What? We need to leave room for snacks?!!

[ReneeA]

We just spent 9 wonderful days in WDW staying at the WL. We had waffled back and forth (heehee I love puns) on whether to take a room discount or the free dining plan this time. The "value" of the dining plan just edged out the room discount, and being known as a cheapskate and denying my poor, starving 13 year old son snacks on last year's trip to Universal gave everyone in the family ammunition to vote for the free dining discount. Whatever.

Our family:

DH is 44 years old going on 70. He's been in construction for years and has the bad back, bad hips and knees to show for it. He loves to spend his valuable time off running like a crazed person running around a theme park in 100 degree heat in August. Or maybe not.

I'm 42 and the Disney fanatic. I've been to WDW now 14 times, and it just never gets old to me. I love it, love the immersion, the magic, and even the heat.

DS is 13 - he'll be 14 in less than a month. The kid is starving, all the time...or thinks he is. He probably really is hungry since he's grown 4" and gained 20 pounds in the past 4 months (he's 5'10" now). Food is his LIFE. He helped immensely planning our meals and ADRs since it seems to be all he thinks about.

DD is 12, and the pickiest human being in our house. She really branched out and tried some new things this trip and enjoyed being an "adult" on the DDP. Until the last couple of days when she threw it all away and decided she was going back to being all about chicken nuggets.

Oh, and I got no pictures of food. Sorry. I'm that terrible mother that barely gets any pictures of her kids, much less the food. I'd never hear the end of it if I took pictures of their meals, but none of them on vacation.

Up first: Our first day! Our flight left Flint, MI at 6:25am and we arrived in MCO by 9:15. We grabbed snacks and coffee before we loaded on the plane, then hit up the food court when we landed in MCO. DD & I shared Panda Express (nothing says vacation like food court Chinese food at 9:30am) DH & DS grabbed McDonalds. Ewww...who the heck eats McDonalds when there is so much better to choose from? Then onto Raglan Road...

First I gotta run and get kids from sports practices. Yay for back to school!!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Following along!

 

[Klinger13]

Looking forward to your reviews!

 

[ReneeA]

We stopped to grab something at the food court about 9:45, and since we'd been up since 2:45, it felt like lunch. My DH will never turn down a McD breakfast anywhere down south (and I realize that nobody really thinks of Florida as the "south") but McD doesn't have chicken biscuits on their menus in Michigan, and apparently they are like something the Gods sent as a gift, so the boys choose that when available.

DD and I went for Panda Express - Sesame chicken, mushroom chicken and fried rice. It was yummy. All but the rice - that was tasteless and dry, so we fed it to the bottomless pit that is the 13 year old boy.

Grabbed the ME to the Wilderness Lodge, and it was the first time we never received yellow bag tags so we had to pick up our own luggage. Either way, we were checking in by 11am. The kids were super excited to use snack credits on their own since I'd given them access and both picked a Mickey ice cream bar from Roaring Forks. We also grabbed our refillable mugs and headed on our way to the room.

We had a day planned at DTD with dinner reservations at Raglan Road. By 3, we were hungry due to this crazy day off of our regular schedule. We swung by Raglan Road to see if we could get in for our ADR early rather than eat a meal and then have to eat dinner so soon after that. We were sat right away with a decent view of the stage. Our waitress was very attentive - brought us out samples of the strawberry smoothie on the menu while there to take our drink orders. I would normally get an alcoholic drink but I was already feeling like I needed a nap, so we all stuck with pop.

Both DH and I ordered Kevin's Heavenly Ham with mashed potatoes and cabbage. I loved it, probably my favorite meal of the trip. The ham was fabulous, the potatoes fabulous, and the sauces drizzled on the plate I could have licked the plate clean. DH liked it okay - but was like, "well, it was just ham. I don't think it was that big of a deal." Apparently he has much more advanced tastes than I do. I could go for some right now.

DD had the fish and chips - she loved them, and ate all of the fish. She loves malt vinegar on her chips so was thrilled when it was on the table.

DS has been eyeballing the ham schnitzel for months on the menu. It was HUGE...covered the plate with a slimey sunny side up egg on the top (I like my yolks well, well done). He loved it and ate most of it.

Desserts - DS and I both got the Fluffy Lemon clouds which were the clear winner. It was tart and sweet and absolutely yum. I could only eat about half since I was so stuffed from all the ham, but it was wonderful. DS ate all of his and was thrilled with it.

DD had Ger's bread and butter pudding, and she was just "meh" on it. I think she was stuffed to the gills, but DH tried it as well and was underwhelmed as well. It surprised me since everyone RAVES about it usually.

DH had the Trifle. It was bad. He jokes that it was Rachel Green's recipe (the Friend's episode where she puts beef in her trifle). I tried it, and I have to agree that it wasn't good. The ingredients had very little flavor, and the whipped cream on top was not sweet. It had more of a sour cream or greek yogurt taste to it, but absolutely no sweetness to any of the dessert. It was a bit strange.

Overall, I think we would return (the kids and I would for sure) but maybe make some different choices when ordering.

 

[Klinger13]

I laughed (& cringed) at the reference to Rachel Green's trifle. Classic!

 

[SoonipiLady]

Mother daughter trip in 12 days for F & W, looking forward to some recent reviews!

 

[ReneeA]

Following along!

Thanks!

Looking forward to your reviews!

I laughed (& cringed) at the reference to Rachel Green's trifle. Classic!

We're still snickering about it, too.

Mother daughter trip in 12 days for F & W, looking forward to some recent reviews!

Oh, DD and I did a girl's trip last year and it was so fun! You'll love it!

Thanks for following along. 8/30 brought BOG lunch and Trail's End dinner.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

I'm in. We had the opposite experience at Raglan Road last year - nice if not fabulous desserts and rubbish (for want of not being over rude on the dis) entrees. Won't be returning unless it's for coffee and pud.

 

[Vernie822]

Count me in on being underwhelmed at Raglan Road as well. Wasn't a fan of the schnitzel but I had no clue what to order and just blurted out "Schnitzel please" lol. I loved the bread and butter pudding. Sounds like you picked a winning entree!

Great reviews so far.

 

[ReneeA]

I'm in. We had the opposite experience at Raglan Road last year - nice if not fabulous desserts and rubbish (for want of not being over rude on the dis) entrees. Won't be returning unless it's for coffee and pud.

I too would go for coffee and desserts. And booze, too!

Count me in on being underwhelmed at Raglan Road as well. Wasn't a fan of the schnitzel but I had no clue what to order and just blurted out "Schnitzel please" lol. I loved the bread and butter pudding. Sounds like you picked a winning entree!

Great reviews so far.

Thanks! The kid loved the schnitzel...I thought it looked a little dry, and the egg turned my stomach but he was happy. I think I would have been a fan of the bread pudding since I normally like that kind of thing.

 

[ReneeA]

On 8/30 we had an 11:20 reservation at Be Our Guest for lunch. I had preordered, and had heard mixed reviews on both the check-in process and the food. I'm happy to report that both were very good. I checked in about 11:10. There were only 2 families ahead of us in the check in line, and we were showed right to the front door. There were 2 lines - one for those that preordered, and one for those that still had to place an order. They scanned my band, gave me a receipt and sent us off in search of a table. It is beautiful in there, but I'm a little perplexed as to how people wander around to look and take pictures. It is BUSY - lots of people milling about and lots of CM's wheeling the big carts full of food to tables. There are people looking for tables, going for silverware, going for drinks, etc. There's a lot of activity, which made me just want to find the closest spot and camp out. I have children to run for drink refills, thank you very much. I'm thankful the days of young children and strollers are done when we're at WDW.

The food delivery process was a little confusing. We had ordered 3 entrees and one bowl of soup, so used 3 CS credits and one snack credit. We had several CMs come to the table and check our receipt. One to deliver cups and look at our receipt. One delivered the bowl of potato leek soup that DD and I were planning to share - and looked at our receipt. Then 2 entrees - the ham and cheese sandwich that DD and I were sharing and DH's Tuna Nicoise Salad were delivered - and they checked our receipt. Finally, DS's roast beef sandwich was delivered along with a bottle of water and 3 cupcakes. It seemed like quite the process.

All of the food was very good. Both the ham and cheese sandwich and fries were hot and crispy, and plenty to share between the 2 of us. Each half of the sandwich is about the size of a normal sandwich I make here. The soup was really good - everyone got a little bit to try and all really liked it. DH thought his tuna was high grade, especially for a CS restaurant. He was going easy because his choice for dinner was a buffet and he was trying not to overdo it. DS liked his roast beef...he just thought that it needed a little more sauce on it since it was a bit dry.

The cupcakes were all good - we tried a lemon one, a strawberry one, and a Master's cupcake. I cut them into 4 pieces so we could all try each one. The lemon was everyone's favorite, followed by the strawberry and then the Master's cupcake. DH commented that the grey stuff needs a little more flavor to be delicious. The drink refill option was awesome, and we had a bottle of water to take on the go. We all agreed that we would eat here again.

 

[vettegirl]

Joining in! We haven't been to RR in a few years, but have always enjoyed it except don't order a steak there, it was nasty We too loved our lunch at BOG! It was a nice surprise.

 

[auntfrannie]

Oh, and I got no pictures of food. Sorry. I'm that terrible mother that barely gets any pictures of her kids, much less the food. I'd never hear the end of it if I took pictures of their meals, but none of them on vacation.

<snort> This tickled me. Loving the reviews!

 

[Vernie822]

Yum... your Be Our Guest review has me excited to eat there in November! I did the roast beef sandwich last time, my fiance loved the croque monsieur but I may have to go for the French Onion soup with my meal this time.

 

[ReneeA]

Joining in! We haven't been to RR in a few years, but have always enjoyed it except don't order a steak there, it was nasty We too loved our lunch at BOG! It was a nice surprise.

Thanks for following! I liked the BOG lunch more than I expected, too. I want expecting much. DS wanted to go back later in the trip, but you have to lop out a kidney to get an ADR there at 180 days, so out was a no go.

<snort> This tickled me. Loving the reviews!

Thanks for joining!

Yum... your Be Our Guest review has me excited to eat there in November! I did the roast beef sandwich last time, my fiance loved the croque monsieur but I may have to go for the French Onion soup with my meal this time.

French onion soup is on my list for the next trip for sure. I think they do soup well.

 

[ReneeA]

I just love back to school, with all the chaos, running around, sports, practices, curriculum night, meet the teachers, and fundraisers for everyone and everything even remotely related to school in any way. Love it.

Where did I leave off? Oh, yeah. MK. It was hot that day...like really hot. Duh...since its August in Florida, right? What do you do on a hot day? You get dole whips! Yay! 4 snack credits were used for 3 dole whip floats for everyone but me, and I went for a plain old dole whip. It was all fantastic. Dd & I really should share everything since neither of us ever eat all our food. We both had some left, being full from lunch and all that.

At 5:45, we had reservations for Trail's End, so we hopped the boat for Fort Wilderness. We were seated right away, and everyone leaped to their feet to attack the buffet. Warning! I am writing this from my perspective, and I despise buffets. This was DH's pick for dinner, and I gave him free reign to choose. I normally shoot down any suggestion of eating lukewarm, sub par, dried out food under heat lamps that total strangers have touched. Gross. I had read good things about Trail's end, and we're in Disney, so what the heck.

It wasn't terrible. The mashed potatoes were very good. I also ate some ribs, a piece of brisket, and some salmon, along with cornbread. Dessert was bread pudding, Apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. That was great. Everyone else loved the buffet, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...I survived, and now I don't have to eat from a trough again for a very long time.

Sorry to those of you that enjoy buffets. It's just not my thing.

 

[Vernie822]

It wasn't terrible. The mashed potatoes were very good. I also ate some ribs, a piece of brisket, and some salmon, along with cornbread. Dessert was bread pudding, Apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. That was great. Everyone else loved the buffet, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...I survived, and now I don't have to eat from a trough again for a very long time.

Sorry to those of you that enjoy buffets. It's just not my thing.

I laughed when I read this because I have the same opinion on buffets. Sure you can try everything, but I would rather have one entree freshly made and not sitting under a heat lamp. Glad to see you survived! I much prefer a breakfast buffet and Trail's End has been on my radar for a while. Apparently they have an actual lunch menu, not a buffet - the entrees look good!

 

[mommypenguin29]

Following

 

[ReneeA]

I laughed when I read this because I have the same opinion on buffets. Sure you can try everything, but I would rather have one entree freshly made and not sitting under a heat lamp. Glad to see you survived! I much prefer a breakfast buffet and Trail's End has been on my radar for a while. Apparently they have an actual lunch menu, not a buffet - the entrees look good!

We are in small company, Vernie. Most people love buffets from what I can tell on these boards. Trail's End was one of the better ones I've ever eaten. I'd try their breakfast as well, and their lunch menu looks great - that's what I'd really like to try.

Following

Thanks for joining!

 

[ReneeA]

Forgot to mention one thing! We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, and the Territory Lounge is open first thing in the morning with a specialty coffee bar!!!!!! I'd put more exclamation marks, but it becomes obnoxious, no? I am an iced coffee addict. Seriously, they better never make coffee a controlled substance, or I am in some serious trouble. As it is, there are days that I drink so much of it that it looks like I need an intervention from the shakes I get. I thought I was going to waste valuable park time waiting in line at Starbucks every morning for my fix. I literally danced a little jig in the lobby our first day when I saw the board announcing the new "coffee shop".

I did become a little leery the first morning as I stepped up to the counter to order...what if they just dumped hot coffee over ice? Or put some weak, yucky version over ice? There wasn't anyone else in line so I could look over their shoulder to make sure that these special CMs knew how exactly how to make a proper iced coffee. For those that don't know, iced coffee has to be made very strong - you can cold brew it which means leaving water in the refrigerator for a couple days in coffee grounds so it can become proper sludge, or you can double or triple brew it so that it's strong enough to be poured over ice and be very strong and flavorful. Other places will make it with espresso, which is fantastic as well, but not done that way very often because it's time consuming and expensive.

I stepped up to the counter and requested my every single morning drink. "I'll have a vanilla iced coffee with a tiny bit of room for cream." That beautiful human turned around and started the espresso machine. YeeHaa! It was a lovely thing. Strong, dark and just the right amount of vanilla syrup to make the ideal iced coffee. And all for just $2.69 (plus the $1 tip I left). My family teases me that I'm an addict, and I freely admit it, but this did save lots of park time by taking care of this problem I have at 7am rather than waiting until 9 when we can get into Starbucks.

This was my morning ritual everyday that we stayed there, so 8/30-9/6 I got the same thing - a vanilla iced coffee. Everyday it was fantastic.