The Most Magical Place for a 28th Birthday Celebration, Part 4

Saturday night was the big dinner to celebrate my birthday. The California Grill is one of Disney’s signature dining restaurants. I have wanted to eat there ever since I learned of its existence.

This restaurant is on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort and has the most amazing view of the Magic Kingdom, since it’s so close. We checked in at the desk downstairs and wandered a bit before our pager went off, telling us that our table was ready.

When we gave them our pager, we were shown upstairs in a private elevator to the restaurant. We followed the hostess to our table and was delighted to find our space was a table for two right next to the window, with the most perfect view of the Castle!

Unfortunately, I had a slight issue when scheduling the reservation. I thought Wishes would be held at 9 pm that night but apparently they changed it to 10 pm at some point. So we were seated at 7:45 pm and had plans to watch the fireworks from our awesome seats. I explained it to the waiter, who said it shouldn’t be a problem.

To make up for taking up one of the primo seats, Hubs and I decided to share a bottle of wine to spend the evening before our entrees arrived.

When faced with a big fancy menu, I always gravitate towards the steak. This night was no exception. Hubs and I had planned on sharing an appetizer, an entree and then a dessert. But once we got there, we both fell in love with our own entree choices and we threw caution to the wind and ordered both!

But Hubs’ dinner was by far the winner. I mean, my filet with teriyaki barbeque sauce was amazing but his pork tenderloin with cheesy polenta? TO DIE FOR. When we both professed our undying love for this dish, the waiter told us that the dish was created by the original chef for the restaurant and it is the only thing that has never gone off the menu (they change it up frequently with fresh new dishes, based on the seasons).

With such amazing food and a great bottle of wine, we were both happy campers that evening!

I was made even happier when our waiter brought me the.most.amazing chocolate cake I have ever had. They had heard it was my birthday [well, I told them that when I made the reservation!] and wanted to wish me a happy one. Hubs and I shared the cake, rather than ordering the chocolate crème brulee I had planned on getting. We will leave that for the next time we’re there.

What could top such an amazing dinner? The fireworks right outside our window. We took video on our little camera but the finale came out better than the rest. Love it. I wish the camera had got the music, but this is enough to make me remember that night!

It was truly amazing. Best view ever!

It was a most magical birthday celebration, indeed. :)