Snacks, Sips & Spooks in October 2012... and a Mexican Fantasy cruise in June 2013!

[disneybarbie]

Hi Emma! I was just doing a quick peak at my subscriptions and thought I'd see if you had a TR for your recent trip. I'm so sorry you won't be able to finish it, although I completely understand! As fun as TRs are, they can certainly be time consuming and it is hard when life gets in the way! I'm loving the food reviews, though! Can't believe how quickly your next trip is approaching!

Hi Courtney! Great to hear from you, hope all is going well with you & the baby

Thanks for reading the food reviews, I'm going to try writing up a few of the other new things we did - like the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot

Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

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Teppan Edo – Dinner

A few days into the trip, we had a 'rest day' – no theme park planned! It was nice to have a relaxing day, we went to the Premium Outlets for some shopping in the morning and spent some time around the pool at our vacation home.

Later in the afternoon, we headed out and got to Epcot for 5pm – our ADR wasn't until 7, but it gave us some time to wander around World Showcase and enjoy some of the pavilions.

We arrived just after the afternoon thunderstorm, the park felt quieter and we could tell it had rained hard!

First stop was the UK pavilion...

Then over the bridge to France, we saw Marie standing on her own waiting for photos!

We got some drinks at the champagne stand – I had one of the Grand Marnier slushies mmmm!

Then to Morocco...

At Japan, we went into the Mitsukoshi store as the other girls were going to do the Pick-a-Pearl..

Then to Italy –

It was getting quite warm again, so I suggested we try out the new Tutto Gusto wine bar. It was so nice in there! Fairly quiet as it's out the way and still quite new. We had a fantastic CM called David who served us, he even let the men try out all of the Italian beers before they ordered.

The lights were made from empty wine bottles...

I'd definitely like to go to Tutto Gusto again, they had a small food menu and apparently you can also order anything from the Tutto Italia menu too!

We wandered back towards Japan...

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[disneybarbie]

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There is now a check-in desk for Teppan Edo and Tokyo Dining on the ground floor, before you go up the staircase to the restaurants – I checked-in there and was handed a buzzer, we waited about 10 minutes for a table.

We were seated on a table of just our party which was nice.

I had a green tea martini to drink – I tried one of these when my sister and I ate here a few years ago and really like it!

We all had appetisers to begin the meal – most had sushi or tempura, I chose the 'salmon sensation' – raw tuna & salmon, wasabi & avocado, really liked it.

Then our chef came to the table and began cooking our main meals – we had ordered chicken, beef, shrimp and scallops. The cooking show was very entertaining!

We were served three sauces to compliment the food – one was soy, another was honey, and the third was called 'yum yum' sauce (like a white/bread sauce)!

The vegetables and noodles were served first, and soon after our meat/seafood was ready too..

'Space Mountain'

We always enjoy eating at Teppan Edo, I'd like to try Tokyo Dining on a future trip too.

We finished eating at 8.30pm, perfect timing to find a spot to watch Illuminations! The park wasn't too busy at all so we were able to stand right up at the wall in Morocco...

Video I took (love the music played before Illuminations! I've found some of the tracks recently on Amazon)

Pre-Illuminations Video

And the wonderful fireworks show...

It seemed strange after the show to walk to the park exit, rather than going 'home' to the Boardwalk via the International Gateway!

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[Leshaface]

Hi Emma and welcome back!

Is it due to time constraints that you won't be able to do a full on TR because of your next trip in a few weeks?? I saw you had updated your photos on FB but hadn't looked through them yet because I was waiting to come on here to read about it...

I cannot wait to try that wine bar in Italy! We wine taste all the time here in CA so it will be fun to check this out. Something i'm sure my mom will love!! Are there small tables in there to sit at, or is it just a long bar with chairs to sit at??

 

[khertz]

Disappointed you won't be doing an August TR, but totally understandable. Sometimes life just gets in the way! Enjoyed your dining reviews though.

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Emma and welcome back!

Is it due to time constraints that you won't be able to do a full on TR because of your next trip in a few weeks?? I saw you had updated your photos on FB but hadn't looked through them yet because I was waiting to come on here to read about it...

I cannot wait to try that wine bar in Italy! We wine taste all the time here in CA so it will be fun to check this out. Something i'm sure my mom will love!! Are there small tables in there to sit at, or is it just a long bar with chairs to sit at??

Hi Lesha! I'll send you a PM about the TR... the pictures on facebook are mostly 'scenic' shots I took while we were there

Tutto Gusto was so lovely! I hope we get to go back this October, we're meeting my Mum & Dad at the end of the week before going to stay with them in Bradenton - it would be a nice place to go with them! There are little tables, bar stools, comfy chairs/sofas in there, really cosy and pretty quiet as I guess a lot of people don't know about it yet?

Disappointed you won't be doing an August TR, but totally understandable. Sometimes life just gets in the way! Enjoyed your dining reviews though.

Hi! Thanks for reading the dining reviews, I hope to write up a few more this weekend



Emma x

 

[Leshaface]

Hi Lesha! I'll send you a PM about the TR... the pictures on facebook are mostly 'scenic' shots I took while we were there

Tutto Gusto was so lovely! I hope we get to go back this October, we're meeting my Mum & Dad at the end of the week before going to stay with them in Bradenton - it would be a nice place to go with them! There are little tables, bar stools, comfy chairs/sofas in there, really cosy and pretty quiet as I guess a lot of people don't know about it yet?

Just replied

So as soon as I posted that reply, I went in search for a menu for the Tutto Gusto Bar and oh my gosh, DH was SO excited about this! He couldn't believe that he passed up the menu on allears, since he's the one that's been doing the dining planning. So thank you SO MUCH for talking about this place!

 

[disneybarbie]

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So as soon as I posted that reply, I went in search for a menu for the Tutto Gusto Bar and oh my gosh, DH was SO excited about this! He couldn't believe that he passed up the menu on allears, since he's the one that's been doing the dining planning. So thank you SO MUCH for talking about this place!

Really hope you enjoy Tutto Gusto Lesha! I think it's great that Disney is adding these little lounges to World Showcase - I've not been to Cava Del Tequila in the Mexico Pavilion yet but that seems to have a big fan following

Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

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Sanaa – Dinner

This was a restaurant we ate at on our last trip with the family in 2009. I actually booked it the first time as a second choice (it hadn't even opened when I made the ADR!) but it was one of the best meals we had of the trip – so everyone was keen to return there this year.
DH & I also stayed at Kidani Village for the first night of our honeymoon, so it was lovely to return to the beautiful resort.

We arrived at the resort at 6pm, 40 minutes before our reservation which gave us plenty of time to go out to the viewing areas outside...

We decided to get a drink at the bar that is just inside the restaurant...

I tried a super berry martini, others had Safari beers and white sangria

We were served by a fantastic CM here – she was really talkative and for no charge added a glowing Tinkerbell to one of the sodas! After we'd be sat in the bar for a while, she asked us if we'd checked in for the restaurant – I said we hadn't yet – so she went to the desk for us and returned with the buzzer!

Soon it was time to be seated – this was one of the restaurants that the WDW Dining website said we may be seated at more than one table, but we had no trouble at all and had a fantastic table right by one of the large windows.

Rather than appetisers, we shared two of the African breads & dips – usually you have to choose a few of the dips from a selection – but our server (who was also really excellent!) brought us out all nine to try.

(We also really liked the candle holders on the tables here! I'll have to see if they sell them in Animal Kingdom next month lol)

For my main course, I had 'sustainable fish of the day' which was salmon, served with scallops and a shrimp broth.

It was really delicious, most of the family ordered the tandoori entree which is a choice of two curry dishes and a rice dish – served in three white bowls on a tray. The food and service were excellent again, it's such a unique setting for a restaurant. I would definitely eat here on future trips, and also looking forward to trying Jiko on our next vacation (I've not eaten there since 2002!).

A giraffe that stopped by during our meal..

This bird spent a lot of time outside our window!

When making the reservation, I had added a celebration for two members of the family but hadn't really thought about it. Then, at the end of the meal, our server brought out two glasses of champagne for them! They were so surprised and it was a really nice moment.

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[disneybarbie]

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Paradiso 37

After a busy day at the Magic Kingdom, the family wanted to visit Downtown Disney for some shopping before heading home. About 4pm, we decided to stop for a drink – so I suggested we walk around to Pleasure Island/West Side to one of the restaurants. We decided on Paradiso 37, it wasn't busy and our server (Joshua) didn't mind that we just wanted a drink (...to start with!).

I had a white sangria that was really light and refreshing.

We sat there for nearly an hour, it was nice to be off our feet for a little while! We started to discuss what to have for dinner, there was some food back at the villa that we could eat – so we decided to get a few appetisers at Paradiso 37, then could snack later if anyone was still hungry.

I ate here a few years ago with my sister and really enjoyed the food – and once again it was delicious! We ordered about six dishes to share – chorizo & beef skewers, chicken and beef quesadillas, enchiladas, P37 Nachos & a Mexican dipping trio.

We all agreed it was great food – just enough to eat. It was nice to do something a bit spontaneous, also my Tables in Wonderland card worked here so we got 20% off.

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[Sweet Pea UK]

Hi Emma

I am finally caught up with your dining reviews. I don't know where the weeks/months are going this year. I started a TR for last years trip somewhere - I really need to dig it out and continue with it!! Work has been manic!

It is onloy 3 weeks today to our trip so your's must be even closer. I was going to check with you whether we overlapped on any parks etc to see if we could grab a drink or something - be nice to meet up.

We are there from 12th October to 27th and the plans for the first few days are: (I think you travel away from Orlando on about the 17th so I've only gone up to then)
Saturday 13th Magic Kingdown Day - Rainforest Cafe/Downtown Disney evening
Sunday 14th - Seaworld Day - Tony Romas evening
Monday 15th - Typhoon Lagoon Day (break in afternoon) Chef Mickeys at 6:40 and then MK for fireworks etc
Tuesday 16th - Busch Gardens Day - Turf Club (SSR) evening
Wednesday 17th - Animal Kingdom Day - Ragland Road/Downtown Disney evening

Let me know if anything is "doable"

Sara xxx

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Emma

I am finally caught up with your dining reviews. I don't know where the weeks/months are going this year. I started a TR for last years trip somewhere - I really need to dig it out and continue with it!! Work has been manic!

It is onloy 3 weeks today to our trip so your's must be even closer. I was going to check with you whether we overlapped on any parks etc to see if we could grab a drink or something - be nice to meet up.

We are there from 12th October to 27th and the plans for the first few days are: (I think you travel away from Orlando on about the 17th so I've only gone up to then)
Saturday 13th Magic Kingdown Day - Rainforest Cafe/Downtown Disney evening
Sunday 14th - Seaworld Day - Tony Romas evening
Monday 15th - Typhoon Lagoon Day (break in afternoon) Chef Mickeys at 6:40 and then MK for fireworks etc
Tuesday 16th - Busch Gardens Day - Turf Club (SSR) evening
Wednesday 17th - Animal Kingdom Day - Ragland Road/Downtown Disney evening

Let me know if anything is "doable"

Sara xxx

Hi Sara!

Yes October trip is coming up so quickly for us now... 17 days to go, and 11 days of work . I know my colleagues/friends think I'm crazy going to 'the same place' twice in 3 months but we are so looking forward to this next holiday... can't beat staying onsite and taking the parks at a bit of a slower pace

On the 13th, we have our Wild Africa Trek booked (at 8am, it's about 3 hours I think) - I'm not sure where we'll head after that but I'll try be on facebook to keep in touch with you... Sunday we're heading over to Tampa to stay with my parents for a few days - sorry our trips don't overlap a little more

Btw have you noticed the park hours have been extended a little in October? I read it on Touring Plans blog yesterday... some 8am openings at Magic Kingdom, and two performances of MSEP and Fantasmic some evenings!




Emma x

 

[Leshaface]

sigh, I really wish we could try Sanaa. I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't find anything here that she would like, since she's definitely not an adventurous eater, but i'm glad the service here was good!

Oooh yay Jiko next month?! Can't wait to hear about that!

 

[disneybarbie]

sigh, I really wish we could try Sanaa. I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't find anything here that she would like, since she's definitely not an adventurous eater, but i'm glad the service here was good!

Oooh yay Jiko next month?! Can't wait to hear about that!

Hi Lesha, hope you get to try Sanaa on a future trip - it's such a beautiful setting as well as the delicious food!

I keep re-reading the menus of our ADRs for October - we only have four meals booked but so excited to try these restaurants!

 

[disneybarbie]

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Les Chefs de France – Lunch

This was somewhere new for all of us – I'm not quite sure how I've never eaten here at it's such an Epcot 'classic'! All of the family like French food so it seemed a good place to try.

After a fun morning in Future World (and the Behind the Seeds tour – will write about that soon!), we wandered over to the France pavilion for our lunch at 1pm. We waited less than a minute after checking in to be seated. I really liked the setting and it reminded DH and I of a restaurant we went to Paris on our first vacation together (over seven years ago now!).

Most of us ordered from the prix fixe menu – three courses for about $25.

To start, I had the French onion soup – this was delicious, I really liked the toasted bread and cheese on top of it.

The bread served was warm baguettes in white paper bags – thought this was a really nice touch...

I'd heard that there is sometimes a rat in this restaurant but when we first arrived, I couldn't see him anywhere! (It's actually quite a hard restaurant to look around in as there are a lot of mirrors!) - then, just before our entrees were served... we saw Remy!!

It was so cute – the 'waitress' was actually talking to him and he was responding (in squeaks).


For my main dish I had the quiche lorraine with a salad.

It was served warm and much more flavourful than ones they sell in the supermarket here lol.


Most of the family had the croque monsieur (toasted cheese & ham sandwiches) and we all agreed the food was great.

I was pretty full up by this point, but couldn't say no to dessert! We were able to pick anything on the menu as part of our lunch – I went for a strawberry cake with raspberry sorbet, it wasn't too heavy and a nice way to finish the meal.

DH had his all-time favourite dessert – crème brulee.. others had that or profiteroles.

He enjoyed it, but I think the best version he's ever had is still at the Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios


I would like to return to Les Chefs for dinner one time, and also try the new Bistro de Paris when it reopens.

As we left, there were the street entertainers who balance on top of chairs, tables & champagne bottles!

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[disneybarbie]

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Big River Grille

One evening we decided to drive over to the Boardwalk for a walk around and find somewhere for dinner –

the Big River Grille was a good choice as they only take walk-ups, and the family loved it there on our last trip together; it was like our local 'pub' as we were staying at the Yacht Club across the lake!

We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, but there were some seats near the bar for us to sit at. We got some drinks, most of the family got the 'flyer' beer which is one that they brew onsite there.

We shared two plates of nachos to start with – one chicken and one beef.

For main course I had meatloaf – the only other place I've had this was at the 50's Prime Time Cafe (it's not a very common dish in England), and we've tried to recreate it using the WDW cook book recipe.

Again it was nice eat somewhere different that we hadn't booked – plus I loved being back at the Boardwalk, my DVC 'home'! A lot of the family also mentioned that it made them miss staying at a Disney resort once we got back to the Epcot resort area – so easy to walk to the Studios too

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[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hi Emma! Great reviews! I was so happy to see you had one for Paradiso 37. I just made a reservation there for our upcoming trip but I really hadn't heard to much about it. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

 

[disneybarbie]

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California Grill and a Wishes Fireworks Cruise

This was a surprise evening and my in-laws didn't know what we had booked

It was DH's turn to drive that evening too, so they really had no idea where we were heading as we drove into WDW... first they guessed the Yacht or Beach Club, so were confused when we pulled up at the Contemporary Resort!

As we were parking, we noticed loads of groups dressed in similar outfits of costumes – turned out there was a Tupperware convention happening at the resort!

Once inside the resort, we went up the escalator – I couldn't quite remember where the check-in desk was for the California Grill, but luckily nearly everyone needed the restroom – so while they went there, DH & I located the desk! It meant that we kept the restaurant a surprise right up until we had to get in the VIP elevator up to the 15th floor...

We were given a buzzer and ordered some drinks at the bar – the girls shared a bottle of wine (I noticed afterwards that we'd picked one of the only bottles that wasn't from California, whoops!)

The men tried a beer from a local Orlando brewery and said it was really nice.


Soon we were seated, the table had been covered in Mickey confetti as I'd added a celebration to our reservation...

Beautiful views out of the windows...

All the chefs busy in the kitchen...

Our server was called Topher and was really excellent – he joked around with us a lot and was so attentive.

DH and I shared the dragon roll sushi platter to start – we both love sushi and this was excellent – especially the presentation!

Between courses, the family went out to the two observation areas to take photos of WDW – it really is a beautiful location.

Entrees were fantastic – I had scallops...

Others had fish dishes (I think haddock and grouper...)

And the fillet steak was 'incredible'!

This was one of the only restaurants I think nearly all of us had a dessert – I had a banana and caramel dish...

Key Lime Pie...

Chocolate Sampler....

I think we picked a perfect venue for our surprise meal – my in-laws thought it was by far the best meal of our entire trip! They said they wouldn't look at the Contemporary in the same way again, as they hadn't realised such a luxurious restaurant was right up on the top floor.

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[disneybarbie]

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We hadn't actually decided when to tell the parents about the fireworks cruise, I suggested during dinner – but the others wanted to leave it until we were almost leaving the resort! So we did...

As we got to the lobby, and were heading to the car – I said “can I just go out the back and take some photos?” - no one seemed to mind... so we walked out to the pool/marina area - and just then, it started to rain really heavily!!

We waited a few minutes, and finally said “wouldn't it be nice to get a boat to see the fireworks?”

I put on my poncho and ran across to the marina to check-in and pay – we were actually the only pontoon boat booked that evening, I met our captain (Rex) – and saw a CM from private dining putting the beverages onboard our boat (we'd ordered a bottle of wine and some Bud Lights; there are sodas and snacks included already).
In the meantime, the family had headed to the gift shop to buy ponchos!

The cruises still take place if it's raining, but can be cancelled if there's lightning in the area – I was on edge for the first part of our cruise in case a storm started – but we were so lucky, loads of rain – but no storm!

We sailed around Bay Lake...

And then across the aquaduct to the Seven Seas Lagoon. Our captain was so knowledgeable about Disney – he was ex-military and had hurt his back; his doctor recommended that he start doing some physical activity to help it – so he worked at WDW in the evenings on the boats.

We pulled up in front of Magic Kingdom at 9pm, ready for Wishes – the rain had eased off so we were able to take our hoods down, but still had to wear the ponchos!

It's hard to take good photos as the boat is moving – but here are a few...

This was one of my favourite moments of the whole trip, the evening had gone so well and despite the rain everyone seemed to be having a really great time.


After the fireworks, we sailed towards the Grand Floridian, and stopped a while to watch the Electrical Water Pageant...

We sailed back to Bay Lake, and Rex pointed out River Country and Discovery Island.

We got back to the Contemporary about 9.45pm – it had been a really great night.


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[disneybarbie]

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Restaurant Akershus – Dinner

This was the last dinner of our trip, and was chosen by the youngest member of our group . Obviously the focus here is the princesses – but I was interested to try some Norwegian food, and see how the buffet/family style service worked.

It had been a rainy afternoon, but had started to clear up by the time we got to Epcot.

There was a short line to check-in at Akershus, then we waited about 15 minutes for our name to be called... then we had to join another line to meet Belle! This was by far the busiest restaurant we dined at and it was clear to see it's a popular place for families with little princesses.

We got a great picture altogether with Belle, and then were seated near a window.

Our server explained the appetiser buffet to us, and then took our entree order.

We all really enjoyed the buffet, there was lots to choose from and especially shellfish and fish that we all like.

The main dishes were a bit more hit & miss – I really liked the salmon...

But others said that there meals weren't warm or were too salty. We'd had quite a gap between appetisers and entrees and I wonder if the servers had kept our meals back while the princesses came to our table (we met Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White & Ariel).


The sharing desserts were tasty – rice pudding, chocolate cake and a cream-filled pastry - we got two platters for our table ...

The restaurant was also quite cold with air-conditioning which a few of the group didn't like – so overall it wasn't the best experience for them... although the main purpose had really been to meet the princesses, and they were all wonderful!

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