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

[Sailormoon2]

Those Homecoming drinks sound riddiculously amazing!! I can not wait to try on our next trip!!

 

[KacieD]

I'm jumping in too! Happy to hear a good Nine Dragons review and those dishes looked awesome!

 

[Finkerfell]

When Jerseytinkerbell had a new dining review to read, I know it's going to be a good day!! Yeah!!

 

[Texans_loyal]

LOVE LOVE LOVE nine dragons! so underrated!

Oh and your reports are my favorite

 

[Redwitch]

Now I want to go back to Nine Dragons. It has been years. And Homecomin' - fried chicken and mac n cheese. We sat at the bar our last trip and had full meals, no problems.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I'm so happy you started your new DR, too, along with Kari! You'll both be getting me ready for a girls' trip I'm taking with my sister & my BFF in 49 short days!!!

 

[happy2012]

Rob and I both started with one of our favorites, The Bootlegger. RumShine and dark rum, blackberry jam, house-made grenadine, simple syrup, lime juice.



This drink is ridiculous! The perfect balance of sweet, tart and booze.

Then Rob switched to their Old Fashion and I switched to my absolute number one favorite, The Local. Rum Haven coconut water rum, lime, simple syrup, and fresh pineapple.



These are dangerous.

Then for good measure I got a side of their Mac and Cheese, which I was able to order at the bar with no problem.



Hands down the best mac and cheese I have ever had. It's too good.

After that we hit up our favorite hangout, the AMC Theater, for our first movie of the trip. We saw Passengers, which ended up being totally packed. They also have reserved seating here now, which a lot of people love, but I despise. It somehow makes everyone choose to sit all together in one area. It's a weird phenomenon. People don't choose seats off the little screen like they would actually walking into the theater. I hate it. We had a $5 Stubs reward from our last trip and I had $200 in gift cards for AMC and about 16 free small popcorn vouchers, so we had the Stubs discount, a $4 AP discount, a free popcorn and the rest went on the gist card. Working the deals!

Poor Rob was so exhausted from our long day that he fell asleep and missed about 40% of the movie. It was adorable.

After the movie we were right next to the bus stop, so we took the bus back to POFQ and we were in bed and asleep by 11:30. Not a bad first day!

The drinks look so inventive! The blackberry jam one sounds like my flavor but both look delightful!! Hopefully we can pop in there for some goodies. Fantastic job on workin' those AMC deals too! I do the same thing! More saved to spend elsewhere in WDW!

 

[KnK]

So exited....didn't realize you had a new report!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Following along...I LOVE your reports and I've recently read all of them...

 

[klacey1]

I know Nine Dragons doesn't have the best rep, but I also had a quite good meal there back in the day! Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

 

[cwiklamama]

Following! Love your reports.

 

[HolRae]

Following along. Can't wait to read more.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Ooh! A report! This will help get me through the next few months before my trip! I follow you on IG so I'm looking forward to getting all the details here!

Awesome! Thanks for following along both here and IG!

Excited for another dinning report!

Yay! Welcome!

Drinks look good! The Mac & Cheese also looks perfectly cheese!

Did you enjoy Passengers? The plot definitely changed from the original blacklist edition!

I liked it. I was really hyped for it, then it got bad reviews and I became skeptical and it lowered my expectations so when we saw it I enjoyed it. I didn't think their chemistry together was the best, but they were both good and I was entertained. I haven't seen the full details from the original blacklist version, so now I'll have to look it up online!

So excited for your new report, we tried Nine Dragons last August and we really liked it as well, your food looks really tasty there. We are going to try Homecomin' in August, can't wait. Looks like a great first day!

Thanks for joining in! Glad you enjoyed Nine Dragons as well. I hope you like Homecoming'. And you putting that reminded me that they changed the name to Homecoming'. Not sure why they did that, but oh well. As long as they don't change the food I don't care what they call it!

Exactly! That's why we went, too. It was kind of last minute and we only ended up with 2 full days but we hadn't been in almost a year so it was worth it. I'm just thinking it'll be easier to do one or two longer trips and really enjoy relaxing!


OMG, so cute! The Splash characters are some of my favorites.


Noted! This sounds delicious.

You definitely do let yourself relax more on a longer trip. I love Splash Mountain, so I had to get these. That drink is amazing! I highly recommend.

Looking forward to the rest of your report. Chick Fil A breakfast sandwich is our preflight breakfast at PHL . Really liked the photo of the temple in Alexandria. When we go to DC we try to stay at one of the hotels overlooking the temple (across the street from the Metro so convenient to get into DC)

Thanks! I never get Chick-Fil-A breakfast other than when I am traveling. Probably because I normally sleep until noon when I'm not on vacation. I am never up in time!

That's a great idea for visiting D.C. That would be a great location. And what a view!

Wow, great start! I am seriously going to have to get myself a to-go cocktail (or two...or three...) from Homecoming when I'm there with my youngest in September. The drinks look and sound awesome!

I saw a lot of your pics on Instagram, it looks like you guys had a really fun trip. Can't wait to hear more

Thanks for joining in. Yes! Cocktails to go are the best!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Those Homecoming drinks sound riddiculously amazing!! I can not wait to try on our next trip!!

Oh my gosh, they really are. Hands down the best drinks on property. Or anywhere ever. Hope you enjoy them on your next trip!

I'm jumping in too! Happy to hear a good Nine Dragons review and those dishes looked awesome!

Thanks for joining in! It was so surprisingly good. I can't wait to go back there.

When Jerseytinkerbell had a new dining review to read, I know it's going to be a good day!! Yeah!!

Aww that made my day! Thanks for joining in!

LOVE LOVE LOVE nine dragons! so underrated!

Oh and your reports are my favorite

Thank you so much!!! Another Nine Dragons fan! Most definitely underrated.

Now I want to go back to Nine Dragons. It has been years. And Homecomin' - fried chicken and mac n cheese. We sat at the bar our last trip and had full meals, no problems.

Do it! I can't wait to go there agian. Oh their fried chicken at Homecomin' is so good! And with the hot sauce. Wow.

I'm so happy you started your new DR, too, along with Kari! You'll both be getting me ready for a girls' trip I'm taking with my sister & my BFF in 49 short days!!!

Yay! It's so funny that she and I started on the same day. Great minds. Oh my gosh your trip is so close. A girls trip sounds awesome!

The drinks look so inventive! The blackberry jam one sounds like my flavor but both look delightful!! Hopefully we can pop in there for some goodies. Fantastic job on workin' those AMC deals too! I do the same thing! More saved to spend elsewhere in WDW!

The drinks there are definitely unique. I tried to recreate The Local at home and it just wasn't the same. They put some TLC into those drinks.

You have to work the deals! I paid for this trip with discounted Disney gift cards from BJs which I paid charged to my Discover card to get another 5% back because they had a deal with warehouse stores. The checkout people at BJs hated me for buying so many gift cards, but you do what you have to in order to get that nice savings.

So exited....didn't realize you had a new report!

Thanks for joining in!

Following along...I LOVE your reports and I've recently read all of them...

Wow, thanks so much for checking out all of my DRs! I enjoy writing them, so I am glad you enjoyed reading them.

I know Nine Dragons doesn't have the best rep, but I also had a quite good meal there back in the day! Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

I know, I'm surprised I don't see more love for that on here. That's okay, it makes easier walkups for us right?

Following! Love your reports.

Thanks so much for joining in!

Following along. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for joining in! More reviews tonight once I get home from seeing Beauty and the Beast!!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am following along! I enjoyed your last report and am glad I found this one before you got to far along!

We have never ever eaten here because I always thought, what's the point? I can get Chinese food at home. However, once I really looked at the menu and some Instagram pics I was swayed into giving it a try and so was Rob. We put our names in and our pager went off about 5 minutes later. Score!

I thought this too! But we gave it a try on our last trip and really enjoyed the meal....

Rob and I both got appetizers to start. I got the General Tso's Chicken Buns. Steamed Chinese buns with battered fried chicken breast and General Tso's sauce.

We got these on our last trip. They were really good! I wish my local Chinese place made these.

For my entree I got the Shrimp Typhoon. Golden fried shrimps with fried shallots, garlic spice and a touch of jalapeno.

OMG!!!! This is what we got as well. DH & I got 2 apps and split this. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! So, different than what we would normally get. I would def go back for it specifically.

I did get a mixed drink from there, I couldn't tell you what it was but it was also just ok....

We were crazy full, but we were dying to try their dessert. We got the Banana Cheesecake Egg Rolls with Strawberry Red-Bean Ice Cream.

We were too full when we were done and I wanted to get dessert elsewhere in the world showcase. But that does look good!

I can't believe what a great meal you had at 9 Dragons. I've never heard anything bad about it per se, but never really heard anything about it period. Im a sucker for buns and dumplings so now I have to try those!!!!

The Buns were relish when we had them as well!

 

[mousegear]

I really enjoyed reading your review. I just booked a totally last minute trip and start reading up on some of the reviews to get me going until we actually go!

 

[ammmk6]

Following along! LOVE your trip reports!

 

[pepperandchips]

Yay! So glad I found your report on the early side. I'm buckling in for a long and awesome looking trip!

Nine Dragons actually looks pretty good! I haven't been for the same reasons you gave - we have chinese here at home and I'd rather get something unique at WDW. But I think I'm sold based on the soup dumplings. I'll be opening the menu here in another tab Of course Homecoming looks fabulous as always. I don't know if I'll ever be able to bring myself to drop the "g" on Homecomin(g). I am a bona fide southerner and that's not even how I would say the word... jeez.

Glad you got a great room location at POFQ and had no real trouble with the train on the way down. Can't wait to read more!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

I am following along! I enjoyed your last report and am glad I found this one before you got to far along!


I thought this too! But we gave it a try on our last trip and really enjoyed the meal....


We got these on our last trip. They were really good! I wish my local Chinese place made these.


OMG!!!! This is what we got as well. DH & I got 2 apps and split this. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! So, different than what we would normally get. I would def go back for it specifically.

I did get a mixed drink from there, I couldn't tell you what it was but it was also just ok....


We were too full when we were done and I wanted to get dessert elsewhere in the world showcase. But that does look good!


The Buns were relish when we had them as well!

Thanks for joining in!

Glad you enjoyed Nine Dragons as well! The food was excellent. If only we COULD get that Chinese food at home! Honestly we were too full to eat them as well, but we couldn't help ourselves. We could barely walk around WS after that.

I really enjoyed reading your review. I just booked a totally last minute trip and start reading up on some of the reviews to get me going until we actually go!

Thanks for joining in! I love taking unexpected last minute trips. Its so fun to figure it all out very quickly. It gives you fewer opportunities to rearrange your ADRs 100 times. Hope you have a blast!

Following along! LOVE your trip reports!

Thanks so much for joining in with me again!

Yay! So glad I found your report on the early side. I'm buckling in for a long and awesome looking trip!

Nine Dragons actually looks pretty good! I haven't been for the same reasons you gave - we have chinese here at home and I'd rather get something unique at WDW. But I think I'm sold based on the soup dumplings. I'll be opening the menu here in another tab Of course Homecoming looks fabulous as always. I don't know if I'll ever be able to bring myself to drop the "g" on Homecomin(g). I am a bona fide southerner and that's not even how I would say the word... jeez.

Glad you got a great room location at POFQ and had no real trouble with the train on the way down. Can't wait to read more!

Yay! So glad you're here!

I'm telling you, definitely give Nine Dragons a try. It was so unexpectedly pleasant.

Honestly, I don't want to drop the 'g' either. I feel like a phone saying it like that.

Thank goodness for no train troubles! Phew, I was nervous. While sometimes we get a whammy checking in so early, other times we make out well with better room locations. POFQ is so small that it doesn't really matter, but this was definitely super close, which was great.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

For what was technically our first full day on MLK Day I decided to stay out of parks and do a non-park day. I heard that this day is crazy busy, so we can certainly keep ourselves entertained outside of park. We slept in a bit to recoup from travel and a long first day and left the room shortly after 10am. Just strolling around taking in the views.



We were a short walk over to the boat launch at POFQ, so we took the boat over to Disney Springs.



We walked around the shops for a bit until it was time for our lunch reservation at T-Rex. So excited!



We have never ever eaten here before! I make a reservation every time and every time Rob backs out on me. This time I was determined. You can win contests and awards at my job and they give you points through this system that you can redeem for gift cards and electronics and all kinds of stuff. Well, I win this one particular award every single month and get the equivalent of $75 in gift cards. Before we left for vacation I redeemed some of my points for $150 in Landry's gift cards, so we were eating here for sure this time!

This place always seems like a crazy wait, so I made a reservation for when they opened at 11am. We went over a few minutes early and put our name in and waited outside for our expedition to be called.

We stood there watching construction going on at Paddlefish.



I was so disappointed that they opened right after we left. Same with Planet Hollywood. Oh well, gives us something to look forward to next time right?

They finally called us about 10 minutes later. Jerseytinkerbell, expedition of two!



Rob was loving the bar area. This was where he wanted to sit.



We were seated in the Ice Room, which was pretty neat.



I loved that it changed colors in here.







Rob started with an appetizer. I tried to warn him not to get too full, but he didn't listen to me...

He chose the Chicken Flatbread. Warm flatbread topped with cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan and goat cheese, caramelized onions, drizzled with a balsamic glaze.



He was absolutely in love with this flatbread. He insisted I eat a piece, which I did and it was really good and had a nice flavor to it.

Rob ordered from the specialty insert on the menu for his entree and went with the Triassic Trio.





This was so much food and for under $30 not a bad deal at all. He really enjoyed the dynamite shrimp and scallops in the cheesy sauce.

I have been quite taken by the photos of the nachos I see people getting here, so I went with the nachos for my meal.



OMG these were amazing! And HUGE!!! This picture does not fully show you how massive these nachos are. I love that they do the melted cheese here and not the gross plastic cheese on the nachos. I wish there had been another meat option besides beef because that made this extra heavy, but it was very good. And there were red peppers in this, which are my fav, so I loved that. And I liked the tri-colored chips. I would get these every time.

Our server here was very good. I loved the little meteor shower every so often. I see people talking about how noisy it is in here all the time, but I didn't find it to be bad at all. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I was concerned. It also turns out that someone I went to high school was in the Ice Room with us, which I learned through Facebook while sitting at our table, so that was funny.

Let me tell you, Rob fought this place and it is his new favorite now. He talks about this meal all the time. It was really good and it was free! Free nachos maybe the best thing you can hope for in life, am I right?

We walked around the Springs for a bit to take in some of the new areas that we didn't get a chance to fully appreciate last time. It's so pretty here!









And there's an Orange Bird photo op, so that's a plus.


Eventually we made our way over to the movie theater for a showing of La La Land.



Sitting in the theater with full bellies is immensely enjoyable. As is Ryan Gosling. *swoon*