Birthday trip at the Grand Floridian 10/2-10/11/08

[LowesChevy]

Loweschevy’s Second Annual Birthday Trip!

Let me start off by saying- this is my first trip report. I am very detail oriented, which I know most of you all love, but I hope I do not ramble on too much.

The cast included:
Me: age 27
DM-52
DF-53
Nell-60
Bob-60 (Nell & Bob were here for the first 4 days)

The Grand Floridian Resort

We have stayed at many of the deluxe resorts and decided to stay at the Grand Floridian after staying at the Polynesian for the past 5 years. We stayed at the GF a few times many years back (early 90s) and thought it would fun to try again. So we booked ourselves a Magic Kingdom view room for October 2-11th.

DM & I have just as much fun planning the trip as we do actually going. Even though we visited over 25 times, there are still many details that need to be ironed out. For example; I woke up and made my adrs at 180 days, ordered my MNNSHP party tickets, booked Party for The Senses and signed up for The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour at the MK. Then a day to day park schedule was made based on the adrs.

I do not go as far as planning the bathroom breaks or exact lunch times in advance, but a good strategy is necessary in the morning. We like to make rope drop or arrive within 15 minutes of the park’s opening. In order to make the most of our time, we head for our favorite attractions and get fastpasses. Getting that early morning start makes the day go more smoothly. By mid afternoon the parks are crammed and the queues are long. At this time we like to head out and go back to the resort for a rest or a dip in the pool. Later in the afternoon, we get ready and go to dinner and a park for the evening.

Well the countdown is at zero and it is time to drive to Cleveland for that 7:43 AM flight tomorrow. Neither my DM nor I can ever get a good nights’ sleep the night before. I guess it is a combination of bad hotel bed and just a touch of excitement!

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 1-Thursday

The phone rang at 5:00 AM, but we were already awake. By 6:00 AM we were packed back up and ready to catch the airport shuttle to the Continental terminal. It is a quick 2 minute drive from the Sheraton hotel. At 6:15 AM we were checked in and given new seat assignments, which was great because our original flight was cancelled and our seats were randomly selected all around the plane. My parents had enough time to grab a cup of coffee and we made our way to the terminal.

The flight was smooth and pleasant. The flight attendants were generous with the beverages offering drinks again after the original service. The flight landed on time after 2 hours and 10 minutes and we were off to get the bags, but first a ride on the airport terminal monorail shuttle. By 10:30, the car was loaded and we were on the on the road. We rolled into the Grand Floridian’s check in around 11:00 AM and were greeted by the staff. Check in was dead, but we did get the trainee. It still only took 10 minutes, but it was early and the room was not ready yet. We originally intended to go to the park because we arrived so early, but instead we grabbed lunch at the Grand Floridian Café. Rolla was our server and she was very courteous. Our food came out a short time later. The roast beef sandwich was excellent. My father enjoyed his Grand sandwich as well. Mother & I opted for a “little” dessert. The deserts are lunch sized portions just a few small bites.

After lunch we kicked around the resort a bit and met with our friends in their building. It was around 1 PM and they decided to head over the MK. We opted to wait and hopped on the monorail to do some browsing at the Contemporary stores. By 3 PM we headed back over to see if our room was ready. The bellman took us over to the room and we got settled in. I was not too happy with having a dormer room. My father really enjoys sitting on the balcony and the rooms are a little smaller than a regular room. The view was fantastic, but the balcony was small and had unopened railing limiting your view when you sat down. I did not make any special request this year, but next time I would definitely request not to have a dormer room.

Later in the afternoon my mother & I decided to call and request another room. My father was not too happy about the lack of balcony. He loves to sit out there when we have down time at the room. Plus he is paying, so it is best to keep him happy! We called and Christian helped us and by that afternoon we were packing back up and were one floor down in room 7328.

This room and the balcony were more to my fathers’ liking. We got a little spoiled after staying at the Polynesian’s ground floor rooms. The view was the same as the other, but a floor lower check out these photos.

Now we were totally content and thanked Christian for being so helpful and understanding. We never complained about a room before, but we wanted to be completely satisfied.

We got settled in, unpacked and it was soon time to get dressed and drive over the Wilderness Lodge for diner at Artist Point with Bob & Nell. We left a little early so we could enjoy the resort a bit and of course visit the gift shop. We checked in for dinner and they seated us 10 minutes early. The restaurant was about ¾ full and remained this way throughout the night. Our server was great and the food was excellent. I have a few pictures here of my duck confit & Nell’s smoky Portobello soup appetizers. I am sorry about not including the entrees and desserts-we started eating before I managed to get a picture. Among us I had the Buffalo sirloin, DF the beef tenderloin, DM, Bob & Nell all had the roasted chicken breast. My father’s tenderloin showed up a little undercooked, but the server took it right back and brought it back a few minutes later. The berry cobbler was a perfect ending to our evening.

We really enjoy the food & wine here. The cathedral ceiling adds a lot of space, but paired with wood floor the restaurant can become quite loud. This is a must do adr each year until they prove me otherwise.

After stuffing ourselves, we rolled back to the car and made our way back to the GF. We were beat by about 8 PM & after waking up at 5 AM it was time to get some much needed rest for tomorrow at the MK.

 

[LowesChevy]

More to come tommorow!

 

[Loriann70]

YIPPIIEEE I'm first!!!

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 2-Friday

We woke up at 6:15 AM and headed over to the GFC at 7:00 AM for breakfast. I misread the EMH for Friday and needless to say we were up a hair early. We took our time at breakfast and met Nell & Bob at the monorail station at 8:15 AM to head over to the Magic Kingdom. I really enjoyed the opening ceremony and the process for rope drop. The past few years we arrived around 15-20 minutes after park opening, no more of that nonsense lol. Of course we chose to go on Space Mountain and we hurried over the the CM, but it was down. No fear, we hopped on Buzz Lightyear and then we traveled to BTMRR, which was closed last October. It rocked-it was a lot smoother than I remember and we walked right on too. Bob & Nell split off to do a little exploring on their own at this point. We wandered back to POTC and then back to Liberty Square to ride the Haunted Mansion, my absolute favorite. We hit Fantasy Land with Snow White & Mickey’s Philharmagic. The crowds were really light all morning and early afternoon.

At 1:00 PM we met Nell & Bob for our adr at the Plaza and had a lovely lunch. Our server was a little slow & unorganized-my milkshake took 20 minutes to show up. She said they ran out of chocolate ice cream, but I did see other chocolate milk shakes make it to the dining room before mine. Nell & I ordered the Rueben, DF had the cheese steak, DM went with the club and Bob tried the chicken strawberry salad. On a positive note, the sandwiches were excellent and the milkshake was rich in chocolaty goodness. This is one of my favorite places for lunch. What I like about the Plaza is that it is smaller than most restaurants, the food is always good and you have a great view of the castle.

Afterwards, we made our way out and took the boat launch back to the GF. The launch was really convenient, especially since it lets you right off between our building Conch Key & Narcoossee’s. We kicked back in the room a little bit and the five of us headed over to the California Grill a little early. We checked in 7:00 PM for our 7:20 adr and were told they were already behind 20 minutes on seatings. Not uncommon for the CG, but annoying.

The five of us were not seated until 8:30 PM, which to us was really unacceptable. I do not think we would have been seated so soon if it had not been for my DM continuing to ask about our table. Our server felt bad and she even ordered us up a complimentary roasted chicken flatbread. Our appetizers were great, my pork tenderloin with goat cheese polenta was a little on the salty side, DM beef tenderloin was not a great cut, but the accompaniments were to her liking. Nell & Bob enjoyed their tenderloin & salmon dishes respectively. DF had the halibut and I snagged a bite, very delicious. Could you believe we were too stuffed for dessert! Our server was really great and nearly made us forget about the wait. The Hallowishes show was lovely too.

Chilled Watermelon Salad

Tomato Bisque

Scottish Salmon

Pacific Halibut

Pork Tenderloin

Unfortunately, we will not be dining at the California Grill next year. This was not the first time we waited over an hour for a table. It was the second time in three years waiting this long. I just think it is crap. The service was great & the food was good, but there are other restaurants I am now going to try.

Time for a good night’s sleep because we are off to DHS for EMH tomorrow morning!

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 3-Saturday

We got up at 6:00 AM and wandered over to Gasparilla’s for a quick continental breakfast before hopping in the car with Nell & Bob to make rope drop at DHS. On the way over my cousin called to tell me that our fire alarm was going off at our house. To make a long story short the fire chief showed up and tromped around the house to check it out-no worries everything was fine. The system is about 15 years old. That kinda set us back a little, but it was still only 8:45 AM. There were not a huge crowd of people for rope drop, which was good for us.

Here is a picture heading towards TSMM.

We all grabbed fast passes and made our way towards the stand by line, knowing we wanted to go on more than once. The ride is awesome and I was not at all disappointed. Although my arm was sore later on from pulling the cord repeatedly! After that we traveled back toward the front and walked down to Tower of Terror and basically walked right on. The Rock n’ Rollercoaster queue was moving fast as well. It was now time to use our fastpass on TSMM. We headed for the Great Movie Ride and for once in my life did not have to watch the pre-ride movie trailers more than once. Next we hit Star Tours, which was the longest we had to wait that morning around 10 minutes believe it or not. After Star Tours we hit the Muppets 3D, one of my absolute favorites.

Lunch was at Mama Melrose’s at 12:10 PM. The server was great and attentive. The salads & flatbreads were spot on. We were in and out within an hour. After lunch Bob & Nell decided to head over to Epcot, since they were only staying till tomorrow, to explore the WS. We traveled back to the GF for a little rest and change for this evening’s Party for the Senses.

By 4 PM we were checked in and had our wristbands for our first PFTS. Luckily we did, the doors opened at 6 PM and the line was 10 people wide by maybe 15 or 20 deep. We explored the WS a bit, browsed the shops, & rode The Gran Fiesta Tour.

At 6 PM we lined up and went into the Millenium Village. They finally let you inside and everyone starts pushing and is crisscrossing in front of you. You are trying to get your plate and glass from 2-3 women handing them out. It is really poorly organized in my opinion. When 6:30 PM rolled around the next set of doors opened up into the ‘party’ and everyone once again started pushing and running to tables inside. We lucked out after a group of people asked us if we would like their table since they decided to walk around the whole night. The food was awesome! Here are a bunch of pictures for you to drool over. I do not drink, but I think my parents drank their share. We enjoyed trying the different dishes-cheeses, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, Cornish game hen, scallops, shrimp-you name it, a chef cooked it.

Seared Veal Loin 3 out of 5! Veal was undercooked for me, not big into olives

Tony McPhail Commander's Palace-Duck Popper 4 out of 5! Spicy

I think DM is sleeping here!

Wild Boar Wonton with Apple Julienne 2 out of 5-Unique, but average in taste

Spicy Shrimp with Lentils 4 out of 5! The Creme Fraiche cut the heat-yum

Pork Three Ways 5 out or 5! Taste & Presentation-Pork Rocks

5 out of 5! You cannot go wrong with green chili grits!

King Crab Mac & Cheese by Rock Hudson-3 out of 5-Not a big mac & cheese fan

Celina Trio's Seared Scallop 4 out of 5! Crispy, Crunchy & Tender-my favorites!

Cornish Game Hen with Toasted Cous Cous- 3 out of 5 Not big on curry

Falafel with Lebeneh Cheese-5 out of 5! I love falafel now! OMG so good

Wild Turkey confit with Squash Puree-5 out of 5! Thanksgiving in October!

I cannot say that we would buy tickets again next year. Even though we had a fun time, one of the drawbacks was the lack of tables. I understand that it would take up a lot of space, but people want to be able to taste the food, drink and chat at the same time. Many of the dishes needed to be cut with silverware-a little challenging while standing. The other con was the noise. The music is loud thumping techno music, just not our taste. Overall, a fun experience, but not one I need to repeat every year. The Party went on from 6:30-9:00 PM, but we left around 8 PM. We were totally stuffed-I tried just about everything.

I wil get these pcitures up tonight sometime!

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 4-Sunday

We went back to Epcot this morning, grabbed fastpasses for Soarin’ and got in line for The Land with Nell & Bob. We checked out the new merchandise at Mouse Gear on the way to Test Track where were able to obtain another fast pass. After we rode Soarin’ & Test Track we made our way to the World Showcase for lunch. My parents & Nell went for the chilaquiles & quesadilla at the Mexico F&W booth, but I opted for the tafelspitz from the Vienna, Austria booth. Bob decided to go to the ESPN Club for lunch instead of grazing. We snagged a seat and munched on our samples. The tafelspitz was good- a braised piece of beef with horseradish sauce and buttered potato chunks. Here is a picture. Sorry about the other dishes-they were devoured too quickly!

Tafelspitz

The next sample was the pork potsticker from the China booth. It was the same dish offered from last year along with the chicken sha-cha. It was a large tasty potsticker with a tangy soy glaze. Then I tried the drebrizinger sausage with sauerkraut on a pretzel roll in Germany. It was similar to a Sugardale hotdog-smoky flavor with a mushy texture. It had a nice snappy casing on it though-good little snack. DM & Nell snapped up some ziti in Italy, but I held out for a funnel cake. The ziti was great tasting, according to them, and the portion was large.

We browsed the shops in Germany and decided to make our way back to the hotel. It was Nell & Bob’s last day and they were checking into the Dolphin for their last night. We were meeting them at Il Mulino in the Swan for dinner at 6 PM.

We first tried Il Mulino last October and it was excellent. The service was great and the food was delicious. The restaurant can be a bit chilly and on the loud side when there are people drinking in the bar. The menu is a la carte, like Maggiano’s, but they do offer family style dining, which are priced per person. It is on the pricy side, but the portions are large-save some room in your room fridge if you have one.

Nell & I both tried the shrimp cocktail-5 huge shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce. My parents had Caesar salads & Bob had the house salad. Both salads were quite large in size. Apparently they tasted good because the plates were empty! For dinner I tried a margherita pizza-still a little full from the lunch I had. It was thin & crispy with great tasting buffalo mozzarella cheese & a simple tomato sauce. The pizza was 14 inches round-too much for me to finish the whole thing. DM had the chicken parmesan, which literally was the size of her plate. She would have liked some pasta on the side, but as I mentioned it was a la carte. DF had the cannelloni and could barely eat one of the tubes they were so filling. Bob tried the tortellini alla panna-meat tortellini with peas in a cream sauce. He said it was too very filling, but he managed to eat the entire plateful. Nell had the rigatoni con funghi. It is a rigatoni dish with wild mushrooms, garlic and olive oil. To end the evening I had some tiramisu. Nell & Bob split the berries with zabaglione, but my parents were too stuffed. After the meal, Il Mulino serves house made limoncello. If you have not had this before give it a shot & if you have you know what I am talking about-the concoction is on the wicked side. Everything was excellent according to my fellow diners and I will definitely return next year.

Afterwards, we said adios to Bob as he went back to the room. Nell came with us down the Boardwalk to checkout Jellyrolls. It was a little cool and rainy and the air conditioning was blasting. We had planned on eating our dinner early then heading over there for some evening entertainment, but we were beat. So we browsed the shops, played a few games and hit the trail.

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 5-Monday

Today we decided to take a morning off from the parks. Since AK had EMH in the morning-I really did not want to have to wake up so early. We did some laundry then grabbed breakfast at the GFC. We then went to the Florida Mall to do some shopping. We stopped for lunch at Houlihan’s and made our way back to Disney property.

We hit the MK again for more POTC, HM, Fantasyland rides and other favorites. The crowds were still pretty low and the weather was great too.

Later in the evening we went to Epcot before walking to dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Around 6 PM it began to cool down and eventually rain steadily, luckily we had brought the umbrellas. I always enjoyed staying at the Yacht & Beach Clubs. The water views are lovely-day or night. Storm Along Bay is still the best pool at WDW in my opinion.

The Yachtsman Steakhouse was one the best restaurant experiences this trip beside Citricos. We dined here last year for my birthday and had a wonderful experience. John was our server, but he had an assistant as well, but I neglected to write down her name. They both took great care of us, bringing plates, drink refills, and making sure we were happy with out meals. I tried veal sweetbreads for the first time and disliked them. The combination of the smell and the smell from the leaks was pretty wicked. DF had the cheese plate and DM had the house salad. Our steaks were tender and delicious. John even brought me a little birthday dessert! DM & I had a special apple tart for dessert as well. I definitely will be making an adr for next year here!

Cheese Plate

Sweetbreads

N.Y. Strip

Birthday Dessert

Apple Tart

After dinner we made our way back through Epcot before Illuminations to beat the crowd.

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 6-Tuesday

This morning we grabbed the car and drove over to the AK. We like to drive instead of taking the bus. The parking lot is not far from the front of the park. The crowds were congested in the Oasis, but once we passed the bridge it was practically empty. First we wanted to get a fast pass for Kilamanjaro Safari. We made the trek to EE and got in the stand-by line and only waited 3 minutes. We went back n line since the line was still saying only 5 minutes. DM browsed the shop since she does not like coasters too much.

I snapped off a few pictures as we made our way through Asia on to Africa. The pathways get crowded pretty easily, especially when people are trying to take pictures for 10 minutes! The stand by line for KS was quite long by the time we came back with our fast passes. Hardly anyone was in the fast pass line and we waited about 10 minutes to board. Here are some great pictures I took.

New Baby Giraffe!

I had forgotten how fun KS was-we missed out last year-the line was insane and no fast passes left. We then picked up some souvenirs and birthday presents for me! I snapped a few more photos on our way out. There are so many little details to look at in the AK. All of the parks are totally detailed out-perhaps it is because the park is so young compared to the others. I just have not seen it all yet.

It was around noon, so we went to DTD for lunch and shopping. I know, I know-we do shop a lot, but it is so much fun! We stopped for lunch at Wolfgang Puck café. Our food and service was really great. The place was basically empty as was the rest of the West Side. DTD was not too bad either. I try to avoid DTD at night-everyone goes there the night before they leave! After that it time to go back and rest for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight!

We did not originally intend to the party, but after reading more about it on the boards I was all about it! We went over for dinner at Spoodles before hand and had a great meal. I had made the adrs way before I knew about going to the party, but I called and got an earlier time slot of 5:30 PM. Here are the pictures from the meal.

Mediterranean Dips

Rigitoni

Chicken Cutlet with Tomatoes & Serano Ham

Baklava

We pulled back into the GF and went right to the monorail. The CMs put on the wristbands and we were on our way. I definitely think it was worth the cost for the three of us. We walked on SM, Buzz, BTMRR, HM, the Fantasyland rides, POTC etc. We had three stuffed bags of candy, and after criss crossing the park a few times, we were beat at 10:00 PM. Hallowishes was an awesome show from inside the park. We usually watch in before bed from the balcony lol. We did not watch the parade, but I am sure we will catch it next year. Next time a longer nap will be necessary! Here are some pictures are had taken.

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 7-Wednesday

The forecast was calling for higher temps-upper 80s and higher humidity for the next few days and boy there were not kidding. After breakfast at the GFC, we were picked up by the DVC van to take us to Saratoga Springs Resort for our tour! We have been coming down year after year for the past 25 years and decided it was time to own a piece of the magic. We are proud new members at Bay Lake Tower. The models for AKV were beautiful, but the convenience of BLT was the big selling point. Needless to say it has been a great birthday week!

We got on the monorail to head over the Epcot and ended up getting stuck for 10 minutes. They towed the monorail to the MK and we decided to get on the resort monorail line to get to the TTC. Again we got stuck because of how they take the monorails off the track! Monorail silver was causing problems and we were hungry. We finally made it to the TTC and were given fast passes for any ride at Epcot for the day by a suit. That was pretty sweet!

We were starving at that point so we made a bee line to the Mexican Cantina for a wet burrito and a churro. DF and I went on TT while DM decided to sit it out. After a few hours at the World Showcase it was time to head back. We stopped at Gasparilla’s to get milk, cereal and some pastries for tomorrow morning before heading to the room.

Narcoossee’s was visible from our room, so it was a quick trip. Great location, but the atmosphere is lacking. The food was good overall. Our service was great with the exception of my appetizer coming out 5 minutes after my parents. The duckroll made up for the wait-it was excellent! DM had the mozzarella & tomato salad, while DF had yet another cheese platter.

Bread

Tomato Salad

Duck Roll

Surf & Turf

Crab Crusted Flounder

Whole Maine Lobster

DF enjoyed his crab crusted flounder. DM said her surf & turf was good, but the meat was not nearly as good as the filet from the YS. I opted for the whole Maine lobster I am a big fan. I was a little disappointed though-one of the claws was not full of meat and the lobster had a funny odor. It was not off nor bad nor extremely fishy smelling, yet the meat was fine. I have a very strong sense of smell and it can work against you sometimes. For dessert I had the chocolate cake with almonds and DM had the crème brulee.

We do not have a problem spending money on a great dinner, but I will say that for what you get it is expensive. Compared to the other meals Narcoossee’s was about average. My parents & I thought it was okay and we are undecided on whether we will come back next year. It was our first time perhaps we will give it another try.

Time to get some sleep because we have the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour tomorrow morning!

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 8- Thursday

It was tough waking up at 6 AM that morning. I sure wish they would get rid of Stitch too! We munched on our breakfast in the room and walked to the monorail station at 6:45 AM. It was still dark out! It was also very humid and misty, but not heavily raining either.

The monorail arrived at abut 7:10 AM and we met the conductor in front of the turnstiles at the MK. DF is a huge train guy-we have a basement full, makes displays, etc. It was not totally thrilling for DM & I, but still cool to see for the first time. We were chauffeured to Mickey’s Toontown Fair on the train where we learned about the track switch and how the trains are added to the track each morning. We then were taken back to the roundhouse to get an up close view of the four trains and how they operate. Our tour guide told us many stories about Walt, his friends, how they found the trains and most of the WDW railroad history. Overall it was informative and fun way to see the park. Here are some of the photos-unfortunately the weather was a little rainy for my Main Street shot, but enjoy.

Main Street

Monorail in the round house

By the time the tour ended, Main Street was pretty crowded. It was also steamy out! We suspected that the parks would start to get crazy with the beginning of Columbus Day weekend. We took the launch over to eat at the GFC. Then we went for a swim to cool off. It clouded over a bit and the wind picked up, but it was still warm.

We left the GF a little early for dinner at Jiko. We have never been to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so I wanted a little time to explore. It took us a few minutes to figure out hot to get there-the elevators kinda confused us. Boma was easy to find at first-boy was it loud and we could see a ton of people. We turned right and there it was. Luckily it was a little more subdued. We were seated within a few minutes and the restaurant was only about half full.

Unfortunately, we were seated right next to table with a young boy who could not sit still or be quiet. I know it is WDW and there are children, but many of them are well behaved and others are not. The kid was just about yelling in my ear. I looked at him and looked at his parents, but they were immune to the noise apparently.

Michelle was our server for the evening and she was very helpful. I went ahead and ordered the barbeque chicken flatbread to start. DM is not an adventurous eater, but she always says she will cope. She ends up eating a lot of filet mignons to say the least. She had the salad with lemon dressing-it was a bit tart! Michelle brought her a salad with Ranch dressing instead. I even thought it was a tad inedible with the dressing of choice. While DM was waiting for the salad, she managed to spoon down my roasted corn soup, which was excellent. A server brings the bowl with roasted corn kernels in the bottom-at first I was disappointed because I thought that was it, but then she proceeded to pour hot cream into the bowl. It was the perfect consistency-not too thick or thin. DF had more cheese.

BBQ Chicken Flatbread

Salad

Corn Soup

Filet

Halibut

Creme Brulee

House Made Lemon Curd

DM had the filet with macaroni & cheese. It was a little undercooked, but Michelle took it back and had the kitchen cook it a little more. The filet was so tender and the reduction sauce was the perfect accompaniment. DF & I had the maize crusted seared halibut, which was perfectly prepared. The vegetables of the moment were sautéed with butter with just the right amount of crispness.

For dessert I tried the house made Mayer lemon curd with biscotti, berries & sour cream ice cream. Michelle sounded about as skeptical as I did when describing it, but she said it was tasty. I am a chocoholic by nature, but I had to try this and boy it was delicious. DM went for the pistachio crème brulee and enjoyed it.


We had a great time, with the exception of the little brat who finally left after our dinners were served. Michelle was an excellent server who came over frequently to make sure our dishes were correct and to out liking. I thought the atmosphere was soothing and calm, perfect for enjoying a bottle of wine, or in my case a Mickey Mouse. The only thing I wish they would have designed differently is the view and the fact that you can see the people milling around. Other than that we will be back next year to dine!

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 9-Friday

Today is my birthday, so I got to choose what we did. I decided to head back to DHS to ride TSMM again. Rolla got a birthday cupcake for me at breakfast and of course encouraged everyone in the GFC to sing to me! It was a tasty cupcake-worth the torture.

We arrived at DHS around 9:10 AM. The crowds were heavy as we expected. By the time we arrived at TSMM, the stand by was 50 minutes and the fast passes were going fast! We hopped in line and managed to get fast passes for 12:10 PM. We went back towards the Backlot Tour, but it was not opening for another hour. We wandered through the shop near the HISTA play area. My cousins called to wish me a happy birthday-what a nice surprise.

We took our time browsing, since we had some time to kill. Check out the Streets of America and the surrounding area. Then my dad and I decided to wait for Rock n’ Rollercoaster. The stand by line took about 45 minutes to get through, but it the end it was worth it. Poor DM was waiting for us in the heat though. After that the park was totally jammed-lines were over an hour for both RnRC & TOT. We had our picture taken on Hollywood Blvd by the photopass photographer. After the picture he thanked us for being cooperative and being fun with the poses. I take it some people just want their picture taken and do not want to bother to have a little fun. We walked over and just made it for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. We haven’t seen it in over 5 year and I really enjoyed it. It is pretty funny too!

We went back to TSMM. There was a family behind us talking about getting a fastpass for the ride, but I figured they were doomed. Sure enough it was 12:30 PM-the fastpasses were all gone. I felt bad, but you have to beat the crowds and get there early. After we rode, we hit the dusty trail and headed to DTD.

We stopped for lunch at Earl of Sandwich. It was crazy busy at 1:30 PM. The weather was hot and people apparently wanted sandwiches. I grabbed drinks and a table while my parents got in line. We waited about 20 minutes for the food. We do not eat a lot of counter service food, but EOS is one we really enjoy.

Afterwards we bought some items to ship home at the Christmas store for our Disney tree. I will be sure to post a picture when I put it up this year! We picked up a few things at the World of Disney for my little cousins as well. We wished we had enough time to play mini golf like we say we are going to every year, but we did not want to rush. Plus it was about 90 F!

Instead we decided to relax and begin to pack up some of the clothes. DF & I enjoyed the view on the patio as we watched the people pour into the MK. The crowds going to the MK at 3 PM were crazy. I guess they were arriving early for the party. Before dinner we hopped on the monorail and rode over to the Contemporary to shop and admire BLT. We also stopped at the Polynesian and went to BouTiki and Trader Jacks.

I saved my favorite restaurant for our last evening, Citricos. We have been here about 7 times and have always seen the same waiter working here. Many servers on property are on a waiting list to serve here, but they ending up waiting for years. Our list of great servers include-Chafik, Bruce & Nadim.

Chafik was our server and he made sure my birthday dinner was special. He brought special straws for my Mickey Mouse and personalized menus for souvenirs. The restaurant was quite busy by 6:15 PM or so. My parents ordered the goat cheese truffles for their appetizer and I went for the gateau of crab with orange fennel cream & tomato fennel slaw. I would describe it as an oven baked crab & cheese soufflé and it is outstanding. My parents enjoyed their goat cheese salads as well.

Bread

Goat Cheese Truffles

Gateau of Crab

Ribeye

Filet

Birthday Tirimisu

Since it was pretty busy, the entrees were taking a little longer than usual, but Chafik brought over an amuse-bouche from Victoria & Albert’s to tide us over. It was a ceviche of red snapper and a great bite-very tart yet the fish was velvety. Our entrée arrived and my DF & I both had the bone in rib-eye with roasted Spanish onion and fingerling potatoes. The steak was cooked nicely and had a lot of flavor. DM had the filet with crushed potatoes and really enjoyed the dish.

For dessert I had the tiramisu on a special birthday plate and DM had the warm banana chocolate tart. They were both excellent. We had our picture taken with Chafik after the meal as well. This is my absolute favorite restaurant. The service and food have always been wonderful at Citricos and we are looking forward to coming back next year.

 

[LowesChevy]

Day 10-Saturday

We had to pack up and leave Saturday. There was one last request from DM-that she gets to have Tonga toast for breakfast on the last day. We missed eating there every morning, but next year we will be back. So we jumped on the monorail to eat at Kona Café that morning. Breakfast at the Kona Café is excellent. The service is usually good and the food is wonderful. There are a few drawbacks to the KC though. The line for O’hana gets long and sometimes you have to fight your way through the crowd. The other thing is the open restaurant and lobby-it can be loud at times.

Like many other WDW restaurants, they have the food runners bringing out the food rather than the servers. Once the food is ready they bring it out immediately. Kona Café is pretty good with getting the food out quickly. It makes sense in the morning-people want to get to the parks.

I had a big appetite so I ordered the Big Kahuna with eggs, pancakes, French toast and home fries. It was excellent, but this little piggy ate nearly the whole plate. DM had the Tonga Toast and DF had a ham & cheese omelet. We savored our last meal and headed back to the Grand Floridian to finish packing.

We finished packing and had a bellman help with our luggage. Loaded up the car and made our way to the airport. The flight home was pleasant and we landed in Cleveland around 4:30 PM. Grabbed dinner on the way home and happily ever after.

Now its time to start planning for next year!