A Foodie’s Foray into Fantastic Finds – 4/26-5/6 COMPLETE!

[Sunshein]

We’re back! My DH and I brought the kids to Disney world in September of 2007 and had such a great time that shortly after we got home we immediately started planning another trip for April of 2008! The first trip I spent a lot of time on the boards before making our adr’s and for the second trip I could not wait to try some of the ones I felt I had missed. There are so many restaurants that I would love to try them all so we only repeated one of our previous adr’s. I poured over the reviews on this board and kept changing things up right until the very end. And now I am very excited to share with all of you how it went! So that being said, here’s the cast:

Me, 34 and a serious planner and lover of food. I love to pour over menus, pictures and reviews. I am a very adventurous eater and love seafood and ethnic food.

DH, 35. He loves to eat and this time he actually wanted to take part in choosing the adr’s. He loves a good steak but was determined to try new things this time around.

DD5: She is a very good eater. She loves shrimp and steak and will try new things. It is a pity since mostly the kid menus were repetitive and limited.

DD3: She is a good eater. She is a little pickier than her sister but that I attribute to her age.

We stayed for 11 days and were on the regular dining plan so here is what I will review:

Table Service
Kona Café
Yak and Yeti
Ohanas
Le Cellier
Spoodles
Biergarten
Rainforest café
Raglan Road
Teppan Edo
Cap’n Jacks
1900 Park Fare
Kona Café again!

Counter Service
Captain Cook’s
Flame Tree BBQ
Gasparilla Grill
Casey’s Corner
Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory
Riverside Mill
Toy Story Pizza Planet
Lottawatta Lodge
Leaning Palms

Snacks
Kringla Bakery - Norway
Boardwalk Confectionary
Cookes of Dublin
Goofy’s Candy Factory
Ghirardelli Chocolate

I think that’s it! So stay tuned for the first installment: A Very Warm Welcome – Captain Cook’s and Kona Cafe

[Mom2JPL]

Can't wait!!! We went in Oct last year and are going to Nov this year...like yourself, I can't wait to try new restaurants we missed last year!!

[TigerKat]

Count me in......popcorn::

[MickeyNicki]

Im in!

[honeybee30]

Yay! A foodie review! I'm there! :thumbsup2

[oybolshoi]

I would like express my admiration for the alliterative properties of your title. :thumbsup2

Now bring on some food! :banana:

[suzimar57]

add me to the list!

[phabric]

Will be interested in reading your reviews.

[Disneyof3]

:goodvibes


Waiting for the reviews to start!!!!::yes::

[BriarRosie]

<whines> Are we there yet?? ;)

Any report with "foodie" in the title will grab my attention. ;)

[iluvpluto27]

Ok I'm in. Bring on the reviews!

[MickeyNicki]

Get out the bloodhounds, we need to find our lost OP!

[Splat25]

this sounds like a fun review...can't wait

popcorn::

[TigerKat]

Get out the bloodhounds, we need to find our lost OP!

:rotfl2:

[Peter Pirate 2]

Not with the restaurants on that list.:lmao:

[Sunshein]

I'm here I'm here! Sorry to keep you all waiting but I have been going non stop all day. I actually have a whole bunch of house guests downstairs and I snuck up here to check in. :laughing:

I promise to get the first installment up tomorrow morning. Until then keep salivating!

[ENSOCK]

count me in!! I can't wait!

[pennyplanner]

Can't wait to check out your reviews! :goodvibes

--pennyplanner

[mom2fivecs]

Looking forward to reviews...popcorn::

[Sunshein]

I would like express my admiration for the alliterative properties of your title. :thumbsup2

Now bring on some food! :banana:

Thanks Brenda! I try ;)

Not with the restaurants on that list.:lmao:

I'm sorry Peter. I didn't realize that foodie mean't that I had to review Victoria and Alberts. Trust me I would have loved to but two young children along with maybe having to cloth said children sort of held us back this time. Maybe next time!

[Sunshein]

Post deleted (duplicate)

[Sunshein]

Ok I managed to lose the company early so I am going to get the first reviews in tonight. :banana:

For once we managed to score a wonderfully timed flight out of Montreal. Normally to catch a flight we end up hauling our sorry butts out of bed at the inhumane hour of 4:00 am, dress, brush our teeth, and then dress sleeping children who we then have to carry out to the car. They are still a bit too young to get the excitement of the day and are more interested in curling up into the fetal position while you try to get their pants on!

This time however, our flight took off at 9:30 am and landed in Orlando at 12:30. Yes that’s right folks, a direct flight! Needless to say by the time we made our way via the occasionally speedy Magical Express to the beautiful Polynesian resort, we were hungry! We really didn’t want to eat too much though since we had much anticipated adr’s at Kona Café later on. So we decided to get one adult meal and one child meal and split them. This was our fist time at the Polynesian and so it took us a few tries to find captain Cook’s but once we arrived, DH took the girls to find a free table while I tried to figure out the complex touch screen system. Ok… look at all the thumb nails… so let’s try… Noodle Stir Fry! And for the kids, you can’t go wrong with chicken nuggets. After that it all got very confusing. To make a long story short, after holding up the line a couple of times, I finally got the dining plan all straight and headed to the table with grub!

The Noodle Stir Fry was fantastic! I have actually been trying to nab the recipe ever since I got home so if anyone out there has it, please feel free to forward it on! It has amazing flavor and tender chicken pieces, semi-crunchy vegetables and soft udon noodles. DH and I fought over the last bites.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2807.jpg

The chicken nuggets went over well. The girls ate them all along with grapes and Jell-O but they were more interested in our noodles. Both girls are fairly adventurous eaters. The have little choice since at my house you are rarely served the same meal twice in at least a month! They really did like our dessert however. it was a chocolate muffin with loads of icing, a chocolate micky and sprinkles.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2808.jpg

We headed out to Magic Kingdom for a quick trip and the returned for a 6:05 adr at the Kona Café. I have to say we were a tiny bit late for this adr. We knew we would be but tried to squeeze in that one last ride. We had no trouble getting a table however and we were quickly led to a table for 4. The girls were given some crayons and stuff to color with.

The new dining plan doesn’t include appetizers but honestly I think that is my favorite part of the meal. Sometimes I would rather just have the appetizer and a dessert along with maybe a nice wine or cocktail and forget the whole entrée! So when we did order and appetizer, it was usually something I wanted but DH agreed to share. Today we ordered the pot stickers; Wok seared duck dumplings with creamy ginger soy sauce
These were wonderful. I have not had a lot of duck before and what I did have I wasn’t that fond of but here the pot stickers were little bundles of flavor and the sauce accompanies it very well. There were a lot more on the plate but I remember a little late to take the picture. We were quite hungry!

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2821.jpg

About the time we were done the appetizer, the waitress appeared with a giant roll and some macadamia nut butter. I had forgotten about this and apparently our waitress almost did herself! Thank goodness she didn’t though as this was a little slice of heaven. In my experience mixing butter with sugar and nuts is usually a prelude to licking the spoon. Well I am here to tell you that if you go heavy on the butter and spread the whole thing on a warm soft bread roll, the result is almost better than batter!

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2820.jpg

For an entrée I ordered the Tuna Oscar - Served with fried green tomatoes, tempura-fried jumbo lump crab, and wasabi hollandaise. I have read a lot about this and since I love sushi and wasabi I figured this was a good choice. I have to say it was just ok. I think this may have just been because it wasn’t what I expected. I loved tempura fried jumbo crab and I loved the sauce, but there was so much tuna there was no way I was going to finish it all. The tuna was too warm to suit me I think.

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DH headed straight for the Beef Teriyaki. Did I mention he likes steaks? This turned out to be his favorite steak of the week. He has yet to stop talking about it. It was cooked just to his liking, charred a bit on the outside and slightly pink on the inside. The sauce was absolutely amazing with grilled pineapple. He ordered this again later in the week when we returned for an impromptu encore.

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The kids menu I find very unadventurous. DH5 had the chicken noodle soup, and the mac and cheese. She polished off the soup, but barely touched the mac and cheese. I have no idea what that says about the mac and cheese but the way I see it, she loved the soup and what 5 year old eats more than an entire bowl of soup for a meal?

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DD 3 ordered grilled chicken, pasta with sauce and melted cheese and veggies. She didn’t eat a whole lot of it, but she ate a ton of bread beforehand. This girl is a sucker for a warm baguette so this was like candy for her. She is a pretty tiny little thing so after the bread, the rest of her meal held little appeal.

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For Dessert we decided to skip the kids’ desserts and order a Kona Kone for us all to share and we got the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart to take back to the hotel room. The girls loved the Kone. They adore cotton candy and the generic smarties went over well too. I appreciated the flat bottomed cone which was glued to the plate with chocolate. It made me think of the taco shell commercials where they guys keep trying to find a way to keep the taco shell standing up but I digress… Even together the four of us could not finish the cone so we finally gave up and headed for our room.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2829.jpg

Later on when the girls were asleep and DH and I were sitting out on our little patio I caved in and dove into the macadamia nut torte. I never did take a picture of it more's the pity. I ended up eating the whole thing! It is the sweetest dessert I may have ever had. It is like caramel pie with macadamia nuts and chocolate on top. Delish!

So to wrap up the day, we loved the food at Captain Cook’s even if the computerized system left me more than a little confused as to the procedure. So far it is the best counter service food we have ever encountered at a resort.

Kona Café was probably on of our favorite restaurants now and we will definitely be returning on our next trip no matter how many new places there are to explore!

Up next: Fanning the Flames and Is it a Yak or a Yeti?

[MistyD]

Can't wait to read more!

[toocherie]

Looking forward to more!

[iluvpluto27]

Great start. Can't wait for more.

[suzimar57]

food at kona looks wonderful!

[pooch]

sounds like a great report in the making! and I'm dying to hear more reviews of YAK & YETI

[ssr4me]

im in and cant wait to hear and see more :banana: :banana: :yay: :yay: :banana: :banana:

[Jakesmom1]

Count me in, sounds like your having a great time so far :thumbsup2


Cant wait to hear about Yak and Yeti, as we are going there next week :cool1:

[truck524]

we are going in two weeks would love to hear your reviews!

[oybolshoi]

I keep seeing dinner reviews for Kona that make me wonder if we need to break out of our dining rut ... depending on how things shake out for the F&W Festival we may just have to try Kona for dinner.

If nothing else at least I can finally have a big silly drink in a pineapple! :lmao:

[BriarRosie]

About the time we were done the appetizer, the waitress appeared with a giant roll and some macadamia nut butter. I had forgotten about this and apparently our waitress almost did herself! Thank goodness she didn’t though as this was a little slice of heaven. In my experience mixing butter with sugar and nuts is usually a prelude to licking the spoon. Well I am here to tell you that if you go heavy on the butter and spread the whole thing on a warm soft bread roll, the result is almost better than batter!

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2820.jpg


This is the only picture I didn't take when I reviewed this dinner from my October report. I thought the bread was good and addictive. At least the four piggies at my table required a SECOND LOAF. :blush: :laughing:

I tasted my sister's teriyaki steak (as I had the prime rib), and I agree that it was very flavorful. I think next time, though...you need to order the pomegranate-glazed pork chop. My mom had that to replace her tasteless fish dish (not the tuna oscar). I took a bite and it really was terrific!

Great reviews so far!

[Sunshein]

I keep seeing dinner reviews for Kona that make me wonder if we need to break out of our dining rut ... depending on how things shake out for the F&W Festival we may just have to try Kona for dinner.

If nothing else at least I can finally have a big silly drink in a pineapple! :lmao:

The big pineapple drink tastes good but the size is misleading. The actuale part of the pineapple carved out of the middle isn't that big and on top of that mine was half filled with ice so the actual drink, was gone pretty darn quick and all I was left with was this big silly pineapple! I hope you have better luck. :confused3

This is the only picture I didn't take when I reviewed this dinner from my October report. I thought the bread was good and addictive. At least the four piggies at my table required a SECOND LOAF. :blush: :laughing:

I tasted my sister's teriyaki steak (as I had the prime rib), and I agree that it was very flavorful. I think next time, though...you need to order the pomegranate-glazed pork chop. My mom had that to replace her tasteless fish dish (not the tuna oscar). I took a bite and it really was terrific!

Great reviews so far!

I may take you up on that suggestion. I hadn't really looked at the pork chop one, but I just may. I also debated on the pan-asian noodles with shrimp. If it was anything like the noodle stir-fry I had down at Cook's Cafe I am all in! Who am I kidding, I would go for the appy's and desserts alone. :lmao:

[MickeyNicki]

I also debated on the pan-asian noodles with shrimp. If it was anything like the noodle stir-fry I had down at Cook's Cafe I am all in! Who am I kidding, I would go for the appy's and desserts alone. :lmao:


I had the noodle dish at Kona Oct 07 and it was nothing like I thought....I was thinking it was going to be a savory dish like lo mein but the recipe changed a week or so before to a sweet and sour dish loaded with pineapple and peppers. I did not read the revised description, I thought it was the same as the one online so it was my fault....it was terrible...way too sweet. I did love the shrimp and DH finished the noodles once he added salt and pepper. Again it was not bad it just wasnt my tastes

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q225/nicsgtp/KonaShrimpNo.jpg

[GeminiAngel]

Subbing!! Looks yummy!

[Sunshein]

Today we were up bright and early. Preschoolers have been our alarm clocks for the last 5 years. Never once has my DH been late to work due to sleeping in. That doesn’t mean is he ever on time though. We took our time and made our way to Captain Cooks for breakfast. Sure enough DD3 trips and scrapes up her knee and just above her eye. Being supermom, I am expecting this and have packed my trusty wipes, polysporin and princess bandaids! :wizard:

All patched up, DH grabs a table outside since it was such a beautiful morning and I head back to try to conquer the computerized meal ordering system. It was at this time that I discovered something very useful. Quick Service meals are not divided between adult and children. So since my kids are pretty adventurous eaters, I basically ordered two adult meals at every breakfast and lunch and there was plenty of food for all of us. Genius I say!

So I ordered up a tonga toast with sausage. This I couldn’t wait to try and I was thrilled to read on these boards that you could find it at Captain Cook’s too. This was a very delicious creation of bananas stuffed between two fat slices of sourdough bread, deep fried and then rolled in sugar. How can you go wrong? For all you weight watchers out there, consider this your extra 35 points for the week or just close your eyes and enjoy! :lovestruc The sausage was really good too. They weren’t you usual shriveled sticks, but nice and big and juicy. I truly can’t remember what else I ordered and I didn’t take pictures this time but I am sure it was your bacon eggs usual breakfast. We all made short work of it and then headed off to Animal Kingdom.

The day goes by so fast at Animal Kingdom. Because it is such a huge park, you find yourself at lunchtime and all you have done is the jungle safari and a bird show! But to beat the crowds we headed to the Flame Tree barbeque for lunch just before noon.

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Again DH took the girls to find an available table while I stood in line for lunch. The line was very short but by the time I collected my order I looked back and the lines stretch on and on! I ordered the famous Smoked Half-Chicken that came with baked beans and corn bread and then a hot dog meal because that is what my children wanted today. The chicken was amazing! The smoked flavoring delicious and there was enough chicken there to satisfy all of us. Gary really enjoyed the corn muffin and I devoured the baked beans. They were delicious and sweet. The girls at their hot dog and then mooched the good stuff from us. Next time I will just get two adult meals here too since they liked ours better than their own plain stuff. I chose key lime pie for dessert and it was just so-so. Nothing to write home about or to you readers either I guess. I probably should have gone with the chocolate cake. I will definitely return here though. It was a fabulous choice for a quick service!

Ok yes I forgot my camera here too, but I promise I redeem myself at dinner! Sometimes my stomach takes over my brain.

We had adr’s at the Yak and Yeti for 5:00 and we had not trouble being seated. I had really been looking forward to this meal. I love Asian food and I love trying out a new restaurant. I was so happy to hear that animal Kingdom was finally getting a full service restaurant. Our server was very nice but really chatty. I learned more about her during the meal than I ever wanted to know. And keep in mind I don’t mind friendly service but this was a whole new level of friendly.

I ordered chicken bites for DD5 which came with fried rice and carrots. She took one bite of the chicken bites and said yuck! They were tough and stringy. The waitress happily took them back and brought her out the vegetable lo mein instead. DD5 really liked this dish and I was grateful to the waitress for helping us with this one. I almost never send a dish back. I am a little too shy for that. I snapped a picture of the chicken bites but forgot the lo mein.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2862.jpg

DD3 ordered the same meal of chicken bites and with enough ketchup she thought they were fine. The real draw here for her was ketchup. I don’t think it matter what was under the ketchup.

I ordered the Shaoxing Steak & Shrimp - Skirt steak, tempura-battered shrimp, jasmine rice, stir-fried veggies, and chili plum dipping sauce. This was absolutely delish! This had to be my favorite entrée of the trip! The skirt steak was beautifully marinated and very juicy and tender. There was so much of it too! It was wrapped creatively around the jasmine rice which I also love. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the tempura hot and crispy. I could not have asked for a better entrée.

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DH however, ordered the Crispy Honey Chicken - Tempura chicken, broccoli, carrots and honey sauce in his attempt to not always order steak. Mistake! The chicken pieces were the exact same chicken bites from the children’s meal that were so tough and stringy. It was listed under the wok section of the menu so we were expecting a nice juicy concoction of chicken and veggies and sauce. Well rice on one side, some chicken bites on the other with a sauce and some veggies poured over them that did nothing to soften them up. He really didn’t enjoy it.

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For dessert DH ordered the Chocolate Brownie Sundae. This thing was huge! DH barely made a dent in it even with the help of the girls. But he said that this was the best part of his meal so far.

Before:
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After:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2867.jpg

The kids desserts were very unimaginative and I feel they could have done so much better. They had a choice between a prepackaged chocolate chip cookie and an ice cream sundae. They were getting very restless and since I knew they would take bits of DH’s sundae I just ordered the cookies.

I ordered the mango pie at first and then before she left the table I changed my order to Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons with vanilla ice cream and honey vanilla drizzle. She seemed to be writing this down but when the desserts came, mine was the mango pie. I almost didn’t say anything but I had been really interested in the fried wontons so I spoke up and said that I had ordered the wontons. The CM that had brought the desserts was not our original waitress so she looked at me confused and then picked it up and headed to the kitchen. About 5 minutes later our waitress came by and apologized for the mix up and said that she could have sworn I had ordered the mango pie but the order had now been put in for the fried wontons and it would just be a couple of minutes. Well a couple turned out to be about 15 and by the time the kids were ready to jump out the window. When they arrived I asked for the bill and tossed them back as quickly as I could. I was in a hurry but I really liked this dessert. The cream cheese wontons were different but with the ice cream and vanilla sauce they were really good. The grilled pineapple skewers were delicious. I have to say this was a very creative dessert and I appreciated it!

Sorry I seem to have already eaten some pineapple here. They generally don't serve you empty skewers. :laughing:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2868.jpg

Ok so bill time was an adventure. It took forever for her to bring us the bill and at this point the kids are beyond tired and the bill she gives me for the dining plan has no amounts on it at all. So how am I to calculate the tip? I flag down the waitress and she tells me that it is about $35 per person and to base my tip on that. Well I know that the girls’ meals were not $35 each and from what I could figure neither were ours. She told me my other option was to get a menu and figure it out myself. Ok… so I ask for a menu. She hurries off saying no problem and then we se her sending another server to get it. He looked less than pleased. Another 10 minutes pass and by now DH had taken the girls out of the restaurant and left me to handle the rest. Yet a third server arrived with the menu but handed it to the people at the table next to us. They thanked him and set it aside. Ok now I figured the odds of the table next to us requesting a menu at the same time I did were slim so I walked over to them and politely asked if I might borrow their menu. They said they were surprised at getting a menu and of course I could borrow it! So I sat down and started doing to math. I came up with a number finally and then I had to tell our server what the amount was so that she could go and run it through. She looked less than happy with the amount I had given her and of course it took her another 10 minutes to come back with my card and the receipt. Upon leaving it dawned on me that I forgot to add on the desserts in the total so I had not given her a 20% tip. But really considering how hard they make it for people to tip and how disinterested she was in helping us get through the process in the first place and for all the wait times, I certainly didn’t go back to add more. :(

So my final review on Yak and Yeti is that the meals are hit and miss. Definitely order the skirt steak!! The service is still working out the kinks and the billing system is not ready for the revised dining plan. I would still go back for that meal alone but this time I would keep track of the dollar amount I am ordering from the beginning!

Up Next: A Stitch in Time and Gasp-arilla Grill

[Avojeo]

Great reviews so far!!!

I just wanted to add my 2 cents about Yak and Yeti. The food was okay. But our server wasn't the greatest and we waited 15 minutes for drinks. When it came to get our ticket and to pay for tip, he suggest the $35 dollars a day since this was the cost of DDP for each person. He explain that is how patrons should be tipping at the resturants. However our bill only said $37.00 which I know is was not the correct amount, so we tip $4.00. Mainly for the lack of service and being told we could not have the correct amount of our bill.

Needless to say we will leave this one off our list in December

[John's Mom]

Thanks for sharing your review!

[suzimar57]

the food at flame tree looks good!

[BriarRosie]

Great reviews so far!!!

I just wanted to add my 2 cents about Yak and Yeti. The food was okay. But our server wasn't the greatest and we waited 15 minutes for drinks. When it came to get our ticket and to pay for tip, he suggest the $35 dollars a day since this was the cost of DDP for each person. He explain that is how patrons should be tipping at the resturants. However our bill only said $37.00 which I know is was not the correct amount, so we tip $4.00. Mainly for the lack of service and being told we could not have the correct amount of our bill.

Needless to say we will leave this one off our list in December

That burns my biscuits! They're suggesting the DAILY value, which includes the counter service meal and snack! If I had been on the DDP and encountered that, I would have filled out a comment card at Guest Relations to make sure someone was aware of these "Operating Participants" schemes to get a padded tip.

[Zeebs]

Seriously I know I am across the pond and we don't tip nearly as much as you guys, but come on, how can they expect YOU to work out the amount you should tip by adding up the bill yourself. I would expect an itemised amount on my bill and if I wasn't receiving it I would do a quick round up and tip on that erring on my side for the inconveniece however. Also deducting for the unhelpful manner and the over estimated amount they suggested.

The review is great so thanks for taking the time to do it for all us starving people out here.

Kirsten

[emmabemmainc]

Not with the restaurants on that list.:lmao:

Wow--that was really rude! :confused3

OP: Awesome reviews! Thanks for taking the time to post them! I'm making my reservations on Tuesday, so this helps a lot!

[cdrn1]

The big pineapple drink tastes good but the size is misleading. The actuale part of the pineapple carved out of the middle isn't that big and on top of that mine was half filled with ice so the actual drink, was gone pretty darn quick and all I was left with was this big silly pineapple!

It may be small, but it's mighty! I forget what ETOH they use but it's powerful. I am girl who can hold my liquor, but two of these gave me a bit of a buzz (nice, very nice...).

[oybolshoi]

It may be small, but it's mighty! I forget what ETOH they use but it's powerful. I am girl who can hold my liquor, but two of these gave me a bit of a buzz (nice, very nice...).

I'm taking notes ... :lmao:

[SnwflkCts]

Great reviews!

I am so looking forward to going Home to the Polynesian next Feb (since DH and his trick knee caused us to miss our trip this last Feb ... I SWEAR I did not PUSH him down those steps ... :rotfl: ) ... anyway ... I was so looking forward to trying out the NEW Captain Cooks which was being remodeled when last we were there. Hmmm... those noodles looked good and I wasn't even considering them!

35 points for Tonga Toast :lmao: ... another WW peep here!!!!!!!! I'm DREADING the guilt over eating too much ... especially since I reached my goal and am a "lifer!"

KONA is just one of our favorite places but I ALWAYS go for the steak. Their menu has changed alot but even when we ate there twice in one week -- FILET for me!

I am looking forward to MORE! :thumbsup2

[Sunshein]

That burns my biscuits! They're suggesting the DAILY value, which includes the counter service meal and snack! If I had been on the DDP and encountered that, I would have filled out a comment card at Guest Relations to make sure someone was aware of these "Operating Participants" schemes to get a padded tip.

I guess I just assumed that they were just trying to catch up to the other restaurants with the new system. I had no idea where the $35 value came from. I honestly thought she came up with that number just to bilk me out of a big tip!

Seriously I know I am across the pond and we don't tip nearly as much as you guys, but come on, how can they expect YOU to work out the amount you should tip by adding up the bill yourself. I would expect an itemised amount on my bill and if I wasn't receiving it I would do a quick round up and tip on that erring on my side for the inconveniece however. Also deducting for the unhelpful manner and the over estimated amount they suggested.

The review is great so thanks for taking the time to do it for all us starving people out here.

Kirsten

In the WDW restaurants that are up to speed they giove you the itemized full bill along with the calculations at the bottom for an 18% tip and a 20% tip so that you can tip for decent service or drop if you rather. Then they go off and run it through the dining plan. I always find it awkward to have the server know her tip before she or he is actually done serving you, but at least this way you know what you are tipping!

Oh and as for the reviews, I am just returning the favor. I could lose myself for hours on these boards. :rotfl:


It may be small, but it's mighty! I forget what ETOH they use but it's powerful. I am girl who can hold my liquor, but two of these gave me a bit of a buzz (nice, very nice...).

I guess I should have gotten to two! :goodvibes

Great reviews!

I am so looking forward to going Home to the Polynesian next Feb (since DH and his trick knee caused us to miss our trip this last Feb ... I SWEAR I did not PUSH him down those steps ... :rotfl: ) ... anyway ... I was so looking forward to trying out the NEW Captain Cooks which was being remodeled when last we were there. Hmmm... those noodles looked good and I wasn't even considering them!

35 points for Tonga Toast :lmao: ... another WW peep here!!!!!!!! I'm DREADING the guilt over eating too much ... especially since I reached my goal and am a "lifer!"

KONA is just one of our favorite places but I ALWAYS go for the steak. Their menu has changed alot but even when we ate there twice in one week -- FILET for me!

I am looking forward to MORE! :thumbsup2

The noodles are worth it I tell you! I am still unsuccessful at getting the recipe. As for the points, I am a lifer too but right now I am a recovering lifer. Only 8 more pounds to go until I am back on track! If you split the Quick Service meals like we did the damage really isn't that bad. Good luck and enjoy!:hug:

[SkyGirl]

I'm very excited to read about all the restaurants you picked!

Thanks so much for sharing the review of Yak & Yeti. DD and I are going there for the first time in December and I'm planning on ordering exactly what you did -- it looks terrific!!

Can't wait for more!:hyper:

[BriarRosie]

I guess I just assumed that they were just trying to catch up to the other restaurants with the new system. I had no idea where the $35 value came from. I honestly thought she came up with that number just to bilk me out of a big tip!


I would have loved it if you had done this:
In a sweetly acidic way, tell her, "Hmm. If I don't get an itemized bill to figure out the fair tip for you, I'm going to assume you're ok with a $1 tip."

And watch how fast she'll run to bring you the itemized bill. :teeth:

[DisOrBust]

This has been reported repeatedly from Yak and Yeti. I am guessing it's because they are not a Disney owned restaurant. Anyone know how the tip goes at Reglan road???

[Sunshein]

This has been reported repeatedly from Yak and Yeti. I am guessing it's because they are not a Disney owned restaurant. Anyone know how the tip goes at Reglan road???

Raglan Road works the same as the rest of the Disney restaurants that are up to date. They bring you and itemized bill with calculations done at the bottom for 18% and 20% as suggested tips. You decide the tip amount, they take it away, run your card through for the dining plan and again for the tip and anything extra and bring it all back for you to sign. Still a bit complicated but better than Yak and Yeti's system which requires you to hunt down a menu and start adding things up yourself!

[oybolshoi]

Just another reason that I have no desire to ever use the DDP again. :rotfl2:

They're making it more complicated than astro-physics. ;)

[Peter Pirate 2]

Wow--that was really rude! :confused3


Wow...Sorry it seemed that way. But doesn't being a "foodie" involve some rather specific criteria?:confused3 I mean I too love food but I can't consider myself a "foodie" just for that reason. I'm not specifically aware of the nuances of various cooking styles and effects certain combinations may have on the pallate, for instance. I love food and I know a lot about the things I love but am I a foodie? No way.

IMO, there is no way to discuss the restaurants on this list from the POV of a foodie. There is nothing truly unique or inspired on these menus...There may be VERY, VERY good food, to be sure but V&A's and Bluezoo are probably the only two restaurants at WDW to fall into that catagory, IMO. The rest fall into fast food or the assembly bistro catagory, which doesn't preclude them from being GREAT restaurants but does, IMO, preclude them from being foodie enclaves.

[Sunshein]

Wow...Sorry it seemed that way. But doesn't being a "foodie" involve some rather specific criteria?:confused3 I mean I too love food but I can't consider myself a "foodie" just for that reason. I'm not specifically aware of the nuances of various cooking styles and effects certain combinations may have on the pallate, for instance. I love food and I know a lot about the things I love but am I a foodie? No way.

IMO, there is no way to discuss the restaurants on this list from the POV of a foodie. There is nothing truly unique or inspired on these menus...There may be VERY, VERY good food, to be sure but V&A's and Bluezoo are probably the only two restaurants at WDW to fall into that catagory, IMO. The rest fall into fast food or the assembly bistro catagory, which doesn't preclude them from being GREAT restaurants but does, IMO, preclude them from being foodie enclaves.


I truly wasn't aware that there were specific requirements to being a foodie. I guess I am as uniformed as a poster as I am as a foodie. I honestly started this thread to talk about my experiences at Disney world restaurants and not to offend anyone with my choice of titles.

Now let's just move on. :)

[tigger536]

Great reviews! Looking forward to more! :thumbsup2

[honeybee30]

Moving on....

[MickeyNicki]

I'm taking notes ... :lmao:

If any girl can handle these pineapple drinks its you Bren! I can see it now, your Oct review, you and DH surrounded by empty pineapple drinks!

[Peter Pirate 2]

I mean no disrespect to you Sunshein because I'm really enjoying your reviews, and I understand your desire to let this go, but I have to respond to this guy! :furious:



I totally agree with emmabemmainc! It was a snide thing to say!



I'm not going to argue the definition of a foodie with you because frankly I don't care about your thoughts on the subject. But I do think it is incredibly rude to intrude on someone else's review and criticize her choice of restaurants or thread titles! Let's go back to kindergarten here...if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. Better yet, if you don't find the information presented in a review useful, then don't read it! There are other forums on the DIS boards to discuss the criteria of being a food snob. This is not one of them!

Sorry for the flame folks! I'm normally a very laid back DISer, but this had to be said! Now back to the entertaining and well-written reviews....:)

Aw, now you've hurt my feelings. :eek:

[Avojeo]

I would have loved it if you had done this:
In a sweetly acidic way, tell her, "Hmm. If I don't get an itemized bill to figure out the fair tip for you, I'm going to assume you're ok with a $1 tip."

And watch how fast she'll run to bring you the itemized bill. :teeth:

I like how you think!!! :lmao:

[oybolshoi]

If any girl can handle these pineapple drinks its you Bren! I can see it now, your Oct review, you and DH surrounded by empty pineapple drinks!

I think we can make that happen. :rotfl:

[TigerKat]

I think we can make that happen. :rotfl:

And we want a picture....:rotfl2:

[quixoticvalue]

I think we can make that happen. :rotfl:

And we want a picture....:rotfl2:

Yes yes! Maybe take two of the pinnaples and put them on your head like mickey ears! Thats not TOO embarrasing... right? right?

[oybolshoi]

Yes yes! Maybe take two of the pinnaples and put them on your head like mickey ears! Thats not TOO embarrasing... right? right?

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs! :rotfl:

[TigerKat]

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs! :rotfl:

Now you MUST DO THIS!!!!!!!:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[quixoticvalue]

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs! :rotfl:

OH noo! You beat my idea!!:rotfl:

[oybolshoi]

Now you MUST DO THIS!!!!!!!:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

OH noo! You beat my idea!!:rotfl:

My husband is going to lock me out of the computer if I keep offering to do stuff like this. :rotfl2:

[Sunshein]

This morning I woke up scratching more than ever. I hardly slept the whole night. I had even more bites and for the life of me I couldn’t remember seeing any mosquitoes! I am not much of a complainer but I was getting tired here. But I was raised of sterner stuff and so I put my socks and walking shoes on, got the girls ready to go and then we headed over to the main building for breakfast at Ohanas’ with Lilo and Stitch. We wanted to take in as much of the resort while we were there as we could and this sounded like fun for the kids.

We had no wait to be seated, but I think we got in on the wrong table because we were long done our meal and waiting before even one character got around to us. This meal is done “family-style” which is different from most of the other character breakfasts. They started by bringing us some sticky buns which were the best part of the meal in my opinion. There was a pineapple bread that was absolutely mouthwatering and then your usual cinnamon buns. Sticky but well worth the mess! :love:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2870.jpg

They also fill your glass with their own special juice which was a mixture of fruits with some guava or passion fruit or something. I truly can’t remember what it was but it was very tasty. Then came the breakfast platter of sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and biscuits. This was usual fare and nothing special for me. I had some but basically enjoyed a second basket of bread.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2869.jpg

We were also given a fresh fruit platter which was really nice too.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2871.jpg

The atmosphere was really nice. At one point all of the kids were given a maraca and they paraded around the room to music with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. My DH was videotaping the whole thing since I had to parade with the girls and when Pluto went by he bumped his nose right into the lens! It made for kind of a humorous video clip! We were done long before any of the character got even close and they kept taking breaks which I understand. We waited though because the girls really wanted to see Pluto. Like a lot of kids they loved watching the characters from afar but when they got close, my kids all of a sudden become mutes. :confused3 Oh well we had a whole lot of fun and I have to say it was nice to roll out of bed and walk leisurely over to a very cool character breakfast.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2881.jpg

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2888.jpg

Once all the characters had passed we took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom. The convenience of this is amazing!

A little later we made our way to Toontown. The girls love Mickey and Minnie’s House. I picked up a few snacks at the little concession stand there and the CM charged everything to my room instead of using them as snack credits. Apparently asking her if they were considered snacks did not indicate clearly enough that I want to use snack credits. Oh well, the concierge fixed it all when we got back to the resort but it was more of a hassle than anything. :(

We decided to head over to the Grand Floridian for lunch. We like seeing new resorts as it gives us ideas of where to stay next time. I have never really been interested in the GF but it was on the monorail and we thought it might be nice to see. So we went to the Gasparilla Grill. The food there was awful! We were expecting more considering it’s location but it really was terrible. I guess they save all of the good stiff for the signature restaurants. We ordered a Rueben Hot Dog - Served with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, grilled corn beef, and French fries and a Individual Pepperoni Pizza. My DH chose the reuban hot dog and I just couldn’t stomach it. The pizza was microwaved and gross. I know most of the pizzas at Disney World are microwaved but some stand up to the test better than others. Even the restaurant was fairly unpleasant. There was no nice theming at all. The only neat part was that there were little birds flying around overhead and I am sure there are those who would argue that this was not a pleasant sight. Either way we won’t be returning to the GF for a counter service meal that’s for sure.

After that Dh took DD3 back to the resort and I spent a little Mommy and me time with DD5 and took her to Downtown Disney to scope out Goofy’s Candy Factory. The Marketside bus depot had been closed on our last trip so when we were dropped off there this time we found a great little water attraction that DD5 fell in love with. The water shot up out of several holes seemingly at random. We never did decide if it was following the music or if the two were independent. We passed it to go to the candy factory first and used 6 snack credits on great things like fudge and giant pecan turtles and rice crispy treats dipped in chocolate, rolled in m&m’s and then drizzled with chocolate. I truly love this place. There are two glass cases filled with sinful confections like chocolate covered strawberries and giant peanut butter cups and oh need I go on? I tend to save a lot of my snack credits and spend them in bulk at the Candy factory and keep them in the hotel room for midnight snacks or a very bad breakfast. On the way back to the bus I let DD5 play in the water to her hearts content, before heading back to the resort.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2919.jpg

We decided to go back to magic Kingdom for supper and to watch Spectromagic so back to the monorail we go. Of course it started to pour and it didn’t give up after 20 minutes like most rainfalls in Florida. We gave up trying to ride attractions and made our way back through the rain to Casey’s Corner and ate some hot dogs sitting on the pavement outside as people walked by. This is our second experience at Casey Corner. On our last trip we stood in line for over 25 minutes and then scarfed down the food as we ran to catch a monorail to the Contemporary for the Magical Fireworks Voyage. This time it was raining so there were no indoor seats to be found and the outdoor tables were soaked. So I ordered a whole bunch of hot dogs and went to dress them. I found out the hard way that the ketchup just keeps coming once you press the button. I ended up making a mess of my kids’ hotdogs. I found my family huddled on the pavement against the restaurant waiting for me. It was the best we could do. At least this time I could actually enjoy the hot dog and I have to say it was very good.

Not the greatest picture but it is all I had.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2924.jpg

Magically after that everything cleared up! And by now, a lot of people had given up and left the park! So we found a primo spot on the curb, bought a couple of ridiculously priced flashing rings and watched a Spectromagic.

Tomorrow: Crash and Burn… then over to Le Cellier!

[GeminiAngel]

Your little curb picnic looked wonderful! I bet a hot dog never tasted so good.

Great update, and I'm really suprised about the food at Gasparilla.
You're right, I would expect more just based on the location of the joint.

[disneyfav4ever]

That is so weird that Yak and Yeti doesn't give an itemized bill, and just gives a general amount of $35 to base the tip on. I checked AllEars, your DH's meal would have been only $24, and yours $31. I'll have to keep track of the cost of the items I order, so I don't have a problem when it comes time to tip.

[Poppinsme]

Love your reviews.:) :)
:surfweb:

[GoofySon'sMom]

Joining in ... love your reviews so far! :thumbsup2

[annie1995]

I really am enjoying your reviews!!! Can't wait for more!!!

[mefordis]

Wow...Sorry it seemed that way. But doesn't being a "foodie" involve some rather specific criteria?:confused3 I mean I too love food but I can't consider myself a "foodie" just for that reason. I'm not specifically aware of the nuances of various cooking styles and effects certain combinations may have on the pallate, for instance. I love food and I know a lot about the things I love but am I a foodie? No way.

IMO, there is no way to discuss the restaurants on this list from the POV of a foodie. There is nothing truly unique or inspired on these menus...There may be VERY, VERY good food, to be sure but V&A's and Bluezoo are probably the only two restaurants at WDW to fall into that catagory, IMO. The rest fall into fast food or the assembly bistro catagory, which doesn't preclude them from being GREAT restaurants but does, IMO, preclude them from being foodie enclaves.

The OP is using the term Foodie correctly. I think you are talking about a "Gourmet". Which the OP did not profess to be.

Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1984 by Paul Levy, Ann Barr and Mat Sloan for their book The Official Foodie Handbook.

Distinguished from gourmet

Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.[1] Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.[2] For this reason, foodies are sometimes viewed as obsessively interested in all things culinary.

See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

[cdrn1]

Totally enjoying your review....keep it coming!

[Ms. Heimlich]

I'm always late!! How did I miss this review!

Great job so far...

I loved the Tuna Oscar at Kona! So sorry you didn't like it as well. I agree the macadamia nut pie is FANTASTIC!

I am going to get one of those pineapple drinks next time!! They sound GREAT!

I love CAsey's! Even sitting on the sidewalk is better than anywhere else in the world!:)

Keep it up!

[mavdav]

FANTASTIC review! DH and I are self proclaimed Foodies so your review caught my eye! Can't wait to hear more as we will be there in Sept for free dining. We just got back on Friday from a week there but didn't do the DDP, instead went cheap with shared counter services. Casey's Corner is a "must" stop for me when we go. I always have to eat there, but I get the corn dog nuggets. An all time favorite of mine!

Your reviews are so well done, and thanks for taking the time to do them. I might need to change some of my ADR before going! Better hurry...

[Peter Pirate 2]

The OP is using the term Foodie correctly. I think you are talking about a "Gourmet". Which the OP did not profess to be.



See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

No offense but I think your definition proves my point.:confused3

[Avojeo]

Loving your reviews!!! I have to admit I have never been to Casey's and after seeing your photos--we will are going this December for sure!!!

[Sunshein]

My husband is going to lock me out of the computer if I keep offering to do stuff like this. :rotfl2:

Sounds like Jason and Gary are cut from the same cloth! I look forward to the photo as well. Bigger bewbs are great especially if you can take them off later. :rotfl:

Your little curb picnic looked wonderful! I bet a hot dog never tasted so good.


The hot dog was really good and you can never go wrong with a hot dog with kids. They were covered in ketchup when they were done but it was worth it.

That is so weird that Yak and Yeti doesn't give an itemized bill, and just gives a general amount of $35 to base the tip on. I checked AllEars, your DH's meal would have been only $24, and yours $31. I'll have to keep track of the cost of the items I order, so I don't have a problem when it comes time to tip.

Hopefully they will be up to speed with their billing system soon, but yes you should keep track. I understood her to mean the children too since she said per person. That could just have been a misunderstanding too.

I'm always late!! How did I miss this review!

Great job so far...

I loved the Tuna Oscar at Kona! So sorry you didn't like it as well. I agree the macadamia nut pie is FANTASTIC!

I am going to get one of those pineapple drinks next time!! They sound GREAT!

I love CAsey's! Even sitting on the sidewalk is better than anywhere else in the world!:)

Keep it up!

I think I was just expecting something like sashimi and maybe if there had been a lot more wasabi sauce I would have enjoyed it more. We will definitely be returning though. This was our favorite restaurant of the trip!

FANTASTIC review! DH and I are self proclaimed Foodies so your review caught my eye! Can't wait to hear more as we will be there in Sept for free dining. We just got back on Friday from a week there but didn't do the DDP, instead went cheap with shared counter services. Casey's Corner is a "must" stop for me when we go. I always have to eat there, but I get the corn dog nuggets. An all time favorite of mine!

Your reviews are so well done, and thanks for taking the time to do them. I might need to change some of my ADR before going! Better hurry...

Are you there during any part of the Food and Wine Festival? If so save your snack credits for tasting around the world. Last year the free dining and the F&W overlapped by a couple of days. I am really hoping to visit during the F&W festival next trip.

Thanks for the encouragement and I will get things up as fast as I can! I kept changing adr's right up until the last few days before we left! ;)

Loving your reviews!!! I have to admit I have never been to Casey's and after seeing your photos--we will are going this December for sure!!!

Casey's is a great place. A good strategy is to go early to secure a great spot for Spectromagic and then send one of you to get the food at casey's. Then you can sit on the curb and enjoy the hot dogs at a nice pace and wait for the parade. The location is perfect for that.

Enjoy! :goodvibes

[Sunshein]

Ok so this morning was the final straw. I hardly slept a wink and my feet were almost bleeding from being scratched so much. I now had bites on the bottoms of my feet and up my legs. They were not getting any better. At 5:45 in the morning I dressed and headed over to the front desk in seek of help. The CM said it could be one of three things: mosquitoes, sand fleas or red ants. She called pest control to come to our room which was nice but we were checking out this morning and moving over to Port Orleans Riverside. There was no calamine lotion to be found anywhere, but the went upstairs to the store and brought me back a box of Benadryl and they offered to call in the paramedics for me. Paramedics?? I took the Benadryl. Later that day when I logged onto the internet, I had a note from my mom asking if there might be fleas around. She informed me that as a child I was very sensitive to fleas and that they would cause a huge reaction in me and not bother anyone else. Good to know! :sick:

Ok now back on topic! I had packed most everything the night before, so once everyone was up and dressed, I finished packing away our stuff and we carted our bags to bell services and then we shared another couple of breakfast platters including one last serving of Tonga Toast. I will miss you Tonga Toast! :love:

We took the monorail to Epcot and the Benadryl kicked in. I was almost asleep on my feet. Within 15 minutes we did a 180 and headed back to the gate. We ended up at POR and sleeping away the whole afternoon.

Finally at 4:00 we headed back to Epcot for a 6:05 adr at Le Cellier. We checked in at the podium and while we were waiting we visited the Kidcot station with the girls. They got a mask and started coloring it. This was a lot of fun for them. They received a stamp on the stick and dream catcher to attach to the mask. Soon we were summoned to dinner.

Here are some nice pictures of Canada right outside Le Cellier:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2973.jpg

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2974.jpg

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2972.jpg

We were shown to a nice table for four near a wall and thanks to the muted stone walls, the noise level wasn’t too bad. Being from Montreal we have no shortage of steakhouses and there is one called Gibby’s that has a very similar decorating style. I found that Le Cellier restaurant lacked the sophistication and atmosphere of the real thing and it had a bit of that cafeteria smell to it. However, it was still very nice.

Our server was very helpful and informative. I ordered a glass of merlot which was recommended with the filet I chose. I was reminded that I really am not a huge fan of merlot. I would have preferred a Pinot Noir or maybe a white wine selection. Unfortunately I am not usually brave enough to say anything so I just sipped the merlot. DH ordered a Coke and the girls their usual apple juice and water.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2979.jpg

From there DH and I shared a Caesar salad. The croutons were very good and the dressing had a nice bite to it. We easily polished this off.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2978.jpg

Of course the famous bread sticks were served and along with it, real butter served in little balls. To me there isn’t much better than fresh bread with real cold butter. The butter and real cloth napkins really add a touch of class and says a lot about a restaurant. I really like the multigrain bread. I really enjoy the nutty flavor combined with the softness of fresh bread. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pretzel bread only because of the salt on the outside. I guess that is the point of it being pretzel bread though.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2975.jpg

I ordered the Mushroom Filet Mignon Served with wild mushroom risotto and white truffle-herb butter sauce. It was just ok for me. I ended up asking for some A1 sauce or HP sauce because there just wasn’t a lot of flavor for me. I am not a purist with steak. The flavor of plain steak alone does not do it for me. I need spices or sauces and really there wasn’t a lot there for me.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2987.jpg

DH on the other hand likes a good steak. He ordered the New York Strip Steak - Served with balsamic red onions, watercress, and roasted Yukon potatoes finished with Bercy butter. It was cooked perfectly for him, charred on the outside and slightly pink on the inside. He found the potatoes pretty boring but he came for the steak.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2985.jpg

DD3 had the pasta with meat sauce topped with cheese and she barely touched it. If she could she would live off of bread alone!

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2986.jpg

DD5 had steak and fries. She ate some of the steak and polished off all of the fruits and veggies that came with her meal. As a parent I am all good with that!

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2984.jpg

For dessert the girls both had a make your own sundae. Again this is a standard dessert on the children’s menu but it always goes over well with my kids.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2996.jpg

DH ordered the Chocolate Moose. It was adorable so I was really hoping that he would choose this. He said it was pretty tasty, but it was more about the presentation. He actually said my recipe was better, but who knows if this was just flattery.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2997.jpg

I chose the Maple Crème Brule. Crème brule for me is a really good dessert because it is rich and creamy but doesn’t leave you feeling stuffed or like you had way too much sugar. This dessert was creamy and had a really nice flavor. I really liked the twist of the hint of maple but other than that it was just a really good standard.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/pics/IMG_2998.jpg

To wrap up, I wasn’t overly impressed with this restaurant and I would choose to try something another steakhouse first like Concourse or Yachtsman. DH however would definitely go back, but I know he is up for any steakhouse as long as I fit one in.

Tomorrow is a better day so tune in for Back to the Planet and Noodles at Spoodles!

[mefordis]

No offense but I think your definition proves my point.:confused3

Okay, if that is how you choose to interpret the definition I can't help you. But the point is, a Foodie might review a place like McDonalds, and still consider themselves be a Foodie.

Anyway, OP, thanks for the reviews. And I think we should stop hijacking her thread.

Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.

[GeminiAngel]

Golly. Enough with the foodie and the gourmet already. What's the big deal? :confused3 It's just the title of a thread on a Disney Board. Not Bon Appetite magazine.

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for sharing your reviews so far, I am really enjoying them. Hope the bites cleared up quickly, sounds really nasty. I loved the pic of your girls huddled up on the pavement with their hotdogs, so cute!

Laur's princess:

[tigger536]

Great reviews, yet again!

As has been said many times on this board, I too feel that LeCellier has gone downhill in recent years. It never rivaled Yachtsman, but it used to be better.

Anyway, if you ever go back, ask for a side of bernaise sauce. They do this well there. I'm a sauce with steak person too. We always order a side of it (and fight over it) when we go to LC.

[BriarRosie]

The last time I had a steak at Le Cellier, it was lunchtime during a May trip, before the DDP ever existed. I haven't been back post-DDP, because I just don't want the hassle of making that 180 day out phone call hoping for the best. ;)

Don't be afraid of asserting yourself! You should have gone for the pinot noir if that suited you better.

And I never get tired of seeing a dessert that will stick a tongue out at you. It's just the cutest thing ever. :lovestruc

[ss9498]

Golly. Enough with the foodie and the gourmet already. What's the big deal? :confused3 It's just the title of a thread on a Disney Board. Not Bon Appetite magazine.

I agree.

To the OP, great review. I can't wait to read more.

[iluvpluto27]

Great update.

[Angelrose]

Wonderful pictures and I love your reviews. About your bites. Could they possibly be bed bug bites? Sometimes the little critters have been known to vacation at WDW.

[annie1995]

About your bites. Could they possibly be bed bug bites? Sometimes the little critters have been known to vacation at WDW.

I was thinking the same thing:eek: . Love your review though!! Can't wait for more!!!

[tink1957]

Just got caught up on your reviews & am really enjoying them so far:cool1:

Thanks for sharing your pics, I've been on a low carb diet & can only get my food thrills from drooling over sticky buns on the monitor:rotfl2:

[MandaBean]

Thanks for your reviews and photos!! The Kona bread and butter looks sooo tasty and you made me feel a bit better about not getting ADR's for Le Cellier. :)

[GeminiAngel]

Wonderful pictures and I love your reviews. About your bites. Could they possibly be bed bug bites? Sometimes the little critters have been known to vacation at WDW.

This crossed my mind as well. But I didn't hear you say anyone else had bites too.

[Crystal_27]

Great reviews so far! After your review of the steaks at both Kona and Le Cellier, I am definitely looking forward to our ADR at Kona more and more. Thanks so much for taking the time to give us some great pictures and thoughts! Your girls are just adorable! :goodvibes

[Sunshein]

Thanks for sharing your reviews so far, I am really enjoying them. Hope the bites cleared up quickly, sounds really nasty. I loved the pic of your girls huddled up on the pavement with their hotdogs, so cute!

Laur's princess:

Thanks arieljasmine! I think they are pretty cute myself, biased as I am. :goodvibes

Great reviews, yet again!

As has been said many times on this board, I too feel that LeCellier has gone downhill in recent years. It never rivaled Yachtsman, but it used to be better.

Anyway, if you ever go back, ask for a side of bernaise sauce. They do this well there. I'm a sauce with steak person too. We always order a side of it (and fight over it) when we go to LC.

I will definitely have to try Yachtsman next trip. Actually I read somewhere that the Flying Fish has one of the best steaks at Disney World! And DH still talks about the beef teriyaki at Kona.

The last time I had a steak at Le Cellier, it was lunchtime during a May trip, before the DDP ever existed. I haven't been back post-DDP, because I just don't want the hassle of making that 180 day out phone call hoping for the best. ;)

Don't be afraid of asserting yourself! You should have gone for the pinot noir if that suited you better.

And I never get tired of seeing a dessert that will stick a tongue out at you. It's just the cutest thing ever. :lovestruc

Thanks BriarRose. I am getting better at asserting myself with waitstaff but I am always afraid that they will spit on my food when they bring it back. I am aiming ofr a delicate balance! :rotfl: I don't think we will be heading back to Le Cellier anytime soon. It isn't worth the effort of getting an adr. There are so many other places to try and a lot of them are not included in the Dining Plan.

Wonderful pictures and I love your reviews. About your bites. Could they possibly be bed bug bites? Sometimes the little critters have been known to vacation at WDW.

It is possible I guess but the girls had no bites at all (although they were in the other bed) and DH had very few. He had a couple of botes on his arms. My mother said I was very sensitive to fleas as a child and they wouldn't bother anyone else. It also got a lot worse after we watched the fireworks on the beach so I assumed that it was fleas. Now I know to ask for the sheets to be changed as soon as I think there is a problem.

Just got caught up on your reviews & am really enjoying them so far:cool1:

Thanks for sharing your pics, I've been on a low carb diet & can only get my food thrills from drooling over sticky buns on the monitor:rotfl2:

The sticky buns are no problem while you are there. You walk enough to counteract the effect of the carbs. But when you get home, it is a lot harder to stop eating the way you did on vacation. I gainedmy weight when I got home. So now I am back on WW with 7 pound to go to get back on lifetime. I feel your pain! :hug:

Thanks for your reviews and photos!! The Kona bread and butter looks sooo tasty and you made me feel a bit better about not getting ADR's for Le Cellier. :)

Don't sweat Le Cellier! Try Kona instead or California Grill!

This crossed my mind as well. But I didn't hear you say anyone else had bites too.

Nope, I was the only one attacked. Next time I will head to the front desk the first morning!

Great reviews so far! After your review of the steaks at both Kona and Le Cellier, I am definitely looking forward to our ADR at Kona more and more. Thanks so much for taking the time to give us some great pictures and thoughts! Your girls are just adorable! :goodvibes

Kona was fantastic! Our second visit was just as good as our first. We canceled an adr at Wolfgang Puck's on our last night because both of us wanted one more meal at Kona. You will definitely enjoy it!

[Sunshein]

Today dawned fresh and clear at Port Orleans Riverside. In some ways it was like coming home. We had so many great memories from our last trip here. We spent a whole lot of time at the pool on Old Man Island so I was looking forward to coming back this evening and splashing around. The big bites seemed to have eased up. I had dropped into the medical aid center at Epcot last night and scored some calamine lotion with benadryl in it and that made a huge difference. I finally was getting some relief. We took our time and had breakfast at the Riverside Mill again splitting our plates. I stopped taking pictures of breakfast (if I had ever remembered) since it all pretty much looked the same. Mickey waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. Nothing new or exciting here. By the time we got to the bus stop, it was already 10:00 and as had been happening all week, a bus for Hollywood Studios pulled in just as we arrived.

We squeezed in as much we could into the morning we had left making sure to fit in some little kids stuff and some mommy and daddy time on the Rock’n Rollercoaster (taking turns of course) and then we had just enough time for lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet before heading over to the Stunt Show Spectacular. This is a favorite for the girls because they recognize it from the Toy Story Movies and I actually like the pizza here. Also, DD5 is a bit of a gamer and loves the arcade part of it. We ordered a couple of Woody meals. Basically you have a choice of cheese, pepperoni or vegetarian pizza so not a lot to choose from, but the meals comes with a nice crisp garden salad and a cookie, sliced apples or a rice crispy treat. For some reason I am always surprised at how much I enjoy this pizza and the salad is really crisp and fresh. There are several choices of dressings too. I prefer the ranch. We wolfed down the food once again sharing two meals and then DH fit in one nascar game with DD5 before we hot-footed it over to The Stunt Show Spectacular.

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We had a long hot afternoon at the park and were really looking forward to the slower pace of the Boardwalk. We had 5:30 adr’s at Spoodles but we only got to the Hollywood us Depot at 5:10. Not good. It got worse when we realized that there was no bus to the Boardwalk from HS! :eek: Oh but wait there is a boat and it is coming in right now. We ran down to the dock and managed to get on the boat and enjoyed a nice cruise towards The Dolphin and The Swan. When we arrived at the dock for those hotels we were told that we could either stay on board for another half hour to get to the Boardwalk or we could get off and walk for maybe 10 minutes. Off we got! It was actually a really nice walk to the Boardwalk from there. We actually made our adr right on time.

We arrived right on time and were seated almost right away. It wasn’t too busy here but I found I really liked the décor. It was very colorful. We were hot and the kids had a long day so I wasn’t sure how this meal would work out. We placed an order for drinks. I ordered a nice refreshing glass of sangria while DH stuck to his usual Coke.

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Drinks came pretty quickly for all of us and we placed our orders. The waiter was very good at explaining what things were and making suggestions. I already knew what I wanted to start with. I ordered Steamed Mussels - Served with chorizo and saffron cream. These were delicious! I loved the combination of the chewy mussels with the flavorful sausage and the saffron cream sauce was amazing. This was the best part of the meal! You can dip the bread that they give you, did I mention the bread? Oh well you can dip it into the saffron sauce and I found this a lot tastier than the oil and olives dipping sauce that is provided.

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DH passed on an appetizer and just ordered his entrée. He requested the Pan-Fried Chicken Cutlet - served with shaved Serrano ham, fennel, and arugula salad with lemon-white balsamic vinaigrette. He cleaned his plate and said her really enjoyed this although he wasn’t sure that everything went well together. Keep in mind that I have never seen this man order a main course that even remotely resembled a salad. He is usually a steak and potatoes guy in a restaurant so this was a completely new experience for him. I was very proud of him for trying something new! It looks really good and I wish I had chosen as well as he had.

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Now I had been having bad luck when it came to choosing entrees and that didn’t change here. I ordered the Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Linguine - with preserved lemons, Italian parsley, shaved garlic and butter. This was pretty tasteless. Yes, the shrimp were cooked perfectly and a good size but the dish was just plain and fairly tasteless. Next time I will try something different like the cutlet or maybe Cornish hen.

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DD5 ordered Grilled Chicken Strips with macaroni topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella. She ate some but again she finished the chicken noodle soup that came as a side.

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DD3 ordered a cheese pizza. She really enjoyed this. It was done a little differently than the usual restaurants and made for something at least a little varied for the kids menu.

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For dessert I actually forgot to take pictures but they had samples that looked a little unreal out front so I snapped pictures of them instead. I promise that the actual desserts looked a lot more appetizing and moist! DH ordered the Chocolate Financier Cake - Rich dark chocolate cake with crunchy hazelnuts served with mocha gelato and port cassis glaze. He really enjoyed the cake but he had forgotten that mocha implied coffee and so he ate very little of the ice cream.

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I ordered the Baklava -almond and walnut baklava with dried fruit compote. This was delicious! I love baklava to begin with but the compote on top was delicious and juicy despite what this picture shows you. Once again I scored perfectly on the appetizer and the dessert. Eventually I am going to end up passing on the entrée altogether! :lmao:

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I really enjoyed Spoodles for something different. I would try a different entrée next time, but I would definitely come back. I plan to try the Flying Fish first however.

We dropped into the Boardwalk confectionary and picked out some yummy treats. DD3 got too close to the glass case and actually bumped her nose into it. She started to cry and the CM quickly gave her whatever she wanted to stop the crying. She walked out of there with a free Nemo iced cookie. Nicely done my little Squish! :laughing:

[DisneyJo]

Loving your reviews and photos, can't wait for more :)

[Zeebs]

I know they don't get good reviews but that pizza looked quite nice,

I have just eaten a weight watchers one for dinner and quite frankly it just didn't do the job I require pizza to do. (like have some flavour).

Oh well when I lose all this weight I will be able to put it all back on again at WDW. It is the thought of all that food on holiday that keeps me going. Yeah I know I am suppose to be looking at it as a lifestyle choice bla bla healthy eating bla bla.

Kirsten

[TigerKat]

That mussel dish at Spoodles is one of my favorite dishes!!:goodvibes I'm so sorry you didn't care for the linguine, when I had it and it was full of lemon garlicy flavor goodness.:)

[tink1957]

Thanks for your latest reviews, everything looks so tasty I wanted to climb into the pics. I tried mussells at Le Cellier for the 1st time on our Dec 07 trip, yummy! Imagine my disappointment when I found out that they had changed the recipe from the applewood bacon & potato sauce to a coconut lime sauce or something like that. :scared1: I guess its a good thing that I couldn't get adrs there for our Sept trip.

By the way, happy dieting:) I hope you lose all the lbs you want & never gain an ounce.:cool1:

[SunnieRN]

Great reviews and fantastic pictures! Can't wait for more!!!

[Sunshein]

I know they don't get good reviews but that pizza looked quite nice,

I have just eaten a weight watchers one for dinner and quite frankly it just didn't do the job I require pizza to do. (like have some flavour).

Oh well when I lose all this weight I will be able to put it all back on again at WDW. It is the thought of all that food on holiday that keeps me going. Yeah I know I am suppose to be looking at it as a lifestyle choice bla bla healthy eating bla bla.

Kirsten

Hi Kristen! Weight Watchers pizza pretty much sucks. I make my own stuff and it ends up tasting a lot better. You won't put the weight back on at Disney World. You put it on when you get home and you keep eating freely and you are not walking 60 miles a day anymore! I found WW a lot harder at maintenance than I ever losing the weight. I love food way too much! Oh well I am 7 pounds away from goal and I am going to try my darndest to stay there for a while! Good luck to you!

That mussel dish at Spoodles is one of my favorite dishes!!:goodvibes I'm so sorry you didn't care for the linguine, when I had it and it was full of lemon garlicy flavor goodness.:)

The linguini dish might have been really good, but not to my taste. I find that when I have a whole lot of pasta and not much else I get bored of it really quickly. Give me a nice tortellini and a heavy cream sauce full of mushrooms, sundries tomatoes and parmesean cheese and I am good to go. :) Maybe I should find a good Italian restaurant next time! :rotfl:

Thanks for your latest reviews, everything looks so tasty I wanted to climb into the pics. I tried mussells at Le Cellier for the 1st time on our Dec 07 trip, yummy! Imagine my disappointment when I found out that they had changed the recipe from the applewood bacon & potato sauce to a coconut lime sauce or something like that. :scared1: I guess its a good thing that I couldn't get adrs there for our Sept trip.

By the way, happy dieting:) I hope you lose all the lbs you want & never gain an ounce.:cool1:

I love mussels almost any way. I probably would go for the coconut sauce too! But I won't be going back to Le Cellier to try them. Thanks for the encouragement on the wieght loss. I only have a handful of pounds to go and hopefully this time I will keep it off. :yay:

Great reviews and fantastic pictures! Can't wait for more!!!

Thanks Sunnie! I should be able to get the next installment up tomorrow morning. :goodvibes

[tink1957]

I wish I only had 7 lbs to lose...more like 40.:rotfl: Good luck with those last pesky pounds, they are the hardest I know.::yes::

Can't wait to read more. Thanks.

[Sunshein]

Again we slept in this time even later! I love it.  It is a rare thing for Paige to sleep past 7 am ever. We ate granola bars in the hotel room and set out for a water park just before 10:00. We couldn’t decide between Blizzard Beach and Typhoon lagoon so we decided to just take whichever bus came first. Within two minutes a bus for Blizzard Beach pulled up and off we went!

We had a blast playing around in Ski Patrol Training Camp and when we got hungry we took the Cross Country Creek over to the LottaWatta Lodge for some lunch. Since we had not bought breakfast we used for quick service credits here for lunch. DH and the girls all ordered hot dogs. How boring! There were actually more choices there than I had expected and I decided to try the fish and chips. Fish at the water park! How novel! I thought it was very appropriate. It was very edible although not the best I have ever had. A little bit of malt vinegar and I was more than satisfied with my lunch at LottaWatta Lodge. I truly wasn’t expecting much! The kids’ meals came in adorable green sand pails with little shovels which was great as a souvenir to take home. I thought that was really creative! They had a lot of nice shaded outdoor seating so you didn’t feel like you were frying as you ate. I have never had great eating experiences at water parks and I have to say that both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon lagoon actually surprised me. ::yes::

After some more time at ski school, we decided to go down Steamboat Springs one last time before we left the park. Of course the usual fight ensued over who got to sit next to Daddy on the chair lift. At this point, I truly am starting to feel left out on the vacation I slaved over planning. The girls have been fighting over who gets to go with daddy or sit next to daddy since we boarded the plane! He laps it all up and only defers to me if there is a bum to be wiped or something equally gross. :( In his defense it has been the other way around for the majority of their short lives, but it stung none the less. DD5 draws the short straw this time but is ok with it if DD3 and I go first. Halfway up the slope the chair lift it suddenly stops. We hang there just waiting for it to start again, watching the crazy nutjobs bombing down Summit Plummit and then trying to pull their bathing suits out of their colon. I have to say that even if I didn’t have young children, my crazy days of doing stuff like that are gone. When did I get old? :confused3

Well a momentary delay ended up lasting 15 minutes! I was starting to wonder if one last run was one last bad idea! But it finally moved on and our last run ended up our best run of the day. The girls laughed and giggled with glee the whole way down. What a great way to finish the day! :goodvibes

We grabbed a bus heading for the Boardwalk and walked along the boardwalk until we got to Epcot. It was really nice entering the park at the Gate to the World. And they even had a stroller rental place there too. We walked to Test Track and got 4 fast passes for that since DD5 agreed to try it tonight and then walked to the World Showcase for our ADR’s at Biergarten.

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We checked in and were given a buzzer. It was a few minutes before it went off but it was enough time for the girls to add to their Kidcot masks in Germany. We were led to a table right front and center next to the stage. I don’t think there is a better seat in the house! Again I smelled that faint cafeteria smell which turned me off right away. We were seated with an older couple whom we couldn’t have less in common with but I am always one to enjoy meeting new people. We placed our drink orders and then made our way to the buffet for our first round of food. By the time we returned another older couple had joined us and we were thus ignored for the rest of the meal. I don’t think sharing space with little children was at the top of their priority list. Oh well. Soon my beer flight arrived. I was very excited to try this! They were in this order: Becks Regular, Spaten, Franziskaner Weisse, and Spaten Optimator Dark.

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The Becks was wonderful, not too bitter or strong. The second beer I really enjoyed as well. It was supposed to be something else but they had run out so they replaced it with this. It was like a sparkling version of a light colored beer with a lot more fizz to it. The third was a wheat beer and I really struggled to finish this one. It was a bit bitter for me. Finally the Spaten dark I really enjoyed. I like a full flavored dark beer and this one was full bodied.

Dinner consisted of things like Seasonal salads, Traditional sausages, Sauerbraten, Rotisserie chicken, Roasted pork, Fish, Red cabbage sauerkraut, Potatoes, Spaetzle, Schnitzel, Apple Strudel, Black Forest cake and Bavarian Cheesecake. I tried most things including the spaetzel and I wasn’t really enthralled with the food. Here are some pictures of the food but or the most part I can’t point out exactly what everything is.

DD3's plate:
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DD5's plate:
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My first plate:
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The Desserts: I did enjoy the Bavarian Cheesecake and the apple strudel. I apreciate good sugar. ;)
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The show however fully made up for the meal. The music was wonderful, the humor was great and DD5 actually wanted to dance with me! :banana: Here are some photos I took of the entertainment and the restaurant in general:

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I would highly recommend trying this restaurant since I am sure the food was good but just not to my taste. The beer flight was really good and the atmosphere and entertainment were all worth it! The kids really enjoyed this meal.

After we got back to POR, DH took the girls to the arcade and gave me some quiet mommy time to shower and relax. Nice of him.

Up Next: Overbearing Gorillas and Back to Raglan Road!

[wilma-bride]

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs! :rotfl:

And just think of all those free desserts you'd get with mucho cleavage :lmao:

[wilma-bride]

Fantastic reviews (yet again - I loved the reviews from your September trip also).

You have got me thinking about trying Spoodles next time we hit the World - the menu hadn't previously appealed to me but the chicken cutlet and salad that your DH had actually looks very appetising. Looking forward to more (assuming there is more to come?)

[DisneyJo]

Great review of Biergarten, I think I'll feel the same about the food as you do so I'm glad the show makes up for it :)

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for sharing your latest reviews, those German desserts look really yummy.

Laur's princess:

[SunnieRN]

Blizzard beach sounded like a lot of fun!
I am not sure if the food at biergarten would be my favorite, but it does look like a lot of fun and the desserts looked scrumptous!!
Looking forward to more report and more great pictures!!!

[iluvpluto27]

Fantastic updates. I really liked spoodles when we visited, although I also enjoyed the appetisers there much more than the entrees. I've never tried Biergarten but it looks good.

[oybolshoi]

They offer a beer flight at the Biergarten? :faint:

Perhaps I need to reconsider our dining priorities. While the food is not something that I would probably enjoy, my hubby would and I can survive on beer and pretzels! :lmao:

Thanks for the update ... you've got me thinking (always dangerous).

[hmgray95]

Oybolshoi, they also offer a wine flight at the Biergarten.

[oybolshoi]

Oybolshoi, they also offer a wine flight at the Biergarten.


that's it ... a beer flight and a wine flight ... Germantown here we come! :rotfl2:

Thanks for the additional information ... and I swear I am not alcoholic! ;)

[TigerKat]

that's it ... a beer flight and a wine flight ... Germantown here we come! :rotfl2:

Thanks for the additional information ... and I swear I am not alcoholic! ;)

I learn something new here every day....I'll be right behind you Brenda!!!:drinking1

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Brenda... DBF thinks the steins at Germany are worth a visit alone :laughing:

Great reviews! You have similar tastes to me, except I loved Biergarten and I'm a steak person :) Kona was also our favourite restaurant, and I love mussels and tortellini - looking forward to more reviews!!

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review.

[Minnie Squeaks]

thanks ...nice review:thumbsup2

[BriarRosie]

Loved the reviews and the boozy commentary from the peanut gallery. :laughing:

But I have to ask...

Do those guys playing those ginormous alpine horns make you want to shout:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCOOOOOOLAAAAAAA!

[TigerKat]

Loved the reviews and the boozy commentary from the peanut gallery. :laughing:

But I have to ask...

Do those guys playing those ginormous alpine horns make you want to shout:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCOOOOOOLAAAAAAA!

:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[Sunshein]

Fantastic reviews (yet again - I loved the reviews from your September trip also).

You have got me thinking about trying Spoodles next time we hit the World - the menu hadn't previously appealed to me but the chicken cutlet and salad that your DH had actually looks very appetising. Looking forward to more (assuming there is more to come?)

The cutlet was really good and I am still waiting for people to throw in other suggestions. I tend to be an appetizer and dessert kind of person to begin with though so I would go back just for those!

yes there is more to come! I still have 4 full days to go! :banana:

Thanks for sharing your latest reviews, those German desserts look really yummy.

Laur's princess:

The desserts were second only to a great beer flight on a hot day.

Blizzard beach sounded like a lot of fun!
I am not sure if the food at biergarten would be my favorite, but it does look like a lot of fun and the desserts looked scrumptous!!
Looking forward to more report and more great pictures!!!

They offer a beer flight at the Biergarten? :faint:

Perhaps I need to reconsider our dining priorities. While the food is not something that I would probably enjoy, my hubby would and I can survive on beer and pretzels! :lmao:

Thanks for the update ... you've got me thinking (always dangerous).

I know there are good German ines but honestly at Biergarten there are some fantastic beers and they come in pretty sizable steins too! Isn't thinking what this board is all about? I know this is where I did my best thinking... :laughing:

Brenda... DBF thinks the steins at Germany are worth a visit alone :laughing:

Great reviews! You have similar tastes to me, except I loved Biergarten and I'm a steak person :) Kona was also our favourite restaurant, and I love mussels and tortellini - looking forward to more reviews!!

Have you been to any of the Italian restaurants? I am torn between taking the meal plan again and sticking to that list or going it on my own and trying interesting restaurants like Bluezoo and a few of the other off the beaten path places.

Loved the reviews and the boozy commentary from the peanut gallery. :laughing:

But I have to ask...

Do those guys playing those ginormous alpine horns make you want to shout:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCOOOOOOLAAAAAAA!

Ha ha I hadn't thought of that. I can tell you that we were trying to figure out how we could take one apart or fit it on the plane. :rotfl2:

I should be able to get my next day up tomorrow again. Until then I look forward to hearing comments and more great ideas!

[GeminiAngel]

Loved the reviews and the boozy commentary from the peanut gallery. :laughing:

But I have to ask...

Do those guys playing those ginormous alpine horns make you want to shout:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCOOOOOOLAAAAAAA!

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :lmao:

[oybolshoi]

Loved the reviews and the boozy commentary from the peanut gallery. :laughing:

But I have to ask...

Do those guys playing those ginormous alpine horns make you want to shout:

RIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCOOOOOOLAAAAAAA!

:rotfl2: :lmao: :laughing:

You never disappoint, Lori! And now, if we ever make it to Biergarten before you, we're stealing that idea!! :thumbsup2

[BriarRosie]

Heheh. I couldn't help myself with the "Ricola" yodel. I must admit that I found myself shouting that in the Matterhorn queue at Disneyland. :rolleyes1

I haven't been to Biergarten in over 10 years. I was never that excited by the place.

[SunnieRN]

Heheh. I couldn't help myself with the "Ricola" yodel. I must admit that I found myself shouting that in the Matterhorn queue at Disneyland. :rolleyes1 .

lol I did that on the matterhorn at disneyland also....my daughter and niece about died...lol. After that if they started to misbehave I would tell them we were going to go on the matterhorn again...lol. Stopped them every time!:rotfl2:

[Sunshein]

Wow! Sorry for the delay on the next post! Everything seems to have come at us at once but now that DD3’s (now 4) birthday party is over things should slow down into a nice summer routine. So where was I?

We have now gotten into the habit of taking our time getting going in the morning and it really seems to work for us. I would have liked to make it to rope drop at least once but in the end with the kids we let them sleep until they were ready to wake up. Today we were heading to Downtown Disney anyway so there was no rush. As always we split a couple of adult breakfast platters before heading out.

We walked around the Marketplace for a while and spent a whole lot of time at Lego Land (did you know you could get pink lego?). Then we hit the giant Disney Store and picked up some souvenirs. At this point DH slips off to find himself a 2008 baseball for his collection and God knows what else. I on the other hand and left with two girls and no means to pay for the things I picked up. Having found all I wanted to find and now tired of chasing said little girls around the store and convincing them to put things back on the shelves I start the search for DH. Now for those of you who haven’t been here before, this store is akin to a maze filled with different categories of Disney paraphernalia. There are rooms going off of other rooms merging into yet more rooms. I searched for 45 minutes before finding DH and I have to tell you by then I was so NOT amused. I grabbed my card and paid for what I had and we left to go for lunch with very few words between us. :furious:

On the way we stopped at Goofy’s Candy Factory and loaded up on some chocolate and treats. Nothing brightens my moods like chocolate and DH knows this as he often uses a box of chocolaty delights to get himself out of the dog house. By the time we walked into the Rainforest Café I was in a much better mood. :goodvibes

We had thought this would be a lot of fun for the girls which is about the only reason we would consider paying OOP for this! Well we were so far off it wasn’t even funny. We were seated right next to a bunch of animatronic gorillas and right away they started hoo hoo hooing away. Well both of my girls slapped their hand over their ears and looked like they were going to cry. We reassured them that it was all pretend and for a little bit they enjoyed looking around at all of the different animals. We were able to at least place our order. Then the “storm” started and that was pretty much it for them. They hardly ate anything the whole meal because they kept their hand over their ears in anticipation of the stormy mayhem to come. And we certainly didn’t come here for the great food!

In any case DH ordered the Rainforest Burger - 1/2 pound burger, charbroiled and served on a toasted bun with tomato, lettuce, and onion, served with potato chips or fries and with added cheddar cheese. The burger was a decent burger but nothing to write home about. He chose it because he couldn’t see spending that much money on anything else!

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I ordered a Paradise House Salad - Mixed greens and Roma tomatoes, jicama, carrots, and cucumbers with your choice of dressing to start since I felt like something green and so did DD5. It was nice a crisp salad and honestly it was nice to have something fresh and green for once. I think all the heavy breakfasts are getting to me.

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As an entrée I ordered the Blue Mountain Chicken Sandwich - Tender grilled chicken breast, Cajun seasoned and topped with bacon, Swiss cheese, roasted red peppers and leaf lettuce, served on a toasted bun with spicy Safari sauce and coleslaw. This was actually pretty good! The sauce and the cheese made for a great taste combination and the chips were like Miss Vickies so I enjoyed them although I didn’t come close to finishing them. We just didn’t have the heart to make the girls stay any longer than necessary.

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DD3 ordered the Mini Hot Dogs - 3 mini hot dogs served with kettle chips, buttered kernel corn or applesauce. She chose the corn. This was nothing really special but I guess it was sort of neat for her to have mini hot dogs.

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DD5 asked for the Poppin' Shrimp - Breaded popcorn shrimp served with cut carrots. She tends to not like breading very much so what she did eat she peeled the breading off. But honestly most of her time was spent with her hands over her ears so it wasn’t the most productive meal. :confused3

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I don’t think we will be returning her any time real soon. Our waiter was very nice however refilling our drinks long before we were finished the first one and even taking a picture of the family. As you can see it isn’t the best picture but it does tell the story! :rotfl:

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Finishing off our meal in record time we left the restaurant and headed back to POR via the boat ride which DD3 really enjoys. DH then took the girls swimming while I rested up and then got ready for date night. I had called Kids Nite Out to reserve a babysitter thinking this would be more successful than our experience with Fairy godmothers on our last trip. They asked me if I had any preferences and I actually requested a college aged female. In order to deal with my DD5’s anxiety I asked to know her name and what type of activity she would be bringing. So when we checked in, I was told her name was Joyce and they didn’t know what she would be bringing. We booked her for two nights thinking we would be able to spend some time together. Well when it was time for Joyce to arrive my DD5 was sitting on the window sill watching for her. All of a sudden DD5 says “Oh oh” and starts to shrink away from the window. I answer the door and this woman had to be at least 65. She asks a bunch of questions about the girls and their preferences and then makes me sign something stating that they weren’t responsible if my children destroy the furniture in the room. I tried to explain to her that DD5 was a little nervous about us leaving her and at this point DD5 was desperately trying not to cry. I asked her what she planned to do with the girls that night and I found out all she brought with her were a few sheets and some crayons, the same type of stuff they have been doing at every restaurant since we got here not to mention on the plane. :worried:

I have no idea how I managed to leave the room and in retrospect I wish I hadn’t. DD5 had pulled it together and was putting on a brave face so DH and I left for our date. I feel like crying thinking about it. Nothing bad actually happened and the girls were safe and enjoyed their evening to some extent but suffice it to say the second date night was promptly canceled. DD5 was not willing to give it a second chance.

DH and I took the bus to Downtown Disney’s West Side and did a little shopping at Virgin and then had some friendly head to heads at Disney Quest before heading over to Raglan Road for our much anticipated date night dinner. We had taken an 8:00 adr so that we wouldn’t be out too late but we could enjoy the entertainment. Great news! We were seated at a table for 2 not too far from the dancer’s stage. For anyone wondering about whether kids are welcome, there was actually an adorable little baby maybe 6 months old sitting up on the bar while mom enjoyed a pint! I snapped a picture but then thought this mommy might not want her baby’s face up on the internet so I will leave it down. I haven’t decided yet whether or not I will afford the same luxury to the guy wearing a lude T-shirt at magic Kingdom. But that is for a later date!

Being date night I promptly ordered a drink. Bring on the Celtic sangria! I love sangria but I don’t know what was going on at the bar tonight. This drink was pretty weak and watery. And Brenda if I know you, a weak and watery drink would not make your top ten list! I was thirsty though and finished it off before our meals came. I ordered a black velvet (half Guinness and half hard cider). Now this was more like it! Yummy beer goodness lightened and sweetened with the cider. See how they actually seperate in the glass? And then they come together with each sip!

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To start off with DH and I ordered the Dalkey Duo - Dalkey battered cocktail sausages, with a Dalkey mustard dipping sauce. We had shared this last time and loved it so much we couldn’t wait to order it again. There are tons of other things I would like to try too, but unfortunately they don’t make servings for one so that we could order different things and share. Maybe next time. These were just as good as we remembered them and ended up asking for extra mustard dipping sauce. They are filling little things though so pace yourselves. The sausages aren’t anything like a plain hotdog. They are a great flavored little sausage and the batter on it is hot and crisp. The mustard dipping sauce is the perfect compliment and the presentation is so different with the forks all standing up on the board. Two thumbs up again on this one.

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We were also served the soda bread with dipping sauce. This isn't my cup of tea and with a rapidly filling up belly I was saving room.

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For round 2 DH ordered the Serious Sirloin Steak - 10oz sirloin topped with Irish whiskey glaze, and drizzled with fresh basil oil. Served with mashed potatoes and topped with crispy fried onion strings. He had ordered this last time too and at the time he felt it tasted a little livery, but he wasn’t feeling well at the time and besides, what were the chances of that happening twice? He was going to have steak on date night! Well his memory was bang on because the steak once again had the liver taste and he didn’t really enjoy the steak. I have warned him to order something a little more Irish when in Irishtown, but did he listen to me?

Sorry for the blurry picture. :(
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I ordered the Fish & Chips - Beer-battered fish and chips served with fresh tartar sauce. I figured back to basics! I enjoyed this but I once again wish I had ordered something else for an entrée. I seemed to have all the wrong picks this year! I just lacked some flavor to the batter. I don’t know if it was the oil or a lack of salt. With the malt vinegar though I did enjoy it. It just didn’t stand out for me. I am wondering it the fish and chips at the little stand in the World Showcase might be better. I have yet to try it.

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At this point I was seriously getting full but as you now know, I am all about the dessert and this time I wasn’t about to make the same mistake and miss out on Ger’s bread and Butter Pudding! It really is as fabulous as they say it is. The butterscotch sauce is to die for and mix both sauces into the pudding and a little slice of heaven is what you find. I never did finish it. I wonder what they would say if I tried to order dessert first next time.

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DH decided on the Dunbrody Kiss. He thought it was pretty good. I will inform you that as much as I like chocolate and I am a normal healthy woman who needs a shot of chocolate regularly, my DH is a chocoholic and can at times behave like a woman with a raving case of PMS. He appreciates a good chocolate dessert and he finished this all off without even sharing!

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Now for the atmosphere. We love the atmosphere in this restaurant. There is plenty of seating to make it a big restaurant but it has that classy pub feel to it. In the true Irish way it is warm and inclusive. The bar is a beautiful thing! The music was great but I don’t understand their idea of dancing. The dancer was great, don’t get me wrong. But she came out of a 2 minute dance and then climbed off the stage and went back to her dressing room somewhere not to be seen again while we were there. That must be some strong union! How tired could she be? We did love the dancing though.

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Done and fully satisfied we waddled our way to the bus stop anxious to get back to our room and check on the angels. They were fast asleep and soon so were we. :goodvibes

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We really enjoyed this restaurant once again, but we would both change our choice of entrée. We may give it a pass next time but rest assured we will be back!

Up Tomorrow: The Rookie Chef and a Walk to the Neighbor’s Kitchen

[BriarRosie]

Aww, poor kids had a heckuva day! Too bad about the outside agencies babysitting. I know that both are usually recommended, but it seems the best responses are from the deluxe resorts' kids clubs. I don't recall if you had a car or not, but if you did, using one of the kids' clubs might be a better option.

And I must say that I enjoyed my Raglan Road meal. Paddy's pork was fairly good, and I really enjoyed the bread and butter pudding, too. And I'm just as much of a chocoholic as the next person!

[SunnieRN]

What a shame that your girls didn't enjoy rainforest cafe! The picture is perfect as you said, it tells the whole story!
Your little angels are so cute! The pictures of them sleeping tug at my heart strings!!!
Looking forward to more!

[Sunshein]

Aww, poor kids had a heckuva day! Too bad about the outside agencies babysitting. I know that both are usually recommended, but it seems the best responses are from the deluxe resorts' kids clubs. I don't recall if you had a car or not, but if you did, using one of the kids' clubs might be a better option.

And I must say that I enjoyed my Raglan Road meal. Paddy's pork was fairly good, and I really enjoyed the bread and butter pudding, too. And I'm just as much of a chocoholic as the next person!

I was really hoping that they would enjoy the babysitting but the first time, the sitter was quite old and wouldn't let DD3 climb on the play structure because she was afraid she would fall and so there were lots of tears involved. Maybe being Canadian, I am not used to the fear of being sued so I suppose I can't blame her. And she brought nothing to do with the girls so basically my DD5 thought I was lying to her. The second time was worse because I promised her someone young and that they would bring something to do and I was wrong on both counts! I am hoping they will even trust me to stay at the Neverland Club next time. DD3 was a month too young to stay there this time. :(

[wilma-bride]

We had a similar experience to yours at Rainforest Cafe - my DS absolutely loves animals but he found it way too loud and overpowering - needless to say, we won't be rushing back there again!

As for Raglan Road, I agree with you about the Dalkey Duo - those sausages are lovely. I have always wanted to try the scallop appetiser there too but never seem to stray from those tasty little sausages :)

I have had fish and chips twice there and enjoyed it both times - maybe you got an 'off batch'. For the record, I really love the fish and chips from Harry Ramsden's at Epcot so I'm sure you will too. We also had fish and chips from the counter service place next to Raglan Road on our last trip and they were yummy too. They also do the sausages there ;)

[GeminiAngel]

I was really hoping that they would enjoy the babysitting but the first time, the sitter was quite old and wouldn't let DD3 climb on the play structure because she was afraid she would fall and so there were lots of tears involved. Maybe being Canadian, I am not used to the fear of being sued so I suppose I can't blame her. And she brought nothing to do with the girls so basically my DD5 thought I was lying to her. The second time was worse because I promised her someone young and that they would bring something to do and I was wrong on both counts! I am hoping they will even trust me to stay at the Neverland Club next time. DD3 was a month too young to stay there this time. :(

Just wondering. Did you call them and ask why activies are not brought with the sitter? They should have a standard activity pack for all the sitters. Don't ya think? And how come your request of a college aged sitter was not honored?

On the other hand. If they sent Mrs Doubtfire, that would have been great!!!!

[Sunshein]

I have had fish and chips twice there and enjoyed it both times - maybe you got an 'off batch'. For the record, I really love the fish and chips from Harry Ramsden's at Epcot so I'm sure you will too. We also had fish and chips from the counter service place next to Raglan Road on our last trip and they were yummy too. They also do the sausages there ;)

I will definitely be giving the fish and chips another shot. I saw the fish at Cooke's of Dublin while I was waiting for them to make me a Doh bar later in the trip and the fish pieces there were huge!! I am trying to stick to 20 points today so i am drooling just thinking about it. :lovestruc

Just wondering. Did you call them and ask why activies are not brought with the sitter? They should have a standard activity pack for all the sitters. Don't ya think? And how come your request of a college aged sitter was not honored?

On the other hand. If they sent Mrs Doubtfire, that would have been great!!!!

No they did not send Mrs. Doubtfire. My kids were not impressed either time although the Kid's Nite Out was a better experience than Fairy Godmothers. I am somewhat non-confrontational and I chose in this situation to just not use their service again. I think if I ever did I would be making my greivances from the last time clear in the hopes that it would NOT happen again. But DD3 is now 4 so next time I will be trying to Neverland Club. (Assuming the kids are older and will trust us to leave them again. :) )

[Avojeo]

Your pics from Raglan Road look so yummy!!! I had to stop lurking to say that will be on my list to try in Dec!!! Did you have to get a ticket to get into Pleasure Island??? Just curious b/c we have AP but not the AP with everything on it.

[Sunshein]

Your pics from Raglan Road look so yummy!!! I had to stop lurking to say that will be on my list to try in Dec!!! Did you have to get a ticket to get into Pleasure Island??? Just curious b/c we have AP but not the AP with everything on it.

You can walk through Pleasure Island at no cost and Raglan Road is accessible through the Marketside easily. You only have to pay for Pleasure Island when you actually enter the clubs so you will have no problem hitting Raglan Road. From my last trip the It's Not a Bleedin' Chowder was amazing and well worth it. Have a great time and I will watch for your reviews! :goodvibes

[Sunshein]

Today was a day for Epcot. We had planned on only spending part of the day at Epcot and then relaxing at the resort but we got caught up in the fun that is the World Showcase and didn’t make it back to the resort until after 4:00!

We made our way through the Kidcot Kiosks in Future World in the morning. Turtle Talk with crush was wonderful although neither of my kids were interested in sitting up front and chatting with the giant sea turtle. It ran a fair bit later than we had expected so we ended up running with our double stroller to the complete other side of the World Showcase. We were a couple of minutes late, a fair bit sweaty but no harm done. The waiting area here is shared with Tokyo Dining but there is more than enough waiting space for everyone. They did a great job on that with the renovations. The atmosphere here is great. The rooms were somewhat divided into 4 grills per room and each grill fit approximately 8 to 10 people.

We were seated at Teppan Edo with another family with two young daughters. You would think this would be a great match but it didn’t turn out that way. This family was a local family with a season pass and really had no patience for tourists. They were by no means mean or rude, but they had absolutely no interest in chatting so we kept to our side of the table and they kept to theirs. I have found that tourists are always happy to meet new people, whereas locals not so much. Not a complaint or criticism, just an experience.:confused3

We took a look at the menus and I decided on an appetizer of Tempura vegetables. I know there is nothing wild and crazy about tempura but I really like it. I think I forgot to take a picture of this sorry, but they came hot from the oil and cooked perfectly. The dipping sauce was a little different from what I am used to but it was actually pretty good once I got over the surprise.

The kids’ meals were interesting. They had a choice of two meals cooked on the grill, shrimp or chicken I believe or they could have meals prepared in the kitchen and served in a replica of the monorail. Well my kids didn’t care what was in it they had to have the monorail! By this point in our vacation, they had already given all of the monorails names and personalities. I never saw that coming! So DD5 ordered the Tempura Chicken and Shrimp meal served with mashed potatoes, broccoli and mixed veggies. They also had a fruit cup and a bowl of sticky white rice. She really enjoyed this and a waitress actually tied the girls’ chopsticks together with elastic and a piece of paper between them so they girls could practice. They had a blast trying!

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DD3 ordered the chicken teriyaki not being much of a shrimp fan. She really liked this meal. She ate all of the chicken and the mixed veggies. We were all impressed with the kids’ meals.

DH and I were really interested in the grill since this is where all of the fun is in a Teppan restaurant. DH ordered the chicken and steak combo while I ordered the shrimp and steak combo. Our neighbors ordered some scallops and chicken I think. All of our meals were grilled up at the same time. All meals consisted of three sauces; ginger, sesame and shrimp. After the waitress explained what each sauce was for, the chef started by grilling up the veggies. She made a very nice onion volcano. That seemed to be a standard trick on all of the tables. Here at home, the local teppan chefs tend to set that on fire briefly which adds and element of excitement to the whole thing but I imagine Disney might be a little more cautious to prevent law suits.

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She then added the noodles and finally moved onto the meats. As each part was cooked she added it to our respective plates and left the steak for last. Now for the review! The food was wonderful. The veggies were grilled to perfection. They were hot and still fairly crunchy. The shrimp were perfectly cooked as was the chicken and finally the steak was cooked perfectly. Mine was medium rare and DH’s was medium. You can actually see the difference! The steak had so much flavor.

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Dessert options left a lot to be desired. I feel that if the dining plan offers a dessert but not an appetizer, the dessert selection should be up to a certain standard in a table service restaurant. There are better desserts at most quick service locations. The girls got cookies in plastic wrap which I put away for a later snack.

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DH chose the soft chocolate ice cream. It looked pretty disgusting!

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I chose the fruit tart. This was pretty lame and I didn’t eat much of it. I really believe that if you can’t bring the desserts up to par then you should be able to have an appetizer on the dining plan instead.

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Dinner was a lot of fun although we seemed to get the chef in training as some of her tricks left a lot to be desired and she even accidentally flung the spatula at the couple sitting next to me. She was very sweet and apologetic and the food was wonderful so I have no complaints. We were later able to watch the show from a much more entertaining chef at a grill nearby and it was hilarious. He let the kids wear the chef’s hat and pose with him doing ninja moves with his utensils. This would have made for some great memories had we had that but I have no regrets on eating here.

On our way around the world I stopped in Italy to pick up a bottle of Rosa Regale. This is a sweet dessert wine that I have heard a lot of great things about, but I have yet to open my bottle because I am waiting for the perfect occasion. I don’t want to waste a drop but I don’t want to share it with too many people either since I would like to enjoy as much of it as I can. What to do, what to do…

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Epcot and when we left we decided to pick up the floaties and bathing suits from POR and then take the boat over to the French Quarter to swim and eat dinner. POFQ has a beautiful pool for kids it is! It has an amazing dragon slide which is just perfect for kids. We finally pulled ourselves out of the pool when the skies kind of darkened up. We dried off a bit and then headed into the Sassagoula Flatworks and Food Factory. I had heard about the beignets and being from Montreal I figured I would try them and see if they compared to anything here. Well to my surprise, they made them for me right there in front of me so they were hot and fresh. They were very very good and I don’t think I have had anything quite like it. I think next time I will have them mark my receipt and go and get the beignets when we are actually ready to eat them. The food here was very interesting and great value. We ordered three adult meals and shred them all around. I ordered a half rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes, veggies, gravy and corn bread. Chicken was absolutely delicious and there was plenty of food. I never bothered with the side items. The seasoning wasn’t as good at the smoked seasonings at the flame tree barbeque but there was nothing left of the chicken when we were done!

I also ordered a steak and cheese sandwich. This was very good too and Gary and I split this. Lots of yummy thinly sliced steak with peppers and onions melted cheese. Not bad for a moderate resort!

Finally I ordered the chicken paella. I think this was the least popular of the three. The girls had some as did Gary but I never got to it.

I seem to have forgotten tp take any pictures of the food so I apologize. rest assured though it was a great place to swim and grab a bite to eat! When we finished eating the rain had slowed to a fine drizzle. We walked through the streets of the French Quarter and realized that we absolutely loved it! We would love to stay there on our next trip. The street lamps are beautiful and instead of a resort with pathways it really does look like a beautiful quaint French street! We decided to keep walking along the path back to Riverside and it wasn’t that long a walk at all. We really enjoyed the stroll and so did the kids. We had to get out of the way for the horse drawn carriage and the kids loved that. It was a nice relaxing way to end the day! Off to bed to get ready for another day.

Up Tomorrow: Breakfast Confusion and a Change of Plans

[tink1957]

Thanks for the great pics & review of Teppan Edo. :cool1: We really enjoyed it on our last trip & unlike you we sat next to a local couple & their daughter who were very friendly. We had met them while waiting for our table & had an instant rapport & were really glad we got to enjoy our meal together. You never know what to expect when theres communal seating..sometimes you get a dud & sometimes you luck out like we did.:) By the way, we really liked the Ginger Cake for desert...yum.

[Cinders Mum]

My husband is going to lock me out of the computer if I keep offering to do stuff like this. :rotfl2:

LOL That will make you easy to identify in October honey,

[Zeebs]

I am not usually a sweet wine drinker, but I recently opened a bottle of ice-wine, bought a few years ago on a trip to Germany and saved for a special occassion, (my brother and girlfriend visiting from NZ, he works on a vinyard) the wine was really lovely. Shame I had to share it..... :bitelip:

Kirsten

[Cinders Mum]

we love raglan road, DD has the dalkey duo are her entree and I love the pie in the sky.

I have to confess to ditching the appetisers, to make sure there is room for my ger's bread pudding.

thanks for the reviews, I am really enjoying.

[John's Mom]

Before you open that bottle of Rosa Regale, buy some good chocolate to go with it. The first time I tried it at the Italian Pavilion, they sold me a small piece of chocolate to go with the wine. :thumbsup2

[SunnieRN]

Dinner and swimming sounds great! I hope you enjoy your wine also!

I love Teppan restaurants and I'm sorry the show wasn't up to par but I am happy that the food was good!!
Looking forward to more!

[DisneyJo]

What a pity your girls were scared at RFC, it is very loud in there though isn't it!

Sounded as though the food at Tepp was good, I can remember eating there as a child and they would throw knives around and do a fantastic show, obviously health and safety thought it was too dangerous :sad2:

[Minniespal]

Excellent:thumbsup2

[wilma-bride]

Shame about the dessert offerings at Teppan Edo - I agree with you that they should offer some better desserts.

The kids' meals looked great, though - makes a nice change from the usual grilled chicken or pasta offered at most TS places.

[annie1995]

I agree about the desserts at Teppen Edo, but the food sure looked good!!!

[bigbabyblues]

Really enjoyed your Teppan Edo review......thanks!

[DizWisher]

I am greatly enjoying your reviews and pics.
And you and your daughters are absolutely beautiful.

[AUDramaQueen]

I am finally caught up on your reviews! Great Job! I hope we get to stay at the Poly next year.

For Dessert we decided to skip the kids’ desserts and order a Kona Kone for us all to share and we got the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart to take back to the hotel room. The girls loved the Kone. They adore cotton candy and the generic smarties went over well too. I appreciated the flat bottomed cone which was glued to the plate with chocolate. It made me think of the taco shell commercials where they guys keep trying to find a way to keep the taco shell standing up but I digress… Even together the four of us could not finish the cone so we finally gave up and headed for our room.

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[/B]

THANK YOU so much for this picture!!!! I have always wanted to eat at Kona but DH and the kids were always like eh.....that is until they saw that picture! My DS7 mouth dropped open and he "fainted" into my lap when I shoiwed it to him! Kona is on the list now!!

[Sandy321]

Love your reviews -

re - Rosa Regale - I was at Binny's Liquor Store yesterday, and they had Rosa Regale for $10 :dance3: :yay:

Now I realize you are in Canada, but you have Ice Wine!!

wanna make a trade?!! ;)

(I found some "cheap" ice wine at Aldi's - it will make a great Ice Wine Martini! :rotfl2: )

[TigerKat]

Before you open that bottle of Rosa Regale, buy some good chocolate to go with it. The first time I tried it at the Italian Pavilion, they sold me a small piece of chocolate to go with the wine. :thumbsup2

::yes::

[Sunshein]

I am not usually a sweet wine drinker, but I recently opened a bottle of ice-wine, bought a few years ago on a trip to Germany and saved for a special occassion, (my brother and girlfriend visiting from NZ, he works on a vinyard) the wine was really lovely. Shame I had to share it..... :bitelip:

Kirsten

Ice Wine is fabulous but the good stuff is very expensive. Definitely worth it for a special dinner for two though. Don't try and split it with a group or you will be sorry that for the money you weren;t able to drink a whole lot more! :rotfl2: I once went on a vineyard tour in the Niagara Wine region and saw how they made ice wine. of course that was followed by a taste and I was totally hooked. It was Inniskillin and I their ice wine is wonderful.

we love raglan road, DD has the dalkey duo are her entree and I love the pie in the sky.

I have to confess to ditching the appetisers, to make sure there is room for my ger's bread pudding.

thanks for the reviews, I am really enjoying.

Now you see this is where you and I differ. I would ditch the entree and stick to the appetizers and the dessert. Oh and of course a beer flight or a black velvet. Those can be filling but oh wo worth it. :goodvibes

Before you open that bottle of Rosa Regale, buy some good chocolate to go with it. The first time I tried it at the Italian Pavilion, they sold me a small piece of chocolate to go with the wine. :thumbsup2

Great tip! I fantastic excuse to buy good chocolate if I ever heard one. I am not hard to convince and luckily neither is DH. Our 7th anniversary is coming up on July 1st (our version of July 4th) so maybe we will crack it open then! :lovestruc

Shame about the dessert offerings at Teppan Edo - I agree with you that they should offer some better desserts.

The kids' meals looked great, though - makes a nice change from the usual grilled chicken or pasta offered at most TS places.

I found the kids meals really lacking in most of the restaurants and very repetetive. The only real changes were at Teppan Edo and at Cap'n Jack's believe it or not.

I am greatly enjoying your reviews and pics.
And you and your daughters are absolutely beautiful.

Thanks! I love them. :lovestruc

I am finally caught up on your reviews! Great Job! I hope we get to stay at the Poly next year.
THANK YOU so much for this picture!!!! I have always wanted to eat at Kona but DH and the kids were always like eh.....that is until they saw that picture! My DS7 mouth dropped open and he "fainted" into my lap when I shoiwed it to him! Kona is on the list now!!

Kona is well worth it even without the Kona Kone. Keep in mind that this cone which looks like a kids dream is considered an adult dessert and isn't available on the child's menu so either one of you will have to forgo your dessert (and there are so many great ones to choose from here! :lovestruc ) or pay for it OOP. Enjoy!

Love your reviews -

re - Rosa Regale - I was at Binny's Liquor Store yesterday, and they had Rosa Regale for $10 :dance3: :yay:

Now I realize you are in Canada, but you have Ice Wine!!

wanna make a trade?!! ;)

(I found some "cheap" ice wine at Aldi's - it will make a great Ice Wine Martini! :rotfl2: )


I will let you know about the trade after I open the bottle! I love ice wine but cheap stuff is not readily available here. The good stuff is easy to find though. What a dream! :goodvibes

[Sunshein]

Today was business as usual and we headed around 9:30 to grab some breakfast at the Riverside Mill. By the 9th day of our vacation we were officially sick of eggs and bacon and pancakes from breakfast every day so I thought I would get them a more healthy breakfast for once. I had no idea what else contributed a breakfast quick service so I surmised that a bowl of cereal, a small carton of milk for the cereal and a banana would be one quick service credit. I was mistaken! The bowl of cereal and the milk were but the banana was a snack credit extra! Please explain the logic of this to me. I gigantic platter full of grease and sugar along with two drinks no less makes for a quick service meal, but a mangy box of cheerios with milk and a banana which actually meets some basic health requirements is too much to expect on a meal credit? That blew me away. I think we will actually forgo the dining plan next time just because of this. :mad:

After breakfast we hopped the bus for Typhoon lagoon. We had such a good time at Blizzard Beach we decided to take another day and try out Typhoon Lagoon. When lunch time rolled around we didn’t want to eat a huge meal since we had adr’s at Cap’n Jacks so I made my way to Leaning Palms and ordered a chicken Caesar with a cookie and a bottle of water for all of us to share. This was actually surprisingly good! The lettuce was crisp and there was plenty of chicken to go around. It was a very large salad so there was plenty for a light lunch for all of us. I also picked up some homemade donuts from the Mini Donut Stand with a chocolate dipping sauce. The dipping sauce was nothing special for me, but the donuts were delish! I had to share with the family though.

Before leaving we decided to take Castaway Creek around to the Shark Reef. There were no sharks to be seen unless you snorkel and we weren’t up for that so we headed for the locker rooms and prepared to continue our day at Downtown Disney.

As I mentioned before we had planned a later dinner for two at Flying Fish Café. I could almost taste the potato wrapped snapper now. We came to Disney World on our honeymoon and I had really wanted to go to the Flying Fish Café then, but we were on a limited budget and our eyes popped out of our head when we read the menu outside the restaurant so we moved on. This time I knew what to expect and I couldn’t wait. But alas, it was not meant to be. The girls had no interest in a repeat of Joyce or anyone else for that matter so we canceled our second night of babysitting and also our beloved reservation at the Flying Fish. :worried: I was able to get a 4:30 adr at Cap’n Jacks though and that suited me well. I had wanted to try this place as well since I could have lobster on the DDP.

We arrived right on time and were given a buzzer and told to wait. I truly didn’t see the point since we were seated right next to the check in table and it was a really small room. I guess when it gets more crowded and people start wandering outside the buzzers come in handy. He waiting room had a TV with cartoons running which I thought was genius! The girls loved this.

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We were buzzed within 5 minutes and led to a fantastic table next to the marina. You really get the feeling that you are out on the water here.

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DD5 started with clam chowder. I just told her it was a soup and she said sure. I was afraid if I told her it was clams she might back out although she is getting a lot braver these days. This week she actually ate salmon sashimi and California rolls! She loved this chowder. It came with these little flower shaped crackers to put into it. She finished off the whole bowl.

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She also ordered the PB&J with some great side dishes for once! She has goldfish crackers and a cup of thinly slice green apples. I loved the child’s menu here.

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DD3 ordered a salad and a hot dog platter with the same sides as her sister. I don’t know why she asks for salads all of the time when she rarely eats much of it. She did well with the rest of the meal too.

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DH ordered a Caesar to start and then Roast Chicken Breast with creamed mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies. He said the salad was good but not his favorite. I tasted it and immediately loved it. DH likes his Caesar salads a lot fishier tasting, whereas I love the garlicky zing so we have differences in opinion when it comes to Caesar salads. I think his is more the traditional taste though. As for the chicken, he said it was ok. The mashed potatoes were really good but the rest of the dish was nothing spectacular. He did clean his plate though, with the exception of a bunch of green beans. DH has a personal rule about never finishing the vegetables on his plate. He carries this out at home too. Personally I have a different rule. I eat the good stuff including the vegetables and leave the filler stuff like rice or potatoes for last. They offer me the least amount of either nutrition or pleasure in eating.

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I ordered the Crab Cakes - Topped with Cajun-Horseradish sauce and Napa slaw. They were pretty tasty. There was a lot of cheese in them. I am not a crab cake aficionado so I can’t comment on how good they should have been but I liked them well enough to finish them and the slaw that went along with them. The sauce drizzled on them had a great but not overpowering flavor as well. For the entrée I ordered of course, the Twin Lobster Tails with drawn butter, rice pilaf, and fresh veggies. I enjoyed my lobster tails very much and didn’t really need the butter for flavor. They very well cooked. I also finished my beans and left my rice pretty well untouched. I tasted them but there was very little flavor involved so it was not worth taking up any extra space in my stomach or on my butt! :cool1:

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For dessert, DH ordered the double chocolate cake with ice cream. Again he said nothing special. I was expecting it to have the molten center but I didn’t see much of that.

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I ordered the key lime pie. Again, this was nothing special. I liked it well enough to finish it but I wouldn’t order it again.

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My take on the whole restaurant is that this was one of those places I found had limited selections for adults and not much of a draw besides the lobster tails, but the best meals for the kids so far along with Teppan Edo. I doubt I would go back unless they expand their menu a bit.

We walked from Cap’n Jacks towards Disney Quest, stopping for our requisite free chocolate sample at Ghirardelli’s. :goodvibes

Now whoever said that Disney quest was not for children under 10 does not have my children. My kids are far from gamers but we could have spent the whole day there. After three hours it was time to leave and the girls protested, but understood there was no point in arguing.

We walked back to the marketplace stopping at the Cooke’s of Dublin on the way to try a Doh bar. This took a long time to prepare so be warned and the place wasn’t even busy! I have to say if you would like to do this, make sure you have the time to wait. It took 15 minutes of standing around at 9 pm with two very tired kids to get this treat! In the end it wasn’t quite how I expected it. It had a long stick kind of like a corn dog and it was very hot. I don’t know why I expected the candy bar to still be solid inside. The Snickers bar was completely melted inside so it was a very messy treat. However, it was still quite yummy and I would order it again.

Sorry about the blurry picture. The humidity seemed to be getting to the lense.
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We took the girls to Goofy’s candy Factory to spend a bunch more snack credits and then took a bus back to POR. It was 10:30 before we got them to sleep and no they didn’t have any of the candy we bought. That was for later. We had an early morning appointment with Mary Poppins at the Grand Floridian and it was our last full day!

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Up Tomorrow: Unfortunate Children With No Names and Back to the Best

[Jeanerella]

Love the reviews, and especially, the pics! Thanks!

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews I'm the same way in that I don't like to fill up on tasteless rice, potatoes, bread, give me the tasty meats & veggies!!!

[SuzieN]

You got ripped off with your "healthy breakfast" at your food court! We have stopped at our food court [POR and POFQ] after leaving the parks every night to pick up breakfast to have in our rooms the next morning on our last 2 trips and I gotta tell you that cereal and milk counts as 1 SNACK CREDIT - not 1 meal credit! The banana would have been another snack credit. We found that to be the best use of our snack credits and usually just paid OOP for any yummy extras that we wanted. Seems like maybe your CM didn't know what they were doing.:confused3

[KatGarcia]

I am all caught up and enjoying your reviews very much!!

[arieljasmine]

Just caught up with your reviews and really enjoying them. We loved Raglan Road, I dream about that bread and butter pudding. Sorry you didn't enjoy your fish and chips too much, when I had that I thought it was amazing.

Laur's princess:

[audrey2580]

Great reviews - can't wait to read more :)

[Missin'Disney]

Enjoying your reviews & pix! We love the Kona Cafe too! Thanks for sharing!

[Sunshein]

You got ripped off with your "healthy breakfast" at your food court! We have stopped at our food court [POR and POFQ] after leaving the parks every night to pick up breakfast to have in our rooms the next morning on our last 2 trips and I gotta tell you that cereal and milk counts as 1 SNACK CREDIT - not 1 meal credit! The banana would have been another snack credit. We found that to be the best use of our snack credits and usually just paid OOP for any yummy extras that we wanted. Seems like maybe your CM didn't know what they were doing.:confused3

Thanks for the tip! We couldn't believe that you can eat so much unhealthy foor for one quick service credit, but a bowl of cereal and a banana isn't considered a meal. They should seriously reconsider the healthy eating options at the resorts. Next time I will ask that it be a snack credit!

[Sunshein]

I am so sorry this took so long to finish! I went away on vacation to visit grandma and grandpa for a couple of weeks and I am just now getting my bearings back. That is tough to do when you get out of the groove! Ok so where was I? Yes this was our last full day at Disney World and DD5 was just starting to get into the groove of things. She is an anxious child and has a hard time with change and it honestly took her a full week to start to relax and actually enjoy everything! ;)

On our last trip the one thing that DD5 said she wished she had done was to meet Mary Poppins. My daughters have moved on from the basic princess movies and just love the music of Mary Poppins. This pleased me to no end because on a long car ride it is a lot easier on the ears to listen to Julie Andrews singing away than to listen to episodes of Dora the Explorer over and over again. So this time around I planned to start off our last day at Disney World with a breakfast buffet at 1900 Park Fare. Even though it was a late night last night we managed to get up early and were out of the room by 8 am. Within 5 minutes a bus pulls up the read Magic Kingdom. Great! We figured we would take that and grab the monorail to the GF from there and I guess another family had the same idea except they were heading to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey’s. Well it didn’t take long for us to figure out that we were NOT heading to Magic Kingdom. We pulled in at Typhoon Lagoon and a bunch of people got off and then we carried onto Hollywood Studios. Once there we went to the bus driver and explained our situation along with the other family. Apparently she didn’t adjust her sign until after we were on the bus and didn’t realize we had seen Magic Kingdom. She called her dispatcher to tell her what had happened and by this time were getting dangerously close to our adr. The dispatcher told her to take care of their guests! So off we went delivered directly to both the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian. Now that perked up our day!

1900 Park Fare was fabulous! So far we have been to Lilo and Stitch, Crystal Palace for breakfast and 1900 Park Fare was by far the best breakfast we have eaten at Disney World. It was actually a lot more intimate than I had expected! We arrived about 5 minutes late but only waited about 10 minutes to be seated. The room was a lot smaller than I had expected and I found it almost intimate. The Characters had plenty of time to make it around to everyone. The food was fabulous! There were the usual pancakes and mickey waffles but with three different types of syrup. There were lobster eggs benedict and bagels with lox, cream cheese onions and tomatoes (to be assembled to your taste of course). There was a personal omelet starting and a really good kids station. Fresh carved ham, croissants, pastries, bread and jams, sticky buns, I am sure I am missing something. We left very satisfied and DH designated this place as his favorite breakfast of the trip! My children helped themselves to a sundae bar without the ice cream so they each had a bowl in front of them filled with chocolate chips, gummy bears and m&m’s by the time the Mad hatter and Alice came by and they warned the girls not to let Mary Poppins see their bowls of candy since she thinks children only need a spoonful of sugar. Mary Poppins came over and in this beautiful British accent asked them their names. Well of course my girls clammed right up and just stared at her. She giggled and said how unfortunate it was that they were children with no names. I had a good laugh over that one. Now I know they use these lines over and over again but it totally did the trick on my kids. They are young enough to still have that magic in their eyes which is precisely why we brought them at this age against so may people’s advice.

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Sausage, fresh pineapple, breakfast pizza, vanilla bread pudding, lobster eggs benedict, and bacon.

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Sticky bun, bagel, strawberries, lox, red onions, bacon, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes.

Now the day just got crazier from there. The girls were tire but we wanted to spend some time at magic Kingdom for our last day. We had adr’s for 5:00 at the Wolfgang Puck Café and then a nice relaxing evening at the pool before heading out in the morning. This was not meant to be. Gary took the girls to the Swiss Family Tree House and his plan was to go to the Magic carpets afterwards and I headed off to ride Pirates of the Caribbean by myself since neither of the kids wanted to ride that again. DD5 never did agree to go on it this trip. Maybe next time! About 2 minutes into the ride the boats all come to a stop. I was just past the Davy Jones fogging machine that chanted Dead Men Tell No Tales over and over again and staring ahead and a skeleton driving a wrecked ship in the wind. Well we sat there for at least 25 minutes as they evacuated the boat in front of us unto the “beach” and eventually they turned off the wind machine and the recording of Davy Jones. They could not turn off the fogging machine however much to the dismay of the second to back row on our boat who sat directly underneath it. In the end the fire department evacuated us my helping us climb from boat to boat until we made it to a finger dock and were able to walk back to the entrance well over an hour after we started the ride. Apparently a boat got stuck in the waterfall portion of the ride and they had to evacuate because when they dislodged it, it would crash down. We were each given a single fast pass for any ride in the park. 1 fastpass? Evacuation by firemen and all that merits is a single fast pass?? :confused3

After a few more attempts to have fun at Magic Kingdom, we gave it up and headed back to POR for an afternoon nap. I stopped off at the front desk and changed our adr from Wolfgang Puck to The Kona Café again but at 8:45 pm so that would give us a chance to enjoy some of Magic Kingdom later in the day. We really loved our first meal there and couldn’t wait to go back.

We had a good sleep that afternoon and then headed back to Magic Kingdom to try and enjoy the rest of our last day and I think the rest was the best decision I could have made. It was cooler, less crowded and we were in much better moods. We saw this man with his two children waiting in line for a ride. His t-shirt made us laugh out loud and it made our top tem list of things we never thought we would see at Disney World. How bizarre is it to stand in line behind a man with two young children for Peter Pan who is wearing a t-shirt with a big yellow happy face on it and below that it reads “Smile If You Swallow”?? Now that is good old family values isn’t it? :laughing:

We left the park around 8:30 and grabbed the monorail over to Kona Café for the last table service credits of the week. It lived up to our expectations wowing us again with the appetizers and desserts. DD3 said that she wanted yogurt as a side but in the end never touched it. Too bad because it looks great! They both had hot dogs I think and then enjoyed the make your own sundae for dessert. It was late so a meal for them was not their top priority. They did however polish off a ton of the bread and macadamia nut butter beforehand so that might have had something to do with it. :thumbsup2

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DH and I started off with the Sticky Wings - Glazed Chicken Wings with a tangy mustard drizzle and toasted sesame seeds. These were wonderful! They were sticky and sweet and perfectly cooked to be juicy and not dry. The sauce was lick your fingers good. And they provided us with moist hot towels afterwards to wash down our fingers! Usually I am pleased if they supply wet naps but this was nice!

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For my main course I ordered the Shrimp and Scallops - Panko breaded shrimp and pan-seared scallops with sticky rice and Ponzu, spicy guava, passion fruit, and wasabi cream sauces. This was really good but once again I was left wondering if I should have ordered something else. Breaded shrimp usually only work for me if it is tempura but these were fairly good for breaded shrimp. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the wasabi cream sauce that accompanied it went perfectly. These were by far the best part of the dish. I did enjoy the ponzu too. Next time I may try the coconut chicken or the pomegranate pork chop. Who knows, they may completely change them menu before I get back.

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DH had an encore performance of the Beef Teriyaki - 10-oz sirloin strip, grilled with pineapple teriyaki glaze, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, and stir-fried broccoli florets. He was in love with this dish last time and he was equally enamored this time. The steak was cooked perfectly for him at medium, crispy on the outside and pink on the inside. The sauce was amazing too and he is definitely a mashed potato kind of guy.

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Once again we rocked out on the desserts. This time along DH ordered the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart. We had ordered that to go last time and I had polished it off in the hotel room with little help from him so this time he wanted one for himself with the ice cream. I was hardly allowed a taste! He loved it and we both can’t wait to go back to have this again.

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I ordered the Banana-chocolate Crème Brulee. This is such a great twist to the usual crème brulee! The half banana on top was a work of art with a crisp butterscotch crisp on top and this beautiful swirl of chocolate finished the decoration. And then when you dip into the crème brulee, there is a layer of decadent chocolate on the bottom that just makes this dish sinful. I will definitely order this dessert again. :love:

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Check out the chocolate on the bottom!!

We are in love with this restaurant and it will definitely be on our list for our next visit.

We took the monorail home and put the girls to bed. Then I packed up all of our stuff for an easy exit tomorrow.

That’s it for the review! I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any questions, comments or recommendations for next time please feel free to post!

Thanks for reading! :goodvibes

[Angelrose]

Thanks for a wonderful and tasty dining report. I love the Kona Cafe too and the coconut chicken is to die for!

[arieljasmine]

Thanks very much for sharing your excellent reviews with us. I am not a huge fan of creme brulee, but I could be persuaded by one with chocolate on the bottom! That looked great. 1900 Park Faire sounds great too, I loved hearing about Mary Poppins' interaction with your girls.

Laur's princess:

[Zeebs]

Sad it is over, :sad1: I look forward to your next trip and next report. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together.

Kirsten

[TigerKat]

Thanks for sharing your reviews with us!:goodvibes

[MissMagnolia]

Enjoying so far...working to get caught up!

[javaj]

Thanks for the reviews!

[MistyD]

Great report! Now I have to try to get ADR's for Kona! That steak looks TDF!

[SleepyatDVC]

Great reviews!! I enjoyed reading, viewing, and drooling! ;)

Thanks!

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

She informed me that as a child I was very sensitive to fleas and that they would cause a huge reaction in me and not bother anyone else. Good to know! :sick:

Isn't that the worst! My daughter and I both have this kind of reaction :sick: Sorry that it happened to you on vacation! Your reviews are great though!

[Sunshein]

Thanks for a wonderful and tasty dining report. I love the Kona Cafe too and the coconut chicken is to die for!

I am definitely going to try the coconut chicken next time! the big fight will be over what appetizers and desserts to try!

Thanks very much for sharing your excellent reviews with us. I am not a huge fan of creme brulee, but I could be persuaded by one with chocolate on the bottom! That looked great. 1900 Park Faire sounds great too, I loved hearing about Mary Poppins' interaction with your girls.

Laur's princess:

That creme brulee put a whole new meaning into that dessert. I seriously think you should try it. As for 1900 Park Fare I think it will have to be a staple for our trips from now on. It just had the complete package for us. Thanks!

Sad it is over, :sad1: I look forward to your next trip and next report. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together.

Kirsten

I look forward to my next dining report too! I only wish it could be sooner than 2010, but we need to diversify and space out our vacations.

Great report! Now I have to try to get ADR's for Kona! That steak looks TDF!

Kona is now going to be a regular first day of the trip staple if we can swing it. We were very pleased with everything qabout this place.

Isn't that the worst! My daughter and I both have this kind of reaction :sick: Sorry that it happened to you on vacation! Your reviews are great though!

It happened and at the time it sucked, but now when I think back to the vacation I hardly remember it at all! So I guess the moral of the story is, when things go bad on vacation, at Disney World the good memories are very likely to far outweigh the bad. I like those odds!

[dalepool]

Just finished reading your reviews andI so needed to comment on the cast Member that would not give you a dollar amount of bill then proceeds to tell you do do it your self. I would have left 5% with a note that you paid yourself the additional 13-15% for your new job in accounting. If she/he was upset then good they got the message. I have seen servers make a scene if they were not left what they thought was a good tip. I worked as a server during college-- I did great on tips -- but I also was hired at a wage I knew before hand and a tip was the extra. There are some ppl that can not afford to go out to dinner or lunch and leave an additioal 20%. I was a struggling student so I understood. I happy to serve them tip or not as that is how the owner earned money, the same money he used to pay my wage. I so wish the servers today did not feel like they are entitled to a tip. ( I do know wages are not as high in restaurant business because of tips). Anyway So glad I got that off my chest :).

[wilma-bride]

Great ending to your reviews, that steak at Kona looked so lovely. Hate to think how many WW points it would be though :guilty:

Still, have got 14 moths to lose it all so I may just have to treat myself to a meal at Kona next October :)

Thanks again for the reviews.