15th Anniversary trip on DxDDP with a small diversion to the ER!! *completed 8-29-11*

[deenbrad]

We were at Pop at the same time!! We stayed the 1-10th. I agree that the Pop food court was crazy busy most of the time. We did enjoy the sundaes with our DxDDP. We were able to get brownie sundaes! YUM!

I am sorry to hear that your son wasn't feeling well. That was a VERY HOT day. We ended up springing for a stroller a couple of those hot days because dd7's asthma was flaring up. This was our first experience with Love bugs (and WDW) and they were annoying but manageable. I can't imagine how bad it must be in Sept.

We ate at a lot of the same places. I can't wait to read more of your reviews!

Terri

I actually looked for you since you had posted your photo! But didn't see you in the huge crowd at Pop! I've vowed to not stay there again. Room was WAY too small for us. I had my DH sleep with my DS and I actually hurt myself trying to get into the bathroom one day!

I wish we had rented a stroller that day! I thought about it but he seemed to be doing ok. Until he wasn't

The love bugs weren't too bad this trip. Gross all the same though!

 

[deenbrad]

Great reviews! I can't wait to read about narcoossee's, that place is my favorite!

Oh, how I wish I could write one! I had Narcoossee's scheduled three separate days and could not make any of them! Guess where my first meal will be next trip?

 

[sahm2two]

If someone can teach me how to add links to my itinerary I'd be very happy!

Great reviews so far... let's see if I can explain this good enough for you to be able to do it I just learned how to do it a couple days ago!
To do a link with just the words showing, you type it out like this-
[url = "http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=41162214#post41162214 " ] 15th Anniversary trip [/ url ]
without all the extra spaces (there shouldn't be spaces between anything, when you take the space out it'll look like this-
15th Anniversary trip


Hope that helps!


I'm looking forward to the rest of the reviews My 2 1/2 year old little girl had funny things to say about the pictures at Flying Fish. The chocolate dessert she said "mom! there's a mess on the table!" (referring the the strawberry/raspberry sauce decoration on the plate ) and she thought it was funny that the strawberries had a "nest" on the other dessert

 

[deenbrad]

I'm looking forward to the rest of the reviews My 2 1/2 year old little girl had funny things to say about the pictures at Flying Fish. The chocolate dessert she said "mom! there's a mess on the table!" (referring the the strawberry/raspberry sauce decoration on the plate ) and she thought it was funny that the strawberries had a "nest" on the other dessert

Thank you so much for the link help! It worked. Yay!

I love the way kids that age express themselves! When DS was that age his daycare teachers kept a little notepad of all the funny things he said in class. The one that always stands out to me was him calling Mike from Monsters, Inc. Mee-ike. Somehow that was easier to say!

That cheesecake dessert was so pretty and we felt bad that we didn't eat it but we were ready to bust!!

 

[deenbrad]

Once again, thanks to the recommendations of the folks on here we got an early breakfast reservation at Tusker House. We had an 8:35 reservation ( park opened at 9) and for once we actually arrived someplace a few minutes early! Today was our 15th anniversary and everything was working well!

We took a few pics as we were walking over

DS is trying to act scared of the Yeti with Everest in the background

Got to Tusker House and they gave us a pager and asked us to wait for a few minutes for the line for the picture with Donald to diminish a little. We probably waited around three minutes when it went off.

After having our pic taken with Donald (which my husband made me buy ) the hostess brought us in and showed us the buffet then seated us. Our server was JW and he was very much on top of things - kept drinks refilled and plates cleared - but not overly friendly. Not unfriendly...just not what we had experienced up till this point.

I found the food there to be decent, though nothing stands out in my mind, except for the yummy juice! We had the standard scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes. DH had them make him an egg white omelet that he really liked. We enjoyed seeing the characters again and thought their safari outfits were very cute.

Sorry (again) that I have no food pics there but I'll make up for it with lunch!

Covered by DP - 62.81

 

[Condorman]

For dessert I ordered

Apple Tart: Shortbread Crust, Sugared Apples, and Butterscotch Ice Cream (I substituted with Vanilla).
Doesn't it look delicious? It was...ok. Nothing to write home about! Just kind of seemed to be missing something?

I don't understand. You changed the order yourself and then claimed it was missing something? Maybe they tested it and butterscotch ice cream complimented the tart better than plain old vanilla? Just a thought.

 

[deenbrad]

I don't understand. You changed the order yourself and then claimed it was missing something? Maybe they tested it and butterscotch ice cream complimented the tart better than plain old vanilla? Just a thought.

Good possibility.

 

[SnowWhite33]

Enjoying your report!

So sorry that you had a such a scare with your DS, but very happy it turned out ok.

 

[deenbrad]

I was really unsure about going to Yak & Yeti. I had the reservation for a while but kept questioning it. I had DH look at the menu and he seemed to like it so I figured why not? Of course it ended up being one of our favorite meals!!

We checked in and waited a few minutes in their cool lobby before being seated. Our server, Jenna, appeared immediately. Jenna was very sweet with DS, very knowledgeable of the menu and an all around wonderful server.

For starters Jenna explained they had no appetizers on the kid's menu so DS qualified for one off of the regular menu! He had no idea what he was ordering but said "that one you just said with the pork" meaning the pot stickers.

We ordered the pan seared at Jenna's recommendation. These were absolutely delicious! DS didn't eat them but DH and I made them disappear. I've never had potstickers in all the times I've eaten chinese food but I will be sure to order them now!

In the front of the pic was DH's choice - the Wok-Fried Green Beans. These are oddly light and not greasy. They were very good as well. I wasn't a fan of the sweet Thai chili dipping sauce but I think I've read that a lot on here.

My choice:

The Lettuce Cups. I've never had these anywhere before either and now I understand what the fuss is about! The lettuce is very fresh and crisp. It comes with a bowl of minced chicken breast & chopped veggies. The sauce is just right for the dish. Overall it's a little spicy but in that just right kind of way!

For our entrees DS ordered the chicken fingers and fries. He wasn't a fan of his chicken and ended up eating off of my plate again. I think there was just too much batter on them for him.

DH ordered

Baby Back Ribs - slow-roasted ribs, hoisin BBQ sauce, chicken fried rice, sweet chili slaw
He loved this and definitely cleaned his plate! I was glad he saw them on the menu as I had meant to tell him that Dis'ers said they were good!

I ordered

Crispy Mahi Mahi - filet of mahi mahi, Japanese bread crumbs, Cantonese sweet and sour sauce, jasmine rice, stir-fried vegetables
The fish was delicious and moist. I don't remember the rice - not sure if I ate any - the vegetables were very good and cooked perfectly!

For dessert DS got a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. DH ordered the gelato. I of course had to try the fried wontons!

These were as good as everyone raves! I thought it would be way too heavy but YUM! Crispy, light and delicious! DH wouldn't even try and boy did he miss out!!

Another thing to note about Yak & Yeti since they are not Disney owned - they don't put the recommended tip on their bills. I told Jenna I hoped that didn't mean she often didn't get tipped!

Covered by DP - 108.35

 

[deenbrad]

We were supposed to go to Narcoossee's for dinner. I was very excited. Big milestone anniversary dinner. Getting lobster. Yay BUT...through a series of wrong turns and meltdowns that I will spare you the details...we ended up at Raglan Road - without and ADR.

We waited around 45 minutes. It wasn't too hot out so most of it we waited outside - escaping inside only when someone decided they needed to light a cigarette. The smell makes all of us .

Finally they sat us right next to the band. Oh well. Not moving! Jason F was our server. Very nice, very knowledgeable about the menu. DH decided to start with a black & tan, me a diet coke, DS water again!

Jason brought back the bread with the olive oil with the Guiness reduction. This was very tasty! I don't know what I expected but it wasn't this!

Here there are no appetizers on the kid's menu. And tough luck, no appetizer! Not that DS ever ate any of his anyway! I ordered the Heritage Tomato Salad

This was very good. The tomatoes were fresh and the balsamic was delicious.

DH didn't want anything so I ordered the Kinky Crab spring rolls

I'd rate these as ok. I've had better.

For our entrees DS again ordered chicken fingers and fries. He ate a little of his chicken and most of his fries but I really think he was just too tired to eat by now!

DH and I both ordered the Chieftain Chicken - chicken breast with mashed potatoes. Served with mushroom spinach cream sauce.

This was very yummy and the cream sauce was delicious! We both enjoyed it.

For dessert DS had ice cream again. DH ordered the Dunbrody Kiss. He explained it as moussey. He also said the server told him it had corn flakes in it. The bite I took did indeed taste like mousse with corn flakes in it!

I ordered the Strawberry & Apple Crumble

This was not very sweet and a great finish to my meal. It was nice to not have something over the top with sugar. Even the whipped cream didn't seem to have much, if any. The ice cream was a nice added touch.

Jason put candles on each of our dessert plates to celebrate our anniversary

Overall we enjoyed our dinner here. It was very noisy being next to the band (though I'm pretty sure it's noisy throughout the restaurant) but it didn't stop DS from falling asleep!

Covered by DP - 95.25
OOP (for beer) - 6.75

 

[deenbrad]

Enjoying your report!

So sorry that you had a such a scare with your DS, but very happy it turned out ok.

Thank you!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Great report so far! Definitely sticking around!

 

[deenbrad]

Great report so far! Definitely sticking around!

Thank you so much!

 

[deenbrad]

Sorry it's taken me so long to finish this. I lost my receipts and was just gonna give up but I just hate not finishing something!! So from this point forward I won't have server's names but I still know prices of the meals and can probably figure out what we all ate! Unfortunately I was a bit skimpy with pics from this point on as well but I have some!

I'm skipping breakfast @ Pop. One breakfast there was the same as the next for us. Filled us up with ok food court food.

On this day we were met at Epcot by my BIL, SIL & my nephew. We went to lunch and dinner together.

I ended up with a lot of 'should haves' at this meal. Where you order one thing and you 'should have' ordered another!

For starters I had the Salade au Bleu - romaine hearts, blue cheese dressing, bacon, walnuts, croutons. This was a good salad but I was too busy trying to catch up with my family that I didn't read the explanation so it didn't end up being the plate of field greens with bleu cheese crumbles that was in my mind!

I am pretty sure DH ordered the Salade Maison - Selected greens, house dressing. Much closer to what I wanted!

DS was still nervous about being in Epcot since he got sick here and really didn't want to eat anything. I ordered him the Friand au Fromage - Cheese puff pastry so I could taste it! I thought this was pretty good!

My SIL & BIL ordered the Soupe a l'oignon gratinee - The classic onion soup topped with gruyere cheese. This was amazing and will definitely be what I order when we're back in December!

Around this time this little guy made a showing. Since we made the reservation last minute (we were originally supposed to me @ HS) I had totally forgot about him!

He was very cute and my DS enjoyed him coming around. He actually came to our table twice while we were there which worked out well since my nephew slept through it the first time!

For our entrees DS ordered the Blanc de Poulet Aux Nouilles - Breaded chicken strip served with pasta. He wasn't impressed but like I said he didn't really want to eat

DH ordered Mahi-Mahi sandwich, pommes frites et sauce tartare - Mahi-Mahi in Mediterranean bread, braised peppers and onions, with French fries and tartar sauce. I was surprised he ordered this as I've never seen him order a fish sandwich in the 16 years I've known him! He really enjoyed it though and would get it again!

At the insistence of my BIL (who had eaten here before) I ordered the Croque monsieur et sa salade verte - the classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich served with a green salad. This was yummy and I got the salad I had wanted!

Onto to dessert! DS ordered

Biscuit au chocolat - Chocolate chip cookie. This thing was huge! But, even that he didn't really want to eat!

DH & BIL/SIL each ordered

Assiette de sorbets du jour - Daily assortment of fresh sorbets. I don't remember what was in the assortment but I know they both really enjoyed the mango one. It was served with fresh berries which they also said was very good. It's not a very good pic but it was so pretty!


Once I realized we were coming here I knew I wanted to profiteroles so what did I order? Creme Brulee! It had been so good at Flying Fish and a friend of mine loves it at Les Chefs. To me, it was just ok. I loved the one at Flying Fish so I don't know if it was a comparison thing or a bad batch thing My pic of this was even worse than the sorbet so I'm not posting it!

It was a nice restaurant though very packed! It's a very pretty place and we will be back!

Covered by DP - 85.31
OOP (for Orangina I think!) - 11.00

 

[tortoni]

Glad I found your reviews. So scary that you had a trip to the ER, glad it ended well.

 

[deenbrad]

Glad I found your reviews. So scary that you had a trip to the ER, glad it ended well.

Thank you! I've been following yours as well!

 

[deenbrad]

I will start out by saying I have no pics here! Sorry! For this meal we were not only joined by BIL, SIL & nephew, but also SIL's mom. I really can't pay enough attention to pics when I'm trying to talk to people I guess.

I was amazed at what a short walk it was from the International Gateway to the Yacht Club. I'd love to stay in this area sometime!!

We were seated pretty much immediately at the big round table when you first walk in. It was a pretty quiet area - at least until we got there!

DS started with the garden salad (not that he ate it!) and was so happy he could finally order another hot dog!! For dessert he had the kids ice cream sundae. He was very happy with his meal!

DH started with the Green Goddess Salad - romaine with house-made Green Goddess dressing and croutons. He enjoyed this though I think he changed the dressing. For his entree he went with a gnocchi dish. It's not on the menu now so I'm wondering if it was a special. He'd never had gnocchi before and really enjoyed it. For dessert he again went with gelato, chocolate this time. He ended up switching with me though!

I have no memory at all what I had for an appetizer!! Nothing on the menu is jogging my memory. I know I had the Snow Crab Legs - with New Potatoes and Corn on the Cob for my entree. The crab legs were very good. Sweet and easy to get apart. The potatoes were good as well. DH ate my corn! For my dessert I ordered A Sweet Ending to Your Celebration... Chocolate Profiterole - Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate Mousse, Creme Anglaise, and Shaved Chocolate. Like I said I liked DH's gelato better so we switched!

The food here was pretty good - everyone seemed to like their meals. The service wasn't so wonderful. I'm one of those people that as long as you keep my diet coke filled I'm pretty happy. Once I'm sucking air it's not pretty! In addition to the refills our waiter took forever to bring our check. That being said it would seem that would be a server issue, not a restaurant issue so I would try the place again!

Covered by DP - 109.07

 

[deenbrad]

For our last full day we were supposed to go to Kouzzina on the Boardwalk for breakfast. While we were discussing it the night before none of us seemed to be too interested so I searched to see what else was available. SCORE! A reservation had opened up at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. I was very excited since I had tried since I booked the trip to get a reservation and none were to be had!

I have no pics of the food here but I do have one of a happy little boy!

We thought the food here was very fresh. The buffet was full and clean. Our server was great - kept our drinks refilled and dirty plates were removed quickly. The character interaction was terrific. They didn't seem rushed but on just the right pace. We definitely enjoyed it!

Price covered by DP – 78.78

 

[deenbrad]

We had originally planned on spending the day in Epcot today but made a last minute change to MK. We couldn't agree on an available TS for lunch so decided to go with QS. We let DS choose. BAD idea!

We ended up at the Lunching Pad because he, of course, wanted a hot dog. Not only one, but two! Looking back I think it was odd but they let me use four credits at once. I believe all the rules say they will only let you use three if there are three in your party? Whatever....we got a diet coke, three bottles of water, four hot dogs, four bags of potato chips, and four packets of cookies.

I love hot dogs. I love dirty water dogs in NYC. I love the Nathan's dogs that we got on Long Island (and now in GA! Yay!). I even like a ball park hot dog now and then.

BUT these hot dogs were not tasty. And the bread is ridiculously huge. Looking back at the menu I assume it's because they're not meant to stand on their own? I guess when you can order a taco dog or a philly cheese steak dog why would you order plain? We did. Oh well!

This is the only place we ate on our trip that I can honestly say never again! That being said DS would eat there again in a heartbeat!

Price covered by DP – 51.00 (!!!)

 

[deenbrad]

Originally we had a reservation for Tutto Italia for dinner. But with my son still being mad at Via Napoli (not that the restaurant had anything to do with him getting sick - but this is the way an 8 yo thinks!) we opted to try something else.

I hadn't read much about Kona for dinner and kind of dragged my feet going in. I wanted to see the Poly though so I figured that would be nice even if dinner wasn't. Plus I needed to bring some coffee home for my sister!

OMG. I want to go live @ the Poly so I can eat at Kona every day! Our meal here was absolutely wonderful!

When they first walk you into the restaurant to be seated they stop first to show you the amazing desserts. My kind of place!!

Our server was Jeanne (I remember since it's my sister's name as well!) and she was great. Kept the meal at just the right pace.

For our appetizers....
DS didn't order anything. He was very happily munching on the big giant Hawaiian roll Jeanne had placed on the table. He loves the ones they sell in the grocery store so he was on ! This one comes with macadamia nut butter-I just picked around the nuts for DS!
DH ordered Kona Salad - Mixed greens, Maytag blue cheese, fresh fruit, red onions, and smoked almonds with a citrus vinaigrette. He asked for no blue cheese though. This salad was delicious (and would have been even better with the cheese!)
When Jeanne came over for our order she asked if we wanted to order any sushi. I told her I'd been wanting to try sushi but had been chicken She asked if I liked shrimp and when I said yes recommended this:

Shrimp Tempura Roll - tempura shrimp, fresh mango served with lilikoi sauce

Absolutely amazing! What had I been missing? I totally forgot my "eat half" rule here! I still haven't ventured into the raw sushi world but I am now a once-a-weeker!

For our entrees...
DS ordered a hot dog! Big surprise!! Please don't flame me. The boy is not normally allowed to eat hot dogs twice in one day or every day for that matter! That being said, he enjoyed his hot dog here even more than the ones in MK!
DH ordered Sustainable fish - With Tostones, vegetable Salad and macadamia nut Beurre blanc sauce. In this case the fish was salmon which he loved. He ate every bit!!
As for me, since Jeanne was so dead on with my appetizer I asked her advice on my entree. I told her I don't like my food to be sweet (which is quite a lot of their sauces) so she recommended Tuna Oscar - served with fried green tomatoes, tempura-fried jumbo lump crab, and wasabi hollandaise cooked to medium since she thought med rare would be too rare for me. This was by far the best tuna I've ever had. If I didn't eat it all I certainly came close!

For the grand finale...dessert!
DS ordered an ice cream sundae and loved it!
DH ordered the Chocolate Fondue. We shared both of our desserts. This was so good. I especially loved the cookies!
My order was for the Banana-chocolate Creme Brulee. Yummy!! Just the right consistency and the perfect balance of banana and chocolate flavor.

I wish I had more pics of this meal but as usual I forgot! Hope to do better next time we go!

Price covered by DP – 116.89