5 days of DDP - Jan. 22-27

[Lizziejane]

Cast: Me (DW), DH, DS1 (age 20) and DS2 (age 18).

We choose the DDP option because both sons are bottomless pits when it comes to eating. They'd eat the legs off the kitchen table if they could! I kept reading about how DDP offers too much food, and thought (with a touch of skepticism) that my family could put that claim to the test once and for all.

So here’s my account of where we ate, what we ate, thumbs up or down for overall feelings about the experience, and OOP cost had we paid vs. DDP.

Day 1

Dinner at ESPN

Very late arrival at the BWV, 10 pm, so we had no reservations for dinner. We decided to try our luck at ESPN. No problems getting a table.

DS1 had clam chowder; the rueben sandwich; and cheesecake. Clam chowder was rated as excellent. The rueben was very good but too much. What?!??! Are you kidding me?!?! The first meal under DDP and he's claiming to be full?! I'm in shock. Half the sandwich and dessert were packed up to go back to the room.

DS2 had chicken dingers - flame. In other words, burn-your-mouth-off-hot! He did pretty good - finished all but one, then admitted defeat. That was follwed with a steak/cheese sandwich which again, was declared too much food. Now I'm really thinking something is up! Both of them full on the first meal. Dessert, cheesecake, was also packed to go.

DH - ordered the nachos for an appetizer which I shared with him. They were smothered in toppings, including chili sauce, and it was excellent. Now, if we'd been paying cash, we'd have stopped right there, the portions were huge. But we stupidly finished every crumb of the nachos then proceeded on to the entree. DH ordered the foot long hot dog. He said it was good, but I can't imagine it as I have only ever tasted a hotdog once in my life and promptly spit it out! Anyways, he managed to finish the hotdog but the fries were untouched. His cheesecake was also packed to go!

Me: after scarfing half the nachos, I had the turkey/brie sandwich on whole grain. OMG - delicious!!! But once again, way too much food for lil' ol' me! So half the sandwich was packed to go along with an individual apple pie.

The boys all got to their cheesecakes the next day and declared them very good, but I never got to the apple pie. It ended up in the garbage along with the other half of my sandwich

Overall, we loved this place and give it 4
Cost if paid cash instead of DDP: $120

 

[Lizziejane]

Day 2

Breakfast at Main Street Bakery in MK - we all had a smoothie and an egg/cheese croissant at about 10:30. That stuff tastes soooo good when you're in a park, don't you think?!

Paid OOP - $40

Lunch - Crystal Palace Buffet - I was really looking forward to this meal as I've read so many good things about the CP. Reservations were for 1:20 and we were seated promptly. No real experience with the characters - the boys let them know with a frown that they weren't into it, so they quickly moved on. To be honest, I was left a little disappointed with the food. It wasn't bad, just wasn't exceptional. The boys didn't even really eat that much. They were claiming to be "not that hungry"? Perhaps I picked a bad week to test the DDP - they must be sick or something...

If we'd paid OOP, it would have been $102. Didn't feel it was worth it. Only 2 for this one.

Dinner - the boys wanted pizza from Spoodles, but CS only gives you one slice each so we ended up ordering two full pizzas. They were very good - lots of cheese. Would definitely have again.

4 Cost, OOP $34

 

[Rubbertops]

Thanks for the review.

So Spoodles Pizza Window is ON the Dining Plan?

 

[Reagan&Co.]

Yes, it is a lot of food!!! However, it IS vacation!!! And so nice not to worry about the cost......!!!
I am curious about where you ate next.........thanks for reviewing!!

 

[Tinkerbell's Mom]

Can't wait to see how this trip goes, I'm sure the boys appetite will pick up as we go along . . . I love, love, love the DDP!!! Not that I can eat all that food, but I love not thinking about what it costs!

 

[Lizziejane]

Day 3

Breakfast - In our rooms. We used several snack options at the general store the previous evening and picked up some cereal, milk, pop tarts, chips and a box of mini doughnuts. Basically, I was told at the General Store at BWV that any food item $4 or under was fair game for a snack credit. That box of doughnuts was the best deal in town!

Lunch - Epcot - - 2 of us used a CS credit for fish & chips from the Rose and Crown in England. Having been raised in England and Ireland, I have to say, these were somewhat disappointing. I found the fish a bit on the rubbery side. The chips were good though, and DS1 and I both opted for the shortbread cookies which we both saved for later. (Man, we had quite a stash back at the room to catch up on!). Just 1 for this one. Had we paid cash, it would have cost about $14 I think. Ack, starting to loose the details already!

DH and DS2 had burgers at the Electric Umbrella. They both enjoyed them and hey, they both stashed their twin-pack of chocolate cookies for later. Ok, I'm beginning to believe the stories that the DDP provides too much food! 2 . OOP cost would have been about $16, I believe.

Dinner at Spoodles - ok, this is where you all are going to gasp in disbelieve - we had reservations at La Cellier, but we cancelled last minute and changed to Spoodles. I know - are we nuts or what?! When I phoned, even the operator gasped and asked me if I knew what I was doing! Unfortuantely, it was raining, we were cold and tired and just couldn't trudge back to Epcot after resting at the hotel for a while. So, Spoodles was able to accommodate us.

DS1, DS2 and DH each had the shrimp cocktail, followed by the steak. The shrimp cocktail consisted of exactly 3 shrimp (jumbo size mind you!) and they all really enjoyed it. The steaks were gone in a nano-second! Yeah, their appetites return!! They all hated the sweet potato fries, but I must say, I enjoyed picking several off their plates!

I had the flatbread which was delicious. Next up was the fettucine and it was also very, very good. DS2 works in an Italian restaurant at home, and when he tasted my dinner, he was impressed. Unfortuantely, I couldn't finish mine, but the kids wiped my plate clean.

DH and DS2 had ice cream sundeas. Ice cream is ice cream, but they got a kick out of all the toppings. Naturally, they both threw everything in sight into their bowls.

DS1 and I had the creme brulee with biscotti. DS1 has never had CB before, and he's now addicted. It was creamy and the topping was perfect. The biscotti was very thin and had chocolate on one end. Mmmmmm mmmmm good!

The atmosphere was wonderful. Probably the quietest restaurant we experienced on our whole trip (with the exception of the Kitchen over at the Hard Rock). Definitely 4 !!! The only downfall would be the limited menu.

Cost had we paid OOP, $210.

 

[Lizziejane]

Day 4

Breakfast - ABC Commisary, MGM Studios. Ok, we have quite a stash of food collecting in the rooms, but we have major CS credits just sitting there, so we decide to have the Scrambled Egg platter at the ABC Commissary. Wow - if you're paying cash, this is a deal! For $5.95 or $5.99 you get a good heaping of scrambled eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 2 sausage patties, a mound of hash browns and a biscuit. And we all wiped our plates clean!! Great deal, good eats! 4

Lunch - Disney Quest. Unfortunately, DH and I weren't in the least bit hungry, so we skipped lunch. The boys wandered off on their own and had problems using the DDP, so they paid cash for chili fries. Yuck! But they enjoyed them, so I guess 2

Dinner - Wolf Gang Puck Cafe, DD. There were 2 dinners I was really looking forward to, Le Cellier (which never happened) and this one. Unfortunately, it was our least favorite meal on the whole trip.

I was expecting more in terms of atmosphere. We arrived 10 minutes early and could barely get in the door there were so many people standing around waiting. We joined the line, and were seated in about 15 minutes. The furnishings reminded me of a glorified cafeteria, that's the best way I can think of describing it. There were screaming babies and kids everywhere, running around between tables. The tables are very close to each other, so the wait staff were squeezing between DH seat and they guy behind him. Oh well, we expected the food to be good at least.

All 4 of us ordered the ceaser salad for appetizers. Now picture a side plate - you know the size I mean - the ones that are placed on your left for your bread. The plate is piled hige with lettuce that is un-cut in any way - in other words, whole leaves. The crutons were about 2 inches square and hard as rocks. You couldn't bite them or cut them. The dressing was almost non-existant. Now try to cut it up without it all spilling all over the table. Ok, so the appetizers were disappointing and challenging, but surely the main course will be better.

DH had the steak. He expected some fat as it was a prime rib cut, but it was more fat than anything else. He mentioned it to the wait staff, who returned from the chefs to say basically, it is what it is. Hmmmm.

I had the 3-cheese ravioli. Pasta is my favorite and there isn't often a time when I don't enjoy it. But this sauce tasted like it came out of a can and there was something almost gritty about the pasta. Definitely not up to my expectations.

Both DS's had the fettucine. Unfortunately, they expected alfredo, a cream sauce. This was an oil based sauce and DS2 commented that he felt like he needed a shower to get rid of the oil! Tasty enough, but neither of them finished it due to what they considered an excess amount of oil.

For dessert, I had the key lime pie. It was good and very rich, I could only eat half of it. The 3 guys had the white chocolate cheesecake and declared it very good. I guess it must have been - they didn't leave a crumb.

Overall, very disappointed and we all vowed we'd never return. Something strange with the bill - it stated $144, but if I add each item separately, I was sure it should have been over $200. Not that it mattered, we were using DDP! Would only give this 2 because at least dessert was good!

 

[Lizziejane]

Day 5

Breakfast - Tusker House, AK. Yet another scrambled egg platter, but DH declared himself not well (hmm...we rode EE twice right before breakfast!). Another great deal for cash, but we used only 3 CS credits.

Lunch - nothing. Too full!

Dinner - ESPN again at BW. We were supposed to go to 1900 Park Fare before attending the P&PP but we fell asleep and missed our reservation!

We all ordered exactly the same appetizers as last time - nachos to share, chicken dingers (but medium heat this time!) and clam chowder.

DS's ordered the Angus burger and loved them, finishing everything on their plates.

I hate the chicken cesear, and only got half-way through it. Very good, but way too much!

DH had the hot dog again, and polished it off.

So, guess what? All 4 desserts were packed up and taken back to the room. But this is where it gets comical - they put a scoop of ice cream on my apple pie, and I didn't realize it until I went to eat it after the P&PP. Man, was I mad! That's twice I packed up a dessert, and twice it ended up in the garbage!

Another 4 Cash cost would have been $120 again.

 

[Lizziejane]

Day 6

This was check-out day and we were heading over to Universal right away. We had 9 CS credits left and 1 snack credit. Ok, I don't care if anyone is hungry or not, we're all having the egg sandwich from the Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast! Tasty, but not good value for a CS credit.

I thought I had read somewhere that you could use CS credits as snack credits, but when I enquired at the General Store, they said no. Mind you, there was some hesitation on their part. They didn't know what was what, if you ask me, but the bottom line is, we checked out with 5 un-used CS credits. That just killed me!

Overall, we paid $776 for the DDP and from what I can figure, we ate about $900 worth of food (that includes that stuff that never got eaten!). If we'd actually used those 5 CS credits, we'd have been that much better off for the deal.

I'm struggling with whether or not the DDP was a good deal. Sure, we ordered $900 worth of food, but we didn't eat it. If we'd paid OOP for everything, chances are we wouldn't have ordered all the wasted food.

I did enjoy not having to worry about what the cost would be though. It's nice to pay up front and be done with it. No asking the boys to please not order the most expensive items on the menu!

The downside to the plan is lack of flexibility. When you've paid for TS credits, you really want to use them, which means you must have ADR's in place. Fortunately for us, January is a slow time so we lucked out on last minute changes to our dining plans. Another thing that bugged me was the lack of opportunity to use CS at the BWV. Very limited.

But overall, I have to agree - DDP offers way to much food, even for my two sons!!!

 

[ufgator]

Thanks for your reviews.

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[disneymom06]

Great review, Thanks!

 

[TruBlu]

Thanks for the great reviews!

I am SO GLAD we cancelled Wolfgang Puck Cafe!!! It sounds terrible!

 

[TruBlu]

Forgot to say...
Last June we were able to use leftover CS credits for snacks. We actually got sick on our trip and had 12 TS and 14 CS left over. We used the CS credits to buy water for the trip home. I wish we hadn't because our trip insurance refunded us for unused credits... Oh well, the water was good.

 

[Disney owl]

Great reviews thanks

 

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review.