"We shall double our efforts" - July/Sept 2017 Dining Report - Update 9/26 Flying Fish (Complete)

[amberpi]

Always enjoy your trip reports! There are so many of you awesome food reports I could totally hang and eat and drink with!

I've been to that Ritz for a good number of work things, but never had the buffet. Good bacon is to be valued though - highly! FWIW, I remember their room service breakfast having excellent bacon too. I'm big on room service breakfast before work to get ready/email/not have to interact with humans until after coffee

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in, glad to see another Dining report from you. Is Sonic good? I always see commercials for it but we don't have the chain this far up north. The Ritz looks beautiful and who doesn't like real bacon, yum!

I hope your ankle does okay with park Touring!

Sonic is ok. I never order any real food there as it just seems like standard fast food. I have gotten cheese sticks in the past but those are pretty hard to screw up. What they do really well are the drinks between the slushies and the limeades. I've always enjoys the drinks I've gotten.

The Ritz is beautiful - I'm sure it will be better once all the construction is done as the lobby is currently closed down. I love real bacon. I had so much of it!

Yikes sounds like you had quite the driving adventure. Glad you made it ok though, I'm gonna bet it was the pop rocks in watermelon slushy that really got you there

Hipster or not, looks like a great buffet at the ritz. Hope your ankle holds up for you at Universal

As I slept like a rock once I got asleep - I was so worn! I'm glad our Saturday was planned to be so relaxing as I needed that recharge. I'm sure the pop rocks totally helped. I men, who doesn't love pop rocks?

I can deal with Hipster decor if the food is good - I just had to laugh at the Edison light bulbs, the mason jars, the suspenders on the bartenders, the railroad spikes, etc. I mentioned it to my mother and she was asked me what a hipster was.

I did bring compression sleeve for my ankle for Universal which proved to be a big help!

Here! Hope your ankle doesn't bother you too much with all the walking you do.

My compression sleeve did help but what was really the killer was the stairs that a lot of rides have. I iced when we got back to the hotel that afternoon and wore my super awesome knee high boot to dinner.

Try to rest that ankle, you have a lot more walking to do!!

We were pretty lazy the rest of Saturday!

I'm always so afraid of driving when tired, usually I'm lucky that I have Fran to do that for me, but sometimes she gets tired too. I'm glad you made it safe. That buffet looked really good. I'm just looking forward to a little over a month from now when someone else will make me breakfast! I hope your ankle holds out walking through Universal tomorrow!

I shouldn't have been driving that tired. I won't do that again but at least my sugary beverage and angry rap music helped keep me awake enough! Someone else making you breakfast is always a help! I know you are ready to enjoy the lifting of your travel ban!

Joining! Mmmm that bacon does look good! However the ankle does not, I hope it behaves for you at Universal!

It behaved better than I thought! I did ice when we got back to the room which helped!

Always enjoy your trip reports! There are so many of you awesome food reports I could totally hang and eat and drink with!

I've been to that Ritz for a good number of work things, but never had the buffet. Good bacon is to be valued though - highly! FWIW, I remember their room service breakfast having excellent bacon too. I'm big on room service breakfast before work to get ready/email/not have to interact with humans until after coffee

If our trips ever align - we can totally get drinks! I love my drinks and meeting up with people from the boards!

The room my mother booked included breakfast with the reservation (just had to pay tip) - Not sure I would have paid the $40 per person otherwise as I'm not that much of a breakfast person. Room Service is so nice especially if you are getting ready for work and such! How nice that your work pays for the Ritz! The hotel my work has approved in the Orlando Area is the Holiday Inn over by Universal and maybe one of the Hilton Garden Inns in the area as well. Only time something else could get approved is if it is a conference and it is at that hotel.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Bleu

When we returned to the room after the pool, there was a present there for me! My mother had told them this was my birthday weekend (even though my birthday isn’t until next week - she considered this trip part of my birthday present. The vanilla one was really nice as was the red velvet. The chocolate was too rich at that point of the morning but my mother wasn’t going to eat any despite offering her some. It was a nice surprise!

3 Mini Cupcakes

We were ready for lunch and after looking at the menu options between the Ritz and Marriott, we decided on Bleu, the outdoor pool restaurant at the Ritz. I started with a beer that is actually brewed in house at the Marriott. As it was called a Honey Citrus ale, I was expecting something not high on the bitterness scale. It unfortunately was. I was glad I decided to just go with a 16 oz rather than something larger! I drank it though - well at least until I spilled it. The beer system they use pours the beer from the bottom of the glass. I touched the bottom of the glass as I saw the button and didn’t know what it was. Well - I made a mess. The server commended me that I got it stopped a lot quicker than most as he’s seen that happened too many times. My mother had a pina colada.

Surplus Honey Citrus Ale

For my entree, I ordered an appetizer and boy, it was huge! There was a ton of pulled chipotle chicken on the chips along with queso. I got it without black beans as I’m not a black bean fan (plus I had a massage less than 2 hours away) I ate like a third of it and was completely full. I felt bad wasting as much as I did but the server said I did better than most who have it for entrees.

Pulled Chipotle Chicken Nachos

My mother had gotten the shrimp ceviche and it also was large! I forgot a photo but she liked that it was fresh!

I also loved getting to watch the patrons with dogs as I forgot this property allows people to bring their well behaved dogs around. Made me miss my two at home, especially the sick one.

After lunch, we headed to The Spa where we were about an hour early so after our tour of the facilities, we enjoyed the whirlpool, steam rooms and such. I had a wonderful glass of citrus green tea. My massage was nice although she seemed to avoid the area where the IT band starts which my normal therapist at home always gets but I guess its because its more a ‘resort’ spa than my Massage Envy. Their spa was really nice and I loved the salt scrub they had for the showers so you left feeling really soft and refreshed. It was funny watching some spa newbies that wouldn’t observe the posted rules like cell phones not allowed. I will end up going back in November during Thanksgiving weekend since my mother has apparently planned that for us as well.

Spa Time​

 

[auntfrannie]

It's nice to see a review of an off-site deluxe!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Other than the rocky start with the drive, everything sounds amazing. I'd really love to check the Ritz out sometime. I had no idea they allowed dogs! Of course I have a wild puppy so he is probably not in the well-behaved category. I'm not a big breakfast person but that buffet looks good! I totally would have pushed the button on the bottom of the glass at lunch- they should warn you!! Nachos look great as well. Hope you didn't overdo it on your ankle. Yay for a return at Thanksgiving!!

 

[suse66]

Great reviews so far. Your breakfast looked yummy and those cupcakes are to die for! I can't believe the size of the nachos! I think you did well to manage even a third of them. Hope the massage was fun and that your ankle is feeling better.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

It's nice to see a review of an off-site deluxe!

Glad to provide to you! The Ritz Orlando is my mother's favorite hotel as she stayed there a couple times a year with her husband when he would golf there.

Other than the rocky start with the drive, everything sounds amazing. I'd really love to check the Ritz out sometime. I had no idea they allowed dogs! Of course I have a wild puppy so he is probably not in the well-behaved category. I'm not a big breakfast person but that buffet looks good! I totally would have pushed the button on the bottom of the glass at lunch- they should warn you!! Nachos look great as well. Hope you didn't overdo it on your ankle. Yay for a return at Thanksgiving!!

The drive was fully my fault - I should have just gone home and slept but oh well! I would wait to check it out once they finish their renovations (should be October) During the holiday season, they should have high tea which is lovely if its anywhere close to what is available at Naples. I'm sure there are some non-well-behaved puppies around but the 10 I ran into were behaved. My dogs originally wouldn't be well behaved enough either - although my cocker-doxie mix probably would be now since he is on 3 medications for his heart and he's calmed down a lot over the past month.

I'm not a huge breakfast person either but since it was included in our stay.

Glad to know I'm not the only one here that would push the button!

My ankle is ok now.

Great reviews so far. Your breakfast looked yummy and those cupcakes are to die for! I can't believe the size of the nachos! I think you did well to manage even a third of them. Hope the massage was fun and that your ankle is feeling better.

It was yummy! I love cupcakes! Those nachos just felt like they never ended! Totally should have split it but my mother wanted shrimp (she's a much lighter eater than me)

The massage was good - their spa is so tranquil! Something I can't do every trip but still nice every once and a while!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Morimoto Asia

After our spa appointment, we met back in the room. I had decided to take my shower at the spa since they had the scrubs and such but my mother wanted her tuff so she went back to the room. Once back in the room, I took a quick 30 minute power nap as she takes a lot longer to get ready than me and I was still in catch up mode for sleep. A little before 4:00PM, we headed to the valet to get her car and drove over to Disney Springs. We were still able to park in the garages at this time as they weren’t full yet. (Shockingly, as it was a Saturday night!)

We walked around the Town Center and made our way to World of Disney. I bought myself a toy that my mother was scared of as apparently there was a report on the news that fidget spinners blow up. I googled it and told her it was only the bluetooth ones and that wasn’t this. That eased her worries. I just couldn’t pass up Stitch! We also went to Ghirardelli as she wanted to buy some chocolate bars to have at home.

Fidget Spinner

We headed to Morimoto Asia around 5:00PM to check in and were quickly seated by the window. I let my mother have the view to see the dishes be brought out and prepared as I have seen it before. She kept commenting how various dishes looked good and wondering what some of them were. I ordered Morimoto’s beer for my drink and my mother had a glass of wine. We debated on the menu and while I knew what I wanted (which really was for 2 people) and my mother wanted to try an appetizer or two we decided to split the various dishes.

Morimoto Amber Beer

I was nervous about this meal, not because of the food, but because the first two times my husband and I ate there, we had major service issues. I’m happy to say, they fixed the timing problems this time around! Our server was attentive and everything was well timed.

The first appetizer was the vegetable egg rolls. I had none of these as they had icky mushrooms in them. My mother enjoyed them as she likes things like mushrooms.

Vegetable Egg Rolls - Edamame, Mushroom, Kale

We also split the spare ribs with her having 2 and me having 1. These ribs are so tender and have a great sauce on them. As I knew I would be eating more of the entrée than her, I’m glad we split this way.

Morimoto Spare Ribs - 3 Piece

For our main dish, we got the Peking Duck. They serve it already sliced with flour pancakes and with hoisin sauce and apricot jelly. We both really enjoyed this although I was full after 3 pancakes and my mother only ate one. We got the rest boxed up to bring back to the hotel. I was planning on having it for breakfast the next morning.

Morimoto Peking Duck (for two)

We still got dessert as there is always room for dessert when something sounds good. I wanted to try that Oreo Tempura! I didn’t realize it was a single oreo tempura with a big bowl of chocolate cream. The cream was actually really good. It was light but flavorful. The oreo was just ok - it just soaked up that fry oil so it felt greasy. Now I know I don’t need it ever again in my life. My mother helped me with the cream!

Chocolate Cream & Crunch: Oreo Tempura, Mandarin Orange Jelly, Dark Chocolate Gelato, Hazelnut Chocolate Crunchies

I’m glad Morimoto redeemed itself for me!
​

 

[debjk4]

Love reading your reports!! Those spare ribs look amazing!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Morimoto looks really good. The spareribs yummy. I have heard great reviews about this.

The duck looks very tasty also. We are trying Morimoto in November.

I hope your spa visit was relaxing.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Love reading your reports!! Those spare ribs look amazing!!

I'm happy you enjoy my reports! The spare ribs are so good! So tender and so much flavor! Doing the 6 piece would also be a great option for dinner instead of the duck!

Morimoto looks really good. The spareribs yummy. I have heard great reviews about this.

The duck looks very tasty also. We are trying Morimoto in November.

I hope your spa visit was relaxing.

Morimoto's food has always been amazing for me! I'm glad the service issues have been taken care of which makes me a lot more likely to go back! Hope you have an awesome meal in November! I really need to work on nailing down my reservations for my upcoming RunDisney trips in November/January!

The spa was relaxing! I get so used to Massage Envy that real spas are such a nice treat!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Shine Bar

After dinner, we headed back to the car. I decided to get a drink at the Shine Bar. I even got it in the squeeze bottle since I know I would use it again! This was a strong drink especially since I had to drink it quickly as we left shortly after. Good thing I’m great at chugging alcohol!

Blue Hooch - Blue Flame Moonshine, Lemon-Infused Moonshine, Blue Curacao, House Made SImple Syrup, Fresh Lemon Juice and a Splash of Sprite

When we got back to the hotel my mother got herself a glass of prosecco to enjoy back at the room.​

 

[amberpi]

After dinner, we headed back to the car. I decided to get a drink at the Shine Bar. I even got it in the squeeze bottle since I know I would use it again! This was a strong drink especially since I had to drink it quickly as we left shortly after. Good thing I’m great at chugging alcohol!​

That's a pretty awesome super human power! I'm pretty good, and get this, I don't get brain freeze. I can also (or could before I got hurt) drink a 20oz icee in either 62 or 72 seconds. My friends and I now forget what my personal best was.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

You are now at least the 3rd person to mention and rave about the Morimoto ribs in the last several weeks. I'm going to have to check them out! So glad the service was redeeming! I love the Shine bar- so many fun cocktails and the bartenders are so nice. I could spend almost every night of vacation eating and drinking around Disney Springs and be a happy girl.

 

[auntfrannie]

Wait a minute! The Shine Bar has drinks in sippy mugs?? That's fantastic!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

That's a pretty awesome super human power! I'm pretty good, and get this, I don't get brain freeze. I can also (or could before I got hurt) drink a 20oz icee in either 62 or 72 seconds. My friends and I now forget what my personal best was.

That's an awesome skill to have too! If I drank an icee that quickly I would totally get a brain freeze! I'm jealous!

You are now at least the 3rd person to mention and rave about the Morimoto ribs in the last several weeks. I'm going to have to check them out! So glad the service was redeeming! I love the Shine bar- so many fun cocktails and the bartenders are so nice. I could spend almost every night of vacation eating and drinking around Disney Springs and be a happy girl.

I think you should go check them out! I wish I had time to talk to the bartenders but I didn't this time around! Disney Springs has totally become an evening destination again! Love all the options around there now! It is a great place to eat around and drink around!

Wait a minute! The Shine Bar has drinks in sippy mugs?? That's fantastic!

Yes it does! It's already packed for my trip next weekend!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Room Service

As we got ready to leave the room for Universal/Islands of Adventure, my mother ordered herself room service since I had my left over Peking Duck to eat for breakfast. She also insisted I get something else so I got a banana and an iced latte! Once she ordered the food, I took my box of food out to let it warm up a little since we didn’t have a microwave or such in the room. Even cold, peking duck tastes really good! Plus, you can’t go wrong with a bunch of protein in the morning!

Leftover Peking Duck

My mother enjoyed her muffin and milk. The iced latte was basic but good for energy for the day! I had the banana on the way down to the car to ensure I ate something healthy this day.

Room Service - Blueberry Muffin, Banana, Milk, Iced Latte

We headed to Universal Studios and made it in nice time. We had to pick up my free tickets from the at will kiosk and my mother had issues getting her express passes through the kiosk so we had to visit the ticket booth but that was quickly solved! We were let in the park before it officially opened but we wouldn’t be able to ride anything until 9AM. We lucked out that this day was the 2nd day that all the Harry Potter rides were included in the Express Pass! Win!​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I had figured it would be smart for us to start in Seussland and work clockwise around the park so that we would finish in Wizarding World of Harry Potter and then take the Hogwarts Express over to Universal and then accomplish those rides.

Eventually we needed a drink. My mother got a water and I got a frozen butterbeer! I loved the packaging for their water even if it's just normal bottle water. The frozen butterbeer was nice. It was definitely sweet. My mother tried some and wished she would have gotten that instead of water!

 

[franandaj]

I'm glad that the service at Morimoto Asia was improved, your meal looked really good there. I had to Google Shine as I hadn't heard of it opening.

Leftovers for breakfast are the best! Yay for the Harry Potter rides being included in the Express Pass! I liked the Butterbeer, but it was a little too sweet for my taste.

 

[kastoney]

When we returned to the room after the pool, there was a present there for me! My mother had told them this was my birthday weekend (even though my birthday isn’t until next week - she considered this trip part of my birthday present

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I drank it though - well at least until I spilled it. The beer system they use pours the beer from the bottom of the glass. I touched the bottom of the glass as I saw the button and didn’t know what it was. Well - I made a mess. The server commended me that I got it stopped a lot quicker than most as he’s seen that happened too many times. My mother had a pina colada.

I can't believe they gave you a beer with a hole on the bottom and didn't mention it. I had the exact same thing happen to me at a St. Louis cardinals game a few years ago and what a mess. Its like the don't expect you to wonder why there is a button there.

I bought myself a toy that my mother was scared of as apparently there was a report on the news that fidget spinners blow up. I googled it and told her it was only the bluetooth ones and that wasn’t this. That eased her worries. I just couldn’t pass up Stitch! We also went to Ghirardelli as she wanted to buy some chocolate bars to have at home.

Oh god help us when we go to disney if they have fidget spinners. Casey is obsessed and has already amassed herself at least a dozen of them.

The first appetizer was the vegetable egg rolls. I had none of these as they had icky mushrooms in them. My mother enjoyed them as she likes things like mushrooms.

Solidarity mushroom hating sister!

For our main dish, we got the Peking Duck. They serve it already sliced with flour pancakes and with hoisin sauce and apricot jelly. We both really enjoyed this although I was full after 3 pancakes and my mother only ate one. We got the rest boxed up to bring back to the hotel. I was planning on having it for breakfast the next morning.

These look great. Would you get them again? Hoping we get to Morimoto on our next trip and so conflicted on what to order

After dinner, we headed back to the car. I decided to get a drink at the Shine Bar. I even got it in the squeeze bottle since I know I would use it again! This was a strong drink especially since I had to drink it quickly as we left shortly after. Good thing I’m great at chugging alcohol!

How did I not know that this existed? Homecoming mixed drinks in a to go tumbler? Genius!