[SIZE="3[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]"]* off topic- Beauty and the Beast is coming to BluRay October 5th!*
I last left off with our Chef Mickey's breakfast.
Finally everyone made it to where we were waiting. We went into the shop to exchange Cayden's pen. Did you know that if you buy one of those fat pens for the autograph books, and it stops working, they will exchange it? Cayden picked out a pirate pin and fave six figure set.
Mom got snow and dopey salt and pepper shakers. Her mom collected them, and she does too. Maya wanted the Belle clothing set. It had a belle dolls, with different clothing- but you had to take belle's head off to change her clothes. And there were TINY pieces. Mean mommy that I am- I made her pick out something different. She just can't have all those tiny pieces with the baby in the ground scavenger stage. Plus, I was afraid that she would lose half the pieces before we got home. So she picked out the Belle figures set instead. We then got in line behind the turtle cashier. And not only was he slow, he apparently was a perfectionist. The lady in front of us had a bunch of breakables. As he was wrapping them, he kept ripping the paper. Then he would pull it all off and start again.
Just a side note- we have a lot of figure sets at home- Maya LOVES them; she plays with them daily. So I was excited that she kept picking out something that not only did I know would be used at home, they are super easy to pack for the return home. Plus, I love to see what she comes up with when she is in make believe land.
When we got back to the hotel, Maya opened her set. She laid sleeping beauty down. She set all the fairies around her. Then Malevocent and spin wheel came walking up. But before Malevocent reached Sleeping Beauty, her Prince swooped in and kissed Sleeping Beauty. Ever wanted to know what happened next it the movie? Well, according to Maya, Prince beats up Malevocent and then carries her to jail.
While she was doing this, James decided to entertain himself by seeing if it was possible to drink a bottle upside down.
We decided it was time for the pool. I didn't take my camera down there with me- so this is what you get!
We played for about an hour. There was a nice family that let us use their baby float for James. He loved it! I had purchased one for this trip- but guess where it was- back home with my bathing suit!
The kids then took a short nap while we all put our feet up. I think the men may have had a glass of wine? About 345, we all got cleaned up and headed down to catch the bus to Epcot. We shared the bus with a whopping 2 people besides us.
Now prior to the trip, I had checked somewhere that you could get to the boardwalk area from Epcot. I think it was on my WDW transportation app (which, is really handy for the most part). However, while it showed the shortest route from SSR to BW to be via Epcot, it didn't clarify that walking time through the park wasn't included. It actually didn't clarify that you have to enter the park to get to the boat or the walking trail to Boardwalk. Whoops. Rookie Mistake. If I had known this, we would have just gone to DTD and taken a bus from there. Luckily, we got passes for everyday that we were there, even for the day we didnt' plan on going to the park, because we knew plans could change and the price difference at that point was about $20 I think for the whole group.
So we go through bag check and walk through Epcot to catch the bus to the Boardwalk area. Well, I say walk, but at this point we were having to move pretty quick to have a chance of making it on time. Maya was pretty mad we couldn't stop to see Marie but we were coming back another day.
We finally got back to the boat dock in the World Showcase. Luckily, the ride was short, because it was stuffy in there!
We disembark and head to Big River Grille.
Originally, we had made our "reserved seating" for the patio. However, we opted to move it inside because of the heat. (reserved seating here isn't exactly a reservation, more like it just moves you to the front of the waiting list). They moved around a couple tables, and we were seated immediately. I had heard mixed reviews about this place, but it was a working microbrewery. I made it one of our ADR's because I figured by the middle of the week, DH would need something a bit more adult!
Chris and Dad started off with a beer flight. It was a sampler of the different brews they made in flight.
We hadn't eaten since breakfast, so we decided to try the beef nachos appetizer. They were okay, but they needed something. I guess I'd say they were dry and plain? But that may not be a fair assumption because I skipped the jalepenos.
Beef Nachos - tortilla chips, creamy pepper jack cheese, sliced jalapenos, topped with pica de gallo and sour cream $11.99
Dad ordered the meatloaf.
Flame-Grilled Meatloaf - made with ground beef and Italian pork sausage, topped with a rich, brown gravy. Served over garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables $14.99
Mom had the mahi.
Hazelnut Crusted Mahi Mahi - sautéed, with a sun-dried cherry sauce. Served with garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables $22.99
Chris ordered the Ribeye
Signature Ribeye- Char-grilled 12oz. USDA Choice ribeye steak, served with garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables. 25.99
They all said their food was okay.
Cayden had the Amazing
Amazon- a burger
And Maya had the Gator Grilled- grilled cheese.
Jenny and I had chicken pastas.
Jenny- Chicken Marinara - julienne breast of chicken tossed with marinara and asiago cheese in penne pasta $15.99
Me- Chicken Alfredo - penne pasta blended with grilled chicken in a creamy Parmesan cheese sauce with fresh vegetables $15.99
Jenny didn't like hers at all. I thought mine was okay. I was sad that the fresh vegetables were a couple of pieces of tomato. (I was rooting for broccoli!). But I was disappointed that the chicken was chicken-in-a-can.
The menu had great variety, and the food way just okay- but we loved the area. To me, this place would be
perfect for sitting next to the water enjoying a cool beverage of your choice after a long day at the parks.
So why did we need an ADR at the Boardwalk anyway? [/SIZE][/COLOR]