Where is the funnel cake? Updated 8/13/13 Finale!!

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Day 4 Tony’s Town Square Lunch​

So after some rides and picture taking at Magic Kingdom, we headed to our lunch reservation at Tony’s. I go to check in and the CM tells me we are early by about 45 minutes. What??? I got our reservation time wrong. We weren’t terribly hungry (as has been the story for most of this trip) but coming back in 45 minutes didn’t make much sense to us. So we were allowed to check in but we were told they couldn’t guarantee us a seat before our original time. We were fine with that. We were sitting down, off our feet, in air conditioning, works for me! 10 minutes later we were called, so much for having to wait a long time.

Now I will tell you that the last time we dined there, I didn’t have a great experience. It wasn’t anything horrible, but bad moments stick in my memory from Disney because you aren’t supposed to have them when you are in the happiest place in the world. It takes me a while to get over bad experiences at restaurants. I don’t go back for a long time or ever. But on this trip, since we were on the deluxe plan, and had so many credits, and DH wanted to go here again, I relented and we went.

So we started with appetizers and I wanted something on the lighter side. Not so sure I succeeded but I went with the
Toasted Cheese and Garlic Bread - topped with fresh Tomatoes and Basil

It looked really good and was not quite light but good. Now at some point after it arrived, I asked myself “WHY did you order this Karla???” I have to be in just the right mood to have slices, pieces, or chunks of tomatoes on my food. This was not one of those times and I managed to wipe most of them off. But holy moley goodness Basil!!! That basil was fresh and delicious on that cheesy bread. I loved this option and it was huge!
Next was my DH, he said he wanted something different and went with the
Seasonal Fruit - with prosciutto

It was cantaloupe and prosciutto with some dark sauce. It as salty, sweet goodness. He said he would eat it again but it wasn’t the greatest gift but it was good.
DD and DS both opted for the same item. They each chose the
Calamari - topped with Olive Relish and served with a side of Marinara Sauce

They both liked this but said that they liked Raglan Road’s better. They weren’t as fond of the breading on this one as much as at RR, but they ate it!

On to our entrees: DS knew immediately what he was going to have because if you remember correctly, his favorite food is??? If you guessed shrimp, you are correct. So he got the
Shrimp Scampi - Linguini with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Asparagus tossed in a Garlic Sauce

He loved the shrimp, he said they were juicy and cooked right. He liked the pasta, but wasn’t hungry enough to eat it all because it was a huge portion. He didn’t touch the veggies that were in it.
DH had no idea what he wanted. He decided he wanted something small. Ever get a small Italian anything??? Yeah, me either! So not being able to find something he really wanted he opted to get the
Meatball Sliders - Meatballs cooked in Marinara Sauce topped with provolone and arugula on Focaccia rolls

They were good and he would get them again. He really like the homemade chips that were served with them. He was pleasantly surprised by this plate. He went into this dish just to get something small and found something good.
DD also had decided rather quickly what she was going to have. She went with the
Chicken Parmigiana - Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast with Marinara Sauce topped with Melted Mozzarella over Spaghetti

She loved this. The breading was light and had just enough cheese to give it some good flavor. She barely touched the pasta. This was the dish I had gotten last time that gave me the bad experience. When it came out last time and I was eating it, it had some other components on the chicken and in the dish that weren’t listed on the menu. I hated it and was afraid to order it this time. I was also afraid for DD when she wanted to order this. But I didn’t want to taint her view of this dish by saying that I didn’t like it last time. It wasn’t fair to her to unduly influence her (whether or not she knew that’s what I would have been doing). So I kept my mouth shut and let her order it. Thankfully this time the meal didn’t include any extraneous items. So, I didn’t order this, instead I ordered the
Spaghetti - with choice of Meatballs or Sweet Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce

I got this dish with the sweet Italian sausage. I had maybe 8 bites of the spaghetti and 5 of the sausage. I wasn’t a fan. Here is where I think the problem with Tony’s is for me. I am 50% Italian. My Mom’s side of the family is all Italian and we had the Sunday dinners with the whole kit and caboodle. I have seen the love and devotion put into the food from the time I could stand and the stories to go with it. This is restaurant Italian, it is NOT the same thing and to me a VERY inferior product. Now, having said that, it is GOOD restaurant Italian food, as verified by my DH, but for me, it is just not the same. I love the decor and the server was great. We had Jihane. She kept us hydrated and checked in with us to make sure everything was ok. Then we went onto dessert and I have to say that as Italian as I am when it comes to entrees, I am not when it comes to dessert. I am not fond of tiramisu at all! So I was looking for something small and cold or light and found this
Spumoni - layers of ice cream with pistachio nuts and cherries

I don’t know what I was thinking I would get, but it wasn’t this. I think my head was thinking a glass cup with some ice cream, then a layer of pistachios and some more ice cream then some cherries. But it wasn’t thinking this block of ice cream. It was ok but weird. DH ordered the same thing as I did. Our Server was very nice. She noticed that we had our anniversary pins on and with our dessert plates she included a timkerbell light on mine and a buzz lightyear light on DH’s. It was very sweet of her and it was unexpected because that was the first time on the trip any of our servers did something for our anniversary. We had plenty of people wish us Happy Anniversary but this time she gave us something. It made us smile a bit. Of course, it was short lived because DD immediately took them off our hands.
The kids decided to get gelato, chocolate. (sorry, no picture)
So thus ends our Tony’s adventure. We had a good meal, if not extraordinary. I just can’t really like this place. I kind of want to, but can’t. I always think about how it was at family gatherings and it just can’t live up to those memories. Sorry Tony’s. The service was good, the atmosphere nice and sweet and the food ok. I don’t know when or IF we will be back.

We are giving this meal a
3-3 ½

It cost us $135.63 or 4 TS credits or $33.91/credit

UP NEXT: We head to Ohana for dinner. We have more than 4 in our party and a nice Meet! Stay tuned to see who all the extras are.

 

[CraigInPA]

I had the same impression of Tony's, and being 50% Italian myself, I have to say that it's not because of that. My wife, 0% Italian, also found the food disappointing.

Tony's food is not just "restaurant Italian", it's "red sauce pizzeria Italian". You know the type of place: a restaurant that is 99% pizza and has a few "entrees" on the menu. Everything gets the same canned red sauce, casually heated by dumping it cold into a pot with the (usually over-) cooked pasta and swirled a few times before being dumped onto a plate. It's over-sweet, slightly under cooked, and adds little or nothing in the way of taste. On the foodie scale, it's lower than Olive Garden, which is the mass market "restaurant Italian" leader, and well below an authentic Italian restaurant.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I've always wanted to attend 1900 PF, but for dinner not breakfast. I know That's one we're saving for when we have a child traveling with.

We had Tony's last May and thought it was okay. The restaurant was crowded and the service was mediocre, but the food was passable.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

I had the same impression of Tony's, and being 50% Italian myself, I have to say that it's not because of that. My wife, 0% Italian, also found the food disappointing.

Tony's food is not just "restaurant Italian", it's "red sauce pizzeria Italian". You know the type of place: a restaurant that is 99% pizza and has a few "entrees" on the menu. Everything gets the same canned red sauce, casually heated by dumping it cold into a pot with the (usually over-) cooked pasta and swirled a few times before being dumped onto a plate. It's over-sweet, slightly under cooked, and adds little or nothing in the way of taste. On the foodie scale, it's lower than Olive Garden, which is the mass market "restaurant Italian" leader, and well below an authentic Italian restaurant.

Hi Craig,

See, I can't stand Olive Garden. Been a few times and I refuse to go back there. I think Tony's is actually a little better than them. But I get what you mean. I just don't think that we will be going there for a very long time, if we go there again at all.

I've always wanted to attend 1900 PF, but for dinner not breakfast. I know That's one we're saving for when we have a child traveling with.

We had Tony's last May and thought it was okay. The restaurant was crowded and the service was mediocre, but the food was passable.

Yeah, we do want to go back for dinner. The food is good enough and the characters much better so it is much more worth it (IMHO). Again with Tony's, it is okay and that is a problem for me. If I am spending that much money in Disney, I know I can get alot more meals that are a whole lot better than just okay.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Karla. I know what you mean about Tony's. It is ok if you don't think of it as an authentic Italian restaurant. When I had the chicken parm last year, it fell flat as well. (Here's what I had to say about it!) Glad that your DH and kids like it though. Your review is one of the reasons I love the dining boards with the reviews - I may have overlooked the shrimp pasta that your DS ordered without having seen that it looks pretty good. Definitely a contender!

Like you, I'm not a tiramisu fan. However, that was nice of the server to garnish your dessert with a Tink and Buzz!

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Day 4, Ohana dinner​

So I have been looking forward to this meal for a while because it was dinner with my mom and dad at one of our favorite places. When I had first mentioned this meal to my mom months ago, she immediately said to put them on the reservation. My whole family loves this restaurant. Will we have a good time and still enjoy it? Let’s see what when down.

We checked in at the podium and were given our beeper. We were told it would be about 15 minutes or so. I had a plan but I needed help. I asked the CM at the podium if they had any anniversary pins. She said when we got called to be seated, ask at the check in spot. So I waited to be called. We waited about 25 minutes or so. Once we were called, I quietly asked for pins for my mom and dad since DH and I already had ours. We got the pins and I distributed them. I told them that I had put both our anniversaries on the reservation. So we were walked to our seat and our server came over almost immediately.
Kalani was our server and he was all about service. He had a good sense of humor without being over the top. First up was bread service

I like this bread as it has a nice sweetness to it and is very soft and chewy, but I didn’t fill up on this because I know what is coming up.
So after the bread service the first food to arrive was our salad

Mixed Greens with Mango-Poppy Seed Dressing
I am not a fan this as I feel it is just a filler and I want what comes next, not a salad. So, I didn’t partake of this (I also don’t like the dressing). Next came my favorite part of the meal. I could do my whole meal on the
Pork fried dumplings , while my DD could make a meal of the Honey Coriander Chicken Wings

I had a wing or two and they were good. I am not a fan of any meat on the bone. But these were very good. If they didn’t have the bones, I would have had many more. They were sweet and not spicy. The dumplings were so scrumptious. I love how they are crispy on the outside and meaty chewy on the inside. I don’t do the sauce for them because they are so good on their own. That pot of wings and dumplings was emptied by the middle of our meal. Next came the
Egg Noodles tossed in a peanut sauce with pineapple
Stir fried vegetables

These were barely touched because we all know why we are there, bring on the meat. Now, I don’t have any pictures of this said meat. I was way too busy eating to take pictures. The meats we had were
Oak Grilled Chicken, Asian Barbecued Pork Loin, Marinated Sirloin Steak and Spicy Grilled Peel - n - Eat Shrimp. I had the chicken and it was ok, not too dry as it can sometimes get. It was pretty good. The sirloin was good, the few I had were cooked medium, just the way I like. They were flavorful and juicy. I didn’t have any of the shrimp as I don’t like peel and eat. Then there was the pork loin. The flavor was very weird. None of us at our table were fans of this presentation. I can’t explain it, it just didn’t work for us and with all the other meats available, we just chose to eat other meats. Kalani is not a fan of his guests taking only 1 meat at a time, he is a fan of multiples. During the meat presentations, I was still eating the dumplings. I ate the dumplings until they were gone. Yum!!!

So after we had a few minutes to get our table cleared off and breathe for a minute or two, out came , wait for it, 'Ohana bread pudding served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce

Now, until I had eaten here on our last trip, I had never had bread pudding. My dad loves it and I had seen him eat it and I always thought, ewwww, how can you eat that!!! Then I decided to try it when we ate here. Can I just say that on this trip I was anticipating this dessert with high expectations. It did not disappoint. Holy yummy! Kalani also brought out 6, read that six, cupcakes with our bread pudding. He was going to bring just 4 cupcakes for the anniversaries, but he said that he didn’t want to leave out the kids, so he added the extra 2 for them.

How thoughtful of him. Nice move Kalani, too bad we didn’t have ANY room in our stuffed bellies for such goodies. He got bonus points (and tip) for that move.

Now during this meal, we knew that there was going to be another DISer in the restaurant at the same time as us so we were on the lookout for her. Who am I looking for? Well, there were pictures taken of us together… Let’s see who I met at Ohana’s.

Oh wait that was us not them Sorry, here are the real guests...

What was funny was that my DD saw them come in and wanted to say hi. So I took her over to them at the entrance and we said hi and as we were going back to our seat, they were escorted to their table. Where was their table??? RIGHT NEXT to OURS!!! What a coincidence. Here’s hoping they enjoyed their meal as much as we did.

So how do we rate this one?
We always love Ohana and it didn’t disappoint. We will continue to go back because they have good food, good service and a good atmosphere. Our rating is
4 (it would get a 5 from us if they could get the meats all cooked well at the same time)

This meal cost us $140.54 or 4 TS credits or $35.14/credit.

Up next is breakfast in DHS during the Hurricane Isaac band of rain that was going through. Where would we eat that wasn’t a TS meal??? Stay tuned to find out!!!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

The bread pudding looks great as usual. And how cool that you ran into Brenda again!

 

[angelbear425]

Up next is breakfast in DHS during the Hurricane Isaac band of rain that was going through. Where would we eat that wasn’t a TS meal??? Stay tuned to find out!!!

I was at MK that day in the rain. We had ADR at CP (yuuummmmm!) and then spent hours on POTC because it was all in doors. I was happy when it stopped raining.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Karla! All it took was once to experience 'Ohana and I am hooked!! Definitely a must do next time.

That was so funny that we were walked all the way around the restaurant to be seated next to you and your family. Glad you remembered our servers name because I wasn't paying attention.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

The bread pudding looks great as usual. And how cool that you ran into Brenda again!

Well, to be honest, I knew that she and her family would be there during our ADR because she told me when she saw my ADR's on the August thread. So I was on the lookout. Actually, I printed out all the August ADR's for our dates and carried them with me so I would know who I was on the lookout for. Having already seen Brenda and her lovely family earlier in our trip, I was really looking forward to seeing them again as they are so nice.
And about that bread pudding, OMP (oh my pudding, it is awesome and I love the warm pudding contrasting against the cold icecream.)

I was at MK that day in the rain. We had ADR at CP (yuuummmmm!) and then spent hours on POTC because it was all in doors. I was happy when it stopped raining.

Angelbear, I remember that Monday night with the rain starting and continuing into Tuesday around noon. It wasn't fun, but we didn't let it stop us from our fun. And it was better than actually having the whole hurricane hit us head on!

Hi Karla! All it took was once to experience 'Ohana and I am hooked!! Definitely a must do next time.

That was so funny that we were walked all the way around the restaurant to be seated next to you and your family. Glad you remembered our servers name because I wasn't paying attention.

Yeah Brenda, We are definitely hooked as well! They walk everyone around like that as well, but it was funny because I remember looking around at the empty tables (I think there were 4) and thinking wouldn't it be funny if they sat right behind us. And there you were. Oh and the only way I remembered all the servers names was because I have all the receipts and their name is at the top. Other wise, I would just be saying him, her, that one or generic CM.

 

[Linda67]

Second review of the awesome 'Ohana bread pudding I have read today

So cool that you got to meet up with the lovely Brenda

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Day 5, Hollywood Studios, Starring Rolls​

So Sunday evening and all night into Monday morning it rained and rained and rained. This was not totally unexpected because this was a band of Isaac that was coming through. We weren’t going to let that stop us, not in Disney world. But what it did keep us from doing was to pull out our camera.

For this breakfast we were all about finding the cupcakes and snack on them. The plan was to each get our own at Starring Rolls and each get a drink. Now, if you’ve been a faithful reader up ‘til now, you will already know that we were never hungry. Knowing that fact, when we saw the size of those scrumptious goodies, we were now all about the sharing. So DS and I saw the chocolate peanut butter cupcake and said “yes, please!!!” This was so yummy. While the chocolate was sweet and the peanut butter mellow, they worked really well together. The chocolate ribbons were really easy to eat individually (which made the cupcake easier to then eat overall).
DD got the chocolate chip muffin which was moist and delicious. I had about 2 or 3 bites and she ate about half of it. We also had some drinks, 2 chocolate milks, and apple juice and an orange juice. DH didn’t have anything to eat because his stomach was causing him some issues.

We used all snack credits for this “lite” breakfast. This would have cost us around (estimating because it doesn’t have actual prices on the receipt)
$18.25 or 6 snack credits or $3.04/credit.

If we had been in the Magic Kingdom for this meal, I might have gotten a funnel cake for my breakfast. But HS doesn’t do funnel, bummer!!! Still haven’t gotten my funnel cake, when will I ever get my funnel fun???

As for starring rolls, we loved it. ***Admission time here, I have never been there before, nor had I even known it was here. I knew about a place called starring rolls, but never tried to find it before. But reading the dining reports and hearing all about the cupcakes, I was sold and had a mission. Mission accomplished!!!

I give Starring Rolls a

4 I WILL be going back for more. My DH wants to go back when he is feeling better to get the butterfinger cupcake.

Up next for this train wreck is Lunch at Sci-Fi Dine Inn Theatre.

 

[emmysmommy]

Yay for cupcakes for breakfast!!! We tried a starring rolls cupcake for the first time this trip... we'd had a cookie there but not one of their fabulous cupcakes!

Isaac impacted our plans that day as well. No AK but we did MK that day and I hate to tell you but we had a funnel cake in your honor!

 

[angelbear425]

I agree with you about Starring Rolls. Those chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are sooo yummy!

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Yay for cupcakes for breakfast!!! We tried a starring rolls cupcake for the first time this trip... we'd had a cookie there but not one of their fabulous cupcakes!

Isaac impacted our plans that day as well. No AK but we did MK that day and I hate to tell you but we had a funnel cake in your honor!

The kids couldn't believe that we were letting them have cupcakes for breakfast. That won us cool points (momentarily ) Isaac wasn't very nice that day, but all things considered, it could have been much worse and we just made the most of it. You found my funnel cake? Guess you will have to wait just a little while longer to see where my funnel cake is. Did you like yours?? What did you get on it?

I agree with you about Starring Rolls. Those chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are sooo yummy!

Gonna go all teenager on you here angelbear,

Seriously, right? SO YUM!!!

 

[wizzzzzard]

DMF's DH here. Bear with us for this brief interruption. We had a hurricane blow through. We survived OK. However, during the height of the storm, our eldest cat, Hannah, suffered a debilitating stroke. I took her to the vet on Wednesday to end her suffering. She was 15 going on 16, going blind, but a good ole gal. She never bit or scratched without reason or warning. She was our kids first pet. (She was older than our DS!) She will be missed.

May the Lord watch for her arrival in the eternal Catnip Fields.

 

[Minnesota!]

Ha! At the beginning of this report, I said we were at Ohana the same night as you! Guess where we sat? The table right behind you If we had stretched our meal out just a bit longer we would have been in your pic

 

[partyof2]

Oh Karla I am so sorry to read about your puss cat. Poor old girl. I think the older they get the harder to say goodbye it becomes.

Hope you guys are all bearing up.

 

[ladybug0506]

DMF's DH here. Bear with us for this brief interruption. We had a hurricane blow through. We survived OK. However, during the height of the storm, our eldest cat, Hannah, suffered a debilitating stroke. I took her to the vet on Wednesday to end her suffering. She was 15 going on 16, going blind, but a good ole gal. She never bit or scratched without reason or warning. She was our kids first pet. (She was older than our DS!) She will be missed.

May the Lord watch for her arrival in the eternal Catnip Fields.

My heart is breaking for you right now and I am so very sorry for your loss. DH and I work very closely with a cat rescue group and as a result we have had many kitties come through our home and some have stayed and become our permanent babies. It is truly one of the hardest things in the world to have put down a lifelong pet. I know all too well the pain you are feeling and while it won't ever truly go away, it will subside with time. It is probably of little comfort right now but try to find peace knowing that she knew how much you loved her and that you were with her in the end. I am keeping you and your family in my prayers.

 

[nanienamou]

I'm sorry for the loss of your cat.