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Penguins with a chance of... SQUIRREL!!! Photo Dining Review - Final Update 8-18
- Thread starter Golf4food
- Start date
20thingamabobs
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2010
Well, I'm coming in a little late but your DRs are hilarious and not to mention helpful so I'm in for the rest of the ride! You've given me some great ideas for my upcoming March trip!
Golf4food
Male pirate last time I checked. Yep. Still male.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
It does have a fluffy tail...
I hadn't even thought of that.
Well, I'm coming in a little late but your DRs are hilarious and not to mention helpful so I'm in for the rest of the ride! You've given me some great ideas for my upcoming March trip!
Welcome!
Golf4food
Male pirate last time I checked. Yep. Still male.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. That always seems a bit harder at WDW doesn't it? So our last day arrived and we woke up, packed up, threw everything into the back of Dory (it's an Es-ca-pe, Hey, that's spelled just like escape!), and drove on over to the Polynesian for our early ADR at Kona. (Yes, we had dinner at Kona a few nights ago. So what?)
It was raining, so we were happy for the free valet parking with the TIW card. We were seated quickly enough - you'd hope so since they just opened.
For menu fans you can click HERE and the next few photos after it for the full menu shots.
Our best Kona breakfast secret? We split everything. A Big Kahuna Platter is more food than any one human should probably eat at one sitting and the press pot coffee has 2.5 servings, so... this is what we shared:
Kona press pot coffee:
Big Kahuna platter:
Conveniently Tazicket likes the pancakes and I like the French toast so we each take our favorite of those and split the rest.
The eggs were really awesome. They were on the creamy side and had great flavor. The bacon here was the crispiest bacon we had during the entire trip. The ham was just ok - it didn't have a lot of flavor. The pancakes were very good and I love the pineapple and macadamia nut butter with them.
I completely love the Kona coffee here. It has a rich flavor that is absolutely wonderful. This is easily the best coffee on Disney property, in my opinion.
The only not great thing about this breakfast is that they didn't have the awesome Poly music playing, which was a bummer.
I thought the eggs were good, but a little runny/creamy for my personal tastes. I like mine just a little less wet. Still good. The French toast was just slightly over cooked - barely - but was still quite tasty. The bacon was nice and crispy (a rarity at WDW it seems).
Somehow neither one of us wrote a single comment about the potatoes - you can take that for either a good sign or bad sign - we honestly can't remember.
The Kona coffee is always great and worth the money.
Our server, Cousin Dave (must be a lot of intermarriage in Hawaii if everyone is cousins?), was awesome enough to bring me a To-Go cup for the rest of my coffee so I could take it with me to the MK. Woo hoo! My new favorite "cousin"!
As with Tazicket my only major complaint was that they did not have the nice Hawaiian music playing for some reason as has been the case in the past. Nothing better than a nice cup of Kona coffee, a good meal, and relaxing Hawaiian music playing in a lightly crowded Kona Cafe... maybe next time.
We both gave our breakfast at Kona a solid four penguins:
Bill:
Big Kahuna Platter: $11.99
Two Eggs: $3.49
Kona Press Pot: $7.49
Tax: $1.20
18% Gratuity: $4.13
20% TIW Discount: ($4.59)
-------------------------------
Total: $23.71
Total TIW Savings: $92.47
After breakfast we headed back out to the valet, picked up our car, and headed back around to the TTC lot. Because of the light rain and clouds that threatened the possibility of more rain, and because my back hurt, and because I promised Tazicket that I would spend at least some time without the camera... I left the camera in the SUV and we spent a couple of hours in the MK naked (ok, so we had on clothes, but without the camera I kind of felt naked... haha).
We still have one more Disney related meal to enjoy before we leave, so have no fear. All is not done quite yet.
The Princesses aren't the only royalty in the Disney area.
.
It was raining, so we were happy for the free valet parking with the TIW card. We were seated quickly enough - you'd hope so since they just opened.
For menu fans you can click HERE and the next few photos after it for the full menu shots.
Our best Kona breakfast secret? We split everything. A Big Kahuna Platter is more food than any one human should probably eat at one sitting and the press pot coffee has 2.5 servings, so... this is what we shared:
Kona press pot coffee:
Big Kahuna platter:
Conveniently Tazicket likes the pancakes and I like the French toast so we each take our favorite of those and split the rest.
I completely love the Kona coffee here. It has a rich flavor that is absolutely wonderful. This is easily the best coffee on Disney property, in my opinion.
The only not great thing about this breakfast is that they didn't have the awesome Poly music playing, which was a bummer.
Somehow neither one of us wrote a single comment about the potatoes - you can take that for either a good sign or bad sign - we honestly can't remember.
The Kona coffee is always great and worth the money.
Our server, Cousin Dave (must be a lot of intermarriage in Hawaii if everyone is cousins?), was awesome enough to bring me a To-Go cup for the rest of my coffee so I could take it with me to the MK. Woo hoo! My new favorite "cousin"!
As with Tazicket my only major complaint was that they did not have the nice Hawaiian music playing for some reason as has been the case in the past. Nothing better than a nice cup of Kona coffee, a good meal, and relaxing Hawaiian music playing in a lightly crowded Kona Cafe... maybe next time.
We both gave our breakfast at Kona a solid four penguins:
Bill:
Big Kahuna Platter: $11.99
Two Eggs: $3.49
Kona Press Pot: $7.49
Tax: $1.20
18% Gratuity: $4.13
20% TIW Discount: ($4.59)
-------------------------------
Total: $23.71
Total TIW Savings: $92.47
After breakfast we headed back out to the valet, picked up our car, and headed back around to the TTC lot. Because of the light rain and clouds that threatened the possibility of more rain, and because my back hurt, and because I promised Tazicket that I would spend at least some time without the camera... I left the camera in the SUV and we spent a couple of hours in the MK naked (ok, so we had on clothes, but without the camera I kind of felt naked... haha).
We still have one more Disney related meal to enjoy before we leave, so have no fear. All is not done quite yet.
The Princesses aren't the only royalty in the Disney area.
.
TheNewMrsB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2008
So wait, they didn't have any music at all? I knew they changed from the old music (and I still haven't gotten over it) but there was no music at all? This I am not happy about.
Funny, I posted a pic of the Big Kahuna on my PTR a short time before you posted this last night. DH always get it, though I can't imagine how he manages to eat all that food...
Golf4food
Male pirate last time I checked. Yep. Still male.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
So wait, they didn't have any music at all? I knew they changed from the old music (and I still haven't gotten over it) but there was no music at all? This I am not happy about.
Funny, I posted a pic of the Big Kahuna on my PTR a short time before you posted this last night. DH always get it, though I can't imagine how he manages to eat all that food...
Eactly - no music at all! When we had breakfast there in September 2009 not even 9 months prior they were playing nice accoustic Hawaiian music and it was so relaxing - the restaurant was not crowded, people there were not noisy, the music was playing, the waterfall in the middle of the Poly was bubbling, and you could sit and sip your Kona coffee on a full stomach and just relax and enjoy. This trip from May... not a peep of music.
basketlacey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2003
I haven't read all the way through the review but I am drooling already!
We are staying at POR. Is POFQ walkable from POR?
I hope beignets can count as snack credits but regardless, I see them in my future!
Thanks for your review!
We are staying at POR. Is POFQ walkable from POR?
I hope beignets can count as snack credits but regardless, I see them in my future!
Thanks for your review!
basketlacey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2003
Okay - need more coffee info:
Do you buy your Kona blend somewhere at WDW? I know we want to bring our own coffee on our upcoming trip. I thought maybe we would grind some of our favorite beans and bring those and some filters and make it with the in room coffee pot. Now I am wondering if I should pack the grinder and whole beans? OR do I need to wait til I get there and find these fantastic Kona beans somewhere!
Do you buy your Kona blend somewhere at WDW? I know we want to bring our own coffee on our upcoming trip. I thought maybe we would grind some of our favorite beans and bring those and some filters and make it with the in room coffee pot. Now I am wondering if I should pack the grinder and whole beans? OR do I need to wait til I get there and find these fantastic Kona beans somewhere!
Golf4food
Male pirate last time I checked. Yep. Still male.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
Depends on your definition of walkable. Can you walk it? Sure. Do most people want to walk it? No. Most people around here complain about a .2 mile walk from their room to the food courts, much less what is probably a full mile to POFQ from the main POR building, nevermind the fact that most people will walk 8-15 miles per day in WDW if they are like us.
We drive just to save time, but you could walk it in 10-15 minutes.No, we bring our coffee. We get ours from The Fresh Market if you have one of those nearby. I believe they may sell Kona beans at the Poly but it would be crazy expensive if they do. Straight Kona runs in the $20 per bag range around here, hence why we get the blend.
Thanks!
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Slightly disappointed at the lack of squirrels in the last couple of reviews - however there was apple pie so you are forgiven 
Still loving these although, sadly, I fear the end is nigh.
Still loving these although, sadly, I fear the end is nigh.
basketlacey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2003
Depends on your definition of walkable. Can you walk it? Sure. Do most people want to walk it? No. Most people around here complain about a .2 mile walk from their room to the food courts, much less what is probably a full mile to POFQ from the main POR building, nevermind the fact that most people will walk 8-15 miles per day in WDW if they are like us.
We can absolutely do a 10-15 minute walk! We could then catch the bus to the park from POFQ. We won't have a car (I don't think) so driving isn't an option. I'll bribe the kids with your beignet pics!
I haven't tried Kona coffee so I may need to try it. I do think there is a fresh market here in town somewhere. Dh and I have become coffee snobs and I have heard that Disney resort coffee isn't the best (it's been quite a while since we stayed onsite). We can't function with out our AM cup of Joe!
I love your review - and I really love all the great POR pics! We haven't stayed there before and are really excited about our upcoming trip. At least DH and I are excited. The kids don't know yet!
Golf4food
Male pirate last time I checked. Yep. Still male.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
Slightly disappointed at the lack of squirrels in the last couple of reviews - however there was apple pie so you are forgiven
Still loving these although, sadly, I fear the end is nigh.
I don't know how we ran out of squirrels... they were everywhere!
How about kitties as a substitute?
(That would be our two babies: the one on the front left is the "kitten", Lily, who is now at least 1/3 bigger than the older one in the back right, Mischa, who is a year older. They are not related, but are both completely solid grey. Mischa is 2-ish and Lily is 1-ish. That is also a WDW fleece throw featuring the Castle Ice Lights they are laying on (one of their spend $XX and buy a fleece for $14.99 or whatever it was a couple of Christmases ago - it's great).
We can absolutely do a 10-15 minute walk! We could then catch the bus to the park from POFQ. We won't have a car (I don't think) so driving isn't an option. I'll bribe the kids with your beignet pics!
I haven't tried Kona coffee so I may need to try it. I do think there is a fresh market here in town somewhere. Dh and I have become coffee snobs and I have heard that Disney resort coffee isn't the best (it's been quite a while since we stayed onsite). We can't function with out our AM cup of Joe!
I love your review - and I really love all the great POR pics! We haven't stayed there before and are really excited about our upcoming trip. At least DH and I are excited. The kids don't know yet!
If you don't mind walks then it won't be so bad, and it can be quite pretty along the river - water, trees, birds, squirrels... especially around sunrise.
Disney coffee is mostly Nescafe (aka Nescrape) with is syrup reconstituted with hot water. It ain't coffee. It may start life as coffee, but ends up more like an undead coffee zombie or something - mostly dead, but kind of recognizable as something that was once coffee in a former life. The coffee in the moderate rooms is a pre-ground bean of some sort, but all coffee is best when fresh ground, so we ignore those packets and take our own grinder and grind the beans fresh right before brewing. You will need small 4 cup filters, though (we had to run up to Publix to get some because the coffee makers in the rooms use filter packs where the coffee is packed inside the filter).
Pooh&OurHunny
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2007
LOVE your reviews and thanks for the awesome pictures.
basketlacey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2003
Great advice and I will look for those. I plan to throw a box of cereal in the suitcase too. My kids like to eat breakfast before doing anything else so I figured if they can start the day with a bowl of cheerios, it will be less whining while we make our way to our first stop LOL. My whining will be contained as long as I have my coffee!
I am hoping for great weather which should make the walking not so bad.
Golf4food
Male pirate last time I checked. Yep. Still male.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
Many DISers love their breakfasts with the Princesses, but we might prefer lunch with an Earl. Sure, they aren't as powerful at court, but they make a great sandwich and the value is much better.
So over to Earl of Sandwich in DTD it was, for a "see you later" lunch. If you have to be sad about leaving WDW you might as well have a fun and tasty meal to at least salve the pain a little.
I had the Original 1762 and a cup of tomato soup:
Taken on my iPhone 3GS, not the Pentax K-7:
I LOVE this sandwich! It has been great every time I've ever had it. Great flavor and the horseradish is so nice. The tomato soup is perfect. Rich and velvety with great tomato flavor. My favorite tomato soup anywhere. Love the croutons. They stayed just a little crispy even while floating in the soup.
I also had an Earl Grey Lemonade to drink. I was a little nervous about this, but a friend had tried it and raved about it. I'm not a huge fan of Earl Grey tea, but this was wonderful. The tea took the edge off of the lemonade, and the lemonade balanced out the tea. Super great - my new traditional drink here.
This is my favorite counter service in all of WDW. It's just a sandwich shop, but they do what they do really well.
I give the Earl a perfect five penguins - woo!
I had my usual - the All American.
Taken on my iPhone 3GS, not the Pentax K-7:
Like Thanksgiving dinner on a sandwich, including the cranberry sauce (gotta have cranberry sauce on a good turkey sandwich!). The bread is great, the turkey is tasty, there's lots of cranberry sauce, the lettuce is crispy, and the tomato is great. None of it feels or tastes cheap. Good quality ingredients. I also tried the Earl Grey lemonade and likewise found it nice and will get it again.
The Earl has their system down to a science and it works. Everything keeps moving, now matter how busy they get. We so wish that we had one closer than Orlando, or that we could afford to open a franchise. Wish we could try their breakfast offerings.
I gave the Earl 4.5 penguins (no points deducted due to any problems, I just can't give a fast food counter service place 5 penguins):
Bill:
The Original 1762: $5.99
Tomato Soup: $2.99
All American: $5.99
Chips: $1.29
Brownie: $1.99
Earl Grey Lemonade: $1.99
Earl Grey Lemonade: $1.99
Tax: $1.45
-----------------------------
Total: $23.68
(Yes, we forgot to mention the brownie: that's because we took it with us and munched on it in the car on the way home and didn't write anything down about it. It was yummy, I'm sure. We've had them before. They're good.)
So that brings to a close our review, sadly. Our next trip in Nocember will be longer, so there shall be more noms, which will mean more reviews!
We'll come back with one final post to give our favorites and any other comments we can think of.
And maybe a squirrel.
.
So over to Earl of Sandwich in DTD it was, for a "see you later" lunch. If you have to be sad about leaving WDW you might as well have a fun and tasty meal to at least salve the pain a little.
Taken on my iPhone 3GS, not the Pentax K-7:
I LOVE this sandwich! It has been great every time I've ever had it. Great flavor and the horseradish is so nice. The tomato soup is perfect. Rich and velvety with great tomato flavor. My favorite tomato soup anywhere. Love the croutons. They stayed just a little crispy even while floating in the soup.
I also had an Earl Grey Lemonade to drink. I was a little nervous about this, but a friend had tried it and raved about it. I'm not a huge fan of Earl Grey tea, but this was wonderful. The tea took the edge off of the lemonade, and the lemonade balanced out the tea. Super great - my new traditional drink here.
This is my favorite counter service in all of WDW. It's just a sandwich shop, but they do what they do really well.
I give the Earl a perfect five penguins - woo!
Taken on my iPhone 3GS, not the Pentax K-7:
Like Thanksgiving dinner on a sandwich, including the cranberry sauce (gotta have cranberry sauce on a good turkey sandwich!). The bread is great, the turkey is tasty, there's lots of cranberry sauce, the lettuce is crispy, and the tomato is great. None of it feels or tastes cheap. Good quality ingredients. I also tried the Earl Grey lemonade and likewise found it nice and will get it again.
The Earl has their system down to a science and it works. Everything keeps moving, now matter how busy they get. We so wish that we had one closer than Orlando, or that we could afford to open a franchise. Wish we could try their breakfast offerings.
I gave the Earl 4.5 penguins (no points deducted due to any problems, I just can't give a fast food counter service place 5 penguins):
Bill:
The Original 1762: $5.99
Tomato Soup: $2.99
All American: $5.99
Chips: $1.29
Brownie: $1.99
Earl Grey Lemonade: $1.99
Earl Grey Lemonade: $1.99
Tax: $1.45
-----------------------------
Total: $23.68
(Yes, we forgot to mention the brownie: that's because we took it with us and munched on it in the car on the way home and didn't write anything down about it. It was yummy, I'm sure. We've had them before. They're good.)
So that brings to a close our review, sadly. Our next trip in Nocember will be longer, so there shall be more noms, which will mean more reviews!
We'll come back with one final post to give our favorites and any other comments we can think of.
And maybe a squirrel.
.
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