Keep Calm and Go to Disney! 10/21 - 11/4/14 COMPLETE

ooooohh...that dinner LOOKS AMAZING!! We haven't eaten there but maybe it needs to be on the agenda??!! I do have a hard time pulling myself (and my family) away from the Yachtsman!! (aren't those onion rolls to DIE for??)
 
Can't wait to hear about Citricos as well! We are trying to decide between Citricos and Narcoosees for our November trip. I campaigning for Citricos but DH wants Narcoosees. :)
 
Loved your Narccoossees review!! I am a huge fan of the almond cheesecake, I call it heaven on a plate. You had a great view of the parade and fireworks. Alexander and I are going to eat there next trip!!
 
What a great dinner and view. Contemplating going there next trip and that cheesecake may have tipped the scales. My hubby had a dish very similar to the pasta at flying fish last year and loved it. Guess when they get something right it makes the rounds ;)
 
Thanks for the pictures of one of my favorite meals at WDW, the colony salad and ooey gooey toffee cake at LTT.:cloud9:

Your Narcoosee dinner is inspiring. We haven't been there in about 3 years since our entrees were just okay. But the almond crusted cheesecake is one of my husband's favorites. The last time we went to Narcoossee's our cheesecake arrived at our table just as it was time to head out on deck to watch Wishes. Chase and I headed out to see the fireworks and Brian decided he was going to stay at the table. While we were gone he ate the whole cheesecake and had to order another one since he hadn't left us one bite. It really is that good!
 
I have never eaten at a Disney signature restaurant. Narcoosses looks fantastic. Not a huge shrimp person but it's doesn't look frozen. The electrical water pageant is one of those Disney gems that many people miss out on. I also love how Disney puts the music on in the restaurants with views of the magic kingdom.

The fireworks wouldn't be quite the same without the music to accompany it. Once while watching them from California Grill's observation deck, the speaker went out for a portion of the show and it just didn't feel right. :sad2:



That shrimp dish looks great.

I really enjoyed it. Would definitely order it again next time if it is still on the menu. :thumbsup2



That cheesecake looks amazing!! I may have to talk my DH into going to Narcoossees on our next trip!

The cheesecake is definitely one of my favorite Disney World desserts. I highly recommend going to Narcoossee's to try it, even if it's only to have dessert. ;)


Can't wait to hear about Trails End since we are staying at Fort Wilderness.

Trail's End should be up momentarily! :thumbsup2



Barb, what a lovely dinner at Narcoossee's - I love cheesecake but detest almonds so that dessert would be a no-go for me. Shame as I always think it looks delicious.

I'm not a fan of almonds either, but I wouldn't say that I detest them. While they are definitely not something I would eat plain, somehow when they are slivered and placed upon that yummy cheesecake I see almonds in a whole new light. :laughing:




Wow! What a delicious looking meal. Looks exactly like what I would order. We are going to be dining there in September for out anniversary. Sure hope they still have that shrimp dish then.

And the cheesecake, did you know you can stop in at the bar and order it to go? No kidding. I just read this on, if my memory serves me right, a TR from JerseyTinkerBell. So, if you are not going to be dining there you could always stop in and get one to go for later back at your resort!

I think the shrimp entree has been around for awhile since I seem to recall seeing photos of it when I was doing the live thread. So hopefully it will continue to stick around, at least until September. And speaking of the live thread, I think you are right. I believe it was Jeri who got the Narcoossee's cheesecake to go when she was doing live reporting. I remember thinking that that was a brilliant idea! :thumbsup2





ooooohh...that dinner LOOKS AMAZING!! We haven't eaten there but maybe it needs to be on the agenda??!! I do have a hard time pulling myself (and my family) away from the Yachtsman!! (aren't those onion rolls to DIE for??)

After two not so great experiences in a row at YSH I almost gave up on it but decided to give it one more chance on this trip (partially because of my love for those onion rolls ;)). I'm so glad that I did, because this time my meal was again very good. ::yes::




Can't wait to hear about Citricos as well! We are trying to decide between Citricos and Narcoosees for our November trip. I campaigning for Citricos but DH wants Narcoosees. :)

Oh, that is a tough call. My dinner at Citricos was towards the end of my trip so it will be awhile before I get to that review. But I will say that it was an excellent meal! :thumbsup2



Loved your Narccoossees review!! I am a huge fan of the almond cheesecake, I call it heaven on a plate. You had a great view of the parade and fireworks. Alexander and I are going to eat there next trip!!

Heaven on a plate...that's a perfect description for this dessert! :cloud9:



What a great dinner and view. Contemplating going there next trip and that cheesecake may have tipped the scales. My hubby had a dish very similar to the pasta at flying fish last year and loved it. Guess when they get something right it makes the rounds ;)

Oh, I don't recall ever seeing a shrimp and pasta dish on the menu when I have dined at Flying Fish. On my last visit there the pasta was with a bolognese sauce, so I guess they change this up. If I ever do see it on the menu, I might just have to try it. :thumbsup2



Thanks for the pictures of one of my favorite meals at WDW, the colony salad and ooey gooey toffee cake at LTT.:cloud9:

Your Narcoosee dinner is inspiring. We haven't been there in about 3 years since our entrees were just okay. But the almond crusted cheesecake is one of my husband's favorites. The last time we went to Narcoossee's our cheesecake arrived at our table just as it was time to head out on deck to watch Wishes. Chase and I headed out to see the fireworks and Brian decided he was going to stay at the table. While we were gone he ate the whole cheesecake and had to order another one since he hadn't left us one bite. It really is that good!

That's too funny about Brian and the cheesecake. Sounds like something my DH would do! :laughing:



great report!

Thank you and thanks for reading! :goodvibes
 
Wednesday, October 29th


Following my 6th and final night at the Wilderness Lodge, I was up early to pack before heading out to the boat dock at the crack of dawn.





My destination this morning was Fort Wilderness, an area of Disney World which I had not been to in more than 13 years. I reached the dock at about 7:20 a.m. and didn't have to wait very long before a boat arrived.




After picking me up at the Wilderness Lodge, the next stop of my private boat (I was the only one on board other than the captain) was the Contemporary.





The Contemporary dock was also deserted...well, except for some chirping birds.






After the Contemporary, our next stop was...




And after a short walk from the boat dock I arrived at my breakfast destination...







I was checked in and seated by 7:45 (so it took about 25 min. total from the time I reached the Wilderness Lodge boat dock). I hadn't made an ADR since I had no idea how long it would take to get here, but that was definitely not a problem. The restaurant had just opened at 7:30 and there was only one other table occupied by two guests when I was seated.




Now the funny thing is, despite the fact that the rest of the restaurant was empty, I was seated at the table right next to the only other diners. Thankfully though, they were very nice and even offered their plates for pictures when they saw me photographing my own breakfast. :laughing: Oh, but speaking of photos, an empty restaurant means no one at the buffet...a buffet filled with breakfast food just waiting to be photographed for my review. So let's get started, shall we?


First from the pastries and breads station, there were assorted pastries and bagels. Also there was sliced bread for toast along with grape jelly, orange marmalade, and cream cheese...














Full-size (not the usual mini ones) muffins, both blueberry...




...and corn muffins.




An untouched pan full of warm cinnamon rolls...




Doughnut holes...






The cold cereals...Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, and Fruit Loops.






Fruit was plentiful, including bananas, applies, and oranges...




Slices of watermelon...





A big bowlful of beautiful, ripe strawberries...





Oranges and grapefruit slices...





Grapes and (I think) cottage cheese...





Citrus Quinoa Salad...





Strawberry and plain yogurt served in mason jars...




...and granola.




Salmon...




- Continued in next post -


 
Trail's End Breakfast - Part II


Continuing on now with the hot food from the buffet, starting with the egg choices...



Scrambled Eggs





Eggs Benedict with Canadian Bacon





Country Benedict with Pulled Pork





Vegetable Frittata






Breakfast pizza




The breakfast meats...








Biscuits and sausage gravy, as well as cheese grits and oatmeal...









Two potato choices...












French toast bread pudding with pecan praline sauce...









And last but not least, the Mickey waffles...both plain and with chocolate chips.










With so many delicious looking choices, what did I choose? Let's begin with my plate of sweet foods...



Starting at the 12 o'clock position and moving clockwise around my plate: French Toast Bread Pudding topped with pecan praline sauce, plain Mickey waffle, Cinnamon Roll, Strawberries, and in the center...who can resist a Krispy Kreme-like doughnut hole? Certainly not me. ;)

Everything on my plate was great, but my favorite was the Mickey waffle which I topped with some of the praline sauce. Sooo good!!! :thumbsup2


However, there were also some shining stars on my plate of savory foods...



Again starting at 12 o'clock, Biscuit & Sausage Gravy, Breakfast Pizza, Pulled Pork Country Benedict, Hash Browns, Sausage and Bacon.


Everything was again great but for me the stars were the biscuit and gravy and Pulled Pork Egg Benedict along with an honorable mention for the hash browns. First the biscuit and gravy were far, far better than what I had had earlier in this trip at Whispering Canyon as part of their breakfast platter.




The hash browns were remarkably good for potatoes served at a buffet. Usually buffet potatoes are either cold or over or under cooked, so I was pleasantly surprised that these tasted as good as they looked.



However, the biggest surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the Trail's End version of Eggs Benedict. To explain further, I have never been a fan of Egg Benedict because I don't really care for either poached eggs or Hollandaise sauce, two of its primary ingredients. Consequently I didn't really plan on partaking of this house specialty, however when I saw how good they looked sitting there on the serving platter I changed my mind.




And I'm so glad that I did. The sweet, tangy barbecue flavor of the pulled pork worked quite well to disguise the fact that I was eating a poached egg topped with Hollandaise. So my advice is, even if you don't generally like Eggs Benedict, give this dish a try. You might just like one! :thumbsup2


Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget to have a jarful of Moonshine with your breakfast at Trail's End... :laughing:



However, despite what its name implies, this moonshine is alcohol free. If I remember correctly it tasted the same as the Jungle juice that is served at Tusker House (which I'll be visiting the next day). The recipe for Jungle juice calls for equal parts of orange, guava, and passion fruit juice.


But Trail's End had one more pleasant surprise in store for me and that was the check. The regular price of this all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast was only $15.99. This is quite inexpensive when you compare this to the Bounty Breakfast Platter which is available at many of WDW's quick-service restaurants. The Bounty Platter usually includes scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes and a biscuit for $9.99. Add to that a cup of coffee and some juice (which are included in the buffet price) and you are getting very close to Trail's End's price of $15.99. Plus Trail's End gives a 20% discount to Tables in Wonderland members, which brings the total cost including tax and tip to $16.51.




So Trail's End is quite the hidden gem and I have Jeri (jerseytinkerbell) to thank for bringing it to my attention in her wonderful dining reports. In her latest dining report she reviewed Trail's End dinner buffet and it sounds equally delicious. I might just have to follow her lead yet again and try having dinner there sometime. I should though mention that from what I've read, Trail's End is not the easiest place to get to using Disney transportation...unless of course, you are staying at the Wilderness Lodge or the Contemporary. Then it's an "easy peasy" boat ride from either resort or a 15 minute walk from the Wilderness. The lodge also has a bus that goes directly to Fort Wilderness, but I'm not sure if that runs in the morning.

So in conclusion, I highly recommend that you check out Trail's End for breakfast if you are staying at Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge, or the Contemporary. If you are staying elsewhere then you have to weigh the positives of having good food (and plenty of it) at a decent price against the inconvenience and time factor involved with getting to/from this location. Only you can decide if the positives outweigh the negatives.


When I left the restaurant at around 8:40 it was starting to get busier inside...




...but outside on the porch it was still peacefully quiet. This looked like a great place to sit and relax...




...or perhaps challenge your dining companion to a game of checkers.





But I had something else in mind, a visit to the nearby...



Next up: The Horse Whisperer? ;)
 
I have always heard great things about trails end. It really looks delicious and hopefully next trip I'll get over there to try it. Most of the breakfast buffets in disney are good and based on what you and others have said this doesn't look any different.
 
Ooh, lovely review of Trail's End! Depending on whether or not we stay at the Wilderness Lodge on our upcoming trip, we may have to pay Trail's End a visit. I was thinking of doing Whispering Canyon for their skillet, but at $15.99, I think this sounds like a great option. Thank you for the review, hopefully we'll get to try it!
 
Umm we may have to head over there while staying at Fort Wilderness. That breakfast looks amazing and the price was great=) I wouldn't mind paying that for our 2 DD's.
 
Just made a reservation for our last day, its a off day but we will be eating breakfast at trails end..thanks for your reviews they really help..:)
 
Well that certainly is a hidden gem for breakfast! I would have never considered it, but will now put it on my bucketlist
 
Wow your breakfast looks heavenly, especially that eggs Benedict. Jeris reviews have been working on me too, just haven't found an opportunity to get over there yet. Gonna have to remedy that soon
 
So Trail's End is quite the hidden gem and I have Jeri (jerseytinkerbell) to thank for bringing it to my attention in her wonderful dining reports. In her latest dining report she reviewed Trail's End dinner buffet and it sounds equally delicious. I might just have to follow her lead yet again and try having dinner there sometime. I should though mention that from what I've read, Trail's End is not the easiest place to get to using Disney transportation...unless of course, you are staying at the Wilderness Lodge or the Contemporary. Then it's an "easy peasy" boat ride from either resort or a 15 minute walk from the Wilderness. The lodge also has a bus that goes directly to Fort Wilderness, but I'm not sure if that runs in the morning.

We just love eating breakfast at Trail's End when we are staying at the WL. We like to walk over there from the lodge, which is a nice twenty minute walk through the woods. The food is great and I like the breakfast buffet better there than at the Captain's Grill. But you are right that it is really difficult to get to if you aren't staying at the WL or CR.

The dinner buffet is really good, too. The fried chicken is my favorite. But getting there at dinner time is really tough, though, because the Hoop Dee Doo crowds mess up the transportation options, filling boats and buses with huge groups of diners. We are going to attempt to get to Trail's End for dinner from the BC during our upcoming trip. Right now the plan is to head over to the WL, stop at the Territory Lounge for a bit, then walk over to Trail's End. I think it is a win-win situation. ;) The ADR is carefully planned to avoid the Hoop Dee Doo crowd - I hope. Then we plan to head to the MK for night time fast passes and our first ever Wishes fast pass in the new fp viewing area. I've never seen Wishes with a decent, head on view, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it from the fp area. :)
 
Love your review of breakfast at Trails End, so many wonderful pictures. We ate there last trip and really enjoyed it. But we had a late breakfast seating and I'm not sure we had all those options left on the buffet to try. Totally agree about the pulled pork eggs Benedict. Would love to have that for breakfast tommorow!
 
I love breakfast at Trails End, we ate there for the first time this February. I think my Moonshine was different from yours. It had alcohol and they charge me for the drink. It tasted like some kind of iced tea with a kick


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So glad you enjoyed your breakfast here! And how awesome that you were able to get such amazing buffet pics! My mouth is watering looking at all of those pictures. That pulled pork eggs benedict really is amazing. Good to know that you liked it even though you usually aren't a fan of the dish in its classic form.
 

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