Happy Birthday To...Me! - Day 2
28th April 2019 - Magic Kingdom, California Grill Brunch & Animal Kingdom

I actually managed a full uninterrupted night's sleep and woke up at 07:00 with my alarm

I got showered and dressed. Today's outfit:



We had decided to have my "official" meal today when everyone was here and I'd heard so many good things about brunch at California Grill so that was my choice. We've been there a few times before for dinner so were looking forward to seeing what their brunch was all about.

I had managed to get an ADR for 12:00 so we were going to be going to MK in the morning so the rest of the gang could soak up a bit of Disney magic beforehand

We arrived just before MK opened at 09:00 and it was another lovely morning.


We spent a few hours doing some rides and generally soaking up the atmosphere It was pretty quiet in the park so we managed to get quite a lot done.


It was soon time to head to California Grill so we got the resort monorail to the Contemporary, checked in and were escorted upstairs. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and I liked the live musicians. When you go in they offer you a mimosa and let you know they are bottomless so your server will keep you topped up

Cheers!

We had a lovely server Logan who explained that there was lots of choice on the buffet and we could go as many times as we wanted. We would then choose an entree from the menu, but we could order more than 1 if we wanted. Finally, they would bring a dessert plate for all of us to share. It's also worth noting that we could still order drinks on top of the bottomless mimosas so we had some coffee and the boys had some red wine.

Apologies - the buffet pictures really aren't very good. It was quite difficult to try to get everything in and it's always a bit awkward trying to get pictures when everyone is hovering trying to get food!


There was SO much choice! Off the top of my head there was a great sushi selection, deviled eggs, charcuterie and cold meats, loads of breads, bagels & pastries, a parfait bar, a bloody Mary bar and much more...

Everything was SO good. Even though it was a buffet it was such high quality!

We all decided to order a wide variety off the entree menu and share. Between us we ordered the Chicken & Toast, Shrimp & Grits, Bison Burger, Lemon & Ricotta Pancakes and Grilled Hangar Steak.

Apologies, not great pictures again


Everything was great except the grilled hangar steak which was stone cold (I'm not having much luck with temperature am I?) but they brought out a fresh one very quickly. Surprisingly, the winner for all of us was probably the shrimp & grits. Really thick & juicy shrimp and the parmesan grits were amazing!

As you can imagine (!) we were all completely stuffed but we couldn't say no to dessert. And it was a thing of beauty!


We managed about half but it was all certainly delicious!

We used 2 TS credits for this and used gift cards to pay the tips (except Bernie & Tig who didn't have theirs yet).

This was a great experience, very high quality buffet with loads of variety and good service. Logan certainly kept us topped up and we all left very full (and a little bit merry...!)

Before we left we went to the terrace to see the view and take a few pictures. Absolute bliss!

Living my best life

We were all still feeling so full that we had to have a little sit down on the Contemporary sofas for a while

After that we decided to head to DS so Bernie & Tig could pick up their gift card and Lauren wanted to do some shopping. We had a bit of a wait for a bus but it was lovely & sunny.

After a little wander around DS we decided to head to AK so we could do some rides and try to catch Rivers of Light. Lauren wanted to do some more shopping but would try to meet us there later.

Luckily we didn't have too long to wait for a bus and were soon pulling up at AK. There was no line for PhotoPass pictures so I couldn't resist again





We managed to get a FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safari at dusk and there were LOADS of animals out. It was probably the best safari I've ever been on. Clearly that's the best time to go! We also went on Dinosaur and did Gorilla Falls trail. We also got a message from Lauren saying she was tired from all the shopping so was going to head straight back to CSR.

It was then time for Rivers of Light so we headed over and had a seat. It was due to start at 20:30 and originally we had planned to grab some dinner somewhere in the park straight after but it was only then we realised that the park closed at 21:00 and everything would be closed. Oops!

It was a great show - Bernie & Tig hadn't seen it before and both really enjoyed it!



We were right and as soon as it finished CM were ushering everybody out of the park and everything was closed. Unfortunately we had to wait ages for a CSR bus.

Some of you may remember I always have a daily "theme" during my trip reports that I come back to. In previous ones I've had "Kieren's selfie of the day" in 2015, "Soraia's hilariously bad selfie of the day" in 2016 (you'll be pleased to know I have improved in the last few years...couldn't get any worse!) well, dear dibbers, this year the theme is "Inappropriate places Tig falls asleep in" don't worry I got his blessing to post these! It became a recurring thing throughout the trip that Tig would fall asleep all over the place and Bernie even started an album on his phone for all these pictures today's installments:

Bless him

By the time we got there we were all knackered so just got something from the Mercado de Coronado and used a QS credit each. Bernie & Tig had rice bowls and I got chicken tenders & fries. Completely forgot to take pictures

I said goodbye to Bernie & Tig and went back to my room looking forward to some well deserved rest. Unfortunately I got none. My next door neighbours (remember them?) decided to have a party in their room. I use the term "party" loosely. It was the 2 guys and they had invited a few girl cheerleaders who were the LOUDEST people on the planet. At first they had music on and were all screeching and laughing hysterically at everything. They then decided to watch a movie (The Expendables - I could hear every word) and it was SO loud through the connecting door. Their reactions to everything in the movie were so over the top. "OH MY GOD! WOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH! AHHHHHHHH! COOOOOOOLLLLL! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA" I did try knocking (and later banging!) on the connecting door but of course this was ignored. I even called reception to complain and could hear the phone in their room next door ringing but they didn't answer (or even acknowledge it)

Why do people feel it's acceptable to behave in this way?

It was absolutely horrendous and they finally stopped just after 03:00. I was livid. I decided I was going to reception first thing tomorrow to request a room change. It was a bit annoying though as I would have to pack everything back up again and then unpack in a new room.

The first 2 nights I hadn't heard anything major (other than the 2 guys talking which was fine) and I couldn't know for sure that the rest of the time might be fine as well (or that the new room might be even worse!) but I couldn't run the risk of another night like tonight...

Thanks for reading

Day 3 is HERE.

Really enjoyed reading so far. Lovely day, the brunch looks fab! What a shame about your noisy neighbours - I hope you get sorted or they check out tomorrow!

Another great day - I’d be livid with neighbours like those too! Hope you get a new room sorted.

Great trip report. What a shame people are so inconsiderate

Thanks! Spoiler - I did get a new room and all was fine after that. It is annoying though that people are so inconsiderate

Brunch looks fab!

A good day and a lovely looking brunch hope you get the annoying neighbours sorted


Joan