Next from Miss Potts was a lunch update from Animal Kingdom's...
"I had the Pork Sandwich with coleslaw and DH had the Smoked Chicken Salad. We also got a side order of onion rings... They are so good from here! I had water and DH had sweet tea."
"We used our TiW card to save 20%... It came out to a $5 savings!! We did have an issue using it though... The girl tried to swipe it a few times and handed it back to me and said "it's not working". She didn't attempt to override it or anything, so I had to push back and say that it should work. Finally a supervisor came over and it worked just fine. I didn't care for the girl's attitude... I felt bad holding the line up for a few minutes BUT that $5 savings paid for my evening snack... Coming in another update!!"
2 September Game Points Earned + 3 Bonus Points for sign, menu, and pic of Miss Potts
Ahhhh how I've missed FT BBQ's pulled pork sandwich. Gotta try those onion rings sometime! Looking forward to seeing what Amy did with her TiW savings.... since we know it's food related!
Then Miss Potts sent us an update from their dinner last night at the Grand Floridian's...
"DH started with an Anchor Steam beer...
"Our bread came out quickly... Loved the pink Hawaiian sea salt! The bread was good... Crunchy on the outside and warm and soft in the middle!"
"For our appetizers we had the Jones Farm organic heirloom tomato salad...
... and the Crispy Rhode Island calamari."
"They brought the calamari first and then brought the salad out. They were kind enough to split the salad in the kitchen for us and plate separately. Both were delicious but the heirloom tomato salad was the clearcut winner. The tables around us probably thought we were crazy with how much we ooo'd and aww'd over it! But seriously, we are thinking about going again this week just for some salad!! I also want to mention that the salad was a perfect size to split. It would have been way too much for one person as an appetizer."
"For dinner, DH had the scallops...
... and I had the filet mignon."
"We also ordered a side of the lobster Mac and cheese."
"DH's meal was awesome... the flavor went together really well and the scallops were fresh and melt in your mouth. I enjoyed my meal, the filet was cooked perfectly (medium) but I still prefer the filet at Le Cellier. The lobster Mac and cheese was good but we were reallllly full... A few bites was all we took."
"Narcoossee's has just made itself a top restaurant for us! This was our first visit and certainly won't the last!"
5 September Game Points Earned + 4 Bonus Points for sign, menu pics and pic of Miss Potts and her DH
Both the Cali Grill and the Narcossee's meals look delicious! I've told my DH we are going to try and sit at the Bar at Narcosee's for dessert but I think for entrees there is just such a high risk of cross-contamination there that I don't want to risk it... (Although Bluezoo has much the same risk and we go there! )
So you may have noticed that Miss Potts and her DH did not have dessert at Narcoossee's. I think that is because she had something else in mind.
Here is her final report from yesterday, a two-part dessert update starting at...
Captain Cook's
She said, "Soooo, remember that $5 I saved earlier at Flame Tree Barbecue?!?!!"
"I spent it on a Red Velvet Cupcake from Captain Cook's...
And then Part II was from the Polynesian CL Lounge...
King Kamehameha Club
"We ate it in the concierge lounge while waiting to watch Hallowishes! It was an ok cupcake... I'm not rushing back to buy another or anything. It was BIG... DH and I shared this and we still didn't finish it. Although, maybe we didn't finish because we also snacked on some CL dessert offerings....
"Hallowishes started about 15 minutes late.. Not sure why, but we enjoyed watching from the lounge!"
And now it's time for our First Update of the Day, sent to us this morning by TeresaG.
This was a two-part report from her day yesterday at DHS, starting with a breakfast snack update from...
Starring Rolls Cafe
Teresa said, "For breakfast yesterday we used a snack credit and grabbed a chocolate peanut butter cupcake from Starring Rolls (hey, we're on vacation!)."
"The cupcake was great, a little dry, but it didn't diminish from taste. We split the cupcake and were VERY full afterwords. I could never imagine eating a whole one to myself."
"Then our lunch was at...
Mama Melrose
"We ordered drinks to start. DH had a beer and I had a white sangria. Yum."
"I started out with the Fresh Mozzarella and Vine-ripened Tomatoes - with marinated sweet onions, balsamic drizzle, basil-scented olive oil and fresh sweet basil. It was very good!"
"DH had the Caesar Salad with crisp romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing and herb croutons."
"He was not very impressed. He gave it a solid 'Meh' and said it needed more dressing. He also wasn't a fan of the lettuce not being cut."
"We split our entrees. DH had the Chicken Campanelle - wood-grilled chicken over Campanelle pasta tossed with four-cheese sauce with broccoflower, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and sweet onions (again, sorry, I took this picture after DH had split the pasta!)"
"I had the Wild Mushroom Flatbread - roasted cremini and button mushrooms with a garlic-shallot spread and finished with balsamic reduction."
"We enjoyed both entrees!"
"For dessert I had the almond amaretto cheesecake...
Chocolate Amarettini Cheesecake - Chocolate-flavored Cheesecake with a Cookie Crust, Almond Cream, and Italian Amarettini Cookies
...and DH had the panna cotta."
Seasonal Panna Cotta - No Sugar Added Vanilla Flavored Custard with Seasonal Fruit Compote
"The cheesecake was really good. DH was pleased with the panna cotta since he wanted something light."
"Our waiter brought us out some sparking wine to celebrate our 10 yr anniversary.
4 September Game Points Earned + 2 Bonus Points for pic of Teresa and First Update of the Day
Five other reporters have sent us about a dozen updates so far today...none of which are from the Food & Festival.
People, you are killing me!!!
But let's focus on the positive, and that is that I have 12 great updates for your viewing pleasure today, starting with 4 from DeeDee.
She said, "Last night we had a lovely dinner at...
"We have had lunch at Chefs before, but this was our first dinner experience. Similar to San Angel Inn, once we were seated it was very easy to forget that we were dining within a theme park. We received attentive, friendly service throughout our meal. Great service has been a consistent theme in our dining experiences on this trip."
"Once we ordered our drinks, we were promptly served with a hot baguette with butter."
"DH and I were able to have a small piece of bread, while 10 month old DD polished off the vast majority of the inside soft portion of the bread. I agree with her, it was very good bread."
"DH and I shared the cheese board....
"We both enjoy trying different types of cheese and we were presented with five different ones, Chames, Gruyere, Brie, Goat, and Blue. All of the cheeses were delicious with the accompanying walnuts, grapes, and raisin walnut bread adding to the wow factor."
"DH and I both selected the Beef Tenderloin with green peppercorn sauce, savoy potatoes, and green beans."
"My tenderloin was so tender that I could cut it with my fork. DH's cut of meat contained a little more gristle so while the taste was good, he struggled to cut and eat his steak. My steak was terrific and I thought the potatoes were great as well."
"For dessert DH chose the Profiteroles au Chocolat...
"The easiest way to describe them is that they were cream puffs filled with a scoop of ice cream with chocolate sauce on top. DH really enjoyed this dessert."
"I had the trio of sorbets...
"Last night the sorbets were Pineapple, Mango, and Coconut, but you were allowed to create any combination of three. I do not have a great love of coconut so I selected two scoops of mango and one scoop of pineapple. The sorbets were presented with a soft Madeleine cookie and fresh berries. I loved this dessert. After the steak and cheese board, this was a perfect light dessert for me."
"There was a malfunction with Illuminations last night which resulted in the fireworks show being presented at 9:30. As our dinner was late, we literally walked out to the beginning of Illuminations. Watching the show was the perfect ending to an outstanding meal."
3 September Game Points Earned + 3 Bonus Points for sign and menu pics
DeeDee (buzz1121) next sent us a breakfast update from the...
She said, "Today we grabbed a quick breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery. DH and I got the bacon and egg biscuit with a small cup of fruit. We elected to add cheese sauce to the biscuit for an up charge of $1.00."
"Sadly this biscuit just did not wow us at all. The biscuit itself was hard and had little flavor. The added cheese sauce was a minimal amount at best. I ended up picking off the bacon and egg and just eating them."
"Fortunately breakfast was saved by us going back in and ordering a raspberry danish for DH and an orange cranberry muffin for me."
"DH thought the danish was good. My muffin was really good. It was stuffed full of whole cranberries and had a great light orange taste as well. I plan to pick up a few of these muffins before we leave the World so I can freeze them to take out and eat when I need a taste of Disney."
5 September Game Points Earned + 1 Bonus Point for sign
Then DeeDee sent us an update from their lunch at DHS'...
She said, "The baby was asleep when we got there and through the bulk of the meal so our server did not engage us in any of the usual antics. We were fine with this as the peace a sleeping baby brings is simply verboten to mess with."
"We ate light because we had an early dinner booked at The Yachtsman Steakhouse. DH and I ordered the Caesar Salad. He ordered grilled chicken on his salad and I chose grilled salmon."
"We enjoyed our salads. The grilled salmon is perfectly seasoned and it is such a great complement for the salad base."
2 September Game Points Earned + 2 Bonus Points for name/menu pic
Then DeeDee's last update from this morning was a beverage snack update from Epcot's...
Joy of Tea
She said, "After lunch, we park hopped over to Epcot and took a stroll through World Showcase to pick up a few items to serve as gifts for our older children back home. In our walk around World Showcase we stopped by the Joy of Tea stand in the China Pavilion for a strawberry oolong slush and a mango green tea."
"These liquid refreshments tasted so good on a humid afternoon. We did see most of the F&W booths, but by the time we got there, the lines were long and little DD was hot and tired and with our reservation coming up at The Yachtsman I didn't want to press my luck so we didn't try anything. It all smelled so good though!"
Riles_and_Gabe was our next reporter to check in this morning, sending us three updates from yesterday.
The first was a three-part update from Animal Kingdom, the first of which was a breakfast snack report from...
"We had a breakfast reservation yesterday at 10:30 but needed a snack to tide us over until then. We headed to Kusafiri Bakery for a bite to eat. I was secretly hoping for a Brownie Paw but they were no where to be found."
"We went with a cheese Danish and an Orange Juice."
"These were a perfect item to tide us over until our breakfast."
"After our breakfast Gabrian thought about joining a band."
Next was this snack update...
"Gabrian got a Mickey Ice Cream Bar for a snack yesterday."
"Unfortunately, about a 1/3 of the way through the bar, I went to take a bite and dropped his bar. No worries there is another bar in his future."
And then their breakfast at...
She said, "I had struggled before the trip if we should have any character meals or not. When we arrived here we didn't have any because I had decided that they just were not worth it. Gabrian, however, seemed to have a much bigger interest in characters this year. On Thursday I was able to go online and get us this reservation."
"I am so glad that we went for the Character experience. I am not sure I could stomach to pay for this meal if we didn't have the Dining Plan. The food was ok and did it's job but like most buffets I wasn't wowed by the food."
"Gabrian had the green plate and mine was the other one."
"The characters more than made up for the food. Gabrian had such a fantastic time and loved that the characters came to our table."
5 September Game Points Earned + 9 Bonus Points for signs, menu, pics of Gabrian and his mom, character pics, and buffet pic
Riles_and_Gabe then sent us an update from their lunch yesterday at Animal Kingdom Lodge's...
She said, "Yesterday, when we were ready to leave Animal Kingdom I was in a quandary. I knew that by the time we got back to the Resort we would be hungry for lunch but I was not anxious to eat at the World Premiere Food Court again."
"We decided to check out Animal Kingdom Lodge and try the Mara. I am so glad we had time to explore the resort. What a huge improvement over our food court. I was so jealous."
"I liked how they had a CM in the middle of the food court to take our order. Then they give you a pager to let you know that your food is ready."
"I had the Falafel Pita, a diet coke, and a brownie with peanut butter frosting."
"This meal was so delicious! I wish I could have another one of those brownies right now."
"Gabrian had a mickey bar for lunch!"
"He thought it was a great lunch."
"We would definitely return here for lunch. We also enjoyed our after lunch stroll to the overlook. We were able to see a lot of great animals."
5 September Game Points Earned + 5 Bonus Points for sign, menus, pics of Gabrian and display case pic
Then for dinner last night, Riles_and_Gabrian headed to Downtown Disney's...
She said, "We met family last night for dinner. They were running late because they had to get through two car accidents while driving from their home. I wasn't sure Gabrian was going to make it. He fell asleep on the bus and was out pretty solid until about 15 minutes before our family arrived."
"The restaurant was fantastic. Even though we were about a half hour late they were able to seat us almost immediately. We got a great table in the main room where we could see all the dancing."
"I had two of the blueberry martinis."
Very Berry Blueberry Martini -Smirnoff Blueberry Vodka, Chambord, Triple Sec & cranberry juice.
"Very delicious and I loved the cherries they put in the bottom of the glass. They were deliciously soaked in alcohol by the time I got to them."
"We started with the calamari."
"We all really enjoyed it. We especially liked the fried vegetables they also had in the basket."
"I wanted the burger for dinner. Because I was on the Dining Plan and my family was paying out of pocket, I offered to order one of their more expensive meals and they could order my much cheaper burger so they could save money."
"I really enjoyed it. I only ate half because I had my eye on a particular dessert."
"Gabrian got the Serious Steak from the kids menu."
"I literally was able to cut it with a butter knife, it was that tender. I tried a bite of it and it was delicious. The rest of it went home with our family since Gabrian didn't eat any of it. He was way too distracted."
"My family ordered the Mixed Grill and the Chicken Curry."
"They both loved their dishes."
"We also shared my two desserts from the Dining Plan. We had the bread pudding...
... and the kids fruit plate."
"The bread pudding definitely lived up to all they hype!"
2 September Game Points Earned + 2 Bonus Points for sign and pic of a sleeping Gabrian
Our next update was sadly the final one from our reporter, Dreamport.
She said, "We HAD to ride Splash at least once, since it was under refurbishment on our last trip. It was shut down for a quick fix, so we grabbed a Fast Pass and hoped it would be up and running before we had to catch our bus."
"While we waited, we had lunch at...
"Taco fillings from the toppings bar."
"It's really easy to make a small side salad on your own with shredded lettuce, tomato, onions, and a few other veggies. This is one of the reasons we like Pecos Bill's so much. Cosmic Ray's has roughly the same set up in Tomorrowland."
"I had a hamburger with a side of tomatoes, lettuce, banana peppers, and onions & pickles for the burger. It was delicious! I also had a Coke for my drink."
"Close up of the topping bar items..."
"Kit had a cheeseburger and fries with tomatoes, ketchup, mustard and I think onions."
"We saved the apple slices to eat in line or just while waiting."
"Splash did break down again while we were already in line. They did put all the Fast Pass people from the line onto the ride before completely shutting down again though. Not sure what happened there but it sure made it a Zippety Doo Da day for us!"
"We got all the way to Brer Fox and Bear after the finale scene before it shut down again. I thought we would miss our bus but it started back up to let us off. No one was getting on when we exited. Oh, and we did make it to our bus in time."
"So in summary, Kit is glad to be home to "normal" food but I'm longing for another pumpkin spice waffle. At least home has mom's own Italian cooking. We hope everyone has fun at the F & W festival!"
3 September Game Points Earned + 4 Bonus Points for sign, toppings bar pics, and misc. pics
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
But seriously, we are thinking about going again this week just for some salad!! I also want to mention that the salad was a perfect size to split. It would have been way too much for one person as an appetizer."
)
Not sure what happened there but it sure made it a Zippety Doo Da day for us!"
