Allegra and Mike's Reviews June 5-10th, 2011!! *Update 6/24 Cali Grill*

[princessallegra]

Hey everyone!! It has been CRAZY getting back to 'real life' after Disney! We landed at 4:00 pm on Friday June 10th, and were in our best friend's big, fat Indian wedding the next morning! It was an amazing Sikh ceremony, followed by a huge reception with 600+ people the next day. It was so amazing to be a part of. Unfortunately I caught a stomach bug and was sick for days that week! Then I went back to work, and caught my co-worker's cold! Which is what I have now! I am finally out of bed and able to sit and type! What a crazy 10 days!!

SO- onto the good stuff, the reviews! We had an amazing trip, and some really stellar meals. It was a totally new and different kind of trip for us. We were not on any kind of dining plan, for starters. In addition, we were met with more crowds than we're used to this week (we've gone the same week for 3 years now), and for the first time we've had the Water Parks option on our tickets. We hit up a water park every afternoon but one! It was awesome! Our resort, Coronado Springs was just beautiful. We loved our location of Casitas 3, and we loved the location of the resort itself. SO easy to drive to any park, and literally less than 3 minutes to Blizzard Beach! Sick!!

A lot of our original lineup changed.

Hollywood and Vine (breakfast)Canceled, DHS opened at 8 am so it would make no sense to have an 8 am ADR
Mama Melrose (lunch)
Garden View Tea Room
California Grill (dinner)
Hollywood Brown Derby (lunch) Canceled, ate CS at Blizzard Beach
Yachstman Steakhouse (dinner) Canceled, changed to Flying Fish
Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)Changed to Thursday, 6/9
Flying Fish (dinner)Changed to Tokyo Dining with Dis Pals!
Tusker House (lunch)
Citricos (dinner)
Via Napoli (lunch)Canceled, did LTT instead
Jiko (dinner)


I have a bunch of pictures, but not of everything sorry!! Also there will be some trip info in there as well, just to let you know. There are also a bunch of yummy snacks and adult beverages along the way! Stay tuned!

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Sounds great!! I can't wait to hear more!!

Terri

 

[princessallegra]

This day started off bright and early with a 6:30 am wake up call. We were going to Star Wars Weekend! This was a first for Mike, so we were really excited. We started off with a trip to the Pepper Market for a side of scrambled eggs to go. This is what we got! It was huge! Dennis helped us, and said to me "shhh, I gave you too much!!" lol.

The eggs were good. Creamy, hot, and yummy. We couldn't finish them! The take out at Pepper Market was easy, and the whole place was empty at 7 am. We were on our way in no time!

We got to DHS at 7:15 am (park opened at 8, but scheduled opening was 9). There were long celeb fp lines, but not crazy like I expected. Believe it or not, that first day of the trip, SWW and all, was probably one of the least crowded! Go figure! We got in line for regular park opening, and Mike taped the Storm Trooper show. The Storm Troopers made a joke about who was going to run for "that ride where you play midway games" and who was going to make a run for Star Tours. Well, everyone made a run for Star Tours! Here's a crazy pic:

We joked with the TSM CM's that they must love SWW! We grabbed FP for TSM and then basically walked on. After that we headed over to Star Tours to check out the new ride. It's really cool! But it hurt my eyes a bit. The ride we got was awesome, Vader was in it! Then we headed over to ToT and walked on, then did RnR and grabbed a FP for it. Then we met Luke at Jabbas Hut!!! Dude, this guy looked more like Mark Hamil than Mark Hamil! It was crazy! He asked me if I was a bounty hunter. I said no. He said I was covered in bounty hunter markings! My tattoos! I will post our PP pics once we get them, it's uncanny!

By now we needed a pick me up, so we headed over to the cart by ToT and grabbed an espresso. We hung out in the shade for a few minutes enjoying our espresso while we waited for our window to open up to grab a fp for ToT. The espresso was just ok. It was pretty watery actually. Eh.

We wandered around for a bit checking out characters.

Then we decided to use our TSM fp. We hopped on the FP line and walked up to the point where you give the CM your FP. Instead of putting us on the line with everyone else, they sent us through a magical gate where we walked up to the front of the line! I don't even know what line that was? Handicapped?? Single rider? It was crazy! After that we started walking towards Mama Melrose for our lunch. It was then that the BEST moment of the trip happened! On day one! As we were walking through the back of Pixar Place, we saw Darth Vader surrounded by a swarm of Storm Troopers marching towards us!! We just sort of stood there! They came right up to us and turned and started marching away. We were like, whaaaaat! So we just kept walking where we were walking, and were sort of walking along with their little parade right behind them. People were stopped on either side of the street watching. As we marched behind them we started doing the Dark Side/Vader music in unison. Some of the Storm Troopers turned around and started conducting! They loved it! It was seriously so cool and magical!!! We kept going our way, and the Vader parade exited off stage to the right.

Time for Mama Melrose. It was our first time in the restaurant, and as everyone knows, it gets lots of mixed reviews. We went in with an open mind, and a gracious attitude as we always do! We were pleasantly surprised. The waiting room was full of people when we checked in. The restaurant hadn't technically opened yet. We were the first people called! Our server was Youness. He was very prompt and nice. It was very hot, and we wanted something light to share. We shared the Caesar Salad, and the Antipasto for two. They also brought us some hot rolls and olive oil. Mike had a Coke Zero, which I stole a few sips of. I had water with lemon.

The caesar salad was really yummy. Big whole pieces of romaine. It was actually really easy to share. I squeezed some fresh lemon on it, as I do with most Caesar salads, to cut some of the richness from the dressing. This one was perfect! The antipasto was good. The marinated, vinegar-y mushrooms were sooo yummy! I was making little sandwiches with the rolls and prosciutto, mushrooms, etc. The meats weren't anything spectacular, they were just ok. We are used to really high quality Italian meats here at home, so that's probably why we thought the meats were just ok. They were more supermarket quality than specialty gourmet store quality.

This meal was great overall. No real complaints here! Service was quick and good, food was good. We would definitely eat here again if we needed a TS in DHS. It's nice and dark and cool, great for beating the heat for a bit!


After lunch we used up our FP's and headed back to CSR to explore! We shopped in the gift shop and checked out the Dig Site. We had to start getting ready for our Tea at the Grand Floridian at 4:30...

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Great Review!! That is so cool about the Vader Parade!

I want to try Mama Melrose next time. I am glad you had a good time. I can't wait to see your review about the Garden View Tea Room. We had that scheduled for Mother's Day but our youngest did not feel well, so we cancelled.

Terri

 

[chocolateMinnie]

subscribing - our first trip to mm this year - can't wait.

 

[DisneyMamato4]

We were there that weekend too and were actually surprised at how not crowded it was. We passed by Vaders spot for pictures and there were only 3 people in line. It was great!

We didn't get a chance to eat TS at HS but Mama Melroses looks great!

 

[mousegear]

We were also there last Sept and loved the food and service was good also. We will be returning to Mama's coming Sept.
Caesar saland looks good!

 

[princessallegra]

After doing some damage at the gift shop at CSR, we got ready for our tea at the Grand Floridian. We were both really excited for this! We had never done it before. We love the Grand, and have enjoyed all of our dining experiences there. We drove and self parked. We got to the resort around 4:00 for a 4:30 ressie. We decided to do some shopping, and I found a really cute dress in one of their gift shops, yay! DH and I still joke about it because he calls it the child's dress. It was a L/XL. Now, if I'm a L/XL I don't know what anybody bigger than me does! I'm pretty little! Heck! There wasn't one child's item in the entire store, and the dress isn't exactly a child's style. I just don't know who they're cutting these clothes for! I JUST squeeze into this dress, it is TIGHT in the bust and I'm an A cup!! We made our purchase and the CM ringing us up commented on my Snow White tattoo. Poor lady was entirely clueless. She asked me if someone had pressured me into getting my tattoos...Yeah...That's it... I just smiled and said, no way, they were all of my own free will, it would be pretty sad if someone was forced into getting tattooed! Kthanksbai!

We checked in to Garden View Lounge around 4:25. We were seated in the very back of the restaurant against the wall right by the entrance to the kitchen. Our server was Patrick. The service was attentive but leisurely. The entire meal was about an hour and a half. It was really perfect! Our dinner was to be at California Grill at 9:30 pm, and we had eaten lunch around noon. We were definitely hungry and ready for this tea! It took awhile for Patrick to come over and check in with us. It gave us time to get a feel for the place, and look at the menu. So DH took this pic:

When Patrick came over we were ready to order. We both went with the Grand Tea, as recommended by Patrick. It was a little bit of everything. We each got a plate of tea sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, tarts, and our choice of dessert. The dessert choices were strawberries with fresh whipped cream, trifle, or pastries. We each got our choice of tea, and a glass of Domaine Ste Michelle that came with a strawberry. Mike chose the Princess Breakfast Tea rotfl: not a very masculine choice, yes yes) which is described as "A sweet custom blend of South African organic rooibos flavored with vanilla bean and a hint of strawberries. Rich in antioxidants and vitamins, and naturally decaffeinated". It was delicious! A beautiful, fruity, light tea. Lovely! I chose English Breakfast tea. My tea came in a beautiful china pot, but Mike's came in a press pot because the china ones were "being washed" (according to Patrick). Mike was a little bummed hahaha but it wasn't a big deal at all.

The sandwich flavors were curry chicken salad, shrimp salad, egg salad, pear and gorgonzola, and watercress and Boursin. It also came with a caramelized onion tart, and a slice of the pate roll. The curry chicken sandwich was TO DIE FOR!! I could eat a whole pile of these! I inhaled mine and waited patiently as Mike left his for last, and then kindly gave it to me after one bite. What a nice man!! The shrimp salad comes in second for me, it was delicious. The rest of the sandwiches were not a hit with me. My egg salad was stale, as was my watercress and Boursin. The pear and gorgonzola was just ok. Mike liked his egg salad best. The onion tart was SOOO good! It was so flavorful and delicious. I ate mine and Mike's! The pate tasted like breakfast sausage and not like regular pate. I didn't like it. We had a nice bit of time to let our food settle and chat before Patrick came back. I told him how great the curry chicken salad was! Before long he had snuck by with a tiny little plate with an extra curry chicken sandwich! Amazing! I scarfed that one too!!

Up next were scones and tarts:

The scones were warm and delicious. They came with a little pot of cream/butter and jam. I picked out all the golden raisins because I don't like those. I wish the scones had currants instead! There were also 2 raspberry tarts which I did not like. ICK! They were very sickly sweet, and had a really fake raspberry flavor. You would expect a nice, thick Linzer tart kind of filling here, but nope this was fake and gelatinous. I left mine. No worries, there was plenty of food! I was getting stuffed! Patrick came around after awhile to get our dessert choices and refill our milk for our teas. I chose the plate of pastries, and Mike chose the trifle.

My pastries were just ok. Nothing special. There was a cream puff shaped like a swan and filled with a raspberry cream, a berry tart, and a chocolate covered strawberry. None of them were very memorable, and I was pretty full by now! Mike's trifle, on the other hand was TO DIE FOR!! SOOO GOOD! It was fresh and cool and creamy and full of raspberry flavor. It was sooo good and I wished I had ordered it so badly! He was nice and gave me a few bites, but man he finished that baby up pretty quickly!!

We finished up our meal and paid the bill. It was $61.77 after tax, and we tipped 20%. It was an expensive meal but really fun and filling! It was our anniversary, and a really special fun thing to do. We would definitely do this again, we had a great time!

We left the Grand and headed back to CSR to just chillll out for awhile. The time on our bill from Garden View says 5:52 pm. We had a nice few hours before our big anniversary dinner at Cali Grill at 9:30. Wishes at 10 pm!

 

[MickeyNicki]

You have me soooo happy that I booked Mama Melrose and GF Tea for Oct!

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Wow! The Afternoon Tea looked fantastic! I am so bummed that we missed it in May. I will be making an ADR for our next trip!!!

Terri

 

[iluvwdw5]

Great reporting!! Love the pictures!

 

[princessallegra]

You have me soooo happy that I booked Mama Melrose and GF Tea for Oct!

Yay!!! So lucky you guys are going back!!!

Wow! The Afternoon Tea looked fantastic! I am so bummed that we missed it in May. I will be making an ADR for our next trip!!!

Terri

You will love it!! Don't feel bad about missing it. That's the beauty of WDW. It will be there when you get back! You can always do it next time, and it gives you a reason for another trip. Love it!

Great reporting!! Love the pictures!

Thanks!! Thanks for joining in!

Great Review!! That is so cool about the Vader Parade!

I want to try Mama Melrose next time. I am glad you had a good time. I can't wait to see your review about the Garden View Tea Room. We had that scheduled for Mother's Day but our youngest did not feel well, so we cancelled.

Terri

The Vader parade was freaking awesome. I'll post some pics of it!

subscribing - our first trip to mm this year - can't wait.

YAY!!

We were there that weekend too and were actually surprised at how not crowded it was. We passed by Vaders spot for pictures and there were only 3 people in line. It was great!

We didn't get a chance to eat TS at HS but Mama Melroses looks great!

It was SO not crowded! Beauty!

We were also there last Sept and loved the food and service was good also. We will be returning to Mama's coming Sept.
Caesar saland looks good!

That Caesar salad was so yummy!!

 

[kimgof]

We love the GF Tea. My DD (8) and I have ADR's this upcoming trip. We loved it so much our last trip when she was 6 that she requested it for this trip. It makes her feel very grown up to go to tea with Mom.

 

[butiflfeet]

Great start! Now I'm going to have to figure out where I can fit in the Grand Floridian Tea for our next trip!

 

[mousegear]

Tea sounds really good!!! Never done it and it's on my list of to do at WDW. I'll remember to get Trifle!

 

[princessallegra]

We love the GF Tea. My DD (8) and I have ADR's this upcoming trip. We loved it so much our last trip when she was 6 that she requested it for this trip. It makes her feel very grown up to go to tea with Mom.

That's so nice! One day if I'm lucky enough to have a DD I will bring her for tea there as well.

Great start! Now I'm going to have to figure out where I can fit in the Grand Floridian Tea for our next trip!

Right?!? It's great!

Tea sounds really good!!! Never done it and it's on my list of to do at WDW. I'll remember to get Trifle!

Omggg that trifle, that trifle. It was so yummy.

 

[princessallegra]

After getting back from our tea we just kind of took it easy in the room for a bit. Then we started showering and getting ready for our ADR at Cali Grill.

As we were checking in on the 2nd floor, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were there with a big group of kids for the Pirate Cruise. I'm not sure if that's exactly what it's called. It sounds pretty cool! We were quickly brought up to the restaurant, and seated promptly. Ron was our server and he was great! We really hit it off. He started off by bringing us some complimentary champagne. Great start!

I decided on the Romaine with Roasted Garlic and Marinated Anchovies Salad (we got it to share), and for my entree the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli. Mike ordered the filet with mascarpone mashed potatoes and teriyaki glaze.

The bread was hot and warm and delicious!


The salad was the best caesar salad I had all week, and I had many. It was amazing! The marinated anchovies were simply scrumptious, and Ron actually brought me a whole bowl of them! I totally scarfed those down. We were both in scarf mode, as we forgot to take pics of mostly everything tonight. This salad didn't even need the lemon to cut the dressing, because of the briney anchovies. It was divine.

Wishes was beautiful! We had a great view of the fireworks. We did not go out onto the patio to watch. We were tired and wanted to just relax with our food!

My goat cheese ravioli came and it was actually one giant raviolo. It came in a very light, fresh tomato sauce. It was filled with very strong and creamy goat cheese. It was very good. The pasta could have been more tender, I noted.

Mike's filet was very good. The asparagus was delicious, and I got to eat all of it because he doesn't like asparagus the silly man! The mascarpone mashed potatoes were yummy.

For dessert we ordered the bananas and caramel, which we have ordered before and love. We also ordered a dessert cocktail, the Simply Nutty. It was a mix of walnut liqueur, amaretto, and frangelico with a splash of half and half. It was really strong but really good! It was nice and cold too. We liked it. Ron brought us a slice of their signature chocolate cake on the house. It isn't on the menu and it is SOOOO rich and delicious!! WOW! The bananas and caramel were delicious as usual.

This is the only pic I can find from this meal! Isn't it yummy!

Towards the end Ron got a little overwhelmed it seemed, and it took a little bit to get our check and get out of there. It wasn't too bad though. He was a really great and personable server who went out of his way for us.

Overall another AMAZING meal at Cali Grill! We've never had a bad meal here. We love it!

 

[Leshaface]

HIIII!!

OH GOSH! It's been FOREVER!

I was looking at my profile and was like, "Hmm, I wonder how that girly is!" Glad to see you're still on, doing TR's!

I'm subscribing now so I can read later!

 

[budafam]

Yum, love the pictures!

 

[Linda67]

I am soooooooo late

Loving your reviews so far, the trifle that your DH had looks exactly like the one my mum used to make for Sunday tea