Pandora

I recently returned from a kind of impromptu Disney trip. It was a quick weekend trip and we packed it full of Disney magic.

One of the best things about the trip: Pandora was open. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Pandora: the World of Avatar absolutely lives up to all the hype. Disney has been marketing this new attraction for months now and it is worth checking out. Even with the massive response and long wait times the newest addition to Animal Kingdom was truly the highlight of the trip.

My mom and I were staying at Kidani Village. Which was awesome, not just because it is an amazing resort but because it would be the shortest commute to Animal Kingdom. The morning of our Animal Kingdom day we got up early. The park was having extra magic hours that morning and resort guests would be able to enter at 8am. We were planning, like many other people, on opening the park and making a B-line for Pandora. We wanted to get on Flight of Passage before the line got to long. If you have read any articles about the opening week at Pandora this is the ride that had a seven hour wait the first day it opened. As much as I wanted to ride it, spending seven hours of precious park time in line was not something I was prepared to do.

Kidani Village recently started offering quick service breakfast at Sana, which was amazing for this weekend trip. The morning before my mom and I had sat down and had breakfast while we watched the various animals go about their day. It was a great way to start off a day. The morning we did Animal Kingdom we got there just after it opened, at 7am, and helped our selves to the oatmeal. It was great. They had lids for the containers and even had little containers with brown sugar and golden raisins for the oatmeal. We took our little containers of oatmeal to go and headed for the bus stop. We were lucky, and bust pulled up within minutes of us getting to the stop. We were the only ones on the bus and we headed strait for the park. I inhaled my breakfast, I wasn't sure if I would be able to bring it in to the park. But, my mom took her time.

Security had no problems with us bringing our breakfast in, which was awesome. In all of my trips to Disney this was only the second time I have been asked to show that I was staying at a resort on property in order to take advantage of the extra magic hours. It was great. I could even see that people were being turned away from the Pandora entrance because it was only open to Disney resort guests. We made our way to the end of the line for Flight of Passage. I feel that it is important to note that the extra magic hours had the park opening at 8am. We got in line at 7:45. The wait was already 90 minutes and the line was moving. They had already fired up the ride before the park was opened. My mom enjoyed her breakfast while I took pictures.

Overall the wait really wasn't that bad. We got to see all of Pandora with very few people walking around, well very few people since they were all in line with us. We talked with the people in line with us. And the different waiting rooms for the line were very well done with so much detail that it did take time to take it all in.

The ride itself was like nothing I have ever experienced before. It was intense and I really feel that it will changed the way theme park rides are designed in the future. Without giving away too much of the ride, it really does feel like you are riding on the back of a banshee. My legs needed a couple of minutes to adjust to walking when I got off the ride. It was worth the wait with out a doubt.

We decided that we had enough time to try out the other ride, Na'vi River Journey before getting lunch. While we were in line the wait time jumped from 40 minutes to 60 minutes. The que line didn't have as much to take in, so it felt like a longer wait. But, the water station halfway through the line was really nice. It held up the line a little since nearly everyone stopped to fill up their water bottles, but the wait didn't impact the time I got on the ride and I really appreciated being able to refill my water since it was so hot out. Overall, the ride was alright. Not really worth an hour wait, but I would ride it again if I didn't have to wait very long or had a fastpass.

The food was fantastic. I was very pleased to see that nearly everything on the menu was healthy. They have steamed buns with different fillings. They also had rice or salad bowls that you could top with different proteins and sauces. The flavor of the chicken and the onion aioli were just amazing. We got the children's size and it was enough to fill us up.

After lunch we explored the rest of the park. Which, was unusually empty since the vast majority of the park guests were at Pandora. We had almost no lines with anything we did. We even discovered dole whip in Africa! We were able to enjoy the park with little crowds and had a fantastic day.
 
Overall, the entire experience of Pandora was amazing. We weren't able to get back to the park to see it at night, but it will be a high priority on our next trip in October. I was blown away by the attention to detail Disney put in to all that is Pandora. It really looks and feels like you are there. The floating mountains are just spectacular and don't look like that are manmade structures at all. It all feels real. I look forward to what they will add to Pandora next.

Shenanigans with Chili

So, it has been a while. A lot longer than I had intended between posts. It was a little of lack of inspiration. A lot of having my attention on other projections on-line. And a whole lot of overtime at work. But, for now, things appear to be slowing back down to normal.

My parents have announced that we will be taking a trip to Walt Disney World in October. That's right. Food and Wine Festival. I know, I'm excited too. In effort to get back in to the swing of things and get pumped for the upcoming trip (yes, I am aware that it is still over nine months away) I have decided to get back on track and continue my journey through the Disney cookbooks. I made beer cheese soup about a week ago (I'm not saying it helped the Packers beat the Cowboys, but I'm just saying the soup had just finished when the game winning field goal was made...) But, I've already covered that here. So, its still football season and while it's not to terribly cold out winter is still here. What is better than chili in winter? Just about nothing.

I found the recipe for Walt Disney's personal chili in on of my books. So, I set about planing the meal. What is funny is I wanted to do everything according the the recipe since I knew I would be writing a blog about it, but nothing seemed to go my way no matter what I did.

I had read the ingredient list and directions. I was prepped to make the chili in the middle of the work week. It would be perfect for dinner and have tons of leftovers. But, apparently I hadn't read the instructions as carefully as I thought. The recipe clearly said to soak the beans overnight.Well I hadn't, so we had something else and then I planned to make it on another night. Well, then I read that the beans needed to simmer for two hours. I don't have that kind of time during the week. So, chili and cornbread would go great with the NFL playoff games on Sunday.

I soaked the beans overnight. There really wasn't a clear timeframe. In the morning I was surprised to find that the beans had nearly soaked up all the water. Following the directions I drained, rinsed, and put them in a pot with fresh water. Here is where things got a little weird. The recipe says to use a 2 quart sauce pan. I had to use a 5 quart dutch oven and still didn't have enough room. Granted I did use kidney beans, which the recipe does not call for, but I like them in my chili so I went with it. On the flip side the beans are supposed to sinner with chopped onions (2 whole white onions) for two hours. I somehow forgot to get onions so I didn't have them in the pot.

I ended up taking about a third of the beans out to use a different night. Waste not want not after all. I don't know how two pounds of pinto beans alone would fit in a 2 quart pot if 3 pounds of beans fills a 5 quart pot, but math was never my strong point...

The garlic with the ground beef and celery smelled absolutely amazing. I thought it couldn't get any better, but then I added the spices. I had been wrong. My boyfriend and I had to have a quick snack because the smell had our mouths watering and stomachs growling. I had the beans simmering and the meat mixture simmering at the same time. I figured it would be easier that way. I was surprised at how little of the spices the directions called for, but I figured it would turn out just fine.

By the time it simmering time was complete I realized that this recipe was not the kind of chili that I am used to. I wold totally put it on a hotdog, or a baked potato, or possibly some steamed rice. But I would not consider it to be a bowl of chili. There wasn't much liquid to it. It was simply beans, spices, and ground beef. So, after some quick collaboration with my boyfriend we decided to add a can of tomato paste, a can of tomato sauce, a little water, and more spices. A lot more.

We let our new concoction simmer for nearly a half hour so all the flavors could meld together. I was pleased with the final product. The beans were not as tender as I would have liked, but perhaps I had not cooked them enough before adding them. The original recipe said it would serve four people, they must have been four very hungry people. Before I made my additions I had enough in the pot for at least two dinners and lunch for my boyfriend and I. Now, I have enough chili in my fridge to feed us for an entire week. I must say that I am quite pleased as I really feel that we got a lot of bang for our buck on this recipe.

I prefer my chili with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and crackers. My boyfriend is not a fan of crackers in his chili.

In the end I am happy that I made this recipe. Have I made better chili before? Yes, yes I have. I didn't feel that the directions in the cook book were enough to go on. My boyfriend and I both interpreted them differently and overall I felt the chili was a little bland before I made my changes. But, keep in mind that I spent a good deal of time of my youth in Texas and good chili was not hard to find. Overall, I'd say it is worth trying but to keep in mind that you may need to adjust the recipe to better suite your own personal tastes.