Not ready yet???!!! A February trip report! Update 10/25 Day 9

[Disneyfreak616]

Wow! I cannot WAIT for Cali Grill in July!!! The food and the view look wonderful!

 

[Linda67]

Oh Karin, the butterscotch bread pudding looks AMAZING !!

 

[dizneeat]

Wow! I cannot WAIT for Cali Grill in July!!! The food and the view look wonderful!

We just love the restaurant setting and the food! The lobster salad was just not what I expected it to be and it was pretty cold, but apart from that it was all soooooooo good!
And the view is amazing, they pipe in the music for Wishes, so it is a totally different, but yet very familiar experience - if that makes any sense.

Oh Karin, the butterscotch bread pudding looks AMAZING !!

It was devine! I hope they keep it on the meniu, this could become my new favourite California Grill dessert and I really love the Valhrona chocolate cake!
It was so light and fluffy and went so well with the apples.

 

[Stefy]

Yummy yummy CG meal, that lobster looks good Its a shame Ron wasn't there, but you had another familiar face to look after you though

Dessert looks delish and the description sounds wonderful

 

[Wicket's Mom]

OMG, that dessert is to die for! That would have to be my whole meal because I wouldn't be able to eat anything else!

 

[KatMark]

First, Cookie does not go in until Monday for the procedure and then it will be 7 days before we know anything.

More beautiful pictures of my "home" and it looks like you got my hammock too.

Can you please tell me what Fish Extenders and gifts are for on the cruise? This is the second time I read of this. Is this something everyone does?

Your meal at Cali Grill looks spectacular.

 

[Queenofallthings]

I don't think California Grill could ever disappoint! What you ordered looked delicious! Those mussels....how I love mussels!!!

 

[podsnel]

You make me really want to go back to CG- my ADR window for November opens in 11 days, and I am having the HARDEST time choosing the restaurants!! I want to go back to CG, but I've never tried the Wave, so i want to go there, and I am STILL wanting to go to Kona for dinner...but we're staying at BCV, so I'm thinking I should take advantage of THOSE restaurants over there and in EPCOT....too many decisions!! Too little time!! And I'm spoiled with multiple trips every year, so it's not like I won't be back to try another one...but still it's SO hard!

 

[dizneeat]

Yummy yummy CG meal, that lobster looks good Its a shame Ron wasn't there, but you had another familiar face to look after you though

Dessert looks delish and the description sounds wonderful

The meal was wonderful, and not being on the DDP was helpful too. I really enjoyed having two starters and a dessert instead of filling myself up on a flatbread and a main!

Ron has a lot of other things going on, so I guess even though he knew we were dining there this week, something must have come up. There will be another chance to meet up and chat!

This dessert was one of the best I ever had at WDW!

OMG, that dessert is to die for! That would have to be my whole meal because I wouldn't be able to eat anything else!

You would LOVE it and if I had known HOW good it was I would have ordered it for starter, entree and dessert!

First, Cookie does not go in until Monday for the procedure and then it will be 7 days before we know anything.

More beautiful pictures of my "home" and it looks like you got my hammock too.

Can you please tell me what Fish Extenders and gifts are for on the cruise? This is the second time I read of this. Is this something everyone does?

Your meal at Cali Grill looks spectacular.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for Cookie on Monday!

"Your" home is just beautiful, ! And one of them could pretty well be YOUR hammock - I know you love the Cabanas area!

Fish Extenders - This was ours for the last 3 cruises -

It is like a secret Santa. You sign up on your cruise meet thread and towards your cruise you'll have a list of fellow cruisers who you exchange small presents with. Presents can be whatever you want. Can be one stateroom present or can be a personal present for each individual. We do home-made presents - one per stateroom per day (+ a few sweets).

It's definitely not something everyone does and not everyone decorates their door either, but it is so much fun and we got so many compliments for our door and extender.
When you go on your cruise, you should definitely sign up for the exchange - it is the ultimate fun. Everytime we got back to our stateroom there was another little gift and we LOVED it!

Oh, and it's called Fish extender, because outside your stateroom there is a little fish, where DCL can leave you messages. You hang your FE on the fish - so it "extends" the fish!

I don't think California Grill could ever disappoint! What you ordered looked delicious! Those mussels....how I love mussels!!!

We have NEVER been disappointed by CG! We love everything about it! The view is out of this world and watching the fireworks from there is such a treat and the food ........ so tasty!

 

[dizneeat]

You make me really want to go back to CG- my ADR window for November opens in 11 days, and I am having the HARDEST time choosing the restaurants!! I want to go back to CG, but I've never tried the Wave, so i want to go there, and I am STILL wanting to go to Kona for dinner...but we're staying at BCV, so I'm thinking I should take advantage of THOSE restaurants over there and in EPCOT....too many decisions!! Too little time!! And I'm spoiled with multiple trips every year, so it's not like I won't be back to try another one...but still it's SO hard!

Decisions, decisions ...... how I know how it feels!

May I suggest you try the Wave? It is such an overlooked restaurant and yet, we really enjoy it there. The food is different from the usual steak and potato kind of plate and the idea of three taste size desserts is just wonderful.
Have you tried the Captain's Grill at the Yacht Club? Apart from one of the most annoying waiters we had some real good food there too.
I cannot wait to hear what you finally end up with!

 

[Swalphin]

Hi Karin,
Cali Grill looks fantastic, I tried to get an ADR for this trip and no luck. You really made me want to try it out from you wonderful pictures, I guess the word is out.
Not sure if I will wear the B-day pin, I remember having the birthday song sung to me at Chef's one year and turned beet red . I'll probably get one to bring home though.

 

[englishrose47]

That Dessert looked like it had my name on it !!!! Yummy!!!

 

[jenseib]

Great fireworks shots! One time we stood near the tea cups and watched the fireworks and it was really neat to see them there too.

 

[annmarieda]

Love the fireworks pics! What a view. Ya know... I have never been inside the contemporary except through while on the monorail. It looks like something to check in on... not stay... but definitely explore.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin,
Cali Grill looks fantastic, I tried to get an ADR for this trip and no luck. You really made me want to try it out from you wonderful pictures, I guess the word is out.
Not sure if I will wear the B-day pin, I remember having the birthday song sung to me at Chef's one year and turned beet red . I'll probably get one to bring home though.

It is a wonderful restaurant. Try during your trip if you can get a reservation, people cancel all the time, and it is really worth the hassle of asking about it.

Okay, I do understand about being sung to, I had that happen to me at Walt's at DLRP, when Tom secretly ordered a birthday cake and they brought it in and sang to me!

That Dessert looked like it had my name on it !!!! Yummy!!!

Well, THAT particular one definitely had MY name on it! And it was so good, I would NOT have shared!

Great fireworks shots! One time we stood near the tea cups and watched the fireworks and it was really neat to see them there too.

We usually watch Wishes from Main street! I love seeing them go off behind the castle. It looks like they are directly behind the castle. Watching them from the Contemporary makes you realize that they are further away than you think!

Love the fireworks pics! What a view. Ya know... I have never been inside the contemporary except through while on the monorail. It looks like something to check in on... not stay... but definitely explore.

Thanks! Ever since we had our first dinner at the California Grill we went back to it at least once every trip. We love watching the fireworks from up there.
And it is definitely worth checking out. If you go for Christmas, they have a gingerbread display. When we went a few years back it was a scene from Pinocchio! So cute.

 

[englishrose47]

Carol would not have shared her Raspberry dessert from Raglan Road either !!

 

[dizneeat]

Carol would not have shared her Raspberry dessert from Raglan Road either !!

 

[tinacaplan]

Oh, wow...you mean I could have had that butterscotch pudding? Your CG meal looks fantastic. I would be completely happy going there for flatbreads and sushi.

Thanks for replying so quickly to my PM. I crunched more numbers and I think we're going to stay where we are. Seems like everytime I turn around with this trip, I'm saying...oh, well, but its just a hundred or two dollars more and, in the end, that adds up quickly!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 4, February 22

Megan and Meghan take us to Wild Africa! - Part 1


After a good nights sleep we were up early, Tom made some coffee and we both nibbled a cookie or two,

while we decide on how to start the day. Our original plans were to be at the Animal Kingdom for rope-drop, but there was no way we were going to make that.

So we decided that instead of heading to a park we were going to have a leisurely breakfast at Wolfgang Puck’s Express.
Once we were ready we drove over to Downtown Disney, easily found a parking spot and walked over to our favourite Counter Service spot.

They had opened about 10 minutes before our arrival and there were several people waiting for their food, but no one was ahead of us in line to order, so we quickly placed our order, picked up our number and cups, which we filled with coffee and hot water for Earl Grey tea for me.

That done we went to find a nice table. Once seated a server came by, brought out the cutlery and introduced himself and after a few minutes wait he brought out our food.
Tom had chosen his all time WPE favourite breakfast food, Wolfgang's Breakfast Pocket - scrambled eggs, peppers, Niman Ranch Bacon, onions, mushrooms, mozzarella and cheddar cheese baked into Wolfgang's pizza dough.

He loves that and I just love their Smoked Bacon Breakfast Pizza - scrambled eggs, tomatoes, mozzarella and cheddar cheese and Ranch Dressing, so yummy!

We enjoyed our breakfast when suddenly we saw a familiar face who rushed over to greet us – Maritsa, one of their servers, who we had a few fun conversations with and who we had bought a small goody on our last cruise. Tom and I were so happy to see her and so amazed that despite the amount of guests going in and out of Wolfgang Puck’s Express, she would even recognize us after half a year of “no see”.
We caught up on news and she even showed us a photo of her sweet little two year old boy. We really hope she is still working there when we return in the summer!
After we had finished our breakfast and said goodbye to Maritsa we strolled through Downtown Disney again, had a look inside the art store and then finally headed back to the car.

Off we went to the Animal Kingdom, where we had an appointment to join a group of “adventurers”. We arrived there and parked halfway down the row, then the tram pulled out just as we were approaching the stop, so we decided to walk to the entrance and were there before the next tram had even reached the parking lot.
We had a few fun photopass photo taken in front of the entrance,

before we finally went through the turnstiles and I remembered that they had told me to bring an ID.

Now Tom always carries his driver’s licence, but all I had was my Key to the World and a Credit Card.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh, wow...you mean I could have had that butterscotch pudding? Your CG meal looks fantastic. I would be completely happy going there for flatbreads and sushi.

Thanks for replying so quickly to my PM. I crunched more numbers and I think we're going to stay where we are. Seems like everytime I turn around with this trip, I'm saying...oh, well, but its just a hundred or two dollars more and, in the end, that adds up quickly!

I am sure you would have loved the breadpudding! It was so out of this world good!
We have two reservations for the summer and I am so looking forward to ordering two starters again! Smaller size - less stuffed and room for dessert!

You won't regret staying at AKL! It is just beautiful and so are the rooms! And sitting on the balcony with the animals out there is just the icing on the cake.

Tell me about a few dollars here and there adding up! It might not be much for ONE day, but in the course of a week or in our case FOUR weeks, it adds up!