11 days of DDP with pictures-Day 10, Narcoossee's Dinner added

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, here's the first of my dining reviews. Day 1 & 2 (Sept. 9 & 10). Sorry, in advance, these are lengthy! :confused3

Quick info-Our family consisted of DM 66 :earsgirl: , DD 7 (on the 19th) princess: and me 47 :earsgirl:
We stayed at POP, we rented a van, we're from Southern California. This is our 9th trip since 1998 and my DD's 7th. :banana: (she is not, is not, is not spoiled!) I also started a refrig. swap at POP. (as of 3/2/08 still going!) :scared1:

Here's a listing by page
Page 1 Post #1 Day 2 Cantina de San Angel and Kona Cafe
Page 1 Post #9 Day 3 Typhoon Lagoon-Leaning Palms and Raglan Road at DTD.
Page 2 Post #25 Day 4 1900 Park Fare Dinner
Page 2 Post #27 Day 5 Tusker's House and Restaurantosaurus for lunch AK. Le Cellier, Epcot, Dinner
Page 3 Post #35 Day 6 POFQ food court for beignets; Everything POP Snack and California Grill Dinner
Page 4 Post #52 Day 7 Lottawatta Lodge (BB) & Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner MNSSHP
Page 4 Post #56 Day 8 Kona Cafe Dinner
Page 4 Post #58 Day 9 Everything POP breakfast, Tangierine Cafe and Refreshment Port, Epcot, lunch
Page 5 Post #61 Day 9 Hollywood Brown Derby Dinner
Page 5 Post #66 Day 10 Tusker's House, AK, breakfast. Tamm Tamu, AK, Snack Flametree BBQ and Restaurantosaurus, AK Lunch
Page 5 Post #71 Narcoossee's, Grand Floridian, Dinner

ADDED-on the more recent reviews I have included a cost-per-credit for those who want to know. It's not how we decided where to eat, but it may be of interest. Our highest value per credit, you ask? Kona Cafe. Both meals.

Okay, here goes-
Wow, did we eat well this trip! Thank you free DDP! This is the 2nd time we’ve used free DDP and the third time we’ve done it in total. We’ve really gotten the hang of it now.

Day 1
Travel day, ate in airport, ate sandwiches from home on plane. Stopped at Mc’Ds at Crossing for late dinner, ate in car-good as usual. Mom and me-$1 cheeseburgers, no cheese. DD had Chicken Nuggets-I usually don’t let her get them but heh, we’re on vacation aren’t we? :goodvibes
Fries-good and hot. Soda-very refreshing.

Service: Good
Food quality: Good
Food quantity: Excellent
View: highway and sprinklers hitting car (at first we thought it was rain!)
Would return: Yes :thumbsup2

Day 2

BREAKFAST-in room, late start due to time change. Cereal, toast, and bagels-we had our own toaster. :goodvibes

LUNCH-Cantina de San Angel, Mexico, Epcot
We went to Mexico and ate at The Cantina. We ordered the Plato Combinacion - chicken taco, beef burrito and a quesadilla served with black refried beans and Mexican salsa for my mom and me to share. We’ve had it before and know it’s plenty of food. The order taker was quick to point out that on the DDP we only got a regular sized drink and a churro for dessert. That was okay with me. Cost, if we had paid, $10. I also ordered (OOP) a side of flour tortillas for my DD. She loves to make her own burritos. This is probably the best deal in the parks! She got 3 (or 4) flour tortillas for 40 cents. The food was good and we enjoyed talking to other guests around us about that a.m. earthquake! We had plenty to eat and my DD loved the churro! We also enjoy the location of the patio, right next to the lake.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/7839/epcotdeatingtortilla910cz5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD enjoying her tortilla!

Service: Fair
Food quality: Good
Food quantity: Excellent(sharable)
View: Excellent, lakeside
Would return: Yes

DDP Remaining Tally
30 TS 29 QS 30 SC

SNACK-
Epcot-frozen coke
1QS

DINNER-Kona Café 6:25 ADR
We arrived at Kona’s early (about 6:05) and were told our table would be ready about our ADR time. We were seated around 6:25 on the left side of the restaurant, on the outside edge. Our server was Maykel, and he was very good. My DD decided she wanted her own meal (she didn’t want to share the sticky wings) and decided on Chicken Noodle Soup for appie, Chicken Strips (the first of many!) for entrée, and Lemonade. At first my DD wanted to order the PB&J but I said no-she doesn’t really like PB&J. Turns out she just wanted the goldfish crackers that came with it. I asked Maykel if we could sub the crackers for the fries and he said it was no problem. My mom and I decided to share since we wanted to be able to enjoy our dessert at the table. We ordered Sticky Wings for appetizer, Char Crusted Medallions of Filet Mignon - mashed yukon gold potatoes, asparagus and a 5-spice mushroom demi glace for entrée. I had an ice tea. My mom had water. I did ask if smoothies were part of the plan (I didn’t want one, was just curious) and was told they aren’t.

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1599/910konastickywingstb9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sticky Wings!

The Sticky Wings were good, as always. My DD decided she didn’t like her soup (it was good, I think she was expecting something more like the Lipton soup we make at home with extra noodles :rotfl2: ) and I asked Maykel if she could get the fruit cup (the other kid’s choice appie) and he said it wasn’t a problem. The chicken strips were good. I think there were 3. She ate almost 2 of them. The filet was excellent! Medium rare, as ordered, nice and thick. It was one large filet instead of the 2 smaller filets we’ve gotten before. This was the first of many filets I had this trip. I normally don’t eat a lot of red meat, but I do like a good filet! Potatoes and asparagus were also good.

We ordered the Kilauea Torte for dessert and my DD ordered the kid’s brownie sundae. The Torte was delicious! Warm chocolate oozing out. Soooo goooood! The brownie sundae is one of 2 choices the kid’s now have. The other kid’s choice is Jell-o. The Kiddie Kone is now only for adult dessert. My DD ate the ice cream and left most of the brownie-she’s not much of a brownie eater. I tasted it though and it was good.

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/2989/kona910browniesundaewe4.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/5002/kona910tortebeforexq8.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/7336/kona910torteoozingdq6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Kid's Brownie Sundae--------------------Torte Before-------------------------Torte oozing out warm chocolate!

The meal would have cost $71. We tipped extra since we shared and Maykel was so good. (Just a note-my DD is usually not so picky. :confused3 She was happy with her meals for the rest of the trip-of course, she mostly ate chicken strips or nuggets, and mac n cheese!) While we were eating we talked to the family next to us who were on the DDP and were also sharing. They were a mom, dad, and (older) teenage son. They said they’d been sharing a lot of meals. They rec. Narccoossee’s at GF and said we should go there-it was really good! I didn’t have an ADR for there but we decided we would consider it. I haven’t really read much about Narccoossee’s. (We did eat there near the end of our trip-it’ll be on day 10). We finished up about 7:45 We rode the monorail to MK for EMH p.m.

This restaurant continues to meet our expectations-it’s one of our favorite sit-down meals.

Service: Great
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Good (sharable)/Décor: Nice/View: interior of Poly
Crowded: No-not all tables were filled.
Noise level: Not too bad
Would return: Yes, and we did later this trip!

DDP Remaining Tally
28 TS 29 QS 29 SC

[dixiedizfan]

Excellent reviews ... can't wait for the rest!

[sandym718]

Great reviews! I am salivating!! We'll be making an ADR for Kona and I definitely want to try the Cantina for a Mexican fix when we go in April.

Thank you!!

[TigerKat]

Great review - can't wait to go to KONA!!! :Pinkbounc

[fenfur]

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!! How am I am ever going to wait a year if I keep reading the DIS Boards!! ACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Great review so far!

BTW, What kind of rate did you get for the van rental? I'm still undecided about rental vs ME. We rented before and I could not imagine being dependent upon buses, but it's a budget issue (and we're from So Cal too, we're attached to our cars, :rotfl: )

[Schucraig]

Thanks for the review! We try Kona in 4 more weeks! :cool1:

[bonzarella]

Thanks Ddaz. Kona was our #2 meal out of 10. We loved it, our server was Debbie. She was the BEST. I got to meet you & family at the Pop party. Look forward to reading the rest of the reviews :thumbsup2

[Dizneydaz]

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!! How am I am ever going to wait a year if I keep reading the DIS Boards!! ACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Great review so far!

BTW, What kind of rate did you get for the van rental? I'm still undecided about rental vs ME. We rented before and I could not imagine being dependent upon buses, but it's a budget issue (and we're from So Cal too, we're attached to our cars, :rotfl: )

We got a great rate at Alamo. We only ended up paying $225 (complete, inc. taxes, etc.) for 10 days, including an additional driver. :cool1:

I started by booking a Midsize SUV (3 months ahead) for $270. Then I booked a Std. SUV about a 2 weeks ahead for $265. 2 days later I rebooked it for the same price with an additional driver included. My final booking was 2 days before for a Minivan, with additional driver, for $225 complete. I used the Entertainment coupon for $25 off and Walmart I.D. (430710) for the free driver. I did check the day before we went and the minivans had gone back up to over $400.

I've done this many times before and there is almost always a rate drop just before we go. Alamo does not require a credit card to make the reservation. What I love about Alamo is that you get to pick out your vehicle from all the ones in the lot. (As long as it's in the category you booked). Our last van was a red, Chevy Uplander, 2 remote activated rear sliding doors (very nice to open them up before you get to the car to let out the heat) and a DVD player. I will continue to rent from Alamo as long as they continue to let you pick your own vehicle and they don't require cc for reservation. :goodvibes

And yes, being from So. Cal, we aren't used to using buses, no matter how convenient they are. Plus, it's great to be able to run to Sams, Super Target, or Walmart to get a few things. We also like to go off property a few days each trip. This time we spent one day going to the Atlantic coast (Merrit Island) and we had a good time. Last Sept. we went to Anna Marie and Sanibel Islands for a few days and had a WONDERFUL time! Also, if you are goign to be dining at some of the other resorts (which I recommend) then it's so much easier to drive than to have to take 2 buses.

Hope this helps you in your decision. Let me know if I can answer any more questions.

[Dizneydaz]

Day 3
Lunch
Typhoon Lagoon-Leaning Palms
I ordered the BBQ pork sandwich with fries for me and DD princess: got the cheese pizza. I also ordered 2 regular sodas and 2 Mickey Premium ice cream bars. My DM ordered the BBQ pork sandwich, large soda, and Mickey bar. I realized after I ordered that we could have gotten the larger sodas but if you don’t say large, you’ll get the regular size. I told my mom and she ordered the large one. We were given tokens to come back later for our ice creams. It didn’t take too long to get our food and we sat in the seating area provided (and kept an eye out for birds) which is very nice. The meal would have cost about $40!

The food was good but we had way too much food! :sad2: Neither my mom, or myself, finished-we should have shared the sandwich like we do when we are paying for it! I tasted my DD’s pizza and it was also very good-the sauce had a good flavor. She ate about ½ of it.

We traded in our tokens for Mickey bars a few hours later at Typhoon Tilly’s. It wasn’t open for hot food but was serving snacks, sodas, and ice cream. My DD really enjoyed hers (as you can see).

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106tldeatingbar.jpg

On the way out just before 5 p.m. we got an order of mini donuts-not on the DDP, but my DD loves ‘em so! I think that was the only snack we paid for, on property, the entire trip!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106tldenjoyingminidonuts.jpg
Love those mini donuts!

DDP cost $40
Value per credit $13.33

DDP Remaining Tally
28 TS 26 QS 29 SC


Dinner
Downtown Disney-Raglan Road
I had made a dinner ADR for 50’s Prime Time Café at MGM but since we didn’t go in the parks that day we didn’t want to use a park admission just to eat. We discussed it and decided on Raglan Road, Downtown Disney. I’ve read some good things about it and have wanted to try it. And since it won’t be available next year on DDP, I figured now was the perfect time to try it out. And am I glad we did!
ADDED-I believe Raglan Road is now back on DDP for 2007!

We walked in about 8 p.m., with an ADR ,and were seated immediately. The place was about ½ full and very noisy (especially in the bar area-live band). We asked to be seated as far away from the noise as possible-and we were.

Our server was good. Let’s call him Joe. He was a little reserved at first, but warmed up later. The table received a loaf of Irish Soda Bread, which was good. For our appetizer my mom and I ordered the Scallop Forest - forks of scallops served with a lime dipping sauce. On DDP it can only be ordered for two. There were no kid’s appetizers listed and I didn’t ask if she could order off the adults menu since I knew she couldn’t eat an appetizer and her entrée. I assume that kids can order an appetizer, if you just ask. For dinner my DD had Chickin' Stix – described on the menu as two deep-fried chicken skewers served with cheese and a side of Irish chips (fries). My mom ordered Rag-Lamb Shank - delicate lamb shank served on an Irish stew consomme. I ordered the It's Not Bleedin' Chowder - mussels, prawns, scallops and fresh seafood infused with saffron in white wine and finished with cream with fresh potato.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106raglanscallopforest.jpg
A forest of Scallops!
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106raglankidschicken.jpg
Kid's Chicken

The scallops were good and the presentation was very good. We got 6 scallops and they were served on 6 forks stuck in a piece of wood. They were delicious, the only drawback (small) was that the juice from the scallops runs down the forks and your hands get a little sticky. Maybe they should serve wet, warm napkins with it?

The food came out pretty quickly and was served hot. :goodvibes Everything was delicious!- My DD chicken skewers were actually 2 chicken strips (white meat) and they were some of the best chicken strips I’ve tasted, her too! Very moist and flavorful. The chips (fries) were good too, but she mostly ate the chicken. "Joe" brought my DD her meal with our appetizers (you parents know how important that is)-nice touch! :goodvibes

My mom’s lamb was good. I don’t remember tasting it as I was very engrossed in my “It’s not Bleedin’ Chowder”. It was so good! :cloud9: Everything in it was delicious, even the mussels and I don’t usually like mussels. The sauce was rich and flavorful. I would recommend this dish to anyone who likes seafood! Sorry-no pictures-I forgot to take them until we were almost done! :sad2:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106raglanmybreadandbutter.jpg
Bread n Butter dessert
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106raglanmomsdessert.jpg
Dunbrody's Kiss
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91106raglandwithdessert.jpg
DD and Kid's Nicey Icey

We were really too full to enjoy dessert so we asked “Joe” what desserts he could recommend that would hold up well in our refrigerator. He said that not that many would but he would bring us our desserts, plated, and we could transfer them to to-go containers. My DM ordered the Dunbrody Kiss and I ordered Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding. My DD had the “Nicey Icey” which is vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce. Again, the presentation of the desserts was beautiful. I was served two smaller sized portions of the bread pudding since they were out of the larger cups. They came with pitchers of butterscotch sauce and cream, on the side. My mom packaged her “Kiss” to go but did eat all the decadent chocolate spread around the plate. It was very good! My DD ate her ice cream but she didn’t really like the sauce-I tasted it (it was the same sauce as on my pudding) and it’s the best butterscotch sauce I’ve every tasted! Really good. I removed my puddings from their cups and poured the sauces over them, to take back to our room. I did sneak a few bites-very good! I ate the remainder the next a.m. for breakfast and it was still delicious, even cold! My mom ate her “Kiss” but it didn’t really hold up well-it was basically chocolate mousse covered in dark chocolate. Probably would have been very good if she had eaten it that night.


When “Joe” came for my card, I asked if I could see the bill (you know, to keep track of what I would have spent) and he explained that since they aren’t Disney, they handle it a little different. I think he said that they get 65% of the food bill, and a little over $3 per person tip. I guess that’s why most of the non-Disney owned restaurants are dropping off DDP. He did say that he was grateful that they were on the plan because if they weren’t they would be dead. He also told us that he told his parents to come and stay when the free DDP was announced since it’s such a great deal. I don’t know if he was telling us all this to get a larger tip, but we did add a few more dollars to it. Total bill would have been approx. $115 with tax and 18% tip.

The noise level was fairly high in the restaurant when we first arrived. We were able to see the girl dancing on the bar from our seats. The noise was reduced when the band stopped playing.

As we left, I asked the check-in desk if they had a copy of the menu I could have (scrapbooking, you know) and the manager said they didn’t but he would make me a copy if I would wait. He came back after about 5 min. and said he couldn’t copy it so he went online and printed me a copy from their website. He said it was mostly accurate, though they were a few changes. I felt he went above and beyond by making me the copies.

ADDED-Joe told us that RR would be off DDP in 2007, but thankfully, they are still on the plan-

We had a wonderful experience and would go there again, even without free DDP. :goodvibes

DDP cost $115 3 TS
Value per credit $38. Adult credits only $50/credit. Kids credit $12

Service: Good, got better later :goodvibes
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Good
Décor: Nice and dark, the room we ate in was like a study.
Noise level: loud :sad2:
Would return: Yes

DDP Remaining Tally
25 TS 26 QS 29 SC

[Dizneydaz]

Thanks Ddaz. Kona was our #2 meal out of 10. We loved it, our server was Debbie. She was the BEST. I got to meet you & family at the Pop party. Look forward to reading the rest of the reviews :thumbsup2

Thanks. I think I remember you at the party too. Thanks for the kind comments. I haven't rated our meals yet but I think Kona is our #1 (for 1 TS).

[ufgator]

Thanks for your reviews and pics so far! Looking forward to more!

[i<3Disney]

great reviews! thanks :)

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

[eargal]

I love your review style...waiting on more. :surfweb:

[KatGarcia]

Is it realy true that Raglan Road isn't on the 2007 plan? Is that official??

BTW great review looking fwd to more!

[DLo]

Thanks for the pics. (but now , I really, really want some chocolate). We are foing to Kona next Friday for my b'day- can't wait. we are going a short trip this time and probably won't make it to DTD. But, I now want to try Raglan Road on a future trip.

[S.Poppins]

Great review and pics. :thumbsup2

[swankybeth]

Terrific reviews and pictures, looking forward to the next installment. :jumping2:

[Buzzandthemermaid]

Thanks for your reviews.

[luvpooh]

thanks for your reviews - I've been enjoying them!

I have a question. I couldn't tell from your pic, but were the scallops you had at Raglan Road breaded/fried? We were thinking about getting them on our trip later this month, but I didn't know if they were breaded or not (wasn't expecting them to be, but the pic makes it look like they may be).

[Dizneydaz]

thanks for your reviews - I've been enjoying them!

I have a question. I couldn't tell from your pic, but were the scallops you had at Raglan Road breaded/fried? We were thinking about getting them on our trip later this month, but I didn't know if they were breaded or not (wasn't expecting them to be, but the pic makes it look like they may be).

They're not breaded, but I think they were fried (or sauteed?). They were, however, very tasty. and not greasy at all. :goodvibes

[carolinagirl]

I did ask if smoothies were part of the plan (I didn’t want one, was just curious) and was told they aren’t.

I guess it just depends on the waiter/waitress. We were there last week and were allowed to order smoothies (but as our beverage, not in addition to) but were told that no refills were allowed.

[pixie08]

wow thanks for these reviews I am really enjoying your writing and I love the way you have the results at the end! great job and please keep them up :thumbsup2

[carolinagirl]

I guess it just depends on the waiter/waitress. We were there last week and were allowed to order smoothies (but as our beverage, not in addition to) but were told that no refills were allowed.

Forgot to add.....I am enjoying the report. I love the pics!

[Dizneydaz]

Day 4 (Tues., Sept. 12)

(I apologize for the non-Disney info here- :confused3 if you’re only interested in Disney reviews-skip to Dinner at Park Fare. Thank you)

Breakfast-in room, same old thing.

Okay, this is one of the days we did something my mom wanted to do. She doesn’t want to do Disney everyday so part of our agreement is that we check out the “Real Florida”. My DD and I enjoy it too and it’s nice to have a relaxed day, now and again.

So, today we headed to the Atlantic coast to check out Merrit Island. (north of Cape Canaveral)

First we stopped off at the POP food court (10:00) to fill our mugs and grabbed 2 fruit cups (1 all grapes, 1 mixed fruit) for snack on the road. Cost, just under $7.

DDP Remaining Tally
25 TS 26 QS 27 SC

Then we made a quick stop at Sam’s Club to pick up some pix I sent digitally from home. My DD had her favorite, plain pretzel and we got 2 sodas for the road. I love Sam’s Club cups! :thumbsup2

Another stop-My DD discovered the Chicken and Dumplings at Cracker Barrel a few trips ago and she loves them. They are similar to what we call Chicken and Dumplings, which is really Chicken Soup with homemade noodles. Cracker Barrel serves theirs in thick gravy, we make ours in chicken broth. My DD and I make these, at home, a lot. She :lovestruc them! I had the hamburger steak with 2 sides of dumplings. Dumplings good, hamburger so-so.

Then we went to Merrit Island Nature center-got bit by bugs, :sad2: looked at some manatees-got bit by bugs :sad2: , went to Playalinda beach, played in the sand, and headed back to WDW. (At this point we were done with nature-lots of bug bites! :sad2: ) Sometimes I prefer my nature, Disneyfied :rotfl2:

Dinner
1900 Park Fare, Grand Floridian
ADR 8:00 p.m.

This is our favorite buffet at WDW :goodvibes . We had a lovely meal and one of our servers was the same one we had in January (Michael). He’s been there a long time, and he’s very chatty!

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2375/pf912fgmsigning57844x4et2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

For the first time, FGM was in the lobby when we got there. (We haven’t seen her on our 2 other trips there). She was great and spent a few minutes talking to my princess: DD7.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2152/pf912princeandcindysigning5786qq5.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/6176/pf912dperla57914x4cq2.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2240/pf912dsuzy57964x4jg8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Cinderella and Prince Charming visited us at the together (this was also a first for us) and were very charming and sweet! I even had them sign pictures I took on our trip in January (these were the pix I picked up @ Sam’s earlier). I also had brought a birthday card for my DD (turning 7 on the 19th) and had them sign it, secretly. They were wonderful! :grouphug:

Honestly though, my DD really enjoys the mice, Suzy and Perla, best. Unlike the main characters, they came around several times during the meal. She loves dancing with them :banana: . We had a great time and the food was good as usual. No smoothies allowed on plan. We finished up about 9:00
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8040/pf912withallcharacters58014x4ww6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
All the characters were in the lobby at the end to take more pictures!

DDP Remaining Tally
22TS 26 QS 27 SC

DDP cost $91 3TS used
value per credit $30. Adult only $36.50/credit. Kid only $14/credit

Service: Good
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Excellent
Characters-Excellent! :goodvibes
Décor: Very nice
Noise level: not too loud, really quiet towards the end
Would return: Yes

Coming next-Day 5 Tuskers and Le Cellier

[Cass]

Loving your dining report!

[Dizneydaz]

Day 5 (Wed., Sept. 13)
(sorry for the lack of pictures on this day :crazy: )

Breakfast-in room.

Lunch
Animal Kingdom
Tuskers and Restaurantosaurus
My mom and I wanted Tuskers for lunch but my DD want McD’s. Being the wonderful, do anything for my princess: DD mom I am , I said I would get her lunch at Restaurantosaurus and they could wait for me at Tuskers. So that’s what I did.

I quick walked to Restaurantosaurus and got her the Chicken McNuggets Meal (10 piece) with large rootbeer and mini choc. chip cookies. Cost about $10.

Then I quick walked back to Tuskers (boy do I wish I had a lid for the soda!) and got my DM and myself 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken served with garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables and Tusker House Chicken Salad tossed with balsamic vinaigrette dressing with 2 large Diet Cokes. We got 1 cheesecake and 1 carrot cake for dessert. The food was good. :thumbsup2 My DD, who is normally a small eater, ate all 10 McNuggets! The rotisserie chicken, potatoes, and green beans, were as good as usual. The chicken salad was excellent! :goodvibes We’ve never had it before. However, once again, we had way too much food. We could have easily shared the chicken salad and been satisfied. We took the desserts to go and ate them later in the room. They were okay.

DDP cost about $28 Tuskers
value per credit $14

DDP Remaining Tally
22TS 23 QS 27 SC


Service: Good
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Excellent
Décor @ Tuskers: Nice and cool
Noise level: loud (inc a couple of crying kids)
Would return: Yes

Snack
POP Food Court
5:30

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/2446/pop913ditza58924x4xq5.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/9184/pop913sundae5893yb2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My DD got an Itzakadoozie and my DM and I were going to each get a sundae. After the CM made the first one, I decided we could share. It was a good decision. We got hot fudge. It was delicious and plenty big enough to share. Besides, we had ADR for dinner in 2 hours!

DDP Remaining Tally
22TS 23 QS 25 SC

Dinner
LeCellier
Epcot, Canada
7:30 ADR

Sorry I didn’t take any pictures this meal. :sad2: I think I forgot. This is our second time eating at LC, and our first dinner. The meal was just okay. Nothing was wrong, but it wasn’t great either. I think they are trying to get too many diners, in and out, too quickly.:crowded: I enjoyed our lunch there more on our previous trip in Sept. 05. Our ADR was for 7:30 p.m. and we were seated within 5 min. of that time (even though there were a lot of people waiting). We were presented with the bill at 8:30 and were outside by 8:45. (Just in time for Illuminations!) Everything felt a little rushed and the restaurant wasn’t very clean. There were french fries on the floor, by my chair. This was really the only disappointing meal we had. Food was good, service was spotty, felt rushed.

For appies my DM ordered the Shrimp Cocktail - wasabi slaw and horseradish chili sauce (which wasn’t presented in the Chinese take-out container we had last Sept.). I had the Steakhouse Caesar - baby romaine, sour dough croutons, creamy Caesar dressing -which was good. :goodvibes

The breadsticks served at the beginning were good as usual. MY DD loves bread! :cloud9: My DM had ordered a glass of wine and when it didn’t come by the time we were finished with our appies, we told our server to go ahead and cancel it. He commented that he thought she wanted it with dinner (Huh?) We think he just forgot-he seemed very busy. :sad2:

For entrees my DM ordered the seasonal pasta, with shrimp, which she was going to share with my DD. Unfortunately, it was too spicy for my DD to eat, and almost too spicy for my DM. I ordered the 7 oz. Filet Mignon ( glazed with maple barbecue sauce and accompanied by cream cheese mashed potatoes,) with maple sauce on the side (thanks disboarders for that tip! :disrocks:). The filet was delicious, and about 3” thick-it was huge!. It was rare, as ordered. I couldn’t finish the whole thing. The potatoes were very good! We didn’t ask about added any side dishes, and our server Mo, didn’t mention it either. The Northern Lights wasn't inc. on DDP (I didn’t think it was-just asked anyway)

For desserts my DM ordered the Canadian Club Cake (Chocolate cake brushed with whiskey, layered with chocolate mousse, finished with honey thyme anglaise and walnut chocolate oil) and I had the Crème Brulee Duet-Maple and vanilla. The Crème Brulees were good, but I liked the Maple Crème Brulee that I had last year better. :goodvibes This one was a little skimpy, it was about ¼” thick. My DM liked her cake, I didn’t taste it.

We won’t plan on returning to Le Cellier soon, with, our without DDP. :confused3

DDP cost $105 2 TS
value per credit $53

DDP Remaining Tally
20TS 23 QS 25 SC

Service: So So
Food quality: Good
Food quantity: Good
Décor: Floor was dirty
Noise level: loud
Would return: No, not for awhile at least


Snack
Epcot-The Land
Sunshine Season

Since this was Epcot’s EMH p.m., my DD enjoyed a croissant after riding Soarin’ at about 11:15 p.m.. I think it was the only place still open. 1 snack credit ($3)


DDP Remaining Tally
23TS 23 QS 24 SC

Coming up next-Day 6 Our wonderful meal at California Grill!

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review!

[princesstigerlilly]

Excellent details! Thanks :goodvibes:

[3NJDisneyDivas]

Thanks for the reviews and pictures.
Can't wait to read more.

Lisa

[mickeysgirl17]

Thank you so much for the review. How did you get so lucky to get all the characters in one pic at 1900 Park fare dinner? I would love to have a picture like that! Did you go at opening or closing? The reason I'm asking is because the restaurant doesn't look very busy.

[budbeerlady]

Wonderful reviews, thanks. I am so disappointed to hear from other reviewers and yourself that Le Cellier is going downhill, it was our favorite last year and we are trying it again this Dec. I guess I had better start preparing Dh for it to be a lesser meal than last years favorite. Thanks!!!!

[Dizneydaz]

Thank you so much for the review. How did you get so lucky to get all the characters in one pic at 1900 Park fare dinner? I would love to have a picture like that! Did you go at opening or closing? The reason I'm asking is because the restaurant doesn't look very busy.

It was fairly late-the place was emptying out. It's the first time we've had them all in the lobby.

[Dizneydaz]

Is it realy true that Raglan Road isn't on the 2007 plan? Is that official??

BTW great review looking fwd to more!

That's what we've heard-Only Captain Jacks at DTD will be on the plan.

Sorry for the delay-I guess I should check my thread more often. And I promise, more reviews coming soon. Almost ready to post California Grill-just need to add pictures.

[Dizneydaz]

Day 6 (Thurs. Sept. 14)

This was one of our off-park days. :confused3

POFQ-
Food Court
8:50 a.m.
We started off our day by stopping off at POFQ for some delicious beignets. We had 2 orders of 6 (total 12) for 2 SC. They were delicious as always. :thumbsup2 Much better to eat them hot in the food court instead of taking them back to your room (we’ve done this on previous trips and they get soft really fast). This was one of only 3 breakfasts we did not eat in our room.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9233/pofq914eatingbeignets59on0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

DD enjoying a beignet! :cloud9:

DDP Remaining Tally
20TS 23 QS 22 SC

We played in the pool and went shopping during the day.

California Grill
7:30 ADR
Contemporary

This was our second time eating at CG. Due to a small problem I had with our park tickets, I was talking to the concierge at POP (yes the values have Concierges!) and while we weren’t able to resolve the ticket problem ‘til the next day, he did call CG for me and request that they do something a little extra special for my DD birthday (which was actually in 5 days).The reason I had him do this was we had dinner at CG last year, on my mom’s actual birthday, and even though I told them it was a special day (when I made the ressies and when we checked in) nothing was done to mark the occasion. I was very disappointed! I told the concierge about it and wondered if they could at least sprinkle our table with some Mickey confetti (like I saw them do the last time for others). Well, I don’t know if it was the phone call or not, but we had an excellent meal with a few special touches, including the Mickey confetti! :wizard:

First off, I had booked our ressies based on that night’s sunset. Sunset was 7:32 that night. (Here’s a link for sunset :sunny: and sunrise times http://ppscf.com/sunrisesunset/sunrisesunset2007.html.) (Corrected link 3-8-07) It worked out great-we got upstairs just as the sun was setting and the lights below were coming on. CG has a lovely view! And this time the windows were clear. When we were there last Sept. the windows were completely covered with condensation-we couldn’t see a thing! We only waited about 5 minutes and then were escorted to our table-Yeah, it was by the window (and I didn’t even ask for it!). Our server came by and introduced himself. His name was Billy, and said he is the CG sommelier. He was an awesome server. :goodvibes He made menu recommendations and being a sommelier, helped my DM make her wine choice. No help for me-I don’t really like wine-Just my usual please, Diet Coke (or ice tea)

He started out by asking us what kind of water we wanted, tap, or Evian. Then he caught himself and said since we were on DDP, Evian was included. I’ve never had Evian before-it was very nice, fresh, non-sparkling water. We let him know that we would be paying for DD OOP since she wouldn’t be having appies or any special dessert. He didn’t have a problem with this and I think he gets told this a lot (We did this at all 3 Signature Restaurants we ate at this trip). I had ice tea and my mom ordered a glass of Honig Cabernet (Billy's rec.)

Then he recommended, for appetizer, Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Pesto, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Basil, which he explained was very good, and as large as a plate. My mom took his recommendation and I had the Yoshie's Deluxe Sushi Platter - Maki and Nigiri. On our last visit I had the large roll, which was very good, but I wanted to try something different. The ravioli was very good (as large as a small plate) and my sushi was excellent. I managed to eat most of it. My mom helped some too.

For our entrees, Billy recommended the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta, Cremini Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze and Sage, which he explained has been on the menu since they opened. Again, my DM took his recommendation. I ordered the Oak-fired Beef Filet with Boniato Mashed Potatoes, Blue Lake beans, and Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce. DD ordered the kid’s cheese pizza (she had it last time and really liked it). We all enjoyed our entrees, my steak was huge!
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/9780/gc914mysteak4x46186oq6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/6576/gc914momsentree4x46187sy6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8349/gc914dpizza6188iy9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
My Steak-----------------Mom's Pork Tenderloin-she started eating before I snapped it! ----- Kid's Pizza

Billy let us know that if we wanted to order Raspberries, Chocolate, and Raspberries - Valrhona chocolate cake with molten center, raspberry ice cream and raspberry sauce for dessert, to let him know when he brought our entrees since it takes about 20 min. to prepare. I decided to have the RCR and my DM had Honey Crunch Cake - vanilla sponge cake, whipped sweet cream, nectarines, and peach tea gelee.

One thing I should mention, during our entire meal there was an ongoing birthday celebration going on with 4 women from Miami who were all celebrating their Sept. Birthdays at the table next to us. During our meal, about 6 other women came into surprise the birthday (girls) women and they were having a wonderful time. The whole restaurant applauded when they were surprised! During our meal, my DD kept leaving our table to talk to the ladies next to us. One of them even shared her birthday, the 19th. My DD loves to have an audience to talk to! She told them all about EE, since it’s now her fav. ride. It was hard to get my DD back to our table since we weren’t nearly as interesting as they were.

The fireworks went off between our entrée and desserts. The only disappointing thing was that they no longer dim the lights in the room and with the noise level that night it was hard to hear the music. I tried taking some pictures through the window but mostly what I got was the room reflected. Next time we dine there I’ll go out on the observation deck.

When we ordered our desserts, Billy let me know that my DD’s dessert was taken care of. He brought her out her own special Birthday Cake and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to her. She loved it!
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9452/91406gcdbirthdaycake619ke9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Birthday cake

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/845/91406gcmomsdessert6191oz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
My DM's dessert-it was good!


http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8170/91406cgmydessertvc3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
My dessert, RCR,(Raspberries, Chocolate, and Raspberries) was also excellent.

The bill, when it came was $173 for the 2 of us, not including the wine and extra tip. I was planning on paying for DD OOP but Billy said it was taken care of for her birthday-this was a very nice surprise. :goodvibes

My DD's favorite part was that the woman sitting at that table next to ours who shared her birthday gave her “air kisses” on the cheek. :cloud9: She thought this was wonderful. She talked for several days about how a stranger kissed her and she wanted to “air kiss” anyone she spoke to for the next few days. :grouphug: It’s funny what kids will fixate on, isn’t it.

All in all we had a wonderful meal at CG, and will return in the future-on or off DDP. :thumbsup2 I would be happy with just the Sushi and Dessert. Yummo!

DDP cost $173 4 TS credits used.
Value per credit $43 (I don't think that inc. the Evian)


DDP Remaining Tally
16TS 23 QS 22 SC
We are now more than ½ through our trip and realized we needed to use more credits.

Service: Great :goodvibes
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Excellent
Décor: Great view, a little noisy at times. Wish they would dim the lights.
Would return: Yes :goodvibes

Next up Blizzard Beach and Liberty Tree Tavern MNSSHP

[Calgary DISHeads]

Great reviews! They've made me feel guilty I haven't done mine yet :guilty: :guilty: :guilty: soon, I promise :guilty: :guilty:

[Dizneydaz]

Great reviews! They've made me feel guilty I haven't done mine yet :guilty: :guilty: :guilty: soon, I promise :guilty: :guilty:



Don't feel too bad, we got back on Sept. 19th and I'm still not finished yet. Of course, if I didn't go on and on and have to post the pix maybe I would have gotten it done sooner-but what's the fun in that? :confused3

[jakenjess]

Thanks for the wonderful CG review! I'm so looking forward to going back there in February.

[DISNEYDUET]

Just wonderful! Thank you for your reviews. I can't wait until our next trip in May! I couldn't get CG for our Sept trip so I am going to book it for our May trip and my birthday!:bday:

[susieq76]

FYI- Raglan Road is on DDP for next year. Just spoke w/ a CM

[shovan]

Great Reviews! Great Pics! Thanks! :thumbsup2

Can you see the fireworks from all the tables in CG? or do you need to make a special request?

[disnut1149]

Thanks for the great reviews. We loved 1900 Park Fare. We went there after BBB, and my DGD 3 1/2 was dressed as Cinderella. We'll go back there next summer. (Also love your pictures).

[Dizneydaz]

FYI- Raglan Road is on DDP for next year. Just spoke w/ a CM

That's great to hear! We loved it there. :goodvibes

[Dizneydaz]

Great Reviews! Great Pics! Thanks! :thumbsup2

Can you see the fireworks from all the tables in CG? or do you need to make a special request?

We could see them from our table. This time I didn't request a window table. (and we got one) Last time I did, and got one. You can always ask, but there's no guarantee of course. If you don't get a window seat, they have a great observation deck for watching.

[mackeyapp]

Great Reviews!! Loved hearing about Cal Grill since DH and I have a special evening planned for JUST US. This will be our first trip as DVC owners and using the dining plan. Can't Wait! :Pinkbounc

[shovan]

Thanks! I'm having such a tough time making a decision! :confused3 DH & I will have one night solo for our next trip. I can not make up my mind between, Calif Grill, Artist Point or Jiko! We haven't tried any of these yet & I want to do them all, but just can't! ;)

[Dizneydaz]

Bumping this up so I will finish the rest of my reviews-stay tuned!

[Bibbidi]

I just came across your dining reviews because of your "bump" - your daughter is so cute! She looks like a really sweet girl. I appreciated your review of the Cali Grill since we haven't tried it before, but might this trip as part of our 10th anniversary (with our kids there though). Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

[Disfan3]

thanks for the reviews!

looking forward to the rest!!

[PrincessTiff]

Great review, thanks!

[minniemee]

Thanks for the great reviews! It sounds like you had a great time!:)

[Dizneydaz]

Okay-I'm back!!! Sorry it's taken so long to return but continuing to organize a POP refrigerator swap takes up alot of my Disboard time. :sad2:

Day 7 -Thurs. Sept. 15

I had made ADR for Liberty Tree Tavern from home for 5:55. (MNSSHP) We kept this one.

BREAKFAST-in room Same old things.

LUNCH
Blizzard Beach
Lottawatta Lodge

I got the Hot Dog Basket for myself and the cheese pizza (again!) for DD with 2 regular sodas (I forget to order large again :confused:.) My DM got the Cobb Salad with a large soda. She and I shared the hot dog and salad. The salad was surprisingly good-very fresh and tasty! :thumbsup2 I didn’t expect it to be so tasty. I would get the salad again. The hot dog was, well, a hot dog. DD princess: loved her cheese pizza, again. This time we didn’t get tokens for our desserts, but were told just to show the receipt and they put a little tear in it when you use it.

A strange thing-to me-happened after DD and I sat down and were waiting for my DM. :sad2: We saw Goofy standing not too far off and DD decided to get a picture with him (with some nudging from me). We left our food and sodas on the table for a few minutes and when we came back there was a women sitting there. I nicely told her that this was our table and she asked if she could share it (there were plenty of open tables around) I didn’t want to seem mean, so I said it was okay, as long as we had room for the 3 of us. My DM sat down a few minutes later and the women moved to a nearby table that her husband had found. Maybe they share tables in her country? I found it rather odd. :confused3

We stopped by Lottawatta Lodge on our way out-, to get our desserts. 2 Mickey Premium Bars, and DD had her favorite Itzakadoozie. The CM was right, the just put a little tear in your receipt after you pick up your dessert. We got to the car about 3:30 and headed back to POP for a little rest before MNSSHP. We planned on leaving earlier, but BB is just too much fun!

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6960/91506bbeatingitzabo8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD & Itza!

DDP cost 34.36 3 QS credits used.
(value $11 each credit)

DDP Remaining Tally
16TS 20 QS 22 SC
(How will we ever use all these credits? We have less than 4 days left!)

Service: Fine
Food quality: Surprisingly good salad.
Food quantity: Good
Décor: Outside-love to eat outside.
Noise level: none
Would return: Definitely.


DINNER

Magic Kingdom
Liberty Tree Tavern
MNSSHP 5:55 ADR
(Sorry for the lack of food pictures. What with eating and taking character pix, I just didn't have much of a chance :sad2:)

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6540/mnsshpallofusinfrontofcdj5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Photopass took this using my camera-what's with my hair!

We entered the MK about 5:20. There was really no line, to speak of. Took a few PP pictures on Main Street. And arrived at LTT about 15 minutes, or so, before ADR.

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/74/mnsshpwaitingtoeatlttav5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DM & DD waiting to be seated-yes I made those shirts

For those who don't know - this is the Bill of Fare-at LTT

DECLARATION SALAD - Tossed Mixed Greens, served with our special Tavern Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

PATRIOT'S PLATTER - A generous serving of roasted turkey breast, carved beef, and smoked pork loin, with mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, herb bread stuffing, and Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese.

DESSERT-Warm cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

We were seated about 6 p.m. The meal was good, as usual. Not great food, but comforting, home-style. Except the mac n’ cheese-it’s just too mushy-DD won’t even touch it. The meats, salad, and mashed potatoes were very tasty. The characters came around at nice intervals (in costumes) .
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/9702/91506mnsshplttsaladru1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Salad-I like this one, especially the dressing. :goodvibes

Chip came by and then our salad course was served.

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/2542/mnsshpdminnieci5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD & Minnie

Minnie was next, about 15 minutes later. Dale was next, about 9 minutes later. Then Pluto in 5 minutes.

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/594/915mnsshpdkissingplutonqb0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Goofy came by 10 minutes later.

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6701/mnsshpdgoofyltths1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD & Goofy

Chip returned for another visit in about 10 minutes. And Minnie came by again about 5 minutes later. DD and DM went outside while I waited for the bill. (Okay before you ask, how I knew how far apart the character came-no, I'm not that obsessive-I didn't write it down, my digital camera did it for me! :laughing: )

I walked outside just before 7 p.m. and the announcement that MNSSHP was officially starting. Quick note-as I walked out a woman said “Are you a disboarder? I saw your shirt on the boards.” :disrocks: I said I was and had she seen a woman, and a girl ,wearing the same shirts? She pointed me in the right direction. That was my one, and only, disboarder sighting. And sorry, since I was in a hurry I didn’t even get her name. On to the Candy Hunt! For complete review of our MNSSHP experience see http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1231593

DDP cost $85.87 3 TS Used.
(value per credit $29, if only adults $35 per credit)


DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 20 QS 22 SC

Service: Good
Food quality: Good-comfort food.
Food quantity: Unlimited
Décor: Nice-but the CM were a little "stiff" (they were actually dead-thanks to HM attire and spooky makeup :woohoo: )
Noise level: fine-no problem
Would return: Yes.

Snack
Auntie Gravitys
Tomorrowland
10:22 p.m.

OK, like I pointed out above, we need to use up some of our Snack Credits. So, we stopped here and got 2 rootbeer floats (to share) I mean, I’m not crazy, use 3 credits for 3 people? :laughing: Actually, we should have gotten 3 since DD ate one by herself. We decided we would stop for a caramel apple (or 2) on the way out.

DDP cost $7.50 2 SC used.
(value per credit, $3.75)

DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 20 QS 22 SC

Service: Fine-if a little slow
Food quality: Excellent floats
Food quantity: Okay
Décor: Sat outside, a little cold
Would return: Sure, why not?.

Snack-to go
Confectionary (on Main Street)
We picked up 2 caramel apples on the way out about 11:15 p.m. We ate them later in the trip, they were very good. :goodvibes: There was a woman in line before us using up her last snack credits, I think she had about 7-8 left and was leaving in the a.m. I believe she mostly got fudge. We used 2 SC.

DDP cost $8. Value per credit $4

DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 20 QS 18 SC

Service: Nice
Food quality: Delicious apples
Food quantity: Good
Would return: Definitely.


Next up, another delicious dinner at Kona Café!

[fenfur]

YAY, You remembered your dining review! I thought you had forgotten about it. But you remembered us :banana: :banana: :banana:

Was the 5:55 time good for dinner at LTT after a day at Blizzard Beach? I'm thinking this may be our MNSSHP plan for our trip. Although I was thinking a earlier dinner and less time at BB or TL.

I have a feeling that we may be running into each other a bit in Sept. '07, what with our vacations being very similiar and good taste in food. :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[S.Poppins]

Great reviews! I want to try California Grill!

[cannp123165]

Thank You for the great reviews and pictures!!!

Caroline

[Dizneydaz]

Day 8 (Sept. 16-Saturday)
Non-park day. (Yes, that’s right, another one! Thanks mom! :rotfl: )
I had made ADRs from home for Sci Fi lunch and Rose & Crown Dinner-we cancelled both!

Breakfast
In Room

Lunch
With relatives at Mimi’s Café, somewhere in Florida.:goodvibes We drove about 20 minutes from Orlando to Mimi’s Café. It was located near a brand new, chi-chi-la-la, mall (The Millennium?) It felt like we were driving almost all the way back to WDW!

My DM made plans to visit, and have lunch with, her Aunt and Uncle, who live in Orlando. My DM uncle (87) was in Pearl Harbor during the attack and on the way back from the restaurant he told us the chilling story of what it was like, and what he went through. :sad2: He was 22, at the time. Luckily he was uninjured. :thumbsup2 We spent about 4 hours visiting with them (it was a nice visist) and then we played in the pool after we got back.

So I had to cancel the original 2 ADRS and make one for Kona for dinner. I didn’t really care about Sci Fi, but I really wanted to try R&C and we had an ADR for 7:30-perfect timing :cool1: to see Illuminations. Hopefully, we’ll be able to try R&C on our next trip. :thumbsup2 As my DM stated, we already watched Illuminations from a pretty good spot, in Canada, on day 5-darn it, if she wasn’t right ( I hate that when that happens.:laughing: ) I had no problem getting ADR for Kona for about 8:40. No problem for us, since we don’t mind eating late. (Our stomachs were still on California time and we usually eat late at home anyway-about 6:30-7:00 p.m.). This restaurant continues to be one of our favorites, and getting in isn’t usually a problem. (Shh , don't tell everyone)

Dinner
Kona Café
Made ADR same day, about 8:40
(Sorry no pictures)

We were seated at the same table as the other night and were hoping for the same server. Maykel was excellent the other night. Unfortunately, Maykel was off, our server was Andrew. He was fine, just not as good as Maykel.

Last time at Kona, my DM and I shared a meal. This time my DM and I ordered our own meals, and we both shared with DD. The last time we ate here, DD didn’t really like her appetizers anyway.

My DM ordered Lump Crab Cakes (pan-seared lump crab cakes with Asian tartar and pineapple relish) for an appetizers, Shrimp and Scallops (panko breaded shrimp and pan seared scallops with sticky rice and ponzu, spicy guava-passion fruit and wasabi cream sauces) for dinner, and Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart ( chocolate tart shell with chunks of macadamia nut and chocolate served with vanilla ice cream and caramel rum sauce) no ice cream (to go). She order a glass of Merlot (OOP).

I ordered the Sticky Wings (crispy wings in a garlic glaze with a tangy mustard drizzle and toasted sesame seeds) for an appetizer (DD really likes these too-they were her dinner!), Macadamia Mahi Mahi -(served with mushroom rice, sauteed bok choy, lime-butter sauce and crispy fried onions) for dinner, macadamia nut pie (also to-go) and ice tea. DD got a Sprite (counted as DM drink).

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1599/910konastickywingstb9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sticky Wings! Okay, so this is a copy of the one from Day 2

The chicken wings were as good as always-finger licking good! :goodvibes DM enjoyed the crab cakes-she’s had them before and really likes them. Her Shrimp and scallops were also very good. My Mahi Mahi was okay-but even though many have raved about it, I wouldn’t order it again-it was okay-just not great, to me. We left about 10 p.m.

DDP cost $93.03 (plus extra tip) and 11.00 OOP for wine. 2 TS credits used.
(value per credit $47) one of the highest of entire trip, including Signature Restaurants, but that's not why we eat here. It's just good food, good atmosphere.


DDP Remaining Tally
11TS 17 QS 18 SC

Service: Good
Food quality: Good to Excellent
Food quantity: Good (sharable)
Décor: Nice
View: interior of Poly
Noise level: Not too bad
Would return: Yes

There was a POP pool party tonight at The hippy dippy pool. It started at 10:00 but we didn’t get there until about 11. Unfortunately any kids that were there had already left but fortunately :goodvibes , my DD loves to talk to adults so she had a wonderful time. We met several fellow disboarders and had a nice time. Thanks to Lisa for inviting us and giving us glow necklaces and thanks to Kelli for the Tinkerbell glitter. My DD especially enjoyed talking to you. :thumbsup2

Next up POP food court, Tangierine Cafe, and Refreshment Port Epcot

[Dizneydaz]

YAY, You remembered your dining review! I thought you had forgotten about it. But you remembered us :banana: :banana: :banana:

Was the 5:55 time good for dinner at LTT after a day at Blizzard Beach? I'm thinking this may be our MNSSHP plan for our trip. Although I was thinking a earlier dinner and less time at BB or TL.

I have a feeling that we may be running into each other a bit in Sept. '07, what with our vacations being very similiar and good taste in food. :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Yep, I'm back. That swap just takes alot of time. Hopefully, since we are basically all filled up except for a few weeks in July, I won't be spending so much time on it.

I wanted an earlier ADR at LTT, but wasn't able to get one. Actually the first time I called, I got an ADR for like, 4:05 p.m. I was concerned that if we couldn't enter for MNSSHP until 4, and didn't want to waste a park day ticket, that if it was really crowded we wouldn't be able to get there on time. I posted that concern on these boards and someone posted back that when she made ADRs for the same night (after I made mine) she was able to get 5:00 (or so) Apparently the CM I spoke to didn't look at the special events schedule and the time she gave me was the latest available for a regular day. It's surprising she missed this since I booked LTT during the same phone call when I bought our tix. Anyway, when I called back, and mentioned the special event, I was able to get 5:55, which was the earliest now open. If I go again, I would try to get, maybe, something like 5:30 or so. It worked out fine for us anyway, like I said, I walked out of LTT just as MNSSHP was starting. But, I would have liked to ride some rides before it started.

If I did it again, I would still go to TL or BB, but I would leave earlier so we could relax a little bit. Being from CA (like you) the staying up late doesn't bother us. We like it!

And yes, maybe we'll see you around WDW! Or who knows, maybe even DL. DD is finally going back to school tomorrow after her 6 week break. We were able to go a few times in January-it was great-low crowds!:grouphug:

[Dizneydaz]

Day 9
Sept. 17 Sunday

From home, I made an ADR at Kona for 6:25 p.m. We changed this one to Hollywood Brown Derby

Breakfast
Everything POP (food Court)
8:45 a.m.

This was our first breakfast using credits for QS. We did have beignets earlier in the trip but they're only a SC. My DM and I got the Waffle combo with bacon and 2 cranberry juices (bottles). DD got the French toast with bacon and an apple juice. We used our refillable cups for our breakfast beverages and saved the juices for later. DD really enjoyed the French toast.:thumbsup2 They put brown sugar on them, which she liked-a lot! Now when I make her French toast at home, I put brown sugar on it for her.

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/136/91706epcotpopdfrenchtoawu0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Loving that French Toast!

Total on DDP $25.60 3 QS credits used
value per credit $8.50

DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 17 QS 18 SC

Service: Self
Food quality: Pretty Good
Food quantity: Good
Décor: Good
Noise level: Not too bad
Would return: Yes

Snack
Epcot
Club Cool 11:10-11:20
DD wanted to get one of those special wrapped sodas (like her adult cousin got on our last trip). There was a slight problem getting it as the CM (earning her ears) wasn’t sure of how to actually put the wrapper on, and she didn’t know if the charge (50 cents) for the wrapper was on the DDP. I didn’t care if it was, or not. I told her I would pay OOP for it if it wasn’t included. At first she couldn’t get the wrapper to shrink, she forgot to turn the machine on. :confused3 Then when she rang it up, it went through as a room charge. :confused3 Another CM came over and said the wrappers weren’t on the plan. So he credited the room charge and then re-ran the DDP charge. Since it took so long to get everything done, he gave us the wrapper for free! :thumbsup2 That was very nice of him, I did expect to pay for it. :goodvibes: DDP $2.53 1 SC used.

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/9564/91706epcotdclubcoolsodakm7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD holding Cool Soda-okay she normally doesn't have that goofy look!

DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 17 QS 17 SC

We now realize that there is absolutely no way we can use all or our TS and QS credits, ourselves, since we only have 6 meals left, including breakfasts, and we have a total of 20 credits, for meals. We have ADR for 1900 Park Fair on our last day-that’s 3 credits to use. We (mostly DM) decided we would eat at HBD tonight for dinner-she absolutely loves the Cobb Salad. She had it once before, at the original one in Hollywood and has had it several times in WDW. Also, based on the recommendation of some fellow diners, we decided to try Narcoossee’s for dinner on our last night. So, those 3 meals will take care of our remaining TS credits. But, that leaves 3 meals to use the remaining 17 QS credits-that’s 6 credits per meal. We decided to treat strangers to meals-we did it the last two times we had DDP, but only for snacks. I was looking forward to spreading a little magic :wizard: -to unsuspecting guests. Also, we really needed to use some Snack Credits. I hadn’t been letting my DM use them for such mundane things, as bottled water. We had almost 2 full cases in our room-it just didn’t make sense-right? :confused3 So now you see why we have some many SC left. Time to loosen those purse (credit) strings.

Lunch
Epcot
Tangierine Café and Refreshment Port

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/6284/91706epcottangerinecafexg3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
That's alot of food! Yummy too!

My DM and I wanted to try Tangierine Café this trip since we like lamb, and most of the reviews I’ve read here have been good. DD didn’t want to eat here so I told her would get her some McNuggets in a little while (okay-it was more like an hour and a half-but there’s so much to do, and see, between Morocco and the Canada-going eastward). My DM and I decided to share (I know, share-with all those credits left. What’s that about. We saw the size of the servings, and I had read that the meal was sharable, and we don’t like throwing away uneaten food, or eating too much and feeling stuffed the rest of the day. So, we shared Shawarma Platters (served with side of hummus, tabbouleh and Tangierine CousCous salad with fresh Moroccan bread.) Chicken & Lamb. It was very good :thumbsup2 -the lamb was better than the chicken. There was a lot of food, we didn’t even eat it all. The baklava (the only dessert available on DDP) was okay-I don’t really like baklava, too sweet for me. We didn’t eat more than a few bites. We got a Diet Coke, (and here comes one of those splurges :rotfl2: ) we got another Diet Coke using a SC.

DDP cost $18.54 1QS, $2.09 SC.

Service: Self-Cafeteria style
Food quality: Very Good
Food quantity: Very Good-sharable
Décor: Good-we sat in a little room off to the side with a few tables
Noise level: Good-very quiet
Would return: Yes

DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 16 QS 16 SC

DD Lunch
EPCOT-Refreshment Port-between World Showcase Entrance and Canada
2:15

The menu here is very limited, but that was fine since all DD wanted was McNuggets (I swear she was going to turn into a McNugget!) The CM was very helpful and explained what we could pick from on DDP. Large or small McNuggets, large or small fries, large or small drink, and a McFlurry. I got her the 9 piece McNuggets, small fry (I knew she wouldn’t eat a large fry-even with our help), large Sprite, and Nestles Crunch McFlurry. I also ordered another large Diet Coke for DM and I to share-yup, that’s right, we splurged again-but heh, it was pretty hot! :sunny: RP doesn’t have any tables to sit at, so while I was in line, my DM and DD grabbed a bench-in the shade. DD ate most of the McNuggets, none of the fries and we all shared the McFlurry. There was a friendly little squirrel that got a few fries too! Interesting little fact-the McNuggets here were 9 pieces, at Restaurantosarus their large was 10 pieces.

DDP cost about $13.50 1 QS and $2.55 1 SC

DDP Remaining Tally
13TS 15 QS 15 SC

Up next remainder of Day 9 and dinner at Holllywood Brown Derby

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review.

[fivefordisney]

Wow! What a great review! Thanks for taking the time to report back to us!

[Dizneydaz]

Dinner
Hollywood Brown Derby
Disney/MGM Studios
ADR 7:30

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5245/120mgmhbdsignjt6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Believe it, or not, this was our only visit to MGM, and we only went to go to HBD. It’s not that we don’t like MGM, it just worked out that way this time. We did get there early enough for me to ride ToT, then it was time to eat! While we were waiting in the lobby, one of the CM, Mark, leaned over and whispered to me, “What’s your daughter’s name?” (He noticed she was wearing her “It’s my Birthday” button. I whispered back, “Danielle” and then he casually wandered over to the lobby payphones and after awhile he came out and said “I have a call for Danielle, is Danielle here?” DD said that’s me, and Mark said you have a phone call. DD said “Is it that Goofy again? How does he find me?!” Mark asked if she had spoken to Goofy before and she said she had earlier in the day, at Epcot. Mark picked up the phone, punched a few buttons, and DD got on the phone. She laughed, giggled, and smiled When she got off the phone, I asked what did Goofy say, and she said “I hope your still having a great day” (or something like that) It was a magical moment! Even though she is very smart, she still hasn’t figured out how Goofy keeps tracking her down! :laughing: We were seated in about 5 minutes. The restaurant wasn’t very busy. Our server was Marcie.

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8324/120mgmhbdinteriorcm1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Interior of HBD

My DM and I shared the Cobb Salad for Two with chopped greens, turkey breast, egg, bacon, tomatoes, bleu cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing as our appetizer. DM ordered the Pan-Fired Grouper over balsamic roasted asparagus, lemon butter sauce, topped with Bermuda onion marmalade, water, and Grapefruit Cake A Brown Derby Original! Light Layers of Yellow Cake with fresh Grapefruit Cream Cheese Icing . I ordered the Sesame Seared Ahi Tuna with honey-gingered spaghetti squash, warm soy vinaigrette, and Wasabi oil, Ice Tea, and Double Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee with a gingersnap sugar stick. DD had the Kid’s Mac ‘n Cheese (no longer on menu?), no appetizer, and a Shirley Temple-we paid OOP for her pasta.

The Cobb Salad was very good, served on 2 plates. The bread and butter were also good. Mom’s grouper was served on top of asparagus and she said it was delicious.

My tuna was so good! And the serving size was huge! You can’t really tell in the picture, since it’s covered by that triangle, but the piece of fish was very big, and about 1-1/2”, or so, thick. It was the best, rare tuna, I have every eaten! My DM agreed since I shared some with her, and still couldn’t eat it all. I will definitely order the tuna again!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbdcobbsalad.jpg
Cobb Salad for 2, 1/2 serving

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbdmytunaappetizer.jpg
My Tuna

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbdmomsgrouper.jpg
Mom's Grouper

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbddmacncheese.jpg
DD Mac n Cheese

DD declared her Mac ‘n Cheese-delicious. The best she had on the trip. Though she just told me it was little bit cold, but okay (kids remember the smallest details-I’m writing this part of the review over 4 months after we were there!)

My DM’s Grapefruit Cake was good. My Crème Brulee was delicious-very creamy! I love crème brulee but the only place I ever have it is WDW-go figure! Marcie brought DD a surprise dessert. They call it the Celebration Cake and it was really beautiful. She loved it. It was more like chocolate mousse, than cake. It had a hard chocolate outer shell with a lot of Mickey sprinkles. Topped with whipped cream and a birthday candle. We sang :bday: to her. She really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the fact that the restaurant comp’d it as her birthday dessert.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbddbirthday.jpg
DD Birthday Celebration Cake

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbdcremebrulee.jpg
Creme Brulee

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w158/ter623/91706mgmhbdgrapefruitcake.jpg
Grapefruit cake

HBD is a very nice, relaxing restaurant. While it may not be your most “bang for the buck” Signature Restaurant (requiring 2 credits) it still is very nice. Actually, when I put all our meals on a spreadsheet, HBD value-per-credit was fairly low at $24/credit. It was the lowest of the 3 Signature Restaurants we ate. In fact, it was the second lowest dollars per credit of our trip. The lowest one was 1900 Park Fare breakfast. ($20.32/each) These numbers do not take into effect that some of our meals included a kid’s meal, and others didn’t. If I was to remove the Kid’s meal from PF, it may be that HBD would actually fall to last. Hmmm, maybe they Disney should change HBD to a 1 TS meal, like they did Le Cellier. But then again, if they do, HBD’s service and meals may degrade like (IMHO) Le Cellier has. Just wondering. We’ve enjoyed our meals there, whether on, or off, DDP. Of course when we are paying for it all OOP, we aren’t so extravagant with our ordering. My DM usually gets the Cobb Salad for 2 as her entrée and I don’t get appetizer, or dessert. I’ve even ordered off the kid’s menu before. The kid’s chicken entrée is very good-and a great choice if you don’t want to eat too much-perfect for lunch.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7010/91706mgmdbirthdaydesserml2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

We finished our meal about 8:20

DDP Remaining Tally
9TS 15 QS 15 SC


Service:Top Notch in lobby, very good in restaurant
Food quality: Very Good
Food quantity: Decent
Décor: Lovely-linen table clothes, piano player
Noise level: Good-very quiet
Would return: Yes

DDP Cost $96.38 4 TS (2x2) OOP $6.22 for kid’s pasta (plus extra tip)
(value per credit $24)

NEXT UP-Day 10 Dinner at Narcoossee's-Best Meal on Trip!

[TruBlu]

Fantastic pictures and reviews! Thanks!

[Disney owl]

Thanks for sharing

[momofdbsdc]

Awesome reviews and pictures!! I love the t-shirts that you made! Thanks for sharing!!!

Kim
momofdbsdca

[JJClemson]

Thanks for sharing all your reviews and great pictures :thumbsup2 Your DD is definitely a cutie! Thanks to your reviews, I am making an ADR for Kona :)

[Dizneydaz]

Day 10
Sept. 18, Monday

From home I had made ADRs for Coral Reef for lunch and Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner. We cancelled both. We ate at HBD yesterday, and I was able to make an ADR for Narcoossee’s at GF for tonight-neither Saturday, or Sunday, were available. We have yet to eat at Coral Reef. Maybe next trip?

Breakfast
Animal Kingdom
Tusker House/Kusafirir Coffee Shop and Bakery
9:30 a.m.
We went to AK. It was EMH morning and the park was pretty crowded (for a Sept.) We arrived about 9 a.m. , got a FP for KS, and went to Tuskers for breakfast. This was our one, and only, breakfast eaten in one of the 4 parks. Since we had so many QS credits left, we decided to throw caution to the wind and use up some of our remaining credits for breakfast. Say goodbye to cereal and pop tarts, hello hot breakfast. Well, I did have a little snack, earlier, to tide me over.

We got to Tuskers at about 9:20-the lines were very short. My Mom was hungry and ordered the scrambled eggs with bacon with a large Diet Coke. DD didn’t want a full breakfast; she only wanted a cinnamon roll. I tried to order a cinnamon roll with a soda using a QS credit, but, no way. I couldn’t make a cin.roll a meal. Had to order a complete meal. Hah, the jokes on them, I ordered just the cinnamon roll and we shared the diet coke from DM meal! And remember we had a lot of bottles of water in our room and we carried a few with us into the park. Since DD and I had eaten a little in the room, we weren’t too hungry, until..…DD got a taste of the roll.! She ate almost the whole thing and said she wanted some more so I went to the Kusafir Coffee Shop and got another one. (By this time, 9:40, the line at Tusker’s had grown.) So, she and I ate the last roll and I had a little of my mom’s leftovers too!

My DM declared the eggs some of the best she’d eaten out-hot, tasty, and not too runny or dry. And there was plenty for me to have a few bites. She was right, they were good. (You have to understand my DM and I aren’t the easiest to please, really we aren’t!) The potatoes were good too. DD also loved the cinnamon roll (as I mentioned above) and I liked it too. It was very similar to ones we’ve had at the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Restaurant Akershus in Norway.

We will definitely have to return here, for breakfast, on our next trip.

1 SQ credit, and 2 SC used.

DDP Remaining Tally
7TS 14 QS 11 SC

DDP cost-QS 8.18. QS $6
Value per credit QS $8.18; SC $3

Service: Self-Cafeteria style
Food quality: Very Good
Food quantity: Very Good-sharable
Décor: Nice-there are a lot of items displayed on the walls.
Noise level: Can be a little noisy. There is outside seating that is quieter, as long as the musicians aren’t performing.
Would return: Yes

Snack
Tamu Tamu
Africa
11:11 a.m.

After we went on KS, we felt like we needed a small snack. I’d been wanting to try Tamu Tamu, and this was the day! I ordered DD a Root Beer float, and my DM and I shared a Banana Strawberry Smoothie. DD float came with a fun Pluto straw. DD enjoyed her float and DM and I liked the smoothie, but we would have rather have a float. :confused:

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7098/91806akdroootbeerfloat2ow7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD enjoying float

DDP cost $8.00 2 SC used.
Value per credit $4

DDP Remaining Tally
7TS 14 QS 9 SC

Service: Self-order at window
Food quality: Good
Food quantity: Good
Décor: Nice and Cool-outside, a nice quiet seating area in back. We saw the musicians who perform outside of Tuskers go in, and out of, CM only area.
Noise level: Quiet
Would return: Yes-but would order a float next time.

Lunch
FlameTree BBQ and Restaurantosaurus
Dinoland
1:00 and 1:15

DM and I wanted to eat at FlameTree and DD wanted McDonalds. (Now I have to interject here that she doesn’t get McDonalds very often, at home. Maybe 1-2 times a month. And rarely does she get McNuggets, usually it’s the double cheeseburger, plain, for $1 :goodvibes )

So mom and I decided what we wanted (with 14 QS credits left we decided to get our own meals :rotfl2: ) Mom ordered us 1 Rib meal-1/2 Slab of St. Louis Ribs served with baked beans and corn on the cob with Key Lime Pie. We also ordered the Safari Fruit Plate- seasonal sliced fruit plate served with honey yogurt , Onion Rings, and Frozen Lemonade (as dessert), and 2 large Diet Cokes. We also decided that we would approach guests and see if we could treat them to lunch. I approached a family of four behind us and asked them if I cold treat them to lunch. At first, of course, they didn’t believe it. After I explained why I was doing it, they happily accepted. I ordered them 2 Pork Sandwich meals, 2 Chocolate Cakes, 2 Large Diet Cokes, 1 Kid’s Meal Hot Dog, 1 Kid’s Coke, and 1 Frozen Lemonade. After I gave them their food and they started to leave, the mom turned back, and with tears in her eyes, said “I have to give you a hug!” And she did. I felt great-:cloud9: this must be how the Disney Dream Team members feel when they give out some of those Million Dreams! Anyway, they were very appreciative, and thanked me profusely. DM and DD left when they got our order and went to wait for me at Restaurantosaurus. I followed as soon as I gave my new friends from Georgia, their meal.

At Restaurantosaurus I ordered DD the McNugget 10 piece Basket with Brownie and Large Sprite. I found a family consisting of Grandparents owith 5 yr. old twin girls, to treat here. They ordered Kid’s Meal Nuggets with milk, and Double Cheeseburger Basket with Strawberry Shortcake and a Large Diet Coke. As I handed them their meal, the Grandpa tried to hand me $5. I refused it and told him that’s not why I did it. I told him to use the money they saved to buy their granddaughters a souvenir. I’ve got to tell you, spreading some Disney Magic feels great!

Restaurantosaurus has a toppings bar for those who want something other than a plain burger.

With each of us having our own meals, we had way too much food. :confused3 The ribs were as good as always. The onion rings were yummy. The fruit salad was very good, :thumbsup2 with a lot of fresh fruit. DD declared the McNuggets good. We threw away a lot of food-we we’re so full! With the exception of the frozen lemonade, we saved the desserts for later.

DDP cost FlameTree ours $33, 2 QS credits used
Value per credit $16.50
Restaurantosaurus ours $9 1 QS credit used

We used a total of 8 QS credits for all the lunches
DDP Remaining Tally
7TS 6 QS 9 SC

Service: Self-order at window
Food quality: Good. Especially the ribs and fruit salad.
Food quantity: Huge-sharable
Décor: We ate in Restaurantosaurus it’s very nice with a lot of dino artifacts on display.
Noise level: Fine, not noticeable. We ate at about 1:20
Would return: Yes, to both

NEXT-our meal at Narcoossee's

[TigerKat]

How awesome of you to share your meal credits with others. That must have made you feel so good!!:cloud9:

[maiyasgram]

Thanks so much for the reviews and pics. We are contemplating the DDP for our trip in Sept. I think your reviews have made the decision clear. :thumbsup2

Thanks!!

[the Fidge]

What great reviews I love all the areas that you are pointing out and how they do affect a dining experience. I LOVE those tees!! GReat job!

[DisneyJo]

Just read your review and I must say it's great, so informative, can't wait for the rest! We're going for 14 days on DP and can see we will struggle to use them all too.

[Dizneydaz]

Day 10
September 18th, cont...

BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP!
Dinner
Narcoossee’s
Grand Floridian
I made an ADR, a few days ago, for 7:30


http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/7963/918narsignjl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

We decided to eat here after a recommendation from some fellow diners who sat next to us earlier in the trip at Kona Café. :thanks:

We’ve never eaten here, nor had I read any reviews for it, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions. When we arrived there were only a few guests waiting. The kitchen is open to, and visible from, the lobby.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2599/918narcoosseeskitchenvk2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sorry-it's a little blurry.

Some guests were very nicely dressed, others were like us, more resort casual, but not beach casual. We checked in at the podium and he told us it would be a few minutes. He confirmed we were celebrating something special (DD turns 7 tomorrow). While we were waiting (the lobby is pretty small but there are some outdoor benches to wait on-this is also where they ask strollers to be parked.) every guest who checked in after us said they were celebrating something and asked for a window seat. I knew at this point we weren’t going to get one, since I didn’t even ask.

We experienced our longest wait at this restaurant (we had ADRs at all). We waited about 20 minutes, or so. (not too bad.) The restaurant is fairly small, mutli level. We were seated on the bar level, next to the rail. It was a nice location, next best after a window seat. The restaurant has high windows and high ceilings. It’s very pretty and has a great view of the castle. (this was really important later on).

Our server was Christina and she was quick to point out that on DDP we could order anything, including the lobster! (Either the whole Maine lobster, or the lobster tail with a filet.) So of course, we did! :thumbsup2 I can’t remember the last time I had lobster. I let Christine know that we would be paying OOP for DD dinner. No problem. (okay a small problem later) DD ordered the Kid’s Pasta Marinara and a Shirley Temple (this counted as DM beverage). I ordered the Calamari appetizer, Surf ‘n Turf, Almond Cheesecake, and a Diet Coke. My DM ordered Shrimp Appetizer, Surf ‘n Turf, Berry Sorbet Cup, and a glass of Cabernet (OOP). Christina offered to take a picture of the 3 of us at our table. Thanks Christina!

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/5216/918narmycalamarivv5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
My Calamari

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8378/sshrimpappielg1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Mom's Shrimp

The Calamari (Fried Calamari with a peppercini relish) was very good! :goodvibes The calamari were fried in a light batter, topped with sliced green olives and peppers and drizzled with a light vinegary dressing. I loved it. I didn’t eat the olives or peppers, but the flavor was very good. The calamari was very light, not greasy. We had had the calamari a few years ago at Spoodles and really missed it when they took it off the menu. This calamari was better. My DM enjoyed her Shrimp (Chilled Shrimp - cucumber avocado salsa) they were very good! .It was 4, or 5, jumbo shrimps served with covering of cocktail sauce and a piece of fried plantain. My mom gave me one in exchange for some calamari. Yummo! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/552/918narsurfandturfga4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Surf 'n Turf

The Surf ‘n Turf was very good. I ordered my filet rare, and it was, and it was excellent. DM enjoyed hers too! The lobster tail was also delicious. DD's pasta was very good-she said it was one of the best meals she had on this trip.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/1612/918nardandpastaht1.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6318/91806narddrinkingstvx5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD and Kid's Pasta Marinara-----------------DD and Shirley Temple

Shortly after our desserts were delivered, the lights in the restaurant were dimmed and the music for Wishes started to play (piped in). :wizard: At first, we watched from our seats but we really couldn’t see the tops of the fireworks so we went out on the viewing area outside the windows and had an awesome view! And the music is piped outside too! To me, this was a better view than we had at CG and the lights are dimmed! It makes a huge difference. I also realized that we could watch the fireworks from the area by Narcoossee’s, (near, or on, the boat dock) anytime we want to watch, but don’t want to go into the park.

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/2108/918narmycheesecake4x4nu1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Almond Crusted Cheesecake!

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1636/91806narmomssorbetfp4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Berry Sorbet Cup

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5866/91806nardwithdessertin6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DD and Birthday Brownie-ala carte

Now, for the best part of the meal: :woohoo: My Almond Crusted Cheesecake was the best dessert I’ve had in my life. :cloud9: REALLY, I mean it. The cheesecake was shaped like a hockey puck (about the same size too) and complete covered in toasted almonds. It was served on a plate with a generous serving of whipped cream and cherries (both on the side) along with a few chocolate ribbons. Oh so good! My mom’s Berry Sorbet Cup was also very good. It was a scoop of 2 different flavors of sorbet served in a bowl with an assortment of fresh berries served on a plate with additional berries and some globs (not a nice sounding word, but descriptive) of berry sauce. My mom said it was very good, the perfect ending-not too filling, and very fresh tasting. She added some of the whipped cream from my dessert to her plate. DD got the Birthday Brownie. I asked for the brownie and ice cream to be served separately and they were, along with the chocolate sauce. DD is just starting to like chocolate and doesn’t want the sauce on top of her ice cream. The restaurant comp’d the dessert for her birthday. We also got to keep our personalized menus with “Happy Birthday” on them. A nice souvenir. We left just before 10 p.m.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2553/918narcooosseesfromwatebj5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Narcoossee's from boat dock-we took ferry over from MK for dinner. (sorry it's pretty blurry-handheld)

Service: Excellent
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Good-we could have shared
Décor: Very nice, especially the view of the castle and fireworks.
Noise level: Fine, not noticeable
Would return: Yes. If I was paying OOP I would probably only order the calamari appetizer and the dessert. Those were both excellent, and would make a meal

DDP cost $183 4 (2x2) TS used
OOP $20 for wine and Kid’s meal
(value per credit $46/each)

DDP Remaining Tally
3TS 6 QS 9 SC

As we were returning to POP, I for some reason, I thought I should look at our receipts from dinner (mental note-always look before you leave the restaurant!) Good thing I did because our server had mistakenly charged us for 3 guests (a total of 6 credits). :confused3 I knew it was a mistake since DD only had the pasta (no appetizer) and we had paid OOP for it, along with DM's wine. When we returned to the POP, I tried to reach Narcoossee’s but, unfortunately they closed at 10 and didn’t answer the phone. The nice CM, on the phone at GF told me that all I had to do, the next day, was to go to the concierge in our lobby and they would straighten it out for us. We needed the last 3 TS credits for DD 7th birthday breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. So, in the a.m., while we were getting ready to check out, I sent DM to the lobby to straighten it out. She did, no problem. This was the only time we had a problem with our credits. Everything else went smoothly. :goodvibes


Next up, last day, last meals :sad2: 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Gasparilla Food and Games (food to go)

[donaldtutter]

Awesome reviews!!:)

[fivefordisney]

Wow! You are such a great reviewer! Thank you for taking the time to review for all of us. I really love the credit value...you really can tell whether the DDP is a good value at each restaurant from that.

Thanks again!!!

[minniemee]

Great reviews! Boy I sure hope I remember to look at my receipts, it's nice to know that the concierge can always fix it though!
We will be 11 people, that's a heck of alot to keep track of!
I may need a calculator, on second thought what the heck, we're going on vacation, who cares!!!!!!!!!!!:rotfl2:

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, it's now later in the day and my DM took DD to Fazoli's for a quick Valentine's meal so it's just me and the computer :surfweb: -I posted some more pictures from Narcoossee's-ENJOY!

[mommykds]

Love your reviews & pictures! Thanks for posting.

[shovan]

WOW, we haven't been to Narcoosee's in years. I will definitely have to do ADR for our next trip! Thanks so much for posting!

[kelleigh1]

Ok, you may have just sold me on Narcoossee's. (I linked over from your post in my thread about which 2TS we should go to.) The food looks fantastic and Calamari is hubby's favorite so that will probably convince him - although he doesn't need much convincing since talking to him yesterday, it seems we're both leaning toward Narcoossee's anyway.

[Dizneydaz]

Oh the calamari and cheesecake were so good! :cloud9: And Wishes view, and sound, were great! Hope you go and have a wonderful time.

We are planning on returning there on our trip in September.

[kelleigh1]

I talked to hubby about an hour and a half ago and told him what you said, especially about the Surf n' Turf and Lobster being on the DDP and he said "well that's decided then". So Narcoossee's it is!!

I did tell him that I was going to make him look at your pictures too. No reason why I should be the only one drooling over them.

[heatherlynn444]

so glad you liked narcoossees! it was our best meal of the trip, too! we loved the lobster, filet, and cheesecake and sorbet, too! awesome!:thumbsup2

[SmallWorld71]

Loved your reviews. Great pics. Especially loved the part about the sharing. pixiedust: I will have to remember that.

[GraLaur07]

loved this review think i will need to try a Itzakadoozie they look ace! yum yum:cool1:

[NMW]

Thanks for the reviews!

[Dizneydaz]

loved this review think i will need to try a Itzakadoozie they look ace! yum yum:cool1:

My DD7 princess: absolutely loves these. :lovestruc:. The first time she had one was at WDW a few years back and the only other place I've found them is at Knott's Berry Farm. I've tasted them too and they are actually pretty tasty. Very flavorful. And they last awhile since they are so big!

[purpliequeen]

Thank you for your reviews. They were extremely helpful. I haven't read too many Brown Derby reviews so it was much appreciated. Glad to see you three enjoyed yourselves!

[warriorboy648]

Loved reading these reviews. I am in the process of double checking my adr's aaginst menus and price. :cutie:

[Ambassador]

Thank you for your excellent review. We have long considered, but never tried Hollywood Brown Derby and Narcossee's. I think now we will.

PS: We can see where your daughter gets her good looks: Mom and Grandmother!

[burberryplaid]

I enjoyed your reviews. We're trying to decide between Narcosee's, CG, or Jiko for a special meal and you make Narcosee's and CG look very good!

[Beana9802]

My DD7 princess: absolutely loves these. :lovestruc:. The first time she had one was at WDW a few years back and the only other place I've found them is at Knott's Berry Farm. I've tasted them too and they are actually pretty tasty. Very flavorful. And they last awhile since they are so big!

my supermarket sells a much shorter version, but it is still the same tasty goodness, just in a petite size.

[Dizneydaz]

Thank you for your excellent review. We have long considered, but never tried Hollywood Brown Derby and Narcossee's. I think now we will.

PS: We can see where your daughter gets her good looks: Mom and Grandmother!

Thanks, we're blushing :flower3:


my supermarket sells a much shorter version, but it is still the same tasty goodness, just in a petite size.

Thanks, I'll have to look again-maybe our stores are carrying the smaller ones too.

[Dizneydaz]

Bumping. And I just corrected the link back on CG review for sunrise and sunset times. I had 2005, it's now for 2007. I wanted to know for our upcoming Sept. trip. :goodvibes

[Viki]

Your reviews are simply wonderful, thank you very much for taking the time! :thumbsup2

[ZephyrHawk]

Somewhat off topic, but I love your MNSSHP shirts. Did you make them yourself and, if so, how does one go about tie-dyeing a mickey head?

[Dizneydaz]

Somewhat off topic, but I love your MNSSHP shirts. Did you make them yourself and, if so, how does one go about tie-dyeing a mickey head?

Thanks, yes I made them myself. I recently posted the directions on another thread asking for instructions. I have pictures and directions posted at: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=17220243&postcount=5

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions after looking, Thanks! Beware, it can be addicting!

[Dizneydaz]

Woohoo-going back for free DDP! :woohoo: :woohoo:

[seetheworld]

Thank you for you wonderful, terrific, detailed reviews! They were fabulous! I got teary eyed after reading what you did for that family. Who says the dream team are the only ones to give things away! The family will never forget your kindness ever! Thanks again!:thumbsup2

[MandM-Mom]

Love your reviews, we used the DDP in 2005 and absolutely loved it, we pooled credits with DD but didn't think you could still do that and pay OOP, did you pool or were the childrens credits seperate from yours?

[PrincessMinnie28]

OK, so my DBF and I will be eating at Narcoossee's during our trip (for which we leave in 15 days!). Thanks to your review, I think I've decided that I'm having exactly what you did... everything looked wonderful! Thanks for the pics!:thumbsup2

[Dizneydaz]

Love your reviews, we used the DDP in 2005 and absolutely loved it, we pooled credits with DD but didn't think you could still do that and pay OOP, did you pool or were the childrens credits seperate from yours? Our credits were pooled (Sept. 06) but I understand that now that aren't. I guess I'll find out for sure in Sept.

OK, so my DBF and I will be eating at Narcoossee's during our trip (for which we leave in 15 days!). Thanks to your review, I think I've decided that I'm having exactly what you did... everything looked wonderful! Thanks for the pics!

You're welcome-enjoy!

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks to the link in your siggie, I'm getting reading your reviews. They were great, BTW. :)

I noticed your comment about the seared tuna at HBD, & just had to tell you about an amazing seared tuna dish in your area. My DH & I arrived at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina late in the evening & were too tired to go in search of food. I always make reservations for dinner, but flying across the country is too unpredictable for me to make one on arrival day. Anyway, the bellhop at the hotel suggested we try their restaurant, Molly's. We don't eat in hotel restaurants often, but he insisted we would love the seared tuna. Since we were tired & hungry, we decided to give it a try. Wow, were we glad we did. The entire meal, from appetizer to dessert, was fabulous. The seared tuna was without a doubt the best fish entree I've ever eaten. We ate at a few popular restaurants in SD, including Bertrand at Mister A's & NINE - TEN, but none of them compared to Molly's at the Marriott. If you live close enough, it's worth the trip. It's almost worth flying cross country for. ;)

[Dizneydaz]

Thanks for the recommendation. :thumbsup2 We go to SD at least a few times a year (Sea World, etc) and we'll have to try Molly's out. I too am a little leary about eating in hotel restaurants (except of Disney, of course:goodvibes ) but I am getting a little tired of Anthony's on the pier.

[justadisneygirl]

thanks so much for the reviews and the pics...definately helping me plan our DDP for the fall

[thejollyfinn]

Great detailed Rest. Review, thank you very much!

... I'm very hungry now...