Celebrating & eating @ MNSSHP: AKERSHUS BREAKFAST [updated 12/12/12]

[emmebear]

MNSSHP & DINNER @ COSMIC RAY'S

this was our very first MNSSHP & we were so excited. we had started our day with lunch @ CRT. hurricane sandy brought dark skies & a little bit of rain & then lots of humidity for the party. i'm glad it stopped raining but the humidity for the thursday night party rivaled a hot summer night in florida in july. it was that humid!

emme & i in front of ursula (our room section) before heading off to the party. my friend sophie of sewsmooth created matching tutu/dress for us. she surprised me with a tutu stating "no one is too old for a tutu".

front entrance of MK

after entering MK, there were cm's passing out candy bags to all the guests. i forgot one of three pumpkins that emme had for halloween. booo! but, it was so awesome to see the MK decked out for halloween. i saw glimpses of it during our last trip. disney knows how to decorate to the max! MK was packed with tons of people. it was difficult to move around with a jogging stroller. we veered right and headed towards fantasyland. i had everything mapped out of where to go, who to see but it was so humid & with the crowds, i just decided to wing it.

mad hatter & emme

we lucked out as there was no wait for the mad hatter (no alice yet) who was signing autographs in front of the tea cups. he was hilarious! very quirky & strange but really great. we rode the tea cups twice with no wait.

after the tea cups, i saw the almost empty line for pooh & friends. when we approached, she said that pooh would return an hour later. after 10 minutes, i saw people being ushered back into line. another person stated that this was the "stand by" line now. i was annoyed as now there were about 10 families in front of us. if it wasn't so darn humid, my annoyance would have been minimal. lucky for us, we got to see pooh & friends while waiting in the stand by line.

picture taken my pooh's handler. both this picture and the photopass picture are equally bad. but hey, pooh & friends were very cute & emme loved every minute of it.

after a few more rides, emme said that she was hungry. i really wanted to try columbia harbour house but seeming we were very close to COSMIC RAY'S i decided that we would eat there. again, if it weren't so humid, i would have made my way to CHH but i was losing all will power at this point.

once entering COSMIC RAY'S, i headed towards the chicken bay. however, the chicken bay was closed. i was distraught at this point as emme was getting a wee bit cranky & she does not eat hamburgers or sandwiches. we eat primarily korean food at our house so branching out to american food has been a challenge. i knew emme would eat the chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans.

as i was staring at the revolving menu at the burger bay, on the last screen was the 1/2 rotisserie chicken meal. i thought i might be hallucinating so i stared for one more rotation. ha. i really wanted the 1/2 rotisserie chicken with bbq rib combo but only the 1/2 rotisserie chicken was available.

ordering was quick & efficient. i ordered the meal with mashed potatoes & green beans, a soft drink for me, a milk & a chocolate gelato for emme. the total cost of the meal was aout $17.00 but i used 1 QS on our dining plan.

1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - with Mashed Potatoes and a seasonal vegetable $9.69

1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - with Mashed Potatoes and a seasonal vegetable $9.69


i wasn't expecting very moist chicken so i got some bbq sauce from the toppings bar. much to my amazement, the chicken was super moist & really good, even the breast meat. emme loved the chicken. the mashed potatoes were tasty but the green beans were very salty. actually, the green beans were inedible because they were so salty. i was surprised as to how much she ate. she really enjoyed the chicken & i'm glad we made a stop to COSMIC RAY'S. it seemed like a great value for a QS & the meal itself (minus the green beans) was rather tasty & fresh. thumbs up from me!

after our meal, we headed over to fantasyland. emme wanted to ride dumbo. i think she was more interested in the play area rather than the actual ride.

the wait/play area for dumbo

we rode dumbo going both directions. the line was empty! we spent more time in the play area than waiting in line.

as we were in fantasyland, it was time for hallo-wishes. i saw people around me just hanging out in the area (we were right by the carousel) & a CM said that this would be a great space to watch hallo-wishes. while we waited, daisy & disney were out & about to sign autographs & take pictures.

hallo-wishes was unbelievable! fireworks were shooting all around us. it was absolutely stunning. i turned into a little kid while watching the fireworks. it made being miserable in the humidity worth it.

emme was starting to get pretty sleepy at about the 10pm mark. we saw duffy in a pumpkin costume & got an autograph and photo.

after duffy, emme fell asleep in the stroller. i somehow made it to the seven dwarves. the line was very long but the dwarves were adorable!

i don't know which dwarf kissed my cheek but it was very cute.

the seven dwarves!


as i was trying to exit, i ended up in a long but empty line for candy. it was my only (unintentional) stop for candy. there were 5 stops on this path and i ended up filling the entire bag with candy.

while making another attempt to exit the park, the second round of the parade had started. all the characters were in the parade. i don't know how the cm's can keep up their energy but they were dancing & smiling. everyone was enjoying the parade.

i got one last glimpse of the castle & exited MK.

overall, MNSSHP was really fun despite being so humid. i wish emme hadn't fallen asleep as she would have loved the dwarves and the parade. i also enjoyed our meal @ COSMIC RAY'S & feel like it was a great meal! the food was fresh, hot & delicious. i didn't have high hopes as i know everything is mass produced but surprisingly enough, it was quite tasty.

up next, FOOD & WINE snacks & drinks.

 

[jabead]

I thought I read somehwere that LC does a different poutine at dinner than what you were served at lunch. Which makes no sense to me. Why would you have two different versions with the lunch version not being anything that someone familiar with poutine would enjoy? Go figure.

Thanks for the reviews!

Here is a pic that Ellen (podsnel) included in her recent live update of Le Cellier's dinner poutine...

Here is emmebear's pic of her lunch version of the poutine...

 

[debrapagliasotti]

MNSSHP looks so much fun! We are going next year for the first time.

The chicken from Cosmic Rays looks quite yummy. Seems like a lot of food for just under $10

 

[AvasMommy526]

I've been following (lurking ) along too!! I'm loving the reviews and it's nice to read about the experiences with a smaller child as my DD will be turning 2 during our next trip! Love the MNSSHP, I can't wait to do that someday! And Emme is abosulutely adorable

 

[emmebear]

Here is a pic that Ellen (podsnel) included in her recent live update of Le Cellier's dinner poutine...

Here is emmebear's pic of her lunch version of the poutine...

poutine vs poutine.

a le cellier dinner time popped up & i have it booked for our upcoming trip. i'm almost tempted to go just to try the dinner poutine & see how it fares.

thanks for reading everyone!!

 

[emmebear]

FOOD & WINE SNACKS

i ended up making three trips to epcot & sampled some food & wine snacks. i had 2 ADR's @ epcot (le cellier & akershus) but i still managed to eat some yummy food & have some delicious drinks during food & wine.

these little guys were all over the place @ the LM section of AOA. emme loved them!

during our first trip to epcot, we had a lunch ADR @ le cellier. i almost wished that i had passed on the ADR as the park was virtually empty & it would have been quick and easy to sample a lot of food in a short amount of time. however, i've never been to le cellier & kept the ADR.

photo op in front of the sign & spaceship earth!

i decided to check out the chase lounge for chase visa/debit card holders. it was off the beaten path but the lounge was pretty crowded and these was no room for a stroller. we quickly exited & looked around.

i happened to catch a lecture by chef robert irvine. anyone fans of his shows on food network? he looks pretty buff on tv but in real life he is MASSIVE. now i know why his staff finishes the remodels on restaurant impossible...he would probably lay the smack down if they didn't. ha ha.


...onwards to the food.


i passed the cranberry bog. it was very pretty!

i decided to have some moet champagne for breakfast. i'm on vacation so why not?!

desserts & champagne booth

i decided on the ice imperial. it's the world's first champagne to be served over ice. i thought that was an interesting concept.

Moet - Ice Imperial $12.75
breakfast of champions!

i was hoping for a larger pour but nonetheless, it was delicious. i really enjoyed it.

after champagne, i headed to le cellier for lunch. afterwards, the characters were out & about and we got some great photos with them.

chip & dale get my award for "best interaction with visitors". every chip & dale i have seen are super enthusiastic & are amazing with the children.

free picture for chase visa card members.

goofy!

Chung Ha Soju Fruit Slushy $7.00

made a stop to the motherland, south korea & wanted to try the soju slushie. i love me some soju. the portion was rather small for the price. the drink itself was a bit tart but refreshing. it definitely need more soju as the tartness of the drink overpowered everything. not a winner in my book, sadly. i was also sad that the kimchi being offered was toned down and it didn't even resemble kimchi. it wasn't very authentic at all.


on day 2, food & wine fest was determined to be my brunch for the day & use my three snack credits. saturday at food & wine was PACKED when i arrived at 10:30. i learned a very neat trick my first day. i decided to go LEFT towards norway instead of going RIGHT towards canada. the foot traffic is so much heavier beginning at canada. it was outrageous when i was exiting through canada & the lines for food were ridiculous.

my first stop was australia.

Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies $5.75

Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies $5.75
Shiraz $3.00

i thought this was really really good. the lamb chop was cooked a perfect medium and the mint pesto was pefect. i know the potato crunchies weren't liked by many but the texture was welcomed by me. instead of being complete mush, the crunchiness added another depth to the lamb chop. paired with the shiraz, it was a great start to my brunch. i also thought it was a great value for my snack credit!


...onwards to germany!

it was super windy because of hurricane sandy. by this point, emme had fallen asleep in the jogging stroller. i decided to get a beer flight from the brewers collection.

BEER FLIGHT $12.00


then i thought it would be really smart to balance the beer flight on the handle bar of my jogging stroller while i went "next door" to germany and got another snack.

Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll $4.75

i added the bratwurst to my pile of beer and found a bench and a table to eat at. however, getting to the bench & table was quite comical as the wind was really making things difficult for me. but eventually i made it (minus less beer from spillage).

the roast bratwurst was good but the pretzel roll was very hard. i wish it could have been nuked in the microwave for 10 seconds. the mustard was very good with the bratwurst and with the combination of the beer, it was a winner. i had a great view of spaceship earth, my daughter was still sleeping and life was indeed good.

my favorite beer was the Schofferhofer Weizen! i almost finished the beer as i was starting to feel full and a tad bit tipsy. thank goodness for sunglasses and lots of wind. i blamed the awkward stroller pushing to the wind. tee hee.



i continued to walk and made it to the hops & barley booth. i only wished i would have made it here first as i could have eaten three lobster rolls & would have left happy.

Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll $7.50

the lobster roll was the PERFECT bite of food. i could not believe how much lobster was on my roll & the fact that it cost $7.50 was a super great buy as a snack credit. the mayo + dill combination with a bite of lobster was heavenly. the bread was toasted and buttery & amazing. the lobster/bread ratio was great. it was a generous portion of lobster. this was probably my favorite bite of food on the entire trip. man, it was really good. i'm going to dream about that lobster roll.


i decided to have one more tasting & would be paying OOP. i stopped at the florida local booth and decided on the arepa.

White Corn Arepa with Mangalitsa Pork Rilette and Zellwood Sweet Corn Salad $4.00

this sample of food was really fresh & a really huge portion of food. i don't know why i thought the arepa would be stuffed with cheese (i blame the booze with my poor reading skills). i have so many fond memories of attending music festivals in florida and munching on cheese filled arepas. so my disappointment wasn't in the dish (it was good). i just thought it would be stuffed with cheese & there was a disconnect from my mouth to brain. nonetheless, it was tasty & i don't regret purchasing it.


emme finally was awake & we tried to make our way out of the world showcase. as i mentioned earlier, it was a mad house! i wanted to stop by france and get a grey goose slushie but the line was ridiculous. i also wanted to try the escargot but didn't have the patience to wait in line.

we did get to meet belle! she was the same belle that was at akershus the very next day.


on my last trip to epcot, after breakfast at akershus, we took a walk around epcot. i decided to have one last bite of food.

Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll $7.50
Sam Adams Oktoberfest $3.00

when i was given the roll i noticed that the amount of lobster had shrunk considerably. i took it back to the counter & asked for another serving. this time, the lobster was plentiful. the snack cost me close to $12.00 after taxes but it was totally worth it. i left very happy & was so glad i got to have this again as my daughter fell asleep & we missed our lunch ADR.


overall, food & wine fest was awesome! i wish i would have spent a thursday there but with my ADR at CRT & MNSSHP that was not possible. the crowds were definitely heavier on the weekends. i wanted to try a few more items but just ran out of time. next food & wine fest, i want to make a weekend out of it and be sans child.

but to those who have not tried that lobster roll, make it your mission next year. it is DIVINE!!!

 

[emmebear]

DINNER @ CHEF MICKEY'S


i made this ADR so that emme could see all the main disney characters while having dinner. our ADR was at 8:30.

we arrived 10 minutes early for an ADR & were checked in. we were then ushered to have our picture taken. later during your meal, a CM comes by the table to sell you a photo package.

after the picture, we waited in the waiting area for about 15 minutes before we were seated.

emme patiently waiting to be seated.

my trusty TIW card. if you are TIW card holder, you get free valet parking as long as you show your receipt afterwards. i used a dining credit for my meal but did purchase alcohol with my TIW discount. i was still credited for the valet parking!!


we were finally seated but were unable to move as mickey was already in our area. chef mickey's is a really large place & if you miss a character, it will take what seems like forever for the character to come back.

up first, mickey mouse.

emme liked to put her hand in his mouth. ha ha.

our server comes by after we had been seated for 20 minutes. she was very flustered & looked really tired. she was very unpleasant. i think this was the theme for the evening. most of the cm's looked pretty tired, the characters were dragging their feet & service was pretty non-existent. top that off with a tired 2 year old & the evening was going downhill pretty quickly.

i ordered a milk for emme & a sam adams oktoberfest for myself.

while waiting for our drinks, here comes grumpy goofy.

i asked goofy if he could maybe bend down for a picture or if he could stand behind emme in her chair & he shook his head no. after a few pictures, he patted emme's head & then walked off. i've only met one goofy thus far in the park that was really nice. the rest haven't been.


we're still waiting for our drinks and here comes minnie. minnie was dragging her feet as she walked in. she totally wasn't feeling it. after she took some pictures, she walked into the kitchen (which was located behind our table). i was really hoping she didn't take off her head as she walked into the kitchen. that would have been traumatizing.

our cm finally brings my beer & the wrong milk for emme. she disappears...again.

we made our way to the buffet. let's just say that it was very underwhelming. so much so, i didn't even snap a picture with my camera. the buffet wasn't being replenished and it looked like it had imploded on itself. i tried the meats at the carving station. the red meat was very tough. the ham was decent. i did have a few pieces of fruit and some of the salad. but other then that, i was pretty much over the buffet. i'm really not that hard to please...but i was really disappointed in the buffet. even the ice cream was runny & emme didn't want to finish it.

pluto & an uninterested emme.

my server never returned to our table after she brought the white milk for emme. she literally was no where to be found. i asked another cm if they knew where she was but they shrugged & went about their business. i really just wanted my check & leave at this point.


but while we were waiting, here comes donald.

donald covering the iphone from emme. ha ha.

every donald i've me on my trips to disney have always been really awesome. so was this donald. he was the highlight to my evening.


i asked another cm if they could please bring me my check. he brought me my check & we were finally free to leave.

this was my second trip to chef mickey's. our first visit was in april & we had an AWESOME time. the food was great & the characters were wonderful. our server in april was also very good. i'm not quite sure what happened to chef mickey's during this trip. it must have been a very off night.

will i try chef mickey's again? probably not ever again.

i'm saddened to write a not so great dining review but we had a pretty lousy experience. i hope no one has the same experience as we did!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

That lobster roll is on my "must try" list for Oct!! I absolutely love lobster!!

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Chef Mickey.

 

[lotus81]

Oh I'm sorry about the Chef Mickey's. We just had breakfast there last week and had a great time!

 

[rachel09985]

Yikes about Chef Mickeys. I don't think I have an desire to every eat there again, maybe for breakfast but that's it!

I could look at your pictures all day long, so amazing!

That straw from that Korean drink is soo big!!

 

[Ro Z]

That really stinks about Chef Mickeys. We had a similar experiance at Ohana. The last time after 2 hours of almost begging for food We finally left. Our server even came over and asked if we were ready for dessert but we had not even been served any steak yet! Yikes it was bad. My DHs first time too. He will never trust me again! Lol! Looks like Emme still enjoyed herself and that is what is important! She is so adorable!

 

[emmebear]

thanks for the kind words about chef mickey's. it was a pretty bad experience but like i said before, the previous visit we had a super fantastic time...this time, not so much. 50% good.

now onwards to...

AOA - LANDSCAPE OF FLAVORS


my daughter is a rice baby. we eat rice every day & she is still getting accustomed to eating other types of food. but give this girl some rice and we are good to go.

i was really excited about the food court at AOA. it has gotten really great reviews & i couldn't wait to try it. i was more worried about not having enough time to sit down and eat but we managed to make a visit one day & the second meal, i took to go back to our hotel room.

the food court is very bright & airy. i've only been to the all star movies resort food court and the AOA food court is a definite upgrade in terms of food & decor.

i knew i wanted to try the tandoori section. i am a huge fan of indian food & i knew emme would love the basmati rice. it was win-win situation for us.

Tandoori Boneless chicken thigh - with Naan bread and choice of two sides - $9.99

iphone picture of our meal.

(notice the ginormous cupcake)

for our two sides, i ordered the lentils & cauliflower. it was also great to see the naan being made fresh! our naan was a little crisp on the outside on one corner but the inside was doughy and delicious. i dipped the naan into the sauce and it was very scrumptious!

the tandoori chicken was lukewarm and a wee bit dry. i wish i had some raita sauce to dip it in. it wasn't terrible but it was not the best tandoori i had in my entire life. however, it was very nice to have choices at the resort.

the lentils were creamy but yet again, lukeworm. the lentils had great flavor & i ate the entire portion. the cauliflower was cold & a bit strange. it was undercooked (maybe they were going for the very crunchy texture) but the sauce was very good. i loved dipping my naan in it.

side note: i'm kind of a freak about the temperature of my food. if it's suppose to be "hot" in temperature, i like it piping hot.

emme LOVED the rice. it was warm and properly cooked. i'm so glad it wasn't mushy. emme loved it so much, i ordered the rice as a side so she could eat some more. the great thing about landscape of flavors is that it also takes the TIW discount. it was a small discount but every penny helps!

for dessert, i picked a cupcake for emme.

the cupcake was HUGE! i could not believe how big the cupcake was. it was very moist but there was too much of it. we finished it in two days.

overall, if the meal itself was actually warm, i would give it raving reviews. it was just a little cold and albeit, it wasn't "authentic", it definitely satisfied my craving for indian food.


on our last full night at AOA, i had one QS credit remaining. i did not want to waste it so while emme was asleep in her stroller, i walked to the food court to get something to eat. i wasn't super hungry but i knew i wanted to check out the "create your own pasta" station.

you can basically create any kind of pasta you wish. there were lots of ingredients available and the dish is prepared right in front of you.

i was pretty tired and decided on the "spinach florentine with linguini" and i added the shrimp.

Create your own Pasta - Choose from a variety of sauces and fresh ingredients including chicken and shrimp. - $10.99

the shrimp was seasoned properly but the sauce was pretty bland. i added some pepper and a little bit of extra salt (i don't really eat salty food in my diet) but the sauce was bland. the linguini wasn't mushy and the spinach was cooked nicely. you could taste the garlic that was sauteed with the spinach.

there were 5 pieces of shrimp in the dish for those who keep count.

the bread that was included was crunchy, garlicky and YUMMY! i ate the entire piece of bread. my room smelled pretty garlicky the next day.

for dessert, i picked another cupcake.

again, this thing was HUGE. it was super cute! unfortunately, i did not get to enjoy it as i packed it into my icebox to take home and the water leaked into it. so tragic.


the food court definitely get two thumbs up from me. there were lots of choices (healthy choices too!) & it was very accessible & easy to make my way around. it took me less than 5 minutes to walk from the little mermaid portion to AOA with emme in the stroller. the walk is quite nice too as there are many things to look at!

 

[emmebear]

I could look at your pictures all day long, so amazing!

THANK YOU! i love taking pictures although it really annoys those around me. i get really self conscious if i have to use my flash so for the most part, i keep my huge canon speedlite 580 EXII flash in my bag as i feel like everyone is staring at me.

did you get your lens fixed?!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Really happy to see another good review of LoF. We will be stay at AoA in March and I really want to me a point of eating there. It looks like such a step up from the other food courts!

 

[emmebear]

Really happy to see another good review of LoF. We will be stay at AoA in March and I really want to me a point of eating there. It looks like such a step up from the other food courts!

it was leaps & bounds better than the all star movies food court. there seemed to be more "fresh" items and i saw lots of green on other peoples plates.

i really wanted to try it on this last trip but we just did not have enough time & i ran out of stomach room.

on my next trip in december, i'm going to really try & eat at my resort & partake in more QS places. there's just so much to eat & not enough time on my short trips to disney.

thanks for reading & i hope you enjoy your stay at AOA. i love this resort!

 

[rachel09985]

THANK YOU! i love taking pictures although it really annoys those around me. i get really self conscious if i have to use my flash so for the most part, i keep my huge canon speedlite 580 EXII flash in my bag as i feel like everyone is staring at me.

did you get your lens fixed?!

No I didn't. I found out that it is dust in my sensor though, not my lens! I found out if I send it in it it will cost money and my camera is entry level so it isn't even worth that much. I might as well just upgrade!

There is some rocketblower that i can use to try to blow it out but I am scared to do that.

I was thinking about asking for the Speedlite 430 for Christmas. Does an external flash make a huge difference in the photos?

 

[emmebear]

Upgrades are always nice!!

External flash does indeed make a huge difference. I have the 580 EXII & love it. It takes some getting use to but once you learn to use the flash, it's an awesome tool. I also use 2 kinds of diffusers as well.

What are you upgrading to? How exciting!

 

[butiflfeet]

Yikes! You're Chef Mickey's experience confirms why I have no desire to eat there! Landscape of Flavors looks pretty tasty though

 

[rachel09985]

Upgrades are always nice!!

External flash does indeed make a huge difference. I have the 580 EXII & love it. It takes some getting use to but once you learn to use the flash, it's an awesome tool. I also use 2 kinds of diffusers as well.

What are you upgrading to? How exciting!

I don't really think I am. I kind of want the T4i though. I don't think I would upgrade for at least another year.

 

[emmebear]

SNACKS @ ANIMAL KINGDOM

after spending time at magic kingdom, we headed over to animal kingdom for some snacks & the kilimanjaro safaris. my daughter loves the chicken fried rice @ yak & yeti counter service. it is a great snack value & can easily be eaten as a meal. my daughter loves loves loves rice & this is the one thing i know she will eat & she will stay full.

we headed to dino land first to burn off some energy & ride the triceratop ride. we like to ride in the back as you can control up & down motion on the ride.

happy emmebear


afterwards, we used our fast pass & went on the kilimanjaro safaris. i love this ride & emme enjoys it too. it's a really nice change of pace & every time we go, we see different animals. we got to ride the front this time as well.

kilimanjaro safaris!

we're so excited!

rhino scratching his horn

the hippo was out of the water this time around.

giraffe

gorgeous elephant

i loved this sticker.

he wanted to play.


after the safari, emme got a treat & she picked a hippo. she sleeps with the hippo every night.

we were headed to asia for our snack when we walked into an impromptu dance party.

dance party!


so onwards to asia.

CHICKEN FRIED RICE - Yak & Yeti counterservice

this is a really great snack value especially if you are in the mood for something savory & not sweet. emme loves this rice dish. there is chicken, onions, carrots & peas. it's pretty good. she ate it in two sittings.

for me:

JALAPENO CHEESE STUFFED PRETZEL

if i had eaten this immediately, i'm sure it would have been even tastier. but after getting emme's fried rice, ordering my pretzel & finding a quiet spot to have our snack, my pretzel had cooled down. however, it was still tasty & very filling. i could only finish half in one sitting. it's the perfect snack!


up next, dinner @ 1900 PARK FARE.