A Foodie’s Foray into Fantastic Finds – 4/26-5/6 COMPLETE!

[quixoticvalue]

I think we can make that happen.

And we want a picture....

Yes yes! Maybe take two of the pinnaples and put them on your head like mickey ears! Thats not TOO embarrasing... right? right?

 

[oybolshoi]

Yes yes! Maybe take two of the pinnaples and put them on your head like mickey ears! Thats not TOO embarrasing... right? right?

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs!

 

[TigerKat]

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs!

Now you MUST DO THIS!!!!!!!

 

[quixoticvalue]

I think the pineapples would look better if I did something with them along the lines of Madonna ... I've always wanted larger bewbs!

OH noo! You beat my idea!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Now you MUST DO THIS!!!!!!!

OH noo! You beat my idea!!

My husband is going to lock me out of the computer if I keep offering to do stuff like this.

 

[Sunshein]

This morning I woke up scratching more than ever. I hardly slept the whole night. I had even more bites and for the life of me I couldn’t remember seeing any mosquitoes! I am not much of a complainer but I was getting tired here. But I was raised of sterner stuff and so I put my socks and walking shoes on, got the girls ready to go and then we headed over to the main building for breakfast at Ohanas’ with Lilo and Stitch. We wanted to take in as much of the resort while we were there as we could and this sounded like fun for the kids.

We had no wait to be seated, but I think we got in on the wrong table because we were long done our meal and waiting before even one character got around to us. This meal is done “family-style” which is different from most of the other character breakfasts. They started by bringing us some sticky buns which were the best part of the meal in my opinion. There was a pineapple bread that was absolutely mouthwatering and then your usual cinnamon buns. Sticky but well worth the mess!

They also fill your glass with their own special juice which was a mixture of fruits with some guava or passion fruit or something. I truly can’t remember what it was but it was very tasty. Then came the breakfast platter of sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and biscuits. This was usual fare and nothing special for me. I had some but basically enjoyed a second basket of bread.

We were also given a fresh fruit platter which was really nice too.

The atmosphere was really nice. At one point all of the kids were given a maraca and they paraded around the room to music with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. My DH was videotaping the whole thing since I had to parade with the girls and when Pluto went by he bumped his nose right into the lens! It made for kind of a humorous video clip! We were done long before any of the character got even close and they kept taking breaks which I understand. We waited though because the girls really wanted to see Pluto. Like a lot of kids they loved watching the characters from afar but when they got close, my kids all of a sudden become mutes. Oh well we had a whole lot of fun and I have to say it was nice to roll out of bed and walk leisurely over to a very cool character breakfast.

Once all the characters had passed we took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom. The convenience of this is amazing!

A little later we made our way to Toontown. The girls love Mickey and Minnie’s House. I picked up a few snacks at the little concession stand there and the CM charged everything to my room instead of using them as snack credits. Apparently asking her if they were considered snacks did not indicate clearly enough that I want to use snack credits. Oh well, the concierge fixed it all when we got back to the resort but it was more of a hassle than anything.

We decided to head over to the Grand Floridian for lunch. We like seeing new resorts as it gives us ideas of where to stay next time. I have never really been interested in the GF but it was on the monorail and we thought it might be nice to see. So we went to the Gasparilla Grill. The food there was awful! We were expecting more considering it’s location but it really was terrible. I guess they save all of the good stiff for the signature restaurants. We ordered a Rueben Hot Dog - Served with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, grilled corn beef, and French fries and a Individual Pepperoni Pizza. My DH chose the reuban hot dog and I just couldn’t stomach it. The pizza was microwaved and gross. I know most of the pizzas at Disney World are microwaved but some stand up to the test better than others. Even the restaurant was fairly unpleasant. There was no nice theming at all. The only neat part was that there were little birds flying around overhead and I am sure there are those who would argue that this was not a pleasant sight. Either way we won’t be returning to the GF for a counter service meal that’s for sure.

After that Dh took DD3 back to the resort and I spent a little Mommy and me time with DD5 and took her to Downtown Disney to scope out Goofy’s Candy Factory. The Marketside bus depot had been closed on our last trip so when we were dropped off there this time we found a great little water attraction that DD5 fell in love with. The water shot up out of several holes seemingly at random. We never did decide if it was following the music or if the two were independent. We passed it to go to the candy factory first and used 6 snack credits on great things like fudge and giant pecan turtles and rice crispy treats dipped in chocolate, rolled in m&m’s and then drizzled with chocolate. I truly love this place. There are two glass cases filled with sinful confections like chocolate covered strawberries and giant peanut butter cups and oh need I go on? I tend to save a lot of my snack credits and spend them in bulk at the Candy factory and keep them in the hotel room for midnight snacks or a very bad breakfast. On the way back to the bus I let DD5 play in the water to her hearts content, before heading back to the resort.

We decided to go back to magic Kingdom for supper and to watch Spectromagic so back to the monorail we go. Of course it started to pour and it didn’t give up after 20 minutes like most rainfalls in Florida. We gave up trying to ride attractions and made our way back through the rain to Casey’s Corner and ate some hot dogs sitting on the pavement outside as people walked by. This is our second experience at Casey Corner. On our last trip we stood in line for over 25 minutes and then scarfed down the food as we ran to catch a monorail to the Contemporary for the Magical Fireworks Voyage. This time it was raining so there were no indoor seats to be found and the outdoor tables were soaked. So I ordered a whole bunch of hot dogs and went to dress them. I found out the hard way that the ketchup just keeps coming once you press the button. I ended up making a mess of my kids’ hotdogs. I found my family huddled on the pavement against the restaurant waiting for me. It was the best we could do. At least this time I could actually enjoy the hot dog and I have to say it was very good.

Not the greatest picture but it is all I had.

Magically after that everything cleared up! And by now, a lot of people had given up and left the park! So we found a primo spot on the curb, bought a couple of ridiculously priced flashing rings and watched a Spectromagic.

Tomorrow: Crash and Burn… then over to Le Cellier!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Your little curb picnic looked wonderful! I bet a hot dog never tasted so good.

Great update, and I'm really suprised about the food at Gasparilla.
You're right, I would expect more just based on the location of the joint.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

That is so weird that Yak and Yeti doesn't give an itemized bill, and just gives a general amount of $35 to base the tip on. I checked AllEars, your DH's meal would have been only $24, and yours $31. I'll have to keep track of the cost of the items I order, so I don't have a problem when it comes time to tip.

 

[Poppinsme]

Love your reviews.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Joining in ... love your reviews so far!

 

[annie1995]

I really am enjoying your reviews!!! Can't wait for more!!!

 

[mefordis]

Wow...Sorry it seemed that way. But doesn't being a "foodie" involve some rather specific criteria? I mean I too love food but I can't consider myself a "foodie" just for that reason. I'm not specifically aware of the nuances of various cooking styles and effects certain combinations may have on the pallate, for instance. I love food and I know a lot about the things I love but am I a foodie? No way.

IMO, there is no way to discuss the restaurants on this list from the POV of a foodie. There is nothing truly unique or inspired on these menus...There may be VERY, VERY good food, to be sure but V&A's and Bluezoo are probably the only two restaurants at WDW to fall into that catagory, IMO. The rest fall into fast food or the assembly bistro catagory, which doesn't preclude them from being GREAT restaurants but does, IMO, preclude them from being foodie enclaves.

The OP is using the term Foodie correctly. I think you are talking about a "Gourmet". Which the OP did not profess to be.

Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1984 by Paul Levy, Ann Barr and Mat Sloan for their book The Official Foodie Handbook.

Distinguished from gourmet

Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.[1] Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.[2] For this reason, foodies are sometimes viewed as obsessively interested in all things culinary.

See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

 

[cdrn1]

Totally enjoying your review....keep it coming!

 

[Ms. Heimlich]

I'm always late!! How did I miss this review!

Great job so far...

I loved the Tuna Oscar at Kona! So sorry you didn't like it as well. I agree the macadamia nut pie is FANTASTIC!

I am going to get one of those pineapple drinks next time!! They sound GREAT!

I love CAsey's! Even sitting on the sidewalk is better than anywhere else in the world!

Keep it up!

 

[mavdav]

FANTASTIC review! DH and I are self proclaimed Foodies so your review caught my eye! Can't wait to hear more as we will be there in Sept for free dining. We just got back on Friday from a week there but didn't do the DDP, instead went cheap with shared counter services. Casey's Corner is a "must" stop for me when we go. I always have to eat there, but I get the corn dog nuggets. An all time favorite of mine!

Your reviews are so well done, and thanks for taking the time to do them. I might need to change some of my ADR before going! Better hurry...

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

The OP is using the term Foodie correctly. I think you are talking about a "Gourmet". Which the OP did not profess to be.



See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

No offense but I think your definition proves my point.

 

[Avojeo]

Loving your reviews!!! I have to admit I have never been to Casey's and after seeing your photos--we will are going this December for sure!!!

 

[Sunshein]

My husband is going to lock me out of the computer if I keep offering to do stuff like this.

Sounds like Jason and Gary are cut from the same cloth! I look forward to the photo as well. Bigger bewbs are great especially if you can take them off later.

Your little curb picnic looked wonderful! I bet a hot dog never tasted so good.

The hot dog was really good and you can never go wrong with a hot dog with kids. They were covered in ketchup when they were done but it was worth it.

That is so weird that Yak and Yeti doesn't give an itemized bill, and just gives a general amount of $35 to base the tip on. I checked AllEars, your DH's meal would have been only $24, and yours $31. I'll have to keep track of the cost of the items I order, so I don't have a problem when it comes time to tip.

Hopefully they will be up to speed with their billing system soon, but yes you should keep track. I understood her to mean the children too since she said per person. That could just have been a misunderstanding too.

I'm always late!! How did I miss this review!

Great job so far...

I loved the Tuna Oscar at Kona! So sorry you didn't like it as well. I agree the macadamia nut pie is FANTASTIC!

I am going to get one of those pineapple drinks next time!! They sound GREAT!

I love CAsey's! Even sitting on the sidewalk is better than anywhere else in the world!

Keep it up!

I think I was just expecting something like sashimi and maybe if there had been a lot more wasabi sauce I would have enjoyed it more. We will definitely be returning though. This was our favorite restaurant of the trip!

FANTASTIC review! DH and I are self proclaimed Foodies so your review caught my eye! Can't wait to hear more as we will be there in Sept for free dining. We just got back on Friday from a week there but didn't do the DDP, instead went cheap with shared counter services. Casey's Corner is a "must" stop for me when we go. I always have to eat there, but I get the corn dog nuggets. An all time favorite of mine!

Your reviews are so well done, and thanks for taking the time to do them. I might need to change some of my ADR before going! Better hurry...

Are you there during any part of the Food and Wine Festival? If so save your snack credits for tasting around the world. Last year the free dining and the F&W overlapped by a couple of days. I am really hoping to visit during the F&W festival next trip.

Thanks for the encouragement and I will get things up as fast as I can! I kept changing adr's right up until the last few days before we left!

Loving your reviews!!! I have to admit I have never been to Casey's and after seeing your photos--we will are going this December for sure!!!

Casey's is a great place. A good strategy is to go early to secure a great spot for Spectromagic and then send one of you to get the food at casey's. Then you can sit on the curb and enjoy the hot dogs at a nice pace and wait for the parade. The location is perfect for that.

Enjoy!

 

[Sunshein]

Ok so this morning was the final straw. I hardly slept a wink and my feet were almost bleeding from being scratched so much. I now had bites on the bottoms of my feet and up my legs. They were not getting any better. At 5:45 in the morning I dressed and headed over to the front desk in seek of help. The CM said it could be one of three things: mosquitoes, sand fleas or red ants. She called pest control to come to our room which was nice but we were checking out this morning and moving over to Port Orleans Riverside. There was no calamine lotion to be found anywhere, but the went upstairs to the store and brought me back a box of Benadryl and they offered to call in the paramedics for me. Paramedics?? I took the Benadryl. Later that day when I logged onto the internet, I had a note from my mom asking if there might be fleas around. She informed me that as a child I was very sensitive to fleas and that they would cause a huge reaction in me and not bother anyone else. Good to know!

Ok now back on topic! I had packed most everything the night before, so once everyone was up and dressed, I finished packing away our stuff and we carted our bags to bell services and then we shared another couple of breakfast platters including one last serving of Tonga Toast. I will miss you Tonga Toast!

We took the monorail to Epcot and the Benadryl kicked in. I was almost asleep on my feet. Within 15 minutes we did a 180 and headed back to the gate. We ended up at POR and sleeping away the whole afternoon.

Finally at 4:00 we headed back to Epcot for a 6:05 adr at Le Cellier. We checked in at the podium and while we were waiting we visited the Kidcot station with the girls. They got a mask and started coloring it. This was a lot of fun for them. They received a stamp on the stick and dream catcher to attach to the mask. Soon we were summoned to dinner.

Here are some nice pictures of Canada right outside Le Cellier:

We were shown to a nice table for four near a wall and thanks to the muted stone walls, the noise level wasn’t too bad. Being from Montreal we have no shortage of steakhouses and there is one called Gibby’s that has a very similar decorating style. I found that Le Cellier restaurant lacked the sophistication and atmosphere of the real thing and it had a bit of that cafeteria smell to it. However, it was still very nice.

Our server was very helpful and informative. I ordered a glass of merlot which was recommended with the filet I chose. I was reminded that I really am not a huge fan of merlot. I would have preferred a Pinot Noir or maybe a white wine selection. Unfortunately I am not usually brave enough to say anything so I just sipped the merlot. DH ordered a Coke and the girls their usual apple juice and water.

From there DH and I shared a Caesar salad. The croutons were very good and the dressing had a nice bite to it. We easily polished this off.

Of course the famous bread sticks were served and along with it, real butter served in little balls. To me there isn’t much better than fresh bread with real cold butter. The butter and real cloth napkins really add a touch of class and says a lot about a restaurant. I really like the multigrain bread. I really enjoy the nutty flavor combined with the softness of fresh bread. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pretzel bread only because of the salt on the outside. I guess that is the point of it being pretzel bread though.

I ordered the Mushroom Filet Mignon Served with wild mushroom risotto and white truffle-herb butter sauce. It was just ok for me. I ended up asking for some A1 sauce or HP sauce because there just wasn’t a lot of flavor for me. I am not a purist with steak. The flavor of plain steak alone does not do it for me. I need spices or sauces and really there wasn’t a lot there for me.

DH on the other hand likes a good steak. He ordered the New York Strip Steak - Served with balsamic red onions, watercress, and roasted Yukon potatoes finished with Bercy butter. It was cooked perfectly for him, charred on the outside and slightly pink on the inside. He found the potatoes pretty boring but he came for the steak.

DD3 had the pasta with meat sauce topped with cheese and she barely touched it. If she could she would live off of bread alone!

DD5 had steak and fries. She ate some of the steak and polished off all of the fruits and veggies that came with her meal. As a parent I am all good with that!

For dessert the girls both had a make your own sundae. Again this is a standard dessert on the children’s menu but it always goes over well with my kids.

DH ordered the Chocolate Moose. It was adorable so I was really hoping that he would choose this. He said it was pretty tasty, but it was more about the presentation. He actually said my recipe was better, but who knows if this was just flattery.

I chose the Maple Crème Brule. Crème brule for me is a really good dessert because it is rich and creamy but doesn’t leave you feeling stuffed or like you had way too much sugar. This dessert was creamy and had a really nice flavor. I really liked the twist of the hint of maple but other than that it was just a really good standard.

To wrap up, I wasn’t overly impressed with this restaurant and I would choose to try something another steakhouse first like Concourse or Yachtsman. DH however would definitely go back, but I know he is up for any steakhouse as long as I fit one in.

Tomorrow is a better day so tune in for Back to the Planet and Noodles at Spoodles!

 

[mefordis]

No offense but I think your definition proves my point.

Okay, if that is how you choose to interpret the definition I can't help you. But the point is, a Foodie might review a place like McDonalds, and still consider themselves be a Foodie.

Anyway, OP, thanks for the reviews. And I think we should stop hijacking her thread.

Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.