pxlbarrel
They won't allow any kind of cow
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
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Well, we ate more in the park and resorts this year than the last time because we're getting older and want to experience everything!
The willing victims were myself, DB, DM and DF. We're all adults (well, chronologically we are...
)
First night, my original plan had been to eat outside of the park and then head to Epcot for Illuminations. However, our plane got delayed 3 hours and then we spent an awful long time picking our rental car (this car is too small, this car is too big, this car is juuuuuuust right.) By the time we got to our timeshare resort it was already 5:30 pm. I reasoned with everybody that the best use of time would be to eat inside Epcot
. My dastardly plan worked. We drove to Epcot with plans to find something in the Seasons food court in the Land. However, I remembered that Futureworld closed at 7 so by the time we got to Epcot (6:45 pm), it wasn't an option anymore. hahah.... so off we went to Nine Dragons to see if they could squeeze us in. 
Got to the desk and asked them how long it would be for a party of 4. They said...right away! So a few seconds later we were sitting at a nice table being chatted to by a very friendly waiter.
We ordered 2 samplers for 2. The sampler comes with a choice of soup (we all chose Hot and Sour soup), 2 spring roll, 2 shao mai, and a choice of 2 out of 4 dishes. Since there were four of us, we chose all 4 dishes. LOL Sesame Chicken, Sweet and Sour pork, Stir Fry Vegetables and Shrimp, and a Beef and vegetable dish. All came with steamed rice. It also comes with red bean ice cream and a fortune cookie.
The hot and sour soup was very good except not spicy enough. It could also do with a bit more temperature. We like our soup very hot and it was probably on the high side of warm. The shao mai was nothing like any shao mai we'd had...we didn't like it at all. (To set the scene...we're Chinese so we're particularly picky about this sort of stuff). The spring rolls were delicious (and my mom declared it so as well so it must be true!). All the main dishes were quite good and surprisingly plentiful. It was a nice surprise that the food was actually quite good. My parents gave it their seal of approval. I gave the red bean ice cream a two thumbs up but then I love ice cream so that wasn't too hard.
The next day we were at Disney-MGM. We had 4:10 ADRs at Hollywood and Vine (Fantasmic Dinner Package) so we didn't want to eat too much for lunch. We went off to get a couple of smoked turkey legs to share but they had run out! Yikes...it was only 11:30 am!! They said they'd have another batch in half an hour. Hmmmm...we ended up sharing two foot long hot dogs and my mom went to get some McFries. I also went and got a Mickey ears premium ice cream bar. Yummmmmmm.... I love those. It was to be my only one the whole trip!!!
The lineup for checking in at the Hollywood and Vine was long (it was right after the parade) but once we checked in, we waited only a few moments before they called us in. There was quite a nice selection of food. My mom fell in love with their "pot roast" turkey. Alas, I can't remember too much more about the buffet except that we came out of the restaurant feeling rather bloated. We ate a bit too much I think. Their dessert selection needs more chocolate though...that I can remember We had a nice server who made up for his lack of conversation (my mom tried to talk to him about Walt Disney and received blank stares from him) with his kindness. He suggested that my parents take some hot coffee and hot tea with them to Fantasmic...a suggestion they appreciatively took.
Next day we were at Animal Kingdom. We had 6:30 pm ADRs at Boma that evening so again we were trying not to eat that much during the day. Ha! We ended up at Flame Tree Barbecue (where we had eaten at AK last time!). My mom got the 1/2 slab of ribs, my brother and dad got the 1/2 chicken and I got the pork sandwich. All came with beans and corn on the cob. My mom gave me one of her ribs to try and it was delicious and judging from the way my brother and dad attacked the chicken, I'd say it was good too. My pork sandwich was ok but after I saw the ribs, I wish I had gotten the ribs. The cost of the ribs and the chicken were quite reasonable too.
And then there's Boma. I had decided on Boma instead of Ohana because we had done Ohana last time. I wanted to try something new. Oy...that was a mistake for us. My parents hated Boma. My brother and I were ok with it but it wasn't like the night before where they had to roll us out of the buffet. We were not as endulging on this buffet because, for us, it was difficult to find items that were particularly tasty to us. Everything seemed to be couscous, salad or couscous salad. I tried some spicy Durban chicken that was dry and wasn't particulary spicy. I did enjoy the falafel (something I thought I would hate) and I really liked their sun-dried tomato hummus and flat bread. I enjoyed dessert a lot more than the other dishes. I should have just had dessert!! They had a wonderful bread pudding and vanilla sauce and I also had two zebra domes. My mom, hearing from me that the zebra domes were to die for, got one to try and she actually liked it. And she never likes tiramisu!! Anyway, this experiment in pseudo-African food was a flop. My mom kept saying we should have gone back to Ohana. 
Tuesday we were at Epcot and had Candlelight Processional Dinner Package ADRs at 5:20 pm. We packed a few sandwiches with us and went to Seasons to supplement our sandwiches. We ended up getting bowls of chicken, noodle, vegetable soup from the Asian section. It was tasty enough and filling enough with our sandwiches. Funny thing happened when my dad saw the menu for the Biergarten and wondered why we weren't eating dinner there. ha! He thought that it reminded him of home (home is a city in Canada known for Octoberfest...)
When we were seated at Le Cellier, they gave us a table where the bulb overhead was blown. We were in the corner sitting in the dark. They said they'd bring over a lamp for us. I thought...that would be ok...a lamp should illuminate the area so we sat down and waited. The server came back with a battery operated camp light with dying batteries. Oh well. My brother ordered the vine tomato stack while my parents and I ordered the shrimp cocktail. The shrimp cocktail was amazing. I loved it.
My brother and parents can't really eat butter or cheese so the menu was a bit...challenging. The server said they could substitute the cream cheese mashed potatos with roast potatos from other dishes and so they did. My mom and brother both ordered the 7 oz filet mignon with the potatos that usually come with the 14 oz New York strip steak. My dad took the 14 oz steak and I took the mushroom filet (with all the buttery goodness. hehe). The steaks were sooooooooooo tender. We were in heaven. They were so good. My mom couldn't finisher hers (she wanted to leave room for dessert) so she had them put it in a box for her. (She heated it up at the resort a few days later and she says it was still tender.)
Oh, as we were eating the battery on the lamp died and we were in the dark. Our waitress came back and saw that, took the lamp and put in fresh batteries. The lamp was about 10 times brighter!! It was quite amusing to her and to the other waitresses that we were "camping" out at the restaurant. Good thing we're Canadians and have the same weird sense of humour, eh?
Dessert for my brother and dad was raspberry sorbet. My mom had her eye on the Canadian Club chocolate cake ever since we sat down and that's what she had. I ordered the maple creme brulee. My mom gave me some of her cake too. The maple creme brulee was absolutely brilliant. The first spoonful was soooooo good it was shocking. I mean...wow. The chocolate cake was decadent. Mmmmmmm....they had to roll us to the Candlelight Processional...we were so stuffed.
Next day we were at the Magic Kingdom. I'll detail that a little bit later.
The willing victims were myself, DB, DM and DF. We're all adults (well, chronologically we are...
)First night, my original plan had been to eat outside of the park and then head to Epcot for Illuminations. However, our plane got delayed 3 hours and then we spent an awful long time picking our rental car (this car is too small, this car is too big, this car is juuuuuuust right.) By the time we got to our timeshare resort it was already 5:30 pm. I reasoned with everybody that the best use of time would be to eat inside Epcot
. My dastardly plan worked. We drove to Epcot with plans to find something in the Seasons food court in the Land. However, I remembered that Futureworld closed at 7 so by the time we got to Epcot (6:45 pm), it wasn't an option anymore. hahah.... so off we went to Nine Dragons to see if they could squeeze us in. Got to the desk and asked them how long it would be for a party of 4. They said...right away! So a few seconds later we were sitting at a nice table being chatted to by a very friendly waiter. We ordered 2 samplers for 2. The sampler comes with a choice of soup (we all chose Hot and Sour soup), 2 spring roll, 2 shao mai, and a choice of 2 out of 4 dishes. Since there were four of us, we chose all 4 dishes. LOL Sesame Chicken, Sweet and Sour pork, Stir Fry Vegetables and Shrimp, and a Beef and vegetable dish. All came with steamed rice. It also comes with red bean ice cream and a fortune cookie.
The hot and sour soup was very good except not spicy enough. It could also do with a bit more temperature. We like our soup very hot and it was probably on the high side of warm. The shao mai was nothing like any shao mai we'd had...we didn't like it at all. (To set the scene...we're Chinese so we're particularly picky about this sort of stuff). The spring rolls were delicious (and my mom declared it so as well so it must be true!). All the main dishes were quite good and surprisingly plentiful. It was a nice surprise that the food was actually quite good. My parents gave it their seal of approval. I gave the red bean ice cream a two thumbs up but then I love ice cream so that wasn't too hard.
The next day we were at Disney-MGM. We had 4:10 ADRs at Hollywood and Vine (Fantasmic Dinner Package) so we didn't want to eat too much for lunch. We went off to get a couple of smoked turkey legs to share but they had run out! Yikes...it was only 11:30 am!! They said they'd have another batch in half an hour. Hmmmm...we ended up sharing two foot long hot dogs and my mom went to get some McFries. I also went and got a Mickey ears premium ice cream bar. Yummmmmmm.... I love those. It was to be my only one the whole trip!!!
The lineup for checking in at the Hollywood and Vine was long (it was right after the parade) but once we checked in, we waited only a few moments before they called us in. There was quite a nice selection of food. My mom fell in love with their "pot roast" turkey. Alas, I can't remember too much more about the buffet except that we came out of the restaurant feeling rather bloated. We ate a bit too much I think. Their dessert selection needs more chocolate though...that I can remember
We had a nice server who made up for his lack of conversation (my mom tried to talk to him about Walt Disney and received blank stares from him) with his kindness. He suggested that my parents take some hot coffee and hot tea with them to Fantasmic...a suggestion they appreciatively took. Next day we were at Animal Kingdom. We had 6:30 pm ADRs at Boma that evening so again we were trying not to eat that much during the day. Ha! We ended up at Flame Tree Barbecue (where we had eaten at AK last time!). My mom got the 1/2 slab of ribs, my brother and dad got the 1/2 chicken and I got the pork sandwich. All came with beans and corn on the cob. My mom gave me one of her ribs to try and it was delicious and judging from the way my brother and dad attacked the chicken, I'd say it was good too. My pork sandwich was ok but after I saw the ribs, I wish I had gotten the ribs. The cost of the ribs and the chicken were quite reasonable too.
And then there's Boma. I had decided on Boma instead of Ohana because we had done Ohana last time. I wanted to try something new. Oy...that was a mistake for us. My parents hated Boma. My brother and I were ok with it but it wasn't like the night before where they had to roll us out of the buffet. We were not as endulging on this buffet because, for us, it was difficult to find items that were particularly tasty to us. Everything seemed to be couscous, salad or couscous salad. I tried some spicy Durban chicken that was dry and wasn't particulary spicy. I did enjoy the falafel (something I thought I would hate) and I really liked their sun-dried tomato hummus and flat bread. I enjoyed dessert a lot more than the other dishes. I should have just had dessert!!
They had a wonderful bread pudding and vanilla sauce and I also had two zebra domes. My mom, hearing from me that the zebra domes were to die for, got one to try and she actually liked it. And she never likes tiramisu!! Anyway, this experiment in pseudo-African food was a flop. My mom kept saying we should have gone back to Ohana. Tuesday we were at Epcot and had Candlelight Processional Dinner Package ADRs at 5:20 pm. We packed a few sandwiches with us and went to Seasons to supplement our sandwiches. We ended up getting bowls of chicken, noodle, vegetable soup from the Asian section. It was tasty enough and filling enough with our sandwiches. Funny thing happened when my dad saw the menu for the Biergarten and wondered why we weren't eating dinner there. ha! He thought that it reminded him of home (home is a city in Canada known for Octoberfest...)
When we were seated at Le Cellier, they gave us a table where the bulb overhead was blown. We were in the corner sitting in the dark. They said they'd bring over a lamp for us. I thought...that would be ok...a lamp should illuminate the area so we sat down and waited. The server came back with a battery operated camp light with dying batteries.
Oh well. My brother ordered the vine tomato stack while my parents and I ordered the shrimp cocktail. The shrimp cocktail was amazing. I loved it. My brother and parents can't really eat butter or cheese so the menu was a bit...challenging. The server said they could substitute the cream cheese mashed potatos with roast potatos from other dishes and so they did. My mom and brother both ordered the 7 oz filet mignon with the potatos that usually come with the 14 oz New York strip steak. My dad took the 14 oz steak and I took the mushroom filet (with all the buttery goodness. hehe). The steaks were sooooooooooo tender. We were in heaven. They were so good. My mom couldn't finisher hers (she wanted to leave room for dessert) so she had them put it in a box for her. (She heated it up at the resort a few days later and she says it was still tender.)
Oh, as we were eating the battery on the lamp died and we were in the dark. Our waitress came back and saw that, took the lamp and put in fresh batteries. The lamp was about 10 times brighter!! It was quite amusing to her and to the other waitresses that we were "camping" out at the restaurant. Good thing we're Canadians and have the same weird sense of humour, eh?
Dessert for my brother and dad was raspberry sorbet. My mom had her eye on the Canadian Club chocolate cake ever since we sat down and that's what she had. I ordered the maple creme brulee. My mom gave me some of her cake too. The maple creme brulee was absolutely brilliant. The first spoonful was soooooo good it was shocking. I mean...wow. The chocolate cake was decadent. Mmmmmmm....they had to roll us to the Candlelight Processional...we were so stuffed.
Next day we were at the Magic Kingdom. I'll detail that a little bit later.
)
) As we were waiting for our table, I managed to snap off a few shots of us with the castle in the background. There's a great photo op there if you have the time.
But say...why is it that when you spoon into it, the middle is HOLLOW!!!! Argh, give me more ice cream!!!
Considering we were going on Buzz Lightyear afterwards, we probably shouldn't have eaten so much. hehe..all that spinning could have been dangerous.
After that, the only place we could find open nearby was the Starlight Cafe (the one with the Alf-like animatronic lounge singer). I ended up with a rather uninspiring cheese burger and fries and my brother had a veggie burger (he called it a doublemeat palace burger...and if you watch Buffy, you'll know what I mean.) We scarfed it down and ran for our positions to watch the fireworks. 
Bye bye yummy food. Till our next trip to the World (well, in our case...the Land as in Anaheim next summer. 
