August Insanity - A 29th Birthday Long Weekend Dining Report - complete 8/19

[pepperandchips]

Hi Dis Friends! If you haven't read any of my previous trip reports, I'll give you a bit of an introduction. I'm Melinda and I'm a huge Disney parks fan. I just celebrated my 29th birthday and there was no better place to spend my big day than at Walt Disney World! I was able to convince my better half (R) to accompany me despite the heat and humidity we knew would plague a mid August trip to Florida. I celebrated my 27th birthday at Disney World in 2014 and couldn't wait for another chance to do my birthday in the happiest place on earth.

I was able to get a great rate at Coronado Springs on the late summer passholder promotion, R sprung for plane tickets as a birthday gift, and our trip was in the works! We knew we wanted to plan plenty of air conditioning time and log a few hours at the pool... Hence this little report ending up on the Dining Reviews board! We spent a lot of time enjoying great food and just a few hours here and there in the parks. I took lots of photos and can't wait to share. We JUST got back - our travel dates were August 12-15th.

Some of the culinary highlights include our first visits to Homecoming Florida Kitchen, Sprinkles, Citricos, and Pepper Market. We also returned to my favorite Walt Disney World dining establishment the California Grill (for brunch!) and took a dining and cocktail tour of the monorail loop. We ended things at the Hollywood Brown Derby and snacked plenty in between. So you can look forward to lots of pictures and our thoughts on those meals.

(Does anyone else see a hidden Mickey in the clouds?)

Our trip started after work on Friday, August 12. We were supposed to have a 7:25 pm flight from Atlanta to Orlando, so we headed to the airport shortly before 5:00 to head off the rush hour traffic. Once at the airport, our flight was delayed by about an hour and we found ourselves with a lot of time and not much to do. The delay and the frenzy of the airport had put a bit of a damper on my appetite, but we knew we should eat dinner as it would be around 10:00 when we disembarked from the flight and we'd certainly be hungry by then. Our options at the C Terminal were rather limited but after a full lap of the terminal we settled on a trusted option - Carrabba's!

(Oops, ignore the forkful that is missing from the potatoes!)

We have a Carrabba's in my hometown so this meal was not anything particularly exciting, but after being seated and smelling the aromas wafting from the kitchen R and I both grew an appetite. He selected a seafood pasta in a red sauce while I chose their grilled chicken - I'll admit my choice was mainly a result of wanting the red skinned mashed potatoes you can opt for as a side item. I also wanted to get my last effort in at selecting a lighter option - salad and grilled chicken were about as light as this smaller airport menu got - because I knew I'd be pigging out all weekend! This location of Carrabba's could use some help but the food was as expected and our service was adequate and we both left dinner full and happy. It was a chance to fill our tummies and for me to have a glass of wine to kick off the weekend. Unfortunately the Atlanta airport is behind the game on Tables in Wonderland so the total came to $49.38 before tip.

After we touched down in Orlando, we collected our bags and headed to Magical Express. I was glad to discover our bus already waiting with a growing contingent of passengers, and we made the last pair to board. Once we were settled the bus was underway! Our first time riding ME and it went without a hitch - we were also the first to be dropped off (at Coronado) so my initial experience with Disney's Magical Express was a huge thumbs up. We checked in and found our room just where I'd requested - the north end of Cabanas 8B just behind the bus stop #4. By this point it was after 11:00 so we watched Stacy do some must dos that you must do at Disney World and then drifted off into that first sweet Disney sleep.

Up next: birthday! Lots of desserts. And Homecoming Florida Kitchen!

 

[pepperandchips]

August 13th, part one:

The next morning dawned bright and early and it was MY BIRTHDAY!!! I was so excited to spend the day at Disney World. I'd made Fastpasses for Magic Kingdom that morning and we were trying to take things a bit easier this trip. MK opened to all guests at 8 (crazy in my opinion after the low-ish crowd levels we saw that weekend) and we arrived around 9 to find things very quiet. There was next to no one in Adventureland and we met Rafiki outside on the Adventureland terrace area with no line - since there were no other guests in sight he spent a long time with us and it was a great interaction.

One of my biggest goals this trip was to do some of my dark ride favorites I'd missed on our last couple of visits - being passholders it's easy to "save it for next time" and I was in need of a Pirates fix, for starters. We walked on to Pirates - there were empty boats being sent through in between the full ones and we saw some cast members doing interesting maintenance looking checks that I'd never seen before. Satisfied with my buccaneer quota for the trip, we decided it was time for the breakfast of champions: dole whip float! Hey, pineapple soft serve is practically a breakfast food. It's a fruit smoothie... Or something...

(R got to the top of the soft serve before my camera did)

We made our way back to the Haunted Mansion and visited our 999 most favorite happy haunts with no wait before we knocked out our Space Mountain Fastpass. Around 10:15 we joined an advertised 20 minute queue for Buzz Lightyear - it was probably more like a 30 minute wait but we needed air conditioning by then and we had time to burn before our Peter Pan Fastpass. After a spin on my very favorite attraction - the Peoplemover (or the pooper as @kastoney has now got me calling it), we were eager to get to our final Fastpass and say goodbye for now to the heat. We both commented that Peter Pan's flight seems to get shorter every time we ride it! Still, I love those charming little boats and I wish I could have a miniature nighttime London at home.

By this point, the crowd was catching up to us and the heat was really building so we decided lunch was in order and I had one place on my mind... The brand new and highly anticipated (at least by me) Homecoming Florida Kitchen! We caught the monorail to the Contemporary Resort and shortly a bus arrived to whisk us off to Disney Springs. The transportation gods were really favoring us this day! The new bus terminal area at Disney Springs drops off in a very convenient location for our intended lunch establishment and we quickly found our destination.

Art Smith also has a restaurant in Atlanta I've been wanting to try, and the news of his Disney restaurant launch was very welcome. The early reports seem mixed but I was sold upon hearing "killer fried chicken" and was willing to gamble on everything else. The host stand was amply staffed by friendly CMs, who cheerfully tried to seat us out on the patio (it has fans!, they said - LOL NO) and at their "full-service bar" before showing us to a table for two just on the other side of the host podium. We really lucked out with this table as our server Tara was nothing short of fabulous. The restaurant had customers already dining on plenty of lunch options when we arrived but there were lots of open tables and the wait staff did not seem over extended.

The first of many difficult decisions was made and I ordered a Basil Smash (woodford reserve, sour mix, simple syrup, muddled basil) while R went for a local brew - the Funky Buddha Hop Gun, which we'd had previously in Orlando and liked. My cocktail was just the right balance of bright, sweet, and boozy. I am a bourbon gal and this definitely hit the spot!

I loved the beer glasses.

Tara recommended the hush puppies and the Jasper board appetizers - but R and I both spotted a starter that beat out her recommendations: fried green tomatoes.

The fried green tomatoes were heavenly! I was not sure that adding shaved ham was a wise choice, but after eating the tomato with its garnishes I realized that they were there for more than just presentation. The arugula added a great depth of flavor. The batter on the tomatoes was perfectly light and flaky and accented the tender, tart tomatoes in a great way. Another round of drinks was in order (it WAS my birthday, after all) and I switched to a Florida Belgian style white ale and R switched to the Basil Smash after tasting mine!

Cigar City - Florida Cracker - Perfect to accompany fried chicken


Aiming toward leaving room for dessert, we opted to split one entree even though several sounded promising. Of course we had to go with the signature fried chicken. This was a huge portion - a large breast with wing drum, a boneless thigh, and the drumstick. The three pieces of chicken came served alongside a cheddar drop biscuit and mashed potatoes with gravy. We added an extra side - the KC greens - and had more than enough to eat. I forgot to take a picture with our entree as plated so here it is split into two plates. You can see just how large the portion is since BOTH plates are full!

The chicken was unbelievably moist and flavorful with incredibly delicious crispy skin. The biscuit was "melt in your mouth" buttery and light, but half of the small one that came with the chicken dish was enough for me. VERY rich! The potatoes with gravy were absolutely out of this world. Both of us enjoyed these mashed potatoes much more than I thought we would. The gravy is a white cream gravy and it is absolutely decadent. The chicken dinner, as it is served, is what I would call "sinfully good". On the other hand, the greens were just ok. They were really sweet and while we finished everything else, we both just had a few bites of greens. They were a mix of kale and collards and not something I'd order again, which is sort of a shame because most of the sides are all starchy carbs and I think a solid green vegetable dish would really round out the menu.

We had heard the legend, seen the pictures, and ordered appropriately to prepare... Of course we were having dessert! We had a great view of the fresh cakes in the window of the open kitchen behind us and struggled mightily with the decision - the chocolate cake was awfully appealing and the hummingbird cake was highly recommended by our excellent server Tara. Instead we opted for the quintessential Homecoming dessert - the Shine cake. This was ooey gooey after being soaked in the moonshine and was improved by the very good vanilla ice cream served alongside it. If you can't tell in the photo, this slice of cake was massive. Maybe 1/6 of a whole pound cake? And it was served with a delicious berry sauce. My only complaint was that we would have liked more of the sauce! We really enjoyed this and it was a fun change of pace from the standard Disney desserts.

In addition to the Shine cake we'd ordered, Tara brought me a complimentary birthday dessert - two of their mini doughnuts with a scoop of ice cream. These differed from the early photos of this dish I'd seen online - they had the crunchy exterior and round appearance of hush puppies. They were crisp and sweet and very good, but I was happy with just the size in the serving we got.

Disney makes birthdays very special!

This was a great meal and a very fun experience. It was obvious that the staff genuinely enjoys working at Homecoming and there was a lot of pride in the food and the whole establishment. The decor was fun and fresh, management was on hand to ensure everything was perfect, and the food stands alone even if everything else wasn't also excellent. I would definitely recommend this restaurant, but would encourage sharing! The portions were huge (at least on the chicken meal). We had one app, one entree, one extra side, one (paid) dessert, 2 bourbon cocktails and 2 beers for a total of $95.85. I thought this was a very fair price for the quality and quantity of the food. Chef Smith's restaurant in Atlanta is much more expensive.

Up next: more adventuring around Disney Springs! And our first effort at a monorail crawl...

 

[Jerusalem Gal]

Happy birthday!!!!!
I'm in and waiting for more updates!!
Oh, and I LOVE your dress!

 

[nco91590]

YAY! I can't wait to visit Homecoming in March LOVE me some Southern food.

 

[ariane37]

Joining! Happy Belated Birthday and I love the Ears you're wearing!
Look forward to reading more

 

[pepperandchips]

Happy birthday!!!!!
I'm in and waiting for more updates!!
Oh, and I LOVE your dress!

Thank you! It was a Target find from 2014 if I am remembering correctly. I feel like it's a little Minnie Mouse-ish but not too crazy. So glad to have you here!!!

YAY! I can't wait to visit Homecoming in March LOVE me some Southern food.

Oh my gosh it was so good. I'm already ready to go back!! Thanks for reading along!

Joining! Happy Belated Birthday and I love the Ears you're wearing!
Look forward to reading more

Thank you! It was the best birthday yet! And thank you about the ears - I make them! My shop name is in my signature, I don't know the rules about reposting it again here so I'll just leave it at that to be on the safe side

 

[pepperandchips]

Okay guys, I am going to try to marathon complete this DR so that it doesn't languish. Next update in 3, 2, 1....

August 13 continued:

After our incredible Birthday lunch, we both needed to do some walking to ease the discomfort we were experiencing after stuffing ourselves with all that goodness. R had realized (once we were already in the Atlanta airport ) that he forgot his swimsuit, so we were in need of a pair of mens’ swim trunks anyway and Disney Springs seemed like a great place to find some. We quickly came across Uniqlo – I think it opened in mid July and I had been eagerly anticipating an opportunity to stop by. They have a huge collection of $15 Disney tees, and R found a swimsuit that he liked. I picked up this Star Wars tee:

and we got $5 off by signing up for the mailing list in store on my phone. I could have spent much longer browsing but wanted to get some pool time in, so we moved on.

We had mostly concluded our business at Disney Springs but I wanted to continue the party so we stopped at Dockside Margaritas for a beverage. I am a big proponent of the Rum Runner - it's made with spiced rum, blackberry brandy, creme de banana, fruit juice, and topped with a 151 rum floater. R opted for the Habanero Lime Margarita - made with Patron and a pre-mixed habanero margarita mix. We enjoyed our drinks and continued strolling around.

Eventually we stopped in at Sprinkles to redeem my birthday reward for a free cupcake. These are normally $4.95 and we paid for an additional cupcake. After conferring with the Sprinkles employee who was managing the outside queue to get into the shop, I selected the dark chocolate cupcake with sprinkles. R opted for the salted caramel. I really enjoyed watching the Sprinkles folks assembling the cupcakes through the glass viewing area. One employee was assembling a Smores cupcake and blow torching the frosting right in front of us, so that was particularly cool. In just a few moments after ordering, our number was called and we had cupcakes in hand. As you might suspect, we had these boxed to go and saved them for future enjoyment.

We waited for quite some time at the bus terminal for the return voyage to Coronado Springs, where we put R's new trunks to good use and visited the Dig Site Pool. We, of course, visited the pool bar there for beers - I had a Shock Top and I believe R had a Corona. We did not photograph these selections but I'll let you envision two beers.

Now, you may be tabulating the number of beverages consumed to this point and you would be right if you guessed our next Disney experience was the underappreciated but essential afternoon nap. You'd also be right if you guessed that those beverages would wreak havoc on my evening plans -- for obvious reasons I was not feeling 100% when we awoke. We'd originally planned on doing a monorail crawl for my birthday and that requires a fairly early start. For a number of reasons, including an Uber fail, the Electrical Water Pageant slowing boat traffic, and our nap, we made it to the Grand Floridian around 9:40 pm and beelined it to Citrico's.

For my birthday, there was one very special Disney dessert I'd been dying to try, and you folks here on the Dining Reports board likely know exactly what I'm talking about. We grabbed seats at the completely empty bar (they do close at 10:00, after all) and were treated to two complimentary glasses of sparkling wine by the fantastic bartender, Courtney. We ordered up my much-anticipated birthday dessert: the warm chocolate banana torte.

Courtney was a great server and conversationalist and she made quite a production out of bringing me not only the torte but a very special birthday dessert: a tiny ice cream! I was so excited.

The torte was everything I imagined - not too sweet but a deep, dark chocolate with the banana baked inside adding a richness to the cocoa flavor. Apparently the chocolate crown is intended to be broken up and enjoyed with the torte and ice cream, but we just enjoyed eating it after we'd finished the torte. The vanilla ice cream served both with the torte and in the tiny ice cream was also very good and rich - not just your average vanilla ice cream.

I also ordered an old fashioned cocktail, but alas the hair of the dog did not seem to be doing the trick in reviving me after a long day of birthday celebrations. After enjoying the very decadent birthday dessert I was not feeling like continuing to eat or drink anything, so we made the decision to go back to Coronado and call it a night. Our drinks and dessert was somewhere around $35, which was great for the quality of the experience we enjoyed. Disney again did not disappoint in truly making me feel like a birthday princess!

After our Uber driver dropped us off at the resort, R was still hungry (I mean, who isn't full just from half a dessert? ) so we stopped in at the Pepper Market where he ordered a burger with potato wedges and, having worked up an appetite after that 5 minute car ride, I ordered the children's chicken tenders with fries. I didn't take any photos of these because 1.) I wasn't feeling great and 2.) it was quick service that we ate in our pjs in our bed at the resort. The burger was actually much better than I expected and the kid's tenders were about what you'd expect, but exactly what the doctor ordered and had me feeling much better the next day.

Ahead: California Grill brunch! and we get to ride Frozen After Eating (wait, something like that)

 

[vettegirl]

Happy Birthday! Great reviews, and also I am a huge CSR fan

 

[Vikss]

Really looking forward to reading about your California Grill brunch!

 

[pepperandchips]

August 14th

The next day we awoke fairly early, but I'd vowed not to go at a breakneck pace and there was really no reason for us to attempt rope drop on this trip. Of course, every day at Disney requires a good breakfast to start the day, and we elected to kick off our day by enjoying one of those Sprinkles cupcakes we'd set aside.

This was good, but I think we should have kept it at room temperature instead of refrigerating the cupcakes overnight. The cupcake tasted more like Milk Chocolate than Dark Chocolate to me and I would not pay $5 for one of these in the future.

We got ready at a fairly leisurely pace before heading for Epcot, where we waited in a 5 minute line to view the world's first backup system before getting a glimpse into our future on Spaceship Earth. #thanksPhoenicians

We walked on to Nemo and spent some time afterward enjoying the aquariums in The Seas. The rays and turtles were very active and swam right up to me on the other side of the tank. The cast members were cleaning the coral installations in the tank so that was fun to watch. We stopped for a water break at the Land Pavilion before Soarin around the World.

Having completed two more of Melinda's must-dos, we were ready to move on to our big ADR of the trip. We caught a monorail to the TTC and spread out in our own compartment. I love the view from this monorail ride.

We arrived at the Contemporary Resort a few minutes ahead of our reservation time for brunch, so R took 5 to change his clothes and I enjoyed my favorite art in all of Walt Disney World.

Soon, we were headed up!

This was not my first time enjoying the California Grill brunch - I'd tried it back in May with my mom for her birthday and we very much enjoyed it. This has to be my favorite dining experience at Walt Disney World - I actually liked our brunch at the California Grill better than I enjoyed the Food and Wine Festival preview event I attended in June! I knew this was a must-do experience for my birthday, and once again the brunch delivered a truly remarkable meal in a lovely environment with outstanding service.

Upon our arrival we waited a few minutes to be seated while we enjoyed the live music.

Our table was in the portion of the restaurant nearest Bay Lake Tower. We started with mimosas and our server gave R a brief overview of how the process works.

Unlike our last visit to the CG brunch, our server told us that everything - including entree selections - was unlimited. I like mimosas but I can do without the sugar from the orange juice (rather get those calories elsewhere!). We enjoyed bottomless sparkling wine on our last visit so I ordered some this time as well. (The below photo is from our May visit, we had nasty weather this most recent time)

The starter pastries were good but I knew not to overindulge in them - we took most of these with us to enjoy later. R really liked the scone, while I preferred the cheese biscuits. The sticky bun was good but it wasn't a favorite for either of us.

We enjoyed the very good french press coffee and helped ourselves to the "self serve" (this is how fancy people refer to a buffet I guess) items.

I am a huge fan of wedge salads and this one is incredible. The bacon remains crisp while the creamy dressing and blue cheese make a varied texture within each bite. Last time this dish was plated on individual bread-sized plates and I think I preferred it that way. It was messy on my big plate with everything else.

In the picture above, I had (from the top, clockwise): wedge salad, kale salad, deviled egg topped with the spicy kazan sauce, cheese selections and pork sausage from the charcuterie self-serve, california roll, spicy tuna roll, and the fregola salad.

Below you can see my fruit as well with a piece of very good honeycomb.

The prosecco kept flowing and I felt extremely special and fancy.

We debated several options for our entrees, and when the time came I totally blanked and ordered one that we had not finally landed on! The hanger steak with chimichurri, poached eggs, and marble potatoes.

I'm not going to mince words here: this was not good. I'd had a very good steak and eggs at the grand floridian cafe with a chimichurri on another trip and I was hoping for a similar experience. The hanger steak was a bad cut, it was chewy despite being cooked to a very rare medium rare and tasted charred (in an unpleasant way) around the outside. R did not care for the chimichurri which was uncharacteristic for him, and the potatoes were bland and nothing special. Most of this dish remained uneaten.

We also ordered the blueberry pancakes to share:

These were light and fluffy and topped with fresh blueberry sauce and a vanilla custard. They were good pancakes and we ate most of them. I would have been disappointed had I chosen this for my main entree, but fortunately guests can order as much as they like! These make a great brunch "side". We took the leftover of these as well.

Finally, R selected the entree I'd had at my last visit to this brunch, the chicken cutlets:

Are you sensing a theme? Art Smith's fried chicken, chicken tenders as a late night meal, chicken cutlets at CG brunch... I swear I don't eat this much fried chicken on a regular basis at home, but HOLY COW this is so good. When do you ever recommend the chicken cutlet among a menu of choices ranging from lobster to steak to shrimp and beyond? This panko crusted, crispy piece of perfection manages to pack a wallop of flavor into a texture dream. The chicken is so savory and the crunch is so perfect - we ate all of this and all of the greens underneath the chicken.

Finally, we had dessert:

I can't even begin to tell you my favorite part of this incredible dessert plate. The jam cookies are crunchy, sweet, and fruity and vie with the macarons for my top picks. Upon request we were served additional macarons: the ones pictured here are a fudgy chocolate and raspberry. The additional macarons were another chocolate and a salted caramel. The caramel was the best but the others were also excellent. The homemade toffee pieces got mostly taken with us since they travel so well (and taste so good later!) and we enjoyed the truffles (caramel and passion fruit, I believe) there in the restaurant. I think R ate both Madeleines - they were good and had a light lemon flavor.

While we were enjoying our meal, the weather had turned sour. A storm rolled in as we headed out.

Before we left, our server told us that it's not certain whether the brunch will continue after 2016. I am extremely disappointed that Disney may not continue to offer this - it's definitely a special occasion treat given the price ($80 per person for brunch is steep) but I belong to Tables in Wonderland and $64 per person for an incredible meal with unlimited prosecco is certainly worth the splurge. I had a feeling that news of discontinuing the brunch may be coming - I wanted to book this for New Year's Day but no dates in 2017 are available at present. Per our server, the bigwigs are meeting about whether to continue the event. He said that reservation numbers are climbing, and I asked him to pass along our love of the offering. My two cents is that they should offer the Narcoossee's brunch and California Grill brunch on different days - one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Travelers like me who might have done both events for a really special occasion are forced to choose between the two since many Disney vacations last seven days or fewer.

We walked around the Contemporary a bit and over to Bay Lake Tower as I am a new DVC member and wanted to check it out. The view from one side of the fourth floor pedestrian bridge looked like this, while the other direction was sunny and gorgeous.

Having waited out the worst of the weather, we bid farewell to the Contemporary (for now) and boarded a monorail back to the TTC before heading to Epcot for more fun.

 

[suse66]

Such terrific reviews! I am really enjoying reading all about your birthday trip, especially since I am heading out on a (belated) birthday trip of my own this Sunday! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[pepperandchips]

August 14, Continued:

We knew that if we wanted to achieve our dreams of a monorail crawl, we'd need to forego the nap this afternoon and power through the mid afternoon heat and crowds. Fortunately a few weeks before the trip I was able to make a Frozen Ever After fastpass for late afternoon so there was an added incentive to stay in the parks.

We enjoyed the scenic (and air conditioned) tour of current Epcot conditions from the highway in the sky:

It was still a little dreary overhead in spots but it was better than the alternative of broiling under the sun.

We decided to visit some friends that rarely require a wait to visit - The Three Caballeros - three gay caballeros! They say they are birds of a featherrrrrr

Soon it was time to visit Norway.

Yes, the posted wait is 105 minutes. I'm frankly surprised it wasn't longer - but I had been diligent about stalking MDE at all hours until I found a fastpass time that worked for us. We had booked the room on July 15th so there was no chance at a fastpass without working for it, and work I did! But it paid off.

I own Frozen and I like it just as well as most of my other Disney favorites - I am by no means a Frozen diehard fan, but I think it's a cute story with good music and some good funny moments.

I feel the same way about the attraction - I wanted to see it again (we went 50% on our two fastpasses from June since the ride was down so often) and I really enjoyed it.

It's a feel good attraction with some awe-inspiring moments and a lot of cool effects. I wouldn't wait longer than about 20 minutes for this attraction, so fastpasses are necessary in my opinion. It's a very good dark ride but it's too short to merit a long wait during a short Disney trip.

It's funny (and I never thought I would say this) but I actually find myself missing the oil rig things at the end! Fortunately I don't have to miss the puffins as they make a little cameo appearance.

With our fastpass out of the way, we were free to explore the park and we took in world showcase at a leisurely pace. We stopped in Germany for a beer:

(These are not the beers we stopped for - I lifted this photo from a batch I took on a previous trip when the weather was better and I was more photo-happy.)

It was raining a steady but light drizzle so the afternoon is fairly light on pictures - I didn't want to get my camera wet and we were just enjoying the afternoon in Epcot with few plans on the horizon.

We stopped for a little break to watch Les Parfaits Inconnus, which I was calling the "imparfaits" to myself and was probably more apropos. It was odd, but they were somehow self aware of the oddity so it was actually funny and I liked the act. Have I heard somewhere that they are already being replaced? I liked this show and they attracted a fair sized crowd but I don't think it's the right fit for this space.

Shortly thereafter we decided we'd had enough fun at Epcot and we decided to move on to the weekend's next big adventure: the monorail crawl! I promise the next post will be more dining heavy and less attraction focused

 

[pepperandchips]

Happy Birthday! Great reviews, and also I am a huge CSR fan

Thank you! I am a CSR convert after this trip! It was a beautiful resort and perfect for our long weekend. I have been following along on your "dining on the fly" report too even if I haven't piped up to say so

Really looking forward to reading about your California Grill brunch!

Your wish is my command! It was wonderful. Please let me know if you have any questions!!

Such terrific reviews! I am really enjoying reading all about your birthday trip, especially since I am heading out on a (belated) birthday trip of my own this Sunday! Looking forward to reading more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you wear your button and get lots of wonderful birthday treats. There is no place better to celebrate! Thanks for following along!

 

[vettegirl]

Thanks for following my report

 

[Lisa F]

August 14, Continued:

We knew that if we wanted to achieve our dreams of a monorail crawl, we'd need to forego the nap this afternoon and power through the mid afternoon heat and crowds. Fortunately a few weeks before the trip I was able to make a Frozen Ever After fastpass for late afternoon so there was an added incentive to stay in the parks.

We enjoyed the scenic (and air conditioned) tour of current Epcot conditions from the highway in the sky:

It was still a little dreary overhead in spots but it was better than the alternative of broiling under the sun.

We decided to visit some friends that rarely require a wait to visit - The Three Caballeros - three gay caballeros! They say they are birds of a featherrrrrr

Soon it was time to visit Norway.

Yes, the posted wait is 105 minutes. I'm frankly surprised it wasn't longer - but I had been diligent about stalking MDE at all hours until I found a fastpass time that worked for us. We had booked the room on July 15th so there was no chance at a fastpass without working for it, and work I did! But it paid off.

I own Frozen and I like it just as well as most of my other Disney favorites - I am by no means a Frozen diehard fan, but I think it's a cute story with good music and some good funny moments.

I feel the same way about the attraction - I wanted to see it again (we went 50% on our two fastpasses from June since the ride was down so often) and I really enjoyed it.

It's a feel good attraction with some awe-inspiring moments and a lot of cool effects. I wouldn't wait longer than about 20 minutes for this attraction, so fastpasses are necessary in my opinion. It's a very good dark ride but it's too short to merit a long wait during a short Disney trip.

It's funny (and I never thought I would say this) but I actually find myself missing the oil rig things at the end! Fortunately I don't have to miss the puffins as they make a little cameo appearance.

With our fastpass out of the way, we were free to explore the park and we took in world showcase at a leisurely pace. We stopped in Germany for a beer:

(These are not the beers we stopped for - I lifted this photo from a batch I took on a previous trip when the weather was better and I was more photo-happy.)

It was raining a steady but light drizzle so the afternoon is fairly light on pictures - I didn't want to get my camera wet and we were just enjoying the afternoon in Epcot with few plans on the horizon.

We stopped for a little break to watch Les Parfaits Inconnus, which I was calling the "imparfaits" to myself and was probably more apropos. It was odd, but they were somehow self aware of the oddity so it was actually funny and I liked the act. Have I heard somewhere that they are already being replaced? I liked this show and they attracted a fair sized crowd but I don't think it's the right fit for this space.

Shortly thereafter we decided we'd had enough fun at Epcot and we decided to move on to the weekend's next big adventure: the monorail crawl! I promise the next post will be more dining heavy and less attraction focused

weird question? first of all loving your report! Are those pics of the grapefruit beer? have you ever had it? I just booked biergarten for our upcoming trip and I am not really a beer person but I do like a belgian white every so often. Wondered if you'd had the grapefruit beer and what you thought of it. Thanks!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Loving the reviews!

 

[pepperandchips]

August 14, part 3:

We took yet another monorail ride across the long segment between Epcot and the TTC. We were headed for a few more monorail rides as tonight we'd be SUCCESSFULLY achieving my birthday goal of a monorail crawl. We decided to start at the Polynesian, because it is closest to the TTC and also because it has probably my favorite lounge on property:

Over the years we've had consistently good service, well-made drinks, and good food in this lounge. This visit was different in only one regard: we had not just good, but EXCEPTIONAL service from Phillippe. We arrived around 6:00 and were able to grab the only vacant low-top table and, to use a favorite Muppets expression, "parked our carcasses". I selected my favorite Walt Disney World adult beverage, the backscratcher ($10) which is rum, more rum, passion fruit juice, and jack daniel's whiskey served with a bamboo backscratcher.

As usual, this fruity tropical drink whet my whistle and tickled my birthday fancy.

R picked the Ultimate Long Island Iced Tea, which is rum, vodka, gin, Cointreau, sweet and sour mix, and he asked for diet coke (usually comes with coca-cola) for $10.75. It wasn't very pretty, but R liked it since it wasn't too sweet. I didn't take a photo of it alone because it looked pretty much like a murky iced tea, but you can see it in the above photo behind my umbrella drink.

We enjoyed our beverages nice and slow and watched families come and go waiting for tables at Ohana. We have never dined at Ohana, mostly because I can't justify the dinner price. And because these beauties are available in the Tambu lounge:

For $9, you get six Ohana honey coriander sticky wings and if these were serving as my dinner I could stuff myself silly for about $18. Instead, we split this order and had another round of beverages. If you have not had the Ohana wings they are also served at Kona and the Tambu Lounge, and they are sweet and sticky and have a lovely savory "brown" flavor that I think is a result of sesame oil. They are billed as honey coriander but I don't taste the coriander - it's like a sweet teriyaki flavor and I love these. My sole complaint is that these were untouched when I took the photo - we really did get literally two pieces of celery. I feel like they should either give you a reasonable side serving of celery or leave it off altogether. Two pieces is just silly.

Did I mention that our server was fabulous? He spent a long time talking to us and interacting with the other guests in the lounge area as well. We watched him serve up the cocktail umbrellas (minus cocktails, of course) to order for a group including small kids at the next table over ("I want ALL the colors" - a request he happily obliged). This happy CM seemed to really love his job and we loved chatting with him. Phillippe talked to us about birthday plans and our fireworks strategy before disappearing for a few minutes, only to return with this:

and two leis! I was over the moon excited about the leis. Probably because I'd had the two backscratchers, for one thing, but also because I've never stayed at the Poly and I've always enviously eyeballed all the guests roaming this gorgeous resort with their leis. Here's photographic evidence of my lei and also my level of "enjoyment" after those two backscratchers. The dessert was a yummy chocolate mini brownie that was a little gooey on top (maybe from the whipped cream?) and it was very tasty. As was the white chocolate baton.

Our total at Tambu Lounge after tax, tip, and tables in wonderland was $52.12 for two rounds of drinks and the wings. After we finished the brownie we headed back to the monorail for a one-stop ride back to the Grand Floridian.

R wanted to hit up Mizner's but there were no vacant tables, so we "settled" for the Citrico's lounge for a second straight night. It was about 7:25 when we arrived, so I am a little surprised there was room in Citrico's but not at Mizner's. Courtney welcomed us back with enthusiasm and we perched at the bar to enjoy her company. There were other guests dining at the bar that night as well, so there was plenty of cheer all around. Within a short time all the barstools were occupied.

Once again we were presented with sparkling wine to celebrate my big day

R ordered up a double Bulleit rye and ginger ale

While I tried something new - upon Courtney's recommendation and assurances that she would doctor it for me - the Salted Caramel Manhattan. This is whiskey, sweet vermouth, salted caramel syrup, bitters, and pineapple juice ($15). Courtney made it with bourbon and less vermouth for me to make it smoother.

I really enjoyed this but as promised it was very sweet. One was enough of those... But it seemed her shaker was bottomless as I kept getting "just the last bit from the shaker" to top me off

We were served a basked of three different kinds of bread with salted butter:

Both R and I preferred the very delicious olive bread you see there in the middle... There was more that may have been consumed before I remembered and took this picture.

Each party at the bar who was ordering food was also served the chef's choice of amuse bouche - ours was the arancini (crispy risotto, mascarpone, spicy garlic poma rosa sauce) and it was DIVINE. I will be ordering the full portion of these the next time I'm at Walt Disney World. Every party at the bar got different amuse bouche offerings. I don't recall the other ones (maybe something to do with those Manhattan "top offs")

The red sauce was killer and the use of risotto instead of dry rice made all the difference. I'm not usually a fan of arancini, but then I met these guys. Yum.

We were hungry but not interested in splitting a large entree so we selected two starters to share, the Citrico's flatbread (wild mushroom, truffle cheese, tomato, guanciale, garlic crema $18) and the cheese board (artisanal cheese served with fruit compote, lemon-thyme cake, Savannah Bee honeycomb, nuts and fruit for $18).

These were excellent selections. The flatbread is one of the best things I've ever had - I can't even describe the flavor but I think the key here was the light flavor of truffle throughout. It had an almost meaty flavor despite being a veggie flatbread. The cheese board was masterfully selected and presented and we enjoyed it but did not finish it. R especially enjoyed the lemon thyme cake. The best idea I had was to enjoy some goat cheese from the cheese board spread on the crispy naked edge crust of the flatbread. HEAVENLY!

Somewhere in the mix of this endeavor we were offered a shot, which we politely declined, but Courtney made it for us anyway, so of course we had to drink it. It was a peach something or other made with Jameson whisky and of course being Citrico's it had a very fancy thin slice of peach on the glass. It was good and it ended up being complimentary so no complaints there! We paid for one old fashioned, one salted caramel manhattan (in retrospect I now see that this "signature" cocktail was nearly twice the price of my usual old fashioned), one whiskey and ginger ale, the flatbread, and the cheese board. With tax, tip, and tables in wonderland the total was $71.21.

This was an expensive stop but worth every penny. I was surprised by how much we enjoyed Citrico's since the menu has never really appealed to me. I am absolutely putting this restaurant into our regular rotation. I am actually trying to figure out how to fit this in to my upcoming December trip.

We wanted to be sure to make it over to Bay Lake Tower in time for fireworks viewing at the top of the world lounge, so we settled up with Courtney around 9:00 and boarded the monorail again. At the Bay Lake Tower lobby we found the check in desk and I was SO EXCITED to show the CM my phone or magic band to distinguish me as a DVC member... well she basically saw the DVC website on my phone screen (I wasn't even signed in) and handed us the slip of paper to allow us entry on the elevator. Womp womp.

Upstairs it was a mob scene. We got drinks. No photos were taken. The fireworks were magical, as always, and I was grateful to experience my first trip to the Top of the World. I think in the future I will try to catch a sunset here and settle in before the crowd descends.

We decided to finish our monorail crawl at The Wave lounge. (No, we really did not need another drink. Did we have one anyway? yes)

I had an old fashioned that was very sweet and not at all as good as Courtney's version at Citrico's with the luxardo cherries. I hate it when old fashioneds are made with too much simple syrup and not enough bitters and that was definitely the case here.

Judging from the quality of the photo, however, you can probably tell that I had no problem finishing the drink anyway despite the quality

We also got another birthday dessert!

We ate this even though it was basically the exact same thing we'd eaten at the Poly a few hours before The bartenders here were great company and we had a really fun experience. There was another guest there (whose name I shall not reveal) and he was probably in his mid forties. It was his real birthday, unlike Melinda the sham who was already 29 and one day old, and when he saw me get the birthday dessert he was like HEY IT'S MY REAL BIRTHDAY! So he got a birthday dessert too. It was hilarious how much of an affront it was that he did not get the birthday dessert to start with - but in fairness, he did not have on a birthday button (and sticker!) and I did. And my lei. And with that, we successfully completed our tour of the monorail resorts and walked back to the Magic Kingdom bus stops to get a ride back to Coronado.

Up next: lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby and the wrap up!

 

[pepperandchips]

weird question? first of all loving your report! Are those pics of the grapefruit beer? have you ever had it? I just booked biergarten for our upcoming trip and I am not really a beer person but I do like a belgian white every so often. Wondered if you'd had the grapefruit beer and what you thought of it. Thanks!

Hi Lisa! Thank you! Not a weird question at all! Yes, those photos are of the grapefruit beer which is sold at the cart out by the lagoon, the beer stand as you first enter the Germany pavilion on the right hand side, as well as inside the quick service sommerfest at the back of the pavilion. I say this because 1.) I LOVE the grapefruit beer and 2.) at different times of the year during the festivals it may not be available at one or more of the locations that usually sell it so I want you to be able to find it!

I think it is a great refreshing choice - it is very light and fruity, but it is only like 2% alcohol. It is more of a shandy - carbonated grapefruit juice blended with a lighter style beer, which "waters down" the alcohol content. I don't drink to get drunk (especially at a theme park) so that is a positive aspect of this drink for me, because you can still enjoy drinking around the world but if you have one of these in the middle it helps to keep you from getting too inebriated. My local beer place also carries these (for much less than they cost at Epcot) so you might try looking out for it in your hometown to see if you like it!

Loving the reviews!

Thank you! I love remembering all the yummy food and the fun time we had! Appreciate you reading along

 

[Lisa F]

Hi Lisa! Thank you! Not a weird question at all! Yes, those photos are of the grapefruit beer which is sold at the cart out by the lagoon, the beer stand as you first enter the Germany pavilion on the right hand side, as well as inside the quick service sommerfest at the back of the pavilion. I say this because 1.) I LOVE the grapefruit beer and 2.) at different times of the year during the festivals it may not be available at one or more of the locations that usually sell it so I want you to be able to find it!

I think it is a great refreshing choice - it is very light and fruity, but it is only like 2% alcohol. It is more of a shandy - carbonated grapefruit juice blended with a lighter style beer, which "waters down" the alcohol content. I don't drink to get drunk (especially at a theme park) so that is a positive aspect of this drink for me, because you can still enjoy drinking around the world but if you have one of these in the middle it helps to keep you from getting too inebriated. My local beer place also carries these (for much less than they cost at Epcot) so you might try looking out for it in your hometown to see if you like it!

it sounds like it might just be right up my alley! I will be traveling solo with my kiddo so lower alcohol content sounds good to me

 

[MeganS721]

Loving the reviews! Can't wait to try California Grill and Homecoming Florida Kitchen for the first time in April. Your reviews are getting me even more excited for our trip and all the food!!