Bar Trip/Anniversary to Disney World
After I finished the bar--believe me it was a doozie (I don't know whether I passed or not, but if I had to guess, I'd say that I did)--Lara and I headed off to Orlando for a 10 day vacation in Disney World to celebrate numerous occasions, but mostly to celebrate the fact that I'm done with my legal studies and our first year anniversary.
While some people may say, "10 days in Disney World!? Isn't that a little too long?" Believe me, its not. There is so much to do there, I think it would take a month do see everything. While there are the theme parks, there are also golf courses, mini-golf courses, water parks, spas, tons of shopping, even more dining, resort hotels with beautiful grounds to walk around. We were there for 10 days and still didn't do everything we wanted to!
Anyway, the trip was amazing. The weather was a little muggy and we only had a few days of truly unbearable heat. Luckily, on those days we went to places that were mostly inside or hung out at our hotel by the pool.
The parks were fun. Due to the crumbling economy they weren't that full. I think we never waited more than an hour for a ride. Although, since we were there for 10 days, if the line ever got too long we just came back another day. Strangely, there were just as many Europeans at the park than Americans (once again this is probably due to the strength of the euro and pound compared to the measly dollar). The most ironic thing we noticed was in Epcot: everyone from a particular country hung out at their litte "showcase" area. (e.g The Germans hung out at Germany, the French at France, the Japanese at Japan, etc.) Lara and I found it quite amusing that these people traveled thousands of miles just to hang out in what is essentially a watered down version of their country.
The best part about the trip though had to be the food (Allen get ready to be jealous). We purchased the "Disney Dining Package" which gave each of us, one snack, one "quick service" meal, and one "sit down" meal every day. Each "quick service" and "sit down" meal came with a drink, entree, and dessert. All this for about $35/person a day. Totally worth it, especially because most of our "sit down" dinners cost $40-$50 per person. While the quick service meals were good and large portioned, the epicurean nirvana came every night for dinner. We ate delicious food from all over the world: Africa, Italy, Canada, California, Hawaii, Japan. Every night we were further impressed by Disney. While all but one of our dinners were spectacular, three of them were unforgettable.
First, on our anniversary we went to a luau at the Polynesian resort. While the festivities were fun, the food was orgasmic. They served us this delicious pineapple-coconut bread that was soft and sweet, yet had perfectly chewy crust. For the main course they served us all you can each baby back ribs and roasted chicken. The ribs were perfectly cooked; they fell right off of the bone and had a sweet and tangy pineapple bbq sauce that made them irresistible. Also, I'm normally not a fan of chicken, but on top of all of those ribs I ate an entire quarter of a chicken. It was so perfectly juicy and tender!
Second, we went to the California Grill, a swank restaurant on top of the contemporary resort the over looks the Magical Kingdom (the Disneyland knockoff). It's atmosphere was to make you feel like you were in an upscale restaurants in SF or the Peninsula. They definitely delivered. We had a dinner and service that would rival Post Trio and Le Papillion. After dinner we were invited out on there observation deck to watch the fireworks show over the Magical Kingdom. They even pumped in the soundtrack to the fireworks show. It was absolutely romantic!
Finally, the greatest surprise of them all was La Celliar in the Canadian Pavilion in Epcot. I had heard really good things on line about La Celliar. This restaurant is so popular that you need to call at least 4 months in advance to secure a reservation. Thus, I had to check it out for myself. The only word to describe it is: WOW! To begin, with it was possibly the best service experience I have ever had. Our waiter came up and introduced himself. he was friendly and told us a little about his home town (All of the servers are from Canada). He routinely checked up on us throughout our meal and made sure that we were all ok.
The ambiance was amazing. Once I got in I realized why you need to call so far in advance for a reservation; there are only about 15-20 tables (most other restaurants had at least 30). So it was really quite and romantic.
Finally, there was the food. Oh the food was sooo good -- better than orgasmic! Lara had a delicious mixed green salad with raisins, walnuts and blue cheese. The salad dressing was perfectly mixed and didn’t wilt the salad. I had the most amazing cheddar cheese soup ever. I normally don't like soups, but this one had perfect flavor. The cheese they used was not too mild so that you could not taste it, nor too sharp to overpower the complexity of the other ingredients. They also put in the right amount of bacon so that it added a nice smoky flavor to the soup without making it taste like you were sipping bacon grease. But nothing prepared us for the main course. Lara had a mustard crusted chicken, which she claims was like nothing she ever tasted, I snuck a taste and agreed it was the best chicken I had ever had (even better than the luau chicken). I had probably the best prime rib of my life. The meat was so tender that it cut like butter and the spices they used permeated the entire roast-the flavor that is normally relegated to the outside crust was in every bite that I had! For desert I had a Canadian Chocolate mousse-a mousse dessert in the shape of a moose head. Once again: best mousse ever. It was light, rich and chocolaty with a velvety texture, but it didn't feel like chocolate flavored whipped cream (which is how many restaurants unfortunately make their mousse). This mousse was dense and had substance! After the meal ended, we were so satisfied we left our waiter an enormous tip! Both of us agreed that if we were ever to return to Disney World, which we are planning to do in a few years, we would come here again!
All in all Lara and I definitely enjoyed ourselves. We were both surprised that despite all the families running around, Disney World is a very romantic place to go. We're planning on returning in a few years and are seriously considering buying into the Company's timeshare program (which has properties all over the country including Hawaii). I would recommend to anyone that is looking for a fun vacation with lots to do, and still the option to relax by the pool and enjoy a drink, Disney World is definitely the way to go.
While some people may say, "10 days in Disney World!? Isn't that a little too long?" Believe me, its not. There is so much to do there, I think it would take a month do see everything. While there are the theme parks, there are also golf courses, mini-golf courses, water parks, spas, tons of shopping, even more dining, resort hotels with beautiful grounds to walk around. We were there for 10 days and still didn't do everything we wanted to!
Anyway, the trip was amazing. The weather was a little muggy and we only had a few days of truly unbearable heat. Luckily, on those days we went to places that were mostly inside or hung out at our hotel by the pool.
The parks were fun. Due to the crumbling economy they weren't that full. I think we never waited more than an hour for a ride. Although, since we were there for 10 days, if the line ever got too long we just came back another day. Strangely, there were just as many Europeans at the park than Americans (once again this is probably due to the strength of the euro and pound compared to the measly dollar). The most ironic thing we noticed was in Epcot: everyone from a particular country hung out at their litte "showcase" area. (e.g The Germans hung out at Germany, the French at France, the Japanese at Japan, etc.) Lara and I found it quite amusing that these people traveled thousands of miles just to hang out in what is essentially a watered down version of their country.
The best part about the trip though had to be the food (Allen get ready to be jealous). We purchased the "Disney Dining Package" which gave each of us, one snack, one "quick service" meal, and one "sit down" meal every day. Each "quick service" and "sit down" meal came with a drink, entree, and dessert. All this for about $35/person a day. Totally worth it, especially because most of our "sit down" dinners cost $40-$50 per person. While the quick service meals were good and large portioned, the epicurean nirvana came every night for dinner. We ate delicious food from all over the world: Africa, Italy, Canada, California, Hawaii, Japan. Every night we were further impressed by Disney. While all but one of our dinners were spectacular, three of them were unforgettable.
First, on our anniversary we went to a luau at the Polynesian resort. While the festivities were fun, the food was orgasmic. They served us this delicious pineapple-coconut bread that was soft and sweet, yet had perfectly chewy crust. For the main course they served us all you can each baby back ribs and roasted chicken. The ribs were perfectly cooked; they fell right off of the bone and had a sweet and tangy pineapple bbq sauce that made them irresistible. Also, I'm normally not a fan of chicken, but on top of all of those ribs I ate an entire quarter of a chicken. It was so perfectly juicy and tender!
Second, we went to the California Grill, a swank restaurant on top of the contemporary resort the over looks the Magical Kingdom (the Disneyland knockoff). It's atmosphere was to make you feel like you were in an upscale restaurants in SF or the Peninsula. They definitely delivered. We had a dinner and service that would rival Post Trio and Le Papillion. After dinner we were invited out on there observation deck to watch the fireworks show over the Magical Kingdom. They even pumped in the soundtrack to the fireworks show. It was absolutely romantic!
Finally, the greatest surprise of them all was La Celliar in the Canadian Pavilion in Epcot. I had heard really good things on line about La Celliar. This restaurant is so popular that you need to call at least 4 months in advance to secure a reservation. Thus, I had to check it out for myself. The only word to describe it is: WOW! To begin, with it was possibly the best service experience I have ever had. Our waiter came up and introduced himself. he was friendly and told us a little about his home town (All of the servers are from Canada). He routinely checked up on us throughout our meal and made sure that we were all ok.
The ambiance was amazing. Once I got in I realized why you need to call so far in advance for a reservation; there are only about 15-20 tables (most other restaurants had at least 30). So it was really quite and romantic.
Finally, there was the food. Oh the food was sooo good -- better than orgasmic! Lara had a delicious mixed green salad with raisins, walnuts and blue cheese. The salad dressing was perfectly mixed and didn’t wilt the salad. I had the most amazing cheddar cheese soup ever. I normally don't like soups, but this one had perfect flavor. The cheese they used was not too mild so that you could not taste it, nor too sharp to overpower the complexity of the other ingredients. They also put in the right amount of bacon so that it added a nice smoky flavor to the soup without making it taste like you were sipping bacon grease. But nothing prepared us for the main course. Lara had a mustard crusted chicken, which she claims was like nothing she ever tasted, I snuck a taste and agreed it was the best chicken I had ever had (even better than the luau chicken). I had probably the best prime rib of my life. The meat was so tender that it cut like butter and the spices they used permeated the entire roast-the flavor that is normally relegated to the outside crust was in every bite that I had! For desert I had a Canadian Chocolate mousse-a mousse dessert in the shape of a moose head. Once again: best mousse ever. It was light, rich and chocolaty with a velvety texture, but it didn't feel like chocolate flavored whipped cream (which is how many restaurants unfortunately make their mousse). This mousse was dense and had substance! After the meal ended, we were so satisfied we left our waiter an enormous tip! Both of us agreed that if we were ever to return to Disney World, which we are planning to do in a few years, we would come here again!
All in all Lara and I definitely enjoyed ourselves. We were both surprised that despite all the families running around, Disney World is a very romantic place to go. We're planning on returning in a few years and are seriously considering buying into the Company's timeshare program (which has properties all over the country including Hawaii). I would recommend to anyone that is looking for a fun vacation with lots to do, and still the option to relax by the pool and enjoy a drink, Disney World is definitely the way to go.