A Little Sour, but a Lot of Fun: Spring Break 2019 DR *Updated 11/17 Complete!

[Hettie]

Hello! Here to join along on your dining report! My sister and her husband ate at Olivia's for the first time, for breakfast, last summer, and really enjoyed it. They're going back to WDW in July, and plan on eating dinner there. Everything you had sounds really delicious. We had breakfast there in the past, when we stayed at OKW, which was many moons ago, but I don't think we've ever had dinner at Olivia's. Seems like we'll have to give it a try. It's just so hard fitting in all the restaurants we want to eat at! Your son is adorable. I was LOL imagining the conversations you were having in the bathroom stall. I have four little grandsons, ages 7 months, 5, 6 & almost 7, and I've heard it all! Sorry your LTT lunch was disappointing. My husband & I had lunch there last year, and it was just okay. I hate putting out money for "just okay" food, especially if it's table service. I'd rather have hot dogs at Casey's. I agree with you about the MK having scant options for early morning counter service food. There really isn't anything besides Starbucks.

Hi! Thanks for joining in! Yeah, "just okay" food makes it painful to shell out the $100 we typically spend on a table service meal by the time drinks and tip are included.

Sign me up for this one, can't wait to hear more.

I recently had some battered cauliflower at a Mexican restaurant local to me and my partner, I really enjoyed it.

A shame about your experience at LTT, I think you're on the money with the fact it was so busy, fingers crossed it's much better next time for you guys, and me in August!

Thanks for joining in! I order fried cauliflower anytime I see it on a menu and it's typically great. I bet LTT will be better when it's not so busy, at least I hope so!

Loving it!

Hello and thanks!!

Following along too...

Welcome!!!

Yup, those spring break crowds are no joke. Pretty positive last year was our one and only spring break trip lol! Thanksgiving is heaven compared to spring break. Of course we're doing NYE this year so we aren't necessarily smart folk

Magic Kingdom ended up being the only day when we really "felt" the spring break crowds. When Asher can stay awake for After Hours, we will definitely go that route if we do spring break again.

Great start to your trip!!!! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you!

And its LTT for the fail....We've really enjoyed this in the past, so maybe spring break had them a bit discombobulated We always do lunch instead of dinner and I don't think I've ever seen it remotely crowded at 1130

I was surprised at how packed it already was. I made the 11:30 ADR thinking we would beat the huge crowds, but I guess everyone was taking anything they could get that day as far as ADRs.

 

[Hettie]

Day 2 continued...

After lunch, we headed to 7DMT for Asher’s first ride ever.



He was a little terrified, but he said it was fun. Hopefully he’s not too traumatized because I need a future Expedition Everest buddy. Chad can’t ride more than twice in a row, so boring.

Asher was weirded out enough that he actually protested going on POTC, but we just shut that down and made him go. That would totally have been another Doc McStuffins incident, in which he chickened out when it was his turn to meet, then spent the next hour crying about it. He ended up being fine on pirates though.

After a walk through the treehouse, Asher wanted to ride the carpets and Chad wanted a Dole Whip, so I kindly offered to take one for the team and ride the carpets. Afterward, I couldn’t find Chad at our meeting spot so I wandered back over to Aloha Isle and he was still in line. It ended up being a 30 minute wait for a Dole Whip and he was SUPER grumpy. (The mobile order area was backed up too!) I couldn’t get the citrus swirl that I wanted because that line was equally long. It was just too crowded and all the shady spots were occupied and we weren’t really having fun anymore, so we called it after just 6 hours in the MK. Seemed like a waste of a park day since it was too late to leave and come back later, but if nobody is having fun anymore, what else are you gonna do? It was also hot and looked as if it might be the only good pool day we would have the entire trip, so a swim ended up being our new plan for the afternoon.

After a refreshing and relaxing (JK, have you ever taken a preschooler who can’t swim to a pool???) swim and some freshening up, we made our way over to Disney Springs for dinner. We wanted something casual and hadn’t been to Jock Lindsey’s yet, so decided to check that out.

We sat inside so that we could look at all the props and soak up the atmosphere. Chad loves Indiana Jones so he was super excited to finally stop in here. The interior is much smaller than I imagined, I like how cozy it is, but I bet it gets crowded when busy!

My photos from here are terrible with my old phone and the dark interior, but you can kinda see what the food looks like.

Of course we start with drinks:



They had a French 75 on the seasonal drinks menu ($12.50), which is one of my favorites and I couldn’t pass it up. It was well made, I enjoyed it.

Chad had a rum drink, as usual:



Bam's Barnstormer
Gosling's Black Seal Rum, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer, and fresh Lime Juice --$11.00

He liked this (he should, it’s what he always drinks!), the Fever-Tree Ginger Beer is a nice touch.

Then it was time to figure out food. We were asking our server about modifying the sliders so that they would work for Asher and found out that they have some kid-friendly options that aren’t on the menu. I think there was a pizza and probably some chicken nuggets. Asher chose the kid’s sliders, which was just two plain mini burgers with fries and a cookie.




If you go there and the menu won’t quite work for any children in your party, be sure to ask what they have for kids. I was happy that they had additional options because Chad and I could order what we wanted, rather than what we hoped the kid would eat.

We started with:



Doctor Astorga's Queso Fundido
A skillet of Melted Soft Cheeses topped with fresh Pico de Gallo served with Warm Flour and Corn Tortilla Chips --$12.50

This was fun and tasty, a pretty basic queso but no complaints from me on that. I don’t recall any flour tortilla chips, but that’s fine because I prefer corn anyway.

I would have liked to try the BBQ pork skewers, but alas, my new pork allergy. Instead we went for these:



Nang Tao Spicy Popcorn Chicken
Crispy Chicken Chunks and Popcorn tossed in spicy Togarashi Seasoning served with Korean Pepper Sauce --$11.00

The actual popcorn that the chicken rests on is clever and it’s delicious with the togarashi seasoning. The sauce on the chicken was legit spicy with a great flavor. I think the chicken may have just been the standard Disney nuggets, but those are good anyway and the sauce made it something special. I recommend these if you want some fun, spicy bar food.

Our final dish:



Satipo's Empanadas
Crispy-fried Empanadas Hand-stuffed with Beef, Onions, Peppers, Potatoes, Olives, Cheese, Herbs, and Spices served with fresh Chimichurri Sauce --$10.00

These were delicious too, so we are three for three on food here! My only complaint was that they were on the small side, I could have used more of this.

For our second drink, we both went with:



Safari Sangria
South African Red Wine with Van Der Rum Tangerine Liqueur --$10.75

I loved this! Sometimes sangria in restaurants is too sweet for me, but this one was perfect. It will be my go-to drink here in the future.

After dinner we decided to stroll around Disney Springs and check out the redesign since we hadn’t spent any time here after the re-imagining. It was past Asher's bedtime, he fell asleep in his stroller quickly and Chad and I were so excited to get to walk around “alone” for a while. We walked by Frontera and I remembered that they have a carry-out window with margaritas so we had to pick up a couple of those. We were shocked at how huge they were and they were strong, but not the same quality or flavor as the margaritas you get inside, more of a generic margarita mix with a LOT of cheap tequila. It was too much sugar and tequila and we ended up only drinking half before tossing them. We should have just shared one, but hindsight ya know.

It was a late night (for us) when we finally slid the kid into bed, but that was fine since our plans for the next morning were to sleep in and have a late breakfast at Boma, which is coming up next!

 

[ariane37]

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I got so excited when I just saw you went to Jock Lindsay's because we absolutely 100% LOVE it there! And it just so happens we've had all the dishes you tried as well as a few others

Doctor Astorga's Queso Fundido
A skillet of Melted Soft Cheeses topped with fresh Pico de Gallo served with Warm Flour and Corn Tortilla Chips --$12.50

We've been 4x but got this for the first time in February - love it. I can and will eat anything resembling chips/nachos/etc all day every day (and pretty much did that on the EPIC trip) and I really enjoyed this.

The actual popcorn that the chicken rests on is clever and it’s delicious with the togarashi seasoning. The sauce on the chicken was legit spicy with a great flavor.

Yes, definitely legit spicy! The boys loved the popcorn, even Ricky who normally doesn't do spice. And I agree I think the nuggets are Disney standard which never disappoint, but adding the heat is a nice change.

Satipo's Empanadas
Crispy-fried Empanadas Hand-stuffed with Beef, Onions, Peppers, Potatoes, Olives, Cheese, Herbs, and Spices served with fresh Chimichurri Sauce --$10.00

Something else we've had and one of Christopher's favorites along with the sliders I've had better but they do hit the spot!

Safari Sangria
South African Red Wine with Van Der Rum Tangerine Liqueur --$10.75

I loved this! Sometimes sangria in restaurants is too sweet for me, but this one was perfect. It will be my go-to drink here in the future.

Good to know! I'm a big sangria drinker but I try to avoid the easy to find in Disney Besol del Sol brand and like to find "different" ones. Maria & Enzo's had a really great one. So far on all our visits to Jock's I've stuck with the Cool Headed Monkey but will give the sangria a whirl next time. Glad you enjoyed your visit!

 

[kastoney]

Asher was weirded out enough that he actually protested going on POTC, but we just shut that down and made him go. That would totally have been another Doc McStuffins incident, in which he chickened out when it was his turn to meet, then spent the next hour crying about it.

Love to see that you all subscribe to the same suck it up parenting school as us. Though I don't recall the Doc McStuffins incident. She is a little creepy looking though so I can see being scared by a 6 year old that is 4 times your size

Afterward, I couldn’t find Chad at our meeting spot so I wandered back over to Aloha Isle and he was still in line. It ended up being a 30 minute wait for a Dole Whip and he was SUPER grumpy. (The mobile order area was backed up too!) I couldn’t get the citrus swirl that I wanted because that line was equally long. It was just too crowded and all the shady spots were occupied and we weren’t really having fun anymore, so we called it after just 6 hours in the MK.

Ugh, that is insane!!!! We've been contemplating Disneyland next year for Spring Break. Thinking that may be a mistake now.

They had a French 75 on the seasonal drinks menu ($12.50), which is one of my favorites and I couldn’t pass it up. It was well made, I enjoyed it.

What is this? I think you may have found an alcohol I've never heard of.

Doctor Astorga's Queso Fundido
A skillet of Melted Soft Cheeses topped with fresh Pico de Gallo served with Warm Flour and Corn Tortilla Chips --$12.50

This was fun and tasty, a pretty basic queso but no complaints from me on that. I don’t recall any flour tortilla chips, but that’s fine because I prefer corn anyway.

Nothing better than chips and dip to suck up a few adult beverages. They are my true weakness in life.

Nang Tao Spicy Popcorn Chicken

How have I not seen these before. I am a sucker for all things spicy and these look and sound ah-mazing!!!!! Must get this on our next trip.

Safari Sangria
South African Red Wine with Van Der Rum Tangerine Liqueur --$10.75

I loved this! Sometimes sangria in restaurants is too sweet for me, but this one was perfect. It will be my go-to drink here in the future.

I think you just pointed me to my new food and drink here. I struggle with their drinks being too sweet in general so I'll have to give this a whirl

 

[hereforthechurros]

Day 2 continued...

After lunch, we headed to 7DMT for Asher’s first ride ever.

View attachment 400276

He was a little terrified, but he said it was fun. Hopefully he’s not too traumatized because I need a future Expedition Everest buddy. Chad can’t ride more than twice in a row, so boring.

Asher was weirded out enough that he actually protested going on POTC, but we just shut that down and made him go. That would totally have been another Doc McStuffins incident, in which he chickened out when it was his turn to meet, then spent the next hour crying about it. He ended up being fine on pirates though.

After a walk through the treehouse, Asher wanted to ride the carpets and Chad wanted a Dole Whip, so I kindly offered to take one for the team and ride the carpets. Afterward, I couldn’t find Chad at our meeting spot so I wandered back over to Aloha Isle and he was still in line. It ended up being a 30 minute wait for a Dole Whip and he was SUPER grumpy. (The mobile order area was backed up too!) I couldn’t get the citrus swirl that I wanted because that line was equally long. It was just too crowded and all the shady spots were occupied and we weren’t really having fun anymore, so we called it after just 6 hours in the MK. Seemed like a waste of a park day since it was too late to leave and come back later, but if nobody is having fun anymore, what else are you gonna do? It was also hot and looked as if it might be the only good pool day we would have the entire trip, so a swim ended up being our new plan for the afternoon.

After a refreshing and relaxing (JK, have you ever taken a preschooler who can’t swim to a pool???) swim and some freshening up, we made our way over to Disney Springs for dinner. We wanted something casual and hadn’t been to Jock Lindsey’s yet, so decided to check that out.

We sat inside so that we could look at all the props and soak up the atmosphere. Chad loves Indiana Jones so he was super excited to finally stop in here. The interior is much smaller than I imagined, I like how cozy it is, but I bet it gets crowded when busy!

My photos from here are terrible with my old phone and the dark interior, but you can kinda see what the food looks like.

Of course we start with drinks:

View attachment 400279

They had a French 75 on the seasonal drinks menu ($12.50), which is one of my favorites and I couldn’t pass it up. It was well made, I enjoyed it.

Chad had a rum drink, as usual:

View attachment 400278

Bam's Barnstormer
Gosling's Black Seal Rum, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer, and fresh Lime Juice --$11.00

He liked this (he should, it’s what he always drinks!), the Fever-Tree Ginger Beer is a nice touch.

Then it was time to figure out food. We were asking our server about modifying the sliders so that they would work for Asher and found out that they have some kid-friendly options that aren’t on the menu. I think there was a pizza and probably some chicken nuggets. Asher chose the kid’s sliders, which was just two plain mini burgers with fries and a cookie.

View attachment 400282
View attachment 400283

If you go there and the menu won’t quite work for any children in your party, be sure to ask what they have for kids. I was happy that they had additional options because Chad and I could order what we wanted, rather than what we hoped the kid would eat.

We started with:

View attachment 400277

Doctor Astorga's Queso Fundido
A skillet of Melted Soft Cheeses topped with fresh Pico de Gallo served with Warm Flour and Corn Tortilla Chips --$12.50

This was fun and tasty, a pretty basic queso but no complaints from me on that. I don’t recall any flour tortilla chips, but that’s fine because I prefer corn anyway.

I would have liked to try the BBQ pork skewers, but alas, my new pork allergy. Instead we went for these:

View attachment 400280

Nang Tao Spicy Popcorn Chicken
Crispy Chicken Chunks and Popcorn tossed in spicy Togarashi Seasoning served with Korean Pepper Sauce --$11.00

The actual popcorn that the chicken rests on is clever and it’s delicious with the togarashi seasoning. The sauce on the chicken was legit spicy with a great flavor. I think the chicken may have just been the standard Disney nuggets, but those are good anyway and the sauce made it something special. I recommend these if you want some fun, spicy bar food.

Our final dish:

View attachment 400281

Satipo's Empanadas
Crispy-fried Empanadas Hand-stuffed with Beef, Onions, Peppers, Potatoes, Olives, Cheese, Herbs, and Spices served with fresh Chimichurri Sauce --$10.00

These were delicious too, so we are three for three on food here! My only complaint was that they were on the small side, I could have used more of this.

For our second drink, we both went with:

View attachment 400284

Safari Sangria
South African Red Wine with Van Der Rum Tangerine Liqueur --$10.75

I loved this! Sometimes sangria in restaurants is too sweet for me, but this one was perfect. It will be my go-to drink here in the future.

After dinner we decided to stroll around Disney Springs and check out the redesign since we hadn’t spent any time here after the re-imagining. It was past Asher's bedtime, he fell asleep in his stroller quickly and Chad and I were so excited to get to walk around “alone” for a while. We walked by Frontera and I remembered that they have a carry-out window with margaritas so we had to pick up a couple of those. We were shocked at how huge they were and they were strong, but not the same quality or flavor as the margaritas you get inside, more of a generic margarita mix with a LOT of cheap tequila. It was too much sugar and tequila and we ended up only drinking half before tossing them. We should have just shared one, but hindsight ya know.

It was a late night (for us) when we finally slid the kid into bed, but that was fine since our plans for the next morning were to sleep in and have a late breakfast at Boma, which is coming up next!

Good to know about the Jock’s kid menu. Wish our server last month would have mentioned it when we were hemming and hawing over what to order for our five year old as he just stood there. We didnt really dig any of the food at Jock’s, especially the room temp from a can (or tased like it) queso

For future Frontera margaritas you can go inside and order there from the bar. They even serve the La Cava margarita!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I somehow haven’t tried the Hangar Bar yet. Must change this - everything looks and sounds awesome!

 

[Hettie]

Good to know! I'm a big sangria drinker but I try to avoid the easy to find in Disney Besol del Sol brand and like to find "different" ones. Maria & Enzo's had a really great one. So far on all our visits to Jock's I've stuck with the Cool Headed Monkey but will give the sangria a whirl next time. Glad you enjoyed your visit!

Definitely give the sangria a try, it's more "winey" than fruity, but enough fruity to be refreshing. It has that Van der Hum tangerine liqueur in it, I think that might be key.

Love to see that you all subscribe to the same suck it up parenting school as us. Though I don't recall the Doc McStuffins incident. She is a little creepy looking though so I can see being scared by a 6 year old that is 4 times your size.

What is this? I think you may have found an alcohol I've never heard of.

That Doc McStuffins incident was last spring, I must not have written about it in my dining report. It was a good lesson for the kid on missed opportunities. I think he even talked about it after we had returned home.

Oh, well you should try a French 75 because I know you enjoy the occasional gin drink . It's gin shaken with simple syrup and lemon juice, then topped with sparkling wine and a lemon twist. They're delicious but I can only have one...the gincident ya know?

Good to know about the Jock’s kid menu. Wish our server last month would have mentioned it when we were hemming and hawing over what to order for our five year old as he just stood there.

For future Frontera margaritas you can go inside and order there from the bar. They even serve the La Cava margarita!

That's too bad your server didn't give you any kid options, that menu is tough with a young child.

I will definitely make a mental note of getting the margaritas inside instead. Great tip, live and learn.

I somehow haven’t tried the Hangar Bar yet. Must change this - everything looks and sounds awesome!

We enjoyed it, it was a nice relaxed dinner. Definitely check it out next time you have a chance!

 

[Hettie]

Day 3​

I was excited to sleep in, but of course Asher won’t let anyone sleep past 7 am. I think he may have slept until 7:30 that morning, which is a small miracle. We had a lazy start to the morning since we had a 10:15 breakfast ADR at Boma. I figured we could stuff ourselves for brunch and not have another full meal until dinner. We gave Asher a snack in the room to hold him over until breakfast though, he would have been a mess otherwise.

We drove over to the lodge and checked in. It was a good time to show up as the tables were emptying out and the noise level had died down. We started with coffee and POG juice. The coffee had a great flavor, we used to get the press pot but I think the included brew is good enough. I let Asher have a small cup of POG juice and he didn’t seem impressed. He’s so weird, he pretty much only drinks water. In the summer I make him lemonade with stevia and that is the only other drink he seems to like.

I was starving, but I managed to get photos of my plates before digging in. I couldn’t stop Chad from digging in, but he had most of the same items as myself.

Asher had the basics—eggs, sausage, fruit. He wouldn’t touch the pancake or tots, such a weirdo.



My first plate:



I love to have refreshing salads with breakfast, which is one of the reasons I keep coming back to Boma. That’s a spinach salad with quinoa, the grapefruit avocado salad, and the watermelon rind salad. The spinach and grapefruit/avocado were great, but the watermelon rind was much different than I remember. It used to be more tangy but now it is VERY sweet and I’m no longer a fan. The turkey bobotie was delicious and now that I can’t eat pork, I love that Boma has several non-pork meat dishes on the buffet. I know you can always request turkey sausage or bacon, but those aren’t usually very good.

My second plate:



Since I love some vegetables with breakfast, the grilled asparagus and tomatoes are always a big hit with me and I enjoyed them as usual. The turkey from the carving station was delicious with some of the sambal for some spice. I was hoping for the goat cheese eggs, but it was ham and cheese on this day so I had to stick with boring scrambled eggs. I was also looking forward to the hash, but the cornbread topping was sweet and gave the whole thing a weird flavor. The chakalaka was also sweeter and less spicy than I recall. Over the years, so much of the supposed-to-be savory buffet or AYCTE food has become soooo sweet to me (looking at you ‘Ohana…) and I don’t know if my tastes have changed or if the recipes have been adjusted to make them more sweet.

Next I had this weird little bowl of food:



That’s some of the pastrami smoked salmon, which is incredible, loved it. I just cut it up and kinda scooped the toppings on and ate it with a fork—delicious. I also had a random slice of cheese apparently.

Then it was time for what I have to admit might be my number one reason to have Boma breakfast:



It’s not much to look at, but I love, LOVE this French toast bread pudding. Not surprisingly, the reason I like it is because it’s not super sweet, mostly just buttery, on its own and you can add however much sauce you want to add sweetness. I like to drizzle it with both the pecan praline sauce and vanilla sauce. It is so perfect with coffee.

During the whole meal, Asher had been squirmy and annoying and as usual my meal was interrupted by a lengthy bathroom visit, except this one was futile and I was irritated. Chad took Asher out to the playground so that I could finish my bread pudding and pay the bill in peace.

Now this next part of the story I have wavered on whether to share, but it’s just too funny not to and we’ll just hope that Asher never stumbles across this dining report someday when he can read and stuff…

I finish up at Boma and make it out to the playground and Chad has this shell-shocked look on his face. I’m like, “Oh no, what happened?” and he proceeds to tell me the chain of events that occurred during my brief respite: Asher had been happily playing and Chad was chatting with some parents, when he turned around and saw Asher run to the corner of the playground and start to drop his pants, apparently to finish up the unfruitful bathroom visit from earlier. I can only imagine Chad doing the slo-mo, Hollywood run crying “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” as he leaps across the playground, pulls up the kid’s pants and scoops him up to run full speed to the restroom on the other side of the pool.

I have no idea why Asher would do this, it’s certainly not something we encourage at home. I guess his squirmy behavior during breakfast was an indication of a not-so-happy digestive system and in his desperation or perhaps excitement of being at the playground, he completely LOST HIS FRICKIN MIND. I am so glad that I missed it, I think that would have sent me right over the edge, but Chad managed to save the day. Then I saw @kastoney ’s tale of a kid peeing in the bushes and I thought, “Omg, that was almost Asher but potentially WORSE.” So. much. worse.

Okay, I need a break after reliving that tale. LOL. To be continued…

 

[Newsies]

Okay, that popcorn chicken with actual popcorn looks like SO much fun!!!

Love these reviews!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

That story about Asher needs to be part of embarrassing stories to tell his future spouse. Now you’ll never forget it!

Boma was a great brunch option for you all! Glad you got some me time at the end!

 

[kastoney]

Ok I will eventually get to the food but OMG Asher!!!! Now I suddenly feel for the little guy I saw at Animal Kingdom but then simultaneously cannot fathom what Chad must have been saying/doing. While I'd like to hope he never stumbles upon this, something tells me you will be telling this story for years....and years...and years...and well you get the point.

But that meal, that looks really good too Sad though that everything seems much sweeter. I'm totally with you in the breakfast savory camp. I cannot do sweets in the morning and we really liked Boma because they had so many options. Hopefully this is not a sign that they are bending to the saccharin sweet masses

 

[suse66]

He was a little terrified, but he said it was fun. Hopefully he’s not too traumatized because I need a future Expedition Everest buddy. Chad can’t ride more than twice in a row, so boring.

Good for Asher!

Asher was weirded out enough that he actually protested going on POTC, but we just shut that down and made him go. That would totally have been another Doc McStuffins incident, in which he chickened out when it was his turn to meet, then spent the next hour crying about it. He ended up being fine on pirates though.

Sometimes you just have to give them a little push.

After a refreshing and relaxing (JK, have you ever taken a preschooler who can’t swim to a pool???) swim and some freshening up, we made our way over to Disney Springs for dinner. We wanted something casual and hadn’t been to Jock Lindsey’s yet, so decided to check that out.

Everything you had at Jock Lindsey's looks amazing! Definitely on our list for July!

Asher had the basics—eggs, sausage, fruit. He wouldn’t touch the pancake or tots, such a weirdo.

Boma tots are the best thing!

I love to have refreshing salads with breakfast, which is one of the reasons I keep coming back to Boma. That’s a spinach salad with quinoa, the grapefruit avocado salad, and the watermelon rind salad. The spinach and grapefruit/avocado were great, but the watermelon rind was much different than I remember. It used to be more tangy but now it is VERY sweet and I’m no longer a fan. The turkey bobotie was delicious

I notice this trend a lot when I go to the US. so many food items are overly sweet. Like you, I prefer the more savoury items.

Since I love some vegetables with breakfast, the grilled asparagus and tomatoes are always a big hit with me and I enjoyed them as usual. The turkey from the carving station was delicious with some of the sambal for some spice.

The grilled tomato and asparagus were my favourite from my Boma breakfast in 2017. I am really looking forward to eating there again this summer.

Then it was time for what I have to admit might be my number one reason to have Boma breakfast:

Agreed!

I have no idea why Asher would do this, it’s certainly not something we encourage at home. I guess his squirmy behavior during breakfast was an indication of a not-so-happy digestive system and in his desperation or perhaps excitement of being at the playground, he completely LOST HIS FRICKIN MIND. I am so glad that I missed it, I think that would have sent me right over the edge, but Chad managed to save the day. Then I saw @kastoney ’s tale of a kid peeing in the bushes and I thought, “Omg, that was almost Asher but potentially WORSE.” So. much. worse.

Oh my goodness....so, so funny! Every parent has one of those stories, lol!

 

[ariane37]

It’s not much to look at, but I love, LOVE this French toast bread puddin

We don't get to Boma breakfast as often as I like but the bread pudding there is also my favorite! Drizzled with pecan praline sauce for sure

I think every boy mom can understand the sudden distress when pants come down at a not so appropriate moment lol!! Lucky they are so cute

 

[Hettie]

I'm finally back for an update! Asher is out of school for the summer and I see that it is going to be challenging to get much done outside of the have-to-do things, but I am determined to finish this report! I'm behind on everyone else's reports too, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Day 3 continued…​

After the harrowing experience, the rest of playground time went very well. Asher made several friends and was sad when it was time to go, but I really wanted to nap before our evening plans to meet up with Asher’s babysitter who moved to the Tampa area last fall. She was the best babysitter ever and felt like a family member, so I had contacted her the week prior to see if she could possibly make it over for dinner one evening. I knew Asher would love to see her and I remember being a broke, twenty-something starting over in a new place and how exciting it was when someone would visit and treat me to dinner! LOL! As luck would have it, she needed to see a client in Lake Buena Vista that day (she is a therapist for kids who have autism) and was available to stick around for dinner.

Once I found out that Ashley could meet us, I had to figure out the best place to go for dinner, which needed to be a resort or Disney Springs so that park admission wouldn’t be necessary. Chad and I think AKL is the most interesting and fun resort to visit if you’re not going to any parks and we decided Sanaa was our best restaurant option—more casual than Jiko but more relaxing and not as loud as Boma. I stalked MDE all day and finally found a great reservation time, so we were set.

We met Ashley over at Crossroads so that we could all ride together to AKL. I can’t believe that I forgot to take any photos the entire evening and I regret it so much. Asher was thrilled and I didn’t get any photos of them together or anything else for that matter. I guess I was too excited myself to get to show someone around my favorite Disney resort.

So I don’t have food photos, but I know you’ve all seen the Sanaa bread service a million times and anything else can be found quickly with an internet search. We had a great seat by the window where one of those crested cranes hangs out. That’s a great area to be seated if you have an antsy child because he was able to stand by the window or sit on the little ledge and not be in anyone’s way.

Of course we started with the bread service:

Indian-style Bread Service
Choice of Five Breads and with all Nine Accompaniments - Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kulcha, or Paneer Paratha. Accompaniments - Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tomato-Date Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chutney, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, or Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle --$17.00

It was amazing as always. It sometimes feels like too much break for just Chad, Asher and myself, but the addition of another adult made it seem more reasonable. My favorite accompaniments are still the coriander chutney and red chile sambal. We all had to eat at least one garlic pickle so that we would be equally offensive the remainder of the evening.

For drinks, I started with a glass of Graham Beck sparkling rose for $12. It was nice, I enjoyed it. Chad had the:
African Starr Mojito
Starr African Rum, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa, fresh Lime Juice, and Mint --$12.50

This is his favorite drink to order there and maybe his favorite drink in all of WDW. He had talked it up so much that Ashley decided to have the same.

Chad and I know from experience that we get way too full on the bread and just wanted something small to complete our meal. I went with an appetizer:
Oxtail Umngqusho
Braised Oxtail, Marrow, Cracked Hominy, and Beans --$12.00

From the description, I was expecting this to be similar to Jamaican style oxtail which I love and make at home, so I was surprised when a bowl of creamy looking broth with a piece of cornbread on top arrived. It wasn’t very appealing looking and I was wary, but still hopeful that it would be good. Sadly, it was really terrible and probably the worst dish I’ve had a Disney table service restaurant. The creamy broth was weirdly sweet and y’all know how I feel about sweet foods that aren’t dessert. In addition, there was hardly any oxtail in the dish and it had some sort of weird herbal flavor that didn’t go with anything else. I’m not picky and I’ll eat just about anything (except beets), but this one just didn’t work for me at all.

Chad took pity on me, gave me half of his dish and polished off the rest of mine, even though he didn’t like it either. He ordered:
Scallop Chana
Seared Scallops, Chana Dhal, Greens, and Citrus Gastrique --$12.00

This dish was MUCH better and would be my choice next time if the menu remains the same or we could order an entrée to split. I love lamb, so maybe the the lamb shank next time.

Ashley ordered an entrée:
South African Braaivleis
Fire-grilled Meats with Traditional Accompaniments --$33.00

Since I don’t have any photos, I can’t remember exactly what all was involved in this except I know there was a lamb chop and one of those sausages. It was a huge plate and she said it was delicious and was happy to have some leftovers to take home.

Asher had the kid’s chicken breast meal with rice and grapes, which he was happy with.

I love chenin blanc and they always have one or two on the menu, so I had a nice glass to go with my meal and the other two adults had a second round of mojitos.

After dinner we walked around Kidani awhile and then checked out the savanna until it was time to drop Ashley back at her car and head back to our room. It was such a great evening and a great meal at Sanaa as always (well, except for the oxtail) and I hated to see it end, but we needed to get to bed early for our next park day at Animal Kingdom.

 

[kastoney]

Pictures or not sounds like you all had a special night with a very special person, sans the oxtail of course. That does sound like a really weird preparation. I've never had Jamaican oxtails so I'll have to try that sometime. I cook them at home, but make a pasta sauce out of them and have no idea what to do with them beyond that.

 

[pepperandchips]

I am late to the party but enjoying your report nevertheless! We love Olivia’s for breakfast but now I’m thinking we’ll need to get there for dinner soon. Looks fabulous! Thank you for the report Heather!

 

[Hettie]

I promise that I haven't abandoned my report! With Asher out of school for the summer, it's been a little difficult to find a moment of free time. I also have been busy training for a new career as a travel agent. It's something I've always wanted to do and a departure from my experience in education and technology training. I'm pretty excited about starting something new now that Asher is getting a little more independent and spending more time in school.

It's HOT this week in Kentucky and we finally have some good pool weather after a very rainy spring. We like to set up a Redneck Riviera in our back yard, consisting of two kiddie pools (one pirate themed, one deep enough for the adults), some lovely camping chairs, a hammock, and when it's really hot like today we even set up a fan to cool our seating area in the shade. It's really something to behold. That's what we're getting ready to do this afternoon, but let me first give you the next installment in my dining report...

Day 4 – April 2​

We arrived at AK a few minutes after 9:00 am, not a big deal since we weren’t rushing anywhere first thing. I was looking forward to a long Animal Kingdom day, I love it and I can no longer decide whether AK or Epcot is my favorite park—Nomad Lounge has tipped the scales on that dilemma. The plan was to stay until we dropped rather than leave for a break like we normally do. Since we didn’t have park hoppers and Asher doesn’t nap regularly anymore, that seemed like the best plan.

This is what I rope-dropped:



That’s a chocolate twist Danish from Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery and it was great. Tons of chocolate inside and not too sweet. I think it’s the same as the Cheshire tail from Cheshire Café at Magic Kingdom, but without so much icing, which is preferable to me. I also got a coffee, which I knew was a mistake and it was as terrible as Disney coffee has always been. If I had been thinking ahead, I would have stopped at Joffrey’s or Starbucks on the way in. The boys just watched me eat my Danish (stealing a few bites) since they had both eaten breakfast in the room.

We spent the morning going on the best Kilimanjaro Safari we’ve ever experienced—all the animals were out and active—and walking the Pangani Trail. Not surprisingly, Chad started to get hungry and was looking for snacks so I suggested we go ahead and eat lunch at Yak and Yeti since it was almost 11:00 am. It was perfect timing because it started raining on our way there and our stroller cover kept everything dry while we were enjoying our lunch.

We requested a window table upstairs and were seated right away with our Landry’s card. It’s quieter in the side rooms with windows and the view is fun.



I started with my favorite cocktail here—



Pink Himalayan
Tanqueray Gin, Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice, Passion Fruit and Lemon Grass Flavors, Salt Rim --$11.00

It’s a very refreshing cocktail for lunch, light and fruity without being too sweet.

Chad decided to try a drink from the special menu, the Smokin’ Pina.



Sounds pretty good.



Looks good too.

But it was not. The rim was almost pure chipotle powder and there was WAAAYYYY too much. The menu photo shows a very light, chipotle salt rim, which seems like a good idea. The reality of what was served was a disaster though because the chipotle was dripping down into the drink and gave it a terrible flavor. Just awful. Chad couldn’t drink it and instead ordered a South Seas Traveler: Created by the Yak and Yeti Bartenders...Myer's Original Dark Rum and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Monin Lychee Syrup, and citrus juices --$11.00. Our server didn’t charge us for the chipotle drink, which we appreciated.

Foodwise, we knew we had to have:



Ahi Tuna Nachos
Sushi grade Ahi, Asian slaw, crispy fried wontons, wasabi aioli, sweet soy glaze --$16.99

These are so great and such a huge portion—a third had already been scooped off the plate when I remembered to take the photo. I could be satisfied with just my half of the nachos for lunch but I also ordered some fried rice.



Chicken Fried Rice --$7.99

I wanted the egg rolls, but those were a no-go since they contain pork. The fried rice is good and plentiful, but I could go with more veggies along with the chicken and egg.

Chad ordered another appetizer for himself.



Firecracker Shrimp
Crispy fried shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce, Asian slaw --$11.99

He enjoyed these but decided it wasn’t the best choice to follow the nachos because the creamy sauce is the same, making them taste too similar. He ate half of my fried rice and said that was a better dish to combine with the tuna nachos.

We didn’t forget to order food for the kid:



Mini Corn Dogs
choice of Two (2) Sides and choice Kid-size portion of Milk or Apple Juice --$9.50

He loves to order his own food and they have a super cute kid’s menu with pictures of the food. He chose rice and grapes to accompany his corn dogs. It all looked much better when first presented, I started cutting the corn dogs in half to cool before I remembered to take a photo.

I use Asher’s April birth date for our Landry’s account and since we had a birthday reward, our server also brought out a surprise treat:



We all shared this and it was delicious! It was a basic yellow cake, but very moist and it was covered in real whipped cream rather than icing, which made it a nice, light dessert. That’s raspberry sauce on the plate too. I’d much rather have a cupcake like this than the ones that are piled with thick, sugary, brightly colored frosting.

Yak & Yeti has quickly become our new favorite lunch spot at Animal Kingdom. The food and drinks are good, it’s nice to get some AC and escape the midday crowds, and the Landry’s card makes it a breeze to get seated.

Up next, the rest of our AK day with dinner at Nomad Lounge…

 

[kastoney]

We like to set up a Redneck Riviera in our back yard, consisting of two kiddie pools (one pirate themed, one deep enough for the adults), some lovely camping chairs, a hammock, and when it's really hot like today we even set up a fan to cool our seating area in the shade.

Too funny! Jason actually just bought Casey an inflatable pool yesterday so now we have our very own version of the Redneck Riveriera going on too. And we have a shooting range not too far from our house that I've been hearing all weekend so we're really getting our inner redneck on.

I also have been busy training for a new career as a travel agent.

How exciting!!!!! Hope it goes well for you

We requested a window table upstairs and were seated right away with our Landry’s card. It’s quieter in the side rooms with windows and the view is fun.

This card really is the best! I'm sure me and my birthday award will be there come August.

Pink Himalayan
Tanqueray Gin, Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice, Passion Fruit and Lemon Grass Flavors, Salt Rim --$11.00

Oh this is my favorite too, though you are mended me I haven't ordered it in a while and I have no idea why. Must be rectified!!!

The rim was almost pure chipotle powder and there was WAAAYYYY too much. The menu photo shows a very light, chipotle salt rim, which seems like a good idea. The reality of what was served was a disaster though because the chipotle was dripping down into the drink and gave it a terrible flavor. Just awful.

Yikes! That sounds awful.

Ahi Tuna Nachos
Sushi grade Ahi, Asian slaw, crispy fried wontons, wasabi aioli, sweet soy glaze --$16.99

These are so great and such a huge portion—a third had already been scooped off the plate when I remembered to take the photo. I could be satisfied with just my half of the nachos for lunch but I also ordered some fried rice.

Speaking of favorites, one of my favorites in all of Disney. Though you had me worried for a minute that they made the portion size smaller!!! Glad to hear you just could' want to dig in

 

[Hettie]

I knew I should have finished this dining report before summer. If anyone is still hanging in with me, I appreciate your dedication. I'm going to finish it if it kills me, but it may take until Christmas at the rate I'm going.

Day 4 continued…

After lunch we headed over to meet Mickey and Minnie with our FP and look who we encountered along the way…



KEVIN!!! I just love Kevin, what a great addition to AK.

Asher totally put the moves on Mickey’s lady.



It was a great interaction and Mickey’s expressions were hilarious, but the Photopass photographer was about the grumpiest I’ve ever encountered and his attitude was reflected in his shots. My iPhone photos were better.

We spent the afternoon taking turns going on FOP and catching a FOTLK show (we were literally the last group let into the packed theater) and then afterward, since we were nearby…



Lost on Safari
Starr African Rum and Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum with our refreshing Pangani Punch --$12.75

This is our favorite drink at Dawa Bar right now. Last time we loved the jungle juice with Myer’s rum, but now that drink has vodka and peach schnapps in it and is premixed, so we couldn’t get it with rum instead.

While I rode EE solo, Chad and Asher ate some fries from Mr. Kamal’s and they were still the old version, which we loved. I don’t know how I feel about the new plain version with sauce assortment. I really liked the tzatziki and sriracha sauces.

I had grabbed another FOP FP and there wasn’t really time for us both to ride, so I took one for the team and took Asher to the Boneyard while Chad rode again. When he exited and messaged me, I told him to just go start stalking a table at Nomad Lounge because it was close to dinner time anyway.

He didn’t have one when we got there, but one opened up very shortly and we were happy to sit outside with the nice spring weather.

I took a couple of terrible photos of the drink menu, I think because of the wine list, but it’s barely legible to me. Maybe you’ll have better luck.




We must have been ready for drinks because we finished almost half before taking photos.



Night Monkey
Bacardi Gran Reserva Maestro Rum, Guava Purée, Coffee Simple Syrup, and Lime Juice with a hint of Cilantro--$11.25

Chad tried the Night Monkey this time and I think it will be his go-to from now on, it’s right up his alley.

Cocktails were feeling too sugary to me, so I opted for a glass of rose to start.



It was pretty good as far as I can remember, but I didn’t order a second glass, so I guess I didn’t love it.

For food we started with the sliders…



Wagyu Beef Sliders
Tomato-Pear Jam, Yucca Fries --$16.00

These were pretty good and we mainly ordered these because it was something Asher would eat.

I was dying to try the poutine.



Truffle Poutine
Truffle Tremor Cheese, French Fries, Crispy Onions, Black Truffle Salt --$12.00

These have great potential because the flavors are awesome, but my order was COLD. And the sauce and cheese were all congealed and created blobs of fries. I should have sent it back, but our server would disappear for 30 minutes at a time, so I gave up and ate it since I was starving. I think they are staffing too thin at Nomad and Tiffins, that could be part of the reason for the recent reports of cold food and declining quality.

Continued in next post...

 

[Hettie]

Fortunately, we fared better with our other two choices, which were served at an appropriate temperature.



Chicken Satay
Spicy Peanut Sauce, Cucumber Salad --$10.00



Smoked Pork Ribs
Sweet Soy-glaze, Toasted Sesame --$10.00

I enjoyed the chicken satay, which was hot and fresh. I don’t remember the sauce being particularly spicy, but it was tasty. I would order this again for a nice protein snack or meal.

I didn’t get to taste the ribs because, pork, but Chad said they were delicious. Sigh.

At some point along the way I ordered a glass of chenin blanc.



It was a nice, relaxing dinner at Nomad Lounge. I just love sitting outside there when the weather is nice, it’s something special.

After dinner, we had to go all the way back to Dinoland to ride the triceratops because I had mistakenly promised Asher we would go back. Then I think we backtracked all the way over to Pandora to wander around at night. I thought we would be long gone or at least would leave after dinner and we made it all the way to closing! I couldn’t believe it, Asher is usually in bed by 7:30 pm. Not surprisingly, he fell asleep in the car and we had to wrangle him into some pajamas when we got back to the room, we may have even skipped brushing his teeth. The horror!

Next up, an off-site breakfast and some pirate adventures!