"Hurricane I get this wine to go?!?": A September 2017 Dining Report *COMPLETE

I look across the restaurant and see Lilo & Stitch making the rounds to tables! I couldn’t believe it!!
Very cool they still had them working the rounds. I'd seen lots of posts about the additional characters at all the resorts during the hurricane but I didn't know they still had the characters at the meals once they changed them up!

Captain Hook and Mr. Smee starting to make the rounds!!! I was so excited I could hardly stand it
Yay for Smee and Hook! We got to see them at Pirates and Pals in August, such a shame they don't have regular meets.

. It was very tender and had a great flavor which was even better with the chimichurri type sauce they offered with it.
Mmm, I love chimichurri sauce. 'Ohana dinner isn't one of my favorite meals either but if this was a normal part of it I'd probably like it better.
Sounds like your first "hurricane day" wasn't bad at all, minus the mean boy in the lobby. Interested to hear about the next day!
 
That's a cool set up for breakfast and wow is that a cheap price for a buffet at Disney. And the dinner buffet being on $20, I wish Disney always had these reasonable prices. And how cute that Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were there, they're my favorites.

We loved the buffet setup for breakfast especially and yes, it would be so great if it were always priced so reasonably.

Those prices are unheard of! Glad Disney was taking care of everyone!

They really did a great job and the cast members working that day were phenomenal. I think they were working 12 hour shifts and taking turns napping in rooms.

First of all....your title rules, and second of all, your son is ADORBS. He has a look of mischief about him, as does my 4 year old. Super cute.

Why do they have to touch EVERYTHING?!?!? LOL

Thanks! He does get into some mischief, but fortunately it's not destructive. He's surprisingly well-behaved for a toddler, I must admit I'm a bit proud of that.:blush:

Yay for Smee and Hook! We got to see them at Pirates and Pals in August, such a shame they don't have regular meets.

I also saw Hook & Smee hosting dance parties in the lobby later in the day, they were doing the macarena and it was fabulous!
 
Sorry that I'm so late to your gorgeous party! I do so agree with your review of Citrico's. We have our ADR ready to go!
 


Im finally getting all caught up. Nice report so far. Looking forward to the rest. Gotta know if that was the roof.
 
Hi to everyone that’s following along! I apologize for the delay in updating my report, I have had a terrible virus for a week and a half and today is the first day that I fee somewhat better, but still exhausted. I hate being stuck at home with an energetic toddler and now it has gotten frigid here in KY. I’ll update as soon as I can get through a naptime without taking one myself. Although yesterday Asher skipped his nap entirely, which has been happening on occasion and I fear naps may come to an end sooner rather than later...dun dun dun DUUUUN. I will hang onto every last shred though.
 
Day 6 – Sept 11
“I guess that was the roof…”

After a mostly sleepless night due to the howling wind, a restless toddler, and a thumping sound on the roof of which we pondered the identity, we awoke bright and early (thanks to the restless toddler who refused to sleep in regardless of our level of exhaustion) and surveyed the hurricane damage that we could see from our balcony.

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It didn’t look too bad, some small trees down and debris around. It was still windy and dangerous to be out with broken limbs around, so we followed directions and stayed in our room most of the day, enjoying the food we brought with us and the desserts we had cabbaged from various sources. Asher didn’t mind being in the room and enjoyed his time to play with toys and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which is a treat since we don’t have cable at home.

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Chad ventured out after awhile to survey the damage and see if he could indeed identify the thumping sound. We weren’t surprised to learn that a piece of the roof of our building had broken loose, part of it was on the ground and part was still hanging. There was also a very large tree down, partially in the hot tub of the Oasis Pool, right next to our building.

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roof 2.JPG

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After seeing more of the damage, we’re fairly convinced that a tornado came through the Poly, especially since we heard the telltale train noise that tornadoes produce at some point during the storm. It’s a good thing those buildings are so sturdy…

After naptime, we were tired of room food and since the curfew had ended, we ventured out to see what we could eat for dinner. Captain Cook’s was our only option at the Poly and it shockingly wasn’t even very crowded. It was a little early for dinner since it was just 5:00 though. There were quite a few people milling about outside, enjoying what had turned into a nice day weather wise.

For dinner I had the Curried Seafood Stew served with Sticky Rice which was quite delicious. I was pleasantly surprised by the spiciness and how packed with seafood the stew was. It had a bit of a smoky flavor which made it interesting. Chad had total food envy because he had gotten the boring hamburger and fries. Asher was very happy with his kid’s chicken nugget meal with fries and apples. Since it wasn’t crowded, we had no trouble finding a table and it was a pleasant dining experience overall. Not bad for quick service.

After our meal, we were itching to stay moving after being cooped up all day and we decided to walk over to the GF again to see what was going on there. We ran into Stitch on our way out and realized the characters were entertaining in the lobby again. The weather was cool for September and the sun had come out, making for a lovely stroll. In the GF lobby there were also character meets going on, maybe Mickey and Donald? I don’t quite remember because I was making a beeline for the bar at Citricos which was the only spot open to get a proper drink. I knew there was no way Asher was going to sit in there even remotely quietly, so I asked for our expensive, fancy margaritas in plastic cups to enjoy on the go. We found a balcony on the other side where we could relax a bit and let Asher play. It was a nice quiet spot and the Citricos Golden Margarita with Don Julio Tequila 1942, Grand Marnier, and Lime Juice was excellent.

After our margaritas we took the opportunity to check out the GF pools and grounds and made our way out to the boat dock by Narcoossee’s, which was closed. It was amazingly quiet and peaceful without any watercraft on the lake, no monorails running, no people milling about the Magic Kingdom. The them from Moana was drifting across the lake from MK and it was just one of those “Ahhhh…” moments that one wants to bottle up and carry around because you know it’s a once in a lifetime experience.

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It had been a very nice evening, despite that fact that hardly anything was operating and I was glad to have had the day to rest. We made a
leisurely stroll back to our room to get ready and in bed early so that we could be rested for an Epcot rope drop the next morning.

Up next, Day 7: Try blue, it’s the new red!
 


Welcome back and I'm glad you're feeling better!

Asher was very happy with his kid’s chicken nugget meal
Well of course, because Disney chicken nuggets are the BEST chicken nuggets EVER!

Your evening does sound nice. You were forced in a way to take it easy and in the end it worked out to your advantage, a nice rest day and no real damage. Looking forward to your next update, stay healthy!
 
It's so interesting seeing how Disney handles a hurricane. I had heard Poly got a lot of the rough stuff with really big trees coming down. It's good they didn't keep you locked up in your room the entire day, I would have gone stir crazy. And your dinner sounded delicious, way better than a normal burger.
 
I finally made it back to update, I don't know how a month has flown by but I guess I got busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas planning. I've got to stay on this report now though or I won't finish before our next trip in April!

Day 7 – Sept 12
Try blue, it’s the new red!

We were up bright and early, as usual, but slightly more bushy-tailed this morning after a couple of low key days, and we were ready to get to Epcot for rope drop. MK was opening early at 8 am which made Epcot seem like the better choice for low crowds and I can never get enough Epcot anyway. The weather forecast was wonderful, clear and a bit cooler from lower humidity following the storm and I decided that it was the perfect day for our Wall-E BnL shirts since they are thicker cotton and it was sweltering the rest of our trip. Chad and I accidentally both put on navy shorts, but I decided that was perfect and put navy shorts on Asher as well so we could be super dorks.

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We got to Epcot a few minutes before rope drop, ran into Daisy and Asher was not at all interested in meeting her, but he did wave at her and I posed for a photo (see profile photo) before we were let loose. It was a glorious morning at Epcot, very nice weather for September and very low crowds. We made our way around Future World West, Nemo was a hit, Imagination not so much thankfully, then I rode Test Track solo while Chad and Asher watched the F&W drumming chefs (are they the same as the Jamitors?). By then it was getting close to lunch time, so I jumped on MDE to see what ADRs were available for lunch and the answer was- EVERYTHING. The crowds were incredibly low and it made park touring very enjoyable that morning. We decided on Via Napoli since it was on my “must try” list and pizza with sangria sounded fantastic.

We were already pretty hungry and decided to slowly make our way around to Italy, having some snacks from booths on the way. I stopped in China for the Bejing Roasted Duck served in a Bao Bun with Hoisin Sauce as I am a sucker for anything served in a bao bun. It was tasty and easy to eat on the go, I would recommend it if you’re into that sort of thing. Chad picked up a Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll from the Germany booth, which is rather boring, but he just wanted something easy to stuff in his mouth as well. It was as expected, nothing spectacular, but good nonetheless. I also grabbed the beer flight from the Brewer’s Collection as we walked by and it ended up being my least favorite beer selection of the trip. I didn’t expect to love the Radeberger Zwickel Pilsner as it’s one of my least favorite types of beer and my assumption was correct. It was fun to try something unusual though. The Schofferhofer Pomegranate was a little better, but not nearly as good as the grapefruit and a tad too sweet for my taste. The Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse Naturtrub was my favorite of the three.

We arrived at Via Napoli right at noon and were seated right away at a banquette table in the back of a mostly empty restaurant, which was a real treat as I understand that the place is normally loud and boisterous. This was our first meal here and I had nothing to compare it to. I love booths and banquettes, so much more comfortable for wrangling the boy and he loves to sit on the “couch.” (One time I requested a “booth or a banquette” at our local PF Chang’s and the hostess looked at me like I was crazy and said, “You mean a half booth?” I was all, “Um, yeah, that’s what they’re called,” then realized I sounded super snobby and she probably made fun of me the rest of the day.)

Our server Cristina took our drink order right away, red sangria for Chad, white sangria for me. She was excellent during the entire meal, as were other CMs that brought food by or simply stopped to say hello and make sure we had everything we needed. Maybe there were a little bored, lol. Both of our sangrias were delicious, so much better than the bottled stuff at most of the bars around property. I can’t believe I only had one, although it was a large glass which made the $12 price more palatable. It was a perfectly refreshing sangria though, not too sweet, with a decent quality white wine.

Chad perused the menu a bit before deciding on two appetizers. Since he can’t eat much dairy, pizza isn’t usually a good option but he found several appealing items that didn’t have dairy or could possibly be made without. I didn’t even have to look at the menu other than to help him decide because I had known for months what I would order here, thanks to @kastoney 's dining reports. Asher was restless and hungry, so he ate a Larabar on the "couch" while we waited for our food and then just nibbled on our dishes.

Chad loved the Calamari Fritti that he ordered deeming it to be in the top three of his fried squid experiences. He let me taste a few pieces and I had to agree, the breading was incredibly light and thin, nicely crispy and not oily. They know what they’re doing with the fryer and it makes me want to try the vegetables next time. He also had the Gamberetti Fagioli-jumbo shrimp, cannellini bean salad, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice which was also a hit. The flavors were light and simple with the beans providing enough heft to be a satisfying meal. It would make a wonderfully healthy light lunch with a salad, but I’ll probably never have that because thanks to Kari, I will now forever have to order exactly the same thing. Every. Time.

If you’ve read Kari’s wonderful dining reports, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about now…the Carciofi Pizza - white pizza - artichoke, fontina, mozzarella, truffle oil (with arugula added, of course!). In the past I haven’t been a white pizza person, usually preferring a spicy marinara sauce, but something about this pizza called to me. It looks amazing first of all (sorry no photos, but you know where to find them!) and includes three of my favorite ingredients: artichokes, truffle oil, and arugula. You MUST add the arugula, unless you hate it or something crazy like that.

This pizza is one of my favorites of all time and has converted me into a white pizza aficionado. The fontina and mozzarella were perfect over some quality olive oil and garlic. The artichokes tasted very fresh, if they weren’t freshly cooked they were at least frozen rather than canned. The truffle oil was of good quality, strong enough to taste but not overpowering either. I liked the additional peppery flavor provided by the arugula and felt it elevated the pizza, as did the saltiness from the parmigiano and the spiciness from the red pepper provided on the table. Chad and Asher nibbled on a couple of crusts, but I essentially ate the entire thing (individual size) with no trouble at all. It was so delicious I couldn’t let a single crumb go to waste and didn’t want to tote leftovers around. So I’m not sure whether to thank you, @kastoney or curse you, LOL, because in addition to never being able to order anything else from Via Napoli, I now daydream about this pizza at least once a week and I haven’t found anything in my area that even comes close!

Via Napoli was a big hit for all of us and we can’t wait to go back! Definitely on our must-do list for the foreseeable future.

Whew, this is turning out to be a big food day and I still have plenty to review.
To be continued…
 
Welcome back and I'm glad you're feeling better!


Well of course, because Disney chicken nuggets are the BEST chicken nuggets EVER!

Your evening does sound nice. You were forced in a way to take it easy and in the end it worked out to your advantage, a nice rest day and no real damage. Looking forward to your next update, stay healthy!

The down days ended up saving me from certain collapse, I believe. LOL! The heat really got to me this trip, it just seemed worse than in the past and I'm used to high humidity.

It's so interesting seeing how Disney handles a hurricane. I had heard Poly got a lot of the rough stuff with really big trees coming down. It's good they didn't keep you locked up in your room the entire day, I would have gone stir crazy. And your dinner sounded delicious, way better than a normal burger.

It turned out to be a positive experience all around, I was thoroughly impressed. We had just enough time to start to get bored and getting some rest recharged us for the rest of the trip.
 
Great report!

That is a fantastic pizza, but I can't seem to tear myself away from the prosciutto and melon! I ordered half and half when I went with my mom, perfection.
 
Woohoo, glad to see you loved the pizza!!!! I'll take the thank you and the curse because I really don't think it can be topped. And now I'll curse you as I am totally craving it right now!
 
Chad and I accidentally both put on navy shorts, but I decided that was perfect and put navy shorts on Asher as well so we could be super dorks.
:laughing:Better to be a lovely family of super dorks now, because when kids get older they refuse to participate in the dorkiness anymore

&W drumming chefs (are they the same as the Jamitors?).
We caught them in Nov. and yes, I believe they are :)

The Schofferhofer Pomegranate was a little better, but not nearly as good as the grapefruit and a tad too sweet for my taste
Good to know, because I really wanted to try the Pomegranate but apparently they'd run out by the time we got there in Nov.

Both of our sangrias were delicious, so much better than the bottled stuff at most of the bars around property. I can’t believe I only had one, although it was a large glass which made the $12 price more palatable.
Very good to know! I love sangria but get tired of the same old stuff they serve most places in WDW

Via Napoli was a big hit for all of us and we can’t wait to go back! Definitely on our must-do list for the foreseeable future.
Very happy to read your positive review, the last time we were at VN was Nov. 2015. Everyone else loved it but I had come down with a horrible stomach bug the day before and while I felt better when we sat down for our meal, by the time the food made it to the table I was :crazy2: again. So now we're going back in March and I'm really looking forward to it!
 
Great report!

That is a fantastic pizza, but I can't seem to tear myself away from the prosciutto and melon! I ordered half and half when I went with my mom, perfection.
Hmmm...that one is also intriguing, it will be tough, but maybe I will try it someday.

you had me at sticky rice! sounds delicious.

It was really great, you should try it if you have the opportunity, impressive for QS fare.

Woohoo, glad to see you loved the pizza!!!! I'll take the thank you and the curse because I really don't think it can be topped. And now I'll curse you as I am totally craving it right now!

The struggle is real.

:laughing:Better to be a lovely family of super dorks now, because when kids get older they refuse to participate in the dorkiness anymore

Yeah, Asher doesn’t really have a choice at this point, but he did think it was fun. He kept saying “B is for Buy n Large, your very best friend.” We watch Wall-E way too much.
 
Day 7 Continued...

Side note: In all my raving about how awesome the hurricane festivities were, I forgot to mention the one major disappointment for me which was that our Brunch at the Top had been cancelled on Sunday and I was looking forward to that meal more than any other. When we were stuck in the room I had called and added two nights to our stay, but we would be leaving Saturday morning so no other opportunity to go to the brunch. Guess what the first ADR I made for our upcoming April trip was??? It better stick this time because it’s the last time we’ll be when Asher will be free and I’m not sure I’ll be willing to shell out $50 something for his meal until he’s big enough to do some damage.

Back to business though, we left Via Napoli and I think we rode Frozen Ever After with a FP+, the first time on the attraction for us. I think I would like it if they would just slow the boats down, you can hardly see what’s going on in each scene because you move through so quickly. Hopefully they can do that when the lines aren’t so long in eighteen years or so. Since we were right by Kringla, Chad wanted to pick up some lefse, his favorite pastry treat in all of WDW. He got two so he could eat one and save one for later. The lefse were very good, we agreed that the bread seems thicker and softer than in the past and also the butter filling was sweeter. We’ve always enjoyed the lack of sweetness, but the sweeter version is good too and is probably more appealing to the American masses. I never pass up a chance to get something at Kringla, so I got a troll horn, which I had never had but always looks nice in photo reviews. I didn’t notice if they were using cloudberries or lingonberries at the time. Kringla is one of my favorite stops for treats because the desserts are light, fluffy, and not overly sweet and the troll horn didn’t disappoint. The whipped cream was fresh and the pastry was flaky with a nice crunch from the sugar coating. I would get it again if I can manage to pass up rice cream or school bread.

It was nap time and I was determined to get to the pool for some solo time since I hadn’t had a turn yet and we were supposed to be trading off nap duty. I managed to enjoy a margarita in the sun, move to a shady spot, then order a Castaway IPA before Chad and Asher came shuffling in. After some pool time, we started thinking about dinner and I was feeling the urge to get over to AKL, our favorite resort and DVC home. I would have chosen Jiko, but I let Chad choose and his pick was Sanaa because he wanted something more casual and I didn’t have any complaints because I love all the restaurants over there anyway.

We freshened up, put on more presentable attire, and made our way to AKL. Since we had our TIW card, we took advantage of the free valet parking which is a great perk if you have a vehicle. We had just a few minutes before the ADR time I had reserved earlier and made our way down to Sanaa after a quick perusal of the gift shop.

After being seated quickly in a great spot by a window overlooking the savanna, we ordered our usual drinks when there, the African Starr Mojito for Chad and a glass of South African chenin blanc for me, which is one of my favorite wine varietals that can be a bit harder to find on restaurant menus.

Even though it was our third visit to Sanaa, we had never ordered the bread service before and decided it was definitely time for us to do so, with all nine accompaniments. We all destroyed the naan, it was delicious, our favorite being the garlic-ginger. Chad and I both preferred the spicy accompaniments, particularly the coriander chutney and red chile sambal. Asher ate the raita with a spoon. I think next time I would get the 9 again, but see if we can double up on some and eliminate the sweet ones.

Deciding on entrees was difficult for both of us, but we both eventually decided on the Potjie Inspired. I was trying to choose something for my entrée that Asher would also like and chose the braised beef and chickpea wat for my selections. Chad chose the spicy Durban shrimp on my recommendation and the lentil dhal. I ended up regretting my choices as both the beef and chickpeas had a strong clove flavor that I didn’t enjoy and not much else going on flavor-wise. Chad’s shrimp dish was nowhere near as spicy as when I’ve had it previously and his lentils were too firm. Overall, I just found the spice and flavor profiles to be lacking compared to what we’ve had there in the past. I wish I had ordered something else because Asher had filled up on bread and yogurt anyway and wasn’t very interested in my dishes. I have learned my lesson though, which is that one doesn’t want to pass up the bread service at Sanaa, but I would have been perfectly satisfied with just another appetizer like maybe the charcuterie or oxtail, something heavy on protein for sure. The entrees were disappointing, I hope it was just an off night and they haven’t dumbed down the flavors as much as it seemed. The bread service was on point though and we enjoyed our drinks.

We checked out the animals on the savannah for a bit, but it was getting very close to bedtime for Asher so we picked up our car from valet (so convenient) and headed home to the Poly for the night feeling rather poofy after stuffing ourselves with bread all day. Probably not a good idea to do Via Napoli and Sanaa on the same day in the future.

Up next, Day 8: It’s Called the NO-mad Lounge!
 
Good to hear you all enjoyed Sanaa. The bread service is most definitely a thing of beauty!
 
I don't know how a month has flown by but I guess I got busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas planning. I've got to stay on this report now though or I won't finish before our next trip in April!
No kidding. I'm back too and happy to be catching up!

Chad and I accidentally both put on navy shorts, but I decided that was perfect and put navy shorts on Asher as well so we could be super dorks.
I love when this happens on accident when there is photopass to be had! We have a joke "I put it on first, you copied me" schtick going on :)

pizza with sangria sounded fantastic
Annnnd now this is suddenly what I want for dinner.

Schofferhofer Pomegranate was a little better, but not nearly as good as the grapefruit and a tad too sweet for my taste
Agreed! Thank you. Someone who gets me :laughing:

This pizza is one of my favorites of all time and has converted me into a white pizza aficionado.
It really is the best pizza ever. I am now googling my closest pizza options...

Even though it was our third visit to Sanaa, we had never ordered the bread service before
SAY WHAT?! So glad you rectified that. Yum. Now I am officially starving.
 
one doesn’t want to pass up the bread service at Sanaa,
Agreed.

We've been to Sanaa 3x and I've always gotten the Butter Chicken so I can't comment on anything else, but luckily it's always been delicous. Last time we ate there was almost 2 years ago though, so like you I hope they haven't dumbed down the flavors.
 

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