Aug 25, 2010

 

 

 

Helping Kim Possible, packing and a farewell dinner with a view

 

Our late night the day before was really haunting us this morning. We just could not get out of bed! So we slept in and had some breakfast out of the fridge before we left our villa. We wanted to go to the Yacht Club Resort for some photos and to pick up some souvenirs from the shop.

We walked around the resort, walked over to the Beach Club for some more shopping and photo taking before we walked into Epcot via the International Gateway. Once we had entered we saw a Kim Possible stand and walked right over to pick up a ticket for an assignment. We had a little time to kill before we could pick up our assignment, so we decided to slowly walk around World Showcase. The gardens in Canada drew us in,  and we even stayed to watch the movie.

When we left we were both thirsty and Tom got himself a Moosehead Beer, while I stuck with my Diet Coke. Our next stop was MouseGear, where we spent quite a bit of time until it was time for our Kim Possible adventure in Mexico. These Kim Possible adventures are lots of fun for kids and adults alike. We saw a lot of adult groups walk around with Kimmuncators! Our mission took us all around the Mexican Pavillion and even inside.

We had so much fun following the clues that we nearly missed our reservation at Le Chefs de France. So once we had successfully ended our adventure we speed walked over to France. We were just a little late when we signed in and were seated immediately on one of the little tables 2 tops one row away from the windows, but that was fine with us. Our waiter came around quickly and asked for drinks and we both ordered Diet Cokes. When he brought our drinks, he also brought out some Baguette and Butter. We were paying out of pocket for this meal, so we decided to share a starter, the Les Tarts des Chefs (original flatbreads) a la Flamme Alsacienne - Alsace specialty - creme fraiche, onion and bacon. While we were waiting for it, Chef Remy came by all the tables and we got a real good laugh out of it, when while he was touring the restaurant, Marie, the cat, was looking in on him.

Shortly after that our starter which was really nice and reminded us of the ones we had had in France, was served. Tom chose the Steak Haché Angus, champignons et Bearnaise, salade ou frites, 1/2 lb. Angus hamburger with confit onions, mushroom duxelle, tomatoes, and Bearnaise on a brioche and french fries. I wanted to try the Crepe Basquaise - large crepe filled with smoked chicken strips, peppers and onions and grilled.

While both dishes were not bad, they were not the best either. We decided against a dessert and thought about picking something up from the French Bakery, but nothing really appealed to us, so we left without picking anything up. We left the park, walked back to our car and drove home to Old Key West. On the way back there we stopped at Port Orleans Riverside to spend some of our left over snack credits. We got three bottles of Dasani water, 2 Magic Cookie Bars and a Grapes Cup. Back at our resort we sat out on the balcony for a while, snacking on the grapes, then I went to do the rest of the packing since we were going to start a back to back cruise on the Disney Wonder the next day.

It took me about an hour until I had packed everything we no longer needed and then we enjoyed some more time just relaxing in the villa, sipping Coke and watching a little TV. But before we knew it, it was time to get ready again for our “Dinner with a view” at the California Grill. We drove over to the Contemporary Resort, dropped the car off at Valet Parking and since we were early we strolled through the shops on the 4th floor before checking in on the second floor. They were giving us the usual spiel, they were running behind and we would be seated about 20 minutes late. Buzzer in hand we were led upstairs in the elevator. We talked to the CMs who are working the upstairs reception and they told us that we could walk outside onto the viewing platform. So, since they were running behind anyway, we walked outside and took a few photos.

We spent quite some time outside and when we finally came back in we found some chairs to sit down and wait. It took about 45 minutes from check in downstairs to being seated. They finally had a table ready for us in the very front of the room. We were seated at a four top and our server was quick to introduce himself. He loved to talk, unfortunately he was really hard to understand. We ordered Diet Cokes and Tom had a Whiskey Sour.

I ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri. While we were waiting for our drinks and still studying the menu, the server brought out the warm, Sourdough Bread and Butter with Sea Salt. To celebrate the start of our back to back cruise we decided to share a starter! So we chose to try one of sushi’s of the California Grill and ordered the Tempura Bonsai Roll, Tuna, Avocado, Chive, Jicama, Sweet Onion Sauce, and Wasabi Cream, which was really good.

For his main course Tom had the Serrano Ham-wrapped Grouper, Seafood Sausage, Marble Potatoes, Corn, Edamame and Tomato Beurre Blance, which he enjoyed very much. I went with an old favourite of mine, the Grilled Pork Tenderloin - with Goat Cheese Polenta, Button Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze, and Sage. Even though they plate it differently every time, this still is a wonderful dish.  After we had finished our main courses it was time to step outside and watch the fireworks. We always watch from the observation deck that is behind the restaurant and like always there were far less people there. We found a good spot to watch and take a few photos and enjoyed the fireworks and music a lot.

After the fireworks we went back to our table, ordered our desserts and watched the restaurant empty out quite a bit. Tom ordered an Espresso and the Bananas and Caramel - Crispy baked phyllo squares layered w/banana, caramel, mascarpone mousse, and caramelized banana. Even though this was very nice and tasty, it was a really rich dessert. Again, I ended up ordering an old favourite, the Valrhona Chocolate Cake - Warm chocolate cake w/molten center, cherry ice cream, sweet whipped cream and cherry compote. I love the dessert, but was not able to finish it. Once we had finished our meal, we paid the bill by spending the last of our table service credits and paid for the rest using our Tables In Wonderland card. We took the elevator downstairs, walked over to Valet Parking and picked up our car to drive back home to our Old Key West Villa. Once back we sat in the living room for a little while, had a relaxed drink and discussed the next morning. Then it was time for one more good night’s sleep at Old Key West, before we were heading out to the WONDERful Disney WONDER!

 

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