Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 4 - Animator’s Palette

Date of Visit: October 17, 2018

While Tiana’s may be our new favorite, Animator’s Palette is still fun. It’s really fun to see the different sketches and how they come to life at points and then around dessert Sorcerer Mickey comes out and everything gets color.

Mik enjoyed the Bora Shake with dinner.

For the appetizer, Mik went with the Sliced Serrano Ham.

Mik enjoyed the Herb Crusted Pork Chop for his entree.

For dessert, Mik for once didn’t go with the sundae because I did and instead went with the Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake, which he liked, but I think he likes the Cookies ’n Cream Sundae more as he was eyeing mine.

Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 3 - Pirates in the Caribbean Dinner at Triton's

Date of Visit: October 16, 2018

Pirate night has always been our least favorite. The food isn’t bad and actually, I think the menu has been reworked since the last time we cruised. Also, we managed to get through dinner quickly and sneak out just as they started the pirate entertainment part that we just aren’t into.

Mik had the “Boucanier” Smoked Saucisson, Baked Brie, Brioche and Honey. He enjoyed it, although found it a little hard to get out of the dish and eat.

He kept going back and forth on what to get for his entree, especially since he had yet to order any kind of steak as he sometimes does almost every night on a cruise. In the end, he went with the Tia Dalma’s Jerk Chicken as it seemed most fitting for the Caribbean and he was glad he did.

Dessert was actually an easy choice as most of the choices weren’t even a little tempting for him. He did enjoy the Bananas in Paradise, although he thought the wrong dessert was delivered because it looks more like a slice of cake as it is a layered dessert with banana bread and not slices of banana bread as he imagined.

Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 2 - Triton's

Date of Visit: October 15, 2018

As Mik loves mango, he had the specialty non-alcoholic drink called the Princess Delight.

As usual, Mik had to have Gaston’s Escargot Gratinee

Mik enjoyed the Roasted Rack of Lamb Medium for his entree.

For dessert, he enjoyed the Apple Tart Tatin.

Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 1 - Tiana’s Place

Date of Visit: October 14, 2018

This was our first time on the Wonder since they turned Parrot’s Cay into Tiana’s Place. We enjoyed the atmosphere of the new design, although we also did like Parrot’s Cay, and the first night it was just the same menu in all the restaurants and we didn’t get the full Tiana’s Place experience until later in the cruise.

Going into the restaurant was a little awkward as the host decided to take over pushing Mik at the entrance. I initially just let him because I thought he just wanted to do the go backwards over the big bump to enter and was going to then let me continue pushing Mik, but instead, he handed Mik off to someone to lead us to our table. That guy then kind of got lost and another guy did a slick switch of table numbers when he realized the original table 67 was impossible to get a wheelchair to and there was no one at the nearby table next to the main aisle.

We all enjoyed the calamari for our appetizer. Mik was going to get the clam chowder, which is another fav of his, but I messed up when ordering for him and he didn’t correct me because really he kind of wanted calamari and wasn’t hungry enough to also do a soup.

For the entree, Mik chose the pork tenderloin wellington. As usual, the server asked if he needed help cutting it up and we enjoyed letting them do it instead of us the whole cruise.

Mik was going to be different and have the warm sticky fig and pecan pudding, but I discouraged him since he usually doesn’t like pecans and he hadn’t noticed that was part of it. Instead, he enjoyed his typical choice of a sundae (Magical Express Sundae).

I enjoyed the creme brûlée while also feeling like something was missing until the next day I realized that my typical choice of the trio of desserts seems to have disappeared from all the menus.

Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 1 - Cabanas

Date of Visit: October 14, 2018

Mik wasn’t really hungry as he had eaten the rest of the free DoubleTree cookies right before we went to the port. However, when Mom brought over a piece of pumpkin pie, he found some room.

Other than when we first get on the ship we have never taken Mik to the buffet so I’m not sure if the table pedestal leg design has always been a problem or not. At first we tried to sit near the windows at a rectangle table and found we couldn’t roll Mik up close enough. In another area we ended up getting some help from a cast member to turn a circle table so he could roll up with one of the corners of the pedestals between his casters.

We later found at breakfast the next day the way the rectangle tables were next to booth seating actually worked out the best, especially since we got the table right by the main pathway. However, mostly we just find it easier to bring it back to the room or if you can get a table outside by the pools.

Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Disney Studio Store

Date of Visit: May 15, 2018

We've been here twice before, but the last time was probably something like 2010 and it was still the Disney Soda Fountain (or something like that). We knew it wasn't the same now that it became a Ghirardelli's and didn't plan to go, but it ended up being a convenient place for a snack when we had to kill time waiting for our hotel room to be ready.

Overall it's still a great place for ice cream, but it's sad there's no longer the giant Sorcerer sundae even though we wouldn't have gotten it this time. Also, the tables were difficult for Mik to really roll up close to, although I don't remember if that was or was not a problem in its old layout.

Destination Info:
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Disney Studio Store
6834 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Disney's Animal Kingdom: Satu'li Canteen

Date of Visit: January 6, 2018

Considering how long the lines were for the attractions in Pandora, we were surprised to find absolutely no line inside Satu'li Canteen when we went for an early dinner. We also went for lunch another day and it was probably the least crowded counter service we've ever experienced at peak hours. Plus, we really enjoyed everything we tried there.

Mik enjoyed the grilled beef bowl and the chocolate cake.

We also enjoyed the blueberry cream cheese mousse, although we did prefer the chocolate cake.

Destination Info:
Disney's Animal Kingdom - Satu'li Canteen
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at Epcot

Date of Visit February 6, 2017

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall has been on our list to try for awhile. We even had a reservation to go on one of our trips last year, but decided to cancel a few days before because we weren't sure about the whole character dining aspect. To some extent, I am glad we saved it for this trip as at least we had one person into the princesses/characters, but I also kind of wish we had already done this place and realized it isn't worth it when it was just us and done something different (i.e. at least cheaper and likely much better experience) for our larger family trip.

The main thing that appealed to us about Akershus is the Norwegian inspired menu. It didn't really disappoint in this regard, especially for the meatball lovers. However, I had thought it was entirely a buffet and it was only the appetizers that were. This didn't bother us so much except that it was fixed price per person and then dessert was a specific trio of desserts for the table rather than each ordering your own or a buffet.

We were mainly disappointed in Akershus because there wasn't much of a character experience, which was why we had chosen to even do this restaurant after we took too long to plan dining and couldn't do the character breakfast we wanted. There are several princesses that come by, so the number of characters is nice. However, they seemed to be in a rush and there was barely time to have them sign the autograph book and take a photo with the kid. Thus, by the time the kid got used to the concept they were already done. All other places we've done the character dining with her, the characters came around more than once. I kind of remember this was the same way the time Mik, my Dad, and I ate at Cinderella Royal Table, but at least there you have a fun castle atmosphere and we had service.

One of the reasons we did not like Akershus was the price. We knew that going in it would be expensive, but somewhere I had gotten in my head that lunch was never more than $50 and it was $57 per person (at least that was before the annual pass discount). The price wouldn't have really bothered us if at the same time we had gotten the character experience we expected (or even just some attentive service...never saw waiter after ordering until they were trying to rush us to finish and clear the table at end, so drinks never got refilled, and they force you to pay 18% gratuity for nothing).

Add to all that, they squeezed way too many tables into the space that it is almost impossible to even dine there with Mik. In order to get him into the table I had to lift and slide the chair sideways up to his spot. It wouldn't have been too bad if it was a regular table dining experience, but since there is a buffet aspect it was extremely annoying to get out around him (and almost impossible). This was the only reason we were glad the whole meal wasn't a buffet, but then we kind of wish none of it was.

Bottom line is I better just book that character breakfast six months out next year. Also, for princesses, Mik and I recommend Cinderella Royal Table over this. I don't remember the food being anything special and we had the characters skip us, but we still really enjoyed that dining experience simply for the castle atmosphere.

Destination Info:
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Epcot
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Be Our Guest Restaurant at Magic Kingdom

Date of Visit: February 5, 2017

For years we've been wanting to try the dinner at Be Our Guest, but never seem to be able to plan out our dining soon enough to manage a reservation (we did the quick service lunch back before they did reservations for that). This time I only managed a reservation because I couldn't get one when planning our November trip and booking for February had just opened. I am glad we ended up finally doing it this trip as while it would've been enjoyable on our own, it turned out to be a great dining experience for our family trip.

There are three different rooms you can end up being seated in. We were in the main dining room and really enjoyed the atmosphere, although either of the other wings seem just as good and it would be interesting to end up in a different one if we go again.

We all enjoyed the appetizers and entrees we ordered and found the portions to be good. Mik had the potato leek soup and the pork chop. I had the sauteed shrimp and scallops.

For dessert, since no one else ordered it, I just had to try the grey stuff. Sadly, it was not delicious, but only because I don't like frosting. The tart it was on top of was good, though. Mik ordered the Elcair a l'Orange and that was very delicious.

Before leaving, we visited the Beast for a group photo minus Mik who didn't want to do it.

Overall we really enjoyed Be Our Guest. We liked that it had a good themed atmosphere and that while there was a character opportunity, it was very easy to skip if you wanted because it was separate rather than being something they send you through before seating you or having the character(s) come around. Not sure if we would go for dinner next time, but only because the breakfast menu looks interesting.

Destination Info:
Be Our Guest Restaurant
Magic Kingdom
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Epcot International Festival of the Arts

Date of Visit: February 5, 2017

When we planned our trip the Epcot International Festival of the Arts hadn't been announced. Finding out we would be able to enjoy it when it was announced was exciting, but we were kind of disappointed it's only a weekend thing because we had already booked our two dining reservations for our week trip 2 of the 3 days we could've enjoyed eating at the festival. We did fit in trying a few things on Sunday for lunch before our early dinner at Be Our Guest, but Mik was disappointed we didn't instead eat at the festival booths on Monday, especially since it was the park we were in for our lunch and it turned out to be our worst Disney dining experience ever (not actually bad, but disappointing...will try to remember to do review later).

On Sunday, Mik and I park hopped by boat from Hollywood Studios and were planning to grab some lunch with my Starbucks gift card on the way over to meet up in Magic Kingdom for dinner. We had forgotten about the festival until we spotted the booth in Canada and then we picked up the little booklet that lists what all the booths have. Mik quickly spotted a picture of doughnuts and when I found the description we knew what we had to have for lunch.

On the way to get the doughnuts, we stopped at the E = AT^2 booth for some cold drinks. Mik enjoyed the Deconstructed Breakfast (non-alcoholic version), which is a spiced apple chai tea shake with maple syrup, a waffle crisp, and candied bacon. It reminded me of the pumpkin one they had at the Food & Wine, which was my favorite last time.

The Trio of Savory Croissant Doughnuts at the Painter's Palate did not disappoint. Mik enjoyed the chicken mousse one and I enjoyed the herb cream cheese with sea salt one. We split the tuna one. Mik's favorite was the tuna and mine was the herb cream cheese.

We also enjoyed the exhibits in the Showcase Plaza where Painter's Palate was located. In particular, we enjoyed seeing the Mary Blair art. However, they were rather small and left us wanting more of a real exhibit to experience.

Overall we enjoyed our little taste of the Epcot Festival of the Arts and hope to enjoy a lot more of it on Friday. In particular, it would be fun to get a photo in one of be part of the paintings displays.

Destination Info:

Epcot International Festival of the Arts
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: California Grill

Date of Visit: November 17, 2016

California Grill is a restaurant I have been wanting to take Mik to for years and it did not disappoint. Mik particularly enjoyed the seating and the view even though he couldn't see much due to the way the inside lighting reflected on the windows and we weren't right next to the windows.

Getting to the restaurant was confusing as it isn't clear that you are supposed to check in on Level 2 to be able to escorted up the elevator to Level 15. We also found the monorail situation at the Contemporary annoying as it isn't clear which way you are supposed to get off the elevator and line up (much prefer the one general line and elevator is not just for Monorail set up at the Polynesian where we are staying even though the queue area and those elevators aren't enough to handle the evening crowds). In the future, we only plan to visit this resort how we have done in the past, which is to walk from the Magic Kingdom (or a bus perhaps if we're at another park).

Because we wanted to make sure we had room for dessert, we decided to share the tomato salad as an appetizer and ordered sushi instead of entrees. Mik chose the sashimi and I chose the tuna three ways.

Mik's favorite part of the meal was the dessert. He got the S'mores Creme Brulee.

Destination Info:
California Grill
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Lake Buena Vista, FL

The Birchmere: The Oak Ridge Boys

Date of Visit: August 28, 2016

The Oak Ridge Boys are definitely the ones you got to get there early for to get a good line number as we were 70 or so back since we arrived a little after 5pm and it was similar experience when Mom and I went last year. With Mik, though, they ended up noticing us and taking us through the gift shop to enter a little after they started calling line numbers. However, this time it wasn't sold out, so even if we hadn't been with Mik we easily would've gotten one of my favorite tables by the bar in the raised area to the left.

Mik liked The Oak Ridge Boys, but not as much as Brandy Clark (he's excited she's playing here again this year). They're still my favorite to see live, especially since they always change up their set list including often basing some of the picks on requests they get through Twitter before the show. Mik said he probably would only see them again if they played at The Birchmere, which is mainly because he again ordered off the specials (chicken fried steak) there are still several headliners he wants to try.

Destination Info:
The Birchmere
3701 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22305

The Birchmere: Brandy Clark and Aubrie Sellers

Date of Visit: May 18, 2016

After Mik somewhat enjoyed the Carrie Underwood concert, I convinced him to try out my favorite venue, The Birchmere. I figured even if he didn't like the show he would at least enjoy the dinner part.

The way seating works at The Birchmere is at 5pm they open and you get a line number at the box office when you come in. We always aim to get there about 4:45pm and the line outside really varies in the length depending on the show, such as we were like 100 last month for Vince Gill and The Time Jumpers and last year for Brandy Clark we were in the first 10. Also, the first time we went we didn't know to arrive before it opened and were near the end of the numbers for The Oak Ridge Boys and really there isn't a bad place to sit.

After you have your line number you can hang out in the bar area that they use for Flex Stage shows. There are some tables to sit at, but depending on the show they can end up all claimed quickly. From the bar you can order drinks and chips and salsa while waiting for them to start calling line numbers to go in for the show around 6pm.

This time we were about 30 from the front, but they ended up waving us over to go in right before they started calling numbers. As someone who has experience with the line numbers, I find this a little unfair considering most of the seating is accessible since you just have to move a chair from the table. However, it does make sense that it is less disruptive to just have you go in first and have your spot before it gets crowded and harder to maneuver.

I usually go for one of the tables on the raised areas to the side, but since we've never tried the center area, we decided to try one the end of one of the front long tables right in the center. The view was probably better than some of the side places I've ended up choosing before, but those side spots right next to the bars mean no heads in the way. Mik found the lighting to be too bright, so next time I think he'd probably like the raised areas on the side better, too.

This time he went with the shrimp tempura on the specials menu. He also enjoyed the soft pretzels and crab dip appetizer that I order almost every time we come. His favorite was probably the chocolate lava cake he had for dessert, though.

Mik ended up enjoying the music, especially the opener Aubrie Sellers (I had been excited she was added after we had tickets because I had chosen Brandy Clark's show over another Aubrie Sellers was opening because I prefer The Bichmere over other venues). However, even before the show he had declared he had to come back because there were at least four headliners (the entree part of the menu) he wanted to try. I guess I'll be getting tickets for him to go with to see The Oak Ridge Boys and Chip.

Destination Info:
The Birchmere
3701 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22305

Disney's Dream: Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats

Date of Visit: December 9-10, 2015

Having found memories of the Sorcerer at Disney’s Soda Fountain, doing the Family Challenge at Vanellope’s was a must for us. It’s also a decent deal for trying out some flavors instead of each getting our own, especially since we didn’t realize it came with 8 toppings.

The flavors we selected were King Candy Ice Cream, Butterscotch Waffle Crunch Ice Cream, Tiramisu Gelato, Key Lime Pie Gelato, Red Velvet & Cookies Gelato, Candy Cane Gelato, White Chocolate and Rhubarb Gelato, and Candy Explosion Gelato. Mik’s favorite was the Red Velvet & Cookies Gelato.

We also couldn’t resist trying some of the other treats. Mik enjoyed the Red Velvet Cupcake.

I tried the peanut butter blondie, but found it had too much chocolate and other stuff. The peanut butter Mickey cookie was very good, though.

The stuff at Vanellope’s is an extra thing to purchase, which is somewhat unnecessary with plenty of included good stuff on the ship, but they’re mostly very reasonably priced for what you get ($19.95 for the Family Challenge and $2.50 each for the other treats we got).