Hey everyone!
I am back with another post in my loosely connected series where we drop off and visit Myles during his time in the Disney College Program.
What?
I said it was loosely connected.
And yeah, I know these are coming out slow. But look at it like this – these posts have now become an event. Like, the anticipation must be so delicious for you all, just sitting there waiting for these to come out.
And this one is a good one. I mean, it’s not like we visit a park or anything…
Aw stop. Come back. It’s still a good day. Plus my brother Jeff is in it. You guys like Jeff.
Let’s go!
Visiting Myles during his time in the DCP: Day 2
Since today was another non-park day, we slept in today.
Ish.
We slept in-ish.
We were up at like 8:30AM. Is what I am saying to you now.
Look at our morning you guys.
It was honestly legit so nice waking up in our cabin at Fort Wilderness. I love how spaced out it feels all the cabins are here. To be honest, they aren’t actually super spaced out but the way things are situated, with so many trees in between, it feels like they are.
I dunno. It’s magic, maybe?
First item on our agenda this morning? Brekkies.
The plan was to make a lot of use of our cabin today. Yesterday, as you might recall, we stopped at Walmart to do some food shopping and as part of that, we bought some breakfast stuffs. Because this is what vacation is all about.
Food shopping.
And cooking.
And cleaning up after yourself.
I don’t know, man. I don’t know why it’s always way more fun to do the things you hate doing at home on vacation. What is that all about? Like, Nickie and I legit NEVER cook if we can help it. But we were so excited to cook breakfast in our cabin here.
Maybe we’re stupid?
Anyway tho. Stupid or not, we needed coffee. So I made us some Joffrey’s courtesy of Fort Wilderness.
I get the appeal of the envelopes over the cups since you can make a big pot but with Nickie drinking decaf and me drinking full-caf, it does make it a little challenging having to make two full pots. But eh, I figured it out.
Maybe I’m not as stupid as you thought, huh?
While we cooked breakfast, I loved looking around the cabin at our cute little home for the next two days. I can’t remember if I showed you these already (and I am far too lazy to check), but these pictures? Ugh, I love them.
And these people?
Ugh, I love them.
For breakfast, we made eggs, bacon, and grilled muffins (blueberry and chocolate chip). We took our breakfast out on the deck to enjoy the beautiful morning.
And yeah. We brought our own tablecloth.
After breakfast, we hopped in the golf cart to do some exploring, stopping off at the Wilderness Swimmin’ Pool to check it out. This is the resort’s quiet pool.
It’s a pretty standard pool, nothing super fancy. But there is a hot tub.
And a pool table.
So I mean two types of pools – swimming and table.
But we didn’t spend too much time exploring because we had a special visitor joining us for the day – my brother Jeff was going to be hanging out with us today for a little bit!
Super exciting!
He arrived at around 11AM-ish so I took the golf cart up to meet him at the front entrance. We quickly stopped off at the room to grab some, um, beverages…and then headed over to the other pool – the main pool – The Meadow Swimmin’ Pool.
But look you guys. Here’s Jeff. I wasn’t lying.
And for some reason? Here is another picture I found of him in my camera roll with an exciting background.
Those lights really make his eyes pop.
And man, you know we went in the hot tub.
Hot tubs be like “ohai I am vacation.”
We left the pool at around 12:15 on account of it was lunchtime. I was gonna be grilling for lunch and the boys wanted to play some basketball so they first drove me back so I could get the grill ready and then headed back to grab Nickie and Jeff before heading off to find a basketball.
So yeah, we also picked up some grilling essentials, including some self-lighting charcoal. Which definitely? Self-lit.
Also, while I was there. I mean.
And soon enough, I wasn’t alone. Lookit this bit o’hotness.
And this bit o’hotness.
And THIS bit o’hotness.
So much hotness.
Speaking of.
It was such a great lunch, you guys. We hung out on the deck. Eating. Drinking. Laughing. It was really nice to have some time to just hang out with Jeff and enjoy a really beautiful day. And I mean, not to brag or anything, but those burgers came out hella-good.
And being that it was just after Easter, we also brought with us some of the coconut nests my mom made for dessert.
I know. Easter, right? It’s like almost Fall. I am the currentest.
Today was so special that I, in fact, found a hidden Mickey in the bacon fat I was disposing of.
I think I read an old proverb that said bacon fat hidden Mickeys portend good fortune. Or something like that.
Ain’t no hidden Mickey like a bacon fat hidden Mickey.
Our visit with Jeff was, unfortunately, a short one. He had to get back home by around dinner time so he left us at close to 4PM. Which was a bummer but honestly, the time we had with him today was really great. Sometimes it’s the quality, not the quantity right?
But still, was bummed to say bye to him so quickly.
Womp.
After he left, the rest of us had to get ready for the rest of our Day 2 adventure. Which started with a golf cart ride to the dock.
We grabbed a Ferry bound for Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
I will always stand by water transport as the best kind of transport at Walt Disney World.
I mean, look at me and Owen. We were literally made for boating. Obvs.
And soon enough, this beautiful sight appeared on the horizon.
We docked at the Contemporary at just before 5:30 PM.
Which worked out. On account of we legit had 5:30 reservations at Steakhouse 71.
Which is a restaurant I have gained an appreciation for over the past couple times we have visited. Is it the best steakhouse on property? No, it is not. But it’s relatively inexpensive compared to other steakhouse options, has decent-enough options, and has one menu item I absolutely love and I would consider one of the best-of-its-kind at Walt Disney World. But we will get to that in a minute.
First, a quick look at the inside. It’s pretty sleek and clean looking inside. I dig it, even if it can get a little loud for my taste.
You know what perfectly matched my taste though? This vodka martini with bleu cheese stuffed olives.
I don’t know what it is about a a steakhouse but I always have to start my meal with a martini there.
I followed my martini up with a beer.
Of some sort.
I also snapped a pic of Myles’s drink – the specialty character drink (Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade with flavors of Cotton Candy) – which the waiter offered to bring in a regular glass but Myles opted to have in the menu-offered souvenir character cup.
Typically, at Steakhouse 71, we would no doubt order the Bacon & Eggs (Maple-lacquered Pork Belly, Smoked Cheese Grits, Perfect Egg) appetizer as it is just amazing stuff and a nice leftover nod to the now-deceased Wave restaurant which used to be here in its place.
However, we really didn’t have lunch all that long ago at this point, so we opted to go straight to entrees.
The boys each got the 14-oz Dry-Aged Pork Chop, with a side of Macaroni & Cheese.
Which is actually a very good pork chop. However, Owen ordered his without sauce on it, because he is a “without sauce” kind of guy. But his ended up coming with sauce on it. Our plan was just for Nickie to split her 8-oz. Beef Tenderloin with him and take some of his pork chop off his hands. As you can see here (she also got the au gratin potatoes on the side).
But, our waiter tonight? He was incredible. He asked us why Owen wasn’t eating his pork chop and we told him it was because he didn’t want sauce on it but not to worry about it since Nickie gave him some of her beef. Our waiter insisted he get Owen another pork chop sans sauce because he wanted him to be happy.
So Owen ended up having both the beef tenderloin medallions and the pork chop. It really all ended up working out for Owen.
For my meal? LIke I said, there is one menu item here that I think is the best-of-that-specific-category in Walt Disney World.
The weird thing? It’s only on the lunch menu. But.
BUT.
BUTTTT.
They will usually make it for you if you ask.
Nicely.
Usually.
That item is the Stack Burger (Signature Blend of Beef, Pork Belly, American Cheese, Lemon Aïoli, Red Onion, House-made Pickles, on a Brioche Bun). I ordered mine with a side of Parmesan Fries.
Ugh this burger. Look at how pretty that thing is. It’s seriously delicious. Everything works so well together here. It’s hard to describe why I like this burger so much. It’s like got the right amount of grease, the cheese is always perfectly melty. I’ve seen others describe it as being reminiscent of like a high-end version of an In-N-Out burger. Which, like, In-N-Out burgers? They’re already good without being high-end.
It’s like, “Wait you wanna give me an In-N-Out burger but throw pork belly on top that mofo? I love you.“
In total, dinner was close to an hour-and-a-half, which is pretty long for a dinner without appetizers or dessert.
And that is by no means a complaint.
So yeah, we were out of the restaurant at around 7:30.
Our next stop for the night was on the monorail loop so we headed up to the main concourse on the 4th floor.
We stopped in a couple shops and Nickie bought a new hoodie, but we made our way relatively quickly to the monoral and we were in our seats by 8:00.
We were on Monorail Silver tonight.
And within ten minutes, we were at our next stop for the night – Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort! First order of business? Grab some drinks at Tambu Lounge.
Nickie got a Mai Tai (Plantation Original Dark Rum, Bacardí Superior Rum, Bols Orange Curaçao, Lime Juice, Orgeat (Almond), and Pure Cane Sugar) and I went for my usual, the Lapu Lapu (Plantation Original Dark Rum and Tropical Fruit Juices served in a fresh Pineapple topped with Gosling’s 151 Rum).
I am pretty sure the boys also grabbed some Dole Whips downstairs, but I can’t seem to find any pictures of them. I must have forgotten to take some.
On account of the Lapu Lapu.
We also took our drinks and Dole Whips to go, bringing them outside, past Wish playing on the outdoor screen.
To grab a spot on the beach.
Because we were going to be catching the Magic Kingdom’s “Happily Ever After” nighttime spectacular from the Polynesian beach!
15 minutes after we grabbed our spot, the show began.
F
It’s nice from the beach, because not only can you see the fireworks but they also pipe in the music from the Magic Kingdom as well. Which, I mean…the music is such a big part of the show.
This guy’s head? My Cinderella Castle tonight.
I mean, obviously, the Magic Kingdom is a better vantage point for the show. Obviously. But, sitting there in the sand, with a giant pineapple full of rum, and the people I love next to me, watching what is currently the best nighttime spectacular at Walt Disney World…definitely not a bad situation to be in.
Plus, once the fireworks end? You’re treated to the Electric Water Pageant. So I mean, that’s a bonus.
And??
Our night wasn’t even over.
We decided to complete the monorail loop with a stop at Disney’s Grand Floridian & Spa.
Such a pretty hotel.
Such a pretty family.
We stopped first in at Basin White to wash our hands. On account of we are filthy people, you guys.
The boys then wanted to head to Gasparilla Island Grill for a snack so Nickie and I made our way over to the Enchanted Rose for a nightcap.
I opted for a Lagavulin on the rocks and Nickie went with a glass of Veuve Clicquot.
These were obviously delicious.
Obviously.
We left the Enchanted Rose at about 10PM and as we were walking down the hallway, lookit who we spotted on the floor below.
And at this point? It was time to call it a night. We jumped back on the monorail.
And took it over to the Magic Kingdom.
And grabbed another ferry back to Fort Wilderness.
And on our way, we got another look at the Electric Water Pageant. Bonus bonus.
And like I said, the ferry is my favorite way to get around WDW, but the ferry at night? Steps things up a notch.
You know what they say?
Ferry during the day
It’s ok.
Ferry at night?
We were back at Fort Wilderness at around 10:30.
And did I say, “call it a night” earlier?
What I meant was, “the Red Sox were on so we of course watched the game.”
And I also meant, “we also played Rummy 500 and ate Doritos.”
I write with A LOT of subtext. You guys just need to pay attention.
But yeah, that was our second day of visiting Myles. What a fun day, no? I mean, no parks and yet, I feel like we had a pretty full day. Full of love, obvz.
And hey, I promise the next post will be a park day.
I just can’t promise I’ll get it written this year.
Bahahahahaha
…
But seriously.
No promises.
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