"Lets Be Dinosaurs In Front of the Castle" - A Disneymoon Dining Report - Update 10/24 X2

naylor90 · Oct 6, 2015

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my very first dining report! I've been a long time lurker on the Disboards and decided to use my recent Disneymoon as my first dining report.

My husband (Marty) and I were down in the World for 8 days/7 nights from August 31 to September 7. We stayed at the Beach Club and were lucky enough to participate in the free dining promotion.

If you're wondering about the report title, we had the Memory Maker package for our trip (as a couple it can be difficult to get pictures with the two of us) and on our first night we were hitting every Photopass photographer we could find. As we're taking photos in front of the castle, Marty yells "Let's be dinosaurs in front of the Castle!" loudly, and thus begin his streak of trying to take "different" photos and the photographers just staring at us like we're weird (which we are!).

Here's the picture:

As this was Marty's first time at WDW I tried to plan a wide-variety of fun dining adventures. We found that the DDP was a lot of food for us, especially with the CS portions. I've found everytime I participate in the DDP I end up "wasting" snack credits.

We also ordered a fair amount of groceries from Garden Grocer (huge recommendation from us!). We purchased a few snack-y things, and a large case of bottles of water (which we drank all of!).

I also wanted to mention that I didn't take photos for a few of our meals (the signatures) as I felt a little bit awkward in the nicer restaurants - for my next trip I'm going to get over this!

So our dining line up for the week looked like this:

Day 0: (Travel Day)
Breakfast: Coffee Culture
Lunch: McDonalds/wedding snacks
Dinner: Bob Evans

Day 1:
Breakfast: Starbucks at the airport
Lunch: Beaches and Cream
Snack: Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie
Dinner: Columbia Harbour House
Special Event: Wishes Dessert Party

Day 2:
Breakfast: Beach Club Marketplace
Lunch: Wild Africa Trek included lunch
Snack: Mickey ice cream bars
Dinner: California Grill

Day 3:
Breakfast: Tusker House
Lunch: Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie
Dinner: Via Napoli

Day 4:
Breakfast:Main Street Bakery
Lunch: Be Our Guest
Dinner: Pizza Planet

Day 5:
Breakfast: Cinderella's Royal Table
Lunch: Popcorn at AMC Theatre
Snack: Ghiardelli
Dinner: Yachtsmen Steakhouse

Day 6:
Breakfast: Starring Rolls Cafe
Lunch: Backlot Express
Dinner: Rose & Crown

Day 7:
Breakfast: Beach Club Marketplace
Snack: Sunshine Seasons
Lunch: La Cantina de San Angel
Dinner:Beach Club Marketplace
Snack: Sleepy Hollow/The Plaza Ice Cream Parlour/Popcorn

Day 8:
Breakfast: Beach Club Marketplace
Snack: Artisans de la Glace
Lunch: McDonald's in the airport

So that was our dining line up for the week. We had some amazing meals, and we have some less than stellar ones as well. Where appropriate I'll insert some comments from Marty as well describing his dishes.

Let's get started!

naylor90 · Oct 6, 2015

Day 0: Travel Day (August 30)

I'll sum up the food from our travel day into one post since I unfortunately forgot to take any photos.

The day after our wedding was a surprisingly busy day. Our plan was to have breakfast with Marty's parents, swing by my parents and open some cards, deposit any cheques we had received, and then grab our bags and hit the road.

Our flight to Orlando on the 31st was scheduled for pretty early in the morning, and we live about an hour way from the Detroit Airport (that estimate is if the Bluewater Bridge traffic isn't a nightmare). To save us from having to get up even earlier the day of our flight, we had booked a room at a hotel near the airport and was using their Park-Stay-Fly package.

Breakfast - Coffee Culture

We got up pretty early the Sunday - probably still coming down from the excitement of the day before - and got ourselves ready. We had breakfast at a nearby Coffee Culture to our apartment with Marty's dad, his stepmom, and a few other of his relatives. Coffee Culture is basically another version of Starbucks and Tim Horton's. We prefer here because (in Marty's opinion) the coffee is better and the food is marginally better.

I had woken up starving so I opted for the Protein Power Bagel on a whole wheat bagel. It's basically an egg, avocado spread, tomatoes, and cheese toasted on a bagel. Marty had the same thing but had his on an Asiago cheese bagel. We both were pleasantly surprised with our breakfasts. They weren't greasy, and totally hit the spot. I was hoping that by having such a big breakfast I wouldn't be hungry again until dinner-time. Well I was wrong because this was the day I could not get full.

After breakfast and coffee, we said goodbye to his parents and headed back to the car to head to my parent's to say goodbye and open presents. Once we did that and had hit the bank, we grabbed our luggage and headed out of town...

Or so that was the plan.

Lunch - McDonald's

We needed to make a pit stop at the Golden Arches (a.k.a McDonald's).

Marty had a coffee and a cheeseburger and I had a cheeseburger and some water. We both split a small fry. This trip was off to a really healthy start! In all honesty, I love McDonald's, you know exactly what you are getting. I enjoy consistency with my food.

We had an uneventful drive, and soon we found ourselves checking into the Fairfield Inn and Suites Detroit (great hotel, totally recommend it for anyone flying out of the Wayne County Airport). I had done some research on what restaurants were close by and had found a Bob Evans within a 5 minute drive. So we headed off there for dinner!

Dinner - Bob Evans

Now, I love Bob Evans as much as McDonald's. We don't have this chain here in Canada, so it was always a treat when I could eat at the one in Port Huron whenever we were in the States.

Marty and I both selected breakfast for dinner, 'cause I mean what else would you have?

I had the plain buttermilk waffles, a side of breakfast potatoes, and a side of bacon. All of which were yummy, with the potatoes being more greasy than needed.

Marty had a standard breakfast, eggs, toast, potatoes. He also asked for a side of french toast, but the waitress misunderstood him and gave him a whole order. We should have corrected it with her, because we were charged the whole order price on the bill, but he ate most of the order anyway so we felt bad making a stink about it.

All in all, the food was good, but we were looking forward to some Disney food the next day!

Up next: We get to Disney and I promise some pictures.

chocolateMinnie · Oct 6, 2015

Congratulations - can't wait for the rest of your reviews and I LOVE the photo - what fun!

AllyinWonderland · Oct 6, 2015

Congratulations!!! I am looking forward to following along!

tluvstink · Oct 6, 2015

I love McDonalds too! You're off to a great start!

Terri

naylor90 · Oct 7, 2015

Mon. Aug. 31 - Day 1 - Beaches and Cream

Finally! We've reached Disney food.

Our flight to MCO was set to take off around 8:30. We grabbed some breakfast from Starbucks in the airport. If I remember correctly I got the pumpkin loaf (sorry no pictures!)

We landed around 11, go our bags and headed to the Magical Express (minor detour to find a lost phone - thank you to whoever turned in my iPhone!). After a bit of a wait we were off to the Beach Club (after stopping at CB, Boardwalk, YC, then BC). We were checked in, and headed to our room.

We had a 2:00 ADR for Beaches & Cream but wanted to try our luck getting seated early. We arrived about 30 minutes prior to our ADR, and they asked if we wanted to be seated at the bar. We said "no problem" since we were starving!

Here's a shot of our view from the bar.

And some menu shots.

Unfortunately I was so hungry that I didn't take any photos of the food. Marty ordered a raspberry Coke and I had a cherry Coke. Both of us loved the real syrup in the Coke, and it was amazing to have cherry Coke again, they don't sell in in Canada anymore.

I had the hot dog and fries. Simple, yet perfect. I could have eaten those fries all day. I was very happy with my meal.

Marty had the Chicken Sandwich. The menu describes it as "Grilled Herb Chicken Breast topped with Brie Cheese, Cucumber, and Frisee tossed with Raspberry Vinaigrette on a Fresh-baked Multi-grain Bun served with House-made Pickles and choice of French Fries or Fruit."

Marty loved his fries, like I had. However, the sandwich was kind of a bust for him. The chicken breast was good he said, with a lot of flavour, and the brie was alright, but something tasted "off". At the time, he said there was another flavour of cheese that he couldn't discern (now with clarity he thinks it tasted sort of like gorgonzola). He wouldn't order this specific dish again, but he would go back and try something else.

We decided to skip dessert in favour of hitting our first park for a sweet treat.

While we were eating, there was some ladies next to us who had ordered a No Way Jose and no joke, they ate at it all throughout our meal and didn't even come close to finishing it.

We were also lucky enough to see a family order the Kitchen Sink. The show they put on when bringing it out, plus being able to watch them make it at the bar was a lot of fun.

All in all, we had a great time here for our first official Disney meal. Even with Marty not loving his sandwich, we'd go back, he would just order differently.

Up next: a sweet treat at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie.

vettegirl · Oct 7, 2015

Congrats on your wedding!! We too just returned from the BC but didn't get to try B&C, your review does sound delicious. I have have seen the kitchen sink once at DL and its a masterpiece for sure :goodvibes

Vernie822 · Oct 7, 2015

Yum! We enjoyed Beaches and Cream too. We had the no way jose and there is no way my fiance and I could finish it all. How awesome that you got to see the Kitchen Sink show.

I looooove the bakery in France!

DisneyJo · Oct 7, 2015

Sounds like a great start to your honeymoon. Congrats :goodvibes

twinkybel81 · Oct 7, 2015

Welcome and congratulations! Looking forward to following along.

auntfrannie · Oct 8, 2015

You have some great places on your list; looking forward to reading about your experiences. I will someday have to get myself over to Beaches & Cream!

archdandy · Oct 8, 2015

Following along for your reviews!

MagentaMulan · Oct 8, 2015

Following!

naylor90 · Oct 9, 2015

chocolateMinnie said:
Congratulations - can't wait for the rest of your reviews and I LOVE the photo - what fun!

Thanks so much!

AllyinWonderland said:
Congratulations!!! I am looking forward to following along!

Thanks so much for following along!

tluvstink said:
I love McDonalds too! You're off to a great start!

Terri

Yes! Another McDonald's lover, welcome!

vettegirl said:
Congrats on your wedding!! We too just returned from the BC but didn't get to try B&C, your review does sound delicious. I have have seen the kitchen sink once at DL and its a masterpiece for sure

Congratulations on your recent BC stay, I've lurked on your last few dining reports and have enjoyed them so much!

Vernie822 said:
Yum! We enjoyed Beaches and Cream too. We had the no way jose and there is no way my fiance and I could finish it all. How awesome that you got to see the Kitchen Sink show.

I looooove the bakery in France!

Thanks for joining in! I sort of wish we had tried the No Way Jose, it looked amazing!

DisneyJo said:
Sounds like a great start to your honeymoon. Congrats

Thank you so much!

twinkybel81 said:
Welcome and congratulations! Looking forward to following along.

Thanks for joining in!

auntfrannie said:
You have some great places on your list; looking forward to reading about your experiences. I will someday have to get myself over to Beaches & Cream!

Welcome! Beaches and Cream was a lot of fun, and the food was good. Great atmosphere.

archdandy said:
Following along for your reviews!

Welcome and thanks for joining in!

MagentaMulan said:
Following!

Welcome

nataliej_vk · Oct 10, 2015

Congradulations!!! Will be following along as we are neighbors! I live in Chatham, and fly from Detroit all the time! We leave in 56 days!!!!! Can't wait but reports like yours keep me in line!

naylor90 · Oct 11, 2015

Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie

Thank you to everyone is following along! I promise there will be more photos of actual food as we get this dining report moving along.

One of the best things about staying at the Beach Club is the easy access to the World Showcase. After a short 5 minute walk, Marty and I were entering our first park of the trip - actually this was Marty's first WDW park ever!

While he took in the sights, I was on a mission. While I was planning this trip, I had done extensive research on where to eat, and had picked out Les Halles immediately as somewhere I had to go to!

If you've ever been inside Les Halles you know that it is beautiful. It wasn't busy inside the glass case area, so we could take our time selecting our delicious treat.

Some of the yummy treats that were enticing us that day.

All week we couldn't get over the size of these meringues. I've never seen anyone order these, let me know if you have!

We made our decisions and paid at the register. Marty's choice counted as a snack on the DDP, whereas mine didn't.

The eating area was pretty crowded that afternoon, so we had to stand at one of the tall tables in the back. Fine by us, we didn't care!

So for my choice, I had something I had been eyeing online for months. The lime and raspberry macaron.

Isn't it beautiful???

Unfortunately, these beautifulness of the dessert, didn't come through in the last. The raspberry and lime made for an extremely tart combination - which I should have realized. The macaron itself seemed to be struggling in the Florida humidity and didn't have that crispness that usually accompanies a French macaron. I was a bit disappointed with our first taste of the famed French bakery - however, we had a much more successful meal there later in the week.

Marty selected the chocolate éclair.

And a cross-section:

Marty's thoughts: "It was good. It seemed a little dry, I think I was expecting a more gooey centre. It was good though. If you like chocolate, this is definitely for you!"

I tried a bite of his éclair and I can appreciate the pastry of it, it was very light. I think Marty was expecting the chocolate centre to be more like a ganache.

After we finished our treats, it was back to the room to prepare for our night at the Magic Kingdom.

Up Next: Columbia Harbour House.

auntfrannie · Oct 11, 2015

I don't think I've ever seen those meringues before. I might have to try one on my next trip.

GoofySon'sMom · Oct 11, 2015

Congratulations! Definitely will be following along! :coffee:

kastoney · Oct 11, 2015

Just finding your report and following along. Can't wait to see what you have in store.

jerseytinkerbell · Oct 14, 2015

Congrats! Sounds like an awesome trip. Can't wait to read more!

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