Go Big or Go Home! 17 Days of Disney Dining! COMPLETE & Food & Wine Fest Index

[Principessa]

Joining in

Great report! I am all caught up and looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

I think we will still try Artist Point in June. The salmon looks fabulous. And it's such a nice setting. We'll be at BLT so it's nice and close too.

 

[RGirl]

Yeesh - I fell really behind. I kind of had a little struggling finding my balance between work and the DIS after the holidays! But I’m caught up now…..

F&WF goodies - always awesome to torture myself with while sitting on my couch starving away the holiday pounds. : Everything looks so good! I also love that there were several of you, so you were able to sample so many things and share the pics with us. Very cool.

Awesome to get to move to BLT!!! Thanks so much for sharing some pics - I dream of staying there one day. Total bummer about Rob’s shoes though. That just sucks.

Kona breakfasts always look and sound really tasty. I wish I was more of a breakfast person!

Well, our BoG dinner experience was not great, so I was excited to read about your lunch since lunch seems to get the better reviews these days compared to dinner. I’m sad to hear the food was disappointing at lunch too. And what is up with not allowing you to have sauce on the side? :confused And I know exactly what you mean about desserts that just taste like sweet - I always say that! I don’t care for MOST desserts because that’s all they taste like to me. I’m sorry to hear that the much-touted grey stuff cupcake is the same. I have to say, it’s kind of freaky that they can find you in there via Magic Bands though! What in the world???

Loved the pics of ToTWL - very cool! Not something I get to see everyday. The food and drinks menus are great - what a neat place. I’m jealous….. You chose the exact food I would have; I’m sad to hear it wasn’t spectacular. What a great way to spend the evening though.

I haven’t heard a lot about Trail’s End, and I’m pretty sure I have never seen buffet pics. I love seeing something new! It looks like there was a lot of variety - my DD would be impressed with the chocolate-chip Mickey waffles. I am blown away by how good everything looks. I had no idea! I am torn between WL and AKL for our next trip (still in the wishing stage since we are doing a DL year for 2014); if we do WL, I hope I can remember about this place for breakfast.

I’m so glad you loved AP (weird server aside) - all of your choices look delicious. This place was definitely one of my two favorite signatures in August.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

We loved Trails In as well! It is yummy for supper too! Great food and good prices!

Thanks for sharing!

I would really like to try Trail's End for dinner too. Glad to hear that is tasty as well. Hopefully we'll get a chance to try it next trip.

Trail's End looks really good. My husband isn't much of a breakfast fan but maybe I can convince him! He loves Pulled Pork and Eggs Benedict (he had the Samoan in December but that failed to deliver)

Artist Point is a restaurant we want to love but it fails to deliver. My last meal there was SUPER SALTY! Love the resort and atmosphere but unless we are meal less and at the resort it will be awhile before we try it again. So sad.

That's too bad that Hunter isn't much of a breakfast fan. We are some breakfast loving fools!

I haven't had an issue with food on our two visits to AP. For us it has definitely been a service issue. Last time it bothered me more and this time it bothered Rob more. If we can just get a decent server it would be bumped up much higher on our must-do list. That really stinks that you had such a salty meal there.

You know how I feel about Artist Point - it's probably my favorite Disney restaurant. Still, it's been a while since I had the salmon there - it always looks great!

I think AP would be in my top 3 too if we could just get the service right. It's crazy how much bad or even just 'off' service can sway your feelings on a restaurant and even affect your memory of your food.

The salmon was one of the best entrees I have ever had in WDW. I would have a hard time ordering a different entree whenever I return next.

I am pretty sure my Mother-in-Law would love the salmon at Artist Point but the rest would be wasted on her, she's so fussy.

Every time I see that appetiser with the bacon and quail's egg, my mouth waters. It just looks (and sounds) so tasty.

As an aside, was that a dress you were wearing to AP? It looks like it would be very pretty - any chance of a full length pic?

At least if she were to get the salmon you could steal all of her accompaniments for yourself!

My appetizer was delicious. Very unique.

I love that dress. I wear it all the time. I got it at White House Black Market. (Not sure if you have that store on your side of the pond or not.)

This is a slightly better shot of the dress. Ignore my corny pose.

Hi Jeri,
Enjoyed your dining review update. Snow in CT again! Alot of people talk about FW being a great place to eat and very well priced and always over looked. Your breakfast looked great! Does BLT have a water slide? I'll be looking for more dining reviews! Alicia

Thanks Alicia! Ugh, I am so sick of snow. Is it spring yet?! Trail's End was fantastic. I highly recommend it!

BLT did have a water slide. I didn't go down the slide here at all, but it looked fun! The pool area at BLT was very nice.

I love all of your reviews!! I am dying to try Trail's End-- it's really a hidden gem! And we love getting dressed up for our signature dinners! It's part of the fun. You guys looked great for Artist Point!

Thank you so much! You should definitely try Trail's End on a future trip. It is a new must-do breakfast for us. It really is fun getting dressed up sometimes. There are not nearly enough reasons to get all dolled up and go out anymore, so I'll take any excuse I can get.

Joining in

Great report! I am all caught up and looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

I think we will still try Artist Point in June. The salmon looks fabulous. And it's such a nice setting. We'll be at BLT so it's nice and close too.

Hi there! Thanks for joining in!

I would definitely still recommend Artist Point. Service can be very subjective and can change like the wind blows, so unless something very crazy happened I wouldn't give a bad recommendation on service alone. The food there is fantastic. Hope you enjoy it!

I hope you have a great time at BLT too! I really love it there.

Yeesh - I fell really behind. I kind of had a little struggling finding my balance between work and the DIS after the holidays! But I’m caught up now…..

F&WF goodies - always awesome to torture myself with while sitting on my couch starving away the holiday pounds. : Everything looks so good! I also love that there were several of you, so you were able to sample so many things and share the pics with us. Very cool.

Awesome to get to move to BLT!!! Thanks so much for sharing some pics - I dream of staying there one day. Total bummer about Rob’s shoes though. That just sucks.

Kona breakfasts always look and sound really tasty. I wish I was more of a breakfast person!

Well, our BoG dinner experience was not great, so I was excited to read about your lunch since lunch seems to get the better reviews these days compared to dinner. I’m sad to hear the food was disappointing at lunch too. And what is up with not allowing you to have sauce on the side? :confused And I know exactly what you mean about desserts that just taste like sweet - I always say that! I don’t care for MOST desserts because that’s all they taste like to me. I’m sorry to hear that the much-touted grey stuff cupcake is the same. I have to say, it’s kind of freaky that they can find you in there via Magic Bands though! What in the world???

Loved the pics of ToTWL - very cool! Not something I get to see everyday. The food and drinks menus are great - what a neat place. I’m jealous….. You chose the exact food I would have; I’m sad to hear it wasn’t spectacular. What a great way to spend the evening though.

I haven’t heard a lot about Trail’s End, and I’m pretty sure I have never seen buffet pics. I love seeing something new! It looks like there was a lot of variety - my DD would be impressed with the chocolate-chip Mickey waffles. I am blown away by how good everything looks. I had no idea! I am torn between WL and AKL for our next trip (still in the wishing stage since we are doing a DL year for 2014); if we do WL, I hope I can remember about this place for breakfast.

I’m so glad you loved AP (weird server aside) - all of your choices look delicious. This place was definitely one of my two favorite signatures in August.

We really got to try so much at F&W. I am debating about whether or not to go back again this year during F&W. It is so, so good, but it can also take away from trying other restaurants. With having so much time this trip I didn't mind spending a lot of time there, but I'm not sure if I want to do that again this year if we only have 6 days or so.

I am looking into staying at BLT again this year. Although this time I think I might put out the extra DVC points for a better view. I think it would be worth it. I hope you get a chance to stay there in the future!

Kona is definitely a breakfast favorite for us. We do it every trip now. We are definitely some breakfast lovers!

Okay, I'm glad you know what I mean with the sweets. I manage to find PLENTY of sweets that I love, but a lot of stuff I come across is so boring. Especially in WDW this trip for some reason. Speaking of trying to find good sweets, I found an AMAZING flourless chocolate cookie recipe that I started using last month. I know from your DR that you have gluten issues, so I'll have to PM you this recipe. I think you would love it!

BOG really seems to be missing the mark for a lot of people. It's such a shame. I don't really understand the no sauce on the side thing either, but I wasn't about to fight it. Especially since they can track me down!

TOTWL was awesome! It's a shame that not everyone can get a chance to experience it. It would be great if they could step up the food options, but other than that it was such a cool place.

You should definitely check out Trail's End! They had so many other options that I didn't even have a chance to get pictures of. I would have never known about this place either if it wasn't for the Dis. It was so cheap too, which was great since we were paying OOP.

AKL and WL are both beautiful resorts. The plus to AKL is the animals. If you can get a savannah view room, it's a pretty amazing place to stay. However, WL is a lot better because you are so close to MK and all of the monorail resorts for meals. AKL Kidani has no food options and was a little bit of a pain in the neck to stay at when it came to meals. The walk over to Jambo was just far enough away that it seemed very inconvenient to get to. Especially if you're in a hurry. I stayed at WL 10 years ago and I loved it. Rob really wants to stay there on a future trip. If we don't end up at BLT this year I think we will stay at WL.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Loving your reviews!

I just saw a trail ends review for dinner DVD now your breakfast review. It's going on the list for next trip. I hear it's an easy reservation to get so I might leave it as a day to day pick. Both meals look awesome!

 

[RGirl]

We really got to try so much at F&W. I am debating about whether or not to go back again this year during F&W. It is so, so good, but it can also take away from trying other restaurants. With having so much time this trip I didn't mind spending a lot of time there, but I'm not sure if I want to do that again this year if we only have 6 days or so.

That's a really good point. The trip before this August trip, we were there during F&W, but with it just being me and a then-4 year old, I didn't spend a ton of time trying out the food and drinks. Some, but not a lot. I always seem to short-change Epcot restaurants, and I really would like to try more of them. I can certainly see how going during F&W regularly would have that effect too.

I am looking into staying at BLT again this year. Although this time I think I might put out the extra DVC points for a better view. I think it would be worth it. I hope you get a chance to stay there in the future!

I know a lot of people don't care much about a view because they are only going to be in the room to sleep. But I'm with you - I think it's worth it to get a view, mostly because I do spend time there other than sleeping. I like to enjoy the resort room, and a view is great for that.

Okay, I'm glad you know what I mean with the sweets. I manage to find PLENTY of sweets that I love, but a lot of stuff I come across is so boring. Especially in WDW this trip for some reason. Speaking of trying to find good sweets, I found an AMAZING flourless chocolate cookie recipe that I started using last month. I know from your DR that you have gluten issues, so I'll have to PM you this recipe. I think you would love it!

Oh, that would be great!! Thanks for thinking of me. I can make them as soon as I lose the holiday weight!

TOTWL was awesome! It's a shame that not everyone can get a chance to experience it. It would be great if they could step up the food options, but other than that it was such a cool place.

It certainly looks like a GREAT DVC perk. I am kind of toying with starting a savings account specifically earmarked to buy DVC. I swear - I could have bought a lot of resale DVC points with what I spent on our last Disney vacation.

You should definitely check out Trail's End! They had so many other options that I didn't even have a chance to get pictures of. I would have never known about this place either if it wasn't for the Dis. It was so cheap too, which was great since we were paying OOP.

I have seen a couple other reviews lately too that were really positive. We will definitely have to give this a try as something totally new and very convenient if we stay at WL!

AKL and WL are both beautiful resorts. The plus to AKL is the animals. If you can get a savannah view room, it's a pretty amazing place to stay. However, WL is a lot better because you are so close to MK and all of the monorail resorts for meals. AKL Kidani has no food options and was a little bit of a pain in the neck to stay at when it came to meals. The walk over to Jambo was just far enough away that it seemed very inconvenient to get to. Especially if you're in a hurry. I stayed at WL 10 years ago and I loved it. Rob really wants to stay there on a future trip. If we don't end up at BLT this year I think we will stay at WL.

Transportation concerns me a little bit for AKL, but since we are stuck with being there in the summer, I think it would be conducive to more resort time - seems like they have a lot of fun activities, and I would LOVE to sit out on a balcony drinking a glass of wine and watching the animals. But WL is usually significantly less expensive, and we really fell in love with it when we visited for our dinner at AP. Both have a lot of good food options too!

 

[rramsr]

What awesome reviews. Lots of wonderful places

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Loving your reviews!

I just saw a trail ends review for dinner DVD now your breakfast review. It's going on the list for next trip. I hear it's an easy reservation to get so I might leave it as a day to day pick. Both meals look awesome!

Thanks so much!

You shouldn't have trouble getting a reservation for Trail's End. It was fairly empty in there the day we went. It definitely seems to be very under the radar. I hope you get a chance to try it!

What awesome reviews. Lots of wonderful places

Thank you very much! More great places still to come!

 

[rodeo65]

Speaking of trying to find good sweets, I found an AMAZING flourless chocolate cookie recipe that I started using last month. I know from your DR that you have gluten issues, so I'll have to PM you this recipe. I think you would love it!

I would love that recipe too if you have a minute!! It was suggested that I remove gluten and dairy (and sugar which I kind of comply with as it suits) after a health scare last year so I'm always looking for good GF recipes.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

After our dinner at Artist Point we drove back to BLT and changed out of our dressy clothes and back into our comfy park attire. Then we headed out of the room and took the elevator up to the walkway that leads to Contemporary. It was a short trip and a cool view.





You could even see the night time movie from up here!


Once we reached the Contemporary we hopped on the monorail and headed to Grand Floridian. It was pretty crowded there that night and we got to see the musicians performing.


We took in the gorgeous atmosphere for a little while and then headed outside to our destination along the water.


When we walked in we asked the hostess if we could get dessert to go and she directed us to the bar. There wasn't a single open seat, so we walked all the way around to the side and waited for the bartender. The bartender was incredibly friendly and asked what he could get us and we asked if we could get dessert to go and he said, "Let me guess, the almond cheesecake?" I guess we aren't the only ones coming in just for this awesome dessert! I was thrilled that getting just the dessert to go wouldn't be a problem.

Within 5 minutes he had our two cheesecakes boxed up and ready to go. We were able to use our TiW card here as well. This guy was really awesome just in our brief interaction with him. I can see why the bar was packed. He was keeping everyone entertained the entire time. I wish I had written his name down because he was awesome!

Cheesecake in hand, we made our way back to BLT and momentarily stored our desserts in the fridge. We had other plans before we could enjoy our treats. We once again took the private elevator up to TOTWL, this time to watch HalloWishes! The music was pumped in and once again the view was amazing! I enjoy the overall theme of Wishes much better, but the actual firework display for HalloWishes was incredible! Here is a shot of the finale.


Awesome!!!

We made our way back downstairs and rented a movie from Community Hall before retiring to our room. Now we have dessert and a movie to end our last night at BLT.

We cracked our to go boxes open and finally dug into our Almond Crusted Cheesecake.


This is without a doubt, my favorite dessert in WDW. Possibly the planet. The cheesecake is so creamy and the texture of the sugary crunchy almonds on the outside makes it the perfect combination. We have had this dessert on two previous trips and I really hope they never get rid of it. This is the one dessert I can always count on to be even better than I remember.

Delicious dinner, beautiful fireworks, scrumptious dessert and a viewing of the Mighty Ducks. I would say that is a perfect end to our stay at Bay Lake Tower.

Quack, quack, quack Mr. Ducksworth!

Up next, my favorite Disney breakfast spot!

 

[smile4stamps]

I LOVED that cheesecake! I wanted to stop for it in October but it was too late and we were too full! I have 2 more opportunities this year! MUST get there!!

 

[jabead]

Shoot! I am kicking myself right now because I completely forgot to "steal" your cheesecake to go idea when I was there in December. I too am a huge fan of the Narcoossee's cheesecake. Now I have to wait until at least October before I will be able to execute your brilliant plan. By then I will probably forget again.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

That cheesecake looks divine I have read about it before but that picture really shows it off! Another great day and how good to top it off with the fireworks

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

I LOVED that cheesecake! I wanted to stop for it in October but it was too late and we were too full! I have 2 more opportunities this year! MUST get there!!

I hope you get a chance to have it again this year! I really hope that if and when we get down there this fall it is still on the menu. Fingers crossed!

Shoot! I am kicking myself right now because I completely forgot to "steal" your cheesecake to go idea when I was there in December. I too am a huge fan of the Narcoossee's cheesecake. Now I have to wait until at least October before I will be able to execute your brilliant plan. By then I will probably forget again.

Well if I get down there in September I'll remind you in my dining review so that you don't forget the following month!

That cheesecake looks divine I have read about it before but that picture really shows it off! Another great day and how good to top it off with the fireworks

That cheesecake is even better than it looks! It made for the perfect end to the day.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

On our last morning at BLT we packed up all of our stuff to make the final hotel switcharoo. We loaded all of our bags into the car and walked over to MK. For our final morning I made us a breakfast reservation for 8:05am at Crystal Palace before park opening. I figured with all the time involved getting to MK this might be one of the only times we are able to easily make it for this early of a reservation. It's just a short stroll away!

Once we went through bag check there were turnstiles all the way to the left that were for early morning breakfast entry into the park. There was only one other family at the turnstiles, so we were in the park almost immediately.

Love getting pictures of Main Street when it is this empty.










Now it's time to eat!





We checked in for our reservation and we were seated immediately. I don't think that has ever happened to me here. It's always an additional wait. Awesome start!

We were literally the second family they seated for the day and it was weird to see this place so empty.


We were the first people up to the buffet, so we got a completely fresh and untouched breakfast bounty. Nice!

Here are some shots of the buffet. A little blurry, but here ya go.














Continued next post...

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

As soon as we made it back to the table with our food Tigger was making his rounds.



Now I can dig into my breakfast!


Clockwise from the top I had a French Toast Puff, Breakfast Lasagna, Potato Casserole, Corned Beef Hash, Bacon, Breakfast Pizza and a Scone.

It was all delicious! The french toast puff is my favorite! If you've never had it, it is basically a big fried piece of dough (think, funnel cake) covered in cinnamon and sugar. I dream about these things. The breakfast lasagna is my second favorite. It is a mixture of pancakes, waffles, pound cake, banana pudding, and strawberries with caramelized sugar on the top. It sounds weird, but it's awesome! It's a long time favorite.

I love corned beef hash (my heart probably doesn't, but I do) and it is really good here. Yummmm! I love the cheesy potatoes here. They used serve a shredded cheesy potato here that was better IMO, but this is still really good. Loved the breakfast pizza too. First plate is a hit!

Here is Rob's first plate.


He had the breakfast pizza, potato casserole, bacon and a huge omelette. For the omelette he asked for everything but onion. The man loves an omelette station!

We went back up for plate number two. Here is my second plate.


Pretty much the same as the first, but I skipped the breakfast lasagna and bacon this time and added some cheddar cheese cubes in the mix. Once again, everything was great and still really fresh.

During our second plate our good friend Piglet stopped by.




While I enjoy the characters, I didn't feel the need to stick around and get pictures with all of them. We finished our meal in record time and we wanted to get out and be ready to get on rides as soon as the park was open. I think our waitress was pretty happy to have her table turned over so quickly.

We both loved our food and our service here this morning was great. Our waitress was right on top of the juice and coffee refills, which is a big plus for us. We usually drink quite a bit of juice when we visit a breakfast buffet. This place is always a favorite of mine. I've been coming here for breakfast since I was a kid. It was always my family's favorite place to eat in WDW. Then I got Rob liking it on his first trip too. We used to come here once or twice a trip, but he has wanted to skip it the past few times. I was glad I insisted on eating here this trip. He isn't big on the character meals, but he's just gonna have to deal with it because I definitely want to come back again next trip.

We were done breakfast before the rides were open, so we wandered around a still empty MK taking pictures.








We could hear and slightly see the little park opening show going on at the other end of Main Street.


Then we watched people start to pour into the park.


We waited by the entrance to Adventureland, so that we could get right on POTC.


And as luck would have it, everyone else was headed for different rides and we were the second couple of the day seated in a boat on POTC.

After that, we rode Splash Mountain and then made our way to Big Thunder Mountain with the park still looking very deserted.


We rode so many big rides this morning it was crazy! I think pre-park opening breakfasts will be on our agenda from now on!

Up next, a cool treat to beat the heat in Magic Kingdom!

 

[RGirl]

Oh, the Narcoosee cheesecake - I have wanted to try that for YEARS! I’m glad to hear it was as good as you remembered - what a great evening.

I have never seen such empty pictures of CP before. Very cool! It’s such a fun place to eat! Can’t wait to hear about your breakfast.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Oh, the Narcoosee cheesecake - I have wanted to try that for YEARS! I’m glad to hear it was as good as you remembered - what a great evening.

I have never seen such empty pictures of CP before. Very cool! It’s such a fun place to eat! Can’t wait to hear about your breakfast.

You have to try the cheesecake at Narcoossee's! Even if you don't have dinner there, just stop by and get one to go like we did. It's worth the trip to GF!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

We had a great morning at MK and did more rides in 4 hours than we had on all of our other MK days combined. We also got stuck on Buzz Lightyear for quite awhile. Fortunately we were stuck in a room where I found a big point getter and quickly reached the high score. Rob couldn't find the same thing I did, so it took him a lot longer but he eventually reached the high score too.


We didn't need to worry about our score for the rest of the ride once it finally started back up. So of course we posed very maturely for our picture at the end.


We were satisfied with our time at MK and it was getting very crowded and very hot, so we decided this would be the end of our time at MK for this trip. Before we left the park we just needed one final treat.







The line was really long and it took forever! Once we got up to the front we were seriously sweating and now we REALLY needed a cool treat!

Rob ordered the same thing he always does. Pineapple float with pineapple ice cream.


I decided to get a Coke Float.


This was so good! It really hit the spot on such a hot afternoon! A great end to our time in Magic Kingdom.

Then we walked back to BLT to get our car. Now we are headed to our final resort of the trip. Boardwalk Villas!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

What a trip, I think you've spoilt yourselves with all these lovely resorts.

Why is the line always so long (and slow) at Aloha Isle? But like you said, definitely worth the wait

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm once again catching up but I'm glad that I am because I've had a virtual feast to behold with your updates!

Trails End looks like a great option for that quick boat ride from BLT. I'm looking to add something new to replace The Wave so Trails End looks really good. And for the amazing price of only $17.99 and accepting TiW - excellent.

What a brilliant idea to order the cheesecake from Narcoosees. I've not had dessert there so I'm wide open to the power of suggestion. That, and I've heard it is pretty fabulous.

I've skipped AP the last couple trips since I've not really liked the entrees. Your DHs pork dish looks good but then again so did mine 3 years ago but it was blah. I'll have to have a more compelling menu to go back soon.

CP - my favorite buffet next to Boma! I love the puffed French toast. I try to take it easy on the breakfast lasagna but that stuff is addictive.

You had so many great dining experiences this trip. I don't know how anyone could top your dining line up.