DAY 11
Sunday 1st October 2017
CRYSTAL PALACE

Crystal Palace has a special place in my heart. Our first visit was in 2010 with Nik's family, none of us knew anything about Disney, neither did we have any desire to, and not a thing was planned. As it turned out, I had an amazing time, and fell in love, I knew I wanted to come back. Standing outside Crystal Palace one day I could see the characters interacting with the guests, and I knew there was more magic to be found, I just had to know how to unlock it, then I joined the Dibb, and I found the way!




Anyway we finally returned in 2013, and I got to eat in Crystal Palace. I love this place, it has such a lovely vibe, it is so bright and airy and guarantees you are a great start to the day. The ever reliable Josh has a review here.



I was a bad food reporter today, I had had enough of breakfast and didn’t bother with any traditional breakfast items. Instead my first plate consisted of these mini bagels that I have seen popping up places with cream cheese and smoked salmon. A favourite Disney breakfast of mine.



Nik paid a visit to the omelette station where they will make your omelette to order with the fillings of your choice, he was mad because there was hardly any cheese inside.



My dessert plate, I was disappointed to see they no longer offered whipped cream and strawberry topping with the Pooh’s puffed French toast. This is basically a funny shaped doughnut, but a very tasty one! Then cinnamon pull-a-parts, sweet sticky and very tasty. Then a cheese pastry, as yummy as the big cheese Danishes, and then a pain au chocolat, not as tasty as the chocolate twists but still delicious.



Breakfast at Crystal Palace is $68.16 or 1 table service credit. Great value for an all you can eat buffet breakfast with plenty of variety, you also meet Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. It's a must-do for us!

***

Las Ventanas

After spending the morning in Magic Kingdom we headed back to Coronado Springs for lunch. Las Ventanas is one of two table service restaurants at the resort, they currently serve breakfast and lunch only. The restaurant was very quiet, our server was Nelson, and he was great, very friendly too.

You can see the current menu here. Hopefully this will give you an idea of why we wanted to eat here, what a hidden gem!

We skipped appetisers, all of the food had taken it’s toll! For the first time on property we were served sodas from a can, the restaurant must not have a drinks fountain.



Nik was torn between two dishes, the French Dip and the Gourmet Grilled Cheese, in the end he ordered one and I ordered the other. Gourmet Grilled Cheese – White and Sharp Cheddar Cheese with Peppercorn Bacon served on a Toasted Sourdough Bread with a Pickle and choice of House-seasoned Fries, Sweet Fries, Quinoa Salad, or Jicama Slaw. As you can probably see from the photograph, this was too much bread. Nik enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. The ‘House-seasoned Fries’ however were actually wedges, and these were delicious, they could actually serve them as a dish on their own with some dips on the side!

Thanks to Abby's (Goldia) recommendation we have started watching the DIS Unplugged, they recently reviewed Coronado Springs, and I am almost certain these same wedges are sold as a side dish in Pepper Market. We are definitely going to stop by for some this year.



I had French Dip – Slow-cooked Beef in a Natural Jus piled high on a Sourdough Baguette served with Provolone Cheese, Horseradish Crème, and a Pickle with choice of House-seasoned Fries, Sweet Fries, Quinoa Salad, or Jicama Slaw. Again, a lot of bread, but with the jus to dip and soften it up, this wasn’t really an issue with this dish. This was delicious, akin to Nik’s long-lost Olivia’s French Dip, he wished he had ordered this. Again, the side was actually the star, the ‘sweet fries’, were sweet potato fries, these were crinkle cut very thin and were crispy and delicious. Everything had been cooked to order and you could definitely tell.



For dessert I had Chambord Mascarpone – Rich Whipped Mascarpone with Macarated Berries, a hint of Chambord, and a Praline, mmm, just about as perfect as it gets for me, it was basically a bowl of whipped cream. Nik was jealous.



Nik had Sorbet Trio – A trio of flavors – Mango, Lime, Strawberry, and a Praline, he only ordered this as I was adamant about having to try the Mascarpone. This was much nicer than the sorbet at Tiffin’s, my favourite was the strawberry.

As we had skipped appetisers Nelson offered us an extra dessert to go, which was very kind of him. There was only a couple of desserts suitable for this so we chose one of each, key lime pie and chocolate cake. I don’t have pictures of these and surprise, surprise, we didn't get around to eating them.

Lunch came to $72.44. Coronado Springs isn’t a destination resort, but we had a surprisingly good meal here, and it is worth a visit, if like us you like to check out other resorts. It makes for a great respite from the madness of the theme parts, although perhaps you should wait until CSR no longer resembles a building site haha.

***

TUSKER HOUSE

Again!? Yes! Our rotten luck at Animal Kingdom had continued, the evening before the heavens had opened after dinner at Tiffins and we decided to abandon our evening there.

As Rivers of Light went ahead our passes for the show would not be honoured another night, so what to do!? Book another package meal of course! I was actually really excited by this turn of events as I have wanted to eat lunch or dinner at Tusker House for a long time. Josh’s review.

The slip our hostess was given when we checked in noted that we were guests returning for another visit in the same trip which I thought was cool!



The restaurant was busy, and our server seemed to have more tables than she could handle. I felt sorry for her because she was trying her best.



My first plate, some mac and cheese (delicious, nothing like the Kraft mac and cheese normally served, tasted homemade), mashed potato, hummus and pita (nice, but not on Boma’s scale), salmon (dry and very bland, I was sad, it’s my favourite), spicy green coconut curry (not too hot, which suited me, lovely juicy shrimp), roast chicken (the hero of the plate) and a corn dog.



Nik’s plate. The random lonesome slice of lunch meat makes me laugh, he went to cold station just for that!? He really loved the mac and cheese and had two plates.



My dessert plate, I have written in my notes ‘banana bread pudding’, I think this means I liked it despite the fact it was banana based! That is some of the same coffee crumb cake they served at breakfast.



Nik had some fruit.



And seconds of dessert, not like him! This picture makes it clear that he was the one who liked the bread pudding, not me.

The dining package cost 1 table service credit per person and came to $110.76. Whilst breakfast remains Tusker House’s standout meal, dinner was an enjoyable experience. As you may have noticed I have frequently compared Tusker House and Boma, it’s almost impossible not to. Boma edges it for me, with an improved variety of food, a more relaxed atmosphere and the bonus of visiting Animal Kingdom Lodge. We will be back for breakfast this year, and hopefully dinner too if I can squeeze it in. For families, the food at Tusker House is a little more reserved and of course the characters greet at dinner too. The table next to us were very vocal about there being nothing to their tastes to eat on the buffet, they kept saying they didn’t know what anything was (even salmon! ), but if you don’t know what it is, how do you know you don’t like it!? The beauty of Disney dining is getting to try something new, don’t be scared!

Looking at the pictures of today has reminded me of how good Tusker House dinner was we have booked Boma for dinner this year, but now I'm swaying towards Tusker House for the Rivers of Light package. Help!

TOTAL SPEND SO FAR $2,474.77