Maple Glazed Salmon with Onion-Mashed Potatoes

 Animator's Palate - Disney Cruise Line

 Just for a change of pace (and to use my frozen salmon) I jumped to a different Disney cookbook for tonight. I honestly have to say that the newer the cookbook the better the recipes.


This was excellent! I'm not a big salmon eater, but it was still really good. I can only imagine how good it could have been with fresh salmon instead of frozen. The mashed potatoes were good too. My suggestion would be to cut your potatoes into quarters so they cook faster instead of trying to cook them as whole potatoes. The Maple Glaze sauce was amazing. I was sponging it up with my veggies. Just a word of warning: The sauce is like glue and it will take you FOREVER to scrub it off of anything it heats on (baking sheet, stove top, etc).
4 mickeys!

Luau Chicken

 Polynesian Revue - Polynesian Village Resort

 Can we say SALT? WOW, is this salty! The flavor isn't bad, but if you plan on making it, I would suggest that you don't salt the chicken for baking as directed. I would also try to get a low salt bouillon. It could be better than 2 mickeys if it didn't turn your mouth into a desert!

Cinnamon Rolls

 Walt Disney World


I decided to go back and make the recipes my mom had already made. These cinnamon rolls left much to be desired. I expected a sweet, gooey roll, but it is thick and dry...and not very sweet. The only real sweetness you taste is from the raisins. Perhaps with some icing it would spruce them up a bit.


Only 2 mickeys, sorry cinnamon rolls.

Carrot Cake

 Tangaroa Terrace - Polynesian Village Resort

My husband's favorite type of cake is carrot cake. Throughout our  almost 7 years of marriage I have attempted making home made carrot cake. This was my 3rd attempt, 3rd recipe. The first two times were shear failures. This recipe however, was great! The recipe said you can put butter cream frosting on it if you wish, but I used cream cheese frosting instead. No carrot cake is complete without cream cheese frosting. It's definitively the best carrot cake I've ever made. 4 mickeys!

Beef and Shrimp in Coconut-Ginger Sauce

 Tangaroa Terrace - Polynesian Village Resort

If you were starting to wonder why all the recipes seem to come from the Polynesian village Resort and Contemporary Resort, that's because there were only a few hotels back in 1986 when this book was written. The amount of Disney hotels has sky-rocketed since then.

My husband wasn't fond of this recipe. His option isn't valid though because he doesn't like ginger and he doesn't like bamboo shoots. Well boo on him :-) I love ginger and bamboo shoots! I thought this was good, but nothing exceptional. It did take a bit of work. I think with a bit more punch to the flavor it would be better. I will enjoy the leftovers without Greg :-) If I could give a half mickey I would...it would be 3 and a half mickeys, a bit above average.

Lapu Lapu

 Polynesian Village Resort


What a yummy, tart drink! I made the mistake of grabbing orange drink instead of orange juice...oops. It still turned out good though! I love this drink because it's non-alcoholic yet different. It combines orange juice, pineapple juice, apricot nectar, sour mix, and simple syrup.  4 mickeys!

Speghetti Salad

 Papeete Bay Verandah - Polynesian Village Resort
Top of the World - Contemporary Resort

Easy to make, but bland. I thought I had pimiento's when I made it, but I didn't. Oops. It would be a bit me colorful with them. The flavor was good, but nothing stunning. I also left out the ham because I was taking to a party where there would be vegetarians.  I think with those additions it would be better. 3 mickeys.

Luau Beef Brochettes

 Polynesian Revue - Polynesian Village Resort

Nothing went right for me with this recipe. First, I didn't have mushroom caps, so I cooked it without them. I burnt the Teriyaki Sauce (meaning burnt to a crisp and it took me 30 minutes to scrap it all out) the first time, so I re-made it. The meat and sauce was awesome. The veggies were good too, but under done. Intead of cooking it in the oven Perhaps I would grill it and cut the veggie pieces smaller so the veggies and meat cook evenly. In the recipe book you are supposed to make the sauce first and keep it warm while the rest cooks, but it condenses down so much you only have goo left, so when you go to make this I would make the sauce in the last few minutes of beef/veggie stick cook time. It gets 3 mickeys for it's current recipe, but with the twists I mentioned it could go up to 4 or 5. 

Chicken Toa Nue

 Papeete Bay Verandah - Polynesian Village Resort

 Ok, so this was supposed to be presented in a hole coconut with the top cut off 3 inches down, sitting on top of grape leaves. I couldn't find the grape leaves anywhere. Have you ever tried to open a coconut? Serisously? I'm supposed to flatten the shell then cut it off cleanly 3 inches down? After 20 minutes with the coconut in the garage vice and a hand saw, I gave up on flattening out the bottom. I turned to sawing off the top. Fail. I laid the coconut on the counter and in frustration came after it with a hammer. Success! You might call it that anyway...so if you want that rustic opened coconut look, just use a hammer :-)


The chicken in the coconut was uninpressive, earning only 2 mickeys. The fried banana on the side however, was awesome, earning 4 mickeys. So if you round it out the whole recipe is 3 mickeys. If I were you, I'd just make the bananas.

Mushroom Appetizer

Steerman's Quarters - Empress Lilly, Walt Disney World Shopping Village

If you make this recipe, don't make my mistake...using canned mushrooms instead of fresh. I think it would be better with fresh, but I still don't think it would be that great. It was really bland and just...well... BLAH. So sad, only 2 mickeys.

Ambrosia Salad

Crystal Palace - Main Street U.S.A., Magic Kingdom
Garden Gallery - The Disney Inn

Such an easy salad! All canned fruit so you just open it all up and mix! I used fresh red grapes even though it called for canned. If you're my husband who thinks that no fruit should touch, then you will hate this. But if you love fruit salad, then this is for you!
 It deserves 4 mickeys for taste and speediness!

Avocado Soup

Lake Buena Vista Club - Lake Buena Vista Communities

If you don't have a worthwhile blender like me, then you will find yourself making this soup in  a little chopper and hoping it doesn't fly everywhere. To me it tasted like guacamole that was turned into soup...literally. It was good, but had a strong onion flavor. It is also served cold. I've never had cold soup before...I'm not sure I ever want to have cold soup again...though I have 4 more cold soup recipes in this book. It was better with some tortilla chips.
We give it 3 mickeys. You can't eat much of it at once, so if you make it, quarter the recipe.