ADRs? Yes We Made Stinking ADRs - A June '15 Dining Report - Updated 10/10: Sassagoula & Wrap-up

[Elevationist]

Boatwrights Dining Hall or just Boaties as Casey said the cool people call it ; )

"Boaties!" I love this!

We ended up waiting 20 or 25 minutes, but Casey amused herself playing peak a boo with a child sitting in the lounge. #WhateverPassesTheTime

She's so precocious!

While the restaurant isn’t a totally immersive experience like some other places, the nautical touches were nice though not particularly New Orleans.

That's because French Quarter is the New Orleans side, silly! Boaties is at Riverside, which is just a generic "Old South" theme. That's why until the Royal Rooms, I didn't have any interest in POR, being from South Carolina.

This was clearly “homemade” cornbread and was the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

Oooh, I do so love me some good cornbread!

I asked my budding food critic what she thought and she said it tasted like soup ; )

What a little smartass. I wonder where she gets it from?

For entrée’s Casey and I decided to share the Voodoo Chicken which is Crispy Battered Chicken Breast and Fluffy Golden Waffles topped with Maple-Bacon Gravy.

Note the little hand in the picture making her way to the waffle as soon as it was put down ; ) Despite the voodoo name in the title, this was not spicy in the least. The chicken was tender and crispy and the waffle good, though a little dense. The pile of greens on top served absolutely no purpose, other than to likely add some color to my plate of brown food, but the bacon and maple gravy was delicious.

Welp. I know what I'm ordering now. This sounds INCREDIBLE. Yum!!!

We got Casey to bed and while she insisted on being all creepy single white female and staring me down for at least 20 minutes, she finally dozed off and got in a good nights sleep for the next day.

Kids are such creepers, man.

Overall we really enjoyed Boatwrights.

I'm really glad to hear it!

I’m not sure if I’d spend a lot of time traveling here if I wasn’t staying at the resort already, but from either POR or POFQ its so convenient you’d really be missing something if you didn’t try it.

You convinced me! Working it into the itinerary for October 2016!

I had no idea POFQ was so close to MK (and really every other park too) so this was an unexpected surprise.

It really is very centrally located! That's one of the things I loved about it!

Even better, we walked and in and saw this beautiful sight...

Sigh! 4 more months!

Now I know the castle is beautiful for everyone, but this was the first time we were seeing it without that god awful CRANE!!!!

OH MY GOD. Yes. This. I was so elated to see it in April without that dumb crane!!

Before of course posing with your child's hair piece

Seriously dying here, Kari.

We then headed over to the teacups for a quick whirl and as we were walking up to the end of the line saw a family climb over the gate, with a stroller in tow, saying they didn't want to walk to the entrance. Yes that would be the whole 30 feet or so from where they were to the entrance. Not surprisingly when we got to the next cast member they were told they couldn't bring the stroller in and this turned into a big brouhaha as they claimed they were allowed to enter with it. We proceeded to have to wait for one of them to leave the line to put the stroller away and then come back before we moved again.

Why? I just... I mean... WHY? I can't even.

We met back up at one of our lunchtime favorites: Liberty Tree Tavern

This is still on my bucket list! But it's on the agenda for 2016, also!

For our entree's Jason elected to get the Liberty Boys BLT, which I hadn't recalled seeing on the menu last time

This is Slow-roasted Pork Belly, fresh Greens, and Tomatoes on House-made Bread with Caramelized Shallots and Mushroom-Mayonnaise Spread. And yes, it was as good as it sounds. The pork was nice and tender, with very little fat, and my beloved arugula added a nice crunch. His only complaints were you really couldn't taste the mushrooms in the mayo (which was a good thing in my book since I despise those little buggars) and they used diced tomatoes, so you didn't get one with each bite. The fries were good and hot, just needed a bit of salt. Overall this was a great twist on a BLT and both of us would order it again.

Holy crap, dude. This looks INCREDIBLE. I hope they are still serving this next year because WOW!

Those who have been to LTT, know that dessert isn't even an option here. You are obligated by law to order the most wonderful dessert in all of the world. Seriously, the bouncer at the door will arrest you and put you in disney jail if you don't order it. So without further adieu, here is the soon to be famous Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake in all her wondrous glory.

This is Vanilla Cake with a Gooey Toffee Filling, Caramel Sauce, and Vanilla Ice Cream. Better said, this is PERFECTION! Warm cake, sticky caramel sauce, pieces of toffee, and then some ice cream.

...And this would be exactly why lunch at LTT is on my bucket list at all. God, that looks son good!

Up next Jason finally gets that Ribeye!

I can't wait! A good ribeye is my favorite thing!

 

[suse66]

It is made with walnuts, so the chef was right to advise you to avoid it. [/QUOTE]

Thank you Sue!While I'm sad to hear this, it is good to know for sure!

 

[vettegirl]

Thanks for the review of LTT, can you believe we have never been.

 

[RyuKokoro]

Oh man. You started your new review! We were going to try Boatwright's when we were at PoR for our carriage ride in May but when we had to start cutting things for our budget that restaurant was the first to go. I still would like to go, though.

I've also gotten pretty excited about Liberty Tree Tavern. It wasn't on our radar for our first visit because of other places we wanted to try out first but everything looks so delicious there (especially that Toffee Cake) that I really want to make sure we stop in the next time we go to Disney.

 

[kastoney]

Your meal looks delicious and I'm s pleased you made it past the bouncer

You and me both. I was seriously thinking for a while there she wasn't gonna let us in. Imagine her surprise when I would have tried to saddle her with our $30 no show fee ; )

Seriously people????? I love it how some people try to BS their way through things like that....oy

I literally had no words, which is a rarity for me. Took just about everything I had to contain myself while all this went down.

All that hullabaloo for an empty dining room?

I know right? We had an early reservation (I think like 1130) or so. For all of the bouncers antics I would have expected a packed house.

Super cute pic! Do you know how long LTT will be closed for refurb? MUST try that dessert!! I'm sure I'll be safe, we've got a year + 2 months to wait

Thanks. You are definitely on the safe side. Believe it is scheduled to be closed until right before Thanksgiving.

We went to LTT on our May trip and loved it! I got the colony salas with chicken and the toffee cake and was a very satisfied customer! The picture makes me hungry for it again! I hope nothing changes when they are doing their refurb!

Glad you meal was as good as ours. I'm with ya on hoping no changes. I think a major revolt would would go down if they even attempted to remove the toffee cake and yours truly would be leading the charge ; )

And without ever having eaten it, I know this statement is 100% the gospel truth (because you can never have enough Ooey Gooey Toffee-ness) so I am profoundly sad to be missing out in 3 weeks time Glad you got to enjoy it (again!) however.

Oh man, can't believe you are gonna miss the ooey gooey cake. That must be remedied on your next trip and that is an official order from the bouncer.

I love your salad comments. I am a huge fan of field greens and despise, despise iceberg lettuce. I agree that bleu would be a much better pairing than cheddar!

Glad I'm not the only one in the iceberg hating camp. I probably wouldn't have even ordered the salad had I known how much was actually in there.

OMG I love the way you surprised your hubby! That is so darn cute! I couldn't possibly keep that secret for even a day, so good for you for holding out until close to the trip.

Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. Heaven on a plate. It is seriously the best thing ever.

And ewww to the people climbing over the gate at the tea cups. Like you said, why does bad behavior still surprise me.

Still not sure how I kept the secret, as there were quite a few days especially when a couple of glasses of wine saddled me with loose lips. Keeping quiet for that long was definitely a record for me.

Ooey Gooey is definitely one of the best thing ever. Hope I get to try some Ohana bread pudding next time so I can do a little classic disney dessert throw down.

The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake looks amazing. I'm devastated that LTT is going to be closed when I'm there. Any suggestions for something half as delicious looking in MK?

Sorry you'll miss it. Half as delicious is a stretch in MK, but the Plaza is great and has wonderful ice cream sundae's. The nutella waffle at sleepy hollow is also a pretty good one.

 

[kastoney]

Well aren't you guys sassy!

Why yes we are

And She is Absolutely Adorable!

Thanks. No idea where she gets that from ; )

We have yet to eat at LTT and it will be closed when we go too, so maybe next time. I have heard so much about the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake that I made it for Easter this year and while it probably doesn't hold a candle to what you get there - it was AMAZING!

Mmmm ooey gooey cake at home. I'm not much of a baker, but may need to get that recipe from you to help tide me over. And of course in the name of science for a proper comparison.

I have never been to LTT and was so upset when I heard they would be closed for refurb during our trip- I need to try that dessert!!

You must definitely try the cake. Hopefully LTT is back up and running next time ya go.

Great reviews so far Kari! POFQ looks like a really pretty resort..... with a family of five we always do deluxe as we are over room capacity for most other resorts but I think I would like to try it out one day. Love your meal at LTT, I had the colony salad as well when we were there in March but had mine with chicken. I agree that there was a lot of iceberg lettuce and I would definitely ask for dressing on the side next time as I found it a bit much for my taste. I wonder if you could answer a question for me..... does the toffee cake have nuts in the sauce? The chef I spoke to the day we had lunch insisted there were nuts in it and as I am allergic to all nuts except almonds, he advised me not to order it. So if it is almonds in the toffee sauce I could finally try that little bit of goodness but if it pecans or walnuts I am out of luck!

Looking forward to the next installment!

We really did enjoy POFQ. It may be tight for a family of 5, but I've read that riverside has rooms that accommodate that many.

Agree with ya on the salad. I forgot to mention it but the dressing was a little too much. I'd read that before but forgotten once we were there. On the side would definitely be better.

Looks like ya got the answer to your nuts question. I'd never detected any, but thankful there are some smarter than I around here.

I feel like I need to use this hashtag in my daily life

You and me both. It seems like stupidity and ignorance is sadly a daily occurrence.

I'd have to agree with you there...hate mushrooms and the rest of that sandwich sounds really good.

Yeah, someone else in the mushroom hating club!!! People often think I'm crazy that I hate mushrooms. I think they are all crazy that they don't.

That sounds awesome...do you remember if it had nuts in it? I'm not allergic...I just don't like them in desserts...

Looks like Sue said there are walnuts in it, but I couldn't detect them at all.

Liberty tree is closed for our trip in three weeks! I'm still upset about it.

Ours next month too. Think we should stage a sit in while we are there ; )

New reader here. I must admit, I'm in the 180 spreadsheeter group, but maybe you'll motivate me to change my mind on that Loving the reviews so far!

Great review! Enjoying reading it!

Thank you so much

It seems like we always see the crane, too. It was there when we went to MK at the end of February.

Yeah we were there in February too and it was still there and fully expect it to be there for our trip next month.

I discovered this dessert after I had found the Dis, which means years and years without this deliciousness in my life. Now we never miss a trip without this dessert.

I'm with ya on this one. Heck I wouldn't have discovered LTT without the DIS.

I had the salmon at Columbia Harbor House and was surprised at how good it was, especially for a counter service restaurant.

May have to try that one if I can ever lure myself away from the lighthouse sandwich.

Mmmmmm, ooey gooey toffee cake!

Mmmmm is an understatement ; )

 

[kastoney]

"Boaties!" I love this!

You can use it when you are there. Just be sure to trademark any usage to me ; )

That's because French Quarter is the New Orleans side, silly! Boaties is at Riverside, which is just a generic "Old South" theme. That's why until the Royal Rooms, I didn't have any interest in POR, being from South Carolina.

Duh, right? I think the food offerings and Abita threw me off thinking I was in a cajun restaurant. Silly Kari, NOLA is in the south ; )

What a little smartass. I wonder where she gets it from?

I have no idea? Think she is watching too much TV?

Welp. I know what I'm ordering now. This sounds INCREDIBLE. Yum!!!

You won't be disappointed. It was de-lish-us!

It really is very centrally located! That's one of the things I loved about it!

I literally had no idea where it was on property. I knew it was close to DTD so MK and the other parks was a huge surprise to me.

Seriously dying here, Kari.

He's a cute one isn't he ; )

This is still on my bucket list! But it's on the agenda for 2016, also!

Hey, LTT look out for Billie in 2016....

...And this would be exactly why lunch at LTT is on my bucket list at all. God, that looks son good!

Seriously go for just the dessert if you have time. Totally worth it.

Thanks for the review of LTT, can you believe we have never been.

No Lori, I honestly cannot believe that. You must remedy that situation.

Oh man. You started your new review! We were going to try Boatwright's when we were at PoR for our carriage ride in May but when we had to start cutting things for our budget that restaurant was the first to go. I still would like to go, though.

I've also gotten pretty excited about Liberty Tree Tavern. It wasn't on our radar for our first visit because of other places we wanted to try out first but everything looks so delicious there (especially that Toffee Cake) that I really want to make sure we stop in the next time we go to Disney.

If you can, definitely try POR sometime in the future. It wasn't too expensive price wise and there was definitely a lot to share.

LTT is a great respite from the parks. Their dinner doesn't interest me, but lunch is not to be missed.

 

[kastoney]

Warning Warning: Copious amounts of meat are ahead. Vegetarians beware. The rest of you have been warned ; )

After our delicious lunch at Liberty Tree we went for a river cruise with a bunch of singing children and hung out in a castle with a girl with a penchant for losing her shoes


And stopped in to see some chick who could really use a good haircut


Before donning some really cool glasses to watch some sort of LSD trip starring a duck with no pants. #AliceAin'tGotNothingOnThis


After that we flew through London on a ship (#Confused), saw some strange looking monsters attempting to be funny (they ain't got nothing on me BTW), and braved a mountain inhabited my seven very short men (sorry no pics), before heading back to the hotel to get ready for Jason's father's day dinner 2 days early.

Soon enough we were headed toward MGM to grab the boat to The Yachtclub for a new restaurant for us: The Yachtsman Steakhouse. Unfortunately for us though, the boats weren't running due to some lightning in the area and electing not to walk in the epic June heat we ended up waiting over 20 minutes to pick up everyone going to a boardwalk area resort. After not so quick stops at Boardwalk, then Swan, then Dolphin, we finally got to Yachtsman about 15 minutes late. Thankfully this wasn't an issue and we were soon being escorted inside to check out this beautiful site:

Reminded me of a funny quote: Becoming a vegetarian is a big Missed Steak ; ) Badumdum..

Our server was a little slow to make her way to us (and a little slow for most of the evening), but was soon bringing us this little bottle of joy

In honor of father's day we decided to splurge on Jason's favorite wine: Brunello di Monalcino. And boy was the splurge worth it. For those unfamiliar this is a type of Sangiovesse, that must come from a very specific area of Tuscany. This particular wine was nice and juicy at first, but had some good spice to it as it went down with some cherry undertones. It soften a bit as the night went on and was absolute perfection.

As we contemplated our dining choices, some rolls and butter and garlic made their way to the table.



The onion rolls in particular were really good, but unfortunately I don't think our garlic was cooked long enough as we weren't able to get much of it out to smear on the roll. No worries though, we had some meat waiting to sink our teeth into.

For an appetizer we decided to stick with the meat theme of the evening and start with the Charcuterie Board. Here are the very long descriptions of the meats
​

And even better, a photo of the meat in all its wondrous Charcuterie glory

This was without question, the single best charcuterie plate we'd ever had. While there wasn't a miss on the entire plate, my favorite was the truffled suckling pie which was creamy and truffley and decadent and utter perfection. Next favorite was the wild boar terrine, which was wrapped in bacon and had some nice spice undertones. I'm a huge liverwurst fan so it was a big hit in all its yummy irony livery goodness. Rounding out the rear, but still delicious, was the guanicale (which is cheek) which was done in a style of prosucitto and the chorizo which had a good heat to it.


Being a "cheeky" little girl, Casey's favorite was the guanicale ; )

Now onto the stars of the evening: The Steak!!!!

Casey and I decided to split the 8 oz filet (I can't stand fat on meat so a filet is perfect for me) which is served with mashed potatoes and a cabernet sauce, which we ordered on the side.

As soon as this was put down I was initially disappointed. The steak looked way overcooked for my medium rare liking and I saw a return in my future. But as soon as I cut in, a perfect medium rare befell me and I was in steak heaven. This was unquestionably the best steak I had ever had. The char I thought had overcooked it was actually a perfectly balance to the delicate red meat inside. It was melt in your mouth perfection that I'm drooling about even as I type this. The cabernet sauce was good, but the steak was so amazing it didn't need it. The mashed potatoes were decent, but nothing special. Only downside was I had to share ; )

We had also ordered the Truffled Macaroni and Cheese to share amongst the 3 of us
'
This was nice and creamy, but unfortunately didn't deliver on the promised truffle flavor. It also needed some salt, which I imagine was supposed to come from the durkee like onions on top, but some little girl at our table may have eaten all of those.

And now for Jason's long awaited ribeye, for all of you for whom steak is your favorite animal please do enjoy the 16 oz Prime Ribeye Steak served with Brioche, Bone Marrow, and Point Reyes Blue Cheese Butter on the side.

And a close-up if that wasn't enough meat porn for ya

Like mine we question the temperature of Jason's given the dark char, but it was a perfect medium rare and he, like yours truly, declared it the best steak he'd ever eaten. His steak was perfectly marbled and while it had a bit more bite to it than mine was tender none the less. The char on the outside was crispy and perfectly seasoned and added to the wonderfulness of the steak. While he didn't care for the blue cheese, I enjoyed it though it definitely overwhelmed the steak. On the other hand, that perfect little luge of bone marrow was rich and buttery and went amazingly well with the brioche. For those who have never tried it it may sound odd, but it is truly amazing.

We contemplated dessert for all of 2 seconds, but given we'd done this to the steaks

And we all felt like this

We thought it wise we add no more food to the mix try and waddle out of the restaurant as best we could.

As we settled our tab, we found out our server was from the same small town in West Virginia that Jason is. Oddly her name tag now said she was from Orlando as she was the recipient of one too many West Virginia jokes. Jason, living with me, could not relate to that at all. By the way, do you hear banjo's ; )

All in all, Yachtsman was everything you could want from a steakhouse. The steaks were the upmost quality, cooked to perfection, seasoned to a tee, and quite simply the best we'd ever had. Add in an amazing charcuterie board and a great bottle of wine and it was about as close to a perfect steakhouse meal as you could get. We'll definitely be back at some point in the future, but will wait at least one more trip so we don't endanger the memories that are in our minds. With our tables in wonderland card we saved $43.60

The boats still weren't running when we left, but it wasn't a long wait for a bus to MGM and then back to POR. Somewhere along the way Jason commented we'd still be sweating out meat smell in the morning and I tell ya he wasn't that far off ; )

Next up a day in the jungle with some hakuna fritatta....

​

 

[Sailormoon2]

You have just convinced me to change my final night "fancy" dinner to Yachtsman (hardly an ordeal as we're staying at BC). I can not get enough MEAT! And especially a quality charcuterie!!! YUM, yum, yummers....so thanks!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Glad you had a good experience at Yachtsman as we had a wonderful time on our first trip and an awful experience last trip. Sadly for us the venue is forever spoilt and we won't be back

 

[aj23]

Sounds like you guys had a great time at Yachtsman. I've only been there once but remember that everything was delicious!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Enjoying the reviews, good descriptions, Liberty is on our to do list for 2016, the meal at Yachtsman is also right up my husbands alley. He loves a good steak and he would love the appetizer you all had!

 

[samsteele]

Glad you enjoyed Yachtsman. Your pics are excellent (and I think you mentioned earlier you didn't have your good camera with you?) So wonderful job! I haven't tried this one yet. The pics and menu always get me excited but like so many signatures, I get worried about my actual meal being a let down. So great to hear a really positive and recent review. Have you tried Brown Derby at HS? In light of the poor lunch choices at HS, I've had a really nice (and inexpensive) lunch with simply the signature Cobb salad appy and the Grapefuit Cake (now its part of a dessert trio). Anyhoo, thank you for the incredible review!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Glad you had a great meal at Yachtsman! Its one of our favorite places to have Dinner! Their steaks are always great.

 

[tgpez21]

The Yachtsman food looked delicious. We have an ADR in December and you have now convinced me to get the filet which looked incredible.

 

[lauraleh]

Yachtsman looks amazing! I'm for sure team Ribeye!

 

[jabead]

I was a bit on the fence on whether or not to include YSH in the dining schedule for my next trip but I do believe that your review has tipped the scale for me. It reminded me of how much I love the YSH filet when it is cooked to the temperature ordered, which more often than not it is.

 

[jabead]

Oops sorry, a double post. My internet is giving me fits this morning!

 

[KathyM2]

And stopped in to see some chick who could really use a good haircut

You know...I often have that thought when I see her lol. Like how does she manage to do anything, ever, with all that hair hanging around.

some rolls and butter and garlic made their way to the table.

Yum....this sounded so good..I'm sorry the garlic wasn't soft enough....

But as soon as I cut in, a perfect medium rare befell me and I was in steak heaven.

Wow...yum. Nothing like a good fillet.

Truffled Macaroni and Cheese to share amongst the 3 of us

That looked really good!!

 

[smilerjones]

Um that looks amazing!!!! Now regretting not having gone to yachtsman on our disneymoon last year and trying to fit into our next trip.... Glad you had a good dinner, thanks for sharing!