Greetings From England – The Brits Are Back!! **COMPLETED 07/05**

[mamaboogie]

That Campfire singalong looks great! I wouldn't know where to start with s'mores!

How dare Chip and Dale try to steal your food?

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

The food at WCC looks yummy! That dessert!! I can imagine not knowing when to stop when eating that cobbler - it looks divine!

Am glad you enjoyed the camp fire sing-along - looks like fun! I also do not have much of a clue about S'mores apart from the pics I have seen on here. Do they have gelatine in them? I know marshmallows do so am guessing these would as well. If so I would not be able to eat them anyway

It took a strong will not to use two spoons on that cobbler

Originally Posted by mamaboogie

That Campfire singalong looks great! I wouldn't know where to start with s'mores!

How dare Chip and Dale try to steal your food?

I know, they may look cute but there is an evil side

[Linda67]

Monday May 16th 2011

Fuelled by far too much sugar we headed to the Fort Wilderness boat dock and decided to hop on the next boat which was heading to the Contemporary

We wandered around the resort for a while before heading to the Contempo Café for a bite to eat

This was another new quick service location to us.

It was really empty and there was probably only one other occupied table in the whole place

We hadn’t used the dining plan on previous trips and got a little bit confused by the touch screen ordering

Thanks goodness there was nobody behind us

Here is what we ended up with;



Contempo Café – Cheese Flatbreads, Chilled Sesame Bean Salad & Fries



Side Salads & Drinks

We had the side salads instead of a dessert but didn’t realise that Flatbreads don’t come with a side in the same way that sandwiches and burgers do so basically we ordered far too much food!

The lovely CM rang it through as 1 CS credit each even though we insisted on paying for the side orders but he wouldn’t take our money

On a side note, we found pretty much every CM we came across on this trip to be wonderful

On to the food; the Flatbreads were delicious and are cooked fresh to order, or at least they are when the restaurant is as empty as it was.

I enjoyed the sesame beans but couldn’t resist stealing a few of DHs fries which were excellent

Neither of us wanted dessert following our marshmallow feast so subbing for a salad was a great accompaniment to the Flatbreads (the cupcakes did look good though )

I enjoyed the Contempo Café but can imagine it gets very noisy at peak times but we loved sitting there watching the monorail role by

Just as we headed out of the Contemporary, Wishes started so we stood by Bay Lake Tower to watch the free show

We headed to the boat dock to catch a boat back to WL and found Peter Pan standing on the dock with a lantern ………. only in Disney!

Coming Up Next ……………It’s Cupcake Time!

[PrincessBetsy]

The campfire looks like so much fun! I can't believe you had never had a s'more before, but I must say yours did turn out quite well!

We went to the Contempo Cafe on our last trip and I thought it was a great counter service option right near the Magic Kingdom.

Haha! I love Peter Pan!

[mamaboogie]

Yum! Your food from Contempo Cafe looks lovely!

You are really going to new places for me - very exciting!

[Linda67]

Hello lovely DIS peeps

I hope that you are all having a great week

Tuesday May 17th 2011

This morning we decided to head to Hollywood Studios for rope drope

We were planning on hitting the Studios the following week for Star Wars Weekends so thought it would be a good idea to enjoy some of our favourite rides whilst the crowds were still light

It was a beautiful sunny morning and the lines were very short so no problems hitting all the headliners

We hadn’t had any breakfast so a mid-morning snack was required and I knew exactly where to head



We love it here and make sure to visit every trip

Here is our choice today;



Butterfinger Cupcake

We decided to share or should I say DH decided we should share



'Is your half bigger than mine?'

This was totally delicious and probably contains around one million calories.

The frosting and crushed butterfinger topping is wonderful and just in case it isn’t rich enough for you there is also chocolate frosting inside!

We continued around the park and just happened to be walking past Star Tours when the CMs removed the ropes for a soft opening of the ride

We rode twice without any wait at all and it really is a great ride

Following our inter-galactic adventures it was time for lunch and as this was nearby we headed inside



The menu features fairly standard offerings, here is DHs choice



Hot Dog & Fries

I think it looks a bit sad (the burgers looked a lot better) but he seemed quite happy with it

Here’s my much more interesting choice



Grilled Vegetable Sandwich
basil asiago artisan bread, mushrooms, red peppers, zucchini, tomato, watercress and cheese with sundried tomato pesto, served with carrot sticks or french fries

This doesn’t look great in the photo but it was actually very good.

It was packed full of all the usual veggies and the bread was covered in cheese then grilled.

I didn’t manage to finish it all and you could easily split one of these

Only a couple of choices available for dessert in the Backlot Express



Strawberry Parfait & Marble Cheesecake

Nothing outstanding here but not bad either

On the way out of the park we dropped into the Tune In Lounge as we had never visited it before.



DH had a Coke and I had a ‘Lemonade’



Dad’s Electric Lemonade
Bacardi Rum, Skyy Vodka, Blue Curacao, sweet and sour and sprite

Another glow cube for the collection!

Coming Up Next …………………. Narcoossees

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by PrincessBetsy

The campfire looks like so much fun! I can't believe you had never had a s'more before, but I must say yours did turn out quite well!

We went to the Contempo Cafe on our last trip and I thought it was a great counter service option right near the Magic Kingdom.

Haha! I love Peter Pan!

Wow, I have U.S approval of my s'more ... love that!
I did a quick check around the office and nobody here has ever heard of them so I am not alone in my English stupidity

Originally Posted by mamaboogie

Yum! Your food from Contempo Cafe looks lovely!

You are really going to new places for me - very exciting!

Hi Shari
We always try to try as many new places as possible and it was fab using the DDP for the first time on this trip

[TanzUnited99]

Mmm that cupcake looks awesome - can't wait to try one!

Lol at having to share and one half being bigger then the other - I would have gone for the bigger half!

[goofyintoronto]

Originally Posted by Linda67

Sunday May 15th 2011



Sorry in advance for poor photo quality!

As I said in my intro, DH leaves the planning of our trips entirely down to me which is just as well as I am a total control freak

This means that he generally doesn’t know where we will be eating until we check in for our reservation.

What it also means is that he has no pre-conceived ideas about a restaurant; he isn’t influenced by any hype or good or bad reviews; he has no idea how easy or difficult it is to get a reservation at any particular restaurant

I am telling you all this as dinner this evening was to be at Le Cellier and we all know that’s not an easy ADR to get and it has a superb reputation.

I liked the idea that DH knew very little about any of the restaurants before we ate there as his comments would be completely un-biased

We had never eaten at Le Cellier before and as DH loves a good steak I thought he would really enjoy it.

I’d booked several two credit dinners for this trip as we had received free dining as part of an early booking offer in the UK and as we were heading off for a three day cruise in the middle of out vacation, we actually had an excess of credits so I am not judging this restaurant in terms of value or the fact that it had recently gone from one credit to two for dinner

Once we had checked in we were seated within 10 minutes.

One of the first things I noticed was that there were several unoccupied tables near to where we were seated that had not been cleared and were covered in half eaten plates of food (these were still not cleared by the time we left)

In general the place looked really untidy with discarded silver wear and napkins under some of the tables

Our server introduced herself to us and although pleasant she really seemed to be just going through the motions and talked us through the menu in what can only be described as a ‘robotic manner’

I ordered a drink whilst looking through the menu



Torontopolitan - Iceberg Vodka, Chambord and Cranberry and Orange Juices

A really nice cocktail, very refreshing and a good kick to it

DH stuck to water (he is always the sensible one )

Once we had placed our orders the infamous bread was served



OK I know this might upset some people but the pretzel bread left me cold it just seemed really dry to me, we both quite liked the multi-grain stick though

DH was particularly hungry so he decided to have an appetiser



Steakhouse Caesar Salad, Crisp Romaine, Aged Parmesan and Pretzel Croutons

He said it was ‘OK’ but could have used more Parmesan

He was only about half way through his appetiser when the entrees arrived.

As he tried to move the plate out of the way to make space for the entrees another server picked up the unfinished salad and removed it without asking if he had finished

For his entrée he chose the signature dish



Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - 8 oz. Canadian AAA Beef Tenderloin with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle butter sauce and micro chervil

He really didn’t enjoy this dish, the risotto was far too salty and the steak was certainly not what could be described as tender (I watched as he forcibly sawed through it with his knife )

There wasn’t too much choice on the menu for a non-meat eater so I went for the salmon



Pacific King Salmon - with parsnip puree, braised greens, pickled pearl onions and mustard sauce

This dish was barely warm but the fish was totally overcooked

It's a real shame that the dish wasn't prepared or served correctly as I could tell by the small amount that I ate that if it was hot and not over cooked it would have been the kind of meal I would really have enjoyed

We had also ordered a side dish



Maple-glazed Rainbow Carrots in maple butter

These were stone cold

Our server came over to ask if everything was OK and I pointed out that the food wasn’t warm and that my husband’s appetiser had been taken away before he had finished.

She asked me if I would like her to take the food away and ‘get it re-heated’

Errrr No ….. what are you going to do, pop it in the microwave for me

I politely told her that she didn’t need to do that and we would just stick with what we have.

We both wanted to be finished in time for illuminations so neither of us wanted to hang around

To be honest we were really enjoying our night despite the food and were joking that if the rest of the week’s ADRs were as bad as this we should stick to counter service

DH asked me if I had ever read any reviews of this place and was it one of the less popular restaurants

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had made the reservation 6 months ago at the very second the phone lines opened!!

A few minutes later a manager came over to see us to apologise as he had heard that we weren’t entirely happy with our meal and what could he do to rectify it.

We really didn’t want to make a fuss and bizarrely were having a really great night so insisted that we didn’t expect him to do anything.

Having left most of our food we decided to give dessert a go



Maple Crème Brûlée for me



Lemon Cheesecake with a Citrus Salad and Mandarin Orange Gelèe for DH

The Crème Brulee had a really strange texture, it was watery in the centre and hard at the edges, basically it was yuk!

DH’s Lemon Cheesecake may have had a lemon wafted past it at some point in its creation but they certainly hadn’t been intimately acquainted!

I tried a little bit and it didn’t even have the faintest taste of lemon

So Le Cellier was a total bust as far as food was concerned but it was actually so bad that it became a strangely entertaining experience

When it came time to settle the bill the manager had taken off everything not covered on the dining plan which was good of him and unexpected

Perhaps they were just having a bad night? I certainly wouldn’t consider going there again for a very very long time

Coming Up Next ........... Yee Ha!! ....... Whispering Canyon Cafe

I had the same experience with Le Cellier as you did. Servers werent very friendly or helpful at all...steak wasnt good (generally not a good cut of meat), bread/pretzel sticks werent anything to write home about, and the cheesesoup was simply "meh". I've had better in my hometown. Like yourself, i vowed not to return for a looooooong time. until i've eaten everywhere else in disney that is!!

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Originally Posted by Linda67

Hey, I think this cupcake cross-sections quite well! It looks like a little archeological dig down to the cake part!

[PrincessBetsy]

Originally Posted by Linda67

Wow, I have U.S approval of my s'more ... love that!

Yup, official approval right here!!

after the butterfinger cupcake was split in half. That is seriously one of the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life. Definitely need to share it though - I'm pretty sure one could get a sugar coma if they decided to eat the whole thing!

And what a pretty "lemonade"

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Mmm that cupcake looks awesome - can't wait to try one!

Lol at having to share and one half being bigger then the other - I would have gone for the bigger half!

DH always say's 'let's share' but stay tuned for a return visit to Starring Rolls where we go solo

Originally Posted by goofyintoronto

I had the same experience with Le Cellier as you did. Servers werent very friendly or helpful at all...steak wasnt good (generally not a good cut of meat), bread/pretzel sticks werent anything to write home about, and the cheesesoup was simply "meh". I've had better in my hometown. Like yourself, i vowed not to return for a looooooong time. until i've eaten everywhere else in disney that is!!

We tried several signature restaurants on this trip and LC didn't even come close to the others we tried

Originally Posted by Stringbean&Wingnut

Hey, I think this cupcake cross-sections quite well! It looks like a little archeological dig down to the cake part!

I never though of it like that

Originally Posted by PrincessBetsy

Yup, official approval right here!!

after the butterfinger cupcake was split in half. That is seriously one of the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life. Definitely need to share it though - I'm pretty sure one could get a sugar coma if they decided to eat the whole thing!

And what a pretty "lemonade"

yep that was a pretty awesome 'lemonade'

[sydneysmom]

OOOOOH ! I'm hopping on, sorry for being late ! everything looks amazing.... you had me at the cupcake cross-section. I'm in heaven ! (and now drooling all over my desk. not pretty. at . all. )

can't wait for more !!!

[mamaboogie]

A 'lemonade'??? You had me going for a minute!

I had that cupcake from Starring Rolls - but I refused to share....

I love your photos - especially with the added speech bubbles!

We quite often go to the Backlot Express for our Hollywood Studio's counter service - like you say - usual CS fayre but not bad.

Really interested how you found Narccoosses....

[Linda67]

Originally Posted by sydneysmom

OOOOOH ! I'm hopping on, sorry for being late ! everything looks amazing.... you had me at the cupcake cross-section. I'm in heaven ! (and now drooling all over my desk. not pretty. at . all. )

can't wait for more !!!

you're never too late to join in with my rambling reviews, they are probably going to be running for the next 6 months anyway

Originally Posted by mamaboogie

A 'lemonade'??? You had me going for a minute!

I had that cupcake from Starring Rolls - but I refused to share....

I love your photos - especially with the added speech bubbles!

We quite often go to the Backlot Express for our Hollywood Studio's counter service - like you say - usual CS fayre but not bad.

Really interested how you found Narccoosses....

Coming right up me duck