"What exactly is a schnitzel!?" March 2015 DR - November Trip Plans 9/2

[Vernie822]

WELCOME all to my second Disney dining report! You can check out my first dining report here - that trip included myself and my fiance. This trip included my mom, myself, my aunt (my mom's sister), and my cousin (her daughter).

My mom, myself, my cousin, and my aunt.


We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. My mom and aunt arrived Thursday evening, March 5th, and my cousin and I arrived Saturday morning, March 7th. We flew out on Wednesday March 11th at 10 PM, so we pretty much had 5 full days. It worked out really well.


If you are interested in reading more about our actual trip, check out my current trip report!


I created a bucket list before our trip of things I wanted to try. Last trip we were on the dining plan and I was too full to try a lot of the snacks I had in mind. This time, I had purchased some gift cards beforehand and I decided to eat what I wanted, without looking at the price tag, and I'd see how it compared to the dining plan. I'm proud to say, I did almost every single one except for one. Yay!

Here's my list:
- Try African inspired dishes @ Tusker House
- Caramel corn from Karamell Kuche
- Schofferhofer Grapefruit beer in Germany
- Popcorn
- Mickey pretzel
- Carrot Cake cookie @ Writer's Stop
- Fried Chicken @ 50's Prime Time
- Shrimp and Scallops at Be Our Guest
- Beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter
- Dole Whip
- Dole Whip with Rum
- Acquire Cinderella popcorn carriage (Unfortunately, these were not out yet. Bummer)
- Lapu Lapu from Ohana
- Mickey rice krispy treat

Wow, that's quite a list. Maybe I should consider it a 'to do' list and not a bucket list, because these were all things within reason. They were items at places I knew I'd be eating, or in the parks where they are easily accessible.

I forgot to add some intros, so I'll just say this - I'm Ashley, I'm 24, and I am from northwestern PA. This is my second trip this year. We went to WDW to watch my brother and his HS band, and made a girls trip out of it.

This was my 7th trip to WDW (8th if you count a day trip in college to DTD). My mom and I were joined by her sister (my aunt) and my cousin (her daughter).


CHAPTER LINKS
Saturday 3/7
Flower and Garden/World Showcase Eats Part 1
Flower and Garden/World Showcase Eats Part 2
Sleepy Hollow Snack

Sunday 3/8
B - Tusker House
S - Parade Snack
D - Be Our Guest

Monday 3/9
B - Sassagoula Float Works
L - Columbia Harbor House
S - Plaza Ice Cream
D - 'Ohana

Tuesday 3/10
L - 50's Prime Time
S - Writers Stop
D - Raglan Road

Wednesday 3/11
L - Via Napoli
S - Les Artisans Des Glaces
D - Sassagoula Float Works


Update from our June trip here!


JUNE TRIP!
Friday:
Breakfast @ Boardwalk Bakery
Snack @ Golden Oak Outpost
Lunch @ Be Our Guest
Dinner @ Ohana


Saturday:
Breakfast @ Everything Pop
Lunch @ Yak and Yeti
Drinks in World Showcase & Appetizers @ ESPN Club
Dinner @ Via Napoli



Sunday:
Snacks in Hollywood Studios
Lunch @ Landscape of Flavors
Drinks in World Showcase & Pre-Dinner @ Sommerfest
Dinner @ Beaches and Cream


Monday:
Breakfast @ Whispering Canyon Cafe
Snacks & Lunch @ Magic Kingdom
Dinner @ Everything Pop

 

[accountingbabe08]

looks like some great places to eat yummy

 

[Vernie822]

EPCOT FLOWER AND GARDEN EATS (PART 1)

On our first day, my cousin and I had mimosas in the car on the way to the airport (her dad dropped us off) and coffee before our flight. Our flight was at 6 AM, so we had been up since 2 AM and we were starving.

We decided not to make any ADR’s for this day as we’d be strolling the World Showcase and eating literally everything in sight. My cousin is really daring in her food choices and is always willing to try more adventurous things. I do my best to try as well but I am somewhat picky. My mom and aunt also tried everything, although their taste buds aren’t as adventurous as my cousin’s.

Since our last FP+ was the Character Spot, we promptly made our way to the Flower and Garden booths, starting with Urban Eats. We didn’t want anything there at the moment, and intended to come back, but we never did.

I educated my family on the Dole Whip, and informed them that they were selling them WITH RUM at the Pineapple Promenade. We quickly decided that a pineapple soft serve with coconut rum was in order. This was $8.75.

Pineapple Soft Serve with coconut rum, $8.75.

Everyone agreed that it was delicious! Two thumbs up. My only regret is that I didn’t have another one later in the trip.

We decided from then on that we’d sample a thing or two at each stop, but we’d split it so that we could try four times as much.

Next stop was the UK, where we decided some fish and chips from the Yorkshire County Fish Shop would be perfect. My cousin also wanted to try the sponge cake with jam.

My mom had the fish and chips there before and said she remembered them being great.

Fish and Chips – Two strips of fish, served with chips, $8.99.
Victoria Sponge Cake – Filled with jam and buttercream, $4.19.

These were so wonderful. They were hot and the batter was very crispy. The chips were good, too. We received two big pieces of fish which gave us each half of one plus a few fries.

I could take or leave the sponge cake. It was nice to try, but I don’t think I would get it again since there are so many other great goodies to be had.



Our next stop was Fleur de Lys in the France pavilion. There were a few things here that we wanted to try.

First was the Gnocchis Parisienne a la Provencal, which were Parisian style dumplings. One word, OMG. This was the best thing we ate at the F&G booths. It was amazing!

Gnocchis Parisienne a la Provencal – Parisian style dumplings with vegetables, mushrooms, and goat cheese, $4.75.

We wanted to try the Kronenbourg Blanc, a fruity white beer with citrus notes, but they were having trouble with the keg (or something like that), so we ordered the Kir Imperial instead.

Kir Imperial – Sparkling wine, Chambourd Black Raspberry Liqueor, $7.95.

This was just okay. It was good, but we had way better drinks, and at $8 a glass I think it was a bit pricy.

My aunt wanted to try the macaron, so we also got one of those.

Macaron guimauve a la fraise – Large Strawberry Marshmallow Macaron, $4.50.

The next stop on our culinary adventure was a little farther back in the France pavilion to Les Halles Boulangerie and Patisserie.

I didn't think we'd get anything, as we'd just had our French fix, but everyone absolutely adored the place and wanted something, which was fine with me. Last trip I didn't get to try anything since I was too full.

Everything here looked amazing. I used to work in a bakery, so I love seeing what different bakeries' pastries look like and all of the unique things they come up with b

We decided on three items: the duo au chocolat, half of a baguette, and a frangipane.

My cousin and aunt also each had a coffee, and my mom and I had ice water.

Duo au chocolat - White and dark chocolate mousse cake, $5.75
Half baguette, $1.85
Frangipane - Almond filling between puff pastry, $3.70

The verdict - these were outstanding! The duo au chocolat was mousse, so it was light and delicious. The frangipane was just so good. The baguette was probably my least favorite of the three, I love bread and I guess it was just a little too hard. Not a crusty hard, like a stale hard. It was still good, though.

Continued in the next post with more F&G yummies!

 

[vettegirl]

Following along! What a great start with the F&G festival and just going with the flow. Looking forward to hearing more

 

[Tink2Day]

Yum love Les Halles!
Good eats so far.

 

[ariane37]

Hi there coming over from the March facebook group. We were there 3/5-3/9 and got to enjoy some of the F & G booths We also visited Les Halles for the first time and we loved it, too!
Looking forward to reading more

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Ashley,

Thank you for the report so far. We also have stopped getting the dining plan so that we can eat more treats and it has been a wonderful thing for us. I am looking forward to more of your report.

 

[Vernie822]

Following along! What a great start with the F&G festival and just going with the flow. Looking forward to hearing more

Welcome, thanks for joining! I was glad we didn't plan any ADR's that day and we could just enjoy everything at a leisurely pace.

Yum love Les Halles!
Good eats so far.

Thanks, and welcome! I was sad I didn't get to Les Halles on my last trip as I'd never been there before.. we loved it sooo much, we ended up going back on our last day to get pastries for the plane.

Hi there coming over from the March facebook group. We were there 3/5-3/9 and got to enjoy some of the F & G booths We also visited Les Halles for the first time and we loved it, too!
Looking forward to reading more

Welcome!! Yum, we ate so many good things that day. I loved F&G - it was such a great time of year for the festival.

Thank you for the report so far. We also have stopped getting the dining plan so that we can eat more treats and it has been a wonderful thing for us. I am looking forward to more of your report.

Welcome, thanks for joining! I had only one experience w/ the dining plan in September. Although it was free, I felt like I was wasting a lot of food because the desserts and soft drinks weren't really necessary for us. I really enjoyed the gift card method and just paying OOP, looking at the price tags didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would.

 

[Vernie822]

EPCOT FLOWER AND GARDEN (PART 2)

After the French pavilion was the Botanas Botanico booth, between France and Morocco.


We wanted to try the Seafood Ceviche.

Seafood Ceviche — Shrimp, Scallops, and Grouper with mango and avocado, $5.25.

This was just okay. I think it was a matter of personal taste. I am not a big fan of avocado mixed in with things, I think sometimes it gets brown and tastes funky. I also don’t like sweetness to accompany savory dishes, such as meat and vegetables, so I think others might love this dish, it just wasn’t something that my taste buds prefer.

There was plenty of shrimp and scallops though, which were good.

Overall, for $5.25 it was a very small portion. It was fine, but there were plenty of other things I liked better at the festival booths.


The Taste of Marrakesh booth was up next. We had contemplated Spice Road Table for one of our ADR’s so I knew we would like this booth.

My cousin wanted to try the falafel pocket. My mom and I love baklava, so that was also a necessity. And who can pass up a good sangria!? White Sangria is my favorite, so we added that to the list. I had tried the baklava and red sangria at the Food and Wine festival on our last trip, and both were pretty good.

Falafel Pocket – with Cucumber Tomato Salad and Tahini Sauce, $5.00
Pistachio Baklava, $3.00
White Sangria, $5.00

The baklava was delicious! I only subtly picked up on the pistachios. The Sangria was also great, I’m a Sangria kinda girl so I was pleased with our choice.

The falafel pocket was lacking. It was just a regular wheat pita, with two falafel balls, and some cucumber tomato slaw. The falafel was really dry and the cucumber tomato slaw was kinda flavorless. The Tahini Sauce was no where to be found, unless maybe it was mixed in with the slaw, so the few bites I had were very dry.

It was my first falafel experience. The falafel itself was tasty although it was dry. I think this dish could have been great with a little more moisture, possibly provided by some Tahini Sauce.. overall it was just okay, I’m glad we tried it, but it wasn’t my favorite thing we ate that day.


We made our way to the American Adventure pavilion, for a booth I was extremely excited for. I had talked it up to my family and they were also excited about the Smokehouse Booth.

We ordered one each of the pulled pig slider, beef brisket burnt ends hash, and Floridian Hefeweizen.

My cousin and I love a light beer, so this was perfect. I had been drooling over the burnt ends hash since I had first seen photos of it that week.

Pulled Pig Slider – with coleslaw, $6.00
Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash – with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapenos, $5.25
Floridian Hefeweizen – Funky Buddha Brewery, Oakland Park, FL - $3.75.

Wow – these were all AMAZING! The hash was probably the best thing we had at the festival, in my opinion. Everyone else said it was second to the Parisian dumplings from Fleur de Lys. It had potatoes, pieces of brisket, and was coated with this delicious white cheddar fondue. The pickled jalapenos added a nice kick.

They also really loved the pulled pig slider. I am not usually a pork fan, but wow this was great too. The bun it was on was just so soft and complemented the pork and coleslaw really well.

The Hefeweizen was also a good choice to go along with the pork.

I wish we would have gone back for seconds of this!



Up next was Italy, we thought about having a glass of wine, but we also really liked sampling the more exotic drinks so we passed on some wine and just settled on one small item from the Primavera Kitchen.

I absolutely love prosciutto and mozzarella, as does my cousin, so we knew we had to try..

Fior di Latte, Prosciutto e Pane di Casa – Pinwheel of Mozzarella, Prosciutto, Olio Toscano, Ciabatta Bread, $5.75

This was way different than we expected. I’m not sure why, but I guess I thought a pinwheel would be kind of like a doughy roll with mozzarella and prosciutto swirled inside it. I’m not sure why that was what I had in my head.

I was pleasantly surprised by it, and I thought it was delicious! The drizzle of oil really made the dish.

My cousin said it was okay, but her husband comes from a big Italian family so she’s used to eating things like this all the time.

I don’t get stuff like this often, so I really enjoyed it. The bread on the side was fine, but I could take it or leave it.

After seeing Via Napoli and Tutto Italia inside the Italy pavilion, my aunt and cousin were asking about the restaurants, so we walked up and looked at the menus. They decided they would love to try the pizza at Via Napoli.

Since we had an open day on Wednesday, our last day, I went on to My Disney Experience and snagged a lunch reservation for 2 PM. I had been to Via Napoli on our last trip and raved to them about how great the pizza was, so they were eager to try it.


Next up was my favorite pavilion in all of Epcot.. Germany!

My mother and aunt’s father was 100% German, and my dad’s family is almost all German, so we had a lot of heritage to celebrate here.

I’m also obsessed with Schofferhofer Grapefruit beer, so I was really excited to get back to it.

I forced them to stick their heads inside Karamell Kuche and sniff it out. I told everyone about how great the popcorn was, and let them know that I was waiting in line for a large bag that I wasn’t willing to share.

My mom also got in line with me and we ordered some goodies.

I got a large bag of caramel corn, as did she (for my dad). She also got a milk chocolate salted caramel square for $3.99, and a caramel bar, which I think had shortbread on the bottom and pecans on it.

We saved our treats for later, but what can I say, that popcorn is amazing. Unfortunately it sat in our room and we ate it as the trip went on.. so it got kind of stale. She did take the second bag home for my dad.

The caramel bar was good, but way too much caramel for me. My mom agreed. She ate it throughout the trip and said it was good, but really sweet.

The salted caramel got tossed into her suitcase for later consumption. She forgot all about it and found it at home – hard as a rock, haha.

My cousin, mom and I were dying for a Schofferhofer, so we got in line at the Bier stand right across from Karamell Kuche.

There was a group of 20 somethings drinking around the world for someone’s 21st birthday, so they all jumped in front of us. One of them was in line, and the other 18 joined her. Kind of irritating, but what can you do. So I stood in line with my mom while my aunt and cousin went to check out Sommerfest.

After 20 minutes in line, my aunt came back out and said that they sold Shofferhofer inside Sommerfest, and that she and my cousin were going to get 2 dishes to share, and 2 Schofferhofers as well.

There was hardly a wait inside Sommerfest, which was awesome. I had never been in there before.

We ordered a nudel gratin and a bratwurst. My cousin was really excited to try the bratwurst.

Bratwurst isn’t something I usually eat, but this was delicious. It was juicy and flavorful, and the bun was good as well. The sauerkraut went along with it too.

Nudel Gratin – Baked Macaroni with Cheese Custard, $3.79
Bratwurst – Fresh Cooked Brat with Roll and Sauerkraut, $7.49
Schofferhofer Grapefruit Beer, $8.25


My mom and cousin agreed that the Shofferhofer was fantastic. We’d end up stopping back here on our last day for another. My aunt isn’t a drinker because of her high blood pressure medication so she just had a few sips but agreed it was tasty!

My favorite!

We made one last stop at the Florida Fresh booth, where I had one thing on my mind. Shrimp and grits.

I’ve never had shrimp and grits, but I love shrimp, and was dying to try this dish. My cousin likes grits so she was excited, too.

Shrimp and Stone-Ground Grits – with Andouille Sausage, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, and Cilantro, $6.00

This was up there with the burnt ends hash and Parisian style dumplings as the best thing we ate that day.

There were quite a few jumbo shrimp in there – well worth the $6 price tag.

The grits were creamy, and it had just the right amount of cilantro.

I also loved the addition of the Andouille sausage, it provided a nice kick to the dish! And I love corn and tomatoes, so those made it all the more delicious.



My mom had to get going over to DHS for the band awards that evening, so we continued on without her. We were stuffed though, so we actually didn’t try anything else after that.

Overall, I’m so glad we built in some time for some World Showcase/F&G eats. Everything was exceptional for the most part, and we really loved splitting everything 4 ways. Mostly everything was really easy to share, so we got a taste of so many different delicious things!

 

[pagek83]

Joining in! Everything looks so good!

 

[fairygodmomma]

Joining! We are going to be there the first week of May! Your reviews are great! The food photos have my stomach growling. I can't wait to sample from the f&g booths!

 

[DnA2010]

Wow great start! DH and I can't wait to eat around the world like this someday!

Heading over to your TR now

 

[Vernie822]

Joining in! Everything looks so good!

WELCOME!! Thanks for joining. Everything was so delicious.

Joining! We are going to be there the first week of May! Your reviews are great! The food photos have my stomach growling. I can't wait to sample from the f&g booths!

WELCOME!! I hope you enjoy F&G as well. The food was great but there are also some awesome topiaries and displays to see.

Wow great start! DH and I can't wait to eat around the world like this someday!

Heading over to your TR now

Thanks for joining!

 

[clambert1273]

well hi from the FB group

 

[WildGinger]

Your reviews are great and making me hungry! We are headed there in April and can't wait to go around and eat at the booths!

 

[Vernie822]

SLEEPY HOLLOW (SNACK)

I wasn’t sure if this particular snack item required its own post – then I decided, it definitely did.


I had some alone time in MK that night, as my cousin and aunt were resting and my mom was on her way from DHS to meet me. I decided I would watch the Main Street Electrical Parade in Liberty Square.


I knew I wanted a treat, but I wasn’t sure what. I decided on Sleepy Hollow. The line was long, but I had time to spare since I was just going to line up for the parade and I was by myself. Excuse the awful picture, it was dark.

I chose the ice cream cookie sandwich – two chocolate chip cookies (fresh ones!) with ice cream in the middle. Ice cream choices are vanilla and cookies & cream. It was $4.19 and a snack credit can be used to purchase it.

I originally said I wanted cookies & cream ice cream, then I changed my mind. I didn’t really like the idea of cookies and cream ice cream inside my chocolate chip cookies!


And another view..

I’m glad I made the decision to get this – it was huge, but delicious. By the time my mom came to meet me, she ended up sharing it with me. There was no way I was going to finish it all. It was a knife & forker, that’s for sure.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Great report! I'm so happy to read your F&G food choices, as we leave in 8 short days! I told my husband about the burnt ends hash, and he was really excited to try it. After reading your review, he'll be even more excited!

 

[Vernie822]

TUSKER HOUSE (BREAKFAST)

Sunday morning was our first ADR. We had a 9:15 breakfast reservation that I was really excited about - Tusker House!

I love a good breakfast buffet, so I was anxious to try all of the yummy offerings, especially since a lot of them are African inspired.

Originally, my mom had requested just one character meal. Everyone agreed that a breakfast buffet was our best bet. I don't really like lunch and dinner buffets, I don't know why. I had already eaten at Crystal Palace on our last trip, and we didn't want to eat up precious MK park time. We narrowed it down to Akershus, Chef Mickey's, and Tusker. I let them know that I had heard that the food at CM's wasn't the best, plus it would require some major bus-hopping or getting to MK somewhat late. With such a short trip, we decided that was not our best option. We also noted that Akershus was a princess breakfast, and they wanted it to be with Mickey and Minnie. I mentioned that Tusker had some different style foods, and everyone was immediately on board.

We left the resort and got to AK by 8:45-ish. I knew that it would be busy since it was an EMH day. Originally we were supposed to have breakfast there on Tuesday, but had to switch some things around once we scored the BOG reservation.

We got to Tusker House by 9 AM and checked in a bit early.

They were able to seat us right away. It honestly wasn't busy and we were one of probably 10 families in the whole place at that time. I chalked that up to it being fairly early still, on a Sunday.

We took a cute picture before getting inside.

Sandy was our server. She was delightful and refilled our glasses so quickly!

She started us off with some Jungle Juice. Much different than the Jungle Juice I'm used to drinking, this didn't contain any vodka.

Seriously, this stuff was so good! It was really sweet so I just had one glass but also had a coffee. Donald was meeting with the front half of the room, so we were able to go up to the buffet and get our first plate.

There was a station in the middle with breads such as croissants, chocolate croissants, apple turnovers, danish, monkey bread, caramel sauce, regular bread, and more.

Starting from the right, there were some African dishes such as bobotie, a carving station, sweet potatoes with coconut, and sweet plantains. There were also things like corned beef hash, cheese blintzes with apple or cherry sauce, and roasted red potatoes. It moved into a kids section with bacon, sausage, tater toes, scrambled eggs, and Mickey Waffles. Then there were scrambled eggs, potato and leek frittata, and ham and cheese frittata. Cereal, fruit, yogurt and oatmeal also followed. Finishing up the selection was some more fruit with cornbread and cinnamon crumb cake.

One of my 'bucket list' items was to try some African dishes at Tusker House, and as you can see, I did.

Starting clockwise from the top, I tried a cinnamon crumb cake square, potato and leek frittata, bacon, cheese blintz with apple topping, sweet plantain, roasted red potatoes, sweet potatoes with coconut (and raisins I think), and beef bobotie. In the middle is none other than a Mickey waffle.

I had little bites of everything so I could try a lot without getting too full. The cinnamon crumb cake was so delicious! The Mickey Waffle was great of course, as were the bacon and roasted red potatoes. I love roasted red potatoes. The cheese blintz was good, but not amazing. I really liked the potato and leek frittata, it had some veggies and cheese in there as well.

I didn't love the sweet plantain. I love plantain chips (they're savory and salty), so I don't know what my expectations were here. I don't like bananas because of the texture, so I think that's why I didn't like this.

The sweet potatoes weren't that great, in my opinion. I thought they'd be somewhat soft but they were hard and cold.

The bobotie was good. I have some 'beef' with the beef bobotie, however. Later in the day I felt really sick, and so did my aunt. We were the only ones to get the bobotie, so we blamed it on that. It was a joke and I'm not saying the bobotie made me sick, so don't not try the bobotie because of me, haha. It wasn't outstanding but it was yummy.

The character interaction here was great! In between eating, we were able to meet our favorites.

Us with the man himself - it was his safari breakfast after all! I brought a birthday card for him to sign for my fiance. We would be gone during his birthday, and I felt so bad. Donald's his favorite so I knew he'd love it.

Starting from the top and going clockwise, I had: biscuits and gravy, bacon, another Mickey waffle, mealie cornbread, chocolate croissant pastry, monkey bread, and sausage.

The biscuits and gravy were awesome, as usual! They were what you get at other buffets for breakfast.

The chocolate croissant and monkey bread were so good. If you're not familiar with monkey bread, it's a bread that you can make with biscuit dough, butter, cinnamon and sugar. We have it on Easter sometimes so it was nice to see it there.

The sausage and bacon were typical of Disney breakfast food, but still really good.

The mealie cornbread was a nice surprise and I liked it.

We finished by 9:45 and were ready to go. It was a pretty quick breakfast and we all really enjoyed our choices. My cousin tried a lot of the African stuff and loved all of it. My mom stuck to more typical stuff like Mickey waffles, bacon and eggs, but still said everything was delicious.

I think it was around $28/person, but we rounded up to $35/person with tip. It's a bit pricy, but you pay to have breakfast with the characters. Was it worth $35, I think so. We were full for the rest of the day and the food was outstanding. I know sometimes with character meals you pay for the convenience of meeting characters, and you might sacrifice a bit on the food. But not here. Everything was awesome, the service, the convenience of being in the park, everything. I highly recommend it and we'll definitely have to go back.

I feel like parents might also really like the uniqueness of the African foods. The characters are there for the kids, plus unique dishes for the parents to try. We loved this meal!

 

[Googelibear]

nom-nom. That's all!

 

[Vernie822]

Your reviews are great and making me hungry! We are headed there in April and can't wait to go around and eat at the booths!

Thanks! I was so excited for the booths. I wish we would have done another round. We definitely tried some great stuff.

Great report! I'm so happy to read your F&G food choices, as we leave in 8 short days! I told my husband about the burnt ends hash, and he was really excited to try it. After reading your review, he'll be even more excited!

Seriously, get two of the hash, haha. It was amazing! The slider was good too but I just loved the hash.