Ahhhh... A day to sleep in a bit!
:-) Well, for everyone else that is. Since I automatically wake
up early, I just gathered together the remaining unwrapped Christmas presents,
and headed down to the lobby to do some final wrapping. Bringing
Christmas themed bags made this quite a bit easier, but we also had paper
since the kidlets love to tear into the presents! :-)
When she woke up, Kristen walked out to the inside balcony and called
down to me. Good thing I wasn't wrapping a present for her! I headed
up and we all got ready for breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe.
This is a very nice sit down restaurant inside the GF that serves Breakfast
and Lunch. I had purchased 6 breakfast vouchers using my American Express
points, and these can be quite a value at certain restaurants (the GF Cafe
being one of them). Several of the breakfasts there are more than the
character buffets! With the meal coupon you get a drink (coffee, milk,
etc) and a juice, a pastry selection and a main entree. The coupon
includes all tax and gratuity so a very expensive breakfast (mine alone was
over $30!) came to just $6.50! (the price of two kid's Mickey Waffle
breakfasts!) I'm going to miss those American Express Breakfast certificates!
(Another perk I'll miss as American Express ends its tenure as the Official
WDW credit card) :-( I still left a HUGE tip for a $6.50
meal - so I think the waiter made out OK. I'm not sure how much they
get when the tip is included like this... Three more breakfast certificates
to use later this week! Yum!
We decided to do some more shopping for souvenirs and a couple last minute
gifts. We hit all the GF stores, and grabbed the monorail to the Contemporary.
They have several great shops there. Ran into a bit of an un-magical,
and un-festive couple of tourists here though. While checking out at
one of the Contemporary stores the couple next to me was the nastiest two
I have ever seen. They were berating the poor CMs behind the counter
and being ridiculously mean. The CMs were just getting frustrated explaining
the same thing over and over, but the couple just kept at them. Finally,
a manager was called in to talk to them, but not before I told my CM what
I thought of their behavior in a very loud voice. I also made a point
of talking to the manager after they were done. I did this outside
the store, but the CM that was dealing with the nasties still saw me and
thanked me as I was walking away. People like that drive me crazy -
and on Christmas Eve no less. Geez, get some Christmas spirit already!
:-) OK. Rant off!
We never made it to the Polynesian - I think I was shopped out as
was everyone else. We headed back for nap time, and them on to the
Magic Kingdom for Christmas Eve dinner at the castle. We had some time
before our PS, so we caught the Christmas show in front of the Castle.
The park was packed, and we had found a pretty decent (so we thought) spot
in front of the stage, but behind a fenced off area. Well, as the show
started, everyone started climbing into the fenced off area, and standing
up (it was a raised area) and blocking the view of those behind them (us
and about 500 other people!) No one was very happy, and a lot of yelling
was going on. I was surprised that not one CM was around to kick people
out of the fenced area. During the parades, they seem to police these
areas like crazy. Oh well, it was our one real clash with the Christmas
crowds, so I really can't complain. It was also starting to rain, so
I think that just added to the annoyance level. It was too busy to
do much of anything, so we ducked into a few shops until it was time for our
dinner Priority Seating. Checked in at the castle podium, and then walked
into the waiting area. YEAH! Cinderella was 'holding court'!
The girls were very excited, and we ended up being the last ones in line
to see her - she left right after the girls had their picture taken with her.
Whew! A nice Christmas Eve present!
We had to wait about 20 - 30 minutes, but it was worth the wait.
We had a great seat - raised in the back area, but a window overlooking Fantasyland
was right near us. We got to see the torrential downpour outside VERY
clearly! :-) Our server was wonderful, and our drinks were never empty
more than 30 seconds before a refill was placed in front of us. She
had suggested the prime rib (a castle specialty) and all the adults chose
that. It was delicious! A huge portion, and perfectly cooked.
A very nice meal, and a great way to spend Christmas eve. The rain
had let up a bit, but it was still coming down. People lined the streets
in anticipation of Spectro Magic, and it was originally in the plan to stay
for the parade and fireworks, but the rain was coming back. We decided
to leave and got on the monorail JUST in time. It came down harder
than I've ever seen (and I've seen some good Florida storms).
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