Our reviews from 8 days on Dining Plan (sorry no pics) COMPLETE

[jabead]

Our group of 6 (DH, myself, and 4 teenagers) spent Spring Break (March 20 - 27) at Disney World. We were on the DeLuxe Dining Plan for the first 3 days (first 2 nights at the Poly, but we spread out our meals over the first 3 days) and then on the regular Dining for the remaining 5 days (stayed at Boardwalk Inn for 5 nights). We had several very good to great dining experiences, just a few mediocre ones, and happily none that were terrible. Unfortunately, being with 4 teenagers, I was not allowed to take any food pictures. My rare attempts at taking pictures, even outside of the restaurants, were met with groans, so I resigned myself to doing this review without pictures. Sorry for my failure . So anyway, here is a brief overview. We did a lot of meal sharing between the three girls and myself (two of the girls were concerned about still fitting into their prom dresses when they returned, lol) and had no problems doing it at any of the restaurants. In fact, some of the restaurants actually split the meal and served it on two plates. However, my son (age 14) never shared and usually ate most or all of his meal... which was usually some kind of steak, so we definitely got our money's worth from the meal plan with him. Since he ordered steak at almost all of the sit-down meals, I will have him do "rate the steaks" at the end of the review. Our group also tried many different desserts, so might try to come up with a list of our overall favorites.

Reviews for the first 3 days on DeLuxe Dining Plan are complete, with cost vs. value analysis and overall thoughts regarding DeLuxe Dining on Page 2, Post #18. (Also added a TIW vs. DeLuxe Dining cost analysis as an added bonus)


Reviews for the 5 days on regular Dining Plan are complete, with cost vs. value analysis and overall thoughts regarding regular Dining Plan (vs. DeLuxe) on Page 5, Post #66. (Also added a TIW vs. Dining Plan cost analysis as an added bonus)

Short on time and want to cut to the chase? See Page 5, Posts 67 and 68 for a short review of our reviews.


So here is the list of sit-down restaurants we will be reviewing:

1. Narcoossee's (dinner) - Page 1, Post #4
2. Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch) - Page 1, Post #6
3. Kona Cafe (dinner) - Page 1, Post #7
4. San Angel Inn (lunch) - Page 1, Post #10
5. Les Chefs de France (dinner) - Page 1, Post #14
6. Coral Reef (dinner) - Page 2, Post #23
7. Sci-Fi Dine-In (lunch) - Page 2, Post #26
8. Teppan Edo (dinner) - Page 2, Post #30
9. Le Cellier (lunch) - Page 3, Post #36
10. Cinderella's Royal Table (breakfast) - Page 4, Post #46
11. Garden View Lounge (afternoon tea) - Page 4, Post #48
12. Tutto Italia (dinner) - Page 4, Post #53
13. Raglan Road (dinner) - Page 4, Post #58

Counter service meals/snacks include:
1. Captain Cook's (lunch, breakfast) - Lunch Page 1, Post #2, Breakfast Page 1, Post #8
2. Main Street Bakery (breakfast snacks) - Page 1, Post #5
3. Boardwalk Bakery (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) - Page 2, Post #17,#24 (snacks); Page 2, Post #24 and Page 3, Post #32 and #42 (dinners); Page 4, Post #49 (lunch); Page 4, Post #56 (breakfast, snacks)
4. Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafe (lunch, snacks) - Page 2, Post #19
5. Yorkshire County Fish House (dinner) - Page 3, Post #39
6. Tangierine Cafe (dinner) - Page 3, Post #40
7. Wolfgang Puck Express (lunch) - Page 4, Post #57
8. Earl of Sandwich (dinner) - Page 4, Post #59
9. Plaza Ice Cream Parlor (snacks) - Page 4, Post #47
10. Hey Howdy Hey Snack Cart - across from TSM at DHS (snacks) - Page 2, Post #27
11. Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe (snack) - Page 3, Post #37
12. Crepes de Chefs de France Kiosk (snack) - Page 1, Post #11
13. Sommerfest (snack) - Page 1, Post #11
14. Belle Vue Lounge at the BWI (coffee, muffins) - Page 3, Post #34
15. Snack counter in Fantasmic's Hollywood Hills Theater - Page 3, Post #41

Ok, I think that's about it. I'll start the reviews shortly.

 

[jabead]

DAY 1
Our first dining experience was lunch at Captain Cook's at the Poly (our resort for the first 2 nights of our trip).

Highlights: Touch Screen ordering, Aloha Pork Sandwich, poly chips, BBQ chicken flat bread, Dole Whips (mixed pineapple and vanilla)

Disappointments: Pineapple Dole Whips

Would We Return?: Yes

The 6 of us shared 3 meals here and we had plenty of food. I was a little apprehensive about the touch screen ordering (this was our first experience with it) because my son had his heart set on getting the BBQ pork sandwich but he is very picky and didn't want all the stuff that normally comes on it, like cole slaw, cucumber, etc. I didn't think we would be able to place special orders like this using the touch screens. I was pleasantly surprised though that we were given the option to exclude the extra items from his sandwich so the ordering process went very smoothly. So anyway, we ordered 2 Aloha Pork sandwiches (1 plain, 1 regular) both with poly chips and a BBQ chicken flat bread (which was huge and plenty for at least two people, unless you are starving). All of this was very good. We really enjoyed the Polynesian chips, especially the sweet potato ones. Also, with the exception of my son, we preferred the regular pork sandwich with all the toppings (pineapple cole slaw, cheddar cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes) over the plain one. It was a delicious combination of flavors. As for dessert, we tried the famous dole whips, both pineapple and vanilla. At first we were not at all impressed, but then decided to mix the two together. Well, that did the trick! The two together were great

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - Approx. $45 (this included all food plus 2 Fuze Peach Mango drinks and 1 large chocolate milk) or $15 per meal credit.

We also got our 6 Refillable mugs (Approx. cost $80) and immediately used them for 3 sodas.

So 3 meal credits used, 33 more to go!

Next up: Narcoossee's

 

[vinotinto]

So here is the list of sit-down restaurants we will be reviewing:

1. Narcoossee's (dinner)
2. Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)
3. Kona Cafe (dinner)
4. San Angel Inn (lunch)
5. Les Chefs de France (dinner)
6. Coral Reef (dinner)
7. Sci-Fi Dine-In (lunch)
8. Teppan Edo (dinner)
9. Le Cellier (lunch)
10. Cinderella's Royal Table (breakfast)
11. Garden View Lounge (afternoon tea)
12. Tutto Italia (dinner)
13. Raglan Road (dinner)

Counter service meals/snacks include:
1. Captain Cook's (lunch, breakfast)
2. Main Street Bakery (breakfast snacks)
3. Boardwalk Bakery (breakfast, dinner, snacks)
4. Yak & Yeti (lunch, snacks)
5. Yorkshire County Fish House (dinner)
6. Tangierine Cafe (dinner)
7. Wolfgang Puck Express (lunch)
8. Earl of Sandwich (dinner)
9. Main Street Ice Cream Parlor (snacks)
10. Hey Howdy Hey Snack Cart - across from TSM at DHS (snacks)
11. Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe (snack)
12. Crepes de Chefs de France Kiosk (snack)

Ok, I think that's about it. I'll start the reviews shortly.

Signing in! Very interested in the restaurants you'll be reviewing!

We did a lot of meal sharing between the three girls and myself (two of the girls were concerned about still fitting into their prom dresses when they returned, lol) and had no problems doing it at any of the restaurants. In fact, some of the restaurants actually split the meal and served it on two plates.

Definitely interested in where you shared. My DH and I are planning on sharing a couple of non-buffet lunches and having the kids share as well on a couple of days where we're booked for a buffet breakfast, a sit-down lunch and a sit-down dinner.

 

[jabead]

DAY 1
Our next meal was dinner at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian.

Highlights: Table location, Service, Non-alcoholic drinks covered under Dining Plan, Appetizers (especially the shrimp & crab chowder), Main Entrees (especially the filet mignon and whole Maine lobster), Desserts (both the chocolate cake and cheesecake)

Disappointments: Sourdough Bread, Side Dish (Potato Gratin)

Would We Return?: Definitely!

My DH and I took the resort monorail from the Poly to the Grand Floridian (next stop), then walked outside and down to the water where Narcoossee's is located. The 4 teens decided to walk on the beach from the Poly to the Grand Floridian and met us at the restaurant. These were two of the available options to get from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian. We had thought about a third option, taking the small boat that goes between the two resorts and MK but decided against it.

Our dining experience began with a wonderful surprise... we were seated in the center of the restaurant, right next to a window with a fantastic view of the castle. We've eaten here a few times before, but had never been seated at a table by the window . Our reservation was at 7:55 and we were seated around 8:05 p.m. Our very funny and excellent waiter, Tom, then spaced out our meal perfectly so that we had just been served our desserts when the MK fireworks started at 10:00. One side of our table could see the fireworks perfectly, while the other side was slightly blocked by some people standing outside on the deck. This was fine though, as we could have also gone outside to the deck (like most of the people in the restaurant) but chose not to since it was kind of cool and very breezy.

So on to our meal ... we were told that drinks like frozen virgin strawberry daiquiris and pina coladas plus cappuccinos were all covered under the Dining Plan here. This really pleased the teenagers as two of them never drink soda. So for our drinks we got 2 daiquiris, 1 pina colada, 1 soda, 1 cappuccino, and 1 regular coffee. Coffees were served with dessert. Since we were on DeLuxe Dining Plan we were entitled to 6 appetizers but only ordered and shared 4... crab cakes, calamari, and the shrimp & crab chowder. All of these were very good, but our favorite was the chowder. It was delicious! For our 4th appetizer my son ordered the Kid's chicken noodle soup which he said was just okay. Also we were served sourdough bread at this time which looked really good but was pretty boring and flavorless. Next were our entrees... everyone ordered their own for this meal so we had 2 filet mignons (excellent), 2 surf & turfs (very good), 1 chicken breast (very good), and 1 whole maine lobster (excellent). Everyone enjoyed their entrees but nobody liked the potato gratin that came with all the entrees except the chicken. However, the "loaded" mashed potatoes that came with the chicken were really good. We were pretty full at this point but still managed to share 3 desserts ... 2 Valrhona chocolate cakes and an Almond-crusted cheesecake. Both of these desserts were very good.

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - $399.32 or $33.28 per meal credit.
Tip (paid OOP) - $67.49 (Automatic 18% since there were 6 of us)

12 meal credits used (2 per person), 21 more to go!

NOTE: Cost of this meal had we used TIW (20% discount) instead of Dining Plan - $319.45

Next up: Main Street Bakery

 

[jabead]

DAY 2
Main Street Bakery breakfast at Magic Kingdom

Highlights: Cinnamon rolls, frozen latte

Disappointments: None

Would we Return?: Yes

For our first park day, we went to MK so stopped off at Main Street Bakery for breakfast after riding rides for an hour or so. There was a parade going on on Main Street, so once we made our way through the crowds on the street, the bakery was pretty quiet. We only stood in line for a couple of minutes, which is really good for this popular breakfast place. Using snack credits we shared 2 cinnamon rolls (huge and delicious), a chocolate-chocolate chip muffin and chocolate croissant (both good), a frozen latte (very good), and a large milk.

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - Approx. $20 or $3.33 per snack credit

6 snack credits used, 18 more to go!

Next up: Liberty Tree Tavern

 

[jabead]

DAY 2
Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch at Magic Kingdom

Highlights: Tavern Fried Cheese, New England Pot Roast, Cheeseburgers and fries

Disappointments: Crab & Spinach Dip, Desserts, Service

Would We Return?: Maybe, but no dessert (unfortunately there is not very many non-character sit-down restaurants at MK)

Magic Kingdom was very busy this day (Sunday, March 21) so we were very happy that we had a dining reservation here for lunch, as we needed the break. Just a side note, we didn't return again to MK until Friday, March 26 and it was even more crowded on this day. it was probably the busiest we've ever seen it.

Since we had dinner plans tonight at Kona Cafe, we decided to order only 4 meals for the 6 of us to share. Since only the usual soda, coffee, milk etc. were offered, we got only 2 sodas for our drinks. For our 4 appetizers we got the Crab & Spinach Dip for Two (counted as 2 appetizers) and 2 orders of the Tavern Fried Cheese. Although the dip had a good taste, it was served just lukewarm and the pita bread that came with it was cold. If the dip and bread had been served warm this probably would have been very good. I didn't get to taste the fried cheese, but the kids seem to enjoy it a lot. For our entrees, 2 people shared a cheeseburger with bacon and cheddar cheese and fries, 2 people shared the New England Pot Roast, and then we had 2 more cheeseburgers with fries, one with bacon and cheddar cheese and the other with provolone cheese and mushrooms. The shared meals were split and served on two separate plates. Everyone enjoyed their entrees. We were way too full to have 4 desserts but decided we could maybe handle 2 desserts between the 6 of us, as we really wanted to try a couple of the LTT desserts that we had heard about. Well, unfortunately our waiter would not take no for answer and practically insisted that we order 4 desserts. This was the only time that we ran across this problem during our week of meals on the Dining Plan. So we ended up getting 2 of the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cakes and 2 of the Apple tarts. Neither of these were very good. The toffee cake would have been better if served warm, but served cold, as it was to us, it was a huge disappointment. Consequently 2 of these desserts (1 of each) were left nearly untouched.

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - $114.25 or $28.56 per meal credit.
Tip (paid OOP) - $19.31 (Automatic 18% since there were 6 of us)

4 meal credits used, 17 more to go!

NOTE: Cost of this meal had we used TIW (20% discount) instead of Dining Plan - $91.39

Next up: Kona Cafe

 

[jabead]

DAY 2
Kona Cafe dinner at the Polynesian

Highlights: Table Location, Non-alcoholic drinks, Kona bread, Appetizers, Entrees (except for Ribeye steak), Desserts

Disappointments: Ribeye steak, Service

Would We Return?: Probably

We have eaten here several times before, but this was probably our best table location. We were seated against the back wall (far from the noisy, crowded 2nd floor Poly area that this restaurant is open to) with a partition wall to our left making it seem somewhat private. First of all, we decided to order only 5 meals here for the 6 of us. This seemed to confuse our waiter somewhat, but eventually he figured it out. Since specialty drinks and smoothies were included here, we got 3 virgin pina coladas and 2 raspberry smoothies which were all good. We were then served an uncut (my one complaint regarding the bread) loaf of the Kona bread which was very good as usual. For our appetizers, we had sticky wings and sushi from the Kona Sushi Bar. We only asked for one order of the sticky wings but our waiter misunderstood and brought us two. Although they were delicious, the 6 of us were only able to eat one order (each had 2 or 3 wings), as it was very big. My oldest daughter had the sushi for her appetizer. I think it was the Kona combo plate, which was enough sushi to serve as her entree. She said it was very good (and she eats a lot of sushi). For our five entrees, we had 2 Beef Teriyaki sirloin strip steaks and substituted mashed potatoes for the rice, a Pomegranate BBQ Pork Chop, a Chicken entree (as listed on our receipt) which was probably the Coconut Almond Chicken (from looking at online menus) , and a ribeye steak (I think it was called Ginger crusted Ribeye, but it is not listed on online menus). All of these were good except the ribeye steak, which was fatty and had a lot of gristle. The sirloin strip was definitely the better steak here. Sadly, we were only able to eat 3 desserts here between the 6 of us ... we had 2 Banana-chocolate creme brulees and a Kilahuea Torte. Both were delicious!

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - $211.76 or $42.35 per meal credit.
Tip (paid OOP) - $35.79 (Automatic 18% since there were 6 of us)

5 meal credits used, 12 more to go!

NOTE: Cost of this meal had we used TIW (20% discount) instead of Dining Plan - $169.41

Next up: Captain Cook's breakfast

 

[jabead]

DAY 3
Captain Cook's breakfast at the Polynesian

Highlights: Tonga toast

Disappointments: Bacon

Would We Return?: Yes

This was our packing and moving day (as we were transferring to the Boardwalk Inn for the rest of our visit), so there was no time to go to Kona Cafe for a sit-down breakfast. Since I really wanted to have Tonga toast (hadn't had it for several years), I was happy that I was able to get it from Captain Cook's. It was as good as I remembered it! However, the bacon that came with it was not good. In addition to the Tonga toast and bacon we got two drinks for one meal credit. Since we had our refillable mugs for coffee, we chose a Fuze Peach Mango and a large milk for our drinks. In addition, we used 2 snack credits for a chocolate chip muffin and a banana.

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - Approx. $20


1 meal credit used, 11 more to go!
2 snack credits used, 16 more to go!

Next up: San Angel Inn

 

[goldielocksraj]

Thanks for the reviews so far, and the ones to come!

Really have enjoyed the ones so far. I love the details you give, especially the responses to your (very reasonable!) requests.

Several of your meals are the exact restaurant and meal we're going to in December (also on the DxDDP), so it's fun to live vicariously through others!!!!

 

[jabead]

DAY 3
San Angel Inn lunch at Epcot World Showcase (Mexico)

Highlights: Table location, service, Chips and salsa, Appetizers, Entrees, and Desserts

Disappointments: Non-alcoholic drinks like virgin strawberry margaritas were not included in the Dining Plan to the the kids disappointment

Would We Return?: Definitely

We lucked out again and were seated at a table right next to the water. It was so pretty that the kids actually let me take a few pics of them here, but since they aren't of the food I won't embarrass them by posting the pics. My brother-in-law joined us for the next few meals, so this made our checks very complicated but our waiter, Miguel, took it all in stride. We ended up with at least 4 checks I think... the one for everything covered under the dining plan, the one for the 18% tip for items covered under dining plan, our alcoholic drinks (not covered under Dining Plan but used Tables in Wonderland discount of 20%), and brother-in-law's check, and they all seem to be correct so kudos to our waiter.
So on to our meal ... for the 6 of us (not including DBIL) we ordered 5 meals here without any problems. The two girls that shared an entree received an extra plate and divided their meal themselves. For our 5 drinks, we had 2 sodas and 3 coffees with dessert. We were served two baskets of chips and salsa to start with for the 7 of us which were very good. Next came the appetizers... we got 2 orders of chicken tostadas, 2 orders of crab tostadas, and an order of guacamole & chips (which was technically not listed as an appetizer, but they allowed it anyway). These were all delicious! The chips that came with the guacamole were not nearly as good with the guacamole as the ones that came with the salsa though, so we asked for and got more of the nacho chips. For our 5 entrees we got ... 2 orders of the Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo (Chicken enchiladas), 2 orders of the Sirloin Relleno (sirloin steak), and a Pollo Las Rajas (Grilled chicken breast with a delicious white cream sauce). All of these were very good and the side dishes which accompanied them (rice and/or beans in most cases) were good as well. We were so full though that we were only able to eat 4 desserts between the 7 of us. We got 2 orders of ice cream with a delicious caramel topping and 2 orders of a dessert not listed on any of the online menus. It is listed on our check as Fruit Mix but although it did have fruit in it, it was so much more than that. I think our waiter described it as frozen white chocolate mousse with the previously mentioned caramel sauce and several berries. Whatever it was, it was wonderful and probably my favorite dessert of the trip.

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - $193.24 or $38.65 per meal credit.
Tip (paid OOP) - $32.66 (Automatic 18% since there were 7 of us)
3 Alcoholic drinks (2 Dos Equis beers and a frozen strawberry margarita) - $24.52 (including 20% TIW discount and 18% tip)

Saved $5.06 on Alcoholic drinks with TIW

5 meal credits used, only 6 more to go!

NOTE: Cost of this meal had we used TIW (20% discount) instead of Dining Plan - $154.60

Next up: Sommerfest, Crepes de Chefs de France snacks

 

[jabead]

DAY 3

We did a little afternoon snacking around Epcot World Showcase since we still had 16 snack credits left that had to be used by midnight.

First stop was at Sommerfest (Germany) where we got 4 of the salted soft pretzels to share. These were good but not quite as big or good as we had remembered them from previous trips.

Total cost covered under the Dining Plan - $18.28 or $4.57 per snack credit

Next stop was at the Crepes de Chefs de France kiosk (France) where we shared a strawberry crepe and cappuccino. These were just so-so, but we had always wanted to try the crepes here but never had before. So we are glad to have tried one, but probably won't again. There are just too many wonderful desserts at the bakery in France to have instead.

Total cost covered under the Dining Plan - Approx. $8.50 or $4.25 per snack credit

6 Snack credits used, 10 more to go!

Next up: Les Chefs de France

 

[auntfrannie]

Thanks for taking the time to post your reviews. I like the easy to follow format. Keep 'em coming!

 

[nutz2notz]

Great reviews so far. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[jabead]

DAY 3

Chefs De France at Epcot World Showcase

Highlights: Table location, French bread, Cheese Plate, Beef Tenderloin, Salmon, Desserts (except for creme brulee)

Disappointments: Service, Appetizers (except for cheese plate), Rotisserie chicken entree, Macaroni & cheese, creme brulee

Would We Return?: Probably not (too many other great restaurants at Epcot), unless of course my BIL is with us because it's still his favorite Epcot restaurant

We went to Chefs de France for lunch during our last visit two years ago and were not impressed. However, this time my BIL was with us and we were celebrating his birthday. Chefs is his favorite Epcot restaurant so we decided to give it another try, this time going for dinner instead of lunch. I would have to say that we enjoyed the food we had for dinner more than that from our lunch, however it was quite a bit more expensive. IMHO though, it was probably not enough of a difference in the food to warrant the extra expense unless of course you are on the Dining Plan as we were. If that is the case, then I would definitely choose dinner here over lunch for marginally better food and to get more bang for your buck.

Ok, on to the review. Our luck with tables held out once more and we were seated at a table by the window in the front of the restaurant, with a slightly obstructed view of Illuminations. Our reservation was for 7:30 and we were seated after about a 10 - 15 min. wait. We were there until about 9:30 so got to watch Illuminations from our table. It was the first time seeing it for my daughter's friend, so she and my daughter went outside to view it while the rest of us remained inside. Now for the food. Only the usual drinks were available with the Dining Plan except that my oldest daughter was able to get a cappuccino with her dessert. My other daughter really wanted the French orange soda that was listed on the menu but was told it was not available as a drink on the Dining Plan. So for our 6 drinks we had ... 3 sodas, 2 coffees, and a cappuccino. We were then served 2 small loaves of french bread which were good. I seem to remember that last time we were served rolls here, but perhaps I am wrong??? Anyway, next were our appetizers (which we only ordered 5) .... 3 French onion soups, a lobster bisque, and a cheese plate. My daughter really enjoyed the cheeses and fruit which were included on the cheese plate. My DH said the lobster bisque was just okay, nothing special. The French onion soup (which is what I myself had) was not good at all. Once you got through the cheese and bread layers on top (which were good), the broth was pretty much flavorless and the onions were very tough and chewy. For our 6 entrees, 3 of us (including myself) got the grilled tenderloin of beef with black pepper sauce which came with potato gratin and green beans. I think everyone enjoyed this as I don't recall hearing any complaints. I really liked the flavor of the black pepper sauce and the green beans and potato gratin were good. I thought the potato gratin here was better than that served at Narcoossee's. My DH ordered the grilled salmon for his entree. I didn't get to taste it as he was sitting too far away from me, but he said it was very good. DD1 couldn't decided between the salmon or the Macaroni Gratin (macaroni & cheese). Since her dad ordered the salmon, she opted to try the macaroni. This turned out to be a mistake. She said the macaroni dish was just okay but she loved the salmon when she tasted her dad's. Lastly, was the dish which was disliked the most. DD2 who more often than not orders the chicken dish if one is available, did that here and ordered the rotisserie chicken. She did not like it at all. In fact, when I asked her for her opinions before starting these reviews she said all of her entrees were pretty good except for the nasty chicken she had in France, lol. Oh, and speaking of her chicken brought a service issue to my mind. Our main server (the woman who took our orders) was fine here, but the waiters who brought out the food seemed somewhat confused. One of them brought out my daughter's food and only hers. We didn't think too much about it at first, expecting the rest of our food to be brought out shortly. Well, it wasn't. Several minutes went by and still no food for the rest of us. We finely spotted our main server and waved her over to ask her about it. She apologized and a few minutes later the rest of our food arrived. Ok, now on to the desserts. For our 6 desserts we got 2 of the chocolate mousse cakes, a strawberry sorbet, a cinnamon apple crepe topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, profiterolles (puffs with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce), and a creme brulee. These were all very good, however we were somewhat disappointed with the creme brulee. I think on this trip we tried at least 5 different creme brulees and this one ranked only about 3rd or 4th. Being from the French restaurant, I would have expected it to be the best (or at least one of the top two).

Total Cost covered under DeLuxe Dining Plan - $294.27 or $49.05 per meal credit (highest value per DeLuxe Dining credit)
Tip (paid OOP) - $49.74 (Automatic 18% since there were 7 of us)


6 meal credits used, none left for the DeLuxe Dining Plan

NOTE: Cost of this meal had we used TIW (20% discount) instead of Dining Plan - $235.41

Next up: Boardwalk Bakery (to use the rest of our snack credits) and final totals and thoughts for the DeLuxe Dining part of our trip

 

[princessallegra]

Great reviews so far!! Can't wait to read more!!! Sounds like a really great trip!

 

[jabead]

Several of your meals are the exact restaurant and meal we're going to in December (also on the DxDDP), so it's fun to live vicariously through others!!!!

I hear you. I will be living vicariously through all of you on the disboards until our next trip, which unfortunately will probably not be for at least two years.

 

[jabead]

DAY 3
Snacks from Boardwalk Bakery

Highlights: Muffins, Fruit Tarts

Disappointments: None

Would we Return?: Yes

We had 10 snack credits to use (or lose) by midnight and we were now staying at the Boardwalk Inn. So of course we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery on our walk back from Epcot to our room. We ended up doing this a few times this week as we found the bakery to be much less crowded in the evening than it was in the morning (always saw lines out the door in the morning). BTW, if you have never been there, the Boardwalk Bakery is very small and only has tables outside where you can eat. It is, however, very popular (especially in the morning) and in our opinion, for good reason. We frequented the bakery several times during our 5 night stay at the BWI and everything we got here was very good. So here is how we used our remaining 10 snack credits...2 blueberry muffins, 3 chocolate chip muffins, a croissant, an eclair, a fresh fruit tart, a chocolate milk, and a Fuze Peach Mango drink. Most of this was eaten by the 7 of us (DBIL stayed overnight with us this night) for breakfast the next day and it all still tasted fresh and delicious. We especially enjoyed the muffins and my daughter fell in love with the fresh fruit tarts (this was the first of several that she had this week).

Total cost covered under the Dining Plan - $30.29 or $3.03 per snack credit

10 Snack credits used, none left

 

[jabead]

That completes the reviews for the first three days of our 8 day visit in which we had the DeLuxe Dining Plan. For the remaining 5 days of our trip we were on the regular Dining Plan. So crunching the numbers, here were our results...

Total value of food and drinks covered under the DeLuxe DP: $1434.91
Cost of DeLuxe DP for 6 adults for 2 nights: $864.00 or $48 pp per day (credits used over 3 days)
Value received exceeded cost by $570.91

My skeptical DH said I should also take into account what we paid in tips on the Dining Plan for a more accurate cost vs. value analysis.

Total tips paid OOP: $204.99
Value received exceeded cost (including tips) by $365.92

So either way, I strongly believe that the DeLuxe Dining Plan was a good value for our group.

TIW vs. DeLuxe Dining Plan Comparison
Had we used TIW (20% discount) instead of the DeLuxe Dining Plan we would have paid a total of $1192.33 (not including tips) for these three days worth of dining. The tip amount would have been the same since an 18% tip (calculated on your pre-discounted check total) is automatically assessed when you use the TIW discount. So I found it very interesting that we actually saved $328.33 (TIW Total cost of $1192.33 vs. DeLuxe Dining Plan cost of $864) by doing the Dining Plan.

Would we have eaten this extravagantly ($58 lobster, desserts at every meal, and my son ordering steak at almost every meal) had we not been on the Dining Plan?
Definitely not. But it was so much fun to do so for a few days at the reasonable cost of $48 pp per day (reasonable by Disney standards anyway). With a group of 6 we had the flexibility to share meals, appetizers, and desserts which definitely cut down on wasted food. Although we rarely ordered all the food that we were entitled to with the DeLuxe Dining Plan (therefore probably didn't maximize the value), we ate most of the food that we did order and enjoyed it.

Could we have eaten this way (DeLuxe Dining) for the entire week?
No, I don't think we could have kept up this pace for more than the first few days. Luckily, we had already decided that we wanted to split our week between two resorts so it worked out perfectly for us to divide up our Dining Plan with 2 nights on DeLuxe and 5 nights on regular.

Would we do the DeLuxe Dining Plan again?
We have no regrets and if the opportunity should arise for us to do a few days again on the DeLuxe Plan I think we would definitely do it.

Next up: Our 5 days on the regular Dining Plan beginning with Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafe

 

[jabead]

NOTE: For the next 5 days (5 night stay at BWI) we switched to the regular Dining Plan. Also only 5 of us were on the plan since my DH was planning on not being with us for at least a couple of our remaining sit-down meals. This was easily done since we had two rooms at the BWI for the 6 of us. So we did one of the rooms as a room only reservation (no Dining Plan) with just DH on it.
Okay, now on to the reviews...

DAY 4
Lunch at Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafe at Animal Kingdom

Highlights: Shrimp Lo Mein

Disappointments: None

Would we Return?: Yes

We had originally planned on having lunch at Flametree BBQ, but we had just finished our 2nd ride on Expedition Everest and it was lunch time and we were hungry. As we were walking by Yak & Yeti the smell of good food and the short lines enticed us to change our plans. We had previously eaten at the sit-down Yak & Yeti restaurant but never at the counter service. We were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. We used 7 counter service credits here (my BIL was still with us for this meal) and got 3 orders of Shrimp Lo Mein, 3 orders of Sweet 'n Sour Pork, and an order of Honey Chicken for our entrees. For desserts we got 2 chocolate cakes, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 2 frozen lemonades, and a mango mini pie. For drinks we got 5 large (automatically given larges here) sodas, a large fruit punch and a bottle of Dasani water. Everything was really good here, as I heard no complaints whatsoever and all the food was eaten. I especially liked the shrimp lo mein.

Total cost covered under the Dining Plan - $121.73 or $17.39 per counter service credit

7 counter service credits used, 18 left

We also used 2 snack credits here for 2 orders of pork egg rolls (2 egg rolls per order). They were very good.

Total cost covered under the Dining Plan - $8.50 or $4.25 per snack credit

2 snack credits used, 23 left

Next up: Coral Reef

 

[Belle5]

Really enjoying your reviews! I will keep my eye out for that dessert at San Angel.