Our Date Night at Victoria & Albert's

Our dinner at Victoria & Albert's was AMAZING! Christopher and I got all gussied up and headed over to the Grand Floridian Resort to have dinner at V&A's. The service was incredible. Our servers were Danny and Garrett. The maitre d was Lana (blue name tag cast member) and the hostess was great too, but I cannot remember her name.

The 7 courses we chose were (not as well described as our menus - but I will try my best!):
1) Amuse Bouche - stone crab with veggies
2) Bison filet salad
3) Alaskan Salmon
4) Pork tenderloin & belly
5) Entree - Duck A l'Orange
6) Cheese accompaniment
7) Dessert - I chose a dark chocolate mousse with a milk chocolate orange gelato (I think it was called the Chocolate Timbale) and Christopher ordered the Hawaiian Kona dessert. During dessert they also served us coffee that was brewed right at our table! Christopher loved this type of coffee press and is determined to buy one for our house (they are like $300!).

We also ordered the wine pairing, which was paired so perfectly with our menu choices. Everything was delicious. In between several courses, we also had three bread courses too. And the bread was paired with its own butter or cream. I had never had bison or salmon but I know that it never taste as good as it did that night.

I almost forgot to tell you that at the beginning of the meal, they offered us their "house" water which is triple filtered. But - if that did not please us, we could choose a water off of their international water menu they have imported from around the world. We chose the "house" water and it was just fine.

The service was amazing. They served in a very formal style. Every time we left the table, they provided us a fresh napkin and would escort you to and from the table. It was awesome and yet so unnecessary, but their attention to detail is what gets them the 5 diamond rating!

At the end of the meal they presented us with a rose and copy of our menu we enjoyed (much more specific than the summary I provided here). I keep saying this, but it was AMAZING. Christopher and I are now spoiled and we will want to dine here every time we visit Walt Disney World.

One funny thing is we had a really annoying British couple sitting behind us. They made comments like they had to "settle" trying American wine. Their conversations made us laugh a little. Good thing these servers are trained to handle every situation.

Best part of the night was enjoying this experience with my wonderful Christopher. I have loved all of the adventures we have found ourselves in.

And to top off the night, we were complimented leaving dinner by a cast member as he thought we were cast members! Maybe some day!

Star Wars Weekend

We were lucky to be on vacation during the first weekend of Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios. Therefore we had to be there for opening day!

We got to the park at 9 am and all of the edge of the street seating was taken for the parade! So we picked a spot behind a nice family and waited. Within 30 minutes all of the shaded sidewalk area was taken and people were starting to get feisty. Mom and Dad made it a little after 10 am.

The parade was awesome. The costumes and characters were incredible. The celebrities for this weekend were James Arnold Taylor (host of Star Wars Weekends), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), Ashley Eckstein, Amy Allen and some other star from the cartoon series.

So - I have a story about Amy Allen. She is related to Aunt Marie and Uncle Paul Chodkowski. Uncle Paul is also her Godfather, in addition to Christopher. So Mom and Dad wanted to see her again (they have met her before) and have her sign some of the toy figurines, including a special one to send to Paul and Marie. So first we tried asking the front desk if they could arrange the meeting because Aunt Marie told Amy to expect us, but front desk/concierge couldn't help us. So Mom contacted Aunt Marie again to see if we could set this directly up with Amy. Aunt Marie gave Mom and Dad her number and Dad called. Amy was very nice and set up a meeting.

She was so sweet and remembered Mom and Dad. She signed all of the stuff Mom and Dad brought and took a picture with us (the picture is on Dad's camera). We did feel like VIPs because we got to go through this back entrance to one of the buildings in Hollywood Studios and skipped some of the other fans who waited in line.

For lunch we ate at Mama Melrose's. It was pretty good, but not as good as some other Italian places in Walt Disney World, but it is one of Mom and Dad's favorites, so we made sure to make it.

Since we did a lot of waiting for the parade we did not really get a chance to do other attractions. We did ride Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania. Christopher beat me AGAIN, but the ride is so much fun!

We ended up waiting one hour in line to get into the Darth Mall, a special merchandise location only open during Star Wars Weekend. Christopher was so excited to see the merchandise and get the commemorative name tag. It was worth the wait for sure. Plus we got fun Star Wars themed drinks with Death Star and Millennium Falcon light up cubes in the drinks.

We went back to the resort and relaxed by the pool in the afternoon. It felt really good to lay low and relax for a bit. Friday was our special date nights. Mom and Dad headed to California Grill inside the Contemporary and Christopher and I had our special night at Victoria and Albert's inside the Grand Floridian. But I will save that for another blog post!

Magic Kingdom Day!

Our second day in Walt Disney World we planned our Magic Kingdom day! We headed over just before lunch time, so we could sleep in and relax.

We are so blessed to come here as often as we do, and even though we get to visit annually (or three times this past year), the first sight of Cinderella Castle still gives me the chills and puts a smile on my face.

For this trip, Christopher and I did invest in the Memory Maker with Disney's Photopass service, Since we were not sure if we were going to bring the camera with us every day, this gave us the right to use the Photopass service AND get all of the pictures digitally. We loved using the service and made sure to stop for pictures whenever we could, including in front of the castle!

We did several attractions before lunch - Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin, Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, and Space Mountain.

We then had lunch reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle. This experience is awesome and Mom and Dad had a blast. Our food was delicious and the princesses were awesome and friendly. We got to meet Cinderella, Snow White, Princess Aurora, Ariel and Jasmine. We also had them sign our picture frame mat that we started on our last trip.

After lunch we enjoyed the Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion and caught the Festival of Fantasy parade too. To cool off in the afternoon, we enjoyed a Dole Whip from Aloha Isle.

For dinner, we had reservations at 'Ohana in the Polynesian Village Resort. Dinner was delicious and so filling. Food and more food! We all also indulged in a Lapu Lapu - an alcoholic tropical drink served out of a pineapple. Funny thing - we ended up having the same server as Christopher and I had from our trip last May! Weird coincidence! My favorite foods during dinner was the bread, chicken wings, beef and the bread pudding. But it is so much food!

Once we got back to the resort we decided to go into the hot tub to relax. Dad decided to join us too. The hot tub felt really nice and relaxing, especially after a day at the parks.