1 Disney Addict & 1 Disney Newbie do DxDP, incl a Proposal! Sept5-12 2012

[MichaelaMouse]

Hi everyone! I am a long-time lurker, and this is my first dining review. I've always wanted to do one, but this time I'm committed.
My DBf, nicknamed Sir, and I went to WDW from September 5-12, 2012. We stayed at All-Star Music Resort. We upgraded our free QSDP to the DxDP. I've always done the DDP in the past, and was worried about the amount of food with Deluxe. However, Sir is a big eater so I knew we'd be fine. I actually had to warn him before our trip that it's ok to leave food on the plates, and please DO NOT try to eat all of his food, along with mine
Here we are!

We're dressed up for our fancy dinner at Cali Grill, and I'm sporting my fabulous custom made Dole Whip earrings!

We were both 24 at the time of this trip, but I celebrated my birthday(which is Sept 16). I'm not a super picky eater, I love meat and most veggies and fruits. I don't like seafood, tomatoes or "weird" meats. I tend to stay away from caffiene because it bothers my stomach. Sir will try anything once and loves most foods, he was excited to try different things on this trip.
We ate lots of meat on this trip, hence the title. Sir would have meat with a side of meat if he could.

This was my 7th trip & Sir's first. I'm a complete Disney Addict, and I LOVE planning trips to Disney. I'm a Registered Nurse, but my dream job is to be a Disney travel agent. One of my favourite parts of going to Disney is definitely planning our dining, I spend hours reading menus and re-arranging ADR's. This trip I wanted to eat only at places I'd never eaten before, but that didn't happen. If I ate at a "repeat" restaurant, I tried to order something different.

We had grand plans this trip about all the food we'd eat, although my expectations were a little more realistic. Sir planned to drink around the world, though I tried to impress upon him how hot and tired we'd be and it may not happen. He was also confident he would eat ALL THE SNACKS, while I planned to use some credits to take home as gifts for people. How did we do? Hopefully I haven't bored anyone to death and you'll read on to find out!

List of Meals:
Tuesday, Sept 6
Halifax Airport Hotel

Wedesnday, Sept 5
Dinner: T-Rex Cafe

Thursday, Sept 6
Lunch: Grand Floridian Cafe
Dinner: Citricos
Day 1 Snacks

Friday, Sept 7
Breakfast: 1900 Park Fare
Dinner: Hollywood Brown Derby
2nd Dinner: Intermission Food Court
Day 2 Snacks

Saturday, Sept 8
Lunch: 50's Prime Time Cafe
Dinner: Le Cellier
Day 3 Snacks

Sunday, Sept 9
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
Lunch: Pecos Bill
Dinner: California Grill
Bonus: Proposal Photos!!
Day 4 Snacks

Monday, Sept 10
Lunch: Yak & Yeti
Dinner: Cinderella's Royal Table
Day 5 Snacks

Tuesday, Sept 11
Lunch: Cancelled Chefs de France, Kona Cafe instead
Dinner: Cancelled Liberty Tree Tavern, Tony's Town Square instead
2nd Dinner: Intermission Food Court

We also had many snacks, some I have pictures of, some not. I'll include those where I have them. I also think I managed to save all my receipts this time (yay! ) so I'll include the prices as well. (Note, I did NOT manage to save most oops!)

 

[MichaelaMouse]

Day -1; September 4, 2012

This is the day before our trip. There aren't many flight options per day from Halifax, NS to Orlando and they tend to leave early in the morning. Ours left at 5:50am So we tend to stay the night before at the Halifax Airport Hotel. With a night's stay you can park a car up to 2 weeks, and they also provide 24hr shuttle service to & from the airport.

Needless to say we were both super excited!! We also knew we had to (try to) go to bed early that night, so we decided to have an early dinner at the restaurant at the hotel. I've eaten here before and been quite impressed.

Sir had a strip steak with veggies & fries, with an Alexander Keith's beer and a Sprite.

He thought the steak was "good" and juicy, but was kinda bland and needed salt. The fries were just frozen fries, but served their purpose. I ate his carrots and they were yummy.

I had a club sandwich (no tomatoes) and mushroom soup, with Sprite.

The sandwich was your standard club, but was really good. The bread was very lightly toasted which might be a problem for some people but I prefer it that way. I find toasty toast cuts the roof of my delicate mouth
The soup was amazing! It desperately needed seasoning, but after some S&P it was so delicious. It was obviously house-made and not from a package or mix. It was pureed, but with some bigger mushroom chunks in it.

We also started with some deep fried pickle chips with ranch dip that I forgot to take a picture of. Oops! I thought they were good, but Sir thought they were too greasy.
I don't have the receipt for this meal but I think it was around $50 for everything. We enjoyed it, and will definitely be back next time we stay at this hotel.

 

[mrscooper21010]

I've been a lurker for a while but now that I'm officially planning our first trip to Disney I'm ready to come out and play.

Can't wait to see all the pics and read your reviews! You have quite a few restaurants that I plan on trying on our trip!

 

[MichaelaMouse]

I've been a lurker for a while but now that I'm officially planning our first trip to Disney I'm ready to come out and play.

Can't wait to see all the pics and read your reviews! You have quite a few restaurants that I plan on trying on our trip!

Yay my first reader!!
I joined before my first Disney trip and found the boards to be super helpful!!
I'm super excited to be writing the reviews and looking at my pictures, it's like re-living our trip!

 

[MichaelaMouse]

I always spend our arrival day at DTD. I also tend not to book any reservations for our arrival day, as I've had bad luck with flights in the past and worry about not making it. In May 2011 we actually ended up delayed 24 hours and barely made our dinner ADR the next day!

However, I had tried to book an ADR for T-Rex a few days before leaving, but there were none available. I knew we'd arrive there at an off time (around 2:30pm) so I decided to just wing it, with Wolfgang Puck Express as a backup. I knew the food here probably wouldn't be spectacular, but Sir was pretty excited about the atmosphere.

We got to T-Rex between 2:30 and 3pm and had no problem getting a table. We were seated right away at a 4 top in the geo-something room
(right outside the ice room). We enjoyed the meteor show and the different animals, but found it to be quite loud, which is to be expected.

We started out with drinks.

Mine is in the front, and Sir's is in the back. I had the Prehistoric Sunset(blend of Skyy Infusions Passion Fruit Vodka, mango puree, orange juice and a splash of Sprite. Sir had the Caveman Punch(mixture of Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, banana liqueur, DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps, and tropical fruit juices). They were strong but yummy. A bit pricey at $13.99 but you get to keep the glass, and we were in desperate need of a drink after our flying.

To start Sir had the Pterosaur Wings, Our traditional wings tossed in buffalo sauce and served with carrots, celery & blue cheese dressing $10.00

Sir's comments: The wings at T-Rex were delicious. They were served with a creamy dipping sauce that really enhanced the flavour of the wings and helped to cut down on the spiciness of the wing sauce. Out of the three courses I had at the cafe, the wings were my favourite.

I had Megalosaurus Mozzarella, Seared mozzarella with creamy marinara & mozzarella fingers $8.99

This was so good!! The seared mozzarella was the best part, and I ate all of it. I also had all but 1 of the fingers. Sir tried some and thought it was good too. I was worried I had filled up too much on the app but it turned out to be a good thing.

For his entree, Sir had the Tyrannosaurus T-Bone, Charbroiled certified Angus Beef T-bone steak topped with steak butter & served with red skinned garlic mashed potatoes & roasted vegetables. $32.99

Sir got his served with waffle fries, and seems to have no veggies on his plate. We don't remember them being mentioned or offered. His comments: I enjoyed the steak, it was a very large portion but it was cooked perfectly to order (mid rare) and was well seasoned. The only criticism i have for the steak is that it was a bit on the greasy side. The waffle fries were crispy and delicious, just how I like.

For my entree, I had the Boneyard Buffet, Fire-roasted Rotisserie Chicken and Mega Mes-O-Bones served with waffle fries and your choice of one of the following sides: garlic mashed potatoes, Raptor rice, baked beans, cinnamon apples, cole slaw or roasted vegetables $27.99

I got coleslaw for my side. This entree unfortunately wasn't very good. The chicken was dry and tasteless. The ribs were also pretty dry, the sauce was good but there wasn't enough of it to compensate for the dry ribs. The fries & coleslaw were good but I was full from my app so I didn't eat much.

For dessert, Sir had the Sorbet Sampler, Mango and raspberry sorbet topped with raspberry sauce and mango puree and served with a chocolate covered wafer $6.99

Sir's dessert was delicious, and I had a bit of food envy. His comments:for dessert I had the duo of sorbet. They were sweet, but not overly sweet and a great palate cleanser for the end of the meal. The dessert was light, delicous and more than I was expecting.

I had the Ice Age Indulgence, Layers of ice cream sandwiches, fudge sauce, whipped cream and Heath Bar Crunch $8.99

This was delicious! I usually am not a fan of chocolate desserts, opting more for fruity things. However, I love love love ice cream sandwiches and I thought this was awesome. I wanted to eat it all but I was stuffed, and had to force myself to stop.
Total for this meal including alcoholic drinks was $140.75, DxDP covered $110.95, leaving $29.80 OOP

After we ate and shopped a bit we got a Glacier at Goofy's Candy Company using a snack credit. We got apple flavour. Sir was worried it would be like a sour apple type thing, but it actually tasted like frozen apple juice and was really delicious. It was super hot out, and we were thirsty so this was the perfect option. I don't have a picture, oops, and don't remember the price but I think it was around $4.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Excellent start!!

 

[OThopeful35]

We started our trip last year with TRex. I enjoyed it but it was loud Sorry your entree wasn't very good. Can't wait to read more!

 

[MichaelaMouse]

Today we had lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe. I've always wanted to eat here but with the DDP it didn't feel like good enough value to use my 1TS credit per day here for dinner. So I thought with the DxDP, eating here at lunch would be perfect.
Our reservation was for 11:30. We took the boat over from MK and arrived around 11. We asked to be seated early, which they told us wasn't a problem but they were serving breakfast until 11:30. We decided to wait until lunch service and spent the time sitting in the beautiful GF lobby.

We were seated promptely at 11:30 at a 2 top along the wall. It was a cramped table. Everyone else who was seated (only 3 other parties) while we were there sat along the window. I can see why at a busy restaurant parties of 2 would sit at 2 top tables, but our location was pretty crappy. Especially considering the restaurant was essentially empty and other parties of 2 were put at 4 tops next to the window.
Our server, Rola, was friendly and efficient.
To drink I had a Sprite, and sir had both Sprite and a Grand Margarita, 1800 Resposado Tequila, Grand Marnier, Lime Juice, and Sweet-and-Sour $9.50

I tried a sip of this and thought it was good, but strong. Sir thought it was a bit too strong. I opted not to get any alcohol for lunch as we were spending the full day at MK and it was so hot.

For his app, Sir got Shrimp Cocktail, Fragrantly-poached shrimp served with fresh Tomato-Horseradish Cocktail Salsa $12.99

Sir's Comments: The shrimp were delicious, shrimpy but not fishy. The cocktail salsa was delicious. The presentation was very fancy.

For my app, I had Chicken Noodle Soup, this isn't on the menu but seasonal soup is listed as $5.99

None of the appetizers on the menu really appealed to me, so I was quite happy when Rola mentioned that chicken noodle soup was an option. I assume it's the same soup from the kid's menu. This soup was delicious, way better than I expected. The noodles were cooked perfectly. The chicken was plentiful, although a bit dry.

For his entree, Sir had the Grand Floridian Burger, Angus Chuck Burger, Butter-Poached Lobster, with red onion marmalade, crispy prosciutto, and arugula on a brioche bun with chips $19.49

Sir's Comments: OMG it was so good! It is hands down the best thing I've ever eaten. The hamburger was cooked perfectly to a pink-medium. The lobster was perfectly poached in butter. It was both sweet, savoury and succulent. The chips were nice and crispy, but I didn't really care for the dipping sauce.
I tried a few chips and they were pretty good.

For my entree, I had The Grand Sandwich, Open-faced hot ham, fresh-roasted turkey, bacon, and tomato with a rich boursin cheese sauce and fried onion straws $13.49 (mine was without tomato)

This sandwich was amazing. The turkey was actual carved turkey, and the bacon was crispy. The cheese sauce added a tanginess that perfectly complimented the rest of the sandwich. The bread was perfectly toasted. The fried onion straws were good, but a bit greasy. I would definitely not hesitate to order this again.

For dessert, we shared the Dessert Sampler, which consisted of Frest Berry Tart, Key Lime Tart, Boston Cream Pie & Lemon Cheesecake $10.99 (serves 2)

Sir's Comments: The treats that stood out most to me were the boston cream pie and the lemon cheesecake. Both were sweet, light, and over all a perfect end to a heavy and delicious lunch.
My comments: I tried all 4, but I preferred the berry tart & key lime tart. The berries on top of the tart were fresh & tart, so delicious. The key lime had the perfect balance of sweet and sour.
The sampler also included a solid chocolate Mickey. I bit off an ear, and hurt my tooth in the process. Due to it being solid and chilled, it's super hard. He was really cute and I would have loved to take him home with us but I knew he wouldn't survive the rest of a hot day at MK.

I don't have the total for this meal, but I know that our OOP due for Sir's drink was $10.12

We loved this meal, and we both can't wait to have lunch here again on our next trip. Sir continues to talk about how amazing the burger was!

 

[MichaelaMouse]

Excellent start!!

Thanks!!

We started our trip last year with TRex. I enjoyed it but it was loud Sorry your entree wasn't very good. Can't wait to read more!

I think TRex is all about the atmosphere. I think we'd go back just for that! but definitely with a different entree

 

[MichaelaMouse]

We used 4 snack credits this day. It was super hot & we were in MK all day. I usually don't plan full days in parks, but Sir has never seen the 3:00 parade (obviously).
Sadly, it POURED that afternoon for a solid hour or so, and there was no parade. So we rode POTC many times

On our way out of the park to go to lunch, we got these at a snack cart just over the Adventureland Bridge:
Yellow Powerade $3.50

I love Powerade, and this really hit the spot. 1 snack Credit

Iced Mocha $4.49

Sir loved this, and have many more over the rest of our trip. 1 snack credit

That afternoon while we were waiting for the rain to let up a bit more, we had some of our much anticipated snacks from Sunshine Tree Terrace.

Citrus Swirl $3.19; Orange slush with vanilla soft serve

I had told Sir about this before our trip and he was really looking forward to it. He says: OMG it was awesome!
I thought it was also delicious, but not as good as dole whip. 1 snack credit

All Natural Lemonade topped with Wildberry Foam $2.99

This was really good! I love lemonade, and this one was perfect. It was deliciously sour, and not too sweet. The foam was really good too. I sucked most of it off the top with my straw before I drank the lemonade. 1 snack credit

During the day we also had a few free cups of ice water, which for some reason I'd never taken advantage of before. It's way easier than carrying a water bottle around. Also, Sir wore a water backpack and we would pour his cup into that for him which also worked out great!

 

[Sir]

WOW! That sure is one handsome man drinking that coffee, and what a beard! It's so majestic. You are one lucky lady, Miss Lady.

 

[MichaelaMouse]

WOW! That sure is one handsome man drinking that coffee, and what a beard! It's so majestic. You are one lucky lady, Miss Lady.

Sir! Thanks to you and your majestic beard for joining us. I'm the luckiest lady alive

 

[rachel09985]

Great pics! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[livinlife25]

Can't wait for the rest of your reviews!!

 

[WDWaddictt]

I'm not a super picky eater, I love meat and most veggies and fruits. I don't like seafood, tomatoes or "weird" meats.

I'm a complete Disney Addict, and I LOVE planning trips to Disney. I'm a Registered Nurse, but my dream job is to be a Disney travel agent. One of my favourite parts of going to Disney is definitely planning our dining, I spend hours reading menus and re-arranging ADR's.

Me too!! (hense my name...WDWAddictt. Lol). I would love to be a travel agent for Disney!

I am in, fellow Canadian... Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews.

 

[MichaelaMouse]

Great pics! Looking forward to the rest!

Thanks for joining in!

Can't wait for the rest of your reviews!!

Thanks! I must say I'm pretty excited to be writing them!

Me too!! (hense my name...WDWAddictt. Lol). I would love to be a travel agent for Disney!

I am in, fellow Canadian... Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews.

Yay another Canadian addict! Thanks for reading!

 

[jecskc]

I am loving your dining reviews !!! Looking forward to reading more !!!

 

[tluvstink]

Great reviews! We tried GFC for the first time 2 years ago and loved it I had a shrimp and pasta dish but I may have to try the burger next time!

Terri

 

[Tinker12]

Awesome pictures and reviews!!

 

[MichaelaMouse]

On this night we ate at Citrico's. I was pretty excited to eat here. I'd eaten at Narcoossee's before and heard that Citrico's was better so I couldn't wait to test out that theory.
We had spent all day at MK, and had packed a change of clothes in a rented locker so we could be cleaner and more worthy of a signature restaurant. Here we are in our finery, photo taking compliments of a nice man at the MK gates.

We took the boat over to the GF again, Sir loves boats. We were early (I'm ALWAYS early for everything) so we wandered around the giftshop in the GF lobby and browsed the Dooney & Burkes (I ended up getting one later in the week). We arrived at the restaurant still too early to check in for our 5:35 reservation so we sat in the lounge and waited.
We were seated around 5:30 at a 4 top by the window, with a view of the pool. I enjoyed this as I got to watch the duckies swimming in the pool. I was wearing a black dress, and they swapped my white napkin for a black one which I thought was a nice touch.
I don't have our waitress's name, but she was nice and very attentive, almost too attentive. Sir describes her as "really knowledgeable".

I received a personalized menu for my birthday, I was super excited about this!

We started with a bottle of chilled, still bottled water to share.
I ordered a Tropical Mojito, Cruzan Mango Rum and pineapple juice with fresh squeezed lime juice, mint and agave nectar topped with soda water $7.50

This drink was delicous! It was fruity, and didn't have too strong of an alcohol taste. I could have easily had several!

Sir had a Pina CoLAVA, Bacardi Razz Rum blended with pina colada mix and raspberry puree $8.25

Sir's comments: It was awesome!

We also started with bread & butter:

We thought the bread was, in Sir's words, "pretty standard fare". I ate part of a piece, but it wasn't good enough to fill up my tummy on.

For his appetizer, Sir had Charcuterie; prosciutto di parma, beef bresaola, duck breast prosciutto, palacios chorizo, pecorino romano, medjool dates, pickled fennel, and marcona almonds $15.00

Sir's comments: The stand out item was the duck breast prosciutto, it was rich and creamy whitout being greasy. The thing I disliked was the almonds and cheese, I found the cheese to be to pungent and far too salty.
My comments: This was delicious. My favourite part was the cheese and almonds. The salty, hard cheese was the perfect companion to the crunchy almonds. I loved popping a piece of each in my mouth. Lucky for me, Sir didn't like them.

For my app, I got the Arancini; crispy risotto with cremini mushrooms, asiago and charred tomato coulis $10

This was so delicious. The exterior was crispy. The risotto inside was deliciously creamy and mushroomy. I love mushrooms. I kind of avoided the tomato coulis due to my dislike of tomatoes. I thought it was the perfect size for an appetizer. Sir thought they were awesomely delicious, creamy & very good.

Sir's entree was Braised Veal Shank; carrot-potato mash, roasted vegetables, and toasted citrus gremolata $53.00

Sir's comments: it was BUTTER!!! The rich roasted meat fell off the bone and simply melted in your mouth. Every item on the plate was delicious on its own or hashed together into a Sir sized mound of gastroheaven.
My comments: I'd never had veal before and I tried a small bite. I'm not a fan of braised things, but this was pretty good.

I had Berkshire Pork Tenderloin; rotisserie pork tenderloin and house-smoked bacon with aged white cheddar polenta, escarole, brentwood corn salsa, and cherry gastrique $32.00

I loved this!!! I'm a huge fan of pork (as you will see), I had it a lot on this trip, and I think this was the best pork dish. The tenderloin was a perfect medium and was tender and juicy. The bacon was perfectly crispy and salty. And the polenta....O.M.G. I could bathe in it. The cherry gastrique was tart and balanced out the rich dish perfectly. I wasn't able to finish some of the polenta & a piece of tenderloin, Sir was more than happy to assist me and loved it as well.

For dessert, Sir had Lemon-scented Cheesecake; with a blanket of white chocolate ganache $9.00

Sir's comments: The cake was good but I was so full from he ample helping of veal that I could hardly force it down.
My comments: I didn't try this, but it looked similar/the same as the cheesecake from our sampler platter at the GF Cafe.

I had Tropical Fruit Creme Brulee; with mango and assorted berries $10.00

This was also delicious. And it had a candle which made it even better! I ate about 2/3 of this even though I was stuffed. I'm a huge creme brulee fan, and this one had a perfect amount of tropical fruit flavour. It was sweet, and just a little tart. The mangoes & berries on top were fresh & delicious.

We finished off our meal with a cup of tea each, not because we needed to ingest anything else, but because it was included and our waitress told us they were known for their teas.
I had the Nobo Whole Fruit; a blend of wild strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.
I ordered this mostly because it didn't have caffiene and I love berries. It smelled great, and tasted pretty good. I wasn't able to drink much though, which made me sad.

Sir had the Jamaican Spice; a blend of hibiscus, cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel with brilliant red liquor.
This tea smelled amazing! And Sir seemed to enjoy it. The teas were $6.29 each.

I misplaced this receipt, but all we paid for were the 2 alcoholic drinks, and tip of course. We loved Citricos and have it on our list for our next trip!