"Life itself is the proper binge" - Update 4/6 - Kona & Captain Cook's

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 2 - Lunch

Tokyo Dining
​

After a low crowded morning learning about our future world, running into another solo diser on living with the land on our own private tour (at least I think she was a diser but I didn't ask) and a short video about what Canada is more than just snow I made my way to Japan for lunch at Tokyo Dining.

This is my favorite lunch place in EPCOT - I think I go here every trip and usually order the same entree. Generally I don't have an appetizer or dessert but with being on the plan - might as well.

To drink I had: Tokyo Sunset $7.50

Mmmm. Alcohol.

To start I had: Garden Salad w/ Ginger Dressing - $5.95

I enjoyed it. Is it worth $6 for basically a plate of lettuce and a cup of dressing? Not really when you can buy at least 3 heads of lettuce for that price at home. But its Disney & such is how it is. On the plan, I would get it again. Off the plan, not so much.

For my entree I had: Ebi Tempura - $20.95

Excellent as always. The tempura was crispy and the shrimp nicely cooked. To be honest, I didn't touch the vegetables outside of the zucchini but I don't like mushrooms, sweet potatoes or asparagus.

For dessert: Chocolate Ginger Cake - $5.95

The top part is good. The bottom part a bit dry. Like the salad - outside of the plan, I don't think I would actually order this but it was nice to have a bite or too.

Tokyo Dining continues to make me happy & I'm sure I'll return again in 2 months! This time sans plan.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Tonga toast.... I can finally say I have had a bite of that... and will again I am sure!!!!

I have not yet done Tokoyo dining... So many restaurants... so little disney trips.....

 

[Dis_Yoda]

That looks yummy. I have to find out what time they stop serving breakfast because I have seen so many people love this and I feel the need to try it. We have a reservation at like 11 on the day we leave so hopefully it's still breakfast! GLad you are having a great trip!

Oh it was yummy! I think the 11am is still breakfast - I think they switch over to lunch at 11:30 but I could be wrong.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Tonga toast.... I can finally say I have had a bite of that... and will again I am sure!!!!

I have not yet done Tokoyo dining... So many restaurants... so little disney trips.....

Awesome! Yeah I think I"ll have it on future trips even though I can never finish it.

I know - Disney has way too many places to eat at! And once you get your favorites its so hard to branch out to all the new ones. At least its like that for me.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 2 - Afternoon Snacks & Ohana

Tequila Cave!
​

After an afternoon of exploring the world showcase and not spending any money despite things I want for my house in both Japan, Italy and China I wondered into the new Tequila Bar.

It was around 3:30pm and only had about 3 other parties in there. After reading the various margarita types, I chose the passion fruit. All the margaritas were $12.50.

This was great! Very smooth going down.

Everything Pop!

A little after 5, I returned to the Pop Century to relax and unwind for the day. I was not meeting my friends for dinner until around 9 and decided I wanted a little snack.

Cheese fries! - $3.29

Mmmm. Plasticy cheesy goodness. Not gourmet but hit the fat kid spot very well.

Resort Hopping!

As I still had some time before dinner and was ready to leave my room at the Pop Century I decided to go look at the resort decorations around the monorail.

Grand Floridian

The decorations here were great! You walk in and feel the holidays which I love. I loved the little details on the gingerbread house like this one:

See! Little mickeys on the lounge chair! Love it

Contemporary

The problem with going to the Grand Floridian first was well - Contemporary seemed rather lame afterwards. I mean look at this tree:

Its rather plain jane after seeing the Grand! Oh well...

I did buy a cookie here:

Haven't eaten it yet & probably won't until after I get home and take it to work with me for my stress sugar relief.

Ohana

I'll admit I was lame and didn't take any pictures here. We've all seen them in the other reviews and it looks the same since so many people eat here.

I admit I'm usually a signature dinner snob. I enjoy 2 TS restaurants most evenings and kinda avoid the 1 TS at dinner time. I came in not expecting much food wise but thus walked away happy as everything tasted good and I left rather full.

The salad w/ the honey lime dressing was refreshing.
The wings were hot and the pot stickers worked well with the peanut sauce.
Noodles were noodles - nothing overly exciting but tasty.

Our server was rather slow when it came to the meat service. Actually extremely slow. If I wasn't with others it would have been painful to wait for the meat. Luckily I wasn't alone so the wait wasn't too bad. I had like 6 shrimp and a piece of turkey and 2 pieces of beef. The shrimp were good, turkey ok and the beef a bit tough.

Overall - It was a good meal. The standouts to me were the salad and the pot stickers but I'm sure everyone has their own favorites there. We were seated around 9pm and didn't leave until after 11pm. Some probably from the talk around the table some from our slow meat service.

The meal is up to $30.99 a person now.
​

 

[pinkxray]

jiko sounds incredible! Thanks for the great reviews. Debating on canceling two ADR's to fit this in. How many character meals does my daughter really need anyway?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

jiko sounds incredible! Thanks for the great reviews. Debating on canceling two ADR's to fit this in. How many character meals does my daughter really need anyway?

Oh Jiko's is worth it!

Depends on how many character meals you have planned. I'm personally not the biggest fan of character meals as I think they sacrifice food quality for the entertainment but I'm sure once I have little kids I'll be at them just like everyone else as I would rather do the meals than stand in 30 minute lines for a character.


I got home this afternoon

After I do all that cleaning stuff and laundry I hope to start on my next review if not I'll work on them more as the week goes on.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

joining in. AMAZING REVIEWS. can't wait to read more

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for the wonderful reviews!

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Oh Jiko's is worth it!

Depends on how many character meals you have planned. I'm personally not the biggest fan of character meals as I think they sacrifice food quality for the entertainment but I'm sure once I have little kids I'll be at them just like everyone else as I would rather do the meals than stand in 30 minute lines for a character.


I got home this afternoon

After I do all that cleaning stuff and laundry I hope to start on my next review if not I'll work on them more as the week goes on.

Good thing another one is right around the corner!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

joining in. AMAZING REVIEWS. can't wait to read more

Thanks for joining in! I hope my work schedule lets me post more than 1 today but we'll see.

Thanks for the wonderful reviews!

Glad you are enjoying them!

Good thing another one is right around the corner!

Exactly! 7 more weeks to go I think.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 3: Breakfast

Everything Pop!
​

Originally this morning I had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s planned for 7:10am. When the alarm went off at 6:15AM, there was no way I was feeling like getting up and going to breakfast to come back to wait for my mother’s arrival. I reset the alarm and slept in another hour or so.

Once I woke up, I was hungry and made my way to Everything Pop! For breakfast.

I enjoyed the Chocolate Chip Pancakes - $6.19 w/ a Chocolate Milk 2.19 & Monster Energy - $3.99

Well I only drank the milk. I took the Monster back to my room to bring home with me as I love my energy drinks & I had to have 2 drinks with this silly dining plan so I wanted to make sure I got my money’s worth.

The pancakes were eh. A little bit not warm & I didn’t like how all the chips ended up in the middle of the pancake rather than spread throughout. The bacon was normal Disney pre-cooked bacon.

Pet Peeve: No real butter in the Pop Food Court. Only had that fake non-transfat stuff which well if I wanted fake butter would be fine. I like my food real please.

The food court was a mad house but I’m sure we all expect that. It made me miss Captain Cook’s or the BWI lounge for breakfast.

 

[Symans3honeybees]

Thank you for the delicious update!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Thank you for the delicious update!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 3: Lunch

Liberty Tree Tavern​

After my mother had arrived and we made our way to the Magic Kingdom, lunch time came quickly at us. At 11:30AM, we arrived at the Liberty Tree Tavern to enjoy our lunch. With me being on the deluxe dining plan & her being out of pocket it actually worked out rather well as I shared my appetizer & dessert with her.

To Start –
Tavern Fried Cheese - with marinara sauce $5.49

Basic Fried Mozzarella & Cheddar. To me, its comfort food & we both enjoy it greatly.

For Entrée –
Colony Salad - Washington apples, sweet pecans and applewood smoked cheddar and grilled chicken tossed with field greens in honey shallot vinaigrette $13.49

I love this salad! There is so much in it that every bite is more than just lettuce. Of all the lunch options in the Magic Kingdom – this is the entrée that keeps my belly happy. My mother ended up eating some of it as it was way too much to even eat half of it.

Mother’s Entrée
New England Clam Chowder - $6.99

She ordered the appetizer of Clam Chowder for her meal & it was perfect for her. It is a rather large serving to eat so with having some of my cheese & salad she was stuffed!

Dessert –
Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake -- vanilla cake with a gooey toffee filling and caramel sauce $4.99

I know I know, I got the same exact meal as I had in October. But it was so so good! My mother & I ended up splitting this and only making a dent in half of it.


Liberty Tree Tavern remains my favorite lunch spot in the Magic Kingdom. I’m sadden to know this meal isn’t going to be the same when we go in Feb as those pesky characters are turning it into a family style meal so I’m debating on what to do for that trip now. I’m hoping I can sit down and develop that plan in the next couple weeks once I find out if we are cruising or not in 2010.

Tambu Lounge​

Around 4pm, we headed over to the Tambu Lounge for a quick drink before heading back to the Pop Century for clean up before dinner.

I had the Very Berry Punch & my mother a glass of White Zin (eww)

My drink was sweet but tasty. Our service was a bit slow as it seemed to be overrun with children in the lounge which always seems weird to me. But meh.

Coming Up: Dinner that almost ends up in an urgent care visit…

 

[Flossbolna]

I love that LTT salad, too! It has so much different tastes going on, but they fit together very well. I just don't really like the atmosphere at LTT, too hectic. They really try to turn those tables as fast as possible.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I love that LTT salad, too! It has so much different tastes going on, but they fit together very well. I just don't really like the atmosphere at LTT, too hectic. They really try to turn those tables as fast as possible.

Our pacing was decent - so much better than a meal I had later in the trip where I got to send my food back as it was way too fast. Probably depends on the server which is never fun.

I agree with atmosphere is a bit hectic but we've been sat in the back where it isn't as bad each time plus in comparison to the other places in the MK - its seems to be the common theme. Its also why I wont go now in Feb when its a character meal as the layout doesn't seem to be great for a character meal.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Feb Trip Update
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I'm going to take a break in the trip report to list our updated plan based off the changes in the length of the trip.


Day 1 - Epcot
Lunch: Coral Reef or Tutto (entree only)
Dinner: Fulton's Crab House

Day 2 - HS
Lunch: Sci-Fi
Dinner: Bistro

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom
Breakfast: Ohana
Lunch: Small Snack
Dinner: Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Yak & Yeti
Dinner: Todd English's bluezoo

Day 5
Breakfast: Kona


There are too many places I want for dinner like Shula, Il Mulino, Citrico's & not enough time.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 3: Dinner

Flying Fish​

We had dinner this evening at 6pm at Flying Fish. We were using my TIW card for my mother's meal & the DxDP for me which allowed us to get free valet at BWI which makes me happy as parking at BWI is always a mess. (For our trip in Sept/Oct we used valet instead of dealing with it then too but hey its vacation, I'm allowed to splurge on needless things)​

We looked at their decorations in the lobby & their gingerbread display.​

It even included my favorite crazy character, Stitch!

After admiring the display, we headed down to the Flying Fish to check in. I think it was a combination of people having to have their entire party with them at the check in podium & a small check in area but it was insanely packed checking in. We were crammed in the little lobby while we waited 10 minutes to move up in the line to tell them we were here & obviously then checked in a bit late. Within 10 minutes of getting our buzzer, we were all set to be seated at the 2 top near the bussing station in the middle of the restuarant. Not the best table but at least it was somewhat quiet there.​

Our server was a bit slow to come to our table initially but that was ok.​

At the table next to us, their server had given the table a deconstructed bacon sandwitch which was one of the funniest things I've seen as apparently it was from a joke comment the lady made about her tomatos needing a bacon sandwitch.​

I got a glass of Pinot Noir & my mother got a glass of reisling once our server came to our table. We mentioned to him I would be on the dining plan & everything will be out of pocket w/ TIW which was ok with him.​

I started with:​

Chilled Wild Gulf Shrimp Cocktail - frisee, shaved radishes, spicy hearts of palm, creamy verde sauce, chive-infused oil $17.00

The sauce worked with the shrimp well & there were a ton of shrimp in there. $17 worth is a bit of a reach though but hey, I wasn't paying for it OOP. Thus it gets only a good:

My mother went with the Chef's Thunder Appetizer:
Maine Lobster Salad - $16​

She thought it was wonderful until her ear started itchy. Then the inside of her mouth started swelling.​

At this point, I got to go leave the restuarant & head to the Sundries store and pick up benadryl.​

You see, my mother is a bit of an overreactor, it's her nature. I know she isn't allergic to Lobster as she eats it a decent amount at home as apparently she had Lobster Bisque (with a piece of lobster in it) 2 days before this meal while at lunch at work. It could have been a spice she reacted to which is why in looking back it went away quickly. Despite her reaction to something in the salad, she continued to eat the whole thing while I was buying her the benadryl. This is how I knew she would be ok & I didn't need to take her to the doctor's for a cortazone shot or something. I know some people might have thought I was too calm about it but I promise I know my mother & if I thought her life was in any danger I would have done something about it.​

My leaving & coming back apparently alerted the manager to something being off and my mother explained her reaction to something but kept insisting it wasn't the lobster. I think he watched her the rest of the evening from the back of the restuarant to make sure he didn't need to call someone for her.​

I can't really rate this dish because of the craziness - I think it deserves an outstanding mainly as despite my mother having an allergic reaction to something in it she continued to eat every last bite which has to count for something.​

After about 25 minutes from start to finish, she was normal again and her swelling went down.​

This is when we were served our entrees.​

I am uncreative and went with the same thing I had my last trip as I enjoyed it that much.
Our Signature Flying Fish Cafe Potato-Wrapped Red Snapper - Creamy Leek Fondue, veal glace, and Red Wine and Cassis Butter Sauce $36.00​

Mmmm It was nicely cooked and the sauce works so well with the snapper that I ate all the fish. I can do without the leek fondue but I'm a picky vegetable eater.​

My mother had decided to go with 2 appetizers for her meal as they are what appealed to her most on the menu.​

Chardonnay-steamed Maine Coast Blue Hill Bay Mussels - fennel, chilies, pesto crema, grilled sourdough crostini $16.00

There had to be at least 20 mussels in that bowl. I couldn't imagine 1 sole person having that as an appetizer plus a full entree without exploding. My mother didn't finish it but she loved every bite she had.

With dessert, nothing really struck me as MUST HAVE. I remembered back to my dessert 2 months before & decided I only really liked one part of it which happened to be the thing they had full sized one the menu.

White Chocolate Creme Brulee - $8

My mother stole all the fruit off the top as her dessert along with a couple bites. It was light and flavorful and I enjoyed the half I was able to eat before finally calling it quits.

Overall, I enjoyed Flying Fish once more. If I go here with my mother again - I'm going to tell her no lobster salad

 

[MomsOf2boys]

I just carry the benedryl in my purse now. I have mild, light reactions to odd things that never bothered me before. Sometimes even the sulfer in the water (must be before, during, or after a water treatment). It is aggrevating but not life threatening either.

 

[TigerKat]

I thought FF's Creme Brulee was the best I've ever had!