“Are you kidding me?”
|
We were up pretty early that day. So early that we saw the sun come
up. There were already people on the beach and since we were up we
decided that instead of heading out to have breakfast somewhere we
would just finish off the day before’s leftovers, pack up and leave
early. |
|
|
|
|
|
So after enjoying the sun coming up and finally being able to enjoy
the view, and some of the in-room, not so excellent coffee we had
our “in-room breakfast”, then took showers, packed up all our stuff
and headed out the “broken-latch” door. By 9am we were at the gas
station filling up the car and off we went. The drive from Fort
Lauderdale to Orlando is long and boring. We did the best to make
the time and miles pass and we even stopped at one of the rest
stations to stretch our legs and had some drinks and off we went
again. Traffic was okay, there was the occasional heavier traffic,
but it worked out well. |
|
About
4 hours after we had started our drive we finally drove under that
well known and loved arch that welcomes you to Walt Disney World.
And soon enough we were driving up to the Contemporary Resort. As we
approached the security booth we saw the signs up that there was a
convention and parking was for hotel guests only. . We had talked
about self parking, but seeing the signs instantly decided to have
the car valet parked. The guy at security took quite some time
checking if we were on the hotel guest list and finally we were
given the all clear and drove up to the hotel. It has always been a
dream of ours to be able to stay at the Contemporary and we were
even close when we booked it with an Austrian Travel Agent in 2000.
Little did we know we would end up in a garden wing. Knowing the
“tricks of the trade” now, we went all out this time and went for
the Club Level Magic Kingdom view rooms. Knowing that we were early
for check in we drove up, had someone take care of our luggage and
handed over the car keys. |
|
Ready to head inside and check in we were approached by a cast
member. And after making sure we were the party she was looking for
she welcomed us to the Contemporary Resort. “Are you kidding me,
lady? Are you really welcoming guests right when they get out of the
car?” She explained that she would take us up to Club Level and that
we would be checked in there. So off we went to the elevator, still
not quite sure what was happening, as I was so surprised by it all.
We were up in the lounge in no time and seated to be checked in. |
|
|
|
Now, keep in mind they had a huge convention going on and we never
expected our room to be ready by 1pm but it actually was. We just
could not believe what we had been told. But the very nice concierge
even called for our luggage, then took us for a tour of the lounge
and told us to come back there often, as snacks and goodies changed
by the time of day, before taking us to our room which was towards
the end of the corridor. When we stepped inside we were both so
impressed with how inviting the room actually looked. It was large,
the bathroom was spick and span and there was a balcony to be
checked out. So, after the concierge had left we went outside onto
that balcony and there the question popped into my head again. “Are
you kidding me? Is this all for real?” The view was just
breathtaking. We stood out on the balcony for a few minutes until we
heard a knock at the door and our luggage arrived. We started to
unpack some of it and filled the fridge with the drinks we had
brought and after enjoying the view and the room for some time we
went to check out the offerings in the lounge. When we arrived it
was pretty empty and we were able to get a good look around. We both
had some Coffee, as they
had a great Nespresso machine. Needless to say we needed to sample
the Cookies they offered
and they did not disappoint. They were as good as they looked and we
sat even longer than we had intended on. When we had finished our
coffees, Tom went to try their ice-tea, while I had some Coke. |
|
|
|
|
When we were finally done we walked back to our room, got our
tickets and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We did not intend to
stay overly long, but we just wanted to pay a short visit. So we
walked over to the park, through the turnstiles and up Main Street.
We found it packed and went on the Peoplemover before checked out
the Main Street stores and fled the parks again. Back at the
Contemporary we checked out the stores and got a DVC backpack for
Tom before we headed back up and got ready for our reservation at
the California Grill. We had written to Ron and he was sure he would
be there the day we would dine there, so we put the presents we had
bought for him into a gift bag and headed down to the second floor
to sign in. |
|
We were very surprised to hear that Ron was NOT working that day
after all. But we were both looking forward to our dinner and didn’t
think much of it. After checking in we were taken upstairs and as
usual told that they were running late and it would take about 20
minutes until they were going to seat us. |
|
So we decided to walk out onto the platform to take in the view and
it took less than 5 minutes until our buzzer went off and we were
led to our table. The table was in the bar area and right in the
path of the servers. To say that I was pleased with the table was an
understatement. We quickly talked about the table and when our
server came around I asked if there was any other table available as
I was truly unhappy there. He went to ask and came back a minute
later and we were taken to another room, this time in the Wine room,
my favourite place to dine. We were seated at a four top and placed
our order for drinks. We both ordered some Diet Coke, Tom had a
Whisky Sour, while I
ordered my usual Strawberry
Daiquiri. |
|
When our drinks were delivered the server took our order for our
food and brought over a basket full of the
California Grill’s Sourdough
bread and some Butter
sprinkled with seasalt. We both nibbled the bread and butter
until our starters arrived. Tom had ordered the
Bacon Cheeseburger Flatbread,
Wagyu beef, Tillamook Cheddar, House made Dill pickles and Heirloom
Ketchup. It looked really good and tasted equally wonderful. I
wanted to try the Homemade
Potato Gnocchi, Wild Mushrooms, Edamame, Smoked Pork, Organic
Soft-Poached egg. It looked different from what I had expected to
receive but I was pleasantly surprised. The Gnocchi were absolutely
delicious and melted in your mouth. There were plenty of mushrooms
and once the egg was broken and oozed in, it even put it on a higher
note. Only downside before our main courses were served, was that we
had snacked too much in the afternoon and were both already full
after our starter. But we had ordered a main course and that was
soon delivered. Tom had ordered one of his absolute favourites
again, the Spicy Kazan Roll,
crab, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna and fireball sauce, and it did not
disappoint. He enjoyed it very much. I had opted for an old
favourite as well, the
Grilled Pork Tenderloin, with Goat Cheese Polenta, Roasted
Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze, and Sage. While it was really tasty, I
soon was too full to eat any more. And right when I had given up and
put down the cutlery, the manager of the California Grill, Michael,
an Austrian, came over to greet guests. Seeing I had not finished my
dish he came to ask if everything was alright and when we answered
in German it took him a minute and then he recognized us as “Ron’s
friends”. He stopped and told us all about the renovations which are
to start in the new year and how he had just spent a vacation on the
Florida Keys and how much he and his family had enjoyed eating and
swimming at Marker 88. It was so fun to see some of the servers
watching us and some of the other diners were looking at us as well. |
|
|
We asked Michael to store Ron’s gifts for him and he happily
obliged. He finally said his goodbyes and when he had left our table
we asked for our bill. Once that was settled we headed back down to
our level and stopped at the Lounge for a drink. Tom tried some
Yuengling and again I had
a Diet Coke. We sat and chatted for a while before we headed back to
our room. They had done turndown service and the room looked nice
and relaxing. We spent some time out on the balcony, watching the
boats and the lights and the hustle and bustle that was going on
before we headed back to the Lounge for some desserts. Tom had opted
for a liquid dessert, and picked a
Heineken, while I got
myself some tea and two of the
Desserts from their
offerings. |
They were both really nice and while I was slowly finishing off my
desserts and drink, Tom went and tasted the
Cognac they were offering
there too. It was getting close to the time the fireworks were
supposed to start, so we headed back to our room, took our cameras
and sat out on our balcony. The Electic Water Pageant was just
gliding by. The perspective from the hotel was really awesome and we
enjoyed to be able to enjoy them from our balcony. And then it was
time for the fireworks. Once the fireworks were over we watched a
little TV, before Tom picked up a
Bud Light from the Lounge
and took it back to our room to enjoy on the balcony. It was fun to
watch the “bus parade” as there were so many buses driving in and
out of the MK bus stop. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Around 11pm we were tired enough to get over our excitement of
staying at the Contemporary and finally went to bed. |
|