48 credits and still ordering more food?! w/pics

[abminer]

Hey folks. I’m finally getting around to starting my dining review of our trip - 4 nights/5 days at WL on the DDP (12/13-12/17/07).

This was my second time on the dining plan (I got hooked after the first free dining offer), but a first for my family members. This nostalgia trip was their first to the world in 13 years and a first holiday-time trip for all. They never seemed to grasp the way the DDP works, but more on that later.

Cast of characters:
1. Me- age 30, OCD dis planner and WDW fanatic. I am a bit of a foodie and an amatuer pastry chef. I love everything from fine dining to a great, divey diner. My sweet tooth is unstoppable.

2. DSis- 26, vegetarian, but easy going. Likes Asian food and coffee.

3.DMom- age undisclosed . The pickiest eater of the bunch. Likes things very plain (always gets sauces, dressing on the side) and does not like spicy food at all. She also has a sweet tooth, but doesn't like chocolate much.

4.DDad- age undisclosed too . Also a food lover and the only real drinker of the lot. He likes good wine and good steaks (and creme brulee, though he's not a big dessert eater in general).

One issue that complicated things was that DSis and I were one reservation/package so we had our credits pooled while our parents had another. I had plotted out all of our credits before we went, of course. The way I approached the separate plans was to treat snacks and CS credits like we had one big pool. I'd buy one meal for all of us then DDad would do the next one and so on. You cannot do this on the TS credits so that left us having to tell our servers that I'd be using x# of credits and the other pair would use...

Here's what I'll be reviewing (in order):

Wolfgang Puck Express (lunch)
Goofy's Candy Cauldron
Cosmic Ray's (dinner)
Roaring Fork (breakfasts and dinner)
Pizzafari (lunch)
Kona Cafe (dinner)
Sunshine Seasons (lunch)
Biergarten (dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)
Main St. Bakery (breakfast)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (lunch)
* I'll add the $ value when I know it. Some places gave a receipt that showed the $ amount others didn't. If I was looking at the register I wrote down what I saw.

Day 1-Wolfgang Puck Express, Goofy's Candy Cauldron and Cosmic Ray's

Wolfgang Puck Express:

It took a little over an hour to Magical Express from MCO to WL. We arrived around 12:30 and our rooms were ready! By the time we arrived at DTD it was close to 2pm and we were all starved.

I'd read that WPE was a good deal on the DDP and we didn't have park
tickets for our first day (just MVMCP tix) so off we went to lunch and shop at DTD.

The place was close to empty. There was one group ahead of us on the line. We had looked over the menu outside and had our first of many quasi-arguments about what to order and what you get on the DDP. I told
them we'd use 3 credits and my parents seemed stunned that we didn't
all get our own. My mom never quite figured out that the division of credits was my engineering-not Disney's. Anyway, I went in to order for all
of us and took DSis while the parents got a table outside. The outside seating is covered and nice.

You order and pay inside and are given a sign with a number for your table so a server can come out and bring you your food. Also, they have the self
service soda machines here which I like.

We ordered the following:

1. Pizza margharita w/a mango iced tea and a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. *the cookies are prewrapped, but fresh and are out in huge baskets
near the registers. They only had choco choco chip as far as I could see so that's what I got*

2. Penne with chicken bolognese sauce, soda and a brownie.
*the brownies were not in the baskets and the CM said it would come out
with the food, but never did, I asked when they brought the stuff and
that guy said he'd run back to get one and never returned. Before we
left I went back to the counter and a manger-type guy was there. He said
they'd just taken a batch from the oven and ran back and got me one for the road.*

3.Warm roasted veggie sandwich with soda and creme brulee.

The plan was that DMom and Dsis would share the veggie sandwich, DDad
and I would split the pasta and we'd all try the pizza. I also figured we'd each try the creme brulee and then pocket the other desserts since I wanted us to all hit goofy's before we left DTD.

Turns out the pizza was great! We all loved it. I should have gotten two as I know Puck is "the" pizza guy. The veggie sandwich was nice, kinda a crisp flatbed rolled up into a sandwich. Sadly, the pasta was totally blah. DMom had advocated for a salad when we decided what to get and pointed out that we should have listened to her as these huge salads came out to other tables. Ddad loves pasta as do I and we barely touched this stuff. My completely forgetting to photograph it is another sign that it didn't go over well. I'd say the pizza was an A, the veggie pita was a B+, and the pasta was a B-/C+.

The mango iced is unsweetened, sadly. I'm a sweet tea lover and soon discovered that almost all iced tea at WDW is unsweetened.

The brulee was pretty good. A really nice treat from a CS place. Turns out the cookie and brownie made it home with me in the end. The cookie was
just ok, but the brownie was good. It's an odd brownie, very thin, with
choco chips. It is very rich and has a dark chocolate flavor.

Overall- I'd say this was an A- CS place. Just stick to the pizzas. It's
a good value on the DDP, better than most CS for sure and having it brought to your table is nice. Value $47.02

 

[PrincessTiff]

Great start! Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Minniespal]

Great start ~ looking forward to reading more.

 

[familyS]

Thanks for writing and posting reviews.

Chocolate chocolate chip cookie, , have a little chocolate with your chocolate. It seems Disney area restaurants really push chocolate desserts!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start - looking forward to more. We really loved the pizza at WPE too

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed your review. Looking for more.

 

[ChelleinNC]

You can really only get sweet tea in the south, and I've learned over the years that Florida isn't really in "the south" it's a northern state that's lower on the map You can get sweet tea at a few places in the world, Garden Grill is the only one I remember off the top of my head.

I just took my dad & his wife in December and did DDP, he had trouble understanding too That's why I was in charge

 

[kabuki]

great pics! Joining in!

 

[John's Mom]

Enjoying your reviews. Thanks for posting.

 

[abminer]

Goofy's Candy Company:

I had never been here, but discovered it on these boards. I thought it would be a fun activity so after shopping all over the DTD Marketplace and getting our first photopass pic taken we headed over (4:45ish) . The make your own station is in the back part of the store. You can see all the options and toppings behind a glass counter/sneeze-guard (like Subway).

DSis and I agreed to split a fudge cookie. That's what they call the giant oreos-we got the chocolate filling one, but they have regular and pb too. We also did a pack of 3 pretzel rods and I had DDad and DMom each create one while I did the remaining one. We didn't get it, but they had gingerbread Mickey's-not in the mickey head shape, but rather a gingerbread man with mouse ears.

You fill out a paper for each:

but with us wanting 3 different pretzels we tried to write it all down, but gave up and just told the CM one at a time. Our CM was very friendly, but super slow. There was a couple ahead of us and I quickly realized that even with a snappy CM this would have been time consuming. She was the only one working the counter and has to do each piece one by one. By the time the whole ordeal was over I felt like we'd been there forever and I was very impatient to get to MVMCP. One nice thing though was that I asked for 2 toppings on my pretzel (oreos and sprinkles), which the CM said just wouldn't fit so she made me an extra one leaving us with a box of 4.

We took all these back with us. The pretzels made it all the way home.
DSis and I shared some of the cookie in our room one night. It was a bit overwhelming and the rest got tossed:

The pretzels were better:

Overall- It’s a cool experience, but only if you have time and don’t eat right beforehand as these things are heavy! They are a good use of a snack credit. Sorry I didn’t catch the price/value..

Cosmic Ray's:

If I'd had it my way we would have just skipped dinner that night in order to ride more attractions during MMVCP (and down more cookies and cocoa), but after the 7pm 'Twas show and a ride on Buzz (DMom may have gotten the lowest score in recorded history) the troops were restless. I know Pecos Bill is supposed to have the best burgers in the MK and I wanted to try it, but with so much to see during the party traipsing across the park just to eat wasn't logical. Off to Cosmic Ray's we went. The lines at the rotisserie counter were quite long. I should have kept going to find the sandwich line, but I forgot they had it. We came in near the burger section and DSis and
DMom were jazzed over veggie burgers so we got on line. We used 2 CS
credits: a bacon double cheeseburger meal with fries, milk (I hate when they only have those tiny cartons, especially when other CS places give you the large bottle) and carrot cake and one with a veggie burger, diet coke, fries and apple slices (yes, you can swap those for a dessert). The picture shows this all on one tray (the veggie burger has been cut in half):

I'm quoting DSis here "if it weren't for that toppings bar this place would have been graded D." She was right. DMom agreed, but wasn't as harsh. Only DDad seemed to think it was ok/good. It's pretty hard to mess up a burger, but this was sub-McDonalds. The "meat" in my burger was very
odd-not at all juicy with an odd texture and virtually no flavor and the bacon was a slimy little circle. The buns on both burgers were hard. All that said the fries were very good (better than McD's)-crisp, hot and salty. I have no clue why the fries that came with the veggie burger were in 2 little cups and the burger ones were on the plate. As for the desserts, the pre-packaged carrot cake came back to WL with us, but never got eaten (and I *love* carrot cake-I really hate how WDW has switched most CS desserts to these packaged things). The little bags of apple slices are a nice option and seem to have been so chemically preserved that they last forever if you pocket them.

Overall- I'd say this was an C CS place that was the worst meal I’ve ever had at WDW . Value $$23 and change

MVMCP snack credits and freebies:

We couldn’t do MVMCP without trying the free hot cocoa and cookies! I had hoped to hit several locations, but it never happened. We went into Columbia Harbor House not long before Holiday Wishes. It was a bit chaotic, but fast. The CMs at the counter have rows of pre-poured cocoa cups and bagged cookies as well as apple slice bags to grab from.

I’d read that the cookies were snickerdoodles, but we only saw sugar cookies. I love a cookie and this one was nice, buttery and light. It was a little more crisp than chewy, but still yummy. The cocoa was piping hot! I took off the cover right away and they do have about 4 mid-sized marshmallows in there. The cocoa was also very chocolaty. It left a pile of chocolate sludge in the bottom of the cup.

DDad also hit the Main St. Ice Cream parlor while we were waiting for the 2nd parade. I don’t know how we could have been hungry, but it was a fairly hot day so I understood the craving. I forgot to take a pic, but he used a snack credit to get a strawberry cone. It was pretty good-I tasted it, but nothing special.

Value: $2.69

Next - day 2!

 

[abminer]

Day 2-Roaring Fork, Pizzafari and Kona Cafe

Roaring Fork:

I chose WL for this trip based on the Xmas décor, but I also really wanted to try WCC. Roaring Fork wasn’t something I thought about until later when I started reading complaints on the boards about the small selection of menu items and the even smaller seating area-I got worried.

In an attempt to use credits wisely I told the troops that I would order for us and that they should just pick out drinks. I explained that two CS credits meant 4 drinks and two large breakfast platters, but yet again DMom was insistent that we wouldn’t have enough food. I pointed her towards the snack credits and she grabbed a bowl of oatmeal (which is a good use of a credit, I think).

There is one main line that goes towards the hot foods area where you tell the CM behind the counter which platter you’d like and they dish it up in front of you. I ordered two bounty platters-the biggest combo they have. Each came with 2 pancakes, eggs, bacon, a biscuit and potatoes (and the 2 drinks-Dsis and DDad got coffees, DMom got a milk-small cartons only and I got a large Nesquik). The CMs were nice and gave me a separate plate for the bacon so my veggie Dsis wouldn’t have it touching her food.

I forgot to get an extra plate (for future ref. they have extra ones in a pile on top of the yogurt toppings bar) so we used the top of the platter as one. Here’s my b’fast (minus the potatoes-hash brown style, I don’t like ‘em in general):

We all enjoyed this b’fast and you get a lot of food for a credit. RF has tons of condiments like PB that you can grab for free.

It’s true, there aren’t that many options and it’s a small place (the actual service area is smallest-the Mara at AKL is better on both counts), but we never had a problem. Well we rolled into RF this day around 8am and there were people, but not a ton and getting a table for 4 was no problem. The CMs were consistently some of the nicest we had the whole trip. I wish I remember the name of the guy (he seemed so young!) we had at the register a few times. He was great and explained the DDP so well. All snack options are also clearly labeled for desserts and such, but I don’t think the oatmeal and yogurts were labeled and they do count (at least they did on he 2007 ddp).

Overall- This was the first a few trips to RF and we always had good food (B+) and experiences. The big breakfasts fill you up for a long day of walking… It’s also very close to the boat launch to the MK so that worked well a couple times.

Value $28

PS-if any of you readers would like to see pics of the restaurants inside or out lemme know as I have them for a couple places.

 

[abminer]

Pizzafari:

There is nothing more tragic than the loss of Tusker House CS. By the time we'd ridden EE, Dinosaur, KS and seen Nemo the Musical I was seriously wishing for some Tusker House salmon and carrot cake.

Without that option I had planned for us to try Pizzafari. As we walked through Asia DSis was drawn to the Yak and Yeti area. After I explained it was TS and that we didn't have ADRs (and we were set to eat at Kona in only a few hours) she pleaded for us to check out the CS over there. I told her that the menu on allearsnet didn't mention any veggie dishes, but she insisted so we went to check out the menu. Everything, even the sides like fried rice, has meat in it. See, they think we're crazy, but DISers are always right. I also didn't see much seating. Anyway, deflated she caved in and we continued on to Pizzafari.

It was around 1pm and kinda crowed. I'd say we had 5 people ahead of us on our side of the line. The parents went to scope a table (in the main room that is across from the ordering area) and we ordered. I was gonna do 2 CS and a snack credit of breadsticks, but alas DMom and DDad wanted more, so 3 CS credits were used.

We got the cheese pizza with a bottled water and frozen pink lemonade for DSis, the chicken parmesan sandwich with grapes (I love this fruit instead of fries trend), frozen lemonade and a diet coke for Dmom, and DDad and I agreed to share the hot Italian style sandwich with chips, apple pie and diet coke. I always take a Nalgene bottle through the parks with me for constant water refills so I rarely order drinks (I've gotta say, it didn't bother me on my last trip, but that Orlando water was bugging me a bit. DSis thought it tasted so bad she pratically complained about it every time she brushed her teeth! ).

It's all on one tray (-the bottle of H2O):

Starting from the grapes on the left and going clockwise-

1. Hot Italian Sandwich- this was the first of a few really good sandwiches at WDW. It was a huge portion that DDad and I shared easily. We both totally enjoyed this one-very flavorful (nice marinated tomatoes...), warm and the bread was lightly toasty. Yum.

2. Chicken parmesan sandwich- Sorry it’s not a very informative pic. This was so-so. DMom was glad it came on a multigrain bun-a nice change (and all you can see in this pic!). It had a good amount of cheese and marinara sauce. When I tried it I didn't like that the chicken wasn't crispy and it was more breading than chicken.

3.Cheese pizza- It’s the same pizza they have at virtually every WDW counter service restaurant. WPE this was not, but DSis was happy with it (warm, cheesy, bready...).

4. Apple pie- it's more like a little tart. I've gotta say I was happy to see that all the CS places in the AK have a real dessert on their menu. That said, this was a bit disappointing-it looked better than it tasted. It wasn't bad, but the apples are mushy (kinda like the center of an apple danish) and the pastry was mushy too. I ate most of it anyway!

5. FYI- What we thought was frozen pink lemonade is strawberry lemonade. It’s tasty, but I didn’t taste any lemon.

Overall- The restaurant is really cool looking-it has colorful murals and funky shaped chairs. This made it feel nicer than a fast food joint for sure. It wasn’t my Tusker House, but it was better than I thought it would be. Let’s give it a B+.

Value $36 (I lost the receipt so this is approximate)

 

[ciera321]

I'm enjoying so far and waiting for more...

 

[mindyd]

great reviews!!

 

[TigerKat]

Great so far...I'm in!

 

[java]

Oh I'm in and I can't wait to see some serious credit using! You are a master of dining plan! Love the sharing you did at cs!(and man that is a lot of food) We are big eaters here and even we fill up on half an order at disney. I learned this the hard way with the kids after ordering everyone a meal then realized that 3 of the 4 could share one meal.

 

[Ilovestitch]

Great photos and reviews! Keep 'em coming!

 

[mpmluvstigger]

Love the reviews! Cant wait for more

 

[wilma-bride]

Excellent! Keep up the good work

 

[mom2fivecs]

subscribing