January Dining Review and Pictures - Update 12/8 Sunshine and Liberty Tree

[Flossbolna]

Sorry for the uninspired title, I just could not come up with anything good, so I thought I'd go with informative!

This will be my third dining review – I love reading them, so I try to give back to the others out there by contributing my reviews and pictures of our meals. Actually I find the revies are a lot of fun! And I love getting feed back from readers and am happy to answer any questions you might have!

Here is an index of the reviews for easy reference that will be updates as I post them:

Cast of this review and planning (next post)
1/23 Snack at Captain Cooks (Poly)
1/24 Breakfast at Kona Cafe (Poly)
1/24 Lunch at Tangierine Cafe (Epcot)
1/24 Dinner at Kona Cafe (Poly)
1/25 Breakfast at Tusker House (AK)
1/25 Snack at Flame Tree Barbecue (AK)
1/25 Snack at Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery and Dawa Bar (AK)
1/25 Dinner at Boma (AKL)
1/26 Breakfast at Starring Rolls Cafe (DHS)
1/26 Snack at Tune-In Lounge (DHS)
1/26 Lunch at Tangierine Cafe (Epcot)
1/26 Drink at France Pavilion (Epcot)
1/26 Dinner at California Grill (Contemporary)
1/27 Breakfast at Kona Cafe (Poly)
1/27 Lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Express (DTD Marketplace)
1/27 Dinner at Flying Fish Cafe (Boardwalk)
1/28 “Brunch” at Columbia Harbour House (MK)
1/28 Snack at Aloha Isle (MK)
1/28 Dinner at Cosmic Ray's (MK)
1/28 Drinks at Tambu Lounge (Poly)
1/29 Breakfast at Captain Cooks (Poly)
1/29 Lunch at Le Cellier (Epcot)
1/29 Dinner at Sunshine Season Food Fair (Epcot)
1/30 Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (MK)

 

[Flossbolna]

the author: Magdalene (that's me ) I am the Disney nut and the planner of this trip. I am 37, but still love WDW. This trip I discovered the fun of meeting the characters, so here is a picture of me with Chip and Dale:

I love eating good meals when I am on holiday. I have a bit of a strange taste. There are certain things that I don't like: onions, cauliflower (or most other cabbages, too), braised meat, any sort of shellfish (I am slightly allergic) and cilantro! But if the ingredients are ok with me the dish can be very exotic and I would still eat it. So in a way I am picky, but not the normal picky. I really like savory food better than sweets, so I am more about ordering an appetizer than dessert.

Also, since I am from Germany, I might have a different point of view on certain foods. Some things that are very common to Americans are “ethnic” food for me, other foods I might be familiar with even though they are not common for Americans. Also, I love to eat the food that I normally can't get and try to eat very “American” when in the USA, see the title of my 2007 dining review. That's why we generally avoid Italian and French food – I can easily get that at home.

my travel companion: C, we have been friends since university. She accompanied me on my first trip to WDW in 2004 and I have been able to convince her to come along for another three trips since. I think she really eats everything, but is particular fond of desserts. Unfortunately C had problems with a tooth for some time during our trip which caused her some pain and thus decreased her enjoyment of Disney food.

This is a picture of both of us from the trip:

The plans: This was rather an impromptu trip taking advantage of the 4/3 deal which gave us three free nights and a 300 $ gift card in combination with an incredible deal on air fare from Germany. Of course, because of the great discount we decided to stay at the Poly, which had been my dream for ever. So all those plans of a cheap trip did not really work out so well. But we had a great time at the Poly, it is a wonderful hotel. But I was still missing my favorite Disney hotel: AKL!!

ADRs: We were well into the 180 days window when we booked the trip, even into the 90 days window which applies now. I was therefore a bit nervous about ADRs. But without reason. The only place which we did not get at the time we wanted to eat there was Le Cellier (no surprise there), but I was able to get a reservation about one week before our trip for lunch.

So this were our ADRs:

1/24
7:30am Kona Cafe (Poly)
5:25pm Kona Cafe (Poly)

1/25
8:05am Tusker House breakfast (AK)
6:30pm Boma (AKL)

1/26
5:30pm California Grill (CR)

1/27
10am 1900 Park Fare (GF)
7:30pm Flying Fish (Boardwalk)

1/28
5:30pm Wave (CR)

1/29
12:55pm Le Cellier (Epcot)
5pm Spoodles (Boardwalk)

1/30
9am Kona (Poly)
1pm Liberty Tree Tavern (MK)

to be honest, we did not make it to all of the reservations we had. 1900 Park Fare, the Wave and Spoodles got cancelled on the day, mainly because we did not feel like a big meal when we were supposed to eat there. I still love TS meals at WDW, but for some reason this trip I just wanted to have more flexibility with my eating, especially to see the night time entertainment instead of spending the evening in a restaurant.

We also had a number of CS meals, the places we ate at, were Captain Cooks (Poly), Tangierine Cafe (Epcot), Flame Tree Barbecue (AK), Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery (AK), Starring Rolls Cafe (DHS), Wolfgang Puck Express (DTD), Columbia Harbour House (MK), Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe (MK) and Sunshine Season (Epcot). We really enjoyed our CS meals, there are some great options out there!

 

[Flossbolna]

We arrived that day at 6:40pm at MCO on our flight from Frankfurt and of course ended up in the slowest line at immigration. After having collected our bags and having made our way to ME, it was 19:40 and we were on the bus very quickly. Fortunately it left after a few minutes and we actually got to see a bit of Illuminations and the the last bit of Wishes while being on the bus to the Poly. After an easy check-in we decided to just dump our bags in the room and go over to Captain Cooks to get our refillable mugs and take them to the beach to see the electrical water pageant. It was so cold that we actually were very happy that we had chosen warm chocolate in our mugs! We also picked up a snack, which we ended up eating later in the room, so this is why I am writing about this. We got a cup of pineapple:

I guess, you are all very excited about those wonderful pictures! Sorry, for starting off with such a lame snack, but I promise that things will be more interesting in the next days.

We were actually pretty disappointed with the selection at Captain Cooks. I remember that the Mara at AKL had more ready made things available. The warm food that you could order on the screens sounded good, but we never got round to try that. Also it was very crowded at most times and had a not very sensible lay-out. While we never had a problem with the quality we got there, we really missed the Mara!

 

[MelanieC]

OOh I can't wait

 

[JadeOfTheJungle]

Great start I LOVE your tshirt in the Chip n Dale picture. Super cute.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Im in! We were at the Poly Jan 20-25, stayed in the Samoa building....we may have crossed paths ha ha

 

[MinnieNurse]

Can't wait for more. I have to find something to do for the next 2 months until I get to Disney.

 

[gardengirl628]

Count me in!!! And glad to hear that you liked AKL and Mara. We are staying there for the first time in Nov/Dec, and I am soooo excited! Looking forward to your reviews!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Can't wait to read the reviews!

 

[medicgirl911]

I don't know why but I just love reading reviews from people who live outside the United States!!! I can't wait to hear more about your trip!!! (and I am headed over to review your previous report!)

 

[butiflfeet]

Bring on the reviews! I see you ate at some great places!

 

[dancemomnj]

Looking forward to your reviews!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I'm in for this one ... great start! I love the pic with Chip & Dale!

 

[SnwflkCts]

You stayed at my favorite place in the world - the Polynesian Resort! How could I not come along for the ride ... I mean pictures of food! It looks like you got nice sharp images! I can't wait for the rest!

 

[momjkm]

Ok... 24 hrs later and though I love pineapple... I WANT MORE!!! waiting not so patieintly!
Jill

 

[pennyplanner]

I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your reviews!!!

--penny

 

[Flossbolna]

OOh I can't wait

So sorry for letting you wait for so long, but an update is around the corner!!

Great start I LOVE your tshirt in the Chip n Dale picture. Super cute.

Thanks! I got the T-Shirt from the big shop on Main Street and absolutely adore it!

Im in! We were at the Poly Jan 20-25, stayed in the Samoa building....we may have crossed paths ha ha

We may, but I don't think so. I have read your previous dining reviews and I guess I would have recognized you!

Can't wait for more. I have to find something to do for the next 2 months until I get to Disney.

Oh, those two months will be over so quickly! Have a great trip!

Count me in!!! And glad to hear that you liked AKL and Mara. We are staying there for the first time in Nov/Dec, and I am soooo excited! Looking forward to your reviews!

AKL is a wonderful resort! I am sure you will love it there!

Can't wait to read the reviews!

First real review is coming!

I don't know why but I just love reading reviews from people who live outside the United States!!! I can't wait to hear more about your trip!!! (and I am headed over to review your previous report!)

Glad you like to read reviews from a foreign perspective!

Bring on the reviews! I see you ate at some great places!

Yes, we think so, too. We really enjoyed all of our meals and some were really excellent!

Looking forward to your reviews!

Next one is coming up!

I'm in for this one ... great start! I love the pic with Chip & Dale!

Welcome and thanks for the comment on the picture! Taking part in a photpass share was really great to get all these pictures!

You stayed at my favorite place in the world - the Polynesian Resort! How could I not come along for the ride ... I mean pictures of food! It looks like you got nice sharp images! I can't wait for the rest!

The Poly is a really great resort, but I think AKL will always be the most special place to me. Thanks for the comment on the pictures. I really tried my best to come up with good pictures, which often is difficult due to light and so on. But I found out that using the macro setting on the camera really helped!

Ok... 24 hrs later and though I love pineapple... I WANT MORE!!! waiting not so patieintly!
Jill

I am so sorry, but now the wait is over!

I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your reviews!!!

--penny

Here they come...

Sorry to everyone about the delay! I intended to finish at least the first real meal before I went away for a few days but did not manage to do so! And then when I came back I wasn't feeling very well and really did not want to write about food. But now I am feeling much better and we can start with a nice breakfast!

 

[Flossbolna]

For years I had read so many good things about the breakfast at Kona Cafe. But since I am someone who likes to be at a park half an hour before it opens, I never did go there. So since we actually were staying at the Poly, I wanted to make sure we got there. But I still wanted to get to the park early. So that's why we had an ADR for 7:30 am. Actually we had no difficulty at all to get there in time thanks to our jet lag!

When we arrived just on time they were not even ready to seat anyone – there was one other family waiting already. The restaurant was nearly empty, so I could get this picture:

But we were seated in a few minutes time. We had a lovely server and she was really quick with everything.

We got the pressed Coffee Pot with Kona coffee to share between the two of us. I think it was about three mugs in this pot:

The coffee was very strong. To be honest, it was a bit too strong for me. While I appreciated its taste, I felt that it was too much for me on an empty stomach. This was not helped by also having a glass of grapefruit juice, which was lovely, but the combination of the acid from the juice with the coffee was just a bit too much. C thought that the coffee was wonderful, but she is a real coffee drinker.

I had the Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes with bacon for my meal:

These were three really large pancakes with nuts in them, topped with butter with more nuts mixed in and pineapples on top. Those were not fresh pineapples, but they were cut in pieces and cooked a bit. They did not taste like canned pineapples at all. I got sirup to go with the pancakes. I absolutely loved this dish. It was not overly sweet, you could control the sweetness very well by adjusting the amount of sirup you wanted to have. I just felt that there was too little bacon for the amount of pancakes I got. But since I was not at all able to finish my pancakes, I guess that was still ok. Actually, I was feeling absolutely full after having had half of the pancakes!!

C had the Tonga Toast with bacon and an orange juice. She loves french toast and bananas, so I had told her that she must order this and I would not allow her to get anything else. She also loves sweet foods. And she really loved the Tonga Toast! For anyone who has not yet a million of rave reviews on this dish: it is french toast, stufed with banana and rolled in cinnamon sugar. I tried a piece of it and I liked it a lot, too! It was served with a strawberry sauce on the side, but in the picture C had already poured some of it.

The meal was very quick, even though I felt like we waited for ages for our meals, but that was only because I wanted to get going. The receipt was printed at 8:09 am and we made it to Epcot for rope drop by walking directly to the TTC from the Poly lobby!

We really loved breakfast there. It was nice and quiet in the beginning, but by the time we left shortly after 8am, the place was really filling up and a number of people were waiting to be seated. Would we return? Yes, definitely, and we did so another day as you will see later on. Personally I prefer breakfast at the hotel I am staying at since I either want to get to the parks early or take it easy. But Kona Cafe is a breakfast that I might actually travel to from another hotel just because it offers something different from the usual breakfast menu.

 

[Joie29]

So happy to be reading another wonderful dining review from you, Magdalene!

Oh man...your meals at Kona look scrumptious!!! We had planned to eat there one morning, but ended up favoring the extra sleep and early park arrival. However, I am determined to visit for breakfast on our next visit, AND dinner. Kona looks so great! Thanks for the terrific first review. Looking forward to reading more...

 

[Flossbolna]

So happy to be reading another wonderful dining review from you, Magdalene!

Oh man...your meals at Kona look scrumptious!!! We had planned to eat there one morning, but ended up favoring the extra sleep and early park arrival. However, I am determined to visit for breakfast on our next visit, AND dinner. Kona looks so great! Thanks for the terrific first review. Looking forward to reading more...

Thanks for the nice comment! We really enjoyed our breakfast there, but I think breakfast is really best at the hotel you stay at. Otherwise it is just too much hassle with travelling. I guess that's really a reason to stay at the Poly. But my favourite hotel, AKL, has a great breakfast restaurant, too.