Chef Mickey's Buffet Review - Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World

On our recent trip to Walt Disney World, one of the places we wanted to try was Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary.  So many times on the monorail, we've zipped through this beautiful hotel and glimpsed Chef Mickey's down below.  So we wanted to experience it for ourselves!  Back in June, I was able to get a 9:15 pm reservation for our first night at Disney. Because yes - you have to make reservations that far ahead!! But it was oh so worth it!

We spent our first afternoon here at the Magic Kingdom, then went back to the hotel to shower and change for dinner.  We decided to drive to the hotel and parked there before taking the elevator up to the restaurant.   We got to the hostess stand right at 9:15.

They gave us a pager, and we waited in the lobby for about 10 minutes to be seated - they had a photographer available for pictures, too.

We had a wonderful waiter named Glen who told us about the buffet and took our drink orders.
The main buffet had salads, breads, and lots of entrees and sides.  My choices were sloppy joes without the bun, polenta, green beans with a dab of butter, short ribs, grilled chicken with a little honey mustard, and some carved turkey breast.  There was also some salad under the ribs, ha!

My son chose chicken, chicken nuggets, bread, and macaroni and cheese.  We thought everything was really good.  Our waiter was great about removing empty plates and refilling our drinks before we had to ask.

He noticed we had our birthday buttons on (I got them at the check-in desk at Pop Century), and surprised us with a birthday card signed by all of the characters, plus a cupcake to share!

And speaking of characters:

Dessert was awesome - they had so many things to choose from!  I didn't take pictures of all the options.  David had ice cream with candy on top.  I chose these three mini desserts!  The key lime tart was my favorite!

The restaurant has plenty of room, and the decor is bright and fun.  After dinner we walked around the hotel a bit and looked at this huge Frozen gingerbread castle!  The Christmas decorations were beautiful.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had the free dining plan, so we had a free table service meal for each day of our stay. So this meal only cost us the 20% tip we left!  Without the dining plan, our dinner would have cost $106.50!  I highly recommend the dining plan if you want to have lots of character meals!

We truly enjoyed this restaurant and the character interactions.  It was a lot of fun and we'll definitely be back next time we visit The Magic Kingdom!  Here is a link to the menu if you want to see more of what they offer!

Stay tuned for more Disney posts coming soon!

Garden Grill Restaurant at Walt Disney World Epcot

My son and I just returned from a wonderful eight day vacation in Florida.  The majority of our time was spent at Walt Disney World, and I'll be sharing some of our favorites from our trip over the next few weeks!

First up is our lunch at Garden Grill Restaurant.  It's located in The Land building towards the front of the park.   This is what the lobby of the building looks like, when you first enter.   (Click on any pic for a larger view)  Garden Grill is on the main level (2nd floor) straight ahead.

Here's a closer view of the front of the restaurant:

You really need a reservation for any of the table service or character meals at Walt Disney World.  I made our reservations back in June for this trip!  We saw many disappointed people during our trip who tried to walk up and get in at restaurants.  So make sure to plan your trip well in advance, then you can start making dining reservations 180 days from your trip date.

We checked in a few minutes early, and were given a pager.  This lovely Christmas tree was in the waiting area and was so pretty to look at!

Once the pager lit up, we were quickly taken to our table.  The restaurant rotates very slowly, and you get to see portions of the interior of Living With the Land ride as it moves.   Our waitress was named Jenna and she was AMAZING.  Everyone there was friendly and helpful, and you can tell they love their job! 

She took our drink orders, then brought them plus fresh rolls with clover honey butter, and a gorgeous salad that contained fresh veggies grown in the greenhouses at Epcot! It was tossed in a ranch dressing and was delicious.  The rolls were fluffy and the honey butter was out-of-this-world fantastic! (I haven't eaten rolls or bread in 3 months, so that might be part of the reason they tasted so good, ha!) 

Next up was the entree.  She brought David a serving of mac-n-cheese (topped with goldfish crackers) and sweet potato fries, in addition to our main entree skillet.  It contained turkey with a delicious bacon and leek dressing, cranberry sauce, tender pot roast with buttermilk  mashed potatoes, sweet Italian sausage with peppers and onions, and green beans.  Everything was perfect!  I tried a little of each and my favorites were the pot roast and the turkey.  Both were really tasty.  Dessert was a blueberry and strawberry shortcake, with vanilla bean whipped cream. YUM! 

While we ate, we were visited by some adorable characters!  The coolest part?  They came by several times during our meal! That never happens at other character meals we've had!

We were on the free dining plan, so we paid nothing for lunch, except for our 20% tip.  But this is what it would have cost if we'd had to pay out of pocket.

If you can book a trip and get the free dining plan- DO it!! We had 6 table service meals, 6 quick service meals, and 6 snacks each - for free.  Totally worth it!! All you will pay is your tips - please tip your servers well!   Actually, now that I think about it, we did pay a little for our plan, because we switched from the Coronado resort to Pop Century, and just upgraded the dining plan.  It was a very nominal fee, though.

My travel agent was Jo Vagos with The Magic For Less.  We paid a $200 deposit back in April, and paid a little on our trip each month.  The balance for our trip was due one month before travel.  I really suggest going this route and being able to save for your vacation throughout the year.  Please be sure to tell Jo that Aimee Ransom referred you if you use her!

Jo Vagos ~ Travel Specialist

Affiliated with The Magic For Less Travel

Email: Jo@themagicforless.com

Phone: 407-568-2789

More Disney information to come - we had a magical vacation with lots to share!  Tusker House, Chef Mickey's, Ohana, Be our Guest, and more! 

Spring Break Junior Knight Training at Medieval Times Atlanta!

Hi friends! 

It's almost Spring Break, and I know some of y'all will be stay-cationing here in Atlanta.  I just found a great option for a memorable Spring Break family dinner with your family! 

Medieval Times is hosting a great program for kids during Spring Break ~ Junior Knight Training!  Kids between the ages of 4-12 will have the opportunity to get down in the sand before the show and train with the knights. At the end of the training, they will all be knighted by the king! (Please keep in mind that closed toe shows are required to participate.)

Kids and students are just $29.95 and adults are $36.95, and Junior Knight Training is free with a paid admission to the show. (Use Offer Code SBWEB16)

Below are the dates and times of the Junior Knight Training shows offered at Medieval Times in Atlanta:

Today, March 24 - Show starts at 7:30pm & Junior Knight Training begins at 6:45pm

Friday, March 25 – Show starts at 6:30pm & Junior Knight Training begins at 7:15pm

March 30 and 31 – Show starts at 7:30pm & Junior Knight Training begins at 6:45pm

April 1 - Show starts at 6:30pm and Junior Knight Training begins at 7:15pm

April 4-7 - Show starts at 7:30pm and Junior Knight Training begins at 6:45pm

April 8 – Show starts at 5:00pm and Junior Knight Training begins at 5:45pm


Find out more at the Medieval Times website! 
The Atlanta Castle is located at:
Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament 
5900 Sugarloaf Parkway, Suite 517 • Lawrenceville • GA • 30043 

Disclaimer: My family and I will be attending one of the Junior Knight Training Dinners.  No other compensation was received.   Any opinions given are my own.  MT provided the images and information about their new Junior Knight Training program for me to share with my readers. 

Pollo Tropical #PolloTropiCulture Review

Last month we had the chance to visit Pollo Tropical and try out their delicious food.  We live in the farthest corner of Gwinnett county, and the closest Pollo Tropicals to us are either Lawrenceville or Cumming.  Both require a bit of a drive, but we found out it was well worth the trip to Lawrenceville. The decor is Caribbean, very light and sunny.  The service was great, too.  You place your order, then get a card for your table, and a server brings your food.  Ours checked back throughout the meal to refill drinks, bring napkins, etc.

Caribbean food is the specialty at Pollo Tropical. I've never really tried anything like that before but obviously, I've been missing out - it's delicious! We ordered the Family Meal on our first visit, which came with a whole grilled chicken, rolls, fried plantains and sides.  We chose Caribbean Corn Souffle - it was amazing! and Macaroni and Cheese (for the kiddo). You can also choose from beans, brown, white or yellow rice,  yuca and other dishes.

We also added two grilled boneless chicken breasts for my son and I.  Everything was so tasty!  The chicken is marinated in tropical fruit juices and spices and then grilled.  Really moist and delish.  The sides were great, and they had a variety of sauces and salsas to add to your meal.  My favorite is the pineapple rum, which was zesty and fresh.  David likes their curry mustard which definitely had some heat to it.  If you are counting calories, check out their Tropical Lite menu. There is something for everyone at Pollo Tropical!

The second time we visited, we used the drive through.  We had just spent the morning at the park and were hot and tired.  So we went a little out of our way so we could hit up PT on the way home. This time David got a kids meal (mac and cheese bowl with a drink and a guava bar) and I had the pineapple chicken wrap with a yummy sauce and grilled pineapple plus that delicious chicken.   Everything we've had there has been fresh and tasty!

The Lawrenceville location always seems crazy busy when we've passed by, and the two times we visited it was packed!  I was really excited to find out that we are getting a new Pollo Tropical location right here in North Gwinnett, by the Mall of Georgia! It opens later this summer.  It's hard to find fresh, healthy options when you are eating out, but you can't beat the grilled chicken at Pollo Tropical. We will definitely eat there once it opens. Next visit I will be trying their new Chicken Avocado Club Tropichop - yum!  They've just added fresh avocado to the menu since it is in season, and also Cheezy Yuca bites!

***I am so bummed that I can't use the pictures I took at Pollo Tropical of their tasty food. My phone's camera was acting up this Spring and many pictures I took were blurry and horrible.  So the pics included in this post are actually from the Pollo Tropical website.***

Time for another giveaway!! Pollo Tropical wants to give one my readers a fantastic swag bag full of PT swag and coupons for their amazing food!

It's easy to enter via the rafflecopter widget below.  (if you don't see it, click the read more link) Please enter only if you live in an area with Pollo Tropical locations.  (They are only in the South East - FL, GA, TX, TN) All entries will be verified.

A Visit to The Melting Pot

Have you ever been to the Melting Pot Restaurant? We are lucky to live about 30 miles from one and it's a fun place to eat - whether we are celebrating, or just for a good dinner!

A few months ago we bought a $50 gift certificate to the Melting Pot Atlanta locations for $20 from Half Off Depot. It was set to expire on the 31st, so last Sunday we decided to go ahead and enjoy a night out there!

Fondue is more than a dining style, it's an experience! When we got to the restaurant, we were seated by a host, and he turned the pot on for our table so it could warm up. We looked at the menu while we waited, and decided to go with the Big Night Out France menu. We did make several substitutions though, which is a nice option the Melting Pot offers!

For our cheese course, we chose the Wisconsin trio instead of the BNOF selection, which had truffle oil. We were warned that it was a very strong flavor, so we went with a tried and true cheese we'd like.



Our cheese fondue was a mix of fontina, butterkase, and buttermilk bleu cheeses with white wine, sherry, garlic and scallions. Yum! It was served with a variety of bread chunks, green apples, and veggies. I love cheese fondue!!

For our salad course, my husband went with the BNOF Salad Nicoise. I chose the House salad with their Sweet & Tangy House dressing. Delicious!!
***I forgot to take a picture of the salads, darn it! : )


Entree time! We chose the BNOF Fondue Feast ~
Filet Mignon, Peppercorn-Crusted NY Strip, Chicken Provençal,Roasted-Garlic Shrimp, Maple Leaf Farms Duck a l’Orange, Ratatouille & Goat Cheese Ravioli and Fresh Vegetables. Neither of us are fans of duck, so we substituted the chicken for the duck.





If you've never fondued before, you should know that you will be cooking your own meats & veggies! That is part of the charm, and the fun, of the Melting Pot. We each had three forks, so we could cook several pieces at a time. My picture of the meat plate was taken about 1/2 way through the course, so there was a good bit already gone! Prepare to be there for a while - our meal took close to three hours for all four courses. The veggies get dumped in the pot to cook, and you scoop them out with a slotted spoon when they are cooked.

They give you a variety of sauces for the meat course. The BNOF sauce was a gorgonzola with port wine - it was too strong for my taste. There was also a tarragon aeoli, which I didn't try. My favorite sauces are the Green Goddess and Teriyaki. LOVE them! There is also a curry sauce and a ginger plum sauce.

Then it was time for the best part of our meal - the chocolate course!!
We didn't try the BNOF White Chocolate Creme Brulee. Instead we picked the Flaming Turtle - milk chocolate, caramel and chopped pecans, flambeed! It. Was. SOOOOO. Good!!!! My picture doesn't do it justice, at all. The lighting is very dim in the restaurant, and I didn't want to use the flash and draw attention to my secret photography!





It came with a plate of sliced strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, marshmallows dusted with oreos and more marshmallows dusted with graham cracker crumbs, Rice Krispie treats, brownies and pound cake. HEAVEN!! (We had already eaten a good bit of the dessert by the time I remembered to take a picture, again!! I was not being a good photographer that evening!)

I also ordered a Burnt Almond Mocha dessert drink - I remember only that it had amaretto and Godiva chocolate. It was a wonderful companion to my chocolate-dipped treats.

I don't believe we finished any of the courses completely. It's so much food. But it is delicious, fun and such a different experience from the usual dining out we all do. It gives us some much-needed time away from the kids to talk and catch up. But don't get me wrong, you can take the kids here too. My kids love fondue, because we have it each year on New Year's Eve! Katie's been to the Melting Pot several times. David hasn't been yet, but next time we go, we'll take them too. It's so much fun!!

Do you live near a Melting Pot? Or have you ever been? I'd love to hear what you think of them too!

This is not a sponsored post at all, I just wanted to share one of my favorite places around Atlanta!!

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu2736041

Log on to Groupon today for a HUGE deal - get $50 worth of food/drinks at the Sundial Restaurant downtown for only $20!!! We are surprising our daughter on her 16th birthday with dessert there - how FUN! Sign up for daily deals from Groupon - they are fantastic! We scored a family membership to Fernbank for only $45 through Groupon in April!!