Disney World Trip Highlights - May/June 2018

Every few years we book a week+ long trip to Disney World in May.   Typically we do this around Mother’s Day but since Dave started with a new company last year his vacation allotment reset, causing us to take advantage of the Memorial Day holiday to minimize vacation use.   We figured there would be a noticeable difference in the crowds for the holiday weekend, but it actually wasn’t any worse than earlier in the month. 

We’re going to cover the highlights in the post vs. a day-by-day account of our trip.   We spent the first 6 nights at Bay Lake Tower (attached to the Contemporary Resort) followed by 4 nights at Boardwalk Resort.   We are DVC (Disney Vacation Club) members.

We landed early Friday evening and rushed through MCO to our rental car.   We dropped everything off in the hotel room so we could head right into the Magic Kingdom to see the Happily Ever After fireworks show.   Holly was a big fan of Wishes and we both decided the new show was not a very good replacement – definitely less pyrotechnics and more castle projections (which are hard to see with all the darn kids on parents’ shoulders).

Memorial Day Weekend marked the last few days of Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival.  This put the pressure on us to hit all the food booths around World Showcase that we wanted to try.   Overall offerings this year were not as good as they have been in the past.   Epcot did look great and it was fun to watch the flowers slowly disappear later in the week when the festival closed.   We took in The Spinners at the Garden Rocks concert.  Fun show!

Trader Sam’s at the Polynesian is still a fun place to enjoy the evening (outdoors).  We were happy to see that Disney did not get rid of the guitarist/singer on the terrace. 

California Grill is back on our top dining list.   We had really bad service on our last visit to the restaurant and the changes to the menu items at that time were not our favorite.  Now with the former Jiko chef at the helm things are back the way we like them.   We ate a late (10pm) dinner one night at the bar and then a normal time dinner the following evening.   The filet with the tamarind BBQ was as good as ever.   Our motto for Disney dining in May still held true:  If Zellwood corn is on the menu get it.  The corn chowder was fantastic!

We dined with friends one night at Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table.   We had a great night watching the kitchen team in action and enjoying great food and wine.   That evening will get a detailed post of its own.





We had a surprisingly good lunch at The Wave in the Contemporary.  We didn’t want park food or food court food and found this a decent option.  We split the appetizer mussels and Asian pork belly buns.   There were a few decent beers on tap.   This is a perfect break from the Magic Kingdom.

Disney Springs has become an enjoyable place to eat and drink.   We experienced Paddlefish, Dockside Margaritas, Polite Pig, The Edison, Morimoto Asia, and more.

 Afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian is still a fun break from the Magic Kingdom.

 This summer Animal Kingdom started an event in Dino Land called Donald’s Dino-Bash.   The premise is Donald Duck discovers ducks are descended from Dinosaurs and throws a party. Uncle Scrooge is fighting with some rival duck over whom was the first duck clan of Scotland.  There’s some decent theming and backstory in the Uncle Scrooge photo opp area.  Other photo opps include Launchpad McQuack, Chip & Dale in cute dinosaur onesies, Pluto, Daisy, and Goofy.   We hit the character stops before they opened (at 10am) and breezed through them.   In the afternoon the hold a dance party in the courtyard.   By dance party think Disney Jr. vs. Dj Elliott.

 Incredible Summer was occurring in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland.   Characters from the Incredibles movies were out along with some photo opp backgrounds and a stage show/dance party.   Banners were all over the place and the regular Tomorrowland music loop was replaced by an Incredibles themed soundtrack.   We weren’t fans of this since 1) we don’t really enjoy The Incredibles and 2) it replaced the theming of Tomorrowland.   Dino-Bash was an add-on vs. an overhaul.   There’s rumor Edna Mode is going to narrate the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.   If that’s true it’s time to bring headphones with us to stream an old narration.

We dined at Spice Road Table in Epcot’s Morocco for the first time.   We never included this location on our dining list before because the outside patio area was usually empty when we passed by.  They have a great location on the water so something must be wrong if it’s empty.  We booked a table in time to see Illuminations (fireworks show) and enjoyed how close we were to the action in the lagoon.  Then we remembered this used to be where we watched Illuminations before they built the restaurant.   Food was good, portions were large and reasonably priced.  We could come back and share an appetizer and share an entrée and be content.

Several months ago Dooney & Bourke  released a purse with a Disney dog pattern that Holly was after.  She missed out online at the release date (setting an alarm to get up in the middle of the night).  While we were on property some were being released in very limited amounts.    We got to Animal Kingdom later than we normally would one morning and she missed it by 10 minutes.  We started rope-dropping stores selling purses vs. attractions for a few days after that.   No luck.

Flights of Wonder bird show in Animal Kingdom was overhauled to be Up! A Great Bird Adventure.   By doing this they have incorporated characters from Up! into the show.   The birds are basically the same, just the main narrator’s “Eat, Pray, Love” shtick is more annoying than the tour guide shtick from the old show

Even though it was his birthday, Dave agreed to go to the princess character breakfast at Trattoria al Forno in the Boardwalk Resort.   Characters are not his thing, especially ones that talk back.   The food was good – can’t argue with steak at 8am and the character interaction was quick.    They had the annoying kid parade around the restaurant and other songs so be ready for that.   The characters were nice and knew to limit interaction with Dave, even when they found out it was his birthday.   This is worth a try if you want to see Ariel, Rapunzel, and related princes.

Since we are on the topic of the Boardwalk Resort we’ll cover our check-in mishap.   We left Animal Kingdom around 3:45 and finally got the notice that are room was ready.   We arrived, asked Bell Services to bring our bags (we dropped them off earlier that day), and went to our unclean room.   The room had not been serviced.   Dave called the desk (which is a central line for all the hotels) while Holly went to the desk directly.   We were told it would be 45 minutes and received some compensation for our troubles.   45 minutes turned into almost 2 hours.   After some additional conversations were received 3 bonus Fast Passes (shorter wait tickets) per day.   

We were going to write a glowing review of Matboukha Groove at Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion but the band is no longer there.   They engaged the crowd with their high-energy performance.   Sahara Beat is the replacement act.

Brown Derby’s outdoor lounge in the Hollywood Studios is still enjoyable.  It’s a really nice dining venue with great appetizer selections and the chance to get Zellwood corn soup from the inside menu if you ask nice.    Sitting at a two-top we were not given the advantage of an umbrella for shade.   While dining around noon the breeze had stopped and the sun shifted perfectly over us.   It was HOT!

Those were some of the highlights.  We'll return back to Disney World Labor Day Weekend for a few fun days at Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival (Tiffany is performing that weekend) and to check out the Studio's new Toy Story Land.   This will also be our first time staying at The Grand Floridian Resort.

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table Photo Recap

Here is the photo recap of our experience at Victoria and Albert's Chef's Table on June 6, 2011. Paired wines and links to more details on the course are provided next to the photos.

Grilled Spot Prawn, Soft-Poached Quail Egg, Cab Squash Blossum, Burrata alla Panna with Jamon Iberico
Paired wine: Taittinger Prestige Curvee NV

Maine Lobster with Passion Fruit Pearls
Paired wine: Michel Redde Sancerre "Les Tuilieres", Loire 2007

Cold "Smoked" Niman Ranch Lamb with Fuji Apple and Curry Dressing
Paired wine: Grans-Fassian Piesporter Kabinett Riesling 2007

Sake-Soy Marinated Gulf Shrimp with Bok Choy and Soy Beans
Paired wine (sake): Kanbara "Bride of the Fox" Gohyakumangoku Junmai Ginjo, Nigata

Roasted Quail with Asian Pears and Serrano Ham Jus
Paired wine: Ceretto Rossana Dolcetto d Alba, Piedmont 2006



Veal Sweetbread and Shank with Chanterelle Mushroom Ragout
Paired wine: Domaine La Roquete Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone 2005

Australian Kobe Beef with Garlic-Potato Puree
Paired wine:  Benziger Tribute Sonoma Mountain 2006

Comte Sail Antoine, Flagship Reserve Truffle Cheddar, Colston Bassett Stilton, 24 Monnth Parmigiano-Reggiano
Paired wine: Quinta do Crasto Late Bottled Vintge Porto 2005

Orange Panna Cotta with Chartreuse-Pineapple Sorbet and Cherries

Mocha Scented Tanzanie Chocolate Mousse Timbale, Chocolate Cocktail, and Coffee

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table: Course Ten

We made it. The last course. Before taking a look at the final dessert, here's that video of the coffee contraption:

Now the final dessert. We were both very full by this point so we weren't going to have much of this. I think it's a technique of fine dining to bring out the richest chocolate thing they can whip up to leave you with the impression of really being full.

Mocha Scented Tanzanie Chocolate Mousse Timbale

Chocolate Cocktail
These were tough to get through. Very rich. Chocolate mousse inside was more like a ganache. The chocolate drink also had a heavy orange flavor. All were good, just too much. Afterwards, they bring out a plate of chocolates and other candies. I was able to eat two jellied candies. We had heard they box up the rest of the chocolates for you. They didn't do it for us (we did not ask).

After settling up we received our menus and a loaf of orange bread. We dove into that 4 days later and it was still the moistest bread ever. Need more of that.

Overall the whole event was about 4 hours long and lots of fun! We went back by cab to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and prepared for our early wake-up call for our flight home.

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table: Course Nine

Now for the sweet desserts. Our first plate had 3 items:

Orange Panna Cotta with Chartreuse-Pineapple Sorbet and Cherries.
The best item on the plate was the sorbet with the candied thyme.

Our coffee was prepared at-table using a fancy contraption that drew the water up into the grounds, then back down into the serving vessel as coffee. We got some video of that for the next post.

Victoria and Albert's Chef's Table: Course Eight

We've now crossed over into the dessert portion of the evening, which meant 3 items were coming.

Our first "dessert" was a cheese course.   I don't think I've ever ordered a cheese course.   The closest may have been at Food and Wine Fest.   Now that I've had one, I'll pay more attention to them in the future.  We both really enjoyed it.

Comte Sail Antoine, Flagship Reserve Truffle Cheddar, Colston Bassett Stilton, 24 Monnth Parmigiano-Reggiano

Each cheese was paired with a fruit, such as fig or a suace.  This was also served with our last wine pairing:  a port.

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table: Course Seven

Back from the break. We are escorted back to our table and get ready for our final entree course.

Australian Kobe beef with garlic-potato puree
This was good! The beef was cooked perfect for Dave and went well with the sauce. The little vegetables come from a farm that specializes in them. The black mass in the potatoes is black garlic. This stuff is really good and appears to be a new on-trend ingredient. It's normal garlic that's been fermented. It has a real nice caramel/molasses taste to it. There was another new red wine with this course.

Forgot to put this in an earlier post. They had an ottoman for Holly to set her purse on.

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table: Course Six

There's two more entree items left to go and they just started pouring red wine for the next course.

Veal Sweetbread and shank with Chanterelle Mushroom ragout
Sweetbreads.......We figured this was coming at some point. We've never had sweetbreads before for good reason: you shouldn't be eating THAT! The dish also had gnocchi and shaved white truffles. The verdict: I loved it. The sweetbreads added a bit of fatty texture to the dish. Holly did not enjoy it too much, but I think a lot of it has to do with not enjoying eating a baby animal.

This guy is working on fava beans. Lots of process goes into preparing these as we learned from Chef Aimee.

The waiter asked if we wanted a break. YES! We were escorted out of the kitchen to the main entrance. We had 20 minutes to stretch our legs. We watched the lobby band play some music and then went onto the terrace off the staircase.  We sat out here and enjoyed the view for awhile. The. We made our way in passing "Misnery" - which is our nickname for Misner's Lounge. We consider it the least appealing and impersonal lounge on property. A "miserable" place. We met back up with the hostess and were escorted back for our final entree.

Victoria & Albert's Chef'sTable: Course Five

Other than Dave not enjoying his egg, everything has been excellent so far. The next course was good, but probably the least favorite for Holly thus far.

Roasted Quail with Asian Pears and Serrano Ham Jus
The quail sat on a pear puree (not the same kind of pear as the round one) and was accompanied by a quail leg spring roll. Overall a nice dish and good presentation. Holly did not like the skin on it. I thought it was good. She tends not to like the taste of small birds. I believe we are still on white wines.

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table: Course Four

Time for another crowd-pleaser. Lots going on here. See how nice the photo is? This is when Holly suggested I might have a food setting on the camera. Who knew?

This was Sake-soy marinated gulf shrimp with bok choy and soy beans. We each had two very large shrimp served on a bed of soy beans and mushrooms. The flavors really came together very well in this dish.

The wine pairing for this course was sake. We do not have much experience with sake, and asked, would say it's not our beverage of choice. The sake they served us did nothing to change our opinions. Dry and a little bitter.

They served fresh wasabi with the dish. We don't like wasabi when served with meals. This changed our minds. It didn't burn like it does at the local places. Chef Aimee explained that we typically see concentrated wasabi when out to eat. This however was fresh grated wasabi root (never knew it was a root) that costs around $250/lb.

Earlier in the evening the chef closest to us was making an item in a mold. I asked chef about it and he was making the amuse bouche for the main dining room. It was lobster pane cotta about the size of a sliced golf ball. It was good, but I was happier with our selection.

Yeah more bread. All the bread was made by the head pastry chef at the GF. This slice was an egg brioche with onion butter. Just as nice as the previous piece.