After our leisurely stroll through the beautiful World Showcase, it was finally time to head to Biergarten for our 7:35 ADR. This was a last minute addition, thanks to Jeff's boss. This meal was on them! YAY!
We checked in a little early, so the boys rested in this beautiful archway...
...while Jeff and I explored the Crystal shop....it's really best not to take the boys in a place where everything is very breakable and very expensive!
The crystal replica of Cinderella castle in this shop is absolutely breathtaking. If you've not seen it, I suggest you pop in and take a peek! Your souvenir budget better be huge, though, if you want to take it home!
Our little buzzer went off and we rejoined the boys and followed our host to our table. This restaurant is seated family style so we shared our table with another young couple. Here's a picture of us at our table...it's not the best picture of me, but notice Isaiah's cheeks are stuffed FULL! Whatever he's eating, he's enjoying it!
I don't remember exactly what was on the buffet, but I do remember a few of our favorites. Isaiah was a big fan of the Potato and Leek soup....he still asks me to find the recipe and make it for him here at home! We also enjoyed the schnitzel, sauerbraten, potato dumplings, German potato salad, the wide variety of sausages, Bavarian cabbage salad, and the delicious assortment of rolls and bread. My kids are fairly adventurous eaters and were able to find plenty of food that they liked here. For those not so adventurous, there were mini hot dogs as well as mac and cheese on the buffet as well.
As we were enjoying our meal, the show began onstage. It was a group of German musicians playing traditional instruments and was really very good! They were entertaining and pulled the crowd into the show. At one point we all had to raise our glasses and give a loud, Oy, Oy, Oy! My kids got a big kick out of it! They also invited everyone onto the dance floor at one point to share in the chicken dance and a polka or two. I think we were all too exhausted, so we just watched. At the beginning of our vacation, we would have been polka-ing with the best of them! Here are a few pictures of the performers.
Playing the cowbells.
These were so cool!
As the show finished, we made our way up to the dessert buffet. YUM!
Black Forest Cake, Bavarian cheesecake, apple strudel! The desserts were fabulous!
We absolutely loved this meal. The restaurant itself is very cute..it feels like you are outside in a German courtyard. The service was amazing and the entertainment was a hoot! I'm so glad we ended up our Disney vacation here...it was one of our best meals. A few more picture of our happy faces before we have to exit Epcot for the last time.
It was about 8:45 when we finished our meal and left Biergarten. Our goal was to head out of the park while Illuminations was showing and avoid some of the bus rush. It was so nice to walk out of the park with the lights dimmed and the music from Illuminations playing in the background. It had been a great day and an awesome end to our vacation.
When we got back to POR, we took a final night swim and I did some packing. We had to catch our DME bus at 9:45 the next morning, so I wanted to get some of the big things taken care of before we went to bed. So sad to be packing to go home...that feeling just stinks!
We were up bright and early on
Tuesday April 28th.....the FINAL day of our Disney vacation. We all finished up the packing and were ready to head to the Riverside Mill for our final breakfast by 8:10 am. NOT BAD! This is a picture of the boys as we left the room for the last time.
Ya gotta love those faces.
We ate a hearty breakfast of French toast, waffles, and omelets at the POR food court. Despite our best efforts, we still left 10 Counter Service meals on our Quick Service plan. We ate two TS meals out of pocket so that would make sense, but we really ate whenever we were hungry and still couldn't eat all the meals allotted to us. After breakfast, we went into Fulton's General Store to try to use up the 16 Snack credits we had left. We bought lots of candy, rice krispy treats, Chip and Dale nuts and snacks, a few drinks to take with us to the airport. We managed to use all of our Snack credits!
By 9:30, we had packed and left the room, eaten breakfast, done our last minute shopping...there was nothing left to do but check out and board the DME bus. We could put it off no longer.
Good-bye POR...we'll miss you!
Waiting for the DME bus.
NOOO...say it isn't so!
On our way to the airport we stopped at Saratoga Springs and Old Key West. Beautiful resorts. I took a few pics of the boys and Jeff as well as one of the Disney buses passing by. Those buses just make me happy! Jeff kept referring to the DME as the Miserable Express....none of us wanted to go home!
Surprise...Isaiah is asleep!
But this time he has a nap buddy!
Inevitably we made it to the airport and bid Disney a fond and sad farewell. I had forgotten to check us into our flight 24 hours before, so we had no seating assignments and had to board in the last boarding group. Thankfully, Jonah and I were able to find seats together. The flight home was uneventful and we landed in dreary Buffalo way too soon!
Final thoughts and wrap-up coming up next!
Although, the boys would have loved seeing Minnie's butterfly garden. Anything to do with bugs they love...especially if they are flying!!
Can't wait to hear about your German meal!!
