First time DDP, Long time eater

[luvpooh]

Love your reviews! You're making me reconsider if I should get a Cape May ADR for my upcoming trip. You also reaffirmed my thoughts about the Disney chicken nuggets; I definitely think my son will have a hard time eating them, he still isn't good at eating hard/dry meat.

Thank you!

PS, love your title

 

[kandb]

[QUOTEWW="JustCor, post: 54461159, member: 547617"]

Bacon and Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese Hot Dogdn't read the menu correctly on this item. I had it in my head the whole time that it was another mac and cheese dish, similar to the previous pulled pork affair. I had completely missed the hot dog part. No matter, I can manage this, no problem.

This hot dog faced a similar problem as the pulled pork mac: it sounds good, in theory at least, but the components let it down. Everything about this near $10 hot dog is made with lower quality items. The hot dog is on par with Oscar Meyer product. It's missing the bolder flavors of a more natural hot dog or sausage. The meat has been ground down into a paste and then extruded into a hotdog shape. The texture is akin to any Oscar Meyer hot dog you have ever had in your life because it probably is one. The mac and cheese is low grade stuff you'd find in a kids meal at a quick service counter. It's on the dry side and lacks any flavor. The bacon is not bad, but this could use more of it. The bun was cold and a little dense. Not terrible, mind you, but not the caliber of a good hot dog bun by any stretch. And then there's the truffle oil. I think. I may or may not have tasted it. If it was there, it was so incredibly faint as to not be noticed. The only reason I think I may have tasted it is because I was looking for it. But it may have just been my imagination for as much impact as it had in flavor. It wasn't bad, but very mediocre. Small tweaks in the individual components would greatly increase the flavor profile. I higher quality hot dog made with beef would do wonders in improving the flavor. Replacing the dried out cheapo mac and cheese with the same stuff from Friar's Nook would be amazing. The creamier, more flowing cheese from that would also sit better on this hot dog, making it more enjoyable to eat, even if a fork and knife had to be used. Heck, even a decent bun would do a world of good. I would also just skip the truffle oil entirely. It's far too easy to use too much of it. Too much truffle oil is obnoxiously overpowering. It drowns out everything else. Just skip it. For how little it was used on this dog, it'll probably not be missed. Used the money saved on the truffle oil to put into higher quality ingredients elsewhere.[/QUOTE]

Wow, that meal looks healthy.

 

[JustCor]

Friar's Nook - Pot Roast Mac and Cheese

This is it. This is the Gold Standard of quick service foods. This is the one meal that I absolutely look forward to on each trip. Just looking at the picture has me thinking about blowing of GFC to just get another bowl of this stuff. The mac and cheese is so creamy. It's unlike any other mac in the park. The pot roast is tender and packed full of flavor. It is incredibly rich and decadent. This is nowhere near a light snack. The picture is deceiving. It looks like a small bowl, but there is just so much food in there. I put down four plates of food at Cape May, and just one of these bowls of Pot Roast Mac can be a challenge for me to finish. It's a hearty meal that is, without any question, my hands down favorite meal anywhere in Disney.

The meat has great seasoning, and doesn't suffer from being overly salty, like some pot roasts I've had elsewhere. The roast completely complements the mac and cheese component. The creamy cheese sauce coats everything beautifully. The tender meat easily shreds apart, allowing it to mix completely into the mac and cheese so that every bite and a mix of pasta, cheese, and meat.

It is not a pretty meal. It's not going to win any awards for creative plating. It is nowhere close to healthy. The pot roast is on the greasy side. The mac and cheese probably has a million or so calories. It'll sit in your stomach like a brick if you don't immediately start walking to get your body to start processing it. But it's perfect. The apples are an illusion. They're there so that I can pretend that an apple treat is my healthy goal, but it's a slap in the face to the mac and cheese. This is the meal that I love that few people seem to be aware even exists. The shop sits nearly across from 7DMT and next to the Anna and Elsa meet and greet, two of the most popular attractions at the park, and yet few people know could point you in a vague direction to Friar's Nook. It's too bad. They're missing out on perfection.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Not a huge mac n cheese fan but loving your photos. Hope the trip is amazing

 

[JustCor]

Grand Floridian Cafe - Surf and Turf Burger

I have never been to the Grand Floridian Cafe before, but even before going I knew that the Surf and Turf burger was the sole reason for me to go. During this trip, I hadn't gone anywhere that had a decent burger and I needed to fill that craving one way or another. I've read many good reviews on it, and I'm very happy to say that they are well deserved. The burger is a good quality patty that's cooked very well. I ordered mine medium and found it to be prepared at the appropriate temperature. The onion marmalade adds a really nice sweet flavor to the burger, and the arugula works incredibly well, giving it a slight spice and a good leafy crunch. My fear was that the lobster would get lost in the mix, but the different texture and buttery flavor are well represented, adding flavor and a good mouth feel without being buried by the other ingredients. The chips were amazing. When I saw on the menu that the burger came with chips, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting something basic, along the lines of a Lays potato chip or something equivalent. There was variety in the chips in size, flavor, and texture. I have no idea what the white chip with the purple streaks happens to be, but I really enjoyed that one quite a bit. The only thing on the plate that I really didn't enjoy was that orange/red sauce in the upper left corner. I don't know what was in it, but it had a very cucumbery taste, and I have an extreme dislike for cucumbers and cucumber flavored items. That was hardly a problem though. Except for dipping a finger in it to figure out what it was, I didn't see the need to have it. I don't know if it's supposed to go on the burger or be a dip for the chips. Whatever it was, it was left in that condition for the rest of the meal.

This is probably the second best burger I've had on Disney property, and I would love to go back to GFC to try other foods. Everything brought out looked incredibly tasty and well plated. The atmosphere is relaxed and it's nice and quiet in there. It's beautifully decorated and very tastefully done. It's such a nice departure from the rest of the Disney restaurants. I look forward to trying more stuff off the menu.

 

[vettegirl]

That Mac and cheese looks like some seriously good eating! I have always wanted to try the surf and turf burger with those fabulous chips! Oh my goodness your pics of it looks so good!!

 

[JustCor]

Gasparilla Island Grill - Piña Colada Cupcake

After eating a great burger at GFC, I wes left with a bit of a problem: I still had one quick service credit and one snack credit on my DDP and it was time to go home. I hit the MDE app to find a quick service place to burn off those credits at GF. The cupcakes looked like a good plan, so I grabbed four to use up all of my credits. This is the first one I've tried.

The cupcake is a vanilla cake style with a whipped cream style topping covered in coconut and filled with a custard and pineapple filling. The cake is nice and moist and has a good vanilla flavor. The whipped cream is nice and rich and works well with the vanilla base. I'm a fan of coconut, so the coconut shavings are awesome. The custard and pineapple filling were kind of the weak link. The custard is kind of bland and the pineapple had too much of the juice mixed in. On my first bite of the cupcake, I was doused in pineapple juices. I would love to say it was from a very juicy piece of pineapple, but that one bite was cake only and had no fruit in it. I gave the custard a taste and didn't care for it. I ended up eating around it and finishing the rest of the cupcake. It's very sweet and I like the texture component of the shaved coconut, but I do wish they left out the pineapple. I think the acidic pineapple juice may have ruined the custard. Having one or the other may have improved the cupcake tremendously.

 

[JustCor]

That Mac and cheese looks like some seriously good eating! I have always wanted to try the surf and turf burger with those fabulous chips! Oh my goodness your pics of it looks so good!!

The burger was so good! There was a generous portion of lobster that was delicious, and those chips! I never thought I'd be raving about chips, but they're so good. I would love to know what each of the different chips was made from, especially that white and purple one. And the mac and cheese is far and away my favorite thing to eat at Disney. So creamy and velvety smooth and with a delicious amount of pot roast.

 

[StephanieE]

Google taro root chips. I love them and they sound like they may be your purple and white chip!

 

[JustCor]

Google taro root chips. I love them and they sound like they may be your purple and white chip!

Yes! That looks like them! Thank you!

 

[StephanieE]

No problem!! They are amazing and you can usually find a few different kinds in the healthier food/organic section in bigger grocery stores.

 

[MamaJessie]

'The meal started off with a baguette served in a paper bag. The bread was nice and warm, with the paper keeping in the heat. The crust of the bread was VERY tough. I used a serrated knife to cut it, but ended up having to tear the bread apart when cutting it was putting my hands at risk. '
When I read this I almot considered looking for a res, I love bread like that and hate soft crust.

'Where do I begin? Let's start with the sides. Bland would be the most apt description. The potatoes had no flavor. It was somewhere between mush and hard mush. ... Unfortunately, the quality of the beef was questionable....Any red/pink coloring that may have once existed was long gone. It was a sad looking piece of meat...
Let's start with the pound cake and get that out of the way quickly: it was bad. '
But then I kept reading and decided to just lunch around F&W as planned.

And that cronut... I am almost afraid to try it because I am afraid I will become infatuated

 

[JustCor]

No problem!! They are amazing and you can usually find a few different kinds in the healthier food/organic section in bigger grocery stores.

I've seen them quite a few times, I just never thought to buy them. I'll be fixing that on my next food shop.

'The meal started off with a baguette served in a paper bag. The bread was nice and warm, with the paper keeping in the heat. The crust of the bread was VERY tough. I used a serrated knife to cut it, but ended up having to tear the bread apart when cutting it was putting my hands at risk. '
When I read this I almot considered looking for a res, I love bread like that and hate soft crust.

'Where do I begin? Let's start with the sides. Bland would be the most apt description. The potatoes had no flavor. It was somewhere between mush and hard mush. ... Unfortunately, the quality of the beef was questionable....Any red/pink coloring that may have once existed was long gone. It was a sad looking piece of meat...
Let's start with the pound cake and get that out of the way quickly: it was bad. '
But then I kept reading and decided to just lunch around F&W as planned.

And that cronut... I am almost afraid to try it because I am afraid I will become infatuated

I would definitely skip Chefs de France. You will get a far better meal by hitting up all of the F&W booths. If you're looking for that style of bread, I believe you can find it in the back of the French Pavilion at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie.

 

[JustCor]

Gasparilla Island Grill - German Chocolate Cupcake

I debated whether or not to put up this review, but decided to go with it. I got this cupcake with the Pina Colada Cupcake and it sat in my fridge for a day before I got to it. The chocolate frosting on top was very rich and overpowering. I'm not actually a huge chocolate person, even though I have a massive sweet tooth. Too much chocolate just upsets my stomach. I do love German Chocolate Cake though, so I to a chance on it. The cake portion is a little flavorless. I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt and just assume that it would have tasted much better if I had eaten it when I got it instead of taking it home. Regardless, I just didn't enjoy the flavor of the cake. The filling had a lot of chopped nuts in it, which I'm not overly fond of. It seemed to make the rest of the filling a little devoid of taste and a little too crunchy. I ate about half of it and tossed the rest. I almost want to try it again and eat it at the time of purchase, but I'm not overly sure that a day in the fridge is the cause of it just not working for me. The overly rich frosting will still be overly rich to me. The texture of the cupcake may be a little softer and have slightly more flavor, but enough to do a complete 180 on it? I kind of doubt it. In the end, it was just not anything that made me want to hop back to Gasparilla Island Grill to experience again.

 

[dngrmys]

Grand Floridian Cafe - Surf and Turf Burger



This is probably the second best burger I've had on Disney property, and I would love to go back to GFC to try other foods.

Awesome reviews. What's your favorite burger on Disney property?

 

[JustCor]

Awesome reviews. What's your favorite burger on Disney property?

Easily the Ultimate Bacon Big Burger at the AMC Theater in DTD. It's loaded with bacon, white cheddar bacon sauce, fried onion straws, and bacon ranch sauce. It's a huge burger and super tasty, and best of all, it's about $12. I believe you can order it without seeing a movie in their little restaurant thing, but it was nice to have it while seeing a movie too. But that's been my favorite burger so far at any Disney stop. The Surf and Turf at GFC is good as well, but the $20 price tag is a little steep, and I'd still take the Bacon Big Burger over it if they were the same price anyway.

 

[tigerlilly]

I hardly ever post I just love reading .... but I very very much enjoyed reading your report! Thank you so much!

 

[JustCor]

I hardly ever post I just love reading .... but I very very much enjoyed reading your report! Thank you so much!

I truly appreciate that you read along and am really happy that you replied too!

 

[DisOrBust]

What??? You went to Cape May and didn't have any crab legs!! My 12yo eats her weight in crab legs there. Her addiction is to the point that she packs her own Cape May pants, AKA yoga pants that expand, just for eating here. We love Cape May and still are in morning over the loss of the Oreo Bonbons, may they RIP. The only problem is that after we eat there the night is shot because we are all in a food coma and end up rolling our selves back to the room instead of the parks.

The chicken nuggets just suck. The chicken strips of the past were so much better in taste and quality.

The hot dogs in general in Disney have gone down hill. I believe that someone posted that hey are actually a turkey/ beef hot dog now. I also hate the ginormous bun they come in. The one place on the boardwalk still has a great hot dog.

Love the reviews!