**The Solo Trip Which Led to a Deluxe Addiction!** COMPLETE 4/3 SNACKS!

[rachel09985]

Hi There!

I am Rachel and I will be your narrator for this brief dining review.

I was at Disney Jan 5th through January 7th. It was my first solo trip and so short because I got invited to a work training in Orlando January 8th and 9th! I just started a job at PepsiCo in November so this was kind of an onboarding training.

I was soo excited to go to Orlando and knew I had to go to Disney to see all of the new stuff I missed in November that I asked my boss if I could fly down early, so I did!

I flew in early Saturday and spend Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in Disney. Monday night I transferred to my work hotel.

I splurged for myself and got the Deluxe Dining Plan! I normally get the dining plan but I wanted to try a signature restaurant so I got the Deluxe after playing around with costs.

I posted on here that I was going to be there and emmebear asked me if I wanted to meet up so we did! We spent a day and half together and it was a blast! I am trying to go back within the next couple of months to see them again!

Here is a photo of me (in my skinny days, lol)

And here is a more recent one of me with my puppy dog Lola, a cockapoo!

 

[rachel09985]

So I had a reservation at Kona at 1:45 for lunch. I must not have been thinking it through because my plane landed at 12:55pm. I thought I could have made it if I took a taxi from POP. But the ME line took forever and the ride there took forever because we had to stop at AoA. I didn't even get to POP until 2:35. Originally I thought that Kona was open until 3:45pm for lunch but I found out they closed at 2:45pm. So Kona was off

I was so sad. I was really looking forward to eating there.

All sorts of thoughts were running through my head. I thought about going to HS and eating at Hollywood Brown Derby or Mama Melrose or Sci Fi! Then I decided to just eat quick service at Pop Century. Boring but it got the job done!

I had my usual- Chicken Penne Alfredo. I did not use a credit because that would be a waste but I did get my mug!

The chicken Penne alfredo was pretty good. I felt like the Alfredo sauce was lacking in flavor from what it normally tastes like. Also the chicken was a little crispy so it was hard to cut. It is still one my favorite CS meals though! I literally inhaled it to the point where I had bad hiccups!!

I passed on dessert but did look for the Elvis cupcake! I couldn't find it.

I decided to head to HS for dessert!

When I got to HS it was PACKED!!! It was ridiculous! Luckily Starring Rolls was open so I decided to relish in the moment and just chill, all while eating the infamous butterfinger cupcake!

This thing was nuts. First of all it is cold in the case so when you try to cut it you can't because the topping is cold. The worst part was that there was a thick chocolate layer over the frosting which made cutting it impossible. I had to wait a few minutes before I cut it.

Here is what my first cut looked like.

It was soo sweet that I didn't care for it. I liked the frosting with the chocolate layer and butterfinger but I couldn't eat all of it. And I am not a huge chocolate cake lover so I am not sure why I even got it!

Close up

I am glad I tried it but I won't get it again just because it was too sweet.

Here are my remnants:

 

[auntfrannie]

It was soo sweet that I didn't care for it. I liked the frosting with the chocolate layer and butterfinger but I couldn't eat all of it. And I am not a huge chocolate cake lover so I am not sure why I even got it!

Peer pressure! I've been down that road with the Butterfinger cupcake, too. So many people love it but it just wasn't for me. Too sweet and definitely too big! Love the reviews!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I'm in!

 

[MrsB1228]

Enjoying your reviews so far and I completely agree about the Butterfinger cupcake, I found it way too sweet as well and could only eat about a quarter of it before I had to admit defeat. I liked the Red Velvet one much better!

Looking forward to more!

 

[iloveeeyore]

I've come to realize that I'm not a big fan of the Disney specialty cupcakes. I like the plain vanilla, but that's about it.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[rachel09985]

Peer pressure! I've been down that road with the Butterfinger cupcake, too. So many people love it but it just wasn't for me. Too sweet and definitely too big! Love the reviews!

Hah I think it was peer pressure! Everyone loves it but I just didn't.

I'm in!

Thanks for joining in!

Enjoying your reviews so far and I completely agree about the Butterfinger cupcake, I found it way too sweet as well and could only eat about a quarter of it before I had to admit defeat. I liked the Red Velvet one much better!

Looking forward to more!

I am glad I am not the only one. I am nervous to try the red velvet one ask I am picky with red velvet.

I've come to realize that I'm not a big fan of the Disney specialty cupcakes. I like the plain vanilla, but that's about it.

Can't wait to read more!

I def think I am like you! I don't like Disney's cupcake. They try to make them as big as possible but they are just not great! The one that I really liked was the maple pumpkin one! That was great!

 

[rachel09985]

Emmebear originally booked Boma and asked if I wanted to come and I said of course! I have been to Boma breakfast but never dinner. Dinner is pretty much out of the option when Corey and I go to Disney because he is very picky!

Emmebear kept raving about the carrot ginger soup so I knew I was in for something good!

We got to our ressie pretty early but they let us in early which was nice.

Emmebear got a dirty martini and I got the superfruit margarita which was topped with lemon lime foam.

Photo courtesy of Emmebear:

Yum! It was soo good! Perfect ratio of sweet and sour. The lemon lime foam was great too!

My first plate had the beef with mustard, salmon, bobotie, rice with tomato and pea paneer.

The beef was a little dry and too well done for me so I didn't care for it. I loved the Boma mustard that I topped it with (recommended by Emmebear). The salmon was mediocre. The bobotie was really sweet and I didn't really like the flavor. I liked the texture and idea I just wish it was more savory. I loved the paneer with tomato and peas. It was a spicy curry and I didn't realize paneer was cheese. The paneer is basically soft cheese cubes. It was good mixed with the curry sauce.

I also had a bowl of the carrot ginger soup.

It was delicious! It reminded me of a thicker butternut squash soup from Wolfgang Pucks. I enjoyed it. I actually took it really light this meal. My first Disney meal I have to eat slow to help my stomach expand slowly. Then every meal after that I am allowed to go wild because my stomach is already expanded!

Next up was dessert!

Going clockwise starting at the bread pudding on the bottom.

Bread Pudding: We both thought it was too mushy and "wet". It had a good flavor though but it had raisins and I hate raisins.

Chocolate Cinnamon Mousse: Yum! This was good! It reminded me of Oreo Bon Bon except not with an oreo bottom and the oreo mousse was a chocolate cinnamon mousse. It was very good.

Peanut Butter Mousse: This was excellent. It had a great PB flavor with mousse texture!

Zebra Dome: I actually have tried zebra domes before and didn't like it. These zebra domes were great. They were a lot firmer than they ones I had. I liked them a lot!

Passionfruit Jelly things (Someone help me out here): I don't remember exactly what this was. It was a jelly texture and it was a passionfruit flavor. It was sour but it was good!

Espresseo Mousse in a cup: This was a strong espresso flavor. It wasn't bad but it was my least favorite dessert besides the bread pudding.

All in all we had a great time at Boma getting to know each other. We didn't leave till like 10:30pm! Emme was a very cute and good girl during dinner!

 

[DLFan123]

Those Boma desserts look delicious!

 

[rachel09985]

We had a reservation at Crystal Palace at 8:05am. We were a bit late but were sat with really no problems!

We had a pretty table with a castle view. You can see how foggy it was this day because you can barely see the castle

Pooh came first before we ate.

Emme was bouncing Pooh's belly and it was so funny!

I started off with a plate of pastrami smoked salmon and fruit. The smoked salmon was very good but the pastrami seasoning was very strong and salty!

The fruit was good and fresh. Last time there was a mixed berry bowl of fruit, but this time they did not have that unfortunately.

Next Piglet came around. He is so cute! I think I like him just because he is pink.

I went back for a savory plate.

This had cheesey potatoes, egg casserole bake, hash, and some other breakfast potatoes. The egg casserole bake(12oclock) was really gross. It had a weird texture and the cheese was like grainy or something. The cheesy potatoes were ok but I would have preferred shredded.

The next thing I had was the Pooh's breakfast lasagna. This is a big reason why I wanted to come back here, because they brought it back. It wasn't that great.

It was definitely a little too much. The berry flavor was fake tasting and the pound cake was a little too heavy. Also this batch was older. I think a fresh batch would have been better. The caramelized bananas on top were awesome though!

I forgot about the Pooh's puffed french toast so I had a piece of that. It is very very good. Basically like fried dough with cinnamon sugar on it. This piece was a little well done but it was still good.

All in all Crystal Palace was a lot of fun but the food was better the first time I ate there in 2011. I feel that happens a lot, the food is always better the first time!

The price for this was $26.99 which was a little bit more than I thought it was going to be.

 

[rachel09985]

Those Boma desserts look delicious!

They were great! Best buffet desserts I have had yet( as a whole)

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

I'm in! Read all of your other report so in for this one too!

$26.99 is kind of steep for one person! I have never been to a Character buffet yet. I'm not a big breakfast eater, and I feel that it would be a huge waste of $$ for the 4 of us, esp. since my kids don't eat alot at once either. Hubby on the other hand, he would get his money's worth. haha

I've heard the food at CP is mediocre too and it's really all about the Character experience. Out of curiosity, what is your favorite Character restaurant? I've taken my daughter to CRT and we both loved it. Taking her there again this year too.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[happy2012]

Hi Rachel!! Great review so far! You look like you were having a blast w/ piglet & the cute little Emme !! Boma for dinner looks soo interesting. Love that Pooh's toast,my gosh, it was silly good!!!

 

[minniebeth]

I love your Dining Reviews!
How fun that you got to go solo for a few days before work!
I did 2 days solo for the first time in September before my DH came and met me for the Tower of Terror 10 Mile Race. I was so nervous, but I ended up LOVING it and would do a solo trip again in a heartbeat!

Lola is just adorable, my brother has a cockapoo and she is the cutest, sweetest dog ever.

DD10 and I were at DHS the same day you were! It WAS insane! Probably the most crowded I've ever seen it! We avoided all the headliners and did stuff off the beaten path and ended up having such a great day despite the crowds. We did the first Fantasmic show and when we came out of the amphitheater, the line for F! was allllll the way down Sunset Blvd. The crowds everywhere that weekend were like that until about the following Tuesday at all the parks.

The cupcakes always do look sooo good, but we've had the same experience that they (at least for us) just don't live up to the hype. Just too sweet, and just too much! I had a similar experience with the Carrot Cake Cookie at DHS. It was great for one bite. I wish I had someone to share it with because it wasn't a cookie, the thing was a FRISBEE! Lol.

I love Emmebear's Dining Reviews and love her DCL TR. Emme is so stinking cute! So much fun that you got to share some fun time with them at Boma and the CP! Pooh's Puffed French Toast is one of my favorites!
It looks like you had a great time with them!

Looking forward to more~

 

[emmebear]

hooray for your dining report!!

i think crystal palace is one of the cheaper character breakfasts that i have had. i've eaten at crt, ohana, akershus, & cp and cp is the cheapest out of the 4. but one of the main reasons we chose cp was the adr before the park opened.

can't wait to see you again soon rachel! emme asks about you all the time.

 

[rachel09985]

I'm in! Read all of your other report so in for this one too!

$26.99 is kind of steep for one person! I have never been to a Character buffet yet. I'm not a big breakfast eater, and I feel that it would be a huge waste of $$ for the 4 of us, esp. since my kids don't eat alot at once either. Hubby on the other hand, he would get his money's worth. haha

I've heard the food at CP is mediocre too and it's really all about the Character experience. Out of curiosity, what is your favorite Character restaurant? I've taken my daughter to CRT and we both loved it. Taking her there again this year too.

Hi! Thanks so much for joining! Yes, it is expensive. I think Disney is forcing people to get the dining plan! I have actually liked my food there before.

Oh gosh I don't know what my favorite character meal is. I haven't been to that many.

CRT Breakfast
CP Dinner/Breakfast
1900 Park Fare Breakfast
Chef Mickey's Breakfast
I think my favorite is CRT Breakfast and 1900 Park Fare Breakfast. I liked 1900 Park Fare breakfast food but the characters aren't that special. They have Pooh and friends there. CRT was an awesome experience so it is good you are going there again! I didn't rreally like Chef Mickey's food but it was a fun experience.

I'm in! Can't wait to hear more!!

Thanks so much for reading!!

Hi Rachel!! Great review so far! You look like you were having a blast w/ piglet & the cute little Emme !! Boma for dinner looks soo interesting. Love that Pooh's toast,my gosh, it was silly good!!!

Hi Maura!!! We did have fun! We are both going back in April, it will be fun!

I love your Dining Reviews!
How fun that you got to go solo for a few days before work!
I did 2 days solo for the first time in September before my DH came and met me for the Tower of Terror 10 Mile Race. I was so nervous, but I ended up LOVING it and would do a solo trip again in a heartbeat!
Hi! The solo trip is fun! It is nice not having a schedule!
Lola is just adorable, my brother has a cockapoo and she is the cutest, sweetest dog ever.
I love cockapoos! I think i want another one someday.
DD10 and I were at DHS the same day you were! It WAS insane! Probably the most crowded I've ever seen it! We avoided all the headliners and did stuff off the beaten path and ended up having such a great day despite the crowds. We did the first Fantasmic show and when we came out of the amphitheater, the line for F! was allllll the way down Sunset Blvd. The crowds everywhere that weekend were like that until about the following Tuesday at all the parks.
That is so funny that you were at DHS the same day!! Oh my gosh it was soo bad. Why were the crowds so bad? Still leftover from Christmas and new years?
The cupcakes always do look sooo good, but we've had the same experience that they (at least for us) just don't live up to the hype. Just too sweet, and just too much! I had a similar experience with the Carrot Cake Cookie at DHS. It was great for one bite. I wish I had someone to share it with because it wasn't a cookie, the thing was a FRISBEE! Lol.
Yeah I know i don't like disney cupcakes. I am used to designer cupcakes that are a bit smaller and have a lot more flavor and disney just doesn't seem too get it that big doesn't need mean better. I think it has to do with the fact that are mass produced.
I love Emmebear's Dining Reviews and love her DCL TR. Emme is so stinking cute! So much fun that you got to share some fun time with them at Boma and the CP! Pooh's Puffed French Toast is one of my favorites!
It looks like you had a great time with them!

Looking forward to more~

Emme is so cute!! We are meeting again in April. I am so exicted!!!

 

[rachel09985]

First I have to post my snack update

I needed to try the Lefou's Brew!

Emmebear got some too!

Pardon my 29 pictures of the brew!

It counts as a snack credit and is $4.29, kind of expensive for a drink!

Here are my thoughts.

People have said it is incredibly sweet. I didn't think it was too sweet. It tasted like apple juice which by itself is very sweet. The passionfruit foam on top was good. I didn't think I would like that at all but it was actually a very good light sweet citrus flavor. The drink is supposed to have a marshmallow flavor but it was very light. I tasted it a bit in the beginning and then random drinks. It wasn't very strong. I liked it and I would get it again.

Did it compare to butterbeer? HECK NO! Butterbeer is in a completely different level. I wish Disney would have created something different than the drink they use in Carsland and the Fantasyland area in Disneyland.

Next up was our lunch at Be Our Guest! I did not expect this line to be so long. It wrapped around the fence that overlooks the little lake area.

They don't let strollers in the line which is ridiculous because it is such a long line. It took us 40 minutes to get in to order. Emme was on the verge of having a meltdown and she needed her stroller so they let her have it.

We finally got up to the front. It is like an elusive club or something.

I really hope the lines go away soon.

We ordered and after that found our seats. For some reason I thought you ordered yourself on touch screens? Is that still supposed to happen?

We sat in the library room. This room is definitely the comfiest with the booth banquettes, and the light.

We were still getting cute holiday cups. I think they should give you cups when you check out because anyone could get a drink even if they didn't pay.

One thing that made me mad was how EMPTY it was one in this restaurant. There was soo many open tables. It is obvious the bottleneck is the ordering. They should add more ordering stations.

The drink station was very nice. The pop signs all were very ornate looking and didn't look like the typcal pop slogans.

I ordered the croque monsier and it came out very quickly. This was very good.

It was hot and cheesy at first but cooled off rather quickly. I really wish I could have gotten something different besides fries but they were ok. If you like a lot of ketchup you may need to ask for extra. The sandwich had bechamel which is like a cheese and the ham was very thick sliced. It was delicious.

I got the strawberry cream cheese cupcake.

My poor strawberry fell on the ground.

The wrapper definitely is hard to get off. It is better to eat with a fork.

The vanilla sponge cake was very plain and nothing special. The cream cheese frosting was very good and not too sweet. The best part was the strawberry mousse that was in the cake. It was yummy!

I can't wait to come back again. I want to try a lot of things. I definitely think I wont come for dinner. Dinner doesn't look that great. I still can NOT believe they have the same desserts as dinner. That is just odd.

One last picture of the beautiful rose mosaic on the ground that is already MISSING lots of mosaic pieces.

I can not believe this. This place is a couple months old and there is already multiple pieces falling out. You can see a huge chunk of the rose floor that is missing.

 

[rachel09985]

hooray for your dining report!!

i think crystal palace is one of the cheaper character breakfasts that i have had. i've eaten at crt, ohana, akershus, & cp and cp is the cheapest out of the 4. but one of the main reasons we chose cp was the adr before the park opened.

can't wait to see you again soon rachel! emme asks about you all the time.

I didn't even see your comment, you snuck in here!

I can't wait to see you guys too! It was so nice to go into MK early! I am excited for Akerhus! I think I agree about it being cheaper. We should try out 1900 Park Fare. I really like their breakfast. It was the cheapest one I have been too. They have really good cheesey potatoes too.

I made a trip report too!

 

[rachel09985]

Since I am caught up on my trip report I decided to update my dining review for Artist Point Dinner.

I think my reservation was at 5:30pm and I got there right on time.

I checked in at the podium and asked them to tuck me into a corner. I was relatively nervous to be eating on my own as my first two meals were with Emmebear! I didn't want to be out in the open and have people look at me and feel bad for me because I was alone at Disney. That wouldn't have happened but I still don't like to stick out.

Here was my view. It was very empty as it was early.

I should note this is my first disney signature ever! I like all foods but my bf is a meat and potatoes kind of guy so he doesn't really venture out. We are stuck with the usual when we go to Disney. Luckily Emmebear and I are venturing out a bit in April

My server was Rae and she was a cute tiny girl that was pretty young.

She brought the bread which is a multigrain with a butter with black sea salt and a hazelnut olive oil. The bread wasn't great but the butter was good with the sea salt and the hazelnut olive oil was great although it lacked a hazelnut flavor, I thought. The bread was too hard on the crust for me.

I knew I wanted to start with the Smokey Portobello Soup ($10).

This had a great mushroom flavor but the soup was lukewarm. I am not sure if it was supposed to be lukewarm but I like my soup hot and this was not hot. I should have sent it back. It had a great portobello creamy flavor though. I didn't like the smoked portobello mushrooms in the soup. They were way too big and too chewy.

I contemplated getting wine but decided on a regular old Diet Coke.

It is so cute that she gave me a mickey straw! Is that the norm at signature restaurants?

For my entree I couldn't decide. I wanted the scallops because it came with butternut squash risotto but she talked to me into the buffalo strip steak. She suggested medium rare so I went along with her.

The buffalo strip steak came with collared greens and truffle mac and cheese.

Sorry for the horrible picture of the steak and mac and cheese.

I didn't care for the buffalo strip steak because of the temp it was cooked, which was totally my fault. I should have had it medium. It was way toooo bloody, almost purple!! It is unappetizing to me to see blood all over a plate and this is how this plate was. It also turned my mac and cheese pink on the bottom

The truffle mac and cheese was soooo good. I don't really know what truffle tastes like(besides Lindt truffles, lol) I think it is a mushroom?? But this mac and cheese was so good and creamy and light. It is hard to make a mac and cheese light but this was!

The collared green were yuck! I don't like collard greens so I had one bite to confirm I don't like them.

I should note that I was out of a drink for the entire first half of my meal. It was really frustrating to not have a refreshment while I see her chatting away to another table for 5 minutes! How hard is it to give good service to one person?? that was my only complaint, other than that she was really nice and good.

She let me order the butternut squash risotto as a side dish on my dining plan!!

I had butternut squash risotto at The Wave and thought it would be similar because I loved The Wave "risotto".

Unfortunately this didn't taste anything like it. This was very bitter and not sweet at all. I am so glad I didn't get the scallops and just got a side of this. I didn't care for this at all. The cranberries on top were tasty but that was it.

For my dessert I got the artist point cobbler. Housemade cobbler with seasonal berries and black raspberry ice cream.

This was heaven!!! Probably one of the top 3 of desserts I have had at Disney. The cobbler was so fresh and hot and tasted delicious with the raspberry ice cream. The berries were soo fresh and perfect and no imperfections at all. The cobbler was chock full of blueberries and they were delicious. The bottom of the cobbler was a little undercooked but it was heaven. It was perfect that way. It was like eating a doughy cookie on the bottom. My only complaint was the ice cream was a bit icey.

I crave this dessert. I want it again someday.

All in all my meal was $78.80, 2 credits. I guess she accidently charged my 4 credits because when I went to check out the next day he said I had no credits left for table service. I was like Umm no, that is not right! That is when he realized I was charged twice. Thank god I checked out, even though I didn't have to, because I had no room charges. Otherwise I would have never known until I got ready to pay at lunch where they would have said I have no credits!

It was definitely a good meal. I would probably rate it 7/10. Negatives were being out of a drink for half of my meal, lukewarm soup, undercooked steak, and bad tasting risotto. I know two of those I could have done something about it, so I am not taking it out on them!

High points were the mickey straw, truffle mac and cheese, and the cobbler!!