Trip Report Completed: Wait, are we just staying at the Polynesian?!

Polynesian February 9th-16th

Another adventure to WDW with the same cast of characters from September’s “How could it be so hot with no sun?!” which I am still cranking out for my fans.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...-sun-another-september-adventure-2016.916978/

Since we shelled out for the Annual Passes in hopes of another trip, Mom, Dad and I found February 9-16th to be a fabulous time. My home swim meets will be over and work is medium busy. We get to sneak down during winter, which hasn’t been horrible yet this year up our way. Erie happens to be in that rust belt snow belt area and we have seen about the average amount of snow fall by now, some mild weather has moved in a few times melting the snow and making life slightly less painful. It is in the high 40s and staying mild all week, but this time next week we could have inches of snow. I will take the spots of mild weather-just hoping it’s all clear to get out of CLE

It also is one of the slower times (if those really exist anymore) to visit WDW. I am looking forward to not having the F&W Booths clogging everything up and perhaps fewer drunks. Don’t get me wrong they are entertaining, but after a while of folks stumbling around you just scratch your head and think well they are going to feel awful tomorrow! I don’t get it at times-if I am spending the money to be down here, I want to remember it lol! We snuck down in January in 2015 and that was fun and totally different than our usual September/October time. Lucked out and didn’t experience any rain and it was warm, just needed a long sleeve or hoodie at night and early morning.

DM was advocating for a longer stay, but realistically with just visiting in September 1 week was feasible. We do not plan on visiting Animal Kingdom, since we will be traveling with my nephews (DM & Big Daddy’s grandsons) in October-we figure we will have our fill of the AK then. I know for some folks it is there absolute favorite park, but for us it isn’t really a draw. KS is great and I love taking photos of course and Big Daddy and I love EE, but aside from enjoying the atmosphere and design, ½ day there will do. Consider I was 17 when the park opened and never fell in love with the place. Now Epcot, MK I could spend days at each and usually do.
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Heeerrree we go!

Recovered over the weekend-only had to go to work Friday last week. At least I got my paycheck lol! Gonna need a few more after this one :confused:

This was the schedule:
2/8: drive to Cleveland-early dinner at Cheesecake Factory Page 2, Post #24
2/9: Early rise at 5:30 AM--shuttle to airport and flight to MCO/dinner at Artist Point Post #27
2/10: Breakfast at GFC/Magic Kingdom/lunch at Gasparilla's/Epcot for dinner Post #31 Post #34
2/11: Kona Cafe/DHS/Lunch at Homecoming-Disney Springs visit/Narcoossee's/MK
Posts #32-40
2/12: Kona Cafe/Epcot all day with a mid day break/Teppan Edo Posts #43-44
2/13: Kona/MK/Casey's lunch/mid day rest/California Grill
Posts #45-49
2/14: Breakfast at IHOP/DHS/lunch at Mama Melrose/Air condition break down/Flying fish dinner Posts #56-59
2/15: Kona Cafe/Epcot/Les Halles Boulangerie for lunch/Tutto Italia dinner
Posts #60-62
The details and experience coming soon ;)
 
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LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
February 8th

I had a really rough day planned…not! I scheduled my massage and hair cut right after it. I worked my half day and since you get sweaty and oily from the massage getting my hair beautified right after worked out great. Back home we finished getting our last minute items into the suitcases and carry ons. Bathroom bags and hair products are the last to go in since you need most of those items right till the last minute you leave. I check over my packing list and ensure we are ready to shove off.


The trip from Erie to Cleveland takes about an hour thirty minutes. The weather is looking good at least for today-later in the evening flurries were going to fire up, but nothing major. We arrived at the Cheesecake Factory in legacy Village at what we thought was a great time not being busy at all. Erie isn’t a huge city so we do not have the variety of chain restaurants they have in CLE. The menu has something for everyone hence it’s broad appeal to the masses.



I really think my DF is bad luck, we just tend to have less than satisfying meals when we dine out. I swear a group of folks follow us around and do things deliberately. Aside from being edible, my DF wish is that his food be hot, you know so you actually believe that they properly cooked it in the kitchen. You wouldn’t believe how many times we get our food in a restaurant and it’s lukewarm or maybe it would have been hot 10 minutes ago. I guess most folks just don’t care about the food being hot, in fact they might prefer it warm. I mean kids do not like hot foot, they like it room temperature at best-the temperature when bacteria start to grow the fastest. We have noticed a trend in dining out and it is frustrating to us. There is one local restaurant we love in town and they serve piping hot Italian food and guess what-no heat lamps in the joint.

So unlike past visits It turned out to be the worst experience ever lol! We were seated in the bar area, which I normally do not care for. It is louder and people congregate near tables and I just do not want to look at people’s behinds when I am eating. DM and I order Dr Pepper and get root beers; the bread was stale and hard as a crouton; the biscuits with DM’s meal were hard as a rock; DF food clearly had traveled around the dining room before heading back to the kitchen and to our table 10 minutes later after being taken to another table by mistake; the meal took 30 minutes to arrive at the table and after waiting that long to get that trash forget it. The server blamed a shift change-whatever apologize and send over a manager and that never happened. I wrote to corporate and all that jazz, blech.

Made our way back down the thruway to the hotel, thankfully because the snow started to stick and the traffic was snarled a bit as it was. Checked in, settled in the room quick and parked the car in a nice inside part of the ramp. Walking back I realized I still had my winter coat on like a goof ball, had to run back and ditch it. Hung in the lobby bar and had and had onions rings for a snack!


Back to the room, showered up and tucked in-found something to turn the sleep timer onto for the night. Trying to sleep tight!
 

amjt660

Premium Member
February 8th

I had a really rough day planned…not! I scheduled my massage and hair cut right after it. I worked my half day and since you get sweaty and oily from the massage getting my hair beautified right after worked out great. Back home we finished getting our last minute items into the suitcases and carry ons. Bathroom bags and hair products are the last to go in since you need most of those items right till the last minute you leave. I check over my packing list and ensure we are ready to shove off.


The trip from Erie to Cleveland takes about an hour thirty minutes. The weather is looking good at least for today-later in the evening flurries were going to fire up, but nothing major. We arrived at the Cheesecake Factory in legacy Village at what we thought was a great time not being busy at all. Erie isn’t a huge city so we do not have the variety of chain restaurants they have in CLE. The menu has something for everyone hence it’s broad appeal to the masses.



I really think my DF is bad luck, we just tend to have less than satisfying meals when we dine out. I swear a group of folks follow us around and do things deliberately. Aside from being edible, my DF wish is that his food be hot, you know so you actually believe that they properly cooked it in the kitchen. You wouldn’t believe how many times we get our food in a restaurant and it’s lukewarm or maybe it would have been hot 10 minutes ago. I guess most folks just don’t care about the food being hot, in fact they might prefer it warm. I mean kids do not like hot foot, they like it room temperature at best-the temperature when bacteria start to grow the fastest. We have noticed a trend in dining out and it is frustrating to us. There is one local restaurant we love in town and they serve piping hot Italian food and guess what-no heat lamps in the joint.

So unlike past visits It turned out to be the worst experience ever lol! We were seated in the bar area, which I normally do not care for. It is louder and people congregate near tables and I just do not want to look at people’s behinds when I am eating. DM and I order Dr Pepper and get root beers; the bread was stale and hard as a crouton; the biscuits with DM’s meal were hard as a rock; DF food clearly had traveled around the dining room before heading back to the kitchen and to our table 10 minutes later after being taken to another table by mistake; the meal took 30 minutes to arrive at the table and after waiting that long to get that trash forget it. The server blamed a shift change-whatever apologize and send over a manager and that never happened. I wrote to corporate and all that jazz, blech.

Made our way back down the thruway to the hotel, thankfully because the snow started to stick and the traffic was snarled a bit as it was. Checked in, settled in the room quick and parked the car in a nice inside part of the ramp. Walking back I realized I still had my winter coat on like a goof ball, had to run back and ditch it. Hung in the lobby bar and had and had onions rings for a snack!


Back to the room, showered up and tucked in-found something to turn the sleep timer onto for the night. Trying to sleep tight!
Sorry to hear that Cheese Cake was not good
We do not have them in Canada and try to visit when we are near one in the States


Following along

Max
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
February 9th

I awoke at 5:30 AM because we never really sleep, especially with the other snoring monsters in the room. Oh well going be bunk mates for the next week anyways. It snowed fairly decent last night, but just a dusting compared to what they were receiving up in the northeast! We got ready and packed up and headed off to catch the shuttle. It was cold, but I went bare legged in my knee length capris. The new drop off system is terrible at CLE as you are dropped off across the street and have to hike up the sidewalk and down the stairs underneath the street, back up the escalators and march down to your ticket counter. United also no longer takes your bags behind the desk, you have to haul them over to the TSA bag screening area. Completely customer unfriendly, luckily they don’t have much competition.

The security lines were not busy this morning at 6:30 or whatever time it was. We stopped for a breakfast bagel at Bruegger’s and then made the long haul to our gate with plenty of time to spare. The sun was rising over the horizon and the ground workers were getting the plane prepared for service. It won’t be long now!

Someone left their phone in the seating area! Big Daddy of course-thank goodness for the honest folks flying with us the morning, they were paging him, but we were already on the plane! All was good he got his phone, but trying to get off the plane during boarding was a game of chess. He was so embarrassed, but it wasn’t the first time. He says he is never taking it out before we board again. I bought him a Tile finder for Christmas—still in the box! He wonders why his mother sewed his mittens to his coat sleeves.

Flight was okay. On the bumpy side taking off, but there was some nasty clouds to fly through. There was some more turbulence along the way and the older I get the more sensitive I get to it. Not because it makes me ill, but just constant anxiety. We landed 15 minutes early and the luggage came out within 20 minutes of landing. A red Nissan Ultima was our choice of the lot, in hindsight I would have selected a different car. It sounded like this one had been in an accident. It made weird metal popping noises and the speedometer fascia was cracked. Hey it worked and all of the big suitcases fit in the trunk-score!

As we drove off from the airport, the Jetblue and other airplanes were lined up off the runway. They sadly weren’t going anywhere today due to the Nor’easter. Stinky for the folks who were scheduled to fly down today-they miss out on a day of vacation! There was some construction on I-4 in the opposite way that we meant to research during the week, but we took an alternative route back to the airport.

We stopped at our favorite off site restaurant Miller’s Ale House for lunch. They have never let us down with food and service. I’m sure there are many reliable places around. After our recent trip to Universal, if we go back soon we will look around for alternatives to City Walk restaurants since they have just become food factories. During lunch, our room was ready! We made plans to visit another Public’s in Doctor Phillips and make way to the Polynesian.
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm back from Minneapolis! Flew up last Thursday to see my nephews and brother and sister in law. I bought them the Passporter Disney book for Nick to look over. He is a pretty sharp kid for being in first grade, I have no doubt he will read through that baby easily. Of course mainly he is excited about Sta Wars! At the Mall of America's Disney Store, Josh bought a Minnie to go with with Mickey and Pluto-it was cute that he figured he needed her! Our only worry with him is food allergies, but the CMs at the restaurants and from reading you hear how great Disney is about cross contamination prevention. His main allergens are tree nuts, peanuts, eggs and shellfish. We are hoping he outgrows some of them soon.

He just turned 3, but Grammy can't do all the wild rides either so he has someone to hang with of course. Nick is a bit of a shrimpo too, but there is plenty to be excited for the next trip. I can't wait to take them-it will be different, but I know it will be fun. The plans are coming together and we going to be booking soon.

Back to our trip—we took 435 down to Lake Buena Vista and what a lovely drive. I pulled up the map on my phone of where in Niue and it was as requested ground floor room. We pulled in, received our parking pass and grabbed a spot. Not an easy task at the Polynesian. There are a lot of visitors and guests that park in the relatively small lot. Self parking is only worse at the Grand Floridian, since you could potentially have to park across the street or at the Boardwalk, which is a crazy, mad, huge lot. We still get bell services help at BLT, but with the bag hand off and different employees it becomes too much of a pain. I like to escort my bags to my room or be taken right there. I do not want to call bell services when I get to my room and wait for my bags to arrive. Sometimes they are backed up and the first thing I want to do is unpack and use the powder room!

The room faced the cove pool and provided my father with hours of people watching entertainment. Over the course of the week however we discovered a disturbing trend! You wouldn’t believe how many folks leave out their patio doors—they do not lock like the room doors! I cannot believe how many guests leave themselves subject to crime. I know it is Disney, but how many times do we read about a guest having items taken from their room? I can’t believe people leave their doors unlocked with no one else in the room! Maybe I am too hyper over the problem, but I just find it crazy.

The only thing annoying about the room location was the dumping of the garbage at the poolside food stand. Five nights in the air conditioning went, but long story short Steve from maintenance got us hooked back up and we made it to Valentine’s dinner at Flying Fish, which was just ok-I will discuss later. The fluid backed up and clogged the hoses, he was very helpful and even got us some more towels since he soiled a couple. Other than that, what a perfect spot for us! Right smack dab in the middle of the resort made for a quick jaunt to Kona Café and not far from the TTC either.

After unpacking and getting settled, we walked around a bit and went to Captain Cook’s for a beverage. Soon we were off to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Artist Point!

FYI, a note on our terrible visit to Cheesecake Factory. I received a letter from their corporate head quarters with a gift card attached as an apology. I thought that was really generous of them!
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Artist Point

The boat is a lovely ride over to the Wilderness Lodge, but the convenience of the rental car is perfect. You can spend your time however you please and be able to roll out when needed. The major construction still ongoing does take away from the peacefulness of the resort, but it looks like the cabins are about complete and the new restaurant is open for business. The one wing of the Lodge is clearly being renovated as you could see into the rooms finding sheetrock and open doors. Roaring Fork is also being renovated, but still open for operation. Hopefully Wilderness Lodge lovers will see the what seems like endless construction be completed soon!

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Just lovely evening to walk around here at the Wilderness Lodge, even with the walls up. However being from suburban, very close to rural Pennsylvania, our desire to stay here is minimal. We do not feel far from home when we visit the resort. Even luxury glamping wouldn’t be my idea of an escape! I know a lot of people dislike the Contemporary, but I dig it. Thankfully Disney offers something for just about everyone.

We wandered back up to Artist Point for our reservation and found out Izzy has moved over to the Flying Fish. I wish him well and sure he made the move for a good reason. We were seated at a table near the entry by the booths. The menu is no longer printed on paper, but onto lovely leather bound folders with a touch of class.

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Rae soon arrived to introduce herself and offer us a cocktail. DM was looking for a cabernet to enjoy and Rae came back with one of the house specialties to sample. It was a great full bodied wine, the wine selections are better than many of your average restaurants. In PA, there are many wines we cannot obtain due to the distribution, but I trust Disney’s food and beverage folks to get some great selections. Me, I had some wild Mickey Mouse mocktail. We had some beverages and went ahead and ordered appetizers and entrees.

I had the charcuterie and the portion was huge. I would share this with another person especially when ordering an entrée for myself. The selections were interesting. Not a big fan of the jowl, just too fatty and the terrine was bland. The pate was delish and by far my favorite thing on the plate. Charcuterie seems to be all the rage at restaurants and a plus if it’s cured in house apparently. I love dried, cured meats, but they need to have robust flavor and be seasoned properly.

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DM had the Plant City strawberry salad and it was beautifully composed. The flavors were complimentary and refreshing. Plant City is the “headquarters” of strawberry growing in Florida. I have a co worker that goes every year in the spring for a few weeks. The chef is radish happy too-I think there are radishes on almost every dish! The other spirally stuff is shaved celery. DF had the smokey Portobello soup and I think we have all seen it, so I didn’t take a photograph this time. It was luscious and full of flavor as always.

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The entrees arrived a little sooner than I expected. I was still munching on my charcuterie, but there was so much and I wish dipping and spreading-you can really get lost in this board. Lots of fun! I had ordered the buffalo hind shank and it arrived looking appealing and hot. It was merely pot roast with watery tasting turnip mash. Nothing like the old strip loin with sweet potato mash, which was amazing. This was something I easily replicate on a Sunday afternoon, but my mash isn’t as watery. There were more radishes too lol. It was good, but for $49 I can do the same thing at home. Several of the signature dinners I found disappointing this trip, mainly because the prices really seemed to rise and the menu items didn’t increase in perceived value. DF fish of course wasn’t as hot as he prefers it, but you really have to serve fish hot or it gets gross. There were too many elements on the plate, sunchokes, sunflower seeds, sunflower greens, kale, herbs, blooms, blah blah blah, why complicate a fresh fish dish that can be so simple and delicious?! Just get that bad boy on a plate quick with simple accompaniments. Mother’s steak was excellent and perfectly cooked. The only weird thing are the long sweet potatoes, sort they look like poos.

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Rae was an excellent server and she made the evening lovely. I just became increasingly annoyed on this trip with the price and value of the food offered at signatures. Then also not serving the food at proper temperatures and having over complicated dishes. It was rather frustrating and we will probably come back in the fall, but Artist Point fell short this time unfortunately.

Grade

Service: 5 stars
Food: 3 stars
Choices/Variety: 5
Overall: 4 stars

Time to hit the gift shop and head on back to the Polynesian.





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LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As usual I slept like a baby. I mean I wake up a few times during the night, but just like at home. The wake up call rang, but there was no message for the first few days. As long as it woke me up and get the other two in gear.

Grand Floridian Cafe

We had an early adr at the Grand Floridian Café at 7:30, so this would be our earliest morning. The monorails were running and made it no problem. It was rather chilly this am and there were few guests out and about the resort grounds. There were a few other parties dining, but we had the back just about to ourselves. Our hostess was friendly and leaning the Disney ways as she was still training. Riss came over and introduced herself. She is a real classy and cute girl with a great personality-if you can be that perky in the morning more power to you.

The coffee was flowing and the food soon arrived. The menu is interesting here as there are more luxury items as well as an all day style menu with lunch and breakfast combined. I didn’t take advantage of the burgers for breakfast, but I might now sometime! I really like my eggs or omelets in the AM though and I can’t pass up a ham and cheese one.

It’s a beautiful place for a meal, more quiet than Kona. I enjoy meals here, but of course the hash browns are not to DF’s liking! They were not exactly warm and he doesn’t like the fact that they have cheese in them. I know it is kind of a southern thing, but an option for regular hash browns would be nice, especially since some folks are lactose intolerant. I see they offer crispy hash browns-next time I will ask if they have another offering.

A lovely meal to start the day

Service: 5 Stars

Food: 4 stars

Choices/Variety: 5 stars

Overall: 4.5 Stars
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom- Feb 10th

I usually always reserve the first day of the trip for the MK. If we stay over at Epcot, then we usually pop over there in the afternoon on arrival day, but we opted to just relax our first afternoon. The new security screening is fine, just a pain like at the airport having stuff in your pockets. They provide the plastic bowls to place your loose belongings in you have to place your bag up on the table to go through. Then folks don’t empty their pockets and it backs up etc. I would welcome the system that they have at Universal to the Disney parks-far less people need to be screened at one time if it is before you board the transportation. However it will take a lot of extra staff and security to cover all of the resorts.

The elimination of the welcome show with the train really alleviated the congestion up front. I enjoyed the welcome show, but mainly I remember being allowed into the park a little past the start of Main Street. Our go to is land Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain. The stand by line was only about 10 minutes so you better jump at that opportunity. DM is not a fan so she chilled in the store. The Speedway was jammed pack, but we definitely wanted to ride at some point this trip.

We were screening rides for my nephews and had to ride Pooh of course. Afterwards we wandered down into Liberty Square and hit the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and took a look at Swiss Family Treehouse and giggled. It was being refurbished last time, but DM’s knees aren’t so great so we took a pass. Maybe the kids will enjoy it.

There was still some time to kill before our FP for the Mine Ride so we hoofed it back over to Tomorrowland to ride the Wedway. Then hit Big Top Souvenirs to browse the goodies. Mine Ride was awesome as always. Afterwards DM was ready to get her caramel chocolate covered apple from the Main Street Bakery and head over to Gasparilla’s for lunch. I love to watch the confectioners at work on covering the strawberries and marshmallows in chocolate and nuts. It is fun to watch, but I think some of them get nervous.

Gasparilla’s

The ferry over to The Grand Floridian was fun and quick. The new menu at Gasparilla’s is certainly a cut above the usual counter service food, but it is still congested in there table wise. There wasn’t a huge crowd of people at lunch, but I am sure in the morning it is busy. DM ordered a ham and cheese on a baguette, which she really enjoyed. The sandwich was huge and was made in front of her at the counter. DF and I ordered off the hot menu-he went with sausage and pepper flatbread and I had the chicken sandwich. The food arrived hot and fresh, but his pizza could have definitely used a few more minutes in the oven. The crust began to sogged out in the middle and the cheese congealed, it wasn’t great. My chicken sandwich was good-I liked the herby marinade the chicken had been in and melted brie made it a satisfying lunch. I would go back, but DF would have to order something else lol.

We began to walk back to the Polynesian to burn off our lunch, but when we got to the Villas a CM stopped and asked if we wanted a ride over. Well heck free rides on golf carts! How do you turn that down?! Not sure if they are still nervous about amphibian problems or if he just wanted to get some fresh air. Either way it was very thoughtful of him to sprinkle that pixie dust!

Time for mom to get off her feet for a bit. Later we head to Epcot.
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Epcot

Epcot gets me fired up-I can’t ever wait to get over there on a trip, hence the dinner there tonight. On a morning it is more structured, but in the afternoon when there are no FP scheduled we just like to mosey around the World Showcase. Art of Disney wasn’t jam packed, so we stopped by to take a gander. The cheerleaders had invaded Starbucks so getting a coffee there was out of question! We wandered into Club Cool and had a few sips—I really miss Mezzo Mix! That was my favorite.

Dad and I wanted popcorn and beer, so off to Canada we were. I opted for the souvenir bucket with refills and it was a great deal. I ate more popcorn that I normally would, but the incentive deal was actually useful to us. I certainly do not need all of the soda, coffee or iced tea I can drink! I wouldn’t be able to sleep and my blood sugar would go crazy haha, but popcorn I really love as a snack. I mean, it isn’t as good as the kind I make at home, but it is like the movie theatre style minus the butter.

Canada and the United Kingdom always have great souvenirs-appealing and of high quality clothing items. Much less football gear in The Sportsman Shoppe, but more Guinness and Rose & Crown branded items. I do love the soaps available in Canada too-you will never feel cleaner after ditching the commercial moisturizing bars. At home I use Dr. Bronner’s and locally made natural soaps and this germaphobe loves them! Mickey shampoo and conditioner tend to do the trick for hair though.

France could stand an overhaul to their merchandise. The items with Marie are cute, but the berets and Eiffel Towers have been done. The items here do not turn over as often as Germany, UK or Canada. Vins de France still had a line, despite it not being F&W time, but the FOTA was going on at the time. We may actually need a bottle in October with my brother and sister in law.

Germany didn’t have any zip hoodies like I got in January 2015. I have loved these Adidas jackets to death. However, later in the week we got another bottle of mustard, shoe horn and cookies. Big Daddy is pleased to get his beer and watch the trains for a while. If you have ready any of my previous reports, you may remember he is a huge train fan and complains when there aren’t enough on the track or if they are not running many. Train people take these issues seriously lol! Plus Walt was a big fan-we need to keep these things running.

Festival of the Arts didn’t draw in as many people as F&W does, thank you though! That was one of the main reasons we wanted to visit in February and I wasn’t thrilled when this event was announced if you could imagine. Oh well, your hands are tied since you have planned 6 months out, so what can you do. It is just more pleasant to be at Epcot when there aren’t booths clogging up the walkways.

We made our way around the World Showcase a bit early for our dinner, but The Three Cabelleros was right there. By the way Frozen’s wait time was 110 minutes lol.



Next dinner at La Hacienda
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
La Hacienda De San Angel

First off, sorry no pictures of the food here. I didn’t bother lugging my camera around and just wanted to eat when the food came!

This was our first time dining here and I was rather excited. The menu entrée don’t sound all that interesting to me, but the appetizers and taco sampler sounded promising. I love restaurants that offer small plates and lots appetizers because you have flexibility and get to try different foods without spending a ton of coin. Spoodles was an awesome restaurant for sharing tapas, if you remember it from back on the day on the Boardwalk.

We checked in and went inside into the foyer. There were a few other parties and one woman complaining her husband had become ill from eating there the night before. I do not know what they said to her, but she didn’t stick around long. Interesting way to start the dining experience though.

The restaurant is on the narrow side since it is along the shore, there aren’t endless amounts of space available to use. The place was full and a few larger tables filled shortly after we were seated. Our table was near the windows straight back from the foyer area. I had a view of the first room and mother and father had the lovely view of the water. The tables are close together like at Chef’s De France and the party next to us was a hot mess. The mother and father were fighting and the kids were fighting and arguing with the parents etc! One of the kids kept taking their shoes off and climbing around the table. Must have been a long day, I know tempers flare and it spills over, but try not to freak in a confined space! Also, you need to keep you shoes on kid, that’s a health code violation in the majority of places. It was uncomfortable for about half the meal, but they finished up and left.

Lots of positives ahoy! Manny was our server and he was friendly and helpful answering questions about the menu and describing items. He arrived at the table within 2 minutes of us being seated, which I like very much. We needed some time to look over the menu with it being our first visit, so we took out time.

DM opted for the corn soup and house salad, which has baby spinach, pomegranate, pine nuts, avocado, queso fresco, tomatoes all tossed in a mustard vinaigrette. Had a tangy, pungent taste, but balanced well. It actually went well with the crema de elote, corn soup, because boy, was it spicy! Manny said he didn’t think it was spicy, but understood our limits. I found it really good with the fresh tortilla chips they serve. DF and I split a few items rather than ordering separate entrees. The pork empanadas were fantastic, although they could have been hotter, as most food. The restaurant was very cool inside, so the food cooled down fast. The flavor was complex and the pork tender. The mole sauce wasn’t over powering and complimented the dish nicely. The gorditas had a good slow evolving, so you could eat the dish and find your mouth on fire later. This was one of the few times I needed a refill on my soda! We also split the taquiza taco sampler-it had a grilled chicken with tomatillo sauce, a grilled steak with chipotle sauce and poblanos, pork chilorio and a crispy fish taco. The pork was good and I also got my hands on a bite of the grilled steak.

For desert, DM and I split the maize flan, which Manny told us had the corn maize in it rather than just being a plain egg custard with caramel like a typical flan. It was delicious and chunky with great texture. Manny was wonderful and we can’t wait to come back in the fall!

Service: 5 stars
Food: 4 stars (needed to be hotter)
Choices/Variety: 5 stars
Overall: 4.5 stars
Can’t wait to return

P.S. I will get some photos up soon. Need to upload them :)
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
2/11: Kona Cafe/DHS/Lunch at Homecoming-Disney Springs visit/Narcoossee's/MK

This room was up moving at 7 AM. That is the only downside about not having the extra large digs-one bathroom for 3 adults to get ready, but we managed well. I bathe at night and have short hair so a simple wet down in the morning with some goop, a blow dry and spray and I ‘m ready to go. I am going to end up putting a hat on that by 11 AM anyhow though! At least I look my best for breakfast.

I could eat at Kona everyday personally, but other folks in the party, Dad, prefer a change for better hash browns. We hit the IHOP later in the week to change it up, but hand over that Kona coffee for now! The staff is very friendly, they recognize you from day to day. We would arrive early for our ADR and they found a way to get us seated luckily. There was either 7:45 or 9:15 AM ressies, so it was great they had some flexibility. Breakfast was great and uneventful, now off to DHS!

DHS

The parking pay process took forever and a day! First world problems I know, but come on man!

We arrived at the park around 9:30 AM and TSMM had a 30 minute wait, but we had our FP reserved for after our stand by wait of course. The lights around Mr. Potato Head were out and the queue was on the dark side (Star Wars pun intended.) Ride was great although I cannot get past that darn deer score. I need to read up on strategy for October. We went over to The Great Movie Ride to get out of the heat. After that experience, I have to say it is time for a change. It was a great ride, but just tired. I can ride the Haunted Mansion and Pirates over and over again, but the CM’s enthusiasm really goes hot and cold. Happy to see a change, but hope it is something organic to Disney of course.

We did Star Tours and Tower of Terror in the meantime before shopping a bit. We were coming back in a couple of days, so no need to overdo it. It was time to head over to Disney Springs for some lunch!

Art Smith’s Homecoming:

I had a feeling this place would take off in popularity. The atmosphere is airy and bright from the open kitchen area to the bar. Normally I would like more separation between the two spaces, but it wasn’t rowdy and the noise level was okay. I am sure at night this place can get rocking though! This time I made a reservation for dinner, but we were able to be seated as a walk in today.

The draw: fried chicken of course. What I look for in a lunch-good hot sandwiches or fun appetizers and this is place to get both. I would have loved to try some of the appetizers, but the fried chicken sandwich with chips was enough for me to even rule out dessert. Hot and delicious this mammoth of a sandwich it was! The house made chips are drizzled with homemade dressing, which is a cross between ranch and green goddess from what I gathered. I also ordered and order of fries, which should be shared with multiple other guests! Great Southern charm and excellent food from Homecomin’. Can’t wait to return. Next time cocktails and appys.

A stroll around the immediate area and it was time to head back to the room.
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Narcoossee’s

‘Twas a beautiful night and we planned on heading the Magic Kingdom afterwards for some evening entertainment and atmosphere. I love the parks during the day, but there is an extra magical component at night! I think it takes me back to my care free childhood days, you know when they used to have the parks open later for guests.

Narcoossee’s has a great location, menu, and view. The atmosphere I wouldn’t consider ideal because it can get loud. Check in was no problem, just waited a few moments to be seated. Not many guests were dining at the time so the place wasn’t jammed or backlogged in the kitchen. Big Daddy and I split and order of cheese and a salad for an appetizer. The salad was a great play on a wedge. The dressing was excellent, but I wanted to more! Tomatoes, bacon and cheese go together marvelously. The cheese plate was nice, just a bit on the small size in comparison to others on property. Mom enjoyed the lobster bisque as well.

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For entrees I had the duck breast on squash and sweet potato puree, roasted cauliflower, fried sage, some kind of puffy cheese made by an annoying molecular gastronomy device and pomegranate seeds and some micro greens. Just stop. Dad ordered the shrimp pasta, which I knew was going to be a problem. It was a trainwreck, the shrimp were off and smelly and to top it off it wasn’t hot neither was my food. Parts of it were warm. The server took it back to supposedly be reheated, but it still stunk and wasn’t hot a second time around. I can’t understand how a restaurant that wasn’t that busy served that dish and neither dish proper temperature, really infuriating. They want to serve fine dining food at fine dining pricing, but not offer the quality to back it up.
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This was the last time we go to Narcoossee’s. So far it has been hot and cold: bad service and good food and bad food and poor service. I do not know what it is about this place, but it never shines for us. Thank goodness lunch at Homecomin’ was amazing!

Service: 3 stars

Food: 2 stars

Choices/Variety: 4 stars

Overall: 3 stars

Be back: Nope!!

Off to the Magic Kingdom for deserts
 

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom time

I love night photography, but I am not great at it yet though! The iphone is great for panorama shots especially at night. These I did manage to take sans a tri pod. I snapped some photos while Mom waited to get her chocolate caramel apple at the Confection shop.

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We did TTA and wandered a little bit, It’s A Small World was a short wait. It was getting close to Wishes time, so we decided to start heading out. The weather was pleasant and it felt nice to walk after eating. It was time to head back to the Polynesian for a good night’s rest.
 

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