Disney Dining | Pixie Dust Fan

Garden Grill Breakfast At Epcot

Disney’s Garden Grill Restaurant at Epcot is a hidden gem that I recently discovered. I’ve always known the restaraunt was there, but it was never a priority for us to try given that there are so many terrific places to eat in Epcot. I couldn’t decide where I wanted to eat on one of my visits so I asked my Facebook community what I should try and they voted for the Garden Grill. It was decided – and we promptly made breakfast reservations.

Since my sister and I were staying at the Boardwalk, we decided to have a bit of a later breakfast and take our time walking over in the morning. That’s one of the great benefits of staying at one of the Epcot area resorts like the Boardwalk, Yacht Club and Beach Club. It was a nice walk over and entering through the International Gateway before World Showcase opens is always a great opportunity for some photos with no one in them! It didn’t take us long before we were at the Land pavillion and walking up to the Garden Grill Restaurant.

The restaurant itslef is circular, and it rotates! It’s very slight – you can barely notice it – but you need to watch your step when you’re walking on the the platform.

Can you spot the hidden Mickey?

The tables were all facing ‘outward’ so there was no one with their back to the characters as they came around. We had Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale come by and they took their time. We got to spend some quality time with them taking pictures, they came around twice! I assume that’s not the normal practice, it might have been because it wasn’t busy when we went – but we weren’t complaining!

Now for the food. It was delicious. So good in fact that I now want to go back for dinner to try that!

The server started with our drink order – there were specialty drinks we could have purchased, but I stuck with tea and water.

The fruit bowl came out and the fruit was so juicy and flavorful.

Disney’s Garden Grill Restaurant breakfast fruit bowl

The problem is they brought out the sticky bun – and then I didn’t want to eat anything else.

Doesn’t this sticky bun look amazing??

The skillet came out with eggs, bacon, potato barrels, waffles, sausage and a salsa. There was a chocolate sauce and of course syrup.

Honestly it was way too much food for my sister and I – but we could have ordered more of anything. That’s the beauty of the family style all you can eat, you can ask for more of whatever you like! BUT – that can be an issue too… because I could have technically sat there eating all of it all day!

There is way too much food for the 2 of us!

The restaraunt was clean, bright and comfortable. The food was delicious and the character interaction was spot on! The price – it was $38 USD each + tax for breakfast, in my opinion well worth it. We had a leisurely breakfast with good food and our ‘friends’ stopped by to take pictures. All in all, this is now on my list of one of my favorite places to eat at Epcot!

I took some video here that includes shots of the restaurant as it spins and some close ups of the food.

Have you eaten at the Garden Grill in Epcot? Should I go back for dinner?

Pizzafari Family Style Dining Review

I always want to try something new to introduce to my clients. This last trip I tried Pizzafari Family Style Dining at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and I was pleasantly surprised.

Dining Table

This location is a quick service dining location but when you arrive you head over to the podium at the far check out. You will check-in in here. After you are checked-in you go to the register to pay for your meal which requires 1 quick service dining credit for each guest or if you are not on the dining plan the cost is $19.99 per adult, $11.99 per child – plus tax (gratuity not included or required). This price was as of April 2019.

Pepperoni Pizza

They will take your drink order and ask you how you would like your pizza. You have a choice of full pepperoni or just cheese and you also have the option of half pepperoni and half cheese. Your beverages include fountain beverages, coffee, hot tea, hot cocoa, bottled water or mandarin orange lemonade. Alcoholic beverages are also included: Bud Light, Safari Amber, Wine (Chardonnay or Merlot) or Mandarin Orange Lemonade with Vodka.

You are then given your drinks and your salads and a cast member will bring you to your seat.

You are seated in a separate section of the restaurant which is nice. You don’t have to go searching for a table. Your table has your plate and “real” utensils and cloth napkins. You will need to pick up your salt, pepper and any extras you like at the condiment bar before you sit down. The amount of food you are given depends on your party size. This meal it was just my mother and I. You will receive Capresse Salad and Caesar Salad.

There is Baked Ziti, Fettuccini alfredo with Chicken and Pizza, for dessert there is miniature cannolis.

The food will come out quick, not a long wait to eat. We didn’t have our salads finished and our food was there. They bring your meal to you on a little cart. There is Baked Ziti, Fettuccini alfredo with Chicken and Pizza, for dessert there is miniature cannolis.

Fettuccini

So, if you are hungrier than a hippo this is the place to be!! This family style dinner is served from 5:00pm – 7:00pm. You can make advance dining reservations and they also accommodate walk-ins. I can tell you I will be back!!!

What other locations would you recommend for dining at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Let us know!

This was written by Anna Scott, you can find her on Facebook

The Boathouse At Disney Springs Review

With so many great places to eat at Disney Springs, it makes for a very difficult decision if you’ve only got time for one. We had a chance to have lunch at The Boathouse and I can tell you, it did not disappoint! Often when I hear rave reviews about a place I am disappointed. I guess I have such a high expectation that there is no way for it to be met. This was not the case with the Boathouse.

When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised with how ‘open’ it felt. There was plenty of room and lots of natural light coming in. I don’t know what the lighting would be in the evenings, but I did love the feel during the day.

The decor was fun, with nautical themes and a full size booth inside of a boat in the middle of the dining room. There are other dining rooms in this restaurant, but we were seated next to this boat.

We started off with water and pop while we looked at the menu. The waiter brought out some bread that was so good that I could have just had that for lunch and would have been satisfied.

My sister Becky ordered the New England Lobster Roll. She’s a big fan of lobster and said she was sure there was an entire lobster in it.

I ordered the Smokehouse Angus Brisket French Dip as recommended by our waiter. I couldn’t believe the size of it when he brought it out.

The meat was so tender and full of flavour that I started to wish I hadn’t eaten so much bread.

Becky and I both got the French fries with our meals and both agreed that they were delicious! While we both got huge portions of fries, we made a good dent in them. When the waiter came back and asked if we wanted dessert, we both thought we couldn’t… but then we saw the people at the next table having theirs – and decided we had to try it! Becky had the Key Lime Pie In A Mason Jar

And I had (surprise!) the Double Chocolate Bundt Cake

To say that dessert was yummy is a huge understatement. I couldn’t stop myself eating this cake even though I was thoroughly stuffed.

I can’t say there was anything about the Boathouse that we didn’t enjoy. It’s making it very difficult for us to decide where to go when we visit. We love Art Smith’s Homecomin’ as well as Morimoto – too many choices!! Seems like we might just need a week vacation just to eat around Disney Springs??

PS – after this dessert, I had to get my Sprinkles cupcakes to go!

Have you eaten at The Boathouse?