BREAKFAST/LUNCH—Bag-o-Lunch
Our plane took off at 9 a.m. (10 am Florida time). I didn’t want to bother to eat at the airport, so I borrowed the idea from Dizneeat and packed a little somethin’ somethin’ for the flight down. I made peanut butter and pineapple-apricot jam sandwiches on these beautiful scali rolls. You can’t see them? Because I forgot to take a picture! UGH! I get much better as the trip goes on, but there is the occasional missed photo op. I also bought some fresh fruit, chips, and picked up two sweet teas from Mickey D’s at the Minneapolis airport. After I took out the sandwiches (about 11 ish, Florida time), I worried that our seatmates might be allergic to peanuts. I went ahead and asked, and they said they were not, but thanks for asking. Then the Delta flight attendants passed out the packets of pretzels, biscotti, or….wait for it…….wait……peanuts!!!! Oh the irony! The sandwiches were delish. I will definitely do this again—bag the first meal for the flight.
Just for disclosure and understanding on what/why we ordered what we did, we were on the
free dining plan. We were staying at Pop Century, which gave us the Quick Service plan. That wasn’t going to work, so we upgraded to the regular
DDP. I did think about upgrading Mikey to the adult plan so he could eat what he wanted (he is adventurous, but not a huge eater), but then I had to upgrade tickets too. Ended up not doing that, and it was the right decision. We did just fine. We did have to modify our dining a bit, like take out Paradiso 37, which is not on the DDP. We had NO problems with the DDP. I had been saying the past few trips that I was done with it—we just don’t eat desserts and like an occasional app. instead of entrée—but it worked out exceptionally well this trip.
DINNER—Mama Melrose’s
Our first dinner was at Mama Melrose’s. I have read such mediocre reviews of it that I worried about it. My last meal here was in 2007, so it had definitely been a while. The parks were pretty empty (t-storms), and so was MM. Can you believe this was the lobby when we entered?
We waited about 10 minutes anyway, but it was a welcome and easy start to the trip. We were seated in the back section of the restaurant. Our server, Maria, came over to ask if we were on the DDP. Then she asked if we planned on going to Fantasmic that evening. We told her we were going to if the weather held out. She wished Mikey happy birthday (he had his button on) and said we got free Fantasmic Dinner Packages. We still used our 2 TS credits, but we got 2 free appetizers and the tickets for special seating. What a great start to the vacay!
Mikey received his birthday hat (see him channeling his inner Gordon Ramsay), and then ordered Granny Smith apples with brown sugar.
I had a wonderfully light salad of spring mix, dried cherries, candied walnuts, and raspberry balsamic vinaigrette. The greens were fresh—no slimy pieces as spring mixes sometimes have; the cherries were really good and the tartness of those paired well with the sweet candied walnuts. The dressing was light and refreshing. It was a HUGE salad. It was on a 12 x 6 ish plate and FILLED. I only at about ½. We each also had one roll with olive oil. They were fine.
Sorry--so dark it was hard to take pics without flash
For our entrees, Mikey surprised me and ordered the chicken parm. I was going to get that, but it is silly for both of us to get the same thing, so I ordered the penne alla vodka. Both were fantastic.
Mikey’s was a small-ish portion (but completely adequate) of crispy chicken coated in an Italian breadcrumb crust. The spaghetti and sauce were great. Maria asked him if he wanted extra cheese. He did and she created a snow mountain of cheese on top. It was funny at the time (he kept saying, “OK!”), but it was a little TOO much parm on top. He scraped a lot of it off. Such a waste.
Before the snow fell.....
My entrée was PERFECT. I was really shocked, frankly. The portion was enormous. It was in a large, deep bowl that looked to be the size of the family pasta at Bucca di Beppo. I think there was a pound of pasta! It was exactly al dente, which I was happy about. I hate overcooked pasta. This one still had resistance. The sauce was creamy and yummy. There were onions and pancetta too. Just wonderful! I was a complete cow and ate over half of it, telling myself to stop. I just couldn’t!
Several CMs sang Happy Birthday to Mikey and gave him a Meatball Cupcake. So cute. The meatball was something akin to a truffle. Too much icing for me, but Mikey loved it.
I was stuffed to the gills with pasta, so I just had a small scoop of spumoni. I ate about 1/3 of it. It was fine—I was just too full to eat any more.
Dinner came to $51.10. I put the appropriate tip on the room charge. The paperwork for the DDP vs. the tip seemed to be a little bit more streamlined this time—it was easier for me to understand. I don’t know why or if they changed it. Just seemed that way. Two table credits down—many more to go!
A surprising 3 Miss Piggy’s for Mama Melrose!
I thought I could do without a car but who am I kidding? As wonderful as Disney transportation is, I'm not ready for 1~1.5 hour for transportation to resort ADRs. Going to the parks with Disney transporation is pretty easy but going to other resorts are too much time cosuming for me. I also don't like crowded bus right after park closing so I need to be somewhat alert/sober for driving. 
(I've heard a lot about it but never been there)
LOL! Seriously, if the line is super long at closing and I've already dilly-dallied my way out of the park, I take a cab--esp from Epcot.....
I will review that too!
Also, DS loves Beef Jerky and it's a must. That's one of the reason why we are renting a car. After delivery fee and few cab fare, it just add up to renting a car.
) again, but it wouldn't let me search at all....
