The Deluxe Dining that defeated us ...a German perspective! (FINISHED!)

[annichan]

This will be the briefest of my dining report entries, and yet it will be absolutely novel in a way: This is a short little account of the ONLY time we went and had something to eat at a counter service place!

It is not that we were too snobby for CS food, but as everyone who has followed my dining report will certainly understand, we were so busy eating all that table-service food at the places I had reservations for that there was neither time nor appetite left for counter service, usually.

Today was different, though: As this was our last full day of vacation, I had left it out of my planning to allow some room for spontaneous last-day activities. “Leaving it out of planning”, in my case, means I only booked us for breakfast and dinner but left out lunch and did not yet know where we would be spending the day – sad, I know :lmao:

We ended up not doing anything spectacularly new and astonishing that day – we were so worn out that we did not particularly feel like exploring anyplace new, so we ended up just strolling through Epcot at a leisurely pace, and at lunchtime found ourselves outside the Japan pavilion with an appetite. We therefore didn't hesitate long but found our way into Yakitori House. We paid cash at the counter as we were not game to battle with the possibilities of the counter service DDP, and took our tray to what seemed like the last empty table – lucky us!

Now, I used to work at a sushi bar for a couple of years while I was at uni, and during that time I developed my eternal love for sushi. Little wonder therefore that I decided on the little sushi bento tray, while DI had the teriyaki chicken (I think – he doesn’t remember it and I am not too sure myself, see explanation right below the picture):

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020301.jpg

Now you see, since I am such a slacker in terms of dining reports and the meal I'm writing about is now 8 months in the past (can you believe it?), I don't actually remember exactly what kinds of sushi I had, and the photo tells me nothing except for the fact that they were California rolls. (For the same reason, I cannot tell you anything about DH’s meal anymore …)

What I do remember, however, is that they were really unexpectedly good. This being a fast-food place, I would not really have expected them to be anything but dry and old-tasting, but they certainly weren’t.
Instead, they were fresh, the rice was soft and sticky, the nori leaves were nicely salty, the amount of wasabi was just right, and this was an altogether very pleasurable experience. Not on a par with the sushi bar I worked in, of course (kudos to you, Mr. Gamo-san!) – but definitely better than what you get in most takeouts in my hometown, let alone in supermarkets or malls.

(And the portion size left me so much more mobile than our usual three-course TS lunch! :thumbsup2)

Coming up next: Artist Point – a fantastic last dinner …

[klacey1]

Can't believe this is almost over :-( I have so enjoyed reading all of your reviews!

[annichan]

Can't believe this is almost over :-( I have so enjoyed reading all of your reviews!


Well, thank you! It's so nice to know that there are people out there reading and enjoying my reviews! :flower3:

I have already written the second-next entry (the final breakfast), but I haven't finished the upcoming dinner yet so I've still got to get that in order. I'll still have three instalments altogether: dinner at Artist Point, breakfast at the Whispering Canyon, and one final instalment of last thoughts and comments.

Will go back to work on the dinner entry a bit more tonight!

[annichan]

For tonight, we originally had dinner reservations at Citrico’s. However, dear DH asked me that morning would I mind terribly if we cancelled Citrico’s and tried switching over to our own “local” Artist Point instead?

It turned out that he didn’t much feel like having to drive the car to dinner again, as this meant more of a hassle than just staying in, plus he couldn’t have any wine with dinner, plus he didn’t much like the Grand Floridian (I mentioned this earlier), which also had something to do with self-parking so far away … And after all, it was the last night of our honeymoon and he just wanted to stay in.

I agreed, of course – after all, it wasn’t like he was proposing to forego dinner completely, as we would still be going to a signature restaurant which we already know to be very nice :).
I was only the slightest bit disappointed at missing Citrico’s, but comforted myself that since we had already decided to come back to WDW soon, we could still go experience Citrico’s next time.


So anyway, we arrived at the restaurant and asked for a table near the back windows overlooking the stream, but they did not have any available. Oh well, that wasn’t too bad – we were placed at a little table for two pretty much right after entering the restaurant, on the right wall next to the corridor down towards the Roaring Fork. Not a bad table at all, as it turned out – after all, it placed us in the realm of magnificent server, Brenda.

She was not only extremely nice and gave good recommendations, but she also chatted to us about Disney Cruise Line and what a wonderful cruise she had done with them. :love:

(inserting a picture borrowed off the DCL site here just to bring some colour to this rather picture-free paragraph :) :

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/overview_904px.jpg

This helped me a great deal, because I had for quite a while been in the process of trying to convince DH to take a cruise ;).

We’ve never done that before, so it was an entirely new prospect that was still taking him some getting used to.

Plus I really wanted it to be a Disney cruise, even though
(a) they are more expensive than most other cruise lines, and even though
(b) we live near a really large port here in Germany where we could easily hop onto all kinds of cruiseships to the Mediterranean or the Baltic – for a fraction of the price as we wouldn’t need the airfare to and from the States!

You see, I was not in an altogether good position here :lmao:.

Anyway, with my constant daydreaming about a DCL cruise and mentioning it to DH (in a nice way, of course! Could I ever nag to my dear husband? Would I ever try to manipulate him? No way! :cutie:), pretty much all that he needed to make him agree with my plan, would be to talk to a person who had actually been on a Disney cruise, and had lots of good stuff to say about it.

Which leads me back to the point where along comes Brenda :thumbsup2 …

He didn’t say “Okay let’s book the cruise” straightaway, but he commented that it sounded very nice, starting asking me some questions about it and … well, look at my siggie for the end of the story, we’ll be on the Disney Magic in October :dance3:.


But anyway, this is a dining report and should therefore be all food and no play, so I shall get back to the topic: It was time to order!

For starters, DH decided quickly and enthusiastically on the Butter Poached Wild Boar Tenderloin:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020377.jpg

This was served on a mushroom bread pudding with “huckleberry au jus” and was beautifully presented. I didn’t get to try it as I was busy with my own appetizer (which you will see just below), but DH loved it and I must say that my mouth is watering even by looking at the picture now popcorn::.

Noe for my own appetizer: I love pretty much all kinds of seafood, but I’ve only ever eaten a bowl of mussels once, and that was ages ago as a teenager.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to eat them, whether it would be messy and whether I would make myself look silly, so I had shied away from ordering them during our first visit to Artist Point.

Now, however, I told Brenda about my reservations and asked her for advice. She said that if I loved all kinds of seafood I would really be fine, and that they wouldn’t be too difficult to eat. Thusly encouraged I went ahead and ordered them – and boy was I glad that I did!

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020375.jpg

Don’t they look delicious? The Braised Penn Cove Mussels with Fennel and Grilled Sourdough Toast.
I cannot say enough good things about this dish! Like I said, I don’t really have the experience to compare them to other such dishes, but they tasted absolutely fresh, seafoody but not too much so, and the yummy toast went along with them really well. This was definitely one of the best appetizers I have had during this whole trip.


Come to think of it, it was not only the appetizer which DH decided so quickly on. He also, in a flash, chose the buffalo short rib as his entrée again, just like he had done on our last visit:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020379.jpg

The Braised Buffalo Short Rib with parsnip potato grain, glazed leeks, and red wine jus. And yeah, once again he liked it. If you want details, read back to page eleven :).
(Although you may then notice that the portion looked quite different, I’m just noticing that now, too. I wonder whether it was actually smaller or whether it was just the different angle of the photograph.)

I had taken a bit longer than DH to decide on the entree I wished to have: As you may remember (or have only just read if you really let me send you back to page eleven in the last paragraph, but you didn’t, did you? :laughing:), I was not really enthused about my salmon on our last visit. I also wasn’t much into ribs. But I had not really planned on ordering steak again, either. After some serious pondering, I ended up doing just that, though:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020378.jpg

I ordered myself the Grilled Beef Tenderloin with roasted fingerling potatoes, sauteed baby spinach, a blue cheese fritter and a port wine reduction.

This was a very, very nice peace of meat! Both the potatoes and the veggies were delicious as well, and the portion size seemed large but not overwhelming to me. The sauce was very nice, too, though I would have liked to have a little more of it.

The cheese fritter was the only thing I left on my plate: I tasted a bit of it, but it was much-much-much too strong for me and I think it did not fit in with the rest of the assembled tastes at all. This might just be my opinion, as I know that Americans are very much into blue cheese while I’m not!

(Something similar happened to us with the Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby so we would probably have learned from that – I won’t tell you which page that was on now as I don’t want to chase my readers around too much ;)).


Oh, I almost forgot to talk about ordering our drinks: Apart from a large bottle of Pellegrino water, we wanted to indulge in something which we do a lot when dining out at home, but hadn’t really done here yet – having a glass of wine!

What had kept us from doing it a lot during this vacation was the fact that DH had to drive back to our resort after dinner most of the days, and while we weren’t completely sure on the drunk-driving rules in the US, we thought it better to be on the safe side and only have him drive absolutely sober. (In Germany, incidentally, you are allowed to drive with up to .05 % blood alcohol unless you are either under 21, or have had your license for less than two years.)

Also, the wine was very expensive compared to home, but I guess that was a Disney thing, not an American thing. After all, the food was rather expensive too, but we weren’t so constantly aware of that since we were on the DDP.

But today was our last night at Disney World, and we were just a short elevator ride away from our room, so we had no excuse :rolleyes1.
We went with the recommendations in the menu, they list one recommended wine with every entrée which is really handy for people like us who like wine but are not really connoisseurs :idea:.

This meant that DH had the Novelty Hill Syrah, Columbia ’05, with his buffalo, while I had the Bookwalter Lot 22 Blend, Columbia N.V., to complement my tenderloin. Both recommendations were great and we very much enjoyed the wines. Especially the Syrah went along excellently with the buffalo!

-------

Wow, I can hardly believe it but I’m going to have to split this review into two instalments, it seems that I have exceeded the picture limit! :eek:

Oh, I see, the smilies count towards that limit as well. Anyway, I don’t feel like chucking them, so I’ll just split the reviews.

I probably shouldn’t end this one without some sort of announcement or cliffhanger, though, so here goes:

Coming up next: The Wine Is Not Enough – or: How to get drunk in style ;)

[Pooh&OurHunny]

congrats on your upcoming cruise. :cool1::cool1::cool1:
Your food updates were awesome and the ribs your husband had me drooling 8:00 in the morning. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: We definetly have to try Artist Point. For the past 2 weeks I have been reading amazing reviews on this restaurant.
Thank you again for sharing and I have enjoying reading all your installment and can't wait but sad its almost at the end.

[disneyfav4ever]

I really want to take a Disney cruise too! I went on one the first year they started sailing, and it was great fun, but I was little then, so missed out on a lot, like Palo, so that's an excuse right there to go again. I'm thinking I'm going to wait until the Disney Dream starts sailing, because that ship looks absolutly magnificent, but the Magic is wonderful!

[annichan]

So, back to Artist Point!
The desserts were next, obviously, but I do not have that many spectacular things to say about them:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020380.jpg

DH had his trademark créme brulée once again and it looked nice as usual, but afterwards he said that he probably wouldn’t be eating any more crèmes brulées in the near future as he had had too many of them (actually, what he really said was a common German expression meaning they were already coming out of his ears, which I just realize sounds kind of gross when you translate it :scared1: That’s not used in English at all, or is it?).

I didn’t really want any dessert as I felt nicely full, but what can you do :confused3 …
I decided to settle on something that was as light as possible, and this turned out to be the no-sugar-added Berries in Oregon Muscat Wine with Mint Mousse and Raspberry Sauce:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020383.jpg

This didn’t completely convince me, I’m afraid. (That was absolutely no big deal, I was so full anyway and this dinner had been so fantastic, I’m just mentioning it for the sake of this report!)

It looked endearingly like a kid’s drawing, but the ingredients didn’t really complement each other all that well.
The mint mousse tasted strange – and that is exactly what our server Brenda had told me, she had said she didn’t much fancy the mint mousse herself, so it was my bad for having gone against her recommendations ;).

Also, the “berries in muscat wine” part turned out to be enclosed in some kind of jelly. Maybe this should have been perfectly obvious to me from the description, but instead it came as a bit of a letdown since I’m not particularly fond of any things jelly, no matter if it is jellied meat or jellied desserts. Therefore, I only picked at it a little.

However, I enjoyed the fresh raspberries and the sugar-free chocolate ice cream, so in the end I had exactly what I had wanted: Just a tiny little dessert that was nice and not too fattening. :thumbsup2

Completely full and happy, albeit a little tired, we took our leave of Brenda and left the restaurant.
We still had a few beers sitting in our room fridge that we had never gotten around to drinking and had been intending to have them on our balcony, but then I thought that we really ought to visit the hotel bar, the Territory Lounge, once more since this was our final night.
(We had been briefly sat there, bleary-eyed and tired, and sipped a Light beer on our very first evening when we had been up for over 24 hours and travelling, so that had not been the perfect experience).

The good thing is that the Territory Lounge is right next to Artist Point, so we just rolled over there and plopped ourselves on a sofa. Heaven! :littleangel:

I had not had a single cocktail on this trip, so I knew this was the night to remedy that. I decided on Disney's signature Blue Glowtini (this contains Citrus Vodka, Blue Curacao, Peach Schnapps, Sweet & Sour and pineapple juice, according to Anita Answer on allears.net - thanks for the info!).
Meanwhile, DH extravagantly chose the Magical Star Cocktail (“Light up your celebration with X-Fusion Organic Mango and Passion Fruit Liqueur, Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, Pineapple Juice, and a souvenir Multicolored Glow Cube” – wheee! :cool2:).

While we waited for the drinks to arrive, I idly wondered how a “multicoloured” glow cube might work – I figured it must be something like a kaleidoscopic thing showing lots of colours at once. When it came, I was absolutely delighted (:dance3:) to see what it could do (it is the drink on the right):

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020396.jpg
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020398.jpg
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020399.jpg
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020397.jpg

Yup, it changed colours! This may be terribly old news to you and you can all call me backwards, but I’d never seen anything like it before! ::rotfl2:

We happily proceeded to sip our colourful and slightly silly drinks (what made them more silly was the fact that apart from us there were only guys having beers there), laze on the couch and reminisce about what a wonderful honeymoon we had had.
Only when we rose to retire to our room did I realize that the cocktail, on top of the glass of wine, had managed to make me pleasantly not-just-tipsy-but-really-quite-drunk :goodvibes.
That was a perfectly fine state for me – at least until DH reminded me that I still had my share of two beers waiting in the fridge, which we wouldn’t be able to take on the plane the next afternoon and which I certainly wouldn’t have during the daytime :upsidedow.

So this is how our last evening at Disney World came to an end – getting drunk first on wine, then on cocktails and finally on plastic bottles of beer.

We certainly know how to end an evening in style :thumbsup2.

Coming up next: It's the final breakfast …

[annichan]

congrats on your upcoming cruise. :cool1::cool1::cool1:
Your food updates were awesome and the ribs your husband had me drooling 8:00 in the morning. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: We definetly have to try Artist Point. For the past 2 weeks I have been reading amazing reviews on this restaurant.
Thank you again for sharing and I have enjoying reading all your installment and can't wait but sad its almost at the end.

Thank you for saying that! I'm not promising anything yet (especially as I haven't made the best impression with finishing this report in a timely manner :sad2:), but I might just write another dining report after our three-week trip in October/November. Then I could also include the cruise ship restaurants!

I really want to take a Disney cruise too! I went on one the first year they started sailing, and it was great fun, but I was little then, so missed out on a lot, like Palo, so that's an excuse right there to go again. I'm thinking I'm going to wait until the Disney Dream starts sailing, because that ship looks absolutly magnificent, but the Magic is wonderful!

Words can barely express how excited I am to be going on that cruise, believe me! :) I just know it's going to be fantastic. You are right, the Dream looks amazing, but the pictures weren't out when we booked our cruise on the Magic plus there is no way I would have waited another year to go cruising :rotfl:

[annichan]

Thus sadly but inevitably, the sun rose on our very last morning at Disney World! How did that happen? It felt like we had almost only just arrived!

No, well, it didn’t really, the holiday had been two whole weeks long after all and we could feel it because we had seen so much and done so many great and exhausting things that in a way, we were ready to go home.
On the other hand, however, we felt there was still so much that we hadn’t managed to do, so many things that we thought we would easily manage to cram into two weeks and then missed anyway:

All those ADR’s we had cancelled; and the drinks and/or treats I had read about on the DIS and had so wanted to try, such as a Lapu Lapu, or a Dole Whip;

and the attractions we hadn’t managed to see, such as the Lion King show, or the Kim Possible adventures, or the Indiana Jones stunt show (and we didn’t even set one foot into Innoventions East nor West);

and even some entire parks we didn’t get around to seeing, namely the Universal parks and Blizzard Beach.

Honestly, if someone had told me before our trip that we would be unable to do everything even though we only left the WDW area for one single day to go to the Gulf beach, I would have laughed at him.
Now we knew better – the World is just too large to be seen in one holiday!
Which is a good thing, really, because it made us kind of make up our minds during that breakfast that we would HAVE to return once more, instead of turn to other holiday destinations first.

I had never dreamed that DH would be so easily convinced – but he was, and so it was decided that we would be coming back! (Which we will do in only about eight and a half months’ time from now, and we’ll even combine it with a Disney cruise! I’m so happy I could jump up and down with joy all the time like this: :yay:)

Anyway, back once more to our final breakfast (which makes me hear the song “The final countdown” by Scandinavian band Europe all the time, only slightly changed to “It’s the final breakfaaast …”. Does any of you guys know this song, which was hugely popular in Germany in the Eighties? Anyway, I’m digressing again).

This was our third breakfast at The Whispering Canyon Café this trip, not necessarily because it was our favourite (it is really okay, though!) but as it was so convenient for us WL lodgers.

I’m afraid I didn’t take a single picture this time, but since we had the same omelettes that we already had for our last breakfasts here a few days earlier, I hope you’ll forgive me the lack of visual stimulation.

Once more, however, we were completely left out of the typical Whispering Canyon spiel, our server was completely polite the whole time.
And once more, I can only guess that this was because he asked our nationality up front and then thought we might not speak English so well, consequently not understand the “game” and then be insulted.
I realize I could have tested this theory by asking for ketchup, but it takes a mentally much stronger person than me to willingly and knowingly launch into this little adventure :upsidedow.

Despite refraining from yelling at us, our server was a very nice person ;).
Even though he could see there was just us two adults, he brought us childrens’ menus “so you can play some games and not get bored waiting for your food”, and he also handed us a bunch of Mickey stickers because “even if you don’t have kids I’m sure you know some kids who would like these” (I’m embarrassed to say here that even though I gave a couple away I selfishly kept the rest ...).

He also brightly asked us what we were planning to do that day, and received a rather unhappy reply of “Catching a plan home, unfortunately!” :sad1:.
We then explained to him that this had been our honeymoon and we were having to go back to Germany now. To this, he replied by shouting out to the whole room that “this lovely young couple here has come all the way from Germany to spend their honeymoon, and since they’ve just married please join me in a loud chorus of CONGRATULATIONS!”, and a whole lot of people joined in with that.
This was so cute, even though we were a bit embarrassed by all the unexpected attention :scared:.

So in this way, the final breakfast at the World came to an end, and we hurried to our room to finish packing and be on our way.

Oh well, I can’t really leave this review completely devoid of pictures so here is at least one: Me waving goodbye to our room about an hour later, in the process of bringing the luggage down to the car.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020414.jpg

Coming up next and last: Some final thoughts and my ultimate Best/Worst list ...

[klacey1]

This was so much fun to read! I'm sad your reviews are over, but am ver much looking forward to your final thoughts! THanks for sharing with us!

[annichan]

This was so much fun to read!

Thank you :flower3:!

I'm sad your reviews are over, but am very much looking forward to your final thoughts! THanks for sharing with us!

Coming up tomorrow, definitely!

[torsie24]

“The final countdown” by Scandinavian band Europe all the time, only slightly changed to “It’s the final breakfaaast …”. Does any of you guys know this song, which was hugely popular in Germany in the Eighties?

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuuuuuuuuh, duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

I was popular in the UK too! ;)

I'm so sad your report is over!! Luckily we don't have long to wait until your next one which will include yummy DCL food too! You lucky people!!

Vielen Dank für Ihren wundervollen Report. xxxxx (I haven't spoken any German for 6 years so forgive my spelling/grammar!)

[annichan]

Well well, this is the end! Sad, I know, but the trip is over (and has been since May 09, but finally I have caught up with my report as well, lazy me) and it is time for me to present my final thoughts, and of course my ultimate “Best/Worst” list.
It has taken me about a week longer than I had intended to, but I have put quite a bit of effort into it. For an obsessive-compulsive planner like myself, there is nothing quite as enjoyable as compiling lists ;). So let’s start with that:

Our Best/Worst List :yay: :eek: :yay:

WHERE WILL WE RETURN AND WHERE WON'T WE?

So what restaurants will we be returning to, and which will we give a wide berth in the future?

Well, for all sorts of different reasons I rather think we will not visit any of the following restaurants again: This does not always mean (or rather, hardly ever means!) that we hated it there, so I will try and explain our reasons for every restaurant. (Restaurants are listed in order of appearance in this report, apart from the “Biggest Loser” being number 1.)

San Angel Inn: Our “biggest loser”! :mad: This is one restaurant that we really did not like: a long wait for a volcano-side table which we ended up not getting anyway; a very crowded setting with tables so close together that you develop the instant wish to drop a clothes size just to be able to squeeze past; and the food seemed a bit bland too, although I admit that we ate in a bit of a hurry since DH wasn’t feeling so well, so I didn’t give the food as much of a chance as I did in other restaurants.

Whispering Canyon Cafe: This was nice but as long as we don't stay at Wilderness Lodge, we probably wouldn't go to the trouble of dining at the WCC. It was very convenient while we stayed there, but especially since we've now already been three times, not worth driving to (unless they finally start abusing us just like they do with you Americans! :rotfl2:)

Boma: We didn't like it too well, even though the food was good - but it was ust nothing special for us. We will definitely try Jiko instead, though!

Spoodles: Can't go there anymore since it is now closed! We might give Kouzzina (the new restaurant at the spot where Spoodles used to be) a try, though.

1900 Park Fare: Boy, were we scared of the characters :lmao: …

The Wave: really nice breakfast, but no special Disney atmosphere and I don’t like the fact that is has got no windows, so we will probably skip it and try something else instead.

Chef Mickey's: We found this very noisy and not too great for adults sans kids, so at least as long as we do not have children we won't return there.

Liberty Tree Tavern: I am truly not sure about this one, especially since the dessert was so fantabulous (see below). However, the whole place was a bit dark and maybe we just didn't get the whole "colonial ambience", but we were not really that much into it. So not bad at all, just not as good as many others. (But then again, the toffee cake ... oh be still my beating heart ...)



Everything I haven’t mentioned here will definitely see us again on some future visit! In detail, we will visit again (in order of appearance in this report – apart from our top favourite which gets mentioned first):

California Grill: This was the best of the best!! The short and pleasant wait time in the lounge by the window, the table location, outstanding food, the drinks, the service, the pixie dust and the views of the fireworks - the whole package was just perfect! We will so definitely return here during our next trip – and I am just realizing what this means: I will be back at the California Grill THIS YEAR! :yay:

Trails End: I think this is already a widely-known fact – nowhere else can you dine table-service at Disney World for so little money, and it still tastes good and has a nice wilderness atmosphere with friendly servers! I didn’t eat much due to the fact I was so tired and already not feeling well, but should we ever stay at the Wilderness Lodge again I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to take a nice walk along the jogging path to Fort Wilderness, have dinner at Trails’ End, wander by the campfire and probably stay for the movie, and then take a romantic night-time ferry-ride back to Wilderness Lodge via the Contemporary. A great evening for little money!

Crystal Palace: I am pretty sure we will turn an early breakfast on the first morning of our vacation here into a tradition – this is such a great way to start a WDW vacation! Stroll along an almost-empty main street, then have some breakfast and get hugged by Pooh. Perfect! :hug:

Tony’s Town Square: After I had to leave after the appetizer last time due to my stomach bug (or whatever it was), we might well return here during our next trip and have a more enjoyable dinner. (As far as I see it, this might be the best place to have dinner at the MK?)

The Plaza: Not something planned for our next trip, but we think it’s the nicest place to have lunch at the Magic Kingdom, so we might well end up here sometime.

Olivia’s Cafe: This was so enjoyable! Not crowded at all, and it was one of the rare opportunities to sit outside when dining (something that most Germans love – but then again we don’t often get the opportunity with all our bad weather, and the sun is hardly ever so harsh that you wouldn’t want to sit outside). It was pretty, the food was yummy, the server was nice – what more could one ask? (I still don’t think we will be back this next visit as Old Key West Resort is rather out of the way for us. But should we happen to be there, I would love to eat at Olivia’s again.

Raglan Road: Especially the entrée and dessert here were really yummy, and the live band was cool (the Irish tap dancing lady was really cute, too). We are not currently planning on returning here on our next trip, but some day we certainly will!

Tusker House: This was very enjoyable both for breakfast (with the characters in their safari garb) and for lunch (without characters, but with very inspired and varied ethnic cooking). As far as I have designed our dining plan for next trip (that is, only very roughly) this is not featured because I think we will prefer our beloved Yak & Yeti, but who knows … This would always be nice!

Sci-Fi Dine-In: See below at the Brown Derby – we might just return here next time. (In fact, I think we will as DH has just requested it – and rare is the moment when he actually specifically requestst a certain restaurant instead of leaving the planning to me!). In a word: Fun!

The Coral Reef: We HAVE to return here next time! I just have to have that beautiful appetizer again, and I have to try steak for an entrée – I have read they do such great steak, I just wanted to stick with the maritime dining theme last time, but next time I shall look at the fishies but devour the four-legged beasties instead :rolleyes1popcorn::

Flying Fish Cafe: Loved the food! The wait for a table was long even though the place was not nearly full, it was loud and the service was a tad slow, but the food was so fabulous it makes up for everything else. Plus we will be staying so close to this place at the Beach Club Villas, it will be no more than an enjoyable stroll along the Boardwalk home after our meal. See where I am going with this? Yup – back to the Flying Fish! ;)

Kona Cafe: Great breakfast here! I have read that other meals are great here too, but I don’t think we will try them during our next trip. I don’t think we will be able to stay away from the Big Kahuna breakfast though! :thumbsup2

Artist Point: We had two great and memorable dinners here. If we had not stayed at the Wilderness Lodge last time (making this our “home signature restaurant”) we probably would not have dined here twice, but I am really glad now that we did. I do not think we will return here on our next trip because there are so many new possibilities to try out and old favourites to revisit which are closer to the Boardwalk area where we will be staying next, but I just know we will return to the World more than once, and then we will be back at Artist Point for sure.

The Hollywood Brown Derby: This was so nice, enjoyable, yummy and full of pixie dust. We might well return next time – unless we decide in favour of much less suave but fun (and one credit per person cheaper) Sci-Fi Dine-In instead.

Narcoossees: Oh, this was really good. The prices are steep, but luckily this is not so much of a concern when using the Deluxe Dining Plan. The ambience was beautiful, as was the voew of the marina and the Castle off in the distance. Service was impeccable, the food was very nice even if maybe not as spectacular as at other signature dining experiences we tried. Next time, we won’t go for the Surf and Turf!

‘Ohana: This is a must for our next visit! Probably not for dinner, but the breakfast was so great we would love to do it again. What can I say – it had Lilo and Stitch, a glorious skillet and pineapple bread! :yay:
The only negative thing I need to mention is the air-condition: It was rather too cold there for us, but the same holds true for various other restaurants (like Chef Mickey’s and most especially the Sci-Fi Dine-In – arctic! :sick:)

The Yachtsman Steakhouse: This is a must-do for next time, especially since we will be staying nearby so we will be able to have a nice glass of wine with dinner and can then just walk home. Loooking forward to the fabulous steaks already!

The Yak & Yeti: This was a lot of fun, very friendly and atmospheric and had some of the best food we have had the chance to try during our whole trip. Little wonder we will be back here on our AK day! :cool1:

Cape May Cafe: I am sure we will be back here for a yummy character breakfast next time, especially since we will be staying so close by at Beach Club Villas! :banana:


In this summary, I have already mentioned several restaurants that we are very likely to visit again on our next trip this fall, so I should probably also mention a few new restaurants that we will (very likely) try next time as well:

Marrakesh: I so wish we hadn’t had to cancel our reservation there (but alas, my stomach bug or whatever it was that day, didn’t leave us any choice!). We had a quick look inside and it looked beautiful, and I just love oriental cuisine (as long as it is not insanely spicy, which I don’t think will be the case in a WDW restaurant. Pretty much a must for next time!

Le Cellier:
This is the other restaurant ADR we had to cancel that day I was not feeling well … I do think we will give it a try next time, I have read so many good things about it and had really been looking forward to it.

Jiko:
DH talked me into cancelling this one and it was perfectly alright for me at the time, but I need to try this next time! I have read so many great things about their cuisine, this is the biggest must after California Grill (so there you go, DH! No use trying to talk me out of it this time! :dance3:;))

Tokyo Dining / Teppan Edo:
We didn’t fit any of these two into our plans for the honeymoon, but since we both really like sushi and Asian cuisine we would love to try one of them next time round. Not sure which one of the two, though.

Hoop-De-Doo Revue:
And now for something completely different, as they say: The Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue! I would love to go to a dinner show, I never really have before. We briefly toyed with the idea of trying either this or the Luau show on our honeymoon, but ended up deciding against it somehow. Now that we have found our love for the Wilderness Lodge and adjacent jogging path, we have a good reason to try the Revue!
Has anybody done the Hoop-Dee-Doo and have something to say in favour or against it? I’d love to hear some opinions!

Citrico`s:
And yet another ADR that we cancelled :confused3… To be remedied next time, I hope! Like I said before, DH is not that much into the Grand Floridian and therefore I may not be able to drag him there for dinner twice, so I will have to make up my mind whether I rather want to revisit Narcoossee’s, or give Citrico’s a try. We will decide that a bit later, I think. (Any opinions on this, anybody?)


Coming up next and last: The rest of my final thoughts and rankings ...
(I just felt that it was taking too long to get this finished, so I wanted tp at least share the parts I have finished with you.)

[annichan]

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuuuuuuuuh, duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

I was popular in the UK too! ;)

I'm so sad your report is over!! Luckily we don't have long to wait until your next one which will include yummy DCL food too! You lucky people!!

Vielen Dank für Ihren wundervollen Report. xxxxx (I haven't spoken any German for 6 years so forgive my spelling/grammar!)

Aaaah, finally some appreciation for good old Eighties music :thumbsup2

Thank you for your nice compliment in near flawless German! :flower3: (I have had so many nice replies in German that I might just write the next report in German so you can all get your dictionaries out again ;))

I have one last post to make, haven't finished writing it yet but will soon!

[annichan]

Okay, it looks like this is getting so long that there will even be a third part yet. Anyway, let's get started:

PRICE

Here come the cheapest and most expensive meals we had, and that is not taking into consideration how we liked the experience, just the bare costs:

Most expensive breakfast: Room service
Not something we will likely be doing again :confused3

Most expensive lunch: Yak & Yeti
Believe me, that was worth every cent to us! :yay:

Most expensive dinner: Narcoossee's
No wonder with both of us choosing the Surf and Turf! I don't think that entree was particularly worth that much money (didn't care for the lobster at all), but the rest of the meal and overall experience was very good so I wouldn't hesitate to dine at Narcoossee's again (especially on the Dining Plan, of course).

Cheapest breakfast: Spoodles
Not by a large amount, just slightly the cheapest.

Cheapest lunch: Tusker House
Very good value, we think – great variety of food and nice ambience for the price

Cheapest dinner: Trails' End
I have already said how I think this place is great value, and thus it is no wonder that our dinner at Trails’ End was by far the cheapest of them all.


FOOD

Moving on from the costs, this is all about the food - which dished did I enjoy most, and which ones could I have most easily gone without?

Best appetizer:
Even though I don't want to appear indecisive to you all, I shall have to go for a tie between two appetizers that were to me equally delicious and equally beautifully presented: the sushi we had at the California Grill, ...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010051.jpg

... and the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare at the Flying Fish Café.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010406.jpg

Oh, yummm ... And for a bit of an exotic (at least to me :laughing:) choice, I would like to give an honorary mention to the wonderful mussel appetizer I enjoyed at Artist Point!

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020375.jpg




Appetizer I could most easily have gone without:
Hm, oh well, probably the Assortment of Artisanal Cheeses I had at the Yachtsman Steakhouse ...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020017.jpg

... as half of them were way too strong-tasting for me, so this appetizer was kind of wasted on me. I still enjoyed it, though!





Best (entree-sized) salad:
Of the seven salads I had while staying in the World, almost all were quite delicious. Since I will try to limit myself to one single choice at least in this category (;)), I have to say that the Key West Salmon Salad (Olivia’s Café) was the best.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1000549.jpg

Fresh, beautifully presented, wonderful salmon, a great mixture of different flavours from sweet to sour, I would choose this again any day.




Salad I could most easily have gone without:
Like I already said, I liked almost all of them very much – but the only one I truly don’t remember anything about is the Ensalada de Casa I had at the San Angel Inn, so in lack of a better (or rather, worse!) choice, this is it.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010200.jpg





Best entree:
Difficult, difficult – there were so many great ones! After giving this a lot of thought, however, I have decided upon my all-time favourite being the Hijiki Crusted Ahi Tuna I was lucky enough to get to enjoy at the Hollywood Brown Derby.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010703.jpg

For all you tuna lovers out there: Try it! You will not regret it. Incidentally, the other dishes I was thinking about awarding first prize to was the blackened catfish (Coral Reef) ...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010161.jpg

... and “It’s Not Bleeding Chowder” (Raglan Road) ...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1000573.jpg

..., so I realize I may be more of a fish person than a steak person. Wow, I was never aware of that! It may mean you will get to see more fish and seafood reviews in my next report :thumbsup2.



Entree I could most easily have gone without:
Well, as anybody who has read my reviews will doubtlessly already have guessed, I could most easily have gone without the Surf and Turf (Narcossee’s).

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010876.jpg

I admit that I got carried away at the chance of ordering such an expensive entrée ($ 58,00 if not on the Dining Plan!), and as I am (sometimes :rolleyes1) an adventurous eater, I was looking forward to trying lobster for the first time. That dish was not worth its price for me by far, though – the filet mignon was wonderful, but the lobster was very bland, boring and so.so. Many have told me that this is because the lobster tail in this dish comes prepared from frozen, so that may be the reason why we were not impressed with it at all. Not sure whether I will go “all fresh lobster” or “all gorgeous meat” when we dine here next, though!




Best dessert:
Fried Wontons (Yak & Yeti) ...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020115.jpg

... tie for first place with Ooey-Gooey Toffee Cake (Liberty Tree Tavern), ...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010831.jpg

... the first being the light alternative for slightly more health-conscious eaters, and the latter being H-E-A-V-E-N wrapped in what feels like 10,000 calories :worship:. Oh dear, and let me not forget the absolutely mouth-watering combination we made of our two desserts at Raglan Road ... Man, I'm just no good at making clear-cut decisions here ;) ...




Dessert I could most easily have gone without:
I have to opt for the Grapefruit Cake at the Brown Derby: despite the fact that it was beautiful to behold, it was too much, too sweet and not sour enough for me. Did I mention already that it looked fantastic, though? ;)


http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010709.jpg




Best breakfast:
The Big Kahuna at Kona Cafe: lots of food, very ethnic to us as it seemed so American, and so yummy that we finished it all! (But let me tell you this was a hard decision, what with the pineapple bread at 'Ohana!)

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010433.jpg




Breakfast I could most easily have gone without:
And once again I have to mention Chef Mickey’s – the food was not bad, but I was too busy shivering with cold and covering my ears from the din to enjoy the food :confused3.


Coming up next: Like I said, there will still be one final post!

[annichan]

More great memories

Best server:
We encountered lots of nice servers, and only very few not-so-nice ones (though Raglan Road immediately comes to mind … But I won't harp on that one any more!). It is therefore difficult to make a choice - but if I have to choose, I gladly give this award to the outstandingly friendly Brenda at Artist Point.

Oh, and I would like to give an honorary mention to our server at the Coral Reef whom I have never even mentioned during my review, as I just realize :scared1:. He was extremely friendly, he was just having a bit of a bad day - at first he dropped a glass at our feet showering our shoes with little glass shards. Then he apologized profusely and we assured him that it was really no big deal. He then proceeded to pour us some coffee and apparently the thermos was not properly closed so he dropped (or rather, threw) a wet plastic thermos lid in my lap. After that, we could hardly get him to stop apologizing. Honestly, if you happen to read this: It was really no big deal and we still like you! :thumbsup2)


Nicest ambience:
Needless to say, we dined in lots of pretty, comfy and well-designed restaurants. The greatest Disney ambience we experienced was probably at Tusker House – we were so impressed with the décor in the food hall and the dining rooms, it all created a beautiful and perfect illusion of an Africa that is “disneyfied” and yet realistic.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1000587.jpg




Best characters:
This would have to be Pooh and Friends at Crystal Palace - because there is nothing like being given a big welcoming hug by Pooh when your holiday has just begun! :hug::)




Biggest shock:
meeting Prince Charming at 1900 Park Fare ;)
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1000847.jpg



Biggest pity:
feeling horribly ill at Tony's Town Square and having to leave after the appetizer :sick:



Best tip I learned:
Should you have something to celebrate, definitely have it mentioned on your reservation! We got such great tables, great service and beautiful little surprises for our honeymoon, of course this didn’t happen everywhere and one should never expect too much – but it certainly helped letting everybody know about it! :lovestruc



Biggest culture shock:
Ordering a salad and receiving half a head of lettuce (:eek:) at the Sci-Fi-Dine In ;)

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010014.jpg



Biggest laugh:
There were more romantic than funny moments, but maybe that is normal on a honeymoon :lovestruc. What we did find really funny, in a nice way, was the sweet waitress at the Cape May Cafe.




Most amount of pixie dust:
This is hard to say among all the Mickey confetti, personalized menus, perfectly located tables and complimentary glasses of champagne. I would have to go with the menu we received at the Brown Derby though, where they took our picture and incorporated it in the commemorative menu.




Most magical moment:
This has to be watching Wishes from our table at the California Grill, hand in hand, sipping our complimentary champagne. So wonderfully romantic!

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1010063.jpg


So … this was it, this was my trip report. :flower3:

All that is left for me to say is that yes, it was way too much food, and yes, we felt totally defeated by it.

It was good value for us financially, though: Even though we left one table credit unused, we saved a total of $ 757.00 from what we would have paid out of pocket (to calculate this, I have counted each snack credit as $ 2.50 which is quite realistic since we mostly used them for water bottles).
I realize of course how we would not have ordered so much food had we not been on the Deluxe Dining Plan, and therefore we have not realistically saved quite as much money. But still, you see where I am coming from.

We have found it incredibly nice and relaxed not having to worry about costs since everything apart from tips and alcohol was prepaid, and it was a good thing not having to carry so much cash on us: for every withdrawal at an ATM outside the European Union, we have to pay a % fee so it was cheaper that way, plus I felt safer walking around without much money on us.

We did find our daily schedules to be rather strict with three meals a day to attend at set times, but we also know that we would not be happy with less than 1-2 meals a day, and we are not really into quick service and fast food.

Altogether, these facts have made us decide that we will in fact use the Deluxe Dining Plan again during our next trip. The regular Dining Plan is just not suited to our needs well enough, with not enough table service credits but many counter service credits which we would not be using. Should there ever be a Dining Plan type with 2 TS credits per day and zero CS, that would definitely become our favourite!

Anyway, such a thing does not exist yet unfortunately, so this is how we will go:

We will go on the Deluxe Dining Plan, scheduling a nice dinner every evening since this is really important to us while on holiday. Most often, we will go to signature restaurants and/or dinner shows, thus using up two credits.

For breakfast, we will probably stay in our studio and have just a small breakfast prepared in our kitchenette, except for the 3 or 4 mornings (out of eleven total) where we will go to a breakfast either with our without characters (strongly leaning towards Crystal Palace, ‘Ohana and Kona Cafe here).

For lunch, we will not schedule any meal for most days except maybe once or twice.

All this combined means that we will probably let several credits (definitely more than just the one) go unused this time. We may also skip dessert whenever we feel like it, or split an appetizer instead of ordering one each.
That way, we won’t be using the Deluxe Plan to the fullest but will have it tailored exactly to our needs, and still pay only as much or even less that we would if we paid for everything we wanted out of pocket.



So, let me say goodbye to you with a picture of me back in the real world, snacking on non-Disney food: This was at Dulles Airport in Washington, waiting for our connecting flight home to Europe.

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1020429.jpg

Actually, there was one more surprise waiting for me when I got home: Naturally, I had dreaded stepping on my scales for the first time after this deluxe food fest, so I waited for another couple of days until I finally did. And the result was …

… I had lost 3.5 lb!!!

Gotta be the magic of Disney. :wizard:


Goodbye everybody! :wave2:

[Linda67]

What a fantastic dining review , I have totally loved it . Thanks so much for taking the time to do this and enjoy planning your next trip

[TanyaNMJ]

Loved reading your review and truly enjoyed your German perspective of American gluttony! And I wish my German was as good as your English!

[KatiJ]

Thanks so much for a wonderful report!

[klacey1]

Thank you so much for sharing. I loved your wrap up and each and every review!! Please share reviews for your trip later this year-- we'd all love to read them!!

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for the review and the detailed final thoughts!

Just one tip: I have found that it was worth getting an account with DKB which comes with a free Visa card that does not charge for withdrawals at ATMs outside of Germany. I use that for all my travel needs! :thumbsup2

[sue and co]

A fantastic report, thank you for sharing. I do hope that you decide to do one later in the year and I will look out for it.

[hippsmom]

I enjoyed your report very much! Hope you have a wonderful time on your next trip.

[annichan]

What a fantastic dining review , I have totally loved it . Thanks so much for taking the time to do this and enjoy planning your next trip

Loved reading your review and truly enjoyed your German perspective of American gluttony! And I wish my German was as good as your English!

Thanks so much for a wonderful report!

Thank you so much for sharing. I loved your wrap up and each and every review!! Please share reviews for your trip later this year-- we'd all love to read them!!

Thanks for the review and the detailed final thoughts!

Just one tip: I have found that it was worth getting an account with DKB which comes with a free Visa card that does not charge for withdrawals at ATMs outside of Germany. I use that for all my travel needs! :thumbsup2

A fantastic report, thank you for sharing. I do hope that you decide to do one later in the year and I will look out for it.

I enjoyed your report very much! Hope you have a wonderful time on your next trip.

Thank you all so much for your nice words, and I am happy that you have enjoyed my reviews! I will now happily delve into planning our next trip, and let you hear all about our dining adventures afterwards! :yay:

[PAcricket]

Loved and appreciated the time taken to do all the reviews. Also loved your perspective from outside the US!

PaCricket

[princessallegra]

Danke!!!! What amazing reviews!!!!!!!!!!!! So informative and helpful. What an amazing honeymoon you had!! Very exciting that you get to go back! We were in Disney for part of our honeymoon too last June, but I was sick almost the whole time! BOO! We are now going back for our 1 year anniversary :) Thanks again for your reviews. We're trying many of the same places: Narcoossee's, Yak and Yeti, Artist Point (been once before loved it!), Yachtsman, Crystal Palace (first character meal together!). We will also be trying Jiko, so check out my report for that one!!!! :goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes

[EKW]

My kids are immune to loud noises! :rotfl2:

My kids ARE the loud noises! :rotfl:

[EKW]

You should still give it a try. Has your DH never eaten somewhere he didn't really want to go just because you did? Hmmm? ;) (Gotta stick up for other Disney DH's - besides, our own experience with SAI was more positive.) :thumbsup2

When it comes to SAI, I would go and only have a drink...enjoy the cool air...then get some real food from a CS somewhere else.

My experience with the SAI is that you can't get a worse meal. Stale bagged chips...at a Mexican restaurant? Tastless, textureless entrees, and a kid's meal so bad that my ds was in tears.

You can soak up the ambiance there from the Plaza area...the atmosphere at the tables (so crowded our waitress couldn't get to us without running a maze pattern) and the lousy food are worth skipping!

[lpereira]

I just found this post and enjoyed it so much I read it all in one sitting. I started sometime after the weather (11:15) and its now 1:47am. It was all just that good. If the lobster didn't taste divine it wasn't Maine lobster. Try it again sometime- you will love it.
Based in part on your and other people's reviews I only booked my husband daughter and I 2 meals per day on the deluxe dining plan. And yes wine in this country is expensive if you are used to European prices. I "accidentally" spent 8 almost 9 months in Europe and was shocked- just shocked- at how cheap really good wine is there. The butter and milk is better there too. I don't know why. We won't even go into the chocolate.
My husband isn't going to be happy. I'm going to take food pictures too! I never realized people did this until I started trying to figure out what to do- our first trip is August 2010.
I guess if you come late to the party you don't have to wait almost a year to get the whole dining report. ;)

[wdwobsessed]

I usually skim through reports or only read about the places I plan on going to the next trip ... but I really enjoyed yours and read the whole thing!

Well done!

[annichan]

I only just noticed that my dining report has found new readers and comments, even though it had already sunk back a few pages in the forum. How nice to see that it is still interesting to people, and helps some plan their itineraries! :yay:

I have just recently made all my ADRs for our next trip which is now only a bit over five months away (I'm so excited! :banana:). We will revisit many of our old favourites (like the California Grill, the Coral Reef and Yak & Yeti), but also trying out many new locations that I am very much looking forward to (such as Jiko, Teppan Edo, Sanaa, and even the one likely to cause the biggest culture shock of all: the Hoop-De--Doo Revue! ;)).

I would be happy to see some of you around for that next dining report! popcorn::


Loved and appreciated the time taken to do all the reviews. Also loved your perspective from outside the US!

PaCricket

Thank you! :flower3: It was such fun writing them!

Danke!!!! What amazing reviews!!!!!!!!!!!! So informative and helpful. What an amazing honeymoon you had!! Very exciting that you get to go back! We were in Disney for part of our honeymoon too last June, but I was sick almost the whole time! BOO! We are now going back for our 1 year anniversary :) Thanks again for your reviews. We're trying many of the same places: Narcoossee's, Yak and Yeti, Artist Point (been once before loved it!), Yachtsman, Crystal Palace (first character meal together!). We will also be trying Jiko, so check out my report for that one!!!! :goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes

Oh, I am so sorry to hear that you were sick on your honeymoon - here's keeping my fingers crossed that you will fare better on the next trip. Have a great trip, and I will be looking for your dining report! :surfweb:

My kids ARE the loud noises! :rotfl:

:laughing:

When it comes to SAI, I would go and only have a drink...enjoy the cool air...then get some real food from a CS somewhere else.

My experience with the SAI is that you can't get a worse meal. Stale bagged chips...at a Mexican restaurant? Tastless, textureless entrees, and a kid's meal so bad that my ds was in tears.

You can soak up the ambiance there from the Plaza area...the atmosphere at the tables (so crowded our waitress couldn't get to us without running a maze pattern) and the lousy food are worth skipping!

Yes, while I totally agree with the message that the post you commented on is trying to get across (that being, if your DH wants to try something even if you don't, go for it and give the poor guy a chance to influence at least one little part of the planning ;)) I also agree with you - we definitely won't be dining at SAI again! Then again ... I heard that they now have a new tequila bar there, so THAT might be a reason to visit again! :thumbsup2

I just found this post and enjoyed it so much I read it all in one sitting. I started sometime after the weather (11:15) and its now 1:47am. It was all just that good. If the lobster didn't taste divine it wasn't Maine lobster. Try it again sometime- you will love it.
Based in part on your and other people's reviews I only booked my husband daughter and I 2 meals per day on the deluxe dining plan. And yes wine in this country is expensive if you are used to European prices. I "accidentally" spent 8 almost 9 months in Europe and was shocked- just shocked- at how cheap really good wine is there. The butter and milk is better there too. I don't know why. We won't even go into the chocolate.
My husband isn't going to be happy. I'm going to take food pictures too! I never realized people did this until I started trying to figure out what to do- our first trip is August 2010.
I guess if you come late to the party you don't have to wait almost a year to get the whole dining report. ;)

Thank you for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yes, in this case it WAS a good idea to come late to the party :rolleyes1 - I will try to be quicker with my reviews next time around! (And with the new 3-month policy, I will HAVE to ... Uh-oh ...)

And one more thing: Yes, thank you for "not even going into the chocolate" in Europe, I am desperately trying to lose a bit of weight for the cruise and all :rotfl:!

I usually skim through reports or only read about the places I plan on going to the next trip ... but I really enjoyed yours and read the whole thing!

Well done!

Wow, thank you! You guys are all really nice and encouraging! I admit that it would have been easier for me (and probably wittier) if I had written my report in German, but this still worked out so much better that I feared it might. Danke fürs Lesen, everybody - "thanks for reading"! :flower3:

[lorac4disney]

What a great review! I just spent all morning reading the entire thing from start to finish. It was wonderful.

Congratulations on your upcoming cruise! I do hope we get a dining review on that as well.

[kvogel11202]

Since I arrived very late to the party I can make my comments all at once! What a wonderful trip report! It's always interesting to see what people from outside the US think about some of our "ways"! Ok- i've been saving up- so bear with me!
1- yes, you put maple syrup on the mickey waffles- butter as well!
2- jam or jelly on the biscuits- otherwise they are SUPER dry!
3- the only Lobster that is truly good is Maine lobster- it is from the cold waters here up north and just the best! The meat is tender and sweet, and the butter is an accent, not used to cover the bland flavorless carribean (warm water) Lobster.
4- New England Clam chowder is supposed to be creamy, so your spoon standing up was good. It can be salty, as it has bacon, clams and potatoes in it. And as someone else said- the oyster crackers in the package is how we serve them up here, so it was more "authentic" - though I can see where that would come off cheap !!

I love dining at Disney and your report was a great read!! We are taking my son to Germany next summer for his birthday (Munich, Stuttgart and Bertchesgaden ) and I'm sure I'll be as confused by some of those items as you guys were by some of ours!!

[Hayley94]

Anyway, back once more to our final breakfast (which makes me hear the song “The final countdown” by Scandinavian band Europe all the time, only slightly changed to “It’s the final breakfaaast …”. Does any of you guys know this song, which was hugely popular in Germany in the Eighties? Anyway, I’m digressing again).

I LOVE THAT SONG!!!! ( I also love your breakfast adaption!!!)

Absolutely incredibly wonderful report, it was a mouth-watering joy to read, danke!!! :thumbsup2 are you planning another dining report for your next trip to WDW/Cruise? I really hope you will write one, because i'm kinda sad there is no more of this one to read :rotfl:
Hayley :)

[EKW]

I completely enjoyed your revues! One thought: girl, the reason you didn't get to see everything in two weeks is because you spent half your time in restaurants, lol!

My family doesn't eat enough to make any dining plan worth it for us, but, I have to admit, I do get a bit jealous when I see some of those yummy spendy dinners that I can't justify paying out of pocket for, lol!

I'll be looking for your next trip review!

[allshookup]

I just read your whole dining report from beginning to end! It was very entertaining & a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. I agree with others that the lobster tail is most definitely warm water lobster & therefor naturally tough & tasteless. I doubt that they are serving anything but fresh seafood, but I could be wrong. The New England lobster we get up north is sweet & tender & I hope you get a chance to try it someday. California Grill is also a favorite of ours, and a must do every trip. Your English is impeccable & yes we do say that we've had so much of something that it is coming out of our ears, so not just a German expression. ;) Enjoy your next trip! :flower3:

[annichan]

Hi everybody and thank you for all the nice comments - I cannot say enough about how much fun it has been writing this all, and how much fun it is reading all your responses, too!

What a great review! I just spent all morning reading the entire thing from start to finish. It was wonderful.

Congratulations on your upcoming cruise! I do hope we get a dining review on that as well.
Thank you! Well yes, I do plan to extend my next dining review to the cruise as well, if I'm not too dazzled and blown away by all that's going on on the cruise and forget to take notes or pictures (I mean, this is going to be my first cruise EVER! I don't think I have ever been that excited before in my entire life ... Apart from before my wedding, obviously ... :))

Since I arrived very late to the party I can make my comments all at once! What a wonderful trip report! It's always interesting to see what people from outside the US think about some of our "ways"! Ok- i've been saving up- so bear with me!
1- yes, you put maple syrup on the mickey waffles- butter as well!
2- jam or jelly on the biscuits- otherwise they are SUPER dry!
3- the only Lobster that is truly good is Maine lobster- it is from the cold waters here up north and just the best! The meat is tender and sweet, and the butter is an accent, not used to cover the bland flavorless carribean (warm water) Lobster.
4- New England Clam chowder is supposed to be creamy, so your spoon standing up was good. It can be salty, as it has bacon, clams and potatoes in it. And as someone else said- the oyster crackers in the package is how we serve them up here, so it was more "authentic" - though I can see where that would come off cheap !!
I love dining at Disney and your report was a great read!! We are taking my son to Germany next summer for his birthday (Munich, Stuttgart and Bertchesgaden ) and I'm sure I'll be as confused by some of those items as you guys were by some of ours!!

Thank you for all the interesting comments! I will definitely try maple syrup on the mickey waffles. I am sure some German food will seem really "ethnic" to you when you come here, but I hope you will have a great holiday nevertheless - Viel Spass in Deutschland (have fun in Germany)!

I LOVE THAT SONG!!!! ( I also love your breakfast adaption!!!)
Absolutely incredibly wonderful report, it was a mouth-watering joy to read, danke!!! :thumbsup2 are you planning another dining report for your next trip to WDW/Cruise? I really hope you will write one, because i'm kinda sad there is no more of this one to read :rotfl:
Hayley :)

Thank you, what a nice compliment! :flower3: Like I said, I shall TRY to make a dining report on the cruise, but I most definitely WILL write one on the WDW stay!

I completely enjoyed your revues! One thought: girl, the reason you didn't get to see everything in two weeks is because you spent half your time in restaurants, lol!

I'll be looking for your next trip review!

You are so right! I hope it will be better next time, as we have learned from our prior mistakes and are ONLY planning two sit-down meals a day and never three! (I know, that's really going to give us heaps and heaps more time if we "only" spend like four hours a day at the table :lmao:)

I just read your whole dining report from beginning to end! It was very entertaining & a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. I agree with others that the lobster tail is most definitely warm water lobster & therefor naturally tough & tasteless. I doubt that they are serving anything but fresh seafood, but I could be wrong. The New England lobster we get up north is sweet & tender & I hope you get a chance to try it someday. California Grill is also a favorite of ours, and a must do every trip. Your English is impeccable & yes we do say that we've had so much of something that it is coming out of our ears, so not just a German expression. ;) Enjoy your next trip! :flower3:

Thank you for the nice comment on my English - writing this report has helped me learn a lot of new expressions! And should I ever get to New England (which I would love to do some day!), I will definitely try the glorious lobster you and others have been telling me so many good things about!

[marcus.ka]

Danke für diesen tollen Trip Report. :thumbsup2

I just discovered your Trip Report a few days ago and then I started reading.

Right from the beginning I loved your trip report and I thought “What a nice and lovely couple!”
But then I came to the part where you skipped Fantasmic and I was in shock. :scared1: I could never imagine to skip Fantasmic; not for a great meal or a meet and greet with Belle or even my beloved Tower of Terror.
Fantasmic was the first thing (combined with Wishes) I dreamed about the second night we arrived back home! :cloud9:

But then I thought: OK, give them another chance and I continued reading. And so I did, until I reached the point were you wrote that you DH didn’t like the Grand Floridian. :scared1: THE most beautiful hotel in the world!
I would have understood if you would have left him immediately.

:rotfl2::lmao:

OK, now to be a little bit more serious:

Thank you for this great report. I really loved it.

But can I make one real suggestion: As much as I love these food and dining trip reports I would love to see more pictures of the interior of the restaurants. Because although the food is very important to me, the setting, the theming and the look of a restaurant are also essential.

Dankeschön!!! :thumbsup2

[arilvdc]

I just read all of your reviews and I have to say THANK YOU!! You ate at many of the same places we have planned for our trip and now I don't regret any of our choices. Awesome, excellent writing, and great pictures!

[annichan]

Yay, new replies! :yay: And one comes from a fellow German:

I just discovered your Trip Report a few days ago and then I started reading.
Right from the beginning I loved your trip report and I thought “What a nice and lovely couple!”
But then I came to the part where you skipped Fantasmic and I was in shock. :scared1: I could never imagine to skip Fantasmic; not for a great meal or a meet and greet with Belle or even my beloved Tower of Terror.
Fantasmic was the first thing (combined with Wishes) I dreamed about the second night we arrived back home! :cloud9:

See, this is where we will get back into your good graces this year: Fantasmic Dinner Package at the Brown Derby is booked again, and this time I solemnly vow I shall let neither food nor princess nor ride stop me from seeing Fantasmic :thumbsup2

But then I thought: OK, give them another chance and I continued reading. And so I did, until I reached the point were you wrote that you DH didn’t like the Grand Floridian. :scared1: THE most beautiful hotel in the world!
I would have understood if you would have left him immediately.

Nah, he'd have to do more things wrong than just disliking the GF. Like, disliking Disney World ;). (Just kidding, honey, the thought would never even cross my mind :rolleyes1)


But can I make one real suggestion: As much as I love these food and dining trip reports I would love to see more pictures of the interior of the restaurants. Because although the food is very important to me, the setting, the theming and the look of a restaurant are also essential.


This is a really good idea actually, I will try to do that more in my next dining report!

I just read all of your reviews and I have to say THANK YOU!! You ate at many of the same places we have planned for our trip and now I don't regret any of our choices. Awesome, excellent writing, and great pictures!

Thank you for the nice compliments! :flower3: It was great fun writing this report!

[marcus.ka]

Thank you for your feedback.

Are you allready planing another trip?

[TheNewMrsB]

What great reviews! We will also be dining at the Coral Reef, Flying Fish and Artist Point for the first time next month, and are already big fans of Narcoosee's, Cali Grill and Yachtsman's (not to mention DH's obsession with The Big Kahuna!), so I've had a terrific time going through your reports of your meals there.

I simply cannot believe you LOST WEIGHT! I'm so jealous. But I also have an addiction to the cookies at the Polynesian and have a bad habit of picking up one...or two...in the afternoon. Can't imagine why I always gain a few pounds...:confused3 haha

I have to say, I'm disappointed that the tuna tartare is no longer on the menu at FF :mad:. I'm drooling over your picture/description! Maybe they'll put it back on...they have 7 weeks to do so! Fingers crossed!

[franandaj]

I'm subbing so I can catch up later! love your review so far!

[Patti Q]

I am subbing so I can read later!

[AshClan]

I'm very very late to the party, but wanted to let you know that I have lurked through this whole report, some when you were writing it, and the last few chapters just this past week, and I LOVED every minute of it. I hope you know that we all appreciate what hard work it is to write such a detailed report, and you did a stellar job!!! I loved all the photos, the ratings, and the final thoughts. And, yes, I am surprised that more readers didn't comment on your excellent command of the English language.

GREAT, GREAT JOB!!!! :thumbsup2

Congratulations on your upcoming cruise/WDW trip! I hope you have as wonderful a trip as you did last time, and look forward to hearing all about it!!

[Rekenna]

:lmao:With the omelet came an unsweetened muffin type of thing called a Buttermilk Biscuit that I tried but did not finish, as it did not do much for me.



Them's fightin words where I come from!:lmao: If you ever come to Kentucky, we eat biscuits at about every meal with everything...I think that was one of the funniest things I have read in a really long time.

BTW-Lovin' your reviews. I wanted to say your written English is very nice-so please no worries there! Most English speaking people I know cannot write or speak English properly-so you are a way above the standard!

You are doing a great job and you and DH looke like a really nice couple!:hug: