Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Spontaneous Disney World Weekend Part 2


Continuing where we left off yesterday, we spent the day at Epcot/Magic Kingdom on Saturday then then headed to the House of Blues for a concert and got out of there around 11:30pm.  When we left there, we walked through Downtown Disney on the way back to the hotel and made a few stops along the way.

We stopped at the newer T Rex dinosaur based restaurant to take some pictures as they were clearing out for the night.  It was so amazing in there!  A colorful feast for the eyes! 



It was truly the most impressive restaurant setup we've ever seen.  It is along the same lines as a Rainforest Cafe, which is also at Downtown Disney, but on a much more colorful/bright/over the top scale! 

We did not check out the menu or anything, as they were shutting down, but it is definitely worth a visit to see it for your own eyes!  Lots of the dinosaurs even move, make noises, etc.  Very impressive!

 









Most of the shops/stores were shutting down around midnight, but one place that was still open and quite busy was the Ghiradelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop

We stopped in there for a midnight brownie sundae/ice cream treat and whew, it was quite yummy.  I knew I should not be eating that at midnight, especially after having having some caffeine at the concert, but had to at least try it. 

We then headed back to the hotel to call it a night.  The tasty treat definitely kept my body from sleeping soundly for a while, but it was certainly good stuff.

Not our actual brownie sundae, ours was actually much bigger

The next morning we checked out and headed back to Downtown Disney to check out some of the stores and there was also something called the 'Disney Masters Festival of the Arts' going on. 

It was like a regular outdoor arts festival, on a much larger scale with a lot of it focused on Disney related art.  There were a ton of vendors along what was probably a mile or two from the one end of Downtown Disney's West Side all the way thru Pleasure Island and down to the opposite end. 

Lots of great art.  We didn't purchase anything ourselves, but there was no shortage of $ being spent!  The amount of people there spending $ both in the parks, resorts, shops, restaurants, etc. was insane.

All done in Legos

More Legos...to Infinity and Beyond!
We then stopped at a new place in Pleasure Island called Paradiso 37.  It's a Mexican/Latin fusion place with a great waterfront view. 

They closed the bars in Pleasure Island back in Sept of 2008 in favor of revamping the place to include more restaurants and shops to make it more family friendly. 



That restaurant was very good.  We both shared the chips/guac and had the Chicken Enchiladas.  The wifey had the mole verde sauce, which is usually a chocolate based sauce, but it was more verde (green) in this case and was very good. 

I had the red sauce and it was a bit on the spicy/smokey side.  Both were good, but I'd go with the verde next time.  It also comes with some cilantro lime rice and beans.  All this is making me VERY hungry, since I'm typing this at lunch time and haven't eaten yet. 

View from the ourdoor seating at Paradiso 37
Chicken enchiladas, cilantro lime rice and beans
Disney World is a Magical place, both in their ability to provide a fantastic holiday entertainment experience and their ability to make the $$ in your wallet disappear. 

If you've never been to the parks during the holidays, I'd highly recommend it.  The Magic Kingdom was great in that aspect, with the holiday decorations, shows and the highlight for us was the lighting of Cinderella's castle. 

It was truly a jaw dropping/awesome experience with how great it looks all lit up.   At the Hollywood Studios park, they have the Osbourne light show each year, choreographed to music that is quite incredible from what I hear.  I don't think we've seen that in person ourselves, but being Florida residents and only 2 hours away, I am sure we'll do that at some point!

Have you been to Disney during the holidays?  Do you have some favorite places/events/insider info to share about Disney?  Would love to hear your experiences!  Have a Magical day!

3 comments :

Jen said...

That restaurant looks awesome. BW def. needs to go when hes a young lad. I loved cinderella's castle from yesterday. So fun!

Chris said...

Yes, we're looking forward to enjoying the fun with BW as well! :o)

Mock family said...

lol jen young lad
we'll all take turns with bdub

 
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