"Hurricane I get this wine to go?!?": A September 2017 Dining Report *COMPLETE

Hettie

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Hello fellow diners and drinkers! I have been enjoying following along with (ie. lurking around) several of your entertaining dining reports and thought I would give it a go myself. I apologize for the lack of food photos, I had every intention of taking them, but quickly learned that wasn’t going to mesh with wrangling my toddler at meals. I’m putting this together with receipts and memory, so I think I can mostly piece the meals together if not the activities in between—but you’re all here for the food and drinks anyway, right?!?

So here we are:
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Me: I’m Heather, SAHM, trip planner, and general WDW obsessor. I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve been to WDW between childhood trips, College Program, adult trips, and living in Orlando for a bit. I’m a foodie and I like to cook, but I also like to sit and relax with a glass of wine and have someone bring me food. That’s better than cooking. I’m also a bit of a health nut, but that all goes out the window when on vacation. I prefer to get most of my carbs in the form of wine.

Husband: I was fortunate enough to meet a fellow WDW fan and the first vacation we took together was to WDW at AKL the year it opened. Chad is an IT engineer, he works long hours, but is a great father and husband. He’s very witty, charming, and I’ve had to beat the ladies away with a stick during our almost 13 years of marriage and 17 years together total. I knew he was the one for me when we were dating and I discovered that he could use chopsticks as well as I could (and I had just spent several months in Japan).

The boy: Asher is our adventurous and energetic little 2 and few months year old. He takes after my extrovert husband in many ways, including his zany antics and rowdiness. Asher has already been to WDW when he was 5 months old during which he mostly slept in my carrier while I sweated and drank wine or rum drinks from the Dawa Bar. His favorite Disney movies are Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, and Wall-E.

The Trip:

We spent 10 nights (Sept 6-16) at the Poly in a DVC standard studio, our first stay at the Poly thanks to our DVC ownership. We originally had 8 nights, but on our way to Florida when it became apparent that Hurricane Irma wasn’t going to change course and we decided to add a couple of nights to our stay to make up for what we assumed would be lost days. We debated cancelling, but the idea of turning around and driving back home after spending a full day driving from KY to GA was terribly depressing and it would be impossible for us to reschedule anytime soon, so we stocked up on some food, water, hurricane supplies, and even some gas in GA and just went for it.

It felt like we were going in the wrong direction?
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I had just a few ADRs booked for breakfasts and brunch, but ended up cancelling them due to changes in plans and park days because of the storm. I was so sad when I received a call informing us that the Cali Grill Brunch at the Top was canceled for Sunday due to the impending weather. I was sooo looking forward to that one, so it’s on the list for our next trip in April. We ended up winging it for all our meals, which was quite easy with the low attendance--the days surrounding the hurricane we could find open ADRs for pretty much anywhere on property!

I hoped this would be a slow and relaxing trip, but the urgency created by the hurricane combined with traveling with a toddler didn’t allow us to fully accomplish that goal. As some of you may be aware, toddlers are simply miniature dictators, so much of our time felt like “hurry and get _______ finished” before Asher: needs a nap, needs a snack, gets hangry, gets too hot, needs to go to bed, and so on. He does travel well though, so we had tons of fun regardless and I would totally recommend taking a 2.5 year old—just be prepared for all plans to relax to be thrown by the wayside…or the poolside, wherever.

Wow, that introduction was long winded and I’m already tired of myself, so without further ado, let’s get this thing rolling!

 
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Day 1 – Sept 6
“Nobody wants an itchy lei”
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We arrived at the Poly around 5 pm, later than I planned, but our extra stops for hurricane supplies had put us behind. We split the drive from KY into two days and were antsy from being in the car and tired of eating road food, so after checking in, putting on and quickly removing itchy leis, and having our luggage delivered, we rolled out to EPCOT. Asher’s first monorail ride was a hit and thus began our obsessive hand sanitizing due to his insistence on holding onto poles, handles, rails, etc.
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After attempting to de-germ, we headed straight for some F&W booths when we arrived. I wanted to check out the new cluster of booths in Future World, but none of the drinks from those had made it to my list, so our first stop was the Light Lab for the Elysian Space Dust IPA. While I’m mainly a wine drinker, I do enjoy beer, especially hoppy, citrusy IPAs and this one fit the bill. I would have liked a full size one and I just saw on @ariane37 ‘s dining report that they have it on tap in the CL at WL…um, yes please.

We took our beers over to the “grass” courtyard in the middle of the Coastal, Earth, and Active Eats booths and Chad wrangled the boy while I went to the Coastal booth to pick up the Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado Lemongrass Cream for Chad and the Baked Shrimp Scampi Dip and Seared Scallops with Roasted Corn, Butterbean Succotash, and Chili-Chipotle Butter Sauce for myself. Chad enjoyed his crab cake and let me have a taste. It was nice and crabby, as it should be, with a lightly crisp exterior. My shrimp scampi dip was VERY buttery and cheesy, a bit much for me, and there wasn’t nearly enough sourdough baguette with it. The scallops were pretty good, especially the flavor of the chipotle butter sauce, but the portion was just sad. I wanted there to be a bit more of everything, but if not more scallops, at least throw on the corn and butterbeans, I really don’t think it’s gonna break the bank or anything.

Asher wasn’t very interested in what we were eating, so I got him something more familiar, the Ricotta and Zucchini Ravioli from Earth Eats, which I cut up and called “spaghetti” so that he would take bites between running laps around the circular deck next to those booths. The poor kid had been in a car for two days and handled it so well that I thought he deserved to run amok for a few minutes since the only two people in the area seemed to be enjoying his track practice. I tasted his ravioli and it wasn’t bad, the vegetables tasted very fresh and there was plenty of zucchini and ricotta. Maybe a little generic, but still much better than Olive Garden or something IMO and I managed to get some vegetables into the toddler. Score.
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By then it’s getting past our normal dinner time and Asher has only had the ravioli, so we decided to find something to eat that would interest him more than playing and walked over to Mexico where we could go on a boat ride with "Don Duck" (Asher seemed in awe, but enjoyed it) and eat at La Cantina de San Angel. If we had eaten here before, I have zero recollection of it, but rice and beans seemed like a good bet for the boy and some tacos would finish filling our bellies, along with some margaritas (of course). We all shared the Tacos de Barbacoa: Seasoned Beef, Homemade Corn Tortillas, Mexican Rice, Refried Black Beans, and Red Salsa while Chad and I each had a Patrón Lime Margarita on the Rocks.

The tacos were surprisingly delicious, I honestly wasn’t expecting much from this QS, but the beef was tender and the sauce on the spicy side, especially for WDW, and I know plenty of people who wouldn’t be able to eat it, but we apparently killed our taste buds years ago and eat habanero sauce on the regular. The rice and beans were also very good and Asher ate quite a bit with mom and dad finishing them off. The margaritas had a very good flavor, they could have used about twice the amount of tequila in our opinion, but we’re in the “what’s the point if you can’t taste the alcohol” camp. Still, I would drink it again if Cava is too crowded and the new margarita bar is still not open in April, which seems like a distinct possibility.

While eating we heard the concert going on and remembered that we had intended to get back there to catch a bit of the Fuel show for some post-grunge nostalgia, but we had sadly forgotten. Vowing to come back the next night, we decided it was time to get our tired little boy back to the Poly and meandered back to the monorail for a satisfied journey.

Up next, Day 2- Fuel Concert or Bust…Okay, Bust
 
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Wow! You have me salivating for Coastal eats. Yum! Great start to your report.
 


Hi there! Yes WL CL was awesome, and I'll be posting more pics once I have a chance to actually update again! Having "free" alcohol at your disposal at WDW can't be beat :thumbsup2


It felt like we were going in the wrong direction?
lol, all those folks going the other way were probably thinking you were in for a big surprise!

We ended up winging it for all our meals, which was quite easy with the low attendance--the days surrounding the hurricane we could find open ADRs for pretty much anywhere on property!
A friend of mine went down on the 12th and said the crowds were awesome for a few days. She kept sending me pictures of empty parks, I was so jealous! So not surprised you were able to get ADRs where you wanted, glad it worked that way!

so we had tons of fun regardless and I would totally recommend taking a 2.5 year old—just be prepared for all plans to relax to be thrown by the wayside…or the poolside, wherever.
Our 2nd trip my youngest was 2 and it was great. He was old enough to understand certain things, enjoy some rides and the characters and even though we still had to drag the diapers and a change of clothes and had some trouble getting him to sleep, I'm glad we did it,

La Cantina de San Angel.
Glad you enjoyed your food! One of our "go-to" QS in WS. I did get a margarita there once and it was ok, but I prefer them inside at La Cava when the line isn't crazy long :)

Great start to your report, I look forward to reading more!
 
Wow! You have me salivating for Coastal eats. Yum! Great start to your report.

Thanks! Coastal Eats was good and we especially enjoyed that new little courtyard they've created there. It's a nice relaxing space where you can chill for a bit if it's not too hot.

Our 2nd trip my youngest was 2 and it was great. He was old enough to understand certain things, enjoy some rides and the characters and even though we still had to drag the diapers and a change of clothes and had some trouble getting him to sleep, I'm glad we did it,

Glad you enjoyed your food! One of our "go-to" QS in WS. I did get a margarita there once and it was ok, but I prefer them inside at La Cava when the line isn't crazy long :)

Great start to your report, I look forward to reading more!

Thanks for following along! I'm so glad we took Asher at this age, I think it will create the perfect foundation for indoctrinating him into our WDW lifestyle. :smooth:

I think La Cantina will be one of our new regular stops, especially with a kid who likes rice and beans. He'll eat a variety of foods usually, but when he's out of his normal routine and just wanting to play, something familiar will usually convince him to eat and a bonus if it's not fries.
 


Day 2 – Sept 7
Fuel Concert or Bust…Okay, Bust

Our previous evening was later than intended, we walked out to the point at the Poly beach to watch a few minutes of HEA when we got back (Asher said it was “bootiful”) and it took awhile to get Asher ready and in bed since we hadn’t really unpacked and bedtime was later than normal, so I decided we would just take it easy in the morning and sleep as late as we could, getting to MK whenever would be fine. So of course Asher woke up around 6:00-6:30, which started a trend for the whole trip, which was not cool since he usually doesn’t wake up until 7:00 or a little after. I find 7:00 to be much more acceptable. Anyway, since we were up so early, we made it to MK right around 9:00 after eating some of our breakfast foods we had brought along in the room.

This was Asher’s first visit to MK because we skipped the park during his first short trip at 5 months old, so I was excited to show him all the things. We made our way back to Fantasyland after stopping for our first Photopass photos and he spotted the carousel right away. We couldn’t deny him a ride on the “hohsies” as our first stop, followed by a visit to his friend Tinkerbell and some singing dolls.

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We got several more Fantasyland and Tomorrowland attractions in during our whirlwind of a morning and then the big baby started getting hangry. And I’m not talking about Asher.

After scolding Chad for not eating enough to get through until the lunch I had planned, we went over to Sleepy Hollow to get the big baby a corn dog and I decided since we were here, I may as well try the chicken waffle sandwich everyone talks about. There goes lunch. The person taking orders here was painfully slow making for a long wait in the hot sun, then another short wait for the food, and finally we were able to settle in at one of the tables.

Following fending off unwanted advances from an aggressive squirrel, we dug into our meals, which were supposed to be snacks, but the waffle sandwich was huge! I thought I had seen complaints about it being smaller, but it was a huge waffle with two big pieces of chicken and a pile of slaw. It was drenched in the sauce, which was much more sweet than spicy, too sweet for me really, but it would have been tolerable had there not been so much. The waffle was soggy with sauce so I just tore pieces from around the edge and used those to pick up the chicken and ate the slaw with a fork. I can see how this sandwich has potential, but the sauce really just ruined it for me.

Chad’s corn dog was better, but parts of the batter inside were not thoroughly cooked, so he had to pick around those. We could have taken it back and gotten another one, but after the long wait, didn’t feel like dealing with yet another one. We’ll probably try the corn dog again in the future though since we love that type of freshly dipped and fried dog and there isn’t much QS in MK that appeals to us otherwise.

I think Asher ate a few bites of a Larabar, but by far his favorite part of the meal (the day…maybe the entire trip???) was that squirrel who he kept cackling at and gleefully calling “T’mere mouse!”

Since we were halfway to Adventureland, we headed that way to ride some magic carpets and endure some corny jokes. By then, it was getting hawwwwwt and we were wilting. Asher needed some real food so we headed over to Skipper Canteen for some AC, drinks, and snacks.

This was our first visit and they got us in right away as a walk-up. We were seated alone in the family den room or whatever it’s called. We quickly ordered drinks, the Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvée and the ubiquitous Beso del Sol Sangria for Chad. I usually like to get the Iron Horse sparkling at the F&W Festival Center while doing some shoppy, shoppy, but saw that they didn’t have it on the menu there this year. It’s a nice basic sparkling wine, dry but a bit fruity, and I always enjoy it.

Ooh, and look I managed to remember to take a photo of our drinks:
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I mean really, THAT’S the single food photo I managed to take? How sad.

We also ordered the Safari Snack: Yucca Fries and Cucumber Planks with Dipping Sauce with our drinks so we could get Asher started on something right away and he usually likes yucca fries. The dipping sauce was just ketchup and mayo mixed, I should have asked for some aioli or something, but my brain was fried from the sun and heat. He didn’t like these as much as the fried yucca we get at our local Cuban joint and when I tasted them I found the texture to be weird. He ate a few of the large pieces of yucca and some cucumber when I salted it for him.

Since Chad and I had eaten such large snacks not long before, we ordered a couple of appetizers to share, the S.E.A. Shu Mai: A legendary blend of Pork, Shrimp, Edamame Beans, and Spices wrapped in Gyoza Skin and the Orinoco Ida's Cachapas: House-made Corn Pancakes, Mojo-braised Pork, Black Bean Salad, and Avocado Cream. The shu mai were fresh and hot, with a strong briny fish flavor that I enjoy. The pork for the cachapas was tender and citrusy and went well with the whole kernel corn studded pancakes and accompaniments.

Both of these were good, I wouldn’t say spectacular, but it was nice to be able to get something a bit more interesting at MK, especially in such a fun, relaxing environment…and with drinks!!! I would like to see their wine and beer selections expanded a bit, the restaurant provides a perfect backdrop for some more unique selections than what they have currently.

Our server was friendly and chatty, maybe a little too much because I was looking forward to spending some time chatting with my husband and we spent most of the time chatting with the server. Chad always attracts chatty people, which is fine and good, but our schedules don’t allow for much time together so I was feeling a little possessive of our more relaxing moments on this trip. *Spoiler alert* This wasn’t the last time this happened.

We were somewhat refreshed by our lunch and it was getting perilously close to nap time, so we made a beeline for the exit and the ferry, followed by the short walk to the Poly. The ferry ended up being our preferred means of transportation to the MK, more on that later.

This post seems long, so even though I only have dinner left to discuss, I’ll finish it up a bit later.

TO BE CONTINUED…
 
So glad you decided to come into the light from lurkerdom and regale us with your dining tales :wave2:

I love your report already! Ten days sounds amazing, albeit a little anxiety-riddled with the hurricane coming through. Thanks for sharing with us. I am looking forward to reading the rest!

Oh and I'm dying over the "t'mere mouse" :laughing: that is so precious!
 
Great start! Can't wait to hear more!!

Thanks! I'll try to update frequently!

Following along!

Welcome!

Following along!

Thanks for joining in!


Great start! Your son is adorable! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! He's a handful...and not at all spoiled or anything.

Ooh, following along. Thanks for sharing your experiences, your family is gorgeous.

Thanks for reading!
 
So glad you decided to come into the light from lurkerdom and regale us with your dining tales :wave2:

I love your report already! Ten days sounds amazing, albeit a little anxiety-riddled with the hurricane coming through. Thanks for sharing with us. I am looking forward to reading the rest!

Oh and I'm dying over the "t'mere mouse" :laughing: that is so precious!

Thanks for following along! The hurricane definitely added some anxiety our first few days so we were glad to have the extra days after to sort of make up for it.
 
Day 2 Continued…

After Asher and I finished our naps and Chad returned from his solo pool time, we got ourselves together and headed over to the TTC for the monorail to EPCOT to catch the Fuel concert. As seems to be the case anytime you’re on a tight schedule, the monorail was going to be delayed and we were informed that a bus was available. Back down the ramp we go, race to the bus stop, sloppily fold up the stroller with all our belongings precariously dangling, and pile onto the bus panting. I despise buses with a stroller and a toddler, but it would have taken too long to walk back to the Poly to get our vehicle, so we suffered through it. After a slow bus ride, the long walk from buses to security, a second security screen after our initial one at TTC, and getting through the turnstiles, we had to rush back to WS to get to the 6:45 concert. For some reason we decided that we could get fish and chips on our way. I don’t know why. Did I not check the time? Were we so hungry we just couldn’t wait? Was there a time warp? I still can’t figure out why we thought this was a good plan, but there we were, sitting on the patio by Yorkshire County Fish Shop, stuffing our faces and guzzling Bass Ale when the concert started. And for some reason I thought we could still catch half of it.

The fish and chips were very good this trip. We’ve been eating them forever and have seen the quality wax and wane over time. The pieces of fish were very large this time, fresh tasting, and super hot just out of the fryer. The “chips” aren’t as good as they have been at times in the past, but I’m afraid the days of the more authentic wide cut chips may be over. They’re really just fries, but at least they’re not QS fries, they’re thick and do a good job of soaking up the malt vinegar that I pour all over my fish. The Bass Ale is IMO the perfect pairing with the fish and chips and this meal is one we have to do at least one time per trip, it’s one of our traditions.

We scarfed down the last of our crumbs and tried to rush over to catch a couple of songs. As we are rounding the bend in front of France we heard cheering and clapping, then upon getting closer see that everyone is filing out of the theater. We missed the whole thing. Sigh. Oh well, it’s not like we’re huge Fuel fans or anything, I had to look up their songs on YouTube to even remember what their hits were. But it still would have been fun.

Dejected and depressed (me anyway, Chad thought the scenario was hilarious), we trudged the rest of the way around WS and back to FW. Not wanting to have made this journey just to eat fish and chips, we decided to go on Spaceship Earth to ease the pain. We were on our way out after that and saw that a monorail was at the station and there was no way we could make it, so I decided to run back to Guest Relations and purchase our TIW card since I had vowed we would have no more table service meals until I acquired it. (In the future, I will buy it on our first day, there is just never a convenient time to stop and do chores.) I was trying to hurry because Asher was getting tired, so of course I got a CM that was “earning her ears” and it took FOREVER. Then it turned out the monorail was still down, so another bus ride it was.

The whole evening was just kind of a bust. We were still at EPCOT, still had some fun, but a bust nonetheless. At least the fish and chips were good.

Since that’s the end of Day 2 and this post is on the shorter side so far, I’ll take the opportunity to include a little bonus segment that I will call--


Food & Wine Festival: My Thoughts & Ruminations

We’ve been attending F&W since 2002 when we lived in Orlando. Back then it was much shorter, smaller, and the wine and beer seminars were FREE! Ah, the good old days. A chardonnay seminar that year changed me from a red wine to a white wine drinker, a truly life-altering experience. For a couple of twenty-somethings who had annual passes, but often were broke otherwise, those free seminars were an oasis of living the high life. I vividly remember a beer seminar on the Rose & Crown patio in which we were given 6 full beers for the two of us to share. It. Was. Wonderful. I digress…

For years our favorite time to visit WDW had been early October, near our anniversary, and it was the perfect combination of great weather, low crowds, and F&W. Fast forward to our previous trip in October 2015 and OMG where did all these people come from?!? After sweltering in long lines, wearing a baby who wouldn’t sleep in a stroller, and arguing with Chad over food decisions, I swore off the festival for the next trip. I was over it. I know…I know, blasphemy. But it was starting to feel like the festival was distracting us from the rest of WS, it had gotten too big, too many booths to see, and too expensive. So the next trip I booked for early September to avoid the festival and still have low crowds, however, lo and behold, what does Disney do but extend the festival to start way back into August and here we are again.

I told myself, “We can just ignore the booths, right?” Then the menus came out. “Well, we can just choose a couple of must-have items and stick with only those.” But the booths, they call to me. There was a list. Which was prioritized, re-ordered, organized three different ways, and still way too long. In the end, we mostly behaved as intended, which was to have festival booth items as snacks or appetizers and stick with table service for meals. We ended up having one meal comprised of just booth items, which just confirmed what I already knew: For meals, I would much rather sit down in a comfortable spot, with AC, full-size drinks, and freshly prepared food.

Next trip we are trying F&G, which we haven’t been to in a long time, not since they’ve implemented booths (gah!), but I’m hoping we can resist those more successfully and we can spend some more time with our old friends Kringla, Kuche, and all the TS we’ve neglected. We shall see.


Up next Day 3: It’s 10 am, time for rum!
 
Another lovely update! You've got me craving pub fare now. That's too funny about rushing and then missing the concert. I'd rather have fresh tasty dinner any day! Good luck ignoring those Flower and Garden booths. I actually vastly prefer F&G for the weather and the lack of lines at the booths. I really like the food they've offered recently too. I do agree that at any of the festivals I need to pepper in full size meals from a restaurant with adult sized drinks. Otherwise I get cranky entirely too often!
 
Hi :) I'm loving your report so far. I feel like going during a hurricane makes your trip extra special since not everyone will experience it that way. I know I would have much rather spent the hurricane there instead of my house without power. Great reviews.
 
Another lovely update! You've got me craving pub fare now. That's too funny about rushing and then missing the concert. I'd rather have fresh tasty dinner any day! Good luck ignoring those Flower and Garden booths. I actually vastly prefer F&G for the weather and the lack of lines at the booths. I really like the food they've offered recently too. I do agree that at any of the festivals I need to pepper in full size meals from a restaurant with adult sized drinks. Otherwise I get cranky entirely too often!

Oh no...I fear the F&G booths. They will call to me as the F&W booths do. Maybe it won't be as bad since there aren't as many?

Hi :) I'm loving your report so far. I feel like going during a hurricane makes your trip extra special since not everyone will experience it that way. I know I would have much rather spent the hurricane there instead of my house without power. Great reviews.

Hi and thanks! The hurricane made for a different experience for sure! We talked to a family at EPCOT the day the parks reopened that had come to the parks to get some AC and do something fun since they were without power.
 
It's been years since the TIKi (Toddler Is King, though in my case it was TIQue) years. While it's not hard to dredge up those memories and the lovely reminiscent feelings that accompany them, I've no strong desire to do them over. I remember the days of craving just couple time, of having to entertain instead of (or while) eating. Nap times. Shoehorning a Disney visit schedule into the time table we'd developed for the Que, umm, child. Still, I fondly recall the Daddy Express (on the shoulders from a park entrance to the ride on the FAR side of the given park), the thirty-leven purchased autograph books, matching Cinderella jewel for jewel after the BBB visit and seeing her in person at 1900 PF, et. al. Thanks for reviving those memories.

Enjoyed your reviews so far and agree with those we've similarly tried. Chicken and waffle fare is too sweet and cloying and takes too long to make. Skipper Canteen is a welcome change, only the food and drink just aren't quite in the good category. Solid, yes, so I'm sure we'll return at some point (P.S. Tiffin's is way better). As for F&W, we've noticed a sameness to the menus over the years, and such inaction has led to a decline in quality. Meanwhile, portions continue to shrink. We like the F&W festival, but we like the idea of it better than the actual execution. Still, we continue to hit F&W most years.
 

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