Follow me to the Boardwalk! 10/23 - 11/7 UPDATED 4/13 BEACHES & CREAM

[chocolateMinnie]

WOW that is amazing timing from airport to resort (although as an international visitor it is never going to happen for me and I love the room it looks like it was huge. Monsieur Paul looks nice but still not hitting my wish list :

 

[dizzy daisy]

I am sitting her laughing at the stairs, and trying to imagine myself navigating them after 8 glasses of champagne. I'd have never made it. The term 'xxx over tea kettle' is what I'd have been' I'm happy to read they were easy to manage this trip.

Your steak looks good, sorry to read it wasn't stellar. Even more sorry to read it might have been the best one of the trip!

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for the SciFi review. I haven't seen much on it and really appreciate your perspective. The menu sounds pretty good and love the idea of an empty scifi, but I'm really not liking this price fixed breakfast that Disney is doing. I get it at buffets but for a "regular" menu I'd prefer to be able to pick what I want and not be held to having an appetizer or breakfast platter. Hoping this plus BoG isn't a trend that will continue.

Can't believe you made it from the airport to dinner in only 2 hours. SCORE!!!! And that room is huge and it sounds like it served you well, especially on such a long trip.

Your monsieur paul steak looks delicious, though I'm with you bringing an entree while I'm still eating an app is a major party foul in my book. Glad they took care of it for you. And love the illuminations photos. What a great surprise

 

[LindseyJo22]

Loved the Sci Fi review - I had wondered about this option for a pre-park breakfast, but was a little worried about it, since HS is not really a park we spend a huge amount of time in, and it seemed quite expensive.

Seems that, at least for the most part, I'll be skipping that one.

However, Monsieur Paul looks fabulous! I'm not sure when we'll make it to a Signature restaurant in Disney, but I'm definitely putting it on my list, considering how much we adore Chefs de France.

Im glad that it seems like most of your food was good, despite some small issues - and glad that you seem to have gotten those resolved.

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews, as always!

 

[jabead]

That meal looks great! I haven't ever eaten there before but it does look great. Even with the trees in the way that view is very good for illuminations during dinner. The France pavilion is one of my favorites.

I agree, France is great! I especially love the bakery!

The food looks great, Barb. I am longing to do another extended stay at Disney...meaning longer than 7 nights.

My last trip in May was 6 nights in Disney plus 2 in Universal and it seemed too short. This one was 15 nights and seemed a little too long. So I'm thinking now that 10 nights would be just right!

Your meal at Monsieur Paul looks amazing! I have heard great things about that restaurant, but we have not yet been there. We were walking past Chefs de France last week and we discussed eating there sometime. Both sound great.

I haven't been to Chefs de France for a couple of years, but the last time I dined there it was pretty good.

Monsieur Paul looked great! I am glad your entree was taken back so you were not rushed. I would have had a hard time resisting all that yummy bread! It is truly a beautiful restaurant

I'm glad that I was somehow able to limit myself to two pieces. Otherwise I wouldn't have had room for dessert, which was the best part of my meal!

I'm glad you were pleased. But if I were served bread, usually a vegetarian item, without warning that it contained meat, I'd be upset. Did they explain the individual rolls, or was it a surprise to you?

You bring up a valid point. I'm not a 100% sure but I believe she quickly described the four kinds of bread in her basket when she first presented it at my table. I was preoccupied taking a photo so wasn't fully paying attention. I do know that when I asked her for her advice on which to pick she did refer to her favorite as the bacon roll.

WOW that is amazing timing from airport to resort (although as an international visitor it is never going to happen for me and I love the room it looks like it was huge. Monsieur Paul looks nice but still not hitting my wish list :

Yes, everything went like clockwork with my flight arriving on time, getting through the airport quickly, and walking right on to an already full bus that left the airport about 5 minutes later. I was pleasantly surprised not only to make it to my ADR on time but even a 1/2 hour early.

I am sitting her laughing at the stairs, and trying to imagine myself navigating them after 8 glasses of champagne. I'd have never made it. The term 'xxx over tea kettle' is what I'd have been' I'm happy to read they were easy to manage this trip.

Your steak looks good, sorry to read it wasn't stellar. Even more sorry to read it might have been the best one of the trip!

It was me who was the "dizzy daisy" after my lunch at Monsieur Paul. At the time I was staying at the Wilderness Lodge but didn't think I could make it all the way from France to the front of Epcot where the bus stops are. So instead I took the International Gateway out and got on the boat to DHS where the walk to the bus stop was much, much shorter. Plus I was able to take a little nap on the boat and "sleep off" some of the effects of the champagne.

Thanks for the SciFi review. I haven't seen much on it and really appreciate your perspective. The menu sounds pretty good and love the idea of an empty scifi, but I'm really not liking this price fixed breakfast that Disney is doing. I get it at buffets but for a "regular" menu I'd prefer to be able to pick what I want and not be held to having an appetizer or breakfast platter. Hoping this plus BoG isn't a trend that will continue.

Can't believe you made it from the airport to dinner in only 2 hours. SCORE!!!! And that room is huge and it sounds like it served you well, especially on such a long trip.

Your monsieur paul steak looks delicious, though I'm with you bringing an entree while I'm still eating an app is a major party foul in my book. Glad they took care of it for you. And love the illuminations photos. What a great surprise

I'll be getting into this topic more in the next review of my BoG breakfast, but I totally agree with you regarding the fixed price breakfast.

Loved the Sci Fi review - I had wondered about this option for a pre-park breakfast, but was a little worried about it, since HS is not really a park we spend a huge amount of time in, and it seemed quite expensive.

Seems that, at least for the most part, I'll be skipping that one.

However, Monsieur Paul looks fabulous! I'm not sure when we'll make it to a Signature restaurant in Disney, but I'm definitely putting it on my list, considering how much we adore Chefs de France.

Im glad that it seems like most of your food was good, despite some small issues - and glad that you seem to have gotten those resolved.

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews, as always!

Based on the food, I can't really say that I would recommend the Sci-Fi breakfast. But if you really want to get into the park early, then Sci-Fi would be a cheaper alternative to Hollywood & Vine.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I was still a little nervous though when our bus driver announced that we would be stopping first at the Yacht Club, then the Beach Club, before my resort destination, the Boardwalk.

We've stayed at the BC or YC many times and the ME has always stopped at the BWI before it stopped at BC or YC. But I'm glad you made it to your resort so quickly.

So anyway I was thrilled when this time I only had to go up one floor on the elevator, take a left turn down the hallway and pass only one room before arriving at my home for the next 13 nights, Room 3292. SCORE!!

What a great room! It must have been especially nice to have that big closet. And the location was great.

One of the main reasons we didn't like the BWI was the layout of the resort and the single bank of main elevators. We stayed there once and had a ground floor room facing the interior courtyard. The view was fine but we had to go up a floor to get to the main (second floor) and then down a floor to get out of the resort on the lagoon side. It was a pain.

I mention this because I would have trouble with all of the other steaks which I ordered for the remainder of this trip. While the very center of this steak was a little less cooked than I like, it was still far better than the steaks which will come later.

Your steak looks delicious but it does like a little more toward the medium rare side than just medium.

Just as my dessert choice was delivered to the table, Illuminations began. While my view of the fireworks was not perfect because of some trees plus the reflection from the window, it was an added bonus for this meal that I was not expecting.

What a nice way to end what must have been a very long day.

It was me who was the "dizzy daisy" after my lunch at Monsieur Paul. At the time I was staying at the Wilderness Lodge but didn't think I could make it all the way from France to the front of Epcot where the bus stops are. So instead I took the International Gateway out and got on the boat to DHS where the walk to the bus stop was much, much shorter. Plus I was able to take a little nap on the boat and "sleep off" some of the effects of the champagne.

We've used the boat to DHS studios trick to get back to the WL, too. It is a much shorter walk to the bus depot at DHS then at Epcot.

 

[jabead]

We've stayed at the BC or YC many times and the ME has always stopped at the BWI before it stopped at BC or YC. But I'm glad you made it to your resort so quickly.

Thank you for confirming that I'm not crazy! When I stayed at the BC first during my Oct. 2014 trip I thought for sure that we stopped at the BW first, then YC, and then the BC last. And when I stayed at the YC in Dec. 2013 I swear that again the BW was first, but that time my resort was last after the BC stop. I'm beginning to think that the ME bus drivers have it in for me.

One of the main reasons we didn't like the BWI was the layout of the resort and the single bank of main elevators. We stayed there once and had a ground floor room facing the interior courtyard. The view was fine but we had to go up a floor to get to the main (second floor) and then down a floor to get out of the resort on the lagoon side. It was a pain.

I know exactly what you mean. I stayed on the 1st floor at the BWI once and I totally agree that it was a huge pain!

We've used the boat to DHS studios trick to get back to the WL, too. It is a much shorter walk to the bus depot at DHS then at Epcot.

Though not a time saver, it is definitely easier on the feet! And when you've had way too much champagne it is a must do!

 

[jabead]

Before moving on to my next review, I should explain my reasoning for my dining choices on this trip. I had just a few goals/rules in mind when planning my dining.

They were:

1) To not revisit any of the restaurants which I went to on my last trip in May. (Only broke this rule a few times, or maybe 6 )

2) To dine at most of the Epcot World Showcase full-service restaurants that we didn't go to on the last trip. ( If you count the two Italian F & W pairing lunches at Tutto and Via Napoli, I got to all but Norway's Akershus, Japan's Tokyo Dining, Morocco's Restaurant Marakesh, and France's Les Chefs de France). My reason for this is that for the next few months I will be featuring photos from the WSC restaurants on my Instagram account.

3) To try some new restaurants or return to ones that I haven't been to for quite awhile. (Falling into this category were The Wave, 1900 Park Fare, Tony's, Captain's Grille lunch, Cape May dinner, Biergarten, Nine Dragons, Monsieur Paul, Il Mulino, Trattoria al Forno breakfast, and Sci-Fi)

4) And last, which was the most difficult to abide by...Try ordering something I've never had before at the restaurants which I have visited on recent trips. (Since I have my "favorites" at most of these restaurants, which is the reason that I frequently return to them, this was hard. However, though I did have to break this rule a few times, I did expand my horizons on several occasions, starting with my breakfast at Magic Kingdom's...

​

On the first morning of my trip I broke Rule #1 and returned for breakfast at Be our Guest, even though I had just had breakfast there in May. I was able to get a pre-park opening 8:15 ADR, which for some reason I thought was a good idea when planning this trip. But when I had to get up that morning at about 6:00 a.m. after a long travel day the day before, I began to question my sanity. However, I bit the bullet and did it anyway and was at the Boardwalk bus stop waiting for a Magic Kingdom bus by 7:00. I waited as one bus headed to Animal Kingdom came and went with no one boarding, then bus #2 for Animal Kingdom, followed shortly after by AK bus# 3!! There were only a few of us there at the bus stop...all waiting for the Magic Kingdom bus. When the 4th Animal Kingdom bus drove up I thought the head of the lady seated next to me was going to explode. I looked around for the hidden camera, thinking that we were surely being "Punk'd" by Ashton Kutcher. Anyway, the angry lady loudly complained to the AK bus driver, who apologized and said the Magic Kingdom bus should arrive within 10 minutes. (I think he was a little afraid that we were going to hijack his bus, because he got out of there pretty quickly ) His promise though that a MK would soon be there was not particularly comforting since we had already been waiting for at least 20 minutes. But thankfully the MK bus arrived within 5 minutes. And it was a pleasant surprise when the bus headed straight to Magic Kingdom once we boarded. During my previous stays at the Boardwalk, Magic Kingdom buses were always shared with the Swan & Dolphin hotels (two more stops) so this was a definite improvement in their bus transportation system.

So anyway, by the time I arrived at Magic Kingdom and got my name checked off the Early Entry Breakfast list it was only a very short wait in line before we were allowed into the park at about 7:45. The park was looking quite nice in its Halloween attire...










Seeing the Halloween decorations made me regret not having purchased a ticket for the MNSSHP. At this point all four of the parties for the last week of October were sold out! Oh well, I did attend the party last year so not the end of the "world" I guess.



When I was last at Magic Kingdom in May there was a lot of construction work taking place in front of the castle. Now more than 5 months later, there was still construction work happening...




So much for trying to get an early morning castle photo, void of human beings.


They were routing people to the walkway that is just over the bridge (by Sleepy Hollow) to get to Fantasyland so I stopped for a side view photo of the castle...




Not as impressive as a front view, but still a pretty awesome sight.


Then it was on to my breakfast destination, in the Beastly Kingdom...




The one in Magic Kingdom, not Animal Kingdom.


I had already pre-ordered my breakfast but took a photo of the menu for my review. But first let's take a look at the menu for this breakfast from when I was here with my kids on May 17th...


​

And then the October 24th menu...




They look identical except for one thing, the price had increased from $19.99 to $21.99 (or 10%) for adults and from $11.99 to $13.99 for kids. That's almost a 17% increase on the kid's price!


Moving on now from the sticker shock to the food. If you read my May dining report you may recall that the four of us all tried something different here. My daughter Allison ordered the Open-Faced Bacon & Egg Sandwich and only rated it a 2 (on our scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the best)




My daughter Emily had much better luck with her choice of the Eggs Florentine and rated it a 5.




We all agreed though that my son got the pick of the "breakfast" litter here ...



He had the Croque Madame and loved it!


As for me, I made an unwise choice by ordering the Croissant Doughnut...



While it was a perfectly good cronut, I just wasn't feeling like something so sweet on that morning. Therefore I rated the cronut only a 3.


So what did I order this time? Well, I was very tempted to get the Croque Madame since it had been such a hit in May. However, I'd already broken my 1st rule by eating here again so I thought I should abide by Rule #4 and try something different (since technically I had tasted my son's Croque Madame). So that left the Cured Meats & Cheeses, the Scrambled Egg Whites, or my choice...



Vegetable Quiche with Mushrooms, Zucchini, Bell Pepper, Onion, and Chives served with Fresh Fruit


And a close-up shot of the quiche...




This was actually what I had originally planned to order when we had breakfast here in May but changed my mind and went with the cronut when none of my kids ordered it. I liked the quiche better than the cronut and in comparison would rate it a 4. However, I would have to say that I prefer the quiche at Epcot's French bakery (Boulangerie Patisserie), both the Quiche Lorraine (with meat) and the Quiche Florentine (without meat). So though the quiche was not a bad choice for breakfast here, I think both the Eggs Florentine and the Croque Madame are better choices.


Along with my quiche came a bowl of fresh fruit, which consisted of cantaloupe and honey dew melon topped with a strawberry (no grapes in the mix like last time)...



The strawberry was good, but the melon was not. It was not ripe so was pretty hard and flavorless.


I also received a tray of assorted breakfast pastries...





Which consisted of a plain croissant, a chocolate one, two mini muffins, and a danish...






When there were four of us dining here in May we received nearly the exact same size platter, with only a cinnamon roll added...




I noticed that the family of 4 seated next to me had the same platter as ours (with the cinnamon roll). So I guess when you dine there solo instead of as a party of 4 you get one less pastry. But regardless of whether there had been 1 pastry or the 5 I received, I did not eat them because they were served stone cold, straight from the refrigerator. Therefore I have to give credit to Sci-Fi for allowing their similar breakfast pastries to reach room temperature before serving them to their guests.


So overall, I left wishing I had skipped this breakfast and slept in on the first morning of my trip. I could have instead had lunch at Be our Guest and tried the same Vegetable Quiche with a salad instead of fruit at lunch for only $10.49, less than half the price. Of course, I wouldn't have gotten those lovely cold pastries.

But I would have been able to get this at lunch...


Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcake


Ok, really kicking myself now.

But on the bright side, though my ADR was at 8:15 I was actually seated and had my food by that time so I was done with breakfast before the park officially opened at 9:00. Therefore I was able to use my three FP+ for 7DMT, BTMR and Peter Pan plus ride Little Mermaid, It's a Small World, and Haunted Mansion, see Mickey's Philharmagic, take a nap at the Hall of Presidents , and for the very first time ever I took a cruise on the scenic Rivers of America aboard the Liberty Belle...




All of this before my 1:00 lunch reservation. So maybe it was worth getting up at 6:00 that morning after all.

​

Next up: Lunch at Tony's

But first a 9 day sabbatical...


- Photo by daughter, Emily -

...for a family trip to Austin, Texas to visit daughter Emily! Though I don't think I'll have time to post any reviews during the next 9 days, I will still be posting daily on Instagram. Only instead of food from Disney World I'll hopefully be posting photos of the great food we have in Austin. So if you're interested in seeing what we find to eat there, check out my IG account @jabead. ​

 

[rteetz]

Looks good despite being a little disappointed in the end. I have done lunch and dinner but not breakfast there. The getting in the park early would have sold me tho.

 

[dizzy daisy]

Nice update on your BOG breakfast, even with the stone cold pastries. At least there was an upside - the attractions! You did a lot before 1!

I'm going to follow you on instagram, I could use some Disney food photos on my phone I really only follow 7 people, 3 of whom are family members lol.

Have fun in Austin!

 

[budafam]

Great review on BOG... I'm trying to decide if it's worth us bothering with this at all. I'm not a huge fan of lunch or dinner there... breakfast looks expensive but maybe we could just share one... I don't know what to do.

 

[MochaDrinker]

Following you on Instagram. Good review on BOG, I don't think it's with the money myself.

 

[Wood Nymph]

However, I would have to say that I prefer the quiche at Epcot's French bakery (Boulangerie Patisserie), both the Quiche Lorraine (with meat) and the Quiche Florentine (without meat).

I tried the Quiche Lorraine at the French bakery in October and it was really good. I don't find anything on the BOG breakfast menu to tempt me to go there. But it would be great to get a head start on the rides at MK.

So overall, I left wishing I had skipped this breakfast and slept in on the first morning of my trip. I could have instead had lunch at Be our Guest and tried the same Vegetable Quiche with a salad instead of fruit at lunch for only $10.49, less than half the price. Of course, I wouldn't have gotten those lovely cold pastries.

But I would have been able to get this at lunch...

My favorite is the braised pork for lunch at BOG. I have a hard time getting DH to eat there, though, since he really hasn't found anything he likes there. My favorite dessert is the lemon raspberry cream puff. It's also gluten free.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Have a lovely trip to see your daughter I definitely intend booking a breakfast at BOG next year if the terms stay the same as we are on the QSDP for the first time and it looks amazing compared to the resort garbage breakfasts that you tend to get.

 

[kastoney]

I seriously can't believe they serve the same item for breakfast and lunch at BoG and charge half the price. That is just ridiculous. Of course there were the $10 worth of pastries ; )

Have a great time in Austin and enjoy the time with your daughter. Will check out your instagram to see what you eat. My brother lives there and we try and visit at least once a year. They without question have one of the best food scenes in the country.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Were there characters at the Sci Fi Dine In breakfast?

 

[Jerusalem Gal]

Yum! Awaiting your return!

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

A little late but I am definitely jumping in! Love your reviews

 

[AllyinWonderland]

Monsieur Paul looks delicious! It looks like you had a fabulous start to your trip.

We have considered trying BOG breakfast but haven't made it over there yet. The price jump is a huge disappointment and I doubt that I will ever want to pay that price out of pocket.

 

[Vernie822]

Hi Barb, hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving in Austin. I'm sure it was nice to visit your daughter. I was definitely drooling at all of your food pics. Seems like there are a lot of awesome local spots!