16 Day Spring Break! I'm An Adult, I Do What I Want ;) *Update 8/17 Complete!

[alohamom]

Oh WOW-those pizzas from WPE look amazing! I think that will be on the list for the next trip. Great report so far...

 

[momof3princes]

How fun to see many movies That pork belly would not be something I would want to eat either. The Crab Rangoon looked really good and there is nothing better than a WPE pizza

 

[ariane37]

We're big fans of WPE, too! Ugh, when you described the sangria you ordered at Morimoto I started getting excited, until you said it seemed a bit dry Oh well, DH isn't really dying to go there anyway but I'm hoping one day to make it.

On the movie note, you guys like 10 Cloverfield Lane? We definitely don't get to the movies as often as we'd like, and I've been wanting to see that one

 

[Li Li]

Joining in, love reading your dining reviews!

 

[MissKIA]

That pizza does look delicious. I only wish my next trip was for about 3 weeks so I could get everything in that I want to try!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

See, my husband thinks I'm crazy for cutting all the fat off of pork belly. I just can't imagine eating pork belly with all that gristle. I've had pieces too that trim the fat enough to where it is edible.

We had the "bacon and eggs" app at the Wave and I think they prepared it properly...or I just got a less fatty piece.

Okay, well I'm glad it's not just me with the pork belly. It can be done right, it just definitely wasn't for me on that dish.

It sounds funny, but I always think of your DRs when I walk by that AMC on my trips. I agree with you about not needing to be in the parks for all hours of the day. I love to spend time at the resorts or DS and it has become a huge part of how I vacation in WDW. Ditto for pool time! I can't believe I'm saying this as years ago the park commando in me would have laughed. I think we know better having gone so much!

I'm excited to hear what you thought of Morimoto when you went back later in the week. I'm bummed I missed it on our last trip, but time goes too fast in WDW for all the places you want to eat.

I'm waiting patiently for your Ghirardelli posts, too. I need to daydream about that ice cream and the smell of the store. Perfect.

That is awesome that walking past that AMC always makes you think of my DRs. Love it! When going to WDW is a rare thing for people, being in the parks all day seems like the right thing to do, but as often as we go there now the stuff outside of the parks is what really makes vacation fun for us. Once you have a firm grasp of wher everything is and what you like or don't like it's easier to condense your park time. I love spending time at all of the different resorts. I love pool time also! The only bummer this trip was we barely did the pool. It was not hot at all, which is great for being out and about walking around, but I did miss that awesome relief of cooling off and winding down in the afternoon at the pool everyday.

There is never enough time to fit in all the food you want at WDW. Even in 16 days! Sometimes it felt like we were eating just to eat on this trip.

Ghirardelli is coming up! You know we couldn't go too far into the trip without it.

Joining in! I love your reports!

Thanks so much for joining in!

Oh man, those buns look amazing! Disappointing to hear they were too fatty but I definitely want to put Morimoto's on a future itinerary. Fun tradition to do movies on your trip! Whatever makes you guys happy.... speaking of which, those pizzas would make me really happy! They look delicious. Great report!!

Morimoto is definitely worth a visit. It didn't love it like I thought I would, but I will absolutely eat there again. We definitely do love our movie tradition. When we retire we just want to spend everyday at that theater. The pizzas were awesome. We actually had quite a few this trip. I think we should be ambassadors for WPE.

I have yet to try AMC theaters, though my DH and big kids got to see The Force Awakens there on Christmas Day. When my 3 year old is a little more movie ready, I plan to go, as it looks awesome! Looks like you made great use of your gift cards!

That sounds like that would be a fun Christmas day movie experience! You definitely should check it out as well. It will be fun when you can take your little one to Disney movies!

I soooo need to get my hubby to read your reports! I really want to try Wolfgang but can't reall convince him!
Thanks for the update!

You have to convince him! It is so worth it. It is absolutely one of our favorite spots in WDW. All the food I have had there has been delicious.

I thought the same thing about the pork buns! I have had pork belly multiple times before but the way it congealed on this dish was awful!

That stinks that you didn't like it either, but I'm glad I'm not alone on that one. It's a shame too because the flavors were awesome. Maybe a different protein would help.

Truth be told, I wasn't wowed by Trader Sam's. Blasphemy, I know. Do you suggest any particular room/location requests at SSR to be closest to Disney Springs and be able to walk over?

Sorry your initial Morimoto experience was underwhelming. I haven't visited yet but have heard similar comments about the service. I will be interested to see what you think about your full dinner.

Ok, I am totally out of it as I haven't even heard of the movies you saw.

Love WPE. Good to know they can pack it to-go.

I hear ya. We enjoyed it at Trader Sam's, but we didn't even make the effort to go back there this trip, so what does that tell you. We were in Congress Park at SSR. I requested to be near the walkway to DTD. We could walk from our room at WPE in 5 minutes flat. It was awesome! We got super lucky with where they put us this time. Room 1223 was a winner.

Our Morimoto experiences were odd. I can't say I love or hate it, but I will go back again next time.

I can't say I blame you with the movies. We are just total movie nerds, so we know them all. The good and the bad.

WPE to go is a breeze. You just let them know you want it to go when you order and they still give you a number and you grab a seat, but when it's ready they bring out everything boxed up for you and then you can head out with it. It's super easy. We rarely eat in there anymore. We usually choose the to go option.

I have to say, I saw you respond to another post the other day and I wondered to myself .."Wow, it's been a long time since they've been to the World and I wish they had a trip soon because Jeri writes the best food TRs!!"

and POOF! my wish was granted!!

and for the record, I love the *idea* of pork belly, but I do NOT do "wiggly" things in my meat so I think it's a NO-GO for me!

That's awesome! A little pixie dust, right?

Yeah, I would definitely be choosy about any pork belly you may decide to try. I've had good, but now I've had bad too.

Well that is a shame Morimoto was a let down. For some reason it isn't on my must do list. Your drink pics look good!

If you do Morimoto in the future I would say just stick to maybe drinks and apps if the situation presents itself. If it isn't a high priority a full meal there may not be the way to go.

I've really enjoyed your past trip reports so I'm excited to be joining in here! How amazing that you guys got to do 16 days!!! Doing a two week trip is definitely on my Disney bucket list...it seems like it would be so relaxing and wonderful to have that much Disney time stretching out in front of you. I always do shorter trips so I feel like I have to GO GO GO to maximize my time.

My partner and I also love going to the movies, and I'm sure I could convince him to do a double feature at AMC when we finally do a longer trip. (BTW, I don't usually like to pay for membership cards, but I find the Stubs card is so worth it if you go to the movies a lot. I am usually the one to order tickets for our group of friends...that's a great way to rack up the points and freebies!)

Thanks so much! We are definitely pretty lucky to be able to go for over two weeks at a time. It feels like we get more out of it too than if we do one week during the beginning of the year and one week later in the year. It feels more relaxing this way. And I only have to make the drive once!

I highly recommend a trip to the movie theater. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon or maybe a rainy day. I feel the same about paying for the card. I have resisted buying it in the past for that reason, but we definitely made it worth our while. Ordering everyone else's tickets is a great idea too!

My DD is very keen to try out AMC during our treat as a belated birthday treat. Want to try some food delivered to the seat - such a novelty for us

In all these times there we still haven't done the dine in side of the theater! I really want to try it, but we never go there hungry. One of these days we'll give it a try.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Oh WOW-those pizzas from WPE look amazing! I think that will be on the list for the next trip. Great report so far...

Thank you! WPE pizza is amazing. Such a treat.

How fun to see many movies That pork belly would not be something I would want to eat either. The Crab Rangoon looked really good and there is nothing better than a WPE pizza

We always have a blast at the movie theater. The Crab Rangoon was amazing! Definitely the best I have ever had. And you're absolutely right about WPE pizza!

We're big fans of WPE, too! Ugh, when you described the sangria you ordered at Morimoto I started getting excited, until you said it seemed a bit dry Oh well, DH isn't really dying to go there anyway but I'm hoping one day to make it.

On the movie note, you guys like 10 Cloverfield Lane? We definitely don't get to the movies as often as we'd like, and I've been wanting to see that one

Yeah, the sangria was disappointing for me. It does sound so good though right?

We loved 10 Cloverfield Lane! It was my husband's favorite movie of the trip. It was definitely worth a trip to the theater.

Joining in, love reading your dining reviews!

Thank you so much for joining in with me again!

That pizza does look delicious. I only wish my next trip was for about 3 weeks so I could get everything in that I want to try!

I know that's right! I need a good solid month to feel like I got everything I wanted. That's not too much to ask for right?

 

[auntfrannie]

Put me in the underwhelmed by Morimoto Asia as well. I don't think it's anything above what I can get locally at much better prices. The fact that they keep doing media events with free food leads me to think they're not seeing the business they want to see nor the positive reviews. Unless you count those going for the free media events that **gush** over how wonderful it is.

Sounds like a great start to your vacation!

 

[Vernie822]

I've heard rave reviews, and some not so rave reviews, about Morimoto. Eventually I would like to try, but we have an amazing Asian restaurant here with Thai, sushi, hibachi, Chinese.. so it's hard to want to try Morimoto when we eat there like once a month at home, haha!

 

[toomuchtv]

I've heard rave reviews, and some not so rave reviews, about Morimoto. Eventually I would like to try, but we have an amazing Asian restaurant here with Thai, sushi, hibachi, Chinese.. so it's hard to want to try Morimoto when we eat there like once a month at home, haha!

That's how I feel about Teppan Edo. There is a Japanese Steakhouse close by home that I *love*, and we had gone there about a week before I went to Teppan Edo for the first time. So while it was a very good, I didn't see the big deal about it.

I like Morimoto on Iron Chef, though, so it's on my list of restaurants to check out.

 

[disneemama]

Just stumbled on your TR and def joining in. I was searching for DR, plus just booked POR Royal Room and a res @Teppan Edo.
Looks like your reviews are very popular. Is TeppanEdo a place my granddaughters would be comfortable in, is it kid friendly? (ages 4&2ish)
Thanks in advance

 

[TeresaNJ]

Those pizzas look delicious! I wonder if WPE have gluten free pizza.

 

[LanaBear-ox]

I'm joining in! Love your DR already and can't wait to read more from you

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Put me in the underwhelmed by Morimoto Asia as well. I don't think it's anything above what I can get locally at much better prices. The fact that they keep doing media events with free food leads me to think they're not seeing the business they want to see nor the positive reviews. Unless you count those going for the free media events that **gush** over how wonderful it is.

Sounds like a great start to your vacation!

That is usually my biggest problem with Asian inspired restaurants in WDW. I feel like I can get something equally as good, but a third or less of the proce back at home. I will definitely give them props on the crab rangoon though. That was better than what I can get at home. I wonder how they are doing as well. It seemed pretty packed when we were there, but we were also there for the busy season.

I've heard rave reviews, and some not so rave reviews, about Morimoto. Eventually I would like to try, but we have an amazing Asian restaurant here with Thai, sushi, hibachi, Chinese.. so it's hard to want to try Morimoto when we eat there like once a month at home, haha!

I totally hear ya. Living in New Jersey I feel that way about eating Italian while at WDW. I can definitely get as good or infinitely better at home, so it's hard to justify eating at say, Tutto Italia.

That's how I feel about Teppan Edo. There is a Japanese Steakhouse close by home that I *love*, and we had gone there about a week before I went to Teppan Edo for the first time. So while it was a very good, I didn't see the big deal about it.

I like Morimoto on Iron Chef, though, so it's on my list of restaurants to check out.

I agree. We can get something very similar to Teppan Edo here at home, so we have never eaten there. I just can't justify the price or wasting an ADR there when there is so much that WDW has that I can't get at home.

Just stumbled on your TR and def joining in. I was searching for DR, plus just booked POR Royal Room and a res @Teppan Edo.
Looks like your reviews are very popular. Is TeppanEdo a place my granddaughters would be comfortable in, is it kid friendly? (ages 4&2ish)
Thanks in advance

Thanks for joining in! You will love POR's Royal Rooms! I actually have never eaten at Teppan Edo. One of the few places at WDW I have yet to experience. From what I read it definitely seems kid friendly. It seems somewhat interactive and fun. I would suggest maybe looking into Garden Grill for when you are at Epcot. The food is AMAZING and the character experience there with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale is so fun. It would be great for your young granddaughters.

Those pizzas look delicious! I wonder if WPE have gluten free pizza.

I don't recall seeing a gluten free option, but I won't swear to it.

I'm joining in! Love your DR already and can't wait to read more from you

Thanks so much for joining in!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

The next morning we were up super early to make Rope Drop at MK. Once we were ready we walked over to Riverside Mill Food Court to grab a quick breakfast. My favorite quick breakfast option. Disney Cheese Danish!


Behold it's cheesy icing amazingness. Disney cheese danish are the best. I don't know how they do it, but no other danish compares to this one.

Once we scarfed down our danish we went out to catch the bus and got to ride one of the big new accordion style buses. Those things are massive! It feels like you walk to the back for ages. Our first time on one of these monsters and boy oh boy was it full.

We made awesome time and arrived before the Rope Drop show even happened. I have some cute videos of the show posted on my Instagram in case you have never seen the show. I love it! It starts your day off on a high note.



We went right back to Fantasyland and waited no more than 10 minutes for Peter Pan, walked right onto IASW, then we used our FP to ride SDMT which we never even got a chance to ride last year, so I was thrilled to finally ride it again. And with the FP we waited less than 5 minutes. Then we rode Little Mermaid with absolutely no wait and snapped this pic in line.



HM had a huge line at this point, so we went to Adventureland so Rob could grab his all-time favorite treat. A Dole Whip!



This building is kinda creepy and cool.



We waited FOREEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEEEERRRRRR behind one girl who asked the CM 87 different questions about the ingredients of the ice cream and even demanded to inspect one of the bags they use in the mixture. It was insanity. One person in front of us and it was our longest wait time of the day.

Rob was so happy to finally have his treat in hand that he took a big bite of it before I could snap a pic. So here it is, a Dole Whip float, minus one Rob-sized bite.



Then we rode Jungle Cruise which had a posted wait time of 30 minutes, but we only waited for 10. Then we rode POTC and waited only 10 minutes and had a great ride experience. No one taking flash pictures or anything. A Disney miracle!

On our way to BTMR to use our next FP Rob wanted to get the loaded waffle fries we had last time as our lunch. We were hoping they were open and they were! Except, no more amazing waffle fries loaded with various fatty treats. Just plain waffle fries. WHY?!?! Not cool Disney. Don't give us pork treats and then take them away. Uncool.

Since we missed out on our anticipated lunch experience we had to find an alternative plan. What will we do?

 

[suse66]

There is just something so delicious about a Disney cheese danish! Can't wait to find out where you had lunch!

 

[lw4486]

Joining in! Great reviews!

 

[gardengirl628]

Never experienced the cheese danish...but your picture is making me rethink that!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

There is just something so delicious about a Disney cheese danish! Can't wait to find out where you had lunch!

There really is! It's my favorite. I'm sad it was my only one of the trip.

Joining in! Great reviews!

Thanks so much!

Never experienced the cheese danish...but your picture is making me rethink that!

Oh, you must try it! It is so good.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

After our waffle fry failure we decided to give the newest option in MK a try. Skipper Canteen!





Located in Adventureland across from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, this new addition to MK was something we were pretty excited to try this trip. While I love the food in WDW, don't get me wrong, so many of their options are 'safe' and sometimes boring. This seemed like something different and I was pumped to see the Jungle Cruise theming within the restaurant. When we were there in March they were only accepting same day ADRs, so we figured we would have a good shot at a walk up and we were absolutely right. We were seated immediately. I quickly bonded with every single server in the place over my Parkbound button I was wearing that day with a killer Mean Girls reference. Seriously, like every server came to our table to see the button. It was awesome.

Our server Kelly was AWESOME! They hit you with some Jungle Cruise tour guide-like humor and she was on point with that. She was quick, friendly and had great suggestions with the menu. And speaking of the menu.





We started off with drinks. The Exotic Coca Cola selections caught our eye.



She recommended them and did an awesome job of describing these unique international soda offerings. She also said that if we didn't like what we got we could swap for a regular Coke product or that we could even swap from one of the exotic offerings to the other for our refills as well. Sounds like a win! I went with the Guarana Kuat from Brazil which she described as being like cream soda and she said was highly caffeinated. I needed a turbo boost, so I went with that option.



It was exactly as described and was pretty tasty!

Rob had the Fanta Melon Frosty from Thailand.



I had a sip and loved it. I switched to that drink for my refill. It was my favorite of the two. Same for Rob.

Our meal started with their bread service.



The bread was delicious. Very warm and fresh. It came with a sweet honey dipping oil. I normally love a sweet with a savory like this, but I didn't care for the dipping mixture. It was so sickeningly sweet. Rob doesn't like sweet with savory so he didn't love it either. It would have been better with some type of lightly flavored butter.

For our appetizer we split S.E.A Shu Mai, a blend of pork, shrimp, mung beans and spices wrapped in gyoza skin then steamed.



These were delicious! And super filling. I was so glad Rob agreed to split these.

For our entrees Rob went with the Rice Noodle Bowl. Pho broth served with choice of chicken, duck breast, or tofu, served with jalapenos and mix of fresh herbs. He chose the duck.



You can't tell from the picture but there was a ton of duck in there. He really enjoyed this entree quite a bit.

I went with the Trader Sam's Head-on Shrimp. Sustainable local farm raised shrimp tossed in chili-garlic sauce and served with Chinese broccoli and five-grain rice.



This was absolutely delicious! The chili-garlic sauce was slightly sweet with a hint of spice and had so much flavor. I could have eaten a whole bowl of those shrimp. I really loved the rice too. Even after I was full I couldn't stop picking at it. I wasn't crazy about the broccoli, but I wasn't complaining. Everything else about the dish was great.

Even though we were full we decided to split dessert. We easily agreed on the Kungaloosh! (The exclamation point is included in the name, so how could we not.) An African-inspired Chocolate Cake with caramelized bananas served with cashew-caramel ice cream topped with coffee dust.



Yum!!!! This was so, so, so good. We both regretted not getting our own.

I loved it here! I wish I had taken pictures of the inside of the restaurant because it was really neat. This was a total success for us and it was great to eat something so unique within the park. I hear they are making changes to the menu, which makes me sad but doesn't surprise me. We actually witnessed 3 or 4 different families come all the way in, be seated, look at the menu and leave. And made a fuss about leaving while complaining about the menu and the prices. I felt bad for the servers. This must be a common occurrence. But we definitely loved it and would return, depending on the menu changes. Hopefully they just add a burger or something to keep the masses happy, but leave the unique options on to please others like myself. We shall see.

After lunch we walked over to Tomorrowland. Buzz had a huge line, so Peoplemover it is. We needed to relax after our big meal.




Then we went back over to Fantasyland to use our final FP of the day to ride Peter Pan a second time.

The crowds were picking up big time, so we were out of the park by 1pm. 9 rides, lunch and a snack in MK within 3 hours isn't bad. We'll take it. Mark MK as a success on this day.