Here's what a little PIXIE DUST can do ....... a dining review+pics COMPLETED!!!!!

[dizneeat]

Day 17, Aug 31

Lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Express

It was time to return to Disney today, but we wanted to do one last round of rides at UO!
So we had some breakfast of leftovers from the day before, packed up the rest of our stuff, checked out of the hotel and loaded everything into the car before we walked down to the parks one more time.

We arrived right after the parks had opened and since we planned on hitting both parks we were ready to use our Universal Express again. We went on our favourite rides and were done within an hour and 40 minutes. We checked on Rip Ride Rock it, but it was supposed to open later that morning, so we skipped it.

We thought about going over to IOA, but then the thought of checking into Old Key West won!!
So we took the boat back to the resort, walked to the car and off we went! We drove right over to Old Key West, checked in and lucked out big time, since a one bedroom villa was already waiting for us! We were on the third floor with a view of the golf course and as we should later discover a view of the Epcot fireworks and a glimpse of Wishes!

By that time we were starving and we had just received our key to free disney dining, so off we went to our preferred counter service location, Wolfgang Puck's Express. Downtown Disney was packed, but we found a spot quite close to the restaurant and got in line to order our food. We could not believe it, but the server we had before the cruise was still there and she remembered us and took REALLY good care of us!

Now, on to the food!

Tom got the Rigatoni with Chicken Alfredo - fresh artisan rigatoni tossed in Alfredo sauce and sliced all-natural roasted chicken breast, topped with fresh Grana Padano parmesan. This is always a favourite and it is a HUGE portion, lots of chicken and pasta in a creamy sauce. And even some focaccia bread to mop up any leftover sauce.

Tom's entree came with a petite Caesar Salad. Fresh crisp romaine lettuce with creamy caesar dressing and home made croutons - right what the doctor ordered!

I had been longing for another one of the Spicy Chicken Pizzas for a long time - all natural chicken, roasted red and yellow peppers, mozzarella, tomoatoes, leeks, crushed red chilis and fresh cilantro! I was in heaven.

Dessert was my favourite Creme Brulee!

And the best of all of it? It was all FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what did we actually cost Disney?
2 CS credits (22 remain) = $ 44,80
24 TS credits remain
24 snack credits remain

Next up - a very special dinner at the California Grill

 

[dizneeat]

Okay...now you've gone and done it. I was not having dessert after my lunch because I have to go to the dentist after work and I was trying to be good. Now, I'm going to head to my hidden stash of chocolate becuase you made me hungry/drooling over the pictures of those cakes. LOVE EM!

Oh, I am SO sorry! I better go and punish myself with a dark chocolate chili truffle!

 

[KatMark]

You are so evil.

 

[Stefy]

I have just gone through the whole thread and can I just say WOW!

30 days!! I am so jealous

I have enjoyed reading your reviews so far and the DCL looks so awesome! You really lucked out have Michele as your server. How nice to have someone so friendly and helpful to share your happy times

Palo's brunch looks sooooooo good, I just said to my DF that it would all be about the desserts for me

I can't believe you did two dessert parties, how cool are you Looks like alot of fun and lots of yummy desserts to choose from

Looking forward to reading more

 

[DaveInTN]

Karin - please stop this thread. I'm gaining weight just reading it.

What's going to happen to me when I get to Disney in 9 days?? All bets are off!!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Glad you joined us!
We LOVE our Disney days! And actually I DO LOVE planning my trips, so much that I always need to book/have booked another one when we go on vacation, so I get something to look forward to when we get back home

That definitely explains me! I have already started planning our next trip to WDW and we don't leave for this one for about 4 weeks. Luckily, I have some how managed to convince my DH that a yearly Disney trip is the way to go! How? I have no idea!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Mmmm....not only do I have to drool over Disney dining that I can only get in WDW but now you girls have me drooling over places I can drive to. I.E. Starbucks and Olive Garden. At least I can't gain weight reading the reviews (or can you?! )! Forget the light Carmel Fraps, I get EXTRA carmel. Mmm!!!!!

 

[dizneeat]

You are so evil.

I have just gone through the whole thread and can I just say WOW!

30 days!! I am so jealous

I have enjoyed reading your reviews so far and the DCL looks so awesome! You really lucked out have Michele as your server. How nice to have someone so friendly and helpful to share your happy times

Palo's brunch looks sooooooo good, I just said to my DF that it would all be about the desserts for me

I can't believe you did two dessert parties, how cool are you Looks like alot of fun and lots of yummy desserts to choose from

Looking forward to reading more

I am so glad you joined us! DCL is just wonderful! It took us quite some time to finally decide to go on a cruise, but we are HOOKED now! 2 more cruises in 2010 and I am already planning for 2011!
And Palo is just the best, especially if you have someone like Michele creating a little extra magic!

More reviews coming up - and I am ashamed to say, there is even a third dessert party review!

Karin - please stop this thread. I'm gaining weight just reading it.

What's going to happen to me when I get to Disney in 9 days?? All bets are off!!

I am sorry Dave, but didn't you know that there are NO calories in Disney food?
Have a fun time at Disney - it is wonderful during the Christmas season! Lucky YOU!!!!

That definitely explains me! I have already started planning our next trip to WDW and we don't leave for this one for about 4 weeks. Luckily, I have some how managed to convince my DH that a yearly Disney trip is the way to go! How? I have no idea!

Mmmm....not only do I have to drool over Disney dining that I can only get in WDW but now you girls have me drooling over places I can drive to. I.E. Starbucks and Olive Garden. At least I can't gain weight reading the reviews (or can you?! )! Forget the light Carmel Fraps, I get EXTRA carmel. Mmm!!!!!

Disney Planners unite!!!
I have two trips to get the details into place at the moment! And I am already thinking about 2011!
We were really happy with our non Disney food last summer as well. Even though Disney food is the BEST!
I think it is just that little sprinkle of Pixie Dust that makes it so tasty!

 

[dizneeat]

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

We booked both sets of flights today, for February and August/September! They did not come cheap, but at least it is one more step towards two more visits to our favourite mouse!

 

[KatMark]

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

We booked both sets of flights today, for February and August/September! They did not come cheap, but at least it is one more step towards two more visits to our favourite mouse!

 

[dizneeat]

Thank you for sharing my/our excitement. Booking the flights is always a milestone as we need to wait for an affordable fare!

 

[dizneeat]

Still day 17, Aug 31

Dinner at the California Grill

After our lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Express we spent quite some time at Downtown Disney, browsing through the stores and enjoying the smells and sounds before we went shopping for more groceries!
We spent a little time enjoying our villa and then finally got ready to go to the California Grill to meet our server friend Ron and have a lovely dinner.

We had the car parked at the Contemporary (don't you just love the valet parking perk that comes with the Tables in Wonderland card?) and checked in on the second floor and were told it would take a little longer, since we had asked to be seated in Ron's part of the restaurant. We went out onto the viewing area, took a few photos and then went to wait inside the restaurant. After about 35 minutes our table was ready and waiting for us!

There were Mickey confetti everywhere and it was one of those nice little tables for two overlooking the Magic Kingdom.
Ron came right after we had been seated and we had a little chat and he promised to pace our meal just right, so we could watch the fireworks from our table.

I ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri and a Diet Coke, Tom didn't want a drink since he had to drive, so he stuck to the Diet Coke.

We decided on sharing a flatbread as our starter, the "BLT" - with Heirloom Tomatoes, Applewood Bacon, Provolone, Crisp Romaine, and Lemon Mayonnaise. It was heaven on earth. What a wonderful combination. We loved it!!

After we had finished our starter Ron brought out some warm sourdough bread.

And a small container full of butter with rock salt on top.

There was quite some time to munch on the bread before the main courses came out.

I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin - with goat cheese polenta, button mushrooms and zinfandel glaze, an old favourite. This is something I ALWAYS get The pork is pink in the center, so tender it melts in your mouth and the polenta, mushrooms and sauce accompany it so well! Yum, I want some now!

Tom loves his fish, so he had the Florida Stone Bass with Gnocchi, Wild Mushrooms, Bacon, Almonds, Edamame, Grilled Romaine, Vidalia Soubise. OH MY GOD, was it good!!!!!!! The Bass was crisp on the outside and moist and tender on the inside and the Gnocchi were just heavenly. What a wonderful combination.

Before Ron brought out the desserts he brought Tom a double espresso and two biscotti! Very strong espresso and the biscotti were just devine with it.

Tom got the "Trio of Temptation". Cheesecake with Pistachio Cookie and Chocolate Banana Sauce, White Chocolate Mousse with Passion Fruit Purèe, and California Strawberries with Mojito “Sabayon”. He always tells me that he is NOT a sweets person, but he really loved his desserts, even though he just could not finish them all!

I had the Sweet Celebration, "Peaches and Cream"…California Peaches, Dulce De Leche Cake, and Panna Cotta. A rather unusual dessert for me, as I mostly go for the chocolatey things on the menu, but I can tell you that was GOOD!!!!

Ron made sure we got some extra decorations on our plates

and on our table!

He even asked a young lad from the table next to us to take a photo of all of us!

We paid cash for this dinner, so no free dining for us that evening!

Next up - Artists Palette at the Saratoga Springs Resort

 

[Stefy]

I am so glad you joined us! DCL is just wonderful! It took us quite some time to finally decide to go on a cruise, but we are HOOKED now! 2 more cruises in 2010 and I am already planning for 2011!
And Palo is just the best, especially if you have someone like Michele creating a little extra magic!

More reviews coming up - and I am ashamed to say, there is even a third dessert party review!

Wow, you really are hooked. We are thinking about doing a DC for our honeymoon, we are getting married in 2011 so I am hoping we can go to Disney shortly thereafter. Are you going to try out the new Disney Dream?

Nothing to be ashamed of, I have heard the dessert parties are really good and if you really enjoy them that much then why not

One step closer to Disney, glad you got the flights out of the way. I find that those are what you want to get rid of ASAP as you have to pay up front and get in there early for good seats etc

Cali Grill looks yumma and another great CM/Server

Man I'm hungry now

 

[dizneeat]

Wow, you really are hooked. We are thinking about doing a DC for our honeymoon, we are getting married in 2011 so I am hoping we can go to Disney shortly thereafter. Are you going to try out the new Disney Dream?

Nothing to be ashamed of, I have heard the dessert parties are really good and if you really enjoy them that much then why not

One step closer to Disney, glad you got the flights out of the way. I find that those are what you want to get rid of ASAP as you have to pay up front and get in there early for good seats etc

Cali Grill looks yumma and another great CM/Server

Man I'm hungry now

Yes, we definitely are hooked on DCL! We never thought of going on a second cruise and here we are sitting and cannot wait until our back to back on the Wonder!
And the Disney Dream is my reason why our plans of doing an Alaskan cruise went overboard. I really would LOVE to go cruise on the Dream! We'll see!

And it's good to see someone who understands about the flights! They are always such an amount of money to shell out and Lufthansa usually does not lower its prices, but I got quite a good deal on both sets of flights! , so that really IS a HUGE step forward.

And since you are hungry - I better get another review up!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 18, Sept 1

Lunch at Artist's Palette at Saratoga Springs Resort

We got up rather late after our first night at Old Key West. I had read an enormous amount of menus to find a few counter service places that served "different" food items and I got interested in Artist's Palette, but we left too early for lunch and had some time to kill before we were able to drive to Saratoga Springs.
So we made a stop at Downtown Disney to check out the new balloon they have there. There has been one in Disneyland Paris for some time and we LOVE to go on it and enjoy the view, so we were really happy to see that we were able to go on a flight without any wait!

After the flight, which I really recommend to anyone, who can handle heights, we spent a little more time at Pleasure Island before we got into the car again and drove over to Saratoga Springs. It took us quite a while to find the Artist's Palette! It was very inviting and the CMs were so friendly and helpful.

We ordered a Buffalo Chicken Flatbread, which was unusual but very good. Crisp thin base, a good amount of chicken and well seasoned.

The other thing that intrigued me was the Cheeseburger Flatbread! Another thin and crispy base with hamburger meat, cheese, lettuce, mayo and ketchup. It was an unusual taste, but none the less very nice.

Since we were on the DDP, we were entitled to a dessert.

So here is what we got!

I had the carrot cake. We don't have anything like it with the icing, so I really like that dessert. The cake itself is moist and the icing sweet and thick, just what I wanted.

Tom decided to get "some" pudding. Well, it was NOT what we expected!

What he got was "worms in the dirt"!! We only discovered when he started eating his dessert! The chocolate pudding was VERY sweet and together with the very sweet "worms" it was just TOO sweet. He had a few spoonfuls and even though I thought it was a nice idea, he did not eat much of it!

We both got a diet coke to wash it all down!

So what did we actually cost Disney?
2 CS credits WPE = $ 44,80
2 CS credits Artist's Palette = $ 28,70
together = 73,50 (20 remain)
24 TS credits remain
24 snack credits remain

Next up - dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[klacey1]

You post reviews so quickly! I love!
That pork at Cali Grill looks heavenly.

 

[MickeyNicki]

You are so evil.

I have been saying that for weeks, where have you been?

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

We booked both sets of flights today, for February and August/September! They did not come cheap, but at least it is one more step towards two more visits to our favourite mouse!

That is fantastic! Loved your Cali Grill reviews...wish I ate there tonight instead of Jiko. That balloon ride looks awesome, got to put that on my to do list!

 

[Stefy]

Yes, we definitely are hooked on DCL! We never thought of going on a second cruise and here we are sitting and cannot wait until our back to back on the Wonder!
And the Disney Dream is my reason why our plans of doing an Alaskan cruise went overboard. I really would LOVE to go cruise on the Dream! We'll see!

And it's good to see someone who understands about the flights! They are always such an amount of money to shell out and Lufthansa usually does not lower its prices, but I got quite a good deal on both sets of flights! , so that really IS a HUGE step forward.

And since you are hungry - I better get another review up!

Well maybe we will see you on the Dream in 2011

We are from London so we fly with Virgin and their flights are quite expensive too. They do some pretty good deals as well, but I find that if I leave it too late to wait for these deals availability might not be so good.

Our window has opened up for us to book our flights for next year and I am in two minds whether to wait a while and see if any deals come up, or just go straight ahead and book

Those flatbreads look yumma Lol to Tom's dessert, really does look like earthworm pudding

The balloon in DLP is pretty cool, but it must be even better in WDW as the parks are much bigger and spaced out, did you take any pics from the balloon?

Looking forward to more

 

[Linda67]

Still day 17, Aug 31

Dinner at the California Grill

After our lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Express we spent quite some time at Downtown Disney, browsing through the stores and enjoying the smells and sounds before we went shopping for more groceries!
We spent a little time enjoying our villa and then finally got ready to go to the California Grill to meet our server friend Ron and have a lovely dinner.

I've hear so much about Ron
We have an ADR at CG in March, do you just ask at check in to be seated in his section?
Can you ask if it is possible to wait for a window seat at the same time?
Our ADR is at 7.30pm and Wishes isn't until 10pm so we are in no rush and in fact would rather sit down later so that we can see Wishes (don't think we would be abel to make our dinner last from 7.30 - 10 )

 

[KatMark]

i have been saying that for weeks, where have you been?

following the food queen!!!!