If you have a large appetite (as does my teenage son who we always purchase this for!), this is an excellent deal as it offers unlimited meals for the whole day up until 30 minutes prior to park closing. 

The cost is $19.99 plus tax for adults and $9.99 plus tax for children (ages 9 and under) for a single park or you can also purchase a two park meal deal which includes both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for $23.99 plus tax for adults and $11.99 plus tax for children.  Beverages are not included, however, you can purchase a Meal Deal Souvenir Cup for $8.99 plus tax which is good for unlimited fountain drink refills on the day of purchase.

The way it works is that there are 3 participating restaurants in each of the parks. 

At Universal Studios, the participating locations are Louie’s Italian Restaurant, Mel’s Drive-In, and the International Food & Film Festival Food Court. 

At Islands of Adventure, the participating locations are Circus McGurkus Café Stoo-pendous, Comic Strip Café and Burger Digs.

Most of these locations serve the usual selection of burgers, pizza, and chicken.  You go through the line and select one entrée and one dessert and show your wrist band at check-out.  You are limited to only the one entrée and dessert per trip through the line.  Children must choose from the exclusive meal deal children’s menu only. 

My daughters and I won’t consume enough food to make this worth our while, however, for my 15 year old son and for my husband, we found this to be a very excellent value.  The downside is that you can only get one entrée per trip through the line, but being that my son inhales his food in about one third of the time as the rest of us, he had plenty of time to go through the line at least one or two more times while we finished eating.  And since he’s usually hungry again within the hour, it was quite nice for him (and really nice for my pocket book) to be able to just stop and grab another meal along the way.  Remember that sharing of meals is not permitted.

The Outback Restaurant is a popular steakhouse chain with locations in  the Orlando area and though I enjoy a good steak once in awhile, I rarely order one when we visit the Outback because there are several other menu items that are my personal favorites.

Their signature appetizer is the Bloomin’ Onion which is a whole onion that has been cut or “flowered,” batter-dipped and then deep-fried.  It’s delicious though the Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp is my favorite.  These are huge shrimp, sweet and crunchy with a marmalade dipping sauce.  They’re really excellent.

For the next course, the blue-cheese pecan chopped salad  is wonderful!  This is a menu item that I often find myself craving and I have been known to choose the Outback for this salad alone.  

For the main course, all the Outback steaks are outstanding, especially Victoria’s filet which I will often have, but my favorite are the Grillers (I like the steak and veggie griller - you can also get chicken, shrimp or salmon). The vegetables are so good, but the grilled pineapple beats all - I never knew I would like that! These entrees are a bit on the lighter side allowing you to save room for dessert!

Your meal will come with unlimited loaves of fresh hot pumpernickel bread on a cutting board with fresh whipped butter.

There are some great choices for dessert.  My personal favorite being the chocolate lover that I am is the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under!   This is a large brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, warm fudge sauce, chocolate shavings and whipped cream.  If you can’t decide which dessert to order, they offer a sampler trio including this dessert along with the peanut butter pie and cheesecake!

They have a great children’s menu too.  My younger daughter has always been a big fan of ribs and when she was very young, we noticed that ribs were almost never a choice on the kids menus of most restaurants.  With adult-sized meals being so pricey and way too much for her, we often took her to the Outback where ribs are always an option on the “Joey” menu for kids 10 and under.   And to this day, she likes the ribs at the Outback best!

Another reason why I like the Outback is that having a very close friend who suffers from Celiac Disease, we really appreciate that the Outback offers a gluten-free menu specifically for those on this special diet. 

It’s often difficult to please everyone in the family when choosing a place to eat.  Even if you’re not a big fan of pizza, CiCi’s really does a fine job of catering to the whole group!

The only thing not included in the buffet price is the beverage, but just like everything else at CiCi’s, your beverage is unlimited – drink all you want while you eat all you want.

Start with the salad bar where you can choose from lots of fresh veggies, toppings and dressings.

Move on to the pasta where you can choose from two sauces – either marinara or creamy alfredo.  The garlic bread is to die for!

Now, even if you’re not a big fan of pizza, you can certainly fill up on pasta and salad, but I guarantee that there will be varieties of fresh-dough pizza like nothing you have ever tried before.  Cici’s is quite creative and you will find some really interesting toppings.  And if you have a pretty creative imagination yourself, you can even put in a request and they’ll do their best to make it for you. 

The pizza goes fast, and the cooks keep it coming and every time you go back to the buffet, you’ll find a different kind.  You’ll find everything from the traditional pepperoni, Italian sausage, or meat lovers varieties to vegetarian choices like Spinach Alfredo, or Zesty Veggie to some really unusual choices like Ham and Pineapple or Macaroni and Cheese!

You’ll want to save room for dessert which is also included in your buffet.  The warm cinnamon rolls and moist brownies are yummy.  And of course don’t forget to try the dessert pizza!

And those boys I was mentioning at the beginning – you know the ones.  They can really put away the food, but they do it in a hurry and then want to rush you out of there?  Well, you can send them off to the arcade room where they’ll be busy and out of your hair while you leisurely finish your meal!  How perfect is that?!

Whilst over here for the Christmas period and New Year we decided we were going to treat ourselves to a meal in a Disney World restaurant in Florida. We were hoping to get into the Contemporary Resort on New Years Eve but we did not book early enough. Remember you must book at least a couple of months in advance to get the special time and date that you want.

Eventually we took it upon ourselves to visit the Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort as there were a number of different restaurants there - not a Burger or Steak I mean.

On visitng the Lodge Resort we found that we were able to have a good look around and they have viewing areas within the complex giving you a great chance to get up close a friendly with animals roaming around near to the rooms and restuarants. We saw Giraffes, Wilderbeast, Antelope, Zebra and Ostriches. Staff were on hand to give you all the information you needed. We were even there when the keepers stated to feed the animals. What a great opportunity to see these animlas almost in their natural habitat.

Take the opportunity as well to be there after dark when they light up some outdoor fires that you can sit around in rocking chairs. Have a chat with the other tourists there.

We headed for the Sanaa Restaurant for our meal. The food here was Indian/African influenced with Tandoori food, spices and all the trappings of spicy food you would expect from Africa/India. The meals are no more expensive than at home in the UK but you feel like your eating in an upper class atmosphere.

The staff are all very friendly and if you get to visit at Christmas or New Year the decorations are excellent. Plenty of photo opportunities in and around the hotel.

So head towards Animal Kingdom and check out the two lands in Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House and Kidani village. You can even try out their pools and jacuzzis. There is a fantastic pool, area with two large jacuzzis nestled in amongst the jungle.

So don’t miss out and treat yourselves in a great restaurant in a superb location away from all the hustle bustle. Even take a look at the cocktails in the main bar. There are even ones for the Kids to enjoy. The staff are there for you to get the most out of the visit.

There is plenty of car parking and the hotel will even ferry you between the two villages to get the most out of the visit.

Finally, there is plenty to do there with some boards around and about that are free to use. Not fogetting the usual opportunities for buying some Disney gifts to take home.

So try it out and get a taste of Africa/India with the food.

On this last visit, we had the opportunity to go to the newer location on Vineland Avenue in Orlando just up the street from Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine.  As always, we started off with some of the wonderful appetizers.  My favorites are the bruschette of the day and the zucchini fritte (thin strips of zucchini coated with a parmesan batter and deep fried).  On that particular day, the bruschette was a tomato goat cheese topping served with slices of toasted garlic bread – delicious!  Three different starter salads are on offer, Caesar, Italian and House.  Though I chose Italian this time, I have had all three and they are all wonderful.   The Italian salad has a vinaigrette dressing whereas the House salad is served with a creamy dressing, both full of lettuce, olives and assorted veggies.  With our salads came baskets of warm crusty Italian bread with herbed olive oil for dipping. 

For the main course, there are a variety of selections including pastas (of course), seafood, veal, chicken and steak all prepared in an authentic Italian manner.   I have tried many but my favorites are Chicken Bryan (grilled chicken breast topped with herbed goat cheese, basil, sun dried tomatoes and a light sauce), Veal Piccata (sauteed veal topped with mushrooms, proscuitto ham and lemon butter sauce) and Pasta Weesie (fettucini alfredo topped with shrimp, scallions and mushrooms).

There are a few choices for side items with certain entrees and a must have is the cavitappi amatriciana.  It’s a pasta dish with a delicious tomato sauce.  The sauce is excellent and we have been known to ask for a bowl of it for dipping our bread! The server always complies!

Make sure you save room for dessert!  They always have a wonderful selection on offer.  Since I love tiramisu, I almost always order this – it’s delicious!  My husband usually orders the fudge brownie with ice cream and I have to say that it is also very delicious since I usually have to sample his as well!

Bon Appetit!

They suggested that we arrive an hour before the scheduled time for our seating which we did, however, it would have been better to arrive even sooner.   We waited in line for about 20 minutes to check-in.  Even though we ordered our tickets in advance, you still have to acquire your seating assignment.  They offer you the opportunity to upgrade your meal or seating, but we didn’t feel it was worth it so didn’t bother.   After we checked-in, they took us into a large room for a pre-show and appetizers.  The pre-show was very entertaining and you wouldn’t want to miss it, so make sure you arrive no less than an hour before the show.  The appetizers are included in your admission, but drinks were quite pricey ($4.50 for a soft drink!) – better to hold your thirst until you enter the theater!

We were then taken into the theater and seated in long rows quite like sitting at a bar.  I noticed that if you were not seated on the end, it would be close to impossible to get out to use the restroom.  So, if you are not young and spry enough to climb over the back of the seat, then you may want to let people ahead of you so you can be on an end! 

The performance began shortly after we were seated and we were served our meal while we watched.   They first served beer and soft drinks.  There are 2 rounds of beer included, but even though they say the same for the soft drinks, these were unlimited.  Next, they offered us a choice of salad or a creamy vegetable soup.  After that came the main course.  We thought we had to choose one main entrée (chicken, pork, or seafood), but they actually gave us more than one.  I had the pork and the seafood – it was served with Caribbean rice and red potatoes.  It was actually very good and very generous on the helpings.  For dessert, we were served apple cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup.

The show was fun!  They have an extremely talented cast.  We especially enjoyed the circus type acts and acrobats.  After the show, we exited back through the pre-show area where the performers were waiting so we were able to get some great photos.   I would recommend this experience for people of all ages – it was a very enjoyable evening.

It’s quite a way from our villa but the whole experience was worth the drive. It’s quite a big place with valet parking and at first we thought we were going to be underdressed, but, as with most restaurants in Florida it didn’t matter and we weren’t out of place in our casual clothes. You pay an all inclusive price for the meal which was about $50, this doesn’t include drinks.

After being taken to your table  you are served with water and drinks if you want them, then you help yourself to the salad bar. We have had a few salad bars over there but this was up there with the best of them. There is soup, different breads, cheeses, meats olives and all kinds of salad and the only problem is not filling up before the main course.

At your table you are attended by gauchos, dressed in traditional Brazilian costume, this is where it becomes more of an experience than a meal out.  

After finishing your salad the main course is served. The gauchos bring skewers of meat to your table and carve it straight from the skewer onto your plate. It was absolutely beautiful, perfectly cooked and seasoned. There was a choice of steak, pork, chicken, sausage, filet mignon and lamb all served with seasonal vegetables, we had mashed potato and fried plantain. You have a disk on your table, one side green and one side red. When you want them to bring you more meat, turn it to the green side, when you need a moments rest turn it to the red side.

We wanted to try a little bit of everything it was so nice but got to the point where we couldn’t possibly eat anymore so if you’re going to try it – go REALLY hungry.

Dessert was included but we just couldnm’t manage it, what we didn’t realise was that we could have had dessert ‘to go’ and taken it home for later – we’ll remember that next time.

Bottles of Corona for $2

Beach Volleyball

Sunset on St Petes Beach

All of these can be found with a visit to the Undertow Beach Bar, which is right on St Petersberg beach just along from the large hotel Don Cesar.

You sit in the bar or directly on the beach and watch Beach Volleyball. They serve some wonderful food as well. What could be better?

They also have an upstairs veranda that gives you an opportunity to sit there and while away some time waiting for the glorious sunset.

If you visit the website the staff will explain all the wonderful cocktails that can be had as well.

Give it a go!!!

Many of these are chains with restaurants along International Drive or the 192 highway – and here are a few of our favourites (as at July 2010)

Italian

It is difficult to match the Olive Garden for value – with a couple of restaurants along the 192, and also at the Florida Mall.  Whilst pitched as a ‘budget’ restaurant, the variety of Italian food, wine and beer is always of a good standard. 

Perhaps equally as good, although maybe a little more pricey, is Carabbas – again with a restaurant along the 192 (at Formosa Gardens) and also elsewhere in the attractions area.  If anywhere can match the Olive Garden for Italian food, this is the one to try…..

Steaks

America has some great offerings for the steak lover.  Most restaurants will have a choice of steaks on the menu – but many consider it worthwhile to try a specialist steak restaurant.  And our favourite is ‘The Outback’ – at Formosa Gardens, but also by the Premium Outlets on International Drive, and at The Florida Mall.  An interesting mix of American and Australian, the steaks at The Outback are of a very high standard, cooked to perfection, without breaking the bank.  And most restaurants within this chain offer a happy hour during early evening, when the value stretches even further

Tex-Mex

Chillis is also a chain restaurant, which can be found at The Loop and Champions Gate.  The focus is on Tex-Mex and value – with many drinks on happy hour throughout the day.  A wide choice of menu includes many steak, fish and chicken options, as well as the traditional ‘tex-mex’ choices, including fajitas, quesadillas and many others.  No visit to Florida is complete without an evening at Chillis!

Sandwiches

Sometimes a lighter meal is enough – and Subway franchises are to be found in many locations.  Always freshly made with quality ingredients, a Subway will often provide an alternative, especially as a ‘take-away’ or ‘carry-out’ option.  A huge choice of sandwiches (or ‘subs’) made to order with your own choice of ingredients – often with great value offers.

On Highway 557 between Lake Alfred, Auburndale and the Fantasy of Flight we stumbled across this quaint restaurant with a gift shop and Antinque showroom.

The restaurant provides some fantastic sandwiches that are served up in a quaint picnic basket. You can eat inside or outside. There is also a bar that does the usual selection of American Beers along with some Iced wine - My wife thought this was great.

As we sat outside on the decking beside the samll lake we were introduced to Bob by the staff. He was their resident alligator who came right up close whilst we were sitting there. Don’t be afraid he was in the water below the decking.

You get a selection of fillings and bread for you picnic. The staff can’t be anymore helpful and they never rush you out of the place.

Right next door is a large antique shop and a gift/garden centre with some quaint little gifts.

Give it a try it’s a great place away from the usual tourist traps that you would associate with Florida.