999 Meals, But There's Room for 1,000 - An April 2016 Dining Report - Complete/New DR Link - 10/16

[Mickey'sMainMami]

Subbing! Loving it so far!!!

 

[sullymom]

All caught up and loving the trip report. Taking notes on the wonderful drink spots!

 

[Leshaface]

Apparently the cast member ringing us up didn't either as he forgot what I ordered and I had already taken off so he comped the whole bill for Jason. #StarbucksPixieDust

Woah!!! For Sbux to comp the whole bill is CRAZY! You totally scored, good for you!

famous popcorn and cinnamon roll combo.

I'd buy this combo.

He found the camera!

She says she was a little bit scared, a little bit in love, but thought it best she waits until she is 6 till she rides again.

Yeah, we'll be waiting a while on this too.

This was fine, but clearly not the beer I had in mind.

It is almost always open with a last minute ADR, though I've read they are now getting away from them so we'll see how that changes the equation.

What's this about?! So no more same day ADR's?

They commented they couldn't see it so they had no idea what they are eating, but apparently it tasted good.

DM has said the same thing (multiple times!)

We posed for a couple of non-hat laden pics before we left, though someone (guess who) was not too happy about it.

 

[kastoney]

Yum,yum,yum.....I am always up for Sci-Fi and of course you know I'd never turn down an orange blossom pilsner! I am going to miss Sci-Fi this summer but a girl can only eat so many meals in 5 days right?

So many meals so little time ; ) Did you lock down all your choices yet? Think we are going to skip SciFi too as I am long overdue for some 50's love and since it's my birthday month Jason better indulge me

We also love Sci-Fi, it's on our to do list almost every trip. We are skipping it in August for a 50's PT meal. We have only been there once. I have to say your salmon sandwich and the salmon salad both looked really good. We have usually always stuck with a burger here and the onion rings. I agree about the relaxing vibe and the drive in scene is so fun.

Sounds like we are doing the exact same thing in August. Right now we only have a few lunches planned and its definitely 50's over SciFi this time. I haven't been in like 15 years so its long overdue.

What a beautiful family photo! I really love our photo from HS (MGM as you call it) this past trip too. I guess it's working for me without the big hat??? I can't help but notice that your Jason has the very same Star Wars shirt that we got for my DW prior to our trip. We found hers in the boys section of Old Navy. It looks great in pics!
The salmon salad at Sci-Fi looks great. Every trip we manage to miss eating there. This past one it was because our flight was delayed about 48 hours out of Denver due to a storm. Sci-Fi was our first lunch (that's how excited we were to FINALLY make it back there!), and they were booked solid for the entire rest of our trip.

Yeah we got a few good pics at MGM this year. I think they have what feels like less busy photo pass photographers who take their time with the pics.
Too funny Jason and SW have the same shirt. And you got it his came from old navy. Funnier he is sitting on the couch wearing it as I type.

Hopefully you can get to SciFi on your next trip. The salmon salad and my salmon sandwich are definitely right up your alley.

this made my lol, my little guy is always asking for the bacon off of my sandwiches too. We are going all out on the dining on our december trip with the deluxe plan and hopefully a character breakfast a day will keep the bacon monster away from my food!

What is it with kids and bacon? I mean I like the stuff, but no where near as much as Casey. At a buffet she'd have a plat4e full of bacon if I let her.

Those fried pickles looked good- but I'm a chip girl as well. What does the Pilsner taste like? I'm not too much of a beer drinker, and being from the Mitt state, I have easy access to some tasty craft beers. I'm looking forward to the schofferhofer when we visit the Germany pavilion, I wonder if I'd like what you got.

I'm not much of a beer drinker either (I'll generally go Miller Lite over a craft beer anyday), but the orange pilsner is quite good. It's nice and light and has some good orange undertones but not too overwhelming. It's not as good as the Schofferhofer in my book, but pretty darn tasty.

I feel like you guys go to Sci Fi every trip. Hopefully next time you can swing 50s Primetime.

That's the plan. Fingers crossed

Loving the updates, Mike and Connie look like they're having lots of fun!

They had a blast. Hoping we can get them back with us again sometime.

That is one funny ride photo. Especially with the cool as a cucumber woman next to you

Yeah she was riding for her 3rd or 4th trip of the day already. Apparently the intense start had lost its effect on her. Sadly it never will me on.

Hahaha. Tasty is what counts anyway

Scifi looks like fun, but after my 50's experience I don't know if i could give that up should I ever find myself in the area

Hoping 50's is just as good for us in August too.

Brave girl riding Space Mountain! The Plaza looked great, and love Sci Fi...salmon BLT sounds good. My kids are total bacon stealers and also crouton stealers!!!!

Sounds like our kids would get along very well

 

[kastoney]

I hate the tiers most in HS It's always choose either RnRC or TSMM and book to the other
We haven't been to Sci-Fi in ages! I don't think I've ever seen fried pickle spears?? The few places I've been to that offer them always serve chips, which is fine by me. Spears seems like the ratio of pickle to batter wouldn't be even, you'd have too much pickle per bite. Idk maybe I'm just overthinking my pickles.....

Yeah the tiering system really needs to stop. Not my fault you have crap rides and not enough to go around for everyone. This is now especially bad at Epcot with Frozen as to ensure it, Test Track, and Soarin would take 3 days of fast passes.

Sci-Fi looks like a lot of fun. Do you feel cramped in the car if you're seated with a group in front of you that you don't know? I'd like to try and hit either sci-if or 50's prime time during our September trip, maybe we can snag an ADR on the fly since DH has only allowed me to make 1 per day move me some fried pickles

I think you'd really like SciFi, the food is great and it such a unique and campy experience. We've never felt crowded in the car. You sit 2 to a row so we've had people behind us before and you really never notice they are there. You shouldn't have too much of an issue getting it or 50's same day, especially in the low season. I see availability pretty often.

I'm a bit behind again...story of my life. But I like the look of that cinnamon roll! I've seen in on so many TRs but we haven't ever been hungry enough while in that area to try it. Glad Casey braved Space Mountain! Nate tried it this trip and declared it "too dark and scary" so that joins the list of things he will no longer ride (including The Great Movie Ride and Pirates...all deemed too scary as well).

The Plaza was one of our favorites of this past trip. My husband got the same brisket burger and said it was amazing as well! We weren't served steak fries so maybe it's a change?

Wish I could say the same about the cinnamon roll. We seem to never be hungry yet can't help ourselves from eating a few each trip.

Right now Space is the only thing off Casey's list, but she is also a bit on the fence on Splash but I can usually coax her into it. She says she want to try Everest on our next trip, so we'll see how that goes.

All caught up! I have been MIA as we moved out of our home and are currently building one. So no time for my beloved dis dining boards. I am with you on the pickle spears, I enjoy the chips more. Looks like you guys had a blast that day!!

Congrats on the new house. There is certainly never enough time for the dis for any of us Are you all staying in Texas?

All caught up and loving the trip report. Taking notes on the wonderful drink spots!

Thanks so much. We certainly like to do some drinking ; )

Subbing! Loving it so far!!!

Welcome! Hope you enjoy

Woah!!! For Sbux to comp the whole bill is CRAZY! You totally scored, good for you!

Wow, I had no idea. I'm such a starbucks novice I figured maybe this was fairly common.

He found the camera!

Found it and he aint ever forgetting where it is.

What's this about?! So no more same day ADR's?

I don't quite understand what they are doing. I heard they will do ADRs between 11-2 and then open after that. Not sure how that will work though

 

[kastoney]

Pizza De Ja Vous

Sorry for the brief hiatus. We just spent the last week basking in the sun at the beach and I'm just starting to get back to civilization. Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th as much as we did. I'm going to try my best and get this bad boy moving along so I can get it finished before our trip at the end of August. We'll see how that goes....

We'd just left off after a great day at MGM and we headed back to the Wilderness Lodge for some downtime before dinner. Mike and Connie got some rest, while Jason and Casey did some of this

While I'm sure to no one's surprise I did this


We eventually cleaned (and sobered) ourselves up enough to take a respectable family photo on our way into Ep-A-Cot.

(Sorry for the odd photo sizes, Photobucket won't let me edit some photopass pictures)

From there we caught a glimpse of Rome burning (side note we recently got this candle from anthology and its a total deadringer) and made believed we were tiny little seeds as we listened to the land

Before Casey found some flower and garden backdrops she couldn't resist having a photo shoot in front of.


And to get us in the mood for our Italian dinner, Jason and I thought it was a great idea for everyone to try some Beverley at Club Cool.





Needless to say it didn't go over so well.

We eventually made our way around the world showcase, with a quick stop in Japan for some of Casey's beloved slushi Candy. Sadly they didn't have any, so to dinner it was.

This evening we were dining at our favorite Ep-A-Cot Restaurant: Via Napoli for what has to be one of my favorite pizza's of all time. Unfortunately we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table to be ready, but eventually we were seated.

Jason and his parents shared a pitcher of Peroni, while I went for a glass of a super tuscan wine.

My notes are severely lacking, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I liked it.

For entree's Mike & Connie split a large sausage pizza.

They don't have many good pizza places near their home and they were both quite pleased with this beauty.

Jason went with his go to, the Piccante Pizza, which is tomato sauce, Italian spicy sausage, mozzarella, and broccoli rabe (he adds the ladder).

As usual this was chewy and burnt crust perfection topped with some spicy sausage and some good bitter flavor from the broccoli rabe.

For Casey and I it was our perennial favorite, the Carciofi.

This is white pizzas with artichoke, fontina, mozzarella, truffle oil , and arugula (which I add on). To say this is pizza perfection is an understatement. Delicious earthy artichokes, topped with creamy cheese, and decadent truffle oil then covered in crunchy and peppery arugula all atop a perfectly charred crust. Pizza does not get better than this and as usual we couldn't get it in our mouths fast enough.


As others can attest, Via Napoli tends to be loud and service a bit curt but the amazing pizza makes up for it. I'm sure you've gathered my foodie crew loves to try new things, so us returning to the same place and eating the same thing trip after trip really says a lot. With our tables in wonderland card we saved $25.40.

After dinner we walked out just as illuminations was starting, so we caught that show and then were able to see the star wars fireworks from MGM as we were leaving. And to top it off when we got back to the lodge, this sight was right outside our room.



#ThreeFireworksInOneNight

Next up, we eat like animals....






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[vettegirl]

Yes we are staying here in San Antonio, just building north of town in this adorable town called Boerne.

 

[suse66]

Ohhhh, your pizza! If (and this is a very big if) my lovely DH and I manage to sneak in a 4 day trip after New Years, that pizza and I will become better acquainted! Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[cinderkelly]

And to get us in the mood for our Italian dinner, Jason and I thought it was a great ide

So my quote thingy didn't quote the whole phrase for some reason but the Beverly.. I haven't had the cajones yet to try it

Via Napoli for what has to be one of my favorite pizza's of all time.

Still on my bucket list. There are way too many places to eat and not enough time !

This is white pizzas with artichoke, fontina, mozzarella, truffle oil , and arugula (which I add on). To say this is pizza perfection is an understatement.

I think I've said this before but this is exactly what I would order! Throw some chicken on that baby and I'd be in heaven. Can you even add chicken???

 

[TeeterTots]

Omg I said it on your last review, the pizza at via Napoli is to die for and I can not wait to try it with arugula! Genius!!
I laugh at Ep-A-cot because this is what my 5 yo calls it! Lol

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm really paying attention to your WL photos since I am kmfx that we get to stay there in June! I love the look of the place. Sorry if I already mentioned that...lol.

I've heard so many good things about Via Napoli but I'm just not sure we can fit it in on the trip. Looking at my tentative schedule (yes, I already have one for June 2017...lol), I might could trade it for our Cape May breakfast. Hmmmm.....

And how awesome that you got to see (parts of) three fireworks shows that night! The trifecta! Love it!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

This may be a silly question, but just how truffle-y is that Carciofi pizza? I adore everything else on it (and like your addition of the arugula!) but wonder about it being overwhelmed by the truffle oil. Do you need to be a truffle lover for this one, or is it sufficient to be a truffle liker?

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

3 fireworks in one night IS pretty epic So glad everyone enjoyed the pizza.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

You had much better luck at Sci Fi than we have the past few visits. It is on our 'never again' list right now although I am sure that we will end up back there some day.

Much more broccoli rabe on your DH's pizza than they gave me! His looks delicious! DS's GF and I will be heading to Via Napoli on Friday. Hope we have an experience more like yours than our trip in May! I believe we are going to give your pizza a try!

 

[awalker1015]

Kari, I just love your trip reports. We vacation very similarly! You just added a review of one of my favorites - Via Napoli, which unfortunately I have been unable to get an ADR for in October

We were there same time in April for Star Wars half. Fun weekend! We didn't have our kids so it was a different kind of WDW trip for us.

 

[bookluvingbabe]

Pizza De Ja Vous



This evening we were dining at our favorite Ep-A-Cot Restaurant: Via Napoli for what has to be one of my favorite pizza's of all time. Unfortunately we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table to be ready, but eventually we were seated.
​

I don't know how often you find yourself over the American Legion Bridge but Montgomery Mall now has Naples, which is owned by the same folks as Via Napoli and has a very, very, very similar menu.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Hey Kari! Finally caught up on your report. Awesome job as always!

That is so awesome that your hubby did the Star Wars half marathon! Very impressive. Looks like he had a blast. I love the pic of him too. I would totally do that with a pic like that of Rob. I would have it everywhere.

You definitely got a little Disney food pixie dust with the free Starbucks and your FIL's double waffle day. That pic of him is great!

And I am cracking up with the Beverly pics. Very well timed and well captured reactions.

 

[Vernie822]

I've got quite the hankering for some Carciofi right now. YUM!

Laughing at Grandma's face in the Beverly pic, hahahahaha.. Hilarious!!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

I'm in love with your top. Do you mind sharing where it's from?

And to get us in the mood for our Italian dinner, Jason and I thought it was a great idea for everyone to try some Beverley at Club Cool.

Those faces are priceless!

#ThreeFireworksInOneNight

What great pixie dust

 

[momof3princes]

So hungry for pizza now! We have a wood fired pizza place near us and thanks to your reviews I got arugula on the pizza and YUM! So thanks for the inspiration