tweetylori
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2004
- Messages
- 772
I spend way more time on Disboards than I have ever spent at Disney. Sad, but true. I love Disney. Have been to every Disney park several times, but have never had the money nor time for the whole immersion Disney experience that most of you do. (i.e. staying on Disney property, enjoying free dining, etc.) My Disney experiences have been in short bursts. Long weekends. Have certainly experienced Disney meals such as Crystal Palace, Kona Cafe (a couple times), Maya Grille (on a company trip), and a few others, but have never had a "signature restaurant" experience. Until this past Sunday, April 17th.
Quick background: we were there to celebrate a BIG birthday for my husband. We were in Orlando for three short nights. (yes, another long weekend experience) I had given the trip to my husband for this big birthday. He had recently started a new job, so I had to take him somewhere fun that wasn't too far, due to him not being able to take too much time off from a new job. He's a big Harry Potter fan, so we started with US/IOA the day before. He wanted to do the Magic Kingdom on his birthday, so that is what we did. Now, what restaurant to make reservations for? We literally looked to see what was available just a couple days before we went down. Tip: you can look online to see what restaurants have what times available, AND you can now make reservations on line. Maybe you all already know that? I had not read that part, just that we could call, and I didn't feel like messing with that. Loved that we could do it online!
Based on what I've read here, I thought he'd really like dinner at O'Hana's. Unfortunately, NO times were available, so I made some suggestions to him, based on my experience looking at pictures and reading reviews here, and he picked...(drumroll please)...Flying Fish! We were able to get 5:30 reservations on his birthday.
The Magic Kingdom was PACKED PACKED PACKED that day. I don't know that we've ever seen it that crowded before. When we first arrived, we hadn't eaten anything, so we headed straight for Caseys for "breakfast". He got the hotdog meal, and I got a hotdog with chili and a side of slaw. I like my NC dogs which come with mustard, chili and slaw. The only way to do it at Casey's was to do the slaw as a side dish, and a light lemonade. Okay. Took a few minutes to get our order. Took more time to patiently wait to get to the condiments. Got outside and there was NOWHERE to sit. After giving dirty looks to the folks lounging at the few tables, with no food in sight, "saving'' them for something (hope they had folks inside ordering), we fought our way across the crowded street to find a table outside the Plaza. Grrrrrr, forgot to grab a fork or something to use to scoop up some slaw. Brave husband offered to go back to Casey's and get one. Several hours later (just kidding)...sometime later, he reappeared.
By now our hotdogs were quite cold, but we were hungry, not having eaten anything yet. These are certainly large hotdogs! And mine was loaded up with chili. Barely room for the slaw and mustard I added. Okay. Edible. Nothing exciting, but glad to have something to fill the hungry bellies and hold us off to our anticipated dinner. Light lemonade was nothing thrilling, I might add. However, none of this was expensive, so that helps.
By the time we fought our way through the crowds enjoying our day at the Magic Kingdom, we were very glad to have those 5:30 reservations at The Flying Fish. Around 4:15 we decided to head over there, allowing what we thought was plenty of time to get there. Now, you have heard me say that I spend a lot of time here on Disboards. I do. But I don't absorb every little detail like I should. Last time we were at Disney, we visited the Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Grand Floridian for the first time. In my mind, I mixed up the Grand Floridian with the Boardwalk. Remembering there was a nice hotel at the boardwalk, I forgot that it was the Boardwalk hotel and not the Grand Floridian. So, when it came time to go to our dinner, I said, let's take the monorail to the Grand Floridian. Birthday Husband was fine with this, as he knows what a planner I am. Off we go through the crowds, hop on the resort monorail, and go all the way around. Get off at this beautiful resort, hit the elevator, and birthday boy NOW decides to say: "are you sure we're in the right place?" Um, I WAS, until you asked that. Uh, now that you mention it, no I'm not so sure. Is the Boardwalk not here? No? Uh oh! Go to the front desk and ask how to get to the Boardwalk. "Take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and take a bus to the Boardwalk. That's the ONLY way." Uh huh. Yep. Great planner that I am, made a hideous error. A stupid, idiotic one!
Husband says, don't worry, we'll make it, and I thought, sure we have some time here. Up to the monorail we go. Back to the Magic Kingdom that we just came from. Head to the bus area, and there's no one waiting for the bus to the Swan/Dolphin/Boardwalk. (obviously we had probably just missed it). By now it's 5:10. We have 5:30 reservations. We wait. I stress. We wait. Bus finally appears at around 5:25. We have 5 minutes to get there. I stress some more. This is his BIG birthday dinner, I had messed up the day before by taking him to Mythos at Universal (not a good experience, will post that review under the Universal Trip report forum), and now we might not make it for our 5:30 reservation. UGH. Bus ride is long. Didn't realize the Boardwalk was so darn far! It IS. By now, I'm not asking what time it is anymore. I don't want to know. We'll either get in or we won't. It'll either be the fiasco/not good experience it was at Mythos the day before, or it won't. Nothing I can do at this point. Finally! We arrive.
Fortunately, the bus stops not far from The Flying Fish. It's there...YEAH! Walk in and felt immediate relief. They didn't say, "you're too late, sorry"...we were greeted warmly and led to a table. YES. Here we are, and a dream is about to come true in a good, bad, or indifferent way. Remember I said we had visited these areas a couple years before? Well, I had pressed my nose to the door of Flying Fish and looked in on that trip, and said, "one day I really want to try this place". I had told my husband about the signature dish of the potato-wrapped fish, and said how I HAD to try that one day. Now, here we were, at a table at this restaurant I had only dreamed about. I had drooled over picture after picture here on Dis. I had shown my husband pictures of the crabcake appetizer, and other dishes, before we went.
Here we were...we MADE it! Years of wanting to get here, and then the trials of actually getting there, made me want to weep with joy, and PRAY that it would be a good birthday experience for my husband. This was a BIG birthday...please let it be a great one for him! We're at the table looking at our menus and my husband says: "did you see this?" They had given him a Happy Birthday menu!
Things were looking up. Husband is however, freaking out a bit by the prices, swearing they were lower online when I showed him. Uh, no, you must not have noticed. This is quite what I expected, now IGNORE them and decide what you want. (shouldn't birthday menus exclude prices...just suggesting?)
We agreed immediately on the crabcake appetizer. We both love crabcakes, and this one got great reviews. Husband wanted tea to start. I wanted a glass of chardonnay. I picked a $9 Australian one, although when I described what I liked to the waiter, he suggested a more expensive one. (I like buttery and oakey) I just couldn't justify a more expensive one, and I usually like Australian ones. I'm sure he was right, and would have happily gone with his suggestion had I won the lottery the night before. Waiter finally said he would bring it and if I didn't like it they would throw it out. There's no way I wine would get thrown out on my watch, so I knew that wouldn't happen! Wine was fine, as was the bread and butter that was brought. Perfect!
So now we had to make the big decision. What to order? I decided I better stick with the dish I've been drooling over online for YEARS. Yes, the signature, potato wrapped red snapper. Husband wanted it too, but for some reason (maybe I talked him into it based on the awesome pictures I had seen?) the scallops with risotto. I had actually encouraged him to go with the steak, since he was robbed of it the night before (again, will do Mythos review later). He couldn't bring himself to order beef in a seafood restaurant, however, so he opted for the scallops. I was also eyeing the roasted pepper/fennel soup. So: we ended up with sharing the crabcake appetizer and the soup. Me with the fish, husband with the scallops.
After freshening up in the bathrooms through the candy store, we enjoyed the bread and our drinks. First to appear was the soup. They were kind enough to divide it into two cups (apparently, it normally comes in a large bowl). Husband is not a big soup guy. He was awed by this soup. It was full of layers...the meyer lemon cream, basil oil, tomato, fresh fennel...croutons and the tiny round chewy pasta. GREAT, and very filling! Next came the awesome crabcake. Yes it really was very very good! Met expectations from the pictures I've seen here. We both loved it!
And then came the main courses. Dear God, I have waited years for this. All my life, really. For an entree like this. Truly a gift, and well worth every penny! Thin potato slices wrapped around succulent fish, served over sauteed leeks in a meaty red wine sauce that is sheer perfection! How could a picture I've looked at for YEARS live up to expectations? I don't know, but it not only lived up to, but EXCEEDED them. Truly that good. Okay, maybe I should get out more. I don't know, but I'm still drooling about it a week later. Husband's scallops...again, sheer perfection. Risotto, perfect! (but honestly, nothing could beat that fish dish) Drinks were a bit slow coming. It took a long time to get a second glass of wine and for Husband to get tea refills. But the food was so good, we really didn't care. We certainly didn't feel deprived. I was so glad that my husband was having a memorable birthday dinner!
Next thing we know they bring him a Happy Birthday creme brulee (amaretto), with a white chocolate, raspberry biscotti. They also brought dessert menus in case we wanted something else. I wanted everything else...the limoncello, the coffee drinks, everything! Sadly, I was too full for anything else! (having licked my entree plate dry). I took one tiny bite of his creme brulee (so good!) and one teeny bite of the biscotti (again good!), but couldn't do anything else. He seemed to enjoy every bite of it.
The bill was around $125. I had around $80 left (after using some for the Casey's meal earlier), of Disney rewards dollars, which helped a lot. However, I would have happily paid every dollar for this meal out of pocket. It was literally one of the best meals I've ever had. And it was a great experience for my big-birthday guy.
THANK YOU Flying Fish for not only living up to my expectations, but exceeding them!
Quick background: we were there to celebrate a BIG birthday for my husband. We were in Orlando for three short nights. (yes, another long weekend experience) I had given the trip to my husband for this big birthday. He had recently started a new job, so I had to take him somewhere fun that wasn't too far, due to him not being able to take too much time off from a new job. He's a big Harry Potter fan, so we started with US/IOA the day before. He wanted to do the Magic Kingdom on his birthday, so that is what we did. Now, what restaurant to make reservations for? We literally looked to see what was available just a couple days before we went down. Tip: you can look online to see what restaurants have what times available, AND you can now make reservations on line. Maybe you all already know that? I had not read that part, just that we could call, and I didn't feel like messing with that. Loved that we could do it online!
Based on what I've read here, I thought he'd really like dinner at O'Hana's. Unfortunately, NO times were available, so I made some suggestions to him, based on my experience looking at pictures and reading reviews here, and he picked...(drumroll please)...Flying Fish! We were able to get 5:30 reservations on his birthday.
The Magic Kingdom was PACKED PACKED PACKED that day. I don't know that we've ever seen it that crowded before. When we first arrived, we hadn't eaten anything, so we headed straight for Caseys for "breakfast". He got the hotdog meal, and I got a hotdog with chili and a side of slaw. I like my NC dogs which come with mustard, chili and slaw. The only way to do it at Casey's was to do the slaw as a side dish, and a light lemonade. Okay. Took a few minutes to get our order. Took more time to patiently wait to get to the condiments. Got outside and there was NOWHERE to sit. After giving dirty looks to the folks lounging at the few tables, with no food in sight, "saving'' them for something (hope they had folks inside ordering), we fought our way across the crowded street to find a table outside the Plaza. Grrrrrr, forgot to grab a fork or something to use to scoop up some slaw. Brave husband offered to go back to Casey's and get one. Several hours later (just kidding)...sometime later, he reappeared.
By now our hotdogs were quite cold, but we were hungry, not having eaten anything yet. These are certainly large hotdogs! And mine was loaded up with chili. Barely room for the slaw and mustard I added. Okay. Edible. Nothing exciting, but glad to have something to fill the hungry bellies and hold us off to our anticipated dinner. Light lemonade was nothing thrilling, I might add. However, none of this was expensive, so that helps.By the time we fought our way through the crowds enjoying our day at the Magic Kingdom, we were very glad to have those 5:30 reservations at The Flying Fish. Around 4:15 we decided to head over there, allowing what we thought was plenty of time to get there. Now, you have heard me say that I spend a lot of time here on Disboards. I do. But I don't absorb every little detail like I should. Last time we were at Disney, we visited the Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Grand Floridian for the first time. In my mind, I mixed up the Grand Floridian with the Boardwalk. Remembering there was a nice hotel at the boardwalk, I forgot that it was the Boardwalk hotel and not the Grand Floridian. So, when it came time to go to our dinner, I said, let's take the monorail to the Grand Floridian. Birthday Husband was fine with this, as he knows what a planner I am. Off we go through the crowds, hop on the resort monorail, and go all the way around. Get off at this beautiful resort, hit the elevator, and birthday boy NOW decides to say: "are you sure we're in the right place?" Um, I WAS, until you asked that. Uh, now that you mention it, no I'm not so sure. Is the Boardwalk not here? No? Uh oh! Go to the front desk and ask how to get to the Boardwalk. "Take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and take a bus to the Boardwalk. That's the ONLY way." Uh huh. Yep. Great planner that I am, made a hideous error. A stupid, idiotic one!
Husband says, don't worry, we'll make it, and I thought, sure we have some time here. Up to the monorail we go. Back to the Magic Kingdom that we just came from. Head to the bus area, and there's no one waiting for the bus to the Swan/Dolphin/Boardwalk. (obviously we had probably just missed it). By now it's 5:10. We have 5:30 reservations. We wait. I stress. We wait. Bus finally appears at around 5:25. We have 5 minutes to get there. I stress some more. This is his BIG birthday dinner, I had messed up the day before by taking him to Mythos at Universal (not a good experience, will post that review under the Universal Trip report forum), and now we might not make it for our 5:30 reservation. UGH. Bus ride is long. Didn't realize the Boardwalk was so darn far! It IS. By now, I'm not asking what time it is anymore. I don't want to know. We'll either get in or we won't. It'll either be the fiasco/not good experience it was at Mythos the day before, or it won't. Nothing I can do at this point. Finally! We arrive.
Fortunately, the bus stops not far from The Flying Fish. It's there...YEAH! Walk in and felt immediate relief. They didn't say, "you're too late, sorry"...we were greeted warmly and led to a table. YES. Here we are, and a dream is about to come true in a good, bad, or indifferent way. Remember I said we had visited these areas a couple years before? Well, I had pressed my nose to the door of Flying Fish and looked in on that trip, and said, "one day I really want to try this place". I had told my husband about the signature dish of the potato-wrapped fish, and said how I HAD to try that one day. Now, here we were, at a table at this restaurant I had only dreamed about. I had drooled over picture after picture here on Dis. I had shown my husband pictures of the crabcake appetizer, and other dishes, before we went.
Here we were...we MADE it! Years of wanting to get here, and then the trials of actually getting there, made me want to weep with joy, and PRAY that it would be a good birthday experience for my husband. This was a BIG birthday...please let it be a great one for him! We're at the table looking at our menus and my husband says: "did you see this?" They had given him a Happy Birthday menu!
Things were looking up. Husband is however, freaking out a bit by the prices, swearing they were lower online when I showed him. Uh, no, you must not have noticed. This is quite what I expected, now IGNORE them and decide what you want. (shouldn't birthday menus exclude prices...just suggesting?) We agreed immediately on the crabcake appetizer. We both love crabcakes, and this one got great reviews. Husband wanted tea to start. I wanted a glass of chardonnay. I picked a $9 Australian one, although when I described what I liked to the waiter, he suggested a more expensive one. (I like buttery and oakey) I just couldn't justify a more expensive one, and I usually like Australian ones. I'm sure he was right, and would have happily gone with his suggestion had I won the lottery the night before. Waiter finally said he would bring it and if I didn't like it they would throw it out. There's no way I wine would get thrown out on my watch, so I knew that wouldn't happen! Wine was fine, as was the bread and butter that was brought. Perfect!
So now we had to make the big decision. What to order? I decided I better stick with the dish I've been drooling over online for YEARS. Yes, the signature, potato wrapped red snapper. Husband wanted it too, but for some reason (maybe I talked him into it based on the awesome pictures I had seen?) the scallops with risotto. I had actually encouraged him to go with the steak, since he was robbed of it the night before (again, will do Mythos review later). He couldn't bring himself to order beef in a seafood restaurant, however, so he opted for the scallops. I was also eyeing the roasted pepper/fennel soup. So: we ended up with sharing the crabcake appetizer and the soup. Me with the fish, husband with the scallops.
After freshening up in the bathrooms through the candy store, we enjoyed the bread and our drinks. First to appear was the soup. They were kind enough to divide it into two cups (apparently, it normally comes in a large bowl). Husband is not a big soup guy. He was awed by this soup. It was full of layers...the meyer lemon cream, basil oil, tomato, fresh fennel...croutons and the tiny round chewy pasta. GREAT, and very filling! Next came the awesome crabcake. Yes it really was very very good! Met expectations from the pictures I've seen here. We both loved it!
And then came the main courses. Dear God, I have waited years for this. All my life, really. For an entree like this. Truly a gift, and well worth every penny! Thin potato slices wrapped around succulent fish, served over sauteed leeks in a meaty red wine sauce that is sheer perfection! How could a picture I've looked at for YEARS live up to expectations? I don't know, but it not only lived up to, but EXCEEDED them. Truly that good. Okay, maybe I should get out more. I don't know, but I'm still drooling about it a week later. Husband's scallops...again, sheer perfection. Risotto, perfect! (but honestly, nothing could beat that fish dish) Drinks were a bit slow coming. It took a long time to get a second glass of wine and for Husband to get tea refills. But the food was so good, we really didn't care. We certainly didn't feel deprived. I was so glad that my husband was having a memorable birthday dinner!
Next thing we know they bring him a Happy Birthday creme brulee (amaretto), with a white chocolate, raspberry biscotti. They also brought dessert menus in case we wanted something else. I wanted everything else...the limoncello, the coffee drinks, everything! Sadly, I was too full for anything else! (having licked my entree plate dry). I took one tiny bite of his creme brulee (so good!) and one teeny bite of the biscotti (again good!), but couldn't do anything else. He seemed to enjoy every bite of it.
The bill was around $125. I had around $80 left (after using some for the Casey's meal earlier), of Disney rewards dollars, which helped a lot. However, I would have happily paid every dollar for this meal out of pocket. It was literally one of the best meals I've ever had. And it was a great experience for my big-birthday guy.
THANK YOU Flying Fish for not only living up to my expectations, but exceeding them!
Besides, I have plenty of other dream meals picked out at other Disney restaurants, just waiting for the right day and time, considering all the hours I've spent reading reviews and looking at the pictures here. YEARS of food porn drooling! 
I'd be willing to bet I'm the only one to be that idiotic.
