Day 2 – Look At This Stuff | Part 2 | Halloween In The Wilderness 2015

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Resort Tour – Art of Animation | Bahama Breeze (Lunch)

Continued from part 1…
October 24th, 2015

From Landscapes of Flavors, we walked over to the Cars courtyard, which I thought was (and I’ll be using this word a lot in today’s trip report!) AWESOME. I mean, if I was a little kid staying at Art of Animation I would be so excited to see Ornament Valley, Radiator Springs, come to life!

The themeing in each of the resorts courtyard is so unique, that you feel that you’re in a completely different resort whilst walking through each one! The buildings here are painted with the huge rock formations, so that you feel like you are in a valley, with blue sky and white clouds painted above them (although, plenty of that in sunny Orlando!)

There are several huge models of the Cars – there are signs saying not to climb, but these seemed to go ignored. Fortunately, the ground surrounding each model is very spongy!

The Cars are… Doc Hudson, Flo, Luigi (by his tire shop, which is the entrance to one of the buildings), Guido, Ramone, and Fillmore.

Then there was Sally Carrera sitting alongside Lightning McQueen in front of Wheel Well Motel, the abandoned filling station in the film, an entrance to another building.

There was Sarge, with his Surplus Hut, and finally, good old Mater! He’s sitting in front of his towing and salvage shop – another building entrance.

In the centre of the courtyard was a big sign for Cozy Cone Motel, which rotated around. The entrance here lead into the swimming pool for this area. I wished I could have bought a few of those postcards in the window of the lobby there!

Around the pool were tall white grasses, and you felt like you were in the dessert, and there were huge cones, which were cabanas for the pool.

Having already been blown away with The Little Mermaid, which, with its lush greenery, and blue buildings, made you feel like you were under the sea, The Cars courtyard, blew me even further away (if that’s a thing!), and I LOVED it here. Like I said earlier, if I was a little kid who loved the Cars movies, this would be AWESOME!

By now, we were all getting a bit hungry, and decided to head over to our favourite offsite restaurant – Bahama Breeze – on W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (192), near the villa where we’d spent our first two holidays to Orlando.

Having stayed onsite in 2014 too, this was our first time back in this part of Orlando since 2013 – it’s amazing how different it feels being outside of the Disney bubble! The souvenir shops, the restaurants, the signs, they all felt weird… but so familiar at the same time!

Seems there is a new road, as I really don’t remember one being called Inspiration; it’s something I know I would have taken a photo of in the past! And I know we have never seen cows in the fields before!

We pulled up, parked, and went inside. The restaurant had a few customers, but it wasn’t busy. We were given a (huge) menu, which the boys looked at, but I already knew what I was having! Steve spied a sharing platter, so we ordered that, alongside my favourite, Firecracker Shrimp and shared them between the three of us.

Appetizers…

Us: Firecracker Shrimp – Buttermilk battered and crispy fried with Sriracha aioli. ($10.99)

Island Hopper Combo – A combination of Island favorites. Jamaican chicken wings, crispy coconut shrimp, onion rings and conch fritters. Served with citrus-mustard, jerk barbeque sauce and roasted pineapple chutney. ($19.99)

Our server was friendly, and on the ball – our glasses never went empty – refills were brought before we’d even finished the drink in the glass we had! Soft drinks (Coke for the boy, sweet tea for us, were $2.99 each)The food, as it always is when we visit, was delicious… Those firecracker shrimp though… *drools*

I picked my favourite lunch time dish – a Cuban Sandwich, which, instead of fries, I had a cup of soup on the side. Steve did the same with the sandwich that he ordered. Liam had fries with his burger.

Entrées…

Me: Cuban Sandwich – Ham, roast pork, salami, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, hot-pressed on Cuban bread. With cup of Chicken Tortilla Soup – Chicken breast, fresh carrots, roasted corn and avocado in a light broth with a hint of lime. ($10.99)

Him: Ropa Veija Sandwich – Tender shredded beef braised with tomatoes, sweet peppers and topped with cheddar cheese, served on toasted Cuban bread. With cup of Cuban Black Bean Soup – Slow-simmered and drizzled with cilantro-crema. ($12.49)

The Boy: BBQ Bacon & Cheeseburger – Glazed with our signature sweet and smoky barbeque sauce, Applewood-smoked bacon, melted pepper-jack cheese, cole slaw and crisp fried onion strings on a toasted brioche bun. ($11.49)

The Cuban Sandwich is heavy going (but it is oh so good!), and after just a couple of bites, I was actually full. Totally letting the side down there! I had been looking forward to this meal for, uhm, years, haha! But I took it back to the hotel, and ate it for dinner that night. Steve and Liam had no problem finishing off their food.

Despite the aforementioned fullness, there was no way I was missing out on my favourite Bahama Breeze dessert of Banana Nut Bread Supreme! The portion was a lot bigger than I remember, and after a couple of polite mouthfuls, I also boxed it up – ice cream and all! Steve’s cheesecake was divine! This was new to us on the menu, and it was a great choice. Again, it was a huge portion – enough for two to share easily.

The only thing that put me off, was that next to each item on the menu was a calorie count… there are no calories on holiday man!

Desserts…

Me: Banana Nut Bread Supreme – Sliced bananas, vanilla ice cream on warm banana nut bread with hot butterscotch brandy sauce. ($6.99)

Him: Dulce de Leche Cheescake – Our special recipe marbled with Dulce de Leche cream caramel served with fresh Island fruit. ($6.99)

Bahama Breeze Island Grille

Bill Total: $95.13 {Tip: $19.87}

Continued in part 3…

Halloween In The Wilderness 2015:
Trip Report Index | Pre-Trip Planing Report | Highs, Not So Highs, and Lows
All the photos from this day can be found here | Florida 2015 photo collection on Flickr here

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