[Ears42]

Day 5: December 11, 2002. Sunshine returns, plans change and Tea for Two.

Katie was wide-awake at the awful hour of 7:00 am. Do children ever sleep past 7:30, I know wait until she is a teenager. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] We opened the windows to a blinding yellow light. At first I wasn’t sure I remembered what that big thing in the sky was, oh yes I remember SUNSHINE! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Well since the sun gods had graced us with their presence and since Katie was up anyway we decided to change our plans and head towards MGM today. We had MGM planned for later in the week but I wanted to hedge our bets and go today since the sun was shining. Characters aren't as plentiful in the rain!

When we got to MGM Stitch was there to greet us. All decked out in Santa hat and holding a DVD of his movie. This Stitch is a big balloon in front of the park entrance. We got to meet the real Stitch later in the week. We stopped at MGM to see if they had a birthday button for Katie. They did, but it was the same button we had gotten in MK two days before. We checked the show times and headed towards Playhouse Disney. When we were here last year this show had not yet started. This is a great show for anyone with toddlers who watch the Disney Channel. All of their favorites are here and it’s very interactive. It starts with the Characters from Bear in the Big Blue House. We even got to do the Bear Cha Cha Cha. Then the Role Polio Ollie bots, Ollie, Billy and Zoë make an appearance, followed by Stanley and Dennis from Stanley, and last but not least Pooh and friends from The Book of Pooh. This is a really fun show. You do sit on the floor however, and it can be uncomfortable if the show is full. They push you in so you get to meet your neighbors. They have the floor taped off and you have to sit inside the tape. I recommend sitting in the middle as close to the front as possible and on the side tape. Jamie, the host of the show, comes off stage and dances with the little ones closest to the edge of the seating areas. If you are near the tape, your little could get choosen to help Jamie. Katie did and then Jamie had everyone sing Happy Birthday to Katie. It was a lot of fun. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

After Playhouse Disney we headed over for the first show of Beauty and the Beast. This is Katie’s (and mine too) all time favorite Disney Movie. It’s actually the first movie Katie ever watched. I had a travel bassinet when she was very small that could be used as a chair also. I used to put her in the chair and put the bassinet on the coffee table and put Beauty and the Beast on the VCR. She knows all the songs and loves to sing with the Movie. We saw it on the big screen last year and we’ve seen it on Broadway. We usually see it several times when we visit MGM. We got to the theater just as they dropped the ropes. There really wasn’t a big crowd and we headed to our favorite seats. This is one of the shows were they have you move towards the middle as the seats fill up so we always go straight towards the front and the middle of the row. We got great seats, four rows back, center stage. I love the group that warms up the crowd. They are so much fun. Today they sang Christmas songs as well as their regular act. Then the show started.

I recognized several of the same cast members that we had seen in the past, but Belle and The Beast were new. They need work. Belle was about 4 bars behind the music. It almost looked like she couldn’t remember the words. The Beast (as the Prince) wasn’t a very good dancer. But we love this show no matter what. It seemed a little shorter then in years past. I think they have revamped the show, but our favorite part is always Be Our Guest. Katie had a great time, she sang with Belle and would have danced on the bleachers if she had room. I hope that we just caught them having a bad day.

By now it was almost noon, but we decided to head up towards the “big hat” as Katie calls it, and see if any characters were out and about. We got lucky and Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore were out in front of the theater. We got some pictures then came around the front to find Meg and Mulan (dressed as Ping) under the trees. By now it was noon and we needed to get to the Grand Floridian for the tea party so we headed out. We’re coming back to MGM on Friday for PS at Hollywood and Vine.

We got to the GF in plenty of time to check in for the Wonderland Tea Party. This is a supervised party for kids only. When we checked in, I was given a pager. If for some reason my child needed my before the end of the party I would be paged. Katie got her nametag and waited with the other children for the doors to open. The CMs running the party came out, explained the pagers and return procedures for the parents then we were invited to take our child in, get them settled at the table and then get out! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Katie is not the least bit shy, even though she is an only child she is not a Mommy’s girl at all. It was “Bye Mommy, have fun.” and I was out of there. I also had PS for tea at the Garden View Tea Room but I had half an hour to wonder the lobby again and get some more pictures of the beautiful resort.

The Christmas decorations here are just out of this world. The tree must be four stories high and decorated in gold, mauve, and ivory Victorian decorations. The wreaths and fresh flowers throughout the lobby have the same theme. It’s just wonderful. If I ever figure out how to add pictures to my posts and if I ever get all the pictures developed I will try to post some here. The pastry chef was giving a demonstration on Gingerbread houses in the lobby in front of the very large gingerbread house. When I say very large, that is an understatement. They actually house a small retail outlet in the house that sells candies. I saw at least two CMs in the house every time I went past it.

It was now time for my PS at the Garden View Tea. I let them know when I checked in that I had a little one at the Wonderland Tea Party, who I would have to pick up at 2:30 (2:00 is the first PS for tea here), and they said no problem. I was seated right away. Again, lousy seats. I got the table right next to the podium so I got to listen to the hostesses’ conversations with guests and each other the whole time. I would have loved a table by the window but they had a bridal shower booked, a party of 27 that never showed! I hope they took a credit card deposit on that one. They actually turned walk ups away because they were booked for the day (with the bridal shower) but around 3:00 they called a supervisor who told them to take the walk ups.

Dennis was my server for the day. He was very nice man who went over all the tea choices with me. I did find out that the tea for two, can be tea for one if you want that choice and are alone or no one in your party wants to share it with you. I choose the Buckingham Palace tea, which included tea sandwiches, scones and cream, and strawberries. I choose the Garden View Bouquet as my tea. The tea was very good, not too strong, but not weak either. I like strong teas like Earl Grey and English Breakfast so I just let my tea seep longer.

My tea sandwiches came first. Let me see if I can remember my selections. They were chicken salad, egg salad (with onions), grilled pear on pumpernickel, watercress and cucumber, and salmon mouse. I also got an onion tartlet. The chicken salad was excellent. It had some nuts in it and was on wheat bread. Yummy. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] The egg salad was on white. It had onions in it; I don’t like onions in my egg salad so I wasn’t thrilled with this one. The grilled pear was interesting. It was sweet and very tasty. Next was the watercress. I’m not a cucumber fan but I was being adventurous so I ate it. Not bad. The last one was salmon mouse. I’m sorry but YUCK. So much for my adventurous spirit. I tasted the onion tartlet. It was very strong. I tasted it but could not finish it. At this point I needed to go get Katie. And here’s where the service at the GF goes above and beyond any service I have ever experienced. Let me preface this by saying I’ve worked restaurant and I’ve worked retail long and I always try to be a very good customer. I told Dennis I needed to go get Katie and I offered my room key or my credit card so that they knew I was coming back and not going to walk on the check. They refused. They said go get her, come back, they would hold my table. I was astounded. They trusted me. I went and got Katie and came back. I had a fresh pot of tea and they even brought Katie her own pot of “special tea” (chocolate milk). [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Ok so now I’m enjoying a tea party with my Katie. She proceeded to tell me all about her party with Alice and the Mad Hatter. Although she informs me she didn’t eat anything but the cupcake because they had jelly on the sandwiches. Katie eats peanut butter sandwiches, but not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I never even considered this. But she said she was fine and didn’t want anything but milk. She had a great time at the tea party. They played “Follow Alice” which from her description sounded like follow the leader. They had apple juice tea and sandwiches, and cupcakes. Everyone had their picture taken with Alice and the Mad Hatter, which we were given when we picked them up. They were polarids. As she was telling me all about how much fun she had I was enjoying a wonderful raisin scone with cream and preserves. It was warm and light and wonderful. I asked for the recipe but was told it was for 2000 scones and that they don’t give it out. If anyone has it I’d love to get it from you. Dennis asked Katie again if he could bring her anything and she declined. Then he brought me a huge bowl of strawberries and cream. It was sinful. They were so good. Now I love strawberries and I couldn’t eat all of them. This was a great afternoon. We had a wonderful time and I will definitely do this again.

I went to guest relations before we headed off to DD to drop off a note I had written about the wonderful service at Tea. I asked for a comment card but they didn’t have any so I just wrote a note.

We headed off to DD to do a little shopping. I wanted to scope out the Christmas present situation. I knew from shopping at the gift shop at GF that Disney Merchandising wasn’t guarnteeing any deliveries in time for Christmas so I needed to reevaluate my shopping plans. Also I was looking for a birthday present for Katie. We wondered through the shops, they weren’t really crowded today and didn’t really make any big purchases but I knew what I was going to come back for if I could find room in the luggage. I was able to find a special gift for Katie’s birthday. She had been asking for a locket and I found a mother/daughter locket set in the World Of Disney. They are sterling silver and have the Mickey Icon on them. I bought it for her to receive at CRT from Cinderella tomorrow.

I had her in the umbrella stroller today so I was able to sneak it to the cashier. Side note here that this woman was as rude as the CM at check in. I was trying to speak softly so that little ears didn’t hear what I was saying; she kept saying “Speak Up I can’t hear you.” And then when I asked for a box you’d thought I’d asked for the moon. Yes, it came in a jewelry box but I wanted a gift box. It was a gift. I counted to 10 gave her my DC card for my discount. She made a rude face and rang up my sale. If I hadn’t just had such a wonderful CM at the GF I would have probably went looking for a supervisor. Not worth it today.

After our shopping excursion we decided to head back to VWL. Katie is not a big eater and we decided to have an easy night and go over to Roaring Forks for her favorite meal, chicken fingers. She got chicken fingers and I got a grilled chicken sandwich and we took it back to our studio to eat.
Another early night for us. Tomorrow we have an early PS for CRT,

Next Installment: Its a Princess Kind Of Day or Hold on to your Tiara!