Can you say 11 Character Meals? Plus V&A Chef Table! Star Wars too! Updated 7/23

[Dislover1991]

Tusker House - we are going there for the first time in September and i'm really excited! I've heard so many great things about the buffet and i'm very happy to finally meet Daisy without waiting in line

Cape May Cafe - sorry to hear you guys didn't enjoy it more! We went there for the first time in 2013 and absolutely loved it. It's the 1 character breakfast we all deemed necessary to re-visit. We had an early morning ADR (7:30am so we could get to Epcot for rope drop) so we were the first to be seated and the characters came by 2-3 times. We really enjoyed the food. It seemed they had the standard buffet food plus some different unique items - I was obsessed with the quinoa!! It is a perfect breakfast for an Epcot day though!

Flying Fish - also trying this for the first time in September. It's actually my birthday meal so we plan to have a cake delivered here. I wasn't really considering an appetizer since we are paying OOP for this meal, but wow I may have to try the mozarella and tomato salad. It looks delicious!

 

[clr055]

Doing great, love the reviews!

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on, great start! FF is our favorite signature too!

 

[mgentry210]

Tusker House - we are going there for the first time in September and i'm really excited! I've heard so many great things about the buffet and i'm very happy to finally meet Daisy without waiting in line

Cape May Cafe - sorry to hear you guys didn't enjoy it more! We went there for the first time in 2013 and absolutely loved it. It's the 1 character breakfast we all deemed necessary to re-visit. We had an early morning ADR (7:30am so we could get to Epcot for rope drop) so we were the first to be seated and the characters came by 2-3 times. We really enjoyed the food. It seemed they had the standard buffet food plus some different unique items - I was obsessed with the quinoa!! It is a perfect breakfast for an Epcot day though!

Flying Fish - also trying this for the first time in September. It's actually my birthday meal so we plan to have a cake delivered here. I wasn't really considering an appetizer since we are paying OOP for this meal, but wow I may have to try the mozarella and tomato salad. It looks delicious!

Daisy is very sweet! I asked her when Donald was going to put a ring on it. Hope you enjoy!

If you like fresh mozzarella, this is excellent. So soft and tender, no tough of chewiness at all. And have a grapefruit martini for me!

 

[mgentry210]

Tusker House - we are going there for the first time in September and i'm really excited! I've heard so many great things about the buffet and i'm very happy to finally meet Daisy without waiting in line

Cape May Cafe - sorry to hear you guys didn't enjoy it more! We went there for the first time in 2013 and absolutely loved it. It's the 1 character breakfast we all deemed necessary to re-visit. We had an early morning ADR (7:30am so we could get to Epcot for rope drop) so we were the first to be seated and the characters came by 2-3 times. We really enjoyed the food. It seemed they had the standard buffet food plus some different unique items - I was obsessed with the quinoa!! It is a perfect breakfast for an Epcot day though!

Flying Fish - also trying this for the first time in September. It's actually my birthday meal so we plan to have a cake delivered here. I wasn't really considering an appetizer since we are paying OOP for this meal, but wow I may have to try the mozarella and tomato salad. It looks delicious!

Oh and Happy Birthday in advance!

 

[Dislover1991]

Daisy is very sweet! I asked her when Donald was going to put a ring on it. Hope you enjoy!

If you like fresh mozzarella, this is excellent. So soft and tender, no tough of chewiness at all. And have a grapefruit martini for me!

Oh and Happy Birthday in advance!

Thank you! I love grapefruit and I've actually never had a martini so I may have to try one!

 

[mgentry210]

Next day was our first Hollywood Studios day. We had an 11 a.m. reservation at 50's right when they opened. I am used to waiting a while for a table there so I sat down and ordered a drink at the bar area, next thing I knew they were calling our party. Our server was very nice, very chatty. I know all about her daughter's upcoming wedding, what she does for a living (nurse), etc. I'm a friendly gal, but this was going a bit overboard. She did make Lexi set the table and she took the job very seriously.

We all ordered the fried chicken. Lexi and I split a portion. She said "This fried chicken is so good I just can't believe it!" We almost ordered her another leg, but remembered that we still needed to save room for dessert. No pictures of the chicken. I am not sure why? One point, it is now served with corn instead of collard greens. Fine with me!

Almost every day this trip Lexi wore a birthday button. Her birthday is in February, but she only gets to come to Disney World once a year, so who's counting? She loved the attention. She got a cupcake or scoop of ice cream at almost every restaurant. At least 3 times, including 50's the entire restaurant sang her happy birthday. It got to the point where if someone didn;t wish her Happy Birthday she would look at her button and then look back at them. She was getting spoiled! Hubby and Sierra shared the Dad's Brownie Sundae, Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream, Hot Fudge, Caramel Sauce, Whipped Cream, and Topping. I took Lexi to the bathroom and it was gone when I got back. They didn't even save the cherry!

I decided to go back and edit this one because I did spend about 2 hours in the lounge on our Star Wars day. It was pretty hot that day and Lexi was getting tired. We were there for the breakfast at 9 and no plans to leave until after the last Fantasmic. Hubby and Sierra wanted to go see the Ray Park show and I knew that was just a recipe for disaster with her getting so tired. Don't tell hubby, but I really don't care about Star Wars or even know who Ray Park is. The last time I saw the movies it was my grandparents basement in the 80's. I was fine with skipping it. Looking for some AC, I sent them off and Lexi and saw the Little Mermaid but she was still fading fast. Short walk over to 50's I lucked into the lounge dentist chair in the corner and her an arm chair. I ordered a glass of wine for me and a milkshake for her. It was right next to the TV and we were set. She took a good hour nap and woke up and promptly spilled the rest of her shake all over the floor. The staff was very nice about it. Turned out to be a good spot to get out of the heat and relax for a while. We met several very nice people while sitting there just chatting. Love Disney friends!

 

[Bethany Fine]

Following along. Can't wait to see more!

 

[mgentry210]

Wow! Sounds like an amazing trip. I look forward to reading the rest.

Thanks! It was fun!

 

[mgentry210]

Following - such a fun trip. You are officially the best aunt ever!

Awww

 

[mgentry210]

Following along. Can't wait to see more!

Thanks for reading!

 

[mgentry210]

Signing on, great start! FF is our favorite signature too!

As I have said 15 times in this post - get the grapefruit martini! Kidding, but I really do love that restaurant.

 

[mgentry210]

Next up was an early dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic Package. Confession. This is the 5th time I've purchased the Fantasmic package and I have still never seen Fantasmic. Hubby and I can't figure out why we never make it. There is always some really good reason that makes sense at the time. Today it was that we were on day 4 and they still hadn't been to the pool. Lexi really wanted to go to the pool. It was an early dinner, we finished our Fastpasses so why not. We can see it after the Star Wars fireworks, right? One day...

I usually love Mama Melrose and I am an Italian snob. I grew up in NY, make my own sauce, meatballs, etc, etc. Ya know what I'm talkin about. The spaghetti is just ok, but some of the other pastas are really good. Since we had the package we got appetizers, entrees and plated dessert.

Sierra got the calamari and really liked it. She wasn't a huge fan of the sauces on the side. She said she liked the green one and asked what it was. I said it was pesto. She said I hate pesto. Well apparently you like this one!

Big Surprise here. I ordered the tomato mozzarella salad. It was simple but fresh and delicious.

Our lovely waitress allowed hubby to order a flatbread as his appetizer and he got the Carne d'Italia Flatbread with Pepperoni, House-made Sausage, Pancetta, and spicy Marinara Sauce. He loves a spicy pizza or anything spicy and he liked this one. It was loaded with meat and could have easily been lunch by itself.

For entree hubby had the Penne alla Vodka with Chicken with Pancetta and Sweet Onions finished with Tomato-Basil Sauce, Cream, Vodka, and Pecorino Romano. He like it. I don't remember him loving or raving but the bowl was pretty empty.

Sierra had the boring old spaghetti with regular marinara. But hey, she liked it!

I had what I almost always order: Chicken Campanelle Wood-grilled Chicken and Campanelle Pasta tossed in a Four-Cheese Sauce with Broccoflower, Sun-dried Tomatoes, fresh Spinach, and Sweet Onions. Yum! Give me a cheese sauce and broccoli any day. It was good. The sauce felt a little off to me this time. I've had this dish probably 10 times and don't get me wrong it was still great, just not as great as usual. The chicken however was cooked perfect. Not a single dry piece in the bowl. Never to fear though, I will be back for more!

Lexi had the kids pasta land really liked it too.

On to dessert. We were all pretty full. I took a taste of everything. The almond cheesecake as good. Sweet but good. Everything else was just OK. That little chocolate square was hard as a rock! Lexi got the kids meatball cupcake with a candle of course!

One last note. They changed the bread since last visit. They are now Olive Garden looking breadsticks. That would be fine, but they are missing all the garlic buttery topping. We all took one and ate about one bite. On the way out there was a family of 4 waiting for a table. I asked if they were planning on seeing Fantasmic and had reserved seating. They did not and happily accepted our passes. We left for an evening at the pool. All in all, we will be back and one day I WILL see Fantasmic!

 

[Dislover1991]

I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying your reviews! I'm pretty excited about the next few because those are new (for us anyways) restaurants.

We have the Fantasmic package booked at MM so I know I will for sure be getting the tomato and mozerella dish as my appetizer. Thank goodness mozerella and tomatoes are naturally gluten free

 

[kastoney]

Holy Character Meals Batman!!! ELEVEN!!!! You all are seriously going all out, your nieces are very lucky.

Subbing in and can't wait for more

 

[mgentry210]

I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying your reviews! I'm pretty excited about the next few because those are new (for us anyways) restaurants.

We have the Fantasmic package booked at MM so I know I will for sure be getting the tomato and mozerella dish as my appetizer. Thank goodness mozerella and tomatoes are naturally gluten free

Thanks for the positive feedback! As you have seen so far, I eat a lot of tomato mozzarella salads (had one for lunch today!). I've had this one several times before. They used to serve it about 2 years ago as an antipasto platter with some smoked meat, etc. I do miss that version. This was probably the second best this trip. Nothing beats the one at Flying Fish.

 

[mgentry210]

Holy Character Meals Batman!!! ELEVEN!!!! You all are seriously going all out, your nieces are very lucky.

Subbing in and can't wait for more

Will you call the big one and tell her that? Teenagers, what can you do?!?

 

[mgentry210]

Crystal Palace breakfast. I had an 8:15 reservation that was pre-park opening when I booked it. Unfortunately, they changed the park hours and it opened at 8 instead of 9. Oh well...

This was the only buffet so far that had an omelet station and I was happy to change up my week long breakfast buffet of bacon, ok scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes. I loaded up Lexi's plate with her usual of ketchup with a side of eggs, bacon and watermelon. Afterward, I headed to the omelet bar. I ordered a simple cheese and bacon omelet. The chef put cooking spray down on the grill and poured the eggs - OK, nothing wrong with that, but then he sprayed the eggs again. Maybe that's if he's going to flip it? Still OK. He then sprayed another spot and but down the bacon and then sprayed the bacon again! I get heating up the bacon before putting it in the omelet, but its BACON it shouldn't stick to the grill. Anyway, he then puts the bacon in the omelet and then adds the cheese - AND YOU GUESSED IT - sprayed the cheese with cooking spray! It was awful! Tasted all chemical nastiness. So I went back and got bacon and potatoes. They had really good crispy bacon and the potatoes were good too. So I guess all is not lost. There is only one picture of our food and that's hubby's plate. He loaded up on the different choices as usual. All of the characters here were really good and I think we saw them all 3 times. Tigger was especially good and hit on Sierra. As usual, she was texting and he asked for her number. It was cute. Even she laughed and posed for a pic. Overall, it was pretty good. I would just do some recon on the omelet station to see if cooking spray man is there before wasting the time and food.

 

[mgentry210]

After a very wet afternoon, we headed to Be Our Guest for Dinner. Lexi really wanted to meet the Beast. She has never seen the movie, but she was enchanted with Belle, the Beast and everything else Beauty and the Beast. When I was booking the reservations she saw the promo brochure and pointed to the Beast and said, I want to see him. Hubby and I have eaten here before and loved the theming, but found the food just OK. This trip was about the girls, so I booked it!

Last time we sat in the ballroom and it was very beautiful. This time we were sat in the West Wing. Very cool! Lexi was a bit freaked out by the thunder and lightening, but relaxed when I told her it was fake. Truthfully I'm not sure it was all fake because it was raining pretty hard when we got there. The following is the actual conversation as Lexi is trying to understand why the West Wing looks the way it does:
Lexi: "Why did the Beast rip up the curtains and the picture?"
Hubby: "Because he's sad - who's gonna love him now that he's so stinking ugly?"
Lexi: "Well, Melissa loves YOU..."
Lexi 1, Uncle Michael 0
Gotta love the kid... Back to the food.

We started with Assorted Cured Meats and Sausages (Serves Two) served with Cornichons, Pickled Onions, and Toasted Baguette. This was pretty standard and boring. Nothing was all that great. Supermarket deli section quality selection. The prosciutto was probably the best part.

I am pretty sure hubby got the Braised Pork (Coq au Vin Style) Eight Hour Slow-cooked Pork with Mushrooms, Onions, Carrots, and Bacon served with Puréed Cauliflower and Seasonal Vegetables. He says he liked it. He didn't hate it.

Sierra got the NY strip. I am pretty sure she ate about half of it.

I ordered the Pan-seared Chicken Breast finished with fresh Herb-Truffle Butter and Spinach Cream Sauce, Seasonal Vegetables, and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes. This was dry - shoe leather dry. There was no amount of sauce that could save that poor chicken. I don't know about you, but that little circle of green sauce does not look like a spinach cream sauce to me.

Lexi had the steak of course! I think she ate almost all of one piece and the fries. With ketchup of course!

For dessert, we shared the grey stuff and the strawberry cupcake. The grey stuff is OK. The brownie part underneath was pretty hard. I liked the flavor of the cupcake, but the icing was really sweet! It was definitely shareable.

The food was about to the standard we had last time. Just OK. You are definitely paying for the experience of eating in the beautiful restaurant. After dinner we met and Lexi danced with the Beast in his study. Very cute!

 

[mgentry210]

Guess what? Yes! Another character breakfast. This day is was O'hana. I do actually happen to really like this breakfast. We've done it twice before without kids. And who doesn't love Stitch? This is a family style platter. Typical eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, waffles. I do like that they also include a side of fruit here. This time everything was very hot and very fresh. The bacon was extra crispy and we had to ask for more bacon and sausage. I also really like the potatoes here. Food wise, this was probably everyone's favorite. Especially mine because I ordered a Lapu Lapu at 10 in the morning. Don't judge - its vacation and there is a parade with maracas. BTW, Lexi loves a good parade. By now she was leading the charge. My Lapu Lapu was sweeter this time than I remembered and I had to have hubby help me finish it. Too much of a good thing! The characters were great, especially Stitch and Pluto. Stitch really played with Lexi for a while. It was fun!