Florida
- Day 16
Saturday 8th November 2025
Participants: Tam, Kev, India, Georgia and Charlie
Tam and I have a lie in until 8.30 am although everyone rises at different times. Breakfast is cereal and bagels. We're eating quite a lot as Georgia and Charlie have very generously booked Victoria and Albert's for us for tonight, so we're not having lunch to be really hungry for our reservation at 6.40 pm.
We decide to play crazy golf at Fantasia Gardens this morning as we get it free with our 14 day tickets. We walk passed the new Swan Reserve hotel and decide to pop in for a look around. It's not particularly attractive from the outside, I think the days of building distinctive structures are probably gone. Everything looks fairly similar these days. I realise that Swan Reserve is not a Disney hotel, but they must have final approval over the plans.
Inside is nice enough, but just general high quality hotel decor.
I had read about the Vue area at the top of the resort and so we
take the lift up. It turns out to be a space that's not generally
open to resort guests as it's reserved for private functions, but
we just walk in and take a look around anyway. If you get the
chance to do this I would recommend it. The views from the 15th
floor are spectacular, probably even better than the Top of the
World Lounge due to its central location.
Over to
Fantasia Gardens where I hadn't realised there are 2 courses. One
is crazy golf and the other is a full 18 holes of quite tough
putting with some holes over 100 feet in length. The crazy golf
has a 30 minute wait, so we play the full course. It's actually
really great fun and not that easy. On the way round we pass a
large pond and there's an egret and an anhinga successfully
fishing.
I win by a narrow margin, but we all enjoy it very much even
though it takes 90 minutes. The only bad thing is that Tam loses
her sunglasses somewhere in the round. She leaves her phone
number with the desk in case they are handed in.
Back to The Boardwalk where we get much needed ice cold drinks for all and snacks for those that want them before heading to the quiet pool to relax in the hot sunshine for the afternoon. It's in the high 80's but we have to make the most of it while we can as there is a cold front coming in the day after tomorrow with near record lows for the time of year. It's gonna get chilly.
We shower and change into our best clothes for our visit to Victoria and Albert's. Charlie has organised a taxi at 6.10 pm to take us to the Grand Floridian where we have photos taken outside before entering for our 6.40 reservation.
We are seated
and our servers introduce themselves. From then on the whole
evening is just lovely. Victoria and Albert's has acquired a
Michelin star since the last time we were here and deservedly so.
We all choose to have the wine pairings and our evening begins
with a glass of champagne. From then on the courses come one
after another with the paired wines. Every dish is delicious with
the Bluefin Tuna being the standout. This is where you really
need Tam to be doing the trip report as she would go into detail
about every dish, I just know we had lovely food.
The harpist is the same lady as the last time we were here and
she tells us she's been here for 18 years. She plays everything
from Disney to more contemporary music including Bruce
Springsteen and Taylor Swift and we request Just Breathe by Pearl
Jam, which she learns quickly and plays.
I might not have descriptions of the food, but Tam took lots of photos. You'll have to decide what you think it is yourselves.
Now I think this was salmon.
Bread. Yes, definitely bread.
Now I believe this to be a Rowntrees fruit pastille.
The conversation around the table is fun and includes India telling us about a friend about her age who is just going to become a grandmother. She says 'I'm not even ready to have a dog'. Seems fair. We also have one course with parsnip in it. I forget and call it turnip. Inds jumps in again to inform me that 'It's parsnip not turnip. Don't you know your nips?' It would appear not.
After 3 desserts we have coffee made in a really cool perculator.
When we are
finished our server asks if we would like to see the kitchen. We
do and also meet the chef. I had read about the chefs table at
Victoria and Albert's but I didn't realise that it's actually in
the back of the kitchen.
The whole meal has taken three and a half hours, but its flown
by. Thanks very much to Charlie and Georgia for an outstanding
experience.
We leave at 10.30 pm and decide to go to the Top of the World Lounge at Bay Lake Tower for a nightcap. We jump on an empty monorail that doesn't stay empty for long as we stop at the Magic Kingdom where it swiftly reaches capacity. It's a bit strange with us dressed up to the nines surrounded by tired people who have been in the park all day.
At the Contemporary we exit the monorail and walk over the bridge to Bay Lake Tower and then up to the Villains Lair, which the Top of the World Lounge has now been turned into. It's a lovely lounge, but the villains part of it hasn't really changed it much, a few touches here and there, but nothing spectacular. For some reason Tam didn't take any photos.
I have a glass
of Chardonnay (again average) and we go outside to take in the
beautiful nightime views. For some reason Tam didn't take any
photos. No pictures of the wonderful views, loads of photos of
food. Tells you a lot about Tam I feel.
Uber back at midnight.