Munching "M" family--more pics added 3/20 pg 3

[jkmmah]

I’m finally ready to start posting our overdue food report from our trip to WDW Feb. 25th-March 5th. The cast of characters was DH, DW, dd8, and dd4. We debated over and over about the dining plan but just thought it would be more food than we needed and more money than we’d like to spend. We elected to get the DDE card and probably broke even on it this trip. We’re hoping time will allow us another visit to WDW within a year so we can come out money ahead on the DDE.

We arrived slightly after noon, stopped at SOG to buy our military rate passes, then it was off to DTD to eat lunch. We knew we wanted to go to Earl’s first.

Dh had the Beef and Bleu which he thought was only OK. I had a taste of it and didn’t like it, but I don’t care much for roast beef anyway.

I had the Florentine, which I’d been dreaming about since I’d had it a year before on our last trip. It was even better than I remembered. Dh tried some of it and said he loved it! He liked mine much better than his own so I shared with him.

Dd8 had the PBJ. I’d tried to get her to order the ham and cheese so her non-PB eating sister would share with her as I know the sandwiches are too big for either of them to finish on their own. Dd8 wouldn’t have any of it. She wanted PBJ and that was that. She ended up eating half of it because it was just too huge. The PB was a very thick slathering of creaminess! I tasted it and it was quite good. We took the remaining half of her PBJ back to the room which she finished for a bedtime snack later on.


Dd4 had a ham and cheese which she fussed about eating. I tried hers, too, and it was good enough. She was just in a sour mood from the drive down.

Overall, Earl’s rocks! We love this place. The sandwiches are huge and very economical. We returned to Earl’s two more times during this visit.

After Earl’s we walked around for a bit before heading to Ghirardelli’s for an afternoon treat. We had the buy one get one free coupon so we ordered and then went to find somewhere to wait. It was incredibly noisy in there and hard to find a place to sit. When our sundaes arrived we realized we had misordered one of them. Dh had wanted the Strike it Rich but had forgotten what it was called. Trying to be the helpful wife I rattled off the only sundae name I recalled, the Foghorn, and he said that that was probably it, so I ordered it for him. We made a huge mistake. Dh doesn’t enjoy fruity flavors too well. He’s all about chocolate, fudge, brownies, chocolate chips, etc. The Foghorn that we’d ordered in error was chocolate ice cream with red raspberry sauce on it. I tried it but it wasn’t good at all. Dh ate part of it but I know he didn’t enjoy it at all. The sundae we’d ordered correctly was simply chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with hot fudge sauce. It was very yummy! Both dds ate that with me. Unfortunately, we’d forgotten to whip out our camera and get shots of these before it was too late. Sorry.

A couple hours of the evening were spent at Epcot where we picked up one order of fish and chips at the UK counter service. Dh always loves these. This time was no exception, except he didn’t get to eat a whole lot of it. Our girls helped devour it in no time. I love that the fries are really think. You can really get a lot of potato flavor out of them. The fish, as always, was great, but greasy. Again, we forgot pictures of this.

Sometime during that evening I also stopped in the Land to pick up a strawberry shortcake at Season’s that I’d read about on here. It was alright, but I don’t need to have it again. I like a lot of berries and sauce in my shortcake. This had huge chucks of strawberries, but was more whipped cream and fluff than anything else.

 

[jkmmah]

Day 2

We were headed to SeaWorld this day so breakfast was PopTarts, etc, in the room. A year earlier when we’d been to SeaWorld I’d had an amazing key lime pie at the little bakery near the entrance. I couldn’t wait to have this again! For an afternoon pick-me-up we went there. Of course, I chose the key lime pie. Dh selected a big chocolate cake (I told you he was all about the chocolate). Dds had talked us into getting them a bag of cotton candy so the two of them enjoyed that while dh and I relished our desserts. Mine was just as good as I’d remembered it, and won the rights of being my favorite dessert during our whole trip. I don’t know if this pie is truly an authentic key lime pie as I’ve never been to Key West so I don’t know what is authentic and what’s not. I only know what I like. I’ve had key lime pie before that’s been really tart and I know that’s not for me. This pie is really sweet and creamy with just a hint of tartness. Perfect for me! Dh liked his cake very much, but I’m not sure it was a standout among all the other great desserts he had during the week. We, again, nearly forgot the food porn picture, hence the whipped cream that has already been eaten off the top of my pie.

After SeaWorld we were ready for dinner. We were in the mood for Earl’s again but our girls were fighting and feuding with each other so much that we knew we should just get them back to the hotel as quickly as possible rather than take them into the restaurant to eat. So dh ran into Earl’s, got our sandwiches, and was back out to the van within about 12 minutes! I couldn’t believe it. This was at about 6 pm, when the place should’ve been packed! He said there was only one other person in front of him in the line, quite different from the other night when the line was very lengthy. One thing we’ve noticed, though, is no matter how long the line is at Earl’s, it always seems to move quickly. Anyway, Dh had loved my Florentine from the night before that he ordered it for himself that night. It wasn’t as good as the night before, but still tasty.

I’d ordered the Cannonball to give that a try and it was awesome! The bread had gotten a little soggy from the sauce, but after waiting 20 minutes to be eaten while we drove back to POP, that was to be expected. It didn’t ruin it for me at all. Dh tried mine and again, liked what I’d ordered even better than his own. Hmmm, Dw must have pretty good taste, eh?

Dds shared another ham and cheese which was alright.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for posting.

Lovely piccies

 

[theycallmered]

I love reviews with pictures, they are always the best!

 

[jcsbama]

yummy...keep 'em coming

 

[we3disneygo]

great review and pictures! thanks

 

[beachesncream]

Thanks for the great reviews and pics. Is the PB&J sandwich hot? I looks gooey and warm. yum!

 

[jkmmah]

Day 3

We began the day with breakfast in the room before heading off to Animal Kingdom. While there we found room in our tummies to share a cinnamon roll from Tusker House. I’d read about these before so I had to try it. It was quite large, but actually so light that it didn’t last long between the four of us. Dh kept complaining about the “holes” on the inside. There were so many pockets of air that he felt like we were being gypped on our roll. The size of it was deceiving. It really did have a good flavor to it, both the bread and the frosting. However, I really prefer a heavier, gooier roll, so I doubt this will become a must-do for us.

Later on, on our way to see the Pocahontas show, dh suggested we cool off by sharing a Mickey Bar. It hit the spot, but again, between four of us it doesn’t go far!

Around noon we headed back to the hotel for some lunch in the room. I’d brought fixins for PB&J so that’s what we had and no one complained.

Afterwards we headed to Epcot. I’d been looking forward to having some more schoolbread from Norway so that was on my agenda for today. While in the Kringla bakery, dd8 saw the waffles with strawberry preserves and asked for one. The kind young man behind the counter joked with us as he made it fresh for her. She gobbled it all up in no time so I think it’s safe to say it was good. I don’t know as I never got a taste of it. My schoolbread wasn’t as good as it usually is. The bread was drier, or maybe stale, I don’t quite know why it was off. Maybe it’s just that the year spent remembering how wonderful it was had built it up so much in my mind that reality couldn’t live up to the dream. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was enough “off” that I didn’t make a point to go back to the bakery later in the trip for another one. That’s a first.

Not wanting to be left out of the snacking, dh had to have a churro from Mexico. I think he shared with dd4, but I don’t recall for sure. Either way, I didn’t get a bite so they must’ve loved it, like always.

Also during this Epcot afternoon we found time for the girls to participate in the Nestle Tollhouse cookie baking at the Land. Dd8 wanted to do this badly so we made it a priority this trip. Once they were ready to begin, dd4 decided she’d be coy and shy, so she lost her spot to another child. She didn’t mind a bit. There were some computers nearby where the kids could build their cookies on the screen. I think that made her happier than the real life baking going on. Anyway, we don’t have any pics of the end result, but I just thought I’d throw in a photo of dd8 doing the Jr. Chef thing.

After a busy day we decided to head back to POP where we got our dinner at the food court. We got one Mom’s Fried Chicken dinner and one Chicken Alfredo Penne Pasta meal. Between all of us the dinners disappeared. The fried chicken was really good, as well as the green beans and mashed potatos that went with it. The roll was crustier than I like, but dh ate it without complaint. The alfredo pasta was a bit salty, but still good. We had a tye-dye cheesecake for dessert. Dd8 loved this on our last trip so she insisted we have it again. It’s OK, but not outstanding. Full and tired, that ends our third day.

 

[jkmmah]

beachesncream--

Is the PB&J sandwich hot? I looks gooey and warm. yum!

Yes, it's warm, but not hot. It was warm enough that the PB was oozy, but not drippy (does that make sense?).

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Great reviews. Thanks for sharing

 

[jkmmah]

Day 4

After a quick breakfast in the room of oatmeal and granola bar we were off to Epcot to make use of their morning EMH. By 10 am we were done with what we’d gone to accomplish and were monorailing over to MK. It was after 11 am by the time we arrived and we were all a bit hungry so we decided to pop into Casey’s as we were walking by it. This was a first for us, but we’d return on our last night because those hot dogs just hit the spot perfectly. We really liked dipping the fries in the cheese sauce. I was quite surprised to find our extremely picky dd8 loved the cheesy fries! I guess it takes going to WDW for her to decide to expand her taste buds. Anyway, we made do with only two dogs and one order of fries between all of us. We knew we had a big dinner coming up soon.

I’d made an early ADR for ‘Ohanas. We checked in a few minutes before 5 for our 5:10pm reservation. The lobby was filled with families checking in. We took our pager by the window and just people watched for a few minutes until it went off. We were seated not far from the entrance so we couldn’t see the firepit or the entertainment from where we were. No worries. When the girls wanted to participate we just got up from the table and went where the fun was and returned to our table when the fun was over. Anyway, onto the food…the salad was my favorite part of the whole meal, surprisingly. I’m a girl who does not like salad dressing. I just never have. But this sweet dressing was amazing! Dh had a bit of salad, but I managed to finish the rest of the bowl by the end of the meal. I started off with a small bit, but little by little I kept coming back to it until I’d polished it off. It was that good! The wontons were good but greasy. Our girls liked them plain. Dh and I liked them with the dips. My favorite was the peanut one. Dh liked the green one best.

The wings were really sweet and good, but knowing how much food was still to come I only ate one. Dh had a few but there were still so many left untouched in the bowl. I couldn’t stand to see them wasted but there’s only so much room….Dh liked the shrimp very much. He loves shrimp of almost any kind. I was worried he wouldn’t like these as they were in the sweet and sour sauce, but he ate several. Again, I only had one as I didn’t like it well enough to fill up on it.

The vegetable medley was hardly touched. Neither of us cared for it at all. The potatos were excellent, but they glistened with all the grease on them. I tried my best not to think of all the damage control I’d have to do on my waist when I got home and went ahead and ate nearly all of them.

The meats were next.

I don’t eat much beef so I didn’t really care for that, but dh did. The pork was kind of dry so I didn’t eat much of that piece, either. Dh liked the pork just fine.

The sausage was alright, but not great for either of us. The standout, though, was the turkey. It was not dry at all like some reports have said. Maybe we got it on a good night? It was excellent, especially dipped in the peanut sauce.

The bread pudding was no where near as great as I’d expected based on recent reports. I was hoping for something better, I guess. It was alright but didn’t seem different from bread pudding that I can make at home. I tried some of it with the banana sauce but didn’t like the sauce at all so I ate my bread pudding plain with just the vanilla ice cream. Dh didn’t complain about the dessert but I don’t think he cared that much for it, either.

From the beginning of the meal we were told if our girls wanted something else they could have it—chicken fingers, grilled cheese, mac-n-cheese, etc. They weren’t wanting anything that was served us besides the wonton chips so we ordered dd8 the chicken fingers and fries which she barely picked at, and dd4 had the mac-n-cheese which she polished off. They each got bowls of plain vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The pace of the meal really was faster than we’d have liked. It seemed one dish came out on top of the other. We’d have preferred it to be slower and next time will ask that of our cousins from the beginning of the meal. Yes, I said “next time.” Dh has said he really enjoyed this meal so much that he’d like to return there again. Aside from the pace of the meal my other complaint is the amount of food wasted. I wish they would bring smaller portions out from the get-go and then when you know what you like you can always request more. If you don't like something then you don't have so much waste. We had lots of wings and shrimp leftover, as well as nearly all the vegetable medley. It just seems sad to waste it all.

Oh, yeah, we had a LapuLapu, too. It was strong!

And here's a photo just for fun--dd8 really enjoyed the entertainment at 'Ohanas.

 

[Timon]

Love love love the pics!!!!

 

[Mike N Kathy]

thanks for sharing

 

[dismom9761]

Thanks for the reviews!Ohana is our first meal on our trip and everything looks so GOOD!

 

[lauritagoddess]

Fabulous reviews, love the pictures and the review of Ohanas well very informative.

 

[Nanabug02]

Great reviews and pics! Thanks for the reviews!

 

[Belle23]

Thank you for such great reviews and pics!

 

[abk96]

Thanks for the reviews and I loved the pics!!

That picture of your daughter with the drink umbrellas in her hair is so adorable.

Glad you had a great trip.

 

[Rubbertops]

Great pics. Thanks for the review.

 

[jkmmah]

Day 5

We began this morning bright and early with an 8:05am seating at Crystal Palace prior to the park’s 9 am opening. It was great to have those photos in front of the castle with very few others around. When we were seated we let our server know that we really wanted to be out of the restaurant by 8:40 so she was aware that we’d want our check quickly. I had an agenda for us to follow that morning and that entailed finishing breakfast in a timely manner, not the leisurely pace we might have otherwise. It turns out we didn’t need to rush ourselves as much as we did. We were done full by 8:30 and had seen all the characters. We should’ve gone a bit slower but we wanted to be safe rather than sorry. Anyway, the food was very good. We tried the infamous breakfast lasagna and the puffed French toast. Dh (a non-fruit loving guy) really liked the breakfast lasagna, while I (a fruit loving gal) did not. It was alright for me, but a couple bites was all I ate. There were just too many other, better things for me to fill up on. The puffed French toast was also good, but it didn’t live up to its hype, I didn’t think. I do remember really liking a strawberry crumb cake and the hashbrown casserole. Truthfully, I don’t recall many other specific dishes besides the standard stuff—eggs, biscuits and gravy, frittata, fruit, etc.

(the breakfast lasagna is at the top center of the photo, the puffed french toast is to the left on the plate above)

(the strawberry crumb cake is at the top left of the plate above)

We loved how the timing of our ADR worked out for us. We have already said that an early morning Crystal Palace breakfast will find its way onto our agenda in the future. It was the perfect way to begin what would be a very magical morning for us!

Later on we shared a Mickey cookies and cream ice cream sandwich. It didn’t stand a chance on a hot day!

For lunch we popped into Columbia Harbor House, which was pretty busy. We got our food in a reasonable time, though. I’d sent Dh upstairs with the children to find a table for us while I ordered. When I found them upstairs I was pleasantly surprised to see how quiet and uncrowded it was, a complete opposite from downstairs. Anyway, we all loved the quaintness of the upstairs. It felt as close as you can get to a table service feeling while eating with plasticware. Dh and I were still somewhat full from our big breakfast so we ate lightly. Lunch was more about getting some food in the girls’ bellies and Dh and I would pick at their scraps! Between us we shared an order of fish, chicken and fries. We loved the chicken and fries, especially dipped in the Ken’s honey mustard! The fish was alright, but the fish from Yorkshire counter service is better. We also shared a slice of apple pie, which is not listed on their regular menu but happened to be the dessert of the day. I’d read about the pie from these boards and knew I wanted to try it. In all honesty, the filling tasted like canned pie filling to me. The crust was really good and thick. I love the bottom crust on a pie when it gets soft from the filling and this one was perfect. Sadly, the rest of the family knows how good that part of the pie is, too, so we had to fight for the best part. CHH also didn’t have any vanilla ice cream to top the pie. That would have helped me get over the pie filling taste, but all in all, the pie was good enough but not a must-do.

When our bellies were telling us we needed a bite for dinner we stopped in Pecos Bill’s. This time Dh ordered while I found a spot for us to sit. I’d instructed him to use the fixins bar for lots of yummies for us. He did good! We forgot to get pictures of this meal but if I recall, Dd8 had a cheeseburger which she didn’t like at all. She doesn’t enjoy a flame grilled taste and I think that’s probably what turned her against this burger. Dh and I shared a BBQ pulled pork sandwich. It was alright. We really enjoyed have the sautéed mushrooms and onions to put on our sandwiches. That made everything all the better. After we’d finished eating I went back up to the counter to try to get us something sweet to eat later. I had my eye on the peanut butter brownie mousse thing I’d heard about, but the restaurant had just closed so I couldn’t get my dessert fix.

Winding our way around towards our fireworks viewing spot we found ourselves at Sleepy Hollow where I got a bucket of caramel corn for all of us to share while waiting for Wishes to begin. It kept the girls busy and passed the time well. Plus, they LOVED giving little nibbles to the ducks!