Miles walked today: 5.2 miles
Best thing today: California Grill and cab rides
Worst thing today: Obnoxious bus people
(Sorry - no pictures from today
)It was a day for Jay to run – so he went and did that while I did some yoga and straightened up the room. We knew we would never make our 11 a.m reservation at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian, so I cancelled that. The only thing left on our schedule today was a reservation at California Grill at 9 p.m. for our last night in town. (Another tradition for us). We feared that the 9 p.m fireworks show would be rained out, but we were crossing our fingers.
After an uneventful ride over to the Magic Kingdom around noon, we walked in and noticed that The Castle looked especially pretty. The blues on the tops of the turrets were especially blue – maybe because the sun was out and grey sky was the background. We headed to Jungle Cruise to get a fast pass, figuring that that outdoor ride was one we wanted to do early on.
We were hungry, and on our way to Pecos Bill, we stumbled upon El Pirata y El Perico, across the street from Pirates of the Caribbean. We usually come in the winter season, and this place isn't always open, so we decided to try it based on the raving recommendations we had from friends. There were literally three things on the menu: beef tacos, vegetarian tacos and a taco salad. Jay had the veggie tacos and I got the taco salad. You basically get the shell and whatever your base is, and then you head to the toppings bar for all of the tomato, lettuce, salsa, cheese you want. It was simple, it was cheap, it was fast and it was DELICIOUS!
After lunch, we still had a few minutes before our fast pass time, so we stayed in the neighborhood to ride Pirates. Short wait for the old classic.
Then it was time to turn in our fast passes for Jungle Cruise. It's a good thing we used them when they did, 'cause it was starting to drizzle, and you could hear thunder in the distance. As we left the dock, there was an announcement to those waiting in line that the ride could be shut down at any time for thunder and lightning storms. A GREAT skipper, with some new corny jokes we hadn't hear before. As we went into the tunnel part, he started whistling the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme song, followed by It's a Small World. Very funny.
By the time we reached the docks, it really did resemble the rain forest.
We jumped off, threw on our ponchos and headed to one of my must-dos – Haunted Mansion. On the way, we passed the Hall of Presidents, which has a huge scaffolding with a facade around it. I'm guessing as they install President Obama in the attracton, the building itself must be getting a facelift.The line at the mansion is underneath a covered awning, so there was a little bit longer of a wait than usual, but before long, we were hanging out with the grim grinning ghosts. The tall, skinny one joined us in the Doom Buggy to follow us home.
The rain was just not letting up at all. So we headed for another indoor attraction that has become one of our favorites – Mickey's Philharmagic. There was also some sort of fake wall up around Small World, but with the rain, we didn't stop to investigate.
We hit philharmagic just right, with very little wait and had a blast. My favorite part is the apple pie scent. It's just so well done. As we left, the rain was so heavy, and had been for so long, that almost all of the sidewalks were just flooded. In some places, the water was up to our shins – so we knew that our day was winding down. It just wasn't fun any more. We decided to do Buzz Lightyear and maybe Laugh Floor and call it a day.
So we swam over to Buzz Lightyear and rode it twice in a row, 'cause there was no line. The first time, I beat Jay handily, but the second time, he found the mother of all targets – and ended with 999,999 points!!! Yikes. We rounded the corner to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and saw another interactive show. I love some of the new ways they've incorporated technology into attractions. By this time, the rain had slowed a little, and there was just one objective for the day that we hadn't accomplished – going to Aloha Isle for some Dole Whips.
So we scurried across the hub to Adventureland, and I had a Pineapple Dole Whip float and Jay had a straight up Dole Whip swirl. The blend of the pineapple and vanilla ice cream soft serve just can't be beat.
We found shelter next door and sat down and ate our treats. Then, as if we had angered the tiki gods next door, the thunder, the lighting and the rain intensified to an almost frightening pace. It was time to make our exit, stage left.A small break in the deluge, and we headed toward Main Street's emporiums – as did everyone else in the park. Most people were just using the stores as shelter, but along the way, people were making small purchases. We walked back out to main street near the fire house, took a final look back at The Castle, and headed out to the buses.
We're so glad that we had been there before – we felt so bad for the families who had never been here before and were having to go through this weather for their whole vacation. Thanks to DVC, we know we'll be back, and since we've been so many times, before, we really can pick and choose without disappointment.
We feel so lucky to have had these chances to get away to this magical place. A quick bus ride home to get ready for our dinner. I also paid the bag fees to Disney, who would then pay them to Air Tran for our Magical Express service when we checked out on Thursday. You have to do this the day before your fly – something good to remember.
Thanks to the cab voucher, we made great time to the Contemporary and got there about 8 p.m. - about an hour before our reservation. We decided to take a 'round the world ride on the monorail, and took in the sights around bay lake. Only about 20 minutes later, we pulled back into the station and killed some time in the shops on the fourth floor. Finally, we checked in at about 8:45 and were taken right up on the elevator. We waited in the lounge for a few minutes, and were seated just as the lights dimmed in the restaurant. We took our seats and watched Wishes. As always, the fireworks were amazing. But not as amazing as the meal!
Jay and I don't drink a whole lot (though it seems I did have a mixed drink on most nights of this trip
), but the California Grill is a place where I want to have a glass of wine – after all, it's what they're known for. Our waiter heard my request for a sweet, light, white wine, and brought me a glass from a California vineyard. I think it was called “Conundrum.” It was exactly what I wanted. Then we began ordering the main event.We wanted to split an appetizer and a sushi dish. Jay and I never really liked sushi until we had it at California Grill several years ago, and now it is a must when we go. The Spicy Kazan Roll is amazing! Crab, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna and fireball sauce. We split a Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, shiitake mushrooms and basil. Yum.
Then Jay had the filet of beef with cheesy Idaho potato mash, buttered asparagus and teriyaki barbecue sauce. Fantastic. My seared pork tenderloin with goat cheese polenta, button mushrooms and zinfindel glaze ranks in the top 10 meals of my life. Seriously. Good stuff. It's a good thing we walk so much at the parks (and to get back and forth from the lobby). It's also a good thing we save money all year. 
As a complete side note, I "blame" my parents for my expensive taste in meals and fine dining. As an only child, I was lucky enough to be able to travel with them - and when I was a kid, they brought me to places like "The Top of the World" (the predecessor to The California Grill) and "The Empress Lily" (It was on the same boat that Fulton's Crab House is now on, but it was much like Victoria and Albert's. They basically raised me so that if I was well behaved, I'd be able to come to fancy dinners. Seems like a no brainer.
We left at about 10:45, begrudgingly, and headed downstairs. Unfortunately, our cab voucher was only good for one way, so we knew we'd be a while getting home with bus service. But we had no idea what we were about to encounter. We walked toward the bus stop, and there must have been 50 people there – 35 of them were kids between the ages of 4 and 16. And they were climbing up the poles, beating each other up and screaming. It was a seriously scary scene. The adults were either oblivious to the fact that other people were around, or just didn't care.
It was so bad that when a bus DID come after a long wait, we didn't get on, figuring we'd just wait for the second bus. As it turns out, they couldn't all fit on the bus, so there were about 10 people left from group, but with fewer numbers, the obnoxious factor dropped slightly. We just stayed to ourselves along with two other parties that kept our distance as we boarded the bus.We finally made it home after switching buses at Downtown Disney at about 12:30. After some reading and prepacking for our departure on Thursday, we finally went to bed around 2. It may cost more money, but because we like to go to other resorts - especially for fine dining, I think we may be renting a car from now on.
Coming next: Disney's Magical Express IS magical. AirTran, not so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment