I don’t *like* food; I Love it – A Solo August 2015 Dining Report - 10/20 COMPLETE

[SnowWhiteOz]

Welcome one and all to a jam-packed Dining Report (both figuratively and literally) from my (hopefully inaugural) solo trip to WDW from 13-20 August 2015. I found reading others reviews before going supremely helpful and want to return the favour (or flavour), so sit back, relax and get ready for some delectable food porn coming your way.​

About Me –General​

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(Normal)​

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(Princess mode)​

I’m 28 years old (but probably more like 6 at heart) and I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia but currently live in our nation’s capital, Canberra.​

I’m a public servant (I think you call them civil servants in the northern hemisphere) and work for the federal government.​

I love to travel, have been to over 25 countries, and, if I’m in a country with a Disney park, I will always go.​

More Importantly, About Me – Disney Edition​

Favourite Park: Pre this trip -Hong Kong Disney, Now – It’s tied with WDW
Favourite Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Favourite Character - Princess: Snow White
Favourite Character - Non-Princess: the Genie
Favourite Disney Movie: Aladdin
Well for starters, prior to this trip I’d never been to WDW (shock horror! ) but I have been to all the other parks so I felt like I’d been saving the best for last.​

My first trip to a Disney park was to Tokyo Disney all the way back in another millennium, 1990. And despite my grumpiness in the photos I'm assured by my mother that I actually did have fun. My sole memory from the trip is going on the Jungle Cruise ride and then being bought a raspberry popsicle by my Uncle. ​

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It was then a while before my next trip when I went with my DM, DF and 2 DB to Disneyland on our family vacation in 1999. CA was not open at that point, but I have fond memories of Disneyland even if they are a little blurry now.​

In 2007 I visited Paris Disney, and yes it is small, but it still has that all important Disney magic. (Importantly I apparently kept up the tradition of wearing red and finally learnt how to smile)​

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In 2009 to celebrate graduating university I went back to the States and went to Disneyland, and this time, to California Adventure as well. I wasn’t a huge CA fan (this was pre-Cars land and other exciting additions) but DL can do no wrong in my book. As a bonus I was there at Halloween and the attention to detail was incredible.​

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And now to the last time I was at a Disney park, Hong Kong in 2012 (which seems oh so long ago but still fresh in my mind). I loved HKD. It is perfectly sized, is tremendously clean, everyone is friendly and as a bonus they have Toy Story land! ​

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Now that the introduction is out of the way, on to why you’re here (and why I gained 5 pounds) – the food!​

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Table of Contents
· Pre-WDW Part 1
· Pre-WDW Part 2
· A Review How To
· Day One - Thursday, August 13 - Arrival Day/Downtown Disney
· Day Two – Friday, August 14 – Animal Kingdom - Tusker House Breakfast
· Day Two - Friday, August 14 - Animal Kingdom - Snacks/Drinks
· Day Two - Friday, August 14 - EPCOT - Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party
· Day Three – Saturday, August 15 - Universal Studios - Florean Fortescues
· Day Three – Saturday, August 15 - Bumblebeeman's Tacos
· Day Three – Saturday, August 15 - The Leaky Cauldron
· Day Three - Saturday, August 15 - Lard Lad Donuts
· Day Three - Saturday, August 15 - Everything Pop
· Day Four – Sunday, August 16 - Fire Eater's Grill
· Day Four – Sunday, August 16 – Landscape of Flavors
· Day Four – Sunday, August 16 – Pop Century
· Day Five – Monday, August 17 – EPCOT - Biergarten
· Day Five – Monday, August 17 – EPCOT - L'Artisan de Glaces
· Day Five – Monday, August 17 – Magic Kingdom - Aloha Isle
· Day Five – Monday, August 17 – Magic Kingdom - Cinderella's Royal Table
· Day Six – Tuesday, August 18 – Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest Breakfast
· Day Six – Tuesday, August 18 – Magic Kingdom - Columbia Harbour House
· Day Six – Tuesday, August 18 – Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest Dinner
· Day Seven – Wednesday, August 19 – Hollywood Studios - Sweet Spells
· Day Seven – Wednesday, August 19 – Hollywood Studios - Beaches and Cream
· Day Seven – Wednesday, August 19 – Hollywood Studios - 50's Prime Time Cafe
· Day Eight – Thursday, August 20 – Magic Kingdom - Mickey Bar
· Day Eight - Thursday, August 20 - Golden Oak Outpost
· Day Eight – Thursday, August 20 – Everything Pop
· Post WDW Part 1
· Post WDW Part 2
· The Inaugural SnowWhiteOz Food Awards (or the wrap up)
· Now what?

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Pre-WDW​

This first post(s) is a quick summary of the three days of eating I experienced stateside (Los Angeles and Las Vegas) before heading across to Orlando. I’ll keep it short as I’m sure you really only care about the Disney component of my trip, but there was some great food had and there are places I’d heartily recommend if you’re ever in the area. Note, that this trip I was on a quest to find the best burger possible so prepare for quite a few burger pit stops.​

Air New Zealand​

15 hour of flying time to LA meant three separate meal services on the way over. I’d pre-ordered the vegan meal as they tend to be the best options while in the air and as a bonus you always get your meal first!​

The first meal was dinner and was tofu with rice and vegetables with an allergy friendly pineapple cake for dessert. The tofu was delicious, the cake not so much.​

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The next meal was also a dinner and was felafel with dhal and more of that pineapple cake. The felafels were tasty but a little dry. The dhal was nicely spiced and helped with the felafels dryness.​

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And finally there was breakfast. This was baked beans with mushrooms and potatoes. I’m not a baked beans fan so those were left behind but the mushrooms and potatoes were tasty. It was served with an apple and raisin muffin which was quite moist for something that was gluten and dairy and nut free.​

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Bob’s Donuts​

After landing in LA early in the morning I headed out for breakfast. I was tired after a long journey, something that a lot of sugar could easily fix. I headed off to the Farmers Market in LA and went straight to Bob’s Donuts for one of their famous apple fritters. It was amazing, even though I swear I’d eaten a whole stick of butter in the process and I was honestly not hungry again until about 7pm that night! Totally worth it.​

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Goldie’s​

Dinner that night was at a restaurant that my brother manages in LA called Goldie’s. Acknowledging that, I probably got excellent service and great food because I was known to the staff, but all I can rate on is what I ate and what I ate was damn tasty. I don’t have photos from this night but I have included the menu – we had the haloumi & olives, the burrata, the grilled corn, the brick chicken and a pork dish (the daily special).​

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[SnowWhiteOz]

Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner​

The next day my brother and I headed off on the four or so hour drive to Las Vegas to celebrate his 26th birthday. After some googling back home I convinced him that Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner in Yermo was the place we needed to stop for lunch. Peggy Sue’s is an original roadside diner built in the 50s that was restored in the 1980s. It serves all the diner classics. I went with the turkey sandwich with curly fries and coleslaw and a chocolate milkshake. The portions were huge and I barely made a dint in my sandwich. The milkshake was amazing and I would have one every day if I could.​

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Smashburger​

This was to be the first burger I tried off of my burger checklist. My goal was to find the best chain burger and this set the bar pretty high. The meat was perfectly cooked and very juicy. The fries were herbed (rosemary I believe) and were delicious.​

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Dairy Queen​

Now I know DQ is not new to any of you, but to someone from Australia it is, and after hearing about it in numerous TV shows and songs I had to try it. I went with a Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Smash Blizzard and it was delicious. As you’ll learn through this DR I am addicted to PB and Chocolate and Peanut Butter is my favourite flavour combination.​

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Shake Shack​

The next meal was burger 2 on the burger challenge and came from Shake Shack at the NYNY casino in Las Vegas. The burger was good but didn’t live up to the previous night’s burger from Smashburger. I didn’t have fries but instead went with a Peanut Butter shake. The peanut butter flavour was strong but it was just too thick to drink. I prefer a much thinner milkshake that you can drink straightaway.​

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Spice Market Buffet​

Our final meal in Las Vegas was the Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood. My brother loved this meal but I was really disappointed. I understand that buffet food is not of the highest quality but I didn’t love anything and barely liked anything that I tried. Oh well, when in Rome (or Las Vegas) you try the buffet!​

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[auntfrannie]

Great start! I'm looking forward to reading your first time reviews of some Disney restaurants.

 

[vettegirl]

Welcome! Excited to follow along. I agree with you the Spice Market at Planet Hollywood isn't very good. The first time I went I had a few too many adult drinks so anything tasted good at that point. However when we went back the following year it was terrible. Only bonus for me was the cotton candy they had for dessert!!

 

[Vernie822]

Yay! I love it so far - PB and chocolate is my favorite combination ever.

We also tried Shake Shack when we were in Miami last summer.. yum.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Great start - our dream lottery winning trip is to travel from the UK to WDW to Disney Anaheim and then over to see my cousin in Australia so it's great that you showed the journey food too. Cant wait to see what you thought of WDW.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Great start! I'm looking forward to reading your first time reviews of some Disney restaurants.

I tried to fit it a broad range of QS, TS and snacks across all four parks and DTD in this trip so there are plenty of reviews coming!

Welcome! Excited to follow along. I agree with you the Spice Market at Planet Hollywood isn't very good. The first time I went I had a few too many adult drinks so anything tasted good at that point. However when we went back the following year it was terrible. Only bonus for me was the cotton candy they had for dessert!!

. I think that was my problem with Spice Market - no adult beverages ! I had an 8am flight the next morning so I stuck to water and that didn't help with the tastiness of the food!

Yay! I love it so far - PB and chocolate is my favorite combination ever.

We also tried Shake Shack when we were in Miami last summer.. yum.

. PB and Chocolate is my top combo but it is closely followed by Choc Mint - there are just too many yummy things to try with both combinations!

Great start - our dream lottery winning trip is to travel from the UK to WDW to Disney Anaheim and then over to see my cousin in Australia so it's great that you showed the journey food too. Cant wait to see what you thought of WDW.

. That sounds like an awesome dream trip - I was so tempted to squeeze in a day at Disneyland on my way back to Australia but just couldn't justify the cost after a week in WDW

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

A review how to​

Now that we’ve reached the Disney component of this Dining Report it’s time to introduce the method behind my madness in reviewing all these meals. ​

Each meal (even snacks) was rated using the following chart to ensure consistency across reviews. Hey if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right! ​

Criteria that weren’t appropriate for a dining location were removed and a final score out of 100 was calculated.​

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This score out of 100 will be used to place each dining locale on the Disney Princess Scale of Dining Awesomeness​

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I’ll do a full wrap up at the end of the report and will award against the following categories:​

• Best Quick Service/Counter Service
• Best Table Service
• Best Character Meal
• Best Drink
• Best Snack
• Best Ice-cream
• Best Atmosphere
• The Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Award - Overall Winner
• The Poor unfortunate souls award - Worst Meal

And without further ado, let’s begin!

 

[SomeImaginationHuh]

Cute! Can't wait to read along

 

[pumba]

great photos and I like how you are going to rate them

 

[twinkybel81]

Following along!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Cute! Can't wait to read along

Thanks and

great photos and I like how you are going to rate them

Thank you!

Following along!

 

[justalittlebritt]

Oooh I love your chart! Following! This one is going to be great... I can tell

 

[nicoleakr]

Following nice start

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Oooh I love your chart! Following! This one is going to be great... I can tell

And thanks - hopefully I can live up to your optimism!

Following nice start

.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Day One – Thursday, August 13 – Arrival Day/Downtown Disney​

The Great American Bagel & Bakery – Las Vegas McCarran Airport
Order: Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese​

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I had an early flight (8:30am) so I was dropped off at the airport by my brother just before 7:00. I was pretty hungry after the not so great buffet the night before so headed off in search of breakfast after making my way through security (I still don’t get the whole shoes off thing in America – I never have to do that back in Australia!)​

I stumbled upon the Great American Bagel & Bakery and decided a bagel would be a great breakfast that would tie me over until getting to Florida that afternoon. I went for the everything bagel with cream cheese. It was a perfectly decent bagel (especially for an airport) and they definitely didn’t scrimp on the cream cheese (I swear there was a whole tub on my bagel). It had a nice chew, and was the right level of salty.​

Earl of Sandwich
Order: Holiday Turkey Sandwich​

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After an early start in Las Vegas and a five hour flight I’d finally made it to Orlando. I was off my flight at 4:10pm and was on the DME by 4:30pm. Of course being on the DME doesn’t mean you’re actually moving, so it was 4:45pm by the time the wheels on the bus went round and round J. The DME stopped at Art of Animation first and then finally we turned the corner and I saw my home for the next week, Pop Century. I had done online check in so all there was to do was to pick up my magic band and I was in my room (50’s lake view, top floor) by 5:52pm – so less than two hours from touchdown to being in a room, not too shabby.​

By this time I was starving – having not eaten since the bagel pre-flight and so I headed off to the bus stop to head to my destination for that evening – Downtown Disney. A bus arrived within 3 minutes (which was a good omen for the rest of the trip) and I was at DTD by 6:10pm.​

I had heard excellent things about Earl of Sandwich and new that if you joined their rewards club you got a free sandwich (I believe this has now changed to just a side). I of course couldn’t pass up a free meal (more money for snacks in the park!) and had signed up before heading on my trip. ​

Well let’s just say there was a bit of a problem and they didn’t want to accept my coupon and asked me to go reprint it or show them the original email. I made the case that I was travelling from Australia and had no access to my emails (which was true) and after speaking to a supervisor and a manager managed to have the voucher honoured. I usually wouldn’t have put in that much of a fuss but I had done everything correct and had the print out and darn it, I deserved my free sandwich.​

So, after all that, I went with the Holiday Turkey Sandwich. From their menu, this is Turkey, Cornbread Stuffing, Turkey Gravy, Cranberry Sauce and Mayonnaise on wheat bread. The menu price for this was $6.49+tax, so the coupon did save me quite a bit.​

The sandwich was great – it was served warm and had the right balance between meat, stuffing and sauce components. I ate half straight away and then ate the rest over the next hour or so of wondering around DTD. I would definitely recommend Earl of Sandwich as a quick service location. Despite the initial hiccups I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.​

Scorecard:​

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Rating:​

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Ghirardelli Soda Fountain
Order: Mint Bliss Sundae​

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After finishing off my sandwich and doing a little window shopping I headed to my next destination – Ghirardelli Soda Fountain. I’d read so many good reviews in my planning that it became a must do for me. And the Floridian heat meant that I could easily fit in an ice-cream on top of the sandwich! My original plan was to go for the Gold Rush Peanut Butter Sundae but then of course, peanuts were banned at Ghirardelli back in April. ​

After much consideration I had to go for my second favourite flavour combination – chocolate and mint – and thus went with the Mint Bliss Sundae. As per the menu, this is Mint Chip Ice Cream and Chocolate Ice Cream, topped with Freshly homemade Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge, Whipped Cream and an Intense Dark Twilight Delight® 72% Chocolate and cost $9.45+tax. ​

Well what can I say, other than that I was super disappointed with this sundae. In fact I ate about a quarter of the supremely overpriced cup of ice-cream and the rest went in the bin. The only good part of the dish was the hot fudge. The chocolate ice cream was bland and the mint only had the faintest trace of minty goodness. I would definitely not order this again or recommend it and I had much better ice-cream over the course of the trip. In fact, this is probably blasphemous, but you’d probably struggle to get me to go back to Ghirardelli. ​

Scorecard:​

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Rating:​

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[auntfrannie]

I've never tried Ghirardelli's and have no desire to since they banned nuts. However, I somehow need to make it to Beaches & Cream for the No Way Jose which gets rave reviews on the boards.

 

[Vernie822]

My original plan was to go for the Gold Rush Peanut Butter Sundae but then of course, peanuts were banned at Ghirardelli back in April.

Ugh - I hear ya. I have had my eye on it for the longest time and I was so disappointed when I heard it was going away. If you haven't tried this (we'll find out in your dining report ) the No Way Jose at Beaches and Cream is peanut butter chocolate perfection.

I had heard excellent things about Earl of Sandwich and new that if you joined their rewards club you got a free sandwich (I believe this has now changed to just a side). I of course couldn’t pass up a free meal (more money for snacks in the park!) and had signed up before heading on my trip.

Good for you for couponing your way to a free sandwich! I am so glad they ended up honoring your coupon.. I would've been upset if I were you and they wouldn't honor it!

So, after all that, I went with the Holiday Turkey Sandwich. From their menu, this is Turkey, Cornbread Stuffing, Turkey Gravy, Cranberry Sauce and Mayonnaise on wheat bread. The menu price for this was $6.49+tax, so the coupon did save me quite a bit.

Are we food twins? Maybe. I am obsessed with this sandwich!! YUM.

So sorry you didn't love your sundae at Ghirardelli - by the description, it sounded like it had great potential!!