Passamaquoddy

Dateline: November 14, 2007

If you hadn’t heard, today was the opening of a nice sit down restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The Yak & Yeti is a nice establishment featuring Asian cuisine located appropriately at the entrance to Asia, a few hundred yards from Everest base camp. I arrived at around 3 O’Clock and was able to walk right in and get a table. Every table was full, but without the benefit of ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations), it wasn’t overcrowded.

The story is great. Basically, the owner of a big mansion had gone through hard times and chose to convert it into a restaurant and hotel. Now, as you roam the restaurant, you can see where “old” walls had been torn down, and where one room ends and another begins based on the flooring, or even which rooms were at one time out of doors! Each room now serves as just another section of a larger restaurant. My table was in the ‘bird room’ up the grand staircase. It at one time held many exotic birds, now replaced by Asian etchings of birds. Quite a history for a building just built in this year!

My table had a nice elaborate mosaic top as did one of the chairs. (Obviously the “original owners” had to decorate piece by piece.) Our server, Jay, was from Puerto Rico and welcomed us to their first day. There were moments of confusion as servers were still unsure of table numbers, but that will most likely get taken care of over time.

From the menu I ordered “Wok-Fried Green Beans” as a $6.99 appetizer. They were battered and served with a Thai chili dipping sauce and were a good offering. Other appetizers ranged from $4.99 Prawn flavored crisps up to a $12.99 Dim Sum basket which looked excellent. There was an impressive 2 sided drink menu, with lots of new offerings. My drink was called “Glacier Water” which was a Blue Curacao and coconut syrup with Sprite concoction. Topped off with a red maraschino cherry, the drink added a lot of color to my table.

I roamed the establishment a bit while waiting for my meal, taking some pictures of the décor and probably annoying quite a few tourists.

The menu has 4 sections for meals labeled Specialties, noodles, wok and grilled. Offerings ranged from $15.99 Sweet & Sour chicken up to a $22.99 Shaoxing steak & Shrimp. For dinner, I chose the “Crispy Mahi Mahi” for $19.99. It was a very large Mahi filet, covered in Japanese bread crumbs and Cantonese Sweet & Sour sauce. It was presented on top of some nice jasmine rice and stir-fried vegetables. The whole meal was excellent and served with generous portions. While the entire menu looks to have familiar Asian cuisine, it seems that the meals are far more unique than expected. For example, my rice and stir-fry were nothing like any I’ve ever tasted.

Desserts looked great ranging from a $5.99 sorbet up to a $7.99 Chocolate Brownie Sundae that approximated the size of a bowling ball. But, I had to pass on dessert this visit.

I checked outside and there is indeed a counter service operation, but the menu is different from inside. Most impressively, was the sheer amount of “Yak & Yeti” clothing and other merchandise available in the Bhaktapur market just outside the Yak. I didn’t buy anything, mostly because nothing had any reference to Disney, just to the Y&Y.

Overall, my experience was excellent and I look forward to my next visit to explore more of the menu.

That’s another cracklin’ tune here on KWDY, the sound of Passamaquoddy. This segment of the show is brought to you by Libby’s Lobster Luncheonette. As you know, Libby’s got the best lobsters that ever had a rubber band around its claws… She’s open most days for lunch unless she gets lost at sea again.But that usually happens in May. Libby’s is located behind the fish market. Be sure to plug your nose until you’re securely inside. Now on with the show…

Today, we’re gonna continue exploring the radio programs available on the “KWODDY”. Today we are examining the first show that put Passamaquoddy on the map. In fact, without the WDW Radio Show, Passamaquoddy would not exist at all -at least this blog version. Until stumbling across the WDW Radio Show, we never thought about doing anything to promote and acknowledge the Disney fan community. Now, Passamaquoddy is more than just a small town, it’s a small town with big dreams.

WDW Radio is the brainchild of Lou Mongello, author of the Walt Disney World Trivia books and creator of “Lou Mongello’s Audio Guide to Walt Disney World”. The audio guide made quite an appearance a few weeks ago in Passamaquoddy. The radio show ran its first episode on February 11, 2007 and has been a Passamaquoddy favorite ever since.

Like other podcasts, Lou discusses Disney news and rumors. The podcast also has regular features such as trivia, “the 7 Wonders of WDW”, trips aboard the wayback machine, hidden treasures and most importantly and impressively, interviews with true legends of the Disney community. This is more important than ever in these days of quick change and fast movement. People that made such an impact on what Disney has become could easily be forgotten when their contribution is lost or retired, or replaced by a new High School Musical thrill ride. Lou does a great job honoring his interviewees on our behalf, and listeners feel quite an attachment to them.

Lou has made quite an impact on our community with successful websites, books, and multimedia offerings, so his podcast carries a legitimacy and professionalism that Passamaquoddy can only strive to reach.

The WDW radio has a frequent contributor in Jeff Pepper, and their airtime is great.Both are kindred spirits and clearly communicate what makes something work or memorable, even if it hadn’t occurred to us yet. Jeff is also the “blogmaster” of the brilliant blog, 2719 Hyperion.

We in Passamaquoddy find it hard to put into words how helpful Lou has been in inspiring so many of us. In fact, we’d give him the ceremonial key to the city if it wasn’t unanimously given to Kevin Corcoran every year.

Be sure to check out the “WDW Radio Show”. New episodes usually premiere on Sundays on the internet if you aren’t living in Passamaquoddy. Check it out at http://www.wdwradio.com.

Mickey’s Not so scary Halloween Party was such a big event, it took two posts to review it… With that said, this is the second post… The first one is further down the page.

It was now time to view the “Boo-to-You” Halloween parade. Good friend Bryan Ripper (All About the Mouse podcast) recommended viewing the parade from Liberty Square. So I made my way over and sat in front of the Hall of Presidents. 18^th Century America proved to be a great vantage point, especially for the pre-parade arrival of the Headless Horseman. He whipped through, holding his Jack-O-Lantern high over his head.

The parade itself was very enjoyable. From seeing Disney characters wearing Halloween Costumes to fantastic floats, this parade has a lot to offer. Highlights include the Haunted Mansion float, with our favorite hitchhiking apparitions in command, accompanied by dancing ghosts and followed by a small army of gravediggers… and the Pirates of the Caribbean float with a spot-on Jack Sparrow captaining from above. I was impressed with the whole parade, not only the details but also for the overall length. This parade does not feel like an afterthought, something I felt about the Villains castle show earlier that evening. And the “Boo-to-you” song is very infectious.

The next large event of the evening was the evening fireworks show “Happy HalloWishes”, another spectacular offering. The show is divided up into a variety of Halloween music, with fireworks and lighting precisely timed to the beat. Cinderella Castle plays a big part in the show as a firework explodes on it to denote the arrival of the next “guest”, even if it is a ghost flying skyward.

Both the “Boo-to-you” parade and the Hallowishes were definitely the highlight of the evening for me, but there were other things going on as well.

There are dance parties happening at a couple locations and more obviously, trick-or-treating at many locations throughout the park. No matter if you are in costume or not, they’ll fill up your goody bag. There is nothing second rate about the candy they give out either… Snickers… Three Musketeers… Milky Way… all your favorites in bite sized servings.

One of the highlights of the evening takes advantage of the limited number of attendees allowed at the event. Even though the event was sold out, I never had to wait more than five minutes in line for any of the rides I hit. Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates, Winnie the Pooh… no lines at all.

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is an obvious response to the popularity of Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. Although they both take over a theme park, the similarities end there. Whereas Universal’s event goes for horror and fear, Disney’s focus is on family fun. It won’t appeal to everyone, but it certainly works for me.

We had a busy weekend with Halloween and all. And things didn’t slow down after it was over. The biggest event was the November 2nd “Mickey’s Halloween Party” (or “Not So Scary Halloween Party” depending on what marketing campaign you’ve seen.) It was my first Disney Halloween experience so I was pretty pumped.

Like the “Christmas party” and the “Pirates and Princesses” evenings, the Halloween party is one of Disney’s hard ticket events, meaning it requires a separate admission ticket to attend. $48.94 for Adults, $42.55 for children. With admission, you get access to some of the Magic Kingdom’s biggest attractions, but it is the special unique events that steal the show.

I arrived about an hour before the event started, and took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. On board with me were families in full Halloween costume. The majority unsurprisingly dressed as pirates. But there were plenty of Jedis, Halo 3 Chiefs, Princesses, and Spidermen.

My personal favorites included a large group dressed as all of the principals of “The Incredibles”, from the family, to the villain, and Frozone. I also spoke with a young lady who was Sally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, all done with homemade materials and paints.

As the park was still open, they devoted a special gate to early partygoers, where we received our wristbands, treat bags and special park maps. The décor from the train station, all down Main Street USA up to the castle places you firmly in the fall mood: from the orange and red bunting to the wonderful scarecrows around the town square, to the many jack-o-lanterns adorning so many of the windows. I even grabbed an Edy’s Pumpkin flavored Ice Cream cone as I approached the castle hub – that was scrumptious.

Then at 7 O’clock, our ghost host kindly threw out all non-party goers and the Magic Kingdom transforms! Spooky Halloween music fills the air, Main Street lighting is brought down to a deep purple and blue color and beautiful Cinderella caste turns pumpkin orange. It is more than enough to give you chills, as if you’ve bumped into a hitchhiking ghost.

Villain’s Mix & Mingle

7:45, I caught the first show at the castle’s front stoop. It featured many of the Disney Villains, most prominently Malificent and Captain Hook. They sang a couple songs before heading down to meet with partygoers. The show didn’t offer much, feeling more like a character meet and greet on too much Halloween candy sugar. But my disappointment wouldn’t last for long, as you’ll see soon…

You’re listening to KWDY, bringing you the sounds of Passamaquoddy. This segment of the show is brought to you by Cranky’s barnacle removal. If you’ve got barnacles, you’re on your own… but if your boat has barnacles, contact Cranky. He’s located in the shack behind the big tree behind the yellow house. Now on with the show…

Citizens of Passamaquoddy are already familiar with the radio programs available on the “KWODDY”, but we’ve seen an upswing of tourists and other visitors that may need a refresher course. Today we’re going to put the spotlight on one of the best shows around. Today we’re going to focus on the “All About the Mouse” podcast.

The podcast began in April of 2007 with Bryan Ripper on the microphone. His appreciation for Disney was apparent from the beginning. Living within driving distance, he has been able to keep information up to date, and if he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll drive down and find out first hand.

After several episodes, Bryan was joined by Jonathan Dichter, an attorney from Seattle.  This was a wise move as it brought the number of voices on the mic from one to hundreds as Jonathan prides himself on his cornucopia of impressions and sound effects and he brought them all along.

The tone of the show is great fun and even a touch of mania. These guys don’t devote much time to promoting negative theories and their personal agenda, something heard too often at some other Disney podcasts. Shows currently run about an hour and a half. This includes Disney news and rumors… attraction refurbishment updates, and guests to discuss the best of Disney.

My favorite element of their cast is the “What if?” section. Once a month they tackle a subject from an angle of pure fun speculation. What would happen if the “Beastly Kingdom” had been built? What would happen if Disney had gotten the Harry Potter franchise… Who would win in a death match battle between Disney characters? The “What if?” segment works because it is based on creative speculation rather than an encyclopedic knowledge of Disney.

Be sure to check out the “All About the Mouse” and join the growing roll call of “All About the Mouseketeers”. New episodes usually premiere on Fridays. Check them out at http://www.allaboutthemouse.com and of course, anytime you’re in Passamaquoddy.