Let the Stomach Stretching Begin! (Oct PTR) 11/2 - List of December ADRs

[KatMark]

I would definitely give it a try, it's inexpensive enough that if you don't love it at least you weren't wasting $35 on a steak dinner or something.

Our breakfast wasn't stellar, but it definitely wasn't bad. In December, we already have Crystal Palace and Kouzzina booked for breakfast---so we'll probably head back to Kona just to see if we had an off day. If it's just so-so again, we probably won't go back. My theory is that no matter what reviews I read, I like to try stuff out for myself. People hate San Angel Inn and I love it. Different strokes for different folks!

Thanks for the advice. I agree...everyone has different tastes, etc. I usually try to give every restaurant two tries in case of an off day (only mistake I've made doing that was Hollywood & Vine). Can't wait for more reviews (and to see you over on the CSR thread to let us know what you thought).

 

[LisaZ1113]

I'm siging on!! LOVING your reviews!!
We LOVE LOVE BLue Zoo, and always order the flatbread and scallops as well....YUM.

 

[annnewjerz]

The next stop on our dining journey is The Plaza Restaurant at the end of Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.

Even though The Plaza is simple and just serves your typical burgers, fries, shakes, etc. it was a reservation I was really looking forward to. I have another reservation (or two ) booked here for December, so this was The Plaza's test run.

We entered the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party around 4:00 and our reservation wasn't until 5:00, so the plan was to meander around Main Street to allow Alex (my DBil) to really take it all in.

Unfortunately Alex, Joe and Erik were all complaining that they were starving because we hadn't eaten since breakfast, so instead we walked down Main Street at much too fast a pace to check in to The Plaza and see if we could be seated early.

Just checked in at The Plaza. Hoping to get in early.
4:07 PM Oct 18th from Tweetie

We checked in and again, I did a little bit of picture taking, but not too much since we were buzzed within 10 minutes to be seated.

We were sat at a nice little table near the window in The Plaza. It's a really small restaurant---which I was expecting, but so small that if you needed the bathroom, you had to go to the public restroom near the People Mover!!

Our server soon came over and wished me a Happy Birthday. She was really nice, her name was Darlene.

She took our drink orders and gave us a while to look over the menu, even though it pretty much consisted of burgers, turkey sandwich, burgers and reubens.

Erik and I decided to split a chocolate milkshake. Per Carrie's genius recommendation, I asked Darlene if it could be made with chocolate icecream and chocolate syrup in order to maximize the chocolate-y goodness. When she brought the drinks out, she even had the kitchen split the milkshake into two cups since she knew Erik and I would be splitting.

Alex and Joe were boring and just got coke, even though they knew we were paying for dinner. Laaaaaaame.

Mmmmmmmmmm shakes at the plaza. Chocolate icecream with chocolate syrup is the s$%t.
4:35 PM Oct 18th from Tweetie

As you can see above, those milkshakes were pretty awesome. Maybe it was because they were "Disney milkshakes," but it sure tasted better than any I've had at our local diner before.

Next, it was time to order our meals. Erik, Joe and I all got burgers with cheddar cheese and fries on the side. I think all of us unanimously gave the burgers a solid "good." They were your typical frozen pattie style hamburger (or so it seemed) so there really wasn't much that could be done to make them amazing. The fries, on the other hand, were so good. I had fries from Cosmic Ray's later that night and they were not even comparable. Crisp, hot and just the right amount of salt. Thicken than normal fries, but not quite as thick as steak fries. Mmmmmmmm.

Alex ordered the turkey sandwich and really liked it. The turkey wasn't all slimy like normal deli meat, the bread was good and he got a pickle, which is a plus for him. He agreed that the fries were deeeelicious.

I was hoping that after we finished our meals, there would be room for dessert. Brownie sundae anyone? Unfortunately, all of us were stuffed so we decided to just get the check.

There had already been three birthday cupcake/balloon/whole restaurant singing combinations since we arrived about 40 minutes earlier---so I was pretty certain I'd be next.

I was right.

I felt so bad because the cupcake looked good, but I couldn't eat all of it on my own, I was just too full. The whole restaurant sang to me, which in a normal restaurant would have caused me to crawl under the table---but in Disney, it's fun.

We ended up splitting the cupcake four ways, just enough for a bite for each of us. Truth be told, I don't like vanilla cake, so I thought it was kind of a dud, but everyone else thought it was good. The cake was moist, the icing was really sugary and it was the perfect little treat to end the meal with.

All in all, we really enjoyed The Plaza and I think it is going to quickly become our must-do eatery in the Magic Kingdom. If I were on the regular dining plan, I would probably pay for this meal out of pocket. The total bill for 4 entrees, 1 milkshake and 4 sodas was only around $65, which is not much more than a quick-service meal would cost. We, however, will be on the deluxe plan in December, so I will be more than happy to use a credit or two for some tasty burgers and shakes at The Plaza.

In my book, The Plaza deserves a Violet Beauregarde. We left stuffed to capacity and happy as pigs in.....well, you know.

 

[KatMark]

LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the Plaza french fries -- the best in all of Disney if you ask me. We've had Darlene before -- she is a sweetheart.

 

[annnewjerz]

LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the Plaza french fries -- the best in all of Disney if you ask me. We've had Darlene before -- she is a sweetheart.

I believe in your dining TR you and Mark ordered the fries and chips, right? If that's the case---which do you think is better, or are they both really good? The chips sounded (and looked) awesome, but I was too in the mood for fries to venture off into the world of chips.

 

[KatMark]

I believe in your dining TR you and Mark ordered the fries and chips, right? If that's the case---which do you think is better, or are they both really good? The chips sounded (and looked) awesome, but I was too in the mood for fries to venture off into the world of chips.

I really like BOTH and that's why we each ordered something different so that I could have both. The fries get an A+ from me and the chips an A-. I'd make Eric order the opposite of you so you can try them next time. Or just ask the person next to you if you can try one of theirs.

 

[PirateRachel]

great reviews, everything sounds yummy yumkins!!!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

mmmm! your reviews are YUMMMY!!

I'm NOT a seafood person but Bluezoo looks amazing. I keep looking at the menu online and seeing the one or two things I would eat. Tempting....very very tempting

As for Kona's breakfast...I was underwhelmed with the Tonga Toast when I got it last year. Mehhhhhh.... I just stick with normal eggs or the macadamia nut pancakes (MM!) when I go now.

And the Plaza was a nice pleasant surprise when I went last month. I haven't been there (ever? in decades?) and we really enjoyed it!

As for cupcakes... i'm not a vanilla cake person either so all the cupcakes I got were pretty much wasted. Kouzzina though did give out chocolate cupcakes and it was DELICIOUS!

 

[annnewjerz]

great reviews, everything sounds yummy yumkins!!!

Thanks!!

mmmm! your reviews are YUMMMY!!

I'm NOT a seafood person but Bluezoo looks amazing. I keep looking at the menu online and seeing the one or two things I would eat. Tempting....very very tempting

It was amazing. From what I read, they also do awesome non-seafood. They have steak, some pasta, flatbreads and chicken if I recall correctly. Seriously awesome restaurant, fantastic service and the food (even though it was seafood) was out of this world.

As for Kona's breakfast...I was underwhelmed with the Tonga Toast when I got it last year. Mehhhhhh.... I just stick with normal eggs or the macadamia nut pancakes (MM!) when I go now.

I'm totally doing the Macadamia nut pancakes next time. I had a bite of DH's and they were so good. A nice departure from your typical butter and syrup pancakes.

 

[oybolshoi]

Happy belated birthday from one October 17th girl to another.

So glad to read that you enjoyed Bluezoo ... I know I talked it up a great deal and would have felt awful if you'd had a bad experience there. Looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews.

 

[annnewjerz]

Well, my apologies everyone. I completely forgot that I still had to review one more restaurant, as well as our one lonely snack and alcoholic beverage. So it's time to get to that!

On our last day, we had to be picked up by the Magical Express at 3:00pm, so we decided to just head over to Downtown Disney for some shopping and a quick lunch at....

EARL OF SANDWICH!!

This was a meal that I had also been looking forward to. I had heard such amazing things about the sandwiches and brownies and considering it didn't cost more than like $10 per person it seemed like somewhere we had to try.

When we walked up, it was pretty packed. It was right around 12:30pm so I knew we were in for a lunch rush and were prepared to wait.

Standing in line at EOS. Gonna get the original and the holiday turkey sandwich.
9:01 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

Erik and I decided that we wanted to get two sandwiches that appealed to both of us, so we could sample both. He picked the Holiday Turkey sandwich and I decided on the Original. What I had really wanted was the Caribbean Jerk Chicken sandwich, but Erik didn't seem interested and since we had a deal---I couldn't break it.

We got to the counter after less than 10 minutes in line even though you would swear it was going to take at least 20. Then, I called an audible. This would be our only real meal of the day and I wasn't sure how big the sandwiches were and since they were reasonably cheap, I decided to order three. I can't help it, I really wanted the Caribbean Jerk Chicken!!

So, we put in an order for a Caribbean Jerk Chicken, a Holiday Turkey and the Original. We also ordered a brownie since they get such great reviews, even though I knew we wouldn't be able to finish it.

(I apologize in advance for the pictures, it was super crowded and I had to make due with getting shots of the sandwiches with everything jammed on our table.)

The Holiday Turkey Sandwich:

Erik and I both agreed that this was seriously awesome. It was a roll with turkey, stuffing, cranberry and gravy. There might have been cheese on it also, but I can't find the menu description.

Basically, if you like Thanksgiving dinner the day after Thanksgiving, you will like this sandwich. The bread was awesome, the turkey was nice and thick---not regular lunch meat turkey, the cranberry was sweet and tart and the stuffing was moist and flavorful.

This was Erik's favorite sandwich of all three and he even said he thinks it's the best sandwich he has ever eaten. This coming from the Hoagie King himself---so that's an accomplishment for EOS.

Next up was the Caribbean Jerk Chicken:

OMG SOOOOOO GOOD. This was, by far, my favorite sandwich of the three. It was seriously better than I expected it to be. Again, the bread was awesome---I think it made the sandwiches. The chicken was nice and thick, the spicy jerk sauce was spicy with a nice little kick but not overly spicy and the banana peppers were fantastic. They were a little sweet and weren't served hot on the sandwich IIRC, which added a nice little coolness to an otherwise hot sandwich. I will soooooo be getting this again in December.

Lastly was the Original 1762:

We got this because it sounded simple and yummy. After all, it is the original which I take to mean an EOS classic---so it couldn't be bad, right? Right. It most definitely wasn't bad, but it was unfortunately our least favorite sandwich of the three. It was tasty, just a little boring and not quite as delicious as the other two sandwiches. Looking back, we could have skipped this one. The bread was good again, there was a ton of roast beef on it and the cheddar cheese was nice and melty. I think the thing I didn't like was the horseradish sauce. I expect horseradish sauce to have a little zesty bite and this sauce was more....sweet?? It just didn't taste like what I expected. Not bad, just didn't have any kick which is what I was expecting.

Lastly was the brownie I had heard so much about:

Overall, the brownie was a brownie. It seems to get a lot of great reviews here on the DIS, but to me it wasn't anything special. It was a good size, but after finishing probably 3/4 of each sandwich we didn't eat more than a bite or so each. I think my main issue with the brownie is that I like a fudgie browny, one that is very moist and rich. This brownie was definitely rich, but not fudgie if that makes sense. It was just kind of, meh.

Overall, we give Earl of Sandwich a HUGE two thumbs up. For the price and the taste it is a definite must on our list for December. Erik already specially requested lunch there again, so after some rearranging we'll now be eating there our first day in WDW before we see La Nouba on the west side of DTD. For Erik to say that it's the best sandwich he's ever had and not give him the pleasure of eating there again would just be cruel, wouldn't it??

EOS gets a strong Violet. If it wasn't for the fact that it's just sandwiches, EOS would definitely get a fizzy lifting drink.

 

[annnewjerz]

Happy belated birthday from one October 17th girl to another.

So glad to read that you enjoyed Bluezoo ... I know I talked it up a great deal and would have felt awful if you'd had a bad experience there. Looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews.

And happy belated birthday to you! Hope you guys had fun as the DIS meet and I hope you got some pics of the cake! By the time we finished up our spectacular dinner at bluezoo (SO SO SO happy we went, will be going again in December) it was getting so cold outside. Combine the colder than expected weather with the fact that we were up since 3:00am and we just went back to the hotel to sleep. No Wishes or Spectro and no DIS meet, but I was nice and rested for MNSSHP the next day.

 

[scoot241]

I think you already know I think Earl of Sandwich is wonderful. I had the holiday turkey sandwich the other day and it was awesome! Too bad it's a holiday special; I might get that every time I go otherwise.

I haven't had the Caribbean Jerk yet. Maybe next time I'm out that way I'll try it.

Oh and you got the holiday turkey description correct. There's no cheese on it.

 

[annnewjerz]

Alright everyone, I'm out of meals to review---but I do have two snacks to review!

I had such high hopes for this trip. I wanted to try a Dole Whip, I wanted to try an Icecream Cookie Sandwich from the Main Street Bakery, I wanted to bring home some treats from Goofy's Candy Company---and I didn't do any of those things.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you consider the fact that we stayed under our food budget), two meals each day filled us up very nicely for the most part, so snacks weren't really on our minds. I'm going to have to make up for that in December since we'll have 10 snack credits to use each.

So, without further ado, here are the snacks we did get.

Snack 1: Gelato from the food court area at CSR.

After we had breakfast at Kona and made our way back to CSR, we passed the time by getting a gelato from the food court. I looked at the cup sizes and decided on a small (there were only two sizes) and figured it would be a nice little treat without filling me up too much and I wouldn't have to share with Erik. Boy was I wrong. I ordered a dark chocolate gelato, and Erik got a vanilla bean. This is what came out.

They were HUGE. See the size of the cup? Knowing Disney I thought they'd fill it to the lip and scrape it flat as to not give us anything extra that we didn't pay for. Needless to say, that wasn't the case.

I couldn't even come close to finishing my dark chocolate gelato, but what I did eat was very tasty. It was creamy, it was rich, it was nice and cold and I loved the spoon they served it with, it was like one of those little sample sized spoons. So cute!

Erik managed to polish off his vanilla bean cup, although I'm not sure how he did it after eating the Big Kahuna for breakfast. He thought it was good, nice and creamy and very vanilla tasting, but ultimately he liked mine better. Poor guy, he always picks something and then likes what I got better.

Snack 2: Corndog nuggets from Casey's Corner

Erik and I split an order of corndog nuggets from Caseys as we made our way out of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at about 11:30. We hadn't eaten since our dinner reservation at The Plaza at 4:30, so we were hungry. I didn't take a picture, but there was a little container with maybe 10 nuggets for just over $4. They were crisp, hot and tasty. I honestly can't remember if I've ever had a corndog, but I like em now! They hit the spot at almost midnight. On a normal day, I probably wouldn't get them again, but since we'll be in the same boat for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party I'll probably have them again then.

 

[KatMark]

Do you now that in eight stays at the CSR, we have NEVER had a gelato. And I LOVE dark chocolate so that is definitely first on my list next time we are at CSR.

 

[annnewjerz]

Do you now that in eight stays at the CSR, we have NEVER had a gelato. And I LOVE dark chocolate so that is definitely first on my list next time we are at CSR.

You really do need to have one. A small will be more than sufficient---the dark chocolate was so rich it was almost sickening to eat so much of it, but still a delightful snack.

 

[annnewjerz]

Okay everyone---after finishing my first ever set of dining reviews, I have decided that dining reviews for our trip in December are a must.

So, while I'm not going to post the direct link to a new PTR quite yet (I'm going to wait until tomorrow when we're officially in the 30's until our trip ), I am going to post a list of the restaurants we plan to eat at---just to entice any October review readers to come over and join me for a whole new set in December.

We'll be on the Deluxe Dining Plan for this trip, so there will be food porn a-plenty!

Anything in green is a new restaurant for us. Red is something we have already done.

December 12, 09 --- won't be on the DDP yet
Lunch / Earl of Sandwich (DH made a special request to go here again)
Dinner / Todd English's bluezoo (8:00pm) (this is a new must-do for me)
Extras / hopefully something from Goofy's or a No Way Jose

December 13, 09
Breakfast / Starring Rolls
Lunch / Hollywood Brown Derby (11:30am)
Dinner / Flying Fish Cafe (5:30pm)
Extras / Sci-Fi Dine In Theater for shakes & onion rings (9:30pm)

December 14, 09
Breakfast / Crystal Palace (8:15am)
Lunch / ESPN Club (2:30pm)
Dinner / California Grill (9:15pm)

December 15, 09
Breakfast / Kona Cafe (9:00am)
Dinner / The Plaza (4:00pm)

December 16, 09
Breakfast / Boardwalk Bakery
Lunch / Yak & Yeti (12:30pm)
Dinner / Jiko (8:00pm)

December 17, 09
Breakfast / Sunshine Seasons
Lunch / Snack around the World Showcase
Dinner / Le Cellier (8:00pm)

December 18, 09
Breakfast / Kouzzina (8:00am)
Lunch / The Plaza (1:30pm)

I hope you all can join me and I'll make sure to post a link to the new thread once I start it.

 

[KatMark]

Okay everyone---after finishing my first ever set of dining reviews, I have decided that dining reviews for our trip in December are a must.

So, while I'm not going to post the direct link to a new PTR quite yet (I'm going to wait until tomorrow when we're officially in the 30's until our trip ), I am going to post a list of the restaurants we plan to eat at---just to entice any October review readers to come over and join me for a whole new set in December.

We'll be on the Deluxe Dining Plan for this trip, so there will be food porn a-plenty!

Anything in green is a new restaurant for us. Red is something we have already done.

December 12, 09 --- won't be on the DDP yet
Lunch / Earl of Sandwich (DH made a special request to go here again)
Dinner / Todd English's bluezoo (8:00pm) (this is a new must-do for me)
Extras / hopefully something from Goofy's or a No Way Jose

December 13, 09
Breakfast / Starring Rolls
Lunch / Hollywood Brown Derby (11:30am)
Dinner / Flying Fish Cafe (5:30pm)
Extras / Sci-Fi Dine In Theater for shakes & onion rings (9:30pm)

December 14, 09
Breakfast / Crystal Palace (8:15am)
Lunch / ESPN Club (2:30pm)
Dinner / California Grill (9:15pm)

December 15, 09
Breakfast / Kona Cafe (9:00am)
Dinner / The Plaza (4:00pm)

December 16, 09
Breakfast / Boardwalk Bakery
Lunch / Yak & Yeti (12:30pm)
Dinner / Jiko (8:00pm)

December 17, 09
Breakfast / Sunshine Seasons
Lunch / Snack around the World Showcase
Dinner / Le Cellier (8:00pm)

December 18, 09
Breakfast / Kouzzina (8:00am)
Lunch / The Plaza (1:30pm)

I hope you all can join me and I'll make sure to post a link to the new thread once I start it.

Oh.....I am so in for the next one.

 

[annnewjerz]

Thanks to everyone who joined me during my October dining reviews. Now that it's the 30 day mark, I figured it was about time to get the ball rolling and start my December dining review thread, so here is the link if you would like to join me during our first attempt at Disney's Deluxe Dining Plan!!