15th Anniversary trip on DxDDP with a small diversion to the ER!! *completed 8-29-11*

[deenbrad]

Ok, I’m gonna try my best with this. I’ve really appreciated all the dining reports I’ve read so hopefully this will help someone! I tried to remember to take pics but there really aren’t too many – sorry!

I’ve been lurking for years…much more so in the past few months while I was planning this trip. This was to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary and just because we wanted a trip to Disney of course! We were there 5/1-5/8. Stayed at Pop Century and were on DxDDP (Had pin for free quick service and upgraded). This was our first stay on property and first try with any dining plan.

Cast includes:
Me (43), I’m a DAHM (Disabled at home mom). I love to eat…and it shows!
DH (45), he’s in sales and luckily works from home which means we can share one car (and one golf cart – we live in a community made up of 90+ miles of paths). He really loves to eat…and it’s starting to show!
DS (8), aka the picky one. He also loves to eat…as long as it’s hot dogs and ice cream. Thankfully on him it definitely doesn’t show!!

I worked for a couple of months over our reservations. Short time compared to some but to me it seemed like forever! Decided on DxDDP, then changed to DDP (and cancelled reservations!), then remembered we really like eating – even more on vacation – and switched back to DxDDP! I was able to get all of the reservations I wanted barring Chef Mickey’s for any meal – before I left that is. While I was there I got one for breakfast! We did a little bit of switching around while there, some for convenience, others for reasons to follow!! This is where we ate:

Sunday
Dinner - The Wave @ Contemporary

Monday
Breakfast - Pop food court
Lunch - Me - Earl of Sandwich, Boys - something @ Blizzard Beach
Dinner - Cape May Cafe @ The Beach Club

Tuesday
Breakfast - Boma @ Animal Kingdom Lodge
Lunch - Via Napoli @ Epcot
Dinner - Pop food court


Wednesday
Breakfast - Crystal Palace @ Magic Kingdom
Lunch - Liberty Tree Tavern @ Magic Kingdom
Dinner - Flying Fish Cafe @ The Boardwalk


Thursday
Breakfast - Tusker House @ Animal Kingdom
Lunch - Yak & Yeti @ Animal Kingdom
Dinner - Raglan Road @ Downtown Disney

Friday
Breakfast - Pop food court (no review)
Lunch - Les Chefs de France @ Epcot
Dinner - Captain's Grille @ Yacht Club

Saturday
Breakfast - Chef Mickey's @ Contemporary
Lunch - The Lunching Pad @ Magic Kingdom
Dinner - Kona Cafe @ Polynesian

Sunday
Breakfast - Pop food court (no review)
Conclusion

 

[deenbrad]

Ok, day 1. First we had to drive from GA. I live approximately 40 minutes outside of Atlanta so the drive takes some 6 hours and us usually 8 hours! So we arrived later than I thought. After checking in at Pop and finally getting to the Contemporary we were about one hour late. No problem at all – we waited maybe 3 minutes. Claudia showed up pretty instantly for our drink orders (I won’t talk much about drinks – I usually get Diet Coke, DH plain club soda, DS milk or water). Claudia brought back a basket of really nice multigrain bread with some butter sprinkled with sea salt. I barely got to try this as the boys were scarfing it down so fast I could barely hear Claudia describing the menu over all the chewing!

DH started with what I think was a tomato/mozzarella flatbread – this is not on the regular menu but on one that is on the table. For his entrée he ordered pretty much completely off the menu here. He does this often. Basically he got pasta with garlic & oil and added some grilled chicken. For his dessert he ordered the American Flavors which is a tiny portion of each: Mississippi Mud Pie with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Key Lime Cube with fresh Citrus Whipped Cream, Boston Cream Pie. I tasted his desserts (research!) and they were all quite good. Nothing left when he was done. He loved everything here.

I started with the Lump Crab-Florida Rock Shrimp Cakes with Cucumber and Tomato Salsa and Remoulade Sauce. These were just the right size and delicious! My entrée was the Grilled Beef Tenderloin with a Port Wine Porcini Sauce, Potato and Onion Gratin, and Braised Swiss Chard. This is the description from the menu but I’m thinking they gave me a different kind of potato and some sautéed peppers and tomatoes instead of the Swiss Chard. It was all yummy though. The beef was very tender though I was wishing for some salt. Apparently The Wave is into healthy cooking so there wasn't even any on the table! I went with the No Sugar Added Desserts - again a tiny portion of each: Vanilla Bean Créme Brûlée, Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis, Sautéed Seasonal Fruit with Vanilla Panna Cotta. I expected to love the mousse but ended up giving it to DH. The fruit was strawberries and absolutely delicious but my favorite was the crème brulee!

DS started with the garden salad (which he didn’t eat - getting him to eat a vegetable is much worse than pulling teeth!). His entrée was the pasta with just mozzarella cheese, no sauce. He apparently enjoyed it because he ate every bite! For dessert he ordered the Vanilla Gelato sundae which comes with the toppings on the side. Just something about pouring the little cups of Mickey sprinkles that makes a kid happy! I also ordered him the drink with the Buzz Lightyear clip that glows in the dark. Loved Buzz but not the pomegranate lemonade that comes with him!

Sorry I have no pics from here (unless you want to count the ones of us with the really red eyes at the front of the restaurant). Overall it was a great first dining experience for our trip!

Price covered by DP – 102.57
OOP for Buzz – 5.32

 

[chocolateMinnie]

great start - looking forward to the rest

 

[chasemac]

I am looking forward to reading these! We just got back from our trip on the DxDP, but ate at mostly different places, but some of yours I would like to try on a future trip, so I will defintely be looking forward to those.

 

[deenbrad]

great start - looking forward to the rest

Thank you! I was so worried nobody would read it!

I am looking forward to reading these! We just got back from our trip on the DxDP, but ate at mostly different places, but some of yours I would like to try on a future trip, so I will defintely be looking forward to those.

Thanks to you too! I've been following your review as well!

 

[mlaw]

Really looking forward to the rest of your review. You are reviewing a lot of places I am considering for December! Keep up the great work!

 

[pumba]

we were there most of your vacation....I am anxious to see what you thought of Cape May too.....we went there Thursday the 5th.....
Hope you had a great time as we did.......had to keep our mouths closed one of those days with the love bugs....hahaha.
Thanks for doing your review

 

[deenbrad]

This is where we already started changing reservations. We went to MK after eating at the Wave the night before and by the time we got back to Pop and unpacked it was already 2 am! DH did not want to try to make the 8:30 reservation I had at Boma so we ate at the Pop food court for breakfast.
Every time I stepped into this place it was insane! So many people! Not much to be said for breakfast here but it did give us a chance to get our mugs.
Bounty Platter includes scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, a biscuit, and some French toast sticks. Kids platter was eggs, bacon, sausage & potatoes I think. All edible, nothing spectacular. Basically we ate the same thing every time we were here for breakfast - which was too many times for my taste!

Est cost covered by DP – 25
Mugs – 3 X 13.99 = 41.97

 

[deenbrad]

The boys went over to Blizzard Beach this day and I went shopping at Downtown Disney. No water park for me due to some ear problems a few weeks before. When they went to pay for their tickets someone gave them four free ones due to no shows in their class trip! Can you say pixie dust?? We in turn gave the two they didn't use to someone on our last day.

Not sure what they ate at BB but I’m sure it involved a hot dog!

As I walked around DTD I managed to convince myself that a Ghiradelli’s sundae would NOT be a good lunch so I wandered into Earl of Sandwich and got this:

The Original 1762 - fresh roasted beef, cheddar and creamy horseradish sauce
Ordered it as is – no changes necessary and it was delicious! I am not a sandwich person but the fact that they serve hot sandwiches is a nice change. Unbelievably I had nothing with it, just water. I was gearing up for dinner!

I paid this OOP because the way our reservations were planned I would be using all of our credits.

OOP – 9.05

 

[deenbrad]

I was very excited to go here. We have been to Disney probably around 15 times and I had no idea this area existed until I met a friend who owns DVC at the Beach Club! So going in I was very excited to see the Beach Club (and the pool!) because I had already pretty much decided we need to buy DVC also and I’d probably love it there.

I was so right! I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Long Island girl or what but this place says home to me! Beautiful hotel, that pool is to die for (if you don’t know about Stormalong Bay go look at pics!!) and they have a seafood buffet! I was in my glory!

On to dinner…we waited again around 5 minutes before our buzzer went off. Our server was Marie and she was very attentive. Refilled drinks without asking…cleared uses plates quickly!

I’m kind of funny with buffets. I will wander through and take a little of everything to taste it (usually leaving more than half of it on my plate) then just go back for what I love. Maybe that’s not funny – maybe it’s normal! Anyway, what I was sticking to was the crab legs and peel and eat shrimp. I will sit for hours with these and nobody’s stopping me! Loved the Cape May salad as well which has bleu cheese and cranberries in it. Did NOT like the fried shrimp at all. I’ve read on here that it has a funny taste and sure enough – ICK. Tried some mussels and some steamed clams. Both good but I prefer my clams raw (my brother was a clammer when I was young). The steamed red potatoes were also very good. Everything on the buffet was replenished constantly.

DH was happy with the ribs and chicken. I think he also had some kind of fish? Could be salmon...could be mahi? I know he liked everything he had.

DS started with a cupcake. Then had a slice of pizza. And a cupcake. Then some chicken nuggets (very good!) and a couple of green beans. And a cupcake. Went and got some more chicken nuggets and some mac & cheese (I liked this more than him). And you guessed it – another two cupcakes! Now I'm not THAT bad of a mom....they were mini cupcakes! He also loved this buffet!

The dessert bars (there’s two) had more than cupcakes. They had their signature Oreo Bon Bons (impressed DH but not DS or myself), strawberry cheesecake, key lime tarts, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies and probably other things I wasn't interested in!

Absolutely loved this place and will be back!!

Covered by DP – 94.76

 

[deenbrad]

Really looking forward to the rest of your review. You are reviewing a lot of places I am considering for December! Keep up the great work!

Glad you're following!

we were there most of your vacation....I am anxious to see what you thought of Cape May too.....we went there Thursday the 5th.....
Hope you had a great time as we did.......had to keep our mouths closed one of those days with the love bugs....hahaha.
Thanks for doing your review

We loved Cape May! I'm kind of glad it's not close to me or I'd eat there too often!
Love bugs drive me crazy!! I was worried they would be swarming. Like u said it was especially bad one day but not as bad as our trip there three years ago. My DS was freaking out! He handled it much better this year thankfully!

 

[smiths02]

Thanks for your review of Cape May. We are going there July 4, and I keep second guessing myself

Btw, I work in PTC and Fayetteville (live in Decatur)

 

[MsHershey]

I am enjoying your reviews and looking forward to your next installment.

 

[butiflfeet]

I'm really liking your reviews. Can't wait for more

 

[deenbrad]

Thanks for your review of Cape May. We are going there July 4, and I keep second guessing myself

Btw, I work in PTC and Fayetteville (live in Decatur)

Isn't it funny how small the world is? That's a bit of a drive for you. Usually people go in the other direction though so I'd imagine traffic isn't too bad?

I am enjoying your reviews and looking forward to your next installment.

I'm really liking your reviews. Can't wait for more

Thank you both! I'm looking forward to posting more. Kind of like extending the vacation!

 

[undertheseas]

Great reviews so far, I can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[bluejasmine]

Great reviews! I cant wait to read more! Sept is my 14th trip and it will be our first time seeing BC and eatting at CM so I cant wait!

 

[vinotinto]

Joining in! I love DxDP reports!

We live ITP ATL. Did I read it right that it took you 8 hours to drive from PTC, which usually takes you 6? (It usually takes us about 7 hours). Our next two trips to WDW will be during holidays (Memorial Day/Labor Day) and I'm getting a little concerned about the traffic.

 

[deenbrad]

Great reviews so far, I can't wait to hear the rest!

Thank you for following!

Great reviews! I cant wait to read more! Sept is my 14th trip and it will be our first time seeing BC and eatting at CM so I cant wait!

Did I mention I loved Beach Club and Cape May? I don't wanna go back till we can stay there!

Joining in! I love DxDP reports!

We live ITP ATL. Did I read it right that it took you 8 hours to drive from PTC, which usually takes you 6? (It usually takes us about 7 hours). Our next two trips to WDW will be during holidays (Memorial Day/Labor Day) and I'm getting a little concerned about the traffic.

Part of the 8 hours was my fault. Kept ignoring the GPS who wanted to send me North to I-85 instead of South to I-16. Finally, unfortunately figured out the reason was all of the closed roads in South GA from the tornadoes that week. Wasn't pretty. Literally made me sick seeing all the destruction Then I hit a wrong button on it (new car - new GPS! ) and it took us on back roads when we were around and hour from DW which delayed us more! We've done it in 7 hours before. I have friends who have done it in 6!!

 

[deenbrad]

Had to make up for the missed reservation to Boma the day before so we went this morning. I really wanted to see AKL since we're considering buying DVC and thought this might be somewhere I'd want to buy (it isn't - but I can understand why people would).

Again, waited under five minutes until being seated. Nilda was our server. Brought us some of their frunch and coffee for DH, diet coke for me! Pretty sure DS had water.

I was not overall impressed by this buffet but I'm guessing it's because I wasn't fond of the more ethnic items. The scrambled eggs were really good though I wasn't thrilled with the goat cheese ones. The pastries seemed to be a little stale? The fruit was good and like most buffets we didn't leave hungry!

Covered by DP - 52.16

We toured the grounds a little after eating. It was a nice place but we didn't get to see any animals! Apparently there were some at the other savannahs if we wanted to go there but we wanted to get to Epcot!