Super Special Mom and Son Trip with Free DDP, Sept, 23-Oct 2, 2011 PHOTOS/Days1-10

[Schoolbread]

Breakfast-- Fresh peaches in the room!

Lunch--Rose & Crown

We have gone to R&C just about every trip since 1991. Mikey is a huge fish & chips fan, so we thought we would repeat.

It was hot as Hades again, so we arrived a bit early for our 1:25 lunch ADR. They had just started the street players, so we watched the show--"It was RUBBISH!!!!"

When we received our little pager, she asked if we were willing to sit inside. I asked for inside and she said it might take longer. Well, I should be careful what I ask for! We were seated JUST inside the door, right next to the pub swinging door entrance. Good location for people watching, but right beneath the HUGE A/C blower. We were shivering by the end.

This meal was going to be out of pocket because all I wanted was a bowl of potato and leek soup. The menu looked to be newish....

Mikey got what he was jonesin' for--Fish & Chips--

He said it was delicious, but I don't think he surfaced for any breath until the last of his peas were gone. I did sneak a chip (I'm allergic to fish, so I couldn't try that) and they were SO good!

My soup was delish. It was just as I remember it. It was creamy and hot, with crispy leeks and a drizzle of some infused oil on top. It also came with some rolls and butter which were divine.

My intention was to get a bowl, but when I saw a certain side dish, I really wanted to try it. So a cup it was!

I HAD to have the cauliflower au gratin. The first little dish came out and I dug into it. It was cold in the middle. Our server, Daniel, seemed surprised that it was cold since the outside of the ceramic dish was so hot. Well, he returned it to the kitchen and I finished my soup. Then the second helping of au gratin came out--

It was so full of flavor! The cauliflower wasn't frozen--it was fresh and just BARELY cooked. It still had a snap to it. The sauce was made with an Irish cheddar and had a boatload of dry mustard in it. The topping was simple bread crumbs and chives. It was SO good! I ate about half of it, but just eating a bowl of cheese and veg is hard to get through without a salad or something to break it up. Mikey was more than happy to help me out and he finished the other half.

Our meal was super cheap! $23.96 plus tip. It went on my room charge.

Snack--Can you believe it? I went to my precious Norway for my namesake, Schoolbread, and I didn't take a pic! Mikey got a sweet pretzel and I got the schoolbread. Total $7.99. Then we popped over to the Joy of Tea for our must-have-each-trip-peach iced tea (told you we were tea people!!!). That was a whopping $9.06. Last time, they didn't take snack credits here, but now they do. Unfortunately, I figured that out AFTER I put it on my room charge. At $9.06 for two, it would have been a good bang for the credit.

I would give Rose and Crown three Miss Piggy's

 

[Schoolbread]

Dinner

Dinner was a bit of a bust. We were supposed to go to MK for EMHs, but Mikey decided he wanted to swim and watch the evening outdoor movie at Pop (Toy Story 3). So, that meant we had ANOTHER dinner at the Pop food court. This one went better for me.....

Mikey had the chilidog and fries with watermelon and an iced tea. He said it was just "alright." We are pretty much hot dog snobs--Nathan's, Hebrew National, or Vienna Beef, so I think that was most of the issue. I did like the chili, but for the love of Mike, can they dump these buns for EITHER the white ones or keep the whole grain but find one that will hold together???

I did much better. I had something I'd had before--the crispy Italian chicken on a bed of lettuce. In the past, it had an Italian dressing on it. This time, she asked if I wanted alfredo or marinara sauce on it. I said neither. I went to the cooler and grabbed a Ken's country French. I love that stuff and I can only SOMETIMES find it up here in MN. I also had the watermelon and tea.

This is a good bang for your buck, really. It's a healthy serving of salad and it is at least a 6 oz. breast. The breadstick was more like a drumstick so it sat untouched. I would DEFINITELY get this again. In fact, it is my go-to item at Pop ever since they got rid of my favorite--ham & Havarti flatbread with arugula. Oh...I .....Loved....That (but I figured out the recipe and make it at home now--) Total freebee--$34.16

So for rating, well...I guess we'll go with 2 Miss Piggy's....I was happy but Mikey--not so much.

 

[Schoolbread]

Breakfast--Skipped....Early, early lunch and then another lunch, and then a dinner were on tap for today (you'll see why), so I skipped breakfast.

Lunch 1--Columbia Harbor House

We were up at at 'em by 7, so the second they opened CHH, Mikey was ready to eat. He wanted to try the new lobster roll. I wasn't all that hungry, and I knew we were going to be at Kona for a late lunch at 2, so I was going to get a kids' chicken nugget meal. The CM said, "No, you don't want that. It's pressed chicken. I'll give you the adult meal." That was very nice of her, but it was WAY too much food!

So Mikey had the lobster roll. It was enormous. I MEAN HUGE! I don't know if it was chalked full of lobster, but he said you could taste it in there. It was pretty mayo-heavy, with the fixins already mixed in like a cole slaw. The bun was the proper lobster roll bun. He also got the apple blossom. I didn't expect this little kid to be so hungry, but he was! He ate about half of all of it. We switched it up and got a coke today. It also came with chips.

I'm not a huge fan of overly breaded chicken nuggets, so I thought I wouldn't like these. I was wrong! They were quite tasty. I hate to admit that I ate over half of this..... Shameful knowing that Kona was, like, 3 hours away. Ah, well....when on vacation, right? I was happy to find the yumm-o honey mustard at the condiment bar. I had grapes as my side and I ate all of them. Coke rounded out our brunch.

Columbia Harbor House is so reliable, you know? They always have good stuff, good a/c, and that lovely, quiet room upstairs. What's not to like?
Total freebee--$30.07

Three Miss Piggy's!

 

[Schoolbread]

Oh, and if you are over at CHH, check out the roasted salmon dinner....reminds me of what they used to have over at Tusker House before it was a buffet....

 

[dizneeat]

Hm, Pop looks more inviting every day.

We love CHH and had the lobster roll too! Lots of lobster in it and very nice (this is something we do not get here, so I was very impressed with it, coming from a CS place!)

I love your DR, Tina, if only I could be as fast as you are updating.

 

[Schoolbread]

Late Lunch--Kona

Kona is one of my all-time favorites. Their pomegranate pork chop dances often in my dreams. I also really love their lunches, especially the Hawaiian lunch plate.

We got there just before our 2:15 ADR. Being that it was dead center between lunch and dinner, the place was nearly empty

However, we were seated right next to a huge, huge party of business people. Not sure if it was because there were so few servers in this off-hour or what, but that was strange. Next to them was a REALLY loud preschooler having his or her afternoon meltdown. I felt so sorry for the parents who were trying valiantly to settle the tot down. Eventually, they did.

The business group left just about the time our entrees arrived, so I think there were MAYBE 3 or 4 tables in the entire restaurant. It made for a blissfully quiet meal!

Can I just say that the kid's meals here are a TREMENDOUS bang for your buck? He got grilled fish of the day (which was mahi-mahi), whole grain pilaf, carrots & beans (freshly steamed), and a REALLY yummy yogurt, granola, and strawberry parfait. It was a TON of food. He ate all of it except the pilaf (wasn't a fan--said it reminded him of brown rice--which sounded about right).

I had my stand-by, what makes a WDW trip a WDW trip for me--macadamia nut crusted chicken with mango sauce and a KILLER pasta salad! There was also sticky rice.

There's just the right mix of sweet and tangy on this plate. The mango sauce really adds a lot to the dish. I don't know why the pasta salad is so good. It's mayo, veg, and pasta. But they have the ratios JUST right. Awesome. Total comfort food.

For dessert, I had what I had the last time (and what I was a bit disappointed in last time). I thought perhaps it was a one-time thing. So I ordered it again--pineapple upside down cake

It looked identical to last December's and, unfortunately, tasted the same. It was dry and just flat tasting. I will definitely try something different next time as they have so many yummies to choose from!

Mikey was brought out a happy birthday cupcake and they sang to him...

Total value was $34.68. When you consider that Columbia HH was $30.07, this was a REALLY good deal, huh? Appropriate tip went on room charge.

If it weren't for the dessert hiccup, this would have been 4 Miss Piggy's (yes, we have some coming). We'll rate this a 3 and 1/2 MP's.....

+ 1/2

 

[Schoolbread]

Karin, only because I decided to knock this thing out tonight if I could! I'll try to finish up so you can read it before your vacation.....

 

[Schoolbread]

Dinner--Fork and Screen

So over at the AMC theater, right at the entrance to West Side, there is Fork and Screen. You can see a movie, get drinks, apps, dinner, and dessert RIGHT at your movie seat. The lighting reminded me a lot of the way it is inside SciFi--pretty darn dark. So I would suggest getting there early so you can peruse the menu (which is big) before the lights go down.

We got tickets a few hours before the show (Lion King in 3D). They were pricey--$31. We were in the evening, it was the F&S showing, AND there was the 3D premium on the tickets. So, it was similar to an IMAX price....

We went to Disney Quest for a while, then came back to see the movie. I'm sorry ahead of time at the lack, and then the poor quality of photos. It was so dark that I couldn't stay still enough to get good pics. Then, the food arrived after the movie started, and I wasn't about to do that to the people in the room.

So, here's the narrative:

When you purchase your tickets, you choose your seats--just like an airline. We were about 2/3 of the way back in the middle. When we bought the tickets, we were only 2 of 10 people or so. I'd say once we were seated, there were probably 3/4 to 4/5 of the seats filled. Meaning, if you REALLY want to do this, get your tickets early--you can purchase even days before btw.

So, we were seated, and the server comes by to tell us how it works. There's a little red button that you press anytime you need her to come by. We did CHOOSE to order everything up front so that I didn't have to ring for her (but we did anyway--details coming). I splurged on a cosmo instead of an appetizer (it was 7 pm, but with the 2:15 Kona, we were still pretty full). It was PERFECT. Nice size, and at $7.99, not too bad of a price.

Mikey had the cheese batons (mozzarella sticks). They were excellent. There were EIGHT pieces and $7.99, so a VERY good deal as mozzarella sticks go. They were hot and the marinara dip was tasty too. I could have used more marinara, and for the future, I'll just order two sauces. With just that, we could have been done!

For dinner, I had the classic chicken tenders, which was under the appetizer category. Well, it was 4 HUGE pieces of chicken plus fries. You could TOTALLY split this between a few people. I couldn't finish it, of course. This was $11.99. Mikey had the kid's pepperoni pizzetta which was like a flatbread. It came with fruit and a drink and was $6.99. Reasonable!

If you get popcorn or any soft drink, you get free refills. As I'm reading my receipt, I see that she didn't charge me for my coke. I told her to bring one cosmo, then bring cokes. Hmm! Mikey didn't go for popcorn. He got Buncha Crunch. They even bring your candy! That was $2.99, so cheaper than my local theater.

We did have to ring the bell to get her to refill the cokes, to get Mikey's buncha crunch (she forgot), and then to pick up the bill. There were only 3 girls for the ENTIRE room, so they were HOPPING! The guy next to me got a burger and it looked really good too.

Total bill was $40.60. Really, when you think about it, we got a TON of food for that amount. They bring the bill about an hour before the movie is done, but you can continue to order right up until the end if you want.

Seats were comfortable and HUGE. Tables were awesome. Leg room was unbelievable.

It was a unique experience. Yes, it was pricey ($79 when it was all over with tip....), but REALLY fun. I would say yes, absolutely we'll be back again, but with the new bowling and dinner thing going in where Virgin megastore used to be, I will venture to bet we'll try that next time.....(I think it was early 2013 opening).

Total rating--3-1/2 piggies

+ 1/2

 

[Schoolbread]

Breakfast--None. Still digesting from the night before! whew!

Lunch--Pepper Market.

I was worried about eating here. The punch cards, the 10% tip, the stations. Some of it went well; some of it didn't. The food was very good, and now that I've been there, I'd go back.

When we arrived, we were shown to our table. Our server asked if we were on the DDP, then asked what we wanted for a drink. We ordered cokes. Then we took our little paper sheets around to choose an entree. This was easy as it was fairly dead in there, but if it were busy, it could be a nightmare. We walked around together, then decided on what we wanted. Mikey ordered kids' spaghetti and meatballs (odd choice at Coronado Springs, but whatever.....). He got his almost immediately. I ordered the chicken fajitas. They didn't start on it until I ordered it, which was nice, except Mikey's was getting cold. I had him go sit and start eating. He was nearly done by the time I got to the table. Because of that, I got NO pictures of our food. Too bad, because we were both happy.

The fajitas (chicken) were TASTY. REALLY tasty. It was an enormous portion. You only got 3 tortillas, which wasn't enough for the rice, beans, salsa, pico, chese, sour cream, onions, and peppers that accompanied the chicken. I ended up just mixing all of the stuff together and eat the tortillas much like a piece of bread on the side of an entree. That worked well. It never was obvious what desserts I could get, but frankly, I was too full to eat a dessert. I didn't write the actual amount down, but seeing as I paid $3 for the 10% service fee, it must have been in the $30 range.

OK--so here's my beef......I tell the server that I will go pay (at this time, I don't know what my bill is, so I can't leave her 10% of what I do not know). I go to the register, leave Mikey behind, and the lady says, "You can't do this." "What?"
"You can't have a coke with a kids meal. It has to be a milk or juice. She marked coke. It's not included."
"She asked if I was on DDP. I said yes, she asked what we wanted to drink. If it wasn't included, then she should have said something. He could have had juice."
"They keep doing this! You have to pay!"
"OK....it's not a big deal. Just charge me separately for the drink."
"No. Forget it. I will fix it FOR YOU." (WHAT????? It wasn't my mistake. Why the attitude....I let it go.)
"OK--thanks."
"You didn't get your dessert. You get dessert."
"I know, but I don't want it. Too full."
"But it comes with it!"
"I know, but I don't want it. Let's call the coke thing even since I didn't get a dessert." (I say this with a smile) "Spread that Disney Magic."
"I don't care either way. You get a dessert. You don't get a coke."

At this point, I was aggravated, but I didn't want to call a manager over. It wasn't worth it. I got the total I guess. I don't remember because I was flummoxed. I had the NERVE to ask her for change for a $5, and she sighed heavily.

"You have to fill out this paper."
"Huh?"
"Fill this out."

I had to fill out a paper because she can't open the register on a no-sale. She was happy to see me go. I was happy to go. I left the tip on the table and we flew out.

I WOULD go back. The food was good. The cleanliness of the place was so-so. There were missing tiles and untidy/dirty stations. The CMs were very nice except for the check out lady. I will dream about the fajitas.....YUMMY!
It was a quiet place. In fact, if we're at the Studios near lunch time, I'd definitely hop a bus over to CSR (this is where we were) for a meal.

Because of the nasty CM, though, I have to give this 2 Miss Piggy's.

 

[Schoolbread]

Oh HEY--Look what Mikey took a picture of!!!! FAJITAS!

Dinner--The Wave

We were going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight, so we were dressed as Hawaiian Tourists (cheap, easy to pack). It was funny to see a full dining room at an upscale place all filled with costumed people. A ghost was sitting next to me!

We waited about 10-15 minutes to be seated. By the time we left, all tables were full. We were given our butter with pink sea salt and our bread. Both were yumm! The bread was chewy and filled with all kinds of seeds.

Our server suggested the new filet that was on the menu. I jumped at it. I was just about chickened out. It came with pureed parsnips and multi-colored carrots. I ordered it medium, but said to go on the side of medium well. I said NO BLOOD. If there's blood on the plate or if I cut into it and it gushes, it's goin' back. She laughed.

Mikey ordered the fish of the day (which ended up being the same meal that he had at Kona except that it was salmon). He snarfed up the salmon instantly. They did sub baked sweet potato fries for the pilaf when he said he didn't care for the pilaf at the other restaurant. There is nothing fried at The Wave.....He also ate all of the sweet potato fries.

My beautiful filet came out. It had some type of sauce on the top that I never did get to try because......see it? See the blood? I cut into it and blood gushed. She saw my face and came by. She said, "OH NO! I told them no blood! That's medium rare--almost rare!" No kidding! She whisked it away and when it returned, it was PERFECT. No sauce, though.

I cannot tell you how delicious this was. It was charred on the outside; chewy and tender on the inside. It was flavorful. The parsnips (I had never had them) were REALLY good. A super smooth version of potatoes--less starchy. The carrots were just fun. Tasted like carrots, but they were purple and yellow (I'd had yellow ones before). It was a PERFECT 10 meal.

The meal was capped off by dessert. Mikey had the make-youself-a-sundae....

and I had the American flavor (3 mini desserts). WOW! HOMERUN!!!!!

First, there was a mini key lime pie with candied lemon zest. EXCELLENT, and perhaps my favorite dessert the entire trip. Yes, it was. The best of the whole trip!

Next was the Mississippi mud pie. Also good, but the ratio of crumble to chocolate was a bit off. Too much crumble. If you're a crumble fan, it wouldn't bother you....It came with a very, very creamy ice cream.

Finally, there was the mini Boston creme pie. YUMMY!!!!! I really liked the sponge cake.

For both Mikey and myself, it was our favorite meal of the trip. It gets our first 4 Miss Piggy rating!!!

ALOHA!

 

[Schoolbread]

Breakfast--picked out of the MNSSHP candy bags. Healthy, huh?

Lunch--Tyhpoon Lagoon.
Tried to eat at Typhoon Tilly's, but it was closed. Only the Snack Shack was open, so that SEVERELY limited what we could get. I didn't have my camera on me, but TRUST me, you don't want to see this crap. Sorry....From the best of times to the worst of times (food-wise--TL was SO much fun!)

Mikey didn't like any of the options so he used a snack credit on a nachos w/cheese. I think it was $3.99. She zeroed it out before I could see the price. We used one snack credit on that. I got a meal and we shared the drink--lg coke. Keep in mind that you can get large drinks on the ddp.....

I got the cold chicken wrap with chips, a chocolate cake, and the aforementioned coke. The cake was the same chocolate pod cake that is all over the parks. The one with the fudge topping and Mickey jimmies. I ate the cake and Mikey ate the fudge. I ate my chips--plain Disney chips. They were fine. The wrap was SO bad that I literally spit out the first bite and didn't eat any more. It was soggy to the point that it was wet. The chicken was total gristle and the veggies were slimy. Oh, it was GROSS! I should have taken it back. I should have. I probably would have if I had to pay for it, eh? Oh well.

This meal gets one Miss Piggy, but only because Mikey's liquid cheese and bag of Tostitos were palatable. Not great, but palatable........Not sure on the cost of this one, folks. I could look up the prices....but why? You're not going to order this monstrosity!

 

[Schoolbread]

Snack--Kiosk at Typhoon Lagoon
To say that I was starving is an understatement. I was SO hungry after swimming all day and just chips and a cake bottom. On the way out, we see "mini donuts!" Sounds good--they're a Minnesota state fair staple. In fact, we can get them pretty handily. So we ordered a half dozen ($3.69) and a sprite. They don't take snack credits so it was $6.42. They were really good! Cinnamon sugar on top--cake like rather than doughy inside. I probably COULD have split the dozen, but we didn't need to.....Dinner was at Cape May later that night.....

Dinner--Cape May
I didn't bother with pics here either because it's the same stuff you've seen with everyone else's Cape May pics. Mikey filled himself up on crab legs (although they didn't have much meat in them) and other assorted seafood specialties. I turned into the kid in the group since I can't have seafood. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cape May's Mickey mac n cheese. I had that, a salad (I didn't like their raspberry vinaigrette), boiled potatoes, chicken nuggets, green beans, and a roll with butter. Everything was really good. It came to about $54 worth of value on Disney's dime.....I should add that our server was SUPER harried. SUPER crazy. So nice. He said he was going to come back and show Mikey a better way of cracking the crab legs but he never did. He also didn't refill our drinks until we were ready to leave. The table next to us must have had 5 or 6 PLATES of crablegs.....PER PERSON! It was gross. This was in addition to everything else they loaded up on. I'm not a tiny girl (I'm an 18), but this was crazy amounts of food. I'm just jealous as they were the tiniest people I have ever seen! LOL!!!!!! God's got a sense of humor!

Mikey would say that this is a 4 Miss Piggy meal, but with The Wave as our Gold Standard, I'd go with a 3 Miss Piggy.

 

[Schoolbread]

You are going to quit reading! We did our DTD progressive lunch on this day, but I forgot my camera! We first split a meal at Earl of Sandwich--Earl's club subbed with cheddar for the swiss, strawberry shortcake, and (surprise--) Iced Tea! We actually got the earl's grey lemonade--1/2 lemonade and 1/2 iced tea. I also grabbed a bag of vinegar chips . I hate them, but Mikey likes them. It was what it always is--delicious and cheap! $10.62 in Disney freebees, and another $1.38 for the chips. YES, $1.38....I will remember that as the cheapest side/snack on Disney property. They had other flavors that I could stomach!

We shopped for HOURS and then we went to Cooke's of Dublin. We split a fried chicken (I'm growing feathers!!! ) sandwich with a TASTY tomato chutney on top. Wow, was this a good sandwich. If I'm on the DDP, then it is better than EoS! (If I'm paying out of pocket, Earl is still WAY cheaper). It came with delish, crispy, perfectly greasy fries, and a pistacchio cupcake. This is the only place I have seen that had ginger ale on the soda machines. You could get refills here too. SO....this is the hidden gem of the trip. Everything was fresh. There were tables available (the outside garden would have been great if it were a little cooler). The CMs were FANTASTIC. The meal was just shy of $16, which is a good use of a counter service. We really liked our progressive lunch and splitting both meals.

Cooke's gets the 4 Miss Piggy award for the Best Counter Service of the trip (Pepper Mkt would have if it weren't for that nasty CM and dirty food prep areas)

 

[Schoolbread]

Dinner--San Angel Inn

PICTURES!!! YAY! I had not been to SAI since the 90s. The reviews have been so mediocre that I wasn't sure if I should try. A recent menu change and a review that was more than positive from a friend told me it was time to try again. I was glad I did! SURPRISE!!!

We ate a very late dinner (which was perfect since we did the two split lunches over the afternoon at DTD). Our ADR was 8:00, but we didn't get seated until 8:30. They were definitely winding down for the night, but that meant I got this cool pic--

The chips are not the Tostitos ones anymore. They were a finer grain of corn, salty, and crispy. The salsa was pretty spicy--it also tasted quite smokey. Our server was pretty understated. He was around, but not all that friendly. It didn't dampen the wonderful meal and the FABULOUS atmosphere. By the time our meals came, the pavilion was closed, so no Donald ride; no shopping in the "town." It was PERFECT. If you can hold out for a late dinner, this is THE one to do.

Mikey ordered the kid's two beef taco meal. It came with rice and sauteed green beans. He ate every last morsel. I did sneak a quick bite of the taco and it was really good. They need that on the regular, adult menu. The meal also had an appetizer of fruit that came with the meal.

I was ready for some more beef. I had planned on the chicken dish, but with so much chicken this trip (and more to come), I wanted some red meat. I ordered the carne asada. I ordered it medium well this time--just in case. It was AWESOME!!!! The meat was grilled perfectly. Cut it on the bias and you're golden. It came with rice (slightly spicy), sauteed onions (sweet and a perfect balance to the meat, black beans (thick and creamy) and 2 small cheese enchiladas. I also liked the enchiladas, but the red sauce on top was quite spicy (I'm not afraid of spice either). I just took about 1/2 of it off and it was sublime. My mouth is watering right now!!!!! *It comes with guacamole--I had it without as it is not my favorite.....

Mikey had the churros for dessert. He was very very happy!

I tried the crepes cajeta--which were crepes with a caramel sauce and toasted almonds. OH....MY.....Rich. Heavy and yet light. It was super delish.

This was the surprise meal of the trip. WE LOVED IT. Now I have ANOTHER must-do for Epcot!!! I'm going to need a month trip to get it all in! Value $53.14 (plus tip on room charge)

Absolutely gets the 4 Miss Piggy Awards....

 

[Schoolbread]

Breakfast--We've given up by now

Snack--Coconut jelly beans for Mike in Frontierland. $3.24 for just a handful of beans.......ooh I found the receipt--it was 0.235 pounds. QUARTER of a pound....wow!

Lunch--Tortuga Tavern
YAY! El Pirata Y El Perico was never open when I was there, but I LOVE Mexican food. I was happy that Tortuga was open (Pecos Bill's was undergoing a facelift, but it was still open. Lots of people were walking on, though, so I wonder if that was why TT was open. Golden Oak Outpost was also closed [AND they discontinued their terrific fried chicken sandwich!!! ]). Curiously, the receipt still says El Pirata Y El Perico on it.

We ordered quickly. Mikey had Beef Nachos and a sweet tea. I had the Beef Burrito and the sweet tea. Both of us had those puck/pod chocolate cakes. Total was $32.65.

This was another HUGE hit. The fixins bar had everything known to man on it (you had to ask for sour cream, though). It was VERY generous and tasty. I know most love CHH for MK quick service, but this gets my top honor. 3 and a half Miss Piggy's for me (churros instead of chocolate cake would have been the winner-winner-chicken-dinner!)

+1/2



Snack--Friar's Nook
So we noticed that the Friar's Nook has housemade (on site) hot, fresh potato chips. It was a must do for us! We used 2 snack credits on the chips and a lemonade slushie ($7.19). The potato chips were fantastic. They had a seasoned salt on them that was very flavorful. They were hot and crispy. Oh boy they were good. I wish we had more people to share with, though, as it was too much for the two of us to plow through.

 

[Schoolbread]

Dinner--Tokyo Dining

I think we've determined that we like to have the really late dinners and then that's it for the night. We did this again on this night and were rewarded with a great view and soundtrack of Illuminations during our appetizers. SCORE!

I have to do an aside here. We were supposed to go to the F&W kiosks here and there. It was a mad house. HORRIBLE. People 25-50 deep, drunks, f-bombs everywhere. It was nasty. I've been to 3 other F&W fests and I've NEVER seen it like this. Busy? Yes.....Nasty? No..... We were there on Thursday (soft opening), Friday, and Saturday. Horrendous.

When we got to Tokyo Dining, we checked in at the BASE of the big staircase. Then they gave us a little paper and let us go upstairs where we had to check in again. There were 3 VERY inebriated young men in front of us. They couldn't stand up. They were weaving and talking VERY loudly. They were demanding a table. Of course being in Japan, they were so nice to them, but kindly told them they weren't taking walkups. They wouldn't take no for an answer. They were pawing all over that poor girl--to the point that a manager could have had them booted off property. It was awful. She finally gave them a beeper, and they staggered away.

Our ADR was for 8:20 and we got seated around 8:45. They're always a little slow there. We were in the room by the windows, though, so it's all good. That meant we could watch/hear Illuminations clearly.

Mikey wanted some sushi, so he got a grilled salmon roll (out of pocket, but only $8.50). He LOVED it.

For his main, he got the kids chicken teriyaki. It came with rice and veg. It was good, light, and healthy.

And if you thought that was healthy, I had the grilled chicken dinner. I really, really liked this. After all of the heavy meals we'd had (even though we were good about portion control, we pretty much ate whatever selections we wanted), this one was welcome. I LOVED it. I did ask for chopsticks. Most of the patrons in TD were Japanese, so I guess that's a good sign!

Loved the monorail plates. I wish they sold these!

For dessert, Mikey had a scoop of ice cream and I had the ginger cake. I'd had it at Teppan Edo before, but I think it was better tonight! Why? It's just me....it was the same as it always was.

We hit another home run with this meal. Total due was $74.86, $8.50 of which was the sushi (and out of pocket). Pricey? Maybe for what you got, but it sure tasted good. Would do it again on a DDP--

It gets a four Miss Piggy rating!

 

[athumann]

I love your reviews and am quite impressed with your DS's mature taste in food! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Schoolbread]

Breakfast--Trails End

It is tradition to eat here on our last, full day. It takes forever to get here (even by taxi), so it has become a maybe from this point on. The buffet is good, it is quiet, it has REAL SWEET TEA, and the people are so friendly!

The buffet has the typical Dinsey fare on it. I'm not a big on eggs, but everyone was raving about the bbq'd pork eggs benedict. They were flying off of the buffet. Apparently, it's something specific to Trails End.

You can't go wrong with Mickey waffles!

My paperwork for this day is completely missing, so I can't tell you how much it was valued it. I do know that the price was a little higher than last time.

Would we go back? MAYBE. I've been there for dinner before, so perhaps it's time to revisit that. We'll rating this a 2-1/2 Miss Piggy.

+1/2

 

[Schoolbread]

Lunch--Pizzafari

We don't load up on buffets, in fact we had 2 plates, both were slight--not full. So we did decide to eat lunch (plus, we had credits to burn!). Actually, though, we only ate 1/2 of each entree.

Mikey had the pepperoni pizza, chocolate mousse, and an iced tea. He said it was fine. He likes Pizzafari more than I do.

I had the Hot Italian Sandwich, which is what I always get when we eat here. I do like this sandwich! It had meat, cheese, and veg on a ciabatta like bun. I do like that sugar free strawberry parfait thing. They have it at the studios too. I don't know why.....I just do.

Should have been around $30, but I don't have the actual receipt.

2-1/2 piggies

+1/2

 

[Schoolbread]

Dinner

Last dinner....sniff, sniff....Where to go? 'Ohana on Disney's 40th anniversary! We ate late again so we could see Wishes. I stood in line FOREVER (they moved the line from over by Kona to over by the elevators) and never moved. Then I realized there were 2 lines--one as a walkup and one to check in. I figured it out, but we were late by then. They still seated us.

Gone are the 'Ohana family portraits too. That's ok by me!

You all know what is served here. It was WAY too dark to see anything, so I don't have photos. Everything was good and plentiful (of course). Mikey was able to participate in the coconut races. The only drawback was not the restaurant's fault. A guy was throwing an absolute FIT because they didn't seat him by the window. He grumbled. He complained. He asked for the manager. They wouldn't move him (good for them!). The others he was with told him to settle down, but he wouldn't. He acted like the Disney god. He thought he knew EVERYTHING (but there were things he was wrong about!!!). I wanted to turn around and tell him to SHUT UP!

We did get to watch Wishes (which was mixed up with a little bit of Hallowishes and some extra fireworks for the 40th), and then we left. It was the end of our table credits......It's all over......

3 Piggies