He Just Came For The Food: A March 2018 Dining Report *update 9/22 S. Hollow/GF Cafe

[ariane37]

I hope you guys were able to recoup the evening! And at least you guys could grab a nice drink down at Geyeseur point!

We were, thanks! I have to get that review up soon

I'm going to forever refer to these as Steve Shrimp!

I believe Forest Gump was the first to quote the name

You sure are raising him right! And aren't we all there only for the food

Yes! Well and this

Yum this looks and sounds delicious!!!!! Its been 2 years since we've been to F&G but think we'll end up doing it next year because Jason wants to do the Star Wars half marathon again.

I heard that somewhere................is that in May? I should know this, shouldn't I?

Jason's taking to brewing his own beer lately but thankfully has been sticking to just normal beer flavors. Though I think he likes making them just so we can name them

Oh PLEASE tell me some names, I'm sure their fabulous!

Thank goodness. I was really worried you wouldn't be able to make it into the theater otherwise.

It was rough, let me tell you. But we did it. I'm writing a book about it.

You have raised him well. I feel like this is the constant conversation in my house...
me: "what is everyone's must-do? What fastpasses do you want me to get us?"
R: "babe you know I don't care. Except maybe I want to try that churro sandwich. And it would be cool if we got back to geyser point"
Mom: "MORIMOTO"
Me:

Seriously! Nobody cares except about food! But in my situation nobody voices their opinion the first 10x I ask; they start telling me where they want to eat about 30 days before we leave up until 4 days before, and then get mad when we aren't booked there already. Yup, happens every time. In fact we went out to dinner tonight and I asked again, and got from the boys" make sure it's places we like" plus Narcoossee's from Chris. Oh and he also asked if we're staying at CCV again and was not happy when I said SSR. So he told me I need to keep watching for CCV to open up But you know, he doesn't care about anything but the food anyway!

What I can't figure out is why they can't put in a year-round QS in like the Odyssey or Wonders of Life pavilion or something and call it "best of the fest" where you could get the delicious festival stuff all the time. They could even rotate the dishes offered so that they still keep some of the cache of "you can't get this all the time"

CAN YOU PLEASE EMAIL EVERYONE THAT WORKS FOR DISNEY WITH THIS IDEA???? This is pure genius Melinda, pure genius and I will love you forever if this happens

YOU IS RIGHT!!! If they touch it, it better be at least as good if not better and still pink!!!

I giggle a little every time I see the sugar cane shrimp in your reviews. It's like subliminal messaging, though, because I'm hoping they serve this at Food and Wine this year. I told my husband about it, and he's pretty interested. You're great for marketing!

I just wish they were secretly paying me to promote it! That would be awesome if they add it to F&W, I'll be on the lookout for it since we'll be down there in Sept.

 

[pepperandchips]

Seriously! Nobody cares except about food! But in my situation nobody voices their opinion the first 10x I ask; they start telling me where they want to eat about 30 days before we leave up until 4 days before, and then get mad when we aren't booked there already. Yup, happens every time. In fact we went out to dinner tonight and I asked again, and got from the boys" make sure it's places we like" plus Narcoossee's from Chris. Oh and he also asked if we're staying at CCV again and was not happy when I said SSR. So he told me I need to keep watching for CCV to open up But you know, he doesn't care about anything but the food anyway!

Oh don't I know! It's the same drill here. It always works out though! The best of my planning communication fails recently was when R found out that AS2 (the ride, not the shrimp) was the same type of ride as Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and was sad that he had told me to pick TSMM for that tier's fastpass at DHS. Everyone always likes what I pick though.

I'm curious to hear if your guys enjoy SSR. I had that moment of trip planning panic yesterday when I second-guessed CSR and looked at how much it would cost for us to switch to SSR for our short little August weekend trip. Then I reminded myself of why I liked CSR so much a few years ago and just had to back away from all the browser tabs!

 

[ariane37]

I'm curious to hear if your guys enjoy SSR. I had that moment of trip planning panic yesterday when I second-guessed CSR and looked at how much it would cost for us to switch to SSR for our short little August weekend trip. Then I reminded myself of why I liked CSR so much a few years ago and just had to back away from all the browser tabs!

We stayed at SSR for 3 nights back in 2011; we got those nights free because of a 2010 stay at BWV during which they never removed mold from our shower after we repeatedly asked them to. Anyway-------
I can't remember what section we were in but we were close to a pool and close to the main building/food court which was nice. We had a 1 bedroom and thought it was updated, clean, and bright. Overall we liked our stay but at that time only had an on-property stays at OKW and BWV to compare to, and we also had a car so we didn't use the buses much. I think with DS being so much "more" now there's an added appeal; we'll see!
I've been at CSR twice since the construction started and it doesn't bother me one bit. It's my favorite mod

 

[Steppesister]

You guys made some killer progress on the food options! Nicely done! I just booked for our Gals' Trip and am really looking forward to eating around the F&G with y'all! It's been years since I've been to a F&G (2008?) And the booths look so different than the ones at F&W. YAY!

I like how you mixed it up and are changing things up on the fly.

 

[ariane37]

I just booked for our Gals' Trip and am really looking forward to eating around the F&G with y'all!

WHOO I'm so excited for that trip! I'm DEFINITELY in; I want to book but there are problems with the TA site because, well, Disney IT. So as soon as that's fixed I'll have my dates and resort set

t's been years since I've been to a F&G (2008?) And the booths look so different than the ones at F&W. YAY!

Wow you're in for some awesome changes! The first time we went in 2013 was I think the year before they started having any food booths? And they just keep getting better every year. There aren't as many as there are at F&W but the offerings are different and combined with the gorgeous flowers and topiares it's a wonderful time to be there

I like how you mixed it up and are changing things up on the fly.

I have to admit it's fun, even when we do it because things aren't going so great. I love that my family can go with the flow and it's also something I love about our adults only trips!

 

[Tasscrapper]

Just jumping on the band wagon. Can't wait for the next update!

 

[Steppesister]

WHOO I'm so excit
ed for that trip! I'm DEFINITELY in; I want to book but there are problems with the TA site because, well, Disney IT. So as soon as that's fixed I'll have my dates and resort set

Ugh, yes, Disney IT. Excited to hear your plans and even more excited to finally meet you!

Wow you're in for some awesome changes! The first time we went in 2013 was I think the year before they started having any food booths? And they just keep getting better every year. There aren't as many as there are at F&W but the offerings are different and combined with the gorgeous flowers and topiares it's a wonderful time to be there

OH my!!! You're getting me even more stoked for that trip! Super looking forward to taking photos and just taking it all in. (Yes, the food especially!)

 

[ariane37]

Need to change it up?
This is how we (Hoop De)DO it!
​

Well that kind of gave it away. When I left off ages upon ages ago, we had begun our day at AK as a foursome before losing Ricky to the resort with his knee acting up; moved on to Epcot for some F&G goodness as a threesome; then became a foursome again as Ricky rejoined us for a short time; then retired back to WL so Ricky could rest his knee again and Chris could get his red, bumpy rash out of the heat . Here was our original plan for the night:

-Go over to CityWalk and see Blue Man Group
-follow it up with some leisurely CityWalk strolling and dinner either at NBC Grill or possibly Vivo since my dinner at NBC wasn't that great the month before.

Taking Ricky's knee into consideration you'll see that this wasn't really the best idea for the night. Luckily, and if you're reading my TR you know this, we did not have our BMG tix yet as I was planning to get them with my super duper TA discount but you can't get them until day-of that way; this, combined with preferring to spend the evening in a way that involved less walking for Ricky, led us to cancel these plans in favor of something else as much as it pained me. I'd seen BMG the year before during my TA Universal training and LOVED it and I knew/know the guys will, too, and was dying for them to see it. But common sense and the fact that I like Ricky prevailed. Steve and I had been discussing this the night before and then really started discussing it that morning after Ricky left AK; so I jumped on the app and found two options to ask the boys about: HDDR and the luau at the Poly. Surprisingly the both agreed on HDDR!

We'd done this for the first time back in 2014 and had more fun than we thought we would. Everyone liked the food although I only really liked the carbs. What else do you need though? And Chris had been asking to go back ever since.

*note here that I booked this the morning of while on the bus from AK to Epcot. The 4:30 show wasn't available but the 6:15 (6:30?) and the 8:00 (8:30? I'm too lazy to look up the times) were. I chose the 6:15 (6:30 lol). Also no category 1 seating so I got cat. 2 but still good for day of during spring break*
​

The first good thing about choosing the Hoop was that, being at WL, we were able to take a nice, relaxing, quick boat ride over to FW, which did not require much walking as you also get dropped off super close to Pioneer Hall, where the show is. They don't let you in until the exact time the "show" starts even though it doesn't actually start right away, so you do wait outside in line for a bit. We'd arrived about 20 minutes early so it wasn't bad. Finally we were let in and I was curious to see where category 2 seating would put us. On our first visit we'd had category 1 and were front and center to the stage, as in there was no way anyone could have been any closer. This time we were still on the first level, towards the back right.





I know it doesn't look great but it wasn't bad! The pole to the right was a bit of a pain, but since we were basically in the back right hand corner with nobody behind or to the right of us, I just adjusted my chair and it wasn't in Steve or the boys' way from where they were sitting. Plus the performers walk the room so at times they were close to us, too.

When you walk in the salad and bread are already on the table. Salad:



Basic salad but it was really good and fresh. The dressing is like a house Italian which we all like and we were also all starving so we finished this off. All the food is served family style and it's AYCTE, so you can ask for more of anything and we did fill up the salad!
Next, we move on to the cornbread. Ah, cornbread I love cornbread to begin with but WDW cornbread has that something special It was hard to have my salad first but I managed to eat that before digging in to this heavenly loaf


See, I even managed to make the picture look a bit heavenly! Speaking of pictures I'm sorry these are gigantic, I swear I shrank them. Back to the bread, we got like 3 loaves of this before all was said and done. It's the same cornbread you get at Trail's End, very sweet, warm, mmmmmm!
Our server wasn't the best but he tried; he brought us all water and I give you this picture simply because the mason jars are so cute:

In addition to the water Chris got lemonade. Another great thing about this meal is that the beer, wine, and SANGRIA are all-you-care-to-drink, and I happily took advantage of this. However for some reason I have no pictures of my sangria I think Steve may have taken some and not sent them to me. It was white sangria and it was perfect, and perfectly alcoholic.
After a little bit the performers come out and do a little of their schtick to get the party started! Some pics:





The beginning part of the show is quick and then they take a break and your server brings out the FOOD! They kind of toss it onto the table and it's supposed to be funny, like they're throwing it at you. Some of the servers have personality; ours did not. But he wasn't a bad guy and since we knew the deal it didn't matter that he threw down the pails of food, but some would have been like "***" if they didn't know the deal. So we dug in:

Fried Chicken:


Ribs:


I do not eat fried chicken, don't know why. I love chicken but not on the bone. I was so hungry that I tried this and OMG LOVED it! Crispy, the skin wasn't chewy which is something else I hate about fried chicken; the meet was tender. We got 3 pails of this!
I also don't eat ribs but they were a favorite of the boys on our first visit. Chris liked them but Ricky didn't think they were as good this time around so we only had the one pail.


#helikesribs

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST
​

 

[ariane37]

ha fooled you! ok, hit post too early

 

[ariane37]

Continuing the Hoop Revue

Beans beans the magical fruit!


Steve and Chris ate these but Ricky and I chose not to do any tooting later . The two that did dig in are fans of baked beans in general and thought these had a great smoky taste.
Next we move to the other sides:



Here's where I step in again because, CARBS!
None of us could get enough of the creamy mashed potatoes except Chris who does not like skin mixed into his potatoes. The corn was basic but good, it also happens to be the only (not real) veggie that I eat since I'm such a health nut.
A sample of Chris' plate just for effect; it's also the only plate pic I took because I was busy with my AYCTD sangria:



I have to say we were thrilled with the food even though we each had one or two items we didn't like, mainly because they were things we don't like in real life. We though overall it was much tastier than 4 years ago and I wouldn't hesitate to do this again before trying the luau which seems to get consistently negative reviews.
Some pics of the show:




This second picture is blurry and not too good, but it comes after dessert and is the very popular napkin waving event when the performers ask everyone to do it. While no specific performer asked me personally to wave my napkin, the glass of sangria I was drinking at the time DID ask me to wave my napkin so here I am in my apparently not re-sized photo:


Full-image, blurry, napkin-waving Ariane As you can see I thoroughly enjoyed hooping it up that night!
Let me backtrack because I mentioned dessert but didn't post a pic. The traditional HDDR dessert is strawberry shortcake, something else I don't normally order or eat because it has neither chocolate or PB. However I make an exception here because it's the most delicious dessert this side of the Mississippi:


Ugh, seriously need to make sure my pics are smaller in my next update! You can't really tell but there's some crystal clear sugar on the shortcake which in my sweets-loving opinion makes it better. The cream is smooth and the berries are berry good . I ate the majority of this and I'm not embarrassed about it at all.
Eventually our night came to an end



and we were the first ones out since we were in the back. I actually left a couple minutes early to hit the bathroom which worked out well, because we got to the WL boat with no line ahead of us



and had a peaceful ride back to our resort. It was only like, maybe 9pm when we got back and while we had thoughts before dinner of possibly hitting MK afterwards, we were way too full (some of us of food, others of us of.....drink) to go, so we just chilled at the resort-best for Ricky's leg anyway. Steve and I watched HEA from the boat dock again and we got ready for what was going to be an early morning for Ricky and I.
I highly, highly recommend HDDR! We loved cat. 1 seating but had no problem with cat. 2, although next time we do it we'll splurge for cat. 1 again. It's corny, old time schtick that even my young kids that don't like anything "old" enjoy, and by old I mean they generally poo-poo anything dated 2010 or earlier.

Since I don't seem to update this report too often, I figured I'd let you guys in on our current dining plans for our Sept. trip which is just Steve and I! We'll be at the GF from the 13-17th. In addition to enjoying plenty of F&W goodness, we have these meals planned:
-Artist Point; getting it in once more before the closure/refurb/change over/whatever the heck they're doing
-Tiffins dinner, because it's AWESOME
-House of Blues, hoping to finally try it before MNSSHP
-Plaza lunch so I can get my fried green tomato sandwich again!
-possibly HBD Lounge​

I wanted to try the monte cristo at Woody's Lunchbox but they took that off the menu. I have to look again and see if there's anything else there I want to try

 

[ariane37]

Just jumping on the band wagon. Can't wait for the next update!

Hello and thank you for joining in! I hope you enjoy the rest of my report

Excited to hear your plans and even more excited to finally meet you!

I'm excited to meet you too IT has come to my rescue and it looks like I have quite a few deluxe resorts to choose from for early May, now I just have to make a decision before availability shifts. TA availability changes faster than the Disney site crashes

 

[pepperandchips]

Love the review of the... Revue?

HDDR has become a long running joke between R and I because he has a family member (I guess she's my family now too) who is a TA and is constantly harassing us about booking with her. I mostly book through Orbitz or DVC (and occasionally we stay offsite, so through a private timeshare owner) but R's aunt doesn't get it. (Not to mention if I was going to use a Disney TA it would be someone as knowledgeable about Disney as.. I don't know... you!) She also has a friend whose daughter is apparently in HDDR although I've never seen this person in anyone's photos. So allllllll of the family gatherings consist of "have you been to hoop dee doo yet" and "you know I can book disney for you!" Changing gears...

Beans beans, good for your heart, more you eat 'em, more you... ?

Full-image, blurry, napkin-waving Ariane As you can see I thoroughly enjoyed hooping it up that night!

As you do when you enjoy the ayctd sangria! Love it!

Ugh, seriously need to make sure my pics are smaller in my next update

Pssst. Secret. I read other people's reports on my phone, so I can't tell.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m glad your chicken was good! Such a fun show.

We are trying Trails End brunch this August, I can’t wait to have more of the delicious corn bread!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Hoop Dee Doo! Yay!! We thought it was so much fun, and the food was good when we went. We were both also with Chris about the ribs. Very tasty! Nathan's fried chicken was pretty dry and on the cold side, but my smoked/baked chicken for my whole gluten free thing was excellent! Glad you all got lots to eat that you liked, and that you enjoyed the show! You know it must be good if both of your kids want to go do it with argument!

while we had thoughts before dinner of possibly hitting MK afterwards, we were way too full (some of us of food, others of us of.....drink) to go

-Artist Point; getting it in once more before the closure/refurb/change over/whatever the heck they're doing

Yeah, I've only been starting to hear about this recently. What's going on here!?

 

[Raeven]

Beans beans the magical fruit!

While no specific performer asked me personally to wave my napkin, the glass of sangria I was drinking at the time DID ask me to wave my napkin so here I am in my apparently not re-sized photo:

Well sangria if sangria tells you to then you have to... I have to do some napkin waving (and sangria drinking) when we're there in Dec, we were on the top floor last time and didn't get to participate as much.

 

[Tracy161]

Everyone liked the food although I only really liked the carbs. What else do you need though?

Nothing. Nothing beyond carbs is necessary

it's also the only plate pic I took because I was busy with my AYCTD sangria

While no specific performer asked me personally to wave my napkin, the glass of sangria I was drinking at the time DID ask me to wave my napkin so here I am in my apparently not re-sized photo

This sentence actually made me LOL

Loved your review of HDDR! I think I went as a kid, but really would love to get back there

 

[FSU Girl]

This looks like such a fun place! I think I went there when I was a little kid, but I don't remember. I've wanted to go on recent trips, but it always seemed too difficult to fit into plans. Maybe one day we'll make it over there.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

HDDR looks like so much fun! It definitely seems like there is something for everyone (bottomless sangria for me, obviously). I'll have to keep that one in mind for next time...whenever that will be

 

[Stacybaeasm]

OMG! I THINK I am going down Sept. 14-17!! If I get there - I'm going to have my eyes peeled to run in to you.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Okay, why are you so good and persuading me to do things?

For years, I've written off HDDR. I'm from the South. I grew up on my grandmother's fried chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes. I've seen review after review on here of the show.

Now, I'm sitting here and I say to my husband, "How would you feel about Hoop De Doo Revue?" He wants to know what they have so I read the list. Then, THEN, you throw in all I can drink Sangria? I don't like wine, but I can drink myself under the table in Sangria. Really, Ariane, really. You do this to me?

So, my husband says "Well, that sounds pretty good." Now, I have to go find a reservation. *Sigh*