Day 5 - Dinner - Artist Point

The Wilderness Lodge was one of the hardest places for us to find on the whole Disney property.  I think it's confusing because there are two different places you can lodge at named Wilderness - one is the ritzy hotel and the other is a campground you can bring an RV to.  Both are in the same general part of the property and when it's dark at night the signage does not provide much help.

Dinner
Artist Point
Wilderness Lodge

I'm actually from the northwest, and they did a very nice job making me feel at home.  Lots of use of wood and natural earthtones.  This is a signature restaurant and it showed - everything about the service and tables were hallmarks of a fine dining restaurant where you expect the wine list will be longer than the menu, and neither will bother displaying a cents column.

Appetizer

 

Smoked Portabella Soup - $9

Essentially a very rich and well-prepared cream of mushroom soup.  Rich and earthy, with a light hint of smoke.  The creme fraiche and basil oils drizzled on top both provided aesthetic appeal and added subtle flavors to the soup that complemented it quite well.


Entree

 

Buffalo Striploin - $46

Another artistic plate.  I've honestly never had buffalo striploin before - and the concept intrigued me enough that I felt compelled to order it.  It's basically a New York Strip, except buffalo instead of beef.  Even though buffalo is usually leaner than beef, this was still tender, moist, and perfectly cooked.  It was served with asparagus, mashed potatoes, and had a mushroom demiglaze that was sweet and savory with the small mushrooms like little bombs of flavor.

Sidedish (Not Pictured)
Truffle Fries - $4

Main courses come with your choice of a side, and I went with the truffle fries.  I really love truffle fries, which are freshly made French-fried potatoes drizzled lightly with truffle oil and salt.  These were everything I could want in truffle fries.

Dessert

 

Berry Cobbler - $10

Sadly the meal ended on a dessert that was not up the standards of everything else served before it.  I'm pretty sure this dessert proved that you can in fact have too many berries on one berry cobbler.  It was like someone took a simple dessert and threw an additional fruit salad on top.  I can't believe they seriously would expect you to just eat heaping mouthfuls of just berries just to try and get at the dessert buried in there somewhere.

Drink	$3
Appetizer	$9
Entree	$50
Dessert	$10
Total	$72

Dining Credits - 2
Credit "Value" - $44
Overall Savings - $28

Day 5 - Lunch - Yak and Yeti

Our only meal in the Animal Kingdom Park was at Yak and Yeti, a Tibetan inspired restaurant on the path between the Asia and Africa sections (although closer to Asia).

Lunch
Yak and Yeti
Animal Kingdom Park

The Animal Kingdom was one of the most impressively themed parks I've ever seen, and the rustic south-Asian decor was spot-on awesome.  This place looks inside and out like the place an expedition heading to the Himalayas might go to eat.  This was one of the places that really made the dining plan feel like a value.

Appetizer

 

Chicken Lettuce Cups - $13

Reminds me a lot of the signature appetizer at P.F. Changs.  This is not a bad thing, as I happen to like that appetizer quite a bit.  The lettuce was fresh and the chicken filling was overall well done, with a nice garlic and ginger taste that was a refreshing way to start a meal.


Entree

 

Baby Back Ribs - $25

Baby back ribs with a sesame barbecue glaze, some coleslaw, and fried rice.  The ribs were tender and nicely prepared and the fried rice, while not exciting, was passable.  I've never like coleslaw and it did nothing for me.  The ribs really are the focus of the dish, and they were quite good, sweet and tangy, and with a touch of spice.


Dessert

 

Fried Wontons - $8

Wow.  These were delicious.  Inside each wonton was a chocolate filling, and they were cooked such that the outer layer was freshly crisped and the chocolate inside was molten and creamy.  The strawberries and freshly made Chantilly cream provide a proper counterbalance for the richness of the wontons.

Drink	$3
Appetizer	$13
Entree	$25
Dessert	$8
Total	$49

Dining Credits - 1
Credit "Value" - $22
Overall Savings - $27

Day 5 - Breakfast - Boma

I typically was against "wasting" dining credits on breakfast, as it's almost impossible to get $22 worth of value out of breakfast, but I had heard good things about Boma and wanted to give it a try.  I was far from disappointed - this was one of the most impressive displays of quality, freshness, and taste from the entire vacation.

Breakfast
Boma - Flavors of Africa
Animal Kingdom Lodge

Across the hall from Jiko (dinner on Day 1) at the Animalk Kingdom Lodge sits Boma, a similarly decorated African-influenced buffet.  

Meal

 

Buffet - $17

Absolutely delicious fresh fruit and freshly baked breads and pastries.  The carving station had ham they had roasted fresh that morning (they have a very open kitchen and you could see another ham roasting behind) with this out-of-this-world mustard sauce.  They were also cooking omelettes to order.  Getting breakfast at this place was one of the most pleasant surprises of the vacation - the picture doesn't do justice for how good everything was here.

Total

$17

Dining Credits - 1
Credit "Value" - $22
Overall Savings - ($5)

Day 4 - Dinner - Tokyo Dining

Epcot has a lot of dining options, but tonight I chose Tokyo Dining as I've always been partial to Japanese food.  Le Cellier was my first choice for tonight but alas, that restaurant gets filled with reservations very early and it quite hard to get into for dinner.  I did have a chance to try them out later in the week for lunch of Day 7.

Dinner
Tokyo Dining
Epcot Japan Pavilion

This was a lot like most mid-range Japanese restaurants you'll find in bigger cities around the US.  The most authentic part was that all of the waitstaff were actually Japanese, but it certainly was an American Japanese restaurant nevertheless.

Drink (Not Pictured)
Ichigo - $4.50

Refreshing blend of strawberries, pineapple, and lemon juice.  One of a handful of special non-alcoholic drinks served at Tokyo dining (which are "free" with the dining plan).

Appetizer

 

Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura - $8

I've certainly had better tempura.  These were nowhere near crispy enough and had sat for too long after being fried but before being served to us.


Entree

 

Bento Box - $24

A sampling of different items - a sesame and seaweed salad, more tempura vegetables, salmon sashimi and beef teriyaki.  This tempura was much the same as the appetizer version - limp and not hot enough.  The beef was overcooked and nothing special.  I'm not a big fan of salmon sashimi or sushi so I gave that portion to my wife who thought it was mediocre.


Dessert

 

Chocolate Ginger Cake - $6

The cake was a bit on the dry side and the ginger flavor was subdued.  The "chocolate" in the title came from the icing on top.  I wish they had had something like green tea mochi.  Overall, an average dessert that finished an average meal.  While the savings on this meal were pretty good for a single dining credit, the food itself was extremely overpriced for what you got and the quality paled in comparison to most of the other restaurants we tried.

Drink	$4.50
Appetizer	$8
Entree	$24
Dessert	$6
Total	$42.50

Dining Credits - 1
Credit "Value" - $22
Overall Savings - $20.50

Day 4 - Lunch - Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

First day in Epcot. I had heard good things about Akershus despite it being a "character dining" experience. This one in particular had several Disney princesses in attendance and we had our picture taken with Belle. Although we have no children, I think younger kids would get a kick out the experience.

Lunch
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Epcot Norway Pavilion

I'm not entirely sure what Norwegian decorum is supposed to be. The "banquet hall" was brightly lit and, given the effort they put into everything at Epcot, I have to assume it was authentic.  The meal itself is a prix fixe "Taste of Norway" that's $33 no matter how to slice it.

Appetizer

Taste of Norway Starter - Cold Salad Bar

There is a nice self-service vegetable, cheese, and meat cold salad bar to get your meal started.  Nothing really stood out for me here, but they had a nice variety of cold cuts, cheeses, breads, regular salad, chicken salad, potato salad, and shrimp with cocktail sauce.

Entree

 

Taste of Norway Entree - Kjottkake

Meatballs in a lingonberry sauce served with parsley potatoes and some asparagus.  I'd compare these to what you could get at Ikea, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.


Dessert

 

Taste of Norway Dessert - Rice Cream, Chocolate Mousse, Coconut Cream Bread

A trio of offerings finishes off the meal.  I personally didn't particularly like any of these desserts.  I think they are just not my style of dessert.  The chocolate mousse was probably the best of all of them.

Total	$33

Dining Credits - 1
Credit "Value" - $22
Overall Savings - $11