We ate HOW much?? 10 days of total gluttony at WDW, with pics! UPDATE 9/2/12!

[Linda67]

Two fab meals at Kona
What a great way to start your Disney day, Tonga Toast and Kona Coffee
Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at The Garden Grill. I hear that they may be running the lunch there again soon

 

[RHMH]

WOW!!! Midori wants to try the Mickey Pasta Ravioli and I willlllll have the Pork Chop next time..

 

[smile4stamps]

Tonga Toast vs Macadamia Nut Pancakes! The debate seems to be quite common!! It's also one I will be having in about 51 days or so!!

I think whichever I choose will also be paired with Kona Coffee! I actually don't drink much coffee but when I do I love KONA!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Two fab meals at Kona
What a great way to start your Disney day, Tonga Toast and Kona Coffee
Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at The Garden Grill. I hear that they may be running the lunch there again soon

It would be great if they run the lunch at Garden Grill again. We have to trek all the way from Int'l Gateway to the Land Pavilion to go there from BWV. (I know, I know...poor baby! ) It would be great if we could eat there for lunch after doing Future World attractions, then have dinner in one of the countries.

WOW!!! Midori wants to try the Mickey Pasta Ravioli and I willlllll have the Pork Chop next time..

The pork chop tasted great! But I really fell in love with the tuna. We might have to eat at Kona a lot next time! Remember, the Mickey ravioli is on the kids' menu, but they would probably allow Midori to have it, even if they make an adult portion for her since she is over 9 years old. A remember about 3 or 4 years ago, I used to buy Mickey ravioli at the supermarket and I would make it for the boys for dinner. Philip was very picky when he was little, and he would only eat the Mickey shaped ravioli, no other cheese ravioli! I don't know if they still make it, but you could always look the next time you go grocery shopping...so you might not have to wait for next summer, maybe you could surprise Midori with it one day!

Tonga Toast vs Macadamia Nut Pancakes! The debate seems to be quite common!! It's also one I will be having in about 51 days or so!!

I think whichever I choose will also be paired with Kona Coffee! I actually don't drink much coffee but when I do I love KONA!!

Wow, 51 days...I'm so envious! In 51 days I will be back in full swing at work, kids at school, and bringing them to a different after-school activity practically every day (and Saturday morning soccer for Jonathan). But it keeps us busy, and I am very lucky that I love being a teacher, so I'm one of those people who looks forward to the school year in a way...the other part of me just really misses spending every day with the boys and not waking up to an alarm clock.

May all our debates revolve around Tonga Toast vs. Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes!

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Love Tonga Toast!!! Your boys are so cute!! I'm really enjoying your reviews.
Thanks!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hi
Love Tonga Toast!!! Your boys are so cute!! I'm really enjoying your reviews.
Thanks!!

Hi, and thank you!!!

I'm glad you are enjoying my reviews. I also love Tonga Toast...I made a lighter version of it at home, stuffed some wheat bread with bananas, cooked it like french toast, rolled it in cinnamon sugar, and we had some of the 100% Kona coffee with it, made in our french press. It was delicious, but of course not exactly the same (different bread, and I used lighter ingredients since I'm not on vacay anymore). But I do want to try those pancakes next time too...and not giving up my Tonga Toast...oh well, it won't be hard to convince Eric to go there twice...it will just replace Boma next time!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Here’s my review of Garden Grill!

Since Undercover Tourist had a deal where you got an extra day free on a 6-day base ticket, and also an extra day free on a 3-day base ticket, we decided to go to Garden Grill at Epcot and use our free day for this. We had the 6-day plus one day free, and the rest of the family (who met up with us earlier that day) had the 3-day plus one day free. We all decided it would be a great idea to do the character meal, and meet Mickey & Pluto, Chip & Dale.
We arrived about 20 minutes early for our 5:30pm ADR. They told me it would be just a short wait, and we were seated within 10 minutes. The Garden Grill is a very slowly revolving restaurant, so the scenery changes slowly and it is really beautiful. The meal is served family style, all you can eat. This made it more relaxing than a character buffet, since we didn’t have to coordinate getting up to get food and spending time and taking pics with the characters.

First they bring you fresh rolls with maple butter, and a delicious salad. The rolls were amazing, and the maple butter was a great complement for them. I forgot to take a pic, sorry. On the dinner platter for the table (they brought us 2), they give you roast turkey breast with stuffing, steak, fish (no shellfish though, great for Philip!), and mashed potatoes. Here’s a pic of my plate:

You probably noticed that I have sweet potato fries on my plate. These come on the kids’ platter which they also brought to the table. The kids’ platter also has roast chicken drumsticks, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli. The kids (and adults!) ate this right up! All the food was very delicious, and all 10 of us at the table were very pleased.

For dessert, the kids each got an individual red velvet cake, with icing drawn on it, and a little white chocolate to make it look like a ladybug. All the kids ate their desserts right up! Here’s a pic:

For the adults, they brought berry cobbler, which was topped with vanilla cake and vanilla bean whipped cream. It was delicious. This restaurant does comfort food well!

The restaurant isn’t nearly as chaotic and doesn’t feel as crowded as other character meals we have done. We always expect it to be loud and chaotic (and we still enjoy ourselves), but this really was not, and that was nice for a change. It seemed like the characters spent more time at the table than other character meals we had been to, and Mickey & Pluto even came around twice! The kids really enjoyed the attention and spending more time than usual with the characters, especially Mickey. And all the adults enjoyed it too! We all love watching the kids have so much fun, and we all enjoyed the food very much as well. Here are some pics with characters:

On our 2010 trip, all of us were also together for 4 days, and we used my TiW card since it is good for up to a party of 10. At every meal on that trip, although they can’t give separate checks, the servers said we could pay with 3 different cards (or cash), just to write down the amount for each card. I asked if we could do this at Garden Grill, and the server explained that we can’t have separate checks but we can pay with separate cards, or some could pay in cash, whatever we prefer. So, we figured out how much everyone owed, and we put it on different cards. As it turned out, we were able to do this at every single TS restaurant we dined at together! We were fully prepared before the trip (and also in 2010 before that trip) that I would have to pay (because I am the TiW cardholder) and everyone would pay me back when we got home. But we didn’t even end up having to do this, which was an added bonus! We all have calculators on our phones, so dividing the bill was very easy.

For the 4 of us, this meal cost $120.46, including tax and gratuity, after applying the TiW discount. I’m not sure what we saved for just the 4 of us, but on my receipt, it says that the entire table (7 adults, 3 children) saved a total of $65.98 by using the TiW card. We really enjoyed our dinner at Garden Grill. Everything from the bread to the dessert and in between, was just fabulous. Service was excellent as well, drinks were kept filled, and we were asked a few times if we needed refills on any food items. This was truly a magical character meal and we would return in a heartbeat! It’s a wonderful, less hectic way to see Mickey than going to Chef Mickey’s, even though we enjoy it there too. I recommend this restaurant to both adults and children, but especially if you do have kids in your party, it is a nice, relaxing character meal because you don’t have to worry about going up to a buffet to get food and missing a character coming to your table and a photo op. Everything is brought to you, so you just eat and they come to you!

Up next: a return trip to San Angel Inn for lunch…but the first trip there for the rest of the family. Did they like it? Did they say “never again”? Stay tuned to find out, and for some really amazing food porn!

 

[FrozenOJ]

Thank you so much for the review of HW&V Dine and Play. We have reservations for lunch in 30 days (for our 3 year old) and I was dreading it. Not a buffet fan, but you made it sound delicious. Thanks again!

 

[rachel09985]

What!!! Garden Grill changed their desserts! When I went the kids dessert was mickey oreo mousse and the adults dessert was cobbler with a crumble top. The kids dessert was amazing but the adult dessert was not good.

 

[Tracerr00]

I've missed a few reviews while offline for a few days so it was great to come back and have a few reviews to read! I love Kona as well and while we don't have an ADR here I think we might sneak in a breakfast. Luckily my DD loves the tonga toast and I like the macadamia pancakes so we can sneak a taste of the other's breakfast!

And how cute are those little red velvet cakes (and your boys of course!)?? Now I'm craving red velvet. I'm doomed now that they have a cupcake store near where I work!

Looking forward to your SAI review!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you so much for the review of HW&V Dine and Play. We have reservations for lunch in 30 days (for our 3 year old) and I was dreading it. Not a buffet fan, but you made it sound delicious. Thanks again!

I'm not a buffet fan either, but I like the Disney character ones. We always find something to eat, and the food was good at H&V. It was not the same quality as an a la carte restaurant, but I wouldn't expect it to be. But it was good, definitely not a meal I would dread. And your 3-year-old will love it for sure!

I know H&V gets some horrible reviews (as do some other character buffets) but also keep in mind that not only are restaurant reviews very subjective as far as people's taste in food, but sometimes people see the price tag on a character meal and expect lobster and filet mignon for what they're paying...but you are paying more for the experience. I think that going into them with that attitude helps me enjoy them even more.

What!!! Garden Grill changed their desserts! When I went the kids dessert was mickey oreo mousse and the adults dessert was cobbler with a crumble top. The kids dessert was amazing but the adult dessert was not good.

I remember reading about the Mickey Oreo mousse and thinking I would even get that for myself...I should have also asked for a red velvet dessert, she would have given it to me. Now I kind of regret not trying it...but it's OK, one day I had a red velvet cupcake from Starring Rolls and it was fantastic! That more than made up for it.

I've missed a few reviews while offline for a few days so it was great to come back and have a few reviews to read! I love Kona as well and while we don't have an ADR here I think we might sneak in a breakfast. Luckily my DD loves the tonga toast and I like the macadamia pancakes so we can sneak a taste of the other's breakfast!

And how cute are those little red velvet cakes (and your boys of course!)?? Now I'm craving red velvet. I'm doomed now that they have a cupcake store near where I work!

Looking forward to your SAI review!

Wow, your trip is only a day away!!!!!

You must be so excited to go! I love red velvet too...I make it homemade occasionally, but I also love getting it from certain bakeries around here.

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, your review of the Kona breakfast has me very excited about eating our breakfast there in October. I've heard amazing things about it, but seeing the pictures and reading your review makes me realize that it was a good decision booking an ADR there.

We love, love, love Garden Grill. It's been a favorite of ours since my son was 3. Great food and great character interaction. We also love the atmosphere there. I think it's one of our favorite character meals.

Can't wait to read your review on San Angel.

 

[vettegirl]

Enjoying your reviews

 

[Mouseteacher]

And here comes California Grill!

We had a 5:55pm ADR for California Grill. We arrived 15 minutes early, and I don’t know why, but I was not aware that you check in downstairs and they escort you up to Cali Grill. So we just took the elevator up to the 15th floor. When we got out, the hostess asked if we checked in downstairs, and I told her no, but she said it was no big deal and she could just check us in right there. She was very nice, and she brought us to the lounge area to wait for our table. We only waited maybe 5 minutes, while I was looking at the drink menu. I decided I had to get a glass of some kind of white wine from California of course!

We sat down and our server Beckey greeted us. She asked if we knew what we wanted to drink yet but we were still looking. Eric wanted a beer so he looked at that list, while I was browsing the wine list. Ahh, too many choices! Beckey returned after a couple of minutes and Eric ordered his beer (a Belgian variety, can’t remember the name). I told her I wanted to try a white wine, and I normally love Riesling. She said the Riesling was a dry version, not a sweet one. So I took a chance and ordered Conundrum. She said she thought I would like that, it was not dry but not overly sweet, and a light crisp taste. That sounded great to me! She also pointed out the view of the castle, and the view of Epcot from the other side of the restaurant. She explained that we could come back later that night to watch Wishes from the observation deck, and all we would have to do is show our dining receipt. We didn’t end up doing that, but good to know for future reference, I thought to myself.

We had a table in the middle of the restaurant. When I first made the ADR I thought to myself that it would be cool to have a window table with a nice view of the castle, but I thought this was even better because if I turned one way, I could see the castle. If I turned the other way, I could see Epcot. The best of both worlds! The boys opted to sit where they could see the castle the whole time. Cali Grill also has an open kitchen, and this was our view of it:

Beckey soon returned with our drinks, some bread and butter with sea salt, and she had asked me if the boys could have some Goldfish crackers, so she brought them some of those. I was very happy with my wine choice. The Conundrum was just as Beckey had described, light and crisp and not too dry. An excellent choice! And Eric liked his beer so much that he ended up ordering a second one later in the meal!

We were ready to order our dinner. Eric didn’t want to order an appetizer for himself because he wanted to be able to eat all his dinner. I felt I had to try an appetizer, but there were so many wonderful looking choices. I opted for the onion tart, which was outstanding! It was topped with tempura onion rings, and the tart itself was creamy and just full of flavor. I swear, I would walk back to WDW for one of those right now! I made Eric try some (oh yeah, I really had to twist his arm!), and he said it was excellent too. Here’s a pic:

The boys did not want the salad appetizer from the kids’ menu, so they just ordered entrees. Philip ordered the whole wheat pizza made with provolone cheese. I wasn’t sure if he would like provolone but he said the pizza was delicious and he ate it all up!

Jonathan opted for macaroni and cheese. They brought him a very large bowl of it and he ate the whole thing, and he kept saying how much he loved it!

I had trouble choosing exactly which entrée to get. I came close to getting some sushi, but then I decided I wanted to eat a meat entrée. I ordered the pork tenderloin, a signature dish of theirs, which is served over goat cheese polenta and comes with mushrooms. The pork was wonderful, tender, and very flavorful. The mushrooms were excellent. While I liked the polenta, I thought it had too much salt in it. I think it would have been better without so much salt, but it was not bad. The combinations of flavors and textures was very good, just as it was with the onion tart. Here’s a pic of my entrée:

Eric ordered the veal t-bone. He loved this! He said it was very delicious and really tender.

We were so stuffed, definitely couldn’t even think about ordering dessert. We decided we would go to the Contempo Café and get some cupcakes to bring back to the villa. Sure, by then we will be ready for something sweet for sure! Eric got a strawberry lemonade cupcake and I got worms in dirt (chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, a couple of gummy worms sticking out of the top, and chocolate crumbs on top). Philip wanted to just share our desserts with us (we offered). Jonathan asked if we could get him a chocolate peanut butter cupcake, so we did. Here are pics of all 3:

The worms in dirt was amazing! It was very chocolatey and believe it or not, it was not too sweet! The cake was moist and fresh too. Eric and Philip enjoyed the strawberry lemonade cupcake (Eric ate most of it). And Philip had some of mine and really liked it.

Our meal at California Grill cost $155.84, including tax and tip, after the TiW discount. We saved $23 on food and $7.20 on drinks with the TiW card. This meal was worth every penny. However, Eric said it’s not a place he feels we must go back to on our next trip, like he felt about Yachtsman Steakhouse. I could go back next time, or try a different signature, like Flying Fish or Artist Point or Jiko. I’m up for anything! But it would be nice to go back to Cali Grill and just get appetizers and sushi. We saw some of the sushi there that other people around us were ordering and it looked amazing. HUGE portions too, definitely enough for me for a meal along with an appy!!

Unfortunately, when we got back to the villa and started eating our desserts, Jonathan didn’t want his cupcake (not like him at all). It turned out that he was sick and threw up 3 times. My poor baby. I posted the story on my TR for that day. I don’t think this was anything from Cali Grill though, I just think he was either sick with a virus or he had too much that day with the heat at MK and everything (even though he drank tons of water). He was fine the next day and none of us got sick, thank goodness! I stopped eating my dessert once he was sick, and I never finished it. Eric ended up finishing it a couple of days later and he liked it. The next day, he ate the cupcake Jonathan never ate and said it was delicious.

Next up: Chefs de France lunch and a little visitor. Stay tuned…

We were at the CG on July 30. I had the pork, too, and it was absolutely delicious. I agree about the polenta being salty but it was sooo goood I couldn't stop eating it. DH and DS had the sushi. Our waiter was fabulous and offered to bring a sampling of all the kinds. I am not a sushi person but DH and DS said it was outstanding.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Okay, your review of the Kona breakfast has me very excited about eating our breakfast there in October. I've heard amazing things about it, but seeing the pictures and reading your review makes me realize that it was a good decision booking an ADR there.

We love, love, love Garden Grill. It's been a favorite of ours since my son was 3. Great food and great character interaction. We also love the atmosphere there. I think it's one of our favorite character meals.

Can't wait to read your review on San Angel.

I'm sure you will love breakfast at Kona! It was amazing. Kona is one of our favorite restaurants on property. I think if they're ever doing a refurb of it while we are at WDW I would cry!

Garden Grill was great. Very relaxing for a character meal. It has us thinking about doing the character breakfast at Ohana next time for our last morning, so we could see Mickey without having to coordinate the character time with a buffet. Even though we weren't crazy about Ohana for dinner, we would definitely try breakfast there. I wish they had a character breakfast at Garden Grill...it would be great to get into Epcot an hour before it opens without having to go see princesses. My boys are not into the princesses at all so I can't justify the cost of Akershus just to get into Epcot a little early.

Enjoying your reviews

Thank you!

We were at the CG on July 30. I had the pork, too, and it was absolutely delicious. I agree about the polenta being salty but it was sooo goood I couldn't stop eating it. DH and DS had the sushi. Our waiter was fabulous and offered to bring a sampling of all the kinds. I am not a sushi person but DH and DS said it was outstanding.

The sushi at CG did look very good. If we go there again on our next trip, I would probably get an appetizer and a sushi as my dinner. How nice of your server to bring different kinds!

 

[blancah76]

We will be having dinner at kona on our next trip and after reading your review I am looking forward to try the tuna Oscar
I saw that your home resort is BWV and was considering renting points to stay there, I have to ask how you feel about it. We've never stayed at a deluxe and am concerned that I may be disappointed. Are thebeds and pull out sofas comfy?

 

[DsnyMama]

Great reviews!!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

We will be having dinner at kona on our next trip and after reading your review I am looking forward to try the tuna Oscar
I saw that your home resort is BWV and was considering renting points to stay there, I have to ask how you feel about it. We've never stayed at a deluxe and am concerned that I may be disappointed. Are thebeds and pull out sofas comfy?

Hi! We love BWV. Eric and I sleep on the King bed in the bedroom, and it is very comfortable. The boys sleep on the pullout bed (queen size) in the living room. I tested it out and it is very comfortable (and I don't usually care for sofa beds). It doesn't feel like a sofa bed. It also doesn't open up the way a typical sofa bed does. They give you instructions in the villa because it is done so differently. The mattress is not thin and flimsy like typical sofa beds.

I don't think you would be disappointed, especially since you have never stayed at a deluxe resort. We hadn't stayed at a deluxe either before becoming DVC members (the DVC resorts are technically deluxe villa resorts), and we love the Boardwalk. The theming is very nice but not overdone or cheesy, it's still elegant in my opinion. But it is interesting too, with a beautiful lobby. The location is excellent, being able to walk to 2 of the theme parks or just take a nice boat ride if you don't feel like walking. And it is centrally located on Disney property. Eric and I have tossed around the idea of staying at a different DVC resort some time, like Bay Lake, but we just love the location and theming of the Boardwalk so much that we know we would miss it if we stayed anywhere else.

As far as renting points, just be careful. Remember you have to rely on the DVC member to book the hotel for you, and the dining plan if you choose to get one of them. We had some extra points when we first became members so we rented them and it worked out fine. But, honestly, I don't think I would trust anyone enough to rent points from them, unless it was someone I knew personally and could trust. However, I tend to be very cautious and even paranoid about such things. Many people have rented points from DVC members and were very pleased with the entire process, and enjoyed their vacation. If that were me though, I would not be able to relax until I got to the room and knew I had a room...I would have visions of arriving at WDW and not having a room after spending all that money, then first having to pay for an actual room. Sorry if this disappoints you, but like I said, I tend to be more cautious and paranoid than the average person.

If you do decide to rent points, I would advise not to go through ebay to do so. Try the Rent/Trade board here, and make sure the person you are renting from has a LOT of posts on the DIS. If they have only a couple of posts, they might be here only to rent points and it might not be legit. Also, see if they can conference call their phone call to Member Services when they book the room, and make sure they send you the confirmation letter.

Great reviews!!!!

Thank you!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

And away we go…..

We had a 12pm ADR for San Angel Inn lunch. Eric, the boys and I had gone there for lunch on our 2010 trip and we loved it. I suggested it to the rest of the family right before the 180-day mark, and they were all up for it. All of the adults enjoy eating different types of foods, and there is always something for the kids at Disney, and they like trying different things too (well for the boys, they sometimes like to try different things…my nieces are a bit more adventurous! ).

We arrived early for our ADR, around 11:30, we waited a few minutes and then we were seated at a large table for 10. None of us ended up getting alcoholic drinks (we just weren’t in the mood for alcohol ), but we were looking forward to having some good beer at the Biergarten later on at dinner.

There were some very interesting items on the menu, but not typical of a tex-mex type restaurant in the USA (at least not where I live). We all liked this because there were things we don’t typically find at home. Do not go here if you are looking to eat nachos or something you would find at Taco Bell…you would be disappointed. However, if you are looking for something more unique in the way of Mexican food, then this is the place to go! They put some warm tortilla chips on the table, with some fresh delicious salsa. The salsa had a slight kick to it, but not too spicy…I enjoyed it and found it to be very flavorful and fresh. The chips are not typical store-bought chips…they were a bit thinner and fresher tasting, and they were served warm…excellent!

Eric and I decided we would each order an appetizer, and split them as our lunch meals. Last time we went to SAI in 2010, I had the chicken tostadas appetizer as my lunch and it was amazing. So we decided to share that, and the steak soft tacos with chipotle sauce. We also ordered a side of guacamole, which came with these little chips (they called them chicharrones), but they were not tortilla chips. Everything was very delicious. My parents ended up ordering the same thing! My sister, her boyfriend and the girls shared a bunch of things…the steak soft tacos, the kids’ quesadilla, and the chicken enchilada entrée…there was plenty of food for the 4 of them. They got the chipotle sauce on the side with the steak soft tacos because my niece Sarah did not want the sauce, so my sister and her boyfriend just put it on their portions. Here are pics of chicken tostadas, steak soft tacos, and the guacamole:

Both boys ended up getting the children’s quesadilla. It came with Mexican rice, green beans, and 2 quesadillas! Here’s a pic of Jonathan’s…he was eating the other quesadilla when I took the pic and didn’t want to put it down!

We didn’t end up getting dessert at SAI. Instead, we decided we would go outside to the CS in Mexico and get some churros. We did, and they were delicious. They serve shorter churros, so it’s great to share an order. The churros come with a caramel sauce on the side, which is good, but I don’t think they need anything…they taste great all by themselves!!!

This lunch cost $46.05 for the 4 of us, including tax and gratuity, after applying the TiW discount. For the entire party of 10, the TiW card saved us $23.80.
Everyone in our party of 10 enjoyed SAI very much. The food was so delicious and unique, unlike anything we would get at home at our typical Mexican restaurants…remember, NYC is definitely NOT known for its Mexican food. Our Mexican restaurants typically serve burritos, tacos (ground beef or chicken usually), and some other very basic stuff, but nothing with the unique combination of flavors we could get at SAI. It is a very special restaurant for us, and we really enjoy dining there. We absolutely LOVED it there and we will return once again!!!

Up next: dinner and beer at Biergarten…is it still our WDW favorite restaurant? Stay tuned to find out…

 

[BlovesC]

What a wonderful array of restaurants you selected! Love the back-to-back combo of Kona dinner and breakfast, we've done that before as well! That coffee panna cotta looks SO good, I've definitely got to try that sometime! Thanks for the great reviews and great photos!