Nat and Joh make a (Food) Porno

[wilma-bride]

Me, my best friend Natalie and our families spent 11 nights at Disney World and 3 nights on the Disney Wonder in October. Following our fourteen nights of culinary delights, we decided to make a food porno for your titillation.

Before we start, I need to make it clear that I do not claim to be a culinary expert and most definitely do not have a sophisticated palate like some of the more (in)famous reviewers here. However, I can promise that there will be: a) pictures (lots of them) b) cocktails (a few) and c) copious uses of the words ‘yummy’, ‘smashing’ and ‘delicious’. If you’re still interested, feel free to read on…

The cast:

Me (Joh) – a self-confessed ‘fussy eater’ who doesn’t like sauces, pasta, fish or much else really
My DH (Gary) – will eat most things but has a weakness for ribs
DD1 (Sian, 16) – has developed her Mother’s refined palate and is almost (but not quite) as fussy as me
DD2 (Rhiannon, 15) – there isn’t much she won’t eat. In our house, if anyone can’t finish a meal, Rea is usually the one who finishes up for them
DS (Daniel, 6) – like Rea, he’s fairly adventurous. One of the few children I’ve met who LOVES vegetables

Natalie - will eat most things and try anything once (a statement I put to the test later in the trip)
Nat’s DH (Johnny) - like Rea, he is the one from the Longstaff household who finishes the uneaten meals
Nat’s DD (Ellie, 11) - can be a finicky eater; likes cheeseburgers without cheese :rotfl:
Nat’s DS (Matthew, 8) - like Father, like son - 'nuff said

This is us

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/Scannedpictures.jpg

L-R: (Back) Gary, Sian, Nat, John, Me, Rea (Front) Ellie, Matthew, Daniel

Nat and I were both on Weight Watchers for almost a year before this trip and lost a combined total of 60 lbs so we had a lot of eating to make up for. If anyone would like to hazard a guess at our combined weigh gain after this trip, feel free :lmao:

Although we were staying on site, our meals consisted of a mixture of on and off-site. We weren’t on the dining plan but, for the most part, I kept a note of the costs. We had been slightly concerned about the problems of splitting the checks for meals so decided, before we left, to purchase a pre-paid Mastercard and loaded a number of $$$ on per person. For each adult, we loaded $50 per day, each teen we loaded $40 per day and each child we loaded $30 per day. Due to the fact that we had the DCL cruise, we only pre-paid enough for 10 days so our Mastercard started with a balance of $3713.

For the most part, I’ve got photos of what we all had even if I don’t know/can’t remember what it all was. So, without further ado, here is where we ate:

Frankie and Benny’s, Gatwick Airport, London – dinner (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34379067&postcount=3)
Earl of Sandwich, Downtown Disney – dinner (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34379526&postcount=8)
Crystal Palace, Magic Kingdom – breakfast (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34384620&postcount=16)
T-Rex, Downtown Disney – dinner (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34431608&postcount=32)
Ghirardelli’s, Downtown Disney – dessert (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34431724&postcount=33)
Busch Gardens - snacks
Bennigans’s, US192 – dinner
Friendly’s, International Drive – dinner
Sanaa lounge, Kidani Village – drinks
Thunder Falls Terrace, Islands of Adventure – lunch
Maji Pool Bar, Kidani Village – drinks
Longhorn Steakhouse, US192 – dinner
Sunshine Seasons, Epcot – breakfast
Cheesecake Factory, Mall at Millennia – late lunch
Sanaa lounge, Kidani Village – drinks
Yak and Yeti, Animal Kingdom – lunch
Chili’s, US192 – dinner
Starring Rolls Bakery, Hollywood Studios – breakfast and snacks
Mara, Animal Kingdom Lodge – dinner
Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge – breakfast
The Plaza, Magic Kingdom – dinner
Sunshine Seasons, Epcot – breakfast
Yorkshire County Fish Shop, Epcot – lunch
T-Rex, Downtown Disney – dinner
Beach Blanket Buffet, Disney Wonder – lunch
Animator’s Palate, Disney Wonder – dinner
Wavebands, Disney Wonder – drinks
Promenade Lounge, Disney Wonder – drinks
Parrot Cay, Disney Wonder – dinner
Tritons, Disney Wonder – dinner
Contempo Café, Contemporary Resort – lunch
‘Ohana, Polynesian Resort – dinner
Starring Rolls Bakery, Hollywood Studios – breakfast
Friendly’s, International Drive - lunch

First picture review coming soon :)

[oybolshoi]

Hi Joh! Looking forward to reading your newest food reviews. :goodvibes

Congrats on the weight loss - that's terrific!

[wilma-bride]

It is tradition for our family to stay at the airport the night before our flight so, once we had completed twilight check-in, we headed for Gatwick Village and over to Frankie & Benny’s. It is a chain restaurant, popular in the UK, which is loosely based on a New York-style diner.

My DH is not a massive fan of F&B’s but choice is limited at Gatwick so you take what you can get.

We were seated almost straight away and ordered some drinks:- beer for John, glass of White Zinfandel for Nat, a Cosmopolitan for me and cokes/soft drinks for the kids and DH.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009014.jpg

The Cosmo was lovely and, surprisingly enough for a chain place, pretty strong :thumbsup2

We decided to forego appetisers in favour of dessert and orders were placed, amid high spirits and much hilarity. The food took a little while to arrive and we were all more than pleased to see it when it did. For some reason, I only seem to have pictures of some of the meals, so here is what I've got.

Rea - Meatballs on Spaghetti: Five large classic pork and beef meatballs, piled high on to spaghetti tossed in our rich tomato and beef ragu. A real big eat!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009011.jpg

Gary - BBQ Double Cheese:Two 6oz* grilled hamburgers each topped with Monterey Jack cheese. Served with lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickle, mayo, spicy onion rings and a pot of BBQ sauce for you to pour!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009012.jpg

Nat and John both ordered the Manhattan:Two 6oz* grilled hamburgers stacked high and topped with crispy grilled bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickle, mayo and spicy onion rings

Are you going to eat that - or climb it?
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009013.jpg

I do know that Ellie had a cheese pizza and Daniel had chicken burger but I cannot remember for the life of me what I ate.

That may have something to do with the fact that, having enjoyed my Cosmo so much, Nat and I decided we would order a pitcher. It was a very generous amount, with enough for at least 2 glasses each. Like I said, it was pretty potent stuff and by the time we left I was feeling more than a little merry.

Main course finished, it was dessert time. Rea declared herself stuffed, which is unlike Rea - she is normally something of a bottomless pit. Sian also declined dessert.

Nat and I shared the Cinnamon Apple Waffle Crunch. Normally, when I share dessert with DH (which doesn't happen often - "Gary doesn't share food"), I have the difficulty of fighting to get my fair share. With Nat, I have the opposite problem - I have to stop her from pushing her share over to my side of the the plate :rotfl:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009021.jpg

DH had an ice-cream sundae, as did the kids.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009020.jpg

I'm pretty sure John must have had dessert - after all, John is John - but I'm not sure what he had.

We split the bill (or check as you guys call it) two ways and departed the restaurant. I'm pretty sure, if I'd laid down on my side, the others could have rolled me all the way back to the Hilton. As it was, I settled for walking (albeit unsteadily) :rotfl:

[wilma-bride]

Hi Joh! Looking forward to reading your newest food reviews. :goodvibes

Congrats on the weight loss - that's terrific!

Hey Brenda, so sorry we didn't get the chance to meet up in October. I did get to meet up with Kathy, though, so that was great :)

[2Tiggies]

Wow, your pics are GREAT! I really love the fact that you are not a "culinary expert" - I love "real people" reviews :rotfl: You also got my attention with the fussy part - your pickiness is similar to mine when it comes to preferences for no sauces, etc. YOu have yourself an attention-paying poster, enjoying your posts! :thumbsup2

[Linda67]

Really looking forward to this one
Very interested is some of the off property restaurants as we are staying off property in March

[wilma-bride]

Wow, your pics are GREAT! I really love the fact that you are not a "culinary expert" - I love "real people" reviews :rotfl: You also got my attention with the fussy part - your pickiness is similar to mine when it comes to preferences for no sauces, etc. YOu have yourself an attention-paying poster, enjoying your posts! :thumbsup2

Welcome, hope you enjoy the pictures and the pickiness :rotfl:

[wilma-bride]

Our first two food experiences of travel day were uneventful, not worthy of any real mention and, as I don't have any pictorial evidence (aka porn), let's move on shall we?

After 11 hours spent travelling and, haiving eaten nothing more than a pack of Mini Cheddars or Pringles since breakfast, it came as no surprise that the amjority of us were starving by the time we got to the resort. We were staying at AKV (Kidani village) so we could have popped over to Mara but Nat and I had been bandying around the idea of paying a visit to Downtown Disney for an Earl of Sandwich fix. Guess what won?

Sandwiches, lashings of fizzy pop and hot roast beef smoothies all round :rotfl:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/FloridaAug07628a.jpg

Again, DH is not a massive fan but, let's face it, the guy obviously hasn't got any taste. What's not to like? Bread - good, meat - good, cheese - gooooood :thumbsup2

Nat and John shared the BLT

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/018.jpg

The kids had the turkey and cheese

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/017.jpg

Me and Daniel shared an Earl's Club with no sauce

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009049.jpg

Rea had the Hawaiian BBQ

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009048.jpg

The sandwiches really hit the spot and even DH had no complaints - I think he was probably too tired :rotfl:

[oybolshoi]

Ahhhh, someone else who appreciates the hot roast beef smoothie sign! :rotfl2:

[tony64]

:thumbsup2

[Symans3honeybees]

I love porn(food porn that is :rotfl:)

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Love your title!

[natalielongstaff]

Hope you are all enjoying the reviews as much as Joh and I enjoyed eating all the yummy food :lmao:

[Sorsha]

Hope you are all enjoying the reviews as much as Joh and I enjoyed eating all the yummy food :lmao:

Absolutely!
Can't wait for more! :surfweb:

[dizneeat]

Hi Joh! What a fun surprise that you started your food review!

But ..........

it's not nice to start without me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) :lmao:

Okay, back to post one and start reading now!

[wilma-bride]

Back in July, when I was making our ADRs, we'd had no plans to eat breakfast at Crystal Palace but, while on the phone to Disney Dining I thought I would ask and, as luck would have it, I was able to get an 8.15 breakfast on our first day. Nat and John had eaten there for dinner before but not breakfast so why not start the day off the right way. And so the deal was done!

Truth be told, there are two reasons why I love breafast at Crystal Palace:- a) Puffed French Toast and b) the opportunity to take pictures of a (virtually) empty Magic Kingdom.

Unfortunately, this morning the Gods had conspired against us and, thanks to DH's reluctance to get out of bad and an unlucky run of buses, we were running late from the outset and so reason b) was pretty much a non-starter. Not only were there far more people around than I would have liked but I barely had time to glance in the direction of the castle while I was hot-footin' it down Main Street almost 30 minutes late for our ADR. I still had puffed french toast to look forward to though.

Luckily, we were still seated fairly quickly and led to two tables on the left hand side of the restaurant. I was warned when making the ADR that, due to the size of our party, we may be split up. However, it wasn't a major problem. We had two smaller tables right next to each other - and I didn't have to sit with the kids so that was a bonus :thumbsup2

Since part of the reason for our lateness was due to DH's lack of hot tea fix, we were quick to ask our server for "tea, and plenty of it, my good man" :rotfl:

Tea and OJ was provided quickly and there was no problem getting chocolate milk for the kids either (only on vacation).

Since there were no characters in the near vicinity, we all (with the exception of DH) made a beeline for the buffet. This was my first plate

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009060.jpg

Chocolate and plain Mickey waffles - the plain ones were lovely but I didn't like the chocolate ones at all, sausage - good, bacon - slightly more chewy than I would prefer, donut holes - yum, puffed french toast - yuk! Hang on, yuk?!? Yep, you got it guys, my beloved french toast tasted awful. Now I'm not sure whether it's due to the fact that I've been living on a diet of cream crackers and grilled chicken for the last ten months or if it was a bad batch but either way it wasn't good.

I was so distraught I had to have more Mickey waffles to cheer me up. I couldn't quite bring myself to try another piece of french toast though :sad2:

Meanwhile, poor DH was obviously suffering from severe tea deprivation as the rest of us had paid at least two visits to the buffet before he could drag himself away from his tea and then, when he did, this is what he came back with.

The phrase 'why bother' springs to mind
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009071.jpg

Luckily, he redeemed himself on the second visit with some scrambled eggs, sausage and toast.

As for Natalie and John - well, I think it's safe to say that John enjoyed it. After all, Crystal Palace has two of his favourite things - food and no limit to how much you can eat :lmao: Nat seemed to quite like the french toast too so maybe I just had a dodgy one.

So it wasn't a complete disappointment and, obviously, there was the other highlight of breakfast at Crystal Palace - the characters!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/FloridaOctober2009066.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/FloridaOctober2009062.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/028.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/023.jpg

So, all in all, Crystal Palace was a good way to start our first day. We may be back, however, probably not on our next trip.

[Natasha&Matt]

OMG!! Chocolate Mickey Waffles i was so ecited until i read that you didnt like them lol im still gunna try when i go mmmm it all looks so good!!

[pinkxray]

Great reviews and pictures so far. Can't wait to see more!

[MickeyNicki]

With a name like that it has to be good!

[Kell-Bell]

Love the Title!!!

Great reviews, love your style of writing.

Bring on the next reviews!popcorn::

[msce2]

:love: your title!

I'm so :sad1: to hear about CP's puffed french toast. I guess that means I'm going to have to try making it at home.

Thank you for your reviews! Looking forward to more food porn!!!!:laughing:

[natalielongstaff]

:love: your title!

I'm so :sad1: to hear about CP's puffed french toast. I guess that means I'm going to have to try making it at home.

Thank you for your reviews! Looking forward to more food porn!!!!:laughing:

i liked the french toast, ive never had it before though so ive nothing to compare it too :thumbsup2

[Chilly]

Chocolate waffles!!!!!!

[tony64]

Chocolate waffles, even the sound of it starts the waistband expanding. ;)

[Cleofish]

Yummy!! Your reviews so far are fab - Crystal Palace looks absolutely lush!! Fancy havig cereal for breakfast in DisneyWorld lol - not something you would catch me doing!!!:rotfl: Can't wait to read more!!:cool1:

[jackieleanne]

Great reviews. :) I am reading intently as I'm exactly like you Joh I'm a very fussy eater indeed especially when it comes to sauces etc.

[darthtatty]

Looking good so far, loving the picture.
keep up the fab work :)

[Verity Chambers]

LOVING it!! can't wait to read more :goodvibes

[TigerKat]

Signing on! I enjoyed meeting y'all so much.:grouphug:

[bolgers love wdw]

Yum,yum and some more yum!!!:goodvibes
This is going to be a good one!!!

[natalielongstaff]

Signing on! I enjoyed meeting y'all so much.:grouphug:

It was fab to meet you hun :hug:

[wilma-bride]

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/066.jpg

It's fair to say we had low (or, at least, realistic) expectations of T-Rex. Although we'd read some positive reviews before we made our reservation, most of them said much the same thing - "worth it for the atmosphere, food not much cop" (or words to that effect).

Still, as Nat said, this was for the boys. Poor Matthew had suffered through enough princess meals in his time although my girls were a bit too old for princesses by the time we started visiting Disney World so Daniel never had to endure a princess meal. Still, it's about time the boys had some more dining options at Disney, I have to say.

The first thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the fact that we had no wait. Having dined at Rainforest Cafe a few times, we have nearly always waited past our ADR time. We were eating fairly early (5.30 pm) but, still, we were seated almost immediately. Jose was our server and he was a very pleasant young man - and easy on the eyes for us girlies too, which is always a bonus. I think both of my DDs were quite taken with him (although Sian found a server she preferred much more later in the trip - but that's a story for another time ;))

I honestly can't remember what area we were sat in but it was to the right of the Kitchen of Fire and Ice Cave. I remember being slightly disappointed at not being in the Ice Cave but, having walked through it to get to the restrooms later in the evening, I actually thought it felt quite cold in there. We had a really nice booth anyway so we were all happy.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/069.jpg

Jose invited us to have a good look around the restaurant and take as many pictures as we wished. I have read reviews since, which seem to indicate that you are discouraged from taking photos but we certainly weren't made to feel that way.

We started off by ordering drinks. Nat and I both had cocktails, of course ;)

Frozen Mango Mojito for Nat - no picture, for some reason - possibly because Nat drank it before I had a chance :lmao:

And Prehistoric Sunset for me

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009107.jpg

While we were waiting for our food, we did explore and take some pictures.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/074.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/077.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/076.jpg

The food, when it came, was surprising. Not only was there loads of it but it was delicious. Here is what we had:

Me and Nat - Fire-Roasted Rotisserie Chicken with double portion of waffle fries (no, we didn't share - we did order exactly the same though ;))

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009126.jpg

Daniel - Jurassic Chicken with carrot sticks and chips

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009125.jpg

Gary - Mega-Mes-O-Bones and double portion of waffle fries

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009124.jpg

Sian - Layers of the Earth Lasagne (best lasagne she has ever had, apparently)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009123.jpg

Rea - Fire-Roasted Rotisserie Chicken with rice and apples

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009122.jpg

John - Gigantosaurus Burger with waffle fries

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/082.jpg

Matthew - Sly Sliders with Cheese and waffle fries

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/081.jpg

Ellie - Paleo Pizza

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/080.jpg

All in all, the meal at T-Rex was excellent. At $240, inc tip, it was probably our most expensive meal but we all postitively loved it. At the end of our meal, we were asked to fill in a comment card and the kids decided there was one word which summed up our visit - smashing!

[wilma-bride]

You may be wondering why we hadn't eaten dessert at T-Rex.

There was one main reason for this - Ghirardelli's :thumbsup2

Following a trip to Build-a-Dino with the boys, we just had to have ice-cream sundaes at Ghirardellis. This was a first for Nat's family and also for my kids (the soda shop had been closed on our visit in April 2008).

Daniel and I shared a Mint bliss sundae (without whipped cream)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009140.jpg

Gary had a Hot Fudge Sundae

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009138.jpg

Rea and Sian shared a Mint Bliss Sundae (no picture but just imagine mine and Daniel's with a big blob of whipped cream on top ;))

With a 10% DVC discount, the total for our three sundaes was $22.85.

Nat's family had cones with various flavours - no pictures but you can sort-of see them in the picture of Daniel above.

As usual, the sundaes were delicious. There is something about the hot fudge sauce at Ghirardelli's which is indescribable - it almost solidifies when it hits the ice-cream and the resulting combination of hot fudge sauce and cold ice-cream is heaven :love:

[DisneyJo]

Fantastic reviews girls, those ice-cream sundaes look delicious :goodvibes

[sdchickie]

Hi Nat and Joh, Glad to see you guys making this food porn since I didn't take any picts of our food on the ship! I'll have to re-live it through your pictures. popcorn::

[wishspirit]

Great thread!

Its nice to see some of my fellow Brits get in on the dining action!:thumbsup2

Thus far its been smashing, can't wait to hear the rest! :goodvibes

[TigerKat]

Great update my friends!:thumbsup2

[franandaj]

Great pics! Keep em coming!

[Linda67]

Great reviews and pictures
I now want ice cream for breakfast :rotfl2:

[mossyflossy]

:thumbsup2 signing on, your title is hilarious and your reviews are so funny, I just spat out my tea at the pic of your DH's selection at Crystal palace....

...so as it's now lunchtime, it's not wrong to want that ice cream for lunch, is it?:rolleyes1

[Linda67]

:thumbsup2 signing on, your title is hilarious and your reviews are so funny, I just spat out my tea at the pic of your DH's selection at Crystal palace....

...so as it's now lunchtime, it's not wrong to want that ice cream for lunch, is it?:rolleyes1

Ice Cream for lunch is totally encouraged - I am sure it is one of the major food groups :thumbsup2

[PoppyAnna]

Great pics and descriptions laydeees:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

Loving the porn spin-off!

[mossyflossy]

Great reviews and pictures
I now want ice cream for breakfast :rotfl2:

Ice Cream for lunch is totally encouraged - I am sure it is one of the major food groups :thumbsup2

:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

[lizzyb]

Love your title and really enjoying the reviews! Can't wait for more.

[natalielongstaff]

Thanks for your great comments everyone :cool1:

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Ohh great reviews! I never noticed the "hot roast beef smoothie" sign before . . . I can't stop laughing!!!!!!

[Sorsha]

Wonderful reviews!
Can't wait for more! :flower3:

[natalielongstaff]

Wonderful reviews!
Can't wait for more! :flower3:

We are a bit caught up on the main trippie itself at the moment, and of course christmas etc ;)

stay tuned xx

[fav_is_tink]

just popped over from your trip report to see how the food porno report was going - lovin ur views here too - got to salute your appreciation of cocktails :thumbsup2

christmas is over girls :rotfl2: where's the next fab installment ............

[maxiesmom]

Your pics are making me hungry! Can't wait to see more!:)

[danalee]

Just found your food porn! LOVE it so far, cant wait for more!! :goodvibes

[irongirlof12]

how did i miss this - i'm in.:cool1: We rather enjoyed the fodder at T-rex too. and had dessert at Ghiradelli's - i wonder how many others do the same thing !

[airhead]

enjoying your report!

[Mich123]

Enjoying your report...can't wait to read the updates!

[Natasha&Matt]

Missing the food porn! lol x

[jockey]

Great reports, pics are fab!:)

[wilma-bride]

So sorry guys, I promise I will make a concerted effort to try and finish this in the next couple of weeks :)

[KristenHoneymooner]

Those sandwiches at EOS and the sundaes from Ghiardellis looked soooo yummy! Your review is making me hungry.

But I am mainly writing to say that your title made me lol :rotfl:

[3D's]

Newbie here!! Loving the report. I am a huge anglophile & as much as I love Walt Disney World, I can't imagine WHY anyone would want to ever leave Great Britian..haha..

Lisa

[prttynpnk]

This is such fun- more, more!!

[fnrsgrl]

Yummy (and great title)! Can't wait for more!

[wilma-bride]

Firstly, apologies for the fact that I am still dragging this out some 5 months after our trip - in my defence, your honour, I have been avoiding the restaurants/reviews board like the plague as I've been trying in vain to lose the 10lbs I gained back in October (November, December and January).

Secondly, apologies in advance for the fact that this particular segment will be a little light on pictures (and detail). For some reason (I suspect because it was so foul) we didn't take any pictures of lunch on our second day and not many of dinner.

Still, I hope to make up for that over the next few updates :) So, without further ado, on with the show....

Our second day in Florida was spent at Busch Gardens. DH and I hadn't been since 2004 and the others had never been so we were all really looking forward to it. The kids and I had taken an early morning stroll over to Jambo House, where we had picked up tea (for DH) and a couple of pastries, which we all shared for breakfast. I believe Nat, John and her tribe had some cereal bars in their room.

We had a great day at Busch Gardens but I remember having a sinking feeling of deja vu when it came to finding something suitable for lunch. I remember DH and I strugggling to find anything on our last visit and it seemed we were destined to have the same problem. We didn't want anything too heavy as it was a scorching hot day but there just didn't seem to be any suitable counter service options.

We ended up at a little window where we bought some chicken strip meals to share. The fries were cold and the strips were just lukewarm and tasted 'old'. Still, they filled a hole and kept the kids quiet for a little while. No pictures but imagine, if you can, cold chicken strips and fries - and that's what it looked like ;)

Later that day, the adults fancied another round on Sheikra so bought the kids some ice creams and treats to enjoy while they waited. For some reason I only seem to have a picture of Ellie enjoying the remnants of her ice cream sundae.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc300/natalielongstaff/wdw%202009/096.jpg

After another round on Sheikra, Nat and I shared a funnel cake. It was cooked fresh and was ultra delicious, hot and crisp with just the right amount of powdered sugary goodness. It was so yummy, I wished we'd got one each.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009164.jpg

Sian was in a 'fruity' mood so got a strawberry shortcake. She gave it a big thumbs up :thumbsup2

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009163.jpg

While driving back to WDW later on, we debated about where to have dinner. The kids were tired and hungry so we settled for a Bennigans on the 192. I thought I had read that Bennigans had folded so was surprised to find this one open - and, once we'd eaten there, I was very surprised that it had managed to remain in business. The food was mediocre - at best - and the service was sadly lacking. It was a real shame as we've had some great meals at Bennigans in the past.

Turkey O'Toole (mine) - the best thing I can find to say about it is that the turkey was moist and juicy, however the bread tasted stale and was very chewy.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009182.jpg

Guinness Burger I believe this may have been John's meal :confused3

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009183.jpg

Kids Chick-a-Little

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009184.jpg

Daniel had the kids' mozzarella sticks meal, which was absoutely foul. The cheese sticks were completely covered in parmesan and inedible. DS took once bite and turned his nose up at it.

The kids had cookies and cream sundaes for dessert but the adults didn't bother.

Total cost for the 9 of us, including tip, $130

[darthtatty]

hey Joh, good to see youve added more. know what you mean about trying to lose weight and staying away from the Food section. ;)

shame you had a bad days food, great pics. :goodvibes

[wilma-bride]

The next day was spent at Universal.

We started the day with breakfast at Cinnabon :thumbsup2

2 packages of Cinnabon Stix and a diet coke - the breakfast of champions :rotfl:

With AP discount, this came to $9.45.

Matthew hadn;t been feeling well this morning but managed to get his appetite back in time for lunch at the Richter Burger Company. Following DD's behaviour this morning (see my main trip report for details), she was still sulking and refused to join us for lunch which saved me a few bucks so I wasn't complaining ;)

Daniel and I shared a chicken burger with bacon, Rea had a chicken burger and Gary had a burger. With two medium diet cokes, the total for lunch was $28.14.

I don't appear to have taken any pictures of our lunch, which I can only assume it because I was stressed out by DD's behaviour and the events of the morning. I recall the chicken burger being pretty good, though, but Gary wasn't that impressed with his burger.

After leaving Universal, we stopped at out favourite I-Drive haunt, Friendlys. This was another first for Nat and John and I really hoped they would like it as much as we do.

We started with some appetiser combos of BBQ and regular popcorn chicken and cheese sticks.

I have quite a few pictures from dinner but, for some reason, this is one of the few receipts I don't seem to have kept so not really sure who had what. I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed their food, though. I know I did :thumbsup2

Steak tips - I believe this was Nat's

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009220.jpg

Some kind of asian chicken salad - this must have been Gary's

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009221.jpg

Kids' meal - maybe Matthew's, possibly chicken wrap :confused3

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009222.jpg

Kids' chicken sliders - my man is a child of simple taste (like his mother), he still maintains this is his favourite meal in America :lmao:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009225.jpg

Turkey Club Melt - this one is mine and was delicious

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009223.jpg

The kids had make-your-own sundaes for dessert

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009227.jpg

As I said, I can't find the check from this dinner but I had made a note in my notebook that I used to track our Fairfx card spend and the total was £140 inc tax and tip :thumbsup2

[dizneeat]

I am glad to see that we were NOT the only ones having problems to find a decent meal at Busch Gardens!
We haven't been in a while, but the last time we went we were in and out of restaurants looking for food, but all we found was some LOOOOOOOOOONG lines and mediocre food! :sad2:

[wilma-bride]

Later that night, the adults finally made it to the lovely Sanaa bar.

The boys stuck with Bud light while Nat and I had to try some of the lovely cocktails on offer. I was very disappointed to find that my wonderful Skyy Berry Martini was no longer on offer - according to the bartender, WDW are no longer serving Skyy vodka :sad2:

So I needed to find a new love.

We started with a Very Berry Punch and a Bahama Mama

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009231.jpg

I actually loved the Very Berry Punch so had another

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009233-1.jpg

While Nat decided to try a Magical Star cocktail (complete with glowing ice cube)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009237.jpg

W dropped $75 on those four drinks (half of what we paid for dinner) but it was well worth it. I was obviously a very generous tipper, though, as I just realised the drinks only came to $60.

[darthtatty]

those chicken sliders looked fab :)

yum cocktails, im not much of a cocktail drinker but im sure i can work on that in August ;)
I do like the magical star one, my husband brought that a few times on our last holiday and i manage to pinch a lot of it. :rotfl:

[TigerKat]

I, too, was upset over the absence of my Skyy Berry Martini.:mad: Your cocktails look really yummy though!:thumbsup2

[Mich123]

Yay! Welcome back, love the report!

[CooCoo4WDW]

Can't wait to read more. :yay:

[vinotinto]

...before he could drag himself away from his tea and then, when he did, this is what he came back with.

The phrase 'why bother' springs to mind
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b261/wilma-bride/WDW%20food/FloridaOctober2009071.jpg


:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Thanks for the reviews!

BTW, this is my favorite cereal - Kashi.

[irongirlof12]

fab update- love the look of those cocktails :thumbsup2

[Stepharia]

Loving your review and the title is hilarious!!! Was glad to hear that those dark Mickey waffles at CP are chocolate because they didn't look to appetizing for regular waffles. Can't wait to read more!!!

[Chilly]

Love very berry punch!

[rodeo65]

Joining in and enjoying your reviews so far!!

We really enjoyed T-Rex as well last June. All of our meals were good and the kids loved the atmosphere. We took tons of pictures with no trouble.

[mamaboogie]

Hmmm...funnel cake (another thing on my must do list!)

Joh - did I see somewhere that you are going back in August? Us too! When and where?

Shari

[wilma-bride]

Hmmm...funnel cake (another thing on my must do list!)

Joh - did I see somewhere that you are going back in August? Us too! When and where?

Shari

Woohoo Shari, yes we are going back in August - the 25th. When are you going? In fact, I'll send you a PM :)

[runskyhy]

Yeah!!!! LOVE the food reviews & photos! I think I'm almost caught up on ALL your TRs in your link! Glad to hear there will be another one to read later this year! popcorn::

[Gouden Leeuw]

Signing on. Need to get caught up!

[Hayley94]

Yum!!! I'm craving funnel cake now! great report so far!!!

[aaronandterri]

ohh i have wdw withdrawal so bad and this thread doesnt help~ our xmas trip seems like forever ago**sigh**

loving the thread keep it coming...food porn rocks!

[jlindemer]

Please update this thread! I am hooked! :surfweb: Please please please? :cool2:

[Heidict]

Wow, that is quite a list of places you have there. Especially looking forward to the cruise pics and off sites.

[wilma-bride]

Please update this thread! I am hooked! :surfweb: Please please please? :cool2:

I'm really sorry to have abandoned this thread, I promise I will try and get some updates posted soon :)

[MEG&MINNIE]

Really enjoying this thread and the variety of food you are sharing with all of us!!! Can't wait for more !!!:thumbsup2

[LORNA ANN]

What happened ! where did you go....come back.

[Lisa29]

Oh, I do hope you come back with the rest of your reviews. Really enjoying them so far.

Lisa