It's Magical! A 10yr Anniv Dining Report with Extras! Updated 9/4!!!

[smile4stamps]

Hello Everyone! My name is Paula and welcome to my newest report! I’ve been debating for awhile whether I wanted to do a Trip Report or a Dining Report. I do not have the time to commit to do both so it had to be a choice between the two. I have finally decided to do a Dining Report as a majority of my photos are of food and our trips generally revolve more around the eating and drinking than they do about spending a lot of time in the parks. However, I will be adding other trip details as I want to try and remember as much of the trip as possible. I NEVER take notes however so please bear with me if I forget some of the details! For those JUST interested in the food I will have a Tables of Content that will have links to the dining reviews.

Now.. Who are we?!?!

We are Hunter and Paula. This trip was planned to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! It all evolved from my husband wanting my anniversary gift for our 9year anniversary to be a renewal of my AP. I think he originally meant just the Disneyland Side but it ended up being the Premier Pass! So far with those passes we have been in October 2013, December 2013 and now this trip!!

We went for two weeks! April 23 – May 7, 2014 so I hope you are all ready for A LOT of food!!

We also had several other DIS’ers join in on this trip.

First joining us was Barb (Jabead). She was celebrating her Birthday on this trip! She has her own dining report going that you can find here

Then we had Brenda (emmysmommy) and Michael

Michael and Hunter hit it off like they were long time friends!

Kind of hiding in this picture we have Beth (Couchy) who made an impromptu solo trip to join us for a few nights!

I will only be covering Hunters and I’s dining experiences as I am sure Brenda will do her own and Barb already is.

Thank you for reading and I hope this report is enjoying and informative!!

 

[smile4stamps]

Where we dined!

April 23 – Travel Day, no Disney food

April 24
Paradiso 37
Raglan Road
River Roost

April 25
The Plaza
Citrico’s

April 26
Fairfax Fair (lacking pictures!)
Tune-in Lounge
River Roost
Boatwrights

April 27
Sanaa
California Grill

April 28
Sunshine Seasons
F&G Food Booths
San Angel Inn
Jiko

April 29
Tusker House
Yak n Yeti
Yachtsman Steakhouse

April 30
Liberty Tree Tavern
Old Faithful Club
‘Ohana

May 1
Trail’s End
California Grill - Part 1
California Grill - Part 2

May 2
Rose & Crown Pub
Chefs de France
ESPN Zone
Flying Fish

May 3
50’s Prime Time
Shula’s Steakhouse

May 4
Via Napoli
California Grill

May 5
Teppan Edo
California Grill

May 6
Pecos Bills
Hoop de doo Review

May 7
Whispering Canyon Café

All will have links posted as I complete the reviews

 

[smile4stamps]

April 23 - Travel Day


April 24
Part 1- Resort Pics, Paradiso 37, Splitsville
Part 2 - Raglan Road and YeeHa Bob at the River Roost!

April 25
Part 1 - A morning in Magic Kingdom
Part 2 - Lunch at the Plaza and an afternoon in the Magic Kingdom
Part 3 - Citrico's dinner

April 26
Part 1 - DHS Time, food drinks and a few attractions!
Part 2 - A Concert, River Roost, Boatwrights

April 27
Part 1 - Changing resort adventures, Report title explanation revealed and Sanaa
Part 2 - California Grill Dinner

April 28
Part 1 - A Morning in Epcot, Sunshine Seasons, 2 F&G Booths
Part 2 - An Afternoon in Epcot including San Angel Inn and Trutto Gusto
Part 3 - A Little Time in France
Part 4 - Jiko dinner

April 29
Part 1 - A Safari and Tusker House Brunch
Part 2 - An Animal Trail and Yak n Yeti "lunch"
Part 3 - Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner

April 30
Part 1 - A Morning in Magic Kingdom and Liberty Tree Tavern
Part 2 - A Storm is rollin' in and First CL experience!
Part 3 - 'Ohana Dinner

May 1 - Our 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
Part 1 - A relaxing morning and afternoon with lunch at Trail's End
Part 2- California Grill Dinner Part 1
Part 3 - California Grill and Surprise Cake

May 2
Part 1 - Epcot with R&C Pub, Les Chefs de France and an afternoon at ESPN Zone
Part 2 - Flying Fish and Jellyrolls

May 3
Part 1 - Morning in DHS and Lunch at 50's Prime Time!

 

[phabric]

Looking forward to your reviews.

 

[smile4stamps]

The day had finally arrived for our trip. It had been a LONG almost 10 weeks since I had seen my husband and I was really looking forward to the time with him!

Of course a trip to Disney isn’t complete without getting my nails done so I had done that the day before!

Normally when I am traveling I take the light-rail to near the airport and then a bus to the airport. This time I had a friend volunteer to let me park my car at her place and she would bring me to the airport. This was wonderful as this way I didn’t have to lug 3 pieces of luggage through all that public transportation!

When I arrived at her place I saw this on the porch!

I immediately sent the picture to Hunter! I want that! Unfortunately I doubt that will happen unless we find someone to custom make them for us!

Then it was off to the airport where I grabbed some food

Fish and Chips

And a Strongbow Cider

The food was pretty good!

Then it was time to board my plane.. Just 3 more hours till I see my husband!!

I’m pretty sure my flight was close to on-time but it is still a tight time crunch to get to the new gate so I hiked it over and as I am approaching I see hunter walking in front of me so I call out his name. I have him watch my bag while I run to the bathroom and then we go and get some sandwiches to take on the plane with us. The gentlemen helping us though didn’t ring mine up so I went without. I was okay though since I had just eaten the Fish and Chips.

Finally we were on the plane!

And before we knew it on the Fake-o-rail!

I was super excited because our flight had actually been on-time and I was hoping that meant getting to Disney before 1am!

Sadly… That wasn’t to be

Down at baggage check we are collecting our bags when we hear them paging my husband to come to the Southwest baggage counter. I grab the last of my bags and follow him down there. I walk in to them ripping open a plastic bag that contained one of his bag. It was SHREDDED!

And as a result his clothes were shredded

In this bag had been his Cpap Machine, prescription sunglasses, all his shorts, his drawers, a few shirts and a brand new pair of custom shoes. The shoes were completely missing. The shorts half of were destroyed, the shirts destroyed, the sunglasses bent and ruined, the Cpap machine was okay but the carrying bag was destroyed. Thankfully his drawers survived. So at midnight we sat with southwest and had to attempt to put a value on the destroyed clothes. I had to submit info for the more expensive items once home.

So.. our trip was off to a rocky start!!

We did arrive to Port Orleans and were checked in without any issue.

Up next Day 1 of the trip and the first Disney Food at Downtown Disney!

 

[wilma-bride]

Hey Paula, glad you've started this. I've been waiting. Such a bummer about Hunter's clothes, I hope you were compensated well.

Looking forward to the food - and friends.

 

[Nohal]

I always enjoy reading your reviews and look forward to seeing how the rest of your trip went.

 

[MrsB1228]

Glad to see you've started your DR Paula as I always enjoy them.

I remember when you posted to Facebook about the sorry state of Hunter's suitcase when you arrived in MCO but the pictures of the damage really demonstrate just how bad it was. What an awful way to start your holiday. I hope Hunter was properly compensated for the loss.

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[smile4stamps]

The first full day of our trip was planned to be a lazy day. I was especially glad of this after the luggage fiasco the night before. In the morning I had gotten on my computer and looked at ordering new clothes for Hunter but we decided once he woke up that enough had survived and we would just worry about ordering new for our fall trip and I would just do laundry a few time when we moved to the Villas.

Once we were both awake we headed to the Port Orleans Riverside boat to head to Downtown Disney. I had made a lunch reservation through Opentable for Paradiso 37. Of course I had to change the time as the get up and go wasn’t quite there that morning!

Some pictures of the beautiful resort as we headed to the boat.

Our room was in Acadia House this time around. It was nice as it is a bit closer to everything but we prefer the Alligator Bayou rooms.

And then some pictures from the boat ride.

The boat dock from POR to DTD is REALLY close to Paradiso 37 so that made it really nice to get to our meal as I was actually hungry!

I had learned from reading the live thread and Jeri about this HUGE drink you can get at this restaurant so of course I wanted to try it! We started by filling it with a Hurricane.

Some restaurant pictures

I knew what I wanted to start here as I had been eyeing it for years!

Crazy Corn! Fire Roasted Corn on the Cob, Spicy Yellow Pepper Sauce, Imported Cheeses.
I was scared of this at first because I was afraid it would be spicy but it wasn’t in the least! I really enjoyed this!

I do want to note that this isn’t as large as it would seem! Each of those pieces of corn is just a half and not a whole piece!

We also had the Chips and Guacamole

This was good but nothing spectacular

We were undecided at this point what else we wanted to order. Our server gave us the suggestion of getting the Skewers. We went with that!

Spicy Chorizo Skewers, Marinated Beef Skewers, Chimichurri Pita Bread, Marinated Mushrooms, Citrus Yogurt Sauce

These Skewers were AWESOME! I was really happy we had went with them!

For dessert we ordered the Tres Leche as that is normally a favorite dessert for Hunter but this tasted old and not so good!

We also had our drink refilled. I think it was the Rum Runner this time.

When we were not eating the Tres Leche the server asked us about it and we just let him know if wasn’t what we were expecting and we didn’t want it. In turn he returned with this.

Chocolate Decadence! I’m not sure of the actual name but it was creamy chocolatey goodness! I really enjoyed this!! Hunter was feeling the effects of too much juice in our mixed drinks and didn’t want anything else sweet unfortunately.

Overall I enjoyed the meal and I would return!!

From Paradiso 37 we headed to get Hunter some sunglasses for the week since his were destroyed. He tried on several pairs and finally settled on some. He doesn’t like them though so I will be attempting to return them sometime soon! They did protect his eyes though so in my mind worth the purchase.

From the Sunglass Hut or Icon or whatever it’s name is now we headed out. I gave Hunter an option of a movie or bowling. He said bowling so we went to check out

We quickly paid and were escorted upstairs so our lane. You get an hour so we got going quickly!

It took me awhile to find a ball that was right for me though so I think I had like 4 of them in the first game!

I did pretty bad!

Hunter needed some carbs to balance out the sweet drinks so ordered some fries.

These were REALLY good!

They were just what Hunter needed to feel better but in the meantime I bowled for both of us.

We each bowled for ourselves the last game

After bowling we headed back out and found a concert to enjoy with some comfortable seats.

I couldn’t tell you who it was but it was a nice day to be enjoying some sunshine and music!

Up Next! Raglan Road and YeHaa Bob!

 

[smile4stamps]

Looking forward to your reviews.

Thank you!! Hopefully I can get them done in a timely manner!

Hey Paula, glad you've started this. I've been waiting. Such a bummer about Hunter's clothes, I hope you were compensated well.

Looking forward to the food - and friends.

We were compensated on our guesses on the clothes. Still waiting to hear on the rest.

I always enjoy reading your reviews and look forward to seeing how the rest of your trip went.

Thank you! There are some ups and downs that is for sure!

Glad to see you've started your DR Paula as I always enjoy them.

I remember when you posted to Facebook about the sorry state of Hunter's suitcase when you arrived in MCO but the pictures of the damage really demonstrate just how bad it was. What an awful way to start your holiday. I hope Hunter was properly compensated for the loss.

Looking forward to the next installment!

Welcome Carol! Yes, it was a horrible way to start but we made do! A bit more has been posted! More in the next day or so!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Joining in.
I've been eyeing that corn for a while too.

And, what the heck! Did they stick a wolverine in with the cargo?

 

[lizzyb]

Joining in!

 

[Couchy]

I'm here! Can't wait to read along.....

Miss hanging out with you

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Joining in Paula! I, too, remember the suitcase fiasco from Facebook. What an awful thing! But having met the two of you, I knew you would make the best of it. You probably handled it much better than I would have! This would have been me for sure ...

I loved P37 when Andrew and I tried it last August and am really looking forward to taking Jay there in September. Those skewers may be calling our name!

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Paula, I am in. That really stinks about your DH's luggage. I don't think I would have been as easy going about it. We are driving this time so if anything happens to our luggage it would be our own fault, and that just wouldn't be good! Can't wait to see the rest of your food reviews, it will pass the time until my trip in July.

 

[Angeejoe]

I'm so excited to follow along! It looks like awesome dining plans!

I can't believe what happened to your DHs bag & belongings! That's nuts.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hey Paula, I'm here and joining in! I love your idea of a hybrid DR with TR details thrown in.

That was such a bummer about Hunter's luggage. I was glad to see that he didn't have to wear the same thing every day.

 

[BillyFan]

I'm here, and looking forward to your report!
PS--if my rocking chair goes missing, I'll know where to look

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jabead]

I'm back on the boards today and was very happy to see you had started your dining report. Personally, I am glad that you decided to go this route rather than a TR, as I find it hard to remember to check other sections of the boards for updates.

First of all I love your "It's Magical" title. While I know that you had some less than magical moments, I hope that overall your trip really was "magical" overall. I know that when I last saw you on Saturday night, you were thinking about canceling your October trip but it seems like it is now a "go" again?? Anyway, it was so great to spend time with you and Hunter again. Thank you so much for letting me crash your party.

Your Paradiso lunch looks really good. I need to branch out at DTD and give this place a try, perhaps on my next trip in October. My family visited Splitsville during our Spring Break trip in 2013 and we also had the fries as a snack but we had ours loaded with cheese and bacon. Needless to say, these were a big hit.

So anyway, great start and I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

[sunnysideup3]

I'm here! Can't wait to read more!!!