Christmas In The World...Dec 18, 2015 - Jan 4, 2016

[tyandskyesmom]

SO...where were we??? Oh yes, Norway on Christmas afternoon!

After pictures with trolls and drooling over $400.00 beautiful sweaters I will never own we headed onward towards the now open Mexico pavilion.

It is so pretty in there.

We could spend a lot of time there if allowed to. We rode The Three Caballeros Ride...

We were very glad when they added Donald and friends to this ride. Before them, it seemed very advertisement like...I realize that that is what a lot of The World Showcase is but this one just seemed overly "Come To Mexico!" ish.


After we had seen and done enough we headed back outside.

From my pictures that for some reason really stink (because my notes stink for the rest of the day) it looks like we went form Mexico, past Canada and exploring past. We swung through the UK and France.

It was a little more crowded back here by evening. Probably people finished up front and then people coming to Epcot for a good Christmas Dinner. But it still wasn't too crazy.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

The moon was really cool that evening...

We went through Morocco...

At some point we stopped for photopass pictures...

Oooohhh....and I don't believe I missed these from earlier in the day...

Skyler loved that she could play in the photo booths in Imagination and have them put on the pass.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After wandering through Morocco we just kinda hung out where ever until dinner time.

This looks like Germany but I'm not sure...

But I like it!

Then this is back in the UK.

Before heading to Canada.

And then my first really important meal without a camera working very well...and having to sort through Cary's pictures that are not in order.

 

[Mainemama]

Not quite caught up, but stopping to post! It is clear that we were very close to crossing paths on this trip. We seemed to follow your touring plan by a couple of hours! We were definitely both in Epcot on Christmas Day. What a hot day that was. We stopped in Japan for Kakigori, when I had planned to eat figgy pudding instead.

I am so sorry you got hurt on that tile. I had heard they were thinking of replacing those, now I know why! What a kind family you have though, wheelchair for Mama!

Bummer Ohana breakfast was a miss. We were there at 8:50 on 12/24 (see what I mean about just missing you?) and we actually had a great experience. In and out with great interaction from Stitch in under an hour, refills on fruit, juice, coffee, waffles and bacon, and cheery people. I wish I had seen the man with Stitch stuffy, though, too funny/creepy! We have never tried Ohana for dinner. I was close to it this trip, but we were using TIW and it was blacked out much of the week. With so many negative reviews, I couldn't do it. Looks like yours repeats he sentiment.

We were staying at the Poly... But again, in the lobby several times right after you left!

We tried Tutto Italia for lunch the first time this trip. A pleasant surprise! We found prices affordable (but then again, TIW), and just ordered entrees, as you mentioned. The bread and olive course rounded out the meal nicely. The servers had no problem refilling the crispy breadsticks multiple times! My ODD ate 6 packets! My DS and I shared the pesto pasta and a Caesar appetizer, which we did not finish between us, my DH had marinara, my girls got a couple of the kids meals, and our total was in the $70 range. (Before TIW). Not terrible.

You have me reconsidering Akersus. I actually love the buffet, but have only tried for breakfast. Looking to fix some long walks in our summer dining plan and Akersus is close to where we'll be one night. BUT will my kids give up Sci-Fi? (What it would replace in a domino effect shuffle.)

Back to read more!

 

[verleniahall]

HUGS! It isnt easy loosing a pet - they are family

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Mainemama...isn't it funny! I keep waiting for someone to say "Hey we're in that picture!" or "we saw your son in his Darth Mickey hat" (he truly was one of only a few we saw with it the whole time we were there!) or something like that!

So either is took Ohana a bit to wake up that morning or you did not get seated in the section we were in! We have had breakfast there a lot and never have we have such bad service. So, I am going to chalk it up to just a bad day from that section of waitstaff...or even just a bad opening??? We don't really require a lot from waitstaff...in fact normally, I just want to have my order taken, brought, and my drinks refilled but I don't know what was up that day.

We had never had dinner there though and we also were fighting the good vs bad reviews. And in theory, it all sounds great so we tried...But honestly, I think part of it was that our ADR was so late and they were so behind (as per usual from what I hear!) and we were so tired. I am willing to give it another chance someday, although at an earlier seating.

We have never had a bad meal at Akershus (and have been for all) even with picky eaters. Usually if we go now though it is for breakfast because there are so many other places we prefer for lunch and dinner but if it worked into our schedule the best, I'd have no problem doing it for any meal...plus PRINCESSES...can't go wrong there!

The next time around (looks like we're missing you by about 2 weeks???) in July we are going dining planless....YIKES!!! We are not planning any ADRs. We are planning to do all counter service!!! We have not done that in forever...in fact, Skyler might not even remember the last time we did not have the deluxe dining plan! So it will be an adventure. We're doing it partly to see how we like it now. I mean we are all now "adults" which greatly changes the dining plan. We now have Cary who adds a very different dynamic to our vacationing habits. And the kids are growing up and their eating habits are changing. Tyler is lamenting the loss of a steak for every meal but he'll get over it. But we did the dining extreme last trip and this time we will do the opposite extreme and then we will be more able to tweek it to what we prefer now. Does that make sense...it does in my head but often times, it doesn't translate.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So we checked in for dinner a little early (our ADR was for 8:35pm) at about 7:30pm and were told to come back in about 15 minutes. It was getting cooler out and it was pretty un-crowded out there so we just hung around by the entrance for a while. Cary went back in in 15 minutes and we were taken in right away. We were seated to the left side just off center. Our server was Ashley. She was nice and told us about where she was from and what the different sections of the restaurant represented.

She took our drink orders...coke, diet coke, sprite, and water. And brought our bread. The breads were different than we are used to and the pretzel ones are now small rolls rather than sticks. Unfortunately, no picture!

We had decided on three meals here again.

For appetizers Tyler decided to torture us again with Assortment of Artisanal Cheese - with Chef's Selection of accompaniments...

And I don't think I have a pic of the listing of what is on there. As per usual, he would not eat any but the rest of us tried. These were probably the ones we liked the most overall. I think at least three of the five were ok. Not that we'd order it again, just our personal preference, but they were things we would eat.

Cary got the Charcuterie - Chef's handcrafted meats, house pickles, grilled sourdough bread...

Now, this seemed a bit skimpy on the actual meat option with a lot of bread. But what we did have, was very good. We've had these other places and this one seemed small, especially for the price but Cary and I liked it. Skye tried a little but tired of it quickly.

I ordered the Canadian Chessar Cheese Soup...made with Moosehead Beer and Neuske's Applewood Smoked Bacon

I have to tell you, I am not as crazy about this soup as others are...in fact it would not be my choice if they had any other interesting options...like the old one with the hot sausage with polenta under it! But it is a good creamy soup and it is great to dip pretzel rolls into. And I get it all to myself because no one else really likes creamy soups!

For entrees we all had the "Le Cellier" Filet Mignon...AAA Canadian Beef Tenderloin, mushroom risotto, heirloom toy box tomatoes, truffle butter sauce...all slightly different.

Tyler was medium rare with French fries.

Cary's was medium well with mashed potatoes.

And Mine was medium rare as listed on the menu!

They were all really good and we all shared with Skyler. They had no problem with four of us ordering three meals or with us changing the entrees from what was on the menu. Everything was cooked perfectly.
And there was enough for all four of us to eat.

For dessert we had two Camembert Cheesecake - double cream cheesecake, cherry gelee, pistachio cream Florentine and what is listed on my receipt as "chocolate dessert". None of the items listed on allears now look familiar and, off course, I cannot locate pictures. If/when I do, I will edit and update. We took one of the cheesecakes "to go" and we split the other two.

All in all, LeCellier is still a great place for steak! It is someplace we would probably be ok going to out of pocket too because really, the appetizers and desserts are not that thrilling anymore. We used to love the smores they used to have that were not smore-like at all but were very good. So we could eat here with just the entrée and a drink and not be too broke afterwards. I don't know if it is justified for signature status though...better than Brown Derby by far but I'm not sure I rank it up there with Narcoossees or Jiko.

We were outta there at 8:55pm so not a long meal but we were seated slightly before our ADR too.

We would not hesitate to return to LeCellier with or without the dining plan.

TOTAL = $247.69 ... TOTAL FOOD = $3838.05
USED 3 CREDITS ... USED 85 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After dinner I was feeling beat. So we headed to a bus stop. We had no wait and one was there when we arrived (however it is a haul to get to the bus stop from the gates!) and we were back in our room in no time. The kids ran down to the quite pool outside our door for a bit while I popped some more ibuprofen and got into bed with my heating pad. I was feeling a little less stiff but now it was a more localized pain where the bruise was. I was asleep by the time the kids came back and they rinsed off and hopped into bed!

Merry Christmas!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Well, Saturday December 26, 2016 was a day of changes. We initially had fast pass + schedules for right after breakfast. Everyone wanted to relax at the pool today for a while during the sunlight hours so we rescheduled our fast passes on the way to breakfast. We were not able to get our Seven Dwarves again but we had been on it already so it was ok. The other ones were interchangeable as they were for smaller rides.

So, the day dawned early. We were at the bus stop outside Ole Port Royale at 6:35am. We were on a bus to magic Kingdom at 6:40am. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 7:08am. So it took 28 minutes form Ole Port Royal to the bus stop at Magic Kingdom. We walked over to the Contemporary. We checked in about five minutes early and were given a buzzer and told to have seat. Our ADR was for 7:30am. By 7:34am we were done with our pictures with Pluto!

We were seated very near the buffet line but no so close it was annoying. Our server was Janell and she was a bit absent. We did wait for drink refills a lot...all of us, not just me! But otherwise she was nice and plates were removed quickly...it's just that it seemed every time she was by for plates she did not stop and look at our table or ask us if we needed anything. We had to actually grab her to slow her down and ask for refills.

I don't think I have many food pics unless they happen to be in the picture incidentally ... darned camera! They have a ton to choose from here and it was all full and fresh and hot. The kids like that you can get ice cream at breakfast. Skyler ate a ton of Mickey Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Tyler pigged out on glazed donuts, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and bacon. Cary and I had a bit of a lot of things.

There were characters and napkin waving...

Goofy was the first one around today.

Then Donald...

UGH! Cary's phone pics and photobucket are not playing nice!!!

Then Mickey came around...

And last was Minnie...

Janell brought Tyler a birthday cup cake...you can see it in the bottom (or maybe the side???) of the Minnie picture.

All in all we love Chef Mickey's for breakfast. We were here once for dinner and were not impressed but that is our thoughts on most lunch/dinner buffets. But breakfast buffets, we love! I do think the price is a bit crazy but what are ya gonna do??? We were outta there by 8:24 so it was about an hour.

We'll be back to Chef Mickey's I am sure. I don't know that I'd pay out of pocket for it because it is just crazy priced especially for a small 12 year old girl. And if we were opting to pay out of pocket for a breakfast buffet, I think there are places with better food. But overall, it is a good place to eat and get the fab five out of the way without lines!

TOTAL = $161.84 ... TOTAL FOOD = $3999.89
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 89 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After breakfast we hopped a resort monorail and were at the Caribbean Beach bus stop outside of Magic Kingdom by 8:57am. As we approached a bus was leaving but a van pulled up with 3 seats left...so not enough space for us. Shortly after that another van pulled up just for us and off we went to Caribbean Beach. The driver said they do this so that when it is early and the majority of people are coming to a park not leaving it, there is not a huge wait and so that a whole bus is not running a route for a couple of people instead of being sent back to bus in more. Makes sense...it's just never happened to us before. So we got a private ride back to Caribbean Beach and right up to our walk way again.

I gathered up the load of laundry we needed washed and off we went. The magic band tap was not labled clearly and when we figured it out it wasn't working completely. Then it took us a minute to figure out how to use the washer and dryer...they are run on credit card. And we headed into the quiet pool. Tyler had to talk to his girlfriend. This had happened a few times, usually at night when he'd go down to the beach and lay in a hammock and face time her. But this time it was right in the middle of the day. So by the time he came down (not dressed to swim I might add!), we all wanted to go over to the big pool so we left him in charge of pulling the laundry from the drier and putting them in our room then coming to the big pool.

Cary, Skyler, and I headed over to the main pool. There were plenty of chairs to put our things on and we headed right in. Skyler found some friends and I spent a lot of time going back and forth between the cool pool and the hot hot tub. A short time later Tyler came by and headed in to the pool with Skyler and a spongy ball. Of course, in a short amount of time they had a game going. Cary started talking to a man in the hot tub who was there about the same time as we were. and I just vegged out feeling less in pain than I had in days.

About 12pm Cary and I left the pool and headed back to the room to dry off and get a nap. The kids would sit in water all day and I just can't do that. We had had about two hours already! We told them they had till about 1pm to start heading back. I honestly do not know if we have ever purposely napped at Disney World...we did today. It had been a pretty lazy day but we were up early and sun and water take a lot out of you even if you're not doing anything! By the time they came back it was time to get dressed and get heading out for lunch.

Sorry, there are no pictures here...the loss of my camera is really sinking in right about now!

 

[amberg93]

Glad that they let you check in early for dinner.

It's really interesting to me that they do the van thing, I'd never heard of it before now.

Time in the pool and napping sounds like a good way to spend the day, especially after a breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So after we were all refreshed and ready to go we headed to Old Port Royale to fill our mugs and grab out bus. We waited at the Old Port Royale stop and an Epcot bus pulled up shortly after we arrived.

We arrived as Epcot and sent Tyler through the bag check line. Even though the line looked long, it was very quick and he came walking up to us about 3 minutes after we got past the tables. We did not find much of a wait at all our whole trip with bag check.

We quickly headed into Epcot and walked at a fast pace back to France. We were about 10 minutes late getting to our ADR at Chefs de France (which was for 2:20pm) but they had no problem with that. We were seated within 5 minutes of arrival.

And I do not know what happened here because I have absolutely NO PICTURES of this meal at all!!! I really think when they took the pic off of Cary's phone at Sams's Club they lost a lot and this is going to make me very upset! I'm going to try to borrow some...

We were seated in the middle of the main dining room near the large windows.

Our server was Antoine B. He was nice but did not care to be social...which is fine with us as long as you bring our food and refill our drinks.

So we ordered our drinks...three sprites and a coke. And our appetizers. We were all eating our own food here today.

Antione brought our baguette.

these are hard crusty baguettes with warm, soft middles. The problem is, they serve them with frozen butter!!! Do you know how hard it is to spread frozen butter on soft bread????

Skyler and Cary had the Salade Maison - Selected greens with house vinaigrette dressing.

With the dressing on the side. They both liked this salad but it really wasn't anything spectacular or French.

I got the Soupe a l'oignon gratine...French onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese.

This has got to be my favorite French Onion Soup ever. It is onion-y and salty...but not too salty. It has a huge crouton floating on top that gets nicely soaked with soup. And it has a ton of ooey, gooey, warm cheese melted on the top. It is seriously like an inch thick...like you need a fork and knife to get through it. I love it!

And Tyler got his usual...Cassolette d'escargots de Bourgogne au beurre persille - Casserole of burgundian escargots baked in parsley and garlic butter however, this time he didn't eat any. I did though and while I probably would not order them over something else, they are not bad. Now, the way they are served, if you did not know what was placed in front of you, you would not know they were snails. I think they taste a lot like soft shrimp. But the parsley garlic butter they are cooked in is awesome so even if the snail part freaks you out a little, the seasoning will calm your mind.

Tyler's did not have the bread topping but I wanted to show what they look like inside each trough.

For Skyler's entrée she ordered Filet de Saumon, riz Pilaf et asperges, sauce beurre blanc a la aneth - Broiled salmon, rice pilaf, asparagus and dill beurre blanc sauce

Ok...but hers has a rice pilaf and she ordered the sauce on the side. She loved the salmon. It has a nice crusty sear on it. She had a little of the rice but is mostly a white rice or rice-a-roni kinda girl so she loft quite a bit of it. I tasted it and it was a little on the dry side without the sauce. And she does not do sauce usually...so that went untouched by her. I tasted it and it was very good and probably complimented the salmon very nicely but who would know since she wasn't sharing!

Tyler, again, had his usual...Demi poulet fermier roti, pommes de terre ecrasees et brocolli - Half of an all-natural roasted chicken, smashed potatoes and broccoli. He has gotten this every time we have been here...and it hasn't changed much!

Except that the potatoes from before are now supposed to be mashed and there is no way he is eating that...so he got regular fries, which he was disappointed about since this is as close as he gets to eating a potato that is not a fry. He loves this dish. The chicken is always moist and the potatoes used to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside like a really good French fry...which is probably the only reason he eats them because while he loves fries, he will not eat a potato...ya, this is an AP and honors kid entering his senior year and I still cannot convince him to even try a potato let alone admit he likes it!

I had the Croque monsieur avec frites ou salade verte...the classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich served with mixed greens.

The last time we were here I could only finish half of this and I was so sad. This is one of the best grilled cheese and ham sandwiches I have ever eaten. The salad is also very good and complements the sandwich well. And the tomatoes with this and Tyler's (which I got because he was not going to even look at them!) are really good! I still could only eat half!

Cary ordered the Steak hache Angus, brie, champignons et Bearnaise, salade ou frites - 1/2 lb. Wagyu hamburger with brie cheese, confit onions, mushroom duxelle, tomatoes, and Bearnaise on a house made brioche, mixed greens or french fries...medium well.

He was a little nervous about eating here in general. And he was still nervous while ordering. But when this came to the table he was pleased to see it was basically a normal hamburger. He did order no onions or mushrooms though. And he was pleased with the turn out.

For dessert Skye and Cary ordered the Assiette de sorbets du jour, madeleine - Daily assortment of fresh sorbets, madeleine

There was a strawberry, mango, and lemon that day. Skye liked the strawberry the best and Cary the mango. The lemon was really sour...like pucker up sour.

Tyler ordered the Mousse au chocolat - chocolate mousse

Which was an odd choice for him. Pudding like items are not usually something we go for. But this mousse was wonderful. Light and airy...almost like a whipped cream. It was chocolate-y but not overly so. And the pound cake with it dipped nicely.

I ordered the Creme Brulee - Vanilla creme brulee...again something pudding-y.

And it was gggggooooodddd!


Our service was great and we had plenty of refills on our drinks. They had no problems with changing an item out for something else. We never waited long for anything.




All in all, we love Chefs de France. We will return there. And while it my seem discouraging because the menu is written in French, it also has an English description. Even Cary, who was a little scared, ended up loving it. We highly encourage Chefs de France as a dining venue.

TOTAL = $184.08 ... TOTAL FOOD = $4183.97
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 93 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So, in the real world... today is Senior pictures, a showcase recital for a different dance school (all little girls), and 37 more days until our next trip to The World! It seems I either have nothing to do or everything to do!

Tyler is set with three changes of clothes. One dressy (black dress pants/shirt/shoes and a black/purple/blue/white tie. One nice but casual-er (black dress jeans, a red long sleeved waffle shirt and red Nikes). And the other casual (tan cargos, a royal blue under armor t-shirt, blue Nikes that match -- Blue and gold are the school colors -- and his letterman jacket and a football). The problem is his appointment is at 1pm and I'm still at work so he's on his own. I told him I want him to wear his class ring that he does not normally wear so there's a chance he'll forget. I gave him his sitting fee and his proof fee and told him (and wrote it down) what to tell them he wants but it's Tyler, who am I kidding! But there was no order form in the package we received in the mail. No place to go on-line to let them know what it is you want (there are three different sized fittings) and there was a coupon of sorts on the mailed letter that says if you bring it back you get 33% off the Ultimate Sitting but it does not then tell you how much exactly it will be. They would have made this much easier for parents to get what they want with out having to worry about it. I probably should have tried to reschedule his sitting to a time when I could have gone with him.

Dance is officially over for the year but Skye's coach is friends with the teachers at Sandbox and their recital is a bunch of littles so they always ask her to bring some dances. So she usually takes the Advanced classes. So, last night was dress rehearsal (after going to the doctor to find out Skye has a low grade ear infection and to get Tyler the newly required to enter 12th grade shot). Tonight is the recital. They are doing Pointe 2 (Cinderella), Performance Lyrical (Malificent), Performance Jazz (Lion King), and Advanced Jazz (Kings of New York mix from Newsies)....and they had practice today. She just got there and called me to tell me I have to run home before picking her up form practice to go to the recital because her coach is putting her solo (God Help The Outcasts) in the show so she needs her costume. Luckily, I have to run to pick Tyler up after pictures before coming to get her so it works! The practice today is for competition in July. The performance Lyrical and Jazz are competition numbers. They have not competed yet because they consist of mostly high schoolers who are on Poms and due to IHSA rules they cannot complete until after the season. So in July they (along with House of Mouse andSkye's solo and a little girl's group all of which have competed already this year) are going to Regionals and Nationals...thus the extra practice. We are usually the only park district team there among dance studios and we hold our own. our groups usually compete at the recreational level but Skye's solo is being entered in the intermediate level...she's so excited!

And out trip...in 37 days we will be driving (again) to The World! We are staying at Pop Century from July 15 - 24. We are going without a dining plan. We are planning to eat counter service all week. I am budgeting about $150.00 per day...with some extra just in case. I have fast pass + made and had no problem getting what I wanted when I wanted. The kids are bummed it is only 7 days (I told them it's better than nothing and since Tyler has football everyday, longer would be bad!). Tyler is lamenting the loss of the dining plan. Skyler is looking forward to swimming everyday. Cary wants a more relaxed pace. And me, well, I am having a problem not planning everything...It's like there is nothing to do to prepare!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After lunch, we strolled to the front of the park.

We hopped on a monorail to the TTC and then took a ferry to the Magic Kingdom. We were coming up on our first fast passes for the day so we headed back to new Fantasyland. It took us a minute to find the line but soon we were heading into Enchanted Tales with Belle (fast pass return time was 4:50pm - 5:50pm). The kids and ( had seen the old version a long time ago. Tyler had been Gaston that time. But this is now on a much grander scale! And I have no pictures. I wonder if I still have the card they give to the people who get chosen to participate and if I can still add them to my photo pass account??? I'll have to look because Skyler was Ms. Potts and Cary was a Coat of Arms. Cary had no clue what he was chosen to do though...it was fun to watch. It was definitely cute but I am glad we had fast passes because otherwise the lines got long. It isn't that long a show though. We all had fun and Cary and Skyler got bookmarks for participating.

After the show let out we headed to our next fast pass...the Jingle Cruise (return time (6:30pm - 7:30pm). We just kinda took our time and looked around and window shopped on our way over there since we had some time to go before we were due. It was a fun ride through and this is another one Cary new nothing about so he did not know what to expect. We all liked the corny jokes and we had a great female skipper.

We walked around through Frontierland and headed towards the back of the castle but it was all blocked off from the carousel. I had not even thought about it but our dinner ADR was right about the time they were getting ready for fireworks...and that area is closed off to guests at that time. We found a Cast Member and told him we had reservations at Cinderella's and he let us through. We were the only ones in the lobby at Cinderella's Royal Table when they let us in. So we had a seat along the wall in the meet and greet room expecting Cindy to arrive any minute.

After

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Ok...our dinner at...

(and I'm borrowing some pictures again)

So we're sitting in the downstairs lobby in Cinderella's Castle

(and I'm borrowing some pictures again)

...alone...waiting...and then we're called. No, not to meat Cinderella but to go up stairs to dinner. Hhhhmmm...no Cindy in the lobby??? That's weird. Maybe she's just making the rounds upstairs...ok.

Our ADR was for 8:05pm. We were seated about that time. We were on the upper level to the right side near the windows.

this was the view from our seats...and yes, when Wishes started you could see them. They were a little distorted because of the way the glass in the windows is cut but still pretty awesome!

Nabil was our server. It was on the loud side in there and Nabil did not speak very loudly or clearly and seemed to not like that we couldn't her him very well. Needless to say, he was not very friendly and seemed to be just out to do his job and go home. There was no extra happiness for us eating in THE CASTLE given by him.

We ordered our drinks...Diet, coke, apple juice, and a sprite.

Skyler decided to get some kind of salad that does not look like either on the menu now...it was spinach mostly and had parmesan cheese on top.

She enjoyed it...of course, she does not eat a salad like normal people do...she picks it apart and it is basically finger food that she dips into the dressing but I am just glad she eats salads!

I decided on the Shrimp with Grits - in a New Orleans-style barbecue sauce with goat cheese grits.

This was really good! And something I don't have to share because no one else will eat grits. The sauce with the grits was the best part!

I convinced Tyler to have the Pork Belly Confit - served with raspberry Habanero sauce, blistered tomatoes, micro cilantro, and radishe.

He had no idea what it was but ended up liking it. I did not get to taste it and that was the reason I talked him into getting it!

And Cary got the Soup of the Day...I don't remember what it was but I believe it was a minestrone (???) and it looked like this...

I did not taste any but he cleaned the bowl so I suspect it was to his liking.

For entrees Tyler and Cary ordered the Steak and Shrimp - grilled beef tenderloin and roasted shrimp with Heirloom tomatoes, Gouda mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and caramelized onions. Cary's was medium well...


Tyler's was medium rare and he forgot to ask for fries instead of mashed potatoes....

They really enjoyed their plates. I was allowed one bit of each and they were both really good.

I ordered...

But I don't know what it was??? It does not seem to match anything on the current menu. I believe it's a pork tenderloin dish.

Skyler decided on Chef's Fish of the Day - on Cinderella's request, the Royal Chefs have prepared a delectable dish to showcase the Kingdom's freshest fish...which of course was salmon!

But I believe hers had green beans not asparagus...and I think she asked for that because she does not particularly like asparagus...but loved green beans...and Disney does know how to do green beans right! Basically, he told her he would get her whatever she liked. This was the only time he seemed to show an interest in us. And she loved it! We don't do much salmon at home because it's not cheap and Cary does not like it that much. But Tyler and Skyler would eat a tom so it ends up costing a lot to make it at home. So she really enjoyed her Salmon kick this trip!

For desserts we shared four. The Our Signature Dessert - The Clock Strikes Twelve - white and dark chocolate in a tribute to the moment Cinderella lost her slipper. Which was a little different that we were expecting, but really good!

The Seasonal Cheesecake...which is always a good option. But you know what we found odd? Almost none of the cheesecakes in the World have crust! And we like our graham cracker crust! So to us it's more like a cheesecake pudding??? But good anyway!

The Chef's Dessert Trio - Cinderella sent her Chefs around the world to discover new desserts. They are happy to share three of their favorites with you...which if I remember correctly was a pistachio pudding-y kinda thing, a tiramisu, and a brownie type thing...I promise next tome to have all my own pictures and to take better notes!!! I'm disappointing myself with my half way descriptions and searching for a pic on-line that resembles what we ate! None of is are crazy about tiramisu but it was ok. The pistachio thing was good and the brownies were brownies.

And the Seasonal No Sugar Added Sorbet - garnished with berries, a no sugar added dessert...

Which was lemon and was horribly sour! And while Nabil noticed and commented on the fact that only about one or two small bites were taken out of it, did not offer to exchange it for Skyler (she was actually the one who ordered it). Now we love a frozen lemonade and things like that but this was just bitter sour...and we had no drinks to get that taste out of our mouths because Nabil hadn't filled them.

Now, we have been here a couple of other times and have had wonderful service...fitting of a castle. This time we were very disappointed in our service. And I can make no excuses this time. It wasn't overly late. It wasn't overly crowded or overly empty. We were not overly tired and crabby. He just did not really care to wait on us. My thought is that since his tip was included in the price and since we were on the dinning plan he was pretty sure he was not going to get an additional tip so why try.

I also understand that we are all adults but there was no wishing star offered to Skyler who obviously looks younger. And we have had them offered to all the adults before...and swords. This does not reflect negatively on his service, I understand we're all "adults" but really we aren't and I did not expect it but as I said it had always been offered before so it was a little bit of pixie dust in the past.

Somewhere around dessert we started being visited by royalty.

We saw Aurora...

Snow White (who was remarkably Snow White-ish!)

Ariel...

Jasmine...

A

And NO CINDERELLA!!!! Weird!

But all in all, we had a great meal, fun with princesses, and a unique view of Wishes. I don't know that I would even go for breakfast at Cindy's and lunch just has not worked into the plans but we love dinner. On the dining plan, it's a great use of 2 credits. Out of pocket, I don't know that's I'd pay that much but maybe for a special occasion.

I suspect we will be back someday.

TOTAL = $264.08 ... TOTAL FOOD = $4448.05
USED 8 CREDITS ... USED 101 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

And we are 22 days out from our next trip, Magic Bands came a couple of days ago, we decided to fly instead of drive a couple of days ago, and I booked two more nights a couple of days ago, and made additional fast passes for three more days!!!

So now our 7 night driving trip has turned into a 10 night flying trip that is actually getting us almost 3 more whole days!

See, we weren't going to arrive until about 8pm on Friday and we were going to leave after Ohana on Friday (so about 6pm. Now, we will arrive in Orlando at around 9am on Friday and we will be leaving Orlando about 10:30pm on Sunday (so I expect Magical Express at 7:30pm-ish).

I was able, a couple of days ago, to make all the fast passes I wanted for the rides I wanted at the times I wanted...Toy Story on our arrival and departure days, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster on our departure day, etc...And I had no problem adding on 2 nights at Pop with an annual pass discount.

I am really hoping that means it is slightly less crowded that I was expecting because we're hoping to actually ride Small World this time! LOL

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After dinner it was about 10pm and we walked out into a relatively un-crowded Fantasyland. We headed to our fast pass + for Peter Pan (return time 10:05pm - 11:05pm). There was really no line and we walked right on. Without the fast passes we might have waited 10 minutes or so because of the people loading with fast passes but even that line wasn't bad. The shocker was though that Small World has a line out of the building!

We then walked back over by the carousel but it has a long line too! But we did see another sign that intrigued us...

We waited 8 minutes to get in to see...

She was very talkative and friendly. The kids spent a lot of time with her.

AND...

She was teaching them to "smolder"...I think they missed it! LOL

So, not seeing Cindy in the castle turned out to be a good thing because usually you pose, sign, leave there. We probably were in the building for 20 minutes between the two of them. Both were very talkative and friendly, Rapunzel especially! She told them to go out and find her friend Pasqual, he's around someplace! She asked Skyler if she has a frying pan for safety...and told her they make really little ones for the smaller set. And she admired her braids. Neither one of them made Tyler feel left out either...in fact, I think he blushed a bit!

At that point it was around 11pm so we headed out to catch our bus. We waited about 3 minutes before one pulled up and we were comfy in seats in no time.

We we all snug in bed by midnight!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We awoke on Sunday, December 27, 2015 bright and early...but not as early as we expected to...we had cancelled our breakfast at Boma (7:30am) in lue of a little more sleep! Believe me, that was hard to do but we needed to not be up and finagling transportation at 6am.

So we headed back to Animal Kingdom for the first part of the day.

My notes are really bad for this day and so are my pictures (probably from here on out so I hope I don't forget too much!).

We headed to Kilimanjaro Safari for our 10:05am - 11:05am return time. It was a fun safari and this may be the first time I actually got to watch the whole thing since my big lens is no good for taking pictures while moving! We did request to sit in the first row though so I wouldn't be thrown around too much. I was feeling ok and for the most part only a really deep breath or yawn hurt but I was bruised real good and didn't want to take the chance of hurting again!

Then we had a fast pass for Dinosaur (return time of 11:10am - 12:10pm) so we headed over there.

On the way we stopped at Caravan Road.

We hadn't eaten breakfast (just minched on some of the various desserts in our fridge) so we could eat. And we spied someone walking away with something that looked and smelled delicious --- a Teriyaki Beef Slider - with pickled cucumber! And we have no picture so I borrowed some.

But, trust me, it was awesome! We got that and two bottles of Coke with three snack credits...total would have been $9.86. It is not meal sized so I only got a couple of bites and we even convinced Tyler to try it and he loved it. But we had a lunch ADR soon and we did not want to ruin our appetites so we did not get another. This is one of the items Cary keeps talking about...you can bet we will be here in 2 weeks!

I sat out this round of Dinosaur because no matter where you are in the car you get thrown around. I sat in the shade while the other three rode.

It did not take them long and they were back gathering my up. While I was waiting I watched a mom and dad allow their small son (maybe 1-2 years old) wander all around touching everyone else and their belongings and walk quite a bit away from them and they never seemed to notice. They actually got panicked when they were ready to leave and they couldn't find him. Luckily, I knew where he was and was able to tell them. It talks a community, right???

Then we headed back the way we had come to our Fast passes for Everest (return time of 12:10pm - 1:10pm). We walked right on. And somehow I don't even have our ride pics.

After Everest it was time for lunch!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We arrived at Yak & Yeti about 12:45pm for our 1pm ADR and it was crazy crowded around there.

The lobby (which is small to start with) was packed, the bar was packed, the area around the doorway was packed! Apparently they had a lot of walk ups and they were actually telling them they could seat them, eventually...and people were waiting. There were even grown people sitting on the floor inside the restaurant near the door waiting to be called...wait staff was walking around these people with food and drinks! I almost couldn't believe my eyes...I would never have the nerve to sit inside the restaurant on the floor and I couldn't believe they were letting them...seems like a safety hazard to me!

So we ended up waiting until about our ADR time to be seated. We were seated on the ground floor behind the stairway. We have always been upstairs and next to a window in the past. We were hoping for that again but since they were so crowded I wasn't going to even ask. We were just happy to be seated! It was nice walking through the downstairs floor though...we have never really done that before because we were always taken right upstairs. There is a lot of cool decorations here.

And I am borrowing pictures here because for some reason I have NONE!

Our server was Emma and she was ok...but busy! She kept our drinks filled and that made us happy. Not much small talk but that's just fine with us! We ordered our drinks...Coke, Sprite, Fruit Punch, and a Diet Coke.

For appetizers we all kind of shared. Obviously, some of us are too picky **ahem** Tyler **ahem** to try everything and stuck to one item but we definitely had plenty of food!

We ordered the Pot Stickers (seared) - pan seared or steamed, soy lime dipping sauce

Skye and I put these away! Yummy...

The Thai Chili Chicken Wings - fried chicken wings tossed in a sweet Thai chili sauce, spicy Asian pickled cucumbers...that Tyler ate most of!

And the Ahi Tuna Nachos for Two - sushi grade ahi, Asian slaw, crispy fried wontons, wasabi aioli, sweet soy glaze

That only Cary and I would eat. It was very fresh and very good! But we couldn't even finish it...

For entrees Tyler and I ordered the Kalbi Steak & Coconut Shrimp - grilled marinated flat iron steak, pineapple salsa, coconut shrimp, chili plum sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes, stir-fried vegetables...

And I got white rice with mine (as it used to be on the menu) and Tyler got fries instead of the wasabi mashed potatoes. It was very good but definitely not the same cut of meat Tyler was used to at signature dining spots. And it wasn't quite as good as it used to be. I really would have preferred regular tempura shrimp than the coconut ones but that's just my preference. And I loved the veggies but Tyler wouldn't touch them.

Cary got the Tempura Shrimp - chili plum sauce, coconut-ginger rice, stir fried vegetables

He loved his shrimp and thought the rice was ok...he would have preferred plain white rice or fried rice. He picked at the veggies and though what he did eat was good.

Skyler ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken - tempura chicken, ginger, garlic, bell peppers, pineapple with jasmine or brown rice...with Jasmine rice and the sauce on the side.

I wasn't sure they would do the sauce on the side but they had no problem with doing it. She ate a lot of the plain chicken and loved the jasmine rice. Cary ate some of her chicken with the sauce and thought it was very good. It is a huge serving!

For dessert, we shared again...

We got the Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle

We all liked them but even though they are beloved by most, they are not our favorite thing in the world!

The Pineapple Upside Down Cake - served warm with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce...which I cannot find a picture of. It was a very light dessert that we all liked (except Tyler who wouldn't even try it!).

The Chocolate Cake - Chocolate pudding cake, raspberry sauce...which is always a good stand-by!

It is served right out of a fridge and is kind of brownie like in texture because it is cold. I imagine when it is allowed to thaw out, it is pudding-y. The raspberry sauce is a great addition to lighten up the very chocolate-y cake.

And the Mango Pie - shortbread cookie crust, fresh whipped cream, raspberry sauce...which is my favorite here!

It is light and fruity and I love it. We all did actually!

Our glasses were kept full (and we were drinking a lot because it was very warm outside!). Where we were seated was in the back out of the crowd so until we got up to walk out, we did not have a clue how many people were lingering about. It's not quiet in there but it wasn't too obnoxious even with all the people waiting to be seated. We were leaving around 2:05pm...so about an hour. Not too shabby! But we never felt rushed or hurried along. Our total was $193.89 so not a cheap meal but any stretch of the imagination but if paying out of pocket I am sure we would not have ordered as much food. We probably would have ordered 1 or 2 appetizers, 2 or 3 entrees, and maybe a dessert. So it was that much only because of the dining plan.

We love Yak & Yeti and I am sure we will be back. We are looking forward to possibly sharing something from the counter service on two weeks!

TOTAL = $193.89 ... TOTAL FOOD = $4641.94
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 105 MEAL CREDITS