Title Chosen: World of Friendship! October 2017 Girls Getaway: Aloha to the Poly/ MCO Hyatt p33-4

[amazingact21]

Sorry to hear Skipper Canteen was kind of a bust. It might have been all right if the service was poor but the food was mindblowing or vice versa but to have both a bad server and mediocre food is disappointing. I'm happy that the coconut bar was good, though! I'm a sucker for anything coconut.
Love that you bring your own containers for leftovers at restaurants. Over here in Germany, I've gotten quite used to the lack of plastic that it's always a small shock when I got back to the states. Drinks are served in glass bottles, even at festivals, and you get money back when you drop the empty bottle back at the concession stand. At with beer sold in stores, if you bring the bottles back, there's machines that you place them in and get a small refund. And the breweries just take them, sterilize them, and reuse the bottles. My family doesn't usually have leftovers at restaurants, but I'm going to start bringing a bowl just in case! (I already carry around this little pouch with metal straws and utensils so it wouldn't be much harder.) Thanks for the idea!

 

[natebenma]

Sorry to hear Skipper Canteen was kind of a bust. It might have been all right if the service was poor but the food was mindblowing or vice versa but to have both a bad server and mediocre food is disappointing. I'm happy that the coconut bar was good, though! I'm a sucker for anything coconut.
Love that you bring your own containers for leftovers at restaurants. Over here in Germany, I've gotten quite used to the lack of plastic that it's always a small shock when I got back to the states. Drinks are served in glass bottles, even at festivals, and you get money back when you drop the empty bottle back at the concession stand. At with beer sold in stores, if you bring the bottles back, there's machines that you place them in and get a small refund. And the breweries just take them, sterilize them, and reuse the bottles. My family doesn't usually have leftovers at restaurants, but I'm going to start bringing a bowl just in case! (I already carry around this little pouch with metal straws and utensils so it wouldn't be much harder.) Thanks for the idea!

I wanted to like Skippers a lot more than I did. My go-to at MK is Columbia Harbor House (where we had dined the night before). Not sure if or when I'll be back to Skippers. Under the right circumstances, I would eat there again.

I am glad that the "Skip the Straw" campaign is starting to be a thing here in the US. I have been pretty diligent since the beginning of the year to order my drinks without the straw, and I have both metal and silicone straws that I keep in my car, but Dang! People's habits are hard to change.

Yesterday Mark and I had lunch at the Ninety-nine. I ordered my bubble tea, no straw please. Mark ordered raspberry lemonade, also without a straw. Both came with straws already in the drink! The waitress noticed after she had set the drinks down, then took the straws out. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to be environmentally aware! Then when I asked for a glass of water, it of course came with a straw AND a plastic skewer for the lemon that I didn't want. GRRR!!!

I think straws should be given on request only, or at the very least, the default should be to leave wrapped straws at the table for those who want them.

I carry a variety of plastic containers in my car, and the toughest part was getting into the habit of remembering to bring them into the restaurant. Much like reusable bags at the grocery store. I always get a very favorable response from our servers when they see that I have my own doggie boxes.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

That is awesome that you will get to try FoP!!! Does anyone in your family have any issues with motion sickness?

Yes... me a little. LOL. But I need to see what all the hype is. I'll be fine.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We weren't impressed with Skipper's Canteen either.

 

[natebenma]

Yes... me a little. LOL. But I need to see what all the hype is. I'll be fine.

I don’t usually need to take anything at Disney to deal with the rides but I am a big fan of Bonine a non drowsy form of Dramamine when at universal

 

[Wood Nymph]

I would probably stare at the Skipper Canteen menu for a long time, too. The food is so unusual that you almost have to read the descriptions.

I had this container in my backpack and was able to pack up my leftovers for later. When I go to restaurants at home, I use my own takeout containers so that I don’t need to use Styrofoam or other single-use boxes to bring home any leftovers. It is a habit I am very proud of.

This is a good idea. We have some restaurants that use a cardboard box instead of Styrofoam. But the plastic container from home would mean that you don't have to wait for the wait staff to bring a container to you.

 

[natebenma]

We weren't impressed with Skipper's Canteen either.

I would be willing to give it a second chance, but I'm not sure when that opportunity might happen.

 

[natebenma]

I would probably stare at the Skipper Canteen menu for a long time, too. The food is so unusual that you almost have to read the descriptions.

This is a good idea. We have some restaurants that use a cardboard box instead of Styrofoam. But the plastic container from home would mean that you don't have to wait for the wait staff to bring a container to you.

I hadn't studied up on the menu, because I didn't have plans to go there on this trip!

Another advantage to having our own containers and not having to wait for the server to bring a box as you point out is that it helps us to cut back on what we eat while we are sitting at the restaurant. Quite often we will pack up some of our appetizers or our entrees even before we have finished eating reasonable-sized serving so that we then have another meal for later.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Your last meal at Skipper looked pretty good. Too bad the service "skipped" out on making it a great meal. LOL. At least you got a meal to go! I started bringing containers into parks too just because I know I won't finish everything. Ziplocs also help for half eaten Mickey pretzels...
The slush was pretty good from what I remember. I thought the food was so-so but they changed the menu since I've been so I may try it again.

BTW, we're doing an Epic girls trip in May. Will have to take some pointers from your girls trip reports!

 

[annie170]

Well that's unfortunate that your meal was less than satisfying. Your server sounded like a bit of a dud. You would have thought he would be friendlier, especially because you were alone. That salad sounded really good, though.

I couldn't agree more about straws. I can't tell you how many times I order my drinks without the straw and it's brought with a straw.

I've also been bringing my own Gladware, Tupperware or Ziploc to restaurants for years. I have very strong feelings about protecting the environment. So much so that our three daughters, born in the 1980's, all wore cloth diapers while at home. I used disposable while out of the house or traveling. I was the only one of my friends who washed cloth diapers to cut down on the amount of diapers in landfills. We use a Brita Pitcher and fill reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water. We all need to do our part.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Sorry to hear about your less-than-stellar experience at Skipper Canteen!! We love it and keep going back, but we did have one meal there back in December that wasn't anything to write home about, and where the service wasn't very good. It makes me especially sad that you didn't have a good solo meal here, specifically, because this is the place I dined solo on my last trip and my server went above and beyond to make sure he was making just as many jokes and having as much fun with my tables as his other ones. I like that you bring your own to-go containers! I try to do this too when I remember, so I'll have to keep working on it and take a page from your book! The less single-use waste we put into the world, the better!

 

[amazingact21]

I don’t usually need to take anything at Disney to deal with the rides but I am a big fan of Bonine a non drowsy form of Dramamine when at universal

Do you find Bonine to be less drowsy than the "all day" Dramamine?? I tried the non-drowsy version this past summer and it knocked me out, so I'm on the hunt for one that actually lives up to it's claim of being non-drowsy.

 

[natebenma]

Your last meal at Skipper looked pretty good. Too bad the service "skipped" out on making it a great meal. LOL. At least you got a meal to go! I started bringing containers into parks too just because I know I won't finish everything. Ziplocs also help for half eaten Mickey pretzels...
The slush was pretty good from what I remember. I thought the food was so-so but they changed the menu since I've been so I may try it again.

BTW, we're doing an Epic girls trip in May. Will have to take some pointers from your girls trip reports!

It was really disappointing that I didn't experience any of the antics the restaurant is known for.

I was grateful for my leftovers later that evening but I ate them in an unexpected place.

I did enjoy the slush, but at that point I had iced tea, water, soup and I was sloshing!

Awesome! Who is going on the Epic trip? Where are you staying? I need to get over to your latest report and binge...
ETA- it looks like I can get all the answers and more over on your EPIC pretrippie

 

[natebenma]

Well that's unfortunate that your meal was less than satisfying. Your server sounded like a bit of a dud. You would have thought he would be friendlier, especially because you were alone. That salad sounded really good, though.

It was bad enough that the waiter didn't joke around, but then he ghosted me. I was pretty annoyed when I had to remind him about the slush and it still took a long while to arrive.

I couldn't agree more about straws. I can't tell you how many times I order my drinks without the straw and it's brought with a straw.

I've also been bringing my own Gladware, Tupperware or Ziploc to restaurants for years. I have very strong feelings about protecting the environment. So much so that our three daughters, born in the 1980's, all wore cloth diapers while at home. I used disposable while out of the house or traveling. I was the only one of my friends who washed cloth diapers to cut down on the amount of diapers in landfills. We use a Brita Pitcher and fill reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water. We all need to do our part.

That is fantastic!

When people ask about cases of water bottles at Disney, I try to encourage them to bring a reusable bottle and buy gallon jugs of water.






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[natebenma]

Sorry to hear about your less-than-stellar experience at Skipper Canteen!! We love it and keep going back, but we did have one meal there back in December that wasn't anything to write home about, and where the service wasn't very good. It makes me especially sad that you didn't have a good solo meal here, specifically, because this is the place I dined solo on my last trip and my server went above and beyond to make sure he was making just as many jokes and having as much fun with my tables as his other ones. I like that you bring your own to-go containers! I try to do this too when I remember, so I'll have to keep working on it and take a page from your book! The less single-use waste we put into the world, the better!

I'm sure I would enjoy trying other things from the menu on a return trip. We'll see.

The hardest part of using your own containers is remembering them. I keep them in my car, so even if I forget to bring them into the restaurant, it is just a short walk to go back and get them. If I go out with friends in their cars, I have to remember to get the containers before we leave!

 

[natebenma]

Do you find Bonine to be less drowsy than the "all day" Dramamine?? I tried the non-drowsy version this past summer and it knocked me out, so I'm on the hunt for one that actually lives up to it's claim of being non-drowsy.

I have never tried Dramamine, so I can't compare them. None of my family gets drowsy when we take Bonine, but we are at active places like Universal where we are on the go so I don't know if that is a factor.

 

[Wood Nymph]

When people ask about cases of water bottles at Disney, I try to encourage them to bring a reusable bottle and buy gallon jugs of water.

I always see cases of bottled water getting unloaded from cars and it is such a waste. And then I see these same bottles left in laundry rooms and hallways at the resort because people don't drink all that water.

 

[natebenma]

I always see cases of bottled water getting unloaded from cars and it is such a waste. And then I see these same bottles left in laundry rooms and hallways at the resort because people don't drink all that water.

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm sorry it wasn't the best meal! That's so smart of you to carry your own tupperware!

 

[Mopedmom1]

Do you find Bonine to be less drowsy than the "all day" Dramamine?? I tried the non-drowsy version this past summer and it knocked me out, so I'm on the hunt for one that actually lives up to it's claim of being non-drowsy.

I have used Bonine for DECADES because it does not make me sleepy. Sometimes if I take too much or haven't eaten enough it can leave me feeling a little woozy but not enough to affect my day.