"Uh oh."
"What?" I couldn't imagine what about eating dinner earlier would warrant an uh-oh from Wingnut.
"I can't remember what restaurant I ordered the slipper from, and I don't want to mess it up by changing our reservation number."
Okay.
(For those of you that did not follow along with my PTR, I had asked Wingnut to get me a Cinderella's slipper dessert during this trip. He attempted to rationalize that me asking for the slipper meant that I already knew about it, therefore it wouldn't be a surprise and fun and whatnot. However, during our previous trip in December 2010, pretty much the exact same conversation had ensued, I had completely forgotten about it,
and was entirely shocked when a slipper dessert was delivered to our table at Narcoossees.
Still with me?
Alright. So THIS time around,
I gave Wingnut the information for ordering the slipper at either Citricos or California Grill, his choice, therefore, an element of surprise would be added. (In theory.)
(I'm teasing. I can't be mean, he really did feel bad about this one.)
End parenthesis.)
Me: Okay. We can just try showing up really early and keeping the same ADR number.
"No, I don't want to mess it up. I can't remember what restaurant I ordered it for."
"Was it at the Contemporary or Grand Floridian?"
"I'm not sure. Which one was listed first on that piece of paper you gave me?"
(If you didn't click on the second link above, this is the paper he was referring to, my subtle hint:
)
"Um. The Contemporary, I think. California Grill."
"Hmm. I don't know."
We arrived back at the Polynesian, and walked back to Tokelau like the awesome navigators we were at this point. (Ha.) While on the path, tiki torches flickering away, something dawned on me.
"I just realized what the atmosphere of the Polynesian reminds me of."
"What's that?" Wingnut gave me the benefit of the doubt, and didn't automatically answer "Polynesia?", to his credit.
"Summer camp!" I explained, "The tiki torches and the different wooden buildings and the smell of grilled meat (I'm thinking it was the smell from either Ohana or the Luau show or both that permeated the path between the GCH and Tokelau) just reminds me of a camp atmosphere. I'm half-expecting to play Capture the Flag with Rapa Nui."
(Please bear in mind that I actually have never been away to summer camp. So my analogy here could be completely wrong.)
But Wingnut did laugh and agree with me!
(But he's never been away to summer camp either.
)
Once back in the room, I checked online, and yes, an ADR was available at Citricos for around 5pm. This sounded perfect to our appetites, but now posed the question of how to track down Wingnut's slipper order. He started by calling the dining reservations line, which I told him probably wouldn't be able to give him too many answers on this one.
While he was on the phone, I meandered around the room and took a picture of the bounceback offer.
A few minutes later, the dining reservations CM wasn't able to answer his question, but did connect him with the cake ordering hotline for one of the resorts. Eventually the order was tracked down (which had been placed at Citricos), and was able to be switched to our new, earlier ADR time.
Yay.
By this point, it was well after 4, and we started to get prettied up for our first Signature dinner of the trip, and soon headed back over to the GCH to monorail over to the Grand Floridian.
(I'm 97% positive "monorail" can be used as a verb.)
We arrived a bit early (well, it IS only one monorail stop away!) and wandered around and visited the fancy stores. (Yes, of course we visited Basin and smelled the soaps. No, we didn't buy any.)
I had decided to wear comfortable shoes for the trip over, not knowing what our plans for after dinner would be, and brought nicer sandals for dinner in a shopping bag. Also, learning from the night before, I brought a warmer shirt along in the bag as well.
Yes, my footwear is an integral part of the story.
(No it isn't.)
I spotted a balcony across the way from Citricos, and suggested we sit there for a few minutes and enjoy the view, and revel in the fancy atmosphere of the Grand Floridian.
(I know that lots of people here love the GF, and I am really not making fun of it. It's just a bit Victorian-esque for our taste! But we do love visiting...and eating there!)
I believe this patio is actually a smoking area, based on the ashtrays around the tables. But the people that were out there left soon after we arrived, and it wasn't smoky at all.
The view:
DVC construction area, I believe:
Wingnut, continuing his trend of not smiling for the camera:
I swear I was taking a picture of the Wilderness Lodge across the lake here. But now I can't find it in the photo. It doesn't help that the roof is green and blends in with the trees.
Towards the Polynesian:
(There was a kissy-face picture here, but my head looks weird, so this is what you'll get instead:
(Aww.)
Since there was still no one else out there, I used the opportunity to quickly change my shoes (classy, I know), and we then made our way back over to Citricos for dinner!
Hope you eventually find your hat!
I think I know where this is going!
That's happened to me many a time.
