Disney World. October 2021. Day 3. Thank God for the Elsa Tutu.
Today was supposed to be one of our “relaxing” days.
We figured it would be smart to build in a day between parks. We got up and went downstairs for breakfast at Ravello, one of the main restaurants. It used to always be buffet, but apparently now they only have a buffet when the hotel is more crowded, so we had to deal with “a la carte.” As we walked in, I got a call from our allergist Dr. Sicklick; I totally forgot that I had scheduled a 9am virtual appointment. Well, Hallie’s bloodwork was back and she has an “impressive” allergy to grass and weeds, or something. Anyway, he saw I obviously wasn’t home and asked where we were. When I told him we were in Disney, he was surprisingly excited. This was much better than when he found out we were going to Mexico back in May and told us we have “the right to make our own stupid decisions.”
Anyway, breakfast was good, but our waitress was maybe the most unfriendly staff member at Disney. She wasn’t mean or anything, and she was a very good server, but she was just so unfriendly. Anyway, we got a lot of food. Then the check came, and it turned out they hadn’t charged us for half of it. We waited a few minutes for someone to come back so we could say something, but they never did, so we left.
After breakfast we went upstairs to change and then headed to the pool. There are a bunch of pools on property, but the our favorite is a zero-entry pool, which was great for Madeleine. We swam for a while, ordered drinks, lunch, snacks, etc. For lunch I ordered the turkey wrap, except I got tofu instead of turkey and didn’t get the wrap, so basically it was tofu on a bed of wrap fillings. Tzvi had a southwestern salad with grilled salmon, which he said was super salty but delicious.
My parents met us at the pool at some point and ordered more food. Madeleine napped in the room, while Hallie hung out with Robyn and watched TV. We had a few minutes of alone time at the pool, went in the lazy river and the hot tub at the adult pool. Then around 4 PM we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for the evening.
Tonight was Hallie’s big princess makeover. The Bippity Boppity Boutique at Disney Springs is closed (Covid casualty). Thankfully, the hotel has its own princess makeover program. Hallie and I went down to the spa. The first thing they do is take you to a wardrobe with princess dresses. Well, of course Hallie didn’t like any of them. We must have spent 15 minutes going back and forth about the dresses. She eventually tried on the Belle dress, but said it was itchy (it was, I don’t blame her). In the end, she just did hair, makeup and nails. She looked great and we decided we’d find a dress at Disney Springs.
Around 6 PM we all left the hotel and headed to Disney Springs for the second time this trip. Our first stop had to be World of Disney to find Hallie a dress. She took forever but finally decided she would get Tinkerbelle and all of the accessories, which came out to be quite expensive. Then, just before we walked out she saw an Elsa tutu and decided to swtich to that, which made Tzvi very happy since it was a quarter of the price of the Tinkerbelle stuff. Anyway, she looked great.
Our dinner tonight was at The Edison, which is a Disneyfied remake of the original Edison, a bar/nightclub in Downtown LA. We had a table that wasn’t near the live music (last time we were next to the stage and couldn’t hear each other all night), but Madeleine made sure to find someone to take her to see the singer every time the music started again. The meal is a bit of a blur. I think I had a version of a whiskey sour that had pear liqueur, and Tzvi had a drink with peach-pecan whiskey. I had salmon with mashed potatoes, Tzvi had blackened mahi, Madeleine had a few sips of tomato soup and a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich, and Hallie ate French fries before moving to an empty table where she laid down on a booth and watched Peppa Pig on the iPad.
After dinner we walked around and I got on line at Gideons Bakeshop. I’ve been following this bakery on Instagram for like 3 years now, and a year ago they opened at Disney Springs. There is always a line (it’s often a 2 hour + wait), but tonight for some reason the wait was only 20 minutes. We got three cookies and a side of peanut butter frosting. I have to say the flavors were great, but the cookies were too doughy for my taste. While I waited, Tzvi walked around with the girls; first they watched the man singing Irish music at Raglan Road, then they watched an all-male band singing Dua Lipa songs. Both girls were in a great mood and Hallie was dancing all over the place.
We walked around some more and found out the devastating news that Goofy’s Candy Co no longer has a “make your own caramel apple.” Another Covid Casualty. This is devastating, considering I’ve been waiting for one of those for two years. (My loyal followers may remember that two years ago I got a caramel apple on my last night at the Four Seasons and then left it in the fridge, and then came home and cried about it for an entire week, just ask Tzvi.). Tzvi bought chocolate covered shortbread cookies.
Sad and disappointed, we headed home to the hotel, where we put the girls to bed and then ate cookies.
Good day.