Yes I would like a free birthday dessert...A Dining Trip Report *Updated 6/19 Be Our Guest* COMPLETE

MAY 23rd - TUESDAY
YACHTSMAN STEAKHOUSE
Today ended our stay at the Grand Floridian and our switch to our second hotel, the Boardwalk Villas. I was really excited about staying here. It was the first time I had stayed at an Epcot resort and we were staying in a one-bedroom villa. After sadly not getting my only request of a king bed for the last hotel I was excited to know one was guaranteed with this new room. Of course today was the only day I wish I could have slept in late, so instead of going to get breakfast with my boyfriend I sent him to get it and stayed sleeping a little longer. We checked out of our room close to 11am and made our way over to the Boardwalk.

I had been nervous before getting here because of advisories warning about limited parking and construction going on. We found a parking spot almost immediately pretty close to the building and I'm happy to say we never saw any construction. The most we saw was someone painting the wall in the hallway one morning.

Our room was not ready, which I expected, so we left our bags with the bell service and off we went to Hollywood Studios. We took the boat over, which was a fun new experience compared to the monorail. Only thing is I wish they ran more frequently, if you missed a boat it could be a while before you saw another one. This was something I noticed was more common when it was really busy, not when it was a slower time of the day.

The day was really hot and I was sleepy so we stopped to get some coffee for me.

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We went to a stand selling Joffrey's coffee and I got a frozen cappuccino. It was not as refreshing as I would have hoped and I didn't end up finishing it. I've had it before in Epcot and liked it a lot more over there.

It was around lunch time and we had just finished riding Toy Story Mania so we walked over to an outside booth selling hot dogs and pretzels. We had originally had a reservation at Sci-Fi but had cancelled a couple days before because the time just wouldn't work in our schedule. I forgot to take pictures of the food, but did take a picture of the booth.

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I had gotten a pretzel with cheese and my boyfriend had gotten a hot dog. I didn't really like the pretzel so I ended up eating the second half of the hot dog instead. My boyfriend is pretty familiar with me eating his food instead of mine. The cheese was terrible, not real cheese and not hot or melty in it's little cup. Not a fan. The hot dog was a pretty standard hot dog and I liked it. One thing that was annoying, we were in this alley of Toy Story, but because of the construction we couldn't go down to the end where the star wars ride was. We had to walk all the way back the way we had come and circle around the buildings to get there.

Around 2pm we got a text saying our room was ready. I was excited since I know the villas aren't normally ready until 4pm and it was a crowded week here at Disney with the holiday and Pandora previews. I had booked a standard one-bedroom villa and was excited to see we had been upgraded to a pool/garden view! I also got both of my requests for this room. I had wanted to be on a high floor near the lobby. We were on the fourth floor and pretty close to the elevators. Our room looked out at the main clown pool, with another giant tree in our view :P

Also, unlike the Grand Floridian, they went above and beyond to celebrate my birthday. We got to the door and found a balloon tied to the front and I was given a card signed by Mickey himself.

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I think this hotel might be one of my new favorites and I'll definitely be staying here again.

Now it was time to get ready for dinner. We showered and got all dressed up for our fancy steak dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. I had heard nothing but great reviews for this place and was really excited to try it. We decided to take the boat across so that we wouldn't get all sweaty. Of course we arrived as they were pulling away and waited ten minutes for the next one. We ended up being a minute late to our reservation, but they said it was fine.

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The pool here looks really amazing and I want to stay here to experience it one day. Right now I am booked to stay for an upcoming trip in September, but might switch it to a Magic Kingdom hotel because we are thinking about doing the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party for the first time. Not sure if I can give up this awesome looking pool, though.

After basically running to get to our reservation on time we finally made it!

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We checked in and they told us it would be a five minute wait. When 15 minutes had gone by my boyfriend asked how much longer it would be. They looked confused and saw that our ticket had been printed out, but they had forgotten to come get us. After this though everything was 100% perfect and one of the best meals we had on this trip.

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They have a window when you first enter that has all the butcher cuts they serve. Just now I'm noticing there is a window on the other side with people sitting. That's an interesting thing to be able to look at your entire meal. I'm not sure if that room is Captain's Grille or part of Yachtsman.


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They also have an open kitchen.

We were seated at a nice large table and handed our menus. Mine was customized with my name wishing me happy birthday. After we ordered they took my menu and rolled it up with a pretty bow for me to take home.

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The first thing brought out was the bread. OMG. This was amazing. The roasted garlic was amazing. The special pull apart onion bread was amazing!

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After finishing our first basket of bread we were asked if we wanted more and picked the special bread to have more of. It was so good I wish I could have some now. I was also starving since I barely had eaten anything for lunch.

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For an appetizer we got the Jumbo shrimp cocktail. We had wanted to share something and this was what we could agree upon.

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I ordered the 6oz filet mignon. I changed it up a bit and had the peppercorn sauce added and took another side dish of potato au gratin. You can choose from any of the sides and sauces that come with other cuts.

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This was cooked to perfection (I like a medium well) and loved it so much!

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Based off of opinions of people on here I ordered the truffle mac and cheese. This was AMAZING!! Definitely order this when you go. I barely at my side because I focused on this instead.


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My boyfriend got the prime rib and didn't change the side or sauce for his. He really liked this. Both of our plates were cleaned. I ended up taking my potato to go and we put it in our fridge to have for a snack a few days later. (It's nice having a kitchen on vacation)

We were stuffed so we passed on dessert. Of course that didn't stop them from bringing me a free birthday dessert. :)

This was soooo good. I have no idea what was in it but it was delicious. Chocolate vanilla cake thing or something but so good.

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When we were leaving and going back down the dock I saw a bunny :)

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So my opinion on Yachtsman Steakhouse. This place is amazing! They treat you so well and cook their food to perfection. My boyfriend said we have to go back here so it's on the list of returns. If you love steak you definitely need to go here.

Up next...Monsieur Paul
 
We are staying at BWV on our next trip and also have a standard, 1 bedroom booked. In the past we've stayed at AKL and LOVED it. I have been second guessing our choice of Boardwalk, but hearing you say you would stay there again is encouraging. Would you mind sharing what you liked about it?

I could be won over to Yachtsman. Normally a steakhouse doesn't sound terribly appealing to me since we have a pescetarian and a vegetarian in our group, but that truffle mac and cheese looks amazing.
 
We are staying at BWV on our next trip and also have a standard, 1 bedroom booked. In the past we've stayed at AKL and LOVED it. I have been second guessing our choice of Boardwalk, but hearing you say you would stay there again is encouraging. Would you mind sharing what you liked about it?

I could be won over to Yachtsman. Normally a steakhouse doesn't sound terribly appealing to me since we have a pescetarian and a vegetarian in our group, but that truffle mac and cheese looks amazing.
We are going up for a weekend in August and staying at the Animal Kingdom villas (not DVC members but like the guaranteed king bed I need my stretching space lol) I LOVED the Boardwalk Villas. We are definitely going back. The room was great, I really liked being upgraded, and how nice everyone was there. I liked the pool even with the creepy clown. It wasn't crowded when we went and we got chairs easily. I liked the convenience of being able to boat or walk to two different theme parks. It's really great when leaving at night and you don't have to wait for any sort of transportation. I think the building was very charming and cute looking. I liked the boardwalk and how there is little entertainment things out there. There is an adult bar and dance hall if that is something you wanted. We didn't go this trip, but might on another. I also found our room to be very quiet we didn't hear anything from neighbors or outside.

Before the trip I was second guessing us staying there and had thought about switching over to the Beach or Yacht club, but they were sold out so couldn't. I'm really glad I didn't because this is at the top of our list of hotels to return to. Definitely keep your reservation :) you are going to love it.

Yachtsman was so good in every course we got I'm sure they make fish and vegetarian dishes well too. That truffle mac and cheese was so good I wish we had ordered one to go.
 
We are going up for a weekend in August and staying at the Animal Kingdom villas (not DVC members but like the guaranteed king bed I need my stretching space lol) I LOVED the Boardwalk Villas. We are definitely going back. The room was great, I really liked being upgraded, and how nice everyone was there. I liked the pool even with the creepy clown. It wasn't crowded when we went and we got chairs easily. I liked the convenience of being able to boat or walk to two different theme parks. It's really great when leaving at night and you don't have to wait for any sort of transportation. I think the building was very charming and cute looking. I liked the boardwalk and how there is little entertainment things out there. There is an adult bar and dance hall if that is something you wanted. We didn't go this trip, but might on another. I also found our room to be very quiet we didn't hear anything from neighbors or outside.

Before the trip I was second guessing us staying there and had thought about switching over to the Beach or Yacht club, but they were sold out so couldn't. I'm really glad I didn't because this is at the top of our list of hotels to return to. Definitely keep your reservation :) you are going to love it.

Yachtsman was so good in every course we got I'm sure they make fish and vegetarian dishes well too. That truffle mac and cheese was so good I wish we had ordered one to go.

Thank you! This is all good to hear. We are renting DVC points so I doubt we'll be upgraded, but it's nice that they went to so much trouble to make your birthday trip special. Sounds like they have a great staff. That's a plus in our opinion!

Still drooling over that mac and cheese photo . . .

Edited: Have you stayed at AKL before? Are you staying in Jambo House or at Kidani? Jambo is GORGEOUS!!!! The restaurants are wonderful, too. And of course, it's always fun to see the animals. It feels like a vacation within a vacation. I really hope you have a great visit there.
 


Have you stayed at AKL before? Are you staying in Jambo House or at Kidani? Jambo is GORGEOUS!!!! The restaurants are wonderful, too. And of course, it's always fun to see the animals. It feels like a vacation within a vacation. I really hope you have a great visit there.
Yes, it was actually my first ever Deluxe hotel. I stayed there with a friend before Kidani was even built and we had booked a standard and were upgraded to a savannah view. It was amazing. This time we booked a one-bedroom at Kidani. Jambo didn't have any discounts so it would have been $400 more and I really wanted the one-bedroom and I had read that in Jambo they are only on the high floors whereas Kidani you can be on any floor, I want a good view for the animals. This trip is mostly about hanging out at the resort not so much the parks. It'll be my boyfriends first time there I'm excited to have him experience it. :)
 
Yes, it was actually my first ever Deluxe hotel. I stayed there with a friend before Kidani was even built and we had booked a standard and were upgraded to a savannah view. It was amazing. This time we booked a one-bedroom at Kidani. Jambo didn't have any discounts so it would have been $400 more and I really wanted the one-bedroom and I had read that in Jambo they are only on the high floors whereas Kidani you can be on any floor, I want a good view for the animals. This trip is mostly about hanging out at the resort not so much the parks. It'll be my boyfriends first time there I'm excited to have him experience it. :)

You chose the perfect hang out resort. Hope you guys have the best time!
 
I am so glad you meal at the YSH was outstanding. I am officially starving after reading your review :)
 


Your reviews and pictures are fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing. My hubby and I were also quite disappointed in the Cali Grill during our visit this past December. We have been there numerous times and included it on our must do dining list for each trip. However, we will definitely NOT return. We were seated at a table for 2 which was fine although we were so close to the tables next to us on each side that our elbows nearly touched theirs as we were eating. The gentleman we had as our waiter seemed annoyed with our questions about the menu and was much more interested in the larger parties he was serving. It was not a relaxing meal by any means and the food itself was average at best this visit. Sooooo glad you posted a review about Yachtsman because we have always wanted to try it but have never had the chance. Just booked an ADR after reading your review.
 
I am all caught up with your review. What a wonderful meal you had at V&A. I would love to eat there someday. DS is still a minor and I don't have the courage to eat there by myself, it will have to wait several years. I am disappointed by Cali Grill manger's behavior. You cannot change the other guest behavior but certainly, he could have at least apologize for the convenience to you. We had similar experience there also. He had window side table for the perfect view of the Wishes, and right before the show, this family decided to squeeze themselves between our table and the window. Also, there little toddler kept on putting his hands on our table... grabbing things but parents would not apologize for the rude behavior. I couldn't take it watching there butts rubbing against our table and said that first of all they are in our personal space and we are trying to eat dinner and would not like watching their butt. They turned red and left to go out to the observation deck. There are just really rude people out there.
Also, enjoyed your review of YMS. It is good and love that they always have stellar food and service.
 
Glad you liked Boardwalk! I really want to stay there when we go for my birthday next September, so always good when I hear positive reviews! :)

Also, Yachtsman looks super yummy.
 
I am so glad you meal at the YSH was outstanding. I am officially starving after reading your review :)
:) It was amazing, writing it made me really hungry lol.

Your reviews and pictures are fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing. My hubby and I were also quite disappointed in the Cali Grill during our visit this past December. We have been there numerous times and included it on our must do dining list for each trip. However, we will definitely NOT return. We were seated at a table for 2 which was fine although we were so close to the tables next to us on each side that our elbows nearly touched theirs as we were eating. The gentleman we had as our waiter seemed annoyed with our questions about the menu and was much more interested in the larger parties he was serving. It was not a relaxing meal by any means and the food itself was average at best this visit. Sooooo glad you posted a review about Yachtsman because we have always wanted to try it but have never had the chance. Just booked an ADR after reading your review.
I definitely think our waiter was the same about the small party of two and his other table of ten. We shouldn't be punished just because it's the two of us, especially when we were ordering so much food. It makes me really happy my review made you make an ADR for Yachtsman. It was so fantastic you are going to love it. I can't wait to go back.

I am all caught up with your review. What a wonderful meal you had at V&A. I would love to eat there someday. DS is still a minor and I don't have the courage to eat there by myself, it will have to wait several years. I am disappointed by Cali Grill manger's behavior. You cannot change the other guest behavior but certainly, he could have at least apologize for the convenience to you. We had similar experience there also. He had window side table for the perfect view of the Wishes, and right before the show, this family decided to squeeze themselves between our table and the window. Also, there little toddler kept on putting his hands on our table... grabbing things but parents would not apologize for the rude behavior. I couldn't take it watching there butts rubbing against our table and said that first of all they are in our personal space and we are trying to eat dinner and would not like watching their butt. They turned red and left to go out to the observation deck. There are just really rude people out there.
Also, enjoyed your review of YMS. It is good and love that they always have stellar food and service.
How old is your son? You can bring him if he is ten year old or older. There were a couple of young teenagers when we were there. Oh, the way the manager at California Grill handled things was horrible. I understand not being able to control guests behaviors, but to not care at all and let us know it's our problem and not his is just unacceptable. And there should be a personal boundary around tables other people shouldn't be allowed to enter in, it's just common courtesy. You can't go wrong with Yachtsman its just so good.


Glad you liked Boardwalk! I really want to stay there when we go for my birthday next September, so always good when I hear positive reviews! :)

Also, Yachtsman looks super yummy.
You should definitely stay there. It is a really great hotel with access to two different theme parks which is pretty awesome. Also, it's usually the cheapest of the three Epcot hotels which is a nice bonus. It's also convenient to get over to Yachtsman for dinner.
 
Yachtsman is definitely on my list for a future trip--it looks great! So glad you guys had such a nice dinner after your awful experience at CA Grill :sad2:
It was the perfect timing going from awful to so amazing. I think it made the meal all the better.
 
MAY 24th - WEDNESDAY
MONSIEUR PAUL
Today was supposed to be our relaxing pool day, but the night before the weather channel had talked about 50 mph wind, hail, and torrential rain. We had gone to the pool the day before so I wasn't too upset about not going this day. We rented three DVDs from the communal hall and we prepared to be inside all day until our dinner reservation at Monsieur Paul at 7pm that night. Then we woke up to sunny skies and the weather saying it wouldn't start raining until 5pm, which was when we planned to go into the park to ride our only fast pass for the night Frozen.

So instead of staying in we decided to explore the boardwalk. A lot of the games and entertainment was closed, probably because they thought it was going to rain a lot. We decided for lunch to pop into one of the restaurants on the Boardwalk that you didn't need a reservation for. Big River Brewing. It's located on the Villas side and has indoor and outdoor seating. We had read a few menus on the app and had decided this one sounded good.

*Mini rant* Why can't these menus be up to date? This was the second restaurant we went to that the menu was completely different in the restaurant than on MDE. I don't understand. Maybe I could understand if it's a very recent change, but both times we were told the menus hadn't had those items in a while. It just doesn't seem that hard to keep these online menus more updated. Okay. *end rant*


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We had both wanted a honey mustard chicken sandwich that had been on the online menu, but not on the menu in the restaurant. Nothing else appealed to me so we were going to leave and go somewhere else when the waiter said that it is a popular option and they could still make it for us. Great! So we both ordered that. It was grilled chicken with Swiss cheese, bacon, and honey mustard. It was delicious. They really should put it back on their menu, especially if people still order it all the time.

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After lunch we decided to walk over to the Yacht and Beach Club. We didn't really look around much the night before and I wanted to see how the hotels looked during the day to see if we would like to stay there in the future. The pool didn't look too busy, probably because of the weather forecast, and we took in the sights of both hotels. I really liked them. We also walked by a wedding happening along the lake and saw four different brides on the boardwalk in different spots. After our nice walk we decided to have some ice cream at Ample Hills Creamery on the boardwalk.

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I thought this window into the work space was pretty neat.

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We tried a couple samples and I couldn't believe how much ice cream they gave us to try each time. At my local ice cream place you can barely taste anything from the teeny tiny amount they put on that sample spoon. It was the opposite here.

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I decided to get cookies and cream, my favorite. It was creamy and delicious. We went outside to eat on the Boardwalk.

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YUM!

I liked this place, it was quick and easy to get a delicious treat. There were all these little birds outside that were quite the beggars and if you dropped any ice cream they were all over that lol. I enjoyed taking in the sights of the boardwalk while eating.

We started heading back to our room to get ready for dinner and the skies opened up. (It was around 3pm) It was pouring rain and we made it inside just in time to miss it, but I watched out our window as everyone in the pool ran for cover. The wind was crazy, whipping the trees around. We decided to watch one of our DVDs (Doctor Strange) and relax as we waited out the storm. The rain seemed to calm down a lot by the time we needed to leave, but we wore ponchos just in case and headed off to Epcot.

I had made a post about riding Frozen and not being allowed to wear our ponchos on the ride, getting soaked and not being happy about it. So I won't really get into it here. It wasn't a good experience and has completely put me off riding it again.

On our walk over to the France Pavilion I noticed a couple flower bushes that had been completely destroyed from the high winds (When we went to Epcot the next day these bushes had been completely removed)

It was a little early for our reservation so we caught the French movie they have. It was fun watching, I hadn't seen it in years. Most of the movie you might think it was filmed in present day until you see the cars that are clearly from the early 90s. We were still about twenty minutes from our reservation time, but decided to check in anyway.


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Monsieur Paul is located in the back of the Chefs de France restaurant with a separate entrance. The restaurant is located on the second floor and is considered a signature restaurant. It is a completely different dining experience from the one downstairs. I have eaten many times at Chefs de France and love it. The only time I had ever eaten upstairs was for my second birthday and it had a different name then.


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While we waited you can see that open doorway leads off into Chef de France and those stairs lead up to Monsieur Paul. There is also an elevator if needed. The restaurant had no problem seating us a little earlier and lead us upstairs.

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There are two different options for ordering here. They have a price fixed menu and an a la cart menu. Since the majority of items on the priced fixed didn't appeal to us we went with the a la cart option.

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I loved how they fold the napkins here. I went on a Disney cruise and this reminded me of one of the restaurants on the ship.

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We were given a great table by a window. This was located on the side looking out into the French Pavilion. I did a bit of people watching here.

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The bread options they had a basic with all different types and asked us what we would like. We decided one of each so we could try everything. The bread at the top of the plate was Parmesan cheese and herbs. It tasted good, but was really hard. In the center was a French baguette. The bread on the bottom left was some sort of cheese on top and soft (my favorite) and the bottom right was a mustard bread that was also soft and yummy. The bread boy had said if we had wanted more we could get as much as we wanted, but he never returned to ask for more. It was fine though because I didn't want to fill up on just bread.

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I ordered a french cocktail. I don't remember what was in it exactly, some sort of fruit martini. My boyfriend got a red wine. I don't know anything about wine, it might have been a Merlot? That's red right?

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I ordered a potato leek soup. I make this all the time at home and wanted to see how it lived up to mine. On the top is a giant crouton with butter and leeks. Underneath is the soup and it was soooo good. It was perfectly made. (I had once gotten the potato leek soup at Be Our Guest and had been disappointed) This one made me want to lick the bowl. I did give my boyfriend one spoonful.

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For our entrees we both ordered the Grilled beef tenderloin, rutabaga puree, black trumpet, braised and breaded oxtail, Bordelaise Sauce. This was delicious! Those black looking things on the plate were the black trumpet which are mushrooms. There were little blocks of potato and the oxtail was really good. I had never had that before and was a little hesitant to try, but ended up really enjoying it. The steak was cooked perfectly.

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For dessert I had to order the La Sphere. It was the only dessert item I wanted for the whole trip. I had seen once on Facebook a video of a dessert where there is a giant chocolate sphere that had hot chocolate poured on top to make the circle dissolve and another dessert is hidden inside. I thought this was the coolest thing ever and had to try it when I discovered this on the menu. There was no free birthday dessert here, but they might have given me one if we hadn't ordered this.

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Above is how it looked before they pour the hot chocolate on top. It is a milk chocolate sphere, chocolate almond cake, praline and chocolate cream, light hazelnut bicuit, chocolate with candied oranges ice ceam and Armagnac sauce.

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After the chocolate was poured. It was a little frozen inside and the melted chocolate wasn't hot enough to melt it completely, but it was still really fun to watch and then eat after. I shared this with my boyfriend.

My thoughts on Monsieur Paul. I really liked this restaurant. It isn't as chaotic as downstairs and feels like a real fine dining experience. The food was all amazing and I will definitely come back here one day. We got out of here with plenty of time to watch the fireworks and get a good spot as well. I really love the French Pavilion. I think all the shops and restaurants there are so nice and would definitely recommend this place to anyone who asked.

Up Next...The Boathouse
 
We're looking forward to trying Ample Hills Creamery when we stay at BWV. And that chocolate sphere! Oh my! I have to try that one day. So many restaurants, so little time.
 
We're looking forward to trying Ample Hills Creamery when we stay at BWV. And that chocolate sphere! Oh my! I have to try that one day. So many restaurants, so little time.
I loved Ample Hills Creamery the ice cream is made really well. I'll have to go back to try different flavors. The chocolate sphere is really cool. I like the concept its like food and art combined into one. And delicious!
 
MAY 25th - THURSDAY
THE BOATHOUSE

Today was originally supposed to be our Animal Kingdom day, but at the last minute I switched around the days to accommodate us going to the Pandora preview. I was able to get fast passes for Soarin' which was the most important part so my boyfriend was okay with the switch.

We had tried stopping by the Bakery on the Boardwalk to get some breakfast, but learned if you go during a peak time the place is packed. The line was out the door and we just didn't feel like waiting. So instead we went to Starbucks inside Epcot.

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My favorite drink at Starbucks is the caramel macchiato. This drink didn't disappoint and I like the little Disney touches on the cup. We had fast passes for Nemo and Spaceship Earth first then had a fast pass for Soarin' at 12:40pm. We got to the building a little early and went on the ride Living with the Land since it had a ten minute wait. We had really good timing on this because right after we got into line a massive amount of people showed up and the wait time went up to 35 minutes. When we got off the ride it was exactly 12:40pm so we went to ride Soarin'. We love this new version.

When we got off the ride we were trying to decide what we wanted to have for lunch. When I had first started planning we had had a lunch reservation in Italy, but I decided to cancel it before we left. Originally we were going to eat quick service at one of the countries, but we were both really hungry and hadn't eaten at Sunshine Seasons before. It was really convenient being in the same building as Soarin' with a multitude of options. It's set up like a mall food court with different types of food you can go up to and then after you all get your food you go and pay. So I decided I wanted something Asian and my boyfriend wanted a salad.


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I got the Mongolian Beef with Fried Rice. I liked it, it wasn't amazing or anything, but it was pretty decent. The Fried Rice was really good. I love broccoli and was a little sad when they were scooping out the Mongolian Beef they managed to miss every piece of broccoli in the pot.

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My boyfriend got:
Caesar Salad with Oak-fired Chicken. He liked it.

Even though it was pretty crowded we were able to find a seat pretty quickly. Another plus for this place is that it's inside with air conditioning. That was the main deciding factor in having us eat here since some of the quick service at the countries are outside.

We explored the countries for a bit after eating and headed back to the hotel around 3pm to relax.

For dinner this night our plans had changed a lot. For the majority of planning we were going to go to the Flying Fish at the Boardwalk. It was at our hotel and convenient. But I could see myself ordering steak again there and I wanted something different. So we decided to go over to Disney Springs (formally known as Downtown Disney) for dinner. We picked The Boathouse because I found items besides steak that I would enjoy.

We went on the Disney bus for the first time this trip to get there. I was nervous about moving the car and not finding parking when we got back so decided the bus would be best. Travelling by bus was actually really easy. They had a screen with all the bus arrival times and the one for Disney Springs was coming in four minutes. Not bad.

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Picture from the bus as we were pulling into Disney Springs. It was both of our first times being here since the name change. I really liked what they did with the place.

Before we went to our dinner we stopped off at Pandora (not the new Disney land) for a birthday treat for me. I've never had a Pandora bracelet before and my amazing boyfriend bought me this beauty. :bday:

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The Cinderella Castle charm on it can only be bought at Disney World. I loved my gift.:love:

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One thing I love about the restaurants at Disney Springs? You can make reservations on Open Table. If you are ever having trouble getting a reservation on the Disney app, hop over to Open Table. On MDE the only times for dinner for The Boathouse were 4pm and 10pm. Too early and too late. On Open Table we had our pickings and chose 6pm. You could make as many changes to it as you want even a couple minutes before and there is no "no show" fee.

So my feelings on The Boathouse are mixed and confused. On the one hand, I don't think we received better service anywhere else than here, on the other hand the food was pretty mediocre.

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First thing, they were really nice about it being my birthday. Everyone that came to the table said something about it. Then the manager stopped by because our table was up against a window in the bright sunlight and he wanted to know if we were okay or wanted to move. We told him we were fine. He said dessert would be on him for my birthday and walked off.

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The bread here is delicious. It was soft and warm and buttery. This disappeared pretty quick.


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I LOVED how they left this pitcher of water on the table the entire meal. As we would drink from it they would come by and refill it. I'm usually always thirsty while eating out and one of my biggest pet peeves is not having my water glass refilled. This solved that problem and I think all restaurants should do this.

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So to change up my endless streak of ordering steak, I went with the Lobster roll. It was okay, nothing great, not bad. There was a lot of lobster on it, I think it just needed some seasoning or something.

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My boyfriend got a burger. He wasn't really impressed with it, but I think he liked his meal more than I liked mine.

Throughout the dinner the waitress and bus boys and manager stopped by frequently to see how we were and to talk about random things. They were all very nice.

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After our meal the waitress told us dessert was on them, just as the manager had said earlier. Unlike all the other restaurants that surprised us with a free dessert, this restaurant actually let us pick what we wanted. I thought that was so nice and above and beyond what any other restaurant had done for us. I ended up picking the Strawberry Shortcake.

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It was okay, nothing spectacular or anything. But I just loved how nice everyone was and how they tried to make my birthday really special. So my opinion on the place is conflicted because the food wasn't anything great, but the service was outstanding. We will probably go back one day and order different food. For a last minute decision it was pretty great.

We walked around Disney Springs for a little before heading back to our hotel for the night. It was a bittersweet night because the next day was the last of our trip and the end of my birthday celebrations.

Up next...Be Our Guest
 
Well your trip is just about over, but I finally found your report. Loving all the food. Your V&A experience looks especially amazing. I'd love to eat there sometime but I can't get the hubby to commit.
 

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