We just won't tell anyone about the $80 brunch.. Mother/Daughter Nov 2017 Trip

Vernie822

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 14, 2014
INTRO

Hey y'all! I have not posted here in FOR-EV-ER so please excuse me as I hopefully catch up with about a year's worth of dining reports.. WHOOPS. Pretty sure I have a 1/2 finished one left behind somewhere. That's embarrassing.

Anyways! I'm Ashley and I have written a couple of dining reports in the past. I am going to keep this one somewhat short but sweet, I tend to ramble and could go on for days. Good thing this trip was 8 months ago, so I've probably forgotten much of what we've eaten by now, hah!

There are 5 kids in my family, I'm the oldest, and my parents took us to Disney a handful of times as kids. I didn't go for a long time (except for one National Honors Society trip in high school), until my now husband and I went in 2014. Since then, we have been going pretty regularly, sneaking in long weekends when we can. My husband Justin was absent on this trip.. well, he wasn't invited actually. ;)

So lets see.. where the heck have I been.. OK so my mom and I went in November. In December, Justin and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in California, so we HAD to go to Disneyland at Christmas.. maybe that's another report in the making. But Disneyland is incredible, especially at Christmas. I am dying to go back already! Part of the reason I have been so delayed in writing any of these reports is that I've been working on finishing up some professional requirements for my Society of Actuaries designations. I had to attend a course in San Diego last December, so that's how we ended up in Disneyland. I became an Associate in January, so I just have 3 long, painful exams to get through before I'm finally done with my Fellowship. Unfortunately they pretty much take over my life from January-April and July-October, so it cuts down my availability to travel dramatically! Alright enough nerd business.. on to the good stuff. I did squeeze in a girls trip with 2 of my college friends in February 2018 for the Princess Half Marathon, which was a great trip, but running a cumulative 13.1 miles in the months leading up to the race didn't help me. Hopefully I can tack on some meals and pictures from that trip, too!


This trip was a LOOONG time coming! Before my wedding in fall 2016, my mom and I were trying to plan a trip that spring. We decided to postpone until November 2016, but Justin and I ended up moving and it got pushed back even farther to November 2017. So by the time we actually got here, our plans had changed a million times.

The first night of our stay, we stayed at All Star Sports. Originally, we were coming in the next morning, but flights were a lot cheaper the night before, so we did that instead. Of course we ended up just booking early morning flights... so we tacked on a whole extra day!

Our last 4 nights were at SSR in a studio.

Mom is pretty easy to please. We have a lot of the same tastes and shared a lot of meals, which was perfect for our wallet and our waistlines! We did go all-out at a few meals though.. like California Grill Brunch, which was to die for. I have been wanting to do this but haven't timed it right until this point, so I figured a girls trip would be the perfect opportunity to try it. We just couldn't tell my dad how much it cost, LOL.

Here we are!

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If you're wondering where the rest of the gang is... my dad doesn't like to travel, my oldest (well, younger, but the oldest of the brothers) brother isn't really into Disney, my sister and another brother are/were still in college at the time.. and my youngest brother likes Disney, but can't miss much high school, soo... just the two of us, and we're OK with that!
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We were pretty relaxed as far as dining, other than some TS reservations, normally one per day.

Here are all of the places we dined:
Food and Wine Lunch
Baseline Tap House
Food and Wine Dinner
Pecos Bill Lunch
Narcoossee's Dinner
Garden Grill Breakfast
Food and Wine Lunch
Wolfgang Puck Express Dinner
Pandora Snacks / Yak and Yeti Lunch
Homecomin' Dinner
Be Our Guest Lunch
Hollywood Brown Derby Dinner / HS Snacks
Food and Wine Dessert
Cali Grill Brunch
BOG Dinner / MVMCP Snacks
F&W Lunch
 
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Please excuse my silliness. I am so clueless on how to upload pictures. I didn't realize you can literally copy and paste from your iPhone. I have been trying to figure out Flickr, or attaching them... bah. I am not good with technology, lol.


DAY 1

Nov 7, 2017
Epcot/HS

My mom was flying in from Pittsburgh and I was flying in from Charlotte. She took the first flight out and I think she touched down at MCO before I even set foot on a plane. She is the earliest person I know, always. She said she got to the airport so early that they weren't even letting people in to check their bags yet, LOL! I think her flight was at 5:30 and she got to the airport at 2:30 AM. Fortunately I got a great price on an American flight. I hopped on ME and dealt with some work stuff in the lobby of All Star Sports before hopping a bus to meet her at Epcot. She told me she was sorry, but she wasn't waiting around for me! I don't blame her. ;)

This was my mom's first F&W trip, so that is what we were most excited about. It was maybe 10:30 when I got there, so I think we did a ride or two before hitting a couple of booths for lunch. We were both starving.

Our first booth was Active Eats, where I was excited to try the mac and cheese and my mom was excited to try the salmon.

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Loaded Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers and Green Onions – $4.75

Roasted Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa Salad and Arugula Chimichurri (GF) – $5.50



The salmon was really, really good, especially with the arugula chimichurri. The mac and cheese was just okay- I am a really big fan of Homecomin's mac and cheese and this was fine but not nearly as good.


We are both biiiiig seafood fans, so we both had Coastal Eats on our list. I won't lie, I made us an Excel workbook with all of the items and spots for us to each star the ones we wanted to try. Hey, I like organization.. and we weren't going to miss anything we wanted to try!!

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Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado Lemongrass Cream – $5.00

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Baked Shrimp Scampi Dip with Sourdough Baguette – $5.50



The shrimp scampi dip was outstanding! So creamy, cheesy, and delicious. I wish there would've been more bread, but it was still really good. The crab cake was just okay. I have had way better crab cakes, and this didn't really do it for me. I love Aldi's "Specially Selected" frozen crab cakes for a quick dinner... high class all the way, I know.. and I think they're better.

Next, we grabbed a margarita at what I think was either a temporary margarita stand, or La Cantina.. I know it wasn't Chozo de Margarita because it opened literally the day I left. More on that later.
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We played with some trolls in Norway, and I think we rode Frozen, which I love, before heading over to HS. I can't remember why we went there. Maybe to check out some Christmas decor. Spoiler alert, we went over another evening and I was really impressed with their Christmas shows and special snack/drink offerings.

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I had been wanting to check out Baseline Taphouse, so we shared a flight of beer.
I think we did the Golden Road Lager, the North Coast Pilsner, the Golden Road Hefeweizen, and the Passion Fruit Wheat Ale. I liked all of these-I really like this little place. Justin and I love breweries, so we found ourselves here just last week. Yet another DR I have to get moving on, ha!

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We rode TOT, which I always swear I will never do again (ruins my stomach) but my mom is more of a thrill seeker than I am and I wasn't about to go out the chicken exit on our first day. So I sucked it up and hated every second of it, but I'd do it again.

Who is more scared... the princess in the front, or the princess in the back!? :rotfl2:

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We headed back to F&W for dinner that night as well, entering through the International Gateway and heading past France.

On our list this evening was an item from Africa..

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Spinach and Paneer Cheese Pocket with Mint Raita – $4.00

I had no clue if I'd like this, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was kind of reminiscent of spanakopita, and the mint raita was really just a mild yogurt sauce. I loved this and it wasn't really on my radar before, but I'm excited to get it again.


Next up was China. We decided to try the duck bao bun, which neither of us had ever tried. We also ordered the shrimp noodles which are a favorite of mine.

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Beijing Roasted Duck Bao Bun with Hoisin Sauce – $6.50


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Black Pepper Shrimp with Garlic Noodles – $5.75


We decided on just a few more items, and stopped by Mexico for a shrimp taco:

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Tequila Chipotle Shrimp: Served on a Black Bean Huarache garnished with Red and Green Cabbage, Queso Fresco and Crema Mexicana – (GF) – $6.50


Whatever the black bean huarache was, was not really good. It was super hard, like a stale tortilla chip. The shrimp and sauce were good, but I think it was pretty spicy if I remember correctly. Not worth it this year, but they do have some pretty good tacos, normally.

We also had this. I'm 95% sure this is the braised beef from Belgium, but I am also 95% sure Belgium is all the way in the back of the park, so I don't know why it would be after Mexico in my pictures. I know I didn't walk half a mile back to Belgium for some braised beef, but maybe I did.

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Beer-braised Beef served with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes – $5.00




Overall, it was a great start to our trip!​
 
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I'm following along! Just a brief suggestion re: uploading pictures. You can create an account on postimages.org and upload photos there, after uploading a photo you'll use the premade "hotlink for forums" code to share here. When I made my first dining report I wasn't a fan of uploading directly to the disboards (file limitations) and I didn't want to use my flickr to share, then I found postimages. (It's free to use.)

(back to reading your report!)
 
I'm following along! Just a brief suggestion re: uploading pictures. You can create an account on postimages.org and upload photos there, after uploading a photo you'll use the premade "hotlink for forums" code to share here. When I made my first dining report I wasn't a fan of uploading directly to the disboards (file limitations) and I didn't want to use my flickr to share, then I found postimages. (It's free to use.)

(back to reading your report!)

Hi, thank you so much! I totally forgot about that site. I used to use Photo Bucket, but alas, that is no longer. Thank you for the tip!
 


Hey Stranger! Great to see you back. And if you were on here more often we would have known that we were both in WDW at the same time. Here we are on November 7th in EPCOT!!!!

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Hey Stranger! Great to see you back. And if you were on here more often we would have known that we were both in WDW at the same time. Here we are on November 7th in EPCOT!!!!

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OMG, I cannot believe we missed you!!!! :crazy2: :sad: We overlapped and everything! I am reading through your dining report now. I had the eggs benedict at Cali Grill too. And about 8 mimosas. It's practically a bargain with all we ate/drank. What a nice gesture from your new friends from the UK!
 


Hi Ashley! I've been wondering where you were, LOL! So great that you're back! Enjoying your report, and you're so lucky you could do a girls' trip with your mom. My mom & I only did one, back in November 2002. We had a blast, did a split stay at FW in a cabin (we had some hairy adventures driving around in a golf cart) and what was then known as the VWL! So fun! She's going to be 85 now, and I've been trying to convince her to come on another trip with my husband & I, but she said she doesn't want to do WDW in a wheelchair, which she'd have to do, as would never be able to walk it. Scooters are out of the question for her, too. Makes me sad, as I'd really like to do WDW with her one more time.
 
Phew! What a relief. I wasn't too behind.

Since then, we have been going pretty regularly, sneaking in long weekends when we can. My husband Justin was absent on this trip.. well, he wasn't invited actually. ;)
:thumbsup2 sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Alright enough nerd business..
Congratulations, nerd! That is exciting and exhausting all at once. Totally understood on the professional craziness, however.

We just couldn't tell my dad how much it cost, LOL.
Doesn't he know that money isn't real at WDW? At least that's what I tell myself... Otherwise I'd have a heart attack every time the bill comes.

I didn't realize you can literally copy and paste from your iPhone.
Okay :confused3 I'm gonna need these instructions because I have to do a whole routine of copying into Imgur and it requires a computer...

The mac and cheese was just okay- I am a really big fan of Homecomin's mac and cheese and this was fine but not nearly as good.
Yeah, this was disappointing to me too. It was somehow dry. Mac and cheese should not be dry!

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I had been wanting to check out Baseline Taphouse, so we shared a flight of beer.
Love Gertie, love the Christmas decorations, and love baseline taphouse!!!
Who is more scared... the princess in the front, or the princess in the back!? :rotfl2:
:rotfl: this is a framer!!!

Spinach and Paneer Cheese Pocket with Mint Raita – $4.00

I had no clue if I'd like this, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was kind of reminiscent of spanakopita, and the mint raita was really just a mild yogurt sauce. I loved this and it wasn't really on my radar before, but I'm excited to get it again.
I loved this! I don't know if they have something similar at Aldi but they definitely do at trader joes. They're really good!

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Whatever the black bean huarache was, was not really good. It was super hard, like a stale tortilla chip. The shrimp and sauce were good, but I think it was pretty spicy if I remember correctly. Not worth it this year, but they do have some pretty good tacos, normally.
Uh huh. Mexico fooled you again too ;)

So glad you're back! Excited to read more.
 
Hey lady! I've been on hiatus too. Not having a trip planned was bumming me out. But now we're headed for a Jan 2019 trip so all is right with the world :)

That ToT picture....I am dying :rotfl2: I have one of those from RnR a few years ago!! I'm making almost the same face lolol

Can't wait to follow along!
 
Welcome back! Mother/Daughter trips can be so much fun! You are behind on the trip reports but that's ok, you have time to catch up :).

Looks like a successful day of festival eats! That shrimp scampi was totally one of our favorites from the festival as well! Maybe it will return this year.

When are you doing F&W this year?
 
Loving this so far. I am doing a Mother/Daughter trip with my daughter this coming November, so interested to see some of your adventures.
 
Following along! Very excited to see your review on California Grill brunch. I have it booked for DH and I in October. Hopefully I’ll keep it!
 

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