Getting ill with the Maguire's!!! Day 16 .Breakfast at Cindys, Yacht Club & Epcot.

[Pinky166]

Cast:

Me = Claire (33), massive Disney fan, chief planner…(a little on the OCD side ) obsessive shopper, addicted to scrapbooking and very impulsive which doesn’t bode well for our credit cards!

Hubby = Lee (34), not a massive Disney fan but still enjoys it, adrenaline junkie, easy going and the sensible half of our partnership!


16th December 2008

Thankfully Lee was feeling better & just suffering with a cough & muggy head this morning. I on the other hand was up half the night with a stomach ache. However I was determined not to let it ruin our day! The wake up call came at 7.15am & we got up, showered & dressed. I chucked the last few toiletries etc in the cases & called for a bellboy to collect & transfer our four suitcases to the Yacht Club for us. Whilst I waited Lee went to store our laptop & hand luggage in the boot of the car. Once the cases had been collected & Lee returned we went to take a final few pics of the Lodge as it was a slightly foggy morning and looked lovely.

We walked down to the boat dock.

...and caught the boat to the Magic Kingdom arriving just as the opening ceremony was finishing. We walked straight up Main Street & had to enter the castle from the back as they had closed the front walkways off ready for the castle forecourt show.

We checked in at the desk and were told to wait inside in the queue for our photo with Cinderella (which is included in the price). We waited about 10 mins & had our picture taken, I must say Cinderella was very sweet and asked if Lee was my prince charming. (I should say we have never met with any of the characters, other than Sulley & Mike, before so didn’t know what to expect). Our name was called & we were told to go straight upstairs and be seated. We had a table for two right at the window, this was our lovely view….

I also took a few pics of the restaurant.

I didn’t note the name of our server but he was very attentive & quickly fetched us a glass of fresh orange juice, along with a selection of Tea Bags & a pot of hot water, milk & sugar. Shortly followed by a basket of danishes, croissants & muffins & a bowl of fruit to share.

The waiter then bought over the hot food, consisting of 2 x slices of bacon, 2 x sausages, scrambled eggs, potatoes & a donut type thing which I can’t describe but it was lovely. Just as we started to eat the Princesses began to come around the tables, firstly Jasmine. (I should point out that I have cropped myself out of the photos as I looked like death warmed up due to my lack of sleep! )

Then Aurora:

Next was Belle:

Finally Snow White:

Once we had finished eating we paid the bill $95 + tip. It was a fantastic experience & we enjoyed it much more than we expected too, that said I think we would only go back if we went with children.

It was a beautiful sunny morning and we decide to get a few last photos of the castle on our way out of the park as we would not be coming back to the Magic Kingdom this trip.

It was empty in front of the castle so I quickly snapped this pic:

One last one:

We exited the park (with a tear in my eye…thankfully it was sunny so I had my sunglasses on) and got the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge. We took a few photos on the way back across Bay Lake.

The Grand Floridian:

The Contemporary & Bay Lake Towers:

Continued below....

 

[Pinky166]

The monorail just arriving:

Hubby & I on the back of the boat (ignore the bags under my eyes please )

We collected the car from the car park & headed straight to the Yacht Club. We arrived around 11.30am & checked in, our room was ready. (Room 2055)

I loved this lamp:

Mickey towel:

The view looking out of our balcony doors:

The wonderful view of the Boardwalk from our balcony:

After exploring the room we decided to head over to Epcot.

We had a look around the lobby on the way out and took some photos of the Christmas tree:

They also had an amazing village with trains it was a huge display, the photos do not do it justice:

We didn’t realise how close Epcot was as we waited to get the boat! Whilst waiting we took some photos of the resort:

Stormalong Bay:

After two mins we got off the boat at Epcot and decided as it was 1pm to have a bite to eat, we choose the UK as I had heard good things on the DIS about Harry Ramsdens Fish & Chips. They were very nice.

Cont’d below…..

 

[Pinky166]

After we had eaten we had a look around the shops in the UK then crossed the bridge to France where we saw Pere Noel I was standing next to another lady who was also taking a photo (rather than join the queue) he turned and waved at us and asked if we were the paparazzi.

We carried on around World Showcase & had a look around Morocco.

We timed arriving in Japan just as Miyuki was starting....WOW, we have never seen her before & was amazed at her Candy creations.

We had a look around the shops & had a sit down for a while as I was suffering with my stomach ache. We took a few photos then noticed Miyuki was due to start again so waited around to watch her again. I think our favourites were the lion, dragon & a humming bird.

As we reached America the Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps were playing.

The Christmas tree & gingerbread house.

We also listened to Voices of Liberty, then continued round to Italy where we got an Ice Cream, Chocolate Gelato for me & Lemon sorbet for Lee. We had a look in the shops & took some photos.

We decided to go back to the Yacht club to get our cases & unpack & chill before getting ready for dinner. On the way back I stopped off at France & got a glass of Nuvo (sparkling vodka, served in a Champagne Flute) I had seen it in mentioned on the DIS & wanted to try it. OMG it was horrid....what a waste of $15!!! Oh well I guess now I know!

We exited the park and decided to skip the boat ( ) as we walked back we went through the Beach Club lobby to see their Christmas decorations, they had a fantastic Carousel (fully working) made out of gingerbread! They also had a Christmas tree.

We got back to the Yacht Club & had a look around the gift shop where I bought a Yacht Club pin & Christmas Tree Decoration. We went up to the room & called down for our cases, they were shortly delivered to the room by a lovely English guy who chatted to us for a while, he had been living in Orlando for 2 years as his wife is American. We unpacked one case (all we needed for the rest of the trip) & relaxed for an hour before getting showered & changed for dinner.

Our reservation was for 7.45pm at the Yachtsmen Steakhouse, we arrived a little early so checked in, picked up a pager & went to the bar for a drink, Lee had a coke & I had a Bahama Mama. We went through to the restaurant at around 8pm, for starters I had a Caesar salad & Lee had Seared Maine Diver Scallops which were served with diamond white cheddar risotto & sherry vinaigrette. My salad was nice but Lee was not impressed with his Scallops, he said they had bits in and thought they hadn’t been cleaned properly. For main course I ordered the Filet Mignon (no surprise there then) which I asked for fries instead of the mash & a peppercorn sauce on the side. Lee opted for the Australian Wagyu which he asked for medium/rare (as he always has it), once again mine was really nice but Lee’s was very rare & just full of gristle – he hardly ate any of it.
It was a waste of 2 table credits for Lee as he really didn’t enjoy it. I have heard such great things about this restaurant but what we experienced wasn’t great, my food was fine but Lee’s was terrible. The service was bad too, we hardly saw our waitress other than her taking the order then again when she cleared our main course plates, at which point she asked how Lee’s steak was (most of it was still on his plate) and he told her that it was too rare & gristly and she said well you should have let me know I would have cooked it more….what happened to you checking our food was ok whilst we were eating.

The table we were seated at was quite close to the one next to us which was empty when we got there but a couple were seated shortly after. They were very weird & barely spoke to one another???? They just sat staring at us & listening to our conversation the whole time. They really freaked us both out & we just wanted to go asap. We didn’t bother with desert, just paid the bill (4 TS credits & $23 for the starters, minimal tip.) and left. Overall I was very disappointed but may try it again this year as hopefully it was a one off bad day.

We went back to the room and caught the end of Illuminations from our balcony.


Coming up – Day 17 = Hollywood Studios!

 

[mandymouse]

Wow, your room at the Yacht Club looks amazing Great photos again Claire, though that Pere Noel looks a bit skinny to me

Another great day, though sorry you both didn't enjoy your meal at the Yachtsman Steakhouse

Thanks for sharing

 

[wils]

Once again amazing photographs. The parks look deserted!

 

[saratogagirl]

Wonderful piccies, look at skinny French Santa, that always makes me chuckle. Ah The Yachtsman, we had a wonderful meal there Christmas 2007, the best iof our trip, I couldnt wait to go back this year. What a disppointment we had, firstly it was freezing in there, Ian swapped seats with me as he thought I as under the vent, it was still freezing, our waiter asked why we had swapped seats, we explained about the vent, he said it has to be cold in here as us waiters have to wear jackets as part of our dress !! It was so cold that the waitress serving the table next to us wrapped the small children in tablecloths ... As for the food Ian got some sort of tomato dish to start, I had the bisque, followed by filet for Ian and New York Strip for me, no way was either steak medium, by that point I was too freezing to complain I just wanted to get out of there. We got back to Saratoga where I was as sick as a dog, so you could say my half of $160 literally went down the pan. We were so disappointed I can sympathise with you, it will be the Flying Fish all the way for us in future x

 

[wicket2005]

Beautiful photos as per usual and lovely report. Shame about your meal though.

 

[Jets fan]

Your photos are brilliant and very clear, thanks for sharing them.

Tina

 

[CustardTart]

Lovely photos, Claire! It's great to see pics of the Yacht and Beach Club resorts - I've stayed at both and love the EPCOT area...

Sorry to hear about your poor meal at The Yachtsman tho' - Sophie and I had an absolutely fantastic meal there in October 2007 and I really hope you try it again with better results...

 

[The Fetherstons]

What fab photos claire, your room looks fab and I love the gingerbread carousel we will have to go around christmas time one year it looks amazing another great day

such a shame about your meal tho

 

[suzycute]

I've enjoyed reading your reports - your photos are great too. Great idea to swap resorts - did you have a favourite?

 

[jjk]

amazing pictures again Claire,shame about your meal

 

[Snowy-girls]

Oh Claire what a fantastic day(apaer from the dodgy meal),your pics of Cindy's look fantastic+i really now can't wait for us all to go there for Chloe's 8th birthday.
Your room looks lovely.x.

 

[tennisfan]

Your room looks lovely, shame about the meal & service though.

 

[raph_b]

Glad Lee was feeling better today - maybe the thought of meeting all the princesses perked him up?!

Love the pics of Epcot, i love it there so much and love seeing other peoples pics of their days wandering around the place.

Shame the meal wasn't all that in the evening, I have heard very mixed reviews about the Yachtsman and never really fancied it that much myself.....

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

The YC looks lovely!

More great pics

 

[Verity Chambers]

How did you like the YC? This would be DHs 1st choice of accomodation.

 

[Pinky166]

Wonderful piccies, look at skinny French Santa, that always makes me chuckle. Ah The Yachtsman, we had a wonderful meal there Christmas 2007, the best iof our trip, I couldnt wait to go back this year. What a disppointment we had, firstly it was freezing in there, Ian swapped seats with me as he thought I as under the vent, it was still freezing, our waiter asked why we had swapped seats, we explained about the vent, he said it has to be cold in here as us waiters have to wear jackets as part of our dress !! It was so cold that the waitress serving the table next to us wrapped the small children in tablecloths ... As for the food Ian got some sort of tomato dish to start, I had the bisque, followed by filet for Ian and New York Strip for me, no way was either steak medium, by that point I was too freezing to complain I just wanted to get out of there. We got back to Saratoga where I was as sick as a dog, so you could say my half of $160 literally went down the pan. We were so disappointed I can sympathise with you, it will be the Flying Fish all the way for us in future x

Sorry to hear about your disasterous meal. have never been to Flying Fish, will have a look at the menu for that one.

I've enjoyed reading your reports - your photos are great too. Great idea to swap resorts - did you have a favourite?

Thanks. We both loved Wilderness Lodge, it was such a lovely resort & definately our favourite. Also loved the location of Yacht club.

Glad Lee was feeling better today - maybe the thought of meeting all the princesses perked him up?!

He only has eyes for one Princess.......I don't know which one though, it's definately not me!!!

How did you like the YC? This would be DHs 1st choice of accomodation.

We did like it Verity. Fab location for Epcot & DHS. The only thing I would say is that the room we were in was starting to get a bit worn & in need of a refurb. I would assume that if one was like it then they all will be.

Don't get me wrong it wasn't really bad but not up to the standard you would hope/expect.

 

[mark&sue]

Can't blame you for wanting to try the sparkling vodka thingy sounds so nice, but such a shame it was a let down. I have never heard of it before, not sure if you have put me off or got me interested??

Can't believe that you are now feeling poorly with your sore stomatch. If its not one of you, it is the other. You poor things. I had terrible flu the last time we went to WDW and it really did spoil our holiday.

Fantastic photos as it really feels like we are with you.

Loved our stay at the beach club villas as the location to epcot is excellent.

What a pity about your meal, especially Lees.


susan

 

[natalielongstaff]

Great day Claire, shame you are feeling poorly