Ten Days of Deluxe Dining and too many cupcakes to count!!

[shalecesjourney]

Great reviews and pictures! We tried the Dlx dining last year and used it to try out the Signature restaurants and would agree that Artist Point was our most disappoiinting as well.

Thank you!

amazing pictures and reviews so far - love the look of Jiko and Flying fish. Can't wait for the rest

Thanks!

Great reviews and pictures. I too had my first Strongbow Cider at Disney and loved it. I buy them for home as well. Great with ice on a hot summer day.

Most definately! We were happy to find out that they sell Strongbow at the liquor store here on base!

Even though you didn't get many pics at Chef Mickey's, those cupcakes look delicious from there!

Wolfgang Puck's looks like a really nice place, I may have to try that in the future. And even though you both weren't too crazy about your desserts at Flying Fish, I have to say that those trios certainly look adorable

Wolfgang Puck's was a nice surprise!

Just caught up and loving your reviews

Flying Fish looks wonderful

I soooo hope that the dessert you ordered is still on the menu when we are there in October, it looks delicious

Thank you! We're going back in October as well, and I have already booked Flying Fish for one of the nights!

Everything looks so good! I adore muffelettas!!

I wish I could find a place to get them around here. The closest place I have found is the Jason's Deli in Raleigh, which is about 2 hours away!

Great reviews and gorgeous pictures!

Thank you!!

Your reviews are WONDERFUL !!! The pictures are just gorgeous and mouthwatering !! YUM!!! I'm having such fun reading your reviews....please keep them coming !!

Thank you!!

 

[shalecesjourney]

We didn't plan on going to the Biergarten this trip as we wanted to try new places but last night DS asked if there was any way to fit it in. After seeing your review today, I am glad I did! It is definitely one of our favorites.

on the fish at Coral Reef! I am glad it was towards the end of your meal!

I am running into the same problem. We have so many favorites, but want to try new places. This was our first trip to Biergarten, and I am so glad we tried it!

 

[dansyr2514]

At Jiko, did the mac and cheese come with the filet or did you special order it.
Curious, because I thought they changed it. I love that mac an cheese.

Also, I always wondered how they kept the big fish from eating the little fish in that aquarium. I guess it does happen.

 

[shalecesjourney]

At Jiko, did the mac and cheese come with the filet or did you special order it.
Curious, because I thought they changed it. I love that mac an cheese.

Also, I always wondered how they kept the big fish from eating the little fish in that aquarium. I guess it does happen.

We didn't have mac & cheese with the filet at Jiko. It was a hominy "risotto" that came with the dish.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

I'm enjoying your report! Seems like you guys are the opposite of DH and me - Flying Fish was our least favorite overall on our last trip, and Artist Point was the second favorite. I think the salmon is supposed to be that way, though I guess they could warn people ahead of time? Though I seem to remember being advised that they normally cooked it to medium when I ordered it. Hmmm...

Meanwhile, re: Coral Reef, that seems to be just another example of people expecting others to mind their kids for them while at WDW. We didn't have that experience but we weren't near the tank, either. I did seen a few kids lingering in other diners' personal space - and remember reading a review on these boards where a child actually climbed onto a woman's lap! The parents? Nowhere to be found.

Looking forward to more reviews!

 

[librarygeek]

I'm glad to hear you had a good meal at the Coral Reef! We have a reservation for our upcoming trip and I had heard a few negative things, but I'm glad we are going now. Though I certainly hope that we don't see any sharks eating fish while we are there!!

 

[DaisyMaisie]

Am I horrible person for laughing about the shark bait? There seems to be a certain irony when you think about the fact that most of the guests staring in horror were probably eating fish themselves. Don't get me wrong, I am sure I would have been upset if I was there...

Thanks for the great reviews.

Michelle

 

[KatieCollette]

I'm a little late but I'm in! Thanks for all your reviews, especially Coral Reef. I was on the fence about getting an ADR there because of the bad things I've been hearing on the boards lately. But seafood is my favorite type of food, and the appitizer and lobster ravioli looked so dang good, I just booked my ADR for dinner one night.

 

[shalecesjourney]

Day Seven


Crystal Palace

We were really excited about this reservation, as it was prior to the park opening and we were able to get some wonderful pictures on Main Street with no one else in the background!! We were seated almost immediately and Tigger was at our table within a couple of minutes! The day we were there was the day of the shuttle launch, so we really rushed through our meal so we could back outside before the launch. Therefore, I don't have any pictures of the food. However, I can say that we really enjoyed everything. The puffed french toast was to die for!

Liberty Tree Tavern

After breakfast, we headed out to try and see the shuttle launch, but it turned out to be too cloudy and we couldn't see anything. So, we spent the next few hours enjoying the Magic Kingdom and before we knew it, it was time for lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern! We checked in at 12:25 (our reservation was at 12:30) and we weren't seated until 12:40. One complaint I have about this restaurant (this was our second time eating there and we noticed this both times) was that it was uincomfortably cold inside. Now, I like it to be cold (I keep the air in our house on 65), but at the LTT, I literally shivered throughout our meal. Other than that, though, we had an enjoyable time.

To start with, DH ordered the Orange Creamsicle Shake (included with the deluxe dining plan). He said it was good, although it only made him colder.

For my appetizer, I ordered the Tavern Fried Cheese. I liked both kinds, although the smaller ones were my favorite!

DH ordered the New England Clam Chowder. He said it was very creamy and there weren't too many potatoes (one of his complaints about most clam chowders).

For his entree, DH ordered the Tri Corner Sandwich. He ordered it without arugula, since he is not a fan. There was plenty of roast beef and the horseradish sauce was delicious!

I ordered the Colony Salad and LOVED it!! I am not usually fond of sweet salads (with fruit or nuts), but the Craisins, apples, pecans, cheese, dressing, and chicken went together perfectly. I am going to try to re-create this dish at home - it was amazing!

Once again, we were given cupcakes for our celebrations. At the LTT, they had red, white, and blue candy decorations.

For dessert, DH ordered the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. DH loves Heath bars, and this was, essentially, a Heath flavored cake. Very good!

I ordered the Apple Tart. While the crust was good, the apple filling lacked flavor and seemed a little dried out. The butterscotch ice cream was very good, though!

Crystal Palace

We hadn't made any dinner reservations for this evening, but we enjoyed breakfast so much, I decided to try and get a reservation for dinner. To my surprise, when I pulled up the dining page on my iPhone, there were a couple openings for dinner. So, we booked a reservation for 7:15. We arrived at 7:10 and were seated at 7:20. Unfortunately, once again, I didn't take any pictures of our meal there (I was very tired and just wanted to finish quickly so I could get back to the hotel). As far as the food, it was delicious! We enjoyed everything we tried, but our favorites were the potato salad, salmon, and the shrimp.


We will definately return to the Crystal Palace for both breakfast and dinner!

 

[librarygeek]

I ate at the Crystal Palace when I was there with my dad and we loved it! The building itself is beautiful too.

I totally agree with you that it's awful when the indoor places are too cold. I get that it's super hot outside, and they want to give you some relief from the heat, but that doesn't mean they should freeze you to death! I don't want to have to carry a sweatshirt around Disney just so I can be comfortable when I get something to eat or go into a show.

 

[vettegirl]

The fried cheese at LTT looks so good, you made me take some out of the freezer for dinner

 

[shalecesjourney]

Day Eight

Tusker House

We arrived at the restaurant at 8:00 for an 8:15 reservation. We were immediately ushered to the line for pictures with Donald. We asked the hostess if we could skip the picture (and the line) and she said yes, although she reminded us that we would not see Donald inside. That was OK with us. I didn't get any pictures of our breakfast (I slacked when it came to buffets), but we enjoyed all the different options for breakfast!


Yak & Yeti

We arrived at 12:00 for our 12:15 reservation, but were not seated until 12:40. The wait wasn't so bad, though, as the lobby was air conditioned and we were lucky enough to get some chairs!

For my appetizer, I ordered the Lettuce Cups. The filling was very good, especially combined with the sauce and a small amount of the fresh cilantro. My only complaint was that the pieces of lettuce were too big and they had not been dried off, so there was water dripping all over the place.

DH ordered the Pork Pot Stickers. He said they were very flavorful!

For my entree, I ordered the Honey Chicken. While it was crispy and the chicken was juicy, I didn't really care for the sauce. It seemed very congealed and was not very flavorful.

For his entree, DH ordered the Bourbon Chicken. He really liked this, but when I tasted a bite, I hated it! It had a very strong bourbon flavor and, again, the sauce seemed to be congealed.

For dessert, I ordered the Fried Wontons. While I really liked the sauce, pineapple, and ice cream, I didn't care for the wontons themselves. They just had a little bit too much cream cheese in them.

For his dessert, DH ordered the Cheesecake. He said it was good and really liked the sauce that was drizzled on the plate.

I don't think we'll be back to Yak & Yeti. There were some elements of the meal that I liked, but mostly, I was underwhelmed.


50's Prime Time Cafe

After spending a few hours at AK, I checked the line app on my phone from Touring PLans and saw that Star Tours was open (it was May 16th) and the wait was only 20 minutes. So, we headed over to DHS so DH could ride it. As soon as we made our plan, I got on the Disney dining reservation page and was able to get an 8:00 dinner reservation at 50's Prime Time. We arrived at 7:50 and were seated by 8:00. I enjoyed sitting in the lobby and looking at the decor - it was so cute!

When our waitress came to take our drink order, she brought a stack of plates, napkins, and silverware. She told us the rules and then told us to set the table.

For his appetizer, DH ordered the Chicken Noodle Soup. He said it was very good and liked the noodles!

I selected the Crab Cake. I loved the succotash that was under the crab cake, as well as the crispy onions on top. I didn't expect it to be quite so spicy, but I loved it!

For his entree, DH ordered the Pot Roast. The meat was so tender - it just fell apart!

I ordered the sampler, which was fried chicken, pot roast, and meatloaf. Loved everything! The chicken was very crispy, the pot roast extremely tender, and the meatloaf was very moist. I don't have one bad thing to say about this dish!

Since we ate all our vegetables, we were allowed to have dessert!

DH ordered the Smores, which were amazing! We will definitely go back so that DD can get these!

I ordered Dad's Brownie Sundae. OMG - this was so good (but so rich)! Again, DD would have loved this! The brownie was HUGE, there was so much ice cream, and I absolutely loved the caramel popcorn on top.

We can't wait to return to 50's Prime Time Cafe. Everything we ate there was delicious and the interaction with the waitress made the meal even better!

 

[shalecesjourney]

I'm glad to hear you had a good meal at the Coral Reef! We have a reservation for our upcoming trip and I had heard a few negative things, but I'm glad we are going now. Though I certainly hope that we don't see any sharks eating fish while we are there!!

I hope you have a great time without any fish-eating sharks interrupting your meal!

Am I horrible person for laughing about the shark bait? There seems to be a certain irony when you think about the fact that most of the guests staring in horror were probably eating fish themselves. Don't get me wrong, I am sure I would have been upset if I was there...

Thanks for the great reviews.

Michelle

LOL, true. It was definitely something memorable for our trip!

I'm a little late but I'm in! Thanks for all your reviews, especially Coral Reef. I was on the fence about getting an ADR there because of the bad things I've been hearing on the boards lately. But seafood is my favorite type of food, and the appitizer and lobster ravioli looked so dang good, I just booked my ADR for dinner one night.

Hope you have a wonderful meal!

I ate at the Crystal Palace when I was there with my dad and we loved it! The building itself is beautiful too.

I totally agree with you that it's awful when the indoor places are too cold. I get that it's super hot outside, and they want to give you some relief from the heat, but that doesn't mean they should freeze you to death! I don't want to have to carry a sweatshirt around Disney just so I can be comfortable when I get something to eat or go into a show.

I know what you mean. Like I said, I am pretty tolerant of cold air, but it was freezing!

The fried cheese at LTT looks so good, you made me take some out of the freezer for dinner

LOL. I almost bought some from the store the day I wrote my review.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We just ate at 50's last month and it was awesome! I had the sampler plate and it was delish!

Your Y&Y food looks very good too

 

[ChrissyBeth29]

Your reviews are AWESOME! Thanks for sharing them with us! I am kicking myself now for not trying the Flying Fish. I even stayed at the Boardwalk Villas and never went in. It's a definite now for next time!!

 

[librarygeek]

That sampler platter from the 50's primetime looks huge! DF doesn't want to go there because he doesn't like the gimmick of it, though I've been there and think it's quite fun! I guess he wouldn't like the fact that he wouldn't get dessert, because he never eats his vegetables

 

[wilma-bride]

Fantastic reviews

 

[cheesybabydinosaur]

very happy to see a review of the samoan at the kona! i've always wanted to try it, but once it comes time to order, i pick the macadamia nut pancakes. next time, i'm gonna skip the pancakes and go for the samoan

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[Sam's_Mom]

Your reviews are awesome!