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April vacation Disney dining adventures (lots of pictures) COMPLETE

Enjoying the reviews!

Sorry the Brown Derby was such a miss - I have to say I see a lot of very mixed opinions on this place, and it is awfully expensive to have bad food :/

We did the Wave for dinner on a whim during our last trip and loved it, but the lunch menu wasn't quite as appealing. At least some of the options seemed decent here - I did love the chocolate dessert trio though, it was so good!

Looking forward to reading more :)
 
I am starting to see a benefit to taking a single dude friend along, lol. Glad he liked the tacos!

In addition to eating all the food I did not like and being good company, SDF is also a great photographer, and took some really nice family shots for us. It was nice for me to actually be in the pictures for a change! My sister is not big on photos of her kids online, so I can't post any here, but maybe I will ask him to put some shots without people in them on the photography board. He used to post on the DIS a long time ago (not sure if he still does), but he really has a nice eye.
 
In addition to eating all the food I did not like and being good company, SDF is also a great photographer, and took some really nice family shots for us. It was nice for me to actually be in the pictures for a change! My sister is not big on photos of her kids online, so I can't post any here, but maybe I will ask him to put some shots without people in them on the photography board. He used to post on the DIS a long time ago (not sure if he still does), but he really has a nice eye.

That's awesome! I have some single guy friends, they are the best. Always polite and happy with anything I feed them when they come over. I wonder if any of them have photography skills...hmmmmm.... ;)
 
Great updates! I was sorry to hear HBD was not a winner for you. Reading about your experience has solidified my decision to go for the lounge side on my Studios day in August. I really just want to try the Cobb salad and the strawberry lime cider so that'll probably be my best option. Looking forward to reading more!
 


Great reviews! I wonder what's up with The Brown Derby. It really seems to have backslid over the last few years.
 
Thanks for all your reviews so far. Looks like we were there the same month and had lots of similar things thus far. Glad Jiko was a winner for you all. It's always a favorite of ours, though we took a break this last trip as the menu hadn't changed too much.
 


RANDOM SNACKS

So, here are some random snacks. I don't have prices for these unfortunately.

Funnel Cake (Epcot)

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My SDF's grey goose slushy from the champagne booth in France. SDF is not much of a drinker, but this is his favorite treat in all of Epcot.

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My sister and I got kir royales from the same stand. They were good, but worth $15.75 each? Not really

kir royale.jpg

One afternoon we stopped by Trader Sam's for a drink. Fun place. tradersams mojito.jpg

We also bought some stuff from the bakery in France. A ham and cheese sandwich

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Napoleons

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A chocolate tart

france chocolate tart.jpg

One day I got a glass of wine from the patio at the Brown Derby. My niece decorated it for me :-)

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My nephew enjoyed this sausage sandwich from Sommerfest in Germany. I tried one of the paprika chips. Messy!

sausage.jpg

I am at my image limit so will save the rest for another post.

Up next, some more snacks, and breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe.
 

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Thank you so much for this wonderful review! Can't wait for the next installment!
 
So, here are some random snacks
Mmmm. snacks are my favorite! But this......
grey goose slushy
This is heaven in a cup to me :cloud9: In fact on one trip, DH and I were standing at the booth at 11:30, all upset that they don't open until 12. We decided to wait because we NEEDED one, and it was pretty sad since the kids were with us and they were all, "why are we just standing here? Can't we go do something?" No boys, not until mommy and daddy have brunch! :rotfl:
My nephew enjoyed this sausage sandwich from Sommerfest in Germany. I tried one of the paprika chips. Messy
DH got this in January and even though they're messy, gotta say those chips are tasty!
 
Continuing on with snacks, the kids got a couple of Mickey pretzels

pretzel.jpg

This dude was a little dried out. A better choice was a tub of watermelon

watermelon.jpg

Another day, the adults stopped by La Cava del Tequila while the kids were riding Test Track standby. My photo of our margaritas came out blurry, which is too bad because they were so pretty, and delicious. We ordered a thing of the chips and dip to share. The salsa was chipotle and had quite a kick to it. There was also quest and guacamole

la cava.jpg

We may or may not have come back here later for an avocado margarita or two....

One morning we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Most of us ordered the Floridian, which comes with two eggs any style, potato casserole, your choice of bacon, sausage, and/or turkey sausage, and toast.

gfc floridian.jpg

The potatoes were a little underdone, but everything else was fine.

The kids wanted pancakes

gvc pancakes.jpg

they got some fruit on the side. Neither liked the syrup that came with them. I think it had vanilla extract in it. We are spoiled by dark true maple syrup at home.

My husband had the eggs benedict

gfc benedict.jpg

He liked that it came with a salad. The eggs were properly cooked too, which was nice.

Breakfast is not my favorite meal to eat out, but this was fine. We liked the quiet atmosphere of the Cafe, and of course the grounds are beautiful.

Next up: Narcoosses.
 
...Another day, the adults stopped by La Cava del Tequila while the kids were riding Test Track standby...

A major positive to having older kids with you!

Nice update. I only eat Eggs Benedict at home because I'm weird about poached eggs and what they look like. Your DH's look perfect to me! If we end up at GFC I might have to chance it and order them.
 
What kind of camera do you have? These photos are beautiful! I'm in the market for a new camera and wonder if you'd recommend yours...?
 
What kind of camera do you have? These photos are beautiful! I'm in the market for a new camera and wonder if you'd recommend yours...?

I have a Canon 60D. It's about 5 years old, and I am still very happy with it.

Sorry I got sidetracked with work and more travel, but I am determined to finish this review! Only two restaurants left, so here we go with NARCOOSEES

My master plan was to eat at Narcoosees and then watch the fireworks from the deck. I was able to secure an ADR at the right time, so things were looking good. The only issue with this restaurant is that my nephew has an anaphylactic allergy to shrimp, crab, and lobster, so a lot of the things on the menu were off limits. We started with an order of the RHOSE ISLAND CALAMARI, peppadew-banana pepper olive relish and tomato coulis ($16)

narcoosees squid.jpg

the squid was tender, but I would have preferred it to be more spicy.

The kids both got the cheese plate ($19). No photo, but they devoured it.

Moving on to the entrees, our SDF went with the NARCOOSEES FILET: boniato-potato mash and broccolini with red wine-oxtail reduction ($49)

narcoosees filet.jpg

He really enjoyed this and said that the meat was cooked to his specifications. Clean plate!

My husband and sister both ordered the ALASKAN LINE CAUGHT HALIBUT, marble potatoes, gold cauliflower, garbanzo beans, romanesco, corn puree, and warm tomato-pickled mustard seed vinaigrette ($45)

narcoosees halibut.jpg

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Both thought this was tasty. I tried a bite of the halibut and thought to was nicely seasoned.

I chose the PAN-SEARED GEORGES BANK DAY BOAT SCALLOPS, troife pasta with sultana raisins, macron almonds, and herd creme with grilled elf mushrooms, lemon-thyme mustard jus, and arugula ($46)

narcoosees scallops.jpg

OK I wil admit that I ordered this because I wanted the pasta haha. The scallops were great though, huge and perfectly cooked. I lost a couple to people poaching them off my plate. :-)

Nephew chose the PAN-ROASTED JOYCE FARMS CHICKEN BREAST fregola sarda pasta sofrito, chicken-pistachio sausage, baby beets, baby carrots, cipollini onion, and gala apple butter ($33)

narcoosees chicken.jpg

now, nephew would much prefer a burger to a fancy plate of food like this, but he gamely ate at least half of everything without complaint, so I guess it was pretty good!

Niece went with the CORIANDER AND SHICHIMI SPICED SEARED AHI TUNA, charred beans gai lan, green papaya, and sesame sticky rice with ginger-kaffir lime broth ($44)

narcoosees tuna.jpg

this was really excellent. The tuna was perfectly cooked, the sauce was pleasantly spicy, and the vegetables were cooked to a crisp tenderness. If I ever come back here, this is the dish I would order.

We took a break before dessert to go out to the patio to watch the electrical water parade

water small.jpg

and that was when my niece and nephew informed me that they did not want dessert, but instead wanted to go back into the parks, watch Wishes there, and then ride rides until midnight! So, no dessert for us, but I did get to ride Space Mountain 5 times in an hour!

Tables in Wonderland savings...not sure, but it was a lot. This meal was VERY expensive. The food was good, the service not so good. Our waitress was having a bad day, I think. She dropped a bottle of wine, and overall seemed very distracted. She was also pouring very short pours of wine, which is pretty bad when 1. the wine is $18/glass and 2. there is an etching on the glass to show where you are supposed to fill it to! We didn't say anything, since it was obvious that she was already overwhelmed, but it was kind of annoying.

Would I go back? Probably, but I hope I get a different waitress next time!

Next up: last meal of the trip: Bluezoo
 
How amazing are your fireworks photos?! Wow I'm so impressed. Those pictures are just beautiful.

Looks like you got to sample a lot from the Flower and Garden booths. It's too bad that many of the items just weren't that good. During our last trip, I wanted to try that grouper and never got around to it. Guess I'll have to if they bring it back next year. That Florida Larder Board looks right up my alley! :thumbsup2

The more I see of Narcoossee's, the more I want to go! And all of your drinks look positively yummy!
 

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