Day 10 — It’s All about…Tradition

Since we got in real late we got a late start off to our last day.

As always the question is “What do we do on our last day?”

I’m sure for most people there are traditional objectives like perhaps visiting a special park or doing a special attraction or having the last meal at a certain restaurant.

Not for us”¦at least in recent years.

We went to EPCOT and found the stars gone from Spaceship Earth.

The star spikes were still there.

Carol was still on the lookout for some Halloween pins so we checked a couple of places before taking the Friendship boat to WS.

At Noon we walked up to one of our favorite restaurants”¦

“¦and grabbed a reservation for lunch.

We had a five minute wait so we strolled into the shops near the restaurant.

Hey look”¦princesses…

After lunch we strolled around WS. Carol was hurting. She had developed a blister the size of Spaceship Earth on one of her toes. This would be not only our last day but our shortest day.

There’s always a crowd checking out the trains at Germany.

We visited the American Adventure and of course saw the Voices of Liberty.

The woman on the far left is Deb Johnson. Her husband is Derric Johnson who created the Voices of Liberty and has quite a hand in the vocal arrangements for the Candlelight Processional.

After we watched the American Adventure I scooted around the side to hit the ATM.

Chip & Dale and a few CMs were hamming it up for me.

Oh yes”¦my favorite Disney character was in France”¦but was accompanied by some guy who needed a shave real badly.

We watched Off Kilter. Jamie was back”¦.and these guys hammed it up for me too.

Year of a Million Refurbishments: Take 22

Look at these little men they were selling (or should I say NOT selling) in one of the Canada shops.

Our last meal of the trip was dinner at Rose & Crown. Now I have eaten at this restaurant several times and each meal has been decent. There are some WDW restaurants which I associate with certain entrees and I usually will not sway from those entrees.

For example, pot roast at Prime Time, New York strip at Le Cellier, and Teriyaki tips at Kona Café, to name a few”¦catfish is good at Garden Grill and if possible”¦.turkey stew and crusted salmon at Hollywood & Vine.

Anyway, in recent years I’ve settled on the bangers (sausage) and mash (potatoes) at the Rose and Crown but today I thought I’d try something different so I ordered the Steak and Fish which is described as “Grilled Steak with black and tan demi-glace, Harry Ramsden’s Battered fresh cod, green beans and mashed potatoes”

When the entrée showed up at my table it looked to be a very tempting dish. I was pleased with my selection, especially as it was a different entrée that I could say I’ve tried.

Let it be said that on August 22nd, in the year 2007 that I, for the first time in my life, did not clean my plate. As a matter of fact, I ate only one piece of my steak.

It was cooked the way I like it to be cooked but there was something about the taste…that I didn’t like….I’ve had “gamey” tasting meat before but not like this.

I had the beans and potatoes and cod”¦.but the steak remained in my dish when our server, Carrie, returned.

She looked concerned and asked if there was anything wrong. I tried as hard as I could to explain why I did not care for the steak without hurting her feelings. She wanted to bring me another one or a free dessert but I graciously said no.

I explained to her why I didn’t like the steak and she began to tell us that in her past life as a chef she learned that when you order a steak from a menu that it helps to know what cut of beef it is.

She went on to say that the word “sirloin” covers a large area on a cow and that taste is very much influenced by distance from bone and muscle and that for some cuts it’s next to impossible to guarantee consistent taste.

So I looked at her and I said, “So Carrie, are you saying that I may want to be careful about ordering a sirloin entrée when at a restaurant?”

She smiled at me and said, “I’m careful.”

The only problem of course is when you come across a menu that does not tell you “Where’s the beef” coming from.

Next time I’m in the Rose & Crown it’s Bangers and Mash for me.

Carol’s toe was really bothering her so we headed back to the room. It was close to 7 and we did not plan on staying for Illuminations.

When we got back she soaked her foot while I tried to grab a few pics of the resort, like the pool area”¦

“¦and the boat dock.

Later that night I took some evening shots of the resort.

Here’s what I see when I run in the pre-dawn hours at POFQ

Here’s another shot of the pool slide”¦.at night

Yikes, it was almost 1 A.M. What was I doing?

Then I realized that I was carrying out my own personal tradition. For as long as I can remember on the last night of any Walt Disney World vacation I always found myself wandering the resort way past midnight.

In fact one night at Mousefest 2004 I spent an hour from 12:30 to 1:30 just sitting and swinging in a swing while glancing across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Magic Kingdom.

It’s important for me, as as frequent guest, to sort of sit back and smell the roses on the last evening of any trip.

During the course of any trip to Walt Disney World there is bound to be a day in which you just can’t get away from a long line, can’t find an acceptable dining time at your favorite restaurant, or just feel like a sardine waiting for the afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom.

Those little irritants can easily obscure the fact that there is something that keeps bringing us back, year after year, that we can never put our finger on.

It’s an intangible for sure…but it’s there nontheless.

For me, it may not be as much theme parks, characters, fine restaurants, and nighttime spectaculars but maybe the overall reminder that life is way too short to not pamper yourself from time to time with a trip to Walt Disney World…and a reminder to stop and smell the roses before either they are no longer there for us to smell or we are no longer around to appreciate their scent.

Yup”¦the trip had ended”¦but the tradition will continue”¦for the next trip”¦and the next trip”¦.

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