The One With the Earl... of Sandwich

  Orlando, Florida, United States
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Oreo relaxng in the house

I was up at 10:00 this morning and was exhausted, probably because I had just gone to bed only five hours earlier... which maybe wasn't the best idea. Anyway, I had some Special K and half of a donut for breakfast and then I went online to check my mail and look on the Disboards before just hanging out around the house. Today was going to be our second Universal Studios day. We were going to go to both parks and just do whatever we felt like. This was one of the laziest mornings of the trip! I watched Drake and Josh in my room from 12:00 to 1:00 and then I started reading "The Devil Wears Prada." I finally took a shower at 1:30 and mom and dad went to Walgreens to do some shopping. Mike was still sleeping. After I took a shower I got dressed and then went back online in the living room. I read through the new posts on the Big Brother thread on the Disboards and fought with some people over the evilness of Evil Dick (Haha! Oh how I miss that show!). Afterwards, I finally blew my hair in mom and dad's room and then watched some more Drake and Josh.

A tower advertising the Disney Vacation Club

Mike woke up at 2:15 and wasn't feeling well. His stomach was bothering him and he felt run down, which was really nothing new. Mike's been sick on every one of our Orlando vacations for the past three years. In 2005 he had a fever of 101 for a few days and in 2006 he had a virus. Good times. So this really wasn't unexpected! His nose was all stuffed up and you could tell he really didn't feel well so we decided to just take it easy again. None of us minded not going to Universal Studios, but I felt bad for my dad. I know he loves it there and really enjoys the rides, but he kept insisting that he didn't care. We had already done pretty much everything we wanted so it wasn't a big deal. Plus I was exhausted and didn't feel like taking that long walk through the parking lots and CityWalk!

Earl of Sandwich

We all lounged around the house and relaxed. At 3:00 mom, dad and I played California Rummy while Mike watched TV. I won! As we were playing I tried to think of something to do since we didn't want to just sit around all day. Then it came to me... Downtown Disney! We have to go to Downtown Disney on every trip, and I had a hard time fitting it into this one. We were planning on going on our last day but going now would free up our last day for other things. Perfect! We told Mike he didn't have to come and he could just relax and take it easy, but he wanted to get out for a little while and walk around. Plus we were eating at Earl of Sandwich and that's one of his favorite restaurants, so he was in.

Mike and I in Earl of Sandwich

We left for Downtown Disney at 4:00 and it rained along the way. I was bummed that it had been nice all day and now that we were going to walk around outside it was raining. But then the clouds parted and the angels sang... when out of nowhere my dad said, "I like Disney a lot better than Universal this year." What?! My mom and dad have always liked Disney, but for the past few years they've liked Universal a little more and I'll admit that it's probably because of all my dad's NBC discounts. But on this trip we really did have an amazing time at Disney - we hardly waited on any lines, the rides were fun, the atmosphere was great, the cast members were nicer than ever, the food was delicious, and most importantly we were all getting along. I love Universal, I really can't say that enough, but there's nothing like Disney. Not just when it comes to the parks but when it comes to the actual company. I love a lot of the Universal/Dreamworks movies but none of them give me that "awww" feeling of nostalgia that Disney does. So yes, we drove around Disney property taking in the sights and talking about how much we loved Disney World.

Mom and dad in Earl of Sandwich

We got to Downtown Disney by 4:30 and it had stopped raining, plus the parking lot was empty. Things were looking good! We parked in the Marketplace and made our way over to Earl of Sandwich for an early dinner. We know it gets packed in there so we wanted to try to beat some of the crowds. It wasn't empty but it wasn't too busy, and Mike and I got a table in the section to the left of he counter. Mom and dad got on line while Mike and I took turns looking at the menu to see what we wanted and then we saved the table.

Mike looking at a cook book in Mickey's Pantr

Mom and dad had our food within ten minutes. Mom and I had decided to share the Tuna Melt (albacore tuna salad and melted Swiss cheese) and the Earl Club (roast turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato). We had gotten the Tuna Melt last summer and it was delicious and this time it was just as amazing! It's seriously the best tuna melt ever, and we've had a whole lot of tuna melts. I love how they put the open sandwiches through the little oven and it gets all hot and toasted before they put it back together. DELISH! The Earl's Club was good, too, but you can't beat that tuna melt! Mike stuck with his favorite from last year, the Florentine (grilled chicken, creamed spinach, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese) and dad got the Full Montague (roast beef and turkey with cheddar and Swiss cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato and mustard). They both absolutely loved their sandwiches. We always have sandwiches at home since New York has some of the best deli's anywhere, but these sandwiches just can't be beat. They're without a doubt our favorites. Mom and dad had also gotten two bags of chips - regular Baked Lays and Jalapeno Baked Lays, plus four drinks. The total came to only $36 which was awesome for dinner! You can't beat Earl of Sandwich - the sandwiches are huge and delicious, the atmosphere is nice, and the food is cheap. It's one of our favorite Disney restaurants.

The entrance to Mickey's Pantry

After dinner we were ready to do some shopping. First we went next door to Mickey's Pantry, which is connected to Earl of Sandwich. They had a lot of cute cookware and kitchen accessories. Mom saw the exact same Monet cutting board she had bought at France in Epcot so that kind of took the French fun out of it. It just didn't seem as authentic sitting there next to spoons shaped like Mickey's hands. We looked around and checked out some cook books before heading out to the rest of the Marketplace.

Me with Pogo from 101 Dalmations!

Next we went into Mickey's Mart (the $10 or less store) and looked around. They really didn't have much but I was so tempted to buy a mystery bag! They were cheap and I was trying to feel around it to see what was inside. Ugh, I hate not knowing! I wanted to save my money for something good though, so I reluctantly put it back before we went next door to Disney Tails, one of my favorite Downtown Disney stores. Oreo is the most spoiled dog ever, and I always love looking for new toys and clothes for her. Last year we had gotten her a cute squeaky set of a Mickey hand and his pants for her to play with, and she still loves them. This year we saw the cutest shirt - it was pink and had some of the most famous Disney dogs on it. It was on sale for only $4 so mom bought it and I couldn't wait to see it on Oreo.

A Pirates of the Caribbean statue

Then we made our way over to Pooh Corner and looked around but none of us saw anything we liked. The store's pretty small and none of us are big Pooh fans. One thing I noticed while walking around Downtown Disney was that there were a whole lot of little girls walking around in gowns with more makeup on than I had! It was the funniest thing ever - the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique sure is leaving its mark! Next we went over to Once Upon a Toy. What a fun store! We walked around and I loved the life-sized games and game pieces they had everywhere. The Life spinner on the ceiling of the DVD room was especially cool. I also loved all the statues and animatronics from Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story. It's awesome in there! Dad saw a really cute train set that was a replica of the Walt Disney World Railroad with Mickey and Minnie in the conductor's seat, and he wanted to get it to put under the Christmas tree since our train set broke years ago. He was serious about getting it and I was so excited to have something so cute to go under the tree, but my mom was having none of it!

The giant Life spinner on the ceiling!

We walked around some more and mom and I ran into the bathroom quick. It was empty and one of the cleanest bathrooms of the entire trip. If you need a bathroom break at Downtown Disney, go to the one in Once Upon a Toy! Afterward we looked around some more but didn't get anything. I had learned my lesson in 2005 when I bought five DVDs for $25 each at Once Upon a Toy and then found them on Amazon.com for $14.99. Disney rips you off real good here. Next we went to Ghirardelli for our free samples! We had gotten some delicious chocolate and caramel samples in 2005 and were hoping they still had them. They did! We all got one and they were as good as ever. Ghirardelli has the best chocolate covered caramel candy.

Dad in front of Ghirardelli

Then it was time for my absolute favorite Disney store - Eurospain, otherwise known as Arribas Brothers. I love the glass and crystal collectibles in there. In 2005 I had spent a good chunk of my souvenir money here, getting myself a glass slipper with my birth stone and my cousin Cari a little pair of crystal ballet slippers. It's always my goal to get something new here on every trip so I had such a good time looking around in there. Everything is so beautiful, and the glass sculptures are gorgeous and really not that expensive. Since I love and collect all things Aladdin, I kept my eye on the glass Aladdin statue. It was beautiful and only $35. I really wanted it but I decided to keep looking. I came upon the jewelry section and found something I just had to buy - a Disney crystal ring! They had the cutest little rings - ones with crystal Mickey heads, Minnie heads, Mickey gloves and more. I loved the Minnie ring and it was only $20 so I had to have it. I paid and then we were on our way. I was still thinking about that Aladdin statue but I figured I could always come back to get it if I didn't see anything else.

Me in my Mickey ears!

After Arribas Brothers we headed into the World of Disney, otherwise known as the biggest Disney store in the world! As big as it is, though, the one on 5th Ave seems bigger, probably because it's four-floors. I know the World of Disney in Orlando is actually bigger but it just doesn't seem like it. I don't know, it's probably just me. We went over to the home goods section and looked around. They had the same stuff as they do in Mickey's Pantry so we just looked around quickly. They had some really cute lithographs, though! They had a nice Ariel one for $10 and The Little Mermaid is tied with Aladdin for me when it comes to the best Disney movies, but I already have a lot of Ariel stuff. I looked for an Aladdin lithograph but they didn't have one so we continued on.

A huge tapestry of Aladdin and Jasmine

We looked at the picture frames and snow globes and I was really hoping to find something with Aladdin. That was my goal for this trip - to get as much Aladdin stuff as possible! I'm completely in love with that movie, and Aladdin stuff isn't easy to find anymore. When I was little and the movie first came out Aladdin was all over the place, and Jasmine still is since the princesses are huge, but Aladdin's the character I love so I wanted some stuff with him. I didn't see anything so I asked someone if they had any Aladdin merchandise but she didn't know, so she directed me to the guest relations desk. I headed over to the one in the middle of the store and asked if they had anything with Aladdin but they said no, so I was pretty bummed.

The princess room

We then went over to the new Princess Room and wow... I would have been in HEAVEN when I was little! It's the best room in the whole store - everything is pink and frilly and cute and cuddly. I'm usually not into anything too pink, frilly, cute and cuddly but it was absolutely adorable in there. Mom and I saw the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and went inside to see what was going on, and it was literally like walking right into "Little Ms. Sunshine!" We were cracking up; there was a whole lot of makeup and hairspray in there! As long as it's a one-day thing, it's a really fun idea. My little cousin would love it and if she comes on our next trip I'm definitely making her an appointment. She loves all things makeup/hair/nails so this is right up her alley. Cute stuff.

Beauty and the Beast

We looked around some more and took pictures. Of course I had to take a picture in some Mickey ears! The decorations in there are really cute, with big banners of the princesses and their prince's. While I was looking at the hats Mike ran up to me and told me that he had found some Aladdin stuff. YES! Where?! He led me over to the play sets and they had a cute Aladdin one. It was a box of little figures including Aladdin, Jasmine, the Genie, Raja and Abu. It was so cute and it was only twelve bucks! Did I need it? Of course not. Was I going to get it? Absolutely! We looked around a little more and tried to find something for Alison. We had already gotten her a bunch of souvenirs but she loves dress-up stuff and we wanted to get her something fun to wear. The princess dresses are way overpriced at Disney so we didn't get her one of those, and they didn't have much else. Mom and I saw a cute Ariel nightgown for $30 that we were going to get her until we decided against it and put it back.

The World of Disney

Dad and Mike went off on their own while I went to pay. I was going to get my Aladdin set and my mom had picked out two little tins of candy (one with Pirates of the Caribbean and one with Minnie) that Mike and I could use as pill cases to carry around with us and bring to school. She always gets us new ones on each trip, and I paid for them since they were for Mike and I anyway. When I went to pay a guy cast member who was around 22 or so started talking to me. He asked if I was having a good time and I saw that he was from Tulsa. I asked him about it since I used to be a HUGE Hanson fan (oh who am I kidding, I still am! Haha!) and they were from Tulsa. Then he asked where I was from and when I said New York he said that his dad was from New York and then he started going off on his whole life story. He told me how college wasn't for him and how he had a whole business plan and he was going to work his way up and own Disney some day and he was completely serious as he said all of this. He just kept going and going and going and started saying some pretty crazy stuff. He was an odd one, that's for sure! It was one of the weirdest encounters I've had with a cast member!

A Lego family

Anyway, I finally was able to get away from the guy and go up to the counter to pay. Right after I paid dad came up to us with a really cute Tinker Bell dance outfit! It was a purple leotard with a green tutu and it was perfect for Alison. She loves frilly dance costumes and things she can move in and this was perfect. Dad wanted to buy it for her so he got back on line and paid for it, and it was only $28 which was awesome considering the simple Ariel nightgown had been more expensive. We wanted to make sure it would fit Alison though, so we asked if it could be returned to the Disney store and they said no. Uh oh. It looked like it would fit, though, so we didn't worry about it and bought it. We headed back out into the Marketplace and walked around the outside of the Lego store. We've only been in there once and we never bother going back. Mike and I loved Lego's when we were little but we haven't collected any since then. I always love seeing the sea monster, family of tourists, T-Rex and city scenes, though, so we looked at those and took some pictures.

New York made of Legos

As we walked around I still had my mind on the Tinker Bell costume. We had already bought Alison so many souvenirs (we spent almost $75 on just Hannah Montana stuff for her) and I didn't want mom and dad to waste their money on a dress that wouldn't fit. Then I remembered that while the regular Disney stores are now owned by the Children's Place, there's still the World of Disney on 5th Ave. I was wondering if we could return the costume there if it didn't fit, so we headed back into the store to ask. This time we entered right into the new Adventurer's Room and it was awesome! There were pirates, heroes and general adventurers all over the place and I especially LOVED the huge sculpture of Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu on the magic carpet hanging from the ceiling. I wanted to take that home with me! We went over to the guest relations desk in the middle of the Adventurers Room, right near a huge sculpture of Genie. I asked them if anything bought there could be returned at the World of Disney on 5th Avenue and they said that it could since the two stores are affiliated. Perfect!

Mom getting some candy

Next we went over to Goofy's Candy Kitchen. Over and over and over I had read online reviews that the candy here is delicious so I wanted to get something. As soon as we walked in mom and I knew that it would be added to our list of favorite Downtown Disney stores. We'd never been in there before and it smelled so good! Mike and dad aren't big candy fans so they couldn't have cared less, but mom and I loved it. We looked around and just took it all in; there was so much to choose from! Mom decided to fill a bag with some jelly beans and then she got a few pieces of vanilla taffy. I had looked online at everything they had here, and I knew I wanted some chocolate-covered pretzel rods. They also had chocolate-covered marshmallows and rice crispy treats, but I don't like those so it was settled. I love chocolate-covered pretzels as it is since the mix of sweet and salty is the best, so I was excited to get to make my own pretzel rods! I filled out a form of everything I wanted, and at first I wasn't sure how many toppings I could have so I picked a bunch before the woman working there told me that I could pick one chocolate covering, as many different kinds of drizzle as I wanted, and one topping for each pretzel. So I got all three pretzels with chocolate-covering and white chocolate drizzle, and then I got one pretzel with M&Ms, one with Oreo's, and one with sprinkles.

Mirror pictures

We all watched my pretzels being made for a while before we noticed the mirrors behind us. They were bent so they made everything look distorted, and I hadn't laughed so hard on the entire trip! We must have made quite the scene because we all took turns standing in front of the mirrors in different ways and just CRACKED UP! It was the funniest thing ever! We spent the ten minutes it took to make the pretzels just laughing and laughing and laughing, and taking pictures of course. When we had finally composed ourselves I picked up my pretzels and they came to $3.70 while mom's jelly beans and taffy came to $3.00. By then it was 7:30 and we decided to call it a night. We headed out, taking some pictures on the way, and made our way back to the car. It was a quick drive home, but the box that my pretzels were in had been opening more and more on the bottom and chocolate and crumbs were all over the backseat by the time we got to the house. I had to clean it all up since the car's new and Oreo's always in it and chocolate is poisonous for dogs. Ugh. I cleaned it all up and we were relaxing in the house by 8:00.

Oreo playing with sme socks, her favorite!

Mom and dad walked Oreo and then we all just hung out. Oreo tried on her new Disney Dogs shirt and it was the cutest thing! I also had my M&M-covered pretzel and it was delish! I went online for a while and then we all watched a Family Guy special from 8:00 - 9:00. At 9:00 we all watched Last Comic Standing while Mike went online and I put together my Epcot passport. Oreo also played with her toys and I took some video. It was so cute! At 10:00 we all watched the two-hour season finale of So You Think You Can Dance that we had recorded onto a DVD earlier, and I worked on my trip report notes and did my nails as we watched. After watching way too much TV for a vacation, everyone went to bed while I changed into my pajamas and read some of "The Devil Wears Prada" in my room. I was asleep by 2:00.