Winging It - Disney without a dining plan May 2018 ***COMPLETE***

[hornetgirl]

Once again we had breakfast in the studio, with Sean taking his morning stroll to get coffee. It was a bit of an assortment, with some of the pastries left over from yesterday’s brunch alongside the various bits we had either brought from home or purchased in Walmart.

Until now the weather hadn’t been great, with heavier than expected showers every day. The plan was to go to Typhoon Lagoon and as it was still dry at this point we decided to go for it.
I don’t generally take photos in water parks but as we needed something from the locker anyway, I grabbed my phone to photograph our lunch. It came from Typhoon Tilly’s. Apologies for the rubbish picture – it was very bright so I had to just hit and hope. I had a fish basket and Sean had a fried shrimp basket plus a coffee.

Both were delicious but the portions have definitely got smaller. In the past we would happily have shared a fish basket but today there was definitely only enough for one.
Adult beverages came from Let’s Go Slurpin’ – a Pina Colava for me and a draught beer for Sean. We weren’t given a receipt but I reckon around $20 for the two.

The rain held off so we decided we would go to Hollywood Studios for the evening. As the food there doesn’t on the whole fill us with excitement, we had an early dinner at Sweet Tomatoes first. We always enjoy the food here and today was no exception. The mystery item wrapped in tinfoil is a baked sweet potato.

Missing receipt but it can’t have been more than about $25. If I was more organised I would have checked for a deal or coupon to get it even cheaper.

At Hollywood Studios we had an ice cream “supper” from Hollywood Scoops – a cup for me and a cone for Sean.

On the way back to OKW the car started to make a funny noise when we turned corners. More of this tomorrow.

[LadyDebs86]

Originally Posted by hornetgirl

Oh is that a new thing? I thought we'd had it at dinner in the past but it was a while ago, so I wouldn't swear to it.

See more...

I can’t remember it ever being offered at dinner but don’t know for sure. They definitely don’t now. Just for Brunch and the special ‘Celebration at the Top’ events.

[Lisa29]

Great start, TFS.

[Excitedx4]

Great report so far looking forward to more

[Floridafour]

What a lovely day. 🙂

[wilma-bride]

More lovely meals and snacks.

I have definitely noticed how the portion sizes have gotten smaller too. Years ago we always used to share quick service meals. Now there is plenty for just one person, but not really enough to share (at most places).

[hornetgirl]

So, those car problems. First thing we did this morning was go and have a look and were shocked to see that the front section had been pulled away. This must have been what made the noise last night, catching when the wheels turned. All we can think is that whilst the car was parked at Hollywood Studios yesterday, the vehicle in front must have reversed into it, then pulled the panel loose as it went forwards.

Today’s plans were hurriedly rewritten. First we had a quick breakfast in the studio, which looked pretty much like every other breakfast we’ve had.

Then came a careful drive back to the Car Care Center, where we had to give what limited information we had and the car was then exchanged for another one. The whole process, although a pain to have to deal with, was actually very straightforward and we were soon back on the road to OKW.

Although resolving the car issue wasn’t difficult, Sean is a born worrier so once it was all done we treated ourselves to a medicinal cocktail from Gurgling Suitcase to calm his nerves, a Turtle Krawl for him and a Sultry Seahorse for me.

He seemed to recover quite quickly!

Whilst we were enjoying these, I had a quick look on the app to see if I could get an ADR for this evening which would tie in with our plans to visit Epcot later. There were quite a few choices available and we decided to give Ale and Compass in the Yacht Club a try, so the booking was duly made.

We’d had enough of cars for today, so we took the boat to Disney Springs to get some lunch and headed to D-Luxe Burger. I’m not the world’s biggest burger fan but reports on the Dibb had been pretty favourable and it was actually very good. We ordered the duo classic, which gave us a burger each plus a big portion of fries to share. These were more like proper chunky chips than the usual skinny fries and were excellent. I couldn't finish my burger as it was so big but Sean had no problem polishing his off.

After an afternoon lazing by the pool we took the bus to Epcot for a couple of rides before wandering round to the Yacht Club. Exiting Spaceship Earth we discovered that it's not just the purple wall in the Magic Kingdom, the bubblegum wall is also a “thing” and has its own Instagram account. The young couple taking photos there were very keen to tell us all about it.

Quick refreshment stop on the way to Soarin’

When we arrived at Ale and Compass, we were very surprised to be greeted by name. It turned out that the main dining area was being used for a conference, so we were going to be eating in the private dining room and were the last table in there to be seated.

It sounds terribly grand and the room was lovely but the experience was spoiled by the slowest service we have ever encountered in a Disney restaurant. We ordered an iced water for me and a Blue Moon draft beer for Sean. My water arrived promptly but despite asking a couple of times, the beer didn’t arrive until halfway through the meal.

I ordered the seared scrod, which was delicious, probably my favourite meal of the trip.

Sean had chicken and waffles, which he also enjoyed. He was particularly enthusiastic about the spicy dip which came with it.

Once again we remembered to request our DVC discount.

Despite the service issue, we enjoyed the food at Ale and Compass so will almost certainly give it another try and hope that we were just unlucky today.

The plan had been to walk back round into Epcot to watch Illuminations. Our table was booked for 7:45 and we only had a main course, so there should have been plenty of time. Instead, because the service at Ale and Compass was so slow we just got back to the International Gateway as the show was finishing.
I had also wanted to try the Vie en Rose slushy, which featured during the flower and garden festival, but the stall had closed by the time we got round to it, so I had to settle for the regular Grey Goose Lemon one instead. Sorry it's so dark - the park lights were very low by now!

[Kat11]

Another great day! Does that Sultry seahorse cocktail have Disaronno in it? I’ll have to try one of those, was it as nice as it sounds? 🍹

Kat

[hornetgirl]

Originally Posted by Kat11

Another great day! Does that Sultry seahorse cocktail have Disaronno in it? I’ll have to try one of those, was it as nice as it sounds? 🍹

Kat

See more...

Yes it does and yes it was!
The cocktails weren't just restricted to those on the menu in the photo, there was also a little booklet style menu with lots more to choose from

[aqualiv]

Definitely going to try sweet tomatoes after seeing the food 👍🏻