Whispering Canyon Cafe

We headed to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.

My goal is to try almost every WDW restraurant at least once, so this was one we have never done before.

I had actually never been in the Lodge and was fascinated by the decor.

We were a bit early so hubby looked for the hidden Mickey's in the lobby while my mom, H and I purused the gift shop.

We checked in about 10 minutes early and H played with the Lincoln Logs in the waiting area.

We were seated about 5 minutes after our reserved time. This is a great restaurant for kids as just about any behavior can be acceptable. The kids all got to ride around the restaurants in a stick pony parade and H had a lot of fun doing that.

Hubby and I had the canyon skillet and my mom had the meatloaf. Both meals were excellent. Hubby and I especially liked the brisket and chicken. H got the kids meal with chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. She was even brought more corn when she asked for it. Our server was great, but did have trouble keeping our drinks filled. There didn't seem to be a sufficient amount of wait staff for how fast-paced the restaurant seemed. Just make sure you ask for ketchup!

We passed on dessert since we were heading back to the Magic Kingdom after dinner. This is a restaurant we would do again, it just would not be a "must-d0" for every trip.

Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table

Finally, we were able to eat with in Cinderella's castle. I have been trying for the last 3 trips to get reservations here and was finally able to score them! I was on cloud 9 the day I made the reservations.

After check in to CRT we waited in line for about 10 minutes and then were allowed inside to the line to wait for pictures with Cinderella herself. It was cool to be able to spend some time checking out the interior of the room. The stained glass windows are awesome

and we even found Gus and Jaq perched on a ledge.

The cast members in charge of the line here were unnecessarily bossy and could have been labeled the line police. It was being repeated over and over that we had to line up against the rope and then when in the part of the line going straight towards Cindy the groups were being told they HAD to stand shoulder to shoulder to fit as many people in as possible. They really did not contribute to making the experience "magical". They really needed a dose of pixie dust. We felt very rushed through seeing Cinderella, but they did allow us to take pictures with 2 different groups, one with H by herself

and then one with the 3 generations.

Once finished with pictures we started our ascent to the dining room. The whole feel of the meal changed there. They were just introducing the first princess, Snow White, and had us wait until she walked out to be seated. We were seated and promptly greeted by out server who took our drink orders.

We were brought 2 nice appetizer platters to snack on while we decided what we were having. While we waited on our lunch we took these pictures of the dining room.

I decided on the penne pasta, my mom and hubby ordered the Major Domo's pie and H got a hot dog. Our server was wonderful and was right there to help us with anything. He made a point of hinting to me that everything (meaning special dessert) was taken care of. Everyone really enjoyed there meals and there was more than enough food for us.

We saw Snow White,

Aurora,

Belle in her provincial dress

and Jasmine.

H ready for the wishing ceremony...

After waiting patiently for H and I to finish our lunches, our waiter brought out the desserts. The three adults had gotten the Chocolate Cream Cheese Buckle and H got an ice cream sundae. The buckle dessert was phenomenal and very rich.

Little did H know but there was a special surprise coming her way...

A chocolate slipper dessert for the little princess. I had been on the fence with ordering this and almost forgot but called the day before and they were still able to put the order in. She absolutely loved it!

Here she is on the way out of the castle. This was an awesome experience for any little princess!
-M-

WDW - August 2009 - Day 3

On day 3 of our trip to the world we finally went to the Magic Kingdom. We didn't have breakfast reservations and took the ferry from the TTC. There is still nothing like that first approach to the Magic Kingdom from the ferry.

We missed rope drop by a few minutes, but that was OK. The park didn't seem to be too busy (as predicted by Tour Guide Mike).

On our way to Fantasyland we found the Fairy Godmother behind the castle. So we stopped for a photo op.

H wanted to ride Peter Pan first, we obliged because the wait was about 10 minutes. It's a Small World and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh were next. We went on Snow White before heading to Philharmagic.

We wanted to go to Philharmagic next but it was temporarily closed due to a leak in the ceiling. We were told it would be back online later.

Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion. H's favorite part is always when the ghost rides in the Doom Buggy! Our next stop was Pirates, my personal favorite: Captain Jack Sparrow! We caught the Tikis coming to life in Adventureland as we went to get fast passes for the Jungle Cruise.

After this it was time to check in for our lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table. I've been trying to get reservations for this for the last 3 trips and was finally successful. I even called Friday morning from EPCOT to order H a last minute special dessert.

After lunch we headed back to Adventureland to use our Jungle Cruise fast pass. After this we decided it was time to head back to the hotel for quiet time. We got a chance to see Daisy Duck on the way out. I love the colors of H's dress with Daisy's in this picture!

Monorail back to TTC.

After dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe, we used the boat from the lodge to go to the Magic Kingdom. This was a really easy way to get there and we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for a boat. Upon arriving at the MK, main street was very crowded while everyone was waiting for the Spectromagic parade. Our destination was Toon Town to see the fairies. At 9PM the wait for the fairies was still an hour and we were not about to wait that long with a tired 4 year old. We left her visit Minnie and Mickey's house and since the line was short in the judge's tent for Mickey we waited to meet the Big Cheese himself. We only had to wait about 10 minutes.

Mickey and Minnie took a lot of time with H because she just kept talking to them like they were old friends. She is just in love with them and they are her favorite characters.

This was such an awesome character experience.

H wanted to play at the play area so we let her do that for about 5 minutes since the train had just left. We were going to take the train back to Main Street to head out for the night, but when the train came through we were told it was done running for the evening. Ughhh, we had to walk back through the Main Street crowds for our departure. We took the shortcut from Toon Town to Tomorrowland and then cut through the Noodle Station. Spectromagic had just finished and the crowds were actually headed towards the castle so we were able to get out pretty easily. We waited for the boat back to the lodge and the fireworks were starting just as the boat left the dock. So ended our third day at the world.

Tomorrow- breakfast with Mary Poppins and another MK day.

WDW- August 2009 - Day 2

Our second day at Disney World was spent at EPCOT.

We arrived before park opening for breakfast in Norway with the princesses.

The character interaction here was great. H got lots of attention for her custom Belle dress. We saw Belle,

Aurora,

Snow White,

Cinderella,

and Ariel.

The food was good here. I love the cold buffet with the berries and fruits. When we asked for seconds of the hot food it was brought out pretty quickly, which was an improvement from our visit here in May. We had paid and were out in time to pass into future world right after rope drop. Hubby headed to Test Track to get fast passes and Mom, H and I went to the character spot.

We had a short wait for the characters. H is so funny this trip with the characters. She views them all as her "friends" so it takes awhile to get finished with each on because she has to tell them things she's been waiting months to share. We saw Mickey,

Mickey saw her shirt right away and started to laugh about it. It has Pluto with a Minnie bow on his head.

I think Mickey was telling H secrets here and giving her a kiss!

Pluto (who wasn't too happy about the bow),

Minnie (who was checking out the shirt),

Donald (who was goofing around with the toys in her stroller while he waited for her to finish with Minnie)

and Goofy.

We also saw Belle in her provincial dress right outside of this area. We had also seen her here in May.

After this we headed to the Living Seas. We had to take sometime outside so H could watch the seagulls. They're her favorite. We did the ride and stayed to watch Turtle Talk with Crush. We hadn't done Turtle Talk before and we all really enjoyed it. It was really cool how interactive Crush was with the audience and how he "knew" exactly what was going on. We also had to get the obligatory Bruce picture.

Up next was Soarin'. We were able to ride with only waiting about 20 minutes. This ride is one of our family favorites. After the ride we picked up fast passes for later on. We were bummed that Living with the Land is closed right now. My mom and I enjoy seeing all the produce creations in the greenhouses.

We went to Journey into Imagination next. This ride is a sentimental favorite for me. Figment is my favorite non-movie Disney character. I remember seeing an animatronic little figment years ago that was taken around by the professor that used to be in the ride. Figment even sat on my shoulder then. Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was up next. We ended up all the way in the back of the theater, having to crawl over people who wouldn't go to the end of the row and stopped in the middle. H sat on my lap so she could see better. It was nice to cool off in the AC but I don't know that I'd do it every trip.

We headed back to the Land for lunch. We ate counter service in the food court here. I had rotisserie half-chicken with mashed potatoes and salad. Mom got vegetable soup and Caesar salad. Hubby went for Asian and got Mongolian Beef, Ginger Thai Chicken, rice and broccoli. H had macaroni and cheese kid's meal. Everyone enjoyed their meals.

Next we went to the Visa card member at Innovations. I arrived 15 minutes early so we ended up being the 4th family in line. While we waited H and hubby played at H's favorite, learning about fire safety. When we got our turn, we found that we were visiting with Minnie and Goofy. The past 4 (at least) times we've been there it was always Mickey and Pluto. Mom, hubby and I all have our own accounts, so we got three free pictures.

After visiting we headed back to the hotel for quiet time. H didn't sleep, but everyone else got at least a short nap.

On return to the park, we headed to Germany for dinner at Biergarten. In order to cut walk time, we took the boat across the lake from Future World to World Showcase. This was the second visit to this restaurant for us, but first time Mom had been. During our May visit, H had such a good time dancing that we had to return. The food was excellent although they had changed the recipe on the potato leek soup (the consistency was different). Hubby had a 1/2 pint Heffe-Weisse beer with his meal. After dinner, H got to dance with her Daddy.

After dinner we decided to walk back and use our Soarin' and Test Track fast passes from earlier. H stopped to play the drums at the African outpost on the way there.

Test Track was our first stop. H was fascinated by all the crash test dummies on the way to the ride. You can tell by how she looks here that she was tired.

Soon after that we were strapped in and ready to do our test drive. This was the first time any of us had ridden this one and we loved it! This is H ready for take-off.

H faking a scared look.....she's such a ham!
This is the car she wanted to try out
After Test Track, Hubby and H headed to Soarin' and Mom and I shopped at Mouse Gear for a bit and then went over to the photopass center to redeem our free print certificates. We had a great time in EPCOT today.

Next up.....Magic Kingdom!