"Is it time to eat again already?!" **7 days of free dining with pics!!**

[AliceInDisboardland!]

We just returned from 7 days/6 nights at the Poly with free dining - and boy did we eat! Between a week of free dining at Disney and then Thanksgiving dinner at home - we are officially "Pooh sized"! We managed to remember to take pictures of almost everything we ate and are looking forward to sharing our dining experiences with you all! First, let me introduce the cast:

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_3208-1.jpg Sarah (Me): 26 year old lover of all things Disney. I have been bitten by the Disney bug (influenced by my sister) and now spend lots of time perusing the DisBoards! My favorite character is Alice in Wonderland! I spent the weeks leading up to the trip sending out a "food pic of the day" to my mom and sister to get them ready for a week on the DDP! I was most excited to try Whispering Canyon Cafe and to get a cinnamon bun from Main Street Bakery!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_3342-1.jpg Kelly (DS): 28 year old Dis-oholic! Kelly is my older sister and will be working on our full trip report. She is the original trip planner in the family and we have at least one or two phone conversations per day talking Dis! Her favorite characters are the "originals" - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, etc. Kelly was most excited to go to Chef Mickey's Breakfast!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/Nora7-26-08280-1-1.jpg Nora (DN): 2 years old and this will be her 3rd trip to the House of Mouse! Nora is a princess in training and loves to watch Mickey Mouse Club House. She knows all the princesses by heart, but her favorite is "Princess Rella"! She was most excited for the princess lunch in Norway!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_3298-1.jpg Debbie (DM): 50 years old and wonders how she raised such Disney-obsessed daughters?! She's content to let my sister and me do all the planning, but loves Disney as much as the rest of us! Her favorite character is Snow White and she was most looking forward to all the desserts that are included on the DDP!

Our format will be the following:

-Restaurant
-What we ate
-Credits used
-Likes
-Dislikes
-Would we eat here again

Here is the list of what we are going to review:

-Captain Cooks (Lunch)
-Whispering Canyon Cafe (Dinner)
-Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Lunch)
-Cosmic Rays (Dinner)
-Captain Cooks (Midnight Snack)
-Captain Cooks (Breakfast)
-Pizzafari (Lunch)
-Kona Cafe (Dinner)
-Main Street Bakery (Breakfast)
-Chef Mickey's (Brunch)
-Mama Melrose's (Fantasmic Dinner Package)
-Keys to the Kingdom Tour - Liberty Tree Tavern (Lunch included with the tour)
-Sunshine Seasons (Lunch/Dinner)
-Epcot - Snacks around the world!
-Captain Cooks (Breakfast)
-Wolfgang Puck's Express (Lunch)
-Tutto Italiana (Dinner)
-Captain Cooks (Breakfast and Lunch to go)

We actually made it to all our ressies this time, except for lunch at Coral Reef, because we got stuck on the monorail for 30 minutes! The worst part was we could see Coral Reef from the monorail, just couldn't get there! lol... I guess there was a suspicious package left on the platform and they had to bring in a bomb sniffing dog! Oh well, as you will see - we didn't go hungry :)

First up is Captain Cooks for Lunch. We arrived at the Poly and were able to check in right away, which was great because we were hungry! After getting settled in the room, Kelly and I ran down to check out Captain Cooks for some takeout to bring back to the room.

Captain Cooks (Lunch)

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We decided to share the Multi-Grain Turkey Club with Poly Chips (it came cut into 3 pieces which was perfect since there were 3 of us)

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and the Poly Tossed Salad

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For our drinks we chose Coke and Iced Tea and for desserts we picked a fruit cup and apple pie bar

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We also paid OOP for a milk for Nora

Total Credits used: 2 CS

Likes: We very much enjoyed our first lunch at the Poly. The turkey club was fresh and yummy - not too much honey mustard. The Poly chips were also very tasty and something I am already craving! The Poly Tossed Salad was also very good, although we are not huge fans of blue cheese, so you'll see that later in the trip we request it without (which is easy to do on the computerized ordering machines). The dressing on this salad was very good and they didn't put too much on (might be wise to order it on the side though if you are worried about not liking it). Nora enjoyed the fruit cup (the girl loves grapes) and we all were pleasantly surprised at the apple pie bar - very yummy and a great alternative if you are having chocolate overload!

Dislikes: The only complaint we have is what I already mentioned earlier about the blue cheese being very strong on the salad - easy fix. Other than that, this was a great start to our trip!

Would we eat here again: Yes! And we did, many times! :thumbsup2

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Next up - Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe! :banana:

[mickeymotto]

Great start! Can't wait to see the rest!:thumbsup2

[bonnielynn]

Can't wait..

[jeminni]

I'm in. Looking forward to more. :goodvibes

[kkayluvsdis]

Oink. I'm ready to go back now! Great start Sis! :wizard:

[DarkwingDuck1979]

Man, I want to go back soooo bad.

[KatMark]

I'm in and waiting for more. popcorn::

[Kurby]

so far so good

[PrincessDebs]

Count me in

[iluvpluto27]

Great start, looking forward to the next update.

[tndisneyfan]

Looking forward to more reviews :thumbsup2

[TigerKat]

I'm in.....popcorn::

[MickeyNicki]

Count me in for this one!

[disneyfav4ever]

Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews.

[skellingtonfreak]

Count me in!

[Jenvenza]

Count me in for this one!!

[Atlanta WDW Fan]

I'm in...I am so ready to be back at the mouse!

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Welcome to everyone who has jumped on board! Hope you are ready to drool!! :rotfl:

Whispering Canyon Cafe (Dinner)

We were all very excited to try this restaurant because it was one of the many ressies we had to skip on our last trip due to Nora and I getting sick halfway through our trip. We also were excited to checkout the Wilderness Lodge as Kelly always talks about wanting to stay there. We took the monorail over to MK and had a hard time walking past the entrance to MK and boarding the boat to WL. It was a quick boat ride and we were all very impressed with the WL. Very beautiful and definitely on our list of places to stay on a future trip!

We were seated almost immediately upon our arrival and were given a great table in the corner overlooking the lobby. The atmosphere was very fun and Nora enjoyed all the antics! Our waiter for the evening was Raphael and he took great care of us! After throwing some napkins and straws at us Raphael took our order - we didn't even need the menus - like the good Dissers that we are - we had studied this menu beforehand and knew we had to try the skillet and bottomless milkshakes. It wasn't long before Raphael brought us these beauties! :woohoo:

Strawberry Milkshake
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Chocolate Milkshake
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Raspberry Smoothie
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These are included on the DDP so how can you not order one? They were all delicious but very heavy - you've been warned! :eek:

Then came the cornbread and salad...

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So between the milkshake cornbread and salad we were all on our way to being completely stuffed! The cornbread was amazingly good and I think I had at least 2 pieces while waiting for the skillet to arrive. The salad was also good and had an Italian tasting dressing. But really, who wants salad?! Bring on the goods!! :rotfl2:

Here it is - the famous all you can eat skillet! Mashed potatoes, coleslaw, cowboy beans, corn on the cob, smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, oven-roasted chicken, and smoked brisket.

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Holy cow this is a lot of food. However, you will notice that the waiters disappear for quite a while after they give you your skillet, so if you want refills you should try and catch him soon after it arrives. The pork ribs were soooo good - falling off the bone. The chicken also was very good and had good flavor. They also give you bbq sauce for everything - mmmm I wish I could have some right now!

During the meal there were a variety of antics. Nora joined in on the hokey pokey and watched the older kids compete in a horse race around the restaurant. There was also some napkin waving...

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As you can imagine, we were all COMPLETELY STUFFED after this meal. I wish I had been smart enough to limit my milkshake and cornbread intake at the beginning of the meal so I could have enjoyed the actual meal more! But it wasn't like we were gonna turn down dessert!

Since we were celebrating mom's 50th bday - Raphael brought her a piece of chocolate cake with a candle in it. He even sang happy birthday :)

Nora helped with the cake (I think she only ate sweets the whole trip!)

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Since we thought we might explode if we ate even one more bite - we got the other 2 desserts to go...

S'mores Cheesecake

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Apple Pie

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Dessert Menu
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After dinner we headed back on the boat to MK and were lucky enough to catch the fireworks on the way! We then boarded the monorail (or mon-e-rail as Nora calls it) and made it back to the Poly where we dug into our other desserts! The apple pie was good, but can't compare to mom's homemade pie :) and actually we all liked the apple tart we got from Captain Cooks better! The S'mores cheesecake was alright, but nothing to write home about (we also aren't huge cheesecake people so maybe you shouldn't take our word for it).

Total Credits Used: 3 Table Service

Likes: I was not disappointed with this place at all. I thought the atmosphere was fun and very good for Nora because she could be as loud as she wanted and it was alright if she wanted to get up and walk around. The food was flavorful and filling! Those milkshakes are a meal by themselves!!

Dislikes: I guess I thought from reading on these boards that the antics might be a little crazier, but it seems like a place that you could have a different experience each time you go, which is cool. I think I have read other people on here say that they had problems with their waiter disappearing, which I could sort of see happening with Raphael. But we weren't in a huge hurry and didn't need refills so it didn't bother us!

Would we eat here again: Yes! Hopefully we will get to stay at the WL on a future trip - regardless, this is somewhere I would like to try again.

Next Up: Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Lunch)

If you are interested in reading more about our trip to the Poly - take a look at my sister's full trip report. (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=29083701#post29083701) She will be linking to this food report for all our dining experiences! :goodvibes

[Roxychica7]

Subbing! :thumbsup2

[Disneyvirg]

Yummy!

I'm on board! I love your extra little hints - like be careful of the bleu cheese dressing on the Poly salad and to go easy on the milk shakes at WCC!

Looking forward to more! :)

[Carmell226]

So far, so good! Subbing! :banana:

[chocolateMinnie]

Great review of WCC, waiting for more.

[Atlanta WDW Fan]

You have to love WCC, my wife and I ate there on our 3rd anniversary, and had a blast. Great food and atmosphere, good combination for sure, have to go next year I think. Looking forward to more.

[txmomto1]

I'm in! Great so far.

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Day 2!

We got up early this day and headed over to Epcot, so we ate breakfast in our room before we left (granola bars, left over apple pie :confused3 , and Nora had her "Mickey Cereal" which is pretty much like Fruity Pebbles.)

We had a lunch reservation at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at 11:50AM. If you're interested in reading the funny story about Nora's Snow White costume - head over to my sister's trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028633&page=2). Nora is quite a kid, that's for sure! :rotfl2:

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Lunch)

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Once we got checked in, they called our name and we headed inside to get our picture taken with Belle! Nora could see all the princesses walking around to the tables as we walked in and all she wanted to know was "Where's Snow White??" So I think she was a bit disappointed to get her picture taken with Belle hehe. Her picture came out cute (even though she wasn't smiling at all!) They brought a free 5x7 and 4 4x6's over to our table later on in the meal!

Here is the inside of the restaurant - neat theming - a bit crowded! The restaurant is split up into a few different rooms and we were in the room on the far right, and scored a table in the back corner which was great because Nora did not want to sit still - She wanted to know "Where's Snow White"! The girl has a one track princess mind! Okay, let's get to the FOOD!

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The waitress came and took our drink order and left us this basket of rolls (complete with hidden mickey in the butter)...

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We were then allowed to head up to the buffet which consisted of a variety of meats and cheeses, fruit and pasta salad. I didn't get a picture of the actual buffet, but here are our plates...

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So, again we ran into the problem of filling up on the bread and salad before our meal arrived! hehe...The cold buffet was okay, but nothing too spectacular. Very basic sliced turkey lunch meat, and cubes of swiss cheese, etc. Nora enjoyed the mixed fruit and pretty much nothing else. :rolleyes1

For our meals:

Kelly ordered the chicken dish, which for some reason isn't on the menu at allears so I can't tell you what it was exactly. She liked it and said the chicken had good flavor. She ate almost the whole thing! :scared1:

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0252.jpg

I had the Akershus Pasta: Pasta and sauteed garden vegetables with a fresh herb roasted garlic pesto. This was good, but the princesses stopped by right after our meal came so it was cold by the time I ate it. Would have been better hot :)

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0254.jpg

Mom had the Soup and Sandwich: Fish chowder paired with pan-seared salmon served open-faced on toasted multigrain bread,
lettuce, tomato and topped with a roasted garlic caper mayonnaise. She LOVED the soup and said she could have had a bowl of that for her whole meal! She also enjoyed the salmon sandwich but I think she ended up eating it with a fork and knife because it was very big and messy!

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Nora had the kids cheese pizza (which she did not even attempt to eat) :sad2: <--this is my favorite face btw hehe so off topic..

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Alright, so as I mentioned earlier, the princesses showed up right as our lunch was served. And they all came one after the other with hardly any time in between! Little Miss Nora was starstruck! She had yapped the whole time Where's Snow White, Where's Princess Rella, Where's Belle? So of course when they showed up she wouldn't say a peep! She did manage to ask Aurora where Snow White was though haha. The princesses all took a good amount of time trying to get Nora to interact with them and tried their hardest to let us get some good pictures - to no avail (although I must admit part of the problem with getting pictures was that a certain sister of mine didn't have her flash up in the restaurant so all our pics came out blurry! :sad2:) Anyways - finally, after much anticipation - Snow White!

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Nora even got a kiss!

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So even though Nora was a little scared of the princesses when it was her turn, she loved them as soon as they walked away. If you ask her what she did in Florida she'll tell you "I saw Snow White" hehe So I guess the princess lunch was a success! Oh let's not forget dessert...

Here is the dessert plate - Flourless Chocolate Cake, Traditional Rice Cream topped with Strawberry Sauce, and School Bread


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The chocolate cake was wowza chocolately! :scared1: It was like eating a spoonful of powdered cocoa! Even Nora the chocolate cake queen wouldn't eat it! The rice cream was also not a hit with us - reminded me of cottage cheese. It really didn't have much of a flavor, but the texture was weird! That leaves the school bread. Now, as a dedicated Disser, I have read all about the school bread and was disappointed that I forgot to try it on our last trip. So even though it has changed from how it used to be (or so I have read) I didn't have anything to compare it to, and I loved it! MMM very tasty! We all agreed that the Dissers were right once again - we knew you would never steer us wrong! :thumbsup2

Credits used: 3 TS (I think they ended up giving us Nora's pizza for free since she didn't eat any of it - or maybe the kids meal was included here - not sure)

Likes: We very much liked the atmosphere here and getting to see all the princesses in one sitting was HUGE for princess obsessed Nora. I also liked that the picture with Belle was included with the meal (and since we were on the free DDP that made it even better)

Dislikes: The food here was just okay - which I think was what we expected. We basically went for the princesses and they didn't disappoint. I think part of our problem was that by the time we got here we were all SO hungry that anything would have tasted good to us! Another one of the problems with this lunch was (as I mentioned earlier) that the princesses came very close together and right as we got our food. The timing wasn't great - but I'm not sure if it just happened to work out that way because of where we were sitting or what?

Would we eat here again: Probably not. I am glad that we tried it once, but it will not be on our list to go back to right away. Maybe once Nora is older and will actually pose for pictures and isn't as scared of the princesses it would make more sense for us. I hope I don't sound too "Debbie Downer" in this post, because we really did enjoy this meal - the food just didn't compare to some of the other restaurants.

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Stay tuned for the Barefoot Pool Bar, Cosmic Rays and MVMCP! :santa:

[kkayluvsdis]

Okay, so I totally shouldn't have just read that at this time of night! Now I am hungry for a midnight snack! I'm so excited that we have such great Disney memories--especially the food! hehe! Great review! Oh, and for the record-I believe Sarah licked her platter clean at that meal too! Ha!:rolleyes1 -Kelly

[TigerKat]

What a cutiepie Nora is!:cutie:

[Prinny27]

Loving your reviews - I cannot wait to read more! :thumbsup2

[Flossbolna]

Another great review! I liked your picture of the inside of Akershus, I always expected it to look like a dungeon inside - no idea why. But it is really light in there. I would have liked to try it before it was turned into a character meal.

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Lovin' this report.:surfweb:

[Disneymom77]

I'm tuning in! It looks and sounds like you had a wonderful girls only trip.princess: And the food of course looks deeelish!:thumbsup2

[Disneyvirg]

Another great review! I liked your picture of the inside of Akershus, I always expected it to look like a dungeon inside - no idea why. But it is really light in there.

Ditto! I thought it would be dungeon-ish, too.

I love it when reports include inside and outside pics of the restaurants.

I also realized while reading your report that I've been spelling Akershus wrong the past couple months. I think I was doing Askerhus. Now I'll have to retrain my brain. :sad2: (throwing in your favorite emoticon!) There's so many things about WDW that I'm sure I'm going to butcher when I try to vocalize them in WDW. Like Le Cellier. It sounds pretty in my head...but when I tried telling my DH about it, my four years of French classes sounded pretty awful! Same with Narcoosses...how are you supposed to pronounce that?

Oh my! I've really babbled in your thread. Please forgive! :)

[tr-ray]

I also realized while reading your report that I've been spelling Akershus wrong the past couple months. I think I was doing Askerhus. Now I'll have to retrain my brain.

DH always told me it was "OSCAR SHOOS" or at least that's how to pronounce it, but apparently he's wrong too! :rolleyes1


ETA - OP, I'm sorry for intervening. :D I just had to laugh at this comment. And I can't wait for more updates!

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Ditto! I thought it would be dungeon-ish, too.

I love it when reports include inside and outside pics of the restaurants.

I also realized while reading your report that I've been spelling Akershus wrong the past couple months. I think I was doing Askerhus. Now I'll have to retrain my brain. :sad2: (throwing in your favorite emoticon!) There's so many things about WDW that I'm sure I'm going to butcher when I try to vocalize them in WDW. Like Le Cellier. It sounds pretty in my head...but when I tried telling my DH about it, my four years of French classes sounded pretty awful! Same with Narcoosses...how are you supposed to pronounce that?

Oh my! I've really babbled in your thread. Please forgive! :)

DH always told me it was "OSCAR SHOOS" or at least that's how to pronounce it, but apparently he's wrong too! :rolleyes1

ETA - OP, I'm sorry for intervening. :D I just had to laugh at this comment. And I can't wait for more updates!

Hehe - to tell you the truth I always just call it the princess lunch because I have no idea how it is actually pronounced!! Does anyone out in disboardland know the answer?!?! :confused3 I can help with Le Cellier: (Le cell-e-air) and Not sure about Narcoosses either lol :lmao:

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Thanks to everyone who has joined us and commented so far :goodvibes This is great fun!

Day 2 - Part 2!

Alright, so before we get to the next reviews, I thought I would share a picture of our Disney Dining Plan Tracker that we used to keep track of our meals and snacks! It would have worked our really well, except for the fact that we forgot to bring it with us most of the time, and halfway through the trip *someone* spilled milk on it so it got all smudged! :sad2: I would highly recommend laminating your tracker or bringing an extra just in case!

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Okay, back to business. After our fun princess lunch we headed back to the Poly for nap time. While Grammie and Nora took their naps, Kelly and I head out to explore the resort and ended up here:

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We decided to try it out and shared a Mojito - it was yummy and pretty too!

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We took our drink and relaxed in a hammock on the beach - what a view!

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We even found a Hidden Mickey in the sand! :thumbsup2

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We then headed back to the room to get ready for MVMCP - check out my sister's trippie (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028633) for the details on that! We were originally planning on eating at Captain Cooks before we went to MVMVP, but none of us was hungry yet - since we left for the party around 4ish, so we decided we would wait and hit up our favorite MK CS...

Cosmic Rays! Cosmic Rays has become a staple for us on our trips. I'm not sure why, but it's just always a good choice for us! Kelly and I left mom and Nora at the Micky's Twas the Night before Christmas show to save seats, while we got take out! As you can imagine, it was pretty packed at Cosmic Rays and very packed at the galaxy theater by the time we got back with the goods. I am ashamed to say we wolfed down the food without even thinking about taking a picture of it! :guilty: I think part of the reason was that we wanted to finish before the show started - or it could have been all the people drooling around us who hadn't been as clever as us to stop by Cosmic Rays! hehe....If I remember correctly, we ordered chicken fingers and fries (these are more like nuggets, but not the ones they give the kids, more like chicken tenders but half the size, but they give you a ton on the dining plan - 8 or 10 pieces, definitely enough to share!), a grilled chicken sandwich, a yogurt (for Nora) and chocolate cake. As always, it did not disappoint!

Credits Used: 2 CS (the three of us shared, since we were planning on getting a funnel cake later on, which we never ended up getting :()

Likes: Can't go wrong here! Get value for the credits used and there are a lot of different options - plus there is always a lot of seating in there if you are planning on eating there.

Dislikes: I had a bit of an issue with the CM who was taking my order. I tried to explain to him that I wanted the yogurt as one of my sides instead of french fries (since the yogurt was clearly listed on the menu as a side) but he gave it to me as a dessert instead. Oh well, we ate all the french fries anyways and its not like we needed another dessert to add to our Disney weight gain! hehe!

Would we eat here again: YES! :love:

Later on that evening we were treated to the yummiest hot cocoa and sugar cookies (probably they were extra good just because they were at Disney hehe) and Nora had apple slices and apple juice!

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After MVMCP we went back to the Poly and stopped in to Captain Cook's for a little Midnight snack (I think it was literally midnight at this point - or close to it!) We tried the pepperoni flat bread.

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The chocolate milk was included with the meal on the dining plan, the vitamin water we had to use a snack credit for!

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And for dessert - a dole whip twist! Yum! Perhaps the best part of the Poly - the self serve dole whip machine! Yummmmy!

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Nora enjoyed the Cheetos we brought with us :) Haha priceless! :lmao: (Sorry about the red eye - I couldn't get it to go away)

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Credits used: 1 CS, 1 S (yes, the vitamin water was the first snack credit we used lol)

Likes: The pepperoni pizza flat bread between the 3 of us was a perfect late night snack. We would have preferred to get a Hawaiian pizza, but I guess they only have pepperoni or cheese late-night. We were just happy they were still cookin' pizza at that time of night - can't complain about pepperoni!

Dislikes: No complaints here. :flower3:

Coming up: Mickey waffles and Pizzafari Lunch! :dance3:

[wlwilliams9]

Great so far...can't wait to read more!

[kkayluvsdis]

I have such a craving for those chicken fingers from Cosmic Ray's thanks to you!!:mad:

[Flossbolna]

great review again, I love all the info on what is available at the Poly - I can absolutely picture myself with this drink at the beach in just 41 days! :cool1: :cool1:

[mcrabeck]

Enjoying your report! Can't wait to read more!:surfweb:

[tr-ray]

Oh man, dole whips!
Can't wait till I make the trek to Adventureland!

[leeann32]

Great reviews! I can't wait to read more!! :thumbsup2

[OurDogCisco]

Great report!!! Can't wait to see the rest..

[lovegrumpy]

:cool1:

[MiaBella05]

popcorn:: subscribing popcorn::

[aftensgirl]

Subscribing. :banana:

[kimgof]

Love your reviews! Staying at the Poly in August and can't wait. :cool1:

[kkayluvsdis]

My belly is growling. Where is the next installment? I wanna see those Mickey waffles!!popcorn::

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Day 3 - After our late night at MVMCP we decided we would "sleep in" (which means about 8:00am to Kelly). Kelly and Nora hung out in the room to watch cartoons, while mom and I headed down to Captain Cooks to get breakfast to go!

Captain Cooks (Breakfast)

If I remember correctly, Captain Cooks was hopping this morning, so Mom and I had a bit of difficulty figuring out what to order. We ended up ordering lots!

Kelly and I both had Mickey waffles. Kelly got hers with Bacon and mine was supposed to have strawberry sauce but they just gave me syrup instead :( I was actually surprised by the size of these waffles - I had only ever seen the small mickey waffles before - like the ones you get on the character buffets - but these ones are big! And mighty good I might add...

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/Disney%20pics/img_2323.jpg

We were all anxious to try the Tonga Toast that we have read so much about - Mom ordered it with Bacon. OMG was this thing big! And so good - she ate the whole thing no problem hahaha....Kelly and I did manage to grab a taste though and agreed that it might be a little too sweet for us for breakfast, but still glad we tried it.

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Nora had a kids French Toast meal - that came with a side of grapes. I'm not sure if she ate much of this, but it looked good!

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The thing about breakfast on the DDP is that you get so many drinks! 2 drinks per CS credit - I feel like Captain Cooks didn't really have a great selection of drinks that were included on the plan. You could get the fountain sodas, chocolate milk, regular milk, coffee or tea, OJ or water. I think those were the only choices - I would have liked to have seen more juice choices other than orange - but maybe thats just me!? Oh yah and they had apple juice boxes - but they are so small - def. just for the kids...

Anyways, we all enjoyed yet another great meal from Captain Cooks, and it was great to be able to bring it back to our room and eat while we lounged around :)

Credits Used: 3 CS, (Paid OOP for the Kids Meal)

Likes: Mickey Waffles! Yum! :lovestruc

Dislikes: Wasn't 100% sold on the Tonga Toast - I would have liked to have tried it at Kona Cafe to see if it was the same or better than Captain Cooks!

After spending the morning swimming and playing on the beach, we got ready and headed over to Animal Kingdom! It wasn't long before we found the popcorn cart

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We were very torn about this popcorn because we like to get the souvenir bucket, which of course is not included on the DDP - so we ended up paying OOP for it - but I think it was worth it because the bucket is super cute and Nora likes to play with it in the tub!

Mom got her favorite - frozen chocolate covered banana - yum! She looks forward to this every time lol...We used 1 snack credit here...

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So here is where things start to get interesting! As should be quite obvious by now, Kelly and I spent months planning this trip and spent hours researching on Disboards. Kelly tends to like the tips and strategies section, while I go straight for the food porn! One of the boards I came across was pictures of things you can get with snack credits. I made sure to take notes and figure out where we could get the most bang for our buck at each park. Well, the past few times we've gone to AK we have only eaten at the McDonalds they have there. I have no idea why, but I figured it was probably because we get hungry and its the only place we knew would be good. Well this time I was determined to try one of the other counter service restaurants!!! I saw someone post a picture of the bread sticks at Pizzafari - they looked delicious and counted as a snack credit - so I was bound and determined that we were gonna go to Pizzafari and get those! Ask Kelly - I made quite a fuss about getting to Pizzafari - it was a must do!

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So by the time we actually made it there it was a werid time - like 3:00PM so it wasn't busy at all. We also weren't all that starving because we had eaten those snacks a bit earlier. We also didn't want to eat too much because we had ressies at Kona for that evening. Well, nothing was gonna stop me from getting those bread sticks, so off we went....Here is our tray:

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Bread sticks with Marinara - don't they look good? Well, after all that planning and fuss, once we got up to the register the CM tells me that they aren't included as a snack credit on the DDP because they can be shared?! What?! :scared1: I was so disappointed. Oh well, we got them anyways, and they were pretty good...but not the best and not as good as I thought they would be.

We also got this sandwich Hot Italian Style Sandwich with Carrot Sticks or Chips - Turkey, ham, Swiss and Provolone Cheese topped with Caesar salad and pesto marinated tomatoes. Yum! This was really good and really big! We split it three ways because we had the bread sticks too, but it could easy be split with 2 people as a meal. I would definitely recommend this sandwich as it is something different than you would typically get a CS restaurant!

We also had an apple turnover for dessert which was tasty!

Here is a picture of Nora running around at Pizzafari - you can sorta see the inside of the restaurant - colorful and neat!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0397.jpg

Likes: Hot Italian Sandwich was a hit!

Dislikes: VERY disappointed that the bread sticks didn't count as a snack :sad2: - mostly just because I had gone on and on about what a great deal they were lol! Oh well, now I can pass along that bit of advice to my fellow Dissers

Would we eat here again: I would definitely keep this as a good option while at AK. I don't think we'll hurry back here next time, but wouldn't count it out in the future.

Credits used: 1 CS (Paid OOP for the stupid bread sticks)

Alright, so, Kelly informs me that I need to do Kona Cafe on this post to catch up with her report. So here it goes!

Kona Cafe (Dinner)

After our long day at AK we headed back to the hotel. Nora and Grammie were tired and decided to stay in the room and relax, while Kelly and I went to Kona Cafe for dinner. The atmosphere at Kona was nice, but it was a lot smaller than I imagined it to be. After being seated it took a little while for our waitress to come over to us. Didn't seem like it was that long, but the waitress was very apologetic about the wait and took our drink orders right away. At Kona you can get a smoothie included on the DDP, so Kelly ordered this - it was strawberry I think...

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I needed a drink at this point in the trip and ordered a glass of Riesling. The waitress brought over the bottle and I guess since it was the bottom of the bottle and didn't fill up my glass the whole way she told me to drink up and she'd bring me another glass - didn't have to ask me twice!

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Bread with macadamia night butter - omg this is so good - I wish I had some right now!

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Kelly and I had been studying the Kona menu for months, but when it came time to order, we weren't sure what to get! I decided on Teriyaki-style New York Strip - sirloin strip grilled with pineapple teriyaki glaze served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and stir-fried broccolini. This was SO good! mmmmmmmmm

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Kelly had Pan Asian Noodles - Asian egg noodles with sliced chicken, pineapple, seasonal vegetables, and a housemade sweet and sour sauce. These were really good and there were lots of them!

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For dessert:

Banana chocolate creme brulee - Kelly and I liked this but didn't love it. It was very light but there was something weird about the banana flavor in it. Maybe we just aren't creme brulee people?!

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And we got the Kilauea Torte to go. Kelly may or may not have dropped this on the ground at the restaurant while she was trying to close it up :sad2: - geez I was the one that had 2 glasses of wine! hehe!

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The waitress also offered us this water to take back with us since I paid OOP for my wine and there was a drink included with the meal. It was ginormous!

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Likes: The food here was really, really good. I would definitely recommend it! Yum!

Dislikes: I wasn't 100% impressed with the atmosphere here, but it was still a great choice.

Would we eat here again: Yes! I would love to try breakfast here, and there were definitely other meals I would like to give a try. I'm sure we'll be back here.

Credits used: 2 TS and OOP for the wine.

Next up - Chef Mickeys!!!!!

[SmallWorld71]

Enjoying your reviews. :goodvibes I'm glad you enjoyed WCC. We tried it for the 1st time last August and I was surprised at how good the food was and the smoothies/ milk shakes :love: .
As far as Tonga Toast goes, I had it at Kona and I thought it was good but too sweet. I would only get it again if I was sharing it with others and had some regular breakfast food too.
Looking forward to more. :)

[rentayenta]

I am really enjoying your report. pixiedust: Now I need to find your sister's trippie. :surfweb:

[tr-ray]

DH and I had Breakfast at Kona on our last trip, and I had the Tonga Toast. It was good, albeit I'm not one for cooked bananas, but very sweet.

I'm going to miss having TS meals on my next trip. :(

[Atlanta WDW Fan]

Can't wait for the next report! Merry Christmas everyone!

[SpecEdismyLife]

Loving your report! Can't wait for more!

[MainStMandy]

Loving it!!

[Disneyvirg]

Another yummy looking post! I love that you're reviewing things I actually am hoping to try! Tonga toast - may have to split that with DH. May need to find a way to try that Teryaki NY Filet from Kona - looks mighty tasty! :wave2: (Sorry for the random smiley...I was hoping to find a little smiley that was licking his chops. Didn't find one - but this little guy is cute).

Looking forward to an update...hint, hint. :teeth:

[DisneyDancin7]

MORE PLEASE! :goodvibes

[SunnieRN]

Your niece is adorable and so blessed to have three disney lovers to help her fullfill her princess in training duties! Looking forward to more!

[onelilspark]

I love Tonga Toast, but I'm definitely one to have sweet things in the morning (really any time of day) but I can have a chocolate bar for breakfast and be happy. I know my Mom is not one of those people and hates Tonga Toast, she prefers a savory breakfast....I'll do either :)

Great reviews!

[lizzyb]

Great reviews soo far..can't wait for the rest!

[kkayluvsdis]

May I just say, for the record, that I have been harassing Sarah to post for days, make that more like weeks now (!!) to post again! She is really holding me up with my TR. Geez. I guess all this holiday celebrating has put us both behind!;) Okay. Enough said. We want more food porn!:love: -Kelly (aka the Dis obsessed big sister:wizard: )

[Ciciwoowoo]

Loving your report! Am going to check out your sister's trip report now!

:goodvibes

[maxiesmom]

I'm looking forward to more pics! Great report!:)

[lovegrumpy]

can't wait to read more.

[Kellylynn3]

subbing!

[loralie]

Great food report. Can't wait to read more. :cool1:

Loralie

[Disney_Mama]

Great report so far..... Looking forward to the rest.:thumbsup2

[madameleota71]

I'm loving your report so far...can't wait for the rest!:)

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Sorry for the delay everyone! I hope you are all still interested in reading more about our trip! I've been super busy with the holidays and it hasn't helped that my computer has been acting up (aka I would type something and then the words would show up about 3 seconds after - sooo annoying!) I finally decided that I better take matters into my own hands and bring my laptop home from work to make sure I get posting this weekend! In my defense, I also went to BestBuy yesterday and eyed a pretty pink laptop, but my mean brother-in-law talked me out of it :sad2: - "you only want it because it's pink". No...I only wanted it so I could post on Dis! :) Hehe....okay, enough excuses.....here we go...

I'm actually very excited to do this first review. As someone who spent a lot of time on the food boards before our trip - I knew I just had to have a cinnamon bun from Main Street Bakery! We got up early this morning and made it to MK for rope drop! Kelly writes a lot about that in her trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028633). Since we knew we had ressies at Chef Mickey's at 10:50am we figured we would just have a light breakfast in our room and then head to MK. I on the other hand had another plan in mind. I was gonna stop by Main Street Bakery first thing and get one of those giant delicious cinnamon buns I've read so much about!! While Kelly, Mom and Nora headed over to Adventureland I headed over to the bakery to brave the masses of people and score a giant cinnamon bun.

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Wow! This did not disappoint. I will admit that I had a good part of it eaten by the time I found the rest of the crew on Aladdin's flying carpets! It was warm and gooey and sweet and delicious. There will never be another Dis trip where I don't get one of these. Definitely a must do! Oh and by the way - this counts as 1 snack credit. Next time I want to try the french toast loaf - that looks yummy too!

Now that we had our sugar high for the morning, we were ready to enjoy a fun - not so crowded morning at MK! It was so fun and relaxing that we also didn't want to leave to go to Chef Mickey's! But, we knew that there were great things waiting for us, so we hoped on the Monorail and headed to the Contemporary.

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Chef Mickey's Breakfast

This was one meal that we were all looking forward to. So far we have tried character breakfasts at Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare, but we had heard nothing but good things about Chef Mickey's so we were anxious to give it a try. Plus since Mickey and the "classic" characters sometimes have long wait times at MK we figured this was a good way to get to meet them all!

We decided to try and get the latest breakfast ressie that we could for Chef Mickey's because we figured it would count as breakfast and lunch for us and also because we had read that you get a bit more character interaction that way and that it is not quite so crowded. When we got to Chef Mickey's we were all happy that we got seated almost right away and we had a great table that was near the back and against the wall, so we felt like we had our own private little area. It wasn't long before the waitress came and brought us some OJ and coffee and an applejuice box for Nora. It was also around that time that we realized that we had forgotten our clipboard and paper for autographs! Yikes! That just wouldn't do - especially since we were meeting the mouse himself! So I ran out to the Contemporary gift shop and bought a little autograph book - phew! Crisis averted!

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The decor was very fun and colorful!

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Meanwhile, it was time to try out the buffet!! Here are our plates:

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The mini Mickey waffles were delicious (better than the big ones at Captain Cooks in my opinion). And boy did Miss Nora eat here! She was eating like a bird the whole trip - apparently to save her appetite for Chef Mickey's. She had a donut, yogurt, fruit loops, fruit - you name it! The rest of us also indulged. The other character breakfast we went to had pretty much all the same food, and I guess Chef Mickey's was pretty much the same as well, but for some reason it just tasted so much better than the ones we've been to before. They had these cheesy potato things that were sooo good! And a veggie lasagna that was tasty and a different addition for a breakfast buffet. We all ate until we were stuffed - even sampling the dessert offerings. Then came the characters!!!!

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See - she didn't even stop eating for the Mouse himself!!! We saw Micky, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto pretty much right in a row. They all spent a good amount of time with us and all signed autographs. But Nora wanted to see Donald. "Where's Donald???" Finally she spotted him!

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Likes: We liked everything about this experience! The food was good, the characters were awesome, and it was just an overall great time! Its nice to sit down at a laid back restaurant with a two year old and not feel worried about her being too loud or wanting to run around. It was also so fun to see all the classic characters that are sometimes hard to find at the parks - oh yah and their costumes are cute too!!!

Dislikes: I can't think of anything bad to say about this experience!

Credits Used: 3 table service (Nora ate for free)

Would we eat here again: YES! It will definitely be a must-do for future trips!!!

Since I haven't posted in a while - I figured I would throw in a little bonus to this post. Here are a few pictures of the sushi bar at the Poly. We didn't actually get a chance to eat here which I was very disappointed about, but we did find a hidden Mickey on the counter!!!

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Heres another we found on the wall near the stairs at the Poly...

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0408.jpg

Next up: A pleasant suprise at Mamma Melrose's! :woohoo:

[WAHMto5]

Great reviews................thanks so much for sharing!!

[SunnieRN]

Great update and fantastic pictures. Looking forward to more!

[mickeymotto]

Keep them coming...great pics. I love the details too.:thumbsup2

[Krissalee]

More amazing reviews! Thank you!

Because I am the resident Disney Maniac in my family, I have promised to take my DNephew to Disney when he is at an age when he would be able to appreciate it. That time is fast approaching, and I think Chef Mickey's will be the best option, as he is a big MM fan!

[WDWMagicGirlie]

Awesome report! Keep em coming!

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Mama Melrose's Fantasmic Dinner Package

Kelly informs me that my last post wasn't long enough and that I need to catch up with her, so here we go! popcorn::

We went back and forth on the Fantasmic dinner ressie a couple of times. We first booked at the Brown Derby restaurant, but decided that we weren't sure it was worth the 2 TS credits from the reviews we'd seen. By the time we got around to changing the ressie there weren't a whole lot of options left. We ended up with a 3:50pm ressie at Mama Melrose's. We were all excited to actually go to Fantasmic, and figured this dinner package would work out really well since we were on the free dining plan and all. For those of you who may be newcomers - the Fantasmic dinner package means you get dinner and a ticket to a special seating section at the show. I don't think any of us were really that hungry after our huge breakfast at Chef Mickey's, but we made our way to Mama Melrose's anyway and hoped for the best.

We ran into a little trouble getting to this ressie on time. For more info on that check out Kelly's post: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028633&page=4

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Since we had such an early dinner ressie, the restaurant wasn't very busy at all. We were seated and greeted by our amazing waiter Kevin! :worship: I can not say enough good things about Kevin. He was just so pleasant and right on top of everything we needed!

Here's a pic I slyly took of Kevin :) He's the one on the left!

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Now, let's get to the food!

First, we ordered some delicious Sangria!

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Then came the rolls (which I guess I don't have a picture of :( )

The Fantasmic Dinner package comes with an appetizer (1 for each of us)

Kelly got the tomato, basil, and mozzerella, which I stole a bite of and it was fresh and delicious

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I had the mixed greens salad with balsamic dressing - I got it without the Gorgonzola cheese. It was a bit boring, but I wanted to save my appetite :)

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Mom had the Minestrone soup - I think she liked it - It was a recommendation from Kevin!

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Kevin brought Nora out this fruit cup - we didn't even have to ask him for it! How did he know our Nora loves her fruit!! :lovestruc

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For our main courses Kelly had the Wood-Grilled Salmon basted with sun-dried tomato pesto over roasted vegetables - She really liked this - I think she licked her platter clean!

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I had the Eggplant Napoleon: eggplant, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes over a warm cannellini bean ragu - mmm this was really really good. The little pouch thingers had some pesto or something in them and were mighty good.

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Mom had the pork chop - I don't see the description over at allears, but she seemed to like it.

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Nora wanted some plain spagetti, but Kevin brought her out this - I don't think she liked it much, however, she did have fun putting them on her fingers :lmao:

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By the time we got done with all this food we could hardly move! Haha are you seeing a trend here!? But nothing was going to stop us from trying some dessert!

Kelly had the chocolate gelato - yum - like chocolate icecream!

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I had the tiramisu - oh my gosh was this good! I think I ate pretty much the whole thing by myself! Very rich, but delicious!

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Mom was too stuffed for dessert, so Kevin let her have a cappachino instead

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Nora had a sundae!!!

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I think maybe she liked it! haha

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Credits Used: 3 TS (Nora ate for free - thanks Kevin!)

Likes: As I mentioned earlier, we were all a little skeptical about this ressie. Not sure why, but I wasn't really expecting it to be that great. We were all pleasantly suprised! I think it helped that we had such great service and that the restaurant wasn't that busy. The theming inside the restaurant is great, but I could see that it would get a bit crowded - and it started to as we were leaving. The food was yummy and the portions were good sized.

Dislikes: There are only a couple things I can think of that could have been better. First, as I just said, I think it is a bit crowded in there with the tables a bit close together - wasn't a problem for us, but might be a little cramped during prime dinner time. The other potential issue is that the menu isn't that big. I would have liked a few more options. That being said, the things we ordered were yummy so I can't complain!

Would we eat here again: Yes. I would definitely recommend this place for the fantasmic dinner package. Its a great amount of food! I think that next time we will try one of the other HS restaurants - I have my eye on Sci-Fi or 50's Prime time, but I'm definitely glad we gave this one a try!

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Next Up: Keys to the Kingdom Tour - Liberty Tree Tavern lunch and Sunshine Seasons (missed out on Coral Reef AGAIN!)

[kkayluvsdis]

Another delicious looking post sister! I must emphasize again how wonderful our service was at Mama Melrose's. :lovestruc It definitely made it one of the most memorable meals on the trip! BUT...I must also say that you are slipping a bit----on our KTTK tour we ate at Columbia Harbour House not Liberty Tree Tavern--GEEZ! Don't mislead people! Hehe..Okay, so since you have waaaaay more views on your report than me you must be doing something right! When can we start planning our next trip? Should I sign up for the Dis Visa????:rolleyes1

[Flossbolna]

Great dining reviews, I love the pictures that show the restaurants. Mama Melrose really looks interesting. I never felt like eating there - being from Europe I tend to search out the American dining options - that's "exotic" for us! :goodvibes

Looking forward to the CHH review!

[jill062604]

Great job with the reviews so far! I cant wait to read more!:happytv:

[mooneyda]

I have to say looks like you had a wonderful trip with lots of great food.I think you have sold me on the WCC and trying Kona Cafe on my trip in May.

[jjzmgailey]

Fabulous reviews! I'm really enjoying your pictures & your daughter is a little cutie pie!!

[msce2]

Awesome reviews! Thank you!

[ShannonMB]

This is GREAT fun! I LOVE that pic of Nora in bed in her jammies eating her french toast. It looks like such a fun little vaca moment! Honestly, all the pics, and the prose -- enjoying it all! Can't wait for more!

[*Flower*]

Amazing series.....

Can't wait for the next installment!

[NMW]

Great dining review. Love the pics!

[mermaid&cinderella]

subscribing....love your reviews so far:thumbsup2

[wdwthanksgiving]

really enjoying your reviews - the pros and cons are helpful and the pics are great! your family is so cute and you all look alike (maybe its the eyes!)
nora is darling!
thanks for taking the time to share-:goodvibes

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Joining you! Thanks!!:daisy:

[darthtatty]

fab reviews, wish id brought something nicer to eat for Dinner :rotfl:
cant wait till i go in May.xx:cool1:

[ADreamer4lyfe]

:goodvibes i love you and your sisters posts... great job!!! huge help in planning my 1st family trip for next year!

[lucytootsie]

Coming out of lurking to say I have been enjoying both you and your sisters reports.:cheer2:

[MeetingMickeyin2006]

Awesome reviews! Your niece is adorable!

[All7OfUs]

Quick question,

Did the sangria come with the dinner pkg. or did you pay OOP for that?? I would definitely consider it if it came with that! And I love that the appetizer is included as well. If you are on the DDP, can you really use that towards a Fantasmic package?? Sorry, just a little confused on how that works.

[SnwflkCts]

Ooooo, I am loving your report! I usually just lurk thru all the food porn but just wanted to pop in and say how much I am enjoying yours!

DH and I will be at the Poly in just one more month and can't wait to try out Captain Cooks. We were there before the renovation was completed so the menu is much different now! Also, my beloved Kona -- menu has changed but I was happy you still liked it. (I find it a little small and loud but we have eaten there four times so we must like it!). Also, Mama Melrose is on our list again. DH liked it enough that we picked it again for our DHS day. I am going to try the Sangria this time! As Rachael Ray says ... YUMMO!

Thanks for taking the time to do these reviews! :thumbsup2

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Quick question,

Did the sangria come with the dinner pkg. or did you pay OOP for that?? I would definitely consider it if it came with that! And I love that the appetizer is included as well. If you are on the DDP, can you really use that towards a Fantasmic package?? Sorry, just a little confused on how that works.

Ohhh I should have mentioned that (thanks for asking!) We paid OOP for the sangria - it is not included on the DDP. When you pay OOP for alcohol you still get your drink on the DDP, so you can get a soda or whatever too if you want. I think you could also get a bottle of water to take with you depending on the restaurant (we did that at Kona but didn't try it anywhere else). And yes, the Fantasmic dinner package is included on the DDP - great deal with the free appetizer! :goodvibes

Ooooo, I am loving your report! I usually just lurk thru all the food porn but just wanted to pop in and say how much I am enjoying yours!

DH and I will be at the Poly in just one more month and can't wait to try out Captain Cooks. We were there before the renovation was completed so the menu is much different now! Also, my beloved Kona -- menu has changed but I was happy you still liked it. (I find it a little small and loud but we have eaten there four times so we must like it!). Also, Mama Melrose is on our list again. DH liked it enough that we picked it again for our DHS day. I am going to try the Sangria this time! As Rachael Ray says ... YUMMO!

Thanks for taking the time to do these reviews! :thumbsup2

I definitely recommend the sangria - see if you can get seated with Kevin - he was the best! :thumbsup2 I'm glad you're enjoying the report - I'm a frequent lurker of the food porn as well - makes me hungry (and makes me miss Dis!)

Coming out of lurking to say I have been enjoying both you and your sisters reports.:cheer2:

Yay! Glad you are enjoying both! Its become a bit competitive between us to see who can get more views - I think I'm waaaay ahead, although I supposed its not really fair since I have all the yummy food pics popcorn::

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Thanks to everyone who has joined us so far! I'm so glad you are all enjoying reading about our trip! I finally got a new computer so I now have NO excuses for not keeping up on my posts :woohoo: And - as a side note - I have a new widescreen monitor that makes the food look so real - yikes, I'm hungry already!

Okay, let's get to the post. As Kelly pointed out, I made a mistake in my last post and got you all excited for Liberty Tree Tavern - not sure why that popped into my head, but anyways, the Keys to the Kingdom tour included Columbia Harbour House for lunch! So I will begin this post with that!

Kelly does a fantasic job over at her post (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028633&page=6) explaining the KTTK tour. It was super fun for Dis-addicts like us to get to see another side of Disney and even just have someone point out all the little details that you don't always take the time to stop and see. There is so much that goes into making Disney the magical place it is - very eye opening!

Columbia Harbour House - Lunch

When we checked in for our tour they immediately took our lunch order. Being the planners that we are, Kelly and I already had picked out what we wanted to get! Kelly got the chicken nuggets and fish with fries, and I got the tuna sandwich with chips- we split!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0554-1.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0555-1.jpg

The food here was very tasty. It is a counter service restaurant, but has plenty of tables to sit and eat inside. There is also an upstairs that felt out of the way and quiet. I really liked that it wasn't as loud and crazy as some of the other CS in MK (aka Cosmic Rays!) Kelly and I both really enjoyed our food picks here. The chicken was similar to that at Cosmic Rays and the fish was yummy as well (there was a lot of it!). The fries here were also very good - notice that Kelly only gave me three :sad2: Now, I am not one to usually order tuna at a restaurant - why order something out that is easy to make at home? Well - I had read on Disboards that this tuna sandwich was something special, so of course I just had to try! It did not disappoint. I didn't think it was out of this world extraordinary, but it was fresh and not too mayonaisey. Kelly and I left feeling very full and satisfied.

We would definitely eat here again. Again, I thought the atmosphere was great - as there were out of the way places to sit and relax inside, and the food was good and something different from other places in Dis. A lot of people on our tour got salads that looked yummy too!

Sorry I don't have many pictures here - they warned us against taking pictures on the tour so I think I put my camera away and forgot about it for a while!!!

Next up - Will we never make it to Coral Reef?

Kelly is supposedly waiting on me to post her next installment - apparently I am holding some pictures hostage on my old laptop that she needs - hmmm I need to work on that! In the meantime I'll give a little sneak preview of our dinner this day. We had ressies at Coral Reef, but it seems we weren't destined to go. I won't give away all the fun details - but I'll give you a hint - it involves the monorail and a bomb sniffing dog! yikes! :scared1:

So, since we obviously didn't make it to Coral Reef, we chose to check out Sunshine Seasons for dinner. Kelly and I were still a little full from our lunch so we shared dinner!

As a side note here for a minute - I just came across this picture from the Poly gift shop and I thought I would share. The hidden Mickey book counts this as a hidden mickey - hmmm DUH! :rotfl:

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0409.jpg

Haha okay, sorry about that....Sunshine Seasons - Dinner

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0563.jpg

Sunshine Seasons is in "The Land" in Epcot. It is a CS but has a ton of different options. I swear I walked up and down the line at least 4 times trying to figure out what I wanted to eat! Mom, however, knew right away what she wanted. I didn't even have time to take a pic before she dug right in!!!

Half Rotisserie Chicken with 2 sides (mashed potatoes and carrots)
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0564.jpg

I think she ended up getting fruit or yogurt or something for Nora as her dessert...I can't remember but I'm sure Kelly will....anyways, mom thought this was great and ate it right up! Very tasty for a CS meal - big portion too! Update: Yup, Kelly just informed me that we got Nora a yogurt that we paid oop for - I think it was ridiculously expensive for a yogurt - and mom got fruit as her dessert. Kelly also mentioned that this was the dinner that Nora was very naughty and didn't want to eat or sit at the table - she just wanted to run back and forth on the bench seats - they were like a booth or something but longer. She wasn't interested in us slowing her down to eat!

Kelly and I shared the chicken caesar salad. YUM! It was very good - I remember the chicken as being very good. It looks big, but I think if I was hungry I could have eaten most of it :thumbsup2

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0565.jpg

For dessert, Kelly and I shared the strawberry shortcake - YUMYUMYUMMMMMMM I wish I had one of these babies right NOW!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0566.jpg

Likes: I liked that there were a ton of choices here for a CS. This is a great choice if you have a bunch of people in your group who like different things! I also liked all the dessert choices.

Dislikes: It may just be that I have bad memories from Nora being a bit naughty as we ate here, but I wasn't a huge fan of the seating area here. It was large and out in the open, but felt a bit like a cafeteria or something? Not sure why. So I didn't love the atmosphere, but the food was great!

Credits Used: 2 CS

Would we eat here again: Yes. I would definitely come back here again, espeically since there are so many different choices. I would also be interested in trying their breakfast here - and also trying more of their desserts hehe! Actually, maybe next time Kelly and mom are on Soarin', I'll stop in here for a snack! ha!

After our dinner at Sunshine Seasons, we headed out to explore some more of Epcot. We had planned to explore the countries this night so that is where we headed. Kelly will fill you in on more of the details, but I will talk about the food we ate around the world! It was my idea to do the food tour around the world, similar to the beer tour my brother-in-law and I tried to do last time ;) haha....(we made it to the Sake in Japan and stopped - we're so weak). So, anyways, the food tour is definitely more attainable - and since Kelly and I had a light dinner, it wasn't long until we were ready for a snack. Our first snack stop was in France!

France - Boulangerie Patisserie

This place was pretty packed if I remember correctly, and it took us a while to figure out what we wanted! We ended up with the ham and cheese croissant. I had read out these over on the snack board - and yes this counts as a snack credit and yes it was warmed up and yes it was delicious!!! It was so yummy, I would definitely go for one of these for breakfast! mmmmm...we also shared a mocha, yum!

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0570.jpg

Next, we walked right by the funnel cake stand - not sure how- and arrived here:

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0576.jpg

We got Kringla Sweet Pretzel and school bread

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0577.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp335/kkaymw/IMG_0578.jpg

The pretzel, I will admit, was not as good as it looks. I'm not sure why, but none of us really cared for it all that much. It had some sort of weird spice in the icing that we didn't care for. Anyone have thoughts on this??

The school bread, however, was delicious as usual!

Hmm...I guess I thought our food tour of Epcot was more impressive. I guess we looked more than we actually ate! I really reallllllly wanna do the food and wine tour at Epcot - maybe that will be our next trip (Kelly did just get a 40% off code - I guess they know we are suckers by now :))

Next up - Captain Cooks bfast, yet again. And Downtown Disney - WPE!

[Flossbolna]

Great update! I hope your new computer will be a good investment!

I think the spice might have been cardamom, it is very common in Scandinavia and if you are not used to it, it does taste a bit like soap. I personally love it, but I think it is a bit of an acquired taste.

And I wanted to mention that I recently read somewhere (I think on the Passporter newsletter) that actually the movement of the seats at Soarin is very little. They said that here if you start feeling strange from the film, closing your eyes really works. Perhaps you might want to try it out after knowing this?

[nicoleakr]

love your reviews!!!!I love the ham and chesse in france too!!!!!!

[BellaSoleil]

I did not get my ham and cheese crossiont in Epcot last week. I'm so bitter about it!:laughing:

Thanks for posting a great picture of it. I'm very glad that you both enjoyed it. :)

[DWFan4Life]

Thank you for sharing those pics, you have a great review. Looking forward for your other reviews. I'm glad that you enjoy your trip. :)

[Disneyfan71]

WOW..thanks for sharing. And I love the pictures of all the restaurants. I'd love to try Mama Melrose's and Columbia Harbour House!! So many choices, so little time :)

[kkayluvsdis]

ummm...YUM! I may have to go on with my post without your pics! I'm so sad that they are trapped on your old computer! I also can't believe that we are coming to the end of our "trip"---waaa. Okay, Nora and I are off to gymnastics! Can we use the 40% code, can we, can we?!:flower3:
-K

[Flossbolna]

ummm...YUM! I may have to go on with my post without your pics! I'm so sad that they are trapped on your old computer! I also can't believe that we are coming to the end of our "trip"---waaa. Okay, Nora and I are off to gymnastics! Can we use the 40% code, can we, can we?!:flower3:
-K

I hope you can use the 40% code!! And please start a PTR if you do, I will definitely read it and post on it! :goodvibes

[haoxia]

Please keep them coming

[Lady Lallie]

Great reviews!!! I am really, really hungry now. :bitelip:

[babytrees]

What a great review and what a great idea to have companion threads!!:thumbsup2

[angelmav]

Loving it all, Great pics too!

[LPNmom]

Getting a kickout out of reading you reviews. My sister and I always plan the meals for our family trips to Disneyworld, your pictures are making me hungery and excited about our upcoming trip! Can't wait to see more!

[All7OfUs]

Is the ham and cheese croissant really a snack credit??!! Wow! I could really see myself getting one of those at the end of the day to take back to our room for breakfast! Mmmm!

[jpmom97]

Love your report! Can't wait to read more!

[DisneyFan83]

Awesome reviews and pics... looking forward to more :)

[jenseib]

DH always told me it was "OSCAR SHOOS" or at least that's how to pronounce it, but apparently he's wrong too! :rolleyes1


ETA - OP, I'm sorry for intervening. :D I just had to laugh at this comment. And I can't wait for more updates!

How do you pronounce it? I have no clue. When I made my ADR I totally butchered it and the CM said she knew what I was talking about, but never really said it, or at least I didn't pay attention. :confused3

[MelanieC]

Great review and pictures - Looking forward to more!

[All7OfUs]

We're ready and waiting whenever you are :)

[debit34]

Great report, looking forward to more! :flower3:

[ILoveMK2008]

Such a fun report... your fam is so adorable! Can't wait to read more :goodvibes

[wdwfanatic316]

Just read the whole review- love your reviews! :goodvibes I think the likes/dislikes are especially helpful! :thumbsup2