Mikka & Redwitch once again go to WDW and eat everything! Live! With pictures! Yay!

[Mikka]

Well now, that sounds like a lovely way to start an appy and drink crawl of DTD!

It does, doesn't it? Though times would be tight between it and House of Blue's happy hour. Hmm.. Ack, now I'm stuck in Arial.

Your mic is off. It is just the two of us in the vast wasteland of the DIS boards. Evidently, everyone else was kidnapped. Or maybe the Alien from the Great Movie Ride got them!

She says that because she knows that thing terrifies me (although the T-Rex in the Dino ride usually startles me far more). >.> You know, the last like, three times we've been on the Great Movie Ride, we'd had twenty or so minute breakdowns/stops. Never at the alien section, though, thank goodnness.

Maybe everyone was matching you guys drink for drink and are under a barstool somewhere? I kid, I kid!

I'm actually a little jealous, cause we will have our little dictator, er son, with us in October, so we won't get to do the bar crawls as in the good ol' days!

Hah, I hope they're doing it with weak pours, at least! And spacing it out... I'm not including much details of how much travel time was between each pub as 'And then we walked in every store on the way from the Boathouse to HoB and complained about the heat in Starbucks for a while' isn't all that interesting to read. If they are matching me, I hope they're drinking water... and I salute them with some sherry.

I'm trying to think of bar's that could be interesting for kids... maybe Trader Sam's? If they like noisy. Heh. Non-alcoholic specialty drinks, though!

I am enjoying your updates, I really appreciated the Boathouse review, we have a reservation there for our October trip and I have been eyeing those fish tacos.

I thought they were quite good. Everything at the Boathouse was, honestly. I hope you enjoy them!

We loved House of Blues last trip the food and drink were lovely and very reasonably priced. I am one of those who think Lapu Lapu too strong (I would imagine paint stripper would taste the same ) but loving the reviews.

I'll definitely have to try the food! Was there anything you especially enjoyed? As for the Lapu Lapu, I think everyone just tastes things different. Rum, tequila, and vodka don't really hit me that hard. Gin hits harder, probably because I'm not as used to it. I remember one gin drink at Flying Fish that was basically a standard gin + fruit + more fruit + sweet, but I could still barely drink it as it tasted just so boozy.

Thanks for your great reviews

Thank you for reading! I appreciate it!


I've really sort of been dreading this review, in a way. Mainly because I don't want to disappoint anyone, but... yeah. Be Our Guest. Fancy pretty place. Sort of.

I think part of the problem with here was the atmosphere. Neither mom and I were expecting the best food, seeing iffy reviews from beforehand, but I think we were expecting an awesome atmosphere. What happened is we ended up waiting for a long time (I think we only got in after 'only' as long as we waited because mom befriended a cast member working at checking people in, honestly, who may have bumped us up), and we were seated in the back (or front, I guess- where you first come in) of the big 'ballroom'. We were far away from the pretty snowing windows (I couldn't even see them till we got up after the meal and walked over, and I was facing them). Tables were very crowded together: I'm less then five feet, and yet if I had put my knuckles on my hips, elbows out, my elbows would have been smacking the gentleman and lady on either side of me. The place was dim enough to be annoying in trying to read menus, but not dark enough (ala Le Cellier or San Angel) for you to be able to ignore that you're basically on top of the tables by you. The beast did his thunderous walk through the room a few times, sure, but we weren't in a great position to see anything.

If we had eaten in the less crowded and more beautiful/dramatic West Wing, would our food have tasted better? No, of course not, but the 'Ooo, and Ahhhhh!' might have distracted us more to make the food quality not matter. Where we were, all we had were the cherubs on the ceiling to look at. And they're sort of creepy if you stare at them for too long, doubly so once you know they were modeled after the kids of the people who Imagineered up the place.




While I was in the restroom, mother ordered us the wine flight to share. She may be crazy.

Unfortunately, I can't find a place to copy and paste what these wines were. Boo. Which means I'm left trying to translate my notes, which seriously look like this:
'Enchantee Rose (Gerad Bertrand Syrah)
Grenache Rose Languedof
L'ombre de la Bete Chardonay (Georges duboeuf Emilie Beranger, Poultry fish, Dug(scribble)
e L'ombre de la Bete Van Rogue (
Jean-Luc Glumbo, Les Bartavelles,
Chantaueaf-du-Pape, Rhone Valley'
Syrah, greneche, mousicha'
Various notes on the side are scribbled with things like 'good for chard', '+good', 'best', 'light' and other things that make absolutely no sense. I share this with you, misspellings included, so you know how awesome my note taking is , how hard it was to read the freakin' menu in the dark room, and leave us all wondering what 'Glumbo' and 'mousicha' are.

More seriously, let's translate that to English (after doing some research, more then I wanted to ). Enchantee Rose is apparently from the Languedoc region of France, under the Gerard Bertrand brand. From my notes, syrah and grenache were likely involved in it's making. The L'ombre de la Bete (Shadow of the Beast) Chard falls under the Georges Duboeuf label... but it looks like it may just be a rebranding of the Emilie Beranger Pouilly Fuisse (which basically means 'high class Chardonnay from Maconnais Burgandy'). Likewise, L'ombre de la Bete Van Rogue is just Jean-Luc Columbo's (we actually did a French Regional lunch featuring his wines, once) Les Bartavelles Chateauneuf-du-Pape from his beloved Rhone Valley that is a blend of Syrah, Greneche, and Mourvedre (how that became 'mousicha' is anyone's guess).

Wasn't that fun? Okay, probably not.

These wines were actually all fairly good. It actually looks like that 2012 'Van Rogue' blend could set you back a pretty penny, depending on where you were purchasing from. That one was our favorite, but it isn't too much of a surprise: we generally enjoy Jean-Luc Columbo's wines (...though we tend to refer to him as the 'bee guy' due to the bees helping and the bees on that one bottle). It was full bodied, yet not all that dry. The Chard was a typical French chard (that I apparently thought would be good with poultry and fish, though that's pretty usual for a Chard?), which (to me) generally means much better then an American one- it wasn't over oaked, and just had the light toasty/vanilla hints rather then swimming in it. The Rose was decent, though probably the least best of the three. I'm interested in knowing what exactly that Rose is if not covered in pretty Disney labels. Hm.



Note the horrible lighting.

Mom started out with the salad trio: on the left, watermelon, radish and mint. In the middle, beets, raisins and orange. On the right, green beans, tomatoes and shallots. These flavors were fairly interesting, as one usually wouldn't think to put them together. We actually thought this was probably the best item of the night, but it's definitely a bit unusual. Watermelon and radish in paticular is something of a stretch: I don't think I've ever seen those comboed before. All salads were, IIRC, served cold, with the green beans and the like just being slightly seared and thus still crunchy. A somewhat unusual offering, but rather tasty.



I went with the Potato Leek Soup. Not much to say about it: I'd heard that the French Onion was good, but that this was even better, so I gave it a try. I enjoyed it; it was not outstanding, but it was perfectly acceptable and of good quality.



Bread came out a bit after our appetizers (service was fairly spotty, here; they were very crowded (of course, they usually are), and the waiter seemed cheerful but a bit frazzled). It was basic dinner rolls and the standard butter with a bit of sea salt.



This was the point where mom gave up and just used the flash.

This is her Braised Pork (slow cooked eight hours, coq au vin style). Served with onions, carrots, bacon, seasonal vegtables (asparagus, in this case), and pureed cauliflower. This was where the troubles really started. The pork had a decent enough flavor with the sauce, but was fairly dry on its own. The cauliflower was bland. But the other vegtables- the onions, carrot, and asparagus (and I believe mushrooms)- were cooked to utter bland death. They were beyond limp: they were dead, had been dead, should have been buried and in a coffin a week ago. I know some people don't like crisp vegetables; fair enough (we do). But these were just basically mush.



I went with the puff pastry; sauteed shrimp and scallops and mushrooms and utterly dead spinach in said puff pastry with creamy lobster sauce. The sauce was quite nice, yet there wasn't enough of it: the pastry itself was put together well, but once I ran out of sauce not worth touching. The shrimp was okay: I've had much better at other spots around Disney, but it was edible. The spinach was soggy and mostly flavorless, the mushrooms overcooked. The real bad thing were the scallops, which had that rubbery texture and texture to them that screamed 'I was just defrosted, I'm also cheap'. =/

We both had wine with our meals: her the Roth Pinor Noir from Sonoma, me the Michel Redde Sancerre from Loire Valley. Both were okay: I think the three wines from the flight were much better.



At this point we basically looked at each other and knew we wouldn't be back for dinner anytime soon, so we figured we'd try dessert just to assert that we did. This is the Lemon Meringue Cupcake. Neither of us are huge cake fans, which left the dessert selection not all that appetizing to us. And this, indeed, was just alright. For a cupcake, it was good: there was a bit of lemon custardy filling in the middle that helped the dryness of the cake, but neither the filling nor the icing tasted all that lemony, and the vanilla cake was just dry and unnotable.



She did get a little thing of the Grey Stuff (and a card signed by Beauty and the Beast), which was nice. Neither of us really thought the Grey Stuff was anything to go looking for either, though; it was a bit chocolatey and a bit creamy and that was basically it. I think mom would have rather just eaten whipped cream from a can, and I took one bite and was done with it.


...I really hate giving reviews like this. I'd much rather be 'Woo, Disney, all is awesome!'.

I know Be Our Guest is the Hot Spot Of All Hot Spots right now, and a lot of people are looking forward to it. I certainly don't want to be all 'No it sucks!', because plenty of people have enjoyed it, and you may, too! It's just that, well- for lower prices, one could go to Chefs De France for 'similar' French food. Sure, you'd still be crowded (I'm serious about the crowding in the ballroom- this was of the 'talking to your neighbor' variety whenever you spoke, as you were so close it was almost communial dining) and the waiters would still be frazzled, but the food would be much better. So very, very, very much better. A lot of people are going for the experience of dining in the castle, and I can definitely see the appeal of that... but you could be stuck with lousy seats near nothing cool, too, so I guess all I can advise is to keep the hype down. This is the only place to meet the beast, so if one has their heart set on that, this is where one must be. But this is definitely a 'destination' place, not a 'place to go to get good food', in my opinion.

We do have a breakfast scheduled for October, and we're trying to get lunch. There are so few options in the Magic Kingdom, and because of that alone, Be Our Guest is appreciated. But both mom and I were left feeling disappointed in the whole experience. Talking to the people on either side of us, they all agreed that their food was overcooked and not that good as well, but were more optimistic at just getting to eat in the Castle. So maybe we're just party poopers? I don't know.

I guess all I can say is try it and see, but don't get too excited about it as to not get too let down: if it turns out great, then you can just be doubly happy! Also, enjoy the appetizers. They're the best part.



On to more cheerful reports... tomorrow, Trail's End.

 

[auntfrannie]

BOG...so glad I didn't cancel my ADRs to try to get here. There are way too many mediocre reviews for BOG dinner and with so many places that I know are good I think I'll be skipping BOG on my October trip. Thanks for the review.

 

[Redwitch]

Maybe everyone was matching you guys drink for drink and are under a barstool somewhere? I kid, I kid!

This is really funny! (Where is my little drinking smiley face??)

I have been eyeing those fish tacos.

Go for it! They were good.

We loved House of Blues last trip the food and drink were lovely and very reasonably priced. I am one of those who think Lapu Lapu too strong (I would imagine paint stripper would taste the same ) but loving the reviews.

What did you enjoy at HoB? We have never eaten there, but I think the menu looks interesting.

Ack, now I'm stuck in Arial.

Yeah! My job here is through!

so you know how awesome my note taking is

Your note taking is anything but awesome. I can't read a word of it.

the salad trio: on the left, watermelon, radish and mint. In the middle, beets, raisins and orange. On the right, green beans, tomatoes and shallots.

Highlight of my meal.

But these were just basically mush.

I have had veggies in the crock pot for 10 hours that were not as cooked. I wonder if this batch was at the eight hour point for lunch and continued to cook until our relatively late dinner?

At this point we basically looked at each other and knew we wouldn't be back for dinner anytime soon

No, I can't see us dining, at least for dinner, at the Beast's Castle for a long time. I am willing to try breakfast and lunch before writing it off all together.

and a card signed by Beauty and the Beast

To me! To me!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The more I read about BoG dinners, the more I really should just cancel it.

 

[Mikka]

Yay! Thanks for reading, everyone. I wouldn't say 'cancel the meal' (okay, I'm sort of tempted to say it, but everyone should give every restaurant a try at least once I figure), but just... be prepared that the food may not be the best, and see if you can get seated in the West Wing if you don't mind fake thunder noises so at least there's something interesting to look around and it's dark enough that you can't see the person next to you's moles. At least, that would be my advice.

On a more happy note...

Trail's End​

Oh, wait. Actually, before that...


Bet you can't guess what this is!

...Bet I was wrong.

Pineapple + pineapple is our go to. Mom loves these things. This is the Friday of her actually birthday, and our last full day before we leave, so... I don't have much more to post, although this Friday was fairly eventful. Okay, now on to the real Trail's End...



Shrimp and grits for mom! (This is lunch, if you didn't guess: we've never done breakfast or dinner, though we'd like to someday.) 'Spicy shrimp & grits with andouille sausage & red-eye gravy', to be exact. This was nice, and much better then the shrimp and grits at the little stand for F&G (not that they were bad). The grits were tasty and the right texture rather then going too grainy or too mushy, the shrimp were yummy (and I believe de-vained, which I always appreciate), and the sausage was just the right amount of spice. That's where all the spice in the title comes from: the grits, gravy, and shrimp or not at all spicy, so I'm not really sure why they named it that. I would have just put 'Shrimp and Grits with spicy andouille sausage' to signify that was the spicy item, not the dish itself...

Maybe I am thinking about this too hard.



I ordered my favorite dish: chicken and waffles. Up here in Dutch Country (actually German, but blah blah history of PA is weird), if you see chicken and waffles on a menu, what you're going to get is waffles and then rotisserie (not fried) chicken shredded on top of it with gravy on both. The fried chicken with waffles and maple syrup is something as far as I know you simply can't get around here: whenever I see it on a menu (usually on diners), I ask, but I always end up disappointed. It's one of those awesome southern things, I guess. I suppose a Cracker Barrel might have it, but I try to avoid chains...

In any case, I'm not sure where exactly Florida fits in on the 'how country is your cooking' ranking, but I find this dish delicious and lovely. Fried chicken, buttermilk waffles, warm buttered rosemary-maple syrup, and a few strawberry pieces for garnish (oh, and random greenery- I think arugula?). It was as good this Friday as it always has been, and I sort of appreciated generic fried goodness.

(I should note that they fry fillets, so there's no bones to worry about: you can cut it and eat it with a knife and fork without noting. That should be usual, but I've seen some places where it isn't.)
[/URL]

https://flic.kr/p/x7SXHN
Surprise, surprise, guess who got another free dessert? As this was her true birthday day, though, it was fitting.

This was given to us as strawberry shortcake, but looking at the current menu on the WDW site, it doesn't seem to be there anymore. They have a trifle, but this was not angel food cake: this was the thicker stuff, still more cake then biscuit but traditional shortcake rather then the light and airy (tasteless) thing that is angel food cake. This had strawberries, a strawberry sauce (looking at old menus, it seems it may have been made with a bit of Grand Marnier, but I certainly didn't taste any orange), and enough whipped cream to make a huge mess with. Seriously, who needs that much whipped cream?

(Us, apparently.)

This isn't something either of us would usually order, despite some fond memories of my childhood of my grandfather making strawberry shortcake (though he used biscuits). Still, it was tasty and refreshing to try something different; we certainly ate all of it. And the cake shaped like a Mickey was absolutely adorable!


So... yeah. That was a nice meal. I really do like Trail's End: their menu is small and their hard to get to (unless you're boating over from the MK), but the food (at least for lunch) is always enjoyable and you can't beat the prices for Disney.

Next: I finally get to Trader Sam's.[/URL]

 

[chocolateMinnie]

we were warned that all the food at HOB was spicy but we love a bit of spice. DS had the pasta with chicken and I had the burger with fried chillis - outstanding. As for DD and DH they had steak and claimed it to be the best steak of the 14 day trip (and included steak they ate at Yachtsman, Le Cellier, RAglan Road etc). The desserts were pretty good too. It will definitely be on our list in future and VERY reasonably priced. Still enjoying your reviews

 

[Redwitch]

Mom loves these things.

Yes, a Dole Whip float is a must every trip. They taste delicious and are so refreshing on a hot day.

we were warned that all the food at HOB was spicy but we love a bit of spice. DS had the pasta with chicken and I had the burger with fried chillis - outstanding. As for DD and DH they had steak and claimed it to be the best steak of the 14 day trip (and included steak they ate at Yachtsman, Le Cellier, RAglan Road etc). The desserts were pretty good too. It will definitely be on our list in future and VERY reasonably priced. Still enjoying your reviews

Thanks for sharing and also for reading!

I wanted to quote "Surprise, Surprise, guess who got another free dessert?" But the whole paragraph is linked to the photo. How did she do that?
But any way....

To me! To me!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I have to agree that BoG is overhyped. Our worst Disney meal ever was dinner there. I had an ADR for our recent trip because I really wanted to meet Beast and just couldn't do it. Ended up cancelling a couple of days before our trip. I do want to try breakfast one of these days and actually did enjoy lunch (but no Beast!).

Trails End is another I hope to get back to some day but for dinner. Your chicken & waffles looks good though!

Looking forward to Trader Sams!

 

[momof3princes]

Enjoying your reviews. I agree on BOG, we were in the West Wing for lunch so we had a nice atmosphere but the food was our least favorite of the trip. Trail's End looks yummy! I am from PA as well so I am familiar with the chicken and waffles you are referring to, I am not a fan...now the one you got at Trail's End? I would try that!

 

[Mikka]

Yeah, oops. I made a mistake with the tags up ahead. I slapdashed fixed them: now you have to deal with the BB code /URL stuff, but at least the words are no longer links to pictures. So there's that.

I don't really like the PA version of chicken and waffles, either... I much prefer the southern one. I love fried chicken in general, though, so that's coloring my experiences.

As for everything else, thanks everyone for reading, thanks for the HoB recs, and I'm glad we weren't the only ones who were disappointed in BoG. Er, not that I'm happy that other people didn't enjoy their meals! It's just good to not feel like the only ones. As mom said, though, we do have a breakfast scheduled to try, and I'm interested in trying that roast beef sandwich at lunch if we ever get in.


Anyway, now for...

TRADER SAM'S​

I was so excited for this.

We arrived around an hour early that Friday, after hearing all the rumors of forever waits. We were technically the third and fourth in line: there was a woman with a baby buggy who was allowed to wait under the cover (you can't do that otherwise except under special circumstances like that- they will stamp everyone waiting before you, and give anyone loitering in the hallway a pager if they can't make them go away (hallways are no loiter spaces)), and then a lady who clearly knew what she was doing and explained the ritual to us. Basically, you stand in the hot sun near the fence until 3:40 (hopefully in some sort of line), and then someone from Trader Sam's comes and stamps exactly 50 (or was it 60?) people (including the baby, I guess?). At 4:00, everyone is let in, and it turns in to the standard "ZOMG TOY STORY MANIA EXISTS" horde of doom as everyone runs like madmen for the entrance. This is somewhat pointless, as again, only the people who are stamped are let in. But that's what happened anyway.

Anyone after those 50 people are given pagers, I believe (when we glanced in the night before, they offered us once). The outdoor patio opens up to them too, and it looked like it could seat a lot of people. All drinks are available there, all food and there's one more drink too: a dole whip swirled with rum that is hopefully better then the ones at the F&W. While an hour early was pushing it, by 4:00 there were more then the allowed amount of people. So one has to get there early if they want to get in (although I've heard Mon-Thurs is easier; likewise, after ten or so, you can walk in most nights (though no kids after 8!)).

As a note, just because you are one of the 50 people allowed in does not mean that there will be seats together. I saw someone complaining about that. They fill to occupancy: it's like a regular bar that way, not a restaurant.

So, anyway, the other two things you need to know about this place:

A) It is LOUD.
B) It is OBNOXIOUS.

I've read reports from some people that about half a drink is the most they could stand to have in this place. On the other hand, mother and I found it and the antics hysterical. It probably depends on whether a young woman with a cowbell running around yelling danger, danger (with a sign, too) while volcanoes erupt in the background every twenty minutes or so will annoy you or not. And that's only one drink order...




The Uh-Oa! Spelled with an exclamation mark, apparently, as it's just that special.

This one causes the room to get all dark and spooky and dramatic music to play until you calm the angry goddess by chanting her name enough times.

It's a drink of rum, more rum (note: almost all Trader Sam's drinks are rum, I think there are two (alcoholic) ones that aren't), and basically every kind of fruit juice under the sun. It's made for two (though in my opinion easily drinkable by one...), and served with three sugar cubes on top. The waitperson (bartender for us: we were sitting at the bar, and thanks to bartenders Kat and Chris for the fantastic time) then lights the sugar cubes on fire. In the three little containers around the drink are cinnamon. You throw the cinnamon on the flaming and sugar, and, SURPRISE! It sparks. A lot.

(Be careful not to throw too much cinnamon in, or you'll have a very cinnamony drink.)

This drink was fairly light, and fairly sweet due to all the juices. We didn't get too much time to play with the fire, sadly (probably because mom was busy with the camera and I'm not allowed to Touch Anything While The Camera Is Out), but it was still cool. Having said that, it was still made for two people, so it could be a bit much drinking it yourself.

This was when most of the antics were happening. Warning for those sitting at the bar: they have a button at the back that can put your chair aaaaalllll the way down. Like, to 'five year old' level. Kat of course did this to me, then acted very apologetic and confused when I was bemused about why I was suddenly unable to reach the counter. She faked a call to maintenance about it, even, and then 'helpfully' (as I could no longer reach the drink and straw) made me a straw of *six* connected straws together to drink out of. Er. Obviously, that didn't work (though it was funny).

A guy sitting next to me at the bar took pity on me and told me how to reverse it, but they had us actually fooled for a time that it was some sort of 'chair is broken' error. As for how do you fix it...? You figure it out yourself!



An adorable little rum flight. These are the only glasses we took home: you get all three (not the surfboard, though) plus the rum for 35 or so (expensive, but they're ceramic and heavy, and hey, it's Disney!). We've actually gotten a lot of use out of them doing shots/tasting portions of whiskey and such (the color's are hard to see- no flash allowed inside- but there's an orange, a blue, and a green cup). They could make good sake glasses in a pinch, too.

The rum flight was three 3/4 ounce pours: Bacardi 8 year, Pyrat XO reserve, and Ron Zacapa Centeario 23 year. While we both obviously knew barcardi, I had I had honestly never heard of the latter two. These were actually very tasty, though in hindsight we should have done them first (though we were drinking plenty of water). I'm sorry to say that I can't really describe them all that well, as I don't have much experience with rum tasting, but I can say I enjoyed them all. They seemed to get richer: the bacardi was rich, the pyrat more so, and the ron zacapa was super rich. They all had oakyness to them, but not the (bad, in my mind) kind of say, a Chardonnay; this was good tasting oak. If, er, that makes any sense. I really wish I could offer more on this, but as I said, this is probably the first time I've ever even drunk rum straight that wasn't some cheap flavored stuff. So all I can do is be like 'tastes yummy' and leave it at that.



Mom finished up with the Krakatoa Punch, which I only had a few sips of. Rum (including the Pyrat XO as well as Sailor Jerry), almond, 'Sam's Gorilla Grog' (whatever that means) and then hibiscus grenadine. I found it nice, refreshing and while not too interesting, enjoyable (which is how I think most of the drinks in here could be categorized). Mom may have other thoughts.

Thinking in hindsight, I think we could have gotten away with stealing the glow cube. We didn't, though. We're not mean. Also, we have like, fifty of those from early days at the Prime Time before we knew we could order the drink cheaper without the stupid thing.

(This is the drink that causes the volcano 'paintings' to erupt and the lady to run around yelling about danger. Heh.)



I went with the Sunken Zombie Head, and I have to say I think this glass is awesome and wish we could have bought it. Foo. Though that snarky guy at wdw says when he ordered this, he was given an ugly green glass rather then this cool black.

I don't remember there being any 'show' for this drink. This was three different rums, falernum (I had to look that up- a 'sweet syrup' from the Caribbean), tropical juices (whatever that entails), and cinnamon. I really enjoyed this one: it tasted a bit more boozy (in my opinion) then mom's drink or the Uh-Oa! It was another sweet drink, but it had a bit of a kick.

All in all, this is enjoyable, and I want to go back. It was so much fun! Chaos and mayhem everywhere!


You may be wondering about food. While I dearly wanted the sushi, we ate the latest available seating for lunch at Trail's End (basically- we didn't have an ADR (didn't need it- only two other tables were taken), but we wandered in just at the end of lunch time) and Trader Sam's sadly isn't on Tables in Wonderland. So even though it was her birthday, mom refused to go with the ordering of food. Maybe next time.

We were hungry, though, so it was time for our next stop on the Monorail Tour...

Tomorrow!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

We arrived around an hour early that Friday, after hearing all the rumors of forever waits. We were technically the third and fourth in line: there was a woman with a baby buggy who was allowed to wait under the cover (you can't do that otherwise except under special circumstances like that- they will stamp everyone waiting before you, and give anyone loitering in the hallway a pager if they can't make them go away (hallways are no loiter spaces)), and then a lady who clearly knew what she was doing and explained the ritual to us. Basically, you stand in the hot sun near the fence until 3:40 (hopefully in some sort of line), and then someone from Trader Sam's comes and stamps exactly 50 (or was it 60?) people (including the baby, I guess?). At 4:00, everyone is let in, and it turns in to the standard "ZOMG TOY STORY MANIA EXISTS" horde of doom as everyone runs like madmen for the entrance. This is somewhat pointless, as again, only the people who are stamped are let in. But that's what happened anyway.

So that lady that clearly knew what she was doing, totally me.

Nice to 'meet' you in real life.

Glad you enjoyed your first visit to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto!

 

[Redwitch]

We arrived around an hour early that Friday, after hearing all the rumors of forever waits.

Nothing says "you have a drinking problem" like waiting in line for an hour for a bar to open. And I was embarrassed the Sunday I finished my first stop quickly and was waiting 10 minutes for the liquor store to open.

Kat of course did this to me, then acted very apologetic and confused when I was bemused about why I was suddenly unable to reach the counter. She faked a call to maintenance about it, even, and then 'helpfully' (as I could no longer reach the drink and straw) made me a straw of *six* connected straws together to drink out of. Er. Obviously, that didn't work (though it was funny).

Hysterical! One of the highlights of the trip. I looked over and she was a foot shorter then she had been a minute ago. It was extra funny as Mikka is a bit on the short side to begin with.

All in all, this is enjoyable, and I want to go back. It was so much fun! Chaos and mayhem everywhere!

Yes! I would like to go back as well. We do need to try some of the food after all. I doubt it will ever be on TiW.

So that lady that clearly knew what she was doing, totally me.

Really? That is so awesome! A DIS meet that went undiscovered for three months! Thanks for showing us the ropes!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I would love to go to Trader Sam's but I really don't want to bring along 3 kids. Did you see any kids in there? The only night we would be able to go on our upcoming trip would be a Thursday night. It looks like fun and I think those Tiki cups are so cool.

 

[luvpooh]

Nothing says "you have a drinking problem" like waiting in line for an hour for a bar to open. And I was embarrassed the Sunday I finished my first stop quickly and was waiting 10 minutes for the liquor store to open.

I'll see you waiting for the liquor store to open, and raise you 'with your two year old'. We were at the grocery store and the liquor store is in the same shopping center, and I had no idea that it wasn't yet open. It's OK, cause I was soon joined by about 20 more people standing outside the doors. Still none with kids though. #hangsheadinshame

 

[SM101]

Au contraire. Nothing says "I need liquor" like having a 2 year old.

 

[Mikka]

So that lady that clearly knew what she was doing, totally me.

Nice to 'meet' you in real life.

Glad you enjoyed your first visit to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto!

That's actually really awesome! Nice to have met you! And thanks for the guidance on how everything worked!

Hysterical! One of the highlights of the trip. I looked over and she was a foot shorter then she had been a minute ago. It was extra funny as Mikka is a bit on the short side to begin with.

Yes! I would like to go back as well. We do need to try some of the food after all. I doubt it will ever be on TiW.

It would have been funnier if it happened to you. And does that mean we get to go back in October? Pleaseeee?

I would love to go to Trader Sam's but I really don't want to bring along 3 kids. Did you see any kids in there? The only night we would be able to go on our upcoming trip would be a Thursday night. It looks like fun and I think those Tiki cups are so cool.

From four to eight, kids were allowed. The baby in the baby carriage was certainly there, and there was a little girl around eight or so (with a gorgeous dress) happily enjoying one of the non-alcoholic drinks (and throwing cinnamon on her parents/or whoever she was with's Uh-Oa!). On our way out, I saw three kids with their parents at one of the back tables.

They do have two non-alcoholic (or was it three?) specialty drinks (as well as a ton of fruit juices), so I would say, why not? Really young ones might find it scary, but I'm guessing kids older then six or so would find it cool.

I'll see you waiting for the liquor store to open, and raise you 'with your two year old'. We were at the grocery store and the liquor store is in the same shopping center, and I had no idea that it wasn't yet open. It's OK, cause I was soon joined by about 20 more people standing outside the doors. Still none with kids though. #hangsheadinshame

Hah! Well, if it helps, mom's neglecting to mention the multiple times we've been doing winery tours and showed up at wineries a half an hour or more before they opened and hung around awkwardly in the parking lot...

Au contraire. Nothing says "I need liquor" like having a 2 year old.

And, yeah, that, too.

Anyway, continuing our birthday tour of the fancy MK resorts...

CITRICOS​

I want to stop and say that this is really one of my favorite restaurants. When I think deluxe at Disney, my mind usually goes to Bluezoo or Flying Fish, because I'm such a seafood fan. But Citrico's seems to constantly serve high quality, good food while not being as loud as some places (such as say, the Flying Fish or California Grill) nor seeming as packed as others (such as the Flying Fish and Narcarossees, which I am surely spelling wrong as usual). Mom and I should really go there more often.

Anyway, we basically just walked over, and the bar was completely empty. That suited us; we asked if we could sit there, and they happily let us (they also let mom charge her phone in their liquor room: they were very nice (I believe the bartenders were named Courtney and David, but my handwriting for the first name is ridiculously messy for some reason)).



Obviously, a drink, but first: an amuse-bouche (I always want to add an 'r' to that word, for some reason). As this wasn't on the menu, all I got were the basics 'manchego cheese, orange, and honey balsamic'. I'm relatively indifferent to harder cheeses, but this was still tasty. Very simple, but the balsamic in particular was lovely.

My drink? A simple dark and stormy, though made with Myer's Rum, which is a bit unusual from what I understand (personally, when I'm mixing drinks at home I just use whatever rum I have, but that's probably why I'm not a bartender). It was tasty, but simple. I wanted to stick to either rum or wine after all the rum we had at Trader Sam's; usually I don't worry too much about that, but as we were going home the next day, I didn't want to feel icky while packing in the morning.



Mom had one of Citrico's specialty cocktails, the Newport Mohito. Thomas Dew Rum (the bottle of that was very pretty), simple syrup, lime juice, club soda, and of course tons upon tons of mint. As I think I mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of mint: as mohito/mojito's use real mint, not syrup, they're okay to me, but it'll never be something I order. Mom enjoyed it, though.

Also, butter.



Which went with the bread they offered even though we were just ordering appetizers (they even offered us seconds on it, but not wanting to be rude, we turned it down). Though they look very similar, there's actually two different kinds here: the far left is multigrain. On the right is olive bread, with those little chunks being olives. That was delicious (and brought back fond memories of Kozzina); the multigrain was nice, too, but the olive was clearly the standout. Sigh, mom will forever miss that olive toast.



This is the arancini. Would you believe that the first time we had this was Disney? We were on the dining plan at Via Napoli (never would I do that again; three courses at that place was way too much (though I guess you only get two courses now unless you're going deluxe?)), and the waiter suggested it. It was so good... though entirely too filling when you then are going to go and eat a full pizza.

Anyway, arancini is basically a rice ball, breaded then fried. In this case, you had risotto, sweet sausage, and mozzarella. The sauce (usually sauce is inside arancini, but this was fine) was 'Poma Rosa Tomato Puree'. And? It was delicious. Much better then the one at Via Napoli (which was still very tasty, at least back when we had it (way back when it first opened, I think)). It just wasn't quite as delicious as...

P1010205

This!

We went in planning to have the pork belly. But both Courtney and David told us to have this. The guy who came in to the bar soon after us and was sitting two seats down from me told us to have this. The matrie d' from V&A (not Israel- he wasn't working that week, it seemed (which was a bit disappointing, but more on that in the V&A report), but a nice lady with very pretty hair (so helpful, I know) who popped up to tease us about 'cheating on' V&A told us to have this. So, obviously, we had 'this'.

This? Lamb Albondiga! A lamb meatball braised in 'aromatic' (it did smell nice) curry-tomato sauce (yes, the curry-tomato sauce is a thing, apparently) with creamy herb polentta and of course some feta.

Everyone who recommended this was right. So right. Ordering a meatball at a fancy restaurant may seem a bit, well, silly, but this is the best meatball I have ever had in my life. I keep telling mom she needs to start making lamb meatballs, but I'm unsure it could compare at all to this. It was just lovely. Everyone who recommended it were the best people ever.


With that, we left to find the next stop on our tour. In hindsight, we should have just stayed there and eatten even more appetizers and desserts, but that's a story for tomorrow.

 

[Redwitch]

I'll see you waiting for the liquor store to open, and raise you 'with your two year old'.

You win!

And does that mean we get to go back in October? Pleaseeee?

You buying? Doing dishes?

In hindsight, we should have just stayed there and eatten even more appetizers and desserts, but that's a story for tomorrow.

Yes,we should have. It was a wonderful stop. Great food, tasty beverages, friendly bartenders.... But you forgot to share my little taste of something special!
To me! To me!

 

[Mikka]

Ah, mom's right.

As it was her birthday and we were talking about our love for potato vodka to Courtney, she said that they had put her favorite vodka on the menu at Citrico's just recently... and then she gave mom a little sip of it.



I'm telling you, these things only happen to mom. You know, we were down in Virginia for *my* birthday, and guess who got three free glasses of wine at the ridiculously expensive place we celebrated my birthday at? It sure wasn't me.

Anyway, while not potato vodka, this Purity Vodka was pretty good stuff. Tasty!


And we're back to another review I've been putting off because I didn't want to make it.

TERRITORY LOUNGE​

So, first off: we have eaten here (and at Artist Point) before. We have enjoyed meals here. This was also before the semi-recent chef change over at Artist Point, and I am eager to go and try the place again.

Having said that... oi. Um. Ack. How to put this.

Alright, we walk in, sometime before Wishes but after most people have eaten. The whole lounge looks trashed (as in, there's trash on basically every table), fair enough: people are never clean. The waitresses seem more interested in gossiping around the bar then cleaning, but, whatever: waitressing is annoying, I know that much from stories from friends (and mom, too). We step in and look around: someone takes notice of us and asks if they can help us. Mom says we're looking for somewhere clean to sit.

The waitress says, I quote exactly, "You won't find that here. We're busy."

I could understand a snarky "We're working on that," though of course a smiley "Oh, let me just clean one of these tables here for you, then!" would have been nicer. But you won't find that here? Seriously? Really? You won't find clean tables at the Territory Lounge? Way to make a statement there.

For some reason, rather then walking out and heading back over to the Contemporary and chillin' at the Wave (this was Friday- Cali Grill was full) or going back to Citrico's bar and it's awesome people, we sat down at a table that only had around six cherry stems on it (two of them tied in to knots). Someone comes over to take a drink order: we ask if ordering off the Artist Point menu or getting any of the wines from there is allowed, and get a sharp no. Fair enough; it drives me nuts that the Territory Lounge seems to go back and forth on whether that's allowed every other trip, but it's none of my business. The reply was also a bit sharper then I would expect, but, hey, waitressing is annoying, I get that.

What I don't get is she comes over with the waters, and sits them on the table.

Where the cherry stems still are.

Without wiping the table.

Mom, who works in a nursing home and is thus a bit germ phobic flinches and asks if we can have the table wiped. The waitress just gives us a look like we're totally wasting her time and have offended her, grabs the cherry stems with a napkin, and basically wipes the table with a wet rag. She glares at us, too.

At this point, we should have just left. I know that, you know that, we all know that. But we didn't. Yeah, I don't know why either.

We ended up just ordering two wines off the Disney Big Book of Crappy Wines (as there wasn't really any rum drinks in there and they seemed disinclined to make anything). They were the Two Vines Shiraz (Columbia Valley) and the Sokol Evolution White. I'm pretty sure we've had both before: they were basically utterly standard, and not overly interesting, but drinkable.



I actually got the standard Smokey Portabello Bisque as I actually have never had it before. The reason for that is simple: as of around a year and a half ago, I hated mushrooms. Oh, I'd eat them if they were included in something, but I would never go and order anything purely mushroom. I may have tried this soup around ten years ago when mom ordered it, but... well, that's a long time.

Verdict? Pretty darn good. A bit salty, though. Still probably the best mushroom bisque I've ever had.



Mom got this flatbread... thing. "Banh Mi" Flatbread, which was house-smoked bacon, sweet chili BBQ, kimichi, and citrus-garlic creme. Something about it- I can't tell you what- I didn't like. And I don't really know why, as I like bacon, sweet-chili, BBQ, citrus, garlic, creme and even find kimichi usually alright. Yet something about this tasted off to me. I'm going to assume I didn't like the creme or the kimichi.

To be honest, I was pretty grumpy at this time due to the whole waitress thing (like, someone had pushed around four tables together in the middle for their group when we came in, and left very soon after- the waitresses (there were only gals that night) separated the tables, but didn't wipe down any of them, just removed the empty plates and drink glasses!), and I wasn't going to take the time to try and figure out why I didn't like the flatbread. I think mom at least found this edible? Uh. I don't really remember.

So, yeah. We left, defeated.

(As a side note to all this: in the middle of the floor of the territory lounge were a pair of adult flip flops. Just sitting there. No one was at any table around it. They weren't even near a table. They were just there. Sitting. The whole time we were there. Only when we were paying a check did a waitress finally pick them up and move them. I think maybe they were possessed flip flops and were doing something creepy to the qi of the lounge or something.)


On the bright side, we were on the dock waiting for a boat when the Electric Light Parade came by, and that's the best view of it I've ever had in my life, and it was nice to see it. We did get to MK before Wishes went off: we stood outside (due to the ceramic glasses- I told mom to go in and enjoy it, as it was her actual birthday, while I stood, but she wouldn't leave me ) and watched it, and still had a relatively okay view and the music was loud. We then escaped on to a bus with no wait and no need to stand before the crowd managed to get out either. And we went back to the room and mixed Norwegian vodka and cranberry cocktail together and all was well.

(The original plan was to have ran to to the Contemporary and see if we could sneak in to the Cali Grill now that wishes was over and grab dessert (or get it at the Wave), but we decided to be responsible as we were leaving the next morning.)


So... yes. This was a very odd trip to what is normally a very nice lounge. =/ Unfortunate, but... well, every place has it's bad days, I guess?

More seriously, now I only have two places left, and both were good, so, yay! See you without a long wait, tomorrow.

 

[Redwitch]

I'm telling you, these things only happen to mom. You know, we were down in Virginia for *my* birthday, and guess who got three free glasses of wine at the ridiculously expensive place we celebrated my birthday at? It sure wasn't me.

Anyway, while not potato vodka, this Purity Vodka was pretty good stuff. Tasty!

I really have no clue why he gave me that wine. Mikka was having the wine pairing and I was trying to be responsible and all I ordered was a cocktail; planning a wine with dessert.
The Purity vodka was very tasty!

What I don't get is she comes over with the waters, and sits them on the table.

Where the cherry stems still are.

Without wiping the table.

OMG. This was surreal! I can not even imagine having so little pride in my work that I would treat a customer with such disrespect. What sort of waitress serves customers with the last parties trash - that obviously were in their mouth (cherry stem knots) - on the table? We really should have walked out. Or asked for a manager.

Still probably the best mushroom bisque I've ever had.

Years ago, I had my wine epiphany at Artist Point with this soup. I had ordered a pairing with the pre fixe menu, and the wine they served with the bisque was not to my liking - until I started eating my soup. Then it was flavor explosion of wonderfulness. I have a soft spot for AP and their mushroom soup because of this event.

I think mom at least found this edible? Uh. I don't really remember.

It was edible. Not great. Somehow, it just didn't work. I still think the description sounds like it should be good.

As a side note to all this: in the middle of the floor of the territory lounge were a pair of adult flip flops. Just sitting there.

Anyone want to take a guess? This was very strange.

On the bright side, we were on the dock waiting for a boat when the Electric Light Parade came by, and that's the best view of it I've ever had in my life, and it was nice to see it. We did get to MK before Wishes went off: we stood outside (due to the ceramic glasses- I told mom to go in and enjoy it, as it was her actual birthday, while I stood, but she wouldn't leave me )

It was a great view and I actually got some fairly good pictures of the parade.
Wishes was OK from outside MK and we did beat the wild hoard to the buses. Cali Grill is still my favorite place to watch Wishes.

 

[Mikka]

Hm, did I scare everyone away with that last review? I guess I scared myself, as I disappeared again.

Well, flash forward to our last day. We headed downtown again to one of our favorites...

RAGLAN ROAD​

We've never done brunch, so we were eager to. This place was actually packed: we were seated at a bar hightop (didn't bother us), and were probably lucky to get in.

The only complaint we can make about this is: around us, all around us, waiters were bringing tables very small drinks (it looked like a shot, but it was being handed to kids, too). It was reddish/pink, and literally everyone around us got it, including other people eating at the bar. We didn't. But we couldn't figure out what it was, either, and that's the real confusing part. It's still sort of bothering me. Maybe it was the bloody mary mix without any of the vodka? Hm...



Drinks! I did go with the 'The Cure', which is their bloody mary. Vodka, 'homemade San Lorenzo tomato', horseradish, celery, 'Balsamic Bloody Mary Mix with salted bacon rim' (also, a lime and a lemon). This is one of the better Bloody Mary's I've had- perhaps not Dawa Bar level (those things are amazing), but really good. Mom had the Iced Irish, which was Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey, Butterscotch Schnapps, Bailey's Carmel, and then iced coffee and whipped cream. Also tasty, though she didn't let me drink much of it.




I have no idea why, but that first picture really didn't want to show up. Ugh, I just spent around an hour fighting with it.

In any case, that's my breakfast: SMOKED SALMON. Irish smoked salmon, all that. With potato pancakes, creme friache and a caper dill vinaigrette. They were delicious, but I do love smoked salmon. The pancakes alone were a bit plain (but potato pancakes aren't really my thing), but the added accompaniments perked them right up.

(Very disappointed about the changes to a certain breakfast in Norway right now. Well, all meals, but that one in particular. Need more lox, and pickled herring...)



I also ordered this as a side- Pork Belly Hash. Did I need it? No, not at all. My meal was big enough.

But was it delicious and lovely (if very very salty)? Oh yes.



Mom went with the cutely named Three Times a'Boxty, which was ham and cheddar (Irish ham and cheddar ) and a fried egg sandwiched between two 'pan seared boxty potato cakes'. Also, french fries.

I don't really actually remember trying this, though I probably did: too concerned with my own food. I do remember being incredulous that she was eating the plainish french fries rather then the yummy hash with me, but (shh, don't tell her) she's odd sometimes. I think she enjoyed it, though, and this is a relatively simple thing.


And, well, that was it.

We went out to Cookes of Dublin, but sometime along the way they'd stopped serving fried doh bars. That makes me incredibly sad. Should have stayed in and had dessert, I guess.

We did pick up some treats at Goofy's Candy Company. I'll have to look and see if I can find the pictures of those: we didn't eat them until we got home.