Pretty Sure They Created a New Festival Just For Us - 2 week Jan DR *COMPLETE

Too bad about those croissant doughnuts,they look good,too bad they weren't! Captain's Grill is a favorite of ours as well. We usually get the steak & both love it. I'll have to consider this pasta dish though!! Looks yummy!

:crazy2: Yeah they were just not my thing I guess. Not a fan.

Glad to hear you love Captain's Grille as well! I had the steak a few trips ago and enjoyed it. Ever since I tried the pasta I just can't seem to get anything else. It's going to be a sad day for me when that's gone from the menu.

Great reviews, we love Casey's, we usually hit it up once a trip.

The snacks at Festival of Arts were a bust for you this day! I am glad you liked your appetizers at RC.

The pasta at Captains Grille always looks so good when I see your reviews, I have to try it one of these trips.

I am looking forward to the boat ride to DS in November when we stay at FQ.

Believe it or not that was my first time ever eating at Casey's! I really want to go back for a hot dog next trip.

I definitely recommend the pasta! :thumbsup2 It's sooooo good.

The boat ride is awesome! It was Rob's favorite thing. He's actually a little sad that we are not staying there next trip.

You all most definitely had better luck with the festival of the arts than us. I think we missed all the good booths and you seemed to find them all. We did try and cronuts too and I must tell you even for someone with an adventures palate the chicken mouse one was just plain bad. The other two were definitely much better.

Your meal at Captains Grill looks AWESOME. I have to try that pasta. So right up my alley.

That's too bad! Do you plan on going back for it next year?

I'm glad it wasn't just me with the chicken mouse. Ick!

I would definitely recommend that dish at Captain's Grille. I would eat that once a week if I could get it at home.
 
The next morning was our final HS day of the trip. I can't wait until everything starts to open up here so I care about this park again. This has turned into a 3 hour park for us. And even that is pushing it.

Rob stopped at the Starbucks location for a coffee. The interior theming here is very cute.



I went to Starring Rolls for the last time. :sad:



I ended up not going for a cupcake here like I normally do and got a cheese danish and a cute little carton of Mickey milk.



Yum! I can't get enough of Disney cheese danish. Always so good!

Then it was time for a ride on my favorite, RNRC. Can't believe it was the first time we were riding it this trip!





After a couple more rides it was time for lunch at Mama Melrose. This has become a favorite of ours in the past couple of years.





Look at the construction walls right outside of the restaurant. I'm very worried this place will get demolished in the refurb. :sad2: It's awfully close to the construction. I just feel that announcement coming...



We had a reservation as soon as they opened for the day and we were seated right away.

They started us off with rolls and olive oil.





They have changed the bread here every time we have come, but this was by far my favorite of any of the bread we have had here. The rolls were hot and fresh and went well with the olive oil.

Rob and I both love the appetizers here, so we both got some to start.

Rob had the Fresh Mozzarella and Vine-ripened Tomatoes with balsamic drizzle, olive oil and sweet basil leaves. He really enjoyed this and said everything tasted very fresh.



I had my favorite, the calamari with dipping sauces.



This was delicious as always. I love all three of the dipping sauces. Each one is very different, so it's nice to switch back and forth between the sauces.

For our entrees Rob stuck to his favorite dish here, the Saltimbocca. Pork Tenderloin topped with Prosciutto, Sage, Fontina Cheese, Tuscan Mashed Potatoes, Broccolini, and Lemon Caper Sauce.



He still loved it and said it is one of his favorite dished ever!

I went with something new this time and got the Seafood Cioppino which is shrimp, mussels, calamari, fish of the day, and whole-wheat spaghetti tossed with spicy seafood sauce.



Yum!!! This was really good! And for $24 it was a decent price for what you get, especially by Disney standards. The calamari in this wasn't my favorite, but everything else was delicious. The sauce had great flavor although I personally wouldn't say it was spicy.

No dessert for us as we were super full.

This was a great meal! Service was good and all of our food was excellent. I really hope they keep this place open with all of the changes happening in the park right now as it is the only place in this park I really enjoy eating at. I hear a lot of negative reviews for Mama Melrose, but we always love it here!
 
After lunch we left the park and caught a bus to SSR. From there we walked over to DS for our dessert. Ghirardelli!



Rob had his favorite. Treasure Island - Warm brownie sundae. Two scoops of Vanilla ice cream paired with our warm Ghirardelli chocolate brownie, smothered with handmade hot fudge and topped with whipped cream, chopped almonds and a cherry. He subbed in cookie dough ice cream for the vanilla.



I had my favorite. The Ocean Beach - Sea Salt Caramel Sundae. Vanilla ice cream smothered with creamy caramel, handmade hot fudge and sea salt. Perfectly topped with whipped cream, creamy caramel, sea salt and a Ghirardelli SQUARES milk chocolate. I subbed in butter pecan ice cream for the vanilla.



Yum!!! Always a hit! We love it here! And it was a nice cool day to eat our ice cream outside and people watch.

After our ice cream and a little shopping around the Marketplace area we took the boat back to POFQ, which was wonderful on this beautiful day.







I took a few photos around the resort when we got back. For those of you who have never been to POFQ, you are missing out!









The boat dock to catch the boat to DS.






We love this resort! So peaceful and beautiful.
 
After a little downtime at the room we decided to head back to DS for a movie. It really cooled off, so I finally got to wear a sweater. I'll take this over the heat any day!



First we saw Why Him which was better than we thought it would be.



Then we decided to stay for a double feature and saw the new Underworld even though I didn't see the last Underworld and forget almost everything from the other Underworld movies. :laughing:



After the movie we decided it was finally time to check out Blaze Pizza.





The line was part way out the door, but we decided to wait and honestly the line moves super quick.

Here's a look at some of the signature offerings and desserts on the menu.



If you don't know anything about Blaze let me tell you how it works. You choose your dough, it's only extra for high rise or gluten free, and then you go down the line adding whatever sauce and toppings you want for one flat rate. Easy! It's $8.45 for sauce, cheese and one topping or $9.65 for all the toppings you want. Amazing! Then once you have built your pizza a cashier at the end of the line rings you up for your pizza and whatever sides or drinks you may want. Then your pizza is ready in 180 seconds. How cool is that?

You can get classic red sauce, spicy red sauce, white cream sauce, buffalo sauce or garlic pesto sauce. You can also top it off with a drizzle of pesto, bbq olive oil, ranch or balsamic glaze.

For cheese you can get goat cheese, gorgonzola, mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta or vegan cheese.

For meat toppings you can get bacon, crumbled meatballs, chicken, sausage, pepperoni, salami and ham.

For veggie toppings you have your choice of artichokes, arugula, banana peppers, basil, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, chopped garlic, jalapeños, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, red onion, red pepper, onion, spinach and zucchini.

Here's our pizzas being built.



And this is by the ovens.



The issue we had this time was that when you are waiting for your pizza with a buzzer there seemed to not be the greatest system to ensure people got the correct order. So my pizza came up quickly and then something happened where someone took Rob's pizza, hopefully by accident, but then he had to remake his and wait again. It was a bit annoying, but they were super apologetic about it and offered us drinks and dessert, which we did not take them up on for some reason.

Then we decided to take the bus since it was kinda cold for the boat and boy was that a mistake. We waited 45 minutes for a bus and we weren't even at the front of the line. Our pizza was getting cold and I was getting hangry. Once we finally got back to the resort we could dig into our pizza.



For my pizza I got regular sauce and dough and mozzarella cheese with pepperoni, pineapple, black olives and oregano. My favorite!



The great thing is that Rob hates this pizza and I love it and if I wanted this exact pizza at home it would be more than I can eat and about $16. I love that I can get a pizza the way I want it for this price.

Here's Rob's creation.



I forget everything that was on it but I know there was ham, goat cheese, mozzarella, mushrooms and garlic. He loved it! I don't like what he likes on pizza so this was perfect for him for the same reasons.

Blaze was a hit! We can't wait to go back! And we also got a Passholder discount, so it was super cheap. What a perfect end to the night!
 


POFQ is one of my absolute favorite resorts on property, and I think I've stayed there 5 times...Looks like you are having a GREAT trip!
 
This was a great meal! Service was good and all of our food was excellent. I really hope they keep this place open with all of the changes happening in the park right now as it is the only place in this park I really enjoy eating at. I hear a lot of negative reviews for Mama Melrose, but we always love it here!
I feel like there is a good chance that most of the restaurants in HS might be replaced eventually. Only time will tell.

. Then your pizza is ready in 180 seconds. How cool is that?
We went to Blaze in Feb. and I totally didn't take advantage of the creation part. I think DH and I split a pizza AND went with a pre-determined one... ugh...
 
That's too bad! Do you plan on going back for it next year?
Nope no festival of the arts for us next year, but even better we'll be down for F&W this year!!!



This was delicious as always. I love all three of the dipping sauces. Each one is very different, so it's nice to switch back and forth between the sauces.
Yum!!!! This looks really good. We are all calamari lovers in our family



Yum!!! This was really good! And for $24 it was a decent price for what you get, especially by Disney standards. The calamari in this wasn't my favorite, but everything else was delicious. The sauce had great flavor although I personally wouldn't say it was spicy.
I can't believe you can get seafood ciopinno for only $24. Our favorite Italian place at home has a great one but its like $38. Mama Melrose looks great though. I'm a total Italian food snob (I'm Italian and married to a chef who once owned an Italian restaurant), but iI've been seeing some really stellar reviews of Mama Melrose lately. I'll have to get out of my food snobbery and give it a try.

I had my favorite. The Ocean Beach - Sea Salt Caramel Sundae. Vanilla ice cream smothered with creamy caramel, handmade hot fudge and sea salt. Perfectly topped with whipped cream, creamy caramel, sea salt and a Ghirardelli SQUARES milk chocolate. I subbed in butter pecan ice cream for the vanilla.

After years of seeing you eat this I finally got to try it earlier this month. There was a Ghirardelli in San Antonio while I was down there for work a few weeks ago and I got to try the deliciousness. It definitely lived up to the hype.

It was a bit annoying, but they were super apologetic about it and offered us drinks and dessert, which we did not take them up on for some reason.
Crazy someone took Rob's pizza, though I would have never turned down the drinks ; 0

Blaze was a hit! We can't wait to go back! And we also got a Passholder discount, so it was super cheap. What a perfect end to the night!
That is a great price for the pizza. Wonder how they can support what I can only fathom the Disney Springs rent is at such a low price point. Glad it ended up being good.
 


Blaze looks very good. I wonder if they are on DDP? That reminds me, we tried the chicken meatball pizza @ WPE on your recommendation & Ive been craving it ever since!! I loved it!!! Hope we have enough time in DS, I could make a vaca out of the resort & DS!!
 
Blaze Pizza is my favorite! I love being able to get exactly what I want! Glad you enjoyed it as well!
 
POFQ is one of my absolute favorite resorts on property, and I think I've stayed there 5 times...Looks like you are having a GREAT trip!

POFQ is such a gorgeous resort! It's hard to believe it is a moderate sometimes.

I feel like there is a good chance that most of the restaurants in HS might be replaced eventually. Only time will tell.


We went to Blaze in Feb. and I totally didn't take advantage of the creation part. I think DH and I split a pizza AND went with a pre-determined one... ugh...

That's what I'm thinking. I feel like that park is going in another direction from how it originally started, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Definitely try a build your own one next time! Although, their suggested pizzas also sound great.

Nope no festival of the arts for us next year, but even better we'll be down for F&W this year!!!


Yum!!!! This looks really good. We are all calamari lovers in our family


I can't believe you can get seafood ciopinno for only $24. Our favorite Italian place at home has a great one but its like $38. Mama Melrose looks great though. I'm a total Italian food snob (I'm Italian and married to a chef who once owned an Italian restaurant), but iI've been seeing some really stellar reviews of Mama Melrose lately. I'll have to get out of my food snobbery and give it a try.


After years of seeing you eat this I finally got to try it earlier this month. There was a Ghirardelli in San Antonio while I was down there for work a few weeks ago and I got to try the deliciousness. It definitely lived up to the hype.


Crazy someone took Rob's pizza, though I would have never turned down the drinks ; 0


That is a great price for the pizza. Wonder how they can support what I can only fathom the Disney Springs rent is at such a low price point. Glad it ended up being good.

Yay for F&W! We might book a F&W trip as well for the last week in October. Fingers crossed!!!

Yes! Calamari is a favorite of mine. Rob doesn't like it so I never order it at home. WDW is one of the only places where I get to eat it.

It was a rare deal in WDW to have all that seafood for $24. I totally get the Italian food snobbery. I can get amazing Italian food all over NJ, so it kept us from trying Mama Melrose for many years. I'm glad we finally gave it a try because it is the only place in HS I want to eat lunch at now.

So glad you finally got to try Ghirardelli, even if it wasn't at WDW! It's soooo good!

Yeah, the whole scenario was weird. You would think that someone would have brought it back realizing it wasn't their pizza and wanting the one they actually made. I wouldn't have turned down the free drinks, but Rob did. He has a weird thing about accepting 'freebies' at a restaurant if they make a mistake, which is odd but commendable I suppose.

I guess they make up for it in volume. That place is always insanely packed.

Blaze looks very good. I wonder if they are on DDP? That reminds me, we tried the chicken meatball pizza @ WPE on your recommendation & Ive been craving it ever since!! I loved it!!! Hope we have enough time in DS, I could make a vaca out of the resort & DS!!

I just checked Allears and it does show that they are on the Quickservice DDP. Score!

Oh yay! I'm so glad you liked it. It is so super yummy. I definitely crave that pizza as well.

I could too! Swim at the resort, eat and shop and go to the movies at DS. Not a bad vacation. I really could skip the parks if I had to.

Blaze Pizza is my favorite! I love being able to get exactly what I want! Glad you enjoyed it as well!

Awesome! Yes, it is our new favorite as well. It was a huge hit for us.
 
The next day we decided to make a reservation for breakfast at one of our favorites. Trail's End!

I'm not going to lie. Even though it is fabulous to take the train and just relax and not have to worry about driving to Florida, I hate not having my car down there. Breakfast ressies are 100 times easier when you can drive your car rather than take Disney transportation. We backed out of multiple reservations this trip because we didn't feel like taking multiple forms of transportation to get to another resort. We had been wanting Trail's End this whole trip, but we know that takes our whole morning without the car. Today we had evening park plans (a rarity for us) so we decided to bite the bullet and go to TE.

We took the bus from POFQ to MK and then waited for the boat to FW. It arrived after about 5 or 10 minutes and then we were the only ones on the boat to FW which was nice and relaxing. About an hour after leaving our resort we finally made it to FW.



That drive from POFQ directly to FW takes less than 10 minutes, so you can see why I hate to make the trek without our car. But no matter, breakfast time!





We were seated right away and after placing our drink orders with our server, who was the sweetest older gentleman, we made our way up to the buffet.

My first plate.



The donut holes and tater tots were a nice addition to the buffet. Our favorite thing here is the pulled pork eggs benedict, but sadly that was not very good this time. It was very off. Nothing about it was exactly the way it used to be. I hope that was just a one time issue.

Rob's first plate.



Their yummy juice blend called Moonshine.



I did get a second plate as well.



The pulled pork eggs benedict was still a miss the second time, but it was worth a try. Their breakfast potatoes here are super amazing though. They have yummy bits of beef in them.

We definitely enjoyed our breakfast, despite the miss with the eggs benedict, and service was good, so there is no doubt we will be back. I just hope they get it together with my favorite item next time.

When we headed out to the bus stop we saw some beautiful horses.



So many little touches at WDW that just make your take a little more magical.

Once we took the bus back up to the front of the resort we caught a bus to DS. It was once again a beautiful day. We could not have been more lucky with the weather.



We strolled around and did a little shopping.





Rob treated me to an early Valentine's gift from Alex and Ani. The best thing is that AP holders get a 20% discount here. Awesome! And they have all of the Disney pieces here. It was a gorgeous store.



Then we headed to AMC and saw our favorite movie of the trip, Lion.



If you have not seen Lion, SEE IT NOW! It is so good! I bawled my eyes out though.

After the movie we took the boat ride back to POFQ, which was relaxing and beautiful as always.

 
Later we headed out to AK for the evening.



We never got to AK later in the day and prior to this trip we have never had cooler temps here, so we took the opportunity to explore the park a bit today. We have never done the trails around the Tree of Life, so we took stroll around.









We also got to see the parts at the front of the park and walked around some of those areas that we never see.



After a ride on the safari we stopped at Mr. Kamal's and I got some yummy samosas.





These are my favorite snack in AK! You can find them on the trail from Africa to Asia.

The plan was to ride the safari and Everest in the dark, but I did not book our FPs late enough, so it was still light out, but it was fun!



We also rode Dinosaur. I stuck my tongue out at that mean, grumpy dinosaur.



We had no dinner plans tonight so we took a look at Tiffins and tried to get a glimpse of Pandora behind the walls.



I wasn't feeling the menu at Tiffins tonight, so we decided to head out of the park while we pondered dinner plans.
 
We went back and forth on where to go for dinner and after much discussion we made our way over to Boathouse.



We had not been to any signature restaurants this trip, so we decided this would be our real 'Treat Yo Self' meal. :laughing:

After a bit of a wait we were seated outside along the water.



It was the perfect night to eat outside, so this was a fantastic spot.

I have to tell you, we had the best server EVER here. The best. We went to a manager to talk about how great he was at the end of the meal. His name was Matt S. If you go to Boathouse I suggest you ask for him. He was a sweetheart.

Matt started us off with some rolls.



Hands down, the best rolls on property. When we ate here last time it was for lunch, so I guess thats why we didn't get these, but man were we missing out. We demolished these rolls.

Rob started with some lobster bisque as well, which he really enjoyed.



For my entree I was really torn and almost got a steak, but in the end I went with the New England Lobster Roll.



I had this last time and loved it and I am a sucker for a good lobster roll, so I ended up having it again this night. It was excellent! The bun was perfect. It was slightly too heavy on the mayo for my liking, but it was still very good and the fries were delicious.

So, for Rob's entree I had an epic photo fail, but there's a reason for that.

He went all out and ordered the $50 12oz filet mignon. This piece of steak was massive. He ordered it medium and when it came out it was raw. Not rare, but raw. Rob never wants to send anything back ever, but he was definitely sending this back, so you know it was bad. When our server came over to check on us and Rob apologetically showed him the steak Matt took it away and said, "Oh no, you cannot eat that." He came back with the steak and had Rob take another look at it. It was honestly still much more rare that Rob would normally eat it, but he insisted it was fine even though our server kept offering to take it back again. He did end up eating the whole steak and said it was delicious. I had a bite and it was so good. Matt came back and insisted on giving us free dessert, which much like at Blaze, Rob declined. And I kicked him under the table since I was planning on ordering dessert. :laughing: So instead Matt comped Rob's entire steak. Wow! We did not expect him to do that. Rob kept insisting he didn't have to do that, but Matt insisted and said it was already done. He was so sweet about the whole thing too. So, in all this happening with the steak I never got a picture. Bummer, but I mean, it was a steak, so you get the idea.

Rob was full from his massive steak, but I had enough room for a dessert I had my eye on. NY Style Blueberry Cheesecake.



Look at this beauty! OMG it was delicious. And I was a nice wife and shared a few bites with Rob.

I have to share another story from this meal just because it bothered me. We were sitting outside and at one point a table next to us was cleared and then these three guys came over from the outside bar area and just sat down at the table. They weren't seated, they came over and took the table. Then a hostess came over with 4 people to seat them at this table, looked confused and walked away. Then came back later without the four people and asked them some questions and they lied their way into keeping the table. It made me so mad. They knew they couldn't just sit there. So they cut a massive wait and took someone else's table. They just acted so entitled about the whole thing too. It really bothered me. But oh well, what can you do. We weren't about to let it ruin our night, it was just annoying.

That aside, the whole sending back of the steak thing didn't bother us as they more than made up for it. It was a beautiful night, the food was great and our service was stellar. It was our favorite meal of the trip.



We can't wait to go back to Boathouse!
 
A server can make or break a meal when there is a problem! I'm glad it worked out so well for you two with Rob's steak issue. That's too bad it came out that way!

I've been so spoiled by driving the last 9 years that I can't deal with breakfast reservations without it! I get the annoyance with getting to Fort Wilderness! I just couldn't do it.
 
The breakfast at TE looks great. Maybe some day we will get there.We also don't have a car when at WDW but have decided the last few trips to taxi for some ADRS . Make life easier and worth the $.
I am a big fan of lobster rolls too, the one Capt. Grille has at lunch is good. The last couple of visits their sandwich of the day was a shrimp salad on a croissant so DH and I share.
 
Dang woman, when you post an update you post an update! You two are just the cutest. And I loved your Boathouse review! Totally have my heart set on that lobster roll in September. Hope I'm not disappointed :)
 
Has anyone heard any more about the uber-like service Disney was testing? That would make going from resort to resort a lot easier! I have yet to try Trails End but continue to hear so many good things. I love, love, love the Boathouse! Soooo many yummy items on the menu. Sounds like a terrific server. How rude of those guys to grab that table - what's the matter with people??
 
Blaze pizza looks so good, it is popular with the wait lines. We have tried TE dinner because of your reports and loved it. We have not tried breakfast yet.

I hear you about the breakfast ADR's and relying on Disney transportation, ugh!

We tried the Boathouse in February and we had great food and wonderful service as well. I am glad you both had a great dinner and wow on the steak for free, that was so nice. I had the crab cake and it was delicious.
 
Awesome update. We did Trail's End and Boathouse on our last trip too and they were both hits for us. Our breakfast buffet at TE ended up being a brunch (at 9am!) but you won't find me complaining about Mac and cheese in the morning. It is vacation after all :)

We did lunch at Boathouse and they had those same rolls, so I wonder if they made a change since your lunch reservation there. Either way, I think I ate 3 of them. So yummy!
 
OH NO!! I knew I shouldn't have started reading your reviews! Just booked a surprise 50th trip for my hubby and was able to score great ADRs to some places we have never tried before BUT now I'm rethinking everything because your reviews are making me drool and everything you order is exactly the meal I would order...oh boy!! :) Loving this!
 

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