That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up; A Feb. '21 birthday TR with a little "extra" thrown in *LINK TO NEW TR! 10/9!*

[suse66]

Sahara Spritz
Ketel One Botanical Cucumber and Mint Vodka, Soda Water, and Lime

Oooh! That drink would be right up my alley!

When I tell you this was all absolutely over the top delicious, it's an understatement. We always enjoyed Restaurant Marrakesh and this was way better! While it's small plates these 5 dishes filled us up enough (along with more than 1 drink) to satisfy but I was really wanting NOT to be full so I could order more! The spiced chicken I was a bit leery about as I was afraid it would be tough but it had to be the most tender chicken I've ever had AND, the hummus here was the first hummus I actually enjoyed. I texted @Jenny Sanders while we were there to tell her we need to eat there on our next trip! I know it can be tough for those who like to plan since you can't make an ADR; when we left around 7:10 there were 2 groups waiting and this was on a Monday but we were there less than an hour so I would think turnover is quick. It is absolutely worth a try and we'll be back! There aren't many restaurants throughout WDW we haven't tried yet so it's great when we find a new one we enjoy.

It looks fabulous! I enjoyed Spice Road very much when I dined there a few years ago and look forward to going back again.

The bill was......not for the faint of heart (ahem). This isn't somewhere we'd go on every trip or every other trip, partly because we don't often venture offsite and partly because of that heart faintness lol but it is somewhere we'd return and a wonderful option for something "different". Jenny had asked me on a couple previous trips to go and I'm so glad we finally did! This was also our good-bye to them as they were moving on the next day and we haven't seen them since. Other than during the shutdown I think this will be the longest we go as we aren't supposed to see each other right now until late Sept!

Bull and Bear sounds phenomenal! I understand what you mean a bill not being for the faint of heart......we felt the same way when we dined at V&A. It was like a mortgage payment! But worth every penny.

 

[kclark9830]

A special meal for your birthday is totally acceptable.

 

[DLo]

Just wow on that meal ! May have to take DH when we go to UO in December.

 

[buzzrelly]

I know I’ve read Jenny raving about it before, but that meal looked amazing!

We were also supposed to be leaving the next day so had no park plans but due to that lovely northern ❄❄❄☃ we got to stay another day! We had enjoyed our time at GDT but wanted a change; since our new plan was spending time in DS we opted for a 1 night stay in a newly refurbished preferred studio at SSR. It was a good choice!

Lucky you and good choice! Who wouldn’t rather spend a day at DS than go hike to snow?!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We were also supposed to be leaving the next day so had no park plans but due to that lovely northern ❄❄❄☃ we got to stay another day!

This is my dream to "HAVE" to extend our trip because of snow..

 

[Jenny Sanders]

The bill was......not for the faint of heart (ahem). This isn't somewhere we'd go on every trip or every other trip, partly because we don't often venture offsite and partly because of that heart faintness lol but it is somewhere we'd return and a wonderful option for something "different". Jenny had asked me on a couple previous trips to go and I'm so glad we finally did! This was also our good-bye to them as they were moving on the next day and we haven't seen them since. Other than during the shutdown I think this will be the longest we go as we aren't supposed to see each other right now until late Sept!

That's for darn sure. The food, service, and company were well worth the price tag and I'm so happy we celebrated your birthday there as well.
I can't believe we won't see you until September...

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Your meal at B&B looks absolutely amazing and truly worthy of a big 50 birthday celebration! You only get to do it once so definitely worth doing in style and doing it with friends just makes it even better!

Lucky you getting a sneaky extra day and avoiding snow all at once

 

[cajunfan]

OK, you folks need to tell me what all this food is...we need to know what to order if we ever make it there. And I would have been in heaven with an entire head of roasted garlic...I have never met garlic I did not like!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Dinner looks amazing but you lost me when they scaled the fish at the table. That doesn't sound very elegant.

September is along time away. Our next trip after we finish the one we are on now will be in October. it is hard to wait that long.

 

[CruellaNY]

I guess a fountain would be nice... especially if the water hides the barges? Guess we'll see.

It looks nice in the renderings so we'll see how well the water hides the barges which is the whole thing; if you can still see the metal frames it'll be

I'm getting whip lash from all this time traveling

I do it just for you

No clue this even existed. Will definitely have to check that out. Casey loves all the Mickey shorts. When we are in WDW that is the only channel ever on our tv.

I new it was somewhere but never looked for it and had never watched whatever SW movie was there before so really just never paid any attention to the spot. But that time with TOT done and the rest of the lines long I'm glad we found it.

I was thinking a #64 BM

We all name them don't we?

Did they pack out of the entire pavilion or just the restaurant?

Nope left the entire pavilion. I don't think it was ever explained why in writing; our server said they weren't told either but word underground in the Utilidors is that Morocco just got tired of paying? Unfortunate and sad. Another CM working at Spice Road happened to be from Italy but had previously lived up by us, running a pizzeria with his brother. So you know he and Steve talked shop for awhile. Anyway he said lots of CM's feel that the pavilion will change to a new country but that's not official either. It's fun to hear what they all know and think though!

YUM!!!! So glad to hear this place was such a gem. Totally sounds like my style.

It's definitely somewhere you'd like!

That's okay. For a truly excellent meal, the price will reflect it accordingly. Like you said, it's not for everyday... which helps to make it all that more special.

Yes 100% and we didn't mind at all, also why we don't mind paying at signatures over buffets (of the past) and certain other regular table service restaurants. Always worth it for good food!

Oooh! That drink would be right up my alley!

SO refreshing! I used to be all about really sweet drinks but have moved away from those and find that the whole lime/mint/ cucumber drinks are more what I like now

Bull and Bear sounds phenomenal! I understand what you mean a bill not being for the faint of heart......we felt the same way when we dined at V&A. It was like a mortgage payment! But worth every penny.

LOL! And if you know what you're getting into it is fine! Just don't want anyone to go "hey let's try it!" and expect it to be like Narcoossee's or Flying Fish because they will be VERY surprised. V&A is still on our list so fingers crossed it reopens at some point!

Just wow on that meal ! May have to take DH when we go to UO in December.

You should! It's a nice, fancy, special, different night out on a Disney/UO trip for sure.

 

[CruellaNY]

I know I’ve read Jenny raving about it before, but that meal looked amazing!

At first I was like, "do I really want to go off property, especially on a shorter trip?" But we ended up adding that night due to flight changes so I said what the heck! And very glad we did!

Lucky you and good choice! Who wouldn’t rather spend a day at DS than go hike to snow?!!

We were not sad

This is my dream to "HAVE" to extend our trip because of snow..

I think this every time we go in winter!

That's for darn sure. The food, service, and company were well worth the price tag and I'm so happy we celebrated your birthday there as well.
I can't believe we won't see you until September...

I'm so glad we did it and with you guys! I know, we're sad that June doesn't overlap. It will be even longer than we went during the pandemic without seeing each other down there....................

Your meal at B&B looks absolutely amazing and truly worthy of a big 50 birthday celebration! You only get to do it once so definitely worth doing in style and doing it with friends just makes it even better!

Lucky you getting a sneaky extra day and avoiding snow all at once

Definitely worth it for a celebration and very glad we decided to go, and so happy we went with Jenny and Joe too ❤

OK, you folks need to tell me what all this food is...we need to know what to order if we ever make it there. And I would have been in heaven with an entire head of roasted garlic...I have never met garlic I did not like!

LOL! Ok I'll go back and look and put in my next update! And yes that garlic Steve got shaved black truffles on his steak and that alone was $50- the truffles lol not the steak!

Dinner looks amazing but you lost me when they scaled the fish at the table. That doesn't sound very elegant.

I don't eat seafood and find any type of fish filet to be especially unappetizing to look at. BUT, believe me when I say it definitely was elegant! The way they just placed glasses on the table was elegant lol! It was definitely weird and unexpected and when they talked about it we looked at each other like WHAT? But she enjoyed it

eptember is along time away. Our next trip after we finish the one we are on now will be in October. it is hard to wait that long.

Yes that's part of the reason Steve suggested the June trip so we'd have something between April and Sept. And we're going to Punta Cana with the boys in July so we will be going away, just not Disney. I hope you're enjoying your trip now!

 

[kittylady1972]

Well that dinner did look absolutely fabulous. Sounds very good and so happy you guys had a fun celebration. We definitely miss the signatures at Disney for sure and we are determined to returned to V&A one day ourselves since our last visit there was back in 1999! We keep saying once it's reopened we want to go back too. Though going to the signature restaurants on the Disney Cruise ships was also very nice, but nothing ever quite like V&A.

 

[pkondz]

It looks nice in the renderings so we'll see how well the water hides the barges which is the whole thing; if you can still see the metal frames it'll be

Agreed

 

[CruellaNY]

We definitely miss the signatures at Disney for sure and we are determined to returned to V&A one day ourselves since our last visit there was back in 1999

I do too! We've eaten at all the ones that are currently open and while we love them we need more to open. Fingers crossed more do by the anniversary!

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a nice Birthday dinner, I have heard awesome reviews for this place.
We really want to try the walk up at Spice Road table, we ate there several years ago and really liked at that time.
Morocco does seem a little sad with everything closed. It was so hard not to see the international CM’s, they really do make the countries!

 

[Steppesister]

Yup we bypassed the Rose Garden, Band Pavillion, Arboretum AND ROTR for TOT!!! Rode twice which is a tad tricky these days with the line usually snaking all the way into the former Fantasmic! queue.

I'd do that too. ToT is a favorite!

After that it was about 10- and lines were crazy. We did do something "new" to us and I swear it's just the most adorable thing!

I super wanted to do this, but ran out of time, sadly. Next trip!! I hope they keep it around for a bit.

I say last park day because we were supposed to leave the next day but thanks to a huge snowstorm rolling in, we actually got word while watching VOL that our flight was cancelled

Oh shucky darn.

If you don't know, this restaurant changed from a TS to a walk up about 2 months ago when Morocco backed out and Disney too it over

I did not know that!! Good to know!

Steve got the Moroccan Mule and he loved it and my drink was SO refreshing. Interesting to note: when we were seated the CM asked us to keep our masks on until we had drinks in front of us. No biggie really! But we noticed other tables where guests were seated by different CM's took theirs off right away.

The only place we ran into that was HBD and the server only said that the CDC "RECOMMENDS" that we leave them on but the choice was up to us. Hmmmm, no one within about 30 feet of us. Pretty sure they were off as soon as she walked away. LOL!

We were seated right by the water so had a good view of the ugly, ugly Harmonious barges out there.

Beyond ugly.

When I tell you this was all absolutely over the top delicious, it's an understatement. We always enjoyed Restaurant Marrakesh and this was way better!

We had the same experience but when it was still sit down. Love that place!

This isn't a Disney signature and you know I love Disney signatures; this reminded me of Sardi's in NYC. We had like 4 servers and our head waiter- THE head waiter?- was super knowledgeable on the food and wines as well as other beverages. And hey we got sparkly plates!!

Sounds like I need to try this place!! I like a little hoity-toity now and then.

The bill was......not for the faint of heart (ahem). This isn't somewhere we'd go on every trip or every other trip, partly because we don't often venture offsite and partly because of that heart faintness

Which makes it more special and memorable. Glad you enjoyed it so much!

 

[CruellaNY]

Hey guys! I have a BONUS day left to write about on my big 50 birthday trip! So of course that means we'll go back to Thanksgiving 2020

The day after Thanksgiving was our first day at Magic Kingdom. We got there early and were treated to this scene on the way to Big Thunder, our first ride of the day:




This was when they were redoing the track for the Liberty Belle and as ugly as it looks, on this trip and a few weeks later when Steve and I returned we saw them working on it and Steve thought it was pretty neat watching how they do it.

After BTMRR and Splash we were ready for breakfast and Westward Ho had just started serving it!



We got the breakfast sandwich and the donuts and OMG they were all so surprisingly delicious! I wanted breakfast here again! I don't know if they're still serving it and 2 weeks ago I stood across from this spot staring at it for a bit; just didn't read the sign. I'll have to look when I'm there again in another few weeks

It was on the warm side this day and later Ricky and I cooled of with some holiday treats! We went to Auntie Gravity's to try the "Just a Dream Away" salted caramel churro shake




I don't like Disney churros and this one was soft and not that great but the shake was delish! Nice smooth vanilla with just a little salted caramel taste and Ricky and I slurped those down. On our way out of Tomorrowland we saw these CM's working on Donald as a team:




Fast forward (it's like I enjoy time travel or something) to our dinner later that night. Last July we had dinner for the first time at the Wave with @Jenny Sanders and Joe and really enjoyed it; so much that we booked again with the boys since I loved the filet and you know Chris doesn't look away from a good filet. They had some specialty drinks for the holidays:





Of COURSE Steve got the mule, right Kelly @buzzrelly??? I stuck with the raspberry mojito I'd had before and loved.
We all seriously loved our dinner here; I got something different this time, the gnocchi and I'm dying to have it again!



Ricky got a chicken dish; fancy looking and very enjoyable!



Chris devoured his filet and I don't have a picture of what Steve got for some reason. I'd put the descriptions of these 2 dishes but since the announcement that the Wave is closing for a long refurbishment and then the stupid rumor going around that it may return as an Incredibles character meal there's not much point............

After dinner we went back to the park! We'd taken a break before dinner and wanted to see the "new" back then castle projections. I guess the good filet put Chris in a good mood because he let me take this!



You guys probably saw tons of castle pictures from the holidays so I'll end with this shot that I like a lot; more fountain than castle but still festive:




So far so good! The weird thing on this trip was that Ricky had been living away from home, at college, for a few months and came home for the first time since August the day before we left for Disney. If any of you had kids go to college or went to college yourselves you know that once you get a taste of living "on your own" (and not paying your own bills lol) it's HARD to live with your parents again and vice-versa! So we had a few little issues and re-training to do but to this point we were enjoying each others' company and being in Disney for what's become more of a traditional Thanksgiving for us than being home

 

[CruellaNY]

We really want to try the walk up at Spice Road table, we ate there several years ago and really liked at that time.
Morocco does seem a little sad with everything closed. It was so hard not to see the international CM’s, they really do make the countries!

I like that it's another no ADR needed option! And yes it's rather depressing with no international CM's and for some reason Morocco feels extra empty. Maybe because we know they DEFINITELY won't be back ever

super wanted to do this, but ran out of time, sadly. Next trip!! I hope they keep it around for a bit.

It's been there kind of awhile so hopefully it does stay! I'd do it again!

I did not know that!! Good to know!

As with lounges I like having another "spur of the moment/no need to commit" option

The only place we ran into that was HBD and the server only said that the CDC "RECOMMENDS" that we leave them on but the choice was up to us. Hmmmm, no one within about 30 feet of us. Pretty sure they were off as soon as she walked away. LOL!

SO strange and interesting to note; and yup. I'm *thinking* with the rollback of restrictions we're seeing the last couple days that we won't find any restaurants requesting this next time......

Beyond ugly.

Sounds like I need to try this place!! I like a little hoity-toity now and then.

You should! We feel special and fancy when we have our favorite server Rony at Citricos and there's a wonderful server at CG who also really makes the experience feel personal. Bull and Bear is just one of those super high level experiences one deserves to have every once in awhile

 

[disneyAndi14]

If any of you had kids go to college or went to college yourselves you know that once you get a taste of living "on your own" (and not paying your own bills lol) it's HARD to live with your parents again and vice-versa! So we had a few little issues and re-training to do

Oh my were you just in my brain, lol

 

[missjackiemcg]

I think Chris is even SMILING in that picture he let you take!!! What kind of magical sorcery did they do to that steak?!

Oooh, I must be failling at keeping up with my Dis rumors--I heard the Wave was closed for refurb, but totally missed that Incredibles part....hmmmmm, not sure how even I, who love character meals, feels about that one. I really like The Wave the way it is!!