SEMI-LIVE 5 weeks of onsite/offsite dining adventures Jan-Feb ‘23 *7/9 FINAL Update*

[elaine amj]

Safe travels home and hope your DH's treatments go well! Looking forward to more of your reviews in February.

Thanks! We’re so excited that we’ll be coming back

 

[dizneedoll]

Drive safe! I look forward to your Feb reports!

 

[erinch]

Travel well!

 

[Noreen411]

Condo lunch again I was thinking of cancelling dinner plans and eating in the condo but DH insisted we go out as we are heading home soon.

So off we went to the Tambu Lounge at the Polynesian Resort. For over 12 years, Ohana has been our favourite restaurant and we kept going even when we weren’t on the dining plan and as prices increased.

In 2022, we went in August and then again in October. Unfortunately October’s experience wasn’t amazing. We had to reorder the beef 3 times before we got the medium rare we asked for. The chicken wings were blah until the 3rd attempt as well. Our server was not as nice and argued with us saying that it was how it was cooked. I explained (nicely) that we were regulars and we knew it could taste better.

Anyway, we did end up getting good food (trick with Ohana is - if it’s not amazing, ask them for another round). However, it made me seriously consider the price to value ratio. It’s over $60pp nowadays. And our favourite parts were the cheap things like noodles and potstickers. We really didn’t care much for the entrees (chicken, shrimp and beef) especially since the beef is so inconsistent we typically need at least a 2nd attempt. I miss the skewers they used to bring around.

Very long story not-so-short, I have decided that Ohana has finally outpriced me. Sad as we were Ohana die-hards.

Anyway, this trip, I decided it was time to make the trek to try out Tambu Lounge, where I have been told we can ask for off-menu items from Ohana

I was going to park at MK and monorail over but decided to give it a shot and drove up to the Poly first. Told the guard I was headed to the Tambu Lounge and he waved me in after checking photo ID. Woot! Prob helped that it was now 5pm so not like I was parking here and going to MK for the whole day.

We strolled upstairs to the Tambu Lounge but no seats were available. We asked the server but were informed they do not seat us so we were left to hover for a seat.

At first we snagged a small low table in the corner. But DH pointed out he would have a lot of trouble eating without a normal height table. There are two 6 seater high top tables but we would have to share with another family and we weren’t keen on that. So we sat patiently and eyed the two normal height tables next to us. Eventually a family finished their food and left. So we hopped up, grabbed our food that had just been delivered, and snagged the table quickly. Success! And it was a lovely window table where I had a fabulous view of the Castle, the Volcano pool, and the lake.

We started with Ohana’s wings and potstickers. The potstickers were pretty good. But had obviously been sitting under a heat lamp for a little bit. We didn’t mind though. It made it a bit soggier for DH. He did have some trouble eating it though. They are deep fried and the edges were still crispy. I have been in a crazy potsticker mood for a few months so thoroughly enjoyed them. It is a surprisingly large portion - maybe 10 potstickers? (Most places give you 4-6 as an app)

We moved on to the wings. Unfortunately they were slightly dried out and overcooked so they also gave him trouble. I found them slightly salty and desperately needing more sauce. Or maybe just more juiciness. Still reasonably good and I ate them lol.

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We then ordered one bowl of noodles. I had planned to get 2 but decided to see if DH could eat them first.

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It’s hard to tell but there are a LOT of noodles here. Basically an entree sized amount. Just as well since they are dirt cheap to make - just plain noodles with no meat and a smidgen of vegetables.

Still, I love them. And whatever else Ohana is inconsistent with, the noodles are always delicious. I love that they are a bit sweet and never too salty. I have tried, but cannot recreate the flavour at home.

Even better, DH was able to eat the noodles. We were thrilled as it was looking like we were going to have to get him food elsewhere. He was even able to eat more potstickers when mixed in and chopped up with the noodles.

I thought about getting a second plate of noodles but I was starting to get really full. And DH said he was satisfied too.

It was now time for the star of the show. It is not an Ohana-lite dinner without the famous bread pudding. And boy is it plated beautifully at the Tambu Lounge!

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It is a gigantic slab of bread pudding. Like 4x the size of my tres leche the other night. And so very, very good. It melts in your mouth. There is a layer of crushed pineapple in the crust that adds that something extra.

My only wish is that there was more ice cream to go with it. It’s definitely not enough and I let DH have most of it.

I have had some very good bread pudding in other Disney restaurants. But this one still reigns supreme. I don’t think entirely due to taste - a lot of it is Ohana nostalgia too.

But if you’re talking about price and value - the Ohana bread pudding at Tambu Lounge is a gigantic portion and a steal at $12. Especially considering the $9 I paid for that tiny tres leche at Three Bridges.

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Overall, we had an Ohana-lite meal at half the cost of eating at Ohana. And I still had to waddle out, I was so full. Next time - just noodles and potstickers and bread pudding. Like all the meats, the wings are just too inconsistent there.

Oh and if anyone is wandering around, the little cafe outside Kona Cafe has chocolate covered bacon (we didn’t try it)

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We monorailed over to MK for a couple of rides before hightailing it out of there just before the fireworks started. So we got to watch it from the resort boat back to the Poly.

View attachment 735290Fantastic view. But it doesn’t come close to being on Main Street with the projections and the music.

It sure was nice not to have to do that awful long walk from the TTC to the parking lot though.

Hi

I haven’t figured out how to reply to a portion of the post - but we also love the bread pudding at Tambu Lounge. Our favorite dessert at Disney.

 

[Noreen411]

Safe travels - I look forward to reading the next part of your report

 

[elaine amj]

Loving your report and resiliency! The Vistana is where we stay, although only for 2 weeks. I would love a month stay.

Sheraton Vistana Resort is lovely. And very close to all the Disney parks which is great as we come back for naps every day. Wyndham Bonnet Creek feels more lux to me (and is a couple of mins closer) but I prefer that Sheraton Vistana Resort has aquafit classes, which I didn’t see when at Bonnet Creek in October.

Drive safe! I look forward to your Feb reports!

I’ll have a few more on-the-road reports coming but I am also looking forward to more yummy eats in February! Disney food has pixie dust sprinkled on it LOL!!

Travel well!

Thanks! The drive is going smoothly and we are stopping at all kinds of roadside attractions

Hi

I haven’t figured out how to reply to a portion of the post - but we also love the bread pudding at Tambu Lounge. Our favorite dessert at Disney.

It really is soooo good!! And they have never yet messed ip the bread pudding!

Safe travels - I look forward to reading the next part of your report

Lots more to come!

And we have just decided to add a week in March with my best friend and her husband. Not sure if I am going to add that trip to this report or even review it at all though. Always so much busier with more people Thrilled as we have travelled with them many times but never to Disney together. And for a whole week ! The husband and his DD were with us for a weekend this past trip (the wife was stuck at work), but of course his focus was on his DD.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Hope your drive is going smoothly. Looking forward to reading about your February trip!

 

[elaine amj]

Drive went great! Covered 17.5hrs in 3 days. Day 1: 7 hours, Day 2: 5.5 hrs, Day 3: 5hrs. Very smooth and only got a bit tired towards the end.

We spent the bulk of the drive at the edge of our seats listening to the audiobook, “The Siege”, about the terrorist attack at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Then DH remembered he had seen a movie about it so when we got home today, we watched “Hotel Mumbai”. Now he has got me hunting for more documentaries about it! The audiobook sure kept me awake the whole drive

We also did stops every day as I decided I didn’t just want to zip through the US and wanted to see various sights.

On the drive north through Florida, I decided to stop at the pretty Old Florida town of Micanopy.



I was enchanted with the tall oaks liberally draped in romantic Spanish moss lining the streets.

The food also blew my mind. Why is it that the best bakeries are to be find in tiny tourist towns? The Mosswood Farm Store & Bakehouse is an iInstagram-worthy example. I mean - just look at that backyard!



We sat in the warm sunshine at a picnic table and I had the pleasure of eating one of the best Hello Dollies (7 layer cookie bar) I have ever had. Intense coconut flavour blended perfectly with chocolate and a buttery cookie base. Unlike most cookie bars that can get cloyingly sweet, this was the perfect balance of sweet and salty. I had to buy another to bring home to DD.



DH had an egg frittata that was lovely. Smooth and silky eggs with a nice balance of potato.

The coconut pineapple bread was also good with a crusty pineapply exterior, but less memorable.

Not pictured is a savory croissant souffle I went back in to get for DH. WOW! The croissant was perfect flaky, crusty deliciousness and the souffle was silky and a perfect balance of flavors.

The very reasonable prices were impressive for a bakery of this caliber. Both the hello dolly and the coconut pineapple bread were huge generous slices.



After this, we continued strolling Micanopy, where I discovered an orange tree with real oranges! (Haven’t seen one in years!)



Then it was time to move on to Pearl’s BBQ, a convenience store attached to a Shell gas station (where I also filled up).

Super quirky, this is one of those dives with a few tables that has long lineups of customers from miles around. The owner’s wife told me they were slammed that Saturday morning, ringing up over $2k in sales in 2 hours!



We were not very hungry after our bakery goodies so decided to share an order of ribs (3 bones) and 2 sides. Mac and cheese and potato salad.



The ribs didn’t just fall off the bone - they were also moist and juicy and tender. Except for a few dried out pieces at the ends that we cut out and skipped eating. It’s hard to tell, but the 3 bones were HUGE.

Morimoto has really great ribs. And these were about the same price as the takeout window - $10 for 3 ribs. But these ribs are far bigger and I liked them as much, if not more.

DH still says my ribs are comparable or better though lol. That’s only because I pressure cook them and we prefer the moister texture to the sometimes dried out parts of smoked ribs.

The sauces were incredibly good. Wayyy better than we expected. I rarely buy bbq sauce, but if we go to Micanopy again and they sell their sauce, I’ll buy some.



The mac and cheese were incredibly good. They had that plastic yellow cheese sauce texture and then they were smothered in real cheese. We were surprised how much we liked it. The potato salad was a cut above Costco’s (what we usually eat). Something about the vinegar dressing. Mmmm…

The price was ok. $15 for 3 bones (half portion) and 2 sides. Not super cheap, but that’s just how bbq goes. Then again, those 3 ribs had the same amount as other bbq’s half racks.



We DEFINITELY want to come again. I look forward to trying the brisket the next time!

Afterwards, we went for a short hike at the Tuscawilla Reserve where I got my fill of enchanting Spanish Moss draped everywhere. It felt like one of those festivals of lights with dripping light strands everywhere- except that this was all real and natural and created such a magical world.



When I am not travelling to Disney, I am travelling to hike. Being in the outdoors surrounded by miles of wilderness is my other most favourite thing to do (I know - the polar opposite of artificial theme parks haha!).

I was really thrilled to be in a small patch of Florida wilderness. (Well, as wild as it gets with smooth, carefully manicured trails). It was a patch of fairyland and I was enthralled with the romance of strolling there.

 

[olliesmom]

I have loved reading your trip updates. I am wishing you and your DH a safe drive home and smooth treatments for him. My heart went out to you when I read about some of the difficult moments during your trip; but your love for your each other and your determination to find joy and magic while dealing with cancer is really incredible.

And I love the road trip stops - we have never driven to Florida from Canada (and likely won't until the kids are a bit older, toddlers and road trips are a tricky combination!) but the idea of slowing down and enjoying the journey... and the food... is a lovely one!

 

[elaine amj]

I have loved reading your trip updates. I am wishing you and your DH a safe drive home and smooth treatments for him. My heart went out to you when I read about some of the difficult moments during your trip; but your love for your each other and your determination to find joy and magic while dealing with cancer is really incredible.

And I love the road trip stops - we have never driven to Florida from Canada (and likely won't until the kids are a bit older, toddlers and road trips are a tricky combination!) but the idea of slowing down and enjoying the journey... and the food... is a lovely one!

Thank You! It’s been a long 7 years and this time we really don’t want it to stop us from living our dreams. So we do what we have to do but try to focus on everything else. It does sometimes wear on DH and he is still rather intensely frustrated with his difficulties eating but we will work through that challenge too. We get scans this week so looking forward to good news from the oncologist next week before we head back to Florida again.

Road tripping has been fun! DH would prefer just driving and driving. Once we hit the road, he gets rather focused on getting to the other end. But he’s been great about it once I explained I needed something to make the driving fun and to give me a reason to drive instead of zipping over the “flyover states” like we normally do.

We didn’t make a whole lot of money but were always very good at saving it. Then about a dozen years ago I discovered travel hacking and suddenly we had thousand of dollars worth of points to travel with every year and we got bit badly by the travel bug. We would fly over to Phoenix, Colorado, Vegas, etc for long weekends 2-3 times a year. Driving is giving me a great excuse to see places I never saw when flying.

And thanks to all those years of saving and some guidance from the FIRE movement (I am also really into personal finance), I was able to retire early a few years ago so we have the time and the means to travel a lot. We’re still pretty frugal - as you can probably tell from our dining reviews (although this all feels crazy spendy to us!)

We do miss the free dining promo. Man, we would stay at Values and ate like kings in those days!!! Oh well, we’re eating way less now but still feel like we are getting anything and everything we want and are wildly indulging.

 

[TwingleMum]

Loved your report.sending pixie dust to you and DH. Looking forward to February and more adventures

 

[TwingleMum]

Did you get to Se7en bites in Orlando? I’m going to try in April it looks great.

 

[elaine amj]

Did you get to Se7en bites in Orlando? I’m going to try in April it looks great.

Unfortunately I didn’t make it there this trip. It does look great although on the pricier side. Cheaper than Disney though! Hoping to make it to that part of Orlando next trip. This time, we basically didn’t venture out of the Disney area.

 

[elaine amj]

Day 2 of our travels started with driving a little out of our way to Stilesboro Biscuits, just north of Atlanta. I was on the hunt for a really good Southern biscuit. In October I had travelled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and my tastebuds were still longing for light, fluffy, delicious biscuits that only the South can make.

It was a tiny little shack with family photos holding up the rickety walls.



Here’s the menu:


I ordered biscuits and gravy and DH had eggs and grits. Now I like my gravy. I drown myself in vats of it whenever I can.



This was a lot of gravy. And very peppery. I don’t mind pepper, but I don’t seek it or add it. This was overwhelmingly peppery to me. This is the first time I have had gravy I didn’t like. I usually don’t even mind the cheap stuff out of a package. To make it worse, the biscuit was lost in the gravy. I did cut out bits of it to try on its own to see if it was good. Sadly, the angels did not sing.



The “real” bacon was pretty good - but too crispy for my personal preference (DH would have liked it better as he used to always ask for extra crispy bacon).

DH was grumpy that they put a slice of Kraft cheese on his food. His grits didn’t seem really good either. His scrambled eggs were rather rubbery and dry and the grits were very watery.

Overall, it was a bust of a meal. Thankfully, a very cheap breakfast which helped reconcile me LOL!



Win some, lose some. I’ll have to keep hunting for good biscuits in Georgia.

 

[summerlvr]

Day 2 of our travels started with driving a little out of our way to Stilesboro Biscuits, just north of Atlanta. I was on the hunt for a really good Southern biscuit. In October I had travelled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and my tastebuds were still longing for light, fluffy, delicious biscuits that only the South can make.

It was a tiny little shack with family photos holding up the rickety walls.

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Here’s the menu:
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I ordered biscuits and gravy and DH had eggs and grits. Now I like my gravy. I drown myself in vats of it whenever I can.

View attachment 736504

This was a lot of gravy. And very peppery. I don’t mind pepper, but I don’t seek it or add it. This was overwhelmingly peppery to me. This is the first time I have had gravy I didn’t like. I usually don’t even mind the cheap stuff out of a package. To make it worse, the biscuit was lost in the gravy. I did cut out bits of it to try on its own to see if it was good. Sadly, the angels did not sing.

View attachment 736505

The “real” bacon was pretty good - but too crispy for my personal preference (DH would have liked it better as he used to always ask for extra crispy bacon).

DH was grumpy that they put a slice of Kraft cheese on his food. His grits didn’t seem really good either. His scrambled eggs were rather rubbery and dry and the grits were very watery.

Overall, it was a bust of a meal. Thankfully, a very cheap breakfast which helped reconcile me LOL!

View attachment 736507

Win some, lose some. I’ll have to keep hunting for good biscuits in Georgia.

Try The Flying Biscuit, they have several locations in the Atlanta Area

 

[elaine amj]

Try The Flying Biscuit, they have several locations in the Atlanta Area

I did see them on the map! I’ll have to give them a shot

 

[elaine amj]

After the biscuits, it was time to hit the road. I was delighted to stop at the Rock Gardens in Calhoun, Georgia. It’s just off I75 - one of those oddball roadside tourist attractions and even better, it’s free.

A husband and wife spent several years building castles, cathedrals and villages out of small stones. It’s not particularly expertly done, but obviously a labor of love and it’s pretty impressive.





I really like dollhouses so loved the amount of work that went into these creations, and was floored when I realized just how many of these they built! DH immediately thought of how much fun it would be to play soldiers here lol! Unfortunately He’s a bit too unsteady to walk some of the very narrow paths - he didn’t want to knock anything over. So he looked at a few with me, strolled around a bit, and then went back to the van so I could explore more.

There’s a well maintained wooded trail around a creek and a small hill that made for a fun 20 min hike. DH tried it but I took him back after a few mins as the uneven terrain was too much. There’s a small hill to climb up and down the steep path and overall I’d say it’s a moderate hike. Very short but super peaceful.

Onwards to FOOD! We stopped again in Lexington, Kentucky where DH asked about bbq (still remembering the deliciousness of Pearl’s in Micanopy). Locals pointed us to City BBQ when we got ribs, pulled pork, a brisket sandwich, and 2 sides. We asked specifically for tender, juicy cuts to make it easier for DH to chew and the cashier tapped some extra things into the register.

Unfortunately what we got were rather tough, and rather dried out ribs. The pulled pork was a bit more tender, but not melt in your mouth, ya know?



There was a LOT of brisket in my sandwich and I pulled out 2/3 of it to eat separately (and share with DH). Did not get the moist (fatty) cut I was hoping for but the brisket was still pretty good. Nice flavour to it.

We used a lot of sauce and they were good - but nowhere near as good as Pearl’s (apparently our new gold standard haha).

The garlic bread was actually toasted though, and better than Pearl’s which was super limp and soggy.

This was my first time trying corn pudding and I am a huge convert lol. A moister, cornier cornbread. Huge thumbs up from me (I sure love bread!). I had been hoping for creamed corn but I guess that’s more a Tennessee thing? I’ll happily take corn pudding again The cornbread was good, but hard to evaluate after the yumminess of corn pudding lol

Overall, I doubt we will return to City BBQ. It was on the more $$ side too.



We stayed that night at Mainstay Suites north of Lexington and we really liked it. They did have a full hot breakfast with biscuits and gravy.



The gravy was peppery (is this a Kentucky thing?) so I ended up eating the biscuits with butter and jam. They weren’t amazing, but ok.

We also stopped at Dayton Ohio and I loved the free Aviation museum with the history of the Wright Brothers. We’ve stopped at the Air Force Museum (also free) a couple of times before (its very impressive) and were happy to make the time for this one.

A few short hours later, we were home and our travels are over….until next week!

I’ll be back!!!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Glad you made it home safely. Can’t wait for Part 2!

 

[TwingleMum]

really enjoying your report. Fun to include the stops along the way.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

Glad you made it home safely. And Pearl's BBQ is now added to my "To Eat" map in case I ever find myself nearby. Looking forward to part 2 of the trip.