First Dining Report Ever-New 6/15...The Day We Didn't Want to Go Home - California Grill Brunch

DaisyNY

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
So... have been lurking Disboards for many years; particularly on the Restaurant review section and while I have never done a dining report, I do add my two cents now and then! That said, need to figure out how to upload photos once I have them and here are our plans for our upcoming trip...I want to return the favor for all of your great reviews...

5/29 - Il Mulino Dinner (First for us)
5/30 - MK Day...QS Lunch; maybe Sleepy Hollow (Looking to split the Nutella Waffle sandwich with my daughter - a first for us), Dinner at Tony's (Still trying to get BOG) but we have not eaten at Tony's in years.
5/31 - HS - Sci-Fi Dinner (First for us)
6/1 - Lunch at QS @ Epcot, Le Cellier Dinner (Haven't been here in at least 12 years)
6/2 - Beaches and Cream...maybe something at DS at night (If weather is good we might spend the day at one of the water parks and skip this) *** Skipped Beaches and Cream for a movie and DS afternoon.
6/3 - Tiffins for ROL Package...Most excited about this, new Avatar land, Great menu at Tiffins
6/4 - Just added California Grill for Brunch...another new experience for us!

We will be enjoying breakfast in our room...Have a Garden Grocer order coming, we are blessed to visit at least 2 times a year so we are able to relax, enjoy the pool and spend time enjoying our resort and WDW in general.

So Here We Begin:

5/29 - Arrival Day
5/29 - Il Mulino
5/30 - Pool time fun and BoardWalk Bakery
5/30 - Magic Kingdom
5/31 - Pool Morning/DHS/Sci-Fi
6/1 - Crepes/Le Cellier/Karamel Kuche
6/2 - The Day With No Plans - Part I
6/2 - The Day With No Plans - Part II
6/3 - Flame Tree BBQ and Tiffins
6/4 - The Day We Didn't Want to Go Home - California Grill Brunch
 
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I lurk a LOT too. Love reading food reports and can't wait for yours. We love Il Mulino and Sci-Fi. Looking forward to your review of Tiffins.

Hope you have a great time.
 
Hi, I'm looking forward to reading about your dining experiences- DH and I will be there 5/25-5/31 so we our trips overlap a few days!

5/29 - Il Mulino Dinner (First for us)

I'm not familiar with this restaurant so naturally I made my way to the WDW website see whats on the menu... looks delicious! Are you on the DDP? For some reason I have it in my head that restaurants at the Swalphin don't accept the DDP?

5/30 - MK Day...QS Lunch; maybe Sleepy Hollow (Looking to split the Nutella Waffle sandwich with my daughter - a first for us), Dinner at Tony's (Still trying to get BOG) but we have not eaten at Tony's in years.

Another place we've never eaten at- Sleep Hollow but anything with nutella sounds amazing. Oh, AND we've never eaten at Tony's, I'm interested to hear how you think this compares to Il Mulino!

5/31 - HS - Sci-Fi Dinner (First for us)

YUM! I ate here with my parents circa 2001, so it's been a while, but it receives rave reviews!

6/1 - Lunch at QS @ Epcot, Le Cellier Dinner (Haven't been here in at least 12 years)

OOO yay! I miss when Le Cellier lunch was 1 TS.... the Canadian pavilion is one of my favorites, its so pretty there.

6/2 - Beaches and Cream...maybe something at DS at night (If weather is good we might spend the day at one of the water parks and skip this)

We also have an ADR for the first time here during our trip... are you planning on getting ice cream or just dinner? I think we might do just ice cream as our ADR is for 8:30pm and we're usually in bed by 9 when we're not in vaca lol!!

6/3 - Tiffins for ROL Package...Most excited about this, new Avatar land, Great menu at Tiffins

NICE!

6/4 - Nothing at all, leaving in the early evening on the Tragical Express and will grab a breakfast/lunch in the Boardwalk area.

BOO for tragical express.

We will be enjoying breakfast in our room...Have a Garden Grocer order coming, we are blessed to visit at least 2 times a year so we are able to relax, enjoy the pool and spend time enjoying our resort and WDW in ge

AWESOME! DH and I also enjoy time relaxing at the pool and at the resort. Knowing that we'll be back definitely helps me relax and not feel like we need to get it all done
 
Hi, I'm looking forward to reading about your dining experiences- DH and I will be there 5/25-5/31 so we our trips overlap a few days!



I'm not familiar with this restaurant so naturally I made my way to the WDW website see whats on the menu... looks delicious! Are you on the DDP? For some reason I have it in my head that restaurants at the Swalphin don't accept the DDP?



Another place we've never eaten at- Sleep Hollow but anything with nutella sounds amazing. Oh, AND we've never eaten at Tony's, I'm interested to hear how you think this compares to Il Mulino!



YUM! I ate here with my parents circa 2001, so it's been a while, but it receives rave reviews!



OOO yay! I miss when Le Cellier lunch was 1 TS.... the Canadian pavilion is one of my favorites, its so pretty there.



We also have an ADR for the first time here during our trip... are you planning on getting ice cream or just dinner? I think we might do just ice cream as our ADR is for 8:30pm and we're usually in bed by 9 when we're not in vaca lol!!



NICE!



BOO for tragical express.



AWESOME! DH and I also enjoy time relaxing at the pool and at the resort. Knowing that we'll be back definitely helps me relax and not feel like we need to get it all done

No Dining Plan...OOP on this trip! Found the dining plan doesn't work well for us when we have breakfasts in the room, and we're not big eaters or snackers...Enjoy your trip as well!
 


Joining in! We are an OOP family as well (the last three trips) and find it works out perfectly for us. We do the grocery order for breakfast/water/snacks and that is great as well. It's like have your own club level right in your room! :)
 
6/4 - Nothing at all, leaving in the early evening on the Tragical Express and will grab a breakfast/lunch in the Boardwalk area.

6/4 - Just added California Grill for Brunch...another new experience for us!
 
Il Mulino is absolutely AMAZING! The mushroom risotto is absolutely to die for! I had a great meal with coworkers there in 2013 and we joked the risotto was a never-ending bowl. I ate a ton and my coworkers sampled it too--and yet, the bowl looked just as full as when it was set in front of me.
I have only heard amazing things about the Cali Grill brunch--I look forward to your review! Please take lots of pics!!!
 


Il Mulino is absolutely AMAZING! The mushroom risotto is absolutely to die for! I had a great meal with coworkers there in 2013 and we joked the risotto was a never-ending bowl. I ate a ton and my coworkers sampled it too--and yet, the bowl looked just as full as when it was set in front of me.
I have only heard amazing things about the Cali Grill brunch--I look forward to your review! Please take lots of pics!!!

I might have to try the risotto....I love mushrooms! And yes, hoping to take lots of photos!
 
Fellow lurker here. :rolleyes1 Looking forward to your reviews, especially California brunch. Interested to hear your thoughts, especially paying oop. It's a steep price tag for brunch. We have loved meals at Sci Fi and Beaches and Cream.
 
Fellow lurker here. :rolleyes1 Looking forward to your reviews, especially California brunch. Interested to hear your thoughts, especially paying oop. It's a steep price tag for brunch. We have loved meals at Sci Fi and Beaches and Cream.

Looking at the brunch menu, I know DD and I will probably each have two mimosas, she loves sushi and will probably get a plate of that, I'll look for the charcuterie items plus entrees and desserts... the math looked good to me. Certainly will report back after the trip!
 
Following along!

5/29 - Il Mulino Dinner (First for us)
5/30 - MK Day...QS Lunch; maybe Sleepy Hollow (Looking to split the Nutella Waffle sandwich with my daughter - a first for us), Dinner at Tony's (Still trying to get BOG) but we have not eaten at Tony's in years.
5/31 - HS - Sci-Fi Dinner (First for us)
6/1 - Lunch at QS @ Epcot, Le Cellier Dinner (Haven't been here in at least 12 years)
6/2 - Beaches and Cream...maybe something at DS at night (If weather is good we might spend the day at one of the water parks and skip this)
6/3 - Tiffins for ROL Package...Most excited about this, new Avatar land, Great menu at Tiffins
6/4 - Just added California Grill for Brunch...another new experience for us!

Il Mulino sounds so good! We haven't been able to fit it in yet, but I want to sometime soon. We haven't fit in Le Cellier either, but I loved the filet I tried at Food & Wine.

I loved having the ROL package when we went, and the Cali Grill brunch was awesome! We also had great burgers at Sci Fi when we went in 2015.
 
Looks like great line up! Looking forward to your reviews!

Thanks I'm looking forward to the eating!

Il Mulino sounds so good! We haven't been able to fit it in yet, but I want to sometime soon. We haven't fit in Le Cellier either, but I loved the filet I tried at Food & Wine.

I loved having the ROL package when we went, and the Cali Grill brunch was awesome! We also had great burgers at Sci Fi when we went in 2015.

Will keep the burgers in mind at Sci Fi and I'm happy I went with ROL package...Pandora is opening week before and I'm sure AK will be a zoo! :yay:
 
Welcome! Your line up sounds quite delicious. We are glad you came out of the lurking status and are excited to hear about your reviews when you return.
 
6/3 - Tiffins for ROL Package...Most excited about this, new Avatar land, Great menu at Tiffins

Tiffins was the best meal of our last trip (May 5th-10th). For dinner, we ate at Ohana, Cali Grill, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Tiffins, and Sci-Fi and Tiffins was by far the best. The whole concept of the restaurant is really neat and the service and food were some of the best we have experienced in WDW. The bread service, beef dish, and sorbet were all excellent :cloud9:
 
Day One...We arrived around 1:30, with little wait for Magical Express...Our room was not quite ready at check in...Staying at the beautiful Boardwalk resort...here's our view and some room images:

IMG_2072.JPG IMG_2064.JPG

IMG_2061.JPG View attachment 241127[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

The beautiful lobby:

thumb_IMG_1910_1024 2.jpg

thumb_IMG_1947_1024.jpg
 
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Day One:

As our room was not quite ready we settled in for a drink at the Pool Bar Leaping Libations and celebrated our arrival with a Grand Margarita and Frozen Strawberry Margarita. It was just what was needed in the 97 degree FL heat. Once our room was ready it was time to unpack, settle in, and our order from Garden Grocer arrived just before our dinner reservation.

We decided to stick close to the Boardwalk for our first dinner at Il Mulino at the Swan...and this was an excellent choice.

A photo of the beautiful restaurant:
thumb_IMG_2073_1024.jpg

Bread service included a yummy eggplant caponata and some sopressata with focaccia and brick oven bread: thumb_IMG_2074_1024.jpg


We both enjoyed the Caeser Salad for dinner...crunchy and perfectly dressed!
thumb_IMG_2075_1024.jpg
For dinner my DD enjoyed Penne Rigate...Penne served with our Original Il Mulino Marinara Sauce and Ricotta Cheese which she loved and I missed a photo of :(

and I had the Cernia...Seared Grouper with Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic, Pancetta Italian Bacon and White Wine served over Broccoli Rabe...So yummy! Perfect portion and perfectly cooked! thumb_IMG_2076_1024.jpg

We each enjoyed a delicious Tuscan Chianti with our meals and decided to pass on dessert. We weren't on the Disney Dining Plan and there was no DVC discount. Pre-tip total $94. Overall good food, attentive staff and beautiful atmosphere.
 
So excited to read the rest of your report! Il Mulino looks very good indeed...trying to decide if we should switch this in to our rotation for August. We too are staying at the BWV so loved your room pictures!!!
 

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