7 nights of Disney dining with Yacht Club Concierge level (UPDATED 2/24)

[GoBirds]

Now we are on a quest to find that grassy spot in France where you enjoyed your slushies and watched the birds! I can't say that we have ever noticed that spot!

We've never seen that spot before either! Gotta look for it next week!

It's on the other side of the main walkway across from the Grey Goose Slushee cart and it's very close to Morocco. Not far from where the Aladdin characters normally hang out.

 

[TigerKat]

It's on the other side of the main walkway across from the Grey Goose Slushee cart and it's very close to Morocco. Not far from where the Aladdin characters normally hang out.

Thanks, we're going to check it out this weekend!

 

[GoBirds]

Great pictures from WS. I can see why you want to go back for F&W. I'm hoping you can get that trip report up and posted before we head off to YC/F&W on Oct. 27th.

Oh, and ME - I don't put mustard on my pretzels.

I'll make you a deal. You try a soft pretzel with mustard before I finish this report, and I'll get the next report up before Oct. 27!

 

[GoBirds]

I'm really enjoying your reviews--I like how you describe the atmosphere of the restaurant before talking about the food!

I have to agree that spending evenings in World Showcase is the best Disney has to offer.

Also, I had NO IDEA the Mexico pavilion serves Dos Equis with the adorable tiny lime cup. Best. thing. ever.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks very much!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

When you leave Epcot, make the left over the bridge toward the Boardwalk (instead of staying straight toward Beach Club). Follow the Boardwalk all the way around until you almost get to the "Dance Hall." Then follow the walkway behind the Boardwalk as if you're heading toward the Swan and Dolphin and you'll see signs pointing you toward Hollywood Studios.

Thanks for enjoying the reviews!

Thanks for the help

 

[kelleigh1]

I'll make you a deal. You try a soft pretzel with mustard before I finish this report, and I'll get the next report up before Oct. 27!

LOL
I'm pretty sure I've tried it, but I'm just not a fan. I also don't put ketchup on my fries.

 

[GoBirds]

After our late afternoon / early evening of walking around the World Showcase and enjoying the "refreshments," we headed back to Germany for our ADR at ... Biergarten!!!

For those who don't know, the Germany pavilion is designed as a quaint German village, with a variety of shops, multiple beer stands, a wine cellar, a quick service German sausage restaurant (Sommerfest), and the sit-down restaurant Biergarten. The village surrounds an outdoor courtyard, which is a great place to arrive at early for your ADR at Biergarten, grab a beer at Sommerfest, and just hang out and chew the scenery while you wait for your table. Since DW and I already had a few adult beverages prior to arriving for our ADR (see previous post), we skipped this, especially since I knew that I for one would be ordering one of those REALLY big mugs of ice cold beer at dinner.

The interior of Biergarten continues the "quaint German village" theme. Long wooden tables surround a dance floor and stage where the band plays. The band plays for about 30 minutes at a time, and then takes 30-minute breaks. When the band is playing, all are invited up to the dance floor, though it's mainly smaller kids up there with a few adults. The restaurant is buffet-style. The tables each seat eight. Therefore, unless your party is 8 people or more, you will be seated with other diners. Like a lot of people, I was originally turned off by this idea. But it's all part of the theme ... long tables, German band, large mugs of beer, all-you-can-eat sausages/schnitzel/potato salads/etc. (think Chevy Chase in European Vacation ). And most everyone there is friendly enough (though on this most recent visit, we were seated with an older couple who seemed a little annoyed to be sitting with three small children. But that's their problem ... don't go to Disney World if you don't want to see any kids.)

So after being seated, the server takes your drink order. As I mentioned, I ordered the big tall ice cold Oktoberfest. Sorry, no pictures of this, but it's about, just a guess-timate here, 28-30 ounces, give or take a few. Let's just say it lasted me the entire dinner. DW got the smaller mug of beer.

After making our drink order, we proceeded to the buffet. Here's my first plate, and as you can see, I loaded up:

Let's start at 12 o'clock and move clockwise. Here we have pickles, tomato / red onion / basil salad, two different German sausages, sauerkraut underneath the second sausage, bologna salad, an assortment of cold meats, and ring bologna in the center of the plate. Now, I'm not sure I can say with any degree of certainty what exactly everything on the plate is (e.g., i can't specifically say what two types of sausages were on my plate) or what specifically was in each of these dishes (e.g., I think the green thingies in the bologna salad are sweet pickles), but everything was good. The sauerkraut was the best I ever tasted , the sausages very good. The bologna salad was different, but I liked it because I like bologna and pickles.

There are a variety of mustards at the buffet (Germans are very into mustard) which I used to dip my ring bologna. Now, this whole thing about mustard must be a Philly thing. If you read my previous post, I talked about putting mustard on a soft pretzel. I also put mustard on my ring bologna. Ring bologna (with mustard) is very common in eastern Pennsylvania, but then, there's a lot of German / Dutch heritage in the area. IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure to take the skin off of each piece of ring bologna before you eat it. Those familiar with ring bologna will know what I mean.

Here is DW's plate:

Clearly full from our late afternoon snacks, DW went with a much lighter dinner. The soup is potato-leek. Clockwise around the plate we have the pretzel bread (which DW loves!!), a piece of ring bologna, the bologna salad, macaroni salad, cold red-skin potato salad, tomato salad, and (you can only see a little bit of this behind the soup bowl) cucumber salad.

Here's my second plate:

This is breaded pork schnitzel with red wine sauce, warm potato salad and more sauerkraut. The schnitzel was a little tough, but the red wine sauce was delicious. Now the warm potato salad made the meal for me. Growing up in Pennsylvania, my German grandmother used to make this for me all the time. I don't think I had ever experienced the same taste until I tasted this item at Biergarten. The warm potato salad had a distinct bacon flavor (grandmother used to put chopped celery in it as well). It's the best comfort food served on a Saturday afternoon with a thick slice of warm, buttered bread. Anyway, other than my grandmother's kitchen, Biergarten is the only place I know that captured this flavor.

Though there are the regular assortment of kids' items at Biergarten (chicken, mac-n-cheese, etc.), the kids ate sparingly because they were just too excited to get out on the dance floor when the band arrived.

To sum up, our family really loves this place. The atmosphere both outside the restaurant and inside the restaurant is lots of fun. The kids love the dancing, and always ask if we're going back to "the restaurant where we dance." And I've found that many of the buffet items are actually very authentic and reminiscent of my childhood. So while most of the Signature restaurants might objectively have higher-quality food, Biergarten is consistently one of our entire family's most enjoyable dinners, and therefore, it is a must-do every trip.

Finally, if you time things right, you can walk out of the restaurant after dinner just in time to grab a spot for IllumiNations, which we did.

Next up .. character breakfast at Chef Mickey's!!!

 

[iloveeeyore]

So home sick for Biergarten right now! I know exactly what you mean about the other places at WS with "objectively better food," but we were surprised with the high quality of the food this past summer. We loved the warm potato salad, the bologna salad, and that red wine sauce. We went for lunch, and it looks like there's a bigger band at dinnertime. I would love to see the place all decked out for Christmas!

Did you skip dessert? Because we found they had the best bavarian cheesecake with berry compote and vanilla sauce. Surprisingly delicious!

 

[Pinkgirl]

Oooh I'm another one who wants to find that lovely little spot in France.

We went to Biergarten on our last trip. We had a couple with a small child and his parents sat with us. They were part of a larger party who were sat down a level from us. Because they were split up, the couple spent more time talking over the fence than making small talk with us. However, the parents seemed really embarassed by this so it made the whole experience somewhat awkward. Added to that, the fact that is was freezing in there did not make for an enjoyable experience.

 

[Lynne G]

I grew up in a German Philly family and yes, mustard goes on many things, hotdogs, soft pretzels, and with ham etc. My mom also does a great warm German potato salad and puts celery in it too. My DS really wants to eat at the beir garden now.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

My father's side of the family is from Eastern PA (Bethlehem/Allentown) and we never eat a pretzel without mustard! Where I grew up in Central NY it's not uncommon either, so I've never been questioned about it. Anyone who scoffs doesn't know what they're missing!!!!

 

[GoBirds]

Did you skip dessert? Because we found they had the best bavarian cheesecake with berry compote and vanilla sauce. Surprisingly delicious!

Yeah, we kinda rushed out so that we could catch IllumiNations. I've heard great things about the Bavarian cheesecake. Gotta try it next time!

BTW, your DH mentioned that he ate at Monk's in Philly recently. Haven't been there yet, but I just got an offer to go with a friend of mine. Great mussels!!! Can't wait to try it!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

I really have enjoyed reading your reviews. Your pictures are fantastic and you have sold me on trying Biergarten. Now if I can just talk the rest of the family into it...

 

[GoBirds]

We went to Biergarten on our last trip. We had a couple with a small child and his parents sat with us. They were part of a larger party who were sat down a level from us. Because they were split up, the couple spent more time talking over the fence than making small talk with us. However, the parents seemed really embarassed by this so it made the whole experience somewhat awkward. Added to that, the fact that is was freezing in there did not make for an enjoyable experience.

Hopefully you'll give Biergarten another shot. I agree that the whole experience can be affected based on who gets seated at your table with you. But hopefully, you can give it another shot and hopefully get a better group of people at your table next time. That will make the restaurant so much more enjoyable.

 

[GoBirds]

I grew up in a German Philly family and yes, mustard goes on many things, hotdogs, soft pretzels, and with ham etc. My mom also does a great warm German potato salad and puts celery in it too. My DS really wants to eat at the beir garden now.

I think you'll love it!!!

 

[GoBirds]

My father's side of the family is from Eastern PA (Bethlehem/Allentown) and we never eat a pretzel without mustard! Where I grew up in Central NY it's not uncommon either, so I've never been questioned about it. Anyone who scoffs doesn't know what they're missing!!!!

Small world! While I live in suburban Philadelphia now, I was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton). Ask your father if he's ever been to Jimmy's Hot Dogs!

 

[GoBirds]

To begin our second day in Magic Kingdom, we had a character breakfast at ... Chef Mickey's!!!

Chef Mickey's is located on the fourth floor of the Contemporary and very easily accessible by the monorail. Like most character meals, the restaurant is buffet-style. We always eat here for breakfast, but have never eaten here for dinner. The breakfast buffet is pretty average Disney fare; not bad, but also nothing to write home about. What makes Chef Mickey's a must-do character breakfast for us is the fact that this is the only restaurant at Disney where all of the "main" characters are present. For example, Ohana has Mickey and Pluto (but no Minnie, Donald, Daisy or Goofy). Tusker House has Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy (but no Minnie or Pluto). Cape May has Minnie (but no Mickey). By contrast, Chef Mickey's has, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, and that makes it a "main event" for our family.

Upon being seated, we were brought coffee and juice:

My plate included scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes and Mickey waffles:

DW's plate included scrambled eggs, a croissant, and a variety of quiches:

Again, pretty standard fare, though I will say (and I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of this) that Chef Mickey's does have an awesome smoked salmon station, with capers, chopped egg, chopped red onion, cream cheese and bagels. Delicious!!!

But the main reason we come here is for this:

This meal makes the trip for DS7 and DS4. On the other hand, you can judge for yourself the effect it has on DS0:

So after a nice family breakfast, we headed to Magic Kingdom for our second (and last) day in that park. Around mid-afternoon, we returned to the Yacht Club for a little swimming and some Club Level snacks before our dinner at Flying Fish Cafe.

Next up ... Yacht Club food and Flying Fish Cafe dinner!!!

 

[kelleigh1]

Awwww....so cute!

Of course I just read this at 8:25am and I'm sitting at work. Now I want Mickey Waffles and all those other yummy breakfast goodies. My english muffin and hard boiled egg just can't compare.

Can't wait for Flying Fish. That is our first night plan.

 

[dixonsontour]

We love chef mickey for breakfast aswell. Great pics of the baby with the characters

 

[GoBirds]

I really have enjoyed reading your reviews. Your pictures are fantastic and you have sold me on trying Biergarten. Now if I can just talk the rest of the family into it...

Thanks .. and talk 'em into it. I'll help if you need me. It's a great family restaurant!