Wednesday 1/3
I took a red eye flight out of Ontario Airport with American Airlines. It had been a while since I last flown out of Ontario, so I noticed that the configuration of the
parking lots and their pricing have somewhat changed. I tried to find a spot in the economy lot 3 which was $10 a day, but the entrance to that lot was blocked with a sign declaring that it was full. So I then drove over to the usual lot that I park in now designated as the value lot 5 which was $13 a day. I remember when it used to be $9 a day. Oh well. After getting through the TSA check point, it would appear that my flight was the last flight for the night at this airport. It was pretty much a ghost town. The cleaning crew was cleaning up and the terminal was empty except for our gate.
I had a short layover in DFW. Thankfully it was just long enough for me to get breakfast and some much needed coffee from the McDonald's next to the gate for my connecting flight. Although everyone else had the same idea and the line was long, I was able to sneak in my order without having to get in line by using their new mobile pay on their smartphone app. Thank goodness the app worked. It has been super glitchy every time that I've used it.
During the second leg into MCO, I was awake enough to watch
The Emoji Movie. I can see why the movie got horrible reviews, however I didn't think it was unwatchable. Anyways, it served its purpose in passing the time.
Once the plane landed at MCO, I headed over to the Alamo rental car counter to pick up my car. I reserved an economy car, but there were none left. I was able to get a compact car, a white Ford Focus, for the same cost. From there I used the Waze app to avoid toll roads and drove over to the expo located at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The weather was chilly, windy, and a little bit rainy. There was a queue of people outside the HP Pavilion waiting to get inside to pick up their bibs. Pretty much everyone in line was there because they were taking on the Dopey Challenge. The pick-up process was really well streamlined. Per the standard procedure, after picking up my bib, a photographer took a picture of me with my bib. On my way out, I spotted the doctor that I volunteered with last year. I stopped by to say hi. There was a rather long queue outside under a tent to get into the official merchandise area. I didn't bother with that or even the expo over at the Visa Center (formerly known as Jostens Center or J Center). I really didn't want to spend more money on stuff that I have no room for back at home!
Saying hi to an old volunteer friend
Instead I drove over to Disney Springs to watch a movie with my MoviePass. I parked at the Orange Parking lot and walked over to the
AMC Disney Springs 24 movie theater. I ended up watching
Father Figures. It was a much better movie that I had anticipated.
After the movie, I drove over to my hotel/resort for the next 6 nights. For this trip, I stayed at the
WorldMark Orlando Kingstown Reef which was really close to SeaWorld. My goodness the check-in process was super slow. There was only one person working at the counter when I got there and about 3 other groups also trying to get checked-in. I'm not sure what the hold-up was, but this was by far the worst check-in experience that I've had since becoming a WorldMark owner. Thank goodness another person showed up to check me in.
I dropped off my bags in my room. My room was in the Veranda building and it was very nice and spacious. Everything was also very clean from the kitchen to the bathroom as well as the bedroom. It was much more than I needed as a single guy. It was definitely much better than the usual "value" Disney resorts. :) I washed up a little bit before heading back out for my fancy dinner with my friends over at the Disney's Grand Floridian Resort.
The traffic was pretty crazy getting over to the Grand Floridian as there was a lot of construction all along the way. Once I turned into the resort, there was a long line of cars waiting to get through the guard gate. Once it got to me, the guard wanted to check my restaurant reservation as well as a photo ID. He directed me to go to a parking lot off to the right for self parking. It was kind of a far walk to the main building where the
Victoria & Albert's restaurant was located. I didn't want to get lost, so I asked the first cast member I saw for directions and was directed to the second floor.
Pre dinner toast with the head chef
Amuse-Bouche Citrus Cured Black Cod with Imperial Caviar
The White Truffle
New Zealand Langoustine with Pickled Daikon and Avocado
Freshly shaved wasabi
John Dory with Poppy Seed and Lemon Ravioli
A variety of salt
Dover Sole with Spanish Chorizo Bouillabaisse
Truffle Bread
Marcho Farms Veal with Fava Beans and Winter Black Truffles
Charred Leek Dusted Wild Boar with Leek Fondue and Brussel Sprouts
Australian Kobe-Style Beef with Potato and Pastrami Tart added Miyazaki Japanese Beef
Australian Kobe-Style Beef
Miyazaki Japanese Kobe Beef
Sulawesi Island Coffee by Joffrey's
Selection of Cheese from the Market
Green "Apple" with Sour Cream Ice Cream
Sulawesi Island Coffee by Joffrey's
Peruvian Chocolate with Orange Milk Chocolate Gelato
That was by far the best fine dining experience that I've had. The entire Chef's Table 10 course tasting experience took about 5 hrs. This was very similar to the dining experience that I had at Club 33, however this was much more elaborate and intimate with us and the chefs. Before each course, they listed the ingredients used as well as how it was prepared. We were pretty much treated like royalty. I thought that everything including the add-ons (Miyazaki Japanese Kobe beef and the white truffle) was worth every penny.
Once I got back to my room, I went through my race packet. The race shirts were fantastic as always. Once again my favorite shirt was the short sleeved cotton shirt for the 5k. I'm just not a fan of long sleeved shirts and polyester. I loved that they gave us a luggage tag to commemorate the 25th year of the Walt Disney World Marathon. They also gave us a set of BibBoards bib number snap-ons as an alternative to using safety pins. I laid out my flat runner and tried to catch a few z's before having to wake up for the 5k race.
Luggage tag
Bib number snap-ons
Thursday 1/4
I got up and started getting ready at the sound of the first of multiple alarms. I was afraid that I would go back to sleep and miss the race. It was a downright frigid morning! The temperature started in the 20's. I actually had to defrost the windshield of my rental car before I could see well enough to drive to the start. Once I got parked at the Epcot parking lot, I stayed in my car for as long as I possibly could.
I finally got out of my car at about 4:15 am. I grabbed my mylar blanket and headed over to the starting area. Before getting there I had to get into the security bag check line since my iFitness belt counts as a bag. After taking a picture of the stage, I started jogging around to build up some warmth. I just so happened to bump into a few of my friends. They were getting into one of the character lines for a photo, so I wished them a good race and went jogging over to some faraway portapotty. Even though I didn't need to go, I went inside one to stay out of the cold.
I went to my assigned corral at about 4:30 am. I jogged around inside the corral trying to stay warm, but it wasn't working. I decided to just sit down. As usual my friends were able to spot me inside the corral. It was nice to hug my friends for some body heat! At 5 am, they opened our corral and had us walk up to the starting line.
The race started promptly at 5:30 am. Although the first mile was a bit crowded. I was able to get a good stride going from the get go. I ran a disciplined race with the plan to run my miles at about 7:30 min a piece. I felt good throughout the race. It was one of the few races where I never took off my gloves.
Finish line
5k finish: 23:27
Click
here for my Garmin data.
After getting my medal, I continued on through the finisher chute where I picked up a mylar blanket, a bottle of water, a bottle of Powerade, a banana, and a post-race snack box. I took a finisher photo and then got in line to take a photo with Pluto since it was his race today.
As soon as I took that photo with Pluto, I started heading back to my warm car. Along the way, I saw a car with a skeleton in the front passenger seat. I thought that that was pretty funny and was probably a smart way to mark your car.
Looks like somebody froze to death! :)
Back at my room, I opened up the snack box and ate the bag of dried fruit and tortilla chips. I threw away the fake cheese, but saved the Ghirardelli chocolate, oreo cookie, and GoGoSqueez for my friends back home.
Contents of post-race snack box
After taking a hot shower and resting a bit, I decided to drive out to the Magic Kingdom for a little park visit before showing up for my volunteer shift. It was a bit weird going through the parking gate. I showed them my annual pass and they waved me through without even inspecting or scanning anything on my card.
Then it was a crowded mess of a drive up to the Transportation and Ticket Center parking lot. Once I parked, I decided to walk up to the ticket office since the crowd waiting for the tram was quite large. Then there was the security lines. Thank goodness they have "no bag" security lines here at the Walt Disney World parks. After getting through security, I had the choice of taking the monorail or the ferry boat. The line looked pretty crazy for the monorail, so I headed over to the line to take the ferry. I've only ever been to the Magic Kingdom via bus from a Disney resort, so this was all new to me. I didn't realize how much of a hassle it was to drive to the Magic Kingdom!
Remember where you parked!
Ferry boat
It was a pretty cold and windy boat ride over to the park. Thankfully once I got off of the ferry, the lines to get through the park entrance were all short. I got in the line dedicated for Annual Passholders.
The first attraction that I wanted to check out was
The Hall of Presidents. It was actually my first visit. Like him or not, I was curious to check out how they incorporated Donald Trump to the presentation. I thought Disney did a great job staying away from any political and kept everything pretty neutral. I liked that as a conclusion to the presentation, they introduced all 45 presidents.
Afterwards I headed over to Tomorrowland and got in line for the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride. As I was waiting in the stand-by line, my friend showed up and joined me. I thought that this ride was a bit harder than the one back home at Disneyland as the gun was mounted to the vehicle. However before my trip, I read a tutorial on the locations of the high valued targets which certainly helped with the scoring.
We then got in line for the Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. My first visit to Disneyland was in the 80's, so I never got to see it when it was there. It definitely took me a while before I saw Walt Disney's favorite attraction. I'm glad they kept it around! It was certainly interesting to see the progression of technology throughout the last century and beyond.
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow!
I had an afternoon volunteer shift over at the ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex. So after that ride, I left my friend and headed back to my car. Once again I took the ferry boat. Going back was much easier as the boat was pretty much empty. As the ferry came up to the landing, there were lots of eager people waiting to get on over to the Magic Kingdom.
I guess I could've taken the tram, but I decided to walk back to my car and get in some steps for my Fitbit tracker. It took a while as I got turned around a bit. Eventually I found my car. I arrived at the expo about 30 minutes early for my shift, so I decided to check out the official race merchandise. I thought about buying the "I Did It!" shirt, but I resisted the temptation. I always found it a bit presumptuous to buy that shirt before completing the entire challenge. I'm not even sure what to do with last year's shirt as the half marathon was canceled. Anyways thank goodness I didn't find anything there that I just had to buy.
They gave me one of those coveted 25 years of running buttons and a volunteer t-shirt during my check-in process at the volunteer area. I waited with all of the other volunteers in the waiting room. Eventually I was assigned to the 10k race shirt pick-up team. We walked over to the Champion Stadium and were led upstairs via the elevator to the volunteer room. Once we were briefed by the volunteer leader, we were then walked down to the 10k race shirt pick-up stations. I was placed in the middle of the action handing out medium and large sized shirts. It was cold and windy, but everything was going fine. However as the hours went by, my left ankle and foot started to hurt. I even loosened the laces. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it kept hurting worse and worse. Eventually I had to sit down. My fellow volunteer could tell that I was in pretty bad shape, so he called the volunteer leader. When she stopped by, I asked her if I could be excused as well as my shift for tomorrow. She asked if I wanted to complete my shift sitting down so that I would receive credit. I declined. I wasn't in it for the free park ticket as I already have the premier annual pass. After checking out and canceling my volunteer shift for tomorrow, I started the painful hobble back to my car.
During the hobble, I received a message from my friend that a couple, who were our mutual friends, were involved in a terrible car accident on Christmas eve. One of them did not survive and the other was badly injured. I'm not sure if that was pure coincidence or what but it definitely helped my mindset as I was pretty bummed and upset that my Dopey Challenge was all but certainly over. My mind immediately shifted from wondering what to do to salvage the weekend to pondering just how fleeting life can be. I, myself, was in a car accident a little over a year ago where I fell asleep at the wheel and totaled my car. Why are certain people spared?
Back at my room, I hobbled over to the bed, laid down, and elevated the bad ankle/foot. I didn't even bother laying out my flat runner as I couldn't even put any weight on it when I went to sleep. It felt bad enough that I didn't rule out a stress fracture.
Friday 1/5
I woke up pretty early and used the restroom. Much to my surprise, my ankle/foot felt relatively normal. The usual tendon that has been giving me issues felt tender to the touch, but I could walk without hobbling. Perhaps the top of the shoe was digging into that tendon. I did a quick range of motion test and everything seemed okay. I made the last minute decision to go start the race, so I got ready and drove out to the Epcot parking lot.
Even though it was a tad warmer than yesterday, it was still pretty frigid outside. I stayed inside my car a bit longer before heading over to the starting corrals. The routine for the 10k was pretty much identical to the 5k yesterday.
I didn't bother doing any warm-ups, so I had no clue how that first step would feel. Thank goodness it went well enough that I covered that first mile in 7:33 minutes. I went into this race with a really rough plan as I thought my weekend was completely shot before going to bed last night. I wanted to run the first 5k and then shut things down. I covered the next two miles in 7:53 and 8:00. I crossed the 5k marker and approached Epcot feeling pretty good. Not wanting to tempt fate, I stuck to the plan and took the second half of the race nice and relaxed. I stopped for a couple of photos, one with the Genie during the Boardwalk section.
Finish line
10k finish: 51:42
Click
here for my Garmin data.
I crossed the finish line feeling pretty dang good. I was baffled at how well things felt given that I couldn't even put weight on the left foot just last night. It did give me hope that I could still salvage the Dopey Challenge and preserve my legacy status.
After getting my medal, a mylar blanket, post race drinks and snacks, I went and got a photo with Minnie Mouse. After that I drove straight back to my resort and planned to stay there and stay off of my feet as much as I could.
I made sure to elevate my left foot while lounging around my room. One of my all time favorite movies was on, When Harry Met Sally. I could watch that movie again and again and not get bored with it. I usually watch this movie right before a trip to New York. I only left the room once to go get lunch and some food at the nearby supermarket for a light dinner. I made sure to wear a different pair of shoes instead of that same pair that hurt my foot.
For lunch, I drove over to the nearby
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar. There wasn't a soul there that greeted me or anybody else that entered at lunch time. If I didn't have to use up an old gift card then I would've left. Instead, I just decided to get a seat at the bar. The bartender came over to greet me with a menu and took my drink order. I wonder where the other employees were hiding? After looking over the menu, I decided on ordering the Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp. While it didn't look too appealing, it wasn't bad.
Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp
Before heading back to my resort, I stopped by the nearby
Publix. It was a really nice and clean supermarket. I made sure to pick up a couple can of soups since my body had been frozen a couple of mornings in a row. I also bought a large bag of frozen vegetables for some healthy snack. I guess I needed a break from eating at McDonald's. :)
After drinking the cans of soup and eating some vegetables, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's half marathon. I was hopeful for tomorrow's race as the foot and ankle felt good throughout the rest of the day and free of the pain that I felt yesterday.
Saturday 1/6
Another day, another race, and another early morning routine. As with the years past, the corrals for the half marathon were located on Epcot Center Dr which required a long walk from the staging area.
While it was still in the upper 30's at the start of the race, my hands did start to feel quite warm while wearing the gloves. Eventually I tossed them as I approached the Magic Kingdom Park. Boy did I regret tossing the gloves, as my hands were so numb during the run back to Epcot. It didn't help that I started to slow down by mile 10 or so. I definitely wasn't generating the same amount of heat as I was during the beginning of the race.
Finish line
Half marathon finish: 1:56:42
Click
here for my Garmin data.
I ran this race completely by feel. I think staying off of my feet yesterday really helped. I finished about 30 minutes or so faster than I had anticipated. I certainly didn't think that I would be able to run it in under 2 hrs.
After getting my medal and going through the finisher chute, I got in line to take a photo with Donald Duck, the race conDUCKtor. I then hurried back to my resort to shower before meeting up with my friends for brunch.
For brunch, we met up at
The Wave... of American Flavors over at Disney's Contemporary Resort. As I went through the guard gate, the guard made sure to let me know that I cannot park my car in the lot and hop on the monorail for one of the parks. That does sound pretty convenient, but the rules are the rules. Once everyone was all there at the restaurant, they seated us. Most of us including me went with the breakfast buffet. I tried to make sure not to eat too much and to eat some fruit instead of more sausages and bacon. :)
After brunch a bunch of us went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Per the guard's instructions, I drove my car over to the park which wasn't too far of a drive. We went on Star Tours, Rock n' Roller Coaster, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Muppet Vision 3D. While riding the Tower of Terror we had a very strange lady on the ride with us. She was shushing us to shut up and she was making some strange comment about how her shoelaces became untied. You're nuts lady! :) It was my first time at Muppet Vision 3D and the little girl sitting next to me was so cute as she was trying to grab everything that appeared to fly towards her. After those rides and attractions, we checked in for our dinner reservation.
Our dinner reservation was at
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano. The lady that seated us appeared a bit confused, but we were eventually seated. I think she wanted a couple of tables pushed together for another party. I don't usually order seafood the day before running a marathon, but after looking through their menu, I just couldn't resist ordering their seafood cioppino. It was the one item that stood out to me. I didn't think it would be as good as the ones that I've eaten in San Francisco, but it was pretty comparable.
Seafood Cioppino
After dinner, it was time to go back to my room to rest up for the race tomorrow. I laid out my flat runner while still feeling a little surprised that I've even made it this far. Even having successfully completed the first 3 races, I was still not very confident with the upcoming marathon. I was expecting perhaps around 5.5 hrs to finish.
Sunday 1/7
I made sure to get up a bit earlier this morning because the traffic has always been heavier for the marathon as most of the roads surrounding Epcot were closed as part of the course. Getting through bag check was also more of a chore as more people want to bring clean clothes to change into after completing the marathon. I brought and checked one mainly so I could hold all of the post race drinks and snacks. I bumped into my friends while getting in line to use the portapotties. It was the same long walk to the corrals just like yesterday for the half marathon. I had to hurry up ahead as the bowels decided to have another movement. Thankfully they seemed to have a lot more portapotties near the corrals this year. I didn't have to wait in any line.
At first I didn't see anybody that I knew in the corrals. Just as we were about to start, I spotted a fellow Disneyland Half Marathon legacy member. She was going to attempt to walk the race while being very pregnant. She told me that although she was signed up for the Dopey Challenge, her doctor only approved of her doing the 10k and walking the marathon. I think she was able to get through half of it which was pretty dang amazing!
I didn't have any time goals for this race. I just wanted to finish it and preserve my legacy status for the Dopey Challenge. I was still very doubtful that the left ankle would hold together so I made sure to start off slow. I wanted to feel as comfortable as possible through at least the first half of the race and then I could walk as much as I wanted to in the second half. As I was running up to the Transportation and Ticket Center, I came up to my friend who had started out of corral A. Apparently she had caught a bad cough leading up to race weekend and was having trouble breathing. I ran a little bit with her and eventually went on ahead as she needed to take a walk break. I was feeling pretty good until after reaching mile 7. I felt like I just needed to slow down. I was also experimenting with eating GU Stroopwafel.
On the short out and back between miles 10 and 12, I got to see some of my friends that were not too far behind me. I thought for sure that they would eventually catch me as my legs were already starting to feel really heavy and not so fresh.
I got pretty dang emotional as I reached mile 25 just as I was ready to run around Epcot for that final last mile. There was just too many thoughts going through my head. I'm just not good at dealing with death. I was also pretty shocked that I was going to finish under 4.5 hrs. I know that that's not an impressive finishing time, but given the condition that I was in after the 5k, it was pretty much a miracle that I would even be able to finish. They had a pretty nice display for the mile 25 clock, however it wasn't as elaborate as the one that they had for mile 20 five years ago.
Finish line
Marathon finish: 4:27:29
Click
here for my Garmin data.
That was one of the smarter races that I've run most likely because I didn't start the race like a madman. With all of the worrying about the bum left ankle and foot, it ended up being my fastest finishing time since I started running the Walt Disney World Marathon each year since 2011!
I received my awesome finisher medal and as I turned the corner into the area for the post race drinks, all of us were pleasantly surprised that they were passing out Mickey ears to commemorate the 25th anniversary! They then checked my mugshot to confirm my identity before handing me my Goofy and Dopey medals.
After picking up my post race food and my gear bag, I headed over to get in the photo lines for Dopey, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy.
After getting back to my room and getting cleaned up, I made the congested drive over to the Polynesian Resort. My friends and I had an early "dinner" reservation at
'Ohana for 3:30 pm. The guard at the gatehouse checked my reservation and my photo ID before telling me that chances were slim that I would be able to find a parking spot. I did a quick sweep of the parking lot before deciding to bail and head over to the nearby Transportation and Ticket Center to park the car. Once I parked, I walked over to the Polynesian Resort. The restaurant was located on the second floor. Most of friends were already there in the bar area. We were seated once our entire party was present.
Here's what we ate:
Starters:
Pineapple coconut bread
Mixed greens salad with a Lilikoi dressing
Accompaniments:
Noodles
Stir-fried vegetables
Appetizers:
Pork dumplings
Honey coriander chicken wings
Skewers:
Sweet-n-sour chicken skewers
Szechuan sirloin steak skewers
Spicy grilled peel-n-eat shrimp skewers
Dessert:
Bread pudding a la mode with bananas caramel sauce
Szechuan sirloin steak skewers
Spicy grilled peel-n-eat shrimp skewers
Bread pudding a la mode with bananas caramel sauce
Having been to Hawaii on an annual basis, I thought that the food was pretty comparable. However it was not quite as authentic as I had hoped it would be. Out of all that we ate, I liked the shrimp and steak skewers. Even though it was all-you-can-eat, I was the only one that got an extra order of the shrimp skewers and a refill of my coffee. I definitely could've eaten more, but I thought that we were being rushed. I wonder if anyone else felt that way. I even ended up having to chug my coffee.
After we were done and took our group photo, we headed over to take the monorail and go our separate ways. A few of us went over to the Magic Kingdom.
Here were the rides and attractions that we went on:
Haunted Mansion
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor
Fortunately for me, I was able to score a FastPass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride with only about a 15 min wait. It was my first time on this ride. I thought it was a pretty cool ride, somewhat similar to Splash Mountain where there were slow parts to vary up the pace of the ride. After I was done with that ride, I rejoined my friends at the nearby ride, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
After another showdown on the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger ride, my friends wanted me to go to the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor when they found out that I've never been before. It was pretty hilarious, but most people, including me, were just hoping that we would not be picked on! :)
Sugar, salt, and fat!
I was pretty tired, so after saying goodbye and goodnight to my friends, I started heading out of the park to take the monorail back to my car. The line for the monorail was pretty long and a lot of people were pushing to move further up. It reminded me a bit of the pushing and jostling for a better position up front in the starting corral for a race.
Monday 1/8
Continuing with the tradition, Monday was once again Epcot day where we get to eat and drink around the world. For me, this year would just be food and non-alcoholic drinks. I arrived at the park a little before 9 am. Once again, thank goodness they have "no bag" security lines here at Walt Disney World. The first thing I did when I got inside the park was to take a picture of my Dopey medal with Spaceship Earth in the background.
I rode Mission: Space and Test Track before joining up with a couple of my friends to ride Mission: Space again. Afterwards, my friends wanted coffee and snacks, so we stopped by Fountain View where they bought one of those Spaceship Earth cupcakes.
After we sat down to rest a bit and to consume the cupcake, we headed over to
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria at Italy Pavilion for our lunch reservation. My friend and I split the Arancini. For my meal, I ordered their Linguine Allo Scoglio. Both were good stuff! Unfortunately for my friends, most of them and the rest of the folks eating there had ordered pizza. There must have been was a backlog of pizzas for them to make. It took a while for their food to come out.
Arancini
Linguine Allo Scoglio
After we received our separate checks and settled our bills, I left my friends to go join up with another group of friends. They had just finished eating at the Mexican Pavilion when I found them in front of the pyramid. From there we continued on to Norway where we would end up in Canada for our dinner reservation at Le Cellier Steakhouse. The kids in our group each had a Duffy stick puppet that they colored and were using to collect passport stamps in each country.
Here's what I ate in each country:
Mexico: n/a
Norway: various dessert snacks
China: Curry chicken pockets
Germany: Bratwurst and sauerkraut
Italy: Linguine Allo Scoglio
America: Joffrey's iced cold brew coffee
Japan: Edamame
Morocco: Iced Moroccan mint tea
France: Mixed berries sorbet
United Kingdom: n/a
Canada: Le Cellier filet mignon w/seared Hokkaido scallops enhancement
Curry chicken pockets
Bratwurst and sauerkraut
Taiko drummers
Iced cold brew coffee
Edamame
Iced Moroccan mint tea
Eat and drink around the world!
Mixed berries sorbet
After we were done touring the countries, we arrived at Le Cellier Steakhouse for our dinner reservation. Out of the few other times that I've eaten here, I thought that the food was the best this time around. I definitely got a better cut of filet mignon this year. I ordered it with the seared Hokkaido scallops enhancement since I really love scallops and I always try to make my steak meal, a surf & turf meal.
Le Cellier Filet Mignon
Seared Hokkaido Scallops enhancement
After we were done with dinner, some headed home and there was a bunch of us that headed over to ride Soarin' as our traditional last ride for the evening. All in all, I actually thought that it was way more enjoyable not drinking myself silly during my trip around the World Showcase. Looks like it's true that you can have fun without getting trashed! It also meant that I didn't fall asleep during dinner. :)
Tuesday 1/9
It was an evening flight home with Southwest Airlines with a layover at Las Vegas Airport. I started heading to the airport as soon as it was time to check out of my hotel. I wanted to make sure that I had returned my rental car before I got charged for an additional day. Originally I had planned to eat lunch at the McDonald's in the food court. Instead I opted for
Chick-fil-A where I ordered the usual spicy chicken deluxe meal. Unfortunately the sandwich didn't taste very fresh.
Spicy chicken deluxe meal
Getting through the TSA security checkpoint was an interesting one since I had gotten into a line where the agent that was screening the bags was literally pulling every bag for additional inspection. For my bags she didn't like how I packed my race medals as well as the fact that I had stuffed all four of my GoGoSqueez pouches in my liquids zip-lock bag. She re-scanned the apple sauce pouches and then had them swabbed to detect any explosive residue. Out of all the times that I've flown from State to State for my races, she was by far the most thorough and anal. I think it might be due to the recent change in screening policy. Just recently they wanted all food items taken out of bags to be inspected separately. I'm guessing she didn't like that I was mixing my food with my toiletries.
As it got closer to boarding time, one of my friends joined me in the terminal for the same flight. She boarded earlier than I did and was able to save me the middle seat next to her. Once we landed in Las Vegas, I found out that my connecting flight was delayed a couple of hours. My friend's connecting flight wasn't delayed, so she went to her gate to wait for her flight. I took a lap around the terminal to check out my food options. Nothing looked good, but I ended up eating at the
Pei Wei Asian Diner. I ordered their honey seared chicken which wasn't very good, but it was edible. I had more of a problem with the dining area being a mess and the plate that my food was served on looked like it hadn't been properly washed in quite some time! The delay went from an original 9:35 pm departure time to eventually about 11:30 pm. At one point it was showing 1:15 am and I was starting to wonder if it would be faster if I rented a car and drove home.
Honey seared chicken
Once again the airport was pretty empty when our plane landed at Ontario Airport. Home sweet home! All's well that ends well. I survived another year of the Dopey Challenge!
