Universal, WDW and DCL mega holiday report

[Dreams&wishes]

Hi all I though I would capture here some of the highlights of our holiday. I'm writing this on my phone in the morning while family is asleep, so I apologise for spelling and formatting mistakes!

The Beginning LA

Coming from Australia we arrived in LA, it was a long journey but we made it!
The highlights of this part of the trip were:
- The Banana Pudding from the Magnolia Bakery
- Milkshakes at the Cheesecake Factory
- Hi Hop breakfast

Universal
We stayed at Cabana Bay, overall the hotel was very nice, the pool was great, we never had to wait for a bus, which makes me think that Endless Summer would have have so been a great option.
The waits at Universal were minimal so we were able to do rides over and over again albeit we did stay there for 4 days!
The only disappointing think was the food. The lines for eating at the Harry Potter themed restaurants were way too long so we went to ThunderFalls. We had;
- The salad, absolutely horrendous the chicken must have been in the refrigerator for over two days. They also put nuts and don't put a warning in the online menu when ordering so that was concerning
- The nachos, terrible, no cheese here just some mayo type of sauce. A no from us
- The rice, again a bad option plain and dry
- Chicken and Ribs, not too bad that's what you want to order.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Finningans
- Potato Boxy this was pretty good
- Steak was tough and flavourless
- Fish and chips was just ok
- Pudding, I ordered the pudding and just before I was about to eat it they disclosed that to make it gluten-free the chef has swapped regular flour to almond meal. Now beyond being extremely dangerous to not disclose the allergens on the menu. I can't understand this new trend of making foods vegan and gluten-free at the expense of a life threatening allergy like nuts.

Hard Rock Cafe

We had a lovely meal here.
- Beacon burger, best burger I have had
-NY strip tender and flavourful
- Fajitas were disappointing meat was overcooked and the dish a bit too spicy
- Cobb salad was awesome so dry with no dressing and not nicely put together
- Apple crumble was amazing

The food at the Cabana Resort was absolutely awful however their milkshake were very good.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Disney World x 14 days

Grand Floridian Cafe
This place has gone downhill since the last time we were here, beyond the fact that they removed the best items from the menu, even the items that have remained are not as good.

We ordered;
- Miso salmon, just not as good as it used to. No sweet miso glaze of any type simply a slice of salmon with steamed rice.
- Onion soup this wasn't too bad but it was more bread than actual soup
- Apple salad, this was quite nice and refreshing
- Pork Shank probably the best dish however it was served with risoni pasta and not "orzotto" ( barley) as per menu
- Burger this has great potential but didn't deliver. The bread was too thick and dry and not a real brioche bun.
- Peach cobbler again to make it vegan friendly instead of serving it with delicious vanilla cream or ice-cream they put a blob of some undisclosed vegan white foam and raspberry sorbet. Again I think this should be given as an option not as the standard.

 

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

Was at Grand Floridian Cafe at the end of September, and we're scratching it off our list for future dining.
Sad, because it was my go to place. I ordered the fried chicken , sent it back and the plate that returned was no better. The manger was understanding and removed it from my bill.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Was at Grand Floridian Cafe at the end of September, and we're scratching it off our list for future dining.
Sad, because it was my go to place. I ordered the fried chicken , sent it back and the plate that returned was no better. The manger was understanding and removed it from my bill.

Yes the service was definitely terrible we checked in at 6pm and didn't get out until 8.15pm!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Another update while we bunker down for Milton and tornado warnings, hoping everything goes well.

We had a great morning at MK with really low lines managed to do Tron in 15 min and Tiana in less than 5. They refunded us the Lightening Lanes and Multi pass for tomorrow given the parks will be closed.

But back to food.

On Monday we went to Animal Kingdom, it was a wet day but still busy however with the LL and single pass we managed to do all the rides. Other than the huge cost we are really loving the LL and Multi pass we have managed to do all the rides with super minimal wait.

Back to food.
Yak and Yeti

Seriously good food the nachos were the highlight but also the sweet and sour chicken, I would not get the miso salmon again though. The mango cheesecake is a must. The firecracker prawns were also pretty good and not too spicy.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Stakehouse 71
This meal was ok I didn't think it was as good as the wave used to be.

The beacon in the beacon and eggs dish was clearly reheated and not melt in your mouth and the egg was over cooked

The burger was also dry no way near as good as the one I had at Hard Rock cafe.

The onion soup also tasted very similar to the Grand Floridian one it might be the same one that they mass produce.

Hollywood Brown Derby

We did the Fantasmic show package, however the show was cancelled and we needed to reschedule.

I must say that this was by far the best meal we have had till now the filet with mushroom risotto and the Cobb salad were the highlight. The pork chop was good but not the same level.

The crème brulé was not great it was cold and just not the consistency it should be. The grapefruit cake instead was divine.
Sorry I forgot to take photos.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Lightening Lanes and multi pass.

As mentioned above this worked great for us. Especially on a busy Saturday in MK and HS we were able to get double tier 1 rides.
Cast members are quite flexible if you arrive late but you can only go 5 min earlier. They were also very flexible to join us with some friends even if the arrival time was different.
As mentioned above the price is a big down side especially if you have a bigger family like us, but I think it worked really well and I would be getting it again.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Sebastian

We have had an amazing meal at Sebastian. Everything was delicious a particular mention to the salad it was really amazing the dressing had a slight coconut flavour and it was very refreshing. But the star of the show was for sure the bread pudding, a 100000 times better than Ohana's, tasted 100% homemade, even the butterscotch sauce was just wonderfully homemade not like Ohana's.

I definitely hope I can have it again!

 

[Tina1]

Thank you for the reviews

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Colombia Harbour House

I always love to come here the lobster roll never disappoints it was buttery and warm this time I also tried the chowder which was pleasant surprise it was delicious on a cold rainy day. The Boston Cake was nice but nothing memorable.

On the other hand we really enjoyed the
Gaston Tavern Crème brulé croissant the custard inside was lovely. The ham and cheese pastry was also very nice we would get it again. The cheeseburger spring rolls are not nearly as good as I remembered however we really enjoyed the mini corn dog at Casey's corner.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Centretown Market

We had dinner at Centretown at CBR the night we had to stay in for Hurricane Milton, I will give them the benefit of the doubt because the lines were huge and the food was average at best BUT there were some dishes I wouldn't mind trying again and these were:

Pork Carnitas
This had a lovely flavour with the rice, albeit the meat was really dry must have been cooked the day before the hurricane and reheated.

The beef burger
This had a lovely texture with the fried filling and overall was pretty good

The mixed meat plate
This was ok

The lemon tart
This was awesome!!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Contempo Cafè

I wanted to try two of the cookies from Contempo Cafè.

Churro Sugar Cookie: This was a pretty good cookie but the icing felt fake.

Caramel Apple Sugar Cookie: This tasted extremely fake like a fake green apple taste Yuck

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Satuli Canteen

We went here for lunch and it was excellent, however it's quite expensive.

I had the mix beef and chicken with noodles and creamy sauce both chicken and beef were great so I would get a mix again I probably preferred the mixed sauce instead of the creamy but next time I will ask to not add any sauce to the noodles, there is really no need.
Other members of my party had the salad, which was just ok and the hamburger buns which were a big no no. The kids had the hot dog which looked pretty good. The dessert was amazing!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Chef Art Smith

I didn't really enjoy my meal here.
I personally didn't like the honey flavour of the chicken in the chicken biscuits and the biscuits were soggy. I had the shrimp and grits and these felt more grainy like nice rather than cheesy grits also too much sauce for my liking. I really do miss the Grand Floridian and The Wave shrimp and grits.

The Mac and cheese and burger was quite nice, but I won't be booking this restaurant again.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

The Boathouse

One of the best meals of this trip I'm glad that I will have another reservation.

Beyond the bread the offer at the beginning which is stellar, the mini sliders were amazing however it would have been nice if they added some kind of extra vegetable or condiments rather than just meat, butter and bread!

The lobster roll was delicious as it was the NY strip with fries. The club sandwich was a hard pass unfortunately bread was cold and just not that well put together. The bisque was nice but nothing to write about. The firecracker shrimps were very spicy and not that crunchy I preferred those at Yak and Yeti. My husband enjoyed the Oysters.

The lime pie was amazing but so so so filling!

Can't wait to go again!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Centretown Market Breakfast

We had the Avocado Toast which was very enjoyable however not as good as the one that Captain Cook used to have with goat cheese, but I would definitely get it again the omelette was also very good.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Polite Pig

What a huge let down it used to be so so good. This time the brisket was really dry with zero marbling and the sides weren't any better. The best side was probably the Bruxelles sprouts.

For the price I won't be going again.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Ale and Compass

What a pleasant surprise, we ordered:
1. The bread service - The bread was amazing comparable to the boathouse, however being the boathouse bread service included it tasted a bit better
2. The short rib with mash - This was great and the meat was falling off for how soft it was.
3. NY strip with herbed butter and parmesan fries - This was a great cut and cooked perfectly the fries were also really tasty
4. Apple crumble - This was also very good particularly the homemade custard ice-cream.
5. The kids had the snores dessert which was adorable and tasted lovely

We will definitely want to try this place again.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Boathouse again...

We went back to the Boathouse again because it's just soo good we took the same dishes so no photos however this time I ordered the Apple bread pudding which was absolutely delicious!