How Many Days In A Row Will We Wear Tie Dye (or Disney 2009 review): Part 11.2featured

We parked the car, stowed the treats in the room, grabbed our park gear and headed off to the Contemporary to catch the monorail. It was past noon at this point, and while it certainly wasn’t an ideal time to head to the parks for our last day, we were pleased with the empty monorail and lack of lines. Get this- I was on the phone with Mom while we were on the monorail doing the glory lap around Future World and we actually spotted her and grandma from the monorail! I got a big kick out of that. Anyways, the best part of our late start to our last park day was the lack of lines to get in. We breezed through bag check and ticketing and were quickly in the park.

We met up with Mom and grandma at the Mexico pavilion because we had a lunch reservation there. I guess Mom and grandma did a lot of shopping and touring while Stephanie and I were at Downtown Disney and grandma was wiped and the midday heat was getting to her, so she and Mom decided to skip lunch with us and go back to the hotel to rest for awhile. Stephanie and I walked them back to the front of the park and then went on Spaceship Earth.

Mom and grandma had grabbed us Test Track Fast Passes when they got to the park earlier that morning so we were set with those, and Soarin’ Fast Passes were too late for us so we decided to head back towards World Showcase.

We had less than an hour until our lunch reservations, so we decided to hang out in the Mexico pavilion (since we love the theming and shopping inside) and ride the Gran Fiesta Tour. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of a wait all week for the Gran Fiesta Tour. On our previous visits, there’s always been a short, nominal wait and this week, it was walk-on all week.

After two rides on the Gran Fiesta Tour, we decided to check in to see if they could take us early for lunch. The restaurant was busy, not full, and we waited about five minutes for them to prepare a table for us. As our luck would have it, they gave us the best table in the house- looking out onto the river. Perfect last-day luck 🙂

Our server was Jesus, and he was very nice and knowledgeable. He took our drink orders and left us with some chips and salsa to munch on as we perused the menu. I’ve heard that the chips are just the bagged grocery store kind and the salsa is the canned variety, but it tasted much better than Tostidos and Chi Chi’s. Now, the menu…if you’re going to San Angel Inn expecting Americanized Mexican food (a la On the Border, Chevy’s, etc), you’re going to be grossly disappointed. However, if you’re looking for some more authentic Mexican food, I think you’ll be pleased. I know I certainly was.

Chips and Salsa

Stephanie started with the Tostados de Tinga (fried corn tortillas topped with black beans, lettuce, onions, avocado, tomato marinated chicken, sour cream and fresh cheese) and was presented with a plate of two large tostadas piled high. She thought they were fantastic and they certainly could have been an ample appetizer for two or even a lunch for one.

Tostados de Tinga

Despite the intense heat outside, I ordered the Sopa Azteca (traditional tortilla soup with avocado, cheese and pasilla pepper) since I *love* some good tortilla soup. It was one of the best things I ate all week. I was presented with an empty bowl with the traditional garnishes and Jesus poured the soup into the bowl table side. He explained to me that there was a pepper floating in the garnishes and I decided to take it out since I didn’t want too much heat in my soup. Unfortunately, that made the soup a bit bland. I put the pepper back in and it flavored it right up. Really, just a fantastic, light soup.

Sopa Azteca

Stephanie’s not a big fan of authentic Mexican food and was having trouble deciding what to order. I told her that I’d read good things about the Pollo a las Rajas (grilled chicken breast served over red peppers, onion strips, cream sauce, and fresh cheese) and she went with that. I don’t remember much about it other than she really, really enjoyed it.

Pollo a las Rajas

I ordered the Tampiquena con Chilaquiles (grilled beef tenderloin served with Chilaquiles (layers of fried corn tortilla, green salsa, topped with onions and sour cream) sans the onions and sour cream. The steak was out of this world…just phenomenal. It was perfectly cooked. It was soft and tender and I was surprised at just how good it was since San Angel Inn isn’t really known for great food…and certainly not for a great steak. But I really can’t express how much I enjoyed this dish. It was served with some refried black beans, which were also very tasty, and chilaquiles, which was layers of corn tortillas and a salsa verde. They were a bit too spicy for my tastes (I assume the onions and sour cream would cut through that, but I don’t like raw onions or sour cream).

Tampiquena con Chilaquiles

I can’t find what Stephanie ordered for dessert on the menu, but it was a white chocolate mousse in a phyllo cup topped with fresh berries. It was sweet, it was light and it was the perfect compliment to her otherwise pretty heavy meal.

White Chocolate Mousse

I ordered the Flan for dessert and it was some of the best flan I’ve ever had. It was smooth and cool (which was much more appreciated after the chilaquiles torched my mouth) and just really fantastic.

Flan

The cheque came to $80.18, and we used two meal credits. San Angel Inn gets a bad rap, mostly from people who come expecting fajitas and tacos, but it really is a hidden gem of Disney World. The food is pretty authentic and just darn tasty and the ambiance of the restaurant is just beautiful (especially if you can snag a coveted river-view table).

After lunch, Stephanie and I perused the shops and carts in the Mexico pavilion a little more, stopping to check out a glass blowing demonstration and some of the hand-painted carvings at the entrance to the pavilion (those little suckers are EXPENSIVE!).

When we got our fill of Mexico, we headed next door to Norway to explore the Norway pavilion because Stephanie was finally consenting to my much-begged for World Showcase exploration time. I love this pavilion and I have no idea why. I don’t ride Maelstrom, I don’t care for the food at Akershus and there’s really not as much to explore at the Norway pavilion as some of the other pavilions, but it’s enchanting in it’s own way. Maybe it’s the grass-covered roof or the collections of troll dolls or the small-town charm of the pavilion. Maybe it’s the Stave church replica or the waterfall. I don’t know. But I love it.

Mom called us to tell us she was making her way back into the park while we were exploring Norway and so we just hung around and waited for her. When she finally made her way into World Showcase, we met up and then went to explore the China pavilion. I love the shopping in the China pavilion. Everything in the main store is so regal and gorgeous and everything in the market is just so fun. I think the next time we visit, I’m going to have to buy one of those beautiful china tea sets. As it was, we did most of our shopping in the small, hidden market in the back, buying good luck buddhas and fans.

From China, we did a quick walk-by of the African outpost…

…on our way to the Germany pavilion. I *love* the Germany pavilion. It’s probably because I so vividly remember the Disney episodes of Full House and Roseanne from my childhood and the scenes in the Germany pavilion (Full House is one of the reasons Stephanie and I love the Grand Floridian so much and insisted we stay there the first time we stayed on-site). It’s loud. It’s boisterous. It’s colorful and there’s something different to look at everywhere you look. The stores have everything from Haribo gummy bears to a crystal-studded replica of Cinderella Castle that costs more than $37,000. Yes, thirty-seven THOUSAND dollars. I hate the taste of beer, but if I liked it, I’d like nothing more than to grab a nice cold one and just sit in this pavilion for, like, an hour and just soak everything in.

Mom was a bit hungry and she didn’t want any of the quick-service food from China, Norway or Japan and she didn’t want to go back to Future World for the Electric Umbrella (which is one of her favorites…for reasons unknown to me since it’s average fare) and so she decided to try the quick-service in Germany, where she had a bratwurst, a pretzel and a diet coke (but I don’t have the receipt so I don’t remember whether she used a credit or if she just paid cash since it was a pretty cheap meal). The pretzel was fantastic…soft and big and very filling. But I snuck a taste and thought it needed more salt. The brat? She thought it was alright. I took a bite and it was just okay. We’re not far from Wisconsin, so we get some good brats. And if I say so myself, I cook up some amazing brats, and I think I make ’em better than the ones served in the Germany pavilion.

Bratwurst, sauerkraut and soft pretzel

But it was a filling meal for Mom and when she was done, we stopped in one of the stores to grab some German candy for grandma and made our way over to the Italian pavilion for a quick photo stop on our grand World Showcase tour.