Mike and I spent the morning and early afternoon at Blizzard Beach this past Sunday. We got our locker, changed, and asked to purchase a meal voucher and were told they had sold out of them! The program was apparently in the testing phases, and they had more on order, but were not sure when they would be in. Darn. It made eating at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon much cheaper. We hope they'll be in sometime soon, but they didn't think it would be by next weekend.
We settled on buying a mug refill sticker and filled our mugs. One of the things that disappoints me about Blizzard Beach is that all of the refill stations don't have iced tea, like they do at Typhoon Lagoon. I settled for Diet Coke and we went about the slides and the pools.
At noon we retired for lunch at the Lottawatta Lodge. This is the second time we've been here, so we were prepared as to what to order. The water parks tend to be easier for me to eat more healthfully at, as the hot dogs and fries don't sound too appetizing, while there are dozens of "bad" things at the main parks that are much more tempting. This time we ordered two things to split, a Southwestern Chicken Salad, and a turkey sandwich with a fruit cup instead of the chips that usually come with it. This was pretty standard fare, nothing too fancy. The salad base was romaine, with a mix of corn, black beans, and carrots on top, and a sliced, breaded chicken breast on top of that. The dressing was thankfully on the side, and was a vinaigrette that didn't really taste remotely "southwestern." Mike noted that it was slightly sweet, and it was pretty disappointing. I like a spicy ranch dressing with my southwestern-style salads, and while that's not very authentic (is there such a thing?), I think it tastes better than a vinaigrette dressing. The chicken breast was a breaded, pre-formed chicken breast, which is unfortunate as it was pre-made and the breading loses any crispness it might have had. We wish that there was a choice between grilled and breaded, but are happy that we at least have the choice of a salad. Overall, the salad is decent. We've had it twice now and probably won't order it again, but it's worth giving it a try.
The turkey sandwich looked delicious, even for a pre-made sandwich. The bread was multigrain, and there were even seeds visible, dispersed throughout the bun. The turkey was deli turkey, and there was an almost ripe tomato and a crisp lettuce leaf also on the sandwich. The first thing we noticed after taking the bun off was that there was no sort of dressing. A honey mustard would have really gone nicely on this sandwich, as it was incredibly dry, even with condiments from the bar. The sandwich ended up being your average turkey sandwich, and I enhanced my half by dipping it in a little malt vinegar.
I am always delighted that I can order a fruit cup instead of fries or chips at the water parks. I believe you can also order a fruit yogurt instead of the fries or chips, but I haven't tried that yet. The fruit cup contained nearly ripe watermelon, cantelope, unripe honeydew, and grapes. It's always good and fresh, and the level of ripeness is not necessarily Disney's fault. I don't think honeydews are completely in season yet.
One improvement that I think the Lodge needed was more covered seating. There was very little covered seating in the immediate area, and I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated in the coming summer months. We found one of the last available covered tables, and it was a relief to get out of the sun. Another issue regarding tables was that the picnic tables around the food stands were not labeled as for dining only as they are at Typhoon Lagoon. Even though they're not labeled, I would hope that more people would realize they're not they're for "camping out" the whole day. There were plenty of open chairs around the park, and I'm afraid it might get worse as the weather gets warmer and the water parks get busier.
Overall, it was your standard water park fare. It was decently satisfying and priced (approximately $13 for the two meals, not including the mug refill), but nothing special. Next time we may try one healthy meal and one not-so-healthy meal, possibly the ribs.
Edit: Yahoo photo gallery
We settled on buying a mug refill sticker and filled our mugs. One of the things that disappoints me about Blizzard Beach is that all of the refill stations don't have iced tea, like they do at Typhoon Lagoon. I settled for Diet Coke and we went about the slides and the pools.
At noon we retired for lunch at the Lottawatta Lodge. This is the second time we've been here, so we were prepared as to what to order. The water parks tend to be easier for me to eat more healthfully at, as the hot dogs and fries don't sound too appetizing, while there are dozens of "bad" things at the main parks that are much more tempting. This time we ordered two things to split, a Southwestern Chicken Salad, and a turkey sandwich with a fruit cup instead of the chips that usually come with it. This was pretty standard fare, nothing too fancy. The salad base was romaine, with a mix of corn, black beans, and carrots on top, and a sliced, breaded chicken breast on top of that. The dressing was thankfully on the side, and was a vinaigrette that didn't really taste remotely "southwestern." Mike noted that it was slightly sweet, and it was pretty disappointing. I like a spicy ranch dressing with my southwestern-style salads, and while that's not very authentic (is there such a thing?), I think it tastes better than a vinaigrette dressing. The chicken breast was a breaded, pre-formed chicken breast, which is unfortunate as it was pre-made and the breading loses any crispness it might have had. We wish that there was a choice between grilled and breaded, but are happy that we at least have the choice of a salad. Overall, the salad is decent. We've had it twice now and probably won't order it again, but it's worth giving it a try.
The turkey sandwich looked delicious, even for a pre-made sandwich. The bread was multigrain, and there were even seeds visible, dispersed throughout the bun. The turkey was deli turkey, and there was an almost ripe tomato and a crisp lettuce leaf also on the sandwich. The first thing we noticed after taking the bun off was that there was no sort of dressing. A honey mustard would have really gone nicely on this sandwich, as it was incredibly dry, even with condiments from the bar. The sandwich ended up being your average turkey sandwich, and I enhanced my half by dipping it in a little malt vinegar.
I am always delighted that I can order a fruit cup instead of fries or chips at the water parks. I believe you can also order a fruit yogurt instead of the fries or chips, but I haven't tried that yet. The fruit cup contained nearly ripe watermelon, cantelope, unripe honeydew, and grapes. It's always good and fresh, and the level of ripeness is not necessarily Disney's fault. I don't think honeydews are completely in season yet.
One improvement that I think the Lodge needed was more covered seating. There was very little covered seating in the immediate area, and I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated in the coming summer months. We found one of the last available covered tables, and it was a relief to get out of the sun. Another issue regarding tables was that the picnic tables around the food stands were not labeled as for dining only as they are at Typhoon Lagoon. Even though they're not labeled, I would hope that more people would realize they're not they're for "camping out" the whole day. There were plenty of open chairs around the park, and I'm afraid it might get worse as the weather gets warmer and the water parks get busier.
Overall, it was your standard water park fare. It was decently satisfying and priced (approximately $13 for the two meals, not including the mug refill), but nothing special. Next time we may try one healthy meal and one not-so-healthy meal, possibly the ribs.
Edit: Yahoo photo gallery
I hope they have replenished the supply of vouchers by the time we are there. I was glad to hear about the fruit cup as I am not a chip person. I hope I don't have too many typos, I'm still on my first cup of coffee!
