What Do You Mean It's Time To Eat Again? A DxDDP Pictorial Upd. 11/1 Chefs de France!

[Dolce27]

OK.. I’ve officially made the decision to detour to AKL after my half day at AK for lunch at Mara. The chicken pita looks wonderful and I'd like to give the zebra domes another try. I ate at Boma during my last trip in 2006 and I was disappointed in the zebra domes. But then again, it may have been because I had too high of expectations after reading the DIS so much. So, I think they deserve another try...

Keep the report going.. so far so good!

[Darth Cupcake]

Can't wait for more!!! Thanks for taking the time to indulge us all!

[kelleigh1]

I'm salivating for more.

But really "a little less bacon"? You can never have too much bacon. Bacon is the reason I'll never be a vegetarian.

[fishteam]

[butiflfeet]

Mmmmmmm... that chicken pita looks so good! Thanks for the reviews, I can't wait for more!

[TarheelPrincess]

Great start! I'm looking forward the rest of your review.

[hushupu]

Looking forward to this report as we are thinking of going with the DxDDP on our trip next summer

[Nicole721]

Day 1: A quick dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express and some sweets from Goofy's

After our trip to POP, we hopped on a bus back to DTD for some shopping and pin trading. We made our way around DTD for a little over an hour before DM was hungry for dinner. We were going to go to Earl of Sandwich because it's all she had talked about since our trip in May (she always orders the Caprese and craved one for our entire trip but we were always too full to go get one) but we decided to try something different, so we headed over to Wolfgang Puck Express.

And it was PACKED. I forgot how 9:30 pm on a regular night in Disney World is unlike 9:30 pm out near us (we live just outside Chicago and there aren't many options for dinner past 10 pm on a weeknight!). DSis went to snag us a table while DM and I got in line to order.

DMom ordered the Margherita Pizza, which had a tomato-basil garlic sauce, mozzarella and parmesan, Roma tomatoes and fresh basil (thanks to AllEars for the descriptors!). Being from Chicago, we know good pizza. To me, good pizza is thick and cheesy, so I didn't care for this (and I didn't like all the basil on it...too garden-ey tasting for me), but DM has a soft spot for thin pizza so she really enjoyed it.


DSis ordered the Roast Beef and Cheddar Foccacia Sandwich (thinly sliced Niman Ranch beef, sharp cheddar, mixed baby greens, tomato, Horseradish sauce and Dijon Aioli). She was really wanted a side of Mac and Cheese and was really looking forward to it and was really upset when the man two people ahead of us in line got the last of it for the night. She thought the sandwich wasn't anything special.


I couldn't decide between the Tortilla Soup (fire-roasted tomatoes, tortilla strips and goat cheese) and the Rotisserie BBQ Beef Fire-Roasted Foccacia Melt (slices of house roasted Niman Ranch rotisserie beef, sautéed mushrooms, carmelized onions and Wolfgang's signature BBQ sauce, topped with mozzarella, rolled in warm, all natural garlic focaccia bread. Served with a side of sour cream slaw), so I got both, thinking it would be a small cup of soup.

Wrong. It was a full meal-sized bowl of soup. It was very rich and very hearty and was really a meal in itself. I didn't even get half-way through.


The BBQ Beef Sandwich was...interesting. It wasn't a sandwich. It was more a small section of beef and onions/mushrooms rolled in garlic bread foccacia with a whole lotta garlic bread foccacia around it. It really could feed two people. I thought it was very tasty, but I really didn't have much room for it and picked at it and took the rest back to the hotel. I also substitued some mixed greens for the coleslaw since I have a major aversion to mayo


Since we weren't on the DxDDP yet, we payed OOP for our meal and for two sandwiches, a pizza, a bowl of soup, and three drinks, it came to just under $50. For a counter-service. Welcome to Disney World.

And no trip to DTD is complete without a visit to Goofy's...even if you're stuffed to your eyeballs. DSis and I both got rice krispy treats (mine with sprinkles and milk chocolate and white chocolate drizzle and hers with M&M's and white chocolate drizzle). Seriously...these babies are huge. It took a good four days to get through it.



We made our way back to the Gaylord Palms for the night and to get some dinner for DGM. There's a 24-hour place in the Gaylord Palms for sandwiches and pastries. DGM wanted a turkey sandwich, so we got her one....to the tune of $9.00. Food at the Gaylord Palms, while good, is SO pricey. We'd love to eat at one of the restaurants there, but we just can't justify the price. The Grab-and-Go is just as outrageously priced. But, DGM didn't want to go out before and she wanted a turkey sandwich, so we happily obliged her.

But for anyone who stays at the Gaylord Palms in the future, a friendly hint. There's a Publix down the street from the Gaylord Palms. At the deli there, they make sandwiches to order. They're less than $4 and very tasty. Not as convenient as hopping down the elevator from your room, but for a $5, much more cost-effective.

After walking around the Gaylord Palms for a bit (it's so gorgeous there), we all headed to bed. The next day was a big one: we were starting our stay at the Grand Floridian and starting our six days of overindulgence!

Up next: A Rowdy Lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe!

[matthew&haleysmom]

Joining in. Thinking of doing the deluxe plan next year. Can't wait to see how it worked out for you.

[inkedupmomma]

thanks for the update.. i really really really can not wait for goofys candy shop!!

[disneyquilter]

I'm so into this Food Report

Awesome pictures, can't wait for more. We are still debating whether or not to do DxDDP or the regular DDP. We love having everything paid for up front so we are almost sold on the Deluxe, but still deciding.

Great job so far!! You may sway us to the Deluxe side of life

[Minniespal]

Excellent

[The Linnenburgers]

Loving your report so far!

My husband and I stayed at Gaylord Palms for Christmas 2006, and hearing you talk about it makes me miss it! The food prices were insane, but the atmosphere was so nice!

Looking forward to your Whispering Canyons review... Did you ask for catsup?

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I'm in!

[Nicole721]

Day 2: A Rowdy Lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe

After a lovely stay at the Gaylord Palms, it was finally time to leave and begin the trip we'd spent months anticipating (and hours upon hours of planning). We checked into the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa around 11 am. As we anticipated, our room wasn't ready yet. We went over to concierge to get a print-out of all of our ADR's (all three pages of them...made the host helping us go ) and to update our four-day tickets to six-day tickets (we didn't realize that it was an extra $6 per person and we figured if we only did a few rides, it would be worth it for so cheap). Since bell services had our luggage, we made our way to the monorail station and headed over to MK for a few go-rounds on IASW (the preferred ride of DGM because we can wheel her wheelchair right on), Mickey's Philharmagic, and Buzz Lightyear. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch!

We hopped on the resort launch to the Wilderness Lodge for our 2:20 ADR. I'd never been to the WL and it was gorgeous and the theming was lovely. I'd love to stay there sometime. We made our way to the WCC and it wasn't what I expected. It's a very open area (it opens up to the WL lobby) and it wasn't all that crowded (walk-ins would have had no problems).


We were quickly seated and greeted by our "cousin" Al. Cousin Al was fun and hilarious but he wasn't as over the top as some of the other servers, which we appreciated...we didn't want DGM to get freaked out...but then again, she doesn't phase easily.

I started with a vanilla shake, mostly because I saw pictures and there were sprinkles on top and I'm a sucker for rainbow sprinkles. DGM started with a strawberry-orange shake, and DM and DSis had diet Cokes (they can't function without four diet Cokes a day...I still don't get them LOL).


We put in our orders for our appetizers and our meal was very leisurely (the way we like it because we weren't really rushing to get anywhere). DM started with the Western Chips and Dips (Homemade Corn Torilla Chips with a bowl of freshly made salsa and queso dip). She liked it and it was my favorite of all of our appetizers. The cheese dip was a little spicy and the salsa was very tangy.

DSis and DGm both started with the salad. They both enjoyed it. My sister really enjoyed the dressing because she thought it was flavorful but very light.


I started with the Cheese and Sausage Plate (cheddar cheese with sliced pork sausage, crackers, and barbecue dipping sauce). It was very heavy and I really didn't eat most of it. The sausage was good (but really heavy) and the cheese was warm. The BBQ sauce was really good, though. It was sweet, tangy, and just a little spicy. DM ate a lot of my appetizer and I ate a bit of hers.


For our main courses, DM ordered the Chicken Salad (mixed greens with grilled chicken breast, cheddar cheese, candied walnuts, and honey-roasted walnut vinaigrette). She honestly didn't care for it. She thought it tasted alright, but I think it was because she found a bit of chicken still on the bone in her salad and it grossed her out a little.


DGM had the Roast Chicken (served with coleslaw and mashed potatoes). She really enjoyed this. The chicken was really soft and she loved the sauce and the potatoes.


DSis and I both had the AYCE Skillet (Smoked pork ribs, oven-roasted chicken and pork sausage, served with beans, seasonal vegetable, creamy coleslaw, mashed potatoes and fresh baked corn bread). It was...a lot. A lot of food I usually don't care to eat, but that's why I ordered it. I really wasn't that hungry. I tried the ribs, beans, mashed potatoes, corn, and corn bread and thought it was average fare. But I come from Chicago and ribs to me mean Carsons ribs and these weren't anywhere near the same level. My sister, the more "adventurous" eater (or, the normal one) tried everything else and enjoyed it. I just really wasn't *that* hungry (this became the mantra for many parts of our trip). Cousin Al was great with making sure we got refilled anything we needed (the mashed potatoes, corn, and beans went pretty quickly between DSis and I...they were really good).



None of us were really hungry for dessert, but since the plan (and the meals) were already paid for, we figured we'd get them and try them.

DGM had the Apple Carmel Pie (crumb-topped deep dish apple pie with vanilla ice cream) and it was one of her favorite desserts this trip. It was warm and tasty and pretty big. She liked it so much that she ate most of it even though she wasn't that hungry! I guess a good dessert can do that to you


DSis and DM both had the Kahlua-flavored Chocolate Cake (chocolate mousse filling and fudge icing) and both thought it was very rich but very good.


I had the S'More Cheesecake (NY Style Cheesecake on a Graham cracker crust topped with chocolate ganache and marshmallows). It was a little warmer than I like my cheesecake to be served but it was very tasty. I didn't end up eating too much of it because it was so heavy but I'd definitely order it again.


Overall, I felt when you go to WCC, it's more for the experience than it is for the food. I think we'd go back, but I think we'd probably order different things and we'd probably forego the appetizers (or split them...they're very big). I think the WCC excels at their desserts, but their regular menu is good but ordinary-tasting. None of us had the kind of zOMG experience here with any of our food.

Up Next: Alohaaaaaaaaa from Ohana!