Miss Piggy Goes Over to the Dark Side (They Have Cookies ;) )

[catne]

May 2010 DxDP Star Wars Weekend trip UPDATE! FINISHED 6/14/2010, $$$ SUMMARY ON POST 52

Well, we went back (surprise, surprise) Since we bought annual passes in January, we have to justify that purchase by going several times this year, right? So off we went for a weekend getaway. The Cast of Charactersfor this trip was:

Myself, otherwise known as Miss Piggy, she of the“never eat more than you can lift” fame
DH, Kermie…loves steak, biscuits & gravy, all things blueberry, biscuits & gravy, anything resembling apple pie, and biscuits & gravy.
Yoda, our guest for the weekend…loves seafood, steak & interesting adult beverages

The Force was not strong enough for us to fight the pull to the Dark Side: we once again succumbed to the lure of the DxDP. Honestly, one of these times we are going to not only skip the deluxe plan, but we're going to NOT do the dining plan at all (any dining plan). And we’ll leave Disney in the same general shape we arrived at (instead of rounder.) Really.

The dining plans are just so darn seductive…

Since Yoda went to Disney with us for a week last September, we really did not have a long must-see-park-touring list to do this trip…just wanted to hit our favorites as time allowed, with easy no-park-hop touring and a long break in the afternoon on Saturday, and do a few favorites while getting a glimpse of a bit of the Star Wars stuff at DHS on Sunday. Which worked out very well, since it was 91 F at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and 95 F. when we left MK on Saturday afternoon around 2:30 or so. WAY too hot to be dashing to & fro, and really not standing-in-line weather, either, lol.

Anyway, our schedule for the weekend was:

Friday,May 21 : arrival early evening, no parks, just visit DTD.

Dinner at Turf Club Bar and Grill, Saratoga Springs Resort (new to us)
Drinks review, Post 2
Starters, Post 10
Entrees & Dessert, post 15

Saturday, May 22: Magic Kingdom day.

Breakfast: before park opens, Crystal Palace Breakfast Buffet , Posts 22 and 23@ 8:05 (breakfast new to us)

Lu nch: Tony’s Town Square , Magic Kingdom Main Street, @ 1:30, Post 28 Apps & drinks & Post 29, entrees and dessert (new to us)

Dinner: Kona Café , Polynesian Resort, drinks Post 34,Apps Post 35, Entrees Post 36, Desserts Post 38 @ 7:35 (repeat for Kermie & I, new for Yoda)

Sunday, May 23: Hollywood Studios/Star Wars

Breakfast before park opens, Hollywood & Vine Breakfast Buffet @ 8:00, Post 45 (breakfast new to us)

Lunch: Wolfgang Puck Café, DTD Westside @ 2:00, Apps Post 48, Entrees & Dessert, post 49 (Café new to us)

We got to try several more restaurants off our list... and we got to try the early-park-entry for breakfast before parks open. More on that later.

 

[catne]

Long ago, in a magical kingdom far, far away.…where we experience the Nightmare that is Disney Transportation.

We arrived Friday night around 5:30 and checked into Port Orleans French Quarter…we were pleasantly surprised when they wished us a Happy Anniversary (celebrating our 35th) and gave us a water view, with connecting rooms on the third floor of building 6, just a few doors down from the elevator and a nice view of the Sassagoula River. Not too far to walk to food court & pools, either. Very nice - and a free upgrade. We dumped our stuff in our rooms,and did a little unpacking, then headed for the boat dock to go to Saratoga Springs Turf Club Bar & Grill for dinner.

When I originally booked this dinner, I had two goals: one, to check-off another restaurant from our Bucket List (or more appropriately, our “Feed” Bucket List) And my second goal with this ADR was a very relaxed evening: I envisioned this peaceful little boat ride from POFQ to DTD & SSR for dinner so Kermie could sit back & enjoy the evening instead of being in charge of driving at breakneck speeds, dodging Disney busses and negotiating the parking lots, etc. When he heard the plan, he approved, then he jokingly said “What! You’re expecting us to use the nightmare that is Disney transportation!” Whoa, the Force was strong with this one: he totally predicted the transportation snafus, lol.

First of all, we learned that the boats from POFQ either go to Riverside, or DTD. So don’t get on a Riverside boat thinking you can just stay on it and continue on to DTD. The captain made a big point of telling us that "you’ll have to get off at Riverside & then go to the end of the line waiting for the DTD boat." Apparently boat-line-cheaters have been a big issue at Port Orleans, hence the need to lecture would-be interlopers. Once we arrived at DTD Marketplace, we found out that with the magic that is Disney, Saratoga Springs is on an entirely different boat route. Even though all of these locations are on the same very small body of water. And to complicate the transportation even more: the boat to SSR docks only at DTD Pleasure Island. In other words, if you want to go from POFQ to SSR, well, sorry, you can’t get there from here!

So we had to take a boat from POFQ to Marketplace, then get in a different line to catch the DTD Water Taxi. Which then stopped at DTD Westside before finally docking at Pleasure Island.

Where of course we had to get off the water taxi, and then catch the Saratoga Springs boat. So, 3 different boats, 4 stops…over an hour travel time. To go less than a mile “as the crow flies.” If we’d driven, it would have been less than 10 minutes, including walking to our car from the hotel room & parking time at SSR. Oh well: lesson learned…stick with our car when we have a schedule to meet. We gave up on Disney busses several trips ago…now we’re giving up on the boats, too. Alright, will ‘fess up: it actually would have been relaxing if we didn’t have to change boats 3 times & stand in crowded lines for nearly 40 minutes of the trip. The actual boat time was nice, because they will not over-load the boats the way they do the busses, so everyone has a seat, and no crowding…with a very nice breeze coming off the water on a typically Florida hot and humid day.. But 65 minutes to get from POFQ to SSR? Kermit was right - it was a nightmare.

Well, we arrived at Turf Club finally, and checked in about 10 minutes late for our ADR. Fortunately, we were still seated within a few minutes, which was nice because we were pretty frazzled by then (or I was, anyway.) We were not overly impressed with looks of Turf Club…it was decorated in the generic Disney resort restaurant style…which consists of fake inlay on the tables to match the theme of the restaurant…and themed carpets & themed “art” prints on the walls. Reminded us of Olivia's, and Captain's Grill, and I don't remember which-all other resort restaurants. Same sort of look, but switching up the theme in the details. Which in the case of the Turf Club was supposed to be reminiscent of a Jockey Club, or maybe a horse track bar? Anyway, I guess it actually must have worked on us because we all decided to try some horse-racing-themed adult beverages:

On the left is Yoda’s choice: the “Side Bet“, which is "Myers’s Original Dark Rum, Patrón Citrónge Liqueur, Orange Juice, and a splash of Lime $8.25"
The greenish-blue beverage in the middle, is mine: “Three Minutes to Post Time“: Bacardi Razz Rum, Blue Curaçao, Beefeater Gin, Skyy Vodka, Sprite, and a splash of Orange Juice $8.25"
And of course, what horse-racing theme would be complete without the classic “Mint Julep: Woodford Reserve Bourbon muddled with fresh Mint and Simple Syrup $10.25" which Kermie had to try.

We all really enjoyed these drinks…after the transportation fiasco, we were seriously ready for cold sedatives. And I’ve said it before: the drinks at the resorts are much stronger than the drinks in the parks…no exception here...we were soon feelin' the magic. The overwhelming flavor in both Yoda’s and my drink was citrus - very orangey. Nice and refreshing after a hot Florida day. Kermie was pretty sure the Mint Julep had just a tiny bit of Mint & a whole LOT of Julep, lol. I did have a sip and bourbon was the main flavor, for sure…not much “simple syrup” in there either, unless the syrup was made with bourbon, too. Was quite enjoyable to over-pay for Disney drinks & actually get a buzz from them

 

[Symans3honeybees]

I am in....

 

[catne]

I am in....

Hi ya, welcome to the food fest

 

[kayrosek]

Looks great! I'm subbing too!

 

[danalee]

count me in

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

I so much enjoy your dining reviews.

Yoda's drink looks almost worth all the trouble you guys had in getting to the Turf Club.

Can't wait to hear about the meals.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I'm so excited! I'd seen you post while you were in WDW and have been checking this board hoping to see your reviews. Here they are!

Happy anniversary too, Cat!

 

[catne]

Looks great! I'm subbing too!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did, lol

count me in

Counted!

I so much enjoy your dining reviews.
Thank you muchly...I enjoyed eating/drinking & love passing on the scoop. Good way to make the trip last just a little longer
Yoda's drink looks almost worth all the trouble you guys had in getting to the Turf Club.

Can't wait to hear about the meals.

The drinks were awesome...all three of them nice & strong.

I'm so excited! I'd seen you post while you were in WDW and have been checking this board hoping to see your reviews. Here they are!

Happy anniversary too, Cat!

Thank you! Will try to post quickly...still doing laundry, though...we were in Florida an additional week after the Disney weekend, so we just got home late last night, actually. Real life smacked me in the laundry room today; still have to fold & put away... I hate real life.

 

[catne]

We started with Turf Club’s bread. This looks very much like your regular pull-apart dinner rolls, but actually has the flavor & consistency of small whole-grain yeast bread. It was served warm, with a dish of sea-salt-topped butter. Don‘t know what it is about that chunky salt on the butter, but it really does improve the flavor. Maybe it‘s just the blatant combo of two things ranking so high on the “bad for you" list..the forbidden fruit appeal: honking big chunks of SALT on top of BUTTER. MMMMMM Good! However, we just nibbled because we knew we were getting appetizers.

Yoda chose the "Crab Cake with Sweet Mango Salsa and Chipotle Mayonnaise $10.49" He really enjoyed both of these, even the mayo sauce (Yoda's not normally a fan of mayo, but this was tangy-zesty...in the picture, you can see it's been artistically squirted around on the plate in little swirls.) The mango salsa (the stuff on top of the greens in the middle of the crab cakes) contained quite a bit of fruit, and had a strong resemblance to the taste of sweet & sour sauces.

Miss Piggy had to have the "Onion Rings with Dips $5.99" One of the dips (the pinkish color) was that same zesty mayo that came with Yoda's crab cakes...way too spicy for Miss Piggy. The other was key lime mayonaisse . I really thought I'd be skipping dips entirely & just eat the onion rings plain...knowing zesty salsa-mayo would probably be too spicy and I seriously thought the key lime mayo sounded like a horrible combination. Wrong! That key lime mayo was one of the best dips I've ever had with onion rings.

Kermie opted for the Fried Calamari:with Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise and spicy Marinara Sauces $9.99 The calamari breading was light & crispy but a bit heavy on the pepper. Kermie liked it, but Miss Piggy thought it a bit over the top. The marinara sauce with the calamari was way too hot-spicy for Miss Piggy, but again Kermie thought it was pretty tasty. Even though there were little bits of something in the garlic-mayo dip, we both wondered where exactly they hid the actual roasted garlic in the mayo dip: was very bland tasting, so more like plain warm mayo. Not very good. We both preferred dipping the onion rings & the calamari in the key-lime-mayo…now THAT was super yummy for both the onion rings & the calamari. Would love to get the recipe for that key-lime mayo dip-that good.

 

[emmysmommy]

Those onion rings look delicious!!! And the lime dipping sauce, I think I would try that!

Can't wait for more.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I loved the salt-topped butter at 1900 Park Fare. I think it's the texture that adds something special.

Take your time posting, Cat. I know well the evils of post-vacation laundry.

 

[bluejasmine]

Im in!

 

[catne]

Those onion rings look delicious!!! And the lime dipping sauce, I think I would try that!

Can't wait for more.

getting ready to make dinner right now, and wishing for onion rings...gotta find the recipe for that key lime sauce

I loved the salt-topped butter at 1900 Park Fare. I think it's the texture that adds something special.

Take your time posting, Cat. I know well the evils of post-vacation laundry.

Agree it's got to be partly the texture...have had many different colors of sea-salt butter at Disney (even BLACK!) but my non-gourmet palate can't really tell any difference in the flavors, lol.
And I'm firmly convinced laundry is the curse of the devil.

Im in!

Alright! Hopefully will get the rest of Turf Club dinner posted tonight.

 

[catne]

For entrees, Kermie had the Grilled New York Strip: topped with Blue Cheese, Portobello Mushrooms, and Balsamic-Port Glaze served with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes $27.99

Yoda & I both went for the steak also, except we had ours topped with crab instead of bleu cheese. This option is not on the menu, but when Kermie was ordering his steak, our waitress mentioned that crab topping could be substituted. No Portobello mushrooms with ours, but we did have the glaze & mashed potatoes. Also $27.99 each.

Extreme carnivores that we are, we all ordered our steaks rare, and they were cooked just right. The Yukon potatoes were wonderful (don’t know how much butter they put in these things - I understand the natural “buttery flavor“ helps define Yukon “gold“ potatoes…I can vouch that they go down very smoothly, yum.) The balsamic port glaze made for a rich, wine-y gravy. Yoda & Kermie’s steaks were well trimmed, with little fat & no gristle. Mine had a strip of fat/gristle down one side but by the time I got to that side of my steak, I was getting very full: I could not have eaten more anyway, so I did not send it back.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed these steaks…the toppings were not really necessary but did add to the enjoyment.

For desserts, Kermie of course had to choose the apple dessert: The “Individual Apple Pie à la Mode $6.49“ which is also drizzled with caramel sauce. He liked the apple filling & the ice cream, but thought the crust was very doughy (not your classic flaky pie crust at all - this was kind of flopped over on top, way too much dough for the size of the dessert, and the way it lumped over in the middle meant it didn’t have a chance of baking all the way through without burning the top.) We wonder why they even bother with making the silly individual pies..especially when you end up with this lumpy non-pastry concoction. Why don’t they just make classic 2-crust apple pie…with the usual flaky crust…your average guy love him some pie. Reg’lar pie’s just fine, ya know.

Yoda & I both ordered the Chocolate Espresso Torte with Raspberry Sauce and Vanilla-Port Wine Ice Cream $6..99

OMG! OMG! OMG! Best.Chocolate.Dessert.Ever. Could not believe how good this was. They call it a “torte” but I would call it scrumptious: mousse/fudge/cake with a very, very smooth melt-in-your-mouth texture. They use some sort of really rich dark chocolate in this, or maybe it's the espresso, but the result is that it tastes like an extremely expensive piece of fine chocolate candy. There's just enough raspberry sauce to give a little tart-zing to offset the sweetness of the chocolate. The port-wine ice cream is wonderful, and tasted awesome with a bite of the chocolate torte…well Yoda & I really thought we were only going to have a bite or two of dessert because we both thought we were too full. We ended up stuffing ourselves to lap up every single bite of this dessert. OVER THE TOP good. Faboo. What else can I say…we’d go back just for this dessert.

Sorry, don’t have complete receipts on the Turf Club…can tell you Yoda’s dinner would have cost $52.04 (all covered by the Deluxe plan) Kermie & I had slightly less expensive apps but the same entrée & dessert costs so ours was similar cost, maybe a couple bucks less, so ours would have been around $100.. Our adult beverages came to $33.80. Would we return to Turf Club…yes, for sure. But we’d definitely drive,lol. Give it a 9.5 out of 10 (minus a bit for the one less-perfect steak.)

 

[Symans3honeybees]

WOW, the steak with that crap topping...WOW!!!

 

[sandym718]

WOW, the steak with that crap topping...WOW!!!

LOL!!! Crap!

 

[Symans3honeybees]

LOL!!! Crap!

my BAD!! No way that steak looks like "crap". It looks too yummolicous.

 

[catne]

LOL!!! Crap!

my BAD!! No way that steak looks like "crap". It looks too yummolicous.

This reminds me of conversations with one of my kids years ago...he was always saying "it was craptastic"...being a dense mother, I was never quite sure if he meant good or bad , lol. Seriously, that steak & topping was very tasty: craBtastic!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Crabtastic!