A Salute to all things Disney, but mostly Magic Bars; a July 4th 2019 TR*update 11/28 new TR link!

[ariane37]

Usually stressful.

I think I need to start reading some pkondz TR's 🖥

I love these!

thank you! My boys do NOT agree with you lol!

Definitely a nice touch! Maybe not quite as much pixie dust as the last pixie-dusting, but still lovely.

Yeah it wasn't a suite but it was still a great and appreciated surprise

Oh my gosh they look so precious and dapper, I can hardly stand it! Excellent shirt choices.

It was a good night and nobody complained about the shirts! Which still could have happened even though they initially agree to wear them.......

Joining in! I love the Minnie Mouse headphones!

Thank you and Very happy to have you!

 

[pkondz]

I think I need to start reading some pkondz TR's 🖥

Everyone's welcome.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

I surprised the boys by pulling out new headphones for myself:

These are sooooo cute! Where did you find them????

Because what teen boy doesn't want their mom wearing Minnie Mouse headphones in public with them???? They were super happy, especially Chris who was sitting next to me. I was happy though

Umm, I would do the exact same thing!

While I liked the room size and layout I was not a fan of the sinks. Yes there were two which is great but the low sides and the shape in general led to lots of water over the edge and things like spit out toothpaste not flowing down the drain

I agree 100%. We actually used one as a counter last week.

You all look soooooooo cute in your Disney wear!!!

 

[ariane37]

These are sooooo cute! Where did you find them????

Target! I actually have another pair but they're Disney character emoji's lol

You all look soooooooo cute in your Disney wear!!!

 

[ariane37]

Well guys I really wanted to get another update done before we leave for Disney tomorrow, but since it's going on 11pm and I'm not packed yet - not gonna happen It's a short trip though so stay tuned for another update by the end of next week!! Thank you to all of you who have joined in so far!

 

[pkondz]

Well guys I really wanted to get another update done before we leave for Disney tomorrow, but since it's going on 11pm and I'm not packed yet - not gonna happen It's a short trip though so stay tuned for another update by the end of next week!! Thank you to all of you who have joined in so far!

See you soon and have a great trip!!

 

[sahu]

Have a fabulous trip!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

 

[Steppesister]

We'd gotten our room ready text while in the Lyft and were on the floor; we had a Tower building Bay Lake view room on the 10th floor, #4167. We walked in and the first thing we saw was this accompanied by a note that said "Welcome DeVizio Family, we're happy to see you again!"

WOW! Nice touch!

The room looks so spacious and clean. I like a bit more theming, but this sure looks nice.

 

[ariane37]

See you soon and have a great trip!!

Have a fabulous trip!

Thanks guys! So far super good!

Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

Just missing you

The room looks so spacious and clean. I like a bit more theming, but this sure looks nice

It was definitely one of the bigger rooms we've had (minus 1 bedrooms and the, ahem, suite) but yes, bland in a way. With the curtains open looking out at Bay Lake helped!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Just missing you

AWWW! Just missing you too!!!!!

 

[pkondz]

Thanks guys! So far super good!

Yay!

 

[amalone1013]

We took a Lyft when we arrived at MCO because as many of you know, Steve is not a fan of ME. And once he realized that for about $40 we could be at our resort 40 minutes after landing with absolutely no waiting at all, that was it - no more ME when I'm with him! I miss it because to me it signifies the real beginning of a Disney trip but that kind of goes away when we get to our resort so quick.

I am with Steve and Zack is with you on this

Obviously we'd never been THERE so they were obviously referring to us being back in the World. A nice little touch of Pixie dust! I grabbed that raspberry macaroon like I did at Cali Grill brunch in May with my EPIC ladies and my very hungry family demolished the rest.

So cute!


I love the shirts! Can't wait to hear about Narcoosee's, still haven't made it there.

 

[ariane37]

Welcome back!!

Oh wait, I'm the one who's just back It was a quick trip, a slower paced trip with fewer rides/attractions but full of friends which is the best kind of trip! Unfortunately we did miss a few DIS friends but we also were able to meet up with others and had some great times:


Hanging out at Jock Lindsey's with the @kastoney and @StarWarsMomofGirls! crews as well as the peppery half of @pepperandchips Just what we needed and I think we were all happy to see each other again so soon. I hadn't seen Kari or Ariella since our May EPIC trip and it seemed like forever; I had seen Melinda on our July trip but there's really never enough Melinda time ♥

Speaking of July, we were on our way to our arrival night dinner at Narcoosee's. I booked this tonight for 2 reasons; one, we all love it especially Chris and two, being July 3rd we'd be able to watch the holiday MK fireworks from there. It was an easy monorail ride to the GF and we were sat right away with the bread arriving soon after. Please enjoy my dining report within a trip report beginning.............now!

Narcoossee's bread:



Not the best TS bread ever but it's good when you're nearing hanger and I appreciate all sea salt butter. We ordered 3 apps between us and as with all our meals here they arrived quickly:

Barbecue-grilled Shrimp and Grits
Wild Florida Shrimp with Barbecue Sauce, Low Country Grits, Cherrywood-smoked Bacon, and Pickled Green Tomato Chow-chow



Crispy Rhode Island Calamari
Peppadew-Banana Pepper and Olive Relish with Tomato Coulis



Caesar Salad
Leaves of Crisp Romaine dressed with Traditional Caesar Dressing and topped with crisp Pancetta, Grated House-cured Yolks, and Fried Capers



All of these were perfection. Notice the salad is not your traditional Caesar which I totally appreciated. Chris tried Steve's shrimp and grits and fell in love with grits; keep in mind folks we live in NY! Don't hate me but when my parents moved to Georgia way back when and my mom began eating grits - I did not follow her love so they're never in our house. There are shrimp under there too I swear! Also another note we had Kristin as our server for the 3rd time here. She remembered we were from NY, not so hard once we open our mouths but she's great! Something else we appreciated was that our entrees didn't arrive too close to our apps and this made everyone so happy I got another picture with smiles:



And when our entrees did come we were equally as happy:

Grilled Grass Fed Filet Mignon
Yukon Gold Mash, Sautéed Baby Summer Squash, and Red Wine-Oxtail Reduction



Grilled Milk-braised Berkshire Pork Chop
Braised Red Cabbage, Warm Fingerling Potatoes, Quinoa Salad, and Sauce of Spiced Winter Apple



Wild Key West Shrimp and Campanelle Pasta
Savoy Spinach, Oven-roasted Tomatoes, Basil Pistou, Comté Cheese, Chardonnay-Garlic Cream. Also available with Sautéed Chicken



Steve and Chris both got the filet; this BTW is Chris's #1 filet on property and if you don't know this, he's the Prince of WDW filets. It's like the one thing that he doesn't complain about when we're down there is eating filet I think it's 2nd to Citricos but it's a super close 2nd and by no means does 2nd mean bad in any way. As for my pasta the sauce is AH-mazing and since I don't eat seafood and am mostly a filet or chicken girl I appreciate the pasta option here because other than Italian restaurants there aren't really pasta dishes in many Disney restaurants. Plus the chicken which I added is always so tender here.

Narcoossee's menu doesn't have a lot that Ricky likes but he's gotten this pork chop twice before and thank goodness it's still on the menu; he looks forward to it. Not so much the quinoa salad but he also likes the potatoes and comes close to licking the plate.
*Just a little FYI if ya don't mind. Recently there was a thread on the restaurants forum about bad service at Narcoossee's and quite a few folks replied that they'd had bad service too. This made me sad...........it's not too often we visit WDW and DON'T eat at either Narcoossee's or Citricos and I can't remember how many times we've eaten at Narcoossee's but we've never ever ever had bad service OR a bad meal. Not saying others haven't! We have eaten at super popular restaurants others rave about and have not liked our experience enough to ever go back so you know, it happens. Just needed to get the love out there for one of our favorites.

Anyhoo another reason this is a great place to eat is because you can watch the MK fireworks from their deck! And that's where we headed around 9 since they were scheduled for 9:15. We didn't notice people had started going out way earlier and almost the whole railing was claimed by the time we got there so we were at the farthest end from the MK basically but it still was a good spot.

The show was delayed about 15 minutes due to lightning in the area (spoiler alert! LOTS of lightning in the area in July guys!) but when it started it was purty:




CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[ariane37]

NARCOOSSEE'S CON'T

A few more fireworks; I did spend more time watching than snapping pictures so these don't really capture the show well:







In that 3rd one you can kind of see the colors better, there was lots more red and blue than in HEA which makes sense. And there were shots that were nicer than the ones I got including the finale which I do think was great. BUT - and I know I'll get flack - we weren't "wowed". We understand it could totally be since we weren't in the park but we didn't think they were better than HEA (and we aren't fans of HEA) and the next night as you'll see we watched Illuminations with the holiday tag and thought it was 1000x better! But now I can say I've seen the MK 4th of July fireworks

We went back inside to have dessert because I do not leave Narcoossee's without what I consider the best TS dessert on property:

Almond-crusted Cheesecake
with Lambert Cherry Sauce



(note this picture is from one of our past trips so don't look at the dessert in this picture with it because you won't get a description!) It's even the first dessert listed on their menu! I can't describe this except that it reminds me of the Good Humor Toasted Almond bars my mom and I used to get from the ice cream man when I was little. And the sauce and chocolate just add to it! Chris copied me with the cheesecake; Steve usually gets it also but tonight he went for something different:

Banana Cream Tart
with Salted Caramel and Whipped Cream



I didn't taste this since I needed all stomach room for my dessert but he loved it. Ricky isn't a cheesecake lover so he got another old favorite:

Narcoossee’s Candy Bar
Dark Chocolate-Mocha Bar with House-made Guanaja Chocolate Gelato



A bit too much chocolate for him to finish it all (I don't understand that sentence myself but it's what he says but the part he ate he loved. It's super dark chocolate so you have to like that.

Needless to say we had a great first night meal and didn't expect anything less! Being full and on the tired side plus me being with 3 non-shoppers we just hopped the monorail back to our room when we were done; I had talked the boys into attempting EMH the next morning at Epcot!

 

[ariane37]

Hey Alyssa! I wish we were able to meet again last week! But your last day was the day we arrived and I believe we were actually only there at the same time for a few hours I hope you guys had a great time!

I am with Steve and Zack is with you on this

so who usually wins? And who did you get to your resort last week lol

I love the shirts! Can't wait to hear about Narcoosee's, still haven't made it there.

Thank you! Just posted the Narcoossee's review You need to put it on your list!

 

[pepperandchips]

Wow you are on your TR game! I am awful and never update mine

Please enjoy my dining report within a trip report beginning.............now!

The best kind of report! Unless it’s a trip report inside a dining report (not like I do that all the time or anything...)

Chris tried Steve's shrimp and grits and fell in love with grits; keep in mind folks we live in NY!

I’m so glad he liked them! You definitely have to make grits with proper salt and LOTS of either, butter, cream, or cheese (or all 3). Nothing is worse than watery unseasoned grits!

if you don't know this, he's the Prince of WDW filets.

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down
I’d like to take a minute just sit right there
I’ll tell you how I became the filet prince of le cellier

(Do dooo do doo do )

(These never work from my phone but it’s Will smith dancing)

we watched Illuminations with the holiday tag and thought it was 1000x better!

BECAUSE IT IS

It's even the first dessert listed on their menu! I can't describe this except that it reminds me of the Good Humor Toasted Almond bars my mom and I used to get from the ice cream man when I was little. And the sauce and chocolate just add to

I want to try this soooo bad - almond desserts are my favorite!!!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I visited Narcoossee's my last two trips and loved it both times! I think it's the signature we'll try on our family trip - I love the location and my husband would be most excited about their menu. Our daughter is also a seafood fan so it will be easy to feed her off of our plates.

I'm so glad you had another wonderful experience there! I don't know that I'd stray from the seafood, but your pasta looks SO GOOD! I'm thrilled to know the filet is great as well, since my husband is also a big filet fan.

The desserts there are also excellent (and all three of us seem to be big dessert fans - our daughter comes by it genetically! ). My sister adored the cheesecake while I loved the chocolate bar (it is SUPER RICH and I was sad to not be able to finish it either!). I would seriously consider the banana tart as it looks delicious!

I'm also comforted that you had another evening of great service there. I really enjoyed both experiences there and was concerned about recent reports, but as you said you can run into that anywhere. I look forward to another meal there!

 

[buzzrelly]

Oh wait, I'm the one who's just back It was a quick trip, a slower paced trip with fewer rides/attractions but full of friends which is the best kind of trip! Unfortunately we did miss a few DIS friends but we also were able to meet up with others and had some great times:

Hanging out at Jock Lindsey's with the @kastoney and @StarWarsMomofGirls! crews as well as the peppery half of @pepperandchips Just what we needed and I think we were all happy to see each other again so soon.

This picture is awesome I wished I was there!

I got another picture with smiles:

Love it! And I think it's great that Ricky wore the same shirt as Steve!

In that 3rd one you can kind of see the colors better, there was lots more red and blue than in HEA which makes sense. And there were shots that were nicer than the ones I got including the finale which I do think was great. BUT - and I know I'll get flack - we weren't "wowed". We understand it could totally be since we weren't in the park but we didn't think they were better than HEA (and we aren't fans of HEA) and the next night as you'll see we watched Illuminations with the holiday tag and thought it was 1000x better! But now I can say I've seen the MK 4th of July fireworks

I still am excited to see them next year and I think I'll definitely try and watch them from the MK. Do you know if they had a dessert party for them? I think I would definitely do that just to have some space to watch.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

We absolutely LOVE Narcoossees too. The food and service have always been spot on. Joe LOVES the shrimp and grits there too. Well, Joe loves anything there, let's be honest...

Super cute pic of Steve and Ricky. Did I tell you before that I LOVE their matching shirts????

Wasn't it nice to catch the monorail from the GF back to the CR!!!!! The CR has the best transportation and I love how you can walk to the MK.