~Good food is like music you can taste~ NEWS 07/11

[TinkerBelle_325]

"Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell" - Gusteau, Ratatouille

Hello!

I am so sorry for my lengthy absence from the DISboards. It has been a hectic and stressful 6 months, and with a bit of luck I'll be able to tell you all why shortly. But in the meantime...We are going to Disney in 17 days!!

Welcome to my newest Dining Review! Thank you to those that have followed me since 2009 and welcome to those that are new followers! I truly appreciate that you all take the time to read my reviews

Yes....I realize that I am starting my April Dining Review BEFORE I have finished my October Dining Review BUT the October review will be completed...within the next few weeks or so...I swear....really....

ABOUT ME

I'm Meg, I'm 27 and I have done a many Dining Reports in the past, most notably Sept & Oct 2010, May 2011 as well as October 2011. I also seem to be somewhat famous for *this* picture:

At which most people go and then when they discover this is NOT Yoshi's Deluxe Platter but our insane first experience with California Grill Sushi that set us back $100 LOL. It was soooo worth it but we've never ordered that much since. Typically we stick to 2 or 3 rolls now.


This will be my 43rd trip to WDW and my 12th stay at Coronado Springs, my favorite moderate resort. I am a true foodie and I love trying new restaurants and menu items. I take pictures of everything we eat each trip and love reviewing our meals.

Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Rides:Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain & Soarin'
Favorite Restaurants:Victoria & Albert's, California Grill, Jiko
Favorite Snack:Dole Whip

Pre-Review Table of Contents
Introductory Post
Dining Game Plan, Itinerary & Dining Reservations


Review Table of Contents
Wednesday, April 18th - Chefs de France
Thursday, April 19th - Main Street Bakery and Liberty Tree Tavern
Thursday, April 19th - Kona Cafe
Friday, April 20th - Jiko
Saturday, April 21st
Sunday, April 22nd
Monday, April 23rd
Tuesday, April 24th
Wednesday, April 25th
Thursday, April 26th

CAST

DMom
This will be DMom's 48th trip to WDW. She is punctual and easy going at the same time (She had to learn to be with my DDad and I who are both well....stubborn and perpetually late). She loves taking pictures and spending time by the pool.
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Rides: Soarin & Impressions de France
Favorite Restaurants: Victoria & Alberts, California Grill, Kona Island Sushi
Favorite Snack: Champagne!

DDad
This will be DDad's 48th trip to WDW. He is as much a Disney freak as me but hides it better. His favorite part of the trip is the food and spending time at World Showcase. As mentioned above...He is stubborn and perpetually late. He also finds it fun to "challenge" me on our vacations, most often by asking me to obtain "impossible" dining reservations with less than 24 hours notice (more on that later).
SPECIAL NOTE: Considering we booked this trip yesterday, and are leaving in 17 days, ALL the dining reservations were a "challenge" lol
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Rides: Pirates of the Caribbean, Soarin
Favorite Restaurants: Victoria & Albert's, California Grill, Kona Island Sushi Bar
Favorite Snack: Dole Whip

To read previous editions of my dining reviews:
2009, March 2010, Sept 2010, October 2010, May 2011, October 2011

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Dining Game Plan, Itinerary & Dining Reservations​

Dining Game Plan

This trip is all about relaxing and taking it easy. We have all had a very stressful past 6 months and we desperately need some time to let all the stress melt away.

We aren't doing as many signature meals. We are going more for comfort and classics.


Itinerary & Dining Reservations

Wednesday, April 18th
Breakfast: Cracker Barrel
Lunch: Likely McDonald's or similar in Orlando
Dinner: Les Chefs de France

Thursday, April 19th
Breakfast: Main Street Bakery
Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner: Kona Island Sushi

Friday, April 20th
Breakfast: In Room
Lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner: Via Napoli

Saturday, April 21st
Breakfast: In Room
Lunch: Tangerine Cafe (Meg)/ ESPN (DMom & DDad)
Dinner: California Grill

Sunday, April 22nd
Breakfast: In Room
Lunch: Red Lobster
Dinner: Raglan Road or Outback

Monday, April 23rd
Breakfast: Wolfgang Puck Express
Lunch: Garden View Tea
Dinner: Jiko

Tuesday, April 24th
Breakfast: In Room
Lunch: Yak & Yeti
Dinner: La Hacienda

Wednesday, April 25th
Breakfast: In Room
Lunch: The Wave
Dinner: Les Chefs de France

Thursday, April 26th
Breakfast: In Room
Lunch: Pepper Market
Dinner: Wolfgang Puck Express

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Your line up looks really good. You have a lot of places I'm booking for my fall trip.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Your line up looks really good. You have a lot of places I'm booking for my fall trip.

Thanks! While we aren't trying many new places we are looking forward to enjoying some old favorites

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

2 Weeks!!​

I can't believe that two weeks from today I will be on a plane to Florida This is easily the shortest amount of time I've ever had to count down to a Disney vacation.

Snacks & Drinks Game Plan

With all the fantastic snack and drink options at WDW you've got to have a game plan!

Here's the items on my wishlist for our upcoming trip:

MAGIC KINGDOM
- Dole Whip
- Dole Whip Float! (never tried this and I need to!)
- Citrus Swirl (I have a feeling DDad is gonna love this one. He loves creamcicles)
- Cotton Candy from the Confectionery (it's a tradition!)
- Jalapeno Cream Cheese Pretzel (I've heard such great things!)

EPCOT
- LA CAVA DEL TEQUILA (sorry for the "shouting" but I love this place!)
- School Bread, Rice Cream and Waffles from Kringla Bakeri
- Caramel Corn & the Caramel Pecan Cluster from Karamel Kuche
- Rosa Regale and Prosecco from Italy
- Chocolate Crepe from France
- Grey Goose Slush
- Fish & Chips (it is absolutely blasphemous that I've never tried these!)

ANIMAL KINGDOM
- Frozen Lemonade
- one of the cute cupcakes from Kusafiri Cafe

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
- Carrot Cake Cookie
- Red Velvet Cupcake

 

[vettegirl]

Wow, it sounds like a great lineup! I am 42 days away from our stay at the CSR, it's one of our favorite resorts! Can't wait to read all about it. Lori

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Wow, it sounds like a great lineup! I am 42 days away from our stay at the CSR, it's one of our favorite resorts! Can't wait to read all about it. Lori

Thanks for reading! We love CSR too and it has been a while since we stayed there.

 

[franandaj]

Wow! I thought you guys were going to be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Looking forward to hearing more about your exploits. I hope that the stress is over for a while and you can kick back and join us on your reviews.

Reading your last review it reminded me of just how opulent V&A's is. Now I have to go find a recent review of the place since I'm going to be eating there in less than a month!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Wow! I thought you guys were going to be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Looking forward to hearing more about your exploits. I hope that the stress is over for a while and you can kick back and join us on your reviews.

Reading your last review it reminded me of just how opulent V&A's is. Now I have to go find a recent review of the place since I'm going to be eating there in less than a month!

We were originally planning on AKL but DMom really wanted CSR so we switched.

Thanks for reading. The stress is relieved, but new stress is about to come in, at least this is good stress

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on and looking forward to your reviews!

 

[MickeyNicki]

My girl Meg! How are ya honey? I havent been on the Dis much at all and I am starting so research for my Oct trip because I have to make reservations a week from Saturday...EEK!!!!

So glad you are going back and cannot wait to drool all about it lol!

 

[sue and co]

Looking forward to your reports.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Signing on and looking forward to your reviews!

Hi! Thanks for reading

My girl Meg! How are ya honey? I havent been on the Dis much at all and I am starting so research for my Oct trip because I have to make reservations a week from Saturday...EEK!!!!

So glad you are going back and cannot wait to drool all about it lol!

Nicki! I'm good, how are you? It's ok, I've been DIS M.I.A. as well

When in Oct are you going? We are considering a quick F&W long weekend.

Looking forward to your reports.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to writing them

 

[MickeyNicki]

We will be there Oct 18-28, celebrating my big 4-0! I have to make my dining reservations on April 21 so I am eagerly awaiting your first three days of meals lol

Hope you can come back in Oct so we can do drinks!

 

[heidia]

Exciting, I'm also Canadian (east coast) and will be at CSR April 16-24!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Big Announcement!​

I can *finally* tell you all why I have been MIA from the DISboards for the past 6 months!....

I am going to do an MBA!​

This has been a goal of mine for years. I have worked at an incredibly demanding job in the heart of Toronto's financial district for 3 years and for the past 6 months I have:
- studied for the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test)
- beat the GMAT (dear god it was hard!)
- applied to business schools
- received acceptance from my school of choice!

​

I start classes on May 7th, so our trip to Disney was dependent on my admission AND on being able to give my work enough notice! Monday is my last day and then Wed off we go to WDW to CELEBRATE!

I can't believe we are leaving in 5 days! And with that....

Dealing with an Indecisive DD (DDad and Disney Diner):
The Tale of the Last-Minute Dining Changes​

I really didn't think I'd have a reason to post this story on this report...nah...here I was thinking "we booked less than three weeks out! It is a miracle that I got the reservations I did. DDad will respect that."...yeah...right!

So, any of you that have followed my previous reviews know that my DDad likes to change things up at the last minute.

Typically, I have planned the trip months in advance, examined menus, park hours, EMH schedules etc. I have mapped out what I feel is the perfect itinerary. I offer to show him said itinerary numerous times in the months leading up to the trip and his response is always “I trust you”with a smile.

Suuure, he trusts me. Then why is it, without fail, one week before every trip (or in this case, 6 days before the trip) I hear, “Hey Meg….can I see the itinerary?...”

Which causes the following thoughts to run through my head….

Oh god…I’m screwed….he is going to want to change something, or he will ask me to obtain the impossible reservation. I understand he wants some flexibility, but for heaven’s sake, he has been to WDW as often as me, he knows that dining reservation book out months in advance…doesn't he?

I groan and hand it over, waiting to see what his changes are.

Here is an example from a previous trip:

“Why aren’t we eating at Flame Tree BBQ when we go to the Animal Kingdom?”

“I told you Dad, Flame Tree BBQ is closed for refurbishment until Sept 20th.”

“But you also said it might open early!”

“Key word being MIGHT Dad, I said might! It's Disney...remember how long it took them to open Test Track?? Right now it looks like it is behind schedule.”

“But I want to eat there!”

“So do I, but we'll do that in October.”

As an aside: We will do that in October has become a bit of a running joke in our family. We stayed at WDW during Tropical Storm Faye and it prevented us from doing several activities we had planned. As we were returning in late October for the F&W Festival we began saying "We'll do that in October" and as you can imagine the list of things we were doing in October got laughably big


“Ok…fine...”


So DDad continues to look over the itinerary.

“You know, the Grand Floridian Cafe looks a bit…blah…why don’t we eat somewhere else that night?”

“Um…ok. Well The Wave should be pretty easy to get.”

“Ok, that sounds good, I liked The Wave.”

I go onto the WDW and easily find a reservation for The Wave, and just as I am finishing up and getting my confirmation number…

“What about the California Grill?”

“We are eating there on your anniversary.”

“I know, but what about California Grill instead of The Wave.”

“What?? Are you kidding? After Le Cellier, and outside of Cinderella’s Royal Table, California Grill is the holy grail of dining reservations. I barely got one for your anniversary and it was at a crappy time, but I got it. Besides, I've been looking for weeks and the California Grill is booked solid.”

“I’m sure you can get us in on the 7th as well.”

“No. I can’t.”

"We will just have to see when we get there. Maybe we can just walk up."

I was emphatic that there was no way on god’s green earth that I could get us a SECOND California Grill reservation, one week away! I just laughed at his suggestion to "walk-up" and said that MAYBE we could eat at the lounge but it would have to be right at the start of dinner service.

But, being the curious person I am, I checked out the WDW website this morning…I entered Sept 7th, dinner, 3 adults and smugly waited as the website processed. I was absolutely sure I was going to get:

“No dinner reservations are available 09/07/10.”

Then it happened….

No way….

That is not possible….

9:40pm available.

Crap. I’m never going to live this down. So I made the reservation and resigned myself to the fact that DDad would mock my lack of faith in spontaneity.

Then, I felt an Alice in Wonderland moment hit me…curiouser and curiouser…I entered Sept 5th…absolutely sure that there would be no availability and we would be stuck with out 5:40pm reservation.

Good lord…..would you look at that….

7:45pm available

So I re-booked that dinner as well.

Sadly, now he is never going to believe that last minute dining reservation changes are as impossible as I make them out to be.

But such is life with an Indecisive DDad.

Fast-forward to last night...

DDad and I were talking about the dining game plan for our upcoming trip. I was explaining that while we like offsite meals (such as Red Lobster, Outback and Macaroni's) it might make more sense economically to eat at on-site restaurants because of our Tables in Wonderland Card.
With that he says...

"I really want the shrimp tacos from La Hacienda"

"You told me that you didn't like la Hacienda the last time we are there!"

"That can't be right...They have that great queso and the shrimp tacos are amazing. Can we eat there?" *smirk*

"Ah ha! I beat you to it this time! We already have a reservation at La Hacienda! I ignored your "I don't like La Hacienda comment" taking it as code for "actually, I just don't remember at this moment that I DO like La Hacienda." Bet you didn't see that coming, did ya?" *pleased smile*

"Huh...ok...well what about Flying Fish?"

"WHAT! You told me "we need to cut back on signature restaurants this trip. Let's do more casual dining." and now you want me to add a THIRD signature to the plans?!?"

"I like the crab cakes there and we haven't been in a while." *smirk*

*eyeroll* "Ok, fine, let me see what I can do..."

 

[creativeamanda]

Joining in. I'll tell you, though, it's been a lot easier to get ressies now that the new credit card guarantee is enforced.

 

[sue and co]

We haven;t been since the new rules came in but I am looking forward to easier ADR's when we do book to come back as I think a lot of people that used to make multiples so they could decide on the day are now being sensible about it.

 

[jedijill]

Congrats on the decision to get your MBA and congrats on getting into your first choice school! It's hard work but so worth it in the end! I celebrated my MBA by taking my first Disney cruise!

Jill in CO

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

We will be there Oct 18-28, celebrating my big 4-0! I have to make my dining reservations on April 21 so I am eagerly awaiting your first three days of meals lol

Hope you can come back in Oct so we can do drinks!

We are looking at the first week in October. Too bad! But we will definitely meet up again on a future trip

Exciting, I'm also Canadian (east coast) and will be at CSR April 16-24!

Awesome! Hope you are having a great time at CSR.

Joining in. I'll tell you, though, it's been a lot easier to get ressies now that the new credit card guarantee is enforced.

I've noticed it's a bit easier, but still a challenge less than a week out.

We haven;t been since the new rules came in but I am looking forward to easier ADR's when we do book to come back as I think a lot of people that used to make multiples so they could decide on the day are now being sensible about it.

I agree. I think people are being more respectful about dining reservations. We really don't want all of them to change to CC holds as that would be quite a pain.

Congrats on the decision to get your MBA and congrats on getting into your first choice school! It's hard work but so worth it in the end! I celebrated my MBA by taking my first Disney cruise!

Jill in CO

Thanks so much! I know it will be a lot of work but I'm so excited. I've been working towards this for three years. When I graduate I want to take a trip to Paris. We went in 2005 and I've been dying to go back since.