Day 6 – Wednesday 2nd December – Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and Adventures in Clearwater

We all slept well last night and woke to our alarm, Scott and I showered and got ready for the day before waking Mason and setting off for the Grand Floridian as this morning we had an ADR at 1900 Park Fare, which we were slightly late for

We checked in and then had some time to look at the amazing Christmas decorations in this resort, the tree is just stunning, and the gingerbread house, wow! Something we had not seen before and definitely worth a visit if you are there in December. Mason had his gingerbread man tshirt on specially!







After a few photos our buzzer went off so we went back and had a couple of Photopass photos taken



And then we were soon seated in a nice corner table. We had some time to get some food before the characters came over, which is always good with a toddler in tow! I really enjoyed the selection here, lots of breads and pastries, a good selection of hot food, including a chef station for fresh omelettes, the famous strawberry soup, fruit, carving station and yoghurt bar.

I went for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, eggs benedict, hash browns, a few tator tots from the children's buffet haha and bacon, yummy!




Once we had enjoyed some food, Pooh bear came over to visit. Mason loved him!




Next up was Mary Poppins ... I'm not sure if it was because Mason was too young but she didn't really talk to us, just stood behind Mason for one photo then moved on.

Never mind!

Tigger was next


Followed by Alice who Mason happily chatted away to ... I think he was telling her he liked his high chair hehe



And finally, the very funny Mad Hatter!



Overall, I enjoyed the food here but we felt the characters were all a bit rushed, apart from Pooh who spent a lot of time hugging Mason. It is also very compact, but I would return. In fact, we are trying dinner here in November!

It was a lovely warm sunny day today, so we decided we were going to drive to Clearwater Something that has again been on our to do list for many trips but we have never got round to it. I was looking forward to returning as when I came to Florida with my parents as a child we would spend 2 weeks in Orlando followed by a week relaxing on the beach.

With nice full bellies we set off for the highway, and Mason slept pretty much the whole way

The drive to Clearwater was pretty easy and well signposted, it took about 1 hour 45mins with no traffic.

Since watching the Dolphin Tale films I have wanted to visit the Clearwater Aquarium so this was our first stop.

It was great to see Winter and Hope!


We saw otters


Turtles who were busy playing



Stingrays



We listened to the presentations about the animals, very interesting and all of the staff thanked us for visiting which I thought was lovely, you could tell they all loved working there!

Mason really took a liking to turtles here


We next went down to the underwater viewing area for the dolphins, Winter and Hope. It was amazing watching them play together with a ball, I loved it! How amazing Winter's story is. Seems I spent way too long watching though as Mason got impatient and was crying ... and amazingly Hope came over and waited by the window until he stopped ... wonder if it was just a coincidence but I thought it was amazing!



We also saw a big shark and lots of fish



It was now time for the dolphin display so we went up and got a seat, and Nicholas the dolphin was very good at splashing hehe we got a bit wet, whish was nice to cool us down.



What a lovely view up here



We treated Mason to a Mavis the turtle plush in the gift shop as we left the aquarium.


The boat from the film


Included in the entry price is a boat trip over to the Dolphin Tale Exhibition so we decided to do this next. Sadly we didn't see any wild dolphins on the way but the Captain told us sometimes they play in the boats waves.


The exhibition was a bit boring for Scott and Mason, but I enjoyed walking round reading everything while they played the fairground games from the film and shared a hotdog as Mason needed lunch although we were still full from breakfast!






We won!


More turtle love!



I loved the CMA, definitely worth a visit!

We got the trolley back to the aquarium and drove down to the beach, it was just stunning




We had planned to do the sunset ride on Little Toot but by the time we got the the marina the box office was closed so I guess they were not running that cruise tonight. Just means we need to come back again one day!

Wow - it all looks amazing. Some lovely memories x

We decided to watch the sunset from the beach instead, Mason really enjoyed his first real paddle in the sea!



Some of my favourite photos, sorry for overload!







When the sun had set, Mason chased the birds


And enjoyed playing with the sand


By now we were getting hungry after a busy day so we showered and dried Mason, and walked over the road to Crabby Bills for dinner, my dad's recommendation as he stayed in Clearwater for a few days before our wedding.

We sat upstairs so had a good view, and it wasn't that busy. The food was lovely, it did not disappoint! Yummy fresh fish

Scott had Key West Combo: grilled mahimahi and jumbo shrimp
glazed with key lime honey mustard,and served over yellow rice with
conch fritters. This also came with 2 sides, he chose fries and garlic green beans.


I had the server's recommendation, blackened Red Gulf Grouper with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. With a couple of Scott's prawns


Mason had spaghetti

with some of our green beans and rice, one of his favourites!

We all enjoyed our meal here, a perfect end to a great day offsite.

We walked back to the car which we had parked further down the beach, and got an iced coffee and donuts to take away from Dunkin' Donuts for the drive home.

We put Mason in his PJs when we got to the car and before long he was asleep, we left just after 7.30pm and with a good drive back we were back in our room by 9.

We all slept well after all of that sea air!

Thank you, we really enjoyed our day at the beach x

Looks like such a lovely day x

Another amazing day Emma!

Those photos with Hope are amazing, looks like a framed picture that Mason is standing in front of!

Beautiful sunset pics too xx

The christmas decorations look amazing!

Looks like a lovely day out

Great report. We are going to the Aquarium in the summer. Never read about it before in a trip report so really helpful. Glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading more.

Mrs P

Mason is such a happy little chap, he seem to take everything in his stride, I love the beach pictures.