A January Engagement Celebration and first time dining report! Updated 2/10

[amandadisney]

I am so loving your reviews! Thanks for sharing! Your review and pics from Garden Grill look amazing! We have never dined there, and I have always wanted to, but end up not going. But, I think I am going to find a spot for it during our upcoming trip in May/June.

By the way, I'm not sure if you know for sure, but are the salads always made from the vegetables from the greenhouses from Living with the Land?

You should definitely try GG! I am not sure if the salad is always from the greenhouse, but that is what our server said when we ate there. I do know that the fish served can be different each night, but is always sustainable.

Thanks for the parade pictures!! I love all of the Pixar movies, so this parade looks like a must-do!

It was so fun! I think it runs at 3:00 everyday at HS.

 

[amandadisney]

This is the first time we tried TTS together. I had been there once for lunch with my friends while in college. So this was a totally new experience for us! And we loved it!

The atmosphere is so much fun in the restaurant. The whole place is themed like the Italian restaurant from Lady and the Tramp. There is a fountain in the center with Lady and the Tramp figures. We sat in one of the back corners that had a beautiful mural of Lady and the Tramp eating their spaghetti and meatballs outside...just like in the movie!

Our table was decorated when we arrived!

There was a twirly ribbon.

There was also confetti. What a great way to start the night!

Our server brought us out bread. It was warm and crusty, and served with olive oil. It was amazing bread. I just put some salt and pepper in the olive oil, and it was a great dip for the bread!

We shared the tomato and mozzarella. It was delicious, and more dressed up than the Via Napoli version. While the VN mozzarella was better, the whole appetizer was better at TTS because of the onions and balsamic drizzle.

We also shared the Caesar. It was okay. The salad was crisp, and the croutons were homemade. There was also a lot of Parmesan, which is a plus! The dressing was a little heavy on the anchovies, and not a lot of flavor. But it was still refreshing.

Don had the shrimp scampi with asparagus over linguine. Look how many shrimp and aspargus are in the dish! I was impressed. The shrimp were also cooked well, and the sauce was very good. Garlicky, buttery, but not too heavy. He loved this dish.

I tried the seafood pasta diablo. Which is basically linguine, shrimp, mussels, clams, and fish in a spicy broth. The pasta was cooked well, and the sauce was spicy, but manageable. There were also tons of shrimp and fish in the pasta. Not as many mussels or clams, but that was fine by me. A very good dish, and a great value!

Dessert made this our favorite meal! I choose the green apple sorbet, and Don choose the tiramasu. They presented the desserts together with Lady and the Tramp salt shakers. We loved the presentation. This is a great example of how no place in the world can ever top Disney at making a magical moment. BTW the desserts were also fabulous. The sorbet tasted exactly like a granny smith apple! The only drawback being that there were actually bits of skin in the sorbet, but I didn't mind.

We both ranked this our favorite experience of the trip. We weren't expecting anything because we thought the confetti was the great surprise of the night. We were wrong, because getting the dessert was the best moment of the trip.

 

[Linda67]

What a wonderful meal at TTS

It looks like the servers really went all the way to help you celebrate and make you feel special

 

[lissawynn]

It's nice to see Tony's get a good review. We'll be eating there for the first time in June.

 

[amandadisney]

What a wonderful meal at TTS

It looks like the servers really went all the way to help you celebrate and make you feel special

It was such a great experience. Disney magic at its best.

It's nice to see Tony's get a good review. We'll be eating there for the first time in June.

We loved it. A solid meal in an amazing setting. Really fun theme. I hope you have a great meal there in June.

 

[Hootiss]

Love the reviews and the S&P shakers. Congrats to you on your engagement!

 

[amandadisney]

Our second to last full day was our monsoon day. It was supposed to be a lovely day at the Animal Kingdom - a Rainforest Cafe breakfast, a ride on the safari and everest, Tusker House for lunch (which I was sooo excited for) and then a fancy dinner at Flying Fish Cafe to celebrate our engagement. Well...things did not exactly turn out as planned.

It was lightly raining in the morning, but we bought some ponchos and decided to head to AK anyway. By the time we get off the bus it is on the verge of pouring, so we decide on trying Rainforest Cafe early for our breakfast. Which worked out well since it was completely empty.

Long story short, the day turned into a monsoon, but I refused to leave AK without doing something. So Don and I trudged through the rivers of Africa to reach the Lion King after breakfast. The show was amazing (it was Don's first time seeing it), so even though we were completely drenched...it was worth it!

Now onto breakfast...Rainforest Cafe is so much fun. The food is what it is...on par with any of these "themed restaurants" (ie: Planet Hollywood, etc.). It's good hearty food served in enormous portions in a fun environment! Don't go for a gourmet meal...go for the fun!

I decided on Ozzie's Omelette...with cheddar cheese, onion, and bacon. It came with breakfast potatoes and two large slices of toast. The omelette comes with three add-ins (which could also be sausage, mushrooms, or green peppers, in addition to what I got). The omelette was HUGE! Very good too. The home fries had that nice crispy outside, with the soft potatoe-y inside! They also had onions and peppers which I always love because of the nice flavor they add.

Don had the Breakfast of Bandits with bacon and eggs over easy. He loves his runny yolks...which just make me But he also had breakfast potatoes and two slices of bread to mop up that mess. He loved the breakfast (minus the onions and peppers in the potatoes! )

Rainforest Cafe satisfied us completely. We are big breakfast lovers (usually we eat a table service breakfast every morning at WDW) so anyplace that can do eggs and bacon right is good in our book. But Rainforest Cafe also has huge portions and low prices...we love a great value!

The inside was fun as we sat close to the elephant and gorillas. I can definitely see how it would scare small children because we were there during one of the "thunderstorms." I am not going to lie...I actually jumped a little in my seat because it took me by surprise. It was still fun though!

 

[lizzyb]

Great reviews!

 

[amandadisney]

It's nice to see Tony's get a good review. We'll be eating there for the first time in June.

We loved it! Great ambiance and good quality food. I hope you have a great time on your trip!

Great reviews!

Thanks!

 

[amandadisney]

So the monsoon continues...where to go when its raining? Downtown Disney of course...what better to do when it rains then go shopping!

Actually we spent like an hour there going on a Star Wars vinylmation hunt because Don is a HUGE Star Wars nerd and refused to leave Disney without the vinyls after he heard that they "may" have been released. Que the very long searching procedure that took place across two days, one park, and DTD. We did find them at the end but it was a process. Which turned into a bigger process after we bought a whole case and realized we had no place to put them in our tiny suitcases!

Oh well...onto the food. Because we were on this vinylmation adventure, we ended up in a part of DTD we usually don't go to...aka anything farther to the left than the big World of Disney store! So we decided to hit up Paradiso 37.

1. We had our best server ever. I wanted to take home with me.
2. Queso = love. I seriously was wishing I had like 8 stomachs to finish the bowl, lick the bowl, and the proceed onto bowl two. The server gave me permission to lick the bowl, hence why I loved him.
3. Tiny corn dog bites. AMAZING. I want to buy a deep fryer just to make these at home.

Okay...obviously we loved Paradiso 37. We just ended up sharing some apps. So here goes...

First, chips and fire roasted salsa. All I have to say is, please, please, please start jarring this so I can take this yumminess home with me. So good!

Second, chips and queso. It looked more like a spinach and artichoke dip than a traditional queso...but it tasted like amazing. Different than a normal queso, but so cheesy!

We also shared mac and cheese bites (front) with a herb-y sauce and the corn dog nuggets with a honey mustard. I hate corn dogs (or at least I thought I did) but now I think I love them. The mac and cheese bites were crispy from the panko breading and cheesy inside...I see a cheese theme here to this meal. I kept stealing the corn dog nuggies since Don thought he would take over that part of the meal.

Next time I am going on a 3 day fast before Paradiso 37 so I can eat more. Such a good place to split a bunch of apps and have some drinks. The drink menu looked so good...maybe next time!

Here's the menu from their website: http://paradiso37.com/pdf/menu.pdf

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Thank you for the review of Paradiso 37. DS and I will have one day in Disney off the Dining Plan before DH joins us for 10 days of deluxe dining. I definitely had this on my list to try for lunch and it has now moved to the top!

 

[maiziezoe]

I love your reviews!!

My kids LOVED looking at your parade pictures. They screamed the name of every character.

I do not eat lettuce on sandwiches either. Ever. Salad belongs in a bowl... not on my sammy. I think lettuce waters down the bread and ruins something good!

 

[amandadisney]

Thank you for the review of Paradiso 37. DS and I will have one day in Disney off the Dining Plan before DH joins us for 10 days of deluxe dining. I definitely had this on my list to try for lunch and it has now moved to the top!

It's a new must-do for us. The chips and dips and apps were top notch. Hope you like it, and have much fun on your trip!

I love your reviews!!

My kids LOVED looking at your parade pictures. They screamed the name of every character.

I do not eat lettuce on sandwiches either. Ever. Salad belongs in a bowl... not on my sammy. I think lettuce waters down the bread and ruins something good!

Thanks! The parade was really cute...we loved the new additions of Ratatouille and UP characters. Glad your kids enjoyed the pics!

So good to have someone on my side here about the lettuce...everyone always thinks I am crazy. Especially when I go to a place like Subway and order tomatoes, mayo, onions, and no lettuce! Because they always start putting it on like they assume I want it...no thanks!

 

[klacey1]

Everything in the Paradiso review makes me drool-- looks so yummy!

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Loving this review!

 

[jabead]

Sorry to be late to the table...ummm, I mean to your review. Great job so far, keep the food coming!

Oh, and congrats on your engagement!

 

[amandadisney]

Everything in the Paradiso review makes me drool-- looks so yummy!

It was so good! Cheese makes everything better!

Loving this review!

Thanks!

Sorry to be late to the table...ummm, I mean to your review. Great job so far, keep the food coming!

Oh, and congrats on your engagement!

Thanks, and welcome!

 

[susieq76]

More Please! I am loving this review!

 

[amandadisney]

We are HUGE Chef Mickeys fans. I think it comes down to eating in the only character restaurant that has a monorail flying through it. We also aspire to one day stay in the Contemporary.

In lieu of going through the rain to Flying Fish Cafe (I know...we should have just trudged through the rain...) we tried to see if we could get a ressie for Chef Mickeys. The concierge at Pop said that wasn't possible, so we got one for The Wave instead. But we decided to see if we could get one at the restaurant itself. They told us 1 hour and 15 minutes!

We decide to wait around and go shopping. Yay to that! Of course, we get about ten feet down the hall and we're already buzzing. Not really sure why we got the buzzer and the "long wait" discussion when they had something for us. But we are convinced it is because it is just the two of us. We breezed by any waits the whole trip since most groups are 3+. Lucky us!

I started with some soup. I think it was ham and cheese-ish. It was actually really good, and not too heavy.

I moved onto my first plate. I don't get my monies worth! Some prime rib (really good!), mickeroni and cheese (bland), mashed potatoes (Standard), potato and cheese casserole (very cheesy), and some salmon (okay...I'm just not a salmon fan). Overall, it was an okay plate.

Minnie!

Goofy!

Second plate. Very random assortment of food. Pepperoni (weird, I have never eaten this at a buffet before), peel and eat shrimp, some marinara pasta (decent), and turkey pot pie (I think this was really good).

Don had two plates. They basically looked exactly the same...so only one picture. I told you he eats like a kid at buffets! We have chicken fingers, pizza, and mickeroni and cheese ALL from the kids buffet. BUT WAIT...this is balanced out by corn bread, a lump of butter, and cheesy broccoli. Very adult

My desserts. ALL GREAT! Key lime pie, oreo mousse-y guy, cheesecake, bread pudding. OMG I should have just ate dessert. I was stuffed, but I wanted so badly to eat more bread pudding and oreo mousse guys.

Don's lame dessert. I'm just saying...all those amazing things and he choose a tiny bowl of frozen ice water with reeses pieces.

Chef Mickeys is hit or miss. The characters and enviornment are so much fun, but the food is up and down. Mickey needs some help in the kitchen. We'll be back in the future, but maybe more for breakfast because they do that meal better. If you do end up there, I suggest just eating dessert!