"We survived Spring Break at Disney and lived to write a dining review" Complete 5/22

[kastoney]

Glad to hear you at last got to drown you liberty tree sorrows in a margarita.

ABC is the site of what has to be our worst disney meal ever. I'm not brave enough to go back, but glad you fared much better than us. Can't wait to see the star wars fireworks later this month!!!!

 

[dizzy daisy]

TSMM twice in a row- WOW! My family would have been like this guy ----->

Is it wrong that it's not even 10 am and I'm now wishing for a slice from the pizza window? lol

Thanks for the update.

 

[nco91590]

I'm not a Star Wars fan either, but those fireworks were among the best I've EVER seen.

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/12/2016
Location: Epcot
Meal Type: Lunch/ Snacks

We checked out of the Beach Club and headed over to Epcot for our first full day there. The goal for today was to snack around the world! I had it in my head that I was going to try something from every country… that didn’t quite work since after 3 countries I was DONE! Oh well, there’s always next time!

Granny’s one request this trip was to go to Yorkshire Fish Shop so that’s where we were going first! A long line had already formed when we arrived and it was only 1130am! So, while Granny and myself stood in line, DH took the kids to meet Alice-

By the time they took pics, we were out of line with fish n chips in hand!

I honestly wasn’t expecting much but it was GREAT!!! This was legit fish n chips!! The fish was crunchy on the outside but soft and flaky on the inside- had a great flavor! And, the chips were awesome too!! We had two order of fish n chips to share but I think next time I’ll just get my own order! It really was great!

After fish n chips in England, our next stop would be France and Les Halles! I was looking forward to this for months!! I had decided that I must try the Napoleon that I hear so many great things about. The line was very long inside but with the two sides, it was moving really fast. About 10 mins after entering, I was back outside with this-

"Napoleon- puff pastry with layered cream"

It was a little different than what I was expecting but it was really good! The cream wasn’t too sweet which was nice. I think next I’ll try something different though… I love French bread and the sandwiches in there looked amazing.

After France, we were off to Japan where DH had sushi… I don’t have any pictures of it and I honestly don’t remember what it was or where he even got it from. While he was eating sushi, Granny went to get a funnel cake-

This was his first time eating funnel cake… lets just say there was powdered sugar EVERYWHERE!! I’m not a fan of funnel cake so I didn’t try it but the boy child really enjoyed it.

It was getting crowded by this time… you could definitely tell the spring breakers had arrived!

After meeting Mulan, we made our way out of the world showcase and over to Test Track for our first Fast Pass of the day. This was the first time both kids were tall enough to ride Test Track- they both HATED it and were pretty upset when we got off of the ride. But, icee’s make everything better-

Around this time, I got a text saying that our room at Baylake was ready. We decided to wrap it up at Epcot and monorail it over to BLT to cool off and relax.

After checking in, Granny and the kids took a nap while DH and I decided to Uber to Walmart. Since we had a full kitchen, we wanted to get some stuff to cook for breakfast and lunch. I know this has nothing to do with the dining report BUT this was a terrible idea. I read that people do this to save some money over using a grocery delivery service. It totally was not worth it. It took FOREVER to get to Walmart and back. We will happily pay for the grocery delivery from now on.

We decided to just hang out in the room and eat sandwiches for dinner after our 4 hour Walmart trip. It was pretty nice just watching Wishes from our balcony in our PJs!!

Next up- a Royal Breakfast

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/13/2016
Restaurant: Cinderella’s Royal Table
Location: Magic Kingdom
Meal Type: Breakfast

Granny, myself, and the girl child were up bright and early to make an 8am BBB appointment. We let the boys sleep in this day. It was nice and cool out this morning so we decided to walk to MK. Once again BLT is my absolute favorite place to stay. You cannot beat walking to MK! By 745am we were being let inside MK! I love walking down an (almost) empty Main Street! We stopped to take a few pics along the way and were checking into BBB by 8am. After some magic from the Fairy Godmothers in training, the girl child was transformed into a princess and we had some time to kill before our 950am CRT reservation.

Once the park opened, we were able to ride a few of DD’s favorite rides- it’s a small world, teacups, and dumbo while waiting for the boys to meet us for breakfast. Of course the boys were late waking up and decided to take the monorail instead of walking- they met us in front of CRT right at 955am!

After checking in, we took our pic with Cinderella and we were told to sit and wait. We waited… and waited… and waited… other people were called and walking upstairs… we were still waiting… I asked the hostess and she said we’d be seated soon… and we waited some more… We were finally seated around 1045am- almost an hour past our ADR. By this time we were all starving!

The castle really is beautiful- it’s definitely something that I think everyone should experience at least once. Once we were seated, the kids were given wishing stars, a magic wand, and sword. The boy was extremely happy about getting a sword. At this time, we were also given pastries-

I wasn’t very impressed… they were mostly dried out… the kids each ate a mickey muffin but the rest was just not good.

We met Ariel, Aurora, Snow White, and Jasmine. DD was most excited about meeting Ariel since they had the same dress on!

Myself, Granny, and the kids all had the traditional breakfast-
Eggs, potatoes, sausage, and bacon

I really enjoyed the potatoes. The sausage and bacon were the same you'd find at all other breakfasts. The eggs were gross... they were too runny for me!

DH had the shrimp n grits- he said it was good but it was a very small portion. I didn’t get a pic of his… probably because he ate it as soon as he got it.

I’m hoping this was just an off day for CRT but we won’t be back for a while. The atmosphere is amazing but the service was mediocre, the food was not good, and the characters were very rushed.

 

[nco91590]

How were the crowds? We're tacking on just 3 days to a beach vacation March 11 - 14,2017 and I'm worried it's going to be slammed and we won't be able to get on any rides! I've never been around "Spring Break" so I don't know what to expect.

 

[mkla2015]

How were the crowds? We're tacking on just 3 days to a beach vacation March 11 - 14,2017 and I'm worried it's going to be slammed and we won't be able to get on any rides! I've never been around "Spring Break" so I don't know what to expect.

It was pretty crowded starting on the 12th (Saturday). It wasn't unmanageable though... we go early, take a midday break, then go back at night. We didn't wait more than 30 mins for a ride. Next year may not be as busy at that time since Easter is later.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Enjoying your review! That's so disappointing about CRT. I've not been for years, and occasionally contemplate making a dinner reservation, but since so many of the reviews regarding the food aren't good, that changes my mind.

 

[toomuchtv]

I haven't had breakfast at CRT, but we were definitely underwhelmed by the dinner food when we went on our honeymoon 6 years ago. That one is definitely more for the experience!

 

[Ritchielace]

The picture of your kids with Alice and Pascal is the best Loving your food review!

 

[c3h3a3r]

Following along

 

[accountingbabe08]

Great reviews looking forward to more

 

[mkla2015]

I'm off today and the kids are napping so I'm going to try and knock out a few more reviews!

Date: 3/13/2016
Restaurant: Morimoto Asia
Location: Disney Springs
Meal Type: Dinner

Granny agreed to watch the kids this night so DH and I could go out to dinner alone- late anniversary dinner. We both really wanted to try Morimoto… there were no reservations available through Disney but I was able to get an 8pm through Open Table (there were TONS of times available).

We checked in a little early and were seated right away. This restaurant really is beautiful… I wish I would’ve taken a few pics inside.

We decided to start with the Rock shrimp Tempura as recommended by our waitress.

Rock Shrimp Tempura - signature tempura rock shrimp, spicy gochujang aioli

We both really enjoyed this! I’ve never had a sauce quite like this- DH had to google the recipe. I can’t even describe the flavor… a little spice, kind of creamy-ish. It was delicious and I’d highly recommend trying it if you like shrimp. I could’ve made a meal out of it.

For my entrée, I had the orange chicken with a side of fried rice.

Orange Chicken - tempura chicken, Chinese broccoli, wok-tossed with a sweet Florida orange sauce

The orange chicken was great- the sauce was a nice tangy orange flavor and the chicken was white meat with crispy breading. Again, this was a lot of food- enough for dinner that night and the next! The fried rice was really good as well.

DH originally wanted sushi but he asked the waitress for suggestions and her top pick was the Buri-Bop so DH decided to give it a try. DH has a picture of it on his phone… I’ll try to get that from him soon.

Morimoto "Buri-Bop" - Korean-style yellowtail rice bowl, served in a hot clay pot, finished with an egg yolk, prepared tableside

The bring it out in a little clay pot which is supposedly 400 degrees and everything is cooked table side- tuna is seared and the rice gets a little crisp to it… and I remember an egg being cracked on top of it. DH enjoyed it- he said it was very different from what he’d normally order but he’s glad he tried it and he’d probably get it again.

We both really enjoyed Morimoto and would definitely go back again. The food was great and service was excellent- I’d say it was the best service we had all trip. We had a ton of food and both took leftovers back to the room with us and had enough for dinner the next night.

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/14/2016
Meal Type: Snacks

It was Monday and the spring break crowds were in full force. We slept in a little this morning and cooked breakfast in the room. We decided to go MK around 1030am (big mistake)!! After the monorail ride over, it was almost 11am and this is what it looked like-

We finally made it over to our first FP POTC- and it was down. No biggie, we got a FP to use at any time on a few other choices. We went over to the Jungle Cruise and used a FP- at this point it was a 45 min wait!! Who would wait 45 mins for the Jungle Cruise?? After a ride on the Congo Connie, we were HOT so we walked over to Aloha Isle for the first Dole Whip of the trip!

This dude quickly decided that Dole Whips were his most favorite thing on the planet and he would need to eat at least 1 per day for the rest of our trip.

The girl child does not like ice cream or anything like it so she got a pineapple spear and she was in heaven. The girl LOVES pineapple.

As you can see the only open seats were right in the sun and it was an unseasonal 90 degrees this day. We decided we needed to get inside so we hoped over to the Tiki Birds! I’m so glad my kids share my love of the Tiki Birds! It takes me back to my childhood.

We were pretty much over the heat and the crowds by now so after a quick stop to see the Country Bears, we headed back to our room. On our way over to BLT, we stopped at the Contempo Café for a few treats to share.

Peanut Butter Pie- vanilla tart shell with vanilla cream, peanut butter cream cheese filling, and chocolate ganache

Granny and DD shared this- they both love peanut butter so this was a huge hit with the both of them. It was super rich though and after a few bites they had to save the rest for later.

DS and I shared this-

Star wars cupcake- vanilla cupcake with cookies n cream filling, butter cream frosting

We both really enjoyed it. The cookies n cream filling was really good- not too sweet, very light and fluffy. The cake was very fresh and moist. I love the cupcakes at contempo Café!! Every single one that I’ve tried there has been fabulous.

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/15/2016
Restaurant: Wolfgang Puck Express
Location: Disney Springs
Meal Type: Lunch

We’ve been considering DVC for a few years now so on our nonpark day we decided to do the DVC tour. At 10am, a DVC van was waiting outside of BLT for us and off we went to Saratoga. This was our first time visiting Saratoga and I must admit, I was pretty impressed. It really is beautiful. We checked the kids into the Kid’s Club (which they LOVED and did not want to leave) and DH and I were offered some pastries and drinks while waiting for our sales rep.

After a couple of hours of talking, asking questions, looking at models, running numbers, etc, we finally decided on what we wanted- we bought a small Poly contract to start with (and now we’re looking at resale to add some points).

We checked out the kids and headed over to the Ice Cream shop? Not sure what this is exactly but after our tour/meeting we were given free ice cream before leaving (and $100 gift card, and 3 FP a piece).

By this time it was almost 2pm and we were all hungry- the ice cream wasn’t cutting it. From Saratoga, we walked over to Disney Springs and ended up at WPE!

DD had the childs spaghetti- she loved it and said it was the best spaghetti she’s ever had

DS and myself had the mac n cheese

I LOVE the mac n cheese here!! It’s soo rich and creamy!!

DH went with the chicken alfredo which I don’t have a pic of but found this one online-

DH said it was really good and hit the spot. He said it was very rich though and wanted a nap afterwards.

After all of that lunch, we needed to walk it off so we wandered around and did a little shopping and of course before heading back to the room, we had to stop at Goofy’s to make a snack.

DD went with marshmallows covered with milk chocolate and sprinkles.

I went with ricekrispy covered in milk chocolate and oreo cookie crumbs

DH and DS were boring and went with a bag of sour gummy candies.

After all of that everyone was getting a little tired and cranky so it was time to catch our bus back to BLT for naps!!

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/16/2016
Restaurant: Tusker House
Location: AK
Meal Type: Breakfast

This was our first AK day so of course we planned Tusker House for breakfast! This has become a favorite of ours and a must do each trip! The food is always hot and fresh and they keep the buffet full and clean at all times.

Unlimited POG juice is served. I don’t care for it but the rest of the family LOVES it. DD started to not feel so well during the meal so pics are limited.

My plate-

(clockwise from the left) biscuit, mickey waffle, bacon, potatoes, donut hole

The boy ate his body weight in scrambled eggs and donut holes

And, a couple of friends we saw-

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/16/2016
Restaurant: Pecos Bill’s
Location: MK
Meal Type: Dinner

This was our only PM MK EMH during our trip- Wednesday night 11pm- 1am. Granny and the kids stayed in while DH and I hit MK for an adults only night. I LOVE PM EMH at MK. We headed out around 9pm and walked from BLT.

We decided to grab some dinner at Pecos Bill’s- first time since the menu change. I had heard mixed reviews about the new offerings but we really enjoyed it. I’d go so far as to say, IMO this is the best QS in MK now. I had the chicken fajitas.

Chicken Fajita Platter - with Cilantro Rice, Beans, and Tortilla

Sorry for the blurry pic. This was a ton of food. The chicken was delicious- seasoned very well- a little spice to it. I really enjoyed the rice too.

DH had the beef burrito

Spicy Beef Burrito - with Cilantro Rice and Beans

This thing was LOADED! DH really enjoyed it- he said the beef was very well seasoned as well. There was a big fixins bar with salsa and extras too which was nice.

We will definitely be back if they keep this menu!

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/17/2016
Restaurant: Gaston’s Tavern
Location: MK
Meal Type: Breakfast

I don’t remember why but for some reason myself and DD split away from DH and DS- I think the boys went to ride Tomorrowland Speedway while DD and I rode the Teacups. Either way, we split up and while waiting for the boys, DD and I wandered over to Gaston’s Tavern. It was our first time checking it out.

We decided to share a cinnamon roll and LeFou's Brew-

I had heard about the maple flavoring in the cinnamon rolls and I really dislike maple but I decided to try it anyway. It was pretty good and the maple flavor was very very slight… if I didn’t know about it, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. The cinnamon roll was OK- it was a little dry.

LeFou's Brew- Frozen apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow and topped with all-natural passion fruit-mango foam
We really enjoyed it but it was VERY sweet.

 

[mkla2015]

Date: 3/17/2016
Restaurant: Friar’s Nook
Location: MK
Meal Type: Lunch

I’ve wanted to eat here for FOREVER but it just never fit into our plans. Well, this trip I MADE it fit! After reading all of the reviews, I knew I had to try this-

Pot Roast Mac n Cheese! I had really high expectations for this and honestly, I was disappointed. I wanted to like this soo bad but I just didn’t care for it. The mac n cheese was really runny- macaroni soup? The pot roast was OK but I felt like it needed something- more seasoning maybe.

 

[lw4486]

Following along! So disappointing about CRT. Great review.