1st trip to DL, 1st Anniversary, 1st time on the coast...COMPLETED!!

[kmab00]

April 7, 2007 - Napa Rose Anniversary Dinner

We got dressed and walked across the street to the Grand for our 1st Wedding Anniversary Dinner at Napa Rose! I had been looking forward to this for SO long!!

As we entered the Grand this time, we saw a man playing the piano!! He looks like he's sleeping here, but I think he was finishing up a song and he was really into it! :laugh3: He was an amazing pianist, though!!!!

We found Napa Rose and had a picture, then we went inside to be seated. The "lounge" area is to the right as you first walk in. We were temporarily seated there until our table was available. I was really amazed at the SMALL amount of people inside!! I'm used to people EVERYWHERE at the Disney World restaurants, but I guess that with no dining plan at Disneyland, it's a little different! Anyway, after a little while, a waitress came to seat us. She walked us all the way to the back corner of the restaurant and realized that our table wasn't clean, so she asked if we wanted another table or if we wanted to wait for this one because it was a really nice table. We of course opted to wait! If they were "saving" a special table for us, then I'm wasn't about to say no!

We didn't have a long wait before our table was ready. We were given a basket of all kinds of breads to start out with! I tried a little of each and they were all very good!! The butter was great, too!

Jason looking over the menu. We felt here kind of like we did at Victoria and Albert's from our Honeymoon........COUNTRY COME TO TOWN!! :laugh3:

Me blind with no glasses on!! lol!

We looked at the menu for a while before we decided what we wanted to eat. This fine dining California cuisine kind of threw us for a loop! We didn't know WHAT to get!!

For an appetizer though, we started out with the Sizzling Beach Rock. The menu said that it was good for two to share so I was expecting a lot of food, especially for $36.00 for an appetizer!

Guess what we got?

Two pieces of chicken, two pieces of shrimp, and two pieces of spare ribs all with dipping sauces! It was sizzling, alright! That shrimp on the rock was sizzling away! We were both kind of disappointed by the serving sizes even though I wasn't that hungry. I guess you pay for presentation, too.

COUNTRY COME TO TOWN...need I say more?!?! :laugh3: Actually, Jason only wore this for like a second for me to take the picture. He had made a mess on the table and said he felt like he should have been wearing a "bib"!! haha!!

My entree was the DUCK! It was GREAT!!!! After tasting mine, Jason wished he would have gotten the duck, too!!

Jason ordered the steak. I think he compares all Disney steak to each other and he says that Coral Reef has beaten every steak hands down! He wasn't too impressed with this steak but said it was good!

My dear husband...he made a mess on the table!! lol!!

We were then given dessert menus which kind of confused me because I had ordered a specialty cake and I was hoping they didn't forget! Our waiter realized the mistake and took the dessert menus from us. Jason was like, "Where's he going with that?!" He had no idea about my little surprise!!

..........................CONT...........................

 

[kmab00]

...........................CONT.............................

After a few minutes, out came our Waiter carrying THIS!!! I thought it was SO cute!! They did a good job!

It was vanilla cake with strawberry custard filling........SO GOOD! The icing was perfect, too! It wasn't too sweet which was perfect!!! LOVED it!!

Napa Rose....see how empty it was?

Our waiter brought us our check and gave this box of chocolates to me! I haven't eaten them yet because I'm still working on my Valentines Day box of chocolates!! haha!

All in all, we really liked Napa Rose. I don't think I'd go back but that's mainly because of how pricey everything is. The food was good and we had a lot of fun. The atmosphere was very romantic and it was perfect for our 1st Wedding Anniversary Dinner!

We left and took a few pictures in the lobby. I forgot to mention that this was my Rehearsal Dinner outfit. I never got a picture of the outfit from head to toe so I figured I'd wear it in Disney and get some better pictures of it!!

We found the Fireplace and asked a family that was sitting in front of it to take our picture. They were kind of reluctant to take our picture which surprised me. In Disney World, people offer ALL the time to take our picture since it's just the two of us...........here in Disneyland, I think we only got offered once or twice for our picture and when we did ask if someone would take our picture, we got crazy strange looks from them or they weren't really nice to us! Very shocking but whatever... Guess I'm just used to that good ol Southern Hospitality!! I made it my mission...if I EVER saw two people alone in the parks trying to get their picture taken, I'd offer to take it for them!! Hehe!!

We walked back over to our hotel and changed in our rooms as fast as we could! We wanted to make it out to the deck in time to watch the fireworks since the music is pied in and all!

We made it just as the fireworks started! We couldn't find the exact spot to stand but I could hear Julie's voice...I was like, "She's somewhere danget!" Haha!

More fireworks pictures...

I was shocked at how we couldn't see the castle from our hotel balcony since the park was not very far away from us!

I could see TOT, Space Mountain, and Grizzly River Run Mountain peak, but no castle!

I didn't realize at the time how small the castle was!

I absolutely could not WAIT to watch the fireworks from Main Street and see the "real" thing!!

Since we had such an early day and we were exhausted, we decided to head back up to the room for some much needed SLEEP!

When I got out of the bathroom from changing for bed, this is what I saw!

Jason had fallen asleep to the Princess Bedtime Story on TV!! This was one of the main reasons that we stayed at a Disney Hotel. Call me silly, but this was TOP on my list of reasons to stay at a Disney Hotel! I love the Disneyland Channel/Disney World Channel! It's not a Disney trip without those!!

Well, here in Disneyland, we got a BONUS!! There was also a CLASSIC DISNEY CARTOON channel complete with princess bedtime stories at night!! :laugh3:

I had to walk around to take another picture and Jason woke up. He "told" me that he had really fallen asleep while the classic cartoon was playing and didn't realize that the princess bedtime story was on TV! Yeah.....suuuure! :laugh3:

Up next: Our first day in the parks!!!!!!!!!

 

[MadiMouse]

Great Update! Your cake looks yummy!!!!! Your rehearsal outfit was very cute!

 

[tlhbdm]

Karen I totally feel you on the friendliness(sp?) of the people at Disneyland I totally noticed the difference in just one day at Disneyland compared to WDW, it made me kind of sad and not want to go back to Disneyland. Your dinner at Napa Rose looked yummy. I think I like the Disneyland fireworks better than *gasp* Wishes(and DH and I got engaged during Wishes) I just absolutely LOVE Julie Andrews.

 

[weslovesauntmeg]

Great report so far..I've never seen the Princess Fairytale Bedtime Story. So cute that your husband fell asleep to it. I bet he doesn't know that you took that picture of him..ha ha.

That's weird no one offered to take your pic..especially when it's your first time to DL you want all the pic's you can get.

Can't wait to read your next installment!!

 

[Girldreamer02]

Your dinner looks yummy! I love your outfit and your glasses are cute too! How sweet of you to order that cake as a little surprise! That was super adorable too! When you said you ordered a cake I didn't think it would be that big since everything else was in pretty small portions. Yea, I just saw a picture of the disneyland castle and I noticed it was pretty small too and df proclaimed that he liked Cinderella's castle better when we saw the pic. It made me giggle. I love him! You guy are such a cute couple!!! That was cool that you got to see the fireworks from your hotel. That would be amazing! You made me wish that I hadn't bought a dress for my rehearsal dinner. Lol. To late now. Its alright though because its super cute! And if I decide I don't want to wear it...I can always wear the outfit that I bought for the shower. Can't wait for the next update!

 

[chickyann]

I have just spent a chilly rainy afternoon here in Sydney reading all your trip reports, back to back.

I've had a great day, thankyou

 

[Dcanoli]

AWESOME UPDATE GIRL! Love the whole Napa Rose story, but YIKES I have to agree w/you--$36 for THAT? CRAZY!

...and yes, that's why we all love the FREE DDP in September!

Keep the great updates coming. You are doing wonderful!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great update! And I agree on the price of the appetizer waaaaaay too much for what you got!

The cake was really cute, I've been wanting to go to WDW during some kind of celebration (birthday/anniversary - whatever!) just so I can have an excuse to order a cake!

I think you look adorable in your glasses! And that's too funny that DH fell asleep watching the princess bedtime stories!

 

[Jennifer48]

Great update Karen!

That cake was adorable! Do you mind me asking where you ordered it from? Can you also do that at the WDW restaurants? TIA!

 

[JaxJags08]

Wonderful update! Your appetizer looked SO yummy, but I saw the prices and yikes!!! I know how you and Jason felt, with the country came to town thing! DH and I got into the Foundation Room (private club with restaurant) at the top floor of Mandalay Bay in Vegas. It was SO fancy - even the water tasted better! But we were sort of uncomfortable. Now if we are somewhere really nice, we are sure to just enjoy it and not worry if we are doing everything "right"!

Your glasses are great and so is your rehearsal outfit. I don't think I can fit into my rehearsal outfit anymore! But I'm working on it!

The Princess Bedtime Stories show seems so cute! I wish they had that at WDW. They really should consider it - I mean how hard would it be to add another resort channel?

 

[jnjusoioa]

Hi Karen, I thought it was so cute you said you saved one of your treats from mousekeeping until you got home, it is so true, we do need to keep some of that Disney magic around each day. I stopped by Marceline's before I left in March and got some fudge and Mickey gingerbreads and they stayed so fresh so now I will be buying more in Dec. so I can freeze them. Yum, Yum.We all need a little Disney every day.

Your dinner at Napa Rose looks amazing, oh my goodness, you may have just inspired me to try that in Dec. It sure looks great and your cake looks so cute and sounds like it was yummy. Way to go!!!

I agree about the people in DL, I had asked a few people to take a picture for me because I was by myself the one day, and they just looked at me, it seemed like they didn't want to, but have never had that issue in WDW, who knows.

Keep up the great trippie, can't wait to read and see more, up next the parks, yeah!!!

 

[MA pigletfan]

Great update Karen
Napa Rose looked beautiful, I can't wait to go. It does seem pricey, but I know Greg he will DEF. want to try it anyway..we like " fancy " dinners..not like we do it alot, but we do enjoy it.
You two looked so cute on your night out..and I loved the firework pics too.
( To reply to an earlier statement you made..i will absolutely be doing a big ole so cal/DL trip report for our October trip..complete with GC room pics just for you hahah..I will probably start a pretrippie about a month or 2 before.
Can't wait to hear about/see your first day at the parks!!!

 

[TLC371]

Napa Rose looks so pretty, but I think I would be like you...country people visting the city!

Too funny that Jason fell asleep to the Princess bedtime stories!

Great installment! Can't wait to read more!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Awesome update, Karen! That's so super strange about the picture taking thing! Usually we offer to people, especially if we see them waiting to ask someone, or there's just two of them or a solo! We always go just the 2 of us, and it makes me smile so much when people offer, so of course we want to do the same back!

Can't wait to read the rest! You're making work go by faster reading your TRs!

 

[davidsprincess]

Your glasses look great! I really liked your outfit as well. The cake was sooo cute. Where did you order it? Can you only get it at Napa Rose?
We always offer to take pictures of people. Sorry to hear that you had such "weird" people. Your hubby falling asleep to the bedtime story, .

 

[Disneygrl36]

What a great update. Wow, I didn't realize Napa Rose was quite that expensive, but it looked yummy & beautiful. Hmmmmmmm, I will have to be thinking about that. the cake. How cute!!!!!!!!

Ready to have some fun in the parks.!!!!!

 

[jnjusoioa]

I am also interested in where you ordered the cake, can you do that at any of the DL hotels if you have dining reservations?? Wasn't sure. Thank you ahead of time.

 

[J Lynn]

Me and my husband are the same way in fancy places. I'm more uptight and he's more....like...."I don't care if people are watching if I do....this" kind of country boy. So I keep him home

Can't wait for more

 

[PrincessAlways]

Boy, I had just a little catching up to do!! It looks like you had just the greatest anniversary trip!!! The room looks great, the roses on the bed & Mickey treats!!! I agree that the Gran looks like the Wilderness Lodge. The anniversary cake was so cute! How did you enjoy the fireworks? Are they the same as Wishes?