Why is the rum always gone? We might be responsible! UPDATE 7/13: My photos are back and other stuff

[ThreeBoyMama]

All caught up. I love the reviews-- both dining and other trip bits. I currently have Sanaa booked for a lunch as a back up, because we can't get into Yak and Yeti. (Xmas week trip.) However, your review reminds me of why I personally will be happier if our back up ends up happening! I love Yak and Yeti for convenience in AK, but I have been dying to try that bread sampler.

I hope you end up giving Sanaa a try! Though Y&Y is a good option, too. I am planning on it for our next trip with, maybe, hopefully, possibly, a Rivers of Light dining package. I can dream!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I grew up in Piedmont (Bay Area), however I have lived in ME for 19 years, so I have done a pretty good job with the lingo. Our room reservation is a standard view, so we likely won't end up on that side of BC, but I am happy to see full balconies on the 2nd floor. We like to walk out/skip elevators, and their don't appear to be any standard view rooms on first floor, which is what we really like due to patio. I can handle 2nd, though.

Ah, gotcha! I grew up on the Central Coast (Monterey Peninsula). Good luck with your room at BC! I seriously love that resort so much. I totally want to stay there next fall but just can't justify the price tag when it's only 2 of us (plus I got a good rate at WL). I totally have BC envy though

 

[Mainemama]

Ah, gotcha! I grew up on the Central Coast (Monterey Peninsula). Good luck with your room at BC! I seriously love that resort so much. I totally want to stay there next fall but just can't justify the price tag when it's only 2 of us (plus I got a good rate at WL). I totally have BC envy though

Yes, I am happy with a view of a Dumpster. This Beach Club stay was literally booked this week, 20 days before arrival. I have visions of walking around the resort before my family wakes up with coffee in my hand. WL is special, too. You will love it, I'm sure. Disney without kids?! Sounds glorious.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Disney without kids?! Sounds glorious.

No, just with one kid...leaving the rest of the gang at home and taking Sean But an adults-only trip does sound so fun. Someday!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

October 22, 2016-Part Two

That night we were celebrating Nathan’s birthday (a day early) with dinner at California Grill. This was one of those miracle ADRs that I made well after our 180-day mark. I was cruising around the MDE app one day and saw a 9:10 p.m. ADR for five at California Grill that Saturday night and couldn’t believe my eyes. It really can be a challenge to make reservations for five, and the fact that there was a table at California Grill right around fireworks time totally surprised me. It was obviously fate, so I snagged the ADR and had been excitedly looking forward to this meal for months.

After we got back from the pool we spent some time checking out the animals on the savanna. Here are a couple of pictures from our balcony:







I love giraffes! And zebras! I have no idea what those other guys are. When I saved the picture I titled it “savanna cows.” I am pretty much 100% sure that that is incorrect. Anyway, they were cool to look at.

Oh! So at one point that day I was on our balcony watching the animals with our binoculars and I saw a giraffe pee! I thought this was hilarious (for some reason?) and felt the need to share this experience with everyone in my family. And now with all of you. You're welcome.

OK, back to our dinner that night. We took a cab from Kidani over to the Contemporary and checked in a little early for our reservation. We took the fancy elevator up to the 15th floor to wait for our table. I took advantage of the wait and ordered the cocktail I’d been eyeing on the menu for months, the Cucumber Fizz—Chopin Vodka, Limoncello, and Cucumber Water with a splash of Sprite:



Yum! And strong! I enjoyed this while we wandered around and looked at all the wine:





We were seated at about 9:30 p.m. at a round table in the middle of the restaurant. Yay, no table drama! It was decorated with confetti for Nathan’s birthday, too

We were given a basket of bread:



I honestly don't remember anything about the bread. I assume it was fine. We also ordered the Charcuterie Selection, which arrived at our table at 9:55 p.m., just before Wishes was about to start. This included the following:

Wild Boar Belly Pancetta—Durham Ranch Free-Range Wild Boar from West Texas. House-cured in the style of Bacon; with aromatics of Black Pepper, Thyme and Garlic. Accompanied by house-made Sweet Pickle Chips.

Pork Belly Rillettes—Slow-braised Pork Belly shredded and whipped with Duck Confit and Duck Fat. Served with spicy Mayonnaise and Tempura Crunch. A great spread on toasted bread.

Venison Terrine—Free-Range New Zealand Venison with Veal Sweetbreads and Black Summer Truffles. Creamy Truffled-Mascarpone Cheese to accompany.

Linguiça Sausage—Portuguese Pork Sausage spiced with Paprika, Garlic, Coriander, and Cinnamon. Hot-smoked over Pecan Wood and paired with House-pickled Mustard Seed.

Duck Liver Pâté—Classic Liver and Onion Pâté whipped light and airy. Paired with Black Cyprus Sea Salt and Red Onion Confiture.



I couldn’t tell you which was which if my life depended on it, but we really enjoyed everything!

We went out onto the observation deck to watch the fireworks...



…then returned to our table to enjoy our dinner.

DH and I shared a bottle of 2013 Hitching Post Cork Dancer Pinot Noir:



Some of you fellow winos might remember the Hitching Post from the movie Sideways. This was excellent-we love their wine.

Nathan decided on the Artisan Tacos—Adobo Fish, House-made Cilantro-Corn Tortillas, Chipotle Crèma, Pico de Gallo for dinner:



This is an appetizer, but it was a pretty good size and he was happy with it once I helped him pick off the cabbage. He says the fish was "really nice" and that he didn't even mind the fact that the tortillas were green

Dylan and Sean, predictably, both ordered the Hand-formed Provolone Cheese Pizza:



For whatever reason I wasn’t feeling any of the entrées myself, so decided to go with the Roasted Tomato Flatbread with Laura Chenel and Midnight Moon Goat Cheese, Arugula Pesto, Aged Balsamic:



And the Artisan Romaine with Roasted Garlic Dressing, Boquerones, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Brioche Croutons:



This was basically a fancied up pizza and Caesar salad but I would be happy eating that combo every day of my life so I totally enjoyed this. Also, what the heck are boquerones? Oh, OK, I looked it up and they are marinated white anchovies. They were delicious, I just didn’t know that’s what I was eating

On my recommendation after having read so many glowing reviews, DH ordered the Pork—Grilled Tenderloin, Goat Cheese Polenta, Wild Mushrooms, Lacquered Belly, Apple-Raisin Mostarda:



He loved this.

It just so happened that our server was from a town adjacent to the one I grew up in (which is in a small part of California to begin with) so we really had a lot of fun chatting with him about where he’d gone to high school and how he’d ended up in Orlando. He was a really nice guy.

Nathan scored a complimentary birthday dessert:



I’m pretty sure it was a yellow cupcake dipped in chocolate ganache, and he says it had a cream filling. He liked it

After dinner we took a few more pictures out on the observation deck. It was chilly up there! But worth it for the beautiful view.



We enjoyed our dinner at California Grill. The service was very good, as was the food (on the pricey side, but we knew that going in). I don’t know that we would return any time soon, mostly because the selection for the boys was pretty limited. There are also other signatures we’d like try—I think next time we’ll check out Narcoossee’s or Yachtsman. This meal really was all about the experience, though—doing something special for Nathan for his birthday, and getting to see the fireworks and MK from up on the observation deck—and it definitely delivered in that respect. California Grill is a great choice for a special celebration, especially if you're able to time your ADR well.

It was 11:30 p.m. by the time we left the restaurant, so we grabbed another cab back to Kidani and called it a night. We had another big day ahead of us!

 

[floreksa]

I grew up in Piedmont (Bay Area), however I have lived in ME for 19 years, so I have done a pretty good job with the lingo. Our room reservation is a standard view, so we likely won't end up on that side of BC, but I am happy to see full balconies on the 2nd floor. We like to walk out/skip elevators, and their don't appear to be any standard view rooms on first floor, which is what we really like due to patio. I can handle 2nd, though.

We stayed in a standard view at BC. We had a full balcony, basically on top of/near Beaches and Cream, so had a great view of the pool (once you overlooked the roof), but it was a haul to the room from the elevator, on the 3rd floor.

 

[pepperandchips]

Late to the party but absolutely loving your reviews! The giraffe pee made me giggle, so thanks for including that truly nostalgic Disney memory.

Of course now I wish I was having California Grill for dinner and Disney libations on a pool deck rather than counting down the days til vacation from dreary Atlanta today. Looking forward to more torture!!!

 

[Mainemama]

So now I am curious, which CA small town? Your CA grill meal sounds great. I, for one, felt the connection to restaurants I grew up going to. Decor wise, anyway. I have only eaten at CA grill once, and also ordered a flatbread. Delicious, and affordable! I have Flying Fish lined up for our next Signature Experience. And the first that our 4 year old gets to join. She is also a cheese pizza kid, so I am hoping things go well for her. I would cancel in favor of a non-signature in the Epcot resorts area, but we also need that elusive 5 top. People who need a 4 top probably have no idea how thrilling it is to see a reservation for 5 available.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Late to the party but absolutely loving your reviews! The giraffe pee made me giggle, so thanks for including that truly nostalgic Disney memory.

Of course now I wish I was having California Grill for dinner and Disney libations on a pool deck rather than counting down the days til vacation from dreary Atlanta today. Looking forward to more torture!!!

I thought it was a pretty special moment

Thanks for reading along. And it looks like you have a trip coming up soon--yay, lucky you!!!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

So now I am curious, which CA small town? Your CA grill meal sounds great. I, for one, felt the connection to restaurants I grew up going to. Decor wise, anyway. I have only eaten at CA grill once, and also ordered a flatbread. Delicious, and affordable! I have Flying Fish lined up for our next Signature Experience. And the first that our 4 year old gets to join. She is also a cheese pizza kid, so I am hoping things go well for her. I would cancel in favor of a non-signature in the Epcot resorts area, but we also need that elusive 5 top. People who need a 4 top probably have no idea how thrilling it is to see a reservation for 5 available.

I grew up in Carmel Valley (Monterey Peninsula) and our server at CA Grill was from Salinas, so just over the hill. Small world, huh?!

I really want to try Flying Fish as well. So much yummy Disney food, so little time

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

October 23, 2016-Part One

Today was Nathan’s 14th birthday and we had a fun day planned! But first it was time for some breakfast. We packed up our stuff once again for our last WDW resort move and then drove over to the main lodge for breakfast at…Boma-Flavors of Africa!



We had an 8:45 a.m. ADR that we were a few minutes late for, but were seated after just a short wait at a nice table by the windows.



Our server was very prompt and brought us a carafe of ice water and glasses of the POG (passion fruit, orange, and guava) juice for everyone. The restaurant was pretty busy but looking back at the times on the photos it only took us about 15 minutes to get our food. Here’s what we got:



DH had breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, sweet plaintains, corned beef hash, oak-grilled asparagus, bacon, hand-carved turkey, and hand-carved ham with mustard sauce. He liked everything except the plaintains, which he thought were too oily.



Sean got pancakes, a Mickey waffle, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a piece of the hand-carved turkey.



Nathan got some of the hand-carved turkey, bacon, and a chocolate chip pancake.





Dylan had some of the hand-carved ham and turkey, chocolate chip pancakes, and bacon, along with a croissant and a chocolate doughnut. I am positive that he went back up for another plate of doughnuts that he shared with his brothers, but I must have missed that plate



I got the scrambled eggs with goat cheese and chives, turkey bobotie, oak-grilled tomatoes, hand-carved ham with mustard sauce, and oak-grilled asparagus. Everything was delicious.



They had a nice selection of fresh fruit, and there’s some of that yummy juice.

This buffet is HUGE—there were so many delicious looking options, tons of baked goods, salads, meats, traditional and non-traditional breakfast items, you name it, and everything was nice and fresh. I unfortunately wasn’t feeling great this morning and didn’t end up eating much, so would love to go back again and try more of what Boma has to offer!

From there it was off to Hollywood Studios for the first part of the day, since that is Nathan’s favorite park. We used our FP’s for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Star Tours, caught Muppets 3D, and saw Star Wars: Path of the Jedi, which is basically a summary of the entire series to date for anyone who’s been living under a rock for the last 40 years. It was fun to watch, though, and got us even more excited for Rogue One which we are seeing tomorrow!!!

At one point I was getting a refill on our popcorn bucket and the guy in front of me was ordering just a normal popcorn and sort of muttered “how much is it? $45?” and I was like “does it even matter at this point?” Then we laughed because…Disney money.

The boys all got a frozen lemonade:



Then we hit Launch Bay and met both Kylo Ren...



...and Chewbacca:



Chewbacca of course loved Devon’s Chewie-themed MagicBand and gave him a big wookie hug:



On our way out of the park, Nathan picked up the Chewie stein that he wanted for his souvenir:



He loves this and uses it at home as his water cup that he keeps on his bedside table

We said goodbye to Hollywood Studios and drove over to our final WDW resort destination for this trip…

(To be continued in the next post!)

 

[ariane37]

I got way behind between getting ready for Christmas and trying to do my own reports! We absolutely love Sanaa and get the bread service every time we go. I also get the butter chicken every time and should probably step out of my comfort zone and try something else, it's just sooooo good
DH and I did Boma breakfast for the first time back in January and to date it's my favorite breakfast on property. Those eggs with goat cheese and chives are heavenly-but why didn't anyone have the french toast bread pudding??? It's where I fell in love with that lol. I love AKL and the restaurants there in general, it's my 2nd favorite resort.

No fair you got to see a giraffe pee, is that an add-on Disney recently added Reminds me of the time at the Bronx Zoo that we got to witness first-hand an orangutan pull a piece of poop from his butt and eat it Yup, not lyin'!

 

[Mainemama]

I grew up in Carmel Valley (Monterey Peninsula) and our server at CA Grill was from Salinas, so just over the hill. Small world, huh?!

I really want to try Flying Fish as well. So much yummy Disney food, so little time

I spent a couple of summers at Douglas (Ranch Camp) in Carmel Valley. Plus numerous vacations! Beautiful place to grow up! I love that CM's name tags show where they are from. We had a server once who used to work at the ship building plant a couple blocks from our house at the time. Your Kylo Ren meet reminds me that perhaps we do need to do Launch Bay on our HS 1/2 Day planned on our next trip. With a 4 year old (not quite indoctrinated yet into all things Star Wars), I was thinking maybe we could skip it, as the big kids have already seen it. BUT it was Darth, not Kylo Ren on last visit. We (those over the age of 4) are trying to get tickets to Rogue One in DS, but all tickets are sold out the week we are down there. Oh well, maybe a good pre-trip night.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I got way behind between getting ready for Christmas and trying to do my own reports! We absolutely love Sanaa and get the bread service every time we go. I also get the butter chicken every time and should probably step out of my comfort zone and try something else, it's just sooooo good
DH and I did Boma breakfast for the first time back in January and to date it's my favorite breakfast on property. Those eggs with goat cheese and chives are heavenly-but why didn't anyone have the french toast bread pudding??? It's where I fell in love with that lol. I love AKL and the restaurants there in general, it's my 2nd favorite resort.

No fair you got to see a giraffe pee, is that an add-on Disney recently added Reminds me of the time at the Bronx Zoo that we got to witness first-hand an orangutan pull a piece of poop from his butt and eat it Yup, not lyin'!

Honestly, I have no idea why we didn't try the bread pudding! I think my guys were too distracted by the doughnuts. If my stomach had been feeling better I would have made a second trip up and probably would have grabbed some. Do you know if they have it at Tusker? We are going there in September and I know their menus are similar. I'd probably put AKL as our #2 resort as well!

LOL at the Disney add-on...we probably would have been charged more for that "extra special immersive experience."

Glad to see you started your new report, I'm following along!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I spent a couple of summers at Douglas (Ranch Camp) in Carmel Valley. Plus numerous vacations! Beautiful place to grow up! I love that CM's name tags show where they are from. We had a server once who used to work at the ship building plant a couple blocks from our house at the time. Your Kylo Ren meet reminds me that perhaps we do need to do Launch Bay on our HS 1/2 Day planned on our next trip. With a 4 year old (not quite indoctrinated yet into all things Star Wars), I was thinking maybe we could skip it, as the big kids have already seen it. BUT it was Darth, not Kylo Ren on last visit. We (those over the age of 4) are trying to get tickets to Rogue One in DS, but all tickets are sold out the week we are down there. Oh well, maybe a good pre-trip night.

Oh no kidding! It really is a small world!

Kylo Ren is honestly a little bit scary, LOL. He was very much in character. This was the second time we'd met Chewie and we loved it just as much as the first time!

Good luck with the Rogue One tickets. We bought ours the night they went on sale. DH is a total Star Wars nerd. I think he's more excited than the kids

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

October 23, 2016-Part Two

So after leaving Hollywood Studios we arrived at...



...the Poly! At the last minute I had changed our third night at Kidani to a one-night stay in a one-bedroom villa at the Polynesian Villas & Bungalows so we’d be closer to Magic Kingdom for the Halloween party that night.



We had a ground floor room in the Tokelau building. These rooms are really nice! I loved the color scheme and the décor, and it’s a great layout for a family of five, with a full bathroom and then also a separate half bath.

Our plan was to hit the pool, have some food, and then get ready for MNSSHP. Off to the pool we went!



I really had only one thing on my mind at this point, though, and it was something I’d been wanting to try for months leading up to our trip…the Lapu Lapu!



This is Myers's Original Dark Rum and Tropical Fruit Juices served in a fresh Pineapple topped with Goslings 151 Rum. Devon had to go inside to Tambu Lounge to get me the one that is actually served in the pineapple (you can only get just the drink in a regular cup at the pool bar). I think he felt sort of silly carrying it back over to me, but he still did it because he knows that a wife with a giant pineapple full of booze is a happy wife.

I then proceeded to have a full on photo shoot with my Lapu Lapu:







Yes, I took a picture of my drink by itself on the beach. Is that not normal? This is what it looks like in its boring, non-pineapple form:



This thing took me forever to drink. It was good, but pretty heavy on the rum. Captain Jack would approve!

Around this time a CM started up a poolside trivia game. She had a microphone and would ask questions and have people shout out the answers. At one point she asked what the Beast’s real name is. Nobody said anything, so I yelled out “Prince Adam!” She was like “nobody EVER gets that right!” Ha!

The boys were getting hungry so we decided to grab some food from Captain Cook’s. Nathan had the Fish Tacos—Blackened Fish of the Day on a Flour Tortilla topped with Broccoli Slaw. He was all about the fish tacos on this trip. Of course he didn’t touch the broccoli slaw so I ate it. It was pretty good.

Dylan and Sean had flatbreads, pepperoni and cheese respectively. Try to contain your shock. I swear I don’t let them eat pizza every day at home.

Devon got the Pan Asian Noodles and Vegetables with Chicken. I had a couple bites of this and it was pretty good.

Where are the pictures, you ask? I have no idea. I can’t believe I didn’t take any, but then again, I was most of the way through my Lapu Lapu at that point. I did get one picture of Nathan eating his tacos, so I feel confident that we did actually feed them that evening:



After that we goofed around on the beach for a while. How beautiful is the beach at the Poly? I would stay there again just for the pool/beach area.







Then it was time to get ready for MNSSHP!

Our building was located basically right in between the TTC and the resort lobby, so we decided to just walk the 5 minutes over to the TTC and catch the express monorail from there. I took this picture of the boys on the monorail platform at 7:00 p.m….



...and this one inside the park at 7:15 p.m.



That is a seriously awesome commute time! Once we were inside the park and had our candy bags I went in search of my “dinner,” which was something I’d wanted to try forever…



…the cream cheese stuffed pretzel! This was delicious, of course. With this and the Lapu Lapu, I was two for two on my food bucket list items today.

This was when Sean decided that he wanted to give Space Mountain a try. He LOVED it. The first thing he said when we got off was “let’s ride it again!”

We then went in search of @floreksa and her family! We finally found each other over by the Haunted Mansion, which we all rode together, then headed back for another trip on Space Mountain while my boys talked Pokémon with her DH. Here is a super cute picture of all of us together:



After that we split up so those guys could hit Cosmic Ray’s and we could do Laugh Floor (Dylan was one of the kids they talked to during the show!) and Astro Orbiter. We all met back up to watch the Halloween fireworks from a great spot on the bridge from Tomorrowland, and then grabbed spots to watch the parade. Sean was literally falling asleep on me at this point, but we managed to stay for the whole thing.

The party was so much fun and it was great to hang out with @floreksa and her family. The kids all had a great time and got a ton of candy, too.



We headed out of the park just before midnight and almost immediately hopped onto an express monorail back to the Poly. I was texting with @floreksa and we were literally back at our room and changed into PJs before they had even managed to get on a bus back to the Beach Club. The Poly really can’t be beat when it comes to getting to/from Magic Kingdom.

The boys were done for the night, but DH and I were hungry so we went in search of a snack at Captain Cook’s. Unfortunately it was about 12:30 a.m. and the selection was pretty limited at that point, so we grabbed two sushi rolls and took them back to the room:



This was the California Luau Roll—Jumbo Lump Crab, Pineapple, and Avocado and some kind of spicy shrimp roll that I don’t see on a menu anywhere. The California roll was just OK—we weren’t huge fans of the pineapple in it and left a couple of pieces. The spicy shrimp was the better of the two, and we ate all of that one.

At that point it was definitely time to call it a night. We of course had more fun…and food…planned for the next day!

 

[floreksa]

I might still be waiting for that bus...... I'm not sure.

 

[Mainemama]

…the cream cheese stuffed pretzel! This was delicious, of course.

Where did you find that? I thought all delicious stuffed pretzels were a thing of the past! (I am pretty sure the jalapeño stuffed pretzel is long gone.) These are my favorite snack that can take the place of a meal. (Because although my kids are happy with a granola bar for breakfast, I am not.) Your short Poly stay looks great! I have yet to try that glorious Lapu Lapu. The backscratcher on the other hand.... Yum.

 

[ariane37]

MNSSHP is my favorite event in WDW We haven't done it since 2014 and I miss it. I've also never had the cream cheese stuffed pretzel and meant to find it last month, so I need to put that on the list for next time

Ah, the Lapu Lapu, we have a fond relationship. The first time I had one I actually had (almost) 2. We were at 'Ohana and after dinner we went to watch Wishes from the beach. Well for some reason I tripped over a beach chair I'm sure it was just because the chair was in a stupid place where no chair should be, no other reason I would trip after 1.5 of those babies, right? My boys weren't too impressed with the fall and I wasn't too impressed that I now had Poly beach sand in my Dooney purse that I'd left unzipped Next time DH and I went to Tambu Lounge I kept it to one Lapu!

When we stayed at the Poly we were in Morea and we were very close to the TTC. It was in Jan. and the weather was unseasonably cold so the walk to the Ceremonial house kind of sucked, but getting to the monorail was great!

 

[pepperandchips]

got us even more excited for Rogue One which we are seeing tomorrow!!!

Yay!!!

Then we hit Launch Bay and met both Kylo Ren...

Looks like a Kylo Ren statue... but with creepy eyes...

I really had only one thing on my mind at this point, though, and it was something I’d been wanting to try for months leading up to our trip…the Lapu Lapu!

GOOD GIRL! Yummy yummy.

he still did it because he knows that a wife with a giant pineapple full of booze is a happy wife.

GOOD BOY!!!

Yes, I took a picture of my drink by itself on the beach. Is that not normal?

Um, I think you are my spirit animal. I love this and I mean, really, is there anything more majestic than booze served in fresh fruit carcass? I highly doubt it. Carry on.

Dylan was one of the kids they talked to during the show!

Envious!

Great update and glad to hear y'all liked the poly studio. I'm staying there in March (and yes I do have a significant Disney problem). Great updates!!!