faline
08-07-2010, 06:20 PM
Friday, July 30, 2010
Plan for the Day: Café May Café for breakfast; Fountain View Espresso & Bakery for lunch; Les Chefs de France for dinner.
It’s 7:45 p.m. We’ve just gotten home after being out for the past 12 hours or so. It’s been a long, hot day! Have I mentioned it's hot here?
When we left last evening, we were on our way over to the Contemporary where we had dinner reservations at The Wave. We walked across the walkway and took the escalators down to the reception area level on the 1st floor. We checked in at The Wave and were seated within 5 minutes or so in a mostly empty restaurant. When we were here in May, this place was impossible to get into and we were lucky to have gotten seats at the bar! What a difference! (By the way, I didn’t mention it but crowds in the Magic Kingdom yesterday were far below what I was expecting for this time of year.)
Just after we were seated, our daughter called. We had asked her to water the plants but, when we left home, Gene shut the water off at the main. He walked her through getting the water turned back on and we turned our attention to dinner. We shared a scallop and crab cake appetizer which was quite tasty. Gene had beef tenderloin and I had the pork tenderloin which I had loved when we ate at the bar in May. Unfortunately, the piece of pork I had this evening was not as tender as what I had in May. Food was still good though not great. We opt to skip dessert and are so full, we even turn down the complimentary dessert they were going to provide for our anniversary.
After dinner, we return to our room to grab cameras and change shoes. We then walk over to the Magic Kingdom. We briefly walk through the stores on both sides of Main Street. Spots for the parade are filling up quickly. It’s about an hour until the parade begins. We are able to select a nice curbside space right outside Tony’s. Right on time, the lights dim and the parade begins. It was really good! After the parade, we make our way up Main Street towards the Castle and secure a nice spot to watch Nightastic. Again, the park is not as crowded as I would have expected. The fireworks are outstanding! No matter how good the view is from our room, it simply cannot compare to seeing them from Main Street with the Castle right in front of you!
Following the fireworks, we shuffle our way down Main Street along with the exiting crowds – Magic Kingdom will actually be open until 11 and another showing of the parade is scheduled for then. Still, we’re ready to return home. Once we exit the gates, we are able to walk more freely and make the short walk back to Bay Lake Tower.
We relax a bit and then head off to bed. Before bed, I decide I’ll cancel our breakfast reservation in the morning. I’d rather sleep a little bit longer rather than getting to the Beach Club by 8:30 in the morning.
When we get up this morning, I call and cancel the breakfast reservation and make a luncheon reservation for 11:30 at San Angel Inn. We decide to get something to eat at the quick service place at the Contemporary.
The posting of some basic instructions would go a long way at this location. When we try to take a peek at the breakfast menu, we find a family gathered around the menu board so tightly that it’s like they’re trying to keep us from copying the test answers. We finally get a chance to see the board and decide on a listed ham, egg & cheese sandwich. We confidently head to the kiosk and press the screen to bring up the menu. Our chosen item is not on the menu. We start over. Not there. We try a different machine. Doesn’t help. We go to the pickup counter and say the item we want is not there. She comes out to the machine and tells us we must first select the Scrambled Egg Sandwich. Once we select that, there is a sub-menu that allows up to pick the item that was listed on the menu board. Sorry, folks, but this is not intuitive. Once we get our order placed, a piece of paper spits out and we head over to the pickup area to wait for our order. While we are standing there, the same woman who helped with the kiosk notices us and tells us we’re supposed to go to the cash register and pay where we will get a beeper. Uh…? Where is that explained? Okay. We go to the cash register. Okay – unusual for me – but – rant coming! There is a man at the register in front of us. His name is Michael. I know this from the large badge he is wearing around his neck – looks like he might be attending a conference. While there, we’re talking about our difficulties with the kiosk and not knowing we were supposed to go from there directly to the register. Michael is apparently compelled to interject an insult into this process. He comments: “You order. You pay and pick up a beeper. It’s not rocket science.” Ah, Michael, thanks for that bit of wisdom. Guess his parents never told him it’s far better to say nothing if he has nothing nice to say. Apparently, because Michael has figured out how this works, everyone else in the world must know as well. Okay. Not day ruining. We get our coffee, find a table and Gene returns to pick up our food when the beeper goes off. Based on our experience, it seems to me, there should be some sort of board at the entrance with very simple instructions: 1. Use kiosk to order. 2. Take order slip to register and pay. 3. Receive beeper. 4. Go to food pickup area when pager flashes. The whole system seems a bit disjointed but maybe that’s just me. After all, I am not a rocket scientist!
Breakfast over, we get on the monorail and change to an Epcot monorail at the Ticket & Transportation Center. We arrive at Epcot about 9:20. Our first stop is Soarin. We were going to get a fast pass but standby is only 20 minutes so we get on line. By time we exit, the standby line has more than doubled. On our way to Mission:Space, we pick up fast passes for Test Track (and yes, I really do mean Test Track this time). We tackle the less intense version of Mission:Space and cross the park once more, stopping in Mouse Gears along the way, to locate Nemo. We check out the manatees and then exit this pavilion. By this point, it’s almost time for our lunch in Mexico so we head there. We have just enough time for a Gran Fiesta Tour before checking in for lunch. I didn’t think I would be hungry but I ate most of my chicken and rice. I don’t recall what Gene had.
After lunch, we use our fast passes and do Test Track. Since our dinner reservations are at 5, we decide we’ll remain in the park for the afternoon, rather than returning home for a bit. We ride Living with the Land, Journey Into Imagination with Figment and take in Captain EO. There were clearly many Michael Jackson fans in the audience which elicited lots of clapping. To me, Captain EO was somewhat dated and more a bit of nostalgia. Maelstrom has a 10 minute wait. We wait 10-15 minutes for the film in China. From there, we walk over to Biergarten, order beers and find a sheltered table to sit and drink them. By time, we finish our beers it’s heading for 5 p.m. and almost time for our dinner reservation at Chefs de France.
We walk over and check in. We’re seated at a window table within minutes of our arrival and decide we’ll do the 3 course fixed price meal. We both have salad to start. I have the salmon as my entrée while Gene has beef ribs. I wrap up my meal with crème brulee while Gene has chocolate mousse cake and vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed this meal quite a lot. Much more than the last time I had dined here.
During dinner, Remy is visiting tables in the dining room. We are soon introduced to him. There’s a part of me that has a very difficult time with the concept of a rodent – and a rat, at that – in a restaurant of any sort!
An hour and a half has passed while we were dining. When we emerge, it is still extremely hot. Have I mentioned how hot it is? There are some large, angry looking clouds around but we have yet to experience any rain from them. We trek to the front of the park and climb on board a monorail. Along the way, Gene has a conversation about cameras with a fellow passenger who states he is a professional photographer. When we get to the Ticket & Transportation Center, we find the express monorail is shut down and everyone is being directed to the resort monorail line. We wait around 15 minutes before a monorail shows up. It’s very crowded and we barely fit on board. When we stop at the Grand Floridian, there’s a long line waiting for the monorail and most of those folks are left standing there when we leave.
We exit at the Contemporary and take the trek across the bridge to Bay Lake Tower. We intend to stay in tonight. We’ll cool down, relax, and watch the fireworks from our balcony.
Plan for the Day: Café May Café for breakfast; Fountain View Espresso & Bakery for lunch; Les Chefs de France for dinner.
It’s 7:45 p.m. We’ve just gotten home after being out for the past 12 hours or so. It’s been a long, hot day! Have I mentioned it's hot here?
When we left last evening, we were on our way over to the Contemporary where we had dinner reservations at The Wave. We walked across the walkway and took the escalators down to the reception area level on the 1st floor. We checked in at The Wave and were seated within 5 minutes or so in a mostly empty restaurant. When we were here in May, this place was impossible to get into and we were lucky to have gotten seats at the bar! What a difference! (By the way, I didn’t mention it but crowds in the Magic Kingdom yesterday were far below what I was expecting for this time of year.)
Just after we were seated, our daughter called. We had asked her to water the plants but, when we left home, Gene shut the water off at the main. He walked her through getting the water turned back on and we turned our attention to dinner. We shared a scallop and crab cake appetizer which was quite tasty. Gene had beef tenderloin and I had the pork tenderloin which I had loved when we ate at the bar in May. Unfortunately, the piece of pork I had this evening was not as tender as what I had in May. Food was still good though not great. We opt to skip dessert and are so full, we even turn down the complimentary dessert they were going to provide for our anniversary.
After dinner, we return to our room to grab cameras and change shoes. We then walk over to the Magic Kingdom. We briefly walk through the stores on both sides of Main Street. Spots for the parade are filling up quickly. It’s about an hour until the parade begins. We are able to select a nice curbside space right outside Tony’s. Right on time, the lights dim and the parade begins. It was really good! After the parade, we make our way up Main Street towards the Castle and secure a nice spot to watch Nightastic. Again, the park is not as crowded as I would have expected. The fireworks are outstanding! No matter how good the view is from our room, it simply cannot compare to seeing them from Main Street with the Castle right in front of you!
Following the fireworks, we shuffle our way down Main Street along with the exiting crowds – Magic Kingdom will actually be open until 11 and another showing of the parade is scheduled for then. Still, we’re ready to return home. Once we exit the gates, we are able to walk more freely and make the short walk back to Bay Lake Tower.
We relax a bit and then head off to bed. Before bed, I decide I’ll cancel our breakfast reservation in the morning. I’d rather sleep a little bit longer rather than getting to the Beach Club by 8:30 in the morning.
When we get up this morning, I call and cancel the breakfast reservation and make a luncheon reservation for 11:30 at San Angel Inn. We decide to get something to eat at the quick service place at the Contemporary.
The posting of some basic instructions would go a long way at this location. When we try to take a peek at the breakfast menu, we find a family gathered around the menu board so tightly that it’s like they’re trying to keep us from copying the test answers. We finally get a chance to see the board and decide on a listed ham, egg & cheese sandwich. We confidently head to the kiosk and press the screen to bring up the menu. Our chosen item is not on the menu. We start over. Not there. We try a different machine. Doesn’t help. We go to the pickup counter and say the item we want is not there. She comes out to the machine and tells us we must first select the Scrambled Egg Sandwich. Once we select that, there is a sub-menu that allows up to pick the item that was listed on the menu board. Sorry, folks, but this is not intuitive. Once we get our order placed, a piece of paper spits out and we head over to the pickup area to wait for our order. While we are standing there, the same woman who helped with the kiosk notices us and tells us we’re supposed to go to the cash register and pay where we will get a beeper. Uh…? Where is that explained? Okay. We go to the cash register. Okay – unusual for me – but – rant coming! There is a man at the register in front of us. His name is Michael. I know this from the large badge he is wearing around his neck – looks like he might be attending a conference. While there, we’re talking about our difficulties with the kiosk and not knowing we were supposed to go from there directly to the register. Michael is apparently compelled to interject an insult into this process. He comments: “You order. You pay and pick up a beeper. It’s not rocket science.” Ah, Michael, thanks for that bit of wisdom. Guess his parents never told him it’s far better to say nothing if he has nothing nice to say. Apparently, because Michael has figured out how this works, everyone else in the world must know as well. Okay. Not day ruining. We get our coffee, find a table and Gene returns to pick up our food when the beeper goes off. Based on our experience, it seems to me, there should be some sort of board at the entrance with very simple instructions: 1. Use kiosk to order. 2. Take order slip to register and pay. 3. Receive beeper. 4. Go to food pickup area when pager flashes. The whole system seems a bit disjointed but maybe that’s just me. After all, I am not a rocket scientist!
Breakfast over, we get on the monorail and change to an Epcot monorail at the Ticket & Transportation Center. We arrive at Epcot about 9:20. Our first stop is Soarin. We were going to get a fast pass but standby is only 20 minutes so we get on line. By time we exit, the standby line has more than doubled. On our way to Mission:Space, we pick up fast passes for Test Track (and yes, I really do mean Test Track this time). We tackle the less intense version of Mission:Space and cross the park once more, stopping in Mouse Gears along the way, to locate Nemo. We check out the manatees and then exit this pavilion. By this point, it’s almost time for our lunch in Mexico so we head there. We have just enough time for a Gran Fiesta Tour before checking in for lunch. I didn’t think I would be hungry but I ate most of my chicken and rice. I don’t recall what Gene had.
After lunch, we use our fast passes and do Test Track. Since our dinner reservations are at 5, we decide we’ll remain in the park for the afternoon, rather than returning home for a bit. We ride Living with the Land, Journey Into Imagination with Figment and take in Captain EO. There were clearly many Michael Jackson fans in the audience which elicited lots of clapping. To me, Captain EO was somewhat dated and more a bit of nostalgia. Maelstrom has a 10 minute wait. We wait 10-15 minutes for the film in China. From there, we walk over to Biergarten, order beers and find a sheltered table to sit and drink them. By time, we finish our beers it’s heading for 5 p.m. and almost time for our dinner reservation at Chefs de France.
We walk over and check in. We’re seated at a window table within minutes of our arrival and decide we’ll do the 3 course fixed price meal. We both have salad to start. I have the salmon as my entrée while Gene has beef ribs. I wrap up my meal with crème brulee while Gene has chocolate mousse cake and vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed this meal quite a lot. Much more than the last time I had dined here.
During dinner, Remy is visiting tables in the dining room. We are soon introduced to him. There’s a part of me that has a very difficult time with the concept of a rodent – and a rat, at that – in a restaurant of any sort!
An hour and a half has passed while we were dining. When we emerge, it is still extremely hot. Have I mentioned how hot it is? There are some large, angry looking clouds around but we have yet to experience any rain from them. We trek to the front of the park and climb on board a monorail. Along the way, Gene has a conversation about cameras with a fellow passenger who states he is a professional photographer. When we get to the Ticket & Transportation Center, we find the express monorail is shut down and everyone is being directed to the resort monorail line. We wait around 15 minutes before a monorail shows up. It’s very crowded and we barely fit on board. When we stop at the Grand Floridian, there’s a long line waiting for the monorail and most of those folks are left standing there when we leave.
We exit at the Contemporary and take the trek across the bridge to Bay Lake Tower. We intend to stay in tonight. We’ll cool down, relax, and watch the fireworks from our balcony.