Dessert before Dinner: a trifecta of dining reports? Update 9/22 LTT COMPLETE!

OMG wait, I don't even remember my schedule that day :rotfl2: You mean the 19th right? I think I planned on going to HS because a bunch of others were going to be there that morning? Now I need to look......
Yes, oops! I meant the 19th. :upsidedow I keep thinking the 19th is a Monday because it's the start of the week/vacation... glad it's not and that I have an extra day! :laughing:
 
lol! I am LOVING driving this baby! And I really didn't think I'd find something to love the way I loved my Durango. I sit even higher in the 4Runner!
Agree on the height. My husband works for Toyota/Lexus and has told me for years I would like 4Runner. I always told him too big. But I LOVE being able to see everything.
 
Happy Friday!!!! Today we picked up my new car, finally getting rid of my beloved Dodge Durango after 11 years. Excited but sad because I LOVE that Durango.......got a Toyota 4Runner this time because the newer Durango's just aren't BIG enough for me lol. Tomorrow our grandson is coming to visit so looking forward to that also! And then Sunday will be one week until we leave for Disney :goodvibes

How exciting for a new vehicle. We owned a Durango many years ago...fun car but the 3rd row in our was such a joke...and we had to upgrade when kid #3 was about to come along. We've (and by we it's really my husband) have gone through many, many SUVs...and are currently owners of Toyota Sequoia and Toyotal Highlander (oh and Noelle's RAV4) and we love all of them. I plan to keep them for many, many years.

Ricky was fine with some of the chicken and the turkey and mac n cheese but wasn't really "feeling" the meal so he was a little crabby. In the meantime I was on the lookout for a DISer who was supposed to have an ADR not long after us and right before we were ready for dessert I spied her! Dina @kittylady1972 and her extended family were seen to a big table almost directly across from us! They played musical chairs for awhile lol and once they settled down and had their drinks (yes I was like a stalker watching from the corner of my eye) I went over and said hello!

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It was so nice to finally meet after following each others' reports here for so long and following each others' families on FB! We just talked for a few quick minutes as she still had to eat and we had to finish up and get to AK; I did mange to take a few dessert buffet pictures coming up in the next post!

LOL...so glad that we met and musical chairs...yeah so funny. I was mostly trying to distance myself from my SIL and make sure I was near my other SIL so we could share a bottle of wine and roll eyes at the other one.

Wish we could have talked or hung out more...maybe one of these days!!
 


Food court eggs are sort of tasty, for some reason!! LOL I never eat that sausage either though, those always end up on Rob's plate. I would love to know (or maybe not) how they make those eggs just the right consistency because I sure can't seem to master it at home LOL
The secret is a touch of buttermilk batter
 
Yes, oops! I meant the 19th. :upsidedow I keep thinking the 19th is a Monday because it's the start of the week/vacation... glad it's not and that I have an extra day! :laughing:
OK you're still confusing me because the 19th IS Monday! I have to PM you lol!
.and are currently owners of Toyota Sequoia and Toyotal Highlander (oh and Noelle's RAV4) and we love all of them.
The Sequoia was in the running too!
I was mostly trying to distance myself from my SIL and make sure I was near my other SIL so we could share a bottle of wine and roll eyes at the other one.
:rotfl2: I do remember you telling me that! I have a SIL I'd be trying to move away from too................
Great Thanksgiving dinner at Boma! I've only eaten breakfast there and that was an epic fail as the waitress spilled half a pitcher of POG juice down Ashley's back...Sigh. The food was good though.
And I remember reading that too :rolleyes: You should try dinner though I think you guys would like it!
The secret is a touch of buttermilk batter
Ah thanks! You know for some reason I think I heard that IHOP or Perkins does that too?
 


Hey all! I know I slacked again but I want to do a quick update now before we leave for our short DISNEY trip Sunday :sunny: We'll be doing the SWGE AP preview as well as getting to spend time with our good friends the @kastoney and @StarWarsMomofGirls! families,riding some rides and hopefully introducing our favorite Citricos server Roni to our dear friend Melinda @pepperandchips and also meeting up with our other great DISboard friends @disneyAndi14 @chunkymonkey and hopefully meeting @Tracy161! Lots to do in 3.5 short days! We plan to eat at Morimoto, Citricos, Tiffins and hopefully get to Tutto Gusto again.


Before I get on with our Black Friday-day I want to go back to our Thanksgiving time at AK to discuss a snack I had that I forgot to post about and that truly deserves mentioning:

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These are "Mr. Kamal's seasoned fries topped with tzatziki salad and sriracha ketchup" and unfortunately I believe they are no longer on the menu. I did find a review of them that said the tzatziki salad is a "saucy mix of cool tzatziki, cucumbers, and tomatoes." and that sounds right! These were absolutely amazing; the sriracha ketchup had such a kick to it and the seasoning on the fries was immense too. These were not for those who don't like spice but for those of us that do it was the perfect snack! Speaking of snacks...............

HOW ABOUT SOME MORE WL CLUB LEVEL???


The lounge was still open when we got back to WL so while the boys were done, Steve and I were up for a nightcap:

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What was so cool is that they did not have Moscato out in the lounge but when I politely inquired as to if there was any available, the CM said she'd go get some for me ❤ I was a happy girl! This made me happy too:

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It doesn't look all that tempting here but this is the WL cobbler and they had it out pretty much every night; it reminded me of the cobbler they had at the former Artist Point (RIP AP) It has apples and blueberries in it and since the desserts at Boma were good but not great I had to end the night with something sweet! And the view of the lobby/decor as we enjoyed the end of our evening:

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FYI here are the lounge hours and what they offer. From what I've read/seen I think most lounge hours and general offerings are similar:

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Now if you will be so kind as to fast forward to the next morning..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
We had 2 park days left and I planned to make the most of them, and that meant making the boys get up early. That also meant taking advantage of the CL breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving!

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My favorite, Disney pastries:

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These were some toppings for yogurt and the oatmeal which is in the green pot above:


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And my first plate; my 2nd plate was pretty much the same - I cannot refuse any type of Disney cheese danish! The fruit here was always fresh and delicious too and FYI, morning fruit is as healthy as you'll ever see me get on vaca:

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CONTINUED IN NEXT POST
 
CL CONTINUED FROM LAST POST

Steve doesn't eat breakfast at home so this was it for him:

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And the kids grabbed what they wanted and ate in the room :rolleyes: They did have the menu out for that evening:

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And I took this neat picture of the WL waking up:

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We were doing RD at HS and unlike the morning we did EMH and the boys blew us off, we all made it. That meant today was their first time riding SDD; I was so excited for them to do something new and neither of them was impressed-oh well. We spent a few hours doing our favorite and they humored me by watching BaTB after which we all needed some lunch. Since no QS there thrills any of us we just walked next door to what I call the HS food court and picked something out.

The menfolk all got burgers of some sort that I don't have pictures of for some reason. I chose something that was "new" since the last time we ate QS in HS (ok these weren't that new, we just don't do QS in HS) from Fairfax Fare:

Empanadas Platter
Beef Empanadas served with Cilantro Rice, Black Beans, Fire-roasted Corn Medley and Sour Cream

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Now I will say this wasn't a complete fail and I know there are people who like the qs here. The boys liked their burgers and the rice and corn were good. I like black beans but as you can probably tell these were more on the purple side so I said NOPE. The empanadas were...............ok. Like frozen ones you'd buy at the store. I ate one because I was starving but the ones at the Mexico QS in Epcot are 1000x better.

We went back to the resort after this to take a breather before our evening plans. At one point I was walking down to the gift shop and as I was walking by the doors near Roaring Fork a big group of people were walking in, it was obvious a boat had just let them off. My ESP went to work and something told me to stand there and stare at every single person walking in....................and it paid off! Our friends Tammy and Kathy - Tammy is @wdwnut61 here on the DIS-got off the boat and we recognized each other from our meeting the year before in EPCOT! Well and we knew we were both at the WL :goodvibes and were hoping to meet up. They were getting back from the MK so they went to freshen up, I did my shopping and got Steve and we all met down at Geyser Point:

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Steve had the
  • Black Cherry Mule - Zodiac Black Cherry Vodka, fresh Lime Juice, and Agave Nectar topped with Fever Tree Ginger Beer
I know I had the Huckleberry punch as it's my go-to there when they won't make my black cherry lemonade:

Huckleberry Punch
44° North Mountain Huckleberry Vodka, Bols Crème de Cassis, fresh Lemon Juice and Cranberry Juice

And I honestly don't know what Tammy had but I'm wondering if this is it?

Northwest Iced Tea
Bacardi Superior Rum, 44° North Idaho Potato Vodka, Aviation Gin, Cointreau and Sweet-and-Sour with a splash of Coca-Cola®


I believe she's in Disney right now so hopefully when she's back she'll let us know! We had a really good time catching up; her daughter Kathy goes to college in Florida and is such a sweetheart! Hoping to run in to them in the next few days too.

Here's Tammy and I:

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We hung out for quite awhile which was a nice treat! Then we needed to go get ready for our evening at EPCOT where I was going to see the Illuminations holiday tag if it was the last thing I did after missing it in 2015 and 2017! Have a great weekend all and I'll be back after our trip!



 
also meeting up with our other great DISboard friends @disneyAndi14 @chunkymonkey and hopefully meeting @Tracy161!
You mean if @Tracy161 ever gets it together and organizes her thoughts before just frantically typing because she's got Disney brain?! :rotfl2:

HOW ABOUT SOME MORE WL CLUB LEVEL???
Yes, please ::yes::

FYI, morning fruit is as healthy as you'll ever see me get on vaca:
You're speaking my language.
 
It doesn't look all that tempting here but this is the WL cobbler and they had it out pretty much every night;
I'm not a big cobbler fan except when it is cobbler at WL. I loved the cobbler from Artist Point because of the special ice cream that went with it. I think we had dessert every night when we stayed CL this past February.
That also meant taking advantage of the CL breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving!
I love that nut bread that you see next to the English muffins in your picture. I had that every morning.
They did have the menu out for that evening
I never heard of Lavosh and Grissini before we stayed CL. I found out that it was the breadsticks and the long cracker things. ;)
we just don't do QS in HS
We try to avoid being at DHS for any meal. We used to plan it so that we could have lunch at Crews Cup Lounge instead, but that isn't open for lunch any longer. :(

I hope you have a great time at the SWGE AP preview. :)
 
I'm a little behind on comments since I'm getting caught up...

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your MIL. I'm glad you had some good news as well though, congratulations on the new grandbaby and Ricky's "green light" for sports!

I enjoyed the concierge lounge photos, they have a nice spread at WL. Looking forward to the rest! Enjoy your trip this month!
 
You mean if @Tracy161 ever gets it together and organizes her thoughts before just frantically typing because she's got Disney brain?! :rotfl2:
But look, you did :cheer2: and hopefully I'll be seeing ya real soon!
Have a great trip and give everyone hugs for me!!! :love:
I will but I wish I was going to be hugging you :(
I never heard of Lavosh and Grissini before we stayed CL. I found out that it was the breadsticks and the long cracker things. ;)
I had no idea that's what that was :rotfl: I guess we can make anything fancy!
We try to avoid being at DHS for any meal. We used to plan it so that we could have lunch at Crews Cup Lounge instead, but that isn't open for lunch any longer. :(
It's terrible because it's a pain, but true. We managed at MM a couple times in the past but don't look forward to going there. We would like to try Brown Derby Lounge but since it's only outdoor seating it has to be during a cooler month..................:rolleyes:
I hope you have a great time at the SWGE AP preview. :)
Thank you! Leave in less than 12 hours!
I'm a little behind on comments since I'm getting caught up...
That's me and the DIS pretty much all the time :rolleyes:
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your MIL. I'm glad you had some good news as well though, congratulations on the new grandbaby and Ricky's "green light" for sports!
It was a whirlwind of emotions during a short period of time, but we're getting back to normal on all accounts :-) thank you!
Looking forward to the rest! Enjoy your trip this month!
Thank you, ready to go to bed and try to sleep as we leave in the morning!
 
You know what's great about the DIS? It's like the one thing in my life I'm consistent with- consistently taking forever between updates :o I try to finish one report before I'm ready to start the next one and that also consistently doesn't happen so really I'm 2 for 2! It's been a rather busy summer much to my surprise which recently had us back in Disney and meeting up with lots of crazy DISBOARD kids :

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and the youngsters are a bid wild too! In case you need a refresher: that's @kastoney , @StarWarsMomofGirls! and @pepperandchips all up in there with us.
But this strange and wonderful group weren't the only ones we got to see again:

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Our friends from the North were there too, @MeghanEmily and her DH "N"! We'd met them a couple years ago and I am so thrilled we were able to say hi again in person
:goodvibes Last but not least I had a first time DIS meet with @Tracy161 on a really fun but horrifically bad hair day (for me) in AK:

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We missed a few folks too but given how often we all go I'm positive we'll meet up again one day!

When we got back I had to take a picture of Ricky for his ACT that he's taking next month. There were so many requirements for this picture: no shadows, ears showing, no smile, ridiculous. So just like his SAT picture what you end up with is basically a mug shot:

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At least he's a handsome criminal! In case you're wondering ( and I'm sure you're not) they go back to school in 10 days. I'm in no rush since it's his last year of high school
😭

But I digress. Let's go back once again in time to Black Friday 2018 and see what the DeVizio's were up to!

After we said good-bye to Kathy and Tammy @wdwnut61 down at Geyser Point we got ready to head over to Epcot. My main goal here was to finally see the holiday tag on Illuminations which I'd managed to miss on all our previous Thanksgiving trips. Now I'll be honest, these 9 months later I can't quite remember what exactly our plans were but I know for sure we had dinner planned somewhere other than where we ended up! I don't know if we were going to DS somewhere or if we didn't have any TS plans which I can't see; I do think we weren't in the mood for wherever we were supposed to eat. All I remember is that on the bus over we got on the app and booked ourselves at Christopher's choice for dinner. But first!

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We started off with a ride on Living with the Land. I love the different touches they add for all the seasons and festivals and tonight was no exception! I don't remember ever seeing this though which was cute:

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Those agricultural researchers sure know how to do it up for the holidays! No idea what we did next but I know we arrived about 15 minutes early for our reservation in Morocco to an overflowing lobby. Crazy! I mean yes it was the day after Thanksgiving but we'd been to Restaurant Marrakesh before and never seen anything like this. We ended up waiting about 30 minutes PAST our reservation time to be seated and we were all HANGRY beyond the point of return when we finally sat down. Luckily the bread came fast:

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Followed by this which along with the bread calmed me down:

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The bread was good; nothing really fancy but it was soft and warm. Their sangria on the other hand is some of the best in Disney! I'd had it on our first visit here a few years back and I guarantee @Jenny Sanders this is NOT from a box, can, or plastic bottle ;) I don't see it on the menu to get a description but what I really love about it is the apple taste you don't get in lots of sangria's.

BTW we ended up here because earlier in the trip Chris tried a lamb dish at the Festival of the Holidays booth in Morocco and loved it and asked if they had lamb on the menu here. Spoiler alert, he did not get lamb...........................

I don't remember what Steve drank either but I'm guessing it was a Mule if they did them or a beer? I do know we got 4 apps between us because when you're starving and about to die of hunger you order EVERYTHING on the menu:

Beef Brewat Rolls
Baked layers of thin pastry stuffed with season minced beef, fried and sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar

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I'd wanted to get these before but never did because the sugar on top combined with the beef inside threw me off but they are delicious! We all liked them so they went quick. The pastry was crispy but not tough to bite in to and the beef inside was seasoned so nicely. The sugar and cinnamon added a light sweetness even though it sounds like it would possibly be overpowering.

The Beef Brewat Rolls were new to us as was our next app:

Chicken Bastilla
Baked layers of thin pastry filled with minced chicken and almonds sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar


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Fuzzy picture I know. It looked kind of like the beef brewat rolls but one instead of two and was flatter like a burger but still with the sugar and cinnamon on top. It wasn't bad but we didn't like it as much as the rolls; the pastry was a little soggier and the chicken inside didn't have much taste so that went largely uneaten.

Lots more Morocco to come in next post🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦🇲🇦
 
So just like his SAT picture what you end up with is basically a mug shot:
OMG! I was totally thinking this but didn't want to say it out loud. :rotfl2: Why do you have to take pics of the kids for SAT's???? Just curious as we never had to do that...

Their sangria on the other hand is some of the best in Disney! I'd had it on our first visit here a few years back and I guarantee @Jenny Sanders this is NOT from a box, can, or plastic bottle ;) I don't see it on the menu to get a description but what I really love about it is the apple taste you don't get in lots of sangria's.
Well, that's good to hear! Now you need to try the Sangria at Skipper canteens. THE BEST BABY!
 
RESTAURANT MARRAKESH CON'T

Continuing with our apps Ricky went back to his Disney roots from a few years back and got what he considered the best mussels on property:

Mussels Casablanca (P.E.I)
Steamed mussels served with capers, tomatoes, and saffron cream sauce


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So a few years ago Ricky developed a new-found love for mussels and was determined to have them at every WDW restaurant we went to that had them on the menu. It ended up being 5 and of those, Marrakesh came out on top! It beat out BOG (not the ones on the current menu), Fulton's Crab House, Narcoossee's surprisingly and I believe the 5th place was Trattoria al Forno. He loved them just as much this time. He won't eat big mussels and these are the perfect size for him.

Finally we got an app we've gotten every time we're there:

Goat Cheese with Crispy Bread
Mixture of cheese and kalamata olives served with tabouleh, red pepper sauce, and balsamic vinegar reduction

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You had me at kalamata olives :love: The first time we got these with the kids they balked at goat cheese but both tried it and loved it and I'm a big fan of goat cheese. The crispy bread is nice and light; our only complaint is we could use a little more of it. It's possible they'd bring us some but we've never asked.

This plethora of apps satisfied us for the time being so I sat back and enjoyed my sangria and some tunes:

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While the boys enjoyed this:

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Which may be the real reason Chris wanted to come here; forget the lamb!
I admit this is some fun entertainment and I appreciate that she isn't a toothpick too. She calls the kids up at one point to dance with her and in addition to toddlers and some moms, a few pre-teens got up there. I tried getting Chris to go out but that was a big NOPE lol. Our entrees came right at the end of her performance:

Shrimp Chermoula Tangine
Artichoke bottoms, pearl onions, small potatoes, and saffron-anise broth


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This was Steve's and he LOVED this. I think he wanted to drink the leftover broth when he was done but lucky for me he simply scooped out whatever he could with his spoon. The flavors are somewhat different but he enjoyed that about it.

Here's what Chris and I got:

Grilled Beef Tenderloin Shish Kebab
Grilled tenderloin of beef with mixed vegetables and yellow rice


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I know it looks kind of "meh" but the seasoning on that beef was incredible! And the rice was fantastic, I ate every last piece of it and Christ devoured his meat and a few pieces of mine. It was tender too.

*Going to take a minute here to say that earlier in this report I wrote about Steve and I going here in January since I did this report backwards. I got this same dish since I'd loved it in Nov. 2018 and I did NOT like it at all. The meat was dry and tasteless and they had changed the rice. Steve got the same thing and still loved it so I think it was a bad night and don't want to put down the restaurant because it really was the one and only bad meal we've ever gotten there*

Ricky went similar but with chicken:

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Again not pretty but he enjoyed the chicken very much; super tender and flavorful.

This ended up being like our 2nd favorite meal of the trip! With the exception of the one appetizer we didn't care for everything was fantastic which is why Steve and I figured we'd have a decent meal the following January. But as I said all restaurants have a bad night and we will definitely return here. If you've never tried it I highly suggest giving it a go!

We skipped dessert as we were FULL but I did get to see Illuminations with the holiday tag for what was the last time. I didn't take pictures of the ending but I did get this cool shot:

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MICKEY!!! After it was over the kids left but Steve and I stayed back. I was waiting for my first ever DISmeet with someone I now consider a very good friend and I cannot believe we met less than a year ago! I present myself and the beautiful Melinda a.k.a @pepperandchips :

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We searched out the best lighting in Norway and got this which I think is adorable. We did a quick "hello" with her DH R, they also had friends with them so we chatted a few minutes and said our good-bye's until this past May when we got to spend lots and lots and lots of quality time with both of them!


Thanks as always for hanging in! I will try my best not to wait so long before I update again :flower3:
 
OMG! I was totally thinking this but didn't want to say it out loud. :rotfl2: Why do you have to take pics of the kids for SAT's???? Just curious as we never had to do that...
Who knows??? I guess some weird thing like they want to be sure whomever is taking the test is the actual person???? The picture is on the printout the kids have to bring with them to the test and they need to show their license or school ID. It's crazy seriously lol
 

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