Sorry for the delay, folks! It has been quite busy around here the last week or so. I'll pick up with my DD and I leaving DHS.
We left DHS and headed back to POR for an afternoon break. It was cloudy, but in the low 80's (doesn't that sound wonderful right now as we are in the coldest winter I can remember?). I didn't want to swim, but sitting next to the pool and relaxing sounded good to me! The pool is located on Ol' Man Island in a lushly wooded area. I loved it! DD enjoyed the slide and the poolside games. Like the parks, the pool wasn't very crowded. My DD actually wished more kids had been there. She always makes friends at the pool!
This was my view...
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If you look in the back left corner of the picture, you can see part of a large oak tree. It is the largest living oak tree to be transplanted from one location (Animal Kingdom area) to another. I don't know why I didn't take a better picture of it because it is absolutely beautiful.
After a swim, we went back to the room to clean up for dinner. We had a reservation at Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian, which was our final girly event in our mother-daughter portion of the trip. After getting ready, we started for the bus and realized it was pouring. It rained for several hours, but we couldn't complain. We had to walk to and from the bus and monorail, but we spent most of the time inside. I felt so badly for those attending the Christmas party that night!
We got to 1900 and checked in. For some reason, we had to wait a long time to be seated (more than 30 minutes). This was our longest wait for a table during the trip. On the positive side, they gave us a pager, and we were free to walk around the lobby.
Our first stop was the gingerbread house.
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Then we checked out the beautiful tree.
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No page yet, so we headed up a level where a band was playing.
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When the joy of exploring faded, we found a comfy couch and pulled out the iPod touch. Those devices come in handy! Finally, we were summoned to dinner!
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I admit that this was one of my least favorite meals of the trip. For most people, this restaurant is probably more appealing than some Disney character meals because the choices are more varied (many of the dishes had some type of international touch). The downside for me was the many salads. I'm fine with a green salad, but not a fan of pasta salads, potato salads, etc... I also don't like sushi, and there were several varieties. I did enjoy the meats, but the overall menu didn't appeal to my personal preferences. On the other hand, DD was so excited to get some pizza, and she loved the french fries (hooray that there are always basic kids choices at Disney restaurants!). At least one of us enjoyed the food!
Although I didn't enjoy the food, the characters at 1900 are fantastic, and that's why we were there! Anastasia, Drizella and Lady Tremaine are hilarious and always put on a show. They kept us entertained!
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Prince Charming was quite charming, of course, and Cinderella was her usual graceful self.
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After another wonderful evening, it was time to head back to POR and meet our fellas! They called about the time we finished dinner to let us know they were at the airport. We told them we would see them at POR!
When DD and I returned to the resort, we waited for DH and DS in the gift shop. No matter how much fun we have separately, it is always wonderful to be together again, so we were very excited to see them step off the Magical Express. We showed them the way to the food court so they could eat dinner, and then we all headed to the room. Although our room could be classified by some as a "princess" room, DS (who was almost 12 at the time) was impressed. He thought the royal touches were great, and not too girly at all. Thankfully, our satellite signal had been restored, so my sports-loving boys wound down with some ESPN while DD got ready for bed.
We all turned in looking forward to our first family day in the Magic Kingdom!
Coming Up...A Full Day in the Magic Kingdom (in More Ways than One)
