With 6 Todd will eat your egg roll! Nicki, Todd, Katmark & Family Xmas! UPDATED 1/2

[MickeyNicki]

Hi everyone! We are back from a wonderful holiday trip to WDW with our best friends and their kids so sit back and enjoy a bonus review, 6 adults means 6 meals to review and yes I took a ton of pictures...no one was allowed to eat until a photo was taken!

The plan was to suprise KatMark's husband Mark for his 60th birthday and take in all the decorations. Todd and I arrived late Wed night and left for home Sunday afternoon. Kathy and family arrived Thursday afternoon and left on Tuesday morning...I will post from Thur to Sun and she will pick up the other days to complete all the meals we had.

We had so much fun! The weather was alot warmer than normal, 62 in the am and very foggy and humid but the skies cleared around 11am and the temps were in the low 80's. Our resort, Dolphin, wasnt busy once the conventioners checked out on Friday but Kathy's resort, CSR, was packed with the PW kids and was super busy. The parks were not busy at all with the exception of MK on Saturday...that was like 4th of July busy! Hopefully we will make this a yearly thing!

Here is a picture of my and my hubby



Kathy and her husband Mark



Their son Andrew and his girlfriend Des

[KatMark]

I'm here and I'm first (as should be since I am part of this EPIC and best trip we've ever had!).

[MickeyNicki]

Boma breakfast for Nicki and Todd
Downtown Disney snacks
Dolphin decor and lunch at the Swan pool bar
Beaches and Cream dinner
Epcot drinks and snacks
Beach Club Marketplace breakfast and Sunshine Seasons pastries
Chefs de France lunch
Epcot snacks and drinks
Hollywood Studios snacks and drinks
Yachtsman Dinner
Kona breakfast and coffee bar
MK treats and snacks, lunch at Peco Bills
CR Gingerbread house and many snacks
Contemp Cafe Cupcakes!
Grand Floridian Treats
Main Street Candy Shop
Be Our Guest Dinner Part 1
Be Our Guest Dinner Part 2
Cape May Breakfast

[mickeystoontown]

Hey Nicki! Looking forward to reading your reviews and those of Kathy too!

[pas130]

Hopping over from Kathy's TR!!! I'm ready, feel like I already know you Nicki

[butiflfeet]

Yay you're back! It sounds like you had some great weather while you were there. I can't wait for your reviews!

[Tracerr00]

Yes! Can't wait to read this tag team review!!

[MickeyNicki]

So the plan was for Todd and I to drive up around 1pm on Thursday but the wonderful man gave me a great Xmas gift and called me Wed morning to say we could drive up that night! I was overjoyed to say the least because if you have read my other reviews you know he never gets out of work at the right time!

Since the Dolphin and Swan were sold out we stayed at the Holiday Inn in DTD, it was nice but the room and bathroom were super small. I had promised Todd that we would sleep in and go to DTD for lunch....and I am sure you can figure out that isnt what happened!

For one thing I didnt go to sleep until after midnight and for the other I was up at 4:15 am wide awake and trying not to make too much noise! But alas, the boy woke up at 6 am and the first words out of his mouth?

BOMA BOMA BOMA!

Yes!! We are going to get a walk up on this trip! We showered and checked out of the hotel and drove right over to the AKL. It was a beautiful day and I was going to chow down on the best breakfast in all of WDW! Of course we did a walk up and of course we were seated right away...it was around 8am and the place was very empty...until 20 minutes later when all the tables filled up and the place because a mad house.

If you want to see detailed pictures of the buffet check out my Oct 2012 thread, things havent changed since then...instead of the ham and cheese eggs they did have goat cheese and chive eggs and instead of blueberry or M&M pancakes they had sweet potato pancakes. He loves those little sticky buns, they were warm and very fresh.

Here is the tree in the lobby



Todd's first plates, bread pudding with pecan caramel sauce. This was outstanding and not overly sweet.



Banana bread (his favorite thing!) mini muffin and sweet potato pancakes. I really enjoyed these, they were freshly made and very tasty but when we got more they were a bit rubbery and tough.



Carved ham, bacon and scrambled eggs...he loved all of them and had seconds on them too...the bacon is the best, they must have changed brands because it is a thicker cut, super tasty and no nasty smokey flavor. We also had a huge plate of fruit but I dont have a picture of that, the fruit was super fresh and flavorful and very ripe



My plate, and I had seconds on all of this too. Regular scrambled eggs, goat cheese and chive scrambled eggs (both of them were delish and very soft which I love), tender tasty sausage and the bacon was excellent (although its not on my plate, the first time I have enjoyed bacon in a WDW resort). I am madly in love with the stewed tomatoes, they are spicy and sweet at the same time and when you mix it with the scrambled eggs it is pure heaven! The asparagus was great too, tender yet crispy and had a nice char flavor. My all time favorite thing on the buffet? The ham! Amazing, best I have ever had! Wish they had the turkey that day but it was the corned beef and that is just too dry for me



After a wonderful filling meal, with amazing coffee by the way, we hopped in the car to drive to DTD...believe it or not the parking lot was filling up! Come on Todd we have some shopping to do!

[jabead]

I'm here and made it on Page 1. I am quite pleased with myself.

Great start Nicki and looking forward to all the rest!

[MickeyNicki]

We were so happy to drive up the night before so we could shop and see the decorations in DTD! I love it when there isnt many people around and that is exactly how it was, until noon and then we were outta there!



I was able to pick up a few things for my youngest niece and we had some fun just checking out the area and of course snacking!

Goofy's Candy Shop









No trip is complete without a pretzel! This one is a sour cream and onion...he loved it!



We really didnt feel hungry enough for lunch, I mean we had a huge breakfast so we were good. When DTD started filling up we knew it was time to check into the Dolphin! And away we go!

[accountingbabe08]

Looking forward to more

[Tracerr00]

Yum, yum, and yum!! I'm starving right now and your breakfast looks so good. Especially the meat! And bread pudding with caramel sauce? You're killing me!

[englishrose47]

At work and just found this so am subbing and ya' know I'm gonna read it !!

[englishrose47]

I am all caught up !! Let me see ... Beaches and Cream, all I have had there is icecream, when we took the 8 guys for the Kitchen sink. Food looked good. Sunshine Seasons .. many times my favorite is the Strawberry shortcake !!Boma Breakfast ... the Best ever!! That juice is pure Heaven, I love the sausages too. Chefs I have has the onion soup , very tasty but not HOT enough for me , the Mac and cheese now is incredible . Okay I will drool along as usual !!!

[MickeyNicki]

Originally Posted by Tracerr00

Chefs was our favorite meal of our entire trip in September! My DD said that she didn't want an app so I told her to order the onion soup and that I'd eat it. And then when it came I had to fight her for it! She loved the mac and cheese too. I'm dying to go back there during my trip in Feb but sadly there is no room for it. Excellent review!!

Normally the french onion is my favorite but I was in a lobster bisque kinda mood and I am so glad I was! I think Todd was glad too because he didnt have to share lol!

Originally Posted by H20DogsNDisney

great start

Thank you!

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Joining in!

Love the review of Boma and the drinks at Epcot.

Btw your food pics are killing me!!

So glad you found me! I wish I lived closer so I could eat at Boma once a week!

Originally Posted by Rumpletinker

Whew! I'm out of breath (and a little hungry) from running through five pages to catch up; but here I am and feeling fortunate to experience a Nickki/Todd/Mark/Kat dining review. Can't wait!

It was worth it though right? LOL! I have much more to report so stay tuned!

Originally Posted by chocovrdmicears

Well poop - page 5 before I hop in. Gotta love working retail during the Holidays.

On the upside - I love love love reading about you and Kathy together - from your many posts I know how much you two adore each other - warms my heart to see your two families enjoying vacation together.

looking forward to more....

Better late than never I say! The two of us are quite a pair, you should have seen us in action! She was in the lead, me not too far behind them and the boys....well the boys were WAY behind us!

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

Oh, how I love your reviews! And so excited that you got to return with your besties!

I've forgotten but have you stayed at the Swan/Dolphin before? What do you think? Is there a difference between the two? Do you miss the Disney theming? Seems like it's a great location & value but I haven't tried it yet... very curious.

Love the AKL lobby... especially at Christmas. So beautiful.

Yum, yum, yum to Beaches 'n Cream. Have you ever tried the Fountain at Swan/Dolphin? I hear it mentioned as comparable but have never strayed from my beloved BnC.

I absolutely adore Chefs for lunch and that prix fixe menu is a great value. YUM!

Oh and apple thingy shot in Germany... duly noted.

Looking forward to more!!

This trip was something we always wanted to do together, it was perfect and I am so happy it came true! We have stayed at the Swaphin many times and really enjoy it. Yes it has no Disney feel whatsoever but I love the rooms and the location. On the ride home Todd and I talked about staying there for the 11 nights in October, it will cost the same as the POFQ...usually he prefers a more themed resort but I think I convinced him on the Dolphin!

Originally Posted by happy2012

I am lovin' the review as always Nicki!!!It's so awesome you got to meet up w/ ur friends!! We did Boma & it was off the hook!!! I see why you love it so much!! My DH got that pecan thing & his eyes rolled back in his head & told me to try it...it was AMAZING!!!! I can't wait to go back!! I am seriously jealous that you live so close to WDW!!! You are SO Lucky!!!

Thank you! That pecan thing was soooo dangerous wasnt it? Delish! I am praying for another trip in Jan or Feb, just a short one but that is fine with me!

Originally Posted by englishrose47

I am all caught up !! Let me see ... Beaches and Cream, all I have had there is icecream, when we took the 8 guys for the Kitchen sink. Food looked good. Sunshine Seasons .. many times my favorite is the Strawberry shortcake !!Boma Breakfast ... the Best ever!! That juice is pure Heaven, I love the sausages too. Chefs I have has the onion soup , very tasty but not HOT enough for me , the Mac and cheese now is incredible . Okay I will drool along as usual !!!

Hi Rosie! The food is great at B&C, you have to try it one day! You are right about Boma, and real coffee too!