Be Our Guest – Lunch

We were able to go to Be Our Guest again on our last trip. I tried to get reservations 180 days out and could not get one! I had no idea how it could be booked for 2 whole weeks during a less busy time of year with no reservations available?!?! Well, a few weeks before we left, a TON of reservations opened up. Like ANY time we wanted was open. So odd! I didn’t see anything about a cancelled refurbishment or anything, so I have no idea what that was all about. Goes to show you, KEEP looking for those reservations you want! You never know when they’ll show up for you!

We went to lunch because we are not big breakfast people and I don’t want to pay for the dinner when most of my kids won’t eat – so lunch works best for us!

We ordered online, and it is sooooo MUCH faster. The line to order was HUGE! We walked right up to the online order register, confirmed our order, and went to find out seats – very quick! Order online if possible! It will save you so much time!

When we went a couple of years ago, we really enjoyed the food. This time, the food was good, but I am not sure it was as good as it was before.

It was still very good though and we enjoyed our meal. We got the French Onion Soup, a couple of the Potato Leek Soups, and the Croque Monsieur. I wasn’t a fan of the french dip sandwich last time, so we skipped it this time. And of course, we had to have the Grey Stuff!

I still love the Croque Monsieur! Still my favorite item for lunch on the menu. The Potato Soup was good and my daughter really enjoyed it with some french fries (potatoes with potatoes? Yeah… kids!) The French Onion Soup was good, but not as delicious as I remembered – I’d probably pick the Potato soup over it.

We didn’t do kids meals this time. We brought meals for our little ones, because they are so picky they wouldn’t eat anything and the kids meals were nothing special last time. So it saved us some money to just get them some french fries as a side to share and bring them a sandwich they’d actually eat. We got them dessert too.

I LOVE the Master’s Cupcake – the Grey Stuff – soooo good! I just wish it was a bit bigger for the price. Delicious, but expensive for a small cupcake.

We sat in the Ballroom again this time. The West Wing is always crowded everytime we go!

Drinks are on the honor system. They just have cups for you. Great place to stock up on some ice water! (we aren’t big soda drinkers, but we drink TONS of ice water)

We still enjoy Be Our Guest. Great place to eat once during your trip. We will be back, as we love the lunch offerings. It is well worth it for the ambiance and experience!

Lobster Roll at Columbia Harbour House

If you were to ask me my favorite quick service meal at Disney World, it would be a toss-up between the Shwarma Platter at Tangierine Cafe in Epcot and the Lobster Roll at Columbia Harbour House in Magic Kingdom.

We ate the Lobster roll like 3 times on our last trip – ha! Each time was a bit different, so they could work on consistency, but each time it was really good. We even saw claw meat in our sandwiches.

Our previous trip, the sandwich was a bit heavy on the mayo. On this trip, they seemed to have improved the ratio and the sandwich overall was much better! We quite enjoyed them (obviously!) It was also better than the ones we had at Disneyland on our last trip. So much better than hot dog and hamburger theme park food!

Just this last week or so, we went to a local seafood place and they had a Lobster roll as their special. I, of course, had to have one. I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t better than the one at the Magic Kingdom. This place is usually Stellar… But their lobster roll was lacking comparatively! Which was quite a surprise!

Now looking at this picture makes me wish I could be eating another Lobster roll right now. *sigh* Hopefully soon!

Instagram

I started an Instagram account for this blog

It is hopefully a placeholder for some exciting changed in our life and then to this blog! Fingers crossed this summer! Until then, I’ll probably post some fun pictures to it until them. Follow along! There is a link on the side of the blog too!

Churro Ice Cream Sandwich

Somehow when we went to Disneyland last, we missed getting a Churro Ice Cream Sandwich. When I heard they had arrived at Disneyworld, I was excited to try them.

I mean Churros and ice cream! What is not to like?!?!

Well…. I hate to say it, but we didn’t love this. The ice cream was fine but the churro was not great. It was ok, but not really worth the price. When we asked the kids if they would want it again, they said “no.” My kids not wanting a treat again?!?! They would rather have the candy corn soft serve! (HA! that is our new seasonal favorite! It was surprisingly delicious. No pictures of it because we ate it too fast in the Florida heat!).

The churro was not crispy, and quite frankly, blah. I think it had been sitting around too long or not fried long enough. They need to work on some quality control. I would much rather have one of the cookie ice cream sandwiches from the ice cream parlor – those are FANTASTIC – and in my opinion, much more worthy of your snack dollars!

I will probably give it another try on another trip… For something that I should LOVE this was a big disappointment.

Agent P World Showcase Adventure

Have you done the Agent P World Showcase Adventure at Epcot? You now just play it on your phone! You used to have to get a device at the kiosks to play on and then place it in a return bin. Now you simply use your smartphone! However, since you use your smartphone, I don’t have any pictures of my kids playing, because they were using my phone – ha! My husband did snag a couple of pictures though.

It is an interactive adventure. As you click through the scenarios and walk around the different country’s pavilions, you can activate different things within the country. For Example, you can make a wind chime move and make noise or activate some characters to move. The kids love it!

The Agent P Adventure is a great way to make the World Showcase a bit more interesting for kids! With this and Kidcot stops, it makes my kids enjoy the World Showcase a bit more! Just make sure you have your phone charged up or an external battery!

Best Rides to Ride while waiting for a Rider Swap at DisneyWorld

New Kidcot Fun Stops

I was surprised to find that they changed the Kidcot stops this summer. Over the years, they have had different things on a stick – Duffy, Agent P, Masks – We even did it when they had stops in Future World!

This summer, they changed to a Ziploc bag that looks like a suitcase. In each country, you get a card and a sticker to place in the “suitcase.” If you get the cards from every country, you get a postcard as a completion prize. It is nice they have the competition prize back. Years ago, we got a small poster as a prize, but they seemed to drop that in recent years.

You can still get your name in Japanese in Japan, Chinese in China, & Arabic in Morocco on the card. The cast members color different pictures that relate to their country in the white box on the card.

The “handles” on the bag fall off fairly easily, so be careful with them. I would say they fell off on about a fourth of them (we had 6 kids and did it twice).

They are easy to store when you get home, which I like! They are a fun change of pace. I can’t say I don’t miss the character on a stick and the stamps, but it is always good to change things up and have a different activity once in a while.

Chocolate Experience Sculptures

At the Chocolate Experience in the Food and Wine Festival Center, they had these fantastic chocolate sculptures! At first, the kids and I couldn’t believe they were all made out of chocolate! We were pretty impressed with all of them.

I did not take any pictures, as I was carrying a baby. My husband managed to snap a couple of pictures. I am happy he got one of the Toy Store one, as it was my favorite one! Do yourself a favor and google pictures of the rest of the sculptures, because they were all pretty fantastic. They are awesome art AND chocolate!

Also in the Chocolate Experience, you can get a FREE chocolate! FREE anything is a cause for celebration at Disney! A free Ghiradelli square. That alone is worth the trip inside.

So if you head to the Wine and Food Festival, go to the Chocolate Experience and see these awesome sculptures and eat some FREE chocolate!!

Epcot Food and Wine Festival

We finally got to attend our first Epcot Food and Wine festival! I have heard so much about it, and our last trip, it started about 2 days after we left. It started a bit earlier this year, so I made Epcot our last park of the trip, so we could be sure to be there during the Festival!

I made a list of foods we wanted to try. I did my research. I bought enough gift cards at Target at 5% off to cover all we were planning to eat. I was pretty excited about it.

We don’t drink, but oh boy do we like to EAT! ALL.THE.FOOD!

We spent the morning doing the rides at Epcot and spent the afternoon slowly walking around the World Showcase eating. We also did the Kidcot stops for the second time this trip. They have NEW Kidcot stuff! I will do a separate post on that later! The little boys also did the Agent P game through the World Showcase. They love playing that game and it keeps them entertained on what would otherwise be kind of boring for them.

Now onto what we ate:

FREE Chocolate at Ghiradelli
Croissant Donut & Nutella Croissant Donut: Sooooo GOOD!!! Always one of my favorites!
Phosphorescent Phreeze: We got this because it came in the fun lab flask cup. It was pretty tasty. The kids LOVED it. I thought it was a bit sweet. Totally worth getting for the cup and because it’s fun – especially if you have kids that will enjoy it.
Sweet Potato Poutine: These were pretty good. The fries were delicious. They could have used more topping though! Probably wouldn’t get again.
Lamington in Australia: This tasted like a Mounds bar. It was delicious!
Passion Fruit Cheesecake in Hawaii: This was one of my favorite items we got. Outstanding!
Empanada at Islands of the Carribean: This might be my FAVORITE item we bought. I have been looking for a good Empanada since we lived in El Salvador! This was it. If you go, eat one of these right away. So good! I am wishing I had one right now!
Quesito at Islands of the Carribean: I wanted this to be good. It was ok. Not bad, not outstanding. Probably would skip next time.
Shrimp Quesadilla in Mexico: This was good but small and not worth what it cost.
Chicken Dumplings in China: These were good, but nothing special. Would not bother to get again.
Schinkennudeln in Germany: This was pretty tasty! I wish it was bigger. I am going to have to make it at home!
Teriyaki Chicken Bun in Japan: YUM! A bit expensive for just one bun, but really good!
Pao de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese bread: Really good. This was my daughter’s favorite item
Canadian Cheddar cheese and bacon soup: Another winner. Loved it. I need to make it here at home!

We gobbled up all the food so fast, I didn’t really take any pictures! I can see why this is such a popular festival, we LOVED it. So much fun and lots of good food to try. I hope we can go back again someday!

If I had to choose my favorite item, it would be the Empanada. It was outstanding and I am tempted to fly back just to eat one! The dessert would probably be the Passion Fruit Cheesecake, simply because you can get the croissant donut anytime at Epcot (otherwise, that would be my number one!). Of course, if school bread were included, I would have an even more difficult choice!

I would highly recommend visiting Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival, even if you don’t drink like us. It is well worth the visit and just lots of fun! I can’t wait to go again!