Yay! Kenji & I both order the minestrone soup, which for some reason had bits of chicken & sausage in it. Leo had the Assorted Appetizers which included small bites of goat cheese and salmon trout, beans and vegetables in jelly (I'm not sure I understand this country's obsession with jelly (gelatin-izing) so much), duck gizzard and beef mousse with nuts. He declared he enjoyed it all!
The fish course came and I was eager to have more than just my portion as Kenji had said Leo & I could split his. It was a small piece of sea bream and baked lobster tail (a small one) on a bed of silky mashed potatoes with a Pernod (absinthe) sauce. It was delicious! The potatoes were sooo smooth and silky! However, my dear seafood-averse husband decided to try the sea bream and decided it wasn't awful, so he ate the whole thing! The nerve! He did let Leo & share the tiny half a lobster tail and he enjoyed the mashed potatoes and Pernod sauce. Well, there went *that* dream of having more than my one portion...
We all ordered the roast beef with truffle-scented red wine sauce served with black rice risotto. It was a fairly thin slice of roast beef and a small portion of black risotto, just as you'd expect to get on a cruise ship, but it was very well prepared and very tasty. It came with a small puff pastry round that was studded with an asparagus spear and sat on a small smear of what I think was purple mashed potatoes. I wanted to lick my plate clean, but settled for using a piece of bread to sop it all up at the end. The dessert was a bowl with very purple jelly (this looked and tasted like straight up jelly, like for toast) and a mousse cake that was held together with a circular mold that we were instructed to remove, but as soon as we did the mousse inside all fell out into the bowl. I think the flat chocolate figures propped up on the mousse mold were Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. I ate most of it and left about half of the weird purple jelly. We were thanked profusely for coming and the service was very nice, if not a little stiff.
We walked slowly out of the area when we were done and Leo broke off to go do something on hi won as Kenji & I wandered though the streets headed back to our hotel. As we got close to the Mediterranean Harbor it became obvious that the nighttime show was happening. Yikes! We were about to get into the middle of an enormous crowd! We hustled our bustles through the pathways the CMs were keeping clear for folks not watching the show. Only when we got close to the hotel guests only door did we stop and Kenji got to see a few minutes of the show I had seen last night. Leo caught up to us by then and we all went into the bakery to grab some items for breakfast. Only it's not really *that* type of bakery. They don't have pastries and croissants, etc. So I got what Leo had yesterday morning which was a Mike Wyzoski custard-stuffed melon bread and a Mickey baguette. The whole loaf, no matter how you slice it, shows a Mickey head. Fun!
Up to the rooms and off to sleep.
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