8 days of Dlx Dining means 20 ADRs and lots of food *New 4/21 Tutto Italia

[janloz]

Hi everyone,

We just returned from 8 days of Deluxe Dining which enabled us to try so many new restaurants some good, some excellent and some not so good. We had 7 adults and 1 child in 4 different rooms which created some issues for the CMs getting our bills in a timely manner at the end of the meals.

Our family of 4 (DH, DS11, DD7 and myself) and my mom enjoyed the plan and would definitely get it again but just plan things a little differently. We would have only booked breakfasts and signature dinners or CRT for breakfast and 1TS dinner then used snack credits for mid-day snacking. We had ADRs almost every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it was just TOO much food with app, entree and dessert plus some days only had 2 1/2 hours between meals. We had 23 snack credits left on our last day which we used at POP for great snacks to take home.

My MIL/FIL did not care for the deluxe plan. It was way too much food for them and they would not get it again. Too each their own.

Here is the list of the ADRs I had arranged:

11/29 (arrival day): Le Cellier 6:20pm

11/30: Crystal Palace 8:20am
Tony's Town Tavern 1:10pm
50's Prime Time 7:05pmpm

12/1: Akerhaus 8:30am
Coral Reef 11:40am (Got Diver)
Teppan Edo 5:30 CP dinner

12/2: Boma 8:20am
Flame Tree (CS)
Narcoossees 6:50pm just DH and Me Post 113
1900's 6:05pm (my mom & DD)
Chef Mickeys' 6:20pm (DS, MIL, FIL) Post 114

12/3: Cape May Breakfast 7:50am (DS 11th bday)
Sci Fi 12:10pm
Whispering Canyons 5:30pm then Wishes Celebration cruise (Booked)

12/4: Breakfast at Pop
BBB @ 10am
Wolfgang PuckGrand Cafe 1pm (5 of us)
Brown Derby 12pm (3 of us)
Kona cafe 5:20pm before MVMCP)

12/5: Ohana Breakfast 7:50am
Tutto Italia 11:50am
California Grill 5:30pm

12/6: Breakfast at POP (departure day)

We changed some of them for CS but most these will be reviewed. Unfortunately, DH would NOT take pictures of our meals so there aren't too many food porn shots but I will see what I can add for restuarant shots.

[Mocharilla]

I'm here!

And first :)

[mindyd]

Looking Forward to your Reviews:goodvibes

[goodmorningirl]

We will be doing 8 Days on the Deluxe in Jan. It is going to be tons of food but we will prob use snack credits in Goofy's Candy Factory. Can't wait to hear your reviews.

[TigerKat]

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

[TinkAsh2001]

Cant wait to hear about them. Several of them I am thinking about for our trip! I booked Chef Mickeys today!

[janloz]

I'm here!

And first :)

Yeah!

Looking Forward to your Reviews:goodvibes :)

We will be doing 8 Days on the Deluxe in Jan. It is going to be tons of food but we will prob use snack credits in Goofy's Candy Factory. Can't wait to hear your reviews.

We used 15 of our credits at Goofy's and they were GREAT! I didn't realize it took so long for the custom ones. We did 9 (3 each) and it took almost 45 minutes. :eek: I am actually making the choc. covered pretzel rods for my brownies troop tonight. If you can get Calf. Grill, I would highly recommend it.

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

:flower3:

Cant wait to hear about them. Several of them I am thinking about for our trip! I booked Chef Mickeys today!

Chef Mickey's is one of our favorites.

[janloz]

I wanted to give you a rating system to compare restaurants so here is what I came up with:

:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 Great, book now.
:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 Good, would go again.
:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 Ok, would go back.
:thumbsup2 Fair, wouldn't book again.

:scared: Skip it.

I will rate on:

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

I also have the total cost for the meals which we would have paid if not on Deluxe dining which I will include.

[bonnielynn]

:goodvibes

[janloz]

Le Cellier Saturday, Nov. 29th

We arrived at 6pm for our 6:20pm ADR and I was told that they were running 20 minutes late :headache: which is not what the kids wanted to hear after traveling all day. I explained to the hostess that my MIL is diabetic and needed to eat as close to the ADR time as possible (especially since she hadn't eaten well during the travel day). She did check with the manager but was not able to get us in earlier but did offer to get her some orange juice and pretzel bread to level out her blood sugar. Thank you very much for going out of your way. :flower3:

I really wanted to request Patrick as a waiter since I had read so many good things about him and his service but didn't want to delay our meal any further. In hindsight, I should have. He was in the section next to ours and the difference between him and our CM Adam was very evident. Not that Adam was not good, but Patrick just seemed more friendly and enjoy what he was doing.

The restuarant was smaller then I thought it would be so now I know why the ADRs are so hard to get. It was decorated beautifully with Christmas decorations. (sorry, no pics) and we received the tables against the wall in the far left corner which was a quiter area.

Now the important stuff, the food. Since we are on the deluxe, we were entitled to app., entree and dessert with each meal.

DH: Caesar Salad, Mushroom Filet, Chocolate Moose
DS: Side of Mac & cheese, Mushroom Filet (no mushrooms & plain potatoes), Chocolate Moose, milk
Me: Caesar Salad, Mushroom Filet (no mushrooms, cheese potatoes), Maple Creme Brulee
DD: Carrot sticks, Pasta with just butter, Make your own sundae She also got the Tick Light up with her Milk

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/tinklight.jpg
Tired DD and tink light = :rotfl:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/moosechoc.jpg
The only food picture DH took. Sorry.

The basket of breads were wonderful as I had read. We quickly devoured them and asked for more. There were sour dough, pretzel and multigrain. Most of the group preferred the sourdough but I liked the pretzel.

I debated about getting the cheddar soup which my mom got and loved.:love: but wanted to get dessert so I went with the salad which was very good, not too much dressing. DS didn't like any of the choices so he asked to get the side of macaroni & cheese for app. which he got but we were charged $3.49 :confused3 and DD wanted just carrot sticks which was ok. All of the filets were cooked perfectly as ordered and were so tender that you could cut them with a butter knife. I really enjoyed the cream cheese potatoes but DH did not like the risotto. DS is just starting to enjoy steak and thought his filet was "great!" Pasta with butter is not hard to get right and since DD ate it all, it must have been good. We ordered 3 chocolate moose to share with the table, which was a good thing since DS ate almost all of his by himself. The maple creme brulee was wonderful, very smooth with just a hint of maple. Several in the group ordered coffee which is the typical Disney coffee but nice way to finish meal.

The total cost for the dinner for the 4 of us was $215.36 which include OOP cost of $4.99 for Light up tink, $3.49 for mac & cheese and $29.69 for tip.

Rating:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2

Up next....Will we make it to our Crystal Palace ADR before park opening?

[goodmorningirl]

Great first review :) We actually have eaten at Cali Grill before and are going back this time :)

[janloz]

Great first review :) We actually have eaten at Cali Grill before and are going back this time :)


We had Billy as our Waiter and he was amazing. He treated everyone from DD7 to FIL like they were the most important person in the room. He is studying for his advanced semolier (sp) and was very knowledgeble about the whole wine list. He has worked at CG since they opened. I would definitely request him again.

[janloz]

Crystal Palace 11/30::tigger: pooh:
We had an 8:20am ADR at Crystal Palace which I got at 180 days out so we could enter MK prior to park opening. I told the group we had to meet by 7:45am so we could get the bus and still have time for pics on Main St. Well, we finally arrived at the MK gates at 8:15am :headache: After reading so many TR, I figured they would hold our ADR for extra 15-20 minutes so we could get some pics. Here is one or two:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/mainst3.jpg
Town Hall
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/mainst14.jpg
Empty Main St.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/castle1.jpg
THe most beautiful place in the world. :love:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/castle3.jpg

Then we finally made it to:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/crysatlpalace.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/crystalpalace.jpg
at 8:40am. I was given the buzzer and then about 5 minutes later:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cp.jpg

This is what greets you inside the door:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/poohtree2-1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/poohtree3-1.jpg
Some of my favorites!!

Too many pics so continued...

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Thanks so much for your review. I love reading about food! And you certainly did have a lot of food!

Great review of Le Cellier. We'll get there one of these days.

I'm especially looking forward to hearing about Teppan Edo, 50s Prime Time Cafe, and Tutto Italia since they are on our potential list for future trips.

I'm curious about Coral Reef too with all the mixed reviews it gets. I am thinking about making an ADR there for our upcoming trip and just getting dessert. I want to enjoy the atmosphere without wasting the money on mediocre food.

We loved Boma, Flame Tree and California Grill. We hope you did too. We need to give Kona Cafe and Wolfgang Puck Cafe another shot, I think, before we rule them out. The Sci-Fi Dine-In, we thought, was horrible. Hope you had a better experience there.

On our upcoming trip we have 1900 Park Fare booked for brunch. So I'm interested to hear about your experience. Also, I really want to know how the POP Food Court is. We're staying there and hope it's as good as the one at All-Star Sports, which we were surprisingly impressed by.

Anyway . . . . looking forward to the rest.

[janloz]

We were seated at the table in the section on the left near the bathrooms and buffet.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/happy.jpg
Don't they look happy to be in Disney?? It shows where we were seated too.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cpbuffet.jpg
Finally a pic of the food area. :rotfl2:

The hot part of the buffet is on the outside walls and the cold section in the middle of the area. At the beginning is the kids sections which had wonderful puffed french toast which tasted like apple fritters (like you get at the fairs) :love: plus eggs, mickey waffles and hot cereal. Then on to the adult section, they had bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, fritatas (YUM!), pancakes, french toast, and I think they would make any type of eggs you like in the section where the 2 hot buffet areas met. In the cold section, they had 4-5 types of Kelloggs cereals, fresh and cut fruits, yogurts, pastries, bagels, bread etc. As you can imagine, something for everyone. The waiter brought us the coffee, orange juice, teas, milk, etc. Everyone liked all of the foods except the kids really didn't like the second helping of eggs. They said it tasted funny and when I tried them, they did. I think they were sitting too long in the back or something. :confused3

Then it was time for the character parade and photo ops with our friends.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/eyore.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/eyore2.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/piglet2-1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/piglet-1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pooh-1.jpg

We didn't wait for Tigger since they had seen him the night before in UK and it would be another 10 minutes until he got to our table. Plus everyone wanted to start riding some rides.

I had asked for the checks prior to the character visits knowing that it would take a while so now we were ready to start.

On last picture on the way out:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/leavingCP.jpg

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

Total cost was $85.41 for 3 adult/1child and was 4TS credits. OOP was $13.03 for tip.

This was our first time to CP and would definitely try it again especially for perk of early arrival in the park and the food was good too.

UP next......Will we enjoy Tony's Town Tavern or will the bad reports be right?

[janloz]

Thanks so much for your review. I love reading about food! And you certainly did have a lot of food!

Great review of Le Cellier. We'll get there one of these days.

I'm especially looking forward to hearing about Teppan Edo, 50s Prime Time Cafe, and Tutto Italia since they are on our potential list for future trips.

I'm curious about Coral Reef too with all the mixed reviews it gets. I am thinking about making an ADR there for our upcoming trip and just getting dessert. I want to enjoy the atmosphere without wasting the money on mediocre food.

We loved Boma, Flame Tree and California Grill. We hope you did too. We need to give Kona Cafe and Wolfgang Puck Cafe another shot, I think, before we rule them out. The Sci-Fi Dine-In, we thought, was horrible. Hope you had a better experience there.

On our upcoming trip we have 1900 Park Fare booked for brunch. So I'm interested to hear about your experience. Also, I really want to know how the POP Food Court is. We're staying there and hope it's as good as the one at All-Star Sports, which we were surprisingly impressed by.

Anyway . . . . looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for the comments. 50's PT will hopefully be up this weekend. Coral Reef is coming up soon too. I would recommend Teppan Edo & Tutto Italia, they were both great. Coral Reef was good but would recommend lunch like we did and just get salad so you can enjoy atmosphere without prices.

Boma, Calf. Grill were outstanding and our favorites. spoiler: We actually didn't make it to Flame Tree (favorite from last trip), Sci Fi due to conflict with scheduled time for Lights, Camera, Action show, Kona Cafe (Big mistake to skip and try to eat in MK during MVMCP) or WGPC due to DH being sick. I will review the CS we eat at instead (most of which fall into the not so good reviews).

The POP food court was very good last time and this time we ate there for both breakfast (3 times) and lunch once. More on that later.

Lastly, I run a fridge and coffeepot swap at POP (link in sign) if you want one during your stay there check the list to see if your dates are available.

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Lastly, I run a fridge and coffeepot swap at POP (link in sign) if you want one during your stay there check the list to see if your dates are available.

Thanks for letting me know but I can't see us having a need for either.

[KatMark]

Love your pictures and review of LeCellier and Crystal Palace--two of our favorites. I LOVE that puffed french toast at Crystal Palace and it is the first thing I hit when we get there! :worship:

[mcrabeck]

I am in! popcorn::

[angelmav]

Glad I found this, enjoying everything so far!

[wdw1972]

Looking forward to the rest - thank you so far!

[chocolateMinnie]

enjoyed your reviews so far, looking forward to the rest, that is a lot of food and I am very very envious!!

[janloz]

Love your pictures and review of LeCellier and Crystal Palace--two of our favorites. I LOVE that puffed french toast at Crystal Palace and it is the first thing I hit when we get there! :worship:

It was sinfully good. ;)

I am in! popcorn::

Welcome!

Glad I found this, enjoying everything so far!

Thanks!

Looking forward to the rest - thank you so far!

Welcome!

enjoyed your reviews so far, looking forward to the rest, that is a lot of food and I am very very envious!!

Thanks. I hope to have a few more up later today.

[txmomto1]

great reviews!

[janloz]

Tony's Town Square Sunday 11/30: This ADR was one that I was really concerned about since I had read many bad reviews about TTT. We checked in a little early for our 1:10pm ADR and since it was down pour raining it was very busy in there. We received a pager and sat down to watch Lady & the Tramp that was showing on the TV in the waiting area. There is also a very nice gift shop in the same building and in the back is a Photopass studio. I believe the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique girls can come there and have photos taken. When we were there, Santa was in back and there was no line so DD had her picture taken with him. :santa:

We were finally buzzed to go in and were seated in the main dining room in the far back corner on the right. It was quiter there but we could still see the Lady & Tramp statue in the middle of the room. Our CM was Rhonda and she was very nice and gave us good service. She got our drinks quickly and brought out nice warm bread which was quickly gone. Here is what we ordered:

DH: No app. (full of bread :rotfl: ), Chicken Parmigiana , Chocolate Gelato
Me: Tomato and Mozzarella Salad, Tony's Flatbread, Ice Cream Bomb
DS: No App. (same bread thing), Meatball Sub (no cheese, no onions), Ice Cream Bomb
DD: Carrots, Pasta with butter (See a pattern yet??), Ice Cream Sundae

Obviously, the bread was very good since the guys didn't get apps. The Tomato/Mozz Salad was very good, I do not like raw tomatoes but the cheese & onions in balsamic were very good. As a side note, my mom had the soup of the day which was butternut squash which she said was excellent. Our entrees were very large so the guys really didn't mind not having apps. My flatbead had Smoked Chicken, Caramelized Onions, Fontina, Spinach, and Red Pepper Sauce and was very good. Everyone at the table tried a piece and really liked it. DS loved the Meatball sub and was very happy that they actually got the special request correct. He only ate about 1/2 of it since it was so big. The chicken parm was also good, not the best that he ever had but not the worst either. He ate most of it so it hit the spot. Again, buttered pasta is hard to ruin. :rolleyes1

When ordering desserts, DD was upset since again the only choices on most kids menus are fruit cup or make your own sundaes and Rhonda brought the dessert menus with all the tempting choices for the adults so I let her order using my credit. So she ate some of the make your own most the candy and a lot of my Ice Cream Bomb which was a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream that was covered with a hard chocolate candy shell. Yummy!! DS also ordered the same and several at the table shared. DH got the chocolate gelato which he said was good.

In the end, we were pleasantly surprised with TTT, both the food and the atmosphere and would probably go back again during MK visit. The total cost would have been $100.84 but we used 4 TS credits and only paid $14.58 OOP for tip.

Rating:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

[Mocharilla]

Great reviews! But, I'm confused. Is Tony's Town Tavern the same as Tony's Town Square Restaurant? Or are they different restaurants? We've never eaten there, so I was wondering.

[29apr00]

Signing on!

I'm so glad you had a good review of Tony's.!! :thumbsup2 We are going there next year for a special anniversary dinner, Lady and the Tramp is a thing for us. ;) I'm very much looking forward to the dinner so i'm glad to read another good review!

I love CP! The atmosphere, the decor, and the food are so great!!

Yummy on Le Cellier!! Wish they would do a big refurb and make it about 2x bigger!!

Can't wait for the rest!!

[janloz]

50's Prime TimeSunday, Nov 30th: I booked it at 7pm when I knew it was late EMH at HS so we could see some stuff in the park before and after dinner. We went to see Osborne Lights which were amazing
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/osborne.jpg

and then heading over to 50's PT to check in. We were given a pager and told they were running a little late (have you noticed another pattern for our group. :headache: ) and to have a seat in the waiting area which was decorated for Christmas. I did ask for Uncle Tim as a server but we later found out that he was out for a few weeks after having surgery.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/50spt.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/50spt2.jpg

Finally after waiting about 20 minutes, we were called in and seated again at a table in the back of the restaurant. With larger party, I guess that is what happens. We had 2 TVs in our area showing all the old TV shows which the kids loved.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/50spt5.jpg

Our CM was "Aunt Sue" which is funny since my SIL's name is also Sue. She had a great personality and was very attentive and played along well. My DH was texting with SIL and Aunt Sue wanted to know what was going on and told him to put it away. So he takes a photo and sends to SIL who then takes photo of herself and textes to Aunt Sue to "Back off!" When Aunt Sue almost died laughing. Back to why you are reading my DINING report, the food. We ordered:

DH: Shrimp Cocktail, Chicken Caesar and Coffee Ice Cream
Me: Mowie Wowie with glow cube :woohoo:, Onion Rings, Meatloaf, Brownie Sundae
DS: Chicken Noodle Soup, Meatloaf, Brownie Sundae
DD: Fruit Salad, Chicken Nuggets, Sundae

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/50spt4.jpg
The green one was mine and it was YUMMY!! Mowie Wowie -- Malibu rum, melon liqueur, peach schnapps, orange and pineapple juices. The other is my mom's and it the Blue "Glow-Tini" inspired by the Year of a Million Dreams - Skyy citrus vodka, peach schnapps, blue curacao, sweet-and-sour, and pineapple juice with a sugared rim $9.75. She said it was really good too. I thought about having another after the day I had but didn't want to be stumbling out of there. It was strong.

DH wasn't very hungry so he got the shrimp cocktail which he said was good and just the chicken caesar which was large enough for dinner and also good. Again, ice cream for dessert. I got the onion rings that come with horseradish sauce, they were very greasy and I only ate a few but the sauce was a little spicy which I like. The meatloaf was good, not too dry, the string beans were nice a crisp, the potatoes ok. DS got the same thing and didnt care for the tomato sauce on top. The Brownie Sundae was good but didn't really care for all the "Stuff" on it including caramel corn. DS liked the soup but didn't finish it but he did eat most of the meatloaf and all of the sundae. DD didn't care for the fruit salad just eating out the cantaloupe, ate most of the nuggets & fires and AGAIN had the make your own sundae.

Now, since we were celebrating DS's bday during this trip they added it to all the ADRs. Some of the CMs made a point of saying "Happy Birthday" while at other places it was never mentioned. :confused3 Well, at the end of the meal, Aunt Sue called Mark over and made him help her clear the table then brought out a cupcake with a candle in it and asked the whole room (about 6-8 tables to sing Happy Birthday!) Well, he kept giving me the evil eye but I think secretly enjoyed it.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/50spt3.jpg

The manager Ric is holding the cupcake (he was pin trading with both kids) and Aunt Sue is in the background.

The total was $126.47 and we used 4 TS credits, OOP cost were $28.43 which was $9.50 for the drink plus $18.28 tip.

The ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

50's PT remains one of our favorite places to eat and we will return next time we are at HS but maybe this time for lunch to try that menu.

Up next Akerhaus Princess Breakfast for the girls and WCC for boys......

[janloz]

Great reviews! But, I'm confused. Is Tony's Town Tavern the same as Tony's Town Square Restaurant? Or are they different restaurants? We've never eaten there, so I was wondering.

Sorry, you are right, I mixed it with name of Liberty tree. I will fix it. Thanks.

[Mocharilla]

Sorry, you are right, I mixed it with name of Liberty tree. I will fix it. Thanks.

Oh! :rotfl: I was just really confused, since we've never eaten there. I'm just dumb. :rotfl2:

Love the 50's review :) We did it for lunch and really enjoyed it. We'll be back again for lunch next summer!

I'm really looking forward to Akerhaus(?) since we may switch our CMC to it if it looks good. We're just leery of the food, so I'm interested to hear what you guys thought.

[goodmorningirl]

yay! great jobs reviewing!

[onelilspark]

We do 50s PT for lunch a lot, especially since we're not overly fond of the choices for CS in HS. The menu isn't too different from that at dinner, but they have some nice lunch choices.

[janloz]

yay! great jobs reviewing!

Thanks :)

We do 50s PT for lunch a lot, especially since we're not overly fond of the choices for CS in HS. The menu isn't too different from that at dinner, but they have some nice lunch choices.

I noticed that too but 50s PT is one of our favorites so we will try lunch since for us HS is not a full day park. We tried the Commissary on this trip and it was horrible, more on that soon.

[Nohal]

Great reviews. Your pictures are fabulous! Waiting for more.

[disneyjunkie]

:surfweb: :surfweb:

[janloz]

Great reviews. Your pictures are fabulous! Waiting for more.


I have a lot more pics in my TR, the link is in my signature.

[natalielongstaff]

fab reviews, thanks :)

[Ciciwoowoo]

I'm enjoying your review! I should know better than to read food reviews late at night though. I keep raiding the Christmas Cookies!:goodvibes

[wilma-bride]

Great reviews so far - got to agree about the puffed french toast at CP, it's outstandingly good :thumbsup2

[lucky978]

Loving your reviews, too. We are going in April and there are alot of restaurants on your list that are on my list! Looking forward to reading more!!! Going to check out your trip report now... :banana:

[janloz]

fab reviews, thanks :)

Welcome! :yay:

I'm enjoying your review! I should know better than to read food reviews late at night though. I keep raiding the Christmas Cookies!:goodvibes

Thanks, I have the same problem when reading food reviews on DIS.

Great reviews so far - got to agree about the puffed french toast at CP, it's outstandingly good :thumbsup2

I found the recipe online yesterday. Here is the link: http://www.magicalmountain.net/WDWRecipesDetail.asp?RecipeID=41
I might try it this weekend. YUMMY!

[janloz]

Akerhaus Princess Storybook Breakfast12/1: I had booked it for 8:30am but at the time didn't realize that it was the first ADR of the day. :yay: We were on the bus from POP at 7:45am and arrived at Epcot around 8am. At the turnstiles, there is a sign for early breakfasts (Princess and Cape May) and tours to enter. The CM has a list of all of the ADRs prior to park opening and if you are not on the list you can't get in. So we are the first people in Epcot for the day. :cloud9: :cloud9: The plan was to take some pictures in an empty Epcot while making our way to Norway. Here are the pics on the way showing no one was in the park before us except CMs:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep2.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep3.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep4.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep6.jpg

We arrived in Norway at 8:15am

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/earlyep8.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc.jpg

As you enter Norway, Akerhaus is on the right in the pics. See how empty it is?!?! We actually arrived before they put out the podium to check in or the ropes to line up. On the left, they had the small room of gift shop open just in case you didn't have the perfect princess dress or accessories for your girl. ;) We were the first to check in and then the first ones in. :yay: This is inside the door.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc2.jpg

We actually got inside just as Belle was being escorted to the Photopass area. We were brought over to the area and DD had her photo taken and I was too slow to get one with our camera. :guilty: Then we were escorted to our table which was in the dining room on the left as we entered the restuarant (Last table under the windows.) and the hostess told us that this was a great table since the princesses would enter from the door next to us. :woohoo: The waitress arrived and took our drink order and then told us to help ourselves to the cold buffet and she would bring hot items shortly. There were various melons, strawberries, pineapple available. Pastries, bagels, salmon, cinnamon rolls. They were all very good but I wish they had more selections for the kids, simple donuts would have been nice. Once we returned to the table, the waitress brought platter with scrambled eggs (a little too salty for my liking), sausage, bacon and cheesy potatoes (wow, were they good). We didn't realize until it was about time to leave that they would bring Mickey Waffles if you asked. The photopass assistant bought over the photo package with Belle (1 8x10 and 4 4x6 prints) which was included in the price. About 8:45am, the princesses started to come out, we were the 3rd table they visited.

[janloz]

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc3.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc4.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc6.jpg

By 9:05am, all the princesses had visited and the food was done. So we asked for the check. The total was $50.05 for DD and I :scared1: but luckily we just used 2TS. Just as an aside, until this point, all of our meals we had 6+ people which meant that the tip was automatically added to the bill. So we gave the signed paperwork to the waitress and she notices that there is no cash tip but there was also no place to add one :confused3 so she mentions that tip is not included. I was glad she mentioned it since I did not want to slight her but not happy I had to use cash for it instead of being able to put it on room charge. Luckily, I had some cash on me.

By the time we left, it was insane in there. Every table was full and the line was out the door and it was only 9:15am. So I would highly recommend the 8:30am time slot. On the way out, DD didn't want to wear the costume for the rest of the day in Epcot so we stopped in the ladies room to change clothes and put the dress in a space bag which I then brought to store in one of the lockers near the entrance to Epcot so I didn't have to carry around the rest of the day. As we left, another first:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/prnc7.jpg

Notice the change of clothes.


The ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2 (we weren't there for the food, it was the princesses)
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 I only give it this rating since the photopass picture is included in price.

Update: I found our receipt, our waitress was Camilla.

I decided when planning this trip that we would not make the boys attend the princess breakfast due to DS11 aversion to CRT last time and I was EXTREMELY glad I did. There were literally 100's of little princesses running around and it was VERY loud with many of them crying.

We have now eaten breakfast at both Cinderella breakfast in Castle and here and would definitely recommend if paying OOP or have regular dining plan this breakfast since it is less costly or 1TS. If you have the deluxe dining, I would say try to get the castle. Both have the photos included but CRT is 2TS. If we get the deluxe next time, we will try to get CRT before park opening.

Also when I stopped at the photo center to rent the locker, I had them add the photo to my photopass card.

Up next, boy's breakfast at WCC....

[distherapy]

I'm loving your reviews!

Akershus was really loud when we were there too - including a child crying in the foyer like I have honestly never heard a child cry. Still makes me tense thinking about it!

[wdw1972]

I'm loving your reviews!

Akershus was really loud when we were there too - including a child crying in the foyer like I have honestly never heard a child cry. Still makes me tense thinking about it!

I'm loving the reviews, too! What's up with all the crying kids at the princess breakfast??? Perhaps people with kids who will cry at a restaurant should wait a few years until the kid is old enough to act right in public. I think dragging the little girls to these breakfasts is too much stress for them on top of all the other changes in their routine that week. The parents say the meal is for the little girl, but if they were honest they'd have to admit they're dragging her there for THEM :rolleyes1

[janloz]

I'm loving your reviews!

Akershus was really loud when we were there too - including a child crying in the foyer like I have honestly never heard a child cry. Still makes me tense thinking about it!

I'm loving the reviews, too! What's up with all the crying kids at the princess breakfast??? Perhaps people with kids who will cry at a restaurant should wait a few years until the kid is old enough to act right in public. I think dragging the little girls to these breakfasts is too much stress for them on top of all the other changes in their routine that week. The parents say the meal is for the little girl, but if they were honest they'd have to admit they're dragging her there for THEM :rolleyes1

The table across from us had a baby that was probably about a year old all dressed in full princess costume and everytime the princesses came out the whole family would take pictures of her (They had about 20 people in their group). The poor girl had no idea what was going on and was absolutely miserable.

When my mom took DD7 to 1900 Park Fare, she wore a sweater set that had the castle on it in gold glitter and cardigan with fur collar. My daughter didn't want to wear her costume again so I didn't force her and she was much happier. My mom said she was probably one of only 5 girls in the whole room not in full costume. Along the same line,while waiting for her reservation, we noticed that the Photopass was set up in front of the GF christmas tree so we got in line. There was a family in front of us with 3 kids probably DD7, DS4, DD2 all dressed up in velvet dress and short/vest it was almost 8pm so you can imagine how good natured the kids were at that point. The 2 older kids posed nicely but the DD2 wanted no part of it so the mom tried to get her to cooperate but she wouldn't. The mom kept saying "she will calm down in a minute" finally after 5 minutes the photographer politely asked her to come back later since there were others waiting in line. I couldn't believe it when she got upset and stomped away.

[princessesx2]

We had this breakfast in July and it was great. First ADR of the day...first seated ( first table right next to the door where the princesses came out)...then by 8:50 we were outside waiting for hubby and grandpa to settle the tip/bill (a pain the whole trip as 2a 1c(+ 1under3) on one card and 2a on other ..all on DXDP) Mary Poppins was right there looking a the lagoon and talking to a cm. The girls went rightup..Mary was awesome..asking about their outfits (matching princess halters Nana made) and asking about breakfast...she spent a good 15 min talking, signing and taking pictures! I was very impressed with many of the face characters (head characters too) they never rushed my girls. I was very happy.
I am loving your trip report and food report. I feel like I am living my trip again! We are planning out next and I hope to get to go the same time frame you were there but in 2 yrs.! Keep up the awesome discriptions!

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I was very impressed with many of the face characters (head characters too) they never rushed my girls. I was very happy.

We had great experiences with the face characters as well. Well, with all the characters really. But something similar happened to us with Aladdin as what happened with you and Mary. We got to him just as WS was opening up. He spent a long time chatting with us.

[tksbaskets]

Very nice dining reviews! Thank you for sharing. We actually canceled our Tony's reservations for next week because we hadn't heard good things. I'm glad your experience was positive. Waiting for more....:thumbsup2

[janloz]

We had this breakfast in July and it was great. First ADR of the day...first seated ( first table right next to the door where the princesses came out)...then by 8:50 we were outside waiting for hubby and grandpa to settle the tip/bill (a pain the whole trip as 2a 1c(+ 1under3) on one card and 2a on other ..all on DXDP) Mary Poppins was right there looking a the lagoon and talking to a cm. The girls went rightup..Mary was awesome..asking about their outfits (matching princess halters Nana made) and asking about breakfast...she spent a good 15 min talking, signing and taking pictures! I was very impressed with many of the face characters (head characters too) they never rushed my girls. I was very happy.
I am loving your trip report and food report. I feel like I am living my trip again! We are planning out next and I hope to get to go the same time frame you were there but in 2 yrs.! Keep up the awesome discriptions!

I was impressed how much time the princesses spent with her, they didn't rush but actually took the time to talk with her. We found having 4 different cards for 7 ad/1 child was a real hassle as well. At Tutto Italia, it took almost 30 minutes to get our checks. :confused3 Especially at the buffets, we would ask for our check as soon as the CM brought the drinks since we knew it would take forever.

Thanks for the comments on the reviews, I really enjoy sharing with all of you since I gained so much info from others DR before my trip. We will probably be back to Disney in 2010, I am trying to get DH to commit to dates already. :rotfl:

We had great experiences with the face characters as well. Well, with all the characters really. But something similar happened to us with Aladdin as what happened with you and Mary. We got to him just as WS was opening up. He spent a long time chatting with us.

We also had great experiences with the characters this trip, since most of the restuarants were not that busy when we got there, they spent extra time with the kids. Even the characters in the parks were great.

Very nice dining reviews! Thank you for sharing. We actually canceled our Tony's reservations for next week because we hadn't heard good things. I'm glad your experience was positive. Waiting for more....:thumbsup2

We were pleasantly surprised with Tony's. If we have a smaller group next time, I would like to try Plaza Restaurant or maybe CP for lunch. We'll see, I have to get DH to commit to next trip. ;)

[Lexxiefern]

Thank you for sharing your dining report! I have enjoyed it so far :)

Gotta agree about the french toast puffs at crystal palace, yummy!

[goodmorningirl]

Great job again with Akershus. I took my mom there and it was very loud, but we did have a fabulous time. How nice to meet Mary outside also :)

[29apr00]

Akershus is definately worth a mention as a Princess Meal. 2TS just too see Cinderella is crazy!

Yummy cheesy potatoes!! Great reviews so far!

[Poohbug]

Hi:wave: I just started reading your review today and it is great.
I absolutely adore the picture of your daughter in front of the Epcot ball. If I had any daughters, I would steal that pose to get a pic like that.

Our LeCellier days are over for a while, so I like to read reviews of others enjoying it. Our last visit was stressful with three crabby kids, so we are taking a break until they are older.

[janloz]

Thank you for sharing your dining report! I have enjoyed it so far :)

Gotta agree about the french toast puffs at crystal palace, yummy!

Welcome! :wave2: They are sinfully good.

Great job again with Akershus. I took my mom there and it was very loud, but we did have a fabulous time. How nice to meet Mary outside also :)

Hi! :wave2:

Akershus is definately worth a mention as a Princess Meal. 2TS just too see Cinderella is crazy!

Yummy cheesy potatoes!! Great reviews so far!

I only think CRT is only worth it to be inside the castle. If we were doing deluxe dining and had extra TS credits to use, I would go there with the girls again. Of course, DS wouldn't want to go again. :rotfl: My mom makes cheesy potatoes just like those, we will be having them for Christmas. So sinful.

Hi:wave: I just started reading your review today and it is great.
I absolutely adore the picture of your daughter in front of the Epcot ball. If I had any daughters, I would steal that pose to get a pic like that.

Our LeCellier days are over for a while, so I like to read reviews of others enjoying it. Our last visit was stressful with three crabby kids, so we are taking a break until they are older.

Hi and Welcome. Thanks, there are more pics in my TR of her posing that morning. princess: all the way.

Luckily, our kids are old enough (11 and almost 8) that they behaved very well in Le Cellier and Calf Grill. We will definitely return there next time.

[janloz]

Whispering Canyon Cafe in Wilderness Lodge 12/1 The boys went to WCC while the girls went to Akerhaus. They took the bus from POP to MK and the bus actually dropped them off at the stop next to the one for WL so they just waited there and took the bus to WL. The WL was all decked out in holiday decorations:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wl.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wl2.jpg

Apparently, they had to wait for a few minutes :rotfl:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/markwl.jpg

Once seated, they had Doc Willis for CM. It looks like it was pretty busy in there:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wl4.jpg

DH had the breakfast skillet which includes: Scrambled Eggs, Red Bliss Potatoes with Sauteed Onions, Bacon and Sausage, Buttermilk Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, and Waffles , coffee and OJ
Mark had French Toast and Milk.

This is Mark's review of their food since I was not there. He said that the FT was great, he really enjoyed it. The Skillet was enough for 2 people, they asked for more bacon which is Mark's favorite. There were plenty of antics and they had a great time.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wl3.jpg

He also used the jelly packets to make a pyramid. :rotfl:

They rolled out of WCC and onto the bus to Epcot.

They cost would have been $29.02 but they used 2 TS. Plus left tip for CM.

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 Mark said the service was slow.
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2

Mark said he would definitely return here for breakfast but not plan a lunch for that day since there was a lot of food.

Up next Coral Reef for lunch and a lot of surprises.......

[Couturier]

Hi Jan! I am glad to finally make it over to your review!:cool1:

We are doing the Princess Bfast and Tony's and I was wondering about choosing both of them and you made me feel a bit better about it! LOL:thumbsup2

Okay, What is next?????:surfweb:

Dana:banana:

[janloz]

Hi Jan! I am glad to finally make it over to your review!:cool1:

We are doing the Princess Bfast and Tony's and I was wondering about choosing both of them and you made me feel a bit better about it! LOL:thumbsup2

Okay, What is next?????:surfweb:

Dana:banana:


Hey, I was wondering where you were? :rotfl2:

We really enjoyed both of them, we actually liked most of the TS places, CS was mostly awful.

Up next Coral Reef and some birthday surprises.

[janloz]

Coral Reef-Lunch 12/1 I checked in at Coral Reef and made sure that surprises I had arranged with Debbi were in place and they were. I got the pager and was told it would be a few minutes (the waiting area was already full) so I went outside to meet up with the others. About 10 minutes later as pager went off, my MIL finally met up with us.

We followed the hostess down to the first level of the restuarant :yay: right across from the aquarium:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr2.jpg
and then our CM Leah passed out the personalized menus:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr4.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr3.jpg
All the adults got this one. They were a big hit but I don't think the rest of the group realized how much time I had spent working with Debbi to get these.

Here are some pics from our table:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr2.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr10.jpg
This guy was hanging out the whole time we had lunch.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr6.jpg
We had 2 tables next to each other with space between which made it feel like we weren't sitting together and hard to hear eachother.

Since most of the group wasn't that hungry due to the big breakfasts, we ordered:

Dave: Sea & Land App, Shrimp Caesar Salad, Wave Dessert
Me: Shrimp Cocktail, Shrimp Caesar Salad, Wave Dessert w/o cherries
Mark: Cheese Pizza from kids menu (didn't like adult choices), fries and wave w/o cherries
Sarah: Tink light up drink, Cheese Pizza, fries and make your own sundae

We enjoyed the apps, especially the sauce for the shrimp cocktail. The kids mostly ate the warm bread. The salads were very good but the kids didn't care for the pizza and mostly ate the fries. Yum, fries and pizza for lunch. :rotfl: I knew from reading many reviews not to get the cherries on the Wave since they are in liquor and that turned out to be the right decision.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr9.jpg
I liked the special attention they gave to Mark's bday. Simple but special.

About this time, the kids and MIL/FIL were getting ansy to leave not knowing another surprise was coming. Leah went to check and said it would be another 10 minutes or so. Debbi actually came down and said they were working on it and they would coming shortly. Then suddenly we see:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr11.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr12.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr13.jpg
Then the banner floats away:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr14.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/cr15.jpg
One more shot, sorry they are blurry.

[janloz]

The total would have been $121.20 with OOP of $22.84 for tip and Light up TInk, I left Leah an extra $15 for helping with the bday surprise. 4TS credit on Dxl dining well spent.

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2 (on dining plan, if OOP not so much.)
Birthday surprise: priceless

We have now eaten at CR twice last time for dinner and this time for lunch. I probably would take a break and experience some of the other dining places in Epcot on our next trip.

Also, I recently read that they will not be doing the personalized menus or diver signs in 2009. :sad2: I am really glad I was able to get them for Mark and everyone else.

Up next....Teppan Edo and someone in our group gets very sick :sick: Was it the food or something else??????

[TinkAsh2001]

Im glad to hear the good review on Coral Reef. Even though we wont be able to get the diver or menu's seafodd is one of FI's favs. So we are trying this out in June!:cool1:

[Kblue]

I am so glad that I ran across this thread! My Disneymoon is in June, and I still need to figure out one more place to eat. I think that your reviews will help. :goodvibes Can't wait to read more

[Couturier]

Someone gets sick???? :sick: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO :scared1: That can NOT happen in Disney!!! :eek:

Hurry with that next installment!popcorn::

BTW, I LOVE the menus and Shark's pic with the diver, that is priceless!:cheer2:

Dana

[iluvpluto27]

I'm a bit late jumping on board but I'm really enjoying your reviews.

[jblrn2b]

Loving your reviews!!!!

What beautiful kids - love the princess in her dress (I mean yours)!!! I have two boys so I live vicariously through others with girls.

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I'm glad they liked WCC. We'll be going there for lunch in a few weeks.

[OurDogCisco]

Great reviews... Thanks for sharing..

[janloz]

Im glad to hear the good review on Coral Reef. Even though we wont be able to get the diver or menu's seafodd is one of FI's favs. So we are trying this out in June!:cool1:

The food was very good, enjoy.

I am so glad that I ran across this thread! My Disneymoon is in June, and I still need to figure out one more place to eat. I think that your reviews will help. :goodvibes Can't wait to read more

Our top places were Calf. Grill and Tutto Italia if that helps. I am working to get all reviews up shortly. Stay tuned and congrat on the disneymoon. We had ours 16 years ago.

Someone gets sick???? :sick: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO :scared1: That can NOT happen in Disney!!! :eek:

Hurry with that next installment!popcorn::

BTW, I LOVE the menus and Shark's pic with the diver, that is priceless!:cheer2:

Dana

Yes, unfortunately, it did happen at Disney. :sick: I hope to have the next installment up soon.

I'm a bit late jumping on board but I'm really enjoying your reviews.

Loving your reviews!!!!

What beautiful kids - love the princess in her dress (I mean yours)!!! I have two boys so I live vicariously through others with girls.

It is fun to have one of both.

I'm glad they liked WCC. We'll be going there for lunch in a few weeks.

We loved dinner and breakfast, just a fun place.

Great reviews... Thanks for sharing..

Thanks

[margiemc]

Thanks for the reviews. We are going to Tony's and WCC for our next trip too. I was sort of concerned, but I feel much better about them now!!:thumbsup2

[Ciciwoowoo]

I just love the sign you did at the CR. What a fantastic suprise! :thumbsup2

[janloz]

Thanks for the reviews. We are going to Tony's and WCC for our next trip too. I was sort of concerned, but I feel much better about them now!!:thumbsup2

It was good food and nice to get a break from the crazy rain. I would definitely go again.

I just love the sign you did at the CR. What a fantastic suprise! :thumbsup2


Thanks, too bad they aren't doing them anymore.

More reviews tomorrow.

[SunnieRN]

Loving your reviews!! Looking forward to more!

[MiaBella05]

popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn::

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Can't wait to hear more!

[Krissalee]

I am loving your reviews so far and eagerly awaiting more!!! :goodvibes

[janloz]

Loving your reviews!! Looking forward to more!

Finally some more!!

popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn::

Can't wait to hear more!

Wait is over!!

I am loving your reviews so far and eagerly awaiting more!!! :goodvibes

Thanks, finally here you go!!

[janloz]

Teppan Edo, 12/1 We had a 5:30pm ADR with Candlelight Processional package, my mom & I arrived about 5:15pm and checked in at the podium. I was told that they were running about 45 minutes behind which caused me to be concerned about making the CLP but she assured us that we would be fine. I will spare you many of the gross details but about this time I started to not feel well at all. When the rest of the group arrived about 5:35pm we went inside to wait and there were a lot of groups waiting and we were finally seated about 6pm. We were seated at a table with another couple which made the table seem very crowded since we have 7 people in our group so we had 9 total at a table for 8. :confused3 Our drink orders were taken and it seemed to take a while to get them. When she returned with the drinks, she took our orders. Now here is where I started to not feel well again since it was VERY hot in the room with 4 hibahi tables and 2 other chefs were cooking so the smells were strong. After a not so quick trip to the ladies room, I returned to the table to find our soups/salads had arrived. I tried my miso soup and found it to be very salty and could not eat it and then quickly returned to the ladies room. I soon decided that I needed to get some air so I returned to the table, grabbed my coat & bag and went outside. Here are some of the pics DH took after I left:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/te5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/te4.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/te2.jpg

I don't remember what everyone had to eat since I don't have the receipt since DH paid but DH, DS & DD said that everything was excellent and that they would definitely return again.

We paid the CP tier 3 pricing which was $53.99/adult and $14.99/child plus tip.

Once the family finished and rejoined me outside, I decided that the best course of action was to return to POP for the evening and try to rest since the next day was packed so I did. The rest of the group decided not to attend the CP since they didn't want to stay out late or wait in the line to be seated. :confused3

Up next BOMA for breakfast......

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Oh sucky! I'm sorry that you got sick. I hope that you felt better the next day after a nice rest.

[TigerKat]

I sure hope you enjoyed BOMA for breakfast as much as we did!:goodvibes

[Ciciwoowoo]

Oh yuck! Getting sick on vacation is the worst! I hope the rest of your trip went better.

[janloz]

Oh sucky! I'm sorry that you got sick. I hope that you felt better the next day after a nice rest.

I sure hope you enjoyed BOMA for breakfast as much as we did!:goodvibes

Oh yuck! Getting sick on vacation is the worst! I hope the rest of your trip went better.


Thanks for the kind words, thankfully it was just an overnight thing and I was better the next morning and really enjoyed Boma breakfast. I thought it was food poisioning from the shrimp at CR but I have read here on Dis that a lot of people got the Norwalk virus at Disney which is the same symptoms. Luckily, I didn't pass it on to any of my family. But I was sad to miss a great meal at Teppan Edo and especially the CP but gives me another reason to go back to Disney. :rotfl:

[Couturier]

Oh Man! :scared1: That is too bad you got sick, but I am soooo glad you didnt pass it to the kids! :wizard:

I love the pic with the blurr of a chef and the steam rising! YUMMY YUMMY!:dance3:

Well you will just have to try it again next time, hee hee:thumbsup2

I am REALLY suprised they seated you with additional people. I thought since you have 8 already that would be a full table. :confused3

Boma??? Hmmmm.......... I cant wait!:cheer2:

Danapirate:

[SunnieRN]

So sorry you got sick, but I'm so happy that you were better the next morning and that no one else got sick.

[mybabesuz]

Sorry you got sick. That's no fun at all :sad2:
But now you have to go back for sure...:woohoo:

[janloz]

Oh Man! :scared1: That is too bad you got sick, but I am soooo glad you didnt pass it to the kids! :wizard:

I love the pic with the blurr of a chef and the steam rising! YUMMY YUMMY!:dance3:

Well you will just have to try it again next time, hee hee:thumbsup2

I am REALLY suprised they seated you with additional people. I thought since you have 8 already that would be a full table. :confused3

Boma??? Hmmmm.......... I cant wait!:cheer2:

Danapirate:

It was good that no one else got sick and thankfully I got over it quickly. I am trying everything in the book to get back to Disney before 2010, I'll keep you update.

So sorry you got sick, but I'm so happy that you were better the next morning and that no one else got sick.

thanks. Being sick at Disney was not in the plans for sure. :rotfl:

Sorry you got sick. That's no fun at all :sad2:
But now you have to go back for sure...:woohoo:

Working on DH for another trip.....

[OurDogCisco]

[COLOR="Red"]The rest of the group decided not to attend the CP since they didn't want to stay out late or wait in the line to be seated. :confused3 ... What they didn't go??? you are kidding right. I would have killed them. What a thing to miss... I love CP...

[janloz]

What they didn't go??? you are kidding right. I would have killed them. What a thing to miss... I love CP...


Unfortunately, NO, I am not kidding. By this point, I just wanted to sit and cry since I felt terrible and no one seemed to care (yes, some self pity) and knew my mom really wanted to see the show. She did buy the CD or DVD of it but it is not the same. The next day when I told them what they missed, they all said "why didn't you tell us that was what it was, we would have gone?" :rolleyes1 :headache: I wanted to scream but this was just the way the trip was going plus I was just thankful to feel better and go to Boma.

[janloz]

Boma Breakfast 12/2 8:20am After not feeling well the night before, I woke up about 7am and was surprised that I was feeling much better. Obviously, the kids were very tired since the were out until almost 10:30pm the night before so I wasn't sure we would make the Boma ADR. Once awake, the kids decided that they really wanted to go to Boma especially after seeing the DR from MickeyNicki http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24203867&postcount=121 (I think it was the pot of maple sryup :rotfl: ) so we quickly got showered and called MIL/FIL and told them to meet us at the bus. Our plan was to take bus from POP to AK and then transfer to AKL bus. When we got on the bus, I asked the CM what the easiest way to AKL would be and she agreed with my plan. Then as we pulled away from POP, she said that we could stay on the bus since she would take us directly to AKL, some much need pixiedust: for us. We arrived about 8:15am and then had to find Boma, I knew it was downstairs but the stairs were closed so we had to find and elevator. We checked in and were told it would be a few minutes. The CM gave Mark another Bday Button and brought him a very nice card signed by the staff. We were seated at the first table next to the railing as you walk into the restaurant which was convenient to get to the buffet but since there were several large groups in the same section, it was difficult to get in/out. Our CM was Vivian and she was wonderful. She took our drink orders and sent us off to get our food.

Mark, Sarah & I are big breakfast eaters everyday. I was brought up eating a good breakfast and thankfully the kids have taken after me in that respect. Dave is not. But everyone really enjoyed the buffet since there was something for everyone. Since I wasn't too sure how food would sit with me, I tried Strawberry/Banana yogurt (not my favorite), waffle, some watermelon, strawberries, melon, and a few muffins. All were very fresh and tasty. The kids tried a little bit of everything and loved it all. They said this was their favorite breakfast of the trip. At the end of the meal, Vivian brought this out for Mark:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/akl6.jpg

The infamous Zebra Domes :cool1:, we practically licked it clean. :rotfl: (Correction, these are not Zebra Domes, just chocolate cake.)

The total for the meal $75.90 with OOP of $10.97 for tip but we used 4 TS credits. I did leave an extra $5 for Vivian's great service.

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2

Definitely one that we will return too.

When we were leaving Dave took some pics in the lobby

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/akl.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/akl2.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/akl3.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/akl4.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/akl5.jpg

Up next....do we have lunch in AK?

Happy New Year!!

[MickeyNicki]

So glad you guys loved Boma, I would love to eat there right now!!

...but those are not the zebra domes those are the little dark chocolate covered hard cakes that they gave me for my birthday too.

Zebra domes are little round cakes filled with a Kahlua mousse and covered with white chocolate...

Next time you go you can get them at Mara

[onelilspark]

I like the little hidden Mickey they made with the blueberries. Verrrrrry subtle :)

[mybabesuz]

I'm glad you made it to Boma:love: . I loved how easy it was to get eggs made to order.:thumbsup2
And there definitely is something for everyone there.

[janloz]

So glad you guys loved Boma, I would love to eat there right now!!

...but those are not the zebra domes those are the little dark chocolate covered hard cakes that they gave me for my birthday too.

Zebra domes are little round cakes filled with a Kahlua mousse and covered with white chocolate...

Next time you go you can get them at Mara

Thanks for the heads up, I told DS is was Zebra Domes and he was ok with that. We will have to go back and try them for sure.

I like the little hidden Mickey they made with the blueberries. Verrrrrry subtle :)

They were so good and fresh.

[janloz]

I'm glad you made it to Boma:love: . I loved how easy it was to get eggs made to order.:thumbsup2
And there definitely is something for everyone there.


We all loved it, I think my FIL was the only one to get made to order eggs, there really wasn't anyone that I noticed taking orders. :confused3 Next time.

[mybabesuz]

We all loved it, I think my FIL was the only one to get made to order eggs, there really wasn't anyone that I noticed taking orders. :confused3 Next time.

You just go up to the area where the scrambled eggs were, kind of in the middle,
and the Chef was there taking egg orders. I think they make omelets too.
They cook them right there in front of you.
They are supposed to do it at Cape May too but I never saw them making them there.
I guess I probably wouldn't have know at Boma either if there weren't other people getting them.

[janloz]

More DR reviews shortly, I am trying to get my TR caught up. thanks for sticking with me....:flower3:

[msce2]

I was so glad to come across this today! Made my day!

Thank you for the great reviews!

[29apr00]

Great reviews! Teppa Endo looks like a lot of fun. Sorry they stuffed you all at a little table and that you weren't feeling well!!

Thanks for the WCC review too! We are doing that next time. The Skillet is just too good a value to pass up! :thumbsup2

[janloz]

I was so glad to come across this today! Made my day!

Thank you for the great reviews!

Thanks.

Great reviews! Teppa Endo looks like a lot of fun. Sorry they stuffed you all at a little table and that you weren't feeling well!!

Thanks for the WCC review too! We are doing that next time. The Skillet is just too good a value to pass up! :thumbsup2


I'm sure the put us with the other group since they seemed overbooked that night. :confused3

I will also be reviewing WCC for dinner shortly too. It is one of our favorites.

[janloz]

Ok, finally back to Dining Reviews.

We decided to skip Flame Tree since no one but me was into it so we made our way back to the bus stop and waiting for the bus to POP. This was probably the longest wait that we had of the trip. And then we finally made it to POP and went to the food court for lunch.

It wasn't that busy since it was about 2:30pm so we did the crazy walk around trying to figure out what everyone wanted. Sarah decided that she wanted pasta with butter (surprised ) which came with carrots and a cookie. Mark wanted the Double cheeseburger with fries and Dave got the same thing. Once I got Sarah her pasta, Dave was heading to the check out so I sent her with him. Now, I don't know if it was because I was still not feeling great but I forgot that with the dining plan the should get dessert too. So when they got the cashier and didn't have them, Dave wouldn't let them go back and get one. So you can imagine the great mood they were in when I got to the table. I finally decided on Turkey Ciabatta and the vegetable soup. Big mistake. The soup was very good but the sandwich was horrible, I took one bite and didn't finish it. The guys both really liked the burgers and fries as did Sarah her noodles.

So, the total for lunch was $32 but we used 4 TS credits. We should have just paid OOP but we didn't.


Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 CS is not a value on Dxl dining IMO

I don't think we would eat at the food court again for lunch since the food isn't as good as the TS. We do enjoy POP for breakfast.

[janloz]

This was the evening that we split into 3 groups for dinner. Mom & Sarah went to 1900 Park Fare, Dave & I went to Narcoossees and MIL/FIL/Mark went to Chef Mickeys. We all took the bus to MK and then took monorail to Contempory and dropped them off then on to GF for our ADRs. Here are some pics of GF all dressed up for Christmas.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf2.jpg
and the Gingerbread house

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf8.jpg


1900 Park Fare Cinderella's Gala Feast My mom and Sarah had 6:05pm ADR When you exit the monorail, you are on the second floor of GF so you have to take the elevator or stairs to main floor for 1900PF. We went downstairs and checked in and was told they were running 35-45 minutes late and given a pager. We saw that they had Photopass photographer at the tree so we waited in line for Sarah to get some done. We then left for our ADR at 6:40pm and they still had not been buzzed for their ADR. :eek: Mom said they finally got in about 7pm since on the hour the do the "birthday celebration."

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf6.jpg

They were seated in the middle of the main room near the buffet and they really enjoyed the buffet. Mom loved the strawberry soup. Sarah really liked the kids buffet area and had the chicken tenders, pasta and vegetables. I had arranged for a special cake for Sarah here since I knew she would LOVES the white chocolate castle cake plus I had read that if you were celebrating bday at PF they gave you a free crown. I did confirm when I checked in that the special order cake was there since I have read that they are not always deliverd but Mom said it came with no problem. So tonight was her unbirthday night.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf7.jpg

Since Sarah already had dessert on the buffet, they boxed it for her to take back to the room. Sarah decided that night that she didn't want to wear her Cinderella dress again so she wore a pretty sweater set with the Castle in gold glitter on it. Mom said that Cinderella made several comments how pretty it was and how different she looked from the other girls. Here are the pics with the characters:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf2.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf3.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf4.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf5.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf8.jpg
Background, Mom said that Cinderella came by several times and asked if Prince Charming had been by and he hadn't so when Cindy saw this, she went over and got PC and brought him to the table.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/pf9.jpg

Total cost for mom & Sarah: $47.91 plus tip (not sure what she left) but used two TS credits. We had CM put Sarah's dining credits on her KTTK card so mom could use it. Also, I paid for the Castle Cake with my CC prior to dining which was $25.


Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 to not have to wait for characters to get autographs, priceless

They would definitely return here but did not care for the long wait to get in.

[MickeyNicki]

Love the 1900 PF review, we are taking our 2 nieces there in 13 days for our first night kick off dinner and cannot wait!

[Jenvenza]

Great reviews!!

[janloz]

Love the 1900 PF review, we are taking our 2 nieces there in 13 days for our first night kick off dinner and cannot wait!

Have a great time, are you doing Live Reports again??

Great reviews!!


thanks

[MickeyNicki]

I would love to do another LIVE report but with the 2 kids I dont know if I will have time...I am def bringing the computer so DH can stay connected with work...hmmm maybe after they all fall asleep I can post...stay tuned!

[MinnieMom]

Just read all of your reviews. They are great! Can't wait to read more.

[risingsunmom]

I am new to the Dis Forum Boards. I read the reviews but I'm not seeing the pictures. What am I doing wrong. Thanks.

[janloz]

I am new to the Dis Forum Boards. I read the reviews but I'm not seeing the pictures. What am I doing wrong. Thanks.

I am not sure, I just checked and I can see them. Try logging out and getting back in.

[momofdbsdc]

Great update! I love the picture with and without PC!

[janloz]

Great update! I love the picture with and without PC!


That is my mom's favorite too. :)

[hippsmom]

Loving your reviews! My dd and I had a "girls only" breakfast at 1900 PF to celebrate her birthday. We got the mini castle cake too (yes, for breakfast) and the chocolate mousse filling was to die for!! :cloud9: This was the best time for both of us!

[DWFan4Life]

Hi everyone,

We just returned from 8 days of Deluxe Dining which enabled us to try so many new restaurants some good, some excellent and some not so good. We had 7 adults and 1 child in 4 different rooms which created some issues for the CMs getting our bills in a timely manner at the end of the meals.

Our family of 4 (DH, DS11, DD7 and myself) and my mom enjoyed the plan and would definitely get it again but just plan things a little differently. We would have only booked breakfasts and signature dinners or CRT for breakfast and 1TS dinner then used snack credits for mid-day snacking. We had ADRs almost every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it was just TOO much food with app, entree and dessert plus some days only had 2 1/2 hours between meals. We had 23 snack credits left on our last day which we used at POP for great snacks to take home.

My MIL/FIL did not care for the deluxe plan. It was way too much food for them and they would not get it again. Too each their own.

Here is the list of the ADRs I had arranged:

11/29 (arrival day): Le Cellier 6:20pm

11/30: Crystal Palace 8:20am
Tony's Town Tavern 1:10pm
50's Prime Time 7:05pmpm

12/1: Akerhaus 8:30am
Coral Reef 11:40am (Got Diver)
Teppan Edo 5:30 CP dinner

12/2: Boma 8:20am
Flame Tree (CS)
Narcoossees 6:50pm just DH and Me
1900's 6:05pm (my mom & DD)
Chef Mickeys' 6:20pm (DS, MIL, FIL)

12/3: Cape May Breakfast 7:50am (DS 11th bday)
Sci Fi 12:10pm
Whispering Canyons 5:30pm then Wishes Celebration cruise (Booked)

12/4: Breakfast at Pop
BBB @ 10am
Wolfgang PuckGrand Cafe 1pm (5 of us)
Brown Derby 12pm (3 of us)
Kona cafe 5:20pm before MVMCP)

12/5: Ohana Breakfast 7:50am
Tutto Italia 11:50am
California Grill 5:30pm

12/6: Breakfast at POP (departure day)

We changed some of them for CS but most these will be reviewed. Unfortunately, DH would NOT take pictures of our meals so there aren't too many food porn shots but I will see what I can add for restuarant shots.


Your plan is great, maybe I'll try this in our next trip. Your pics are also great and I love it. :) I'm glad you enjoyed and had a wonderful trip. :)

[janloz]

Loving your reviews! My dd and I had a "girls only" breakfast at 1900 PF to celebrate her birthday. We got the mini castle cake too (yes, for breakfast) and the chocolate mousse filling was to die for!! :cloud9: This was the best time for both of us!

How was the breakfast? As you can see, we are breakfast people. When we ate at CRT last time it was sarah's bday and I got her the white chocolate slipper for breakfast, she ate it. It's vacation after all. :rotfl:

Your plan is great, maybe I'll try this in our next trip. Your pics are also great and I love it. :) I'm glad you enjoyed and had a wonderful trip. :)

Thanks for the compliments, more coming soon.....

[janloz]

Dave & I made our way over to Narcoossees which in at the back of the GF property on the lake. We got to the restaurant about 6:45pm for our 6:50pm ADR and asked for a table next to the window. The CM said that we would have to wait until around 7:30pm for a window since the fireworks were are 7pm. I had checked the schedule for that day and knew that there were no fireworks since it was MVMCP night and I told her that but she continued to argue about it. :confused3 So I said any table was fine and took the pager. Dave wanted to go out on the deck and get some pics of MK and hotels.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf12.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf13.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf14.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/gf15.jpg

About 5 minutes later, we get buzzed and are taken to a table next to the window. :banana: The view was amazing and we could see the castle change to the ice lights and then various colors throughout the night but there were NO fireworks while we were there. :rolleyes1 Our CM was Susan and she was very pleasant and took very good care of us. I was really looking forward to this ADR for 2 reasons, it was our "date" night and I had read many good reviews of the food. I was still not sure how my stomach would behave with rich food but tried:

Crab Cakes, Crab-Crusted Flounder - crushed fingerling potatoes, hericot vert, and Meyer lemon butter sauce and Almond Cheesecake and Dave had Crab Cakes, Surf & turf twin medallions of filet mignon, butter poached lobster tail, potato gratin, and choron sauce and no dessert.

The crab cakes were very good but also rich, I ate about 1 1/2 and Dave finished the rest. It seemed to take a very long time to receive our entrees but while waiting Dave's parents called and said that they and Mark were done eating and tired so they were not going to stop at GF to meet mom & Sarah but go directly back to POP. :headache: I tried to call mom but only got her VM and wanted to be sure she knew not to wait for them. So I was trying to decide if I should walk back to 1900 PF and let her know and then I got creative. I called Susan over and asked her if it was possible for them to contact mom at 1900PF and let her know so she got the manager to come over, I explained the situation and he said no problem, I will take care of it. :woohoo: A big thank you to both of them. When the entrees came, they were beautifully presented and delicious but nothing spectacular or what I would expect for 2TS signature dining. We both decided that we were too full for dessert but I wanted to try the Almond Cheesecake so I asked for it to go.

The atmosphere was beautiful, service was great but not overall it was any better then the other dining experiences we had done up to that point.

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

The total bill for the 2 of us was $148.34 but we used 4TS credits for it plus I left extra tip for Susan for all her help.

We would probably not return here but would try another signature dining next time. I just don't think it was worth it for the 2TS cost and especially if you are playing OOP.

[janloz]

Granny/Poppy/Mark had 6:20pm ADR at Chef Mickeys. They arrived early and had their pic taken which they bought.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/Cm1.jpg

They were seated early and said that they food was good especially the dessert buffet area (Mark's comment). I have not been able to get the pics with characters from them yet. :headache: They really enjoyed the character interaction and we will return during our next trip.

Their total for dinner was $89.97 but they used 3TS, not sure what they left for tip.

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 especially for characters

[mommykds]

Thanks for posting your reviews. :)

[janloz]

Thanks for posting your reviews. :)

Thanks for reading...:)

[janloz]

Sorry for the delay, I have been away on business for a while.....

Wednesday, 12/3 :bday: Mark

As you can see, he was not so bright eyed that morning. :rotfl2:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/day.jpg

We had a 7:50am ADR at Cape May Cafe so there was no sleeping in this morning. I didn't really want it that early but it was the only time I could get and only hae one table and since the kids did not know that Aunt Suzie was arriving today, I wanted everyone at one table. So the day starts for Mark with phone call from Aunt Suzie to wish him :bday: since he think she is still in NY at her teaching job. He politely tells her to call back later since he is tired and not awake yet and hangs up on her. :rotfl: We get dressed and head over to main building to meet G&P to get over to the Beach Club. Just as we get to the doors near the food court Aunt Suzie comes running out and wishes Mark Happy Birthday Again. (Sorry, no pic) The look on his face was priceless. He was totally shocked and speakless (or still asleep). Both mark & sarah are thrilled to see her and now the BDay celebration can begin. We go over to the area near LS where magical express drops off and get 2cabs over to BC for breakfast. Since we were tight on time, this was the best option instead of taking bus to Epcot and then either walking to BC or transferring to their bus. It was only about 5 minute ride and about $10, worth it for peace of mind.

We arrive at the Beach Club which is beautiful for the holidays and have the chocolate and gingerbread carosel in the lobby.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/day6.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/day5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/day3.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/day2.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/day4.jpg

I checked in at the podium and they were already running 20 minutes late at 7:45am :headache: so we took a look around the lobby and I went to find a CM to advise how to get the launch over to HS after breakfast. Soon the buzzer goes off and we are seated at the table next to the buffet. The CM was quick to come over and take our coffee/juice orders and then sent us off to the buffet.

Here is the lists from allears of what is on the buffet:

Fresh cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, and fresh berries, mixed fruit,
Yogurt selections, Breakfast Specials Daily, Scrambled eggs, omelets, and eggs to order, Biscuits and gravy, Asparagus, Breakfast Pizza, Biscuits, Smoked Salmon (Lox), Cream Cheese, Tomatoes, Capers, Mickey waffles,
Bacon and sausage, Seasonal potatoes, Assorted hot & cold cereals,
Bread pudding with vanilla sauce, Muffins, danish, and donuts, Bagels & breads toasted to order, Coffee and tea, juice selections.

All of the items were very fresh and everyone seemed happy with the selections. I liked the Mickey waffles, potatoes, fresh fruits, eggs and muffins. I wasn't a thrilled with the breakfast pizza but the kids loved it. Just before we went, they changed the characters so now they have Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Donald (no Chip or Dale :sad2: ) in their beach attire. We were near the beginning of the character interaction.

First came Goofy:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday2.jpg
Here is a better view of Mark's t-shirt that I made on disneyshopping:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday-1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bdayback.jpg
Then came Donald:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday7.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday8.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday9.jpg

Then finally Minnie. The CM brought over a birthday cupcake for Mark so everyone in our area sang :bday: to him including Minnie.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday6.jpg

This was a very nice breakfast and a cool way to celebrate his birthday with the characters. We would do this breakfast again and probably try the dinner buffet as well. Total cost was $84.53 with tax and tip but we used 4 TS credits.

[janloz]

Ratings:

Food: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 1/2

The dining room is very pretty and since we were in the area near the buffet, we didn't have any issues with getting refills. Our CM was very nice and made Mark feel very special on his bday. I did feel that the characters were rushing to get to the other tables but that was ok. I don't think there is anyway that we ate almost $20 worth of food but it was a good thing we filled up since lunch was awful......

[janloz]

Wednesday, Dec 3rd:

We had planned to eat to Sci Fi for lunch but they were running behind and would not guarantee that we would be done in time to see the afternoon show of Light, Motors, Action show so we decided to cancel and try ABC Commissary. BIG MISTAKE!!!!

They have a very limited menu so our choices were between salad, burgers or curry chicken or fried fish. The dessert choices were chocolate mousse or strawberry shortcake.
DH & DS got the burger with fries which they said were fair at best.
DD got the chicken nuggets which were the worst of the entire trip, they were overcooked and dry. She barely ate anything except a few fries.
I got the Asian Salad. I asked if I could get the dressing on the side but was told that they are all premade so no. This was also the worst meal I had during the trip. The dressing was so strong and overpowering, I literally only ate about 5 bites until I couldn't take it anymore. The desserts weren't much better, the mousse was ok but if it didn't come with the dining plan I certainly would not spend $3.59 on it. The strawberry shortcake tasted artificial and no one ate more then one spoonful.

Ratings:

Food: 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2 1/2
Value: :thumbsup2

Total was $44.66 but was 4 Dining credits. Not worth even 1 credit IMHO. If you are in HS and hungry, walk past ABC Commissary and find something better.

[Moeluv4u7]

:thumbsup2 Great report- I am just now signing on and can't wait to hear the rest!

We will be doing Teppan Edo's first time in April along w/ Chef Mickey & ... Narcoossee's?... not sure now- I have been looking forward to it and even came upon a dilemma tonight that had me trying to rearrange things so we could still fit it in- Now I wonder should I do as DH suggested- we can always try it in July...
Can't wait to hear the rest- The kids look great and seem so happy even when tired out- Glad you started to feel better...
Let's Eat!

[janloz]

:thumbsup2 Great report- I am just now signing on and can't wait to hear the rest!

We will be doing Teppan Edo's first time in April along w/ Chef Mickey & ... Narcoossee's?... not sure now- I have been looking forward to it and even came upon a dilemma tonight that had me trying to rearrange things so we could still fit it in- Now I wonder should I do as DH suggested- we can always try it in July...
Can't wait to hear the rest- The kids look great and seem so happy even when tired out- Glad you started to feel better...
Let's Eat!

Thanks for reading. TE and CM are both are favorites. I have read both really good and really poor reviews of Narcoossees, I was glad that we tried it since we were on the Deluxe dining, if we were paying OP then we would have been upset. We thought Calf. Grill was so much better for signature dining.

[mybabesuz]

:rolleyes1

all done????

[Nicole786]

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bday8.jpg

okay this is going to sound really weird but the person in this picture looks just like my 11th grade english teacher. I went to school in NY If this is your sister where in NY does she teach?

and to make this relevant, im loving your dining reviews!

[janloz]

:rolleyes1

all done????

I will try to finish this up despite the fact I lost my receipts. :headache:

okay this is going to sound really weird but the person in this picture looks just like my 11th grade english teacher. I went to school in NY If this is your sister where in NY does she teach?

and to make this relevant, im loving your dining reviews!


Hi Nicole,

She is actually my SIL and she does teach english at Lakeland High in NY. How strange would that be?

Thanks for the comment, I will try to finish up soon.

[angelsmith52]

Great reviews! Can't wait to hear the rest!

[janloz]

Great reviews! Can't wait to hear the rest!


Thanks, I will try to get the rest done without the receipts.

[janloz]

Thanks, I will try to get the rest done without the receipts.

Good News! I was cleaning some stuff over the weekend and found the rest of the receipts so I can finish the dining report this week. :banana:

[janloz]

Ok, now that I finally found our receipts, I will finish up.

For Mark's bday dinner, he wanted to go to WCC so we took the bus from POP to MK then bus to WL:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wld1.jpg

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http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wld12.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wld10.jpg

While we were waiting for our ADR, we took advantage of the photopass photograher in front of tree.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bp1.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/bp5.jpg

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Then it was finally time for
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/wld5.jpg

[janloz]

We were able to get a round table in the middle section of the floor in the area away from the main entrance. Our CM was KateCoyote and she was a Hoot. :cool1: We told her it was Mark's bday and she informed us that they were no longer able to embarass guests in front of the dining room but would do something special. I also let her know in private that we had a Wishes cruise at 7pm so we weren't rushing but had to move it along. She was with the program and got us our drinks and apps really quickly.

We had:

Sarah: Kid's pasta with butter (surprised aren't you :rotfl:)
Fries
Fruit Salad (not her favorite)
Cookie for dessert

Mark: Western Chips and Dip - Homemade Corn Torilla Chips with a bowl of freshly made salsa and queso dip
Roast Chicken - mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables
Strawberry Orange Smoothie

Dave: Grilled Rib Eye - with mashed potatoes and season vegetables
Western Chips too

Me: Canyon Skillet-All You Care To Enjoy

Mixed greens with apple vinaigrette dressing, fresh baked cornbread with mashed potatoes,
coleslaw, cowboy beans and seasonal vegetables.
Smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, oven-roasted chicken, and smoked brisket

We skipped desserts since we knew that we were having cake later. But Kate brought out a piece of cake with candle for Mark and the area tables sang "HB to him" .

Everyone enjoyed their meals, I thought there was way too much much food in the skillet and even though it was good would probably try something different next time. WCC remains one of our favorites but I would like to try the breakfast next time that the guys did earlier in the trip.

They did have the horse races while we were there but the kids didn't partake.

Final cost was $138.01 including tax with $19.95 tip OOP but we used 4TS and left extra $20 for Kate for her great service.

Now on to the important ratings:


Food: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 1/2

Next since we ate, Wishes Cruise....

[janloz]

So we kind of rushed to finish since I had to get to the boat launch and meet up with the Cm by 7pm. The others wanted to take some more pics in the lobby so I gave Dave the property map and explained how to get to the boat. He didn't know the surprise I had planned and was arguing that the path I showed him didn't go to the launch to MK. "Tonight it does, please just meet me there by 7:30pm." So off I ran to meet up with the boat captain and actually ended up following the CM with the cart with our cake, tea, coffee, etc to the boat. I met up with our CM Bill, settled the bill and then the rest of the gang arrived. We had a 10 person pontoon boat for the Celebration Cruise. It took a minute for everyone to realize that it was Mark's special surprise for the night. Bill loaded all the goodies onto the boat, got Sarah a life jacket and we were on our way.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc3.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc5.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc4.jpg

Bill took us around the lake with WL and Fort Wilderness. He explained a lot about the area and where they usually see alligators :scared1: As you can see from the pics, it was chilly out there and we were wrapped up in the blankets. We continued over the water bridge, past the contemporary and new DVC and then to the Poly. They are so beautiful at night.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc7.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc6.jpg

Then about 7:55pm, Bill pulls the boat up into position in front of MK on 7 Seas Lagoon and says that we better have cake now since the fireworks will be starting shortly. Everyone looks at me and says "Fireworks, we get to watch the fireworks from here!!" SCORE a big one for mom. So we dig into the cake:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc.jpg
and coffee, hot chocolate, tea and wait for the magic to start.

Everything was very good and the cake was delicious. We brought the rest back to the hotel but never had a chance to eat it the rest of the week.

The cost for the cake and hot drinks were about $80 and the cruise was $250 with Banner and balloons and audio of wishes. Alot of money but worth every penny in my opinion. :love:

Here are the pics of Wishes from the boat:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc9.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/fc8.jpg

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[janloz]

Pop Century CS Breakfast: Since today was our day to spend out of the park since we were going to MVMCP tonight, we decided to eat at POP for breakfast before heading to DTD for Sarah's BBB appt.

Pop Century Food Court: We stayed at Pop in 2006 and one of our favorite breakfast were the kids waffle package at POP. So this time we got:

Sarah and I got the Kids Mickey Waffle platter: Mickey Waffles with bacon and applesauce and OJ

Mark got: French Toast Platter $5.19 and OJ

Dave got: Adult Breakfast Platter - scrambled eggs, potatoes, biscuit, sausage, and bacon $6.29 and OJ

We all have the refillable mugs with Deluxe so drinks were included. Everything was very good and hot. The lines were slow because the food court was busy but we were still in and out in about 30 minutes. One thing to remember if you are on the Dining Plan, that you get entree and beverage at breakfast so don't forget your OJ or bottled water.

Total for breakfast: $30.10 with tax. Not a good use of TS credit but we still really enjoyed it.
ratings:


Food: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2 1/2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2 1/2 (if on deluxe)

Up next Wolfgang Puck Express

[lucky978]

Up next Wolfgang Puck Express

Can't wait to hear what you thought about WPE!!! :thumbsup2

[medicgirl911]

Just finsing your review...the Wishes cruise looked like so much fun, I can't believe you were able to keep it a suprise! I would have never been able to keep all the secret suprises you have!! :rotfl2: Can't wait to hear about WPE, I am going to have to try it on our upcoming trip, everyone has such good things to say about it!

[LPNmom]

Great Reviews Thanks!!:thumbsup2

[janloz]

Can't wait to hear what you thought about WPE!!! :thumbsup2

Coming right up!

Just finsing your review...the Wishes cruise looked like so much fun, I can't believe you were able to keep it a suprise! I would have never been able to keep all the secret suprises you have!! :rotfl2: Can't wait to hear about WPE, I am going to have to try it on our upcoming trip, everyone has such good things to say about it!

WPE coming right up! I was able to plan surprise 30th bday trip for DH to Las Vegas with 2 other couples and kept it a secret until we got to the airport and handed him the tickets. I am an events planner and love surprising my family.

Great Reviews Thanks!!:thumbsup2

thanks for reading!

[janloz]

After spending the morning in DTD and at BBB, and my mom was at her Yultide tour we met up for lunch at WPE. There were hardly anyone in the restuarant when we arrived and we were able to get nice table inside. DH and kids went to the table while I ordered. We had:

Me: Italian Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper - with spinach and garlic-basil pesto sauce fresh thyme and chili flakes, iced tea, brownie

MarK: Meatball and Parmesan - Niman Ranch meatballs, fresh basil pesto, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, tomato-basil garlic sauce and fresh basil, milk, Frozen Yogurt with one Topping

Dave: Chicken Caesar - Roasted all-natural chicken breast marinated in Wolfgang's signature seasoning, tossed with crisp romaine, dressed with Caesar, house-made croutons and Grana Padano Parmesan , soda, brownie

Sarah: Kid's Crispy Chicken Fingers with French Fries, milk, cookie

After we placed our order, we were given our drink cups and milk plus a number on a stand and told that they would bring out our food when it was ready. It took about 10 minutes for the pizzas so the kids were getting anxious but once they came all was good. We realized that we should have shared one pizza for 2 people, they are that big, probably the size of a medium pizza and all the toppings were extremely fresh. Dave said the salad was good too but since he wasn't feeling well he didn't eat much. Sarah's chicken strips was huge as well, enough for 2 kids. We actually saved one of the brownies and cookie for later since they were so big.

If you are on the regular DP, this is probably one of the best values for CS credits especially since you can share many of the items. Even on deluxe, if you share items, it would be good value.

We really enjoyed the meal and would definitely go back again. One odd thing, there are CMs servicing the tables at WPE that bring your food, get items you might need but not refilling drinks, etc. The question: To tip or not? We did.

Total cost: $69.33 but we used 4TS credits.

Food: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2 1/2
Service: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 1/2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 1/2 (if on dining)


Up next, did we make it to Kona for dinner????

[madameleota71]

Great report and pics!

[Lynn5700]

OOh I can't wait to try WGPE!

[janloz]

Great report and pics!

Thanks for reading. :flower3:

OOh I can't wait to try WGPE!

It was really better then I thought it would be for CS.

As a side note, I have read and enjoyed your TRs.

[janloz]

When we left off, the kids were going to the pool at POP and Dave was sleeping since he was suffering from a cold. While we were at the pool, MIL/FIL returned from HS where they had lunch at Brown Derby with Susie and said that it was very good but they were full and probably didn't want to go to Kona for dinner. So we agreed to grab some CS at MVMCP instead. For those thinking about doing this, DON'T!!!! We arrived at MVMCP to see the castle light and then after the lighting, the kids were saying that they were hungry so we decided to try to find something quick so we could make it to Mickey's Twas the night before Christmas Show. Well, trying to find something to eat was a challenge, I knew from Dis :love: that many of the CS and Ts places were closed during the MVMCP so we decided to try the Main St bakery but all they had were cookies, etc. so then I suggested Casey's but that didn't seem to thrill the group. Ok, how about Plaza, sorry closed. :headache: So we look at the map and see that Cosmic Ray's is near where we have to go for the show so off we go. We had never eaten here before so we weren't sure where it was or the selection and finally make it there and realize that we have to split up to get meals since some want burgers, other chicken. Also, the sandwich selection was closed since they were setting up for the free cookies/drinks for MVMCP. We finally got our food and headed to the lower level where there were hardly anyone. The food was ok but nothing special. While we were eating, the MVMCP Goofy's dance party started in area we were sitting, it was alot of fun but REALLY loud.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/mvm22.jpg

Sarah refused to go up front and dance but would at the table. By the time we left, the place was packed.

Dave and Mark got 1/4 pound Cheeseburger with fries and drink Brownie and
Triple Chocolate Cake
Sarah got Kids Chicken Nuggets and fries and milk and chocolate chip cookies
I got Grilled Chicken Sandwich served with french fries and brownie

Everyone liked their food except me, I thought the chicken was too spicy. We are not big fans of CS but this one was not that great.

Total cost:

$45.15 with tax but we used 4 TS credits.

Food: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup 2 1/2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2 Thanks to dance party
Value: :thumbsup 2 1/2 (if on dining)


The next morning we had an ADR for Ohana character breakfast but we decided that since we were up until midnight that we would let the kids sleep in so we had Pop breakfast again which was very similar to todays so I will skip to Tutto Italia . . . .

[janloz]

For breakfast this day, we ate at Pop food court again since we cancelled the ADR at Ohana breakfast so kids could sleep in after MVMCP. We will definitely plan it for next trip. We ate pretty much the same as the other day so I will skip to Tutto Italia.

This was a last minute addition to our ADRs since I had been reading so many good things about TI on Dis and decided we should try it. (thanks Dis) and we were SOOOO glad we did. We had spent most of the morning at a resort photo shoot at Poly so we took the monorail over to Epcot and made our way over to WS for our 11:30am ADR. This was a good time since our group was hungry but we would have to finish up by 1:15pm since we had 1:30pm Behind the Seeds tour booked.

Here is a photo of the menu from December, it is a little different then the one posted on other sites.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/tutto.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn49/janloz/tutto2.jpg

They said it would be a few minutes so I looked at the decorations and cooled off in the AC. The group came in and used the facilities and we were ready to go when they called us in. We were given the large round table in the main dining room and the CM quickly came over. We explained that we had the dlx dining plan and he immediately said that it would take extra time to get checks at the end of the meal so plan accordingly. Apparently, they had been having issues for weeks. :confused3 They brought over bread with olive oil which quickly disappeared. We ordered drinks and our appetizers while we decided what we wanted for entrees. My FIL and SIL got the Antipasto Misto - generous platter of appetizers and Italian specialties, serves two for their appetizer which could easily have been a meal. They raved about it. I got the Fresh Mozzarella - vine ripened tomatoes, basil and Tuscan olive oil, YUMMY, it was so fresh and good. Mom and DH got the Calamari Fritti - with spicy marinara sauce which they loved. We actually got Sarah and Mark to try it too, we didn't tell them what it was other then fish. :rotfl2: Sarah said she liked it but not the after taste. For entrees, SIl got Spaghetti with Clams, cherry tomatoes, garlic and parsley which she said was the best she has ever eaten. I got the Panzotti- pasta pillows filled with ricotta with zucchini and red sauce which was so good, like ravioli. Mark got Spaghetti - with veal meatballs and pomodoro sauce which he really liked. Sarah of course got pasta with butter. I think between everyone at the table, we tried all the desserts. :woohoo: I got the Copetta Sotto Bosco - berries, zabaglione cream gelato and chocolate sauce, WOW was it good and not too heavy. Mark, Sarah and Dave had various gelatos. I have to say that this was one of the best meals of the whole week and the service was amazing. Then it was time for the checks and the CM was not kidding, it too FOREVER (about 15 minutes) which was an issue since we were scheduled for the Behind the Seeds tour at 1:30pm and we still had to walk to the Land from the other side of the WS. Yes, it took 2 hours for lunch. Total for lunch was $205 which included $32 tip OOP :eek: but it was SOOO worth it but we used 4TS credits. :yay:

Food: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Service: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Atmosphere: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Value: :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2 1/2 (if on dining)

TI is definitely a must do for our group for furture trip but I think we will change to dinner so we can enjoy it and take our time.

Up next California Grill......

[onelilspark]

Haha...my parents fed me calamari as a kid and didn't tell me what it was. It worked, I love it now!

[janloz]

Haha...my parents fed me calamari as a kid and didn't tell me what it was. It worked, I love it now!

I still won't tell them what it is so they continue to eat it. Same with clam chowder for my son. And once every few weeks we have PC chicken (Pork Chop Chicken :rotfl2:). If I make it look like nuggets, they will eat almost anything. ;)

[PrincessTrisha]

Great reviews.

It's funny but my Dad took the oppositte trick with me and my brother - for years we had breaded pork cutlets (the thin pounded boneless pork) - my Dad used to tell us it was squid - and for some reason we ate it? :confused3 and of course, liked it.

Years later when I actually tried squid, I like it but in our family, those pork cutlets are still referred to as squid.

[sviner]

Thanks for all the information.

[LPNmom]

Was thinking about eating at Tutto Italia on my next trip, you have made up my mind!! We are going! thanks for the great review!!

[janloz]

Great reviews.

It's funny but my Dad took the oppositte trick with me and my brother - for years we had breaded pork cutlets (the thin pounded boneless pork) - my Dad used to tell us it was squid - and for some reason we ate it? :confused3 and of course, liked it.

Years later when I actually tried squid, I like it but in our family, those pork cutlets are still referred to as squid.

Too funny. Things we do to get our kids to eat healthy.

Thanks for all the information.

Thanks for reading.

Was thinking about eating at Tutto Italia on my next trip, you have made up my mind!! We are going! thanks for the great review!!

Glad I could help, enjoy TI, it was really wonderful. Just be sure to leave enough time to truly relax and ejoy the experience.

[vettegirl]

Great reviews:thumbsup2

[skellingtonfreak]

Great reviews!

[janloz]

Great reviews:thumbsup2

Great reviews!

Thanks, should be finishing up this week. :eek: