8 Days Of Dx Dining With No Weight Gain! How Did That Happen? Lots Of Pics! Completed

[jerseytinkerbell]

Hi everyone! This is my first Food Report and I'm so excited to share it with all of you. Hope you enjoy reading about my trip as much as I enjoyed eating it!

First, a little about our group and our trip. This trip was celebrating me and my husband's 1st anniversary and his 2 sisters tagged along for the trip. We did 8 days of deluxe dining and stayed at Saratoga Springs. Here we are as soon as we walked through the gates of Magic Kingdom on our first day.

Now, onto the food. First up, Cinderella's Royal Table for lunch.

I must say that after all the negative reviews I read on this board about CRT I was very nervous about this one. However, it ended up being my favorite restaurant of the trip. When we first checked in at CRT I was instantly upset because they were no longer serving the Cream Cheese Buckle I was looking forward to. However, once we were seated and I took in my surroundings I started to get over it.

I loved our server and she gave all of us a Wishing Star and she gave my husband a toy sword and us 3 girls a wand of our choice. We had waaaay too much fun with those over the course of the trip. Definitely my favorite souveniers.

Our server then brought out the appetizer. It was very boring. I didn't even bother to take a picture of it. Actually, I didn't really get a chance to because my husband had eaten half of it by the time I got my camera out of my purse. This will be a running theme throughout this food report. I got pics of my food, but rarely a pic of his food.

Next up was the entree. We all got Major Domo's Pie.

This was one of my favorite dishes from the whole trip. I ate every single crumb of food on the plate. I think we all did actually. I then had to get over my disappointment from my cream cheese buckle and pick a dessert. We all got the Creme Caramel. It was very good, but very plain. I only had a bite though because I was saving room for this beauty

We special ordered the chocolate slippers for each one of us before our trip. I am so glad I found this board. I would never have known this dessert existed. We had so many people chattering around us wondering how we got them. SIL 1 & 2 had there names written in chocolate around the plate and for DH and I they wrote a Happily Ever After Message. Not only was this dessert so special and beautiful, but it tasted soooo good. My favorite dessert of the trip. I got it more as a novelty than I did for the taste and was pleasantly surprised. Would definitely order these again. Here is a shot of SIL 2's white chocolate slipper

All in all I was very very pleased with our CRT experience. Loved the little kid's extras we got even though we were all in our 20s. Our pic with Cindy was also very cute. We got great pics with the other princesses too. Our entree was so good that it made up for the lame appetizer. I personally liked the fast pace they had with getting our food out to us. I have heard other people complain they felt rushed. We are not the type of people who enjoy sitting in a restaurant for 2 hours. We want to get in and get out.

Up next, Dinner at Turf Club. Always a favorite!

 

[butiflfeet]

Great start! I can't wait for more

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Now on to Turf Club for dinner. Let me start this by saying that for the last 4 years Turf Club has been my favorite restaurant at WDW. So I was slightly horrified to arrive there for dinner and see that they had changed the menu. My favorite appetizer was still there, but DH's favorite steak was gone. There used to be a choice with the steak of a crab topping or a mushroom topping and now there is only a steak topped with crab meat. DH won't eat seafood and was very disappointed. They also slightly changed the Tomato Bisque we loved and changed my FAVORITE apple pie to an Apple Crisp. Oh well, what can you do. I'm just gonna have to get over it and find something else I'll like.

I started with the Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa

I have had the crab cakes at almost every restaurant in WDW and these are
far and away my absolute favorite. As you can see I was so excited to get them I took a bite out of them before I even remembered to take a picture. DH had the Roasted Mushrooms stuffed with cheese.

He had been talking about the Tomato Bisque for the past year, but he loooves mushrooms and could not pass them up. He was in heaven! The mushrooms are one of his new favorites.

For our entree DH and SIL 1 & 2 all got the Prime Rib. They all raved about it and DH forgot all about the mushroom topped steak. I got the Steak topped with crab meat and a bernaise sauce.

This steak was delicious, but I was still so full from lunch that most of that got wrapped up and brought back to the room with us.

For dessert I had the Apple Crisp which was good, but I still like the Individual Apple Pie better

DH had the Banana Cheesecake.

I still think that Turf Club is amazing and very underrated, but all in all not my favorite dining experience on this trip.

Day 2 coming up soon with ESPN Club and Kona Cafe!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Joining in...love the yummy pictures and can't wait for more....

 

[MickeyNicki]

Those mushrooms look amazing!

 

[vettegirl]

Great reviews so far. Can't wait to hear about your Kona experience.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Great start! Can't wait to read more.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

We started out Day 2 at Epcot. We went to Season's Bakery where I got the strawberry shortcake for breakfast.

It was yummy, but not quite as good as it looks. It needed a stronger strawberry taste. The strawberry sauce in it was good, but the strawberries themselves were somewhat flavorless. But, all in all a tasty breakfast.

Next we went to ESPN Club for football Sunday to watch our beloved Eagles. I really like ESPN Club. We always go there for our hometown games and it's always been a fun experience. The food is good, but kinda boring. so boring in fact that I kinda forgot about pictures. I got the chilli, which was pretty much Manwich in a bowl and DH got the Dingers which he said were good. We both got burgers for our entree which were pretty standard, but tasty. My dessert however, was tasty and looked amazing! I got the Bananas Foster Cream Pie.

The banana bread on the bottom made it very unique. I would definitely order it again. DH got the Boston Cream Pie which looked really beautiful for a bar dessert. He had it boxed up to take back to the room where I planned on getting a picture of it. However, it melted on our walk from DTD to Saratoga Springs Oh well, he didn't need it because coming up for dinner... Kona Cafe!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Ok, so I've changed out of my Eagles gear and now the 4 of us headed to Kona Cafe for dinner. I have been excited for this one because it was one of our favorite meals on our Disneymoon. To start out SIL 1 ordered the Lapu Lapu. I wanted one so bad, but I could not bring myself to pay $13.00 plus tax for one. Plus, if I have a cocktail with dinner I'm always extra full and I really didn't want to be disgustingly full at this meal. Anyway, here is SIL 1 with her Lapu Lapu.

For the appetizer DH and I got the Sticky Wings For Two, which are amazing!

For our entree DH and I both got the New York Strip with Pineapple Teriyaki Glaze and we both substituted for the mashed potatoes instead of the sticky rice. This isn't the best cut of steak you can get at WDW, but to me it's the best flavor. Definitely my favorite steak!

For dessert I really wanted to ask if I could possibly get the bread pudding from 'Ohana, but I didn't feel like being a pain, so I went with the Kilauea Torte because that is an excellent dessert as well.

Ugh, what did I say about not being disgustingly full? We were supposed to go to MK for EMH until midnight, but I think not. Back to the room for some Tums and the whirlpool tub. Another wonderful Kona Cafe experience. I already can't wait to eat there next trip

 

[plutosgirl]

Loving it!

 

[weswife]

great job!!!! mmm the pics.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Thanks for all the positive responses everyone
Up next... Coral Reef and Artist Point

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Day 3 of our Disney trip and we are headed to Epcot for many viewings of Captain Eo and lunch at Coral Reef.

We had a reservation for the first lunch time of the day hoping to get seated in front of the glass viewing area. I put in the request with the hostess when we checked in and a few minutes later when we were seated we saw our wish was granted

As we were seated we realized we had a great table thanks to our view of this guy right here

Our turtle friend entertained us throughout our meal.

I went into this meal with low expectations. We have eaten here every trip for the last 5 years and I am never wowed by the food, only the atmosphere. This trip to Coral Reef however, was our best by far. For our appetizer DH had the Land & Sea Combo, but like I said in the Turf Club review he is not a seafood fan so he asked if he could have Land & Land and our server said it wouldn't be a problem. He ate it waaaay too fast for me to get a pic. I had the Lobster Soup. Sorry, no pic, but it was just soup. It was good, but it looked like soup. Good flavor, but not much lobster.

For our entrees DH and I strayed from what we thought we would get going into this trip. Dh had the Mushroom & Phyllo dish. I can't remember exactly what it was called, but it was something like that. He loooved it! I had a bite and wished I had ordered it as well. For a vegetarian dish it was delicious.

I had the Lobster Ravioli. Definitely my favorite dish I have ever had here.

For dessert I had the Chocolate Wave, which I always love and DH had the Cheesecake Napoleon.

Another great meal at The World

Now us gals are off to the Pick A Pearl in Japan, but first (and most importantly) a drink in France. Grey Goose Lemon Slush for me.

Grand Mariner Orange Slush for SIL 1

 

[darthtatty]

great review with some fab pictures

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

So after our day at Epcot, DH and I split off from SIL 1 & 2 and headed to MK. We took the boat over to Fort Wilderness for a romantic carriage ride and then took another relaxing boat ride over to Wilderness Lodge for our dinner at Artist Point. DH had never been to this hotel before, but I had stayed there on a trip with my family 7 years ago and already knew how great it was. DH fell in love with WL and we still had time to kill before dinner so we spent some time exploring the grounds and had a glass of wine in the Territory Lounge before dinner. This was our first time dining here and I really loved all the beautiful artwork inside the restaurant.

We were given personalized menus to celebrate our anniversary when we were seated, which was a nice touch. However, we had waaaaaay too much time to look at them because it took our waiter a very long time to get to us. We could see he had 2 other tables near us, both of which were large parties ordering lots of food and lots of cocktails, so unfortunatly we were put on the back burner a little bit. No big deal, but I'm not a fan of looooong dinners. I would like to eat my food and be on my way. So anyway, back to the food. For appetizer DH and I both ordered the Smokey Portabello Soup.

I loved this soup! When I was finished I told DH I wanted to lick the bowl, which he advised against, given our surroundings. DH loves mushrooms (which I think I've mentioned already), but he actually was not a fan of the soup. He thought the smokey taste overpowered the mushroom taste. I saw his point, but I still loved it.

For our entrees DH picked the Beef Tenderloin with mashed potatoes, green beans and Espresso Reduction. He demolished his entire plate! We have been home for a week and he is still talking about this dish. I was really looking forward to trying the Buffalo, but they changed what came with it and I was not feeling it. So I ordered the White Truffle Gnocchi with Tomato-Fennel Broth, Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

How did DH and I both order vegetarian dishes on the same day? How did we order vegetarian dishes at all? Weird. The Gnocchi was delicious! I cleaned my plate as well. The broth was so delicious that a soaked it up with the bread we had left. Loved this dish! The flavor was amazing!

On to dessert! Now let me say that I am not into Fruit Desserts, with only a few exceptions. I can deal with Apple Pie, bananas, and sometimes strawberries, but they need to be accompanied by lots of pastry or chocolate or something. I don't do fruit sorbets or cobblers or anything like that so it has limited my choices at some of the signature restauants. There is still good stuff to choose from, but it knocks some dishes out of the running right out the gate. The cobbler is supposed to be good here, but like I said, I don't do cobblers. DH got the Chocolate Terrine with Cherries and Salted Hazelnut Brittle.

He really liked this dessert. I wanted to order this too, but he and I had been ordering the same things a lot on this trip so I wanted to try something different. I ordered the Coffee Duo, which was coffee bread pudding (I am a sucker for a good bread pudding), Espresso Pot De Creme and Caramel Ice Milk.

This was really good! Not an overwhelming coffee taste, just tasty.

Overall the meal was delicious and the service was very friendly, just a little slow for my preference.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Wonderful updates and the pictures are awesome...making me drool

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Wonderful updates and the pictures are awesome...making me drool

Thank you! I think I'm making myself drool too reliving all this food. I swore I was starting my diet when we got back from vacation so I would much rather be eating the food in these pictures instead of the Special K Protein Bar I am currently eating.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

Day 4 and we are off to HS for the morning. The four of us arrive 20 minutes after park opening in our matching Family Vacation shirts, take a horrified look at the wait time for TSM and then go about the rest of our day at the park until our lunch reservation. DH and I love it at Sc-Fi! The atmosphere can't be beat.

We started out with the flavored soda that we look forward to all year. DH got a Cherry Coke and I got a Vanilla Coke. For appetizers DH got the Double Dip For Two which consisted of Spinach and Artichoke Dip and the Seven-Bean Chili with Tortilla Chips. SIL 1 & 2 got the same and it was enjoyed by all. I got the Seven-Bean Beef Chili, which is my favorite chili (second only to my own of course )

For our entrees DH got the Ribs with Baked Beans and Fries which he demolished. I got the Cheeseburger with Sauteed Onions, Mushrooms, Bacon and Cheddar Cheese.

Oh how I love that burger

For dessert DH had the Hot Fudge Sundae which he loves from here for some reason. I had it here once and thought it was just ok. I had the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake.

I am a sucker for anything chocolate and peanut butter. Yummy!

Our waitress brought out a Happy Anniversary card for DH and I which was signed by some of the carhops as well as Cat Women of The Moon, The Blob and a few of the other stars of Sci-Fi. Loved it! More for the scrapbook.

As we left the restaurant I decided I wanted to get a snack at the park to take back to the room for later. I was gonna go get the Carrot Cake cookie from the place nearby, but we still had a few more rides to do so I figured I would hit Starring Rolls on the way out. I knew exactly what I wanted and went right for this monster.

I got the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake that I had read about on these boards. Here is a pic of the inside.

I was so looking forward to this cupcake and I was very disappointed. It was so pretty that I wanted to like it. The cake itself was bland and not very fresh tasting and the choco-peanut butter filling was strange. The consistancy was kind of like Neosporin. The filling didn't taste bad, but it just wasn't what I thought it would be and it was not an overwhelming peanut butter taste. Like I said, I love the choco-peanut butter combo, but I was not a fan and believe it or not this good-looking cupcake got tossed in the trash.

Up next... Jiko!

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

We have changed out of our silly matching shirts and changed into more respectable clothes and we are headed to Jiko. This is my third visit to Jiko and it has become a must-do for DH & I. The only thing I don't like is the bread. Not a fan. We had a great server here who was very friendly and had a lot of recommendations for us. DH & I started with a glass of wine. My usual favorite, Five Soldiers Chardonnay, has become available only by the bottle now and it was about $70 a bottle. Very disappointed. Instead we tried a different chardonnay. Good, but just not the same. For appetizers DH got the Wild Boar Tenderloin, which was highly recommended by our server.

I had a bit of his and it was very very good. I had the Beef Bobotie Roll.

Absolutly wonderful! I wish I had those right now actually. There was a sweetness to them, but not too much and the sweetness worked perfectly.

For our entrees DH had the Roasted Lamb Loin.

He enjoyed it and it was cooked beautifully. I had the Seared Barbarie Duck Breast with Potatoes, Chanterelles and Fig.

Delicious! I love duck and I love the sweet/savory mix, so this was perfect for me.

For dessert they really changed things up on us. I had a hard time finding something that I wanted. The descriptions of everything sounded bizarre. DH ended up with the chocolate dessert. I can't remember what it was called, but it was different from what the description made it seem like. It looked tasty though.

I was at a loss for what to order and our server said that one was great if you like bread pudding. Okay, sold!

It was not like bread pudding. It was boring and had a fruity sorbet. Yuck! Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

We had the last of our coffee put in to-go cups for a nighttime jolt

Now for the long bus ride(s) back to Saratoga Springs.

Next up...Sanaa & California Grill!

 

[Linda67]

Just caught up with your reviews and they are great

I really want to try Artist Point and Jiko on our next trip. Thanks for posting