imbe@aol.com
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 22, 2001
- Messages
- 371
Finally, it was here! Time for the big monorail dinner, a first in Disney history!!
I'd guided Dave outside since he had his eyes closed! LOL Once we were actually out on the platform, James, the wonderful concierge from the Grand who was instrumental in putting this together with me, met us at the turnstiles.
At that point, I told Dave he could open his eyes now! LOL And when he did ..
BOY was he surprised! LOL For about 2 months, I've been teasing him about this "surprise", but he never even got close to figuring out what it was! He was guessing things like .. we're going to dress up as characters (LOL!!) and other far out things.
Anyway .... as James greeted us, there was one heckuva lot of activity out there! LOL Over to the right of the turnstiles on the monorail platform at the Grand, there was a team of people putting things in place! They moved FAST too, so as not to hold up the monorail TOO long. We had a whole car to ourselves. Draped over the seats were some bedspreads from the Grand, with pillows strewn about!! I didn't want just the plain old blue plastic seats of the monorail as a backdrop for this cool thing, so it was perfect! Draped over the center area was lace. There was a table for two set, with linen, china, crystal, silver, flowers! The only thing they couldn't do was candles, because that would really have been risky if the monorail made a sudden stop. There was another table on the side with all of the food on it, and a silver champagne bucket too.
We were greeted by a number of people as we got ready to board -- Chef Tony, who was also a HUGE help with this, and did a MARVELOUS job with the food!!!; there was another chef there too ... also the head of transportation was on hand (and actually rode along in the car in front of us to keep an eye on things and keep it under control ) .... everyone was snapping pictures, etc. ... for a few minutes, I felt like a celebrity! LOL ;o)
We boarded our car with Howard, from the Grand's Private Dining. Chef Tony had told me to request him specifically for this, and he was fantastic!! I couldn't have asked for a better, more efficient, friendlier or fun server!! We had a wonderful time talking to him throughout the ride!
Since the logistics of the whole set up really didn't permit keeping food hot, or having anything TOO complicated, I decided that a variety of hearty appetizers from the Grand's Private Dining was the way to go. There was shrimp cocktail, mini crabcakes with remoulade, chicken satay, crab rangoons, a gorgeous fruit and cheese assortment, a delicious brie with raspberry and puff pastry ... far too much food! LOL But Tony did SUCH a good job with all of it! We also had champagne & bottled water.
We did a few rounds of the monorail route, and truly had a wonderful time!! It certainly is something that we'll never forget! And as I've said, I cannot thank everyone involved with making this happen enough!! It's things like this that make the staff at the Grand THE undisputed BEST!!
... day 5 in just a bit!
I'd guided Dave outside since he had his eyes closed! LOL Once we were actually out on the platform, James, the wonderful concierge from the Grand who was instrumental in putting this together with me, met us at the turnstiles.
At that point, I told Dave he could open his eyes now! LOL And when he did ..
BOY was he surprised! LOL For about 2 months, I've been teasing him about this "surprise", but he never even got close to figuring out what it was! He was guessing things like .. we're going to dress up as characters (LOL!!) and other far out things.
Anyway .... as James greeted us, there was one heckuva lot of activity out there! LOL Over to the right of the turnstiles on the monorail platform at the Grand, there was a team of people putting things in place! They moved FAST too, so as not to hold up the monorail TOO long. We had a whole car to ourselves. Draped over the seats were some bedspreads from the Grand, with pillows strewn about!! I didn't want just the plain old blue plastic seats of the monorail as a backdrop for this cool thing, so it was perfect! Draped over the center area was lace. There was a table for two set, with linen, china, crystal, silver, flowers! The only thing they couldn't do was candles, because that would really have been risky if the monorail made a sudden stop. There was another table on the side with all of the food on it, and a silver champagne bucket too.
We were greeted by a number of people as we got ready to board -- Chef Tony, who was also a HUGE help with this, and did a MARVELOUS job with the food!!!; there was another chef there too ... also the head of transportation was on hand (and actually rode along in the car in front of us to keep an eye on things and keep it under control ) .... everyone was snapping pictures, etc. ... for a few minutes, I felt like a celebrity! LOL ;o)
We boarded our car with Howard, from the Grand's Private Dining. Chef Tony had told me to request him specifically for this, and he was fantastic!! I couldn't have asked for a better, more efficient, friendlier or fun server!! We had a wonderful time talking to him throughout the ride!
Since the logistics of the whole set up really didn't permit keeping food hot, or having anything TOO complicated, I decided that a variety of hearty appetizers from the Grand's Private Dining was the way to go. There was shrimp cocktail, mini crabcakes with remoulade, chicken satay, crab rangoons, a gorgeous fruit and cheese assortment, a delicious brie with raspberry and puff pastry ... far too much food! LOL But Tony did SUCH a good job with all of it! We also had champagne & bottled water.
We did a few rounds of the monorail route, and truly had a wonderful time!! It certainly is something that we'll never forget! And as I've said, I cannot thank everyone involved with making this happen enough!! It's things like this that make the staff at the Grand THE undisputed BEST!!
... day 5 in just a bit!
