Free DDP –"I can order whatever I want?" COMPLETE with pics added to character meals

[jenjie]

Your meal at the Plaza sounds really good!! I'm glad to know that WPE has the better cheesecake!! We will most likely be going there on our arrival day, for lunch or dinner!

I've seen pictures of the cheese steak sandwich. I'm not surprised your son couldn't finish the banana split, but I bet he had fun trying!! :

I hope your little guy started feeling better soon!

Thanks! It was a weird on again/off again thing, then he was perfect. We got home and I got the 24 hour flu. All better now!

 

[SweetSpot]

Karamel Kuche - time to use a few snack credits!

Chewy caramel bar - I have been looking forward to this ever since I heard the description. Shortbread covered in caramel? That's the snack credit for me! I must say, it was not what I expected. it was rich and dense, you want to share or save some for later. But... For me personally, it was not what I had hoped for. The cookie - was it supposed to be a cookie? - was crumbly, there wasn't a good mouth feel for me. And the caramel wasn't chewy. I don't know why they call it a chewy caramel bar.

Next up... Chocolate covered caramel!

I am hooked on the pecan topped version of these. You must have gotten a dried out crust on your caramel (it's happened a couple times to me). The bottom usually doesn't crumble when fresh. They are big and rich so it takes me days to eat one. I've learned to bring a couple home, cut it into pieces and stick it in the refrigerator when I have a craving. When I run out, it must be time for another trip to Epcot!

I loved the chocolate covered caramel. I became hooked on Reisen's when pregnant and then fell in love with Werther's caramel. I love Germany in Epcot.

 

[Emteach]

OK down to business.

DD12 really only cares for the cheeseburger out of what was on the adult menu, but she wasn't in the mood for one. So she ordered the kids' chicken strips. I told her about 3 times, "They're grilled, are you sure you want them?" It wasn't computing. They brought out a whole plate of grilled chicken strips (adult size of the kids meal). She was not happy with it only because it wasn't what she was expecting. To be honest they looked very lackluster but it was exactly as stated on the menu. She just wanted breaded chicken strips and agreed she should have ordered the chicken nuggets.!)

This sounds just like my sister at Akershus (although there were no other options). We told her over and over it is grilled chicken, not breaded but didnt seem to click until the plate was staring at her in the face lol.

We ate at the Plaza as well, agree couldnt believe how tiny it was but made it for it with the food. It was quite yummy! Sounds like you have had some tasty food. We just came back and were disappointed we didnt get to Candy Company - that make your own looks great!

 

[jenjie]

Main Street Bakery, DDP Snack Credit aka the one where my family eats the ONE snack I had my heart set on. Without me.

Ever since I read about the ice cream cookie sandwich at Main Street Bakery, I knew it was the snack for me. Ice cream sandwiched between big fresh cookies. This snack credit had my name on it.

Our first day at MK, dh says "Oh we didn't get your snack." That's OK, we have all week, right? Well this was our other MK day. But if you'll recall from my last post, I took my sick little guy back to our resort while DH and the others stayed in MK.

Did they need more ice cream? Well the last time I saw them, there were a big banana split and a Mickeylodeon on the table at the Plaza.

But they sent me a picture of their ice cream sandwiches! Dh and DD got it on chocolate chip cookies, DS14's cookies had sprinkles. He doesn't like chocolate.

I asked, "Does it taste as good as it looks?"

DH replied, "No"....

I didn't believe him. and I still don't because ds14 continues to take great pleasure in the fact that I missed out on this treat. He takes joy in my pain.

DH did later tell me that the cookies were very rich but it was good. Disney has a lot of rich food. I've noticed myself saying that a lot.

I had planned to go back to MK the following evening with my big kids while dh stayed with the little guy, but by then our trip was nearing an end and they just couldn't hang. Now I have to go back, if only to get that ice cream sandwich.

My snack for the evening? Well I ate the yummy Plaza cheesecake, but I made a stop at Landscape of Flavors to use my snack credit. I was undecided. You know how when you have your heart set on one thing, nothing else will quite satisfy? I was in that frame of mind.

I chose a brownie, it was topped with mini m&ms, marshmallows and pecans. It wouldn't ordinarily appeal to me so I don't know why I picked it. But when I took it to the register, the cashier said, "I hope you have tissues because you'll need them when you eat that!" That good? "Oh yeah. So good it'll make you cry." Now that has possibilities.

Well I saved it and took it home on the plane with me. I put it in one of the paper bowls they put in our room, and put the whole thing in a ziploc bag.

I bought it Wednesday and didn't eat it until Saturday. It was still gooey and didn't taste stale at all. I personally could do without all the toppings but it's a preference. And yes, it was very rich. I don't know about tissues but I did need a glass of milk.

 

[jenjie]

This sounds just like my sister at Akershus (although there were no other options). We told her over and over it is grilled chicken, not breaded but didnt seem to click until the plate was staring at her in the face lol.

We ate at the Plaza as well, agree couldnt believe how tiny it was but made it for it with the food. It was quite yummy! Sounds like you have had some tasty food. We just came back and were disappointed we didnt get to Candy Company - that make your own looks great!

Thanks for reading along! I'll have to sub to your report, your sister sounds just like my DD12! Just from your report title alone.

 

[jenjie]

I am hooked on the pecan topped version of these. You must have gotten a dried out crust on your caramel (it's happened a couple times to me). The bottom usually doesn't crumble when fresh. They are big and rich so it takes me days to eat one. I've learned to bring a couple home, cut it into pieces and stick it in the refrigerator when I have a craving. When I run out, it must be time for another trip to Epcot!

I loved the chocolate covered caramel. I became hooked on Reisen's when pregnant and then fell in love with Werther's caramel. I love Germany in Epcot.

I can't eat Reisen anymore because I will eat the entire bag at one time!

Good to know about the caramel bar, I had heard such good things about it.

 

[jenjie]

I forgot to sneak in a few more snack credits from throughout the week!

DD got the cinnamon glaze almonds at Animal Kingdom. They were at a little cart by the exit of Kali River Rapids. You can smell them as you pass.... mmmmm! She said they didn't taste like the ones she usually gets, I don't think the ones she's used to have cinnamon. That didn't stop her from not wanting to share with anyone!

At DHS, the snack on my agenda was the Carrot Cake Cookie at Writer's Stop.

I fell in love with this mug. I believe this was my first souvenir purchase.

We picked up the last 3 carrot cake cookies for me, dh and ds14. You may have heard these things are big - they are as big as my hand! It was good but I would have been happy sharing this. I didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

 

[Trish.Glenn]

Love your dining reviews!!! Awesome job!

 

[jenjie]

Love your dining reviews!!! Awesome job!

Thanks so much!

 

[jenjie]

Garden Grill, TS Dinner, Epcot

I mentioned earlier that DH chose two TS meals. His first pick, Coral Reef, was a winner for us. How did we fare at the Garden Grill?

We ate here 10 years ago when my big kids were 3 and 4. I didn't remember being excited about the food but the character interaction was fabulous. We were hoping for a repeat.

We had an ADR time of 4:05 and arrived before they were seating. The CM at the podium is from a town 15 minutes away from where we live! We talked a few minutes. He is bound for Disney Paris to help open a new restaurant! He said he will be gone several years. Good luck F from NJ!

So on to our dinner. For those of you who don't know, the Garden Grill is a circular restaurant. It s-l-ow-l-y revolves as you eat. You can see different parts of Living with the Land ride. They say that the produce is grown there but our server didn't give us any information.

The food comes family style, already prepared. They start with a salad. That was my favorite part of the meal, and really the only part I enjoyed. I ended up eating the whole family style bowl.

They bring out a platter with 3 proteins -

1. I'm not sure if this was chicken or turkey, with stuffing. It was moist but I guess I just wasn't in the mood. None of us liked the stuffing.

2. tilapia with a tomato relish/chutney/sauce/topping. Apparently we don't like tilapia. It was cooked nicely, I just don't like the flavor of the fish. I liked the topping a lot.

3. some kind of sliced beef with mashed potatoes. I didn't care for this but dh liked it.

The kids' meal is a chicken leg with sweet potato fries and broccoli. DD didn't want anything on the adult plate (she did try it) and asked if she could get the kids meal. The server offered her chicken nuggets and fries, which she jumped at. This is not precooked since it's not a regular offering. So it took a while to come. It was the good chicken nuggets. DH said that was the best thing on the table.

DS7 did not want the standard kids meal, especially after he saw the chicken nuggets. So maybe 10 minutes later the server put in an order for nuggets for him. We had them share the first plate and then the second so we weren't there all day. I understand the time issue was because of our picky kids, but we were there a loooong time.

The dessert was some type of fruit buckle. It was cakey/bready with fruit underneath. The kids' dessert is a "ladybug" - a red velvet cupcake with white icing. Both were underwhelming and went virtually untouched.

By this time DS7 wasn't feeling well again and we just wanted to leave. It took quite a while to get our bill taken care of even though we told the server earlier we were on a short schedule.

OK so these character meals aren't really about the food anyway, right? Tell me about the characters already!

The characters at this meal are Chip, Dale, Mickey and I think Pluto. The first time around was disappointing. They just came, took pictures and moved on.

Yep it was Pluto. He came for the photo op and skedaddled. We never saw him again.

Dale is trying to interact with DS7 but he is having no parts of it. That explains his absence in the rest of these pictures.

Except for Chip. He kissed DD. DS14 yelled at him, "Watch it buddy!" He's very observant. "He was kissing her romantically. He raised his foot in the air like they do on TV!" Good to know he's looking out for his sister.

Chip's getting chummy

What did you say? Dem's fightin' words! He didn't like it when big brother scolded him.

But all's well! (Can I just say in this dining report that my DS14 smiled so much at WDW! I haven't seen that grin in a long time but everywhere we went he got into the game and I think he loved every minute. That was the magic for me.)

We were there for TWO revolutions. I think I may have noticed time going backwards.

The second time around the characters did better. Dale came around scarfing for food. We were just waiting for the check and not too happy about the food anyway, so we were telling him to TAKE IT.

Mickey informed us that he grew the food in his garden.

By now the check came and we were ready to make our escape. DH took ds7 back to the room and I took the others in search of treasure - at Pick a Pearl!

Wanna see?

We're nearing the end of our trip! All we have left is a QS breakfast at Landscape of Flavors and leftover QS credits.

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Great reviews!! I enjoyed reading them. I'm sorry that your son got sick. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jenjie]

Thanks so much!

 

[jenjie]

Landscape of Flavors, QS breakfast, Art of Animation Resort

DH, DS14 and DD12 all got the American Breakfast Platter. There's not a lot to say about this. It's eggs, breakfast meat and a biscuit. They were happy with it.

DS7 got the chocolate chip pancakes. He liked them. Can you tell I'm not really into breakfast? It's just... breakfast.

I had the challah french toast with fruit and bacon. The bacon was Disney bacon. The french toast and fruit were pretty good. We were all pretty much focused on finishing and getting to DME on time.

Ohhh I remembered to grab orange juice for this breakfast! I had a hard enough time finding it but it was my own lack of observation. The fridge with the single serving beverages is in the corner in between the tandoori and pizza stations.

We had a problem counting DDP credits. My fault! The resorts will give you a printout any time you ask. I just didn't ask. So one morning I told everybody to use a snack credit for breakfast. My problem? Our last morning, we had 5 QS credits and no snack credits. It would have been easy to take extra snacks but the QS credits went to waste.

The day before, DS7 got a yogurt - they have Oikos Greek yogurt. I had a croissant. It was light and just right, but not filling. I was glad ds didn't want his yogurt.

(DH, DS14 and DD12 got pastries at Starring Rolls in DHS. They were good, but a bit of a disappointment when what they really wanted was over at Main Street Bakery in MK- you guessed it, the cinnamon rolls! They saw them during their snack the night before. So now that's 3 more reasons for another trip, right?

On the last day I bought one of these tray meals. It's like a power pack. It has yogurt, string cheese, fruit and goldfish crackers. The yogurt is already poured into the divided tray. We couldn't very well carry this onto the plane so I took everything else out and put it in our refillable mugs, and tossed the tray with yogurt.

They don't have lunch things set up at breakfast but in the Grab & Go fridge they have premade sandwiches that looked unappetizing. There is a wrap and they have these trays made up - like the power pack. They have a sushi tray and a "sweet and savory" - bread, cheese, fruit and chocolate covered strawberries. If I liked cheese I would have grabbed that.

I tried to use up the other credits by grabbing a few bagels. It's breakfast, right? We don't need the drink. But they wouldn't even let me have those because they counted as a snack credit. So I walked out with four unused QS credits. Ohhh the shame.

I can't end on a sad note, so let me tell you about Giovanni. Giovanni is a CM at Landscape of Flavors. DS14 and I were in there our first morning, purchasing our refillable mugs. We were looking for an open register. Giovanni was talking with the cashier and told me I should have just pushed him out of the way. Since it was Disney and he was a CM and I was in a Disney frame of mind, I did what I would never ever do anywhere else. I pushed him. I think we were both surprised that I did it! He acted all affronted and we both laughed.

So about 15 minutes later my family is walking through LoF to get the bus. I spot Giovanni and make my way over and accidentally on purpose bump into him. You know how you try to assess the situation - did I bump them or did they bump me? What just happened here? Is everybody OK? - those thoughts flashed across his face but when he saw it was me he cracked up laughing. DS and I are laughing. And DH is wondering what just happened?

 

[jenjie]

And so we come to the end of our journey. I'd like to thank you for joining me, and I leave you with a little photo essay. Because sometimes words get in the way. Remember the magic!

 

[Lesleyluvsdisney]

Great TP. Thanks x

 

[nanienamou]

THank you for taking time to write these reviews! I really enjoyed reading them!

 

[jenjie]

Thank you both. I enjoyed reading dining reports when I was planning our trips. It helped put me in a Disney frame of mind.

 

[havingadisneyday]

(DH, DS14 and DD12 got pastries at Starring Rolls in DHS. They were good, but a bit of a disappointment when what they really wanted was over at Main Street Bakery in MK- you guessed it, the cinnamon rolls! They saw them during their snack the night before. So now that's 3 more reasons for another trip, right?

Oh MAN! You didn't get the cinnamon rolls (this trip)?? Ahhhh, how I've ogled and salivated over the pictures of the cinnamon rolls, for just over 210 days. Only a couple of more months and I will upload a picture of these tasty (I can only assume at this point) tantalizing morsels of bready cinnamony gooey goodness, and then download them between my teeth, lol. Meanwhile, as disappointed as I am for you, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of your adventures. Those Disney vacations are just WAY too short, aren't they??? Thanks for sharing, especially AoA -- gotta hit them up!

 

[jenjie]

Oh MAN! You didn't get the cinnamon rolls (this trip)?? Ahhhh, how I've ogled and salivated over the pictures of the cinnamon rolls, for just over 210 days. Only a couple of more months and I will upload a picture of these tasty (I can only assume at this point) tantalizing morsels of bready cinnamony gooey goodness, and then download them between my teeth, lol. Meanwhile, as disappointed as I am for you, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of your adventures. Those Disney vacations are just WAY too short, aren't they??? Thanks for sharing, especially AoA -- gotta hit them up!

You know,I've seen the pictures of the cinnamon rolls. I make cinnamon rolls so it was no big deal to me. I'm interested in the stuff I can't just have whenever. But apparently those MSB cinnamon rolls must be something pretty special in person, because my family was in love without ever tasting them.

 

[grammimouse]

Wondering what the measurement was for your Pick A Pearl ? I have been tossing around the idea of getting one ( in two weeks ) when we go. I am afraid that I will get one so tiny that it wouldn't even be worth setting. If you don't mind sharing , did you get it Downtown or in Japan ? And while I am being so nosey what was the cost ? Thank-you for any info that you can send.