We're DOPEY to eat this much! A RunDisney DR

[StayAwake]

Hello everyone. It's StayAwake, with my last dining report from my annual pass year.


Yes, Mary Poppins, it has been quite the Jolly Holiday!

A few reminders about me:
Favorite Disney Movie: Mary Poppins
Favorite WDW Park: EPCOT
Favorite Ride: Mad Tea Party
Favorite Show: Muppet Vision 3D

Both my sister, who shall be named Ariel, and our friend, who shall be named Belle were running the Dopey Challenge. This is 4 days of races, starting with a 5k (3.1 miles) on the first day, a 10K (6.2 miles) on the second day, a half-marathon (13.1 miles) on the third day and a marathon (26.2 miles) on the fourth day. I came along as the cheering squad. The races are scheduled to be early in the morning, so this also means a lot of early wake up calls (3 am for Ariel, 4 am for me), and a lot of carbs.

Ready, Set, Go!

 

[StayAwake]

January 6, 2015 Arrival Day
Aloha Isle
Flying Fish Cafe

January 7, 2015 Packet Pickup Day
Boardwalk Bakery
Beaches & Cream
Behind the Seeds Tour
Tangierine Cafe

January 8, 2015 5K Day
Old Port Royale Food Court
Backlot Express
Casey's Corner

January 9, 2015 10K Day
Chef Mickey's
The Plaza
Tony's Town Square

Jauary 10, 2015 Half Marathon Day
Kona Cafe
Food Trucks @ Downtown Disney
Splitsville Luxury Lanes
Trattoria al Forno

January 11, 2015 Marathon Day
Kringla Bakery
Fairfax Faire
Pizza Planet
Columbia Harbor House

January 12, 2015 Going Home Day
Boma
Les Halles

 

[StayAwake]

Of course I have to start the trip with my favorite snack!



This was not the view that awaited me when I arrived in the park around 2:30 pm. It was a nice warm sunny afternoon and the lines were quite long. But since my sister's flight was delayed, I had no where else to be, so I joined the line to partake in my favorite Disney snack.



Mmmm Dole Whip. How I love you. There's a thing going around Facebook right now for a healthier make-at-home version of a Dole Whip, and I can tell you that it just doesn't compare. I will accept no substitutes.

 

[StayAwake]

Those who read my Food & Wine dining report (linked in my sig if you missed it) might remember that I had a poor dining experience at Capa at the Four Seasons. I had previously reserved the Flying Fish for that night, so I was really excited to be able to go to Flying Fish on this trip and have the dining experience I missed.

Even though we had an 7:30 pm reservation, it was still quite hectic to get here. Ariel's flight was supposed to arrive at 10:30 am. When I arrived at 1:30 pm, her flight was on the third attempt to leave the airport due to a snowstorm that had blown in on the east coast. She had neglected to pack her clothes for dinner in her carry-on, as she expected the Magical Express to have her luggage to the room in plenty of time for dinner. But with a 3:30 landing in Orlando, we didn't know where her luggage was. All we knew was that it wasn't in the room at 5:30, or 6:00, or 6:30, or even 7 pm. Finally we broke down and called bell services and they confirmed it had just arrived at the resort and they would bring it right over. At 7:35 it arrived. I called for a cab and ran outside to be there when it arrived as she frantically changed clothes, and then we were off!


We ran up to the podium to check in. I had tried calling Disney Dining while we were waiting, to find out what to do if we missed the reservation, since there's now the $10 charge per person. They advised that they would hold the ADR for 15 minutes. If we arrived after that, we would be treated as a walk-up from a seating perspective, but as long as we ate there that night, we would not be charged the no show fee.

Of course, we arrived at 7:50. But the cast member checking us in reassured us that she could still see our names and that we would not be counted as having missed the reservation. I did double check my bank statement and we did not get charged, so that was a relief! Now we could settle in and enjoy our dinner.

A few pictures of the inside of the restaurant:

I loved these blown glass fish vases, and the cast members were very gracious about having their picture taken.


View from our table facing towards the entrance. You can see a few people on the right who are sitting at the chef's table.


Ariel's view into the restaurant.


Flying Fish lamps and the Boardwalk-themed border.

The menus!




We were brought some bread. I think it was potato & leek bread.



Whatever it was, I wasn't impressed. It had a very mealy mouth feel and almost no flavor. I normally can't get enough of the bread basket, but I only had one bite and that was more than enough.


The Crispy Jonah Crab Cake was our shared appetizer. This was very good. The sauces were nice without taking away from the flavor of the crab. This had no filler- it was all crab meat.


Ariel's choice was the Thunder Fish Special: Oak grilled swordfish with lobster laced grits. She loved this. I don't care for most fish, but thought this was very meaty and tasted very good. The lobster grits were to-die-for delicious though!



My choice: Oak Grilled Maine Sea Scallops with mushroom risotto. I was very happy with this. The scallops were cooked perfectly and melted in my mouth. The risotto had a nice creamy texture and tons of flavor, but not so much that it overpowered the scallops.

We decided that we had to have dessert to celebrate our trip, so asked for the menu.


There were many delicious sounding options, but our choice was:

The Winter Season Sundae Deluxe. Vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries, raspberry sauce, sea salt caramel sauce and topped with a sea-salt chocolate bar. We were very happy with this choice.

We had also ordered a bottle of wine to split, since it was one of the last chances for Ariel to drink before the races. Using my Tables in Wonderland card, we saved $33.64 on this meal.

I though this was delicious, and I would return here again. In a competition between Flying Fish and Todd English bluezoo, I would rank bluezoo higher on food, and Flying Fish higher for atmosphere/people watching.

 

[StayAwake]

After our dinner at the Flying Fish, we decided to take a stroll down the Boardwalk to pick up some treats for breakfast time on Wednesday. The plan was to hit EMH morning at Animal Kingdom for rope drop and get in a few rides on the headliners before heading over to the ESPN Wild World of Sports at 10am or after to pick up all the needed race gear. So there was no leisurely breakfast in store for us!

What did I choose?



A Sticky bun, and boy was it ever! It was sticky and ooey goey and just delicious. And huge. If your appetite isn't big, you could easily share this. It was almost as big as my head.

The Boardwalk Bakery was new to me, but I would absolutely return to try some of the other deliciousness. Pro tip: watch the signs for which door is the entrance. There were a lot of people who came in the wrong door and promptly had to leave and go back outside to get to the end of the line.

 

[StayAwake]

Beaches & Cream

We made it through packet picket & the expo at WWoS in about 2 hours, which might be a new record for us! Which left us an hour to get to our lunch reservation at the Beach Club, so we made it in plenty of time. After checking in, we sat at a table and watched the fun being had at Stormalong Bay while we waited for our buzzer to go off. We waited about 15 minutes, which still got us seated before our actual ADR time.





This is a place I might never have found, if not for all the reports on the DIS. Both Ariel & I were excited to eat here, and we loved all the little touches once we got inside, like the wheels on the ceiling.

Both Ariel & I ordered the cheeseburger, but I substituted onion rings for the fries.



This was absolutely delicious! The burger was nicely cooked medium and kept all the juices, providing tons of flavor. The onion rings were piping hot out of the fryer and and a great crispy batter and sweet onion inside.

I didn't want to leave without having a sundae, but Ariel wasn't really in the mood for one. So I did a create-my-own 2 scoop sundae (the small size) with butter pecan ice cream and caramel topping.


Yeah, that was the small size! After filling half the sundae glass with caramel, they put the ice cream in, then more caramel, then whipped cream, nuts and the cherry. I have to admit that I could only finish about half of it. Ariel did take a couple bites to give me a hand.

With my TiW card I saved $8.99, for a total savings on this trip so far of $42.63.

This place is charming and the food was great, so we would absolutely eat here again. One thing we learned as newbies is that this place is almost between Yacht & Beach club, so it's a hike when coming in from the Beach Club bus stop through the main entrance and then over to the restaurant. The path we took also had us going inside and outside of the building a couple of times, which could be very confusing to those without a good sense of direction.

 

[OThopeful35]

All the food looks so good! We have never eaten a Beaches and Cream, I think it's time to make an ADR for our upcoming trip.

 

[Disney_Mama]

Great reviews and pictures. Can't wait for the rest.

 

[StayAwake]

All the food looks so good! We have never eaten a Beaches and Cream, I think it's time to make an ADR for our upcoming trip.

It was really good. There's not a ton of choices on the menu, but everything that was going past our table looked delicious. And when you realize the prices aren't that much more than a counter service burger & fries for much better quality... yeah, you really should give it a try!

Great reviews and pictures. Can't wait for the rest.

Thanks for joining in Disney_Mama!

 

[StayAwake]

Behind the Seeds

We interrupt this dining report for a quick trip report. But since there is food involved, I thought you might not be too upset.

So Living with the Land is one of my favorite EPCOT attractions- mostly because I remember it from the 80s, but also because I have a "black thumb" so I'm always fascinated about how they get things to grow in different ways. Ariel had done this tour once before, and thought I would really enjoy it. There is an AP discount- I believe it was $2 or $4 off per person. I'll have to try to track down the receipt. Anyway, we paid, quickly used our FP+ for Soaring, and arrived back just before the tour was starting. We had around 20 people on our tour, and once we were all present, we were led backstage.


Here's our tour guide Josh. He's an entymologist (someone who studies bugs). This area was where they showed a brief video and let us see how they are doing research into bugs that prevent crop damage. I don't remember all the details, but it was quite interesting.



Once we entered into the large greenhouse area that the ride goes through, we learned about hydroponics and were given a handout describing how we could make our own hydroponic garden at home. We also got a chance to try a hydroponically grown cucumber that was grown at the Land. I love cucumbers, and although they usually don't have a ton of flavor, this one tasted very good. We all had to throw our toothpicks away in a special toothpick recycling bin.





Not so Hidden Mickey!



Boat!

One thing I loved about the tour was the ceilings of the greenhouses. I loved the dome one especially. I know you're always supposed to look up when you're at Disney, but the canopy on top of the Living with the Land boat makes that difficult.



Bananas!

As we walked along, at different places there were QR codes that you could scan for more information. Some of them were for general growing-things information, but there were three that were for recipes! I don't have the most steady hands, so getting them scanned was a big pain and I missed a ton of what Josh was telling us. Oh well, I guess that's a reason to have to do the tour again some time! I don't remember what they were all for, but I know one was for sweet & sour chicken. We also got to hold one of the giant melons that's grown from the trellises and play a game about the spices that are grown at the Land. Then we made our way back the way we had come with a game to find the hidden Mickey's along the pathway on our way out. Some of them we had already spotted, but some were new.

This was a really interesting and different look into the Land. I believe the normal price of the tour is $20 for adults, which I thought was a very reasonable deal. The tour takes about 1 hour, and the hour flew by. Josh was a great guide, and he gave lots of time throughout the tour for questions. I asked why they were farming alligators, as it doesn't seem like more of those are needed, and was told that it's for their meat and for their skins to make shoes and so forth. So it just goes to show that they welcome stupid questions on this tour!

I wouldn't say this is a must do if you're new to Disney, but if you're looking for a way to change things up a bit as an experienced visitor, that this tour might be right up your alley.

 

[StayAwake]

Tangierine Cafe

Dinner tonight was at Tangierine Cafe in Morocco. This was Ariel's pick, and since I'd never eaten here before, I was game. This restaurant seems to be very highly regarded and simultaneously not very busy, so what wasn't to love about that?


We both ordered the Lamb Wrap, which came with sides of couscous and lentils. Photobombing this picture is my Magners Pear Cider that we picked up in England on our way over to Morocco. The lamb wrap was very tasty, and quite similar to a gyro. The lentils had a dressing that was a mix of something sweet with vinegar and oil, and the couscous tasted like couscous with a few veggies thrown in.

It's not to say this wasn't good food- it was good. It just wasn't any better than the Greek place down the road from me where I could get a similar amount of food for half the price. I don't know if it was having been to F&W, or if I'm just becoming Carl from UP, but the excitement about eating in World Showcase just wasn't there for me this trip.

 

[StayAwake]

Food Court at Old Port Royale

This was the morning of the 5K and it was cold! With the wind, it was 34 degrees. No fun to be standing outside for 2 hours cheering for the runners, and not much fun for the runners either. For some reason, Ariel & I missed each other at the meet up area after the finish line, and so ended up on separate buses back to Caribbean Beach. We agreed that we'd just go to the food court to get some hot breakfast- I headed over while she was taking a much needed hot shower.

What did we end up with?


I got the made when you ordered Ham & Cheese omelet. This came with breakfast potatoes. I also picked up a juice and a yogurt. The omelet was very tasty, and nice and warm, but it took a long time to make. The potatoes were fine, but had no seasoning and I spent a while trying to find some salt & pepper. By the time my food was ready, Ariel had made it to the food court and picked up a bounty platter. (No picture because we've seen them before) So we met in the checkout line and worked on our touring plan for the day.

There is no reason to come here for breakfast if you're not staying at Caribbean Beach, but if you are, there are plenty of choices and it did the trick.

 

[StayAwake]

Backlot Express

Belle ended up joining us at Hollywood Studios, and after much discussion we ended up at Backlot Express for lunch. We all ended up with the same thing.


Yes, there are chicken nuggets under that mound of fries. These were fine, but nothing special. Better was the special holiday drink: Hard Cider with a shot of Fireball Whiskey. Yeah- it wasn't cheap (around $10) but boy did it help drive away the lingering chill from the day that still hadn't gotten very warm. I think we maybe hit 50 degrees.

I hadn't eaten at Backlot Express in about 20 years, and there's probably no reason to do it again for another 20. If you want a burger or nuggets, it's great, but otherwise it's nothing special.

 

[StayAwake]

Writer's Stop

My second favorite Disney snack was one that Belle had never had. Considering that she used to be a CM, I was pretty proud to be able to introduce her to this little beauty:


The Carrot Cake Cookie. Ariel doesn't love this as much as I do, but Belle thought it was delicious and couldn't believe she'd missed it before. It is so huge that it is always nice to split it, so it worked out perfectly!

 

[StayAwake]

Casey's Corner

We had no plans for dinner tonight, and I thought it might be a good chance to check out Shutters at Caribbean Beach, since I'd heard through the DIS that it doesn't need an ADR as it's never very busy. Oh, was that wrong! I think because it was so cold, people were heading back to the resorts early, and there was an hour plus wait for walk-ups at Shutters.

So when Belle mentioned she was going to head over to Magic Kingdom to see Wishes, I asked to join her. We ended up grabbing a quick bite at Casey's, which was another restaurant that was new to me, so that was all good.


I got the polish sausage with apple slices instead of fries. Belle had done this a few times, and ordered the corn dog nuggets. Much more portable since it was impossible to get a place to sit as everyone had commandeered a table at Casey's to sit and watch the projection show. That was really annoying for those of us who had food and were just wandering around with trays and no where to put them down. We finally grabbed the top of a garbage can, Food & Wine Style, to put our stuff down so we could eat.

This wasn't fancy, but it was delicious. The bun was soft, but still had enough stability to stand up to the polish sausage. The sausage had great flavor, and the relish & mustard that came with it were nice additions. The apples went into my backpack as a pre-race snack for another day.

I would eat here again, but maybe for lunch to avoid the chaos that is inevitable around Wishes.

 

[Pfau]

I'm enjoying your report! Thank you!

 

[ursalita]

I love your review so far! I recently switched my only signature ADR for our upcoming trip from Flying Fish to bluezoo so I was thrilled to hear that you preferred the food at bluezoo. I wish we could do both but I only budgeted for one signature meal.

I was really interested in your review of the Land tour. My family loves the ride and I've always wondered about the people you see walking around in the greenhouse. I always assumed it was some sort of VIP thing that we couldn't afford. I think we'll have to try to do that this year.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Casey's Corner

We had no plans for dinner tonight, and I thought it might be a good chance to check out Shutters at Caribbean Beach, since I'd heard through the DIS that it doesn't need an ADR as it's never very busy. Oh, was that wrong! I think because it was so cold, people were heading back to the resorts early, and there was an hour plus wait for walk-ups at Shutters.

So when Belle mentioned she was going to head over to Magic Kingdom to see Wishes, I asked to join her. We ended up grabbing a quick bite at Casey's, which was another restaurant that was new to me, so that was all good.


I got the polish sausage with apple slices instead of fries. Belle had done this a few times, and ordered the corn dog nuggets. Much more portable since it was impossible to get a place to sit as everyone had commandeered a table at Casey's to sit and watch the projection show. That was really annoying for those of us who had food and were just wandering around with trays and no where to put them down. We finally grabbed the top of a garbage can, Food & Wine Style, to put our stuff down so we could eat.

This wasn't fancy, but it was delicious. The bun was soft, but still had enough stability to stand up to the polish sausage. The sausage had great flavor, and the relish & mustard that came with it were nice additions. The apples went into my backpack as a pre-race snack for another day.

I would eat here again, but maybe for lunch to avoid the chaos that is inevitable around Wishes.

I love Casey's...and that is the meal I had back in May while the boys had corndog nuggets. One of my favorite CS in the kingdom.

 

[StayAwake]

I'm enjoying your report! Thank you!

Thank you for joining in! It's always fun to know people are out there reading and enjoying!

I love your review so far! I recently switched my only signature ADR for our upcoming trip from Flying Fish to bluezoo so I was thrilled to hear that you preferred the food at bluezoo. I wish we could do both but I only budgeted for one signature meal.

I was really interested in your review of the Land tour. My family loves the ride and I've always wondered about the people you see walking around in the greenhouse. I always assumed it was some sort of VIP thing that we couldn't afford. I think we'll have to try to do that this year.

Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for joining in! Shameless self promotion- there is a review of bluezoo in my F&W November dining report- so if you want more to get excited about... The atmosphere at bluezoo is great too, we just ended up at a horrible table in the middle of the walkway, so it was really awkward for most of the meal. It takes a lot for me to complain, but if I went again and got offered that table, I would ask to wait until there was another one free.

Behind the seeds was really fun, and very inexpensive for a Disney tour. If you have any interest at all, I would recommend it highly!

I love Casey's...and that is the meal I had back in May while the boys had corndog nuggets. One of my favorite CS in the kingdom.

Casey's really won me over. I thought "what's so great about a hot dog place" but I left a fan. It was really delicious.

 

[StayAwake]

Before I start the next update, I haven't been able to figure out how to link parts with the new board, so the table of contents isn't being updated. If anyone could give me a hand, that would be great! Now on to the food.

Chef Mickey's

This was a last minute ADR score the week before we left. Ariel had really wanted to eat here but we knew the timing was going to be tight because of finishing the 10K and having to get over the Contemporary. I had stationed myself outside the Boardwalk to cheer for the runners, so I could quickly grab a cab back to the resort- drop off the cowbell and race signs, then catch the bus to Magic Kingdom and then walk to the Contemporary. This was a great plan, and only had atiny hitch when I had a conversation with Disney security about ringing the cowbell. Protip: if you are going to stay at an EPCOT resort during Marathon weekend, bring earplugs and don't get a room facing the lake. After the security folks realized there were dozens of people with cowbells and a hundred or more people yelling at the top of their lungs, they decided my cowbell and I could stay.

I got to the Contemporary right at 8:20 when our reservation was. Belle had asked if she could come along, so when I checked in, I let them know we would have 3 instead of 2. The CM gave me a bit of a look, but went ahead and noted I was there and the changed number of people. She wouldn't give me a pager until everyone was there, so I had a 10 minute wait until the runner bus carrying Belle & Ariel arrived, and then we had another 5 minute wait before we were shown to our table.






Orange juice & hot cocoa (it was another cold morning!). Not so hidden Mickey made of yogurt & strawberries. Scrambled eggs with peppers & onions, Kielbasa, grits, Cheesy hashbrown casserole and Mickey waffles

The eggs were just ok. The kielbasa was really flavorful and a nice substitute for the lousy Disney bacon (which was available). The grits were thinner than I like, but delicious. The cheesy potatoes and waffles were awesome!


My pretend attempt to be healthy- grapefruit & banana. I had Ariel bring the banana & pain au chocolate back to the room for another pre-race meal. More grits & hasbrowns. Freshly carved ham. Cream cheese blintz with cherry sauce.

The blintz was terrible. Others were good but I was really full at this point.

The character interaction wasn't great for me, although it was wonderful for Belle & Ariel. The characters spent a ton of time fussing over the runners, who were still wearing their medals. But a few of them walked off and started going to the next table without saying hi to me or letting me get my photo taken. The girls really wanted to get back to get showers and change into regular clothes, and I decided I'd rather have some solo time at Magic Kingdom rather than wait for the characters to come around again, so we headed out.

Using Tables in Wonderland, we saved $22.79. Total savings for the trip so far: $65.42

This was my first time at Chef Mickey's. Would I eat here again? Probably not. The food was good, but I prefer Tusker House for a character breakfast with 4 of the Fab 5, and Boma (review to come) for a breakfast buffet with an amazing selection for a much better price.