Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Blustery Days, Space Ships and the return of Chef Ken - Wed 22/8
I love street names in America, they seem so much more imaginative than at home. Rather than the boring street names we have - Fenton Close, The Birches, Southborough Lane etc....we have Reedy Creek Blvd, Alligator Creek Bus Stop, Orange Blossom Trail, all lovely, lovely names. And now we can add Sherbet Dib Dab Road to that list. A brilliant little road this is. It's basically a "known to locals only" short cut avoiding the US 192 and bringing you in to Disney from the other side. Brilliant, and just 10 minutes door to door to the Magic Kingdom is an excellent bonus.
Which is good really, as our first visit to the park in three years is going to be a packed affair - including hopefully catching up with a long lost family member....
But first there's Peter Pan, not done for 23 years and no doubt excellent for the younger members of some families; Space Mountain, again 23 years to return as it was unbelievably being refurbed last time we were here, and it is still good, very good. Then a wander round and some character photos before the nervousness creeps in ahead of our lunch at the Plaza Restaurant and a possible reunion with a man who made or visit to Magic Kingdom so memorable last time.
Yes, three years ago, due a certain member of the Morris household having a nut allergy, we were introduced to the irrepressible Chef Ken who quickly announced us as his new british family and just as quickly won a place in our hearts. So as we took our places three years on, and were presented with the allergy book again, we all had our fingers crossed that Chef Ken was still the main man and would be out to prepare our meals for us. We watched the kitchen door like Hawks, and then much to our delight the door swung open and out came our long missed friend. "KEN!" we all shouted at the same time! The whole restaurant drop silent and a rather bemused Ken saw us and started grinning from ear to ear. "You the guys who got me where I am today!" Turns out he got a special award thanks to all the great comments punters have made about him over his 32 years at Disney. He was certain however, that it was all down to us! What a lovely man! And the food was huge and excellent as always, of particular note the desserts; enormous cheesecake portion (sensibly shared by Moz & Caitlin);
massive chocolate brownies (not sensibly shared as Conor insisted on his own portion, which was enough for three)
and this marvellous ice cream creation which sum up what this restaurant is all about..........
After that lot is was amazing we could still move, let alone face anymore food today, but there were more rides to do, and no one was going to do them for us. There was Winnie the Pooh (worst queue for anything EVER!); Lilo and Stitch (just the worst ride ever, other than perhaps Caitlin's favourite - it's a Small World) and then more shopping before home for the day.
Despite our ever expanding belts, we decided to visit Carrabas again, and had another great meal, even if almost all of us had the same as we had before, and then it was time for a cab ride home. And who should pick us up? None other than big Jimbo with an update on the situation with Frank. Seems he was at hospital for tests as he's virtually tee total and never smoked anything in his life...
Jimbo was also able to give us an update on the imminent arrival of Hurricane Issac. "Shit man, it's only a category 1, I can piss harder than that". For all your whether news don't forget to stay tuned!
Which is good really, as our first visit to the park in three years is going to be a packed affair - including hopefully catching up with a long lost family member....
But first there's Peter Pan, not done for 23 years and no doubt excellent for the younger members of some families; Space Mountain, again 23 years to return as it was unbelievably being refurbed last time we were here, and it is still good, very good. Then a wander round and some character photos before the nervousness creeps in ahead of our lunch at the Plaza Restaurant and a possible reunion with a man who made or visit to Magic Kingdom so memorable last time.
Yes, three years ago, due a certain member of the Morris household having a nut allergy, we were introduced to the irrepressible Chef Ken who quickly announced us as his new british family and just as quickly won a place in our hearts. So as we took our places three years on, and were presented with the allergy book again, we all had our fingers crossed that Chef Ken was still the main man and would be out to prepare our meals for us. We watched the kitchen door like Hawks, and then much to our delight the door swung open and out came our long missed friend. "KEN!" we all shouted at the same time! The whole restaurant drop silent and a rather bemused Ken saw us and started grinning from ear to ear. "You the guys who got me where I am today!" Turns out he got a special award thanks to all the great comments punters have made about him over his 32 years at Disney. He was certain however, that it was all down to us! What a lovely man! And the food was huge and excellent as always, of particular note the desserts; enormous cheesecake portion (sensibly shared by Moz & Caitlin);
massive chocolate brownies (not sensibly shared as Conor insisted on his own portion, which was enough for three)
and this marvellous ice cream creation which sum up what this restaurant is all about..........
Despite our ever expanding belts, we decided to visit Carrabas again, and had another great meal, even if almost all of us had the same as we had before, and then it was time for a cab ride home. And who should pick us up? None other than big Jimbo with an update on the situation with Frank. Seems he was at hospital for tests as he's virtually tee total and never smoked anything in his life...
Jimbo was also able to give us an update on the imminent arrival of Hurricane Issac. "Shit man, it's only a category 1, I can piss harder than that". For all your whether news don't forget to stay tuned!
# posted by Bucko! @ 2:22 PM 
