dawnmichele
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
I've been working on a pre-trip report over here. Please check it out if you're interested in more about our family, our trip or our trip plans! But if you're only interested in the FOOD, here goes.
First, a little info on us and our eating preferences...
My little family consists of me (46), DX (51), and our DD19. We have pretty varied taste in food, which sometimes makes eating together tricky. DX and DD are huge meat lovers. They want it at every meal. Their idea of a perfect dinner out is some kind of Brazilian steak house where the meat just keeps coming. Me, not so much. I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm often happy to skip the meat, especially when it involves big hunks that aren't not fully cooked, or meat still on a bone.
None of us like seafood. I know! Shocking, but true. At least we live in Kansas, right? Actually DD might like it, but we'll never know because the first time she tried some, she broke out in crazy hives. She's allergic, so it's not even a choice for her. I have tried many varieties of seafood and fish throughout my life, but I just never liked any of it. "Nothing from the sea!" - That's my motto. No, not even shrimp. Not even scallops. Not even anything from the sea. (The exception that proves this rule for me is sardines in Caesar dressing. Love that.)
DX and I avoid pork, but our DD loves it. I don't like it, but if my friend who is an executive chef were reading this, he would be quick to point out to you that I loved some pork chops he made me once. And some kind of pork thing I ate outside of Pompeii in Italy was one of my favorite meals ever. Still, I generally avoid it. Even real bacon.
So we are pretty much a beef/chicken/turkey family. Not very adventurous after all, and never fans of fine dining. We do, however, love good food. We're all huge fans of Mexican food. We could (and sometimes do) eat it several times a week. DD and I love Indian, Asian and Greek food. I love Italian. I am definitely the most adventurous of the group. DD is great about exploring new tastes, and DX is pretty much a middle American, meat and potatoes kind of guy.
Favorite Meal:
We all agree Mexican food is our favorite. But beyond that...
Me: some kind of pasta with chicken, mushrooms, other veg and non-red sauce
DX: chicken fried steak or meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cobb
DD: chicken tikka masala, with lots and lots of naan.
Another food factor for our family: DD has had Type 1 Diabetes since she was 9 (over half her life). She uses an insulin pump, so for the most part she can eat what and when she wants. However there are times when she has to cut back on the carbs (things like rice can get out of control fast), or more commonly, needs a big dose of sugary carbs Fast.
When the 3 of us went to the world together in the 90s, we didn't realize that Disney is an eating vacation. DD was in the chicken nugget or pizza zone so we did CS most of the time. We did try a few sit down restaurants though. We had character breakfasts at Crystal Pavilion and Hollywood & Vine. We loved Hollywood &Vine. The characters then were from Hunchback and Pocahontas for the most part and my DD was a huge Esmerelda fan. We liked the CP breakfast less. It was beautiful, and the character interaction was great, but the food seemed pretty average. We stayed at the Contemporary and had dinner one night at Chef Mickey's. DD and DX loved that one. We also ate at San Angel Inn, Sci Fi Dine In and Restaurant Marrakesh.
Thanks to my brother and the disboards, we were totally clued in for our last trip in 2010. We did the dining plan and ate at Cinderella's Royal Table, Le Cellier, Sanaa, Tuto Italia and various CS places. Sometimes I think of making a "Better Late Than Never" dining report about that trip.
This trip, since we're traveling with DX's company, we won't be on the dining plan. I feel like the dining plan has it's good and bad points, so I don't mind trying a trip without it. We have plenty of ADRs anyway - at Sanaa, 50s Prime Time Cafe, San Angel Inn, Sci Fi Dine In, Liberty Tree Tavern and Tusker House (which we may or may not keep ).
We're also going to try to share a lot of meals/snacks. In fact, I'm going to highly encourage this . There is a lot of good food at Disney, and if you eat less of one thing, it leaves more room (and money) to try something else later. I've been trying to convince my travel partners this is the way to go. I don't know whether or not I have succeeded.
Some people make a plan for what to ride when they visit the parks.. We're making a plan for what to eat! Not because we like eating better than rides, not at all. We all know what we want to ride and we will ride everything we can. Rides are the easy part. But without a plan I easily forget which restaurant has stuff we want to eat and which doesn't. A meal for 3 with different preferences is far more tricky. Trying to decide who wants to eat what when is tricky even when we're at home, so for our magical Disney get away, we need a plan. I'm about to share it here. Maybe you'll obsess about it along with me!
First, a little info on us and our eating preferences...
My little family consists of me (46), DX (51), and our DD19. We have pretty varied taste in food, which sometimes makes eating together tricky. DX and DD are huge meat lovers. They want it at every meal. Their idea of a perfect dinner out is some kind of Brazilian steak house where the meat just keeps coming. Me, not so much. I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm often happy to skip the meat, especially when it involves big hunks that aren't not fully cooked, or meat still on a bone.
None of us like seafood. I know! Shocking, but true. At least we live in Kansas, right? Actually DD might like it, but we'll never know because the first time she tried some, she broke out in crazy hives. She's allergic, so it's not even a choice for her. I have tried many varieties of seafood and fish throughout my life, but I just never liked any of it. "Nothing from the sea!" - That's my motto. No, not even shrimp. Not even scallops. Not even anything from the sea. (The exception that proves this rule for me is sardines in Caesar dressing. Love that.)
DX and I avoid pork, but our DD loves it. I don't like it, but if my friend who is an executive chef were reading this, he would be quick to point out to you that I loved some pork chops he made me once. And some kind of pork thing I ate outside of Pompeii in Italy was one of my favorite meals ever. Still, I generally avoid it. Even real bacon.
So we are pretty much a beef/chicken/turkey family. Not very adventurous after all, and never fans of fine dining. We do, however, love good food. We're all huge fans of Mexican food. We could (and sometimes do) eat it several times a week. DD and I love Indian, Asian and Greek food. I love Italian. I am definitely the most adventurous of the group. DD is great about exploring new tastes, and DX is pretty much a middle American, meat and potatoes kind of guy.
Favorite Meal:
We all agree Mexican food is our favorite. But beyond that...
Me: some kind of pasta with chicken, mushrooms, other veg and non-red sauce
DX: chicken fried steak or meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cobb
DD: chicken tikka masala, with lots and lots of naan.
Another food factor for our family: DD has had Type 1 Diabetes since she was 9 (over half her life). She uses an insulin pump, so for the most part she can eat what and when she wants. However there are times when she has to cut back on the carbs (things like rice can get out of control fast), or more commonly, needs a big dose of sugary carbs Fast.
When the 3 of us went to the world together in the 90s, we didn't realize that Disney is an eating vacation. DD was in the chicken nugget or pizza zone so we did CS most of the time. We did try a few sit down restaurants though. We had character breakfasts at Crystal Pavilion and Hollywood & Vine. We loved Hollywood &Vine. The characters then were from Hunchback and Pocahontas for the most part and my DD was a huge Esmerelda fan. We liked the CP breakfast less. It was beautiful, and the character interaction was great, but the food seemed pretty average. We stayed at the Contemporary and had dinner one night at Chef Mickey's. DD and DX loved that one. We also ate at San Angel Inn, Sci Fi Dine In and Restaurant Marrakesh.
Thanks to my brother and the disboards, we were totally clued in for our last trip in 2010. We did the dining plan and ate at Cinderella's Royal Table, Le Cellier, Sanaa, Tuto Italia and various CS places. Sometimes I think of making a "Better Late Than Never" dining report about that trip.
This trip, since we're traveling with DX's company, we won't be on the dining plan. I feel like the dining plan has it's good and bad points, so I don't mind trying a trip without it. We have plenty of ADRs anyway - at Sanaa, 50s Prime Time Cafe, San Angel Inn, Sci Fi Dine In, Liberty Tree Tavern and Tusker House (which we may or may not keep ).
We're also going to try to share a lot of meals/snacks. In fact, I'm going to highly encourage this . There is a lot of good food at Disney, and if you eat less of one thing, it leaves more room (and money) to try something else later. I've been trying to convince my travel partners this is the way to go. I don't know whether or not I have succeeded.
Some people make a plan for what to ride when they visit the parks.. We're making a plan for what to eat! Not because we like eating better than rides, not at all. We all know what we want to ride and we will ride everything we can. Rides are the easy part. But without a plan I easily forget which restaurant has stuff we want to eat and which doesn't. A meal for 3 with different preferences is far more tricky. Trying to decide who wants to eat what when is tricky even when we're at home, so for our magical Disney get away, we need a plan. I'm about to share it here. Maybe you'll obsess about it along with me!