"could I have another glow cube?" - spring 2017 DR - COMPLETE 8/17 Homecoming

[pepperandchips]

Introduction Post Time!

Well hello again friends, it's me, pepperandchips (aka Melinda)! I'm a late-20s Disney addict who mainly visits WDW for the food... let's be real. Okay, maybe not entirely for the food, but the dining is a big attraction! I hail from Atlanta and we usually drive to Orlando, but this time we flew. And the cast of the diners is a little different this time

I finished up my last dining adventure just in time to take another trip to Walt Disney World. This time, I was spending a long weekend there with my friend and for the purposes of keeping us away from search engines, I'll call her KJ.

KJ and I started working together exactly a year ago, and immediately bonded over our shared love of all things Disney. Before I started working there, she was well known as the Disney-crazy member of our team, but now we share that crown happily! So last summer we began scheming of a way to take a Disney trip together and landed on the first week of March to work around the craze of crowds and to fit in between our other independent Disney plans. I am a DVC member and was able to book us into a standard studio at the Polynesian about six months prior to our trip. We wanted to stay at a resort that neither of us had stayed at and the Polynesian ended up working out perfectly for us.

We loved riding the monorail to both MK and Epcot and it was fantastic to be on the monorail loop since we spent the majority of this trip eating and DRINKING. Yes, that's where the report title comes from, and if you don't want to read about two Disney nuts drinking a couple too many cocktails you can avert your eyes here. Debauchery follows. In fact, I almost didn't write this report as I probably have more photos of drinks than of food, but I think there are a few friends here in this subforum who might appreciate (and dare I even suggest RELATE) so I decided to share anyway.

I also have another trip coming up in two weeks when R's school has spring break, and I will be traveling to WDW with my mom, sister, sister's boyfriend, and R. At least that's the plan as of today. So I may piggyback all of those reviews into this one since I doubt very much that I will be done writing before the second trip kicks off!

On this trip, we ate at the following locations:
- Trader Sam's Grog Grotto (late dinner/drinks)
- The Plaza Restaurant (lunch)
- Flower and Garden Festival (dinner/drinks)
- Kona (lunch)
- Nomad Lounge (dinner/drinks)
- Tambu Lounge (dessert)
- California Grill (brunch)
- Flower and Garden part 2 (snack, drinks)
- San Angel Inn (dinner? spoiler: disaster)
Plus a bunch of other drinks and pictures of the trip.

Bonus Posts (EVEN MORE GLOWCUBE):
- Disney Springs Progressive Dinner (Paddlefish, D-Luxe, Drinks at Homecoming)
- Flower and Garden Festival Booths Reviews
- Monorail Crawl dinner and Dismeet
- Flipper's Pizza Delivery, Animal Kingdom Snacks, Nomad Lounge dinner
- Escudos WBC Pool Bar Lunch, Random Snacks, Offsite Dinner at Hot N Juicy Crawfish
- More Flower and Garden Booths and a Visit to La Cava del Tequila
- Homecoming and Homegoing

Without further ado, let's get started with our departure day!

 

[pepperandchips]

March 2, 2017 - Departure day

KJ and I both had to work on our departure day, March 2. Let me tell you, it was agonizing waiting on her to finish up her last few tasks so that we could leave! We work really close to a stop of Atlanta's public transit train (MARTA) so we opted to bring our things to work and leave straight after quitting time via MARTA to the airport.

(this is actually the plane train at the airport, thankfully we had seats on the train to the airport)

Luckily the trains weren't too busy and we got to the airport plenty early ahead of our 8:00pm departure time. It's great living in a city with a major international airport but dealing with the sheer volume of passengers in the Atlanta airport can sometimes be a hassle - security took quite a wait and apparently there was a RAT running loose in the airport . We never saw the furry fiend but we saw plenty of shrieking and running! It was at least an entertaining wait. Once we got to our terminal we decided to get a drink before the plane boarded.

As luck would have it, our gate was pretty far-flung from the main restaurants and food court at the terminal but the Atlanta Bread Company location near our gate had a bar... that's a first. Anyway we got a table for two and ordered a couple of libations.

I had a double maker's mark and soda with lime (this is what I usually drink at home and apparently I hadn't switched over to vacation mode yet) and KJ had the organic margarita "tres agaves reposado tequila, organic lime juice, agave nectar". I asked her if it tasted organic (haha) and she said it was a decent margarita. My drink was also fine. The tables are really crammed into the bar area so it was a little awkward, us discussing disney excitedly between tables of businessmen, but we got over it and downed our drinks. KJ picked up the tab since I used my DVC points for our room, but our drinks were somewhere around $16-17 each. YIKES!

Onboard the plane we found that we had no window in our row. Yeah... that was our luck for the evening.

At least Delta has a lot of Disney movie choices and other new releases. It seems like the planes they use for ATL-MCO all have the in-seat entertainment so we spent the short jaunt watching pretty good films. I took the opportunity to watch Kubo & the Two Strings which was much much better than I was expecting. KJ seized the chance to advance her German skills and watched Beauty & The Beast with German subtitles

After landing in Orlando we got our luggage from the claim area and made our way to Magical Express, where a bus was waiting and we probably waited 30 minutes or so for additional passengers before heading to WDW. The Poly ended up being the first stop! Woo hoo!

We ditched our bags with bell services and immediately made our way to Trader Sam's. KJ had never experienced the fabulous kitsch of WDW's signature tiki bar, and we had a short window before closing, so we snagged an empty table and wasted no time ordering. Of course by this point we were really hungry so we may have been guilty of accidentally digging in before I got photos also...

Kahlua Pork Tacos - with cabbage and pickled vegetables $9.99

Roasted Chicken and Pork Pate Banh Mi Sliders $9.99

I've had both of these before and, as I've said then, these are decent options but I would not go out of my way to specifically eat at Trader Sam's. Normally the portion size of each of these dishes is three each (tacos or sliders) but we were starving at this point. Sorry!

Of course we also had cocktails. KJ started with:

HippopotoMai-Tai - Coruba Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, Bols Orange Curacao, Orgeat (almond), organic agave nectar, and fresh lime juice. This is just the quintessential tiki drink in my opinion and she wanted the souvenir glass, so it was a great option.

Shrunken Zombie Head - Gosling's 15! Black Seal Rum, Appleton Estate Reserve Rum, Bacardi 8 yr Rum, tropical juices, Falernum, and cinnamon. What can I say, I am a creature of habit. This is my favorite drink at Trader Sam's and it's hard for me to branch out. This potent cocktail always hits the spot - it goes down easy but packs a punch! Yum.

Since it was so late in the evening (and a Thursday to boot) there wasn't anything clsoe to a full house in Trader Sam's and while we had gotten the full effects ordering the Hippopotomaitai and the Zombie, KJ had yet to see my favorite effect that happens when someone orders a particular cocktail. I was FORCED - FORCED, I tell you - to take matters into my own hands. We ordered something I'd not had before:

Uh-Oa! - Myers's Original Dark Ru, Bacardi Superior Rum, orange, passion fruit, guava, pineapple, and grapefruit juices, Falernum, Cinnamon, and fresh lime juice. Recommended for two or more guests. And it was totally worth it. This is actually a delicious cocktail, although you probably should not throw as much cinnamon on the fire as we did since it made the dregs of the drink pretty overwhelmingly cinnamon flavored. (the cinnamon makes the fire flare up) It was so fun having the effect happen just for us and we took the opportunity to pose for a few photos with our much-adored tiki drink

After we settled our tab and collected the clean mai tai glass from Trader Sam's, it was time to check in and go to bed! We had closed that bad boy down!

Up next: check in drama (what else when I'm involved), a room with a view, magic kingdom in the morning, and plaza lunch!

 

[Sailormoon2]

I am so pumped to try Trader Sam's, do all the drinks have special FXs?? Or just the really $$$ ones?
I love your "Polynesian" Disney Ears, so cute!!

Falernum

What is this?
Sounds like an awesome start to me!!

 

[T00dles]

Can't wait for the rest of the report! That Mai tai looks great

 

[megveg]

ooooo! I am so glad to be here as this is starting! I love the Polynesian and I love both of your ears! woooo! excited for more!

 

[pepperandchips]

Yay! I have dis friends willing to join me on my drinking adventure. haha!

I am so pumped to try Trader Sam's, do all the drinks have special FXs?? Or just the really $$$ ones?
I love your "Polynesian" Disney Ears, so cute!!

Thank you! I made the ears from leis we got on a previous trip

I will try to list the drinks I remember that have effects when you order them. It's not necessarily the expensive ones, and even the ones that come with glasses you can order without the glass and the prices really aren't too bad. The only thing I will say about the prices is that I wish they took Tables in Wonderland but clearly the lounge is popular enough that they don't need to offer any discounts!

Here are the effects I can remember without too much spoiler:
Polynesian Pearl - effect behind the bar when you order this and the CM selects the actual drink container
Nautilus - fun server effect and audio effect with lights when the server is delivering you the drink
Uh Oa - effect on the wall/audio
Hippopotomaitai - server/audio effect as drink is delivered
Krakatoa Punch - audio and wall/window effect
Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum - server schtick
Zombie Head - audio/server/lighting effect

They are fun!

What is this?
Sounds like an awesome start to me!!

Falernum is (from the internet, I had only a vague idea) a syrup that is almond and citrus flavors with spices. All I know is that both the Zombie and the Mai Tai taste like vacation in a glass!!

Can't wait for the rest of the report! That Mai tai looks great

Yay! So glad to have you here!!! I love all of the tropical cocktails at the Polynesian. Hard to go wrong with any of them, but the Mai Tai is a perfect vacation drink!!

 

[pepperandchips]

ooooo! I am so glad to be here as this is starting! I love the Polynesian and I love both of your ears! woooo! excited for more!

Yay! Glad you are here too!!! We absolutely adored the Poly, the room was fabulous and the location is unbeatable. Thank you about the ears They were super fun to celebrate with!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Tables in Wonderland but clearly the lounge is popular enough that they don't need to offer any discounts!

That's good to know, but too bad Do most of the other bars take TIW? I'm trying to decide if I get it alongside my AP next year or not.

All I know is that both the Zombie and the Mai Tai taste like vacation in a glass!!

Honestly, I'm already sold on drinking these! LOL!

 

[Vernie822]

Heeeeeeere, and so excited to hear about your trip!

 

[pepperandchips]

That's good to know, but too bad Do most of the other bars take TIW? I'm trying to decide if I get it alongside my AP next year or not.


Honestly, I'm already sold on drinking these! LOL!

Yes! Most other bars and restaurants you get a 20% discount on food and alcohol. I go down so much that I think TIW is worth it (and my family is at least moderate drinkers, especially when everyone is tired and their feet hurt, etc). Here is a handy reference that compares the different discounts available at dining locations: http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf I hope this is not blocked here but I found it by googling "Disney Dining Discounts 2017" and it's a handy PDF that compares all of the available discounts (AP, DVC, TIW, Chase Visa).

If Disney continues honoring a 20% AP discount it is a little hard to justify TIW - at a price point of $150 your break-even is spending $750.00 on food and drinks that you would not have been eligible for the discount from your AP on (so for example, we eat at California Grill a lot - AP discount is only 10% but TIW is 20% and includes alcohol, there's no AP discount at the Yachtsman or the Swan/Dolphin restaurants, and all booze at the places that take TIW would be included in your $750) So you really have to split hairs to determine if it's worth it. But since we go so much and drink so much it is worth it for me.

Heeeeeeere, and so excited to hear about your trip!

Yay! Welcome Ashley!!! Are you on facebook? I want to try to find you. We need to meet up sometime that our trips overlap.

 

[Vernie822]

KJ and I started working together exactly a year ago, and immediately bonded over our shared love of all things Disney. Before I started working there, she was well known as the Disney-crazy member of our team, but now we share that crown happily! So last summer we began scheming of a way to take a Disney trip together and landed on the first week of March to work around the craze of crowds and to fit in between our other independent Disney plans. I am a DVC member and was able to book us into a standard studio at the Polynesian about six months prior to our trip. We wanted to stay at a resort that neither of us had stayed at and the Polynesian ended up working out perfectly for us.

OMG, that is so fun!! A work & Disney bff all in one.. score!

In fact, I almost didn't write this report as I probably have more photos of drinks than of food, but I think there are a few friends here in this subforum who might appreciate (and dare I even suggest RELATE) so I decided to share anyway.

Well here we are....

I also have another trip coming up in two weeks when R's school has spring break, and I will be traveling to WDW with my mom, sister, sister's boyfriend, and R. At least that's the plan as of today. So I may piggyback all of those reviews into this one since I doubt very much that I will be done writing before the second trip kicks off!

WHAT! We'll be there in two weeks too Where are you staying!?

(ETA: I guess I wrote this at the same time you did, lol! We'll be there 3/31-4/3 at BLT. I'll pm you so we can find each other on FB!)

 

[DLo]

Following over from last report. Looking forward to this one.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in! Glad you were able to get Trader Sam's in before closing! I also made my Uh-Oa! have too much cinnamon when we were in Disneyland! I understand that struggle!

 

[pepperandchips]

OMG, that is so fun!! A work & Disney bff all in one.. score!



Well here we are....



WHAT! We'll be there in two weeks too Where are you staying!?

(ETA: I guess I wrote this at the same time you did, lol! We'll be there 3/31-4/3 at BLT. I'll pm you so we can find each other on FB!)

Yes I am so lucky to have a very Disney-supportive work environment haha. I have KJ who TOTALLY gets it, my fabulous assistant who owns a BlueGreen timeshare and goes down to Orlando a lot so she *mostly* gets it, and a former coworker who actually got married in the wedding pavilion and took all his photos in MK. We're working on all the others

I WILL BE THERE AT THE EXACT SAME TIME! 3/31-4/5. We are staying at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek because we've got the whole fam coming this time - R and I will have the master, my mom will probably take the second bedroom, and my sister and her boo will more than likely end up on the pull out couch. That would cost me a year's salary on property... haha. Mom, sis, and sis's boyfriend don't have tickets yet so we're kinda making our plans independently of them. I'm trying to be more laid back about this trip so I don't have any plans written in stone. Would love to meet you guys for a drink or something! We can carry over the conversation to FB so we don't bore anyone else.

Following over from last report. Looking forward to this one.

yay! So glad you made it over. Happy to have you reading along!

Joining in! Glad you were able to get Trader Sam's in before closing! I also made my Uh-Oa! have too much cinnamon when we were in Disneyland! I understand that struggle!

Ah, another appearance from one of my favorite intrepid dining reporters! So glad to have you along as well, Dis_Yoda. I just finished reading your Disneyland report and it was fabulous as usual. Even though you and hubs are much more devoted to fitness (running on vacation?! ) than we are, I think we tour alike so I always love your reports.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

In fact, I almost didn't write this report as I probably have more photos of drinks than of food, but I think there are a few friends here in this subforum who might appreciate (and dare I even suggest RELATE) so I decided to share anyway.

Ahem...yes...there are probably some of those people who are thirsty and reading this report right now.......

This trip looks like a ton of fun already! How awesome to have a Disney partner in crime who also likes to booze it up! Can't ask for much more than that in a friend

I soooo want to go to Trader Sam's on our next trip but feel weird just taking my 8-year-old. Not sure I want to be THAT Mom, LOL.

 

[pepperandchips]

Ahem...yes...there are probably some of those people who are thirsty and reading this report right now.......

This trip looks like a ton of fun already! How awesome to have a Disney partner in crime who also likes to booze it up! Can't ask for much more than that in a friend

I soooo want to go to Trader Sam's on our next trip but feel weird just taking my 8-year-old. Not sure I want to be THAT Mom, LOL.

I was wondering how long was an appropriate amount of time before I sent up a flare to let you know about the new report so glad to have you here, Amber!

Oh, KJ is an awesome friend. And a really adorable and positive person at most times which is an amazing trait to have in a coworker, but it caused some level of insanity at Disney World! I'll have to save some of this for a post but we were celebrating her birthday there and let's just say it attracted plenty of pixie dust because she is so sweet and cute! I was glad to have her for a travel buddy.

Maybe it wouldn't be as fun since you'd miss the effects but I highly recommend either the Trader Sam's outside patio or the Poly pool bar to grab a tropical drink, you know, if you just happen to be around I know it probably doesn't assuage any of the weirdness about being "that mom" but Disney does allow kids into Trader Sam's prior to 8:00 pm (I think it's 8:00) and you know how I feel about it being perfectly fine to bring kids anywhere at WDW. It's disney world! Trader Sam's reminds me a lot of the Tiki Room so Sean might actually enjoy it (it is Sean that is coming on your next trip right?). But I totally get not wanting to focus your trip around bringing your son into bars. It's all about balancing mama's needs with other Disney stuff to keep everyone having fun!!

 

[ariane37]

Wait, wait, here I am let the drinking go on!!! And on, and on, and on.......
Nice you got to stay at the Poly. Steve and I did 2 nights there last year and while we won't rush to go back the convenience factor is definitely +++.

 

[Raeven]

I also have another trip coming up in two weeks when R's school has spring break, and I will be traveling to WDW with my mom, sister, sister's boyfriend, and R. At least that's the plan as of today. So I may piggyback all of those reviews into this one since I doubt very much that I will be done writing before the second trip kicks off!

Yay another trip! Maybe someday we'll be there at the same time! I can't wait to see your F&G reviews.

Onboard the plane we found that we had no window in our row. Yeah... that was our luck for the evening.

Of course.

Of course we also had cocktails. KJ started with:

HippopotoMai-Tai - Coruba Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, Bols Orange Curacao, Orgeat (almond), organic agave nectar, and fresh lime juice. This is just the quintessential tiki drink in my opinion and she wanted the souvenir glass, so it was a great option.

Yum that looks good! I had the shrunken zombie head one too when i went.

 

[Vernie822]

Yes I am so lucky to have a very Disney-supportive work environment haha. I have KJ who TOTALLY gets it, my fabulous assistant who owns a BlueGreen timeshare and goes down to Orlando a lot so she *mostly* gets it, and a former coworker who actually got married in the wedding pavilion and took all his photos in MK. We're working on all the others

I WILL BE THERE AT THE EXACT SAME TIME! 3/31-4/5. We are staying at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek because we've got the whole fam coming this time - R and I will have the master, my mom will probably take the second bedroom, and my sister and her boo will more than likely end up on the pull out couch. That would cost me a year's salary on property... haha. Mom, sis, and sis's boyfriend don't have tickets yet so we're kinda making our plans independently of them. I'm trying to be more laid back about this trip so I don't have any plans written in stone. Would love to meet you guys for a drink or something! We can carry over the conversation to FB so we don't bore anyone else.

That is awesome that they all love WDW! Mine are just like "Disney again?" haha. Lets meet for a drink or something, definitely! We will have to coordinate. Ours are pretty flexible and not written in stone much either. We're thinking of drinking/eating around the monorail on Saturday (I think that's 4/1)? And we plan to spend some time at F&G.

 

[cinderellashosh]

Oh what a cute DR! I can't wait to hear about F & G! I'm planning on doing Trader Sam's on our arrival day, too! Keep the drinks coming!