The Wandering Guest

After our zig over to Adventureland we zagged back to New Fantasyland, more specifically to Gaston’s Tavern. This is another Beauty and the Beast themed area. I’m super glad I the caught movie before our visit because the details of this place were spot-on.

At some point in my life I need to have a space where I can hang antler chandeliers.

 

Like Sleepy Hollow refreshments, this counter service restaurant has just a few items: pastries (including  a rip-off substitute of the Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll. It’s a fake) Lefou’s Brew which is a reportedly super-sweet apple beverage and the PORK SHANK.

 

This Pork Shank is absolutely Mammoth. We got two to share amongst three people and were pleasantly full.

 

Not only was this thing huge, it was Tast-ay! It had a flavorful, salty crust on the outside and the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender. It was a perfect carnivore lunch.

Gaston himself has a meet n’ greet right outside his tavern.  This character is a riot. He’ll invite you to come see how good he looks. Try not to think about the fact that he falls to his death in the movie.

The piece de resistance of the Beauty and the Beast trifecta is the towering,  imposing behemoth: Beast’s Castle. 

Ok, they relied very heavily on forced perspective here. It works to some degree, but not so much if you’ve seen the trick ruined. Sorry, folks.

 All that stone work is not just for show, beneath it lies the Be Our Guest Restaurant. This is the hottest ticket in Walt Disney World right now. Getting a dinner reservation there at this point means having your finger on speed dial exactly 180 days before your trip. Good news, I snagged one! Bad news, it was for the wrong day. I had a very precise plan to navigate the parks on the best days concerning crowds and this was just not going to work.  No worries though, you can do a walk-up for lunch if you want to wait in a line like this…

Be Our guest will have to wait for another day. Hopefully the hype will have died down before our next vacation.

Nearby, you’ll find the Little Mermaid ride. The official name (Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid) always slips my mind. The themeing here is gorgeous and has hints of imagineering found in my dream park, Tokyo Disneysea.

The ride itself is the exact duplicate of the one in Disneyland that we had already experienced, so we skipped it this time.

Next,  we took a very quick run through the Story Book Circus section. This area is very cute and very full of toddlers. It’s the kind of frenetic space that I try to avoid. Great for parents of young children, though.

The Splash ‘N Soak area is more soak than splash. Any parent that can get their kid outta there without getting soaked themselves must have ninja level skills.

Seeing that my Be Our Guest  plans were kiboshed, I decided to make reservations for dinner at a resort I’ve been wanting to check out, The Wilderness Lodge. Before we hop the boat to our destination, let’s bid a fond farewell to the Magic Kingdom.

The Wilderness Resort is fashioned after a Pacific Northwest Lodge, It’s grand design is similar to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and was designed by the same architect, Peter Dominick.

The Main building is modeled after the Old Faithful Lodge, circa 1904, in Yellowstone National Park. The streams originate from a “hot spring” right in the main lobby.

The scope of the lobby is just spectacular. As enormous as it is, It’s also filled with small details throughout.

The Lobby’s main feature is an eighty foot stone fire place built to mimic the strata of the Grand Canyon from rim to river.

There are two five story totem poles lording over the space. These carvings are associated with the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and are a classic form of storytelling.

  There’s also a totem that’s just darn cute.

After a brief nap in those comfy leather chairs, we popped into the Territory Lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail.

One wall is lined with these lighted shadow boxes, filled with tools and relics of the territorial explorers.

This bar’s appetizers are rumored to be quite tasty and I considered just having our dinner here instead of the fine dining establishment next door. I was tempted by their  one and only dessert: Drunken Doughnuts- Hand cut mini donuts served hot in a paper bag with a Maple-liquor Glaze.  Next time.

We did have a cocktail, of course. Those may look like black olives garnishing our drink, but they are the most delectable maraschino cherries, served on a novelty arrow pick. I saved it, cause I’m a dork.

Time for our reservation at Artist Point. The lighting was very low, so I’ve absconded this photo for your information. The style is arts and crafts California. The dining room is in sort of an L shape so it feels a little more intimate.

The menu here is fresh and seasonal, so looking online at what you might like to order  six months out wouldn’t be very advantageous. You do that too, right?

We started with a bread a butter service.

I’ve started a new love affair with really good butter, the creamy, not too salty variety that almost makes you want to skip the bread. Almost.

One item that is perennially on the Artist Point menu (they wouldn’t foolishly remove a guest favorite right?) is the Smokey Portobello Soup. Any review you read will insist that you have this. I agree, it is a velvety delight for the mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  We also shared a salad. It was a salad. Fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff and I are watching our girlish figures, so we shared one entrée. They split the dish in the kitchen without asking, with no plating fee. Very considerate.

This was a scrumptious dish and a very generous portion. I didn’t see any of the tomato mentioned on the menu, that was no biggie.  My only critique is that the thyme garnish fooled me. I thought they were just micro greens and therefore took a big bite of the raw herb. Not tasty. If you don’t want me to eat it, leave it off the plate please, cause I’m gonna.

Meghan’s meal was the star of the main courses. She chose the chicken, something I never do. I figure, when I go out, I want something I normally wouldn’t prepare at home. Chicken is chicken right? WRONG!

You can see, even in my shoddy photo how juicy and delectable the meat is. All the accompaniments were spot on.  She ate every bit of it, darn it!

As much as we would have wanted to have dessert, we were so full we couldn’t hear at this point so we had to quit while we were ahead. There is a Berry Cobbler on the menu that’s supposed to knock your socks off. Let me know how it is when you stop in.

We strolled back across the well-lit grounds to meet our boat back to the Magic kingdom.

 I had planned our dining reservation with the hopes that we would be crossing the Seven Seas Lagoon right during the Fireworks. My scheme worked out perfectly (Bwahahah!!! she cackled).

The boat captain was on my team. He slowed down the vessel just enough so that we got nearly all the show in before docking at the Magic Kingdom.

To back up a bit, the reason we were not in the Magic Kingdom for these fireworks is because this night was a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, a private, ticketed event. Though it’s open to any guest who wants to buy a ticket, to me it wasn’t worth laying out the extra cash. The park closes early on these party days. This might seem like a raw deal for day guests, but here’s a pro tip for you: Because the park closes early, most people will opt not to come to the Magic Kingdom, thinking that they’re getting gypped out of three or more hours of park time. As a result, the crowds are way lower on party days. This means that you (astute Disney Geek) can get in many more rides and attractions with much lower crowds. Then, after all you’ve accomplished, you can skip on out for a relaxing dinner at one of the resorts. Boo ya. 

 So, these were not only fireworks, but the extra special Hallowishes fireworks.

Hallowishes is one of the main features of the party. For this event they have “Perimeter  Fireworks”.  The displays are not just behind the castle, but all around the park. It’s pretty amazing.

Pictures can barely do this spectacle justice, and mine certainly cannot. Below I’ve lifted one of the great Tom Bricker’s shots of perimeter Fireworks.

Mr. Bricker’s…

…And mine:

 

I simply cannot leave you with that visual in your head, so this next photo will be a hint as to our next destination. It’s a mountain of a task so I don’t know how you’ll Ever(est) figure it out!