First we eat, then we do everything else! 19 nights DDP/UNI -COMPLETE!

[jobelly]

Ooh love th3 look of the passion slushie, what is it? I always have the grand marnier slushie at France but may have to try this.
I really want to try the hummingbird cake but don’t really fancy homecoming, just because I a,ways think the plates look too beige!

[disjunkie]

Originally Posted by clarithy

What dates did you visit? Another great foodie day!

Lobster, yum . . . . .

Also a magical star has also to be done at least once a trip, at least 🍸

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We were there from September 13th until October 2nd. We found the first week super quiet but it was immediately after irma, but by the 21st it was noticeably busier. I totally agree about a magical star once per trip!

Originally Posted by Goldia

Ooh Narcoosees looks lovely what a fab meal.

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It was really good

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

Narcoossee's didn't quite fit in with our plans on our most recent trip but it's top of my list for next time! That almond cheesecake looks so good.

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The cheesecake is gorgeous. On paper it wouldn’t be my first choice of dessert but it’s just been amazing every time i’ve had it

Originally Posted by jobelly

Ooh love th3 look of the passion slushie, what is it? I always have the grand marnier slushie at France but may have to try this.
I really want to try the hummingbird cake but don’t really fancy homecoming, just because I a,ways think the plates look too beige!

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It was grey goose, cranberry and passion fruit juice. I’ve had the grand marnier one before but for me this one was a bit more refreshing.

Ha ha, I guess the food there is a bit beige! There was some none fried things which may have been a bit different but i figured if the place is known for its fried chicken that’s what I should go for.

[disjunkie]

After a very early start the previous day today was a chill out morning. Although not great value on the DDP we realised we were going to struggle to use up our QS credits so had breakfast at Riverside Mill today. We got there around 8:45 and it was absolutely manic, a section of the foodcourt was cordoned off which didn’t help, but there wasn’t a single table free so we ended up using a table in Boatwrights to eat at.

I had the Bounty platter, with scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, a biscuit (which I gave to Neil) potatoes and a Mickey waffle. The potatoes were good, but the mickey waffle was my favourite part.

Neil had a Create own omelet, made with only cheese. He said this was fine.

We popped to the Premium Outlets to check out the Disney store there. Even at 10am it was busy but I managed to get this cute outfit for my nephew. It was reduced down to $5, adorable and a bargain!

Around lunchtime we used a snack credit on a Magic Cookie bar from Riverside Mill. I love these, chocolate chips, coconut flakes, butterscotch chips and graham cracker crumbs. This one was still warm out of the oven and OMG it was good!

Later that afternoon we headed to Epcot for our 3pm Coral reef reservation. Again this was super quiet compared to the last time we ate there but I guess it was a bit of an ‘in between’ time to eat. We were sat immediately at a two top right next to the tank. Normally don't like these tables as they're about 8 inches away from another table, but no one was sat next to us during our meal so it was lovely and we had a perfect view of the tank.

Our waiter was friendly and super efficient. I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri to drink while Neil just went for pomegranate lemonade. We were brought a basket of soft white rolls which you can just see in the picture.

Neil decided to go with the prix fixe menu as he was going to get an entree that was on this menu anyway and it meant he could get an appetiser on the DDP. He chose a Seafood salad for his appetiser which included shrimp, mahi mahi, citrus marinade and mango sorbet. He said this was really good and although i thought mango sorbet and fish was a strange idea they actually worked quite well together.

My main was Salmon with seasonal risotto. This was so good, it was a big piece of salmon which was cooked a bit more than I prefer but wasn’t dry, served on a bed of cheese risotto which was rich and cheesy. The little chunks of baby courgette was super tasty as well.

Neil had the Mahi mahi with coconut rice, avocado crema and mango salsa. He said this was good and the fish was cooked nicely but a it was a little bland

For dessert I wasn’t too fussed so I had Neils from prix fixe menu, which was key lime tart. This was pretty good, the orange layer on top kind of dominated the lime flavour, but there was a layer of custard in the middle that was packed with vanilla seeds and was surprisingly smooth and creamy.

Neil had the Jack daniels mousse, he said it had nice texture, the jack daniels flavour wasn’t particularly strong but you did get a hint of it.

Overall this was much better meal than I expected, we hadn’t eaten here for years and I’d read some not so favourable reviews recently. When the restaurant is quiet it has a really nice atmosphere and the food was decent too, with the stand out dish being my salmon.

[Rescuer]

We have always enjoyed Coral reef. Your salmon looked lovely.

[disjunkie]

Originally Posted by Rescuer

We have always enjoyed Coral reef. Your salmon looked lovely.

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It was really tasty and I was pleased we made a bit of a last minute decision to eat there

[Dogwalker]

We've never been to Coral Reef and your meal looks delicious

[disneypars]

Loved your food trippy as DW and I were out there before and after Irma. We done the California Grill brunch and Narcoosees and both were outstanding. Like some of the other restaurants you visited giving us ideas for next year.

[disjunkie]

Originally Posted by Dogwalker

We've never been to Coral Reef and your meal looks delicious

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It was good, definitely on the expensive side without the DDP but well worth it on it.

Originally Posted by disneypars

Loved your food trippy as DW and I were out there before and after Irma. We done the California Grill brunch and Narcoosees and both were outstanding. Like some of the other restaurants you visited giving us ideas for next year.

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Thank you. I think we might give Narcoosees brunch a try next time as I've read good reviews of that one too.

[disjunkie]

Before leaving Epcot the previous night we’d picked up some snacks at Kringla bakery for breakfast. A school bread which was as good as I remembered, the bread wasn’t dry at all and there was loads of custard filling.

And a cinnamon loaf, this was good but it had loads of icing on so was quite sticky.

This morning we took an Airboat ride with Spirit of the Swamp. This wasn’t really my sort of thing but I ended up really enjoying it. We only saw a couple of gators but saw a few types of birds, including eagles and learnt a lot about alligators as a species.

Once we got back to POR we used QS credits for lunch at the Riverside Mill.I had chicken nuggets as I love Disney nuggets, they were hot and crispy, but the fries were a little cold. It didn’t really matter as they gave you 8 nuggets in a portion so it was a ton of food even without the fries.

Neil got a caprese flatbread, which he really enjoyed. It had loads of pesto and topped with slices of tomato and mozerella. The dough was super thin and crispy.

We used a snack credit to split a carrot cake later that afternoon. This was very good, the sponge was really soft and there was nice layer of cream cheese frosting.

Once back in the room we noticed the carpet was damp. Maintenance came quickly and discovered a pretty big leak and gave us a heads up we’d likely have to move rooms.

We spent the evening at Magic Kingdom as one of my priorities this trip was to see Happily Ever After. Around 5ish we used 1QS credit at Columbia Harbour House and shared a lobster roll for tea. The roll was good, with plenty of big chunks of lobster and not too much dressing. The crisps it was served with were not good, some were weirdly soft and the ones that were still crispy were mostly tasteless.

I also used a snack credit on a frozen lemonade which was refreshing and came with a cute mickey straw.

MK tonight was the busiest I’ve ever seen it, there was a line out the door for Philharmagic (! ) and the FP line was Buzz was so long we didn’t even bother using our FP. We got in the queue for the dessert party early as there wasn’t much to do without dealing with the high crowds.

This meant we were one of the first parties seated. There was a good selection of desserts but apart from the cheese I felt like it was a bit of a sugar overload. The macarons and Oreo tart were my favourites.

As we were in so early, we were also some of the first people ready to be escorted to the viewing area. We had an amazing view directly behind the VIP area and I loved Happily Ever After, although I was disappointed Wishes was leaving as I adored that show, HEA is just better.

We got back to room around 10:15, to an industrial dryer in a room and a phone message to call the front desk. At the time I wasn’t thrilled as we had to pack 3 weeks of clothes up and it was late at night but Disney were great, they gave us 3 extra FPs for the next day, an upgraded room to pool view and refunded us a whole nights rack rate cost.

[disjunkie]

The original plan for today had been to hit EMH. With the late night due to the room change and now we had an extra 3 FPs we had a little more of a lie in and got to MK for around 8:40.

After riding a few rides we had breakfast at BOG at 10:10. There was a massive queue all along the bridge but as we’d pre-ordered we were able to skip it. There was still quite a wait inside to confirm our order though.

It was very crowded inside so grabbed a table in the Rose Gallery which had quite a few empty tables. We waited a little while for our food but it was nice and hot when it came.

I had the Croque Madame which was really good. The sauce was creamy and tasty, the egg yolk still runny and the smoked ham had loads of flavour.

Neil had the Crossiant donut which he really liked, saying the custard filling worked well with the bananas.

We also got the pastry plate which was pretty standard.

This was great value on the DDP but I wouldn’t pay OOP for it.

Due to the late breakfast we weren’t planning on having lunch today so grabbed some snacks from starbucks on our way out of MK

Neil picked Coffee cake which was fine

I picked the special Mickey halloween cinnamon roll, this was huge and good value as a snack credit, and although we both had some that afternoon we didn’t finish it.

That afternoon we drove to Tampa for Howl O Scream. As we were doing a VIP tour dinner at the Fright Feast was included. The food was basic but fine, I had chicken alfredo, the pasta was nice but the chicken was poor quality. I also had hummus and pita bread which was good and a chocolate peanut butter cake which was delicious

I forgot to take a picture of Neils shrimp and grits but here’s the dessert he picked pumpkin spice cheesecake.

We really enjoyed our night, the event isn’t as flashy as HHN, but there’s something far more scary about being able to go through houses by yourself which we managed a couple of times due to the tour and the way they pulse the crowd. We also got to go straight on the coasters so got our rollercoaster fix with multiple goes on Cheetah hunt plus a lot of free alcohol with the tour was a bonus!

Tomorrow, back to Disney!