I'm only in it for the IMAGINEER! 9/28 Dine with an Imagineer COMPLETED!

[crystalcml]

Loving your report! (Too bad about Cook's though...)

Captain Cooks was down right bad this year for us. Maybe we were there on a bad day because we really enjoyed it last year. Ho Hum!

 

[DisneyDivaN]

Joining in, loving the reviews, and all the food pics!! Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[crystalcml]

We have been pondering for a while now if we wanted to leave our norm of staying at the Pop or to try something different. We went over to Port Orleans Resort one day to scope out the possibilities. We went to French Quarter and Riverside to see which one we liked better. French Quarter was very pretty and wouldn't you know, they had a yummy sounding food court. Ding Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner!

We decided to eat in their yummy food court and embrace this new resort that we will be calling "home" in 2012. We walked in and it was actually quiet considering it was a food court. If you've been to the Pop, then you've seen an insane food court. It was decorated like Mardi Gras and had all your normal food court stands.

Brandon was first to order as he spotted his meal from a mile away:
Barbecue Rib Dinner

He ordered the rib dinner (which had 6 ribs) and you get to choose 2 sides. He chose corn and mashed taters. Everyone gets a slice of cornbread (which I got his share bwahahaha) MMMMMMMM RIBS, is all the man child was able to mutter about his dinner.

Crystal ordered:
Pot Roast Dinner

Same as the ribs, you get to choose 2 sides. I also chose corn and mased taters. This pot roast is devine. It's tender and it forks right apart. It's juicy and man do I wish I had some right now. The portions are on the larger side so I shared some with my mom.

Mary ordered:
Chicken and Rib Combo Dinner

You got a 1/4 chicken and 3 ribs. You also got to choose 2 sides. Mary chose beans and mashed taters. I was lucky enough to try a rib and some chicken and let me tell you it was finger licking gooood! The ribs were saucy and tender and good. The chicken was extremely moist and had really good flavor. This surprised me quite a bit for being a food court. Mary said this was good and it was a really large amount of food.

On to the desserts............
Crystal ordered:
What else, the Beignets!!!

I ordered 3 as my dessert and man were they good. They cook them fresh to order and they are full of powdered sugar that I managed to get everywhere but boy oh boy was it worth the mess!

Brandon and Mary got desserts to go and I forgot to take pics. Brandon ordered a cookie and Mary a cupcake. Brandon said his cookie was good. No other comments noted. Mary's cupcake however, went out into hurricane Irene and was soaked to the bone and inedible. So she is unable to comment on that.

What do I saw about Sassagoula? Great, excellent, and oh so quiet! We are staying here next year and are darn excited for it too!

 

[crystalcml]

And we're at it again! Dun dun dun........

The ice cream cookie sandwich it is

Ugh I know but we just couldn't help ourselves and we had 28 snack credits between me and the broham.

 

[crystalcml]

Ahhh Hollywood Studios day. I'm not a huge fan of this park so we spent one full day there to get it over with lol. We decided to have a light breakfast before we settled in for our lunch.

Brandon ordered:
Cherry Turnover

My little monster of a brother, love him, ate this thing so fast I hardly got to take this picture. He said this was goooood goooood goood.

Crystal ordered:
Cheese Danish

I thought this was pretty standard. It wasn't phenomenal but it was good. It had a nice rich cream cheese flavor that I liked a lot.

We liked this place and will definitely head back for one of those monster cupcakes we saw when standing in line.

Stay tuned, up next................Writers Stop and Pop Century Food Court

 

[crystalcml]

We decided we wanted a sweet treat and stumbled across Writers Stop at HS. We went in and they had loads of goodies to choose from.

Brandon ordered:
Some sort of Brownie

He said this was mmmmmmmmm. I tried a bite and it was moist and chewy and had chocolate chips inside. It was a nice chocolatey treat.

Crystal and Mary shared:
Carrot Cake Cookie

This was a nice surprise. I wouldn't even really call it a cookie. It had two slices of carrot cake (They were cake like, not cookie like) and a thick layer of cream cheese frosting in the middle. As you can see from the wrapper, this was extremely moist and chewy and goooooood! This gets an A+ from me and Mary.

 

[crystalcml]

Brandon and I were up early and mom was doing somethings so we decided to walk over to the food court and have breakfast in our jammies and let mom have some peace and quiet.

The food court is crazy busy in the mornings and we weren't really prepared for all the chaos but it was definitely interesting.

Brandon ordered:
Pancakes and Bacon Platter

He didn't really care all that much for the pancakes. He ate about half. He did however, scarf down that bacon lol. I tried the pancakes and thought they were alright, nothing spectacular.

Crystal ordered:
Breakfast Wrap with potatoes

The wrap is not customizable but came with eggs, bacon and cheese and a side of potatoes. I thought this was excellent. I ate the whole entire thing minus the potatoes. I would definitely order this again.

For drinks, we both got a powerade for the road and used our mugs for coffee and juice.

Stay tuned..Up next............Pepper Market

 

[crystalcml]

Ahhh Coronado Springs. We went over to Cornado Springs to check out pepper market. We sudied the hotel and wandered the grounds a bit first. What a beautiful property.

We went into Pepper Market and you check in with a host. You are then seated by the host who then hands you cards. A waiter comes to your table and takes your drink order. Each person in your party gets a card and you bring that to which ever station you are going to order from where they stamp it with what you are having.

It's an odd system if you ask me.
On to the goods...........

Brandon ordered:
Ribs and Fries

He said these were good. He had no complaints. I didn't even ask if I coulf try it cause my hand would've probably been bitten off.

Crystal ordered:
Steak Burrito
savory steak, rice, beans and cheese with ranchero sauce on the side

This was good! I'm really picky about my ranchero sauce so I asked for it on the side. This was really good sauce. It was kind of tangy and had a bit of spice also. Perfect! It was also huge! I however managed to finish almost the whole thing. Uffda I tell ya. That was a feat on it's own.

Mary ordered:
Rotisserie Chicken - with potatoes and grilled vegetables

Mary said this was very good. The chicken was moist and had good flavor. The vegetables were outstanding and the roasted potatoes were good as well. Everything was good. lol

The desserts:
Brandon and Crystal ordered:
Oreo Cake

This was very good. The cake portion was quite moist and it wasn't over powering with chocolate. I really really liked this!

Mary ordered:
Caramel Pecan Roll

Mary thought this was goooood, very goood! It had excellent pecan/caramel flavor. The only downfall, it was really sticky!

We enjoyed this counter service minus the weird seating/waiter thing. We did have to pay a 10% gratuity for a guy that just brought us waters. It was different.

 

[crystalcml]

This was my last and final stop at MSB. Had to get my last ice cream cookie sandwich. This time Brandon didn't want to share so I had the task of trying to consume this monstrosity.

Yumm yumm yumm bellyache. That's all I have to say after eating 3/4 of this!

We had 2 snack credits per day x 3 people during our stay which ends up being 42 credits. After a few snacks and countless powerades we still had a lot left. This is how we spent the remainder of our snack credits:

We decided to bring home a bunch of Mickey bars and take a couple carrot cakes for the plane ride home!

Stay tuned.....Up next is the one you've all been waiting for:
DINING WITH AN IMAGINEER!!!!

 

[habg1]

I'm liking the pot roast from POFQ. I don't see it on the menu posted on the Dis. Did you eat dinner or lunch? My Daughter would like to eat Disney pot roast everyday we are there.

We stayed at POFQ 1X but only ate breakfast there, so I must of missed the pot roast..

 

[crystalcml]

I'm liking the pot roast from POFQ. I don't see it on the menu posted on the Dis. Did you eat dinner or lunch? My Daughter would like to eat Disney pot roast everyday we are there.

We stayed at POFQ 1X but only ate breakfast there, so I must of missed the pot roast..

We ate there for dinner. I think we were there around 6pm ish. It's one of their dinner specials they serve from 5-9pm daily. Definitely check it out whenever you go back. It was better than any pot roast I've ever tasted! Enjoy!

 

[crystalcml]

Oh the finale......it's bittersweet

Dining with an Imagineer………..Uffda, where do I start?????
I guess I’m gonna start from the absolute beginning of the day because it will show you the kind of day we had lol.

Brandon aspires to be an Imagineer someday and he has been dying, begging, pleading and screaming about having lunch with an Imagineer for a good few years now. Our mom decided it was finally time to do that for him. She surprised Brandon with the lunch of a lifetime. For the last 12 months we have been telling him that he is eating at one of his favorite restaurants 50’s Prime Time Café all the while planning to surprise him with this lunch.

The morning of the big day, we went to Hollywood Studios at park opening. We’re not really park opening people but we figured if we went early we might be able to get on Toy Story Mania. We got there early so we waited in line for the gates to open. They started letting people in about 10 min to 9am. We all were directed forward into what felt like a holding area behind a rope. All we wanted was a FP for TSM and we were done. They released the rope and people went flying, running, crazy and mad. Brandon and I ducked through the crowd and took a shortcut. We ended up at Pixar Place before a lot of the others. When we got down there I was being pushed and shoved and didn’t want Brandon part of that so I made him go up the stairs and wait far far far away from those crazies. I was really quite afraid that he was going to get hurt. I was run into by numerous strollers and crashed into by a lady in a scooter. I actually had to jump out of the way of another scooter woman to avoid her hitting me. INSANITY if you ask me. The poor CM’s that were helping down there had to yell at adults to walk and not to push. They all had joined arms and hands like they were playing red rover red rover to keep people at bay. They released arms and I ended up with about 8 bruises but I was able to get us a fastpass.

After shaking off that madness, we walked over to ToT and RnR and went on tons of times while everyone was still at TSM. After we got on TSM finally, it was time for our lunch ressie. We had an 11:30 ressie for “50’s” and we started walking that way from TSM. Mom stopped us and turned to Brandon and said, “I decided that I don’t want to eat at 50’s and changed our ressie to Brown Derby”. Brandon said “huh, wait, what, wait, huh, wait, not fair!” It didn’t dawn on him that he was about to embark on the experience of a lifetime. See face below.

Brandon is a genius. He is extremely intelligent and well rounded. Mom and I sat and stared at Brandon for a good 5 minutes or so waiting for it to click (the kid picks things up extremely fast). I was over waiting and he STILL didn’t get it and was quite mad so I blurted out “Brandon, you are going to have lunch with an IMAGINEER!!!!!!!” CLICK! That was the light switch turning on. See faces below. Brandon finally got it and mom is bawling lol.

We checked in for our ressie right around 11:15am and were given name tag badges to wear during the lunch. If we would’ve known this, we would’ve checked in and given the name tag to Brandon to read it instead of telling him about the lunch.

We had a little while before the lunch started so we got to look around the lobby. They have all these neat caricatures hanging up and it was fun trying to figure out who some of those people were. We were finally called back for our lunch and we were lead to a small private room in the back of the restaurant. We knew this was a group affair and were prepared for it. There were 10 of us altogether seated around this long open table. Our little family was sooo in awe of the whole thing. Once seated, we were introduced to our Imagineer Sarah. She walked in and was bright and full of smiles and light. She took her seat at the head of the table and we went around the table and introduced ourselves, where we were from and what our favorite thing at Disney is. Then our waitress came in and presented us with personalized lunch menus and also took our drink order.

Sarah proceeded to tell us about herself, what she did for Disney, what kind of Imagineer she was, what led her to get there and a little bit about herself personally along with some background tidbits. At this time, we were also given free reign to start asking the questions our hearts desired. We had a nice solid group of people and everyone was given a chance to talk and ask questions. It was very nice. She also informed us that for one of her projects, she designed her very own Vinylmation boxed set called Black and White. It’s only available at D-Street in Downtown Disney.

In the box

Fronts of figures

Backs of figures

Our waitress came back in and stopped the spotlight question session awe, boo! She took our lunch order and was very accommodating around some of the courses.

Mary, Brandon and I ordered the:
Char-grilled Filet of Beef with Cotswold Butter over Fingerling Potatoes, Asparagus, Ugly Ripe Tomatoes, and a broken Cabernet-Shallot Vinaigrette

Brandon and I asked for meat and potatoes only and they were accommodating.

Once our lunch order was taken, the waiters and waitresses started swarming the table bringing in the first course of soup. Lobster Bisque was served and Mary, Brandon and I asked if we could skip the Lobster Bisque (before hand) because we don’t eat seafood and the waitress was extremely nice and offered us chicken noodle soup instead which we gladly accepted!

The first course was cleared and it was on to the second course of the famous Cobb Salad. When the salads were served the team cleared out and our main waitress remained. She told us some tidbits about the real Hollywood Brown Derby and the story behind how their famous Cobb Salad came to be. It was a nice break for the Imagineer I could imagine.

Throughout the first and second courses, we all continued asking a few questions and talking and she was delighted to continue the conversation while dining. I was afraid she was going to be quiet the whole time we dined on four courses.

The third course was brought out and that’s when the room became quite quiet as a whole. Everyone was ready for their entrees. My filet was hands down amazing. I ate the whole chunk of meat (not normal for me) but was too full to eat more than a bite or two of the potatoes. Once this course wrapped up the waitress came back and took our dessert order and asked if anyone wanted tea or coffee to go along with the dessert course. The conversation kept flowing and some questions arose that Sarah “wasn’t able to discuss” which we all got a kick out of. Her face gave away the answer to some of the questions lol.

The fourth course (dessert) came and I was super full. Mary, Brandon and I all ordered the crème brulee. It was absolutely the best crème brulee I’ve ever tasted in my life. I was stuffed to the core but managed to eat the entire thing pants bulging afterward and all. It was extremely refreshing to have an amazingly awesome waitress. She was very attentive to all 11 of us and worked like a dog through our 3 hour lunch.

After dessert we started wrapping up the lunch. We were each given a handout which included information about our Imagineer and a group photo of everyone that attended the lunch. We also received a commemorative plate which Sarah autographed while we were standing there. It was a superb and unexpected souvenir.

We departed having had the time of our lives. It was such an amazing opportunity that I will never forget. Brandon asked a bunch of questions that startled the other diners and baffled Sarah (which I found extremely hilarious). He had such a blast all he could do was thank our mom over and over and over again. We all left with uncontrollable smiles on our faces and light in our eyes.

If you are a diehard Disney fan, I suggest doing this once in your lifetime. However, it is NOT recommended for children under 14 and I think that might even be a bit young. We did have a young gal in our group that looked like she hated the whole experience. I’m not sure if she did or not but she didn’t say a word nor did she ask a question. Parents, it’s up to you! If you do decide to do this sometime, please make it worth your while as it is an expensive lunch that is not included in the dining plan. I believe our total was around $250 for the three of us after tax and tip.

A couple of side notes:
1. I didn’t take any pictures of the food because I felt it wasn’t appropriate
2. I cut out the last name and personal information of our Imagineer to keep her privacy.
3. I blacked out the other people that were at the lunch for their privacy.
4. I enjoyed the tidbits of information on the Brown Derby just as much as the lunch.

This completes my reviews for 2011. I hope you all have enjoyed tuning in!

 

[marymal99]

I would have to agree this is one of the best meals I have had in Disney.
And what a nice relaxing break from the parks, which i sometimes need . I found it interesting , fun and the food was excellent.

 

[SPOERLX3]

We have been pondering for a while now if we wanted to leave our norm of staying at the Pop or to try something different. We went over to Port Orleans Resort one day to scope out the possibilities. We went to French Quarter and Riverside to see which one we liked better. French Quarter was very pretty and wouldn't you know, they had a yummy sounding food court. Ding Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner!

We decided to eat in their yummy food court and embrace this new resort that we will be calling "home" in 2012. We walked in and it was actually quiet considering it was a food court. If you've been to the Pop, then you've seen an insane food court. It was decorated like Mardi Gras and had all your normal food court stands.

Brandon was first to order as he spotted his meal from a mile away:
Barbecue Rib Dinner

He ordered the rib dinner (which had 6 ribs) and you get to choose 2 sides. He chose corn and mashed taters. Everyone gets a slice of cornbread (which I got his share bwahahaha) MMMMMMMM RIBS, is all the man child was able to mutter about his dinner.

Crystal ordered:
Pot Roast Dinner

Same as the ribs, you get to choose 2 sides. I also chose corn and mased taters. This pot roast is devine. It's tender and it forks right apart. It's juicy and man do I wish I had some right now. The portions are on the larger side so I shared some with my mom.

Mary ordered:
Chicken and Rib Combo Dinner

You got a 1/4 chicken and 3 ribs. You also got to choose 2 sides. Mary chose beans and mashed taters. I was lucky enough to try a rib and some chicken and let me tell you it was finger licking gooood! The ribs were saucy and tender and good. The chicken was extremely moist and had really good flavor. This surprised me quite a bit for being a food court. Mary said this was good and it was a really large amount of food.

On to the desserts............
Crystal ordered:
What else, the Beignets!!!

I ordered 3 as my dessert and man were they good. They cook them fresh to order and they are full of powdered sugar that I managed to get everywhere but boy oh boy was it worth the mess!

Brandon and Mary got desserts to go and I forgot to take pics. Brandon ordered a cookie and Mary a cupcake. Brandon said his cookie was good. No other comments noted. Mary's cupcake however, went out into hurricane Irene and was soaked to the bone and inedible. So she is unable to comment on that.

What do I saw about Sassagoula? Great, excellent, and oh so quiet! We are staying here next year and are darn excited for it too!

This looks delisious! I just looked at the updated menu on allears and these only show to be available for dinner. So we may have to get over there and try it out

 

[SPOERLX3]

Ahhh Coronado Springs. We went over to Cornado Springs to check out pepper market. We sudied the hotel and wandered the grounds a bit first. What a beautiful property.

We went into Pepper Market and you check in with a host. You are then seated by the host who then hands you cards. A waiter comes to your table and takes your drink order. Each person in your party gets a card and you bring that to which ever station you are going to order from where they stamp it with what you are having.

It's an odd system if you ask me.
On to the goods...........

Brandon ordered:
Ribs and Fries

He said these were good. He had no complaints. I didn't even ask if I coulf try it cause my hand would've probably been bitten off.

Crystal ordered:
Steak Burrito
savory steak, rice, beans and cheese with ranchero sauce on the side

This was good! I'm really picky about my ranchero sauce so I asked for it on the side. This was really good sauce. It was kind of tangy and had a bit of spice also. Perfect! It was also huge! I however managed to finish almost the whole thing. Uffda I tell ya. That was a feat on it's own.

Mary ordered:
Rotisserie Chicken - with potatoes and grilled vegetables

Mary said this was very good. The chicken was moist and had good flavor. The vegetables were outstanding and the roasted potatoes were good as well. Everything was good. lol

The desserts:
Brandon and Crystal ordered:
Oreo Cake

This was very good. The cake portion was quite moist and it wasn't over powering with chocolate. I really really liked this!

Mary ordered:
Caramel Pecan Roll

Mary thought this was goooood, very goood! It had excellent pecan/caramel flavor. The only downfall, it was really sticky!

We enjoyed this counter service minus the weird seating/waiter thing. We did have to pay a 10% gratuity for a guy that just brought us waters. It was different.

Just curious..... with that weird arrangement at Pepper Market, did everyone get their food about the same time
We will be a party of 6 when we go in December and we really wanted to try Pepper Market but if everyone orders with their own cards and the food comes out at different times, not sure that would be much fun

Did you like the food better at Pepper Market or at Sassagoula Floatworks better?

Thank you for your help

 

[crystalcml]

Just curious..... with that weird arrangement at Pepper Market, did everyone get their food about the same time
We will be a party of 6 when we go in December and we really wanted to try Pepper Market but if everyone orders with their own cards and the food comes out at different times, not sure that would be much fun

Did you like the food better at Pepper Market or at Sassagoula Floatworks better?

Thank you for your help

You were seated by a host and everyone is given their own card. You walk around to what ever station you like and order your food. You have to stand there and wait for it while they make it then go sit down at your table. If everyone goes up at the same time, you will all be eating pretty close together. I thought it was just strange as I've never seen anything quite like it.

We acutally ate at both Pepper Market and Sassagoula each twice (at dinner time). We really liked the food at both places. I would recommend trying both! Definitely worth it to me!