Fall Fun - Part 3

**faline** · 10-10-2016, 05:28 PM

September 28 (Wednesday)

Plan is to go to Epcot this morning. Once there, we head to Starbucks for a cup of coffee and a nibble. We're not big Starbucks fans but I can enjoy the pumpkin lattes so we each get one of those. I get an apple fritter (mweh). I think my spouse had a muffin. Just as we go out the door, a couple is vacating a table so we snag that. A short time later, my spouse invites another couple who are looking for a place to perch to share our table. Although not from Florida, they both live here now. The woman, Linda, is originally from Vermont. We have a nice conversation, finish up our coffees ad go on our way.

We have a Soarin' fastpass but we're a bit early so ride Living with the Land. We had a fastpass for this later in the day so I cancel that fastpass. We head to Soarin'. This is our first time on the new version and we are lucky enough to be placed in the center of row 1. I wasn't sure how I would like this version but end up liking it quite a lot.

Today, we are doing a Food and Wine Culinary Demonstration with Chef Adam Mali. He will be demonstrating Lobster and Chips with the lobster being fried (I love fried lobster) and the chips being Japanese Yams. The demonstration is enjoyable and our taste of the product along with some Festival Chardonnay is delicious.

Since this really didn't constitute a meal, we head over to Tutto Gusto with the hope of having some sliders there. I didn't realize it until I later took a better look at the times guide that this location was in use until mid afternoon for one of the culinary experiences. Since we couldn't get in here, we walked over to Spice Road Table and shared an order of Calamari.

We slowly wander through World Showcase and enter the Mexican Pavilion to ride the Grand Fiesta Tour. While on line here, my spouse realizes he left our umbrellas at Spice Road Table. So, after the ride, we exit to a threatening looking sky and retrace our steps to Spice Road where we pick up umbrellas. Our server had tried to follow us to return them to us but didn't know which direction we had gone.

This evening, we will be dining at Victoria and Albert's as an anniversary celebration. We had tried to book this a while ago but were unable to get a reservation but we were wait-listed. A few days earlier, we had gotten a call saying they had availability this evening (Good thing we brought our dressy items with us!!). I had a reservation for Yachtsman Steak House which I canceled as soon as we were confirmed for Victoria & Albert's. So, after retrieving our umbrellas we made our way "home" to get ready for our evening out.

In the morning, the hair dryer in our room had snapped the breaker (It wasn't even in use at the time). While getting ready this afternoon, the low speed on the hairdryer died and it was running at high speed regardless of the setting selected. Plus, it has an electrical smell so it clearly was failing. I was able to finish drying my hair (thankfully) and called Maintenance who replaced the dryer before we returned from our dinner out.

Our reservation was for 7:15 and we headed for the bus stop around 5 pm which was a good thing. More than an hour later, we had made it as far as the boat ramp at the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian. Of course, the way we were dressed garnered lots of attention from other guests with one woman at the boat ramp asking if we wanted to go ahead of her in line but I said we still had ample time to get there. We made it on to the packed boat and were soon at The Grand Floridian. The skies looked quite threatening but we were able to make it indoors before the skies opened (which was a good thing as we did not have umbrellas with us).

We had a little time so stopped in Mizner's and, with the help of our wonderful server, Andrea, was able to secure a table. Mizner's was hopping with a group of convention goers who were going to be headed off to a convention event. Unfortunately, it was impossible to hear the band. (Andrea had been our server both here and at Victoria Falls on our last trip in the spring. She even seemed to remember us.). As the time for our reservation approached, she even ran over to Victoria & Albert's to tell them we were already in the building!!

As we approached, we were directed inside to be welcomed by Israel Perez, maître d’hôtel. We were led to our table, off to the left and just outside the Queen Victoria room doorway. The harpist was in sight of our table. Jack and Sherry were our servers - the same servers we had the last time we dined here and there are still as delightful as they were then. Israel came by our table a couple of time to check on us and chat. There have been some changes since our last visit. There is now only one seating per evening (though seating times are staggered), two tables were removed to allow a new, more central location for the harpist, and there is now the choice of either a 7 course or 10 course meal in either the dining room in which we were located or the Queen Victoria room. We chose the 7 course meal with wine pairing and it's a good thing we did as I don't think I would have been able to eat all 10 courses. I took some risks with my food selections but all was delicious so the risks worked out!! Courses are as follows: Octopus with Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho for me and Duck with Soba Noodles for my spouse; Pumpernickel Crusted King Salmon with Lemongrass Sabayon for me and Popcorn Crusted Diver Scallop for spouse; Loin of Rabbit with Olives and Lemon Gremolata for both of us; Pork Tenderloin with Dashi Scented Rice and Lemon Gremolata for both of us; Selection of Cheese from the Market for both of us (though I was too full to eat all the cheese I was served); Chocolate Mousse with Orange-scented Milk Chocolate Gelato for me and Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Wild Strawberries for spouse; Sulawesi Island Coffee for both of us. We were presented with keepsake copies of the menu and I received a rose as well. On the way out, our pictures were taken in front of a huge vase full of roses. Our seating was at 7:15; we walked out the door around 11 pm.

We thought about stopping into Mizner's but the conventioneers were back in force and had brought more friends with them. We headed downstairs and caught a cab back to our resort.

Despite the late hour, I still spent some time in the jetted tub before heading to bed.

It was a lovely day!!