Fisheyes, Root Canals, signature dining, and tons of pictures! 9/13:Bistro de Paris!

[Angrypenguin]

Hello!

It’s been awhile since I’ve written one of these, since I have a bad habit of saying that this is the time that I’ll write an entire trip report, and then not doing it. Kind of like Congress. But this time I’m determined!

Just a brief introduction. My wife and I spent 5 great nights renting DVC points at Bay Lake Tower, and had a wonderful stay. We actually live only 12 minutes from Disneyland, which we love, but have a soft spot in our hearts for WDW. This is us:


J,K04306 3-30-09 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Yes, that’s us. In wedding attire. Driving the monorail. We got some funny looks that day.

Now, we love DLR, but it never feels like a “true” vacation since we live so close to it. So, we packed our bags and headed to central Florida. Since we’ve been so many times, we wanted to do a “relaxing” trip and eat at all the restaurants we’ve wanted to try but hadn’t as of yet. Oh, and we’re Harry Potter fans as well, so we were eager to check out WWOHP.

Now, I should warn people, I rented a fisheye lens specifically for this trip. It was too much fun to take off, so you’ll probably see a lot of intentionally distorted photos. Don’t worry, it was on purpose, you’re not having college flashbacks.

So get ready for stories on a root canal (!), dinner at 4 (!) signature restaurants, how we found ourselves alone in the MK and Epcot late at night (!), our new obsession that will probably cost us our future children’s college funds (!) and plenty of food pr0n and fisheye pictures. Here’s a preview of what’s to come:


IMG_6043_4_5 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


IMG_6209_10_11 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


IMG_6268 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


IMG_6380 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


IMG_6537_8_9 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


IMG_6780 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

 

[Rozz]

I'm in! Looking forward to reading about your trip; and like you promised, the whole trip, right?

 

[Angrypenguin]

Woo hoo! My first reader

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining and looking forward to reading! I got back from Bay Lake Tower not too long ago and loved it.

Also, great pictures!

 

[sstewart]

Ready to hear all about your trip!

 

[Angrypenguin]

So a couple weeks before we left, I had lingering pain in a tooth that wouldn’t go away. It had always been sensitive, but after 3 years of waiting for the sensitivity to go away, I figured I’d have it checked out. You can guess what happened; I had a root canal done two days before we left.
You know, root canals get a lot of bad press, but it went surprisingly well; I didn’t feel a thing! I was naturally concerned about having one, especially since we had planned some yummy meals this trip and I didn’t want anything to ruin our gastronomical experience. Luckily, I got all patched up and I was good to go.

Saturday evening we dropped off our puppy at the pet hotel, and took off for Orlando Sunday morning. We lost a full day flying eastward, but I had made reservations at Bistro de Paris and we were eager to try it out. I was hesitant at first, since on two separate occasions we’ve eaten at Chefs de France and I’ve been disappointed.


The winding staircase:


IMG_6006 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

IMG_6007 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


Turns out I didn’t have anything to worry about, because the meal was fantastic. Appetizers of chilled tomato soup and a goat cheese pastry, a perfectly (perfectly!) done filet and lobster ravioli, and a couple desserts that I can’t pronounce later, we were well satisfied.
Goat cheese appetizer:

DSC01184 by kevinkyen, on Flickr
Chilled tomato soup:

DSC01185 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Lobster and Goat Cheese Ravioli:

DSC01188 by kevinkyen, on Flickr
Filet with a mushroom pancake:

DSC01187 by kevinkyen, on Flickr
A side of mashed potatoes on top of a wine reduction with cocoa (!) sprinkled on top

DSC01189 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Enjoying our meal!

DSC01198 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

DSC01191 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


Since we had a late dinner (we started around 8pm), by the time we were done the park was closed and was mostly empty. I thought it would be an eerie feeling, but it was incredibly pleasant; no sweaty people bumping up against you, no children throwing temper tantrums. Just a few stragglers like us and CMs closing up shop. It was….quiet. And, since no one was around, I was able to snap off some great pictures:

IMG_6011 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


IMG_6024_3_5_HDR by kevinkyen, on Flickr

IMG_6043_4_5 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Next up, we head back to Epcot and do all the things we always seem to skip, and go to Yachtsman steakhouse completely under dressed!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I love the Bistro! I had my first meal there in February and it was so good. I'm glad that your root canal went well so your gastronomical experience was not ruined.

 

[saintstickets]

Glad you were able to get past your root canal and enjoy Bistro de Paris. DW and I ate there during our last trip the week after Thanksgiving, 2010 (TR link below). We absolutely LOVED it!! It has been voted the best theme park restaurant for 3 years in a row and it is well deserved. Since you had a late ADR, were you able to watch the fireworks from your table? It is definately a great place to dine (can't say great place to eat because it is more than that!). Love your TR. Keep it coming.

 

[.:allisonr:.]

I'm in! LOVING the pictures!

 

[Merida]

Subbing! Love the pictures, especially the fisheyes. What kind of body do you have?

That staircase to Bistro is amazing. I have to ask about the potatoes though. Was the cocoa taste very strong?

 

[caaraa]

Glad you were able to get past your root canal and enjoy Bistro de Paris.

 

[mike the canuck]

Cant wait to see more pics! following along

 

[Cafeen]

I'd say I was going to follow along, but I don't think I've ever been able to follow someone's TR from start to finish, so I'm just going to say that I like it so far and we'll see what happens .

Totally agree on the root canals too. Had one myself back in April and it's not bad at all.

Love the fisheye, making me real jealous. Though I will be picking up a Sigma 8-16 UWA in the next couple of days for my trip, so that'll have to suffice for now .

Looking forward to hopefully not failing (me, that is) and seeing more!

 

[Angrypenguin]

I love the Bistro! I had my first meal there in February and it was so good. I'm glad that your root canal went well so your gastronomical experience was not ruined.

Thanks! I was pleasantly surprised by Bistro de Paris. I think it's made the list of "must eat" places for WDW in the future.

Glad you were able to get past your root canal and enjoy Bistro de Paris. DW and I ate there during our last trip the week after Thanksgiving, 2010 (TR link below). We absolutely LOVED it!! It has been voted the best theme park restaurant for 3 years in a row and it is well deserved. Since you had a late ADR, were you able to watch the fireworks from your table? It is definately a great place to dine (can't say great place to eat because it is more than that!). Love your TR. Keep it coming.

We "kind of" watched the fireworks from the table. My wife had a better view just from where she was sitting; since I was just to the side of the window, when I looked out I got a lovely view of the tree out front.

I'm in! LOVING the pictures!

Thanks! Plenty of pictures still to come.

Subbing! Love the pictures, especially the fisheyes. What kind of body do you have?

That staircase to Bistro is amazing. I have to ask about the potatoes though. Was the cocoa taste very strong?

I have a Canon 50D. I normally tote around the 24-105 F/4 as my walk around, but I rented the tokina 10-17 and I hardly ever took it off!

Glad you were able to get past your root canal and enjoy Bistro de Paris.

Thanks! I get my crown today on top of that tooth, so wish me luck!

Cant wait to see more pics! following along

Thanks for joining!

I'd say I was going to follow along, but I don't think I've ever been able to follow someone's TR from start to finish, so I'm just going to say that I like it so far and we'll see what happens .

Totally agree on the root canals too. Had one myself back in April and it's not bad at all.

Love the fisheye, making me real jealous. Though I will be picking up a Sigma 8-16 UWA in the next couple of days for my trip, so that'll have to suffice for now .

Looking forward to hopefully not failing (me, that is) and seeing more!

Ha, well I may or may not finish the report that you may or may not completely read

 

[Angrypenguin]

Subbing! Love the pictures, especially the fisheyes. What kind of body do you have?

That staircase to Bistro is amazing. I have to ask about the potatoes though. Was the cocoa taste very strong?

The potatoes were amazing! They didn't last very long . Couldn't really taste the cocoa, I think when mixed it just gave the slightest cocoa bitterness to the reduction that was on the bottom. It was fantastic

 

[Angrypenguin]

It's Friday! How is everyone? I'm missing our favorite place