Just another day in the Happiest Place on Earth! Completed April 24th!!

[Lisa F]

We are back from the most amazing trip ever!!! We loved the Yacht Club and had many, many wonderful meals and lovely service.

After arriving on Saturday just after lunch, we were happy to receive an email indicating that our room was ready. We went up to unpack and get settled in as we wanted to have some time to relax before our 5:10 reservation at O'hana. Originally we had an 8:00 ressie but I was lucky enough to snag an earlier time two days earlier.

Upon arriving at O'hana we checked in and only waited about ten minutes before our buzzer went off. We were led to a table in the back and my heart kind of sunk a bit.....I really wanted a table in the main room but had forgot to mention that at check in. I decided to take a risk and ask our very kind hostess if there was any way we might be able to have a table in the front room. She went off to confer with some of the other staff and not five minutes later we were led to a beautiful table one row back from the window with a perfect view of the castle. I was blown away and so thankful for this lovely piece of pixie dust!

Unfortunately there are no pics of this meal as my husband had taken them on his phone and the phone took an untimely bath in Stormalong Bay.......oh well! I'm sure everyone knows that an O'hana meal is like. . On to the food....... we quickly devoured a loaf of the welcome bread while we debated our drink orders. DH and I chose the Lapu Lapu and the boys went with the Mega Berry smoothies. Our waiter was excellent, he was quick to anticipate any of our needs. Our water and soft drinks were refilled before we even thought to ask. We started with the salad which was fresh, crisp and flavourful with just the right amount of dressing. We asked our waiter if he would pace out the meal a bit slower and he was happy to do that. The chicken wings were plump, juicy and oh so yummy! The boys really enjoyed the potstickers as well. We ended up asking for a second plate of these and devoured those as well. The noodles and stir fried veggies came next and were great. The veggies were crisp and well seasoned. I think I got one bite of the noodles as the boys simply inhaled them! After 5-10 minutes the skewers started coming around. The chicken was first and was excellent.... definitely thigh meat but very juicy and delicious with the sweet and sour sauce. I had about 4 pieces of it as I don't care for steak or shrimp. The steak was up next and was fabulous, a lovely medium rare which the boys and DH prefer. They each had 3-4 pieces. After another ten minutes the shrimp came round and it was a huge hit! Everyone had at least three pieces and really enjoyed it. Our waiter came back with seconds on both the steak and the shrimp which the boys were happy to partake of.

Dessert was up next and while DH and I were in dessert heaven, our waiter was quick to notice that the boys were not tucking in. He offered to bring around ice cream and brownies for them which they really enjoyed. Really, we could not have asked for better service or a more delightful meal for our first day at Disney. We certainly did not need any snacks at MK that night!

OOP cost: $253 including adult beverages
Tip: $50 for awesome service!
Savings vs using DDP: $93.50

How are you calculating your savings vs. using the DDP? you are seriously making me rethink my decision to skip ohana lol

 

[pumba]

we are right there with you on Ohana.. we loved it and have reservations there again in May... Love the service yuo got too...thanks so much for your review so far

 

[suse66]

How are you calculating your savings vs. using the DDP? you are seriously making me rethink my decision to skip ohana lol

Lisa, I am looking at a base rate of $318.70 which it would have cost per day for the DDP for our family. Then I subtract the amount we spent OOP, excluding any adult bevvies and tip. We came out well ahead paying OOP and ate VERY well. So pleased with how it all worked out!

We loved our meal at O'hana. It was our 4th dinner there and probably the best one yet.

 

[PirateRachel]

you make 'Ohana sound nom nom nom

 

[suse66]

you make 'Ohana sound nom nom nom

Rachel, it was excellent. It was our 4th time having dinner there and was definitely our best experience to date. We all loved it!

 

[momof3princes]

Joining in, sounds like you had a wonderful trip. We love O'Hana, I also have 3 boys and any place that brings you lots of meat is a place they love
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

 

[lilandvisma]

Following along Sounds like you had an amazing visit!!! We LOVE Ohana's as well! And the Lapu Lapu, well just look at my profile pic LOL. My kids loved the brownies and ice cream they offered them, but were just too stuffed to even try a little. Waiter said he had to throw them out, which my Son didn't understand he wanted to "save them for later" so he brought us a drink cup and stacked them in there for us to take back to our room. We have never had anything buy fabulous meals there, and always great service!

 

[kastoney]

Love that you started things out right with a Lapu Lapu. That will get any vacation going ; ) Your meal sounds delicious too. And wow, wow, wow on the dining plan savings.

 

[suse66]

Love that you started things out right with a Lapu Lapu. That will get any vacation going ; ) Your meal sounds delicious too. And wow, wow, wow on the dining plan savings.

We were seriously impressed with how much money we saved going OOP. And we ate (and drank!) so well!

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed your review. We will be going to O'Hana in August.

 

[suse66]

Nothing is better than the first day of waking up at Disney and realizing you have a glorious week of vacation stretching out in front of you...... As we had done a Garden Grocer order, our plan was have a quick breakfast in the room before heading down to the pool. After enjoying yogurt, granola and fruit on the balcony I snuck past my sleeping boys and went in search of refillable mugs and coffee! The refillable mugs were a great value for us and we made use of them throughout the week.

Once I finally got my sleeping beauties and up into the gorgeous Florida sunshine, we were off to Stormalong Bay. Within an hour of swimming the boys were "starving" so we headed off to Hurricane Hanna's for lunch. Surprise, surprise the boys got burgers while DH and I had super yummy field green salad with chopped chicken, blue cheese and cranberries in an orange viniagrette. This salad was so fresh and delicious, absolutely the perfect lunch choice. The boys really enjoyed their cheeseburgers as well.

We packed up our pool gear and headed over to Hollywood Studios around 2:30. After whirling around on Toy Story Midway Mania and enjoying the Great Movie Ride it was time to check in to Sci Fi Drive In for dinner. We were led to a perfect car in the front row back from the screen. Our waiter was excellent, personable and attentive without hovering. Our first course of action was to plan drinks... we had fond memories of the Orange Blossom Pilsner from last year so went for those. The boys chose the vanilla milkshakes since you can't go to Sci Fi without getting milkshakes, right? Our waiter went off to check on allergy restrictions for me and came back to say that the veggie burger was fine for me to order with my tree nut allergy. DH went for the Boursin Burger and the three teens had......... the Build your Own Angus Burgers. I swear they would eat burgers for breakfast if they could!

After about a 15 minute wait, our food was delivered. Everything was piping hot and flavourful. The black bean patty on the veggie burger was well seasoned and paired really well with the arugula and tomato jam. I love the sweet potato fries here as well. DH's Boursin burger was fab with a full patty of fried Boursin cheese atop the burger. He was in Burger Heaven! With prompt, reliable service and yummy, fresh food Sci-Fi proved to be a winner yet again for our family.





After leaving Sci-Fi I had to stop in at Writer's Stop and pick up a carrot cake cookie. I'd read about these for years and finally had a chance to try it. It certainly lived up to the hype but that thing is huge! I worked on it over the next couple of days; it was very, very good!



5 resort refillable mugs: $84.95
Lunch at Hurricane Hannas: $50.25
Dinner at Sci-Fi: $110.00 (excluding adult bevvies)
Carrot cake cookie: $3.99
Total OOP costs for the day:$249.19
Savings for today vs using DDP: $69.31

Pics are coming but I am having trouble with sizing them. Hope to figure this out soon.

 

[DisneyJo]

Loving your reviews

 

[chocolateMinnie]

love the oop v ddp - we have attempted to do this for the last six trips. We try and estimate before we book but don't always get it right Looking forward to the rest

 

[kastoney]

Glad you all enjoyed SciFi and hello orange blossom beer. May have partaken in some of this myself on our last trip ; )

And you finally tired the carrot cake cookie. Glad it lived up to the hype for ya. Can't wait to dig into mine next month

 

[suse66]

On Monday morning we were off to try out the breakfast buffet at the Captain's Grill! This was an easy choice for us as we we re staying right at the Yacht Club but I don't think it's something I would go out of my way for. Upon arriving downstairs, we went over to check in for our 9:35 am reservation. Then we waited.....and waited.....and waited..... finally getting seated at 10:10 am! Not quite sure why we had to wait so long as there were many empty tables but we tried not to let it put a damper on our morning. We were led to a big round table in the back corner near the windows, it was lovely and bright. Our server was over quickly with the menus and to take our drink orders. We went for coffee and the boys got chocolate milk and orange juice. After dropping off our drinks, we let our server know that we would all be doing the buffet.....well, that's the last we saw of him until we were ready to go! I had to flag down someone else for syrup and a coffee cup for DH..... not sure what was going on there. On to the food....we all enjoyed the buffet, there were plenty of options and it was replenished regularly. The bacon was lovely and I was in heaven with the grilled tomatoes....so good! The fruit was very ripe and juicy and there was a good selection of pastries.


My first plate featured the delicious quinoa fruit salad I had tried last year in the Beach Club lounge as well as bacon, grilled tomatoes, a ham and cheese frittata and a Mickey waffle! The clear winner for me was the quinoa salad and the tomatoes; so good!

The boys went heavy on the bacon and Mickey waffles as well as trying out some of the other pastries.

Yes, that scamp ate every bite on his plate and ended going back for more. The other two boys chose pretty similar offerings, heavy on the bacon as well. Oh to have the metabolism of teenage boys!

I ended up going back for a second plate as you might as well go big or go home on vacation, right?

This time I went for the fresh fruit, some scrambled eggs, another Mickey waffle and of course more of the grilled tomato and quinoa salad. Needless to say, I didn't need lunch that day!

 

[suse66]

After finishing breakfast we headed over to Epcot with a fast pass for Test Track being first on our agenda! We enjoyed a trip back through history on Spaceship Earth and headed over for our "Behind the Seeds" tour. This was really informative but it is hot in the greenhouses......bring water!


Lots of fun spotting the many classic and hidden Mickeys along the tour!

After finishing the tour, we went down to Sunshine Seasons to grab an ice cream bar, The boys all went with a Mickey bar while I picked the strawberry fruit bar. Very nice and refreshing in the heat! As it was another glorious day, Stormalong Bay was calling our names. We enjoyed a few hours relaxing pool side and then got ready to meet up with some friends from home at Epcot for the evening. We were finally starting to feel a little hungry from our enormous breakfast earlier in the day but still wanted something on the lighter side. DH and I decided to check out Katsura Grill and chose these two beauties.

A California roll for me and the nigiri combo for DH. Both were fresh and delicious. This was just enough to enjoy without feeling too full.

The boys were not in the mood for sushi so they walked over to Liberty Inn where hotdogs and hamburgers were the order of the day!


They really enjoyed their meals and were pleased to go off for dinner on their own.

Totals for March 14th:
Captain's Grill breakfast buffet: $117.15
Ice cream at Sunshine Seasons: $16.79
Katsura Grill: $21.79
Liberty Inn: $51.74
Total OOP costs for the day: $207.47
Savings vs using DDP:$111.03

 

[kastoney]

Captains Grill looks great, especially love the sound of that quinoa fruit salad. I've read lots of good things about it lately, so will definitely have to try it next time we're staying in the boardwalk area.

Still can't believe how much you all are saving compared to the dining plan, especially with 3 teenage boys. It's never appealed to us, largely because it doesn't work with how we like to eat but I always thought it at least offered a savings. Clearly not.

 

[vettegirl]

Enjoying the reviews

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Loving your reviews and WOW on the OOP vs. dining plan comparison!!!

 

[Lisa F]

Captains Grill looks great, especially love the sound of that quinoa fruit salad. I've read lots of good things about it lately, so will definitely have to try it next time we're staying in the boardwalk area.

Still can't believe how much you all are saving compared to the dining plan, especially with 3 teenage boys. It's never appealed to us, largely because it doesn't work with how we like to eat but I always thought it at least offered a savings. Clearly not.

It does depending on how you use it. If you eat at a lot of character buffet dinners and more expensive QS you will have a savings, especially if you have any disney kids in the mix. If you eat at less expensive TS like breakfast or Sci Fi you will definitely lose money (and flexibility). I don't think signatures are in general a great use of credits either. If the places you prefer are not the pricey ones you would end up spending more.