Delicious Disney Celebration!  

This post is part two of my 40th birthday Disney Celebration trip, to read part one click here.

The Disney Contemporary resort renovated their prized rooftop California Grill in 2013 changing almost everything about it = but the spectacular view.

I was excited to try it out since reading a lot about it on some fellow blogger posts and articles like in Jeff Houck's 33 Best things I ate in 2013 article which you can read here or in Ricky Ly's Tasty Chomp's full review of the pretty restaurant here.

We were so excited to get to enjoy amazing and romantic views of the parks, castle, lake, sunset, electric boat parade and fireworks all while celebrating my 40th birthday dinner!

They also have two observation decks outside that extend pretty far out to allow maximum viewing for those who dined early in the evening and stayed for the show or for those who eat in the lounge and want a better view of both the Epcot and MK shows!  We scored some of the best seats in the house for some pre-dinner wine and the sunset and then an amazing view for dinner and the sparkling night show.  Here is a panoramic shot of the deck and park area.

Just to get into the restaurant you have to check in on the second floor to ensure you are on the list and then take a separate elevator to the top floor to arrive in their beautiful wine-clad foyer.

We chose a delicious Round Pond Estate Merlot that we fell in love with on a trip to Napa which you can read more about in one of my earlier blog posts all about our wine adventures here.  (I highly recommend both their wine tasting and vineyard tour and especially their olive oil tasting which was amazing!)   Here is a good tip - don't just go by their regular wine menu at the California Grill, when I noticed Round Pond was available in a white wine but we preferred red, I inquired and our excellent waiter Topher grabbed a completely different (and huge) wine list which he promptly showed us they did afternoon have the Round Pond Merlot available - score!!

  They did a lovely job with their menu and it was difficult to make choices...

For appetizers we enjoyed the spicy meatballs and some delicious salted butter and breads.

Followed by a highly seasoned bell & evans chicken, asparagus gratin, olive oil potatoes in a cabernet demi.

 And a bison tenderloin that was dreamy!

The most special surprise was a two-tired mini cake that my husband had planned into the evening ahead of time with the Disney bakery team.  You can get more information about their adorable cakes and exquisite celebration ideas here.  

What a SWEET surprise and an adorable Disney Penguin from Mary Poppins helping us celebrate.  The cake was (absolutely positively-without-a-doubt) the best cake I have EVER tasted!

This two dimensional penguin was adorable (and delicious) they decorate and customize them with edible printer paper and fondant - they can customize practically any request and my hubby said they were a pleasure to work with! 

Apparently you can get these mini-cakes for two (or a regular size or massive cake for a crowd) made by the same delicious Disney bakers who make their awesome wedding cakes too and have one delivered to many of the park restaurants or hotel rooms for a special occasion.  Here is a fun cake they made for my friends Wendy & Bill for their wedding at the Grand Floridian last year - beautiful and delicious!

Then the lights went dim and they piped in the music from the magic kingdom and we saw everything from tinkerbell descending from the castle to the best view right in front of us of the fireworks.  Awesome!

Talk about turning 40 with some magic!

In a couple days, check out my next post where I will review the Treehouse Villas at Disney- what fun to stay up in the air among the treetops with some special family and great memories in a unique circular tree home   Stay tuned~!