Saturday Breakfast & Epcot

Saturday morning we had breakfast at The Grand Floridian Cafe to catch up with Mom and Dad on their date night and to share with them ours. They had a lovely time at the California Grill. Our breakfast was delicious as usual. Christopher got his fill of steak and eggs and I got the breakfast platter (I like a little bit of everything).

We then made our way to Epcot via the monorail. We went on Imagination with Figment, walked through Innoventions plaza, did Ellen's Energy Adventure and waited in line for Test Track only to have it break down right when we designed our car. Bummer! But we did get a free fast pass to use whenever we would like.

We checked out some of the gardens during the festival. We then walked around World Showcase Lagoon catching the last weekend of the Flower & Garden Festival and all of the fun treats.

We ate a spicy pineapple hot dog, blueberry pomegranate margarita, the lucky combo in China, a beer flight in Germany, Maple Bacon stout from the Smokehouse (while catching the new acappella act perform too - they were AWESOME!) and of course a trip around the world would not be complete without a Grey Goose Grand Marnier martini!

We had a very nice afternoon walking around. We then refreshed ourselves and walked over to the Beach Club for dinner at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. I had a burger and Christopher had a turkey sandwich. Mom and Dad both had burgers and of course we all indulged in a sundae. It was so cute inside and we had fun selecting tunes from the juke box.

After dinner, Christopher and I walked over to Hollywood Studios to catch Symphony in the Stars. We had some time to kill so we waited and rode Star Tours and had a flight sequence we have not seen before! It was our favorite yet. We then staked our spot on Hollywood Boulevard for the show and fireworks. It did not disappoint. So incredible to have the fireworks go off to the Star Wars score. Christopher videoed it so we can watch it again and again. 

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!

Our Disney December Trip - Day 6 (Last Day)

Our last day in the Kingdom :( Christopher made breakfast reservations at the Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast so he could get in his last steak and eggs there. He is STILL talking about breakfast there and I will have to get on it to make breakfast reservations for our May trip. 

With excellent planning of our trip, we were able to snag Fast Passes to meet Elsa & Anna!!! It was an awesome experience to meet them. They spent a good amount of time with each party and posed for lots of pictures and signed our picture mat.

We also got on some of our favorite rides too - like Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We were sad to go! But we know we will be back in less than 5 months!

Our Disney December Trip - Day 5

Day 5 of our trip, we did a "resort" tour to catch a bunch of the Christmas decorations and exhibits that were up. We decided to take the monorail to Epcot and then walk through Epcot to get to the Crescent Lake resort area. I tried to tempt Christopher with a cronut, but he was being good. 

Our first stop was Beach Club. It was a lovely warm day and by the time we got to the resort area - no jackets were necessary!

Inside the Beach Club, they had many decorated Christmas trees and a lifesize carousel made out of gingerbread! It was even spinning too!

We then walked over to the Yacht Club. This resort also had a lot of Christmas trees decorated, but their centerpiece was a model train village. It was huge and beautiful. This inspired Christopher to set up our train sets when we got home from the trip. 

Then we walked over to the Boardwalk Resort - one of our favorite resorts (and staying here in May!) The poinsettia garden was beautiful! Wish it was warm enough in Buffalo to do this.

Inside the Boardwalk Resort they had a classic stand for some cones! Made out of...you guessed it - Gingerbread!

We then took a bus over to the Magic Kingdom and walked to the Contemporary resort. Their gingerbread exhibit was themed for Frozen. And instead of Hidden Mickeys - they did Hidden Olaf's - how cute!

We then took to the monorail over to the Poly to relax and catch some football. Unfortunately they did not show the Buffalo Bills game. But we still sat at the bar - ordered our Lapu Lapu's and Christopher received play by play updates through his dad, brother Mike, friends and ESPN.

After relaxing and finishing our drinks at the Poly, we headed back to our home resort and grabbed lunch out on the beach/pool area. Christopher was in a good mood, despite missing the Bills game.

We then headed back to our rooms to change for dinner! Our last night, we did dinner at Citricos inside the Grand. Before dinner, we got some more pictures in front of the HUGE tree inside the Grand, did a little last minute shopping and then headed to the lounge for some pre-dinner drinks. 

We relaxed at the lounge and listened to the live band that was playing. It was truly an exception experience and we will definitely be doing that again. (Side note: you are warned - service at the lounge is very slow).

Citricos is our new favorite restaurant! The service is incredible and the food is absolutely out of this world. We ordered a bottle of wine and started with some appetizers. Christopher ordered the arancini and I had the cheese course. For our entrees Christopher had the Swordfish and I had the veal chop. Both were AMAZING and I still think about that meal.

Although we really did not have any room left for dessert, I wanted to get the warm chocolate torte just so I could get the chocolate crown. Our table was near the dessert station and I caught the pastry chefs making the crowns while we were there.

Christopher ordered the gelato sampler - and it was so cute. They served it in three mini ice cream cones in this cute stand.

We then ran down to the dock after dinner (more like waddled) to catch Wishes over Magic Kingdom. It was so romantic and a great way to end our Christmas vacation at Disney. 

Our Disney December Trip - Day 3

FULL DISCLOSURE: There are ALOT of pictures from Day 3 because it was our Epcot Drink Around the World Challenge Day. Therefore, instead of making this post even longer with narration, I will simply post the Pavilion and Drink we each had. How did it go? It was a lot of work and towards the end, not as much fun as we anticipated. BUT we both finished and are excited to cross that challenge off our Disney list.

Someone was ready for some drinky drinky

Pre-sloppy photo

Elle Drink 1 - Chocolate Peppermint Schnapps Drink. This was a specialty drink at the Promenade that is open at Christmas time. I did not care for the Ice Wine served in Canada, so I improvised with this one. 

Christopher had to get a Cronut - surprised? Nope

We had lunch (Candlelight Processional Package) at Rose & Crown (UK Pavilion) and LOVED IT. Christopher Drink 1/Elle Drink 2 - Macallan Scotch Flight.

I had the cheese assortment to start and Fish & Chips for my entree. All was so delicious!

Christopher had the scotch egg to start and the steak for his entree.

I was way too full for dessert, but Christopher squeezed in a delicious Banoffee Tart. I had a couple of bites and it was delicious!

Christopher Drink #2 - Moosehead (Canada Pavilion - therefore a Moose picture is essential.

While we were resting after lunch, we caught a great performance by a Canadian band that sang Christmas Carols. 

I found SPODE Christmas Tree China. This set is just a little bit bigger than mine.

I also ran into my favorite princess - Aurora!

Elle Drink #3 - Grand Marnier Grey Goose Martini (France)

Christopher Drink #3 - Kronenbourg 1664 (France)

Christopher Drink #4 - Casa Beer (Morocco)

Elle Drink #4 - White Sangria (Morocco)

Elle Drink #5 - Sake (Japan)

Christopher Drink #5 - Sapporo (Japan)

We then took a break from walking around and drinking to catch our performance of the Candlelight Processional. Our celebrity narrator was Edward James Olmos.

The performance is breath-taking and we would highly recommend to all of our friends and family to catch a perfomance. 

Christopher Drink #6 - Sam Adams (American Adventure) (I can't remember which draft)

Elle Drink #6 - Red White (American Adventure) (Don't remember the vineyard - you will see this problem occur now through the end of our challenge. I guess that will happen to you after 6 drinks)

Christopher Drink #7 - Chianti (Italy)

Elle Drink #7 - Chianti (Italy)

Christopher Drink #8 - Radeberger Pilsner (Germany)

Elle Drink #8 - Riesling (Germany)

Christopher Drink #9 - Tsingtao (China)

Yes - I am eating green tea ice cream out in the cold. Sometimes you don't make the best choices after drinking. I also did not like the drink choices in China. Sooooo I opted to double up in Norway. Like I said...good choices go down hill from here.

Elle Drink #9 - White Wine (Norway)

Christopher Drink #10 - Beer (Norway)

Elle Drink #10 - Godiva Liquor & Baileys Hot Coffee (it was glorious and I wish I could start every morning with this beverage)

Elle Drink #11 - Frozen Margarita (Mexico) - seriously - what was I thinking??? It was so cold out I could not even drink it and resorted to eating it like it was shaved ice. Luckily for me, there are no pictures with my face in the margarita. 

Christopher Drink #11 - Dos Equis

Did we get a little buzzed...um yeah. Eleven drinks will do that to ya. We started at 11 am and finished at 10:30, so that would equate to about a drink an hour and we kept it at a fair pace in order to not make ourselves sick. We stayed well hydrated and had nibbles along the way, including a delicious late night snack at the resort (chicken fingers and pizza - yum).

Our next challenge - the 4 park challenge!!! Coming May 2015.