3 days at the Grand Floridian trip report Day 2 Some ups and downs

[toodycat]

3 days at the Grand Floridian Day 2 some ups and downs
Thanks to all who read so far. I realize I shouldn't have designated the thread Day 1, since I was planning on putting all three sections in one thread. Oops.
Here's Day 2:

We woke up bright and early to be at the Magic Kingdom when it opened at 8. This was made especially easy by the concierge breakfast at Sugarloaf. There was plenty of fresh fruit, muffins and pastry, yogurt, juices and other cold breakfast items. Since we were planning on having a late brunch at the Kona Cafe later, we each had a light breakfast and then traveled to MK via monorail. Traffic in the park was light, so it was pretty easy to visit each attraction. We started with Winnie the Pooh and continued to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which we loved, but DS hated. He really thought that he was going to fall out of the car. DH tried to help out by describing what DS would encounter at each point to minimize anything unexpected, but it didn't help. The funny thing was that my son has done that attraction before without this reaction. Usually, I am the roller coaster wimp in this family. This time, he was noticeably trembling as though he'd been in an auto accident. Once the railroad was over, DS really didn't want to do anything else. We tried to calm him down and get him to soldier on, but abandoned that approach because we could see that he was sincerely anxious and shaken. DS is, in most respects, extremely high functioning and well-behaved. He has never been the type for the conspicuous meltdown. He doesn't cry or tantrum, but you can see when he's upset. He sat down in a chair outside of the Haunted Mansion and re-grouped and relaxed a little while DH and I experienced that attraction. (DS was adamantly not doing anything "haunted" at this point.) We went to Hall of Presidents, excited to see the addition of Barack Obama and sit in a peaceful, air-conditioned setting where DS might regain his composure a little more. We all felt better after some time in the Hall of Presidents although I always get a bit weepy when they mention 9/11, but DS said that he was hungry and wanted to leave, so we left and took the monorail to the Poly where we had an 11 a.m. breakfast ADR at the Kona Cafe. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with kids on the autism spectrum, this kind of stuff happens all the time and we are used to it. DH and I learned a long time ago that we are never going to spend a full day in the park because DS needs a midday break. We always stay on the monorail or rent a car, so that we can leave when we need to.)

A little background info on our family and the Poly: we've stayed there twice and found it OK, not spectacular. DS loved the big plasma TV in our room during our last stay at Rapanui in 2006 and DH liked the extremely convenient monorail access, but other than that, we have never been blown away by the property. However, we had heard so many raves about the Kona Cafe's breakfast, particularly the tonga toast, that we thought it might be a good place for our midday meal. It took a little while to get seated not because the cafe was so crowded so much as because there was a little lack of communication between hostess and server about clearing our table. In terms of space, I wasn't loving the way the Kona Cafe is completely exposed to the rest of the second floor of the lobby. It made me feel like I was eating in the middle of a mall. Also, it meant that we were experiencing the noise level of the whole second floor which isn't ideal for DS when he's upset. As someone who has stayed at the Poly previously, I should have remembered the layout a little more clearly. However, DS definitely calmed down once he had some pancakes and scrambled eggs. I had the Big Kahuna breakfast of eggs, French toast, bacon, sausage, potatoes and pancakes. The pineapple macademia nut pancakes were delicious. The bacon was cut too thinly and really had no taste. DH's tonga toast was not worth the build up. It tasted like a Costco churro. However, a few of my friends swear that this is not normal and that we must have had it on an off day. The service was pleasant and attentive and I felt the prices were quite fair. Because we were wearing our anniversary buttons, the server brought us a cupcake.

At about noon, we took the monorail to the GF and DS got some much-needed down time with his Nintendo DSI while DH and I swam in the spectacular courtyard pool. There was some construction going on, but all you could hear was a low hum of machinery which quickly faded into the background. We coaxed DS to come out and spend a little time in the hot tub which usually relaxes him. The hot tub and some more snacks from the concierge lounge did the trick and we were ready to visit Disney Hollywood Studios by about 3:30 p.m.

We drove to DHS and were able to park fairly close, using the AAA parking permit. We observed some actors doing a skit in the street about washing a car that was pretty funny. DS got a little wet when the buckets started flying, but he was OK with that. Again, DHS was not that crowded. DH is the only one in our family who has been on the Tower of Terror and he loved it, but has since developed vertigo, so his dropping elevator days are over. I have always wanted to try TofT, but was scared. After seeing an explanation of how it works on TV last month, I felt like I had a better sense of it and was happily anticipating the attraction. DH told me he thinks it's the best at DHS. However, when I saw that people with back problems are warned about TofT, I had change my plan. I have three herniated disks that are not currently giving me any trouble and I want to keep it that way. DH suggested we just wait on the TofT line and get off before actually riding it and the CMs said that would be fine. Unfortunately, after seeing the spooky lobby, DS started to get anxious. We promised him that we were just walking to the ride, but were not going on it. He didn't care. We left. We tried to visit the new Toy Story attraction, but the wait was over an hour. We walked through DHS and saw the Muppet Movie in 3D which is always a family favorite. Then, we visited the animation area to see the "Up" characters. DS loved Up and although he considers himself too old to be photographed with characters, he enjoys seeing them and there were a lot to see. We saw the three "Up" characters, the wicked queen from Snow White, the Incredibles and many others. DS was all smiles.After that, it was time to head to the Boardwalk for dinner at the Flying Fish Cafe.We walked through the lobby of the Boardwalk Inn, considering staying there next time, but ultimately decided not to and then headed to the Flying Fish Cafe. In spite of having a 7:30 p.m. ADR, we waited nearly an hour for a table. It was a painful hour because we were starving---it had been a while since our meal at the Kona Cafe--- and the smell of pizza from the new Cat Cora restaurant was wafting in our direction. We considered getting pizza a few times, but held out for the Flying Fish. We should have gotten the pizza because when we finally got our table, between allergies and dislikes, there was nothing DS or DH would eat. I had checked the menu online before we made the reservation, but some things had changed. I felt silly leaving, but not as silly as I would have felt spending $150 on a meal no one would eat. We drove back to the Grand Floridian, got a beeper for a table at the Grand Floridian Cafe and took DS to Gasparilla's for some pizza to hold him over until we were seated. The Grand Floridian Cafe's dinner menu was just what the doctor ordered. I had a lovely salad and chicken with fresh vegetables and potatoes. DS had a rib eye steak. DH can't remember what he ate. Our server was adorable and funny. By the end of the meal, everyone felt rejuvenated and happy. We returned to our room which had been impeccably turned down by mousekeeping, read for a while and then turned in, looking forward to spending the following day at Epcot.
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Disney Magic 06, 02, 00 and 09
Disney Wonder 05:
Polynesian 06, 00
Wilderness Lodge 05
AKL 03
Grand Californian 04
Coronado Springs 02 03
Grand Floridian 00, 01, 09

[rie'smom]

Glad your day turned out well in the end.