Day 7 at Disney dawned cool and sunny. Pretty much like all the other days had been. This was our last full day. We were scheduled to fly home the next Morning. Our plan was to spend the day mostly in Epcot, since our lunch reservations were at San Angels Inn in Mexico, and we had arranged a dinner and show combination for the Candle Light Procession and dinner at Le Cellier. Included with the Dinner show arrangement's was a prime viewing location for IllumiNations Reflections of earth. Since we didn't have a lot scheduled until our 11:30 appointment at the San Angels Inn, We took our time getting out of bed. Many of the guide books suggest taking a rest in the middle of the day while at Disney World. We figured we could rest on the bus ride or in the parks and that worked out pretty well for us. We always paced ourselves inside the parks and since we had chosen to spend a full week and because the crowds were not a large as they are at some other times of the year, we got to do everything we wanted to do. However, the hour or so of extra sleep we managed to get the morning of day 7 was not unwelcome. Even with good shoes and socks, after 7 days of parks and events your feet can get a little tired. So it was with a renewed enthusiasm we jumped on the bus for Epcot. We were determined to make our last Day at Disney for this trip as much fun as we could.
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| Mexico in Florida (Internet Photo) |
We arrived at the park and made our way to the San Angels Inn. San Angels is inside the mesoamerican pyramid in the Mexico section of the World Showcase. The pyramid not only houses the restaurant, but tucked inside is a small market where visitors can pick up souvenir. They had Tequila and Kahlua along with agave and other Mexican foods designed to showcase some of the products of our neighbors to the south. Near the market is an area where Mexican Folk art is made and sold. Most of the art work represented spiritual aspects of ancient and modern life in Mexico. You are apt to find Christian symbolism mixed with Aztec theism. The mixture of the ancient and the more modern deities made for interesting combinations of color and shape. While I wasn't motivated to buy any of the art. I did enjoy viewing it.
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| There was a pyramid inside as well (Internet Photo) |
We found the restaurant was in the middle of the pyramid and after a short wait, we were seated at our table. The first thing that struck me as we entered the restaurant was the large volcano at the far end of the room. The volcano looked as realistic as a stage volcano could and would, by the magic of lighting and animation, erupt from time to time. I thought it was pretty cool. The second thing I noticed was kind of related to the first. The restaurant was dark.. It was difficult to see the menus and the food when it came out. I'm certain the room was darkened to make the volcano appear more realistic when it erupted, but the darkness only made enjoying the meal more difficult. However, we overcame this minor bit of adversity by starting our meal with a flight of three tequilas. Tasting them side by side you could really tell the difference between them. One was smoother, another a bit sweeter and, one was a bit more astringent than the other two. We had fun tasting them. As with most Mexican restaurants in the U.S the meal came with chips and salsa. The Mexican view of salsa is different that what Americans have come to know as salsa. Mexican salsa uses most of the same ingredients as American salsas, but Mexican salsas are not as chunky and have a greater emphasis on chilies. They tend to be spicier with less tomato flavor. I enjoyed them greatly as a change of pace. I also had the Sopa Azteca as an appetizer. My job has taken me to Mexico City a number of times. One of the dishes I always seek out when I'm visiting Mexico is Tortilla soup. I like the tomato flavored chicken broth with all the add ins. Pasilla chili, avocado, queso fresco and creme are usually served on the side of the soup along with shredded fried tortilla chips. This soup is one of my favorite things to eat. The Azteca Soup at the San Angel Inn is very good and very authentic. For the main course, I had a tamale special with a mole on it. Moles are complex sauces that take a lot of effort to make and this one was wonderful.. The tamale was every bit as good as the mole. After Lunch we took part on one Disney's less successful attractions. The Grand Fiesta Tour in Mexico features the Three Caballeros, Donald Duck, Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistolas.
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| Le Cellier Bring on the mussels (Internet Photo) |
Disney does the Candle Light Processional three times each day during the Christmas season. At least I remember this event being scheduled three times on the day we had made our reservations. We had chosen the middle showing that took place around 7:00 pm. We chose, and i believe this is the best way to do it, a dinner package that included Candle Light Processional in conjunction with a meal. The dinner package comes with a meal, preferred seating at the Candlelight Processional and preferred seating a IllumiNations later that evening. Since we had an early seating for the Candlelight. We choose Le Cellier for for the restaurant and made our reservations for relatively early the evening of the Processional. Our dinner package guaranteed a seat at the often standing room only Candlelight Processional, but in order to get a good seat one still had to be in line fairly early, so we made our reservations for the restaurant for 4:30. We were on time and the restaurant was ready for us when we arrived. The interior decor of Le Cellier resembles a wine cellar The decor is full of dark woods and wine bottles. We discovered a wonderful dish at the restaurant. The Prince Edward sound Mussels were fresh garlicky and delicious. The secret to good mussels is getting the freshest ones you can find and the mussels served at Le Cellier must have been harvested and shipped to the restaurant almost the day they were harvested. They were yummy. Our steak was delightful as well. My wife described the tenderloins we ordered as butter. Tender and flavorful, our steaks were cooked just right. I ordered my steak medium and the wait staff didn't even blink an eye at my wife's medium well order. Sometimes, I have to keep my steak turned away from her so she doesn't have to see the pinkish red color of the meat. All in all the meal at Le Cellier was one of our favorites of the trip. I hope to return sometime soon and taste the sweet garlicky mussels again.
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| Candlelight Processional Mass Choir (Internet Photo) |
As you may have surmised from this blog, I tend to be a bit of a sentimentalist. I like traditional things often though I'm not completely unwilling to try new things. For traditional holiday entertainment, you would be hard pressed to find anything quite as perfect as the Candlelight Processional. This event features a 50 piece orchestra and a huge mass choir composed of Disney cast members, Community Choirs and High School Choruses from all over the U. S. The Candlelight Processional is a retelling of the Traditional Christmas story of the birth of Christ as told by a celebrity narrator. The Retelling of the Old story is accompanied by Traditional Carols arranged for a contemporary audience. Being a singer myself, I'm a big fan of the traditional settings for Christmas carols. I truly love the time of year when We get to sing them, however, the renditions done my the orchestra and the mass choir were powerful and beautiful. They moved the soul like good music can. We arrived at the Candlelight Processional, which is held at the amphitheater across form the American pavilion, about 45 minutes before the show. People with Dinner packages have a separate line that the standby folks that didn't have packages. Already, the line for people with packages was significant. There is no additional charge for the Candlelight Processional, but it was at that point i was grateful that we had gotten the dinner package. We would at least get a seat. As it turned out our seats for the show were very very good. We could see and hear everything that was going on. The processional starts a herald trumpet fanfare, calling the mass choir onto stage. Soon, down through the audience the singers file with a stately gate till they fill the stage. All the choir members were carrying battery powered candles as the worked their ways down the isles. The golden robes the singers were wearing made the whole scene lovely and spiritual. I suspect real candles would present way to much of a fire hazard with all the draping robes. Soon Jody Benson, the celebrity narrator for our presentation, took the stage and the presentation began. Set to old Carols the Christmas story was told beautifully and movingly. The music was wonderful and Jody did a wonderful job with the narration. The singing was wonderful with the original orchestrations for the carols that we grew up loving and singing. This was indeed one of the best things I had ever witnessed anywhere, but then, I feel Walt Disney World is full of those emotional and rare moments. The Candlelight Processional might rank as the best of the best.
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| IllimiNations, Reflections of Earth (Internet Photo) |
Our final event before we returned to the hotel for the night was that nights presentation of IllumiNations, Reflections of earth. Included with our Candlelight Dinner package was a prime viewing location for IllumiNations. For those familiar with Disney World, our viewing spot was on the south end of World Showcase Lagoon on the Future World side of the park. We could see all the various countries lit for the night. It was quite beautiful. We had arrived early because we wanted to get a good place form which to view the presentation. Actually, because of the size of World Showcase Lagoon and the small number of people that took advantage of the prime viewing area there was no real need for us to be early. In fact, I found an empty bench in the area and my wife went off shopping in the gift shops that were close by. I was very happy to be sitting because the 7 days of walking had taken some toll on my feet. The only issue was and i am sure you have already guessed it, was the temperature. I was cool to the point of cold sitting there. But i was fairly well wrapped up in my sweatshirt and jacket. We had come prepared for the cooler weather but even with our preparations We could feel the cool air on our faces and hands. The wait wasn't too long before the lights of all the Country pavilions died down and the flames on the large torches that surrounded the World Show Case lagoon flared to life. This was probably my third time to see IllumiNations, but not from terrific place we were watching. I know the show it designed to be viewed from all angles and enjoyed from anywhere around the lagoon, but it seemed from our vantage that we were seeing the show from the place from where the Designers had intended it to be viewed. The water projections were framed perfectly by the fire works and when the globe floated to his mooring spot in the lagoon, we got our best view ever of the images projected from the the continent shaped screens. the fireworks flew over it and the laser show elevated the whole show to a new level. Having seen the presentation from where we saw it that night might have spoiled any other viewing spot around the lagoon for me. It was just wonderful.
We took a little time to work our way back to the bus that took us back to the resort. We were tired, a little cold and happy. The evening was a fantastic end to a wonderful trip. Now that I reflect back upon the whole trip, the things that stand out in my mind most are, of course, the attractions and all the beautiful presentations, but, maybe more importantly i remember the people that make Walt Disney World so magical. All of the Cast members made you feel as if you were the most important person to them when spoke with them. I truly believe that, at the moment in time when we were interacting with a cast member, we were the most important people to that cast member. I feel so blessed that I was able to spend my time in Disney World with my wife of 26 years at that time. She did much of the research and made most of the calls for dinner reservations. She put together the package, while all the time seeking my input. We wore our Anniversary celebration buttons proudly where ever we went. This trip was a celebration of many things. We celebrated our surviving parent hood till we could take trips without the kids. Don't get me wrong, I have great kids that we have taken to Disney and will take them again. We celebrated of our lives together which we continue to celebrate every day. Finally we celebrate just being in one of the happiest places on earth during one of the happiest times of the year. What a great way to enter the Christmas season, and i can't wait to go back..
