How To Eat and Instagram around the World! An August 2012 DxDDP Report

[Nicole786]

Hello everyone! Welcome to the dining report of two siblings and their crazy disney (eating) adventures!! The cast of this trip is myself (Nicole) and my younger brother (David). We started taking an annual trip to Disney in 2007 and we have been back every year since! We share a love of nerdom (hello, game of thrones!) and disney (of course!), but sometimes we are feuding siblings for sure! Here is us, taken on top of the Contemporary:

I was the planner and photographer this trip, sharing my photos on social networking site Instagram! If you are unfamiliar with it, it is a mobile app for iOS and Android that allows you to snap photos and instantly share them with your followers! My Instagram username is nlaskin but if you missed them, I will be posting my daily instagram photos in this report!

We stayed 2 nights at Universal's Hard Rock Hotel, then we switched over for 7 Nights at Disney's Boardwalk Resort!

We have always gone with the regular dining plan but this time we really wanted to do something special! We did the deluxe dining plan!! As a serial disney planner, I was in heaven planning this trip, perusing the menus, fitting in a perfect blend of our favorite restaurants, and mixing them with places like California Grill, where we've never dined before!

Here is where we ate!
Universal Orlando

Finnegan's
Mama Della's
First Watch
Moe's Southwest Grill (No Review)
Burger King Whopper Bar (No Review)


Disney World:

Liberty Tree Tavern (L)
Raglan Road (D)
Le Cellier (L)
Boma (D)
Kouzzina (B)
Yak & Yeti (L)
Kona Cafe (D)
Crystal Palace (B)
Big River Grille & Brewing Works (L)
California Grill (D)
Kona Cafe (B)
Boardwalk to Go/Pool (L)
Yachtsman's Steakhouse (D)
Via Napoli (L)
Narcoosee's (D)
Teppan Edo (L)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (D)
Crystal Palace (B)

So I hope you will join us as we relive and review our amazing dining adventures!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Count me in!

 

[2manypets]

I'm in too! You have a great line up of food.

 

[auntfrannie]

Looks absolutely wonderful! Can't wait to read your reviews!

 

[Alice BlueBonnet]

I'm in!

 

[Rafikifan]

Can't wait!

 

[nanienamou]

I'm in!

 

[vettegirl]

Darn no review of the Burger King just joking. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

 

[HoneyBeeM]

Joining in! Your dining choices look great!

 

[jedijill]

I'm in!

Jill in CO

 

[deenbrad]

Sounds great! I'm in!

 

[Nicole786]

Count me in!

Yay! Welcome

I'm in too! You have a great line up of food.

Thanks! It was so hard choosing!

Looks absolutely wonderful! Can't wait to read your reviews!

Thanks! First review should be up tomorrow

I'm in!

Yay! Welcome!

Can't wait!

Thanks! Should have the first set up tomorrow

I'm in!

Thanks! Welcome!!

Darn no review of the Burger King just joking. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Haha! I know lots of people were looking forward to my BK review!!

Joining in! Your dining choices look great!

Thank you!! First chapter should be up tomorrow!

I'm in!

Jill in CO

Thanks for joining in!

Sounds great! I'm in!

Thanks! Welcome!

 

[disneydreaminA115]

I just watched your video with your parents' surprise cruse, how sweet!! I'm in

 

[Nicole786]

I just watched your video with your parents' surprise cruse, how sweet!! I'm in

Thanks! It used to be on the castle for magic, memories, and you! Lets see if they reuse it!

 

[starousse]

Looks great. Joining in!

 

[butiflfeet]

I can't wait!

 

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

Really looking forward to this! I'm going on my Disneymoon in December so any reviews excite me, but your's looks especially interesting. Love when someone does something different!

 

[Nicole786]

Looks great. Joining in!

Thanks! First chapter coming up!

 

[Nicole786]

I can't wait!

First chapter coming right up!

Really looking forward to this! I'm going on my Disneymoon in December so any reviews excite me, but your's looks especially interesting. Love when someone does something different!

Thanks for joining in and congratulations!

 

[Nicole786]

I'm going to do one update and include all Universal Orlando's reviews!

Day 1, August 17th 2012: Universal Orlando
We checked in to the beautiful Hard Rock Hotel, grabbed our complimentary express passes and headed straight into the parks. Here are today's Instagram pics!

Our favorite restaurant here is Finnegan's! It's an Irish pub located right near the Mummy. We come here every day our first day of vacation.

I ordered Corned Beef and Cabbage

I just couldn't photograph it well Cabbage was over peppered but overall very tasty! I can't eat corned beef unless its lean which usually means the meat is dry but the sauce they use here makes it perfect! It was lean and very good.

David ordered the Corned Beef Sandwich on a Pretzel Roll:

From David: Sandwich was good and lean, I get it plain with cheese, and it's very filling. Would get it again and would recommend it!

For Dinner, we ate at Mama Della's! A can't miss restaurant at Universal's Portofino Bay Hotel! We eat here every trip, and if we could afford it, we'd eat here every night!

They serve you a basket of bread, that looks like this

It's so good! Especially the sesame seed loaf, it tastes just like Italian bread from home in NY!

I got the chicken parmesan. So so good! Very filling, and very delicious!

David got the fettucine alfredo, as he does every time. He loves this, he says they put fresh slices of parmesan cheese, which makes it delicious!

It can't be said enough that if you are in the Universal area, please stop by the Portofino Hotel and eat at Mama Della's, it's so amazing!

Day 2, August 18th 2012: Universal Orlando

Today's Instagram photos!

We started our day at First Watch. We found this place last year using Yelp, it's right outside of the Universal resort and it has some great unique breakfast items!

I started my day with a Key West Crepegg, which is described as "A thin crepe, layered with eggs, turkey, avocado, bacon, tomatoes and Monterey Jack." I get it without tomatoes and monterey jack and it is so good!

David got standard pancakes and eggs, but I believe since First Watch is health conscience, they were wheat pancakes and they were delicious according to him!

First Watch definitely comes recommended!

Our day at Universal had to feature frozen butterbeer! And lots of it! This stuff is so good. I'm so eager to try out LeFeu's Brew at Gaston's Tavern, I hear its Disney's answer to Butterbeer, and if its anywhere near as delicious it's going to be amazing!!

The frozen is the better of the two, but they are both equally delicious! If I had to take a guess, I would say it's sort of like cream soda mixed with butterscotch. But it's that vanilla topping that is just so, so

We were so eager to head out the following morning to Disney, so stay tuned for that! So many pictures to come!