catne
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2008
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Monday, 9/1/2008 Labor Day Dining in pursuit of Toy Story Mania
Breakfast in our room…we had taken our Senseo coffee maker with us - the luxury of driving our own car & having room for extras! With an assortment of coffee pods we could get great coffee right in our room. I had my fave French Vanilla and DH had his (boring!) Dark Roast. We took cream, and several bottles of flavor syrups with us so I could do my amateur barista-bit and our extreme caffeine needs were met very well, first thing in the morning.(The Senseo machines very quickly makes single servings of coffee, not like your typical 10 minute drip….well, that was perfect, because we were on a Disney vacation…can’t wait 10 minutes for coffee…who has that kind of time! LOL.) As for breakfast food, well the evening before, we had stopped at Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom on the way out of the park to purchase loverly decadent pastries for breakfast. Since I’d read cautions about the possibility of bakery items getting stale overnight, I cleverly took extra-large ziplock baggies to slip the to-go boxes in. Worked like a charm. Our bakery delights kept fresh to give us an easy quick & delectable breakfast in the room without having to resort to anything healthy like granola or cereal bars. Bon appetit! Here’s the pastries…an apple turnover
and the famed Main Street Bakery cinnamon rolls.
DH had the apple turnover…it was HUGE. Like the size of half an apple pie. Seriously. You look at the picture and think it’s not looking all that big. Except you have to know this: that is the larger size of a to-go container it’s sitting in…like the size they put a full dinner in! And according to DH, it was the all-time best apple turnover he has ever had, anywhere. Said there had to be a least a couple of apples in it-not the usual couple of slices & then a gallon of sugary syrup filler. This one had lots & lots of apples, and not the mushy kind that come in canned pie filling. DH is not usually that impressed by pastry/sweets/baked goods (I’m the real sugar fiend in the family. ) So this was significantly high praise coming from him. On to the cinnamon roll. Also huge…would estimate it to be about 4 inches high…easily twice the size of your standard cinnamon roll from the grocery store. As you can see, the roll easily fills a standard-size to go box (the size you’d put a BK whopper in for example.) Very soft dough, dripping with frosting/glaze and very cozy cinnamon in between the coils of dough. Yum. I’d rank it right up there among the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had, too. I would have preferred it to be warm, but even at room temp it was incredibly good. In fact, I’m getting hungry just remembering how good these pastries were…Main Street Bakery breakfast…10 out of 10 for sure. Would I do it again…in a heartbeat! Cost: 2 snack credits. Actual cash cost would have been $5.31.
O.K., ‘nuff of that. We were off to Hollywood Studios for the morning…had to get my TSM fix in. After a nice morning of touring the Studios (and a round of TSM) we headed to ABC Commissary for lunch. I know people complain there’s no good restaurants at DHS…well our previous experience has been that we actually liked DHS restaurants we’ve tried, so our current plan is we’re going to try all of them eventually. This time, we’re trying the Commissary. Once again, we were not disappointed. We’d looked at the menus in advance (o.k., I admit it…I looked at the menus…after 30 some years of marriage, DH just goes with the flow on these things. He learned long ago not to get in the way of manic OC planning. He has learned the value of a well-timed Yes,Dear.) So, we were going to try the Cuban sandwiches, which come with chips & soda for the combo meal. He chose the strawberry parfait for dessert, and I picked the chocolate mousse.
First, the service was good…fast & efficient. The place had virtually no one in it (we were eating a bit early for lunch – it was just 11:15 - because we’d eaten breakfast fairly early, and also because we wanted to make the 11:45 Beauty & the Beast show.) Also as usual, the servings are generous. This sandwich is on a hoagie-size bun. It’s crispy-flaky outside and warm, soft bread inside. There’s a couple of nice thick slices of ham, along with melted cheese, dill pickles & mustard on this sandwich. We really enjoyed it, but if you don’t like mustard you better skip this one, or see if they can tone it down…they really slop it on here. The chips are those thicker cut, deep fried crunchy kind. I prefer regular chips, but these are o.k. for a change every now & then. The desserts were the Disney pre-packaged variety available at most counter services, but we like them. These were fresh. The parfait was like a light vanilla flavored pudding, not too sweet, with a few blueberries on top…the bottom layer was a lot of whole strawberries in a sweet syrup. Very nice combo of the sweet berries with the not-too-sweet pudding layer.
The chocolate mousse was a surprise – as a confirmed, card-carrying chocoholic, I figured I could easily finish this little beauty. Well, I expected it to be somewhat light, too, because it was a lighter color of brown and appeared to be a whipped consistency, so I figured it’d be a lot of air, right? Wrong! The actual taste was more like very rich and creamy dark chocolate. It was delicious, but way too rich to finish, especially after the size of the sandwich. So this was another Disney Dining meal we couldn’t finish. Again, I cannot begin to imagine doing the Deluxe Dining Plan…lordy, so far we haven’t finished all of the food at any DDP meal on the regular plan. Where would we ever put another meal? And after a couple of days of this over-stuffing, how would anyone fit on the rides? Or manage to waddle their way over to a ride, LOL. Anyway, I’d give this meal a 7 out of 10. Way better than your average fastfood burger & fries, but like I said a bit too much mustard (although DH thought the mustard quantity was just about right!), and I would prefer a choice on the chips. Overall though, good enough food, good service, and nice indoor seating. Would we come back? Sure, after we’ve tried the other DHS restaurants. Cost: 2 counter service credits. Actual cash cost would have been $26.35.
After touring the Studios for awhile longer, we decided to return to our hotel for some R & R in air conditioning…it was again hot & humid, and that drains you! We stopped at Starring Rolls on the way out of the park to buy breakfast goodies. There were only a couple of people sitting at outside tables eating lunch, even though it was around 12:30…prime lunch time. We ate lunch at Starring rolls in May…they have 3 choices of extremely good, extremely large sandwiches. I can vouch for the turkey club on focaccia and the veggie sandwich. The other also looked great. And you can’t beat the dessert choices…it’s a bakery: loads of yummy choices for those who abhor the prepackaged desserts at most counter service. Anyway, we got our breakfast goodies & headed back to Pop.
After a nice break (love the a/c at Pop…lovely cool rooms. And the maids don’t mess with the setting like in most hotels where they always put it up to 76 degrees or something. At Pop Century, if you leave it on a cold setting, it’s still there when you come back: so refreshing.)
We went back to DHS in time for our dinner ADR at Mama Melrose. We had the Fantasmic Dinner package,so this meal came with an appetizer for each of us. We started with drinks (love the parks which have adult bevs!) I had the Peach Bellini…this was a lovely frozen concoction served in a champagne flute which I believe had peach schnapps in combination with some sort of sparkling wine. Whatever - it was peachy/frozen and luscious.
Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. With a bit of a brain freeze from overly eager slurping. DH had whatever the Italian on-tap beer was. He liked it.
I ordered the fried calamari for my appy. (sorry the pic is a little dark)
This came with grilled veggies and a spicy marinara dip. I loved the calamari, and the combo with grilled veggies was very tasty. The dip was too spicy for me, but as DH pointed out, I’m a wimp on spicy dips. According to him it was a very ordinary amount of “spicy” in the dip (and quite good, to his taste.) Perhaps I should start drinking beer again…maybe that would allay my qualms about spicy dips? Nah. I’ll stick with the brain freezing fruity slushies…bring on the umbrellas.
To move on, DH chose the artisan breads plate with the various spreads and dips.
The breads were good-all the sturdy grainy types which are best when coated with some sort of high calorie spread. The pesto was quite good, but dipping oil was kind of bland…tasted like just plain olive oil to me. We’re used to something a bit more flavorful in a dipping oil (please note I do like spices…just not the really “hot” ones.) The roasted garlic was outstanding…we could have skipped everything else offered and just used that.
For entrees, I ordered the Pork Marsala which is described on the menu as “Pan-seared pork tenderloin with wild mushroom risotto and asparagus topped with parmigiano-reggiano, and marsala sauce”
It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the actual quantity of meat was large…I would guess there was at least 8 oz. Of pork loin on this plate, and it was very tasty, moist and tender. The risotto was good…the marsala sauce was similar to a mushroom gravy (which I liked.) The asparagus was fresh, cooked al dente, which I much prefer to overcooked mush. All in all, I enjoyed this entree, but there’s no way I could finish this and save room for dessert.
DH chose the Spicy Italian Sausage which was “Served with Rigatoni pasta, peppers, onions, and a tomato basil sauce topped with Caprino cheese.”
Being spicy sausage, I took his word that it was (1) very good and (2) very spicy. I did have a bit of the rigatoni & sauce. It was a classic Italian tomato sauce (the red variety) spicy, but not too spicy for me. The Cheese on top tasted like a cross between parmesan & sour cream…I assume there are fair number of similarities in taste between the various Italian cheeses.
For dessert, we again decided to get different items & share. I chose the Tiramisu - Layers of Ladyfingers soaked in coffee and topped with whipped mascarpone cheese.
That's a curl of dark chocolate across the top, and chocolate sauce drizzle pattern on the plate. The outside edge of this was like a white chocolate shell, striped with dark chocolate. This was absolutely delectable. I love coffee, and this dessert took coffee appreciation to a whole new level. It was not overly sweet, but again no way I could finish this: the dessert seems to be light & fluffy, but the mascarpone cheese makes it so rich.
DH chose the Honey-Hazelnut & Ricotta Cheesecake.
As you can see, this dessert also has a very pretty presentation. That's chopped hazelnuts around the outside. What can I say…this was another little bit of heaven. And these sinners did our best to enjoy this one, too. The honey/hazelnut combination was very sweet, but using ricotta for the cheesecake made it very rich tasting while offsetting the sweetness just the right amount. We really like both of these desserts, but I think we’d give the edge to the honey-hazelnut ricotta cheesecake. The tiramisu was wonderful, but in the end, way too rich to really enjoy. To have a bite, lovely. To eat an entire piece, no way. The cheesecake, on the other hand, we could have eaten a whole piece if we weren’t so full.
To all those lamenting the removal of the appetizer option from the regular DDP…have to say the same thing as the DxDDP…how could you possibly eat that much food all the time? While we enjoyed having the option of appies on this meal, the truth is we probably could have made a meal of just the appies & desserts. Or just the entrees and no appies or desserts. And still walked away full. Love the luxury, but lordy, that’s a lot of food! Not to mention the amount of time it takes to get through that much food. We were there more than an hour & a half…really would not like to always invest that much time in meals during a Disney vacation. There’s just too many other ways to spend our time. It’s nice to take a long meal break every now & then, but not every meal.
The service was good, with a friendly, efficient and smiling waitress named Erica. The bussing help was good at clearing extra dishes off the table as needed. The décor was pleasant: done up like a traditional Italian restaurant, twinkling lights & grape bunches, etc. Although the place is actually very large, the dining rooms are broken up with partial walls so it seemed smaller and more intimate.
Overall, I’d give the Mama Melrose meal an 8 out of 10. We’d certainly return again, especially for the Fantasmic package deal.
The cost of this meal…the Fantasmic Dinner Package…was 2 Table service credits, total. The cash cost for the meal would have been $81.29. We paid $31.41 out of pocket for our alcohol beverages & the tip.
To wrap up Monday, after watching Fantasmic and doing one more drop on the Tower of Terror, we stopped for Mickey Bars. We were pretty full still, but it was fairly hot & humid yet, so the appeal of ice cream was too much. Love those Mickey Bars. (Cost was about $5.00 out of pocket…we were using our snacks for breakfasts!)
TOTAL Free DDP Credits used for day 2: 2 Snacks, 2 counter service & 2 table service.
OOP cash saved by Free Dining for breakfast, lunch & dinner: $112.95 for the day.
Total savings for the week so far...$212.94 in two days
Breakfast in our room…we had taken our Senseo coffee maker with us - the luxury of driving our own car & having room for extras! With an assortment of coffee pods we could get great coffee right in our room. I had my fave French Vanilla and DH had his (boring!) Dark Roast. We took cream, and several bottles of flavor syrups with us so I could do my amateur barista-bit and our extreme caffeine needs were met very well, first thing in the morning.(The Senseo machines very quickly makes single servings of coffee, not like your typical 10 minute drip….well, that was perfect, because we were on a Disney vacation…can’t wait 10 minutes for coffee…who has that kind of time! LOL.) As for breakfast food, well the evening before, we had stopped at Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom on the way out of the park to purchase loverly decadent pastries for breakfast. Since I’d read cautions about the possibility of bakery items getting stale overnight, I cleverly took extra-large ziplock baggies to slip the to-go boxes in. Worked like a charm. Our bakery delights kept fresh to give us an easy quick & delectable breakfast in the room without having to resort to anything healthy like granola or cereal bars. Bon appetit! Here’s the pastries…an apple turnover
and the famed Main Street Bakery cinnamon rolls.
DH had the apple turnover…it was HUGE. Like the size of half an apple pie. Seriously. You look at the picture and think it’s not looking all that big. Except you have to know this: that is the larger size of a to-go container it’s sitting in…like the size they put a full dinner in! And according to DH, it was the all-time best apple turnover he has ever had, anywhere. Said there had to be a least a couple of apples in it-not the usual couple of slices & then a gallon of sugary syrup filler. This one had lots & lots of apples, and not the mushy kind that come in canned pie filling. DH is not usually that impressed by pastry/sweets/baked goods (I’m the real sugar fiend in the family. ) So this was significantly high praise coming from him. On to the cinnamon roll. Also huge…would estimate it to be about 4 inches high…easily twice the size of your standard cinnamon roll from the grocery store. As you can see, the roll easily fills a standard-size to go box (the size you’d put a BK whopper in for example.) Very soft dough, dripping with frosting/glaze and very cozy cinnamon in between the coils of dough. Yum. I’d rank it right up there among the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had, too. I would have preferred it to be warm, but even at room temp it was incredibly good. In fact, I’m getting hungry just remembering how good these pastries were…Main Street Bakery breakfast…10 out of 10 for sure. Would I do it again…in a heartbeat! Cost: 2 snack credits. Actual cash cost would have been $5.31.
O.K., ‘nuff of that. We were off to Hollywood Studios for the morning…had to get my TSM fix in. After a nice morning of touring the Studios (and a round of TSM) we headed to ABC Commissary for lunch. I know people complain there’s no good restaurants at DHS…well our previous experience has been that we actually liked DHS restaurants we’ve tried, so our current plan is we’re going to try all of them eventually. This time, we’re trying the Commissary. Once again, we were not disappointed. We’d looked at the menus in advance (o.k., I admit it…I looked at the menus…after 30 some years of marriage, DH just goes with the flow on these things. He learned long ago not to get in the way of manic OC planning. He has learned the value of a well-timed Yes,Dear.) So, we were going to try the Cuban sandwiches, which come with chips & soda for the combo meal. He chose the strawberry parfait for dessert, and I picked the chocolate mousse.
First, the service was good…fast & efficient. The place had virtually no one in it (we were eating a bit early for lunch – it was just 11:15 - because we’d eaten breakfast fairly early, and also because we wanted to make the 11:45 Beauty & the Beast show.) Also as usual, the servings are generous. This sandwich is on a hoagie-size bun. It’s crispy-flaky outside and warm, soft bread inside. There’s a couple of nice thick slices of ham, along with melted cheese, dill pickles & mustard on this sandwich. We really enjoyed it, but if you don’t like mustard you better skip this one, or see if they can tone it down…they really slop it on here. The chips are those thicker cut, deep fried crunchy kind. I prefer regular chips, but these are o.k. for a change every now & then. The desserts were the Disney pre-packaged variety available at most counter services, but we like them. These were fresh. The parfait was like a light vanilla flavored pudding, not too sweet, with a few blueberries on top…the bottom layer was a lot of whole strawberries in a sweet syrup. Very nice combo of the sweet berries with the not-too-sweet pudding layer.
The chocolate mousse was a surprise – as a confirmed, card-carrying chocoholic, I figured I could easily finish this little beauty. Well, I expected it to be somewhat light, too, because it was a lighter color of brown and appeared to be a whipped consistency, so I figured it’d be a lot of air, right? Wrong! The actual taste was more like very rich and creamy dark chocolate. It was delicious, but way too rich to finish, especially after the size of the sandwich. So this was another Disney Dining meal we couldn’t finish. Again, I cannot begin to imagine doing the Deluxe Dining Plan…lordy, so far we haven’t finished all of the food at any DDP meal on the regular plan. Where would we ever put another meal? And after a couple of days of this over-stuffing, how would anyone fit on the rides? Or manage to waddle their way over to a ride, LOL. Anyway, I’d give this meal a 7 out of 10. Way better than your average fastfood burger & fries, but like I said a bit too much mustard (although DH thought the mustard quantity was just about right!), and I would prefer a choice on the chips. Overall though, good enough food, good service, and nice indoor seating. Would we come back? Sure, after we’ve tried the other DHS restaurants. Cost: 2 counter service credits. Actual cash cost would have been $26.35.
After touring the Studios for awhile longer, we decided to return to our hotel for some R & R in air conditioning…it was again hot & humid, and that drains you! We stopped at Starring Rolls on the way out of the park to buy breakfast goodies. There were only a couple of people sitting at outside tables eating lunch, even though it was around 12:30…prime lunch time. We ate lunch at Starring rolls in May…they have 3 choices of extremely good, extremely large sandwiches. I can vouch for the turkey club on focaccia and the veggie sandwich. The other also looked great. And you can’t beat the dessert choices…it’s a bakery: loads of yummy choices for those who abhor the prepackaged desserts at most counter service. Anyway, we got our breakfast goodies & headed back to Pop.
After a nice break (love the a/c at Pop…lovely cool rooms. And the maids don’t mess with the setting like in most hotels where they always put it up to 76 degrees or something. At Pop Century, if you leave it on a cold setting, it’s still there when you come back: so refreshing.)
We went back to DHS in time for our dinner ADR at Mama Melrose. We had the Fantasmic Dinner package,so this meal came with an appetizer for each of us. We started with drinks (love the parks which have adult bevs!) I had the Peach Bellini…this was a lovely frozen concoction served in a champagne flute which I believe had peach schnapps in combination with some sort of sparkling wine. Whatever - it was peachy/frozen and luscious.
Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. With a bit of a brain freeze from overly eager slurping. DH had whatever the Italian on-tap beer was. He liked it.
I ordered the fried calamari for my appy. (sorry the pic is a little dark)
This came with grilled veggies and a spicy marinara dip. I loved the calamari, and the combo with grilled veggies was very tasty. The dip was too spicy for me, but as DH pointed out, I’m a wimp on spicy dips. According to him it was a very ordinary amount of “spicy” in the dip (and quite good, to his taste.) Perhaps I should start drinking beer again…maybe that would allay my qualms about spicy dips? Nah. I’ll stick with the brain freezing fruity slushies…bring on the umbrellas.
To move on, DH chose the artisan breads plate with the various spreads and dips.
The breads were good-all the sturdy grainy types which are best when coated with some sort of high calorie spread. The pesto was quite good, but dipping oil was kind of bland…tasted like just plain olive oil to me. We’re used to something a bit more flavorful in a dipping oil (please note I do like spices…just not the really “hot” ones.) The roasted garlic was outstanding…we could have skipped everything else offered and just used that.
For entrees, I ordered the Pork Marsala which is described on the menu as “Pan-seared pork tenderloin with wild mushroom risotto and asparagus topped with parmigiano-reggiano, and marsala sauce”
It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the actual quantity of meat was large…I would guess there was at least 8 oz. Of pork loin on this plate, and it was very tasty, moist and tender. The risotto was good…the marsala sauce was similar to a mushroom gravy (which I liked.) The asparagus was fresh, cooked al dente, which I much prefer to overcooked mush. All in all, I enjoyed this entree, but there’s no way I could finish this and save room for dessert.
DH chose the Spicy Italian Sausage which was “Served with Rigatoni pasta, peppers, onions, and a tomato basil sauce topped with Caprino cheese.”
Being spicy sausage, I took his word that it was (1) very good and (2) very spicy. I did have a bit of the rigatoni & sauce. It was a classic Italian tomato sauce (the red variety) spicy, but not too spicy for me. The Cheese on top tasted like a cross between parmesan & sour cream…I assume there are fair number of similarities in taste between the various Italian cheeses.
For dessert, we again decided to get different items & share. I chose the Tiramisu - Layers of Ladyfingers soaked in coffee and topped with whipped mascarpone cheese.
That's a curl of dark chocolate across the top, and chocolate sauce drizzle pattern on the plate. The outside edge of this was like a white chocolate shell, striped with dark chocolate. This was absolutely delectable. I love coffee, and this dessert took coffee appreciation to a whole new level. It was not overly sweet, but again no way I could finish this: the dessert seems to be light & fluffy, but the mascarpone cheese makes it so rich.
DH chose the Honey-Hazelnut & Ricotta Cheesecake.
As you can see, this dessert also has a very pretty presentation. That's chopped hazelnuts around the outside. What can I say…this was another little bit of heaven. And these sinners did our best to enjoy this one, too. The honey/hazelnut combination was very sweet, but using ricotta for the cheesecake made it very rich tasting while offsetting the sweetness just the right amount. We really like both of these desserts, but I think we’d give the edge to the honey-hazelnut ricotta cheesecake. The tiramisu was wonderful, but in the end, way too rich to really enjoy. To have a bite, lovely. To eat an entire piece, no way. The cheesecake, on the other hand, we could have eaten a whole piece if we weren’t so full.
To all those lamenting the removal of the appetizer option from the regular DDP…have to say the same thing as the DxDDP…how could you possibly eat that much food all the time? While we enjoyed having the option of appies on this meal, the truth is we probably could have made a meal of just the appies & desserts. Or just the entrees and no appies or desserts. And still walked away full. Love the luxury, but lordy, that’s a lot of food! Not to mention the amount of time it takes to get through that much food. We were there more than an hour & a half…really would not like to always invest that much time in meals during a Disney vacation. There’s just too many other ways to spend our time. It’s nice to take a long meal break every now & then, but not every meal.
The service was good, with a friendly, efficient and smiling waitress named Erica. The bussing help was good at clearing extra dishes off the table as needed. The décor was pleasant: done up like a traditional Italian restaurant, twinkling lights & grape bunches, etc. Although the place is actually very large, the dining rooms are broken up with partial walls so it seemed smaller and more intimate.
Overall, I’d give the Mama Melrose meal an 8 out of 10. We’d certainly return again, especially for the Fantasmic package deal.
The cost of this meal…the Fantasmic Dinner Package…was 2 Table service credits, total. The cash cost for the meal would have been $81.29. We paid $31.41 out of pocket for our alcohol beverages & the tip.
To wrap up Monday, after watching Fantasmic and doing one more drop on the Tower of Terror, we stopped for Mickey Bars. We were pretty full still, but it was fairly hot & humid yet, so the appeal of ice cream was too much. Love those Mickey Bars. (Cost was about $5.00 out of pocket…we were using our snacks for breakfasts!)
TOTAL Free DDP Credits used for day 2: 2 Snacks, 2 counter service & 2 table service.
OOP cash saved by Free Dining for breakfast, lunch & dinner: $112.95 for the day.
Total savings for the week so far...$212.94 in two days
)
) I can give you a definitive answer on the texture/consistency: yes it's the consistency of sliced roast beef. Fairly tender. You may be able to convince him it's beef that just tastes different because of odd seasonings
