Aimeedyan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2004
This was probably one of my favorite days at WDW and we didnt hit a single park!
After touring some hotels, we opted to have lunch at Pepper Market. We rented a car and drove right past CSR every time we went anywhere so this was an easy stop to make.
When we checked in, we were quickly seated (around noon on a Wed), given the menus, and our waitress came quickly. She explained everything we could do on the dining plan and got our drinks. My truly Texan at heart MIL was really craving Mexican food by day 5 so she was heading straight to the Mexican section. I wandered a bit and everything looked so good! I ended up with shrimp tostados, DH got the chicken fajita platter, MIL got the chicken quesadilla, and FIL got the steak with fries.
The tostados sounded better then they were; the shrimp were really really overcooked, chewy and cold. They truly were inedible. I just pushed them aside and ate part of the stack of tostado shells and sauce. It was still good. All the Mexican entrees came with black beans and rice, which were okay. MIL and DH both really liked their meals the portions were large on everything. FIL took forever to get back with his meal and when he returned, he was very frustrated. Evidently, they cooked his entire steak and then when it finally finished, THEN they placed the fries in the basket to be cooked. So, his steak sat on the plate while the fries cooked and it was cold when it got done. He was really peeved that the cook didnt put them both in at the same time maybe they forgot. The steak didnt look like a ribeye, we really couldnt tell what kind of cut it was, and it wasnt that good but it was okay for a counter service. He loves red meat and ate most of it. The fries were good and hot
For dessert, we were allowed to get a level 1 or 2 bakery item; we all ended up with cookies. They were huge and yummy and we took them all back to the room with us because we were stuffed!
The atmosphere here is really nice, service was excellent, and the food variety is a nice change from the food court at the ASMu. Well go back again, dining plan or not. DH and I actually talked briefly of staying there sometime because we liked the atmosphere of the main building so much; its the only moderate we havent tried yet.
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Not two hours later, we had reservations for afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian! This was just for me, my mom, and my MIL. Aw, isnt that sweet?
Checked in and were immediately seated. Our waitress was new to the tea room, she had recently moved from Brown Derby, so she was still uncertain about a lot of things but very nice. They brought the box of teas to the table, which is new since they changed the teas they offer, and I spent a good 10 minutes smelling them all over and over again. I decided on a Jamaican Spice one, I cant remember what mom and MIL got. Mine was pink and I found that very cool.
Since MIL and I had really just had lunch (though I didnt eat much), we werent real hungry but everything looked so good! We ended up getting things to share: English Blue Stilton Cheese (must have!), scones, a few pastries, and strawberries and cream. When you order pastries, they just bring the tiered thingy to you and let you pick. Lemon cheesecake, swan cream things, chocolate éclairs, fruit tarts, etc. Its all good, no worries.
We had a really nice time and everything was just delicious. The blue cheese is served with berries and walnuts and I ate about every last crumb. This was a bad move on my part as my Crohns was irritated that week and nuts are a huge no no. I paid for it for the rest of the night
We paid OOP for this, of course, since they do not take CM discount or DDP (though they take DDE?!). MIL picked up the tab before I even glanced at it, which was very thoughtful of her! This is a special occasion thing and going to WDW with my mom and my MIL is a special occasion in my book.
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After an afternoon of shopping, we headed to the Boardwalk for dinner at Spoodles. Can I just stop and say how great valet parking at WDW is? We paid for it earlier to have tea at GF and we got to use it again at Boardwalk. What a great thing. Any meal tastes better when you dont have to hike there or ride a bus there. JMHO, of course
We were seated quickly at Spoodles and we were now a party of 6 again all adults. All of us but 2 got our own meals. Our waitress was prompt and really good at giving information and getting drinks (and keeping them!) filled. We were seated at a large round table. I love the atmosphere of this restaurant, it was our first visit there.
For appetizers, we got a couple orders of garlic shrimp, a greek salad, a four cheese flatbread, and a mediterrean dip. My FIL didnt like his four cheese flatbread but we all loved it. He's picky about cheese. I had the garlic shrimp and those suckers are HUGE. As I mentioned earlier, my gut was now revolting against me due to those walnuts so I got down one shrimp and passed the rest onto someone else. We all shared the love and there was a lot of love in those appetizers.
For entrees, two ordered the rigatoni, I ordered the seafood stew, FIL got the NY strip (red meat, again), and the ones sharing got the salmon. After my stew came to the table, I felt really badly about all the seafood life that died for my dish because I couldnt eat much at all. I pretty much identified all the seafood, ate a scallop and some fish, and that was about it. It really didnt even look like I ate anything. The guilt still haunts me.
Everyone else raved about their dishes and enjoyed everything. My MIL mentioned that rigatoni later in the week to someone else we met; she really liked it!
When we made the dining reservations, the CM had put my birthday on all of them. That makes me uncomfortable for some reason; my birthday was only one day and by Wednesday, I had all but forgotten that I had celebrated a birthday 3 days earlier. Just not a big deal. Well, Spoodles does things big for birthdays (very loud!) and I was really hurting and not in the mood for a birthday celebration. In a better mood, I would have gotten into it but not tonight. Evidently our waitress clued in that I had eaten little and wasnt talking much because she asked my DH if she should do a quiet bday surprise. I wish he had said to not do anything but he just told her to do it quietly. So, when she brought our desserts, she had placed a candle in mine. I thought it was really nice
Speaking of desserts, I had the chocolate apricot pistachio cake, DH and FIL both got the make your own sundaes, and I cant remember what the other two got. I think they both got the cakes. I couldnt eat any of my dessert but I passed it onto someone else and they enjoyed it. It was pretty! FIL and DH had the coolest dessert; their ice cream came on an artist palette thing with various sundae toppings that they could use. They both thought that was very cool.
All in all, a great experience and good food even if I was feeling bad. This was a great choice for dinner as we headed out the doors and a party had erupted on the Boardwalk! The sun was down and the street performers were out. We spent a couple hours on the Boardwalk that night and had a good time.
Next up: 50s PT and Chefs de France
After touring some hotels, we opted to have lunch at Pepper Market. We rented a car and drove right past CSR every time we went anywhere so this was an easy stop to make.
When we checked in, we were quickly seated (around noon on a Wed), given the menus, and our waitress came quickly. She explained everything we could do on the dining plan and got our drinks. My truly Texan at heart MIL was really craving Mexican food by day 5 so she was heading straight to the Mexican section. I wandered a bit and everything looked so good! I ended up with shrimp tostados, DH got the chicken fajita platter, MIL got the chicken quesadilla, and FIL got the steak with fries.
The tostados sounded better then they were; the shrimp were really really overcooked, chewy and cold. They truly were inedible. I just pushed them aside and ate part of the stack of tostado shells and sauce. It was still good. All the Mexican entrees came with black beans and rice, which were okay. MIL and DH both really liked their meals the portions were large on everything. FIL took forever to get back with his meal and when he returned, he was very frustrated. Evidently, they cooked his entire steak and then when it finally finished, THEN they placed the fries in the basket to be cooked. So, his steak sat on the plate while the fries cooked and it was cold when it got done. He was really peeved that the cook didnt put them both in at the same time maybe they forgot. The steak didnt look like a ribeye, we really couldnt tell what kind of cut it was, and it wasnt that good but it was okay for a counter service. He loves red meat and ate most of it. The fries were good and hot
For dessert, we were allowed to get a level 1 or 2 bakery item; we all ended up with cookies. They were huge and yummy and we took them all back to the room with us because we were stuffed!
The atmosphere here is really nice, service was excellent, and the food variety is a nice change from the food court at the ASMu. Well go back again, dining plan or not. DH and I actually talked briefly of staying there sometime because we liked the atmosphere of the main building so much; its the only moderate we havent tried yet.
----------------------
Not two hours later, we had reservations for afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian! This was just for me, my mom, and my MIL. Aw, isnt that sweet?
Checked in and were immediately seated. Our waitress was new to the tea room, she had recently moved from Brown Derby, so she was still uncertain about a lot of things but very nice. They brought the box of teas to the table, which is new since they changed the teas they offer, and I spent a good 10 minutes smelling them all over and over again. I decided on a Jamaican Spice one, I cant remember what mom and MIL got. Mine was pink and I found that very cool.
Since MIL and I had really just had lunch (though I didnt eat much), we werent real hungry but everything looked so good! We ended up getting things to share: English Blue Stilton Cheese (must have!), scones, a few pastries, and strawberries and cream. When you order pastries, they just bring the tiered thingy to you and let you pick. Lemon cheesecake, swan cream things, chocolate éclairs, fruit tarts, etc. Its all good, no worries.
We had a really nice time and everything was just delicious. The blue cheese is served with berries and walnuts and I ate about every last crumb. This was a bad move on my part as my Crohns was irritated that week and nuts are a huge no no. I paid for it for the rest of the night
We paid OOP for this, of course, since they do not take CM discount or DDP (though they take DDE?!). MIL picked up the tab before I even glanced at it, which was very thoughtful of her! This is a special occasion thing and going to WDW with my mom and my MIL is a special occasion in my book.
-------------------------
After an afternoon of shopping, we headed to the Boardwalk for dinner at Spoodles. Can I just stop and say how great valet parking at WDW is? We paid for it earlier to have tea at GF and we got to use it again at Boardwalk. What a great thing. Any meal tastes better when you dont have to hike there or ride a bus there. JMHO, of course
We were seated quickly at Spoodles and we were now a party of 6 again all adults. All of us but 2 got our own meals. Our waitress was prompt and really good at giving information and getting drinks (and keeping them!) filled. We were seated at a large round table. I love the atmosphere of this restaurant, it was our first visit there.
For appetizers, we got a couple orders of garlic shrimp, a greek salad, a four cheese flatbread, and a mediterrean dip. My FIL didnt like his four cheese flatbread but we all loved it. He's picky about cheese. I had the garlic shrimp and those suckers are HUGE. As I mentioned earlier, my gut was now revolting against me due to those walnuts so I got down one shrimp and passed the rest onto someone else. We all shared the love and there was a lot of love in those appetizers.
For entrees, two ordered the rigatoni, I ordered the seafood stew, FIL got the NY strip (red meat, again), and the ones sharing got the salmon. After my stew came to the table, I felt really badly about all the seafood life that died for my dish because I couldnt eat much at all. I pretty much identified all the seafood, ate a scallop and some fish, and that was about it. It really didnt even look like I ate anything. The guilt still haunts me.
Everyone else raved about their dishes and enjoyed everything. My MIL mentioned that rigatoni later in the week to someone else we met; she really liked it!
When we made the dining reservations, the CM had put my birthday on all of them. That makes me uncomfortable for some reason; my birthday was only one day and by Wednesday, I had all but forgotten that I had celebrated a birthday 3 days earlier. Just not a big deal. Well, Spoodles does things big for birthdays (very loud!) and I was really hurting and not in the mood for a birthday celebration. In a better mood, I would have gotten into it but not tonight. Evidently our waitress clued in that I had eaten little and wasnt talking much because she asked my DH if she should do a quiet bday surprise. I wish he had said to not do anything but he just told her to do it quietly. So, when she brought our desserts, she had placed a candle in mine. I thought it was really nice
Speaking of desserts, I had the chocolate apricot pistachio cake, DH and FIL both got the make your own sundaes, and I cant remember what the other two got. I think they both got the cakes. I couldnt eat any of my dessert but I passed it onto someone else and they enjoyed it. It was pretty! FIL and DH had the coolest dessert; their ice cream came on an artist palette thing with various sundae toppings that they could use. They both thought that was very cool.
All in all, a great experience and good food even if I was feeling bad. This was a great choice for dinner as we headed out the doors and a party had erupted on the Boardwalk! The sun was down and the street performers were out. We spent a couple hours on the Boardwalk that night and had a good time.
Next up: 50s PT and Chefs de France
That's one thing I plan on doing Afternoon Tea. I just love it and finger sandwiches. (They have finger sandwiches, don't they?)
