The Incredible Expanding Women - 14 days on the DxDP ~ COMPLETE!

[emmysmommy]

Wow! That Australian and German food looks ahhhmazing - especially the pasta gratin.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

The Scottish salmon and garlic shrimp were two of my favorite items at the F&W Festival - yum. And you're making me wish I tried the gooey strudel and shrimp taco.

Agreed on the cupcake, though. I expected it to taste like orange zest, so I was disappointed when it reminded me of artificial orange flavor.

 

[totebagg]

Your F&W review is making me hungry and wish I was back there right now. We didn't hit Germany and Scotland but it looks yummy. I really enjoyed both tacos in Mexico! Yum!! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[smile4stamps]

Just found your DR and I’m loving it… some comments of what you have posted so far!!


I’m planning our first day at DtD as well! We will arrive after 1am so after a LONG day of travel, sleeping in, and just relaxing at DTD sound more appealing than trying to have energy for a park!

Raglan road is also where we plan to have dinner that night!

Via Napoli has AWESOME food! I’m more a zeppole girl for dessert though!!

We tried Le Cellier for the first time our last trip and LOVED it. It’s definitely now a part of our line-up! The mushroom filet is so yummy!

I’m a huge fried chicken fan and 50’s is wonderful. I mainly go for the chicken!!

Your sister ordered the app I love at HBD. Unfortunately when I asked my husband if he wanted to go back there he said.. Absolutely NOT!

The egg rolls at Y&Y are always a winner with us! I’m a rare bird in that the wontons are not a favorite though!

Citrico’s is one of our favorite meals! We have been 8 times in 4 trips lol! Although we have both tried the Veal chop and it is probably our least favorite.. It’s always been tough for us and we feel like we chew and chew and chew!! I’m glad that was not the case for yours!!

 

[Avery&Todd]

FABULOUS review and pics!!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[englishrose47]

My mouth is watering all the food looks delish !!!

 

[WDWaddictt]

Subbing in....Awesome reviews!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[MrsB1228]

I am playing DIS Catch-Up today!

I have never seen a review of the RR brunch before. I love the table you got! The scallop forest looks so good. I have heard that this place can do most fried things gluten-free, so I am really intrigued to eat there one day! The idea of the entree sounds great; too bad the execution was rather poor.

We love Raglan Road for dinner so we were really looking forward to trying the new brunch. Even though the egg was overcooked, the other components of the meal were first rate and we wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Citricos is one of the signatures we did not try in August, so I really enjoyed reading your review of it. I was so excited when I saw your salad, because that thing is right up my alley - but then I read about the bacon being overcooked and . Hopefully, they do a better job with it most of the time. I’m not a veal eater, but I am so glad that you got a truly delicious entree here. How great that they made such a wonderful birthday fuss - I just love that!

Citricos was amazing, and I was so happy they made an extra effort for Nancy's birthday. The salad I had could have been amazing, but the bacon was so overcooked that some pieces were completely inedible. Thankfully it was the only miss of the evening. The veal dish is quite possibly the best thing I've ever eaten in my life.

Yay for F&WF!!! Everything looks so yummy. Dang - I am REALLY hungry!

We love F&WF! It's so fun to walk around and try new things. I was surprised I enjoyed the offerings at Scotland so much as they're deceptively simple dishes but they were perfectly prepared.

Enjoying your review so far!

Thanks so much, glad you're reading along!

Great reviews! Keep them coming!

Thank you! Next instalment coming up soon!

Wow! That Australian and German food looks ahhhmazing - especially the pasta gratin.

We really enjoyed the offerings at both booths. I love strudel, and we were lucky to hit the booth right when they were serving up a brand new pan.

The Scottish salmon and garlic shrimp were two of my favorite items at the F&W Festival - yum. And you're making me wish I tried the gooey strudel and shrimp taco.

Agreed on the cupcake, though. I expected it to taste like orange zest, so I was disappointed when it reminded me of artificial orange flavor.

They were my two favourites out of the items we tried, sooo good! Both tacos were amazing, but I think the shrimp version slightly edged out the steak one. The cupcake was disappointing, I was expecting a lot more orange flavour and it just didn't deliver.

Your F&W review is making me hungry and wish I was back there right now. We didn't hit Germany and Scotland but it looks yummy. I really enjoyed both tacos in Mexico! Yum!! Looking forward to the rest!

Thank you! More coming up soon.

Just found your DR and I’m loving it… some comments of what you have posted so far!!

Hi Paula, great to have you aboard!

I’m planning our first day at DtD as well! We will arrive after 1am so after a LONG day of travel, sleeping in, and just relaxing at DTD sound more appealing than trying to have energy for a park!

Raglan road is also where we plan to have dinner that night!

That's usually how we plan our first day too. I'm one of those crazy people who can't relax until I have everything unpacked and the room organized so I like to take care of that as soon as I can. We're usually too tired for a park on a travel day so we like to poke around DtD and have dinner there. Raglan Road is always our first choice!

Via Napoli has AWESOME food! I’m more a zeppole girl for dessert though!!

Via Napoli is a must-do for us every trip. I've never tried the zeppole, although it does look tempting. I'm usually so full after the meal that ice cream usually sounds more appealing to me. There's always a bit of tummy space for ice cream ...

We tried Le Cellier for the first time our last trip and LOVED it. It’s definitely now a part of our line-up! The mushroom filet is so yummy!

Love the filet, I can't seem to make myself order anything else.

I’m a huge fried chicken fan and 50’s is wonderful. I mainly go for the chicken!!

I think the chicken is probably the best choice there. It's one of those locations where it's almost more about the experience than the food.

Your sister ordered the app I love at HBD. Unfortunately when I asked my husband if he wanted to go back there he said.. Absolutely NOT!

We really enjoyed our appetizers and desserts at HBD, but unfortunately the entree fell a bit short. We're glad we tried it, but I don't think it will be a must-do for us.

The egg rolls at Y&Y are always a winner with us! I’m a rare bird in that the wontons are not a favorite though!

Mmm, the eggs rolls were delish! And those green beans? Heaven!!

Citrico’s is one of our favorite meals! We have been 8 times in 4 trips lol! Although we have both tried the Veal chop and it is probably our least favorite.. It’s always been tough for us and we feel like we chew and chew and chew!! I’m glad that was not the case for yours!!

Great to meet another Citrico's fan! Sorry the veal wasn't good for you, I guess we really lucked out because both of ours was so incredibly tender it just fell apart. I'd love to have it right now, LOL!

Thanks for reading!

FABULOUS review and pics!!

Thanks for sharing!!

Thank you, and thanks for reading along!

My mouth is watering all the food looks delish !!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Subbing in....Awesome reviews!

Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks for reading along, more coming soon!

 

[MrsB1228]

We were both excited for our ADR that night as it was going to be another new-to-us experience. We were heading to Fort Wilderness to attend the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review!

We had tickets for the last performance of the night, at 8:30. This turned out to be a great time as we were actually hungry and ready for dinner at that time, LOL.

We took the boat to FW from the Magic Kingdom and it was an absolutely beautiful night.

When we were led to our table, we were delighted to discover that it was front-row center! More pixie dust for Nancy's birthday!

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the food pictures in this instalment. I had the camera set to take pictures of the stage and forget to change it when photographing the food. There are a couple of pictures I couldn't bring myself to post, they were so bad. Like I said in the intro ... a photographer I'm not.

When we were seated, the cornbread and butter was already on the table.

It was delicious! Moist and not too sweet, just the way we like it.

Shortly afterward, the salad arrived.

Beer, wine or sangria is included in the price, so Nancy and I each chose the sangria. It was lovely, very fruity and refreshing.

The rest of the meal is comprised of fried chicken, BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes, corn and baked beans.

Dessert is strawberry shortcake.

Everything was delicious! I thought the fried chicken was even better than what we had at 50's Prime Time Cafe. It was hot, juicy and the coating was wonderfully seasoned. The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender. The baked beans and mashed potatoes were pretty standard, but we enjoyed them. The strawberry shortcake was wonderful, but we were too full to really do it justice.

I now understand why so many families consider this a must-do! The food was really good and the show was laugh out loud funny. The performers were a very talented group.

Nancy and I both give it 4/5 for the food and 5/5 for the overall experience.

I've already told DH this is one show we HAVE to see when we visit in October.

Up Next: Lunch at Riverside Mill (POR) and dinner at California Grill​

 

[MrsB1228]

The next day we had breakfast reservations at Kouzzina but were much too full from our late dinner the night before so we decided to cancel. We spent the morning relaxing and enjoying the resort and then took a leisurely stroll over to Port Orleans Riverside to have lunch at the Riverside Mill food court.

I love both Port Orleans resorts, the theming is spectacular. So scenic and pretty.

We still weren't terribly hungry, so we decided to split the Make Your Own Pasta.

This is fettucini in rose sauce with chicken, peas, mushrooms, onions, roasted red peppers and parmesan cheese. The serving they give you is HUGE! This was my portion after we split it. It was delicious, the pasta wasn't overcooked and the sauce was seriously good. We both really enjoyed it. The garlic bread was rather hard and tasteless and I don't think either one of us bothered with it. 4/5

We also split a Magic Cookie Bar.

These suckers are really good but very, very sweet! Between the two of us, we still couldn't finish it. I usually find I'm done after a couple of bites. 3.5/5

I think Riverside Mill is one of the best food courts on property. I've always enjoyed my meals there.

Up Next: Dinner at California Grill Part 1 Part 2​

 

[WDWaddictt]

How exciting, both of these places are on our list!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Rosco1]

Thank you for your dining report...YUMM!

How fun to take this vacation with your sister.

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm so excited to see your Hoop Dee Doo review! We're seriously considering this for our next trip... (Paula are you reading this?) I'm a big pork rib fan and I love cornbread and beans so I don't see anything that I wouldn't like. But to top it off with strawberry shortcake AND Sangria is included.... Sold!

Your sunset photo on Bay Lake is beautiful.

Wow! That's some portion of the pasta dish if that is AFTER you split it. Goodness!

 

[MrsB1228]

How exciting, both of these places are on our list!

Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks for reading along!

Thank you for your dining report...YUMM!

How fun to take this vacation with your sister.

Thank you! Going on holiday with Nancy is so much fun! She's such a wonderful person and I know I can always count on her, no matter what. We have a lot of common interests and are very much alike. It's been such a pleasure to share my love of WDW with her.

I'm so excited to see your Hoop Dee Doo review! We're seriously considering this for our next trip... (Paula are you reading this?) I'm a big pork rib fan and I love cornbread and beans so I don't see anything that I wouldn't like. But to top it off with strawberry shortcake AND Sangria is included.... Sold!

I'm seriously kicking myself for not trying it sooner! The meal was delicious and the show was so much fun, it was one of the highlights of our trip.

Your sunset photo on Bay Lake is beautiful.

Thank you so much!

Wow! That's some portion of the pasta dish if that is AFTER you split it. Goodness!

I know! That was my portion after we'd halved the serving we received. I love pasta but I honestly can't imagine anyone being able to eat a whole serving themselves, not unless they'd been starving themselves for a day or two prior, LOL.

Thanks for reading and commenting Brenda!

 

[MrsB1228]

I was so excited about dinner that evening because we were going to try a restaurant that I had wanted to experience for a very long time, California Grill. As it had been closed for an extended period for its refurbishment, I was worried it wouldn't be reopened for our trip. I was thrilled when the announcement was made that it was officially reopening on September 9th. I was up early to make reservations the morning they were back in the system and actually snagged two, the first one being tonight. I was sooo happy!

Our ADR time was 7:45, and we made our way over to the Contemporary and checked in at 7:25. We were taken straight up to the restaurant and were given a beeper. We sat in the lounge area and enjoyed the view of MK.

Our beeper went off at 7:55 and we were seated at a 4-top in front of the doors to the observation deck. This proved to be a great location because it allowed us to easily slip out when it was time to watch Wishes.

When we first sat down, Nancy stepped on something under the table. It turned out to be one of the multigrain rolls from the bread service that someone had obviously dropped earlier. I mention it only because I'll be referencing it later.

I took some photos of the view of the restaurant from our table.

You can see part of the doors leading to the observation deck behind me.

We decided we would each order one of the new specialty cocktails. I selected:

Sake Martini: Karen "Coy" Sake, Licor 43, Cruzan Mango Rum with a splash of orange and pineapple juices. This was delicious! 4/5

Nancy selected:

Twisted Mai Tai: Mount Gay Rum, Crème de Noyaux, orange and pineapple juices. Nancy really enjoyed this, it was sweet and refreshing. 4/5

Our server brought the bread service along with our drinks.

This consisted of house made focaccia bread and multigrain rolls. The focaccia was decent, although a little flavourless, but the rolls were horrible. Hard. Little. Rocks. Remember the roll under the table that Nancy stepped on? Yeah, that was a lot fresher than the lumps of stone we received. We would have mentioned this to our server, but she had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, we didn't really want to fill up on bread anyway.

I had read a lot of very favourable reviews about the sushi at California Grill, so I decided I had to try some for my appetizer.

Spicy Kazan Roll: Crab, Shrimp, Scallops, Fireball sauce. This was every bit as good as people say, I loved it! 5/5

Nancy had never really tried sushi, so she decided to be daring and ordered some too. She chose:

California Combination Roll: Jumbo Lump Crab, Avocado, Cucumber, and Shrimp Tempura. Nancy has discovered she doesn't like sushi, and gives it 3/5. She wants everyone to know that it was fresh and would probably be delicious to someone who appreciates sushi, but it's just not her cup of tea.

After we finished our appetizers, our server magically showed up again to take our entree orders. We told her about our crack-your-teeth rolls and she offered to bring us more of the focaccia, but we declined. Since it was getting close to 9 o'clock, I asked that our entrees not be brought out until after Wishes and she said she'd tell the kitchen.

We went outside and got our place by the rail. We were both looking forward to seeing Wishes from this new-to-us vantage point.

I didn't take any pictures of the fireworks because my little camera just doesn't do them justice.

I will continue the review with entrees, dessert and our overall impressions in the next post, stay tuned. ​

 

[MrsB1228]

Continuing with our California Grill experience, I left off as we were enjoying Wishes on the observation deck. It was a very different perspective of the show, and you really get an understanding of how far away from Main Street the fireworks actually are. It was great not to have to battle crowds to see it, but I think I prefer the view you get in the park, the illusion that the fireworks are right behind the castle is part of the magic.

When we went back inside and sat down, we waited about 10 minutes before our entrees were brought out. I had ordered:

Oak Fired Filet of Beef: Heirloom Tomato Risotto, Marinated Baby Vine Tomatoes, Petite Basil, Tomato Butter. This was good but only lukewarm, which is a pet peeve of mine as I like my food hot. I had also ordered it cooked medium but it was definitely leaning more towards well-done which made it chewier than it should have been. The risotto was tasty, but again was on the cool side. I can only give this 3/5.

Nancy ordered:

24-hour Short Rib "Filet": served with caramelized root vegetables, olive oil potato puree and red wine butter. Nancy was also underwhelmed by her entree. She said the meat was tender, but there wasn't a lot of flavour. Her entree was also just lukewarm. Our server had done a disappearing act again so we weren't able to bring any of this to her attention. I doubt we'd have sent anything back in any case however, since it was getting late and we didn't want to wait while the kitchen took another shot at it. 3/5

So far Cali Grill definitely wasn't wowing us. To recap, we both enjoyed our drinks (mmm ... boozy goodness!), I loved my appetizer but Nancy didn't enjoy hers and we were both disappointed in our entrees. Would dessert save the day?

We had placed our dessert orders with our entree order so we didn't have to wait long for them to arrive. They were brought by a runner, by the way, our server was still MIA.

We both love apple desserts so we selected the same thing:

Seasonal Tasting ... Heirloom Apple: Apple cupcake with Cream Cheese and Streusel, Warm Spiced Cider, Peanut Butter Caramel Apple Brulee and Apple-Cheddar Turnover with Compote and Cardamom Glaze. I'm sorry to say there really wasn't anything about this I liked. The cupcake was dry and I really couldn't discern any apple flavour, the cider was very bitter, and both the brulee and the turnover had a very chemical-like taste. Neither Nancy or I enjoyed it and left most of it untouched. 1.5/5

While we both appreciated the wonderful MK view and the new decor, I'm afraid California Grill was a big let down for us. Maybe I went in with my expectations too high, but from the stale dinner rolls, to the improperly prepared beef served lukewarm, to the disappointing dessert and our mostly missing server, the night was a bust. Cali Grill turned out to be our least favourite Signature. Overall, we give California Grill 2.5/5 and I think we're being generous. I cancelled our second ADR as neither of us had any desire to repeat the experience. I wouldn't write off any restaurant after one bad experience, but I won't be rushing back either.

Up Next: Breakfast at Kona Cafe, Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern.
​

 

[smile4stamps]

Oh! What a bummer that CA Grill was not good for you! It is our favorite WDW restaurant.

We've had one server that was awful and that put a real damper on the meal but for us the food has always delivered. We usually time our meals to have the entrees before the fireworks so that might make a difference as well!

 

[emmysmommy]

Bummer about California Grill. I don't think you went in with too high expectations since it is a Signature restaurant and had months to plan/prepare for their new and exciting menu/re-open. I've heard several service and food issues after the re-open which is very disappointing.

That said, we happened to have a great experience in December but it could have been due to our dining party and the fact that Paula and her husband know some of the chefs.

That was very bold of your sister to try the sushi even if it confirmed that she's not a fan. That's me.. not a fan.

The entrees looked good - but if it's not served hot and fresh it is not to expectations.

At least you enjoyed your cocktails!

 

[MrsB1228]

Oh! What a bummer that CA Grill was not good for you! It is our favorite WDW restaurant.

We've had one server that was awful and that put a real damper on the meal but for us the food has always delivered. We usually time our meals to have the entrees before the fireworks so that might make a difference as well!

I was so bummed about it as it was the one restaurant I was really looking forward to trying. I had hoped to have entrees finished before Wishes but since we were seated 10 minutes after our ADR time and combined with the very slow service that night a change of plan was necessary. We waited a good 10 minutes before our entrees arrived after we came back inside and I honestly think they had been sitting under a heat lamp for a while. The sauces had a bit of a skin on them which often happens after they've been sitting. I fault the server for that, but the kitchen was definitely responsible for the overcooked filet. They got Nancy's right, I don't know what happened to mine.

Bummer about California Grill. I don't think you went in with too high expectations since it is a Signature restaurant and had months to plan/prepare for their new and exciting menu/re-open. I've heard several service and food issues after the re-open which is very disappointing.

That said, we happened to have a great experience in December but it could have been due to our dining party and the fact that Paula and her husband know some of the chefs.

I'm glad you had a wonderful time at Cali Grill. I've been reading better reviews recently so perhaps they've got their reopening issues resolved now. Maybe I'll have to arrange to dine there with Paula and her hubby.

That was very bold of your sister to try the sushi even if it confirmed that she's not a fan. That's me.. not a fan.

She definitely stepped outside her comfort zone on that one! She thought it would be a good opportunity to try it though, given CG's reputation for excellent sushi. I have to say my Spicy Kazan Roll was every bit as delicious as everyone says it is.

The entrees looked good - but if it's not served hot and fresh it is not to expectations.

At least you enjoyed your cocktails!

I really hate lukewarm food and couldn't enjoy my meal. I think had it been hot and fresh I probably would have really enjoyed it, despite the overcooked beef.

The cocktails were delicious! Too bad they were the high point of the evening.

 

[MrsB1228]

Today marked the half way point in our vacation and we were up bright and early for our breakfast ADR at Kona Cafe. We were heading to MK afterward and what better way to fuel our touring than by consuming copious amounts of carbs, fat and sugar?

We arrived at the Poly at 7:55 and checked in for our 8:00 reservation.

We were seated right on time and took a moment to look over the menu.

Our server brought us a pot of coffee and we also ordered the famous Lilikoi Juice, which is known by many different names throughout WDW. It truly is delicious.

Sorry, I was thirsty this morning and downed half of my juice before remembering to take a picture.

I already knew what I wanted to order. I had never had Tonga Toast and was determined to try it this time. Our server soon arrived back with a selection of condiments.

And before too long, our breakfast arrived.

Tonga Toast: banana stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote and your choice of ham, bacon, or sausage.

Wow, is this thing HUGE!! It was very good, but honestly there's enough to feed a small village. I couldn't even eat half of it, but what I had I enjoyed. It's very nice with the strawberry sauce, and I also tried it plain and with regular syrup. It's very sweet on it's own, I didn't really need any other topping. 3.5/5

Nancy decided to try their other signature dish.

Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes: with macadamia nut butter, pineapple sauce and your choice of ham, bacon or sausage.

This is also a very large serving. It doesn't really show in a picture, but those pancakes are chock full of macadamia nuts. This makes them extremely rich. Nancy enjoyed them, but commented that they're very heavy. She only managed to eat one and a bit before she was stuffed. She gave them 3/5. I think you could easily share either one of these dishes and have more than enough for breakfast. They're very, very filling.

We give our Kona Cafe breakfast 3.5/5 and would definitely return, but I think next time we'll either share or try something a little less overwhelming. Last year DH and I split the Big Kahuna and a dish of fruit and it was the perfect amount of food.

With our tummies stuffed full, we waddled out to the monorail and headed off to the MK.

Up Next: Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern
​