Claire&TheBoys
The Queen of the Castle!
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2007
We are just back from a very quick weekend trip. We knew we were there primarily for parks and MNSSHP, so we didn't plan any TS restaurants (much to the disappointment of our older son, who kept asking if we could have a "big meal" but he is 14 and apparently has a hollow leg). We hadn't been in a couple of years, so menus at some places have changed, and we tried a couple of new spots.
Breakfast, Day 1: Pepper Market at Coronado Springs Resort
My older son and I were waiting when the gates opened at 7:00 to take some breakfast back to our room. We picked up a chorizo, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich for my husband, my older son picked the signature scramble with bacon, and I picked the kids' Mickey waffle plate with bacon. My younger son had only requested bacon for breakfast, so he got most of the bacon off the scramble plate, and some of mine as well, and had a pack of mini-muffins brought from home with the bacon. My husband said the breakfast sandwich was just OK, but my older son said the scramble was quite good. Mickey waffles never change.
Lunch, Day 1: Backlot Express at Disney's Hollywood Studios
QS options at Studios just aren't all that good to begin with, but we've found Backlot Express to be our favorite among the choices and they've added some new items since we were there last. My husband and older son chose the bacon cheeseburger with fries, I had the chicken breast nuggets without fries, and my younger son had the kids' meal Dark Side Chicken & Waffles. I was surprised at the size of my portion of nuggets and they were quite good, actually. A lot more chicken than breading, which was surprising. I think I had 10 nuggets on my plate. I gave a couple of them to my younger son to add to his kids' meal, but I'm not sure he even ate them. The 14-yr-old with a hollow leg ate at least one of them. I didn't miss the fries, and grabbed just a few from the burger plates. I drank more water at the QS places than I ever have before and didn't mind at all, especially at Backlot Express where the drink dispensers are in the restaurant and not behind the counter.
Dinner, Day 1: Via Napoli Pizza Window at Epcot
Yes, I know F&W festival was going on. It was a Saturday afternoon and lines were crazy, and we didn't want to fight the crowds a dozen times to get enough to eat. We were in line at Karamel Kuche waiting for our caramel corn (YUM) using the MDE app to find what food was nearby when we discovered the pizza window at Via Napoli and it was agreeable to everyone, so that's what we had. Two of us had pizza, two had the meatball sub. The pizza was not nearly as good as what is served inside, of course, but it wasn't the worst thing I'd ever had, either. It was a thick crust, and the toppings weren't plentiful, but good flavor. The two meatball subs looked good, but my husband said there was a lot of bread to it. Probably wouldn't choose that again, but in a pinch it was fine.
Lunch, Day 2: Cookes of Dublin at Disney Springs
We nibbled on mini-muffins and granola bars in our room after we slept in, and headed to DS to walk around and have an early lunch. I had thought we'd go to Earl of Sandwich, one of our longtime favorites, but my husband wanted something a little more substantial and found Cookes using the MDE app. We gave it a try and were very happy with our meal there. One son had a regular cheeseburger and liked it, one had the battered cheeseburger and liked it except for the tomato chutney - he was not a fan. My husband had the beef & lamb pie, which he really enjoyed, and I had the One & One (fish & chips) and it was great. We'll definitely go back there.
Dinner, Day 2: Pecos Bill's at Magic Kingdom
We hadn't been to Pecos Bill's since the menu changed from burgers to Tex-Mex and we liked the new menu. Two had the burritos, I had the fajita platter and one had the kids' corndogs. There was more food on the fajita platter than I could eat. We did wish the burrito and fajita platters had come with tortilla chips; I went back to get a side order of them to eat some more of the beef and chicken I had left after I'd made my 3 fajitas. The corn salsa on the toppings bar was good and they had plenty of cheese, pico, salsa, guac, etc.
We had various snacks over the couple of days - popcorn, ice cream at Ghirardelli, caramel corn, pretzels, Dole Whips. Everything was as good as expected. This was the first time we made a special effort to get free ice water from QS locations at times and it was easy. We did have to wait a little during MNSSHP at Pinocchio's but not excessively.
I was happy that over a couple of days' trip, I didn't have a single burger and drank less Coke than I usually do when I'm at Disney. Both were welcome deviations from previous trips.
Breakfast, Day 1: Pepper Market at Coronado Springs Resort
My older son and I were waiting when the gates opened at 7:00 to take some breakfast back to our room. We picked up a chorizo, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich for my husband, my older son picked the signature scramble with bacon, and I picked the kids' Mickey waffle plate with bacon. My younger son had only requested bacon for breakfast, so he got most of the bacon off the scramble plate, and some of mine as well, and had a pack of mini-muffins brought from home with the bacon. My husband said the breakfast sandwich was just OK, but my older son said the scramble was quite good. Mickey waffles never change.
Lunch, Day 1: Backlot Express at Disney's Hollywood Studios
QS options at Studios just aren't all that good to begin with, but we've found Backlot Express to be our favorite among the choices and they've added some new items since we were there last. My husband and older son chose the bacon cheeseburger with fries, I had the chicken breast nuggets without fries, and my younger son had the kids' meal Dark Side Chicken & Waffles. I was surprised at the size of my portion of nuggets and they were quite good, actually. A lot more chicken than breading, which was surprising. I think I had 10 nuggets on my plate. I gave a couple of them to my younger son to add to his kids' meal, but I'm not sure he even ate them. The 14-yr-old with a hollow leg ate at least one of them. I didn't miss the fries, and grabbed just a few from the burger plates. I drank more water at the QS places than I ever have before and didn't mind at all, especially at Backlot Express where the drink dispensers are in the restaurant and not behind the counter.
Dinner, Day 1: Via Napoli Pizza Window at Epcot
Yes, I know F&W festival was going on. It was a Saturday afternoon and lines were crazy, and we didn't want to fight the crowds a dozen times to get enough to eat. We were in line at Karamel Kuche waiting for our caramel corn (YUM) using the MDE app to find what food was nearby when we discovered the pizza window at Via Napoli and it was agreeable to everyone, so that's what we had. Two of us had pizza, two had the meatball sub. The pizza was not nearly as good as what is served inside, of course, but it wasn't the worst thing I'd ever had, either. It was a thick crust, and the toppings weren't plentiful, but good flavor. The two meatball subs looked good, but my husband said there was a lot of bread to it. Probably wouldn't choose that again, but in a pinch it was fine.
Lunch, Day 2: Cookes of Dublin at Disney Springs
We nibbled on mini-muffins and granola bars in our room after we slept in, and headed to DS to walk around and have an early lunch. I had thought we'd go to Earl of Sandwich, one of our longtime favorites, but my husband wanted something a little more substantial and found Cookes using the MDE app. We gave it a try and were very happy with our meal there. One son had a regular cheeseburger and liked it, one had the battered cheeseburger and liked it except for the tomato chutney - he was not a fan. My husband had the beef & lamb pie, which he really enjoyed, and I had the One & One (fish & chips) and it was great. We'll definitely go back there.
Dinner, Day 2: Pecos Bill's at Magic Kingdom
We hadn't been to Pecos Bill's since the menu changed from burgers to Tex-Mex and we liked the new menu. Two had the burritos, I had the fajita platter and one had the kids' corndogs. There was more food on the fajita platter than I could eat. We did wish the burrito and fajita platters had come with tortilla chips; I went back to get a side order of them to eat some more of the beef and chicken I had left after I'd made my 3 fajitas. The corn salsa on the toppings bar was good and they had plenty of cheese, pico, salsa, guac, etc.
We had various snacks over the couple of days - popcorn, ice cream at Ghirardelli, caramel corn, pretzels, Dole Whips. Everything was as good as expected. This was the first time we made a special effort to get free ice water from QS locations at times and it was easy. We did have to wait a little during MNSSHP at Pinocchio's but not excessively.
I was happy that over a couple of days' trip, I didn't have a single burger and drank less Coke than I usually do when I'm at Disney. Both were welcome deviations from previous trips.
