Our flight down to Orlando was pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing. On this trip, we used a car service to bring us to Walt Disney World- after making a pit stop at the Character Warehouse. We have never been and really didn’t know what to expect. We planned to only spend a half hour and, thankfully, the line to check out was quick and the store isn’t huge so we were able to find what we wanted and waited on a pretty short line. We picked up mostly T-shirts (that were all less than $10), iPhone cases, Minnie Ears, sweatshirts, and I grabbed a Kate Spade tote and clutch.
Once we were done, we happily loaded back into the van- headed to our happy place- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. In particular, the Royal Palm Club (Main Building Concierge).
It was Tea Time in the Royal Palm Club when we arrived, and yes- we were hungry! This helped as our room wasn’t ready and we had a beautiful place to wait and have some snacks.
Our room wasn’t actually ready until around 4:30pm- which is much later than what we expected. We were tired and really wanted to freshen up before our dinner reservation at 6:30.
This is our third stay inside the Royal Palm Club, and the first time we did not have a separate sink/ storage space inside our room. That said, this is also the first time we have a Magic Kingdom view and it really takes your breath away. The castle looks so far away in these pictures- but it truly doesn’t to the naked eye, looking from your balcony.
After freshening up a bit and a few more stares at that beautiful view- we headed back to the lounge for some appetizers before dinner.
After we had a few snacks, we headed down to dinner inside the Grand Floridian Café, one of our favorites- typically.
My son ordered the chicken breast- he didn’t love it. I took a bite and it wasn’t bad- super sweet with the drizzle which is probably what he objected to. Mike ordered a turkey club he said was dry and couldn’t finish- which is a first for him because he typically loves it there. The girls and I ordered the Thermidor Burger- which we have always loved- just not this time. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it was, it just wasn’t our favorite.
After dinner we headed back up stairs and checked out the desserts in the lounge since none of us truly enjoyed dinner. We really weren’t hungry- which was good because the desserts are really just bites.
We all settled in on our balcony for Happily Ever After, which will always be my favorite memory with my family from every trip we watch together. It’s just stunning and the view from our room was outrageous. I was truly trying to stay in the moment- but I did sneak in a few pictures…
In hindsight- we didn’t need that dinner reservation as we were really eating all day in the lounge. Maybe that took away from our enjoyment as we weren’t as hungry as we usually are.
After the show, Mike headed back to the lounge to grab us two more glasses of wine to enjoy on the balcony while the kids all showered before bed. A magical beginning to our magical vacation…
