Celebrating 20 years of marriage with Disney Dining! COMPLETE 3/26

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

For the final grade of the Dessert Party I will give it a...

C

While I'm glad I got to experience this, I don't think we will be going again. The view of Wishes can't be beat, but the desserts were not very good. I can't remember exactly what I paid for this since you have to prepay, but I think it was close to $50 for two adults. Because of the poor food quality, it makes it not worth the money in my opinion.

Up next will be lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby.

 

[emmysmommy]

Thanks for sharing your review and happy belated Anniversary!! What a milestone.

Sorry that the desserts were not as great as anticipated but it sounds like the view was worth it!

I look forward to your Brown Derby review.

 

[Linda67]

Congratulations on 20 years together

I'm really enjoying your reviews; we have a reservation at Citricos but I was thinking of cancelling it as we just have so much to fit in but your meal looks so wonderful I think we may have to keep it

 

[tarheelmjfan]

The first picture of the castle, in your dessert party review, is beautiful. I've never seen it like that. We're usually having dinner somewhere rather than being in MK at night. We've seen the fireworks & parades so many times that we prefer to leave the parks & avoid the crowd. After seeing your picture, I'm going to make a point of staying late to see the castle like that.

 

[iloveeeyore]

The first picture of the castle, in your dessert party review, is beautiful. I've never seen it like that. We're usually having dinner somewhere rather than being in MK at night. We've seen the fireworks & parades so many times that we prefer to leave the parks & avoid the crowd. After seeing your picture, I'm going to make a point of staying late to see the castle like that.

There is a relatively new laser show called "Magic, Memories and You" that is usually presented between the parade and fireworks. They do all these special effects on the castle, including projecting images taken by PhotoPass photographers onto the castle. It is very cool and worth seeing at least once. We also NEED to see Wishes at least once from Main Street each trip. It's just part of the magic!

Smiling Cheshire Cat, I am loving your report! So sorry you didn't love the Dessert Party. My kids have been expressing an interest but I have been on the fence, especially since we have watched Wishes from relatively close to that spot and it wasn't our favorite view (though we love being that close to Tink). I think we'll stick with "free" Main Street.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Thanks for sharing your review and happy belated Anniversary!! What a milestone.

Sorry that the desserts were not as great as anticipated but it sounds like the view was worth it!

I look forward to your Brown Derby review.

Thanks so much for the Anniversary wishes! The view of the castle was awesome, but Disney could greatly improve those desserts for sure.

Congratulations on 20 years together

I'm really enjoying your reviews; we have a reservation at Citricos but I was thinking of cancelling it as we just have so much to fit in but your meal looks so wonderful I think we may have to keep it

I hope you find the time to try Citricos. It was probably the best entree I've ever had at Disney.

The first picture of the castle, in your dessert party review, is beautiful. I've never seen it like that. We're usually having dinner somewhere rather than being in MK at night. We've seen the fireworks & parades so many times that we prefer to leave the parks & avoid the crowd. After seeing your picture, I'm going to make a point of staying late to see the castle like that.

That picture is from the Magic and Memories show that happens about 10 minutes before Wishes. It was neat to see the castle like that.

There is a relatively new laser show called "Magic, Memories and You" that is usually presented between the parade and fireworks. They do all these special effects on the castle, including projecting images taken by PhotoPass photographers onto the castle. It is very cool and worth seeing at least once. We also NEED to see Wishes at least once from Main Street each trip. It's just part of the magic!

Smiling Cheshire Cat, I am loving your report! So sorry you didn't love the Dessert Party. My kids have been expressing an interest but I have been on the fence, especially since we have watched Wishes from relatively close to that spot and it wasn't our favorite view (though we love being that close to Tink). I think we'll stick with "free" Main Street.

Thanks so much for reading. The Dessert Party is rather expensive so we'll be on "free" Main St. next time too.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

December 21, 2011- Lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby

Today was our actual anniversary date so I decided to book my husband's favorite restaurant for lunch. We arrived right around 11:45 which was our reservation time. I was suprised that there were lots of people waiting in the lobby for a table. We were led to our table for 2 that was on the upper level of the restaurant. Our server was Jerry who proved to be adequate. Since I had noted our anniversary on the reservation, Jerry brought out this champagne toast. I love the cut strawberries on the lip of the glass.


Champagne toast from HBD by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

Brian's favorite thing to order at the Brown Derby is the Cobb Salad. We always get it with the avocados on the side since I think a little avocado goes a long way. Regrettably I forgot to take a picture until I was nearly done with my share. So here's what was left...


Cobb Salad from HBD by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

The salad was enjoyable as always. The ingredients are so finely chopped that even the ones I'm not so crazy about, mainly blue cheese, don't offend me.

Brian asked Jerry for his recommendation for our entree. Jerry recommended the grouper. I was hoping for the red meat since we had just had grouper the other night at Citricos, but Brian took Jerry's advice and this is what we ordered and split. The Coriander Dusted Grouper...


Coriander grouper from HBD by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

This might have been excellent except for 2 things. One was that the fish was slightly overcooked. Two was that I kept comparing it to the grouper that we had just eaten at Citricos. I did think the vegetables and the sauce with the fish were very good. I don't think I had ever eaten purple cauliflower before. So Brian and I decided that while we enjoyed the fish we would probably order something else next time but would not be opposed to ordering it again.

For dessert I got my usual- the Derby's signature dessert the Grapefruit cake.


Grapefruit cake from Brown Derby by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

This has always been my favorite dessert here and I think we've tried most of them. But having eaten this cake several times, this piece seemed a little stale. The icing on the outside of the cake was almost too hard to eat. Luckily the cake was still moist and tangy.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

So my final grade of the Brown Derby will be...

B

While this wasn't the best meal we've every had at the Brown Derby it was still very good and we will be heading back there for our next trip. Brian says it is his lunchtime haven from the madness of Hollywood Studios.

With my TIW card I saved $11.60 on this meal. This leaves me with needing to save $22.46 to break even.

Up next will be our anniversary dinner at Artist Point.

 

[Linda67]

I had the grouper last time we were in HBD and it was perfect, so so yummy

 

[sarahewoods]

Hi there, loving your report!

Being British, I have never tried a corn dog, must give it a go in October, they look tasty.

Your plates look nice at the dessert party, but I can't bring myself to pay all that money with us being a family of 6.

Love HBD, it's also my DH favourite restaurant, we are hoping to eat here on his birthday. The purple cauliflower looks weird...

Looking forward to more xx

 

[sarahewoods]

Hi there, loving your report!

Being British, I have never tried a corn dog, must give it a go in October, they look tasty.

Your plates look nice at the dessert party, but I can't bring myself to pay all that money with us being a family of 6.

Love HBD, it's also my DH favourite restaurant, we are hoping to eat here on his birthday. The purple cauliflower looks weird...

Looking forward to more xx

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

I had the grouper last time we were in HBD and it was perfect, so so yummy

So glad you enjoyed your grouper at HBD. Mine was just a little overcooked so the fish was on the dry side. But the flavors were very good.

Hi there, loving your report!

Being British, I have never tried a corn dog, must give it a go in October, they look tasty.

Your plates look nice at the dessert party, but I can't bring myself to pay all that money with us being a family of 6.

Love HBD, it's also my DH favourite restaurant, we are hoping to eat here on his birthday. The purple cauliflower looks weird...

Looking forward to more xx

I love corn dogs. I'm from the South and we will eat anything deep fried here.

I can't say I thought the Dessert party was worth the $. I had found a note yesterday where I had written how much my credit card would be charged and it was $59.62 for two adults. For 6 people I guess that would be somewhere between $150 and $200.

Hope you get to eat at HBD for your DH's birthday. I actually enjoyed the purple cauliflower, something I have seen in our grocery store but would never cook at home.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Wednesday, December 21st- Artist Point

Brian and I headed over to the Wilderness Lodge for our Anniversary Dinner. I was a little concerned that it might be difficut to get to WL from the Grand Floridian, but it was an easy boat ride to the MK and then another to the WL. By the way, we found the Wilderness Lodge absolutely stunning in its Christmas decorations. Really I thought it was prettier than the Grand Floridian.

We checked in and were led promptly to a table. We were given a quiet table for 2 near the window. It was dark so we couldn't see much outside, but we liked the location of our table since it was kind of behind a column and it gave us a bit of privacy. We continued our lucky streak of good service with Osiris. She was outstanding.

To start off I ordered this sweet thing...


Raspberry Runoff from Artist Point by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

This drink was called the Raspberry Rapids. Unfortunately I can't find a description of it on allears but my memory tells me it had rum in it. It was almost like a milkshake and was very sweet. My only complaint with it is it was filling so I kind of spoiled my dinner with it. Osiris also brought us 2 glasses of champagne.

Brian asked Osiris her opinion of what to order. Her 3 favorite dishes were the salmon, the scallops, or the buffalo. I already had my eye on ordering the house salad as my entree so I told Brian to get whatever he liked. I was secretly hoping he would chose the scallops, but he decided to go with the salmon.


Salmon from Artist Point by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

The black looking thing beside the salmon was some sort of squash I think. Brian said this was good, but didn't compare to the fish that he had at Citricos or even the Brown Derby. I tried a bite and thought it was okay, but I'm never one to be crazy about salmon. However, the portion was really big.

I wish that I had a picture of the salad I ate. It was incredible. It was huge on a plate that was rectangular shaped. It was mixed greens with apples and blue cheese with a champagne vinagrette. But the best thing about it was these clusters of sweet sunflower granola. Absolutely a wonderful salad!

For dessert we decided on the Berry Cobbler...


photo by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

This was also a huge portion. Brian really loved the raspberry ice cream. I thought the cobbler crust was wonderful. When Osiris brought the bill she gave us the cobbler complementary since it was our anniversary. My only regret is I didn't think to tip her extra since we use the TIW card and the tip is included. I wish I would have included more tip as if we had paid for the cobbler but that didn't occur to me until much later.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

So my final grade of Artist Point will be...

A-

We had a wonderful meal at Artist Point. I would have given it an A except that the salmon didn't quite measure up to the other entrees we ate at other signature restaurants. I would love to go back to Artist Point and try the scallops next time.

As far as our TIW savings, we saved $11.05 on this meal so that means we only need to save $11.41 more to recoup our $75 we have invested. With 3 more meals I think we'll make that goal.

Up next: Liberty Tree Tavern lunch

 

[My sister's princess]

I am really enjoying reading along, thank you for sharing!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

I am really enjoying reading along, thank you for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Thursday, December 22- Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch

For lunch on our Magic Kingdom day we headed over to Liberty Tree Tavern, a place we typically lunch at while at Magic Kingdom. I was suprised at how very busy they were, but it was only 3 days until Christmas.

We were led to our table which was in the back of the restaurant. We've eaten here many times, but it seems like we're seated in a different section every time. I love the colonial look of this restaurant, especially the distressed glass panes in the windows.

Our waiter was Hugue who was adequate. I really enjoy the Fried Cheese here, so this is what we started with.


Fried Cheese from Liberty Tree Tavern by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

My favorite is the sticks, but the bite size fried cheese good too. The marinara sauce served with the cheese is tasty as well.

Brian said after eating "fancy food" for several days he was ready for a burger. Knowing they are good at LTT that's what he ordered with provolone cheese and mushrooms with a side of fries.


Burger from Liberty Tree Tavern by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

Brian said this was good and full of mushrooms. I like the fries, which he shared with me. These are more like steak fries, very crispy on the outside.

Knowing we were eating a substantial dinner later I decided on the tavern salad with the strawberry vinagrette.


Salad from Liberty Tree Tavern by Smiling Cheshire Cat, on Flickr

The pickle is courtesy of Brian because he knows I love them. The last 2 times I have ordered this salad I have had the same problem. It seems that the salad has been dressed a while and the lettuce is kind of slimy. I love the strawberry vinagrette dressing and order this same salad with grilled chicken and strawberries at the Plaza. The difference there is the dressing is served on the side. So I need to remember to ask for it served this way at LTT. Slimy lettuce in a salad is not very appetizing.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

My final grade of Liberty Tree Tavern will be...

B-

Brian liked his burger and I liked the fried cheese, but I have to grade LTT down because of my salad. Service wasn't memorable either. We will be back to LTT since we love the convenient location.

With my TIW card I saved $4.89 on this meal so I only need to save $6.52 more to break even. I think I can do it!

Up next will be one last trip to Tutto Italia before the refurbishment.

 

[wilma-bride]

I woulkd love to try LTT for lunch one day but none of the mains really grab my fancy. Wonder if I would be OK to just have an appetiser and dessert here

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

I woulkd love to try LTT for lunch one day but none of the mains really grab my fancy. Wonder if I would be OK to just have an appetiser and dessert here

We've actually done this before with no problems. I typically order the appy sized salad or the fried cheese and an ooey gooey toffee cake which is very yummy.