7 days of Deluxe Dining...full reviews with lots of pics!!! UPDATED w/ link to TR!

[lemondog]

Just returned from 7 heavenly days in the "World." Decided on the DxDDP so we could try lots of restaurants and character meals for the kids. First, the cast....

Me (36)....pretty adventurous eater. Just don't give me mushrooms, blue cheese or horseradish and I should be fine.

DH (36)....aka Mr. Picky. As the name suggests, he is insanely picky! He is getting better, though. When I first met him 14 years ago all he would eat was meat, white bread and cheese. He has definitely branched out a bit but still fairly reserved in the food dept.

DD (7)...aka Superstar. She is an okay eater. Prefers junk, but will eat some healthy things if forced.

DD (4)...aka Bashful. If it ain't macaroni and cheese, don't even bother.

DD (4)...aka Grumpy. Twin to Bashful. Definitely our little foodie. Loves lots of veggies, lobster, shrimp, seafood, steak....will try pretty much anything.

Restaurants to be reviewed:

Counter Service:
Captain Cook's (Poly) x3 (twice for lunch, once for breakfast)
Pinnochio Village Haus - L
Earl of Sandwich - L

Table Service:
1900 Park Fare - D
Chef Mickey's - B
Liberty Tree Tavern x2 - L and D
Akershus in Norway - B
Coral Reef - D
Tusker House - B
O'hana x2 - B and D
Boma - B
Citricos - D
Kona Cafe - B
Sci-Fi Dine In - L
Hollywood Brown Derby - D
Crystal Palace - D

Extras
Beaches and Cream (dessert)
Tambu Lounge (drinks)

Stay tuned.....

 

[quixoticvalue]

Woo hoo! I can't wait! I hope you guys had a wonderful time! And good eats too.

My boyfriend used to be the same way with food. No vegetables at all, no fruits, he didnt even like baked potatoes or rice or pasta. Now he has branched out a lot because of me, but he still will not eat vegetables or fruit (unless it is fruit flavored things).

 

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Subscribing!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'm ready to hear all about it.

 

[marivaid]

Sign me up !! This is gonna be good.

 

[adsrtw]

I can't wait. You went to some of the restaurants I want to visit.

 

[oybolshoi]

Soooooo hungreeeeeeee ....

 

[MickeyNicki]

I am SO in!

 

[susieq76]

Oh! Please come back quickly! I'm in!

 

[Maxamuus]

Bring on the food!

 

[lemondog]

First, a couple of observations. We loved the DxDDP. It was a LOT of food, yes, but it also gave us the opportunity to try a lot of restaurants and do a lot of character meals for our kids. However, 2 snacks a day is just not necessary. 1 would have been plenty. On our last morning we had 21 snack credits left, so I decided to go shopping. I hit Samoa Snacks at our resort (Poly) and came home with the motherlode of lunchbox treats!

Secondly, I would prefer to pay a little less and not have the refillable mug included. 7yo DD and I were the only ones who ever really used them. I would definitely buy one for me anyway because I have a serious Diet Coke addiction, but the other 4 were not necessary (DD only used hers because it was there).

We ended up coming home with only 3 meal credits left, which is not too bad considering we started with 105.

Up first...Captain Cook's lunch

 

[psu1978]

We'll be eating at several of the same places in a week so I am interested in what you thought.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Wow, that's a lot of snacks! I have a feeling that my carry-on bag is going to look like that when I come home. I'll have 14 credits, and I don't know how I'm going to use them all with all the meals I have planned. Still, I'd rather have some take home treats then not use them.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Can't wait for more!

The lunchbox treats are a nice way to keep the magic alive after your trip!

I'm right there with you on the Diet Coke addiction!!

 

[disneychick0412]

Anxiously awaiting your report!!!

 

[lemondog]

Sat. July 19th -- Captain Cook's lunch

First, let me apologize...I have NO pics of Captain Cook's. I just never seemed to have my camera when we were there. We had just arrived this morning around 9am, and after resting in our room awhile and exploring the GCH, the kids decided they wanted to swim and we were all hungry for lunch. Since we had no ADRs made, we headed down to Captain Cook's.

Meat-and-cheese-loving DH decided on the Double Cheeseburger, with Polynesian chips on the side. He had an iced fudge brownie for dessert. He said the burger was very dry and the chips were soggy. Brownie was good, what he got of it (kids polished off the rest).

I had the Aloha Pork Sandwich. Like DH's burger, it was very dry, although the flavor was interesting. I liked the Poly chips...they kind of reminded me of Terra chips. I grabbed a cupcake for dessert and let the kids split it.

All 3 girls had grilled cheese with applesauce and grapes. I didn't taste them but they ate it all okay so I am assuming they met with their approval. Of course, Bashful had to pitch a little fit about no macaroni and cheese being on the menu, but in the end I told her if she wanted to swim she had to eat, so that shut her up pretty quickly.

Ordering here was interesting...all done via touchscreen computers. But it was easy to figure out.

We also got snacks here a little later in the day after hanging at the pool a while. My 7yo had her first ever Mickey Bar, which she loved.

Bashful opted for an Itzakadoozie (a new favorite of hers) and Grumpy didn't want anything. I decided to save myself for dinner that night (1900 Park Fare) so I decided to skip snack that afternoon.

Up next...1900 Park Fare Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner

 

[MamaCoog]

Sounds good! I'm subbing...

 

[JoanieS]

I'm in!

 

[sherry8253]

Count me in!!

 

[lemondog]

Sat. July 19th -- 1900 Park Fare Dinner

I was really excited about this dinner. First, I have heard great things. And second, it was DD's official birthday dinner. (Her bday was actually the day before, but we waited for Disney to celebrate.)

Our ADR was for 5:45. We arrived about 5:35 and were seated immediately. We witnessed some obnoxious man try and slip the hostess a $20 to get his sister and her family into the dinner as well. She told him she absolutely could not accept money, but would do what she could. I think he was shocked she refused his bribe...serves him right! I have no idea if the sister's family ever got in or not.

We were placed in a hallway that kind of jutted off the main room, which was a crappy location. The end of the hallway opened into the lobby, where it was roped off. But that didn't stop the gawkers from hanging out, trying to get pics of the characters and overall annoying the paying guests. It was also darn near impossible to manuever from our table out to the buffet when characters were around, because there was precious little room between the ends of the tables. Disney needs to rethink this configuration. It's almost like they shoved as many extra tables in there as they could to make more room for ADRs. Personally, I would rather be comfortable, but then again I am just the paying guest.

On to the food. The buffet selections were set up according to country, with salad/soup/fruit on the ends and carving station in the middle. Short kids buffets were on either side.

I knew I absolutely had to start with the Chilled Strawberry Soup. It definitely did not disappoint! It was creamy and delicious! I could easily have filled up on this and nothing else, but plenty of other enticing dishes awaited, so I limited myself to just a few spoonfuls and moved on.

First plate...

These dishes represent Italy and Spain. Clockwise from the top we've got Chicken Marsala (nice flavor, but very dry), Cold Seafood Salad (okay, not great), Salmon in Dill Sauce (ok, but very dry), Paella (super dry, to the point of almost not being edible), and Tomato & Mozzarella Salad (ok). I have to say, these selections were really disappointing. I am really not that picky and not a food snob, but the chicken, salmon and paella were so dry it completely ruined the dish. Still, there was a whole other side of the buffet to check out, so on to plate #2...

Here we're got France and Asia. Clockwise from top left we've got Coq a Vin (delish), Mashed Potatoes (the BEST...so yummy), Soba Noodle Salad (ok, not great), Jasmine Rice (nice) and Beef Stir Fry (very yummy). I am happy to report that this plate was much better than the first!!! I would have gone back for more rice and stir fry if I was not saving myself for dessert. Speaking of which....

They had an ice cream machine with toppings, and a selection of individual desserts, which is where I headed. I chose (clockwise from top) cheesecake, carrot cake and a fruit tart. The tart was okay, the cheesecake and carrot cake were very good! I was so stuffed at this point I could only manage a couple of bites of each.

Characters here are Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella. I believe they danced and did some kind of activity out in the main room, but being squashed into the skinny hallway, we couldn't see a thing. Overall the characters were not as good as I expected. The stepsisters kind of blew by our table, stopping only for a quick pic, Cinderella was of course the highlight, but Prince Charming was a drip and Lady Tremaine never even made it down our hallway. One saving grace was that they really treated DD like royalty for her birthday. She got a huge birthday cupcake

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Needless to say she heartily recommends the icing!

They also gave her a birthday tiara which I thought was a nice touch and made her feel super extra special.

Overall, I was disappointed with this meal. I think it was the terrible location and lack of character interaction that ruined it for me. The food was no spectacular either. We will probably not be back here again for dinner, although we may try breakfast in the future as long as we DO NOT get stuck in that terrible hallway!

Up next...Chef Mickey's breakfast