$30k later - 30/12/16 - Day 14 - CBR/Magic Kingdom/Cali Grill/Holiday Wishes

[Leyfy]

30/12/16 18/12/16 - Day 14 - CBR/Magic Kingdom/Cali Grill/Holiday Wishes

Index
Day 13

Having had a few later mornings, we wanted to make the most of our last full day (Sob!) and so we got up at 8.30am. Today was to be a bit colder than the previous two weeks at 16 degrees, so both of us put jeans and hoodies on. It certainly felt a bit chillier when we went outside!

We got to the bus stop and there was a bus waiting for us! Hurrah! We were the only ones to get on, so I'd imagine that we'd just missed one and then were sending them round in pairs again. I think because it was busy and Carribbean Beach is quite a big hotel, they we were doing this a lot this time. We'd definitely noticed that the buses were a lot more efficient than in the summer.

We picked up some more people at another stop and we were soon speeding our way round to Magic Kingdom. We made our way through security and then got stuck behind an entire family who all seemed to have problems with their tickets! Argh! In the end they had to go to Guest Relations whilst we stood behind them impatiently tapping our feet as guests streamed in in front of us

Finally in the park (in reality we were held up at the most about a minute and a half!) we decided to go to Main Street Bakery first to pick up some breakfast.

The queue was MASSIVE!

It was actually out the door and stretching down the street!

As it was cold I decided against a frappachino. To be fair the queue moved quite quickly and we soon got our (bog normal) coffees and sausage and egg muffins. We made our way to the little side tables and sat down to enjoy them.

It's little moments like this that I love in the parks - just taking it in and watching the world go by

Breakfast finished, we headed to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin for our FP+ reservation. We were soon in the final bit of the line near the big statue of Buzz Lightyear. Right in front of us was a young boy REALLY didn't want to go on - in the end a Cast Member had to go over and speak to his family as he was refusing to get go of the railings!

As we rounded the first corner we got stuck and sat there for ages! I put my gun down, thinking it'd not count. Apparently it did and I was now hopelessly behind Phil with no chance of catching up!

Phil won by miles! He didn't gloat... Much

We had a wander across the park and we checked the Pirates queue but it was already a 40 minute wait, which is too much.

Brave people on Splash!

I tried to do some live streaming on Facebook but the internet connection just kept dropping in and out!

It was now time for Peter Pan's Flight with FP+, another ride that was posting a 90+ minute wait in the regular line. It was nice to finally go on this as we'd not done it before.

It was coming up to 12pm and the park was extremely busy. We had a FP for Big Thunder Mountain, but it wasn't for another hour and a half so we decided to cancel it. I said I'd like to look inside Be Our Guest so we went over to the restaurant:

However, you couldn't go in without a reservation so I decided that I'd make a breakfast ADR for our next trip instead.

On our way out of the park we stopped to watch a bit of the show on the stage:

It was busy:

We then JUST made it out of the front before the parade started!

We made our way back to the Caribbean Beach and got changed ready for our last evening meal of the trip. We also sadly packed all the suitcases up.

We left the hotel about about a 2pm and and got bus back to the Magic Kingdom. We then got the monorail to the Polynesian. The plan was to have a drink at The Poly, then the Grand Floridian and end up at the Contemporary - a little 'drinking round the monorail' tour!

"Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas."

We got to the Poly but there was nowhere to sit outside 'Ohanas and it was really cold outside and the outdoor bar was shut as it was only just gone 3pm. We resolved to come back in the summer and sit outside when it was warmer, so went round to Grand Floridian on the monorail instead. We saw the amazing Christmas displays:

I'd said I'd like to sit in Mizners lounge and listen to the amazing jazz band again. We did this in the summer when we'd been waiting for our meal at Narcoossee's and it'd been a lovely. However, Phil was just coming down with his illness that day and it'd ruined the night for him really. Being that it was cold, I really fancied a coffee.

Phil ordered a beer. We just sat there for a while chilling out. More drinks were ordered. I couldn't NOT take advantage of the amazing wine list:

No - I didn't order the $1260 Shiraz! I commented at the time that was almost as much as we'd paid for our flights!

A cheaper glass of red than the Shiraz:

We also had a nice view over the Grand Floridian and noticed that there were some hardy (or crazy!) people in the swimming pool!

Phil looked a lot happier this visit as he wasn't feeling ill this time

As we were relaxing, the band set up and we watched them for a while. I live-streamed some back home for my musician friends to enjoy

We left the Grand Floridian about four pm and got on the monorail to the Contemporary:

We made our way to the Outer Rim bar and I spotted the Contemporary's Christmas displays on the way:

We always laugh because the bar man is always sooooo grumpy towards us for some reason! Whether he thinks we are not going to tip or something, I don't know?! When I was in there with my sister two Augusts ago he ID'd me, which made my sister laugh quite a lot! (I was early 30s then!)

Surprisingly enough though, Grumpy Bar Man (as he is officially known to us!) was very chatty and not grumpy at all!

We finished our drinks and headed over to the reception for the California Grill. They asked us if we were celebrating and I said not this time, but last time we'd been there Phil had proposed!

She sent us straight over to the lift and we made our way up to the restaurant. It was now about 5.10pm, so a little early for our reservation which was 5.30pm. The fireworks were at 7pm so I hoped we'd still have our table. The seated us immediately and ...

YESSSS- WE FINALLY HAD A TABLE BY THE WINDOW!

The was our fourth visit and usually we get the pairs at the back!

I was soooo pleased!

We ordered some drinks. I had a red wine and Phil ordered a beer. Our server brought out our drinks and the bread basket, which wich was delicious but we tried not to fill up on that.

We ordered our appetisers - charcuterie board for Phil and I had the California rolls:

These were amazing! I've had these three times out of four and every time they are presented differently! Phil said his was amazing too, really lovely

Phil had beef fillet and I had the seared tuna. Was excellent fish - I wasn't sure about the weird black stuff with it though!

Our meal was excellent, totally made up for the two 'meh' meals we'd had the previous weeks! It wasn't rushed at all and we had a lovely time just watching the sun go down and waiting for the castle to go all sparkly!

Finally:

That's always special for me - it's how I know I am there at Christmas as you don't get that in the summer

We just sat and admired the view:

I decided I'd like a dessert today, so I had the Creme Brűlée:

It was lovely! Phil didn't order a dessert but decided to have a glass of port instead.

We finished up and paid, leaving a 20% tip on an expensive meal, but it was totally worth every cent. Amazing

Despite it being really chilly, we made our way out on the balcony to watch Holiday Wishes. It was cold out there!

You can see all the way over to the Orlando Eye:

Holiday Wishes started:

Fab show, loved it

Feeling full and very happy we made our way downstairs and walked to Magic Kingdom to catch a bus back to Caribbean Beach. We finished our final night in the bar with a few drinks.

Fitbit Totals

Totals
19,894 steps
13.65 km
2,669 calories

Day 15- travel home day

[mick]

A lovely last day even with the cold and your meal looked brilliant

Joan

[collybird]

What a lovely end to the evening! I love your monorail 'pub crawl', great idea!

We have only eaten at California Grill once and we were lucky enough to have a window table. I could have cried I was so happy! Now I don't even want to go back again because I just don't believe we'd ever have the same luck again.

[Redrach1903]

Perfect last full day!

This has gotten me very excited for Cali Grill in April x

[Loopylooloo]

Wow! Fantastic photos of the castle all pink and dreamy! I love it.
Your meal and wine look fab too - what a great day! Glad that you were able to enjoy this this time around.

[Goldia]

What a fab last day, looks like a lovely meal and a great idea to try a monorail pub crawl, shame you missed out on some of the places. This is definitely something I want to try and do with DH.

[Leyfy]

Originally Posted by mick

A lovely last day even with the cold and your meal looked brilliant

Joan

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The meal was FANTASTIC! Wish I was eating it right now

Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by collybird

What a lovely end to the evening! I love your monorail 'pub crawl', great idea!

We have only eaten at California Grill once and we were lucky enough to have a window table. I could have cried I was so happy! Now I don't even want to go back again because I just don't believe we'd ever have the same luck again.

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I used to get annoyed by people sitting by the window and ignoring the view when I was stuck at the back!

I'd sit there and go 'Look! LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!' in my head!

I think I got the idea of the monorail pub crawl on here. We'll definitely give it another go in the summer when we can sit outside.

Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by Redrach1903

Perfect last full day!

This has gotten me very excited for Cali Grill in April x

See more...

ENJOY the California Grill - it is amazing! Saturday is our ADR day for our honeymoon and I've got it down as our final night again

Thanks for reading xx

Originally Posted by Loopylooloo

Wow! Fantastic photos of the castle all pink and dreamy! I love it.
Your meal and wine look fab too - what a great day! Glad that you were able to enjoy this this time around.

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Ah I love it when the castle is all sparkly - magical

Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by Goldia

What a fab last day, looks like a lovely meal and a great idea to try a monorail pub crawl, shame you missed out on some of the places. This is definitely something I want to try and do with DH.

See more...

We'll definitely give it a go in the summer. We got there a little early and the outdoor pool bar was shut at the Polynesian, so the queue round the bar was huge outside 'Ohanas.

TBH it was so cold I was kind of glad we couldn't sit outside!

We'll give it another go in the summer when hopefully the weather will be warmer.

Thanks for reading

[CreakingStool]

Fantastic day and evening. We have planned a meal at California Grill on our upcoming trip, I really hope we get a window seat, it looks amazing