5 Days of Too Much! Cali, Cindy's, BD, Yacht, Rn'Cr

[slavike]

April 7-13 6 nights/5 days of Just the girls in the fam having a little spring break. Since we are all veterans we are truly on vacation enjoying the hotel, the scenery (Flower & Garden Festival) and of course the FOOD!!

DM booked us on the Disney Premium Package because she wanted to make sure we could dine with out worring about counting thing because she gets so confused by it (She's 68, and while spry about somethings, math completely eludes her now).

The culprits:
My Mother: 68 -Aging Patriarch, can't get her to eat anything when she's at home, at WDW she eats steak and nearly every meal. DVC member since Day one. Only Vacations at Disney Properities -NO JOKE.
Sister #1: 43 - Picky, High Maintance in general. Cinderella Collector - at age 43.
Sister #2: 35 - Will eat anything. Literally anything. Says they are not a fan of Disney, but always comes along when we go... hmmm.
Me: 30 - Health Nut. On Vacation, not so much. I like Disney, especially now with Kids of my own.

Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I tried and my mother was mortified by the thought.

We arrived late on the 7th, so we really don't count it as a "Day". But it's important because it's the day that we usually have a nice sit-down at the hotel restaurant after check-in (Oy vay the Yachtsman!).

Here is what was on the menu.

Seated Meals:

Yachtsman Steakhouse
California Grill
Cinderella's Royal Table
Brown Derby
Rose n' Crown
Coral Reef
Chefs De France
Spoodles
San Angel Inn

Counter Service
Columbia Harbour House -MK
Sunshine Seasons - Epcot
Boulangerie Patisserie - Epcot
Funnel Cake - In America at Epcot
Kringla Bakeri og Cafe - Epcot
Main Street Bake Shop - MK
Enchanted Grove -MK
Harambe Fruit Market - AK
Yak and Yeti Counter Service - AK
Boardwalk Bakery - BW
Wolfgang Puck Express - DTD
One or 2 more I may have missed...I will remember later.


I will start the first night with the next post.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Eagerly awaiting the reviews!!!

 

[slavike]

Okay - Tiggersmom2 Gave me the courage to post this! THANK YOU! The truth needs to be heard.

We check into our hotel, the usual breeze. My mother had made ADR's for Yachtsman based on my oldest sisters recommendations. She had ate there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Of all the times my mom and I had been there we had not, so in our quest to try everything at WDW once we were looking so forward to it.

Are ADR was for 7:30, there were 4 of us and it was full, but we were seated at 8:15. We are not the kind to mind, we took it stride. Then we were seated. Our server stopped by to introduce herself and then we didn't see her for about another 15 minutes. She quickly apologized, but by then the restaurant was pretty empty soo.. she took our drink orders. 10 mintues later brought them back and took our order.

Appetizers: I order the Lobster Bisque, Mom & Oldest Sister - Ceasar Salad, Other Sister - Scallops.

I love Lobster Bisque, but this arrived luke warm and had a fishy smell and taste, I was really disappointed. I was hoping for at least something similar to the Coral Reef Lobster Bisque..oh no. It was awful.
The Ceasar was average. And the scallops, well there are no words, it tasted okay to me, but everyone else said they were far to mushy and the vinegrette far to tart.
But what was worse than the food was that our main entree's came to our table before we were even half way through our appetizers. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO US AT DISNEY. We all looked at each other we didn't know what to do. We assumed by the tempature of my bisque that the waitress had not picked up the appetizers right away and now everything was running together.
However...The potatoe sides on our steak orders were all again luke warm.
We all ordered our steaks medium rare. Ther were 2 Ribeyes and 2 Filets at the table. The filets were completely overcooked. 1 Ribeye could have walked off the plate and the other was again over coooked.
I tried to eat my filet but the wine sauce was so strong that it wasn't worth it and by that time my mom had already called the waitress over.
Now my mom, NEVER does this. And then the waitress tried to correct us and say that is what we ordered. She was just the worst.
The manager came over and we explained the situation. We stated we were on this meal plan thing so being comp'd didn't matter as much as getting some food. He was okay, but not overally disney apologetic, more like we were just another headache. For my mom, this was the ultimate insult. She would never complain with out good cause especially at her favorite place in the world.

They changed our server, which again has NEVER happened to us. Our steaks went back and came out perfect, but I still didn't like the sauce.
By this time it's hedging 9:30 and desert was just out of the question.

VERDICT: Maybe we just got a bad waitress and a bad night. But it diffenately isn't screaming for us to go back anytime soon. I know there are a lot people who love this restaurant and we wanted to too. Alas, it was not to be for us. If we stay at the Yacht Club again in the future I am sure we will try, try again.

 

[donaldtutter]

Really looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

 

[tiggersmom2]

.
I tried to eat my filet but the wine sauce was so strong that it wasn't worth it and by that time my mom had already called the waitress over.
Now my mom, NEVER does this. And then the waitress tried to correct us and say that is what we ordered. She was just the worst.
The manager came over and we explained the situation. We stated we were on this meal plan thing so being comp'd didn't matter as much as getting some food. He was okay, but not overally disney apologetic, more like we were just another headache. For my mom, this was the ultimate insult. She would never complain with out good cause especially at her favorite place in the world.

OMGosh, I am so sorry that happened to you guys. A place like Yachtsman's should be more professional and bending over backwards when they obviously "missed the mark". This is the very reason why we did NOT complain. My Dad would have been so upset if management had treated us like "just another headache".

Sadly, we will not give YSH another try, once was quite enough for us.

 

[slavike]

Magic Kingdom.

In our family, it doesn't seem like were at WDW until we've been to MK. 2 Reasons, We the love feel of mainstreet in the morning and My sister the Cinderella Collector stop nagging about it until we go..She 43!

As with so many families we begin the morning with the traditional stop at the Main Street Bakery!

Now I run in the mornings, and don't like to eat to much for a while afterwards because I drink alot of water and then the rides...yugghh. So I "Sample" from the fam.

MAIN STREET BAKERY:

Here's is what is on the menu this time:

A Cinnamon Roll
A Bear Claw
A Chocolate Chip Muffin
Some kind of Banana Thing (Pudding)?

Cinnamon Roll: The Favorite of All. I stole several bites. Yumm...gooey and rich, with out being super sweet, much better than the mall Cinnabon.

Bear Claw: I didn't have any but it was HUGE and very well received.

Chocolate Chip Muffin: Dry. Not in a good way. My sister had coffee and said together they weren't too bad, but she's had a better chocolate chip muffin from the grocery store. I had a bite, and it was dry.

Banana Pudding Thing: I had never seen this before. It was fabulous, I only had a bite and then it was gone! They all recommended it, but it was very sloppy.

VERDICT: ALWAYS

After the Morning sites we had a early lunch at


TONY'S TOWN SQUARE[:/B]

Now going there we know is like hitting ourselves in the face over and over again. When we were growing up it was the bee's knee's, I would say in the past 5 years it has nose dived big time. I blame butoni sponsorship. My mom says it was never as good as we girls all remember. But we also remember before it was Tony's.

This day it wasn't so bad, but we had a wonderful server, whom remember my mom from servering her in the past, he's been there for years.

I just had the minestone with orzo pasta. DELICIOUS. It could have used more seasoning but it was good for a lunch entree and I enjoyed it. I split the tomato and Mozzerella salad with my sister and that was SO SO. I took a bite and let her have the rest as there wasn't that much and it was all she ordered. The Basil was very week and it just wasn't flavorful enough.

My other sister had the Lady and the Tramp which is half of a house salad (GENERIC and uneventful) and half of a panini, She got the Italian Panini and said it wasn't horrible but felt it was on the greasy side either from the meat or how they press the painini. All in all not bad.

My mom, who does not like the sauce at Tony's, for some reason ordered the Eggplant Parmesean and complained about the sauce. It's runny. It's Sour. It's Bland. I don't know why she ordered it.

VERDICT: Unfortunately, there is a lack of sit down restuarants at MK. So it means we will be back. But not because it's good, only because we are prisoners. You can only eat at the Plaza Restaurant so many times!

After an Afternoon Nap back for an evening at the Park start with dinner at

CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE:

Let me begin by saying no one wanted to eat her but my Cinderella Freak sister who still talk's about King Stefan's table like she ate there for every meal. We got the ADR by fluke. We had conceirge rooms, we asked and by shear luck they had them. We were due to eat at Flying Fish, but lucky for us we got a table.

This was the pleasant surprise of the trip.

Our family aren't ones for Buffets or Preset Menus. It took them alot of convincing of me that it would okay. I Hate PRESET MENUS. I am moody when it comes to food.

For Appetizers there were a choice of 4. We ordered 1 of each.

There was a BLT Salad - This had eggs on it so I didn't eat it, but everyone else loved it.

The Castle Salad - I could have eaten this for my meal and been happy. IT WAS DELICIOUS. I let everyone else have a bite and then ate the rest myself.

Spring Roll - I think this was a vegetable one. Good not great, it was cold when we got it, but every one was in agreement that it wasn't too bad.

Crab Soup - This was creamy with corn and spices. It was smooth and had just the combination of bite and creaminess.

Entree-

2 Prime Ribs were ordered - Both my mom and one sister loved it, said it was delicious but thin. My sister didn't think it was worth the price of admission but it was good and the sauce complimented the meat perfectly.

My other sister had Lamb Chops - She said they certainly weren't the best she had but they were very good, a little stringy but good. She really enjoyed the potatoes that were the side.

I had pork tenderloin, which while it was slightly overcooked, it was seasoned to perfection and very good. I loved the cheese pasta side, I could have licked the plate.

Desert -

I wanted the Angel Food desert, but was told they were out of the regular topping (whatever it was I forgot) but they were substituting with a Strawberry Foster. I said yes. IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING DESERT EVER. I asked the server for they had the recipe available and she said that the Chef and had come with it as a substitute and there wasn't one.

Everyone else had what looked like a Chocolate Gaunche' I am sorry I don't know the real name. They loved their deserts as well and said was the perfect finish.

We all agreed that it was a wonderful decision and we were happy that we had done it.

It is quite a bit of money and I am not sure if I were paying for it if the "Amount" of found comparitively would be worth it. But you are paying for the atmosphere of eating in the castle as well as for the food.

PS> Please keep in mind this is VERY CHILD friendly restuarant if you want quiet..don't dine here, it was loud and the princess made appearances regularly. We enjoyed it but some may not.

VERDICT: Food was very good, disney food ( I often say no matter where you eat at Disney it all ends up tasting the same)...will bring my kids in the future for the experience but not a "MUST" on every trip. The price is pretty steep for the offering and normally we do the DDLX and this would be 2 sit down meals..I don't know if it's worth it.

 

[oybolshoi]

Thanks for posting about your experience at Yachtsman - it's a shame that it wasn't a good evening. My hubby and I have yet to eat here but we've been considering it for some time. We're still on the fence ... maybe some day we'll actually fall off!

It's hard to post a review that's negative in nature ... I had to do it last year when we had a sub-par experience at Artist Point - another place that usually gets rave reviews. I commend you for your honesty - even good restaurants have "bad" days.

Hopefully the rest of your trip provided you with better food experiences!

 

[undertheseas]

Great reviews, I can't wait to read more!

 

[slavike]

On the way back from MK the previous night we did something that is my biggest tip.

We stop on our way through Epcot to YC at for breakfast the next morning at:


KRINGLA BAKERI OG CAFE:

The Order:

1 Sweet Pretzel (for the road that evening)

Scool Bread
Lefse
Horns (Berry).

On our way from Norway to the Yachtclub we all shared the sweet pretzel. I can't recommend these enough..super good. These have to be eaten the same day, I have tried to save them overnight in the past, they turn out to be hard as rocks.

The Lefse is my favorite...cinnamony sugar goodness...just as good the next day.

I find the horns get a little soggy or that if left in the same hotel room as my mother, they are half eaten before the rest of us even get up.

Day 3 was a mix-up day as we all got seperate pending on what we wanted to see. My mom and middle sister really don't do rides so my eldest sister and I headed over to future world. For lunch we enjoyed:

SUNSHINE SEASONS:

I had the Chicken Ceasar Salad. Now, I eat salads all the time, everywhere I go. I don't really eat ceasar salads because they're not my favorite.

THE CHICKEN CEASAR SALAD WAS THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD. PERIOD.

It was so fresh and light. And I normally order my dressing on the side. But the girl had pulled everything from a big bowl before I could think. IT WAS AMAZING. The perfect amount of dressing. The give you a full chicken breast, no skimpping. And the romano cheese is like that from a cheese slicer not just pre-packaged shredded. I really can not say enough about this salad.

I don't even remember what my sister order..something from the Chinese area because I was so focused. I do know she got an OH! Henry bar, because she talked a lot about it. But salad was AMAZING.

A few things you should know about Seasons. IT'S PACKED. At lunch time it's a zoo, it would be an interesting pshycological study to watch people scurry to tables. I mean it was a dog-eat-dog. It was insane. The lines for food it self were very short and checks moved very quickly, just finding a place to sit was very difficult. Second, I was looking at the prices, and it was pricey compared to going over to the electric umbrella and buying chicken fingers. Everything is A LA Carte so you start putting things on your tray and before you know it you got a 15 dollar lunch for one person. That's with out junk food or desert.

FUNNEL CAKE - AMERICA EPCOT

Later that afternoon my sister and I decided to share in a fair staple, an Elephant Ear or Funnel Cake, the debate continues. But whatever you call it, the one in Epcot aren't worth the time. The stand was clearly not busy. But ours had been under a heating lamp area for some time. And while it was warm, it wasn't fresh and the lacked yummy toppings (according to my sister). Know I am a traditional powdered sugar lady, but it was very lightly dusted and not very good in general. You can skip it, save your money for one of the other lands with more exotic and delicious snacks..more of those later.

Tomorrow (after some sleep), Night 3 Dinner and Snacks.

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed your reviews.

 

[suzimar57]

great reviews so far - lots of detail!

 

[Zeebs]

We are not planning on eating at most of these places but I am enjoying the report anyway.

Waiting on California Grill and Coral Reef I hope they were ok for you.

Kirsten

 

[slavike]

Night 3 Continued

ROSE ‘N CROWN:

Appetitzers:

We met up with my mother and other sister at Rose ‘n Crown for dinner. My mother is right off the boat British, born in Sussex (She’s been over here for 60 years) she’s more American than British. And while the food in no way is authentic British, she does enjoy going to the Rose ‘n Crown to meet the young people from England, so she can pretend she is British for a few hours, and we let her.

I always start with the cheese platter appetizer because I am a fool for Stilton. This time it was in a pastry, which wasn’t the best, it was messy and didn’t give the full stilton flavor I like but that was okay. There was also Irish Cheddar, and Some Brie with Mushroom and Walnuts on top. Those both were very good. They are served with my favorite water crackers, grapes, and strawberry’s. The grapes were not the freshest which was disappointing, but on the whole good. This is enough to share with 3 to 4 people and I did.

My 1 sister got the house salad, which I split with her. It’s a mixed greens salad with a Stilton Cheese Dressing. YUMMY. Warning that the mixed greens really are mixed, not just romaine and iceburg, so if you don’t like dandelion and all the rest you might want to skip it. The also offer another dressing but I can’t remember what it was.

My mother got the potato and leek soup. Said it was too salty for her and had just a few spoonfuls.

My eldest sister got some mushrooms on puff pastry thing, which by far was the weirdest looking, but was also very tasty. Anything on puff pastry is. If you like mushrooms it was really yummy. Think of it as yummy mushroomy gravy puff pastry thing. It was delicious.

Entrees:

The choices anymore here are very very limited. It’s sad because the food here used to be so very good that we always looked forward to coming here.

My mom was at a complete loss here. She has always loved the prime rib here and without it she felt lost. She hemmed and hawed on what to do. She finally decided on the Lamb. She felt that they tried to do to much but it wasn’t bad, just perhaps overcooked. It was chewy and tough and a little over power by everything else on the plate. She didn’t like the Guniness BBQ Sauce at all.

My eldest sister and I both ordered the fish and chips. They were no different from what we could have ordered from the counter service out front, but they were good. Just good. Not authentic by any means.

My middle sister probably order the most authentic thing on the menu the vegetable curry. Which if you go to England these days Indian food is the main diet it seems. She said it was horrid and didn’t eat more than a few bites. To be honest though, I tried it and it tasted like vegetable curry, so I am not sure if she just doesn’t like Indian food. I thought the bread was particularly good.

For desert we each ordered something different so we could try all of them. And there the Rose ‘n crown was back to form.

I ordered the Bailey Trifle. Light and smooth.

My mother the Chocolate Scotch Cake. Super Strong and Chocolately. I didn’t care for it but everyone else loved it.

Warm Apple Tart Crumble. By far everyone’s favorite. They served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was heaven.

Frozen Vanilla Custard. My personal favorite which I love in general and will order anytime they have it from now on.

After dinner we rommed the worlds and checked out anything new and exciting. On our way out we stopped at

BOULANGERIE PATISSERIE

For a late night snack for fireworks and breakfast the next morning:

As always a Coconut Pyramid was purchased by myself. If you haven’t bought one these and you like coconut, you must do this before you die. It’s heaven. I ate half and took the other half back to the hotel for a post run late morning snack.

Other snacks purchased:

Chocolate Croissant: Always delicious.
Chocolate Éclair: Fabulous, from what I am told. It looked as if it had a custard filling as opposed to a cream filling. I prefer a cream filling.
Napoleon: My mother’s favorite, and she took a few bites and said it wasn’t very good.

Tarts were purchased for the morning breakfasts and they must have been good because they were gone before I got back from my run.

Day 4. ½ Disney Studios ½ Day DTD.

 

[TigerKat]

I had the Chicken Ceasar Salad. Now, I eat salads all the time, everywhere I go. I don't really eat ceasar salads because they're not my favorite.

THE CHICKEN CEASAR SALAD WAS THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD. PERIOD.

ITA!!!!! I eat lots of them and it s the best!!!!

 

[slavike]

Night 4.

Things get kind of Crazy from here, as My mom get’s seriously into her Garden Festival.

Today we headed over to Disney Studios. Which means Brown Derby for Lunch.

BROWN DERBY:

This is a family tradition and my mother knows always orders the same thing.

My mom She started with the Parsnip soup. Good but too much beet and not enough Crème.
I split some mussels with my sister, they were okay I wouldn’t order them again, very garliciky. My middle sister ordered the coconut fried shrimp and didn’t liked them at all said they were chewy and oily. We were very disappointed in are aps.

Again My mom kept with Tradition with The Cobb Salad. This time however, she felt the greens themselves were wilted and it was a little old but overall it was “fine”. Not the best she has had though.
My eldest sister had the BBQ Breast of Chicken and she like it very much said it was very juicy and tender, it was served with flatbread which she said was scrumptious.
My other sister had the Grouper, which said was not the best she had but not bad for lunch, it was served with the onion sauce which though overwhelmed it but the asparagus side was very good.
I had the Pasta with Shrimp and Aritchokes, it also had peppers in it. I ordered it without peppers, as I am allergic to certain kinds. It arrived with peppers. The server took it back and it arrived sans peppers after everyone else had pretty much finished eating. I had a few bites and it was okay, but I make something similar at home and mine is much better.
We had already put in our desert orders (before my pasta came back) and here is how it panned out.

My mom got her traditional Grapefruit Cake, as always she loved it.
I got the flourless chocolate cake, I took a bite and got a to-go box, it was good not OMG good but good enough to save for the hotel room.
My one sister got the Crème Brulee, it was very good, I enjoy a few bites of that.
The other sister got the Banana Tower, she loves banana and said it was heavenly. She refused to share and was mocked the rest of the day for it.

VERDICT: A TRADITION, But the menu wasn’t up to par this time.

We ended up splitting up in the afternoon and so I have 2 different sit down restaurant for dinner to review for you.

1st the Coral Reef.

CORAL REEF:

My mother and older sister decided they would be boring and go to the Coral Reef, which we all know is tried and true while my younger sister and I went to San Angel for Dinner.

Here is there report from the Coral Reef as dictated to me right by my mother:

We arrived at the Coral Reef on time for our reservation, we were greeted by a very young Cast Member who told us it would be 20 minutes. I looked around and it was rather crowded in the waiting area. Lots of families, it was a busy time of night. We were seated in about 5 minutes but we didn’t mind if we sat near the glass or not, that can make a big difference there.

Our server was very nice young lady who very quickly took our drink orders and very thoroughly explained the specials of the evening.

We declined and I started the evening with their Wild Mushroom Soup. My oldest had the Cod Cake.

The Soup was terrific. As always, I absolutely love it. It can be hit or miss on the salt content but tonight it was perfect. My eldest loved the Cod Cake, it was fresh and mild.

For the entrée, I had the grilled Mahi Mahi. This was a first as I usually go with the Strip Steak here, but I wasn’t let down. It was wonderful and the cous-cous was delightful. In fact, I have to try to find that kind up near here, it was great. The Mahi Mahi, was cooked to perfect, light and flaky.

My daughter had the catfish, she was a little disappointed at what she thought was something “overseasoned”. She felt that it was too spicy. She mentioned it to our server and within minutes another was at our table. This time it was perfect. Although, my daughter did say after tasting the grits it could have been the grits the first time that were spicy, because again she felt the zing. But all in all the entrée was very good.

For desert we both ordered the chocolate wave. A favorite.

We come here everytime we are here and will be here again, undoubtedly.

VERDICT: ALWAYS!

SAN ANGEL INN:

Okay so, my other sister and I thought we would be daring and try the most precarious place in Epcot. WHY? WHY? WHY?

It was just as horrid as we remember…but at least we made it fun.

So…We get there no ADR and are seated within 20 minutes. That should tell you something. We snack on the Nacho chips and my sister orders the Tortilla Soup. She says it’s not bad.

We begin to think things could have changed. For the record I have a friend who loves this place and swears it’s the best restaurant in all of Epcot and I think she’s nuts… still do.

Anyhow… I go straight for the entrée and margarita’s.

I go for filet of beef over beans with cheese with ranchero sauce and plantains. It arrives in a presentation of what can be described as a plate swimming gook. It looks like a swamp of food. The beef is stringy, chewy , but everything is VERY VERY Hot, I give it that. It’s just a mess of food. I can’t even look at it. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either. Old Chi’Chi’s had better presentation. It was just was yick.

My sister ordered some Angel Hair Shrimp Pasta, which looked awesome, but was very very very spicy. I took one bite and my mouth was on fire. She could barely eat it and she love spice.

We didn’t complain. We just enjoyed the margarita’s and had a good time.

I ate some of my beans and cheese.

We skipped desert and left.

VERDICT: VERY PRICEY!!!! If weren’t on the dining plan why would you pay $30.00 dollars for this food? VERY BAD!!! WHY WOULD ANYONE EAT HERE! GO to a good local Mexican place near your house. STAY AWAY FROM HERE!


She and I then head to downtown Disney (She drove, I was in no condition) and later on we had

WOLFGANG PUCK EXPRESS!

Good old Wolfgang Always there when you need him! Starving from the non-dinner experience.

We did some shopping and then enjoyed Wolfgang Puck.

We split and order of his Macaroni and Cheese and Butternut Squash Soup.

HEAVENLY.

The Macaroni and Cheese is so rich and creamy, the perfect blend of cheese, noodles, creamy and dash of nutmeg.

The Butternut Squash Soup, now I have had it many, many, times here and we had to give it back to them to have them re-heat it because it was luke warm at first, when the did re-heat it…delicious.

I highly recommend this. The portions are huge and it’s a little slice of gourmet heaven!

VERDICT: WORTH A TRY ANYTIME!

 

[slavike]

Night 5…1 more night left.

Today we play all over.

On the way in from my run, I am commanded to stop at the Broadwalk Bakery to buy Breakfast for my peeps.

BOARDWALK BAKERY:

I few muffins and Danish’s. All very well received, with exceptions of a Cinnamon Roll like donut which I am told is very dry and goes untouched less a bite.

My sisters and I head over to Animal Kingdom while our Mom heads to a seminar at Epcot for The Garden Festival.

HARAMBE FRUIT CART:

We always stop here:

We purchase a tub of Fresh Grapes, Fresh Watermelon, Fresh Honeydew, and eat it while we wait in lines. As Always SUPER FRESH and SUPER DELICIOUS. I can not recommend this enough…it’s the perfect food. And it’s the perfect little cart. The line moves extremely fast. Just remember there are two sides. People usually one wait on the one side near the Safari Line but there is another register on the other side.

We do Everest and then head over to Nemo, which my sisters haven’t seen yet, while waiting for the 11;30, my eldest was smart to stop at the new Yak and Yeti before crossing the big bridge and get an Egg Roll and Fried Rice.

YAK and YETI COUNTER SERVICE:

The EGG ROLL was fabulous and I hate egg rolls, I only had 2 bites but it was very good. I didn’t have any friend rice but they both agreed that it was really good and it was gone very, very quickly.

After Nemo we take a rest break and we all decide we need some more Magic Kingdom.

We enjoy our after noon and have a casual dinner at our favorite Counter service

COLUMBIA HARBOUR HOUSE:

2 Things about the Columbia Harbor House.

1. Eat at an off time. If you go during rush times, the lines can seem overwhelming although they move pretty fast. It’s just it’s a cramped area and the service at the register can be slower than the food service.
2. Eat upstairs. It’s an awesome few of liberty square and fantasyland all at once. And it’s usually pretty quiet up there.

It’s the only counter service my mother will tolerate.

I order the Chicken Strips, my first and only of the Vacation. I love them too much. I could drink the Ken’s Honey Mustard Dressing I dunk them in so I have to stay away from them all together.

My sister the Tuna Sandwich which is here favorite which she says the bread has been better.

The eldest sister, the fish and chicken basket…again another fan of the Honey Mustard Dressing.

My mother the BLT Salad. She said it’s very good and eats it all so we assume she is telling the truth.

ENCHANTED GROVE:
Now we know there is some debate over the greatness of the dole whip but many a years ago when they started getting really runny and giving us heartburn we switched to the Enchanted Grove Strawberry Swirl and we all have been happier since.
It’s Sweeter and less messy.
It’s not to say we don’t still get a dole whip from time to time.
But the Strawberry Swirl is just Yummy. I recommend it over the dole whip now.

 

[slavike]

The Last Day – Holy Smokes! Holy Eating!

So, I wake and I am getting dressed in my running gear when my sister who I am sharing a room with informs me that our mother as made Breakfast Reservations at Spoodles at 7:30 and to run fast.

Did I mention that I am not a breakfast person.

SPOODLES- BREAKFAST:

We arrive at 7:30 at Spoodles and it is PACKED. It opens at 7:30 by the way. PACKED. We waited 20 minutes to be seated. Our server was super nice but he looked like he had had a rough night the night before. He takes our drink orders and the he was a ghost for the next 10 minutes.

He comes back to take our orders and I polite remind him about our drinks. You could tell he had just complete spaced. He takes our order and brings back our drinks and a complimentary round of mimosa’s for us.

My sister states that her Bloody Mary is absolutely one the best that she has ever had.

I ordered just the Fresh Fruit Platter and unfortunately it was primarily Cantaloupe, the one fruit I can do without. It’s fresh and it’s fruit so it’s not horrible I just would have like more variety.

My eldest sister got the French Toast, which said was good.

My Mom got the ham and cheese Frittata and raved about it.

My other sister the vegetable Frittata. She would have like something else she said. It was the best thing she ever had but it was okay.

Overall breakfast was good. But the restaurant was VERY loud and PACKED. So keep that in mind when you make your reservation.

VERDICT: I WOULD PASS. NOT A NECESSITY

We spent our morning finishing up at Epcot and with our usual farewell lunch at Chef de France.

CHEF DE FRANCE:

We had a ADR for 1pm. We arrive a 1pm and are seated within 5 minutes. The line for ADRs and non ADR’s, by the way was ridiculous. The people waiting were extremely rude too. I couldn’t get over there attitude. It’s like come on people, if you don’t know enough to make a reservation, then don’t be upset that you can’t get in. For goodness sakes.

We all order the same thing here.

The French Menu

The Soup:

I personally love the soup.

My mother says it’s too salty. My eldest sister says the bread is not thick enough. The middle sister says the cheese is not authentic or as good as it used to be.

The Salad:

Everyone Loves the Salad.

The Toasted Ham and Cheese:

I really enjoy it, but it’s too large to eat all of it and to crusty to eat in one biteful, but very tasty.
My mother really likes, My eldest sister, says it’s too rich for her. The middle sister loves it.

The Crème Brulee:

To Thick For Me, but the taste is very good.

Everyone agrees.

VERDICT: It’s a Tradition. Everything is very Tasty and flavorful. Minor tweaks her and there, but it changes a little every time.

The afternoon at MK

The a Monorail to California Grill

CALIFORNIA GRILL:

We arrive 20 minutes early and have a seat at the bar. To our surprise a table near the window opens up and they escort us to it.

We had order sushi and the bring it to us.

I had ordered California Rolls and Sashimi. We all agree that the California Roll is just okay, nothing special. The portion is a good size but not so big that you struggle with it. Next the Sashimi, I hated it. We have some really good sushi places near us, and I just hated it, I though it smelled funny and had a slimy taste. You shouldn’t taste anything, in my opinion. It left a weird and funky after taste. I hated it.
My sisters thought I was crazy, but my mother agreed.

For our first course here is the run down:

I ordered the Market Greens which my sister and I ended up splitting because they were already out of the ravioli. It was wonderful, just the right blend of flavors not to tart or tangy

My mother order the foie gras, she was delighted with herself for ordering it and was so happy with it.

My other sister order the romaine salad which had anchovies so she was on her own on this one and she loved it. She said they add the perfect amount of salt.

For my main course I order the Filet. After the disaster at the Yachtsman, this was a blessing. It was so tender it melted in my mouth. The best filet I have ever eaten. I can still think of it. Just wonderful.

My mother- the Filet as well, she raved too!

My middle sister a veal loin. So tender and moist we had to stop her from licking her plate. It was served with a mushroom risotto that I had a bite of and just adored.

My eldest sister had the fish of the day which was some kind of florida trout of some sort I don’t remember and I am sorry about this, but she loved it and it was served with this lemon butter orzo…it was dreamy.

For Desert – Again we ordered one of everything to share amongst us.

The Honey Crunch Cake for me – Which was heaven, it had cream and honey and pineapple, if you like those I can’t recommend it enough..it was art.

An Apple Tart with Apple Sorbet – It was good, but to tart for me, I was the odd man out on the one.

A Pear Tart with Brown Sugar Ice Cream – Ooooohhhh so good. The brown sugar ice cream was smooth and delicious.

Butterscotch and Banana Buzz – This was again a tower of Banana and Butterscotch custard with cream topping so wonderful.

The best desert of all WISHES. The fireworks over MK has we ate. It was just the perfect ending to our vacation. This really is the perfect location for a restaurant and the food was just great!


VERDICT: YOU HAVE LOVE FOOD and you have to be willing to pay for it. It’s very pricey here. Not something you would do all the time I would think. There were kids here but not many. Those that were here, were very well behave…well there was one family, but kids will be kids. I felt bad for the parents, I have a 4 year old so I completely understood….

If you are meat and potatoes people who don’t like to experiment this might not be the restaurant for you. It does require some imagination. The couple next to us, were clearly not happy with the menu, but you could tell they wanted plain food. Keep that in mind.

I hope these reviews help someone.

We are going again in September, and there are still restaurants after all these years that I have not been to and these boards help me so much.

JIKO here we come, and I would have never tried it before.

BEST WISHES!!!

 

[TigerKat]

Thanks for taking the time to share your reviews with us. You're going to LOVE JIKO!!!!!

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for sharing your reviews!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Slavike you have helped me out more than you know. We are making our Oct ressies next week and I was going to go with the Rose & Crown and San Angel Inn, now they are both off my list and Cali Grill is for sure on it.

I am sorry that you had such a bad time at the Yachtsman, we ate there 2 nights before you did but at 6pm and had a great server. Our server told us right away that you can omit or change any sauce you see on the steaks and the same with the potato...I guess your server missed the memo huh?

DH's prime rib was ordered med well but came out rare, it mooed! The potatoes were stained red from the blood. It totally grossed out DH and the server was over there asap and asked DH if he would like something else.

Sometimes a dining experience does hinge on the server.

The chicken caesar from Sunshine Seasons is one of my favorite lunches!