Just the two of us...no dining plan, no discounts, no allergies...lots of pics! COMPLETE

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Beef-loving Husband chose:

Korean Beef
Wok-fried beef, peppers, onions, pineapple, Korean BBQ sauce

$20.99

 

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Both of these beauties were terrific!! Loved to finally be getting some veggies. Sauces on both were tasty...portions generous yet not so crazy that we couldn't finish them. Neither of us wasted a bite. Couldn't have been happier! Speaking of happy, we had a super nice Manager named Brian who checked on us a couple times as well. The first time we expressed that it was so COLD in the dining room. He addressed it immediately.

We loved every aspect of this meal, and the $25 discount was the icing on the cake. This isn't the first time the Landry's card has paid off for us over the years. Highly recommend getting one!

 

[tweetylori]

We managed to pry ourselves from the welcoming delicious environment of Yak & Yeti and did our best to walk off the fullness and partake of the park festivities. There's only so much to actually DO at this park. But there is the one BIG thing that is a MUST and we had an afternoon fast pass for it. Yes, the Avatar ride totally lived up to expectations. So grateful for that fast pass because we saw wait times as long as 210 minutes. WHY would you wait that long for any ride when you could be relaxing at Nomad' Lounge?


Yes, needing a place to rest our weary bones, we found us a somewhat comfortable spot (my seat didn't have a back), and checked out the menu. I was torn between two totally different sounding drinks:

 

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Silly me actually said to our aloof Server "I'm torn between two totally different drinks...the Boto-Rita and the Snow Leopard Salvation". His response? "Well that would depend if you want Mezcal or Vodka." Well DUH. I guess I deserved that. But that was the kind of attitude he had the whole time (and it was quite a LONG time) that we ended up hanging out at Nomad's. Understandable, yet the condescending nature of it sometimes felt slightly unpleasant. Didn't stop us from hanging around and enjoying our drinks though.

Husband went straight for this one:

 

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Which did I pick?

 

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Yes, I decided to go with the Boto-Rita. And was happy with my choice. The texture on top really added to the intrigue and really made the drink. I thought for sure they were peppercorns, but wasn't sure because the menu didn't mention peppercorns. So I asked our "friendly" Server. "I'm curious...are these guava seeds or peppercorns perhaps? They taste like peppercorns". His answer? "Neither. They're peppercorns.". I looked at Husband. He looked at me. Hadn't I just asked if it was that? Whatever! They were good with the not-too-sweet drink. Refreshing.

 

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As good as both these drinks were, we both chose to switch to simpler, less expensive drinks for the next two (yes, two) rounds: A red for me and a Kungaloosh Ale for Husband

 

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By now it was raining like a son of a gun outside. We were happy to be away from the crowds and the weather elements. But we were now on our third drinks each and it felt wise to order something to soak up the alcohol.

Pulling out the menu, we decided to try:


Nomad Sliders
Onion Jam, Truffle Aïoli, Yucca Fries

$16.00

Doesn't that sound delicious? Well I'm pretty sure I had a pic at some point, but if I did it's completely disappeared, so I will try to describe what actually arrived. What we got for $16 were two small dry over-cooked sliders seasoned with chili powder with a small amount of something tomato-y on top. The Yucca Fries were thick=cut and tasted just like taters. There were maybe five of them? Honestly,this whole thing ticked me off! They were a complete WASTE of money. Quality, taste...not there. $16? Insane for what we got.

By now we had changed a River of Lights Fast pass to an earlier Dino one, so we paid our (gulp) $90 bill (took awhile to get it and then get it back... Server went AWOL for awhile) and headed to our ride.

After that and some more wandering, we decided to leave Animal Kingdom and head elsewhere.

Coming up the STEAL DEAL that we found!

 

[kastoney]

Love your day/night on the monorail line. GFC is one of our favorite breakfast stops and of course I'm loving all the booze a flowing. You are certainly doing your birthday right.

Your hubbys Kona sandwich looks and sounds (maybe not smells though) delicious. I love me some kimchi though. We have a place by us that does a spin on a cuban sandwich with kimchi and it is so good. Just not sure I want to smell it on the bus or monorail

Your reaction to it was crazy though. Glad to see you were both feeling better and ready for some Nomads the next day

 

[tweetylori]

Love your day/night on the monorail line. GFC is one of our favorite breakfast stops and of course I'm loving all the booze a flowing. You are certainly doing your birthday right.

Your hubbys Kona sandwich looks and sounds (maybe not smells though) delicious. I love me some kimchi though. We have a place by us that does a spin on a cuban sandwich with kimchi and it is so good. Just not sure I want to smell it on the bus or monorail

Your reaction to it was crazy though. Glad to see you were both feeling better and ready for some Nomads the next day

Thank you! Yes it was quite the birthday week. I'm a lucky gal to have been treated to it!

 

[LUVMYGSDOG]

Glad your baby is feeling better!!

Love a Tempting Tigress. I’ve tried to make them at home and just can’t get it right for some reason. Wish I had one now!

Kim

 

[tweetylori]

Glad your baby is feeling better!!

Love a Tempting Tigress. I’ve tried to make them at home and just can’t get it right for some reason. Wish I had one now!

Kim

I'm with you. I'd love to have one now! And thanks, my baby is doing a LOT better, but I will love it when he's eating normally again. Hopefully he doesn't think he'll live off baby food, canned food and peanut butter!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Glad your pup is on the mend! Your lunch at Yak & Yeti looks soooo yummy. Sorry your service at Nomads was less than stellar. Really, with the "those aren't peppercorns, they're peppercorns." Um....OK.

 

[tweetylori]

Glad your pup is on the mend! Your lunch at Yak & Yeti looks soooo yummy. Sorry your service at Nomads was less than stellar. Really, with the "those aren't peppercorns, they're peppercorns." Um....OK.

Thank you...Pup is improving a little every day. And yes that guy at Nomads had a bit of an attitude, but that didn't bother us too much. Now the crappy
sixteen dollar sliders on the other hand...that bothered us a lot.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

I just binged all 9 pages of your report. Sounds excellent so far! So glad your fur baby is doing better. We love our animals.

You should be happy your husband did not go with the steak at Mama Melrose. It was the worst steak I've ever had on property when we went. The pastas are so much better. If you are looking for a good, yet inexpensive steak next trip, try Olivia's cafe. The steak and prime rib have always been good there, and the cheesy taters are to die for

I am not a kimchi fan because of the stink. One of my 1st rules for my husband was no kimchi in the fridge. He loves that stuff.

I love seeing all of your drinks! That is my kind of vacation!

 

[tweetylori]

I just binged all 9 pages of your report. Sounds excellent so far! So glad your fur baby is doing better. We love our animals.

You should be happy your husband did not go with the steak at Mama Melrose. It was the worst steak I've ever had on property when we went. The pastas are so much better. If you are looking for a good, yet inexpensive steak next trip, try Olivia's cafe. The steak and prime rib have always been good there, and the cheesy taters are to die for

I am not a kimchi fan because of the stink. One of my 1st rules for my husband was no kimchi in the fridge. He loves that stuff.

I love seeing all of your drinks! That is my kind of vacation!

Thanks Niki! Appreciate the tip about Olivia's cafe. Glad to hear we didn't waste money on the steak at Mama Melrose. phew!

 

[tweetylori]

So I have officially given up looking for my pic of the waste of money Nomad Lounge sliders. I thought maybe I had downloaded it to my work computer because I showed it to the gal I work with, but alas...it wasn't there either. I apparently somehow managed to delete it. Very strange, but note to Nomad's, you got lucky that I couldn't find it. They were in no way impressive-looking. But time to move on to our better investment of that day!

It was Friday January 24. The last full day of our Disney trip. We had a flight scheduled for around 7pm the next day, but we still had over 24 Disney hours to enjoy.
We decided to mosey on from Animal Kingdom and head to the Boardwalk Area. I had drooled over pics of the Seafood Potpie at Ale and Compass thanks to a review here on Dis. Yes, I was aware it was $25, but that actually didn't sound like a bad deal for a potpie full of seafood, so I suggested we see if we could get in. We hopped a bus to the Yacht Club, found the restaurant, and I got really excited to see how empty it looked. (it was probably around 6:15). But alas, the hostess said every single one of those empty tables was accounted for. WAH! Seafood potpie DENIED.

So this last night of my birthday week at Disney was not going so well. YET.

I told Husband that Todd English had a restaurant at either the Dolphin or the Swan that looked expensive restaurant-wise, but I thought the lounge might have some not-too-crazy options. So we walked on in search of Bluezoo. And by golly it didn't take much walking before we spotted it at the nearby Dolphin. We could see it, but it looked like we were coming in the back of the place, so we went up first and figured it out. We were greeted and said we would like to go to the bar and were told we could sit anywhere we liked in the bar area. We found a couple comfy-looking stools and were given these menus with the good news that it was HAPPY HOUR!

 

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May I just say that these happy hour prices instantly made this birthday gal very happy! BUT, would any of it be good? Would it be worth even the happy hour prices? It didn't take long to find out the answer was YES and YES. I had a $5 glass of chardonnay, and I can't remember what Husband got, but it was either a draft beer or a glass of wine. I actually don't have a pic of it. Bartender made sure we were happy with our drink choices, then took our food order. We decided to go for the flatbread and the crab nachos. I couldn't resist the green beans too. I am happy to report all three of these were EXCELLENT. Look at these beauties:

 

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All three were simple foods, but prepared perfectly with quality ingredients. You might not be able to see it well, but the crab on those nachos was not the claw crab that had been in the dip at Sci Fi. This was the good lump kind. The sauce and cheese on the flatbread were both flavorful and the crust absolutely perfect. The green beans were lightly battered and had a nice bite to them. Dipped in the truffle aioli they were so addictive. Loved all three! We had eaten at a Todd English restaurant before in Vegas many years ago, Olives, and had a great experience. Once again we were impressed. And for the prices...truly the STEAL MEAL of the week!

My only regret was I didn't try the smoking sangria...saw it being brought to someone else and it was really smoking! I bet I would have loved it, but we had caught the tail end of happy hour and one of our main reasons for coming to the Boardwalk was because as a part-time Magician, Husband thought he would get a kick out of the Abracadabar. So after paying our very reasonable tab at this awesome lounge with the best happy hour, we ventured on. And may I just say, the Dolphin hotel is gorgeous! Very Vegas-like! And just slightly more upscale than All-Stars Music.

This was cool in their lobby:

 

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So off we go to Abracadabar, which is really not a big special bar where magic happens, but it's a slightly themed small bar in between the Flying Fish and Trattoria al Forno. I had been there myself before and had warned magic-loving Husband not to expect any actual magic, but he really wanted to experience it, so by golly we would.

So it was back to Disney-reality pricing. We were able to get a couple stools at the small bar. The bartenders were working fast and furiously! We were given menus. To compare with what we had just had at Bluezoo happy hour, this is what our choices were at Abracadabar: