You win some you booze some, a HOT August 2017 dining report! complete 1/25*

[ariane37]

Hi guys! So, it would seem as if I abandoned this report without answering everyone and thereby "completing" it But now I'm doing that! Now that it's been like 7 months almost since I started and I've gone and returned from another trip, and we have our next trip coming up in less than 30 days.....oh! And in case you don't know, I'm doing a little report on my Feb. trip over on my Aug. TR on the TR board Most of my dining was at Universal and pics are minimal but if you want to check it out, BE MY GUEST!

Are you required to eat there during training or is it just because it's convenient? Because if it's a choice I'd advise maybe doing Islands for breakfast one day instead. The food was better and the buffet is bigger. We had a pretty bad experience at Amatista the only time we went for breakfast, but we're going to give it another try in May. They also stop serving the a la carte menu at like 10 am ish I think, and I didn't think the buffet was really worth it (though it may have changed we stayed shortly after they opened).

I know we discussed this but since I haven't gotten this far in my Feb. trip report, all I'll say here is...............................yeah

Another awesome dining report in the books!

Thank you!!!

I said it before and I'll say it again, Casey would LOVE this!

It's been so long you probably forgot what you meant by this so I'll remind you: kakigori! And we'll make sure all the kids get it in August

This was our exact impression. It was a nice perk to have, but we ended up "giving up" other dinner and time in the park just so we could say it was worth it.

I remember you telling me this when I first told you we booked CL, and I'm not really surprised we felt the same way.

I need to get this for the girls on this trip. I know they will like it..

I'm reading your report so I know I'll get there but....did they get it??

Does Il Mulino have a dress code? That would be the one thing that would throw us...

Well you clearly don't need me to answer this now lol!!! I'm more interested in whether you went or not! And fyi I've been reading your report, but just not commenting because the few times I've tried I lose them all! But I'm loving reading about your wedding and eventually I'll quote again, just know I'm there with you

We are staying at the WL at the end of February and availability for that resort is so tight that we ended up paying rack rate for a standard view room. This is unprecedented for us and shows how much we want to stay there. I would have been willing to try CCV because it is new and pretty, but we are better off with a WL SV room so that we get two queen beds.

I think you're there now! And I hope you're having a wonderful time. Just want to say I was quoting some clients' yesterday for Nov. and Dec., not Christmas week either, and NOTHING was available at WL! I think the fact that half the lodge is now DVC is playing a big part in the slim availability. I'm really looking forward to our CCV stay next month.

And another great dining report comes to a close!

Aw

I'm determined to get Nathan to try school bread this time around. He's interested in it, too. But he's not a huge fan of coconut, and I have a feeling that like Ricky, he'll be more into the shaved ice in Japan. We'll have to make sure to try that, too.

It's been so long since you all commented and you're like the 3rd person I'm saying this to; so did he try both? One? None?? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[ariane37]

Ethan got this our last trip too and he absolutely loved it. We usually skip right past it because I try to keep him as dye free as possible but it was just so hot! We'd been really good about pushing water all week but one day it just wasn't cutting it. We were even making a point to walk through every single shop in the WS and I looked back at him as we got closer to Japan because he was slowing down and his face was flaming red and his hair soaked with sweat. That kakigori was exactly what he needed right then, artificial dyes be damned

I understand your wanting to keep Ethan away from dye but in that summer heat, ya gotta do what ya gotta do! We've been the last few years in August and normally we all do ok keeping up with our water intake, but this trip something wasn't working for me and more than once I just felt the heat way too much.

Do they let you take the food out of the lounge? They are definitely cute looking

Yes! While I didn't really want to take plates to our rooms, many people did. And prior to our stay I'd read on the CL thread here that it's pretty common for people to do that, especially later in the evening when desserts are out. Plus depending on what you're wanting to take out of the lounge you can just walk out eating it lol, or use a napkin

I really enjoyed your trip report. I look forward to reading your future ones!

Definitely plan to do one after our March trip which luckily is coming up soon!

Aw, I'm sorry it's (finally) over! Looking forward to your next report

Oh that's so sweet, thank you! Hopefully it won't take me too long after we return next month to get started on the next one

I really appreciate your honest review about CL. A lot of what you mentioned goes with what Clint and I have discussed. We are more be at the park people and eat either QS or TS. We would probably only use it for Breakfast which as you said isn't worth it. However, we may have to try it once just to say we did.

LOL of course you have to try it once, just so you KNOW it's now for you

And, I definitely need to add trying the school bread to my list

Well lucky for you, you guys have enough trips coming up now that you should certainly be able to fit school bread in!

I'm TOTALLY in the 0 sharing club, too. If you want to try it, get your own! Hmmm, maybe this is why my trips are often solo... It's all making sense to me now

Sounds like you had a really great Trip. I hope you decide to do a report for universal. I love to go to the dark side, and have found some really good restaurants there too.

Thank you, it was definitely one of our better trips So I'm kind of doing a report on my time at Universal earlier this month but I'm just tacking it on to my August 2017 TR on that forum, if you feel like checking it out. I did have 2 days at Disney before that. And I'll tell you that while I of course ate while in Universal, since most of the meals are pre-set with the training, the food was.....................not as good as if I'd been able to choose all my meals myself

Great update and your views on CL pretty much mirrored ours. We enjoyed it but it certainly didn’t wow us. I was also not a fan of always feeling tied to lounge hours to make the most of it.

Seems to be the general consensus! I guess you either feel this way, or love it lol.

In other news, I was super excited to read that you are going down in August! I will be there for sure with my niece from the 19th until the 26th! Hopefully we will be able to meet up for a bevvie.

Oooh, I remember seeing this WAY back when I first read all these comments but never quoted!!! So what exactly are your dates? We're the 18th-25th, possibly the 26th, and if we overlap we will DEFINITELY meet up

 

[momma2ethan]

I understand your wanting to keep Ethan away from dye but in that summer heat, ya gotta do what ya gotta do! We've been the last few years in August and normally we all do ok keeping up with our water intake, but this trip something wasn't working for me and more than once I just felt the heat way too much.

Thankfully he did well even with the copious amounts of dye. Not sure if it was the amount of sweating he did from the heat or the water I was forcing down his throat but he seemed to metabolize it fairly quickly with little to no behavioral effects. It really was crazy hot then. I'm not one to usually sweat much but there were days I was resorting to wiping myself down with wet papertowels at every bathroom break because I just felt gross.

We're the 18th-25th, possibly the 26th,

Our upcoming dates are almost exactly the same! We'll be there Aug 18-26, possibly 17-26. Maybe we'll run into each other!

 

[ariane37]

Our upcoming dates are almost exactly the same! We'll be there Aug 18-26, possibly 17-26. Maybe we'll run into each other!

Awesome! Where are you staying?

 

[MeghanEmily]

It's been so long since you all commented and you're like the 3rd person I'm saying this to; so did he try both? One? None?? Inquiring minds want to know!

He tried both. He liked both very much. SUCCESS!

The only thing on my list I never got around to getting him to try was the carrot cake cookie from Sweet Spells.

 

[momma2ethan]

Awesome! Where are you staying?

We'll be at Pop. I have been going back and forth between booking now or risking waiting until I'm there in May to book a bounce back or REALLY pushing it and waiting until AP discounts are released

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I'm reading your report so I know I'll get there but....did they get it??

They did! And I tried the Saki-tini!

 

[suse66]

Oooh, I remember seeing this WAY back when I first read all these comments but never quoted!!! So what exactly are your dates? We're the 18th-25th, possibly the 26th, and if we overlap we will DEFINITELY meet up

Awesome! We are arriving on the 19th of August and staying until the 26th. Originally we were going to stay at Wilderness but when we went to lock down our dates, they were totally sold out. So now we are at the Polynesian!!! I am super excited as I haven't stayed there since 2010. It will be great to have a chance to meet up!

 

[ariane37]

Awesome! We are arriving on the 19th of August and staying until the 26th. Originally we were going to stay at Wilderness but when we went to lock down our dates, they were totally sold out. So now we are at the Polynesian!!! I am super excited as I haven't stayed there since 2010. It will be great to have a chance to meet up!

Fantastic! Looking forward to being able to finally meet

Steve and I really enjoy the Poly; right now we're booked at BLT for Aug. which will be new to us. You probably know WL is my absolute favorite But ugh, since turning half of the lodge into CCV availability is shot! I can hardly ever get anything for clients if it's a half way decent time of year!

 

[Nakkira]

Great report! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

 

[ariane37]

Great report! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

I'm really glad you enjoyed it!