You just graduated from college!! What's next? 5/13 - 5/21 THAT'S A WRAP!

[Wood Nymph]

Hi Barb - I finally discovered that you had started your May trip report. You have a very nice looking family.

Tusker House was my favorite breakfast reservation ever. I still think about that sliced ham. It was my favorite. Thank you for posting the gluten free options. I don't think they had those when we were there in 2013.

I thought your culinary tour at AKL sounded amazing. I would take that tour in a heartbeat, We had taken the Wilderness Lodge tour and it was very interesting, so I expect that this one would be good, too.

We loved the pot stickers at Yak and Yeti. I want to go back there just for them and maybe the fried wonton dessert. We still haven't had tried that famous dessert.

I love Harry Potter, the books more than the movies, and I would love to see all the HP stuff at Universal. But it just isn't worth all the extra costs and hassle for us. I would be like your daughter who rode three rides and then left. i get terrible motion sickness so roller coasters are a definite no for me. Your upgrade to club level looked amazing though.

We've never tried the Melting Pot even though the one in Oakbrook Terrace that you talked about is less than a half hour away from us. We've heard people rave about that restaurant, but we never made it over there. I would think it is one of those places that works best with a group for sharing.

Wilderness Lodge's club level is the one club level that I am tempted to try. The food options look amazing and the best of all the food options I've seen on trip reports.

 

[vettegirl]

Great overviews! I have only stayed CL at BC and CSR. So that is a great review. I have heard great things the WL CL and its on my bucket list.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Congratulations on the sweet upgrade at the Hard Rock! I've always wanted to go to Universal but haven't been able to sell the rest of the family yet. What a bummer that you had so many ride delays and closures.

As often as you and I both try to get to Disney World surely one day our trips will overlap.

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for your thoughts on the club level challenge throw down. I've only done it once, and it was at WL, go glad to know I choose wisely ; )

 

[rteetz]

Well it's good you got to experience the hard rock club level. Breakfast offerings don't look too bad. Id love to do club level somewhere at least once.

 

[momof3princes]

Those mimosas looked like a great way to start the morning. Love how the kids got into the role of Rock Royalty!

 

[jabead]

Thanks for the comparison of CL, Barb. I'm staying at Coronado Springs BC in October and while nice & convenient it won't be anywhere near the level of CL at a deluxe.
The Melting Pot review has me thinking I need to get to the one we have in Pittsburgh.

Oh, when are you going in October, Fran? I've decided to take another October trip this year. My dates aren't set in stone yet but as of now are 10/23 - 11/2.

Hi Barb - I finally discovered that you had started your May trip report. You have a very nice looking family.

Tusker House was my favorite breakfast reservation ever. I still think about that sliced ham. It was my favorite. Thank you for posting the gluten free options. I don't think they had those when we were there in 2013.

I thought your culinary tour at AKL sounded amazing. I would take that tour in a heartbeat, We had taken the Wilderness Lodge tour and it was very interesting, so I expect that this one would be good, too.

We loved the pot stickers at Yak and Yeti. I want to go back there just for them and maybe the fried wonton dessert. We still haven't had tried that famous dessert.

I love Harry Potter, the books more than the movies, and I would love to see all the HP stuff at Universal. But it just isn't worth all the extra costs and hassle for us. I would be like your daughter who rode three rides and then left. i get terrible motion sickness so roller coasters are a definite no for me. Your upgrade to club level looked amazing though.

We've never tried the Melting Pot even though the one in Oakbrook Terrace that you talked about is less than a half hour away from us. We've heard people rave about that restaurant, but we never made it over there. I would think it is one of those places that works best with a group for sharing.

Wilderness Lodge's club level is the one club level that I am tempted to try. The food options look amazing and the best of all the food options I've seen on trip reports.

Hi Sue! Great to see you here! I've decided to take the plunge and return to WDW in late October. Are you still planning a trip at that time? I hope so, as I'd love to meet up again.

As for The Melting Pot, while the Oakbrook location closed a few years ago, there is another one (in Downer's Grove) that looks close to Yorktown mall so perhaps that one might work for you. And regarding the Old Faithful Club at WL, I say go for it!

Great overviews! I have only stayed CL at BC and CSR. So that is a great review. I have heard great things the WL CL and its on my bucket list.

On my bucket list now are to try CL at the Boardwalk and the Polynesian. Not sure I'll be able to swing either of them on my next trip but someday.

As often as you and I both try to get to Disney World surely one day our trips will overlap.

Oh, I hope so Rachel!

Thanks for your thoughts on the club level challenge throw down. I've only done it once, and it was at WL, go glad to know I choose wisely ; )

A very wise choice Kari!

Well it's good you got to experience the hard rock club level. Breakfast offerings don't look too bad. Id love to do club level somewhere at least once.

I feel quite fortunate that we received the complimentary upgrade on our very first stay at the Hard Rock. It was such a nice surprise!

Those mimosas looked like a great way to start the morning. Love how the kids got into the role of Rock Royalty!

Yes, they seemed to take quite well to the Rock Royalty life. I was afraid I might not be able to get them out of those HRH robes, but all I had to do was mention three words...Outlet Shopping Mall!

 

[Wood Nymph]

My dates aren't set in stone yet but as of now are 10/23 - 11/2.

We are at the BC from Oct 21 to 26th. Our daughter and family will be with us until Saturday, Oct 24th around 2pm, when their ME arrives. This is not the daughter we were with last Oct at the WL. This is the other daughter.

We would be free any time after 2p on Saturday, Oct 24th until we take ME around 2pm on Monday, Oct 26th. We'll have to meet up again. Let me know if you have any free time then.

 

[jabead]

It's time to get our Irish on! ​

After checking out of the Hard Rock Hotel, we left Universal and made our way toward Downtown Disney...but first we made a detour stop at the Vineland Outlet Mall. While the kids went off in search for bargains at stores like American Eagle, Forever 21, and PacSun, I had my sights set on something other than clothes. But much to my surprise, I somehow managed to spend more than a half hour at the Coach store without buying anything. With more time to kill before meeting up with the kids, I strolled through much of this large outdoor shopping center. Just as I began to wish that I'd left myself a trail of breadcrumbs to find my way back to the parking garage , I came upon this...





Hmm...this could be interesting. Within minutes after entering this store I found two things that caught my eye...





This Mickey tote bag and the Disney Parks Vera Bradley Where's Mickey? Hipster Crossbody Bag Purse were being sold here for $20 each. On Ebay these are currently being offered for $50 - $60. So of course, I had to get both!!


And more good news...I managed to find my way back to the car too!


Having all been successful in our hunt for bargains, we merrily went on our way to Downtown Disney. I had been a bit worried about finding a parking spot there so I allowed plenty of time before our ADR at Raglan Road. But happily my worry turned out to be unfounded. We entered the Orange parking garage and easily found a parking spot. After taking one of the newly opened walkways from the garage, we soon found ourselves in the Splitsville/AMC Theatres area. From here it was just a short walk to our brunch destination...





We arrived about a half hour early for our 1:30 reservation but we only had a 5 minute or so wait to be seated. I had asked to be seated in the main dining area where the entertainment performs on the stages. My request was granted and we were seated at a high top table with a great view of the show...










FYI: Raglan Road has live entertainment starting at 4:00 p.m. each day, but they also perform on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.


We enjoyed the Irish band and dancers as we looked over the menu. Since this was Saturday, we were given their special brunch menu (which is available from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on both Saturdays and Sundays now). This included some breakfast options...




And also some lunch appetizers and entrees...




We were given a complimentary sampling size of their Suave Smoothie to sip on while we looked over the menu...




This was a house-made seasonal fruit smoothie with honey yogurt and vanilla. We all really enjoyed this.


Then the girls and I ordered an adult beverage. Allison went with The Cure, Emily the Ginger Mojito, and a Bailey's Shake for me...



The Cure - Kettle One Vodka, homemade San Lorenzo tomato, horseradish, celery and balsamic bloody Mary mix with a salted bacon rim. - $14.50
Ginger Mojito - Captain Morgan white rum, lime, sour and ginger beer with freshly muddled mint. - $12.50
Bailey's Shake - Frozen mix of ice cream, Baileys Irish Cream, and coffee liqueur - $10.50


The reviews on the drinks were for the most part not great. Allison said her Bloody Mary-like drink was watery and full of seeds, I guess from the fresh tomato. She gave it a 3. Also receiving a 3 from Emily was her mojito, due to its lack of flavor. However, as for my Bailey's Shake, it was delicious and received a score of 5.



Before I move on to our appetizer and entrees, I have to mention the Irish Soda Bread...




...and the deliciously sweet Guinness Reduction for dipping.




I love this! Thankfully, the kids made me share so I only had one slice. Otherwise I probably could have eaten the whole basket of bread and been too full for anything more, which would have been a terrible shame given how good my entree was.


But before the entrees comes the appetizer, which after many visits to Raglan Road we finally tried the...


Dalkey Duo - Battered cocktail sausages served with a Dalkey mustard dipping sauce






The sausages themselves were just okay but when dipped in the mustard sauce they were very tasty...



Three out of the four of us rated the Dalkey Duo a 4, but my son didn't really like the sausages either with or without the mustard and gave them only a 2.


He also was not too thrilled with his entree choice of...


Fish & Chips - Our famous beer battered fish & chips served with our fresh tartar sauce

We usually all enjoy the fish and chips at Raglan Road, but for some reason this time they only received an okay rating of 3 from him.



And sadly the trend continued with the girls rating their entree choices a 3 as well. Emily said her Boxty sandwich was pretty bland...


Three Times a Boxty – Sliced Gammon topped with Dubliner cheddar sandwiched between two pan seared boxty potato cakes with a fried egg on top.


She was hungry for mashed potatoes so also ordered this side...




I forgot to have her rate this so their taste will have to remain a mystery.



As for Allison, her main complaint regarding her Eggs Benedict was that the poached eggs were overcooked...


Eggs Benedict – Two soft poached eggs on a toasted English muffin with pancetta smothered in hollandaise sauce and served with roasties

Allison loves Eggs Benedict but sadly was disappointed by Raglan Road's version of one of her favorite breakfast dishes.



So like with our drinks, I was again the winner in the Entree category with my choice of the..


Full Irish – Full Irish breakfast with sausage, black and white pudding, bacon, roasted tomato, mushrooms and fried eggs with roasties


And another view of my breakfast...




I had never tasted either of the "puddings" before. In case you too are unfamiliar with these sausages, the black one is a sausage made from blood, pork meat and fat, oatmeal, and bread or potato fillers, while the white is pretty much the same as the black only minus the blood. While I enjoyed both of these, as well as the Irish bacon, my favorite meat on this platter was the Irish sausage. Irish sausages (aka bangers) are larger and thicker than the usual American sausage link. Typically they are filled with ground pork, seasonings, egg, and chopped bread crumbs. I really liked the seasoning of this sausage and would now like to try Bangers & Mash sometime. At Raglan Road this dish is called Banger & Booz because the banger contains Guinness beer. Although I'm not a fan of Guinness, I do like the Guinness reduction that is served with the Irish soda bread so who knows??? I might just like some booze in my banger.

Getting back to my Full Irish breakfast platter, the fried eggs and grilled tomato were both good but nothing unusual. And that just leaves the roasties (or small roasted potatoes) and the mushrooms. The potatoes were slightly crunchy and nicely seasoned so were quite tasty. However, my absolute favorite item on this platter were the mushrooms. These were delicious and secretly I was happy that none of my kids like mushrooms so I was able to eat them all myself without feeling guilty about not sharing. Overall my Full Irish breakfast platter received a very solid 4 rating, actually very close to a 5. So I'm going to call this one a 4+.


Despite my coaxing, the kids said they were too full to share the wonderful Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding. I had pretty much drank my dessert with the Baileys shake so knew I would not be able to eat more than a bite or two of the bread pudding. Consequently, I had to admit defeat and request the check. But speaking of the check, happily Raglan Road accepts Tables in Wonderland so I did get a 20% discount on our entire bill...which paid for about two of our expensive drinks.

So overall I was very happy with my meal at Raglan Road, but the kids weren't quite as enthused.


NOTE: I've decided to incorporate into my dining report the Disney dining reviews (and food photos) sent to me by my nephew and his wife. They recently returned from their very first trip to Disney World. Because they were celebrating their 5th anniversary and they are foodies, they decided to splurge and purchase the DeLuxe Dining Plan for their 5 night/6 day trip. Therefore they dined at 11 different full-service restaurants, most of which my family did not visit during our trip. So the next review that I will be posting is from their dining experience at another Downtown Disney restaurant...one that I have never been to.

​

Next up: Bongo's Cuban Cafe

 

[auntfrannie]

Oh, when are you going in October, Fran? I've decided to take another October trip this year. My dates aren't set in stone yet but as of now are 10/23 - 11/2.

Barb, I will be there with my niece 10/17 - 10/23. It sounds like we'll just be missing each other...unless you change your dates!

 

[luvpooh]

I'm late to the commenting party, but just wanted to let you know that I have faithfully (and jealously!) read your F&W report as well as this one, and you are definitely one of my favorite reviewers!

My family and I will be at WDW from 10/21 - 27, if we overlap at all, hopefully we can bump into each other!

 

[Sailormoon2]

I've decided to incorporate into my dining report the Disney dining reviews (and food photos) sent to me by my nephew and his wife.

Cool! The more dinning reviews the better

 

[OrangeKnickers]

Hey Barb, can I ask what settings you had on your camera to get the shots of the entertainment inside Raglan Road? It is so dark in there, and when I went 2 years ago my pics were pretty sad. We will be visiting Raglan Road on our trip coming up this October. so I will have another chance at trying to get good pictures of the dancers. Thanks.

 

[kastoney]

Your bailey's shake looks amazing, too bad the other drinks weren't very good. Especially at those prices. We tried Raglan for the first time last trip and enjoyed the sausage appetizer too. Too bad some of the entree's weren't on point, but glad yours was good. I love blood sausage, but had never heard of the white kind before. Thanks for the description.

Can't wait for a whole new dining gang to enter the mix ; )

 

[vettegirl]

Your Irish breakfast looks delicious! My husband loves the Dalkey Duo, it's a ton of food! Good tip on the weekend entertainment.

 

[momof3princes]

Raglan Road is on my radar to add to our next trip, anywhere that has entertainment and is loud is good for us. That way if the kids are loud no one notices!
Looking forward to the bonus dining reviews of your nephews trip!

 

[archdandy]

I didn't know Raglan Road served brunch! I'm going to have to try and squeeze it into our next trip for this now.

 

[rteetz]

Raglan road is one place I've always wanted to try but just haven't yet. The fish and chips looks good despite the lower rating that's probably what I would've ordered. Your full Irish meal looks very good as well I'm just not one who is fond of breakfast foods after a certain hour.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Was the strawberry basil lemonade once on the standard bar menu at Disney? Or was available at a specific restaurant or lounge? I don't recall seeing this.

At one time it was available on the boma cocktail menu - had it three years running not sure if it was available elsewhere but it was my favourite drink ever.
We had a rotten meal last trip at Raglan Road. Would only return for desserts

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Hi Barb - all caught up again! I love The Melting Pot! We have one about a half hour from us and I have never been to that one but we have been to several while traveling both to FL and Washington DC. Your review has definitely made me want to check out the one near us.

Some day I s'pose I will get to Universal but dealing with all the negative stuff has me putting it off a bit longer!