Date Night. Dinner and a Test Track
We left off with us pulling the biggest surprise of the trip for both sets of kids! Leslie confided to us while waiting for our table (through tear filled eyes) that on their way back over to Epcot from Art of Animation CJ spoke up and said "This trip is almost perfect" Chad asked him why it wasn't perfect? He said "I wish the B_ _ _ _ _ 's could have come because I want my friends (Michael and Nathan) here with me and Mr B _ _ _ _ loves Disney World!"
Wow...
We had to wait about 10 minutes to get a table. We were escorted down to the front row right by the glass windows. Michael was amazed we would get to see all of the fish in the aquarium. Here is a short video of our spot.
Coral Reef Reviews...
I don't know if you can tell by looking at me but I like to eat.
I did a lot of research on restaurants and when I found out we would be in Epcot the first night I waffled back in forth. We were on the regular dining plan so I knew we would have 1 table service credit. I had to balance food reviews I was reading along with kid appeal and Chad and Leslie are meat and potatoes kind of eaters. They don't venture outside their comfort zone. I settled on Coral Reef because I thought the setting would balance out the reviews which at times seem to lean a little to the negative side. I am pleased to say I didn't regret my choice in the least!
In fact as a whole I had only one meal that was just OK.
Honey, We Forgot to Feed the Kids?!
Yep... if you remember the last thing any of us had to eat was at 7AM Cracker Barrel in Lake City Florida... some 11 hours ago. You have seriously got to be having a great time in my family not to mention missing a meal! I think the kids might have ate a few Cheezits in the hotel room before we left. Our server was amazing. Once again at Table Service meals at WDW we never had a bad server. All of them top notch and all of them got great tips from our 10+ tables. We ended up tipping above the 18% every time!
We ordered very quickly. I ordered the pork belly. Jennifer the steak, Michael was stoked he had to order from the adult menu so he ordered the steak too. Nathan and Mattie had the Mac and Cheese and Fries. I am not sure what Chad and Leslie ordered now that I try to remember it. Not too long later our food arrived.
Roasted Pork Belly.
My roasted pork belly was well prepared and seasoned but the title is misleading because when I think of pork belly I was expecting a large hunk of bacon! This was more like a standard close-to-the-skin cut like shoulder or something. No bacon flavor just pork. However the jicama slaw and bbq baked beans were top notch!
Jennifer and Michael Steaks.
(You can tell this is Michael's steak because if it was Jennifer's it would still be moo'ng and a blood horror show!) Jennifer said hers was a decent steak. Michael ate EVERYTHING on his plate with the exception of the asparagus.
Mac and Cheese for Nate and Mattie. Both devoured their food too. I had a bite after Jen said I needed to try it. It was very good!
Who Me?!
We are finishing up our meal and chatting oblivious to all going on around us when another guest came up to me and said. "Excuse me but I think he is trying to get your attention."
"Who?"
He points to the aquarium and a scuba diver is at the window who is waving at me.
He is holding up a sign that says... Happy Birthday! This guy was either swimming by and saw the button or the server relayed some sort of message to get this guy in the tank. (I like to think it was the latter!) I was flabbergasted. I felt totally special and unique. I
NEVER make a big deal about my birthday. My parents never made a big deal out of it. I got presents but only 1 party I can remember. So I always tell my wife I'd rather just work on my birthday and come home to a relaxing evening evening at home or grill steaks or something.
He waves, gives me the surfer hang ten sign as you can see, then gets down tot he rocky bottom and starts throwing them up around him like confetti. So. Very. Cool!
Desert? Yes Please!
My kids never ask for desert because they know I will always say something about it costing too much, etc. They were very happy we got to order desert. I ordered the Bailey's and Jack Daniel Mousse dressed up for my birthday. This thing was awesome. Best desert I had at WDW.
Jen ordered... Something... it looked good. The blue crystal sugar was cool.
The kids got ice cream with chocolate or something off the menu that was not a prob to deliver.
Do we look relaxed? I am in vacation mode!
We finished dinner and we had a fastpass for Test Track. I got some more photos of Spaceship Earth. If it looks like I went back to the front of the park I did. We forgot the kids coats in the van but then I remembered we actually left them in room.
We moved back around and before we split up I caught a couple of pics of something I was fascinated by in Epcot YouTube videos.
We then split up. Chad and his boys and me and my boys went to ride Test Track!
I was a bit apprehensive about how my kids would handle it. This was their first theme park ride. I was amazed. They had a blast! We all had a great time in the queue area designing our car. Sadly somethign didn't work right when we got on the ride. Our car was never displayed. Jennifer and Mattie and Leslie and Zane went shopping-exploring.
We met back after test track and casually made our way over to World Showcase to see Illuminations.
More about that in the next post....