8 Crazy Nights! A Disney Dining Report 4/20-4/28 Updated 7/11 FINAL UPDATE!

[medicgirl911]

We are always running to the parks at opening and never have time for breakfast, that is going to have to change! We are staying at Pop and will have to check out some of their breakfast foods...well at least once!

 

[kimgof]

can't wait to hear more.

 

[trappednabox]

Oooh! I'm in!!

 

[ireland_nicole]

fellow southsider Sox fan here; can't wait to read more!

 

[DiningPlanDevastator]

Thanks for your last update. Pictures are great. Keep it coming.

 

[madameleota71]

I'm in too!

 

[thumperbelle3]

Great reviews so far! Can't wait to hear your review of Biergarten as we were there last year and had a great time. Mostly because of the liters of beer we each ordered and the atmosphere , but the food was decent too.

 

[D&R love Disney]

Another member of Red Sox Nation joining in and looking forward to reading more.

 

[bluechic03]

We are always running to the parks at opening and never have time for breakfast, that is going to have to change! We are staying at Pop and will have to check out some of their breakfast foods...well at least once!

I usually do too, but this trip we tried to take it a little slower and I'm glad we did. Still made it to a few openings, but actually enjoyed a few breakfasts too. Still, I'm a park commando at heart! I would say definetely do the Pop Food Court at least once

can't wait to hear more.

coming soon!

Oooh! I'm in!!

I'm in too!

Welcome!

fellow southsider Sox fan here; can't wait to read more!

YAY! GO WHITE SOX!!!! Did you get to the south side irish parade this year? I miss that!

Thanks for your last update. Pictures are great. Keep it coming.

Thanks!

Great reviews so far! Can't wait to hear your review of Biergarten as we were there last year and had a great time. Mostly because of the liters of beer we each ordered and the atmosphere , but the food was decent too.

We had a great time too! I think it has to do with the beverage selection...

Another member of Red Sox Nation joining in and looking forward to reading more.

 

[let'sgo]

Oh boy, I can't wait to read more! This is going to be good.

 

[bluechic03]

Sorry everyone I just spent the last 45 minutes doing my post and then my computer decided to crash and I lost everything!!!!! So I must continue tomorrow Sorry for the wait but I will do double the reviews tomorrow I promise!

 

[bluechic03]

Sorry for the delay! My computer has a mind of it's own...

Ok so after out breakfast at Pop my Aunt and Uncle picked us up and drove us over to AKL to check-in. Then we went over to the vacation house they rented and swam/ate lunch. We were originally going to spend the day at MK, but alas more of my family vacation-crashed and they didn't want to shell out $$$$$$$$$$ for Disney! So we just had sandwiches/potato salad from publix. I do have to say that the house they got was awesome and only cost about 175/night with the heat for the pool....here's a bonus pic of us swimming!

Ok so after seeing my family for a bit, we were itching to get to the parks! Since they weren't coming with for dinner any more, we were a little worried about showing up with a reservation for 7 but only having 2 people. I was very happy to find out that it was no problem at all. Our ressie was for 6:45pm, we got there at about 6:30 and were seating right away. We sat with a family with one little girl as well as one on the way ( i think from Indiana) and an older couple from Canada who were Disney veterans. We had some awkward dinner conversation at first, but then the beer kicked in and we were a bit friendlier of course.....

I just have to say I really liked this place. The last time I was there was when I was about 5 and all I remember is being mortified when my family made me get up and dance with the band! Apparently these kids didn't care at all....

We really enjoyed the atmosphere, I don't know what it is but I'm a sucker for the Disney "you think your outside but you're really inside" theming. Some of my favs this time were Sci-Fi and San Angel Inn. Anyone from Chicago remember The Italian Village in the loop? It used to be the same kinda thing and I loved that place too! Here's some pics of the pretend German Village at night

So pretty and relaxing....

So now of course we ordered some beverages...we decided to go with the half liters since we had a few before we got to Epcot (at least my family brings booze!) I had the hefe-weisen (sp?), I always like this type of beer...

( I tried to edit this pic and kinda messed it up, sorry!)


DH had the oktoberfest, he said he didn't expect it to be quite as dark as it was and didn't like it as much as he thought he would. But alas, according to the pics he seemed to enjoy it

So then we got our food and man everything was GOOD. We go to these really good Bohemian restaurants in Westchester and on the west side of Chicago, and I didn't think this would be anything close to that. But I was pleasantly surprised, they refilled the cold as well as the hot foods very regularly and everything was seasoned well. Here's my first plate...

Starting from the soup and going clockwise: Potato Leek Soup, macaroni salad, greens with tarragon herb dressing, tomato salad, cucumber dill salad, butter balls, an upside down pretzel roll , and some assorted german sausages. I seriously ate the whole plate...I'm not ashamed I Loved everything but my favorites were the soup/pretzel rolls and the cucumber salad. I just love cucumbers and dill MMMMMMMM

And here is DH's 1st plate...

from the top and going clockwise: Cucumber Dill Salad, sausage salad, pretzel roll, brautwurst with kraut, weinershnitzel with what I think was called hunter's sauce, roasted chicken, and macaroni salad. He too, finished all this off!

We then decided to load up for round two as the entertainment was starting soon. Here's my 2nd plate....It's even bigger than the first...Adios Weight Watchers!

Pretzel Roll, more cucumber dill salad, butter balls, mac and cheese, salmon, weinershnitzel with hunter's sauce, spaetzel, potato dumpling, carrots, and german sausages. Um Yeah I polished this off too....but I ate pretty slowly during the entertainment so as not to look like too much of a pig

Here's DH 2nd Plate

Potato Leek Soup, Beef from the carving station, cucumber salad, what he thinks was german coleslaw?, tomato salad, macaroni salad, pretzel roll, and salmon. DH made me proud and finished his plate too

We then enjoyed the band and the bell ringer guy a bit in order to let all that food and beer party in our tummies. Here they are...

They were SO fun! TICKY TACKY TICKY TACK OY OY OY

I was refusing dessert but then DH said " Hey don't they have blackforest cake here?" and that was all I needed to hear! So here's my dessert plate:

Notice it doesn't include blackforest cake! They didn't have it tonight...oh well I was stuffed anywayz....starting from the top again....berry cobbler, apple streudel with creme anglaise, chocolate mousse cake, fruit salad, and bavarian cheesecake.
My favorite was the cheesecake...very light and creamy. The only thing I didn't like at this whole place was the chocolate mousse cake. The top was mousse but the middle was like very thick and dark chocolate ganache. WAY too heavy after all the entrees. I just scraped off the top layer of mousse.

Here is DH's desserts

He had berry cobbler, apple streudel, and TWO pieces of the chocolate cake. He actually really liked this stuff and poured the cobbler over it (which was really like just berries in simple syrup) I tried it with the berries on top and it was actually much better.

Overall we both really the Biergarten, it way surpassed both of our expectations. The service was excellent too. We decided we are going to try and make this a first night meal tradition!

After dinner I was on a "mission from god" for some School Bread! I had never tried this but it looked so good on all the reviews....plus it sounded close to a boston cream donut so I knew DH would like it So we waddled over to Norway and purchased some for breakfast in the morning. Here it is in all it's glory....

And here's DH in all his glory....

Gotta love crazy Disney hat pics!

Up next: Lunch at Mara

 

[bluechic03]

Today we started off with opening at AK. This was the first time I actually made it to a park opening, what a difference it makes in terms of getting on the rides! It was great....We started off the day with some food I brought from home. I packed some bagels and was able to get free cream cheese from Mara
Mid morning I saw the Royal Anandapur Tea Company and saw something else I had read about on the DIS....a Chai Freeze! So we stopped to get one and encountered a problem we ran into several times on this trip...their computers were down and unable to accept Dining Plan Credits. WHAT????!!!! I was way more pissed than DH, as he was not the one who budgeted the trip...so we paid OOP for this. You would think they would have a back up system or something, oh well. I did really like the drink though, it was cool and refreshing with just enough spice to it. Here's the pic...

After a morning of getting on all the rides we wanted, we decided to go back to AKL for a swim and lunch at Mara. We liked Mara as well for its variety and the specialty items. We ate at about 1:15pm and it was pretty empty. I ordered the Chicken Pita (grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and hummus on a pita) with fries and a diet coke. DH ordered the Chicken House Salad (mixed greens,chickpeas, tomatoes, parmesean cheese, and house vinagrette) and a Diet Coke. After last nights portion/calorie fiasco, we decided we were going to make at least one healthy choice a day and today that was fruit for dessert! Although we did decide to share some zebra domes as well, after all I heard how good they were from the DIS We also bought the new mug so we saved our Diet Cokes for later.

Here's the new mug design in case you haven't seen it yet

And here's our lunch spread....

And the inside of the Zebra Domes....

They were SOOOOOO GOOD!

This was another great meal. Everything was very fresh, service was great, and the flavors were excellent. The portions were also very big but good for sharing. Plus you can get Zebra Domes for dessert! I highly recommend going here for lunch, especially if you are staying at AKL, instead of the QS places in AK.

Up Next: Sci-Fi Dine In

 

[bluechic03]

After a nice relaxing afternoon lunch, swim, and nap...we headed over to DHS for dinner and EMH. We ate at Sci-Fi last trip and really liked it so we decided to do it again this time. Our ressies were for 7pm, got there about 7:15pm and waited until about 7:40pm to get seated. They were very busy up front and we actually got seated ahead of quite a few people that were waiting around before us. Here's a few pics of the inside of the restaurant

view from our car

"kitchen of the future" LOL

Cartoons!

We were shown to our car and waited for our server.....and waited, and waited, and waited. He finally showed up and was SUPER slow the whole meal. The couple behind us got their food at least 15 minutes after us, even though we ordered a the same time and we got an App! DH and I both ordered Cherry Diet Cokes to drink(sorry no pics). We were paying OOP for this meal (saving credits for Cali Grill) and wanted to get an app instead of a dessert. DH is a major spin dip fan and I <3 onion rings, but in the end the spin dip won out.

This was pretty good, although the chips were a bit stale. I also thought the portion was a bit small...the bowl is actually pretty shallow. The dip itself tasted like any other hot spin-artichoke dip, creamy/cheesey and delicious.

For my entree I ordered the Beef and Bleu salad: Steak with a wedge of Ice Berg Lettuce, tomatoes, bacon and bleu cheese dressing. This was very good with the steak cooked MR just how I ordered it. The only thing I would recommend is asking for the dressing on the side as there was a TON of it poured all over the salad.

DH ordered the Reuben with the cucumber melon salad. He enjoyed this alot, he let me have a bite and I liked it too. The cucumber salad was good too, a nice deviation from the normal FF. Don't forget the pickle!

We like this place again mostly for the atmosphere. The food was decent, and actually reasonably priced for Disney fare. The only problem was the slow server. Next year though I think we will change it up and try 50's Prime-Time for our DHS day. Or maybe splurge on the Brown Derby!

Up Next: Boma for my Birthday Breakfast!

 

[MelanieC]

Great review so far- Enjoying

 

[Steph9072]

Addicted to your reviews can't wait for more!

 

[momofdbsdc]

Great reviews!!! You now have me wondering if I should change Rose and Crown to Biergarten?!?! looking forward to the rest!

Kim
momofdbsdca

 

[TXMomof3boys]

We were planning to do the picnic in the park at AK but now I am thinking I would like to see AKL. So after your review of Mara's I thought that might be a good choice for lunch instead (plus we could use the DDP there - instead of OOP). Would you do Mara's over the picnic? Can you walk to AKL from AK?

I have always wondered what a zebra dome actually was - thanks for showing a pic of the inside. But I am still not sure what all the components are - is that cake and mousse inside?

Thanks for showing your salad at Sci-Fi - I thought it sounded good. I will definitely be asking for the dressing on the side (as I am not a big dressing fan anyway).

Loving your reviews and looking forward to more!!

 

[torsie24]

Glad you had two great evening meals in a row!!

And thank you for the Mara review, I'm pretty sure it'll be our most visited restaurant this trip, so it's great to read a good review.

Can't wait to hear about Boma breakfast!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great reviews so far