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View Full Version : The Celebration Vacation~Day 3



tinksmom02
09-24-2009, 08:59 PM
Cast:
Me, Christi
DH, Mark
DD7, Jenna
Mom (aka MiMa)
Dad (aka Dan or BeBop)
Our friends Jenn and Ant
their boys, Ant, 7
the Moose, 2

Day 3
Magic Kingdom/Narcoossee's for dinner!

We were up early today, as we had reservations at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom before the park opens. Apparently a lot of people did, because the ADR entrance was mighty crowded when we got there! We met up and Jenn and Ant and crew and at 7:45 promptly they started letting people in. Just FYI: No one asked for our confirmation number or name or anything. I made everyone stop for a group shot in front of the castle and then we headed to the Crystal Palace to check in. We waited just a few minutes and then our name was called. I remembered our server from our 2007 visit. He was very pleasant and our tables were decorated with confetti. Mark and Jenna were presented with birthday cards signed by the gang. We got settled quickly and headed up to enjoy the delicious buffet. It was all so good I can’t even remember everything! I know we had puffed French toast, two different frittatas, eggs, delicious Disney potatoes, strawberries and fresh whipped cream, and so much more! We also enjoyed visits from Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet. Tigger came around to invite the kids to participate in the parade with him, which they did happily. The waiter came out with cupcakes for Jenna and Mark, so we sang Happy Birthday.

We finished up rather quickly, and the kids decided that they didn’t need to wait any longer for Tigger to sign their books, so we settled the bill and left. Here is where I made another tour guide mistake. My parents and my family were supposed to pay out of pocket for this meal, as we had more reservations than we had credits for, and this would have been the cheapest. I forgot and we all used a table service. Whoops. The bill for the 3 of us was $61, of which we were responsible for the tip, $8.81.

It was just after 9am by this time, so Jenn and I decided that if the kids wanted to ride Dumbo, it was now or never. We waited about fifteen minutes and had our ride. Jenna and Anthony sat together, and Jenn, Moose, and I squished ourselves into another elephant. Although the kids were begging for another ride, the line had already tripled in size, so we said no. We took them over to the carousel next, and then I think it’s a small world again. It was almost 10am by now, so we headed over to Toontown to get in line to meet Tinkerbell, and Jenn and Ant headed off in another direction.

We made a beeline for the Judge’s Tent and got in line for the fairies. The listed wait time was 30 minutes but we were magically made small enough to visit Pixie Hollow in eighteen minutes. We got to meet Iridessa, Tink, and Rosetta. Tink teased Jenna for skipping school, and congratulated me on my anniversary, and then teased Mark for “not giving me enough pixie dust.” It was cute and we got some nice pictures.

We wandered through Minnie and Mickey’s houses and then met up with Jenn and crew to ride Goofy’s Barnstormer. After that we decided to head over to Tomorrowland. Mark and Jenna and Jenn and the boys got in line for the Tomorrowland Speedway (I stayed back to get some pictures). After that it was time for an ice pop break—the kids love those Itzakadoozie ice pops! We headed onto Buzz Lightyear’s Spaceship Spin next and basically walked right on.

From there we decided to head over to Adventureland and Frontierland, but got sidetracked by the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party. We watched for a few minutes—it looked pretty cute. I caught Mark dancing with Jenna at one point, but he stopped before I could get his picture so there’s no proof. At this point the Moose was ready for a nap, so they headed out and we headed into Adventureland. First stop—Aloha Isle for Pineapple Floats! Unfortunately they no longer offer chocolate ice cream so Jenna was disappointed, but Mark and I thoroughly enjoyed our floats! The plan was to head over to Splash and Big Thunder again, but Mom and Dan were hungry so we stopped at Pecos Bill’s for burgers. Even though we just had ice cream, we still managed to enjoy some hamburgers! We used our first counter services (2) of the trip here. Jenna ate some fries. I would have ordered an extra bun and given her one of the burgers from my double sandwich, but I had ordered express and wasn’t given that option. It wasn’t a problem, though, because she wasn’t really that hungry. We really enjoyed our lunch, though. Mom and Dan had pulled pork sandwiches, and I enjoyed adding mushrooms to my burger!

The park had become increasingly crowded during this time. We headed over to the train station to attempt to get a ride back to Main Street to head out, only to find out (again pretty rudely) that the ECV would have to stay behind. That would have defeated the purpose, so we turned around and started walking. Splash Mountain had a 60 minute wait at this point. Yikes!

Everyone was pretty tired by now, so we headed back up Main Street and made our way to the monorail. Again, very short wait. I’m suspecting our transportation issues were very few this trip because of Mom’s ECV, but I’m not complaining!

Continued

tinksmom02
09-24-2009, 08:59 PM
We headed back to the resort and let Jenna go swimming some more. We all had a few rides on the slide, then headed inside to shower and get ready for our big 10-year anniversary dinner at Narcoossee’s! We took the monorail over and Mom decided to leave the ECV home for the evening. Another tour guide mistake—I had forgotten that Narcoosee’s was housed in a separate building, and we would have reached it faster had we taken the resort launch. Oh, well. We enjoyed our walk around the Grand Floridian, although we all agreed that it seemed too stuffy and spread out for our taste. We checked in a little early for our reservation and were seated within ten minutes. As we sat down I realized that no mention was made of the fact that this was our anniversary dinner. My mom tried to subtly drop a hint for the waitress (in the form of proposing a toast while she was standing there LOL), but we didn’t receive any special congratulations or anything. The waitress did comment that all of her tables were celebrating something—we were 10 years married, another table was 14, and the third table was a newlywed couple. And although we got dressed up (I was wearing a skirt and heels), there were plenty of people there who looked as though they’d come directly from the park. I think I could have gotten away with wearing flip flops with my skirt. I didn’t feel overdressed, though; I’m glad we all got gussied up but those who weren’t were not turned away.

Mark, Dan, and I all ordered the surf and turf, Jenna had the kids’ filet mignon and my mom ordered the (2 pound) lobster. Her concern was about cracking all the shells apart, but the waitress explained that the lobster was cracked and ready to eat before it left the kitchen. We all had appetizers, too. Mark had the calamari, Mom had the crab cakes, and Dan ordered the Prince Edwards mussels. I had the Green Goddess salad which was quite possibly one of the greatest salads I’ve ever eaten! I was just super excited to have avocado, I think, but it was a pretty tasty salad. Everyone else’s appetizers were delicious, as well—I even tried a mussel for the first time! It was garlicky and buttery and actually pretty good.

Our dinners came out perfectly cooked and we all ate until we were going to burst. The steaks were prepared wonderfully and the lobster tails were almost too big! My mom enjoyed her lobster and Jenna ate almost all of her steak. I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t finish my meal, but it was certainly delicious!!

By this time Jenna was practically sleeping at the table, so Mark took her home on the resort launch while Mom, Dan and I ordered dessert. Mom had the almond cheesecake, Dan had the key lime crème Brulee, and I tried the strawberry shortcake. All were very good, but by far the best was the cheesecake. My mom said it was the best dessert she’s ever had in her life. The server very graciously offered to pack Mark’s and Jenna’s desserts to go, so I got another cheesecake (which I ate the next day) and a brownie for Jenna. The total for Mark, Jenna, and I for dinner, not including gratuity, was $208.48. We owed about $50 for drinks and appetizers, and we left a $40 tip. I think my parents paid about the same amount.

We finished up and waited for just a few minutes for the resort launch. It took just a few minutes to get back to the Poly. I went to our room to discover that Mark had collapsed with exhaustion on the bed, so Jenna and I met up with my parents in the lounge. We had some delicious punch (something fruity and containing alcohol) and some cookies, and then headed to the beach to catch the fireworks and the electrical water parade. Two beautiful sights, and we had perfect views without having to fight the crowds! We could even clearly see Tinkerbell when she flew from the castle! Jenna enjoyed playing in the sand, as well. After a relaxing rest on the beach, we decided to call it a day. We headed back to the room so Jenna could catch some old Disney cartoons before falling asleep.

mouseketeer mom
09-24-2009, 10:58 PM
This was a wonderful day! MK and Narcoosees! And any night that ends with fireworks on the beach of the Poly is a great one.

faline
09-25-2009, 07:45 AM
Terrific day! Great way to celebrate a special day even if Disney didn't add any additional magic to your celebration!

MississippiDisneyFreak
09-25-2009, 09:02 AM
sounds great, love those toppings at Pecos Bills

pdrlkr
09-26-2009, 11:11 AM
Thanks for the Report! :smickey:

KylesMom
09-26-2009, 08:51 PM
Wow, you sure kept moving today - great food, too!

When we visited in June, we found that either the restaurants went way overboard for our 18th wedding anniversary, or it wasn't acknowledged at all - totally hit-and-miss. I'm sorry Narcoossee's was a miss! It sounds like dinner was spectacular, though. What a great way to end the evening - watching Tink fly and catching Wishes in a non-crowded way. Thanks for sharing! :mickey:

princessgirls
09-28-2009, 10:03 AM
Great wonderful day from start to finish!

Thanks for sharing!

Julie:mickey:

DizNee143
10-01-2009, 12:57 PM
another good day!
dinner sounded very yummy!!!!!:mickey: