Magic Kingdom, Columbia Harbor House and The Wave
Got up early to make sure we could get a few rides on Space Mountain before the line got too long! Have to say we LOVED the updated ride – still all the classic thrills with some fun new updates. If you heard some crazy person screaming: “NO! NOT THE RED TUNNEL! And "I WANT TO GET OFF!" And a high pitched: ”OMIGOD WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!,” that was my charming husband. Did I mention he teaches freshmen? Much as I try not to encourage his juvenile behavior, this kind of thing cracks me up to the point of tears. I’m not so sure our fellow riders found it amusing or if they thought he was an escapee from the funny farm.
ANYWAY, onto the FOOD!
With the recommendations of fellow DisBoarders firmly in mind, I steered us away from burgers and made sure we were right by Columbia Harbor House when the hungries hit. (I don’t have a PROBLEM with burgers, it’s just that I like something a little different when we’re on vacation.)
The lure of bite size bits of fried bird tempted the young ‘uns, and we zoomed into the cool interior. I think it was fairly early, so there were no lines or anything else bothersome. We got our food and headed upstairs to a quiet window seat. We chose fried chicken and fries for the boys, a Lighthouse sandwich for me, and a tuna sandwich for John. Which he picked mostly because I couldn’t decide which I wanted—(see, I put up with the antics, and he pretty much lets me have my way.
)
The boys’ enthusiasm for the chicken was overwhelming. Ben deemed the breading: “exquisite,” the chicken was moist and juicy, the fries hot and crisp.
Can you hear the choir of angels singing?
The Lighthouse sandwich was hummus on soft whole grain bread with lettuce and tomato. Now, I love hummus and can eat it by the bucket with a spoon, but this stuff was REALLY thin, so it kind of leaked out and got messy. I think hummus should have kind of a soft-cream-cheese texture, and this was more like runny yogurt. So I traded one half with DH’s tuna sandwich, which was awesome.
I pretty much love anything based in mayo, and this had a nice balance of tuna and mayo. We got those nice crispy Vicks chips on the side and polished off our whole plates. John and I both got the apple pie/tart thing for dessert.
ALSO nummy – not too sweet, great apple flavor.
I don’t think the boys got dessert (???).
If they did, it was nothing special. So we loved CHH – highly recommend!
Toured a while longer, then had swim (boys) and a nap (me) prior to our ADR at The Wave.
Which is the sole reason I look cute in this photo rather than like a drowned sewer rat, since it POURED.
This was one meal I was personally really looking forward to, but even after checking out the menu ahead of time, I was a little apprehensive to see if the boys would like it – being all fresh and organic and natural isn’t always the right combination for tweens! But I figured they’d at least recognize the concept of pork tenderloin or steak, so we decided to go for it. I needn’t have worried – this was one of everyone’s favorite meals. We hopped on the monorail over to the Contemporary and checked in. The checker asked if we were on the dining plan, then gave us a big smile and told us we’d picked the best restaurant in Disney for our dining plan. High expectations! We got our buzzer and swam around in the blue fishbowl waiting room for a bit. I ordered a habanero lime margarita to pass the time.
Notice my artful arrangement of candle and lime. Pretty, yes?
The drink was lovely, and not too sweet, but darn it, Disney drinkmakers, don’t tease me with the spicy promise of icy lime goodness with habanero and deliver…nothing.
No kick. Boo! We were seated after about 10 minutes, and got a look at the menu. The boys zoned in on the chili-rubbed steak, but were a little apprehensive on consuming potato in its natural state…aka, roasted rather than mashed or fried, so switched the roasted ones for a potato-onion gratin.
(“Cheesy potatoes. You will like them,” commanded Mom.)
John ordered the beef tenderloin, and I got the sustainable fish – sea bass, which now apparently comes from Alaska, not Chile.
The photo is the sea bass—the large pile of green stuff (watercress?) came off of TJs plate (GASP! There is GREEN STUFF TOUCHING MY MEAT!)– it was GREAT.
The meal started with warm whole grain bread, which was soft, crusty, and studded with flax, sunflower seeds , grains and served with butter sprinkled with Hawaiian sea salt. Ummmm. I could have stuffed the entire loaf in my mouth, and had to sit on my hands to avoid another piece and save room for dinner. My sea bass was lightly seared and served on a bed of edamame and corn with a kind of light broth – so flavorful, I about licked it clean. Ben’s steak he deemed “exquisite” and he ate every bite, including the potato. He AND TJ both tried a bite of sea bass and liked it, so you know it had to be great! “It didn’t even need A-1”. John loved his tenderloin too, but he thought my sea bass hit it out of the park.
Desserts were good as well, I got the sorbets, all very nice, the lemon basil was VERY basil-y, which maybe wasn’t my favorite.
Ben liked the raspberry cheesecake the best, and TJ slurped down the chocolate (which had salted caramel on it, and is all that is good and right with this world.)
I was stuffed – but I think the boys could probably have downed a bigger portion of their steaks. Oh well…growing boys, you never know how much food they’ll need. So they had a post-dessert Churro back at MK for the fireworks.
You know what would improve these fireworks? A stick of FRIED DOUGH.
Up Next: Chicken nuggets are African food, right?
Got up early to make sure we could get a few rides on Space Mountain before the line got too long! Have to say we LOVED the updated ride – still all the classic thrills with some fun new updates. If you heard some crazy person screaming: “NO! NOT THE RED TUNNEL! And "I WANT TO GET OFF!" And a high pitched: ”OMIGOD WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!,” that was my charming husband. Did I mention he teaches freshmen? Much as I try not to encourage his juvenile behavior, this kind of thing cracks me up to the point of tears. I’m not so sure our fellow riders found it amusing or if they thought he was an escapee from the funny farm.
ANYWAY, onto the FOOD!
With the recommendations of fellow DisBoarders firmly in mind, I steered us away from burgers and made sure we were right by Columbia Harbor House when the hungries hit. (I don’t have a PROBLEM with burgers, it’s just that I like something a little different when we’re on vacation.)
The lure of bite size bits of fried bird tempted the young ‘uns, and we zoomed into the cool interior. I think it was fairly early, so there were no lines or anything else bothersome. We got our food and headed upstairs to a quiet window seat. We chose fried chicken and fries for the boys, a Lighthouse sandwich for me, and a tuna sandwich for John. Which he picked mostly because I couldn’t decide which I wanted—(see, I put up with the antics, and he pretty much lets me have my way.
)The boys’ enthusiasm for the chicken was overwhelming. Ben deemed the breading: “exquisite,” the chicken was moist and juicy, the fries hot and crisp.
Can you hear the choir of angels singing?
The Lighthouse sandwich was hummus on soft whole grain bread with lettuce and tomato. Now, I love hummus and can eat it by the bucket with a spoon, but this stuff was REALLY thin, so it kind of leaked out and got messy. I think hummus should have kind of a soft-cream-cheese texture, and this was more like runny yogurt. So I traded one half with DH’s tuna sandwich, which was awesome.
I pretty much love anything based in mayo, and this had a nice balance of tuna and mayo. We got those nice crispy Vicks chips on the side and polished off our whole plates. John and I both got the apple pie/tart thing for dessert.
ALSO nummy – not too sweet, great apple flavor.
If they did, it was nothing special. So we loved CHH – highly recommend!
Toured a while longer, then had swim (boys) and a nap (me) prior to our ADR at The Wave.
Which is the sole reason I look cute in this photo rather than like a drowned sewer rat, since it POURED.
This was one meal I was personally really looking forward to, but even after checking out the menu ahead of time, I was a little apprehensive to see if the boys would like it – being all fresh and organic and natural isn’t always the right combination for tweens! But I figured they’d at least recognize the concept of pork tenderloin or steak, so we decided to go for it. I needn’t have worried – this was one of everyone’s favorite meals. We hopped on the monorail over to the Contemporary and checked in. The checker asked if we were on the dining plan, then gave us a big smile and told us we’d picked the best restaurant in Disney for our dining plan. High expectations! We got our buzzer and swam around in the blue fishbowl waiting room for a bit. I ordered a habanero lime margarita to pass the time.
Notice my artful arrangement of candle and lime. Pretty, yes?
The drink was lovely, and not too sweet, but darn it, Disney drinkmakers, don’t tease me with the spicy promise of icy lime goodness with habanero and deliver…nothing.
No kick. Boo! We were seated after about 10 minutes, and got a look at the menu. The boys zoned in on the chili-rubbed steak, but were a little apprehensive on consuming potato in its natural state…aka, roasted rather than mashed or fried, so switched the roasted ones for a potato-onion gratin.
(“Cheesy potatoes. You will like them,” commanded Mom.)
John ordered the beef tenderloin, and I got the sustainable fish – sea bass, which now apparently comes from Alaska, not Chile.
The photo is the sea bass—the large pile of green stuff (watercress?) came off of TJs plate (GASP! There is GREEN STUFF TOUCHING MY MEAT!)– it was GREAT.
The meal started with warm whole grain bread, which was soft, crusty, and studded with flax, sunflower seeds , grains and served with butter sprinkled with Hawaiian sea salt. Ummmm. I could have stuffed the entire loaf in my mouth, and had to sit on my hands to avoid another piece and save room for dinner. My sea bass was lightly seared and served on a bed of edamame and corn with a kind of light broth – so flavorful, I about licked it clean. Ben’s steak he deemed “exquisite” and he ate every bite, including the potato. He AND TJ both tried a bite of sea bass and liked it, so you know it had to be great! “It didn’t even need A-1”. John loved his tenderloin too, but he thought my sea bass hit it out of the park.
Desserts were good as well, I got the sorbets, all very nice, the lemon basil was VERY basil-y, which maybe wasn’t my favorite.
Ben liked the raspberry cheesecake the best, and TJ slurped down the chocolate (which had salted caramel on it, and is all that is good and right with this world.)
I was stuffed – but I think the boys could probably have downed a bigger portion of their steaks. Oh well…growing boys, you never know how much food they’ll need. So they had a post-dessert Churro back at MK for the fireworks.
You know what would improve these fireworks? A stick of FRIED DOUGH.
Up Next: Chicken nuggets are African food, right?
). 
We'll be trying the Wave on our next trip, so really enjoyed hearing some good things about it. BTW: I swear the photo of your drink at the Wave looks like an homage to the planet display in front of Mission Space. 
I also upgraded my 9 year old dd to the adult 
Yes, I chose laundry over DQ, since DQ makes me want to rip off my own head and beat someone with it, while laundry is merely annoying. 
