Guilty of Being Innocent of Eating Too Little! ~ July 2011 Dining Review *Next Trip!

[Mich123]

The DHS desserts look amazing! I'm wondering, is it my perspective or is the frosting actually as tall as the cake on the marble cupcake? I don't know how I'll manage it, but I would love to try the carrot cake cookie and the cupcake--sugar coma, here I come!

 

[librarygeek]

Mmm, cupcakes! I had the butterfingers one at Starring Rolls and that was good! But the best one was from the boardwalk bakery - a S'mores cupcake!

 

[Tinkerbellah]

Maybe we'll give WDW pizza another try since my son LOVES pizza. I'll keep pizza planet in mind. Only thing I eat @ HS is the pretzels w/ cheese & giant pickles lol!!! I agree the CS is better @ the other parks.

 

[PirateKate]

We had a hard time with DHS counter service, too. I do think Pizza Planet had the best food, but I prefer the atmosphere at ABC Commissary. It seems quieter and more spread out.

Maybe next time we should skip the real food and just eat carrot cake cookies with cupcakes for dessert...

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Hey everybody! Sorry I've completely fallen out of the Dis loop. I have been tied up with school and projects. I am now on break for Thanksgiving, so I'm going to try and finish up this food review.

Also, I have some fun things to share with you guys! I went to the Metropolitian Cooking Show in DC a couple of weekends ago and I actually got to meet Paula Deen! She is super nice and completely awesome.
Then, last weekend we had an Iron Chef competition for my roommate's 21st birthday. We had a chairman, a couple of sous chefs, and judges, but we only made 2 dishes apiece in the interest of saving money. It was a blast! (And in case you were wondering... I did end up winning, but only by .2 points. )

I hope all of you are doing fabulously and thanks again for reading!

 

[ShesAPirate]

An Iron Chef party sounds like a great idea!

Looking forward to your next TR installment

 

[librarygeek]

Ahh I love Paula Deen! Too cool! And I love your idea for an Iron Chef party, that sounds like so much fun and would be awesome

 

[PrincessBetsy]

The DHS desserts look amazing! I'm wondering, is it my perspective or is the frosting actually as tall as the cake on the marble cupcake? I don't know how I'll manage it, but I would love to try the carrot cake cookie and the cupcake--sugar coma, here I come!

They truly were amazing and the frosting is as tall as the cake itself. It is definitely worth the sugar coma!

Mmm, cupcakes! I had the butterfingers one at Starring Rolls and that was good! But the best one was from the boardwalk bakery - a S'mores cupcake!

Wow, a S'mores cupcake sounds awesome! I'd love to try one.

Maybe we'll give WDW pizza another try since my son LOVES pizza. I'll keep pizza planet in mind. Only thing I eat @ HS is the pretzels w/ cheese & giant pickles lol!!! I agree the CS is better @ the other parks.

Haha! Pretzels are always a good life decision.

We had a hard time with DHS counter service, too. I do think Pizza Planet had the best food, but I prefer the atmosphere at ABC Commissary. It seems quieter and more spread out.

Maybe next time we should skip the real food and just eat carrot cake cookies with cupcakes for dessert...

Yes, I have to agree about ABC Commissary. They used to serve breakfast there and it was always a favorite place of ours to start the morning.

An Iron Chef party sounds like a great idea!

Looking forward to your next TR installment

Yes, we had a blast!

Ahh I love Paula Deen! Too cool! And I love your idea for an Iron Chef party, that sounds like so much fun and would be awesome

We all had a magnificent time!

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 8 - Dinner​

After spending the afternoon around DHS, we were ready to head back to our resort for dinner. It was close to 7:00, by the time we reached the Riverside Mill Food Court.

My Dad got this platter:

The Kid’s Sliced Beef served with Mashed Potatoes, corn, and Cornbread ($5.99)

Can you believe that they would give that huge piece of meat to someone 9 and under? Again, this was a huge serving of food; plenty for a single person. He loved this and would definitely order it again.

My Mom ordered the Kid’s Mac and Cheese with Grapes and Applesauce ($5.49):

She enjoyed this. The mac and cheese is very similar to the kind they serve at LTT – cheesy, creamy, and overall delicious.

Andrew and I decided to share the Create Your Own Pasta ($10.99):

Wow! This is such a huge portion size. You can definitely feed two people; just make sure you ask for another plate. We got spaghetti with marinara sauce, chicken, and parmesan cheese. This was absolutely delicious! If you love pasta, I would definitely make a trip over here for some. It’s also really neat to watch the chef create your dish right before your eyes, especially when the flames start shooting up!

There are a ton of other combinations, including:
Sauces – Alfredo, Marinara, Pesto
Pasta – Fettuccine, Spaghetti, Penne
Protein – Chicken or Shrimp
Toppings – Artichoke Hearts, Roasted Red Peppers, Mushrooms, Kalamata Olives, Green Peas, Prosciutto, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, Yellow Onions, Broccoli, Parmesan Cheese.

The total came to $23.40.

We all loved our dinner and so give it a…

Coming up: A spontaneous trip to DTD!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thanks for the update. It's been 4 years since we stayed at POR, but we loved Riverside Mill - especially the create your own pasta!

 

[Tinkerbellah]

Wow that's a kid's meal!! That is huge!! I did take your advice on getting kid's meals. It worked out so well & saved me 50%. I was very happy w/ that tip b/c the portions were perfect!! The regular sized meals are good if your really hungry butI never felt super hungry in WDW b/c we were always eating snacks!!
great tip.

 

[PirateKate]

Wow, that's a lot of meat for a kid's meal! Of course, on the right day, when he's really hungry, my youngest son could probably eat it all.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Ahoy me hearties! Sorry for the delay, but I hit a few storms on me way to Tortuga. After refueling the rum supply, I have finally docked me ship at home for a few weeks to celebrate the holidays with me family. I promise to finish this review before I have to sail back to school.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Thanks for the update. It's been 4 years since we stayed at POR, but we loved Riverside Mill - especially the create your own pasta!

Yes, the pasta is so good!

Wow that's a kid's meal!! That is huge!! I did take your advice on getting kid's meals. It worked out so well & saved me 50%. I was very happy w/ that tip b/c the portions were perfect!! The regular sized meals are good if your really hungry butI never felt super hungry in WDW b/c we were always eating snacks!!
great tip.

Yay! I'm so glad that worked out for you.

Wow, that's a lot of meat for a kid's meal! Of course, on the right day, when he's really hungry, my youngest son could probably eat it all.

Ha! They really know how to fill up those kid's plates with food.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 8 - Dessert​

After dinner, we decided to go back to DTD for dessert. We love going to Ghiradelli’s for ice cream and since we hadn’t been there this trip, we hopped on the boat and were off.

My Dad decided to skip out, since he was starting to watch his caloric intake again… Instead he sampled a few bites from our deliciousness.

I got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in a Waffle Cone:

My mom got two scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce:

Andrew decided on a Rocky Road Ice Cream Cone:

The total for these three sweet treats came to $17.04. I feel that Ghiradelli’s is definitely overpriced and we all decided we would rather just grab ice cream on Main Street from now on or even from the Riverside Mill.

We gave these a…

Coming up: An alleyway breakfast.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 9​

Since we were starting to come up to those final few days, Andrew and I decided to head to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop. Our parents slept in, did some laundry and planned on meeting us there for lunch.

After the park was officially opened by Mayor Weaver, Andrew and I made a beeline for the Main Street Bakery. I definitely love walking in there when it is empty! We grabbed our breakfast and headed outside to enjoy it in the little alleyway off of Main Street. It is so peaceful to sit there and soak up the magic early in the morning.

Cinnamon Buns…

Ooey. Gooey. Deliciousness.

I don’t think anything else needs to be said, do you?

Our rating…

And the total came to $7.44. Our parents ate back at Riverside and had some cereal and toast. Their total came to $9.00.

Up next: Lunch at The Plaza.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 9 – Lunch ​

After breakfast, Andrew and I hung around Adventureland for awhile. We watched a Pirate Tutorial, hopped on the attraction, and got to meet Angelica. She told me she liked my style and that I could be her First Mate.

We then headed back up towards Main Street to meet the parentals for lunch at the Plaza. We usually come here every trip, and while it’s not the best TS at the Magic Kingdom, it has become one of our favorites. The service is normally quite slow, but we just use that extra time to relax.

Our family has come up with the ingenious idea of sharing a couple of sandwiches, so we can then stuff ourselves full of ice cream after! It’s a win win!

My Dad and I shared this:

Cheese Steak Sandwich - shaved beef, grilled with onions, mushrooms, red peppers, and white American cheese served on a hoagie roll ($11.99)

This is absolutely delicious! The beef is tender and melts in your mouth and the veggies are slightly caramelized. Everything works so well together, making it one of the best cheese steak sandwiches I have ever had.

Andrew and my Mom split this:

Grilled Chicken Sandwich - grilled chicken breast topped with shaved ham and Swiss cheese served on a flour-dusted Kaiser ($12.49)

They quite enjoyed this. The chicken was a little charred, but still tender inside. The cheese was all melty and delicious. Oh, and I forgot to mention the French fries – they are awesome! Golden and crispy on the outside, while puffy on the inside. Definitely not greasy at all.

Now, onto the really really good stuff - Dessert!

My dad, once again, decided to just share a few bites of our sundaes. The only thing he ordered was an extra spoon.

I ordered this:

Brownie Sundae - vanilla ice cream and a fudge brownie topped with hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry ($5.99)

Instead of vanilla, I went with Cookies and Cream ice cream. And let me tell you, that was an excellent life decision. The brownies are gooey and chocolately, while the hot fudge is thick and very rich. I am going to sum this up with a smiley face…

Andrew went with this:

Original Banana Split - chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream topped with hot fudge, strawberry sauce, crushed pineapple, chopped nuts, whipped cream and a cherry ($7.99)

This was huge! Andrew loved this, and so did our Dad. It is everything that a banana split should be - filled with ice cream and plenty of toppings.

My mom ordered this:

The Plaza Restaurant Sundae - ice cream (your choice) with hot fudge, strawberry sauce, or crushed pineapple, topped with whipped cream, chopped nuts and a cherry ($4.99)

She choose vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. This was absolutely divine – it was full of that rich hot fudge sauce and had plenty of ice cream.

The total for this spectacular meal came to $54.28. Not too bad for a nice, relaxing sit down meal in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. I would definitely recommend coming here for a change of pace, just be prepared to wait… a lot. The service is usually very slow and sometimes it can take a long time to be seated because of the few tables inside. We normally come here within the last few days of our vacation, since we aren’t in a rush to see the parade or go to the attractions, so we can just take our time.

We definitely give this meal a …

Coming up: I’m a real boy!

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 9 – Dinner​

After hanging around the Magic Kingdom and meeting our favorite pair of mice, our tummies began to inform us that dinner time was near. And so, we headed over to Pinocchio Village Haus.

Since Mac and Cheese was on the menu, Andrew couldn’t resist ordering this ($4.99):

He got yogurt and grapes with this. As always, he loved it. Never any complaints where macaroni and cheese is involved!

My Mom was still a little full from lunch, so she stuck with the old standby:

Smucker's Peanut Butter and Jelly with applesauce and grapes ($4.99)

My dad and I decided to share this:

Chicken Parmesan served with penne pasta ($8.99)

This was good. They used to serve the chicken parmesan with orzo, which I liked better than the penne. It was a little overcooked, making it a tad mushy. The chicken was deep fried (always delicious), then covered with marinara sauce and cheese (making it even better). This was plenty of food for the two of us, since we did have a big lunch, but probably wouldn’t have been enough otherwise.

One tip I would like to share with you – Pinocchio Village Haus is usually very crowded and incredibly noisy and it can be especially difficult to find a table during peak dining times. I would suggest going to the second floor, where you will find a door leading to an outside patio (you can also get to it from a staircase outside with the outdoor tables). My family loves eating out here, as it gives you a great view of Fantasyland with peace and quiet.

This meal came to $20.21 and gets a rating of…

After eating, we headed over to Tomorrowland to the TTA. We ended up heading out of the park soon after, as incredibly ominous looking clouds began to cover the skies. We went to bed semi early, since we had a very important appoint in the morning.

Up next: Breakfast with royalty.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 10 – Breakfast at Cinderella Castle​

So my friends, now is the time you learn about my trickery - I am a pirate after all. While we were making dining reservations for this trip, my mom kept mentioning how much she wanted to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table. The last time we ate here was for dinner many years ago, when my brother and I were really little. We looked over the food options and checked the prices – only to realize how expensive it was! Despite this, we still went online to see if there were any openings left… no dice. Then a few days before our vacation, I checked again. There was an opening at 9:15 on the 22nd! I told my mom about it and I could tell how excited she was, so we talked to my dad about maybe eating here. After talking about the cost, my parents decided that it wasn’t worth it.

I, on the other hand, had a different idea. I booked the breakfast and paid for it, only telling my brother so that he could chip in… (btw he still hasn’t paid me anything for it, haha). I made this invitation:

and we left it in our room a few days before the 22nd, so our parents would find it. When my mom picked it up and read it, she thought it was a joke. Once they had realized what we had done, they were both overjoyed and truly thankful. They were both so excited and couldn’t wait to eat here. Surprise = Success!

Now that you know a little of the back story, I present our Royal Breakfast to you!

The breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table is an all-you-care-to-eat, fixed-price Character Dining experience. It is $44.80 per adult . Once we entered the castle, we had our picture taken with Cinderella, since each group gets a photo package that includes:
• 4 prints 4" by 6"
• One print 6" by 8"
• One print 6" by 8" of Cinderella Castle
• Cinderella-themed photo holder
Children are also given a surprise gift – girls get a princess wand, while boys get a prince’s sword. (And yes, Andrew and I did get these gifts too! I was so pumped!)

Once we were seated, our waitress immediately came over to us. We were served drinks, pastries, and fruits, then offered one of three choices: the healthy option of yogurt and granola, the traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sausage, or the sweet option of French toast. Andrew and my dad started out with the traditional breakfast, while my mom and I had the French toast. Andrew then got the yogurt and granola, while the rest of us just ordered a large platter of the traditional foods.

How sweet!

Chocolate croissants, cinnamon buns, danish

Fruit

Deep fried French toast with a warm berry sauce and whipped cream

Traditional breakfast – scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, and bacon

Yogurt with fruit and granola

Platter of traditional breakfast items

While we ate, we were visited by Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Belle.

Final thoughts:
1. We loved eating in Cinderella Castle! It is completely gorgeous inside and you truly feel like royalty, while dining there.
2. The pastries were very good, as was the fruit.
3. Andrew loved the yogurt with granola! It was light and refreshing, especially with the addition of the fruit.
4. The traditional breakfast was good. Nothing special – it’s pretty hard to mess up eggs and potatoes.
5. The French toast… was disappointing. It was very greasy and heavy, plus it tasted like the seasonings on the potatoes. One of my French toast was filled with a little cream cheese mixture, but the rest had no filling. They looked delicious, but tasted terrible. My mom and I only took a few bites, before sending the rest back.
6. The characters were great. I’m not a fan of waiting in lines to meet someone, so it’s nice having them all come to your table. All the princesses were pretty talkative, but seemed rushed.
7. The meal also felt rushed. We barely had time to eat a single pastry before our main entree was delivered to us. I realize that this is a prime spot for breakfast and there are a limited number of tables, but after paying quite a bit of money I think we should have some time to actually eat and enjoy ourselves.

Oh, and something else I forgot to mention. Our reservation was for 9:15. We reached the Magic Kingdom about an hour early, hopping that we could get in early for those empty Main Street pictures. We walked over to the cast members near the turnstiles that were taking in guests with reservations. One lady kept announcing that any guests with reservation before 9:15 could get in. I figured we were close enough, so I asked the other cast member (Mike) if we could get in and I showed him our reservation number. He hesitated a little, but told us to go right on in. Score – Thank you Mike – you made our morning magical!!! So just a warning to the rest of you, if you want to get into the park early, make sure your reservation is for 9:10 or earlier.

This meal came to a shocking $221 . So would we go back to Cinderella’s Royal Table? We probably would, but not for many years. Overall, we still had a fantastic time, but it’s not worth spending that much every trip - we would probably be more likely to go if we ever get the dining plan. I would definitely recommend eating here, if you haven’t before, just to experience having a meal in Cinderella Castle. Just know that the food won’t knock your socks off and also keep in mind that you are paying for the atmosphere and for the pictures, not for good food.

Our Royal Breakfast receives a…

Next up: Our return to the harbour

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Day 10 – Late Lunch​

After breakfast, we meet Rapunzel (she was fabulous! Although I did miss Flynn), Peter Pan, and Tiana. We then decided to head out to enjoy our resort for a little bit. On our way down Main Street, we ran into Scoop Sanderson and he let me walk his dogs!

Once we had rested up, we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom for the parade at 3:00. As we walked into the park, unfortunately, it began to rain. We were able to catch the Dapper Dans inside one of the stores, but the parade ended up getting cancelled. So, instead, we headed over to Columbia Harbour House for a late lunch. We felt it was only fitting to eat our last meal here, since it was the place that we started our trip.

Andrew got his favorite:

Kid’s Macaroni and Cheese with grapes and French fries ($4.99)

For some reason they gave us two servings of mac and cheese. They told us to just keep the extra – I’ll take that as an extra serving of pixie dust! And let me tell you, Andrew was one happy kid!

I got my favorite basket of deliciousness:

Fried Shrimp Basket - Served with cole slaw and choice of either French Fries or Apple Slices ($9.99)

Excellent as always! Not too greasy, just crispy, perfectly fried shrimp and light, refreshing cole slaw. And of course I chose French fries over apple slices – it is the last full day of our vacation after all.

My parents were the healthier ones and chose to split the tuna sandwich:

Anchors Aweigh Sandwich - white tuna with lettuce and tomato on toasted multigrain with potato chips ($8.99)

They opted for white bread over the multigrain bread. They loved this once again.

Columbia Harbour House is definitely one of our favorite CS places in WDW. We always get an excellent meal here, in a fantastic setting.

We give our final Magic Kingdom meal a…

This came to a total of $24.68.

Coming up: One last hurrah!