The Deluxe Dining Adventures of a Princess & her Mommy (Updates: 12/30)

[M-J's Mommy]

Kona Cafe
December 17th

After waking up late because of the night that we had before, we showered and then drove over to the Polynesian Resort. We headed up to Kona Cafe to find the tables all but completely empty. Needless to say, we were seated immediately.

We both got the Lillikoi (sp?) juice. This stuff is pretty good!

I ordered the Big Kahuna with the eggs over-easy.

Everything on that plate was awesome. The only really lack-luster thing was the potatoes, which didn't taste totally fresh. They were still good, though. MJ got bacon and eggs.

This came with sugared toast. She wouldn't touch that, but she was good with just the bacon and eggs.

The meal was quick and tasty. I would absolutely consider coming back again if we were either staying here or had a car again. Needless to say, we went right back to the hotel and got some more rest before heading out to Hollywood Studios for our Fantasmic night.​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Writers' Stop Snacks
December 17th

On our way to the 'Lights, Motors, Action' stunt show, we stopped at Writers' Stop (I think that was the name) for some snacks to have while waiting. MJ picked out a Nemo cookie.

I got a chocolate-dipped Mickey rice-crispy treat.

MJ didn't really care for the cookie, so she ended up eating mine.

As you can see by her shirt, this was one of the few days where it actually warmed up a little bit. I never did try that Nemo cookie, though I acually still have a Dory one sitting in some tupperware in the kitchen. I don't even know if it is any good any more. Oh well. I also still have a giant container of fudge that I need to get to!​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Mama Melrose's
December 17th

I booked a Fantasmic dining package here, and boy am I glad that I did, but for two reasons:

1. That Fantasmic arena was packed full within 15 minutes of us sitting down in our reserved section, but there were plenty of seats for those of us who had the dining package.

2. This was, for me, the BEST meal of the trip!!!

After waiting a few minutes to be seated, we were served our drinks and placed our orders.

You see the little kids' menu down in the corner? Yeah, MJ wanted some attention I think.

After a little while, some bread with oil and my appetizer were brought out.

For my appetizer, I had ordered the clams.

This was absolutely wonderful! They were cooked with chunks of sausage and tons of garlic. The clams in themselves were good, but heaven was in taking those rolls and soaking them in the sauce on the clam plate. Oh my word. It was one of the best things that I have ever tasted. It was SO GOOD!!!

For my entree, I had ordered the chicken parmigana. Unfortunately, that picture seems to have been lost. Go figure. It was average and the spaghetti was a tad overcooked.

MJ got the pizza, which looked hot and fresh.

For dessert for kids, they had this really cute thing where you get a giant sugar cookie with stuff to decorate it with. I think that there was raspberry sauce, white chocolate curls and chocolate chips. Mj had fun decorating it, but didn't really eat it.

I had their cheesecake.

This was amazing, too. Those cookies on top were nice and soft and that white cream-type sauce on the bottom was fantastic. If people hadn't been around, I very well might have licked the plate.

This entire meal was amazing and I cannot wait to go back!​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

50's Prime Time Cafe
December 17th

After the Fantasmic show, we walked over to see the Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Boy were there a lot of people there! But it was really cool to see, so it was worth it.

After seeing that, we ended up at the restaurant a little early. We asked to check in early and were allowed, but we were warned that we would likely not be seated until our reservation time. We sat down and were called no more than 15 minutes later. Awesome. We took some pictures while waiting.

After being seated, our waiter had MJ set the table.

Other than this, he wasn't really into character. I didn't really mind, though. We were both tired and still feeling a little sick. I did have to laugh when I heard one of the more boisterous waitresses said to someone else, "What, they don't have manners in New Jersey?" I couldn't help but think, "Have you even watched TV lately?" Ha.

Anyway, I got MJ a glow cube in her chocolate milk. I think that it set me back about 4 bucks, but MJ loved it.

For my appetizer, I got the crab cake.

It had a crunchy crust and not too much filler. The fried onion strip on top were a nice addition to the dish.

For the main course, I had the fried chicken.

It was pretty good and very juicy. The potatoes were also pretty good, though the gravy was really bland.

MJ had the hot dog and fries.

She didn't eat a lot and didn't want dessert. I suspect that she was still tired and not feeling the best, so whatever. I had the brownie sundae.

MJ did eat some of this, seeing how she always has room for anything with brownie in it. It was pretty good and the brownies were soft and chewy, but they weren't warm.

We probably would have enjoyed this meal more, had we not been so tired from the night before. I would be willing to go back.​

 

[amandadisney]

Great reviews!

 

[gardengirl628]

Great updates! So sorry that you all were not feeling well.

 

[sophie832]

Too bad you weren't feeling great...I know how that can affect your dining experience. I haven't gotten to my review of our last meal, breakfast at Cape May, but sadly I was feeling sick and ate very little. Kind of a bummer when that happens, especially at a buffet, but I tried to review the restaurant apart from my illness. I like that you did that, too. Really enjoying the pics and the reviews! MJ is too cute!

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House
December 18th

This whole day was rainy and cold. We got into the park a little early to get to our breakfast reservation at Tusker House. We had no wait to be seated and had our drinks in short order.

This was MJ's plate:

And my two plates:

The potatoes were really fresh when I got them. The doughnut were also really good; they were very similar to Krispy Kreme actually. Everything here was really good and it all seemed really fresh. I'm sure that it helped that we were there among the first people for the day.

But we did encounter some problems when we were trying to leave. I wanted to get out of there to get over to the Lion King show. When my trip had been rebooked, they had booked MJ as an adult. I guess that this was a problem this time, as the waitress disappeared with our cards for over 20 minutes. I had even told her that I wanted to get out and to the show, but I guess that it didn't matter.

Anyway, I eventually had someone go get her. We made it to the theater in time, so that's good. The Lion King show was pretty awesome, by the way.​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Riverside Mill
December 18th

After seeing the Lion King show, it was still raining pretty hard, so we decided to go back to the hotel and relax.

Around lunch time, we drove over to the front of the resort and walked to the food court. It was crazy crowded in there. It was nothing like when we went earlier in the trip. Actually, by this point in the trip, it was starting to get really busy in general. I assume that it was because all of the people who stay for X-Mas were coming. Let's just say that, by the time we left, I was sorta glad to be out of there. Disney is always great, but I just hate to be stuck in a throbbing mass of people.

Anyway, back to the meal. MJ got the chicken nuggets meal. Again, this is the adult portion.

I decided to try the chipotle bacon burger. It had bacon, an onion ring and BBQ sauce on it. I took a couple of bites before snapping the picture. You'd think I would have known better by that point!

It was pretty good, though the sauce was pretty sweet.

For dessert, MJ got one of the frosted brownies and I got that awesome cookie bar again.

Overall, this was a decent meal. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and took a long nap because we were headed to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and a late dessert party.​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Tony's Town Square
December 18th

After our refreshing nap, we walked down to the bus stop to head over to Magic Kingdom. We only took the bus when going there. But otherwise, having a car was awesome and I don't think that I would ever go again without one (assuming that I could afford one).

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and had some time to go on a few rides for the last time. The Haunted Mansion is MJ's favorite, so we had to do that a couple of times.

A little while later, we headed over to Tony's and were given a pager. We had to wait for about 20 minutes, but they had a TV showing 'Lady and the Tramp', so MJ (and other kids) were entertained.

After being seated, we placed our orders. A couple of short minutes later, we were brought our drinks and bread.

For my appetizer, I got the garlic and cheese bread.

This was pretty good. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to enjoy it. Our entrees came out immediately after.

I had the chicken parmigana.

This was a little bit better than what I had at Mama Melrose's. There was more chicken and it was crispier. The noodles were still over-cooked, but that's pretty damn common when eating out. Either that, or I like my pasta unusually hard. Who knows.

MJ had the spaghetti with a meatball.

It looks like a lot of noodles and no sauce, but it worked out to being just enough. I think MJ was starting to feel better at this point, because she housed this. She also said that the meatball was really good.

We skipped dessert because we were booked for the Wishes Dessert Party a little while later. Overall, it was an okay meal. I was kinda annoyed with the appetizer and entree coming out at almost the same time, but the food its self was good.​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Wishes Dessert Party
December 18th

After our dinner, we had a little bit more time to hang out in the park. We were able to ride a few more rides before our reservation time. I was kinda amused to see people lining up for the dessert party up to 40 minutes early. The people there even told them that the seating was already assigned so that they didn't have to wait, but wait they did. Maybe they didn't believe them? Maybe they were really hungry? It's a mystery.

We rode some rides in Futureworld and headed back for the party. After getting wristbands, we were lead to our table, which had a name card and cute castle confetti on the table. I actually kept them to put in my photo album later.

Before getting our desserts, we stood at the rail and waited some on the Main Street Electrical Parade. You couldn't see a lot of it, but you could see the larger floats pretty well, actually.

After watching the larger floats, we went and got some plates of desserts.

The desserts were okay in general. I was kinda disappointed with the chocolate-covered strawberries. The actual strawberries were really tart. I'm sure that they aren't always like this and it's more of a luck-of-the-draw kind of thing, though.

Now I would like to show you a progression of pictures that were literally taken over the course of about 20 minutes.

This was the view from our table (in the front row):

Just as a note, the only tables in the front are for four or less people. If you have more than that, you won't be sitting in a front row. See those whisps of clouds by the castle?

(Sorry about the weird shape of this one. I had to crop out some lady and her kid that I accidentally got a picture of. Who knows if they wan't to be on here or not!)

This unbelievable fog rolled in in a matter of minutes. They went ahead with the fireworks, but all that you could see were flashes of light behind the fog. It was really disappointing. We just left to try and beat the crowd rush to get out. We still got stuck for a while in front of the Plaza restaurant. Getting to the bus took forever with all of the people and we had to get in a rather long line to actually get on the bus.

We eventually got back to the hotel and crashed. It was a long night!

I was really disappointed with the dessert party, but it had nothing to do with the food. That damn fog ruined it! Funny how the two things that we paid extra for in advance (Christmas and Dessert Parties) ended up being awful experiences. I'd be willing to try the Dessert Party again, though.​

 

[M-J's Mommy]

1900 Park Fare
December 19th

I had kept this breakfast as a surprise for MJ, since she loves Alice. We drove over to the Grand Floridian and did the self-park. Like people have said, the self parking option is kinda a pain in the butt. You have to go and park across the street and walk over. It wasn't too far, but pretty inconvenient.

I had us leave a little early so that we could look around the lobby and see the gingerbread house. It was pretty cool. I would love to stay here someday. It was so beautiful inside. But our breakfast was nearing, so we made our way over to the check-in desk.

After being led into the dining room, we ran into Alice. Now MJ understood why I wanted her to wear her dress this morning!

The characters were actually pretty close to our table, so we waited to visit with them before we went and got our food.

They had REAL BACON!

After that plate, there were a couple of things that I wanted to try still, so I went and got another plate.

The carved ham was excellent. I had to try the lobster benedict, but I wasn't a big fan. Eggs benedict is my favorite breakfast, but this was just too fishy for my tastes. The omelette station was awesome, but they only had one person working it for a little while, so it took a few minutes.

Alice came back to see MJ again before we left. I thought that it was really sweet and MJ was thrilled. All of the food was fresh and tasty. We will definitely be back for this breakfast if we can make it!​

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Great reviews! The cookie dessert from Mama Melrose looks so fun!!

We were there on the 18th as well (leaving that day), and definitely noticed the heavier crowds coming in on the 17th and 18th. That's crazy about the fog during your Wishes Dessert Party - how disappointing you weren't able to see the fireworks! I actually still haven't been able to see Wishes (only on YouTube), because of weather lol.

 

[stitchaholic]

The picture of your daughter with Alice is just amazing, so precious

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Thanks for your great reviews!! I've really enjoyed reading them. MJ is adorable!!!

 

[leshunlenese]

Hey! tHANKS FOR YOUR REVIEWS. I AM ENJOYING THEM! I WAS THERE THAT WEEK TO AND I AGREE IT WAS COLD. IT WAS JUST ME AND MY 15 MONTH OLD SON AND HE LEARNED THE WORD COLD, ESPECIALLY MONDAY THE 13TH. FREEZING!

 

[Hootiss]

That is a really sweet picture of MJ and Alice, enjoying your reviews.

 

[M-J's Mommy]

Hey, thanks to everyone for all of the kind responses. I'm looking forward to finishing up these reviews in the next couple of days before I have to head back to school!

 

[emmabelle]

Thanks for the reviews!

We're going to be there in just over two weeks and I'm thinking I should throw a little ice scraper into my suitcase for the rental car!

 

[formytinkerbelle]

Thanks for taking the time to post all of these reviews. I love reading every one of them and the pics are great. Your daughter is just precious and I love the one of her sleeping, so cute. My fav pic of our last trip (got their on the 19th) is of my kids sleeping in the stoller. Disney is exhausting sometimes.