12/19 - Animal Kingdom with Yak & Yeti, HS with HBD and snack at Tamu Tamu

12/19 – AK with at Yak & Yeti, HS with HBD and Snacks at Tamu Tamu.

We used the wakeup service and had a call in for 6:30am, which worked out nicely, woke up and got dressed then headed out to the bus stop.  We caught a bus about 7:15am and were there for 8:00am RD.  

  Headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris, which was nice but at times not much activity. Then off to Expedition Everest.  Now I have gotten sick in the past on this ride but we had the Motion Sickness bands.  I figured I would give it a try and to ride it with Andrea on her first try.  I was fine riding it…… that is until it went backwards and in the dark. That was my undoing on this ride. Now to say that the Motion Sickness bands worked like a charm, NO but they did help and I didn’t throw up like I have in the past, I was just out of it for about an hour which put a damper on us seeing a few things but it was better than the last time I rode it when I was out of commission for about 4 hours.  That was my last ride on Expedition Everest, EVER!  We did the Maharajah Jungle trek, then saw Dino-Sue and next is Dinosaur. We had FP for it and I went thru part but bailed due to the jerkiness of the ride, but she went on it. 

By this time our Lunch for 11:00am was approaching and we headed over to Yak & Yeti, checked in early and after a short wait, were taken upstairs to eat. (forgot the name of the room) She had been looking forward to trying this and since we both had promised to try some different things, here is our order: Shared appetizer of the Dim Sum, both ordered Sprite and water.

The drinks were brought and then our Shareable App – Dim Sum basket. This had Pork pot stickers, shrimp siu mai, cha su bao & pork siu mai steamed on a banana leaf and came with a soy lime dipping sauce.  We found it to be different and enjoyable. I even tried the shrimp sau mai and found it to good and I do not like or eat shrimp.  We did not eat the banana leaf since we figured it was for decoration.  After we finished this our entrees came.

Andrea - Crispy Honey Chicken - Tempura chicken, fried rice, sugar snap peas, carrots, honey sauce.  Andrea said it was sweet but not overly sweet, you could taste the honey but not over-powering and was very good with the fried rice and the veggies. I thought it was good.

David - Bhaktapur Duck – Roasted half duckling, plum BBQ sauce, jasmine rice, stir-fried vegetables. This was moist, crispy and full of flavor.  Andrea kept trying to take mine and if she had to do it over again, this is the dish she would order.  As I type this she is laughing about it and saying mmmmmm how good it was with the plum bbq sauce.

Andrea - Fried Wontons – Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla Ice cream and honey vanilla drizzle.  This was her favorite dessert anywhere. (outside the proposal cake).  The combination was sweet with some tartness and the honey vanilla drizzle, which there was enough on the plate, it really brought everything together.  Oh, and she licked the plate to get all the drizzle.

David - New York Cheesecake came with mango and strawberry coulis & whipped topping.  This was like most other New York Cheesecakes I have had. The coulis of mango and strawberry was interesting and very strange, by far not my favorite.

Our cost - $93.22 (2 TS).  Was it worth it, we think so. We both enjoyed it and she kept wanting my duck and if I looked away, like out the window, she would try and take it.

After lunch, we headed over to Flights of Wonder which we enjoyed and will see it again. Then we headed out toward the front to do our best to find Divine and we managed to locate her, very talented in how she moved and would then freeze. When you looked away and then back, you sometimes had a hard time knowing where she was.  Next up, Finding Nemo - the Musical. This was adorable and because we were off to the right side just off the middle landing, seeing the actors come down the stair from out of nowhere, was wild.  We than we moved with a purpose to catch Festival of the Lion King. I screwed up with this and Finding Nemo, in that I thought I had a FP for Lion King but it was for Finding Nemo, so we stood in the standby line for Finding Nemo.  Then we went to do the Lion King only to discover, we didn’t have a FP for it.  I had to use the restroom and Andrea got in line (no, I did not cut in front of people like we saw so many people do) When I got back from the restroom, I ended up calling Andrea to see where she was and she started waving.  I finally saw her 3 lanes over from where I was.  I told her to just stay there and move with the line.  As we waited, I was looking at the way the FP line moved then finally the standby line moved.  We were texting back and forth and I gave her the option: we could wait for the next show or try to do this one.  We decided to try and do this one. The standby line was moving but from what I was hearing from CM’s, everyone in the standby line wouldn’t make it in.  I texted Andrea and reminded her that I had seen this before but that this was her first time and it was okay with me if she saw it without me.  She thanked me and told me she loved me and then she went in to see it.  The standby line kept moving then they stopped the line, I was still about 20 people from the door.  After a few more minutes, they let more people in, and even though I had to stand, I was in to see the show and only about 10 people from where Andrea was.  She enjoyed the show but had thought it was going to be more like the Broadway version.  Still, my Nala enjoyed herself. 

 After the show, we left and walked around, taking our time and I went to Tamu Tamu for the Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich.  Cost was $5.29 plus tax.  This is a must do for me anytime at AK.  Just love when you get it and the cookies are still warm with the vanilla ice cream between them.  This is something I could enjoy every day of the year.  She went to Anandapur, the Blue bus and got a Twist cone.  Hers was ok but nothing you can’t get anywhere at any ice cream place that serves soft serve ice cream.  The winner – Tamu Tamu.

We walked around more and we had planned on going on Kilimanjaro Safaris again as we had FP for them but decided to head back to POP to relax before heading off to HS for our dinner reservations at the HBD.  We left AK, went to the bus stop and only had about a 5-minute wait, then off to POP and our room to lay down and relax before changing.   I guess I should mention that at any of the Signature Dining locations we ate at, we both got dressed up even if in a park. Just something we both wanted to do and it made the meals that much more special for us.

After the break (a short nap), we changed and headed out.  We arrived at HS and went thru security then slowly made our way to HBD but had to have pictures taken along the way.  It was very warm, well to us, it was hot and muggy.  We checked in at HBD and waited about 10 minutes then our buzzer went off and we headed in and were taken to our table.  Our server, Angela, congratulated us on our engagement, asked was it recent and how it happened.   She took an interest in it.  This is something I found out in our time there this trip, our engagement was different from most that they hear about.  In the MK, saw a guy get down on one knee and propose on Christmas day, as we walked by a CM and mentioned it, she said, Oh, there were 15,000 proposals in MK this past month and then she was going back to what she had been doing but when I mentioned that we got engaged but it was at Jiko, she stopped, turned and said, “Tell me all about it.”  Another thing we heard is that we have a unique proposal and story about it and one that we can tell our kids about – well that is when we have some.

Ok, now to dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby. We were given special menus and we took our time to figure out what we wanted and to just relax. 

 

Appetizers – Andrea ordered the Local Greens Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette – Florida Blueberries and Apples, Laura Chenel Goat Cheese, Spiced Candied Pecans. She liked this but loved the Goat Cheese and Spiced Candied Pecans.  I like the Vinaigrette.

 David - ordered the Beef Carpaccio – Capers, Lemon-Mustard Aioli, Petite Salad Greens, Caesar Dressing, Toasted French Bread.  This is not something I would order again, it was the first time I ever tried something like this and just not to my liking. I do love my roast beef to be rare but wasn’t fond of this and neither was Andrea.

Entrees – Andrea ordered the Crispy Duck Breast which also came with Roasted Root Vegetables, Wilted Greens, Butternut Squash, Spoonbread and Blackberry Mustard Jus.  She was willing to try this because of the experience with the duck that she kept stealing from me at Yak & Yeti.  It was nothing like the fried duck, it had a strange texture and the flavor was like a weird tasting chicken.  The duck was not crispy.  I found it just ok.  She didn’t care for the Spoon Bread and I liked it.  This was her least favorite dish at a Signature location.

 David ordered the Charred Filet of Beef which came with Forest Mushroom and White Truffle Oil Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Rainbow Carrots, Haricot Verts and Red Wine Reduction.  (I could have substituted and had the Premium American Kobe Beef for an extra $25 but didn’t) This was ordered medium and came cooked just the way they said it would. Was not disappointed. One of the things that I was different, there is what seems like a Waffle cut potato chip.  The veggies were still firm and lightly seasoned.  I loved the potatoes and Andrea tried them but didn't like them.  I do wish that had been more of the Red Wine Reduction. This steak was not as good as Jiko but at this point was the number 2 steak so far (yes, if you have been following this, it was also only the second steak ordered but we will rate the steaks at the end of our trip to give our full thoughts but rest assured that this beat out some that you would think should have been better but this again is in our humble opinion.  

Now to dessert – Andrea ordered her trio 1^st - Amaretto Flan with Opalys White Chocolate Whip with an Almond Cookie. 2^nd -  the Warm Blueberry Cobbler with Crème Fraiche and Orange Blossom Honey; and 3^rd – Chocolate Mascarpone Sphere infused with Apricot-Orange Jam.  Her favorite was the Chocolate Mascarpone, the Amaretto, she loved the cookie but the rest was like a soupy pudding, and the Blueberry cobbler was a sad disappointment and was not sweet. I tried them and agree with her on them.

David ordered, 1^st, Brown Derby Original! Mini Grapefruit Cake. 2^nd – Double Vanilla Crème Brulee.  3^rd – Double Vanilla Crème Brulee.  Yes, I ordered it twice because I do love a good Crème Brulee.  To rate these, it is hard to pick but the Grapefruit cake wins out over the Crème Brulee.  There was no crunch to speak of in either of them, and this is something I noticed at other locations where I ordered it.  Andrea doesn’t like Crème Brulee (she has no idea what she is missing, just kidding) and the grapefruit cake was ok to her.

 As a surprise for our engagement, we were brought 2 things, a plate that held 2 mini desserts which were not on their own little dishes but plated separately and each had a lit candle in them, a very lovely touch.  We also were brought 2 small glasses of champagne (neither of us like the champagne).

Our cost here - $161.86 - $11.72 (glass of wine) = $150.14 (total of 4 TS) and we left a tip of $30.40 for a grand total for the meal of $192.26. Was the food worth it, yes, the service, great. Loved the attention and asked our waitress if we could speak to the manager and she then went to find him.  He came over and introduced himself (I remember his name just as I remember my own, oh yes that is because it is David).  We wanted to let him know about our server and everything and showed him the card that we gave to our waitress.  The manager thanked us for the positive feedback and asked how we enjoyed our meal.  We told him that there were some of the things that we didn’t enjoy but that was because we both were willing to try new things that we haven’t eaten before and not because it was anything they did.  I asked him why they changed the Grapefruit cake and why it no longer available in a slice but only in the Mini desserts, he told me that it was still available in the slice but just not on the menu.  (So if you want the Grapefruit Cake in a slice, just ask for it, per the Manager).  I let him know that I thought it was much more tart then when I had it in the past and he said they had changed the grapefruits that they use so that might be part of it.  I asked if it could be ordered from the lounge outside and he said it shouldn’t be a problem but if it is, just give them this, and he handed me his business card.  That is the Disney I know and have always remembered and told people about. Going that one step above.

When we went to leave, it was raining and they had Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Going on.  I looked on the MDE and made a FP for The Great Movie Ride. We quickly went over to it and there was no one in line at all.  While walking thru the Que, a CM even moved ropes so we could get some pictures and see props they had, very nice.  We then watched the preshow.  There still was no one in line other than us.  The door opened and we were directed into the first row.  For a while it looked like we were going to be the only ones on it but then since Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Ended, there came a flood of people.  We enjoyed the ride and when we left, it was still raining but only very lightly and the park was getting close to closing so we decided to head on out to the Bus stop and then to POP.  We had about a 10-minute wait and did end up being the last 2 let on the bus, which I will take any day rather than have to wait on another bus.  We made it back the resort and got ready for bed. I was trying to download the pictures for the phones and the camera but fell asleep and woke up to find I had only done part of it.

Tomorrow 12/20 – Epcot, with Rose & Crown dining room for lunch and Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner (the server we had was not only the best server we had all vacation but he is by far the best server I have ever had at anyplace I have eaten at).  Also, snack in France.