SO glad we added the ddp on! A cheap mom's review with pics!! WE'RE BAAACK :)

[lilandvisma]

Soooo....I really value others opinions and without all of these wonderful reviews I have read on this board would have been lost with deciding on my own adrs. I am excited to finally be able to post my own I have only been to WDW 2 times and this will be our first as a family, therefore my girls first trip as well. We are set to head down the evening of June 21, stay in TN a night and then arrive early the 24th at Disney Only a mere 2 weeks from now! Our family consists of DH, 27 (they don't call him "big Don" for nothing and he has an appetite to match lol), myself 27 (picky and weight watcher lol I like to keep trim), DD~Lillian who's 7 and is starting to try new foods but is still somewhat fussy (aren't we all though ladies??) and our tiny princess Violette~turning 2 on the 25th who loves food, esp. meat and cheese, a firm believer in low carbs and atkins Our ADR's are as follows! Kona Dinner~soo excited to try DD has already demanded a kona kone lol.. Akershus Princesss BF for obvious reasons lol San Angel Inn(nervous about it, but sounds kewl) Crystal Palace Lunch Planet Hollywood dinner Chef Mickeys 1900 PF dinner Sci-Fi Lunch Ohana dinner Tusker House safari breakfast We are also planning on the following CS~ Cosmic Rays, WPE, Flame Tree, CS at Poly, pepper market, tangerine cafe, sunshine seasons, pizza planet just to name a few I have also been one to hold back on buying more expensive food or extras so I am really very excited to be on the ddp. I spent my last vacation sounding like a broken record, constantly saying no, no, no. Yes people, I am tight Not because I have to be, but just because I guess! lol. Last year at Kings Island I made us all split one meal one day,came home with all sorts of money leftover...looking back I regret this. So, yea, this is a big step for me! I hope that some of you can find my upcoming reviews helpful! Pics as well. Sorry, no fancy dining here Baby steps Maybe one day lol.

[ksumn1]

I spent my last vacation sounding like a broken record, constantly saying no, no, no. Yes people, I am tight Not because I have to be, but just because I guess! lol. Last year at Kings Island I made us all split one meal one day,came home with all sorts of money leftover...looking back I regret this.

I do this, too. You're so used to saying No, we don't have the $$ or No, you don't need that..it's almost dinner. Those ahbits are hard to break even on vacation. So I'm deliberately overplanning extras into our udget. We're doing the regular DDP in August, but I know we'll have a few adult beverages at dinner, overtip a little, and get appatizers at some meals that aren't included so I included them so it's already accounted for and I don't feel guilty about saying "YES!!!! you CAN have an ice cream, shake, float, whatever" Can't wait to read more and hear all about it when you get back, many of your meals are ones we're doing too.

[lilandvisma]

Sounds just like me

I am also over budgeting this time around as well...mostly for my piece of mind I guess. I don't want to over do it but I am going to be willing to cave in to the girls needs and any other extras DH and I may want as well. That is a lot of the reason why we decided to go ahead and do the DDP....that way I can't say NO to the snacks, more expensive menu items and instead say SURE GO FOR IT lol...

Nice to know I'm not the only one out there that is budget crazy like this (though my DH would say otherwise but he doesn't believe in having a "budget")

I am soooo excited to be on the dp though! DD asks me every day about desserts we are going to be getting and how many days left till we go

I will be sure to update with reviews just as soon as we get down there!!! Only 12 days till we leave now!!!

[lilandvisma]

So Im going to get started on these reviews. We just got back on the 3rd and Im already craving some of the wonderful things we ate while down there. I have pictures of everything but cannot upload till tomorrow (we are still unpacking and the house looks like a tornado went through it lol). Overall I am so glad we added the ddp on We loved it! I will rate each dining experience on a 1-5 scale, 1 being poor/disgusting/bad and 5 being wonderful/yummy/fantastic. I think I will also rate by food, restraunt itself, and service...so 3 different areas of rating and then an overall rating? if that makes sense lol.

Now remember, this was our first time on the ddp and this is my first review as well so its not going to be perfect. I do have great pics to be posted tomorrow as well

Soo...I think I am ready to start with our first day ! Kona Cafe and Pecos Bill and my girls first Mickey bars !!

[natalielongstaff]

im in

[lilandvisma]

So we arrived at our hotel too early to check in officially and went back and forth on whether or not to go to the MK (it was about 11am). We decided to head on over and as soon as we entered the park we bought the girls a popcorn bucket to share oop. It is a pretty big bucket and my 2 year old was thrilled It was hot and humid and my 7 year old was screaming for ice cream so she got her first mickey bar and was soo happy. We avoided any messes on their dresses which I was happy about so everyone was pleased at this point. Time passed and we boarded the monorail to head over to kona. We got there too early but the host was very nice and explained how everything works with the buzzers. I checked in after killing time at the gift shop and within 5 minutes was seated. Our waitress was very friendly and prompt. DH ordered a triple berry smoothie and I ordered the nada pina colada which arrived beautifully DD had lemonada and the baby stole dh smoothie. Mine was made perfect and was so refreshing. DDs lemonade was very sour but she said she liked it like that? lol. By the time we were ready to place our order violette had passed out on my lap. I was glad actually, lol one less child to have to worry about She was exhausted. DH had wanted the tuna but when I placed his order I accidentially ordered the mahi mahi LOL oops and I ordered the pineapple terri steak very well done. The food arrived hot and beautifully plated. The steak was perfect and though it was well done it was still juicy and not tough which surprised me. This was the best well done steak I have ever tasted and DH aggreed. I tasteed the mahi and it was so good. We swapped dinners. DH liked them both but i just wanted something light that night.The fish was so perfect and flaked right onto the fork. I havent had this before but it had a smokey flavor to it as well and came with thin noodles and mushrooms under it that went perfect with the fish. Everything was cooked perfectly. The rice with the steak went well with the glaze &

[lilandvisma]

annnd

DH actually ate all of his veggies! That in itself says a lot. DD Lillian ordered the grilled chicken breast strips and noodles with marinara which she ate every last bite of. She still claims this was her favorite meal during our trip.

Dessert was a tough one! How to decide between all of those wonderful desserts?? I chose the banana creme brulee(sp yes, im not used to fancy names for food lol) and dh got the chocolate volcano thingie with ice cream and raspberries, dd got the make your own sundae and was thrilled. The ice cream was very very good and creamy. My dessert was just flipping incredible...how i miss it So creamy and the banana and top was coated in a sweet crispy glaze of goodness. It was plated gorgeous and had a little chocolate curl that added a nice touch to the taste. It was num yummy and I am going to get emotional if i keep talking about it DH loved his as well and I thought it was very good, very chocolatey and rich, goey inside and the ice cream and raspberries complimented the cake well. Too rich for my taste at the time and I was in love with mine so I only had one bite.

We all had a great time at Konas. The chef came out after dinner and I told him how much we loved it there and he gave me his business card and shook my hand, very friendly. Mr. O'Brian I believe. Told us to just give him a call if we ever had a problem getting a ressie there and thanked us. Very professional! We will be back for sure, no doubt. I give Kona a 5 overall, a 5 for the food, a 5 for service and a 5 for the dining environment. LOVED it and highly reccommend! Pics will be up tomorrow of our wonderful meal here!

[amandamims1]

Omg that dinner sounds amazing! You made me hungry just reading it =)

[lilandvisma]

about dinner was that we were able to take our time and enjoy it since the baby was totally zonked out

We headed back to MK and of course Violette was up and hungry about an hour afterwards so I used one of my CS for her at Pecos Bill. I like the machines that take your order actually...seems easy enough and you just go pick up your food after you choose what you want. I ordered her a hamburger and fries(real healthy, i know lol) and got a large coke for DH and i think a chocolate cake for dessert??

I was not impressed with the burger and neither was my daughter. She had french fries and some tomatoes from the fixins bar and i ended up throwing the burger away. The bun was stale and falling apart...but the fries were hot and fresh. I wouldnt go back here again, it looked ewww

food rated at a 2, service 4, actual eatery 5 ( i liked the inside and there was ample seating) soo overall a 3 maybe? I wouldnt be in a mad rush to eat here and I would not reccommend.

[lilandvisma]

Akershush Princess breakfast!! In a word~ WOW!

I loved this place. We all did. We arrived about 10 min early and had about a 15 minute wait past our res time but kept busy until we were called in My 7 year old had just hit her head prior to getting called in and we were all hungry, the mood was kinda icky to tell you the truth for all of us. That all changed when my girls saw belle. Lily was still teary eyed but belle spoke so nice to her and made her smile, turned her mood right around and Vi just ran right up to her happy as could be. They posed for a beautiful picture which came as part of a package with the breakfast. Several pages of pics were given to us. We were seated after this and had drinks on our table promptly. I had iced tea,dh had coke and dd had apple juice. The princesses were all around the rooms which was exciting! We saw Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel The girls were in heaven, in total awe. The Buffet was just beautiful. Yogurt, granola, dried fruits, the freshest pineapple, juiciest blackberries and raspberries, HUGE strawberries, several types of big danishes that melted in your mouth, crossiants, muffins,bagels, cream cheeses and spreads, biscuits and jams, turnovers, and these incredible caramel rolls(i think they were caramel they were awesome) apples, oranges, melon chunks,nanas, the fruit was plentiful and gorgeous. On top of this they bring out a large family style plate of sausage links, bacon, eggs and potatoes. I didnt care for the eggs and dont eat sausage or bacon but the potatoes were excellent. They were cooked to perfection and very flavorful. They had two different textures to them which I liked.

We were all very pleased with akershush I rate it a 5 for food, 4 for service and a 4.5 for the actual restraunt. I say a 4.8 overall, we had a great time, will return and highly reccommend!

[tkitty]

Thanks for the reveiws! I can't wait to try Akershus with my granddaughter in Oct. She will be 2 months shy of 3yrs, and loves all of the princesses.

[lilandvisma]

Originally Posted by tkitty

Thanks for the reveiws! I can't wait to try Akershus with my granddaughter in Oct. She will be 2 months shy of 3yrs, and loves all of the princesses.

She will love it there! My girls did and DH and I as well I cannot say enough good things about the breakfast. Everything from the food to the princesses was just fantastic! My girls wore princess dresses as well, it seemed to add to the magic. And even though Violette had just turned 2 she totally was thrilled and amazed and knew exactly what was going on

Hope you guys have a great experience as well!

[jenmc88]

I loved your review of Kona's. It made me very happy that I picked there as one of our dinners in September.

[lilandvisma]

Our internet was having issues (we live in a pretty rural area) and my 7 year old has been sick...BUT Here are some pics as I have promised!

Lillians first Mickey bar

(It was so so hot that day! However, I was not brave enough for Violette to try lol)


Kona Dinner 6/24/09

Butter for bread& bread


Nada Pina Colada WAS great and included on the DDP!

Terri Steak (asked for VERY well done), Rice and Brocollini (sp) YUMMMMM



Mahi Mahi YUMMM


Kids meal, grilled chicken, pasta and marinara and fruit



DESSERT

OOOMMMGGG*MINE MINE MINE*



DH's pick


DD's Make your own sundae!




Sadly that is all we were able to sample that night! WE WILL BE BACK IN 2010!

[StephanieCG]

Thanks so much for your reviews...we are going to be doing a few of those restaurants too. We have ADRs at Akershus (lunch), Kona dinner, 1900 PF dinner, and Sci Fi. We're also doing H&V breakfast and Ohana breakfast, couldn't get into Ohana dinner.
Your Kona experience sounds awesome and I'm looking forward to trying it in Sept. And thanks for your Akershus review, my DD is really into Belle and Cinderella right now, I'm hoping that she'll be in awe too.