Two Weeks of Dining with the Aloha Crew, June 2013 - *Complete*

[AlohaAnnie]

Lunch at The Plaza Restaurant!




After many, many trips on the dining plan and not feeling that The Plaza was worth it as a TS credit, we finally did not have the dining plan this trip and decided to give The Plaza a try.


Menu Pics:






Kids Menu:



Aaron ordered the Tuna Salad Sandwich which had tuna salad with lettuce and tomato on freshly baked croissant, he substituted the croissant for sourdough bread.



He said it was good, not fishy fishy or he would not have ate it and he doesn't like too much mayo and he said the mayo was just right. He plans to order this again. Those Fries, so good!!!


Shawn and I both order the Plaza Club which is smoked ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise layered on toasted multi-grain bread we both order fries.



Shawn's without tomato



Mine with tomato, now I have to say, there is nothing spectacular about these sandwiches but they hit the spot after all the rich food at Disney. These were delicious and a welcome addition that day! Oh those french fries, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. So very good, fried to perfection potato wedges!!


Allison had the kids Mickey's Turkey Sandwich but with Ham instead. She is not a turkey lunch meat fan.



She really enjoyed this sandwich.


For Dessert, Allison had the mini chocolate chip cookies with milk.



She said these were good and the cookies were warm.

For dessert, we shared the Original Banana Split which is chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream topped with hot fudge, strawberry sauce, crushed pineapple, chopped nuts, whipped cream and a cherry.



This was so so good! I highly recommend this if you are a Banana Split fan.


Overall, we really enjoyed The Plaza Restaurant and we will be returning!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Via Napoli Dinner


Bread & Oil



For an appetizer we ordered the Fritto Misto which is an assortment of just-fried seasonal vegetables, calamari & cheese. Arancini, mozzarella, calamari, melanzane, asparagi, zucchini, artichoke, pomodoro piccante sauce.



This was very good, I enjoyed it. Nothing was greasy, it was light and delicious.

We then ordered the Mezzo Metro Pepperoni - pepperoni, tomato, mozzarella.



This was so very good. We enjoy pizza like this, it was lovely! The crust was cooked perfectly. I highly recommend Via Napoli. We usually have pizza once a week here at home. It was nice to enjoy pizza at Disney World.

.
.
.
.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Great reviews! I have to admit I'm a big fan of plastic cheese too

Terri

Yum! We love our plastic cheese!

The spicy chicken waffle sandwich thing always looks and sounds so good! I love the way your family could deconstruct it so everyone got what they wanted.

We have never been to Casey's - one day we will get a chance to try it!

The kiddos look so hot in the frozen coke pic - good call to stop for an icy beverage.




I just posted my Crystal Palace review too! Isn't it fun!

We compliment each other that way! LOL! Casey's is just average but a nice stop for us. We like hot dogs so it works for us. I prefer mine plain with just mustard. It was so HOT!!! that day. We just rode things with A/C or sat around for a while. It was for the best, we also drank plenty of water while resting. I will have to look up your review

Following along

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Thanks for following along

 

[RGirl]

I have heard so many great things about the Plaza. I would totally consider next time even on the DxDDP as kind of a break from all the “fancy” food and character meals.

I have to say that the french fries look amazingly good though. Maybe worth it for those alone.

I love the cookies and milk dessert. That is so cute!!!

Loved reading your VN review - I doubt we will go there anytime soon as I haven’t read that they are able to be very accommodating to gluten-sensitive folks - which is totally understandable given the menu! Your app looks incredible! Mmmmmmm

Okay, seriously, is that pizza as big as the table????? WOW! It looks amazing!

 

[DisneyJo]

The Plaza sandwiches look lovely and the cookies & milk is just adorable!

Wow that pizza looks good, my kids would absolutely love that

 

[DisneyDarling1]

I LOVE San Angel Good choice

 

[Dislover1991]

I've been following along but i've never posted before! However, I love your reviews and can't wait to see the next ones!

Based on your WPE breakfast review, I was excited when we decided to try breakfast instead of lunch at WPE on our last day. The photo of the pizza was so good that I insisted my dad order it so I could try some. He was reluctant as it was somewhat pricey for a QS breakfast meal but I told him how great they look. Let me just say that he was VERY happy with his choice. He loved the pizza and could barely finish it. He said it was well worth the money!

I also like your review of Cape May Cafe for breakfast. We tried it on this past trip and it was our favorite character meal & 2nd favorite meal of the trip. I usually don't eat too much but had 4 full plates & 3 full bowls here- I definitely got my money's worth! And the characters were fabulous!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I have heard so many great things about the Plaza. I would totally consider next time even on the DxDDP as kind of a break from all the “fancy” food and character meals.

I have to say that the french fries look amazingly good though. Maybe worth it for those alone.

I love the cookies and milk dessert. That is so cute!!!

Loved reading your VN review - I doubt we will go there anytime soon as I haven’t read that they are able to be very accommodating to gluten-sensitive folks - which is totally understandable given the menu! Your app looks incredible! Mmmmmmm

Okay, seriously, is that pizza as big as the table????? WOW! It looks amazing!

That Pizza was Huge, we had 4 slices left over. We ended up taking it back to our room and ate it for breakfast one morning. Sorry Via Napoli is not gluten-sensitive that kind of makes me sad because it is really good. I have been reading your review and it has given me whole new perspective for folks with a gluten allergy. I have been enjoying it. The Plaza was really nice, we have 2 reservations when we return in March/April 2014. We are looking forward to it. We also have 2 ADRs for Via Napoli.

The Plaza sandwiches look lovely and the cookies & milk is just adorable!


Wow that pizza looks good, my kids would absolutely love that

Cookies and Milk was just too ADORABLE! I hope she orders it again, just so I can see it.

I LOVE San Angel Good choice

Why, Thank YOU! THanks for joining in.

I've been following along but i've never posted before! However, I love your reviews and can't wait to see the next ones!

Based on your WPE breakfast review, I was excited when we decided to try breakfast instead of lunch at WPE on our last day. The photo of the pizza was so good that I insisted my dad order it so I could try some. He was reluctant as it was somewhat pricey for a QS breakfast meal but I told him how great they look. Let me just say that he was VERY happy with his choice. He loved the pizza and could barely finish it. He said it was well worth the money!

I also like your review of Cape May Cafe for breakfast. We tried it on this past trip and it was our favorite character meal & 2nd favorite meal of the trip. I usually don't eat too much but had 4 full plates & 3 full bowls here- I definitely got my money's worth! And the characters were fabulous!

That is great! I am glad you are enjoying my reviews and your Dad enjoyed the pizza. We really enjoyed Cape May Breakfast, I am glad you did also. The Characters are fab there! I am glad you agree!

I am glad all of you stopped by and read my reviews.

.
.
.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Backlot Express Lunch




Today was Backlot Express for lunch. We do not enjoy the food options at Hollywood Studios. I know alot of people recommend Sci-Fi, 50's, and Starring Rolls but my family really loves Backlot Express.

Why we like Backlot Express.

#1 - It has self-serve refill station! Check! If you have been following along, we really enjoy this option at a counter service location.

#2 - Disney Chicken Breast Nuggets in Buffalo Sauce or Plain! I know it is us right!!

#3 - Air Conditioning!!!




So that is what we had for lunch! Two with Buffalo and one plain and a cheeseburger!

Just your average Disney Chicken breast nuggets but we love them and Allison would starve to death without them.

The buffalo sauce tasted just like the Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce Buffalo flavor you can buy at the grocery store. Aaron lives off this stuff. I would have liked more buffalo sauce on these and they only had ranch dressing for dipping sauce. I would have preferred a blue cheese dressing but I ate them with the ranch.

Shawn had the burger and enjoyed it. Just your average Disney CS burger.

This was overall a good lunch and hit the spot for this family.


We have previously ate at Backlot Express on a past trip and had the burgers and chicken breast nuggets and it was good back then also. So 2 great CS experiences here and self-serve refill equals a trip back on our next trip!

We recommend Backlot Express at DHS!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Trail's End Dinner


We decided to try Trail's End Buffet for Dinner.

I had been reading about the value and how good this buffet was here in the Disboards and since we are no longer using the dining plan and we were no longer worried about getting value for our dining credits. We decided to try Trail's End Buffet for dinner.

I am happy to say, I AM SO GLAD WE DID!!!





Ft. Wilderness is just a beautiful location. It happened to be raining the evening we were there but it was like being at summer camp as a kid.


On with the food,



Aaron's Plate: Green Beans, Corn, 2 fried Chicken Legs, ribs, mac & cheese, and mashed potatoes and gravy.




Allison's Plate - Corn, Mac & Cheese, and Two Fried Chicken Legs

Next UP, Shawn's Plate!



Green Beans, Ribs, Chicken, and Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.

Following at the end, My Plate:



I felt like a salad and a Fried Chicken Thigh. I was so happy to see salad fixins here. Most of the Disney buffets no longer have this option, at least that is how it was during our 2 week visit.

Dessert:



OH, MY! It was like my grandma was making dessert!

There is Banana Pudding, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and Pecan Bars! The Banana Pudding was so good and made with vanilla waffers, I LOVED it!

We all had dessert but for some reason I only have my dessert photographed. I think it was because they ate theirs while I was in the ladies room. This happened a few times.

We really really recommend Trail's End for Dinner, it was so good. Comfort food galore. Everything was hot and fresh.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Chef Mickey's Breakfast

This day we moved from BCV our first week to our second week at BLT.

We decided to have a lazy day and have breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

Menu:



Plate of Fruit:



Chef Mickey's had the best variety of fruit of all the breakfast buffets we attended on this trip. It was fresh and tasted fantastic!

My First Plate:



Cheese Potatoes (how I love you cheesy potatoes and dream of you often)! Bacon, Breakfast Pizza, Spinach egg cheese breakfast casserole and hashbrown potatoes with pepper and onions under all that ketchup. Everything was very good with the exception of the potatoes with onions and peppers, there was a spice on them I did not like at all. But everything else was really good and I enjoyed this breakfast so much. I was really scared of all the negative reviews of the food at CM. I found nothing to justify any of them.

Shawn's Plate:



Scrambled Eggs with cheese sauce, my husband was in heaven, cheese sauce on his scrambled eggs! bacon, sausage links, and hashbrown with ketchup.

Allison's Plate:



Pancake and Mickey Waffle, biscuit, scrambled eggs, and bacon with a huge side of syrup!

Aaron's Plate



French Toast, Syrup, and cheesy hashbrown potato casserole.

Now for some character photos:

Mickey!



Minnie!



Donald!



Goofy!



Pluto!



Each Character spent just the right amount of time at our table. We were able to get photos and still enjoy breakfast.

Overall, Our breakfast at Chef Mickey's was a wonderful experience. It was our lazy day on vacation. So we took our time and enjoyed the experience.

We recommend Chef Mickey's!!

.
.
.

 

[RGirl]

Hmm, the Backlot Express food actually looks really fresh and tasty. I’m impressed!

I was excited to read about Trail’s End - it’s a place I have not heard a lot about. The food looks really yummy, and it sounds like a fun experience.

The fruit at CM looks really good - bright and fresh. It looks like CM still has a very nice selection of breakfast foods. We did dinner this year, but had the same experience - despite all the horrible reviews, the food was fresh and good, and the characters were a ton of fun! I’m so glad y’all had a great time too!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Hmm, the Backlot Express food actually looks really fresh and tasty. I’m impressed!

I was excited to read about Trail’s End - it’s a place I have not heard a lot about. The food looks really yummy, and it sounds like a fun experience.

The fruit at CM looks really good - bright and fresh. It looks like CM still has a very nice selection of breakfast foods. We did dinner this year, but had the same experience - despite all the horrible reviews, the food was fresh and good, and the characters were a ton of fun! I’m so glad y’all had a great time too!

Glad you are impressed with Backlot Express, it is our favorite at DHS. We do recommend it.

I still dream of the fruit and cheesy hashbrown potatoes at Chef Mickey's, I seriously have problems.

Trail's End was really good, we actually ate at TE twice. I was perfect comfort food for such a long visit.

.

 

[DisneyJo]

The food at Backlot Express looks surprisingly good!

Trails End sounds nice too but, call me weird, I just don't like the idea of eating off the metal plates, it's making my teeth go on edge just thinking about it

Love your character photos at CM's, they're very cute

 

[AlohaAnnie]

The food at Backlot Express looks surprisingly good! Trails End sounds nice too but, call me weird, I just don't like the idea of eating off the metal plates, it's making my teeth go on edge just thinking about it Love your character photos at CM's, they're very cute

Haha! I hear you about the metal plates but honestly it is not different than eating off a fork or spoon.


.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

My daughter and I have been having a girls afternoon at the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian for a while now.

It has become tradition after attending the My Girls Perfectly Princess Tea Party at the Garden View Tea Room in 2008.

Here are some photos from The My Girls Perfectly Princess Tea Party we attended in 2008.













We had such a wonderful experience that we made it tradition to have tea at the Garden View Tea Room on our future trips.

Fast Forward to June 2013!

Menu:











I had the assorted tea sandwiches:





Allison got the Mrs. Potts Tea. She asked for all Ham & Cheese Sandwiches.



and buttery scones and jam tarts for dessert.





I got a little excited and started eating before the picture.

For Dessert Allison had:



A chocolate cupcake and a mini ecair. She loved both of these.


We loved our trip to Tea and we will do it again.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Dinner The Contempo Cafe

We had dinner at the Contempo Cafe this night. We ended up swimming most of the afternoon and evening and we were starving.

Caesar Salad with a Pepperoni Flatbread




This was good and decent. I did feel the salad needed more dressing.

Cheeseburger and Fries



This was good and decent.


Breadsticks with Marinara



While the marinara was good, the breadsticks were hard and greasy. It was like they used olive oil instead of butter and the cheese was flaky and hard.
I would not recommend these at all.

Turkey BLT



This was also not very good. The bread was hard, I did find the Turkey tasty and I could have done without the cheese. The lettuce and tomato was fresh. I do not recommend this because the bread was like a rock!

Coconut Chocolate Cupcake



We ate this later for a snack and it was so good. I highly recommend it.

Chocolate Chip Cookie



and a Brownie



Both the cookie and the brownie were good we also ate this as a snack later.

Overall, The Contempo cafe is a good option if you are tired from swimming all day and want a quick bite. If you can swing, I would recommend a table service restaurant at one of the restaurants at The Contemporary or a trip to Magic Kingdom instead for a quick bite. While I like the desserts at Contempo Cafe and the flatbreads and burgers were not bad, I felt we could have found a better more edible dinner somewhere else.

.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Ahhh....The Breakfast of Champions!! Snacking around the Magic Kingdom!!


Our First stop was at Big Top Treats!



My family had to have some more treats from Big Top!





Aaron & Allison, LOVE those Cake Pops!! 2 more Check!

Shawn got the Pineapple Skewer



They enjoyed their breakfast Treats!



We will be making a few stops here during our upcoming Spring Break 2014 trip!!

Then we made our way to Gaston's Tavern.



Adorable sign.

They wanted to try LeFou's Brew



Which is Frozen Apple Juice with a hint of toasted marshmellows and topped with a mango passion fruit foam. This was so so sweet. It tasted like Apple juice with marshmellows in it. It tasted the way it is described! haha!



By this time I was really hungry, Allison and Shawn wanted to ride Space Mountain, Aaron wanted to go on the Tomorrowland Speedway and I was getting hungry for something.

So we headed to Tomorrowland. While they were off doing their thing. I headed to:

Auntie Gravities Galactic Goodies



Menu Pics:






I love smoothies! So I choose:



The Orange Pineapple Smoothie!

I loved it, I will be getting it again!

So there is our breakfast of Champions!!!

It is vacation after all RIGHT!!

.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Lunch is at Tortuga Tavern today!

Yes it is nachos again!! and a Taco Salad!

Signage:



Menu Pic:



Aaron had the nachos with cheese, lettuce, and sour cream.



Allison had Nachos with Cheese:



Shawn had Nachos with meat, cheese and taco sauce.



I decided to give my favorite Taco Salad another try, the first time on this trip I had the taco salad at Pecos Bills and the shell was stale and chewy and it was not good. That was not the Taco Salad I remember from the past, so I decided to give it another go.



Taco Salad Loaded!

While the inside was very good. I have to say that my shell was still stale! but not chewy or crispy just hard this time. I am still not satisfied with my memory of my favorite taco salad at Walt Disney World.

I am going to try it again on our upcoming Spring Break Trip. I want to give it another try but I fear I will run into the same thing again!

While my family liked their nachos they did feel their chips were a bit stale. I tasted them and they were not bad but yes stale. What is going on with my favorite chips and taco salad at Disney World!

We will give it another try but with our expectation being very low for quality nachos and taco salads.

.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Trail's End Dinner times TWO!


We liked Trail's End so much on this visit we had cancelled a dinner reservation the night we ate there and scooped up a second reservation.

This time around we ate more food:



Fried Chicken, Rib, and Baked Potato Loaded



Rib, Macaroni & Cheese, and another loaded baked potato.



Ribs, Pulled Pork, Fried Chicken, Baked Potato with bacon & Cheese, Macaroni and cheese with corn.



Fried Chicken Leg, macaroni & Cheese, and corn



Rib, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Baked potato with chili and cheese.



Oatmeal Raisin Cookies



Pecan Bar, Banana Pudding, and Oatmeal Raisin cookie

Our second trip was just as good as our first trip. Everything was delicious and hot. We only paid around $97 for this meal with our TIW card with tip. So a deal too! It is the same food you get at HDDR next door and it is really good!

One issue I ran into is that the butter is sweet, they have a sweet butter and a plain butter but even the plain butter was sweet. I am not a fan of sweet butter. The butter is made in house, so it is sweet homemade butter. It is very good but meant for rolls or corn bread not your baked potato. My potato was better with the chili and cheese.


We still recommend this dinner buffet!

.