Is there Gluten in Whiskey? Sept trip: 9 days, 3 boys, 1 urgent care visit NEWx2 11/7

[kokotg]

Sounds like a great MK day! Oh no on the surprise not going as planned - hope you still manage it.

Lol I think we did Haunted Mansion straight after our lunch at CHH as well - like you said it's there in front of you!

Oh no on being unable to move due to the parade - am glad you managed to continue and enjoy the afternoon.

It was a really fun day, despite that awful parade Maybe someday they'll actually enjoy the parades!

Loving all this updating!!
I love all the pictures of you guys around the Haunted Mansion!
How dare those Disney people put ANOTHER parade on?
We had found the same Pop shortcut!
Can't wait for the next installment!

thanks I think Dave knew about the shortcut way before I did--he's much more likely to study maps than I am--but we were apart so much early in the trip when Ari was sick that it took me a long time to catch on

Oh that ominous sky, pretty much looked like that the whole time we were there too. We hit Haunted Mansion every time we came out of CHH too, or every time we walked in that general vicinity. We never had to wait either.

I love how your kids were "trapped" by the parade again.

We got lucky more often than not with the rain; it seemed to usually happen when we were in the room anyway...it looks like you guys had worse luck than we did with that!

Someone was busy with updates!! What a great day at MK. I love the Haunted Mansion pics, and I agree that Chip and Dale are so cute in their space garb. Can't wait to hear how O'Hana went!

Dave was gone all day to a math tournament yesterday, so I let the kids watch too much TV and spent a lot of time writing . I should be able to get 'Ohana up tonight or tomorrow morning!

I got a chuckle out of your two older boys first "alone" journey to get Fastpasses. I remember how nervous I was the first time I let my older son take the younger one to the bathroom. Baby steps.

After this great success, maybe I'll just send them off to Epcot on the bus for the day next year J/K!

Oh yes, the airbrushed shirts are still there... basically on every corner. There are lots of options too so you should have fun designing ones for your boys

I can't wait to hear about your O'Hana experience. I've never been and it just looks so tempting. I really hope I get the opportunity to experience it soon!

Yay--airbrushed shirts!

'Ohana gets such mixed reviews...I think everyone has to try it and see what they think. I would say it's great if you're a big meat eater...but then I have a vegetarian friend who thinks it's awesome...so who knows what it is that makes someone an 'Ohana lover or hater?!

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 33: 'Ohana

Is there ever much of anywhere to park at the Polynesian? Well, there was ONE place to park at the Polynesian, but it took us a long time to find it. And we were STILL fifteen minutes early for our 8:30 reservation. I think there was a reason why I made this reservation so late. If I remember right, this was, in some incarnation of our itinerary, supposed to be our Hollywood Studios day. I envisioned us seeing the last American Idol show at 7:00 and then driving over to the Polynesian for this reservation. Of course, we ended up being at the Magic Kingdom on this day, so it was just a really late dinner for no particular reason. Except we were hoping we'd be able to watch Wishes while we ate. We checked in and got our pager, then set off for some pin shopping.

Gus spotted a CM with a lanyard and whispered to me, “I think he has the best pin I've seen on a cast member's lanyard.” He went up to trade, and ended up with a very ordinary looking red Mickey head pin.

Our pager didn't go off until we'd already been there 30 minutes, but, of course, we'd been 15 minutes early. I don't think we've ever waited less than 20 or 30 minutes at 'Ohana. Our hostess took us in, tried to give us bread, which we had to reject, and did the thing where she asks if you've been there before and if you know what 'Ohana means. Now, we've been to 'Ohana four other times, so you'd think that Dave, at least, would remember what 'Ohana means. “I know what it means,” he said. Ah, good. But he gave the kids a chance to answer first.

“Cheese?” suggested Ari. This was an alternate trip report title, by the way: “'Ohana means Cheese.”

“It means cousin,” Dave corrected smugly. This was getting embarrassing.

“FAMILY,” I said finally, putting this sad conversation out of its misery.

We got to our table and were pleased to see it was close to the windows with a nice view of the castle. Our server came by, took drink orders, and told us the chef would be out soon to talk to us. He seemed to have no clue what gluten was, and went on excitedly about all the great stuff like noodles he was going to be bringing us. I thought it was a little odd that he'd never encountered anyone who couldn't eat gluten before, but we just smiled and nodded and waited for the chef.

Chef Jeff (it rhymes!) came out soon. He seemed...not annoyed, really, but sort of....disappointed in us for not eating gluten. “So no wheat? No soy sauce or anything?” he asked. Yep, we really mean it. Not even the gluten in soy sauce. Then he made it sound like we were about to eat the worst meal of our entire lives and he wasn't sure why we'd even bothered to show up. “There are only like three things on the menu you can eat,” he told us glumly. We could have, he said, salad, steak, and shrimp. That didn't sound very good. But I'd heard such good things about 'Ohana and allergies! I started to panic. Ari wasn't going to eat any of that.

But then he went on. “We can bring you out a plate of rice and vegetables,” he said. Okay. That sounded good. “And we'll get some wings out here.” We like wings.

I asked about the chicken and pork, as I'd seen reviews where people got gluten-free versions of those. He told me that all the meats were marinated, but added, “I can grill some chicken for you if you want.” I was very relieved. Ari could eat!

Okay, so....Chef Jeff WAY undersells 'Ohana. This was the best meal of our trip! We got more of the Ener-G rolls of course, and the kids devoured them as usual. Then a giant thing of wings with some kind of tasty rub on them. The steak was REALLY good—by far the best I've ever had at 'Ohana. I thought there was just going to be some plain grilled chicken, but they brought out SIX chicken breasts with a really yummy teriyaki sauce on them. And a big plate of rice and broccoli. Which was great for me, because I don't like the noodles they usually serve anyway, so I was thrilled to have the rice instead. I think we managed to eat all six of the chicken breasts. And Ari couldn't resist breaking his rule and having some of the steak.

There were more. We ate some.

AND then! These incredible lava cakes!

The server put them down and told us that they'd made them just for us. We'd been told initially that we'd be getting GF brownies and ice cream, so I'd prepared myself for yet another French Meadow brownie. But no! These were awesome!

I was wondering how on earth Chef Jeff had found the time to whip up gluten-free chocolate cake for us out of nowhere and feeling very special. I pictured him starting out all grumpy about the gluten thing and then gradually getting inspired and rising triumphantly to the challenge. But when I got home, I was reading some dining reviews, and noticed some cakes in Kona reviews that looked suspiciously identical to the ones we were served . Hmm....so really I guess they just ran next door and grabbed some for us (the Kilauea Torte, which is always gluten-free), but it was still really nice of them. And it means I'll definitely be booking a Kona ADR next year so I can have that torte again!

Oh, and Wishes started a few minutes after we sat down, so that was really cool, too. They turn the lights down and play the music in the restaurant. There was a big beam outside our window blocking a good bit of our view, but it was still lovely.

I rank this as our top meal of the trip without a doubt. Dave won't quite go that far, but he does admit, with a bit of confusion and wonder in his voice, that it gave Boma a run for its money this year.

 

[nadira36]

oh that sounds so good! We've only got BF resizes there this year - in fact never eaten anything but BF there, but maybe next time we'll try! We're also excited to try Kona since we've never been there- so nice to know dessert is available!

 

[shan23877]

Holy Updates Batman!

First, no one can ever have enough kitch/airbrush in their life.

Second, next trip I WILL get 'Ohana reservations no matter what time I have to get them for! I gave up last trip b/c the earliest I could get was 9 pm.

Great updates as usual!

 

[teekathepony]

How strange that they undersold their restaurant. I'm glad that despite the pre-meal panic you did have a good meal!

 

[kokotg]

oh that sounds so good! We've only got BF resizes there this year - in fact never eaten anything but BF there, but maybe next time we'll try! We're also excited to try Kona since we've never been there- so nice to know dessert is available!

...and I've only ever done dinner at 'Ohana. Is the breakfast good?

Holy Updates Batman!

First, no one can ever have enough kitch/airbrush in their life.

Second, next trip I WILL get 'Ohana reservations no matter what time I have to get them for! I gave up last trip b/c the earliest I could get was 9 pm.

Great updates as usual!

It's funny, because the restaurant didn't even seem that crowded when we were there...by the time we left anyway there were a good many empty tables, but maybe they'd stopped seating by then. I kept wishing I could change to an earlier reservation, but nothing opened up no matter how many times I checked. But seeing Wishes was very nice, at least!

How strange that they undersold their restaurant. I'm glad that despite the pre-meal panic you did have a good meal!

I don't know if maybe they don't get that many people who can't eat gluten since so many things on the regular menu are full of soy sauce? But I had read several glowing GF reviews before we left, so I know SOME GF people eat there. Maybe Chef Jeff was just having a bad night.

 

[HilJoy14]

I'm so glad to hear that Ohana has GF options! Last time we ate there, I just loved it, but I was not GF then. Between the noodles and the pot stickers (which I loved!), I couldn't imagine eating here again and missing them. But your food looked really good, too! Kind of odd that they'd make it sound like you were missing out - but at least you got a good meal out of it!

 

[kokotg]

I'm so glad to hear that Ohana has GF options! Last time we ate there, I just loved it, but I was not GF then. Between the noodles and the pot stickers (which I loved!), I couldn't imagine eating here again and missing them. But your food looked really good, too! Kind of odd that they'd make it sound like you were missing out - but at least you got a good meal out of it!

I probably never would have attempted it if I hadn't read some great GF reviews...Chef Jeff was right that nearly everything on the regular menu has gluten. But I would have been really sad to miss it; we've gone there every trip!

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 34: Wednesday's New Things

I have a lot of Thursday written up, just need to upload the pictures to go with it. So probably tonight!

New things:
1. Crystal Palace
2. Enchanted Tiki Room
3. checking in at the new podium at 'Ohana (okay, I'm reaching here; there were not that many new things today!)

 

[TanzUnited99]

I'm really glad to read you had a good experience at O'hana - the meal looks soo yummy! You are right in that Chef Jeff undersold the meal. I was starting to think uh oh this doesn't sound good but was happy to read the meal turned out being great.

Also you are right in that the Torte was yummy-licious!

 

[Mombits]

Maybe Chef Jeff just felt really bad for you missing out on what he considers Yummy. Good thing there were a lot of things that you considered yummy!

 

[transientsoul]

Your TR is cult worthy even for us non-GF people! You've almost got me wanting to go Vegetarian (sans Le Cellier) on our upcoming trip just to see how DW treats it. Not entirely out of the blue, I tend to do this for weeks at a time until I want a big fat steak/burger Just hadn't thought about taking it on vacation with me.

About Pin Trading...When did that start with your kids? Did they read up on it or was it just a "Here-have-a-lanyard-and-go-find-someone-else-with-one" approach. I was thinking of getting Kiddo into it, but am afraid I may be more interested in it than him!

And, thanks to your C&D Spacesuit pic, I now have yet another thing to add to the list of to-do's at Disney. Hope they show up when we are there!

(Im)patiently wating for more...

 

[kokotg]

I'm really glad to read you had a good experience at O'hana - the meal looks soo yummy! You are right in that Chef Jeff undersold the meal. I was starting to think uh oh this doesn't sound good but was happy to read the meal turned out being great.

Also you are right in that the Torte was yummy-licious!

Yep, yours was one of the TRs where I saw the torte and thought, "hey--that looks just like our 'Ohana dessert!"

Maybe Chef Jeff just felt really bad for you missing out on what he considers Yummy. Good thing there were a lot of things that you considered yummy!

I'm glad he felt bad enough for us to make that sauce for the chicken and go get us some torte anyway! Yeah, he did seem to feel like a world without soy sauce was really not worth living in . Although they do make gluten free soy sauce....

Your TR is cult worthy even for us non-GF people! You've almost got me wanting to go Vegetarian (sans Le Cellier) on our upcoming trip just to see how DW treats it. Not entirely out of the blue, I tend to do this for weeks at a time until I want a big fat steak/burger Just hadn't thought about taking it on vacation with me.

About Pin Trading...When did that start with your kids? Did they read up on it or was it just a "Here-have-a-lanyard-and-go-find-someone-else-with-one" approach. I was thinking of getting Kiddo into it, but am afraid I may be more interested in it than him!

And, thanks to your C&D Spacesuit pic, I now have yet another thing to add to the list of to-do's at Disney. Hope they show up when we are there!

(Im)patiently wating for more...

ha! You should become a gluten free vegan before your trip and really give them a challenge

The kids bought a few pins last year, but didn't do any trading, and I think I'm the one who told them that pin trading was possible. They really didn't do a whole lot of pin trading this year...I was a little surprised they weren't more into it. I'm planning on adding to their collections this year with bday and christmas presents, so maybe next trip it will be a bigger deal.

Getting ready to post the next installment now!

 

[fromscratchmom]

Chef Jeff (it rhymes!) came out soon. He seemed...not annoyed, really, but sort of....disappointed in us for not eating gluten. “So no wheat? No soy sauce or anything?” he asked. Yep, we really mean it. Not even the gluten in soy sauce. Then he made it sound like we were about to eat the worst meal of our entire lives and he wasn't sure why we'd even bothered to show up. “There are only like three things on the menu you can eat,” he told us glumly. We could have, he said, salad, steak, and shrimp. That didn't sound very good. But I'd heard such good things about 'Ohana and allergies! I started to panic. Ari wasn't going to eat any of that.

But then he went on. “We can bring you out a plate of rice and vegetables,” he said. Okay. That sounded good. “And we'll get some wings out here.” We like wings.

I asked about the chicken and pork, as I'd seen reviews where people got gluten-free versions of those. He told me that all the meats were marinated, but added, “I can grill some chicken for you if you want.” I was very relieved. Ari could eat!

Okay, so....Chef Jeff WAY undersells 'Ohana. This was the best meal of our trip!

I'm always confused about the soy sauce thing. It just blows me away how many people and restaurants are just totally dependent on cheaper or adulterated versions of traditional foods that can be so good but are generally very sub-par in their cheaper versions. You can get amazing soy sauces and tamari from really good companies that make them in the traditional way and also make them wheat free and once you get used to those and you get some kikkoman its shocking how much less nice the kikkoman is.

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 35: Thursday 9/22: Epcot

We slept in all the way until 8:30 after our late night at 'Ohana. But we still managed to make it to Epcot by 9:30. Originally, this was supposed to be the day we mostly hung out in World Showcase doing Kim Possible missions and whatnot—a very relaxed day. But then Ari was sick and missed most of our first Epcot day, so we needed to make sure he got to do everything he'd missed that day.

In this picture, you can see that it was really humid in the morning. You can also see that Dave is wearing the AWESOME Chip n' Dale shirt I found for him at Goodwill just before our trip. Conservation nut! Ha! Chip and Dale crack me up. Oh--get it?! CRACK. I didn't even mean to do that.

Now I feel like I should attempt an amusing caption for every picture, but I got nothin' here. Look--it's Epcot.

So the day called for EXTRA efficiency. But, somehow, we couldn't really get it together for most of the day. The kids still really wanted to do the orange side of Mission Space, and Dave, because he is a better parent than I am, had agreed to take them on it. So they went off that way while I went to get Soarin' fastpasses. The plan was we'd meet back up at Test Track. So once I had the fastpasses, I headed back over that way. And waited for them for a very long time.

I have no clue how I got this picture of Mission Space, since I had the camera with me, and I didn't go there.

This is what Test Track looks like while you're waiting for your family to show up and watching the line get longer and longer.

They finally turned up, and Dave said there hadn't been any particular delays or anything...it just takes awhile to ride Mission Space. The Test Track line was something like 15 minutes at that point, I think...we pretty much walked right into the waiting area for the pre-show room. But then, when we were nearly to the front of the line, the ride broke down. We waited a very long time, and then they finally told everyone to leave and gave us all fastpasses to come back later.

This is what you see when you get to go out a secret exit because Test Track is broken.

By now it was after eleven, and we'd only managed one ride (well, I'd managed none, but by choice). We walked through Innoventions and picked up our Kim Possible tickets then went back to The Land to eat lunch and await our Soarin' return time.

Ari got the chicken meal, and I haven't posted a picture of that one yet...so here it is.

waiting for lunch...

Gus was feeling a little restless in line for Soarin'. Also, he was wearing his airplane shirt. For Soarin'! Thematically appropriate!

...and Milo was cold.

Nine pound lemon! I think maybe we should have done the Behind the Seeds tour. Next time!

After Soarin' we picked up more fastpasses for later and headed off for World Showcase.

The CM at the Kim Possible kiosk asked which countries we'd already done and gave us the UK. Last year the kids did France and Norway, and they were hoping to do ALL the countries this year. I won't keep you in suspense...they didn't make it. But they did a bunch.

In the UK, the kids did the Kim Possible mission:

And Dave had a cider:

The CM selling the cider was from Edinburgh, and Dave has been to Edinburgh, so they talked about that for a minute

It was very hot. For the UK Kim Possible mission, they tease you a lot by having you go into a shop for about 14 seconds to enjoy the air conditioning, then sending you right back outside to burn in the sun.

Part of my vision of this Kim Possible-filled day was spending some time seeing things we haven't seen before in WS. Like the movie in Canada! We backtracked a bit so we could go see this once the kids finished up in the UK. This was nice and cool. I've got to say I think I'd prefer a less circular screen and some nice chairs in there, though. I don't remember that much about the movie, except that it wasn't as funny as I expected it to be. It did kind of make me wish I were Canadian, though, so I guess it did its job. Actually, I think it was supposed to make me want to VISIT Canada. They probably don't even want us to move there. Unless there's a big math teacher shortage in Canada. Anyway. It didn't really make me want to visit Canada. It's kind of far, and skiing scares me.

Okay! So then we went over to do the Kim Possible mission in France. Because it's what's next! Even though the kids had done it last year. Word is, it's a little different every time. Dave and I had wine.

First Dave held them, and I took his picture...

...then I held them, and he took my picture. We didn't each have two glasses of wine at once.

Then we bought tiny little overpriced chocolates.

A few weeks before the trip, I'd found a Garden Grill reservation for Thursday for 4:30 (it was 4 something anyway. I can't remember exactly, so I'm going to pretend 4:30). I was excited about this, as we'd never eaten there before, but it meant trekking all the way back over to Future World in the middle of Kim Possible day. But it was, again, VERY hot, so we were pretty ready for a break by then anyway. Oh! Wait! There's more!

I forgot. I also wanted to get our free character photo for Disney Visa cardholders in the super secret spot in Innoventions. And do a couple of other things in Future World before dinner, and then, we figured, we'd head back over to the relatively cool evening World Showcase to do some more Kim Possible before Illuminations.

So next up: our triumphant return to Future World! and then, eventually, Garden Grill.

 

[kokotg]

I'm always confused about the soy sauce thing. It just blows me away how many people and restaurants are just totally dependent on cheaper or adulterated versions of traditional foods that can be so good but are generally very sub-par in their cheaper versions. You can get amazing soy sauces and tamari from really good companies that make them in the traditional way and also make them wheat free and once you get used to those and you get some kikkoman its shocking how much less nice the kikkoman is.

What soy sauce do you like? I bought some tamari sauce awhile back, but I haven't cracked it open yet. Right now we're using a bottle of La Choy, but I'm guessing that's not the pinnacle of soy sauce quality

 

[fromscratchmom]

I always buy Eden brand. But you do still have to read the labels because they make several varieties and they aren't all wheat free. I love their stuff. There are other companies that are reputed to have great quality but I've been a devoted fan of the Eden brand since long before I found out about my gluten problem.

I read a taste test thing about it in Cook's illustrated magazine a long time ago and that is when I started buying traditionally aged soy and tamari from Eden brand. I LOVE that magazine.

 

[nadira36]

"When I look around me,
I can't believe what I see
It seems as if this country
Has lost its will to live
The economy is lousy,
We barely have an army
But we can still stand proudly
cause Canadas really big"

Arrogant Worms 'Canada's Really Big' ETA - I recommend finding the video on youtube - they're hilarious and this song is one of their best.

: ) I'm not much for skiing myself - but the drinks at the bottom of the mountain are really nice : )

We're hoping to try some Kimpossible this trip - though we're not sure if the girls will appreciate it or not.

I'm eagerly awaiting your Garden Grill review - this is our first time GF while eating there so we're not sure what to expect. But we love Chip & Dale so we have our ADRs.

 

[teekathepony]

Great update! Too bad about test track breaking down Some day I'm going to do the Kim Possible missions. They look fun!

 

[shan23877]

Too bad Test Track was broken down! No judgement if you were double fisting the wine . The Kim Possible missions look fun!