DAY TWO, Wed (6/14) - Let's Go to MGM!
BREAKFAST - In our cabin. Remember me telling ya'll that we drove down in our trusty mini-van, so I had loads of room to pack all sorts of things? Like cereal. And pop-tarts. And waffles & milk & OJ - all which traveled surprisingly well in the cooler all the way from the St. Augustine Publix. So, that's what we had. Plus, coffee for me & DH because we're only semi-tolerable in the mornings until we've had our coffee. And, even then, me - not so much. I'm just not a morning person. So, ya'll must know how much I love Disney. It's not for everyone that I will get up at 7:00 am ON MY VACATION.
LUNCH (counter-service) - Toy Story Pizza Planet
This is that kind of restaurant that you go to strictly for your kids. Kind of like Chucky-Cheese's. Does any parent on their "date night" look at his/her spouse & say, "Hey, the kids are at your parents. Let's go eat at Chucky Cheese's!" Well, they might. But, if
my DH said something like that to me, I'd wonder what he'd been drinking.
So, anyway, last year, when we dined at Toy Story Pizza Planet, it was way crowded. Like "I'll stand in line & wait for our food while you take the kids & circle the tables like sharks moving in the for the kill" crowded. And the kids were beyond grouchy. When I took our "must have a pic" pic last year, I remember snarling to everyone, "Smile and look like you're happy until after I take this picture." So, this year was...
going to be different. DH had fastpassed RnR, and, while we waited, the kids & I got whinier & whinier. So much so, that when DH walked over to us after riding the RnR w/ a "that was incredible!" goofy grin on his face, I semi-snarled, "Let's go get lunch.
Your kids are melting." So, off we went - treking from RnR to Toy Story Pizza Planet, even though it was only 11:15 am. As an aside, why is this restaurant at the complete back side of the park?
But, surprisingly (& happily & blessedly), Toy Story Pizza Planet was not yet crowded at all - which just goes to show you that those people who suggest eating at counter-service restaurants at "off-times" are spot on.
DD & I got the cheese pizza meal deal. Is that the Woody Meal or the Buzz Meal? DS & DH got the pepperoni pizza meal deal. Which means, we all had personal pizzas w/ salads and, yes, cokes - for all of us. 'Cause, remember? The kids were whiney. And I, innocently, think cokes will serve as little "pick-me-ups". But, as everyone knows, giving kids cokes will make them not whiney for about 5 minutes, and then after the initial sugar rush has worn off, they will go right back to being whiney. Plus, they will have to use the bathroom. And one would think that I would learn. But I never do. I exist in my own little "Wendy" world. Where just because something is one way on one day doesn't mean it will be that way on every day. It's some sort of physics law or something. I know. I took Chemistry in high school.
And we got cute little Mickey Rice Krispie bars for dessert.
While I got the straws, forks, knives, napkins, & salad dressings, DH took the kids upstairs to find a table - because it was my turn. Remember? At Casey's Corner, he got to get all the condiments while I waited w/ the kids, my bag, wet ponchos, & cardboard trays of food. So, yeah, I took my time deciding what dressing I wanted for my salad. Even chatted w/ the very nice CM who was straightening up the condiment area. And, as an aside, don't ya'll just love Disney? There are always CM's scurrying about trying to make our stays cleaner & neater & nicer. And, even though there are rude guests who leave garbage lying around (more on that later), the Disney CM's still manage to keep WDW a lot cleaner & nicer than any other park. So, thank you, CM's!!
Anyway, the food! It was pizza. It was fast-food pizza. But, actually, the crust was kind of good. DD gobbled up every bit of hers - beginning what was to become a trend for our trip. At lunch, DD would eat very well & not so much at dinner while DS wouldn't eat as well at lunch but would gobble up everything in sight at dinner, so, between the two of them, they managed to eat very well.
The salad was the "mixed salad from the bag" variety - but it was fresh. It was actually fresher & crisper than the salad had been the night before at LTT. My only complaint was that the condiment bar didn't offer "French" dressing - my fav. But the Italian was good. And they had Bleu Cheese which is DH's fav & Ranch which is DD's fav. DS will only eat French, but he didn't eat any salad (except the grape tomatoes) anyway, so he wasn't particularly concerned that they didn't have French dressing.
And the Mickey Rice Krispie bars! Yum! I love Rice Krispie treats, and these, even though they're pre-packaged, tasted really fresh - still had that "springy-marshmellowy" texture. Last year, we had about a gazillion snack credits left, so we used up our snack credits on our last day w/ Mickey Rice Krispie bars. This year, since they've expanded the snack choices, we didn't have any snack credits to "waste". So, these we're the only Rice Krispie bars we got, and they were good. And I was happy.
The atmosphere of Toy Story Pizza Planet is really fun, and I kid when I say we only go there for the kids. Well, maybe we do. But aren't we glad we have kids so we can go to fun places like Toy Story Pizza Planet?
DH had managed to snag a table overlooking the game room below which totally entranced the kids. Mid-way through our meal, DD said, "Wouldn't it be neat if there was a character meal here and Buzz & Woody & Jessie came to the tables?" Well, yes, darling, it would be. And a bunch of us here on the DIS had been hoping & praying & wishing & watching w/ baited breath for a Toy Story character meal... But, alas, apparently someone somewhere didn't agree w/ us - at least for this summer. But that led to a thought-provoking conversation between the kids as they discussed which characters would be there & how the characters would get into the restuarant. (DD had Buzz coming through an opening in the roof, and DS had Woody galloping in on his horse.) Anyway, after we had finished eating & had visited the bathroom, we let the kids play a couple of games in the arcade which they enjoyed. Last year, we were always in such a
hurry that we kind of neglected the small things at WDW, so, even in such a little way, we slowed down for a bit & just enjoyed the moment which was nice. But not for too long, you know. There are other things to see & do, so let's go, kids!!
In summary, Toy Story Pizza Planet was a nice mid-day break for lunch. It was clean & not very crowded. And the food is not-bad, even bordering on good, for counter-service. We'll be back next year!
Atmosphere: Fun & engaging for the kids (And thought-provoking as well!)
Food: Average to Good
Service: Clean, Efficient, & Friendly!
Overall Rating:
(out of 5
)
(I know! I know! There are many of ya'll who would disagree w/ me. But I'm not comparing Toy Story Pizza Planet to other
table-service restaurants - I'm just judging it based on other
counter-service restaurants, and it's really not that bad!)
Snack - ???
I don't know the name of the place. It wasn't a cart, but it wasn't an "inside" place either. It was close to the Beauty & the Beast theater - kind of across the street. While DH waited w/ the kids, I bought 2 frozen lemonades, 1 bottle of water, & 1 small-ish container of grapes - all w/ our snack credits! Don't ya'll just love the new snacks on the dining plan?!
We ate & drank while we waited for the Beauty & the Beast show to begin. And how refreshing! The kids enjoyed the grapes & shared a lemondade. I drank a lemonade, & DH had the water.
Overall Rating:
(out of 5
)
DINNER (table-service) - Mama Melrose's
I was really rather worried about this restaurant after reading many so-so reviews & even negative reviews here. But, I figured it had to be better than Hollywood & Vine. We ate at H & V last year for our FDP, and it was just horrible. And, admittedly, we could have been there on a bad night; every restaurant has an "off" night. However, out of all the places we tried last year, DH said "never again" to H & V - so Mama Melrose's it was since we didn't want to use 2 TS credits for Hollywood Brown Derby.
Our ADR time was for 6:20 pm (I wanted to give us plenty of time to get there after the 5:30 pm parade), and we checked in around 6-ish & were seated within 5 minutes. In fact, right after we checked in, a CM came to take us to our table while DH & DS were in the restroom. (DH had done some
pre-planning & had decided to take DS to the restroom
before we were in the middle of our meal. DD & I went after the meal - so, yeah for us! No mid-meal bathroom breaks!)
The restaurant's interior is very cozy & dark w/o being too close & too dark, if that makes sense. There's plenty of room between tables. And the decor is interesting & unique too - very Italian/old Hollywood/movie-ish. Overall, cool & relaxing. We had a very attentive server who very nicely let me keep my Mama Melrose's FDP menu which, of course, I can't "wow" ya'll w/ any more! (See my previous post.)
For drinks, I got unsweetened ice tea. (I may be from the south, but I only drink my tea unsweetened.) DH & the kids got cokes.
The bread was warm & crusty, and the dipping sauces - 2 different kinds of pesto w/ E.V.O.O. (as Rachel Ray would say, "extra virgin olive oil" for everyone else who doesn't watch her show) - were yummy. One sauce was kind of a marinara-y sauce (it was red), and the other sauce was more pesto-y (it was green). And, since I'm not a chef or a "foody" (remember I get more hung up on the
atmosphere of a restaurant than the food specifics) I can't tell you what herbs & spices were in the sauces. But they were good.
As part of the FDP, we shared a family-style "Field Green Salad" which was tossed w/ balsamic vinaigrette & gorgonzola crumbles. (I thought it was bleu cheese but the menu says "gorgonzola" crumbles, and maybe they're the same thing & I'm just showing my ignorance, but whatever...) I loved the salad dressing but didn't like the "gorgonzola crumbles" - but I really don't like crumbly cheeses like bleu cheese anyway. The salad, w/ the exception of the cheese, was very yummy! Very fresh. As DH said, it's hard to keep field greens tasting fresh, and this salad was very fresh, "springy", & tender - not wilted & tough. I adore Italian salads w/ vinaigrette dressings. DH also loved the salad (& the "gorgonzola" crumbs). The kids contented themselves w/ the bread.
As an appetizer, w/ the FDP, we got to choose one wood-fired flat bread to share. We chose the grilled chicken w/ sun-dried tomato pesto, pancetta, asaigo cheese, & fresh chives - except we ordered it w/o the chives because the kids & I don't like chives. It was really good, but I was trying to save room for my entree, so I didn't eat much. (Plus, if I'm not careful, pizza cheeses will give me a migraine headache, and, since I had already eaten pizza at lunch, I was trying to avoid a headache - alas, it didn't work, but that's another story...) The kids both ate some of the flatbread (after we told them that "flatbread" was really "pizza), and they both liked it - which was a little surprising because normally they wouldn't like "weird" pizza - meaning pizza w/ things like chicken. Ah... the magic of Disney! One more thing to say about the flatbread, the chicken was very good. I don't like chicken that has lots of "fatty" pieces in it, and this didn't. The tomato base was good too - sweet w/o being too acidic-tasting.
Anyway, for their entrees, the kids ordered pipette pasta (sea shells pasta) w/ the meat sauce on the side. Sometimes, DD will eat the meat sauce & sometimes not, so I didn't want to ruin the whole dish for her if she wasn't going to like the sauce. Plus, ordering the sauce on the side is not as messy - sometimes. DS gobbled every bit of his pasta down - and it's quite a lot of pasta for a 4-year-old little boy. (The pasta comes in a bowl, and it's a large serving.) DD picked at hers. Again, w/ the lunch-dinner thing going on between the two of them.
For our entrees, DH & I both ordered the charred butcher tender steak on roasted red pepper polenta w/ grilled asparagus w/ gorgonzola butter & red wine reduction. We were going to order 2 different entrees, so we could try 2 different things. But we didn't. I had planned to try the Penne Alla Vodka that everyone raves about, but I decided I needed protein to try to head off the migraine that I was sure I was going to get from the cheese pizza at lunch. Anyway, I ordered my steak medium-well. (Sorry, to all you "foodies", I just can't eat meat that's too rare. But you'll be happy to note that "medium-well" is an improvement - I used to order everything "well done".) And it was cooked perfectly - which is unusual for a butcher steak since it's a thicker cut of meat. It was tender & didn't have a lot of "stringy-fatty" pieces in it which frustrate me. I did not like the roasted red pepper polenta & didn't taste any roasted red peppers in it all - which I love. But that's just me, DH liked the polenta. The asparagus was good - prettily green & tender w/ a little "snap" to it. I don't know if that's how it's supposed to taste or not. See, after years of being a picky eater, I'm trying to expand my horizons & try new things - moving beyond the "The only green vegetables I eat are green beans & lettuce". I've been inspired by the Food Network Channel. NOT inspired to
cook, mind you - just inspired to eat more gorgeous-looking food. While the Food Network Channel inspires some people to cook, it just makes me want to go out to eat.
So, anyway, I ate the asparagus. Go, me!
And it wasn't bad. While I didn't like the gorgonzola crumbles on the salad, the gorgonzola butter sauce was good - which just goes to show you that sometimes a food's "texture" is as important as its "taste" - well, at least to me it is. Oh, and the red wine reduction sauce - you could definitely taste the red wine which was a huge plus to me!
And it made the steak extremely tender. (As a rule, we don't drink, so I take it where I can get it. More on the margaritas in Mexico in Epcot later!) So, all in all, we were very happy w/ our selections.
On to the best part - dessert! The kids had Italian ice cream - vanilla, not chocolate. Because they were drinking cokes, and I'm not a complete idiot. And they enjoyed their ice cream. It was very creamy - creamier than American ice cream.
DH & I both had the tiramisu. The dessert menu looked fabulous, and I had a dreadfully hard time choosing. In the end, I went w/ tiramisu, because that's what I was most looking forward to when I had planned our Mama Melrose's ADR. And the tiramisu was delicious! I love desserts that have a bit of coffee flavor - couple coffee w/ chocolate, and you have perfection. What else can I say? The ladyfingers were spongy & not so soaked w/ liqueor that they were soggy but soaked enough that you could taste the bite of the liqueor (again, I'll take it where I can get it!). The filling was light & refreshing, and I was completely happy. (I have a pic of the tiramisu, but, since I don't have a pic of everything else...)
Our server was quick & efficient. We never felt rushed, but she kept our drinks filled & there was never "lag" time between courses. Honestly, w/ kids, you really don't want a lengthy meal, and, when at Disney, I don't want the meal to last so long that I miss out on park time. Our dinner at Mama Melrose's was just perfect - relaxing & refreshing, but, when we were done, we still had enough time to ride "The Great Movie Ride" before finding our seats for Fantasmic.
One other "FYI" for those w/ kids - not every restaurant does this, but Mama Melrose's had coloring pages/menu & crayons for the kids.
In summary, we were extremely pleased w/ our dinner at Mama Melrose's. In fact, DH said it was his favorite restaurant of our trip. We'll definitely be back.
Atmosphere: Excellent
Food: Excellent (even the asparagus!)
Service: Excellent
Overall Rating:
(out of 5
)
Stay tuned for Day 3 - Crystal Palace & Columbia Harbour House!
(*giggle* I have him so well-trained!) He'll eat just about anything & is relatively easy to please
) My mom is the type that, whenever we're out & I let the kids have cokes, will say something like, in that totally passive-aggressive voice that mothers have, "You're letting them have coke? Won't that make them hyper? I never let them have coke, because I didn't think you wanted them to." And, while milk or water or juice is, perhaps, better for them, we're not letting them drink cokes (or sodas or pop 
So, ya'll just come on in & set yourselves down for some more reviews, ya hear? 
