The Mac's Attack Disney Dining...AKA "I'm so full I can't even burp!".Completed 7/11!

[MacFam4]

Hi everyone I decided to go ahead and start my PTR now, basically because I'm just so excited that I HAVE to do something We're flying out on May 21st, arriving at POFQ that evening. We're spending 9 glorious nights at Disney, and, well, did I mention how excited I am!!

The cast includes me- Disney lover and complete and total trip planner/organizer/drill sergeant. OK, I gave up the drill sergeant part after almost killing my family on our first trip because I almost walked us to death I've come to relax a lot more, basically because my DH refused to go back with me if we didn't slow down some. This will be our 4th trip, so we've learned what we like, don't care for, and there's still new stuff to try.

DH- he's not a Disney lover like I am, but he's ready for this vacation too. During our trip in 08 we were on the dining plan for the first time, and he really enjoyed eating well So he did have input on our dining choices this time around.

DS13- this boy can eat He's tall and built like an athlete, and can totally put away some food. He's looking forward to SWW, and FOOD.

DS9- he's looking forward to SWW and visiting Blizzard Beach for the first time. He's a lover of water parks (even though he's not much of a swimmer), and hanging out by the pool.

So that's us...oh, did I mention that we're from Louisiana? So we're used to really good food

Here's the line up:
TS
Biergarten
Chef's De France
Sci-Fi
'Ohana Breakfast
The Wave
Narcoossee's
Kouzzina
Boma

CS: (possibly)
Sunshine Season's
Tangerine Cafe
Starring Rolls
Columbia Harbor House
Flame Tree BBQ
Food court at POFQ

They will all be new experiences for us, except for Sci-Fi (the boys pick), Boma, and 'Ohana.

I also plan on trying either a Grand Marnier or a Gray Goose Slushie for the first time, they look super yummy!

So that's it...I'll report when we return!

One more thing...I have a photobucket account but I have no clue how to post pics Any help would be appreciated!

Questions and comments are welcome

 

[KatMark]

Hi everyone I decided to go ahead and start my PTR now, basically because I'm just so excited that I HAVE to do something We're flying out on May 21st, arriving at POFQ that evening. We're spending 9 glorious nights at Disney, and, well, did I mention how excited I am!!

The cast includes me- Disney lover and complete and total trip planner/organizer/drill sergeant. OK, I gave up the drill sergeant part after almost killing my family on our first trip because I almost walked us to death I've come to relax a lot more, basically because my DH refused to go back with me if we didn't slow down some. This will be our 4th trip, so we've learned what we like, don't care for, and there's still new stuff to try.

DH- he's not a Disney lover like I am, but he's ready for this vacation too. During our trip in 08 we were on the dining plan for the first time, and he really enjoyed eating well So he did have input on our dining choices this time around.

DS13- this boy can eat He's tall and built like an athlete, and can totally put away some food. He's looking forward to SWW, and FOOD.

DS9- he's looking forward to SWW and visiting Blizzard Beach for the first time. He's a lover of water parks (even though he's not much of a swimmer), and hanging out by the pool.

So that's us...oh, did I mention that we're from Louisiana? So we're used to really good food

Here's the line up:
TS
Biergarten
Chef's De France
Sci-Fi
'Ohana Breakfast
The Wave
Narcoossee's
Kouzzina
Boma

CS: (possibly)
Sunshine Season's
Tangerine Cafe
Starring Rolls
Columbia Harbor House
Flame Tree BBQ
Food court at POFQ

They will all be new experiences for us, except for Sci-Fi (the boys pick), Boma, and 'Ohana.

I also plan on trying either a Grand Marnier or a Gray Goose Slushie for the first time, they look super yummy!

So that's it...I'll report when we return!

One more thing...I have a photobucket account but I have no clue how to post pics Any help would be appreciated!

Questions and comments are welcome

I'm in! You have a great line up. When you go into Photobucket and have downloaded your pictures, go to the picture you want and there will be a list underneath it of what should be 4 different options of copying and pasting. You will click on the IMG Code, then right click to copy and then right click to paste in your post.

 

[MacFam4]

Thank you for the help! Maybe I'll play with photobucket tomorrow and see what I can do. I plan on taking lots of food pics this trip...I've already told my hubby we will not eat it until I snap it

 

[MacFam4]

We just got back Sunday afternoon, which always makes me a little sad But we had a truly marvelous time and we ate extremely well

We had to make a few changes to our dining plan, which I'll explain as we go along.

First, just a couple of comments before I get the dining reviews started. It was HOT and crowded! You hear me? Crowded! We've always visited over Thanksgiving week and I'm familiar with those types of crowds. I just didn't expect it to be this crowded. It all worked out fine thanks to my handy dandy touring plan, but still. As far as it being hot, we live in Louisiana so the weather is pretty much the same here. I just haven't had much of a chance to get out in the heat yet, so we got a crash course, I guess you could say. I do know that I have absolutely no intentions of visiting in July or August

Anyway, on with the show. My intentions were to enjoy our first Disney meal when we arrived at POFQ on the evening of the 21st. However, due to some nasty weather in Atlanta (which was our connecting flight), we were routed through Dallas instead. No problem except it put us arriving at MCO about 4 hours later than planned. So we had dinner at the Dallas airport, and arrived at POFQ around 1:00am on the 22nd, not getting in bed until 2:00am.

Now if there's one rule that we follow while at Disney, it's to make rope drop. You can get so much accomplished in those couple of hours. I don't care if we only spend part of the day at the park, we make rope drop. However, since we didn't get to bed until 2:00am Saturday morning, there was no way we were going to get there that early. We slept in a little and arrived at the park around 1030. We decided to have breakfast at Sunshine Seasons, so I guess this is where my reviews will begin!

Sunshine Seasons Breakfast- DH, DS13 and myself ordered the breakfast platter, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and a biscuit. The food was just OK. DS13 loved the potatoes though. I didn't even eat all of mine. I do need to mention though that I woke up with a really bad headache, which did change some plans later in the day. DS9 had a huge cinnamon roll and ate every little morsel. I forgot to take pics of breakfast, but it wasn't anything great anyway. Sorry about that!

Our lunch plans were to eat at the Tangeriene Cafe. We have eaten and Restaurant Marrakesh adn enjoyed it, so we decided to hit up the counter service. Let me mention first though that my headache had turned into a full blown migraine by this point. I needed to eat something and take my drugs, I mean pain medication If I can get my medication quick enough, the migrain will go away and not ruin the rest of the day, so this is what I was hoping for.

Anyway, we stop at the Tangeriene Cafe and ordered very quickly while the boys found us a nice table outside. I ordered the vegetable plate which was very tasty. Turns out I'm quite a fan of hummus! The falafel tasted a bit weird to me...kind of fishy DH ordered the slider plate and ate every little bit, while DS13 ordered the lamb. He ate most of it, except the hummus, which I volunteered to take off his hands. DS9 ordered the cheeseburger, but ate some lamb off of his dad's and brother's plate. They really should offere something a bit more adventurous for the kids, along with the standard burger and chicken nuggets. We all LOVED the baklava!!!! It would have been perfect with a nice hot cup of coffee, but it was too hot outside for that By this point, I had started feeling so bad that we decided to go back to the resort and nap and let the boys swim a bit. We had dinner ressies at the Biergarten, and if my migraine didn't go away, we would have to cancel

Well, I have to run to the grocery store and do a couple of other things, so I'll write more later.

Next up...pics of the Tangerience Cafe and review of the Biergarten!

 

[KatMark]

Welcome back. Great start. I can't wait to read your review of Biergarten -- one of our favorites.

 

[MacFam4]

Here's a picture of us, just so you know what we look like Remember this was my migraine day, so I'm not looking so hot

Anyway, on to more pics from the Tangerine Cafe

This is my vegetable plate...wishing I had some hummus right now.

DH's slider plate...he ate it all, plus my leftovers

DS13's lamb plate.

I didn't take a pic of DS9's cheeseburger because, well, it looked just like any other cheeseburger


After we went back to the room, I took a nice nap while the boys swam in the pool. I woke up feeling considerably better, so we were headed back to Epcot for our dinner ressie at the Biergarten. Did I mention we were celebrating my DH 36th birthday this trip?

Anyway, we arrive in Germany and await to be seated with our table mates. Incase you didn't know, you are seated with another party (the tables hold 8), just like a real Biergarten in Germany. We were lucky enough to be seated with two older couples traveling together from Pennsylvania. They were probably around my parents age, and were very nice to talk to I could imagine how this would be slightly awkard if your table mates were unfriendly.

Before I give my review of the Biergarten, there's something very important that you must know...we actually lived in Germany for 3 years, so we have most definitely consumed genuine, authentic, delicious German food!! Also please keep in mind that I was recovering from a migraine and this may have affected my tastebuds somehow

So here we go with the Biergarten review...I personally found the food to be decent, but not wonderful. I really wanted to enjoy this meal, and I did, but not as much as I thought. For one, I'm not much of a meat eater, although there were plenty of other selections. Two, the schnitzel really wasn't very good at all. I understand they just changed it to chicken, when it's typically pork. It was very chewy and somewhat tasteless. But, my DH really enjoyed the meal, and DS13 claimed it to be the best buffet he had ever eaten DS9 ate quite a bit as well, even the herring salad Would I eat here again? Sure, I would give it another go. I didn't take any pics of the food because I didn't want our table mates to think I was a nut case, but here's a couple of shots of the inside of the restaurant.

This one is kind of dark and hard to see, but I LOVED the atmoshere. Very authentic.

The band was entertaining, and they called everyone celebrating a birthday by name and sang to them. My DH also received a birthday card and a gingerbread cookie.

That's it for Saturday at Epcot! Up next...HS for Star Wars Weekends. Lunch at Starring Rolls, dinner at Sci-Fi.

 

[bluejasmine]

Cant wait to see the rest!

 

[MacFam4]

Sunday, May 23rd- My DH birthday!!!! We woke up bright and early and headed to HS for Star Wars Weekends. The boys are big fans of Boba Fett, so when they found out he was the center of attention for this year's SWW, they were both super happy

Actually, on a side note, my family didn't want to make this trip to Disney I had to bribe them with SWW! I would visit WDW every single year if I could, but my family is starting to wear thin of it I'm afraid. I may have to find another Disser who would want to hang out

This was the first picture with a Star Wars character that we took.

My boys tease me because I'm not much taller that the Ewok

We had lunch at Starring Rolls Cafe. I forgot to take pictures again, I guess we were too hungry and dug in before I remembered. Anyway, we had the ham and turkey sandwiches, which were absolutely gigantic!!! You may want to consider splitting one of these because they're so huge! They were quite tasty and hit the spot. After seeing pics on here of the Butterfinger cupcake I knew I had to try one, and I was not disappointed!!!! Loved it! Again though, it was huge and I actually shared it with both of the boys. I believe there was also a fruit tulip and chocolate eclair somewhere in the mix. This is a great counter service meal and I think it's one of the better options for CS in the park. One draw back though...even though we were eating relatively early, about 11:00am, they were crammed packed. It was confusing in there because you couldn't really see what was going on, and it's such a tiny space. We finally found a table, but seating is quite limited as well.

We had dinner ressies that evening at the Sci-Fi. We ate here on our last trip in 08, and the boys chose this place again. We love the atmosphere...it's very nice to go into a dark, air conditioned restaurant after spending hours in the hot sun. I don't find the food all that tasty, but that's OK. Again, I forgot to take pics until way after everyone started eating, plus it was dark, do I didn't even bother.We actually checked in early, and after a bit of a wait, we were called to our car. We had a couple of hitch hikers who sat behind us, and it was a little weird being able to hear their conversation. It may have been even weirder for them to hear OUR conversation

I ordered the shrimp pasta, minus the olives. I'm not a big fan of olives, and that coupled with artichoke hearts and feta cheese is a bit strong for me. It was decent enough and I ate most of it. My DH ordered the seared marinated tofu. Personally, I think it sounds pretty darn yucky. However, he declared the tofu excellent He also mentioned that if you're considering trying it, do NOT be afraid!! He was extremely pleased. DS13 had the chicken sandwich and DS9 had the meaty macaroni.

For dessert, I had the most delicious peanut butter chocolate cake. This was worth the trip to Sci-Fi for me! Heavenly I do admit I have a weakness for peanut butter and chocolate though. DH had the apple cobbler, and DS13 had the cheesecake. They both ate it up with none to spare.

Since I forgot to take pics of the food, here's a couple of the restaurant.

Also, let me go ahead and mention the food court at POFQ. . We only ate there a few mornings for breakfast, no lunch or dinner. We tried chocolate chip pancakes, breakfast platters, croissant sandwiches, cream cheese and cherry danishes, and cinnamon rolls. All was very good, and I especially like the croissant. We walked through a couple of times at dinner and the portions looked adequate and quite tasty.

Next up....'Ohana Breakfast, Columbia Harbor House, and The Wave.

 

[Symans3honeybees]

Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews!! Happy belated birthday to your DH

 

[danalee]

I'm jumping in!!

I'll go with ya on future trips, I fear my guys will do the same to me soon

 

[MacFam4]

Thanks to those of you who have been reading I am having terrible internet problems so uploading my pics has been impossible. Hopefully this weekend I can finish my dining report!

Still lots to come....

 

[MacFam4]

I'm jumping in!!

I'll go with ya on future trips, I fear my guys will do the same to me soon

Seriously, my guys don't want to go back Well, my 9 year old probably would, but my 13 year old prefers Universal Studios. Hubby wants to wait like 5 years, but I'm pretty sure I can't wait that long

 

[pooch]

only DD will come now and she's taking a year long internship and won't be able to join me this year . My brother, whom I so love, is taking her place (if he backs out, I'll kill him!!!) So I, too, can be available if you need a buddy! Enjoying your report & you've gone to many of the places I'm taking DB. Looking forward to more.

 

[SweetSpot]

I'll go with you. My family goes for just the rides, really picky eaters so I am dying to actualy get inside and eat in a restaurant there and don't want to go alone. Sooooo, if they dump you next time, I'm there!

Love the report thank you!

 

[danalee]

we need to start a support group..."for folks that there family left them hanging on WDW trips!"

 

[MacFam4]

Let's see now where did I leave off...Oh, yes, Monday May 24th, Magic Kindgom Day

We had breakfast ressies early that morning at 'Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort. We had planned to eat breakfast with plenty of time to hop on the monorail and still be at Magic Kingdom for rope drop. BUT, on our way there, the monorail was delayed for a maintainance inspection and we were really late. However, the monorail guys did call the resorts and let them know.

We've had this breakfast before, on our very first trip in 05. I have to say, it's one of my favorites because you still get to see the characters, you can still eat all you want of some very good food, and best of all, they bring the food to you!!! So you don't have to worry about getting up to refill your plate and missing a character.

Now, I forgot to take pics of food again What I think happened is we were late to begin with and we were getting hungry, so no pics. However, I'll give you a run down of what we had. That start off bringing you drinks and some very yummy sticky pineapple bread. The juice that they serve is absolutely delicious, and I'm not even a big juice drinker! We also received some fresh fruit. The main meal comes served in a very large serving platter, and consists of biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast sausage, potatoes, and Mickey waffles. Plenty of food!! You can ask for as many servings as you like, so it is all you can eat.

As for the character's, we saw Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch. Stitch and Mickey Mouse overlooked us and went on to another section. We told our waitress, and both Mickey and Stitch did come right back over. We got quick pics and autographs and were on our way. Now, I think the Poly is a beautiful resort and I usually like to take pics, but we had to get to the Magic Kingdom!

Since I forgot to take pics of our food, here's a couple with the characters.

Unfortunately, I have to work for a few hours today, so that's it for now.

Coming up next..Columbia Harbor House and The Wave.

 

[KatMark]

Love the pics of the characters with your family.

 

[vettegirl]

The Ohana pictures with Stitch are so cute! I am going to have to try breakfast there as I love the Poly, Stitch,and good food!

 

[MacFam4]

Alrighty, now that I've gotten some real life stuff out of the way today, like work, dinner, and groceries....back to the dining review

Let's see....ever notice how your memory starts getting bad the older you get? I'm only 36. I thought this would happen much later in life. Any whoo...

After a wonderful morning at MK, we decided we needed some lunch. Oh, side note- Space Mtn is super dark now!!!!! And still rough! I was calling out for my chiropracter while I was on that ride I was certain I needed an adjustment right then and there

OK, so we end up having lunch at Columbia Harbor House. I had the hummus sandwich with brocolli slaw. LOVED it! The multi-grain bread just tops it off. DH had the tuna sandwich, which I tried, but it tasted a bit too fishy for me. By the way, DH does not understand how or why I declare some fish too fishy. Am I the only one who likes fish, but not fishy fish?? He liked his tuna sandwich well enough though. DS13 ordered the BLT salad, which he really shouldn't have done. He's not much of a salad eater, but he doesn't like tuna, or fried foods, so I guess he thought he didn't have much of a choice. He still ate most of it, and coupled with his dessert, he was full enough. I can't for the life of me remember what DS9 had. We ate upstairs and was able to rest for a few minutes and enjoy the A/C.

We decided shortly after lunch that we needed to go back to the resort. Both myself and DS9 were about to have a mini-melt down, so back to the resort we went. We were just all hot and tired (or atleast I was), and DS9 wanted to take a swim. I'm not proud of all most having a melt down, but atleast I could recognize it and try to prevent it

So after some much needed rest, we head over to the Contemporary Resort for dinner at The Wave. We really liked the decor inside, a bit more classy I guess than some of the other restaurants. I will say they we were wearing our regular park attire, since we were headed back to MK after dinner, and I felt slightly under dressed. Anyone else feel that way? The service was a bit slow, but our waiter was very nice.

So here's some pics:

I ordered this, the chili rubbed flank steak with avacado mousse, potatoes, and greens. This was a very, very tasty dish, and I'm not much of a steak eater. I would have preferred a bit more of the avacado mousse, but the steak itself was seasoned really well. The potatoes were very good as well, and the greens were just OK. Honestly, by the time I ate the steak and potatoes, I was pretty full anyway. I do have to say that the portions were not all that large. It was plenty for me, especially since I knew dessert was involved. But if you're a really big eater, you may have room for an appetizer.

Sorry about this pic being sideways, but it was DH's fish of the day. It was mahi mahi and something else...I had never heard of it. He thought this meal was I did taste the broth, and it was super good!!! I thought he might lick the plate!!

DS13 ordered the chicken pot pie. As you can see, it's not your traditional pot pie, which our server kindly explained when he ordered it. He ate every little drop as well. I just took his word for it, because I have an adversion to chicken with a bone in it It's very strange, I know. I did mention earlier in the report that I'm not much of a meat eater, so there ya go.

DS9 ordered the fish dish from the kid's menu. He apparently does like fishy fish because he ate all types of fish on this trip. Even that herring salad that I mentioned earlier. I didn't take a pic of his, sorry.

The desserts here were quite interesting. I have to say that I really liked being able to sample three different desserts. Each one was about 2 bites each, so that's plenty really. Here's a couple of pics:

Here's a pic of DS9 at the entrance to the restaurant. We also thought the blue lounge where you can get a drink and wait for your pager to go off was very chic as well.

 

[MacFam4]

Since I'm on a roll here, I thought I would keep trucking on with this report

Tuesday was our water park day. Since we have always visited in November, and we don't like being wet and cold at the same time, we have never visited a waterpark on site. So, we decided to go to Blizzard Beach! Since this is a dining report, I won't go into much detail, except that this was one of the best waterparks I've ever been to I loved the fact that shade was abundant, and they did a great job keeping the walkways cooled off. I did get horribly tired climbing all of those stairs, but it was a fun filled day none the less.

After a full day at BB, we went back to our room and showered and headed to Downtown Disney. One of our favorite places to eat is Wolfgang Puck Express. We find the food to be the best CS on property. Here's what we had:

I had the BBQ chicken pizza. Oooooh, this was very tangy and flavorful! The BBQ sauce was subtle and not over bearing, and the crust was just thin enough to be perfect. The pizza is a little large, so if you're having dessert, two people could probably share.

DH had the Rosemary Chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Again, he ate every little morsel and declared it a winner He also had the creme brulee for dessert...no complaints!

DS13 had a sandwich of some sort with sweet potato fries. We all LOVE sweet potato fries, and these were top notch. Of course he cleaned his plate, and had frozen yogurt with Reece's pieces on top.

DS9 had the spaghetti and meatballs. The person taking our order told us he could order off of the adult menu, so he did. Of course he couldn't eat it all, but he put a major dent in it. He is a true lover of spaghetti and meatballs. He had that for dinner tonight, as a matter of fact


Well folks, my eyes are getting tired so I think I'm going to call it a night. Up next...a special breakfast treat, lunch at WPE again, and Narcoossee's!!!!!