Day 11
Today was our last full day of our honeymoon, and we jammy packed it with activities. Unfortunately, we had a pretty awful experience during our one and only night at the Grand Floridian, but we didnt let it ruin the whole day.
We woke up, I had the last of the cake topper for breakfast, and we said goodbye to our animal buddies outside the room at Animal Kingdom Villas. Then we packed all our luggage into the O Mobile and headed for the Grand Floridian. I was awestruck when we pulled up the hotel and a Concierge rep walked up to us and asked if we were Carrie and Patrick. Patrick pointed out that theyd seen our names at the guard gate and probably radioed ahead, but I was convinced wed been recognized like celebrities.
The O Mobile screeches to a halt in front of the Grand Floridian
The woman checking us in escorted us from the valet stand up to the concierge check-in desks on the fifth floor (Tip: I am super-cheap about valet and I never do it, even in L.A., but we used valet at GF the self-park lot is FAR away! I think it might technically be inside Ft. Wilderness...). Both CMs were busy, so our escort took us to a sitting area and checked us in using all the documents on her clipboard cool! I tried to get a turret suite, I really did, but she said they were all occupied. Boo!
We got immediate access to the concierge lounge, even though our room wasnt ready, so we went down to the fourth floor for FREE BREAKFAST!
The Spread
The Spread from Above
Cant talk... eating
After breakfast (or Breakfast No. 2, if you count stale wedding cake) we walked around the entire fourth floor taking pictures because, well, not just anybody gets to take 86 bazillion pictures of hotel room doors and the lobby from the Concierge level.
Before heading out, we checked out the beach pool area (but all we have to show for it is this picture of a lamppost):
Then we were off to our date with an Imagineer! My co-workers gave us Dining with an Imagineer as a shower present a week before we left, and I managed to get the last two slots on the last available day during our trip. The lunch was held in the private Bamboo Room at the Brown Derby in DHS a room it turned out our Imagineer helped design!
I guess they do these private lunches in groups of eight. It was us and a big family who seemed to think that dining with an Imagineer living in Orlando could help their daughter break into acting in Hollywood. As it turned out, our Imagineer (who was actually named Steve, my favorite nickname for any animal I meet) had dabbled briefly in acting, so his advice was along the lines of Only do it if you really have absolutely nothing else you want to do, and have a backup plan. Whats funny is that his backup plan turned out to be Imagineering while most of us can only
dream of being an Imagineer!
Steve sourced this refrigerator for Epcots Africa!
DH and I, being the Disney nerds that we are, peppered Steve with insider questions about future and shelved projects, most of which he was forbidden to answer. Poop! We got used to hearing I can neither confirm nor deny that... He did tell us neat stories about his first Imagineering job (doing the Africa area at Epcot) and his favorite job (decorating
Castaway Cay). As it turns out, he was also the lead designer of Typhoon Lagoon, but I didnt hold it against him...
Steve bought this truck, took it apart for shipping, and put it back together again!
Meanwhile, our waiter was delivering course after course of great Brown Derby food. I felt bad for Steve because his job was to talk to us the whole time, so he hardly had a chance to eat. At the end of each course, the waiter would come over to take his untouched plate, and hed shovel in a bite or two and say, Oh! Mmm! Delicious... now where was I? I noticed a few longing glances at the food each time it was carried away.
We started with the Roasted Parsnip Soup with carmelized beet emulsion and chervil creme fraiche, followed by the Famous Brown Derby Cobb Salad, with a choice of three entrees: Grilled New York Strip Steak, Pan-Fired Black Grouper or the Noodle Bowl. The only thing I got a picture of was the Grapefruit Cake dessert, since I wasnt eating it:
I think our lunch ran about a half an hour long (it was 2 1/2 hours al together), but Steve had arrived a little late because of some project hed been working on. At the end he autographed a glass plate for each of us, and we got to take pictures with him.
DH and I wanted to get outta Hollywood Studios and back to the Grand Floridian as fast as possible, so we used the Rockin Rollercoaster FastPasses wed collected earlier and picked up two souvenirs Id been eyeing: a black-and-silver Star Wars shirt and two Mickey-glove oven mitts.
When we were poking around the Grand Floridian in September, on our Planning Session trip, we got to chat with the famous Grand Floridian greeter who shows up in many brides pictures because he helps carry their trains or get them in and out of vehicles. Two days after we got home, there was a news story about the long-time greeter at the Grand Floridian passing away. We were so sad.... Well when we got back to the Grand Floridian this day, there he was! I guess he isnt a long-time greeter at the Grand Floridian. Maybe he was recently transferred from the High School Musical Extravaganza... At any rate, we were so excited, we had to get a picture with him.
Before we headed to the room, I came up with the ultimate test of Concierge service and asked the CM for a lunch reservation at Le Cellier the next day. No dice... Harrumph some $900 Concierge service that turned out to be!
Wed been assigned a room on the second floor of the main building. I wonder if this is where they stick all the Disneys Fairy Tale Wedding comp-night guests Summer had practically the same room! We got a king room overlooking the Marina where they have Wishes dessert parties. In fact, a private party was held there that night, but it ended before the fireworks (?!?). We could even see Cinderella Castle in the distance.
And now, some gratuitous photos:
I'm the same way with swimming! I can't swim, and hate being underwater. Water park slides that end by throwing you in the pool freak me out! 
Long story - lets just say we held onto our Fast Passes until nighttime, and then ended up leaving before the park closed. Boooo! And Space is my favorite, too 
. If FH and I ever go to TL (we are thinking of doing a WP day on our HM) I will NOT be snorkeling.
Love the picture of the wet cat but I have to say you have me wanting to make 12 reservations at Jikos 
:
)
