Throwback Thursday: Walt Disney World-May 2009 - Part 1

By Nick

Over the next several Thursday's I'll be sharing this Walt Disney World trip report from May of 2009 that I wrote for the DVC News Forums.  Any commentary I make will be in italics.

Who: My wife, Barbie, my friends Todd and Meghan, and their baby, our Godson, Flynn who was 16 months old, and me.

Monday, May 18th, 2009

We left Philly airport at 7:05AM and arrived in Orlando at 9:45AM.
The weather was overcast. Got our rental SUV, and as we left the airport it started to pour.
There was a common theme throughout the trip. Soggy.

We drove to Downtown Disney and went straight to Guest Services for our APs (annual passes) and TIW (Tables in Wonderland) card.

Had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. They have an excellent selection for a very reasonable price, and fantastic deserts.

It had stopped raining temporarily, so we walked around DD, and Flynn enjoyed splashing in puddles.



We then drove to a Walmart to pick up some stuff for Flynn, and we got a couple of ponchos.
I wanted umbrellas, but they were sold out!

Arrived at POFQ (Port Orleans French Quarter) around 2:15PM. We were happy to find out
our request for adjoining rooms at been filled, and we went to rooms 2309 (us) and 2310 (them).
It has a very nice courtyard view, and is a short walk to the pool. Barbie and I went for a swim while T, M and F took naps.
Got back to the room around 4 and got ready for dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Drove over to the Contemporary, and got to CMs at 5:20PM.



Good buffet, nothing that really knocked my socks off, but a couple things were very good.
The characters were the fab 5. Flynn was a little taken aback when Donald, the 1st character reached us.



We couldn't get him to touch the characters, but he enjoyed watching them at a distance.
After dinner, we put on ponchos and hopped the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.



As it was still raining slightly, it wasn't very crowded. We walked on POTC (Pirates), the only part which sort of frightened Flynn was the drop. After that he actually started to hum along with the music!

They wanted to ride Small World, which, I confess, we have never ridden. Flynn was awe struck.

Amazingly, even with the crowds so light, Peter Pan still had a 55 minute wait!

We then walked right into Haunted Mansion. Flynn really enjoyed it, and started to dance in his seat to Grim Grinning Ghosts.

As we were walking out, Spectro Magic was just beginning, so we walked over, and were only 3 people away from the curb, and had a fine view, Flynn on his dad's shoulders. By this time it was really barely even spitting, and it was very comfortable temperature wise, especially for the end of May. Flynn really enjoyed the parade. The kid really is terrific.
Must get it from is Godparents.

We decided to skip the fireworks and get Flynn back to the room, as it was already 9:45PM.
 

Please stop back next week for part 2.

Chef Mickey's in Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort

By: Nick

I've eaten at Chef Mickey's twice in the last several years. Once with our Godson, Flynn, back in 2009, and just a couple of months ago with our friends Kandi and John and their kids Jazzlyn and Grayson.

 Me, Jazzlyn, Barbie, Kandi, Grayson, and John

I'm going to just come out and say it. It's my least favorite buffet in Walt Disney World.

It's not bad, but I have some issues.

Let's look at the good first. The Fab Five, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy, are here, and that is truly awesome!

 None of our Minnie Pics came out well!

They come around often and spend quality time with each table. Periodically, there is even an opportunity for kids and adults to cut loose with the characters!

The not so great?
The layout of the restaurant, which is located in the Contemporary Resort, is just odd.

Somehow, both times we've eaten here, we have been put up in an upper corner. This past time, it was a very dark corner.

There really shouldn't be any dark corners in a character buffet, in my opinion.

Then, there is the food. It's not bad, I just don't feel it's on par with other Disney buffets, with the exception of the desserts.

There are a variety of salads and a soup du jour, as well as sushi and pick and peel shrimp.

There is Mac and Cheese, Chicken nuggets, pasta and meatballs.

Some of the better items were the small individual dishes, such as the Braised Beef. The Lemon Pepper Chicken was pretty good also.

There are a few other seafood selections as well as BBQ ribs.

The carving station included turkey and beef.

The desserts include a variety of cakes, cream puffs, and cookies, as well as ice cream.

I can see why this would be a top priority for kids with the Fab Five, but I don't recommend this buffet when there are so many other better character dining options, such as Crystal Palace and Chip 'n' Dale's Harvest Feast at the Garden Grill.