"We're basically here for the food..." A September 2016 TR**Updated 4/21/17

[VACamm]

Day 1: September 3rd Travel Day


I’m a planner. No really…. I’m a MAJOR planner and I may be told by my husband regularly that I probably have OCD. I’m definitely not saying that it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying that after all the planning and preparation that I do for each vacation I feel like I’m so mentally exhausted that I need a mental health day BEFORE the vacation even starts! The months, weeks, and days prior to leaving for this vacation I had completed every item on a 2 page TYPED To-Do list. A few of the items that I had completed and crossed off were:


· Contacting the post office to put a HOLD on our mail


· Make arrangements for our house and pet sitter


· Notify bank and credit card companies of travel


· Place the Garden Grocer order for our breakfast items


· Get our dogs Milo and Gus groomed


· Pack everyone’s suitcases, and then take out half of the junk that I OVERPACKED


· Make ADRs and Fast Pass Reservations


· Double check ADRs and Fast Passes


· Triple check ADRs and Fast Passes


· Order matching shirts for each of the 4 Disney parks


· And about a billion other things that had to be CHECKED off of the To Do list


The night before our flight to Orlando, we all planned to go to sleep early because we were being picked up by a family friend at 5:45am! I literally was in a panic because Hurricane Hermine had made landfall on the Gulf of Florida on September 2nd and was scheduled to travel over the entire state of Florida on September 2nd and 3rd…. AKA our TRAVEL DAY! I kept checking the airline to make sure that our flight was not delayed… and surprisingly each time I checked it was still on time!


When my alarm clock went off at 5:00am the first thing that I did was pick up my cell phone and check the American Airlines website, and I was surprised and so happy that our flight was still on time! YAAAYYYY!!!! I jumped out of bed and got everyone else up and ready to go. Normally it’s so hard to get my husband and son moving in the morning, but for some reason it always is so easy to get everyone up and out of the house on Disney Vacation Day!! After filling up our to go coffee mugs and saying 1 last goodbye to our 2 dogs Milo and Gus, and 2 cats Money Penny and Obi-Wan, we hopped into our friends minivan to be chauffeured to the local airport.


Side note: This was the first time that we didn’t park our car at the airport. We normally pay $7.00 per day to park our car, but our friend offered to drop us off and also to pick us up the following week and we graciously accepted. This was a blessing to us and it saved us a nice chunk of money!


We arrived at the airport and checked our luggage, and quickly went through the security line. We had about an hour to wait so we ate some granola bars that we brought with us, and we bought some drinks at the airport.

We decided to take a wonder twins picture of our fabulous magic bands! I'm such a dork and this is literally my 4th pink one. I always say I'm going to change to a different color, but its quite obvious that I like routine and always change it back to pink at the last second! This trip Kevin got Orange, and Ethan got the new cool Purple color!



Here is our airplane waiting for us at about 6:45am!



Our flight itinerary for the morning:
Lynchburg to Charlotte: 7:20am – 8:31am
Connection Flight that we have less than an hour to race thru the airport to try and catch ...

Charlotte to Orlando: 9:20am – 11:02am

Ethan had the window seat on both flights and he got some really cool pictures of the teeny tiny towns!



I am very happy to announce that everything went as planned and we actually flew OVER some of the hurricane clouds which was very cool. We got really lucky and didn't have any delays or storm issues at all with Hurricane Hermine. Here's a really cool shot of the outer band storm clouds!



The flights were fairly uneventful, which I'm not complaining about. I read, and listened to Disney Parks music on my iPod. We ate candy and drank coffee. They give out these weird cookie bars called Biscoff (see below) now, which of course I can't eat because of my Gluten Allergy. I packed lots of gluten free snacks though, so I kept myself occupied.



We entertained ourselves as best we could... by taking airplane selfies!



Finally we arrived in Orlando!! My fathers flight from upstate NY arrived about 30 minutes before our flight landed. He had already texted me that he was waiting by the Magical Express check in!! We hopped on the fake MCO monorail and raced down to the Magical Express area to find my dad. Here is Ethan on the moving sidewalk being Oh So Cool as a 13 year old could ever hope for.



My dad was SUPER easy to find, so we scanned our magic bands and filed into the correct line for the Magical Express bus that would be heading to the Caribbean Beach Resort. We literally only had to wait for about 10 to 15 minutes and then we were able to get loaded onto our bus! I'm not sure about you, but this is when it always gets so real for me.... when I first sit down on the Magical express and this video starts to play:



I LOVE that guy! He just makes me smile! I sat next to my dad, while Kevin and Ethan sat together across from us. I always try to get a good photo of the Walt Disney World sign and its always blurry or just the corner of it. So of course this trip was no different and I tried to get the perfect photo again and failed miserably.

We made it onto Walt Disney World property with no issues, and pretty soon we were pulling into the Caribbean Beach Resort driveway. Now, you may or may not believe me when I tell you this, but as God is my witness as SOON as the bus stopped in front of the resort it started POURING RAIN. And I mean, torrential downpour!!! We ran inside the lobby only to have the lovely cast member notify us that we needed to hop on an internal bus to get to our room. Apparently I forgot that where you actually check into the resort at the Custom House is in a separate location than the rest of the resort LOL. UGH. Well... At least we are at Disney right?? Before I forget to mention, the Custom House was absolutely beautiful inside. It was really, really, really pretty and it smelled delicious!

Stay tuned for the next entry when we actually try to FIND our room in the POURING RAIN!

 

[Raeven]

I’m a planner. No really…. I’m a MAJOR planner

me too!

I read, and listened to Disney Parks music on my iPod.

I listened to Disney music too!

 

[annie170]

I can relate to the over planning. I'm also a second guesser. I rethink restaurants, resorts, which park for which day, clothes, shoes, you name it, I'm obsessing over it. I just ordered a red magic band for our January trip and now I'm rethinking that because I like your son's purple one!

I'm glad Hermine didn't interfere with your flights. Those are really cool photos from the plane.

I flew into Lynchburg, VA from Chicago back in 2000 when one of my daughters was playing travel softball. The national tournament was held not far from there and I found it to be such a pretty area.

 

[SwimDanceTaxi]

I can't wait to read your report! I was considering Caribbean beach resort for a summer 2017 visit, so your thoughts and impressions of the resort will provide valuable information!

 

[VACamm]

I listened to Disney music too!

I feel like it is totally necessary while traveling to WDW to listen to the music to get me pumped!

I can relate to the over planning. I'm also a second guesser. I rethink restaurants, resorts, which park for which day, clothes, shoes, you name it, I'm obsessing over it. I just ordered a red magic band for our January trip and now I'm rethinking that because I like your son's purple one!

I'm the same way with the second guessing!! I drive my husband crazy! haha The purple magic band was a great color!! I can't wait to see what color they will release next... even though history has shown that I will most likely only get the Pink one

I flew into Lynchburg, VA from Chicago back in 2000 when one of my daughters was playing travel softball. The national tournament was held not far from there and I found it to be such a pretty area.

Lynchburg airport is super teeny tiny! I'm originally from Rhode Island, but you're right... Lynchburg is such a gorgeous area right in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The views and sunsets around here are spectacular!

I can't wait to read your report! I was considering Caribbean beach resort for a summer 2017 visit, so your thoughts and impressions of the resort will provide valuable information!

and thank you for reading along! I hope to provide a fair review of CBR for you! Summer 2017 will be sneaking up before you know it!!

 

[VACamm]

Happy Saturday! Real Life Update!!

My husband is playing in a Golf Tournament today, which leaves me at home to get into all sorts of trouble Actually it leaves me at home with all of our 4 animals being lazy and watching DVR'd Reality Television shows that I haven't been able to watch all week. It just hit me a few minutes ago that I have not introduced our animals on this trip report yet. All 4 of our animal friends were all Rescues and are a HUGE part of our lives! Without any further delay, please meet our crazy animals:

My fluffy best buddy: Obi-Wan (hes a Star Wars fan)



Next is our fluffy calico named: Moneypenny (James Bond of course!)



Then we have our senior dog who we THINK is a Mini Schnauzzer name: Gus-Gus (Disney themed name)



And lastly we have Milo who is a Beabull. His mother was a purebred English Bulldog, and his father was a purebred Beagle. We rescued him from being tied to someones porch for 1 year



This is what Bath time looks like in our household haha

 

[VACamm]

Day 1: Part 2 - Caribbean Beach Resort and the Magic Kingdom

I previously left off where we were arriving at the Caribbean Beach Resort in the pouring rain. It was crazy because all that we had were our carry on bags and that was it. We didn't have any ponchos or umbrellas as they were all in our checked bags. We decided to try and find our room, so we waited at the bus stop at the Custom House so that we could find our village of Martinique. While we were waiting for the internal shuttle bus (about 20 minutes), the torrential downpour slowly turned into just a slow steady rain, and then turned into a sprinkle which was much more manageable.

Oh I forgot to mention that while we were at the Custom House we picked up our Garden Grocer grocery order of bananas, apples, coffee creamer, granola bars, gluten free muffins, regular blueberry muffins, and other odds and ends that we ordered in advance. This was my first time using a grocery service at WDW in all of my 16 Disney vacations, and I can not stop raving about them! It was absolutely wonderful and super easy to use! I HIGHLY recommend them!!

Here is a map of how the Caribbean Beach Resort is laid out. You can see in the bottom left corner where the custom house is. Old Port Royal Centertown is where the main pool is as well as the stores and restaurants. We had to find our room in Martinique village.



We got on the internal shuttle and jumped off with our groceries and carry on bags at the Martinique shuttle. Armed with only a map, we tried to find our room. In. The. Rain. Now, let me just tell you that this map doesn't do the size of the resort justice, because the resort is very very very spread out. The walkways twist and turn and the vegetation is REALLY thick and we kept getting turned around. It took us quite a while to find our room in Martinique village, on the back side of building #21. It literally was the furthest room away from the main area of Old Port Royal Centertown. UGH Our actual room inside was very nice and looked exactly like it did online. We also had the pull down trundle bed which my 13 year old son Ethan slept on and he said it was super comfortable!

We were starving by this point so we decided to head out to grab some lunch, and to buy umbrellas since it was still raining. While we were walking up to the food court at Port Royal, it stopped raining. Well, maybe it was barely sprinkling a tiny bit, but the sun was trying to peek out with was terrific! We found the walk to Port Royal from our room to be WAY longer than both of our stays at Coronado Springs Resort staying at Casitas or Cabanas. We had to first find our way out of the walkway mazes and thick vegetation to locate the main walkway that goes around the lake. It then took quite a while to walk to the food court. I previously stayed at CBR years ago, but I stayed in building #26 which was literally right next door to Port Royal. LOCATION is EVERYTHING when staying at CBR. Early in the morning and late in the evenings when you are tired or eager for some hot coffee that walk is torture! Also, another thing to add is that I noticed that while the vegetation and landscaping was very LUSH and THICK, it wasn't very TIDY. Because we had to literally walk through the jungles several time every day, I noticed all of the bushes and plants that needed TLC and trimming up. There was also a lot of dead leaves and 'stuff' that weren't discarded but laying on the grass, walkways, other plants etc. One thing about Disney Resorts is that the landscaping at POR, POFQ, and CSR are ALWAYS super tidy and well manicured in my experience. However, I really noticed that it was very neglected at CBR while I was there.

Moving right along, we made our way to the food court at Port Royal and looked at all of our options for lunch. Since I am Gluten Free, I have to ask for the Gluten Free menus at the food shops. Since we had the Disney Dining Plan, we each could get 1 Entree, 1 Dessert, and 1 Drink on our meal plan. Being the Disney Dining Pros that we are, we kind of work the system and ALWAYS take the bottle of water as our drink so that we can drink it LATER, and fill up our refillable mugs with our drink that we want for lunch from the drink machines.

Below were our final lunch choices:

Kevin:
-Entree: BBQ Pork Sandwich with French Fries
-Dessert: Mickey Mouse Cupcake with oreo cookie ears
-Drink: Bottle of water
-Refillable Cup Color: Green

Ethan:
-Entree: Peperoni Pizza
-Dessert: Giant Mickey Mouse Sprinkle cookie
-Drink: Bottle of water
-Refillable Cup Color: Purple to match his magic band

Rob (my dad):
-Entree: Caribbean Salad with Chicken
-Dessert: Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
-Drink: Bottle of water
-Refillable Cup Color: Green

Aimee (me):
-Entree: Caribbean Salad with Chicken
-Dessert: Enjoy Life Chocolate Chip Cookies (prepackaged)
-Drink: Bottle of water
-Refillable Cup Color: Red

Sadly, the only photo I have of this lunch is of Kevin's cupcake ! The salad station was SO BACKED UP that it literally took 20 minutes for my and my dads salads to be ready. Granted, they did make our salads fresh, but they did not have enough people working this day apparently. There was only 2 people working the entire salad / Caribbean jerk station and the line was about 20+ people waiting for food. I did feel bad for them because they were very overwhelmed. By the time we got our salads and found Kevin and Ethan, they were just about finished eating and we were starving We ate super fast and practically inhaled our food.

My Caribbean Salad with Chicken was actually very good, and I ended up getting the same salad on our very last day. We only ate in the food court 2 times in 8 days, and both times I got the same salad. I always get worried that I am going to get Gluten cross contaminated food when I eat out, but this salad was SAFE and I did not have ANY issues. I was disappointed in the Gluten Free dessert choices at CBR, but I made due with the prepackaged cookies because I actually really like them

Here is Kevins cupcake... isn't it the cutest thing EVER??? He said it was pretty good, but definitely not the best cupcake hes ever had.



We finished lunch and went into gift shop to buy umbrellas because the forecast was calling for rain off and on. The gift shop is connected to the food court and is actually a really well stocked shop with a terrific variety of food items, wine, beer, and tons of Disney Merchandise! We LOVE LOVE LOVE Disney Resort Merchandise, so of course while we were there we picked up a CBR Coffee Mug, CBR Water Bottle, and CBR Wall Painting along with our umbrellas!

It stopped raining, but the skies still looked angry! We walked outside and checked out the main pool which is actually themed really awesome. It looks like Pirates of the Caribbean movie set or something! HOWEVER.... let me warn you that while the pool area is very well themed, the chair situation is not convenient at CBR at ALL. The pool chairs are packed together like sardines and the majority of them are 1/2 chairs and aren't the full lounge chairs. The pool situation at CSR and POFQ is laid out well better and isn't so crazy. We break every day after lunch at WDW and head back to the resort for pool time and cocktail time at the pool bar until dinner time... it IS vacation after all! The main pool area is a place where we do spend a LOT of our time on our Disney vacations. Due to the terrible seating arrangements at CBR, we spent the majority of our pool afternoons at the quiet pool, which meant a lot of walking back and forth for cocktails

We decided to start making our way to the room to see if our luggage was there yet. On our way my dad realized that he forgot his jacket in the food court on the back of his chair. We turned around and went back to look for it and it was not there. We spoke with the custodian, the manager, the gift shop worker, the person at the concierge table that was at Port Royal, and nobody could help us. They told us to call housekeeping?! UGH. Anyway, please remember this story because it keeps coming back into play every day for 8 days......

We made our long trek back to our room with our purchases, and without my dads jacket. Oh I forgot to mention it was HOTTTTTTT!!! The sun came out and It was so hot out that it was unbearable. Our luggage hadn't made its way back to our room yet, so we decided to head to Magic Kingdom where we had a 5:05pm dinner reservation and Fast Passes scheduled for the evening. With our new umbrellas , we headed to the bus stop at Martinique and waiting for our first Disney bus ride of the trip. Bus service was both average and horrific during our stay at CBR. We never had a terrific bus experience, but not every time was terrible. It was pretty average bus service for a Disney resort. We got on the bus about 3:00pm after waiting for about 15 minutes. We love Disney busses, so this was very exciting for us to finally be on our way!!

Here is me and my dad ... ready to take on Magic Kingdom!





The bus was kind of full so Kevin had to sit by himself up in the front!



Before we knew it, we were parking and getting off the bus. We went through security and entered the park! I do love all of the Fall Decorations at MK... its so FESTIVE!

 

[Raeven]

The walkways twist and turn and the vegetation is REALLY thick and we kept getting turned around. It took us quite a while to find our room in Martinique village, on the back side of building #21. It literally was the furthest room away from the main area of Old Port Royal Centertown. UGH

Ugh that sounds awful.

I was disappointed in the Gluten Free dessert choices at CBR, but I made due with the prepackaged cookies because I actually really like them

CSR too! On the first night a chef told Josh there was gluten free cheesecake, but we looked everywhere and there wasn't. In the pastry shop (Cafe Rix) they even seemed confused and said none of their stuff is gf. But they can make whole cakes in advance if asked. I thought maybe he misunderstood and the guy was saying he could make one or get it if asked but we had no idea.

Bus service was both average and horrific during our stay at CBR. We never had a terrific bus experience, but not every time was terrible

Same at CSR.

 

[VACamm]

Day 1 Part 3 - Magic Kingdom

When we walked into the park, Kevin and my Dad had to go to the restroom so they used the one right next to city hall. While waiting for them, I was super lucky to walk right up to the Dapper Dans!. I LOVE them!



Kevin and my dad came out and we made a plan on the fly since our 3 FP's were for after dinner. I know I already said it was hot, but it was like the inside of an oven. We looked at our App and saw the low wait time for Mickeys Philharmagic.... our first thought was: Air Conditioning!!! The thought of sitting in Mickeys Philharmagic in the Air conditioning was VERY appealing to us. The heat and humidity all of a sudden was INTENSE!

We walked down Main Street and caught our first glimpse of the Castle! It never gets old to me. We decided to take a SELFIE, and then took a few pics with our first Photopass Photographer!















It looks like Kevin is crushing me LOL



And then we continued on our way to the back side of the Castle to the Mickeys Philharmagic theater.



The sky was clearing up and was super sunny and there was the most BEAUTIFUL blue skies!



The Mickeys Philharmagic show did NOT disappoint, and was perfect as usual. We LOVE the characters, and music, and especially the SMELLS in the show! We walked around Fantasyland for awhile and ended up riding on the Little Mermaid ride because the wait was only a few minutes. It's a Small World is one of our family MUST DO rides at WDW, and we were a little disappointed that it was closed for refurbishment during our vacation because that is 1 ride that we usually ride when the wait times for everything else are so high.

After Little Mermaid, it was time to go check in for our dinner ADR at Crystal Palace! it is our family tradition to eat there the first night for EVERY one of our Disney vacations. it's the perfect start to every vacation to eat with Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet.

Stay tuned for the next update where we eat with the characters in the Hundred Acre Woods!

 

[VACamm]

Ugh that sounds awful.

Yes giiiirl.,....it was the WORST room location EVER. Like, it felt so far away from EVERYTHING except for trees and bushes because there was plenty of them close by Looking back NOW... if I could do it all over again I would have asked to be moved to a different room and even paid to be upgraded to a Preferred Room. Location is EVERYTHING with this resort, because our location was terrible.

CSR too! On the first night a chef told Josh there was gluten free cheesecake, but we looked everywhere and there wasn't. In the pastry shop (Cafe Rix) they even seemed confused and said none of their stuff is gf. But they can make whole cakes in advance if asked. I thought maybe he misunderstood and the guy was saying he could make one or get it if asked but we had no idea.

Oh noooo... that sounds terrible! I wonder what they were talking about?!!? Maybe they were sold out? I do love me some CSR though LOL! The other dessert option at CBR was the ice cream.... but I can't have Dairy either So that was not going to work. Luckily the cookies are pretty good!

Same at CSR.

I honestly feel like this is standard at ALL WDW resorts. The bus service is going to be average most of the time. The only resort that I ever had EXCEPTIONAL service was at POFQ and it was spectacular most of the time!

 

[pfeifer14]

I love your magic band. Where do u get such cute accessor for it?

 

[VACamm]

I love your magic band. Where do u get such cute accessor for it?

Thank you so much! I actually got it in Magic Kingdom in Big Top Treats gift shop 2 years ago. I think that the sliders are sold in most shops now on property and I know you can buy them online too. I hope this helps!

 

[annie170]

Your dogs and cats are adorable. What a rough start Poor Milo had! Thank God for people like you who rescue those poor animals.

Your CBR issues are similar to what we dealt with the last time we stayed there, and that's been a long time. We've had better luck with buses at the value resorts than at CBR and POR.

I love the Dapper Dans, too! On my very first visit to Magic Kingdom in 1985, the Dapper Dans were one of the first things I encountered on Main Street. It was so perfect! Now, whenever I see them, I hope I'm wearing sunglasses because they make me a little teary.

That's a great picture of the duck with the castle in the background!

 

[VACamm]

Your dogs and cats are adorable. What a rough start Poor Milo had! Thank God for people like you who rescue those poor animals.

Awww thank you so much! We think they are gorgeous as well. And YES... Poor Milo was tied to a porch from the time he was 6 months old until the time he was a year and a half! He had behavioral problems when we first got him 5 years ago, and he didn't even KNOW what a toy or dog bone was! It was very sad. Now hes very chubby and happy and he knows several commands / tricks! Hes a good boy

Your CBR issues are similar to what we dealt with the last time we stayed there, and that's been a long time. We've had better luck with buses at the value resorts than at CBR and POR.

I'm sorry that you had bad experiences in the past at CBR also. I havn't stayed there since 2001, and it is definitely not going to be high on my list to revisit anytime soon.

I love the Dapper Dans, too! On my very first visit to Magic Kingdom in 1985, the Dapper Dans were one of the first things I encountered on Main Street. It was so perfect! Now, whenever I see them, I hope I'm wearing sunglasses because they make me a little teary.

I GET THE SAME WAAAAY!!! Teary eyed!!! They make me so happy that I literally get that sappy happy feeling and my eyes well up with tears!! They are WONDERFUL!

That's a great picture of the duck with the castle in the background!

Thank you so much! He was looking so proper and he just kind of stood there like he was waiting for me to take his photo

 

[VACamm]

Day 1 Part 4 – Crystal Palace Dinner


We arrived at Crystal Palace about 10 minutes before our 5:05pm dinner reservation and checked in. We have had really good luck here in the past with short wait times, and this day was no different! We ended up waiting only about 5 minutes until our name was called for dinner!


Me, my dad, and Ethan waiting outside Crystal Palace:




We were directed to the right side of the restaurant and could already see the characters walking around greeting guests.


Kevin and I under the amazing Crystal Palace Ceiling!




The characters at Crystal Palace are, in order of their visits to our table were: Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and Winnie the Pooh! Our waiter was fabulous and he knew right away from our ticket that there was a food allergy at our table, as I had noted on all of our ADR’s that I have a Gluten Allergy. He told me that the head chef would be coming over to walk me around the buffet to show me what was ‘safe’ for my food allergy. He also mentioned that if we wait about 3 minutes that the first character would be coming to our table, and that was Piglet! We decided to wait at the table for the chef, and also for Piglet before everyone jumped up to get their first plates of food from the buffet.


Piglet was super sweet as usual.







The funny thing is that Tigger came sweeping through immediately behind Piglet, even before we had time to go get our food!






Once Tigger left our table, the chef came to our table to bring me up to the buffet. He discussed my likes and dislikes and then he told me that he would be happy to bring me a plate of warm gluten free dinner rolls, as well as a special gluten free dessert plate! YES PLEASE!!!!!!! I love Disney, and how special they make their guest feel. I filled my plate with: Garden Salad, potato salad, peel and eat shrimp, Beet Salad, Salmon, and roasted turkey. I also had some other type of cold vegetable salad that came with a vinegar based dressing that was so yummy! Everything was absolutely delicious!


Kevin, Ethan, and my dad were excited to be filling their plates while the chef was walking me around. Here is the menu from the Disney website:


Peel & Eat Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce and Lemon Wedges
Sliced Tomatoes and Egg Toasted Cumin Dressing
Sweet Plantain, Cucumber and Corn Salad
Shrimp, Black Bean and Mango Salad
Edamame Salad – Young Soy Bean
Couscous Tofu and roasted Vegetable Salad
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Beet Salad with Sag Dhal Dressing
Romaine and Bleu Cheese Salad
Papaya Frisee and Arugula Salad
Mixed Field Greens

Tropical Slaw


Smoked Corn Chowder
Turkey Vegetable Soup


Garlic Redskin Smashed Potatoes
Broccoli tossed in Puri
Puri and topped with Key Lime Ponzu
Medley of Vegetables with Balsamic Glaze
Mac and Cheese
Cinnamon and Lemon Infused Balsamic Rice
Thai Curry Mussels
Fruit and Vegetable Tofu Curry
Fire Roasted Corn Spoon bread
Braised Kale
Fire Roasted Prime Rib
Herb Roasted Turkey
Cheese Pizza
Slow Roasted Adobo Pork
Wild Mushroom and Chicken Pasta with Bail Asiago Cream Sauce
Chicken Fingers
Vegetable Pasta
Ancho Chile Rubbed Atlantic Salmon
Flame Roasted Rotisserie Chicken
Sun-Dried Cherry Chutney
Violet Mustard Sauce
Beef Demi Glaze


Mac and Cheese
Chicken Fingers


Key Lime Pie
Red Velvet Cheesecake
Tiramisu
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Boston Cream pie
Double Chocolate Brownies
Ice Cream Sundae Bar


While we were eating our dinner, Eeyore came around…




And then Winnie the Pooh visited our table.




The chef kept his promise and he personally brought out some gluten free desserts for me on a special plate and it was an OH SO FANCY arrangement. I do remember a warm fudgy chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce that was delicious! My Gluten Free experience at Crystal Palace was fantastic. Everything that I ate tasted good, and was fresh and warm and I did not experience any cross contamination whatsoever!


All in all, the dinner was very good. The food definitely is not the BEST on Disney property, but its always a fun time with the characters from the Hundred Acre Wood. Unfortunately, we had a table right next to us who sat down about the same time as we did with 2 little kids, I’m guessing approximately ages 3 and 4 years old. 1 of them literally cried, and whined, and screamed the ENTIRE TIME. It was awful. This child was trying to run around, crawl under the table and was throwing temper tantrums the entire time. It made me want to ask to move tables because it literally was about 45-60 minutes of whining, yelling, screaming, and plain ole tired little kids who did not need to be in a ‘nicer’ restaurant while this meltdown was going on. Sometimes I wish that parents would think about the kids NEEDS in instances such as this. The kids obviously were exhausted and needed a nap, but the parents were just begging and pleading with them to ‘sit still’, ‘eat your food’, ‘be quiet’, ‘stop yelling’, etc. As a parent of older kids, I do of course remember my kids being young and tired and cranky, and I can remember asking for the waiter to bring the check and taking my kids OUT of a restaurant several times because my child was overtired and we were obviously disturbing others. My public service announcement is to: please consider your neighbors in a restaurant situation because it’s not pleasant to sit in a restaurant trying to enjoy a nice meal while having to listen to unruly children behave like that for 45-60 minutes.


The topiaries in the Crystal Palace are fabulous!




On our way out, we all used the restroom and then headed to use our 3 Fast Passes that we had for the evening!

On our way to our first Fast Pass... we saw a cute little bunny!




Stay tuned for the next post where we head to our Fast Passes... and also a few detours!

 

[annie170]

Those are super cute pictures from Crystal Palace. That place is one of the best with the character interactions.

That's good to hear that Disney takes food allergies seriously and the chef took you up to the buffet. How nice that your desserts were brought out special, too!

I agree with everything you said about tired children in restaurants. We've had similar experiences several times. If your kids haven't had naps, a dinner reservation is going to be a disaster waiting to happen.

You got some great pictures with the Disney "wildlife!"

 

[Raeven]

I love the Crystal Palace! Only been there for breakfast but dinner sounds good too. Tigger is my favorite!

 

[VACamm]

Those are super cute pictures from Crystal Palace. That place is one of the best with the character interactions.

You know, we always say that we definitely don't go to Crystal Palace for the FOOD, but for the characters for sure! The food isn't terrible, but its not the BEST at WDW for sure. I agree with you 100%!

That's good to hear that Disney takes food allergies seriously and the chef took you up to the buffet. How nice that your desserts were brought out special, too!

The chefs really are amazing at WDW... they came out at almost every single restaurant to discuss the menu and if it was a buffet, they would walk me around to show me what was safe. I am so impressed, and I will recommend vacationing at Disney to anyone with a food allergy.

I agree with everything you said about tired children in restaurants. We've had similar experiences several times. If your kids haven't had naps, a dinner reservation is going to be a disaster waiting to happen.

This. Exactly.

I love the Crystal Palace! Only been there for breakfast but dinner sounds good too. Tigger is my favorite!

If you like the breakfast, you should try dinner for sure! The characters are the same, and its a nice close dinner if you are in Magic Kingdom for the evening!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Great updates. I've only eaten at Crystal Palace for breakfast. Sort of a tradition for us to eat there the first morning in the Magic Kingdom. I absolutely love your shirt, adorable!

 

[VACamm]

Great updates. I've only eaten at Crystal Palace for breakfast. Sort of a tradition for us to eat there the first morning in the Magic Kingdom. I absolutely love your shirt, adorable!

I've never eaten at the Crystal Palace for breakfast, but I've heard wonderful things about it!