Ok you guys...its on, the LIVE Nicki and Todd..Summer edition!

[MickeyNicki]

Wow, extra days...that rocks!!!
Now scoot...get your stuff done...get moving...get outta here...get to the eating!! LOL!!! Have a safe trip!

I took your advice and got the heck outta Naples, WE ARE HERE!

I am so excited for your reviews! Last time I had so much fun reading along

Thanks for coming back for more! I love to write them for you guys!

I want to try Nine Dragons next trip ... glad you will be able to review it before then!

As for breakfast, what about The Wave? Dinner was so delish, I bet breakfast would be great, too. (Not sure if you have tried it in the past).

I am really jazzed about Nine Dragons, hope we like it!! I agree about the Wave, dinner was amazing!

No, we've (by which I really mean me!) always wanted to go, but never did before we had kids, and since you can't really enjoy anything involving wine too much when you've got kids to take care of, we thought it would be a long time before we would get to go! But thanks to a fortuitous special rate at the Poly, some free Delta sky miles, and a SIL willing to take on a 5 year old and a 20 month old for 4 days, it looks like we're going to get to go after all, and we're (by which I really mean me!) are terribly excited. (Don't worry....DH will be excited once we get there....he's just one of those guys who can't get excited about something until it happens).

Just caught up....congrats on the extra days!

That is so great, you will love the Poly, it is my favorite resort of all time!

WOO HOO!!! What an unexpected surprise!!!! More days for you means more porn for us!

YAYAYAYAYAY More food!

Since you'll be at the Swan why don't you try Spoodles for breakfast, you won't get the chance for much longer!

Lucky you being able to stay extra days!

What about Spoodles for breakfast? It would be the last time (because of the change over) or Fresh at the Dolphin?

We did Spoodles once and DH will not go back..I was actually thinking of Fresh...menu looks pretty good.

Yay for more days. That means more reviews for us.

I cannot believe I am in WDW for a week, what a bonus!

Have you done the Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast? They have some fantastic items -

I do hope you'll stroll over and get some pictures and prices of their cakes they do there - that cake thread on the main page gets so many questions - I posted what I found, but that was last OCT - who knows what is up now!

The Swan, the beds - the Epcot resort!! You could always walk over to Sunshine Seasons at Living with the Land! For a solo trip, just carry your camera around, and whip out a notebook and they will think you are a journalist!!

Thank you!

I know we will hit the Boardwalk Bakery Monday morning for breakfast, I will try and take a ton of pics. I was thinking of doing Epcot by myself and maybe MK too..and like you said just wander around taking pics of menus and food

Can't wait! I'm trying to decide between Raglan Road and WP Cafe for our July trip. I hope you have a quick and traffic free drive!

Um...stick with WP...tell you why in a second

 

[MickeyNicki]

I usually just lurk on these reviews but yours sounds like fun so I am glad I found it before it actually started. I will be going to RR in July when we go down for our Disneymoon. Very excited to hear how you like it. Have a great trip! Rebecca

Thanks for coming out of hiding RR review coming right up and congrats on the wedding!

your pictures and reviews are fantastic! can't wait!

have a great time

Thank you! First nights reviews are coming right up, downloading photos now.

Nikki you just kill me (in a good way....). You can make peanut butter and jelly on white bread sound like the BEST meal in the world when it is served at Disney!!!! I was telling DH about you and honey when I was planning our trip for our anny last year and was thinking how much you would have loved seeing our dining experience at Cali Grill...... It was awesome!!!!!

Glad to hear you're there again. I think we're going to shoot for first part of October this year and celebrate the anniversary late.
K

Thats my hubbys favorite snack, PB&J! Cannot wait for Cali Grill tomorrow night, I am so excited to try it! We will miss you this year, we are going the last week in Oct but have a wonderful time at F&W!

Hi! I found your dining review about 1 month ago and read all the other ones as well! I decided to come out and say hello! They are great and i'll be reading along with this one! And i have to tell you that you are am extremely patient person...i could never cancel the california grill! lol Can't wait for more!!!!!

Welcome! So glad you enjoy the reviews and tomorrow night at Cali Grill...YUM!

Whew! I found the Nicki and Todd review before there was a review! I'm not behind....yet.

Dont worry babe you can catch up quick...havent really started yet

 

[MickeyNicki]

Hey you guys! We are here! I am so happy to finally be off the road. For those of you that had money riding on the fact that DH was going to get out of work late you won big time. He was supposed to be home at 2 and didnt get home until 3 but the weather in Naples was terrible. In fact it rained the entire time we were on I-75 and I think I was going 45 the whole way. By the time we made it to I-4 it was sunny and clear sailing and we actually made it to Raglan Road at 6:45 on the dot...time of our dinner ressie.

The DTD parking lot by RR was not full at all, that is a great sign. We walked right up to RR, gave our name and waited 5 minutes to be seated, right by the band and the little table the girl Irish Jig's on..it was perfect.

Here are some pics of the menus

Our server was Matt, in the beginning he was very attentive, went over the menu with us, brought us a Coke for DH and Ice Tea for me but there wasnt any ice in either one..and he didnt ask or bring me sugar/sweetner but I am always packing Sweet...Sweet N Low that is! He did bring us drink refills in the beginning but then he lost his way and never did bring us ice for the drinks. The Coke was cold but the ice tea was warm.

We decided to share the calamari...no sooner did we order it did a food runner drop it off the table so this was not made fresh to order, it must have been sitting under a heat lamp....it was very very greasy, very very heavy and just plain blech. There was 2 battered carrot slices that DH ate, 3 battered string beans that DH ate and 3 large battered broccoli that I ate and it was very very good. The calamari was pathetic....fried to incineration, just batter basically, no calamari. The sauce that accompanied it was very good but too thick. We are both still "tasting" this fried catastrophe.

Then the hockey pucks came out, ooh sorry the "soda bread". This is so gross words cannot even describe. They are lead balls with ZERO flavor. The dish of oil and the brown globe did nothing to enhance the flavor because IT HAD NO FLAVOR either. So this was left behind too.

DH ordered the beef stew, I knew he would because he loves it, I think it is his favorite dish. The string beans were very good, nice and tender but no flavor until we peppered them up. The beef stew was too salty for even DH. There was 2 carrots, 2 potatoes and all beef. He ate a few bites and left it. I had one spoonful and said, NO THANKS. It was so dang salty but the beef was very tender.

DH convinced me to try the meatballs and pasta. Omigod it was disgusting. There were 6 meatballs that looked like petrified dog poop. It was awful. You could not even cut these overcooked "meatballs". The pasta was dry and crusty, like it was sitting under a heat lamp just praying someone finally ordered it. Plus the dish was way too peppered. The dish was supposed to have roma tomatoes in it, well people there was not one darned tomato in the entire dish. DH killed off the pasta and the meatballs...well they stood alone.

Our waiter never came over to check on us or refill drinks. It is our first night, we are tired and didnt want to complain (stupid us). Ok so dessert has to be the saving grace right? I had to beg DH to get dessert because he was so bummed about this meal that he wanted to skip dessert. We both ordered the bread pudding because we were both still hungry. It took 20 minutes for dessert. The bread was dry and crammed in this coffee mug. There was a pot of caramel and one of vanilla. We poured it over and tried to mix it up but it was a mess. DH liked it, I thought it was very dry and sicky sweet...BLECH.

The bill came to $75 not including tip. So we blew our first night dinner on a bomb. DH was right, the only place eating at in DTD is Fultons and WPE. Oh well you live and learn right?

 

[KatMark]

OUCH! I'm betting Todd is thinking, "Nic, I told you we should have gone to Fulton's." Sorry the trip started out on a sour note. But I am sure it will get better from here!

 

[MickeyNicki]

After our terrible dinner we walked around DTD for a bit and wanted to purchase our tickets and TIW card. I had received a 10% savings pass along card for our new AP's and the card doesnt have the first name of the person and unless you know that persons name they will not give you the discount. They argued with us for 15 minutes, no one would give us the discount and they refused to look up the persons name so we did not get the discount. Can you believe Disney would not honor this?? They said unless you know the persons first name no discount...people are not supposed to send them to people on Dis boards, just give them to people they know.

So DH is ready to blow a gasket and I just want to get outta there. We walked around a bit, Goofy's Candy had a 30 minute wait for create your own snacks so we just got in the car and went to check into the POFQ. Just as we started the car it started raining....are you kidding me??

Check in at the POFQ was a breeze, we have a great room on the second floor overlooking the gardens. Room is super clean and comfy. Looking a bit worn like chipped tiles, sink, etc but other than that very nice. The food court is a bit sad looking but we will check that out more in the am.

Tomorrow we are flexible...sorta. We will have breakfast at the food court, lunch is supposed to be at Sci Fi (which I hope we keep) and dinner (come Heck or High Water!) is Cali Grill.

Any special requests let a girl know and I will do my best. I will also try and take menu pics at all our TS places and any others that do not have a crowd around them

 

[MinnieNurse]

bleh-I need to change this ADR. That doesnt even look good, and I have to say that meatball pasta dish looks disgusting. I dont know about this. DH is really looking forward to this one.

 

[MickeyNicki]

OUCH! I'm betting Todd is thinking, "Nic, I told you we should have gone to Fulton's." Sorry the trip started out on a sour note. But I am sure it will get better from here!

God love him he didnt say it but when we walked past Fultons he got the saddest look on his face

bleh-I need to change this ADR. That doesnt even look good, and I have to say that meatball pasta dish looks disgusting. I dont know about this. DH is really looking forward to this one.

Oh it was bad...there were 2 ladies sitting next to us..they complained about the soda bread and requested other bread...they did not have anything else. They got the calamari and said it was too greasy. One had the meatballs and said it was terrible, the other had the chicken pot pie and said it was all pastry, no chicken or mushrooms. They were contemplating dessert until we showed them our mess of sauce and dry bread and they decided to go to Ghiradellis for sundaes...wish we did that too.

DH made a little "cross off the list" motion in the air and I died laughing...not a great start so the rest of the TS places better deliver!

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Aww.. Sorry you had such a bad start to your trip. Don't worry it will get better! I can't wait to hear how your dinner is at Cali Grill.

 

[KatMark]

Check in at the POFQ was a breeze, we have a great room on the second floor overlooking the gardens. Room is super clean and comfy. Looking a bit worn like chipped tiles, sink, etc but other than that very nice. The food court is a bit sad looking but we will check that out more in the am.

Tomorrow we are flexible...sorta. We will have breakfast at the food court, lunch is supposed to be at Sci Fi (which I hope we keep) and dinner (come Heck or High Water!) is Cali Grill.

I'm glad everything went okay at POFQ. What do you think of it after staying at CSR? We've thought of trying it sometime, but just can't tear ourselves away from CSR. I hope you go to Sci Fi--want to see if you enjoy it as much as last time and DH said he's willing to try one signature restaurant and Cali Grill is the one he has shown the most interest in so I'm real curious to see your review for that one. Get some sleep...and here's hoping for a better all around day tomorrow.

 

[pezaddict231]

Sorry you had a bad dinner, it was pretty good when we went for lunch last year. I would have been so frustrated especially after traveling all the way there and looking forward to it. The bread pudding didn't even look the same, when I had it there were no slices. Glad to see there was STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING on the menu though (or in other words the GREATEST dessert ever!)

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

OMG Nicki!

I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience at Raglan! That calamari looked gross as did the pasta The bread pudding looked nothing like other pictures I have seen! Maybe it was an off night? There will be lots of wonderful Disney dining to make up for it Looking forward to the next reviews.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Aww.. Sorry you had such a bad start to your trip. Don't worry it will get better! I can't wait to hear how your dinner is at Cali Grill.

I hope things turn around too! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm glad everything went okay at POFQ. What do you think of it after staying at CSR? We've thought of trying it sometime, but just can't tear ourselves away from CSR. I hope you go to Sci Fi--want to see if you enjoy it as much as last time and DH said he's willing to try one signature restaurant and Cali Grill is the one he has shown the most interest in so I'm real curious to see your review for that one. Get some sleep...and here's hoping for a better all around day tomorrow.

Its so weird, when we stayed at CSR it was pouring rain like it is now...so the entrance and the main building looked the same. The resort is dead quiet and I like that, plenty of parking and a nice small food court. Overall I would prefer staying at POFQ again because of the location, small resort and the quietness of it all. When we stayed at CSR the room was alot nicer but the lobby and dining area was jammed all the time and the parking lot was so full we had to park far from our building. You should give it a try one day. I think we may keep our Sci Fi, unless Todd oversleeps...poor boy is just exhausted....and still hungry

Sorry you had a bad dinner, it was pretty good when we went for lunch last year. I would have been so frustrated especially after traveling all the way there and looking forward to it. The bread pudding didn't even look the same, when I had it there were no slices. Glad to see there was STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING on the menu though (or in other words the GREATEST dessert ever!) Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

I am bummed about it too because we were really looking forward to it and when I go back and look at the pictures I cannot believe we didnt complain. Oh well on to the next TS joint

OMG Nicki!

I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience at Raglan! That calamari looked gross as did the pasta The bread pudding looked nothing like other pictures I have seen! Maybe it was an off night? There will be lots of wonderful Disney dining to make up for it Looking forward to the next reviews.

I know! To think I dropped $90 just kills me....ick, thinking about it turns my tummy! Cannot wait for Cali Grill...just looked at your pictures and the menu, thanks so much for that!

 

[KatMark]

Its so weird, when we stayed at CSR it was pouring rain like it is now...so the entrance and the main building looked the same. The resort is dead quiet and I like that, plenty of parking and a nice small food court. Overall I would prefer staying at POFQ again because of the location, small resort and the quietness of it all. When we stayed at CSR the room was alot nicer but the lobby and dining area was jammed all the time and the parking lot was so full we had to park far from our building. You should give it a try one day. I think we may keep our Sci Fi, unless Todd oversleeps...poor boy is just exhausted....and still hungry

Maybe we'll do a split stay in 2011 (next year we're doing a split stay with AKL). I just love the thought of the queen beds at CSR now, plus it's just "home" to us. I'm surprised about the parking lot being full...we rent a car every year and have never had a problem. Oh well, bring on more food porn for us tomorrow.

 

[catne]

Oh, soooo sorry Raglan Road was so awful! I just today made a reservation for it in September...DS & his friend really want to go there for both the food and the entertainment. Wonder if they do a better job with the more traditional Irish dishes? Or are they still on the menu even? Now I seriously have to debate this one. Was the entertainment any good?

Sounds like you're still having the same crummy weather we had -- raining every afternoon/evening just about last week. And not the usual quick downpour & it's over stuff, either -- it was the puddles up to your ankles in places kind of rain. Was hoping people would have a better time this week.

We loved the smallness of the POFQ, and the quietness...and parking close to our building. Yes, the place is looking a little shabby, but we kind of took that as part of the decor, just like the real French Quarter. It has always been clean, anyway and maids were quite attentive. Hop that boat over to DTD one of the days you're going solo -- it's really relaxing and convenient to the Marketplace .

 

[trixiequilts]

Boy, what a crappy start for you! That stinks all around!

I think you should go back and complain...bring in your pictures and see what happens...you never know, right?

Tomorrow will be better, I just know it. (It can't get much worse! )

 

[Sandy321]

Niki how dare they not talk to you when you dont eat the food? If the clamari was that bad, you didnt get ice for your ice tea - and they ignore you? You both were very very tired!

Well, at least things can only go up from here...

Enjoy the time - Weather is looking good for Orlando - no worries for the end of your trip - you'll have plenty of us cheering you on what to do!!

Thanks for confirming, altho we are Irish, and dh makes a great Irish Soda Bread, we do not want any pucks or doggy poo

 

[disneyfav4ever]

That pasta from Raglan looked horrible. I ate there once, and had a decent meal, but I do agree that WP is better.

 

[oybolshoi]

Nicki, so sorry to read about your terrible experience at Raglan Road.

I hope that they were just having an off night but that doesn't make a crappy evening any better for you and Todd.

I've never seen soda bread served in nugget form before ... that's just wrong.

And as for the bread pudding ... oh, the humanity! That wasn't any bread pudding I've ever had at Raglan Road ... that was leftover french toast from yesterday's breakfast stuffed into a coffee cup (there weren't any coffee grounds in there, right?).

I agree with a previous poster ... you ought to take those pictures back to the restaurant and speak with a manager. The entire meal looked disgusting and that makes me very sad for you and for the rest of us, too.

Here's hoping the rest of your trip and meals are nothing but wonderful.

 

[gardengirl628]

Those meatballs looked just plain wrong. Sorry you had to start your trip with petrified dog poop....things can only go up from here, right? Hope tomorrow is a better, more magical day!

 

[medicgirl911]

OMG that looked horrid! Sorry to hear you had such a horrible experience! I really hope it gets better from here on out!