Dining/Dining Plan Reviews with pictures 9/17/05-09/24/05 - UPDATED 09/25

[unixadm]

Well, we arrived yesterday and I will keep adding to this thread with reviews and photos until we leave (on Saturday 9/24)

Four of us: Two Adults, 2 children (4 & 3). We are on the Disney Dining Plan that they offered for free. So far, the Dining plan is fantastic. Definitely worth the extra I paid in rack rate verses discount, and even the room that isn't used for several nights. I would definitely consider paying for it on the next trip. I really hope that they allow DVC members to buy into the plan soon. Well, here it goes...

Sept 17th
Arrived and checked in right around dinner time at ASMo

ASMo Food Court - Dinner - ASMo **(2 stars)
Typical Mall Food Court type options. An Italian area, a Grill Area, a Bakery area, etc.

Order:

Myself: Philly Cheesesteak - Pretty good - Not REAL Philly (since I am from the Philly area originally, I am very critical), but good tasting.

Wife: Chicken Caesar Salad - She really liked it....of course we were driving in my truck for the last 8 hours, then spent an hour checking in, etc.....I think she would have thought cardboard was really good at that point!

DS4: Mac and Cheese - Typical Disney Kid's Mac and cheese but they had two sides in the Mickey Ears - I chose Mashed Potatos and Corn. He liked the potatos, but not the corn

DS3: Chicken Quesadilla - He didn't like it at all. I tasted it and it was ok...nothing to write home about. We took it back with us, but he never ate it. The trash can seemed to enjoy it pretty well, though.

Desserts: (2) Chocolate Cakes, Yogurt Parfait and a Pudding. All were good.

TOTAL BILL: 48.98 (WOW..glad I didn't have to pay for that one!)

4 CS Credits - 24 CS Credits Remaining


Sept 18th

Breakfast in our Hotel Room (Cereal, Fruit, Yogurt)

Pecos Bill's - Lunch - MK ** (2 Stars)

We were planning on Pinocchio's Village Haus, but with our touring plans, it just didn't make sense to backtrack to Fantasy Land. We ended up at our old standby of Peco's Bills.

First MAJOR complaint.....ONLY dessert available is a Peanut Butter something or other.....and my DS3 is ALLERGIC to Peanuts!!! NONE of us could eat dessert. I will be putting a complaint into Disney about this one. What were they thinking? At least throw in some kind of other type dessert as a substitute....we asked but were told there is no other dessert that we could get. They did throw in an extra set of fries...which didn't get eaten anyway and ended up in the trash. (I didn't put a complaint in while we were there because we were all hungry, the kids were getting cranky from hunger, and it would have caused more problems than it was worth at that point...I will be back in MK on Fri and may stop in there and speak to a manager)

Myself: Bacon Double Cheeseburger - Pretty good burger as far as Fast Food goes. They claim 1/2 pound, but I was able to eat it all including some fries and not be stuffed.

Wife: Chicken Wrap - She said it was good...but premade and had lots of mayonnaise and stuff in there. She is on Weight Watchers and would have preferred to have something that she had a little more control over. She didn't see a Salad listed on the menu, but later saw people walking with salads, so I guess they do have them.

Kids: Shared a Chicken Tenders Kids Meal. - Ate most of it between the two of them. Had lots of fries that filled them up.

TOTAL BILL: $28.25

3 CS Credits - 21 CS Credits Remaining

SNACKS - MK - Outside Pinocchio's Village Haus

4 Various Ice Cream bars

TOTAL BILL: $10
4 Snack Credits - 24 Snack Credits Remaining

Le Cellier - Dinner - Epcot ***** (5 Stars)

Wow...this was FANTASTIC...We couldn't get enough of the Pretzel Bread Sticks! All Breadsticks at our table were done within minutes!

Myself: Cheese Soup - LOVED it
Surf and Turf - Filet melted in my mouth...wished I had more. Lobster was good, but small. If I did all over, I would probably have just gotten the Filet in the larger size.

Wife: House Salad - She was happy with that
Surf and Turf - She RAVED about it for hours after the meal

Kids: Paid OOP for them with DDE card - Hot Dog and Chicken Tender meals. I know there are people who will preach that this is wrong, but I told the CM exactly what I wanted to do and she was great with it. Disney has this "loophole" and allows it, so I am going to use it to my advantage.

Here is the pic of the Surf and Turf


Here's my son's Hot dog (not that anyone is really concerned with the presentation of a hot dog platter)



Desserts: "Happiest Celebration" Canadian Club Chocolate Cake and Raspberry Sorbet.

Cake was VERY rich. I shared it with both my sons. My wife ate every drop of or Sorbet and loved it. (didn't get a pic of her Sorbet...she started eating it before I had the chance! )



TOTAL BILL (for 2 adults only): $123.86 (Whoa...that's a lot of dough!)

My wife and I had a few beers to go with Dinner, and we paid OOP for the kids....with the DDE 20% discount, that bill came to $34.02

Left $10 tip, so We paid $44.02 for $157.88 worth of food!

2 TS Credits - 26 TS Credits Remaining


Sept 19th

Breakfast in our Hotel Room (Cereal, Fruit, Yogurt)

L'Originale Alfredo di Roma - Lunch - Epcot **** (4 Stars)

Well, in light of saving 2 credits last night from Le Cellier, we decided to do a TS lunch using those 2 credits and paying for the kids OOP. Thus we ended up in Italy. It was relatively empty for lunchtime, but service was a bit slow. Our server had only been in the country for 2 months and was not great with his english, but friendly none-the-less.

Myself: Trittico di Pasta - The Pasta Trio - EXCELLENT. Perfect portions and some of the best pasta/sauces I've had in a while. I highly recommend this dish.

Wife: Lasaunga - She was very happy with this. The portion was a bit big for her, so she ended up giving some to one of my son's.

Kids: Pizza - Individual Pizza...was MUCH bigger than I expected. They LOVED it. Both of them ate a huge amount....we were glad to see them eat!

Here is the pic of the Pasta Trio:


And the Lasanga:


Desserts:

We chose the Dessert Sampler which our server said was allowed to be split on the plan. (1 sampler for 2 people's dessert). We figured the kids could have some, and we could have some without overdoing it. Our DS4 wanted to have the "lady bug", so we ended up ording that for him OOP.

These were ALL good...not a bad dessert to be found here! I don't think the sampler would be worth it if I was paying for it though.....the total amount of the sampler didn't add up to 2 individual desserts.

Here is the Sampler:


and the Ladybug:


TOTAL BILL: (for 2 adults): $77
2 TS Credits - 24 TS Credits Remaining

SNACKS - EPCOT - Near American Adventure
2 Icadoodoozie treats for the kids
TOTAL BILL: $5.00
2 Snack Credits Used - 22 Snack Credits Remaining

Cinderella's Royal Table - Dinner - MK *** 1/2 (3 1/2 Stars)

I gave this 3 1/2 stars but still recommend it to those who have kids that find the Castle Magical. Might not be the best food in all of Disney, but the magic of the castle beats that out.

Well, we had to eat in the castle...it was just a given since my boys identify that castle as BEING Disney World, not to mention it is shown on the beginning of every Pixar movie, etc. We got REALLY lucky. As we walked in, Cinderalla had stopped in before her show and we were able to get autographs and photos. My kids were in HEAVEN!



Myself: Shrimp Cocktail/Green Lipped Mussels, The 14oz Prime Rib, Medium Rare - Good prime rib, but not the best I've ever had. It wasn't too fatty which was good, but just didn't have that "melt in my mouth" experience. GREAT for the Dining Plan, or just because you want to eat in the castle, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Wife: Caesar Salad, Fillet of Beef - 8 oz - My wife chose this because it was a smaller portion (although more expensive than the 14 oz Prime Rib ). I figured it was going to be much better than the PR, but turns out it wasn't. She wasn't too thrilled with it. Nothing really bad, but if we were paying the
$28 for it, we may have had a conversation with the manager about it.hota

Kids: Pretzel Dogs - I asked about these, and the server said they were regular size hot dogs in the pretzel bread. We figured they would be small, so ordered 2 to pay OOP. They came with 2 hot dogs each along with accompanyments, so we ended up with lots of kids leftovers for the fridge.

Here are the shrimp and Mussels (After I ate one of the shrimp...I was hungry and forgot to pull out my camera!)



And my Prime Rib:



Here is my wife's Fillet of Beef:



Kid's Pretzel Hot Dogs:


DESSERTS: Cinderella's Slipper Dessert and Key Lime Creme Brulee




TOTAL BILL (2 Adults) - $104.86

2 TS Credits - 22 TS Credits remaining


WELL, TOMORROW IT IS SCI-FI DRIVE IN AND SPOODLES....I WILL UPDATE THIS POST AFTER WE GO!

Sept 20th

Breakfast in our Hotel Room (Cereal, Fruit, Yogurt)

Sci-Fi Drive-In - MGM/Disney Studios - LUNCH *** 1/2 (3 1/2 stars)
Actually better than I expected. I was planning on paying OOP for this one, but ended up getting some of the more expensive dishes and going with the Dining Plan/DDE for kids mix.

Myself: BLT Soup, Shrimp Penne Pasta - The Pasta and sauce were good. The Shrimp were HUGE! I wouldn't compare this to a good Italian restaurant, but considering I was expecting burgers and such, this was a much better lunch than expected

Wife: Salad and Smoked Turkey Sandwich. She said it was good...but from my experience, you don't need a great chef to come up with a salad and turkey sandwich

Kids: Mac and Cheese and Glow cubed drink cups

Dessert: Cheesecake for me, Hot Fudge Sundae for my wife/kids

Only complaint...cheesecake came with Cracker Jacks on top and surrounding it. I specifically told the waitress that my one son is allergic to peanuts....there are peanuts in Cracker Jacks so I could not share with him.

Other than that, the waitress was very attentive and very friendly and fun. She earned her extra tip.

Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the meals....we were just having too much fun watching the old sci-fi movies and trying to explain to our kids that these used to be "real" movies!

Here is the only photo I have:



SNACKS - MGM - Street Of Americas
1 Icadoodoozie treat for the kids
1 Frozen Strawberry Treat
1 Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Treat
TOTAL BILL: $7.50
3 Snack Credits Used -19 Snack Credits Remaining
Ended up with another Frozen Strawberry Treat for free. My DS4 didn't want a snack. After we all got one, he decided he wanted one and walked up to the girl at the cart and asked her for one. She gave it to him and I whipped out my Card Key, but she said "No, it's on me!" Nice Pixie Dust moment!

Spoodles - Boardwalk - DINNER ***** (5 Stars)
WOW...just WOW! So far, the BEST meal we have had....in presentation, taste of food, and friendliness of wait staff and Chef (yes, I said Chef).

The Chef came out and went around talking to people. He sat down at our table and got our son to eat more of his dinner! He chatted with us for a little while. He did the same with many others as well. I was VERY impressed with this.

Our Waitress was friendly and helpful as well and she got an extra special tip because of her fantastic service.

Myself: Shrimp Appetizer, Fettuchini with add-on Scallops (they let us do the add-ons with the meal plan with no additional charge), Excellent....the Shrimp was to die for...only 4 shrimp, but they were HUGE, and the Fettuchini/Scallops were fantastic. WAY too Much food, though...had to leave about 1/4 of my plate.

Wife: Shrimp Appetizer, Seafood Stew (Paella) - She LOVED it. She said that it was by far, her favorite meal of the week so far (and favorite dining out meal for at least the past year or so).

Kids: Mickey Mouse Mac and Cheese.....they both ate a good amount and liked it.

Photo of the Shrimp Appetizer:


Photo of the Fettuchini with HUGE scallops:


Photo of the Seafood Stew:


Photo of the Mickey Mouse Mac and Cheese:


Desserts:

We wanted the Sampler to share with the family like we did at Italy, but they said that it wasn't included in the plan

We both ended up with the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee......mmmmmm . LOVED it! I ended up pairing it up with the recommended Grand Manier



TOTAL BILL: $98.69

2 TS Credits Used: 18 TS Credits Remaining.

OOP: After a bottle of wine, some dessert drinks and the kid's meals and drinks, it was $61 after the DDE discount!



Well....Not sure what is for lunch tomorrow (Wednesday 9/21/05), but Dinner at Narcoossees with a Wishes Fireworks Cruise after (weather permitting). More to come!

UPDATE: Went to Olivia's in OKW for lunch and NArcoosee's for Dinner....couldn't add any more images in this post, so I added a new post to this thread...you can read it here:

REVIEWS CONTINUED HERE!


FINAL REVIEWS HERE!

[MOMOFMNM]

thanks! nice reviews and your boys are cute! your dw will have to write a special weight watchers report for those of us on the plan (I have two weeks til lifetime so that week at WDW is going to be major for me not to screw up...but I am still going to eat my deserts!! ) We will be at the Poly, I see you have been there before, do you like the Poly?

TIA

[unixadm]

We loved the Poly...wish they had DVC villas there! We've considered using our points to go back to the poly, but it ends up being more points than a villa, so the value just isn't there.

My wife's lost 20 lbs on WW over the past 5 months she has been on it. It is tough on her right now, but we have been doing a lot of walking so we will see how that goes. One her big things is that she has small portions, so she may end ujp get something that is fattening, but doesn't eat a lot of it. She is having trouble gauging the points for the food we are getting, but is doing her best.

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Thanks for the great reviews. Tell your wife she looks Fabulous and good for her trying to stay on program. Have a great trip.

Lori

[ChrisLei]

Great reviews! The food porn...I mean Pics (LOL) are always great. I can't wait to hear more.

PS Your boys are so adorable!

[TwingleMum]

Wonderful report. Thanks for the pictures, they are always a treat.

Isn't SAB the best!! We own at BCV and our boys (5,2,2) sometimes wanted to skip the parks and just swim. My 5 yr old loved the huge slide, he must have done it a 100x.

[kimisabella]

Great report - hope your having fun!!!

[scanne]

Great report so far! Was your wife able to order the salad with the dressing on the side? I love the chicken caesar salads in WDW and I'm on WW. If you put the dressing on the side it's much easier to calculate points.

BTW a Mickey Ice Cream bar is 9 points and a Simba Paw Print is 6 points.

Keep the reports coming! We'll be there in 2 weeks!


PS - I hope you speak to a manager at Pecos Bills about the dessert. SO many kids have peanut allergies! They should give you an extra snack credit for that one!

[ceecee]

Keep up the great reviews............loved the photos! I'm wondering about sharing at LeCellier with DD, the portions look really small.

[lovehoney]

What did you do for breakfast on the first day? - Oh in room! - thanks for the reports

[dvcmbr94]

Thanks for posting this information. I'm looking forward to following your adventures each day. We head down on 9/30 so this is just the fix I need right now. Enjoy your week!

[tae1218]

Great reviews!

[mommykds]

Thanks for posting!

[LIFERBABE]

Great Review!!

We did the Dining Plan last week and I too hope DVC will offer it soon.

We missed Le Cellier after changing our plan the day of our ressie and hitting the water park. Thanks for the great pics!! We won't miss it next trip, even if we are not on the plan!

[ladyluv347]

Love Your post and pics! Have a great time! Good luck to your DW. Was on Atkins ( and everything else) so i know how hard it is. We are doing the 12 day dance now til WDW and CSR we are also on the dining plan and looking forward to more great pics and reports from you. Enjoy!!