Tag Archives: Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa

Disney World, Here We Come!

5 weeks until Walt Disney World!!! Let the countdown begin (as if we hadn’t already been counting)! Mark and I have been in planning overload mode. Meticulously planning every day of our trip and even going so far as to plan “relax” time! Yes, we have an excel sheet of our plans; where we will go at different times of each day, dining reservations, which parks have extra magic hours when, projected crowd levels for each park each day. Yep, we’re those people. Not ashamed, just prepared! Here’s a quick rundown of the experience highlights we will have during our trip!

Dinner at Kona Café in the Polynesian Resort on the first night before heading over to Magic Kingdom for the Main street Electric Parade (a fantastic nighttime parade featuring all the favorite Disney characters) and Wishes firework show over Cinderella’s Castle!

First morning we will monorail to the Grand Floridian Resort to have a gourmet breakfast of possibly Lobster Eggs Benedict or Maple Vanilla French Toast at the Grand Floridian Café!

The International Food and Wine Festival in Epcot will be our host many times during this trip as there are 30 countries for which our goal is to sample something from each; impossible to do in one trip!

Who doesn’t love them some dueling pianos?! I do! Mark’s never been to a dueling piano bar but lucky for him there’s one on Disney property! We will have a fun-filled night at Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk! Can’t wait to request “Mmmbop” and “Man or a Muppet!”

Drive-ins are becoming a thing of the past, right? Nope! There’s one right in the middle of Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant and we’re going there for lunch! We’ll be treated to some 1950’s finest movie trailers while dining in retro “cars!”

We’ll have a “free day” when we’ll be stopping by the Festival of the Masters, which is an annual outdoor art festival in Downtown Disney! We’ll possibly squeeze in a game of mini golf or boat ride too that morning!

Our BIG highlight will be our last night in the parks at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! This is a special event for which Magic Kingdom is closed but to those with event tickets! We are SO excited to see “snow” fall in Main Street while nibbling on cookies and sipping hot cocoa and having our first taste of the Christmas season!

Just a sampling, I’m sure we’ll have more surprises than even we know. Once that Disney magic starts, it never stops!

The Dining Dilemma – Jiko vs. Citricos

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While visiting Walt Disney World, Mark and I like to eat well. And as in “eat well,” I mean we like to have a variety of foods, experiences, cultures, and price ranges; some new, some old. In order to get those experiences, we tend to plan 180 days out from our arrival date (we’re THOSE people). We want to have one kick-butt, this is the best food I’ve ever had and I don’t care how much it costs meal during our trip. This is where my dilemma lies.

We are trying (going back and forth at least 50 times now) to decide between dinner at Jiko: The Cooking Place (located in the beautifully exotic Animal Kingdom Lodge) or Citricos (located in the upscale Victorian gloriousness that is the Grand Floridian Resort). These are two of the most highly rated and coveted dining spots, so we’ll go over why they may be hard to choose between.

We’ve been to Jiko once before and loved the romantic, dimmed calm feeling it emoted as well as the exquisite African wine that we fell desperately in love with (the desperately part comes from the fact that we can’t remember the name and want it again SO badly-take pictures of your wine bottles!) and the superb cuisine and detail that goes into their presentation. Both being visually oriented and caring about the tiniest of details, this means a lot to us.

Our experience with Citricos is much different, as neither of us has stepped foot in the light and airy dining room as described in researched reviews and observed from pictures of the restaurant. We can tell Citricos offers a much different experience than its competitor (Jiko, in this case). It is known for its plush seating, bright cheery atmosphere, and fantastic fresh dining options to satisfy the snobbiest of palets. Like Jiko though, Citricos focuses also on its plating presentation and does not skimp on decorative and enhancing sauces and garnishes.

So, to recap, lets have a little fun with a pros and cons list, shall we?

Jiko: The Cooking Place

We’ve loved it before
Quiet romantic dining room
Extensive African wine list
Variety of full-flavored dining options
Received 4 ½ stars overall rating (touringplans.com)
Not a new experience
Some “too close” seating
Some African Flavors (may not appeal to all pallets)
Outlying location
Received 93 point reader rating (touringplans.com)

Citricos

A new experience!
Location: on Monorail and minutes away from Magic Kingdom
Great variety, familiar fresh menu choices
Called a “hidden gem” by many-easy to get an Advance Dining Reservation (ADR)
Received 96 point reader rating (touringplans.com)
Reportedly noisy dining room (Len Testa-Touring Plans)
Large, impersonal atmosphere
Reportedly slow service (every review I read)
Overall seems “low key” and may not feel “special” enough? Your thoughts?
Received 3 ½ stars overall rating (touringplans.com)

So, as you can see this puts us in quite the conundrum. Both restaurants seem to offer high-quality, gourmet food, with a relaxed and “stay for a while” atmosphere. Many times I will hear or read reviews from others that say both Jiko and Citricos are their top two favorite restaurants on Disney property. Well, thanks a bunch since that doesn’t help me decide between the two! Since we only visit WDW about once every year and a half or so, we realize the importance of choosing wisely in our dining opportunities. Do we go with the familiar and absolutely lovely in every way Jiko? Or take a chance and trust that Citricos is everything great that we’ve heard or read in reviews? Will we be disappointed if we have to wait another year and a half to experience Jiko if we decide to go with Citricos, or be content with our decision? Please give us your thoughts to help us out!

Finding Balance In a Whirlwind

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I’m missing Disney recently which has sparked an interest in my otherwise forgotten quest to blog consistently! So where were we? Ahhh yes, five months ago we sailed home from our most recent Disney adventure and that’s where I dropped the ball. Let’s start picking up where we left off piece by piece; starting with my indulgent experience with Disney-level spa treatments!

Pushing it full pace, walking more than any human should for days at a time in the parks, you get sore and tired. What better way to relieve this than by visiting one of Disney’s fabulous spas? I had the pleasure on our second to last day in Disney taking advantage of the spa at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. Just a short, lagoon trimmed walk from the massive, Victorian Resort and across from the Princess-like Wedding Pavilion, lays a gorgeous, white, prim and pompous building blanketed with a bold red roof and surrounded with palm trees and hosta plants. Once inside, a peaceful feeling of calm is exuded from every pore; from the soft lighting to the soft voices that greet you.

I chose a Swedish Massage which I was surprised to find can be customized to include your choice of aromatherapeutic oils. After being led to the changing room I quickly engulfed myself in a fluffy white robe and slippers and sipped on lemon water while I waited for my masseuse. She was equally as calming, ushering me to the oil choices and then to my private massage room. Soothing music and perfect temperature control including warm towels completed the near-Nirvana experience.

My masseuse then led me back into the private lounge where I was encouraged to continue relaxing my senses with unlimited complimentary use of the sauna, hot tub, fresh Florida oranges, and lots more lemon water (to flush the toxins). The only negative here was listening to some snobby women complain about and openly reject a male masseuse. Rude. Anyway, aside from that it was Heavenly. I could have spent all day there and next time hopefully I will! It is certainly a splurge worth doing again and again.