Nala & pride "A Bucket Full of Magic" TR About This Page:

[islandgirl]

Great updates & pictures!!! More please....

[dsteiny23]

What a great day! And Cooks sounds delicious...especially the chicken mushroom pie.

[ilovedisney247]

Sounds like I'm going to have to add Cooks to the list of places to try, the chicken and mushroom pie sounds wonderful! Love it!

[disneyfreeeak]

sounds like a great trip so far!

[DrDolphin]

Cooks sounds great - I too will have to add it to the "eat here" list.

[bkwrm]

I'm all caught up with both this trip report and your pre-trip report and you're absolutely correct; tissues should be at hand. I can't wait to read more about this wonderful vacation.
Merry Christmas! Sharon

[Nala]

Having turned in fairly early the night before, we were all early to rise the next morning. We quickly got ready and headed out to the Boardwalk around 8:15. Our ADR at Kouzzina was not until 9:30, but we wanted to spend some time looking at the decorations at the BWI.

It had been many years since we had a vehicle to drive around WDW, and while we had a pretty good idea of how to get where we were going, a map of the entire property would have come in handy. My search through all the information in our packet we received at check-in proved to be fruitless. Rather than ask someone for directions, we took our chances and figured with all the signs posted all over WDW property, we would find our way.

And find our way we did. Right into the Epcot parking lot. Opps. We explained to the parking attendant that we had made a wrong turn and were trying to get to the BWI. He instructed us to get in the far left lane, make a U turn, and follow the signs to DHS. Of course! How silly of us. Here we were expecting to find the Epcot resorts in the Epcot area. It made perfect sense to us that the Epcot resorts could actually be accessed by heading towards the Studios. (Not) At least we were not the only ones lost, as there were quite a few cars in front of us making the same U turn.

We finally made our way to the BWI, parked the Toaster and walked into the lobby. It didn’t take us long to discover what a stunning holiday display the BWI had.



The gingerbread house was so cute, and it was Grumpy that noticed on the sign that it contained hidden Mickey’s. We instantly went on the hunt and were able to find about four or five of them before we decided to move on. Sarafina was quite impressed with the lobby and loved the veranda with all the wicker chairs.

We headed down the stairs and saw a map of the Boardwalk, and we looked at it briefly to figure out which direction to head for breakfast. As we strolled past the shops, I began to wonder where we were going and turned around to see Kouzzina was actually in the opposite direction. Guess it was a good thing we weren’t doing any serious navigation this day, as we were now two for two in the going the wrong direction department.

We turned around and started to make our way to breakfast when suddenly Kiara slammed to the ground. A light rain had fallen early that morning, and with the wooden boards being wet, and Kiara in flip flops, it became a dangerous combination. She landed with her legs in a very scary looking position and Sarafina and I were terrified she had broken something. It took her a few minutes to get up, but other than a scraped up knee, she survived the fall with no serious injury. Whew!

We headed to Kouzzina, moving at a slower pace than normal, as Kiara was still feeling her fall, and checked in a bit early for our ADR. The restaurant was quiet and we were shown to our table almost immediately. A few minutes after we were seated, our server greeted us and took our drink order. It was a round of bloody Mary’s for the adults and iced tea for Kiara. Our server was great, and we quickly found out he had a great sense of humor when he said “What, no bloody Mary for the princess?”

While we waited for our drinks, we all checked out the menu. This was for me, a waste of time, as I had already decided what I wanted before I made the ADR. Scrambled eggs with spinach, tomato and feta. Grumpy had a hard time deciding, as did Sarafina, but when our server returned, they were both quick to place their order. Grumpy went for the blueberry orange granola pancakes with bacon, and Sarafina selected the golden waffle with whipped Mascarpone cheese, honey and pecans. Kiara picked something off the kids menu, and I can’t remember if it was pancakes, French toast or a waffle.

Since I had the three of them together, I figured it was a good time for a group shot.



One would figure after so many trips with my goofy pride, I would be use to them not cooperating for a photo. When I ask them to pose for a picture, Kiara seems to always be scratching at and/or picking something, and Grumpy has an uncanny knack for avoiding looking at the camera. This shot was no exception. At least Sarafina was a willing and cooperative subject this trip.

Our food arrived and it was an absolute feast for the senses. It all looked beautiful. It all smelled wonderful. And as each of us took our first bite, the sound of a collective “Mmmmmmm” was heard at our table. My eggs were an absolute delight with the tomato, spinach and feta. Grumpy enjoyed the unique combination of the subtle flavor of orange in the pancake coupled with the fresh blueberries and the granola and Sarafina ate her waffle with out any syrup on it. When she raved about how wonderful the butter was, I informed her it was not butter, but instead whipped Mascarpone cheese. When I mentioned I was curious as to how it tasted, she offered me a bite. The stuff was divine! Rich, creamy, sweet, but somehow light and fluffy. I could have eaten an entire bowl of just that alone!

Needless to say, breakfast was a huge hit with all of us. Our server was a delight and our food was out of this world delicious. Kouzzina had become a new favorite for us, and one of our favorite meals of the trip. Had it not been closing for re-hab in a few days, I would have gladly returned for a repeat of the meal we had just had. It was that good!

Before leaving the Boardwalk, we decided to do a little shopping. I realized Kiara was in desperate need of a new pair of flip flops, as the pair she was wearing were a bit too small (hey, I packed them last minute thinking they would only be worn at the pool, and didn’t think she would want to, or be able to, due to the weather, wear them everyday). We started searching the shop for flip flops and found not one, but two pairs for her. When we walked into the store, we noticed that with a purchase of $25 you could buy a rolling Mickey duffle bag for $15.

Grumpy and I had been talking that we needed an extra bag or two, so this was perfect. I did some more looking around and found a fuzzy Mickey head dog toy and had to buy that for our little boy, Toby. Sarafina bought Kiara a cute little Minnie nightgown and both of us bought a duffle bag. We then decided to head back to the Port and figure out what to do with our time between then and our next ADR at Boma that evening.

When we arrived back in the room, Mousekeeping had been there, and we noticed we had a towel animal. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it looked like a basket of flowers and was very cute. We decided to head down to Old Man Island and take a look around there, as I was yet to see the main pool. The pool was cute, but we didn’t feel the need to go to that one, when the quiet pool that was right outside our door gave Kiara what she needed. After looking around a bit, we decided to go to the fishing hole and try our luck there.

Thirteen dollars got us four cane poles, a little container of worms, and a half an hour of good old fashioned family fun. Grumpy was elected to be the hook baiter (worms kind of freak me out) and once he had that job done, we all were trying our hand at catching a fish.



It came as no surprise that Grumpy was the first to score. His prize catch? A three inch bluegill. The rest of us were having no luck, and since watching a bobber can be rather boring, I started watching a father, and his little boy and little girl, fishing across from us.

All of a sudden, the little girl, who was maybe four or five, started screaming at the top of her lungs. DADDY, I CAUGHT A FISH, I CAUGHT A FISH, I CAUGHT A FIIIISSSSHHHHHYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! I looked over and sure enough she had landed a fish. It was the size of a minnow. Her reaction was priceless and I couldn’t help but giggle over her extreme joy. Too cute.

Their time was up, and when they left, Kiara and I moved into the spot they had been in. We again had no luck, but Kiara then put her pole in a little pond behind us. Grumpy joined us and informed me that Kiara was fishing in the breeding tank. Within minutes, she got excited and proudly stated she had caught a fish! It was a whooper. It was so big, when I took the picture, I couldn’t get its head in it.




The time came for us to turn our poles in, and we were then left with what to do next. It came as no surprise what Kiara wanted to do, and Grumpy and I figured we should grant her request. Today was intended to be a casual day, one of doing next to nothing, so we could prepare ourselves for the busy days that were to come. Back to the room we went, and Kiara put on her swimsuit in record time.


Up next: a lazy afternoon and a trip to the Animal Kingdom Lodge
　
　
　
　

　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

[Minnie Lor]

You know, every time I read an update I have to go check and rethink my ADR's. Kouzzina's for breakfast sounds delish! Glad Kiara wasn't hurt in her fall and that it didn't affect her for very long. More please.

[DrDolphin]

What a wonderful morning around BWI and fishing! That little girl's reaction to catching a fish was wonderful!

[Colexis Mom]

What a yummy breakfast! Sounds like a great time fishing as well!

[mcc0313]

Your breakfast sounded delicious, we ended up canceling our breakfast there in August (time issue) but after reading about yours I know it must get back on the top of the list soon

Looks like the pride had a great day of fun so far, some shopping, wandering at POR and the fishing hole. Definitely a relaxing day, looking forward to hearing about your afternoon over at the AKL.

[Cam22]

Kouzzina's sounds wonderful for breakfast!

[lauriep]

That settles it. There's definitely a Kouzzina breakfast in my near future! Glad Kiara's fall wasn't serious. Flip-flops on a wet deck--not good.

[PamelaK]

I'm glad Kiara was ok after her fall. It sounds like you had a fun morning at the Boardwalk.

[sc507]

That breakfast sounds absolutely delicious! Your fishing experience sounds like fun - maybe next time we stay there, we'll give it a try.