Fleeing Wedding Showers for Epcot Flowers: My Final Morning, Finally! NEW 4/12

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I have the same willpower problem. I always say I'm going to relax and not go to a park - but that never works!

The F&G pictures are great! So so pretty! I'm sad we missed it this year.

P.S. love the wedding pictures!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Woohoo!

You made it to a park!

Excellent choice on taking a Mulligan at Bus Depot roulette.

AWESOME photos!

 

[NOX PLAYMATE]

I read through your last TR and had to read this one! My hubby-to-be and I are going to disney in sept 2011 for our disneymoon. We are going to be staying at the coronado springs resort. I wasn't to sure about staying there because it is only a mod resort, but now that I see pics from your mod resort stay, Im really excited about ours. Can't wait to read more.

 

[norybell]

Those very toparies are what convinced me I NEEDED a F&GF trip this year. Goodness, I never tire of seeing them on everyone's TRs! So, so pretty and creative.

You are going to love them. They truly are incredible.

Hilarious about the Star Wars Geek on the bus! Oh man. Sorry you had to endure that, but it sure makes excellent TR fodder!

Yeah...even at the time, it was funny enough to me to be worth enduring!

POR is BEAUTIFUL. Are the rooms designed differently over in the mansions? I don't recall ever seeing pictures like yours. I love the bayou look of it all too, it hardly seems like you are a hotel in parts of it.

I think the rooms are decorated differently over in the mansions, though they're laid out the same. Looking at pictures, I thought the mansion room decor was a lot blander, but it's probably nice in reality. I really wanted to stay in Alligator Bayou because it felt super peaceful there when I visited last October, compared to the mansions.

I have the same willpower problem. I always say I'm going to relax and not go to a park - but that never works!

The F&G pictures are great! So so pretty! I'm sad we missed it this year.

P.S. love the wedding pictures!

Thanks! And hey, relaxing's overrated, right?

Yesterday I was feeling really stressed out and started thinking, hm, maybe I can add a night onto my trip next month, and spend this first, extra night in a FW cabin, relaxing and sleeping in and stuff. Then I realized I was being crazy -- if I were there, how could I stay away from the parks?

Woohoo!

You made it to a park!

Excellent choice on taking a Mulligan at Bus Depot roulette.

AWESOME photos!

Thanks! I'm excited to get back and practice my photography some more. (Not sure why, but I'm never inspired to go practice it around home...)

I read through your last TR and had to read this one! My hubby-to-be and I are going to disney in sept 2011 for our disneymoon. We are going to be staying at the coronado springs resort. I wasn't to sure about staying there because it is only a mod resort, but now that I see pics from your mod resort stay, Im really excited about ours. Can't wait to read more.

I'll be staying at CSR in a few weeks for one night, and I'm sure I'll TR all about it! And congrats on your engagement!

I was hoping to get at least one more update done this week, but we have to go to California for a wedding on Friday, and I have so much to do to get the apartment ready for our housesitters/dogsitters. So we'll see!

 

[norybell]

Sung to the tune of “Movin’ On Up” (the theme from The Jeffersons):

Well I’m movin’ on up
To Disney’s Grand
To a deluxe hotel there on the sand
Movin’ on up
To Disney’s Grand
Will it be as nice as I’d planned?

Fish might swim in the lagoon
Monorail runs on the track
Will the Grand make me swoon
Make me want to unpack
Now I’m where things are fancy
Puttin’ on a top hat
No matter the room, it’s you and me, Disney
There ain’t nothing wrong with that


I woke up to my alarm at 6:00 the next morning, feeling well-rested for the first time in months (wedding stress and sleep don’t get along very well). I gotta give it to POR—I probably slept better in that room than I have in any other WDW resort room in my adult life. The combination of the thick exterior door (which, as I’m sure we’ve all dutifully read in our Unofficial Guides, has to be thicker than the doors in the Deluxes since it opens to the outdoors instead of to an interior hallway) and the soft hum of the window AC unit really worked for me.

In other words, I felt great!

My mom was scheduled to arrive early that afternoon, and I had what I thought was a brilliant plan for my morning: I’d check into the Grand Floridian, then go to the MK for rope drop and have time to collect a couple sets of FPs for the two of us to use later that afternoon. Sure, it was just me and my one park ticket. But I figured, as long as I stayed on top of the time, I should be able to get 4 FPs before I met my mom at the hotel, two apiece for two different rides.

I took my time packing and getting ready, then rolled my little suitcase over to Bell Services around 7:30. There were a surprising number of people out and about…I guess POR genuinely was kinda busy. I’ll be back there for a night in a few weeks, and I’m really curious to see if it’s peaceful again, like it was last October, or bustling, like it was in May.

G’bye, POR! See y’all real soon!

I asked Bell Services to call me a cab. Maybe one of these days I will finally trust them to transfer my luggage for me, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to, yet. What can I say, I like knowing exactly where my stuff is, even if it means splurging for a taxi!

The valet pretended to be shocked that I was moving over to the GF, and made lots of jokes about how they suck, and about how their valets have to wear really silly socks. His banter felt a bit forced, but I appreciated the effort, anyway.

Soon enough I was in a cab on my way to Disney’s deluxiest Deluxe. I was both thrilled, and a bit nervous. I dreamed of staying at the GF when I was a little girl, but I hadn’t been wowed by the room décor in any of the pictures, and I was worried my mom wouldn’t like it compared to the Yacht Club (my mom can be a bit particular about these things). Plus, it was more expensive—would it really be worth it? I’d justified it by thinking of this trip as my wedding shower, since I didn’t have an actual wedding shower. So I wanted everything to be as perfect as possible, but I had absolutely no idea how we’d feel about our room.

Of course, I really shouldn’t have worried.

The second I walked into the gorgeous lobby, I felt like I was home. Just the way I feel when I step into the YC. I was a bit surprised by this, since the GF clearly has a bit more…um…upscale of a feel to it, but it felt so right to me. I guess I’m just a snob at heart.

Chandeliers are very important to us snobby types.

Unsurprisingly, my room wasn’t ready yet…after all, it was only 8:00 in the morning. So I stowed my bags with Bell Services and headed through the lobby, out to the grounds.

The second I was outside, I smelled roses. The air was literally heady with roses. It was amazing. I felt like I was in paradise.

I’d never been beyond the lobby before, and I was thrilled by how beautiful it was back there. When I saw this, I almost started crying (tears of joy, obviously):

I went into Gasparilla’s for a coffee to go, then circled back to the lobby, so I could catch the monorail over to the MK.

At the monorail platform stood Mr. Too-Cool-for-School CM. He was young, handsome, and ridiculously sullen—he clearly thought he was way too good for such menial work.

Whatever, dude, I’m the one with the cool ride.

I made it through the turnstiles about five minutes before rope drop. I considered heading to the right and making a beeline for Space Mountain, which had been down during my last two visits. But, as usual, there were about ten times more people on that side of the crowd. Instead, I wove my way up to my usual MK-RD spot, near the left tunnel entrance, and entertained myself by watching all the adorable, excited kids dancing and hula-hooping while their parents tried to maneuver their strollers in ways to maximize post-RD efficiency. (I’m both eagerly anticipating and dreading such things!)

After just a few more minutes, we were off. And after another few minutes at the Adventureland RD #2, I was at the front of the pack, speed-walking toward Splash Mountain. A teenage girl and her two brothers kept running ahead, and the CMs were (rightfully) annoyed with them. The kids seemed to know what they were doing, though, and somehow I ended up following them (at a walk, I promise!), meaning I took a slightly different route than I usually do. They were the first people at the Splash FP machines, and I was second. The ride itself was down, but I figured I’d get a FP for later; I hadn’t planned on riding it yet, anyway.

Stupidly, I didn’t notice one very important thing: the return time was 10:50. Whereas for anything else in the park, it would’ve been 10:00. Bad move on my part. I guess they assumed it might take a while before Splash was up and running. But considering my whole goal for the morning was to maximize FPs for my mom and me that afternoon, I wasn’t off to the best start.

Oh well. Maybe some dynamite would make me feel better?

I think BTMRR as my first ride of the day at the MK has become a tradition at this point. It’s the absolute best way to wake up!

Then it was time for a visit to Neverland, represented by these few slightly blurry trees:

I meandered through Fantasyland on my way to Space Mountain. I was super excited to ride it, because it had been years since my last trip into space.

The wait said ten minutes, which was spot-on. Not bad at all! I asked for the front, and got it. And all I can say is, wow, Space Mountain in the front is trippy. There’s really no other word for it.

The flight was fun. But it felt so short! I didn’t really remember the ride well enough to notice the updates, so I’ll have to trust that they’ve improved the voyage. If only they’d made it twice as long while they were at it.

I headed westward. (Well, “west” in MK map terms. I have no idea what direction that is in reality. Perhaps I should say: I headed Adventureward.)

Then I took a quick detour to visit these guys:

And for the first time ever, I scored the perfect seat for Philharmagic. I was so excited! I mean, not like there are really bad spots. But I always seem to be off-center, or behind someone tall, or something. Not this time. It’s like this particular seat was magical, or something. Direct center, back third of the theater, nothing but short little kiddos for rows and rows in front of me.

I love that show. It’s one of the things I know DH will love, too, when I finally drag him to WDW. I mean, sheesh, he wanted to go see Step Up 3D twice because he thought the 3D effects were so cool!

My FP window was about to open up again, and I still needed another Splash FP for my mom. But the plaintive cries of the ghosts were too hard to pass up…

The bright sunlight dampens the effect a little bit…I can’t wait to ride the HM again at MNSSHP!

Naturally, I got stuck just before the hitchhiking ghosts. Where there’s nothing to take bad dark pictures of, even. I’m sure this happened only because I was in a hurry to get my next FP. I guess that’s what I get for being so FP-driven. The spirits were reminding me that greed never pays!

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[norybell]

I’m an Aries, he’s a Leo…will DH share my Disney-love? Or will our future children grow up deprived of the twice-annual trips I’m already dreaming of?

I finally made it back to Splash, which was still closed and splash-free. I had no idea if it would ever be working that day, but at that point, I had no choice but to pick up another FP, since we’d need a set of two to do anything, and I only had one. So much for my morning’s grand plan!

I had some time to kill before lunch, so I wandered around for a while.

I don’t think I’d ever seen this little nook before, and I kind of fell in love with it:

Look, it’s my new apartment!

Or wait, should this be my new apartment? Decisions, decisions.

The massive amount of scaffolding up on Main Street did bum me out a little. I’d been expecting it in Fantasyland (I’m so excited about the expansion there, I’ll forgive them their construction walls for as long as it takes!). But it seemed like there was a ton of it all over, especially on Main Street. Wouldn’t you think they’d try to keep it to a minimum in the rest of the park, while the FL work is going on? And while I appreciate the way they decorate the tarps to look like the buildings, it’s still just not quite the same, you know?

Oh well.

I became obsessed with capturing a cool balloon shot. The jury’s still out as to whether or not I succeeded:

I was hungry, and totally excited for this meal at the Plaza. For lunch, I love few things more than a yummy sandwich and fries, and from everything I’d read, I was expecting the Plaza to deliver on both counts.

I was seated after a few minutes, at a table right next to the swinging door from the kitchen. I internally grumbled about that for a second, then I let it go. After all, it seemed like half the seats in there were next to one door or another.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich - grilled chicken breast topped with shaved ham and Swiss cheese served on a flour-dusted Kaiser $11.99

SO GOOD. The perfect lunch for me. Only a few more weeks before I’m eating those fries again…and yes, I am drooling on my keyboard right now. Just to give you an attractive visual.

Now, if only I’d had three FPs in my pocket, instead of two, I would have killed some time and collected one more before my mom arrived.

I know, I know, you’re thinking: Let this FP thing go already, Nory!

Well, OK. If you say so.

Even though my lunch was restorative and delicious, I was feeling a bit tuckered out, and the park was starting to seem crowded. So I decided I’d wait for my mom back at the GF.

I wandered around Main Street a bit more on my way out.

Hey, chica, you lookin’ at me?

No offense to any princesses out there, but my wedding dress was way better than this one. Granted, it did not offer space for champagne flute and cake cutter storage.

I popped in here, and it seemed like it was just a film/camera store. Do they actually show any animation? Was I just missing it? I noticed a hallway, but it looked like I wasn’t supposed to go down it, so I didn’t. Was all the animation hiding at the end?

Horse!

I love this scene, of course. But don’t Mickey’s eyes look just a little creepy here? “Stare deep into my eyes…you will return…I will control your vacations forevermore…when I snap my fingers, you won’t remember this conversation, but whenever you hear the word “and,” you’ll post something wonderful about Disney on the DIS…”

 

[glennbo123]

Thoroughly enjoyable update Nory!

Sung to the tune of “Movin’ On Up” (the theme from The Jeffersons):

Well I’m movin’ on up
To Disney’s Grand
To a deluxe hotel there on the sand
Movin’ on up
To Disney’s Grand
Will it be as nice as I’d planned?

Fish might swim in the lagoon
Monorail runs on the track
Will the Grand make me swoon
Make me want to unpack
Now I’m where things are fancy
Puttin’ on a top hat
No matter the room, it’s you and me, Disney
There ain’t nothing wrong with that

I'll admit it -- I sang along. In my head.

I guess I’m just a snob at heart.

Aha! (Nothing wrong with that, I just felt like saying "Aha!")

The air was literally heady with roses.

"It's Headley!" Sorry, "Blazing Saddles" reference. One character was named Headley Lamar.

I’d never been beyond the lobby before, and I was thrilled by how beautiful it was back there.

I've never even been in the lobby. Whenever I've tried to go in, there's always been someone to greet me outside and give me directions to a "very nice Super 8 down the road a piece."

Oh well. Maybe some dynamite would make me feel better?

I've noticed this, but I can't remember exactly where it is. Very cool.

And all I can say is, wow, Space Mountain in the front is trippy. There’s really no other word for it.

I thought that Space Mountain was a really fun ride.

SO GOOD. The perfect lunch for me. Only a few more weeks before I’m eating those fries again…and yes, I am drooling on my keyboard right now. Just to give you an attractive visual.

I've heard good things about the Plaza. Might have to try it one of these days.

I know, I know, you’re thinking: Let this FP thing go already, Nory!

No, that's exactly what I would have been doing, so I'm thinking "you go girl!"

No offense to any princesses out there, but my wedding dress was way better than this one. Granted, it did not offer space for champagne flute and cake cutter storage.

Nory sighting!

 

[brookelizabeth]

about Mickey! YES! I thought that right when I saw the red eyes! Bad choice of flower color there!

Your review of the Plaza made me excited for our ADR there in March! I've heard so many great things - and the chicken sandwich is high on my list for possibilities. Do you plan to get that again, or are you going to try something else?

I'm with ya on the coverings on Main Street. I do appreciate that they have them looking like the buildings, but it does take away. I wonder why there are so many lately??? What could they be doing? Repainting everything? I thought they did that at night? Who knows!

And The Grand! I'm looking forward to hearing all about that!

 

[norybell]

Thoroughly enjoyable update Nory!

Thanks!

I'll admit it -- I sang along. In my head.

Hey, that's what it's there for. I have had that song in my head for two whole days now, I just want to spread it around a little!

I've never even been in the lobby. Whenever I've tried to go in, there's always been someone to greet me outside and give me directions to a "very nice Super 8 down the road a piece."

Well, you know, they do have standards to maintain and all that.

I've noticed this, but I can't remember exactly where it is. Very cool.

I can't remember where it is, either...somewhere in the vicinity of BTMRR, and that's the best I can do!

Nory sighting!

When I saw myself in that photo, it made me wish that I was wearing my wedding dress, somehow -- wouldn't that be cool?

(Seriously, though, I need a game of my own for my next TR. Hm. Something to think about.)

about Mickey! YES! I thought that right when I saw the red eyes! Bad choice of flower color there!

Seriously, right? It's evil hypnotic Mickey!

Your review of the Plaza made me excited for our ADR there in March! I've heard so many great things - and the chicken sandwich is high on my list for possibilities. Do you plan to get that again, or are you going to try something else?

The Plaza was great. It's not, like, to-die-for great, just a good solid lunch, if you know what I mean. The chicken sandwich was good, though the fries were the real stars of the meal. I'd get it again, though next time I might go for the veggie or the tuna...the cheesesteak is tempting, but I just managed to score a Le Cellier lunch for the day before cool1, so I might want to not overdo my red meat lunches!

I'm with ya on the coverings on Main Street. I do appreciate that they have them looking like the buildings, but it does take away. I wonder why there are so many lately??? What could they be doing? Repainting everything? I thought they did that at night? Who knows!

I know, it's really weird, isn't it? I'm hoping at least some of the Main Street ones are down by now!

 

[Tribilín]

Just catching up with your TR too! I was on a (not very) long vacation

Very cool updates

Thanks for the pics from POR, I can't wait to give it a try.

Oh well. Maybe some dynamite would make me feel better?

Everything's better with a little dynamite

 

[brookelizabeth]

The Plaza was great. It's not, like, to-die-for great, just a good solid lunch, if you know what I mean. The chicken sandwich was good, though the fries were the real stars of the meal. I'd get it again, though next time I might go for the veggie or the tuna...the cheesesteak is tempting, but I just managed to score a Le Cellier lunch for the day before cool1, so I might want to not overdo my red meat lunches!

Thanks for the tips! I've heard really good things about the fries, I'm looking forward to them - I love french fries (a little too much!). It reminds of a good diner food - nothing fancy, but just normal and tasty. I like very much.

Woot for the Le Cellier!!!

 

[norybell]

Sung to the tune of the theme from “Gilligan’s Island”:

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale
A tale of a peaceful trip
That started on a magic isle
Aboard a tiny ship

The boat set sail from the Kingdom’s shores
And set out on Bay Lake
The waters were so calm that day
It was a nice break, twas a nice break

The sun gently shone down on me
The breeze my sweat it dried
You’ll all agree it’s a peerless trip—
The ferry’s a great ride, the ferry’s a great ride

The boat pulled up to a dock that looked to be the perfect port
With lots of kids,
Their parents too,
A millionaire and his wife,
One ECV,
A cast member and Nory Bell,
Here at the Poly Resort

***

I rather aimlessly strolled out of the Magic Kingdom and headed for the ferry launch, internally debating a quick trip over to the Wilderness Lodge. I haven’t been there since I was little, and I was curious to see how it would live up to both online photos and my memories.

But as I approached the dock, fatigue/laziness won out, and I decided to return to the GF in the hopes that our room would be ready soon.

Of course, I had to take a million photos of the voyage, since my short stop at the GF that morning had already left me enamored with the resort. So I present you with:

Nory’s Photographic Tour of Seven Seas Lagoon

After staying at the Contemporary in October and neglecting to take a single monorail photo, I obsessed over getting good ones this time!

Will our room be here?

I had chosen Citrico’s over Narcoossee’s for dinner. Would I regret it? And will our room be here?

Will our room be here? The suspense was killing me!

Look, it’s the Poly!

Getting closer…

Too close! Too close!

I’m totally confused about the order of these photos. Were the previous Poly shots really zoomed in? Were we just turning around here or something? And will our room be here?

Did we stop at the GF first, or the Poly? I am confused.

Cuz now we’re at the GF (and will our room be here?)…

and now we’re back to the Poly again. WHAT’S GOING ON?

Thus endeth the photographic tour.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[norybell]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

Despite my directional confusion and poor memory regarding the location and order of ferry stops, I do know that I decided to disembark at the Poly.

It’s a wacky tiki!

It’s a serious tiki. Ready to carry some firewood or do the running man.

Waterfall, outside.

Waterfall, inside.

Such a beautiful lobby! I can’t believe I’ll be staying there so soon—I’m so excited to compile my own definitive ranking of the three monorail resorts!

I poked around the Poly for a little bit, then wandered back to the GF along the walking path.

I ran into a huge wedding group coming out of the pavilion, all standing there blocking the sidewalk, waiting to have their picture taken. I made a snap decision and scooted quickly past while the cameraman was still setting up the shot. In retrospect, it would have been the perfect moment for a photo bomb (if I were evil, that is. Which I’m not. At least not usually.).

When I walked into the GF, the burst of air conditioning and relative quiet of the lobby immediately revived me. Our room still wasn’t ready, and my mom hadn’t replied to any of my texts, so I explored the place.

Ooooooh.

Aaaaaaah.

Finally, I admitted to myself that I needed to rest. I crashed on one of the plush lobby sofas and read my book for a while.

I was obsessed with these flowers—aren’t they gorgeous?

After reading for a half hour or so, I was beginning to worry about my mom and her flight—had it arrived on time? Disney had neglected to send her any Magical Express documents—was she experiencing a nightmare getting on a bus? We’re not a particularly cell phone-savvy family—had she simply turned her phone off and neglected to turn it back on?

Feeling both antsy and thirsty, I abandoned my comfy couch spot and headed out to Gasparilla’s in search of a soda. And as soon as I re-entered the lobby, I spotted my mom across the room with her suitcase, on the phone, presumably calling me.

I snuck up behind her and said, brightly, “Hi, Mom!” She only jumped a little. I was so happy to see her!

It turned out that her delay was from having to stand in the Magical Express line forever. And she had turned off her phone and forgotten about it. By now it was nearly 3:00, but since we were still waiting for our room, we decided to stick to our plan and go to the MK. Could we possibly have a good time with only two fastpasses, instead of four?

Unsurprisingly, by the time we got to the park, it seemed pretty crowded. Of course, it’s all relative: It was nowhere near spring break crowded, but felt pretty darn crowded for early May.

We headed straight for the mountains.

Thankfully, Splash was finally working, so we used my hard-earned morning FPs and got soaked.

My mom, sporting a wet look that’s totally fashionable this season.

Seriously, why in the world did they decide to make Splash so much wetter? It’s one of my favorite rides, but I don’t particularly enjoy having to suffer through buckets of water being thrown on me in order to enjoy it. I read over on the Theme Parks board that at some point they decided to raise the water level and make the jets more powerful. Why, Disney, why?

We grabbed a set of FPs for Big Thunder, then headed over to Fantasyland. We figured we’d be safe getting on It’s a Small World, but, shockingly, it had a half-hour wait! Instead, we hung out with some pirates and climbed a big tree. We popped into a store on Main Street (the Emporium, maybe?) so my mom could get a sun hat and I could add to my Disney ankle-sock collection (at this point, I forget to pack socks on purpose, because I love theirs so much!). Then we decided we’d had enough. We had only been there an hour, but it really felt too busy to do much more, and we were both ready for some serious relaxing.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[norybell]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

While on the ferry back to the GF, we finally got the text saying our room was ready. Room 8221 in Boca Chica, Magic Kingdom view (this was a wedding-related splurge, remember?).

We waited for what felt like forever for Bell Services to bring our bags, then we eagerly wheeled them across the lobby, through the flower-scented grounds, past the tempting pool, and into Boca Chica. Our room was on the second floor near the elevator, which made me a bit nervous; I’d requested a high floor, a quiet room, and an unobstructed castle view, and since we were on a low floor near an elevator (in my experience elevators typically lead to noisier rooms), I worried we wouldn’t get our view, either.

But once again, I shouldn’t have worried. Our room was PERFECT.

Just like at POR, pictures really don’t do these rooms justice. What I had worried would be fussy décor was actually very warm and comfortable. And our view was breathtaking.

OK, I’ll admit those were zoomed in. Here’s a more accurate view:

And to help you get your bearings:

There was nothing between our balcony and the water but a little bit of grass. And considering we saw almost no one outside during our too-brief stay, it practically felt like we lived there, and were just sitting out on our back porch, or something. We loved it. We loved the timelessness of the view, the way it’s the same as it was back in ’76 when we started visiting the MK, and ’88 when they built the GF. And while we’ve always been diehard Epcot-resort folks, we immediately preferred this view to Boardwalk/Crescent Lake. That vista’s awesome too, of course. But it’s difficult to forget the fact that it’s all fake. Whereas the Seven Seas Lagoon view feels natural, even though it’s manmade, like a view you could have from a cottage in upstate Wisconsin, or something. Except, of course, for the castle and Space Mountain! Seeing those magical elements in such a natural landscape felt amazing to us—we loved loved loved loved loved it.

Within seconds, the GF was our new favorite resort. Sorry, Yacht Club.

We unpacked, then visited the lobby stores for a bottle of wine and some other necessities. We drank wine and discussed wedding logistics on our balcony for a while, before freshening up and heading to Citrico’s for dinner.

Neither of us had been to Citrico’s before, and we liked the room right away: It felt luxurious, but also airy and comfortable. At first, our waiter ignored us in favor of a few big tables with bunches of kids, but a few pointed glances got our dissatisfaction across, and he paid more attention to us then (we’re very good at the pointed glances). And the food was all-around excellent.

For appetizers, my mom had the Duck Confit (Smoked Duck Breast with Tomato and Egg Fettuccini and Opal Cream $14.00), which was some of the best-prepared duck either of us have ever had. We actually sent our compliments to the chef! I had the Delta Asparagus Salad (Greens tossed in Meyer lemon oil, goat cheese drizzle, Nueske Applewood Smoked Bacon and Quail Eggs $14.00), which was also very good, but paled in comparison to the duck.

Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the appetizers, sorry!

My entrée:

I think this was the short ribs, though it’s possible it was the filet. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

My mom’s entrée:

Oak Grilled Atlantic Swordfish - Crispy Potato Pastilla, Sautéed Spinach, Tomato Confit, and a Basil Beurre Blanc $33.00

And for dessert:

Warm Chocolate Banana Tart - vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas $9.00

Ridiculously good. We were happy.

After dinner, we rolled back to our room and were almost immediately surprised by some unexpected music coming from outside. We had completely forgotten about the Electrical Water Pageant!

Cute! And a lovely thing to watch while enjoying a glass of wine at our favorite new spot in the world: our balcony at the GF. A few small families sat on blankets under the tree to the right of our view, and these were the only people we saw outside our room for our entire stay.

Soon enough, it was time for Wishes. I have yet to see Wishes from inside the park, a sad situation I hope to remedy soon. But our balcony was still a pretty-close-to-perfect viewing spot, though none of my pictures turned out too well.

After the fireworks? Sleep. Lots of it, in our wonderful beds in our wonderful room in our wonderful new resort. Grand Floridian, I think I love you!

 

[dismagiclover]

That is it! I'm sold! My 40th birthday is in January 2012 and I've contemplated where to stay for it. It looks like it will be a GF room with a MK view. If I'm gonna splurge I might as well go for the gusto! Just awesome pictures!

 

[norybell]

That is it! I'm sold! My 40th birthday is in January 2012 and I've contemplated where to stay for it. It looks like it will be a GF room with a MK view. If I'm gonna splurge I might as well go for the gusto! Just awesome pictures!

Do it! You won't be sorry. I'm excited to experience the Poly next week, and I know so many people swear by the Poly, but I have a hard time imagining any resort will ever top the GF for me! It really just felt like being in a whole other world.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Awesome updates Nory B!

I'm glad your mom arrived safe and sound and the resort met and exceeded your expectations. Dinner looked AMAZING!

Great photos this time around.

"It's Headley!" Sorry, "Blazing Saddles" reference. One character was named Headley Lamar.

DED Glenn! Well played!

 

[glennbo123]

It’s a serious tiki. Ready to carry some firewood or do the running man.

It looks like he's got a monkey stuck to his face?

 

[norybell]

Awesome updates Nory B!

I'm glad your mom arrived safe and sound and the resort met and exceeded your expectations. Dinner looked AMAZING!

Great photos this time around.


DED Glenn! Well played!

Thanks, GB!

It looks like he's got a monkey stuck to his face?

Well, y'know, some tiki's've got a monkey on their backs, some on their faces...it's just the way it goes, man!

 

[onelilspark]

Citricos is one of my favorite on property