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Run Disney to Eat Disney - Glass Slipper/Dark Side Challenge Dining Report - Feb & Apr 2016 - 5/9

Introduction

My husband and I have two trips planned in the upcoming months.
The first from February 18th to 21st at Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani House for the Princess Glass Slipper Challenge.
The second is from April 14th to 17th for the Star Wars - Dark Side Challenge.
Both of these challenges involve running a 10K on the Saturday Morning and a Half Marathon on the Sunday Morning.

As I am currently involved in one trip report (Disneyland Jan 2016), a pre-trip report (Aulani July 2016), and my Training Journal, I decided to do a dining report only for these two trips so I can have a manageable amounts of threads going on.

Dis_Yoda
29 Year Old Engineer
Lover of Stitch, Yoda, Food, Tolerates Running
Loves Carbs & Protein

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Star Wars 2015 Rebel Challenge

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Princess Half Marathon 2015 Start Line

Mr. Dis_Yoda
32 Year Old Retail Manager
Love of Star Wars, Boba Fett, Running, Enormous Sweet Tooth despite wanting to be healthy
Newly Vegetarian

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Star Wars Weekends 2015

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Post 2016 Star Wars Rebel Challenge
 
Glass Slipper Challenge Dining Plan

For this trip we are at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village in a 1 Bedroom Savannah Room. This is not what we originally booked. We had a Jambo House - Standard Studio but apparently those rooms are being refurbished and they offered us this 1 Bedroom instead for no additional points. As we would never spend the points on a 1 Bedroom at this point in our lives, we were pleased to be able to enjoy it as a free upgrade.

February 18th
9:15PM - Morimoto Asia

February 19th
Lunch: TBD?
5:00PM: Boathouse

February 20th
Princess 10K
Breakfast: Post Run RunDisney Snack Box
11:30AM: Tutto Italia
5:00PM: California Grill

February 21st
Princess Half Marathon
Breakfast: Post Run RunDisney Snack Box
12:00PM: Sanaa​
 
Yay! Very excited about another report! We will be arriving at AKL Kidani on the 20th. If you see someone pointing and whispering it may just be me! Fingers crossed for a beautiful weather week next week because it is currently negative degrees here!
 


I'm looking forward to reading your reports! I love food and am 99.9% sure I'm going to run my first half marathon at food & wine! Oh yay, I just realized you're starting your trip tomorrow! Good luck!!
 
Oooooh I'm here! I'm going to have to check out your other threads since we're heading west in September. :) Good luck at the races this weekend.
 


Yay! Very excited about another report! We will be arriving at AKL Kidani on the 20th. If you see someone pointing and whispering it may just be me! Fingers crossed for a beautiful weather week next week because it is currently negative degrees here!

Glad you are excited! If you see me, you should say hello! If I see someone pointing, I probably would point back ;) It looks like the weather should be perfect for this upcoming days! So much better than Princess last year when it was super freezing!

Following along! :coffee:

Thanks for joining!

I'm looking forward to reading your reports! I love food and am 99.9% sure I'm going to run my first half marathon at food & wine! Oh yay, I just realized you're starting your trip tomorrow! Good luck!!

That is awesome you are going to probably run your first half marathon! Have you run 5Ks or 10Ks before? RunDisney is such a great way to get into the running world and very welcoming to all sorts of runners. Today at work is going to pass so very very slow! Come on 3PM!

Oooooh I'm here! I'm going to have to check out your other threads since we're heading west in September. :) Good luck at the races this weekend.

Exciting that you are going to Disneyland in September! Its such a different feel than WDW! I love it in its own way. Thank you :) I'm excited to be completing my 4th Challenge Weekend! I'm also super excited for my husband's Princess Costume which he is going to try on tonight when we get to Disney (he didn't want to Glitter Bomb our home) I may be more excited for that than the running.
 
That is awesome you are going to probably run your first half marathon! Have you run 5Ks or 10Ks before? RunDisney is such a great way to get into the running world and very welcoming to all sorts of runners. Today at work is going to pass so very very slow! Come on 3PM!

Um...no! My goal may be a little ambitious...you think? I'm planning on running a 5K in May then a 10K in August. I hope that will help. I'm very very new to this running thing! I hope your work day speeds up! Have a blast this weekend!!
 
Um...no! My goal may be a little ambitious...you think? I'm planning on running a 5K in May then a 10K in August. I hope that will help. I'm very very new to this running thing! I hope your work day speeds up! Have a blast this weekend!!

Nah - totally not too ambitious! I'm the dumb butt that for her first half marathon turned it into a Challenge Weekend with a 10K on the Saturday and Half on the Sunday. I had also signed up for multiple races before completing my first long distance race (ToT 10 Miler)

You should be golden provided you follow a training plan! There are a ton of them out there and Disney even posts one for you for the race as well that is really manageable.

Thank you! I can't wait!
 
Exciting that you are going to Disneyland in September! Its such a different feel than WDW! I love it in its own way. Thank you :) I'm excited to be completing my 4th Challenge Weekend! I'm also super excited for my husband's Princess Costume which he is going to try on tonight when we get to Disney (he didn't want to Glitter Bomb our home) I may be more excited for that than the running.

Haha, can't wait to see costume pictures! 4 challenges is awesome. I've done 3 1/2 marathons, but never a Disney race. Someday!

We'll also be heading to Aulani so I'll have to keep tabs on that report as well. We tried for VGC at 7 months out but didn't get it. We do have a deluxe studio at Aulani booked. I ended up booking the Fairfield Inn instead, I couldn't take the "what if" of waitlisting right before our wedding. It's our honeymoon, so in the event it doesn't come through, I didn't want to be scrambling one month prior to try and find a hotel room!
 
Haha, can't wait to see costume pictures! 4 challenges is awesome. I've done 3 1/2 marathons, but never a Disney race. Someday!

We'll also be heading to Aulani so I'll have to keep tabs on that report as well. We tried for VGC at 7 months out but didn't get it. We do have a deluxe studio at Aulani booked. I ended up booking the Fairfield Inn instead, I couldn't take the "what if" of waitlisting right before our wedding. It's our honeymoon, so in the event it doesn't come through, I didn't want to be scrambling one month prior to try and find a hotel room!

He should be trying it on today to make sure it fits because if it doesn't - we have some shopping to do.

Completing 3 Half Marathons is awesome! Congrats!

VGC is such a hard place to get into without being an owner as they have so few rooms. I wouldn't want to deal with the stress of "what if" prior to my honeymoon either! Fairfield Inn is a nice option - Off Site in Disneyland is such an easier thing to do with how its set up. Everything is so walkable!

What view do you have booked at Aulani? My husband and I are working on planning that now - we've were discussing stuff on the drive up. I think I finally have Sunday's & Tuesday's plan set so I need to book the activity with the service provider. Now to figure out what we're doing Wednesday to Friday! There is so much to do on the island that a week isn't enough time so I'm having to be picky! I imagine at your honeymoon you are going to take a more relaxing approach than we are. ;)
 
Morimoto Asia

I'm going to start out with being frank here. This isn't going to be a nice review. I purposely didn't write it last night when I got to the room so at least my tone would be less ragetastic.

Let's Begin!

The drive to Walt Disney World took way longer than it should have. We left the house by 3:20PM and we didn't arrive at Animal Kingdom Lodge until 7:15PM. Normally, our drive takes between 2.75 and 3 hours but the traffic between Sarasota and Tampa made me want to road rage hardcore while I was driving. We checked in at Kidani Village and headed to our room. We got settled. A 1 Bedroom for 2 People is SOOO MUCH room! We would never book our points on this but having been a free upgrade, we're going to enjoy it!

We hopped on the bus to Disney Springs and arrived there by 8:20PM. We did a quick look at the art store but quickly decided against spending $5000 on a Stitch painting as I'm not insane despite how cute and perfect it was for our bedroom. My limit to Disney Art purchases in the past has been like $395.

We walked to Morimoto Asia and checked in about 30 minutes early to our reservation. We had to wait a bit to be seated but we were at our table right before 9PM.

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Our server was not really quick to greet us but once he did finally visit the table, we placed our orders. I got a cocktail, appetizer and entree. My husband just did an appetizer and entree (more so really 2 side dishes)

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My drink was dropped off after 10 minutes and right after that my husband's appetizer was given to him.

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Hibiscus Sazerac - Templeton Rye, Hibiscus, Absinthe served with Lemon Peel

The presentation of my drink could have been a little better but it was exactly what I needed after that horrible drive up! Nice and strong!

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Edamame - Sea Salt

My husband enjoyed his edamame. He was able to eat all of those and have them cleared from the table and us wait an additional 5 minutes until my appetizer was actually served.

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Rock Shrimp Tempura - Signature Tempura Rock Shrimp, Spicy Gochujang Aioli

I really enjoyed my rock shrimp tempura. They were super crisp and it was spicy without being too spicy! This was cleared from the table and we proceeded to wait.

And wait

And wait

30 Minutes Later, my entree was brought to the table without my husband's.

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Morimoto Peking Duck - Carved House-Roasted Whole Duck, Served w/ Steamed Flour Pancakes, Apricot Sweet Chili and Hoisin Miso

My husband told me to go ahead and eat before it was cold, his had to be out soon, right?

My Peking Duck was perfect! The stick was perfectly crispy. The meat cooked well and the thin fat layer having the wonderful ummphh that I love on a well prepared duck. The hoisin miso sauce was great on the pancakes to make like a duck taco with the cucumber and duck. I had about 3 of those before I decided to just eat the meat. Once I was 50% done with the plate, I was too full to continue.

If you notice in that conversation, I still hadn't said anything about my husband getting his food served. That is because it hadn't. In fact, I had stopped eating from being full and waited a few minutes until the server finally visited our table to 1) check on my meal and 2) ask if everything was ok. My husband stated "Well, I never got my food. Cancel it. We need a box and the check" The server was like well let me if the food is there. My husband responded "I've been waiting almost an hour since my appetizer for Fried Rice and Wok Vegetables. I'm done. Cancel my order" This seemed to frazzle the server.

It took him about 10 minutes to even bring me the box for my duck and when he did that he still didn't have the check. When I was boxing my duck up, my husband's food finally showed up which he sent away as he said its been cancelled like 15 minutes ago. The food runner was really confused and walked away.

The server arrived with our bill having removed my husband's dishes and I handed the credit card. My husband went to the restroom.

The manager did arrive then and was like, Can I get you Dessert? I tried to explain, we were tired of waiting and just wanted back to our hotel. We did not want dessert, especially seeing how bad the timing and service was all evening. No discount was offered or anything else.

We finally get our check and credit card back and left.

 
It is appalling when the service anywhere is that bad but it infuriates me when they don't even compensate you. If they put their error right it still spoils your meal but doesn't stop you returning ever again. Hope the rest of your trip is much better. Looking forward to your reviews :)
 
Wow. Really poor service at Morimoto's. I hope your dining experience vastly improves for the rest of your trip.
 
I never know when you start a new TR! But when I saw on FB that you were at Morimoto Asia the other night and that you did the 10K this morning, I figured that I should go and hunt down this TR! I will have to come back and read, but I want to hear about your Peking Duck!
 
It is appalling when the service anywhere is that bad but it infuriates me when they don't even compensate you. If they put their error right it still spoils your meal but doesn't stop you returning ever again. Hope the rest of your trip is much better. Looking forward to your reviews :)

That is my main issue with this place. Our first time there in October was a bit bumpy with service but they were open for only 4 days at that point and our server was at least attentive during this ensuring our drinks were filled and telling us we could meet Morimoto which we did. I end again at the end of October updates in the Sushi Bar and it was great! All the food I've had there has been amazing - its just sad they seem inconsistent with service and unable to handle problems when they arise.

Wow. Really poor service at Morimoto's. I hope your dining experience vastly improves for the rest of your trip.

Yup. Our dining experiences do vastly improve from here so at least that is pleasant!

I never know when you start a new TR! But when I saw on FB that you were at Morimoto Asia the other night and that you did the 10K this morning, I figured that I should go and hunt down this TR! I will have to come back and read, but I want to hear about your Peking Duck!

Yeah, I was going to post it in another thread of mine when I got home from the race trip but you found me before I got there! The Peking Duck was perfect - the rest of the experience - not so much ;)
 
Goofy’s Candy Company

On our walk back to the buses, it was late. We knew we wouldn’t make it back to the room before the hotel shop at Kidani would be closed. We stopped into Goofy’s Candy Company to pick up some things for us to enjoy back at the room or later in the weekend.

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For Dis_Yoda - the selection was a milk chocolate and m&m covered marshmallow along with a BB8 Rice Crispy Treat.

For Mr. Dis_Yoda - Milk Chocolate Peanuts & Chewy Spree!

Mr. Dis_Yoda ate the entire bag of Milk Chocolate Peanuts once we returned to the room prior to going to bed. He needed some type of dinner right? It could have been worse ;) The sprees were eaten over the course of Friday & Saturday for his 'dessert' post dinner.

I enjoyed my marshmallow while I surfed the internet. I love chocolate covered marshmallows! BB8 is in the food bag going home with us. I'll either enjoy him in the car tomorrow or after dinner!​
 
Breakfast In The Room

I woke up around 7AM and headed downstairs to pick up butter and jam for the bread my husband had purchased for me for this trip. Once I returned, I made myself breakfast.

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Publix Sourdough Bread w/ Butter & Grape Jelly & Rockstar Zero Punched

This will be my breakfast on race days so expect to see it again ;)

It was exactly what I wanted! Not too much to overpower my stomach and not too little that I couldn’t make it until lunch.

I realized my husband thought I was going to forget the fuel for the races so now we have way too much!

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Once my husband awoke and got dressed, we headed to the Princess Half Marathon Expo to pick up our bibs, shirts and do a little shopping. I did all the shopping - my husband didn’t want anything. I picked up a tank top, sparkle skirt, 2 sweaty bands, race pins and sparkly KT tape! I don’t think my husband is ever going to wear his race shirts, except maybe the Glass Slipper one. Deep Pink or Teal just isn’t his thing!

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VGC is such a hard place to get into without being an owner as they have so few rooms. I wouldn't want to deal with the stress of "what if" prior to my honeymoon either! Fairfield Inn is a nice option - Off Site in Disneyland is such an easier thing to do with how its set up. Everything is so walkable!

What view do you have booked at Aulani? My husband and I are working on planning that now - we've were discussing stuff on the drive up. I think I finally have Sunday's & Tuesday's plan set so I need to book the activity with the service provider. Now to figure out what we're doing Wednesday to Friday! There is so much to do on the island that a week isn't enough time so I'm having to be picky! I imagine at your honeymoon you are going to take a more relaxing approach than we are. ;)

We just bought into DVC @ the tail end of 2015, so this is the first trip we're booking. I had done some research and read the same about VGC, so I wasn't really expecting to get in - but I just don't think I can handle the stress of the waitlist. We did end up booking at Fairfield Inn since we figured being across the street will be great and we can spend the $800 we'll save on some other activities!

We ended up booking an oceanview studio. We'll be there for 6 nights so that was our splurge! We're also spending 3 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui prior to arriving at Aulani. Choosing what to actually do is going to be so tough. I know we want to do Diamondhead and Pearl Harbor, maybe 1 or 2 more things, but I think I want to plan on 2 full resort days as well.

Rock Shrimp Tempura - Signature Tempura Rock Shrimp, Spicy Gochujang Aioli

I really enjoyed my rock shrimp tempura. They were super crisp and it was spicy without being too spicy! This was cleared from the table and we proceeded to wait.

As awful as it sounds like the service was at Morimoto, this looks soooooo good. We have a local Asian place (Thai/Japanese/Chinese) and their rock shrimp is to die for. Sorry your meal wasn't the greatest, if I was your husband I would've done the same thing.


I love your Dooney. Ah!

The shirts are really cute (well, from a female perspective, haha) but I can see why your husband doesn't think he'd wear it! You'd think they'd offer a navy or black for the men or something!?

Good luck at the races this weekend!
 

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