The next morning was one of the few times in their lives the kids "slept in", which means one of them slept until maybe 8 and the other still woke up at the crack of dawn LOL. But my son and I got to enjoy this glorious sunrise again. Its so peaceful out on the lake. In all my WDW trips I've never bothered to request a specific view, but after this trip that may change.
A quick monorail ride over to the Wave for a 9:10am reservation. This was one of the restaurants we were a bit nervous eating at since its frankly in effectively the basement (insert HM voice: There are no winders and no doors...) versus
most of the rest of the trip where we ate outdoors. We also realized being a monorail resort and given its high marks across the board it would probably be busy. And, it was much busier than the other places we had visited.
Originally I was thinking an after 9 reservation hoping most of the guests would already be at MK, but its was a SATURDAY (duh) so no such luck. They originally asked us to sit in the middle of the restaurant, and while the tables were spaced every table around that table was full, and there were several very young kiddos (like toddlers) walking around getting a bit too close for our comfort. I very respectfully asked if we could wait for something a bit more private. It only took 5 minutes to get a booth where the tables directly next to us were empty and it felt much safer. Of course its all according to your own comfort level. Knowing how COVID rates and busyness have changed today, I don't think I would have been as comfortable December 14th then I was back on August 29th. Know what I mean?
I completely regret not taking photos of our meals! Hubby got the Floridian Benedict and I got the Sweet Potato Pancakes, with the plan of splitting half way. Which we did, and I highly recommend! Both meals are delicious, but the pancakes are on the sweeter side. Half savory/half sweet was the perfect compromise and neither of us could decide which meal was better, it was a tie. The kids got regular kids meals, and there's never enough Mickey Waffles on the planet for them. We had to order an extra side of waffles and our waiter (whom I SO wish I could remember his name, he was delightful) brought us waaaaayyyy more than just one extra side of waffles. They took their time with our service, the food was very good, and it was a really nice experience - as always. The BIG highlight here- the Joffrey's cold brew. Legit the best coffee I've ever tasted IN MY LIFE. The most perfect hint of caramel, I drank it black (how I usually take my cold brew coffees). It was so good that I had two which is a LOT of coffee for me, and then spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how I could bring some home! Really, if you love cold brew get this coffee AT A RESTAURANT (more on that later). But on to the next thing.
We had promised my son he could use the arcade at the Contemporary after breakfast. Now, to put things back into perspective.... He had just turned 6 days before. He's the younger sibling, a teenie bit.... "mothered" I admit. Both kids had been AWESOME all trip, no complaints despite the heat and the masks and the very real anxiousness of knowing we were in a pandemic. This right here, after breakfast, was the meltdown moment. I bet some other parents will know what I mean. There's just a moment in the trip, where the excitement and the joy and the ... everything is just a bit overwhelming. This was my son's moment and he LOST HIS COOL. We didn't realize (totally not thinking, so obvious when you think about it) the arcade was closed. But.. COVID.. HELLO high touch areas lol. It just didn't enter our minds that it would be closed. Getting to the arcade was THE biggest bucket list item for him on this trip. We'd never in our goodness knows how many trips ever let him go to the arcade - any arcade anywhere - we just never had time. He was SO looking forward to finally trying it out! And... it was closed. Of course it was closed. Dumb mom moment. So he freaked out. A cast member SAVED THE DAY and reminded us that there's video games set up in the member area at Bay Lake! Now - I'm not sure the rules, whether we really are supposed to go if we are staying at a different DVC resort. BUT we are DVC members, and frankly no one else was there. So he got to play some video games for an hour and all was well in the world again. I did some shopping at the stores - really the two retail spots at the Contemporary are some of my favorite shopping places at the resorts - and snuck a few holiday gifts since the kids were with their dad hanging. Mommy alone time woo!
Photo: Castle view from the bridge/walkway to BLT.
It was a move slow enjoy the scenery day. We eventually went back to the GFV and spent the afternoon at the pool. There was three other families/groups there at different points, but its so large that no one was in each others way. The did do some pool games which my kids weren't interested in. My daughter did the water slide on an infinite loop and the rest of us just swam, relaxed, swam, relaxed, swam... Shared lunch from the limited menu at the bar. It was calm and easy.
Next stop 5pm dinner reservations at Paddlefish. This was MY choice of restaurant vs a family choice, I love fresh fish and I had heard good things. The drive over to DS from GFV was short but a bit confusing. We had a heck of a time figuring out which garage was open. Parking was a breeze though, security equally easy. A light rain started as we were passing security (of course, August in Florida = rain). This made me REALLY happy because I was hoping DS would clear out as folks didn't want to shop/dine in so-so weather. Walking through it seemed relatively empty. We had to park at .. I think it was Orange. We wanted to park at Lime but it was closed. So it was a bit of a walk, but not many were lingering.
The service was OK, food mediocre at best at Paddlefish. We were one of two tables seated in the restaurant, which was pretty sad. I just felt bad for the servers, they were kind but tired. I don't think I'll be returning... we'll see. Exiting Paddlefish I had three major must do things at DS. Visit the Christmas Store for our ornaments (we get them every trip), Basin since there's no stores in my area (my FAVORITE) and try to find some of that Joffreys cold brew to bring back home. Fourth on the agenda was a yummy desert to bring back to the hotel to enjoy, but we were OK with skipping if needed. Our first stop was to the Christmas Store, thinking we'd hit the rest on the way back to the garage.
Folks. It was horrible. At every turn people were wearing "chin diapers". There was NO ONE enforcing rules. Over by Rainforest you couldn't walk through the crowd without being bumped - people waiting to see the volcano erupt. For folks like us that were thinking we could still social distance at DS - it was our own little nightmare. We practically ran in and out of every shop. We stopped at Goofy's Candy Co to bring back some yummy cupcakes - but there was ZERO variety. Unlike normal the Halloween food wasn't really out yet (this coming from a family who went to
MNSSHP August 2019, I know what's usually around...) The offerings were just plain jane vanilla cupcakes and regular mickey shaped krispy treats - very disappointing. Stopped at Basin and pretty much ran out with the couple of soaps I could grab, it was so busy I didn't even smell them . I just grabbed and went. NO WAY were we going into World of Disney. Stopped at the Joffrey's over by Boathouse and they didn't have a cold brew take home type roasting option, but the gent recommended their Jamaican beans which are the closest he said in hot coffee form. All four of us were very uncomfortable and I personally felt like an idiot for thinking it would be any different. I can't say I regret going - but it wasn't the wisest choice I've ever made and next trip I'll be avoiding dinner time at all costs regardless of the weather.
We were SO HAPPY to be back at Home Sweet Home after that chaos. It was a really nice day that went towards a not so nice night. But we made up for it - Hubby went back out to get snacks at Gasparilla's and we let the kids watch Disney Channel cartoons till they passed out. I really loved the GFV studio room. We do tend to stay in 1 bedrooms, but it was comfortable for how short a stay we had. It felt safe and clean. I love that relief you get when you get back to your room, it really does feel like Home.
Next day was our last day... sneak peak - IT WAS A GREAT DAY!
