A Fly on the Wall Meal Review: How we ate in WDW on the QSDP *YORKSHIRE FISH SHOP*

[TxRabbit]

We were in the Magic Kingdom.

It was just after 11 AM.

It was time to eat some food.

All these turkey legs were passing by. Kids in strollers, couples, friends, families. It seemed that every other person was knawing away on an absolutely scrumptious looking turkey leg.

Now my DS is a meat lovin man. And not just meat. Fish. Poulty. Lamb. Whatever. He'll eat it ALL. And he was commenting on all these turkey legs that seemed to be everywhere. Comments like, "oooooo tuuuuurkey legs!" and "oooohhhhh look at the turkey leeeegs!" which finally became "Can we eat turkey legs?"

We are fans of Renaissance Festival. We know what those turkey legs taste like. We see. We know. We MUST HAVE. DH and I were not complaining at all about this idea.

Specifically, we were in Liberty Square. There was a turkey leg cart located across from the Liberty Square Produce Market. I think this one was in addition to another one that was closer to the shooting gallery and in Frontierland. It was against the lake side railing, kind of on your way to the Haunted Mansion.

The sign on the cart said that you could get a turkey leg, a bag of chips, a drink, and a dessert for a CS credit. Rock on. We got two CS meals here. Two legs to share between the three of us. Two bags of Doritos. Two bottled waters. Two bags of premade chocolate chip cookies with two cookies per bag (think convenience store cookies), which were the only dessert option available.

We took our bounty over to the area where table and chairs are scattered about between the Harbour House and the Liberty Square Produce Market.

While DH started doctoring the turkey legs (removing all the skin and other things we don't care to eat as much), I hopped into the Produce Market and purchased some much needed caffeine (bottled Diet Coke for DH and a can of Monster Energy drink for myself) and, of course, fruit.

**** I interrupt this dining report for some personal commentary on Monster Energy drink...I don't drink soda. I don't drink sweet tea. When I need a shot of caffeine, I am often faced with a dilemma as to HOW to get the caffeine in the most pleasing way possible from these less than pleasing choices. I chose the Monster drink, thinking that it would be like a Starbucks Doubleshot. Um. NO. It was not AT ALL like a Doubleshot, which is coffee-like. It was a whacked cross between Mountain Dew and Gatorade. I did not care for it AT ALL. It was SUPER sweet and lightly carbonated. As an avid iced tea drinker, I do NOT recommend Monster for those who are similar. STAY AWAY from the Monster.****

DS is not a big veggie eater. Not that he loves fruit much better. And even though we were on vacation, I was trying to get the ocassional fresh produce in the boy some how. I got a red grape cup and a watermelon cup. I don't recall the poster, but someone here on the Dis made a comment on the high level of difficulty for getting Disney fruit cups opened. HOLY COW. I resorted to using my teeth to pull up on the tab and get the silly lid off. I just about cracked up when I saw another mom not even try any other methodology and go straight for the teeth...

The fruit was fresh. The grapes were plump, hard, and sweet. We don't like squishy grapes over here. The melon was firm (not grainy) and not as sweet as it could be, but still a perfectly wonderful accompaniment for lunch on a hot summer day in Disney.

To reiterate, we purchased two turkey legs, two bags of chips, two bottled waters, two 2-cookie bags of chocolate chip cookies, a red grape fruit cup, a watermelon fruit cup, a bottled Diet Coke, and a can of Monster drink for 2 CS credits and 4 snack credits.

I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the turkey legs, but by the time I had gathered all the extra provisions, the job my DH had done on them made them look less than picture worthy.

We could have easily split ONE turkey leg between the three of us, but logistically, it was just easier to have two. I think if you were to combine what we didn't eat on the two legs, you would have about 70-75% of one turkey leg. We split one bag of chips and saved the other for later. We drank both bottled waters. DH finished his drink. I tossed half of my drink (I did still need the caffeine to avoid a headache). We ate all the fruit. We shared the cookies from one bag and threw away the other bag of cookies, because there are WAY better caloric choices available than those cookies.

We were able to find a table in the shade, so even in the heat advisory August heat, eating outside wasn't that bad. The birds were entertaining. Watching the people was entertaining. There is quite a bit of traffic walking past this area. A street band, men in red and white striped shirts and white pants, came marching out from a side gate next to the Harbour House. They were a marching band style, big song, patriotic music kind of band that marched themselves over to the other side of the Produce Market and played. We had gone into the Harbour House earlier in the day to use the restrooms and also grab some ice water (free at all CS locations). As much as I was wishing I was sitting in air conditioning, the atmosphere of being surrounded by the ambience of Liberty Square was way better than sitting in a fast food joint.

The only price that I am completely positive about is that of the turkey leg, which was $8.00 each. If I use the online menus, then it seems that bottled drinks and chips are both running about $2.50 each. I think the Monster was one of those drinks that was $3.95. I think the cookies were about $2.25. The fruit cups are $3.51 and $2.75 for grapes and watermelon respectively.

Based on these prices, the CS meals were $30.50 before tax and the snacks totaled $12.71.

I've read mixed reviews of the turkey legs. We liked them. We liked the whole meal we put together. It was a meal that was condusive to eating fresh fruit, which is something that can be missing anytime you travel (not just WDW). I appreciated that. Even though we were sitting in the heat, who can complain sitting in the Magic Kingdom and soaking up that atmosphere?

 

[TxRabbit]

It was about 3 PM in the afternoon.

We happened to be in Adventureland.

We were munchy. We wanted something COLD because Oh eM Gee, it was HOT.

The snack carts were calling to DH and DS. Especially since there was NO LINE. The assortment of various frozen treats on a stick were just the ticket. DH and DS both opted for the Mickey Bars, the chocolat- coverer-vanilla-ice cream-shaped-like-a-Mickey-head popsicle.

2 snack credits.

Now, myself, on the other hand, was wanting the Dole Whip which I knew was from a vender in Adventureland. Aloha Isle. The pineapple deliciousness was what I wanted and I would settle for no less than that. I also knew that Aloha Isle was more like a counter service type place, with fountain drinks, and where there are fountain drinks, there is free ice water.

Leaving my men in the shade outside of the Jungle Cruise, and the totem poles where they could cool off a bit in the sprinklers, I headed over to Aloha Isle.

Here's a tip on Aloha Isle. There are TWO lines. One on each side of the building. For whatever reason, everyone, including myself, decided to line up on the first side we saw where the line had formed. The line was LONG. I just thought about how popular the Dole Whips are on the Dis and with it being so hot, expected that there WOULD be a line. It was also a VERY SLOW LINE.

As I was standing there in line, I seriously questioned whether or not I was daft to want to wait for this silly ice cream treat rather than just get the Mickey bar. Was it ridiculous? I decided that it wasn't silly to be willing to wait for what you really want. I knew my men were counting on me bringing back ice water. I also knew that I was the keeper of the cards (makes getting FPs easier) and that DH was stranded so to speak. Knowing their ice cream HAD to be long gone and that they would be even MORE thirsty now (doesn't ice cream do that to you?), I texted DH to say that if they wanted ice water to go get some, because it was talking so long for me to get my treat.

When I could finally see the cashiers, I realized the set up. There is a dividing rope in the middle of the front of Aloha Isle. In opposite directions, a line can form. There are two CMs for each line. BUT, there was NO LINE on the other side of the building. Every once in a while, an excited park guest coming from the castle side of Adventureland would hop into the empty line and get themselves a yummy tasty treat.

Otherwise, the CMs over there were having to try to yell at the park guests on the other side to come on over and order. YES, hop on over that rope and tell me what you'd like! Good grief.

Here's the take home: Check both sides of the building before you just hop in line!

Anyway, I finally had my Dole Whip in hand as well as a large sized cup filed with icy cold water, which I got to enjoy all by myself because my men had gotten their own from the taco place outside POTC. BTW...they said there was a drinking fountain in there that was icy cold. They stood in front of it and refilled their cups and drank and drank to their hearts content. I ate my pineapple flavored ice cream treat as fast as the avoid the freezer brain pain pace but beat the heat meltage would allow. And LOVED every bite of it.

1 snack credit.

Snacks down, we were ready for another ride.

 

[TxRabbit]

Even if you've been following our Magic Kingdom dining, it may not have dawned on you that the first food we ate this day was an early lunch, just before 12 noon.

We had ice cream about 3 hours later.

After one more ride (the Jungle Cruise), DS asked for popcorn. We came out of the Jungle Cruise area and passed by the same snack cart grouping that provided us with the Mickey Bars about an hour earlier. Upon seeing and smelling the popped corn, DS wanted it.

Do you know what the beauty of the QSDP and the 2 snack entitlements per person per night? The word: YES.

"Sure thing Dude."

I asked for the snack credit popcorn and a bottled water (because it was more convenient than hunting down CS ice water, which we will also do, and I had a ton of snack credits). The snack credit popcorn is a rectangular box that is comparable in size to many cracker boxes, somewhere between regular-sized and family-sized boxes. I could easily eat the whole thing by myself, but it was good to share, because we should be eating a real meal soon.

2 snack credits.

 

[bwilliamsjones]

I am so glad to have found your QS review. We just booked a "last minute" (last minute being under 180 days away and I didn't get to use the atomic time method to get all my ADRs) trip using the free QS. We have done reg dining our other two trips. I got on DISboards and started reading people talking about all of their ADRs and had a little panic and wondered if we had made the right choice. I got really sick of having to basically spend almost 3 hours per TS meal on our other trips (with transportation, early check-in and meal) and am looking forward to not having any commitments this trip (during busy Christmas season). We are going to do one or two OOP TS meals and then enjoy all the snacks and CS.
I loved hearing you talk about the Gold Peak Tea and blending the unsweetened with the white with citrus. That is what I did! I am usually just a water drinker, but got a mug for the coffee in the mornings. I wanted to feel like I was getting my money's worth, so I enjoyed drinking that tea. Since we have been back from our last trip, I have tried to replicate that using Sweet Leaf (Texan, here too!) or Lipton Green Tea with Citrus and the plain Gold Peak I can sometimes find at Super Target.
I can't wait to hear the rest or your review! Thanks for sharing!

 

[TxRabbit]

Great review of the Pepper Market. I love the look of that place. I don't think it will be worth our trip on our next stay (with no car) but if we ever end up at CSR, we might check it out!

The Pepper Market IS a neat place to eat. A whole lot of atmsophere for a CS. Definitely do if it ever fits in your plans!

I am so glad to have found your QS review. We just booked a "last minute" (last minute being under 180 days away and I didn't get to use the atomic time method to get all my ADRs) trip using the free QS. We have done reg dining our other two trips. I got on DISboards and started reading people talking about all of their ADRs and had a little panic and wondered if we had made the right choice. I got really sick of having to basically spend almost 3 hours per TS meal on our other trips (with transportation, early check-in and meal) and am looking forward to not having any commitments this trip (during busy Christmas season). We are going to do one or two OOP TS meals and then enjoy all the snacks and CS.
I loved hearing you talk about the Gold Peak Tea and blending the unsweetened with the white with citrus. That is what I did! I am usually just a water drinker, but got a mug for the coffee in the mornings. I wanted to feel like I was getting my money's worth, so I enjoyed drinking that tea. Since we have been back from our last trip, I have tried to replicate that using Sweet Leaf (Texan, here too!) or Lipton Green Tea with Citrus and the plain Gold Peak I can sometimes find at Super Target.
I can't wait to hear the rest or your review! Thanks for sharing!

I can SO relate to your concern! We booked our trip at the beginning of the summer. For past trips, even after booking there was so much to plan! Because of having to pick ADRs, there would be picking park days and to an extent how long I thought we would be in a park. You know the drill. With the QSDP, I was like...wow, I'm DONE, there's nothing else to figure out!

We had major events happen this summer (we moved rather suddenly) and so I had a big distraction to help pass the time until our trip. And honestly, I wasn't even sure exactly when the EMH were, etc. before we arrived. And for the first time in a long while, me, the planner... I got to see everything with fresh eyes. I hadn't played over what WOULD happen so many times in my head before we got there that living through it was somehow a bit like deja vu. Instead, I was so much more PRESENT and in the moment, and not worrying about being anywhere at any certain time.

My son planned our trip. I just let him pick where he wanted to go the next day the night before. And that's what we did. In a way, it was very challenging on a different level to be prepared for a spontaneous trip!

Relax. Enjoy. You made a great decision.

How funny that you did the same thing with the Gold Peak!

 

[FirstMagic]

I love your review writing style, really enjoying reading it!

I'm so glad you mentioned the Gold Peak ice tea dispenser and the four different flavors: Unsweetened Black Tea, White Tea with Citrus, Sweet Green Tea, and Sweet Black Tea - that prompted me to look up how many calories in the White Tea with Citrus (since it didn't have "sweet" in its name, the first time I tried it last year I thought MAYBE it was unsweetened, one sip told me otherwise!) I wish they had an unsweetened green tea option, but since they don't, I think I'll follow your tip to mix the black tea with some of the white tea, good idea!

Looking forward to reading more, I liked your impromptu picnic from the Turkey Leg cart!

 

[nutz2notz]

I'm really enjoying your reviews. Looking forward to more.

 

[TxRabbit]

It was definitely time for a real meal. Pushing 5 o'clock, it had been several hours, several rides, and too many degrees of heat to wait any longer to eat. It was also time for a break from the parks. Time to find a less stimulating environment. Time to find less people.

Naturally, my DH looks to me wondering what the options were for dinner.

All park options were OUT. We needed to get out. We were parked at the TTC, so eating at any of the Monorail resorts would be on the way to the car.

One mindset that I tried to achieve when we decided to plan this budget vacation was to not downgrade the counter service restaurants in my mind. Yes, it is fast food. But like fast food style restaurants in the real world, you have a range of restaurants from Wendy's and Taco Bell through Panda Express and Chipolte Grill to Panara Bread Company, Cafe Express, and PeiWei. WDW is not different. So part of my homework was to be able to pick out the higher end CS for those times when we were looking for something a little more healthy with a bit more ambience versus the times when literally, a burger WOULD do just fine.

IMO, all the CS options at all the monorail resorts had something unique that seemed to bring them up in class. Given the opportunity, I thought any one would be a great pick for a meal on an MK day and didn't really have a preference.

DS picked to eat at the Contemporary. He loves the Contemporary. We have never stayed here. We ate there twice last trip, the California Grill and Chef Mickey's. When he describes the Contemporary, he says that it feels more "gourmet" to him. I think he loves that the monorail goes through the resort as well. He's really hoping we can stay there the next time we visit WDW.

I knew from eating at Chef Mickey's, that the Contempo Cafe is right next door, literally on the other side of the pony wall. It enjoys the same high ceilinged, bright natural light, ocassional monorail passing environment. When we arrived, sometime after 5 o'clock, we were literally the ONLY people in line. There were just a handful of people seated in the dining room. Chef Mickey's was pretty empty also. The noise level was amazing low excepting that kind of hum that I feel is always present at CR due to the monorail.

(Again, many pictures found on the world wide web to enhance your reading pleasure. Some are mine, but some are from unknown photograhers.)

At Contempo, when you first enter the restaurant, there are huge electronic menu displays, kind of like Pei Wei, except that they ARE electronic and not static displays. Pictures will flash of the different menu options in one area, so you can see what the meal looks like. DS was sold on the Chicken Basil Pasta based on the pictures.

You actually order your entree at a kiosk. If applicable, there will be options for your entree. For example, DH ordered the Honey Lime Chicken Sandwich. He could select to have NO cheese and NO sauce, cheese with NO sauce, NO cheese with sauce, or cheese AND sauce. I ordered the Spice Crusted Mahi Mahi Sandwich, which I don't see on the menu here on the Dis. Both DH and I were given a choice of sides; we both ordered the Green Bean Salad.

After you order, your recipt will print at the kiosk. Take your receipt to the counter next to the bakery display. A CM there will hand you a buzzer which he will associate with your order. The buzzer will buzz when your food is ready. If you have an special requests for your order, this is the time to talk to the CM about that.

All the bakery items count for dessert. We didn't look around to see other options; we were too tired. And DS was cranky and having trouble concentrating on what I was trying to tell him. We had picked out our desserts when we saw that there was a self serve, soft serve ice cream dispenser on the far side of the refrigerator cases. Also, I think there was a box style freezer case with ice cream treats and popsicles. We would have rather had the cold desserts but didn't feel it was right to return what we had already selected.

We grabbed two bottled waters and a Powerade Zero drink. After reading an article in his company publication, DH is highly concerned with replenishing electrolights, especially in DS, and every once in a while he makes use drink some of these powerade or gatorade type drinks.

We paid the cashier and easily found an available half booth.

Contemp Cafe (and Chef Mickey's for that matter) are classified as OUTDOOR restaurants. This, because the monorail comes through the resort and the openings for the track are never closed off. THUS, cute little birds are all over these two restaurants. They perch on the light fixtures and other overhead places.

So BEWARE: check your seat before you sit. A bird may have been there first.

Fortunately, we were well prepared for this. The ladies at the table next to us however...

In short order, the buzzer buzzed and we feasted on:

The pasta with chicken basil cream sauce:

The sauce on this was SO CHEESY, when DS pulled his fork away with a bite, the strings of cheese would pull from the plate like pizza slices do when you serve them. This was very tasty. Different than WPE alfredo. If anything it was more creamy and cheesey. Definitely not disappointing in any way.

DH's Honey Lime Chicken sandwich with green bean salad:

You can see the pepper jack cheese and the salsa ranch sauce. There is a fixings bar for sandwiches. I saw tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles. DH thought the sandwich was tasty as is and didn't partake.

My Mahi Mahi Sandwich:

You can see that the fish was bigger than the bun. There was no skimping here at all. It was served with an apple claw which was just the right cool complement to the spice rub on the fish. To save on calories, you could definitely eat this as an open faced sandwich, or ditch the bread altogether. I didn't, because I hadn't really had to many complex carbs this day and I was hungry for it.

The green bean salad was interesting. The beans were obviously fresh. It was served cold, with an attempt at an Asian style dressing, something similar to what you would expect on Chinese chicken salad. Even as the beans were al dente and still crisp, they were somehow really wet. It's hard to explain, but my guess is that they blanch the beans, then shock the beans in ice water to halt the cooking process, and then they dressed with beans without first DRYING the beans. The dressing was therefore rather weak, so it was a lot like eating cold beans with seasame seeds on top. (Can you tell I'm a big Food Network fan? LOL.) Don't misunderstand. I was pumped to be having a non-potato, veggie side with my bun based meal. And since I like veggies, I ate them all, but they could have been improved with a little air between the shock and the dressing.

I missed taking pictures of dessert AGAIN. Sorry. DH and I each had a cupcake. It wasn't piled as high with frosting and topping as those at Starring Rolls; they were more modest than that. DH had white cake with a blue frosting. I had chocolate cake with white frosting. Both were average cupcakes. DS had picked a brownie, which was the size of an index card, covered in frosting and multi-colored, mickey head shaped sprinkles.

DS didn't have room for the brownie. So we covered the little plate with another little plate, wrapped that in a bag, and took it back to the resort.

We spent 3 CS credits here.

All in all, I was more than pleased with our Contempo Meal. The quality of the protein on all was very good. Seasoned without being too salty. For a low-carb take, you could easily lose the buns and just eat the protein. I liked having the unique side dish option also. On a future visit, I would definitely opt for a frozen dessert, as I wasn't impressed with the bakery selections. As I looked over at the food selections of the rather large family that sat near us, I saw the vegetable bake entree and several salads. Contempo is striking me as having a nice selection of healthy options for a CS eatery. On our future visit to CR, whenever that may be, we could easily eat several different meals at this CS location.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

That mahi mahi sandwich looks really good.

 

[TxRabbit]

Swimming makes me hungry.

So here we are, well after 9:00 PM. In our room, all cooled off, chillaxing on the beds, watching tennis, or some funny haha shows (as DS calls them), and I'm hungry.

Not super hungry. But hungry. I thought a salad would do the trick. DH agreed that he would like one, so I headed on down to the food court.

I called DH from the food court to report on the available salad dressings. If IRC, there was a low fat vinegrette type, a blue cheese, and a ranch. While DH was talking to me, DS suddenly realized that I wasn't in the room any more and that I was at the food court. Could I get him some pizza?

Sure dude.

In my quest for getting fresh produce of some sort into the kid, I picked out a carrots and celery with dip pack for dessert, grabbed bottled water for the drink, and a pepperoni pizza entree to complete a counter service meal. The pizzas at the food court are popular items; the one I got was hot out of the oven, fresh off the press.

I got two tossed salads for DH and myself.

I saw the beer selection in the refrigerator area. Beer sounded yummy. There were the typical mass produced variety, Red Stripe, Corona, and Heineken. Most of the beers were of the 16 oz size. The sign limited sales to two drinks per person.

I carried everything back to the room on the tray. There were grocery bags available at the cashier, and she offered me the choice between those and just taking the tray. The tray was way easier.

1 CS credit.
2 snack credits.
$12.84 OOP for 2 Heinekens.

In the room, we moved the table to inbetween the beds; Sat on the beds and ate our late night snack. DS did his typical and left the crusts, which DH and I used as a kind of bread stick with our salads. Not the worst crust, nor the best crust ever, but certainly edible. DS devoured his pizza, which he was totally in the mood for. You can't go too wrong with gobs of melted cheese and pepperoni. He also ate the carrots. DH and I ate what we wanted of the celery. The food court was definitely adequate for outfitting our family's late night snack attack.

 

[TxRabbit]

I love your review writing style, really enjoying reading it!

I'm so glad you mentioned the Gold Peak ice tea dispenser and the four different flavors: Unsweetened Black Tea, White Tea with Citrus, Sweet Green Tea, and Sweet Black Tea - that prompted me to look up how many calories in the White Tea with Citrus (since it didn't have "sweet" in its name, the first time I tried it last year I thought MAYBE it was unsweetened, one sip told me otherwise!) I wish they had an unsweetened green tea option, but since they don't, I think I'll follow your tip to mix the black tea with some of the white tea, good idea!

Looking forward to reading more, I liked your impromptu picnic from the Turkey Leg cart!

Thanks! Play with the mix, you can get it so that it isn't too sweet.

Impromptu was what this trip was all about. It was such a fun.

I'm really enjoying your reviews. Looking forward to more.

Thanks!

That mahi mahi sandwich looks really good.

It was really good. I'm a big fish fan. It was a welcome surprise to see this on the menu, something kind of unexpected in a counter service restaurant. Especially being a grilled option, not a deep fried option! I would definitely order it again.

 

[darthtatty]

great reports, esp the Contempo cafe as we stay at the CR so usually eat a few meals there
I remember the system working differently when we were there last time.
1-order at the screen points
2-choose your extras
3-pay, the till person gives you a pager
4-when pager goes off collect at kitchen counter

thanks for the pictures, cant wait to be there again

 

[TxRabbit]

great reports, esp the Contempo cafe as we stay at the CR so usually eat a few meals there
I remember the system working differently when we were there last time.
1-order at the screen points
2-choose your extras
3-pay, the till person gives you a pager
4-when pager goes off collect at kitchen counter

thanks for the pictures, cant wait to be there again

This could very well be the normal order of things. When we went we were literally the only people there in the ordering area and we were wondering about and looking so lost, a CM came over to help us out because we so obviously need it! It could be that they gave us the pager early with the lack of people...

I also can't wait to eat there again. We are going to be saving up for a Contemporary stay as that's where DS really wants to go next time. I was hoping to stay at any monorail resort next time. Glad to read that my own thoughts that multiple meals at Contempo makes a face.

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

These are really great reviews! Each one is better than the other!

 

[TxRabbit]

It was EPCOT day!

We had been there since just after it opened (we didn't quite make rope drop). We rode DS's favorite ride (twice). We were headed for FPs for Soarin' and breakfast at Sunshine Seasons, which I knew was the only thing open for breakfast at this time, about 10:00 AM.

It can be quite a long trek to get to Soarin', especially if you are coming from Test Track; marching to the opposite side of Future World, up the incline into The Land, around the perimeter of the large interior, and down either escaltors or stairs to a basement like level where you find the entrance to Soarin' (and it's FP distribution) and Sunshine Seasons right next door. If you haven't already eaten in your room, when you get to Soarin' in the morning, grabbing some food at Sunshine Seasons makes for an economical use of leg power.

Sunshine Seasons is a food court type restaurant. The sound level benefits from the high ceilings. There's a lot of natural light with the skylights. The is a TON of seating here.

Again, these images were found here on the Dis. My DH ended up carrying my camera this trip, and consequently, I didn't take as many pictures as previous trips.

The view from above:

Eye level view of one of the seating areas:

Food service area:

For lunch and dinner, eating at Sunshine Seasons will have all the pros and cons of eating at ANY food court. A great variety of food prepared at different food stations with the consequence that your party may or may not be served their food at the same time if they go to different food stations.

For breakfast, only one food service station was open with hot food. There was basically one adult entree selection, a combo platter with a little bit of everything. I don't see it offered on the menu here on the Dis or allears. The combo plate was scrambled eggs, sausage links, bacon, potatoes, a biscuit, and two triangles of French toast. There was a wonderful looking croisant/berry type bread pudding thing that was also on the food board. I really wanted just a taste of it, but they would not substitute this for anything in the combo platter.

To round out our CS credit, DH got a cup of coffee. I got two fountain drinks of iced tea (you know, you need so much ice in the cup to counter the more often than not room temperature tea, that to get my caffeine fix going, I commandeered one of DS's drink entitlements.) We also got 3 bottled waters. You get two drinks for breakfast per CS credit with a meal plan. DS also got a cup of iced water. We used 3 CS credits here.

I didn't take a picture of this meal. This was such a relaxed trip, I didn't take pictures of things that I knew had been photographed so many times over.

The eggs were SO buttery. They were light and fluffy. The potatoes were seasoned cubed potatoes fried with little bits (extremely little bits) of onion and green bell pepper. At first DS didn't want the potatoes, because the graphic of the potatoes had huge pieces of green showing, and DS doesn't eat green. I quickly urged him to look at the ACTUAL potatoes which looked like there was nothing but potato in the tray. They didn't have skins on. They weren't too salty.

The bacon was FLOPPY and VERY undercooked. Somehow, Sunshine Seasons does not know the Disney secret for making the best bacon on the planet. My DH likes limp bacon, but even he wouldn't eat it. Luckily, the sausage links were good; these were the little kind, skinny links; not the larger ones found at most of the buffets. As such, they had a crisp edge and weren't too greasy.

The biscuit was a decent buttermilk style (whether it had buttermilk or not, I'm not sure) biscuit. I was disappointed that we couldn't find ANY honey anywhere. The French toast triangles were very inconsistent in size, ranging from looking like 1/2 a slice to 1/4 a slice of bread. Flavorwise, they had that classic French toast flavor. Because there was no extra room on our plates, we just used the premade, typical of fast food maple syrup cup as a dip and ate the French toast like bread sticks.

The food was easy to eat. It had enough flavor and variety to pick and choose what you wanted to eat. It was easy to stick to only eating enough to satisfy because it wasn't anything special. No guilt at throwing away what you didn't want to eat.

I would not return to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast if I could otherwise arrange my day. Not that it was bad. The food just wasn't that good and the atmosphere didn't make up for the average cafeteria-like food. It reminded me of eating at Ikea, if you have ever eaten there. We walked through the CS in France later that morning, just checking it out while we were there. BY FAR, I would work it so that I had a snack or something enough to tide me over until WS opened at 11:00 AM to be able to eat breakfast in France. BY FAR. There was wonderful looking, make-me-drool food offerings in France. I'd be concerned about protein, since the majority of offerings there were carb loaded. I think a prefect plan would be hard-boiled eggs and fruit in our room, then a scrumptious pastry from France. THOSE calories looked worth it.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Oh I hear you on the 'calories have to be worth it'. It is amazing the junk I used to eat that nauseates me to just think about nowadays.

Those prepackaged choc and carrot cakes at DW are among them. I parcel them out to those sitting around me and even folks who are not on the DP are not as eager to have a free dessert as one might think.

I like the SS. It has so many choices, lunch/dinner being much better than the breakfast. There is something for everyone and last time I was there the CM let me seat my husband with his food, before I paid for it, while I went and got my food. I thanked them so very much for trusting me. It made my visit a whole lot easier and better.

The desserts are wonderful, lots of interesting choices and so many healthy alternatives for those who insist on being good.

We always eat there before or after going to Soaring.

Lots better seating than there used to be and you can get free refills for your drinks before heading back out. Whats not to love?

Slightly Goofy

 

[disneyfav4ever]

If I go to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast, I never get their hot entree, they do have some nice bakery items though, most of which you can get for a snack credit. It's excellant for lunch and dinner though.

 

[TxRabbit]

Four hours had past since our breakfast. It was time for lunch.

I knew I wanted to eat in Morocco at the Tangierine Cafe. We had eaten here three years ago, and not since. I remembered really enjoying our meal. It was one of the few times that I had eaten lamb.

I recently read about the health benefits of lamb. Now we try to eat lamb several times a month. It's expensive, or I would eat it at least once week. Anyway, I knew that Tangierine Cafe would be one of the only CS locations that would serve lamb, and I was really in the mood for it.

The restaurant has two indoor rooms. Where the food is served, there are numerous tables and chairs. The food counter is huge. Under glass displays are wrapped plates showing you exactly what each item on the menu looks like. Order at the cashiers and pick up your order at the end of the counter.

We used two CS meal credits for sharing between the three of us. One Swarma Chicken and Lamb Platter and one Swarma Lamb Platter. Each was served a generous portion of swarma protein topped with a white sauce (think of a refreshing yogurt based type topping) and sliced (I think marinaded onions), a scoop of tabouleh, Tangierine couscous, and hummus, and Morrocan bread. I asked to substitute the flatbread for the roll on one of the platters. We got bottled waters for drinks and baklava for dessert.

When the food was served, it looked exactly like it looked two years ago and in most every other picture I've ever seen of this dish. I was so hungry, I didn't bother taking a new picture. Here's the one from two years ago:

Subbing flatbread for the roll was a good call. They gave us an entire flatbread, which helped for sharing purposes. It's a bread kind of like Naan, which my whole family loves. It helped to have something that you could use to eat the hummus. I'm used to putting hummus ON something (bread, pita chips, veggies), so I think it is rather strange to serve it this way. The tabouleh is a classic preparation, where the parsley is the star of the dish, you don't really notice the grain much at all. I can't remember exactly but I think the couscous has some dried fruit and chick peas in it. IIRC, the dressing has spicy (think cinnamon or other similar) flavor to it.

Let's talk about shawarma. I'm not an expert, but I did a bit of research, because I wondered if I could recreate the dish at home. The meat or chicken is supposed to marinade for several hours. The defining characteristic of shawarma is the unique method of cooking. It is cooked in a vertical cooker with the meat essentially in the form of a huge log with a metal skewer run through it; the skewer, and thus the meat, rotate in the cooker. The cooker is HOT. The meat cooks from the outside in. The vertical tower of meat does something special in the way the juices of the meat can be retained and have it basically self marinade as the juices run down the length of the log.

At Tangierine Cafe, you may or may not see the cookers. Like most CS, the various components of the various dishes are all along the prep counter. If the prep counter needs replenishing, you will get to see them slice the meat off of the tower in the cooker. This isn't the one from WDW, but here's the idea:

Like before, we really enjoyed our meal here. We did not sit in the main room. We sat in the room you would first enter from the "streetside" of Epcot. There are four, and only four, booths in this room. We sat in the exact same one we did three years ago. Here:

The chairs in the main dining room look really uncomfortable to me. Sitting in the booth was a nice break. Sit in a smaller room. Watch the people traffic go by. Feel like you are in a nice little conversation pit.

The baklava dessert is way too sweet for me. My men love it. I only had a bite or two.

This CS is rather expensive. It's an excellent use of at least one CS credit, just to try some seemingly authentic Moroccan cuisine. You can easily stretch CS credits here too, because the servings are HUGE.

Whenever the fancy strikes, we will definitely return to Morocco for good eats.

 

[TxRabbit]

These are really great reviews! Each one is better than the other!

Thank you! I have fun writing these reviews.

Oh I hear you on the 'calories have to be worth it'. It is amazing the junk I used to eat that nauseates me to just think about nowadays.

Those prepackaged choc and carrot cakes at DW are among them. I parcel them out to those sitting around me and even folks who are not on the DP are not as eager to have a free dessert as one might think.

I like the SS. It has so many choices, lunch/dinner being much better than the breakfast. There is something for everyone and last time I was there the CM let me seat my husband with his food, before I paid for it, while I went and got my food. I thanked them so very much for trusting me. It made my visit a whole lot easier and better.

The desserts are wonderful, lots of interesting choices and so many healthy alternatives for those who insist on being good.

We always eat there before or after going to Soaring.

Lots better seating than there used to be and you can get free refills for your drinks before heading back out. Whats not to love?

Slightly Goofy

We generally avoid the prepackaged desserts. I think the chocolate chips cookies we got with our turkey legs were the only ones this trip. I remembered from previous visits that they just aren't worth it. We'll generally get a fresh made dessert, or some substitute that they'll allow (even bottled water LOL).

So glad that SS is accomodating to your needs. I've seen many pictures of lunch and dinner type food from there, and it looks much better than what we had.

If I go to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast, I never get their hot entree, they do have some nice bakery items though, most of which you can get for a snack credit. It's excellant for lunch and dinner though.

I would have gone that route, and likely will in the future, but I needed some protein and not just a big carb load in the morning. I didn't even tempt myself with a look at the bakery items. LOL.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

We usually arrange to eat at Tangierine when Morrockin (sp) and the belly dancer are scheduled. Free entertainment is always welcome.

I am thinking I will try the meatball platter next time. Looks sort of interesting. I figure why eat something that you can have at home when you are traveling.

I love baklava. They sell trays of it here at Christmas time and I have to pry myself away from them. I could eat them ALL and I do not care for sweets as a rule. Think the nuts/protein would cancel out all that sweet? Me neither.

You reviews give such a great overview of the exterior, interior, seating as well as the food. Thank you for all your extremely hard work. I have never completed a TR in my life and am not apt to.

Slightly Goofy