Having Annual Passes means infinite Disney trips, right? *COMPLETED* 6/5 California Grill Brunch

Trip 4 - 9/28-10/1
Food and Wine Festival


Saturday's weather was looking a lot clearer, which was great for our plans in Epcot. There isn't much cover in that park so I'm glad it didn't rain much. We had a slow start to this day and didn't actually leave our hotel until around noon. Our first fast pass was 12:15-1:15 for Soarin and we just made it to the end of that.

Something I found interesting. We had a 'do not disturb' sign on the door the entire stay. When we left the room I got a text from the hotel asking if we had left it on the door by mistake and if we wanted the room cleaned. I think they could tell the magic bands had left the room, which is an interesting bit of technology.

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I was in desperate need of coffee, so our first stop after Soarin was Starbucks. We didn't get any breakfast food since it was already the afternoon and we wanted to try out the food booths at the Food and Wine Festival.


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Our first stop was Canada. I had read most people go the direction of the little booklet they give you and if you head in the opposite direction it's less crowded. Conveniently, the first country we wanted to visit was on the last page.

Canada. So my plan was to get one of each and split the items with my boyfriend. He didn't like this plan. Apparently he didn't want to share the food, so we ended up getting a lot of doubles. We got: “Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce and Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup served with a Pretzel Roll.

When we went last year we had eaten here and thought the food was so amazing we ended up eating at Le Cellier. The steak was cooked perfectly and the sauce with mushrooms were delicious. I originally didn't want the soup, but ended up eating half of it. It was delicious and went well with the pretzel. These have yet to disappoint.

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A close up of the soup.

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A close up of my steak.

We found a table to eat these at nearby. We ended up sharing a table with some friendly couple who were looking for a place to eat as well. Looking through the booklet we decided we wanted to try something from Ireland. As we were walking there, we had to walk by the Scotland booth. Well, it smelled so good we had to stop and eat something from there.

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Fresh Potato Pancake with Scottish Smoked Salmon and Herbed Sour Cream.

I suggested we split one and this was shot down. I am not a big fan of salmon, so my boyfriend got to eat double the portion for that. This was as delicious as it smelled, I'm so happy we tried it. My boyfriend seemed to really enjoy the salmon. I'm not sure if the picture does the portion justice, because it was pretty big.

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A close up of mine. Something I also really liked was there was no lingering fish taste on the potato pancake after I gave my boyfriend the salmon.

We moved onto to Ireland next.

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  • Warm Irish Cheddar Cheese and Stout Dip with Irish Brown Bread


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Warm Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard

We were starting to get full, so we actually only got one of each. I really enjoyed both of these. The cheese dip had a strong beer flavor to it, but for a girl who does not like beer it was actually good. I was not a fan of the bread though and just ate it with a spoon. The dessert was delicious, with melted chocolate deliciousness inside.

After we finished eating it started to rain. We sought shelter in the Canadian gift shop and it was down poring for like ten minutes. Then stopped completely. We had dinner in a few hours, so we decided to head back to the hotel to change and go to Disney Springs where we'd be eating at Morimoto Asia for the first time.



 
Trip 4 - 9/28-10/1
Morimoto Asia

Dinner for this night changed multiple times before we made it out. Eventually we decided on Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs since neither of us had been. The nice thing about some of the Disney Spring's restaurants is being able to make the reservation on open table. Our plan was to take the Disney bus over to Disney Springs, but the pick up time was getting later and later and I was getting nervous we'd miss our reservation. We ended up getting an Uber there. It's the first time I've used Uber at Disney and it worked great.

Since we took an Uber we ended up getting there really fast and had extra time before our reservation.

As we were walking to the reservation we walked past the Coca Cola store and I had to stop inside. I knew there was a bear you could meet and his pictures looked hilarious so I wanted to go.

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Really cute line to wait in. The floor acted like ice with baby polar bears swimming underneath. When the polar bear that takes pictures came out it froze over completely.

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This was a fun meet and greet and they gave you a card after to download the picture onto your MDE account.

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We had a 6pm reservation and they were taking no walk ups.

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After checking in they told us that they would text when our table was ready. We listened to some Irish music outside while we waited.

We didn't have to wait long for our table to be ready. We had a table on the second floor over looking the first floor. This restaurant is really pretty, I loved the chandeliers.

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Here's some pictures of the menu:

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I was in need of an alcoholic beverage and many of the drinks on the menu looked good to me.

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I went with the Sparkling Belvedere. It was delicious. Description on the menu: Belvedere Vodka, Yuzu Juice, Calpico, Cranberry, Moet Sparkling Rose. I have no idea what a few of those items are, but they worked.

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My boyfriend got a Sam Adams beer. I think there were a few on the menu, no idea which one this is. He enjoyed it.



 
Trip 4 - 9/28-10/1
Morimoto Asia Part 2

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I thought the water glasses were so cute.

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So I am obsessed with Miso Soup. I order it any time I'm in a restaurant with it on the menu. One of these days I'll learn how to make it myself. This was great, I wish I had gotten a bowl. My boyfriend also got a cup and enjoyed his as well.

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For my main meal I got Shrimp and tofu Pad Thai. This was delicious. I was surprised to like the tofu as well, its not something I'd normally get in Pad Thai.

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My boyfriend got orange chicken and Chinese broccoli, with a side of white rice. He enjoyed this. I tried a piece of the chicken and it tasted good. He was really surprised by the strong citrus flavor that you don't normally get at like Pei Wei or Panda Express, those are more sugary in taste.

So this restaurant was a huge hit with us and we will definitely be back. Nothing disappointed and writing this review before lunch has made me incredibly hungry.

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After dinner we went across the bridge to Sprinkles. We got two ice creams. I was a little sad they told me they were out of the marshmallow fluff.

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They have a window where you can watch them make cupcakes. Before going inside I thought it was just an ice cream shop and was surprised by the cupcakes.

I wasn't a fan of much of the ice cream flavors and settled on Vanilla. My boyfriend got cookie dough.

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It tasted pretty good (would have been better with the marshmallow)

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We were eating these outside and the sky was getting really dark from rain clouds. As soon as we finished I suggested we head back to our hotel. We were going to ride the bus back this time.

The bus ride back was quite the adventure. It started to rain just as we got under the covered waiting area. A bus had just left for the Contemporary and we weren't sure how long before another got there, but there was a Polynesian bus waiting. So I suggested we get on that one and ride the monorail back to our hotel. So we switch lines and are the very last people to get squeezed on. I got to stand right in front of the drivers window.

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It was an interesting perspective. And then it started to down pour. I was worried the monorail wouldn't run if there was lightning and we'd get stuck at the Polynesian. Finally we get to the Polynesian and run upstairs to catch the monorail. There was a line of people going all the way back to Ohana. I've never seen it so backed up. It took two monorails to get us on. Luckily we made it back to our hotel just in time to watch fireworks again :)
 
Trip 4 - 9/28-10/1
Morimoto Asia Bonus

Since I had reached my picture limit and wanted to include just one, this is a bit of a bonus entry. I loved being able to watch the fireworks from our balcony, while it rained and stay dry. And then as soon as they ended get into bed immediately and go to sleep. Pretty awesome.

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Your dinner at Morimoto looks great. Its right after dinner here and I want some :-) We've only ever eaten appetizers there, but think we may do a full on dinner on our next trip. Your pad thai especially looks delicious, but I'm a sucker for all things pad thai and tofu and shrimp and basically just every asian food there is.
 
Your dinner at Morimoto looks great. Its right after dinner here and I want some :-) We've only ever eaten appetizers there, but think we may do a full on dinner on our next trip. Your pad thai especially looks delicious, but I'm a sucker for all things pad thai and tofu and shrimp and basically just every asian food there is.
There food there was just so good, you should definitely try a full dinner there. I too love pad thai and usually order it when I see it on a menu. This one did not disappoint at all.
 
Everything you had at the F&W booths looks so good! I have Canada on my list as well as the cheese soup and brown bread from Ireland, I had the cheese soup at Le Cellier YEARS ago. Also good to know there wasn't a salmon taste on the potato pancake; I don't do seafood but would love the pancake, so I'll do what you did and give the salmon to DH :)
We've been lucky enough to be able to watch fireworks from our balconies at the BC, BW and WL and I agree it's awesome. I still want to stay at the Contemporary one day for that reason. So nice not to deal with crowds while watching and especially getting out of the parks afterwards!
I keep saying I want to try a Sprinkles cupcake but then never do lol. One day.
 


Everything you had at the F&W booths looks so good! I have Canada on my list as well as the cheese soup and brown bread from Ireland, I had the cheese soup at Le Cellier YEARS ago. Also good to know there wasn't a salmon taste on the potato pancake; I don't do seafood but would love the pancake, so I'll do what you did and give the salmon to DH :)

I wish the Food and Wine Festival was year round, I want to go back and try more food and have these again.

We've been lucky enough to be able to watch fireworks from our balconies at the BC, BW and WL and I agree it's awesome. I still want to stay at the Contemporary one day for that reason. So nice not to deal with crowds while watching and especially getting out of the parks afterwards!
Getting out of the park after fireworks is so stressful, it's like a sea of people. I really liked being able to just walk inside to my room. We are staying there again in January, going with my boyfriend's kids for the first time and I figured this would be a great way to watch stress free and if they want to go to bed early we can still enjoy them.

Thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks for reading :)
 
Trip 4 - 9/28-10/1
Cinderella's Royal Table Lunch

I was really excited to go back to Cinderella's Royal Table. I know it's gotten some bad reviews, but I've actually enjoyed the food and it's just so cool to me to be inside the castle. Also, something I forgot to mention before. When we were going to our Be Our Guest lunch we walked by this restaurant. I guess someone didn't show for their reservation because there was a lady standing outside asking if a family of three would like to have lunch there. I know it can be really hard to get into, so I thought it was great some family was going to be able to add this to their day unexpectedly.

So our original plan for this day was to go to Magic Kingdom. But it was the 35th anniversary at Epcot, so we had to stop over there before we left.

For breakfast we went to Starbucks inside the Magic Kingdom.

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My boyfriend got the above. He was really sweet and waited for me to take a picture before eating. I had been standing in line waiting for my coffee.

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I changed it up slightly and got a caramel frappachino and a breakfast sandwich that came with egg, cheese and bacon.

Our lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table was for 11:50am. We had a fast pass for Peter Pan just before this. I figured we could ride that quick then head over, but then the line was delayed and we actually showed up 5 minutes late to lunch. *I am OCD about being on time. I'm never late for anything. So this stressed my out a lot and I was worried they'd give away our table. Luckily, this did not happen. It wasn't a problem at all and we were seated just after checking in.

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I love the little details inside the castle.

We had a seat on the upper level overlooking the room.

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The menu hadn't really changed since we had been there in May. I went with the cup of the day and the seasonal dessert to try different things.

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I considered getting a drink, but nothing appealed to me.

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This was new to us. The last time we had gone here they didn't give us a Wishing Star or do the cute little wishing ceremony thing. I love making wishes and was thrilled with this.

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Aurora in the background coming out. Our area was one of the last to be visited by the princesses, which delayed the meal a bit more. When we were here before our table was second, so we were able to leave much quicker since we saw everyone right away.

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I'm starting a collection of these. Not really sure what to do with all of them.

 
Trip 4 - 9/28-10/1
Cinderella's Royal Table Lunch Part 2

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I got a coke and water to drink.

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My boyfriend got an iced tea.

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For food my boyfriend and I ordered almost all the same things. He was very surprised I went with the soup of the day though. It was a tomato basil something. I do hate tomatoes, but when they're cooked they taste better to me. I actually enjoyed this, although it was a little chunky and was expecting it to be more smooth. The cheese crouton thing was delicious.

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My boyfriend and I both got the steak and shrimp. It was okay, nothing amazing, but not terrible.

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I went with the seasonal dessert. It was an orange cake with raspberry sauce. I thought this was actually really good. The cake was delicious, light and fluffy, the fresh raspberries on top were great, as was the sauce. That green looking leaf is actually chocolate.

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My boyfriend went with the chocolate dessert. He seemed to enjoy this.

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I decided to take the elevator down. I was wondering if it looked really pretty inside (it did not) and felt like the winding staircase with people going in every direction was a little confusing.

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Our meal here was very enjoyable. It might be a while before we go back. I want to try new places.

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After lunch we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. This is a picture of the fast pass line. The ride had a wait time of 75 minutes and the fast pass line went all the way out of Adventure Land. It was crazy, I've never seen this ride so busy before. The CM said they tried to tell the CM at the front of the line to just let fast pass people go through, but I don't think they were communicating. When we got up there they held the fast pass line to let a lot of the normal line go through. Seemed very disorganized.

After this ride we got on the monorail and went to over to Epcot. They gave us a special pin that said we were there on that date and a map with special activities. I didn't think it was really crowded. It took no time at all to go inside and we were able to pick up fast passes for the tier 1 rides. I did see long lines to buy things, but besides that the park was very manageable. I'm glad we went, it's cool to say I was there on the 35th anniversary.

So this concludes my 4th trip. For my 5th trip, I might actually be going for Thanksgiving. I convinced my boyfriend and booked a hotel and got a Thanksgiving meal booked. But then my work is now saying we might have to work and haven't made up their minds, so I might have to cancel the whole thing. Really hoping that doesn't happen. If I do have to cancel my next trip will be in December. At the moment have one day booked at Disney and then a Disney cruise. I might be adding a second day. Stay tuned :)
 
We got: “Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce and Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup served with a Pretzel Roll.
Mmmmmm! I love that soup and pretzel bread!




    • Warm Irish Cheddar Cheese and Stout Dip with Irish Brown Bread
This looks amazing too.

Warm Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard
Oh my goodness....I would be licking the bowl on this one. :)

As we were walking to the reservation we walked past the Coca Cola store and I had to stop inside. I knew there was a bear you could meet and his pictures looked hilarious so I wanted to go.
My boys would love this. I'll have to remember this for our next family trip.

So this restaurant was a huge hit with us and we will definitely be back. Nothing disappointed and writing this review before lunch has made me incredibly hungry.
Morimoto looks amazing. Everything from the decor to the food is so beautifully done. I can't wait to try it for myself.

Since I had reached my picture limit and wanted to include just one, this is a bit of a bonus entry. I loved being able to watch the fireworks from our balcony, while it rained and stay dry. And then as soon as they ended get into bed immediately and go to sleep. Pretty awesome.
Such a perfect end to the night!

For food my boyfriend and I ordered almost all the same things. He was very surprised I went with the soup of the day though. It was a tomato basil something. I do hate tomatoes, but when they're cooked they taste better to me. I actually enjoyed this, although it was a little chunky and was expecting it to be more smooth. The cheese crouton thing was delicious.
You know, I have never tried CRT but I think it would be fun to eat in the castle at least once.

My boyfriend went with the chocolate dessert. He seemed to enjoy this.
I know I would ADORE this dessert!
 
But it was the 35th anniversary at Epcot, so we had to stop over there before we left.
r
I was wishing I was there for the 35th! I'll be at MK for the 50th for sure since I'll be turning 50 also :goodvibes

This was new to us. The last time we had gone here they didn't give us a Wishing Star or do the cute little wishing ceremony thing. I love making wishes and was thrilled with this.
We've only eaten in the castle once, in 2015, for breakfast. The boys got swords but no wishing star for me and I really wanted one, too.

It was a tomato basil something.
I love tomato soup so this sounds really good!

I might actually be going for Thanksgiving. I convinced my boyfriend and booked a hotel and got a Thanksgiving meal booked.
So awesome!!! We've been the last 2 Thanksgiving's but didn't plan for this year because it's too hard with Ricky's basketball schedule. Which of course now will be his surgery and recovery schedule :( But still, sad we are't going this Thanksgiving because I think it's a great time to be down there. I look forward to reading all about it!
 
Mmmmmm! I love that soup and pretzel bread!
It's one of my favorites.

Oh my goodness....I would be licking the bowl on this one. :)
It was really hard not to.
Morimoto looks amazing. Everything from the decor to the food is so beautifully done. I can't wait to try it for myself.
It is a great place for dinner. When you go make the reservation on open table so you have more flexibility.
Such a perfect end to the night!
It really was :)
You know, I have never tried CRT but I think it would be fun to eat in the castle at least once.
It is a place I think everyone should try at least once. Just being inside is a pretty cool feeling, let alone the food and entertainment

I was wishing I was there for the 35th! I'll be at MK for the 50th for sure since I'll be turning 50 also :goodvibes
A perfect way to celebrate your birthday.
We've only eaten in the castle once, in 2015, for breakfast. The boys got swords but no wishing star for me and I really wanted one, too.
That's a shame they didn't give you one
I love tomato soup so this sounds really good!
It was really good, and this coming from someone who doesn't even like tomato
So awesome!!! We've been the last 2 Thanksgiving's but didn't plan for this year because it's too hard with Ricky's basketball schedule. Which of course now will be his surgery and recovery schedule :( But still, sad we are't going this Thanksgiving because I think it's a great time to be down there. I look forward to reading all about it!
I hope he has a speedy recovery, I'm sending him good thoughts. I am excited to spend Thanksgiving there. It took a lot of convincing since my boyfriend wanted the traditional Thanksgiving meal, but I'm a pretty good sales woman :)
 
Trip 5 - 11/23-11/25
Garden Grove Thanksgiving Dinner

It's been a while since my last Disney trip. Welcome back:wave2:

I was in desperate need of a vacation and this trip couldn't have come at a better time. One downside was my boyfriend got sick right before the trip and I caught his cold after we left.

Spending Thanksgiving at Disney was a first for both of us. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of crowds. For that reason I booked the Swan so we could be in walking distance of two parks. I had also snagged a Garden Grove reservation using the reservation finder. Originally I had one at 7:30pm, but my boyfriend said Thanksgiving meals should be earlier and I eventually got us one at 4pm.

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My first sighting of the Minnie Vans.

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The hotel was all decorated for the holidays.

We drove up Thanksgiving morning (I figured the traffic would be a lot better than Wednesday night) There was a little traffic, but it wasn't too bad. We got to Disney around 1pm and had a little time to kill before our reservation.

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The weather was great so we decided to relax by the lake. I saw a couple turtles. The weather was really nice even though there was a chance of rain. I found it interesting that these two hotels didn't follow Disney with adding rocks and fences around the lakes. The warning signs also didn't mention alligators.

I couldn't make it until 4pm without some sort of lunch. We walked around the two hotels looking at options and decided to try out the Java Bar inside the Swan.

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I got a hot caramel macchiato. The drink was okay, but the lady clearly didn't know how to make it. She was reading instructions from a piece of paper. All the caramel was at the bottom and I got a mouthful when I had finished most of my drink.

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We were sitting on the other side of the room in these comfy chairs.

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For food I got a vegetarian panini. It came with an assortment of vegetables, cheese and pesto sauce. It tasted really good, but I thought it was a little off the paper around it was pressed along with the sandwich. I had to peel it off in some places where it had melted onto the sandwich.

It was a good quick lunch. My boyfriend got a snack, I think yogurt covered pretzels.

A few hours later it was time for dinner. We were a little early and they gave us a pager before seating us exactly at 4pm.

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The one stipulation my boyfriend gave me for coming to Disney was that I find him a traditional Thanksgiving meal. This place delivered wonderfully. They had a carving station along with all the traditional Thanksgiving sides. And since it was a buffet you could eat as much as you liked. I had read some reviews of people disappointed by portion sizes at other restaurants. This place did not let you leave hungry.

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My boyfriends plate. He had the carved turkey, stuffing, butternut squash ravioli and greenbeans.

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This was my second plate having a salad and some mozzarella balls. My first plate had a lot of turkey and cranberry sauce.

I then had my boyfriend go take a picture of everything on the buffet.

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I reached my picture limit will continue in next post.
 
Trip 5 - 11/23-11/25
Garden Grove Thanksgiving Dinner Continued 1

This post will be pretty much all pictures of the buffet. There was a lot of food. I'm not even able to get all the pictures into one post.

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They had turkey with gravy on it in addition to the carving station.

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These mashed potatoes were really good.

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I really liked this ravioli. It was something different that I've never had on Thanksgiving before.

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More pictures in the next post.
 

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