Chunkymonkey's Year of Disney Dining Reviews - February 2017

[chunkymonkey]

Chunkymonkey's Year of Disney Dining Report - February 2017

Hi Everyone! I said in my December Dining Report that I'd be back with a new DR after our February trip. It was sorta true. I actually wrote out a full Trip Report for this which includes all dining and activities, but since i wanted to be consistent with my "Year of Disney" dining reviews I'm just going to compile everything we ate into one dining report. Feel free to skip this if you've already read my "Tale as Old as Time" trip report...but if you're only interested in the FOOD, then welcome to my much-delayed February 2017 Dining Report!

Some brief intros, you can read more about us in my year-long PTR:

First day at MK!

On the right we have me, Chunkymonkey, aka Su-Lynn. I love Disney and food and everything that combines Disney and Food! I turned 41 years old on this trip and work in finance/IT. My favorite park is Epcot and my favorite WDW restaurant is 'Ohana Yachtsman Steakhouse, and since this trip, Tiffins as well, although I will honestly eat anywhere. My favorite rides are BTMRR, 7DMT, TSMM, and the Peoplemover!

My DH is Chubbyhubby, aka Steve. He's also 41 years old and works in finance. He likes any thrill ride, but he loves loves TSMM because he likes to be competitive. He also loves Tiffins and 'Ohana, as well as Garden Grill and Yachtsman.

We live in the NY/NJ tri-state area but consider Disney our second home, or at least MY second home.

This was the second trip we used on our Annual Passes! We are very fortunate that we get to go back a couple more times this year before they expire (we are using our APs for a total of 7 trips!!). This February trip was to celebrate my birthday as well as to run our first Run Disney Princess 5k. Unfortunately I suffered an ankle fracture in January, and DH got really sick right before our trip, so we could only manage to walk most of the race. Despite the setbacks it was a great time nonetheless. Check out my TR if you want to see all the action from the race!

For this trip, we stayed at the Contemporary Resort in a Garden Wing room and we had the Tables in Wonderland card which saved us 20% at almost every meal. I'm gonna post all of these reviews at once so you will be able to read through everything! I've kept it mainly about the food so if you want to see the other details just head on over to the Trip Report!

February 23rd: Friar's Nook Pot Roast Mac n Cheese, 1900 Park Fare

February 24th (Princess 5k): Contempo Cafe, Tokyo Dining, Trader Sams Dismeet

February 25th: The Wave breakfast with DISBoard friends, Star Wars Guided Tour Backlot Express, Star Wars Dessert Party

February 26th: Tiffin's Lunch, Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner with more DISBoard friends

February 27th (Birthday!): PPO breakfast at Be Our Guest, Tiana's Ice Cream Social, Top of the World Lounge with yet another Dismeet!, California Grill birthday dinner

February 28th: Tusker House brunch

Enjoy!​

 

[chunkymonkey]

February 23rd: Friar's Nook Pot Roast Mac n Cheese, 1900 Park Fare

We arrived late at night on February 22nd and we spent the night at the Hyatt Orlando Airport, we awoke the next morning to take Magical Express but the line was crazy long with all the people there for Princess Half Marathon weekend. We waited and waited and finally boarded a bus and made it to the Contemporary. We dropped off our stuff and went straight to the Run Disney expo where we picked up our bibs. It was fun and very interesting to experience for the first time. I was hungry but I knew I wanted to eat at MK, although there was food at the ESPN Wide World of Sports area...seemed mostly standard fast food though.

Friar's Nook

We took the bus back to the Contemporary and headed to our first park, MK! It was in the afternoon at this time and we were really hungry, not wanting to ruin our appetites for our 1900 Park Fare dinner, we shared an entree from Friar's Nook: the much talked-about Pot Roast Mac n Cheese. It was packed there!! There was no seating so we ate at the counter seating but with no seats until finally something opened up. The mac n cheese was deliciousness!

Half of it was the perfect amount of food because the richness of the dish definitely filled you up. The mac n cheese was velveeta-like (yay for plastic cheese) and the pot roast was tender and flavorful. A winner!

I thought the only way to cut through the richness of the mac n cheese was to get a Dole Whip float, obviously.

The park was so crowded that we didn't really do much aside from our FP+ for 7DMT, Peter Pan, and Meeting Mickey.

1900 Park Fare

We decided since it was such a nice night to take the boat from MK to the Grand Floridian for dinner. The boats they use though are really small, much smaller than the boats they use to ferry people from Epcot to DHS. So it was like only 20 people on the boat each time. We got onto the 2nd boat.

When we arrived we walked over to 1900 Park Fare and checked in. It was nice they had some ice water while waiting. We only had to wait about 5 minutes before we were called.

It's been a few years since I've been here and I've only had brunch. DH has never been here before since I came with my sister in 2014, so he doesn't know what Strawberry Soup is all about!

Pretty chandeliers:

Our server came by and got our drink orders, I got a ginger ale and DH got some hot tea. She told us that the whole experience will probably take about an hour since the characters have to make their way around. She said Prince Charming was right around the corner and after we met with him that we'd have ample time to eat before all the other characters came by. Indeed a few moments later the prince was by my side. He was indeed... charming...and very Ken doll-like.

He has better eyebrows than I do! I must learn his secrets...

After that we went up to the buffet and I just started piling stuff on my plate. Because I'm a lazy buffet eater and would rather make one less trip up.

I thought the food was very good. They had lots of traditional selections, roast beef and turkey carving stations, sauteed green beans, kale, pasta, cheesy polenta (which was so good), different salads, soups, breads, some asian selections, and a few seafood dishes. I read somewhere that before a race you're not supposed to eat so much dairy or fiber but oh well. A 5k isn't a big deal but I guess pertains more for the longer races. The strawberry soup was delicious as usual but it's weird how they serve it from a dispenser and not just a soup vat and ladle. It came out of the dispenser very slowly. Maybe you're not supposed to eat it in large quantities as they only had these tiny sauce containers next to the soup and I hunted down the regular bowls for my strawberry soup, buahaha. If you're wondering what it tastes like, it's kinda like a creamy strawberry smoothie. I think there might be a bit of yogurt in it too as there is a hint of tartness.

As each character came out into the dining area, they were introduced formally with trumpets and fanfare. Of course Lady Tremaine thought it was all for her. Told us we needed a little servant girl for our house. She said she had one but she ran off to marry a prince. The nerve!!

Then it was Anastasia who of course said how much she couldn't stand her sisters and she felt sorry for me that I have three of them.

Then came Drizella and the first thing she asked me is I have any diamonds. I was like, "Um, I only have this", and I showed her my wedding set. She asked how long we have been married. I told her "Well, almost 9 years in November." She asked if I had any other diamonds. I said no. Then she looked at DH and screamed really loudly throughout the restaurant:

"You haven't bought her any diamonds in 9 years?!?"

Me (to DH): I think I like this Drizella character!!
DH (to me): No wonder she's still single...

Here's Drizella expressing her disapproval for DH, and DH's huffy face :

We got more food, and I got more strawberry soup too. DH said it tasted more like dessert so he ate it for his dessert! I try not to eat to many sweets but I got fruit and some of the bread pudding which was quite tasty. We ordered some decaf coffees and waited for our final character, Cinderella herself!

She was very sweet and polite, and I told her how my nieces love her and they couldn't wait to meet her in August!

It was a really nice yummy meal with a lot of fun character interactions. The Tremaines were a funny funny bunch and it was hilarious to see them interact with everyone. I highly recommend dinner here as well as breakfast, as both have the Strawberry soup! Breakfast I remember we had the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Piglet and Tigger.

Just at the exit of the restaurant we got our picture taken with Cinderella's glass slipper. There was a PP Photographer and everything. Pretty cool!

As we were leaving I shot this panorama of the Grand Floridian. So excited to stay here for the first time in November for our actual anniversary!

We took the monorail back to the Contemporary. It was a very pretty evening.

Back at the Contemporary, DH got himself a re-useable mug. I don't drink much soda so I didn't get one but I did refill my water bottle at the Contempo Cafe.

We went back to our room and got everything ready for the early early day ahead. Our 5k began at 6am and we had to get up at 3:30am!

​

 

[chunkymonkey]

February 24th (Princess 5k): Contempo Cafe, Tokyo Dining, Trader Sams Dismeet

Race Day arrived and it was amazing we were up and on the bus in time to make our corrals. Head over to my TR to read all about our race experience. Despite not being 100% well enough to actually run that much, we still had fun and being able to run in Epcot at that hour was really cool. We thankfully finished the race in one piece and got our cool Mrs. Potts medals.

Contempo Cafe

We were dead tired after that though, so I moved all our FPs to later in the afternoon and switched our Kona Cafe breakfast to a Tokyo Dining dinner at the last minute. We just wanted to sleep! Before we headed back to our room though, we had a post-race breakfast of Mickey Waffles at Contempo Cafe. Can't go wrong with Mickey Waffles... I love them so much! I believe this is the kids meal version which is the perfect size, and I love that you can get chocoalte milk which tastes so much better after strenuous activity.

We went back to the room, showered, changed and CRASHED the entire rest of the morning. We were so tired!

When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we headed to the pool to soak in the hot tub for a bit, it was a really nice pick me up. We got dressed and headed to Epcot, my favorite park!

We spent the afternoon and early evening at Epcot...we had a lot of fun wearing our medals, even though it was just a 5k it was a mini accomplishment, especially since it was our first! The park was crowded though, so we just spent a lot of time walking around.

Tokyo Dining

We headed to Tokyo Dining for our dinner and checked in. We were buzzed about 15 minutes later, we headed upstairs and were shown to our table. It was our first time dining here although we've been to Teppan Edo a few times before.

I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the restaurant. I think cos I was really hungry again and all I could think about was food! But the space was nice and modern and it was really bustling! We sat in front of the sushi bar.

To drink I got an iced green tea, and DH got a hot green tea.

We perused the menu and placed our order with our friendly server. To start I got the shrimp ramen noodles. It wasn't like the traditional ramen I am used to which is usually in a pork-based broth, and this one had a more clear and lighter colored broth, but it was really quite flavorful. I think they should start serving big bowls of this! This bowl was small but it was an appetizer portion. I ate most of it and left some for DH who agreed it was quite tasty.

We also got the salmon sashimi to start which had some sort of yuzu truffle dipping sauce. This was good, but the portion was small.

I liked the dipping sauce which was a distinct yuzu flavored soy sauce with a hint of truffle. I think the flavors were a good match.

For an entree, DH got the black cod with miso.

The cod was cooked really nicely and the sauce had a distinct miso-sake flavor. It looked like the fish was cooked and then dressed with sauce, but with most miso black cod dishes I've had, the fish has been marinating in the miso for a long time and then cooked so the flavor is embedded in the fish. (Morimoto makes a killer version of this.) This version resulted in a lighter tasting fish but the sauce was a bit salty and had a strong sake overtone. Not the best version of this dish but if it had been less sauced I would have liked it more. It was served with some roasted kabocha squash (which I really like), and colorful cauliflower. DH thought it was pretty good, however his taste buds were dumbed down a bit so he thought everything just tasted "pretty good" LOL.

I got a very large and colorful Bento Box served with sushi, tempura, chicken teriyaki, ahi tuna poke salad, and beef teriyaki.

It was a pretty and delightful-looking box! How did it taste? Well, the sushi was what I expected it to be, good but nothing special. The poke salad was yummy. I really liked the sesame dressing they had. The tempura was great, and I liked the buttery teriyaki sauce on the chicken although the chicken itself was a bit dry, The steak was also a bit dry so I gave it to DH. The little thing of power in the middle was some seasoned salt for the tempura. I thought it added some nice flavor while still keeping the tempura crunchy!

Overall a solid meal at Tokyo Dining although I won't be clamoring to come back here right away, there are just more exciting places for us to eat at Epcot. We skipped Illuminations just so we could rest a bit before heading to Trader Sams so we headed back out towards the monorail.

After one last picture with SE, we trudged back to the Contemporary:

We were going to head to the Poly that night for drinks and Dismeets but unfortunately DH was not going to make it as his cold just made him pass out. So it was just me and of course the monorail that night wasn't "running" for the longest time. I think it took me closer to 40 minutes to get to the Poly! Seriously...

My Dismeet was with @LindseyJo22, @Elevationist, and @cinderkelly although @Elevationist couldn't make it in the end, but no worries we were having breakfast the next day! Lindsey and her DH were also stuck on the same monorail as me but thankfully we all made it to the Poly!

We went downstairs to Trader Sams, and saw @cinderkelly and her DD Devin waiting patiently at a table. So sorry we were late! Darn monorail issues. I was so relieved to finally be sitting down after an entire day of waiting...waiting at the corrals, waiting for buses, waiting in lines, waiting for the monorail. I needed a drink...and I settled on the Polynesian Pearl because I always wanted to take the pearl cup home. FYI, it's made from a thick plastic and not ceramic.

I don't think anyone else got souvenir glasses except for me. Lindsey and her DH Will were actually heading to the Moonlight Madness thing for DVC so we all only really had time for one drink, but it was great to finally be able to meet! Oh and @cinderkelly and I are old friends from when we met back in December We had a fun time just chatting and talking about our trips, the food we ate, and were going to eat, and how crazy crowded it was!



Before long, we were done with our drinks and we all parted ways, but not before a few group pictures:

I told everyone I look like a linebacker !

As I headed back to the Contemporary (no monorail issues, thankfully), I had a great idea to wash out the souvenir cup and fill it with some ice water at the Contempo Cafe, LOL.

Me and my "pearl"
​

 

[chunkymonkey]

February 25th: The Wave breakfast with DISBoard friends, Star Wars Guided Tour Backlot Express, Star Wars Dessert Party

The Wave Breakfast

Today we had a breakfast at The Wave, someplace which I've always wanted to try. When @Elevationist suggested we have a Dismeet breakfast there, I was all for it. It also helped that it was on the first floor of the Contemporary so we didn't have to go far. But for sure, I'd return even if we weren't staying there.

We arrived and met with @cinderkelly and her DD Devin and sat in the waiting area which looks like a space age nightclub.

But we didn't have to wait long at all as @Elevationist strolled in right after. We were shown our table and we got a nice big round table. I love round tables because it's so much easier to talk to everyone. I think we all selected the buffet except for Billie who ordered the French Toast.

I was very impressed with the buffet. I expected it to be small and limited but it offered more than I thought it would, and the food was really good, and of a better quality than I imagined. I juggled two plates of food because as I said I am a lazy buffet eater and I just want to get everything all at once.

Like seriously I ate a lot of food. Eggs, bacon, oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, fruit, croissant, biscuits n gravy (I didn't actually eat much biscuit tho), and of course Mickey waffles. I'm sure there were other random things I put in my mouth too. But we weren't planning to have lunch since we had limited time at DHS before we started our 7-hour Star Wars Tour! So I guess it was like two meals for me.

I liked how they gave some spreads for the table. They had a maple pecan butter (I think) which was quite good!

I was really full by the time we left breakfast, but that was the point, right?

We said our last goodbyes to Billie who was leaving WDW that day and we got one final picture with everyone.

We had plans to meet up with @cinderkelly later on that evening. After our goodbyes we headed out towards the bus to DHS for our Star Wars Tour! Head on over to this post on my Trip Report to read all about our 7 hour tour of all things Star Wars. Yes it did really last 7 hours and Star Wars Land is not even ready yet, but it was really fun!

Our tour included dinner at Backlot Express. We placed our orders at the beginning of the tour. They handed us menus and we got to choose an entree.

We watched every Star Wars show at DHS, as well as march with the First Order. That was a unique experience. We also got popcorn as part of the tour. I HEART Disney popcorn!

Backlot Express

At Backlot Express, we had an entire reserved section of the dining space, and each table was marked with reserved signs. We were all given drink cups and could fill up at the drink stations as we pleased. I got an iced tea and DH got diet coke, which are our drinks of choice. It was nice to have a seat and put our feet up for a bit. We were standing for a good portion of the day even though we had done less walking that I thought we would.

Here's what we ordered: Dark Side Chicken n Waffles

Royal Guard Burger for DH

Our dinner was good and hit the spot. I loved the Chicken n Waffles - I had them before during Rebel Hangar and enjoyed this dish there too. (I really think they should make Backlot Express permanently into Rebel Hangar, they did such a great job with it. See this post from our trip 2 years ago.) The Royal Guard burger was new for us as we have not tried it. We had something similar on the DCL Fantasy while on Star Wars Day at Sea last year - a "Bantha" burger, also served on the black bun. The Royal Guard burger had bbq brisket on top of the patty and it and was quite tasty. DH liked it a lot.

No dessert for us because we had a massive dessert party to go to later!

Star Wars Galactic Dessert Party

The dessert party is held inside Star Wars Launch Bay I love having the dessert party here as you can wander around and look at the exhibits as well as not being exposed to the elements. I've been to dessert parties where it's been super hot and desserts were melting in no time.

We were given VIP treatment the entire tour, and the dessert party was no exception. We got to enter the dessert area about 15 minutes before the other regular dessert party attendees were allowed in.

When it was time for us to enter the dessert party, we were let in by our tour guides and were the first to partake in all the yummy goodies! Also we were the first ones to grab a table. Sadly there is no seating, except for limited benches around the Launch Bay area but I loved the atmosphere and you can actually see what you are eating!

Here's the table with the biggest spread:

A lot of the desserts I had seen before during the other Star Wars dessert parties I have done:

BB8 cupcakes:

Assorted petit fours:

Blue Milk panna cotta:

Vader peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes:

Darth Maul red velvet brownies, this seems new to me:

As well as these R2-D2 cupcakes:

Warm bread pudding, this one is always good:

More of the dessert spread:

Nutella flash frozen ice cream, this was very good and is available at most dessert parties now:

I admit I'm not that much of a sweets eater nowadays. A lot to do with not wanting to eat too much sugar for health reasons and also I just don't crave them as much as I used to, but I did nibble on a bunch of different things. My favorites were the warm bread pudding and the nutella flash frozen ice cream. Oh and I did have a chocolate covered frozen banana because I used to love those!

I like how there are savory things to eat and not just sweets so I got to satisfy any more hunger I had:

Toasted pita bread:

Some dips:

I did eat a lot of cheese and olives! They are so good here!

And can't forget about the drinks! There were actually servers coming around holding trays of drinks which was nice so I only went to the bar once.

There were also non-alcoholic versions of some of the drinks:

We got one of each alcoholic drink to try, most of them were just really sweet flavored juices and alcohol IMO.

On the left with have green Swamp Milk, it is gross do not get it. The middle I think is the Light Speed margarita, and the right is the Galactic Punch which is probably the best out of the bunch.

The service was fantastic, food was refilled consistently, and we were constantly offered more drinks, LOL. I've always enjoyed this dessert party!

Here's us with Chewie:

As part of the tour we also were allowed to have first dibs on the reserved viewing area for the fireworks. So of course we were front and center!

It was a great tour, and at 121 per person, I thought it was worth it as the dessert party is already close to 70 bucks plus you get dinner, popcorn and bottled waters. I recommend it for Star Wars Fans!

When we got back to the Contemporary, I said I was hungry so DH and I split a pasta from Contempo Cafe. I just wanted something in my tummy to settle it a bit as all the sweets was leaving me a bit unbalanced and pasta was the only thing I wanted. It was your typical gemelli pasta with some meatballs, marinara sauce and a breadstick. It was pretty standard fare but it was fine. Did not eat the breadstick though as it was just mostly dough.

It was a great day full of Star Wars and carbs!​

 

[chunkymonkey]

February 26th: Tiffin's Lunch, Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner with more DISBoard friends

So on this morning since we didn't have any morning ADR or FP to make, we decided to just sleep in and chill at the pool a bit before heading to AK for our 11:40am lunch. It was a good decision as we started our day feeling refreshed.

It was nice and empty at the pool, guess most people were at the parks! (Also the half marathon was this morning).

After our relaxing morning we headed out and caught a bus to AK. It was a beautiful day, there was not a cloud in the sky and it was 70 degrees and no humidity. This was the best weather of the trip and there wasn't a moment where I felt it was too hot, and I find being AK I always feel a little too warm.

Tiffins River of Light Dining Package

When we entered the park, we realized we did not know where Tiffins was so a CM had to point us in the right direction. It's right near where Camp Minnie Mickey used to be, which is now gonna be Pandora! So basically you enter the park and head to the left when you see the Tree of Life.

The gated area you see behind the Tiffin's sign will be the entry way into Pandora.

Excited to eat here! I had booked Tiffin's with a RoL dining package and we were really looking forward to lunch! We went inside and checked in. I fell in love with the space, it felt a little bit like Sanaa but more elegant.

Soon we were called and were taken to one of the rooms on the left, past the Nomad Lounge. I don't have a picture of the lounge since the light streaming through the windows was not in my favor to take a picture but the lounge looks fantastic. I would really like to stop here for a drink one day.

Here's the room we sat in.

There weren't that many people at that time but we got one of the earlier lunch seatings and it got a little more crowded when we left.

I wasn't paying attention when we booked the Rivers of Light package - for some reason I thought it would be like Candlelight Processional where it's just like an ala carte menu and you just pay for each thing you order. The Rivers of Light package is actually 67 dollars per adult and includes any appetizer, entree and dessert plus non-alcoholic beverage. That was actually an even better deal because we wanted to try some of the pricier things on the menu and the package price was much less than what we would have paid for each item individually (although our TIW card would have saved us 20% but still the package price is cheaper overall).

Our server was super friendly and informative and explained the package pricing and answered any questions about items on the menu. We placed our order and was served our drinks and some bread.

To drink I ordered the unsweetened ice tea which had a vanilla passion fruit flavor. They were kind enough to bring me some simple syrup on the side. That is a mark of a great restaurant when simple syrup is on the side for their iced teas and coffees. The iced tea was lovely and refreshing.

I think DH got a diet coke.

Here's our bread service: We did not get the appetizer bread service so this is just the one that comes with every meal.

This was a foccacia bread with an olive oil and pomegranate molasses dipping sauce. That sauce was crazy good. It's like balsamic vinegar and oil but has a more interesting flavor. I wish they put more molasses in it as I liked it so much.

To start I got the Lobster-Popcorn Thai Curry Soup with Lime-Basil Emulsion, Popped Sorghum. ​

OMG this was phenomenal. The flavors were so on point and had all this umami-ness going on. There wasn't much in terms of lobster meat because it's in the flavor of the soup and it's not a chunky soup. The popcorn added some nice crunch and toasty flavor but I would not miss it if it weren't there. I would totally get this again.

DH got the Marinated Grilled Octopus: Artichoke Bargoule, Saffron Aïoli, and Lemon-Caper Olive Oil

Seriously the most tender octopus I've ever eaten! It was really delicious and all the flavors went well together. Totally getting this next time too. Actually maybe we'll have to order more than 2 appetizers because everything sounded so good!

As an entree, I got the Whole-fried Sustainable Fish: Fermented Black Bean Sauce, Som Tam, Peanuts. (OK I'm not 100% sure mine had the black bean sauce because I got this description from the Disney website so they may have changed the accompaniments. I definitely had the Som Tam (green papaya salad) and it was served with black "forbidden" rice).

The fish of the day was a yellow-tailed red snapper. It was seriously amazing. I absolutely loved the presentation. I'm used to eating fish the Asian way which is usually served whole, with head and tail so I was really happy to see this at Disney World. The fish was so tender, with crisp lightly battered skin and fleshy meat - not fishy at all. It was just perfectly cooked and seasoned. I loved everything that it came with - the sweet and salty green papaya salad was a great contrast to the fried fish, and the black rice was wonderful. I am a huge fan of black rice so it was the perfect little side, and whatever sauce was on it was so good I was literally sopping up all of it. It will get a little messy as you eat this dish but they do give you a nice little fish knife which was handy in separating the meat from bone. Also the fish was huge. I could not eat the whole thing and DH had to help with a lot of it. Yum.

Here's another angle of the presentation of the dish:

DH got the Grilled Head-On Prawns: Tomatoes, Roasted Fennel, Olives, Sea Urchin Butter Sauce.

OMG this dish had me at Uni Butter Sauce. That stuff is like crack...and the only issue was that there wasn't enough of it on the plate! The shrimp were big and had a nice grilled flavor. This dish initially reminded me of a dish we had last year at Skipper Canteen, also a head-on shrimp dish, which we thought was ok, but this one blew that one out of the water and really there is no comparison.

Our meal had been wonderful and really filling so far...but we still had dessert to contend with! We also ordered some coffees, DH got a decaf and I got a regular and it came in separate French presses. These giraffe French presses are so cute! The coffee was very good. And they were both included with our dining package!

I got the Passion Fruit Tapioca Créme - Chocolate Crumble, Citrus Fruits

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh - no words can say what I think about this dessert but it is seriously one of the best desserts I've ever had! I have a soft spot for any sort of rice or tapioca puddings and this one was insanely good. The pudding was infused with delicious passion fruit and topped with a citrus-scented whipped cream and chocolate crumble. I think they must put crack in everything because even though I was really full I ate the entire dessert...and I'm not even a dessert person anymore! I think also this wasn't super sweet so you don't get that cloying sugary mouth feel. I would go to Tiffins just to eat this again!

DH got the Lime Cheesecake - Almond-Sesame Tuile, Green Tea Sponge

This was very good as well, but I was really just so obsessed with my own dessert that DH's dessert was like an afterthought, lol.

French press coffee and a delicious dessert...I can't think of a better way to end an amazing meal. Yum

Tiffins is now our favorite restaurant at WDW. In fact while at lunch I pulled up the MDE app and made reservations again for May. In fact we are eating here again this comming weekend (May 6th) and I'm really super excited about that!

When we paid for our check, our server gave us our receipt which acted as our "ticket" for that evening's ROL performance. I asked her if we could get the later show at 8:30pm (which they had just added that week), but she said the package is only valid for the early show. But then she told us that the early show was at 7:45pm and that if we showed up at 7:15pm it should be fine. Oh cool, we thought. That would give us plenty of time to get to AK after dinner!

Or so we thought.

As a parting gift they gave out these little artist replica cards. Nice touch Tiffins!

Overall, we loved Tiffins, we loved the ambiance, the food, the service, everything was top notch and the ROL dining package is well worth it depending on what you order. You cannot use any discounts with the dining packages like TIW or Annual Pass, but it comes out to be very close in price, also again depends on what you order. I look forward to our meal here this coming weekend!!

We headed to Epcot for the afternoon where we just spent a few hours including another DISmeet with @Heidi Lou!

Yachtsman Steakhouse

We had dinner at an early time because my dining mates had just run the half that morning and were probably really tired! So we agreed to a 5pm dinner at Yachtsman although we weren't that hungry just yet. We left Epcot and headed to the Yacht Club early of our reservation. We took a nice walk since the weather was so beautiful. We arrived about 10 minutes early so we just sat and waited around in the area right outside of Yachtsman. There was someone checking in people with the ipad so I just told her our friends name but that we all weren't here yet. We chilled for a little before our favorite server, David, come out to say hi! So we chatted with him for a bit. And told him how we had to be out by a certain time to make it to AK. 5 minutes later my friend @tankgirl427 Betsy and her friend Carol showed up and so we were all able to be seated. Betsy and Carol both completed the 1/2 marathon that morning so I congratulated them. Carol even did the Glass Slipper challenge!

It was not crowded at all because they had just started dinner service. So the first thing I noticed when we sat down was that we all got menus on our place setting. But not just any menus...

I got a special birthday menu!! My friend Betsy had conferred with David before our dinner and they surprised me. I my DIS friends!

Since we all knew exactly what we wanted to order, we didn't even look at the menus that much and placed our order with David. Although David rolled up my special menu and tied it with a ribbon so I could take it home with me.

We ordered some iced teas and I got a glass of cabernet. Our waters and teas came with these awesome Mickey straws which we could keep. I think these are meant for kids but hey, we are all a bunch of kids at Disney, right?

Pretty soon our delicious breads arrived. There were the usual flaky onion rolls and mini white rolls. I forgot that I wasn't hungry and just dug in. I tried not to indulge too much since I wanted to save room for our steak. Only Carol ordered an appetizer, a Caesar salad, which looked very good for a salad. DH and I were happily munching on bread. Betsy was not feeling well and was not really eating much. We were all concerned for her but she said it wasn't a big deal.

The rolls are served with butter topped with sea salt and a bulb of roasted garlic - so soft and spreadable and delicious with the bread!

Soon we were digging into our our main course...and this is our favorite thing to order, a shared Porterhouse Steak, medium rare! It's served with a set of sides which makes it a better deal than some other steakhouses where you have to order extra sides.

The steak is topped with garlic butter and is served with, from L to R: sauteed mushrooms, creamed spinach and caramalized onions. Sooo good.

It is also served with beef fat potatoes. These were delicious. These are the usual sides that come with the porterhouse but note you can substitute for pretty much any sides they have. But since these were the sides I would be getting anyways, they were PERFECT.

Our steak was so so good and the sides were delicious! I'm never disappointed with Yachtsman. It's too bad we weren't a little more hungry but we ate more than enough and took the rest with us. We were able to fit the container in DH's backpack after we took out our sweaters, which was a relief so we weren't lugging around a doggy bag of food to ROL.
We didn't order dessert, but I was surprised with this treat!! And they all sang happy birthday to me too. How sweet!

It was a chocolate mousse-y dome, decorated with chocolates and candied jelly things. I couldn't eat that much so I made everyone take a bite. We also tried the little marshmallows and jelly things it came with and the chocolate things which look like nuts. I bit into one of the chocolates and I was surprised. It was not nutty like I expected but it tasted like blueberries.

We looked at our watches and said we had to get going to make it in time for ROL. But not before a picture of all of us together:
L to R: Steve, Me, David, Betsy, and Carol

It was a fantastic meal despite the fact we weren't super hungry (blame it on Tiffin's!) and Betsy not feeling well. It was our chance to finally catch up at Disney World again!

Now onto Rivers of Light....

To make a long story short, our server at Tiffin's told us the wrong time. It was 7:15, not 7:45, so by the time we ran over to the show, it had already started and there were no more seats available. I thought it was going to be upsetting but they said to just come back for the later show. If I had known we'd be ok with just turning up for the later show then I wouldn't have had to rush to get there, but oh well, at least we still got to watch the show!

So at 8pm we were let into the reserved seating area for the 8:30 show. We got an empty theater!

I thought RoL was a pretty show but I wasn't blown away. I felt it was a little...boring. So we're not doing the RoL package again...maybe on a future trip but not for next weekend.

I just felt it lacked a story line or anything to really keep my interest. There were also no fireworks due to the animals, so it was mainly lights, floats, and fountains. Still worth seeing once though!​

 

[chunkymonkey]

February 27th (Birthday!): PPO breakfast at Be Our Guest, Tiana's Ice Cream Social, Top of the World Lounge Dismeet!, California Grill birthday dinner

Be Our Guest Breakfast

Today was my birthday! So I thought what better way to celebrate than to have a PPO breakfast at Be Our Guest! We headed into the park at 8am and although the front of the castle now hosts the welcome show (which means no more empty Main Street), but the side of the castle is still empty so if you have a PPO ADR then you'd have the opportunity to do so.

And then we made our way to Beast's Castle and checked in. We had pre-ordered our meals so we went straight to the separate cashier where we paid and then we were told to sit anywhere we liked. I always like to sit in the library because it's nice and bright but for some reason it was closed for breakfast that day so we sat in the main ballroom. The strap of my dress broke that morning so I got a safety pin from the front desk at the Contemporary but didn't get a chance to fix it until we sat down at BoG.

Definitely a bit dark the ballroom inside but hey, it set the mood! We helped ourselves to our beverages...think I got some OJ and coffee and DH got some coffee.

Soon out food magically arrived!

DH got the Croque Madame: Open-faced Ham Sandwich topped with a Fried Egg, Gruyere Cheese, and Béchamel served with Fresh Fruit and a selection of pastries.

He enjoyed it, I think he has gotten this before so it wasn't new to him.

I got the Open-Faced Bacon and Egg Sandwich: Poached Eggs, Applewood Bacon, Brie Cheese, and Arugula on a Croissant served with Fresh Fruit and a selection of pastries.

I had also had this before and loved it but this time it was served on a croissant instead of a baguette and I much preferred the baguette. Thought the bottom half of the croissant got a little soggy after the ingredients were on it for a while, So i ate everything but the bottom half of the croissant.

Here's our included platter of pastries...they were decent but I don't really love the pastries here in any case. It's nice to have something both sweet and savory at breakfast.

However, the one sweet indulgence I was really looking forward to indulging in was the Master's Cupcake. I love this cupcake even though I rarely eat cupcakes anymore. The grey stuff IS delicious!

I got cake and got to eat it too! I think I prefer my sweets at breakfast hehe...

Tiana's Ice Cream Social on the Liberty Belle

That afternoon we met my friend Betsy for the Tiana Ice Cream Social on the Liberty Belle! I had booked this because I thought it'll be a fun little thing to do and since it's my birthday I decided to splurge on the 50 bucks for ice cream on a boat, Hahaha.

The landing where you board the Liberty Belle had been transformed into a little dessert party. There were bar height tables to the right when you enter, and to the left were desserts being handed out by CMs. Note that these are not the only treats you get, there will be more treats on the boat itself!

You had your choice of ice cream, as much as you wanted. Here were the choices:

And there was also a toppings bar which was cute:

And I just have to say, these lily pad display "tables" are soooo cute.

In addition to the ice cream, there was also a trio of desserts. They gave a trio to everyone, although if you only wanted some of the treats you could probably do that too. We each got a trio and some ice cream.

Aren't these the cutest? I loved how the desserts at Disney are themed specifically to the dessert party. They were all very sweet and topped with a lot of icing, which is not my favorite. But I did enjoy the Tiana cupcake (what's with me and cupcakes today?) and the green chocolate frog I thought was super cute.

Here's one of our ice creams...I think this was Betsy's.

I believe I got chocolate too, although I didn't top mine with anything, and DH got raspberry sorbet.

There's also a drink station with lemonade and water.

Everything was decorated in the colors of Mardi Gras (of course) and it was very befitting that it was Mardi Gras the next day! We were given beads to wear too so we had our own Mardi Gras celebration!

During this pre-boarding time on the landing Tiana and Naveen are available for pictures. It's relatively uncrowded at this time and there was never much of a line. So we were able to take a ton of pictures and interact with them as much as we wanted. First up is myself and DH. They loved my dress! They asked me I made it hahahahaha. Tiana was so cute, she pointed to my dress and was showing Naveen all the pictures. "That's me, and that's you!"

And I got a few solo pictures, because, well, they insisted because it was my birthday!

We ate and drank on the landing until it was time to board the boat. Tiana and Naveen went to take their place in the FoF parade while the rest of the guests made their way on board the Liberty Belle.

There were more things to get on the boat! So of course, we had to get them too. We had a little collection of popcorn going, and I got a frozen banana, DH got a fruit bar and Betsy got a Mickey bar.

There was also bottled water to drink which was nice. It was probably the warmest day of the trip so far, and it got quite sweaty in the afternoon!

About 15 minutes later we pulled away from the dock, ready for the FoF parade! I don't have many pics of the parade. It was a nice view, not like the best view, but you get to hear the music at least, and be away from the crowds and have some shade. That to me is worth the 50 bucks! For more video and stuff of the parade, head on over to my TR.

After the parade, Tiana and Naveen board the boat again and we cruise around the Rivers of America. As you cruise around you can find answers to the quiz. Some are quite obvious but some actually made us think. I am not sure what you get for finishing the quiz as we never turned it in, but maybe you get a certificate or something.

Overall, I would say I enjoyed the Ice Cream social a lot. It's not only a way to stay out of the heat while watching a great parade, but you get lots of interaction with Tiana and Naveen and lots of treats. It's not that crowded and there was room to move on the boat. There is no seating on the landing but there is some seating on the boat. The 50 dollar price tag is cheaper than the evening dessert parties too. If you're gonna eat about 5 Mickey bars a day anyways...it's probably worth it for you .

Top of the World

We headed back to the Contemporary to freshen up and rest before meeting my friend @annmarieda at Top of the World Lounge. She owns DVC and kinda offered to take us up there for drinks!

It's a beautiful lounge and we arrived right when they opened.

We sat on some of the couches, they were nice and comfy! DH and I perused the menu and I saw something that caught my eye. The Seven Seas Lagoon drink that I saw just premiered at the monorail resorts just a few weeks before our trip. It's definitely a shared drink as it's about 25 bucks but the drink is bigger than my head. I kid you not. Here it is:

This was a picture that DH took since my phone was charging but he didn't do a good job of showing it's size in relation to other things. But it was massive. It was really good though, it was your quintessential Blue-Hawaiian-type drink with the blue curacao, and it had a glow cube, Swedish fish and a gummy float in it. It really was the size of the Seven Seas Lagoon!

I believe Ann got a beer and her DD Zoe got a lemonade topped with wildberry foam. Mmmm. We sat and chilled and talked until it was close to our dinner reservations at California Grill. Sadly after the hour we had to part ways to head to dinner. Ann and Zoe were headed to Artist Point for their own signature dinner. I was just slightly tipsy at this point, that drink was huge and we managed to finish most of it too, but we were struggling at the end and tried to take really big gulps of it, hahaha.

We parted ways at BLT and we walked back to the Contemporary and checked in on the 4th floor for dinner:

Calilfornia Grill Dinner

We were escorted up to the top and we were seated on a table that had some pixie dust on it:

And there was this cute card waiting for us. Since everything is all hooked up in the system they know we're eating where we are staying on this trip!

Open Kitchen:

We got their bread basket of rolls and foccacia:

We ordered some more drinks, DH got a really nice Riesling, and I got what I thought would be a rose type champagne but it was too dark and a bit too sweet for me, so I didn't like it as much as DH's Riesling.

Just to note, the menu is seasonal so the menu right now that is up on the website is different so for most of the offerings when we were there so if I am not able to find the exact description of the dish I'll provide some detail as best as I can!

As appetizers DH got one of their special sushi rolls of the evening, which was Truffle-scented lobster roll. I did not really taste much truffle though. We thought this was ok. I think we should have ordered one of the rolls on their regular menu and not the special.

There were chunks of lobster in the middle of the sushi which was nice and I liked the crispy topping which I think were like fried wonton strips. Not the best sushi roll I've had really but pretty good.

I got a kabocha squash bisque. I think I must have been craving soup like the one I had at Tiffins but this one was not really like Tiffin's aside from the color. It was not bad, just different, and I thought the consistency was too thick. It's a good thing I like kabocha squash. The closest I can compare it to is butternut squash soup, but let me tell you, I have been hard-pressed to find anything as close to AKL's version of butternust squash soup they serve in Mara and Boma.

We looked at our watch and realized it was time for Wishes soon. Our server told us our entrees won't be served until after the show so we headed outside to watch the show. Our first time seeing it from this angle!

It's definitely more impressive in person that what I could capture, and it was nice they pipe in the music.

It was so dark to capture still images but my videos came out better:

It's even more poignant now that Wishes is ending very soon. In fact this coming week I will be watching Wishes for the last time and then 2 weeks later we'll be back right after they switch to Happily Ever After. Although I do love Wishes I am actually looking forward to the new show. I think change is for the better and it looks like it will be an epic show!

We went back to our table after the lights came on and shortly after our entrees came.

As an entree, DH got the Cioppino, a spicy seafood stew with crab, shrimp, and mussels. This was quite flavorful and DH liked it a lot. It was also spicy which he really liked. It was served with a nice buttery crostini.

I got the Tuna which is still on their menu it seems. Wild Caught Yellowfin Tuna: Pan-seared, Forbidden Rice, Guanciale, Bitter Greens, Gailan, Tomato-Miso Soup. This was fantastic. Probably just as good if not better than the fish I got at Tiffins. It's rare that I order seared tuna as an entree as I like my tuna raw as in sushi/sashimi, but this one was nice and rare and served with forbidden rice and tasty veggies. I have had my fair share of forbidden rice on this trip and I couldn't be happier!

I was thoroughly stuffed now and since we already had a dessert party in the afternoon, we chose not to have dessert, even though I probably do need to get some on another trip. We were off on a mission for tonight...to get the Tangled Magic Shot! So we settled the bill, and we left to head out to MK!!
We got a picture commemorating our evening here:

We continued and walked all the way to MK for the evening.

We did manage to get the Tangled Magic Shot! My night was complete.

It was an awesome birthday filled with good eats and I even closed down MK that night!
​

 

[chunkymonkey]

February 28th (Last Moments): Tusker House Brunch

Tusker House Brunch

It was our last day and we had one final meal before we had to depart for the airport. Tusker House is always a favorite for us although I have not been here for more than a year I think. It was packed inside though and it was noisy as heck. They did sit us in a little alcove which made it less noisy but a bit more cramped and near an exit door.

I love the buffet area at Tusker. Reminds me of a bazaar in an exotic African or Middle Eastern country...if I ever went to those places!

Our server brought us some Jungle Juice and a much needed pot of coffee.

And then we were off to gather food. He said we had about 20 minutes before our first character came by. I appreciate all the servers giving us approximate timing of the characters now as it makes it so much easier to figure out when you can go to the buffet or not.

So we went and conquered the buffet in those 20 minutes.

This is one buffet that we took our time on...I guess it was our last meal and also the characters took some time to all get around to us, so that meant multiple trips to the buffet. We were there at around 10:30am so that meant we were there when they transitioned to lunch items as it got closer to 11am. I love coming to brunch at that time as you get to try even more stuff. As you can see from my plate above it was mostly breakfast items at that point.

Donald was our first visitor!

Followed by Daisy:

Now you can see how the food started transitioning to the lunch items.

There was this giant baked fish which was wrapped in leaves. When they unwrapped it, it looked like this. It was salmon or something with an orange-y flesh. It was quite tasty! It replaced the carved ham at breakfast.

It's Mickey's turn!

And finally, Goofy!

At the end of our meal I got a birthday card!

Then Daisy came back around so I got another pic of her and DH:

It was a fun meal at Tusker, but we were very full after we had sampled both breakfast and lunch dishes!

During our final moments at AK we got some pictures:

Sadly it was time to leave so we headed out, back on the bus to the Contemporary. When we arrived we collected our stuff and sat on the comfy couches in the lobby until we saw the ME bus pull up.

Not too happy faces because we were leaving....

I did a sad face but then I realized we'd be back in about 2 months for Flower and Garden, so that brought a smile to my face after all!

At the airport, we got kinda hungry so it was a good thing we had some of this popcorn leftover from Tiana's Ice Cream party!

Thank you Tiana!

And thanks for reading this last-minute condensed version of a trip report, but with mainly FOOD!! Wow I think this is the quickest I've completed a post on the Dis Boards! I just wanted to get it done before we leave on our next trip...which starts tomorrow! We arrive the night of May 2nd and heading into the parks on the 3rd. We're heading to Epcot first because...FLOWER and GARDEN!

Stay tuned for another dining report after we return on May 7th!!

​

 

[auntfrannie]

Nice to see another review from you! The two of you are a cute couple! I'm looking forward to your next installment.

 

[cajunbaby1]

Great review. Nice photos

 

[chunkymonkey]

Nice to see another review from you! The two of you are a cute couple! I'm looking forward to your next installment.

Thank you so much! We had a great time!

Great review. Nice photos

Thank you so much! We loved this trip!

 

[Disneyncscmom]

Love your reviews! Tiffins looks great! Enjoy your next trip!

 

[fallonkendra]

I'm so far behind on everyone's reports, I've been meaning to get to your trip report and it just hasn't happened yet! I promise it will soon!

I don't have time to read all of this right now, but I'll come back and finish it later

I turned 41 years old on this trip

I find this so hard to believe every single time you post your age! You look so fantastic!

He has better eyebrows than I do! I must learn his secrets...

Haha, that's the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw that picture too!

we had a lot of fun wearing our medals, even though it was just a 5k it was a mini accomplishment, especially since it was our first!

Congratulations! I'll get over to your trip report to read all about it

Then came Drizella and the first thing she asked me is I have any diamonds. I was like, "Um, I only have this", and I showed her my wedding set. She asked how long we have been married. I told her "Well, almost 9 years in November." She asked if I had any other diamonds. I said no. Then she looked at DH and screamed really loudly throughout the restaurant:

"You haven't bought her any diamonds in 9 years?!?"

Me (to DH): I think I like this Drizella character!!
DH (to me): No wonder she's still single...

Here's Drizella expressing her disapproval for DH, and DH's huffy face :

This is hilarious! I love when character interactions are memorable like that!

 

[suse66]

Awesome report! Love your meals, photos and bevvies! Also love all your cute Disney themed outfits! I look forward to reading all about your Flower and Garden adventures.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I find this so hard to believe every single time you post your age! You look so fantastic!

Thank you so much...those photo filters do wonders!

Haha, that's the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw that picture too!

It's so funny how they do the guy's makeup...but this Prince Charming was really "made up"! Naveen whom we say a few days later wasn't that gussied up.

Congratulations! I'll get over to your trip report to read all about it

It was really fun! Now I think I have a bit of the RunDisney bug, too, LOL!

This is hilarious! I love when character interactions are memorable like that!

So so funny...I'm going to keep telling that to DH..."but Drizella said you haven't bought me enough diamonds!!"

Awesome report! Love your meals, photos and bevvies! Also love all your cute Disney themed outfits! I look forward to reading all about your Flower and Garden adventures.

Thank you so much!! I'm so excited to experience F and G again!!

 

[kastoney]

I think I'm having deja vous and i don't know why Its about dang time you started this thing. Cant wait to hear about your May trip and your other May trip

 

[chunkymonkey]

I think I'm having deja vous and i don't know why Its about dang time you started this thing. Cant wait to hear about your May trip and your other May trip

I'm gonna have to start the May trip and the other May trip when I get back this weekend!
So much to eat...so little time...

 

[warriorping]

Great Review! Food looks delicious!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Great Review! Food looks delicious!

Thank you! You reminded me I have to start my May DR soon...

 

[ariane37]

I'm here! I knew I'd read most of this in your TR when I saw Mr. 1900 Prince Charming and I remembered commenting on him over there!
So I totally can't remember if I commented on the below things and I'm too tired to check so I'm going to go ahead and risk repeating myself:

his was a foccacia bread with an olive oil and pomegranate molasses dipping sauce. That sauce was crazy good. It's like balsamic vinegar and oil but has a more interesting flavor. I wish they put more molasses in it as I liked it so much.

OMG loved this bread and dipping sauce! I think it's tied with the bread at Citrico's for our favorite on property.

Seriously the most tender octopus I've ever eaten!

I don't do seafood but Steve got this and absolutely loved it; said the same thing: tender.

As a parting gift they gave out these little artist replica cards. Nice touch Tiffins!

I forgot to post the pictures of the replica cards they gave us at our dinner, but it was a picture of an African village. Very pretty and a nice touch but I like yours better since I love tigers ( I know that's not a tiger)

I thought RoL was a pretty show but I wasn't blown away. I felt it was a little...boring.

We may have discussed this elsewhere but, we feel the same. Not one of our favorite nighttime shows which is why we didn't even see it again last month. I will say I'm glad they've added more in the evening at AK because it's a gorgeous park at night, but I prefer the ToL Awakenings.