Mickey Bars in Bed & Dole Whips for Lunch - Nov 15 Dining Report - Complete!

[Vernie822]

Just read your entire review thus far, and I am starving now

Hahaha.. thank you for reading.. they'll do that to you!! I do the same thing all the time.

Ok, rethinking my plan again Lol guess I'll ask Steve his opinion on this. He usually just goes with whatever I decide but since he REALLY isn't such a fan of CS I'll let him weigh in. Thanks for your thoughts! And Happy New Year to you and Justin

Thank you, happy new year to you guys as well!! Justin has the opposite problem he loves QS breakfast and I want to sit down and order something.

 

[Vernie822]

So I had mulled over our next ADR for what felt like FOR-EV-ER. Hanson was playing during 3 days of our trip and 6-year-old me was dying to see my hunky, long haired, 90's crushes play MMBop once again. I caught them during a concert at our local mall probably 15 years ago (a few years after their MMBop fame, but I still have no idea what they were doing playing a concert at the mall) but otherwise had never seen them in concert.

NOW WAS MY CHANCE!

This brings me to our ADR for that afternoon: the Via Napoli Eat to the Beat Dining package. I'm of course writing this review for the food, but I'll also include some tidbits about the package. In late July, Disney began booking for all of their special events during Food and Wine. I contemplated doing the Eat to the Beat dining package because I had heard that the theater does fill up, and I didn't want to miss the show, or wait in line all day. Exhibit A (this was shortly after 11 AM):

Something tells me either these people a) were diehard fans and wanted to be in the front row all up on Taylor Hanson, b) didn't know there were other ways to get priority seating, or c) this was not their first rodeo.

At the time, I thought the only way to get a guaranteed seat at the concert was to wait in line, or to do a dining package. I was back and forth over it for a while - is it worth it? Can't we just wait in line? Do we really need that much food?

Ultimately we decided on it and about a week after the packages were released, I was able to grab a lunch for 2 at Via Napoli on the Thursday during our trip for 12 PM.

Later on in the summer, I learned that you could do a FP+ (Tier 1) for the show, but we decided to stick with our package because there wasn't much out there in the way of Via Napoli dining reservations, and we had already booked it.

During the trip, I also learned that if you are a Chase Visa cardholder, they were giving away Priority Seating wristbands in the lounge. First come, first serve, but we were in the lounge a couple times mid-afternoon and they still had some left for that day.

Anyways, on to the food..

We arrived at Via Napoli a few minutes before our reservation. I let the hostess know we had the dining package and she understood what I was saying but double-checked with her manager. He told her to write it down for our server and that on our way out, we could pick up our Priority Seating tickets at the hostess stand.

The package entitles you to one soft drink, one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert. At buffet restaurants such as Biergarten, you get one buffet meal with drinks included.

I asked our server if the Aqua Frescas were included and he said no, so we both went with a Diet Coke to drink.

(Side note, I am doing a Whole30 for January and Justin has quiet Diet Coke as of the New Year, so looking at this picture I am DYING right now!!!)

Now, I was totally not hungry. Like I was at the point in the trip where I had eaten enough Disney food to satisfy my cravings and I was good. But, I had booked this dining package, so might as well eat, right?!

Justin wasn't necessarily hungry but he "could eat" as he put it.

He decided to go with the arancini as his appetizer. Nothing else really appealed to him and I told him I'd had these once before so he decided to try them.

Arancini - Fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu, $11

He said that these were good, and didn't like them as much as I thought he would. He rated these a 3/5 and said he'd get them again but he'd probably try something else first.

I decided to order the calamari. After having them at Flying Fish earlier that week (and they were SO GOOD), I wanted to try them here as well.

Calamari Fritti - corn-crusted rings served with spicy tomato sauce $14

These were fantastic. Lightly breaded with some seasoning, and the spicy tomato sauce to dip in was fabulous. It was definitely a different dish than the ones at Flying Fish which had kind of an Asian sauce, but I appreciated the differences here. I only ate about 1/3 of these before I called it quits. These went in a box to be eaten later but unfortunately they were kind of gross and didn't get finished. I gave these a 3.5/5, I think for the price ($14) they could give you a bit more than they do.

For our entrees, we HAD to go with pizza. Someday we'll try the pasta here but for now, we love the pizza, and can't seem to stray away.

Justin went with the individual pepperoni pizza. His 3rd trip to Disney and his 3rd trip ordering pepperoni pizza at Via Napoli!

Pepperoni Signature Pie - Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, Individual size, $21

He was not disappointed, he loves his pizza. He rated this a 4/5. The crust was just cooked enough that it wasn't underdone but it was not burnt either.

I chose the carciofi pizza this time. I have had this twice before and I love the mixture of the truffle oil, the artichokes, and the fontina cheese. I have also had the quattro formaggi with prosciutto and that's another favorite (saltiness of prosciutto + the cheesiness is so yummy).

Carciofi Signature Pie - White pizza, artichoke, fontina, mozzarella, truffle oil, Individual, $21

This was fantastic, as usual! Although this time it was a lot more oily than I remember but it was still delicious. As mentioned before this has artichokes, fontina cheese, and mozzarella cheese which all go really well together, topped with some truffle oil. Half of this went home with us and was eaten for lunch the next day. I gave this a 4/5 because it's about as good as you can get, especially for Disney pizza!

I really LOVE the Zeppole here, but I was so full that I couldn't fathom eating them, and something light like gelato sounded perfect at the time.

Justin agreed. I thought he'd choose the zeppole because I had them once before and he loved them! But he was about as full as I was. In hindsight maybe we should've shared a dessert there and taken the other to go, but we both decided on gelato.

I went with pistachio and he went with vanilla. They also have lemon and pistachio. This was $9.

The gelato was very refreshing after a heavy meal. I really enjoyed it, especially the peanut brittle stuff on top. It was a great ending to our meal and we both gave it a 4/5 (it was good, but nothing too special).

So, overall our meal came to about $45 for Justin's and about $48 for mine. Considering our meal was $41.99 per person, it is definitely of a great value... if you want an app, entree, and dessert per person. We came here once on the dining plan and each had a pizza and dessert, and we came here again and just split a pizza. So, an app, entree and dessert isn't totally necessary for each of us and we are happy sharing. If you think you can put away all 3 courses (or take some home), or you want the "deluxe dining plan" experience of 3 courses, I say go for it. I don't know that we'll do it again, because I kind of felt like we were being forced to order 3 courses. In hindsight, I will probably just get the Priority Seating voucher another way next time, but it was fun to do 3 courses each.

Here are the passes we were given:

We stopped at the front of the park on our way out to claim our Annual Passholder port glasses, which were a cute incentive (you got one if you went and got your passport stamped on 3 separate days during the festival):

Andddd we headed back to the room for some R&R before Hanson that night! With the lunch package, our tickets were to the 5:30 PM show. ​

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Absolutely loving your DR! Looks like a fantastic trip. Your room at the Poly looks gorgeous. I am dying to stay at the Villas.

Looks like you had a great F&W experience. Love the glasses you got too. Can't wait to read more (especially the Hanson show )!

 

[captaindavidhook]

I have a quick question I hope you might be able to answer. Before I ask, I just want to say I am enjoying reading all this. Ok question time, I have an ADR for O'Hana as well in the morning. Stitch and Pluto are two of my favorite characters. The thing is, I will be solo just me and while reading your report on O'Hana you mentioned WDW photographers(PP)with Stitch and Mickey. They only take pictures for those two? Just trying to figure out if it is worth even going especially if there is no one around to take pictures. Thanks.

 

[Vernie822]

I have a quick question I hope you might be able to answer. Before I ask, I just want to say I am enjoying reading all this. Ok question time, I have an ADR for O'Hana as well in the morning. Stitch and Pluto are two of my favorite characters. The thing is, I will be solo just me and while reading your report on O'Hana you mentioned WDW photographers(PP)with Stitch and Mickey. They only take pictures for those two? Just trying to figure out if it is worth even going especially if there is no one around to take pictures. Thanks.

Hi! Thank you for reading. We really enjoyed breakfast at Ohana. I'm sorry if I mis-typed but we actually only had a photopass with Stitch. We noticed some tables asking other tables to take a picture for them and it never seemed like a problem. We only didn't ask because we didn't mind too much having just me in the photo or doing a selfie like we did with Mickey. It was worth it to meet Lilo and Stitch, and the food was great. Hope this helps.

 

[captaindavidhook]

Hi! Thank you for reading. We really enjoyed breakfast at Ohana. I'm sorry if I mis-typed but we actually only had a photopass with Stitch. We noticed some tables asking other tables to take a picture for them and it never seemed like a problem. We only didn't ask because we didn't mind too much having just me in the photo or doing a selfie like we did with Mickey. It was worth it to meet Lilo and Stitch, and the food was great. Hope this helps.

Thanks and it does help, just trying to figure out if I still will go. Seeing how they took Stitch away from Tomorrowland area, this is only place to see him. Thank you again.

 

[vettegirl]

VN looks so good! I could go for a slice for breakfast this morning I love the little glasses for AP holders, we were able to get 4 and I have been using them here at home.

 

[Vernie822]

VN looks so good! I could go for a slice for breakfast this morning I love the little glasses for AP holders, we were able to get 4 and I have been using them here at home.

We have taken pizza home from VN and had it the next day So yummy!! I haven't used mine yet but they're the perfect size for a small drink.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Just started reading your dining report the other day, and now finally caught up! My husband & I were there almost the same days as you were, November 9th-17th, and we also did a split stay, 5 nights at Port Orleans FQ and then switched to Wilderness Lodge for the last 3 nights! Love your report, and you now have me craving all the goodies we had at the F&W! Hopefully we'll be going back this October!

 

[Vernie822]

We returned back to Epcot that evening for the 5:30 PM Hanson show. We left the room around 4 PM and took the monorail to Epcot, and we were in the gates by around 4:40. A couple times we had to wait for the monorail on this trip because they were doing some maintenance.


We decided to each grab a drink before the show, Justin wanted a Tokyo Sunset and I wanted a Shofferhofer. Really we don’t stray far from our favorites, haha. I need to branch out but both of those are just so good.

(Sidebar: We had an Ugly Sweater party at our place last month and we decided to serve the Tokyo Sunset as our “punch” – We did 2 cans of pineapple juice, 1 bottle of peach schnapps, 1 bottle coconut rum, 1 bottle banana liqueur, and topped them off with grenadine. Our guests loved them and they tasted pretty darn close to the real thing)


The show was good, as a perk to the Eat to the Beat dining package we were given “priority seating” which was really just the first row of the second section. This was fine by us. We were with a lot of others who had the same dining package.

6 year old me was pumped!!!

Hanson did about a 30-35 minute show so they probably played 6 or 7 songs. It was really good! I recognized one or two of their new ones but they didn’t play anything old. INCLUDING MMBOP. I kept saying to Justin “this has to be next” and it never came. Who knows, in the 8 other shows they did over a 3 day span, maybe they played it there. It was really fun though, and I'm so glad we did it! It's great that they include these concerts during the festival.

After the show, we decided on some more drinks and food from the festival booth for dinner. That included another Tokyo Sunset.. And the Apple Pie drink from Poland.

Frozen Szarlotka Apple Pie featuring Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka – $9.00

HOLY COW this was so awesome. It had a slushy consistency with what tasted like pie crust crumbles on top. It was really sweet and definitely required a spoon but we both really liked this. I give it a 5/5.


We also went with a lime margarita in Mexico.. (photo quality not so good here!)

And some.. you guessed it.. NACHOS. This time Justin requested no jalapenos.

We continued our way around the World Showcase, back through Canada and ended up at Brazil, where I wanted to try the cheese bread.

Pão de queijo: Brazilian cheese bread – $3.50, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, DDP Snack Eligible

These were okay, you got two small cheese breads, but nothing amazing and I doubt I’ll be back for these again. Justin said this was something we could easily make at home and I agreed. We had the pork belly last year and I really liked that. We gave the cheese breads a 2.5/5.

Next up was Germany where I believe we stopped to use our favorite rest rooms (next to the trains in Germany) and grabbed a BIG ol pretzel. I have always wanted one of these but never had one and this one was pretty OK. Not amazing and the Mickey ones are a bit more fun but it wasn’t bad. 4/5.

Overall, a fun evening of snacking around the world and enjoying Hanson!​

 

[Vernie822]

Friday morning, we slept in just a little before our breakfast at Kona Café. Our plan for that day was to take it easy, see the monorail resorts, and attend the Christmas Party that night! I had sooooo been looking forward to breakfast at Kona. I’m a big breakfast eater so I love to try new things. I have heard awesome things about the Samoan and the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes.

We got to Kona around 8:55 AM for our 9:05 reservation. The restaurant was pretty busy although it didn’t seem packed. We waited about 20 minutes (only 10 minutes past our ADR time) and we were sat just to the right of the check in podium.

Our server was friendly, I think her name was Sandy. We were sandwiched in REALLY close to the people next to us. Like I could reach out and hug the people on either side of me.

We were given menus with an additional menu for the special, pumpkin pie pancakes!!!!! I was so tempted to try these, but I thought, I have been wanting to come to Kona for 2 years, I may as well try something I had been wanting for a while.

I tossed back and forth between the Samoan and the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes. Even considered the Big Kahuna so I could get a taste of everything. Ultimately I went with the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes. I had read that the Big Kahuna has a small serving of the pancakes but without the macadamias throughout. I also had a coffee and water.

I thought (and secretly hoped) that Justin would want the Samoan because he loves pulled pork, but he decided to go with an omelet. He chose the ham and cheese omelet.


We were given syrup, butter, and ketchup for our meals. Our food didn’t take too long to come out which was nice, we were pretty hungry so that was good.

Our entrees:

Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes - with Macadamia Nut Butter, Pineapple Sauce, and your choice of Ham, Bacon, or Sausage $11.49

All I can say is WOW. WOW WOW WOW. I really don’t eat pancakes very often, and when I do, it’s Bisquick. These were so fantastic. Light and fluffy, with rich macadamia nuts throughout. The pineapple on top was just perfect, and the macadamia nut butter was AHH MAZING. I hardly used any syrup because the butter just melted on top and, accompanied by the pineapple, there was no need for syrup. I used a little on a few bites just to see what it would taste like – still good but I didn’t want my pancakes to be soggy. These were seriously amazing and I am salivating for them right now. It’s killing me that I probably won’t get these next time we go to WDW, but I did find a recipe online that I will have to steal and make at home. My dad would love these too, he and I have a love for macadamia nuts!


I chose sausage to go along with these and it was pretty good. I think this is the kind they also serve at Ohana. The pancakes were a HUGE serving (they give you 3) so I didn’t come close to finishing but not for lack of trying.

Ham and Cheese Omelet - with Home-fried Potatoes $12.49

Justin’s omelet came with breakfast potatoes and a biscuit. He said he enjoyed this, although really he’ll enjoy eggs and cheese just about any way. But I didn’t hear any complaints, and he said the potatoes and the biscuit were also delicious. He had a Diet Coke to drink with his meal.


The service here was OK, I think we went without drinks for a majority of our meal and the server only stopped to drop off our food and then the check. I think when she dropped off the check we asked for refills and it took a while but we got them. Honestly I didn’t even notice my water was low until very late in the meal because I was too busy stuffing my face with pancakes I didn’t even bother to come up for air.


The people to the right of us consisted of a young couple, their daughter who appeared to be less than a year old, and the baby’s grandma. The baby’s grandma had brought her own food (it appeared that the grandmother followed a different diet) and was giving the baby WHOLE GRAPES. I can’t lie I was nervous as all heck. You just hear so many stories. The woman at the table to our left (who literally could whisper in my ear if she wanted to) leaned over and said “Oh my gosh, is she feeding that baby whole grapes?” I said “Yes, she is” and she said “I’m about to say something” – I thought she was going to reach over the table and say something, but she didn’t. I was pretty nervous though.


Speaking of the lady to my left, she ordered the seasonal pumpkin pancakes and they looked delicious! Considering we were sitting so close to each other, I thought about having Justin distract her, then reaching my hand over to steal some, but I decided against it.


Overall, we had a delicious meal. Not too expensive at all for a breakfast, and we really enjoyed our food! We will absolutely be back to Kona!​

 

[lizzyb]

Fantastic reviews! Thanks for sharing!

 

[kastoney]

Looks like you all had another great meal and Via Napoli and what a great deal. And we do just about the same thing and order the same pizzas each time. I think you find one that you love and just can't seem to tear yourself away from it.

Glad 6 year old Ashley enjoyed Hanson, but can't believe they didn't play any of the old stuff. I also had to laugh that you were 6 when Hanson was out and i was in college ; )

All your food and wine goodies look delicious. Love the pre and post concert drinks ; )

I could totally devour those pancakes right now. My hubby usually gets the big Kahuna so I've tried them but didn't realize they weren't exactly the same. And you should have totally shared in some of those pumpkin pancakes ; ) It's the least you deserve after watching them stuff grapes down the babies throat

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Wow that apple pie drink looks absolutely delicious!

Did the macadamia nut butter actually taste like macadamias? They're not a strong flavour so I'd be worried you wouldn't be able to taste them!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

All caught up! Love your reviews! One thing I have to agree with is the Sketchers Go Walks - fantastic shoes! So comfy!

Love all the F&W pics. Didn't make it last year but planning a trip this year! Reading your reviews is making me look forward to it even more!

 

[vettegirl]

Great update, the apple pie drinks looks delicious! Also I love those nachos in Mexico. Kona is great breakfast spot and I had breakie there last month for the first time and it did not leave me hungry or unhappy. I agree the service there is just so so.

 

[Vernie822]

After our breakfast at Kona, we took the monorail around to the different resorts to check out the Christmas decorations. This included the Grand Floridian (first time in there EVER and boy is it just gorgeous), and the Contemporary. They were still working on the gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian, but it was neat to watch.

We explored a few different levels to see where the different restaurants were (there are so many there) and stopped in the various stores to browse. They had a lot of really nice stuff. I definitely recommend resort hopping and seeing what the different monorail resorts have to offer. They are all so unique.

We also stopped in Basin (one of our favorites) to buy some soap as Christmas gifts.

The Contemporary had an adorable FROZEN display!! I seriously loved it.

They also had some really cute treats you could purchase.

(Those are huge raspberry linzer cookies, my mom makes these for weddings and stuff but they are usually much smaller. I sent her this pic because I thought these were neat)

We decided after that to take the monorail to Epcot. I had purchased a bottle of Moonshine in the American Pavilion for my dad the night before, and it wasn't "up" to the front of the park yet when we left, so we had to go back that day for it. We waited probably a half an hour while they sorted it out. No one had ever brought it up front the night before, so they couldn't find it. We didn't mind since it was kind of a lazy day for us.

I thought I had found something awesome in the Firefly (I think that's the name of the brand) Moonshine at the American Pavilion. Until a week before Christmas, I found the same stuff at our liquor store nearby for like $5 less. Oh well, my dad still loved it.

We were back to the Poly by around 12:30, and Justin decided he wanted to get lunch at Captain Cooks. If it were up to him he probably would have eaten here every day for every meal. I was still full from my pancakes so I decided just to get something light. He went with the grilled chicken sandwich and fries, which we took back to the room.

I almost went with one of these delicious treats..

On our way out, I of course still had to grab my lunch.. a Pineapple Dole Whip from Pineapple Lanai. I was in heaven having these right on site!!!

THIS IS THE LIFE, PEOPLE!

So we headed back to our villa for 'lunch' (I also had some of my leftover pizza from the day before)

Grilled Chicken Sandwich - with cheddar, bacon, teriyaki sauce and pineapple salsa $9.49

Pineapple Dole Whip Soft Serve - $4.19

Justin rated his sandwich a 3. I don't think he was too keen on the pineapple salsa but he sure liked the chicken and bacon. I think for him it was just an average sandwich, though good for QS. For $9.49, not a bad deal for lunch.

My Dole Whip was of course, pure perfection. I wanted about 4 more of these during our trip but this ended up being the only one I got. Since dairy often bothers my tummy these are a great option on a hot day. Nice and refreshing.

After that, I decided to head to the pool to dip my feet in and read my magazines while Justin took a nap before the Christmas party that night.​

 

[Vernie822]

Fantastic reviews! Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome - thank you for reading!

Looks like you all had another great meal and Via Napoli and what a great deal. And we do just about the same thing and order the same pizzas each time. I think you find one that you love and just can't seem to tear yourself away from it.

Glad 6 year old Ashley enjoyed Hanson, but can't believe they didn't play any of the old stuff. I also had to laugh that you were 6 when Hanson was out and i was in college ; )

All your food and wine goodies look delicious. Love the pre and post concert drinks ; )

I could totally devour those pancakes right now. My hubby usually gets the big Kahuna so I've tried them but didn't realize they weren't exactly the same. And you should have totally shared in some of those pumpkin pancakes ; ) It's the least you deserve after watching them stuff grapes down the babies throat

I definitely can't tear myself away. Someday I'll try the pasta, but for now their pizza is too good to pass up.

Haha yes I was in kindergarten when MMBOP came out, I think! Seems like so long ago, but they still got it. Just wish I could've heard MMBOP lol.

Those pancakes.. seriously, I need to make them at home! I didn't know that they were different either but I had read on someone's dining report that they were. The macadamia nuts throughout were a really nice touch. Wish I could've had a taste of the pumpkin ones though, haha.

Wow that apple pie drink looks absolutely delicious!

Did the macadamia nut butter actually taste like macadamias? They're not a strong flavour so I'd be worried you wouldn't be able to taste them!

The apple pie drink was fabulous, a little chunky because of the apples and it was more of a slush, but it was soooo awesome.

I don't think the macadamias were too pronounced in the butter; but since they were in the batter that's where I got most of the macadamia nut taste from. A hint in the butter for sure, but not overly macadamia.

 

[kastoney]

I just posted my last update and it looks like you and my hubby were on the same sheet of music with the dole whips. How amazing was it to have them within feet of your room? Of course I think Jason had at least 4 for the week, so you controlled yourself much better ; )

Love all the Christmas decorations. We've got to get ourselves down there for the holidays sometime.

 

[Vernie822]

All caught up! Love your reviews! One thing I have to agree with is the Sketchers Go Walks - fantastic shoes! So comfy!

Love all the F&W pics. Didn't make it last year but planning a trip this year! Reading your reviews is making me look forward to it even more!

Hi, thanks for reading! Can't wait to hear about your recent trip. I am SO happy I bought the Go Walks. I wear them all the time now. So comfortable. We are so happy we chose to sample as much as we could from the festival. It's so much fun and everything is delicious!

Have you guys ever done the Deluxe dining plan? I have read your previous reviews and I know you guys do a lot of Table Service (so do we) so we are considering it for a trip in April. We arrive early Saturday and leave late Tuesday so I was thinking we can split it all up over 4 days and it might be fun to try it.

Great update, the apple pie drinks looks delicious! Also I love those nachos in Mexico. Kona is great breakfast spot and I had breakie there last month for the first time and it did not leave me hungry or unhappy. I agree the service there is just so so.

That apple pie drink was so fantastic! I hope they have it again in the future. The nachos are so good, it was something I had seen before but never tried because I always thought why would I get nachos in Disney World? But they really are a great snack. I'm excited to get back to Kona to try more items but honestly I don't think I'd be able to tear myself away from the pancakes.