So I'll preface this by saying that this isn't going to be a full blown complete trip report with tons of pictures and lots of dialogue. It's going just day by day of what parks we did, the highlights of both the good and bad, and the food we ate.
When: 5/12/18 thru 5/22/18
Where: Beach Club Resort
Pros of the trip:
- Animal Kingdom, Pandora, Flight of Passage lived up to the extreme hype. Completely blown away.
- Hollywood Studios, Expedition Everest, RRC, ToT and Star Tours were all amazing.
- Beach Club, the service was excellent and the pool was incredible
- Did not see many dogs at all
- Magic Kingdom was as glorious as expected
- Security was great, bag checks were a breeze even at Epcot
Cons of the trip:
- Weather wasn't great but we poncho'd up and made things happen
- Some of the restaurants that were held in high regard weren't great.
- EMM was kind of a flop for us. It was flat out pouring rain the morning we went and we only got to ride 7DMT once, PP once and Pooh once. The breakfast was decent though. It wasn't worth it for us. It rained so hard that it made it almost impossible to ride 7DMT.
Moving on....
Some of you know how much I planned this and I did it with my spreadsheet which some on this site are using for their trips. Also, some of you know that I planned a nice restaurant for each night we stayed. I would like to go ahead and rank those restaurants now so you guys aren't waiting until the end of the trip report.
So ranking from best to worst in regards to the FOOD and the SERVICE:
1. Shula's - Hands down this was the BEST in terms of quality of food and service. The service was simply unmatched and we ate at some great places. The quality of the Lobster was outstanding. I live in New England and have had more than my share of seafood. My friend had the Filet and you could cut it with a fork, just simply incredible. This was not just a dinner at a nice restaurant. This was a culinary experience.
2a. California Grill - This was a very close 2nd and while the service and food were incredible, the mussels I had were overcooked. I had the Cowboy Ribeye and my friend had the Filet. I was not particularly fond of the BBQ sauce on the filet but the meat was very tender and excellent. The wine tasting from the server and the desserts were also excellent. The Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese was probably some of the best mac and cheese I've ever had.
2b. Flying Fish - The mussels were incredible and we had the Salmon and the Sea Bass. The Salmon was outstanding but the Sea Bass while good, it didn't blow me away. There was too much red wine sauce.
3. Morimoto Asia - Morimoto is another signature restaurant that I'll be re-visiting soon. The service was some of the best I've had and the food was great, but I think for the price of the Wagyu beef, it wasn't exactly worth it. Very expensive and while it was good, it wasn't incredible. But honestly the appetizers and the duck as well as the service from multiple servers were outstanding.
4. Narcoossee's - The food was very good but the service was average at best. I had the lobster tails and while it was not as good as Shula's, it still passed the mark and was very tasty. We did have a very good window side view to watch the fireworks though.
5. Yachtsman Steakhouse - I got the Rib Eye and ordered it medium. Unfortunately it was undercooked. Also while the Manager did come out and offer everything to us but the kitchen sink, the waitress we had (service wise) was poor. It took her a while to greet us and we felt somewhat rushed once she did come to our table. Our ADR time was 8:30pm. I did try the Filet and it was great. The only reason this restaurant isn't at the bottom of the list is because of the manager who did spend quite a bit of time talking to us and apologizing and wanting to fix things. I probably would give this restaurant another shot but it didn't leave a good impression food wise.
6. Jiko - We had a very mediocre experience here. The service wasn't great and the food wasn't great either. The best thing that we had was the "Jiko Salad" with that apricot vinegarette dressing. I got the filet and my friend got one of their flatbreads and we were not impressed. The service also wasn't very good and the waiter didn't seem like he really cared about our experience. I probably will not dine at Jiko again to be honest.
And here is where my huge disappointment comes....
7. The Boathouse - What an absolute disaster. Sorely disappointed with this place. The service was terrible. We were rushed, I mean flat out rushed, and the place wasn't very loud but the server was so soft spoken we couldn't hear him and had to ask him to repeat what he said literally every time he spoke. Our food was ok but was nothing special, but the service killed it for us. There were a few times I had to get a different server to refill our waters as the "water guy" or "busboy" wouldn't come over. They literally looked at our glasses and didn't fill them. I am willing to give Boathouse another shot but we did not enjoy this and I was especially looking forward to this one.
Flying out of Logan aiport in Boston to MCO.
Day 0 (Saturday 5/12): This is "Day 0" because the first day on 5/12, it was me flying into MCO and checking in at the Hyatt at the Airport while my friend flies in the next day. My flight arrived at about 5pm, and the check-in process at the Hyatt was very smooth. I got a room on the 8th floor that was facing the big airport lobby and it was nice walking out on the balcony and doing some people watching. I really enjoyed this hotel as I did a little workout at the gym they had there and also had a nice dinner at McCoy's.
Day 1 (Sunday 5/13): My friend's flight arrives about 2pm and we went straight to the DME line to do our check-in. It hasn't really hit me yet that we were going to Disney, even after seeing the DME bus.
Nope...still hasn't hit me yet.....lol. Also I wasn't able to get a picture of the WDW sign unfortunately, but even after seeing that...it still didn't hit me.
It hit me when I saw the lobby of the Beach Club and then also the view from our room/balcony.
Our view...4th floor. I actually stood here on the balcony for a good 20 minutes just "smelling the roses".
Next post will be our Morimoto Asia dinner that evening.... (and here I am posting all these pictures when I said I wasn't going to lol)
When: 5/12/18 thru 5/22/18
Where: Beach Club Resort
Pros of the trip:
- Animal Kingdom, Pandora, Flight of Passage lived up to the extreme hype. Completely blown away.
- Hollywood Studios, Expedition Everest, RRC, ToT and Star Tours were all amazing.
- Beach Club, the service was excellent and the pool was incredible
- Did not see many dogs at all
- Magic Kingdom was as glorious as expected
- Security was great, bag checks were a breeze even at Epcot
Cons of the trip:
- Weather wasn't great but we poncho'd up and made things happen
- Some of the restaurants that were held in high regard weren't great.
- EMM was kind of a flop for us. It was flat out pouring rain the morning we went and we only got to ride 7DMT once, PP once and Pooh once. The breakfast was decent though. It wasn't worth it for us. It rained so hard that it made it almost impossible to ride 7DMT.
Moving on....
Some of you know how much I planned this and I did it with my spreadsheet which some on this site are using for their trips. Also, some of you know that I planned a nice restaurant for each night we stayed. I would like to go ahead and rank those restaurants now so you guys aren't waiting until the end of the trip report.
So ranking from best to worst in regards to the FOOD and the SERVICE:
1. Shula's - Hands down this was the BEST in terms of quality of food and service. The service was simply unmatched and we ate at some great places. The quality of the Lobster was outstanding. I live in New England and have had more than my share of seafood. My friend had the Filet and you could cut it with a fork, just simply incredible. This was not just a dinner at a nice restaurant. This was a culinary experience.
2a. California Grill - This was a very close 2nd and while the service and food were incredible, the mussels I had were overcooked. I had the Cowboy Ribeye and my friend had the Filet. I was not particularly fond of the BBQ sauce on the filet but the meat was very tender and excellent. The wine tasting from the server and the desserts were also excellent. The Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese was probably some of the best mac and cheese I've ever had.
2b. Flying Fish - The mussels were incredible and we had the Salmon and the Sea Bass. The Salmon was outstanding but the Sea Bass while good, it didn't blow me away. There was too much red wine sauce.
3. Morimoto Asia - Morimoto is another signature restaurant that I'll be re-visiting soon. The service was some of the best I've had and the food was great, but I think for the price of the Wagyu beef, it wasn't exactly worth it. Very expensive and while it was good, it wasn't incredible. But honestly the appetizers and the duck as well as the service from multiple servers were outstanding.
4. Narcoossee's - The food was very good but the service was average at best. I had the lobster tails and while it was not as good as Shula's, it still passed the mark and was very tasty. We did have a very good window side view to watch the fireworks though.
5. Yachtsman Steakhouse - I got the Rib Eye and ordered it medium. Unfortunately it was undercooked. Also while the Manager did come out and offer everything to us but the kitchen sink, the waitress we had (service wise) was poor. It took her a while to greet us and we felt somewhat rushed once she did come to our table. Our ADR time was 8:30pm. I did try the Filet and it was great. The only reason this restaurant isn't at the bottom of the list is because of the manager who did spend quite a bit of time talking to us and apologizing and wanting to fix things. I probably would give this restaurant another shot but it didn't leave a good impression food wise.
6. Jiko - We had a very mediocre experience here. The service wasn't great and the food wasn't great either. The best thing that we had was the "Jiko Salad" with that apricot vinegarette dressing. I got the filet and my friend got one of their flatbreads and we were not impressed. The service also wasn't very good and the waiter didn't seem like he really cared about our experience. I probably will not dine at Jiko again to be honest.
And here is where my huge disappointment comes....
7. The Boathouse - What an absolute disaster. Sorely disappointed with this place. The service was terrible. We were rushed, I mean flat out rushed, and the place wasn't very loud but the server was so soft spoken we couldn't hear him and had to ask him to repeat what he said literally every time he spoke. Our food was ok but was nothing special, but the service killed it for us. There were a few times I had to get a different server to refill our waters as the "water guy" or "busboy" wouldn't come over. They literally looked at our glasses and didn't fill them. I am willing to give Boathouse another shot but we did not enjoy this and I was especially looking forward to this one.
Flying out of Logan aiport in Boston to MCO.
Day 0 (Saturday 5/12): This is "Day 0" because the first day on 5/12, it was me flying into MCO and checking in at the Hyatt at the Airport while my friend flies in the next day. My flight arrived at about 5pm, and the check-in process at the Hyatt was very smooth. I got a room on the 8th floor that was facing the big airport lobby and it was nice walking out on the balcony and doing some people watching. I really enjoyed this hotel as I did a little workout at the gym they had there and also had a nice dinner at McCoy's.
Day 1 (Sunday 5/13): My friend's flight arrives about 2pm and we went straight to the DME line to do our check-in. It hasn't really hit me yet that we were going to Disney, even after seeing the DME bus.
Nope...still hasn't hit me yet.....lol. Also I wasn't able to get a picture of the WDW sign unfortunately, but even after seeing that...it still didn't hit me.
It hit me when I saw the lobby of the Beach Club and then also the view from our room/balcony.
Our view...4th floor. I actually stood here on the balcony for a good 20 minutes just "smelling the roses".
Next post will be our Morimoto Asia dinner that evening.... (and here I am posting all these pictures when I said I wasn't going to lol)
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