Another DR? And yes, it was live! Now complete..!

[slk537]

Today was snacking around day...we started sharing breakfast at the MK at the Main Street Bakery. For one CS credit we got a ham, egg and cheese croissant, a cinnamon roll and a strawberries and cream smoothie. I paid cash for an oj and a banana:

When cut in half:

The croissant was good, as always. It has very gooey cheese (white and orange) and the egg is nicely done. DH and I split this and DS had a few bites.

The cinnamon roll was the first taken from a fresh batch and was very good. I would have loved butter with it, but the only "butter" they had was margarine blend and this Wisconsin Dairy girl doesn't do margarine... I stole the middle part again and it was wonderful!

The smoothie was more like a strawberry milkshake and it was VERY good. At least I think so because DS had almost the whole thing himself - I recovered nicely from the key lime pie disaster yesterday!

OJ and banana? Just fine.

 

[slk537]

Snack #2 was fish, chicken and fries from Columbia Harbor House. I wanted to get the Lighthouse sandwich too, but it was hot and I wasn't that hungry and no one else in my family likes hummus.

DS loved the chocolate cake, and my favorite part was the large lemonade - did I mention it was hot?

 

[gardengirl628]

Loving your reviews!
The smoothie from Main St. looks delish.
And how was the Peppermint pedicure? It sounds fabulous....I think I might have to try it.
Thank you so much!

 

[slk537]

And finally, when we got back from the MK, we decided to hang out at the Kidani pool. DH got me one of the orange cream drinks (YUM!) and the tandoori chicken caesar salad:

The drink was wonderful - like a liquid creamsicle! The salad was very interesting - it looks pretty ordinary, but the chicken had a curry type seasoning on it and was very good. There was plenty of fresh shredded parmesan cheese and I liked the packaged dressing with it. It's not a must repeat for us, but it was nice to try out something new.

 

[slk537]

Dinner tonight was at Shula's...I tried taking a non flash photo and gave up. It just didn't work. So tomorrow, I'll put togther a review with no photos. As for now? DH got us a DVD at Johari Treasures, so we're popping it in before bed.

Goodnight all!

 

[lynn46356]

The MK bakery items look delicious! In all our trips to WDW(6) we've only make it there once. I definitely am going to take better advantage of this place on our next trip in Nov/Dec. I can't believe you got all of that with one credit on the dining plan. That seems like a good deal or am I wrong? The smoothie looks to die for. Throw one my way. Looking forward to today's photos, etc!

Lynn

 

[scanne]

OK, well now I just want a cinnamon roll.

 

[medicgirl911]

I LOVE Columbia Harbour house....It is the only place, ever, that I eat a tuna sandwich LOL If you are back in that area again, would you consider mailing me one?? LOL! I have never made it in to the Main St Bakery before, that so has to change on our upcoming trip!! Have Fun!!

 

[slk537]

Loving your reviews!
The smoothie from Main St. looks delish.
And how was the Peppermint pedicure? It sounds fabulous....I think I might have to try it.
Thank you so much!

It was wonderful! Completely refreshing and pampering all at the same time. And you get to bring your cute toes with you so it lasts longer than a typical massage

The MK bakery items look delicious! In all our trips to WDW(6) we've only make it there once. I definitely am going to take better advantage of this place on our next trip in Nov/Dec. I can't believe you got all of that with one credit on the dining plan. That seems like a good deal or am I wrong? The smoothie looks to die for. Throw one my way. Looking forward to today's photos, etc!

Lynn

They are one of the only places I know that follows the lunch CS plan - one savory main item, one pastry/sweet and one drink. OR you can pick two pastries and two drinks. I paid cash for the OJ and banana, but the other three items were a CS. We love it there - very good and always plenty of seating outside the Plaza at the yellow tables.

OK, well now I just want a cinnamon roll.

They were my dad's favorites on our trip last July - DH texted him a photo saying "wish you were here" yesterday. nice, eh?

I LOVE Columbia Harbour house....It is the only place, ever, that I eat a tuna sandwich LOL If you are back in that area again, would you consider mailing me one?? LOL! I have never made it in to the Main St Bakery before, that so has to change on our upcoming trip!! Have Fun!!

I should have DH get one there - he loves tuna salad!

 

[slk537]

Shula’s has always interested us, as we definitely enjoy a good steak. We had an ADR last weekend, but decided against it and made another one last night in lieu of Yachtsman (so now we have two extra TS credits to use up – WOO HOO!). A few things to note: they validate your valet parking ($13) and give you two free hours for your child at Camp Dolphin ($10/hour). DS loved Camp Dolphin – he played the Wii, Xbox, arts and crafts and went with the other kids to Picabu for dinner (included). He came home with a Camp Dolphin livestrong type bracelet and a plastic dinosaur.

DH and I dropped him off and then went back upstairs to Shula’s. We were seated about 3 minutes after we checked in. I had heard it was very dark there and it certainly is! We had a little table for two in one of the back rooms where the walls are decorated with football photos in really ornate gold frames. We had two servers and everyone who worked there was very gracious and very nice, but not stuffy, IYKWIM? We felt comfortable instantly.

There is a menu on a football that is too dark to read and you also have a paper menu. Your server stops by with saran wrapped meat and shows you each cut with explanations and recommendations. He also showed us the portion sizes of the sides/vegetables. He explained that if we wanted to order a salad or a side to share, they would split them in the kitchen and they are plenty for two. He also let us know there were three desserts they recommended to order when you order dinner, as they take a long time.
They brought out a large loaf of warm sourdough bread and a large pat of the funky Florida butter. They were both good together. The bread was soft with a chewy crust. For dinner, we ordered the Caesar salad to share, a 12 oz filet with béarnaise, a 22 oz cowboy ribeye and grilled asparagus with balsamic reduction to share.

The Caesar salad came out quickly and the size was definitely plenty for two. We both were served our own. We had time to talk and enjoy each other’s company before the steaks arrived. They bring them out on a covered plate and have you check the doneness right away, using a small flashlight (it is DARK in there!). They say the Shula cut is better than prime and I was expecting something that would melt in my mouth. The steaks were both very good, but I have to say my dad and DH have both served up better grilled steaks to me. Other than not meeting my high expectations, I have to say they were still excellent. The asparagus was very good while hot, but as it cooled down it started to taste less appealing. And there was so much, there would be no way we could have eaten the entire thing anyway.

DH had decided to order dessert, so he let them know we would like the chocolate soufflé when we got our salads. Because we waited, it took an extra 10 minutes after eating, which was just fine. When they served the soufflé, it was HUGE. He poured crème anglaise into it and then cut it into 4 pieces and served two to me and two to DH. There were two cups of vanilla Haagen Daz and one of fresh whipped cream to go along with it. The dessert was very light and good with the outer crust tasting like a chewy homebaked brownie crust. When we added some ice cream and whipped cream the soufflé was just amazing.

We didn’t rush through dinner, but still managed to get DS within the two hour limit so we only paid a tip for his dinner and childcare. The steaks were very expensive, but when you share a side or salad, they are reasonable and we would have paid at least $35 for DS at the Sandcastle Club.
All in all, it was a fun experience and one we’ll probably repeat, but not any time soon.

 

[slk537]

This morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and stumbled out into the sunshine to have breakfast at one of our favorites - Kona Cafe. DH and I have had breakfast here as a tradition every trip when DS does the Grand Floridian Pirate Cruise. This trip we skipped the cruise and brought him with to breakfast.

We were seated immediately and started with Lillikoi juice for DS, OJ for DH and a Cafe Mocha for me:

After stirring in the whipped cream

The cafe mocha was perfect!

DS decided on the Mickey pancakes and sausage:

It was strange - he gets the "bear" pancake every time we go to Country Kitchen, which is one large pancake in the shape of Mickey Mouse. Here at Mickey's home, he gets three pancakes set on the plate to look like Mickey. Nonetheless there was a TON of pancake for him and he liked both the pancake and sausage.

I ordered my favorite - the blueberry pancakes (three large!) and sausage:

Top:

bottom:

The pancakes were very good - I added butter and syrup and the sausage started out excellent and then got a little greasy. I still enjoyed it, but had to leave almost half.

DH decided on his usual - the Big Kahuna. This has eggs (he got scrambled), macadamia nut pancakes, french toast, sausage, ham, bacon and breakfast potatoes. He loves this:

He enjoyed this as usual, but gave me his sausage which I couldn't eat. All in all, a fantastic breakfast tradition!

 

[slk537]

We headed to Epcot for opening and after a quick peek at our future in Spaceship Earth, we went over to The Land. We saw the Circle of Life and then headed downstairs. We had discussed doing the Behind the Seeds tour and DH went to book it while DS and I took a few gratuitious photos during breakfast time:

the electronic menu:

Some breakfast items on ice:

More refrigerated items:

The rotisserie chickens going:

Sushi!

Soda choices - although I did see another section that included my beloved Coke Zero:

Bakery items - were there for breakfast...what a way to start the day!

My personal favorite:

 

[slk537]

We then rode Soarin' and Living with the Land and when we were finished, we had about 30 minutes before our tour. We decided to get a snack, so instead of using a bunch of snack credits, I decided to get a CS credit and a snack. We went to the Asian section and got Spicy Thai Chicken with three sides instead of two entrees and two sides. I picked stir fried veggies, lo mein noodles (udon noodles?) and broccoli for DS ( I swear to God, it's his favorite!).

The Thai Chicken was okay to meh. As were the stir fried veggies, but they had fungus in them, so I may be prejudiced. DS ate all the broccoli with chop sticks and loved it. The noodles were very good. But we really didn't order the CS for the main course. We ordered it for the large lemonade

And more importantly, for this:

One of my all time favorites EVER ANYWHERE! A tiny bit of cake, tons of fresh whipped cream and fresh strawberries. I let DH have a little bit and then I enjoyed the rest myself. YUM~!!!! DS didn't even try it because he was busy with this:

Before ordering, I took a few shots of the menus here:

 

[slk537]

Dinner tonight was actually Le Cellier. But we spent nearly seven hours at Epcot and to be honest, we really don't have the love for Le Cellier that we used to have. Last summer when we were there, we had a very snotty hostess who refused to check us in until our whole party had crossed the path into Canada (which I do understand, although no other restaurant did that...in fact, we were going to cancel Coral Reef when my dad and his wife were going to be 45 minutes late, but they actually held our ADR which was above and beyond) and then my nephew and I were still eating our entrees when our server took everyone else's plates and handed out dessert menus. We just feel they have gotten too popular and too busy and not really for us. The only reason I made the ADR was for DS and the pretzel bread. So we promised him his very own pretzel bread from SuperTarget when we get home and he was fine with us finding another place.

The concierge here was able to get us both of our choices: Yachtsman and Whispering Canyon. We even had 3 choices of times. (***NOTE: if you want to switch your ADR's around and you're here, go to the concierge. They are so nice and they are able to go in and book you something right here and now. We have breakfast tomorrow at CMC that they booked at a perfect time!***). In the end, we decided to take the early ADR at Whispering Canyon.

We were seated about 45 seconds after checking in and our server was very nice and only a little into the antics, which was fine with us. We each started with a milkshake, which is such a vacation thing - definitely not at home.

DS had his favorite - vanilla:

DH and I both got the "some assembly required" chocolate shakes

We all decided on the Canyon Skillet ( I debated on the grilled ribeye, but didn't want steak two nights in a row. I saw it going by the table and I was happy with my choice). Our server brought out salad, coleslaw and cornbread:

Loved the salad, but the cornbread was a little dry and the butter tasted like margarine. I really don't like Florida butter.

The skillet has changed since we last ate here - it still has ribs, mashed potatoes, pork and corn, but now it has brisket instead of sausage. It was all extremely greasy, but it was all still very good:

DS's meal was the fruit cup, Canyon Skillet with the chicken and chocolate chip cookies for dessert:

We ate way too much and brought DS's cookies back here and got our desserts to go. I ordered the apple pie and DH ordered the s'mores cheesecake. They are currently in the fridge, but I will take photos before we eat them and then post later.

All in all, a very expensive meal we would not get without the DDP, but a fun evening out and a good dinner over all.

 

[slk537]

After dinner we went to the Mercantile and DS asked me to take a few shots of "his boys", Chip and Dale. It's food, so here we go:

And while these rice krispie treats do not look delicious, they are super cute:

 

[slk537]

Tomorrow we have a brunch ADR and a dinner ADR, but in between we will be taking it easy - it is finally our down day, so we'll be exploring the resort, hanging by the pool, maybe heading to DTD to shop and have lunch, maybe hitting the outlet mall and exploring other resorts. Today was a really early morning after a late night, so I'm looking forward to a lazy vacation day.

Hope everyone has a great Friday night!

 

[dancemomnj]

I'm a Coke Zero fan too I'm loving your live report!

 

[tink1957]

Great reviews, I've got to go to Kona & get me a Big Kahuna platter. That Strawberry Shortcake from SS looks delicious too! I'm probably going to weigh 200 lbs after my Sept trip.

Enjoy your downtime.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Great reviews!!!!! It's so neat that there is a Sweet Tomatoes near Disney now! Can't wait to read more!

 

[lynn46356]

Looks like A LOT of good food and some good reviews too! I have to try that strawberry shortcake. It looks delicious. I can't wait for strawberry season to come around to make my own along with some homemade strawberry jelly!!!! We ate at WC last time in Feb 08 and enjoyed it also. DH and myself both got the same desserts as you two and also in a to go box. I thought both were very good and have been craving them since. We want to try Yachtsman on our next visit. Have you ever ate there? It'll be our 25th wedding anniversary trip w/o kids!!!!! This trip report is just making me wish it was Nov 29th already. Enjoy the down time today but we'll be waiting for more pics!!!!