Here I go again...eating my way around the world! Oct 2010 F&W -COMPLETED 11/10

[onelilspark]

Hi there

I just returned from my 4th F&W trip in a row, where we ate...and ate...and ate! I'm not new to this board, so you might have seen me before. If not, here are the introductions!

From left to right you'll find:
My Dad: Will do anything for pretzels
My Mom: Will do anything for Cosmo Slushes
Me: Will do anything for Corn Dog Nuggets
My Fiancé (Geoff): Will do anything for Asian food

I'll post links to all my reviews here, so check back for links! And the list of all Disney Restaurants we ate at:

Sunshine Seasons-Lunch
Captain Cook's-Lunch
Gardenview Tea Room-Tea (obviously)
Party for the Senses-Dinner Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, My review on the Disney Food Blog
Bakery at the Animal Kingdom-Breakfast
Sanaa-Lunch
Flipper's Pizza-Dinner (at the end of the Sanaa review)
The Wave-Breakfast
Food & Wine booths-Lunch
Food & Wine booths-Dinner
Crystal Palace-Breakfast
Columbia Harbor House-Lunch
Aloha Aisle and Casey's Corner-Mid-day snacks
Cosmic Ray's-Dinner
Wishes Dessert Party
Tangierene Cafe & Food & Wine booths-Lunch
Raglan Road-Dinner
Backlot Express-Lunch
Le Cellier-Dinner
Food & Wine booths-Lunch
Jiko-Dinner

(note: we stayed off-site, so breakfasts were mostly cereal bars at the condo.)

Now, with all the formalities taken care of...here we go!

 

[onelilspark]

Before heading down to Walt Disney World for vacation, the company I work for had our National Sales Meeting in Orlando! So, being the obsessed Disney fan I am, I decided I needed to head over to a park if at all possible. Of course it helped that I had an AP to pick up, so I could enter the park for 2 hours and not feel bad about it

So, on the first day, before our meeting officially started, I ran over to Epcot for 3 things: pick up my AP, LUNCH!, and pick up a TiW card. (For those of you who have no idea what TiW is...it's a discount card that Florida Residents or Annual Pass holders can purchase that allows you 20% off almost all sit-down meals. It includes alcohol & adds an automatic 18% gratuity.)

So, I had picked up my cards and quickly made my way to Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavilion at Epcot for lunch. I knew going in that I wanted the Ahi Tuna Salad, which I had back in August 2009:

But when I got there, they had changed it! Instead of a lettuce salad, it was now with noodles. In the spirit of being adventurous, I got it.

And? It surprised me. The noodles were cold (which I assumed) but it had really good flavor! A bit spicy though.

Overall: 7/10 I was taken aback by the spicy-ness of the tuna & noodles, and parts of the tuna were a little chewy. But it was nice and light, hit the spot!

 

[KatMark]

I'm here. Am I first?

Can't wait to read all the reviews.

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah, I am in from the start too!

Love your first review!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Can't wait for more reviews!

 

[loveysbydesign]

I'm hooked! Going to go to f&w for the 1st time in Nov. cant' wait to hear what you tried and liked/disliked!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I'm in! You know I LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews

 

[BlueSkies]

I'm on board..looking foward to all of your reviews!

 

[onelilspark]

I'm here. Am I first?

Can't wait to read all the reviews.

You are first! I believe congratulations are in order.

Yeah, I am in from the start too!

Love your first review!

Thanks!

Can't wait for more reviews!

I'll get going here pretty quickly!

I'm hooked! Going to go to f&w for the 1st time in Nov. cant' wait to hear what you tried and liked/disliked!

You'll absolutely love it! I have a dining report link in my signature from last year (October 2009) if you want a head-start!

I'm in! You know I LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews

Aw thanks! Heck, most of the restaurants I try are because of yours!

I'm on board..looking foward to all of your reviews!

Welcome

Alright...how about I post another?

 

[onelilspark]

Next up is the start of our actual vacation

Geoff & I had gone up before my parents (who live in FL) to check out Kinect from XBox at the World of Sports. When we were done, we were a little hungry and since we had tea at 2pm, we didn't want a lot to eat...and we needed to be close to the Grand Floridian, so we decided to check out Captain Cook's at the Poly!

We hit it during the lunch rush, so I was expecting it to be pretty busy. Lucky for us, it wasn't too bad, and the people working there seemed to be on top of things. We decided to split a flatbread and order some chips.

This is the Hawaiian Flatbread:

I think it had pinneapple, ham, onion, and bacon. It was okay. You can see how greasy it was, which was kind of gross (and I'm from Philly...I've perfected the Philly lean so I let the grease drip into the street ) But overall it hit the spot and held us over until tea.

And the chips:

Half of these were undercooked and most lacked flavor. I was disappointed.

Overall: 5/10. There was a lot of potential, and the food came out quickly, despite being part of the lunch hour. I'd give it another try if I was staying there, but certainly nothing to go out of my way for.

 

[franandaj]

Glad I found your review! Did you take that picture of the four of you on this trip? You look great! You lost quite a bit of weight between January and now! Congratulations!

 

[KatMark]

You CAN really see how greasy that flatbread is. Sorry to hear about the chips. Those are my favorite kind of potato chips, but they have to be cooked to be any good. You're off to a great start.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Joining in and great start

 

[glennbo123]

I'm here to drool over your food pictures.

 

[onelilspark]

Glad I found your review! Did you take that picture of the four of you on this trip? You look great! You lost quite a bit of weight between January and now! Congratulations!

Thanks! I wore those shorts to Disneyland...I needed a belt this past trip!

You CAN really see how greasy that flatbread is. Sorry to hear about the chips. Those are my favorite kind of potato chips, but they have to be cooked to be any good. You're off to a great start.

Thanks! Yeah, it was ok, but definitely could have been better.

Joining in and great start

Welcome!

I'm here to drool over your food pictures.

Hope you have something to protect your keyboard!

 

[onelilspark]

We had the first tea seating at 2pm. My parents did join us for this, meeting us at the Grand Floridian. When I first booked it, Geoff wasn't coming in until that night...then plans changed and he came in on Friday instead. No problems moving from 3 to 4 people.

My Mom and Dad decided to go with the Buckingham Palace. Geoff did the Sally Lunn Tea, and I did a la carte.

So first, my parents got their sandwiches:

I stole my Dad's Gorgonzola and Pear...yum!

Geoff got his Sally Lunn Bread:

And I ordered a cheese plate:

I never found out what the cheeses were...which drives me crazy. The two on the right were stronger than the 2 on the left, so my Mom & I enjoyed those and my Dad & Geoff stole some of the milder cheeses.

My parents each got their scone & tart while Geoff & I picked at the Bread & Cheese a little longer.

I also ordered scones (and refused to share!)

I love these, especially with a little cream & jam...YUM!

Our waiter brought over the rest of my parent's and Geoff's selections then.

My Dad went with the pastries:

The Swan was a Sour Apple this time and he couldn't stop talking about it, he loved it!

My Mom went with the Strawberries and Cream:

She joked that she wished she could box it up and have it for breakfast in the morning!

Finally, Geoff had a choice of the above two or a strawberry trifle. I encouraged him to get the trifle so I could take a bite

This was wonderful! Not nearly as sweet as I was expecting.

Oh...and the tea? We all loved it
Let's see...I had the Princess Breakfast tea, which I loved (I like flavored teas.) My Dad had Eros, my Mom had Harmony, & Geoff had the Oolong tea. We all enjoyed our respective choices.

The service was excellent, so there were no complaints on that end. We used TiW here and saved

Overall: 9/10, I just wished I could have known what those cheeses were! But everything else was wonderful. I love this experience and would recommend it to everyone!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thanks for a wonderful update, I love the High tea at GF...I miss that last trip but had it a couple times in previous trip. I'm hoping to add it in our December trip.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Great pictures, looking forward to the rest.

 

[Buckeyejeff]

Love the pictures. Thanks for the helpful reviews.

 

[KatMark]

Great pictures! I am afraid, even if I showed those pics to Mark, that I could convince him to go, but I enjoy reading about everyone else who experiences it.