Sitting On Top of the World

Disney's California Grill

Located at the top of the Contemporary Resort (14th floor) the California Grill is a must for foodies visiting Disney. In the middle of the week of kiddie rides, games, shows, characters, songs and stories our night at the California Grill was a little reward to the adults in our party. The view of the castle is beautiful, the drinks wonderful (we were ready for a glass of wine after two days in the Magic Kingdom park where there is no alcohol!), the food divine, the atmosphere relaxing for adults but children still very much welcome.

We participated in the dining plan and this restaurant used two table service credits. If you do the math, this is an incredible deal. Visitors using the dining plan could choose a main course (prices ranged from $30 to $50) and had a choice of a variety of decadent desserts or a truly impressive cheese platter as an appetizer or dessert.

We ordered an appetizer for the table of cheese flatbread with sundried tomatoes and basil pesto that was just delicious. Heath chose the cheese platter and indulged in 5 cheeses along with plum paste, glazed almonds, honeycomb and crostini. Some of the amazing main dishes ordered in our party included pan seared bison, truffle mac and cheese, snapper with crab risotto, beef tenderloin and a beautiful dragon roll prepared by Yoshie, one of the top three sushi chefs in the country! Desserts we ordered included chocolate lava cake with Tahitian vanilla marshmallow and peanut butter gelato and warm bread pudding with Jack Daniels glaze and bacon ice cream (very interesting!). The kids ate steak, potatoes, vegetables, fruit salad and ice cream (all allergy friendly!).

We planned our dinner reservation on a night that the Magic Kingdom was having their "Wishes" fireworks at 9:00 p.m. We sat at 5:40 p.m. and finished our meal by 7:30 p.m. We then rode the monorail around the park and checked out other resorts before returning to the California Grill to view fireworks from the viewing deck (something you can do with a receipt showing that you ate at the California Grill that day). It was a beautiful setting and the music from the show was piped into the restaurant, however, it was very cold and windy on the actual viewing deck. We ended up going back into the restaurant and finished watching through the window.

This is a definite must-do if you are lucky enough to get a reservation at this amazing venue!