2 out of 5 picky eaters - did we make everyone happy? COMPLETED 3/8

[jmm476]

Welcome to my first dining review! We visited the world January 7-11 for an extended family trip (adults only) and visited several CS and TS places. But first, the cast:

Me: jmm476 aka Jill. 30 years old, Disney fanatic and I think the reason the trip was planned (so my parents could stop listening to me talk about how much I want to go to Disney!).

DH: Paul aka Picky Eater #1, turned 36 years old on Jan 8, the day we checked into the Wilderness Lodge. Not really a Disney fan and refused to wear his birthday button. No fun! But I think he managed to have a good time, even though "Disney is just for kids". His words, not mine! The guy doesn't even eat potatoes unless they're in the form of french fries or tater tots. Also doesn't like tomatoes and lots of other veggies, but will eat almost any meat. Doesn't like sauces or dressings either.

DS: Sister Brittany, 22 years old. Also loves Disney, but not to the same extent that I do.

DM: Mom Luanne aka Picky Eater #2. Always knew she had a soft spot for Disney, but realized on this trip that she can be as commando as I am! She's picky about how things are prepared, and dislikes too many things to even begin listing them.

DD: StepDad Kevin, loves to try new food.

So when we planned the trip, we wanted to do a nice dinner on my DH's birthday. It was a big deal, the whole family around the computer looking at menus and such and we decided on Tutto Italia. And I swear my parents said "we're not commandos like you are, we don't want a dictated schedule, we'll just eat and do what we want when we want." So I made one ADR for Tutto on Jan 8. The week before we were leaving, my mom called and asked where else I had made reservations! So after some calls to other Disney friends and fans, I decided the family would also go to Rose & Crown and Artist Point. I was really concerned about the 2 picky eaters.

So our final eating destinations were:
Jan 7: Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express

Jan 8: Breakfast at Pizzafari
Lunch at snack carts (AK)
Dinner at Tutto Italia

Jan 9: Breakfast at Roaring Fork
Lunch at Pecos Bills
Dinner at Artist Point

Jan 10: Breakfast at Roaring Fork
Lunch at snack carts (Epcot)
Dinner at Rose & Crown

Jan 11: Breakfast at Roaring Fork
Lunch at Backlot Express

So I'll try to figure out how to post pictures, for those that I remembered to take. Strange enough, I had taken a lot of pictures of food on my trip prior to this one, in September 2010. But then I waited so long that I forgot everywhere we ate, so I never did a dining review. This time, I remembered to write things down in my sister's little notebook, but forgot to take pictures except at the TS places. So sorry there won't be pictures of all the meals, but there will be some!

 

[jmm476]

We arrived in Orlando on the evening of Jan 7, we were staying at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista for the one night. Once we arrived and realized how close we were to DTD, we decided to walk down there and find some dinner.

As we are walking, DD keeps talking about how he wants to go visit some chef that he remembers from a trip several years back. I had no idea what he was talking about, DM filled me in that he was talking about a chef at Wolfgang Pucks. I said there would probably be a really long wait if they were even taking walk ups, so we should just find somewhere else to eat. When we got to DTD, it was really crowded! It was marathon weekend and I think we weren't expecting such large crowds in January. So we walked by Earl of Sandwich, but DD and DS wanted something else. So we ended up at WPE. This was a first time there for all of us, we were pleased with the variety on the menu.

DM and I ordered the chicken pesto sandwich. DD ordered the butternut squash soup and turkey melt sandwich. DH ordered the meatloaf and DS got the BBQ chicken salad.

Here's the chicken pesto sandwich:

DM and I thought it was good, especially the chips on the side! There seemed to be a lot of lettuce inside the wrap, to the point where it almost seemed like a chicken caesar sandwich. I like those too, so I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I guess I just thought it would be a little bit different. We agreed we would give it a 7 out of 10.

Sorry I didn't take pictures of anyone else's meals that night, everyone was super hungry and dug in before I could say anything! I tasted DD's butternut squash soup, which I thought was really good. I've never had that kind of soup before, so I don't have anything to compare it to. DD has had it many times at a friend's house and he said it was good, but his friend's is better. He thought the turkey melt sandwich was ok, he wished he had ordered something else. Everyone liked the sweet potato fries that came on the side though. He gave the sandwich a 5.5 and his soup an 8 out of 10.

DH liked his meatloaf but didn't like that it came on mashed potatoes. But here's the weird part... he ate the mashed potatoes! So they must have been good for him to eat even some of them. I tried some also, as mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods and I thought they were really good. He wouldn't share his meatloaf though, which I think was wrapped in bacon. He gave it an 8.

DS liked her BBQ chicken salad, but I think after tasting our chips, she was wishing she had gotten a sandwich instead. She gave it a 7.5.

 

[jmm476]

We walked around DTD for a while after dinner and I just had to share this picture from Goofy's Candy Company. It was too cute!

I'm amazed at some of the things they had in the cases there! We didn't buy anything though, because we were all too stuffed from dinner.

 

[tluvstink]

I'm in

Terri

 

[MickeyNicki]

I'm in!

I love WPE, that butternut squash soup is my favorite!

 

[Disney_Mama]

Can't wait for the rest.....

 

[jakenjess]

Great start! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[jmm476]

I'm in

Terri

Welcome!

I'm in!

I love WPE, that butternut squash soup is my favorite!

I thought the soup was amazing and I think I would be disappointed ordering it somewhere else. I think they had swirls of some kind of chili pepper oil in there which I thought gave it a great kick. We don't always find time for DTD during our trips and we hardly ever eat there. I might have to make WPE a regular stop!

Can't wait for the rest.....

Thanks!

Great start! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Welcome!

 

[jmm476]

I should also have mentioned in the intro that we were not on the DDP. Everything was OOP, as we took advantage of a room discount instead of free dining.

I'll be including my thoughts on DDP vs. OOP at the end.

 

[POOHS3]

I'm in. Can't wait to here your review of Tutto Italia. I can't decide whether to book it or Via Napoli. Tutto has my absolute favorite dessert of our last trip, the Copetta Sotto Bosco.

 

[jmm476]

I'm in. Can't wait to here your review of Tutto Italia. I can't decide whether to book it or Via Napoli. Tutto has my absolute favorite dessert of our last trip, the Copetta Sotto Bosco.

Welcome! Not to give too much away, but Tutto was given a lot of compliments from my picky eaters, as well as everyone else! I was nervous because of mixed reviews and the fact that my parents had adored Alfredo's when we had eaten there many years ago.

 

[jmm476]

I had almost forgotten to mention this, but was reminded as I was reading a review of the Pepper Market! I wasn't aware before going to WPE that they had waiters, even though it's counter service. Our waiter came over after we found a table and we had already filled our glasses (mostly with water). Our food arrived a short time later, and our water glasses were already empty. The waiter said he would bring us larger glasses of water. So we waited and waited and waited. By this time we were pretty much done eating. The waiter returned with our glasses and to clear our plates, apologizing for forgetting about our water. He then told us that at least he hadn't spilled a whole pitcher of water on us like he did this other woman a little earlier that night. But she had still left him a big tip. I wasn't sure if the reason he told us this story was to let us know that we were supposed to tip him?

So the family started whispering about tipping him and what was appropriate since he had forgotten our water refill, but he had brought our food while it was still hot, etc. We decided to hang for a little bit (it was late at night and there were plenty of empty tables so no one was waiting) and we watched the people around us. No one was leaving a tip on the table. Being that it was our first night in Disney (feeling the magic!), and I'm usually a generous tipper, I told my mom I was going to leave him some money. We ended up both leaving some money on the table, but weren't sure if we should wait around and make sure he got it. It was kind of weird.

So I'm just putting this out there - if you eat at WPE, do you tip? And how much? It doesn't seem worthy of the 20% that I normally leave. I don't want to start any arguments here, I'm just truly interested so I know next time I go there what I should do.

 

[jmm476]

It was our first day in the parks, and DH's birthday. He loves animals, so I had planned to spend the day at Animal Kingdom. Around 10, he complained that I hadn't let him eat breakfast (I was really excited to get checked into the hotel and get right to the park) so we made our way over to Pizzafari, as they are one of only 2 CS places in the park that serve breakfast (according to the map anyway). The other place, in case you're interested, is the little outdoor window that's across from Tusker House.

We checked out the menu, which was on a placard by the cashier stand, but it didn't explain the items. For instance, it listed breakfast pizza with no details about what came on it. So we asked the cashier and were told eggs, peppers and cheese. We ordered 2 pizzas, one for DH and one for DS and I to share. DM and DD each ordered an apple cinnamon muffin and coffee. We also ordered two orange juices. My parents went to get a table (there were like 10 people in the whole place, not sure why they were in a hurry ), while DH, DS and I waited for the food. It was ready quickly, I grabbed the tray and spilled the hot coffee all over my arm!

Thankfully it had been a chilly morning and I was wearing long sleeves which protected me from most of it. The cast members right away wiped everything down, asked me if I was ok and refilled the coffee. I was so embarassed so I said I was fine and took the tray to the table while DH and DS waited for the rest of the drinks. When I got to the table, I realized my arm was really hurting, so I used one of the ice cold juice bottles to cool it off. Luckily it wasn't anything serious, but it put a damper on my breakfast nonetheless.

Back to the food - the pizza was average breakfast pizza. I happen to really like breakfast pizza, but I think it was DS and DHs first time trying it. They thought it was great. I've had better, but I happen to eat it every Friday morning at work. I think our ratings average out to a 7. It's a personal size pizza with 4 slices. It was enough for DS and I to share, but DH could have eaten a second pizza just on his own.

DM and DD ate their apple cinnamon muffins, but they agreed it was kind of dry. They were glad to have something to drink to wash it down. They rated it a 5 out of 10, which I thought sounded generous considering their complaint, but I think we were all just in that Disney mood!

Sorry I don't have pictures to share, by the time I stopped tending to my arm and started eating, everyone else had finished their food. I didn't bother to take a picture of my half of the pizza.

As far as the cast members who work there, I'd give them a big thumbs up! I've read about corporate employees not asking if you're ok due to liability, etc. if something happens. 2 or 3 of the women behind the counter immediately came over when I spilled the coffee and seemed genuinely concerned about me.

Next up - snacks at Animal Kingdom! I think I've found a new must-have snack...

 

[Disney Commando]

Can't wait to hear about the dinner's, I have never been to any of the one's you went to, and I'm quite curious about AP since it is on my list to try

 

[jmm476]

Can't wait to hear about the dinner's, I have never been to any of the one's you went to, and I'm quite curious about AP since it is on my list to try

Hi Ron! Thanks for reading. My family had very mixed reviews of AP, so I'll try to give it a balanced review.

 

[jmm476]

So I have been trying to find an updated map of Animal Kingdom to find the name of this "cart" that we went to but I cannot find it. I swear it was on the map we had that day... maybe I'm missing something.

In any case, DS had been to the world for her spring break in 2010 and had been dying for her corn dog nuggets again. We trekked across the park from the Finding Nemo show to a food place just outside of Flights of Wonder so she could order them. DD also got an order so the family could try them because DS was not going to share!

Meanwhile, I headed to the ice cream cart right by the entrance to Flights of Wonder and picked up a Mickey ice cream sandwich for myself and a strawberry bar for DM. I usually go for the Mickey ice cream bar, and I think I like the ice cream sandwich better. I thought the fact that it was chocolate chip vanilla ice cream instead of plain vanilla gave it something extra. DMom liked her strawberry bar, but felt that it wasn't the way she remembered it. We're going back quite a few years here, but she remembered it having some kind of sugary coating on the outside which used to turn a whitish color when you would start eating it. Either a) the bar has changed or b) it was only 50-something that day, and the family always went to Disney at Easter time when it's 80 degrees plus so maybe weather is a factor?

The corn dog nuggets that had sent us across the park were basically a mini hot dog/cocktail wiener in a corn based fried coating. I thought they were ok, dipped in mustard they were slightly better. But DSis went nuts over them. To each their own...

Later in the afternoon, as we were heading out of the Maharajah Jungle Trek, there was a pretzel cart so we stopped to buy some regular hot pretzels and one jalapeno cheese stuffed pretzel for DS and I to share. Oh my goodness, this is the best snack I have ever gotten!!! I thought the cheese would be melting all over and make a mess, but actually it was just slightly warm and not gooey at all. It had a nice amount of jalapeno heat to it. DS and I both really enjoyed it. DD and DH tried to have some, but we only let them get a little piece because we didn't want to share even more than we already were. I spent the next couple days searching for another one, but couldn't find them in the other parks? Instead I made the mistake of getting a sweet cream filled one at MK, but that's another post...

Next up - dinner at Tutto! With pictures

 

[chocolateMinnie]

shame you got burnt - it took away from your breakfast experience. Looking forward tomore.

 

[kimgof]

Great reviews! Hmm...breakfast pizza? Don't know that I've tried that one. Sounds interesting.

 

[sharona]

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews as we have ADRs at some of your choices as well.

 

[jmm476]

shame you got burnt - it took away from your breakfast experience. Looking forward tomore.

I was pretty lucky that it wasn't anything serious, that coffee is hot! Thanks for joining!

Great reviews! Hmm...breakfast pizza? Don't know that I've tried that one. Sounds interesting.

Thanks! Breakfast pizza is great. If you like breakfast food, you really have to give it a try some time.

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews as we have ADRs at some of your choices as well.

Welcome! Which ones do you have reservations for?