Tuesday October 3rd, 2006
.....This day we woke up with absolutely nothing to do and nothing in mind. It was set to be a morning of recuperation since Pleasure Island was scheduled for the night before, but Pleasure Island never happened and we awoke earlier then expected. It was obvious that we needed more snacks and DF27 and I expressed a desire to cook breakfast the next day soooo, we decided it was back to Wal Mart for provisions. We were also hungry. The Boardwalk is seriously lacking in a place for a large breakfast (unless we just couldn't find it). I suggested a few places on-site and was pretty much ruled out, so we decided to GASP!! leave Disney for food. We found a Bob Evans not far from Wal-Mart. We got all different sorts of regular breakfast fare and it was actually pretty good, however our waitress was kind of a witch. Next we stopped at Wal-Mart for soda & snacks and eggs, bacon & potatoes for the next day's breakfast.
Then it was back to the Boardwalk. It was 1p when we arrived so we had quite a few hours to kill before our 3:40p tea at the Grand Floridian. We sat around, some took naps, or showers. We watched a DVD and sat on the balcony. I was feeling a little antsy since there seemed to be alot of sitting around on this trip but looking back I really enjoyed all the "sit around" time. Sometimes when I go to Disney I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation but....not this time. So at 3 we started on our way to the Grand Floridian.
This was my first time a the Grand Floridian. I really never had a reason to go there before, I've never eaten there and I've never stayed there, but I was pretty impressed. The lobby is particularly beautiful, I really enjoyed the atmosphere, it was quiet and felt very proper. Going there for tea was probably the best way to introduce myself to it. The tea is waaay in the back of the lobby by the windows so we took a few pictures as we made our way back. There was no wait and only 5 people in the louge when we go there. Soooooooo, relaxing!!
I recommend Afternoon Tea even if you have boys....TEA IS AWESOME!!! DBF and DF30 really enjoyed themselves more then expected as did DF27 and I. We decided on a "tea package" instead of ordering a la carte and we all ordered the "Grand Tea". It was the most expensive per person at $25.50, but oh man was it worth every single penny.
(I'm going to include pictures of the courses here as I describe them, and then the rest of the pics from today will come later
)
First, our CM, Heather (the only CM name I remembered the whole trip!) brought out this box with all different types of tea it in. She invited us to open them and smell them to decide which tea we would like to order. I had the Chamomile, DF27 had the Jade Leaf and unfortunetly I can't remember what DF30 and DBF had.
Anyway...they put the herbs right in the tea pot so they provide you with a tea strainer that's placed over the cup and you pour the tea over that to strain out any yuckyness. Everyone gets their own pot of tea and a super cute Grand Floridian tea cozy. As Heather brought out the tea she also brought the sparkling wine that comes with the Grand Tea.
The Tea Box
Sparkling Wine, Tea...and the Cozy (with teapot inside!! haha)
The Grand Tea is 3 courses. The first course was brought out shortly after the tea and wine. It consisted of 5 tea sandwiches including: grilled pear w/ gorgonzola, watercress, shrimp salad, egg salad & chicken salad. On the side there was a slice of duck pate and an onion tartlet. EVERYTHING and I mean everything was soooooo delicious. The duck pate was a little icky looking but if you didn't look at it it was actually tasty. I felt that everything went together really well. Everyone cleared their plates.
The First Course
The second course was a HOT scone (it steamed when I sliced it in half!!) with devonshire cream and raspberry preserves on the side and a raspberry tart. This was my favorite course. The cream was rich and delicious...I've never had devonshire cream before...and I have no idea what it is but holy cow was it really good on that scone with a little bit of the raspberry preserves. I can never go to Starbucks for a scone again...it would just pale in comparison. Haha.
The Second...YUM
The last course was a choice of an english trifle or two pastries from the desert cart. It just keeps getting better and better!! DF27 was the only one to have the trifle. It was basicly cake, whipped cream and raspberry all smushed together in a bowl, I tasted it....it was really yummy!! (I feel as if I'm repeating myself alot
) I chose two pastries, a small slice of lemon cheesecake and a mango cream tart that looked like a swan. DF30 had the same and DBF had lemon cheesecake and a chocolate eclair....ALL FANTASTIC!!!!
Pastries...
Or Trifle...
After we left, we went out to sit on the beach of the Grand Flordian...there were some ducks that were apparently VERY used to people because they walked right up to us while we were sitting there. It was adorable. We walked around the resort a little more before heading back to the Boardwalk to get ready for our second (and much more sucessful) round at the Food & Wine Festival.
We all changed and left the Boardwalk at about 6:30p. Side Note: Epcot is my favorite, nothing thrills me more then being within walking distance of that place, especially for the Food and Wine Festival. Anywho, we stopped at Boardwalk Joe's on our way over for some coffee and then we were officially on our way!!
THIS TIME WAS MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER!!! It was a Tuesday so there were NO CROWDS!!! Lines that were short...no shouler to shoulder....you could actually get drunk since you weren't waiting on lines in between every drink. This time around we started from Canada to make our way back around to Mexico (since we started on that side the last time). We hit the following booths: Great Beers of the World, Poland, Greece, New Zeland, Canada, Ireland (again), Spain, Turkey, Morocco, and Japan (again). Much much more then last time. Some things that stuck out were, O'Mara's Irish Cream from Ireland, I love Baily's Irish Cream but this was so much more rich and tasty....we went back there a few times. Turkey was also suprizingly good. DBF got this plate with pita chips and 3 dips...called Assorted Meze - Turkish appetizer - Circasian chicken, red lentil kofta, eggplant salad....it was so awesome I had to get myself one
. There were peirogies in Poland that were also excellent and well as a yummy greek salad in well, Greece. We got more saki in Japan, and some Potato Leek Soup in Ireland that was not so yummy and Cheddar Cheese Soup in Canada that was very yummy but waaaaaaaaaaaaay rich. There was Chicken Bastilla in Morocco and Bay Scallops in New Zeland that were also delicious. Unfortunetly I can't remember most of the wines we drank....but I don't remember anything particularly gross, which I guess is a good thing.
Toward the end some of the night becomes slightly blurry since we did drink at least a glass of wine at every kiosk we visited but I know that we did spend alot of time in Morocco (the actual pavillion) looking in the gift shop and just wandering around the area taking drunken photos. We saw a bellydancer perform while we were there, which was pretty cool. They had a moroccan band playing music out front which I really enjoyed. Sitars are awesome. We also saw a band in Canada with bagpipes that was AMAZING....they sang an irish drinking song that Metallica had once covered (can't remember the name) but with the bagpipes and all it sounded fantastic!! We went to the Italy pavillion to see the sights there. DF27 and I watched Illuminations! while DBF and DF27 were off getting beer from Germany. She cried again...but I don't blame her Illuminations is a pretty intense experience. Toward the end of the show we met up with the boys, watched the rest then we made our way to the International Gateway to return to the Boardwalk.
But where, you say, is our nightly stop off at a bakery??
Well after we finally made our way back to the Boardwalk (which was very difficult considering the state we were in) we stopped at Seashore Sweets...not a bakery, but close enough!! We got some fudge and assorted candies then stopped in Dundry's Sundries for a bottle of Baily's Irish Cream (we were on a Irish Cream kick that night), then we headed back to the room. That's when we all decided that a trip to the pool would be awesome!! So we changed into bathing suits and made our way to the hot tub. After a little while there, DF27 and I were the first to get antsy and go back to the room. So we left the boys and TRIED to get back to the room...I say TRY because even though we knew how to get back...EVERYTHING LOOKED THE SAME and being drunk, we had some issues. So we wound up in an elevator that only went up 2 floors, stupid us got in it. Then we realized that we were on the Inn side of the resort and we needed to be on the Villas side. At one point I'm told I colapsed laughing in the middle of the hallway because I found it totaly funny that we couldn't find the room. DF27 turned and abandoned me, but she came back and gradually we made our way back.
DF30 and DBF were already there when we got back. Oops.
After our tour of the Boardwalk we pretty much settled in the room for the rest of the evening. We got an internet connection to play around with (not to mention check on funds) and we watched a movie. None of us stayed up too late because the next day was an early one.....
......Tune in next time for our visit to the Animal Kingdom!!!!
in hand! LOLOLOLOL!
