Ghoulish Delights: A Brother and Sister Dining Review!

[Nicole786]

Hello foolish mortals to the Dining Report! I am your host. YOUR GHOST HOST...

Whoops, sorry, I got a little carried away there. Being that my brother is obsessed with Haunted Mansion, it's no wonder he came up with this:

But I digress.
We just returned from a fantastic, relaxing week long trip to Disney World!! In the past, we've done a couple of trip reports, but we decided this year to dive into a dining report. For the past 4 years, my brother and I have taken a Disney trip together. I know it's on the rare side, but we both share a huge love for all things Disney and after that first trip to test the waters, we realized it was so much fun to go to Disney with someone who truly loves it!! This trip was really great, and the food was amazing! I can't wait to share it with you, and a few little trip events along the way (Such as my Disney celebrity sighting and signing a waiver on the Boardwalk to appear on a new Disney resort TV special)

Here are the trip details:
October 1-3rd: Universal's Royal Pacific Resort
October 3-9th: Disney's Boardwalk Inn

We had the regular DDP once we switched over to the BWI, and used a lot of the snack credits at the Food and Wine festival! It was a great bargain, because some of those items were over $5 or $6!

And who we are!

Me: Nicole, had a birthday this trip, that my lovely brother had to keep reminding me of my age every chance he got! (He's 6 years my junior) Okay ok, I just turned 25, a really fantastic age, but I had a moment of panic when I took a post Halloween Horror Nights survey and I was in another AGE BRACKET. I'm no longer 18-24…now I'm 25-30! Needed a drink after that one….

David: DBrother. Loves Disney, loves Disney channel, loves being in Disney so he could watch Disney channel… Music buff and pastry chef extraordinaire! Just try his Pop Century inspired tie dye cheesecake! He loved loved loved this trip as he's never been in October (our annual trips are in August, but we pushed this back so we could experience all the autumn fun and my birthday!)

And of course…where we ate!

Universal Orlando Day 1
Mama Melrose (Dinner)

Universal Orlando Day 2
First Watch (Breakfast)
Lots of Butterbeer
Finnegans (Lunch/Dinner for Halloween Horror Nights)

Disney Day 1
Le Cellier (Lunch)
Columbia Harbor House (Dinner)
Main Street Bakery (Snack)

Disney Day 2
Boardwalk to Go (Lunch)
Food and Wine Festival Yummies (Lunch)
Raglan Road (Dinner)

Disney Day 3
Food and Wine Festival Yummies (Lunch)
Kona Cafe (Dinner)
Boardwalk Bakery (Snack)

Disney Day 4
Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party!
Pizza Planet (Lunch)
Mickey Pretzel (Snack)
Cosmic Rays (Dinner)

Disney Day 5
My Birthday!
Boardwalk Resort In Room Dining (Breakfast)
Contempo Cafe, Contemporary (Lunch)
Yachtsman Steakhouse (Dinner)
A Special Surprise! (Snack)

Disney Day 6
Contempo Cafe, Contemporary (Lunch)
La Hacienda de San Angel (Dinner)

Disney, Day 7
Morocco (Lunch)

We'll be using stars as a rating system, because just like Rachel Berry, I love a gold star

On a scale of 1-5

Hope you'll join us!

 

[LMO429]

I loved your past trip reports! looking forward to our dining reviews!

 

[MickeyNicki]

This sounds like its going to be a fun report! We are headed to the BWI in just 3 days so I am very interested to hear about your bakery and to go experiences!

 

[Disneybrenda]

Loved your beginning, can't wait for the reviews.

 

[Nicole786]

I loved your past trip reports! looking forward to our dining reviews!

Happy to see a familiar face! :good vibes Thanks for joining in!

This sounds like its going to be a fun report! We are headed to the BWI in just 3 days so I am very interested to hear about your bakery and to go experiences!

You will LOVE the BWI!! We did!! First update coming up later today!

Loved your beginning, can't wait for the reviews.

Thanks for joining in! We'll be kicking off later today with the first review!

 

[bonzarella]

taking a ride on your gravy train Heading to F&W in a week, looking forward to your reviews. BTW- I feel your pain re: age brackets. Can get really depressing having to keep scrolling down,down,down

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I'm in! Sounds like a lot of fun ...

 

[vettegirl]

Count me in!!

 

[Nicole786]

taking a ride on your gravy train Heading to F&W in a week, looking forward to your reviews. BTW- I feel your pain re: age brackets. Can get really depressing having to keep scrolling down,down,down

age brackets make me sad
F&W was great this year, make sure you get a passport from the festival welcome center, its so much fun to get each country to stamp it!

I'm in! Sounds like a lot of fun ...

Thanks for joining in!

Count me in!!

Yay! Thanks for reading!

 

[librarygeek]

I love that you take the trip with your brother! My brother is so grumpy I couldn't imagine going anywhere with him Your food options sound delicious, I'm looking forward to the reviews. And yay for butterbeer!

 

[Nicole786]

I'm going to review all of the Universal Orlando dining reviews in one shot, we were there for 2 days before we moved over to WDW!

We checked in to the Royal Pacific Resort and all was well this day. Universal's city walk has a Moe's Southwest Grill, which we have at home so we played it safe. No pics of the burritos since we get them all the time. But they were yummy!

Here's a few pics of the Royal Pacific. Without going too much into detail, we love staying on site at Universal, you get some amazing perks. the DIS Unplugged blog just recently outlined an article about it, which you can read here: Universal Orlando Onsite Resort Experience

We did enjoy a couple of glasses of frozen Butterbeer through the day, which is just AMAZING! We would end up with many more of these before we left Universal!

Our first sit down meal of the trip, is a favorite of ours. We eat here every time we make it to Universal Orlando, it is hands down the best Italian food in the area! It's a place called Mama Della's and its located at Universal's Portofino Bay Resort:

I had Chicken Parm with Cappelini:

Nicole's Review Amazing, amazing amazing. I love this! Being from NY, I know a good chicken parm and this comes pretty close to our family favorites. I would definitely recommend this, and I get it each time we go there.

David had: Fettucine alfredo with chicken

David's Review - The white wine they use gives this a distinct flavor not found in most dishes. It tastes very good, and I'll definitely be having it again!

For dessert, they surprised me with this:

We shared it and we both find it very nice. I'm not a tirimisu fan, but I do enjoy fruit and lady fingers!

The next morning made the decision to leave the Universal bubble. Usually, once we are on property whether WDW or Universal we NEVER leave the bubble to the outside world We decided that since Universal had slim to none for breakfast options, and it was much less of a bubble than our beloved WDW, it would be okay and man was it worth it! We used Yelp to find First Watch, which was down the street from Universal. Apparently First Watch is a chain but I've never heard of it. It was great!

Since it was Sunday there was about a 30 minute wait which was bearable because of the complimentary coffee they serve you while you wait.

Once seated, I ordered an OJ and David ordered sweet tea which he said was delicious and very southern. He's a tea connoisseur so I believe him. I ordered the Key West Crepeegg, here it is described on the menu:

Turkey, avocado, bacon, tomatoes and Monterey Jack cheese. Topped with sour cream. Served with salsa on the side

I got it without tomatoes, cheese and sour cream. It was basically an omelet wrapped in a crepe with potatoes on the side. Here is what it looked like

and the inside

Nicole's Review - This was just as amazing as described! I've been on an avocado/guacamole kick and this was right up my alley! I'm a pretty standard eggs/bacon breakfast eater, but I wanted to be a bit different. I played it safe by omitting items I wouldn't normally eat, but even without them, this was tasty and probably my favorite breakfast item I've ever ordered from a restaurant!

David ordered Multigrain Pancakes, Scrambled eggs and a bagel

David's Review A typical breakfast however their iced tea was fresh brewed and very delicious.

So First Watch is definitely on our list to return when we make it back there! I learned that sometimes you just gotta leave the bubble! I will learn from this on future trips to Universal (NOT disney, haha!)

After a laid back day at Universal/Islands of Adventure, and many butter beers in between. We found our way to the Stay & Scream area of Universal Studios, in front of a restaurant called Finnegans. Being the planner I am, I knew this is where the S&S area was for Halloween Horror Nights, so I made an advanced reservation, so we could sit, relax, eat while we waited for the party to start.

I ordered the Corned Beef & Cabbage:

Nicole's Review - I enjoyed this although the root vegetables were bland so I would probably substitute them for fries or something on the next go around. Again, as a new yorker, it's tough to beat Corned Beef found at places like Katz's or Carnegie Deli, but this wasn't bad it was actually better than you would find at most places!

David ordered a Corned Beef Sandwich on Pretzel Bread with fries

David's Review - I loved Finnegan's. Sandwich is tasty and different to have it on a pretzel bun. I don't like steak fries but I'm sure they were good.

And that completes our Universal Orlando dining experiences!! As a side note, Halloween Horror Nights was so much fun! We had never done it before, and we had such a great time. We had express pass so we were able to see all the haunted houses, all the scare zones and both shows! We even had time for the rides. This is where I had my Disney celebrity appearance! While waiting for one of the street shows, I look over and standing next to me is Ricky Brigante of Inside the Magic
I love Ricky and have listened to ITM for so many years! I subscribe to him on twitter and have always wondered if I would run into him at the parks! I said my quick hello, we snapped a picture, and that completed a great stay at Universal!

Coming up next we switch over to Disney, meet a DISer almost immediately, and begin our adventures over there!

 

[LMO429]

great first review! Thank you for the first watch suggestion.

What is the stay and scream area?

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Great reviews!! Can't wait for more!!

 

[librarygeek]

That pretzel bread looks good! I've never eaten at any of the sit down restaurants at Universal. Have you eaten at Mythos? I've heard that one is supposed to be really good but I haven't seen any review of it.

 

[nutz2notz]

Great reviews so far.

I have two boys and two girls, and all four of them are Disneyfied to the max. It is good to see siblings enjoying each others company and what a better place than WDW.

 

[Nicole786]

great first review! Thank you for the first watch suggestion.

What is the stay and scream area?

First watch was awesome!

Stay and scream is used for halloween horror nights. If you are already in the park, they put you in a holding area and you are released to horror nights about 30 minutes before regular opening. Its much more laid back then entering through the front, but most people only have tickets to HHN, so they have no choice

Hi
Great reviews!! Can't wait for more!!

Thanks!

That pretzel bread looks good! I've never eaten at any of the sit down restaurants at Universal. Have you eaten at Mythos? I've heard that one is supposed to be really good but I haven't seen any review of it.

I haven't eaten at Mythos but i always hear great things!

Great reviews so far.

I have two boys and two girls, and all four of them are Disneyfied to the max. It is good to see siblings enjoying each others company and what a better place than WDW.

When david and I were younger we didn't get along at all, now we have similar interests so we are great friends!

 

[mousiemom]

great report so far. we love universal too and my dh (who scares me any chance he can get) wants to go to HHN but i know it would freaked me out. my dh and 11 yr dd went in the house of horrors @ universal in hollywood but i was a chicken and waited outside. i watched the video surprising your parents and that was so cool and your mama was very funny! i can't wait to go on a dc. you had to throw in that wish upon a star music that i tear up at everytime. can't wait to read the rest of your report.

 

[Tracerr00]

Excellent reviews! I'm going on a Disney cruise in January and we're staying at Universal for two days before the cruise (and Disney after). So I'm loving your Universal portions. I did manage to spend a few hours at IOA last month and I completely agree that the frozen butterbeer is fantastic! Looking forward to more reviews!