Three Days, No Parks, But Lots of Food!!! A 3 Day DR

[princess aleya]

The breakfast at Kona looked so good! I have always wanted to try the Samoan,. Hopefully DH and I can try it before our cruise in November.

 

[wilma-bride]

I think we're going to have to have breakfast at Kona on our next trip. We're staying at the Poly, it would almost be rude not to

 

[OhhToodles]

The next day we stayed at the resort all day. It had really warmed up from the day before, so we spent the whole day at the pool and lounging in the sun.

To start the day I went and grabbed us drinks at the one bar by the pool we were originally at. Escudos Restaurante Y Barra.


You have to have frozen drinks when you're sitting by the pool on vacation.



Mine was the one on the left. I forget what it was called, but it had banana and coconut rum. It was exactly what I had been wanting. The middle one was a Mudslide for my grandfather and the one on the right was my mom's Frozen Alligator which was basically a Mudslide, but with crushed up Oreo cookies and creme de menthe. These were pricey, but totally worth it. After swimming for awhile we worked up an appetite and came back here for lunch. This place was great. There was a bar to sit at and then lots of tables under the shade. Great location and a nice mix of appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees. We all decided to split an order of nachos.

These were delicious and super filling.

I also split an order of calamari with my grandfather.


The sauce that came with these was super delicious! I wish I could remember exactly what it was but it had an orange flavor to it. The chips that came with this came in handy for our nachos too.

I also got another drink. This was a Pina Colada and strawberry puree mixture.


After more time at the pool we relaxed in the room until later in the evening. We really liked the sound of the salads down at that same restaurant, so my mom and I went back down and ordered dinner for the three of us and took it back to the room. We all got the same thing. A Zesty Pork Salad served in a tortilla shell.



This was field greens, roasted pork, green apple and candied walnuts with a bbq dressing. The pork was a little too overdone for my tastes, but other than that it was really delicious!

If any of you plan on staying at Bonnet Creek in the future I would highly recommend this place for a quick bite to eat without leaving the resort.

Prayers for your grandfather

 

[suzimar57]

Jeri, sorry to hear about your grandfather's diagnosis....

Glad though to have found this TR of yours - have been away from DisBoards a bit (saw all the "changes" on this site - yikes!)

You take the best food photos & accompanying narratives - never boring, always easy to read and relate to!!

(Not "judging" here with those 2 buffet plates - i do that all the time....)

Good you had this trip to spend with him - he looked very happy and was enjoying himself

Again, great to be back here and found your most recent Dining report..

 

[hill6]

Sorry too hear about your grandpa.

Love Pompano. My father in law lives there. 19 days till we are there.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

One of these days I am going to eat breakfast at Kona!! I am going next month for a few days and am thinking about a no parks visit, just a relax at the resort trip with my baby boy who will be 10 months old next month and am now thinking a little breakie at Kona!!

It was kinda fun to do a no parks trip. I would have preferred to stay on site in a case like that, but it was great. It's hard to get the good breakfasts in on vacation when you're trying to get in the parks early, so a non park trip would be the perfect time to finally give it a try.

OK, your breakfast looks amazing! We have Kona as a must do on our next trip. All three of the entrees are a must do for me too.. although my fiance won't eat any of them, I can already tell. The Tonga Toast has been calling my name for awhile.

I love breakfast there! There are so many unique options. You will love the Tonga Toast. It's amazing!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

The breakfast at Kona looked so good! I have always wanted to try the Samoan,. Hopefully DH and I can try it before our cruise in November.

The Samoan is definitely my favorite! I hope you get a chance to try it in Novemeber.

I think we're going to have to have breakfast at Kona on our next trip. We're staying at the Poly, it would almost be rude not to

I think it would definitely be rude. You need to pay your respects to the Tiki gods... and Kona.

Prayers for your grandfather

Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Jeri, sorry to hear about your grandfather's diagnosis....

Glad though to have found this TR of yours - have been away from DisBoards a bit (saw all the "changes" on this site - yikes!)

You take the best food photos & accompanying narratives - never boring, always easy to read and relate to!!

(Not "judging" here with those 2 buffet plates - i do that all the time....)

Good you had this trip to spend with him - he looked very happy and was enjoying himself

Again, great to be back here and found your most recent Dining report..

These changes threw me for a loop. It's better and not better at the same time. Still getting used to it.

Thank you for the well wishes. He is going through treatments and is still feeling pretty good. My mom is looking to move him in with her this summer, so I think that will be awesome for him.

I have another trip starting today, so look out for a new report soon!

Sorry too hear about your grandpa.

Love Pompano. My father in law lives there. 19 days till we are there.

Thank you very much. Pompano was beautiful. I would love to go back next year around the same time. The weather was amazing.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

After our delicious breakfast we drove to DTD to spend a few hours there and soak in some Disney magic. The new parking garage located near Disney Quest was open and it was awesome! There are these counters at the end of every row letting you know how many spaces are available in each row, so that way you don't have to drive around in circles looking for spots that don't exist. It's pretty cool. After we parked we stopped in the gift shop right next to Disney Quest and rented a wheelchair for my grandfather to make all the walking easy on him.

We came up to the Characters in Flight balloon and they both mentioned that they would want to do it, which was awesome because Rob will never do this with me! I have always wanted to ride this, so I was so excited! They wanted to wait until later, but I know how this balloon is. It seems like it is never running, so I said we should do it now while we can. It turns out I was right because it was closed later when we made our way back to this area.

We bought the photo package they offered. I usually don't buy these, but this was a special occasion, so what the heck.


Here are some shots from up in the balloon.

DTD under serious construction.


More construction and Saratoga Springs.


Mom and Grandpa in the balloon.




After our balloon ride we walked around the new area that had some new shops and this new restaurant which I cannot wait to try!




Finally we reached our true destination. Ghirardelli!


My mom ordered the Ocean Beach - Sea Salt Caramel Sundae. Vanilla ice cream smothered with creamy caramel, freshly homemade hot fudge and sea salt. Perfectly topped with whipped cream, creamy caramel, sea salt and a Ghirardelli SQUARES milk chocolate.


She was pretty excited about it.


My grandfather ordered the Midnight Reverie - Intense dark sundae. Chocolate ice cream, freshly homemade dark chocolate hot fudge, semi-sweet chocolate chips, whipped cream and an Intense Dark Twilight Delight 72% chocolate.


I ordered my usual Mint Bliss. Intense dark sundae. Mint chocolate chip ice cream, topped with freshly homemade dark chocolate hot fudge, whipped cream and an Intense Dark Twilight Delight 72% chocolate



These were all amazing. I tried some of my mom's sundae and I think I will have to try it this trip. We were all disgustingly full though.

We walked around for awhile and did some shopping. We were going to see a movie, but the times didn't really match up. Before we left DTD I had to pick up my dinner for later. Wolfgang Puck Express!


They didn't have a ton of pizza options at the West Side Express location, but I was more than happy to get the pepperoni pizza.




I ate this a few hours later back at the hotel while we played Rummikub and it was ridiculously enjoyable. I love the pizza here so much. WPE and Via Napoli have the best pizza ever.

Then it was time to start packing up to be ready to leave the next morning. Bummer.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

The next morning we were all up early. We packed up my grandfather's car for the long drive back to Jersey. But before we go we have one more Disney stop to make. Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma!

I love breakfast here and I knew my family would to. They have never been in AKL, so I was excited for them to see the resort as well.



We were seated right away and we went right up to the buffet. My family's plates were so boring I didn't even take pictures. Lots of fruit and eggs. Come on people! You can get that anywhere! Get some good stuff. I tried to lead by example.


I had an apple pocket, Krispy Kreme donut, ham, turkey, bobotie, goat cheese eggs, breakfast potatoes, Mickey waffle, chocolate chip pancakes, muffins and roasted tomatoes. All delicious!

I also got a separate dish of french toast bread pudding with praline sauce.


My plates did tempt them into trying a few more things on their second round of plates and the bread pudding was also a big hit with my grandfather.

We all had the Jungle Juice as well.


The last time I was here it tasted very watered down. This time it was better, but still a little watery tasting to me.

After an enjoyable breakfast we went outside to look at the animals. I love this resort from the outside.




We walked all around and there were NO ANIMALS. Not even a Disney duck. I'm pretty sure they thought I was lying about there being animals here. No worries, still got a great family shot outside.


And now it's all done. Time to get in the car and drive away from my happy place. But I will be back tomorrow! I can't believe it! Stay tuned for another report starting in a few weeks! Thanks for reading along everyone!

 

[LashesandDashes]

I am so sorry to hear about your grandfather! Prayers with your family! Love your reviews!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Great memories made with your mom & grandfather! Priceless! Someday I'm going to try that balloon, if I ever get up the nerve, lol.

 

[ursalita]

So sorry about your grandfather but it's wonderful you and your mom got to spend such quality time with him. All of the meals you had at Disney look amazing. I have to have a Samoan breakfast some day! Looking forward to your next report!

 

[OasterP]

Glad you had such a great trip! When are you going again? I can't believe we missed our April trip, but I'm looking forward to the September one!

 

[strawberrysh]

Great reviews....I can't wait for you to get started on your new one!!