Through these photos, you're invited to share our journey to Disney World in March, 2009 with us! Enjoy!
The sole purpose of this particular journal is to recount our adventure at Disney World. Needless to say, we haven't been in at least in 20 years, despite the fact we live right here in Florida, a mere 7 hours away. We probably wouldn't have gone now, except Disney was offering FREE 5-day tickets to all military personnel. (We being of the retired sort.) A ticket for me was discounted 50%. So, it was a golden opportunity and we hadn't been on a vacation for it's own sake in a very long time. Since the offer was good for all of 2009, I decided to check the Disney website and discovered they were running a special discounted rate at their value resorts for Florida residents during the month of March. So, we made the necessary reservations and I carefully planned our attraction and dining agenda. Then on March 15, we loaded up the car and were on our way.
March 15th was a Saturday. Since our booking for the Disney All-Star Sports Resort wasn't until Sunday, we decided to do the drive on Saturday and stay in Kissimmee, which is just outside Disney World. There, we checked into a Red Roof Inn and ate dinner at a Bob Evans that was within walking distance.
We'd never eaten at a Bob Evans before. Mostly because there aren't any where we live. Our server offered Dave something called "cherry bread" with his meal, which actually turned out to actually be a cherry pound cake and it was the yummiest stuff I've ever eaten. Dave asked for a second and she gave us 3 more fat slices, which decided to keep until later. 
So, bright and early Sunday morning, we packed up and drove to Disney World, where we did a preliminary check-in at our Resort. You can see it in the picture strip above--all giant footballs, baseball bats and coke cups. There's also a picture of Dave standing on the center court. Of course, it was too early for our room to be ready, but they check you in anyway, then let you head directly to the Parks. There's a row of shuttle bus pick-up points in front of the resort, each on labeled for a particular destination. We caught one to Disney Downtown, because we wanted to check-out the Indoor Interactive Amusement Park known as "Disney Quest."
Our over-all plan was to keep our trip as cheap as possible, so we brought our own food for breakfast and to pack for lunch.The Disney Value Resorts are absolutely no-frill motels. Their amenities were limited to a hair-dryer, an iron and ironing board, Mickey Mouse soaps and shampoos and plenty of clean towels. The beds were comfortable enough and it was amazingly dark and quiet, since the buildings are nestled deeply among trees. It was nice to come back to after a long day in the Parks!
We brought our own mini coffee pot and a hot water pot to make tea for Dave. The room also didn't come with a microwave or a refrigerator, though you could rent a frig for $10 a day.
No way was I going to do that!
So we brought stuff for lunch and breakfast that didn't require refrigeration, like Goober Grape Peanutbutter, raisin bread, snack bars, pretzels, tuna & cracker kits and apples and oranges.
We had pre-made our lunches at the Red Roof Inn that morning, so we were ready to go! At Disney Downtown we walked around a while, then had a delightful lunch on a shady bench over-looking a lake. Orlanda is very nice in March, being about 85 during the day and around 60 at night.
After lunch, continued on our way to Disney Quest. Wow, what a fantastic place! It's got 5 floors of video games, classic arcade games, virtual reality games and numerous ride-type attractions.
We enjoyed a couple hours there, then decided we wanted to ride the monorail, but to do that meant we had to go to the Magic Kingdom or Epcot.
Disney transportation---it certainly takes some getting used to. The only place you can go from Disney Downtown is back to a resort--any resort. So, that makes getting from Disney Downtown to any other Park a two-step process. We also didn't realize one stop might service several buses going different places, so we ended up getting on the "wrong" bus. We got on a bus going to Ft. Wilderness, which is the camping area, though the driver was friendly and chatted us up. He suggested we catch a boat shuffle availabe in at Ft. Wilderness, which would take us to the Magic Kingdom. So we did that. There's a riverboat in the photos, but we weren't on one of those. I took that picture from the boat we were on along the way.
At the Magic Kingdom, I took I photo of the entry building, the we proceeded to the Monorail. Their are two: one that exclusively services resorts, such as the Contemporary and the Polynesian and one that loops to Epcot. We decided to explore the other resorts, so took that Monorail. I liked the Polynesian best as it had a fabulous waterfall garden in the it's lobby and I was given a silk lei by one of the greeters. (They were giving them to anyone strolling through the lobby and it hangs on my rear-view mirror.) We also learned you can ride in the Monorail's front cab (the pointed end) if you just ask one of the guys manning the loading area and that was fun!
As it was, we spent several hours just being "lost" and figuring out the transportation system, something that helped us get around more effectively later. It really took longer then we expected and it was late afternoon when we caught the Express Monorail to Epcot, then a bus to our Resort in order to move into our room. Time was of the essence, though. We were going to the Fantasmic show that night, since it was the only showing scheduled for that week, and getting there early to get a seat was vital. So we rushed our stuff up to our room, then rushed back to the bus-stop.
I sort of hoped we might find a place to catch a meal at Hollywood Studios, since we our plan was to eat dinner in a Park every night, but it seemed everyone else had the same thought.
Every eating joint was packed! Not that the Studio Park had any especially appealing restaurants. It didn't. Mostly burger joints or roasted turkey legs. We decided to make-do the cheese snack crackers we had in Dave's back-pack and eat later. We followed the crowd into the Fantasmic seating area, which was a huge outdoor amphitheatre facing a large, brown fabric colored set that was surrounded by a moat.
The show wasn't due to start 8:30 and we'd gotten there about 6:45 maybe, so it was a long wait. At least we had our crackers, though we didn't have anything to drink with us. (We hadn't figured that out yet.) Venders roamed up and down the aisles, hawking snacks and drinks, while in down in front were other vendors with carts loaded with spinning, glittering and light-up souvenoirs. There was also a food stand at the back selling various snack foods.
An hour and a half is a long time for a large bored crowd with lots of kids. I think the venders did a booming business! There happened to be a bunch of cheerleaders at one end of the amphitheatre that got a "wave" going back and forth and that amused everyone for a short time.
As it turned out, Fantasmic wasn't the only show that night. The guy next to said a space shuttle was due to launch around 7:45, so we were scanning the eastern sky above the set hoping to see it. Then, with a bright blaze, we saw it. Shuttle Discovery lifted off, blazing a trail of smoke into the dusky sky that caught the last color of the setting sun. We saw the first stage separation as the booster felt off, dropping like tiny dots in the sky and the Discovery looked like a star following the curve of the earth until it was out of sight. Everyone stood and cheered! It was a magnificiant moment! It paled Fantasmic, though that was a pretty amazing display. It was like a play about Mickey Mouse having to save the world from evil taking over and it was presenting in a mix of live action and Disney film clips projected on sprays of water that acted like screens. It's a big light show with fireworks and boats of Disney characters floated by in the moat.
After that, being starved, we headed back to the bus to get to the Magic Kingdom for a meal. It was extra magic hours for resort guests there that night and it also stays open the longest. Hollywood Studios was already closed as we mobbed out the front gate. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Magic Kingdom just before the Spectro Magic Light Parade was about the start, which means the streets were so packed you could hardly make your way through them and we wanted to get to Tomorrowland to eat. I did, however, get a couple good light parade shots: a peacock and a piano. This getting stuck in parades would be a bit of bad luck that would follow us, though.
Our destination was Ray's Cosmic Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland, since I knew they served a reasonable rotisserie half-chicken platter. It came with mashed potatoes and green beans and boy, did it taste good! At $11 dollars a plate, it was a meal deal! Dave declared that one of the two best meals he ate during our stay.
With our tummies full, we thought we might visit the Haunted Mansion, since we remembered how much we enjoyed it 20 years ago. Unfortunately, extra magic hours had started and the line was way, way too long. So, we proceeded to Pirate of the Caribbean, which was our primary agenda for the Magic Kingdom anyway. That line was pretty reasonable and we enjoyed seeing Captain Jack Sparrow. I got a really great photo of the icon Castle and discovered it makes the best picture at night when it's changing colors. I also thought that parents would've taken their little ones home and left the late night Extra Magic Hours to the big people. Nope. It was midnight and the Park was still full of strollers with little kids. I also thought at Extra Magic Hours attractions might have shorter lines. Wrong again, the Haunted Mansion being a case in point.
We decided to call it a night and headed back to the bus-stop. As it so happened a million other people made the same decision at the same and the bus stop was packed. (There are multiple slots you wait at, one for every resort basically.) It looked like all the fancier resorts were getting their buses faster than any of us staying at the Value resorts, but in reality I think Disney under-estimated the demand that particular night. The shuttles are designed for standing as well as sitting, with rails to hold onto and so on, so when they load up, they pack in as many as possible and away you go, swaying down the road. The best thing about the All-Star Sports resort is it's first on the drop-off and we two campers dropped exhausted in bed.
So ended day one of our Disney adventure.
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On day two, Monday morning, we decided to sleep in and have a swim before setting off to Disney Hollywood Studios, which was the park of the day. We enjoyed a breakfast of Bob Evans "cherry bread" with our coffee and tea. Normally, I avoid sweet-carbs for breakfast because of the sudden energy drop-off they give me when they wear off, but we weren't going anywhere but the pool and were going to eat lunch in the room, so I indulged. Then a quick lunch, pack a few snacks and we headed off to the bus-stop.
Upon arriving at Hollywood Studios, we immediately discovered that this is one park you should plan on visiting early. The attractions are run on more specific schedules, since they're more like shows than rides. The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and the Star Tours attractions naturally had massive lines, so we moved on to the Muppet Vision 3-D Movie, arriving just in the nick of time to get in. The two old hecklers sat in their usual side balcony heckling everything, of course and it was very enjoyable. 3-D movies are better then they used to be and instead of old-time red/blue cardboard sunglasses we actually wore real frames that looked like gaudy red sunglasses.
Skirting past another crowd of parade watchers, we pressed on for the Great Movie Ride, which takes you on a journey through famous MGM movies. Live character actors, either a Chicago gangster or a cowboy robber, take over the tour as part of the ride.
From there we moved on to the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show, which is a live demonstration of how automobile stunts are done in movies. It was a great show, but we didn't realize how late it was! 
We'd entirely forgotten to bring our cell phone along, which was our only clock and had to sneak at glance at someone's watch. It was 5:05pm! And we had dinner reservations for the Sci-fi Dine-In Theatre for 5:10! 
And we were stuck in the middle of 300 other people trying to make their way out of the stunt show statium! Once outside, we had more room, and wove our way as quicky as we could through them to the restaurant! Fortunately, the Studio park isn't large and we made it to the Dine-In within 10 minutes!
We were promptly guided to a table inside what looked like an old-fashioned, outdoor drive in theatre at night and were seated in a "car" facing the big screen where clips of old classics were showing. All the cars were like wing-tailed Cadilac convertibles. Sound came through a set of speakers on a post between vehicles just like the ones we used to hang on our car window when I was a kid. Our car had room for six. A family of four occupied the two seats in front of us and we had the back seat. A shelf-like table top was mounted to the seat-back ahead of of. On the screen, were old intermission ads, a couple full length cartoon shorts and previews for old black and white sci-fi's like "The Amazing Shrinking Woman."
Their menu featured old fashioned sodas and milkshakes, 6 or 7 entrees and 4 or 5 desserts. We just had water and I had the Reuben sandwich with melon salad instead of fries. Dave had the rib plate that came with mashed potoates and a vegetable, though I think he opted for the melon salad rather than the veggie. My Reuben was very tasty and the melon salad better then it sounded. (It was a combination of chopped onion, cucumber, cantelope and honeydew in vingarette.) Dave thought his meal would've been improved by a dinner roll. Over-all, I liked it. It reminded me of warm and happy family memories of movie outings to our own local drive-in. Dave was disappointed not to see an actual movie, though that would keep people seated too long to be practical for a restaurant, but I was too full of warm and fuzzy to have an objections.
With our tummies full, we decided to re-visit Star Tours to see how the line was, hoping it was shorter. It was, so we got in line. I realized then that late day dinner hours were a far better time to re-visit previously packed attractions than Extra Magic Hours.
I didn't even know what the attraction entailed and it quickly proved a big mistake.
It's themed around Star Wars and you walk under a giant replica of an Imperial Walker to get in the line. Inside, C3PO entertains the crowd with playful banter with R2-D2. The ride itself turns out to be simulation of a shuttle trip to Tatooine flown by a fairly incompetent droid. You sit in a small room with 15 seats and go on the simulated ride of your life. It really feels like you're jumping to hyper-speed!
I was sooo sick afterwards.
Star Tours is one ride you only want to do on an empty stomach, believe me!
We left there and I was done. So, we headed back to the buses and it was a ride standing-up back to the resort. I was feeling better by the time we got there, well enough for an ice cream treat in the All-Sports in-house restaurant. Dave had a dish of ice cream and I had a chocolate double-cone. The girl really heaped it on, so I felt I got my money's worth.
So ended, day two.
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On day three, Tuesday, we decided to go back to Downtown Disney in the morning for a little more of Disney Quest and some souvenoirs. I'd already decided on what I wanted in way of a souvenoir, but we needed to settle on something for Dave. We passed a Design-A-Tee place and, since Dave likes t-shirts, went in. He ended up designing his own souvenoir shirt themed on the Pirates of the Caribean, his favorite movie. He had "Pirate at Heart" printed across the top. For me, we stopped at T-Rex, where I picked out a polished turquiose geode pendant and rawhide strings to hang it on. (I'm not much for t-shirts.) Then we sat by the lake again and ate raisin-goober sandwiches and apples for lunch. After that, back to Disney Quest for a couple hours, visiting our favorite play areas.
It was 2pm when we finally decided to head to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we had dinner reservations at Boma's at 4:45pm, just so we'd know where it was. A very pleasant young lady from Botswana in native-dress met us and showed us where the restaurant was. She also showed us menu and told us her favorite things on the menu, since it's an African buffet.
After that, we went to the Animal Kingdom park, though I quickly realized this wasn't a park suited for just a couple hours late in the day. It would be better first thing in the morning. So, with limited time, we made the best of it we could. We did walk down a couple trails, but the animals weren't interested in posing for pictures. In fact, I was disappointed with how heavily treed the area actually was. I got a good shot of the Tree of Life and one of a tiger, who was willing to pose. We took a brief ride on the Wildlife Express Train up to Rafiki's Planet Watch, then directly back again, having no time really to spare on exploring. Along the trip we saw the shed area, where the animals are housed at night and found out that around 4pm is when they start calling them in for feeding. (Each animal has been trained to come to certain sounds such as rocks in a can or whistles. etc.)
By then it was time to head back to the bus-stop, so we could get to Boma's on time, but unfortunately for us, we found our way blocked by yet another parade. A lane for pedestrian traffic was provided and we made our way as quickly as possible out of the park. We caught our bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort, arriving breathlessly at the restaurant just a little before 4:30. I distinctly remembered the Disney restaurant reservationist offering dining times as early as 4:10, yet found out the restaurant didn't even open until 4:30.
We were promptly seated and got to be among the first at the sumptous African buffet, which proved an advantage as the line was monstrous within 30 minutes! Also, we could see the buffet freshly laid-out and beautiful being so early. There was a meat section offering a selection of roast pork, beef and fish, including salmon. There were around 15 different side dishes and casserole type entrees ranging from pototoes, to cous-cous, to beef with a cornmeal topping, to roasted vegetables, to saffron rice with raisins---just tons to sample. Then there was a salad/soup bar with 3 or 4 soups and unique salads. There was an assortment of different humous along with very thin, cracker-like bread. After that, the dessert bar. I took a little bit of everything that struck me as unique. I paid particular attention to trying things the Botswanain girl had recommended, like the beef with cornmeal topping. (It was actually slightly sweet.) I had a bit of coconut seafood soup, a sample of every side-dish, a bit of humous and cracker bread and a salad along with a small slice of salmon. After that---the dessert bar! I skipped anything familiar, like cobbler or pudding, and went directly for all the exotics, particularly the Zebra Domes the Botswanian girl recommended. I think my favorite dessert was the Cheese Flan, which was a warm, cheese-cake like custard, though the Zebra Domes were tasty, white chocolate covered domes of chocolate mousse. There was only one thing I tried that I absolutely hated and that was a plantain banana dessert involving cashews and some kind of carmel sauce. It tasted saturated with lemon, like the plantains had been soaked in it, which obscured the cashews and sauce. One bite was enough.
I also had some of the best coffee I've ever tasted at Boma's. It was smooth and strong--not bitter and acidy like Starbucks. Definitely, worth the price and as busy as that place got, reservations are a must.
I was popping-full when we walked out of there, back to the bus-stop. I didn't get any photos inside, but got a nice shot outside the restaurant of two huge pots full of bromeliads.
After that, it was back to the resort. So ended day three of our adventure.
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Day four, Wednesday, we spent at Epcot, which is probably the park I like best out of all of them. Epcot's annual Flower Festival just started, so the park was a festival of garden art. Detailed topiaries of famous Disney characters were everywhere! (Beauty and the Beast at top of page) We wanted to see the new Mission: Space pavilion and do the "Flight to Mars" simulation, but the wait to get in was 110 minutes, so we meandered on to the World Showcase, me pausing for a flower or topiary photo every now and again.
We hadn't been to Epcot since the mid-eighties, though all currently existing pavilions were in place, except Norway, which was added in 1988, I only remember China and Liberty Hall. So, it was a good chance for me to get reacquainted with the World Showcase.
By-passing the Mexico Pavilion, we went directly to the Norway, since that's my family heritage. We stopped in the bakery, called Kringla's, to sample a Norweigan treat. I asked the girl which item might represent something typically eaten in Norway and she pointed out several items, including "School bread." The school bread was like a bagel sized bun filled with creme and frosted and sprinkled with baked coconut, though the young lady said in Norway, it was typically flatter and not creme-filled. We bought one of those and split it. Being bread, it was only mildly sweet. Then we went inside the pavilion and took the Norwegian boat ride, which was like an indoor flume that ended with a film about Norway.
After that, we continued our way around the Showcase. Many pavilions, such as Germany, Italy, Morocco, etc., are mostly eating places and gift shops without any particular films about their countries. We caught a "fife and drum" presentation in front of Liberty Hall, strolled through their museum inside, then proceeded to France, which had a wonderful documentary presentation. The film showed delicous pictures of French pastries. Conveniently, there was French pastry shop right outside the threatre area. Even I was thinking of trying a sample, but the pastry shop was jam-packed with a bunch of people who had the same idea, so we strolled on.
We took a lunch break at this point and had a photo taken of us in front of a big rock. (One of the front-page photos above.) Several times we had strangers simply offer to take a picture of us!
With our tummies full, we went on to "Canada," which also had a very nice film, though not as nice as France, since we had to stand-up.
After that, we pressed on, leaving the World Showcase and heading for the Imagination Pavilion. We arrived in time for a showing of the 3-D film experience: "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. It was like a film and simulator at the same time, jostling the audience about, as a kid in the film seemed to pick us up, since we'd been "shrunk" to the size of a shoebox. My favorite part was when the "mice" escaped into the audience and you felt something tickle your legs. The lady next to me practically launched out of her seat!
There's a ride inside the Imagination Pavilion about the five senses with a play area afterwards, but it wasn't near as fun as I remembered back in the 80's. Back then there'd been more actual hands-on activites, but now it was just a bunch of stations where people could take a photo of themselves, then manipulate it on a computer. Disappointed, we escaped that Pavilion and went to the Land Pavilion. We took the boat ride through their experimental hydroponic garden research. (Much of the veggies used in Disney restaurants is grown there and the grow a quantity of their own shrimp and fish.
By then, it was approaching 5pm and knowing the Flight to Mars at Mission: Space was a simulator, we headed that way so we could do it while before we ate any dinner! It line was very short by then (dinner hour) and it didn't take long to get inside. We were offered a choice of a "less intense" experience or a "more intense" and, me having gotten so sick on the Star Tours simulator, we took the "less intense" option. It turned out to be a really cool thing. Gary Sinese from CSI New York was our "mission controller" for our Mars flight. Dressed in a futuristic uniform, he briefed us from a television screen on our mission first, then we were lined up in groups of 4 in front of our "ships." As a flight crew we would each hold certain positions and have certain buttons to push during our "flight." Dave filed in first, so he became the "Engineer." I was the "Commander" and two strangers were my "Pilot" and "Co-pilot." Each of had a scrreen in front of us and a joy stick and our two buttons. We were tilted back into launch position and "launched" into space. It felt pretty realistic. Then Gary Sinese's voice directed us through our adventure, telling us each when to press our buttons. Unfortunately, our landing on Mars turned into a "crash-landing" and I had to put our "ship" on "manual" and we all had to grab our joy-sticks to control our "landing." We skid to a halt with our nose just over a deep ravine. Mission successful.
If that was "less intense," I wondered what "more intense" was like? Fortunately, my stomach was empty, but I could tell if I'd had any more "intensity" I would've been ill.
With that out of the way, it was dinner time. Our unique dining plan for that night was in the Moroccain Pavilion, at a cafe called "Tangierine's." It's a counter-service not requiring reservations. It was practically empty of customers when we walked in, though on the way there we noticed the sidewalks surrounding the the fancy Canadian, United Kingdom and French Restaurants packed with people holding pagers, waiting for seating. Morocco was nearly empty. This Pavilion also featured a fancier restaurant with a belly-dancer, called the Marakesh that didn't have any lines at all. In fact, a young man and woman were posted outside with a photo book of menu items, trying to catch the attention of passerbys in order to steer them into their restaurant. I suppose people are a little suspicious of the fare. I, however, have lived in Turkey and traveled in Syria and have some idea of what to expect.
Dave and I both ordered the lamb/chicken combo platters which came with a half-round of Moroccain bread, chunks of seasoned roasted lamb and chicken, plus one scoop each of cous-cous, humous and a parsley salad plus a side of yogurt-cucumber sauce such you get in a Greek restaurant, though more liquid. We sat at one of the outside tables and the lamb tasted exactly like what I remembered eating in Turkey. I loved it and if you want something different, highly recommend Tangierine's Cafe. It filled me up, but Dave felt like he would've liked a larger serving of meat.
Since we intended to stay for the evening "Illumi-Nations" show, which is held on lake in the center of the World Showcase, I suggested we find a viewing spot near the front end of the Showcase, so we could leave ahead of the other 1000 people stuck along the back. There were benchs over-looking the lake here and there, but every single one seemed occupied as we walked toward the Mexican Pavilion. Just as we passed the Cantina de San Angel cafe, which is opposite the Mayan temple looking Pavilion, we spoted an empty bench and grabbed it. We spent the next couple hours until the show, sitting there, watching people and birds. A lady with a camera set up shop next to us and we enjoyed a lengthy chat with her, even trading business cards and photos later.
Illumi-Nations started a 9pm sharp. It's a combination of fireworks, music and a laser-light show that lasts about 15 minutes. A large globe of Earth is rolled out to the middle and pictures are projected on it. (Shot of this globe being positioned and fireworks in main photos above.) It was a nice show. Over-all, my favorite by far.
After that, a mob scene as everyone flooded toward the front gates and the bus-stops. I was dreading a long wait, then having to stand-up all the way back to our resort.
Apparently Disney was prepared for a vast mob and had pulled in every bus they had, even the charter buses that don't normally do shuttle duty. Fortunately we were also among the first 35 at the bus-stop, watching bleakly as bus after bus was pulling in at all the fancier resorts. Then a huge charter bus pulled into our All-Sports slot. He opened the door and asked, "Is this Music?" A guy up front told him "No, we're Sports, but please could you take us anyway?" The driver was a little reluctant, since that wasn't his assignment, but Music Resort was the slot behind us and he'd have to do a complete drive around to get in it. He tried consulting the radio, but got no reply, so he finally said, "Okay, come on." We were all delighted and piled on gratefully as this was a large Grayhound-type bus with double rows of seating for 40 people. I was so relieved to sit in a comfortable seat for the ride back to the resort!
Dave was still hungry, though, since he didn't feel he'd had enough at dinner, so we stopped in the resort restaurant for him to grab a bite. He had a spagetti and meatball meal that came with a salad and breadstick. I tasted it. It was okay. You have to imagine eating at the resort for every meal would probably run around $30 to $40 per person daily. It was around 10 pm and I noticed huge numbers of people ordering meals and I wondered if some didn't just hold out on eating until they got back?
So ended day four.
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Day five, Thursday, was check-out day, which Disney made easy by leaving an envelope on our door for us to leave our key cards in, but we'd decided to spend a few more hours at Disney Downtown. So, we cleared out of the room, put our stuff in the car, then headed back to the bus-stop in front of the resort. Our plan was to eat lunch, then hit Disney Quest for a couple hours.
We decided we wanted to eat a last lunch at the House of Blues, which is across the street from Disney Quest on the West End of Disney Downtown. The restaurant wasn't busy at all and Blues has a pretty broad menu with many sandwiches, salads and soups under $11. I ordered the pork barbeque with cole slaw and sweet potato fries. Dave chose an higher end entree, a full rib platter that came with mashed sweet potato and broccoli sides. (photo of us with our food in filmstrip--the waitress was kind enough to take our picture!) The food was terrific! I hadn't never had such a great barbeque sandwich anywhere and the cole slaw was to die for! It was a vinegar slaw with slices of fresh jalapeno to give it zip. Dave loved his meal, too! We both agreed it was the best meal we'd had our whole trip!
After that, we tripped over to Disney Quest to re-play all our favorite games, though the vibrations of the "snowmobile" game got to my full stomach a bit.
It was 3pm when we decided we were done. So we caught a bus back to the resort, got in our car and hit the road for home. Dave had already made a reservation at a Red Roof Inn just east of Tallahassee about 4 hours away. It turned out to be a really nice room, much nicer than the All-Sports Resort. We slept in and got a good night's rest, then grabbed some lunch at an Applebee's on the west side of Tallahassee, which we had a gift card for still, and drove home. Our cat was glad to see us!