The First Time I Ate A Lobster

Well here's a post that's been a long time in the making!

Welcome to the first in a series of posts revolving around our last trip to Walt Disney World and the food we savored while we were there.

This trip took place in September of 2009.  It was in honor of our 1st anniversary.  Our honeymoon was also spent at, you guessed it, WDW.

Before I show you a sample of our (thousands of) pictures, I want to share a story to illustrate just why we love it there so much:

We booked a room at the Polynesian, which was the same place we spent our honeymoon.  Only unlike a year prior, we couldn't afford to reeeeally go all out and spent the extra $100 a night for a special "lagoon view" room, which looks out over the Seven Seas Lagoon, the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary and Cinderella Castle.  Oh, well.

Upon our arrival, the lovely woman at the concierge desk explained that they had a room booked for us, but that another room was ready earlier than expected and we could go right up to that room immediately.  What a lucky break! She also remarked on the fact that we didn't have the same type of room as we did the year before, and we told her that we were well aware of that.  We were only too well aware!

We were shown to our room, but Rob was immediately disappointed.  A huge tree was right smack dab in front of our balcony, blocking all sunlight and giving us no view whatsoever.  Now as for me, I'm a pretty laid back person and I didn't want to rock the boat.  Rob on the other hand called the concierge desk and very sweetly and apologetically asked if the room which was originally supposed to be ours was still available and offered to wait for it, then explained our complaint.  He was put on hold...and waited...and waited.  I'm pacing around, thinking that they must hate us and were cursing us out down there.  But when she got back on the line, the lady downstairs told Rob to meet the bellhop in the hallway, he would have our bags at the door to our room.

We went to the hallway...and saw the bellhop waaaay down at the other end, on the other side of the building and across the hall.  We knew immediately what had happened but didn't want to overplay our hand so we took our time walking down the hall, even though we were shrieking inside - that side of the hallway had rooms that faced the lagoon, not the courtyard as we had booked.  When the door opened, we got the best present we could have received - not only had we been upgraded to a lagoon view for free, but we had been given the room we spent our honeymoon in!

How neat is that??

After freaking out for a while, we ran downstairs to thank the concierge staff profusely.  It's lovely and generous touches like that which made our vacation so special - it's why we love WDW in the first place!

Immediately we went to eat...and I got my favorite breakfast food in the world...Tonga Toast.

For those of you who don't know what Tonga Toast is...well, firstly, I'm sorry.  Secondly, Tonga Toast consists of a thick piece of sourdough bread which has a slit cut into it and is then stuffed with bananas.  This huge piece of heaven then gets dipped in egg batter, deep fried and rolled in cinnamon and sugar.  They serve it with a strawberry compote on the side which perfectly complements it and actually make it feel a bit more refreshing.  It is...pretty much...to die for.

And, um, can we talk about the size of those sausages? Unreal.

Then we went to Magic Kingdom and I ran for It's a Small World! I love that ride!!! Seriously, I know it consists of dolls and poster board and glitter...but it enchants me every time.

Dinner that first night was @ Narcoossee's, in The Grand Floridian.

Narcoossee's is a seafood restaurant which sits right on the water of Seven Seas Lagoon.  It's a cute place, for sure, and they serve yummy food.  The mussels appetizer I started with...well, I mean, look at it! Plus a nice crostini for dipping the flavorful, rich broth.  It was heavenly!

Rob enjoyed a lobster bisque, the memory of which to this day invokes a glazed, faraway look in his eyes.

I decided from the get-go that I was going to try lobster for the first time when we had dinner there.  I mean, what the heck, right? I was so happy to see that they took the trouble to clean it for me - I had no point of referrence so I wasn't sure if I'd have to do it myself! Of course I studied up in advance, but no worries.

The lobster was delicious, and it came with a potato gratin which was so good I wanted to cry.  A really, really fine meal.

Sorry, Mr. Lobster.  You were delicious.

Sadly, we couldn't get a decent picture of the dessert without using flash.  It was getting dark at that point.  But let me tell you, for anyone considering a Disney vacation and considering dinner @ Narcoossee's - the almond-crusted cheesecake is THE BEST DESSERT on property.  Hands down, bar none.  Off the hook.  And we are not the only people who think so - we had done a little research of the restaurant in advance on the Disney message boards, and the verdict is virtually unanimous.

Our first dinner, as you can see, was a smashing success and set the stage for a wonderful vacation full of gluttony.  I love you, Disney Meal Plan.

Come to think of it, the view of The Grand Floridian from our balcony didn't hurt things, either...

Ahhh...it looks even closer in person...

Why am I waxing rhapsodic over Disney this many months after the fact? I'll tell you! It's all in honor of our upcoming return! Yes, folks, Rob and I will be spending our 2nd anniversary at the place where we've spent late September for the past two years.  Thank you, Lord.

We hadn't planned on going back until a few days ago, when the conclusion was reached that we need this.  We really do.  So we're going and we can't wait! Narcoossee's...we'll be back!

No, really, it's already booked.

Stay tuned for my next post, filled with even more pictures!

PS! The $60 CSN giftcard giveaway ends Friday @ midnight! Jump in and take a chance - what do you have to lose? I know I could definitely use a giftcard to one of their 200 stores!!