Day 2, Part 1
Today we knew that we would be eating lunch at the Columbia Harbour House because it is included with the Keys to the Kingdom tour. For breakfast we decided to eat at Roaring Fork and we both had oatmeal and milk. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the person at the counter used snack credits for these things until I looked at my receipt. Oh well, the last time we ended up with extra snack credits and we had to blow them on things we really didn't want so this was fine. I did take a photo but for some reason it didn't save. The oatmeal was very good - not much you can say about oatmeal! And today I took two lactaids with my milk which was a big improvement!
We got to Magic Kingdom and met our group for the tour. There were about 18 of us. We got a free bottle of water at the beginning and I was very happy about that as it was hot and sunny that day. The tour lasts about 4 1/2 hours. We started out walking around main street and we learned some facts about the names on the windows and why the air conditioning is blasting in all of the stores but they have the doors wide open! I bet that makes for a big utility bill! I loved our tour guide. He had been doing tours for 4 years and he knew is stuff. Our group got to skip the line on the Jungle Cruise and the things that he told us were very different than the things that the regular tour guide tells you! Lots of little secrets!
We also got to skip the line at the Haunted Mansion and prior to going in he told us lots of things to watch for like hidden Mickeys and other cool things.
We'd eaten breakfast around 8 am and we didn't get lunch until noon so you know where this is leading...hangry time. About the time we were lead to the back lot where we got the see the state of the art garbage facility it was over 90 degrees and my sister and I were both hangry. I didn't know if I was going to make it. Suddenly I wasn't interested in anything that he had to say about garbage and we were all hot and sweaty but I knew we couldn't eat yet. That last 45 minutes was torture and I hated every minute of it. Luckily my sister had a granola bar in her purse so we split that. It helped a tiny bit but I still felt annoyed. And just when I thought I would run away screaming
we arrived at the Columbia Harbour House!
We were led upstairs where it was cool and quiet and our food was waiting for us as we'd placed our orders right before the tour started. Heaven.
My sister had the shrimp and fries
And I had the chicken nuggets and fries
I don't know if we were just that hungry or if it was just that good but the food here was wonderful!! I'm sure the hangry helped but I shoveled this food in my mouth like it was going out of style. The food was hot and these were adult style chicken nuggets with good breading and real chicken breast. And I was also given the biggest glass of coke I've ever seen!
On any other day I'm not sure if the Columbia Harbour House would get this but after an episode of being hot and hangry, it gets a 3 sausage rating!
Some interesting tidbits - have you ever felt sorry for those furry costumed characters out there in the 90 degree heat? I have often wondered how they do it. Luckily they are only allowed to be out there for 20 minutes at a time when they tell the children that they need a little break and as soon as the character gets behind the gate, another is waiting in the wings to come out so the children don't have to wait long. They also have a secret sign to give to their handler if they are getting overheated so they can be moved "offstage" right away.
We also got a tour of the utilidors (the underground tunnel system beneath the Magic Kingdom). This is how the CMs get from place to place. We got to see the CMs in their natural environment! LOL! Our tour guide stopped and pointed at a large canister near the ceiling which said "cookie smell". When you are walking on Main Street and you smell yummy baked goods and fresh waffle cones that draw you into the bakery or ice cream shop...it is actually a smell that is piped in! Who knew? And we got to see the office where CMs go to get their pins updated on their lanyards. They can trade in old ones for new ones! And a CM with a costume from one part of the park cannot be seen in any other part of the park so they must use the utilidors.
After this tour I was more impressed with Disney than I've ever been. The care that goes into every little detail as well as the training of CMs is amazing. My sister was most impressed by their laundry system and how all costumes are microchipped and assigned to CMs. The chips are read by machines and the laundry is automatically sent to different areas.
And as a faithful DIS dining review reader, I did my duty and asked our tour guide about his favorite places to eat at Disney. He said that he loved Columbia Harbour House even though he eats there quite often during tours. His favorite table service meal is Olivia's at Old Key West. He said that he loves the food and he never has to make a reservation!
And that is the Day 2, Part 1. Up next, dinner at Ohana!
I haven't been in the past few years. It's as much to go to the state fair as a night at Pop Century! YOWZA!
It sure is fun, though!
Better luck next week!
