Dishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dining (Reviews: Apr20-28 w/pics!) Finally DONE

[*Flower*]

Subscribing to the latest 'porn' thread.......

 

[rentayenta]

Fabulous report. I am going to make DH read it. He is making fun of me for being so excited about dining at the California Grill.

 

[Nancyg56]

I keep check here for more reviews and pics...I am infatuated with food...especially since you guys started posting pics of your dinners!!!

OP: Again, I am loving your reviews! Thanks!

Make that two of us!

 

[shovan]

More, please!

 

[DisOrBust]

That card must be REALLY vintage. No AK tree and MGM is of the water tower not the ugly hat. I am guessing pre1999. anyone know???

 

[curiouser]

That card really is great! I'll bet it was printed up in the early 90's. Maybe even late 80's... OMG, that card is probably older than half the people at the DIS!!!

Ok...Let your boss know you are a fantastic writer and deserve a raise!

Do you have any previous trip reports? I'm fairly new to the DIS so I may have missed them. I need to read more!

Thank you! I think I should, I just don't know how credible a source the DIS boards are.. (that and she'll see the posting times and know I'm DISing at work! )

I did a food report in the past, but that was LOOOONG time ago!!

These have got to be the best reviews I have ever read. I can't wait to read more.

Thank you! I am so flattered!!

Great!! We have eaten at LTT but only for dinner. This is convincing me I need to go at lunch.

My only gripe is there was no PINK sanding sugar on the apple tart, i guess that wasn't 'colonial' enough for them

Pink sanding sugar needs to take over the world!

Fabulous report. I am going to make DH read it. He is making fun of me for being so excited about dining at the California Grill.

Oh gosh, I was SO excited before we went! I checked the menu on AllEars regularly for updates and would stare at ehagerty's photo report for hours!! Have fun!!

That card must be REALLY vintage. No AK tree and MGM is of the water tower not the ugly hat. I am guessing pre1999. anyone know???

We were estimating aroud 93-94?


Okay, so I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I've got a wicked head cold, so I apologize for the delay and possible un-funniness of the reviews. New one coming shortly!

 

[curiouser]

After such a filling lunch it would be a while before either of us were interested in the thought of dinner. However, this didn’t stop us from looking for a snack later that afternoon. Since we were trying new things one of our goals for the day was to try a new snack, so off in search we went. Perhaps it was the neon glow that lured us, or the fact that you can’t go anywhere in Tomorrowland without having to walk around it, but we stopped at The Lunching Pad. Turning up our noses at the top menu listing of a smoked turkey leg (NEVER again! Ugh.) we decided to take a try at the Spicy Cheese Pretzel. We ordered and Galaxia (that’s what her name tag said!) went and got our pretzel. On her return she inquired if we’d ever had the Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel, to which we responded no. She left again and returned with the Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel and wished me a happy birthday. I was so delighted at her kindness and the dose of extra Magic that I didn’t have the heart to tell her that neither of us really liked cream cheese!

Both pretzels were from the Super Pretzel company and the Spicy Cheese was pretty typical of the Super Pretzel taste and texture: chewy with a dry, doughy texture. The middle had a white, slightly sharp melted cheddar dotted with jalapeño bits. It had a kick to it, but not so spicy that I needed to constantly reach for my water. The Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel was softer and rolled in cinnamon-sugar. The cream cheese filling had been sweetened with sugar and vanilla, giving it more of a cream cheese frosting taste and texture. It reminded me of Monkey Bread and Jeff of a cream cheese Danish. While neither of us would ever buy it again, it was unexpectedly good and nice to alternate bites between the spicy cheddar.

Dinner was a late, post-Wishes re-visit to Pecos Bills. While waiting in line for our chicken wraps the previous afternoon, Jeff had heard people commenting about how good their cheeseburgers were so we decided to try them for ourselves.

After some line fiasco (my biggest DIS tip ever: USE BOTH SIDES OF THE REGISTER) we got our Bacon Double Cheeseburgers with fries. The burgers were un-memorable. Literally. I don’t remember it, at all. I remember being unimpressed. They certainly weren’t horrible, but not rave-worthy either. The fries were typical of Disney counter service locations: slightly crispy with a fluffy interior and always tasting like they’ve been sitting for a half hour or so. This was probably the low point of our entire Disney Dining experience. It’s a good thing we had an excellent breakfast planned (no, not Luna bars!).

 

[2manypets]

YUM!!! That pretzel looks huge. I've never tried any pretzel there, but have always wanted to. This trip I'm determined to get that spicy cheese one.

 

[shovan]

That certainly was nice of Galaxia!!

I think what "made" the burgers at Pecos Bills was the topping bar. I mean if you smother it with mushrooms & cheese it's going to be good, right?! Did I understand correctly from another post that they have removed the toppings bar?

 

[Weeziblu]

YAY! I've been going through withdrawl waiting for a new installment!

Sorry to hear about your head cold and hope you're feeling better soon.

Those pretzels look yummy!

 

[TruBlu]

I love cream cheese ! I can't wait to try one of those pretzels!!! Yummy!!!

 

[wilma-bride]

So you 'cheated' again and went back to Pecos Bills - sounds like it really wasn't worth it either.

I didn't really like the sound of those pretzels and I'm a massive soft pretzel fan - just prefer them plain/salted.

Thanks for the reviews - I'm interested to see what breakfast is going to consist of

 

[scrapperjill]

You've got me hooked...I can't wait to hear more from your reviews...and see some more fab photos

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[curiouser]

Breakfast at Kona is not anything new for us, but it has become a tradition. Largely due to the fact that its one of the few breakfasts that gets me excited and even more largely due to the fact that its one of the most excellent sources of coffee in the World. And since we have previously discussed my body’s great sense of dramatics its no surprise that on this particular morning I was really dragging. It’s a wonder that I didn’t flail my half lifeless body on to the podium gasping for coffee as if it were the elixir of life (although to Jeff, I think coffee IS the elixir of life).

8:30 breakfast at Kona is generally pretty empty and we are always seated as soon as we arrived. Once at our table we ordered up a pot of the Kona Blend to assist our bodies in rising out of hibernation. I prefer the Kona Blend to the Kona Press Pot. The press pot is pure Kona coffee, which is very rich and strong. The Kona blend is pretty much what you think it would be: Kona blended with your average roast. It’s subtler, although still stronger than your Starbucks House/Breakfast blend. I liken the coffees this way:

• Kona Press Pot: Those old fashioned scare the bejeezus out of you LOUD alarms
• Kona Blend: The type of alarms that start buzzing softly and then get louder to waken you gently
• Nescrappé: Being awoken by pouring cold, muddy water on your head

I ordered my usual at Kona: the Pineapple Macadamia Pancakes. Had this been anywhere other than Disney I could’ve counted the number of macadamias in my pancakes on one hand, however this being Disney the fluffy, golden cake-like discs were choc full of the nutty, tropical jewels. Topped with a dazzling mountain of crushed pineapple and sinfully decadent macadamia nut butter these pancakes are a delightful mix of sweet and savory for the tongue. The sweet, fruitiness of the pineapple is refreshing against the creamy, buttery taste of the ‘cakes. I chose bacon as the side kick for my pancakes and was slightly disappointed to find them over cooked. Now, I understand that the doneness of bacon is very personal. Some people (like my dear mother) like their bacon crisp and crumbly; myself, I enjoy it slightly on the underdone side -- floppy and chewy. That said, I do recognize that bacon + maple syrup is one of the flavor combinations that God created on the 6th day, so I delightfully dunked away.

Jeff got the Two Eggs Your Way, which is a fairly basic serving of eggs (scrambled, in his case), fried potatoes, biscuit, and choice of side (bacon). He always enjoys it, although he agrees that it isn’t really anything out of the ordinary. The potatoes were cooked perfectly, in my opinion – crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside without having that underdone potato taste. But let’s be honest, here – Jeff comes for the coffee. As soon as the carafe was placed on the table he had deemed it a worthy meal.

After breakfast it was off to EPCOT and to try something new and unexpected….

 

[disneymom2twins]

More please more please more please

I am soooo loving your reviews....

 

[TigerKat]

Loving your reviews, but I need to make a note to not look at your pics on an empty stomach.

 

[shovan]

Glad to have you back in true form!!! You must be feeling much better!

O' Supreme Goddess of Food Reviews!!

I am with you on Kona Cafe & Kona Blend Coffee!! Those pancakes look wonderful, we've never tried them. Usually can't get past the Tonga Toast! Although, when not in a sweet's mood, I've ordered those Two Eggs Your Way more than once myself!

 

[Weeziblu]

I have never wanted a plate of pancakes as badly as I want THOSE pancakes RIGHT NOW!

More, please!!!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Yum, yum - for a basic breakfast those eggs your way certainly look tasty