The Girl With The Whale Tattoo eats Disney- onsite DDP/offsite food report May 2019- COMPLETE

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by Wismgari

Just found this so I am following along

The pizza does look good, perhaps not as amazing as your DH thought it was though! Woody's lunchbox also looks really good - mmm that brisket! I am a little alarmed by the colour of the key lime pie, although I do love a key lime pie!

Looking forward to seeing what is next

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I have no idea why they decided to make the key lime blue on the outside- you'd think green would have made sense! But it just tasted like white chocolate. And although the filling isn't very green, you could very much taste the lime. I wish I had one right now...

Originally Posted by collybird

The plane food sounds pretty decent as plane food goes. My first thought on the afternoon tea was also ‘that’s a pretty box’.

I love the food court at Riverside, all of the Cast Members are so lovely too. QS CMs work SO hard. Disney pizza is AMAZING. You should get DH to try the Chicago Town Takeaway pizza, it’s the closest thing we’ve found.

Your room sounds lovely I’ve always wanted to stay in a mansion building (I think they are the prettiest area on property) but we’ve only ever had a Preferred some at POR so always been in Alligator Bayou.

We are useless with refillable cups too; I can never be bothered carting them everywhere. Both breakfasts look rather sad, QS breakfasts aren’t the greatest. I do like the omelettes though.

I was quite surprised to hear how high the waits were so early in HS. Makes me even more scared about post-GE life.

I am making a point of going to Andy’s Lunch Box this year, I’ve even cancelled at Sci-Fi ADR I am so serious about it. Glad to heat you enjoyed your sandwich, it looks great.

I hadn’t heard about that Key Lime Pie on stick before, adding that to my list!

I can’t talk about Starbucks mugs and the various changes; it hurts too much.

Really interesting to hear your thoughts on POR vs. AKL. Deluxe vs. Moderate is such a difficult comparison to make, you could argue that the balcony is worth an extra £400. I don’t normally condone with paying for views, but when it comes to balconies it really is all about the view for me and Savannah View is £££. So I agree you definitely did the right thing, having to pass through a busy lobby every day versus just strolling through all the resort grounds is also something I always think about.

Absolutely agree about the exchange rate these days, I don’t even bother trying to convert prices in my head anymore, I just think of everything being in pounds.

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Thanks for the tip about the Chicago Town pizzas! We have had some from there before but not sure if we've had the takeaway ones.

I honestly don't know what was going on with the crowd levels during our visit. Early May should typically be a quieter time but we found it much busier than October. HS was just weirdly busy, it could have been the EMH affect. But then a few days later we went to AK and FOP was only 75 mins in the middle of the day!

I think you'll be happy with giving Lunchbox a try, the brisket sandwiches were awesome especially dipped in the soup. It's not great for a blazing hot day though as all the seating is outside.

I know what you mean about AKL- that extra £400 was just for standard view, the Savannah view prices were ridiculous. As much as I like the idea of having a coffee on my balcony in the morning watching the animals I can't justify that kind of price!

Thank you for all the comments Are you on the Deluxe plan again this trip?

Originally Posted by JudyC

I'm really enjoying your report. I've not dipped into the Florida trip reports for a while, but I'm glad I've found this one 😀

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Thank you that's really nice of you to say!

Originally Posted by 3disneykids

Ha ha me and DH had a giggle at Woody's lunchbox though I wonder if they did that on purpose
Looks great so far look forward to following

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And I thought I was the only one with my mind in the gutter lol. It doesn't help that DH had spent the previous night showing me 'creepy woody doll' pictures (google it but not at work lol)

Originally Posted by Claudette

Boma looks good. It has been on my list for a while but not made it yet.

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It was really good, we'd go again! Nice to try everything on the menu rather than having to order just one thing. And we do like dining around the resorts as I'm nosy like that.

[collybird]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

Thank you for all the comments Are you on the Deluxe plan again this trip?

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Sadly not

Regular dining plan for us this year but we'll still eat like we are on Deluxe

[JMDisneyfan]

That Key Lime Pie on a stick looks yummy

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by JMDisneyfan

That Key Lime Pie on a stick looks yummy

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It was really creamy and good!

Originally Posted by collybird

Sadly not

Regular dining plan for us this year but we'll still eat like we are on Deluxe

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Haha well as long as we still get to see you eat like you're on Deluxe in the dining report!

[SquishTheWhale]

Day 3- 6th May 2019

Flickr still seems to be having issues so still having to use the forum picture upload, sorry.

It was back to the original plan today and a Magic Kingdom day as planned! We had cereal in the room (you all know what shreddies look like...) and got to MK around opening at 9am. In fact I think they were doing the castle opening ceremony as we were walking up main street. Got some lovely photos on the way in. Love memory maker so much!

We had FPs booked for all 3 mountains, but first we rode Jungle Cruise with a 10 minute wait and Pirates with no wait. The plan was working well as after we came off Splash next they both had nearly an hour queue! We did really well with FPs today, after using the ones we had for the 3 mountains I used the tap, grab and modify method to pick up loads more. For instance, we could be standing outside Buzz with a 50 min queue and pick one up right then to walk straight in. Never managed 7DMT but if I was willing to ride it in the evening I think we could have.

Be Our Guest

For lunch we had an 11.30am ADR for BOG. I was really excited for this as I'm a big Beauty and the Beast fan! We pre-ordered, which means you keep left at the entrance and they hand you a yellow rose instead of you joining the ordering line. You give the yellow rose to someone else who checks your order, and then if you have a magic band they take the rose away as your food will find you by magic! I assume if you don't have a magic band you keep the yellow rose.

We had a look in all 3 rooms and there was no tables free in either the ballroom or west wing so we headed into the rose gallery. It was empty!

It did fill up a bit during the meal, but even so I'd highly reccommend sitting in here while eating and then exploring the other rooms and taking photos afterwards.

For drinks we ordered one hot refillable drink and one cold, but if not on the dining plan no need to pay for these as you can just help yourself, cups are next to the machines. They have soda, tea, coffee etc. I got a diet coke and DH had some root beer I think. We also got coffee later.

For mains I chose:
French Dip Sandwich
Served on a Baguette with Au Jus and Pommes Frites

I've heard mixed reports of the quality of lunch here, but this was sooooo good! I think it wins the MVP of lunches at Disney for me. It was nice and warm, the bread and soft and the fries were great. It was huge too! DH took a picture of it next to his phone for scale

I'm amazed but I managed to eat it all (with a few bites and many fries gifted to DH). It was rammed full of beef but the meat was so soft it almost melted in the mouth and didn't feel heavy to eat.

DH chose
Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style)
Slow-cooked Pork with Vegetables, Mushrooms, and Bacon with Mashed Potatoes and Green Bean Jardinière

This was really good too, the mash was buttery and silky and the pork tender. I don't like mushrooms but couldn't detect any mushrooms here? DH liked that it came with veggies too.

Overall a fantastic lunch, better quality than some TS meals. As most of you know this is excellent value for a QS credit, with both meals + drinks being well over $40.

2 QS used

Snacks

When we were in tommorowland we were hot so got a frozen juice drink from Joffreys kiosk- I think it was called a frozen flame?

This was nice and cooling but very sweet- although as DH points out, not as sweet as butterbeer. Liquid sugar isn't as sweet as butterbeer.

Mid afternoon DH was peckish and we were next to Gastons Tavern so I suggested a cinnamon roll because it's one of the famous things I wanted to try! As you all know this is massive

It was much softer than I expected and really nice served warm. You can ask for extra icing if you have a sweet tooth but it was sweet enough for us! DH decided he needed some milk to go with this which he also got from Gastons Tavern

DH ate most of the cinnamon roll as I was saving room for dinner. We also met Gaston, who was hilarious- he told us he survived the fall from the castle using his massive biceps.

After another hour or so DH was still peckish- HOW I ask you HOW- so we popped into Casey's corner and he got some loaded fries. I think these were called Cuban loaded fries with pork, relish and cheese on.

4 snack credits used

I had to talk him into getting this and not a foot long hot dog as we had dinner in like 2hrs! If you're thinking he's a massive fatty, he's just one of those very active sports/gym type people and he normally eats around 5-6 smaller meals a day at home. I don't know where he puts it all.

We also met Tiana and Rapunzel, Rapunzel was hilarious and told us not to forget our 'satchels' meaning our backpacks! And Tiana had a conversation with DH about the Po'Boy sandwich he'd had the day before and assured him she could make a better one

Not food related but on the way out we stopped in one of the shops in main street and were served by a guy called Bud who must have been at least 95. It took him around 20 minutes to process our order but he was amazing and I want him to be my grandpa. If you have seen the Sloth scene in Zootopia you can picture what Bud was like. When we asked for a large MK reusable bag he told us it 'wasn't large enough to carry a body in' Oh Bud. He also said he could tell we hadn't been married long as DH did what I told him! If you happen to see Bud please tell him hi!

Next: Dinner at O'hanas

[SquishTheWhale]

Dinner at O'hana

Now O'hana is one of those places you hear incredibly mixed reviews of. Some people absolutley love it, but I hear a lot of negative things on the Dibb about it. However we wanted to try it as the food is right up our street. We had a 5.30pm ADR, and took the monorail straight from MK. Arriving a little early we had a mooch around the Poly. I liked the Poly a lot but again it feels kind of cramped and noisy compared to PORS.

We found the check in process here confusing, we were told to wait near the O'hana sign but theres no seating there so originally we sat in the bar. But then I worried we were in the wrong place so we stood next to the sign, even though my feet were killing me from walking around MK. The girl at the second check in desk seemed confused that we didn't have a US mobile number so weren't waiting for a text. Anyway we eventually got seated around 15 minutes late. I'd factored this into the ADR time as I knew they are often running late here.

We started with cocktails- I had Dragon iced tea- hendrick's gin, lemon and ginger herbal tea, tropical juices and blood orange. I felt like the server rushed us to choose and the cocktail menu is huge so I just picked the first thing I saw- I don't even like tea!

However I lucked out as I really liked this, it didn't taste like tea.

DH chose Polynesian Mai Tai, Myers original dark rum, barcardi superior rum, bols orange curaco, lime juice, orgeat (almond) and pure cane sugar

This tasted way too strong to me- did I mention I'm a lightweight and I want my cocktails to taste like juice? DH can't have enjoyed it that much as he didn't finish it and kept pinching mine instead.

As you probably know, O'hana means family and that means food is served family style here. The 'starter' is a bowl of salad. Which of course we ignored. I'm not here to waste stomach space on salad.

Oh and you also get some bread when being seated which is pineapple bread

This was a bit meh, just tasted sweet. I don't like the whipped butter they use either.

The next course is a platter of 'pot stickers' (gyoza dumplings), chicken wings, veg and noodles

This was all absolutley yummy! We love dumplings and the wings were in an amazing sauce.

This is followed by the skewers of meats, which are chicken, beef and shrimp. I didn't get a picture of the chicken, I thought it was nice but DH thought it was dry.

The beef was a bit plain tasting. I love shrimp but hate peel and eat shrimp, one because I'm lazy, and two because you lose all the cooking flavours when you peel it. So neither of these were great. They kept coming round and offering more of everything, we didn't experience any of the service problems others have reported here.

DH did ask for a 'couple more dumplings and noodles' and was delivered this:

Oh dear.

Pudding was the famous banana caramel bread and butter pudding- as we were pretty full and had just witnessed the next table be delivered their massive slab of dessert, we asked if we could have a very small portion of this just to try it!

The flavour was nice but as previously mentioned I'm not a fan of bread pudding due to the texture. I ate the ice cream which was nice.

Overall I'd give O'hana a 7/10. We loved the first platter of dumplings etc and would happily just have that as a meal! We didn't have any service problems- yes, they did want to rush you a little, but you have the power to take the meal at your own pace. We asked them to wait before bringing the dessert and they were happy to. If you don't treat the salad, starters and meats as seperate courses and rather family style food to eat all together then you won't feel rushed in that aspect.
If you do ask for more of anything- be specific about how much! We felt so bad about wasting the majority of that second skillet of noodles and dumplings.

After the meal we caught the monorail back to MK. My plan was to go and get the tangled lantern photo before HEA. When we arrived to the Tangled toilets area it was just about dusk which is when I thought they started but nothing was happening. 10 minutes later a line formed against the wall opposite the toilets, which we joined. However a cast member came round saying the photo opp wouldn't be coming out for another 15 minutes, and when we asked she said we were about 30 minutes wait from our place in line. This would mean missing HEA so we left.

For HEA we found a place in one of the gardens to the back of the hub. This was the perfect place and I don't think people realised you could go in there! There was space to lie or sit on the grass right up until the show started, unlike those packed like sardines further forward. We stood right up against the railing so nobody was right in front of us.

Loved HEA! Afterwards we waited for the crowds to thin a little and then made our way back to the lantern photo, as the park didn't close until 10. Got in line and managed to get this just around 10. So we could have used this time to ride 7DMT or something with less wait, but I wanted that darn photo! Shame we'd done the park open to close and I was absolutley dead on my feet and looked it

End of day 3!

2 QS used 2 TS used 4 snack credits used
8 QS remaining, 10 TS remaining, 20 snacks remaining

[TwinkleToes78]

Great trip report so far SquishTheWhale!

Really enjoying this!

[GezzasGem]

Hope I get a lantern photo this year but with a 7 year old in tow not sure..😂 glad you tried Boma, one of our faves! We stay at AKL and so nice to have a meal there after a lazy day. I did almost book POR for this year as it was where I stayed in my first ever trip to WDW with my family and love the surroundings and location, but am used to that darned African drum rhythm now! 😄😄 enjoying reading along 👍

[MrsSevSpaghetti]

Great report looking forward to the rest!

[vampiress88]

You look lovely in your pictures. Very cute together.

That old man is right though about your hubby listening to you. Mine was like that when we married. Not so much now tables have turned and it’s me that usually bends to keep the peace