Victoria & Albert's

After our tour, we headed back to the Boardwalk to rest and then get dressed up for dinner.  Our reservation was for 5:30 p.m. and the expectation is that the dining experience takes around 4 hours.  We got there are few minutes early to have time for photos in the lobby of the Grand Floridian and buy gingerbread treats to take home.

 

Our reservation was in the Queen's Dining Room, a side room that has only four tables, each with only one seating for the night.   The reservations are staggered for 5:30/6/6:30/7 so that each couple is at a different spot in the fixed course meal.   Since we were first we got several photos of the room and our table alone. 

Our personalized menus that included each course included in the prix fixe, plus a few optional add ons and wine pairing. 

 

 

You know it's a nice place when your purse has its own seat.

I took a picture of every bite and sip we took but I'll have to edit them so this blog post doesn't print over 17 pages in my year-end blog book.

Amuse bouche:  New Zealand Langostine with Caviar, Avocado and Lime

 Bison Tenderloin with Horseradish Creme and Clementines

 Black Cod with Broccolini and Cheese

 Wild Turbot with Toasted Capers and Preserved Lemon - and John with a big laugh because we forgot a photo of it before he started eating.  So we reconstructed it a bit!   This was an optional course that only he got, hence the reason I forgot to take a photo of my plate. 

I have no idea what this is since it's not on the menu! 

Roasted French Quail with Corn Pudding and Spinach - the joke by the waiter here (after we ate it) was that it was a fancy version of a corn dog.  He was totally right!  It came up because we questioned the Malbec wine pairing - it was a much different Malbec than we had tried before.  I don't remember how it was different (but it was good) but he said the "corndog" was why!

Kurobuto Pork Belly with Pineapple and Peanuts - the left is pineapple bite and the right is the pork belly bite.

Here our server is getting ready to carve butter off of the toque for our third round of (different) bread!

 Australian Kobe-Style Beef with Potato Pinwheel

 Add-on for John's plate is Miyazaki Japanese Beef

 Coffee Service, Port and Cheese Course

 

 An extra dessert of chocolate lavender cake

The scheduled dessert of Maple Chiffon with pumpkin butter and Calabaza crisps

 

John doesn't love port, so he got some Scotch for his after dinner drink.

The finale was a sampling of chocolates.  We couldn't eat anything more there, so they made us little boxes to take home.   Except for the brandied cherry.  That wouldn't travel well they said, so we ate it there!

It was four or more hours before we finally made our way out of there.  It was a memorable evening, and the food and service were exquisite!  

Keys to the Kingdom

To take full advantage of our adults only tour status, we also did the behind the scenes Keys to the Kingdom tour.  It's a 5 hour tour of all things Magic Kingdom, including a trip into the Utilidor underneath the parks.   No kids under 16 are allowed so that it doesn't ruin any of the magic. 

Our tour started on Main Street at 8 a.m. before the park officially opened.    Our guide, Justin, was so enthusiastic and full of great nuggets of information, as I think you would have to be for this type of job! 

 

For a Disney novice or a non-Disney lover, this tour would be overwhelming or tedious.  But we loved it!  We heard all about the history of the Florida Project - how the land was acquired, who ran the projects (their names are tributes in many of these Main Street windows), and the secrets and hidden gems to see and hear along Main Street that many of us plow right past to get to the castle (the piano lesson in the alley upper level shop and how the parade sound system works being just two examples).

 

 

 

After exploring Main Street, we went through Adventureland and Fantasyland before heading backstage to the parade storage and practice areas.   Of course no phones or cameras were allowed to be out backstage.  But it's interesting how close it is to certain rides and attractions and that your eyes don't notice it.  We rode the Jungle Tour with "how did they do this" commentary.   As someone who has spent dozens of days in the Magic Kingdom and read many articles with behind the scenes info, one of my favorite "I didn't knows" was a hidden restroom in Adventureland!  I thought I knew where all of those were!

 

Lunch was a Pecos Bill where we had never eaten before.  I asked Justin's recommendation at check in on what to preorder and he suggested the spicy fried cauliflower tacos.  They were excellent!  I will definitely get them if we eat at Pecos Bill's on a future trip.   They came with Indian food toppings (mango chutney and a yogurt sauce) but I ended up dressing them with the taco bar fixings and loved that even more.

After lunch we took the exit into Haunted Mansion for a ride.  This is many Disney fans' favorite attraction.  I've always been a bit indifferent to it, but loved this ride after our pre-ride briefing of all the hidden Mickeys.  I had never noticed all the details!  (Probably because I was always trying to comfort a semi-scared kid!)  I won't give the inside the ride secrets, but I will point out that the outside of the building has chess pieces all around it. 

 

Last up was entering the Utilidor near the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride.   This was what I was most looking forward to, and it was cool, but the entire tour was really amazing.  Plus, I didn't see any furry characters - just princesses, a prince and a lot of stage show dancers! 

On our way out there were several school bands playing which was really neat to see!