Ottawa Family Kidani Village December 2010 Trip Report

[disneyfreak89]

I have been waiting in GREAT anticipation for your TR Wendy,
especially your stay at AKV since we will be visiting there for the first time very soon!
Great start and looking forward to the rest!

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Originally Posted by suejen

Hey Wendy and Mum - DH and I really enjoyed meeting you both (and a few others.
Looking forward to your report. We just got back last night and will get our pictures uploaded so I can start a TR - after I tackle the mountain of unpacking that awaits!!

Yay, more TR's! Wendy, your TR is totally distracting me from working on my TR, but it's ok, by the afternoon my brains are shot anyway and I just enjoy reading more than writing.

We did the Germany Kim Possible, too. I think it may be my favorite of the ones we've done so far (Japan, France). Did you notice the zombies???

I can't do live TR's either-I need the experiences to ferment a little bit before I recount them.

I did take notes on the itinerary at the end of each day about what worked, what we missed, what the weather was, and what I messed up on, just to help my memory line up with the photos.

It was a lot of fun meeting everyone, although I'm pretty sure I talked everyone's ear off and was a bit of an attention, um, rhymes with "score". Oh well, it was exciting .

So lucky that you got in on the Candelight Processional and got to see it. It's got a lot of pixie dust and christmas spirit...

[OttawaMum]

Originally Posted by suejen

Hey Wendy and Mum - DH and I really enjoyed meeting you both (and a few others.

Thanks, we enjoyed meeting you and everyone else as well. Did your DH notice that you could have bought a Hufflepuff scarf at the Orlando airport without the crowds. I'll admit to looking specifically because of his story.

Originally Posted by cheyenne

Thanks for the heads up on this Wendy. That's disappointing. I know this is a place DS10 was looking forward to trying on our next trip. Too bad he won't be able to.

Originally Posted by KJ and Crew

Karmel/carmel contains gluten? I never would've guessed that! I though it was primarily butter and sugar... I'm sorry it didn't work out for OM.

Well, true caramel shouldn't include gluten, but, a lot of commercial recipes do. Oddly, Karamel Kuche had a painting on the wall that said something along the lines of "it tastes good because it only contains cream and sugar," but, when I asked she looked in a book and then said that the caramel wasn't gluten-free.

Regular Werther's candies are gluten-free, but, they have several newer options that contain gluten. The popcorn for sale in the store didn't have gluten in its ingredients list, but, it said that it was manufactured in a factory that also processes wheat.

So, cheyenne, I don't know how sensitive your DS is. But, if he can handle the "same factory as" stuff then the prepackaged popcorn will work. And, I can't guarantee that there's actually gluten in the caramel as opposed to that (same factory as) is what she looked up on her list. So, depending upon the severity of his issues you may want to ask again. (I did find Disney popcorn later that had caramel without being processed in a factory with wheat.)

[OttawaWendy]

We woke and went to Epcot for rope drop. Like KJJ, we had thought there was EMH, but were glad to learn of the change for the extra hour of sleep. The night before we had done a brief shop in the Kidani shop for eggs, milk and cheese, and had brought gluten-free bagels and our magic microwave egg cooker. We also called Mousekeeping to get real cutlery, plates and bowls.

So OttawaMum had an egg bagel for breakfast and I had my leftover pork and potatoes from last night.

We started with Soarin', because there aren't many activities that are safe for pregnancy that are also high demand. We did the Soarin' fastpass, ride in the stand-by line, ride Living with the Land, use the fastpass, technique.



Living with the Land is a favourite of ours. I took so many more pictures than I will inflict on you. Fluted pumpkins:



Something beautiful:



Great colour in these small sunflowers:



Gigantic pumpkins that need a net:



Gigantic lemons:



A lettuce Hidden Mickey I've never noticed before:



Peppers:



Rosemary dressed up for Christmas:



By this point we were a little hungry, and went to Sunshine Seasons. I had wanted to try the berry croissant bread pudding, which Sue (wdw1972) always seems to eat. OttawaMum looked around for gluten-free stuff and found some sushi, which counted as an entree and therefore we got to use the 30% off coupon. OttawaMum also got a gluten-free brownie which we put in our bag for later.



I liked the bread pudding, but its not something I will need to eat every trip or even most trips.

[suejen]

Originally Posted by OttawaMum

Thanks, we enjoyed meeting you and everyone else as well. Did your DH notice that you could have bought a Hufflepuff scarf at the Orlando airport without the crowds. I'll admit to looking specifically because of his story.

No, we were shopped out by the time we got to the airport last night. He likes the whole football analogy that goes along with the Hufflepuff scarf story! I wore it a lot the last few days - brrrr.....

[OttawaWendy]

Our next stop was Captain EO, because we had never seen it. It was great fun, and totally cheesy. I totally loved all the pre-Borg imagery.

Then we were off to the World Showcase. First stop was the United Kingdom for tea.



We wandered around the World Showcase with the intention of getting to the American Adventure for one of the storytellers. For a reason I can't remember, we stopped in Morocco:



Then we went to the Hannukah storyteller, because it was one of the first open. I enjoyed the presentation:



After, we watched the Voices of Liberty who are always excellent. By then it was time for our Via Napoli reservation at 12:45. This is a beautiful chandelier in the lobby:



I was a little stupid. I thought leftovers would be a good idea, and I'm normally a big eater, so when I saw that the medium size would be good for 2-3 people, I assumed that would be 2 nice meals. But it turned out to be a lot of food, and three meals. I ordered the prosciutto e melone on the advice of the waitress, but although I liked the dough and cheese, I didn't love this combination. The prosciutto was really hard to eat, and I didn't like the bitter greens on the pizza. But to be clear, the foundation of the pizza was excellent and I'll be back for a different combination.



OttawaMum had to really push to get anything good for an entree. They have gluten-free pasta, but were really reluctant to put any vegetarian protein on it, despite having beans in other places in their menu. Finally they agreed and this was the result:



I had the ricotta doughnut things for dessert. They were delicious and I especially loved the cream.



They gave OttawaMum a free gluten-free brownie for her birthday. It looked just exactly like the one she bought earlier in Sunshine Seasons!

Generally, I liked Via Napoli. One funny story is that it was a bit cold that day (as KJJ is reporting) and I ordered tea. She brought me this fancy box of tea and then poured hot water into my cup. I thought that was a bit odd as I expected to get a teapot. But I made tea in my cup, and sweetened it and added milk. (I had to ask several times for milk). However, periodically throughout the meal, she'd return and add hot water to my cup, despite the fact that there was still a third or a half a cup of tea in it. So then I had to add the teabag back, and resteep (while considering that some of the liquid had already steeped) and add more milk and sweetener. I just looked at OttawaMum and laughed. I guess they don't drink tea in Italy!

At this point it was about 2:30 and we were ready for a nap. We went through the Duffy store at the entrance to World Showcase and got a 2011 Duffy for our baby.



I really liked this Christmas Ball decoration at the entrance to Epcot, which is really a globe:

[OttawaWendy]

Originally Posted by cheyenne

Thanks for the heads up on this Wendy. That's disappointing. I know this is a place DS10 was looking forward to trying on our next trip. Too bad he won't be able to.

Enjoying your TR & looking forward to more.

As OttawaMum said, they did have some packaged products that might work. But I'm with you, cream and butter and sugar should be the ingredients.

Originally Posted by zgoodfella75

will give it a try.... but very true, HHI allows you the relax time to do a full detailed LIVE TR as you did (still my fave, I mean favorite TR I have read)...

Wow, that's a great compliment. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Brian5581

Yes, easier said than done, but still fun to respond to everyone. Which reminds me, with the year-end close coming up at work next week, I better get my report posted as well before I fall way behind on reading everyone else's...

Thanks again, Wendy!

Yep, get on it Brian.

Originally Posted by suejen

Hey Wendy and Mum - DH and I really enjoyed meeting you both (and a few others).
Looking forward to your report. We just got back last night and will get our pictures uploaded so I can start a TR - after I tackle the mountain of unpacking that awaits!!

Get that unpacking done and that TR going!

Originally Posted by PhotographicMemories

Well of course I meant have a great time reliving your trip

Of course I will.

Originally Posted by KJ and Crew

Hello OW and OM! I'm looking forward to the rest, although if I know Wendy's food pics, I better eat before I read on...

Karmel/carmel contains gluten? I never would've guessed that! I though it was primarily butter and sugar... I'm sorry it didn't work out for OM.

I can't wait for the other memories to unfold... thanks for sharing!

I really liked the apple, which was a great juicy, sweet apple, and a nice counterpoint to the caramel so it wasn't so sweet. I do like to eat, as you all know!

Originally Posted by disneyfreak89

I have been waiting in GREAT anticipation for your TR Wendy,
especially your stay at AKV since we will be visiting there for the first time very soon!
Great start and looking forward to the rest!

There's going to be a lot of pictures of animals and art so I hope you like them.

Originally Posted by Kickapoo Joie Juice

Yay, more TR's! Wendy, your TR is totally distracting me from working on my TR, but it's ok, by the afternoon my brains are shot anyway and I just enjoy reading more than writing.

We did the Germany Kim Possible, too. I think it may be my favorite of the ones we've done so far (Japan, France). Did you notice the zombies???

I can't do live TR's either-I need the experiences to ferment a little bit before I recount them.

I did take notes on the itinerary at the end of each day about what worked, what we missed, what the weather was, and what I messed up on, just to help my memory line up with the photos.

It was a lot of fun meeting everyone, although I'm pretty sure I talked everyone's ear off and was a bit of an attention, um, rhymes with "score". Oh well, it was exciting.

So lucky that you got in on the Candelight Processional and got to see it. It's got a lot of pixie dust and christmas spirit...

We liked the zombies. I'd say my favourite so far was England, but Germany and China were also favourites.

I'm glad we got to do Candlelight Processional too. I love getting to try things I haven't had a chance to do yet.

We liked meeting everyone too, but that will be later in the TR!

Originally Posted by suejen

No, we were shopped out by the time we got to the airport last night. He likes the whole football analogy that goes along with the Hufflepuff scarf story! I wore it a lot the last few days - brrrr.....

Yeah, he was enjoying the "go long" part of that story. You'll have to include that in your TR.

[disneyfreak89]

Originally Posted by OttawaWendy

I had wanted to try the berry croissant bread pudding, which Sue (wdw1972) always seems to eat....I liked the bread pudding, but its not something I will need to eat every trip or even most trips.

Were those blueberries? Did you find it too sweet? I'm still curious to give it a try when we go.

[OttawaMum]

Originally Posted by OttawaWendy

Something beautiful:

It's called Dragon Fruit, dear.

[OttawaWendy]

Originally Posted by disneyfreak89

Were those blueberries? Did you find it too sweet? I'm still curious to give it a try when we go.

Blueberries and cranberries and strawberries I think. It was quite sweet, like the banana bread pudding I had at Tusker House. I would have liked it better if it were less sweet.