How Did We Eat So Much?! Lots of Pics + DxDDP + DCL! *UPDATES 7/12*

[Linda67]

We've only been to LC once and it really wasn't great so we've never returned
We really should give it another go at some point but as I don't eat meat and DH thought his steak was terrible in there, we aren't in much of a rush!
Ooh I wish I had ordered the chocolate moose

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

We've only been to LC once and it really wasn't great so we've never returned We really should give it another go at some point but as I don't eat meat and DH thought his steak was terrible in there, we aren't in much of a rush! Ooh I wish I had ordered the chocolate moose

That's exactly us! DH didn't really enjoy his steak and thought it was not the size advertised. I think I liked my vegetarian entree but apparently not enough that I remember what if was. Turf club for us this time.

 

[RGirl]

I completely understand and sympathize with not being hungry on the DxDP! I loved trying the signatures but we found we never really had the chance to actually get very hungry. We even woke up full!

You know, I really think it was the heat more than anything this trip. We rarely had more than two meals a day, never ate full portions, and totally forgot about our SCs. I really think we would have been hungrier if it hasn't been so unbearably hot. But we wouldn't have appreciated the regular AC breaks nearly as much!

I'm glad you enjoyed your meal at LeCel even though you weren't really hungry, and I LOVE Willow's reviews, LOL! If you want an honest answer, ask a child!

Thanks! We did have a nice time. It's not our favorite signature by any means, but it was a good meal.

We've only been to LC once and it really wasn't great so we've never returned
We really should give it another go at some point but as I don't eat meat and DH thought his steak was terrible in there, we aren't in much of a rush!
Ooh I wish I had ordered the chocolate moose

Yeah - I can see why you wouldn't be dying to go back!!! We have enjoyed both of our meals there, but it is certainly not at the top of our list.

That's exactly us! DH didn't really enjoy his steak and thought it was not the size advertised. I think I liked my vegetarian entree but apparently not enough that I remember what if was. Turf club for us this time.

My steak was fine - tasty even, but LC is definitely not our favorite spot food-wise either. It was a relaxing break from the heat though!

 

[RGirl]

Flying Fish Cafe Dinner​

I’m going to break this review down by service and food separately, because (like with the Yachtsman) our service was not great, and I don’t want that to take away from very tasty food.

Before either of those though, the restaurant is beautiful!

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Totally bizarre mural that we were obsessed with during our dining experience.

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Anyway, service here was not the best. It started with our hostess. I had special-ordered a cake months ago from Baby Cakes as we were celebrating our Family Day on this day. DD didn’t know anything about it, so I mentioned it quietly to the hostess just to make sure that it was there. She sort of stared at me blankly for a while and then said something about checking on it. But she never came back to tell me anything about it. During our meal at some point, I actually went over and asked again about it with the same result. Finally, after we had pretty much finished our entire meal, someone acknowledged that our cake was actually there. Since we had been at the restaurant for over two hours at that point, I ended up having them just give me the cake in the box and storing it in our room for later.

Unfortunately, the service issues didn’t end with the hostess. Our server was VERY nice. However, he did not seem to have a lot of interest in us, so we only knew that he was nice from the very occasional times that he stopped by. He didn’t greet us for a loooooong time. He never checked to see if we were enjoying any particular course - all of which were delivered by other servers or food runners. And then he really didn’t make any effort with the whole cake fiasco either. It was disappointing. I guess we are not the most desirable table - only a two top and one of us is a child. But still - DxDDP meant three courses, and I did order wine as well. The potential for a pretty decent tip was pretty high.

The chef who came out to visit with me was also very nice. He did not, however, offer any alterations to make any items gluten-free but instead just told me what I could order from the menu. That’s not a big deal - it’s the norm at non-Disney restaurants - but some of the other places on this trip made such an effort. Additionally, there were not a lot of options for me (as opposed to someplace like HBD where almost every entree was gluten-free and where the chef offered ways to make non-gluten-free appetizers safe) - for appetizers, I was only able to choose the mussels or a salad. Luckily, the entree I had wanted was already gluten-free.

Onto the FOOD!

For my non-alcoholic DDP beverage, I was again able to get the huge bottle of Pellegrino. :

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And, as per usual, I ordered a wine flight.

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Here’s the menu:

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Up Next: Flying Fish Dinner Cont.

 

[RGirl]

Flying Fish Dinner Cont.​

And the kids’ menu:

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I got some gluten-free rolls, which were warmed but turned hard as bricks very quickly. And DD got some nice normal bread. And there was butter as well.

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For her appetizer, DD had the Seasonal Fruit Skewers and Honey Yogurt. Sorry so blurry.

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Again, I did not have a lot of appetizer choices, but I was quite happy with the Our Chef’s Special Thunder Appetizer: Roasted Heirloom Beets and Fresh Vermont Goat Cheese with young greens, spiced pecans, oranges, pecan-truffled-blood orange vinaigrette. This was seriously delicious. I got over my disappointment about the limited options pretty quickly. The beets were done perfectly, and the goat cheese and pecans provided nice creamy and crunchy contrasts. Beautiful!

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For her entree, DD had the Grilled Cheddar Cheese with Roasted Red Potatoes and Vegetables. DD ate a TON of the green beans, so they must have been really good. And she ate about half of that huge sandwich too, so I think she was pleased.

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I couldn’t resist ordering the Idaho Potato-Wrapped Red Snapper over a Rich Leek Fondue with a Veal Glace de Viande, and Red Wine-Cassis Butter Reduction, because I had seen so many amazing reviews of it here on the DIS. It was good, definitely tasty, but it really wasn’t super-flavorful. I enjoyed it, but the potatoes were a bit tough and hard to get through, and I think the fish was a bit overdone. It was okay though.

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For dessert, DD once again ordered a Mickey puzzle. At Flying Fish, it comes with a cupcake! I think we all know by now that DD enjoyed this.

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I can’t understand why I kept failing to get pics of the dessert menus. I have no idea what this was, and the allears menu does not have it. I know that I had VERY few choices, and this was some kind of ice cream concoction with cherries and marcona almonds. It was fine. Again, I’m not a huge dessert person, so it is not terribly memorable for me.

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So would we return to FF? I’m going to be honest here, I was really disappointed - not so much with the food (although a little with the food) but with the service. I had really looked forward to this meal as I have read so many positive reviews, it has a great menu, and the location is so ideal. I think we would give it another try though - as I have said before, one not-great experience doesn’t scare me off, and we had planned this for a very special dinner so were probably more disappointed than we would have been had we not been looking forward to our celebration. Every establishment has a less-than-ideal night. If I had this same type of experience again though, it would probably be quite some time before we returned.

 

[vettegirl]

That is too bad about FCC. We haven't dined there yet but its on the bucket list. We love LC, but for 2 credits I love the Yachtsman more

 

[RGirl]

That is too bad about FCC. We haven't dined there yet but its on the bucket list. We love LC, but for 2 credits I love the Yachtsman more

Yeah, it was a disappointing experience at FFC, but I would give it another chance. The food was pretty good!

I agree - the Yachtsman definitely feels more signature, and I like the menu better.

 

[princessnpirate]

Subbing in! Love your vacation ....WDW and the Fantasy

 

[RGirl]

Subbing in! Love your vacation ....WDW and the Fantasy

Thanks for joining! It was definitely an epic Disney- and food-filled two weeks!

 

[MrsB1228]

Sorry your meal at FF wasn't the greatest. It's so disappointing when you're celebrating something special and it ends up being less than what you expected. The hostess's lack of interest in checking on your special ordered cake is truly unacceptable, especially in a Signature restaurant where you expect the level of service to be a touch above the others. I'm glad you still made the best of it. Your salad looks wonderful and Willow looks very happy with her ginormous sandwich, LOL! I agree with your assessment of the potato wrapped red snapper, I too found it rather tasteless. I was expecting more from their signature dish.

Enjoyed the update!

 

[RGirl]

Sorry your meal at FF wasn't the greatest. It's so disappointing when you're celebrating something special and it ends up being less than what you expected. The hostess's lack of interest in checking on your special ordered cake is truly unacceptable, especially in a Signature restaurant where you expect the level of service to be a touch above the others. I'm glad you still made the best of it. Your salad looks wonderful and Willow looks very happy with her ginormous sandwich, LOL! I agree with your assessment of the potato wrapped red snapper, I too found it rather tasteless. I was expecting more from their signature dish.

Enjoyed the update!

You know, I wasn't expecting them to do anything special, but I thought they would at least serve our cake (which I had ordered and paid for ). So it was definitely disappointing.

The salad was truly delicious. And Willow loved that HUGE sandwich.

I'm so glad it's not just me!!! That dish gets such great reviews, and the description sounds amazing. But it was just dry (and the potatoes were tough) and tasteless.

 

[RGirl]

Tusker House Breakfast​

We had a late-morning breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, and it was our favorite breakfast of the trip. Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of pictures, because I just didn’t have the opportunity to take pictures of the actual buffet.

This is, of course , a character meal. Donald is the host for this one. He greets his guests outside before they enter the restaurant to eat. Unfortunately, he does not sign autographs.

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Our service here was excellent. Our server greeted us immediately with the special juice they serve. My DD thought it was wonderful!

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Our server kindly explained the buffet and the character rotation. The chef here was also fantastic. She walked us through the entire buffet and carefully explained what was gluten-free and what was not, and there were loads of gluten-free options. She also offered to make several things specifically for me - tater tots (since the ones on the buffet are fried in the same oil as gluten-filled foods), a muffin, donut, Mickey waffles. She was just so sweet and so kind.

On to the food! The buffet food was great. There were a lot of of options from various pastries and donuts to standard breakfast fare to more African-inspired dishes. Here is DD’s plate (bacon, eggs, tater tots, Mickey waffle, and donut):

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My plate. Unfortunately, I can’t remember for sure what everything was. I will do my best to guess! Starting at 12:00, potato wedges, basmati rice, bacon, not sure (I know this was one of the African-inspired items but can’t remember what), plantain, ham and cheese frittata.

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The chef also brought me Mickey waffles, a blueberry muffin, a donut, and tater tots. (The muffin and donut she had warmed separately wrapped in parchment.)

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Everything we had here was fresh and delicious. And we had made a good choice by doing a late breakfast today - being from the West Coast, we were definitely more hungry at this time of day than we were for early-morning eating (since that usually equates to about 4 or 5AM West Coast time ).

The characters here were great as well!

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So, would we return to Tusker House for breakfast with Donald and friends? We certainly would!!! In fact, this is an Animal Kingdom Must-Do for us now! I can’t imagine not going back!!

 

[shan23877]

I'm so very happy that you had a great breakfast at Tusker House! It's my favorite breakfast on property by a mile. Were you in heaven having doughnuts and waffles?

Love the picture of Willow and Donald. Maddie loves how soft he is.

 

[RGirl]

I'm so very happy that you had a great breakfast at Tusker House! It's my favorite breakfast on property by a mile. Were you in heaven having doughnuts and waffles?

I'm so glad that you told me all about it - not sure whether I would have fit in another character meal without hearing about your experience. We loved it so much!

OMG - I thought I was going to die when I actually got to have a doughnut!!!

Love the picture of Willow and Donald. Maddie loves how soft he is.

Aww - that is so cute! Willow loves that he has a big booty…..

 

[shan23877]

I'm so glad that you told me all about it - not sure whether I would have fit in another character meal without hearing about your experience. We loved it so much!

OMG - I thought I was going to die when I actually got to have a doughnut!!!


Aww - that is so cute! Willow loves that he has a big booty…..

Well, you know how I love forcing my dining choices on others. I had to share! It's the best!

Honestly I cannot imagine a life without doughnuts. If someone wanted to break my heart they would take away doughnuts. You are stronger than I my friend!

Willow is fabulous.

 

[Dislover1991]

Tusker House looks great! It's definitely on our must do list for the next trip. If we were going to AK on our Dec trip I would probably cancel another meal for TH

 

[DisneyJo]

It's so fantastic that the chef made you your own gluten free food, it sounded like a wonderful brekkie

 

[RGirl]

Well, you know how I love forcing my dining choices on others. I had to share! It's the best!

Hey - I love trying new places! This one was definitely a home run!

Honestly, I cannot imagine a life without doughnuts. If someone wanted to break my heart they would take away doughnuts. You are stronger than I my friend!

This is funny because I know it's true!

Willow is fabulous.

Given how much she likes to shake her booty, its no wonder that she prefers ducks with large booties!

Tusker House looks great! It's definitely on our must do list for the next trip. If we were going to AK on our Dec trip I would probably cancel another meal for TH

It will definitely be making the cut for us the next time we go to WDW - it was truly one of the best character meals we have done and probably the tastiest breakfast.

It's so fantastic that the chef made you your own gluten free food, it sounded like a wonderful brekkie

It was just a wonderful experience all around, and the chef just ratcheted up the great time even more.

 

[RGirl]

Chef Mickey’s Dinner​

Our next dining experience was dinner at Chef Mickey’s.

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I have read the bad rap that this place has gotten on the DIS of late, but we had fun there on our first trip and wanted to return. And I will say that we were not disappointed at all - the food was just fine (hot, fresh, pretty tasty, decent variety) - but we were here for characters, of course! And we had a great time with all of them!

For anyone who doesn’t know, Chef Mickey’s is located at the Contemporary Resort, and is a big open space with the monorail going through above. Your table will be visited by Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and Minnie in their chef-tastic attire.

We were seated just 2 minutes past our ADR time, so no complaints there!

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The chef came out promptly and showed us around the buffet, noting what was safe gluten-wise. There was a very nice selection of gluten-less foods. Sorry - I have never been one to be able to get buffet pictures; just can’t manage to juggle the kid, characters, trays, and picture-taking. I did get some pics of our plates of food though.

Here is DD’s first plate - pepperoni, honeydew melon, croutons , cheese cubes, and cucumbers:

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Here is my beverage - I think this was the standard Magical Star thing. And I forgot to take the glow cube - my only reason for ordering it!

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Here is my first plate - some pepperoni, salad, cheese cubes, mozzarella, and crab claws - again, all quite fresh and tasty for a character buffet:

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Next, DD went for those Disney favorites, nuggets and mac - she was quite pleased.

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I had some mashed potatoes (YUM), turkey (tasty), broccoli (I don’t like fake cheese, so I wasn’t a fan), and salmon (good):

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And here you can get some idea of the chocolate desserts that were available.

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And, of course, the real reasons for our visit:

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Would we return to Chef Mickey’s? We honestly would - the food was good (not gourmet or great, but good - what we would look for in a character meal), the atmosphere was fun, and the characters were a blast!

 

[shan23877]

I can't believe you're updating while you're so sick.

yay Chef Mickey! Love, love, love Willow's outfit. The bow is so perfect. She looks adorable.