9 days of yumminess on the DDP - 8/24-9/2! - Updated 9/26

[nanienamou]

Can't wait to try one of those yummy-looking citrus swirls!

 

[SweetSpot]

We had a 5:00 ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Our seating was strange though. Instead of being seated in the main area, we were brought back through the restaurant into an empty area. Since we were one of the first families seated there were tons of seats available out in the main area and I wasn’t really sure why we were seated there. I wish I could describe it better, but if you’re in the lobby and you see where the fireplace is, we were on the opposite side of it.

They did the same thing to me and my DD last year. It was our first time there and she had no idea what to expect. We also had a 5:00 ADR, were one of the first seated in an empty restaurant and they took us to the back room. We didn't even sit, I immediately asked to be changed because it was completely away from the fun. We didn't think the food was the best but in the end our waitress made it a really great experience.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Great positive review of WC! I haven't been there yet so I will have to try it on a future trip.

This was our third time there and we really enjoy it.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Can't wait to try one of those yummy-looking citrus swirls!

You will love it!!

 

[lauritagoddess]

They did the same thing to me and my DD last year. It was our first time there and she had no idea what to expect. We also had a 5:00 ADR, were one of the first seated in an empty restaurant and they took us to the back room. We didn't even sit, I immediately asked to be changed because it was completely away from the fun. We didn't think the food was the best but in the end our waitress made it a really great experience.

That's what I plan to do if it happens when we got the next time, but we still had a good time anyway. It just seemed so weird to be seated there when the rest of the restaurant was almost empty.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Friday morning was our Tusker House breakfast. I love Tusker House. It's definitely the best character meal I feel. I'm sure the fact that you meet Donald before you even go inside always helps to put me in a good frame of mind, but the food at this meal is just really, really good.

We had an 8:05 ADR. We got to Animal Kingdom really early since the Animal Kingdom bus came almost as soon as we got to the bus stop. There were other people also there that early too. By about 7:40-7:45 they started checking people's names on a list and they let us through about 7:50. There had been a rather large group that had been let in prior to everyone and when we got to Tusker House we found out that they were a group of 50! When you get to the restaurant, they check you in outside and then you get on a line to take a picture with Donald. I think a lot of people were inwardly, and some outwardly, groaning when they saw this huge group ahead of everyone, but they actually all took a group pic with Donald and they must have been seated in their own section of the restaurant because we never saw them again afterwards.

After we took our pics with Donald we were brought in and seated. The server took our drink order and I ordered coffee and the jungle juice, while B got orange juice. I love, love this juice. I've tried to find the Minute Maid equivalent of it in the supermarket but have never been able to. But it's just so delicious.

We made our rounds of the buffet. I failed to do my duty here and take pictures of the buffet, my bad. I got some ham, bacon, corn bread, a biscuit and a crumb muffin. The ham was really good and the biscuit was so soft and fresh. So often the biscuits you get at buffets are hard as rocks, but this was extremely tasty. B got a donut, bacon and a sausage patty. He later went back to get a Mickey waffle. We had to wait awhile for the characters to come out, but once they did they came in quick succession, first Mickey, then Daisy and then Goofy.

We both really enjoyed this meal and would give it an A.

 

[lauritagoddess]

We had a nice, but really hot morning in AK. I love Flame Tree Barbecue and that had been our plan for lunch. I normally get the ribs there, but had been planning on trying the turkey sandwich this time. But we were in Dinoland around lunch time and it was so hot and since Restaurantsaurus has indoor seating with a/c, we decided that it sound better to us than walking to Flame Tree and sitting outside.

I ordered chicken nuggets with fries and B got an angus bacon burger with fries. For dessert we both got the chocolate mousse. B likes Restaurantasaurus because it’s like a food court where yo the soda is self-serve, but was a little upset to see that they no longer had Vault soda. He got a Sprite instead and I got lemonade. He also decided after we sat down that he didn’t really want a burger, but wanted nuggets instead. He did wind up eating the burger, but not a lot of it, and he did eat some of my nuggets. I don’t recall if he ate any of the chocolate mousse but I did eat a little and it’s good.

Overall, this was a decent meal, nothing that special, but nothing bad either. We’d give it a B+.

 

[happy2012]

Nice review.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Nice review.

Thanks!

 

[lauritagoddess]

After lunch we went back to the resort for awhile and then in the afternoon headed to HS for our Fantasmic dining package. In all our previous trips to WDW we’d never seen Fantasmic. Last year we tried one night but there was a long line and it was hot and we just gave up. I decided this year to book the dining package and just ensure we’d have decent seating and not have to arrive too early. I had wanted to book Mama Melrose’s but even though I tried to book as soon as the dining packages opened, there just wasn’t anything available there. I wasn’t too excited about our other options. I knew that there wouldn’t be anything at Hollywood Brown Derby that B would want to eat, and I’d read so many threads here about how awful Hollywood & Vine is. I decided to take a chance and book Hollywood & Vine anyway figuring there must be something at the buffet that would be edible. We’d actually been to Hollywood & Vine about 5 or 6 years ago for breakfast with the Playhouse Disney characters and I hadn’t been too impressed then.

When we arrived at Hollywood & Vine we were given a pager, but we were seated almost immediately afterwards. We had an extremely friendly server who took our drink order and then we went to the buffet. Sorry the pictures of the buffet didn't turn out that great.

The complaints I’d seen here on the boards before about H&V was about how it was dirty and messy at the buffet, how the food was school cafeteria quality. I have to say though that our experience was completely the opposite of that. The food was great, I mean it was really, really good. Everything was extremely fresh, it wasn’t dirty or messy at all. I had some salmon that was excellent, and the roast beef was really good too. I wasn’t that fond of the pork loin, but that was more an issue of spicing, but not of the quality of the meat itself. I also had some bread that was really yummy. B got some chicken and some pasta that he really enjoyed. And we both had some peel and eat shrimp. Maybe it’s hit or miss on what night you’re there, but honestly the food we experienced was very different than what I’ve seen described. Maybe it helped that we had a 5:15 ADR and it gets worse as the evening goes on? And compared to our buffet at Chef Mickey’s earlier in the week, this was far, far better.

For dessert, they have self-serve ice cream and some little desserts.

We made this creation.

I would definitely go back to H&V again, even without the Fantasmic dining package. Overall, we gave this meal an A+. Yes, an A+ for Hollywood & Vine.

And we loved Fantasmic! When we had first been seated our server gave us our pass for the show. We had a different entrance, it was near the exit for ToT. I don't think the seating was the best, we were off to the right side, however we also didn't have to get there extra early or wait on a long line, so it was definitely worth it.

 

[elaine amj]

wow - interesting to see a positive review for H&V for a change.

 

[vettegirl]

Great review!

 

[lauritagoddess]

Great review!

Thanks!

 

[lauritagoddess]

We started our last full day at the parks with breakfast again at Café Rix. I got a chocolate muffin that was pretty tasty while B got a Frosted Flakes and a Pop Tart of which he ate very little of either. We both had some orange juice. The muffin was better than I’d expected. I would have gotten it more than once if I’d tried it earlier the week. The breakfast was a B+. B also was fascinated by a couple we saw eating breakfast at a table near us. The woman had a breakfast platter with an egg sandwich, but the man had gelato. He couldn’t get over that he someone would have gelato for breakfast and then spent the rest of the day campaigning our final WDW breakfast the next day to be gelato.

We had decided to go to HS again this morning because they had EMH. We waited forever that morning for a bus. I think we waited about 40 minutes, it was ridiculous. By the time we got to HS it was already about 8:35. We got over to TSM and it was already posting a 65 minute wait time at the time of the morning. We wound up getting a FP that was good for 12:05-1:05pm and we went after lunch, but it was really annoying. We used our last two snack credits later in the morning. We had been planning on getting a Wheezy Breezy Freeze at Hey Howdy Take Away when we’d been in HS earlier in the week and never got a chance so we got one today. We also got a popcorn, another Disney snack we hadn’t had yet this trip. I would swear the last time we’d been there that the only two flavors for the Wheezy Breezy Freeze were Coke and blue raspberry, but this time they also had lemonade and we got that. Even though it was only mid-morning when we had this it was so hot that it really hit the spot. The popcorn was good too. We’d give this an A-.

 

[Stefjp]

Chocolate Muffin for breakfast?!!? I salute you!

 

[vettegirl]

Gotta love that Disney popcorn, I think it's the best. I was so spoiled a few weeks ago at Disneyland with TSM, while everyone was at Carsland we rode it 5 times in a row, didn't even have to exit the ride, that would never ever happen at WDW

 

[MrsMommaRN]

Well done. This is so helpful especially for my 10 year old that is so picky. He can really see how good the food looks.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Chocolate Muffin for breakfast?!!? I salute you!

 

[lauritagoddess]

Gotta love that Disney popcorn, I think it's the best. I was so spoiled a few weeks ago at Disneyland with TSM, while everyone was at Carsland we rode it 5 times in a row, didn't even have to exit the ride, that would never ever happen at WDW

Cool to know that about TSM in DL. I wonder if it will still be like that when we go back there in February. I was figuring we'd go to Carsland first thing one morning but then do our regular thing another morning where we go to TSM first.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Well done. This is so helpful especially for my 10 year old that is so picky. He can really see how good the food looks.

Glad it helps!