Food review: 8/6-8/11

[hereforthechurros]

EPCOT: The Journey Continues

From here things picked up nicely food-wise. It was blazing hot so we made our way to Via Napoli for a mid afternoon cool down and lunch. On the way we grabbed a bag of caramel corn from Karamell Kuche to take back with us since it was open and we wanted some free caramel smells!

We didn’t wait at all for our ADR at VN which was a welcome change from past experience here. It was odd to see this normally bustling space so empty and quiet.... but it was also kind of great. We started with white sangria and prosciutto and melon app. What used to be elegant slices of cantaloupe draped in prosciutto are now chunks of cantaloupe and honeydew with prosciutto over some arugula. They could have at least dressed the greens, but the melon was juicy and the prosciutto was quality. Next our son ordered the kid’s margharita while we shared the small carciofi pizza which is white pizza with artichoke, fontina, mozzarella, and truffle oil. Pic from TripAdvisor:



The crust was perfectly charred and chewy as always while the artichokes were tender and the mozzarella was fresh and creamy. I didn’t detect any truffle, but this pizza was lights out. Definitely a must try! Kid even scarfed his entire pizza.

After the perfect cool down and a real meal, we were feeling re-energized to hit a few more spots before relaxing at the hotel for a bit. First stop was the Hops & Barley for the carrot cake with warm cream cheese icing and the Heavy Seas AmeriCannon APA. The carrot cake was fresh, warm, genuinely tasty and went well with the beer. Love the small pours for just a taste.

Next stop was Les Halles to bring treats back to the room. We went with the palmier, creme brûlée, and an eclair. Full and hot, we walked back to Swan to relax in the room before heading back to Epcot for the night. In case you’re wondering, we forgot about all these treats until days later. Pro tip: do not try to save caramel corn (it turns soggy/chewy) or creme brûlée (the sugar crust just dissolves into a runny mess)

​

 

[hereforthechurros]

EPCOT: A Journey Completed

Around 6 pm we headed back into Epcot. Weather looked completely clear so we left all the rain gear and you can guess what happened? Torrential downpour! But at least it allowed us to get a few more indoor rides in and cleared our the rest of the crowds so that I was finally able to get me hands on the La Cava Margarita! It was still a 30 minute wait to get into La Cava but worth it.



I was ready to sit and enjoy the sunset and my margarita when my son interrupted my bliss with the announcement that he wanted more egg rolls from China... so more egg rolls it was. Oh wait I did take another food pic!



Sorry you had to see that.

The sky after the storm was just beautiful and the weather cooled down quite a bit. I took these pics just minutes apart.




We debated doing more F&W booths or booking an ADR for dinner. There was an 8:50 pm for Rose & Crown which was perfect as the boy wanted fish & chips and sitting down in AC, having a beer and closing down Epcot sounded wonderful after a long, HOT day.

So we took our time getting over there and checked in on time. We knew our server would most likely be looking to close out so we quickly placed an order for a Snake Bite (half cider and half Harp), a Black & Tan, fish and chips, and the Welsh Pub burger - Angus Beef Patty with Beer Cheese Sauce, Bacon and Beer-battered Leeks served with a side of Branston Mayonnaise.

The leeks were crispy and fresh and the beer cheese sauce made the whole thing creamy. Not even sure why they bother with the mayo. As you can imagine the burger was DECADENT and while it wasn't a huge, my waistline is still so grateful we shared this baby. Plus it left room for sticky toffee pudding! This wasn't the best ever, the pudding and cake were blazing hot instead of warm but it got the sweet tooth job done.

We cheers'd to a great day at EPCOT and enjoyed the quiet walk along the Boardwalk to "home."​

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

EPCOT: A Journey Completed

Around 6 pm we headed back into Epcot. Weather looked completely clear so we left all the rain gear and you can guess what happened? Torrential downpour! But at least it allowed us to get a few more indoor rides in and cleared our the rest of the crowds so that I was finally able to get me hands on the La Cava Margarita! It was still a 30 minute wait to get into La Cava but worth it.

View attachment 521579

I was ready to sit and enjoy the sunset and my margarita when my son interrupted my bliss with the announcement that he wanted more egg rolls from China... so more egg rolls it was. Oh wait I did take another food pic!

View attachment 521580

Sorry you had to see that.

The sky after the storm was just beautiful and the weather cooled down quite a bit. I took these pics just minutes apart.

View attachment 521581
View attachment 521582

We debated doing more F&W booths or booking an ADR for dinner. There was an 8:50 pm for Rose & Crown which was perfect as the boy wanted fish & chips and sitting down in AC, having a beer and closing down Epcot sounded wonderful after a long, HOT day.

So we took our time getting over there and checked in on time. We knew our server would most likely be looking to close out so we quickly placed an order for a Snake Bite (half cider and half Harp), a Black & Tan, fish and chips, and the Welsh Pub burger - Angus Beef Patty with Beer Cheese Sauce, Bacon and Beer-battered Leeks served with a side of Branston Mayonnaise.

The leeks were crispy and fresh and the beer cheese sauce made the whole thing creamy. Not even sure why they bother with the mayo. As you can imagine the burger was DECADENT and while it wasn't a huge, my waistline is still so grateful we shared this baby. Plus it left room for sticky toffee pudding! This wasn't the best ever, the pudding and cake were blazing hot instead of warm but it got the sweet tooth job done.

We cheers'd to a great day at EPCOT and enjoyed the quiet walk along the Boardwalk to "home."​

Really enjoying your report. Looking forward to more.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

but in true Disney planning fashion this all went to hell pretty quickly

Isn't that the truth? And on a good/normal non-freaking-pandemic day!!! I think you guys still did pretty good. Any day that includes both margaritas and egg rolls is a solid win and VN pizza is something I dream about

 

[lovin'fl]

Do you need to order food in order to gets drinks in the lounges like Abbracadabar or Martha's Vineyard or the pool bars?

 

[hereforthechurros]

Do you need to order food in order to gets drinks in the lounges like Abbracadabar or Martha's Vineyard or the pool bars?

Nope! Definitely okay to just order drinks.

 

[erinch]

Going to the world in 3 weeks! Thanks for this! Have been debating whether to do our traditional lunch at coral reef when it opens or hold out for F & W. Eats with Fishes it is.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Sunday 8/9: Magic Kingdom long haul

Never in our probably 50+ park days have we made it rope drop to close. We typically take a mid-day break to get away from crowds and swim and many times we just don’t go back as getting back on a bus or fighting crowds loses out to relaxing by the pool. Today was going to be the day! Or so we hoped.

We try not to be basic but at MK, we fully have to have our Starbucks to start the day. The line is always long and with the spacing it was out the door, but probably only 15 minutes until we had our food/drinks. I left Rich to place an order while I took the kid to the firehouse to get SOTMK cards. I was so excited for iced coffee and a chocolate croissant that when he showed up with hot coffee and coffee cake I could have cried. Not really, but what the heck man! I saved both for later. The kid ordered the Mickey cinnamon roll so we all had a few bites of that. That baby is DRY and needs icing but anything Mickey shaped passed the cute test.

Crowds at MK were much better than Epcot the day before and we hit five rides including 7DMT, Peter Pan, and HM before hunger took over. Luckily our fave snack stop, Sleepy Hollow, was open! Despite only 10 people in line it took almost 40 minutes to order, and get our food. Mobile order here would be AMAZING. At least I got to see these cuties during the wait.



Anyway, we shared the unbeatable fruit & Nutella waffle. I’ve had this so many times and it hasn’t let us down yet. The waffle is always perfectly crisp in parts and soft in others, lots of Nutella, and the fruit here is somehow fresher than almost anywhere else in property. Little man opted for a box o’ popcorn and took down the whole thing. Great snack to hold us over until lunch at a place we’ve only been once before but really enjoyed - Jungle Skipper Canteen!

Four more rides, some Sorcerer’s, lots of walking and water breaks later and it was time for lunch. There was no waiting for ADRs this entire trip which was awesome. The AC was blasting and we were so ready to relax for a while. If you haven’t noticed we share plates a LOT. This isn’t because we’re cheap, but because we are average size eaters that want to try to fit in as many things as we can. And this meal was no different. The Cachapas: House-made Corn Pancakes, Beer-braised Pork, Roasted Corn, Fresno Pepper Salsa, and Avocado Cream & the Perkins Thai noodles: Tofu, Seasonal Vegetables, and Rice Noodles tossed in a Spicy Soy-Chili-Garlic Sauce both looked great so we ordered them to share. Pics from WanderingDisney and Easy WDW, respectively:




Love those cachapas! They'd make a great entree if they were a bit bigger. Pulled pork with the crisp corn cake and creamy avocado sauce all texturally work great together.

The noodles were tasty too but really soupy. I wish they would find a way to tighten up the sauce so that it coats the noodles rather than the noods just swimming in it. But this has actual heat and a ton of flavor which is rare to find in WDW so we loved it. Our bodies were also thankful for all the vegetables and tofu. Kid went with tofu coconut curry. I was proud of him for branching out but he only ate some as it had some heat going on that he didn’t love, but he finished the broccoli and rice. I stole most of his tofu. We also had the Tusker lager and the Kungaloosh Spiced Beer because there’s nothing better than a beer in the middle of Magic Kingdom. The Kungaloosh drinks like a Christmas beer with all the spice so while not super light nor refreshing, it is still tasty. Tusker Lager was solid. I don’t love lagers but still enjoyed it.

For dessert I was most excited about trying the Kungaloosh! which I’ve read about for years. And it was okay. The cake was dry, and it’s very small. Also the cashew ice cream had maybe one tiny piece of a cashew going on. The caramelized bananas are the best thing about the dish; I could eat a bowl of just those. Kid ordered the volcano! cake and weirdly, his little cake was different but better than ours. So we sort of all shared. Picture from WDW website:



Great meal, great service. Hard to find better TS in MK, especially now. Would the meal and elongated break be enough to get us through to closing though?

Ready to tackle more rides, we ventured back out into the heat. Pirates was up next and due to a cleaning round and a long line, it sucked up about an hour. We hit most of the other rides in Adventureland and Frontierland before another break and cold drink were necessary. Which brings us to another first: Sunshine Tree Terrace!

I’ve never had a citrus swirl and figured now was my chance. I felt guilty cheating on dole whip but something about the citrus swirl was calling my name. My son wanted to share and loved it so much he grabbed it and dumped the entire thing about .85 seconds after I ordered it. All over the table, shoes, and the people next to us. Cool! Luckily we had tons of wipes on us (thanks Corona!) and went back to order another one because I wasn’t going out like that. I love vanilla and orange together so this was a winner. Definitely sweet with the orange soda, but super refreshing. Might be a tough call between that and dole whip in the future!

After a few more attractions, the rain started rolling in. Splash was our last conquest of the day but it shut down with the incoming storms. It was only about 90 minutes to close when we called it. By the time we got on our bus the heavens had opened up. So, we are still 0-50 on full days but we did almost everything we wanted and when you’re done, you’re DONE. Back to Swan to swim and see what we could rustle up for dinner later on.
​

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Sounds like a great MK day!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Following! Sounds like a great MK day! I’ve never tried citrus swirl either because I always go with the dole whip, but maybe next time!

 

[hereforthechurros]

Back at Swan the rain had cleared so we headed straight for the pool. By the way, the best deal on property is at Chill if you’re a beer lover: 6 pack of Phins & Feather (local brew!) for only $15! We bought some and took them with us to the pool since there was no cocktail service when we were there. We also rented this giant bird float. HEY!



While hanging out I started peeking at ADRs for the evening and there was nada. Even places at DS that normally have all kinds of availability were booked until late. Whoops! Guess playing it by ear wasn’t paying off this time.

So we finished up at the pool and planned to grab some take out from Il Mulino. I went to place the order and noticed the restaurant looked dead, despite no online availability. I inquired about walk-ups and was informed they had plenty of room. Sweet! We quickly changed and then opted for sitting in the lounge. The lounge serves the full menu, and we were able to watch our baseball team as we ate, double score.

I started with a Sauvignon blanc while Rich opted for the Hakuna Matata brew out of D9 North Carolina I believe. The server let us know this was a favorite at Disney (obviously). I like some sort of piney or juicy in my IPAs but this was fairly flat. Moving on, I ordered a caeser salad while the dude went with their caprese. They also brought out a massive basket of bread that featured like 10 slices of fairly stale bread. Their garlic and tomato focaccia + olive oil/balsamic was delicious though. Our salads were standard fare but done well. The roasted red peppers on the caprese were a nice touch.

Then came time for entrees which I struggled with ordering. Their menu is mostly pasta with a few a la carte entrees. Truth be told I wanted the carbonara but Rich beat me to it so I went with the mushroom risotto. While the thought of a massive plate of rice didn’t sound the greatest, I love mushrooms and risotto and was hoping they did it well. Little man ordered their kid’s spaghetti marinara.

Pics from DFB. Risotto here looks better than mine did!




Well, sadly it ate like a massive plate of rice and mushrooms. Risotto should be creamy and sort of flow onto the plate but these were individual grains with little creaminess. And the mushroom were massive and tough. It tasted okay but just wasn’t treated with the love it takes to develop those starches. However the husband shared his carbonara and OMG. This was LUCIOUS. Little pops of flavor from the pancetta, whole lot of creamy from the egg and Parmesan. He could have easily ordered the 1/2 order (which is an awesome option here btw) because he had a ton leftover. But make no mistake, carbonara is the move here.

So full, we were happy for the short commute upstairs and into bed after a long but great day. Last park day tomorrow!​

 

[erinch]

Going in 2 weeks! Having fun following along!

 

[sam5disney]

Quick question about the noodles at Skipper's - somehow have missed the Thai in the description & was planning on my daughter ordering these as she loves the noodles at Kona & O'Hana. Is the sauce peanut based? Really spicy? Have you had the others? Can you compare? She can be picky but I really want to try this restaurant! And FYI, I felt like I was cheating on the Dole Whip too but think I actually love the Citrus Swirl better - just got the cup so w/o the Fanta, it's just sweet ice cream/tart OJ and yum! Went in July & heading back in Sept, enjoying your reviews to get me through till I'm home again

 

[hereforthechurros]

Quick question about the noodles at Skipper's - somehow have missed the Thai in the description & was planning on my daughter ordering these as she loves the noodles at Kona & O'Hana. Is the sauce peanut based? Really spicy? Have you had the others? Can you compare? She can be picky but I really want to try this restaurant! And FYI, I felt like I was cheating on the Dole Whip too but think I actually love the Citrus Swirl better - just got the cup so w/o the Fanta, it's just sweet ice cream/tart OJ and yum! Went in July & heading back in Sept, enjoying your reviews to get me through till I'm home again

It's like a soy and chili sauce based sauce, no peanut detected. It's a very loose sauce so unlike many noodle dishes I've had so I am struggling to compare it to any more well known asian dishes. Definitely has some heat but great flavor too. We liked it and ate the whole thing so I do recommend trying it! If she's picky then perhaps the tastes like chicken is a better choice which we've had in the past and was delicious, she can get the sauce on the side .

Enjoy your trip this month! Maybe consider a food report?

 

[hereforthechurros]

Last Day! Hollywood Studios 8/10

Around this time I start dreading real life. Getting back on the scale after days of eating like an unsupervised raccoon, not having creme brûlée for breakfast, not having dessert with lunch. It's all so unfair back in the real world. But truth be told the heat made this trip feel LONG and with coronavirus always in the back of our minds, we were okay with wrapping up and heading home soon.

We saved HS for our last day since we were so excited for MMRR and RoTR. We’ve ridden Rise once but it was back in January when we did a quick adults only trip, but it was the first time for our son so he was hyped up. We walked over around 9:15 am and were in line for MMRR by roughly 9:45 am. We had no issues with BGs at 10 am and wound up BG 17. We LOVED MMRR so much. But we also love the shorts so this was just the best. With the two biggest tasks of the day under control we could focus on food. And one of our favorite snacks in all of WDW is the carrot cake cupcake at Trolley Car Cafe so off we went. This baby is so big and rich that we all share it. I also had an iced coconutmilk latte to wash it down. Photo from DFB in case you've never seen it:



We had a few hours until our lunch res so we hit as many rides as we could, including ROTR which is just the best. Around noon we were ready for a little snack and beer ahead of our ADR so we stopped by a fave of ours, Baseline Taphouse. Oh how I hope this stays a hidden gem. I ordered a Golden Road Hefeweizen and Rich had the Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing which is so good. I normally don't like hefeweizens but wanted something light, so it worked. We all chugged as much ice water as we could and shared a pretzel as well. The cheese sauce here is SO GOOD! Why didn't anyone tell me!? Pic from DFB:



By 2 pm it was time for lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby and we were so ready to sit in the AC for an elongated period of time and just zone out. For years now I've heard nothing but great things about the Cobb salad so I knew what I was getting before we sat down. But beer and bread came first and oh my is their bread good. We'd had the same butter/sea salt combo at Vero Beach and it's so delicious. Perfect with the salad too! Rich went with the Andouille-crusted Chicken Breast: Maple-glazed Nueske's Bacon, White Cheddar, Arugula, House-made Pickles, Onion Kaiser Roll, Vegetable Slaw. He really liked this, but he also likes everything. We were sitting in a booth with him on one side and me on the other so I didn't get to try this. The Cobb salad comes dressed and the server tosses it for you. I liked the flavors a lot with but with everything being chopped so fine it all just seemed a little mushy at times. Would have loved a little more avocado and bacon, but it hit the spot for a light lunch on a hot day.
Picture from Disney Tourist Blog:



My son had yet another hot dog with chips and mashed potatoes. Apparently we'd given up on fruit and vegetables by this point. Can I just say I love that the kid's menus are structured as build your own? Our son responds so well to that and like to try thing he normally wouldn't otherwise. Getting a seven year old interested in menus isn't easy so thanks Disney!

After lunch we were ready for a resort break so after the hot walk back to Swan, it was nice to relax before heading back to HS for some evening fun.​

 

[sam5disney]

It's like a soy and chili sauce based sauce, no peanut detected. It's a very loose sauce so unlike many noodle dishes I've had so I am struggling to compare it to any more well known asian dishes. Definitely has some heat but great flavor too. We liked it and ate the whole thing so I do recommend trying it! If she's picky them perhaps the tastes like chicken is a better choice which we've had in the past and was delicious, she can get the sauce on the side .

Enjoy your trip this month! Maybe consider a food report?

Thanks for the reviews. Appreciate the feedback. Love your name by the way - have you been to Disneyland? You haven't had a churro till you've had one of theirs's. My 12yo son asks to go back just for the churros. Only problem is we live in Ohio

 

[hereforthechurros]

Thanks for the reviews. Appreciate the feedback. Love your name by the way - have you been to Disneyland? You haven't had a churro till you've had one of theirs's. My 12yo son asks to go back just for the churros. Only problem is we live in Ohio

I grew up going to Disneyland and still go every few years so yes that’s absolutely where my love of churros comes from! I’ll eat them at wdw too but of course they’re never as good.

Also in Ohio by the way so hello (kind of) neighbor!

 

[dreamin'boutdis]

And one of our favorite snacks in all of WDW is the carrot cake cupcake at Trolley Car Cafe so off we went. This baby is so big and rich that we all share it. I also had an iced coconutmilk latte to wash it down. Photo from DFB in case you've never seen it:

View attachment 523527
​

YUM! I look forward to Carrot cake cookies every year. Definitely one of the best snacks at Disney!

 

[tweetylori]

Really enjoying your review, thank you!!

 

[hereforthechurros]

Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening! A DHS conclusion

Back at HS in the evening, it was still hot as hades, but we knew we had to hit MMRR one more time so we stood in the heat (man is the queue brutal) and made it happen. The ride however is even better the second time around! By the time we were done and into TSL, we saw storm clouds forming and knew things would get dicey soon. Luckily we had time for a couple Slinky Dog runs and then headed into SWGE to hit Droid Depot. Rich was ready for a snack and loves Ronto Roasters so we placed a quick mobile order and off he went while the kid and I shopped. We found him outside Droid Depot scarfing down his ronto wrap which he clearly wasn't planning to share, but I did snag one bite. GE definitely had the best QS in HS. Pic from DFB for reference:



It started to rain but luckily it was time for our Oga's ADR. We made this ADR at park closing so that we could see GE at night, which we've never been able to do. Only bad thing about late ADRs is that they rush you, and since Oga's is already rushed this was really rushed. Our server was on top of us as soon as we sat down but there was no menu QR code on the table so he brought us menus. I ordered the fuzzy tauntaun, Rich had the Bad Motivator IPA, and kid ordered the Blue Milk with cookie. I specifically ordered the fuzzy tauntaun so my son could try to numbing foam but he pretty much hated it so that was cool/a waste. We'd never tried the blue milk in Oga's and it seemed a little different from the Milk Stand, but maybe we're just crazy. The sugar cookie was decent though, better than I expected! DFB pic:


We had our drinks for about a minute before our server asked if we wanted to close out or order more. Seeing as how we'd been there maybe five minutes that was kind of lame but we told him we'd share one more, so we ordered a Gold Squadron Lager. While sitting there I started checking ADRs for dinner and one popped up for Beaches at Cream at 8:50 pm. With dining options limited we figured we'd take the Skyliner over to Epcot (since we haven't been on the Skyliner yet) then walk over to BC. Sweet plan, or so we thought...

No sooner did he bring over the next beer and the check that we heard a giant crack and the front door flew open with CMs running inside. Turns out, lightening had hit ROTR and the sound was unbelievable! Our server came over and told us we'd better go if we wanted to make it out of the park okay. We were there maybe 20 minutes at this point but we chugged our drinks and headed out. The rain wasn't super heavy yet but the winds and lighting were INSANE. I don't know if I've ever seen a lightening show like this. It was a little uneasy walking through the dark park with nowhere to hide. The Skyliner was obviously closed so we hopped on a bus going to BC and tried to dry off along the way. I was able to check in online during the drive which was a huge help.

Sorry I know we've ventured into trip report territory so back to the food!

Seated at B&C, we got down to ordering as it was already after 9 pm and we still had to eat, walk back to the room, and pack. I went with the grilled cheese + tomato soup, kid had the burger with another rootbeer float, and Rich went straight last-night-on-vacation and ordered the brownie a la mode. The grilled cheese was interesting, maybe a mix of Monterey Jack and Boursin? Good but not super melty and there was a ton of cheese. Definitely better dunked in the soup! I made it through half before calling it quits and jumped in to help Rich with his brownie because I'm the family MVP. The No Way Jose is better but I'm still never going to turn down brownie and ice cream. Kid loved his burger and took down the whole thing. Service here was excellent just as it was earlier in the week. Happy kid!



We walked home along the Boardwalk for the last time (curse you blue NBA fence) and mentally prepared for our travel day.​