Disney Divas Xmas 2009 - Day 4

[chechas]

Cast:
Myself - Disney nut especially during the holidays
DD (14) - Even bigger Disney nut

Dates: Dec 19- 24, 2009

Hotel: Coronado Springs

Date: Tuesday, December 22

weather: 46 degree at sunrise, rose to mid 60s by late afternoon, cooled off to mid 50s in the evening

We decided to order room service this morning for breakfast as our food supply had dwindled fast with an unexpected bug infestation in our donuts. Tey got pancakes and bacon and I got a waffle and sausage plus a small pot of coffee. Ok we won't do that again. waffle was very soggy, bacon was like cardboard and coffee was lukewarm brown water.LOL The sausage was good though and the pancakes were so-so.

We headed out to Magic Kingdom and the bus actually came about 2 minutes after we got to the stop. Yay! Always get excited when we see Cinderella's Castle and Space Mountain as we are pulling up! There was a little girl sitting across from us who could not have been older than 3 or 4 and she went nuts when she saw space mountain! It was adorable! Then she saw the Train and totally lost it jumping up and down clapping etc. I turned to my daughter and said "why come you don't do that anymore?" She cracked up then proceeded to clap her hands and bounce in her seat and that made everyone else laugh also. It was a great start.

Well the park was slammed! Now we come every year at this time so we know what to expect from the crowds but it seems this year is far far worse. I am thinking it is due to all of the flights out of Orlando heading north being cancelled Saturday and Sunday...I overhead some people saying they just decided to extend their stay since they could not get a flight out and it would be a few days before everything was straight. So now I am wondering if a lot of other people had the same idea.

Anyways. We were very disappointed to learn they are no longer presenting "Twas the Night Before Xmas" That was one of our very favorite shows! The lines for rides such as Buzz Light Year and Stitch were 60-90 minutes. We did not even bother checking Space Mountain. We wandered over to Aloha Island in AdventureLand to share a pineapple dole whip in spite of the cold temps as it is a tradition. Yummy as always. We realized we needed to eat lunch real soon as we had dinner ressies at Sanaa for 6:20pm and needed to use a couple counter service meals before then. SO we headed to Casey's for a couple of hot dogs.

We ended up heading across the street to the tables in front of The Plaza restaurant to eat. This gave us a great view of the castle and of the "Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it" parade and show when it started complete with stilt walkers, Disney characters and great music. Sebastion from the Little Mermaid even made an appearance along with characters from the Incredibles. It was a lot of fun with songs like Conga and I like to Move it ( I always think of Madagascar when I hear that song now LOL). Tey got apple slices instead of fries with her meal and she got hot cocoa which she loves. We also tried the spice relish...very good but it is spicy so have something cool on hand to drink. LOL Several yellow jackets decided to raid our table and chased us away but at leats we were done eating by then and the show was almost over. LOL

We then walked back to Adventureland and tried for Pirates of the Caribbean ride...um no. I have never seen the line all wound around and out into the plaza before. And this is our 5th Xmas at Disney. We have never had an issue riding that ride even on Xmas eve. We kept walking into Frontierland and saw Sheriff Goofy rounding up some varmints. LOL. Tried to get the kid to go give him a hug but she wouldn't. Liberty Square was next and Haunted Mansion was also crazy lines. Now if we lived far away and could not easily come back, we would have waited it out in some of the lines but we live under 1.5 hours away. We will do a weekend in January/February for rides. Xmas time is usually about soaking up the atmosphere and the decorations. If we get to ride rides even better but it does not make or break the trip. We were just wowed by how crowded it was this year compared to past years.

There was a Cast Member in the middle of the square with a small broom with rubber bands on it and a bucket of water and he was brushing at the ground. It was not until we got closer that we realized he was drawing Disney characters witht eh water on the ground. I felt bad for him because people were bumping into him and walking all over his designs as he was trying to draw. I could not even get a picture. People just take a moment to take in the magic around you! Most people were so gung ho on their destination that they missed a very cool experience and made it difficult for others to enjoy it. We watched for a bit then thanked him for his awesome work (that got us a HUGE smile and a heartfelt Welcome and Happy Holidays)and moved on. Sometimes we all forget to thank the CMs at Disney for their hard work to make the trip so enjoyable.

We missed Tiana's Showboat jubilee but other people we spoke with who saw it said it was great! We caught part of Dream Along with Mickey show at the Castle then headed out to the monorail to Grand Floridian. I love walking in the GF, especially at Christmas time! The gingerbread house was in its usual spot but this year we did not see the big sign that lists what they sell along with pictures. The line was not bad at all to buy goodies but it took longer because you had to look at this brochure and pick and people wanted to see what this item was or that item was so it took a long time to get through even though there were only 2 people in front of us. We ended up buying our usual gingerbread ornaments and a chocolate coated orea cookie lollipop along with a couple gingerbread girl cookies.

Walked around a bit taking pictures and enjoying the music then decided to head back to room to relax before dinner..it was then about 3:30pm.

I decided to drive to Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom so we left around 5:45pm and got there right about 6pm. When the security guard at the gate heard we were going to Sanaa he was like OOOOOHHHH you are in for a treat! That is my favorite restaurant. We decided to self park instead of valet. The greeters at the restaurant were very friendly and cheerful and joked around with us..it was about a 5 minute wait for our table. Great great ambiance int he restaurant! It was lik eyou were sitting under a canopy of trees enjoying a meal looking out on the savanna. Very nice! I got a Magical Star Cocktail(X-Fusion Organic Mango and Passion Fruit Liqueur, Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, Pineapple Juice, with a glow cube)...best part of that drink was the glow cube. Sorry not sure why I didn't like it but I didn't care for it that much. El kiddo got the Mango Lassi Smoothie(mango puree with nonfat yogurt)...wow that was very good! Sweet but good.

We started with the bread service and selected Naan, Onion Kulcha, Paratha for our breads and Red Chile Sambal, Cucumber Raita, Tamarind Chutney for the accompaniments. I loved the Naan bread with the Red Chile Sambal the best. Tey loved the Onion Kulcha with the Taramind Chutney. The Tamarind Chutney was sweet with a smokey undertone. very good. the Parantha was just kind of bland and it is a very flat bread almost like a crepe but more substantial. We both liked the Cucumber Raita (was similar to a greek tzaiki). Tey ordered the Tandoori Lamb Chops and I got the Tandoori chicken, both with basmati rice. Very good. I could have kept eating and eating.

For dessert we both got the Sanaa dessert sampler - Chocolate Cake, Passion Fruit Kulfi, and Chai Cream. The passion fruit Kulfi is kind of like Italian Gelato but more icy...maybe like a frozen pannacota or something. it was good. And hey chocolate cake with raspberries, need I say more? But I really enjoyed the Chai Cream. Reminded me of a creme brullee without the carmelized sugar on top. Very very good. Also tried again for coffee...blek, should have ordered the Kenyon Press Pot coffee instead. Lesson learned.

We took our time walking back to the car and slowly drove to Coronado Springs. LOL. We played with going to Downtown Disney but we were both so full we decided to go to the room and watch a movie instead (we brought a portable DVD player with TV cables). LOL.

It was a great day. Looking forward to tomorrow as it is supposed to be in the 70s! More the weather we are used to this time of year YAY!

DD Teen Notes: The dole whip was delicious and did not make me too cold. I could have done without the bees attacking us..I did not appreciate that! LOL. The hot chocolate there is delicious! I love going to the gingerbread house, it is just so cool to know it is all edible. Found out it took them 2 months to make it and over 8000 hours! WOW! Sanaa turned out to be my favorite restaurant of all the ones we tried this trip! The vibe in there was just different and nice and sugoi (cool) lol. The food was amazing. I loved the kulcha bread and tamarind sauce but I liked all of the breads and sauces. The lamb chop was delicous and blew the lamb I had at Kouzzina out of the water. the waitress broguht me some more cucumber raita that she recommended to try with the lamb instead of the mustard yogurt sauce that came with it and BAM!! that was good. The smoothie was pretty sweet but oh so good! Of the desserts I liked the Passionfruit Kulfi the best. the other two were pretty good too but I really enjoyed the Kulfi. I thought the chocolate cake was pretty bland though. I am so looking forward to the Luau tomorrow! We usually do it Xmas day but we do it every year.


Tomorrow plans: EPCOT, DTD, Wilderness Lodge sight seeing, Poly Luau

[faline]

I also miss the Twas the Night Before Christmas show! I didn't bother to try to see the replacement as I had not heard good things about it!

It's good that it's gotten a bit warmer! It certainly does sound very crowded there this year.

[DisneyorBust]

You both sure have the right attitude to deal with the crowds, just take your time and let the magic soak in!
It sounds like you dinner at Sanaa was out of this world, may have to try this some time. Thanks for the report.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[KylesMom]

Glad you're enjoying the ambiance that Disney offers this time of year - and that the weather improved today. When both Buzz & Stitch are at 60-90 minute standbys, you know the park is crowded!

Nice that you were able to make a trek over to GF to snag a few gingerbread treats!

Exceptional description of your dining experience at Sanaa. DH insists it would be too difficult on his palate, but it sounds very good! Thanks for all of the details of another great day!