Disney World pt. 6

So after lunch we escaped the sea of park go-ers and the oppressive sun to return to the controlled climate of our 200 sqft "hotel" room.  Now, a note about Pop/value resorts.  They are small rooms, noticeably smaller than moderates - but where they take the space away is so smart, and efficient you have to look around to notice it.  "Oh instead of a shelf they put a coat hanger on this adjacent wall" so for two neat-ish adults, it's plenty of room and not restrictive at all.

Against my better jugement we decided to walk over to Art of Animation for a snack, and so I could snap pictures of the Cars area.  We LOVE free dining, and we got it this trip with a pin code I received in the mail.  Because I hate being wasteful - we always try to use our snack credits on relatively expensive items ($4.50 +) so I decided we would get smoothies to keep us cool while we wandered a bit around the new resort.  Art of animation has a make your own smoothie counter, and the smoothies are all $5, and they are filling/refreshing/healthy which makes it a great option for snack credit.  I got a mango smoothie made with soymilk and tofutti, and my dad got some kind of "energizerrer super b vitamin blah blah" thing.  Unfortunately these did nothing to stop us from melting in radiator springs, where it was at least 10 degrees hotter than the sahara desert! It must be because they have no grass

After our walk we freshened up a bit before dinner.  Our plan of action was to use our fast passes for Rockin Rollercoaster, then take the boat over to The Boardwalk for dinner at Kouzzina.  After dinner we planned to head back to Hollywood Studios for the 9:30 showing of Fantasmic!  So, thats exactly what we did - got dressed and hopped on the bus over to the park.

 
Last time I was at Kouzzina, it was with Tre in Nov. 2011.  It was THE best meal of our trip.  The head chef of the restaurant created a feast for us, and took time to sit and chat with us about how she made it, and about the ingredients and the story behind the dishes.  It was an incredible spread, and in the end she sent us home with a complimentary bottle of Greek olive oil.  I know it's a meal we will talk about forever and ever.  Now, that experience definitely made me want to return - but I of course do not expect such special treatment anywhere.  That being said, this time, while our server was excellent, she was a little terse? and it's the only time during the trip that a chef did not come out to speak with me.  Again, I don't expect special treatment at all, and honestly I prefer not calling extra attention to myself, and also again, we had an excellent meal - however, it was a far cry from my last experience there.

We got back to the room relatively early, so while my dad swam I walked around a bit snapping pictures of the resort.