Dining Review | Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

Category: Dining Review
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort – Contempo Cafe and BVG Shopping
  
  Posted at 8:02 pm by taryngirl, on September 3, 2018
  
  Continuing on with our first day…our plan was to hit Disney’s Hollywood Studios this evening. We had a Fastpass+ for Toy Story Midway Mania. However, right about 5:30 p.m. or so, it started thunderstorming. (Usual occurrence pretty much all summer through Octoberish!) We were prepared and had ponchos. Butttttt, neither of us were really feeling it. We were tired from getting up so early to debark the cruise and the long travel day. But it was too early for us to go to bed. So we decided to hop on the monorail and head over to one of my Top 3 Quick Service locations!
  
  From the Polynesian, we hopped on the monorail and got off at the third stop, which is the Contemporary Resort. Check out these clouds! (Incidentally, this is the bridge to Bay Lake Tower, which is where we own our Disney Vacation Club, and where we stay later on in the trip.)
  
  CONTEMPO CAFE DINNER MENU:
  
  So ordering here works the same as Captain Cook’s. When you walk in, you will first see the menu boards pictured above. Keep going into the order area and you will see the AMAZING DESSERT CASE! These hands down are the best resort quick service desserts that I’ve ever experienced! I seriously drool just deciding what I want.
  
  My daughter chose the cookie sandwich:
  
  She enjoyed this and couldn’t eat the whole thing. It was so rich! We took half back to the room for later.
  
  And I chose the Peanut Butter Pie:
  
  This was DIVINE! First of all, it’s huge. So it can definitely be shared! I couldn’t eat the whole thing, so I took half back to the room. You can see it has some vanilla pudding on the bottom. (This was so good, I came back for another on our last day!)
  
  As you continue in the register area, you will see the cold cases. I didn’t get pics of these because my arms were full! Drinks, salads, sandwiches, etc. were located there.
  
  Once you get to the registers, that is where you order your food. They will give you a number to put on your table, and once ready someone will bring you your food.
  
  We weren’t super hungry, so opted for the kid’s chicken nugget meal. We chose apples and fries for our sides, and a bottle of water for our drink.
  
  Disney chicken nuggets are some of our favorites! This was good and hit the spot followed by our dessert.
  
  From here we headed to the two shops located on this same floor.
  
  B.V.G is one of my favorites anywhere! They always have a great selection, as well as a variety of goodies to choose from.
  
  Up Next…Day 2!
  
  Posted in Contempo Cafe, Contemporary Resort, Dining Review, Disney, Quick Service, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Contempo Cafe, Contemporary Resort, Dessert, Disney, Foodie, Menu Picture, Merchandise, Shop, Snacks
- Captain Cook’s Lunch
  
  Posted at 11:37 am by taryngirl, on August 28, 2018
  
  When we arrived to the Polynesian, I was starving. So we headed directly to Captain Cook’s, which is the quick service location there. I hadn’t stayed at this resort for 5 years, and this location had undergone some renovations since then. Here’s the lunch/dinner menu posted (August 2018):
  
  Each quick service location seems to operate differently. For this particular one, there was a queue set up and 3 registers. You order at the register and they give you pager. You can order “for here” or “to go.” If eating here, you simply go to your table and sit putting the pager on the table. If taking it to go, there’s a to go counter just to the left of the registers. If you are ordering a kid’s meal, be sure to note what all comes with it! It’s usually 2 “sides” and a drink. The sides may be carrots, grapes, apples, a cookie, fries, etc. At this location you have to go to the refrigerators and retrieve any of the cold items, including the kid’s drink.
  
  Another random note…if you are on the Quick Service Dining Plan, or the Standard Dining Plan, as your beverage you can get a single serve alcoholic drink. Pictured here you can see some beer. This would count as your beverage if you don’t want a soda, etc!
  
  The buzzer:
  
  And my choice for lunch, Pan Asian Noodles and Vegetables with Chicken:
  
  Being the planner I am, I already had a list of all of the food I wanted to try on this trip! I had googled menus, pictures, review, etc. I knew I had to have these noodles!
  
  My review: They were just okay. Boo. I was expecting more flavor! I did eat almost all of it, and it was a good portion size. Good mix of vegetables, chicken and noodles. I don’t think I’d order it again here though! I might try the Pork Fried Rice or the Hot Beef and Cheddar (which looked amazing!).
  
  Stay tuned for more reviews from here! We did have a few more meals here for breakfast and lunch.
  
  Posted in Captain Cook's, Dining Review, Disney, Polynesian Village Resort, Quick Service, Uncategorized, Walt Disney World Resort | 0 Comments | Tagged Captain Cook's, Disney, Foodie, Polynesian, Polynesian Village Resort, Quick Service
- Grandeur of the Seas, Windjammer and Deck Pictures
  
  Posted at 7:54 am by taryngirl, on August 23, 2018
  
  Continuing on with embarkation day…
  
  We headed straight up to the pool deck, deck 9, and went to the Windjammer for lunch. It was about 11:45 a.m. at this point. The Windjammer is the buffet restaurant that is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It has several different “stations.” There’s a Kid’s Corner, Healthy Corner, Dessert area, Bread/Soup area, Beverage station (lemonade, mango water, iced tea, water, coffee, hot tea), and regular hot choices, salad bar, etc. When we arrived it wasn’t full yet, but by the time we left, people were looking for tables!
  
  Here are some pictures of some of the food offerings during this lunch:
  
  And this is what I decided on!
  
  I wasn’t super hungry at this point, so I just nibbled on a few different things. I personally LOVED the bolognese sauce and would eat this several more times throughout the cruise!
  
  After lunch, I walked around and took some pictures of decks 9 and 10.
  
  This is where we spent a majority of our time! This is the Main Pool. There are also 4 hot tubs all around the pool.
  
  Shot from the 10th deck.
  
  This is the Solarium. Also on the 9th deck, and exclusive for adults only.
  
  A hidden gem on this ship is the Park Cafe. It’s located in the Solarium on deck 9, and offers some good eats! Sandwiches, salads, nachos, cookies, etc. etc. It’s a great place to grab a quick snack. Just not the serving hours in the Cruise Compass! Even though this is located in the “adult only” Solarium, children are permitted to go here to eat.
  
  Not shown are a bunch of tables and chairs, where people will sit and play all kinds of games they bring onboard. I even saw someone painting on a canvas! It’s super quiet compared to the outside main pool area. It’s also a little bit warmer and stuffier in my opinion, because there is no outside air coming in. I did hear from someone that while in port, they did open the roof.
  
  Also located in the back of the Solarium is the spa. I personally did not spend any time here on this cruise!
  
  Up Next…Our cabin and some inside pictures!
  
  Posted in Cruise, Dining Review, Grandeur of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Baltimore, Buffet, Cruise, Park Cafe, Pool Deck, Royal Caribbean, Solarium, Windjammer
- March Disney World AEP Trip {Day 5}! Part 2–Satu’li Canteen and Mobile Ordering
  
  Posted at 7:57 pm by taryngirl, on August 1, 2018
  
  DID YOU KNOW…that for some Quick Service restaurants throughout Walt Disney World, you can order ahead? This fantastic service is called MOBILE FOOD AND BEVERAGE ORDERING! (You can read all about it directly through that link that takes you to Disney’s official page.)
  
  Basically, instead of waiting in line, you can go onto your My Disney Experience App,
  
  This is the menu shown outside of the restaurant:
  
  The restaurant itself does have both indoor and outdoor seating. One note, there are signs on the tables stating you must be a patron of the restaurant in order to use the tables. So don’t plan on getting a table and sitting there while you wait for the rest of your party who is riding Flight of Passage.
  
  We stood outside the restaurant and used the My Disney Experience App to order our food. We walked in immediately. When entering, just look for the separate Mobile Order Pick Up window. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT IN THE REGULAR LINE! There was only one person in front of us in this line.
  
  If you didn’t order ahead, this is what the line looked like:
  
  What you can’t see is that the line snaked and then went out into the foyer area of the restaurant. SO WORTH ORDERING AHEAD! You can save so much time.
  
  Confession time…I was skeptical. I always have modifications, no this, extra this, etc. etc. You can still modify with the app!
  
  Now to the good stuff…the delicious food! I ordered the Chopped Wood-Grilled Chicken Bowl with Rice and Creamy Herb Dressing and NO Boba Balls! This is also served with Crunchy Vegetable Slaw. I also asked for all three sauces on the side when I got up to the window. The other two sauces are the Black Bean Vinaigrette, and the Charred Onion Chimichurri. I mixed all three together in the bowl and it was SO GOOD. I will definitely eat here again and I will definitely order this exact same thing!
  
  My friend ordered the Kid’s Meal–Cheeseburger Steamed Pod which is served with Chips and a drink.
  
  My other friend ordered the Combination Bowl: Grilled Beef and Chicken with Rice base and the Chimichurri Sauce.
  
  They each also ordered a dessert. This is the Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake with a crunchy cookie layer and banana cream topping). We all tasted it. It was really good and super rich!
  
  The other dessert was the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse. (blueberry cream cheese mousse with passion fruit curd) I didn’t try this one, but they said it was good!
  
  I have eaten here on a past trip as well. These are some pictures of food my group ordered during that trip.
  
  Chopped Wood-Grilled Chicken with Romaine and Kale Salad Base.
  
  Regular order of the Cheeseburger Pods served with Chips.
  
  Overall, this quick service restaurant is one of my favorites! Be sure to give it a try at least once.
  
  Up next…Cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas!
  
  Posted in AEP, Animal Kingdom, Dining Review, Quick Service, Satu'li Canteen, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Animal Kingdom, Avatar, Disney, Foodie, Mobile Ordering, Pandora, Quick Service, Satu'li Canteen, Walt Disney World
- March Disney World AEP Trip {Day 4}–Part 3! My birthday! (Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review and Magic Kingdom)
  
  Posted at 12:16 am by taryngirl, on June 26, 2018
  This day was so jam packed, that I have to dedicate a third blog post to it. I think I forgot to mention that today was my birthday! Right before we disembarked the ship, we were treated to lunch at Cabana’s, which is the ship’s buffet. The variety of food that is available here is amazing! There’s something for everyone. After lunch, we sadly had to get off the ship, and head back to our resort. My roommates and I had plans for tonight, so we all took a little rest before grabbing an Uber to Fort Wilderness.
  
  I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Ubering is SO EASY in Disney! Our destination was Pioneer Hall at Fort Wilderness, which is where the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue is located. Using Disney transportation, we would have had to board a bus to Magic Kingdom, then taken a boat to Fort Wilderness. This would have easily taken 45 minutes to an hour. Instead…we Ubered and were at Fort Wilderness in about 7 minutes. Now, Fort Wilderness is tricky because it’s a campground. There’s a front gate and the bus depot. In order to get back to Pioneer Hall, you have to change buses and take the internal bus. Uber drivers cannot drive beyond the original bus depot. So we got out and hopped on the internal bus. Now I have heard the Minnie Vans CAN drive all the way back. (Minnie Vans are $25 flat fee no matter where you go on Disney property. Uber is standard Uber pricing.) This was not a big deal for us, and the internal buses are frequent, at least in my experience.
  
  We made it!!
  
  If you are not familiar with the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, let me give you a little summary.
  - It’s a dinner show with three available seating times available.
  - Prepayment is required. Tickets may be picked up at any Walt Disney World Resort Concierge or Pioneer Hall.
  - You can make reservations online or by calling.
  - Here is the current (June 2018) seating chart with corresponding pricing. (snipped directly from official WDW site) The balcony goes all along the perimeter of the seating area below.
  - If you have an Annual Pass, you can get 10% off (as of June 2018). They also accept Tables in Wonderland.
  - It’s a 2 hour singing, dancing, comedy show that is somewhat corny, but we love it! This is the 4th time I’ve been here.
  - Did I mention that unlimited beer, wine and sangria are included?
  Before going into the restaurant, we had some time to browse around the grounds. There really is so much to see here! There’s a really awesome playground right next to the building. And plenty of horses to see.
  
  There are also Photopass photographers here to take pictures for you!
  
  It was time to enter! To enter, you will check in at a “hostess stand” located in the middle of the walkway. They will tell you where to line up. There are two different doors you can enter. The tables are numbered and assigned, and your number will be on your ticket. You will know by what category you purchased, the general area you will need to head towards.
  
  As soon as you sit down, your waiter/waitress will come over to greet you and take your drink order. Then the food starts coming!
  
  I love this meal! The salad is very good, with dressing that is super light. The cornbread is AMAZING. So amazing that I could eat both of these loaves by myself…but I didn’t.
  
  Food is served in buckets. Yes buckets people! You are at a hoe down of sorts.
  
  Reallllllly good fried chicken and mashed potatoes!
  
  Your food will be served in between show parts.
  
  There are some surprises for a grand finale, and some audience participation. After the show, when we were stuffed to the gills, we headed outside and found our way to the boat dock to Magic Kingdom.
  
  I love, love, love being in the Magic Kingdom at night! We still worked on some of our scavenger hunt pictures, and just hopped on some quick rides that had no wait.
  
  Up Next…Day 5!
  Posted in AEP, Dining Review | 2 Comments | Tagged AEP, Dining Review, Disney, Fort Wilderness, Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, Magic Kingdom, Pioneer Hall, Walt Disney World