Mickey Pants on the Hub Grass!: A June 2015 Dining Report - Complete!

[mare1203]

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In the few days leading up to the trip I can always count on Kathy to share this beauty with me on social media. Seriously, it has to be one of the best commercials ever. And so true! Sleeping the night before a Disney trip is always difficult. In order to maximize Disney time, I’ve taken to booking the red-eye from Arizona to Florida. This time around, my travel companions arranged to meet me in Charlotte, where we would be catching a connecting flight. I had no troubles, but Kathy, Jeff, and Bob’s flight was delayed and they just barely made the flight. But, they made it! And we arrived in Florida by 9:15 a.m. Almost a full Disney day!!

We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some sunscreen and waters. We also received a text notifying us that our room was ready. It’s always nice to get into the room, especially after spending the night on an airplane! Before long we were back on the road and finally came upon…

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This beauty! Yay! We made it onto property!


As I mentioned previously, we quickly came upon our home for the next 5 days, the Polynesian Village Resort! Since we had checked in online and received our room number, we didn’t have to stop at the front desk. Yes! Plus, we’ve stayed at the Poly enough times that we knew exactly where to park to get close to our longhouse. The parking lot had lots of spaces and was never overcrowded, which was nice. I think they’ve done an absolutely beautiful job with the Polynesian overhaul. There is still some construction happening, but it didn’t interfere with our stay at all. Even though this is a dining thread, I’ll share some pictures of the new studios.






We thought Disney did a great job with these. The imagineers really put some thought into maximizing the space and we didn’t feel at all cramped with 4 adults in the room. Although I don't have any pictures, the studios feature 2 bathroom spaces, which was nice for getting ready in the mornings. There isn’t a ton of storage, but there’s enough to make it work.


After freshening up a bit, we were off to find a park and to find some lunch. For us, a Disney trip almost always starts with a visit to the Magic Kingdom and that’s exactly where we headed.


Since none of us had much of a breakfast, we were feeling a bit peckish and decided to stop for some lunch at Casey’s Corner. Casey’s has been our traditional first meal at Disney for as long as I can remember. It's not the best CS at the Magic Kingdom, but it's nostalgic and reliable. They’ve made some changes over the years, but hot dogs and fries are the staple on menu. I’m also a fan of the baseball theme!


Kathy and I both got the hot dog and fry combo. They've got a condiment bar with most of the traditional hot dog fixin's to doctor it up however you like. I am a relish and mustard girl, myself. I like the traditional hot dog because it's just the right size for me and I think the bun is better. Kathy agrees, though she is a strict ketchup only fan...shudder...


The boys both went with the chili dog combo. The specialty dogs are also a bit larger. Jeff and Bob made quick work of these. Jeff wondered 'whether he was so hungry they were phenomenal or whether they were really that good'. We decided it was a combination.


Since we went with the combo, each of our meals also came with fries. Notice the plastic cheese is still available! It's also still being featured on the condiment bars, so no changes in your ability to get as much plastic cheese as your stomach can handle, at least for now.

All in all it was a yummy and successful first lunch at the Magic Kingdom! ​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Polynesian Village DVC is on our list. We love Casey's, it is tradition for us as well. Glad to hear the plastic cheese is still there.

 

[hockeygirl14]

I love Casey's! It's not the best, but theres something about having a hot dog on main street...

 

[flea1267]

Found ya again Mary

 

[mare1203]

Reading along!

Welcome! Hope you enjoy!

Polynesian Village DVC is on our list. We love Casey's, it is tradition for us as well. Glad to hear the plastic cheese is still there.

We loved the Poly DVC. It definitely felt like 'home'.

I love Casey's! It's not the best, but theres something about having a hot dog on main street...

You are so right! Plus, it's a great way to start the people-watching portion of the trip!

Found ya again Mary

Hi Felicia! Welcome aboard!

 

[mare1203]

Happy 1st day of Summer everyone! It's 114 here in Arizona today, so I hope everyone is keeping cool wherever they are as well. I've got time for a short update. Here we go!

While checking out at Casey's, my dad found out he had no idea what the pin was for our MB's and locked himself out (this happens EVERY trip). So, we hung out at the table doing some people watching while he went up to City Hall to change it to something he could remember. I wish I had a picture, but we enjoyed watching a 5-year-old-ish kid tackle the nachos they offer at Casey's. I'll say, the little guy put a nice dent in them, and they're huge! It was much more humorous to see the sheer amount of chili and cheese that ended up all over him. Not so fun for the parents to clean up, but it was fantastic to watch him in all his cheesy, chili bliss from afar.


Luckily, this guy started up while we were sitting outside, so we got to listen to some nice tunes! As soon as Bob returned, it began to rain, so we waited it out a bit before deciding to head for Tomorrowland where there are a good number of inside rides.


Unfortunately, after a few rides it was clear the rain wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so we hightailed it back to the Poly for a rest. We just made it to the monorail before the rain became a torrential downpour. What are we to do in this situation??


Why, head to the Pineapple Lanai, that's what! This little stand is a thing of beauty, isn't it (unless of course, you don't like dole whips, in which case, what is wrong with you?!? Juuust kidding!).




Sorry for the crappy pictures. With the dark clouds outside and my phone, the lighting sucked for these pics and I never had a chance to re-take them. Anyway, the Pineapple Lanai offers the basics in pineapple soft serve (or as I call it, heaven in a cup). They feature pineapple, vanilla, or pineapple/vanilla swirl soft serve and they offer it in either cup or float form. We never saw much of a line here, which makes it even more convenient.


Bob went with the Dole Whip Float featuring swirl. I like the swirl because it tampers down the sweetness just a bit.


Jeff chose the swirl in a cup.


And Kathy and I decided to share a swirl dole whip in a cup. We were still somewhat full from lunch and knew we had a big dinner ahead, so sharing worked out well. I thought we'd get back there for another snack sometime, as I'm usually a Float fan, but sadly we did not. Too many other treats to get! The Dole Whips definitely hit the spot. ​

 

[kanadar]

Mmmm gotta love dole whips! One of the best Disney snacks!

 

[mare1203]

There are a lot of great new additions and improvements to the Polynesian. This is one complete resort, and I think it would be easy to spend 5-7 days here and never even venture over to the 4 parks. With the weather not cooperating, it gave us a great chance to check-out one of the Polynesian’s newest offerings...Trader Sam’s.




Trader Sam’s opens at 4:00 and doesn’t have a real high capacity. We ventured over to the Great Ceremonial House around 3:45 to get in line, and made it to the line about 5 minutes prior to open. They rang a bell to signal the open and we were invited inside.


As we walked in, there was a cast member counting people up until capacity. It was then open seating. We ended up at the communal surfboard with a couple other groups. We don’t mind sitting with others, and we shared a couple of menus with our tablemates. Note: There is quite a bit of communal seating at Trader Sam’s, but it’s a bar, so make some friends! I love talking to people at Disney, even though I consider myself relatively bad at small talk. It’s always disappointing to be seated with ‘duds’ or people who aren’t interested in engaging.




The details inside this place are, in two words, classic Disney. Everything has been thought out, well-placed, and you could easily come here every day for a week and find something new. I also loved the homages to Disneyland, the Adventurer's Club (RIP...), and Jungle Cruise. We noticed, however, that it is not really a place where people hang out for long periods of time. Most parties got their one drink and moved on. I’m totally fine with that, and I think it’s helpful to know if you don’t get in with the first group.


We saw a few families, seeing as we entered at 4. Honestly, I do not think this is much of a family spot. There are things for the kids to look at, and a few non-alcoholic drinks on the menu, but it is, for all intents and purposes, a bar. The patio, however, with the Trader Sam’s drink menu and music, seems much more akin to pleasing the family crowd.


The waiters at Trader Sam’s all have great personalities. We had some time to peruse the menu before placing our orders.


Kathy and I both went with Polynesian Pearls. This is a RumChata Cream Liqueur, Grand Marnier, and Cinnamon with Tropical Juices. We got to keep the pearl. This is also the only one of the souvenir alcoholic drinks that you don’t exchange at the front for a clean one. It’s a plastic pearl, so no need anyway. I thought this was just okay, but now that I’m looking at the drink ingredients, OF COURSE I would think that. It is not really the type of drink I go for. However, I thought it was well made and enjoyed it nonetheless. This is much more up Kathy’s alley, so she really enjoyed this one. The flavors worked well together and I didn’t think any of them were overpowering.


Bob ordered my favorite drink, the Krakatoa. Thi is spiced rum, reserve rum, almond liqeur, Sam’s Gorilla Grog (their own blend of fruit juices), and hibiscus grenadine. Oh man, this baby is amazing. I love how well the flavors mix together. I can definitely taste both the almond and hibiscus. Although they sound like the wouldn’t blend well, they really do. My dad thought this was good.


Jeff went with the Rosita’s Margarita. It has tequila (duh), orange curacao, lime juice, falernum, and agave nectar. He proclaimed this a wonderful margarita and made quick work of it. Jeff’s not much of a drinker, so this was a glowing review.



While we were at Trader Sam’s, I think we saw every drink ordered. The drinks with souvenir glasses all have accompanying antics when they are served. I think my favorite are the Uh-Oa, and the Krakatoa, but they are all fun. As we had dinner reservations just a few hours later, we did not try any of the food offerings this time around.


I’m going to end this review with a disclaimer: a written review of this place does not, in any way, do it justice. Pictures and spotty video cannot replace the fun atmosphere (especially if you’ve got a good crowd). My advice: just go. You’ll love it.​

 

[mare1203]

Our next eating adventure had us heading to the New Fantasyland for a much anticipated dinner in the Beast’s Castle. Of course, that only means one thing...Be Our Guest! The only reason this was a must-do for us is because my Dad and Jeff had never been for dinner. I don’t think we’ll be clamoring to get this more than any other restaurant in the future, but that’s pretty par for the course for us. We don’t really have any must-do’s on our list in general.



Our reservation was for 7:00. We actually had pretty rotten luck from the time we stepped into Magic Kingdom. We had a FP for Space Mountain, but after getting in line, it went down and we stood around for 15 minutes before they exited us out the back and gave us return FP’s. Drats. Our next FP was for Seven Dwarf’s, which we happily made and enjoyed. This put us right where we needed to be to check-in for our dinner.





When we arrived at the castle, the cast informed us to have one person check-in at the podium, and the rest of our party could wait in the hall. Cool, but seriously, people cannot seem to grasp this concept and the podium was still crowded with full parties. Bob checked us in and we received our pager. And we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Parties we had seen check-in before and after us all seemed to be getting seated, and nothing. Finally, my dad went to check on it, and NO ONE would help us. We seriously tried to get the attention of 4 different cast members who all ignored us. Finally, we got one of the seaters attention. Turns out, they checked us in wrong, and tried to tell us that we didn’t have a table. Umm, yeah, that did not go well. As a previous cast member, you don’t tell that to the guest, especially one WITH A PAGER. Come on. Luckily, someone came to our rescue and we were on our way to a table...yay! We had asked to speak with a manager as well. As luck would have it (or, maybe not. I’m going with Disney (making up for it) Magic), we were seated in the West Wing, score! It’s the only room we had never eaten in before.


The seater gave us our menu’s and told us our waiter would be Mark.Soon after a manager came over to find out our story. We told him what happened, and he apologized. He then gave us a couple of Fastpasses for our trouble. We thanked him and said the apology was more than enough, but he insisted. Luckily, Mark was a fantastic server, and we had a great meal.


To start, they brought us a basket of rolls and some butter. The rolls were warm and had a good flavor, but were pretty much your standard dinner roll.


We each ordered a glass of wine with dinner. I had the Lasseter Red, my dad had a Pinot Noir, and Kathy went with the Conundrum White. Cheers to vacation and wedding planning!


My dad and I split the French Onion Soup. I love BOG’s French Onion soup. Since it is vegetarian, the onion flavor is pronounced and it isn’t too beefy or salty. Also, their cheese topper is on point. We declared this soup wonderful.


We also ordered the charcuterie board for the table. The charcuterie board was another good start to the meal. There were a couple of different meats and cheeses featured. I do wish it came with a card or something describing the meats and cheeses. We laughed, because we mostly know Italian charcuterie, so we knew our guesses were totally off ‘since this is France!’. One of my favorite items was the pickled onions. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but I think it was a Bing Cherry macerated pickled onion. Holy moly it was good. I actually thought it might be fig or date, but no! So good.


Alright, so we were completely boring in our entree choice and all went with the same thing. Usually you can at least count on me to veer from the group, but not in this case. We all went with the steak and frites. The French have it right when they make their steak, pairing it with fries. These are most definitely my favorite fries in all of Disney, and easily rank within my top 5. Confession time: I’m a sucker for fries. I can dominate a plate of salty, deep fried potatoes (the same is true for chips). They are literally the sole reason I ordered the dish, haha! These fries were super salty (exactly as it should be, in my mind). Jeff, who doesn’t love salt, thought they were too salty, so there ya go. To each their own!


Bob owns a meat distribution shop, so we can literally get amazing steak whenever we want (or, the Illinoisans can, anyway). Since we usually make a better steak it’s not often my protein of choice, but it is nice when someone else cooks it for you. The Be Our Guest steak is a New York Strip (a strip steak without the bone. With a bone would be a Kansas City strip), served with an herbed butter on top. It doesn’t need it, but we were in France, so that’s traditional and gave it a more complex flavor. Our steaks were all cooked to our liking. I enjoyed it and would definitely order this dish again.

After finishing our entrees they brought around the dessert cart. I’m honestly not a fan of the dessert selection at Be Our Guest, though I know I’m in the minority. Cupcakes just don’t excite me (cake in general doesn’t excite me, sorry!) and I’m actually also not much of a chocolate fan, save for brownies (again, sorry!). Kathy enjoys the strawberry cupcake here, but decided she wasn’t in the mood.


Overall, we enjoyed our dinner at Be Our Guest. The service was good, if not a little rushed (our entrees came out before they had cleared our appetizers). Mark was a personable waiter, and the food was enjoyable.
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[kastoney]

Hey Mary. Subbing in on your adventures, can't wait to eat right along with ya on some more wedding planning.

Everything looks great so far. Love starting with some good ole hot dogs from Casey's (and its my daughters namesake so I may be a little biased)

Your Trader Joe's experience sounds like utter perfection. So can't way to try it out in september

 

[kanadar]

You left out Jeff's lovely drink of choice....a diet coke everything was delicious! Look forward to seeing more!

 

[jabead]

Hi Mary...and Kathy, too! Sorry I'm a little late to your party, but I'm glad that I at least made it while you are still on the first day of your trip. Anyway, your steak and fries at BOG look great. I'm thinking that if I should ever give BOG another try, that might be a good entree choice for me. Can't wait to read about the rest of your dining adventures.

 

[mare1203]

Hey Mary. Subbing in on your adventures, can't wait to eat right along with ya on some more wedding planning.

Everything looks great so far. Love starting with some good ole hot dogs from Casey's (and its my daughters namesake so I may be a little biased)

Your Trader Joe's experience sounds like utter perfection. So can't way to try it out in september

Welcome! You will love Trader Sam's; it's so much fun!

You left out Jeff's lovely drink of choice....a diet coke everything was delicious! Look forward to seeing more!

Hey you, stop sassing me! No one needs to see diet Coke, hahahaha!

Hi Mary...and Kathy, too! Sorry I'm a little late to your party, but I'm glad that I at least made it while you are still on the first day of your trip. Anyway, your steak and fries at BOG look great. I'm thinking that if I should ever give BOG another try, that might be a good entree choice for me. Can't wait to read about the rest of your dining adventures.

Hello! Glad to have you reading along! I was apprehensive about BOG the first time too, because it's soooo hyped. I ordered the braised pork and luckily Kathy ordered the steak. The pork was good, but that steak (okay, okay, the fries) had me searching out an ADR!

 

[amytech]

Just found your report-I'm in! Just love it so far! Can't wait to read more!

 

[guinea pig]

Following you and your sister Wedding Planning Journal!! So glad you had fun at The Kentucky Derby! I live in Louisville and it's a great time! Hope you didn't drink too many Mint Juleps!

 

[mare1203]

Just found your report-I'm in! Just love it so far! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you for reading along! There is definitely more good stuff to come!

Following you and your sister Wedding Planning Journal!! So glad you had fun at The Kentucky Derby! I live in Louisville and it's a great time! Hope you didn't drink too many Mint Juleps!

Oh man, I had high hopes for the Kentucky Derby and they were all surpassed! So fun. Thanks for reading!

 

[mare1203]

Thanks everyone for reading along, and for your patience. Don't worry, I haven't forgot about the report. I was just in Italy and Switzerland for a week with Adventures by Disney, which I totally, 100% recommend! Anyway, now, back to the eats!

After dinner it was time for some rides! We got quite a bit done at Magic Kingdom before the fireworks were set to go. Since it had been rainy, Disney decided to postpone the fireworks by about 45 minutes. We were planning to stay for them, but the long flights had caught up to us and we were ready for bed. Instead, we took the monorail back to the Polynesian.



When we got off the monorail, my Dad and I headed for our room, while Kathy and Jeff decided they needed some snacks. However, as soon as we got to the building, we could see Celebrate the Magic starting, so we popped a squat on the beach and were mesmerized by the show. You can’t really see if from far away, but you can still sorta tell what’s happening. Of course, as soon as Celebrate is over that means Wishes! They don’t pipe in the music down by the DVC end of the beach, but I’ve basically memorized the show, so it wasn’t necessary. Kathy and Jeff met us near the beginning of the show.


When we got back to the room, we discovered they had bought us some snacks! Sweet!



Jeff and I both got peanut butter rice krispie treats. Sorry for the missing ear! This was yummy as usual. You can definitely taste the peanut butter, but it is not overwhelming. The chocolate drizzle is a nice addition, and the rice krispie was soft as usual. They like to make fun of me because I only eat one ear at a time. It took me the entire trip to finish this baby. And, yes, I realize that is sad.

Kathy chose a regular Mickey Rice Krispie treat. She said it was delicious!



For my dad, Kathy and Jeff got a back of Mickey salted caramels. He loves those things. I didn’t try any because I don’t love salted caramels, but everyone who tried one enjoyed them.


And with that, we’ve completed day 1 at Disney! But don’t worry, there are plenty more eats to come.
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[LindseyJo22]

Following along for food and wedding planning! It is my hope that my fiance and I can have a Disney vow renewal one of these days down the road And all the food looks great too I love the Trader Sams review - I definitely want to try and get here on our next trip, but we have so much to do I'm not sure how likely it is!

Glad you all seem to have had a lovely time so far, aside from a few bumps in the road.

 

[ariane37]

Following along! Enjoying your report so far Always happy to hear someone enjoyed BOG dinner, we've been there 5x-it's one of our favorite TS restaurants.

 

[Pfau]

What a fantastic first day!