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

[Couchy]

Paula- your meal at The Plaza looks great. I am going to have to convince Wil to go into MK so we can split the same meal. I love cheese steak but could not eat a whole one. The suggestion of chicken on the veggie sandwich sounds good

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Congratulations on your anniversary!

Paradiso 37 has been getting some great reviews lately. The corn looks delicious.

I love the Plaza, but can't ever skip the ice cream.

Looking forward to hearing about Citricos...

 

[MrsB1228]

Congratulations on 10 years of marriage! How wonderful to celebrate in the happiest place on earth. DH and I celebrated our 32nd yesterday and our Disney trip this September/October is our anniversary gift to each other. We can't wait!

Love the pictures of River Roost and Yeehaw Bob! The video of Hunter marching with the kids made me smile. We're hoping to catch one of YB's shows when we're there this year, so much fun!

Your lunch at the Plaza looked very good! I love the look of Hunter's sandwich and I've enjoyed the cheesesteak before. We haven't been to the Plaza in a long time, maybe it's time for a return visit.

 

[smile4stamps]

I'm excited to join in the beginning of the report. I have never been to WDW, so I love to read reports with dining reports to give me ideas. I am really hoping to go in 2015! *fingers crossed* I saw you have a report of when you went to DL during Halloween, so I'm going to check that out. I really want to take my kids to Mickey's Halloween Party and I have never been, so I need to start planning.

Welcome! I hope you enjoy the report and you get some ideas for planning your future trip!

I've been to the DL Halloween Party several times and the WDW once. I actually prefer the DL version but the parade at WDW is far superior and they have some characters out that you can't find often.

Paula, I didn't know you started this. I will try to catch up tonight before I leave. But if I don't, I'm saving my space for when I get back.

No problems! I know you are in WDW now so I hope you are having a fabulous time!!

Excellent review of Plaza! We enjoyed it very much when we went there for lunch on our last trip in July 2012. I had the veggie sandwich (not a vegetarian either, but I enjoy things like that sometimes). I loved it, and I had the chips with it which were really tasty too. DH had the cheesesteak and loved it. DS9 is allergic to shellfish (and we since found out to tree nuts and peanuts also, but that hadn't yet been discovered at the time of that trip) and Chef Ken took great care of him. He even brought out a beautiful fruit plate for the boys as an appetizer before they had their cheeseburgers. And he made a special ice cream dessert for each of them. Complete the experience with a beautiful view of the castle and it was terrific!

On our upcoming trip this July, we were originally going to go back to Plaza for lunch, but since we have never been to LTT for lunch we decided we would try that instead. Our second MK day, we have breakfast at Crystal Palace (one of our favorites) and we never have lunch after that, just a couple of snacks in the afternoon.

Looking forward to reading more!

We have been to breakfast at Crystal Palace twice and I enjoy it more than my husband so we will pass and probably keep doing the same two MK meals as this time. the Plaza and Liberty Tree. Both are very good!

Chef Ken spent most of the meal talking with another table who are apparently huge fans of his as they got his autograph!

Your plaza lunch looks wonderful : ) You all went on my 2 favorites Pirates and splash mountain ... A fun afternoon for sure. How was your weather?

I love Splash but I actually prefer Pirates DL version. The WDW version is FAR shorter! The weather on this day was warm but not too humid so it was pretty decent!

The Plaza looks yummy. I've never dined there before. Loved that they recommended throwing chicken on the veggie sandwich - lol. I bet that was tasty. Btw, how was the baked potato soup? Did you sneak a bite? Have you had the baked potato soup at Carnation Cafe in DL? Are they in the same league? The baked potato soup at CC is divine.

I did have some of the baked potato soup. It was good but Carnation Cafe is definitely superior!

Subbing, just found your report and love it so far!! Omg, that drink at Paradiso looked so good and it's huge!! Yup, definetly going to have to try that one.

Yes the drink is HUGE! We actually had it refilled twice (so 3 drinks total...) Yes.. I wasn't feeling much pain that afternoon!

I love Peter Pan! One of my favorites, as long as there isn't a long standby line.

Your meal at The Plaza looked great! We ate there on our trip as well!

I see you got really wet on POTC! We did too this trip. I wonder if they tweaked something?

Can't wait to read about your dinner. I will live vicariously through you.

We sat in the front on Pirates and couldn't believe how wet we got! I won't ride anything with a long line and especially not Peter Pan since its such a short ride!

One of these days I need to make it for rope drop at MK! It looks so fun. I just like sleep The Plaza looks so good. I haven't gone there yet. Maybe I will have to add it for the next trip!

Yes.. I like sleep too which will be evidenced throughout a lot of the rest of the trip lol!

Love the Plaza and the fact that you did so many MK classics during your afternoon. Splash Mountain is one ride I'm always happy to skip - despite being a bit of a thrill seeker, there is something about the drop on that ride that scares me half to death.

I usually have my eyes closed as soon as the picture is taken lol. I love the Disney classics!

Too funny about finding Hunter at Starbucks! I believe you may have made more than one stop there during the trip!

And YES, I'm surprised you didn't incorporate our Disney Anthem into your TR title! All it takes is Hunter singing a few bars of that song before everyone joins in.



I didn't realize you hadn't been to Plaza more than once before this. I love the simplicity of the menu and everything has always been excellent! Your sandwich collection looks delicious. I LOVE their fries. I see no reason to get their home made chips.

That was some splash on Pirates! I don't get that wet sometimes on Splash!

Yes, Starbucks became an essential stop a few times! I think it will in October as well lol.

Yes, COP provides lingering entertainment!

Ahh... I don't think I've EVER chosen chips instead of fries! I am a FRY GIRL!

Of course you will stay dry on Splash when you hide between Hunter and I!! lol

Hey Paula! That so terrible what happened to Hunter's bag! When we fly Rob is worried about the plane crashing and I'm worried about my luggage, so you just tapped into my worst fear. Hope it all worked out with his damaged items.

Your first day looks like a lot of fun! I'm glad you enjoyed Paradiso! I'm thinking about trying Splitsville, would you recommend it for the money?

I really need to try The Plaza. I think September might finally be the trip to do it. That's a good idea with splitting the two different sandwiches. They both look yummy and so does the soup. Looking forward to more!

Yes! I've always been somewhat concerned about the luggage while flying but never once did total demolition cross my mind!!

Paradiso was really good! I thought it was a fun hour! Would be more fun with more people I think but Hunter and I really like bowling. I just wish he had been feeling better.

Oh.. you should definitely try the PLAZA! It's simple food but really tasty!

Another DR that I cant miss!!

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!

Loving you review thus far, really enjoying the DR with a hint of a TR feel to it I have just added Paradiso 37 to our list of "to be tried" places! That corn!!!! I NEED it! Not to mention those gigantic drinks, right up our alley! Looking forward to more!

Thank you! I hope others are too! The corn was awesome!! And yes! Giant Drinks! Got to love them! Especially when no driving has to be involved!

Paula- your meal at The Plaza looks great. I am going to have to convince Wil to go into MK so we can split the same meal. I love cheese steak but could not eat a whole one. The suggestion of chicken on the veggie sandwich sounds good

You were SUPPOSED to have joined us for that meal! I'm really glad you were able to make it later in the trip though instead so you could see the others as well.

Congratulations on your anniversary!

Paradiso 37 has been getting some great reviews lately. The corn looks delicious.

I love the Plaza, but can't ever skip the ice cream.

Looking forward to hearing about Citricos...

Thank You! So hard to believe it's been 10 years already! Love the corn!

Being lactose intolerant Ice Cream is something I seldom subject myself too! It also causes Hunter to crash so better to just be avoided.

Congratulations on 10 years of marriage! How wonderful to celebrate in the happiest place on earth. DH and I celebrated our 32nd yesterday and our Disney trip this September/October is our anniversary gift to each other. We can't wait!

Love the pictures of River Roost and Yeehaw Bob! The video of Hunter marching with the kids made me smile. We're hoping to catch one of YB's shows when we're there this year, so much fun!

Your lunch at the Plaza looked very good! I love the look of Hunter's sandwich and I've enjoyed the cheesesteak before. We haven't been to the Plaza in a long time, maybe it's time for a return visit.

Happy Anniversary to you! 32 years! Congrats! I strongly recommend YeeHa Bob! He is so full of energy and fun to watch!

The Plaza is great food!

 

[smile4stamps]

So after doing just a quick clothing switch at Port Orleans Riverside we hopped back on a bus to Magic Kingdom and then chose to take the boat to the Grand Floridian. We were running a bit late now for our ADR so I started walking quickly. Hunter on the other hand felt no need to rush it and said as much so I slowed down.

We had no issues checking in and were quickly seated at a table next to some patio doors.

Menu pictures

We were also presented with glasses of Sparkling Wine to toast our Anniversary Celebration

Citrico’s Bread choices are a multi-grain bread and an olive bread.

Salted butter to go along with it!

Somewhere in here I received a phone call from my work. I let it go to voice-mail as I didn't want to answer at the table. I then listened and found out that they were looking for coverage for some shifts for the next schedule. Those Patio doors came in handy as I was able to step outside and call them back. I could only pick up one of the shifts but it's better than no extra's! I then returned to the table to continue the meal.

We began with the Charcuterie and the Pork Belly appetizers

The Charcuterie was good as always. A nice selection of meats!

The Pork belly was a bit different from the last couple times in that is was more of a fruity accompaniment vs a starchy one in the past. It was very complimentary though!
I’m also a sucker for Mushroom Soups so I decided to try the Mushroom Broth

I’m not sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t it. It was exactly as it said though. Mushrooms in Broth!

It had a nice smoky flavor but it just wasn’t doing anything for me!

We had decided to share an entrée and Hunter was letting me choose.

I went with the Pan Seared Grouper

I thought this was fabulous! The fish was cooked perfectly and all the different flavors just went to well together!

When I wasn’t satisfied with the soup Chef Jonathan offered a replacement. Having already had 2 appetizers though and an entrée on the way I said I was fine. He kept asking though and I said well I ordered the fish and Hunter was really wanting me to get the Short Ribs. He said “done”

So Hunter got his Short Ribs and I had most of the fish myself. I did get a couple bites of the short ribs though and they were fabulous as always!

To show portion size as comparison on an upcoming review

When presented with the dessert menus I made a comment that they haven’t changed in the 5 years since we first dined there. They agreed that they hadn’t. I asked if there was any way we could get dessert from V&A’s as we had on our first trip. They said they would ask but it might be a wait. I said no problem!

Hunter ordered himself a scotch.

And then it was dessert time!
We were each presented with a V&A’s Chocolate Soufflé!

These were delicious but VERY RICH. One would have done for the two of us but I was happy to have received them! (These were NOT complimentary to anyone wondering but I do not remember the price on them)

Overall Citrico’s was wonderful as far as the food goes! (Except the Mushroom Broth but that was my own fault!) However, we had been looking forward to connecting with Chef Phillip to discuss the details of our Anniversary meal. When we asked we were told he had left for the day. We then talked to the Manager to find out about our Anniversary and he said he didn’t have anything on the books about it. (Hunter had asked Chef Phillip to book the Chef’s Domain table). It was then that Hunter and I discussed moving our Anniversary meal to California Grill if we could get a reservation. Too make things trickier we were a party of 7! Hunter then texted Chef Eddie to see if there was a way to make it happen… Stay tuned to find out!

After leaving Citrico’s we took the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then a bus back to POR. It was time for some more fun with YeeHa Bob!

Up Next: Time at DHS

 

[MrsB1228]

Great update! Your meal at Citrico's looked amazing (except for the soup) and that dessert ...

Love the photo with Yeeha Bob.

 

[emmysmommy]

Uhhh that short rib portion looks gigantor compared to another version..... It does look good. On the other hand, that mushroom soup looks very brothy. When I think of mushroom soup I think of Artist Point.

That's great that they were able to deliver a V&A dessert.

The special anniversary menu was a nice touch.

 

[nwdisgal]

It's funny. When I saw the mushroom soup on the menu, it would have been my inclination to order too. It sounded really good from the description on the menu. The actual picture of it makes me wonder if someone started a side sauce for something then decided to do a soup - lol. I am glad the trade was a short rib though. It looked delicious as did your grouper. Now I'm excited to read about your anniversary dinner at California Grill!

 

[sunnysideup3]

That meal looks awesome! Short Ribs and Chocolate Soufflé would be my dream meal! Yum!!!

 

[jabead]

I'm just a little bummed that we didn't switch out Citricos for say...Yachtsman, when your anniversary dinner plans changed. Ahhh, but hindsight is 20/20. On the bright side, I guess it saved me some brain power as I would have had a really hard time deciding between the grouper that you got (which looks delicious) and the filet that Beth and I shared in December and loved.

 

[marDgreen88]

Hey Paula! I just realized you'd started this, so I'm a little late. Can't wait to read allll about the trip since I was only with you for a few hours!

 

[Angeejoe]

I was just talking with my DH about Citricos just a few days ago (even though no trip on the horizon ) & then you go & post a pic of 2 of the things I wanted to see- the mushroom broth as I LOVE MUSHROOMS & the short ribs. I'd have to agree with you that I don't like the look of the soup either, but the short ribs look awesome! Thanks for reading my mind

 

[smile4stamps]

Great update! Your meal at Citrico's looked amazing (except for the soup) and that dessert ...

Love the photo with Yeeha Bob.

Yes Carol, the meal was good except that soup was weird!

YeeHa Bob is fun!

Uhhh that short rib portion looks gigantor compared to another version..... It does look good. On the other hand, that mushroom soup looks very brothy. When I think of mushroom soup I think of Artist Point.

That's great that they were able to deliver a V&A dessert.

The special anniversary menu was a nice touch.

Yes.. HUGE compared to the other! Brothy it is and what it was called but yes, I expected something more like Artist Point's as well!

I love the Anniversary menu's!

It's funny. When I saw the mushroom soup on the menu, it would have been my inclination to order too. It sounded really good from the description on the menu. The actual picture of it makes me wonder if someone started a side sauce for something then decided to do a soup - lol. I am glad the trade was a short rib though. It looked delicious as did your grouper. Now I'm excited to read about your anniversary dinner at California Grill!

Yes, the trade out for the soup was awesome! Both entree items were fabulous!

That meal looks awesome! Short Ribs and Chocolate Soufflé would be my dream meal! Yum!!!

It was wonderful! If it wasn't for some confusion with the Chef we would have dined there again!

I'm just a little bummed that we didn't switch out Citricos for say...Yachtsman, when your anniversary dinner plans changed. Ahhh, but hindsight is 20/20. On the bright side, I guess it saved me some brain power as I would have had a really hard time deciding between the grouper that you got (which looks delicious) and the filet that Beth and I shared in December and loved.

Ha-Ha! Yachtsman was not even a place to have crossed our radar for our Anniversary! I'm glad I saved a few brain cells by changing us to CA Grill!

Hey Paula! I just realized you'd started this, so I'm a little late. Can't wait to read allll about the trip since I was only with you for a few hours!

Hi Marissa! Welcome! It's never too late! I'm sure those few hours were more than enough!!

I was just talking with my DH about Citricos just a few days ago (even though no trip on the horizon ) & then you go & post a pic of 2 of the things I wanted to see- the mushroom broth as I LOVE MUSHROOMS & the short ribs. I'd have to agree with you that I don't like the look of the soup either, but the short ribs look awesome! Thanks for reading my mind

Glad I could help you out! The Short Ribs there are AWESOME. The Mushroom broth I would definitely pass on!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Ok so I have now added Citricos to our Fall trip. Unfortunately at the expense of Raglan Road. But I may try to figure RR for lunch at some point.

Love that charcuterie plate and the short ribs look great.

Love the pic of you two with Yeahaw Bob! Definitely won't get to see him in the Fall. Hopefully next trip!

 

[smile4stamps]

On Saturday we slept in a bit. After being up late the last couple of nights we needed it. I was still first up though and was ready before Hunter got up. We didn’t have any meal ADR’s today though and instead just a rough idea of what I wanted.

My first plan was to head to DHS. We didn’t have a FP+ for Rock n Roller Coaster but I thought maybe it was still early enough we could ride it Stand-by. Hunter on the hand had food in mind first. I was thinking we would grab a couple of hot dogs from FairFax Fair and eat them while waiting in line. It became apparent soon enough that wasn’t going to be possible!

We ordered the Mac n Cheese dog and the BBQ Pulled Pork Hot Dog. Unfortunately I forgot to snap pictures of these as I was really not wanting the meal to take that long!

The hot dogs are good. I prefer the Mac n Cheese one. I think because I just love Mac n Cheese and hot dogs together!

As we were sitting there one of the CM’s keeping the area cleaned brought us over a cupcake as we had our Celebration buttons on! We said thank you!

Unfortunately we weren’t actually interested in the cupcake so we left it sit on the table. I’m hoping someone realized we hadn’t touched it and was able to enjoy it!

After our hot dogs we rounded the corner to check on Rock n Roller Coaster. Unfortunately the posted stand-by time was 60 minutes and I wasn’t willing to wait that long!

Instead I guided Hunter to something else I had wanted to do all the previous times we had been at Hollywood Studios!

The Animation Academy! We arrived about 10 minutes before the next class and weren’t quite sure we would get in. We had luck on our side though as we were either the last group or second to last. We did have to site right down front and use the lap boards.

We got to draw Goofy!

Animators we are not!

From there we took a look around the gallery and the store but I am too cheap to buy anything there!

We headed out to use the FP+ of the day that I really wanted to use. Toy Story!

Hunter beat me! I’m not sure how as I was leading all along!!

He also got best in vehicle!

As we were walking along I saw this Green Army man just hanging out all by himself. I asked Hunter to go get a picture with him but he refused. So I went instead. The Green Army man posed me just so!

From there we went to get some liquid refreshments

Hunter got a Rum and diet

And I got a Strawberry Daiquiri

We sat and people watched and enjoyed our drinks. I was going to get a second round but the line had gotten long so we decided to move on.

A lot of the shows we hadn’t done since our first visit so it was time to start doing some again. Today it was.

Presented by Brawny?!?!

We sat down low so we didn’t have to do all the stairs!

And then we got to see something NOT part of the regular show! One of the cars sprang a leak!

It took a bit of time for them to do the clean-up to make sure the “road” was clear for the other cars and then the show continued.

After enjoying the show we decided we were warm and needed another drink. This time we headed to see if Cousin Julie was working at the Tune-In Lounge. She wasn’t, so instead we had cousin David helping us. He seemed a bit overwhelmed and not very friendly at first but then once the lobby full of cheerleaders left he was far more friendly!

We enjoyed a few drinks and then decided to get a snack

The Kid’s portion fried chicken (white meat)

And onion rings

Hunter had most of the chicken as he was hungrier than I was and we split the onion rings. They were both really good and satisfied us for a little while!

Up Next! A Concert, and a bummer dinner!

 

[smile4stamps]

Ok so I have now added Citricos to our Fall trip. Unfortunately at the expense of Raglan Road. But I may try to figure RR for lunch at some point.

Love that charcuterie plate and the short ribs look great.

Love the pic of you two with Yeahaw Bob! Definitely won't get to see him in the Fall. Hopefully next trip!

You snuck in on me Vicki!! Hmm.. Cirtico's for Raglan Road.. that is a tough one! Where else are you dining? Going for one week correct?

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

You snuck in on me Vicki!! Hmm.. Cirtico's for Raglan Road.. that is a tough one! Where else are you dining? Going for one week correct?

As of today and of course, subject to change we are going to Rose & Crown (must do every trip for us, won't change), California Grill (again, won't change), Le Cellier (Jay's request so probably won't change) and Citricos.

Also planning on at least appetizers at Paradiso 37 and the Grand Floridian Tea. As you can probably imagine, Jay is looking forward to P37 and tolerating the idea of the tea. Planning to maybe try Splitsville and the Jiko Wine Tour/AKL food tour.

We will be there nine nights arriving late on Friday 9/26 and leaving later in the afternoon on Sunday 10/5. Since it is Food & Wine, I am anxious to be able to book some of the events. Glad to see they are bringing back the Parisian Breakfast as that is something we both want to do. Planning to spend most of 4 afternoons enjoying the booths, etc.

And lastly, we are hoping to do two Halloween Party's ... one relaxed to enjoy the shows, parade & fireworks and the other to run around like crazy and get as many character pictures as we can!

It is a jammed packed trip. Definitely will need a vacation after my Disney vacation as we probably won't get home til 2am Sunday night (actually Monday morning) and I do have to work Monday. Jay will take the day off to tackle the laundry!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

And I forgot to say, belated Happy Anniversary!

Our 23rd is tomorrow! Of course it is the lacrosse team picnic so we are putting off celebrating until next Friday night (which is also pay day!) so we can try a new restaurant in town with a very Disney signature like menu! Andrew actually ate there last night with his girlfriend's family and he said we will love the food but not the price tag! Definitely Disney Like!

 

[jabead]

I'm just a little bummed that we didn't switch out Citricos for say...Yachtsman, when your anniversary dinner plans changed. Ahhh, but hindsight is 20/20. On the bright side, I guess it saved me some brain power as I would have had a really hard time deciding between the grouper that you got (which looks delicious) and the filet that Beth and I shared in December and loved.

I actually said this wrong, what I meant was that I wish we had switched Yachtsman for Citricos. But it was actually funnier this way...Yachtsman instead of Citricos for your anniversary dinner???

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Your meal at Citricos looks very good, but I especially love the look of that dessert! And you're definitely right about the dessert menu at Citricos - besides one or two things that have come and gone, literally every dish has remained the same for years.