New Year's Dining...

tyandskyesmom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Our trip was December 28, 2018 through January 7, 2019. We drove from Joliet, IL to Ocala for the night then on to All Star Movies for four nights, Hard Rock Hotel for three nights, All Star Music for one night, and a Hampton Inn in Chattanooga. There are four of us...me (48), Cary (45), Tyler (20), and Skyler (14).

We love the Deluxe Dining Plan but have not had a plan in the last three trips...including this one. so in the last few trips we have kept track of our out of pocket costs to compare to the dining plan cost. I will do the same here. This is the shortest trip we have taken and it was a difficult one to plan because of the length. Eating is part of the vacation for us so we still tried to hit a lot of great food.

The first night we stayed at a bad LaQuinta Inn in Ocala, got in later than we expected to due to multiple issues in traffic from Atlanta down.

We had planned to run out for something to eat...but being so late and not wanting to move the car in fear of losing our three block away spot to a six block away one, we were limited in our options. We didn't want pizza. So the closest place that was still open was El Toreo. Cary and Tyler walked over and got us food. Unfortunatly I did not take pictures or keep the receipt...either too tired, too upset, or too hungry...so I'm winging it.

Skye got a Cheese Quesidilla Dinner...with lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo on the side. It also came with beans and rice ($9.95).

Ty got the Three Steak Tacos... with flour shells, lettuce, and cheese,,,and rice and beans ($11.95).

Cary got the Three Beef Enchilada Dinner...with rice and beans ($11.45).

I got the Burrito Supremo...with steak, beans, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and tomato ($7.95).

We had three soft drinks and an Horchata to drink because we had not lugged anything from the car to drink. Our total was around $57.00.


I all came with chips and salsa that were good scooping up the kids' beans. They, of course, don't eat beans. Everything was good...or we were really hungry. We scarfed it all down in bed and then passed out.

Dining total : $57.00
 
Linner was at Woody's Lunchbox.

This place is so cute! But it is also SO crowded! And with limited space in the land in general there were a lot of people taking up tables not eating or clearly done eating. And after hearing people talk, using that as a place to sit with littles to wait got bigs riding things littles could not. So needless to say we had to stalk a table...and people are rude and ruthless! WOW...it never fails to amaze me how horrible people can be, especially in the Happiest Place on Earth.

At 4:48pm we were ordering. Skye and Ty went to stalk tables. Initially they could not find anything. Then we found a table with two chairs because the chairs were being used for the table next to us so their backpacks would have a place to sit. It's a tight squeeze through there too when people bring their huge strollers into the small area where the tables are all squeezed together...and then act like they don't see the fat lady trying to squeeze through.

We finally were able to find a table with four chairs closer to the aisle...which gave us more room in the first place.

So what did we eat???

Well, both the kids got the ... Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwich - Melted Provolone and Cheddar Cheeses with a Cheddar Cream Cheese Spread on Garlic Buttered Grilled Artisan French Bread...

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Initially, I was worried about these because they can be weird (especially Tyler) about different cheeses on their grilled cheese but they both liked them. They did both say they were pretty garlicy...which is not their preferred method of grilled cheese and even Skye, who LOVES garlic said it was a lot. Neither would rush back for them but if they were here and hungry, they'd have it again. The tots, though were nice and hot and crispy on the outside whole being soft on the inside. Tots were a hit!

Cary and I were going to share two items. First was the ... "Totchos"-Potato Barrels coated with Beef and Bean Chili, Shredded Cheese and signature Queso with Tomatoes and Corn Chips finished with Sour Cream and a sprinkle of Green Onions.

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Now, this may not look like much and the bowl looks small but believe me, it was a big bowl and was very good! The Frito were a surprise and a good one at that! Cary really liked this! There seemed to be enough toppings to cover all the tots. I had some and it was good. Cary would come back for these for sure!

We also shared the ... BBQ Brisket Melt-Sliced Smoked Brisket, Pickles and tangy BBQ Sauce between melted Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheeses on Grilled Sourdough with a bowl of tomato soup in place of the tots.

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This is a lot of food...definitely enough to share. The soup was really good...creamy bit not thick. No one else eats tomato soup so I did not have to share. The sandwich was good and bad. Some bites were really good but in other bites the meat was fatty, which is always what I am afraid of with brisket. The melty cheese and sauce with the good parts of meat and buttery bread would get me coming back but served as it was, I don't know that I'd order it again. I might, it wasn't horrible in any way...Cary did not like it much but he has a great aversion to any kind of fat at all.

For dessert we had a Holiday Lunch Box Tart. And I do not remember what it was...I am thinking an apple something...but not sure. Tyler wouldn't tough it...Skye, Cary, and I all liked it but it was very heavy and one on one, this would have been too much.

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We did bring bottles of water and pop with us from home to last the whole time at Disney because the cost of those things are off the charts but since we were not able to unpack the car, we had not brought any with us into the park so we got three large drinks (Sprite and two Cokes).

Overall, Woody's Lunchbox was just ok. Neat concept...good sounding food. Horrible seating in a bad location for catching stragglers. So not quite sure on it's return-ability factor. It is different. It is the only thing in that part of the park. So it might get vidited again but I don't think we'd make a special trip.

Total here was $58.81.


TOTAL $115.81
 


So far you are pretty close to the non Disney site's price to feed 4.
My traveling kiddos are thrillists so they haven't felt a need to squeeze into the new Toyland yet; too interested in RnR Coaster and "the tower" at this park.
Following along!
 
I like your reviews! I've often wondered about going to the parks during those dates. Was it very busy? Did you have a preference of All Star Music or All Star Movies? Were the busses better at one or the other? Sorry for all the questions.
 
SNACK at a snack stand (don't have a receipt or picture or name of the place)

Skye grabbed a Frozen Strawberry Lemonade from the cart right to the side of Rizzo's...which was closed.
I have no picture of it but it was one of those frozen cups. She loves lemonade but said this one was better!

Total here was $5.50.

TOTAL $121.31
 


I like your reviews! I've often wondered about going to the parks during those dates. Was it very busy?

It is very busy but if you go in planning for busy, you'll be pleasantly surprised. We did 16 days over Christmas and New Years a few years ago and it was wonderful...this time was a little crazier because it was a shorter trip so if we did not get to do something, we didn't have the option to come back another day. We wouldn't hesitate to go at this time again...the cost is more troublesome to me than the crowds.

Did you have a preference of All Star Music or All Star Movies?

We do prefer Movies to Music but just because of the theme...we don't tend to use the hotel much so a bed and a shower is all we really need.

Were the busses better at one or the other?

The Music buses always seemed less crowded at the end of the night and somehow seemed to come when we were there faster than Movies. But our roon was also closer to the bus stop at Music than movies when we were at Movies.

Sorry for all the questions.
 
World Premiere Food Court Room Service

Since it was so late when we got to our room for the first time, we had a hard time finding a parking spot...we were in about the middle of the parking lot and we did not pack well for bringing stuff up. So we took a few trips bringing up luggage, food, water, pop...and then we ordered room service...which we were pleased to see was not just pizza delivery anymore.

So we had Whole Pepperoni Pizza...

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...that was good Disney pizza. I did not have any, Skyler had one piece that I think she ended up giving to Tyler, and Cary and Tyler ate the rest.

We also ordered a Chicken Caesar Salad and a plain Caesar Salad.

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We did not know how large the salads would be because they were listed as "side salads". I have part of one, Skye ate part of one, Cary ate part of one and we had a little left over. They were nice and fresh and a lot of food, especially along with the pizza.

They do charge a delivery fee and add on an 18% tip automatically but for us, tonight, it was worth it.

Our total was $51.97.

TOTAL $173.28
 
The next morning (December 30, 2018) we were up at 5am at the bus stop by 6:35am!

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The bus arrived at 6:43am, we had just missed one. We arrived at Magic Kingdom at 7am and were through security by 7:09am.

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So we headed towards The Contemporary.

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I had planned this breakfast partially to eat breakfast but also so that we were already through security and not relying on any form of transportation in case the crowds got crazy. The last time we were here at this time of the year, the day before New Years Eve was crazy entering so I was taking preventive measures. It worked great.

We arrived at The Wave at 7:23am for our 7:30am reservation.

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And we were the only ones there...which is similar to the only other time the kids and I have eaten here. We had to wait until 7:30am exactly before they would seat us (that is when it opened). We were seated straight away from the entrance neat the kitchen.

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I also booked this because I knew they had Mickey Waffles for Skye and Cary is not a really big breakfast eater so I figured he could at least have good coffee.

Cary and I ended up ordering an
Omelet Your Way - Choice of Ham, Bacon, Mushroom, Onion, Tomato, Cheese, or Spinach with Breakfast Potatoes...

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We had it with cheese, bacon, and tomatoes. Our waiter, Jorge, brought us a separate plate to split it. It was really good. I don't like my omelets too done and Cary likes his dry...this was perfect for both of us somehow. The potatoes were really good with onions and peppers mixed in and we could have done with more of those. And the biscuit I had a bite of and Cary ate the rest...it was a biscuit. This was plenty of food for the two of us for breakfast.

Skyler had the Kid's
Mickey Waffles - with Butter and Maple Syrup, Bacon or Sausage, and Small Minute Maid® Apple Juice.

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She would have liked more waffles but she did not really need them. She was plenty fill after breakfast. She did scam on some of out potatoes too.

Tyler got the
American - Two-Eggs Cooked-to-Order with Breakfast Potatoes and Bacon...and he was able to sub an extra egg for the potatoes (he doesn't eat potatoes). His eggs were cooked well, with no runny parts, the bacon was Disney bacon and he got white toast too. He enjoyed it all.

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Tyler had a coke, I had tap water, Skye had apple juice and Cary had what is listed on the receipt as Organic Colombian Coffee. He was brought the pot...you can see it in the first picture. He said it was really good coffee.

Jorge was pretty good. At first he was around a lot. After we ordered and other tables started being seated, not so much...but that was ok with us. He brought our food when it was ready and was around enough to know when we needed refills. The place probably only had about 5 or 6 tables full by the time we were leaving so it was a nice, quiet meal. We were heading out at 8:23am...so exactly one hour from when we arrived at The Wave.

We all enjoyed our meal here. We have yet to eat lunch or dinner here because there are just so many other places to go but we would not hesitate to have breakfast here again if the option presented itself.

Our total was $54.71.

TOTAL = $227.99
 
Columbia Harbour House

Next we headed for food since we were all feeling a bit munchie...

We stopped into Columbia Harbour House. We all ordered and Tyler went to find some place to sit upstairs. They love to sit by a window but it was pretty crowded in there so he did have to hunt.

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Ant this was our view, so he succeeded! We ended up getting a couple of things to share. Skyler got the side of
Macaroni & Cheese...

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It it the creamy kind with lots of "juicy" cheese for dipping french fries in. She always loved this kind!

Then we ordered two other entrees to share among all of us. The
T
rio Platter...a combination of Fried Shrimp, Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets and Battered Fish served with Hushpuppies and a choice of Green Beans & Carrots, Apple Slices or French Fries (we got green beans and carrots).

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I
t had five chicken chunks, two decent sized pieces of fish, three hush puppies, and five shrimp. We all ate off of it and it was a lot of food. We really liked all of it. The shrimp was nice and fresh tasting, the fish not too greasy and the chicken was typical Disney chicken. We always love Disney green beans and the hush puppies were suprizingly not dry but well seasoned and soft on the inside, crunchy outside.

We also got the
Chicken Breast Nuggets & Fish Combo...Chicken Breast Nuggets and Fried Fish Plate served with Hushpuppies and a choice of Green Beans and Carrots, Apple Slices or French Fries (we for fries).

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There was three pieces of fish and six chicken pieces and a ton of fries. Again, this was a lot of food and was all very good.

They have little stations set up all over with plastic utensils, salt, pepper, straws, napkins, and various sauces...hot sauce, tarter sauce, barbecue sauce, mustard sauce, ketchup...maybe more but that was all we were after.

We also got four cups of ice. We had bottles of pop with us and this actually worked out really well. MUCH cheaper than buying Disney pop. I thought Cary might not like doing this but he loved it and it is likely we will do this from now on.

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We spent some time eating and cooling off (it was pretty warm outside!).

Our total here was $29.69 for two meals and a side. Not the cheapest meal but it was plenty of food for four people. If we were starving, maybe not. If we weren't planning on snacking in the future, maybe not.

All in all, we really enjoy Columbia Harbour House and it is usually one of our go to counter services in the Magic Kingdom if we are doing counter service.

We were outta there at 12:21pm so for being smack dab in the middle of lunch time, it wasn't too bad.

TOTAL = $257.68
 
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Pecos Bills

So we headed to Pecos Bills. This place was crazy! With as many tables that they have, we had a hard time finding a table and then finding four stools. We did finally find a place and find the stools. We actually did this before ordering because there was no way we could eat tacos standing. We had grabbed a laminated menu before finding a table so we all decided what we wanted and Cary and Tyler went to order.

Tyler is a bottomless pit. He ordered the
Taco Trio...Three Soft-Shell Tacos with a selection of Seasoned Ground Beef, Seasoned Chicken, Pork Carnitas or Spicy Breaded Cauliflower topped with Five-Spice Yogurt and Pineapple Salsa. Additional toppings can be found at our Fixin's Bar.

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He got them all beef. and used the filling bar for lettuce and cheese...

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He really enjoyed these...the meat is on the slightly spicy side and he is a boring taco eater with just lettuce and cheese but he liked them.

Cary and I shared the
Taco Trio...Three Soft-Shell Tacos with a selection of Seasoned Ground Beef, Seasoned Chicken, Pork Carnitas or Spicy Breaded Cauliflower topped with Five-Spice Yogurt and Pineapple Salsa. Additional toppings can be found at our Fixin's Bar.

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With two chicken and one beef. We made better use of the filling bar though!

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We added sour cream, lettuce, cheese, and salsa. These were all really good but i thing the chicken ones had a better flavor...not as spicy but well seasoned.

Skyler ordered the
Mini Churros...served with Chocolate Sauce.

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She lived these and even licked out the container of chocolate when she was done! They were crispy but soft...and the chocolate went great with them.

We got two cups of water here also...one to drink and one to fill with pop. They gave the larger cups here.

We all had another great meal/snack here again. The kids are always leery of Mexican, because they're weird, but we all found things to like here.

We ordered at 2:16pm and were out of there at 2:46pm. We do like to eat at off times here though because of the seating. Unfortunately, I think this is one of those places that a lot of people sit to wait for others so it makes for a difficult time finding a seat even at off times.

Our total was $29.69.

TOTAL = $287.37
 
Your observation that Pecos Bill's can be busy from morning to night matches my family's, LOL.
Never eaten at Columbia House but sooo loving the view of Rapunzel's Tower; whoever found it did good.
Your detailing of the budget is phenomenal and really helpful for anyone trying to figure out costing for WDW.
Keep going!:cool2:
 
Skipper Canteen

We get off Pirates at 4:15pm and are now late for our 4:00pm ADR! So we run over to Skipper Canteen and explain what happened and they said it was no problem...they'd get us in. It was pretty crowded around the check in desk though so there was not any where to sit. They had dispensers of iced water and paper cups for hot customers...so that was nice.

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We were called in to be seated at 4:34pm. So even though we were late, it was not too long of a wait to be seated. But, we were seated at the table right inside the door in the big room. Last time we were in the little room that you have to walk through the bookcase to get to and it was really neat. But considering we were late, we felt like we were lucky to be seated at all so we couldn't complain. This room is huge though, and loud. The other room is not.

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So on to the meal. Our waiter was Ray and he was good. He was able to answer questions and make suggestions that were welcome with our picky-ish bunch.

To drink, Skye ordered one of her favorites...
Schweitzer Slush...Frozen Apple Juice and Passion Fruit topped with Bursting Green Apple Boba Balls, first concocted by the noted explorer and humanitarian, Dr. Albert Slush

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We all fell in love with Boba Balls on our last Christmas trip a few years ago. We have tried to find them someplace to buy at home but so far no such luck.

Tyler got the same but in a souvin"ear" cup...

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Skye was a little upset she did not get a cup but then realized she got more in her glass than he did so she was good! Cary and I just got a Coke and a RootBeer.

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To eat I ordered the
Sustainable Fish..."Not Piranha," served over Spiced Couscous and Black Garlic Aïoli in a fragrant Basil-Lemon Grass Broth.

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This was really good and light. It was seasoned but not spicy. I love couscous but am always afraid to order it out because the presentation is sometimes all over the place. This one was really good and pretty! I forget what kind of fish it was but I know it WAS NOT tilapia or piranha!

Tyler ordered the
"Tastes like Chicken" Because it is!...Crispy-fried Chicken served with Jasmine Rice, Chili Glaze, and Seasonal Vegetables.

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He had the sauce on the side. Ray told him it was pretty spicy so he was good with that but he likes to dip not drown his food in sauce. Ray told him that's what he does too! It ended up it was very spicy but Tyler also did not like the taste of it so not putting it on the chicken was a good call. Cary and I tasted it too and I agreed, it had a different kind of flavoring that i couldn't place but it was not a flavor I would have wanted all over my chicken either. But Tyler did really like the chicken. It does have a small bone in it and i am not sure what cut it is...but he was moist and tender. He is a chicken fan so he gave his approval.

Cary just decided to get the appetizer he loved the last time we were here as his meal...
Orinoco Ida's Cachapas...
And you thought our jokes were corny! House-made Corn Pancakes, Mojo-braised Pork, Black Bean Salad, and Avocado Cream.

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And he loved it as much as he remembered he did! It looks like a mess but it is really good...and a lot of food for an appetizer! He did use some of Tyler's sauce on a bite or two just hoping to find something it tasted good on but nope.

And Skyler ended up ordering the same thing she got last time too...
"A Lot at Steak" Salad...We're betting it all on this one! Grilled Steak, Romaine Lettuce, Spring Mix, Pickled Jalapeños, Red Onion, Queso Fresco, and Pumpkin Seeds tossed in a Chimichurri Vinaigrette.

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She asked for ranch dressing and an extra plate. Ray obliged and told her that he likes to mix the ranch dressing with the chimichurri vinaigrette and it is really good. Ya, she was having none of that! But she did use the extra plate to pull the steak off the salad. Last time we were here she got this and the boys both got the steak dinner and we decided the steak on the salad was better. This time, the steak was cold (last time it was hot) and she was not as thrilled with it. Cary did eat a lot of it though with the vinaigrette. But she did love the fresh salad for sure!

We had a nice, relaxing dinner. There was a mask that we think was "talking" periodically but we couldn't pin point when it happened or if it was actually that mask we thought doing it. We did not see anything silly like we did last time but last time was an early lunch in the library so maybe it was just a slower time??? The big room is fun and loud and has a ton to look at. We were not in the best place for that but being late, we had to take what we were offered...and it wasn't bad by any means! It was nice and cool in there...and we, of course, got another HOT winter trip so we were glad to have a seat. Part of the reason we held onto this meal was so we knew we'd have a place to eat dinner without having to fight the crazy crowds for a table. SO that worked out too.


We did not do desserts here because we knew we would be snacking later and there was more to get out to see and do. We were out of there around 5:42pm...getting our check did take a while though.

All in all, we like Skipper Canteen, especially at Magic Kingdom where the table service venues leave something to be desired. We did decide on our last time here that this is not a dining plan venue for us though because there are not enough appetizers to order that we want and some of us might just want only an appetizer. But i think we will be back when we are going out of pocket again.

Our total here was $109.83 after a 10% Disney Visa Discount i just now realized he gave us when he saw the card we were paying with!

TOTAL = $397.20
 
Friar's Nook

At 7:04pm we stopped at Friar's Nook for a
Fried Twinkie...choice of Vanilla, Strawberry, Caramel or Chocolate Sauce.

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We obviously got it with strawberry sauce and the thought was...WHY DID WE ONLY GET ONE??? It was really good and we all enjoyed it a lot!

The line was short and our total here was $5.32.

TOTAL $402.52
 
Gaston's Tavern

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped at Tyler's favorite spot... Gaston's Tavern!

We decided to get two W
arm Cinnamon Rolls and a LeFou's Brew - Souvenir Cup...Frozen Apple Juice with a hint of Toasted Marshmallow and topped with All-Natural Passion Fruit-Mango Foam served in a Souvenir Stein.

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They had red frosting for Christmas. I guess green wouldn't be as appealing??? But they were hot and soft and sweet and cinnamon-y...just how they should be. Tyler is a cinnamon roll freak and these are his favorite! He ate one of them and the rest of us shared one. We all like the LeFou's Brew to varying degrees though. One is plenty for all of us to share. It is very sweet. Skye is an apple juice baby...she still waters her apple juice down when she makes her own glass so this is a little too sweet for her to drink much. It's best when it's at it's coldest though. We don't usually get the souvin"ear" cups but for some reason this trip we were into it.

The line to order here looks long but it really moves quite quickly. The problem is finding a table in there. I have no idea why, when designing this place they thought it would not be popular enough to warrant a decent sized sitting area...there are maybe 15 tables in here...maybe. So we had to stalk a table while the boys ordered. Luckily, we were able to find one...in fact, a family saw us stalking and asked us if we wanted it. Probably they had been through the stalking process before only to have some other rude person scam on the table before they got there....just like we had multiple times before. We were very grateful to them!

We were here about 7:51pm. We love Gaston's but we have only ever had the cinnamon rolls and the brew so I don't even know if they serve other things we might like. Maybe some day we'll try something else but either way, I know we will be back here on every trip.

Our total here was $25.11.

TOTAL = $427.63
 
Storybook Treats

After that Tyler ran to exchange his fuel rod and we sat on a ledge in the back of the castle waiting for him and relaxing. Skyler and Cary ran to Storybook Treats for the Peter Pan Cone...

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Skye loved the cone and the cotton candy and the fairy wings. She loved the look of them and the fairy dust shining on them (you cannot see it in the picture but they had edible glitter on them) but she could only handle a little of the lime ice cream. It was VERY limey! Cary, on the other hand, love it and finished hers too. They were very cute though! These are the little things that you used to find all over the place in The World but that are disappearing to make way for mass produced product so I was happy to see they still have some.

The total here was $12.76.

TOTAL =$440.39
 
Seasons

We got a Kid's
Breakfast Platter...Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Cinnamon French Toast Bread Pudding with choice of small Lowfat Milk or small Dasani® Bottled Water.

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With a chocolate milk. It was actually a lot of food. Everything was good...and i loved the french toast.

We also grabbed a fruit cup. Ya, we should have left it on the shelf. None of it except the grapes were ripe. THe honeydew and cantaloupe were super hard with no flavor.

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And we also grabbed a
Breakfast Platter...Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Breakfast Potatoes and Cinnamon French Toast Bread Pudding.

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But we got just bacon and extra potatoes rather than a french toast...Cary does not do french toast as much and Skye is picky thinking it does not look like regular french toast so she did not want it. If I had known how good it was, I would have had him get it. But the eggs were done well (no wet at all) just like Cary likes it. The bacon was Disney bacon. THe potatoes were really good and we all ate off of them.

Cary also had a coffee.

Breakfast at Seasons has always been good. We will definitely come back here if it were in the plan.

Our total was $26.91.

TOTAL = $467.30
 

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