Magic Bands and some meals not previously reported

I mentioned on the day that we arrived at Disney World that we had received our Magic Bands.

However since then I realise I haven't mentioned what a wonderful feature of the Disney Holiday these bands are. They effectively empty my pockets of the things I normally carry around with me. 

Magic Bands act as a huge variety of things:

• The Key to our Hotel Room.
• A Payment device, replacing the need to carry Credit Cards or Cash.
• The Access Device in the lift; so that we are able to get to the Club Level areas of our Hotel.
• The Entry Ticket into the Disney Parks and other amenities.
• The FastPass Plus Ticket for the various rides and attractions.
• The device which links photos taken by Disney Staff (rides and characters) with our account.

The band is just there on my wrist, like a watch, so that you don't notice it is there until you are called to use it. The band, along with the pin number you need to enter to use it for payment, means that my wallet and card case are all in the room mini-safe not weighing my trouser pockets down. I wonder if this is a sign of the future and that we are going to have to carry one device not many. Or perhaps we are going to do to the next stage and have an eye scan for everything like in the film Minority Report?

Dinner in the Hotel on Monday - The Club Room

Those following the blog closely will have noticed no mention of food on Monday evening. This is not because we didn't eat, but because our main meal had been at lunch time on Monday.

Having had a main meal we decided we would make use of the Club House Lounge in the Hotel. We have eaten breakfast here at this location every day, and made visits for Coffee or soft drinks a few times, but had not been there for other meal times.

The Club House Lounge at the Grand Floridian has a busy schedule:

• 6.30 to 7.00 - Coffee and Juice
• 7.00 to 10.30 - Breakfast
• 11.30 to 3.30 - Refreshments - Lunch-time snacks we are told, but never made it to this slot.
• 2.30 to 4.00 Afternoon Tea
• 5.00 to 7.00 Twilight Refreshers - Wine, soft drinks and small tasters from restaurants across the resort
• 8.00 to 10.00 Cordials and Desserts - Cordials - alcoholic beverages like Brandy and Whisky and desserts are again tasters from restaurants across the resort.

All of which is complimentary to Club Level guests. So on Monday evening we went down for Twilight Refreshers which included Corn Dogs (small sausages wrapped in Corn), Vichyssoise soup, Tuna, crudites with dips and a large selection of cheeses. Let the photos tell the story: 

Drew's Light Snack

Haydn's plate including Steak Kebab

Corn Dogs

Crudites

Cheese - Yum

Dinner at Epcot on Tuesday

While catching up on Meal descriptions it is worth noting the lovely meal we had on Tuesday Evening at Epcot. After the epic day outlined in this post we stayed in the Mexico area of the World Showcase for our dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel, a Mexican Restaurant on the waterfront of the Epcot World Showcase lake. 

The meal began with a non-menu item, the traditional start of a Mexican meal Chips and Dips. The Chips were very finly cut and crunchy, the salsa had a good chilli tang and the guacamole was creamy and good. As my sister says guacamole is the only reason that avocados have a place on the table and in this form they are excellent.

Drew choose Queso Fundido for his starters, this melted cheese with chorizo, poblano and serrano peppers and a tomatillo sauce was served with four flour tortilla. An old favorite of Drew's this went down very well.

I had opted for Gorditas which are lovely corn cakes, stuffed with chorizo, potatoes and arugula, topped with chipotle sauce and sour cream. Having chorizo and chipotle in the same sentence is enough for me to swoon over the food and I did indeed enjoy every last morsel of this well balanced starter. 

For mains Drew selected Carnitas Yucatecas which is Pork confit and crackling with pico de gallo, cabbage, citrus juice and avocado salsa. The crunch of the crackling could be heard across the room, the soft pork made no such noise, but was richly flavoured by the sauce. 

I opted for a meatier item, costillas en salsa de chile which is braised shorts ribs topped with chimichurri (parsley, oregano, garlic, olive oil, vinegar) served with potato puree and chile de árbol sauce. The ribs were falling off the bone they were cooked so well and the balance of spices was just right to bring out the flavour of the meat. Overall the dish was a real success.

The main course was served with the traditional rice and beans as a nice compliment to the richness of the mains.

Given that our seat in the restaurant meant we were at the window on the lake side of the restaurant, we needed to stay here to 9.00pm to have a perfect view of the Fireworks. This give Drew the chance to make the great sacrifice <<Co-pilot's note: I'm a Martyr I am>> of having his first dessert of the holiday. This was Empanada de Manzana. A delicate puff pastry filled with sauteed caramel apples, served with dulce de leche ice cream and cajeta (caramel sauce). Drew reports that is was light and delicious.