According to the time stamps on my pictures, we had about an hour between the Halloween Party and our dinner seating. I can't recall exactly, but this was probably one of the times we dropped the kids off at the Oceaneer's Club to play for a little bit while Bambi and I found a deck chair and relaxed.
Either way, we all gathered at Enchanted Garden at dinner time.
Oh yeah, Disney encouraged people to wear their costumes all night. There were several costume contests and other Halloween dance parties going on all over the ship. We never made it to any of them, but I'm sure the people that did had a good time.
"A little more blood and gore for your appetizer, sir?"
"Yes, Please!"
Aside from the seasonal decorations, Enchanted Garden really is a beautiful restaurant. But then again, all of them on the ship are, so I guess I'm not really surprised.
The lighting in the dining room is set to "evening" as we approached and were given our customary sanitizing wipes. We again were greeted with parallel lines of servers, waiting to escort you to your table. Madison was at the head of our group, and bypassed several servers on each side, picking Denis out from the middle of one line. He took her hand and they lead us through the dining room to our table, which was already set with the same drinks that the kids had ordered the previous night. Well, not the
same drinks. I think Evan's milk would have gone bad. But the same
type of drinks. You know what I mean.
We were shortly joined by our assistant server, Carmen. They posed for a picture, so I can introduce them to you now:
Here's a good tip - listen to your servers. They've tried everything on the menu and know what's good and what isn't. Aside from the few occasions when something really caught my eye, I ordered whatever Denis recommend and everything was as good as he said it was. They also have good advice on what to do and where to go on other places on the ship. Strike up a conversation - you won't be disappointed.
All during dinner, the lighting in the restaurant slowly - and hardly noticeably, changed from evening to dusk to dark. It was a really cool effect.
Madison buzzed over to the Mickey Fountain in the middle of the dining room.
The food came out, and hey look! I remembered to take some food pictures!:
Madison's Mac & Cheese & chicken strips. I love how the Mac & Cheese is served in a fancy shell. And yes, Denis poured the ketchup for her fries into the shape of a Mickey head.
Bambi's prime rib and double baked potato.
And let this be a lesson to anyone that sits down to break bread with me. When I double order off the menu (in this case Prime Rib and Sea Bass) DON'T - I repeat,
DON'T think that just because I have two dinners on my plate that I'm willing to let you have a sample. Trust me, even if I'm having a conversation with my daughter across the table, I'll see your fork slowly approaching my plate. Especially on a night that I'm wielding a light saber. Bambi's dad learned his lesson the hard way.
The meal, like the night before, was fabulous. And this night, we even had a little entertainment. As we were eating dessert, Denis came over and gathered both kids up at the end of the table. He showed them a toothpick, placed it in a napkin, and folded it up. He then had Evan break the napkin-rolled toothpick in half, and had Madison hold it while he mumbled a few ancient Croatian spells.
He then unfolded the napkin to reveal a fully intact toothpick. The kids were amazed. I was about to fly out of my seat, accuse him of being a witch and throw him overboard. Bambi stopped me just in the nick of time, saying it was just a trick. Trick or not, I kept my eye on him the rest of the cruise.
As I mentioned at the start, the dining room slowly transforms from daylight to darkness as you eat. At the end of our meal, the Mickey Fountain was bathed only in it's own bluish light.
The stars even came out on the murals on the wall. No, no my kids, actual stars - up in the sky.
After dinner, we walked back to our room - which took all of 18 seconds, considering we were just down the hall from Enchanted Garden. Inside our room, we found that someone on the ship's crew had been very busy. Since the Halloween party had been moved inside due to rain, they had to cancel he trick or treating that they had planned for up on Deck 11. Well, someone got a hold of this ship's manifest and went around to every state room with a child registered to it and left each kid a bag of candy! And not the so-so stuff you get at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. Good Stuff! Name brand! Chocolate! The kind of stuff that, as a kid, you remember which house gave out the good stuff, changed costumes, and went back again!
We were heading to the evening's show in a little bit so we decided to get out of our costumes - especially the ladies with their wings and big poofy insect skirts. As we were sitting down relaxing for a bit I realized - we haven't seen the kids in a while, have we? Which is odd, because the room is only 204 square feet - there isn't a lot of places to go. Shushed snickering from behind the porthole curtain told me they were up to no good. So, armed with my trusty Canon - I yanked back the curtain to find:
Kids eating candy! BUSTED! Now, unless you want mom to find out what you're doing, hand over that fun size M&Ms.
Up Next: DCL's most appropriate show for Halloween - Villains Tonight!