Living the dream and remembering the Bagman UPDATED 3/21 - Page 71 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
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Sunday 25 September – part two: sampling the California Grill brunch
Once we got up to the California Grill for brunch, hugs were exchanged with Deb and Linda, and we were soon seated.
Of course, Deb and I had to get some photos of the view…
While we did, these arrived on our table. I don’t remember the details now, but the ones I tried were excellent.
We chatted away for ages, and then Deb and Linda introduced us to Jonathan, if I remember right who’s the chef here. I love how they know everybody at Disney. It makes me feel as if we’re dining with Disney royalty… oh hang on, we are!
With the brunch, you get unlimited mimosas or in Deb’s case, unlimited champagne, which we were again very impressed by. You could buy different drinks, as they had a bloody Mary bar, but I couldn’t see the need for it.
Eventually, we dragged ourselves away from catching up – heck, we hadn’t seen each other for 18 months! – and made our way up to the self service buffet. Oh wow, what a selection awaited us!
You may have noticed some of the labels in these photos, but here’s the full selection, according to the menu:
House made charcuterie
Devilled eggs, crispy lardons, spicy aioli
Greek yoghurt with vanilla-scented granola, mixed berries, honeycomb
Kale and apple salad with dried cranberries, pink pearl apples, marcona almonds, apple vinaigrette
Fregola salad with crispy sautéed vegetables, lemon vinaigrette, Florida hearts of palm
Hardwood-smoked salmon with capers, egg and red onion
California rolls with jumbo lump crabmeat
Salmon, tuna, Hamachi nigiri selections
Spicy tuna tekka maki rolls
Shrimp tempura with orange drizzle and mango
I loved the way that you also had musicians in here. It added a really nice ambience to the meal. We did say that it would’ve been very nice if this could be adult only, but of course the Cast Members couldn’t comment on that. I can understand why not, given the location, but I’d love it if some times could be made adult only, and this brunch, especially later times, feels like it would be perfect to do that.
The way it works is that you then order one entrée, although we were told that if we wanted more, we could order a second. Frankly, with the buffet selections, I’m not sure you’d need to. Here are our selections from the buffet:
I went for the eggs benedict – two soft-poached eggs, toasted English muffin, butter poached Maine lobster, and classic Hollandaise. It usually also comes with orange-honey ham, but thankfully I checked that, and our server said he normally does check that with people, just in case they don’t eat meat.
Mark had the grilled hanger steak, with two eggs any style, chimichurri, marble potato hash, and charred red onion. His was beautifully cooked, but Deb asked for hers to be medium. Well, it certainly wasn’t that when it first came out. It went back to be re-cooked, and it was gone for ages and when it came back, I immediately said it didn’t look much better, and heck, I’m a veggie, so how would I know? She ate it, but I’d personally have sent it back again…
Next: I have to sample each one for reason purposes, of course…
What a delicious brunch!! Also, so fun for you to catch up with Deb and Linda!! It sounds like you are having a ball!! We feel that this brunch is definitely worth the money!!
What a delicious brunch!! Also, so fun for you to catch up with Deb and Linda!! It sounds like you are having a ball!! We feel that this brunch is definitely worth the money!!
So did we. When we were there for dinner just over a week ago, we were singing the praises of the brunch and saying how good it was.
So it seems a similar set up to Palo brunch, with some buffet but entrees off the menu. Yum!! And I believe I already spotted macaroons in one of your pictures, so I'm feeling pretty safe in predicting you'll have at least one with dessert - unless there were multiple flavors to choose from....
So it seems a similar set up to Palo brunch, with some buffet but entrees off the menu. Yum!!
Pretty much so.
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And I believe I already spotted macaroons in one of your pictures, so I'm feeling pretty safe in predicting you'll have at least one with dessert - unless there were multiple flavors to choose from....
I really enjoyed my brunch at the Cali last October and I felt it was definitely worth the high ticket price for it! Such a wide variety of great selections and you could certainly make due even without an entree!
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The Cali Grill brunch looks like such a classy meal. I can't imagine having a second entrée after seeing in your photos all that is offered on the buffet. No one should ever leave there hungry. Like Colleen, I noticed those macaroons and suspect that might be next.
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I really enjoyed my brunch at the Cali last October and I felt it was definitely worth the high ticket price for it! Such a wide variety of great selections and you could certainly make due even without an entree!
This brunch is worth the cost for sure. Valet parking, yummy drinks, and loads of food! So delicious.
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The Cali Grill brunch looks like such a classy meal. I can't imagine having a second entrée after seeing in your photos all that is offered on the buffet. No one should ever leave there hungry.
You're so right there and I couldn't imagine a second entrée either, especially not with all the wonderful dessert offerings they have as well.
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Like Colleen, I noticed those macaroons and suspect that might be next.
How well you all seem to know me... can't think why?
Sunday 25 September – part three: I have to sample each one for reason purposes, of course…
When it got to desserts at the California Grill brunch, I already knew what was coming up, as I’d had a sneak peek of the desserts when we went up to the buffet, and look what they included… This is what made it to our table….
… and I was able to get some extra macarons brought over as well!
We had learnt earlier that they don’t make them on site, they buy them in, but despite this, they were all of excellent quality. I did try nearly every flavour… for research purposes of course!
All in all, we absolutely loved this brunch. It was superb, and we came away feeling comfortably full, always the sign of a good meal. It was also a very relaxed meal, and we ended up leaving there at 2:30pm, a good two hours after we were seated. They certainly never rushed us, and we were the last table in our area of the restaurant.
We headed outside to get some photos from the viewing platform:
California Grill brunch
Buffet 9½ 9½
Entrée 9½ 9½
Dessert 9½ 9
Service 9 9½
Atmosphere 9½ 9½
Value for money 10 9½
Average score: 9.46
We said our farewells to Deb and Linda and headed back to the Beach Club Villas to chill for a while, after a beautiful brunch.
We were very sad to miss Sharon, as we’d been messaging with her, and we know she’d be leaving the Studios at 4:20pm. It just wasn’t going to work to see her at Disney, but heck, we’d still see her in New York on Saturday.
After an hour or so’s downtime, we made our way out, trying to keep in the air conditioning as much as we could…
We were heading for the boat dock to get a ride over to the Hollywood Studios…
We only had a couple of minutes to wait, as we could see the boat was on its way over, as we walked up, which was good timing.
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who’s the chef here. I love how they know everybody at Disney. It makes me feel as if we’re dining with Disney royalty… oh hang on, we are! 
You could buy different drinks, as they had a bloody Mary bar, but I couldn’t see the need for it. 
I can understand why not, given the location, but I’d love it if some times could be made adult only, and this brunch, especially later times, feels like it would be perfect to do that. 
and when it came back, I immediately said it didn’t look much better, and heck, I’m a veggie, so how would I know? She ate it, but I’d personally have sent it back again… 
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Also, so fun for you to catch up with Deb and Linda!! It sounds like you are having a ball!! We feel that this brunch is definitely worth the money!!
Valet parking, yummy drinks, and loads of food! So delicious. 
This is what made it to our table…. 
and headed back to the Beach Club Villas to chill for a while, after a beautiful brunch. 
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