We Ate, We Drank, We Conquered - An Aug/Sep '16 Dining Report - Complete 3/11

[Wood Nymph]

But she didn't care. She was in Jedi Heaven and didn't care who she got to battle, as long as she had a light saber.

Casey looks very intense during the light saber training. It would be nice if the show area was shaded since both the kids and the spectators could use it.

To start with we got Cousin Amy's Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with Blue Cheese Dressing, Bacon, and Chives.

The dressing on the lettuce wedge looks really good. We haven't eaten at either Sci Fi or 50's in a long time. I can't get my husband to eat at 50's because he doesn't like the "show". But your waitress sounds like she was great.

After that we took one more trip on Casey's beloved shooting lady ride and this time got the Cowboy scene for the first time in years!!!! Great treat.

One of these days I'm going to remember to ask if we can ride in the Cowboy car. I don;t think we've ever seen it.

 

[keahgirl8]

The dressing on the lettuce wedge looks really good. We haven't eaten at either Sci Fi or 50's in a long time. I can't get my husband to eat at 50's because he doesn't like the "show". But your waitress sounds like she was great.

Maybe I'm weird, but I have to say I'm like your husband. I have never eaten there because I just want to go to a restaurant and eat. I'm not into the shenanigans. I know a lot of people love it though!

 

[ArielSRL]

I forgot to mention that I put all my cakes and cupcakes in my fridge. I just think they are best served that way! So apparently I will love Contempo! Oh and I agree about the Olaf meeting. We loved it (hence the profile pic).

 

[KathyM2]

Delicious real butter cream icing, caramel chips, and a banana pudding like filling that was divine.

OMG this sounds so good!!! I want it!! I may have to try making that lol

 

[momof3princes]

They take training seriously when they try to work the kids in extreme heat! That looked like a toasty activity! Lucky you planned it in the morning.
I love the fried chicken at 50's...it is certainly the best I have had at the World.
We never miss Contempo Cafe cupcakes, my boys are in awe of the monorail going right by there

 

[kristie73]

That's too bad about the service a Kona Café. We had great service for Breakfast. I was surprised after reading other reviews. We did the dinner the last time and I don't remember service as an issue, but the meal wasn't as memorable as I hoped.

I was so frustrated when we made ADRs to not get one for Sci-Fi so we opted for 50s Prime Time, but then an ADR opened for Sci-Fi and I switched it. I wish we would have kept 50s Prime Time because Sci-Fi wasn't very good. Oh well. That chicken looked delicious!

Dang, I should have stopped at Contempo Café for cupcakes when we were at The Wave for dinner. Another next time.

I love these reviews but it just adds to my list of next times.

 

[Vernie822]

Loving all of the updates, and DROOLING at those cupcakes.. ahhh!!

Schofferhofer. Beer. Grapefruit. Any questions?

Yummmmm!!

This is an Angus Beef Burger served with Sautéed Onions, Swiss, and Garlic-Peppercorn Dressing on Rye Bread. And to say Jason loved this is an understatement. He declared it the best burger on Disney property, though he cautions it can cause a food coma

Oh wow! I have read a few B&C reviews lately that make me want to go back. We only did it once but it's definitely a great spot. I had the tomato soup and grilled cheese but this looks delicious too.

LOL!! She is so hilarious. I gotta admit the mango/tempura shrimp/lilikoi sounded too sweet, although I do love tempura shrimp. Sorry to hear the service wasn't too great at dinner either. I wonder what it is there. Love sushi, but good to know it's nothing amazing.

Have a happy Turkey day!!

 

[cinderkelly]

Holy update, Batman! I've fallen behind!

We have Kona of our list for this next trip for lunch, we've never been there before so hopefully the service won't be totally dreadful during the lunch hour. I'm bummed about all the bad service reports I've read, but want to give it a shot nonetheless. I wish they did sushi at lunch though.

Contempo Cafe cupcakes are pretty epic, aren't they? Although my #1fav to date is the strawberry cupcake I got at Roaring Fork at WL, which says a lot because I'm not even a huge strawberry fan, unless it's in daiquiri form

I'm happy to read you had a better experience at 50's than we did. The food was good but the 60 min wait past our ADR and joe molassess we had for a server kinda put a damper on things.

Casey continues to be uber cute!

 

[samsteele]

Wow! You are going great guns with the updates. You go, girl

My dining experiences at Kona have been completely wonky. My first dinner a few years ago was incredible. Superb service & excellent, perfectly grilled steak. My last dinner the other year was a bummer. Terrible service & cold food with no server in sight to heat it up or replace. Just terribly sad since the menu has promise.

At least the banana-chocolate creme brulee was yum both times. That's something, right? But just not enough to justify a return for a long time.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I've never been a big cupcake fan but all of this cupcake discussion has intrigued me. Are cupcakes from one resort counter service really different from another resort or are they all baked at a central bakery and trucked in.

 

[samsteele]

Are cupcakes from one resort counter service really different from another resort or are they all baked at a central bakery and trucked in.

I think (some at least) are unique to the resort. For example, POP was famous for its King Cupcake . . . Elvis themed chocolate w banana cream filling & candied bacon topper. Think that one's been discontinued now. The last time I had it, the CMs checked with the kitchen to see if any were ready yet. Contempo is known for its cupcakes. And I always thought most of Starring Rolls baked goods as well as sammies were made in the next door Brown Derby kitchen.

 

[kastoney]

Lots o' updates! Love the Jedi Training! We attempted in June but got rained out. We will attempt again next June.

I know that we have always talked about 50's but I'm not sure we ever did it. I know we did SciFi previously. I'd like to try it again, but I haven't heard the best about 50's service. Glad that wasn't the case for you!

You have to stop giving me ideas for our next trip! And yes, I'm talking about the cupcakes at the Contemporary. We will be right there at WL but I cannot keep adding stuff to our schedule...lol.

Sadly it was so hot that day I was hoping it would get rained out cause I heard they just have pictures somewhere instead. That sounded like a much better experience to me, though I'm not sure Casey would agree.

Sorry, on the ideas but you could always leave MK and walk to the Contemporary then just take the boat to WL. Very easy

Wow so many updates, love it. We have had breakfast once at Kona and it was very good and we had a good waiter, very rare I see! We plan to stay at the Poly late August next year so we were going to try Kona again, now not so sure. The cheese danish and cupcakes look so good right now, I am having a sweet craving! We also loved our meal at 50's in August. We shared the sampler and I agree the chicken is awesome! Casey looks like she had a great day at MGM, so cute!

Yeah, if you had a good waiter at Kona that has to be akin to finding the holy grail. If I were you I'd definitely do it again, but stick to breakfast when the likely bad service is much more palatable.

I'm with your daughter on the cupcake with lots of icing on it!

Glad you had decent meals this day - especially at Prime Time! That fried chicken platter is not something to be taken alone!

Yeah all in all it was a good food day (loads of icing excluded), with more coming up soon

That cupcake...wow. I want to try that one! I love banana pudding. Contempo does have really good cupcakes and pretty good food as well!

Yeah, it was pretty darn good. I was angling for a turtle one, but Jason picked the banana. Glad he did.

Very cool that you have a girl who wants to be a Jedi. I have not been able to get either of my girls (including DW) to even watch a single Star Wars movie. The farthest I got was DD thinking BB8 and R2D2 were cute.

To be clear, Casey has not watched a single star wars movie either. I'm not quite sure why she seems to like it, but just bee the cool factor

Perfectly acceptable for a vacation diet. Just like if, hypothetically speaking, someone was at Universal and just happened to have a Butterbeer and chocolate cauldron cake for breakfast. Purely an example pulled off the top of my head of course. I'm sure nothing like that would ever actually happen.

That does sound like a great example of vacation diet. If only someone was brave enough to actually go through with it. Nah that would never happen

Yeah, Vader would be better. They have tried to make the Seventh Sister the latest baddie, but I don't think it's have much impact. (Yes, in addition to admitting to drinking fruity drinks with straws, I also admit to watching a cartoon show aimed at 10 year old boys.) At least Casey enjoyed it.

Jason loves Star Wars and didn't even know who the heck the 7th Sister (thanks for the assist by the way) was. Is she just in the cartoon? And yes thankfully Casey didn't care at all.

It is very good chicken. I've had the sampler on my last two trips there, so I had one piece of chicken plus pot roast and meatloaf. All very good.

Yeah, we contemplated the sampler too. But it was so dang hot that day meatloaf and pot roast just didn't sound good.

 

[kastoney]

Casey looks very intense during the light saber training. It would be nice if the show area was shaded since both the kids and the spectators could use it.

Intense and Casey is generally an understatement. She takes everything, like her her jedi training, very serious.

The dressing on the lettuce wedge looks really good. We haven't eaten at either Sci Fi or 50's in a long time. I can't get my husband to eat at 50's because he doesn't like the "show". But your waitress sounds like she was great.

Yeah, I was actually hoping for a little show as I think Casey would have gotten a kick out of it, but show aside our waitress was great. Casey did get a kick out of me getting yelled out repeatedly for having my elbows on the table. But totally understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Maybe I'm weird, but I have to say I'm like your husband. I have never eaten there because I just want to go to a restaurant and eat. I'm not into the shenanigans. I know a lot of people love it though!

Yeah, its good at Whispering Canyon where you have a choice. Not sure why 50's never went that direction too.

They take training seriously when they try to work the kids in extreme heat! That looked like a toasty activity! Lucky you planned it in the morning.
I love the fried chicken at 50's...it is certainly the best I have had at the World.
We never miss Contempo Cafe cupcakes, my boys are in awe of the monorail going right by there

Yeah, I'm sure the heat was worse for the characters, but it was pretty rough on the kids. And of course I hadn't planned anything and we just ended up in the morning by happenstance. Thankfully we did!

I think we 'll definitely have a few more Contempo stops in our future. It wasn't even on my radar until recently but they were so worth the spot.

That's too bad about the service a Kona Café. We had great service for Breakfast. I was surprised after reading other reviews. We did the dinner the last time and I don't remember service as an issue, but the meal wasn't as memorable as I hoped.

Consider yourself lucky if you've had anything north of decent service. It's always been pretty barebones for us.

I was so frustrated when we made ADRs to not get one for Sci-Fi so we opted for 50s Prime Time, but then an ADR opened for Sci-Fi and I switched it. I wish we would have kept 50s Prime Time because Sci-Fi wasn't very good. Oh well. That chicken looked delicious!

Funny, we've done this several times. Hence why it took me so long to get back to 50's. Though Jason has already registered his request to return to SciFi again.

Oh wow! I have read a few B&C reviews lately that make me want to go back. We only did it once but it's definitely a great spot. I had the tomato soup and grilled cheese but this looks delicious too.

Yeah, I've contemplated the tomato soup before but unfortunately in August it just doesn't seem like the wisest choice

LOL!! She is so hilarious. I gotta admit the mango/tempura shrimp/lilikoi sounded too sweet, although I do love tempura shrimp. Sorry to hear the service wasn't too great at dinner either. I wonder what it is there. Love sushi, but good to know it's nothing amazing.

She is pretty dang hilarious. Except for right now when she is supposed to be cleaning her room and all i hear is grunting and things hitting the floor upstairs

Have a happy Turkey day!!

Hope you had a great first married Turkey Day!!!!

We have Kona of our list for this next trip for lunch, we've never been there before so hopefully the service won't be totally dreadful during the lunch hour. I'm bummed about all the bad service reports I've read, but want to give it a shot nonetheless. I wish they did sushi at lunch though.

Yeah, lunch may be the best bet as it should be between the breakfast and dinner rushes. You should definitely give it a shot, just prepare yourself for the service accordingly.

Contempo Cafe cupcakes are pretty epic, aren't they? Although my #1fav to date is the strawberry cupcake I got at Roaring Fork at WL, which says a lot because I'm not even a huge strawberry fan, unless it's in daiquiri form

They are pretty epic!!! Glad we finally got to try them. Sounds like Roaring Forks must have a great strawberry one though. Sadly I've never tried it as I can't tear myself away from the magic bar.

I'm happy to read you had a better experience at 50's than we did. The food was good but the 60 min wait past our ADR and joe molassess we had for a server kinda put a damper on things.

60 minutes!!!!!!! That is pure craziness.

My dining experiences at Kona have been completely wonky. My first dinner a few years ago was incredible. Superb service & excellent, perfectly grilled steak. My last dinner the other year was a bummer. Terrible service & cold food with no server in sight to heat it up or replace. Just terribly sad since the menu has promise.

I'm gonna blame the dining plan, cause when in doubt bad service and food must be the fault of the dining plan

At least the banana-chocolate creme brulee was yum both times. That's something, right? But just not enough to justify a return for a long time.

Yum. That sounds delicious!

I've never been a big cupcake fan but all of this cupcake discussion has intrigued me. Are cupcakes from one resort counter service really different from another resort or are they all baked at a central bakery and trucked in.

I have no idea, but my guess would be the ladder. They make them somewhere then truck them in, just offer different variations based on where you are. But who knows

 

[ArielSRL]

Sorry, on the ideas but you could always leave MK and walk to the Contemporary then just take the boat to WL. Very easy

OMG! Bad influence! I just wrote that in my plans to make sure I remember to do it!

 

[kastoney]

Embracing Our Inner Caveman

After our afternoon cupcake pick me up, we chilled at the hotel while we performed one of our favorite activities: Figuring out what to eat next. Seriously we are food talker experts. Its a rare occasion when its not even lunchtime and we're already contemplating dinner Being a Saturday night, ADR options weren't too plentiful but we ultimately landed on one of our favorites: Yachtsman Steakhouse.

We monorailed it to MK, but just missed the Yacht & Beach Club buses. Thankfully one to the Swan and Dolphin wasn't too far behind so we just hopped on it. By evening the early parts of what would become Hurricane Hermine rolled in and brought some much needed breezes to the world.

As we wandered to the Yacht Club we stopped and took a few family photos.


These should give you some good insight into the dichotomy of our family dynamics.

We were seated quickly (and to know ones surprise in the back corner of a side room I'd never even noticed before), but caught a glimpse of this guy on the way. YUM!!


Soon some of the delicious Yachtsman onion rolls and roasted garlic were delivered. Apologies in a advance for all the pictures as there was next to no light in our dimly lit back corner.


While there is enough onions and garlic here to keep even a vampire at bay they are divine perfection.

We also saw an appetizer that we couldn't resist, The Jamaican Beef Blossoms.

These are Squash Blossoms Stuffed with a Jamaican spiced beef with a Passion Fruit Ketchup, Scotch Bonnet, and Fondue. Squash blossoms are one of my favorite foods, so I was thrilled to find them on a disney menu. Unfortunately though, the spiced beef and scotch bonnet flavor overwhelmed the delicate squash blossom. Usually they are stuffed with ricotta or something less harsh flavor wise. Don't get me wrong, these were good just didn't satisfy my inner squash blossom desires.

As we were going with steak for dinner, we also ordered a bottle of wine. We let the waiter pick for us as their wine menu was full of labels we were largely unfamiliar with.

He ended up recommending a very good South African wine called De Toren Z that was a Bourdeoux style blend full of tannins and lots of spice. It was a great pairing with the steak and something we would never have picked on our own.
Casey stuck with good old lemonade but in the tradition of her mother of course was double fisting it.


And now onto the stars of the show, THE STEAK!!!! Jason went with the 16 oz Ribeye which he subbed in potato gratin for vice the traditional bone marrow (you'll see in a minute I thought this was a most horrible idea).

As usual, the steak was charred on the outside and cooked to medium rare perfection on the inside. The potatoes - while no bone marrow - were creamy and decadent and clearly no butter or cream had gone into their creation. Casey declared them the best potatoes she'd ever had as somehow they eclipsed the Bob Evens pre-made ones I usually serve up.

For our dinner, Casey and I shared the 10 oz Filet and made the very wise decision to sub in the aforementioned bone marrow instead of the mashed potatoes.

Like Jason's ribeye, the filet was cooked to perfection and unlike the ribeye none of that pesky fat and gristle got in our way. This particular filet was so tender it almost melted in our mouths and we in fact did not need a knife to cut it. In fact Casey commented that steaks were not this good at home, but she surmised it must be the grill and of course not the chefs. The bone marrow was also utter perfection. For anyone who hasn't had it its kind of like beef flavored butter. It's rich and fatty and silky and sweet and oh just so good. It paired perfectly on the tender brioche.

Overall this was another successful trip to Yachtsman. They continue to produce amazing quality steaks that they cook perfectly. Our sides did not disappoint either and coupled with the wine, we were in pure heaven. Overall we saved $43.45 with our Tables in Wonderland card leaving just a mere $20 till we break even.

We soon waddled out to catch the bus and were back at the Poly just in time to watch wishes from the marina. Perfect end to a pretty perfect day.

Up next, we travel to the end of the trail for the first time ​

 

[ArielSRL]

Yum, yum on that meal. One day, we'll get there. Maybe on an adults only trip or after my boys are older bc they would never be proper enough for Yachtsman in their current state...lol.

 

[TeeterTots]

Oh my goodness, I'm so far behind! Loving the food, the pics and the fun!
There is yachtsman again! I'm searching my app now for my Feb trip!
I was laughing out loud to your meal planning! My mother still yells at me because as I'm finishing my last bite from one meal I'm planning the next! And snacks of course!!! Lol! She doesn't get it!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Good wine, good steak, good bone marrow! Why would he go with potato gratin over that? Crazy Crazy Man! Glad you had a great meal! Looks super yummy! Your bone marrow does seem like heaven on a bone!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We were seated quickly (and to know ones surprise in the back corner of a side room I'd never even noticed before), but caught a glimpse of this guy on the way. YUM!!

You are having the worst luck with the table assignments on this trip. I hope the service was okay.

By the way, you can watch the butcher carving the steaks from Crews Cup lounge. That carving room has a window in the lounge and a table that sits right up to the window. A lot of people avoid that seat but we don't mind looking at slabs of meat.

We also saw an appetizer that we couldn't resist, The Jamaican Beef Blossoms.

I'm having trouble figuring out what kind of plate this is served on, but otherwise it looks good. I could see where ricotta would make a better choice, as a filling, though.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Jason loves Star Wars and didn't even know who the heck the 7th Sister (thanks for the assist by the way) was. Is she just in the cartoon?

Yes, 7th Sister is only in the Star Wars Rebels cartoon show. At least so far. With all these new movies they keep adding characters from comics and books, so who knows where she might turn up. The timeline would fit in well with Rogue One (yes, I realize my geek is showing).

The potatoes - while no bone marrow - were creamy and decadent and clearly no butter or cream had gone into their creation.

I'm sure Disney makes them with pixie dust. There's no calories in that.

The bone marrow was also utter perfection. For anyone who hasn't had it its kind of like beef flavored butter. It's rich and fatty and silky and sweet and oh just so good.

I've never tried it, but I've seen it more than once in different reports. I'll have to give it a go someday, somewhere. Maybe if I ever get to Yachtsman. I don't believe any local restaurants where I live have it on their menu.