With still a little while before our ADR time at The Wave, we decided to spend some time checking out the rest of the of the Grand Canyon Concourse. Dad took the opportunity to check the shops to see if he could find a shirt that might be more suitable to wear to dinner since the one he intended to wear was in the suitcase he accidentally left at home. He had more success here than at the French Quarter and found a polo shirt that looked almost like the one he left behind (with the exception of a small Mickey logo above the pocket). Buzz had some shopping success here too, finding a limited edition Kermit the Frog pin.
More of Mary Blairs work in the Grand Canyon mural.
One of my favorite little touches in the Concourse is this model hidden away near the elevators. In keeping with the Small World theme, its a replica of the Tower of the Four Winds that was a part of the original Its A Small World attraction at the 1964 Worlds Fair in New York. The Tower didnt survive the move from New York to the Disney parks and was replaced by a new façade also designed by Mary Blair to match the rest of the ride, so its neat to see it make it to Disney World in some form.
By now, the sun was going down and the lights on the giant Mickey wreath on the side of the building was turned on, so we headed out to the observation deck between the concourse and the walkway to Bay Lake Tower. The deck also had a great view of the Magic Kingdom and Cinderella Castle which we figured would be great viewing for the Castle Dream Lights when they turned on.
Near the entrance to the observation deck, we saw a sign that announced that there would be Holiday Fun there that evening at a couple of scheduled times. The first time was fairly soon, so we decided to stick around and find out exactly what Holiday Fun was. Turned out to be a performance of Christmas songs sung by local high school choir. It was a nice and festive little surprise for the evening.
After the choir performance, the Castle Lights were all lit up. Even though we didnt go to the Magic Kingdom on this trip, Im glad that we at least got to see the Castle Dream Lights somehow.
Even though we still had a while before our ADR time, we made our way down to The Wave to see if we could get in early. Turns out we could, so we were at our table in about 5 to 10 minutes.
The Waves décor was fairly interesting, but besides cool entrance tunnel, I didnt think it was as remarkable as some of the other restaurants at Disney World. Its very modern and very dark with a definite wave motif going on everything from the ceiling to the chairs. It looked a lot nicer than the last time we were at the Contemporary and this space was the not as attractive counter service burger place.
One of the lighting fixtures above the restaurant.
The main attraction at The Wave, however, is no doubt the food. We were told by our waiter who told us that the restaurant is Disneys first restaurant that specializes in all organic and sustainable dishes which Mom and Dad especially thought was cool. This was after he sat down at our table with us, asked us where he was from, and talked for minutes about one of his other jobs, which I thought was somewhat awkward, but whatever. Better to have an overly personable server than a bad one. To be honest, I wasnt thrilled with the menu when I saw it; there wasnt a lot of items on there that really appeal to me. I ended up getting the cinnamon-rubbed pork tenderloin which was the thing that looked most appealing despite the fact that I dont really like pork. Imagine my surprise when it turns out to be delicious. I really was impressed with it. Mom and Dad ended up getting Lamb Shank and Buzz got the Flank Steak and everyone really liked their meals as well. All in all, The Wave was definitely a winner for us, and I could see us revisiting it in the future.
After dinner, I wanted to check out the courtyard outside especially because Ive never managed to get a photo of the Sorcerers Apprentice topiary out there. Shortly after this, however, we were about ready to head back to the French Quarter for the night.
One last look at the Contemporary for the trip (note the motion blur of the monorail going into the hotel).
On the walk back to the bus stop, we also managed to get our last look at the Magic Kingdom of the trip. Perhaps well make it into the park again on our next trip.
Unlike at the other parks, French Quarter and Riverside do not share a single bus at Magic Kingdom, so the line at the bus stop was pretty short and everybody waiting for the bus ended up getting a seat on the bus. I knew better than to expect this to happen when we were sharing a bus with the much-larger Riverside, but enjoyed it for the night. Back at French Quarter, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the rooms. We had a big day the next day at Disneys Hollywood Studios, and wanted to be sure to be well rested and ready for an early start.
Next chapter: Were going to Hollywood!
