It might not be Live but its REAL! Nicki and Todd are at it again!

MickeyNicki

It is pretty darn sad when a valet picks you out a
Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Hi everyone! So we just got home from our long weekend at WDW and I am ready to start posting away. I am uploading pictures now so they will follow shortly but in the mean time I will tell you a bit about our trip. :hyper: :hyper: :hyper:

We knew we wanted to get away for a weekend but did not know for sure until 3 weeks before I booked it. The onsite resorts were pretty steep at the time so we decided to turn in points and stay at offsite for the first time in 6 years...:( but a free trip is better than no trip plus they offer free breakfast. The Staybridge Suites is located right by DTD, there are plenty of big chain restaurants nearby. They gave us a one bedroom suite that was huge and a bag of homeade cookies as a welcoming gift. The place was very clean and great for a longer stay but we really missed being onsite. Oh and the free breakfast? BLECH! :sick: Now if you read my reports you know we are huge fruit people and they did not offer any fruits. There was eggs drowing in watery yellow liquid, bacon swimming in grease and dry cereal...no thanks we will eat onsite!

Onto the weather..ok so it was hot, I mean blazing hot that your skin is starting to BBQ itself if you do not have enough sunscreen on. And did I mention the rain??? The first day at AK it rained for over an hour so hard you could not see right in front of your face, it was like that for a few hours (started around 4) and there was a ton of thunder and big time lightening. On Saturday it started at 10 am and rained off and on all day long, the rain started back up again at 10am today and was pouring from the time we left WDW (11ish) until we got to North Port FL....the newscast said rain, heavy thunder and lightening all week! :scared1:

Now we are totally used to this because we live in FL but for some reason we forget what it is like to go in the summer....we normally have the seasonal passes that block off the summer months but this time DH talked me into buying the year 'round ones. Ok so it was hot and so it rained but we were at WDW! If you are going this summer bring umbrellas and ponchos!

Hollywood Studios was a slam packed on Saturday so if you are planning on going to the Star Wars thing next weekend get there super duper early and be prepared for long lines...and get your FP's for the new Toy Story ride as soon as you get in the park.

Ok, just finished uploading so lets get this show on the road!

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Ok lets get this party started! :woohoo:

We leave Naples early but not as early as I wanted, thanks to DH! He actually wanted to sleep in a bit on his day off...the nerve! Made a pitstop at my fav place, Starbucks and got on the interstate. I wish so much that I could get my Venti Non Fat Quad Vanilla Latte in WDW...I would be such a happy kid. :rotfl:

We arrive at 11 on the nose and go straight to DTD, we do this first on all our trips. We could not decide between EoS or WPE so we flipped a coin and WPE won. We walk right to the counter, no lines, and we have no idea what we want :lmao: so I say give me the BBQ beef foccacia and DH said I will have the rotisserie chicken and caesar salad. I wanted to get some of those amazing chocolate chip cookies that we had on our March/April trip but they didnt have any :( I had the tropical ice tea and DH had a cherry coke.

By the time we got our drinks and sat down there was a line out the door.

The BBQ beef was like a folded sandwich with mushrooms and onions and cheese and it was so fabulous. A nice tangy, sweet sauce over super tender beef and the best foccacia bread...it was so great that after 2 bites I lost it to the wandering eye and fork of my DH! Oh well next time I will just have to sit at my own table and let him drool from afar!

The rosemary rotisserie chicken was to die for. I am not a dark meat or skin girl and I do not know what possessed me but I had to sink my teeth into that drumstick. The meat was so tender and flavorful and the skin melted on your tongue. Since DH took over my sandwich I wasnt too mad at him once I had that chicken! The caesar salad was great too, nice and cold and crisp and not too much dressing.

We ate every bite!

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That chicken looks pretty tasty! Jay and I may have to give WPE a try if time permits in October ... so much food, so little time! :lmao:
 
After a great lunch DH turns to me and says, where can we get something sweet around here? Ok let me go into that file in my brain that says DIS INFO! He wasnt feeling ice cream and nothing in Goofy's Candy was swaying him (I know, he is a weird-o) and I am running out of items and then it hit me, a DOH BAR!

I said, come on pal I have a treat for you. I did not tell him what it was I just walked him to Cookes of Dublin and ordered a Doh Bar. While we were waiting, they make them fresh to order, we eyeballed the menu. The fried shimp sounds really good, I think we are going to try them on our next trip. The chicken, leek and pastry pie sounds really good to.

So after a bit our name is called and this comes out:

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And then I made it look like this:

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The reason I picked this was because DH loves the deep fried candy at the county fair so I thought he would like this. He didnt, neither did I really. It wasnt greasy or anything but the candy just evaporated or something because all that was left were really hot peanuts. After 2 bites we pitched it and decided to head to AK.

Since we were staying off site we drove to the parks this time and it wasnt bad at all. Free parking with the AP's is a good perk and since we arrived at 12:45 there was alot of open parking close to the entrance. We have not been to AK in a 2 years and I really had my heart set on seeing the Finding Nemo show.

It was so hot it was crazy. :faint: We walked in and there was no waiting for It's Tough To Be A Bug so we went right in and sat and cooled off. Then we meandered around, I wanted to find Yak & Yeti location since we had dinner there that night. Right across from Y&Y there is the tea stand and a lightbulb went off in my head, FROZEN CHAI! :thumbsup2 I ordered a medium and let DH try it first...his eyes rolled and said this alone is a reason to come to AK! It is very good and I cannot wait to have it again. We did the Maharaja Jungle Trek and sipped this puppy the entire way.

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All the tigers and other animals were sound asleep in the shade, must have been too hot to entertain the visitors!

We made our way to the Finding Nemo show but we were too early so we hit DinoLand and walked around the gift shops. You can find Star Wars stuff at AK too. They had Minnie Leia and Jedi Mickey and other items. We were in line for the show 45 minutes prior to it and the line moved quickly. We sat right up front, the best seats ever, and the show was fantastic! Even DH loved it and I didnt think he would go for it. If you can make the time and go see this show!

It was 4 when the show let out and our dinner ressies at Y&Y were at 5 but DH was so tired and it was insanely hot so we wanted to try and get in early. They sat us right away in the room with the windows to the left of the entrance. This was the best location because we watched the entire Jungle Parade, and the huge storm whip in.

I had a Bamboo Cooler which is identical to a Bahama Mama and DH had a cherry lime sprite cooler which is super sweet and I couldnt drink it

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I let DH pick the appetizer, I knew he would get the lettuce cups. We have a PF Changs and a Pei Wei (cafe version of PF Changs) near our house and he orders these all the time. We were both very disappointed with the Y&Y version because they were loaded with red pepper and had a sweet taste to them, not what we were expecting. There wasnt anything wrong with them, they just werent to our tastes

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I ordered the Hoisin BBQ ribs and they came with chicken fried rice and an asian slaw. These ribs were amazing! The meat fell right off the bone tender, nice and sweet and not overly sauced at all. The slaw was crunchy and good. DH had the rice and he loved it, nice hunks of chicken in it and the rice was soft and fluffy. I ate every bite and sucked those bones with relish!

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DH ordered the steak and tempura shrimp that came with jasmine rice and veggies. The steak was so tender and flavorful and the tempura shrimp were the best we have ever had. Huge and not greasy and crispy and so tender. The veggies were good but the jasmine rice was awesome! I ate it all, since he took over my chicken fried rice!

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For dessert we made pigs of ourselves and ordered one mango pie and one wonton dessert. The mango pie is very sweet and light and creamy, almost like a fresh mango puree whipped with a sweet cream cheese (not like a cheesecake though) and served with fresh whipped cream and diced mangos and strawberries. This was very good but too sweet to eat more than 2 bites. Have no fear DH ate the rest of it :rotfl2:

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The pineapple wontons were cream cheese filled wontons with roasted pineapple, covered in a honey glaze and served with ice cream. DH loved this but not me, the taste of the unsweetened cream cheese with the sweet glaze threw me off. I kept thinking I was eating a crab rangoon or something. Maybe if they sweeten the cream cheese I would like it more.

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Overall we really enjoyed this place and would try a different appetizer. Our entrees were amazing! When we left the restaurant the rain was coming in and the thunder and lightening were terrible. We had to wait over an hour until it let up a bit just to see to walk to the parking lot!

We finally made it to the car and headed back to our room...we wanted to get some sleep since I was determined to make it to Epcot rope drop!
 


YAY!!!! A new Nicki report :banana:

Can't wait to hear how your weekend was :goodvibes

Hope you like it! Stay tuned.....

That chicken looks pretty tasty! Jay and I may have to give WPE a try if time permits in October ... so much food, so little time! :lmao:

The chicken was killer! That is the problem with the food at WDW, it is so good and you want to keep going back for more but there are just so many new places to try! Ok note to self, need more trips!

:cool1: :cool1: :worship: :worship: Can't wait for more!!!

Its coming at ya!
 
We ate at Y&Y a week & half ago. We weren't able to make our ADR because DD14 was sick and we had a Dr coming to our room to take care of her :sick: When we did make it there ( a couple hours later) DH explained to them and they got us in right away. It was evening EMH and they turned everyone else away, because they were booked.

We had the Dim Sum platter, and it was pretty good. Can't really tell ya what it was, but it was pretty good :) DD had the steak & shrimp and I was amazed at how good & tender that steak was! I only got a very small bite because she was enjoying it so much :laughing: DH had the duck, and it was very good. I had the honey chicken and it was good. The honey sauce was a little sweeter that I expected (and I like sweet) but the tempura on the chicken was the best I've ever had!!!!! We wanted to try dessert but were just too full :goodvibes

I'll have to make a note about the frozen chai's, that sounds good :goodvibes
 
So enjoying your new reviews. We are dining at Yak & Yeti in September and were a little hesitant, but your review and pictures convinced me that we have made a good choice.
 
More wonderful reviews and pics! Thanks for sharing!

I just got an ADR for Yak and Yeti for December and also have WPE on my list.
 
On Saturday morning the plan was to wake up and have the free breakfast the Staybridge Suites offers and make it to Epcot early so we can park the car close to the entrance...avoiding the trams at all costs. Well half the plan worked out. We went to the lobby for our free breakfast and it was nasty! Bacon floating in a sea of grease, clumps of scrambled eggs floating in yellow water, NO FRUIT!, cold cereals and bitter coffee. Uh no thanks we will get something at Sunshine Seasons.

So we get on the road and pull into Epcot at 8am. We are parked in the third row at the end, what luck! Just a minute to walk to bag check. We were the first in line at an entrance point. They let you in at 8:45 and then we speed walked towards Soarin where they make you wait in front of the large fountain for rope drop. All the characters came out and greeted you, and the CM's too. We made it to Soarin, got in line, 5 minute wait, got FP's for return within the hour and went to get some grub on!

DH was really dragging and the coffee I made him in the room wasnt cutting it so he got a Throttle Energy Drink....it was good, tasted like a citrus soda

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And if that didnt have enough sugar in it he got a cinnamon roll too, very good and soft and fresh

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We split the bacon egg cheese croissant, this was awesome but I gave all the bacon to DH, too smokey for me

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And of course, a fruit cup...these are the best!

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We had a nice relaxing quiet breakfast, got back on Soarin, rode the Land (no wait at all) and DH says, lets go to Hollywood Studios and check out this Toy Story thing (he saw the commercial on tv that morning). That is ok with me, I wanted to see what Star Wars weekend was all about. Epcot was not busy at all by the way, very cool. Also it was very overcast and breezy so it wasnt too hot yet.

We made our way to the back of Epcot, got on the boat and headed to HS. What a nightmare! People as far as the eye can see! Some dressed in costume like Jedi's and Leia's and Darth and stuff. We are in the throngs of people headed to the Toy Story Mania and when we get there the FP's are for 7pm return time! Well since we had 5:45 ressies at Spoodles I knew that was out of the question so I get the smart idea to get in line, 90 minute wait my foot it was 2 HOURS! We were speaking with a great family in front of us but the lines were so slow, they go on forever. The ride was fun but I will not wait that long for anything ever again...little did we know the entire time we were in there it was raining like crazy outside.

We had planned on eating at the countries in Epcot but it was raining so hard and it was 12:30 so we decided to grab something at HS. No CS would do so I called the WDW dining line and Sci Fi was sold out, 50s PT was wide open and they could get us in at Mama Melrose in 20 minutes. Ok that is a winner lets go, we were right next to it anyways! We only at ate MM once before, for dinner and were not too impressed but beggars cannot be choosers so we decided to give it another shot.

MM was turning away walkins, funny because 5 minutes ago we called and got right in. Big tip, call the WDW line instead of asking for a walk up. It was raining so hard and they had a CM outside telling people reservations only. We were seated 5 minutes after we checked in. Our server was fantastic, her dad lives down the street from us so we chatted about that for a bit. She was very attentive on drink refills on our diet cokes and keeping us posted about our order.

DH wanted to try the bread and dip sampler. This was incredible! The breadsticks tasted like pizza dough, the olive bread, rustic bread, grain bread were all out of this world. I loved the fresh roasted garlic and DH loved the pureed veggie dip, and we both thought the sundried tomato spread with pesto oil was the best...it was so fresh and flavorful we licked the plates!

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I wanted soup to take the chill off from the rain and a salad. They did have minestone but the soup of the day was a spicy tuscan bean and chicken so I had that and it was very good, not spice at all and loaded with veggies. I also had the caesar salad and oh my, it was so fresh and tasty! I dunked the cheese baked croutons from the salad in the soup and wow they were amazing

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DH goofed on his order, he meant to order a cheese pizza but ordered the fresh tomato pizza with pesto and a sharp creamy cheese. Our server brought it out on 2 plates, she noticed that we shared everything else so she served it that way to make it easier. The cheese was very good, the tomatoes were so flavorful and the pesto was so fresh and clean tasting....I loved it but DH not so much

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The desserts were not grabbing DH so we left and it was still raining outside but we had umbrellas so we were ok. It was a bit cool to us, the rain, the wind and the ac so we stumbled on Starring Rolls for a cup of coffee or tea. DH decided on hot cocoa and a cookie. These are really good cookies but blech hot cocoa. I would have taken pics of the pastries but they cases were full of condensation from the humidity and the rain, they had cheesecake, tiramisu, eclairs, fruit tarts and one other pastry I forget what it was

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I'm soooooo excited, a Nicki review!!!!!!!:banana: :banana: :yay: :dance3:

I'm so sorry that the weather wasn't cooperative. But I'd rather be in WDW in bad weather than not be there at all.:goodvibes
 
Sounds as if you enjoyed Mama Melrose a lot more this time around. My DH had the bread appetizer last year and really enjoyed it. We go every year and have always had a good meal.
 
I'm soooooo excited, a Nicki review!!!!!!!:banana: :banana: :yay: :dance3:

I'm so sorry that the weather wasn't cooperative. But I'd rather be in WDW in bad weather than not be there at all.:goodvibes

Just a short and sweet trip but yes I agree, I would rather be in WDW with rain than at home with sunshine!

Sounds as if you enjoyed Mama Melrose a lot more this time around. My DH had the bread appetizer last year and really enjoyed it. We go every year and have always had a good meal.

We really did, it smells so good in there too! I think we will give dinner another chance one day too
 
We left HS to head back to Epcot, the rain was still non stop. The boat to Epcot was fully loaded but we were lucky to squeeze on. First stop, France for a much talked about Grand Marnier slushie. This was fantastic and so dangerous as it doesnt taste boozey at all! DH and I had one and downed it so of course we had to buy another one!

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I wished I purchased this pretty pink think, it sounds so good..maybe on our August trip

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And one more booze picture

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We walked around the countries for a bit, yes in the rain, and made it to Mexico and Norway for the rides. We chilled out on a bench for a bit and just watched the rain fall around the World Showcase, very tranquil. We made our way over to Spoodles for dinner. We have not been here for about 11 years so we decided it was time to try it again.

Our ressie was for 5:45 and we arrived around 5:20. There was 2 people in front of me, one with twin 2 year old boys that were so cute. In comes and older couple, walks right past the line and up to the front desk. When the CM that was helping the first guy finished she started helping the line cutters. The lady in front of me and myself didnt say a word...I was just too tired ;)

The couple did not have reservations and wanted to eat there. The CM said they could fit them in now. The couple said that was too early and they were not hungry yet, how about later? The CM said they were sold out, reservations only. The couple said then make us a reservation...the CM said no you dont understand, no walk ins tonight. The couple said ok fine we will just eat now. By this time the lady in front of me, her kids are getting antsy and her mother came up and was furious that the couple cut the line so she started making very loud remarks. The couple was oblivious to it. So the woman tapped them with the stroller and starting in on them, loud and angry like. The couple apologized and didnt realize they did anything wrong but the woman would not stop badgering them. It was embarrassing.

So they get a pager, the CM starts to help the woman in front of me and another CM asks for the next person in line, I start to move and the kid behind me cut me! Oh no, hold the phone this is not happening twice. I said sorry pal but I am next. He harumpfed and got back in line.....tough noogies!

We were seated right away, the place was packed and had 3 tables of 10 or more people there. I wasnt hungry for an appetizer so we just ordered entrees.

The foccacia bread squares with the herbed olive oil to dip were out of this world. I could have made a meal off of this!

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I knew I wanted the lemon shrimp with garlic, perserved lemons and linguini. The first plate was loaded with shrimp and as I was tossing it I found a long black hair, ok so I freaked out on the inside (my family owned restaurants so I know this happens from time to time), quietly signaled the waitress who quietly apologized and asked if I wanted the same entree or order something different. Well I wanted the same! In seconds a fresh one was put in front of me. I know because we were sitting in front of the kitchen and I watched her take one off the pick up table and put it in front of me.

This dish was also loaded with shrimp that were cooked perfectly, wonderful lemon and garlic flavor and the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente. I loved everything about this dish and would order it again in a heartbeat!

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DH ordered the rigatoni with sausage, tomato sauce and portobello mushrooms. This was almost as amazing as mine! Again the pasta was cooked to perfection, the sausage is ground fine and so flavorful, the sauce was awesome and there was enough mushrooms for him to enjoy.

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I was so glad we did not order appetizers because we were able to finish our plates!

Dessert choices were not wowing us so I just took pics of the dessert table for you guys instead.

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Since our car was parked at Epcot we mosied over to the International Gateway, headed to the front part of the park to do a few more things and then I get a craving for something sweet.....back over to the countries for Norway. It is raining again so we get hot tea to warm up, DH gets something different, coconut flan. It has a shortbread crust, coconut custard filling, not too sweet, nice and light and pretty good.

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I love schoolbread so that is a no brainer for me! This time it really missed its mark, the cream was loose and runny and the roll part had a funny taste, like a spice of nutmeg or something. I didnt like it at all so we fed it to the birds.

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On to the last installment, breakfast this morning at Boma. I learned my lesson last month with the valet and showed the valet guy my DDE card, this time it was free! Last time we went they would not give it to me for whatever reason.

We had 10am ressies, the place was jammed with people so I couldnt get close up buffet pictures but the food was the same this time as the last 2xs we went so if you want to see pictures from our Spring trip the link is in my signature.

We were seated right away, the server was great and kept the juice and coffee filled. The food was just as fantastic as it was 2 months ago. I am hooked on the carved ham and roasted potatoes, and of course the best fruit ever....I could eat just these items and be very happy! The ham is so tender and soft and not salty at all.

Here are pics of our plates.

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And that wraps up our short but fun weekend trip! Hope you all enjoyed the reviews and pictures. We are going back the weekend before free dining starts, staying at the Poly and have ressies for Kona and Ohana breakfast, Teppan Edo and Tonys Town in MK for dinner...who knows what for lunch!

Thanks for reading!
 
Thanks again for the reviews. I sometimes think I shouldn't read them because then I want to change my places. I cancelled one place for our upcoming September trip to add Boma's. Now, I want to add Spoodles. But I am going to start a list for next year's trip and Spoodles will be on the top of the list. That lemon shrimp with garlic has my mouth watering.
 
Great reviews. :goodvibes

I love both spoodles ( no sangria? ;)) and boma breakfast. I've never tried the dinner there, maybe next trip. ;)

After reading yout Yak and Yeti review I might have to try that or at least the CS there. :)
 

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