Flowers, fun, and FOOD! DxDDP 3/2 to 3/8

[Colleen27]

We're home and ready to start the reviews. There were some surprises, some changes of plans, and some disappointments. So without further ado, here goes...

The first change of plans was our airport meal. As it turned out, Earl of Sandwich was at the complete opposite end of the terminal from our gate, so we contented ourselves with the muffins we grabbed from the Tim Horton's drive thru on the way to the airport and a little wake-up mocha from Caribou near our gate. Someday I will get to try EoS, I swear, by practicality sure has a way of getting between me and those lovely-looking sandwiches!

Lunch went as planned. We arrived at Pop hungry and ready to dig into some DxDDP goodness, but since it was already early afternoon and we had a 6:30 dinner at Kona, we decided to split a couple of goodies.

The food court was practically empty but still managed to be noisy. We grabbed a seat over to the left of the drink stations so that the girls could watch Phineas and Ferb to help keep them at the table and focused on food, rather than on their desire to hit the pool ASAP.

DM & I shared the nachos supreme.

I really enjoyed these. Sure, they're food court nachos made with cheese sauce but sometimes that is just the thing. They don't skimp on the toppings and I love food service style jalapenos so I was in heaven with my choice. DD2 ate most of our olives but otherwise stuck to sharing with DD9.

DD9 ordered the cheese nachos, which both girls devoured. For a snack credit these are a great value, and it is always nice to find non-sweet options for snacks.

For our dessert of course we had to have that wonder of Pop's food court, the tye dye cheesecake.

This was quite good but much too rich for me. I ate about 1/3 of the piece and the girls polished off the rest. I really liked the combination of creamy sweet cheesecake and red velvet cake base, but if this was being served at home I'd cut myself just a sliver. The girls had no such qualms- they loved every bite and got a good giggle out of the fact that the cheesecake turned their tongues colors. Their cookies ended up coming back to the room with us because they were happy with the cheesecake.

Not pictured, but we also used a couple of snack credits for two big, soft chocolate chip cookies for the girls and a bowl of grapes for DD2, and got a bottle of apple juice for DD2 as our drink since we were using our mugs.

I was a little disappointed in the selection of fruit - there was just grapes or mixed fruit (grapes with cantaloupe and honeydew). Last trip at Caribbean Beach they had cups of strawberries that DD2 adored but we didn't see those anywhere on this trip, despite the fact that strawberries are currently in season in Florida.

All in all it was a pretty good food court experience. We enjoyed our selections for what they were - quick service, not fine dining, but tasty enough to make a good midday meal before hitting the pool. The service was quick and I really liked the wider range of drink options at the mug stations than at other resorts - Pop is the only place I've seen a diet soda other than Coke and I drank a fair bit of Sprite Zero over the course of our trip.

Cost if paying OOP - $26.35
Price of three mugs - $44.70

Total DxDDP value so far - $71.05

 

[Koda Bear]

Welcome Home! DD & I are staying at the Pop in May for a quick trip and haven't stayed there since 2005 and she can't wait to try the cheese cake this time! That picture looks awesome.

 

[lilandvisma]

Glad to see you made it back safe! Cannot wait for more reviews! My 3 year old loves olives as well, which I always found odd

 

[Colleen27]

For dinner, it was off to...

Kona has been on our family's must-do list since 2007, and this is our 4th visit for dinner. The restaurant is open to the Polynesian's lobby area and rather on the noisy side, but we've found the food to be consistently good and the menu has only improved over the years with the addition of the sushi bar.

We checked in a bit early for dinner, around 6:15. The hostess told us we would likely be seated right around our 6:35 reservation time, so we headed across the lobby to look around in the shops. Our pager went off not 5 minutes later.

We were seated in a table just to the right of the main walkway, halfway between the entrance area and the dessert display. Not the best location because of the noise from all the passing foot traffic, but we weren't expecting a quiet meal anyway.

Our server was Meghan and she was attentive but not especially friendly or conversational. I knew from previous visits that we could get smoothies as our drinks, but we were all still adjusting to the Florida heat and wanted something cold with plenty of refills so we went with iced tea all around.

I knew what I wanted to order before we even walked into the restaurant so I didn't need much time with the menu. DM also knew what she wanted, because it has become a bit of a "usual" for her over the years. The girls took longer to decide because nothing on the kids' menu looked good to DD9 at all.

As a side note - I know people complain about the "adult" age for the dining plans being 10 but in our experience that is dead-on; both of my older kids were 'over' the kids menus on the trips we took when they were 9. There were a few places where she was happy with the kids offerings, but for the most part she shared with DM & I while DD2 ate the kids' meal.

For my appetizer, I had the volcano roll from the sushi bar.

"Volcano Roll - Spicy Tuna, Seafood Lau'ai with Tempura Crunch"

This was delicious. The presentation was lovely, with edible flower petals adding a splash of tropical color to the dish. The combination of firm tuna and crisp cucumber and carrot were a perfect contrast, and the tempura crunch added just the right touch of texture. If I had any complaint about this dish it is that the volcano sauce was rather mild for my tastes, still flavorful but with less heat than I normally associate with this sort of roll. It was still very good, though, and the lower heat level ended up being a good thing because DD2 ate two pieces and she's not big on very spicy foods yet.

DM started off with the crab cakes.

"Lump Crab Cakes with Jalapeno-Lime Cream"

These have changed a bit since our last visit. The presentation is much more of a typical pan-fried crab cake, where the older version was taller and thinner, and the flavor is sweeter than it used to be. The jalapeno notes in the cream paired well with the sweetness, and there was plenty of crab with little filler. I still preferred the older version. DM really enjoyed these and thought the new version better than the old, so it is obviously just a matter of personal preference.

For my entree, I had the tuna oscar. I tried this for the first time last trip and loved it, and in fact it was a big part of the reason I wanted to go back.

"Tuna Oscar, served with Fried Green Tomatoes, Tempura-Fried Jumbo Lump Crab, and Wasabi Hollandaise"

Meghan threw me for a loop by asking how I wanted the tuna cooked. I can't imagine how this dish would work with anything other than the seared-rare tuna that is the standard preparation, but I suppose they see enough guests with an aversion to very rare fish that they started offering the option of having it more thoroughly cooked?

Overall the dish was still pretty good, but I do feel like they've toned it down from when I first tried it as a new menu item. The wasabi flavor in the Hollandaise was much more subtle and the cajun-style seasoning on tuna's crust was more mild. The fried green tomatoes were excellent, perfectly tender-crisp and flavorful. The tempura crab was as much tempura as crab, so the sweet touch of the crabmeat was lost in the mix with the other flavors. I still enjoyed my meal, but it wasn't the fabulous dinner that it was a few years ago.

DM had the shrimp and scallops, the same thing she's ordered every time she's eaten there.

"Panko-breaded Shrimp and Pan-seared Scallops with Sticky Rice, Roasted Pepper Sauce, and spicy Passion Fruit-Orange-Guava Sauce"

The presentation of this has been a little different each time we've visited Kona, from the very artful presentation of our first visit to the current incarnation which feels a bit thrown together and lazy. The taste of the dish remains consistently very good, however, and this time was no exception. DM and DD9 both enjoyed the crisp but not too heavy panko breading on the shrimp, and the scallops were fresh and sweet. The roasted pepper sauce was a change, but since I can't remember what the second sauce was before it obviously isn't something we missed. The passion fruit sauce remains the stand-out, a nice blend of sweet and slightly spicy.

DD9 finally settled on the kids' grilled fish, because fish and rice are among DD2's favorites and DD9 knew she'd be sharing DM's entree.

"Grilled Fish of the Day, served with Whole Grain Pilaf, Veggies, and Yogurt Parfait"

As expected DD9 only had a few bites of this, though she did discover that the fish - a flaky white fish with a nice grilled taste - dipped in the passion fruit sauce from DM's dinner was pretty good. DD2 loved the rice and fish. The veggies weren't very good at all. They had the consistency of veggies that were nicely, lightly steamed... an hour earlier. Somehow both rubbery and not quite fully cooked, if you know what i mean. The yogurt parfait was a big hit, however. DD2 isn't old enough to be disillusioned with strawberry yogurt & granola as "dessert".

For dessert, DM used her adult selection to get DD9 the classic Kona Kone, which is such a fixture here that it doesn't even have a menu description. That's okay, because the photo speaks for itself!

DD9 loved this as always, and DD2 loved that DD9 sprinkled some of the M&Ms from the plate on top of her yogurt.

Somehow I didn't get a pic of my dessert, but DM & I shared the chocolate fondue. It is a very simple dessert, just a bowl of lovely, rich chocolate served with a selection of goodies for dipping. The strawberries and pineapple were especially wonderful when paired with the chocolate, the kiwi not so much. And there was an amazing new non-fruit addition to the dish since the last time I ordered it - a macadamia nut brittle. Chocolate covered macadamia nuts are one of my favorite sweet indulgences at home so this was tailor made for me!

Overall this was a very good meal and I'm glad I decided to book Kona again despite terrible service on our 2009 visit, but I'm not sure this will make the must-do list again for our next trip. I like trying new places and with the slight disappointment of the tuna oscar I don't feel as strong a desire to make room for a repeat of Kona as I have in the past when we've yet to try a couple other MK area restaurants.

For the first time this trip, I tried to keep track of the time spent dining since that is such a common concern regarding the deluxe plan. From check-in to walking out to the monorail, this dinner took 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cost if paying OOP - $101.62

Total DxDDP value so far - $172.67

 

[oldhag]

count me in too

 

[lilandvisma]

Your DD has that look on her face lol...She reminds me of a blonde version of my DD! Lily has long, long hair like that as well We are passing on Kona this year. It was one of DD's favorites last visit and has been one of mine for a while but there are just sooo many other great places to try.

 

[NMAmy]

Wait, there's an Earl of Sandwich at the Detroit Airport? What terminal is that in?

Looking forward to seeing all your reviews! Sounds like you hit a lot of places, Colleen.

 

[SnowWhite33]

Great review so far, waiting for more

 

[Colleen27]

Wait, there's an Earl of Sandwich at the Detroit Airport? What terminal is that in?

It is in the Smith Terminal, all the way down to the right after you come through security.

 

[kelleigh1]

Oh my! Kona looks amazing. That's defintely on our Future Dining list.

 

[vinotinto]

Great start! The roll presentation is indeed lovely. We missed this when we ate at Kona last year - we did lunch. I must go back for dinner at some point!

 

[kelleigh1]

Meghan threw me for a loop by asking how I wanted the tuna cooked. I can't imagine how this dish would work with anything other than the seared-rare tuna that is the standard preparation, but I suppose they see enough guests with an aversion to very rare fish that they started offering the option of having it more thoroughly cooked?

I would have been thrown for a loop too. I think in this instance, I would have asked for it to be served as the chef had intended. (I'd read about someone doing that in another trip report and I think this is a perfect example of when that would be appropriate.) I am a big foodie (addicted to cooking shows, cooking magazines, etc.), so it pains me to see people request things to be cooked "well", which is essentially overcooking and removes all the flavor. I also have a very high respect for chefs and feel that they put so much into their cooking (it is an art) and that I should enjoy things the way they had intended. (Does that sound snobby and judgmental? My apologies if I offend anyone, but this is how I feel when I am ordering at a quality restaurant.)

 

[Colleen27]

For our first park day, we were off to Animal Kingdom just for a few hours in the morning. Since there aren't many breakfast options here and DD2 adores Donald and Daisy, I decided to go with a late seating at Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House. We'd been there before for the (non-character) lunch and enjoyed it, so it seemed like a far better option than counter service.

We checked in a few minutes late for our 10:15 breakfast and I had just enough time to run over to grab safari fastpasses before our buzzer went off. To my surprise, the line for the greeting with Donald was pretty long. Disappointingly so, considering that the whole reason we do character meals is to avoid in-park lines! It took another 15 min for us to meet Donald and get to our table.

Our waitress, Connie, was quick to bring the house juice blend, which is nice but overly sweet and a little thick when you've just come in from a hot walk across the park. She was a bit slow on getting the drinks we ordered, however, and we had our first plates of food before our iced teas. Refills were also slow in coming throughout the meal.

I didn't take pics of the buffet. Wrangling a toddler and her plate through the line made adding a camera to the mix rather undesirable, and that juggling act is part of why we don't do many buffets.

This was my plate - redskin potatoes, corned beef hash casserole, berry yogurt with granola, and a biscuit.

I'm not a breakfast eater and none of this thrilled me. The spiced corned beef hash was oddly sweet, which I didn't care for. The potatoes were tasty, but they'd obviously been standing a bit and lacked the crispness of freshly prepared breakfast potatoes. The biscuit was heavy and doughy, not flaky and light like I expect them to be. It probably would have been better with the sausage gravy offered on the buffet, but as I said I'm not a big breakfast eater and that didn't appeal to me at all. The yogurt and granola was my favorite item and it was just basic, nothing special fruit yogurt with standard out-of-the-box tasting granola.

DD2's plate was much better - ham from the carving station, cheese cubes, and two sweet breads.

The empty space on the plate is from the Mickey waffle that she grabbed as soon as we got back to the table, and you can see how pleased she was with me taking a picture of her eating it.

The ham was very nice, hot and not overly salty. The cheese was a swiss type with a bit of a bite to it. One of the sweet breads, the one on the right, had dates or fig or something along with nuts and was quite good. The other was an orange-and-something fruit blend and was on the dry side.

DM is much more a fan of breakfast foods and got a little of everything - all three egg options (vegetable frittata, beef bobodie, and eggs with ham and cheese), sweet potatoes, redskin potatoes, a fried plantain, and some corned beef hash.

She enjoyed the corned beef much more than I did, and especially liked the beef bobodie. The sweet potatoes were pretty good, though again a little on the sweet side for my tastes, but that was the only thing I sampled from her plate because I generally don't like egg dishes.

DD9 kept it simple - she got the ham & cheese eggs, a biscuit, some sweet breads, and something I can't quite identify over on the left that I believe was on the station with the french toast and accompanying sauces. The white glob up front is butter for the Mickey waffle that she had on its own plate.

She ate the waffle and picked at the rest. Like me, she found the biscuit too dense and dry to eat on its own.

All told, none of us were that impressed with the food, but you really don't book character buffets for the food anyway. The characters started to come around shortly after we started eating, and the girls were happy to get so many autographs and pictures to start off the trip. DD2 in particular had been looking forward to this for weeks - kissing Mickey on the nose.

In hindsight, however, these were some of the most rushed and most impersonal character interactions we had all trip. It was a huge shift from our last trip, where the in-park meet & greets felt rushed and the character meals more relaxed, but this time we found just the opposite to be true. Next trip I don't think we'll do even the two character meals that we usually plan. Which is fine by me, because I'd much rather make my dining reservations around food than characters anyway!

Cost if paying OOP - $62.81

Total DxDDP value so far - $235.48

 

[Colleen27]

I would have been thrown for a loop too. I think in this instance, I would have asked for it to be served as the chef had intended. (I'd read about someone doing that in another trip report and I think this is a perfect example of when that would be appropriate.) I am a big foodie (addicted to cooking shows, cooking magazines, etc.), so it pains me to see people request things to be cooked "well", which is essentially overcooking and removes all the flavor. I also have a very high respect for chefs and feel that they put so much into their cooking (it is an art) and that I should enjoy things the way they had intended. (Does that sound snobby and judgmental? My apologies if I offend anyone, but this is how I feel when I am ordering at a quality restaurant.)

I agree. It especially surprised me because I'd had the dish before and the doneness of the tuna hadn't even come up - it is a dish intended to be served seared rare, and works beautifully that way. It would lose a lot if the fish was prepared differently, and I think it is a shame that so many people seem to go into dining experiences looking for something tailored to their preconceived biases rather than a meal reflective of the chef's skill and creativity. But I guess Disney has a finer line to walk than most restaurants, because they cater to so many families and to people from all over the world with a huge range of social and cultural food habits.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

subscribing - great pictures and cute outfits on your girls.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

For dinner, it was off to...

For my entree, I had the tuna oscar. I tried this for the first time last trip and loved it, and in fact it was a big part of the reason I wanted to go back.

"Tuna Oscar, served with Fried Green Tomatoes, Tempura-Fried Jumbo Lump Crab, and Wasabi Hollandaise"

Meghan threw me for a loop by asking how I wanted the tuna cooked. I can't imagine how this dish would work with anything other than the seared-rare tuna that is the standard preparation, but I suppose they see enough guests with an aversion to very rare fish that they started offering the option of having it more thoroughly cooked?

I would have been thrown for a loop too. I think in this instance, I would have asked for it to be served as the chef had intended. (I'd read about someone doing that in another trip report and I think this is a perfect example of when that would be appropriate.) I am a big foodie (addicted to cooking shows, cooking magazines, etc.), so it pains me to see people request things to be cooked "well", which is essentially overcooking and removes all the flavor. I also have a very high respect for chefs and feel that they put so much into their cooking (it is an art) and that I should enjoy things the way they had intended. (Does that sound snobby and judgmental? My apologies if I offend anyone, but this is how I feel when I am ordering at a quality restaurant.)

I am enjoying your reviews so far. I think Disney may be offering to cook the fish because some guests may have health concerns. I don't know what you could get from eating rare tuna, but if you have a compromised immune system or are pregnant it is advised not to eat rare fish.

 

[Colleen27]

After a lovely afternoon at the ballgame, we headed to Downtown Disney for our dinner reservation at Raglan Road. We checked in about half an hour early and were seated almost immediately in a booth at the front of the restaurant, near the front doors that aren't used.

I had been here once before for lunch and really enjoyed it, and I was very much looking forward to an evening meal and seeing the entertainment for the first time.

I love the back side of the menu here because it has my name on it.

Our server was Erik, who was much friendlier before we told him we were on a dining plan. This was the first and only place we had that experience, and I chalk it up at least in part to the fact that this isn't a Disney-owned establishment. He didn't take the time to explain the menu and the DxDDP restrictions until he came back to take our order, then acted put-out that we needed another minute (which turned into more like 10 before we saw him again), and it got the whole meal off on the wrong foot.

On the dining plan here, all the appetizers for two are excluded. Unlike other restaurants you can't have two people order a single "for two" appetizer - they aren't available on the plan at all. And on the dinner menu the majority of the appetizers are for two, including the scallops, wings, and sausages we'd loved so much on our lunchtime visit there on our 2009 trip.

On another DDP-related note, this is the one and only place we ate that charged us for DD2's iced tea.

I ended up going with the Drunk Chicken for my appetizer, described as "whiskey marinated chicken skewers with a Dalkey honey mustard dressing" and DM had the Scallopea, "pan seared scallops on a mint pea puree". DD2 was getting really impatient with the delays on our starters, so I completely forgot to take pictures. She ate two out of three of my skewers and half DM's scallops.

The chicken skewers were okay but a bit plain. They could have used more of the dressing, but I didn't take the time to request it because DD2 made such quick work of them. The scallops were pretty good, though they could have been better cleaned because one bite had some grit to it, and the mint pea puree was a nice accent. Still, we were disappointed with the first course simply because we'd been looking forward to some of our previous favorites and were frustrated by the exclusions.

For an entree, I ordered the Salmon of Knowledge.

"Baked Atlantic salmon fillet topped with smoked salmon, served with a maple glaze"

This was pretty good. The salmon was well prepared and flavorful, and the maple glaze was lightly done. The fillet was served with the underside skin intact, which I didn't think suited this presentation very well with it resting on the potatoes. The leeks added a nice touch to what would otherwise have been plain mashed potatoes, and the overall effect was a collection of subtle flavors that blended well into one another. It was an enjoyable meal, but not something I expect I'll order again when there are so many other interesting choices available.

DM and DD9 both ordered the fish and chips. This photo is the kids' portion, since DM started eating hers before I could get a shot, but the presentation is similar. The adult portion is about twice the child's portion.

This was the unanimous favorite at the table - light crispy breading over flaky white fish, with perfect British-style chips, crispy outer shell over soft potato inside. Even DD2, who usually loves salmon above all other types of fish, preferred the fish & chips.

For dessert, I ordered the Bailey's creme brulee tart.

"Creme brulee, Irish style"

I'm not normally a big fan of creme brulee, but I enjoy Bailey's so I decided to give this a shot. Oh. My. Gawd. This totally made up for the appetizer disappointment. You won't see me rave about many desserts because I'm not big on sweets in general, but this was incredible. As you can see it isn't a traditional creme brulee. It was more like a light Bailey's cheesecake with a slightly carmelized top, and it was just perfect - creamy and sweet without being overly so, with a strong Irish cream flavor without even the slightest alcohol-y note.

DM ordered the strawberry & apple crumble.

"Fresh strawberries and apples in a tart with berry compote and vanilla bean ice cream"

This was almost as bad as my dessert was good. The crumble on top was nice and the vanilla bean ice cream was quite good, but the fruit inside was just weird. Instead of the apple pie filling type apples you'd expect, it was made with something more like a chunky apple sauce, which was odd enough on its own but even moreso considering that the strawberries were fairly large and just cut into quarters. None of us were fans of this dish and we certainly wouldn't order it again.

The band started playing about midway through our meal, and we got to see the dancer's first set. DD9, who already takes ballet, jazz, and tap, is now asking for Irish dance lessons. The band is quite talented for a house band and we enjoyed their blend of modern and traditional Irish sounds.

Despite the hiccup with the DxDDP inclusions and our waiter's poor communication skills, this proved to be a good dinner, well worth doing once to enjoy the evening entertainment. We won't go back for dinner because of the appetizer situation unless we're not on a dining plan, but if we're ever at Downtown Disney at lunch time we will probably go back and get those scallops I've been dreaming of since our first visit.

Cost if paying OOP - $98.50

Total DxDDP value so far - $333.98

 

[Colleen27]

subscribing - great pictures and cute outfits on your girls.

Thank you. This was my first trip making matching outfits for every day, and the girls got tons of attention in them!

 

[lilandvisma]

You little one has the color of hair that I need !!! lol. Adorable outfits

 

[jenseib]

I'm in!