Day 1 - Part 2
After finally giving in to fate, and turning our luggage over to bell services, we went to the Pepper Market to get some lunch. It was after 1pm and we were starving.
Id read on the Disboards that they have a little different system for ordering and paying for food here, and quite frankly, from the descriptions, I was still confused. We were seated and our server came over to take our drink orders and she asked if wed eaten there before. We said no and she proceeded to tell us how it worked. Its actually quite simple, and it works much better than other food courts, such as the Riverside Mill at Port Orleans Riverside. Let me try to explain it. Your server will give you a few 3x5 inch cards with a bunch of boxes, about 1 inch square, printed on them. We received one card per person, but it doesnt have to be that way. You take your card with you as you peruse the various food stations, and when you request something, the food service worker will stamp one of the boxes on your card with whatever it was you ordered, and give you your food order. You take your food and card back to your seating area, and when youre finished eating you take all of your cards to the CM at the register who tallies them up and holds out her hand while the Disney cash register makes a cha-ching sound. I liked it better than the Riverside Mill system where you stand at the register with a tray full of food waiting to pay, and then if you want to get another item, like dessert, that you didnt get the first time around, you have to run the gauntlet of the cash register again. Not so at the Pepper Market!
Here are a couple photos of the décor. The first is from our table, looking up at this half-human/half-bird kind of statue thing.
This second picture shows more of the dining area, but you can kind of see back to the food stations where you would get your food, if you look way toward the back.
I just noticed that you can see Judy in this picture. Middle of the picture, a little off to the right, waaaay in the back near the food stations, wearing a multi-colored shirt and blue shorts.
Judy stayed at the table with our stuff while I took the kids back to the food stations. One of the first things I noticed, and I had been warned of this on the DIS, was that it was a little pricey for a food court. I think the cheapest entrée was $9.99, and they went up from there obviously. I forget what it was, but James announced, Im going to get the whatever, which happened to be the most expensive item at that particular station. So, I obviously had to lay a framework for the kids selection process. I said, You can pick any entrée, as long as its $9.99 or less. (There were several choices at $9.99
.cheeseburgers, pasta, pizza) He eventually settled on a cheeseburger. Marlene was standing at that station and looked at the sign. It had cheeseburger on it, but not hamburger, so she asked for a cheeseburger without any cheese. The worker guy said, you mean a hamburger? And she felt like, duh. But it wasnt listed on the sign! Lauren got a margherita pizza. I decided to wait to order, because these kids dont always eat all of their food, and sometimes the Disney portions are big. And at these prices I didnt want to order more food than we needed only to throw half of it in the trash. I thought maybe Id split something with Judy, and see if there would be any leftovers to be had.
When I returned to the table I learned that Judy had ordered a nachos appetizer for herself as her lunch.
Even though this was our first Disney meal, and it had been a year since I had been in Trip Report mode, I remembered to take a few pictures of the food.
James diving in. Whoa, watch out that you don't eat the toothpick, kid!
His burger.
Laurens margherita pizza, which she loved. I got a bite and it was reaaaalllly good.
And Judy enjoying her nachos, with a big bowl of jalapenos on the side.
It was soon readily apparent that no one was going to leave any table scraps for the likes of me so I went back and ordered a burger of my own. I was debating between the burger and the pizza, but I went with the burger. I didnt take a picture, since it looked identical to James. Something in the planning/preparation portion of my brain was telling me not to get a burger here, but I couldnt remember why, so I got it anyway. It turns out it was because tomorrows lunch would be at Sci-Fi, which is a great place for a burger, and I should have waited, but now Im getting ahead of myself.
Edited to add: I guess I was a little hasty in posting this chapter because I completely forgot about how hungry, and how fast Marlene ate. She had a burger, like James, and it was literally gone in seconds. And she was still hungry. She was asking for James' fries, bites of Lauren's pizza, Judy's nachos. Where didn't know where she was putting it!
Here's a photo I forgot to include, which just illustrates my point.
It's like a feeding frenzy! According to Lauren's watch it was 2 o'clock. No wonder!
Up next: Oh yes, about those tickets to nowhere
Link to next chapter
It's an addiction I tell ya.
But hey, I've gotta keep the story good, right?
(and you're doing a fine job - I'm having fun tagging along on your trip!)
