ToyStoryMom_inRI
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2002
- Messages
- 67
Sorry it has taken me so long to post, but with coming back from vacation a week before Christmas...thing have been a little nutty! 
We had several great meals and used the Connections vouchers several times with great success. For each review I will let you know an overview of what we ate, what vouchers we used and what the value was. I had stomach reduction surgery back in April so for all of the character meals I was allowed to use a Child's voucher with no problem at all!
Day 1: Rainforest Cafe - Animal Kingdom - Used 2 adult and 1 child voucher. Diners were 3 adults and 1 child. This was a GREAT meal to start off our vacation!!! It was a also a huge plus that we could get into the restaurant without entering the park. It was late in the day and I didn't want to pay for an extra day on our hopper just for a few hours.
DRINKS - Diet Coke (only thing we paid for!), Strawberry Banana Shake, Oreo Cookie Shake and a Tropical Shake...all non-alcohol
APPETIZERS - Sampler platter (Awesome!) and Chicken Quesadillas
ENTREES - Surf & Turf (Filet Mignon and a Half of a crab stuffed Lobster with rice and veggies - VERY good! Rasta Pasta - VERY Good! and Dino Chicken Nuggets with Fries - also good.
DESSERT - Volcano! and Bananas Foster (Awesome!!)
Total Bill would have been approx $120. before tax and tip. This was a great meal and an awesome deal!!
Day 2: Donald's Breakfastosaurus - Animal Kingdom - Used 2 adult and 2 child vouchers. The food and service was wonderful. The breakfast casserole was to die for! The character interaction was very good and since it was a VERY rainy morning the restaurant was slow so we had plenty of time with all the characters...except pluto, but that's a story for another time! :-( Another advantage to the terrible downpours that morning was that the carolers that are typically walking throughout the park were in the restaurant going from room to room sining some very fun songs. They were a young group so they were very playful and sang songs like "Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer" and "I Ain't Gettin' Nuttin" for Christmas". It was a blast!
Day 2: Bahama Breeze (offsite restaurant) - This was a meal just my DH and I. My mother went back to the villa with my DS who was pretty tired so I told her that I would bring something back for her. We bought gift cards from Connections (You get $2 back for every $10 card!) The was by far the most fabulous meal we had on vacation!!! The food was to die for, the atmosphere was nice and the staff was simply amazing. Highly recommended if you have a rental car and are looking for something a little different!
DRINKS - 2 House beers (my DH raved about this beer all night and he isn't much of a drinker at all!) and a diet coke
APPETIZERS - Jerk Grilled Shrimp (in a word YUMMM!) and Coconut Battered Onion Rings (in another word...YUMMM!)
ENTREES - DH - Grilled Chicken with Chipolte Pepper sauce with veggies and Jicama Fries. Best Chipolte sauce we have ever tasted...I thought DH was going to lick the sauce off the plate! LOL. I had the Wood Grilled Sea Scallops with Angel Hair Pasta, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes in a Cilantro Pesto (FABULOUS!!!!!) The Scallops were so sweet and the Pesto complimented the dish perfectly!
This was a ton of food at a great price. We used 4 Gift Cards and only spent an additional $20 for the balance and tax and tip. This is a new "Must Do" everytime we are in the area!!
Day 3: early lunch - San Angel Inn - Epcot - Used 1 child and 2 adult vouchers. This is the only meal where we used vouchers and I felt that we didn't get out monies worth. There is only one appetizer on the menu so we were limited there. However, my DH loves this restaurant so it worked out fine.
DRINKS - 3 sodas
APPETIZER - They automatically bring homemade hot chips and salsa to the table and then we orderd the Queso Fundido (VERY good!)
ENTREES - Childs Chicken finger platter, Plato Mexicano and Carne Asada Tampiquena ...All was very good!
DESSERT - 2 Flans (mom and DH) and Vanilla Ice Cream for DS
Overall meal was very good, the value of the vouchers were not as good.
Day 3 - late Dinner (After the 7:00 Spectramagic parade) Liberty Tree Tavern Character Meal - Magic Kingdom. No vouchers used. They were happy to charge me the price of a child so we paid for 2 adults and 2 children. The service was very good, the food was hot and very tasty and the character interaction was very very good! However, this will not be on my short list for dinners next time.
Day 4 - Early Lunch -Mama Melrose's - MGM - There were 5 adults and 1 child and we used 3 adult vouchers. This was a GREAT meal!!! The service was great and the food was so tasty and fresh. Everyone in the party enjoyed this meal!
DRINKS - 2 mixed drinks, 4 sodas, 3 cappuccinos with dessert (also included in the voucher)
APPETIZERS - Calamari, Asiago Crostini with Sun-Dried Tomato spread (YUM!) , and Mozzarella and Tomato with Fresh Basil and Balsamic. We also asked for a side of the Balsamic Reduction sauce because it was absolutely TO DIE FOR!! It even tasted amazing on the Calamari!
ENTREES - Child's Pepperoni Pizza (my DS (4 yo) asked if he could have the pepperoni look like a smiley face on his pizza and they were happy to ablige), Wild Mushroom Risotto, Linguini Fra Diavlo, Vine Ripened Tomato Pizza and Grilled Chicken Pizza (YUMMMM!)
DESSERTS - Tiramisu, Cannoli, Chocolate Torte with Raspberry sauce. I have issues with sugar so I could only have a bite of each, but they were all so wonderful
My sister picked up the balance after the vouchers so I don't know what it was, but I can tell you that she was pleasantly surprised at what it was. She was expecting much more. We will definately go back to this restaurant.
Day 4 - Late Dinner after Fantasmic - Planet Hollywood - Downtown Disney
DRINKS - 5 mixed Drinks, 2 shakes and 1 Diet Coke
APPETIZERS - World Famous Chicken Crunch and Parmesan Spinach Dip (YUMMM!)
ENTREES - 4 Burgers (2 mushroom onion and swiss, 1 bacon cheese and 1 Mexican burger) and 1 Child's Chicken fingers meal. All of the burgers were great. Very fresh, cooked perfectly and very tasty! We all loved it. The service was great and the place was so much fun! Since it was late and a little quite on the top floor where we were sitting my son got to get up and look around a little bit...boy, that goes a long way sometimes!! Balance with tip after using the GC's was $69.99. We will probably go back again.
Day 5 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace - Used 2 adult and 2 child vouchers. Great food, good service and decent character interaction. We loved the breakfast pizza! All the food was hot and fresh. We were a little disappointed in the character interaction. We were there at 10:30 so it wasn't that it was too crowded I guess the characters just weren't feeling perky that day. Oh well. This was our second time there and although the restaurant is beautiful and the food is good, we will probably try something else next time.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Sorry it was so long! If you have any specific questions please let me know!
We had several great meals and used the Connections vouchers several times with great success. For each review I will let you know an overview of what we ate, what vouchers we used and what the value was. I had stomach reduction surgery back in April so for all of the character meals I was allowed to use a Child's voucher with no problem at all! Day 1: Rainforest Cafe - Animal Kingdom - Used 2 adult and 1 child voucher. Diners were 3 adults and 1 child. This was a GREAT meal to start off our vacation!!! It was a also a huge plus that we could get into the restaurant without entering the park. It was late in the day and I didn't want to pay for an extra day on our hopper just for a few hours.
DRINKS - Diet Coke (only thing we paid for!), Strawberry Banana Shake, Oreo Cookie Shake and a Tropical Shake...all non-alcohol
APPETIZERS - Sampler platter (Awesome!) and Chicken Quesadillas
ENTREES - Surf & Turf (Filet Mignon and a Half of a crab stuffed Lobster with rice and veggies - VERY good! Rasta Pasta - VERY Good! and Dino Chicken Nuggets with Fries - also good.
DESSERT - Volcano! and Bananas Foster (Awesome!!)
Total Bill would have been approx $120. before tax and tip. This was a great meal and an awesome deal!!
Day 2: Donald's Breakfastosaurus - Animal Kingdom - Used 2 adult and 2 child vouchers. The food and service was wonderful. The breakfast casserole was to die for! The character interaction was very good and since it was a VERY rainy morning the restaurant was slow so we had plenty of time with all the characters...except pluto, but that's a story for another time! :-( Another advantage to the terrible downpours that morning was that the carolers that are typically walking throughout the park were in the restaurant going from room to room sining some very fun songs. They were a young group so they were very playful and sang songs like "Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer" and "I Ain't Gettin' Nuttin" for Christmas". It was a blast!
Day 2: Bahama Breeze (offsite restaurant) - This was a meal just my DH and I. My mother went back to the villa with my DS who was pretty tired so I told her that I would bring something back for her. We bought gift cards from Connections (You get $2 back for every $10 card!) The was by far the most fabulous meal we had on vacation!!! The food was to die for, the atmosphere was nice and the staff was simply amazing. Highly recommended if you have a rental car and are looking for something a little different!
DRINKS - 2 House beers (my DH raved about this beer all night and he isn't much of a drinker at all!) and a diet coke
APPETIZERS - Jerk Grilled Shrimp (in a word YUMMM!) and Coconut Battered Onion Rings (in another word...YUMMM!)
ENTREES - DH - Grilled Chicken with Chipolte Pepper sauce with veggies and Jicama Fries. Best Chipolte sauce we have ever tasted...I thought DH was going to lick the sauce off the plate! LOL. I had the Wood Grilled Sea Scallops with Angel Hair Pasta, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes in a Cilantro Pesto (FABULOUS!!!!!) The Scallops were so sweet and the Pesto complimented the dish perfectly!
This was a ton of food at a great price. We used 4 Gift Cards and only spent an additional $20 for the balance and tax and tip. This is a new "Must Do" everytime we are in the area!!
Day 3: early lunch - San Angel Inn - Epcot - Used 1 child and 2 adult vouchers. This is the only meal where we used vouchers and I felt that we didn't get out monies worth. There is only one appetizer on the menu so we were limited there. However, my DH loves this restaurant so it worked out fine.
DRINKS - 3 sodas
APPETIZER - They automatically bring homemade hot chips and salsa to the table and then we orderd the Queso Fundido (VERY good!)
ENTREES - Childs Chicken finger platter, Plato Mexicano and Carne Asada Tampiquena ...All was very good!
DESSERT - 2 Flans (mom and DH) and Vanilla Ice Cream for DS
Overall meal was very good, the value of the vouchers were not as good.
Day 3 - late Dinner (After the 7:00 Spectramagic parade) Liberty Tree Tavern Character Meal - Magic Kingdom. No vouchers used. They were happy to charge me the price of a child so we paid for 2 adults and 2 children. The service was very good, the food was hot and very tasty and the character interaction was very very good! However, this will not be on my short list for dinners next time.
Day 4 - Early Lunch -Mama Melrose's - MGM - There were 5 adults and 1 child and we used 3 adult vouchers. This was a GREAT meal!!! The service was great and the food was so tasty and fresh. Everyone in the party enjoyed this meal!
DRINKS - 2 mixed drinks, 4 sodas, 3 cappuccinos with dessert (also included in the voucher)
APPETIZERS - Calamari, Asiago Crostini with Sun-Dried Tomato spread (YUM!) , and Mozzarella and Tomato with Fresh Basil and Balsamic. We also asked for a side of the Balsamic Reduction sauce because it was absolutely TO DIE FOR!! It even tasted amazing on the Calamari!
ENTREES - Child's Pepperoni Pizza (my DS (4 yo) asked if he could have the pepperoni look like a smiley face on his pizza and they were happy to ablige), Wild Mushroom Risotto, Linguini Fra Diavlo, Vine Ripened Tomato Pizza and Grilled Chicken Pizza (YUMMMM!)
DESSERTS - Tiramisu, Cannoli, Chocolate Torte with Raspberry sauce. I have issues with sugar so I could only have a bite of each, but they were all so wonderful
My sister picked up the balance after the vouchers so I don't know what it was, but I can tell you that she was pleasantly surprised at what it was. She was expecting much more. We will definately go back to this restaurant.
Day 4 - Late Dinner after Fantasmic - Planet Hollywood - Downtown Disney
DRINKS - 5 mixed Drinks, 2 shakes and 1 Diet Coke
APPETIZERS - World Famous Chicken Crunch and Parmesan Spinach Dip (YUMMM!)
ENTREES - 4 Burgers (2 mushroom onion and swiss, 1 bacon cheese and 1 Mexican burger) and 1 Child's Chicken fingers meal. All of the burgers were great. Very fresh, cooked perfectly and very tasty! We all loved it. The service was great and the place was so much fun! Since it was late and a little quite on the top floor where we were sitting my son got to get up and look around a little bit...boy, that goes a long way sometimes!! Balance with tip after using the GC's was $69.99. We will probably go back again.
Day 5 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace - Used 2 adult and 2 child vouchers. Great food, good service and decent character interaction. We loved the breakfast pizza! All the food was hot and fresh. We were a little disappointed in the character interaction. We were there at 10:30 so it wasn't that it was too crowded I guess the characters just weren't feeling perky that day. Oh well. This was our second time there and although the restaurant is beautiful and the food is good, we will probably try something else next time.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Sorry it was so long! If you have any specific questions please let me know!
Please explain what these "Vouchers"are. Thanks, Merry Christmas.
As it is now, I just eat lots of leftovers after I go out!
