Friday, April 30:
Breakfast - Bagel and Cream Cheese from Dunkin Donuts (off-site)
Lunch - We were at the Animal Kingdom today so we decided to eat at Pizzafari. My sister decided to get the italian sandwich meal and I got a cheese pizza. It may not be entirely ethical, but I did purchase the child's meal deal that came with the pizza, child size drink and chips plus a voucher for another soda or water and a popcorn and drink...for $5.99. I just couldn't see spending another $6 for the adult meal when the cheese pizza is exactly the same for the adults and children. I am a child at heart anyway
So, my sister and I each had half an italian sandwich and half a pizza for some variety. The food was fresh and good. I used the coupons for a bottle of diet coke and an ice cream cookie sandwich (...the diet soda cancels out all of the ice cream calories, right?).
Dinner - We were at MGM in the evening...and it started to rain... and without a PS we were scrambing a bit for dinner. All of the food places seemed to be closing down early which seemed strange. We stopped at Mama Melrose to see if we could get in and the hostess was fairly rude to us... "I can give you 7:10 but we close at 7:30!" Ooookay... do you have to finish eating by 7:30 or do they just stop serving? Are they going to take my plate away at 7:30? Very strange attitude. We took the ps, but then decided to leave the park and went to Jungle Jims off-site. This place was just okay. I got a California Burger (guacamole, cheese, bacon...everything healthy), which was fine, but not spectacular. I would not make a special trip to visit this restaurant again.
Saturday, May 1:
Breakfast: Yes, another bagel and cream cheese from Dunkin Donuts. They toasted the bagel this time, which I don't really like, but it was still good.
Lunch/Dinner: Okay...here is where we really get into this vacation eating thing. We were at Epcot and start with lunch in Canada with plans to continue drinking around the world for the rest of the afternoon.
Canada is normally a favorite, but I think it has slipped off the top of the list for now. Our waitress was a little cold and I felt a bit of attitude about splitting our meal with a Vacation Kingdom lunch voucher. I thought this was odd since my sister ordered an additional soup and a beer. Still, we were able to order the 2 cheese soups, the french dip sandwich (with a meager side of fries) and a heavenly cheesecake dessert and a soda for me.
The sandwich was not on separate plates (they brought out an empty plate and we split is ourselves...kind of hard to divvy up the french dip sauce but we managed...I just poured some on my sandwich). The sandwich was just ok. The steak was shaved meat and the sauce wasn't very flavorful. I miss the steak sandwich that used to be on the menu. The Labatt bear was good though and the cheesecake was soooo delicious - and I don't even like cheesecake! It was a small half dome of cheesecake drizzled with honey and cherry sauce (not overly sauced) with a cookie and pencil-shaped roll of chocolate artfully arranged on top.
Even without choosing the most expensive items on the menu, the voucher was a good deal, saving a few dollars. It was about $10 more for the extra soup and beer (plus tip). The service was poor here...the waitress never came by to refill my drink and we were not offered more bread sticks when ours were gone. I really hate it when my soda glass is empty because I feel that it is the most obvious indication that the server isn't on the ball...or just doesn't care.
Drinking/Eating around the World:
Well, the drinking started in Canada with the beer at lunch and then we moved on to the UK. The pub is closed for refurbishment
, but we were able to order a Harp at the outdoor stand. We enjoyed our pint while sitting in the outdoor area next to the Rose and Crown. I had never noticed this little area before and it was very nice. This is where we took our first picture of Pal Mickey enjoying a drink... we took one at every country along the way. Silly, but the pictures turned out very cute.
Next up is France, where we enjoyed at flight of wine (3 small cups, but I think the girl gave us a generous portion!). The wine was nice. We sat inside (there are tables near the store where you exit the movie). It was very hot at this point and air-conditioning became a priority for the rest of the day.
Then came Morrocco... where we had a glass of Morroccan white wine which was surprisingly good. By the way...my sister and I are splitting all of these drinks. We want to make it all the way around!
In Japan, we went up to the Yakatori house and were lucky enough to find a place to sit in the air-conditioned section. We ordered sake. Now, this is not my favorite drink. I tastes very strong to me and scares me a bit! My sister likes it though, so she had most of it. By this point we thought we should have a little bit more to eat (to offset the alcohol, of course!). Some steamed rice seemed good, but my sister came back from the counter with a child's meal of teriyaki chicken, rice, veggies and a small diet coke...plus a side of steamed rice. This meal was soooo good! It was all very hot and tastey. I would order this again and it is a good portion of food for a child's meal. The staff at this counter service restaurant was particularly friendly as well.
Okay...the good old USA. Of course we had to have a beer and I chose a Micholob Light as if the "Light" would make any difference whatsoever. We were getting a little tipsy at this point. Well, maybe not tipsy...just happy.
In Italy we ordered another flight of wine (why didn't we just get 1 glass??) This flight included FOUR different wines! My opinion is that the Italian wine was better than the French wine, with the exeption of the Italian sweet dessert wine. It was a sparking red that tasted almost like grape soda. Too sweet.
Of course in Germany we had to get a beer. We went to the Sommerfest counter service and got a light Becks (20 oz!!) and a bratwurst to share. Both the beer and Brat were good.
In China we ordered a Chinese beer at the Lotus Blossom Cafe and against my better judgement my sister ordered egg rolls. The beer was okay, but I didn't like the egg rolls. Maybe it was because my sister "might" have splilt some of the beer on them. Half soggy eggrolls are not my favorite! So, those were a waste.
We were coming close to the bitter end in Norway where I was disappointed to find that in addition to Akershus being closed, the bakery was too! I don't know why they would close both eateries at the same time. I drowned my sorrows with a Ringes beer that was very large....and cold ...and refreshing
Mexico...ahh Mexico. I was really feeling like we could quit at this point, after all, my sis and I had already had a fiesta margarita earlier in the week. But, Dsis said that it didn't count so we HAD to have another margarita. She ordered a regular lime margarita, which I don't really like, so she drank most of it anyway. It was dinnertime (we chose to forget that we had been eating constantly all afternoon) so we ordered a combo platter with a side of guacamole, a diet coke and a churro from the Cantina with our last quick and casual voucher. The food was all good, nothing to complain about.
Okay...so our drinking (and eating) around the world was a success! It was about 8pm but we had one more thing to do... we had missed a photo of Pal Mickey in Canada, so we had to go back. I also needed to try a beavertail...I could not go home without tasting one! So I ordered half chocolate (me) and half cinnamon sugar (Dsis) and we managed to eat them. I have to say that it was kind of disappointing. I was expecting a puffier fried dough with the topping but it tuned out to be very flat with little texture. I would rather spread Nutella on an english muffin or something, it seemed unnecessary to be fried. I would not order one again, but now it is out of my system!
Sunday, May 2:
Breakfast - Our last day To make the day seem disney-like without going into the parks, we went to Boma for breakfast at 9:30. I had never tried the breakfast here, so I was really looking forward to it. Our server was fantastic...when I asked if my sister could get the pressed pot of coffee with our breakfast vouchers he said that the policy had changed and we couldn't. However, when we returned from the buffet he brought us the pressed pot anyway...just to be nice. He was very attentive and even shook our hands when we were ready to leave. Of course we left him a nice tip in addition to the vouchers! I wish I took down his name. Next trip I will have to be more vigilant about getting the names of cast members.
Oh yes, the food... the ham and pork loin was very good, but watch out for the "sweet and spicy" mustard sauce...very spicy!!! I had a bit of sausage and bacon, tried the biscuit topped casserole which was just ok, a bit of scrambled egg and a bite of the french toast. The highlight was the cinnamon roll and strawberry pastry. Yum. The breakfast was very good, but not as good as dinner at Boma. I think my favorite breakfast buffet at Disney is still the Cape May at the Beach club.
So that is it for food on my Disney trip. I found that the quality was excellent overall. I brought just a few vouchers for this trip: 2 breakfast, 3 quick and casual and 2 vacation lunch. I found that the breakfast is a no-brainer if you plan to do a buffet and the quick and casuals were normally a good deal as well (especially beaches and cream, and would have been great if I remembered them when I went to the pepper market). The Vacation Kingdoms were a toss up. They saved us a little money, but caused a little bit of stress on what we should order. A few of the restaurants in Epcot...France and Morrocco had meal deals for $15 anyway (appet., entree, dessert) and Germany's buffet is only $15 I think. Unless you are a filet mignon person, you can do well at the nice restaurants for lunch without a voucher...especially if you are splitting the meal.
Please let me know if you have any questions...
Breakfast - Bagel and Cream Cheese from Dunkin Donuts (off-site)
Lunch - We were at the Animal Kingdom today so we decided to eat at Pizzafari. My sister decided to get the italian sandwich meal and I got a cheese pizza. It may not be entirely ethical, but I did purchase the child's meal deal that came with the pizza, child size drink and chips plus a voucher for another soda or water and a popcorn and drink...for $5.99. I just couldn't see spending another $6 for the adult meal when the cheese pizza is exactly the same for the adults and children. I am a child at heart anyway
So, my sister and I each had half an italian sandwich and half a pizza for some variety. The food was fresh and good. I used the coupons for a bottle of diet coke and an ice cream cookie sandwich (...the diet soda cancels out all of the ice cream calories, right?). Dinner - We were at MGM in the evening...and it started to rain... and without a PS we were scrambing a bit for dinner. All of the food places seemed to be closing down early which seemed strange. We stopped at Mama Melrose to see if we could get in and the hostess was fairly rude to us... "I can give you 7:10 but we close at 7:30!" Ooookay... do you have to finish eating by 7:30 or do they just stop serving? Are they going to take my plate away at 7:30? Very strange attitude. We took the ps, but then decided to leave the park and went to Jungle Jims off-site. This place was just okay. I got a California Burger (guacamole, cheese, bacon...everything healthy), which was fine, but not spectacular. I would not make a special trip to visit this restaurant again.
Saturday, May 1:
Breakfast: Yes, another bagel and cream cheese from Dunkin Donuts. They toasted the bagel this time, which I don't really like, but it was still good.
Lunch/Dinner: Okay...here is where we really get into this vacation eating thing. We were at Epcot and start with lunch in Canada with plans to continue drinking around the world for the rest of the afternoon.
Canada is normally a favorite, but I think it has slipped off the top of the list for now. Our waitress was a little cold and I felt a bit of attitude about splitting our meal with a Vacation Kingdom lunch voucher. I thought this was odd since my sister ordered an additional soup and a beer. Still, we were able to order the 2 cheese soups, the french dip sandwich (with a meager side of fries) and a heavenly cheesecake dessert and a soda for me.
The sandwich was not on separate plates (they brought out an empty plate and we split is ourselves...kind of hard to divvy up the french dip sauce but we managed...I just poured some on my sandwich). The sandwich was just ok. The steak was shaved meat and the sauce wasn't very flavorful. I miss the steak sandwich that used to be on the menu. The Labatt bear was good though and the cheesecake was soooo delicious - and I don't even like cheesecake! It was a small half dome of cheesecake drizzled with honey and cherry sauce (not overly sauced) with a cookie and pencil-shaped roll of chocolate artfully arranged on top.
Even without choosing the most expensive items on the menu, the voucher was a good deal, saving a few dollars. It was about $10 more for the extra soup and beer (plus tip). The service was poor here...the waitress never came by to refill my drink and we were not offered more bread sticks when ours were gone. I really hate it when my soda glass is empty because I feel that it is the most obvious indication that the server isn't on the ball...or just doesn't care.
Drinking/Eating around the World:
Well, the drinking started in Canada with the beer at lunch and then we moved on to the UK. The pub is closed for refurbishment
, but we were able to order a Harp at the outdoor stand. We enjoyed our pint while sitting in the outdoor area next to the Rose and Crown. I had never noticed this little area before and it was very nice. This is where we took our first picture of Pal Mickey enjoying a drink... we took one at every country along the way. Silly, but the pictures turned out very cute. Next up is France, where we enjoyed at flight of wine (3 small cups, but I think the girl gave us a generous portion!). The wine was nice. We sat inside (there are tables near the store where you exit the movie). It was very hot at this point and air-conditioning became a priority for the rest of the day.
Then came Morrocco... where we had a glass of Morroccan white wine which was surprisingly good. By the way...my sister and I are splitting all of these drinks. We want to make it all the way around!
In Japan, we went up to the Yakatori house and were lucky enough to find a place to sit in the air-conditioned section. We ordered sake. Now, this is not my favorite drink. I tastes very strong to me and scares me a bit! My sister likes it though, so she had most of it. By this point we thought we should have a little bit more to eat (to offset the alcohol, of course!). Some steamed rice seemed good, but my sister came back from the counter with a child's meal of teriyaki chicken, rice, veggies and a small diet coke...plus a side of steamed rice. This meal was soooo good! It was all very hot and tastey. I would order this again and it is a good portion of food for a child's meal. The staff at this counter service restaurant was particularly friendly as well.
Okay...the good old USA. Of course we had to have a beer and I chose a Micholob Light as if the "Light" would make any difference whatsoever. We were getting a little tipsy at this point. Well, maybe not tipsy...just happy.
In Italy we ordered another flight of wine (why didn't we just get 1 glass??) This flight included FOUR different wines! My opinion is that the Italian wine was better than the French wine, with the exeption of the Italian sweet dessert wine. It was a sparking red that tasted almost like grape soda. Too sweet.
Of course in Germany we had to get a beer. We went to the Sommerfest counter service and got a light Becks (20 oz!!) and a bratwurst to share. Both the beer and Brat were good.
In China we ordered a Chinese beer at the Lotus Blossom Cafe and against my better judgement my sister ordered egg rolls. The beer was okay, but I didn't like the egg rolls. Maybe it was because my sister "might" have splilt some of the beer on them. Half soggy eggrolls are not my favorite! So, those were a waste.
We were coming close to the bitter end in Norway where I was disappointed to find that in addition to Akershus being closed, the bakery was too! I don't know why they would close both eateries at the same time. I drowned my sorrows with a Ringes beer that was very large....and cold ...and refreshing
Mexico...ahh Mexico. I was really feeling like we could quit at this point, after all, my sis and I had already had a fiesta margarita earlier in the week. But, Dsis said that it didn't count so we HAD to have another margarita. She ordered a regular lime margarita, which I don't really like, so she drank most of it anyway. It was dinnertime (we chose to forget that we had been eating constantly all afternoon) so we ordered a combo platter with a side of guacamole, a diet coke and a churro from the Cantina with our last quick and casual voucher. The food was all good, nothing to complain about.
Okay...so our drinking (and eating) around the world was a success! It was about 8pm but we had one more thing to do... we had missed a photo of Pal Mickey in Canada, so we had to go back. I also needed to try a beavertail...I could not go home without tasting one! So I ordered half chocolate (me) and half cinnamon sugar (Dsis) and we managed to eat them. I have to say that it was kind of disappointing. I was expecting a puffier fried dough with the topping but it tuned out to be very flat with little texture. I would rather spread Nutella on an english muffin or something, it seemed unnecessary to be fried. I would not order one again, but now it is out of my system!
Sunday, May 2:
Breakfast - Our last day
To make the day seem disney-like without going into the parks, we went to Boma for breakfast at 9:30. I had never tried the breakfast here, so I was really looking forward to it. Our server was fantastic...when I asked if my sister could get the pressed pot of coffee with our breakfast vouchers he said that the policy had changed and we couldn't. However, when we returned from the buffet he brought us the pressed pot anyway...just to be nice. He was very attentive and even shook our hands when we were ready to leave. Of course we left him a nice tip in addition to the vouchers! I wish I took down his name. Next trip I will have to be more vigilant about getting the names of cast members. Oh yes, the food... the ham and pork loin was very good, but watch out for the "sweet and spicy" mustard sauce...very spicy!!! I had a bit of sausage and bacon, tried the biscuit topped casserole which was just ok, a bit of scrambled egg and a bite of the french toast. The highlight was the cinnamon roll and strawberry pastry. Yum. The breakfast was very good, but not as good as dinner at Boma. I think my favorite breakfast buffet at Disney is still the Cape May at the Beach club.
So that is it for food on my Disney trip. I found that the quality was excellent overall. I brought just a few vouchers for this trip: 2 breakfast, 3 quick and casual and 2 vacation lunch. I found that the breakfast is a no-brainer if you plan to do a buffet and the quick and casuals were normally a good deal as well (especially beaches and cream, and would have been great if I remembered them when I went to the pepper market). The Vacation Kingdoms were a toss up. They saved us a little money, but caused a little bit of stress on what we should order. A few of the restaurants in Epcot...France and Morrocco had meal deals for $15 anyway (appet., entree, dessert) and Germany's buffet is only $15 I think. Unless you are a filet mignon person, you can do well at the nice restaurants for lunch without a voucher...especially if you are splitting the meal.
Please let me know if you have any questions...
