ELLE’s Modern Heroines Series Highlights Reshma Saujani and Halima Aden

In recognition of Disney’s Ultimate Princess Celebration, ELLE is turning the spotlight on real life heroines who share the values of courage and kindness, much like Disney’s beloved princesses. The Modern Heroines series kicked off in August and now ELLE is celebrating two new trailblazers. What’s Happening: As part of the “Modern Heroines” campaign, ELLE and Disney […]

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REVIEW: Can Chocolate Waffles and Amazing Biscuits Redeem an Average Buffet in Disney World?!

This morning, the breakfast buffet officially returned to the Ale & Compass Restaurant at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort!

Yacht Club Resort

Ale & Compass has had breakfast offerings for a while now, but this is the first time we’re seeing the buffet again since Disney World’s closure back in 2020. So how are things looking at that buffet now? Is it worth the extra cost to add it to your meal? Let’s head in and find out.

This restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the day (breakfast from 7:30AM to 11AM, lunch from 11:30AM to 2PM, and dinner from 5PM to 9PM). Of course, today we’re here for the breakfast!

Yacht Club Lobby

The Ale & Compass Restaurant has classic New England-style decorations and a gastropub ambiance, which basically means that it serves elevated pub food.

Let’s head in!

In the past, we’ve had some very decent meals here (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), but it hasn’t really been a “destination” restaurant. We usually don’t go out of our way to eat here if there are other good options nearby! But a full breakfast buffet might be enough to change our minds about that.

Atmosphere

We mentioned before the gastropub ambiance of this restaurant, so it’s a mix of upscale and casual vibes.

Checking in!

Ale & Compass is nicer than the average hotel breakfast buffet, but you don’t really need to dress up to eat here.

Dining room

Inside, the decorations are fairly simple. There are tall windows and archways around the dining room, which contribute to the elegant feel.

Ale & Compass

Seating options include booths as well as tables and chairs.

More seating

The breakfast buffet is a walk-up bar, and face coverings are required while you’re up getting food.

Buffet

Once you’ve checked in at the entrance to the restaurant, a host will take you to your table.

Seating

When you’re seated, you can look at the QR code menu or request a physical copy. If you choose the buffet option on the menu, you’ll still order an entrée and a drink, which your server will bring out separately.

Table setting

So let’s take a look at those menu options!

Eats

Menu

You can choose to order the buffet option, which comes with the breakfast buffet, one entrée, and a non-alcoholic drink for $23.

Buffet menu

Or you can order entrées and other items à la carte. It’s up to you! There are several options for adult entrées

©Disney

…as well as kids’ create-your-own meals.

©Disney

The kids’ meals come with two sides.

©Disney

You can also choose from the drinks menu, which has specialty drinks, juices, smoothies

©Disney

…various kinds of coffee and tea

©Disney

…a few other beverages, and a few morning cocktails.

©Disney

We had to try out the returning buffet items, so we chose that option with Dark Chocolate Waffles as our entrée and orange juice for our drink.

Buffet

The breakfast buffet includes seasonal fruit, various yogurt parfaits, chilled overnight oats, pastries, warm cinnamon rolls, and biscuits with gravy.

Buffet

The fruit when we visited was pineapple, strawberries, grapes

Fresh Fruit

…as well as some whole fruits like apples, oranges, and bananas. Notes that these can rotate and change. All of the fruit that we had here was very good! It did taste fresh, and we enjoyed it, although none of it really stood out as an incredible, must-have option.

Whole fruit

The yogurt parfaits were kind of fun because you can customize your parfait by adding in some house-made granola. Kids might enjoy these since they’re almost like a build-your-own adventure.

Parfaits

There was blueberry and vanilla yogurt and strawberry yogurt.

Strawberry yogurt parfait

The granola had nuts in it, but a sign nearby warned guests in case you have an allergy.

Granola

Near the parfaits were the chilled overnight oats, which are served with strawberries on top.

Strawberry Oats

These had an unusual texture, probably due to the chia seeds mixed in with the oats. If you’re not used to the slightly mushy and crunchy texture of oats and chia seeds, this might taste a little bit strange to you!

Chilled overnight oats

The various pastries in the buffet included croissants

Croissants

assorted muffins (blueberry and chocolate chip when we visited)…

Muffins

…and warm cinnamon rolls. Our favorite of the pastries was probably the blueberry muffins, which definitely tasted like they had fresh blueberries inside.

All of the breakfast pastries were good, but none of them really knocked our socks off. They were pretty your typical morning pastries, and we weren’t surprised by any unusual flavors or textures.

Cinnamon Rolls

The stand-out in this buffet to us were the cheddar biscuits and sausage gravy.

Biscuits and Gravy

The biscuits were soft and buttery

Biscuits

…and the creamy sausage gravy on top made them even better.

Sausage gravy

We could tell that the biscuits were made in-house because they tasted fresh and light.

Biscuit and Gravy

We grabbed a little of everything to try it out!

Our plate

Shortly after we returned to our table, our server brought us our orange juice and some ice water as well. The juice was nice and fresh, but it was also loaded with pulp. So if you’re not a pulp fan, steer clear of this one!

Drinks

Our Dark Chocolate Waffles came just a little while later. We’ve loved these waffles in the past, so we can’t wait to try them again! These waffles are topped with a Dried Cherry Compote, Espresso-Mascarpone Cream, and Chocolate Shavings.

Dark Chocolate Waffles

The entrées come with a side as well, so if you’re doing the buffet we’d recommend getting a breakfast meat for the side rather than fresh fruit (since there’s plenty of fruit on the buffet, but no meat there except for in the sausage gravy). For our side, we got bacon.

We chose bacon

The cherry compote is pretty strong in this dish. So if you don’t like cherries, this might not be the dish for you. For the same reason, we don’t usually recommend these waffles for little kids. For someone who loves cherries, this is a dream!

Dark Chocolate Waffles

The espresso cream definitely has that caffeine kick to it, and it tastes pretty strongly like coffee.

Inside the waffle

All of the different components in these waffles have strong flavors, but since we love the flavors individually (dark chocolate, cherries, and coffee), we’re big fans of this dish.

Nosh or Not

Sail into Ale & Compass for a breakfast buffet if:

  • You’re looking for a very filling meal with a wide variety of options.
  • You’re staying at the Yacht Club Resort anyways and want a good breakfast in the morning.
  • You’re planning on buying one of the more expensive entrées here anyways, so adding the buffet won’t add much cost to your meal.

Jump ship and go somewhere else if:

  • You just want a light breakfast before heading into the parks. A sit-down restaurant is probably not your best bet in this situation. Instead, head to the nearby Ale & Compass Market to grab something to go!
  • You want to try some unusual or exciting breakfast foods. The buffet here was pretty standard as far as breakfast foods go. For some more unusual items, try ‘Ohana’s breakfast or Tusker House in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
  • You’re not staying at Yacht Club Resort and don’t want to make the trip. Honestly, this restaurant still isn’t worth going too far out of your way, in our opinion. If you’re not nearby already, similar breakfast items can be found in a lot of other places.

Overall

In general, we enjoyed our breakfast at Ale & Compass, but it wasn’t really a stand-out experience. Those Dark Chocolate Waffles are a win in our books, but the buffet wasn’t super impressive. The food was all good, and if you want a standard breakfast buffet, you won’t be disappointed. But for the money, we think you could get more exciting breakfast food somewhere else (see our recommendations in the Nosh or Not section of this review!).

Ale & Compass

If you do want to get the buffet and still get the most for your money, we’d recommend getting one of the more expensive entrées like the Crab Cake Benedict or Breakfast Protein Bowl. Those dishes are $19 and $20 respectively, so adding on the buffet (which also includes a drink) only costs another $3 or $4. 

Eggs Benedict

In general, we don’t think most people will be hungry enough to really take advantage of the buffet since you also get a full entrée with it. But if you’re looking for a very filling meal (maybe for brunch before you hit the parks in the afternoon), this could be a good option!

It’s a lot of food!

The service here was excellent, and we enjoyed the quiet atmosphere that comes with this tucked-away restaurant. Even with some construction going on around the resort, we weren’t disturbed and had a very peaceful, enjoyable meal.

Keep following DFB for more reviews from all the restaurants in Disney World!

Click Here to Check Out the Returning Lunch Options at Ale & Compass


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Would you try the breakfast buffet at Ale & Compass in Disney World? Let us know in the comments.

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REVIEW: Mardi Gras Coconut Cake is Worthy of the Royal Court at Disneyland Park

Happy Mardi Gras! If you’ll be celebrating Fat Tuesday at Disneyland Resort, you might want to indulge in some themed treats. Luckily, the French Market in New Orleans Square has a Mardi Gras Coconut Cake that we definitely recommend!

Mardi Gras Coconut Cake – $7.99

This cake is composed of three layers of royal-colored sponge cake and pastry cream dusted with coconut flakes.

Not only does it look delicious, it tastes incredible!

The sponge cake is moist and the coconut cream is soft and light. Even guests who aren’t big fans of coconut will still enjoy this cake.

We’re a little bummed that this is a limited-time item on the menu at French Market, we’d love to see it stick around all year!

Check out more Disneyland snack reviews like the Sour Cherry Churro, Sour Cherry Pretzel and Strawberry-Lemon cake. And let us know if you’ll be giving this special cake a try in the comments below.

For more Disneyland Resort news and info, follow Disneyland News Today on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram.

The post REVIEW: Mardi Gras Coconut Cake is Worthy of the Royal Court at Disneyland Park appeared first on WDW News Today.

Latest Episode of “Details We Dig” Takes a Closer Look at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

The latest installment of the Disney Parks YouTube series Details We Dig takes a closer look at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Walt Disney World. The new video takes a look at five different fun details from the resort, including: 5 – Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa celebrates the same Victorian era […]

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It’s A Magical Menagerie! 90s Style Disney Animal Sweatshirts Now Available on shopDisney

Disney pets are the absolute cutest and shopDisney is helping to remind fans of that fact with their latest assortment of cozy clothing for adults. Dogs, cats and even some mythical creatures take the spotlight on this collection and we can’t get enough. (Please note this article contains affiliate links. Your purchase will support LaughingPlace by […]

The post It’s A Magical Menagerie! 90s Style Disney Animal Sweatshirts Now Available on shopDisney appeared first on LaughingPlace.com.

PHOTOS: New ‘Jurassic World’ T-Rex Pillow Pet and Mosasaurus Plush Arrive at Universal Studios Hollywood

Two new dinosaurs have roared into Universal Studios Hollywood. We found a Tyrannosaurus rex Pillow Pet and a Mosasurus plush in Jurassic Outfitters.

T-Rex Pillow Pet – $35

Like other Pillow Pets, the T-rex has a large plush head and a pillow body that keeps its shape thanks to velcro.

The T-rex is brown with yellow and red eyes.

There’s a tail on the back.

When the velcro strap is released, the T-rex is flattened into a pillow.

The “Jurassic Park” logo is on the body.

Mosasaurus Plush – $30

The Mosasaurus is more of a standard plush.

It’s a grey-blue color with bright green eyes.

It has teeth and a tongue.

Its back is covered in soft ridges.

Both the T-rex Pillow Pet and the Mosasaurus plush are available at Universal Orlando Resort too.

For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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The Riordan Report: January News from the Rick Riordan Literary World

2022 has kicked off with incredible news. The Percy Jackson series on Disney+ has got the official greenlight, and production could start this summer in Vancouver. Here is a recap of the major events in the Rick Riordan Literary World for the month of January. From the Page In the world of Rick Riordan Presents, Yoon Ha […]

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Your Favorite Marvel Heroes Fuse with the Carnage Symbiote in New “Carnage Forever” Variant Covers

Throughout March, Marvel Comics is proud to mark the 30th anniversary of Carnage with an all-new series of variant covers. Prepare to scream as your favorite Marvel heroes become new hosts of the Carnage symbiote in brand-new illustrations by all-star artists including Francesco Manna, Dan Panosian, Humberto Ramos, and David Nakayama. These brilliant and terrifying new […]

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