In Heaven ( and MK ) there is no beer, Backlot Express and TSM dessert party 1/18

[jeminni]

Hi everyone,

After being on the boards for a couple years and reading lots of great dining reviews I figure I'll try my hand at one. As always a little background first:

Me (jeminni) 51, been to disney many times. A lover of most foods, usually willing to try most anything. The only thing I dont like to do on a vacation is eat something like a burger, I can have that anytime. I want something different on vacation . I'm not much of a dessert fan so I'll mostly be having creme bruelees. This will be the first time I've gone in December so I'm really looking forward to seeing all of the decorations and Christmas activities.

DD ( Mica ) 21, she has also been to disney numerous times. This trip it will be just her and I. Hey father, my DH has never been to disney with us. He has no desire to go since he already knows he would hate it. But since he doesnt object to any of us going without him it's all good. When Mica was a freshman at Johnson&wales, I went on a trip with just her DB 23. I didnt tell her about it until after we returned, figuring it was her first time away from home, at school and in another state and I wanted her to do well her first term and not to be missing classes. This trip is a makeup trip for just her and I. Her purpose on this trip is to take a picture of herself lounging in a hammock at CBR with a drink in her hand that she can send to her brother. She also wanted to go to Pleasure Island but since that is no longer there I told her we can try some drinks throughout the world ( except for in the Magic Kingdom of course) We'll see is she can accomplish that.

We are on the DDP. Right now our ADRS are:
Crystal Palace (D) then MVMCP
Tutto Italia ( thanks MickiNicki ) then Candlelight Processional
late night snack at Spoodles
Coral Reef (L) with a personalized menu she will probably kill me for making
Le Cellier (L)
Grand Floridian Afternoon Tea ( thanks Brenda)
O'hana ( tradition we do on our last night)

CS- the only place I know I want to for sure go to is WPE- I love that place

I have never taken pics of food before or posted anything on here, so I'm not promising anything on that end. The weather is supposed to be mostly nice while we are there and I hoping to run into some people from the DIS boards while I'm down there. Oh I almost forgot, we're going to be attending the DU and Podcast TSM meet on Saturday night.

I think thats all for now, I still have to finish packing and get to bed so I can get up at 3 am, Got to love those early morning flights.

 

[TDC Nala]

well what do you know? Instant flashback to the days when I was allowed to stay up and tape the Dr. Demento show.

In Heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink it here
And when we're all gone from here
Our friends will be drinking all the beer.

In Heaven there is no wine
So we drink till we feel fine
And when we leave this all behind
Our friends will be drinking all the wine.


Have fun Bridget. I'm there myself as of Friday night. Leave me some wine.

 

[oybolshoi]

Have a great trip Bridget ... eat good food, have much fun, and find some good booze!!!

 

[TigerKat]

Have a great & safe trip!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Have a safe trip and a fantastic vacation! Cannot wait to hear all about it!

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Have a wonderful trip. I'm looking forward to your dining reviews. I haven't eaten at any of the places you're planning on but Tutto Italia tops my list of a must-try for a future trip. I also love afternoon tea anywhere so I can't wait to hear how it is at GF. I'm also really curious about Coral Reef. Would love to dine there for the atmosphere but worry about the food. Let me know what you think.

 

[natalielongstaff]

sounds like a fun trip

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Can't wait to read your reviews.

 

[jeminni]

I'm back.

Our trip was mostly great, you gotta love 80 degrees and sunny in December.
The decorations were so beautiful and we both loved MVMCP. I love how everything was decorated so well. I still need to download all of our pictures before I start our reviews. Unfortunately Mica was sick the first 3 days of our trip and I didnt feel all that well the next 2 days so we missed some of our ADRs.

Here's a pic until I can download our pics.

Mica bought me an ornament tree and some Mickey head ornaments. She just put it up today and her dad came home and knocked it over with his jacket. Two of the ornaments broke. Dad felt bad and told her we just have to go back next year so she can buy me more ornaments.
I'm good with that.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I'm so glad you had a great trip! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[natalielongstaff]

glad you had a good trip shame you were poorly though !

 

[jeminni]

Sorry it's taking me awhile to really get started on this review. Darn Christmas stuff keeps getting in the way. I spent the day shopping, wrapping gifts, cleaning and I'm supposed to be starting making cookie dough now. Instead I'm sitting here sipping a glass of wine and getting ready to watch The Wizard of Oz. One thing I did buy today was a bottle of Rosa Regali for our Christmas dinner. I tried it for the first time on Thanksgiving and really enjoyed it.

We left Pittsburgh at 6 am on 12/11. The weather was cold and snowing when we left. Mica had been sick the day before we left with a stomach bug and was still looking abit green when we boarded the plane. Our flight was delayed as they de-iced the plane. Once we were airborn our flight was rerouted due to bad weather over the carolinas. We finally got into Atlanta airport having exactly 3 mins to travel to another concourse and catch our connecting flight. When we got off the plane they were announcing that we would be getting right back on to go to Orlando. At least we didnt have to run across the airport. We got back onboard and landed in Orlando @11:30. We quickly made our way through ME and soon found ourselves checking in at CBR. This was the first time we had ever been to this resort. While it is beautiful it is a very big resort. It was pouring down raining when we got there so we took the internal shuttle to our room. Our original plan was to go to DTD for lunch but since we hadnt eaten at all yet today we decided to try the resorts food court. Hopping the internal bus again ( dang rain ) we went to the food court. I'm sorry there's no pictures here, we hadnt unpacked anything yet and we were starving by this point.

Lunch: we split a greek salad and a phlly cheesesteak sandwich. The salad was romaine lettuce, red onions, kalamata olives, tomatoes and peppercini and greek dressing. The sandwich was shaved beef and cheese on a hoagie roll. It came with your choice of chips or pasta salad. Since we were on the meal plan we also could have a drink and a dessert. We both had hot tea and premade chocolate cake. The salad was nice and fresh and very nice sized. The cheesesteak sandwich was just what you would expect nothing fancy but it was filling. We took most of the salad, all the pasta salad and the cakes back to our room. Unfortunately we never did get around to eating any of them and had to throw them away when we left.


Would we eat there again? I would but I wish we would have went to WPE instead. It was pouring down rain, we were hungry and Mica still wasnt feeling great so this was the best option for us.

Next up Crystal Palace dinner and MVMCP. Will the rain stop so we can go to the party? It's already 3pm and still pouring outside. Oh and did I mention the one thing I forgot to pack was ponchos? Stay tuned for more.

 

[TigerKat]

Great start! I love me some Rosa Regale.........

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Oooh...so suspenseful! I hope you make it to the party.

 

[jeminni]

Finally around 4:30 the rain stopped and the sky cleared up.After putting on our Christmas shirts Mica and I were off to MVMCP. Entering the park we stopped to admire the beautiful Christmas tree on Main street.

After ooohing and ahhing over the tree and all the Christmas decorations we linked arms together and began making our way down Main Street to our ADR at Crystal Palace. Everything was just so beautiful and magical that we just couldn't help smiling at everybody and everything. One of the balloon vendors must have liked Mica's smile. He came running across the street to put his balloons all around her and posed for a picture with her.

We finally made it to the Crystal Palace and checked in for our 6:20 reservation. The restaurant was crowded when we first got there so we took our pager and went and sat on the patio. Actually I was glad we were still outside for it was almost time for the Castle lighting. At 6:30 the castle icicle lights cane on. What a beautiful sight, it brought tears to my eyes.

We sat around admiring the Castle and people watching til 6:45 when our buzzer went off and we were escorted into the dining room. We made it in just in time for the start of a parade. Piglet and Tigger were leading a group of napkin waving children followed by picture taking parents all around the dining room. Rather than get trampled down trying to get to the buffet line we sat and wtched the parade before going up to the food.

The Buffet is set up in 2 sections, each having the same set of food then meeting in the middle at the carving station. The children's buffet section is at the beginning on each line. Tonight it had macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers and green beans. Moving over to the big section, first are the assorted dinner rools and breads, followed by a large salad selection. The next part of the buffet has hot meats and vegetables, then a soup selection and finally the carving section. A chef is there waiting to carve you as much Prime Rib and turkey as you want. In the middle of the buffets are the desserts. It wasnt a big selection but they did have cookies, ice cream, tiramisu, pie and cake. It was still extremely crowded when we were there so I couldnt get any pictures of the buffets. Instead here's a picture of my first plate:

Beet salad with Sag Dhal dressing, very good
Balsamic rice
Ancho chili rubbed Salmon. I love this salmon, I would go here just for this
Vegetables in a balsamic glaze
Thai curry mussels
Herb roasted turkey
Fruit and vegetable tofu curry
Slow roasted Adobo pork

Mica's first plate:

Prime Rib
Cream cheese mashed potatoes
Chicken fingers
Mediterrean pasta salad
peel and eat shrimp
Rotisserre chicken


She wasnt feeling all that great yet, so only ate about half of her food.

continued on next post...

 

[jeminni]

Crystal Palace, part 2

my second plate

Herb Roasted Turkey
Salmon
peel & eat shrimp with cocktail sauce
Sun-Dried Cherry Chutney
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Beet Salad with Sag Dhal Dressing
Romaine and Bleu Cheese Salad
Thai Curry Mussels
Broccoli tossed in Puri Puri and topped with Key Lime Ponzu
Tomato Mozzerella salad ( under the turkey)

Mica had a small plate of desserts that she ate part of:

tiramusu
chocolate whiskey trifle
chocolate peanutbutter cake

I was too full to have any dessert but I did try one bite of her tiramusu. It was too sweet for me but it is one of her favorite desserts.

Required character pics:

Pooh

Eeyore

Piglet ( and me cause Mica snuck away to the bathroom with she came around )

Finally a picture of the tree

I'm not a big fan of buffets but I've always enjoyed this restaurant. It's very pretty inside and everytime I've been here the food has always been fresh and the buffet has been replenished frequently. And of course there's that chili rubbed salmon .


Total cost: 2 TS
Would we come again? yes

After dinner we went to MVMCP. The park was emty that night, probably due to all the rain earlier. We walked right onto every ride and rode everything a couple times. The Christmas fireworks and parade were great and the CMs were begging people to come in and have cookies and hot chocolate. And who would not love snow on Main street?

 

[jeminni]

Merry Christmas Everyone !!!



I'm up and cooking already. My DS23 requested smoked baby back ribs for Christmas dinner so they are going on the smoker in a cpl minutes. Everyone have a great Christmas day.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I'm glad you made to dinner and to the party. Sounds fun.

 

[Krissalee]

You are off to a great start! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[BriarRosie]

Don't knock yourself out about delays on your report. It took me a **coughcoughMONTHcoughcough** for me to post my latest update.

And I think that pre-pubescent looking balloon vendor might have liked Mica's smile, but I really think he wanted a picture with a "Naughty" girl. As for the food, I keep hearing about that salmon at Crystal Palace. I don't know if I'd want to pay character premium pricing to have it, though.