How many credits have we got left!!! An October trip to the World

[Missmilphie]

Hi everyone - I’m Nicky and I read disboards religiously but mostly just lurk. After my disasterous attempt at a cruise review earlier in the year (working out how to scan in navigators was completely above my low level computer skills!) I’m aiming for making a better job of a dining review from our October trip to WDW!

When / where - we’ve just got back from two weeks at the Yacht Club where we stayed club level (more on that later) - we managed to catch both Halloween and the first Christmas decorations which was so lovely to see.

Who - the first week was myself (I’ve been too many times for a Brit!), my lovely husband Tom (first trip to Florida), my daughter Amelia (age 7 - her third trip to Florida) and our little one Sophie (age 18 months). We’re a food loving family although Sophie hasn’t quite learnt the art of sitting through a long meal yet!!

Random plane / restaurant photos to put faces to names!



The second week we were joined by my Mum and Dad - which meant we had babysitters so we could go to Victoria and Alberts - yayyyyyy!!!

I mostly remembered to take photos (although I had some “oops too hungry / stressed with toddler” forgetful meals - especially at the start of the trip so please stay with me - I get better!!

 

[Missmilphie]

So where did we go ....

We got the standard dining plan as part of our package (booking reasonably early in the UK normally means a dining package, memory maker and $200 gift card is included) and we tried to make the most of it but as the title implies we care home with a LOT of packaged candy from unused snack credits!

We visited ... and looking at it now that’s a lot of food!!!....

Regatta Club lounge
Beach club marketplace
Yacht club market
Mama Melrose
Victoria and Albert
Yak and Yeti
Coral Reef
Wolfgang Puck Express (twice)
House of Blues
Cape May
Akershus
Rainforest Cafe
T-Rex
Ohana
Earl of Sandwich
Via Napoli
Flame Tree Barbecue
Liberty Tree Tavern
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Casey’s Corner
Chef de France
Garden Grill
Columbia Harbour House
Pinocchios Village

Various snack places / Epcot food festival marketplaces

Plus:
Three Broomsticks at Universal
Leaky Cauldron at Universal
Red Lobster on I-Drive
Discover Cove food

I think that’s all of it - I might need to edit if I remember more!!

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 1 - Travel day

We live in Norfolk in the UK and my eldest daughter has 2 weeks school holidays in October so what else to do than go to Disney!

We were due to fly from London Gatwick Saturday morning so Tom and I managed to leave work early on the Friday to do last minute chores and then we picked the kids up from school / nursery and drove down to London and stayed at an airport hotel to try and minimise the stress of travel with a toddler!

About 24 hours later (both girls were great - thankfully!! - but it was a long 9 hour flight of entertaining Sophie that I’m trying to forget!) we arrived at our home for the next two weeks - the Yacht Club.

Check-in was a bit of a shambles and it wasn’t the first impression for Tom I was hoping for given I want lots more future Disney Trips.

The benefit of all the issues meant we got to start on the Disney Food straight away in the Regatta Lounge. We didn’t initially book club level but changes in school holiday dates meant that was all that was available when we amended the booking. I’ll be honest and say I wouldn’t bother again (we had quite a few service hiccups) but the lounge was a nice bonus.

They had some really yummy salads out as well a little beef crostini appetiser.

Once we were settled in our room we popped down to the new yacht club market for some fruit for the morning (anticipating early rising jet lagged children) and this cupcake - taken next morning so sorry it’s a little melty looking despite being the fridge overnight.



It was a chocolate cake with a banana mousse topping - Amelia declared it yucky - so I took one for the team and ate it (it was delicious).

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios - Mama Melrose and Beach Club Marketplace

As predicted we had a VERY early 4am start - although we were awake before the kids! So after a breakfast of fruit / snacks from home we took advantage of the EMH at Hollywood Studios.

We had an ice cream mid morning (standard Mickey bar - always yummy) and after a few rides and the Indiana Jones show we headed for our first table service reservation at Mama Melrose.

I’d heard mixed opinions about this place and I’d never been before so I was slightly worried ... I shouldn’t have been - we had great service and the food was just what we were after that day.

I had the Shrimp Campanelle - sauteed shrimp and Campanelle pasta tossed in a four-cheese sauce with cauliflower, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and sweet onions (descriptions stolen from allearsnet)



It was sooo good. Really creamy and cheesy (tom thought too much so - how is that possible?! ) and I really fancied some carbs! It was such a big portion I don’t think I even managed half which was really disappointing as I’d happily have eaten it all day.

Tom had Charred Strip Steak - with four-cheese macaroni with pancetta, aged balsamic-shallot butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction.


He loved this - the steak was pretty good and the mac and reduction made the dish for him. He loves sweet/sticky sauces for savoury food.

Amelia shared a cheese flatbread with Sophie - it was one of the better pizzas she had apparently (I think she just was amused by the square pizza!)



I was far too full for dessert and I forgot to take a picture of Tom’s (he had the cannoli - he liked it - I took a bite and didn’t care for it).

We then headed back for a relaxed afternoon by the pool. Dinner was a trip to the beach club marketplace where two tired children meant no pictures - we shared some sandwiches - the spicy Italian one was especially good.

As an aside - One thing I wish they’d change about the Epcot resorts is the lack of food court / decent quick service - I know it’s not aimed as much at the family market but I’d have liked to have had a few more options without leaving the resort.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom - Yak and Yeti

I’ll start out by apologising for the complete lack of photos in this day - I’m blaming jet lag and the hunger suddenly walking 6+ miles a day brings!

After an early night we were up early and grabbed a cinnamon bun from the yacht club market to share whilst we waited for a bus to EMH at AK.

We got there probably about half an hour before the park opened for EMH and it was CRAZY busy - We weren’t even allowed through the security bag checks let alone the turnstiles. Apparently they’d started letting people into pandora at 7:30 and this was the back log. Luckily we had fast passes for Navi River later that day and for FoP later in the holiday so we ended up waiting at the rope for Asia with about 10 other people whilst watching literally thousands of others heading off to Pandora. The CM told us there was already over a 2 hour queue for FoP!

We had a successful morning and I picked up some hash brown bites at the Yak and Yeti Cafe whilst waiting for Tom and Amelia to get off Kali. (There were more than this... I’m blaming the toddler )



At one point we also stopped by eight spoon cafe for some pulled pork macaroni cheese. This was a pretty good snack credit use - although the pasta hadn’t held its shape at all.

The earliest lunch adr I’d been able to get at Yak and Yeti was 1:30 and we were starving - therefore no photos. I had the duck with jasmine rice (very good) and wontons (I know they’re viewed as amazing but I didn’t think much of them - I don’t think I do sweet cheese). Tom had the lo mein which he really enjoyed and Amelia had a teriyaki chicken which she pronounced tasty.

I really liked the theming of this restaurant and the food was generally great so I’d come again but I didn’t personally like the service. It felt very rushed - we were brought dessert menus whilst still eating our main and the bill whilst eating dessert. I felt like he wanted rid of us to get another table in as quickly as possible.

 

[DLo]

Following along .Great start looking forward to more. I went to Mama Melrose for the first time in Sept and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 3 cont’d - Regatta Lounge and Wolfgang Puck Express

After lunch we headed back to the hotel again for some relax time and the kids seemed to be doing ok so we thought we’d go to Disney Springs for dinner.

But first we popped into the club lounge for a sneaky glass of wine. The servers here were the best we encountered at the hotel - so helpful - and tonight one of them asked if Sophie liked bananas and then came out with this banana dolphin!!



So sweet of her - Sophie loved it!! (And Amelia was pretty pleased too as we gave her the gummy bears!)

Then a quick ish bus trip and we were at my favourite quick service - Wolfgang Puck Express. I love this place, I much prefer eating off real plates and it’s such a good use of a credit. However, I’d truly underestimated how tired Sophie was so the only photo was this....


We enjoyed our food whilst she napped on the table (terrible parents!!) - I had a yummy Caesar salad and Tom had the Barbecue Chicken Salad. Both were really fresh although Tom thought his was too oniony for his taste.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 4 - Rainforest Cafe, Earl of Sandwich and Liberty Tree Tavern

Originally we’d planned to go to Blizzard Beach today but it was being refurbished so we had a lazy day shopping before heading to MNSSHP.

Since we could have a later start we thought we’d try Rainforest Cafe for breakfast.



Tom had a HUGE waffle, Amelia had a standard kids fry up and I had the breakfast sliders. Everything was good but the portions were sooo big I only managed one slider. Tom was on an eating mission though and helped with mine.

We skipped lunch with the exception of grabbing a tuna melt from Earl of Sandwich for the little ones. It was a tuna melt.

Then it was time to head to the party.





And dinner at liberty tree tavern. I was looking forward to experiencing a little bit of American thanksgiving and I was mostly pleased with it.

The salad was huge and crisp, they gave us 10 (!) sweet rolls and the dessert was as good as everyone says. I wasn’t as enthused by the main course - the meat was good but I wasn’t keen on the gravy (I prefer a darker gravy) and I didn’t like the macaroni cheese. It was a bit orange for my liking! (we don’t really get it like that here in England).

All in all a positive meal though.

 

[margareton27]

Great report so far - from a fellow lurker!

 

[Ellester]

Your girls are adorable! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[nco91590]

I love hearing about 2 week Disney trips! You Brits know how to vacation

I took my daughter to the UK (Colchester area) when she was 18 mo old. She was on our lap and it was a nightmare until she fell asleep. Looks like you were all handling it well!

 

[HeidiGW]

you have some seriously cute little girls! great start...am looking forward to the rest!

 

[nursejackie]

Ditto! We will be back at WDW in January & I know GMR is closed, but I can't accept it! I'm hoping it was a bad dream!

As predicted we had a VERY early 4am start - although we were awake before the kids!

We know all about that! We go for 17 nights (from UK) and for the first week we are awake between 4-5am everyday. Luckily for us in December they have lots of morning EMH so we are always there for RD, hungry for lunch by 10am, and ready to go to bed by 7pm! We try and stay awake but it's very difficult

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Joining in.

 

[MomtoLandK]

Joining in. Your girls are adorable! Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

 

[Missmilphie]

We’ve always been really lucky with jet lag and the girls adapt pretty much after one early start / disturbed night. I think it’s because they’re like their mama and like their sleep!

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 5 - Beach Club Marketplace and Ohana

We’d had a great time trick or treating the night before (Amelia was very excited about the mound of candy she got - I think we filled a small suitcase with sweets!) but the girls needed to call it a night after the first parade. I can’t wait until they’re able to stay up for the fireworks but at the moment they’re early to bed and early risers.

So we were still up bright and early for breakfast and as we were taking a drive down to Kennedy Space Center we decided to sit outside at the Beach Club with a bounty platter or two.



It’s not going to set the world alight but it’s got something for everyone. I love the potato casserole, Amelia could live on bacon and waffles and syrup is toms choice!

Feeling nice and full we drove the hour or so out to Kennedy space center. This was really interesting and I wish we’d had a bit more time there as there was so much to look at.

But we had a 5pm ADR at Ohana to get back to! I’ve been here before and loved it so was hoping for a great meal ... and I wasn’t disappointed



The bread was delicious and the salad was huge and fresh tasting.

We’re not big fans of chicken wings but the pot stickers were soooo good with the dipping sauces and the broccoli and noodles made us feel like we were eating semi healthily!!

The pace of the meal was perfect too - they gave us a chance to finish our starters before they started bringing the skewers and they just kept coming with the meat!!

There was chicken (I didn’t love this - it felt a bit undercooked for me), awesome shrimp and pepper beef which was really really yummy. It was a perfect medium / medium rare and all of us ate too much. Even Amelia who can be funny with spices wolfed down several pieces.

And finally what I’d been waiting for ... the bread pudding

This was what was left after we were done serving ourselves! It was immense and delicious.

 

[Missmilphie]

Day 6 - Garden Grill and Snacking Around the World!

I was especially excited for today - it was my birthday! What better place to spend it than the F&W at Epcot - I couldn’t wait!

But first we had an appointment with chip and dale at the garden grill. The girls were really excited for this - Sophie loves the “furry” characters



I really enjoyed this meal - it was cool eating in a rotating restaurant and the character interaction was really good. Plus the food - wow the food!!

First up a massive bowl of fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls:



Followed by all we wanted to eat (Not that we asked for more) sausage, bacon, hash brown barrels, eggs and waffles


Everything tasted great - I felt so bad that we only ate about half of everything - they must have so much food waste.

Definitely a great start to my birthday and after a few rides in the land and with Figment - the F&W festival awaited ...

 

[Missmilphie]

Oh and thank you for all the nice comment about our girls - we think they’re pretty cute!

 

[Texans_loyal]

Happy belated birthday!