Our fantastic fun filled Florida food fest! *COMPLETE*

[gjdjud]

Great start looking forward to seeing more. We are staying at SSR in May.

[Lulu Belle]

Great food report! Look forward to reading more

[jonsgirl80]

Originally Posted by gjdjud

Great start looking forward to seeing more. We are staying at SSR in May.

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SSR is amazing, we absolutely loved it - it's such a beautiful resort. Wanted to go back this year but it was sold out for our dates - gutted!

[jonsgirl80]

Thanks so much for reading everyone and for the lovely comments.

Hoping to get day 3 up later tonight

[redredshopper]

Great start - the receipts help we are not on the dining plan but are staying onsite so its handy to know how much we are going to need.

[jonsgirl80]

Day 3

Our wake up time today was a slightly more reasonable 5.30am, DH made some coffee and we pottered around killing time until 7.30am.

The plan for today was Epcot, we had early fast passes for test track and mission space so the idea was to go there first and then head over to world showcase for a few hours.

But first... Breakfast!

On our last trip we'd been to IHOP a couple of times and really enjoyed it so had decided to go there again. I was actually pretty excited - no offence to disney but, in my opinion there's nothing like an IHOP breakfast - I love them!

We went to the one on South Apopka Vineland Road arriving at about 8.15 and were seated straight away. We hadn't been to this branch before but it was very nice, plenty of people in, very clean and the server was friendly.

We started with coffees and apple juice for the boy - I love American coffee and ihop coffee in particular, it's really smooth, not bitter like some coffees and I can drink it without cream or sugar. The servers here leave the full pot of coffee so you can help yourself to refills and we finished the whole thing between us.

I had signed up to the e mail club before leaving and had a voucher for a free stack of pancakes or any breakfast up to $7.99 but unfortunately I left it back at the resort - very useful! :angry:

I decided on the French toast combo - this was a choice of French toast served with a side of eggs and hash browns and either bacon or sausage - I'm not the biggest fan of American bacon - I like to be able to chew my meat without risk of it shattering - so I chose sausage and had my eggs fried "over easy" I really like American hash browns - so much better than the cardboard ones we get here.

They had many varieties of French toast but I fancied something different so I had the stuffed vanilla toast with glazed strawberries. Oh my god this was heavenly - it was filled with a sort of vanilla cream and covered with strawberry compote, vanilla sauce, yet more cream and dusted with icing sugar. It was a massive portion but I managed to fit it all in.





DH had the pick a pancake combo which was two pancakes of your choice (he had cinnamon apple) and was served with the same sides as mine. He got a bit confused about what he was ordering and tried to order a meal with another meal on the side, the server was trying to explain to him but he just wasn't getting it so me and the server had a bit of a laugh at him - he's such a tourist sometimes! He really enjoyed it anyway.



The boy had his usual fussy head on - sometimes he will eat pancakes but sometimes he will say he doesn't like them - this was one of these days. I persuaded him to try a waffle instead. Just in case he didn't like it I ordered him a rooty junior which was a choice of pancake, waffle or French toast with a side of eggs, bacon and sausage. I figured if he didn't eat the waffle he would eat the other stuff. He hates eggs but the server was happy to sub them for extra sausage instead. The waffle came with strawberry topping, the boy took a couple of bites and said he didn't really like it - he did eat all of the strawberries (and most of mine!) the bacon and the sausage so he won't starve.



We really enjoyed our meals here and came back towards the end of the holiday
The bill came to a very reasonable $29.55 and I think we left $34.



We pulled up at Epcot at 8.50am and it was really quiet - much quieted than when we'd last come in May. Considering the park opened at 9am we expected a few more people but we were parked in amaze 30 which was a really short walk to the entrance - didn't even need a tram! I hoped this was the shape of things to come.

The boys went straight to test track - I'm a complete ride a phobe (sacrilege I know!) and can't manage anything wilder than Soarin so I was happy to let them get on with it and sit in the sun people watching. It was really hot already so refreshment was needed - there was a small cart near test track so I got myself a strawberry and mango smoothie.



It was very refreshing but I would say it was more a slush than a smoothie and it cost $4.69. I didn't get to enjoy it though because a certain 7 year old took a fancy to it when he came out of test track and batted his eyelids at me until I finally relented and handed it over - so that was the last I saw of that

After a couple of hours in future world we wandered over to world showcase for our 12 noon ADR at tepen edo, we were really looking forward to this after hearing about the chefs who do tricks while cooking your food. We were a bit worried about whether the boy would eat anything but we figured we could get him a snack or something from a quick service later place if not.

The place had only just opened and we were seated straight away servers were very efficient and pleasant - lots and lots of bowing. The server came and made the boy some cheating chopsticks using the paper wrapper and an elastic band - DH asked if he could have some too!



It's communal sealing here, we were sat with a very pleasant American couple and their son and had a nice chat with them. On the other side there was a young German couple who blanked everyone.

Drinks were ordered - coke for me, fanta for DH and juice for the boy, appetisers were not included on the dining plan but we couldn't resist the wafu ribs - ribs cooked in saki, ginger and soy sauce - these were lovely and tender and the meat fell off the bone. It's worth noting that these are cooked on the grill so don't come out with the other appetisers - they are served alongside the mains.

The German couple were trying to ask the server what appetiser he recommended - I think something go lost in translation because they ended up ordering one of everything - goodness knows how they managed to eat it all!

The chef came out and started cooking, he was quite entertaining but I was really jealous of the next table, their chef was twirling the knives round his fingers and throwing them up and catching them - quite spectacular.



Everything was cooked completely separately which was good for anyone with allergies etc but meant that you had half of your food while the other half was cooking so you either had to wait and let it go cold or eat things separately.

I ordered nihonbashi which was steak and chicken breast



DH ordered ueno which was chicken and shrimp but we went halves on the shrimp and steak so we both had all three meats.



The boy had tori which was chicken.

All of the meals came with noodles, vegetables (onion, mushroom, courgette) and beef rice. They also brought a trio of dipping sauces - there was supposed to be two for the meat and one for the veg but the white one was so good I had it on everything.

The meat was lovely, flavourful and tender and the rice was really good too. The boy ate a few noodles and every bit of his chicken which really surprised me because it was cooked in soy sauce and lots of seasoning. He absolutely loved it - in fact when I asked him about this years ADRS the only place he mentioned wanting to go back to was "the place where the misters throw the knives and I had the yummy chicken"

Dessert options were a little uninspiring again - the boy had a fruit cup but it was mostly melon and he didn't touch it, DH had green tea and vanilla swirl ice cream which didn't have much flavour and I had the chocolate ginger cake which was nice but I couldn't taste any ginger.

We'd noted our celebrations on the ADRS so the servers brought out our ice cream and cake with candles in them. DH had his birthday badge on so they gave him a chefs hat and sang him a little song - I'm glad it wasn't me, I'd have died of embarrassment but of course he lapped it up!







The bill came to $99.26 or 3 TS credits. We paid out of pocket for the ribs which were $9.95 and left $20 tip.



Continued below

[jonsgirl80]

Spent a few hours wandering round world showcase, deciding what we would be having from the food and wine festival booths later in the week and laughing at the ridiculous prices in the uk pavilion. $8 for pickled onions! I should have brought some stuff with me I could have sold it and made a fortune





All that looking at food made us hungry so it was snack time, we were close to France and had been long been drooling over pictures of the lovely cakes from boulangerie patisserie so it would have been rude not to take advantage.

We were absolutely spoiled for choice - so many naughty treats to choose from and all completely calorie free! ( well I am in disneyworld - I can dream can't i? )









DH eventually chose a strawberry tart, the boy a chocolate tart and me a chocolate duo







They were all really good but mine was pure chocolate heaven, chocolate mousse on a chocolate sponge base covered in chocolate ganache and yet more chocolate - I thought it might be sickly but it was so light.



The boy approved of his choice of cake

Three cakes and three regular sodas came to $25.53.



It was really hot today so it wasn't too long until we needed more drinks - we went to the African outpost cart - sprite for DH, frozen coke for me - I love these, wish we could get them in the UK. The boy is a huge phineas and ferb fan so had to have the doofenslurper - strawberry slush with passion fruit foam. This cost 8.99 but was actually very nice and came with a souvenir cup which has been used several times since we got home.



Soon it was time to leave - dinner tonight was another offsite restaurant and another favourite from last year. Giordanos at lake Buena vista. It was really busy but we were seated straight away. We already knew what we wanted - a pizza pie! These are deep dish pizza with the filling baked inside - we went for BBQ chicken which was chicken, bacon, balsamic onions, BBQ sauce (instead of the usual tomato) and loads of cheese. These take about half an hour to cook but you can call and order in advance and it will be ready when you arrive. As it was we weren't in any hurry and knew it would be worth the wait - we ordered a cheesy garlic bread while we waited.



big mistake as it was huge. I think we only managed half of it before we decided to leave room for the main event.



I don't have enough words to say how much I love this pizza - it is amazing in every way! It's also very filling - this was only a medium and I think we only managed one slice each and had the rest boxed to go (we ate most of it a few days later so it didn't go to waste.)

With three sodas the bills came to $46.71and I left an 18% tip.



On returning to SSR we had a surprise waiting for us - the resort had left balloon in our room for our anniversary along with a signed Mickey and Minnie photo and a card which I thought was a lovely touch.



I'd also ordered some birthday baskets for the boys which had been delivered, they weren't cheap but the boys faces made it worth it. Most of the sweets and chocolates were gradually eaten while we were there but a few came home and I am reliably informed they were all very good, especially the chocolate Mickey head box (which was filled with chocolates) - I wouldn't know - I didn't get any - I think that's just mean .









A quick walk to the QS to fill the refillable mugs before we turned in - good choice here - coffee, hot chocolate, various teas, coke, coke zero, cherry coke, fanta, lemonade, fruit punch.
There were also cold drink refill stations at the pools but they had a more limited selection.

[jonsgirl80]

Originally Posted by redredshopper

Great start - the receipts help we are not on the dining plan but are staying onsite so its handy to know how much we are going to need.

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Thanks - I came home with a carrier bag stuffed with receipts - DH thought I was mad. Nice to know they are helpful to people

[Cinderella2006]

am i the only one who cant see the photos?

[xXxSammi88xXx]

Originally Posted by Cinderella2006

am i the only one who cant see the photos?

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No I cant see them either