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Reports and Reviews for Dining and Restaurants Trip Reports |
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12 Dec 17, 06:17 PM |
#11
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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12 Dec 17, 06:33 PM |
#12
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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12 Dec 17, 06:47 PM |
#13
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Day One
Day One
Last night we had been so taken with our lovely view across Seven Seas Lagoon that we left the curtains open when we went to bed. Although we didn’t wake up at stupid o’clock, we were early enough to see the most beautiful sunrise. We doddled around until a reasonable hour, then made our way over to Gasparilla Island Grill, where we collected our refillable mugs. More cost cutting in evidence – although the handles are back on the mugs, they are all white. Only the lids are now a different colour. Our DDP was only for seven days but our mugs were valid for 15. On balance I’d rather have more days on the mug than a coloured handle. There wasn’t a huge amount of choice at Gasparilla but we stuck with it for convenience and both chose the breakfast platter. We used our mugs for tea and coffee and took the drinks that came with our meal (a water and an orange juice) back to our room for later use. Cost $29.49 or two QS credits. We spent the morning in Epcot, where we used a couple of snack credits in Starbucks on a mahoosive caramel frappachino for Sean and a berry hibiscus thing for me. Sean likes to give a false name when he orders his drinks and usually says he is Pico and I am Mrs Pico. As you can see, they got it nearly right…Cost $11.49 or two snack credits. Back at the hotel for a lazy afternoon, the final touches were being put on the Gingerbread House – the chef was up in a crane spraying “snow” onto the shingles. Free samples of the shingles were being handed out, so we gave them a try and they were delicious. Knowing we had an early dinner reservation we didn’t bother with a proper lunch and just had a plate of fries each from Gasparilla, which hit the spot nicely. Cost $7.44 or two snack credits. Dinner was at a new-to-us restaurant, Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ at Downtown Disney Village Springs Marketplace. Sean had the fried chicken plate and I had the chopped pork barbecue plate. For dessert I had pecan pie and Sean had mini donuts. We shared the pie and had a donut each, saving the rest for later. Drinks were a fruit punch and a coffee. Our feelings about the restaurant were mixed. The food was very good and there were lots of things on the menu we liked the look of, but the service seemed a bit slapdash. My main came with mac and cheese, which I asked to be swapped for salad as I don’t eat cheese and I also requested my drink without ice. Both requests were noted at the time and then ignored! Although they were soon fixed, I do think they should get things like this right first time. As it was our first day we ate early, at 6:30, which meant that the restaurant was also very busy and very noisy. Cost $81.74 or two TS credits. We had planned on having a drink in the Lava Lounge but we only got as far as Ghiradellis, where we popped in for a free sample of peppermint bark each, then decided that the easier option would be to go back to the hotel, where we had a nightcap in Mizners Lounge and listened to the music for a little while. Beer for Sean and Disaronno for me. The receipt is playing hide and seek at the moment but I seem to recall the cost being about $18.
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13 Dec 17, 08:18 PM |
#14
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Excited about Disney
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Fab start can't wait read more 😊
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13 Dec 17, 09:21 PM |
#15
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Thank you. I’ve been out all day today so the next instalment will be tomorrow.
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13 Dec 17, 10:14 PM |
#16
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Imagineer
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Loving your trip report and what a fantastic title, love it. x
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My beloved Jake, miss you loads |
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14 Dec 17, 04:32 PM |
#17
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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14 Dec 17, 04:54 PM |
#18
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Day Two
Day Two
Breakfast today was an economical affair. We used our mugs for tea and coffee again and just purchased a Danish, which with yesterday’s leftover donuts made for an adequate breakfast, particularly as today’s plans meant that we would be eating our main meal at lunch time. Cost one snack credit or $4.04. We had a lazy morning at the hotel, where we watched the parasol parade met Richard and had a bit of pool time before heading over to Hollywood Studios. Our lunch reservation was at Mama Melrose, not somewhere we had ever considered before but we booked it as part of the Fantasmic dining package. Previously we’ve just had a fastpass for Fantasmic, but on recent trips have been shunted into a tiny area increasingly further over to the left, so decided to try something different this time. It was a good move as we had central seats and an excellent view. Anyway, back to the food. First up was some bread with herby oil. It tasted so good it was very tempting to overeat and fill ourselves up before we even got started. Because we had the Fantasmic package, our table service credit for this meal gave us three courses instead of the usual two, making it very good value. To start I had the minestrone soup and Sean had calamari. Both were very good. For our main course we both chose New York strip steak. Once again this came with the dreaded mac and cheese, so I asked to swap this for some kind of vegetable and was offered broccolini. This time they got it right. There was no dessert choice on the Fantasmic package and we were each presented with a dessert trio. All three were delicious. Just in case we hadn’t already had enough to eat, spying our anniversary buttons our server presented us with a special cupcake on the house. We could only manage a taste each and took the rest away with us. This meal was probably the surprise success of the holiday. All the food was delicious and we also enjoyed the ambiance and theming of the restaurant itself, so it got a big thumbs up all round. Drinks were a rather boring coke for Sean and diet coke for me. The cost was two TS credits or $103.29. As the afternoon sun began to sink we decided it was time for some liquid refreshment, so we had a little stop at the BaseLine Tap House. This is what is now on the site of the former Writer’s Stop. It was easy to walk past the Writer’s Stop without ever realising it was there, but its replacement is much more visible. I had a California Sunset (vodka, Southern Comfort and fruity things) and according to the receipt Sean had a Gold RodHef DFT22. No, me neither. Some kind of beer. Cost $22.10. Lots of people were also enjoying what looked like a very nice charcuterie board, but we were still too full after our lovely lunch to want anything to eat. There was a lovely "Friday afternoon drinks after work" kind of vibe and the BaseLine Tap House is clearly making far more money than its predecessor. As a rule we don’t get on that well with QS food in Hollywood Studios and this evening’s effort was no exception. Apologies to anyone reading this who is of a gentler disposition, but as Sean described it, it was “the usual cluster.” We just had chicken nuggets, fries, coleslaw and a large coke to share from Rosie’s All American Café. Almost half an hour spent queueing at a counter which much surely be staffed by the most incompetent individuals on Disney’s payroll in return for a tray of mediocre food. Never again. Well not until next time anyway. Cost one QS credit. Yet another disappearing receipt but the price before tax was $14.18. Having already eaten such a big lunch there was plenty of food between us, as it included eight pieces of chicken. It was all just a bit meh. At least lunch was good.
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Edited at 04:59 PM. |
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14 Dec 17, 08:59 PM |
#19
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VIP Dibber
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We loved mama Melrose fantasmic package. The food was pretty good and the seats were brilliant. Sounds like the bar that replaced writers stop was fun.
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Abby New pre trip report - Summer 2024 Link to all my completed trip reports 2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston. 2018: Orlando. Berlin. 2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC. 2020: DLP. 2021: Jamaica. Rome. 2022: Orlando. 2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto. |
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15 Dec 17, 12:20 AM |
#20
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Apprentice Imagineer
Join Date: Mar 17
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Ooh, fantastic so far!
Love a good food report, can’t wait for the rest! X |
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