11 days of DDP with pictures-Day 10, Narcoossee's Dinner added

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, here's the first of my dining reviews. Day 1 & 2 (Sept. 9 & 10). Sorry, in advance, these are lengthy!

Quick info-Our family consisted of DM 66 , DD 7 (on the 19th) and me 47
We stayed at POP, we rented a van, we're from Southern California. This is our 9th trip since 1998 and my DD's 7th. (she is not, is not, is not spoiled!) I also started a refrig. swap at POP. (as of 3/2/08 still going!)

Here's a listing by page
Page 1 Post #1 Day 2 Cantina de San Angel and Kona Cafe
Page 1 Post #9 Day 3 Typhoon Lagoon-Leaning Palms and Raglan Road at DTD.
Page 2 Post #25 Day 4 1900 Park Fare Dinner
Page 2 Post #27 Day 5 Tusker's House and Restaurantosaurus for lunch AK. Le Cellier, Epcot, Dinner
Page 3 Post #35 Day 6 POFQ food court for beignets; Everything POP Snack and California Grill Dinner
Page 4 Post #52 Day 7 Lottawatta Lodge (BB) & Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner MNSSHP
Page 4 Post #56 Day 8 Kona Cafe Dinner
Page 4 Post #58 Day 9 Everything POP breakfast, Tangierine Cafe and Refreshment Port, Epcot, lunch
Page 5 Post #61 Day 9 Hollywood Brown Derby Dinner
Page 5 Post #66 Day 10 Tusker's House, AK, breakfast. Tamm Tamu, AK, Snack Flametree BBQ and Restaurantosaurus, AK Lunch
Page 5 Post #71 Narcoossee's, Grand Floridian, Dinner

ADDED-on the more recent reviews I have included a cost-per-credit for those who want to know. It's not how we decided where to eat, but it may be of interest. Our highest value per credit, you ask? Kona Cafe. Both meals.

Okay, here goes-
Wow, did we eat well this trip! Thank you free DDP! This is the 2nd time we’ve used free DDP and the third time we’ve done it in total. We’ve really gotten the hang of it now.

Day 1
Travel day, ate in airport, ate sandwiches from home on plane. Stopped at Mc’Ds at Crossing for late dinner, ate in car-good as usual. Mom and me-$1 cheeseburgers, no cheese. DD had Chicken Nuggets-I usually don’t let her get them but heh, we’re on vacation aren’t we?
Fries-good and hot. Soda-very refreshing.

Service: Good
Food quality: Good
Food quantity: Excellent
View: highway and sprinklers hitting car (at first we thought it was rain!)
Would return: Yes

Day 2

BREAKFAST-in room, late start due to time change. Cereal, toast, and bagels-we had our own toaster.

LUNCH-Cantina de San Angel, Mexico, Epcot
We went to Mexico and ate at The Cantina. We ordered the Plato Combinacion - chicken taco, beef burrito and a quesadilla served with black refried beans and Mexican salsa for my mom and me to share. We’ve had it before and know it’s plenty of food. The order taker was quick to point out that on the DDP we only got a regular sized drink and a churro for dessert. That was okay with me. Cost, if we had paid, $10. I also ordered (OOP) a side of flour tortillas for my DD. She loves to make her own burritos. This is probably the best deal in the parks! She got 3 (or 4) flour tortillas for 40 cents. The food was good and we enjoyed talking to other guests around us about that a.m. earthquake! We had plenty to eat and my DD loved the churro! We also enjoy the location of the patio, right next to the lake.

DD enjoying her tortilla!

Service: Fair
Food quality: Good
Food quantity: Excellent(sharable)
View: Excellent, lakeside
Would return: Yes

DDP Remaining Tally
30 TS 29 QS 30 SC

SNACK-
Epcot-frozen coke
1QS

DINNER-Kona Café 6:25 ADR
We arrived at Kona’s early (about 6:05) and were told our table would be ready about our ADR time. We were seated around 6:25 on the left side of the restaurant, on the outside edge. Our server was Maykel, and he was very good. My DD decided she wanted her own meal (she didn’t want to share the sticky wings) and decided on Chicken Noodle Soup for appie, Chicken Strips (the first of many!) for entrée, and Lemonade. At first my DD wanted to order the PB&J but I said no-she doesn’t really like PB&J. Turns out she just wanted the goldfish crackers that came with it. I asked Maykel if we could sub the crackers for the fries and he said it was no problem. My mom and I decided to share since we wanted to be able to enjoy our dessert at the table. We ordered Sticky Wings for appetizer, Char Crusted Medallions of Filet Mignon - mashed yukon gold potatoes, asparagus and a 5-spice mushroom demi glace for entrée. I had an ice tea. My mom had water. I did ask if smoothies were part of the plan (I didn’t want one, was just curious) and was told they aren’t.


Sticky Wings!

The Sticky Wings were good, as always. My DD decided she didn’t like her soup (it was good, I think she was expecting something more like the Lipton soup we make at home with extra noodles ) and I asked Maykel if she could get the fruit cup (the other kid’s choice appie) and he said it wasn’t a problem. The chicken strips were good. I think there were 3. She ate almost 2 of them. The filet was excellent! Medium rare, as ordered, nice and thick. It was one large filet instead of the 2 smaller filets we’ve gotten before. This was the first of many filets I had this trip. I normally don’t eat a lot of red meat, but I do like a good filet! Potatoes and asparagus were also good.

We ordered the Kilauea Torte for dessert and my DD ordered the kid’s brownie sundae. The Torte was delicious! Warm chocolate oozing out. Soooo goooood! The brownie sundae is one of 2 choices the kid’s now have. The other kid’s choice is Jell-o. The Kiddie Kone is now only for adult dessert. My DD ate the ice cream and left most of the brownie-she’s not much of a brownie eater. I tasted it though and it was good.


Kid's Brownie Sundae--------------------Torte Before-------------------------Torte oozing out warm chocolate!

The meal would have cost $71. We tipped extra since we shared and Maykel was so good. (Just a note-my DD is usually not so picky. She was happy with her meals for the rest of the trip-of course, she mostly ate chicken strips or nuggets, and mac n cheese!) While we were eating we talked to the family next to us who were on the DDP and were also sharing. They were a mom, dad, and (older) teenage son. They said they’d been sharing a lot of meals. They rec. Narccoossee’s at GF and said we should go there-it was really good! I didn’t have an ADR for there but we decided we would consider it. I haven’t really read much about Narccoossee’s. (We did eat there near the end of our trip-it’ll be on day 10). We finished up about 7:45 We rode the monorail to MK for EMH p.m.

This restaurant continues to meet our expectations-it’s one of our favorite sit-down meals.

Service: Great
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Good (sharable)/Décor: Nice/View: interior of Poly
Crowded: No-not all tables were filled.
Noise level: Not too bad
Would return: Yes, and we did later this trip!

DDP Remaining Tally
28 TS 29 QS 29 SC

 

[dixiedizfan]

Excellent reviews ... can't wait for the rest!

 

[sandym718]

Great reviews! I am salivating!! We'll be making an ADR for Kona and I definitely want to try the Cantina for a Mexican fix when we go in April.

Thank you!!

 

[TigerKat]

Great review - can't wait to go to KONA!!!

 

[fenfur]

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!! How am I am ever going to wait a year if I keep reading the DIS Boards!! ACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Great review so far!

BTW, What kind of rate did you get for the van rental? I'm still undecided about rental vs ME. We rented before and I could not imagine being dependent upon buses, but it's a budget issue (and we're from So Cal too, we're attached to our cars, )

 

[Schucraig]

Thanks for the review! We try Kona in 4 more weeks!

 

[bonzarella]

Thanks Ddaz. Kona was our #2 meal out of 10. We loved it, our server was Debbie. She was the BEST. I got to meet you & family at the Pop party. Look forward to reading the rest of the reviews

 

[Dizneydaz]

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!! How am I am ever going to wait a year if I keep reading the DIS Boards!! ACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Great review so far!

BTW, What kind of rate did you get for the van rental? I'm still undecided about rental vs ME. We rented before and I could not imagine being dependent upon buses, but it's a budget issue (and we're from So Cal too, we're attached to our cars, )

We got a great rate at Alamo. We only ended up paying $225 (complete, inc. taxes, etc.) for 10 days, including an additional driver.

I started by booking a Midsize SUV (3 months ahead) for $270. Then I booked a Std. SUV about a 2 weeks ahead for $265. 2 days later I rebooked it for the same price with an additional driver included. My final booking was 2 days before for a Minivan, with additional driver, for $225 complete. I used the Entertainment coupon for $25 off and Walmart I.D. (430710) for the free driver. I did check the day before we went and the minivans had gone back up to over $400.

I've done this many times before and there is almost always a rate drop just before we go. Alamo does not require a credit card to make the reservation. What I love about Alamo is that you get to pick out your vehicle from all the ones in the lot. (As long as it's in the category you booked). Our last van was a red, Chevy Uplander, 2 remote activated rear sliding doors (very nice to open them up before you get to the car to let out the heat) and a DVD player. I will continue to rent from Alamo as long as they continue to let you pick your own vehicle and they don't require cc for reservation.

And yes, being from So. Cal, we aren't used to using buses, no matter how convenient they are. Plus, it's great to be able to run to Sams, Super Target, or Walmart to get a few things. We also like to go off property a few days each trip. This time we spent one day going to the Atlantic coast (Merrit Island) and we had a good time. Last Sept. we went to Anna Marie and Sanibel Islands for a few days and had a WONDERFUL time! Also, if you are goign to be dining at some of the other resorts (which I recommend) then it's so much easier to drive than to have to take 2 buses.

Hope this helps you in your decision. Let me know if I can answer any more questions.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Day 3
Lunch
Typhoon Lagoon-Leaning Palms
I ordered the BBQ pork sandwich with fries for me and DD got the cheese pizza. I also ordered 2 regular sodas and 2 Mickey Premium ice cream bars. My DM ordered the BBQ pork sandwich, large soda, and Mickey bar. I realized after I ordered that we could have gotten the larger sodas but if you don’t say large, you’ll get the regular size. I told my mom and she ordered the large one. We were given tokens to come back later for our ice creams. It didn’t take too long to get our food and we sat in the seating area provided (and kept an eye out for birds) which is very nice. The meal would have cost about $40!

The food was good but we had way too much food! Neither my mom, or myself, finished-we should have shared the sandwich like we do when we are paying for it! I tasted my DD’s pizza and it was also very good-the sauce had a good flavor. She ate about ½ of it.

We traded in our tokens for Mickey bars a few hours later at Typhoon Tilly’s. It wasn’t open for hot food but was serving snacks, sodas, and ice cream. My DD really enjoyed hers (as you can see).

On the way out just before 5 p.m. we got an order of mini donuts-not on the DDP, but my DD loves ‘em so! I think that was the only snack we paid for, on property, the entire trip!

Love those mini donuts!

DDP cost $40
Value per credit $13.33

DDP Remaining Tally
28 TS 26 QS 29 SC


Dinner
Downtown Disney-Raglan Road
I had made a dinner ADR for 50’s Prime Time Café at MGM but since we didn’t go in the parks that day we didn’t want to use a park admission just to eat. We discussed it and decided on Raglan Road, Downtown Disney. I’ve read some good things about it and have wanted to try it. And since it won’t be available next year on DDP, I figured now was the perfect time to try it out. And am I glad we did!
ADDED-I believe Raglan Road is now back on DDP for 2007!

We walked in about 8 p.m., with an ADR ,and were seated immediately. The place was about ½ full and very noisy (especially in the bar area-live band). We asked to be seated as far away from the noise as possible-and we were.

Our server was good. Let’s call him Joe. He was a little reserved at first, but warmed up later. The table received a loaf of Irish Soda Bread, which was good. For our appetizer my mom and I ordered the Scallop Forest - forks of scallops served with a lime dipping sauce. On DDP it can only be ordered for two. There were no kid’s appetizers listed and I didn’t ask if she could order off the adults menu since I knew she couldn’t eat an appetizer and her entrée. I assume that kids can order an appetizer, if you just ask. For dinner my DD had Chickin' Stix – described on the menu as two deep-fried chicken skewers served with cheese and a side of Irish chips (fries). My mom ordered Rag-Lamb Shank - delicate lamb shank served on an Irish stew consomme. I ordered the It's Not Bleedin' Chowder - mussels, prawns, scallops and fresh seafood infused with saffron in white wine and finished with cream with fresh potato.

A forest of Scallops!

Kid's Chicken

The scallops were good and the presentation was very good. We got 6 scallops and they were served on 6 forks stuck in a piece of wood. They were delicious, the only drawback (small) was that the juice from the scallops runs down the forks and your hands get a little sticky. Maybe they should serve wet, warm napkins with it?

The food came out pretty quickly and was served hot. Everything was delicious!- My DD chicken skewers were actually 2 chicken strips (white meat) and they were some of the best chicken strips I’ve tasted, her too! Very moist and flavorful. The chips (fries) were good too, but she mostly ate the chicken. "Joe" brought my DD her meal with our appetizers (you parents know how important that is)-nice touch!

My mom’s lamb was good. I don’t remember tasting it as I was very engrossed in my “It’s not Bleedin’ Chowder”. It was so good! Everything in it was delicious, even the mussels and I don’t usually like mussels. The sauce was rich and flavorful. I would recommend this dish to anyone who likes seafood! Sorry-no pictures-I forgot to take them until we were almost done!

Bread n Butter dessert

Dunbrody's Kiss

DD and Kid's Nicey Icey

We were really too full to enjoy dessert so we asked “Joe” what desserts he could recommend that would hold up well in our refrigerator. He said that not that many would but he would bring us our desserts, plated, and we could transfer them to to-go containers. My DM ordered the Dunbrody Kiss and I ordered Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding. My DD had the “Nicey Icey” which is vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce. Again, the presentation of the desserts was beautiful. I was served two smaller sized portions of the bread pudding since they were out of the larger cups. They came with pitchers of butterscotch sauce and cream, on the side. My mom packaged her “Kiss” to go but did eat all the decadent chocolate spread around the plate. It was very good! My DD ate her ice cream but she didn’t really like the sauce-I tasted it (it was the same sauce as on my pudding) and it’s the best butterscotch sauce I’ve every tasted! Really good. I removed my puddings from their cups and poured the sauces over them, to take back to our room. I did sneak a few bites-very good! I ate the remainder the next a.m. for breakfast and it was still delicious, even cold! My mom ate her “Kiss” but it didn’t really hold up well-it was basically chocolate mousse covered in dark chocolate. Probably would have been very good if she had eaten it that night.


When “Joe” came for my card, I asked if I could see the bill (you know, to keep track of what I would have spent) and he explained that since they aren’t Disney, they handle it a little different. I think he said that they get 65% of the food bill, and a little over $3 per person tip. I guess that’s why most of the non-Disney owned restaurants are dropping off DDP. He did say that he was grateful that they were on the plan because if they weren’t they would be dead. He also told us that he told his parents to come and stay when the free DDP was announced since it’s such a great deal. I don’t know if he was telling us all this to get a larger tip, but we did add a few more dollars to it. Total bill would have been approx. $115 with tax and 18% tip.

The noise level was fairly high in the restaurant when we first arrived. We were able to see the girl dancing on the bar from our seats. The noise was reduced when the band stopped playing.

As we left, I asked the check-in desk if they had a copy of the menu I could have (scrapbooking, you know) and the manager said they didn’t but he would make me a copy if I would wait. He came back after about 5 min. and said he couldn’t copy it so he went online and printed me a copy from their website. He said it was mostly accurate, though they were a few changes. I felt he went above and beyond by making me the copies.

ADDED-Joe told us that RR would be off DDP in 2007, but thankfully, they are still on the plan-

We had a wonderful experience and would go there again, even without free DDP.

DDP cost $115 3 TS
Value per credit $38. Adult credits only $50/credit. Kids credit $12

Service: Good, got better later
Food quality: Excellent
Food quantity: Good
Décor: Nice and dark, the room we ate in was like a study.
Noise level: loud
Would return: Yes

DDP Remaining Tally
25 TS 26 QS 29 SC

 

[Dizneydaz]

Thanks Ddaz. Kona was our #2 meal out of 10. We loved it, our server was Debbie. She was the BEST. I got to meet you & family at the Pop party. Look forward to reading the rest of the reviews

Thanks. I think I remember you at the party too. Thanks for the kind comments. I haven't rated our meals yet but I think Kona is our #1 (for 1 TS).

 

[ufgator]

Thanks for your reviews and pics so far! Looking forward to more!

 

[i<3Disney]

great reviews! thanks

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[eargal]

I love your review style...waiting on more.

 

[KatGarcia]

Is it realy true that Raglan Road isn't on the 2007 plan? Is that official??

BTW great review looking fwd to more!

 

[DLo]

Thanks for the pics. (but now , I really, really want some chocolate). We are foing to Kona next Friday for my b'day- can't wait. we are going a short trip this time and probably won't make it to DTD. But, I now want to try Raglan Road on a future trip.

 

[S.Poppins]

Great review and pics.

 

[swankybeth]

Terrific reviews and pictures, looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Buzzandthemermaid]

Thanks for your reviews.

 

[luvpooh]

thanks for your reviews - I've been enjoying them!

I have a question. I couldn't tell from your pic, but were the scallops you had at Raglan Road breaded/fried? We were thinking about getting them on our trip later this month, but I didn't know if they were breaded or not (wasn't expecting them to be, but the pic makes it look like they may be).