TinkerBelle_325
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2001
I'm back...
...and I'm sooo sorry that I haven't updated until now! I have been sick for the past week and a half and it has taken all my energy just to drag myself into work each day.
Today is the first day that I'm feeling semi-normal again! And good thing too, my best friend and I are going to see the Backstreet Boys and the New Kids on the Block in concert on Thursday night!!!
You see, she and I have been Backstreet Boys fans since we were 12 (1997). We have been to 10 concerts together and our dream is finally coming true.....we get to MEET the Backstreet Boys on Thursday at the VIP Soundcheck party!
Anyways, I have been killing myself at work the past two days because I have Thursday and Friday off.
As a result, I have finished up the majority of my projects for the week and can finally take the time to update here!
Liberty Tree Tavern - May 18th
Our traditional lunch at the Magic Kingdom is Liberty Tree Tavern. We adore the atmosphere, the detailing and most of all...the food! Typically, we share an appetizer or two and proceed to one of Liberty Tree's gigantic entrees. However, as this was the beginning of our trip, and we had not yet adjusted to "Disney food" as my friend Jaclyn (Belle_373) and I call it, we were not prepared to stuff ourselves quite so much. You see, I've noticed that as our trips progress, and as we adjust to larger portions and snacking more frequently than we would at home, that we become more comfortable with large meals.
We also wanted to see if we would enjoy our entrees more having not filled up on appetizers. This isn't to say that Liberty Tree's appetizers aren't good. In fact, we returned for a 2nd lunch towards the end of our trip and devoured the Tavern Fried Cheese quite happily
Our reservation was for 11:30, and we checked in about 15 minutes early. Much to my surprise, the Cast Member at the check-in desk asked if our family would like to open Liberty Tree Tavern for the day! I accepted immediately. How cool!
So at 11:30, we were escorted to the top of the stairs leading towards the Betsy Ross room. We were given this massive bell and I was instructed to ring it three times and proclaim "Here ye, Here ye, Let Freedom Ring!" or something like that and then the Tavern was open for lunch.
It was a very cute and magical moment!
Once we were seated we didn't even need to look at the menus. DDad and I had coke to drink and DMom had Pomegranate Lemonade, and we ordered three Pilgrim's Feasts!
You just can't go wrong with this meal. It is familiar and comforting, but entirely different from our family's thanksgiving meal! You see, we do a brown gravy and a sage & onion stuffing, so to have poultry gravy and cornbread stuffing is a treat!
Our plan of not ordering appetizers definitely helped us to enjoy this meal more. I even came close to finishing, which I never ever do!
We enjoyed this meal so much that we returned for lunch later in the week
Raglan Road - May 20th
The evening of May 20th, we had decided to go and see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at the recently opened AMC Dine In Theater.
For those unfamiliar with AMC Dine In, the concept is that you pay a bit more per ticket to receive perks such as reserved seating, in recliner style chais. In front of each chair is a table, with a call button. You are assigned a server and they will bring you soda, popcorn and a wide range of bar food items that are available. You can also order alcoholic beverages!
The issue was that we didn't really want to eat dinner in the theater! So instead, we had dinner at Raglan Road and figured we would just have the server bring us traditional movie snacks, but still try out the new concept!
We arrived at Raglan at 8pm and it was BUSY! We requested a table in the main room and were told that we might have a slightly longer wait. We were fine with that as the movie wasn't starting until 10:30.
After about 15 minutes our pager went off. We were escorted into the restaurant, right past an open table in the main room and into one of the side rooms. We politely stopped the hostess and requested that she reconfirm with her manager as we had requested the main room.
When she returned, they tried to place us in another side room. Once again, we politely pointed out that there was an open table in the main room.
The manager came over and explained that we would have to wait another 15 minutes for a table in the main room. At this point, we were getting a bit irritated. We could see the available table. Clearly it had not been assigned to anyone else because we stood within sight of it for 10 minutes as the hostess and the manager discussed where to put us.
A friend of ours owns a restaurant and one of his rules, a very smart one, is that you never walk a customer past a good table to seat them at a bad table
Another 5 minutes and we were given the empty table that we had pointed out 15 minutes ago Ah well, lets have some beer and enjoy ourselves!
Our server was fantastic! She was funny and personable and very prompt.
We ordered two custom flights of beer. Each came with four choices so we went for:
Blonde Ale
Pale Ale
Orange Blossom (local)
Sam Adam's Seasonal
Karlsberg
Harp
Smithwicks
and of course...
Guinness!
I have pictures of the flights, but as they are on my iphone and I haven't uploaded them to photo bucket yet, I'll have to add them later.
My favorites were the Orange Blossom and the Sam Adam's Seasonal!
Our server brought us Irish Soda Bread with Guinness Reduction to dip it in.
We must have gotten a batch straight out of the oven because this was BY FAR the best soda bread we have had a Raglan Road. We often find it too hard or too doughy. This was perfectly baked, still warm and pleasantly dense.
We saw a steak go out with these amazing looking onion strings on top, so when we saw onion rings as a side order we figured they would be the same thing...
WRONG. These were...ok. They weren't what we were expecting, so they were bound to be a bit of a let down.
Now, were quite boring when it came to entrees. We all ordered Sod the Stew with a side of mash.
We were of different opinion on the stew this time. DDad thought it has been better in the past, whereas DMom & I preferred it this time. There was tons of meat, it was tender and pulled apart with a fork. There weren't too many carrots or potatoes, but I prefer my stews to have more meat. My only complaint is that I prefer a more thickened broth, but regardless, we all licked our plates...err....our little cast iron pots...clean!
We passed on dessert, but not without hesitation. The bread and butter pudding is to die for, but we had a movie to see and snacks to be consumed, so off we went.
We will most definitely return to Raglan Road on upcoming trips. It is a fun environment with solid food.