Grand Gatherings & more! 1 year of Disney Dining! Illuminations Grand Gathering 5/26

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Our first package day was here! I had planned a character breakfast for every morning of the trip. Today was Princess Storybook in Norway.
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We eat here on every trip and prefer Breakfast. Our greeter was Belle. We also saw Mary Poppins, Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora, and Mulan. We were given two of the photo packages even though we only paid for 4 meals. Children under 3 still count as a fifth person even though they don't pay. We had a woderful server that took very good care of us. The food was good, although it was better before. Something was different about the poatatoes. PSB also has a buffet area full of fresh pastries and fruit. And this is the platter they bring to the table!
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Baby DS loved the fruit bar!
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This meal totaled $102.53 and was one table service on the dining plan.

Next up for Lunch we went to one of our favorites! Garden Grill. I know this place gets a lot of mixed reviews but if you like whats on the menu it's a must do. We've eaten here many times and LOVE it. We always have great service, the food is always hot and made just right. The character interaction is the best in all of Disney! I've had them sit down with us and hang out for 15 minutes at the time. They're always playful and you get the best pictures! At GG you meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. The fried catfish is the bomb! And they serve sweetened iced tea! I hate to see lunch go away. It was our favorite lunch spot in all of Epcot! This is the family style platter you get! (Minus the catfish, he brought that on another plate)
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And this is your dessert...
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And for the kids they serve mac n cheese, french fries, and chicken tenders. (No pic sorry) But the kids can always eat from the adult plate too. This is the kids dessert plate. It's a "make your own cupcake!"
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The restaurant spins slowly as you eat. My kids love this! This meal totaled $72.23 for the four of us (baby was free) and we used one table service to cover it.

For Dinner we tried Teppan Edo for the first time over in Japan. This place shares a waiting room upstairs with Tokyo Dining. This was the longest wait we had for any meal...somewhere between 15-20 minutes, probably due to the pouring rain. We were seated with another family. It took the wait staff a while to get it together. we had three servers but two were earning their ears. Very sweet girls, did a great job, only super slow! :goodvibes Being on the deluxe plan you still get an appetizer. Both Sidney and I ordered the Assorted Tempura. The shrimp and chicken were very good. I did not care for the sweet potatoe.

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For dinner he ordered the steak and shrimp combo. I got the filet. This was the best steak I've ever gotten at Disney! It was so tender, OMG. This place beats Le Cellier hands down. No question! If you are looking for a good steak Teppan Edo is the place to find it! Her are some pics from our meal.
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And the finished product...
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This is the kids meal, served in a monorail train! How stinking cute is this? Do they sell these plates? Anyone know?
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Everyone gets chopsticks to eat with here. My kids loved this. They'd rather eat with chopsticks than forks any day. Oh let's not forget dessert. I had the chocolate ginger cake and it was delish!
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Sidney had the fruit tart but wished he had gotten the chocolate cake.

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This was one of the best meals we had at WDW! I will be back again. Our bill totaled $117.15 for the four of us. Again we shared our food with baby DS. This place was superb! (One table service credit) This was our first day on the deluxe dining plan. We probably spent a good 5 hours at least "dining". This plan takes a lot of time away from rides and attractions. I don't think we used a single snack on this day. We were stuffed from eating every few hours. Next up ~

Cyrstal Palace, Tony's Town Square, and Chef Mickey's!
 
first one to join in can't wait to read your dining reviews.

That was fast! Welcome!!!

cant wait

You no longer have to...it's started. :goodvibes

I'm in. We're on the DXDDP on our next trip and eating at a few of the same places.

Which ones? I loved the deluxe plan! It just took away so much time. Next time I'll do it but it'll be done differently.

I'm in.....popcorn::

Welcome!

I'm in! We're headed down in Jan. and doing alot of the same places.:goodvibes

Cool. Which ones? January is a good time to go! Low crowds!

We're using the DxDDP in a couple of weeks so I can't wait to hear about your dining experiences! Bring on the food!

I'm bringing it. :lmao: I'm slow so bare with me. I wish I was going back in a couple of weeks!

Looking forward to your reviews:thumbsup2 We just decided to do deluxe and plan to eat at many of the places you have listed! Thanks for doing this!:goodvibes

You're welcome! I planned and planned trying to get the best places! Welcome to the review!

Count me in!

Will do! Thanks for stopping by!


Welcome! Popcorn sounds yum!

Can't wait to hear your reviews. I just scheduled our trip for next June. I am thinking about a lot of the same restaurants that are on your list!

You might change one or two of 'em once I'm done. :rotfl2:

excited to read more popcorn::

Day one is up now. Check it out!

Can't wait for more, beautiful kiddos!!:goodvibes

Awww thank you. I'm very fond of them. :lovestruc

I'm trying to talk DH into DxDDP for our next trip, so I am waiting for more...and a great job so far!

It's a good thing...but now that I've done it I will plan differently. You live, eat, and learn!
 
enjoying your reviews and photos - and your children are beautiful!

the ginger cake now has a filling of chocolate - loved the cake the way it was before, but now it's been improved on!

great photo of the onion volcano, too!
 


enjoying your reviews and photos - and your children are beautiful!
Thank you! :lovestruc
the ginger cake now has a filling of chocolate - loved the cake the way it was before, but now it's been improved on!

great photo of the onion volcano, too!

I ate there on August 30th. It was good then whatever recipe they were doing. :goodvibes The onion volcanoe was cute. The chef at the next table was a lot more showy though. He was entertainment himself. More like the chefs we get here at home. This guy was cool but a little boring.
 


Subscribing! Great reviews so far! I love eating at Japanese restaurants!
 
We had a pre park opening ADR at CP and we were about 20 minutes late. It took about 10 minutes to be called for our table after I checked in. Our table was in a great spot (back in a corner but close to everything). Upon sitting down we noticed the table settings were nasty! Everything had a thick greasy film ont it. Even the glasses. It was gross! We asked for new stuff and the server got a little po'ed about it. We went ahead and hit the bar, my DD had a BBB appt coming up and we were in a hurry. Once at the bar I had to go through 5-6 plates before I could find one without left over food on it. I could not believe how nasty this place was. We've eaten here a few times before and never experienced this. The food itself looked good and tasted fine. Here is one of our plates.
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We had been here at this point for about 45 minutes and the ONLY character we've seen was Eeyore! Piglet, Pooh, and Tigger were still way over on the other side of the restaurant. We asked the server about how long it'd take and she said, "They'll get here when they get here!"

The service was horrible and at the end of the meal she tried to force my husband to leave her more than the $10 he had put inside her book. (Too much in this case if you ask me) The bill was $65.66. She told him he HAD to leave one of these amounts listed on the receipt. Well after this she got nothing! We're both former servers and always tip well, even when the service is mediocre but this woman was out of line! When he told me what happened I was shocked. He had stayed behind with the baby and waited for Pooh. Had she said this in front of me it would not have been a good thing. It would have been on right then and there. Especially after dirty dishes, hateful remarks when asked a question, and all the slamming she did on purpose behind my head. (A whole other story) I did not catch her name but she was an older Asian woman with shoulder length hair. I had read about this going on on some old tipping threads but this was the only time we ever experienced a problem. As a matter of fact. Other servers never even pointed out the tip thing on the receipt. They'd drop it off, we wrote in CASH and everyone was happy. Will we eat here again!? NO WAY! The whole experience was horrible this time! There are way too many other places to choose from and if ya like Pooh and Tigger they're at 1900 Park fare for Breakfast! This meal takes away one table service credit.

For lunch we went to Tony's Town Square. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our table. This is a gorgeous restaurant. We had a GREAT server. She was perfect. With deluxe we ordered a sampler appetizer for two. It sounded good but we did not like it at all. Ick! All we ate from this were the green olives.

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The server felt bad and brought us out some bread with dipping sauces. We told her it was okay. Not her fault. She even offered to bring out the calamari for Sidney but we were fine with our meals. Sidney ordered the chicken parmesan & it was superb!

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I ordered the flatbread and it was delicious too!

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The kids had this for an appetizer

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And for lunch tey had Spaghetti and Meatballs (DD hated this!) and Pizza

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The dessert was the BEST part! I had the Tiramisu

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Sidney had the cheesecake

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The kids each got hot fudge sundaes (something they got real sick of fast!)

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Our meal came to $74.88 and we tipped about 25%. It took one table service credit. This was a great meal and perfect for lunch! I'd definitely go to Tony's again. We had a lot of fun there. Want more details? Check out my trip report. I'll be adding the Magic Kingdom day tomorrow!

For dinner we went to a family favorite ~ Chef Mickey's. We like it here and go every time we go to WDW. This time was not as good as times in the past though. It felt different. The food was good but not as good as it had been before. This ADR was in the 7 'o clock hour and most of the other times we were there at opening so maybe that's why? The service was great. He kept our drinks full and our table bussed. The salmon at CM is my favorite! It was very good like always! The characters were very playful (as usual) and we had a great time. Here are some pictures from CM's.

The kids' plate...

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Desserts...

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This meal totaled $98.51 and I would recommend this highly. It's a lot of fun and the characters are great! It was one table service credit from the deluxe dining plan.

For snacks that day we had...

A funnel cake

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An ice cream cookie sandwich (this thing is HUGE)

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And these Tinkerbell sour frozen drinks...they're soooo good!

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Next up...Sci Fi and 50's Prime Time
 
Subscribing! Great reviews so far! I love eating at Japanese restaurants!

Thanks! Us too. I was informed a little bit ago we needed to hit one up this weekend. :goodvibes

WOW - I wish I had Teppan Edo on my list!:thumbsup2

You still have time to change it up don't you? It's worth a call.

Good report, good pictures. I'm going to take the plan on my next trip.:surfweb:

Thanks. If you use the plan right you can get a good deal out of it. :thumbsup2
 
Great reviews! Your photos have good lightning. Great to hear a good review of the Garden Grill, I'm considering for next year's trip.
 
We are also eating at:

Princess Storybook
OHana
LeCellier
Chef Mickey’s
50’s Prime Time
(Possibly Kona)

Where did you find those Tinkerbelle drinks? Tell me more about them. Thanks!:cutie:
 
I'm in....a little late:) We are leaving in a 11 days for our first trip with deluxe dining, and we chose a lot of the same places. Can't wait to see the rest of your pics:)
 
Just added Teppan Edo for lunch on arrival day- hope lunch is as good as dinner looks!
 
I'm enjoying your reviews
what lousy service at CP! How can someone demand a tip? And if my math is correct (may not be, LOL) isn't $10 actually 15% of the total, and when did that become an amount to be combative over? I thought that the customary tip is generally 15-20% for GOOD service. Mind you, we generally leave at least 20% unless the service is lousy (which it sounds like it was here!)

What are those Tinkerbell drinks and where did you get them?
 
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