The Yacht Club

This summer our vacations have been just a day or two here or there at Disney, between mom being at grandmas and jetting off to Europe, plus the possible house purchasing, I just don't think an Ohio trip is in the cards for us this year. But, the good news for us, is that we live in vacation central. We got an awesome rate for the Yacht Club, and Asa decided to take his comp day for the 4th, so off we went. 

The Yacht Club isn't my favorite hotel at Disney, it's a little stuffy for me- I prefer the Beach Club. But, the rate was way better AND they share the same pool- the best pool on Disney property- so I was happy to book it. 

Another Yacht Club perk is that you can walk right to the back enterance of Epcot, and since our Tables in Wonderland is about to expire (and we're not totally sure we will renew it, at least not right away), we've been trying to eat at some of our 'bucket list' places before it does. One of those places: Via Napoli. 

This restaurant is tucked away in the Italy pavilion, and I've always heard nothing but good things about them. They make their pizza as authentic Italian as they can (they bring in the flour from Italy, and treat the water they use in their dough specially to recreate what they would have in Italy). Then, they fire them in these cute little ovens. 

They have pasta, and salad, and some awesome appetizers. May, I recommend to you the fried veggies. The batter is light, and you get artichoke, eggplant, and zucchini- with marinara like you've never tasted before for dipping. 

But really, what you're there for is the pizza. So, get a pizza. First of all, yes, they are pricey, if you're comparing them to take out pizza- but this is no take out. And they feed an army. We got the mezzo metro pizza, half pepperoni, half chicken sausage and it was $47. But, if you divide that by 5, it's a pretty good buy for lunch at Disney. They do have some crazy pizza toppings (cantaloupe and arugula??) which I would love to try sometime, but we were with the boys. And while most of them will try almost anything once- especially at Disney- that was a hard sell. 

Ok, so now that you see the sheer size of this pizza, let me tell you why else you need it in your life. The cheese. Holy geez, the cheese. It's SO good. It melts in your mouth like this buttery, cheesy hug. And you guys, I am not a pizza person. I usually just go along with pizza night here because it's easy. But this pizza, I could eat it all day, everyday. In fact, I can't wait to go back. 

Even with a late lunch, and four hungry boys on my hand, we ended up having a couple slices left over. It's worth noting, Asa, Calib, and Hayden all felt the same way about the pizza as I did- but Peyton was our hold out. He said he liked it, but he wasn't amazed. But for real, check it out, you guys. 4 out of 5 recommend. 

Oh, and we got these Zeppole di Caterina for dessert. So what exactly are they? Well, they are ricotta cheese fritters. Which sounds weird, but I just had to try. It's basically just like melt in your mouth, light yet crispy, sugar dusted donut holes. And they serve them with chocolate and whipped cream for dipping. 

After lunch, we walked over to Japan, because the boys had some spending money for their trip. With how popular Pokemon is around here, they were super excited to go shopping in the Japan pavilion. 

After lunch and shopping we walked back to the Yacht Club to check in. 

The rooms are cute, but nothing too special- I love it that they changed to have all their deluxe resorts sleep 5 instead of four though. The daybeds are a welcomed addition for our family for sure. 

Our balcony didn't have a terrible view for being the basic, no frills room either. 

Really though, you aren't at the Yacht Club or the Beach Club for the rooms- you are there for the pool. The glorious, ginormous, sand bottom pool. There is no way to photograph how awesome this thing is, but I tried for you guys. 

Oh, and there's a slide. It's kind of a trek to get there, but there is also a little baby pool over by it. I went on the slide for the first time this trip. I was a little freaked out by the covered section, but I got over it. And it was super fun. I actually went a couple of times. 

After the whole afternoon in the pool, we headed back up to the room to change for dinner. 

I gave the boys two options for dinner, we could either all go out somewhere together, or Asa and I could have date night, and they could use their magic bands to charge whatever quick service dinner they wanted. They chose to go it alone, so date night it was. 

Calib and Peyton are fine to wander Disney alone- I even told them if they really wanted they could hop on the Disney Springs bus, and get House of Blues Nachos. But, I didn't want to have to worry about Hayden, so we signed him up for the Sandcastle Club. It is an additional charge, but considering they had him all night, kept him entertained, and it was his favorite part of the trip, I think it was well worth it. They even fed him dinner, and a snack, which he got to pick as soon as we checked him in. 

After we dropped him off, Asa and I headed over to our dinner reservations in the United Kingdom pavilion. It was another one of those places I was hoping to eat at before TIW expires, AND as an added bonus, it's right inside the back entrance to Epcot, so it wasn't far. 

Asa got the Leaping Leprechaun in a souvenir cup. He enjoyed it. But, I mean, when does Asa not enjoy a drink? Maybe that thing in New Orleans. 

We decided to give a scotch egg a try for an appetizer. I didn't even know this existed until I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. But, once I saw it, I knew I had to try it- and what better place than Disney. They do everything well. And although I don't have anything to compare it to, this was kind of amazing. But, if you don't like mustard, beware. That mustard sauce was.... well, mustardy. 

For his entree, Asa went with the Welsh Pub Burger, complete with Welsh Rarebit Sauce, Branston Mayonnaise and Bacon and Beer Battered Leeks. What is any of that? I have no idea. But it added up to this monstrous deliciousness. He said it might be his favorite burger ever. 

We also got some Yorkshire pudding, because, I'd never had it before. It was fine. I mean, who doesn't want mashed potatoes in a bread bowl? But, I was so full I had to leave something behind, and this was it. 

For my entree, I went with the classic bangers and mash. Everyone said this was the best dish (besides the fish and chips, but you can get that outside at the window- so I had eaten it before), and it totally delivered. The gravy is what really made it, with the mushrooms and the onions. Asa was scrapping my bowl, dipping his fries at the end of the meal, it was that good. 

After dinner, we took a walk to try and work off some of dinner, and work up an appetite for dessert. 

Because we'd really been wanting to try the new creamery on the boardwalk. If you aren't staying in a hotel, this place is not easy to get to, since you can't park anywhere near it. It just opened a couple weeks ago, but I had heard good things. 

The menu is a little overwhelming. Every ice cream has like a paragraph for the description. 

And they all look so good, it's really hard to decide. 

We ended up with a Ooey Gooey Cake Sundae, with dark chocolate and Pb wins the cup, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. It was awesome. I might even pick this over a trip to beaches and cream. I didn't love the dark chocolate ice cream, although I don't love dark chocolate. It was just really rich. But the PB stuff was really peanut buttery, and I can always get on board with that. Plus, the ice cream is just so... creamy. 

After all of that, we rented a surrey bike and made our way around the lake a couple of times. Most o the peddling was pretty easy. 

But, there were two bridges up hills, which you really had to work for. 

We figured we'd just walk back to the hotel, and hit the pool, but a storm was rolling in, and the pool had been cleared. 

So we headed back up to the room, where we found Calib and Peyton. They had gotten dinner too, and were waiting out the storm as well. Once the rain stopped, we decided to change and head down to the pool, to wait for it to open. Calib said he'd be down later, but Peyton tagged along (which meant he was there for a dip kiss picture!) 

When we saw the lifegaurds opening up the pool, they told us it would probably be another 20 minutes, so we decided to kill some time in the Crews Cup Lounge with drinks. And, then we found these beauties- Parmesean Truffle Fries. They can be yours for just $5, and it will be the best 5 bucks you ever spent. I wasn't even hungry, but I still enjoyed them. Because they're truffle fries. And truffle fries are pretty much my favorite food ever. 

I just had water, but Asa got a Moscow Mule, and Peyton (still along for the ride- so much for date night, but that's ok!) got a Nojito. (A mojito, no alcohol). 

Disney lounges are always underestimated by guest. They don't take reservations, so you can almost always get in, and usually without a wait. They're quiet, and cozy, and the service has always been good. The Crews Cup Lounge is right next door to the Yachtsmen, which has some of the best (if not the best), and most expensive steaks on Disney property. They take advantage of this with a window to view the meat, it's kind of crazy. 

Plus, Peyton is my steak lover- and he has a new life goal, go to the Yachtsman. I told him maybe for his 16th birthday, since it's a biggy- plus, next year we'll be in Hawaii anyway. 

By the time we were done in the lounge, the pool was back open, so we swam, Calib joined us- and we spent at least an hour just going around the lazy river. There's also these little benches in the pool you can sit at, and we parked ourselves on one of them and could see the Hollywood Studios fireworks. It doesn't get much better than that. 

We picked Hayden up from Sandcastle Club, and he was super excited. He said he got to play tons of video games, had a Science lesson, and a cooking lesson, played games, watched fireworks, and got all kinds of stuff to bring home. 

We were lucky enough to get a late check out the next day, which was great since we didn't get to bed until late. 

Breakfast the next morning was at the Captains Grille. You guys know I'm a sucker for Disney breakfast, and this was another TIW place I was hoping to get to. Having enjoyed the ricotta donuts the day before, I went with the Lemon Curd Ricotta Pancakes topped with a blueberry compote I'm telling you, whoever decided to put ricotta in bread products was on to something. And the lemon curd? Oh my gosh. It's not Tonga Toast, but it's a close second for Disney breakfast you guys. Hayden was the only kid to come along with us (Peyton and Calib don't really do breakfast), so he got some Mickey Waffles. Asa went with the Tillamook Cheese Grits with Poached Eggs. It had pulled pork belly and bacon vinaigrette, would you expect him to get anything else? 

We headed back up to the room and packed up our stuff- goodbye room 4194! 

We only stayed one night- but that means you get two days at the pool. So we planned on spending our whole second day pool lounging, and that we did. 

We also played some pool on the pool deck! 

My camera battery was dying, but I did manage to snap a few more pictures of our afternoon at the pool. We had a quick lunch at Hurricane Hanna's by the pool- and a family of ducks joined us. (They were super cute! And they weren't at all afraid of people!) 

After more swimming, we headed home. It was a super fun mini-vacay, and I have to give a shout out to Tracy for watching all our furry family members back at home. She did an amazing job! 

Next Up: #WaterstrautAllNighter