Itinerary: Day 6 - DCA & World of Color - Part 3a
Evening:
- Dinner: WCT @ 4:30 - it was the best time I could get, as this is a Grad Nite.
After rushing to check in for dinner at 4:30, we ended up with a 30 minute wait for a table. This was not ideal, and it took a lot to keep the kids engaged and prevent meltdowns. Even DH was losing his patience near the end! I swear - I really spoiled the family for waits this trip with too much efficiency. Even a pretty short 30 minute wait for a table had them at wits end! Too much LL, mobile order, and advance research!
Once we were finally seated, the food and the service was great.
I started with the Wine Flight - Tour of Italy (Placido Pinot Grigio, Veneto; Ruffino Chianti Superiore, Tuscany; Fontanafredda Nebbiolo, Barolo - $19). The pours felt generous to me, and I enjoyed all 3.
The pinot grigio paired perfectly with my Caprese Salad (Tomatoes, Basil, and Mozzarella drizzled with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar - $9).
The chianti was a little bit strong for my Chicken Parmesan (Breaded and Fried Chicken Breast with Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella served over Spaghetti - $25), which needed a bit more sauce. The nebbiolo (which I had never had before) was a better match. I did finish both glasses though!
DH started with a Trattoria Old Fashioned (Bulleit Rye Bourbon, Rosemary Reduction, Bitters and Club Soda - $15.50). He thought it was ok, but a bit heavy on the rosemary for him. He did have more than one though.
For food, DH had the Roasted Vegetable Lasanga (made in-house with Mushrooms, Eggplant and Bell Peppers, served with Bolognese Meat Sauce - $21). The saucing was generous enough that he shared some with me, which made my dish perfect. He cleaned his plate and said it was delicious!
I know, I know - super unflattering pic of DH. We have an ongoing thing where he purposefully takes pictures of me eating and posts them on FB. It is pretty hilarious, so I thought I would return the favor for once!
I think DC12 had the Fettuccine Shrimp Alfredo (A creamy Alfredo Sauce, Parsley, Garlic, and Chili Flakes - $27), but they were on the far side of the table and I didn’t get a picture.
DS had the Chicken Parm as well, but couldn’t quite finish the adult portions.
DD8 had the adult sized Spaghetti Bolognese with Meatballs (a rich Ragù of Beef, Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, Seasonings, and Meatballs - $25). We had learned our lesson about ordering kids’ meals for her, and she finished the whole thing!
I thought we were ordering a kids’ size spaghetti and meatballs for DD5, but they brought out the same size dish as DD8, and no broccoli, so we ended up with two of them. DD5 ate quite a bit, but couldn’t finish.
DD15 just had the Italian Wedding Soup (it was the soup of the day - $7), as she initially said she wasn’t hungry and loves that soup. She happily devoured all the leftovers from her siblings, so it turned out she was hungrier than she thought! I was glad about the mistake with DD5’s meal.
We normally get desserts, but DH and I knew we had the WoC dessert party coming up, so we skipped them this time. The kids were full enough that they didn’t mind at all.
- After eating dinner, we’ll need to kill a little time before lining up for World of Color! If we have time, we’ll try to get on Mermaid again or even Golden Zephyr, but I want to get there 60 minutes in advance - I splurged and got dessert party for my fam! This will be our first time and I am surprising the kids; they won’t know until we line up. There are so many fun things to see in that general area though, that even if it is still pretty early, I’m sure we’ll find things to do.
- Got an idea to pick up some sourdough at Pacific Wharf to eat during WoC - We did not end up doing this; too much walking!
During dinner, IC finally came up! The sad news was, the LL times were too late for us, and standby too long, so I knew we had to skip it, plus I wanted to minimize walking anyway. As planned, we did Mermaid again - not quite the walk-on from earlier, but only a 5 minute wait. Afterwards, I wanted to check out the shop that is normally open near there, but it was under refurb! I was bummed - it usually has some cool WoC merch, and I am a sucker for that. It did save me some $$ though. Instead we browsed the smaller cart directly across from Mermaid, and DD5 talked us into a new bubble wand while DC12 talked us into a pin. Something tells me they will end up a pin trader if we do make a trip back!
We got the Ariel Clamshell model ($27) at her insistence. I wanted the Mickey one - but I’m not the kid!:
Turning Red pin ($9.99) shown on Turning Red mini-backpack ($18) purchased prior to the trip at Target.
We did a potty break near Mermaid and headed to Redwood Creek Challenge. There we had a surprise! Raya was doing a meet & greet! We were third in line, when the CM let us know that Raya would be taking a short break but would be right back. Sure enough we had about a 15 minute wait total, so not bad at all.
DD15 had opted to stay with DH on a bench outside the area, so it was just the four for pictures. I took several, and at least one child had eyes closed or was looking somewhere else. This is the best of the bunch:
DC12 wanted to just chill, but DS, DD8 and DD5 all wanted to try smoke jumpers. I was worried about DD5, but all 3 loved it. They went off to explore the rest of the area, and I headed to the dessert party check-in at 7:10pm. There were about 20 people in front of me.
I messaged DH to bring everyone over at 7:40pm, so imagine my surprised when they started checking in at 7:15! I didn’t keep very good track of the progress, as I was checking out LL availability in DL for after WoC in case we wanted to hop. Suddenly I realized there were only a couple parties in front of me and in a panic texted DH to come NOW! It was about 7:30, and he got there within a couple minutes, just as the CM got to me. It was amazing timing! All the front high tops were taken by the time they got to me, but I wanted a hightop second row behind the low tables, based on information I learned on the DIS boards, and was excited it was available.
So my wait was only 25 minutes, but now the entire family had to wait 30 minutes to be seated. As mentioned before, my family was a bit spoiled and 30 minutes was a long wait for them. By comparison, our 2019 trip saw us wait 30+ minutes several times with little problem, including nearly 2 hours for Fantasmic, and 90 minutes for WoC. I wasn’t really prepared for their impatience, but I did have tricks up my sleeve. We busted out the bubble wands again, and the younger kids had fun playing with pine needles. Go figure!
Too many pictures, second half in next post!
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