Day 3: Lunch- Sci Fi Dine in
So fortified with our 2 snack credit breakfast we met up with the kiddo's new friend and waited to be let into HS for the mad rush to jedi training. This is a dining report not a trip report but I have to say that I have never seen anything like the rush to sign up for Jedi Training. Gah I was glad we were early and doubly glad we had awesome people to pass the time with while we were waiting first at the tapstiles, then at the entrance to the street, then behind the guy holding the sign for jedi training. But I was so glad I did it because my kid did awesome. He has done it before but 2 years ago he was kind of klutzy at it... this time it was just so amazing to watch him be able to follow the multiple instructions and be coordinated enough to execute them... I'm so proud of him and it was worth all of the extra effort. I'm glad I got a video of his battle but I just have to share a pic from the photopass while I'm being all glowy and sappy about it... but when you have a kid who struggles with so much the simplest things can be the biggest triumphs (although I will say most kids looked like he did 2 years ago).
Anyway since
@kastoney doesn't get kicked out for sharing pics of her totally adorable little one I'm going to assume it is ok to do so once in a while. I promise I'll get back to the food!
HE DID AWESOME.
So we did the 10:40 show which had us out right at 11:10, just in time to walk a minute to our 11:15 Sci Fi Dine In lunch... which is really why you are all here! So I won't hold out on food pics too much longer.
My strategy of "early in the restaurants hours" seating worked once again - last time we went the lobby was packed and we waited outside I think? This time there was plenty of seating and our pager went off within a couple of minutes of sitting. We were taken to the back seat of a car that was already occupied by a family of 4, which was fine.
Here is our selfie in the back seat of the car:
last time we went I requested a "car table" because I thought there were a whole lot more picnic tables and they put us in a table with chairs in a car instead of a car booth. Kiddo was a little disappointed by this so this time I kept my mouth shut and we got a regular car booth. It was fun I admit
So here was another strategic share on the DxDDP. I learned my lesson after Y&Y and I did not show the kid the menu. I just said to him "this is what you are having." I think he stopped listening after "chocolate milk shake", lol (I let him pick his flavor and he was so overwhelmed he couldn't, so I picked for him).
This is a great place to share! They will allow you to have a shake for a beverage OR/and for a dessert so we each got a shake and split an appetizer and an entree. It was just the right amount honestly showing up there very hungry and ready to eat. Our water was great too, he was in the cheezy role without being too over the top annoying and he seemed to always be there right when I needed something but did not have the appearance of hovering. This is a super fun place and we REALLY enjoyed it last time and it did not disappoint this time. He had no problem with us sharing the credit and having two shakes, so I ordered the chocolate shake for the kid and the "seasonal shake" for myself. In that lighting both looked identical so I only took a pic of the kid's shake... the seasonal shake was a "pumpkin pie" shake - a little surprising for december but since there was no pumpkin pie at thanksgiving (it's a sore subject) I decided to go for it since the waiter said it had real pumpkin in it, not just the spice.
here's the kid with his shake. I'm glad these came out thick and frozen and hard to drink because he would have sucked that thing down in no time. Between the dark, the movies and the shake he was pretty much in his own little world and barely said a word to me the whole rest of the meal but just sat there all mellow - eating with one hand and clutching his shake with to his heart with the other with that cute but dumb smile he has on his face in the picture staring at the screen. Which was fine because I just watched the movies and chilled out a bit. The pumpkin shake was delicious and it did, in fact, taste of real pumpkin and not just "pumpkin spice" so I didn't feel out of place not wearing my uggs and yoga pants while sipping it.
For the appetizer I asked the waiter if we could get the sampler and he said it would require two credits (I've never seen anyone comment on that so I figured I'd share that info)... so instead I got the:
Honey-Chipotle Barbacued Chicken Wings
Blue Cheese Dressing and Celery Sticks
So just like I am an indian food snob, I am a NYer who went to college in upstate NY so I am also a wing snob. That has only gotten worse over the years as wings are BF's favorite food... if he were on death row his last meal would be wings. No joke. When we travel, we seek out the best wings in the area. We are very picky fussy about our wings and I can tell you a million ways wings can go wrong, but I will spare you because these wings were SO RIGHT. They were all a good size, meaty without being so ginormous the meat to skin ratio is off and they were cooked to crispy perfection with no coatings or breading or anything to "enhance" (picture air quotes) the crispiness. They definitely past the "chicken wing purist" test. The sauce was also surprisingly good - it was definitely sticky (as our waiter warned, but he also brought extra strength napkins and wetnaps for cleanup) and sweet without being cloying and had a definite kick. The kid ate two of the 6 of these (anyone surprised he only eats the drums?) and I was surprised because he would normally be moaning that it's tooo spicy but I can only guess that the fact that he was still sucking down that shake cooled his mouth enough so he didn't notice. The bleu cheese was excellent too, and the celery was nice and fresh and crispy and not waterlogged. Even BF would have liked these, and we discuss wings like normal people discuss wine lol. These get an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up but I also attribute their freshness to being in the first seating of the restaurant.
For the entree again I did not give the kiddo a choice. I just ordered:
Flame-broiled New York Strip Steak
Topped with Garlic-Herb Butter and served with Cheesy-Horseradish Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, and crispy Onion Rings
So I ordered this medium, and it came medium. And I subbed an order of fries for the kid for the veggies, which honestly never looked like anything special (and I do actually like veggies but I like them fresh and crispy and they looked in previous photos like frozen stir fry mix with baby carrots so meh).. I also asked our waiter, who appeared at exactly the right time when I realized I wanted it for some of that creamy horseradish that comes with the onion rings... because as I said before, if it's creamy it's for me.
Here is a pic of the kid's plate showing about half of the steak trimmed and cut up (yes this is a strip steak. yes you will have to trim off the end and a bit of the sides as inedible. It is much easier to do this in the dark if you are already a bit familiar with the anatomy of a strip steak) along with the serving of fries he got. As you can see, the fries are pretty much a full sized side so I felt it was a good trade for some mediocre veggies... and along with the shake and a couple of wings, this was a pretty decent sized lunch:
even though it is dark as you can see, it is cooked medium, like I asked for it. What a concept! The kid devoured all of this. Every last bite. It used to be that if there was so much of a hint of grill mark on something, the kid would not touch it. The lady at the mini golf place was amazing at his friend's birthday and somehow managed to produce a grilled hot dog that had zero grill marks on it even though it had been cooked on a grill. He still refused to eat it. But now he has done a 180 and will declare any meat "raw" if there is no char or sear on it. Which I suppose I should be glad about because it makes life easier since that is more often the default. Anyway, it wasn't a HUGE amount of steak but he enjoyed it and seemed satisfied even though at the end of the meal I had to pry the shake glass out of his hands.
Now my thoughts on it. First of all, this is not a $32 steak. I am all about expectations and when I think of a $32 strip steak I think of something that is more like an inch thick (and smaller than the one I got in area) and costs $20-25 outside of WDW. This is not that steak. It's about 1/2" thick and IMO thinner steaks just never taste as delicious as thicker ones but maybe that is because I like mine on the rare side but with a really good sear on it. Anyway, adjust your expectations. This is maybe a $15 steak in the outside world. That's not to say I wouldn't order it again... I would. But I often see bad reviews of this steak and I think that is mostly due to expectations of what a $32 steak should be like. This is not that steak but what it IS is tasty and was well prepared.
It did have some nice char on it, herb butter makes everything better and even a little more done than I prefer it (although I tend to have better luck ordering cheaper cuts medium rather than medium rare, and if I am sharing with the kid I order medium too) it still had a very nice texture. The kid is all about texture and won't gobble it down if it's not tender and it was... and also very flavorful. But that didn't stop me from thinking about how delicious horseradish sauce is on a nice roast beef sandwich and dipping it in some of the sauce (because after all I only had 2 onion rings!)... and so being on vacation... as my son says "I tried it... and I liked it!" OMG it was SO delicious. I love creamy horseradish sauce and theirs is soooo good, good on the onion rings and even better on the steak. Don't judge, I'm on vacation. But if you like creamy sauces, I highly encourage you to ask for some on the side if you order the steak. You won't regret it.
The potatoes that came with it were just ok. I mean they were fine, I ate them, but not the standout. I kind of wished I had subbed onion rings for them because the onion rings were THAT GOOD... hot, crispy, stayed together when you bit into them and not the tiniest bit greasy. The potatoes were sort of standard peeled cooked potatoes with shredded cheese... I didn't really detect the horseradish but it could be because I was in horseradish overload. They were fine. Onion rings just would have been MUCH MUCH better.
This turned out to be a great value on DxDDP with the steak and the wings and the two shakes... I am too lazy to dig out my receipt but will add financials later. Splitting a credit was really the way to go here and we both REALLY enjoyed this meal. I know this is one that gets mixed reviews but I say try it when they first open. The food and service is usually best then IMO.
but we always found the character interaction to be a little bit better there. I love the gingerbread house! I love all the little holiday touches all around down there
These were not super boozy tasting but nice and creamy with a spicy gingerbread flavor. I wished I had my refillable mug but we hadn't checked into the hotel yet so no mug for me but I totally would have taken a couple of these things to go in the disney equivalent of a grown up sippie cup.
But my camera takes such great low light pics I generally leave it off.
