Two first timers take on free dining...was it a success? 13-27 Sept 2011- Complete...

[librarygeek]

Sanaa looks great! The other day I made a list of all the restaurants in Disney I still want to try... now I gotta go open that document and add Sanaa...

Those nachos look really good too, but definitely a huge portion!

 

[Pinkocto]

Can't wait to hear about your solo day over on the TR. And I love that you tried all the goodies you wanted! Yes, you absolutely must do Sanaa again when you can see the animals. Zaheer is not wrong, AKL is a wonderful place to stay, and not just for the food, which I agree is delicious.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Aw I didn't know that about the chai cream. I guess part of me was hoping it was just chai spices mixed with cream. Oh well.

Sounds like I have to try the rice pudding though! It looks incredible

Yeah, I only found out on these boards. I really wanted to try the dessert sampler but decided to go for the warm rice pudding instead. Mmm chai spices with mixed cream sounds great!

That rice pudding was incredible - you should try it if you get the chance

Great solo day! I'm glad you liked that Napoleon, I really wanted to try one on our trip but we were heading to dinner soon after we were in the France pavilion. I have had them before from a local bakery (that is sadly, closed) and the ones in Disney looked so good.

That No Way Jose looked yummy! Chocolate and Peanut Butter! An unbeatable combination

Thanks! I probably shouldn't have tried the Napoleon either especially as I was planning on getting the No Way Jose as well but am glad I did. It sure was yummy!

The No Way Jose sure had an unbeatable combination...if only I lived near Beaches and Cream so I could treat myself to one of them on a weekly basis

I am so going to Beaches and Cream on our next trip! That looks soooo good!

Kuddos on your solo touring of Epcot! I would love to do that.

Oh, you have to - the treats there are just soo yummy. It was good

I was a bit scared to tour Epcot on my own at first but once I got over that I loved being able to do my own thing.

 

[TanzUnited99]

I ate those nachos on our July trip, and I absolutely loved them! You're right though, the churros are lacking. I've never been a big churro fan myself.

Oh, Napoleon = heaven. Love them!

Girl, you tried to take on the No Way Jose by yourself?! Did you not learn any lessons that I taught you from my TR?

They were great (just a bit too hot for me ) but have to agree in that the churros didn't do anything for me.

Napoleon definitely = heaven. Think it was one of the best treats of my stay along with the Strawberry Shortcake, Caramel Cupcake and the No Way Jose...

I know but it was either that or sacrifice it and not have it at all! Okay mental note made...in future if Danielle says something on her TR try to follow it through!

Wow! And yet another great review!

Those Nachos look mighty good. The churros can be hit or miss. The first time we had them they were all stale and dry, but last time we had some really wonderful fresh ones.
And I guess I am the odd one out who does not like the Napoleon. That is one of the cakes that is a staple here and ours is WAY better than what is sold in the French bakery.

Thanks Karin!

The Nachos were good but just too much for me to eat on my own. I found that the churros were stale and dry as well. I probably should give them another chance if they are hit and miss.

What?! Okay I understand now I have read the rest of your sentence. There are Napoleons better then the ones sold at the France Bakery...now that I have to try.

Thanks for the Sanaa review
We are going to try to get over there for lunch on our next trip

No worries - I hope you enjoy your lunch and as you are a fan of fish are you planning on getting the Tandoori Shrimp? If so can't wait to hear your review of it

Sanaa looks great! The other day I made a list of all the restaurants in Disney I still want to try... now I gotta go open that document and add Sanaa...

Those nachos look really good too, but definitely a huge portion!

It was great! Definitely add Sanaa to your ever growing list! I have been doing the same thing. Going on all ears and looking at menus deciding which places I want to try on a future trip

Oh, I agree - the nachos definitely were a huge portion. I think even with the two of us we would have been able to finish them.

Can't wait to hear about your solo day over on the TR. And I love that you tried all the goodies you wanted! Yes, you absolutely must do Sanaa again when you can see the animals. Zaheer is not wrong, AKL is a wonderful place to stay, and not just for the food, which I agree is delicious.

I'm looking forward to writing it as well. Yeah, I was a bit greedy but there was no way I was leaving anything out! I wish we had booked a lunch ADR as even the staff were saying how it is a completely different experience. I would love to stay at AKL one day and have to agree the food is not the only thing that is great about this resort.

 

[dizneeat]

Thanks Karin!

What?! Okay I understand now I have read the rest of your sentence. There are Napoleons better then the ones sold at the France Bakery...now that I have to try.

Let me know when you come to my area, or anywhere in Austria - I'll treat you to the best Napoleon (aka - Cremeschnitte) you have ever had!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Let me know when you come to my area, or anywhere in Austria - I'll treat you to the best Napoleon (aka - Cremeschnitte) you have ever had!

Thanks for the offer! I will definitely let you know and have learnt something new as I have never heard a Napoleon be called a Cremeschnitte before.

 

[st4rrab0vemybed]

I'm a little late ... but I have enjoyed reading about your WDW experience (food and all) and I'm looking forward to the rest.

All the food pictures look so yummy! Also, I absolutely loved your Marie (Aristocats) shirt- so cute!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Sorry you didnt enjoy TH, we have not been to that breakfast yet but hope to one day...I hear its almost as good as Boma and we love Boma!

I love the Napoleon too, that is my favorite treat from the French Bakery.

Do you know how many times I has Sanaa on and off my dining list? Too many! I think the reason we cancelled it was the distance, its not easy to get to and I dont always feel like driving...but your food looks and sounds very good!

So happy you were able to go solo at Epcot for a bit, I love doing that! We had the No Way Jose last week and we were able to get a 2 scoop sundae..but it looks like you did a good job on the 4 scoop one

 

[Queenofallthings]

I'm playing catch up again!

That's too bad that you didn't enjoy TH! I do understand how you felt a little rushed though, I think it's part of being at a character meal if that makes sense Our server was fantastic here too!

EOS.... Sanaa sounds delicious and it is now most definitely on my list of new restaurants for next trip! I think I will try the tandoori shrimp....sounds devine!

 

[Chaitali]

I just read your last entry. Mike and I had that napoleon from Epcot too. It was amazing, if a little messy My parents, brother and I went to Sanaa last Saturday (I can't believe it was less than a week ago). We all loved the food there. I'm sorry that you had less than stellar service Our server was great. She managed to be efficient and friendly without crossing the line into too friendly. My parents had gone to South Africa and Victoria Falls last year, and it turned out that the host that seated us was from a village near that area. But we had an earliy-ish dinner reservation so maybe that's why. So my parents enjoyed talking to him about that. The main dish size was a little small, but the bread service was big and definitely made up for it! The four of us shared 2 entrees, 2 bread services, one appetizer and two desserts.

 

[KatMark]

Okay...all caught up.

You did an AWESOME job on that No Way Jose all by yourself. I'm afraid I would have a bellyache if I even attempted that.

We have never been to Sanaa but it looks really good; I'm glad you enjoyed your meal there.

 

[TanzUnited99]

I'm a little late ... but I have enjoyed reading about your WDW experience (food and all) and I'm looking forward to the rest.

All the food pictures look so yummy! Also, I absolutely loved your Marie (Aristocats) shirt- so cute!

and thanks for joining I'm glad you are enjoying the reviews and hope to have more up soon.

The food sure was yummy! Aaw thank you - I got it and some other Disney shirts from Uniqlo. I was very happy with my purchase

Sorry you didnt enjoy TH, we have not been to that breakfast yet but hope to one day...I hear its almost as good as Boma and we love Boma!

I love the Napoleon too, that is my favorite treat from the French Bakery.

Do you know how many times I has Sanaa on and off my dining list? Too many! I think the reason we cancelled it was the distance, its not easy to get to and I dont always feel like driving...but your food looks and sounds very good!

So happy you were able to go solo at Epcot for a bit, I love doing that! We had the No Way Jose last week and we were able to get a 2 scoop sundae..but it looks like you did a good job on the 4 scoop one

I think the main issue we had with TH was being rushed and that was because we had a late reservation. If you have an early reservation you should be fine but we just aren't morning people It had the jungle juice like Boma but other than that we preferred the food over at Boma more than TH.

Ooh it sure is a great treat!

The food at Sanaa was really good but I totally understand the distance thing - it did take us quite some time getting to and from the restaurant however the food more than made up for the travelling distance. I hope you finally make it over on a future trip.

Thanks - it was great not having to answer to anyone and just do my own thing! Yeah on hindsight I probably should have asked for the two scoop No Way Jose but my eyes were bigger than my stomach!!

I'm playing catch up again!

That's too bad that you didn't enjoy TH! I do understand how you felt a little rushed though, I think it's part of being at a character meal if that makes sense Our server was fantastic here too!

EOS.... Sanaa sounds delicious and it is now most definitely on my list of new restaurants for next trip! I think I will try the tandoori shrimp....sounds devine!

It was a bit of a shame and I totally get what you are saying about the character meal meaning we felt a bit rushed. I guess it happens in a busy environment with the characters wanting to get to every table. Oh yeah, our server more than made up for our meal here.

EoS is definitely Ooh I hope you get to go to Sanaa and try that Tandoori Shrimp as it does sound divine and is now on my wish list

I just read your last entry. Mike and I had that napoleon from Epcot too. It was amazing, if a little messy My parents, brother and I went to Sanaa last Saturday (I can't believe it was less than a week ago). We all loved the food there. I'm sorry that you had less than stellar service Our server was great. She managed to be efficient and friendly without crossing the line into too friendly. My parents had gone to South Africa and Victoria Falls last year, and it turned out that the host that seated us was from a village near that area. But we had an earliy-ish dinner reservation so maybe that's why. So my parents enjoyed talking to him about that. The main dish size was a little small, but the bread service was big and definitely made up for it! The four of us shared 2 entrees, 2 bread services, one appetizer and two desserts.

I'm glad you got to try that Napoleon as it was amazing! It's funny you should mention it being messy as let's just say the plate wasn't a nice sight after I had digged into it and I needed more than one tissue to clean up afterwards!

Oh, I didn't know you were all going to Sanaa last week - I'm glad you had a great server. I think it was just a timing issue with us but the food was delish so we didn't mind that much Thanks for letting us know that about the bread service - I will sure be ordering it on a future trip. I look forward to reading your review of Sanaa soon.

Okay...all caught up.

You did an AWESOME job on that No Way Jose all by yourself. I'm afraid I would have a bellyache if I even attempted that.

We have never been to Sanaa but it looks really good; I'm glad you enjoyed your meal there.

I know, I was even afraid I had taken on too much but luckily I was okay I think the walking helped digest it.

We did really enjoy Sanaa and would happily return. I hope you get to try it one day.

 

[Tracerr00]

I am dying to try Beaches and Cream and your No Way Jose looks fabulous!! I have a problem eating a lot of dairy but I'd still try this and suffer the consequences! How fun to have a little time to yourself. The food at Sanaa sounds wonderful! Sorry to hear that the service wasn't the greatest so I'm glad that the yummy food makes up for it! I'm dying to hear how your meal was at Artist Point. I wanted to try this during our last trip but it never fit into our plan.

 

[teekathepony]

I'm all caught up now! I'm just going to sum it all up by saying great updates. I meant to get to Beaches and Cream this trip and didn't get to. Someday...!

 

[TanzUnited99]

I'm so sorry for the late replies - have had a bit of a busy weekend.

I am dying to try Beaches and Cream and your No Way Jose looks fabulous!! I have a problem eating a lot of dairy but I'd still try this and suffer the consequences! How fun to have a little time to yourself. The food at Sanaa sounds wonderful! Sorry to hear that the service wasn't the greatest so I'm glad that the yummy food makes up for it! I'm dying to hear how your meal was at Artist Point. I wanted to try this during our last trip but it never fit into our plan.

Oh,the No Way Jose was definitely amazing! You should definitely suffer the consequences for this beauty! I enjoyed having the time to myself. We loved Sanaa and the bad service did not put us off from returning in the future. I'm sorry to keep you in suspense but hopefully should have that update posted tomorrow

I'm all caught up now! I'm just going to sum it all up by saying great updates. I meant to get to Beaches and Cream this trip and didn't get to. Someday...!

Yay, thanks for catching up! I hope you get to go to B&C one day as you will not regret it!

 

[Pinkocto]

Thanks to your lovely review of Sanaa I booked it for our first day coming back from the cruise, thanks!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Thanks to your lovely review of Sanaa I booked it for our first day coming back from the cruise, thanks!

I'm so happy you booked this place for your first day coming back after your cruise. I hope you really enjoy it

 

[TanzUnited99]

We woke up early today for a change and actually caught rope drop at MK before our meal at Crystal Palace. The queue for this place was quite long and it was busy however we got seated pretty quickly.

For my first plate I chose some Mickey waffles (both plain and chocolate), vegetable fritatta, croissant and pooh french toast. I loved all the food and was soo happy to get to try the pooh french toast as they were great. I probably wouldn't be able to eat too many of them as they are quite sickly however they were definitely worth the visit. I loved the plain Mickey waffles as usual however the chocolate ones were a bit 'meh' - would probably not try them in a hurry again. The vegetable fritatta was soft and fluffy and the croissant was nice as well.

Zaheer chose plain Mickey waffles with syrup, the fritatta, boiled egg and croissant. He also tried some grits but didn't like them.

We also tried some fruit with the honey flacoured yoghurt. I wasn't a fan of the yoghurt but Zaheer enjoyed it.

We got some pics with the characters and I have to say out of all our breakfast character buffets this was by far our favourite and one day hopefully I will get up early enough to be able to walk down an empty Main Street.

As we had dinner at Artist Point today we did not eat many snacks today. However, we did get one of the best treats which was huge...an MK icecream cookie sandwich! Even between the two of us we could not finish this.

Just as we were leaving for Wilderness Lodge it started chucking it down bucket loads!!! We got to MK without getting wet however got in the wrong boat queue so ended up getting soaked whilst heading to the WL boat and in the meantime a bus had showed up as well! We got to WL and checked into Artist Point. This was the one restaurant that weren't that accommodating with our requests. We asked to speak to the chef and were told that he was busy and unable to see us. So we asked about halal meat and our server informed us that they did have some and informed us of our options. Zaheer asked if he could have added spices and was told no this wasn't possible. This got him a bit worried about the meat and made him wish he had ordered a seafood dish instead.

Our server bought us some bread with butter which was very yummy. I could have eaten the whole lot!

My memory fails me but I think Zaheer chose the Beef Tenderloin with marble potatoes and garden vegetables. He enjoyed the dish however the portion was quite big so he didn't finish it. I think it was also a bit undercooked for his liking.

Thanks to these boards I already knew what I was having...the Cedar Plank Roasted Wild King Salmon with confit artichokes, petit zucchini and baby carrots. I asked for the bacon egg vinagerette to be left off which wasn't a problem. This was delicious and I loved the way the salmon was cooked...it just melted in my mouth

Oh just as a side note I ordered the berry smoothie which was not refillable on the dining plan. I was not aware of this as it was refillable at Kona Cafe and Sanaa.

Anyway onto dessert and again I already knew what I was ordering and that was the Artist Point Cobbler. Again I loved this and it was great - probably not one of my all time favourite desserts however I did enjoy it.

Zaheer chose the Baked Peach Upside-down Cake with sweet and sour caramel sauce and roasted peach ice cream. I think he enjoyed this as he did finish it.

Review of today:

Crystal Palace:

Food - A+ The Pooh French toast alone were worth the visit!
Service - A+ Our drinks were refilled and the plates were cleared very quickly. Our server also spoke with us quite a bit about our trip and what we had enjoyed so far.
Atmosphere - A+ We loved seeing all the characters out and about and the antics that Tigger and Piglet were getting up to. I also loved the topiaries that were within the restaurant.
Would we return? Most definitely. I would love to try this place for breakfast again.

Artist Point:

Food - A I loved my salmon and dessert. Zaheer enjoyed his food as well but the only negative thing was the uncertainty over the meat.
Service - A Our server was nice and made sure we had everything we needed. However, the service at California Grill was much better for a signature restaurant.
Atmosphere - B+ It was nice but I don't know if it was because of the rain but we didn't feel 100% comfortable. At times I wish I had booked California Grill again. This is just my opinion on the place.

Coming next: Final thoughts, favourites and was the dining plan worth it?

 

[cbg1027]

I'm so glad you enjoyed CP! It's my favorite breakfast at Disney. I didn't like the chocolate Mickey waffles either....you'd think it's a no brainer that they'd be good, but something just doesn't work.

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh me oh my! Everything looks so delicous! Both restaurants have been on my wish list for a while now, so this just re-affirms that. And that icecream cookie sandwhich just looks divine.

For being a Signature restaurant I'm really surprised the chef didn't come out, did the server even ask? I'm disappointed by that, especially since you had been treated so well by other chefs.