Delish Dining, May 19-May 25

[catne]

Who: DH (52), me (52), DD (19) her BFF (18)

Details: On DDP, had dinner ressies for all dinners Monday 5/19 through Saturday 2/25. Couple of general notes...I got all of our ressies in February 2008 for this May 2008 trip. Got every restaurant we wanted, at the times we wanted (between 5 & 6 p.m.) We had ressies at restaurants in the parks with late EMH (and split ressies on Wednesday- DH & I at DHS for Fantasmic Package, and DD & BFF at MK because they were doing the P & P party) So, we got what we wanted at less than 180 days out. Now, we did not try for breakfast at castle, or Chef Mickey's (no little kids in our party.) But we did get Le Cellier...and frankly, I think every single place was taking walk-ins the whole time we were there. We checked in early a couple of times with no problems, and there appeared to be empty tables everywhere. Including Le Cellier & Cindy's Royal Table. So...

Anyway, here's my reviews (sorry, no pics...)

Monday, 5/19 we arrived at AK around 11:00, got Fast Passes for Safari, and wandered over to Flame Tree Barbeque. Loved it! DH & I both had Ribs (de-lish), cornbread (outstanding) and Baked beans (he liked them, me, not so much.) Plenty of food-we thought the portions were very generous. Had ice tea to drink. DD got pulled pork sandwich (liked it). BFF had some sort of salad with grilled chicken-he finished it all, so must have like it. We all had Min Maid frozen lemonade for dessert...really liked that, thanks to the Disboards for the suggestion of getting that for dessert! (It was a very hot & humid day.) Service was fast, effiicient. Lines looked bad when we first got there, but they went very quickly. We ate on the back patio (again, thanks for the suggestion!) at a table right next to a pond--very scenic & peaceful (and yes, there were birds all over, but we did not see any overly-aggressive birds, but then they didn't have to be since so many were throwing them food despite all the signs asking you not to.) Would we go back to Flame Tree Barbeque: in a flash! Good food, good service, scenic location.

Dinner- EMH at Animal Kingdom, so our Dinner Ressies were for 5:30 at the Tusker House. We enjoyed this restaurant, and like the food. So many choices on the buffet tables, we all found plenty to enjoy. Especially liked the carved beef (had rare, which we love) and the chicken (I think it was Greek.) We liked trying out the various salad offerings that we would not ordinarily encounter (couscous, ghanoush (sp?), etc.) Tried some very hot/spicy dishes. Suggest you take small servings of new dishes...we all did, and found some new things to like, and some not (I discovered I do not like curry! But then I'm a wimp on spicy foods.) Loved the bread pudding with vanilla sauce -very rich, along with several other dessert choices. Service was very good, waitress was friendly & explained all the food stations' offerings. Foods on buffet tables were constantly replenished; cold things were cold & hot items were hot. The place was very busy, but lines moved very quickly. All in all, we liked it. Would we go back: probably, but would try other restaurants first.

Special Note-in regard to the big tip debate, and whether or not service is "off" due to the DDP: Hollywood & Vine was the only place the tip was even mentioned...our served apologized for mentioning it, but pointed out that she was supposed to tell us about the little pre-printed card in the bill folder which explained, in 5 or 6 different languages, that a 15-18% tip was considered customary, and was no longer included in the DDP. That was it. Not even mentioned at the other restaurants. No pressure to tip, no suggested amounts on the receipts, no hands-held out for tips. We had generally excellent service everywhere at both counter service & table service. We paid cash for all tips, tipping 20-25%.

Next: Tuesday, lunch at French Quarter Sassagoula Factory & Food Works; dinner at Garden Grill, Epcot.

[iluvpluto27]

Great start! Looking forward to more.

[John's Mom]

Count me in! popcorn::

[phabric]

Enjoyed your review. Will be looking for more.

[Avojeo]

Cannot wait to hear more!!!

[TigerKat]

I'm in......popcorn::

[catne]

So, on Tuesday, even though we planned on eating cereal bars in the room, we just had to try the signature pastry at French Quarter. DH went over very early to the Sassagoula Floatworks (Port Orleans French Quarter counter service) to get us the beignets for breakfast (pronounced "ben-yay", by the way. Although silly DD & her BFF called them "ben-gay" all week. Didn't stop them from eating them, of course.)

What are these things? Well, best I could describe them as a 3" x 4" x 2" rectangle of puff pastry, like the kind of pastry hot pockets are made of. Except these are plain with no filling, and then tossed in a deep fryer. They puff in the fryer, then are taken out & "sprinkled" with powdered sugar (sprinkled is a gross understatement.) Yes, they are wonderful.

And relatively inexpensive, per the DDP. For some reason, an order of 3 or an order of 6 both are considered one snack. We found the order of 6 looks like a lot, but keep in mind the things are puffed pastry, so there's a lot of air in the finished product. DH & I would have the 6 pack for breakfast; DD & her BFF also split 6 packs and found that to be about the right amount. And they are very, very messy to eat -- covered with about a pound of powdered sugar (not exaggerating!) So don't eat these things in dark clothing!

Your first bite is like this "O.K., this is alright, I guess, but what's the big deal?" Then you find yourself reaching for another, and another...they are absolutely 100% addictive. After that first order, we were hooked for the rest of the week. DD called them cocaine ben-gays. She wasn't kidding.

The beignets are available from 6 a.m. until midnight...and we saw people ordering them every time of the day & night. They do not keep well, by the way...plan on eating them the same day (we kept some over night once--end up very chewy--think leather--not good the next day.)

later...Tuesday Lunch & dinner

[MickeyNicki]

Sign me up!

[honeybee30]

DD called them cocaine ben-gays. She wasn't kidding.

That's too funny. I'm so calling them cocaine ben-gays from now on! :lmao:

[TigerKat]

We love our ben-gays down here!!:lmao:

[lisaj]

subscribing, enjoying so far.

[Jakesmom1]

I'm in, cant wait to hear more.

Only 9 days left till we see the mouse :cool1:

[catne]

O.K., before I continue, I should clarify something: DH & I had been dieting strenuously since December - I’ve lost 50 lbs, he’s lost quite a bit also.…so we decided we were going to experiment & really enjoy the DDP at Disney. To pass time while we were dieting through the winter, we deliberately researched Disney restaurants & menus (and lots of marvelous food porn on this board to keep you going through the dark deprived days of dieting!) and then we would try some things we’d never heard of…so…

Tuesday, after mainlining beignets, we went to the early EMH at MK…had a grand time using the UG plan to get in 11 rides in less than 3 hours, including taking a break & getting our favorite Dole Whips at Aloha Isle for a mid-morning snack. Before, we’d always got the Dole whip cones, but following suggestions found on these boards, we tried the floats this time: DH & I absolutely loved ‘em (the floats are pineapple soft serve with pineapple juice. We thought it was a refreshing contrast of sweet & tart.) DD & her BFF disagreed: they both decided the next time they would just get the pineapple soft serve cones. They thought the juice in the floats was too sour & the end product was just too much pineapple flavor (although DD loves pineapple.)

We left MK around 11:45 to head back to our resort for lunch & swimming.

At Sassagoula Floatworks/POFQ, following our plan to experiment, DH & I got the muffaletta sandwich, with sides of potato chips & fountain soft drinks. (The Floatworks has vanilla coke on the fountain…yum!) The muffaletta is a New Orleans specialty sandwich, originally sold by Italian immigrant street vendors, kind of the Italians’ answer to the local Louisiana Po’Boy sandwich. The Sassagoula version is served on a warm round specialty bread, huge layer of ham & cheese, drenched with a sort of Italian dressing with chunks of olive in it. Keeping in mind we don’t especially care for green olives at home, we loved these sandwiches. The flavor combo was just right. Guess it’s just the Disney pixie dust at work on the food. The chips were also yummy, although pre-packaged, they were the kind that taste like home-made, thick sliced & fried crunchy.

Since they have a bakery at Sassagoula, the desserts are not the little pre-packaged kind, which was nice because it meant there was always a greater variety to choose from. I had plain cheesecake for dessert (very rich.) DH had carrot cake (he liked it, but was just too full to finish it.) DD had the chicken club wrap with a choc milkshake for dessert; BFF had chicken Caesar salad and hand-scooped ice cream for dessert. Both liked their food, and thought the serving sizes were generous.

Service was fast, polite & efficient, lines moved very quickly. Although the place looked very busy, there seemed to be enough tables for the crowd there (some people left with their food trays to go eat at outside patio tables, or at the pool, or in their rooms.)

Would we eat here again: YES, and we’d definitely order the muffaletta sandwiches again.

[Mom2JPL]

Can't wait for more!

[TigerKat]

Tuesday, after mainlining beignets, we went to the early EMH at MK

At Sassagoula Floatworks/POFQ, following our plan to experiment, DH & I got the muffaletta sandwich



:rotfl2: We love our muffaletta's down here too!;)

[lyn9856]

Agree re the mess those Ben-yays make! DH ate his in a black Tshirt lol...we were both covered in powdered sugar! Nice though! I also loved the Muffaletta. Great report!

[catne]

TigerKat, I'm sure the Dis version of Louisiana food is not near as good as real hometown version, but we sure found it to be a tasty alternative to the same old lunch foods & snacks...

Someday, we'll get the real thing in New Orleans...it's on my list of things to do before I die!:goodvibes

[mom2fivecs]

Great job so far...keep them coming!!

[catne]

We spent the afternoon at the resort for some R & R, then headed to Epcot for dinner ressie at The Garden Grille, in the Land building. We were seated about 2 minutes after we checked in, on the upper tier (not right next to the windows overlooking the land) but we could still see the upper parts of the Land ride as the restaurant revolved. Was fun to go do the ride right after we had watched the top of it from the restaurant.

We haven’t been in the Garden Grille for about 10 years, so were pleased to find that other than minor changes on the menu, it was much the same as we remembered. DH & I both got beer (I had a Corona, don’t remember what brand he ordered…I was disappointed that mixed drinks were not available here, just wine & beer. I prefer my adult beverages to be thick, fruity & frozen…a la umbrella drinks! Oh well, I was able to suffer through the beer.)

Anyway, all 4 of us loved, loved,loved the cornbread in the bread basket- it was so sweet & moist, it could almost have been a dessert; however, the biscuits did not impress. The salad was good & fresh but just a basic tossed salad.

The main entrée part of the meal is served family-style with a big platter of food brought out to the table & each person helping themselves. DH & daughter’s BFF enjoyed all the fried catfish (the girls are not fans!) All of us loved the flank steak…it was very tender & juicy, with a really good flavor in the gravy - tasted like a wine or whiskey-based sauce…but we found the rotisserie chicken to be about grocery-store-deli quality - it was tasty & moist, but nothing special. The green beans were take-em-or-leave-em, but we just about fought over the potato casserole, it was that tasty. We asked for more cornbread, flank steak & potatoes. The dessert was absolutely scrumptious…a layered sort of flaky puff pastry with a creamy filling, and topped with strawberries & whipped cream. Very rich…we could not finish it all.

Service was very good, with plates & such cleared on a timely basis, refills on drinks as needed and waiter quickly brought out 2nds when requested. Characters (Farmer Mickey, Pluto, and Chip & Dale ) came around one at a time to our table during the course of the meal, and posed for pics with all of us (even though we were basically all adults at the table.) This is a very good restaurant for families wanting to get in a relaxing character meal…not the hubbub of the character buffets, the whole experience much more sedate, and much, much quieter. But kids will still get excellent character interaction. And parents can have a well-deserved beer, too, which is not available at most of the character meals. (We really don't drink that much, but when we're vacationing, we enjoy our beverages.)

We thought there was enough variety in the foods offered family-style to cover most people’s tastes…unless you’re a very picky eater, you’ll come away full & satisfied.

After dinner, we did some of the Epcot rides, then DH & I split a Fiesta margarita at Mexico's Margarita stand before Illuminations. Have to say, this really is a very beautiful looking drink with 4 layers of different colors/flavors, but taste-wise: we were not really thrilled with it. Don’t know if it was just the wrong combination of flavors that was off-putting to us, or what, but we wouldn’t do that again. (This drink flunked the true test for a really good frozen beverage: no brain-freeze from slurping it too fast! We did finish it, eventually, though…can’t waste perfectly good alcohol just because it doesn't taste great.)

We really intended on trying some of the bakery offerings from France & Norway that night, but we were so stuffed from The Garden Grille, we never got around to it even though we ate dinner early (5:30) and stayed for most of the late EMH at Epcot. The bakery items looked absolutely luscious…I did gaze extra longingly at them…but just couldn’t work up an appetite for more food that night, and didn’t want to mess with carrying around bags of delicate bakery goodies for the rest of the night (they should offer a food delivery service like they do with the package delivery in gift shops!)

[suzimar57]

enjoying your reviews!

[catne]

thanks for the positive feedback, all.

[catne]

We slept in Wednesday because early EMH was at the Animal Kingdom and we’d already done everything there on Monday. So, we had a leisurely morning at the resort. Of course, we had to start the day with a beignet fix…we obviously did not grow bored of those things (It was a true addiction. The only plus to this is that they are not available in Nebraska, so we were able to quit cold turkey once we got home. But I'm dreaming of powdered sugar...)

Headed out to Downtown Disney by late morning for some shopping. Here’s a warning for all of you chocoholics: the Ghiardelli store is very, very difficult to just walk past…I swear they just have some sort of chocolate spray they put in their air conditioner exhaust fans…you can’t get within 20 feet of the place without the divine smell of chocolate pulling you in like a Star Wars tractor-beam. You know if you breathe too deeply you’ll get high on that chocolate. So of course we had to go in and buy several extra large candy bars (well, they had a sale going…buy 4, get one free. I mean really, who can pass up a chocolate sale?) After wandering through the World of Disney & picking up some gifts for those less fortunate relatives we left at home, we went to the Lego store (how fun!) Then, we were getting hungry so we headed over to the Earl of Sandwich. As history buffs, we got a big kick out of the decor & story of the creation of sandwiches...

As per recommendations from this board, we both tried the “original 1762” which was a huge supply of very tasty roast beef, with melted cheddar cheese, on artisan bread with a really rich & creamy horseradish sauce. OOH! We will never, ever be satisfied with an Arby’s roast beef sandwich again! This is a really, really superb sandwich. (anyone seen the infamous faked-orgasm scene in "When Harry Met Sally?" I think DH & I were both making those noises while consuming these sandwiches...that good! As DD would say, Mother: AWKWARD!)

We both had chips (just regular old chips) & iced tea. DH had a giant choc chip cookie for dessert (about the size of 2 large homemade cookies) and I had the cupcake-top with frosting & about a gazillion sprinkles. He said the cookie was very good (actually ate about ½ of it while waiting for his sandwich.) I thought the sprinkle cupcake tasted like classic yellow birthday cake…it was good, and tasted very fresh. We liked these desserts, but would probably try different ones next time, cuz' they had many other choices.

The restaurant was very busy, but again, we found service to be fast & efficient and seemed to be enough tables for all. Although the trash cans were nearly overflowing, the tables were being cleaned frequently while we were there. Would we eat here again? In a heartbeat! We’d probably try some of the other sandwiches, just to see if the others are as good as the “original.”

[TigerKat]

TigerKat, I'm sure the Dis version of Louisiana food is not near as good as real hometown version, but we sure found it to be a tasty alternative to the same old lunch foods & snacks...

Someday, we'll get the real thing in New Orleans...it's on my list of things to do before I die!:goodvibes

I've heard from a few locals that the Disney stuff is pretty close to the real deal, BUT you still need to come down and visit.:goodvibes

[TigerKat]

In case you need a fix.....

http://www.cajuncreations.com/detail.aspx?ID=109

[mcrabeck]

Great Reviews- Thanks for taking the time to share them!

[suzimar57]

ah, beignets - heaven on a plate.... :cloud9:

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I'm in! popcorn::

[catne]

Our party of four split up on Wednesday night: The kids had ressies for MK’s Crystal Palace because they were going to the Pirates & Princess Party that night. They thoroughly enjoyed the Crystal Palace offerings, but did notice the noise levels (first time going as "adults") …course it’s a very popular character family restaurant, so they weren't really surprised at hubbub...was to be expected. (DD’s been there before, and loves the Pooh characters and the many, many choices on the food stations. She said it was all good...better than local buffet chains.)

BTW, if anyone's interested...they had an absolute blast at the P & P Party: if any young adults are wondering if it’s just for little kids, the answer is a resounding “NO”…there were lots of fun character meet & greets, and great set-ups for photos, like Cinderella’s coach & pumpkin patch. (And DD says the guy playing Captain Jack Sparrow does him very, very well, and is HOT! And she had great pictures to prove it.) They had lots of walk-on rides including the ever-popular & usually long-lines Mountains. Kids said there was a fabulous Pirate parade, including float shaped like huge pirate ship & lots of dancers, sword fighters, etc. Both kids said the outstanding special fireworks show was by far the best they'd ever seen. Besides dinner at Crystal Palace, they also enjoyed Mickey ice cream bars in the MK (can never have enough of them, according to DD. She & BFF swear these Mickey ice cream bars taste nothing like “regular” ice cream bars…the chocolate is more chocolatey, the ice cream creamier, etc. Pixie Dust again.)

Anyway, enough digression: back to food! DH & I headed for Disney Hollywood Studios in late afternoon. We had Fantasmic dinner package ressies at Hollywood & Vine. Last year, we did not get to see Fantasmic because we only had one night at DHS, and the lines for Fantasmic were huge more than 2 hours before the show…we just didn’t have that kind of time to wait for it. So this year, I made sure we had the Dinner package, which guarantees you a seat with only ½ hour wait before the show.

I was a little concerned about Hollywood & Vine, since I seem to have read a lot of very negative reviews about it after getting the ADR. However, we did not experience any of the issues people talked about. We both really enjoyed the food at Hollywood & Vine. On the salad station, we especially liked the tomato & mozzarella salad, and the mixed greens salad. On the entrees, we liked the rare prime rib, the roasted pork loin with caramelized onions, & the herbed salmon. The garlic potatoes were very tasty, and there was some good rice pilaf dish also. This was the 2nd buffet at Disney that had the prime rib carving station…we found the beef to be much better than your average buffet. They actually had rare, medium & well done available…so often, it’s all overcooked so much it’s like dried out leftover pot roast. This prime rib was GOOD.

On the dessert station, we really liked the key lime tarts, the apple crisp cobbler with vanilla sauce was very well done, & the mascarpone snicker cheesecake was light & tasty. We liked that many of the dessert offerings on the Disney buffets are bite-size, so you can try several different items without feeling wasteful if you don’t care for the flavors.

While the place was busy, and loud, it was not any louder than any other Disney buffets and actual quieter than the character places. Being a buffet, it naturally attracts families, so of course it's not a candle-light & wine kind of couples place. But we knew that when we booked it, so were not disappointed. Despite reviews to the contrary, while we were there, we found the hot foods were hot, cold food were kept cold, and everything was refilled quickly. Spills were cleaned up as they happened. We did not feel like we were being rushed through our meal at all. In fact, that's one of the things we really like about the Dis buffets--you can eat as slow, or as fast, as you like. If you're in a hurry to get on to something else, you can hurry through. If you want a more leisurely experience, you can do it that way.

The only complaint I had about Hollywood & Vine was that our server appeared to be new, and didn’t have a system figured out for keeping her tables cleared, beverages refilled, etc. Service was not horrible, but she was definitely struggling to keep up. She was very nice, though, and did apologize for the delays. Would we return: yes, we probably will, but would put Hollywood & Vine further down the list to return to after we go to some other restaurants we haven’t tried yet. The food was good, but not outstanding.

We wandered the Studios after dinner, did the Great Movie Ride, Star Tours & Muppet 3-D, then went to Fantasmic…was great fun. No snacks that night…we were just too full from Hollywood & Vine.

[catne]

So, we again slept in since today was MK early EMH, which we did very well on Tuesday. Had the obligatory beignets, and wandered the resort, exploring some. We again ate lunch at Sassagoula Floatworks…a replay again with the muffaletta. I had choc. Fudge cake…very yummy. Was more like eating fudge brownie, that moist. DH had a chocolate milkshake this time, as did daughter’s BFF (he had mint-chip, said it was outstanding.) The sandwiches were just as good as before.

We headed for Epcot in the afternoon, getting in several attractions before our dinner ressies at Canada’s Le Cellier.

OMG. Everything good you’ve heard about Le Cellier is OH! so, so true. The food goes way beyond outstanding. We are from Nebraska…we are used to very, very good beef…we grew up on fabulous steaks. We can get wonderful steaks at the local grocery store. So we know our beef. The filet at Le Cellier far exceeded any we’ve had anywhere, including top-flight restaurants in major cities (you know, the $50 per entrée places, where the salt & pepper are considered al a carte items!) But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

We started with drinks…DH had one of those Canadian beers (he liked it) and I had the blue glowtini…this is a very tasty drink made from citrus vodka, peach schnapps, blue curacao, sweet and sour, and pineapple juice with a sugared rim…it really is blue, and very fun with the glowing cube. With those ingredients, it may sound like it might be too sweet, but it’s just pleasantly sweet. (Thank heaven DD figured out how to turn off the glow cube after a while, though, cuz the little kid at the next table was very upset he couldn’t have one!)

Although appetizers are no longer included with regular DDP, we had heard so much good about the Canadian cheese soup, we ordered one bowl of it, to be served with those wonderful pretzel bread-sticks. The 4 of us shared the soup, basically using it as dip for the bread. Yes, Virginia, the soup is superb. And so is the pretzel bread. And the combo is outstanding…we could ALMOST have made a meal out of that. But then came the mushroom filet…DH, me and daughter’s BFF all had it. Cannot say how good these filets were. Just melt in your mouth tender, and the flavor! We wanted to lick the plates when it was all gone. That good. If there is beef in heaven, it will taste like Le Cellier’s mushroom filet. DD had the seared King salmon…she really liked it too, but did not like the sauce on the pasta it was served on (said too lemony in the pasta?)

Then came the desserts…and once again, wow! DH got the chocolate mousse/moose (darling to look at and very, very chocolatey.) I got the maple crème brulee, DD chose the crème brulee also, & BFF got the cheesecake. We all passed around the desserts so everyone had tastes. I absolutely adore chocolate, but the choc mousse was almost too rich for me (DH could not finish it, even with sharing bites around the table.) We all loved the maple crème brulee…was done to perfection with the maple caramelized on top. Ooh, yummy! The cheesecake was delish, but we think the maple crème brulee & the chocolate moose were better choices (although all three desserts were very, very good.)

The food exceeded our expectations-which were high-it was just fabulous. The service was excellent (even though our waitress was introduced as being “in training”.) The ambiance is lovely, dark & cozy, and we did not think the tables were near as crowded together as reports would have you believe.

Would we go to Le Cellier again…immediately! The reports of how good it is have not been exaggerated at all.

After dinner, we wandered through the World showcase, thoroughly enjoying some of the live shows (Off Kilter celtic rock at Canada, MoRockin at Morocco, and Gary Puckett at the American showcase…he was one of the Flower Power musicians brought in special for the Epcot Flower show.)

Once again, we were way too full to try the bakeries! We did try some frozen fruity adult beverages at the outside drink stand at Morocco…winners this time! Sorry, I can’t remember the exact name of the drink, but we had something that looked like a pina colada, and the ingredients sounded right for a pina colada, but with the addition of almond flavoring…super, super tasty. THIS was a loverly frozen beverage (and yes, good enough to get major brain freeze from slurping too fast. But it was worth it.)

[catne]

Friday, up early to go to Disney Hollywood Studios early EMH. (But of course, we still had to start the day out with the breakfast of champions…BEIGNETS! By now, the breakfast bars we'd bought for in-room breakfasts were getting stale, languishing in the food bag! By this point, we'd had so many beignets, my DD suggested we should skip eating them, and just start applying them directly to our thighs, because that’s where they were going to end up anyway…I reminded her of our Disney-magic theory on calories: the pixie dust cancels out the calories doesn’t it?)

Anyway, we headed off to the Studios & had a terrifically fun morning running from attraction to attraction. Got all the majors done and/or FastPassed by about 10:30 so DH & I stopped for frozen lemonade & a stuffed pretzel (apple cinnamon…tastes kind of like apple strudel filling) at Min & Bill's Dockside while the kids used a FastPass on Tower of Terror. The apple pretzel was yummy, but the frozen lemonade was more like just a slushy lemonade: it was good, but not as good as the Minute Maid brand pre-made & really frozen kind we had at the Animal Kingdom.

We went to watch Indiana Jones stunt show, did Star Tours, and by then it was time for lunch, so we headed for Starring Rolls. Couple of real positives for this place…apparently a lot of people don’t realize there are lunch offerings here because it really was not busy at prime lunch time (we didn’t know about it for lunch until I read it on Disboards. Thank you again, forum peeps.)

The outside seating all has umbrellas, and it's kind of tucked down out away from the main foot-traffic flow so it’s shady & cooler…and you can people-watch while you eat without having people walking right by your table. This is technically a bakery, but they have a limited selection of extremely good, large fresh sandwiches. DH, BFF & I had the turkey on focaccia bread…huge, tasty sandiwiches piled high with thin-sliced meat; those specialty breads are really good & tasted bakery-fresh. We had chips & bottled water.

DD had the grilled veggie on pita, also chips as her side. She liked the sandwich for the most part but wasn’t crazy about the dressing on it—too “vinegar & oil” plain I think. She’d probably go for the turkey focaccia on a return trip. Everyone chose a different dessert (that’s what’s really nice at Starring Rolls—it is a bakery, so lots of desserts to choose from and not the prepackaged 2 choices most counter services had.) I had a super yummy choc/choc chip muffin…moist & almost too rich (but I forced myself to eat it anyway!) DH had some sort of cookie with nuts & chips, again good & fresh. DD had an apple for dessert (she’s into healthy! At least sometimes!) and her BFF had an ice cream/banana split of some sort…looked like it might have been prepackaged but he said it was very good. Would we do Starring rolls again…you bet. Very good sandwiches and a nice alternative to burgers & fries.

Returned to the hotel for afternoon R & R…

[sandym718]

Good to hear a good CS review for DHS!! I think we'll be checking out Starring Rolls!!

[catne]

Yes, we thought Starring Rolls was a great alternative to burger/fries/pizza...we also like those, but can get them any day, any where. We like getting different things when we're on vacation...adds to the "special" factor for us. As for DHS, I think in general all of the restaurants there, both counter service & table service, get slammed more than they deserve. I don't know why...we've never noticed that the food there is all that much different than any where else. I suspect it's more a matter of you hear more from the people who have a complaint, and less from the majority who had no issues?

Now, I should say that DD & her BFF thought the counter help at Starring Rolls was not-to-helpful (they had a younger gal, who I think maybe was actually in training, because she seemed to be more confused than rude to me.) DH & I had an older woman at the food service counter & at the checkout; they were both efficient & polite.

[catne]

Late Friday afternoon, we headed to the Magic Kingdom for our date with royalty…

We had ressies for Cindy’s Royal Table @ 5:30, but due to luck with bus timing, we got there early, so checked in right about 5:00. We waited about 10-15 minutes before getting called back to the waiting room where they do the meet & greet photos with Cinderella. This was really, really fun (even if you don’t have little ones with you, it is sooo fun to watch their reactions.)

There was an extremely tired, whiny, fussy little princess waiting outside. It was so obvious this preschooler needed a major nap. But she was ready for the royal table: had on the $100+ version of princess outfit complete with jewelry, ultra fancy shoes, & tiara— and she had obviously had the deluxe BBB treatment. However, she was not happy royalty at all – she came very close to throwing a major screaming/thrashing tantrum in the outer waiting room, and was just barely under control when their family was called back to the photo room. It was amazing the change that came over her when she saw Cinderella - seriously, it was Disney magic at its best. The whining stopped and she just gazed, absolutely enthralled with the "real" Cinderella.

The cast member playing Cinderella was really, really into her part, and what a sweety she was, playing along with young & old. I don’t know how these kids can keep this up for hours on end, but all the ones we interacted with were amazingly good at the small patter & always in-character chit chat. I realize they have a set bunch of lines they repeat, but it never came out sounding like “lines”…they all seemed to really enjoy what they were doing, and very smooth at keeping the lines moving without seeming to shove people on their way. Cindy greeted DD & her BFF first, because they were a few steps ahead of us, saying how nice it was to have one of her fellow princesses eating at her royal table, which cracked my daughter up (she's 19)and then Cindy asked if BFF was DD’s prince or was he just an escort for the evening? (DD & BFF were about the same age as Cindy-and DD’s BFF is a very, very good looking guy…Cindy was flirting big time! Graciously, of course.) Cindy then gave him an especially dazzling smile when she heard he was just a very good friend!

Then she turns to us and made a big fuss about how she hadn’t realized the Queen & King had accompanied the princess, and oh, pardon her for not acknowledging our majesties sooner! It was great, she actually did a little curtsy to DH & I, welcoming us to her home, and hoping we enjoy our meal. She posed with us for a group picture, wished us a good time and then we were sent on up the steps to the dining hall.

What a treat…I realize that people complain loudly & often about the cost of the castle meals, & that the quality of food doesn’t match up to the cost, and that they felt rushed through the castle experience, etc. especially considering what they paid. But honestly, we figured a goodly portion of the price is simply going for the can't-be-copied location & the guaranteed meet & greet/photo with Cinderella.

The décor in the castle is really, really well done. We’ve been to Biltmore House in North Carolina – you’ve probably seen this place on ads for Lowe’s Home Improvement…it’s the gigantic castle-like house with over 150 rooms (which was built as an over-the-top reproduction of European chateau/castle. Vanderbilt spent millions & millions in the 1890’s to build that place and it’s decorated with many items he bought from European castles. Anyway, we had a fairly good idea of what a castle with no expense spared would like.) Cindy’s Castle had many of the same touches…may not be original or “authentic” but all in all, very nicely done reproductions, and amazing attention to detail. The windows are beautiful, the wall hangings & such are wonderfully well done. We lucked out with a window table, too. There’s really not very many of them and they’re all tables for 2 or tables for 4, so if you have a larger group you will not get a window table. Our view was overlooking Fantasyland…we could see the Carousel (which had just re-opened that day…so it looked beautiful, all freshly painted.) The windows are fairly small, though, so the view is somewhat limited. And the decor throughout is good enough that even if you don't get a window seat, it's still a very nice place to eat!

As for the food, while it is not Haute Cuisine, it certainly is not bad. We enjoyed it. And we never felt rushed at all, although the kids actually did want it to go faster, because they had a concert to go to over at the House of Blues…

Anyway, all the cast members in the dining room stay in character for serving a “royal” table…calling us all My Lord, My Lady, and “what would the princess prefer to drink” etc. The waiters are dressed in knee-breeches & waistcoat outfits like footmen. Our waiter explained how the meal works, with the courses, and even apologized that the Castle was unfortunately located in a “very dry” kingdom so no beer or wine available.

For starters, three of us had the BLT salad, which was a very good salad…an amazing amount of real chopped bacon on this, not just a few baco-bits. BFF had the corn & crab soup, which he really liked…said there were some very nice big chunks of crab in it. For entrées, DH & I had the prime rib, rare. It actually was served rare (which we really like) and was tasty, tender & well seasoned. It was better than the buffet prime rib (which we thought was good, too as you may recall.) BFF had the salmon, which he said was not the best he’d had, but good enough, and he ate every last bit. DD had the tortellini. She said it was “o.k., way better than college food”… but she loves tortellini and did eat most of it.

When it came time for dessert, our waiter warned us that a lot of the castle servants thought the poached pear was not done properly -undercooked- so if we like poached pear we would probably not like this one. BFF & I got the Chocolate Buckle…hard to describe…maybe compare it to a cobbler type dessert except it was all chocolate? Moist, drenched in a very rich chocolate sauce. Luscious bit of chocolate heaven. DD & DH both got the raspberry sorbet, which they really, really liked (Although everyone traded bites on the desserts, I don’t care for raspberry except in frozen adult beverages! But the other 3 liked it very much.)

About ½ way through the desserts, the Castle dinner entertainment started, first with Cinderella’s mouse-maids, Susie & Perla, circulating through the place, stopping for hugs & pics at the tables. Then, the Fairy Godmother came out & did her act…sings a song, asks about birthday & other celebrations, acknowledging everyone in the crowd celebrating, and leads everyone in a Happy-Celebration-to-you-song…was fun, and pretty low-key. Although she flits around during her act & singing, she does not actually stop at tables to pose for pictures…when her singing is done, she hurries off. So if you want pictures, be sure to take them while she's performing because she disappears very quickly at the end of the show. The entire show/character appearance lasts maybe 15 minutes tops. Again, it was entertaining, and great fun to watch the little kids’ reactions to the characters. All in all, good-enough food and an enjoyable time in a spectacular location.

Would highly recommend CRT to anyone with kids that wants to be sure to get a good meet & greet with Cinderella, without standing in long lines outside in the heat waiting for it. My understanding is that the breakfast & lunch are much more crowded & noisy because instead of Fairy Godmother show, there are several princesses visiting in the dining room. We deliberately chose the dinner to cut down on that hubbub, and get better value for the meal $$, but if you’re wanting to see more princesses, you will need to do breakfast or lunch instead. The professional photo comes with the price of the meal (one per table) and is delivered to your table during the meal…a nice keepsake folder with an 8 x 10 of the castle & and 8 x 10 of your group with Cindy. There was also several 4 x 6 copies in there too.

Would we go back…yes. Probably not every time we go to WDW because it is not cheap, and it’s a very time-consuming table service meal (we checked in at 5:00, were walking out at about 6:45, and we actually hurried a bit cuz the kids wanted to get going to their concert at DTD. Had we not deliberately hurried, we probably would have spent at least 15 more minutes there, just enjoying the experience.The time was not bad for a night-out style dinner, but we wouldn’t like to spend too many 2-hour chunks of time eating during Disney-park-time!)

[noahdove]

Oh, how I enjoyed my stay in New Orleans a few years ago, I may have to visit the French Quarter Floatworks:) Love this review, I can't wait to read more:)

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

So, on Tuesday, even though we planned on eating cereal bars in the room, we just had to try the signature pastry at French Quarter. DH went over very early to the Sassagoula Floatworks (Port Orleans French Quarter counter service) to get us the beignets for breakfast (pronounced "ben-yay", by the way. Although silly DD & her BFF called them "ben-gay" all week. Didn't stop them from eating them, of course.)

What are these things? Well, best I could describe them as a 3" x 4" x 2" rectangle of puff pastry, like the kind of pastry hot pockets are made of. Except these are plain with no filling, and then tossed in a deep fryer. They puff in the fryer, then are taken out & "sprinkled" with powdered sugar (sprinkled is a gross understatement.) Yes, they are wonderful.

Your first bite is like this "O.K., this is alright, I guess, but what's the big deal?" Then you find yourself reaching for another, and another...they are absolutely 100% addictive. After that first order, we were hooked for the rest of the week. DD called them cocaine ben-gays. She wasn't kidding.


later...Tuesday Lunch & dinner

We just got back from POFQ and also discovered the beignets for the first time - sooooo good!!!!! :lovestruc

Great reviews!

[honeybee30]

Love the Biltmore reference! We go up to Asheville about once a year and Biltmore is one of our favorite places. Sooo gorgeous. I could just wander around there all day looking at the George Vanderbilt's art collection....:cloud9:

[catne]

Love the Biltmore reference! We go up to Asheville about once a year and Biltmore is one of our favorite places. Sooo gorgeous. I could just wander around there all day looking at the George Vanderbilt's art collection....:cloud9:


Yeah, we were awestruck by Biltmore...if you have to go :lmao: somewhere besides WDW, that's a wonderful place! Just can't believe those people spent so much money on building the place, and then didn't actually ever live there year round...we could all use a 150 room summer place, huh?::yes:: (NC has a beautiful countryside, besides Biltmore, too.)

[catne]

We headed to Pleasure Island for a night at the Adventurer’s Club. What a fun, fun time. Hate to say this, I did not write down the names of the drinks we had there! MY BAD! I thought I’d remember the names…but they were really good drinks…of the not-so-good-on-your-memory variety. :lmao: But they were very good! I do remember that much.

Suffice it to say the drinks were frozen, fruity, slushy, glowing & absolutely delish! The drinks menu had maybe 5 or 6 different listings…we tried 3 different ones and and loved all three. And the entertainment is such a gas at the Adventurer’s Club :laughing: …in case you don’t know, it’s set up as if it was a private club for adventurers, circa 1930’s. Décor is all library/oversized comfy chairs with hunting stuff, archaelogical stuff, old maps, old books, treasure boxes, etc. Kind of like being in an old movie! And the cast members are dressed as the various characters that would be in that kind of club, including a French maid, a dashing adventurer, a mousy professor type, a goofy boy-scout type, etc. They all tell stories & interact with the guests (it’s supposed to be a recruiting party for new members, as well as an awards night at the club.) Those cast members are just masters of improv, they start with a general story line, but work in lots of funny bits depending on what the crowd has to say. Hilarious! We were there for probably an hour & a half…face & sides hurt from laughing so hard. :dance3:

Next trip, we plan to “close” the place at least once! But we will have to do a better job of pacing the drinks, or we’ll never make it…we’re not that big on drinking, so a couple of those luscious umbrella drinks & we’re ready for night-nite! Highly recommend the Adventurer’s Club to all adults who like live comedy entertainment in a bar setting (but please leave your kids at home—they won’t get the jokes, many of which are inappropriate for children anyway. And who wants to try to explain the birds & bees on vacation, anyway. There were a couple of kids in there that night, and boy, did they look bored. And the parents looked put-off when the jokes wandered towards “questionable” adult content. But what do they expect in a BAR, for gosh sakes!:confused: )

Other than the drinks, we didn’t get anything else to eat Friday night…yes, once again, still full from royal dinner.:goodvibes

[honeybee30]

Yeah, we were awestruck by Biltmore...if you have to go :lmao: somewhere besides WDW, that's a wonderful place! Just can't believe those peopel spent so much money on building the place, and then didn't actually ever leave threre year round...we could all use a 150 room summer place, huh?::yes:: (NC has a beautiful countryside, besides Biltmore, too.)

I know. Nice little country house, huh! Actually I read a really interesting book about Biltmore house....Lady on the Hill, I want to say...:confused3 Anyway, poor George, one of the richest men in the world and he dies of appendicitis before he has a chance to really enjoy his life's work. After that the house was too expensive for the family to keep up full time. Sorry a little off topic....Back to food....Asheville has some greats eats too....Now back to Disney food....very much enjoying your reviews!

[tink1957]

:banana: I'm really enjoying your reviews. Can't wait to read more.

We stayed at POFQ last Dec & fell in looove with the ben-gays too:cool1:

Cindy's Royal Table sounds like fun, we might have to try it on our next trip if we can get in.

[catne]

:banana: I'm really enjoying your reviews. Can't wait to read more.

We stayed at POFQ last Dec & fell in looove with the ben-gays too:cool1:

Cindy's Royal Table sounds like fun, we might have to try it on our next trip if we can get in.


It really was fun in the Castle...if you're really into Magic Kingdom, you just can't skip dining in the castle once in your life! (Or more) But at least once.

[catne]

We slept in again, after our later night at the Adventurer’s Club we needed it. Had our last foray with the beignets…missing ‘em already! Then we headed back to DHS for a brief visit, mostly just to see Beauty & the Beast stage show (couldn’t fit it in on Friday.)

Boy were we disappointed…we thought we’d be getting there right in time to see the first performance Saturday a.m. only to find out there was a high school choral competition going on the stage so no B & B show until late afternoon!

So, we wandered around a bit, trying to decide whether to go try another park right then. Happened to remember that the new Toy Story Mania was supposed to open that day, so we headed back to see if it had. We really lucked out here! There were no FastPasses yet, but there was only a 20 minute wait so we hopped in line. Thought it would be too much like Buzz Lightyear at MK...NO COMPARISON, folks. Toy Story Mania is way, way, way better.

Anyway, back to food! DD & BFF went to ride TOT one last time, so DH & I decided to take a break at the tables by Catalina Eddie’s, since that’s right down the street from TOT & on the way out of the park. All the tables have umbrellas, so it’s a nice shady spot on a hot day. Well, the smell of food “overcame” us before the kids got back, and even though we intended on eating lunch elsewhere, we decided to stay & eat.

DH & I both had double cheeseburger & fries, and chocolate fudge cake, with bottled water from Rosie’s All-American. We found the burgers & fries to be good, definitely a notch up from McD’s. The choc fudge cake, while it was the little pre-packaged kind, was moist, fresh & tasty. It is not as good as the variety of desserts found at the bakery places (like Starring Rolls) but these little cakes were tasty. As we’ve noted on Disney meals, the portions on the burger & fries were large enough that we barely could finish the dessert, anyway.

Have to say: I don’t know what people are expecting when they come away so disappointed with this CS, but we found the help to be fast & efficient and the food to be good. These aren’t gourmet burgers by any means, but they are better than the usual fast food outside the WDW. We liked the fries - they were hot & fresh, and ample portions. (If you’re dying for McD’s fries, though, you can go right next door and get the real thing at the McD’s fry stand. Which we saw people do…one family of 5 near us chose to do just that….their entire lunch was 5 extra large orders of McD’s fries & large cokes…nutrition didn’t exactly match the food pyramid, but what the hay, they’re on vacation, right?)

DD & BFF returned from TOT, and they opted for Catalina Eddie’s. DD chose the pizza (I did tell her that people say Disney does a terrible job on pizza everywhere, but having just survived freshman year at college, she’s fairly certain that no one can do worse than college food.) She chose pepperoni pizza with a side salad, lemonade, and the choc fudge cake. Said the pizza was good enough, not horrid by any means. Said it was at least two steps up from dorm food, and better than a good frozen pizza (she likes frozen pizza, LOL.) She’d get it again. She also liked the choc cake, but was unable to finish it. BFF chose the Caesar chicken salad, diet coke & apple pie. He liked the chicken salad but was not impressed with the pre-packaged apple pie. Said it was more like an apple crisp, and just not that good. But he was full from the salad, anyway so no biggie.

So, we liked the food from these two CS places. Must be the prices that make people expect gourmet-counter food, cuz we just didn’t think the food was bad at all. It’s not fancy, but good enough American fare, we thought. Yes, the prices are higher than what you'd pay outside WDW, but typical for amusement-park-captive-audience-prices. We’d go back if we found ourselves at DHS for a 2nd day again.

[catne]

So, our final table service restaurant was the California Grille at the Contemporary Resort, which we were really looking forward to. We had the first sitting (at 5:30) and we did check in early…shortly after 5:00, because we’d heard that was your best bet for getting a window table. Although we weren’t the first people there, we were maybe the 4th or 5th party checking in.

Anyway, after sitting in the lounge area watching the waiters scurry around setting up tables, we were seated - at a window table- right at 5:30. It should be a very nice view from there - it’s all windows - but they have the blinds closed “until the sun goes down.” Now, they are light-filtering blinds, so you can kind of see through them but not really. What’s the point of having this fab view if you can’t really see anything? Well, about ½ way through the meal, they did put the blinds up about 6 inches. So if you kind of scrunched down in your seat, you had an unobstructed view. Still…was kind of disappointed by that whole set-up. I guess you have to go for a late seating/dusk to see anything…course then it’d be a short time before dark when the view would disappear again, so WTH?

Now, the Cali Grille is a fairly posh place…the kids had a great time doing the drop-jaw routine at some of the prices on the wine lists ($100 a glass!) But we’re just not that into wine, or spending that kind of money on a 3 oz beverage. So we skipped that expense (we really wouldn’t have paid that much for a glass of wine even if we were into wine!) I did however have one of my frozen fruity thingies…just a regular pina colada this time, and DH had a Corona.

For our main courses, 3 of us chose the Oak-fired beef filet, which was served with fresh steamed asparagus and a grits-cake that had some sort of fancy name on it. BFF chose some type of fish (want to say it was one of the Pacific islands types with a Hawaiian sounding fish name similar to mahi-mahi, but cannot remember for sure, and the online menus are not correct about the fish offered last week.) He liked it, but said it was not the best he’d ever had.

Now, I’m sure this is going to be sacrilege to some, but I have to say the beef filet was good… but just good. Not fabulous. Not outstanding. Just good. It was cooked correctly, it did have a nice little sauce on it. Frankly, I would never in a million years pay $38 for this dish had we not been on the Disney Dining Plan. Both DH & I felt it did not come close to Le Cellier’s filet (which we would pay the cash price for, any day of the week.)

The asparagus served with it was delish…actually cooked to perfection (not soft & mushy, like so many places do it) The grits-cake thing was just spicy corn grits, compressed into what resembled cornbread, but not nearly as good…not real impressed. DH liked it, but DD & I basically took one bite and said “WTH? Don’t think so.”

So, after enjoying, but also being a tad disappointed with the entrees, we ordered desserts, going for four different desserts & planning on sharing bites. After the little let-down on the steaks, we figured the $10 desserts weren’t going to be all that, either. So, I got the Honey crunch cake, DH got the Butterscotch & Bananas, DD got some sort of molten chocolate Cake with fresh Apricot Sorbet & BFF got some other sort of triple chocolate tower something or other (don’t remember the exact names on these things, & the on-line menus I find do not list the exact same desserts we saw offered last week. Don’t know how often they change the menus there, but most of what we saw on the menus was somewhat different than what’s listed on the online version.)

So, back to the food. O.K., THE DESSERTS WERE ABSOLUTELY 100% OUTSTANDING. So good, that everyone wanted to keep their own & not share! So we all grudgingly gave up tiny tastes to our tablemates, but oh, we all savored these. The only thing that did not wow everyone was the fresh apricot sorbet—taste was just way too strong (more like stewed apricots, frozen.) But the cake with it was oozing this incredible chocolate sauce, so that made up for it. The rest of the desserts were start-to-finish-lick-your-plate good. After, we went out on the decks to see the incredible view , take pictures (and watch lightening off in the distance.) A very fitting end to a week of Disney Dining Plan. They told us to hang onto our receipt, we could come back & watch MK fireworks from the deck that night, but we chose to stay in the park for the fireworks instead.

Would we go back to California Grille…probably not. On the DDP, it takes 2 table service credits, which we just did not think the main entrees warranted those prices. And though the desserts were spectacular, I wouldn’t use 2 credits to get them! And since the awesome view was mostly obscured by the blinds during the meal, the location didn’t justify the price for us either. But, it was good, and it was something we had to try once. And really, maybe if we’d done the California Grille first - before Le Cellier - we would probably have enjoyed the Grille more. Who knows…anyway, that's the last food report of my trip...after the Cali Grille, we caught the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom, to finish out our WDW vacation in the most magical place on earth…and even though it rained quite a bit that night, the rain magically stopped long enough for us to see Spectro Magic for the first time in more than 10 years...we had a great view near the end of the parade route (over across from Splash Mountain. Not near as many people as near Main Street & Castle viewing spots.) That was quite the magical way to end our trip!

But guess what? DH & I are returning to WDW in September for a birthday trip…and all our ADR’s are at different restaurants. So lots of new things to try & review! Until then, pixie dust to all!;)

[deanie]

Loved the trip report!! You have just convinced me to try Cindy's for dinner!
Hopefully we can go Dec 2009!:)

[honeybee30]

Thanks for the reviews! I look forward to more in September! Have a great time!

Bummer that CG was a dissapointment. We've always had wonderful meals there. :goodvibes

[catne]

Thanks, people. I hope to have pictures with reviews in September (forgot the camera most of the time in May, and the one time I did remember to take it out, DD obviously thought that was too silly...so I backed down! She won't be with us in September, so we can be as "embarassing" as we want:lmao:)

You know, CG wasn't really a "bad" meal, it actually was good...we just didn't think it was worth the prices/2 TS credits. If a couple of things about it were different, it would probably have made it a much better experience (such as something besides that grits-cake thing with the steak...what's wrong with some form of potato? And also if the blinds had been opened so we could enjoy that incredible view. I know they change the menu often-as I said, I found 2 different supposedly recent menues on-line, and neither was the same menu we saw in May. At least 1/2 of the items had at least part of the description different. So maybe the next time we'd go they would have the blinds open, or the latest menu change would appeal? Who knows.)

I would still suggest to other it's worth trying the place...

[disnut1149]

Loved reading your reviews!!! We're trying CRT for breakfast for the first time in August. After reading your report, I can't wait. Thanks!!

[catne]

Loved reading your reviews!!! We're trying CRT for breakfast for the first time in August. After reading your report, I can't wait. Thanks!!

Have fun...I've read that breakfast is busier & noisier, but also has princesses! Hope you do reviews, too. We may try some breakfasts on our 2009 trip (that is, if I can convince DH we need to go again in 2009!;) )

[catne]

For the frozen adult beverage lovers out there, I can clear up the name of the mystery drink...

Thanks to Robert P from NC posting on another thread, I learned the name of that wonderful version of pina coladas we had from the outside drink stand at Morocco: It's called the "sultan's colada", and the almond flavor is actually almond liqueur...no wonder it was sooo good!;)

We will be returning there in September for sure, especially since I'm told it's even hotter & more humid than late May is, so we'll need frozen relief! (We also mean to try those slushy drinks from France and I swear we will get around to trying some bakery delights too.)

Can't wait for Labor Day!:yay:

[DrDeb]

see you in France @ the bakery for chocolate croisants in SEPT!!!! ;)

[catne]

would love some, DrDeb!

:offtopic: I see you have MNSSHP listed...is it worth it for 2 adults? What's the advantages? I'm considering it...DD & her BFF just did the PPP in May (they're 19 year olds) and had an absolute blast, so now I'm thinking maybe DH & I are missing something special if we don't try the MNSSHP?

[Brena]

Great reviews! I didn't realize that if you kept your receipt that you could watch the fireworks from their deck. Hmmmm... maybe we'll go there and just get a couple of desserts one night and then catch the show!

[catne]

Great reviews! I didn't realize that if you kept your receipt that you could watch the fireworks from their deck. Hmmmm... maybe we'll go there and just get a couple of desserts one night and then catch the show!


Those desserts would be worth it...they were superb. I would say there's plenty of room on the deck for a crowd to watch (more space than tables, that's for sure) And I'm sure most people do not come back. It would be an awesome view, without the exiting park crush!

[catne]

O.K., last thing on my reviews. DH did a cost comparison of what our out of pocket costs would have been on all our snacks, lunches & dinners (using actual costs for what we ate) versus the cost we paid on DDP (tip excluded, since it varied - "cost" is just what we would have paid cash for everything we ate.)

For each of us (DH & I), cash OOP would have been $234.33, or $468.66 total for both of us. What we actually paid: $189.95 x 2 = $379.99. So DDP saved us $88.67. Not astronomical savings, but it was a savings. And we found it very convenient, and really enjoyed being able to order whatever sounded good.

DD & BFF did not keep all the receipts, so I can't reconstruct actual costs on her room DDP, but it had to be close because they ate with us for all table service except one (they had Crystal Palace the night we had Hollywood & Vine...CP is similar cost) and they also ate at all the same counter service except the day we ate at Earl of Sandwich they were at Typhoon Lagoon for lunch.

Course, there's the big debate about "but would you have gotten the same foods without the DDP"...honestly, we probably would. Ordinarily, we do not have dessert very often, either at home or in restaurants (actually very rare, except birthdays & holidays.) But when we're on vacation, we do like to splurge as part of the overall vacation experience, so I don't think we would have skipped the desserts.

I will say the DDP was just the right amount of food. We rarely nibbled at any snacks in between meals (often used one snack for breakfast beignets, then split the other snack in the park.) There's no way I'd sign up to do the deluxe dining plan-we'd be throwing away food/leaving plate fulls on that. It would just be way too much food for us.

[Minniespal]

Excellent:thumbsup2

[catne]

Excellent:thumbsup2


Thank you muchly...only 68 more days until adults-only trip with all new dining experiences!