Fay is here to stay!

Overnight Fay had made her way to Orlando and had brought a lot of rain. Since there were no restrictions, like when Hurricane Charley hit, we decided to go to a park none the less. But before that we needed some breakfast. When the rain got less I took my Marks and Spencer bag and went over to the Riverside Mill. Lots of people there. I made my choices and picked up a Plain Bagel with Cream Cheese and a Chocolate Croissant before I got in line to pick up an Adult Breakfast Platter, scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and biscuit. It started raining a bit more on the way back, but I made to the room with the breakfast still warm. Tom had prepared some tea and we were enjoying our “in-room” breakfast.

We then put on our ponchos and went to the car to drive to Epcot. There were lots of people at the turnstiles and lots of people already in line for Spaceship Earth. We did not want to wait in line for 30 minutes, so we skipped the ride and went to the tip board. Since it was raining hard, we were surprised to see so many guests at Epcot and such long lines. We went into Innoventions and Mouse Gear before we made our way over to The Land Pavillion. We decided that this was the day to do some of the rides we usually don’t do! So we picked up a Fastpass for Soarin and got in line for the Circle of Life. The next show was in only 10 minutes.

We had not been in there in a long time and enjoyed the show very much. Next we went down to the Living with the land ride. There was only a 10 minute wait and we got in line. We were seated in the front row – yeah, and had such a good view of all the plants in the greenhouse. I even managed to take a photo of the lettuce hidden Mickey and of one of the pumpkins, earning its ears. After that it was time for our Soarin Fastpass.

Loved the ride. Next up was Journey into Imagination, which did not have any line at all! Again, front row seats! While walking around we had a few photopass photos taken in our raingear and finally we made our way over to the World Showcase. We stopped in England and explored the shops before we headed on over to France. Next stop Japan, where we picked up some lucky charm cats and a packet of Pucca, chocolate filled pretzel fish. We checked out all the counter service locations, but they were all full, with long lines of people and since we started to get hungry we decided to leave the park and get some lunch somewhere else. I had wanted to try the Mara at Animal Kingdom Lodge for quite some time, so this is where we went. Tom decided on trying the African Stew in a Breadbowl, while I wanted to try the Fried Shrimp Platter.

We ended up sharing both dishes. For dessert we both chose the Zebra Domes, which were really nice. After lunch we explored the lodge and went to the gift shop. We have stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge before and loved it. I guess we will have to go back really soon. On the way back to the resort we stopped at Downtown Disney again.

The rain had gotten worse, so there were less visitors there. We had a look into the Ghirardelli shop and sampled some of their peanut butter filled milk chocolate squares, before we went over to Goofy’s Candy Company again and picked up some more treats. This time we wanted to try a Rice Crispy Treat, some Marshmallows and some Pretzel Rods. We spent quite some time inside the store watching our treats and some other treats being created.

When we got back to the resort it was nearly 5pm. We tried our treats and watched the live coverage of Hurricane Fay. We had dinner reservations at Boatwright’s, but were not sure if we should head out into the storm again to go over to the restaurant. Right before our reservation time the rain died down a bit and we put on our ponchos and went over to Boatwright’s. Needless to say, when we left the room we met Froggie and friends again, who enjoyed watching the rain.

We both picked a speciality drink. Tom had the Ultimate Long Island Ice Tea and a diet coke and he really loved it!

When we arrived we were surprised to see so many people there. While waiting to sign in we overheard the times people were supposed to wait for a table. 90 minutes!! Thank god we had booked a table. We signed in, were given a beeper and sat down. It took about two minutes until it went off and we were seated – at a table for four. Our server was very nice, welcomed us back when we told her we had been to the restaurant before, explained the menu and speciality drinks.

I had the Frozen Strawberry Margarita and a diet coke as well. Very nice drinks! Next came the Warm Corn Bread and butter, which we both liked very much. Since we had snacked a lot in the afternoon and had had the corn bread we skipped the starter and just had main courses and desserts. Tom chose the Slow-roasted Prime Rib - with Three-Cheese Hash Brown Potatoes and Cabernet Sauce. A very good choice and the sauce was to die for. I had the Grilled Filet Mignon - served with Crawfish Hollandaise and Three-Cheese Hash-Brown Potatoes. The Filet was cooked perfectly and the Hollandaise was just so good with a scent of crawfish and the potatoes were out of this world. Both plates were cleared.

Now, bring on the desserts. Tom had the Chocolate Cake - with Fresh Cream and Raspberry Sauce which was rich and very good. I had the Bananas Foster Angel Food Cake - served with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. The cake was so soft and melt in your mouth and so yummy together with the Banana Foster Sauce that it was hard to put the spoon down. After our dinner we had another look around the shop again and then went back to our room.

Our frogs were waiting for us again, enjoying the wet weather. It was still early but the weather was too bad to go somewhere, so we decided to call it a day and enjoy an early night. We watched some more storm coverage before we fell asleep.