No calories in a picture, unless you eat the picture -COMPLETED 12/8/14

[AllyinWonderland]

Thank you everyone for joining in! I look froward to sharing the rest of my reviews with you!

 

[AllyinWonderland]

This trip we ate breakfast at Everything Pop 5 times, so I will combine them all into 1 post. When we are on vacation, we enjoy eating breakfast out; as our family grows we will probably end up doing breakfast in our room because it will be less expensive and will save time in the morning.

We actually really enjoy Everything Pop. There is a wide variety of foods available and the cast members are usually friendly. With that being said, I do have my complaints as well. Obviously it can get very crowded, especially during free dining. Another complaint is that the ice machines are always broken. This was an issue when we were there 2 years ago as well, so it is annoying that they have not found a way to resolve that. The hot cocoa dispensers also gave us some trouble this trip. There were a few cooler days, and when we went to get hot cocoa, I kept finding dispensers that were out of order. On one other occasion DH brought “hot” cocoa up to the room, I picked up the mug and didn’t feel any warmth…yeah cold cocoa…no bueno. Oh well, on to the food...

Let's start with the Bounty Platter. This is DH's favorite, and he ordered it almost every single morning. It comes with hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, sausage, a biscuit and your choice of pancakes or french toast. I found out part way through our trip that you can substitute chocolate chip pancakes if you would like. The eggs were about what you would expect from quick service according to him (I don’t eat eggs so I can’t give a personal review). They actually were typically on the less done side, which surprised me. The biscuit, pancakes and French toast all fall in the same category for us…they are what you would expect from quick service, nothing to write home about, but definitely edible. I was disappointed in the bacon every time I tried it. It was thin and flimsy, this is coming from someone who actually likes chewy bacon. If you are a crisp bacon person, you will be incredibly disappointed. The sausage on the other hand was a pleasant surprise. It was usually not hot by the time we got to eat it, but it had good flavor. The hashbrowns were far better than I expected. They were cheesy, sourcreamy, and had more seasoning than I would expect from a quick service restaurant. I am not going to crave them at home, but they far exceeded my expectations.

On our first morning I had to get pop waffles because they are exclusive to Pop Century. They were absolutely delicious, crisp on the outside with a chewy center. When I saw that you can get fresh fruit instead of some kind of “fruit” topping, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I got my hopes up too soon. The fruit was almost sour and nowhere near ripe, just awful.

The second morning of our trip I tried an everything bagel with cream cheese but I didn’t take a picture of it. It was a bit stale and fell below bakery bagel quality but slightly above bagged from a grocery store. It served the purpose of some empty carbs in the morning, but definitely wasn’t anything special.

One thing that I enjoyed a couple times on our trip was the chocolate croissant, which I absolutely love. When I was going through the checkout lane, DH felt the need to inform me that it was pretty much dessert for breakfast…that resulted in an intense side eye. He is right though, it is dessert for breakfast, but that is okay on vacation! The croissant was flakey, buttery and delicious. The chocolate was plentiful without being too much and it was somewhere in the bittersweet-semi sweet category. The powdered sugar on top was an excellent addition.

One morning we got a mini banana bread loaf for DD. This was incredibly disappointing. The bread was moist but there was no flavor whatsoever. I would never get this again.

Something else that we tried was the plain croissant. It was flakey, buttery and delicious. I would definitely get this again. Unfortunately, the morning that we ordered this we were in a huge rush so I did not get a chance to pop it in the microwave. This would have been awesome if it was warm.

On the same morning as above, DH got what I believe is a cherry cheese Danish. Sorry that it’s half eaten, once again, we were in a rush that morning. It was one of those days where the food court was packed and we managed to pick the wrong line where everyone in front of us couldn’t figure out how to purchase food. DH started eating the Danish before we even paid for it. He said it was good but I don’t remember any other details about it.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

On our first full day I had a FP scheduled for lunch at Be Our Guest. I'll cut right to the chase here and say that this whole experience was a huge disappointment. Other people love it though, so don't let my review scare you off.

Our FP time slot was 10:45-11:15, and if I recall correctly, we arrived around 11:05ish. There was a huge cluster of confused guests and cast members. I knew that I needed to go to check in area located at the front of the bridge, and eventually I was able to make my way over there. Once we finally got checked in, we were given a rose and told to wait in another long line that was specifically for people who had pre-ordered. This line felt like it wasn't moving and took what seemed like an eternity. DD was a cranky mess which most definitely added to my frustration. The line took long enough that we had to pull out snacks twice for her.

Eventually we reached the front of the line. A cast member directed us to one of the ordering kiosks to confirm our order. We had pre-ordered a cup of soup, 2 braised pork entrees, 2 cupcakes and 2 fountain sodas. Unfortunately, if we wanted to use a snack credit for the soup we would have to remove it from that order and have it rung up separately. At this point, we had no interest in taking any more time, so we just paid OOP for it. Once we finished paying for our order, we headed to the condiment station, which was much less busy than I expected. We ended up finding a seat in the rose gallery which was more relaxing than the ballroom.

Roughly 15 minutes later, our food "magically" found us. We started off with the potato leek soup. The soup was smooth and creamy, there were no actual chunks of potato. Personally, I loved that aspect because I don't care for chunky soups. DH was disappointed that there were no chunks of potato. Unfortunately, the main flavor that I tasted was salt. For $5.29, I would not order this again. If they cut back on the salt, I would order this every time.

DH and I both ordered the braised pork. The pork was a bit fatty, but could have been worse. The potatoes seemed fresh and were a great quality for a quick service restaurant. I liked that the green beans still had a bit of a bite to them and they were definitely fresh. I was confused, and slightly jealous, that DH's green beans had a single slice of red pepper mixed in and mine did not have any. The main flavor that I tasted on everything was salt. I actually stopped before I was full because I could not handle any more salt. This was a great entree for quick service but it would have been much better if they cut back on the salt.

Now, on to dessert. I heard great things about the strawberry cream cheese cupcake, so we had to try it. It was a vanilla sponge cake with strawberry mousse filling and cream cheese icing. The presentation was beautiful, especially for quick service. The cake itself was moist.
I thought the strawberry mousse tasted a bit fake, but DH said that it tasted like he bit into a fresh strawberry. The cream cheese icing had a strong, but sweet cream cheese flavor, which paired nicely with the vanilla cake and strawberry mousse. DH enjoyed this more than I did, but we both liked it.

The other cupcake that we tried was The Master's Cupcake. It was a chocolate sponge cake with "grey stuff" on top. The cake was moist and had a rich chocolate flavor. The "grey stuff" was a cool whip consistency with a subtle cookies and cream flavor. This cupcake was good, and I would order it again, but it was nothing particularly amazing.

I am happy that I read several reviews in advance and knew how to eat these cupcakes. The wrappers are almost impossible to remove, so you are better off just digging in with your utensil of choice. It is kind of funny to watch other people trying to figure it out.

Overall, Be Our Guest fell below our expectations. I could not handle the amount of salt in the food, and the restaurant was a chaotic mess. If there were better quick service options in MK, I probably would not return. However, when I compare it to my other options, I will probably go back next trip.

 

[Kirby]

Interesting to hear your review at BOG. We are going there for dinner next month. Your are the first person I've seen to say that the food was on the salty side. It's nice to hear why you did or did not like something. Lot's of times people just say whether or not they liked it, whether or not the food was good but no reasons why.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

Interesting to hear your review at BOG. We are going there for dinner next month. Your are the first person I've seen to say that the food was on the salty side. It's nice to hear why you did or did not like something. Lot's of times people just say whether or not they liked it, whether or not the food was good but no reasons why.

I hadn't heard that either, so I'm wondering if it was an off day or just my personal taste preference...although DH agreed. We had dinner there the last night and found the food to be significantly better. I actually expected less from dinner because most people have said that they prefer lunch.

 

[Derb]

I went to BOG with a lunch fastpass on Nov. 2nd, and got the same entrée as you. I absolutely loved it, and didn't think it was salty at all. And I figured out how to remove the wrapper from the cupcake...there is a seam on the paper, but it is easier to remove after you pull off the paper circle on the bottom of the cupcake first. Then you can pull the paper side off at the seam. I got the strawberry one too, and definitely thought the mousse had a fresh strawberry flavor. I hate fakey "nesquick" type strawberry flavor!

 

[AllyinWonderland]

For our anniversary dinner we planned to go to Citrico’s. Unfortunately, a couple months before our trip, they changed the menu and the entrée that I wanted to order was no longer available. I considered going to a different signature restaurant, but in the end we decided to try Kona. This ended up being a good decision because DD was in a miserable mood for this entire meal and I would have felt awful if she was out of hand at a signature restaurant. Our reservation was scheduled right when the restaurant was opening for dinner. The frustrating part of our reservation time was that they couldn’t seat everyone at once so we waited 10-15 minutes past our ADR time with a very cranky toddler. We also had our anniversary noted on our reservation and wore our anniversary pins but no one acknowledged it during our meal, which was a bummer.

Once again, by the time we were seated I was in need of a drink. I looked over the drink menu and found a raspberry ginger mojito. I asked the server how it was and she informed me that it was new that day so she wasn’t sure. I decided to go ahead and order it. The menu description is as follows: Finlandia Raspberry Vodka, Ginger, Mint, Raspberry Puree and Fresh Lime Juice, topped with Coconut Water. The ginger and raspberry came through quite strong. I would have liked to taste the mint a bit more though. Overall it was a very refreshing drink and I enjoyed it, but I probably would not order it again. So I am pretty sure DH ordered a bottle of Stella Artois, which is not interesting at all, so there is no photo.

At the beginning of our meal, we told our server that our daughter was in a cranky mood so we would like to move our meal along as quickly as possible. Apparently she did not get the memo because service was very slow. I understand that the kitchen can only go so fast but we were ready to order for awhile before we were given the opportunity to do so, and the same thing happened when it was time to order dessert. It also took quite a while to receive our check and have our dishes cleared. Our server was pleasant enough when she was at our table but the fact that she disregarded our request was slightly frustrating.

Our meal started off with the complimentary sweet bread with butter. This looks like nothing special, but it is absolutely delicious! The bread was warm, light and fluffy. It had a subtle sweet taste that really set it apart from other breads. The butter was soft and easy to spread on the bread.

I decided to order the Grilled New York Strip with Molasses-Bacon Butter, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables. The steak came out prepared exactly to my liking and it was a well seasoned, good cut of beef. The molasses-bacon butter was sweet, smoky and delicious. I would have gladly taken more of it. The potatoes were a disappointment. There was no flavor and they were significantly over cooked, they tasted as though they had been sitting under a heat lamp all day. Thankfully, the broccoli came through for me. It was cooked perfectly and was sprinkled with crushed red pepper, which was a pleasant surprise. The head of roasted garlic was a great addition to the entire plate.

DH ordered the Salmon with Swiss Chard, Forbidden Rice, And Hibiscus-Beurre Rouge. He really enjoyed this dish, it was one of his favorites that he ate all trip. The salmon was properly cooked and well seasoned. He enjoyed the swiss chard but it did over power the salmon a bit. The forbidden rice was apparently amazing. DH told me that he wishes I wasn’t allergic to seafood so that I could try it. He wasn’t able to explain it well but he did rave about it.

DH and I both did not want to share our entrees and we wanted to give DD something that we knew she wouldn't fight us on, so we ordered her a plate of Mickey Ravioli with the sauce on the side so that we could control the mess a bit. It tasted exactly like frozen supermarket ravioli. The fresh parmesan was a nice touch. Definitely nothing special, but a great option for kids.

For dessert I ordered the Warm Apple Tart with Cinnamon Gelato and Bacon-Macademia Nut Brittle. This dessert was phenomenal. The first thing I tasted was the cinnamon gelato. There was a very strong cinnamon flavor, which would have been too much on its own, but it paired beautifully with the apple tart. The apples were properly cooked and flavorful. The tart crust was flaky and delicious. I don’t remember specifics about the brittle on top, but I do remember enjoying it. I really loved this dessert and would love to try it again.

DH decided on the Kilauea Torte for dessert, which is basically a lava cake. The description says that it is an explosion of warm liquid chocolate inside chocolate volcano. I loved the presentation of this dessert. The dessert was rich and chocolatey, just as you would expect. It was very good.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience at Kona. Our server wasn’t great but the food was fantastic. I would definitely return in the future.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

I wanted to do something to surprise DH on our anniversary, so I decided to order a mini replica of our wedding cake and have it delivered to our room. I did my research on the cake chatter threads and contacted Pop Century directly even though Boardwalk Bakery would be creating the cake. About 4 weeks in advance I made my first contact with the resort. On our first call Yvonne listed my options but did not mention the 2 tier mini cake, so I asked if it would be possible to have one of those custom made. She said that they could but she informed me that they are very tiny. Throughout the ordering process, I was probably told that they are tiny a dozen times. Now that we agreed on a size, it was time to move on to the design…

I have heard several people mention that the bakeries are reluctant to do custom designs or flavors on the mini cakes so I was nervous about those parts of the ordering process. When I told Yvonne that I would like the cake to be inspired by our wedding cake, she cheerfully asked if I could e-mail a picture so that they could give me a quote. Well, that was easy. I figured I was really pressing my luck at this point, but I asked if they could do red velvet with cream cheese icing instead of the standard chocolate and vanilla. Yvonne said that they would definitely be able to do that.

I e-mailed a couple pictures of my wedding cake, which Yvonne forwarded to the Boardwalk Bakery. A few days later I received a quote of $35 (the standard base price for any 2 tier mini cake). That was less than I expected, so I immediately picked up the phone to confirm details and pay for the cake. After paying for the cake, the cast member asked if I would like to pick it up in the food court or if I would like to have it delivered. I requested to have it delivered while we were at our anniversary dinner.

After dinner at Kona, we headed up to the room. I was nervous that it would not actually be there because we had major issues with things not being brought to our room the previous day (very long and frustrating story). We walked through the door and there was a paper bag with a cake box inside sitting on our table. Not quite the presentation I would have liked, but we were staying at a value and didn’t pay any delivery fees, so I can’t really complain. DH was surprised and asked what was in the bag. Once he looked inside, he was thrilled. The fact that I kept this a secret for a month is HUGE deal. I can’t keep secrets to save my life, so this really ended up being a big surprise.

When we pulled the cake out of the box, it was a great replica and turned out better than I expected. Even though we had just eaten dessert with dinner, we were anxious to cut into it and see how it tasted. The cake was incredibly moist and fresh. The cream cheese icing had a strong cream cheese flavor, which we love, and it paired perfectly with the rich red velvet cake.


This cake was perfect for 2 adults (plus one very lucky toddler). $35 for dessert is a bit steep but it was totally worth it for the special occasion. I had a wonderful experience with the ordering process and was very pleased with the end result. In the future, I will definitely order more custom cakes from Disney.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

On our first Epcot day, we had lunch planned at Via Napoli. I have heard amazing things about the pizza at Via Napoli, so I was anxious to try it. We arrived a few minutes early for our reservation and had a short wait in the lobby. Shortly after we were escorted to our table, a gentleman arrived to take our water order. After a half second of confusion, we learned that he literally just took orders for water. Throughout our meal he cheerfully filled our water glasses before they were even half empty. Service seemed intentionally slow here, more like what you would expect from most European countries. It was actually very relaxing and thankfully DD was in a pleasant mood. Several minutes later, our server in training approached our table with his trainer. I ordered the white sangria and DH ordered a diet coke…he’s so boring. The sangria was light, crisp and refreshing. It was very good.

We agreed in advance that we would split two pizzas and one of those would be the prosciutto e melone. I told DH that I heard amazing reviews about the spicy sausage pizza but he decided to ignore my suggestion and order the quattro formaggi pizza. Sigh, maybe next time. The pizzas arrived at our table and looked ah-mazing. Seriously, at this point if they tasted half as good as they looked, I would have been happy. The prosciutto e melone pizza had fontina, mozzarella, large slices of prosciutto, large pieces of cantaloupe and fresh arugula. These flavors go so well together; words and pictures can not do it justice. It was salty, sweet, cheesy, flavorful. Simply delicious.

The quattro formaggi pizza was less exciting. It had mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, and provolone. It was simple and very tasty, I just had been hoping DH would order something more interesting. This pizza was much better when I added red pepper flakes.

When it came time to order dessert, I knew that I wanted the Zeppole Di Caterina: Ricotta cheese fritters served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. I love the presentation of this dessert, and believe it or not, it tasted better than it looked. The fritters were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The chocolate sauce tasted like melted milk chocolate and there was plenty of it. The whipped cream was fresh and put this dessert over the top. This is one of the best things that I have ever eaten on Disney property.

Since DH did not take my suggestion on what pizza to order, I decided to press my luck with dessert. I told him that I heard amazing things about the Coppa Brutti Ma Buoni- “Ugly but Good Sundae.” Once again, he did not listen…man, this was not my day. He opted for the tiramisu. He said it was the best tiramisu that he has ever had. I tried it and liked it as well. However, this paled in comparison to the zeppole. We agreed that next time we would just get two orders of that instead.

Overall, this was one of our best dining experiences at Disney. The service was friendly and attentive. The food was phenomenal. DH said the pizza rivaled some of the best pizza he has had in Italy. I would absolutely go back to Via Napoli in the future and I have a feeling that it will become a must do for our family.

 

[hddanis]

Oh my word, that prosciutto pizza looks amazing... Might need to make some adr adjustments.

 

[tortoni]

Enjoying your reviews. Looking forward to more!

 

[hockeygirl14]

I would have never thought of Kona for dinner, we usually go there for breakfast! Something to consider on the next trip. I also have to say that the pizza at Via Napoli looked amazing!!

 

[MrsJobba1]

We have booked kona for dinner on our MK day in April - glad we have after reading your review !

 

[poohangel]

Kona looked amazing. Via had one of the best pizzas I ever ate.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

That steak at Kona Café looks so good!

 

[Niki Andiokno]

That pizza looks great. I need to go back to Kona. Your meal looks fab. It used to be a favorite.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

After Via Napoli, our plan was to wander around World Showcase and hit up whatever Food and Wine Festival booths sounded good. We went on a Thursday and it was really slow until probably 5ish. I was surprised that we were able to walk up to many of the most popular booths.

Our first stop was the Farm Fresh booth. I ordered the Florida Orange Groves, Key Limen, Key Lime wine. It was quite sweet and a bit sour. Overall, it was an enjoyable glass of wine and the perfect portion. I probably couldn’t drink a ton of it at once, but I would absolutely order a single glass of it again, especially for $2.75!

Also from the Farm Fresh booth, we tried the Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon Hash with sweet corn, potatoes, hollandaise and pickled jalapeño. I heard many great reviews about this so we were anxious to try it. It was salty, smoky and peppery with a little bit of heat to it. All three of us enjoyed this.

DH was in need of some beer, so we stopped at the Brewer’s Collection booth to get a beer flight. He ordered Beer Flight #1: Radeberger Pilsner, BraufactuM Colonia, BraufactuM Palor and Schöfferhofer Grapefruit. DH didn’t say much about it but I know that he loved the Schofferhofer Grapefruit. Apparently he tried that first and said it kind of ruined the others. We were talking about this with the cast member at the Poland booth who said, “Nooooo, 1,2,3,4 for a reason man!” So, there you have it, drink them in order. I am not a beer flight kind of gal so I would not have known that.

Which brings me to our next stop, Poland. DH was very excited to try the Kielbasa and potato pierogi with caramelized onions and sour cream. I am not a huge kielbasa fan, but I figured I’d try it anyway. This was hands down the best kielbasa that I have ever had. The pierogi were great too. The carmelized onions and sour cream rounded out the dish nicely. DH enjoyed this so much that we went back for another on Monday (which was way busier).

So, this isn’t Food and Wine Festival specific, but I was excited to try a cannoli from Italy. I didn’t write down the name of the stand where I got it, but it is available in the Italy pavilion year round. I was nervous because it was pre-filled, which typically leads to a soggy cannoli, but it was surprisingly crisp. The filling was creamy and had good flavor. This wasn’t the best cannoli I have ever had, but it was tasty. It did become a melty mess on a hot Florida day though.

Up next was Belgium. We tried the Potato and Leek Waffle with Braised Beef. This was way better than I expected. The beef was flavorful and not as fatty as I expected. The waffle held up well and it was surprisingly a great pairing.

DH ordered the Stella Artois Cidre, which he enjoyed but I don’t remember anything about it.

I ordered the Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur. DH was very jealous and called it the best chocolate milk he has ever had. It really was delicious.

Our final stop was Canada. I was very anxious to try the “Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce. Unfortunately, I was super disappointed with what we received. The filet was a good quality, and obviously this is a great value for a snack credit, but I wasn’t even able to taste the sauce.

We also tried the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. I found this to be rich and very salty. It was alright, but quite a bit too salty for my taste. The soup definitely didn’t live up to all of the hype for me.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

DH had one request this trip, breakfast at Cape May Café. Last trip the food and service were outstanding, so we were really looking forward to it this trip. I almost scheduled it for an Epcot day but then I realized that we were about to stuff our faces before going to a park with great food, that just made no sense at all. Instead, I ended up scheduling breakfast there on Halloween before we went to Hollywood Studios.

We were seated just a few minutes after arriving and waited for our server to greet us before filling our first plates. It took quite awhile for her to greet us and take our drink orders. She never explained the flow of characters, which was a disappointment because we did not know when we should make sure to stay at our table. We didn’t see any characters anywhere near us (and we were seated in the middle of a room) so we got up to get our first round of food. While I was admiring all of the tasty options, DH quickly alerted me that we needed to get back to the table because Donald was at the table next to us. So, we rushed back to the table and got more food later.

The first round of characters were very, very rushed. They barely paused for a picture at each table before rushing to the next. During our visit we saw Minnie, Donald and Goofy. Thankfully, we got to see Donald twice and the second time it was like he was a whole different duck On the second visit, he spent time letting DD give him kisses and just seemed to be more interested in interacting with kids.

On to the food, there was a huge variety and everything was fresh. I enjoyed this aspect of the meal just as much as last time. Here is DH’s first plate: Sausage gravy is covering almost everything and I can see eggs, some kind of chorizo egg thing I think (whatever it was, he loved it), biscuits, bacon, potatoes and a cinnamon roll.

Here was what I was able to get before the frantic Donald incident: Sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes and a chocolate chip mini muffin with Halloween sprinkles! Everything was delicious.

After we saw Donald for the first time, I got back up for Mickey waffles that were smothered in strawberry sauce and whipped cream. These were absolutely amazing. I was a bit worried that they were overdone, but that ended up being necessary so that they would hold up to the amount of toppings I put on them.

When I got the waffles, I also got a bowl of fruit for all of us to split. There was a wide variety to choose from and everything was fresh and ripe.

I guess I did get a picture of DH’s second plate. Here he had potatoes smothered in sausage gravy, eggs, sausage and French toast.

Now, back to service. Our drink glasses sat completely empty for more than half of our meal without our server stopping by. We were ready for our check for 20 minutes before we were able to flag her down to get it. Another 15 minutes went by and she did not bring it back for a signature. At that point I got up and asked for a manager so that we could settle our bill and leave. Because of this, DD didn’t get to see Disney Junior Live on Stage at all that day. The manager gave a generic apology and we got everything settled but I will be honest, I did not leave happy at all. I don’t expect much from a server at a buffet restaurant but this service was seriously unacceptable. If this was my only experience, I probably wouldn't be back. It still remains on our possibility list for next trip because the food was great, but we probably will consider other options as well.

 

[hockeygirl14]

Its always so frustrating when you get bad service at a favourite restaurant : ...the food at cape may looked good though! Surprised to hear that you thought the soup from Le Cellier was salty - thats upsetting to hear too!! Loving the review so far

 

[vettegirl]

Great food and wine updates! I have heard mixed reviews on the small filet in Canada at the festival. Too bad yours wasn't a good one. That is a shame you had bad service at Cape May. I hate bad service but on vacation it just escalates my stress level especially at Disney as I plan out my meals so far in advance and so look forward to each one. When you get bad service at one it really stinks.