DIT's Very Merry Princess Petting Party

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

I can't imagine five Fort days in a row. So happy you enjoyed it, but it would absolutely drive me mad to be that near the parks and not go in.

We have done trips to the Fort without stepping foot in a park. And after this trip, I think our next Fort trip, whenever that may be, will be that way. I love the Fort. I'm over the parks.

So far we've only made 5 half day visits to parks.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We generally go into a park every day, even if it's just for a half hour to get ice cream at the parlor.  And we do a lot of people watching.

[keith_h 420]

We aren't planning any Disney park visits on our next trip. We are talking about maybe going to Universal for the Harry Potter stuff but for the most part it is really a resort hopping, Cirque du Soleil and restaurant trip with plenty of walking to pay for all of the extra calories.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

So far we've only made 5 half day visits to parks.

 

We generally go into a park every day, even if it's just for a half hour to get ice cream at the parlor.  And we do a lot of people watching.

 

We aren't planning any Disney park visits on our next trip. We are talking about maybe going to Universal for the Harry Potter stuff but for the most part it is really a resort hopping, Cirque du Soleil and restaurant trip with plenty of walking to pay for all of the extra calories.

 

This illustrates one of the nice things about what used to be called "the Vacation Kingdom".....there's a bit of something for everyone.  

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Hey I have those cute little salt and pepper shakers on the back of my stove right now.  I got them on sale online for 25% off right before Christmas.  :)

 

Love this photo!

 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Ok....sorry about the delay in posting updates.  I was working in DC this week and never got the time.  So let's move on.

 

INC and I had a date night planned on 12/27.  In the history of all of our trips to WDW over the years, we have never done a date night.  And it's not for lack of planning one....on many of our trips I had made ADR's for us to go out for a nice dinner, but we always end up canceling them and just doing something with the girls.  But this year, we were determined to make it happen.  

 

I had wanted to eat at California Grill for a long time and never had....again, not a place I'd take all the kids so it had never worked out.  I made an ADR a while back but not at the 180 day mark, so I wasn't able to get a later time slot to allow us to watch the fireworks during our dinner.  However, I had read that even if you have an earlier dinner and leave the restaurant, you would be admitted back up to watch the fireworks from the outside observations decks.  So that's what I planned.  

 

We started our evening by walking out the back of our site to the Settlement, and straight to the porch for a pre-dinner cocktail at Trails End.  

 

 

That is a Mai Tai in my hand, and a Pina Coolava in INC's.  

 

I've always found the Mai Tai's at the Fort to be fairly strong.  It also helps if I tell the bartender that I'm looking for a strong drink as I am raising 5 daughters and need it.  

 

After our drinks, we headed to the resort boat and made the quick trip across the lake to the Contemporary.  

 

We checked in at the California Grill podium downstairs, from which you are escorted via a dedicated elevator up to the restaurant.  One benefit of having an early seating (5:40) is that we didn't have to wait long for a table.  

 

We did not have a table next to the windows....but we were close enough to enjoy this view.

 

 

We ordered a drink and the waiter invited us to explore one of the outside decks while we were waiting to order food.  

 

 

One of the castle shows was going on.

 

 

 

We headed back to our table and enjoyed our drinks, and it wasn't long before the sky looked like this.

 

 

 

The waiter brought some bread.....and man was that focaccia good!  You can see it hiding under the rolls.  

 

 

Here's a close up....

 

 

I just may have asked for some more of that.  It was delicious. 

 

One of the reasons I wanted to dine at California Grill is that they do this thing called Chefs Unplugged that sounded appealing to us.  You can opt for either Vegetarian or Vegan, and they'll put together small plates from the various stations in the kitchen for you to try different things.  While you can make some specific requests I believe, the general concept is that you "get what you get".  And we are fine with that, so we ordered 2 vegan Chefs Unplugged dinners and told them to just surprise us.  

 

Here is what we both got.

 

 

Sorry the pic is a bit dark....but IIRC, clockwise from top left are Roasted Winter Vegetables, a veggie flatbread, some sort of salad, and an Asian risotto dish.  

 

It was all fantastic.  

 

This was our view while eating.  Ain't it purdy?

 

 

Not that I needed more food, but one thing I really wanted to try at Cali Grill was some sushi.  I love sushi, but since I rarely eat seafood anymore I asked if they do any veggie sushi.  The waiter said the sushi chef can do a selection of it, so I told him to bring it on.  

 

 

It was all very tasty.  But I ended up STUFFED.  So much so that there was no room for dessert, and I needed to walk it off.  We had a couple of hours still before the fireworks, so we decided to leave the Contemporary and go on a monorail tour, with plans to end up back at California Grill to watch the fireworks.

 

Stupid Monorail Selfie

 

 

First stop....the Poly.

 

They had fairly recently at this point taken down the construction walls in the lobby.  It looks different from what it used to, that's for sure.  

 

 

We walked around the Poly a bit, and the plan was to hop back on the monorail to go visit the GF and have a drink, or maybe something sweet.  

 

We went back out to the monorail station at the Poly, where a monorail was waiting for us!  

 

Only, there was a line and no one was boarding.  

 

Soon, there was an announcement that the monorails were down and it might be 20 minutes until they come back up as one was stranded on a beam and needed to be pushed off.  

 

Simple solution....we would just walk to the GF.  

 

So we did.  

 

It's a nice walk, not long at all and very pretty.  

 

Inside the lobby there was a Photopass photographer, so we got some pics in front of the GF tree.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked around the GF a little bit, but at this point I began to get concerned that if the monorail didn't come back up, we might not be able to get back to CG for the fireworks.  We could certainly watch them from the GF or the Poly, but never having had the opportunity to watch them from California Grill, I wanted to do so.  

 

I decided that we could take a launch from the GF to the MK and walk from there.  So we made our way to the dock at the hotel....and the line was HUGE.  

 

Apparently, when the monorails go down, transportation at the GF becomes FUBAR.  

 

That must make those people spending $800/night on hotel rooms feel really loved.  

 

A CM told us they estimated it would take 90 minutes to move everyone in the line to the MK via the small resort launch.  

 

So we bailed, and headed to the buses.  

 

The bus station at the GF was chaotic!  People were not happy....they just wanted to get on with their evenings.  And many of them were asking if there was a better way to get to the MK.  The short answer....no, other than maybe a cab.  

 

We waited a while, and it was getting closer and closer to fireworks time.  I wondered whether we could hoof it all the way to the CR....but that did not sound appealing.  You can't walk to the MK, so going clockwise around the lagoon wouldn't work.  I know you can walk all the way to the TTC, but I didn't know if there were sidewalks under the water bridge.  So, we waited.  

 

Eventually, a MK bus arrived, which also we going to the CR.  We got on it and it was packed like sardines.  

 

When we were turning into the MK bus depot, I noticed that there was a big backup of buses trying to exit the depot.  So even though our bus was going to the CR after dropping people off at the MK, I figured the process of loading guests at the MK plus navigating out of the depot and over to the CR would take longer than the time we could walk from the MK bus depot to the CR.  So that's what we did.  

 

We actually ran.  

 

Isn't that romantic?

 

While on the way, we passed under the monorail beam where the tractor was pushing the dead monorail.  So in all this time that it took us to walk from the Poly to the GF, wait for a boat, walk to the bus depot, wait for a bus, ride the bus to the MK and walk to the CR, the monorails STILL were not back up and running.  

 

FAIL.  

 

But, we did NOT fail in our quest.   

 

We stepped off the elevators into California Grill 5 minutes before the start of the fireworks!  

 

And they were worth the effort.  It was fun watching them from that vantage point.  Sweaty and all.   

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

What a great night!

 

Well, except for the broken down monorail part.

 

Too bad good old Lou isn't around to enjoy and comment on that part of your trip.

 

TCD

 

p.s. thanks for the tip on how to beg for more booze in your mai tai at Crockett's Tavern.  I'm going to tell the bartender I have six girls at home.  How will he know that I don't?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Since you had all that trouble getting there to watch the fireworks, I forgive you for not taking pictures.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Run Forrest Run!

Seriously though.

That SMB that it was that much trouble getting back to the CR.

Date night has become tradition on our trips....good for you and INC.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Hey I have those cute little salt and pepper shakers on the back of my stove right now.  I got them on sale online for 25% off right before Christmas.  :)

 

Love this photo!

 

 

Thanks Mo!  

 

And which "garbage can" salt and pepper shakers do you have?  I'm guessing one has to be Adventureland....to remind you of Dole Whips with every shake.  

 

What a great night!

 

Well, except for the broken down monorail part.

 

Too bad good old Lou isn't around to enjoy and comment on that part of your trip.

 

TCD

 

p.s. thanks for the tip on how to beg for more booze in your mai tai at Crockett's Tavern.  I'm going to tell the bartender I have six girls at home.  How will he know that I don't?

 

I do wish Lou would comment on the Monorail issues.  

 

Why stop at 6 girls?  Say you have 9.  I bet you'd not only get a glass of pure liquor, but probably some free medicinal marijuana to boot.  

 

Since you had all that trouble getting there to watch the fireworks, I forgive you for not taking pictures.

 

I appreciate the slack.  

 

Run Forrest Run!

Seriously though.

That SMB that it was that much trouble getting back to the CR.

Date night has become tradition on our trips....good for you and INC.

 

Whenever we get back to the Fort, there will definitely be a date night planned.  

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Awesome date night... Minus the running part.

Glad to hear the view is awesome. The sunset pictures were very pretty.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What a great date night (in spite of the transportation problems)!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Your CG meal looks terrific!  And glad you made it back for fireworks, even with all the rigamarole.  Hey, what's date night without a little adventure... and a foot race.  :rofl2:

 

 

 

I've always found the Mai Tai's at the Fort to be fairly strong.  It also helps if I tell the bartender that I'm looking for a strong drink as I am raising 5 daughters and need it.  

 

Well see... one more reason you need to return to the Fort at least, preferably in Oct/Nov.  DH has been working hard to perfect his Mai Tai recipe and I do believe he's got it down.  And I'd be willing to bet his are strong enough for someone with 12 daughters.  

 

And which "garbage can" salt and pepper shakers do you have?  I'm guessing one has to be Adventureland....to remind you of Dole Whips with every shake. 

 

LOL!  Actually since they were only $7 on sale + free shipping, I got them all.  :)

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Ya the running....wouldn't be happening for me unless someone or something was chasing me.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Awesome date night... Minus the running part.

Glad to hear the view is awesome. The sunset pictures were very pretty.

 

The running part kind of SMB....although it's a good memory now.  

 

And yes, the view is great.  And the music up there is piped in LOUDLY!  

 

What a great date night (in spite of the transportation problems)!

 

Any date night is great in my book.  LOL.

 

Your CG meal looks terrific!  And glad you made it back for fireworks, even with all the rigamarole.  Hey, what's date night without a little adventure... and a foot race.  :rofl2:

 

 

 

Well see... one more reason you need to return to the Fort at least, preferably in Oct/Nov.  DH has been working hard to perfect his Mai Tai recipe and I do believe he's got it down.  And I'd be willing to bet his are strong enough for someone with 12 daughters.  

 

 

LOL!  Actually since they were only $7 on sale + free shipping, I got them all.  :)

 

Hmmm, Mai Tais.  Another reason to go back to the Fort.  

 

Ya the running....wouldn't be happening for me unless someone or something was chasing me.

 

LOL.  I'll keep that in mind if I see any bears at Desoto.  

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Running, eh?  Well, I guess you were able to "run off" that dinner

 

The picture of you two by the tree is very nice.  Glad that you all got the chance to do that date night  :heart:

 

My brother and his wife are DVC members and this last trip they joined us; part of the stay they were at the AKL and the other part at the condos in the CR.  They have a special lounge area up on top (maybe it's the same place that you were at/in?)... anyway, they really liked watching the fireworks from there.  For me, I prefer either the boat on the way back to the Fort or the beach... but I guess that's because I'm not a big late-night person, so by the time the fireworks are actually up in the air, I'm ready (if not past ready) to be in bed...which means the closer we are to the camper, the better :)

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

 

My brother and his wife are DVC members and this last trip they joined us; part of the stay they were at the AKL and the other part at the condos in the CR.  They have a special lounge area up on top (maybe it's the same place that you were at/in?)... anyway, they really liked watching the fireworks from there.  For me, I prefer either the boat on the way back to the Fort or the beach... but I guess that's because I'm not a big late-night person, so by the time the fireworks are actually up in the air, I'm ready (if not past ready) to be in bed...which means the closer we are to the camper, the better :)

 

Sounds like you watched it from the special DVC lounge on top of Bay Lake Tower. I bet the view is similar. 

[disney4dan 68]

  

 

 

Nope.  Not having fun here at all.  Nothing to see people. Move along.  This is not a happy TR.

 

 

Not having fun here, either.  Nope.  No way.

 

 

That photo of the castle entertainment would absolutely RUIN my trip.  I can see why this was such a horrible time....

 

 

 

 

Clearly not having a good time on the monorail - but at least now we know why it broke down ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful couple - but STILL not having a good time.  Clearly.

 

 

 

But, we did NOT fail in our quest.   

 

That, my FrIENDS, is why clean, healthy living, a good diet and exercise is so important!

 

 

We stepped off the elevators into California Grill 5 minutes before the start of the fireworks!  

 

LIKE A BOSS!

 

 

And they were worth the effort.  It was fun watching them from that vantage point.  Sweaty and all.   

 

Sounds like an EPIC date night, well played Dave, well played!  Glad you got to spend a night out just the two of you.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Running, eh?  Well, I guess you were able to "run off" that dinner

 

The picture of you two by the tree is very nice.  Glad that you all got the chance to do that date night  :heart:

 

My brother and his wife are DVC members and this last trip they joined us; part of the stay they were at the AKL and the other part at the condos in the CR.  They have a special lounge area up on top (maybe it's the same place that you were at/in?)... anyway, they really liked watching the fireworks from there.  For me, I prefer either the boat on the way back to the Fort or the beach... but I guess that's because I'm not a big late-night person, so by the time the fireworks are actually up in the air, I'm ready (if not past ready) to be in bed...which means the closer we are to the camper, the better :)

 

I was going to answer where I think your brother watched the fireworks.....but Kelly already did.

 

Sounds like you watched it from the special DVC lounge on top of Bay Lake Tower. I bet the view is similar. 

 

Agreed.

 

 

  

 

 

Nope.  Not having fun here at all.  Nothing to see people. Move along.  This is not a happy TR.

 

 

Not having fun here, either.  Nope.  No way.

 

 

That photo of the castle entertainment would absolutely RUIN my trip.  I can see why this was such a horrible time....

 

 

 

 

Clearly not having a good time on the monorail - but at least now we know why it broke down ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful couple - but STILL not having a good time.  Clearly.

 

 

 

But, we did NOT fail in our quest.   

 

That, my FrIENDS, is why clean, healthy living, a good diet and exercise is so important!

 

 

We stepped off the elevators into California Grill 5 minutes before the start of the fireworks!  

 

LIKE A BOSS!

 

 

And they were worth the effort.  It was fun watching them from that vantage point.  Sweaty and all.   

 

Sounds like an EPIC date night, well played Dave, well played!  Glad you got to spend a night out just the two of you.

 

 

See.....I'm glad you can see the misery too.  :D

[Humphrey Bear…Rob 42]

Still looking for the misery.....loooking looooking.....no rodent defecation yet?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Mai Tai. Yummy.

Date night rocked. That's going to be a night y'all won't soon forget.

If that vegan food tasted as good as it looks. I might consider going vegan. As long as I can still eat meat. Lol.

What was on the sushi? It looked yummy also.

I think if I paid $800 a night and then had wait for 90 for a boat to the MK I'd be just a little upset.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Still looking for the misery.....loooking looooking.....no rodent defecation yet?

 

I like to maintain a sense of anticipation in my non-trip reports.  

 

Mai Tai. Yummy.

Date night rocked. That's going to be a night y'all won't soon forget.

If that vegan food tasted as good as it looks. I might consider going vegan. As long as I can still eat meat. Lol.

What was on the sushi? It looked yummy also.

I think if I paid $800 a night and then had wait for 90 for a boat to the MK I'd be just a little upset.

 

Yes, mai tai was great.  

 

As was date night.

 

As was dinner.  

 

But the monorail issues SMB.  

 

Poor GF guests.  I really feel for them.  

[DaveInTN 3,247]

A day with nothing planned.  

 

Doesn't that sound nice?  

 

It doesn't happen nearly enough, either at home or at Disney.  

 

But on December 28th, we had absolutely no plans.  

 

So we did what I really wanted most to do.  We hung around the Fort.  We sat under the awning for hours drinking coffee and relaxing.  INC and I snuck away with Anna to Trails End for lunch.  We spent a good amount of the afternoon at the pool.  We were able to get Anna caught up on some sleep with a nice nap.  We had dinner at the campsite.  We went on a small evening excursion.  We watched fireworks and the EWP from the beach.  

 

And that's about it.  

 

It was a good day.  

 

Would you like to see some pictures of it?

 

Let's start with lunch at Trails End.

 

INC and I shared a Roasted Vegetable Flatbread and some Fried Green Maters.  

 

 

 

They were both delicious.  

 

Anna just wanted fries.  So what the heck....we were on vacation.  

 

 

After lunch, we headed to the pool with whichever kids wanted to go.  I think my oldest stayed back while Anna napped.  

 

Being a warm late December day, the pool was pretty busy.  

 

 

Not everyone was planning on swimming.

 

 

It was a nice day to flip between the pool and the hot tub.  

 

 

 

Looks like a certain 9 year old got a hold of the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

Believe me, there were a LOT more pictures on the card that she took.  I deleted the vast majority of them and saved a handful of cute ones.  

 

That is a huge difference from when our oldest girls were little.  We still used film cameras then, so there was no way we'd let them take a camera and just snap away.  And selfies were non-existent.  

 

The world has sure changed.  

 

Anyways, after some pool time we sat around the campsite some more, and may have enjoyed a beer or two.  After eating dinner, we decided to go on little adventure.  

 

We went over to the Beach Club to get some ice cream at Beaches and Cream!  We took the bus to HS, and then walked the pathway to the Boardwalk before heading to the BC, because there was a stop I needed to make first.   

 

I wasn't wanting to feel the impact on my stomach of ice cream, so I had a different treat in mind.  

 

You may recall (but probably don't) that we had a 2 night stay at the Yacht Club last summer after our Royal Caribbean cruise, and that I shared a picture of something at the Boardwalk Bakery I was interested in eventually trying.  

 

 

While they certainly did not look like the warm, ooey gooey cinnamon rolls of Main Street Bakery fame, I knew that eventually I would have to try one for myself and find out.  

 

So I bought one at the bakery, and we then walked to the BC to get everyone else's ice cream and found a table outside to enjoy our treats at.  

 

The verdict on the cinnamon roll?  

 

Not warm.  Not ooey.  Certainly not gooey.  

 

It was a disappointing mess.  

 

Oh well, now I know.  Unfortunately Disney got my $3.19, and some bozo manager is laughing that they got big bucks to sell out to the evil Cartel and STILL got me to spend my money on a stupid cinnamon roll.  

 

Jerks.  

 

Still, despite the room temperature, dry, stick in your throat cinnamon roll, it was a good day.  

 

 

 

 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Love the underwater shots. 

 

Cold cinnamon rolls SMB. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We usually go in late October/early November, and I've never seen so many people at the pool!  It's always too cold then.

 

Stella did a great job with those photos.