Thanksgiving '08 (Nov 22 - 28) w/ pictures

[kyirish25]

Cast:
Me (34) - loves Disney and is the planner of the group. I spent many hours reading dining reviews and was ready to order before I ever sat down.
DH (33) - 90% of vacation is about the food
DS (6) - has a peanut and tree nut allergy. Chicken, hot dog and fries are staple food items.
FIL (59) - will eat anything you put in front of him
MIL (58) - our picky eater aside from DS. FIL always eats 2/3 of her meals as well

Background:
This will be my 1st dining report. I figured if nothing else folks like to look at the pictures of delicious food so why not give it a try.

DS has a severe peanut and tree nut allergy. You will notice at most places that the bread is missing and dessert is skipped. We avoid nuts at the entire table in order to ensure no cross-contamination. Our only issue this time were the Mickey waffles. Some places the chef would say they were fine to eat and then others would say the batter was prepared in the bakery so we should avoid because of cross-contamination.

Dining List
Casey's Corner
Contempo Cafe - breakfast
Cosmic Ray's
Citrico's
T-Rex
Todd English's bluezoo
Pizza Planet
Cinderella's Royal Table - dinner
Tusker House - breakfast
Contempo Cafe - lunch
Brown Derby
Whispering Canyon - breakfast
Chef Mickey's - Thanksgiving dinner
'Ohana - breakfast
Chefs de France

 

[kyirish25]

Casey’s Corner
All Beef 1/4 lb. Hot Dog Meal - served with apple slaw or french fries

We all ordered the hot dog meal and fries. This is a traditional first meal on our arrival day as it sets the mood for a week of fun.

Ice Cream Treats
Itzakadoozie

Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich

 

[MickeyNicki]

Your son is a cutie pie!

 

[kyirish25]

Contempo Cafe
Breakfast
We were really impressed with the new Contempo Cafe. We ate breakfast here several mornings and always found the food hot and fresh.

Adult Breakfast Platter – scrambled eggs, bacon, turkey sausage, breakfast potatoes and biscuit

Grilled Ham, Egg and Cheddar Sandwich

Waffles - topped with bananas and salted caramel

French Toast with bacon

 

[kyirish25]

Your son is a cutie pie!

Thank you!

 

[AlwaysGoofy]

This is looking great so far. Thanks for sharing.

 

[noahdove]

Breakfast looks yummy And to think I usually eat my cheerios

 

[kyirish25]

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café
This is your standard counter service of burgers and fries. The toppings bar is nice and always kept clean. We ate at prime lunchtime which we usually don't do but we were still able to get a table without a problem even though the wait to order was quite long.

Bacon Double Cheeseburger with Fries

Chili Cheese Dog

Kid’s Chicken Nugget Meal – with fries, grapes and drink

 

[kyirish25]

Citrico’s
This has been our favorite restaurant for the last few years at Disney. The menu changes with the seasons and offers something new each time. We were once again very impressed with our meals and also our service.

Bottle Erocia Riesling

Appetizers
Sauteed Shrimp – strascinati pasta, lemon, white wine, tomatoes and feta cheese

Gateau of Crab – lump crab, orange fennel cream and tomato fennel slaw

Arancini-Crispy Risotto – Italian sausage, Quattro formaggi and white truffle aioli

Truffled Potato Soup – Idaho russets, chive crème fraiche and crispy sweetbreads

Kids Romaine Salad – with Ranch dressing

Entrees
Grilled Swordfish – pappardelle pasta al olio with crushed olives, black olive oil and basil coulis

Bone-In Ribeye – wood-roasted Spanish onions, marble potatoes, lemon-rosemary butter and veal glace de viande

Roast Chicken Breast – Tanglewood Farms chicken with orecchiette pasta, parmesan cream, prosciutto di parma and fresh English peas

Braised Veal Shank – carrot-potato puree, roasted vegetables and toasted citrus gremolata

Kids Grilled Chicken Breast – mashed potatoes and broccolini

The nice presented plate had already been taken down to just the chicken breast before I got a picture.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Thank you. I appreciate the time you are taking to do reviews for us.

We ate at Cosmic Ray's last time and will be going back this time as well. I love the atmosphere for some reason. Nice and wide open. Also, there are lots of cheap options.

I'm looking forward to your reviews of bluezoo and Chefs de France, as they are on our list to try on future visits.

Also, we will be eating lunch at Tusker House. I know that you had breakfast there and not lunch but I'm curious about the atmosphere.

 

[kyirish25]

T-Rex
We were impressed with the new T-Rex restaurant. We went in thinking same food as Rainforest with different names and big dinosaurs for the decor. The food was much better than Rainforest as was the quality of service. We arrived shortly after opening at 11:15am and were seated without a wait. The food arrived fresh and quickly, drinks remained refilled and the check arrived at the end of the meal. All of these are things we have never experienced at Rainforest Cafe. We will definately return to T-Rex on future vacations.

Supersaurus Sampler – Spinach and pepper jack queso with tortilla chips, Brachiosaurus brushetta, T-rexadillas and onion rings.

Layers of Earth Lasagna – fresh pasta layered with homemade tomato and meat sauce, Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese, baked to perfection.

Paleonzoic Chicken Sandwich – fried pizza dough with grilled chicken, lettuce, bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado, tomato and lemon aioli.

Cretaceous Chicken Fried Steak – breaded sirloin steak, fried golden brown and served with country gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables.

Jurassic Chicken Tidbits – dinosaur-shaped chicken with waffle fries.

 

[kyirish25]

Todd English's bluezoo
I was looking very forward to eating at bluezoo based upon the dining reviews and pictures I could find here at the DIS. I was slightly concerned about everyone else as I am the seafood lover of the family but after looking closely at the menu I saw there were options for everyone.

Appetizers
Garlic Roasted Jumbo Shrimp – creamy polenta, fennel butter.

Clam Chowder – light and brothy with salt cured bacon and house-made oyster crackers.

Entrees
Bacon Wrapped Tuna – herb silky potato, garlic spinach, mushroom vinaigrette.

Cast Iron Half Chicken – ‘panzanella’ bread pudding, melted tomato, parmesan.

Flame Grilled Tenderloin of Beef Filet – horseradish fingerling potatoes, charred frisee salad, balsamic veal jus.

2lb. Maine “Cantonese” Lobster – fried and tossed in sticky soy glaze.

Kid’s Chargrilled Breast of Chicken – steamed vegetable, choice of fries or mashed potatoes.

Sides
Lobster Stuffed Cheddar Potato

Crab Croquettes – old bay remoulade.

A+ on all accounts! My MIL didn't care for her chicken dish as she wasn't expecting any dark meat and she obviously didn't read the menu closely as she had no idea to expect bread pudding on her plate. DH's only complaint was that I allowed him to eat such a heavy lunch and he couldn't eat the entire lobster. The cheddar potato was the only item we all agreed we would skip next time.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Thanks for your review! I'm glad it's a good one as we really want to try this restaurant at some point in the future.

 

[TigerKat]

Aaaaahhhhhhh, BlueZoo, my favorite restaurant anywhere!!!! I can't wait to go back!

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reviews, loved hearing about t-rex and citricos

thank you

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Everything looks sooo yummy!

I can relate to your son; I have a tree nut allergy, and everyone at Disney has always been great about recommending dishes to avoid!

I look forward to reading more!

 

[kyirish25]

Toy Story's Pizza Planet
It had been several years since we have eaten here due to the fact DS doesn't really care for pizza. It still isn't his favorite but with a bribe of arcade games he agreed to try it.

We each did a meal deal that included a side garden salad. The dressings were at the condiment bar for you to pickup yourself. We found the food hot and fresh. A nice change from chicken nuggets and hot dogs.

Cheese, 2 Pepperoni, and Veggie Pizza

 

[kyirish25]

Dinner - Cinderella's Royal Table
We had avoided dining in the castle since they turned it into character dining for dinner. Despite this still being the case we gave it a try to just enjoy the atmosphere of the castle. We were surprised that this turned out to be one of our favorite meals of the trip. Check-in was hectic as was waiting to meet Cinderella (which if not getting a picture as part of the package we would have skipped) but the little show with the Fairy Godmother and Mice was not disturbing to the meal and they still stopped at each table for a quick picture. I think not signing autographs is what made this flow better. They even gave out autograph cards that were pre-signed so you could add them to your autograph book.

Appetizers
BLT Salad – Applewood Smoked Bacon, tomato, egg, red onion and quarter wedge of Iceberg lettuce drizzled with roasted shallot vinaigrette

Entrees
Pork Chop – with bacon and mushroom ragout and Yukon gold smashed potatoes finished with sweet chipotle glaze.

Roast Prime Rib of Beef – with grilled asparagus, roasted fingerling potatoes and cabernet sauce

Cheese Tortellini – with julieene vegetables, garlic, basil, fresh tomatoes and grated Romano

Kid's Hot Dog

Desserts
Special occasion in the fact there was safe options for everyone.

Seasonal Sorbet with berries

Mocha Espresso Crème Brulee

Vanilla Ice Cream

 

[kyirish25]

Breakfast - Tusker House
*No pictures of buffets*

The check-in line for this meal was very long. I'm guessing it was because it was near opening time as our ADR was for 8:25am. We checked in and then opted out of the family photo and then were taken directly to our table. The chef arrived immediately and walked us through the buffet of what was safe and what wasn't. Only a few items aside from the pasteries were off limits and they even offered Krispy Kreme donuts which are safe. The favorites of the morning were the crispy tater tots and Mickey waffles. The other item which was a huge hit was the juice. Very similiar (if not exactly) what they serve at 'Ohana. Our service was good as plates were cleared quickly and drinks were kept refilled. The character interacation was nice as well with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey. They all arrived one after the other which was nice because you didn't have to take a few bites and then stop for another character.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

How did the Toy Story pizza compare to other pizza?