We slept later. Our daughter is an early riser, usually 5:45 - 6:30 am. This day, she woke us up at 7:15. Believe it or not, we felt comparatively refreshed.
She watched Playhouse Disney Channel and we did not rush any morning rituals as we had a 10:30 PS for Fresh at the Dolphin, (the latest seating time)where we were staying. My husband and I discussed some after breakfast/brunch plans as well as our evening in Epcot without our daughter.
Fresh had a very good selection of foods. There was strawberry and cheese french toast, omlettes made to order (and even spinach to add into it), m&m pancakes, spit roasted turkey, ham, eggs, bacon, potatoes, a juice bar, a panstry smorgesboard, cereals. Everything really was "fresh". My husband claimed it was the best breakfast yet and I would have to agree.
I had spent some time in the morning loading a mesh beach bag for our time at the pools and the sand area. We all changed in bathrooms nearby the restaurant, althought I later learned from a mother that we could have used the health club. The idea was that walking 10 minutes back and forth to the room was not worth it, if we could swing it this way. Next time, I plan to definitely try the health club changing area.
My daughter loved the pool, particularly the slide. We learned after several slides down that she qualified to go down it herself, which freed us up to wade nearby and applaud, etc. She had the lifejacket on which made her bob rather than sink and emerge. That was fine by us. She's taking swimming classes, but is by no means a proficient swimmer at 5 1/2 yr. old.
My family supported me in an indulgence which I did not know would actually pan out. I got an hour long deep tissue massage. It was lovely, really relaxing and healing. After one, I was ready for the next one, immediately, but it was getting on 4 pm and we all agreed to meet back at the room and transition on into our evening plans. My husband, such a love, offered to play with our daughter while I got my massage. They did more sliding and swimming and even some sand play. After my daughter's bath, we got ourselves together for the evening.
My daughter would go to the Club Dolphin. We had already made reservations for this. We got our Epcot itinerary out, courtesy of Len Testa as well as park passes, id, etc.
The Club Dolphin drop off took about 15 minutes. There was another little girl being dropped off at the last minute. Apparently, they were lucky because sometimes, the place is full and last minute drop offs are out of luck.
We walked over to Epcot at a nice clip. What happened is we tried to get to the walkway via a different door at the Dolphin and ended up in the middle of the Pzifer convention. (Looking back, I'm smiling and laughing), but at the time, I was pissed. My husband looked more amused. He's better natured. So, by the time we found our usual path and abandonned the experimental way, another 10 minutes has passed. So, we both decided that we may have to drop our viewing of "O Canada" which was first on our list. We had promised our daughter to complete her kidcot passport on her behalf at UK and Canada. We had a 6:30 PS written down for Le Cellier. Well, we showed up at 6:20 and apparently, we were expected at 6:40, with the 6:30 being the early arrival time for us. We were given a beeper. We were seated at seven. We enjoyed watching a rabbit in the garden there after we did the kidcot stamp on our daughter's behalf. Then, I set to watching how many more people showed up spontaneously, asking for a table and ended up leaving. I also watched as one couple decided to wait. They showed up at about 6:45 pm and they were seated when we were at 7:00 pm. I thought that was weird, curious, and I'm not as good natured as my husband so I crabbed to him about it. And actually did fill out that evaluation card, mentioning that they might work on the seating a little. Once I moved outside of my crab disposition, I noticed how they were very, very busy and very crowded. So, I had a little bit more understanding that this whole seating business was probably more complicated than I knew. Don't forget, we did not see "O Canada". But who's fault was that? Chalk it up to experience, I guess.
My husband got a steak, of course. He said it was "OK". Len had likened it to "Outback". I didn't taste it, but I do recall my husband had about the same reaction to an Outback Steak. What we both really enjoyed was that Cheddar Cheese soup, which we split. Our waitress brought out those breadsticks. She called our attention to the pretzel ones as the perfect accompaniment to the soup. It was very good. I got the salmon and had no complaints there. We supposed that since the US did not have a joint, those families desiring a meal with more familiar foods, selected Le Cellier as their choice. We skipped dessert.
Len and I had discussed how my husband was an American history teacher, so we had selected the "O Canada" and "American Adventure" attractions for us to do this night as well as Impressions de France. My husband had omitted the French film when we were walking over in favor of more leisure and fulfilling out kidcot promise. So, having missed "O Canada", despite my husband denying that he cared, I still felt bad and started going into that "I just want everyone to have a good time and, somehow, I've failed to help them do so" mode that had just about ruined our first day in MK. But, with my husband's support, I knocked that off and we enjoyed the American Adventure. It was about 8:45 by the time we neared the boats for the Dolphin and other Boardwalk destinations. We decided to go pick up our little one.
When we arrived at about 9:20, she was miffed that we showed up before the flick was over. She had connected to the little girl who arrived at the Club when she had. She had plenty of artwork to show us. She seemed to like the babysitters enough to give them a hug. She asked us if she could come again to the Club during our vacation. That seemed like a positive recommendation to say the least. I told her then that when we come again, she could play there and we'd go to Shula's without her. She actually cheered. I guess that's why the Dolphin and Shula's have that 2 hours of free care at the Club Dolphin while parents dine at Shula's arrangement. Next time, we will have to try it.
We loved to see that turn down Dolphin service. Just a touch that makes you smile after a long day. Our daughter claimed her chocolate and fell right to sleep while my husband and I sat for a while and reviewed our next day's plan -- more MK, discussing our concerns given how much we had packed in, deciding what we might cut and how we might conserve our daughter's energy and our own for the long night which included the WISHES show after the Spectromagic Parade.
I'm looking forward to telling you all how that day turned out. (Hint: it couldn't have worked out better! Thanks again to Len Testa!!!!)
KIS
She watched Playhouse Disney Channel and we did not rush any morning rituals as we had a 10:30 PS for Fresh at the Dolphin, (the latest seating time)where we were staying. My husband and I discussed some after breakfast/brunch plans as well as our evening in Epcot without our daughter.
Fresh had a very good selection of foods. There was strawberry and cheese french toast, omlettes made to order (and even spinach to add into it), m&m pancakes, spit roasted turkey, ham, eggs, bacon, potatoes, a juice bar, a panstry smorgesboard, cereals. Everything really was "fresh". My husband claimed it was the best breakfast yet and I would have to agree.
I had spent some time in the morning loading a mesh beach bag for our time at the pools and the sand area. We all changed in bathrooms nearby the restaurant, althought I later learned from a mother that we could have used the health club. The idea was that walking 10 minutes back and forth to the room was not worth it, if we could swing it this way. Next time, I plan to definitely try the health club changing area.
My daughter loved the pool, particularly the slide. We learned after several slides down that she qualified to go down it herself, which freed us up to wade nearby and applaud, etc. She had the lifejacket on which made her bob rather than sink and emerge. That was fine by us. She's taking swimming classes, but is by no means a proficient swimmer at 5 1/2 yr. old.
My family supported me in an indulgence which I did not know would actually pan out. I got an hour long deep tissue massage. It was lovely, really relaxing and healing. After one, I was ready for the next one, immediately, but it was getting on 4 pm and we all agreed to meet back at the room and transition on into our evening plans. My husband, such a love, offered to play with our daughter while I got my massage. They did more sliding and swimming and even some sand play. After my daughter's bath, we got ourselves together for the evening.
My daughter would go to the Club Dolphin. We had already made reservations for this. We got our Epcot itinerary out, courtesy of Len Testa as well as park passes, id, etc.
The Club Dolphin drop off took about 15 minutes. There was another little girl being dropped off at the last minute. Apparently, they were lucky because sometimes, the place is full and last minute drop offs are out of luck.
We walked over to Epcot at a nice clip. What happened is we tried to get to the walkway via a different door at the Dolphin and ended up in the middle of the Pzifer convention. (Looking back, I'm smiling and laughing), but at the time, I was pissed. My husband looked more amused. He's better natured. So, by the time we found our usual path and abandonned the experimental way, another 10 minutes has passed. So, we both decided that we may have to drop our viewing of "O Canada" which was first on our list. We had promised our daughter to complete her kidcot passport on her behalf at UK and Canada. We had a 6:30 PS written down for Le Cellier. Well, we showed up at 6:20 and apparently, we were expected at 6:40, with the 6:30 being the early arrival time for us. We were given a beeper. We were seated at seven. We enjoyed watching a rabbit in the garden there after we did the kidcot stamp on our daughter's behalf. Then, I set to watching how many more people showed up spontaneously, asking for a table and ended up leaving. I also watched as one couple decided to wait. They showed up at about 6:45 pm and they were seated when we were at 7:00 pm. I thought that was weird, curious, and I'm not as good natured as my husband so I crabbed to him about it. And actually did fill out that evaluation card, mentioning that they might work on the seating a little. Once I moved outside of my crab disposition, I noticed how they were very, very busy and very crowded. So, I had a little bit more understanding that this whole seating business was probably more complicated than I knew. Don't forget, we did not see "O Canada". But who's fault was that? Chalk it up to experience, I guess.
My husband got a steak, of course. He said it was "OK". Len had likened it to "Outback". I didn't taste it, but I do recall my husband had about the same reaction to an Outback Steak. What we both really enjoyed was that Cheddar Cheese soup, which we split. Our waitress brought out those breadsticks. She called our attention to the pretzel ones as the perfect accompaniment to the soup. It was very good. I got the salmon and had no complaints there. We supposed that since the US did not have a joint, those families desiring a meal with more familiar foods, selected Le Cellier as their choice. We skipped dessert.
Len and I had discussed how my husband was an American history teacher, so we had selected the "O Canada" and "American Adventure" attractions for us to do this night as well as Impressions de France. My husband had omitted the French film when we were walking over in favor of more leisure and fulfilling out kidcot promise. So, having missed "O Canada", despite my husband denying that he cared, I still felt bad and started going into that "I just want everyone to have a good time and, somehow, I've failed to help them do so" mode that had just about ruined our first day in MK. But, with my husband's support, I knocked that off and we enjoyed the American Adventure. It was about 8:45 by the time we neared the boats for the Dolphin and other Boardwalk destinations. We decided to go pick up our little one.
When we arrived at about 9:20, she was miffed that we showed up before the flick was over. She had connected to the little girl who arrived at the Club when she had. She had plenty of artwork to show us. She seemed to like the babysitters enough to give them a hug. She asked us if she could come again to the Club during our vacation. That seemed like a positive recommendation to say the least. I told her then that when we come again, she could play there and we'd go to Shula's without her. She actually cheered. I guess that's why the Dolphin and Shula's have that 2 hours of free care at the Club Dolphin while parents dine at Shula's arrangement. Next time, we will have to try it.
We loved to see that turn down Dolphin service. Just a touch that makes you smile after a long day. Our daughter claimed her chocolate and fell right to sleep while my husband and I sat for a while and reviewed our next day's plan -- more MK, discussing our concerns given how much we had packed in, deciding what we might cut and how we might conserve our daughter's energy and our own for the long night which included the WISHES show after the Spectromagic Parade.
I'm looking forward to telling you all how that day turned out. (Hint: it couldn't have worked out better! Thanks again to Len Testa!!!!)
KIS
