Fry Flights, Pizza Skulls, & More!-A Disney/Universal DTR-Completed 11/5

[Raeven]

to another of my DTR's!

We just got back from our annual HHN trip!

My name is Raeven:




I'm 30 years old, and I'm the planner, photographer, and DTR writer for our trips. My favorite food is french fries/poutine, pasta, burgers, & dessert. I love Halloween & I'm always excited for our yearly HHN trip.

My trip partner is my boyfriend of 9 years, Josh.



He’s 36, and his food likes include steak, BBQ, burgers, & coffee. He used to eat gluten free due to an intolerance, but after changing his diet he's been able to add gluten back in so he's finally been able to try a lot of new things he wouldn't have been able to eat before.



This trip we spent most of our time at HHN, but also went to Disney for a few days for Food & Wine and MNSSHP. So there'll be HHN snacks, F&W reviews, QS and TS reviews at both Disney and Universal. When we checked into the YC we also realized we'd been upgraded to club level! This was amazing, and I took a lot of pictures of the club lounge offerings to share here for the few days we were there.




If you want to follow along on my TR it's here:
Pumpkin Lords, S'mores Fries, & Cosmic Rewind-An HHN 31 TR

& my PTR is here:
HHN 31 Time!

​

We ate at:
-Urban Pantry (Aventura Hotel)
-Breadbox/Florean's
-Strongwater Tavern/HHN Snacks Pt 1
-Mythos
-Antojitos/HHN Snacks Pt 2
-Shake Shack (Outlet Mall)/HHN Snacks Pt 3
-Cocktails & Screams Brunch (Downtown Orlando)
-Bar 17 Bistro/HHN Snacks Pt 4
-Daily Poutine/Polite Pig/YC Club Level Snacks Pt 1
-Food & Wine Pt 1/YC Club Level Snacks Pt 2
-Beaches & Cream
-YC Club Level Snacks Pt 3/Peco Bill's
-Food & Wine Pt 2/NBC Grill & Brew
-Starbucks/The Kitchen/Voodoo Doughnuts
-Wrap Up Post (The Best & Worst)

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Can’t wait to read your report. Sounds like it was an awesome trip. Score on the club level upgrade!

 

[Raeven]

Can’t wait to read your report. Sounds like it was an awesome trip. Score on the club level upgrade! ​

Thanks for following along! I was so excited to see the upgrade lol I thought it was a glitch in the app at first. ​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

YASSSSS!

 

[Raeven]

YASSSSS!​

I love the excitement ​

 

[Raeven]

Urban Pantry

We had lofty ambitions for our travel day. Even though we were getting in late I was pretty sure we would go to HHN right after we arrived. But that didn't happen. Josh had a bit of a headache, and I was just too tired. My backup plan was to eat some QS at our hotel.



This trip we were staying at Aventura Hotel for the first time. We had a lovely stay, and really liked our room (but I'll save that for the TR). But I will say before staying there I did read some reviews of Urban Pantry that were not great. We rarely ever use the hotel's QS options so that didn't really bother me, and this night was the only night we'd really need to dine there.

Urban Pantry is made up of several "stations" where you can order different kinds of food. We decided to stop at the burger/sandwich station. It was later at night (around 10 pm) when we ordered, although food is made as you order it. They gave us a buzzer that they said would go off when the food was ready.

After 20 mins of sitting at a table, the buzzer still hadn't gone off so I decided to go over to the station to see if the food was ready. Which it was.



Though the buzzer had never gone off it was sitting there for however long. The employee didn't even look up when I took the food and returned the buzzer. The food was at least still warm so it hadn't been sitting too long.



I got the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, and Josh got a Bacon Cheeseburger. The fries weren't bad at all. They were pretty good, and decently seasoned. Josh said his burger was the saltiest burger he'd ever had. My chicken sandwich wasn't much better. At first it tasted okay, but as I got further in I realized the first few bites must've been all sauce and breading. Aside from the buffalo sauce there didn't seem to be any seasoning at all on the chicken, and it was incredibly bland.

While I don't have many other QS options across the other hotel's to compare it to, I would not recommend Urban Pantry. (At least not the food we had). It's possible that one of the other stations has a better choice, or at a different time of day the food would be better but our experience was in line with the other reviews I'd read before going.

It also looked like this year they started having little booths (at least it was a booth at our hotel) where you could buy food and snacks when coming back from HHN that were open until 3 am. We never got any snacks from these, but I love the idea. A few years back I ended up ordering room service at one of the hotels because there wasn't any food available that late, and it ended up taking forever and being way more expensive than it needed to be. I think it's a really great idea to have food available when people come back just in case they want something.

Some bonus airport snacks because there weren't many pictures in this post

​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I love the excitement ​

I try lololol

 

[Raeven]

Breadbox/Florean's

This morning we decided to stop for a quick lunch at Breadbox before heading to the parks.



I got the:

BLTA
Applewood bacon, arugula, tomato, balsamic mayonnaise, avocado on Texas toast
with tater tots

& Josh got the:

Hot Turkey
Smokehouse turkey, applewood bacon, smoked gouda, tomato, tomato aioli on multi-grain
with fries

My sandwich was pretty good. The avocado was really fresh and there was a lot of it. The bacon wasn't really crispy, but it also wasn't soggy and gross either. I do think the sandwich needed a little more flavor. (I thought the balsamic mayo would give it a little more). But I still enjoyed it. I also wish they gave a few more tater tots, but I also think they might've been bigger than the last time we ate there. Josh enjoyed his hot turkey melt as well.

I think Breadbox is a solid choice for QS at Citywalk. I've tried a couple different sandwiches and have enjoyed most of them. I will say it looks like the menu has changed substantially since we were there last so some old favorites might've been removed, but there's still a lot of choices.

Once we were in Diagon Alley I also grabbed some chocolate ice cream at Florean's:



Nothing fancy so there isn't must to review, but I think the ice cream here is delicious.
​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Great now I want Florean Fortescues lolololol

 

[ToxicRoyalty]

Following along! I just did a stay at Aventura a couple weeks ago (and a surprise visit to HHN, I cried haha) which meant my boyfriend and I actually used the little stand they had! We just got drinks, pizza, and candy, but honestly the pizza was one of my fave QS pizzas I've ever gotten. I'd definitely get pizza from Urban Pantry in the future based on it, but it's probably the only thing I'd get.
Definitely loved the stand idea and hope they continue it- decent enough selection to fill you up after a late night, they had a house poll on a whiteboard for people to do, and they were playing Disney music, which tipsy-from-blinky-cups me thought was the funniest thing ever.

 

[Raeven]

Following along! I just did a stay at Aventura a couple weeks ago (and a surprise visit to HHN, I cried haha) which meant my boyfriend and I actually used the little stand they had! We just got drinks, pizza, and candy, but honestly the pizza was one of my fave QS pizzas I've ever gotten. I'd definitely get pizza from Urban Pantry in the future based on it, but it's probably the only thing I'd get.
Definitely loved the stand idea and hope they continue it- decent enough selection to fill you up after a late night, they had a house poll on a whiteboard for people to do, and they were playing Disney music, which tipsy-from-blinky-cups me thought was the funniest thing ever.​

Thanks for following along! Ah a surprise visit that's awesome! Yeah, I hope they do continue it. I think it's a great idea. ​

 

[Raeven]

Strongwater Tavern/HHN Snacks Pt 1

We went to Strongwater Tavern for dinner before our first night at HHN. We had really enjoyed our meal there last time, and couldn't wait to go back!

To drink I had the:

DAIQUIRI
Diplomático Planas Rum - Shake Not Frozen. Classic, Hemingway, Blackberry or Breakfast

I love that these are light and fruity, and the blackberry one has so much flavor.



Josh got a Mt Gay Black Label rum, which he said was very smooth.

To eat we had:

ROPA VIEJA
Shredded beef, garlic, onions, peppers, sofrito sauce with rice

&

HOUSE-MADE BLACK ANGUS BEEF SLIDERS
Two beef sliders, caramelized onions, cheese with fries



I thought the sliders were a little overcooked near the edges but ultimately just as good as I remembered. I think the fries are well seasoned and delicious. & Josh loves how tender the Ropa Vieja is. I tried it this time, and I did think it was really good.

It was still raining so I got a second Blackberry Daiquiri, and Josh got the 5 Year Real Mccoy which he said had a smoky flavor.





Coincidentally we were sitting at the same table as last time, and during our meal they seated @schumigirl and her husband Tom next to us (which is where we saw them last time we were at Strongwater).



It was great to see them again! We chatted about HHN and took a few pictures.



Our waitress (I can't remember her name but she was fantastic), even gave us some of the candy they brought with them.



It was another great meal at Strongwater Tavern. (Although Josh missed his favorite rum captain Anthony who wasn't in that night). & it was great to chat with Carole & Tom again. I will say the desserts there all look amazing too, but I was saving my appetite for HHN snacks.

On this night I decided to try the:
​

Killer Stove Top Popcorn Custard ​

popcorn infused custard, topped with blood splattered kettle corn



For some reason this reminds me more of Killer Klowns even though it's supposed to be a Halloween themed snack.
I'm not the biggest fan of kettle corn, but do love custard so I couldn't wait to try this. I liked the idea of the creamy custard and salty/sweet popcorn. And think it worked to a degree, but didn't love the dessert. The custard layer was too thin, and right under it was a caramel layer which overpowered it. I don't think it mixed as well as they'd hoped when they created it, and mine was 90% kettle corn. Now I did hear differently in some reviews so maybe they aren't all that way, but for me I wouldn't get this snack again. ​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

ITS CAROL! One day I’ll get to strong water….one day

 

[Raeven]

ITS CAROL! One day I’ll get to strong water….one day​

Yes you have to go it's so good! ​

 

[Raeven]

Mythos

We started off our second day at Mythos. Sadly, we had to cancel our reservation there last trip when I wasn't feeling great so we had to go this time!

I love the theming and decor.



Josh started out with the:

Tuscan Tomato Soup
slow roasted hearty tomato soup, housemade croutons, Parmesan, basil oil drizzle



We both love this, but since it came with my entree I only stole a few bites. We were disappointed to find that they no longer bring bread to the table since it's nice to have some to dip in the soup. I still think this is the best tomato soup I've ever had though. I'm not big on tomato soup, but this kind of reminds me of a cheesy sauce.

For my entree I got the:

Fork, Knife and Spoon Grilled Cheese
a unique presentation of a classic 3 cheese sandwich set in a Tuscan tomato soup with crispy pork belly and garnished with housemade chips



I'm not a big fan of pork belly so I'd never wanted to try this because I assumed the pork belly was inside the sandwich. But I saw a picture awhile back that showed it was on top so I decided to give this a try. I do think it was good, but could've used more cheese (I definitely expected it to be cheesier) and sauce. The chips weren't especially flavorful, and didn't really add much to it either in my opinion. But I do love the idea of a grilled cheese in the Tuscan Tomato Soup.

Josh got the:

Gnocchi Bolognese
slow simmered beef and tomato cream sauce, crispy Parmesan wafers



He said he hadn't had gnocchi in a long time, and this was delicious! I got this a few years ago, and I did like it a lot too.

For dessert we got the:

Chocolate Banana Gooey Cake
warm flourless chocolate cake drizzled with caramel sauce, topped with peanut butter ice cream, and candied bananas



This is always one of my favorite desserts we get on vacation. It's so good, and all the flavors pair together so well. I think the presentation may look slightly different from the last time we've had it, but it's still the same delicious dessert.

& to end our meal Josh got a cappuccino:



We got to Mythos almost every trip & it rarely disappoints so I was happy we had another good meal there. The Chocolate Banana Gooey Cake is probably my favorite dessert on property, and although my entree wasn't perfect I do think I'd order it again.​

 

[Raeven]

Antojitos & HHN Snacks Pt 2

Tonight we were dining at Antojitos. I had a reservation, but when we got there they said it would still be a 20 minute wait and they'd text us. We browsed Citywalk, but never received a text. After 20 minutes we went back and asked and they said they tried to text us but it didn't go through even though we'd received previous texts from them. We were able to be seated shortly outside though, and it was a really nice night out.

They brought out chips and salsa:



My biggest issue with Antojitos is that they always seem to be too busy. If you order drinks sometimes they don't come out until after the food (which happened with the flight Josh ordered tonight). Our waiter was great and definitely tried his best to keep up, but I just think he had too many tables to come back in a timely way with our food and drinks.

Josh got the:

Pollo
Adobo chicken, grilled peppers and onions



He's had this many times before, and always enjoys it. The chicken is tender and juicy, and you get enough to make several fajitas.

I got the:

Queso Fundido
Menonita cheese, chorizo, ancho spice, flour tortilla



This is just an appetizer, but I love a good queso fundito and wanted to be able to get snacks at HHN. This was fantastically cheesy, and I used a mix of the tortillas and chips to eat it.

While I always find Antojitos to be a little bit too busy at times, I will say the food is pretty good. I wouldn't dine there every trip, but Josh really likes their fajitas and flights.

At HHN I got the:

Red Velvet Tombstone Cake Pop



This was HUGE for a cake pop. It was also filled with an incredibly moist red velvet cake. It was as delicious as it was cute. It was also surrounded by white chocolate bones, and Oreo cookie crumbs.

& a bonus:

I thought this was kind of funny. Amatista had posted this picture that day for Magical Dining Month.



If you recall a few months back I had ordered that since it was delicious last September when I tried it. And this is what I got:





The picture they posted is much closer to what I'd thought I was getting, and what I'd received in the past. But I guess that's not always what you get. ​

 

[Raeven]

Shake Shack

The next day we went to the outlet mall, and I was excited to have Shake Shack. We don't have Shake Shack anywhere near us, and it's my favorite fast food place.

Josh got a bacon cheeseburger and strawberry lemonade. I got a cheeseburger with avocado on it, and an apple cider donut shake, and then we got regular and cheese fries to share.



My shake didn't have a strong apple cider donut flavor, but was still really good. The fries were hot, crisp, and salty. And were perfect with and without cheese. The burgers were good as always. I was actually shocked how much avocado came on my burger and how fresh it was.

HHN Snacks Pt 3

Later that night we did some snacking in the place of dinner. We also met up with @amalone1013 & Zack.

We had to get our favorite Twisted Taters!



We got sour cream and chive seasoning, and these were very evenly seasoned this time.

We also got Pizza Skulls & I had another Red Velvet Tombstone cake pop.



And Josh wanted to try the Haunted Horseshoe burger which was an open face burger with cheese sauce, fries, and spicy bacon.



He said this was just a regular QS burger without a top bun and he didn't like the spicy bacon. He said he wouldn't recommend this.

A close up of our Pizza Skull:



These are basically just fun shaped calzones. I'm not big on pepperoni on pizza, but I actually really liked this. They were one of my favorite snacks at HHN.

Before we left we also grabbed some S'mores Fries.



The line wasn't very long for these, but it took forever to get them. As usual these were extremely chocolate-y and delicious. ​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Love Antojitos in Orlando (I think you read in my TR but Antojitos out west was disappointing!)


also who doesn’t love a giant cake pop!

 

[Raeven]

Love Antojitos in Orlando (I think you read in my TR but Antojitos out west was disappointing!)


also who doesn’t love a giant cake pop!​

Oh no it's sad it isn't as good over there.

True! It's the biggest cake pop I've ever seen. ​

 

[TwingleMum]

Fun! Can't wait to hear more