Tipsy is as Tipsy Does - A February '17 Dining Adventure - Complete 8/15

[quandrea]

Looks yummy! My daughter, 13 and I just booked a last minute trip for August. I've made an ADR for the brunch at California Grill. We'd never go here as a family of five, but with just the two of us, we can justify the splurge. Really excited for that meal.

​

 

[toomuchtv]

Bad news is this was already happening.

Sleepy Casey! I'd be afraid that she would fall over sideways.

Funny aside as Jason was taking this, I had a sneezing attack (and I have the most annoying high pitched gotta sneeze at least 3 times in a row sneeze) and he was gracious enough to capture the moment.

Such a nice husband! I have a rather normal sneeze, except for the fact that I sneeze 3 times bare minimum at once. It's typically five times or more. So annoying.

we started with their featured flatbread: Duck Confit with walnuts, goat cheese, figs, and microgreens.

We've had a few flatbreads at California Grill over the years and this was by far my favorite. The duck was spectacular and it paired nicely with the goat cheese and figs.

I've never had duck, but that sounds so good. A local winery has a fig and gorgonzola pizza that I just loved.

In the middle is the Lobster Roll with Maine Lobster, Avocado, crispy Noodles, Fireball-Yuzu-Truffle Sauce. Because there is no such thing as too much truffle this was very good. It had huge chunks of lobster which went great with the truffle sauce and I loved the addition of the crispy noodles for some crunch. We were happy customers.

I think this every time you mention it...you know what truffles are, right?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

She was clearly grateful we were finally feeding her.

Love it.

My budding food critic did mention she thought there was too much flour on the bottom

I love that she had Cheetos & Duck Confit all in the same day!

 

[Sailormoon2]

I love the flatbreads at CG, they are my go to...and the wine, of course. On average how many pieces do you get when you order one roll of sushi?

I've been meaning to ask you for a while, Would you mind explaining how TiW works when you dine with others? Do you have to "pick up the cheque" for them to also receive the discount? Or can you do split bills?

 

[cinderkelly]

someone eventually called me out on not feeding her lunch. So whats a Mom enjoying a drink by the pool to do, order another drink and give your kid cheetos for lunch of cou

Love that type of parenting! ( only because I've done it myself)

And I got the Double Apple Mule, cause you know I'm not going to pass on anything boozy with double in the title.

That's why I like you so much!

For dinner we knew exactly what we wanted tonight. SLUSHI (aka sushi for those that don't speak Casey) and we got 3 rolls to share.

California Grill does some awesome sushi, don't they?

But my favorite was the tuna with watermelon which is a combo I'd never heard of before,

Flying Fish has a tuna appetizer that used to have thinly sliced watermelon underneath the tuna and it was awesome. Sadly on our last visit the watermelon was not part of the dish, not sure why. Maybe all the watermelon moved to Cali Grill

Have you ever been to California Grill for brunch? Lemme just tell ya, it's pretty dang awesome!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I got the Anything Goes which is byejoe dragon fire spirit, fresh Lime Juice, Passion Fruit, and Pineapple Juice. This was more tart than hot from the dragon fire, but everything went really well together. Side note not sure if you can tell from the picture, but this glass was ridiculously tall. I had to sip it off the table for fear of trying to pick it up.

Mmm this sounds delicious! I like anything with passion fruit and pineapple and now that they are both together in this drink...LOVE.

These are four glasses of Morimotos own brand of Sake, which our amazing bartender described in detail, but I absorbed absolutely none of. I love the concept of sake, but think I've only ever had cheap versions so its never taken hold for me. This completely changed that. They were all clean and refreshing and something I'd love to have more of.

I'm not really a sake drinker as I don't know too much about it but I do think I am really learning to appreciate sake more. So I will have to give this a try if we ever return to Morimoto.

I know I love a superlative, but...BEST. RIBS EVER PERIOD The meat was fall of the bone tender, but these were also fried so they were simultaneously crispy and tender. The sauce was sweet with a little bit of spice and that perfect sticky consistency that just makes you wanna lick your fingers. I wish we'd ordered a whole rack as 3 was not enough. We will no doubt be back for these again.

Oh wow these do look really good. I can take or leave ribs but these look extra good to me!

Now it could have been slightly tipsy induced, but OMG these were so good. The drop style biscuits were southern granny style perfection and the chicken was moist and crispy with just the right amount of heat from the honey. I could have devoured about 10 of these. After the ribs, these were probably the second best thing we ate all week!!!

Yum, was very tempted to order this but I ended up ordering the fried chicken meal. This actually looks better!

I'm a huge greens fan so normally I would have devoured these, but they were oddly sweet in a way that was off putting and we really couldn't eat them. We tried to spice them up with some tobacsco, but it just made a pile of sweet tobacasco which as you can imagine wasn't good.

Ha, I remember you told me about this. So old that yours was sweet and mine was tangy. Guess they read your mind and over compensated for the sweetness.

We have starting at 1200 Turkey Bobtie, Chakalaka sauce, Pap, Beef Hash, Watermelon Rind Salad, and Avocado and Papaya Salad. The beef hash has was hands down my favorite. It was sweet and savory and had a great buttery crust. I also enjoyed the turkey bobtie, but not as much as the beef version over at Tusker House. They did add some veggies to this version which was a nice touch. I also loved the watermelon rind salad. The rind still tasted of watermelon, but had a very tart flavor. Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the pap or the avocado salad. The ladder wasn't bad, but the papaya and avocado really didn't go well together. And the pap (grit like substance) was pretty plain, but did go nicely with the spicy tomato chakalaka sauce. The cheesy pap at Tusker House is far superior to this version.

MMMM love Boma breakfast!

For my crew, Casey's plate is what I like to call carb on carb on carb.

A girl after my own heart!! #CARBS

After our afternoon poolside and Casey's nutritious Cheetos lunch, we headed to MK for the evening posing for a castle pic on our way in.

Wait, Cheetos are its own food group, right? It's like popcorn's cousin.

Funny aside as Jason was taking this, I had a sneezing attack (and I have the most annoying high pitched gotta sneeze at least 3 times in a row sneeze) and he was gracious enough to capture the moment.

That's a very elegant sneezing fit!

Looks divine!!!! Love sushi!

For dessert we ordered the Honey Crunch Cake which is a Lemon-Honey Olive Oil Cake, with Autumn Spiced Poached Pears, Artisan Honey Ice Cream, and White Chocolate.

This sounds amazing! I did not see this on the menu when we were there in Feb so it must be seasonal. The presentation is adorable as well. I would have ordered this if I had seen it!

 

[Raeven]

She was clearly grateful we were finally feeding her.

For dessert we ordered the Honey Crunch Cake which is a Lemon-Honey Olive Oil Cake, with Autumn Spiced Poached Pears, Artisan Honey Ice Cream, and White Chocolate.

It's so cute!

 

[buzzrelly]

She was clearly grateful we were finally feeding her.

She's adorable! Love the pose

We had planned to watch Wishes at that point, but someone who had spent the day poolside and whose parents had barely fed her was getting tired and requested we just leave. Good news is we had dinner reservations not to far from MK. Better news is we got to see some semblance of wishes. Bad news is this was already happening.

Oh my, she is such a little trooper though. My kids used to get super cranky and whiny when they were tired

Funny aside as Jason was taking this, I had a sneezing attack (and I have the most annoying high pitched gotta sneeze at least 3 times in a row sneeze) and he was gracious enough to capture the moment.

HaHa! Why not?!

We arrived at our dining destination - California Grill - about 30 minutes early but thankfully with the post Wishes crowd clearing out they seated us right away and someone got her 3rd or 4th wind of the day.

Beautiful pic

By this point we still had more wine to drink and this was happening so we decided to order dessert.

She keeps getting in her cat naps

For dessert we ordered the Honey Crunch Cake which is a Lemon-Honey Olive Oil Cake, with Autumn Spiced Poached Pears, Artisan Honey Ice Cream, and White Chocolate.

THAT looks awesome!

We ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel so we could get our tired little girl to bed.

Next time you can take a "Minnie-van."





Great update!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Next time you can take a "Minnie-van."

Did they say when they were starting these? I am hoping they are by the time we go in Sept. I def think we would try it for our Sanaa reservation from WL, instead of the boat to MK and then a bus.

 

[Tracy161]

Funny aside as Jason was taking this, I had a sneezing attack (and I have the most annoying high pitched gotta sneeze at least 3 times in a row sneeze) and he was gracious enough to capture the moment.

What a guy!

We of course had to start with some drinks.

I'd be disappointed if you didn't!

tuna and watermelon combo.

Interesting combo, but sounds like it was a good one.

Beautiful photo of you and Casey... the one prior to the sneeze one. Not that that one wasn't also amazing

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hi Kari!! Loved catching up on your last trip!
We had breakfast at Boma for the first time this trip, and our waitress (at least 80 years old and blind) spilled a full pitcher of POG juice all over my daughter shortly after we sat down, so this kind of put a damper on the rest of the meal...thank goodness the food was delicious! This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to us, so I didn't quite know how to react. We later hit up concierge at CSR, and they put me through to the manager on duty at Boma, and she took $50 off our room charges to pay for Ashley's now permanently stained white shorts and tee...I would like to try it again though, but with a much better server...

 

[Dis_Yoda]

You fed your child real food (although I know that is probably the case 99% of the time).

That flatbread sounds awesome! You know duck is my favorite and add in some fig and goat cheese! yum!

Your sushi selection is a perfect dinner! Glad it worked out so well! I'm glad the Casey pooped out after her slushi so you could have a nice adult dessert time .

 

[KathyM2]

This was Crown Apple, Laird's Applejack, Sour Mix, Fever Tree Ginger Beer and while a little tart for my liking, it also had a bit of spiciness to it that I really liked.

This sounds so good. I love anything with ginger beer in it.

Overall this was another amazing dinner at California Grill. I think we've eaten here on every trip we've taken, because it never disappoints.

Yum. Thanks for the great review. I can't wait to try this place on our arrival night in August!

 

[kastoney]

Everything looks so yummy! I haven't been to California Grill in quite a while-- I need to change that! I love what an adventurous eater Casey is. As a kid I wouldn't have touched duck or sushi. To be honest, I'm still not sure about duck! Making a note of that wine to try! Flying Fish had an appetizer featuring tuna and watermelon and the flavor combo wowed me as well. Will have to check this version out.

You should most definitely change that. I don't think we've every had a trip without a visit to Cali Grill and its oh so worth the splurge.

We are very lucky that Casey eats to well, though she is still a kid. We went out to lunch yesterday and she threw me for a loop and ordered chicken fingers. I think in all her 6 years that may have been a first

Looks yummy! My daughter, 13 and I just booked a last minute trip for August. I've made an ADR for the brunch at California Grill. We'd never go here as a family of five, but with just the two of us, we can justify the splurge. Really excited for that meal.

​

Congrats on your upcoming trip, hope the 2 of you have an amazing time and get to splurge on a few more things you wouldn't normally. I think we are going to try the brunch on our next trip and I'm oh, so excited.​

Sleepy Casey! I'd be afraid that she would fall over sideways.

I'm such a good Mom I didn't even think of that. This is a kid that never falls asleep except at night time so I was just shocked that it was happening and in conjunction with the fireworks no less.

Such a nice husband! I have a rather normal sneeze, except for the fact that I sneeze 3 times bare minimum at once. It's typically five times or more. So annoying.

Sounds like we could be the first 2 members of the dis sneezing anonymous club

I've never had duck, but that sounds so good. A local winery has a fig and gorgonzola pizza that I just loved.

Fig and gorgonzola is one of my all time favorite combos, so I'm sure that pizza would have been great. The fig went wonderfully with the duck, but if you've never tried it fig and prosciutto is an even better combo. The sweet and salty together is perfection.

think this every time you mention it...you know what truffles are, right?

Yes I am aware that they are in the funguy category with my least favorite food in the world, but they are clearly very different I also hate celery but will eat it if its cooked. Clearly all of this makes perfect sense to me.

I love that she had Cheetos & Duck Confit all in the same day!

I didn't even think of that. Add the popcorn and sushi in and the juxtaposition of all of it is definitely laughable.

I love the flatbreads at CG, they are my go to...and the wine, of course. On average how many pieces do you get when you order one roll of sushi?

I think the sushi rolls all have about 8 pieces each. They are without question expensive, but have a bit more substance to them than a typical sushi roll.

I've been meaning to ask you for a while, Would you mind explaining how TiW works when you dine with others? Do you have to "pick up the cheque" for them to also receive the discount? Or can you do split bills?

Technically with TiW the holder of the card has to pay for the bill. But that said our card was in my name and we never had trouble with Jason or even my brother paying the bill. What I don't know is if they would allow you to split the bill. My inclination is no because it isn't technically allowed with the card, but some servers would probably do it.

That's why I like you so much!

You too Kelly!!!! Birds of a feather

California Grill does some awesome sushi, don't they?

It is perfection. Of course everything there is perfection!

Have you ever been to California Grill for brunch? Lemme just tell ya, it's pretty dang awesome!

We haven't been yet, but hope to change that in November. I've been hesitant to do it because of the price tag for Casey ($50) as I know there is no chance she eats more than $5 worth of food. But Jason is doing the wine and dine half marathon in November and right now we are planning on doing brunch after that.

 

[kastoney]

I'm not really a sake drinker as I don't know too much about it but I do think I am really learning to appreciate sake more. So I will have to give this a try if we ever return to Morimoto.

You should most definitely give it a whirl. I don't know too much about it either and was hesitant to even try this, but I'm so glad we did. Of course I remember little to none of what we learned, but I do remember that quality sake is a world of difference from anything else I've ever tried.

Yum, was very tempted to order this but I ended up ordering the fried chicken meal. This actually looks better!

After seeing your review of the chicken and a few others I think I may just stick to the biscuits and maybe a few other apps in the future. That certainly seems to be their sweet spot.

Wait, Cheetos are its own food group, right? It's like popcorn's cousin.

Did Casey pay you to say that I rarely buy them and when I do that is about the only food group she eats for days at a time.

This sounds amazing! I did not see this on the menu when we were there in Feb so it must be seasonal. The presentation is adorable as well. I would have ordered this if I had seen it!

Weird, it was off the menu by the time you all were there. If I remember right there were only about 2 weeks between our trips. We must have hit it right at the end of its run. Most definitely get it if its ever there again. Its as good as it is beautiful.

It's so cute!

It really was. I had no idea that is what it would look like and we were blown away. Huge creativity points.

She's adorable! Love the pose

Thanks, she is quite the little poser. She's preparing for her budding modeling career

Oh my, she is such a little trooper though. My kids used to get super cranky and whiny when they were tired

Thankfully Casey rarely gets that tired and even more thankfully she doesn't get cranky when she does.

She keeps getting in her cat naps

I couldn't believe it. This is a kid who doesn't even sleep in the car, so we were shocked. The week was clearly wearing on her.

Next time you can take a "Minnie-van."

Oh you know we will!!!! While its not a great deal depending on where you are going, most of our taxi bills are $20 or above so it could come in handy

Did they say when they were starting these? I am hoping they are by the time we go in Sept. I def think we would try it for our Sanaa reservation from WL, instead of the boat to MK and then a bus.

They are testing them now I believe, so hopefully they will still come around come September. Trips to AKL will definitely be worth the cost.

What a guy!

He is most definitely something special.

nteresting combo, but sounds like it was a good one.

Beautiful photo of you and Casey... the one prior to the sneeze one. Not that that one wasn't also amazing

I know you really meant the sneeze one. It's a true work of art

Hi Kari!! Loved catching up on your last trip!
We had breakfast at Boma for the first time this trip, and our waitress (at least 80 years old and blind) spilled a full pitcher of POG juice all over my daughter shortly after we sat down, so this kind of put a damper on the rest of the meal...thank goodness the food was delicious! This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to us, so I didn't quite know how to react. We later hit up concierge at CSR, and they put me through to the manager on duty at Boma, and she took $50 off our room charges to pay for Ashley's now permanently stained white shorts and tee...I would like to try it again though, but with a much better server...

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe she spilled juice all over your daughter and they did nothing about it at the restaurant. Glad to hear CSR made up for it though. And at least the food was good

You fed your child real food (although I know that is probably the case 99% of the time).

That flatbread sounds awesome! You know duck is my favorite and add in some fig and goat cheese! yum!

Your sushi selection is a perfect dinner! Glad it worked out so well! I'm glad the Casey pooped out after her slushi so you could have a nice adult dessert time .

She does eat crap, but thankfully for us - cheetos aside - she loves the good stuff too. I had no idea duck was your favorite, so this would have clearly been right up your alley.

This sounds so good. I love anything with ginger beer in it.

Me too. Our local grocery store has a really good diet ginger beer and it and vodka have totally been my summer drink

Yum. Thanks for the great review. I can't wait to try this place on our arrival night in August!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

 

[kastoney]

Day Drinkin' Part Deux: Revenge of the Nomads

After her sleepy slushi night, we let Casey sleep in till way past 9 before we finally got rolling towards our destination of the day: Animal Kingdom (have that renamed it Animal Drinking Kingdom yet?)

On the way in we got pulled aside as they were giving passholders special passes to get into the first Rivers of Light previews that night.

We were excited to try and see it, but some sweet little girl who had dreams of extra magic hours at MGM, vetoed that very quickly. So no RoL for us.

Speaking of sweet little girl, we ran into Flick on the way in and the Photopass folks got this great picture showing her excitement to meet a new to her character.



From there we had promised Casey she could get her facepainted and she conducted her own selfie modeling shoot afterwards.

And made this little gem of a video that we didn't even find until after we got home. This girl never ceases to surprise me
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It was finally time to ride something and we had a great safari with lots of animals out and about.


After that our bellies were rumbling and we decided to try something we'd been meaning to for a while: Harambe Market. And we knew exactly what we wanted...

SAUSAGE!!!!

Jason and I shared the Beef and Pork Sausage from the Famous Sausages stand, which is Fried in Curried Corn Batter and served with Green Papaya Slaw and Black-eyed Pea Salad and a Safari Amber to wash it all down with.

While the curry flavor was largely undetectable, the fry on this sausage was awesome and the underlying sausage had great flavor. I also really enjoyed the black eyed pea salad, which had a great sweet and sour flavor, but the papaya slaw was unfortunately largely flavorless. And in case you couldn't really see the sausage, here is a close-up.

Cause you all know I couldn't not get this photo

And taking a cue from her oh so fancy Mama, Casey got in the sausage mix too.

We had gotten her the kids version of the corn dog and after a week of sharing food with me, she was way too excited to finally have her own meal.

Bellies somewhat full we took a train to hang out with a monkey and watch a planet, Casey worked on her wilderness explorer badges, and we eventually made our way to the wilds of Asia for another harrowing experience with a Yeti. Casey used her now dwindling cash reserves to buy another Yeti to go with the one we got her in August as a bribe for riding EE.

She promptly named this guy Meatball to go with the one at home, Yeti Spaghetti

Somewhere along the line Casey finished all of her Wilderness Explorer badges (we had used the same book for 3 or 4 trips now) and they had a little ceremony to make her an official Senior Wilderness Explorer.

She was quite proud of herself!

To celebrate she requested some quality time in the Rascal Park (aka the boneyard for everyone else) and Jason was kind enough to do his own wilderness exploring and brought his little beauty back for me.

I have absolutely no idea what this is or where he got it from, but it was lemonadey and boozy and I of course was happy!

Speaking of the happy Tipsy Mama, our tummies were rumbling again so we of course thought a trip to our absolute favorite Nomads Lounge was in order. Per the normal there was virtually no one in here, so I was able to get a few pics of the decor for those that may not have yet visited this homestead for tipsy disney parents everywhere.


Fingers crossed Pandora hasn't spoiled this place too much crowd wise, because I plan to visit on more than a few occasions on our next trip.

But back to this occasion. Jason went with his favorite beer here, the Kungaloosh Spiced Excursion Ale.

Casey, still clearly in a posing mood, went with Kiama Mama which was Watermelon and Sprite.

And I, not wanting to be outdone by my child, went with the Hightower Rocks which is Casa Dragones Blanco Tequila, Watermelon, Sweet-and-Sour, and Lime Juice.

While a little light on the tequila, the watermelon and tequila combo was great and this was very refreshing. It wasn't as good as my beloved Annapurna Zing, but continued to prove my theory that there is no better place on property for tipsy drinks.

Needing to get something besides alcohol in our bellies, we ordered their Pork Ribs which are Honey-glazed, Coriander-spiced to share.

While there weren't nearly as good as Morimotos ribs, they were fall off the bone tender and the sauce had a great sweetness to it. They were also charred a bit, which was a nice touch. Casey especially was a happy camper, or should I say happy Wilderness Explorer.


While we would be missing Rivers of Light, after a collection of tipsy drinks and a senior wilderness explorer amongst us, I'd call the day successful.

Up next, we eat like cavemen! ​

 

[amalone1013]

Did Casey get a Wilderness Explorer badge for having the best Yeti names ever? She should have!

I'm determined to get that sausage when we go. There's just something about it... perhaps it's because it's like a fancy corn dog

I'm glad your DR's have put Nomad's on my radar. What better stop for a midday break - especially since we'll have some older family along! I have a feeling it will be appreciated by all... Your drinks look delicious!

 

[Sailormoon2]

I adore her face paint, they did a great job and it held up well all day.

 

[Tracy161]

From there we had promised Casey she could get her facepainted and she conducted her own selfie modeling shoot afterwards.

And made this little gem of a video that we didn't even find until after we got home. This girl never ceases to surprise me

She promptly named this guy Meatball to go with the one at home, Yeti Spaghetti

All of these things and so much more have me convinced that Casey is one cool kid

And I, not wanting to be outdone by my child

Casey especially was a happy camper, or should I say happy Wilderness Explorer.

 

[chunkymonkey]

And made this little gem of a video that we didn't even find until after we got home. This girl never ceases to surprise me
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder=

Haha so cute!!

While the curry flavor was largely undetectable, the fry on this sausage was awesome and the underlying sausage had great flavor. I also really enjoyed the black eyed pea salad, which had a great sweet and sour flavor, but the papaya slaw was unfortunately largely flavorless. And in case you couldn't really see the sausage, here is a close-up.

You make the ever so common corn dog look amazingly gourmand

She promptly named this guy Meatball to go with the one at home, Yeti Spaghetti

I love those names!! I may have to get myself a Yeti Spaghetti too.

She was quite proud of herself!

Go Casey!

I have absolutely no idea what this is or where he got it from, but it was lemonadey and boozy and I of course was happy!

Boozy lemonade is the best!

Fingers crossed Pandora hasn't spoiled this place too much crowd wise, because I plan to visit on more than a few occasions on our next trip.

But back to this occasion. Jason went with his favorite beer here, the Kungaloosh Spiced Excursion Ale.

During our preview Nomad's was about 75% full. But we were able to get a same day ADR for Tiffins. Not sure about now but I hope it stays at the not too crowded stage because it's like a little oasis in AK!!

And that beer is delicious! I had one on our last trip and it was delicious and went well with everything we ate in Tiffins. Coming for a not-really-a-beer-drinker, this is a rarity for me!

And I, not wanting to be outdone by my child, went with the Hightower Rocks which is Casa Dragones Blanco Tequila, Watermelon, Sweet-and-Sour, and Lime Juice.

Yum, totally getting this next time!

While we would be missing Rivers of Light, after a collection of tipsy drinks and a senior wilderness explorer amongst us, I'd call the day successful.

Up next, we eat like cavemen!

Oooh can't wait!