6 nights of deluxe dining...but forgot to take pics of the food! COMPLETE

[RachelsMommie]

I just got back from 6 days of deluxe dining (5/9-5/15) and wanted to post my thoughts and quick reviews of the meals we had. I meant to take pictures, but we just never did.

It was me, my DH, and my DD5, celebrating our 9-year wedding anniversary.

Sunday, 5/9/10:

We arrived at the MK around lunchtime.
Lunch: Pecos Bill's at Magic Kingdom
We had a bacon cheeseburger/fries, a barbecue sandwich/fries, and they made a cheese sandwich on a bun/fries for my daughter with a chocolate chip cookie. They let us substitute water for the desserts for the adults. Overall, the food was great, and the wheat buns were fine. My only
complaint with Pecos Bill's is that there are not good dessert options.

Dinner: Roaring Forks at WL
We were supposed to eat at Tony's Town Square, but everyone was tired from the day and didn't want to do a heavy meal of Italian food. DD5 wanted to swim, so we headed back to the hotel for a swim and ate outside near the pool. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and fries with a cupcake
for dessert, DH had a cheeseburger/fries and a magic cookie bar for dessert, and DD5 had chicken fingers and fries with a cookie for dessert. The food was great. No complaints. The nice thing here was that we could get anything from the bakery for dessert.

 

[RachelsMommie]

Monday, 5/10/10:

Breakfast: Akershus Princess Breakfast at Norway/Epcot
Okay, this is a hard one. The princess interaction was amazing. It is every bit as good as CRT, which we did last trip. The food was not great. It was okay, but the eggs were strange and congealed into a cube shape. It was also a little odd to do eggs/potatoes/bacon/sausage, but no waffles/pancakes/french toast for adults OR kids. My daughter didn't eat much, anyway. The food was passable, just not a big variety and not very good.

Lunch: Coral Reef at Epcot
Appetizers: Sea and Land (shrimp skewer and beef skewer) and shrimp/lobster cake. This was okay. The shrimp tasted like a boiled shrimp...not much flavor. The beef skewer was okay, but the polenta was mush underneath. The shrimp/lobster cake was mostly filler, tasted a bit like
a crab cake made with a LOT of Ritz cracker filling, if you've ever made crab cakes.
Entrees: I had something not on the allears.net menu. It was trout over a white bean/arugula/ tomato salad. It was pretty good, but the trout had been cooked into submission. It was a little dry. DH had salmon over a green bean/radish salad with a citrus sauce, also not on allears. He did not really like it...was edible, but not great. The salmon didn't have much seasoning and was rather bland. DD5 had pizza and fries, same you get at every TS for kids.
Desserts: I had the chocolate wave, which was pretty good. DH had the butterscotch creme brulee, which he said was good. DD5 had the sundae, which was the basic kid's sundae. We'll skip Coral Reef next time. Not a great experience, and was the worst meal of the trip.

Dinner: Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL
Appetizers: We got the chips/queso and the barbecue pulled pork spring rolls. Both were HEAVENLY. SO good. I cannot tell you how good these appetizers were.
Entrees: DH and I both had the all-you-can-eat skillet. It was good, but the meat was a little fatty. The cornbread was awesome. Our DD5 had grilled cheese and fries.
Desserts: I had ice cream (was not hungry at all), DH had S'mores cheesecake, and DD5 had the kid's ice cream sundae. Desserts were very good.
We got a little pixie dust at this meal. We were celebrating our 9-year wedding anniversary this trip and had noted it on all of our ADRs. At WCC, they brought us 2 complimentary glasses of champagne with strawberries. Really very nice and unexpected.

Overall the experience at WCC was great and we enjoyed it a lot. My DD5 liked the pony races and the hokey pokey.

 

[RachelsMommie]

Tuesday, 5/11/10:

Breakfast: Roaring Forks at WL
So my DH and I were planning to do a 2-TS dinner at Narcoosee's on Wednesday night while my DD5 was at the Cub's Den at the WL. So we had 2 deluxe dining credits that we were going to use to cover breakfast on Tuesday and on Friday mornings. The deluxe dining plan does NOT
distinguish between child TS or CS and adult TS/CS. It's just deluxe credits.
So we got the Bounty Platter, which was eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, and 2 pancakes. My DD5 just wanted cereal, so we used a snack credit to get her cereal and another snack credit to get her a pastry. Since the bounty platter came with 2 drinks, we got an orange juice to split and a milk for her cereal. The cereal as a snack credit didn't come with milk for some reason.


Lunch: Sci-Fi Diner at DHS
Appetizers: My DH got the onion rings and said they were awesome. I got the chips and dips platter that comes with chili and spinach dip. It was okay. I'm not a spinach dip fan, but the chili was okay.
Entrees: My DH and I both got the bacon cheeseburgers with fries, which were really, REALLY good. My DD5 got the hot dog with fries. It was a good, basic hot dog.
Desserts: My DH and I both got milkshakes for our desserts during our meal so we could get milkshakes AND diet cokes. We were so hot and dehydrated and full that we wanted the shakes instead of the other desserts offered. The shakes were good, but were more chocolatey than sweet. I should have gotten the Oreo shake instead of chocolate as I've had it before and it was amazing. My DD5 had the kids' ice cream,which is the same everywhere.
Overall, the Sci-Fi was great food and entertainment in DHS. The food isn't spectacular, but is a great burger and allows time to rest and recuperate.

Dinner: Ohana at the Polynesian.
Ohana is one of my favorite Disney restaurants. We eat here every trip. The sticky wings were good, the potstickers were to DIE FOR, and the meat assortment, bread, salad, and noodles were all great. I got a Lapu Lapu, and, as usual, it was strong but awesome. The bread pudding was really good, but had more of a banana flavor than it has had in the past. Still, AWESOME. They brought my DD5 chicken fingers and fries with ice cream/Mickey sprinkles for dessert.

We do Ohana every trip and will go again next trip. One of our absolute favorites!

 

[RachelsMommie]

Thursday, 5/13/10:

Breakfast: Whispering Canyon Cafe
So Thursday was our "rest" day, which was swimming, DTD, and DD5's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment.
We decided to eat breakfast at WCC. DH and I both got the all-you-can-eat skillet, and DD5 got
pancakes and bacon. The skillet includes scrambled Eggs, oven-roasted Red Bliss Potatoes, Bacon,
Sausage, Waffles, Buttermilk Biscuits, and Sausage Gravy. The food was good, and the waffles
were of the Mickey variety.
I'll say this, though. I tried my DD5's pancakes and they were unbelievably good. Next time, that's
what I'll order. Pancakes. Their pancakes are not to be missed.

Lunch: Wolfgang Puck Cafe at DTD
Appetizers: My DH and I both got the crab cakes and my DD5 got "Smiley Fries".
Okay, this is the 3rd time on the trip we got crab cakes. These are the BEST crab cakes on
property. Yes, they are better, IMO, than Narcoossee's, which is high praise. Traditional
crab cakes with a spicy sauce, and they are all crab. SO good. The smiley fries are like potato
discs with a smiley face cut out (eyes and smile). She really liked these. Big hit.
Entrees: DH got the Chilean salmon with garlic whipped potatoes. He liked it a lot...much better
than the Coral Reef "This is not inedible" comment that I got from him. I got the BBQ chicken
pizza, which is the exact same pizza they serve at Wolfgang Puck Express. Very good. DD5 got
chicken fingers. They were good, basic chicken fingers.
Desserts: I got the chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. It had a molten chocolate center.
It was SO SO good. YUM! DH got the creme brulee cheesecake. He enjoyed it, but likes
traditional creme brulees better.
DD5 got the Make Your Own Sundae Artist's Palette - vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookie,
chocolate and caramel sauce and sprinkles. This was good because she got something different
than the usual ice cream...this one had a cookie, too.

We would make the trip back here for the crab cakes. I'd probably order something other
than the pizza next time.

Dinner: 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian
Okay, since my DD5 got princessed by BBB, we took her to 1900 Park Fare to see Cinderella.
This is a buffet meal. They gave us some pixie dust for our anniversary by bringing us
placemats that were signed by all the characters (from breakfast and dinner) and that
said Happy Anniversary with our names. Plus, they brought us a cupcake. I wasn't
impressed with 1900 Park Fare. The food choices were quite limited in my opinion, and it
is horribly loud in that space. But, given the great character interaction, I would not
rule out doing it again. DD5 loved it and thought the mac and cheese was sensational.

 

[RachelsMommie]

Friday, 5/14/10:

Next to last day of our trip.
Breakfast: Roaring Forks at WL
We did the same thing we did Tuesday morning.
We got the Bounty Platter
, which was eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, and
2 pancakes. My DD5 again wanted cereal, so we used a snack credit to get her cereal.
Since the bounty platter came with 2 drinks, we got a chocolate milk for her and an additional
milk for her cereal. We used our refillable mugs for our drinks.

Lunch: Le Cellier at Epcot
Cocktails: Again, pixie dusted at Le Cellier for our anniversary. They brought us 2 glasses
of champagne.
Appetizers: We both got the cheddar cheese soup. This is the best thing on property,
especially with the pretzel bread. YUM, YUM, YUM. I've gotten the recipe for this soup
and made it at home, and mine was really close (I even found Black Diamond Canadian White
Cheddar Cheese to make it) but there's is SO much better. DD5 got fries for her appetizer
and she declared them the best fries at Disney. They were steak fries, which she enjoyed.
Entrees: My DH got the New York Strip with the Yukon Potatoes. I got the filet mignon
with cream cheese mashed potatoes instead of the mushroom risotto. These were the best steaks
we had all week. Yes, you read that right, BETTER THAN NARCOOSSEE'S and only 1 TS. DD5
had pizza, which was the same all over property.
Desserts: DH got the maple creme brulee. He said it was the best creme brulee he's ever
had. Not just at Disney, but best EVER. I got the chocolate "moose" and shared it with my
DD5 since she got the boring ice cream again. Note to the wise: our waiter told us
we could have ordered an adult dessert for her on the deluxe plan. Not sure if that's
true everywhere or just at Le Cellier. But I was full and fine to just give her my moose
and take a couple of bites off of it. It was very good.

Dinner: Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL
We were supposed to eat at Kona and had ADRs there, but we were exhausted at 4:30 at Epcot
and didn't want to go all the way to the Poly on our last night. DD5 wanted to swim, so
we headed to the WL and got into WCC at 5:30.
Appetizers: We got the chips/queso and the barbecue pulled pork spring rolls again. Too
good to not get again.
Entrees: DH and I both had the all-you-can-eat skillet again. Our DD5 had grilled
cheese and fries again.
Desserts: We got our desserts to go so DD5 could swim while it was still light out and
we could eat dessert afterwards. Also, I had to get our stuff packed again. My DD5
got chocolate chip cookies, I got the chocolate cake, and DH got the bourbon pecan
pie. All of the desserts were very good, but we were incredibly full still hours later,
so we didn't finish them.

 

[RachelsMommie]

Saturday, 5/15/10:

Breakfast: Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary
So we took the boat early in the morning on our last day at Disney to go to Chef Mickey's
for breakfast. The character interaction was very good, but the food was really lacking.
The variety of the food was great, but the breakfast potatoes tasted very strange.
Almost like they had nothing but vinegar on them. I know it's odd to mention one dish as
they thing that ruined the meal, but after one bite of the potatoes, my DH and I couldn't
taste anything else. However, my DD5 got to meet the fabulous 5, so it was worth it
for that. We got pixie dusted with a pair of cupcakes with candles and Happy Anniversary
pins, which was very nice. However, I still couldn't taste anything, so couldn't eat the
cupcakes. Just a strange experience.

Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern at MK
Last meal of our trip!
Appetizers: DD5 got fries and DH and I got the fried cheese. The fried cheese was very
good and we shared with DD5.
Entrees: DD5 got pizza, and DH and I got bacon cheeseburgers and fries. This was the
best cheeseburger/fries I had on property.
Desserts: DD5 got the usual ice cream, DH got the brownie sundae, and I got the toffee
cake. The brownie sundae was pretty standard fare, but the toffee cake is to die for!
It is a yellow cake with toffee and chocolate chunks, with ice cream on top, drizzled
with chocolate and caramel, then sprinkled with chocolate and toffee chunks. Liberty
Tree is worth the visit just for that cake! The service at Liberty Tree was really
lacking. It was hard to get drink refills, etc. We may have just gotten an off-day
with a CM.

Okay, last but not least, snack credits. We started the week with 36 snack credits.
At this point, we had 21 left. Yes, I know. Egads! So we headed to the Main
Street Confectionary. They actually showed us their catalog with pictures of what
is a snack credit...very helpful. Here's what we got:
3 boxes of 4 pieces of fudge to give to family members for souvenirs = 12 snack credits
They used these pretty red boxes with Mickey shaped clear plastic windows and used a
Mickey sticker to keep them closed. The fudge is SO good at Main Street. We gave one
box to my FIL and one to my Dad...my DH kept the last box to devour at home.
1 package of the "rock candy" pops
2 packages of mini-unicorn pops to give to my niece and nephew
1 bag of taffy to give to my mom
1 bag of chocolate coins for my DD5
1 plastic tub of cotton candy for my DD5
3 Mickey-shaped rice krispy treats for my DD5 to eat this week sometime.

So there you go! We love deluxe dining, but it was probably too much food. But we liked
the freedom it gave us to not worry about child credits versus adult credits and CS versus
TS. Thanks for reading!

 

[mommycrawford]

LOVED your reviews, and loved that you included the day of the week!...Here in NY, top chefs have Monday and Tuesday night off, so the meals are often different on those nights, so I have always wondered if Disney is similar.

Thanks for taking the time!

 

[MHSweb79]

Thanks for your great reviews. I actually prefer the wordy kind of reviews over loading in a bunch of photos (blasphemy here, I know!)

I've toyed with the idea of deluxe dining and am still on the fence for our upcoming trip in December. Three sit-down meals is way too much for us and for me, the signature dining 2TS restaurants are so overpriced I have a hard time enjoying myself. Yes, even on the dining plan!

Glad to see you loved Crystal Palace- it's one of our faves, along with 'Ohana, which you liked too. Am pretty jealous of all your anniversary champagnes- we went for our 25th in Sept. and got a ton of cupcakes but never any offers of free champagne! Maybe it had to do with your being on the deluxe plan.... Who knows?

 

[pennyplanner]

Thanks for your reviews! Interesting choices and comparisons! It must have been fun using your snack credits at the Main Street Confectionary!

I am guessing you loved the WL as much as we do.

--pennyplanner

 

[RachelsMommie]

This was our first time at the WL. We've stayed off-site, at CBR, AKL, and the Poly. I know most people love the Poly, but the WL captured our hearts this trip! I love it all being in one building (esp if it rains) and the boat transportation was great! It was so quick and peaceful and my DD5 thought of it as another ride!

I'm already trying to talk my parents into going with us to WL for a December 2011 trip! I'd love to see WL and the MK at Christmas. Hoping we can get them to go...would be SO fun! I think we would do the DxDDP trip again...I enjoyed the freedom and the appetizers...made it feel like a luxury vacation.

Edited to add: The best part of our trip was that we had a castle view between the trees in our room. We watched Wishes every single night...it was AMAZING!


Kristi