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

[SnowWhiteOz]

What would illuminations have done if the actual show couldn't go off? Would you still have to pay for the party?

Yep you still have to pay for the party (it is pre-paid as well). When booking the terms and conditions note that IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth may be changed or canceled without prior notice due to inclement weather.

Like what happened for me they also let you know that in the event of inclement weather, the dessert portion will take place at an alternate indoor location.

So basically it is a risk, but at worst you still get a dessert party even if you don't get Illuminations itself.

 

[tgpez21]

Just joining in now, but I love your point system that you are using!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Just joining in now, but I love your point system that you are using!

Thank you and

 

[DnA2010]

Another one jumping on this food train! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Another one jumping on this food train! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Florean Fortescues​

Order: Apple Crumble and Salted Caramel Blondie Ice-cream in a Cup

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Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Or in this case an Uber! After one full day in the Disney bubble it was time to escape and break on through to the other side – Universal. I had two full days planned before I would make my triumphant return to Disney. After rope dropping and racing the crowds I made it to a pretty empty Diagon Alley. And. It. Was. Amazing. I know it’s probably blasphemous but I think this is the best themed area of any land, Disney or otherwise and can see why Disney has had to announce Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land to compete with it.​

But I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to what’s really important. The food. After walking on to Gringotts (yay no line) I decided it was time for breakfast. And what else do you think of when you think breakfast if not ice-cream. Florean Fortescues was calling my name – mainly the apple crumble ice-cream. The store is super cute and has a retro/vintage feel (much like Beaches and Cream).​

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Of course at 9:30 in the morning there tends to be no line so I walked up to the counter and after a quick browsing of the menu (who was I kidding – I knew what I was going to order months ago) I decided on a single cup which allows you to try two flavours. I prefer hard-packed ice-cream so one was obviously going to be the apple crumble and the other had to be the salted caramel blondie. The total was $4.99 plus tax and I thought this was pretty decent value in comparison to other places (and much better value than $4 for a Mickey Bar).​

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I took my ice-cream outside and had my first spoonful. It’s probably not too much to say that this ice-cream was magical (and what else would you expert in Diagon Alley). The apple crumble tasted like apple-crumble and had nice flecks of oaty crumbly goodness in it. I was expecting this to be my favourite but boy oh boy was the salted caramel blondie even better. In fact it was so good that the apple crumble flavour got lost once I started on it. It was a great level of caramel (not too bitter), the right amount of salt and gorgeous little chunks of blondie rippled through it. I don’t think I can adequately say how good this ice-cream was – it was the best ice-cream I had all trip and I regret not going back for more latter in the day (or the next day!). ​

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Scorecard:​

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Rating:​

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[keahgirl8]

I really need to go to Florean Fortescues!

 

[ksromack]

Tried working in one day at US but it was just too expensive for two of us. NEXT trip!
Now I want ice cream

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

I really need to go to Florean Fortescues!

Yes you do!

Tried working in one day at US but it was just too expensive for two of us. NEXT trip!
Now I want ice cream

It's definitely worth it for the ice cream alone. And yes Universal is expensive but I didn't think it was any more than what I would pay for Disney (in fact it turned out to be less). I ordered park to park tickets online from Undercover Tourist (where I also got my Disney tickets from) and they had a promotion where if you bought two days you got the third free (I didn't get a chance to use it but it would definitely make it better value for others) and using the MouseSavers link I spent $192. This included tax and free shipping.

In comparison, a three day park hopper for Disney would cost $346 - yes there are two more parks, but Universal in my opinion, had more rides per park (other than MK of course). So if you have the time I think Universal is a great addition to a WDW trip

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Bumblebee Man’s Tacos
Order: Chicken Taco​

After a morning exploring the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade) I slowly began the loop around Universal Studios to head to my lunch destination. After a quick mission to defend the planet from alien invaders, I headed on in to Springfield USA. ​

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Now I grew up with the Simpsons and dearly love the show (obviously the earlier seasons rather than the current ones!) so this area was always going to be a hit for me. The theming is spot on, and though not as detailed as WWOHP I still found it to be like stepping into the show. And I may have bought a few souvenirs from the Kwik-E-Mart to remember the experience. I got in line to ride the Simpsons ride before lunch which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best idea. Now don’t get me wrong, the ride was awesome – like a combination of Star Tours and Mission Space but far more open and lots more movement. Which was the problem – my stomach after riding was not happy and I ended up putting off riding anything else for at least 2 hours until it settled down. ​

Despite that, I thought that maybe a little food would help settle my stomach as all I’d had to eat so far was ice-cream. I knew exactly where I was going to get some lunch and it involved a food cart and a Mexican bumblebee. ​

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It was peak lunch time (around 12:00 I believe) but there were only two people in front of me in the line. I placed my order for the Chicken Taco (the menu did say Taco so I was expecting just the one) which was described as follows Grilled sliced chicken served with cheddar cheese, lettuce, and homemade salsa served in a warm corn or flour tortilla. I wasn’t asked whether I wanted the corn or flour tortillas but from the looks of what I was served they went with the corn. ​

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After ordering it was about 5 minutes before the meal was actually ready but while waiting you had a good view of the chefs cooking up everything inside the truck. I took my meal over to one of the many outdoor tables outside Moe’s (yay for seating and umbrellas) and dug in. ​

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The meal contained not one but two tacos, and a side of tortilla chips. The tacos were fine. The chicken was well cooked but the salsa was just bland. I definitely prefer a lot more spice and there didn’t seem to be any option for increasing this when I ordered. The serving size was pretty good in comparison to the price ($6.99+tax) and it was filling enough for me (maybe not so filling for a full grown man). ​

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Would I order it again? I think this falls into the maybe pile. There are a lot of other options in Springfield USA (let alone Universal) that I would try first but it is good to know that it is a basic fall back option for the future. I would say it’s a decent option for picky eaters who like plainer foods.​

Scorecard:​

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Rating:​

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[ocalla]

Loving your report!!!! How much was the Uber ride from Disney to Universal?

 

[LindseyJo22]

I'm enjoying your reviews from the "dark side"! I keep saying we're going to get to WWOHP one of these days, but we haven't yet. Maybe on a longer trip when we don't feel rushed to do all our favorites at Disney

That ice cream sounds just amazing - can't wait to read more!

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for the dark side reviews ; ) I haven't been in almost 20 years, so i don't think that even counts anymore. Plus I haven't read too much on the food front, so appreciate the education.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Loving your report!!!! How much was the Uber ride from Disney to Universal?

Thank you. Seeing as my drivers may have had to go a longer route (Google maps takes you to the staff entrance not the main gate apparently) it was around $15 from Pop to Universal. I would definitely recommend Uber - I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for one, the cars were all very clean and the drivers were very friendly. In fact most of them were actually Disney employees.

I'm enjoying your reviews from the "dark side"! I keep saying we're going to get to WWOHP one of these days, but we haven't yet. Maybe on a longer trip when we don't feel rushed to do all our favorites at Disney

That ice cream sounds just amazing - can't wait to read more!

Thanks. My trip was pretty rushed (no rest days) but seeing as I had come all the way from Australia and didn't know if/when I would be back I wanted to fit in as much as possible.

Thanks for the dark side reviews ; ) I haven't been in almost 20 years, so i don't think that even counts anymore. Plus I haven't read too much on the food front, so appreciate the education.

It still counts. I haven't been to Tokyo Disney since 1990 but I still count it!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Late to the party but all caught up! Love your reviews & rating system! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Late to the party but all caught up! Love your reviews & rating system! Looking forward to the rest!

Thank you and

 

[Redwitch]

Seeing as my drivers may have had to go a longer route (Google maps takes you to the staff entrance not the main gate apparently) it was around $15 from Pop to Universal.

First - I am enjoying your reviews and love your rating system!
Second - I paid over $20 (with tip) for a taxi from All Star Sports (I totally used initials and went "oops!") to Grand Floridian. I guess I better figure out this Uber thing.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

First - I am enjoying your reviews and love your rating system!
Second - I paid over $20 (with tip) for a taxi from All Star Sports (I totally used initials and went "oops!") to Grand Floridian. I guess I better figure out this Uber thing.

Thank you.

And yes you better figure Uber out - it is significantly cheaper (especially if you're splitting the fare with others) and I've found the cars, because they're personal cars, to be of a higher standard and much newer than those used by cab companies.

I was originally looking at booking the Mears shuttle between WDW and Universal and that was going to be about $20 return per person but it meant you had to leave at set times and had to stop at a number of stops along the way so the whole journey took that much longer!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

The Leaky Cauldron
Order: Specialty Chicken Sandwich, Frozen Butterbeer​

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So I still wasn’t feeling up to attempting rides like the Rip Ride Rockit Coaster or for waiting an hour and a half for Minions so I did what people do to escape the heat at a theme park and headed inside to some of the shows. I saw some animals and monsters and cyborgs and before you knew the afternoon had flown by. ​

With the heat and my stomach still unsettled I knew I wasn’t going to last the whole day and decided to head off for an early dinner (4:30pm) and made my way back to Diagon Alley and in to the Leaky Cauldron. It was unsurprisingly still pretty busy at this time of the day but there was no line to get in. I made my way up to the counter and waited for a really indecisive family in front of me to order (5 mins in and they were still going) until another register opened and I managed to bypass them.​

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I ordered the Specialty Chicken Sandwich with wedges and a frozen Butterbeer. The total cost was $16.98+tax. I was then shown to my table by a server and given a table number (I know they are meant to be candlesticks but they really didn’t look too much like them). ​

The theming in here is incredible – it is exactly like the film. There are smaller tables off to the sides of the room (where I was seated) and longer communal size tables down the middle. It wasn’t too loud for the amount of people in the space and the lighting although dim for atmosphere still lent itself to you being able to see everything. ​

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Less than five minutes later, while I was still taking it all in, my food appeared. It looked pretty appetizing and although on the pricey side, the serve was a decent size. The chicken sandwich was very good. A little too much bread but the chicken was well cooked and went very well with the cheese, bacon, grilled tomatoes (half a whole tomato) and apple butter mayo (yum!). The wedges were pretty standard but were served hot and crispy on the outside/fluffy on the inside which is always appreciated.​

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The frozen Butterbeer, well I wasn’t really a fan of it. I love sweet foods (I had ice cream for breakfast for goodness sake) but this was just too much. It tasted like drinking liquid corn syrup. I had maybe a quarter of the cup before the rest went in the bin. Hey if you love it, good for you, but there is no way I’d ever order it again. ​

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All in all I would definitely go back to the Leaky Cauldron and it is well worth a visit for the atmosphere alone if you’re ever visiting. The menu had a lot of options so I would probably try something else next time but I was perfectly happy with the meal I had as well. ​

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[Alice Sr.]

Thanks for taking us along with you on your vaca, loving it! Also, thanks for the Uber tip, would never consider it here at home but does sound like a good idea for getting between parks, if I ever needed to, which isn't likely