No Longer coming to you Live from Disney World! Take 3 DDW'S TAMBU LOUNGE 8/6

[jabead]

We received another live update from Paula (smile4stamps), our fellow reporter who is currently at...


DISNEYLAND


She said, "So for dinner last night I had made plans to have dinner at Napa Rose with a few others from my group."




First some menu pics...










"I decided to go with the beet salad even though so many appetizers looked outstanding!!"



Warm Winter Beet Salad with Chenel Goat Cheese Panna Cotta Cara Car Orange, Wild Arugula, Hazelnuts and Blood Orange Vinaigrette



"For my main course I went with the filet. I asked for it without asparagus as I'm just not a fan. I was hoping to have something else subbed but they just left if off completely.."



Grilled Black Angus Beef Tenderloin with Scalloped Potatoes and Winter Mushroom Sauce

"I really enjoyed the scalloped potatoes on this but the steak itself just didn't have much flavor, which was surprising."



"For a side I had the truffle Mac n cheese!"




"This was fabulous!! I shared some but then ate all the rest! One of the best versions I've ever had!"




"Then it was time for dessert...




I contemplated skipping it but figured I should at least give it a try! The word doughnuts caught my eye so I went with the best Hot Chocolate..."



The Best Hot Chocolate Ever - Warm World Class Chocolate with Orange and Hazelnut Homemade Filled Doughnuts

"It wasn't the best hot chocolate to me though.. It was kind of lukewarm.. After the filling meal it just wasn't what I needed! The doughnuts were also on the heavy side so after a bite of each I called my meal complete."



"Overall it was a good meal I just don't think I made the right entree and dessert choices! The truffle Mac n cheese redeemed it all though!!"​

 

[buzz1121]

After a great first day in MK, at the Tea, and in HS for the evening, we were looking forward to our first day in Epcot.

As the Disney fatigue had not yet set in, we were up really early and arrived well before park open at Epcot. Literally, we were the third family at the gate. It just doesn't feel like Disney to me until I am in line to ride Soarin. DH and the baby ran to grab two fastpasses for Test Track and DS, DD1, and I ran to The Land to ride Soarin. We walked right onto Soarin and pulled two fast passes with a return time of 9:30. We had just enought time for the breakfast I had been anticipating......

On the second day of our Christmas trip, our family chose to eat...Breakfast at Sunshine Seasons.

There is one item that Sunshine Seasons offers that I just love to have at least once on every trip since it debuted here, the Berry Croissant Pudding.



This was absolutely delicious as always. My only regret is that I did not take a second photo so you could see just how many blueberries are in this yummy breakfast.


DS and DD1 picked a chocolate croissant for their breakfast.



I think the kids were a little hungry from all the power walking as there was not a sound made from either of them while they ate their croissant. It absolutely has to be good for there to be complete silence during even a quick meal with three children!

After riding several more rides in Future World we headed toward World Showcase. Originally I had booked lunch for us at Nine Dragons. They have a really great Chicken Salad with raisins, nuts, and crunchy noodles that I had really enjoyed during our Anniversary trip. I changed my mind and cancelled the reservation after I read on the Disney Food Blog about the Holiday Passport book in World Showcase that featured unique holiday themed foods in the countries. I will warn you ahead of time that we were really governed by our sweet teeth as we toured the countries.

Our first sample was Kaikouxiao, or more easily called Happy Face Fried Cake from China.



While the goodies were titled a "cake" they more closely resembled a cookie and in fact that is what the cast member called them. These cookies were interesting to say the least. The sesame seeds added extra crunch to an already pretty crunchy cookie. The cookies did have a little softness on the inside. Once I got used to the extra crunch, I thought the cookie was pretty good. DD1 really enjoyed hers. DS was not a fan. He donated the other half of his cookie to his sister.


Next, I had to try the Hot Salted Caramel drink in the German Pavilion.



Holy cow! I thought this was literally like drinking a thick, salted caramel. Now I can understand that this may not be for everyone, but I love anything salted caramel in theme and this warm drink really delivered. Over the trip, I'm pretty certain I had at least two other servings of this drink.

Unfortunately, I fell off the wagon of picture taking when we stopped at Liberty Inn to grab two kids nugget and french fry meals and two grilled chicken caesar salads. I was so pleasantly surprised by just how good this salad was. It was loaded with chicken and parmesan cheese. It was a nice, light meal.

After the quick non-photographed lunch, DH waited in line in the American Pavilion to get dessert for the kids while I backtracked to Germany to pick up our dessert.

DH and I split a Chocolate-Caramel covered pineapple spear.



This is such a yummy dessert or snack! And it's fruit, so at least you can tell yourself it's a little healthy and we selected dark chocolate so we had fruit and antioxidants. Score for us!


DD1 meanwhile selected the soft baked chocolate chip cookie.




DS chose the holiday themed gingerbread man.



We actually walked around the rest of World Showcase, picking up a bag of the Canadian holiday passport item, Pecan Maple bark, on the way to England where we stopped in the garden area to allow the kids to enjoy their cookies. Unfortunately I must have neglected to take a picture of the bark, but it was quite good. DH and I had a very small taste and ultimately brought the rest home with us.

And oh yes.....care to take a guess as to who else was in Epcot on this day? Many of the dining review Disers and while I was unable to join them despite a lovely invitation , my thoughts were with them throughout the afternoon. And so this brings us to my second Six Degrees of Barb encounter when we were so close, but did not run into each other. World Showcase is huge!!

Ahead for us,after the great reviews to come, a first time dinner restaurant!

 

[rachel09985]

I so wish i would have done more of the special holiday booth eats. I didn't get to try anything from the new booths! I wanted to try at least one flavor of the hot chocolates but never did since it was so hot

 

[buzz1121]

Hi Rachel!

I did try one of the specialty hot chocolates one evening. I tried the peanut butter hot chocolate based on a review at DFB that compared it to a liquid Reese's cup.

Sadly, my cup was very weak on peanut butter flavor. It appeared that the specialty hot chocolates were made in huge containers so I'm guessing the taste may vary, possibly significantly, from batch to batch.

 

[jabead]

Thanks Paula for your Napa Rose review. Your choices all sounded and looked great to me...well, except for the lukewarm (instead of hot) chocolate. I haven't been to Disneyland in nearly 12 years. All of the great Disneyland food reviews that I received while hosting the live thread (many of which were sent by Paula) have put Disneyland back on my vacation destination wish list.


And like Rachel, I too had grand plans of trying some of the seasonal offerings at Epcot during our trip but never did. So I'm very glad to see that at least one of our reporters (DeeDee) followed through with their plans and has reviewed some of these for us. Good job, DeeDee! But I have to admit that your breakfast review made me very sad. I love the croissant bread pudding at Sunshine Seasons and this trip was the first time that I didn't have it since I first tasted it 3 or 4 years ago. While having sit-down breakfasts nearly every morning was a very special treat for me (when traveling with my family they usually limit me to one per trip ), I did have to miss out on some of my favorite breakfast snacks like the croissant bread pudding. Oh well, hopefully I'll make it to Sunshine Seasons on my next trip.


But speaking of my favorite Disney breakfast snacks, one of these will be appearing in my upcoming Epcot Bar Crawl review so please stay tuned.

 

[jabead]

Barb's EPCOT Bar Crawl Review
Monday, December 9th

It was around 9:45 or so before we finished our breakfast at Kouzzina and paid our bills. I had set (and advertised here on the live thread) a meeting time of 10:00 at the bakery in France to kick off our Epcot Bar Crawl. So I headed off to Epcot on foot so that I would be there just in case someone did actually show up. When I arrived at...







...the place was pretty much deserted. The above photo showing a line of people was actually taken on my first visit to the bakery back in March 2013.



Menu photos...









Though I was certain that I had taken photos here, when I looked on my phone (I had forgotten my regular camera back in my room) there were none. Perhaps I asked Vicki or Brenda to take photos since I only had my phone, so my food/drink might just turn up in their reviews. Just in case though, I thought I would use the photo which I took in March of my breakfast snack...




Croissant Jambon Fromage - Ham, Cheese, & Béchamel in a Croissant $4.75



This was just as delicious as I had remembered it to be. Vicki and Brenda had arrived by this time so I offered to share it with them. Thankfully Vicki took me up on my offer and had a bite or two, but Brenda (being the dedicated dining reporter that she is) spent much of her time here taking photos of the delicious-looking offerings in the display cases for her review. ( I can't wait to see those! )



I also began my Bar Crawl beverages here by having a....




Mimosa - sparkling wine and orange juice $7.50



The credit for this photo goes to Patty (emmebear). I actually must give her credit for the idea too. During one of her trips, Patty sent me a live update from the bakery which included a mimosa. Until that time, I was not aware that they had mimosas there. From then on, it was my plan to begin our Epcot Bar Crawl by having a mimosa at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie. So thank you Patty for enlightening me!



I had asked a CM working in the shop which is adjacent to the bakery and was told that the slushie kiosk (also located in France and the next stop on our Bar Crawl) would open at 11:00. So at 11:00ish Brenda, Vicki, and I ventured out of Les Halles and started making our way to the home of our much-loved slushies.





Les Vins de France Kiosk (aka the Adult Slushie Stand)


But once again the photo of the slushie stand was taken on an earlier trip. Sadly, the kiosk was not yet open for business. There was no one there except for these two familiar faces...



Linda & her DH, Philip



Though the slushies were there in plain sight, taunting us...




...there was no CM there to serve them. As we were leaving the bakery, we had met Paula & Hunter going in for some breakfast, so the rest of us waited for them by the slushie stand. They rejoined the group and still the kiosk showed no signs of opening soon. So we finally gave up (for now) and forged ahead to Italy, the home of...





Tutto Gusto had just opened at 11:30 so we were back in the game.


First some menu photos from outside...





...and in.










Some of the wines that they offer by the bottle...






But I went with one that was considerably less expensive...




Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto - $13


This is a sweet, fruity (think strawberries and raspberries) sparkling Italian wine that at home I love to pair with chocolate desserts. Though I didn't indulge in any chocolatey goodness this time, the Rosa Regale was a delicious treat all on its own.



I also took a few random and "unposed" photos...




Paula & Hunter looking over the menu






Brenda holding up...I have no idea what???






And the one and only photo I have of Rob (DisneyKid4Life), who had joined us before we left France.
{A shout out here to our mystery guest, Rob! }


I need to seriously work on my photography skills. Now I know why my kids rarely allow me to take photos (other than food) during our family trips.

Anyway, though it is impossible to tell from my photos, we actually had a great time here (well, I did anyway, can't really speak for the others) and we ended up staying at Tutto for quite awhile. By the time we left, we were only able to fit in one more adult beverage before our lunch reservations. And since no Epcot DISmeet would be complete without partaking of a slushie together, it was back to France for one of these...




Grey Goose Citron Lemon Slush and Grand Marnier Orange Slush

- Photo credit to Patty (emmebear) -



As usual I chose the orange one and as usual it was great!!





But it appears that Linda is a fan of the Lemon.



And since that was the last (and best) picture that I took during our Bar Crawl, I will end this review now and let the others (Brenda, Linda, Vicki, and Paula, when she returns), who were probably much better at "capturing" these great moments, share their photos with you.
Personally, I can't wait to see them. ​

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Barb, so glad you were able to get your orange grey goose slush. Its probably my favorite.

Would love to know where Rob got his shirt. My son reenacts that picture on his shirt almost everytime we get on a ride.

 

[emmebear]

Even though I was not able to attend, I'm glad my pictures did!

My mimosa was awesome....lots of champagne and a little bit of OJ. He asked if I had a designated driver after pouring. Ha ha!

Really enjoying the report ladies! Looking forward to the rest.

 

[emmysmommy]

Brenda's Epcot Bar Crawl Review​

As Barb noted, we finished breakfast at Kouzzina and then met up at Les Halles, which would be the starting line for a trek around WS with the intent to hit up the various slushie stands and bars along the way. Although my experience was more eating than drinking, it was a lot of fun.

Indeed I had my camera focused on all the tasty looking bakery treats, sandwiches, and salads inside the case at Les Halles. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had just had a satisfying breakfast I can assure you that I would have been tempted to do more than simply point a camera at these little goodies!

Barb enjoyed the finest Mimosa that Epcot had to offer. It’s nice to know that mimosa's are offered here. The France pavilion is only one of two places that I have had a mimosa at WDW. Although I passed up the opportunity this time, I’m keeping this on my radar for future visits.

Let's take a look at all the tempting treats in the display cases:

Moving on to Italy and a stop at Tutto Gusto since the France slushie stand was not open yet.

At Tutto Gusto Hunter and Paula ordered a couple antipasti platters for the group to share.

I sampled a little of everything. I especially enjoyed salami and the focaccia.

Rob’s special birthday recognition by the Italy CMs

Rachel, Rob, and Brenda

More to follow….
​

 

[emmysmommy]

Continued...


Hunter and Paula

A Final group photo

This was a fun stop around the WS.

Back in France, the slushie stand was now open.

I believe our next stop will be lunch....

​

 

[jabead]

Thank goodness someone took some photos where we actually look like we are having fun! I had completely forgotten that Rachel stopped by to say hello while we were at Tutto Gusto. And in the photo she was practically sitting right next to me. I think my memory is worse than my photography skills.

Anyway, I absolutely love all the photos Brenda...both the edible and inedible ones. You did an awesome job with those!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of our bar crawl. EPCOT was a bit rough for me in that I missed the GoofySon. More than that, it hit me that part of the reason that I was in Disney without him is that he is about to leave the nest and head off to college. So I was a bit emotional.

I did take a few pics of the decorations in France ...





And one of my mimosa and Barb's snack ...



At Tutto Gusto I had my favorite Bellini ...



Since Brenda showed the pic of our wonderful antipasto plate, I will only post the one of the extra olives ...



I love olives and these were just wonderful. I couldn't stop eating them!

Unfortunately that is all I have to contribute to the bar crawl photos ... but I do have some to contribute to lunch when we get there!

 

[marshallsmommy]

We were headed to Hollywood Studios, as was, I believe, Sue aka Marshall's Mommy.

YES! Although I had no knight in shining van so I had to take good old Disney Transportation. We were headed to a 6:30 ADR at Sci Fi and we were only about 10 minutes late. I decided to also share my meal with my 2 year old....okay I ate the dessert myself. I looked for you and your family at the Osborne Lights that night but Marshall tuckered out early and was asking to go back to the room by 8:30pm so we missed you.

 

[Linda67]

It was a lovely sunny day in Epcot and strolling through World Showcase to meet the ladies was a great way to start the day

After meeting in Les Halles, the plan was to head to the slushie stand in France to get the alcohol filled ball rolling, but as others have stated, it was closed when we got there

We could see the slushie makers clear as day, taunting us, laughing at us, but could we get one? …. nooooooo

I did comtemplate jumping behind the counter for a little self-serve but though better of it

So, our day started in another fave country, Italy

Tutto Gusto is a great little bar and an excellent options for a light snack or indeed, I believe they will let you order from the Tutto Italia menu if they aren't too busy

Thanks to Barb for taking a picture of my wine flight as I totally forgot



This was the 'Bubble Flight' and I can't seem to find a menu listing on-line, but it certainly featured a taste of Rosa Regale and at least one Prosecco - sorry this is a pretty poor review!

Hunter ordered a fantastic looking Antipasti selection which I didn't indulge in as we had an ADR at the Rose & Crown coming up and I knew I would be too full to enjoy my lunch if I did. Philip got stuck in with gusto though and loved everything he ate. He loves nothing more than eating small bites and samplers such as this and would usually prefer to do this than to have a full meal

Group shot



After our fun time in Tutto Gusto, we headed back to France where "oui, oui" the slushie stand was open



I had the citron version which is by far my fave, not sure what Philip was drinking but I think it was a coke



Cheers!

 

[wilma-bride]

Double-fisting is not quite the same, Linda, when one of the drinks is a coke

Your Epcot bar crawl was off to a good start. Note to self: remember the slushie kiosk does not open early.

 

[jabead]

We've received another live update from our fellow reporter, Paula (smile4stamps), who is still having fun at...


DISNEYLAND


She said, "I've been too busy to compose my messages so here are just pictures! These are from our Surf's Up character breakfast at PCH Grill (Paradise Pier Hotel) on Thursday."


First some food pics...







And then some character fun...










And it looks like some group "selfies" (is there a word for that??? )...








So since Paula won't be able to post her Epcot Bar Crawl reviews for a few more days, we will skip her for now and move on to our lunch reviews.
My lunch intro is coming up soon. ​

 

[Linda67]

Double-fisting is not quite the same, Linda, when one of the drinks is a coke Your Epcot bar crawl was off to a good start. Note to self: remember the slushie kiosk does not open early.

Ha!
I just nearly choked on my cava Joh! - I fear that October may not end well

 

[wilma-bride]

Ha!
I just nearly choked on my cava Joh! - I fear that October may not end well

You might be right - what happens in Epcot stays in Epcot though, right?

 

[wilma-bride]

By the way, loving all the updates from Paula in Disneyland - great selfies

 

[Linda67]

You might be right - what happens in Epcot stays in Epcot though, right?

Damn straight !