Jennifer's Disney Adventures: Our Anniversary Day ~ Part 2.

WDW trip report. October 2011, first ever visit and 5th wedding anniversary.

Thursday October 28th, 2011

Our time at Downtown Disney was continued with checking out the Lego store, I really liked the Lego sculptures that were on the outside of the building. So much fun!

All made out of Legos!

The whole area was so pretty

One of the things I was really looking forward to for our Downtown day was a ride on Characters in Flight. Unfortunately for me (not so much for Andy because he hates heights) the balloon was not flying at that time. When I asked the gentleman at the ticket window if it would be up anytime soon he let me know that the weather was a big factor. It was sprinkling slightly while we were there but news was saying there was lightening in the area and so the balloon could not fly. Hopefully next time!

Characters in Flight

We continued on our adventure and checked out more sights, including some small Halloween decorations that were out. The whole Downtown area is really pretty and I loved the water views.

Planet Hollywood! We didn't check it out though.

Pumpkin Mickey

At this point we decided to start walking back because we were about done anyway. Just past one of the restaurants we say an area for the water taxi and one was just pulling up so we ran over. On the ride back to the Marketplace area we were talking to the driver. Turns out he was training, so when we let him know we were on just for the ride back and in no hurry he asked if we wanted to go on an extended trip. So we took a boat ride out of Downtown, over to the Port Orleans Resort and back again. It was so nice and relaxing and a great way to see some of the resorts along the way. The driver was awesome as well, he told some really neat trivia as we rode along.

Ready for our ride!

Part of the Downtown area viewed from the boat.

I kind of want to eat here next visit

One of the buildings at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort.

After our fun boat trip we headed back to our resort to get ready for our anniversary dinner. After getting cleaned up and dressed we hopped on the bus to the Magic Kingdom and rode the Monorail to the Contemporary Resort for our dinner at California Grill!

Ready to go!

All dressed up

Shnazzy!

The Monorail at the Magic Kingdom rides right into the Contemporary Resort so it was really neat. Once we found the check in desk to the restaurant it was just a few short minutes before we took the elevator up to the top floor where the California Grill is. Now, I really liked this place, it was so pretty inside, there is a neat open kitchen so you can sit at the bar and watch the chefs work and there are floor to ceiling windows along the whole place that overlook the lagoon and the Magic Kingdom. We got one of the awesome tables right along the wall of windows!

We are here!

Our table was decorated with Mickey confetti!

We each decided to get an appetizer along with our meal here and I am so glad we did because everything was so good! I think we will definitely be going back there again. I didn't get a picture of the menu and because they always use fresh, in season ingredients it changes so unfortunately I don't have the details of each dish. My apologies.

Bread with salted butter

My amazing cheese platter!

Andy's sashimi

Andy's duck two ways

My fish with sweet corn risotto

Right when we were getting our desserts the announcement was made that the lights would soon dim in order to enjoy the fireworks show from the Magic Kingdom. This was such an awesome addition to the experience, we were able to sit right at our table with incredibly tasty desserts and watch the Halloween Screams fireworks show complete with the music being played in the restaurant. The only downside for us was a slight glare on the windows from the open kitchen. There is also an outdoor observation deck which I think we will take advantage of next time.

My "S'more" dessert. So sorry for the blurriness

Loved this addition to the plate!

After the fireworks we were also able to view a bit of the Electric Light Pageant, a light show on barges out in the lake.

Yum!

View of the Electric Light Pageant from our table.

Once we were done with our dinner we took a few moments out on the observation deck to enjoy the view of the Magic Kingdom. It is really awesome to see everything from up on the roof, I loved it.

The Magic Kingdom!! Cinderella Castle and Space Mountain.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Decor at the California Grill elevators.

We took a small ride on the Monorail and got to see a little of the Polynesian and Grand Floridian Resorts before getting off back the the Magic Kingdom for a bus back to Pop.