Boo to the AP for this sentence, however, “Victoria & Albert’s is Walt Disney World’s only restaurant with an AAA five-diamond rating,” as if a five diamond award is easy to come by.

The prices have gone up since I went ($125/person, $60 for wine pairings), but I still have a hankering to return.  Check out some example menus here.

Pics below are views from my room at the Anaheim Marriott, as well as my wanderings around the area near my hotel, which is right next to the Disneyland Resort area.

I had lunch at Napolini at Downtown Disney.  It’s the walkup window for the Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria table service restaurant next door.  I had a panini (portabella mushroom, mozzarella, sundried tomato), and it wasn’t that good.  First, the place has no semblance of a flow to it.  You have no clue if you’re to order the pizza/sandwich first then pay, or pay then wait for the food.  In any case, I paid first and waited a few minutes for my sandwich to arrive.  When it did, the cheese wasn’t melted enough, and the sundried tomatoes were nowhere to be found (I defy you to find more than a dribble in the pic of it below).  I hadn’t eaten all day, so I made due.  The tea you see in the picture was $4.95 for the bottle.  Crazy.

 I’ve been to Disneyland before, but I had forgotten how different it is from Disney World.  Cast members were all over the place in uniforms from their respective jobs.  One had a Tower of Terror costume on, another was a cook leaving work.  The Magic Kingdom has the utilidor system to prevent that from happening, so it’s odd to see people walking around “out of place” here.

Note the Downtown Disney directory sign picture below.  All of the eateries owned by the Patina Group are clearly marked, and there are a lot of them.  I wish Disney ran all of the restaurants on property (some of the Patinas are chains), so it’s disappointing to see how many aren’t Disney-run.

One last thing to note is how cold people perceived it to be.  The temperature was in the low 60′s, high 50′s, maybe, and people were running around in sweaters and jackets rubbing their hands together to keep warm.  My short-sleeved shirt proved perfectly comfortable.

I watched 3/4 of North by Northwest on the plane, and I’m about to finish the rest in a few minutes.  I’ve been up since 2AM California time (it’s 9PM now), and my body is starting to remind me of that.  It’s always odd going to bed in a city and thinking that just that morning you were in another place entirely.  This morning at 5:30 AM I was driving through some of the worst snow conditions ever on the beltline (two cars went over the median like it was a ramp), now I’m in a Marriott in Anaheim anticipating one of the best Disney meals I’ll ever have tomorrow.

From the Adventurer’s Club at Downtown Disney’s Pleasure Island, the song “Mailman” performed by Emil Bleehal.  Double entendre at its best.

I can come in any sort of weather,

Cause I have a sack that’s made of leather.

I don’t care for keys or locks,

I’ll just stick it in your box.

I’m your mailman.

Check out more at YouTube, including the full song.

Classic “down the flume” video from Splash Mountain.

This was taken outside the Mitsukoshi department store in Japan at Epcot.  The lady is sculpting with sugar and making some really interesting things.  What she says is hilarious though.

Porcupine, octopus, dinosaur, tortoise, Finding Nemo, sea tortoise, blue ocean wave…