Day 5, August 07

Even Sundays are busy at Disney - Part 1

Finally we had adjusted to the time change and were able to sleep in a little. We had planned on having a lazy morning, but by 7.30 we were up and after having showered, breakfast was on the agenda.

We had a Brunch reservation for 12.30, so we wanted something a bit on the lighter side. Since the Yacht Club does not have a quick service location we had decided to pick something up from the Beach Club Marketplace and there was another reason to head that way. We wanted to spend some time at the pool and the way through the lobby was pretty long, so, since our room was over where the Yacht and Beach Club join, would we find a shorter way. There was an emergency exit right down the hall from us and we tried it, but you could not get back inside from that door, so that didn’t help at all. So off we went and tried another hallway and yes, the door opened from the outside as well, so we headed down the stairs and the exit was right next to Yachtsman Steakhouse. And that was close enough. So we went over to the Beach Club Marketplace and checked out the menu and there was not really anything that we liked too much. Well, apart from the children’s menu. Why not try that. So we both ordered from the kid’s menu and took our food back to our room were we enjoyed the

Scrambled Egg Sandwich, Tomato and Cheese on Gold Fish Bread with Grapes and a Parfait and the

Mickey Waffles served with bacon. They were just the perfect breakfast and enough to hold us over until brunch. A few minutes later we were on our way down to Stormalong Bay. We had our Magicbands scanned and were given wristbands and then we were handed towels and off we went to find sun lounges. Not sure where we wanted to be we walked all around the area and finally ended up close to where we had walked in. There we applied a little more sunscreen and sat on the lounger until the skin had absorbed it before we finally headed to the pool. Once inside we realized that we had forgotten our waterproof camera in the room, but we did not want to waste precious time going to get it, so we swam along the lazy river, drifted in the side pool and enjoyed the Jacuzzi. We changed from one to the other a few times until 11.30, when we had to go back to our room and ready for brunch. Shortly after 12pm we left our resort and drove to the Grand Floridian, where we were told to park over in the DVC section of the resort.

We were surprised to see the area half empty and found a spot right away, then walked over to Narcoossee's, for the Waterfront Brunch. It was quite a walk over, but it was a bit overcast, so we did not mind that much.

When we arrived and had signed in we were told that there would be a 10 to 15 minute wait, which seemed odd, as there were only a few tables occupied. But we took it as it was and took a seat. And no sooner as we had sat down, a cast member came over to greet us and take us to our table. Thankfully not all our vacation time went by that quickly. We ended up at a nice table by the window, our server introduced himself, asked for our preferences when it came to hot drinks and then left us to study the menu, while he went to get tea and coffee for us. When he came back he brought two press pots,

one with coffee for Tom and one with Earl Grey tea for me, and he brought out

Pastry Basket, which was filled with Freshly Baked Croissants, Mini Muffins, Cinnamon Twists and Danish filled with cream cheese and strawberry jam. It also came with

Hibiscus Flower Butter and homemade Strawberry Jam. The menu was discussed a bit, more drinks ordered and when the server left, we started to taste the baked goods. Let’s just say, I’ve had better croissants, but the Cinnamon Twists were to die for and the Danish were nice too. Tom tasted the Mini Muffins and gave them the thumbs up. And while we were still eating our way through the pastry offerings, our server brought out our other drinks. I had opted for the

Mimosa and only later found out that they were bottomless and I had even more than I had planned on. Tom had opted for the

Bloody Mary, which came loaded with a celery stick, some bacon and a blue cheese filled olive, a prawn and a crab leg. It was kind of a meal in itself. And then our starters arrived. Tom had ordered the

Brentwood Corn and Crab soup, while I wanted to try the

Shrimp and Grits, creamy antebellum grits, green tomato chow-chow and Cherrywood bacon, and needless to say, we wanted to share, so we could try as much as possible. I had seen pictures of the Shrimp and Grits, but I was not prepared for the explosion of flavours in my mouth. So good. Tom was as impressed with his soup and once we swapped over we both wholeheartedly agreed to each others comments. We had just finished our starters when our mains were brought out. Tom had opted for the

Steak and Eggs, black Angus hangar steak, two fried cage-free brown eggs,

marble potato home fries and truffle aioli. And I went with something that I really wanted to try, the

Chicken and Waffles, crispy fried boneless breast and thigh with creamy collard greens, onion jam, house-made apple butter and candied walnut crumble. And the server had decided that this was not enough, he brought out the

Lobster Eggs Benedict, toasted English muffin, butter-poached Maine lobster, pit ham, soft poached eggs and citrus hollandaise. We both loved our choices and the Eggs Benedict and after swapping plates found out that the other dish was equally good. I really loved the marble potato home fries with the truffle aioli. So good, but we were getting so full. Neither of us was able to finish the dish. And while we worked on our food, the server came by ever so often, refilling my bottomless drink and he brought fresh coffee and iced water for Tom too. By now the restaurant was getting really empty, with only two other tables occupied. We still had to tackle dessert and there was no way we were going to finish it, but the server insisted on serving it. So he arrived and put a plate

with a

Valencia Orange bar, a

Triple Chocolate Cake and a Lemon Blueberry Timbale in front of us. There was also a

white chocolate Minnie on the plate, but when the server put the plate on the table she snapped in half. After he had explained the different cakes, we took pictures of the food and Tom held Minnie up and when the server saw this, he went and got us a new one in a little cup. Tom refused to try the desserts, he is not too much into sweets in the first place and he was just too full, but I wanted to at least try them all. The Orange bar was a bit on the sweet side, the chocolate cake was to die for and the Lemon Blueberry timbale was the thing that impressed me the least. But I only took one bite each and then put down the fork. And there was our server asking if we wanted him to box up our desserts. Well, now that was a great idea and we happily agreed. He brought the bill out together with our to-go box and we left him a nice tip before we finally rolled out of the restaurant. We were too full and too tired to walk around the restaurant, so instead we slowly crept back to the Grand Floridian Villas, while taking a few photos along the way.

Took us a few minutes to get back to the car, but soon we found ourselves driving out of the resort

and back to the Yacht Club.