It Rained and Rained, So Thank Goodness for Great Meals!

[jkswimming]

My first attempt at any kind of report, hopefully I won't embarrass myself! We were at WDW from August 13th through the 21st -- yes, it rained every day except Sunday.

First the cast of characters:

Me -- Picky
DH -- Pickier
DD16 -- Pickiest
DD19 -- I'm so happy to eat anything that's not campus food (she got a job on campus and stayed at school this summer) that I'll eat anything!

Fortunately, 2 out of the 3 pickys managed to enjoy every meal. Pickiest survived on Mickey Waffles and hamburgers!

We ate at:

Pecos Bill
Captain Cook's
Coral Reef
1900 Park Fare (breakfast and dinner)
Cosmic Rays
Chef Mickeys
Kona Cafe (me and DD16)
Lottawatta Lodge
Hollywood & Vine
Casey's Corner
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (breakfast)
Hoop Dee Doo
Raglan Road

Pecos Bill’s (counter service)

We were determined to see Spectro Magic before it shut down for the rest of our trip. Our flight got in to MCO at 6:15 p.m. and DD19 was waiting for us as her flight got in at 4:30 p.m. We arrived at the MK Wednesday evening a little tired and a lot hungry. I headed for Pecos Bill’s because I had read so much about the “fixin’s bar” and even though I knew I was the only one who would actually use it, I figured it was just as good as any other CS place. DH had the pulled pork sandwich, DDs each had hamburgers and I had a bacon cheeseburger. I have to say, the CS hamburger’s were the exact same at every place we went, okay, but not spectacular. I didn’t like the bacon, so I pulled it off and that was the last time I ordered the bacon cheeseburger. But, between the ketchup and melted cheese sauce from the fixin’s bar, the burger was pretty good. DD16 (pickiest) was very happy with all the CS burgers. DH said the pulled pork was good and we all enjoyed the fries. We were STARVING so at that point I would have eaten leaves! We had primo seats outside for viewing the parade, but DH decided we were too early – 30 minutes until start of parade when we finished our meal, and it wouldn’t be fair to hang there when other diners were looking for tables. He really is ridiculously good, which is annoying sometimes, but after all that is why I married him 24 years ago.

Next up: Captain Cooks

 

[w-family]

Sounds great, looking forward to reading more!

 

[devonsmommy]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[jkswimming]

Can't wait to hear more!

Sounds great, looking forward to reading more!

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement!

 

[jkswimming]

Before I continue, I have to apologize for the lack of photos. I had camera trouble the first couple of days -- first my freshly charged battery lost its charge and then the next day my data card blew up so I gave up after that. Once DH downloads his photos I'll look through and if he has any good shots of food, I'll add them.

Captain Cooks

So we ran to CCs in the morning hoping for a quick breakfast before heading to the AK. Everything everyone else has written about CC’s is true. It’s small, it’s crazy busy and those touch screens can be very persnickety if you want to special order and unfortunately my family never read a menu that we didn’t want to make changes to.

However, they crank out food at an amazing pace, and it’s hot and delicious. In fact, if it wasn’t for Mickey waffles, I’m not sure DD16 would have eaten anything all week! DD16 had the aforementioned MW, DD 19 had the scrambled egg platter and I tried to order a croissant sandwich for DH, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the cheese off of it, so I gave up. I got him a cinnamon bun and a dole whip instead. I basically scrounged off of DD19 and DH’s plates because I didn’t know what I wanted. We filled up our mugs and headed back to the room.

DD16 loved, loved, loved the MW, she was a little concerned about eating Mickey’s face, so first she ate the ears, then the chin, nose and so forth. It was a little disconcerting later in the week when she ate everything but the eyes cause it kind of felt like Mickey was still watching us. I told her she should eat the eyes first, but she wasn’t changing her system for my neurosis.

DD19 declared her scrambled eggs, “full of creamy goodness” and she ate every bite. Meanwhile I ate her potatoes, which were fab, “full of potatoey goodness.” DH enjoyed the cinnamon bun and dole whip. We ate breakfast at CCs (or brought back to our room) several times, and I really was impressed at how well they provided delicious, hot food to the masses in a timely fashion. After the first day, I did learn how to "modify" our orders. It was crowded and noisy, but in a nice, we're all on vacation having a great time sort of way, so we found it to be a great atmosphere.

We ate lunch at CCs on Thursday, as well. DH had flatbread with pepperoni, I had flatbread with cheese, DD16 had chicken fingers/nuggets and DD19 had the grownup grilled cheese. The flatbreads were okay, I would have liked my cheese cooked a little more, but I know I’m in the minority there, so I would think that most people would like the way it was cooked. It was tasty, but not “I can die and go to heaven now because I’ve eaten this tasty.”

DD16 ate the chicken, so I’m assuming it was exquisite because she is so dang picky!

DD19s grilled cheese had a slight problem. They forgot to take off the paper between the cheese slices. She was going to eat it anyway, but I’m pretty sure the recipe for grilled cheese calls for paperless cheese, so I took it back for her. The woman who helped me was appropriately appalled, and promised to deliver a paperless grilled cheese to the table as soon as it was ready. She did as promised, and DD thoroughly enjoyed her now paper free grilled cheese.

Dinner at the Coral Reef.

Our view of the tanks.

We had an ADR for 6:20 and were seated right around that time. I had sent Debby photos and info for personalized menus and when they were handed to the girls they looked sort of dumb founded, and DH was like, “how did you do that?” I told him the diser’s told me about them!


All three of us girls chose the strip steak. It’s DD16s favorite meal and DD19 has been eating pretty much fast food all summer at school, so she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into a nice juicy steak. They were all delicious, even DD16 who usually leaves a lot on her plate, ate most of her steak. DH had the pork chop, it was huge! He enjoyed it very much, said it was tender and juicy. For dessert we had the chocolate wave, the Jack Daniel’s mousse, and the key lime tart -- yummy, yummy, yummy. DD16 liked the wave, but said it was too rich to eat more than a few bites. I had no such problem and ate a few bites of DDs just for good measure. DD19 really liked the mousse, but again after all that steak, couldn’t finish it, so of course I had to help her out too. I think DH finished the key lime, but I did have a bite or two, so basically I ate everything. Before the tip, the meal came to about $180, and since the meal plan cost $152/day for the four of us, we definitely got our money’s worth on Thursday.

We all enjoyed the atmosphere at the Coral Reef. We were seated several tables away from the aquarium but still had a great view of its inhabitants. While were there a group of divers on a tour swam through and they were very entertaining. There was also a diver with a birthday message for another diner and we all sang happy birthday. We would definitely eat there again.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Sounds awesome! Cant wait for more!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Great start, can't wait to read more.

 

[butiflfeet]

I'm loving the reviews so far! We're staying at the Poly our next trip so I love hearing about CCs and Kona to get ideas of what's good. Keep the reviews coming!

 

[jkswimming]

Sounds awesome! Cant wait for more!

Thanks Nicki, I love your reviews and photos.

Great start, can't wait to read more.

Thanks, I'm waiting to add photos.

I'm loving the reviews so far! We're staying at the Poly our next trip so I love hearing about CCs and Kona to get ideas of what's good. Keep the reviews coming!

We loved the Poly, even in the rain! CCs was crazy busy, but it may have been more so because of Fay!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[mcrabeck]

Great reviews! Keep them coming!

 

[TigerKat]

I'm in......

 

[jkswimming]

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I've been uploading photos in the hopes I can add them here! Also, I work at a high school and went back to work last week so it's been a little crazy!

Before I get on to Day 3, we did have a fun time walking around the World Showcase, and while we did not "drink around the world" we did try a few delicious libations. DH got a margarita (yum) in Mexico, where DD19 got a churro – yum, yum. We made our way around the world to France where we got a Kir Royale – my favorite (non-beer) drink, and a grey goose slushie – both were delish and had me thinking about trying out libations in other countries. I ended up having two kir royales (DH wanted me to have a matching set of the light up glasses it came in,) and if I had any more they would have had to rent a double stroller to get me out of there so we headed toward the park entrance.

This is me with my kir royale and DD's holding drinks "pretending" to toast.

1900 Park Fare



We had an ADR for 8:35 a.m. at 1900 Park Fare. That was early for us, and I offered to cancel, but we were only a monorail stop away, and everyone was game to go. We were seated, we were starving, and we were at a buffet so food was readily available. But Tigger was two tables away and we weren’t about to miss him. We all made a mad dash (which was appropriate since we were having breakfast with the Mad Hatter) for food because we didn’t want to miss Tigger, Pooh, Mary Poppins, Alice or the aforementioned Mad Hatter. I don’t know if our waiter ever worked at the WCC, but boy did I get scolded when I ordered a diet coke for breakfast. Of course the diet coke scolding was nothing compared to the riot act I was read when I returned to the table with ice cream for breakfast. Hey isn’t ice cream just really cold milk? I also had scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, fruit, bacon, grits, a roll, mini cranberry muffin and a sticky bun. DH had scrambled eggs and waffles, bacon, grits, fruit and a lot of orange juice. DDs had scrambled eggs (older daughter) and mini waffles (younger daughter --which pretty much became their choices all week) but I was too busy watching the characters make their way around the restaurant to pay too much attention to what they ate. Mary Poppins greeted my daughters with a “spit spot, stand up straight.” Alice was kind and sweet, and the Mad Hatter was, well “mad.” We all thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast and the fun with the characters.

The girls and Tigger.

The girls and the Mad Hatter and Alice

The girls and Mary Poppins -- Spit Spot!

 

[Leslieann1024]

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I've been uploading photos in the hopes I can add them here! Also, I work at a high school and went back to work last week so it's been a little crazy!


No apologies necessary ! We're just happy to have food porn - we'll take it when we can get it !

 

[Donald is #1]

DD16 loved, loved, loved the MW, she was a little concerned about eating Mickey’s face, so first she ate the ears

Is there any other way to eat a MW?

I'm with her. I always eat the ears first. Of course, I have to admit that I never had any concerns about eating the face.

I don’t know if our waiter ever worked at the WCC, but boy did I get scolded when I ordered a diet coke for breakfast. Of course the diet coke scolding was nothing compared to the riot act I was read when I returned to the table with ice cream for breakfast.

Yay! Another person who drinks diet coke for breakfast! (Me too!)

I never thought to have ice cream for breakfast.

 

[jkswimming]

Is there any other way to eat a MW?

I'm with her. I always eat the ears first. Of course, I have to admit that I never had any concerns about eating the face.



Yay! Another person who drinks diet coke for breakfast! (Me too!)

Cold Caffeine is the best!!!

I never thought to have ice cream for breakfast.

I really just wanted the chocolate chips that went with it!

 

[jkswimming]

This guy's a little blurry -- I wanted to crop out all the folks who I never asked permission to post their pictures -- but he really entertained us during our lunch at Cosmic Rays.


I like the way Cosmic Ray’s is set up with different stations for different foods. I guess it might be a pain if you have young children and everyone wants a different lunch, but since we’re all old enough to get our own food, it worked just fine. DH had a burger and fries and said it was good. DDs had chicken, also good, and I had a hot dog which was really yummy. I smothered it in mustard, cheese sauce and relish from the fixin’s bar, but it would have been good even without. For dessert we had chocolate cake and cookies which were fab. I let DH share my cake so we’d have one for later.
We would definitely eat here again. It's very large, and when we were there, very crowded, but we got our food quickly, and with careful stalking easily found a table.

 

[jkswimming]

Dinner at Chef Mickeys

We had a 7:50 p.m. ressie at Chef Mickey’s, but it’s hard getting four people showered and ready at the same time with only one bathroom, so DD16 and I went on ahead so we wouldn’t be late. We were early; DH and DD19 arrived about a minute before our buzzer went off – perfect timing. DH and I started with a salad and bread. I saw many diners enjoying the peel and eat shrimp, but I was just two darn lazy to peel. After my salad I had delicious, creamy parmesan mashed potatoes, rare prime rib (they also had well done) mac and cheese from the kid’s buffet, string beans from the kid’s buffet and some kind of pasta salad. I ate everything, it was all good!

Of course I had to try just about every dessert, there was cheesecake, chocolate cake, tarts, cookies, brownies, everything was really yummy. But my favorite was the apple cobbler. Usually if I have dessert I’m sharing with DH and he doesn’t like apple cobbler so I never order it. So it was a real treat to find it on the dessert bar. I got a bowl, put in some cobbler, walked over to the ice cream machine added some ice cream and caramel sauce and I was in dessert heaven!

The only negative I could say, was DD19 said the M&Ms weren’t real, so she didn’t eat them. I didn’t try them; I took her word for it. Aside from the delicious food, we also got to meet Mickey,

Minnie (who straightened my daughter’s ears,)

Pluto,

Donald Duck and Goofy.

There were two times during the meal that we were asked to celebrate someone’s special day, which was followed by dancing and napkin waving frivolity, which being the big kid that I am, I truly enjoyed. We would definitely go back to Chef Mickey’s.

 

[Donald is #1]

Great review of Chef Mickey's. I will be there for dinner for the first time in November and I had heard some mixed review about dinner. So it is awesome to hear from someone who really enjoyed it!

 

[ajk912]

Great review of Chef Mickey's. I will be there for dinner for the first time in November and I had heard some mixed review about dinner. So it is awesome to hear from someone who really enjoyed it!

Who on Earth would have anything bad to say about Chef Mickey's dinner? We just got back too, and it's a tossup which was our favorite meal- Chef Mickey's dinner or CRT lunch! I loved them both!!!