Day 4: Monday, Part 2

Unfortunately, the Disney curse finally got the better of me; allergies or something, but every time I'm at Disney for more than a day or two, I start getting really sick.

As I blogged before, today we were determined to eat our daily allowance of meals for the first time all week! Sick or well, I was going to eat and enjoy.

We started at the pastry shop in Hollywood Studios for a light breakfast of a pastry and drink, which was equal to our 4 daily snacks.

Lunch at the Brown Derby included VIP seating for Fantasmic, so we got a bonus today!

As many of you know, shellfish and fish allergies have plagued me for many years, and it's amazing where these items end up in food, even in items you wouldn't think of... Caesar Salad dressing for example, contains anchovies! Eating out posses challenges to ensure I am vigilant about avoiding anything containing fish or shellfish to keep from getting sick.

Disney has been great for the allergies and in every place we've been, a chef has been out to discuss options and alternatives so I don't accidentally choose something with the offending items.

Everything looked great and I was really sorry to have to forgo the Cobb Salad, as it contained

Worcestershire sauce in its dressing =( However, I was more than happy to try the chevre tortellini with mushrooms and fillet of beef tenderloin (minus marinade (you guessed it.. Worcestershire sauce again).

Rick went with crab cakes and the fillet as well, and the plates did not disappoint.

Dessert was some of the best we've had all week.

Grapefruit cake is the signature Brown Derby desert, but since the other items were more unique and smaller portioned, we choose fresh cheesecake with Grand Mariner marinaded strawberries and White Chocolate Toffee Banana's Foster were both beautiful and tasty.

Note to all: Brown Derby is an experience and is not a good choice if rushing to make shows or attractions, as our lunch took almost 90 minutes.

Dinner tonight was the Garden Grill at Epcot. This is the rotating restaurant located in the Land, which features the Disney characters.

Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Mickey were on hand and interacting with the diners and we slowly rotated around the Land exhibit. Pictures to come, once I can upload!

Food is served family style, and tonight's menu was flat iron steak, turkey medallions, grilled Mahi-Mahi, stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and root vegetables of Brussel spourts, carrots, rutabagas and BACON!

I love Brussel Sprouts, probably because I never had to eat them as a child, but today's veggies were so good that even Brussel Sprout haters would have a hard time resisting the sweet and smokey combination of root vegetables.

We finished off with Blueberry cobbler served warm with whipped cream, yes that is one serving for 2! YUM!

The day ended with success, we managed to eat the daily allotment of meals and agreed that today's meals were the best we've had so far.

Tomorrow: Le Cellier and TBD!!!!!!

Day 4: Monday, Part 1

It's Monday and after a late night we slept in and prepared for our big culinary day.

This morning we scored another great reservation at Brown Derby and one include a reserved view to my favorite fireworks show, Fantasmic!

Dinner is scheduled at the Garden Grill at the Land. Another opportunity for great food and this time with all of our favorite Disney characters. Today, we'll have to remember the camera.

Since neither of us have ever eaten at either restaurant, today should be a great experience with TONS of great food.

Stay tuned.. more to come, we have to go work up an appetite!

Day 3: Sunday

Now it's Sunday and another dizzying round of choices on food. What sounds good today?

Persistence paid off today and we were finally able to score our coveted reservations for Le Cellier. And even, better a great time at 5:30 Tuesday. We booked are entire week's meals today and now have to plan our activities.

Today we started late with danishes by the water and enjoyed reading the paper and relaxing.

We have tickets for the Very Merry Christmas Party tonight at Magic Kingdom and this is Rick's first time going during this event.

We drove to Magic Kingdom since we wanted to go on the Monorail. It was then we realized we made a mistake. We arrived at the monorail station and the monorails weren't working... It's Sunday and busy and the only way to get to the park was ferry. We waited forever!

It was during this wait I looked on my phone and found out that the monorail had power failure the night before leaving 300 people stranded for 2-3 hours. Knowing our luck, we were fortunate we didn't end up on that train, as there would have been NO WAY I was going to climb down a 30 ft ladder.

Lunch at Tony's Town Square was good as well. More pasta which was super filling and super delicious. The atmosphere was great. View of Main Street and the Christmas decorations was fun to see while we enjoyed a mountain of pasta. This restaurant is themed from "Lady and the Tramp" and offered neat movie memoribilia.

Scored another win in the reservation department with California Grill and Wave at Contemporary for later in the week. We were sad to see the Concourse Steakhouse is gone, but are looking forward to a great meal and view of the fireworks on Wednesday night.

Very Merry Christmas party: This is a fun event which features "SNOW" on Main Street, Fireworks, a parade and best of all, short waits at all the attractions. We were committed to spending the entire time maximizing the ticket price and chance to eat more, ride more, and watch more than usual.

Started at Splash Mountain and like all the other hundred or so times I've been on this ride, walked off with a few drops of water and another opportunity to purchase a picture with my eyes closed. Went to Thunder Mtn and watched the parade and fireworks.

No open restaurants, so we were stuck with the ominous burger and fries. First time we've eaten from the quick service restaurant and hopefully the last. YUCK!!!! The burger wasn't particularly wonderful and settled worse... and we'll leave it at that.

Hot Cocoa and Cookies were everywhere and we had our fair share. Dinner served!

Fireworks are one of Disney's specialties and today didn't disappoint. The fireworks were perfect and were choreographed to the holiday music. We had a great spot to view outside Liberty Square.

After the parade, Rick had a fantastic idea to go back on Splash Mountain. It's now almost 11 and the wind is picking up a little. But since we'd been on once before and there was no line, I went along for the ride. We ended up in the front row, not concerning since no one ever seems to get wet on this ride... UNTIL NOW!

We got stuck in a log jam at the base of the drop and got DRENCHED when a boat went down the falls. Then it was our turn down the drop and again, SOAKED. We walked off that ride the most wet we've ever been. Denim and water don't mix well and we stayed wet long until we got back to the hotel.

All those years of carrying around ponchos on that ride to stay dry and never needing them, and boy I would have paid anything for one last night! Ok, MOM you were right!!!

Back to the hotel and a hot shower and dry clothes was the best final attraction of the day.

Day 2: Saturday

It's Saturday and it's becoming clear if we don't start making dining reservations we're going to end up eating hamburgers and rubbery eggs. So we take a stab at reservations and do our best to pick a few favorites.





This is where we changed our entire vacation strategy. Plan around the food!!!





Since the dining plan gives you a choice of table service or counter service, and you can choose just about every restaurant at the park, the better places fill up fast!



Everyone says Le Cellier is the best but trying to get a reservation proved IMPOSSIBLE. Disney books reservations 180 days out, so if you're planning a vacation and know what you want to eat, book early.





Today we went to Animal Kingdom and really enjoyed seeing all the animals. Saw a cute baby elephant and tons of rhinos. The safari ride was one of the best we've been on and was face to face with giraffe and hippos. Even though it was midday, all the animals were out napping.

Had to make a stop at Rick's favorite attraction. Can anyone guess? That's right the petting zoo. Rick enjoyed being around goats, sheep, pigs, and cows. And of course, the animals enjoyed the attention as well.





Expedition Everest is quickly turning into one of my favorite Disney thrill rides. Rick opted out, so what's a girl to do? Easy, use up both fast passes and go twice. OK, I'm getting WAY too old for back to back roller coaster rides.





The Kahali River rapids was empty, so we took our chances on the ride and hoped we would get lucky for once and not walk off soaked. It was a little cool but not cold, and lucky for us we hit an anomaly on this ride and stayed fairly dry. This should have been my sign to stay off future water rides... but no I didn't and would pay dearly on Sunday.





Lunch was planned at Tusker House, but one look at the menu and loud music right next to our reserved table and we choose instead to go to Downtown Disney and Wolfgang Pucks.





W.P is one of my favorites and today's lunch didn't disappoint. Pasta Bologanase for me and Flat Iron Steak for Rick, along with Sushi, Creme Bruele, Carrot Cake , and Beef Satay and we were stuffed.. This was just lunch!





Walked around Downtown Disney and noticed many of the shops have changed and the night clubs of Pleasure Island were gone! Looks like DD is going more restaurant and more family themed than before, but the jury is still out on this.

Today the food won! We were stuffed. We opted for a liquid dinner at the hotel's bar and pool.

Headed back to the hotel for drinks on the river and called it a night. Tomorrow's a big day, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

Day 1: Friday

So, here I am on vacation and got a crazy idea... Since I can't seem to manage not to work on vacation, I thought I would channel the energy into a blog about our week long vacation at Disney. So here it goes!

Today is Friday: We left early from Tallahassee and was doing fine until US 27 didn't sound like the right way to get to Orlando. After a bit of a detour, we were back on our way, no worse for the wear. For someone who used to drive that road regularly, not sure why it didn't look right this time.. Just like the Veteran's Expressway, all roads lead to Disney... eventually!!!

Checked in at Old Key West and purchased the deluxe dining plan. 3 meals a day and 2 snacks doesn't seem like that much food, except you get an app and a dessert for both lunch and dinner!

Started the day at Epcot. Got to see my favorite character of all time... No, not Mickey but Figment! I'm sorry he's not a more prominent figure at EPCOT, since it seems like there isn't as much merchandise dedicated to him anymore.

Lunch at 9 Dragons in China was good, first time we've eaten there. And it was after this lunch we realized we were going to have to eat more food than we had prepared for... So it became not man vs food but Langton's vs food.

Enjoyed the park and had dinner at the Biergarten in Germany. Rick was in heaven! Sausage, meat and potatoes and not to mention BEER. I, on the other hand, was desperate to find something that wasn't made from leftover parts and vaguely resembled a veggie?? Oh well, desert was good and we left stuffed.