Mickey Pants on the Hub Grass!: A June 2015 Dining Report - Complete!

[twinkybel81]

Following along here (albeit a tad late) as well as Kathy's PJ!

 

[lauraleh]

Following along! I loved the review of the wedding stuff! Maybe I can talk my daughter into a WDW wedding. She's 4 so I've got some time.

 

[kastoney]

Wow, the wedding planning all looks amazing. I think your "tasting" had more food than some other full weddings I've been too ; ) I'm presuming the tasting comes with the wedding price, but figured I'd ask so I can start putting away for my daughters wedding in 30 years. And how cool they can replicate items from F&W or whatever you'd like. Really allows you to make the wedding your own.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

Everything from the tasting looks amazing! It looks like it will be a spectacular wedding.

 

[ariane37]

Really hope you do a TR for the wedding!

 

[kanadar]

Just wanted to comment that yes, Franks is named after Father of the Bride and it is on purpose. We are very much looking forward to the wedding. I'm not sure if Mary will do a TR but for anyone interested I have been working on a Planning Journal that goes over everything for the wedding (you'll see more wedding details than just the food), and I will be doing on there. There is a link to it in my signature!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Really enjoying your review! Especially the in depth look at the Poly and the wedding planning.

Following along-

 

[ariane37]

Just wanted to comment that yes, Franks is named after Father of the Bride and it is on purpose. We are very much looking forward to the wedding. I'm not sure if Mary will do a TR but for anyone interested I have been working on a Planning Journal that goes over everything for the wedding (you'll see more wedding details than just the food), and I will be doing on there. There is a link to it in my signature!

Thanks! Started reading last night and plan to catch up later today. It's the first PJ I'll be following even though I'm late

 

[mare1203]

I love how they give you the options for cake and icing. So much easier to mix and match yourself vs them making a variety of little cakes with all the flavour combinations.

I think that's a great way to do it as well. Especially if you are thinking a fruit filling, of which there are many and so many combos work.

yum! yum! yum! We are staying at the Poly this September! You are making me HUNGRY!

Yay! I'm jealous of your Poly stay! Ahahaha, so my plan is working (though, to be fair, you are reading a dining report!

I'm really loving reading all about the wedding planning, it sounds like so much fun

Thanks a lot! The wedding planning has been fun. They take so much of the stress out.

Following along here (albeit a tad late) as well as Kathy's PJ!

Following along! I loved the review of the wedding stuff! Maybe I can talk my daughter into a WDW wedding. She's 4 so I've got some time.

Yes, you've got some time. I've never wanted a Disney Wedding, but it's fun to have Kathy do one. There are so many ways to make it magical without being overtly Disney, too, which is really nice. Though, I generally don't understand people who aren't Disney fans, so there is that...

Wow, the wedding planning all looks amazing. I think your "tasting" had more food than some other full weddings I've been too ; ) I'm presuming the tasting comes with the wedding price, but figured I'd ask so I can start putting away for my daughters wedding in 30 years. And how cool they can replicate items from F&W or whatever you'd like. Really allows you to make the wedding your own.

It is indeed "included" in the price!

Everything from the tasting looks amazing! It looks like it will be a spectacular wedding.

We think so! Redgie really outdid himself.

Really hope you do a TR for the wedding!

Oh man, we'll see. A full TR seems daunting!

Just wanted to comment that yes, Franks is named after Father of the Bride and it is on purpose. We are very much looking forward to the wedding. I'm not sure if Mary will do a TR but for anyone interested I have been working on a Planning Journal that goes over everything for the wedding (you'll see more wedding details than just the food), and I will be doing on there. There is a link to it in my signature!

Hey Dopey, why you hijack my thread? Haha, just kidding.

Really enjoying your review! Especially the in depth look at the Poly and the wedding planning.

Following along-

Thanks a lot, and welcome aboard!

 

[mare1203]

Once we finished our wedding food tasting, it was time to walk off some of that food. We decided to spend the afternoon/evening in Epcot. We had heard previously that the food tastings are a lot of food, so we didn’t make any reservations for the evening. Good thing, too, because we were nowhere near hungry for the rest of the night. Instead we made it an evening of snacks and drinks.

Once at Epcot we spent some time in Future World before heading over to the World Showcase for the rest of the evening. It had been a few hours and we were feeling thirsty.


Where better to take care of our thirst than La Cava de Tequila?!


When we walked in it was busy, but not overcrowded. We waited just a few minutes to place our order. While we were waiting we heard one of the bartenders tell a guy there is a bottle of tequila that costs like $250 a pour! Holy cow! That better be some good tequila.




The first margarita we ordered was the horchata margarita. Kathy and Jeff shared this one. It was actually somewhat similar to the polynesian pearl in texture and taste. This one uses tequila, fireball, and ‘orchata rum in addition to agave, agua de horchata and a dash of cinnamon. The fireball added a nice flavor to the more muted horchata. I wasn’t a huge fan, but Kathy enjoyed it.




Our second margarita is a fan favorite, the avocado margarita. I just loved this one. It had great flavors and went down a little too easy. For someone who isn’t a margarita lover, I will definitely be ordering it again (though, to be fair, avocado is probably one of my favorite foods). This one includes melon liquor, lime juice, avocado, and tequila. The melon and avocado work surprisingly well together.


The next stop on the World Showcase Tour is another must-do for many people: Karamell Kuche! Unlike La Cava, this place was packed. We probably waited in line for 25 minutes.




We got a salted caramel square, a small bag of popcorn, and I’m not sure I remember what the last one is. It looks like a pecan praline. These we saved for later.


Our next stop was the Rose & Crown Pub. Ah, my favorite place in all of Epcot. It’s got such a great feel to it, and is home to my favorite drink.




I got a half and half, which is Guiness and Harp.


The rest of my family went with ciders.




Our final stop on this tour is France. And the destination was L’Artisans de Glaces. Apparently, we don’t have pictures of our actual ice creams, but here is one of the case. I went with the lemon, which was awesome. My sister went with the apple cinnamon, which she loves. I believe Bob got a caramel flavor of some kind, perhaps salted caramel, which as I think about it is really the only thing that makes any sense.


Jeff decided he didn’t want any ice cream and instead ate his pecan praline.

It was extra magic evenings that night, so we hit France after Illuminations. That allowed the park to start emptying while we enjoyed our snacks. Once we were done, we made our way to the front and headed to bed.​

 

[ariane37]

I keep seeing pictures of the Avocado Margarita and I think I'll be trying this in Nov! Margarita isn't my first choice of mixed drink but I certainly don't pass one up that often.......I do like Avocado. Just sounds like it would taste weird as a drink!

 

[njmomof1]

Great review so far!

 

[Lilylogan]

Awesome reviews! The Polynesian looks so nice after all the refurbishments! I want to stay there again so bad.

I really want to try Raglan Road now - looks delicious!

 

[vettegirl]

I am now craving the avocado margarita, I loooove that thing!! Holy cow $250 a pour for tequila!! No thanks

 

[kanadar]

Thanks! Started reading last night and plan to catch up later today. It's the first PJ I'll be following even though I'm late

Better late than never! There's still more to come in the PJ, I hope you enjoy it!

 

[kanadar]

Sorry Mare, I'm about to hijack your thread even more! Here are the pictures of our us with our ice cream!

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Bob also enjoyed the Cinnamon Carmalized Apple and Crumble Crunch


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As for the pecan praline, that was dads treat. While we enjoyed our ice cream, Jeff enjoyed a chocolate caramel cookie. He thought it was very good!

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(Sorry adventurer, not sure how you didn't get these pics before!)

 

[ksromack]

I'm following too......dying to hear your review of Cali Grill. I've been hearing not so great things of late. We loved it right before they closed for renovations......and now I'm thinking I should switch it out for something else, even a different signature.

Excited to read your reviews.....didn't you wear Cardinal's gear in previous reports?

 

[ksromack]

Okay all, we are now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Our travels next take us to the oft-dreaded Downtown Disney for a lively dinner. We, like many others, had not been to Downtown Disney in some time. There has just been so much construction in that area it hasn’t been worth the nightmare of parking, etc. However, we had heard one of the garages was open, making getting in and out easier. The last time we ate at Raglan Road it was very good, and my dad still talks about the Dalkey Duo, so we decided to give it a whirl and made an ADR for 7pm.

We left for Downtown Disney between 4:30 and 5:00 to ensure we had plenty of time to make it for dinner. Plus, it would give us some time to look around at all the new additions. I am happy to report that the garage worked out very well and we were parked and in the shopping area less than 20 minutes

We had to walk off some of our dinner before we could get dessert. After checking out the co-op and a few other shops, we found ourselves at a brand new spot to end the evening.

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Vivoli il Gelato is an Italian gelato shop out of Florence, Italy. I had heard of this well-known gelato shop and was very excited when Disney Food Blog revealed it would be opening a 2nd American location in Disney Springs. We did not go to the real one when we were actually in Florence last year, so I was pretty excited to walk by and find it open!

I wonder if we ate at that gelato place in Florence.....the pictures I took of the 2 gelato places in Florence were rather blurry. I'm going to have to google this place and see if it's one we visited. We spent 3.5 weeks on a Rick Steves tour and Florence was one of our favorite cities.

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Just wanted to comment that yes, Franks is named after Father of the Bride and it is on purpose. We are very much looking forward to the wedding. I'm not sure if Mary will do a TR but for anyone interested I have been working on a Planning Journal that goes over everything for the wedding (you'll see more wedding details than just the food), and I will be doing on there. There is a link to it in my signature!

I'm going to follow too, late to the party! You're special day will be soon after we leave.

 

[mare1203]

I keep seeing pictures of the Avocado Margarita and I think I'll be trying this in Nov! Margarita isn't my first choice of mixed drink but I certainly don't pass one up that often.......I do like Avocado. Just sounds like it would taste weird as a drink!

It does sound weird, but it totally works. It's kind of a creamy melon flavor, versus a buttery flavor you usually get with avocado.

Great review so far!

Thanks so much!

Awesome reviews! The Polynesian looks so nice after all the refurbishments! I want to stay there again so bad.

I really want to try Raglan Road now - looks delicious!

Thank you! Raglan Road is definitely worth it. You should give it a try now that Downtown Disney is navigable again.

I am now craving the avocado margarita, I loooove that thing!! Holy cow $250 a pour for tequila!! No thanks

LoL, that's often the WORST about these dining reports. I'm so hungry for Disney treats after reading them!

I'm following too......dying to hear your review of Cali Grill. I've been hearing not so great things of late. We loved it right before they closed for renovations......and now I'm thinking I should switch it out for something else, even a different signature.

Excited to read your reviews.....didn't you wear Cardinal's gear in previous reports?

I won't spoil it too much, but we had a fabulous meal at Cali Grill. In true form, someone on here posted about their meal that very same night with a negative review. And so it goes.

We pretty much wear Cardinals gear wherever and whenever we go! It's usually necessary for Food & Wine, because we're in the playoffs!!

 

[mare1203]

Hello again, loyal readers! So sorry for the delay, I am behind 2 posts (yes, I just might set myself deadlines for these things). But, there is a good reason! I was back home taking care of Maid of Honor duties and helping host Kathy’s Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party. We had a great time, but I didn’t have my laptop with me and I find that using a laptop is really the easiest way to update this thing.


Here is a picture of the shower. I actually ended up free-handing the lettering for that banner. I think it turned out awesome, even if it did take me hours!


Also, I figure I can include this awesome picture because it actually coincides perfectly with both this post and the meaning behind the title of my report! I’ll give you the story further down, but I’m 99% sure Kathy and Jeff’s hashtag for their wedding has officially become #mickeypantswedding. So, of course we had to include this beauty in the shower and I think they’re going to the Mickey Pants as one of the card holders for the wedding.


Alright, now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to the show. The next morning we were slated to hit Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Yay! My old park!! I know some people don't love this park, but I do. I think there is a lot to do and see, and I'm looking forward to all the additions they are in the midst of completing.


For breakfast, we had the pastry’s we purchased the night before at Le Halles in the France pavilion. I got the chocolate brioche. I really enjoy their chocolate brioche as it is a little denser than their croissants.


We also got 2 chocolate croissants. These are better than the chocolate croissants that you can get elsewhere, but they aren’t amazing. However, they do make for a yummy breakfast.
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Kathy had scheduled a hair and make-up appointment for that morning and would not be joining us at the park until later. So Bob, Jeff, and I headed out to DAK for a morning of lions, tigers, yeti’s, and dinos.


Kathy met up with us around 11:30, in time for the Lion King show and an Expedition to Everest. When we finished, we weren’t feeling overly hungry. Plus, Flame Tree was still closed and that’s our favorite place to eat at DAK. Since nowhere sounded really good for lunch, we decided to instead head to Magic Kingdom and pick up some lunch and a snack there.

When we got to the Magic Kingdom, we ended up splitting up for lunch. I was craving the Anchor’s Aweigh Sandwich from Columbia Harbor, while the rest of my family wanted burgers from Pecos Bill. So, away we went.


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When I got there, Columbia Harbor House wasn’t overly busy, but there was a short line. Luckily, the person in front of me couldn’t decide what they wanted and let me go ahead of them.


I ordered my tuna sandwich and chips and it was quickly delivered to me. Since this sandwich is already served at room temperature, I just walked on over to Pecos Bill’s to meet up with my family. The chips were a little overcooked, but still good. Disney actually makes pretty good homemade chips most of the time. The tuna sandwich was just as yummy as I remember. It's pretty simple, but a good recipe and the bread they serve it on is substantial enough to hold it and has decent flavor. A win in my book.


Pecos Bill’s is always super crowded, so the timing actually worked out well. By the time I joined them, they had ordered and were waiting on the burgers to be delivered. The walk over actually wasn’t too bad and I only felt a little weird walking through the park with my plate.
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Everyone besides me ordered a bacon cheeseburger for their meal. They thought these were pretty good for Disney cheeseburgers, but nothing special. I’m not a big fan of Disney burgers myself (as demonstrated by my trek to CHH).


Once we were done with our meals it was time for the snack Kathy and I (and Jeff, too!) had been waiting for! Mickey Pants on the Hub Grass! Ever since we saw these little tubs of amazingness, it has been a bit of a running joke. We sort of sing-song the term Mickey pants, plus, they’re so cute. Kathy and I decided at some point we definitely had to get the Mickey kitchen sink, affectionately known as the Mickey Pants sundae in our house. Well, we never got to it, and then Disney decided to go and re-do the Hub for Wishes FP+ fireworks. I thought it was ingenious. Artificial turf you could use as a napping place during the day?? Sign me up. Kathy mentioned that people were calling it the Hub Grass, a term I find hilarious for whatever reason. At some point, either Kathy or myself mentioned getting the Mickey pants sundae and lounging with it on the Hub Grass and it evolved to Mickey Pants on the Hub Grass, which we also sort of sing-song. Apparently, we’re 10 year olds and giggle every time.


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We made it to the Ice Cream Parlor and placed our Mickey Pants order. My dad was like, if I say I want the Mickey Pants, will they know what I’m talking about? Haha, yeah Dad, they will, and they might even smile a little. We actually ended up getting 1 of the Mickey Pants Sundaes and 1 of the All-American Sundaes because we have no use for 2 of those tubs, let alone room in the suitcase for more than 1.
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The All-American Sundae is 2 scoops of ice cream, one chocolate and one vanilla, with hot fudge, peanut butter, chocolate and peanut butter chips, and topped with whipped cream. We asked for it with all vanilla. My dad and I shared this and it was glorious.


The Mickey Pants Sundae is actually quite similar, only you can choose any 2 scoops of ice cream with one sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. You can also add sauces or chips, for a price of course. Kathy and Jeff shared the sundae and ordered a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of birthday cake. They topped it with caramel and peanut butter, and were pixie dusted the chips on top.
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Once we got our sundae’s we found a tiny bit of shade on the hub grass to enjoy our spoils. Notice the Mickey Pants has 2 hidden Mickey’s in it (one is the cherry’s and the other is the whipped cream)! The hub grass was a little hot that afternoon, but in the cooler months, I do actually think it would be a good spot to sit a spell and people watch.
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We happened to mention the Mickey Pants Sundae to our wedding coordinator, Carol. She had never heard of it before, so we then had to explain what it was and the reasoning behind us singing “Mickey Pants on the Hub Grass” (oh yeah, Carol got to know our dorky selves real well). She ended up looking it up while we were tasting the cakes and agreed that it was the cutest thing ever. Jokingly, we came up with the hashtag #mickeypantswedding at the planning session and then started using it here and there. My dad vetoed it, saying it was too silly. Well, too silly or not, the hashtag has stuck, lol. In all actuality, there aren’t many people coming to their wedding that will use hashtags anyway, so it doesn’t really matter, but it’s fun. So, now you know the story!
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