The Graduates Gorge on Glorious Goodies! Jan. 4-11 [UPDATED 1/31 Post #28]

[Cloudless Nights]

Hello all! I just returned from a trip to Disney World with my parents and my older sister. It was a high school graduation present for me (I graduated last May) and a college graduation present for my sister (who will graduate this May), and as such, we decided to go all out! We stayed at the Beach Club, which was FABULOUS, if I do say so myself, and purchased the basic DDP.

About us:

DDad: Pretty much will eat anything. Loves any kind of meat or beef--as you will see--and everything Disney.
DMom: Sort of picky about what she eats; although she will try new things, she often reserves judgement on any new delicacies.
DSis: Like DD--will try anything and everything (she was eating my grandfather's fried fish and mussels by age two!) She loves seafood, but tends to not like red meat or a lot of chocolate. (!)
DMe: And then there's me! I'm very picky. I usually try everything, but I don't like much--though the scale tells me otherwise. I don't eat any seafood besides shrimp, and I love meat as much as DD. I'm also the Disney planner in the family, making all the ADR's and such. Can you tell I'm obsessed?

Okay, so the places I'll be reviewing are:

Mama Melrose's (dinner)
Boardwalk Bakery (various breakfast items and cinnamon rolls)
Pizzafari x2 (lunch)
Chef Mickey's (dinner)
Wolfgang Puck Express [the one in the Marketplace] (lunch)
Coral Reef (dinner)
Beaches 'n' Cream (late night snacks)
Pecos Bill's (lunch)
Goofy's Candy Company (make-your-own snack)
Yak and Yeti (dinner)
Main Street Bakery (breakfast items)
Columbia Harbour House (lunch)
Sleepy Hollow (funnel cakes )
Boulangerie Patisserie (snacks)
Teppan Edo (dinner)
Dino-Bites (snacks)
Le Cellier (dinner)
Sunshine Seasons x2 (lunch)
Kona Cafe (dinner)
Aloha Isle/Sunshine Tree Terrace (late night ice cream)
Beach Club Marketplace (breakfast items)

Wow, until I typed it out I didn't realize we ate so much! Stay tuned!

 

[luckytobeme88]

First in line, woohoo

 

[Cloudless Nights]

Aren't check-in days the best? I think so. We arrived on Sunday, January 4th at around 2PM or so. Our flight left Logan airport in Boston at 6AM that morning (stupid Airtran connections!), so needless to say we were starving!

After exploring the Beach Club (really) quickly, we popped over to the Boardwalk Bakery for some snacks. DM, DS, and me each got a cinnamon roll with our snack credits, while DD watched us eat--he's just so stubborn sometimes, it's hard to take him anywhere!

Anyway, I KNOW I took a picture of the cinnamon rolls, but sadly they're not on my memory card; I think DSis got tired of me taking pictures of the food all the time that she deleted them in anger. Whatever--they were very tasty and hit the spot. They were cleary very fresh and soft and pretty big. Definitely a good use of the snack credit.

We then walked to MGM (it will never be anything else to me) from the Boardwalk as it was the last night of the Osborne lights, and we wanted to see them. As such, we watched the Beauty and Beast show, did some quick rides and then checked in around 5:30PM for our 6:00PM ADR at Mama Melrose's.

We had eaten here last time with free dining and loved it, even though it gets a bad rap. While the food was good this time as well, the service was not so good.

First of all, it was crazy busy when we got there, with people congregating outside as well as inside, but DD checked in early anyways. We were seated at around 5:55 at the SAME EXACT TABLE we had eaten at last time. Seriously, how does that happen?

Anyway, onto the food:

DDad ordered the pork marsala, which I don't see on the allears menu:

He liked this--he said it was 'different'--but I don't think he loved it. He thought it would be like chicken marsala, which he enjoys greatly, but the sauce was different, I guess. Either way, he ate the whole thing!

DSis ordered the spaghetti fra diavolo: with clams, calamari, mussels and shrimp, tossed in a spicy Marinara sauce $19.99.

She really enjoyed this. All of the seafood, she said, was extremely flavorful, and she said the spagetti was perfectly al dente. She devoured it quickly and said she would definitely order it again. It was a smallish portion, however.

DMom ordered the eggplant Napoleon: eggplant, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes over a warm cannellini bean ragu $14.99.

She really loved her dish as well. It was the perfect sized portion, and the perfect temperature. Her favorite part was the eggplant itself--the way it was seasoned, I guess. She was very happy with her choice!

And last but not least, I ordered the spicy Italian sausage: with rigatoni pasta, peppers, onions, and a tomato basil sauce topped with caprino cheese $16.99.

First of all, there is A TON of sausage in this dish, even if you can't see it--it had at least three huge links in there. And although it says spicy sausage, not all of it was; however, the pieces that were spicy were extremely spicy. It was very good sausage. The rigatoni was also good, though it was lukewarm by the time it got to our table. Overall, still very tasty and flavorful. I would definitely get it again. And it is a HUGE portion. I'd have to have an empty stomach to take on that whole baby again!

Very pleasant entrees, overall. Now for dessert:

DSis and DM ordered the spumoni gelato, and I ordered the vanilla gelato, but unfortunately I only have a picture of the spumoni:

Thumbs up all around, though DSis was imagining the 'spumoni' ice cream that you get in the supermarket that has strawberry instead of vanilla. Still, she was satisfied. I've had better gelato myself in old Beantown, however.

DDad ordered the tiramisu:

He also said this was different, and I don't think he liked it very much. He ate it anyway, like the stubborn person he is.

Overall, a good meal at Mama Melrose's. Our waiter was not that good however. He just seemed rushed, but he took a long time getting our food and delivering our drinks/refills. Maybe it was because a lot of the people (like us) were trying to get out quickly to the see the lights, but I don't know. He was not very gracious at all and didn't smile at all. Oh well, at least the food was tasty!

Deliciousness:
Service:
Would we return?: Yes, but probably not right away--we'd like to try other places first.

After MGM, we caught a bus to MK for EMH, and surprisingly didn't eat anything there!

Oh well, stay tuned for day two!

PS: Sorry about the picture quality in these--I was figuring out my new camera. They'll get better, I promise. Here's one I took later in the week:

See ya next time!

 

[KatMark]

I'm in--can't wait for more. Good start. We go to Mama Melrose every year and always enjoy our meals there.

 

[msce2]

Count me in! I was just explaining my love of "food porn" to my DH. He just doesn't get it. Thank you for the reviews! Looking forward to seeing more!!!

And CONGRATS on both of your graduations!!!!

 

[Krissalee]

You are off to a great start - looking forward to reading more!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Love this report! Cannot wait for more!

 

[Mich123]

Look forward to your next report!

 

[Jenvenza]

Great start!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

great start and DEFINITELY subbing.

 

[CarKey]

looking forward to the rest.

 

[lynn71092]

Subscribing.
Finally pictures I can actually see!!
Our work blocks all photo bucket pictures.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Very nice so far!

 

[natalielongstaff]

fab start

 

[JESW]

Great job! It's just that your pictures are really BIG!

Jill

 

[TigerKat]

I'm signing on!

 

[frdeb1999]

Great start! Looking forward to more!

 

[avick10]

great start........can't wait to read more!!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Count me in! I've never been to Mama Melrose before. But, if they keep the showings of Fantasmic down, I'll be booking a Fantasmic package there for sure.

 

[Tricia7]

Can't wait to hear more. We are planning on going to many of the same restaurants on our October/November trip this year!

Great job so far!