We woke up bright and early (7am) to get ready for our first park visit: Epcot!
First, we had a breakfast reservation at the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian resort.
This was a last minute reservation because this was the day we were to arrive, but since we added an extra day, we had room for more reservations!
We arrived at the Poly via bus and we were immediately in awe of the beauty of the Poly. I declared the next time we visit Disney we were going to stay here. I absolutely loved everything I saw.
Moving on to breakfast...
I read the reviews about Kona Cafe and knew DH would love the
Tonga Toast:
Which he did. Though, I don't which he loved more, the Tonga Toast or the strawberry compote!
I ordered the Pineapple Macadamia Pancakes and they were damn good!
After breakfast we hopped onto the monorail and headed over to Epcot. Check-in was a breeze and it was time to explore!
As soon as we make it around the giant golf ball looking structure
We see Daisy Duck! She was our very first character to meet and sign the autograph book.
After meeting Daisy, Stitch comes out but we wait to see him later because I had a feeling he wouldn't be outside too long due to the heat.
We then wonder over to the living seas area and walk right onto the Nemo ride. It was very cute. After Nemo, we visit Turtle Talk with Crush. Amelia didn't like it at all, so DH took her outside while I stayed in.
We had to get our picture taken with Bruce!
After the visit with Crush, we wonder over to the character meet building (sorry, don't remember the name) and stand in line for what felt like an eternity to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy (Goofy is my favorite). I was surprised Amelia wasn't afraid of the characters since this was her first time meeting people in large costumes; she ran up to every one of them and gave them huge hugs.
**I'll post pictures once we've gone through them; the ones the CM took with our point and shoot turned out really bad... somehow**
Once we met everyone we headed over to explore the countries in Epcot. But, not after a quick stop at Club Cool to try the soda's:
This is when Amelia begins to tell us that she isn't feeling so well. It's about 12:30pm and we have a 2:45pm reservation for Le Cellier that neither DH and I wanted to cancel. So, I call Disney and speak to a reservation CM and ask if there is any availability later in the day or week to change our reservations... not shockingly, everything was booked. DH and I debate for a bit and decide to get a snack to see if that helps Amelia feel better. We wonder over to England and buy some chips, to which Amelia decides to feed the ducks with. We take our time relaxing in the shade and enjoy the breeze from the lake.
When we were done we started to head towards France, but we ran into Mary Poppins and Mr. Penguin!
Amelia was more interested in Mr. Penguin and pretty much blew of Mary Poppins! I asked Mary Poppins to sign Amelia's book and explained that Amelia doesn't know you, but I do and so does my Mom.
Eventually we make our way to France and hang out by the fountain (Amelia loves water fountains) for a little while. After about 15 - 20 minutes we decide to explore around and found a bakery. Amelia decides she wants a chocolate chip cookie (which was HUGE) and I decide on the 'cake of the day' which was something that was all chocolate and save it for later.
Finally, it's about 2:15pm so we head back towards Le Cellier to check-in for our lunch reservation. By this point I am hot and exhausted even though we did so little. That Florida sun is a lot different than in MD; it was like someone had a magnifying glass and I was an ant!
We check-in about 20 minutes early and are so happy to be inside with air conditioning! We waited about 10 minutes for our buzzer to go off and be seated. DH and I already knew what we wanted and were ready to place our order.
Side note: DH and I knew Amelia wasn't going to eat anything so we asked our server if it was possible to just use 2 TS credits and if Amelia wanted something to eat we would feed her from our plates and our server said that was fine; she even allowed us to order a berry smoothie for Amelia and didn't charge us!
Oh. Ma. Gawd. Le Cellier is the best restaurant DH and I have
ever eaten at... EVER!
The cheese soup was amazing - DH ate his entire bowl (I ate about half)! DH ordered the fillet mignon with the mushroom risotto and devoured it. He said he's never had a fillet mignon as good as this one. I ordered the NY Strip steak (which is my favorite cut) and couldn't believe how perfectly seasoned it was - not too salty, nor under seasoned. Also, it was cooked to a perfect medium well.
Seriously the best meal ever.
Once lunch was over we headed back to the resort to relax and cool off. Our dinner reservation wasn't until 8pm for Coral Reef!
I have read the mixed reviews about Coral Reef so I made this reservation open minded. Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the worst meals we had during the trip. DH and I both agree the food lack flavors as everything was bland. My NY Strip was covered in some kind of sauce that neutralized the natural flavor of the steak and the crab cake appetizers didn't have any flavor at all, even with the sauce it came with.
What also made our experience lack was the service; our server seemed to have forgotten about us throughout our meal. There was a period of time that we we're waiting ... and waiting.... just to get our check so we could leave. At one point I wondered if anyone would notice if we just left!
The Coral Reef is a restaurant that DH and I will not visit again.
Here's picture from our seat:
By the time we left the restaurant, the light and fireworks show had begun. So, we decided to get as close as possible and watch what we could. Once the show was over, we took our time heading back to the buses so we wouldn't be mobbed by the crowds.
Amelia found the section of the park where there are led lights in the sidewalk and occupied herself with those for a bit.
Pretty soon we were making our way to the buses and ready to crash! Tomorrow, we're visiting the Magic Kingdom!!
(sorry - I just had to say that!) You have totally convinced me to change my ressies from Les Chef de France to Le Cellier. I had posted on another thread the same comment because they loved Le Cellier so much. My youngest two sons' only request for ADR's was to eat steak so Le Cellier sounds like the perfect place.
