The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Menus - 4/2013: La Hacienda COMPLETE! 7/26

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Day 2, Part 1

Today was our first MK day and we were up bright and early because I wanted to make the opening show. We had stopped at the POR food court the night before and picked up cereal and milk to have breakfast on the fly in the room.

At rope drop we bee-lined for New Fantasyland and Enchanted Tales with Belle to catch it before the line got too long. Once we were done there we were ready for SNACK TIME! so it was off to Gaston's.

I'm a huge, huge MSB cinnamon roll fan so I was anxious to try Gaston's version and see how it measured up.

I think they did a great job with the themeing here. Lots of great details like the cute cash registers:

Part of the menu board:

We sat in the section to the right of the registers. It was a cozy room with a faux fireplace and lots of details to take in:

And here's the much anticipated cinnamon roll:

Sadly, this did not come close to the MSB cinnamon roll for me. It was pretty dry, not at all ooey-gooey like the ones I've had a MSB. Of course, that didn't stop us from devouring the whole thing and I'd definitely give this place a second shot because maybe I got one that'd been sitting in the pan for a while or something. DD got a chocolate croissant and had no complaints (sorry no photo).

For lunch we went to one of my all time favorite CS restaurants - Columbia Harbour House. Since we had an early dinner ADR, DH and I decided to split a tuna sandwich:

It was as good as always, fresh and tasty with no superfluous fillers (not a fan of celery in my tuna). I'm very picky about my tuna salad and in fact, CHH is the only place besides home where I'll eat tuna!

Here is DD's kids' meal:

Later in the afternoon we all had a craving for something sweet so we split this piece of Rocky Road Fudge from the Confectionery:

Yummo!

And later on when the heat got the best of us, we cooled off with these slushes from Sunshine Tree Terrace:

(Raspberry Lemonade and Pina Colada)

I have a LOT of pictures from dinner at BOG so that review will be in a separate post (or two!).

 

[Fairy Floss]

I have been singing -

No one's slick as Gaston
No one's quick as Gaston
No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's........

 

[rachel09985]

Great reviews so far! I have had two cinnamon buns from MSB bakery and both were dry. I wonder if there is a secret best time to get them?? You would think early on but who knows.

 

[wilma-bride]

Great reviews so far! I have had two cinnamon buns from MSB bakery and both were dry. I wonder if there is a secret best time to get them?? You would think early on but who knows.

We had our first ever cinnamon bun from MSB last August. I was so disappointed, it was incredibly dry and tasted stale, as if it was a day old or (most likely) had been sat under a heat lamp too long. It was awful and quickly ended up in the trash.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I have been singing -

No one's slick as Gaston
No one's quick as Gaston
No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's........

Hehe, now I'm singing it too!!

Great reviews so far! I have had two cinnamon buns from MSB bakery and both were dry. I wonder if there is a secret best time to get them?? You would think early on but who knows.

We had our first ever cinnamon bun from MSB last August. I was so disappointed, it was incredibly dry and tasted stale, as if it was a day old or (most likely) had been sat under a heat lamp too long. It was awful and quickly ended up in the trash.

Aw, what a shame that you both have gotten dry cinnamon buns from MSB. We've usually gotten them first thing in the morning when the lines are long and they seem to be swapping out a fresh pan regularly. And when we're really luck we get a center one (the filet mignon of the cinnamon roll as I call it ), which is extra ooey-gooey.

 

[dawnmichele]

This looks like it's going to be a great dining report! Woohoo, and count me in!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

This looks like it's going to be a great dining report! Woohoo, and count me in!

Thanks for joining in!!!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Day 2, Part 2

We had a 5:10 p.m. reservation at Be Our Guest, which was perhaps my most anticipated ADR of the trip! Earlier that morning DD and I had ventured down the bridge to check things out (they let you go in and look around up until about 10:30 a.m.). DD said she wanted the inside to be a surprise so we only checked out the outside. Here are some pics from our preliminary visit.

Shortly before our ADR time we checked in at the booth at the top of the bridge, got our pager and moved off to the side to wait. In no time at all our pager went off and we were inside!

In my excitement to be finally checking in, I totally forgot to request the ballroom so I was quite relieved when that’s where we were seated! The hostess gave DD a neat candelabra to carry to our table. We were seated in the first row of tables near the window with snowfall, just off to the left side as you’re facing the window. I really liked this location because it didn't feel too cramped in (the tables in the middle of the dining room looked a little tight). This was the view to my left:

And to my right:

That doorway about two tables down is to the West Wing.

The menu:

DH and I HAD to order a glass of wine – Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé, which has sort of become our “Disney” wine:

LOOK! A glass of wine! In Magic Kingdom!

Continued in next post.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Continued from previous post

I started off with the Garden Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette:

It was a tasty salad and I enjoyed the dressing very much. I wouldn’t say there was any wow factor here, but a good solid salad.

For entrees, DH and I decided to get two things to split – Layered Ratatouille:

And Grilled Strip Steak:

The ratatouille was very, very good! I really enjoyed the quinoa, which reminded me a bit of Israeli couscous. The bell pepper sauce added a nice tang without being overpowering.

The steak was very tasty as well, like the salad, it didn’t have a wow factor for me but it was a solid entrée. Truth be told, if we were to go again I think I’d like the ratatouille all for myself!

After a brief rest, the dessert cart rolled into town!

DD knew immediately that she wanted the triple chocolate cupcake:

I tasted a snitch of this and it was very rich.

I opted for the lemon meringue cupcake, which our server described as, “light, fluffy and yellow like Belle’s dress.”

This was my favorite of the desserts we tried, indeed light with a nice lemon flavor that wasn’t too rich for my full tummy!

DH ordered the passion fruit cream puff.

I wasn’t a big fan of this one, it was just sort of blah to me.

Our server also brought over the grey stuff, along with a card signed by Belle and Best, since we were celebrating DD’s birthday:

This was a tasty little treat – like cookies and cream mousse. Unfortunately we WAY over ordered on dessert and we couldn’t finish our cupcakes, let alone the grey stuff. So sad.

Our server let us know that we were more than welcome to explore the West Wing and take pictures after our meal. She also reminded us that we could head over to the Library to meet Beast, so while DH settled the bill DD and I checked out the West Wing:

Then it was off to meet Beast. We were surprised that there wasn’t a PhotoPass photographer there but the character handler was very accommodating to take pictures of us after we’d gotten some shots of just DD.

All in all this meal was definitely a trip highlight. The service was friendly – I definitely sensed that the CMs were happy and excited to be working there – and that makes such a difference! And the atmosphere, wow!! Just so incredibly well done. I truly felt like we were in the movie – watching the snow fall outside the window was pretty magical (I tried to get a picture for you to no avail). The food, while perhaps not the best Disney meal I’ve had, was quite solid. I’m hoping in time the menu expands and we’ll have new options to explore on a future visit.

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

Great review can't wait for more.

 

[jpessa]

Great BOG review, so happy to read it and can't wait for my own ADR there in October!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Beautiful pictures! Can't wait to read more.

 

[MrsB1228]

Great reviews, looking forward to more!

 

[wilma-bride]

Oh my, I am so excited to see the Beast's castle. I am really hoping we can secure a BOG reservation for November. I have never had any desire whatsoever to eat at Cindy's but Beauty and the Beast is my favourite movie and I am beyond excited at the prospect of eating at BOG. Fingers crossed I can get an ADR.

 

[Yelloweaver]

We are eating at BOG in October too! I can't wait!

 

[tammilynne]

loving your report!!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Thanks for your comments everyone! Sorry I haven't been around for a few days, I've been down with a bad cold! I'm hoping to have my next installment up today or tomorrow (Yak and Yeti). Thanks again for reading!

Great review can't wait for more.

Thank you! I should have another installment up soon .

Great BOG review, so happy to read it and can't wait for my own ADR there in October!

I hope you have a fantastic meal at BoG in October!

Beautiful pictures! Can't wait to read more.

Great reviews, looking forward to more!

Thank you both!

Oh my, I am so excited to see the Beast's castle. I am really hoping we can secure a BOG reservation for November. I have never had any desire whatsoever to eat at Cindy's but Beauty and the Beast is my favourite movie and I am beyond excited at the prospect of eating at BOG. Fingers crossed I can get an ADR.

I'll also keep my fingers crossed that you get a reservation for November!

We are eating at BOG in October too! I can't wait!

I hope you love it!

loving your report!!

Thanks so much!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Day 3, Part 1

Today was our Animal Kingdom day. It was EMH morning but since I’d pushed the gang to get to MK early the previous day, I figured I’d better not press my luck and only asked that we try to get there for half of EMH (so by 8:30 a.m.), which we did. It was another uneventful breakfast of cereal in the room.

We had a noon ADR at Yak and Yeti, which I’ve wanted to try for some time now but it never seems to work with our plans. We arrived to check in and I asked the hostess if it would be possible for us to sit upstairs and she said it wouldn’t be a problem. In no time at all we were seated upstairs in what I’d call the “inside loop” of tables by a very friendly host who was very informative, even giving me ideas for good photo ops once our meal was over (he must’ve noticed the camera ever clutched in my hand!). He left us to look at the menu and our server came by to say he’d be right with us. The host came back to our table and said he wanted to try to get us a better table by the windows and he just had to check with the folks downstairs. He came back in a moment and moved us to a nice little room with a great view outside.

View:

My DH tried to tip him for going above and beyond but he politely refused saying he just wanted us to have the best experience possible. How nice! But here’s where things started to go awry. We proceeded to wait. And wait. And wait. But no server ever came to our table. The same two or three servers kept bustling past us and we tried to catch their eye with no luck. We tried to wear our most eager, “we’re nice people don’t you want to wait on us” faces to no avail. Finally I looked at the time stamp on my camera and realized it’d been 15 minutes since we’d been reseated.

At this point I told DH he better get up and try to find a host or manager because I got the distinct impression the other servers in that section were ignoring us. He found a hostess and she said she had to go downstairs to find out what was going on. She came back and said that our section was technically closed confused3the tables adjacent to us were seated after us) but she had, “found a server from another section that was willing to take us.” Gee, thanks. I thought she worded it really funny and it made us feel like we were a hot potato that no one wanted to touch (maybe because they figured we’d be disgruntled I don’t know). Finally a server and his trainee came over (interestingly, they were also serving the table two down from us that was seated after us in this “closed” section).

They took our order and soon enough we were drowning our cares in these beauties:

Yak Attack for DH

Everest Avalanche for me

These went down nice and smooth!!!

DD’s meal came out first (lo mein with a side of rice and applesauce, apparently she was carb-loading):

At the same time, my side of steamed veggies came out but nothing else from our order. Our server came by shortly and asked if it was okay that the veggies were delivered first – hmm, I think he should’ve known that it wasn’t okay to bring the side dish before everything else – but in the interest of not wanting to be difficult since I already was self conscious that they thought we were, I said it was fine.

Finally our order came out. My original plan had been to order the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp, but since we had steak the night before, DH and I opted to share several appetizers.

Seared Ahi Tuna

Pork Pot Stickers

Lettuce Cups for Two

They also brought out yet another bowl of steamed veggies, which I told them was a mistake but they said to keep it because they forgot to put the carrots in the first bowl.

The tuna was just okay for me – nothing particularly bad about it but I wouldn’t rush to order it again. The pot stickers were perhaps my favorite! Very nicely seasoned and I loved the dipping sauce. They had just the right amount of crunch from the pan fry but didn’t seem greasy. I could’ve eaten the whole order myself! The lettuce cups were also delicious. I’m a huge fan of the lettuce wraps at PF Chang’s and was thinking these would be about the same. They were a bit different and amazing in their own unique way!

I didn’t even need a dessert menu, I knew I had to try to fried wontons after reading so many rave reviews about them here on the Dis.

Wow, these were very good and definitely lived up to the hype! The cream cheese filling and sauce worked so well with the fruit. Delish! I didn’t even really need the ice cream (not that that stopped me!).

When we were done eating, DD and I left DH to settle up the bill while we took advantage of some of those photo op spots that the host had told us about.

All and all, I’m glad we tried Yak and Yeti. The service left something to be desired and that put a bit of a damper on our experience. It wouldn’t stop me from going back because I know every place can have an off day, but it also keeps this from being on my "must do" list.

 

[jpessa]

Wow, the food looks amazing! Love the menu's variety. Funny, I had never considered this place until now. Hmmmm.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Wow, the food looks amazing! Love the menu's variety. Funny, I had never considered this place until now. Hmmmm.

We have just started exploring the TS options at AK. AK is usually a shorter park day for us so we just do counter service, although I'd wanted to try TH and Y&K for a while now, we've just started getting to them in the last couple of trips.