Ok you guys...its on, the LIVE Nicki and Todd..Summer edition!

[Itinkso]

I am happy to read you are enjoying POFQ! Sorry you had such a bad meal at RR. But, now I am quite okay with missing the bread pudding experience there. I love bread pudding; Storytellers @ Grand Californian has the best and I was thinking I would be missing out on getting me some great bread pudding at RR ~ now I can walk on by without any regrets!

 

[Sandy321]

Nikki - I guess my local weather reporter lied! I just saw the weather channel's report - and it looks like a stormy day in Orlando!!

Cant wait to hear what that means in real time!

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Enjoying your reports as always Nicki.

Sorry about RR. You lost me at "deep fried carrots"

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

I was thinking about RR but now no thanks!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Good morning! I can't wait to hear about CA Grill later tonight.

 

[jamjar84]

Just found your reviews Nicki, really enjoying reading them.

Hope you enjoy CG.

 

[ksumn1]

Never posted on one of your reviews, but I've read them before...I Lurk alot. Really enjoying your pre trip and trip report. Sorry to hear about RR...sorry it sucked. Look at it his way..it canonly get better after that..the worst has already happened so it should be all good from her on out. Can't wait to see what you have to say baout the POFW food court. Menu sounded OK but I'm curious since we're staying here in August (as a suprise for DH). It's out anniversary and thought it's a bit more romantic than POP.....

have a great trip. Looking forward to more (better meal) reviews!!!

 

[janeapplemeadow]

I have been looking forward to this report, you do such good dining reviews. It's unfortunate that RR was so horrible, but on the bright side, it will make you really appreciate the food at Cali Grill. Now take a deep breath, jump right in and order the susi tonight. I'm so jealous.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Sorry about your experience at RR. Sounds much like our experience on the CS side of RR, Cooke's of Dublin. The food was just very greasy and tasteless. I was actually nauseated the entire evening after we ate there. Gross. Never again.

I can't wait to hear about Sci-Fi! We ate there in 2008 and loved it. We skipped it this year but are planning on going back next year!

 

[MrsWendyLady]

Hi, Miss Nikki!

Finally coming out of longtime lurkdom - BOO! on RR! How dare they! You aren't in Ireland - it is ok to have ICE in your TEA! And I have looked at so much food porn on these boards - that bread and butter pudding was NOTHING like what I have seen....

It can only go up from here!

(And I am waiting impatiently for the Swan review - who has the best sheets? How is the location?)

Thanks for braving Disney on our behalf!

 

[Shleedogg]

POFQ is awesome so far, granted we have not seen much of it but it is the most relaxing place we have stayed in, mod or not we just love it! To sleep through the night without lots of noise, doors slamming, kids yelling, toilets flushing is a great place to me!

I'm glad at least that your night got better once you checked in. We loved POFQ when we stayed there. Maybe I'm just partial because that's where we got engaged , lol. We debated between POFQ and POR (after we decided to save money and switch from WL ). In the end we decided to try something new, so here's hoping we like it as much as FQ.

I agree with the other posters, what a shocking experience at RR . I will be making that WPC adr today. DH said he preferred the menu at WP and I was a little bummed because I thought RR looked good and loved that they have Irish dancers. But the food is most important after all. If I really want to watch a good Irish dancer I'll ask my sister to dance for me and save myself the $90! I'm sorry you had such a bad dinner! I hope they get better!

 

[O_Jr71]

too bad about raglan road...i've always wanted to try it but nobody else in my family does...i'm youngest so they ignore me lol at least you got the crappy experience out of the way in the very beginning right?? Now there is nothing but good food to look forward to And California Grill!!! o man i'm jealous...it is my personal favorite not just in disney but anywhere

 

[hmgray95]

I'm so sorry your first night was such a downer! I was considering sneaking in RR somewhere on our next trip because DH and I both love Irish music (and beer!), but now I think I will wait for another trip....we don't have enough days there on this trip to waste a meal when there's so much good eating elsewhere. I hope today goes better for you and I can't wait to hear about Cali Grill tonight.

 

[TigerKat]

Nik - I don't remember if y'all are doing Flying Fish this trip or not, if so, their calamari is awesome!

I have a friend arriving in WDW this hour, hoping the weather clears soon.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Sorry your first meal was so bad. I think you have great taste in food, and I think I will be crossing off RR from my list for next year. Hopefully today will be a better day!!

Thank you for your kind words! So far today was a great CS food and snack day..coming up in a sec!

How can they call it "ice tea" with no ice?

Sorry that the meal was such a disappointment. Give Todd a little nudge so you can go get some Beignets!

Thats what I said, I guess you call it room temp tea Wait until you see what Todd did at breakfast.....

Long-time lurker.
First-time poster.
Love your dining reviews!

I am so anxious to hear about your Cali Grill experience tonight. We were there in November and had a WONDERFUL meal. Are you going to be brave and order the sushi? It's fantastic!

Thanks and welcome! I might try the sushi but the lobster risotto and the corn bisque and the shrimp salad all sound wonderful.....maybe I will just order one of everything!

WOW! That was a bad start! I have to say, I wouldn't expect pasta and meatballs to be good at an Irish Pub, but your dish was bad I truly hope you have a wonderful experience at the Cali Grille. It's one of our all time favorite meals! I have Tony's down for lunch one day. That veggie calzone Todd had looked good!!

So happy to hear you're enjoying POFQ. A dear friend of mine stayed there last August and just fell in love with resort. She phoned me several times while she was walking the grounds and just raved about the place.
Mare

Hi Mare! The meatballs were Guinness meatballs so I thought they would be good...my mistake! You will love Tonys, DH calzone was awesome! The POFQ is incredible! We just walked around the grounds and checked out the pool...it is so quiet and relaxing here I want to stay again and again!

Nope ... didn't mess up our plans for next week

I booked all our ADRs at the 90 day mark and haven't changed one as DJ's DH and I have been married 25 years (next Wednesday) and unlike Todd he knows better than to mess with my WDW planning

Maybe we will hit RR for a drink after dinner at the Turf Club Tuesday night

I do have to say that your awesome trip/dining reports have inspired me to THINK about posting a live report for this trip.

Oh you have got to do a dining review, as much as I love to write them I love to read other peoples reviews!

I'm in! I've avoided the Pre-Dining Report. I want to be surprised Hopefully today's meals will be better than last nights!

Welcome! Now you can get down to the nitty gritty....food porn!

Eeeeeeeekkkkkkk! I'm sorry you had a horrible start but I can't wait to read the rest of your reviews!

Breakfast and lunch coming right up!

I was sooo bummed that I ran out of TS credits for my upcoming trip. I wanted to make an ADR at Raglan Road, but it was my last choice. I'm glad I didn't choose Raglan Road over the other restaurants I booked now! Since your dining experience wasn't so great- you know the best is yet to come! Have a wonderful time.

Smart choice!

I've always thought, "Hmm...I might like to try Ragland Road." Nope. Done. Off the list. What a terrible start to the trip - I KNOW it'll get better.

As for being nervous about SAI and Nine Dragons - I LOVED Nine Dragons...yummy!!! And the servers were really kind and accomodating - they were right there to help and bring anything we needed. SAI...our server was wonderful. The chips and salsa were tasty - as was the margarita. The atmosphere was nice - but the food we ordered...BLECH. It was not good. I loved the other parts but it wasn't enough for me to go back. Glad I tried it though - otherwise, I'd never known if I liked it or not...

I hope you have a great time there and can convince me otherwise.

Next time we start a trip with a restaurant that we know we love! FULTONS! I cannot wait to try SAI and Nine Dragons, the menus to both look so good....I plan on taking a ton of pics for both places and new menu shots too!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Hi Nicki!

Remember to ask for Ron tonight at the California Grill And tell him Megan, who he served a few nights ago, sent you

A few of my fav CG items:

The Shrimp Tempura Roll - this is NOT on the menu! It costs $20, and is a tempura shrimp, rolled in white nori (rice paper) with mango and watermelon, served with an orange ginger sauce. It is to DIE for! And a great way to get into sushi

The Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli - it is creamy, tangy and the perfect size, about 5 or 6 bites. Nice to share.

The Seared Pork with Goat Cheese Polenta - OMG heaven on a plate. It is the restaurant's signature dish and the only entree I have ever had.

The Valrhona Chocolate Cake - the current offering is with Strawberry Ice Cream and Strawberry Sauce, but they will sub vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce if Strawberry doesn't float your boat.

WINE = Conundrum, $13/glass, the BEST white ever. Crisp, slightly sweet with the perfect tartness, fruity and delicious

And...if you are feeling REALLY adventerous....the Spicy Kazan Roll...shrimp, crab, bay scallops, tuna, fireball sauce and tempura crunch...my FAVORITE sushi roll at California Grill

Enjoy your meal!

Oh! And can you ask about the flatbreads? They weren't on the menu on Monday and I forgot to ask about them

 

[MickeyNicki]

I am happy to read you are enjoying POFQ! Sorry you had such a bad meal at RR. But, now I am quite okay with missing the bread pudding experience there. I love bread pudding; Storytellers @ Grand Californian has the best and I was thinking I would be missing out on getting me some great bread pudding at RR ~ now I can walk on by without any regrets!

I love bread pudding too...so far Ohana still gets the award for the best at WDW!

Nikki - I guess my local weather reporter lied! I just saw the weather channel's report - and it looks like a stormy day in Orlando!!

Cant wait to hear what that means in real time!

We did have some light rain around 12 or so but the dark clouds are all around us and the thunder is just starting!

Enjoying your reports as always Nicki.

Sorry about RR. You lost me at "deep fried carrots"

Carrots should never be deep fried! Ick! Glad you could join in!

I was thinking about RR but now no thanks!

Wish I cancelled it too

Good morning! I can't wait to hear about CA Grill later tonight.

I cant wait to eat there ha ha!

Just found your reviews Nicki, really enjoying reading them.

Hope you enjoy CG.

Welcome!

Never posted on one of your reviews, but I've read them before...I Lurk alot. Really enjoying your pre trip and trip report. Sorry to hear about RR...sorry it sucked. Look at it his way..it canonly get better after that..the worst has already happened so it should be all good from her on out. Can't wait to see what you have to say baout the POFW food court. Menu sounded OK but I'm curious since we're staying here in August (as a suprise for DH). It's out anniversary and thought it's a bit more romantic than POP.....

have a great trip. Looking forward to more (better meal) reviews!!!

Thanks for coming out to post! Glad my reviews are enjoyable! You will just love POFQ, it is the best! We just dont want to leave the grounds, everyone is so friendly!

I have been looking forward to this report, you do such good dining reviews. It's unfortunate that RR was so horrible, but on the bright side, it will make you really appreciate the food at Cali Grill. Now take a deep breath, jump right in and order the susi tonight. I'm so jealous.

Oh I really want to order the sushi, the cooked shrimp sounds great! The few people that we have chatted to today said the sushi at Cali Grill is the best!

Sorry about your experience at RR. Sounds much like our experience on the CS side of RR, Cooke's of Dublin. The food was just very greasy and tasteless. I was actually nauseated the entire evening after we ate there. Gross. Never again.

I can't wait to hear about Sci-Fi! We ate there in 2008 and loved it. We skipped it this year but are planning on going back next year!

When we were eating at RR I was telling DH about your experience at CoD...they must share a kitchen We will never eat at either place again! Well we cancelled Sci Fi but I can tell you we ate there in March (tons of pics and full review in my March link) and we loved it!

Hi, Miss Nikki!

Finally coming out of longtime lurkdom - BOO! on RR! How dare they! You aren't in Ireland - it is ok to have ICE in your TEA! And I have looked at so much food porn on these boards - that bread and butter pudding was NOTHING like what I have seen....

It can only go up from here!

(And I am waiting impatiently for the Swan review - who has the best sheets? How is the location?)

Thanks for braving Disney on our behalf!

Hey Miss Wendy! Thanks for reading and yeah, what the heck is with no ice for the drinks??? My bread pudding was nothing like what I saw on the Dis either, so bummed out! Secretly I am sooo excited to do WDW by myself...it is just for Tuesday ...DH will be gone 6 am to 7pm so that is alot of time to kill and I am up for the challenge! I was thinking of grabbing a TS lunch somewhere, maybe Tutto?

I'm glad at least that your night got better once you checked in. We loved POFQ when we stayed there. Maybe I'm just partial because that's where we got engaged , lol. We debated between POFQ and POR (after we decided to save money and switch from WL ). In the end we decided to try something new, so here's hoping we like it as much as FQ.

I agree with the other posters, what a shocking experience at RR . I will be making that WPC adr today. DH said he preferred the menu at WP and I was a little bummed because I thought RR looked good and loved that they have Irish dancers. But the food is most important after all. If I really want to watch a good Irish dancer I'll ask my sister to dance for me and save myself the $90! I'm sorry you had such a bad dinner! I hope they get better!

We have stayed at POR three times and enjoyed it but it is like night and day from POFQ....such a huge difference! The music and the dancing at RR was great, I would grab a drink at the bar and just listen and watch and skip the food!

too bad about raglan road...i've always wanted to try it but nobody else in my family does...i'm youngest so they ignore me lol at least you got the crappy experience out of the way in the very beginning right?? Now there is nothing but good food to look forward to And California Grill!!! o man i'm jealous...it is my personal favorite not just in disney but anywhere

You got that right! I think Cali Grill may be our MUST DO, everyone is just raving about this place and DH is regretting not trying it earlier...I did remind him that he made me cancel it this past Oct but he has selective memory and doesnt recall that!

I'm so sorry your first night was such a downer! I was considering sneaking in RR somewhere on our next trip because DH and I both love Irish music (and beer!), but now I think I will wait for another trip....we don't have enough days there on this trip to waste a meal when there's so much good eating elsewhere. I hope today goes better for you and I can't wait to hear about Cali Grill tonight.

I say grab a beer at the bar and listen to the music....and eat somewhere else!

Nik - I don't remember if y'all are doing Flying Fish this trip or not, if so, their calamari is awesome!

I have a friend arriving in WDW this hour, hoping the weather clears soon.

I do have FF ressies for Tues night when DH gets out of his meetings, I love that place but never had the calamari there...is it yumm-o?

 

[MickeyNicki]

We are back for a while to rest and beat the rain...we started out a bit late because "someone" would not wake up...I did cancel our Sci Fi ressie but that was ok, we know we like the place and maybe we will make it over there on Monday.

Stepping outside our door was beautiful sunshine and here are some pics from around our room, building 3.

So peaceful and quiet, and it was just 10am! I cannot wait to stay here again, we are just loving this place!

We decided to eat breakfast at the food court, I told DH to get in line and we would share a breakfast platter and I would get the beignets and he wanted a cinnamon bun...if you guys read my reviews you will know Todd has never met a cinnamon bun he did not like!

Word of advice here ladies, never let a hungry man get the food...because he will get too much! The boy comes over to me with a biscuits and gravy platter, a king creole platter and a fruit plate, plus a large OJ (which I am not a fan)....I said to him "Hungry much? Who is joining us for breakfast??" It was only $17 because we used our TIW card here for 20% off! That is a deal! If you are staying at the POFQ make sure you purchase your bottled
drinks here instead of the gift shop so you can save $

There wasnt anyone in the CS place, it was dead quiet, no lines for any food either...that is a great sign! Love a nice quiet CS place.

I ordered a 3 piece beignets, they came loaded with powdered sugar. The guy put the sugar in the bottom of the dish and then the beignets on top and doused them with more powdered sugar. They were light and wonderful and reminded me of fried dough, not funnel cake but the fried dough we get in New England. DH inhaled before he bit it and the powdered sugar was everyone, it was hilarious! DH had 2 and I had 1...pastry hog that he is! Very good but I dont know if we would get them again.....the cinnamon bun was much better!

Onto the cinnamon bun, it was warm, it was gooey and it was not big enough to share with DH...I think he has a sick addiction to sweet pastries! Possibly the best (close second to Main Street Bakery) that we have had at WDW...we are def getting another one tomorrow!

Here is the large OJ

The fruit is outstanding, cold and fresh and sweet and not mushy...we had to fight over the honeydew....sooo good!

Biscuits and gravy is DH's thing...we did not have this stuff when I was a kid but when I moved to FL 19 years ago I was introduced to "slop on a plate" and the best is at Bob Evans...DH is not that picky and will eat it anywhere. He really liked this but I thought it was ok...the biscuits at WDW are not the greatest but there was alot of gravy and it actually had sausage in it when most WDW places do not. For $3.39 it is a steal and of course DH ate almost all of it.

The King Creole platter had terrible potatoes, super dry scambled egg bits, great sausage link (just one) DH ate the bacon and said it was ok and a semi good biscuit....I told him next time he is in line for eggs get me creamy semi wet ones instead!

I didnt eat too much here but suprise suprise all the food was gone...my little piggy ate everything...hmmmmm still hungry after last nights dinner??

 

[MickeyNicki]

After breakfast we caught the bus to HS...empty bus station, empty bus until our last stop at POR and then it filled up. No lines to enter HS, no lines for ride except Toy Story had an hour wait so we skipped it for now. It was hot, the sun was out but there were dark clouds all over. We did the Backstage thing and didnt notice any changes from the long rehab it had. After a bit I needed something cold to drink and guess who wanted a pretzel?

I wandered into the Writer's Stop and they had a passionfruit mango freeze...it was amazing, not too sweet, nice and cold and this man following me around drank most of it...I offered to buy him his own but he said nah...and proceeded to drink it all...I love him but come on get your own! They also had this drink at the Villian's store next to Starring Rolls.

While I was looking around the little store DH was taking the time to pick out some snacks for the room.

And DH got a pretzel but inhaled it before I snapped a picture so here is the stand by the big hat.

At the candy store next to Starring Rolls I saw this Minnie rice krispie treat...saw Mickey at Goofys Candy Store but never Minnie!

And they had soft gingerbread men too!

 

[lisalonglash]

Hi Nicki! I'm sorry about your Raglan Road experience - RR was on my tentative list, now, not so much

The resort looks lovely and the beignets/cinnamon bun look delish! I'm glad your morning meal was better than your meal last night!

Looking forward to more, I love your live reports - so fun!