#USAnumber3- Helen&Andy Nov 18 - Day 7 - Beach Club pool day & Le Cellier

[HelenJNT]

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Day 7 - Beach Club pool day and Le Cellier

Hello and welcome back to my trip report. When we found out that we were going to be staying at the Beach Club, one of the things that was really important was to factor in some time that we could just spend by the pool. I read trip reports of people with kids, where pool time is an absolute essential part of every day, and I feel a bit envious as we always seem to fall into the trap of flogging ourselves round the parks til we fall down, and not taking that all-important rest time.

Not today though! Given that I hadn’t been sure how my birthday was going to pan out (i.e. how hungover we were going to be), I deliberately hadn’t made any fast passes or park plans for today. Andy is funny as he looks at our agenda beforehand – well, I make him look at the agenda – and he is always critical of it, saying I haven’t factored in sufficient rest time – but then when we’re there, it’s almost impossible to get him to stop and relax for more than a few minutes. No lie, I have had to go into a restroom when I haven’t needed to go, just to sit down for five mins as he really keeps the pace up.

So today was going to be a bit of a revelation (and a fairly short instalment of the trip report) – pool time. When staying at a resort where the pool facilities are as amazing as they are at the Yacht & Beach (best pool on property? I think so), we knew we wanted to check it out.

We were up and dressed (well, in swimwear) by 09:00 and went down to the Marketplace to get some breakfast. There’s a tiny seating area out the back but we hadn’t discovered this by this point so grabbed a couple of breakfasts and some orange juice and brought them back up to the room. I said this before we went but I was mildly narked that you can’t have pancakes for breakfast at the Beach Club food court, it is Mickey waffles only. Bah. First world issues I know but I do have to say that the moderate quick services are far and away better than the deluxe ones we’ve visited.

Once we’d seen off our breakfast, we gathered our stuff and headed to the pool. The entrance to the pool is well guarded – there are poor young chaps dressed in camp little sailor suits, whose only job is to scan the magic band of everyone trying to get into the pool area and give a wristband to people who have proven they’re staying in the resort. What a job…. I suppose there are far worse jobs in the World though. This security was all well and good but became a bit of a pain throughout the morning as the smaller gates to get out of the pool area deadlock behind you, meaning you have to walk back round to the main gate, show your wristband etc etc. I wasn’t down with this and admit to carefully and inconspicuously putting the gate on the latch each time I went to the ladies or the bar – far less faff.

By 10:00 we were stationed on a couple of sun beds and the pool area was blissfully quiet. We were the only people on our side of the pool. A far cry from the Majorca holiday we have not long returned from, where we had to be up at 06:30 to beat* the Germans to the good sun beds - the stereotypes live on.

*Not literally beat them, but it did come down to a foot race a couple of times.

What a view!

We love a lazy river – and this one was ace. I think Andy only really likes them as he gets to amuse himself by watching me try and manoeuvre myself in and out of an inner tube, but much to his chagrin, this happened without instance. We bobbed about in the lazy river for probably the best part of an hour and again, this is one of the happiest moments of the entire trip as we had the whole thing to ourselves. Very relaxing. Where was everyone?

It was only after we got out that I noticed Andy was looking very, very red. He’d have given Sebastian a run for his money. Andy was duly instructed to go off to the shop to get some more sun cream, but he kept saying “in a minute, in a minute” and not moving. I can’t remember why I was so adamant that he needed to be the one to go, and not me, I think because I was being even more lazy and also he was the one rapidly turning into a chargrilled steak.

Eventually Andy went to the shop, while I huddled under my towel in my best ET impression for fear that I was also burning. He also came back with a couple of packets of Lays – huzzah! Hot Lays! I then took pity on him for his arduous trek, and went to the bar to get us a couple of beers. This was all very pleasant indeed.

To make the day even more pleasant, before long, waiter service arrived. Who knew? Happy (lazy) day. We ordered a couple more beers with the tap of the magic band and relaxed.

As sure as day follows night, we had another round of drinks - I branched out this time and tried the frozen strawberry margarita, which was delicious. Andy had another beer.

The waiter also gave us a food menu as was apparently concerned that we weren’t soaking up our drinks (we weren’t concerned at all as we’d each had three Mickey waffles for breakfast not that long ago, and the packet of Lays) but giving in, we ordered a buffalo chicken wrap, lattice fries and a bottle of water, asking the waiter to deduct it as a meal credit.

Here’s my half. No, I don’t know why the wrap was green, but it was tasty enough.

After a while, we were getting too hot and the pool area was getting steadily busier and more hectic, so at about 3pm we called it a day and went inside.

Back in the room, after we had showered and probably had a little nap or read for a while, Andy checked our room balance as we hadn’t actually paid any of it off thus far, and was a little surprised to see that we had been charged full price for the wrap and water. It was only about $15 so I said to let it slide. Andy, however had other ideas as we had all these meal credits we were not using at the rate we probably needed to, so went off to reception to ask them to adjust the bill, to refund us the $15 and take a meal credit instead.

He was soon back with a smile on his face, saying that reception had, in fact, deleted the entire bill for the inconvenience. Wait, what? That was a $90 bill as we hadn’t exactly been shy with the drinks. Oh, happy happy day! I did feel bad for our waiter though and hoped he wouldn’t be penalised for what was probably just a basic mistake. Still. Got to love a bit of Disney magic – this kind of thing rarely happens to us, and to mark the occasion, Andy embarked on a rather rigorous “I’ve just saved us $75 AND a meal credit and YOU wanted to let it slide” dance in my face.

The dance was relatively short lived though as, wow, Andy was sunburned. I have a photo, but this is a family forum, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. We don’t tend to burn much in Florida as we are careful and always in and out of rides so not really exposed to the sun that much but clearly he had underestimated it and was in a pretty bad way. I had caught it a bit on my stomach & chest, and also, as you can see here, had developed some rather intense panda eyes from my sunglasses…

Do you like the t-shirt, by the way? Can you identify all of the ride vehicles?

At about 17:30, we gingerly got changed for the evening, as we had a 18:00 reservation at Le Cellier. It was so nice not to have to leave the resort mega early to get to a meal and to just potter there on foot. Total game changer, if we had been in any other resort it would have meant a bus, the main entrance of Epcot (ugh) and schlepping all through the front of the park to get to World Showcase and Canada-land.

Now I know the restaurant gets a bit of a bum rap on here and I can see why, for the following reasons:

1) it is small and kind of hard to get a reservation at a decent time
2) Tables are really close together so it’s not great for families
3) Some people think it is over-priced and not worth it the cash or credits.

Well. We love it. We hadn’t eaten here since 2013 so were really excited about it, especially after we had had the little taster of the menu at the Food & Wine booth yesterday. The pricing is galling, especially if you aren’t on the dining plan, but we love the vibe there – it’s intimate, relaxed, the wait staff are really nice and friendly, and we love the food. By contrast, we found the Yachtsman steakhouse a bit sterile, the meat wasn’t as good and we both got upset stomachs almost instantly after eating there. So, Le Cellier is a no brainer for us and we will absolutely book it every time we are on a dining plan.

Also, we were very happy with the dim lighting tonight as it meant we didn’t look quite as red as we knew we were – sun burn was in full flame at this point.

Loving the fact you can now get a cocktail on the dining plan with your meal credits, I went for a Montreal (gin, sparkling wine, peach puree and lime, yummm) and Andy had a beer.

We bypassed starters, and went straight in for the main course. Naturally, I selected my beloved fillet mignon with truffle risotto.

Andy went maverick and I ordered something else. I’ve just looked at the menu and I don’t know what this was but, well, clearly, a variation on steak and spuds.

Without a doubt the best meal we ever have on property. Don’t @ me. Our plates were both totally clean within moments.

This is one of the only menus in WDW where I would happily eat everything on it – not all in one go mind you – but the fillet keeps winning out.

Awesome bread too…that pretzel loaf… heart eyes.

For dessert, Andy went for the Yukon bar, which is a chocolate ganache on shortbread and I had the maple crème brulee.

I’m not usually fussed about crème brulee at all as I’m not a massive fan of custard as a whole, but I just fancied something that wasn’t chocolate and as luck would have it, this was divine too.

Given that the tables probably are too close together, I was able to have a good perv on the pecan tart that the chap on the next table was tucking into, and I can confirm it also looked outstanding. Next time…

Bill was paid, and we were done and dusted by about 19:30. This felt like a proper “holiday” day – relaxing by the pool, having a nap, then going somewhere nice for dinner.

We were feeling pretty zen, and it was a long while before the fireworks were due to start (I am fully aware that we haven’t yet seen any fireworks in this trip report, and trust me, it becomes a “thing” in future instalments) so we decided to take a slow walk out of Epcot. I suppose the beauty of repeat visits is that things can be taken at a much slower pace. Plus the ability to just saunter back to the hotel really played its part – when you’re having to get buses everywhere, you tend to make the most of every trip out and probably stay out longer than you really want to as you’ve invested so much time getting there.

We stopped off in the shop at the World Showcase exit just for a browse, and Andy made me buy this hat. It seemed like a good idea at the time…

Here it is, worn in Sainsbury’s after an all-day Christmas drinking session…

My photos dry up here, so I can only assume Andy’s sun burn got the better of him and we headed back to the Beach Club to take advantage of the blessed air conditioning and sleep off our, frankly, exhausting day, haha.

Please join us tomorrow for a return to form. We head back to Universal, have a little Dibb meet, and experience something of a frustrating time at Hollywood Studios…which can now be found here

[Redrach1903]

Ahhh what a bloody lovely day!

Chris is the same as Andy and moans that my itinerary is too full and the does the same thing, i.e. can’t sit still! Lol!

What a winner with your bill being cleared! Love when stuff like that happens!

Your meal looked lovely. Le Cellier is one of my standout memories from our first ever trip to WDW! Would like to go back. Next time!

Fab day and fab hat 😂 xxx

[StorybookCircus]

I love your ride vehicle shirt, where did you get it? Commiserations on the sunburn...I’m always fine in the parks but burn the second I sit by a pool!

[eleele]

What a great day! I also love the t-shirt!

[Cinderella]

Great day👍

[Floridaagogo]

I had the maple creme brûlée on honeymoon in 2005 and I still remember how good it was 😍

[duchy]

That meal looks amazing. I ummed and Ah ed about Le Cellier last year and in the end dropped it. I really shouldn't have done.
I really do like the Yacht and Beach, Boardwalk and even the Swolphin over all the other hotels above any of the others, all are lovely and amazing location.

[Lisa_Lollipop]

What a gloriously relaxed day! That pool truly is beautiful, I didn't realise it had a lazy river... amazing! And what a result having your bill cleared, a belated birthday resent from Disney!

Oh that maple creme brûlée has got me drooling all over my keyboard! Creme brûlée is one of my absolute favourite desserts and that one looked unbelievably epic!

Loving the hat, A did well to ensure you bought that. An absolutely necessary purchase on your first full day as a 40 year old!

Love that you slowed the pace today, such a change from your normal behaviour! I am looking forward to doing the same on our upcoming trip, although with a whirlwind toddler in tow I imagine it will be somewhat less relaxed for us!

Super dooper, a 10/10 read!

[collybird]

Your day at the pool seems so blissful, who knew there was waiter service there, how fab. Unfortunately, my OH does not understand the concept of relaxing.

Really looking forward to Le Cellier this year, we also haven't been since 2013, it's been too long since I had that fillet!

[HelenJNT]

Originally Posted by Redrach1903

Ahhh what a bloody lovely day!

Chris is the same as Andy and moans that my itinerary is too full and the does the same thing, i.e. can’t sit still! Lol!

What a winner with your bill being cleared! Love when stuff like that happens!

Your meal looked lovely. Le Cellier is one of my standout memories from our first ever trip to WDW! Would like to go back. Next time!

Fab day and fab hat 😂 xxx

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Haha, yeah, it was unusual to see Andy relax for the day. I think he liked it though, despite the sunburn. He definitely liked the bill rebate.

Le Cellier is a definite must do for us - you have to get back. I am devastated that you'll never experience the joy of the cheddar cheese soup though