A Hauntingly Merry Journey (10/17-11/8)-updated 12/16

[Wood Nymph]

After getting our steps, we headed to our hotel, the Residence Inn at Flamingo Crossings. This hotel has become our go-to off-site hotel. We like getting a queen suite with a full kitchen and living room for a reasonable price and it’s not a bad drive to any of the parks. It gives us a lot of space and helps save money so we can come more often.

This looks like a nice place to stay, and you can save a lot of money compared to a Disney resort.

 

[mickey916]

This looks like a nice place to stay, and you can save a lot of money compared to a Disney resort.

It is very nice. It's quiet, clean and comfortable. We stayed a couple times at the Townplace Suites Flamingo Crossings which is a little bit cheaper but we didn't like it nearly as much. Since we always have a car it's pretty easy to drive to WDW. We usually pay around the equivalent of a discounted WDW value resort and get lots more room.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

And now the update you've all been waiting for...10/26 Phase 5…Disney Here We Come!​

After having breakfast at the hotel, we dropped DS off at the Charlotte airport. We were once again sad to have that phase of our trip end but were also looking forward to getting to Disney. DS was saying he was wishing he had enough vacation time to join us (especially because he knew we had 'Ohana reservations)! After the airport drop off, we continued on our drive to Florida.

View attachment 1030951

Our original plan was to stop at the Ford’s Garage in St. Augustine for lunch but we weren’t that hungry so we just kept driving. Upon arrival in the Disney bubble, we headed directly to Port Orleans French Quarter for a late lunch/early dinner at Sassagoula Floatworks. It has become a tradition to have dinner and dessert at POFQ on our arrival day. We ordered one of our favorites, the jambalaya to share.

View attachment 1030950

This is so delicious with just enough spiciness. This portion had a lot of chicken and andouille sausage. The corn bread was moist and delicious too. Don’t worry the ketchup wasn’t actually for the jambalaya, it was for the fries that came with our other entree.

For our other shared entree, instead of our go-to gumbo, we decided to change things up a bit and try one of the new chicken tender meals being offered throughout Disney World. This may come as a shock but I don’t believe we’ve ever had a chicken tender at Disney World before, with the one exception of once at Chicken Guy, but that’s not a “Disney tender”. We ended up trying them in several different locations throughout our trip. This one at POFQ is the Jerk BBQ Chicken Strips with Pineapple Salsa.

View attachment 1030952

We really enjoyed this dish. The chicken was quality chicken breast that was nicely fried and then tossed in a very spicy barbecue sauce and finished off with pineapple salsa. It had a lot more spice than we usually find in Disney food and we thought it was very good. We gave the tenders themselves an A-. The only negatives were that we could’ve used more pineapple salsa and also that there was a huge wait for them to prepare the dish. The jambalaya came out right away but the CM preparing the chicken tenders was really being very precise in his preparation. We were actually concerned our jambalaya was going to be cold by the time our tenders came out but they finally came out just in time.

We once again very much enjoyed our meal at Sassagoula Floatworks and gave it an A…so nice to be back in the bubble where we know we can find great food.

After our meal, we headed over to the Scat Cat Cafe for dessert. We were very excited to get the chance to try the Ghoulish Beignets! Based on the suggestion by a couple vloggers, we asked to have them served with extra marshmallow sauce.

Ghoulish Beignets: Mickey-shaped beignets dusted with Cookies & Cream powdered sugar and a spooky marshmallow crème drizzle

View attachment 1030953

These beignets were very good but very sweet. They definitely did not need extra marshmallow sauce. While we enjoyed these, we both felt we prefer the regular beignets. We gave the Ghoulish beignets a B+.

As an aside, as we were waiting for our beignets, we saw the “chicken tender preparer” sent over from Sassagoula to work at Scat Cats. I think his pace may have been a little slow for his fellow Sassagoula cast members as well, lol.

After our dinner and dessert, we drove over to Disney Springs in the hopes of getting a Snicker’s cake slice at Gideon’s and also to walk around and get our steps. Unfortunately Gideon’s was on a three hour waitlist so we didn’t put our name in. After getting our steps, we headed to our hotel, the Residence Inn at Flamingo Crossings. This hotel has become our go-to off-site hotel. We like getting a queen suite with a full kitchen and living room for a reasonable price and it’s not a bad drive to any of the parks. It gives us a lot of space and helps save money so we can come more often.

Edit to add total steps: 14,207 (6.37 mi)

Up next..trying some Halloween foods and a new to us restaurant in Disney Springs

It must’ve be sad to leave DS when he’d love to stay. I told a co- worker about Flamingo Crossings. It really is so close to being on property. My parents timeshare is at Orange Lake kinda across route 429 from Flamingo Crossings. We sometimes drive back to our condo by 429 too.
You always seem to have a good meal at Sassagoula. I agree I think I would’ve liked the original beignets better than those.

 

[mickey916]

It must’ve be sad to leave DS when he’d love to stay. I told a co- worker about Flamingo Crossings. It really is so close to being on property. My parents timeshare is at Orange Lake kinda across route 429 from Flamingo Crossings. We sometimes drive back to our condo by 429 too.
You always seem to have a good meal at Sassagoula. I agree I think I would’ve liked the original beignets better than those.

We really like the area around 429. I think if we ever owned a property we’d want to be around there too. At first we only got beignets at POFQ but once we discovered the food at Sassagoula we now have a first night tradition to eat there.

 

[mickey916]

10/27 Disney Springs Day​

We weren’t feeling hungry so we skipped breakfast and headed over to Disney Springs and arrived just as the garage opened. We like walking around Disney Springs before the crowds arrive. Since we didn’t get to Gideon’s the previous night, we planned on stopping there first thing. We knew we could’ve hopped in line as soon as we arrived and been first in line but that would mean we automatically would be standing in line for an hour before they opened. We preferred to walk around first and then join the line once it started moving. We appreciated the hidden Mickeys on the Morimoto Asia wall.



We ended up waiting about 40 minutes. Our plan was to get a slice of cake, a seasonal cookie, and any other specialty offering they might have.

For those who aren’t aware, Gideon’s sends out a cake schedule on the first of every month through email and they also post it on their Instagram account. We had seen that the day prior they were selling Snickers cake. When we finally got inside, they still had the Snickers cake available. However we have learned that if you get leftover offerings from the day before, they are a little stale. So, instead we ordered a slice of the current day’s cake, the Cinnamon Roll cake.



Typically we prefer the chocolate-based cakes at Gideon’s, as the vanilla-based ones are sometimes dry. This cake though was the exception! It had moist vanilla cake swirled with cinnamon cake and covered in a phenomenal cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Our favorite cake has always been the Chocolate Crumb cake (formerly called Pipistrello’s cake) but this one is right up there with it! It’s so good, we will have to get it any time we see it on the schedule. We gave it an A+!

We also discovered that there was a specialty Peanut Butter Apple Puff N Stuff for sale, so we got that too. Gideon’s description: “a fluffy Puff Pastry filled with a layer of Graham Cracker Peanut Dust and our oh so special Peanut Butter Apple Pie filling. To seal in all the goodness, we use a Peanut Butter Glaze and top it with Apple Chip Dust!”



This had a nice, flaky crust and delicious apple pie/peanut butter filling. We enjoyed it but it wasn’t a must get. We gave it a B+.

Lastly we purchased the Frankenstein cookie, one of the two seasonal cookies offered, the other being the Bride of Frankenstein with golden oreos instead of regular ones.



We really liked this. It is a rich chocolate chip cookie with pieces of double stuffed oreos inside and topped with oreo crumbs and M&Ms. We gave it an A-.

We didn’t eat all of these at once but snacked on them throughout the week. We brought our treats back to our cooler in our car after sampling the cake and puff pastry. We then continued to walk around Disney Springs. Earlier I took a picture of Jock Lindsey’s Halloween Bar, where we intended to have lunch.



Just before 11:30 there was a long line formed out front so we decided to join the line. As we made our way to the end of the line, we noticed Todd and Michelle from Traveling Around Disney at the front. We stopped to say hello, having met them this past spring. They are always so friendly and gracious. We took our place back in line and as soon as they opened at 11:30, the line moved quite quickly.

We selected an outside table with a beautiful view.



The bar was decorated nicely for the Halloween season.



For our lunch we chose two of the seasonal Halloween offerings. First, the Alien invader sliders: Crispy Nashville hot fried chicken, sliced provolone, dill pickle slices, cheddar-chive biscuit, and queen olives



These were so adorable and actually really delicious! The chicken was juicy, perfectly fried and only slightly spicy. The cheddar biscuits were cheesy and moist, so tasty!

We also ordered the Zombie Eye Bites: Traditional deviled egg filling, crispy fried chicken, and black olives



These were also really good! The deviled eggs were very fresh and flavorful. The chicken tenders were crispy and the “hay” on the bottom tasted like fried sweet potato strings.

We have only dined one other time at Jock Lindsey’s and wasn’t too impressed. This time however was so much better! Service and food were both very good! We gave Jock Lindsey’s a B+.

Up next a long walk and a new to us restaurant

 

[ddluvsdisney]

10/27 Disney Springs Day​

We weren’t feeling hungry so we skipped breakfast and headed over to Disney Springs and arrived just as the garage opened. We like walking around Disney Springs before the crowds arrive. Since we didn’t get to Gideon’s the previous night, we planned on stopping there first thing. We knew we could’ve hopped in line as soon as we arrived and been first in line but that would mean we automatically would be standing in line for an hour before they opened. We preferred to walk around first and then join the line once it started moving. We appreciated the hidden Mickeys on the Morimoto Asia wall.

View attachment 1031350

We ended up waiting about 40 minutes. Our plan was to get a slice of cake, a seasonal cookie, and any other specialty offering they might have.

For those who aren’t aware, Gideon’s sends out a cake schedule on the first of every month through email and they also post it on their Instagram account. We had seen that the day prior they were selling Snickers cake. When we finally got inside, they still had the Snickers cake available. However we have learned that if you get leftover offerings from the day before, they are a little stale. So, instead we ordered a slice of the current day’s cake, the Cinnamon Roll cake.

View attachment 1031352

Typically we prefer the chocolate-based cakes at Gideon’s, as the vanilla-based ones are sometimes dry. This cake though was the exception! It had moist vanilla cake swirled with cinnamon cake and covered in a phenomenal cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Our favorite cake has always been the Chocolate Crumb cake (formerly called Pipistrello’s cake) but this one is right up there with it! It’s so good, we will have to get it any time we see it on the schedule. We gave it an A+!

We also discovered that there was a specialty Peanut Butter Apple Puff N Stuff for sale, so we got that too. Gideon’s description: “a fluffy Puff Pastry filled with a layer of Graham Cracker Peanut Dust and our oh so special Peanut Butter Apple Pie filling. To seal in all the goodness, we use a Peanut Butter Glaze and top it with Apple Chip Dust!”

View attachment 1031351

This had a nice, flaky crust and delicious apple pie/peanut butter filling. We enjoyed it but it wasn’t a must get. We gave it a B+.

Lastly we purchased the Frankenstein cookie, one of the two seasonal cookies offered, the other being the Bride of Frankenstein with golden oreos instead of regular ones.

View attachment 1031356

We really liked this. It is a rich chocolate chip cookie with pieces of double stuffed oreos inside and topped with oreo crumbs and M&Ms. We gave it an A-.

We didn’t eat all of these at once but snacked on them throughout the week. We brought our treats back to our cooler in our car after sampling the cake and puff pastry. We then continued to walk around Disney Springs. Earlier I took a picture of Jock Lindsey’s Halloween Bar, where we intended to have lunch.

View attachment 1031355

Just before 11:30 there was a long line formed out front so we decided to join the line. As we made our way to the end of the line, we noticed Todd and Michelle from Traveling Around Disney at the front. We stopped to say hello, having met them this past spring. They are always so friendly and gracious. We took our place back in line and as soon as they opened at 11:30, the line moved quite quickly.

We selected an outside table with a beautiful view.

View attachment 1031353

The bar was decorated nicely for the Halloween season.

View attachment 1031354View attachment 1031358

For our lunch we chose two of the seasonal Halloween offerings. First, the Alien invader sliders: Crispy Nashville hot fried chicken, sliced provolone, dill pickle slices, cheddar-chive biscuit, and queen olives

View attachment 1031357

These were so adorable and actually really delicious! The chicken was juicy, perfectly fried and only slightly spicy. The cheddar biscuits were cheesy and moist, so tasty!

We also ordered the Zombie Eye Bites: Traditional deviled egg filling, crispy fried chicken, and black olives

View attachment 1031359

These were also really good! The deviled eggs were very fresh and flavorful. The chicken tenders were crispy and the “hay” on the bottom tasted like fried sweet potato strings.

We have only dined one other time at Jock Lindsey’s and wasn’t too impressed. This time however was so much better! Service and food were both very good! We gave Jock Lindsey’s a B+.

Up next a long walk and a new to us restaurant

That cake and apple puff sound amazing! I love chocolate but not a huge Oreo fan. We are usually at Jock Lindsey’s if in DS. Usually for just drinks but we’ve eaten there a couple of times. We also love deviled eggs!!!
We actually had a deviled eggs appetizer at dinner last night that I forgot to add to the what’s for dinner thread.
There aren’t many places around here that serve them.

Edit: I WAS so excited during the 1st half of game!!!

 

[mickey916]

We actually had a deviled eggs appetizer at dinner last night that I forgot to add to the what’s for dinner thread.
There aren’t many places around here that serve them.

I was curious where you went. Your dinner sounded great!

Edit: I WAS so excited during the 1st half of game!!!

Yup. Second half seems like they're playing the officials as well as the Bills...I still have hope.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I was curious where you went. Your dinner sounded great!

The Aviary in Swansea. It’s a cute small place. We’ve been there 4or 5 times.

 

[mickey916]

The Aviary in Swansea. It’s a cute small place. We’ve been there 4or 5 times.

Oh I know that place. I went there once for a school luncheon when DS was in high school (2016). I don’t remember the food, lol.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We love sitting outside at the Hanger Bar - as long as the weather is good.

First, the Alien invader sliders: Crispy Nashville hot fried chicken, sliced provolone, dill pickle slices, cheddar-chive biscuit, and queen olives

I can see someone spending a whole lot of time cutting the provolone like that. The sandwich is very cute.

 

[mickey916]

We love sitting outside at the Hanger Bar - as long as the weather is good.

Such a beautiful view!

I can see someone spending a whole lot of time cutting the provolone like that. The sandwich is very cute.

It looked like it was a bunch of triangles overlapping each other but I bet it was time consuming! It was cute and tasty!

 

[liamthompson]

It look like it was a bunch of triangles overlapping each other but I bet it was time consuming! It was cute and tasty!

I love these cute food arrangements...it always boggled my mind that somewhere, someone has thought "you know, I can make these chicken sandwiches look like aliens!"

 

[mickey916]

10/27 Eating in an Airport Hanger
​

After our meal, we walked along the Sassagoula River down to the Old Key West resort. It’s such a nice walk from Disney Springs to OKW. While we were there we searched for Orange Bird and found him in the Conch Flats General Store.



(That’s my DH doing his best impression of Wilson from Home Improvement, haha, actually he was looking at hats). We went to the community center and picked up our "prize" an Orange Bird pin. The CM was very excited to have people to talk to and was super nice.

We took the boat back to Disney Springs from Old Key West and walked around a bit more.



We decided to look in the app to find someplace with availability for dinner. We were thinking maybe the Turf Club but we didn’t realize they weren’t open on Mondays or Tuesdays. Instead, we made a last minute dining reservation for Maria & Enzo’s restaurant, a place we’ve never dined at before.

The restaurant is designed to look like an old airport terminal. It is really beautiful inside.



We were seated at a table near Gate 3.



Here’s a look at the menu:



As usual, we decided to share two entrees. First, we ordered the Rigatoni Alla Bolognese for $31.



The pasta was very fresh and well cooked. But, there was really no sign of any veal, beef or pork in the ragu. It was a tomato sauce with a few meat crumbs that barely coated the pasta. Also the ricotta was less than a tablespoon. I don’t remember even tasting the ricotta. While this was good enough, it was definitely not worth $31. The pasta bolognese at Primo Piatto for $14.99 is about the same portion size, has fresh pasta, and way more meat in the bolognese sauce. Here’s a picture from our Primo Piatto mobile order last spring for comparison purposes:



Our second entree was Torchio Alle Verdure:



We liked this dish much better than the bolognese. The pasta was very fresh and it had great flavor from roasted mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and a little heat from calabrian chilis. Again, however, we’re not sure it was worth $28.

We opted not to get dessert as we had planned to get the Halloween chocolate peanut butter churro donut from Sunshine churros.

Overall the restaurant was cool to see, service was excellent, but really way too pricey for what we got. There was no complimentary bread service and the pasta dishes were fine but not worth the money.

We gave Maria & Enzos a C+.

During our meal it started downpouring outside. Our server told us we were free to stay as long as we liked to wait out the storm. We sat for a bit but it didn’t seem like the rain was ending any time soon. We left our table and went back upstairs to the hostess desk and waited there for a bit. We had packed raingear but unfortunately it was all in our car in the Orange Garage. Eventually we decided we were just going to have to run for it. We left Maria & Enzos and sadly realized that the Sunshine Churros stand was closed due to the weather. I guess maybe that’s why they call it “sunshine” churros, not torrential rain churros.

We made it back to our car completely rainsoaked and headed back to Flamingo Crossings. Later we had some of our Gideon’s treats for dessert back at the hotel.

Total steps: 20,825 (8.28 mi) - you can tell we’re back at Disney!

Up next…our first time at Magic Kingdom during the Halloween season!

 

[Wood Nymph]

After our meal, we walked along the Sassagoula River down to the Old Key West resort. It’s such a nice walk from Disney Springs to OKW.

We stayed at Old Key West once and really liked our 2 bedroom villa. I would think that the walk to Disney Springs would be really nice in good weather.

We had packed raingear but unfortunately it was all in our car in the Orange Garage. Eventually we decided we were just going to have to run for it. We left Maria & Enzos and sadly realized that the Sunshine Churros stand was closed due to the weather. I guess maybe that’s why they call it “sunshine” churros, not torrential rain churros.

I hate when that happens. It's no fun getting drenched.

 

[rdkeim]

We've taken the boat to/from OKW/DS but didn't know you could walk. Good to know! I agree those pasta dishes look very overpriced. Ugh. Seems to be a trend these days. You were brave to run for it in a downpour but I guess you can only wait around so long.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

10/27 Eating in an Airport Hanger
​

After our meal, we walked along the Sassagoula River down to the Old Key West resort. It’s such a nice walk from Disney Springs to OKW. While we were there we searched for Orange Bird and found him in the Conch Flats General Store.

View attachment 1031812

(That’s my DH doing his best impression of Wilson from Home Improvement, haha, actually he was looking at hats). We went to the community center and picked up our "prize" an Orange Bird pin. The CM was very excited to have people to talk to and was super nice.

We took the boat back to Disney Springs from Old Key West and walked around a bit more.

View attachment 1031813

We decided to look in the app to find someplace with availability for dinner. We were thinking maybe the Turf Club but we didn’t realize they weren’t open on Mondays or Tuesdays. Instead, we made a last minute dining reservation for Maria & Enzo’s restaurant, a place we’ve never dined at before.

The restaurant is designed to look like an old airport terminal. It is really beautiful inside.

View attachment 1031818

We were seated at a table near Gate 3.

View attachment 1031814

Here’s a look at the menu:

View attachment 1031815

As usual, we decided to share two entrees. First, we ordered the Rigatoni Alla Bolognese for $31.

View attachment 1031816

The pasta was very fresh and well cooked. But, there was really no sign of any veal, beef or pork in the ragu. It was a tomato sauce with a few meat crumbs that barely coated the pasta. Also the ricotta was less than a tablespoon. I don’t remember even tasting the ricotta. While this was good enough, it was definitely not worth $31. The pasta bolognese at Primo Piatto for $14.99 is about the same portion size, has fresh pasta, and way more meat in the bolognese sauce. Here’s a picture from our Primo Piatto mobile order last spring for comparison purposes:

View attachment 1031819

Our second entree was Torchio Alle Verdure:

View attachment 1031817

We liked this dish much better than the bolognese. The pasta was very fresh and it had great flavor from roasted mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and a little heat from calabrian chilis. Again, however, we’re not sure it was worth $28.

We opted not to get dessert as we had planned to get the Halloween chocolate peanut butter churro donut from Sunshine churros.

Overall the restaurant was cool to see, service was excellent, but really way too pricey for what we got. There was no complimentary bread service and the pasta dishes were fine but not worth the money.

We gave Maria & Enzos a C+.

During our meal it started downpouring outside. Our server told us we were free to stay as long as we liked to wait out the storm. We sat for a bit but it didn’t seem like the rain was ending any time soon. We left our table and went back upstairs to the hostess desk and waited there for a bit. We had packed raingear but unfortunately it was all in our car in the Orange Garage. Eventually we decided we were just going to have to run for it. We left Maria & Enzos and sadly realized that the Sunshine Churros stand was closed due to the weather. I guess maybe that’s why they call it “sunshine” churros, not torrential rain churros.

We made it back to our car completely rainsoaked and headed back to Flamingo Crossings. Later we had some of our Gideon’s treats for dessert back at the hotel.

Total steps: 20,825 (8.28 mi) - you can tell we’re back at Disney!

Up next…our first time at Magic Kingdom during the Halloween season!

I think I’ve only been to OKW once to eat at Olivia’s.
Never been to Maria & Enzo’s mostly for that reason. Those Italian dishes shouldn’t cost that much and I’m sure there’s better Italian food than that. Your bolognese at the Riviera looked so much better!
There is nothing worse than being soaked. I don’t even like going to the parks anymore when I know it’s going to rain bad. I’m so spoiled. Haha

 

[mickey916]

We stayed at Old Key West once and really liked our 2 bedroom villa. I would think that the walk to Disney Springs would be really nice in good weather.

A stay at Old Key West is on our bucket list!

I hate when that happens. It's no fun getting drenched.

No and we had come so prepared! Prior to our trip we had seen so many people get poured on during the MNSSHP that we brought all kinds of raingear in case it happened to us. Sadly, we were unprepared when it actually rained! Thankfully though it did not rain on our party day so we can't complain too much!

We've taken the boat to/from OKW/DS but didn't know you could walk. Good to know! I agree those pasta dishes look very overpriced. Ugh. Seems to be a trend these days. You were brave to run for it in a downpour but I guess you can only wait around so long.

It is a bit of a walk but very nice. Unfortunately it was supposed to rain all night so we had to make a run for it.

I think I’ve only been to OKW once to eat at Olivia’s.

We've eaten at Olivias I think only once but we liked it.

Never been to Maria & Enzo’s mostly for that reason. Those Italian dishes shouldn’t cost that much and I’m sure there’s better Italian food than that. Your bolognese at the Riviera looked so much better!

The bolognese at the Riviera was so much better...not even close!

There is nothing worse than being soaked. I don’t even like going to the parks anymore when I know it’s going to rain bad. I’m so spoiled. Haha

That's the benefit of going often! We've been really fortunate and with all these trips have only had a handful of rainy days and, it seems like it's always Animal Kingdom for some reason.