On Sunday afternoon, I printed out my release forms, signed them and headed over to the Contemporary. I took my mother with me as my guest. We got there a little early so we sat outside on the fourth floor and enjoyed the view. Around 6:45, we headed to the second floor where we had to check in. We had to hand in our signed release forms and show a picture id. That's when I realized that I left my license in the car. I put it down after I showed it to security to park and never picked it back up. I told the CM that I left it in the car and she told me not to worry about it. After she checked us in, she gave me a token that I would exchange at the end of the night for a prize.
We stood in the hallway until around 7:15 when they started taking people up the California Grill. We were on the third elevator. We walked out and were greeted with CM's holding trays of champagne and various other drinks. Then we stepped into the next room and CM's were in there handing out some food samples. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the drinks or any of the restaurant.
I decided to try a three meat meatball. I wasn't going to try it because I'm not really a fan of meatballs and there was lamb in it and I don't like lamb. I decided to just go ahead and try it and I'm glad that I did. It was very good; probably the best thing I had all night. However, it was a little spicy.
I decided that I had to go outside to check out the view of Magic Kingdom before sunset.
A little while later we all gathered inside and were welcomed to the California Grill. We were then let into the dining room as "Be Our Guest" played. We looked around, found a table, and then sat down.
The way they had the food set up was on little tasting plates. They had out an array of sushi (I didn't have any because I don't eat sushi), a few main courses, some rolls, desserts, and lots of alcohol. You were able to eat as much as you wanted, for as long as you wanted, until Wishes.
I started with the filet with tomato risotto and tomato butter. For me, the filet was undercooked but it tasted ok. I didn't really care for the risotto or the tomato butter.
I had a roll, but not all that butter, which was delicious.
I decided to try the pork two ways which consisted of lacquered belly with applesauce and tenderloin with goat cheese polenta and mushrooms. The lacquered belly was pretty much just a giant piece of fat with a little bit of meat on it. The meat was tasty but I was not eating the fat. The applesauce was decent. I did not try the tenderloin because the piece was mostly raw and I was not about to eat raw pork. I did take a taste of the polenta and I didn't care for it.
After trying the two main dishes they had that I would eat and not really caring for them, I decided to try dessert. First, I had the caramel corn sundae. The caramel corn on top was very hard and crunchy. The sundae part was like a pudding with caramel under it. If you ate the pudding and the caramel together, it tasted just like caramel corn. Caramel corn isn't one of my favorite things but I think if you like caramel corn, you'd like the sundae.
Next, I tried the chocolate pudding cake and the fritters. I took a bite of the chocolate pudding cake first and it was very rich and I didn't care for the taste of it. I love chocolate but this cake did nothing for me. I decided to try a fritter and I could barely even taste the first one through the taste of chocolate that was left in my mouth. I ate the second one and I could taste it better. It was pretty good. It tasted like fried dough with cinnamon on it. I couldn't taste the bananas that were supposedly on the inside. I did not eat the marshmallow that was on top of the fritters though because I don't like marshmallows.
I had pretty much given up on the food so I decided to go outside on another walkway to enjoy the view.
I came back inside and my mother told me that they brought out Coke floats. I told her that I'd go get them for us. They were very popular and there was a line to get them. When I got to the front, I grabbed two, and brought them to our table. They were so cute. It was my first time having a Coke float. I thought it was alright. I would have preferred a root beer float.
My mother had gotten coffee and the server let her know that it was a roast that was only available at the California Grill. I don't drink coffee and I never took a picture of hers but she told me that it was very good.
We headed outside around 9:45 to get a spot to watch Wishes. The view was fantastic.
Our night came to an end when Wishes ended. We made our way to the elevator and I snapped a picture of the bar on our way out. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the restaurant while we were in there but it was difficult to do in a crowded room.
When we got by the elevator, I handed in my token and received a gift bag.
We took the elevator down and went outside. We opened the gift bag outside to see what was inside. There were two California Grill menus, two boxes which contained some sort of bread, and a $50 Disney gift card. I forgot to take pictures of the contents of the bag while we were there so I took the pictures at home.
Overall, it was a very nice night. The Disney Parks Blog sure knows how to throw an event. I couldn't believe the amount of food and drinks that they offered. I was shocked that they handed out $50 gift cards at the end of the night. I really appreciate all the effort that they put into the event and I do look forward to going to another one.
The California Grill was a very beautiful restaurant with an amazing view. The staff was very friendly and our server was amazing. He was so nice and always smiled when he came over to our table. I asked him where the bathroom was and he walked me to it and my mom told me that he told her that we were the easiest table he's ever waited on.
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