Dining Review 1/19 - 1/23

[Fishy&2guppies]

We were on the dining plan. It was myself, DH, DD4. We also have an 18 mo. old DD (the red bull because of her bright red hair, and hot temper) she just shares with everyone.

Gasparilla Grill
We arrived at Grand Floridian at 10:30 at night. After flying all evening, we were hungry. So it was just a quick meal. I know it is not the best thing to eat and then go to sleep, but at that point we were so hungry we didn't care. Each of us had your standard chicken strips, fries, and cheesecake. Everything was made right then and it was so HOT! It was very good, it might have been because we were so hungry. Saved the cheesecake for a later time.

Day 1

Cinderella Royal Table
This was the first time going to this character breakfast, last time we did dinner with Cindy at 1900 Park Fare. We had the hot breakfast. My DD4 ate tons of scrambled eggs and bacon. The red bull at 2 bowls of fruit (loves fruit) and some eggs. I'm not sure what the pastry thing is with the blueberries, but DH took them off of everyones plate and ate all of them, he wasn't sharing so they must have been good. We saw Cindy, Fairy Godmother, Belle, Snow White, and Aurora. Just a note, I was very dissapointed in Belle. She was not talkative and looked and acted less than thrilled to be there.

Pinnachio Village Haus
We just had that huge breakfast and we are eating lunch now. But not really. My girls are endless pits and can eat every hour. I did not eat much at breakfast either between everyone stealing everything off my plate, plus I really don't like breakfast food. Anyway, PB&J for DD4, came with crackers and grapes. She ate about half of everything and the red bull finished it off. I grabbed an antipasta salad. It was very good until I got to the bottom. There are marinated veggies at the bottom of the bowl and boy were they strong! DH got chicken strips, he is very adventureous . Rice Krispie treats for all.

Wonderland Tea Party
I know, I know we just had lunch, but it was for DD4 the endless pit, and it was more or less for her to have some character interaction. She is a shy girl, but is usually first in line to leave DH and I, so I wasn't worried about her. She is first in the door, takes her seat, and kind of gives me the get lost wave. So I take my beeper and head for a chair by the pool. DH and the red bull are upstairs taking naps. About a half hour into the party the beeper starts buzzing, I head back and there she is in the lobby with a CM with tears streaming down her face. The Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter scared her to death, I guess he was a little overbearing. I'm not sure what exactly happened because she will not speak of it, it is the forbidden tea party story.

Alfredos
We always have to go here. I think it is okay, and so does DH. DH is from Sicily so I think it is more on principle that we go here. DD4 has the kids pasta with a creamy white sauce, not alfredo but similar. DH and I both have the mozzarella caprese to start. This was not great, something funky was going on with the cheese. It was not fresh, didn't eat it. I had the Alfredo and shared with the red bull, who ate more than half of it, she loved it. DH starts straying from the menu and is asking for a bowl of just pasta with marinara sauce and a side plate of red pepper, and basil leaves . I have learned not to ask, just let him make his own sauce, he has to have it very very spicy. It must have been good, he ate all of it, and he and 3 other waiters had a long conversation about something in italian and were pointing to the bowl. They were talking to fast for me to understand but DD4 kept up because she was laughing. Now the dessert tray. DH has tiramasu, I guess I forgot to ask him how it was, sorry. I wanted chocolate mousse but was informed that DD4 had to have it. She wanted the little strawberry mousse shaped like a mouse, but alas could not have it. Why would they do this? A little girl see's a dessert that is pink and shaped like a cute little mouse, of course she wants that. So she got the chocolate, I got the mouse thing and we just switched. It was good, hit the spot.

 

[larklynn]

looking foward to day 2

 

[Fishy&2guppies]

Day 2

Grand Floridian Concierge
My DH loves this. He goes up first thing in the morning and makes a little tray of pastries and juice for all of us. Plus he is a very social person and wants to talk to people all the time. So this is a great interaction thing for him. He gets food and talks to people, his two favorite things. The pastries were very good, and I snacked on veggies and dip in the afternoons and the kids would have cookies. We were not around in the evenings for the hot snacks, but he did hit the desserts at night. Usually he would disappear for an hour or so. He has a huge sweet tooth.

Lottawatta Lodge at Blizzard Beach
I believe this is where DH ran to get us some lunch. I didn't go with him, and I asked him where he went and I think he said this, but I had a hard time hearing him as I was trying to drag the red bull out of the water. DH and I had your standard cheeseburger and fries. DD4 had a hot dog that came with chips. The red bull had the last half of the hot dog, and fries and chips. Not healthy, but she had 3 bananas about a half hour earlier. Mickey Mouse ice cream bars for us after swimming.

Grand Floridian Cafe
I had been waiting to go here, because it seemed quiet and out of the way place to go spend a nice dinner. It was quiet and very good. I had the cesaer salad and the NY Strip with a red wine sauce and blue cheese butter, it came with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley. DH had a regular house salad and the NY Strip also, sans the blue cheese butter. Both of us had the dessert sampler. DD4 and Red Bull shared a cheese pizza and had chocolate ice cream. Service was good, but also annoying. The waitress we had would just stand there, like she wanted us to invite her to sit down with us. She wanted to keep talking, and even DH, the great conversation person, ran out of things to say to her. She kept telling us where to go for other meals but couldn't remember the names of any of the places and was trying to give us directions. It was a mess. I couldn't wait to get away from her. Otherwise the food was excellent, I would go back.

Day 3

Gasparilla Grill
After spending a LONG morning at the animal kingdom, the darling children didn't want to be there. They are tired, didn't sleep well because they have caught a cold from the plane ride. We head for the hotel. I had chicken strips again, they were still good. DD4 had a hot dog and fries. Red Bull shared chicken with me and had an apple. DH had pizza, he said it was actually very good, we didn't have high hopes for it. We sat outside, BIG MISTAKE. It was like that movie The Birds. They were attacking us, and diving down and grabbing food off of our plates. The girls are crying because they are scared and DH is mad. We just head upstairs and finish off lunch in our room.

Chef Mickeys
Everyone is still crabby because they are sick, so this is like a train wreck waiting to happen. Thank goodness we got a great waitress who spent more time talking to the kids than us, which seemed to calm them down a little. The dinner buffet is just that. I made a large salad, and then had some prime rib and the parm. potatoes. Great. DH was picking around, the buffet. The girls mostly had mac and cheese and pizza. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Chip and Dale. DD4 loved the characters, but Red Bull screamed if they came near her. Except for Mickey she turned around, saw him and gave him a kiss on the nose then turned back to eating.

Day 4

Breakfast at Park Fare
I planned this at the last minute. We were leaving to fly home around noon and wanted the kids to load up on food and they love breakfast and this was in our hotel, so we went. It turned out to be a great thing. The kids loved all of the breakfast food, and it was very good. The best breakfast so far. But the Mad Hatter was there. I told DD4 that we would just tell him to not come near us. Which our waitress informed him of this. He stayed far back and did remember my daughter from the tea party. She has an unusual name and he called her by name and waved to her from a distance. There were only about 4 families in there. So Alice came over and sat with DD4 and they talked about the Mad Hatter and she got DD4 to agree to sit and talk with him. So she made up with the Mad Hatter but was still a bit leary of him. We got to spend a lot of time with Alice, and Pooh and Tigger. Mad Hatter kept his distance.

Snacks
Most of our snacks credits were used on fruit for the red bull, and water.