scanne
<font color=blue>OK, I must have really small ears
- Joined
- May 13, 2000
Trip Report Days 9 & 10 August 2 & 3, 2005
Cast:
Me 31
DH 35
DS 2
DD 1
My parents (Ill refer to as M&D for Mom and Dad)
My grandmother (MM for MomMom thats what my kids call her)
My aunt (AK for Aunt Karen)
My in-laws (ILS)
Im combining our last two days because on our last day we didnt go to a theme park.
Day 9
This installments title is Battle of the Parents Part 3 Did They Forget That Today is My Birthday?
I woke up today, my 31st birthday, in my favorite place in the whole world! Walt Disney World! I couldnt have been happier until
DH and I overheard my parents talking. We had connecting rooms and just kept the doors open so that DS could run around between the two rooms. M&D didnt mind and neither did we. Until now.
So the conversation between M&D was all about how they thought DH and I were inconsiderate and didnt think about the needs of our kids that we ran everyone to the point of exhaustion and we basically didnt care, we only did what we wanted to do. Oh man, were DH and I livid!!! I couldnt believe what I was hearing, and I had no idea that there had even been a problem because no one said anything to me. Plus, all along DH and I had been saying that we didnt need to stick together 100% of the time, hang back if you want, take breaks when you want, etc. I know part of their feelings stemmed from the night before and the whole Spectro Magic part of the evening. But then I thought about my moms comment when we returned from EMHs. She said, Gee I didnt think youd be this late. Well, what did she expect if we went back to the MK at 11pm? And she was the one who told us to go! She even said, I told you wed watch the kids a few nights for you so you and Scott could go out.
Well, where was this double standard coming from? Why were they so upset with us? And why was my mom taking out her resentment of her brother and SIL on me and DH! This actually goes back to our dinner at Ohana. My aunt and uncle who live near Tampa met us for dinner. We were celebrating my grandmothers birthday and they came up to see her. Now, they never come up to Philly to visit and the only reason they knew wed be in WDW was because my mom called her brother and told him. So they met up with us more out of obligation than anything else, in my opinion.
Anyway, when my mom made a remark to our cousin at Ohana that it was my grandmothers birthday, my grandmom chimed in, Oh its Steffies (moms SIL) birthday next week, too. Now I know that this upset my mom because my grandmother never makes a fuss over my moms birthday, but a made a point to bring it up about her SIL. I know there are resentment issues, but theyre not my issues and I try to stay out of it.
So, when she brought those issues into the conversation about my and DH being inconsiderate, I thought that maybe that was the source of her anger and tried to chalk it up to that. I made up my mind to ignore it because, after all, it was my BIRTHDAY and I wanted it to be a magical day. Well, the only person who made a point of making me feel special (besides DH who always does that
) was my aunt who had gotten me a card and picked up some cute Tinker Bell gifts for me at one of the shops in WDW. My parents didnt even say Happy Birthday to me. I tried to push away the hurt so that I could enjoy my breakfast at Cinderellas Royal Table.
I dont even remember if I said anything to my parents about their conversation but the mood in the air was less than happy, but I still tried my best to push it aside. Oh and DH and I also decided that if my parents want to join us on any future trips, there will have to be some changes made otherwise theyre not coming. Period.
Ok, so on to breakfast if youve gotten this far!
Me and DD in front of my favorite thing - Cinderella's Fountain!
We had a late breakfast at 9.50am at the castle. I was looking forward to this because I just love being inside the castle. When we got to Cindys, I was told we may have to wait about 45 minutes because we were a party of 8. I said that was fine and did some browsing in the shop that is across from the CRT podium. They had a gorgeous Armani Tinker Bell. Its a new piece and I fell in love with it. I have the original Armani Tinker Bell, so this one would be a welcome addition. But I just looked at it knowing that Id rather spend my money elsewhere right now.
DS in front of the Knight at CRT.
I headed back over to CRT and within 5 minutes our party was called to be seated. We had great seats near the window. We had a good server named Christopher. I remember his name because he has such a memorable voice. He could have been a radio announcer or a voice over actor. It was deep and booming, kind of like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast! He definitely made an impression.
My princess fell asleep right before breakfast.
But woke up in time to meet the Princesses!
Now the only thing I dont like about Cindys breakfast is the lack of options. DH is lactose intolerant and doesnt especially care for eggs and bacon and sausage, so he asked if they could make pancakes or waffles. He was told that they could not, so he asked for the kids French toast sticks. Our server brought him out a traditional breakfast plate as well, but DH only picked at it. I know this will be our last breakfast at Cindys for a while. Maybe until DD is old enough to really care about meeting the princesses, not just for mommy to have cute pictures to use in the scrapbook!
I enjoyed the meal. I especially love the cream cheese stuffed French toast with blueberries on top. Everything was very good and they brought out a birthday cake for me. They also brought two champagne flutes for DH and I since we also mentioned we were celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary. Overall, it was a nice breakfast with really good character interaction. Oh, and the good thing (to me and this is going to sound so mean) was that we were split into two tables. One table of six and a table of two. My parents sat at the table for 2 so I didnt have to interact with them too much. I know that sounds so mean, but that is how I was feeling that day.
As we were leaving, we met the Fairy Godmother in the lobby. She just adored DD and held her for about 10 minutes just oohing and aahing at her. This was the best interaction with a character we had had on the whole trip! We got some cute pictures, but DD didnt look too happy. Still, the pictures make great memories and stories for years to come!
After breakfast I got FastPasses for Splash Mountain for me and DH. My mom and grandmom went to Tomorrowland to go on the Carousel of Progress. DH, my dad and my aunt took DS back to play in the Tikis. DH was going to take DD on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, but my dad basically told him that he couldnt because it was too hot and sunny. This really made my DH angry but he didnt say anything because at that point it would have become a screaming match, not an adult discussion. When I got back with the Splash Mountain FPs, I realized that I had told my mom and grandmom to meet us at Splash, but we wouldnt be there so I went to Tomorrowland to meet up with them. DS continued playing in the Tikis, my aunt took DD into the Enchanted Tiki room and DH and my dad took pictures of DS having a great time!
I waited outside the exit of Carousel of Progress to find my mom and grandmom. When they exited, we decided to hop on the TTA and were very pleasantly surprised by this attraction. It was a nice way to view Tomorrowland. Im taking DD, DS and DH on it when we go back in October!
We met up with everyone at the Tikis. While I was gone my aunt had gotten a FP for Splash Mountain so that she could ride with us. I was very surprised by this because she is not into thrill rides. But maybe thats changing?
So heres what happened next. My parents didnt want to stay in MK anymore. But me, DH and my aunt wanted to ride Splash. So my mom volunteered to take the kids back to the resort. I made sure she was really ok with this and she assured me that she was. So we agreed to meet back at the Polynesian.
So I got to ride Splash Mountain! I hadnt been on it in many years and I really had a blast! As we exited the ride, my best friend Kim called on DHs cell phone to wish me a happy birthday. It was great talking to her while walking through the MK. I briefly told her what was going on with my parents and she totally sympathized with me. What a great best friend she is!!!
We just got off of Splash and I'm on the phone with my best friend in this picture!
We left MK and took the boat back to the Polynesian. We got the kids from my parents and went to our room to take a nap. We were all pretty tired and DH and I had a big night planned.
We pretty much fell asleep right away. We had to be up by 4pm to get the kids ready for dinner. They were going to the Wilderness Lodge to have dinner at Whispering Canyon Café with my parents, grandmother and aunt. Where were DH and I going to be? At Victoria and Alberts. This was the night I had been looking forward to since I planned the trip! We had never eaten at V&As and were very much anticipating our evening there. Of course, as my parents were leaving with the kids my mom said, You wont be as late as you were last night, will you? Boy, I wanted to just be a b*!%h and say Yes, in fact, well be even later! But I bit my tongue and assured her wed be back at a reasonable hour. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
Once they left, DH and I had time to get ready for our dinner. DH looked very handsome all dressed up and I felt so special knowing I was going to be alone with my DH at V&As for my birthday! My mood was definitely on the up swing and DH and I were both feeling more relaxed.
We caught the monorail to the GF around 5.45pm. We had a 6.15pm reservation at V&As and this allowed us some time to browse the shops at the GF before dinner. We found a cute Mickey Mouse watch for my mom in the gift shop on the 2nd floor of the GF. We had promised to buy her a new Mickey watch while in Disney and we finally found one that we thought shed really like. Yes, even through my anger, I was thinking of my mom. So we bought the watch and walked over to V&As.
Here is my review of V&As that I posted on the restaurant board.
We strolled around the 2nd floor for a while and visited one of the gift shops, then we made our way to V&A's around 6.15pm. We were greeted warmly by Israel Perez and were seated on the left side of the dining room about 2 tables away from the harpist. As we entered, the harpist (Christopher) was playing our song "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Seriously, this was the song DH and I danced to at our wedding in 2000. So it was a perfect start to an amazing evening.
Our server (and I'm so sorry I can't remember her name) poured us Vitel water and brought out our personalized menus. DH's menu was further personalized for him b/c he is lactose intolerant. Not too much differed, but it was nice that the chef took his dietary needs into consideration.
We were given several minutes to look over the menu, then our server returned and explained each item and answered any questions we had. We had to order each course all at once, but for us, the choices were easy.
The chef sent out an amuse bouche, which was a cold lobster roll in a rice wonton with crisp vegetables and a sweet glaze. This was excellent.
For our first course we ordered the Serrano ham wrapped shrimp with canary melon sauce and pickled watermelon. This was wonderful. I wasnt sure if I was going to like it because I dont like ham all that much, but the saltiness and smokiness of the ham went very well with the sweetness of the shrimp and melons. It was a perfect balance of flavors. I loved the presentation of this course as well. It was served on a rectangular glass plate and the sauce was a light green with tiny dices of the various melons. The shrimp was standing center stage with chives as accent pieces. Very colorful and lovely.
For the second course we ordered the Dungeness and jumbo lump crab stuffed squash blossom. This was on a base of grain mustard sauce and the whole blossom was lightly fried in a tempura batter. It was crisp on the outside and the crab mixture was creamy, sweet and salty. This was a wonderful combination of flavors and textures. There were also baby zucchini and squash as part of the presentation.
For the fish course DH and I chose different things.
I chose the Brentwood corn cream with Australian crayfish. I loved this course! It was a cream soup with sweet roasted corn and a crayfish on the side. But the presentation was lovely. They had the corn kernels in a bowl on a rectangular plate. The crayfish was next to the bowl and then our server poured the cream soup on top of the corn tableside. This was my favorite course!
DH chose the King Salmon with artichoke confit, preserved lemon in a brown butter sauce. The salmon was so flavorful. It was barely cooked just warmed through, really and the flavor of the fish was outstanding. The brown butter sauce gave it a smooth quality and it just melted in your mouth. This was my DHs favorite course.
Next came the main course. Again, DH and I ordered the same thing. Grilled Prime Fillet with a Gorgonzola potato crouton with Port Wine jus. DHs came with canelles of golden potato due to his lactose allergy. The meat was very tender (we had it done medium) and the port wine jus was slightly sweet. It complemented the gorgonzola potato crouton perfectly. The textures went together very well. The tender beef, crispy potato and sweet sauce. Excellent!
For our intermezzo, DH had a mango sorbet (non dairy) and I had the cheese plate. I love cheese plates and this one didnt disappoint. There were adorable champagne grapes and a fig cake along with 2 cheeses and the English stilton cheesecake. I particularly like the little wedge of parmigianno reggiano covered in honey. And the cheesecake was amazing! I hope they always have that as part of the cheese course.
Our dessert course was so hard to get through because we were getting quite full. (We ate too much bread! Dont fill up on the bread no matter how good it is!) For dessert we had the vanilla bean crème brulee (I am a crème brulee junkie) and the Hawaiian Kona Chocolate souffle. I loved the presentation of the souffle . It was brought out piping hot, then our server cut into it and poured a chocolate sauce all over it. Even though my DH is lactose intolerant, he still indulged for dessert.
Now if we werent stuffed enough, DH had pre-arranged to have a mini wedding cake brought to our table for our 5 year anniversary. This was beautiful. A white cake with a white chocolate castle on top. It was presented on a silver plate and was just gorgeous. We boxed it up and took it home all the way home, not just back to our hotel room. I ate it at home the next night. It really traveled well.
Overall, I highly recommend Victoria and Alberts. If we could afford it on every trip, wed definitely do it. But its something well save for and really cherish those several hours we steal for ourselves. If youre planning a dinner here, you are in for a treat! Indulge and enjoy!!!
Today turned out to be magical and special, just like I had hoped! I really did enjoy my birthday in Walt Disney World. I wish I could make it an annual trip maybe if I wish upon a star.
Day 10 Checking out
On our way back from dinner the night before, I asked for, and received, a late check out of 1pm. This was great because we were able to have a leisurely breakfast at Captain Cooks, finish packing, do some last minute shopping, have lunch and then check out about a ½ an hour before our TownCar was scheduled to pick us up.
We made some exchanges in Boutiki and Trader Jacks. Boutiki gave us a hard time with the exchanges because we didnt have receipts. We were exchanging shirts that my in-laws had bought for the kids and we wanted different sizes. I dont know why it was an issue. Maybe it was the CM, because when we went up to Trader Jacks to return an opened DVD, it was no problem at all. (We bought the AK DVD for DS, then my in-laws bought him the MK one, so we just decided to buy the 5 DVD set and return the single DVDs. Im glad they took them all back.
We barely were able to fit everything into our suitcases. We had to buy two of those big Disney shopping bags. I know now that I will be bringing 3 suitcases with on my future trips. Id rather have 3 partially full suitcases instead of 2 overstuffed ones.
We had lunch at Captain Cooks. I got a cheeseburger and DH had the Polynesian chicken sandwich. Both were good. I also had my last Mickey bar of the trip. I had 2 on this trip even though I usually only have one. But I think the circumstances made it necessary to eat that extra Mickey bar!
Our driver was on time picking us up. I called FL Tours the day before to ask them to come ½ an hour earlier than planned in case I ran into any problems at the airport. My wallet never turned up so I had no photo ID. I wanted to leave plenty of time so that in case there were problems I wouldnt be holding everyone up or worrying about missing my flight.
We did curbside check in again and our one suitcase was way over the weight limit. We had to pay another $25.00 for it. I will NOT do this again! 3 suitcases will now be our norm.
We went to security after that. I had to go in a separate line from everyone else. Ihad a more thorough search done, but nothing that took too much longer. We were out of the security line and at our terminal in about 20 minutes. So we had to wait for about an hour and a half, but I felt better that we had done this.
Our flight left on time and wasnt even full. No one sat next to me, so DD and I had the three seats to ourselves. It was nice being able to spread out a bit. We landed in Philly on time and were home about an hour after that. I really liked Southwest Airlines and will use them again in the future!
Overall, this trip was NOTHING like I had anticipated it being. I know now that I will never do an extended family trip again. DH and I are looking forward to our trip in October when it will just be the four of us! If my parents come with us on a future trip, I will sit down with them and explain why I want them to come along. It wont be because I want them to babysit the kids. It wont be so that DH and I can go out a few nights alone. It will be for THEM to enjoy a trip with their grandchildren and children. I want them to really have a good time and not feel obligated to watch my kids! So they wont be allowed to come if they say theyre only going to help us out. I hope that future trips with my parents DO happen, but a lot differently than this trip was.
I am glad so many of you enjoyed reading my trip reports. DH said I should print them out and put them in my scrapbook. Ill see
Thanks for reading!
M-I-C, see ya real soon! K-E-Y, why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E!!!!!!!!!!
Cast:
Me 31
DH 35
DS 2
DD 1
My parents (Ill refer to as M&D for Mom and Dad)
My grandmother (MM for MomMom thats what my kids call her)
My aunt (AK for Aunt Karen)
My in-laws (ILS)
Im combining our last two days because on our last day we didnt go to a theme park.
Day 9
This installments title is Battle of the Parents Part 3 Did They Forget That Today is My Birthday?
I woke up today, my 31st birthday, in my favorite place in the whole world! Walt Disney World! I couldnt have been happier until
DH and I overheard my parents talking. We had connecting rooms and just kept the doors open so that DS could run around between the two rooms. M&D didnt mind and neither did we. Until now.
So the conversation between M&D was all about how they thought DH and I were inconsiderate and didnt think about the needs of our kids that we ran everyone to the point of exhaustion and we basically didnt care, we only did what we wanted to do. Oh man, were DH and I livid!!! I couldnt believe what I was hearing, and I had no idea that there had even been a problem because no one said anything to me. Plus, all along DH and I had been saying that we didnt need to stick together 100% of the time, hang back if you want, take breaks when you want, etc. I know part of their feelings stemmed from the night before and the whole Spectro Magic part of the evening. But then I thought about my moms comment when we returned from EMHs. She said, Gee I didnt think youd be this late. Well, what did she expect if we went back to the MK at 11pm? And she was the one who told us to go! She even said, I told you wed watch the kids a few nights for you so you and Scott could go out.
Well, where was this double standard coming from? Why were they so upset with us? And why was my mom taking out her resentment of her brother and SIL on me and DH! This actually goes back to our dinner at Ohana. My aunt and uncle who live near Tampa met us for dinner. We were celebrating my grandmothers birthday and they came up to see her. Now, they never come up to Philly to visit and the only reason they knew wed be in WDW was because my mom called her brother and told him. So they met up with us more out of obligation than anything else, in my opinion.
Anyway, when my mom made a remark to our cousin at Ohana that it was my grandmothers birthday, my grandmom chimed in, Oh its Steffies (moms SIL) birthday next week, too. Now I know that this upset my mom because my grandmother never makes a fuss over my moms birthday, but a made a point to bring it up about her SIL. I know there are resentment issues, but theyre not my issues and I try to stay out of it.
So, when she brought those issues into the conversation about my and DH being inconsiderate, I thought that maybe that was the source of her anger and tried to chalk it up to that. I made up my mind to ignore it because, after all, it was my BIRTHDAY and I wanted it to be a magical day. Well, the only person who made a point of making me feel special (besides DH who always does that
) was my aunt who had gotten me a card and picked up some cute Tinker Bell gifts for me at one of the shops in WDW. My parents didnt even say Happy Birthday to me. I tried to push away the hurt so that I could enjoy my breakfast at Cinderellas Royal Table.I dont even remember if I said anything to my parents about their conversation but the mood in the air was less than happy, but I still tried my best to push it aside. Oh and DH and I also decided that if my parents want to join us on any future trips, there will have to be some changes made otherwise theyre not coming. Period.
Ok, so on to breakfast if youve gotten this far!
Me and DD in front of my favorite thing - Cinderella's Fountain!
We had a late breakfast at 9.50am at the castle. I was looking forward to this because I just love being inside the castle. When we got to Cindys, I was told we may have to wait about 45 minutes because we were a party of 8. I said that was fine and did some browsing in the shop that is across from the CRT podium. They had a gorgeous Armani Tinker Bell. Its a new piece and I fell in love with it. I have the original Armani Tinker Bell, so this one would be a welcome addition. But I just looked at it knowing that Id rather spend my money elsewhere right now.
DS in front of the Knight at CRT.
I headed back over to CRT and within 5 minutes our party was called to be seated. We had great seats near the window. We had a good server named Christopher. I remember his name because he has such a memorable voice. He could have been a radio announcer or a voice over actor. It was deep and booming, kind of like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast! He definitely made an impression.
My princess fell asleep right before breakfast.
But woke up in time to meet the Princesses!
Now the only thing I dont like about Cindys breakfast is the lack of options. DH is lactose intolerant and doesnt especially care for eggs and bacon and sausage, so he asked if they could make pancakes or waffles. He was told that they could not, so he asked for the kids French toast sticks. Our server brought him out a traditional breakfast plate as well, but DH only picked at it. I know this will be our last breakfast at Cindys for a while. Maybe until DD is old enough to really care about meeting the princesses, not just for mommy to have cute pictures to use in the scrapbook!
I enjoyed the meal. I especially love the cream cheese stuffed French toast with blueberries on top. Everything was very good and they brought out a birthday cake for me. They also brought two champagne flutes for DH and I since we also mentioned we were celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary. Overall, it was a nice breakfast with really good character interaction. Oh, and the good thing (to me and this is going to sound so mean) was that we were split into two tables. One table of six and a table of two. My parents sat at the table for 2 so I didnt have to interact with them too much. I know that sounds so mean, but that is how I was feeling that day.
As we were leaving, we met the Fairy Godmother in the lobby. She just adored DD and held her for about 10 minutes just oohing and aahing at her. This was the best interaction with a character we had had on the whole trip! We got some cute pictures, but DD didnt look too happy. Still, the pictures make great memories and stories for years to come!
After breakfast I got FastPasses for Splash Mountain for me and DH. My mom and grandmom went to Tomorrowland to go on the Carousel of Progress. DH, my dad and my aunt took DS back to play in the Tikis. DH was going to take DD on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, but my dad basically told him that he couldnt because it was too hot and sunny. This really made my DH angry but he didnt say anything because at that point it would have become a screaming match, not an adult discussion. When I got back with the Splash Mountain FPs, I realized that I had told my mom and grandmom to meet us at Splash, but we wouldnt be there so I went to Tomorrowland to meet up with them. DS continued playing in the Tikis, my aunt took DD into the Enchanted Tiki room and DH and my dad took pictures of DS having a great time!
I waited outside the exit of Carousel of Progress to find my mom and grandmom. When they exited, we decided to hop on the TTA and were very pleasantly surprised by this attraction. It was a nice way to view Tomorrowland. Im taking DD, DS and DH on it when we go back in October!
We met up with everyone at the Tikis. While I was gone my aunt had gotten a FP for Splash Mountain so that she could ride with us. I was very surprised by this because she is not into thrill rides. But maybe thats changing?
So heres what happened next. My parents didnt want to stay in MK anymore. But me, DH and my aunt wanted to ride Splash. So my mom volunteered to take the kids back to the resort. I made sure she was really ok with this and she assured me that she was. So we agreed to meet back at the Polynesian.
So I got to ride Splash Mountain! I hadnt been on it in many years and I really had a blast! As we exited the ride, my best friend Kim called on DHs cell phone to wish me a happy birthday. It was great talking to her while walking through the MK. I briefly told her what was going on with my parents and she totally sympathized with me. What a great best friend she is!!!
We just got off of Splash and I'm on the phone with my best friend in this picture!
We left MK and took the boat back to the Polynesian. We got the kids from my parents and went to our room to take a nap. We were all pretty tired and DH and I had a big night planned.
We pretty much fell asleep right away. We had to be up by 4pm to get the kids ready for dinner. They were going to the Wilderness Lodge to have dinner at Whispering Canyon Café with my parents, grandmother and aunt. Where were DH and I going to be? At Victoria and Alberts. This was the night I had been looking forward to since I planned the trip! We had never eaten at V&As and were very much anticipating our evening there. Of course, as my parents were leaving with the kids my mom said, You wont be as late as you were last night, will you? Boy, I wanted to just be a b*!%h and say Yes, in fact, well be even later! But I bit my tongue and assured her wed be back at a reasonable hour. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
Once they left, DH and I had time to get ready for our dinner. DH looked very handsome all dressed up and I felt so special knowing I was going to be alone with my DH at V&As for my birthday! My mood was definitely on the up swing and DH and I were both feeling more relaxed.
We caught the monorail to the GF around 5.45pm. We had a 6.15pm reservation at V&As and this allowed us some time to browse the shops at the GF before dinner. We found a cute Mickey Mouse watch for my mom in the gift shop on the 2nd floor of the GF. We had promised to buy her a new Mickey watch while in Disney and we finally found one that we thought shed really like. Yes, even through my anger, I was thinking of my mom. So we bought the watch and walked over to V&As.
Here is my review of V&As that I posted on the restaurant board.
We strolled around the 2nd floor for a while and visited one of the gift shops, then we made our way to V&A's around 6.15pm. We were greeted warmly by Israel Perez and were seated on the left side of the dining room about 2 tables away from the harpist. As we entered, the harpist (Christopher) was playing our song "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Seriously, this was the song DH and I danced to at our wedding in 2000. So it was a perfect start to an amazing evening.
Our server (and I'm so sorry I can't remember her name) poured us Vitel water and brought out our personalized menus. DH's menu was further personalized for him b/c he is lactose intolerant. Not too much differed, but it was nice that the chef took his dietary needs into consideration.
We were given several minutes to look over the menu, then our server returned and explained each item and answered any questions we had. We had to order each course all at once, but for us, the choices were easy.
The chef sent out an amuse bouche, which was a cold lobster roll in a rice wonton with crisp vegetables and a sweet glaze. This was excellent.
For our first course we ordered the Serrano ham wrapped shrimp with canary melon sauce and pickled watermelon. This was wonderful. I wasnt sure if I was going to like it because I dont like ham all that much, but the saltiness and smokiness of the ham went very well with the sweetness of the shrimp and melons. It was a perfect balance of flavors. I loved the presentation of this course as well. It was served on a rectangular glass plate and the sauce was a light green with tiny dices of the various melons. The shrimp was standing center stage with chives as accent pieces. Very colorful and lovely.
For the second course we ordered the Dungeness and jumbo lump crab stuffed squash blossom. This was on a base of grain mustard sauce and the whole blossom was lightly fried in a tempura batter. It was crisp on the outside and the crab mixture was creamy, sweet and salty. This was a wonderful combination of flavors and textures. There were also baby zucchini and squash as part of the presentation.
For the fish course DH and I chose different things.
I chose the Brentwood corn cream with Australian crayfish. I loved this course! It was a cream soup with sweet roasted corn and a crayfish on the side. But the presentation was lovely. They had the corn kernels in a bowl on a rectangular plate. The crayfish was next to the bowl and then our server poured the cream soup on top of the corn tableside. This was my favorite course!
DH chose the King Salmon with artichoke confit, preserved lemon in a brown butter sauce. The salmon was so flavorful. It was barely cooked just warmed through, really and the flavor of the fish was outstanding. The brown butter sauce gave it a smooth quality and it just melted in your mouth. This was my DHs favorite course.
Next came the main course. Again, DH and I ordered the same thing. Grilled Prime Fillet with a Gorgonzola potato crouton with Port Wine jus. DHs came with canelles of golden potato due to his lactose allergy. The meat was very tender (we had it done medium) and the port wine jus was slightly sweet. It complemented the gorgonzola potato crouton perfectly. The textures went together very well. The tender beef, crispy potato and sweet sauce. Excellent!
For our intermezzo, DH had a mango sorbet (non dairy) and I had the cheese plate. I love cheese plates and this one didnt disappoint. There were adorable champagne grapes and a fig cake along with 2 cheeses and the English stilton cheesecake. I particularly like the little wedge of parmigianno reggiano covered in honey. And the cheesecake was amazing! I hope they always have that as part of the cheese course.
Our dessert course was so hard to get through because we were getting quite full. (We ate too much bread! Dont fill up on the bread no matter how good it is!) For dessert we had the vanilla bean crème brulee (I am a crème brulee junkie) and the Hawaiian Kona Chocolate souffle. I loved the presentation of the souffle . It was brought out piping hot, then our server cut into it and poured a chocolate sauce all over it. Even though my DH is lactose intolerant, he still indulged for dessert.
Now if we werent stuffed enough, DH had pre-arranged to have a mini wedding cake brought to our table for our 5 year anniversary. This was beautiful. A white cake with a white chocolate castle on top. It was presented on a silver plate and was just gorgeous. We boxed it up and took it home all the way home, not just back to our hotel room. I ate it at home the next night. It really traveled well.
Overall, I highly recommend Victoria and Alberts. If we could afford it on every trip, wed definitely do it. But its something well save for and really cherish those several hours we steal for ourselves. If youre planning a dinner here, you are in for a treat! Indulge and enjoy!!!
Today turned out to be magical and special, just like I had hoped! I really did enjoy my birthday in Walt Disney World. I wish I could make it an annual trip maybe if I wish upon a star.
Day 10 Checking out
On our way back from dinner the night before, I asked for, and received, a late check out of 1pm. This was great because we were able to have a leisurely breakfast at Captain Cooks, finish packing, do some last minute shopping, have lunch and then check out about a ½ an hour before our TownCar was scheduled to pick us up.
We made some exchanges in Boutiki and Trader Jacks. Boutiki gave us a hard time with the exchanges because we didnt have receipts. We were exchanging shirts that my in-laws had bought for the kids and we wanted different sizes. I dont know why it was an issue. Maybe it was the CM, because when we went up to Trader Jacks to return an opened DVD, it was no problem at all. (We bought the AK DVD for DS, then my in-laws bought him the MK one, so we just decided to buy the 5 DVD set and return the single DVDs. Im glad they took them all back.
We barely were able to fit everything into our suitcases. We had to buy two of those big Disney shopping bags. I know now that I will be bringing 3 suitcases with on my future trips. Id rather have 3 partially full suitcases instead of 2 overstuffed ones.
We had lunch at Captain Cooks. I got a cheeseburger and DH had the Polynesian chicken sandwich. Both were good. I also had my last Mickey bar of the trip. I had 2 on this trip even though I usually only have one. But I think the circumstances made it necessary to eat that extra Mickey bar!
Our driver was on time picking us up. I called FL Tours the day before to ask them to come ½ an hour earlier than planned in case I ran into any problems at the airport. My wallet never turned up so I had no photo ID. I wanted to leave plenty of time so that in case there were problems I wouldnt be holding everyone up or worrying about missing my flight.
We did curbside check in again and our one suitcase was way over the weight limit. We had to pay another $25.00 for it. I will NOT do this again! 3 suitcases will now be our norm.
We went to security after that. I had to go in a separate line from everyone else. Ihad a more thorough search done, but nothing that took too much longer. We were out of the security line and at our terminal in about 20 minutes. So we had to wait for about an hour and a half, but I felt better that we had done this.
Our flight left on time and wasnt even full. No one sat next to me, so DD and I had the three seats to ourselves. It was nice being able to spread out a bit. We landed in Philly on time and were home about an hour after that. I really liked Southwest Airlines and will use them again in the future!
Overall, this trip was NOTHING like I had anticipated it being. I know now that I will never do an extended family trip again. DH and I are looking forward to our trip in October when it will just be the four of us! If my parents come with us on a future trip, I will sit down with them and explain why I want them to come along. It wont be because I want them to babysit the kids. It wont be so that DH and I can go out a few nights alone. It will be for THEM to enjoy a trip with their grandchildren and children. I want them to really have a good time and not feel obligated to watch my kids! So they wont be allowed to come if they say theyre only going to help us out. I hope that future trips with my parents DO happen, but a lot differently than this trip was.
I am glad so many of you enjoyed reading my trip reports. DH said I should print them out and put them in my scrapbook. Ill see
Thanks for reading!
M-I-C, see ya real soon! K-E-Y, why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E!!!!!!!!!!
Will look forward to next trip and hope if your parents & IL's go on a future trip they will realize you truly want them along as family.
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. Lets hope that the next set of reports are more calm and happy for you,
