Good Values & Gooder Splurges! w/ Pics! (3-Trips-in-1-Report) - UPDATE 11/7

[butiflfeet]

Great update! Our trip in December will be the first time we try LTT and your pics are making me hungry!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Thanks for the update. Do I sense that Trip 3 details will be arriving on our screens soon?

Yep! Soon...

Great reports so far!

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying!

Great update! Our trip in December will be the first time we try LTT and your pics are making me hungry!

You'll love LTT! ...and a December trip! I can't wait to go back some time with Christmas decorations all over! It's amazing how much the park can change and give you a whole different feel that time of the year! Love it!

(Got room in your suitcase for a 5'5" female? )

 

[NorweJenNY]

My apologies for not being around... a bit of a rocky month with my position at work being in jeopardy and then needing a bunch of house repairs... because things always happen all at once!

And of course, I finally found out I was losing my job the day after our annual passes expired! Had I known even a week earlier I would've taken a last minute trip with some vacation time I still had in order to go and clear my head (at this point I'm used to finding some deals at the last minute!) But no, I'm stuck in NC, and now I'm taking the last of my vacation days at home before my official last day... I already cleaned out my office.

So anyway... here I am, apparently with some extra time on my hands... so let's continue on this report, shall we? I'm going to attempt my next review within the next hour...

 

[NorweJenNY]

Easter Weekend
Day #2 - Snacks

Sure, we just had dessert at LTT, but we were to leave by mid-afternoon, and it's a sin (especially in hubby's mind) to leave Disney without a trip to Aloha Aisle for some dole whips.

This particular trip was really neat, as it was a bit busy, (late afternoon, a weekend, a Saturday, the day before Easter, etc.), but we managed to find a very cool place to sit and enjoy our treats - the Adventureland Veranda. Now, this place I had never seen open in all my trips to Disney. But they were open and serving!

I did happen across a video from 1992 that shows the inside of this place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkYXoCgXqwA. It looked pretty much the same - had a Tiki Room/Polynesian feel to it... completely inside. They even had a menu to order from there, but we just ate our dole whip treats there because the place was otherwise empty! (Maybe it was busier at lunch time? )

The boys shared a vanilla dole whip, because it's HUGE!

(Wait for the picture of mine to see the real color.)

Hubby had his pineapple dole whip...

He was in heaven, as usual...

I had a dole whip float - pineapple juice with vanilla-orange swirl dole whip...

I already had to scrape the sides because it was melting. (Imagine that... heat in Florida?! )

But the color was most striking! I knew to expect the orange, but how funky was it with the lavendar-colored vanilla?! Must've been an Easter thing. It looked a bit odd with the orange and yellow...

One disappointment was that hollow center...

True, it was plenty to eat anyway, but it just feels incomplete when I find this. I love pineapple juice, and having it with dole whip is nice, though I don't think I'll do orange again. The orange flavor was too fake for me, kinda like a tic tac flavor... which isn't necessarily bad, but to me, it was so-so. I'll stick with all vanilla next time.

So... in my mind...

Good: Pineapple Juice + Dole Whip = Refreshing

Gooder: Hubby got his momentary satisfaction to feed his dole whip addiction.

Goodest: Checking out the Adventureland Veranda was a bit of an adventure itself! Loved finding a quiet, cool place to sit during an otherwise hot day during the peak of spring break!

We will be back... got a whole May trip to report on, including Aloha Aisle again, where hubby eventually learns how to really order a dole whip... but you'll just have to wait for that part. In the mean time, if you haven't already checked my list toward the beginning of this thread, our May trip was a doozy overall! Lots to report on, so stay tuned!

 

[tink too]

Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry to hear about your job situation. Here's hoping you find something else soon.

 

[tink too]

I thought my screen colours were way off when I saw that lilac and luminous orange concoction! I'll be treating DH to a pineapple dole whip for the first time in October - I can't believe we've never tried them before now.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Enjoying your reports - sorry to hear about your job situation, though!

Looking forward to finding out the correct way to order a Dole Whip - just in time for my own vacation!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry to hear about your job situation. Here's hoping you find something else soon.

Thanks for the hug, Tink! Hopefully your pixie dust will help.

I thought my screen colours were way off when I saw that lilac and luminous orange concoction! I'll be treating DH to a pineapple dole whip for the first time in October - I can't believe we've never tried them before now.

LOL! Yeah... orange and lavendar in yellow juice is quite the sight! I don't think they'll do lavendar in October though...

Enjoying your reports - sorry to hear about your job situation, though!

Looking forward to finding out the correct way to order a Dole Whip - just in time for my own vacation!

Glad you're enjoying! Hopefully I'll get to that dole whip part before your trip...

 

[wilma-bride]

So sorry about your job situation Jenny. I hope you manage to find something else soon

I have really enjoyed your latest round of reviews, which I read while eating a tub of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked

 

[tink too]

LOL! Yeah... orange and lavendar in yellow juice is quite the sight! I don't think they'll do lavendar in October though...

I'm hoping they don't go with a Halloween theme and choose purple either!

 

[NorweJenNY]

So sorry about your job situation Jenny. I hope you manage to find something else soon

I have really enjoyed your latest round of reviews, which I read while eating a tub of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked

Thanks... we'll hope for the best!

Pssst... Got any of that Ben and Jerry's to share?

I'm hoping they don't go with a Halloween theme and choose purple either!

I think they're best off leaving the vanilla white then... if you a get pineapple juice float with vanilla and orange swirl, then you'll have the same colors as candy corn!

I heard about some pink and green dole whips some time before Christmas (pink because they couldn't make it fully red)... some things are best left unchanged... I say if they want to go Christmas-y, skip the color change and maybe have eggnog flavored ice cream for a festive Florida treat.

 

[CarolineInToronto]

Goodest: Eggs AND bacon! Yay, protein!

LOL - this cracks me up! As a low-carber as well, I'm all about scouting out enough protein in my meals to help off-set the extra carbs I'll be eating while on vay-cay

 

[NorweJenNY]

LOL - this cracks me up! As a low-carber as well, I'm all about scouting out enough protein in my meals to help off-set the extra carbs I'll be eating while on vay-cay

Good to plan ahead!

Enjoy your vay-cay! Just remember, worst case scenario, there's plenty of protein at home to help off-set your vay-cay carbs...

 

[NorweJenNY]

Time to move on to our next (and last) and biggest vacation of the year!

May 2010
Day #1

Because we had driven down a good chunk of the drive from Charlotte on the previous night, we made it to Disney World by lunch time, where we would try a new place (at least to us)... House of Blues!

This was a great deal - one of those high values for a meal (though it could've been better than what we did). I had a Restaurant.com "gift certificate" (more like a high value coupon) for $25 off a $35 purchase (and the cost was about $2-3 for that one).

Getting a $35 total was not going to be any issue as we were, at this point, 3 adults (hubby, Grandmom, and myself) plus Big Guy and Little Guy.

Big Guy got a nice size cheeseburger, which he covered with ketchup. His side of fries was also eventually devoured after he covered them with ketchup as well (way too much... he did it when we weren't looking.)

Little Guy got a hot dog. It was a very decent size once again for a kid's meal (even if you can't tell from the picture). He also had fries... lots. The fries were very good, there were just too many of them at our table overall!

WARNING: Kid's meals at House of Blues looked like they were similarly priced to all other kid's meals at Disney, but the drinks were not included. We didn't realize that when we ordered, otherwise we would have given the kids waters and let them get their juice from our stash in the van. (I often drink water at restaurants to save money myself - it just seems like a huge, unnecessary expense most of the time.)

Hubby got a Philly cheesesteak... with more fries...

It was a fairly large sandwich - so hubby was happy. True, it still wasn't a real philly, like you'd get in philly with the fake cheese sauce and grease dripping all over - but he knew not to expect that... still, hubby enjoyed it. Although the picture kinda shoes a big amount of bread, there really was a large amount of meat and cheese and onions inside.

Grandmom and I split a meal... a huge rack of ribs...

It didn't even fit on the plate! Awesome! Though, it was also an indicator that we would have to divide up the meals on our plates ourselves... not a huge deal, but not what we were typically used to when sharing TS meals in Disney - usually we get shared meals already split as half-portions on two separate plates.

The ribs were not particularly the saucy kind - just a little... and they had a slight sweetness to them, but not as much as a true honey BBQ sauce. I believe I recall just a hint of a spice to it - just a slight tingle on the tongue. They certainly were soft and enjoyable - and had their own distinct flavor to keep them different from all other ribs we'd had on property (WCC, SciFi, POFQ, Cosmic Ray, Flame Tree, etc.) It was quite a pricetag ($25, thus eating up our entire "gift certificate" with one full order), but as long as we were sharing again (far too much for a single person), we'd consider ordering them again.

We also got coleslaw and fries with ribs. I'm not a coleslaw person, but I don't think my mom was too thrilled with it either (and she's more likely to like it.) Fries though, good... once again... just too many at our table!

Our bill total, after subtracting the "gift card" and adding tax and tip, came to $49... $37 of which became our family of four's share. (Grandmom and I decided $12 would be a fair share for her half of the ribs plus tax, tip, drink, while getting the advantage of some of the discount.)

So... to sum up...

Good: Lunch time (even on this particular Saturday) was a very slow time at HoB... we had an ADR but really didn't need it based on seeing sooo many empty tables in the restaurant. I have a feeling this place is busier at night though. It's not like there was live music while we were there - which is a major draw at other times.

Gooder: Back in May, HoB was the one place on property where we could use Restaurant.com "gift certificates." This certainly helped make this a great value! (BTW, since then, some Swan & Dolphin restaurants had been added to Restaurant.com's list as well.)

Goodest: Great portion sizes - especially the yummy ribs! $25 may sound like a lot for a single meal, but the ribs are probably the easiest no-brainer when looking for a meal to share!
_____________________________

I'm just gonna drop in one quick note about dinner on our first day... quick note as it's not a Disney meal, and I don't have food pictures. We did go spend some time in the parks after lunch, but we went off property for dinner at Bennigan's (before checking into Cypress Pointe Grand Villas - where we spent the first three nights in a two-bedroom suite).

Again, I had a Restaurant.com gift certificate ($25 off $35 purchase) - which really gave us another great value! The kid's meals were affordable as well - and even included a cookie sandwich for dessert. I got my Monte Cristo! (That's my all-time favorite Bennigan's food - and so big that I was able to save half for breakfast another morning.) My mom and hubby each had their own meals as well. Our pre-discount total was just over $35, which meant that our post-tax-&-tip total was only about $20!

Here are the only pictures I got... because it was just a cool experience...

This dude was awesome at balloon animals! (We gave him a tip for how awesome his creations turned out.) No simple swords and doggies here! (Though if you really wanted those usuals, he'd have done that too.)

Big Guy got a T-Rex...

Little Guy got a motorcycle...

Even for an offsite meal, Bennigan's was one experience worth mentioning! Great food, service, and value... insane value!

 

[wilma-bride]

Jenny, thanks for the latest update - we have an ADR for HOB at the beginning of September so I was excited to see your review. DH was very excited to see those ribs

Great to hear about your trip to Bennigans actually - it used to be one of our favourite off-site restaurants, however on our last trip we went to a very poor one on the 192 and it was dire - bad service, horrible food. We left very disappointed. Would be interested to know which Bennigans it was that you went to.

 

[tink too]

Great update, Jenny.

I agree - those balloon creations are awesome!

 

[pearlieq]

And the man making them was hysterical! A show all by himself! Every time a new person came through the line, he'd give them a name and talk to them as if he knew them... like "hey, Jimmy! Great party last night!" Or an older woman comes through and he says something like "Mary! How could you stand me up like that the other night!"

A little late to the party here, but thanks for bringing up a very happy memory!

I loved that guy! He was just so funny and full of life. I was "Tina" and DH was "Jorge". He started all of our mornings off with a chuckle.

Thanks for the great info. Glad you had such a nice time!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Jenny, thanks for the latest update - we have an ADR for HOB at the beginning of September so I was excited to see your review. DH was very excited to see those ribs

Great to hear about your trip to Bennigans actually - it used to be one of our favourite off-site restaurants, however on our last trip we went to a very poor one on the 192 and it was dire - bad service, horrible food. We left very disappointed. Would be interested to know which Bennigans it was that you went to.

If your hubby wants to tackle those ribs alone, make sure he comes very hungry!

I believe this Bennigan's was on W. Irlo Bronson... we were very pleased with it! BTW... They had a sign on the door saying they no longer take gift cards, but that just applies to traditional Bennigan's gift cards (maybe they're a franchise?). They certainly accepted the Restaurant.com certificates though!

Great update, Jenny.

I agree - those balloon creations are awesome!

That dude was good! I would love to see some Disney balloon creations though... I wonder if they ever do that in WDW...

A little late to the party here, but thanks for bringing up a very happy memory!

I loved that guy! He was just so funny and full of life. I was "Tina" and DH was "Jorge". He started all of our mornings off with a chuckle.

Thanks for the great info. Glad you had such a nice time!

I'm so glad someone remembered the omelet station guy from Embassy Suites! He was hilarious!

 

[NorweJenNY]

May 2010
Day #2 - Lunch

Since we were staying in a two-bedroom suite at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas, we had a full kitchen and ate our breakfasts there. (Crossroads shopping center was nearby for convenient groceries.)

Since we planned on being at Magic Kingdom, I made lunchtime ADRs for us at Tony's Town Square, which was another new restaurant for us. And the best part of taking pictures of food here was that I wasn't the only one! There was another food reviewer from here on the DISboards that was just a couple tables over from us taking shots!

The atmosphere outside this restaurant (being by the front gates of MK) was busier than the inside, fortunately. Considering it didn't seem overly busy inside, we had particularly slow service, but I think that was mostly because of our particular waiter - as other tables were receiving prompt service. The inside was rather pleasant, but simple - not an overly elaborate decor. It had similar features and feel to the decor of the Plaza Restaurant and Crystal Palace, but got slightly darker further inside the restaurant. The Lady & The Tramp fountain and pictures on the window were about the only Disney distinctions in here. The sunroom looked like a nice, brighter place to sit (though we were seated deeper inside), and I can see why people like sitting here for parades and such - that would make for a great view!

Hubby's mother had joined us now, so I'll start with her plate. She had the Shrimp Scampi Linguini, served with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Asparagus tossed in a Garlic Sauce.

She enjoyed it, but her only complaint was that there wasn't all that much shrimp in it.

The kiddos each had a pizza...

Little Guy had with pepperoni, and Big Guy had without. Neither one was particularly thrilled with it, eating not quite half of their respective pizzas. But the adults enjoyed munching on them! There was quite a bit of cheese on it, and I know Little Guy isn't thrilled with that... he's a minimalist when it comes to cheese on pizza (and on pizza is just about the only way he'll eat cheese). Big Guy loves cheese, but I guess something about the crust or seasoning didn't appeal to him. I didn't find it highly seasoned though. He did eat some of the cheese off the top of the pizza, which suggests to me that it was more the crust that he didn't care for. These were pizzas that just were different than other pizzas on property... more of a homemade type of crust, I suppose you could say. I think my kids were just being too picky, but I bet other kids may like it.

Hubby and my mom got the chicken parm. (My mother and I split each other's meals - half and half).

The pasta and sauce was average, but the chicken itself was surprisingly thick and a bit juicy, making it quite enjoyable. There wasn't enough cheese on the chicken for our liking, but this is where it was convenient that the boys' pizzas had so much extra cheese on it.

My dish (also split with my mom, remember) was the Chicken Florentine Calzone, filled with chicken, spinach, caramelized onions, and mozzarella. (Yes, this helped compensate for the cheese deficiency in another dish!)

I wish I had taken a picture of the inside of this. Usually when I get something "florentine" I expect to see a lot of green (spinach) with some white from cheese/cream, but this was almost entirely white inside! There were very few pieces of spinach, and had I not been looking for them, I may have not even realized there was any spinach in it at all. Not that I'm complaining, as the chicken, onions, and cheese made for quite a nice calzone filling! The filling was overall smooth and creamy, and possibly would have been a little too much had this been my entire meal. Another note about this is that it was a tad bit salty... I just know this as I generally salt my food but this didn't make me reach for the salt shaker at all. Therefore, I suspect that people who are not into much saltiness might have a problem with this dish. My mom and I - cheesy & salty lovers that we are - enjoyed it though.

The total bill, after the 20% TiW discount, with tax and tip, came to about $89 for four adults and two kids. My more immediate family of four were accountable for about $49.

So my summary for Tony's...

Good: Pleasant decor/atmosphere made for a welcome break from crowds outside.

Gooder: Surprisingly plump chicken in the chicken parm made for a particularly filling meal.

Goodest: The cheese on the pizzas and in the calzone was rather plentiful and tasty, and greatly enjoyed by most of us cheese-lovers (in moderation ).

We may or may not return to Tony's... more likely if we come without the kiddos. Liberty Tree Tavern remains our favorite for lunch in MK.

 

[wilma-bride]

I have read on another review that the Calzone at Tony's is very salty. I love salty food but can't stand it if it's over-salted IYKWIM. That kids' pizza looked pretty good though