Today is Vavu’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Vavu! His request was to go to Dim Sum, so we found a great place on International Drive called Ming Court. It was really nice – it had a litte bridge over a koi pond as you walked in, and they had food pellets for the fish that you could throw in and watch them eat. There were a lot of koi – and they were piling on top of each other, going after that food!
Koi Pond
Instead of the Dim Sum coming around on carts, we were given menus with pictures numbered 1-120 of all of the different offerings, and a little order sheet where we could mark the items we want. There was so much to pick from – it took us a while to choose! We picked quite a few of our usual favorites, and a few new items, too.
Ordering Dim Sum
We ate a lot! The group included Uncle Renny, Aunt Tracy, Great Grandmother, Uncle Howie, Vavo, Vavu, Maria, Andrew, Aiden and Jeremy. Even after all of us ate, we still had 2 big bags of leftovers to bring home! Looks like we won’t be scrounging around for snacks anytime soon!
During naps, it was time for Uncle Renny, Aunt Tracy and Great Grandmother to head back home. It was really nice having them over to visit. We hope to see them again while we’re here!
After naps, we drove over to the Grand Floridian to show everyone the life-size Gingerbread House. The hotel was even more beautiful in the evening – with the reindeer lit up outside. We took pictures with the Christmas Tree, visited the Gingerbread house, and grabbed a spot to enjoy our treats. The kids had white chocolate lollipops, and Maria tried a gingerbread shingle like the ones used to make the roof of the life-size gingerbread house! Yum!
During naps, it was time for Uncle Renny, Aunt Tracy and Great Grandmother to head back home. It was really nice having them over to visit. We hope to see them again while we’re here!
After naps, we drove over to the Grand Floridian to show everyone the life-size Gingerbread House. The hotel was even more beautiful in the evening – with the reindeer lit up outside. We took pictures with the Christmas Tree, visited the Gingerbread house, and grabbed a spot to enjoy our treats. The kids had white chocolate lollipops, and Maria tried a gingerbread shingle like the ones used to make the roof of the life-size gingerbread house! Yum!
Grand Floridian Christmas Tree (Vavu doing his "Victorian" pose to go with the "Victorian" era tree)
Kids with the Life Sized Gingerbread House
We staked out a spot right in front of the tree, where the bell ringers were getting ready to perform. It was a group from the local church, who had bells of all different sizes and rang them to create Christmas tunes. It was neat to watch. They looked pretty nervous, but they were really festive and did a good job.
Bell Ringers
After the bell ringers were done performing, we took the monorail over to the Contemporary, where we had plans to eat dinner.
Monorail at the Contemporary
We had never been to the Contemporary before, so it was fun to see another one of the Deluxe Disney Resorts. There was a Monorail Christmas tree inside – that was pretty neat! The tree out front was really big! We went out there and took a picture with it. It had soooo many lights!
Monorail Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree out in the Front of the Contemporary
We headed up to the 15th floor around 9pm for our 9:40 priority seating. We were eating late, because the boys napped for 4 hours in the afternoon, and everyone was so full from Dim Sum earlier in the day that no one was ready to eat at the usual dinner time. While we were waiting for our table, we got some seats right by the window in the lounge where we had a perfect view of the fireworks happening in the Magic Kingdom! They pipe the music into the entire restaurant, so you can hear what the people in the park are hearing as you see the fireworks display. It was a wonderful view.
Our view of the Castle from the Restaurant
After the fireworks, it was about time for our table to be ready. We waited....and waited....and waited. Finally, Maria went to ask about what was going on, and all of the servers were standing in a group, discussing our group. They said they were figuring out our table. It was kind of weird. We finally got our table around 10:30. They had to get another table, and make one for us, because none of the large parties were leaving! Our server explained to us that there are only 7 tables in the restaurant that accomodate parties of our size (7). And that none of the people at the tables were leaving! They finally just carried in a table from somewhere and put a tablecloth over it and put extra chairs around it, and made a new table for us.
By then, we were all pretty hungry. Thank goodness the food was WONDERFUL! Maria tried the goat cheese ravioli appetizer, and they brought out the kids homemade mac-n-cheese almost instantly, so they could start eating. It seriously must have taken like 2 minutes from the time we asked to bring the kids some mac-n-cheese first so they could start eating until the time the servers brought it out. They were really trying to accomodate us.
For dinner, Andrew and Uncle Howie had Pork Tenderloin served with creamy goat cheese polenta, cremini mushrooms, Zinfandel glaze, and sage. Maria had the Oak-fired beef filet served on roasted root vegetables and edamame with a teriyaki barbeque sauce. Vavu had the Atlantic Cod with potato and chorizo stew with baked clams. And Vavo had the Crispy Petite Chicken with Potato Gnocchi, Creamy Kohlrabi, Pomegranate Reduction and Chervil. We all really enjoyed our meals. Our plates were cleaned down to the last bit of sauce!
By then, we were all pretty hungry. Thank goodness the food was WONDERFUL! Maria tried the goat cheese ravioli appetizer, and they brought out the kids homemade mac-n-cheese almost instantly, so they could start eating. It seriously must have taken like 2 minutes from the time we asked to bring the kids some mac-n-cheese first so they could start eating until the time the servers brought it out. They were really trying to accomodate us.
For dinner, Andrew and Uncle Howie had Pork Tenderloin served with creamy goat cheese polenta, cremini mushrooms, Zinfandel glaze, and sage. Maria had the Oak-fired beef filet served on roasted root vegetables and edamame with a teriyaki barbeque sauce. Vavu had the Atlantic Cod with potato and chorizo stew with baked clams. And Vavo had the Crispy Petite Chicken with Potato Gnocchi, Creamy Kohlrabi, Pomegranate Reduction and Chervil. We all really enjoyed our meals. Our plates were cleaned down to the last bit of sauce!
At the Contemporary - Jeremy's asleep so you can't see him
Maria and Uncle Howie tried some of the desserts. Maria’s was the “Valrhona Chocolate and Coffee - Warm Chocolate Cake with Molten Center, House-made White Coffee Ice Cream and Cappuccino Anglaise”. Uncle Howie’s was the "Caramel Apple - Apple Jalousie Tart with Caramel Foam, Caramel Apple Shooter, and Green Apple Meringue with Apple Sorbet”. His looked so neat! It was a trio. Maria said it looked like something that would be served on “Top Chef”.
By the time we were done with dinner, it was almost midnight. Jeremy was asleep on two chairs pushed up against the back of a couch, and Aiden was stirring his ice cream to make it “ice cream soup with chocolate and sprinkles” (as he called it). We were the last people in our section of the dining room.
By the time we were done with dinner, it was almost midnight. Jeremy was asleep on two chairs pushed up against the back of a couch, and Aiden was stirring his ice cream to make it “ice cream soup with chocolate and sprinkles” (as he called it). We were the last people in our section of the dining room.
Jeremy asleep on the chairs
We took the monorail back to the Grand Floridian, picked up our car from the valet, and headed home. Looks like we won’t be going early to the parks tomorrow morning!
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The best part of day 21 was the food at the California Grill, taking Vavu to see the Christmas stuff, having Dim Sum to last us for a week, celebrating Vavu’s birthday
The worst part of day 21 was waiting forever for our table at the CA Grill, getting to bed late AGAIN.
What we learned on day 21 was watching fireworks from inside a building is more fun for Jeremy, because he doesn’t have to cover his ears (even though he did it out of habit a couple times), the California Grill is home to some of Disney’s top chefs, a trick from Vavo and Vavu that you can shove two chairs against a wall to makeshift a bed for a tired toddler.
The weather on day 21 was warm, but pretty irrelevant, because we weren’t out in the heat much.
Our character sightings on day 21 included Cinderella and her step sisters.
The crowd level on day 21 was not bad on the monorail, considering people were staying for the Very Merry Christmas Party.
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The best part of day 21 was the food at the California Grill, taking Vavu to see the Christmas stuff, having Dim Sum to last us for a week, celebrating Vavu’s birthday
The worst part of day 21 was waiting forever for our table at the CA Grill, getting to bed late AGAIN.
What we learned on day 21 was watching fireworks from inside a building is more fun for Jeremy, because he doesn’t have to cover his ears (even though he did it out of habit a couple times), the California Grill is home to some of Disney’s top chefs, a trick from Vavo and Vavu that you can shove two chairs against a wall to makeshift a bed for a tired toddler.
The weather on day 21 was warm, but pretty irrelevant, because we weren’t out in the heat much.
Our character sightings on day 21 included Cinderella and her step sisters.
The crowd level on day 21 was not bad on the monorail, considering people were staying for the Very Merry Christmas Party.
2 comments:
Happy Birthday Dad!
I was just thinking Top Chef and then you said it. I would love to eat food like that all the time. I REALLY wished I was there to celebrate with you all. Happy Birthday, Dad!
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