SWW: The Food is strong with these ones UPDATED 6/24 x2 Min & Bill's, BOG

[StayAwake]

Hello everyone! It's StayAwake- back for dining report number 2.

As a first time Annual Passholder, my thoughts immediately went to how I could use my pass to make it worth the purchase price. That lead to trip #2 of 2014- Star Wars Weekend to celebrate my nephew's birthday.



(Yes, I do own other Disney shirts- I swear! )

Here's a reminder of a few of my favorite Disney things:

Favorite Disney Movie: Mary Poppins
Favorite WDW Park: EPCOT
Favorite Ride: Mad Tea Party
Favorite Show: Muppet Vision 3D

Along for the ride was my 12 year old nephew, who I'll call Bounty Hunter.



Here's the wristband he got from Ray Park that allowed him to be on stage and learn a martial arts routine from Ray during the Visit to the Maul show. A few of his favorites:

Favorite Rides: Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Great Movie Ride
Favorite Night-time show: Illuminations
Newest Disney Obsession: Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

This was a short but action-packed and food-filled trip. I hope you'll join us as we explore the Dark Side of Disney Food. And the Light Side too!

 

[StayAwake]

Here are the reviews coming your way:

May 29
Columbia Harbor House

May 30
Galactic Sci Fi Breakfast
The Force & Dark Side Drink Stands
Jedi Mickey Hollywood & Vine Dinner

May 31
Everything Pop Breakfast
Ackbar Snackbar
Feel the Force Part 1: Parade
50's Prime Time Cafe Lunch
Le Cellier Dinner
Feel the Force Part 2: Fireworks Dessert Party

June 1
Min & Bill's Dockside Diner Lunch
Be Our Guest Dinner

June 2
Everything Pop Breakfast

Closing Thoughts

 

[Dis_Yoda]

So apparently the two of us had very similiar meals as we also did Sci-Fi for breakfast on May 30th & Feel the Force on May 31st.

 

[phabric]

Looking forward to your reviews.

 

[vettegirl]

I can't wait to hear about the SW dining!!

 

[Niki Andiokno]

I'm in. Feel the Force.

 

[The Librarian]

Can't wait to see your reviews!

 

[Aristocath]

You're back for more! I am in.

 

[StayAwake]

So apparently the two of us had very similiar meals as we also did Sci-Fi for breakfast on May 30th & Feel the Force on May 31st.

How cool! It's likely our paths crossed. Being that it was our first attempt at SWW, it was all I could do to figure out our plan, but I wish I had tried harder to do a few DisMeets.

Looking forward to your reviews.

Thank you for joining in!

I can't wait to hear about the SW dining!!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the SW themed dining.

I'm in. Feel the Force.

Thanks for joining! May the Force be with you.

Can't wait to see your reviews!

Thanks for joining in!

You're back for more! I am in.

I am back- with more missed photo ops and blurry pictures. This dining review thing is a bit addictive.

 

[StayAwake]

I didn't plan an ADR for our arrival day, and I was so glad I had made that decision. I've gotten spoiled on my last 2 Disney trips and practically walked on the Magical Express- this trip we had a 20 minute wait. Then after checking into Pop Century, we watched buses go by for every other park and again waited 30 minutes. By this time I had a cranky Bounty Hunter on my hands, and so I allowed him to choose where we had dinner.

For those of you who read my last dining report, my first experience at Columbia Harbor House had been a bit disappointing. I was happy to give a different dish a try and see if I would be more impressed.



On the left, the Fried Fish & Fries. (Bounty Hunter's) On the right, the Fried Shrimp & Fries. (Mine) We both chose the frozen lemonade, and glasses of ice water to put into our water bottles.

And the verdict? The Force was with us. Bounty Hunter cleaned his plate. I was impressed that I got 10 good sized shrimp under that mountain of fries, and the cole slaw was lightly dressed and crunchy. The frozen lemonade hit the spot. No TiW discount, but I felt like we got good sized portions for our money, and I'm better starting to understand why people rave about this place.

We capped off our delightful meal with rides on Bounty Hunter's favorite ride: BTMRR and our first time on 7DMT, courtesy of our FP+. We then headed down Main Street to watch Wishes and then haul ourselves to catch the bus since we had a 3:30 am wake-up call.

 

[akayek31]

Just finished your other DR. I too love TiW instead of the DDP. It is so much cheaper. Can't wait for more.

 

[StayAwake]

Just finished your other DR. I too love TiW instead of the DDP. It is so much cheaper. Can't wait for more.

Thanks for joining over here! It really is exciting that people are interested enough to come back for more.

And the SWW trip not withstanding, I really have loved TiW. I love the flexibility of it. Now if they could integrate it into the Magic Band, that would be even better!

 

[DaisyNY]

Looking forward to hearing more about the Star Wars dining events!!!

 

[StayAwake]

After our 3:30 am wake-up call, we arrived via cab at Hollywood Studios at 4:10, and joined the celebrity autograph line for Ray Park (Darth Maul). Bounty Hunter was annoyed at the wait (even though this was his idea!) but placated by watching movies on my phone while I chatted with others in the line. Around 6:30 am CMs came down the line and handed out the wrist-bands, and then around 7 am we were given our paper fast passes with our return time for our autograph.

Bounty Hunter, having decided that he was too old for Jedi Training Academy, determined that we would go to TSMM after rope drop. After riding a few rides, it was time for breakfast, before we headed back to the room for a nap!


The Sci Fi Drive In was updated as the Star Wars Galactic Dine-In Breakfast. The experience started off with a Photopass photo with Darth Vader and Boba Fett. However, we were not allowed to have more than 1 photo here, so I since I don't have one with just me in it, I won't be posting it. Have a different Darth Vader photo instead:



Here are a few menu pics - the lighting made it quite difficult:





We started off with the assorted pastries:


I thought the chocolate muffins were the best of the options. They were very moist and delicious. The Darth Vader pastries were filled with a flavored cream, but the cream made the pastry soggy instead of flakey. And the circular ones didn't have a ton of flavor.



Our beverages came. I ordered some of the Blue Milk, as well as some juice. Bounty Hunter wasn't as brave and just had juice. The Blue Milk was interesting, but had more of a coconut taste than either blueberry or raspberry.



Greek yogurt parfait on the left was mine, and the fresh fruit cup on the right was Bounty Hunter's. The yogurt was a combination of blueberry and vanilla, topped with granola. This was fine. Bounty Hunter liked that the fruit wasn't just a mix of melon, but had pineapple & berries in it as well. We both loved our honeydew Yoda topper.


While seated, the roaming characters came around for photos & autographs. This included Stormtroopers, Greedo the Bounty Hunter, and Jawas. I had picked up a few items at the dollar store before the trip, and a Star Wars coloring books with crayons in a silver recloseable package was traded for


Some Yoda money. We both thought this was pretty cool, and an awesome trade.

Now to the entrees: Bounty Hunter is a developing foodie, and ordered the Dune Sea: House smoked salmon scrambled eggs, wild mushroom potato hash, and multigrain toast with goat cheese butter.


He loved the eggs with salmon and remarked that goat cheese (something he'd never had before) was good- just like a stronger version of cream cheese. He's not a big mushroom fan, and barely touched his potatoes.

I ordered the Ackbar Suprise: Paprika dusted shrimp pan seared and served with cheesy grits.



This came with 6 shrimp and a large bowl of the grits. I love grits, and these were extra cheesy and delicious. They also had tomato pieces in them, and the tomatoes weren't fully cooked, which added an odd element to the dish. I would have liked it more without the tomatoes.



To finish the meal we were each given a small dish of Strawberry Surprise. The little balls were filled with Strawberry juice that burst open on your tongue. This was sweet, and a little strange to eat dessert with breakfast, but lots of fun and something very unique.

At 47.99 per Disney adult, with no Tables in Wonderland discount available, this was an expensive breakfast. Did I think this was a good value? YES. I thought the food quality was better than Sci-Fi has at lunch, although we both chose somewhat exotic options. I know those eating a more traditional breakfast may not have thought the price worth it. The chance to meet all of these characters without standing in long hot lines was worth quite a bit to me. And the Star-Wars themed clips shown on the movie screen were tons of fun and really enhanced the experience.

I hope Disney considers doing this more frequently than just during Star Wars weekend times, because it was fun to have a character breakfast option for boys. And in the future, accept the Tables in Wonderland discount!!! If CRT can do it, you can too!

 

[Mariep26]

Sounds like so much fun!! Thanks for posting your review.. I look forward to reading more!

 

[superme80]

I'm in ! I loved your last report.

 

[akayek31]

I never thought of the MagicBand idea. That would be so convenient. My daughter and her boyfriend are paying their own way in October and still not sure how we will do the TS meals we have set up. We love Sci-Fi. I can't get my "kids" (they are grown almost) to not request this ADR every trip. Trying to find something new this time.

 

[DaisyNY]

Wow...I'm amazed that you got Bounty Hunter up that early! Sounds like a great breakfast!

 

[StayAwake]

Sounds like so much fun!! Thanks for posting your review.. I look forward to reading more!

It really was a ton of fun. Thanks for reading along!

I'm in ! I loved your last report.

Woohoo! Welcome back.

I never thought of the MagicBand idea. That would be so convenient. My daughter and her boyfriend are paying their own way in October and still not sure how we will do the TS meals we have set up. We love Sci-Fi. I can't get my "kids" (they are grown almost) to not request this ADR every trip. Trying to find something new this time.

I know- wouldn't it be great if you could get your AP discount & TiW right on your magic band? No more carrying all the cards around all the time. Maybe someday.
I don't know if you are staying in a Disney resort in October, but I know people have mentioned that they have the TiW cardholder charge the meal to the room, and then later have the room charges split among various members of their party. I'm planning to do Food & Wine with a friend in November and we're staying offsite, so my plan is to have him pay for the room & I'll pay for the food using the TiW discount, and then we'll make each other whole at the end if there's a difference.
The theming at Sci-Fi is so great that it's worth it, even if the food can be a little lackluster.

Wow...I'm amazed that you got Bounty Hunter up that early! Sounds like a great breakfast!

Surprisingly, he didn't complain too much. Getting the celebrity autographs was his idea, and so I told him that I was up for it as long as he would agree to go back to the room and sleep during the day. He thinks he's far too old for naps, so that was a pretty major concession on his part. But he did really well and fell asleep much faster in the middle of the day than I did!

Of the two themed Star Wars meals, this breakfast was my favorite of the two.

 

[StayAwake]

We headed back to the Studios and arrived around 2 for our 2:20 autograph window with Ray Park. We were still pretty full from lunch, so had grabbed a fruit snack in our room before heading out, but the heat and humidity had increased notably since our morning adventures. Echo Lake isn't the shadiest of places, so I decided it would be a good time for a cold drink. Right outside of 50's Prime Time Cafe was one of the specialty drink stands.

I was originally going to get The Dark Side for us, since we were going to be meeting Ray Park, but realized that this stand didn't have the Death Star Glow Cubes, only lightsabers, so I switched and got us each The Force- alcoholic for me & without alcohol for Bounty Hunter.



The Alcoholic Version is Grey Goose Vodka, Chambord & Wildberry Lemonade for $13.75. The non-alcoholic version was just wildberry lemonade for $8.19. Both were served with a glowing lightsaber.

While $20+ for two drinks was pricy, we did have a great time fighting battles with the glowing lightsabers while waiting in line. They did have the ability to be turned off and have a new battery put in them, so the repeat use value was pretty high, and made an easily portable souvenir.

Bounty Hunter liked his a lot, although I'm not sure how much of that was that it was super cold. Mine had a strong vodka taste, which was fine with me, and wasn't as sweet as I was expecting, given the Chambord.

A review of the drink stands with lots more pictures can be found on the Disney Food Blog.