Camera Broke - no pics, but LOTS of food!

[pianoronni37]

My husband and I went to Disney from Jan 22 - Jan 29. We had a horrible time with flight delays and could not WAIT to get to DTD and get some grub at WPE.

Well, after a 7 hour delay and airline mixups, and I broke a wisdom tooth (which would impact my eating!) we must have set down our carryon luggage too forcefully... our camera broke! We took photos of our trip on our phones, but we did NOT take any of food this time! But we sure did eat well!

The first night we did go to Wolfgang Puck Express. This was our first time there, and it was delicious! DH got the Rosemary Roasted Chicken and I got the Macaroni and Cheese! I also decided to get the creme brulee for dessert - biiiig mistake, as my broken tooth would punish me for the rest of the night because of that!!

The next day was our Epcot day! We shared a CS at Riverside Mill (make your own pasta with alfredo, penne, chicken, artichokes, spinach, mushrooms and parmesan) and when we hit Epcot we shared a CS at Tangierine Cafe - the Lamb and Chicken Shwarama platter! It was DELICIOUS!

Our dinner that night was at Flying Fish! We loved the Boardwalk, and we meandered about as we had arrived over an hour early and the pager worked through the whole length of the Boardwalk! We saw three different street performers and after about 45 minutes our pager beeped!

DH got the nightly special, which was a Surf n'Surf. It was shrimp scampi and a bass stuffed with a crab stuffing. Divine! I had the scallops which came with a butternut squash risotto - OMG that was absolutely delicious! I also had the recommended Pinot with the scallops, and it matched beautifully. For dessert, DH got the chocolate trio (YUM!) and I got the apple pecan tart with cinnamon ice cream.... heavenly!!

Next up: Columbia Harbor House and 'Ohana!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Joining in

Sorry to read the beginning of the trip did not go well but hopefully the rest did...but then I had problems with my wisdom teeth at one trip and I can hardly eat until I had to go to a dentist for an emergency visit (those memories was horrible plus I was a teenager)

 

[pianoronni37]

So the day after Epcot was Magic Kingdom day! We were going to get something quick at Riverside Mill again - but then decided to explore our CS options at MK.

I had read great things about Columbia Harbor House, so we gave it a shot. I was glad we did! Very nice Fish and Chips for me, DH got Chicken Nuggets and Fries - and a great recluse spot away from everyone upstairs! We had a beautiful view of the street, it was a nice break!

Then later that evening we went to the Polynesian for 'Ohana! It was a lot of fun - our first time there, too! We were celebrating our anniversary and got up and danced when called upon! Of course, we had all the 'Ohana favorites - and Wishes played during dessert! How fun!

When I asked DH what his favorite restaurant was of the trip, he said "um, obviously the place where they just kept BRINGING me the meat!"



Next in line? Sci-Fi Dine In and another trip with Wolfgang Puck Express!

 

[KatMark]

I'm so glad I found your reviews. I'm looking forward to reading.

 

[pianoronni37]

So my husband's one dining request: Sci Fi Dine In. His favorite show is Mystery Science Theater 3000, so he figured this would be a lot of fun, watching B movie trailers while eating burgers.

Well, my tooth was bothering me so I didn't get the milkshake I really wanted... settled for an unsweetened iced tea (which would be my drink for the entire trip). He got a coke, and a burger with fries. He said it was great, and he loved the atmosphere - he thought it was one of the best experiences of our trip.

I had the Reuben with fries. It was actually really good! I ate very slowly, as to not get anything in my tooth, and the waitress was VERY patient and wonderful with the drink refills! She also offered to take our photo a few times! Nice service!

We were paying OOP so we decided not to get a dessert... plus we had planned on eating at Pizza Planet later, another atmospheric trip!

Well, Pizza Planet CLOSED at 6pm! Bummer! We decided to forgo the extra magic hours and head to downtown disney by way of boat through the Boardwalk... I was trying to find excuses to get back to the Boardwalk (I found out during this trip it is my DREAM resort!!).

So we decided to eat again at the best CS bang for your buck option - Wolfgang Puck Express! I was jealous of DH's chicken last time, so I opted for the Rosemary Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes and a fruit bowl for dessert.

DH decided to get the Spaghetti and Meatballs. A very sweet, different sauce - it was good, but he helped me eat more of my chicken than of his own meal! He got a cookie for dessert... and loved it! He's easy.

Next up: Riverside Mill for lunch and Boma for dinner!

 

[pianoronni37]

So today was supposed to be our Animal Kingdom day, but we decided to have "down" day.

We spent the morning at the pool, wandering around the resort, and just taking LOTS of pictures with our phones of the gorgeous lushness of POR!

We decided to grab lunch at the Riverside Mill. We again went with the Make your own Pasta.

I had fettuccine with alfredo sauce, shrimp, olives, prosciutto, spinach, mushrooms and parmesean.

DH had spaghetti with marinara sauce, chicken, mushrooms and parmesean.

For dessert I had cheesecake with strawberry sauce, and DH had his second of 3 magic cookie bars that trip.

We decided while eating to head back to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours before our dinner ressie at Boma. We had a great time, slowly taking in the park once more, although we did head over to Tom Sawyer's Island and I was not even looking where I was going and fell flat on my face, skinning both my knees! How ironic... and just how Tom Sawyer would have wanted it!

We took a bus over to AKL for our 5:50pm Boma reservation - we got there about 5:40 and were seated right away. As always, the food was delicious. I had MANY helpings of the soup, as it proved to be the easiest food to eat with my tooth the way it was.

I loved the coconut curry seafood stew, the butternut squash soup, the lamb stew and they had a crab soup as well... yes, I ate a full bowl of all four. And a second helping of the seafood stew!!

The salmon was delicious, and they had a braised pork there that just melted in my mouth. DH loved everything as well, going back for more hummus and fufu and black eyed peas and mealie bread!!

The desserts were delicious - and I think I had a bad "batch" of zebra domes my first time eating at Boma last year... because this time they were AWESOME!

Boma - another success, and the only TS we repeated from the previous year. It may become a tradition...

Next up: Breakfast at Riverside Mill and Dinner at Artist Point!

 

[pianoronni37]

The next day we decided to get up a little earlier and grab a nice, hot breakfast at Riverside Mill.

Eh.. the breakfast was not really nice, nor hot. But it was substantial. We each got the breakfast platter - scrambled eggs (cold and congealed), bacon (eh), sausage (ok), home fries (definitely not as good as at All Star Sports last year), he got pancakes (which looked good), I got french toast (which was very cold).

Well, at least it filled us up. For a bit.

At Animal Kingdom, around lunchtime, we decided to pay OOP for a Turkey Leg! We split it - it was one of DH's only requests, but he couldn't eat the whole thing by himself, especially since it was only 4 hours before our dinner at Artist Point!

Well... WOW were we glad we saved our appetites! At Artist Point, we both started with a bowl of the smoky mushroom soup - that was FANTASTIC! Smoky, hearty, thick, creamy, bacon-y, mushroomy, DELICIOUS! It was like velvet on our tongues!

DH was very happy to see the Buffalo Strip on the menu, with a goat cheese polenta and asparagus and a chocolate cherry wine sauce... it was BEAUTIFULLY cooked to a nice red rare... it was absolutely divine! He fell in love with buffalo!! And quite frankly - so did I!

My meal was the cedar plank salmon. OOOOOOOH was this good! They brought it out on a cedar plank and served it atop broccolini and a sour dough bread dumpling, with a red wine brown butter sauce.

The bread dumpling was VERY heavy, but the salmon was cooked medium rare, nice and pink in the middle - it was definitely the best piece of salmon I've ever had.

The waitress let us know that we each got a "side" dish with our meals, as we were on the regular dining plan and Artist Point is one of the only restaurants that allows this. We both decided to get the cheddar macaroni and cheese - it was really good, but it was just so much food! We both left over half of our macaroni!

For dessert, DH got the double chocolate cheesecake - which was VERY thick and rich... I could only deal with a bite or two, but DH devoured it.

I had the Goat Cheese and Fig Tart - it was DELICIOUS! It came with a huckleberry ice cream, I was so happy I chose this dessert!!

We really enjoyed Artist Point, and because of the Buffalo entree alone, DH wants to make this a "must do." I don't mind - the salmon melted on my tongue, and I would agree with DH on this one!

Next up: Our last FULL day - we did the unthinkable and CANCELED Le Cellier lunch and opted for Sunshine Seasons CS and added... Biergarten Dinner!

(We were SO FULL from our Artist Point dinner, we couldn't fathom Le Cellier at 12:30pm... our bellies kept telling us "no no no" as we tried to sleep that night! Thank goodness for online reservations - adding and dropping were a BREEZE!)

 

[pianoronni37]

After debating on our Artist Point evening, we decided to go ahead and cancel our 12:50pm Le Cellier reservation for the next day, as long as we could grab something decent for dinner.

There were two choices - Restaurant Marrakesh or Biergarten. Both seemed to have a lot of slots open, so we just went with our gut - Biergarten at 6pm.

We got to Epcot at about 1pm, and we were STARVING! Kinda wished we hadn't canceled Le Cellier, but we weren't sure we could eat the heavy steak lunch so soon after indulging in Artist Point! So to Sunshine Seasons we went, to use our last counter service of the trip.

It was very good - DH got the rotisserie chicken meal with rice and mashed potatoes, and I got a turkey sandwich on focaccia with chipotle mayo. DH got a butterfinger cheesecake for dessert and I got the strawberry shortcake. Sunshine Seasons continues to be a great Counter Service location, probably ranking in my top 3 with POR Counter Service and Wolfgang Puck Express being number 1! (Earl of Sandwich and Cosmic Ray's are not far behind...)

So we started walking around the world... and came upon Germany at about 5:30. We weren't very hungry after our HUGE lunch, but our ressie was at 6pm... so in we went! This was our first time at the Biergarten, and it was a lot of fun. We sat at the front of a communal table, the people at our table were not the most talkative - but that's okay, we weren't, either!

The food was pretty good - I really loved the potato leek soup and pretzel bread, but the schnitzel and sauerbraten and sausages were all hearty and tasty. There were carved meats, turkey and beef, and the cold salads were yummy as well - I steered clear of the herring salad that I saw on these boards.. haha.. but the rest were good. Again, for me, the standout was the soup (most likely because of my broken tooth and it was the easiest to eat!)

The bavarian cheesecake for dessert was HEAVENLY and so was the chocolate cake. I would revisit Biergarten, but not until I saw other options first. We were stuffed, and everything was tasty, and the entertainment was great. But - I think next time we'll go with Marrakesh, Le Cellier or Teppan Edo. Just for something different.

All in all, our vacation was fantastic. The dining was all delicious, we did not have one bad meal! We paid OOP for Sci-Fi Dine In and the very last day (after we found out that Delta had canceled our return flight and had to wait for a VERY late flight out... sigh... but it worked out!) we paid OOP for Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli's, but we did not spend much more than $100-$150 on ALL food, OOP, and tips! So the dining plan was VERY MUCH worth it for us!!!

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations, we had a great experience and hopefully we can go back next year (trying to talk DH into another gorgeous January trip) and try some new places, and incorporate our favorites (Boma, Artist Point, 'Ohana...)!

 

[Disney owl]

thanks for the reviews