The Insanity Continues: Volume 5 (July 2013) - Updated 7/21 - Fulton's

[Dis_Yoda]

Table of Contents

Pre-Trip
Background

July 3rd, 2013
Turf Club

July 4th, 2013
Artist's Palette
Le Cellier
L'Artisan des Glaces
Narcoossee's
Gasparilla Grill

July 5th, 2013
Artist's Palette
The Wave
Grandstand Pool Bar
Splitsville
Dining Room at Wolfgang Puck
Candy Cauldron

July 6th, 2013
Artist's Palette
Rose & Crown Pub
La Cantina de San Angel
L'Artisan des Glaces
Chefs de France
Splitsville
Fulton's


July 7th, 2013

​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Background​

Life has had a lot of things going on since we moved to Naples. We sadly had to cancel our May trip due to some of those things. We have purchased our home in Naples & have truly settled which means we finally get to head to Disney more. We had developer points that had to be used from our purchase of DVC last year & due to vacation accruals, we could get the longest trip by going over 4th of July Weekend. We will be staying at SSR.

We know its going to be hot and crowded but luckily we've been enough and have enough planned in the future that if we miss something, it will be ok.

Another change we've made in our life is trying to be healthier but who knows how that well that is going to keep at Disney In the past year, my husband has lost around 50 lbs. I've lost about 20 lbs since the beginning of the year & still have 50 lbs more to go. Luckily living where we do now, helps us be way more active in life.

Now to the important parts, our current plans!

July 3rd, 2013

We'll leave Naples around 4pm as I do have to work that day. We hope to arrive at the hotel around 7:30pm. Dinner will be at a new-to-us place, Turf Club We may end up heading over to Downtown Disney if we feel like it for some cocktails. We also need to purchase our Table in Wonderland card at some point in the day.

July 4th, 2013

I know better than to go to Magic Kingdom on 4th of July. We're going to head to EPCOT for the morning/day. Lunch will be at Le Cellier. We will probably call it quits at the park shortly after & hang out at the pool. Dinner will be at Narcoossee's

July 5th, 2013

We are heading to Magic Kingdom. Breakfast will be at Main Street Bakery for us to get our Starbucks kick. Lunch will be at Liberty Tree Tavern. Dinner will be at Flying Fish with possibly a visit to Jellyrolls afterwards.

July 6th, 2013

This morning we'll head to Hollywood Studios. We are planning on leaving the park for lunch Big River Grille Dinner will be at Fulton's

July 7th, 2013

Animal Kingdom day! Lunch will be most likely at Yak & Yeti Then we'll drive home.

Hopefully some point in the trip

We do hope to check out Splitsville along with AMC Fork & Dine and possibly the new Italian Ice Stand

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Turf Club​

After a very stormy, wet, car ride from Naples to Disney, we made it to the hotel around 7:40pm. After settling in our room & giggling at the people playing golf in the stormy weather, we walked over about 45 minutes early to our ADR for Turf Club. Coming early wasn't an issue & we were quickly seated in the back part of the restaurant.

Our server was a bit slow to greet us & take our order but once she did arrive, we had no other problems. The restaurant is on the darker side with the decor but as its supposed to be like many Golf/Country Club type places, I guess it makes sense!

I got bored & this was above our heads

As it was about two hours after our normal dinner time, we skipped having a full meal.

My husband had:

Crispy Free-Range Chicken Breast w/ Three Cheese Casserole & Braised Greens

He thought it was fine. Not great. There was a lot of breading on the chicken so it got a bit greasy along with having such a heavy cheese sauce on the pasta. He left most of his sides on the plate and skipped eating them.

I went with the 2 appetizer route.

Baked Brie w/ Prosciutto & Raspberry Preserves

French Onion Soup w/ Melted Cheese & a nest of Crispy Fried Onions

I loved my soup. It had the right kick of the boozy taste that should be in French Onion Soup. The crispy fried onions were a different experience to it but once its mixed with melted cheese - how can you not like it?

The baked brie, was not much of a fan. The brie wasn't baked into the pastry but rather just put on top. I had about a quarter of it but was done with it after that.

Overall, we felt this meal was ok. We wouldn't make a special trip to Saratoga Springs to eat here but if we end up staying at this resort again in the future, we may choose to have a dinner here on a nice lazy day or on the first day when we get in late.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Artist's Palette​

On all of 5 hours of sleep thanks to going to Magic Kingdom after dinner the night before, we needed to get some type of breakfast in our stomach before we headed to EPCOT for the day. We picked Artist's Palette as it is closer to our room than the Paddock Bar Breakfast place.

We both ended up with the same thing.

Croissant Sandwich - Omelet, Cheese, Bacon
This one is sans omelet as I do not enjoy eggs. Just image an omelet in there for my husband's.

This was decent. I'm happy it was real bacon instead of that flimsy cheap stuff they used to try to pass off as bacon in many of the counter service places. We both could only eat about half our sandwiches before we were done. (I did pull out the rest of my bacon to eat though

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Le Cellier​

After a morning of enjoying EPCOT & shopping, we headed to our lunch at Le Cellier.

Aren't these adorable?

As we waited for the restaurant to officially open & the waiters to sing O'Canada, we commented how for it being 4th of July, EPCOT didn't seem anywhere as busy as we mentally prepared ourselves for it to be and were pleasantly surprised by that. From looking at facebook, I knew Magic Kingdom had already reached some closing stages by 11AM.

At exactly noon, the waiters did their opening ceremony for Le Cellier and shortly after seated in the two top right at the end of the ramp.

To start with, I decided on alcohol as it is a vacation.

Key Lime Coconut Martini

It was a fruity way to start a cocktail for the day!

As for our meals,

My husband enjoyed:

Pan-Roasted Free-Range Chicken w/ Red Quinoa, Fennel, Roasted Tomatoes, Baby Artichoke, Natural Jus

He loved his chicken. It was tender with great flavoring on its skin.

I went a bit lighter on my meal & decided to order an appetizer.

Pork Belly w/ I don't remember as it isn't on any updated online menu

I love pork belly when its slowly braised and crispy as this was. You could pull it apart with your fork and had no need for a knife. It was presented with a dome filled with smoke that gave a great aroma as one continued to enjoy it.

We shared an order of

Le Cellier Poutine - Canadian Cheddar, Black Truffle, Red Wine Reduction

I know this isn't traditional poutine but I love the canadian cheddar with red wine reduction that honestly, the fries don't need to be there for me Even between the two of us, we couldn't eat half of it though!

We skipped on dessert as I had read about the ice cream martini in France & I was on a mission to enjoy it.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

L' Artisan des Glaces​

As we skipped dessert at Le Cellier, we headed towards france with Ice Cream on our mind.

Single Scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip on a Waffle Cone

This is my husband's favorite type of Mint Chocolate Chip. It was vanilla ice cream with actual chunks of mint chocolate. He even mentioned how good it was today as it being one of his highlights of the trip so far.

I, on the other hand, had alcohol on the brain.

1 Scoop of Caramel, 1 Scoop of Coco-White Chocolate w/ Whipped Cream Vodka


The whipped cream vodka with the melty caramel was everything I wanted. 2 Scoops of ice cream was more than I could handle though and had to call it quits after I ate all of my first scoop and drank the alcohol out of the martini glass.

This is 100% on our must do list. We may even sneak back over to EPCOT tomorrow for some more ice cream.

 

[Nohal]

The ice cream "cocktail" looks so yummy. I can't wait to get one in Sept. Enjoying your review.

 

[marshallsmommy]

I'm pretty sure we had that two top at Le Celier last year I kind of felt like the welcome committee since everyone had to walk right buy us I think I pointed out the bathroom 3-4 times during dinner! Loving your reviews!

 

[Dalamara]

L' Artisan des Glaces

As we skipped dessert at Le Cellier, we headed towards france with Ice Cream on our mind.

Single Scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip on a Waffle Cone

This is my husband's favorite type of Mint Chocolate Chip. It was vanilla ice cream with actual chunks of mint chocolate. He even mentioned how good it was today as it being one of his highlights of the trip so far.

I, on the other hand, had alcohol on the brain.

1 Scoop of Caramel, 1 Scoop of Coco-White Chocolate w/ Whipped Cream Vodka


The whipped cream vodka with the melty caramel was everything I wanted. 2 Scoops of ice cream was more than I could handle though and had to call it quits after I ate all of my first scoop and drank the alcohol out of the martini glass.

This is 100% on our must do list. We may even sneak back over to EPCOT tomorrow for some more ice cream.

Hope this doesn't seem inappropriate, but your hubby is SUPER cute!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The ice cream "cocktail" looks so yummy. I can't wait to get one in Sept. Enjoying your review.

It was yummy! I'm glad I had read about it before the trip so I knew I was on a mission to find it and partake. We are going to continue to go back for more of those on our other upcoming trips!

I'm pretty sure we had that two top at Le Celier last year I kind of felt like the welcome committee since everyone had to walk right buy us I think I pointed out the bathroom 3-4 times during dinner! Loving your reviews!

I didn't mind that table at all. I enjoy people watching, especially with how some people at Disney act. That spot was great for it while also not feeling like we were super crowded like some of the tables in the back and corners can be.

Hope this doesn't seem inappropriate, but your hubby is SUPER cute!!!

Thanks! I think he's super cute too

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Narcoossee's​

I made the very bad decision of picking an MK resort restaurant on the 4th of July. We had decided to avoid Disney-provided transportation and drive over to Grand Floridian since I knew we would be able to at least charge the valet & use the 2 dollars of cash we had on hand to tip the valet as self-parking at the Grand Floridian frankly sucks.

Or so we thought...

We had left at 5:00pm for our 6:00pm dining reservation so we would have amble time to enjoy the resort and try to convince my husband that the points we had bought at VGF are going to be awesome and explain why I love the resort. (He really just let me buy them to appease me as he knew I wouldn't shut up until I got them ><)

As it was 4th of July, trying to drive down the road that leads to Grand Floridian was filled with traffic at the TTC Drop Off, people trying to park at the Poly for Fireworks, and other slow drivers. We pull into the Grand Floridian and head to the valet where as we get out, we are pre-warned that their credit card machine is down. I forgot my debit card in the room so I had no way of getting more cash. Opps

To self parking we went. The normal self-parking lot was filled so they told us to go to the cast parking area where we had to park in the way way back.

With all that, I thought we were lucky to get into the Floridian by 5:45pm so we just headed to dinner and didn't explore the resort any as we both were frustrated at that point.

Luckily, we were quickly sat at a 4 top towards the back of the restaurant.

Our server was super friendly & we needed a drink after that drive.

I went with my old stand-by:

Glow-tini

Ever since the Year of a Million Dreams, this has been one of my Disney World Favorites. How can you not like a drink that is blue & glows?

My husband went for cider.

Ace Joker Cider

We've been enjoying a lot of cider at home lately. This was a higher alcohol percentage than many we drink but he enjoyed how light and refreshing it tasted despite the higher than normal content.

As for our dinners, my husband and I were boring. We both ordered the exact same thing.

Caesar Salad

I do love their Caesar. It was large enough that we should have just shared one.

Grilled Filet

The only difference between my husband's & mine was how we got them cooked. I went for Medium Rare while he killed his at Medium. The steaks were really tender. I didn't eat any of the accompaniments as I was getting full & I wanted room for some dessert.

When we got the dessert menus, we debated on getting something or just skipping. My husband really wanted more ice cream & I knew we could get soft-serve @ the counter service & our Tables in Wonderland was blacked out for the holiday, we skipped on dessert at Narcoossee's.

We loved our meal, but I will avoid it on major holidays in the future due to its higher meal cost and traffic issues.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Gasparilla Grill​

As we had skipped dessert at Narcoossee's, we headed towards Gasparilla for something sweet.

My husband saw the soft serve machine and his decision was made. I noticed the cupcakes in the cooler and decided to try one of them out.

Smore's Cupcake & Soft Serve Ice Cream

The cupcake was only ok. The icing was super thick and I was able to eat about a quarter of it before calling it quits. I brought it back to the room with me but it is still sitting in the fridge 2 days later having not been touched.

My husband had no complaints about the ice cream other than the cost as it was $0.30 more than the super awesome ice cream in France.

We probably should have skipped dessert but we were stubborn.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Artist's Palette​

As we woke up, we decided on just getting breakfast at the resort rather than going for Starbucks in the Magic Kingdom.

Bounty Platter for my husband; String Cheese & Side of Bacon for myself

Yes, I am weird. String Cheese & 2 Pieces of Bacon are a perfectly acceptable breakfast on vacation when nothing else really struck me as something I wanted. I did end up stealing my husband's biscuit when he wasn't eating it though.

My husband loves his bounty platters. He enjoys scrambled eggs with breakfast meat. He wasn't a huge fan of the potatoes but he got enough food for himself & we were off to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The Wave​

Originally, we had reservations for Liberty Tree Tavern. Over the course of 2 hours while at the Magic Kingdom, we went from canceling that reservation and replacing it with Grand Floridian Cafe to canceling that reservation and just trying to walk up to The Wave. If that didn't work, we were just going to get counter service at with the Contemporary or head over to Captain Cook's.

Luckily, we were able to get seated immediately after arriving at the front desk to the restaurant and were taken to a table in the back of the restaurant with a view of the empty breakfast buffet area.

Our server was initially quick to greet up & take our drink order.

She was slow to bring us said drinks though & she didn't come back to take our order until we got our drinks.

And as I got bored, I took pictures of the menu.

Magical Star Cocktail
A nice refreshing cocktail!

My husband also got his diet coke.

I'm not sure if I threw her off by asking her to switch out the beef in the Build-Your-Own Burger to chicken but when I did, she disappeared to the kitchen for another 10 minutes.

They were able to, if anyone ever needs to order something that way in the future though.

We placed our order, weren't given an option between fries, potatoes or corn, and were then ignored for the next 20 minutes. My husband had finished his diet coke about 10 minutes into that wait.

Another server finally brought us our burgers.

Build Your Own Beef Burger w/ Chicken - Black Diamond Cheddar, Red Wine Caramelized Onions, Candied Bacon

Build Your Own Beef Burger w/ Beef & standard options

Our waitress did stop by, take my husband's glass away & disappeared again. I was sucking on the ice from my cocktail I had also finished for some type of refreshment.

After we had finished our burgers, and waited another 10 minutes or so, she finally stopped back & was like I never brought you a diet coke. I was greatly annoyed, as was my husband. We stated we don't need dessert & I handed her our TIW & Room Key and said we are all set. I just wanted out at that point as the lunch had already taken well over an hour for a simple entree. Our meal at Narcoossee's & Le Cellier didn't even take that long. I fully admit I debated on not using our TIW just so I wouldn't have to tip her but saving that 2% won out. We just wanted to get back to the buses before the rain started pouring again so we didn't ask to speak to a manager but I'm not sure if she was having a bad day or is always that off her game.

Both of us loved our burgers though. So much so, that despite the awful server we had, we will go back for lunch at some point. If we are given her as a server again, I will speak up & ask for someone else's section though.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Grandstand Pool Bar​

After we cooled off at the pool, My husband stopped by the bar next to the Grandstand Quiet Pool & picked up two beverages for us.

Pina Colada & Tuscan Lemonade

My husband's vacation drink of choice is a pina colada. He loves Disney's version & has no complaints.

I had originally asked for a Red Stag Lemonade & apparently they didn't have Red Stag to make it. So he got me a Tuscan Lemonade. I have no idea what is in it but it was strong & hit the spot for me!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Splitsville​

As my husband & I completely changed our original plans for the evening, we decided to head to Westside & finally check out Splitsville. We got there shortly before 4:00pm so we still got to pay the pre-4pm price even though we were going to have to wait 30 minutes for a lane.

That just meant 30 minutes to drink to me!

We headed to one of their 5 bars.

Pina Colada

As I said in the previous post, my husband's vacation drink of choice is a pina colada. He stated it had more alcohol than Disney's version but was happy nevertheless.

Beach Bowl

I went for something more fun. Lots of alcohol!

Machines by the bar

After we finished these drinks, we were called as our lane was ready.

As this is a full service lane, they have a server who will grab you food & drinks as you bowl. We decided to skip on the food as we had dining reservations for 6:00pm. We did get more alcohol though.

Menu

Rumrunner in Large Squeeze Cup & Dragonberry Mojito

I ended up getting the squeeze cup as it held more than the normal cups and you can use it to refill at only 9.50 or 14.50 depending on the drink you order. I had my rumrunner on the rock & it was great! My husband loved his dragonberry mojito.

As I sometimes make bad decisions, after we finished these drinks, we ordered more!

Miami Vice (for me) & Strawberry Colada (for my husband)

They were great! Although, I wasn't hurting for anything at this point as I had 3 strong alcoholic drinks within an hour.

We also discovered I bowl better while buzzed. My husband doesn't He beat me in 3 of 4 games but I won the last one!

This was also an expensive outing between everything we had to drink but its vacation.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great reviews. The drinks at Splitsville look good!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Great reviews so far!

I am right there with you on Turf Club. I used to love that place, but now it is not worth going out of your way for. I don't mind eating there if we are staying at SSR, but that's about it.

I wonder if I had the same waitress as you at The Wave. We had such a bad experience with the service at dinner there on a past trip. No so much bad service as no service at all.

Your boozy ice cream looks fantastic! I might have to check that place out in October.

 

[Linda67]

Just enjoyed lunch at my desk whilst reading your excellent reviews

The standouts for me are the mint choc chip ice cream and the ice cream cocktail from L’Artisan des Glaces ...... oh my goodness, they both look amazing and I need to have both

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Great reviews. The drinks at Splitsville look good!

Thanks for reading along! They were really good & strong too. They obviously didn't have that alcohol clicker many of the Disney bars use now to make sure people only get '1 shot' worth.

Great reviews so far!

I am right there with you on Turf Club. I used to love that place, but now it is not worth going out of your way for. I don't mind eating there if we are staying at SSR, but that's about it.

I wonder if I had the same waitress as you at The Wave. We had such a bad experience with the service at dinner there on a past trip. No so much bad service as no service at all.

Your boozy ice cream looks fantastic! I might have to check that place out in October.

This past time was my first time at Turf Club. I'm sure we'll be at SSR sometime in the next few years again as we do tend to plan some vacations last minute and they tend to have the only availability last minute.

We might have! It is ashame as the food was wonderful. One of the better burgers we have had at Disney.

I think we are going to be making a couple stops there in October.

Just enjoyed lunch at my desk whilst reading your excellent reviews

The standouts for me are the mint choc chip ice cream and the ice cream cocktail from L’Artisan des Glaces ...... oh my goodness, they both look amazing and I need to have both

They were both amazing! We went back after our morning in Hollywood Studios as well, we needed to have dessert before lunch It kinda ruined eating a full lunch but its vacation!

Eating my turkey sandwich today at work just doesn't feel the same.