We were so ready for our brief vacation especially after I had been chewed out by an unhappy mother of a patient I had seen in walk-in clinic yesterday. As usual, we were up early for our 7:30 am flight out of OKC – before 4 am. We finished our packing and I drove us to the airport this morning leaving just before 4:30 am. We arrived at the airport without incident and boarded the plane for Atlanta which arrived about 20 minutes early. Our outbound flight to Orlando, though, was late and didn’t leave until almost 12:30 and we arrived in Orlando about 1:30 pm. We found the Disney Magical Express counter in the Orlando airport on the B side, on level 1 and were met with a very short line.
I walked up to the CM at the counter who greeted me and I handed him our transfer voucher. He then asked me jokingly if I knew there was a man following behind me (meaning DH). I told him that we had met on the plane and that he was coming to WDW to share a room with me. The CM laughed and checked us in for ME and after giving us brief instructions (“go to the red carpet and you’ll be taken care of”), he was done and commented on how easy the process was to which I replied “Yes, we like easy! Thank you.” Without missing a beat, the CM said “Obviously” and winked at me. ROTFLOL. He took a step back and apologized for not being very “Disney” but we all had a great laugh and I pointed out that we WERE traveling without the kids this time. What a great start to our vacation.
We headed to the red carpet and were directed towards the line for the Swan/Dolphin and CBR. We waited about 30 minutes for the bus to arrive. The lines were not long at all. It was about 2:30 pm when we left the airport.
The first stop for the ME was CBR but by the time we reached the resort, it was pouring rain. We checked in and after a slight snafu (the CM brought up the wrong name and was trying to figure out why our ressies said 4 nights when the computer said 2), we headed to our room.
Now, I had meant to call the resort earlier in the week to check on our room assignments but forgot. I’m not sure it would have made a difference but our room was located SO far from the Custom House (check-in/check-out lobby) I think the only rooms further than ours were the handful of rooms just down the hall to the South of us. Our bus stop was the Trinidad South which, as we found out, is the very LAST bus stop on their route. There was still quite a hike from the bus to our room in building 39 (guess how many buildings there are on property…..yes, 39) and after we climbed the first set of stairs we saw, we hiked around to the other side of the building. LOL.
We fiddled with our Key to the World cards in the door and after a bit finally got into our room. CBR is a moderate resort and reminded me a lot of the Coronado Springs resort that I stayed in 2 years ago during a medical conference. We had a king sized bed. There wasn’t a desk but, instead, a round table with 2 chairs. The bathroom is separated from the sleeping area by a curtain with a door leading into the toilet/shower. We briefly put a few things away and organized our things then left immediately for MGM. It was past 3:30 and our dinner ressies were at 4:50 pm.
It was still raining pretty well when we hopped on the MGM bus and arrived at MGM.
We checked out Voyage of the Little Mermaid for fast passes but the wait was nothing. We decided to see Voyage and Magic of Disney Animation after dinner. Since we had left so early in the morning, we had only had a granola bar and Luna bar all day so we were pretty hungry. We checked in early at the Brown Derby and were seated in just a few minutes by 4:30 pm.
We love the Brown Derby and have fond memories of the restaurant as we had eaten here for the first time on our Honeymoon 15 years ago. We were seated in a cozy booth in the corner and had a really hard time deciding what to choose from the menu. We were doing the Fantasmic dinner package so our dinner included an appetizer, entrée, and dessert on top of preferred seating at the show. I looked at the wine menu first and the “Derby Delight” caught my eye: Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua, Skyy Vodka, ice cream, and chocolate syrup. I ordered one and LOVED it – so did DH who had a Trois Pistoles Ale after having had this beer last December at Le Cellier.
I’m not a beer drinking but this particular beer really wasn’t bad, imo. We also shared a glass of Coppola Merlot with our entrée. DH ordered the Barbecued Kurabota Pork Belly with Teppan Seared Sea Scallop, Gingered Butternut Squash, and Crisp Shallots. I had the Blue Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with Potato Crust, Savoy Cabbage Slaw, Dijon Mustard, and Remoulade Sauce.
Both of our appetizers were excellent. DH’s scallop was cooked especially well, imo, as I’m pretty picky about scallops because most are horribly overcooked. My crab cake was quite good and I particularly liked the Dijon mustard with the cake.
For entrees, DH ordered the Grilled Filet Mignon on warm New Potato-Cress Salad with Sherry Vinegar and Sweet Tarragon-Lobster Butter. I ordered the Pan-fried Black Grouper with Aged Balsamic Roasted Asparagus, Sweet Onion Marmalade and Citrus Juices. Again, our entrees were just wonderful. I really liked my Grouper and the sauce (not sure what the sauce was – it wasn’t listed in the menu) was particularly tasty on the Grouper. I used up every bit of that sauce and almost asked for more. The Sweet Onion Marmalade with Citrus Juices was served cold and DH didn’t like because he doesn’t like citrus sauces in general. I thought it was ok but was surprised that it was cold (like out of the fridge cold).
For dessert, DH ordered the Flourless Chocolate Cake with Port Wine Chocolate Sauce, Fresh Berries, and Sweetened Crème Fraiche. I had the Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower on Cocoa Almond Cookie and Banana “Foster”. Hands down, I thought mine was the better dessert but then I’m not a chocolate fan. DH’s dessert was too sweet to me. My dessert had a wonderful taste and was not too sweet at all. The cocoa almond cookie was the best part – light, crisp, and buttery. Even though I was about to burst from eating so much food and starting to feel a little nauseous, I still managed to finish that cookie by slowly nibbling on it. LOL.
After paying for our meal with Disney Visa Reward points (wahoo!) and a potty stop, we headed over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The show was very cute and the gal playing Ariel was quite talented. We then headed over to the Magic of Disney Animation which was a brief 10 minute show involving a CM interacting with a video focusing on how Mushu from Mulan was created. After the show, we were free to wander the animation studio. It was almost time to get to Fantasmic but we did stop to play with a computer program that took a picture of you then, after answering a series of questions (eg “do like to eat lunch with friends or eat friends for lunch?”), we were told which Disney character we were most similar to. DH was closest to Cogsworth and I was closest to Mrs Potts.
We walked back toward the front of the park and stopped again to use the bathroom before checking in with our turquoise colored Fantasmic dining package pass that we had received with dinner. The entrance was right next to Oscar’s Super Service where a CM let us pass through a gate.
We walked for a bit and eventually another CM took our pass and directed us into the amphitheater. We were seated in the “Witch” section. As it had been raining off and on all day, the benches were wet. We had arrived early (7:15 pm – just as our waitress at Brown Derby had recommended) and there were plenty of seats up front and near the middle. We had great seats with an empty row in front of us.
After a few rounds of the “Wave” through the audience, the show got underway and was wonderful. We had seen Fantasmic at Disneyland a couple years ago but DS was so freaked out by the dark and the pyrotechnics, he was climbing all over my lap during the show and I really didn’t get to watch it. I’m sure the show in WDW is very similar and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As we exited the amphitheater, we walked the same way we had come in thinking we’d be allowed to exit by Oscar’s but we were all herded to the amphitheater’s main entrance and had to walk all the way back around to get back to the front of the park and the exits. We figured this was to get more people to do some shopping before the park closed for the night.
The line for the CBR bus was really long and we boarded the 2nd bus that came by after the first filled up and the bus driver advised that we take the next bus. This was fortunate because we had the FUNNIEST bus driver on the way back to the resort that I can ever remember. He cracked some jokes to get everyone on the bus to move back and allow more people to board (“if you look back and the person behind you is still breathing, you’re not close enough to him”). He would then tell us that we were on our way back to CBR “IF we don’t get lost…..in the woods….” At which point he turned the internal lights on and off laughing “bwhahahahaha…..”. The kids just loved it and giggled every time he did this. As he pulled up to the first bus stop at the resort, he said “Get OUT!.......OOPS, that’s not very Disney of me, is it? Get OUT….and have a magical day”. He also reminded everyone to remember to take their children or else “we’ll take them to the Magic Kingdom, turn them into cast members, and teach them to sing ‘It’s a Small World’ in 42 different languages.” It was a riot and really recharged everyone on the bus after having had a long day. DH and I were, of course, the LAST two on the bus but the bus driver declined taking us to his house for the night.
Our bags had magically arrived and we unpacked then watched ER. I was asleep before ER was over.
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