Dining Our Way to the Parade

After having success with dining packages that gave us preferred parade seating in Disneyland I didn't hesitate to do the same for us when we went to the Magic Kingdom. I'll just point out now that it does come with a hefty price tag, so the option might not be something everyone wants to jump in line to do. For us, however, with me being someone that HATES sitting around waiting for shows and parades, this was a fabulous idea!

It was the Festival of Fantasy dining package that we booked. This got us lunch at Tony's Town Square Restaurant right at the entrance of Main Street USA. We were able to get an appetizer, entree, dessert and drink for a flat price. And with that we got passes into a special parade viewing section on Main Street. I had only eaten here once before, way back in the day when my mom and grandpa came to visit me. We went there for breakfast and I recall my mom and I being bundled up under a newly purchased blanket together to stay warm after a typical freak Florida rain storm. This time I was NOT cold at all. It was the perfect temperature inside and escape from the quickly rising temperatures outside! 

I arrived slightly early to check in for our reservation and we were seated with hardly any wait at all. I liked that we had a spot in the corner so that we had a booth and a little bit of quietness. Katura liked the booth corner spot, which turned into a photo shoot. That girl! She came up with some many poses that she insisted I get photos of!

I slacked and got NO photos of our appetizers. I was busy tending to the toddler in the photo above. We had Fried Mozzarella and Spinach Dip.  Oh!! This explains everything! I was noticing that I felt like I had no artichoke in the dip. Now I know why - it was only spinach! Oops! Because I wanted artichoke I didn't have much of the dip, but did enjoy what I had. 

Katura's entree came out earlier than ours. Guess what she had! Yep - Macaroni and cheese with fruit. I'm sure she would have like it... but ....

This happened.  She needed that nap. We needed her to have that nap! She was flat out snoring on me through our entire meal! A nap well deserved.

We will cover my main dish first. Tony's Pizza Pie. I think it is pretty self explanatory. Don't worry, I did NOT eat all of that. Our whole family could have shared that and had left overs! We did take my leftovers and all of Katura's food with us. She ate her fruit.

And all of that build up, that food foreplay, if you will, has led us to this. Shawn's climactic meal. One he still gushes about. Roman-style steak - balsamic-glazed beef tenderloin medallions topped with bacon marmalade, local vegetables and mashed potatoes. How do I describe this? You know THAT scene in When Harry Met Sally? That was Shawn. He made noises I've never heard before. His eyes were closed or rolling around in his head the entire time. Each bite was this little morsel of tasty Heaven for him. He couldn't get enough. I sat and watched.

Dessert was an easy choice for both of us. Seasonal Cheesecake - and the flavor of the day? Strawberry! Mmm mmm good!

With all of that food, I couldn't even finish it. It sure was tasty though. There was a lot on that menu that looked good. I kind of wish I had gotten some pasta, but the pizza was nothing at all to complain about. I had a lot of pizza on this trip, so pasta would have been a nice change.

Dining wasn't the only part of this. Remember is was for parade seating! All 3 of us had a ticket for the Festival of Fantasy parade in the viewing area marked off on Main Street USA. We killed time by going to the Emporium to shop, and then Katura and I ducked out early to go grab a spot while Shawn finished paying for my hairbrush. Yeah, my brush broke! I got to our spot at the perfect time and secured us a seat in the shade on the sidewalk under the huge Christmas tree (meaning Shade!!!) and staring right at Cinderella's Castle. I cannot even believe I got that lucky!! It was worth it. We all had a great time at the parade, and Alice in Wonderland even remembered Katura from their long flower discussion that morning, so it was pretty cool to see her getting some special attention!