After a very busy day the day before, we enjoyed a bit of a sleep-in. We woke up, got ready and I enjoyed one of my Magic Cookie bars (thanks Ariane!) while sitting on our balcony.
We called a Lyft and had them take us over to the Contemporary, where we met up with the group for our 10:15am California Grill brunch reservation. You can read all about our experience by clicking here 🙂
After eating, Luke and I headed outside. I knew this thing existed, and I really wanted a picture with it for some reason…
We looked around the grounds a bit before heading out and taking the walkway over to Magic Kingdom.
I know a few people who were at brunch were going to Magic Kingdom, but we just went to the bus stop and caught a bus back to Old Key West. I wanted to change – my dress was super cute but a tiny bit too small so it was cutting into my ribs haha. We weren’t sure how long brunch would actually take, so we intentionally set our fastpasses for later in the afternoon. This ended up being a good decision, as it started down pouring viciously just a few seconds after entering our room at OKW. The wind was crazy, I know a few people from our group were at Epcot and took video of umbrellas being knocked over. We decided to wait out the rain in the comfort of our room, and enjoyed some down time – if I remember correctly we even turned on the TV in the room to a channel other than the Disney schedule screen haha.
Since this is Florida, the rain cleared and the sun came out – you’d never know a storm had just passed through. We got ready and headed out to use our Fastpasses at Hollywood Studios. By the time we arrived and entered the park, we were already in our window for our first Fastpass so we headed straight to Tower of Terror.
This is terrifying. I don’t remember ever seeing this, Luke took this photo….
We stopped at the Joffrey’s cart by the exit so Luke could grab an iced coffee while I figured out where we were meeting up with the ladies who were in the park. We stopped for a few Photopass pictures along Sunset Boulevard –
We headed for the Tune-In Lounge, where we found Kelly, Kari, Ariane and Steve. We chatted for a bit, took some pictures and then said our goodbye’s – they were all leaving the next day so our paths wouldn’t be crossing again. These three ladies were wonderful, I was so excited to have finally met them and I’m looking forward to meeting up with them again one day at Disney! <3
Luke and I were both very excited about this meal – we were meeting up with a large group at California Grill for Brunch. We took a Lyft from OKW over to the Contemporary, and found the group. We hung out on the second floor, waiting for everyone to get there before checking in and being led to the top floor in the California Grill elevator.
We reached the restaurant, and were each handed a glass of sparkling wine with boba balls.
I’m always fascinated by the wine selection here – even though I have zero taste when it comes to wine. I like my wine cheap and sweet – this amazing wall of wine is completely lost on me…
Our group was assigned two long tables, side by side, closest to the door out to the observation deck. If you’ve never been to California Grill – this is the best view in the restaurant – seriously, look at this view from our table! <3 <3 <3
We chose our seats – Luke and I were at a table with Billie, Jenny, Joe, Ariane, Steve, Kari, Kelly, Renee and Chad. We were each given a menu listing the entrees to choose from, and our server let us know to help ourselves from the buffet options.
This is a unique meal. It is a prix-fixe price on the high end ($90/person at this point in 2019), but it has a very impressive self-serve buffet mixed with entree selections. It’s not advertised, but there actually isn’t a limit on the number of entrees you can order so Luke and I each ordered two since we couldn’t decide. It’s a good thing we were hungry!
It’s not my thing at all, but they offered a Bloody Mary bar for an additional $10/drink. From what I know about Bloody Mary’s – this was an impressive spread.
I ended up taking a million photos of the buffet – enjoy!
Bourbon Baba with bourbon orange ice cream and cornflake crunch, chocolate croissant and cheddar biscuit
My plate wasn’t too full after our trip through the buffet, since I don’t eat eggs or seafood of any kind. I did sample a few items from the charcuterie board as well as the strawberry salad (and then a plate full of bread/carbs from that section haha).
Luke ordered a coffee, and we thought the raw sugar on the table was so cool –
On to our entree selections! For my main meal, I knew I needed to try the Steak and Eggs – two eggs any style, charred tomato barbecue, sage fingerling potatoes, lime aioli (I told my server to hold the eggs, since they would just go to waste)
OMG. This was so good!The lime aioli on top of the steak and the charred barbecue sauce under the steak were both fantastic, lots of flavour and complimented each other extremely well. The steak was cooked perfectly to my liking (well done) without being dry at all. Even the potatoes were incredible – I was very happy that our server had brought an extra bowl of potatoes for our table because I could have had an entire meal of just those.
I couldn’t help myself, and also ordered the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes – hazelnut granola, yuzu curd, strawberry syrup
These were good, and the plate was very pretty – but I would have been upset had I just ordered these as my only entree. I would not consider these to be $90 pancakes.
Luke’s main choice was the Bison Burger – house made brioche bun, Neuske’s bacon, fried egg, truffle onion jam, dill pickle seasoned waffle fries
Luke LOVED this! To this day, he declares this as the best burger he’s ever had on Disney property. He thought the bison was great, the egg was great, the onion jam was great – he really liked this. I’m a lover of all things potato, so I did steal a waffle fry to try it, but I didn’t notice any dill pickle seasoning…
Luke’s go-to option anytime we ever go out for breakfast is whatever benedict they offer, so he decided he had to try the one from Cali Grill. Eggs Benedict – two soft-poached eggs, toasted english muffin, orange honey jam, classic hollandaise
There was absolutely nothing special about these. They were fine, but completely forgettable and he didn’t even finish them. Luke told me he’s so glad he didn’t just order these – he would have felt terrible spending so much money on something that was just ok.
At some point, our server brought over another glass of sparkling wine for everyone. This one was pink, so clearly a rose of some kind? Did I wine properly there?
There’s also a dessert tray brought over at the end. I don’t even think I tried anything off of it (I’m weird and don’t like macarons). Since our table was fairly large, they brought over a few plates for us.
At some point, we took a bunch of group photos. I’m not sure exactly who’s phone they were taken with, but I only have these two saved in my Google Photos account –
Front row – Billie, Ariane, Jenny Back row – Fallon, Su-Lynn, Renee, Kelly, Kari
This meal was awesome, and I’m so glad we had a chance to try it. The view while we ate was stunning, the food was fantastic and the company was top-notch. Hopefully we get the opportunity to enjoy Brunch at the Top again one day!
After enjoying all the holiday decor, we headed down the hallway and headed into Crew’s Cup Lounge. This was pretty high on Luke’s list of places to try, and it was fantastic! You can read all about it over here!
After filling our bellies, we left the Yacht Club and began walking back to Epcot. It was such a beautiful walk, and there weren’t that many people out and about due to the freezing cold temperatures.
We took a detour, and walked over to see Sea Breeze Point. We took some photos and posted them in our Facebook group we had created for our wedding – our friends and family were only days away from arriving and we wanted them to see the location where our ceremony would be held in exactly one week <3
After entering Epcot through the International Gateway, we stopped in Canada to watch the band. They were playing some Great Big Sea, and there was a group of kids having a great time dancing up by the stage – we sang along for a few minutes before continuing on to our destination.
Our destination – our third Fastpass selection of the day! It’s rare for us to make a Fastpass this late in the day, but we had scheduled it to coincide with meeting another couple – my first true DisMeet! We were meeting up with Meghan and Nathan at the Character Spot (Mickey, Minnie and Goofy). We found each other, and entered the Fastpass line. Since the line is inside, and it was such a cold day, it was busy. Even with a FP, it still took over half an hour before we met Mickey – which was fine! It allowed us time to chat and get to know each other better! Meghan and I had met on the Disboards, an online Disney forum – but we both came from the same small province, had both attended the same University (just a few years apart) and we both had our weddings through DFTW with the Escape package (which is something not even offered anymore). Conversation was easy, and before we knew it we were at the front of the line. For each character, we did a quick picture with all of us, then couple shots (no individual pictures since we didn’t want to be the ones holding up the line).
Next up was Goofy!
This next picture cracks me up – sorry Meghan for sharing it! We both look so awkward and unsure of what to do haha –
Before meeting Minnie, I apparently changed my hat?
Minnie had to see the ring after she saw Luke’s Happily Ever After button <3
We headed out and spent a few more minutes chatting before saying goodbye. All four of us were running the 5k the next day, but Meghan and Nathan were in a much earlier corral so we wouldn’t be able to run it together.
Luke and I probably should have left the park and went back to OWK to get a good night’s sleep before the 5K, but instead we closed down the park… We hit up Soarin’ with a Fastpass that Luke had grabbed while we were in line to meet Mickey, before stopping at Club Cool to sample some Coca-Cola products from around the world (RIP Club Cool!)
After scanning in for Soarin’, we managed to snag a fifth Fastpass for Spaceship Earth.
Luke and I love to make a crazy face for our picture on this ride haha –
I stopped by the exit for a picture with the Bubblegum wall, but it was a bit too dark so it didn’t turn out great.
We had a bit of time before the park closed, so Luke decided to buy the Epcot Starbucks mug tonight. I went in to Starbucks with him, but decided I’d run to the bathroom while he waited in line. As I was exiting, I was caught up in the beauty of Spaceship Earth at night, looking at the lights, and I ended up missing the last two steps on the stairs (facepalm). I didn’t fall down, but I definitely hurt something – impeccable timing the night before a runDisney event.
Once Luke had his mug, we made our way to the bus stop with me hobbling along. By the time we got back to our room, I was in a lot of pain, I felt like I had pulled a muscle so I took a hot shower and went straight to bed, just hoping for the best when the alarm went off in a few hours…
