Trip Report Completed: Seven Seas Lagoon Patrol: Plotting Our Escape to Florida!

*Flynnderella* · May 16, 2018

I really regret not eating at Homecomin' last May :cry:

It was booked for the second week of our holiday but early on we decided a TS meal each day was too much so we cancelled quite a few for less 1 TS and more Signature 2 TS dining experiences... (if that makes sense ha)
It is definitely on our list for next trip because that food looks INSAAANNEEE :hungry:

I am not looking forward to my salad at lunchtime today :arghh:

Looking forward to hearing the rest

LowesChevy · May 16, 2018

*Flynnderella* said:
I really regret not eating at Homecomin' last May It was booked for the second week of our holiday but early on we decided a TS meal each day was too much so we cancelled quite a few for less 1 TS and more Signature 2 TS dining experiences... (if that makes sense ha)
It is definitely on our list for next trip because that food looks INSAAANNEEE I am not looking forward to my salad at lunchtime today

Looking forward to hearing the rest

thank you for following along! Yes, it has become quite popular and rightfully so. Just a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere with great eats

LowesChevy · May 16, 2018

Grand Floridian Café breakfast

Another day at the Magic Kingdom meant an easy way to get to the Grand Floridian Café via the monorail. The lobby was quiet and still at the time, but there will be noise a plenty by the time we leave no doubt. With a beautiful view of the large pool and grounds, GFC is located on the ground floor of the main building. Sometimes you can even see the Mousekeeping staff do their umbrella walk. It has been a while since I have seen it maybe it has been discontinued, but nonetheless it is a great way to start the day. Kona Café is open to the bustling of the GCH whereas GFC is secluded and quiet.

The menu is unique in that they have gone to a breakfast lunch menu similar to a diner where you can order each meal any until dinner of course. I didn’t see anyone munching down a lobster burger though, but we enjoy our breakfast foods. Fresh biscuits and jelly are brought out for the table before your meal. Biscuits are kind of a big deal, so that was a nice touch.

DM went with plain old eggs and bacon- no complaints from her. I went for the ham and cheese omelet-much better quality than the ones at Kona by the way. Big Daddy had the eggs Benedict, which was perfectly prepared and served piping hot and served with a tomato salad. This is a great alternative to hash browns if you are watching your carbohydrate intake. By the way you can get hash browns sans cheese too.

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The food and service was excellent. Nothing less than I would expect from this property. We will be visiting here more frequently than Kona because of the food quality issues. The atmosphere is bright with sunlight and high ceilings for an airy feel. A pleasant way to start the day before the chaos at the Magic Kingdom!

Food: 5 stars
Service: 5 stars
Atmosphere: 5 stars
Overall experience: 5 stars
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gsrjedi · May 18, 2018

I love your food descriptions. Really makes everything sound so yummy.

LowesChevy · Jun 5, 2018

Magic Kingdom Krazziness

Saturday morning after a fantastic breakfast at the GFC, we started on the other side of the park. Toured Adventureland and began to go back through the park. It wasn’t too bad in the morning, but by mid day there was a mess of guests and wait times were loooong.

We stopped for lunch at the Plaza and had a decent experience. It was certainly better than Casey’s the other day. We have dinner at Be Our Guest tomorrow evening after the day at Epcot.

There were a lot of camera crews set up around the park. Obviously they were taping some segments, but not sure what for. It was a fabulous day for photos and filming-I took advantage and got some blue sky shots myself! This was the busiest I had seen the MK in a while, so we peacin’out. There is a lovely evening at Epcot planned for later including dinner at La Hacienda.

LowesChevy · Jun 13, 2018

Hacienda De San Angel

This spot quickly became one of our must eats each trip. The ambiance can be less than desirable, but the restaurant had limited space to be constructed so they made do. Still a lovely view and well lit environment. It also has what San Angel doesn’t—great food. Sorry for the truth bomb. La Hacienda has taken a modern twist and does it beautifully.

We have flexibility sans the dining plan, which really works at a place like this because the appetizer menu is full of tempting choices. I know restaurants want you to purchase entrees to bring up the check totals, but not everyone wants a full entrée all the time. The signature restaurants do a good job because they rarely give you enough food on your entrée to fill you, so you tend to need an appetizer or starter. Lol, can you tell I have grown bitter over the sigs? They used to be something special and now most aren’t!

We began the meal with queso fundido, which how can you ignore a dish with such a name? It has my favorite ingredient-cheese, cheese and more cheese topped with chunky chorizo blended with serranos and poblanos peppers. Plus the extra kicker of guacamole all over the top—order more tortillas immediately! It is a large portion, so be willing to share to stringy delight. DM loves the house salad with spinach, pomegranate seeds, queso fresco, pine nuts in a mustard vinaigrette-also a large portion enough to share.

I did notice the taco sampler is off the menu as of April 2018, sadly because it was a dish my father and I liked to share. Four tacos-one fish, one chicken, one pork and one beef with different toppings. The fish one was surprisingly the least flavorful, probably because it was simply deep fried. Grilled preparations with some lime and cumin would do wonders. The gorditas are corn cakes stuffed spicy ground chorizo and potato and are served sandwich style topped with arugula, chipotle and sour cream drizzle. It can be slow building heat or heat up front depending on how much beer you are drinking! I have a soft spot for Mexican beers-they are crisp and light lagers that refresh immediately.

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The food was great and the service was excellent. Our server was very sweet and loved her CM appreciation card! Really recommend Hacienda for a wonderful dinner. Lots of flavors from Mexico and Central America to try. I will say I am not a huge fan of mole though.

Food: 5 stars
Service: 5 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Overall experience: 4.5 stars
We will be back—I’ll never say goodbye until we meet again

Time to walk off that buzz and food with a trip around the Showcase.

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Back to Epcot in the morning though!

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John Dulmage · Jun 13, 2018

LowesChevy said:
Hacienda De San Angel

This spot quickly became one of our must eats each trip. The ambiance can be less than desirable, but the restaurant had limited space to be constructed so they made do. Still a lovely view and well lit environment. It also has what San Angel doesn’t—great food. Sorry for the truth bomb. La Hacienda has taken a modern twist and does it beautifully.

We have flexibility sans the dining plan, which really works at a place like this because the appetizer menu is full of tempting choices. I know restaurants want you to purchase entrees to bring up the check totals, but not everyone wants a full entrée all the time. The signature restaurants do a good job because they rarely give you enough food on your entrée to fill you, so you tend to need an appetizer or starter. Lol, can you tell I have grown bitter over the sigs? They used to be something special and now most aren’t!

We began the meal with queso fundido, which how can you ignore a dish with such a name? It has my favorite ingredient-cheese, cheese and more cheese topped with chunky chorizo blended with serranos and poblanos peppers. Plus the extra kicker of guacamole all over the top—order more tortillas immediately! It is a large portion, so be willing to share to stringy delight. DM loves the house salad with spinach, pomegranate seeds, queso fresco, pine nuts in a mustard vinaigrette-also a large portion enough to share.

I did notice the taco sampler is off the menu as of April 2018, sadly because it was a dish my father and I liked to share. Four tacos-one fish, one chicken, one pork and one beef with different toppings. The fish one was surprisingly the least flavorful, probably because it was simply deep fried. Grilled preparations with some lime and cumin would do wonders. The gorditas are corn cakes stuffed spicy ground chorizo and potato and are served sandwich style topped with arugula, chipotle and sour cream drizzle. It can be slow building heat or heat up front depending on how much beer you are drinking! I have a soft spot for Mexican beers-they are crisp and light lagers that refresh immediately.

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The food was great and the service was excellent. Our server was very sweet and loved her CM appreciation card! Really recommend Hacienda for a wonderful dinner. Lots of flavors from Mexico and Central America to try. I will say I am not a huge fan of mole though.
Food: 5 stars
Service: 5 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Overall experience: 4.5 stars
We will be back—I’ll never say goodbye until we meet again
Time to walk off that buzz and food with a trip around the Showcase.
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Back to Epcot in the morning though!

La Hacienda de San Angel is one of our faves, too. We've never had a bad meal there. I've never tried San Angel Inn, so I can't compare. Your pictures of your food look amazing!

LowesChevy · Jul 11, 2018

Epcot

After a leisurely breakfast at Kona, we made our way to Epcot. We will be back tomorrow night for our last evening, but Test Track was a must! Soarin’ was even a short stand by wait. We visited the DVC member lounge for a cold drink and dream about our next add on of course.

Lunch was at Via Napoli, so we had time to wander around the World Showcase and enjoy the atmosphere. I snapped some nice photos along the way as well. Last full day to decide on souvenirs too! It wasn’t crazy crowded for a Sunday afternoon either-after our lunch we decided to head back to the Polynesian and take it easy before heading back to the Magic Kingdom.

Be Our Guest

I snagged a FP for Journey of the Little Mermaid before we headed over on the small ferry. With the new projection evening show getting around the MK at night can be tricky now. I figured we might as well stay in that area after dinner and just head down Main Street to leave.

This will be our second dinner at Be Our guest. Lunch was a great experience. The food is higher quality than most counter service meals and a lot folks seem to think you can’t beat the atmosphere. It is fun and new so it is a big plus. I checked in at the front and they said they were behind, well what else is new? Our beeper went off 12 minutes later and we walked down to the door and a CM had us wait a little longer. Honestly all of the pre queuing is really annoying lol, I could do without it.

Finally we were seated in the main ginormous room by a lovely CM who was friendly and courteous. It is loud in here, which you don’t mind at lunch so much, but I can’t imagine dining here for signature dining prices yikes! Our server eventually came over and by then we were ready to order everything.

I ordered the cheese plate for an appetizer thinking Big Daddy and I would share, but that wasn’t an option. The portions of cheese were so small I could almost taste them. Don’t bank on sharing this appetizer or you will go hungry. I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture to be honest. There are waaaayy better cheese plates on property for what you are paying here. I know, location, location, location, but charge more and serve larger portions or add something more of value to the plate.

We all ordered the strip steak with soggy French fries in a cup. Our medium rare steaks were barely rare, but it was so dark in there who would notice? The best part of the dish are the green beans jardineiere and lucky they pile those on like there is no tomorrow. Take a hard pass on the dessert, even though those are really good. Maybe I expect too much, maybe I expect more for what I pay. I will pay for better food and service and other guests seem to be enjoying their experience, but I feel let down.

Food: 3.5 stars
Service: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3.5 stars
Overall experience: 3.5 stars
Shall we return?—two strikes and you are out-a royal letdown

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LowesChevy · Jul 12, 2018

Animal Kingdom

I had originally scheduled our Animal Kingdom day Thursday, but I somehow managed to forget about booking FP+ the morning of our 60 days, so I had to do some scrambling. I had to cut lunch at Yak n’ Yeti in doing so, but not a huge loss. We will do it another time. Not sure what was wrong with me missing that! I guess tons of stress will get you.

We had our breakfast at IHOP. We finally have a few in town, but it’s not the same! In fact it is not as good. The one near DS is our pick of the litter. The service is always great and who doesn’t love giant omelets that could feed 3 people!? We ended up arriving later than I would have like, but Flight of Passage was the main objective today. We have already been on the Navi River Journey, which I can’t believe wait over 2 hours for, but if you really want to see it.

Sneak peeks over the past few years were exciting however there never seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Finally the opening was announced and watching all of the build up to Pandora opening on the boards was exciting again. You can read and read blogs and videos, but it is nothing compared to actually seeing it yourself! It is beyond cool and maybe one of these days I will get a pristine day of sunshine. The clouds do it no justice. I took more video than anything, but I have to get it uploaded.

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The queue takes a while even with a FP+ as it has many rooms, but at least most are air conditioned and out of the sun. One of the queue rooms where they have you matched with an Avatar body is rather small and you are in there with 10-12 other guests-a warning for claustrophobic folks. We had to be in the room for extra time because the loading and unloading can take some time for the CM to get everyone situated.

I was nervous about fitting into the ride vehicle. I am Pooh sized-most of my weight is in my trunk region from my PCOS. I have been losing weight so I am quite proud of myself, it can be a real challenge for most women with this condition. Reports were back and forth and it sounded like Disney had to make some adjustments when the ride first opened. Universal did as well with the Harry Potter headliners. The CM just had to shove my legs forward and it I fit in without being squished. There was a gentleman with us that was 6’8” and his legs didn’t fit and the CM really had to stuff him in there. I couldn’t see from where I was, but he was able to ride with no further problems. It was amazing by the way! You will enjoy unless you get motion sick easily.

After the ride, you are led down a narrow path into the gift shop down many ramps or stairs if you choose to do instead. We wandered around a bit and checked the app and noticed the stand by lines were incredibly long. Well the guests have now come in for the holiday week so of course. The humidity and temps had really picked up. We decided to head to Disney Springs for some items to ship home and have a lovely lunch. See you in September AK-peace!

Epcot later for farewell tour and Tutto Italia dinner

LowesChevy · Jul 16, 2018

Disney Springs

At Disney Springs we decided to have lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. The food is higher quality than the other counter service style places and there is always seating available. Waiting to order generally takes the longest amount of time, there are just so many questions and people never seem to know what they want even though they are in line to order food. Pretty funny, but tiresome after a while! Pizza and pasta are big attractions here, as well as their quality sandwiches and rotisserie chicken. My parents ordered chicken salad sandwiches and I ordered the world famous chinois chicken salad. The staff seemed rather swamped and we waited a while for our food. The sandwiches arrived, but my salad was mia for 15 minutes. Not sure why it took so long for it to arrive, but it was still really good and gigantic. It was an okay experience, there was plenty of room for improvement. Maybe it was way busier and the staff got behind. With all of the choices now available for counter service or quick meals, it may be tougher for WPE to compete. Hopefully when Puck’s new restaurant opens up, a new fast service spot will open as well and maybe this one will get a revamp.

Time for a little Christmas shopping and sending some goodies home for later! Now back to the resort to get clothing and souvenirs packed up that we no longer will need. We like to get all but the necessities packed in the afternoon, so we can enjoy our last night and maybe stay out a little later than usual. I like to layout my clothes for bedtime, the next day-travel day and an extra outfit including socks and undergarments, which I generally carry back-ups of anyhow. Maybe your bathing suit if you have time to swim, but save plastic shopping bag in case it is still wet when you leave. I pack everything else up and place the items back in my drawer. Mother usually changes her mind 90 times over her outfit, but it works well for Big Daddy and I.

LowesChevy · Jul 17, 2018

Tutto Italia

Many folks complain about the number of Italian restaurants on property, but to be honest it is one of the most popular cuisines because it has mass appeal. They want more variety and different ethnic cuisines, well there are a decent variety on property, but Disney is going to go with what sells and if it doesn’t, it goes to the chopping block. If you should complain about the food, complain about the quality because a lot of it stinks.

Tutto and Via are going to be on the expensive side because they are third party owned, but it also means the food and menus will vary from the regular Disney menus. We always enjoy our experiences, with the exception of last year we had a server that wasn’t as attentive as usual. We were seated in the goofy narrow room next to the patio. It was actually the same table as last fall too. I am not over fond of this part of the restaurant since it is enclosed and it feels rather cramped. Next time I may ask to be seated elsewhere.

Our server and helper were over to get us cocktails and water. I do love my peach belinis so I did indulge a bit this evening. I ordered the ginormous chicken parmesan once again, Big Daddy went with the new dish the ziti with sweet sausage and DM went for the plain old spaghetti with meatballs. The meatballs are all meat, unlike what we make at home, personally I enjoy all of the cheese and breadcrumbs, but these have their own unique flavor as well. All the dishes were very good and came out a proper time. The service was pleasant and attentive as usual. For us, it is always a good bet for a lovely dinner.

Food: 4.5 stars
Service: 4.5 stars
Atmosphere: 4.0 stars in the side room

Overall experience: 4.3 stars
Will we return? Si and un Buona SeraWell the dolce vida will soon be over, but not without a lovely walk back around the World Showcase first!

LowesChevy · Jul 17, 2018

The Polynesian

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So if you are new to my trip reports I will tell you a bit about us. The Polynesian is our all time favorite resort and we have been staying many times over the past 30 years. The location is nearly perfect-on the monorail, small ferry, close to TTC and how can you beat the theme? We enjoy staying at the Beach Club and Epcot Resort area, but getting to the Magic Kingdom is a challenge. Having the ability to drive to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios makes getting around property convenient also. In the fall we enjoy staying at our home base Bay Lake Tower.

I thought maybe with our request of ground floor it would take longer for the room to be ready, but no problem as it was ready early while we were having lunch at the Boathouse. Before we went to the resort we stopped at Goodings for some necessities like water, beer, snacks, laundry supplies and a few toiletries.

We pulled in and they no longer are issuing white parking permits, but I did catch the news today about them beginning to charge for parking now. Rather frustrating as it really is just a money grab. The fact that other resorts charge a daily resort activity fee or also charge for parking is irrelevant. The cost of internet could be included in your room price or using the pool, but the resorts choose to add another revenue stream whether you participate or not. Disney is different and they don’t typically follow the leaders. I’m just annoyed by the whole issue as others probably are as well. Marriott resorts are now charging to park on their property now too.

Back to checking in, a bell services person helped unpack the mini-van and stored our belongings-another annoying aspect. No offer to help us right to the room, I guess that is what the maps are for on your text message. Big Daddy went and parked the van and DM and I headed to the room. We were located about where I figured we would be on the ground floor, all the way at the end of Tuvalu. I called for the bags and check out the view, which was a smasher! Bell services arrived about 12 minutes later and he was really friendly and talkative. We unpacked the suitcases and got settled in for the week.

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Being on the absolute end had it’s perks since we had a full view over to the Grand Floridian, it was quiet during the day since there was rarely any foot traffic in the hallways and the compact layout of the Polynesian made it close to just about anything. The only downside is the noise from the Luau Cove from Tuesday-Saturday, but we are so tired at 8 or 9 o ‘clock at night it didn’t even phase us. We like falling asleep to the television, so not much of a bother. There were also two days the room was not serviced by the time we came back from the parks. One was around 2 and the other one was around lunch, which is understandable. I just exchanged towels and garbage with housekeeping when they came to the door. They didn’t demand to enter the room for inspection and I do not know if they entered while we are gone. We didn’t really encounter any other problems either as we are back every afternoon for downtime. I just like to watch the parks information channel or Stacy for a while, very relaxing.

The rooms are large and spacious for three adults. Big Daddy enjoys the patio and the day bed and chair are comfy for catching up on your blogging or reading. The recent refurbishment to the Polynesian rooms made them a lot brighter than the old burgundy and orange bedspreads too. The bathrooms have plenty of space for your toiletry bags as well.

My only cons are Kona has become a food factory as far as their breakfast goes. Still really good Tonga toast and Mac nut pancakes, but their regular egg dishes are put out without any love. I guess people will eat lukewarm food that isn’t well prepared every day. I will be dining at Grand Floridian Café more often. Captain Cook’s is always a zoo when you go by it. It is fine for a quick lunch by the pool though.

Still never made it to Trader Sam’s this trip! We never swam either lol. I also slacked on taking photographs this trip, but September is coming. You just always have something to bring you back J

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Spash007 · Jul 17, 2018

So glad to hear your great review of Tutto Italia. We booked an ADR for our upcoming trip because the menu looks great, but it seems like Via Napoli gets all the love and finding trustworthy reviews for Tutto Italia has been rather difficult!

LowesChevy · Jul 20, 2018

HaydenHoya said:
So glad to hear your great review of Tutto Italia. We booked an ADR for our upcoming trip because the menu looks great, but it seems like Via Napoli gets all the love and finding trustworthy reviews for Tutto Italia has been rather difficult!

Yeah and unfortunately many people will not enjoy a dish personally and say the restuarant was lousy. I try to be objective and sometimes you pick a dish you don’t really care for, but it may taste good and be prepared well. I don’t fault a restaurant for that only on poorly prepared food and substandard service. Tutto has a lot of meat dishes that people do not neccesarly expect, but many are really good.

Via Napoli -pizza usually awesome, but the service is generally hot or cold and clumsy.

i have not tried any of the entree dishes at VN because I always want pizza.

FlaggNL · Aug 9, 2018

Thanks for your great review! Very nice to read!

LowesChevy · Aug 10, 2018

FlaggNL said:
Thanks for your great review! Very nice to read!

Thanks mate! Glad to see you back here too!

Trip Report Completed: Seven Seas Lagoon Patrol: Plotting Our Escape to Florida!

Flynnderella

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gsrjedi

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