A trip to WDW w/NO kids? Hubba Hubba! Wink Wink! UPDATE: EXTRA, EXTRA!!! Pg 158

[scottny]

great update and pics.

I cannot wait to eat there.

I won't be getting the cheese.

 

[cherbear]

so sorry to hear that. I hope he comes home soon.

thank you!

great update and pics.

I cannot wait to eat there.

I won't be getting the cheese.

aw thanks..

Good idea.

 

[Trentmom]

Great update!!!

Glad ya did not get drenched in the rain storm you had


Cheese platter looks good...but seeing how much is left over, guess you all did not like it too much



Looking at menu

Guessing what you both might have ordered.


hmmmmmmmm



Lets see

You had Scallops



DH had......Oaked Fired Filet of beef


am I close???



Nice pics

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Great update! I miss the California Grill! We ate there once and i think we ordered the cheese plate as well. We all HATE any type of blu cheese though so we told the chefs to prepare it with other cheese instead. I don't remember if we liked all the cheeses though!

 

[OrangeBlossom15]

Love the update. We love some cheese in this family, but they sound really exotic. Cheese and dip? Isn't cheese supposed to be the dip ? Oh well can't wait to hear about the rest of the meal.

 

[team weasel]

Ugh - Stinky cheese.

I can't even stand the smell of Asiago, and they sell that at Wal-mart. Can't even imagine what the expensive stinky cheese smells like.

 

[cherbear]

Great update!!!

Glad ya did not get drenched in the rain storm you had


Cheese platter looks good...but seeing how much is left over, guess you all did not like it too much



Looking at menu

Guessing what you both might have ordered.


hmmmmmmmm



Lets see

You had Scallops



DH had......Oaked Fired Filet of beef


am I close???



Nice pics

yea, the cheese almost made us....

you might be right

Great update! I miss the California Grill! We ate there once and i think we ordered the cheese plate as well. We all HATE any type of blu cheese though so we told the chefs to prepare it with other cheese instead. I don't remember if we liked all the cheeses though!

thanks!

wow you are smart to nix the blue cheese. I remember the nastiest one having a milky center and crusty outside. blech! Just thinking about it makes me want to....

Love the update. We love some cheese in this family, but they sound really exotic. Cheese and dip? Isn't cheese supposed to be the dip ? Oh well can't wait to hear about the rest of the meal.

dip? most of it was a little hard to be dip...even too hard to spread. The honeycomb was quite tasty, so I ate that without the cheese.

Ugh - Stinky cheese.

I can't even stand the smell of Asiago, and they sell that at Wal-mart. Can't even imagine what the expensive stinky cheese smells like.

All this cheese talk is really making me feel ill now. Asiago? You'd lose it if you tried these!

 

[Leger13]

So we left off where we were taking an afternoon rest in the room. Mike slept for 45 minutes, and apparently I was ‘too excited to sleep,’ since my notes say I only slept for 10 minutes. I enjoyed watching whatever was on TV at the time (I remember seeing a lot about the OJ robbery) and woke Mike up when I was about ready.

too funny that you actually wrote in your notes that you only slept 10 min. Chris was able to sleep a lot more than me too. I just never wanted to take time out to nap but had to slow down for my man of course.

After we were all neat and pretty , we made it to the MK bus stop about an hour and 15 minutes before our ADR. There was a long line because the MK extra magic hours were that night. The bus pulled up only minutes later, and we managed to get on, standing room only. But we didn’t care because we were going to eat our first ever meal at the California Grill!
After the 35(?) minute bus ride to MK, we got off and not a minute later….it started raining. We found shelter and waited until it slacked off a little. Thankfully I had my compact umbrella, so we hightailed it to the Monorail ramp and made it with minimal meltage.

We waited for what seemed like forever for the monorail, and entered a car toward the back. Of course, it wasn’t long until we were at the Contemporary, and didn’t have to go in the rain again thanks to the monorail.

What night was your dinner? We got drenched going to the Contemporary as well when we had our dinner at Concourse. Running through that down pour was not fun! Glad you didn't have to deal with it for long. That monorail is a life saver

We had a 5:40 reservation, and it was nearing that time, so we headed directly for the restaurant check-in which is on the 2nd floor. After checking in, we were escorted to the 15th floor, where we were told we would be seated shortly and could have a seat at the bar in the meantime if we wished. We did sit at the bar for a minute, and were taking in all the glory of this beautiful restaurant. Neither of us were sure what we wanted to drink, and before we could decide, we were being whisked off to our table.
Right now I’m kicking myself in the chin because I should have taken more pictures of all of this, but I was just so in-the-moment that I missed capturing all the sights. Sorry, everyone. Next time I will take the camera from my camera-hogging DH so I can take pics of all the important stuff! (ie. The stuff y’all want to see. )
Here’s a nice pic I found of the restaurant:

Don't you just love it when they seat you right away?? Concourse did NOT do that for us. We had to wait an extra 30 min or so for our table. I was so ill!

That restaurant looks so much prettier than concourse. Are we seeing a pattern here?

I wish I remembered the name of this woman who brought us to our table—she was so nice, explaining how we could talk to the chefs at any time, and they were all smiling as we walked past. I loved how this restaurant was set up. I don’t think I have ever been anywhere so fancy. It just felt so open.
Our server’s name was Rachel. She was very nice and was careful to explain what was and wasn’t covered under the dining plan. (There is a separate sushi menu, and most of the sushi could be ordered as an appetizer, the exceptions being "Snake in the Grass" and Yoshie's Deluxe Sushi Platter. But of course I already knew that b/c of the good ole DIS!!)
She provided us with the day’s menu (a new menu is printed daily, I like that added touch!) and the wine list.
We opted for something different. I ordered a delicious apple martini, and Mike got a whiskey sour. The receipt just says “Whiskey”…boy that makes him look hardcore doesn’t it!
Here’s me enjoying my beverage.

(that was taken well after the appetizer was had, but I felt it important to put that pic here. Just didn’t want anyone thinking I drank it THAT fast!)

That's so cool that a new menu is printed daily. I've never been to a resturant where they bring you a seperate wine list. How fancy!

well, we know Mike isn't that hard core. whiskey Sours are very good though. That Apple Martini looks delish!! I think you're lying and you sucked that drink down like this guy

I don’t have any pics of Mike because he wouldn’t let me have the camera. Either that or the little bugger deleted the ones of him (hmmm… )

Silly! I hope he lets you have the camera this September.

For our appetizers, I ordered the Hurricane roll, which I’ve noticed is no longer on the menu. I wish I had taken a picture of the menu! Darnit!

Mike, upon my persuasion, ordered the Cheese Board, which includes 5 rich cheeses each accompanied with a complimenting condiment. (Wow, say that 5 times fast!)

First, a picture of my roll

(Mike was SUPPOSED to take a pic of the food by itself but he doesn’t always listen) Looks like I was chewing…

I’m used to eating traditional rolls and dipping them in soy sauce. They didn’t provide soy sauce, and I didn’t ask. The rolls were actually pretty good without it. I didn’t eat all of it because it was pretty filling for an appetizer.

On to the cheese…YES, the cheese. What can I say about the cheese.
Let the “cheese menu list” speak first:

And let’s have a looksie…

And the end result:

Wish I had a pic of Mike’s face after sampling these. I felt SO bad that I convinced him to order this. I guess we just don’t have rich tastes?

I tend to like a lot more different flavors than him, such as sushi, etc. but even this cheese…I liked ONE of them. Going off the menu and what I remember of the cheeses’ textures, The Hubbardston was the worst, with the Corsau Vecchiu coming in a close second. Verdict: Don’t ever order cheese unless it’s a word I can easily pronounce.

I have no idea what those rolls are but I'm glad you enjoyed them. I'm kind of glad the appetizers are taken off the dining plan this year. They always made me full before I could even get to my meal

And the cheese. I think Rose & Crown had the same type of thing. My friend Rebecca got that and she did not like it one bit. Her husband (which usually eats everything...we call him the disposal) wouldn't even eat some of the cheese. That rule about not ordering a cheese where you can't even pronounce the name is a good one I think.

Since I’m so long-winded, I’m splitting up this meal and the update will begin with the main course! Any guesses as to what we ordered? (menu is here. While the sides have changed since then, the main courses pretty much remained the same)

Can't wait to see what you all had for your meals!! I'm gonna go look at the menu and try to guess what y'all had.

 

[cherbear]

Hey Carla! ya know...you didn't have to order appetizers last year




I know, I know, if it's FREE ya GOTTA order it, right? I'm glad I got to try the dining plan in its old form at least once. It WAS a lot of food though. Now maybe I will finish my desserts this year. The only appetizer I want is that Cheddar Cheese soup at Le Cellier!

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Yay! for a great update!

Boo for stinky nasty cheese!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

the californina grill looks cool, i have been up there many times looking out over the MK, but never eaten there, i just can part with 2 of my sit down meals to eat there.

i love cheese as well, but not the cheese that you can not pronounce, it has to be something that i can throw on a sandwich or a cracker and not gag when eating it.


but i am looking forward to what youguys got for dinner, maybe you will inspire me to take DW there for a special dinner when we go back to the world.

 

[Leger13]

Hey Carla! ya know...you didn't have to order appetizers last year




I know, I know, if it's FREE ya GOTTA order it, right? I'm glad I got to try the dining plan in its old form at least once. It WAS a lot of food though. Now maybe I will finish my desserts this year. The only appetizer I want is that Cheddar Cheese soup at Le Cellier!

Really? I had no idea!! I thought they would force it down my throat if I said I didn't want it

Yeah, I totally can't pass up free food!! I agree, it was nice to try the origional dining plan but it will be nice to be able to finish desert! So the cheese soup is really that good? hmmm...I might just have to get some and pay OOP for it.

 

[TrueEeyore]

Aww, that sucks the cheese was nasty. Darren and I are simple people, we just like fries and a burger! We probably wouldn't find anything to eat in most Disney restaurants!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

I don't think I have very rich taste either. That cheese looks so gross. Just give me some good ole cheddar or swiss and I'm happy.

 

[cherbear]

the californina grill looks cool, i have been up there many times looking out over the MK, but never eaten there, i just can part with 2 of my sit down meals to eat there.

i love cheese as well, but not the cheese that you can not pronounce, it has to be something that i can throw on a sandwich or a cracker and not gag when eating it.


but i am looking forward to what youguys got for dinner, maybe you will inspire me to take DW there for a special dinner when we go back to the world.

mmm cheese and crackers is SO good. I bought this garlic cheese dip earlier this week (Alouette brand) and it is really good with wheat thins!
You should try it!

You'll see...

Really? I had no idea!! I thought they would force it down my throat if I said I didn't want it

Yeah, I totally can't pass up free food!! I agree, it was nice to try the origional dining plan but it will be nice to be able to finish desert! So the cheese soup is really that good? hmmm...I might just have to get some and pay OOP for it.

it would be really nice if they had JUST taken away the appetizers and kept the gratuity included in the plan. I think they probably lost a lot of dining plan customers (the paying ones ) when they took off both at once. Who cares if they lowered it by $1---they should have taken off the appetizer and then did another run of it this year to see how the costs worked out with the gratuity still included. That's what I would have done, but I don't work at Disney do I. We need to talk to our new CMO, Justin, regarding this matter!

Aww, that sucks the cheese was nasty. Darren and I are simple people, we just like fries and a burger! We probably wouldn't find anything to eat in most Disney restaurants!

Mike is pretty simple, I tend to be a little more adventurous with my food choices (ie. Sushi) but that cheese didn't tantalize any of our tastebuds.

I'm sure you'd find some good stuff! There are plenty more food updates to come!

I don't think I have very rich taste either. That cheese looks so gross. Just give me some good ole cheddar or swiss and I'm happy.

I agree!!

 

[Leger13]

it would be really nice if they had JUST taken away the appetizers and kept the gratuity included in the plan. I think they probably lost a lot of dining plan customers (the paying ones ) when they took off both at once. Who cares if they lowered it by $1---they should have taken off the appetizer and then did another run of it this year to see how the costs worked out with the gratuity still included. That's what I would have done, but I don't work at Disney do I. We need to talk to our new CMO, Justin, regarding this matter!

Yes I totally agree. I keep forgetting that they took off the tips from the dining plan I need to remember to bring cash for that. grrrrr! You're not a CM yet but you should be!!

 

[cherbear]

Yes I totally agree. I keep forgetting that they took off the tips from the dining plan I need to remember to bring cash for that. grrrrr! You're not a CM yet but you should be!!

doesn't it just totally suck to have to worry about that?! Not just the fact that you have to pay it, but the "unknown" of what you'll be paying...I mean I know you can get an estimate but what a PITA!

 

[Leger13]

doesn't it just totally suck to have to worry about that?! Not just the fact that you have to pay it, but the "unknown" of what you'll be paying...I mean I know you can get an estimate but what a PITA!

For real!! I know there's one tip that's gonna be huge and that's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. Realizing now that we have to pay a tip at the end makes me scared about how much that will have to be for 4 people. Grrrrr!

 

[cherbear]

For real!! I know there's one tip that's gonna be huge and that's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. Realizing now that we have to pay a tip at the end makes me scared about how much that will have to be for 4 people. Grrrrr!

I guess the positive thing is that the servers will really have to work for those tips. We actually didn't have any problems last year , but I've read about others who did.

 

[Leger13]

I guess the positive thing is that the servers will really have to work for those tips. We actually didn't have any problems last year , but I've read about others who did.

That is true. We never had any problems last year either. Actually, I think last year was the best service year we had on a WDW trip so far. Every time we had good service we left them an extra tip on top of what the dining plan paid them. I feel sorry for the people that had bad service though. I know a lot of the CM's were pretty ticked about the way their tips were being paid.