Just Killing Time Between Meals in the Happiest Place on Earth~Sept DR *COMPLETE

[DisneyMom2Boyz]

Jeri, thats too bad about the room! That's so fusterating and it really takes away from enjoying your vacation. It's so hard to see everything when you are there and you count the days till being at Disney. We had a horrible time with the buses our last trip at CSR and they didn't seem to care at all!!!! Finally we got fastpasses but that really still doesn't help with all the time you lose. It seems like they don't reaally step up to plate anymore with a good perk like a credit to your room account or something like they have done in the past. Ok!, Trails End looks yummy! We have never been! Do you remember how much the buffet costs? Is it reasonable compared to some? My kids eat like birds and buufets usually are a waste of money for us, or I should say for them Also is there a boat from the Contemporary or did you have to go to MK for the boat? Glad to see you posted! Love reading your reviews...keep them coming!,, Alicia

 

[ursalita]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with your room. I see exactly where you are coming from with customer service expectations. I'm glad you wrote an email to Disney.

I'm glad you had a good experience at dinner and Wishes to balance it out a little. That mac & cheese at Trails End looks awesome.

 

[kastoney]

What a horrible experience at BLT, and so very un-disney. Though it sounds like you handled it much better than most would have. Dis disney respond to your email? Would be interested to know what they said about such a total lapse in customer service.

Love your selfie, but I think you should have been pointing a particular finger at BLT ; )

At least the meal was great. Gotta get over there one of these days, you make it look oh so good

 

[nco91590]

Oh man....I spent collectively about 9 hours on our 10 day vacation dealing with our DDP nightmare. I too, work in customer service and know that you catch more flies with honey. But after the 20th time they assured me our DDP would work and it didn't, I just about lost my damn mind. You can only be nice for so long.

I remember telling them "Our family is DVC. We bought the meal plan, we have the park hoppers...we drank the kool-aid. We've done everything you have told us to do! Now fix this please!!!!!"

It seems crazy to get worked up over something like that when you're on this amazing vacation. But when you're actually THERE it puts this dark cloud over your vacation. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

 

[rteetz]

Wow that was not fun with your room. I have never had that bad of service at Disney. Only problem we had with our room on or last trip was the hair dryer sounded like it was gonna blow up but they came and fixed that right away. I wouldn't have waited in the lobby until they fixed it either tho. That was really not a good situation to be in glad it got fixed.

 

[OasterP]

JERI!!! SO glad you came back! Oh man now I so want Via Napoli again. And I will NOT leave Disney again without trying a cupcake from Starring Rolls.

I was sad to learn that LTT is closed while we will be there because that is one I really wanted to do this past trip and we ended up canceling it.

Sorry about the room drama - that would annoy me for sure. Definitely a convenient location but you would think they would be a bit more professional than that.

I hope your job, although crazy is going well!

 

[vettegirl]

That's such a shame about BLT! On a positive note the trails end dinner looks absolutely amazing!!!

 

[happy2012]

I think I may need to try a whole one of those tropical lemonades for myself next trip. Rob is looking forward to having it again too.

We are still deciding what to do for vacation this year. I thought maybe we would sneak down for a last minute trip in February, but Rob was chosen for a new program at work where they teach college courses in business during work hours to earn college credits for free. Classes are every Tuesday and Thursday and they run from now until May. He can only miss one class during the entire 5 months, so that makes a week long vacation completely out of the question next month. As long as we can hang on to our vacation days long enough, I think we may go down in early November for F&W or early December for Christmas festivities. I will keep you posted! :.

F&W sounds perfect. I think that's one of my favorite times of year!!! I can't wait to hear what you decide. I'm actually sad for you that you went through that @ BLT. So not cool by Disney standards.

 

[JKSWonder]

I just started reading along because I'm trying to get some new dining ideas for our August trip.

Thank you for the review of Trail's End in particular. We have never been, but this year we are staying at the Wilderness Lodge for the first time, so I thought I might give this one a try on our first night. All of the food looks like something my husband and my kids will eat, no small feat there, so I think this is definitely going on the list.

I would Love, Love, Love to do the Grand Floridian tea, but no on in my family would be willing to go for that. Unless I can ditch husband and son and convince my 14 year old daughter that she just can eat the cake like stuff if she wants to?

So sorry for your awful experience at BLT. We had some magic band issues on our last trip and trying to sort those out, having to constantly go back and forth to do so, is beyond aggravating.

 

[MagentaMulan]

Following! I'm so sorry to hear about the rude CMs.

 

[OThopeful35]

Trails End buffet looks really good. I showed the pics to DS and he wants to eat there. For our upcoming trip, I want to try a lot of new things. Tomorrow is my ADR day so I will definitely book Trails End.

 

[makclair]

Yum to all so far!

 

[TinkerbellM6]

FINALLY got back on here and got myself caught up. I'm loving your report so far, it took me a while to build up the courage to get on here after having to cancel my trip but I'm happy to be re-connecting with all my disboard favs.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Jeri, thats too bad about the room! That's so fusterating and it really takes away from enjoying your vacation. It's so hard to see everything when you are there and you count the days till being at Disney. We had a horrible time with the buses our last trip at CSR and they didn't seem to care at all!!!! Finally we got fastpasses but that really still doesn't help with all the time you lose. It seems like they don't reaally step up to plate anymore with a good perk like a credit to your room account or something like they have done in the past. Ok!, Trails End looks yummy! We have never been! Do you remember how much the buffet costs? Is it reasonable compared to some? My kids eat like birds and buufets usually are a waste of money for us, or I should say for them Also is there a boat from the Contemporary or did you have to go to MK for the boat? Glad to see you posted! Love reading your reviews...keep them coming!,, Alicia

Exactly. You plan and you plan and you plan and when something like that throws you off you get even more frustrated than you should.

Trail's End is my favorite! The cost is very reasonable, especially for WDW. The cost was around $25 for adults for dinner. Not sure about the kid's price. There was a boat at the Contemporary and went right to Fort Wilderness. It made it easy, but we just missed a boat and it took forever. Sorry I've been slacking on my reviews! I am going to try and finish them up tonight.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with your room. I see exactly where you are coming from with customer service expectations. I'm glad you wrote an email to Disney.

I'm glad you had a good experience at dinner and Wishes to balance it out a little. That mac & cheese at Trails End looks awesome.

Wishes most definitely turned my mood around! I mean, how could it not.

The mac and cheese is so good! It's one of my favorite parts. When you eat mac and cheese out at a restaurant it never tastes right. It always has the mass produced flavor to it. This however is just like a great homemade version.

What a horrible experience at BLT, and so very un-disney. Though it sounds like you handled it much better than most would have. Dis disney respond to your email? Would be interested to know what they said about such a total lapse in customer service.

Love your selfie, but I think you should have been pointing a particular finger at BLT ; )

At least the meal was great. Gotta get over there one of these days, you make it look oh so good

They did send a nice response. All I wanted was to make them aware to ensure people know how to better handle this issue in the future and they seemed to really understand my concern. They might not care at all, but the simple task of writing an email and receiving a non-smug reply made me feel better.

I was feeling that way about them at the time I took that selfie, that's for sure!

Trail's End is awesome! I really hope you get to check it out on a future trip!

Oh man....I spent collectively about 9 hours on our 10 day vacation dealing with our DDP nightmare. I too, work in customer service and know that you catch more flies with honey. But after the 20th time they assured me our DDP would work and it didn't, I just about lost my damn mind. You can only be nice for so long.

I remember telling them "Our family is DVC. We bought the meal plan, we have the park hoppers...we drank the kool-aid. We've done everything you have told us to do! Now fix this please!!!!!"

It seems crazy to get worked up over something like that when you're on this amazing vacation. But when you're actually THERE it puts this dark cloud over your vacation. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

I hear ya! I am very understanding at the start of a situation like that, but once it goes on for too long it pushes your buttons. Sorry to hear you had such a frustrating experience as well. I think everyone who goes to Disney has such a higher expectation for quality and when it is not met, it can really throw you into a downward spiral. I try to remind myself of that, but it's not always easy to keep a level head in stressful situations.

Wow that was not fun with your room. I have never had that bad of service at Disney. Only problem we had with our room on or last trip was the hair dryer sounded like it was gonna blow up but they came and fixed that right away. I wouldn't have waited in the lobby until they fixed it either tho. That was really not a good situation to be in glad it got fixed.

It was definitely the worst service I have ever had in WDW. It's so strange too because I think that similar situation will arise more and more as the batteries wear down in the door scanners. They definitely need to be better equipped to handle that issue in the future. And now if it ever happens again I know exactly what to tell them is wrong when I go to the front desk. Silver lining I guess.

JERI!!! SO glad you came back! Oh man now I so want Via Napoli again. And I will NOT leave Disney again without trying a cupcake from Starring Rolls.

I was sad to learn that LTT is closed while we will be there because that is one I really wanted to do this past trip and we ended up canceling it.

Sorry about the room drama - that would annoy me for sure. Definitely a convenient location but you would think they would be a bit more professional than that.

I hope your job, although crazy is going well!

It's always good to be back on the boards! I am determined to finish up this DR tonight!

Via Napoli is just too good. I can't wait to eat there again. A cupcake from Starring Rolls is a must! Too bad about LTT. If they ever have a refurb going on for WPE or Ghirardelli on a future trip I would probably have to stage a protest!

The room experience was definitely frustrating. I was loving BLT so much after our 2013 trip, but this whole debacle really soured me on it.

The job is awesome! Thanks for asking. Very very rewarding and they give me lots of vacation time for Disney. In fact, I will be back March 7-10. No park tickets, but at least I can take advantage of the resorts and DTD! I can hardly wait!

That's such a shame about BLT! On a positive note the trails end dinner looks absolutely amazing!!!

It was definitely awesome! Even after a bad experience in WDW, there is always a magical one waiting around the corner. I need to catch up on your DR! It looks like you had a fun trip with your little one.

F&W sounds perfect. I think that's one of my favorite times of year!!! I can't wait to hear what you decide. I'm actually sad for you that you went through that @ BLT. So not cool by Disney standards.

There has now been talk of an April trip since it seems Rob might have a week long break from school. And I will be there from March 7-10 with my mom and grandfather. No park plans (yet) but I am already booking some meals at resorts. We will be at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek, so at least I will still be surrounded by the magic. It might even be nice to have a short trip with no park time. Just relax and go see some movies at AMC. I will definitely be posting some pics after the trip!

I just started reading along because I'm trying to get some new dining ideas for our August trip.

Thank you for the review of Trail's End in particular. We have never been, but this year we are staying at the Wilderness Lodge for the first time, so I thought I might give this one a try on our first night. All of the food looks like something my husband and my kids will eat, no small feat there, so I think this is definitely going on the list.

I would Love, Love, Love to do the Grand Floridian tea, but no on in my family would be willing to go for that. Unless I can ditch husband and son and convince my 14 year old daughter that she just can eat the cake like stuff if she wants to?

So sorry for your awful experience at BLT. We had some magic band issues on our last trip and trying to sort those out, having to constantly go back and forth to do so, is beyond aggravating.

I hope you do give Trail's End a try! It is delicious and it's in a great location for you.

Afternoon tea was probably my favorite thing from the whole trip. Rob's too. That is the number one thing we are looking forward to doing again on our next trip. You should definitely try to convince your daughter to have a nice girl's day out with you.

Following! I'm so sorry to hear about the rude CMs.

Thanks for joining in! Rudeness is definitely not magical in WDW, but at least you always encounter plenty of other awesome people throughout the trip. I always try not to let a few ruin the experience.

Trails End buffet looks really good. I showed the pics to DS and he wants to eat there. For our upcoming trip, I want to try a lot of new things. Tomorrow is my ADR day so I will definitely book Trails End.

Nice! ADR day is always exciting. I hope you enjoy it!

Yum to all so far!

Writing these reports always make me hungry. I wanted to have it all again!

FINALLY got back on here and got myself caught up. I'm loving your report so far, it took me a while to build up the courage to get on here after having to cancel my trip but I'm happy to be re-connecting with all my disboard favs.

Hey! I am so glad you are back! I am sure that has to be so hard to come on here after canceling your trip, but I am definitely glad that you did.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

The next morning we went to MK and had some fun riding the rides. We stopped at Sunshine Tree Terrace so that Rob could try another treat. They were having some type of issue with their ice cream machines and a lot of items were not available, however, they had just enough Citrus Swirl left for Rob to have a small one.


Citrus Swirl is orange slush with vanilla soft-serve ice cream.

I had a small taste and it was delicious. I will definitely be adding this place into heavy treat rotation from now on. I need a Citrus Swirl of my own from now on!

We got on a ton of rides at rope drop and then did all walk ons. The only thing we waited for once again was SDMT. This time we got the front seat. Totally worth the wait!

Even though this is the worst picture of me EVER, here we are in the front during the ride.


Some other fun shots from the front seat.






I want to go back! I can't wait to ride it again! I am not playing around this time and I am making sure we have Fastpasses for this on future trips. Yikes this wait is never short!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Not too long after it opened we made our way over to Plaza Restaurant. We have never eaten here before and I really wanted to see if we could manage to secure a walkup today.


As luck would have it, they could seat us immediately.

We were taken right in and given menus.


I really liked the atmosphere in here. It was very simple, but classic. It was nice and cool inside and it was fun to watch the hustle and bustle of the people outside in the park while you are relaxing in the AC.

To start, Rob and I both got a cup of Tomato Soup.


We both loved it! It had a lot of flavor and was much better than your average tomato soup.

For our entree Rob had the Beef Brisket Onion Burger served on flour-dusted Kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, provolone and bacon.


He really enjoyed this and said he would have it again.

I had the Plaza Club. Smoked ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato layered on toasted sourdough bread. I got mine without mayo.


The sandwich was definitely basic, but very fresh and all of the ingredients were done well. But the real hit here is the fries. Holy cow, those fries are awesome! I am coming back just for the fries.

This place was awesome! It's nothing out of the ordinary, but the atmosphere is great and the price is right. I have been wanting to check this place out and I am so glad we finally did.

I didn't think I wanted dessert, but as soon as we stepped outside I changed my mind, so we stopped in the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. I can't resist the smell of the waffle cones being freshly made. Yum!

I got a Mickey Mouse Kid's Cone with Birthday Cake Ice Cream.


This was delicious, but it was such a hot day that on our walk back to BLT it melted all over my hands. I was a big sticky mess my the time we got back to the resort. You can't take me anywhere.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

After our morning at MK we relaxed back at the resort for a little while and then we headed to Epcot for the preview day of F&W! It wasn't supposed to start officially until the next day, but we heard on here and from a few CMs during the trip that all of the booths would be open today as well. Any extra time we can get at F&W is a bonus.


Here we go!

Rob kicked it off with the Sparkling Brut at Patagonia.






Next we went to the new Craft Beer location. Whomever decided to use the old Odyssey building for this deserves a raise. This was a brilliant move. Over the course of the next two days we spent extra time here thanks to the free snack mix and the fact that you could get out of the heat and/or rain with a place to sit and take a breather. I hope they do this every year.

Here is the outside.




Dogfish Head Punkin Ale and some free snack mix. Heaven.


Once we were back outside Rob stopped at Australia for a Coopers Original Pale Ale.


He then stopped at Farm Fresh for one of his Festival favorites, the Key-Limen Key Lime wine.






The best part of this was I ran into the restroom and while I was in there he got this drink and took a picture with his phone and sent it to me so I wouldn't miss I picture. Is this a great guy or what?


Next Rob stopped at Africa for the South African Bobotie with Turkey and Mushroom and MAN Vintners Chenin Blanc.








Next I finally made a stop. I chose poorly with a boring dish at Italy.




I got the Filetto di Pollo, con Funghi al Marsala. Chicken tenderloin, cremini Mushrooms, Marsala Sauce and Ciabatta Bread.


Mine was sans Ciabatta Bread which I realized after I started eating it. Bummer. But this is very boring. Personally, I think everything at the Italy booth is always boring. I let them trick me this year with a yummy sounding dish, but this is the last time Italy. I'm not wasting space in my belly again.

 

[Scoobymoons]

Really enjoying you report So much so that I took a slight break from the latest update to book a reservation for the Plaza - food looks yum and I can't resist anything that has an association with potatoes

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Really enjoying you report So much so that I took a slight break from the latest update to book a reservation for the Plaza - food looks yum and I can't resist anything that has an association with potatoes

That is awesome! I really hope you enjoy it there. We were just talking about how much we want to go back while I was posting that update. I feel the same way. If you tell me a place has a great potato dish, I am so there.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Next at F&W, Rob stopped at Morocco for a Spicy Shrimp Roll with Cilantro & Mint Sauce and a glass of Guerrouane White.








They also asked him if he wanted some kind of hot sauce on his Shrimp Roll, and since Rob has never met a hot sauce he didn't like he of course said yes. He really liked this a lot. I wish I had tried one. It looked pretty awesome.

We never got anything to eat at the Brazil booth, but their setup was pretty cool.








Kinda bummed I didn't try anything here.

Next I had to try what is always one of my favorite booths. France!




The Escargot here is usually one of my favorite dishes in the world, so I was less than pleased that they changed up how they were serving it this year. I was willing to keep an open mind though and gave the new dish a try. An Escargot Tart with Garlic, Spinach, Bacon and Parmesan.


I hated this. I couldn't even finish it. It was way too rich from the tart portion and all of the other flavors completely drowned out the flavor of the escargot. You couldn't even tell it was in there. Huge disappointment.

I knew that I would not be disappointed at my next stop. I had to get the awesome cheese platter from Ireland!




Kerrygold Cheese Selection: Reserve Cheddar, Dubliner with Irish Stout, Skellig


This was amazing as usual! I love, love, love this. I hope they never change it.

Next Rob stopped at Canada.




He did it up here and got the Le Cellier Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce, Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and a Moosehead Lager.






He love the filet here, but he didn't get the hype with the soup. I love it, but he wasn't a fan.

On the way out he also stopped at Hawai'i.




He got the Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise and Maui Splash Sweet Pineapple Wine.




He really liked the wine and enjoyed the slider as much as he did last year.

It was a super hot day, which really diminished my appetite unfortunately, but it was still a great day at F&W!