A Christmas Dining Extravaganza

[tyandskyesmom]

LeCellier

So we checked in for dinner a little early (our ADR was for 8:35pm) at about 7:30pm and were told to come back in about 15 minutes. It was getting cooler out and it was pretty un-crowded out there so we just hung around by the entrance for a while. Cary went back in in 15 minutes and we were taken in right away. We were seated to the left side just off center. Our server was Ashley. She was nice and told us about where she was from and what the different sections of the restaurant represented.

She took our drink orders...coke, diet coke, sprite, and water. And brought our bread. The breads were different than we are used to and the pretzel ones are now small rolls rather than sticks. Unfortunately, no picture!

We had decided on three meals here again.

For appetizers Tyler decided to torture us again with Assortment of Artisanal Cheese - with Chef's Selection of accompaniments...

And I don't think I have a pic of the listing of what is on there. As per usual, he would not eat any but the rest of us tried. These were probably the ones we liked the most overall. I think at least three of the five were ok. Not that we'd order it again, just our personal preference, but they were things we would eat.

Cary got the Charcuterie - Chef's handcrafted meats, house pickles, grilled sourdough bread...

Now, this seemed a bit skimpy on the actual meat option with a lot of bread. But what we did have, was very good. We've had these other places and this one seemed small, especially for the price but Cary and I liked it. Skye tried a little but tired of it quickly.

I ordered the Canadian Chessar Cheese Soup...made with Moosehead Beer and Neuske's Applewood Smoked Bacon

I have to tell you, I am not as crazy about this soup as others...in fact it would not be my choice if they had any other interesting options...like the old one with the hot sausage with polenta under it! But it is a good creamy soup and it is great to dip pretzel rolls into. And I get it all to myself because no one else really likes creamy soups!

For entrees we all had the "Le Cellier" Filet Mignon...AAA Canadian Beef Tenderloin, mushroom risotto, heirloom toy box tomatoes, truffle butter sauce...all slightly different.

Tyler was medium rare with French fries.

Cary's was medium well with mashed potatoes.

And Mine was medium rare as listed on the menu!

They were all really good and we all shared with Skyler. They had no problem with four of us ordering three meals or with us changing the entrees from what was on the menu. Everything was cooked perfectly.
And there was enough for all four of us to eat.

For dessert we had two Camembert Cheesecake - double cream cheesecake, cherry gelee, pistachio cream Florentine and what is listed on my receipt as "chocolate dessert". None of the items listed on allears now look familiar and, off course, I cannot locate pictures. If/when I do, I will edit and update. We took one of the cheesecakes "to go" and we split the other two.

All in all, LeCellier is still a great place for steak! It is someplace we would probably be ok going to out of pocket too because really, the appetizers and desserts are not that thrilling anymore. We used to love the smores they used to have that were not smore-like at all but were very good. So we could eat here with just the entrée and a drink and not be too broke afterwards. I don't know if it is justified for signature status though...better than Brown Derby by far but I'm not sure I rank it up there with Narcoossees or Jiko.

We were outta there at 8:55pm so not a long meal but we were seated slightly before our ADR too.

We would not hesitate to return to LeCellier with or without the dining plan.

TOTAL = $247.69 ... TOTAL FOOD = $3838.05
USED 3 CREDITS ... USED 85 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Chef Mickey's

So, the day dawned early. We were at the bus stop outside Ole Port Royale at 6:35am. We were on a bus to magic Kingdom at 6:40am. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 7:08am. So it took 28 minutes form Ole Port Royal to the bus stop at Magic Kingdom. We walked over to the Contemporary. We checked in about five minutes early and were given a buzzer and told to have seat. Our ADR was for 7:30am. By 7:34am we were done with our pictures with Pluto!

We were seated very near the buffet line but no so close it was annoying. Our server was Janell and she was a bit absent. We did wait for drink refills a lot...all of us, not just me! But otherwise she was nice and plates were removed quickly...it's just that it seemed every time she was by for plates she did not stop and look at our table or ask us if we needed anything. We had to actually grab her to slow her down and ask for refills.

I don't think I have many food pics unless they happen to be in the picture incidentally ... darned camera! They have a ton to choose from here and it was all full and fresh and hot. The kids like that you can get ice cream at breakfast. Skyler ate a ton of Mickey Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Tyler pigged out on glazed donuts, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and bacon. Cary and I had a bit of a lot of things.

There were characters and napkin waving...

Goofy was the first one around today.

Then Donald...

UGH! Cary's phone pics and photobucket are not playing nice!!!

Then Mickey came around...

And last was Minnie...

Janell brought Tyler a birthday cup cake...you can see it in the bottom (or maybe the side???) of the Minnie picture.

All in all we love Chef Mickey's for breakfast. We were here once for dinner and were not impressed but that is our thoughts on most lunch/dinner buffets. But breakfast buffets, we love! I do think the price is a bit crazy but what are ya gonna do??? We were outta there by 8:24 so it was about an hour.

We'll be back to Chef Mickey's I am sure. I don't know that I'd pay out of pocket for it because it is just crazy priced especially for a small 12 year old girl. And if we were opting to pay out of pocket for a breakfast buffet, I think there are places with better food. But overall, it is a good place to eat and get the fab five out of the way without lines!

TOTAL = $161.84 ... TOTAL FOOD = $3999.89
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 89 MEAL CREDITS

 

[Candycane83]

Chef Mickey's

So, the day dawned early. We were at the bus stop outside Ole Port Royale at 6:35am. We were on a bus to magic Kingdom at 6:40am. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 7:08am. So it took 28 minutes form Ole Port Royal to the bus stop at Magic Kingdom. We walked over to the Contemporary. We checked in about five minutes early and were given a buzzer and told to have seat. Our ADR was for 7:30am. By 7:34am we were done with our pictures with Pluto!

We were seated very near the buffet line but no so close it was annoying. Our server was Janell and she was a bit absent. We did wait for drink refills a lot...all of us, not just me! But otherwise she was nice and plates were removed quickly...it's just that it seemed every time she was by for plates she did not stop and look at our table or ask us if we needed anything. We had to actually grab her to slow her down and ask for refills.

I don't think I have many food pics unless they happen to be in the picture incidentally ... darned camera! They have a ton to choose from here and it was all full and fresh and hot. The kids like that you can get ice cream at breakfast. Skyler ate a ton of Mickey Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Tyler pigged out on glazed donuts, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs and bacon. Cary and I had a bit of a lot of things.

There were characters and napkin waving...

Goofy was the first one around today.

Then Donald...

UGH! Cary's phone pics and photobucket are not playing nice!!!

Then Mickey came around...

And last was Minnie...

Janell brought Tyler a birthday cup cake...you can see it in the bottom (or maybe the side???) of the Minnie picture.

All in all we love Chef Mickey's for breakfast. We were here once for dinner and were not impressed but that is our thoughts on most lunch/dinner buffets. But breakfast buffets, we love! I do think the price is a bit crazy but what are ya gonna do??? We were outta there by 8:24 so it was about an hour.

We'll be back to Chef Mickey's I am sure. I don't know that I'd pay out of pocket for it because it is just crazy priced especially for a small 12 year old girl. And if we were opting to pay out of pocket for a breakfast buffet, I think there are places with better food. But overall, it is a good place to eat and get the fab five out of the way without lines!

TOTAL = $161.84 ... TOTAL FOOD = $3999.89
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 89 MEAL CREDITS

Wow you have convinced us to go for this... thank for the great review! It scares to go here because there's so much bad reviews on this restaurant. But with DS2 and staying at CR I guess it would be fun to tryout

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Chefs De France

We quickly headed into Epcot and walked at a fast pace back to France. We were about 10 minutes late getting to our ADR at Chefs de France (which was for 2:20pm) but they had no problem with that. We were seated within 5 minutes of arrival.

And I do not know what happened here because I have absolutely NO PICTURES of this meal at all!!! I really think when they took the pic off of Cary's phone at Sams's Club they lost a lot and this is going to make me very upset! I'm going to try to borrow some...

We were seated in the middle of the main dining room near the large windows.

Our server was Antoine B. He was nice but did not care to be social...which is fine with us as long as you bring our food and refill our drinks.

So we ordered our drinks...three sprites and a coke. And our appetizers. We were all eating our own food here today.

Antione brought our baguette.

these are hard crusty baguettes with warm, soft middles. The problem is, they serve them with frozen butter!!! Do you know how hard it is to spread frozen butter on soft bread????

Skyler and Cary had the Salade Maison - Selected greens with house vinaigrette dressing.

With the dressing on the side. They both liked this salad but it really wasn't anything spectacular or French.

I got the Soupe a l'oignon gratine...French onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese.

This has got to be my favorite French Onion Soup ever. It is onion-y and salty...but not too salty. It has a huge crouton floating on top that gets nicely soaked with soup. And it has a ton of ooey, gooey, warm cheese melted on the top. It is seriously like an inch thick...like you need a fork and knife to get through it. I love it!

And Tyler got his usual...Cassolette d'escargots de Bourgogne au beurre persille - Casserole of burgundian escargots baked in parsley and garlic butter however, this time he didn't eat any. I did though and while I probably would not order them over something else, they are not bad. Now, the way they are served, if you did not know what was placed in front of you, you would not know they were snails. I think they taste a lot like soft shrimp. But the parsley garlic butter they are cooked in is awesome so even if the snail part freaks you out a little, the seasoning will calm your mind.

Tyler's did not have the bread topping but I wanted to show what they look like inside each trough.

For Skyler's entrée she ordered Filet de Saumon, riz Pilaf et asperges, sauce beurre blanc a la aneth - Broiled salmon, rice pilaf, asparagus and dill beurre blanc sauce

Ok...but hers has a rice pilaf and she ordered the sauce on the side. She loved the salmon. It has a nice crusty sear on it. She had a little of the rice but is mostly a white rice or rice-a-roni kinda girl so she loft quite a bit of it. I tasted it and it was a little on the dry side without the sauce. And she does not do sauce usually...so that went untouched by her. I tasted it and it was very good and probably complimented the salmon very nicely but who would know since she wasn't sharing!

Tyler, again, had his usual...Demi poulet fermier roti, pommes de terre ecrasees et brocolli - Half of an all-natural roasted chicken, smashed potatoes and broccoli. He has gotten this every time we have been here...and it hasn't changed much!

Except that the potatoes from before are now supposed to be mashed and there is no way he is eating that...so he got regular fries, which he was disappointed about since this is as close as he gets to eating a potato that is not a fry. He loves this dish. The chicken is always moist and the potatoes used to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside like a really good French fry...which is probably the only reason he eats them because while he loves fries, he will not eat a potato...ya, this is an AP and honors kid entering his senior year and I still cannot convince him to even try a potato let alone admit he likes it!

I had the Croque monsieur avec frites ou salade verte...the classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich served with mixed greens.

The last time we were here I could only finish half of this and I was so sad. This is one of the best grilled cheese and ham sandwiches I have ever eaten. The salad is also very good and complements the sandwich well. And the tomatoes with this and Tyler's (which I got because he was not going to even look at them!) are really good! I still could only eat half!

Cary ordered the Steak hache Angus, brie, champignons et Bearnaise, salade ou frites - 1/2 lb. Wagyu hamburger with brie cheese, confit onions, mushroom duxelle, tomatoes, and Bearnaise on a house made brioche, mixed greens or french fries...medium well.

He was a little nervous about eating here in general. And he was still nervous while ordering. But when this came to the table he was pleased to see it was basically a normal hamburger. He did order no onions or mushrooms though. And he was pleased with the turn out.

For dessert Skye and Cary ordered the Assiette de sorbets du jour, madeleine - Daily assortment of fresh sorbets, madeleine

There was a strawberry, mango, and lemon that day. Skye liked the strawberry the best and Cary the mango. The lemon was really sour...like pucker up sour.

Tyler ordered the Mousse au chocolat - chocolate mousse

Which was an odd choice for him. Pudding like items are not usually something we go for. But this mousse was wonderful. Light and airy...almost like a whipped cream. It was chocolate-y but not overly so. And the pound cake with it dipped nicely.

I ordered the Creme Brulee - Vanilla creme brulee...again something pudding-y.

And it was gggggooooodddd!

Our service was great and we had plenty of refills on our drinks. They had no problems with changing an item out for something else. We never waited long for anything.

All in all, we love Chefs de France. We will return there. And while it my seem discouraging because the menu is written in French, it also has an English description. Even Cary, who was a little scared, ended up loving it. We highly encourage Chefs de France as a dining venue.

TOTAL = $184.08 ... TOTAL FOOD = $4183.97
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 93 MEAL CREDITS

 

[WildGinger]

Your review is great! Your Artist Point review may sway me into making a reservation there. I am so sorry you fell...that is just horrible.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Cinderella's Royal Table

Ok...our dinner at...

(and I'm borrowing some pictures again)

So we're sitting in the downstairs lobby in Cinderella's Castle

(and I'm borrowing some pictures again)

...alone...waiting...and then we're called. No, not to meat Cinderella but to go up stairs to dinner. Hhhhmmm...no Cindy in the lobby??? That's weird. Maybe she's just making the rounds upstairs...ok.

Our ADR was for 8:05pm. We were seated about that time. We were on the upper level to the right side near the windows.

this was the view from our seats...and yes, when Wishes started you could see them. They were a little distorted because of the way the glass in the windows is cut but still pretty awesome!

Nabil was our server. It was on the loud side in there and Nabil did not speak very loudly or clearly and seemed to not like that we couldn't her him very well. Needless to say, he was not very friendly and seemed to be just out to do his job and go home. There was no extra happiness for us eating in THE CASTLE given by him.

We ordered our drinks...Diet, coke, apple juice, and a sprite.

Skyler decided to get some kind of salad that does not look like either on the menu now...it was spinach mostly and had parmesan cheese on top.

She enjoyed it...of course, she does not eat a salad like normal people do...she picks it apart and it is basically finger food that she dips into the dressing but I am just glad she eats salads!

I decided on the Shrimp with Grits - in a New Orleans-style barbecue sauce with goat cheese grits.

This was really good! And something I don't have to share because no one else will eat grits. The sauce with the grits was the best part!

I convinced Tyler to have the Pork Belly Confit - served with raspberry Habanero sauce, blistered tomatoes, micro cilantro, and radishe.

He had no idea what it was but ended up liking it. I did not get to taste it and that was the reason I talked him into getting it!

And Cary got the Soup of the Day...I don't remember what it was but I believe it was a minestrone (???) and it looked like this...

I did not taste any but he cleaned the bowl so I suspect it was to his liking.

For entrees Tyler and Cary ordered the Steak and Shrimp - grilled beef tenderloin and roasted shrimp with Heirloom tomatoes, Gouda mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and caramelized onions. Cary's was medium well...


Tyler's was medium rare and he forgot to ask for fries instead of mashed potatoes....

They really enjoyed their plates. I was allowed one bit of each and they were both really good.

I ordered...

But I don't know what it was??? It does not seem to match anything on the current menu. I believe it's a pork tenderloin dish.

Skyler decided on Chef's Fish of the Day - on Cinderella's request, the Royal Chefs have prepared a delectable dish to showcase the Kingdom's freshest fish...which of course was salmon!

But I believe hers had green beans not asparagus...and I think she asked for that because she does not particularly like asparagus...but loved green beans...and Disney does know how to do green beans right! Basically, he told her he would get her whatever she liked. This was the only time he seemed to show an interest in us. And she loved it! We don't do much salmon at home because it's not cheap and Cary does not like it that much. But Tyler and Skyler would eat a tom so it ends up costing a lot to make it at home. So she really enjoyed her Salmon kick this trip!

For desserts we shared four. The Our Signature Dessert - The Clock Strikes Twelve - white and dark chocolate in a tribute to the moment Cinderella lost her slipper. Which was a little different that we were expecting, but really good!

The Seasonal Cheesecake...which is always a good option. But you know what we found odd? Almost none of the cheesecakes in the World have crust! And we like our graham cracker crust! So to us it's more like a cheesecake pudding??? But good anyway!

The Chef's Dessert Trio - Cinderella sent her Chefs around the world to discover new desserts. They are happy to share three of their favorites with you...which if I remember correctly was a pistachio pudding-y kinda thing, a tiramisu, and a brownie type thing...I promise next tome to have all my own pictures and to take better notes!!! I'm disappointing myself with my half way descriptions and searching for a pic on-line that resembles what we ate! None of is are crazy about tiramisu but it was ok. The pistachio thing was good and the brownies were brownies.

And the Seasonal No Sugar Added Sorbet - garnished with berries, a no sugar added dessert...

Which was lemon and was horribly sour! And while Nabil noticed and commented on the fact that only about one or two small bites were taken out of it, did not offer to exchange it for Skyler (she was actually the one who ordered it). Now we love a frozen lemonade and things like that but this was just bitter sour...and we had no drinks to get that taste out of our mouths because Nabil hadn't filled them.

Now, we have been here a couple of other times and have had wonderful service...fitting of a castle. This time we were very disappointed in our service. And I can make no excuses this time. It wasn't overly late. It wasn't overly crowded or overly empty. We were not overly tired and crabby. He just did not really care to wait on us. My thought is that since his tip was included in the price and since we were on the dinning plan he was pretty sure he was not going to get an additional tip so why try.

I also understand that we are all adults but there was no wishing star offered to Skyler who obviously looks younger. And we have had them offered to all the adults before...and swords. This does not reflect negatively on his service, I understand we're all "adults" but really we aren't and I did not expect it but as I said it had always been offered before so it was a little bit of pixie dust in the past.

Somewhere around dessert we started being visited by royalty.

We saw Aurora...

Snow White (who was remarkably Snow White-ish!)

Ariel...

Jasmine...

A

And NO CINDERELLA!!!! Weird!

But all in all, we had a great meal, fun with princesses, and a unique view of Wishes. I don't know that I would even go for breakfast at Cindy's and lunch just has not worked into the plans but we love dinner. On the dining plan, it's a great use of 2 credits. Out of pocket, I don't know that's I'd pay that much but maybe for a special occasion.

I suspect we will be back someday.

TOTAL = $264.08 ... TOTAL FOOD = $4448.05
USED 8 CREDITS ... USED 101 MEAL CREDITS

 

[DisneyJo]

Such a shame your server wasn't great and Cinderella was absent, it sounds as though most of your food was good though and I agree about the wishing stars etc, I thought everyone got one!!

 

[inky dinky doo]

Wow! What poor service at Cinderella's Castle! You say it might be worth it, out of pocket, for a special occasion, but that kind of service could really ruin a special evening. I'm not sure I would chance it. Did you use the dining plan on your other visits to Cindy's? I have to say Snow White is my favorite "princess," and yours comes the closest I've seen to the real thing. Thanks so much for taking the time to share! Your reviews are especially helpful as we plan for our New Year's Eve trip,this year. Can hardly wait for July 4, when we make our ADRs.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

The food and atmosphere was definitely good. It was weird that Cinderella wasn't there, since it is her castle and meal! But we do get to see here later (I haven't written that part of my trip report yet).

We have only ever got to Cindy's on the dining plan and have always had good service in the past.

Snow has been Tyler's favorite princess since he was 2 and she kissed his forehead and let red lip marks. This one looks pretty close to the Snow White I see when I think "Snow White"! That's his best looking picture above. I can't tell if he is blinking in the Jasmine pic or looking at her butt!

We had a great time on the trip over Christmas and New Years. I was pleasantly pleased with the crowds. It was crowded but I think we were so prepared for the worst and I had planned well, that it wasn't as bad as we were expecting.

I'm at 26 days till our next trip...we started off doing no dining (our first trip in a very long time without deluxe dining!)...just counter service. Now we are at three ADRs...the meal Cary missed that we loved (Via Napoli) for lunch one day, one of my favorites that I missed (haven't gotten there yet in this report)...Jiko (but I think I am going to cancel it because it just involves too much planning and that is against the theme of this trip plus we only have one Animal Kingdom day and they seem to have a lot of counter service type places that sound good so I don't know that we'll be hungry enough to justify a $200 - $300 meal!), and the one that we want to love so badly that I think did not get a fair shake...Ohana for dinner...but I have the ADR set up on our last day before we start the drive north at 3:30pm...so we should not have to wait an hour, they should not be out of bread, everything should be fresh, and we should not be overly tired. Our plan is to kinda eat around the world and grab a couple of things all over to share and taste. And to go with the flow. The ADRs I made, I just made at 29 days out and I was able to pick and choose what I wanted still...I could have even gotten Cinderella's for lunch if I had wanted! So now we are at the place where we're gonna play it by ear and if we want to sit down, we'll check and see what's available. It's a whole new kind of trip for us!

 

[inky dinky doo]

I'm amazed you were able to get Ohana at 29 days. That one is in our plus column (we've only had one bad experience out of, probably a dozen visits), and from what I've been reading, it's a tough one to get. I am really concerned about our ADRs, this time, since our first day IS New Year's Eve. I'm afraid not much will be left, by the time July 4 rolls around. Plus, we have 15 people going this time. Luckily,we don't plan to travel as a large group the entire time. We'll probably just meet up now and then for a group meal.

None of us have never been over a major holiday, so this New Year's Eve trip will be a new experience for us, too. We typically go early to mid December, for the holiday decorations, and then, end of October/early November for Food and Wine and the Halloween Party. I'm looking forward to this trip, but I know the crowds will be way beyond anything we have ever seen. I am trying to plan accordingly, but it is really hard to plan for something you've never experienced. That's one of the reasons I so appreciate your report and the detail you provide.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I was surprised too!

Food & Wine is one of my goals! We used to love the week before and after Thanksgiving. We've been a couple of times when we arrived on New Years Day but they were in years when the holiday was the weekend right before schools went back in that Monday so the parks really cleared out. Lately it seems schools are able to give longer after the holiday before kids have to go back though. We have been in April and May and for three days leading into 4th of July (flew home on a plane with 14 people over fireworks the whole way...very cool!), end of August into September and early October. And now over Christmas and New Years. I'd be hard pressed to tell you what my favorite time of year is or which trip has been the most difficult with ADRs...it seems there's always something hard to get!

WOW...15??? I couldn't do it. I don't like traveling with anyone but my immediate family. We did our local SIx Flags at the end of May with Skyler's dance team and travelled through the park with one other mom and 6-8 girls ranging in age from 6 - 14 and OMG...someone make a decision!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I have been enjoying your food reviews, found them today and have spent my Sunday reading them. My DD who is 16 and myself ate dinner at CRT in April and we both got wands and wishing stars so I really think it was your waiter. I think it is terrible when you have such amagical expensive dinner planned and the wait staff is not good! I had the steak and shrimp as well and really enjoyed it. My DD at 16 loves Disney, we will be heading back the end of August, very excited. We are trying the Wave for breakfast and HDDR for the first time.

 

[dizzy daisy]

Oooo, that is an awesome Snow White at CRT! Tyler looks quite proud to have her on his arm, I can tell she's a favorite of his. My 22 year old son adored Snow for a long time, too. There was a girl at Disneyland for a few years that was the most incredible face character I'd ever met (we lived in CA and went to DL quite often).

I had a giggle at your remarks about the dance team and Six Flags. I'd have gone bonkers. I don't think I could tour a theme park with a large group.

25 days till your next trip? Awesome! I'd love to hear how this eating style works out for you on this trip. We are mostly CS oop w/ just a few TS meals kind of travelers.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Caravan Road

On the way we stopped at Caravan Road. We hadn't eaten breakfast (just munched on some of the various desserts in our fridge) so we could eat. And we spied someone walking away with something that looked and smelled delicious --- a Teriyaki Beef Slider - with pickled cucumber! And we have no picture so these are borrowed!

But, trust me, it was awesome! We got that and two bottles of Coke with three snack credits...total would have been $9.86. It is not meal sized so I only got a couple of bites and we even convinced Tyler to try it and he loved it. But we had a lunch ADR soon and we did not want to ruin our appetites so we did not get another. This is one of the items Cary keeps talking about...you can bet we will be here in 2 weeks!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We arrived at Yak & Yeti about 12:45pm for our 1pm ADR and it was crazy crowded around there.

The lobby (which is small to start with) was packed, the bar was packed, the area around the doorway was packed! Apparently they had a lot of walk ups and they were actually telling them they could seat them, eventually...and people were waiting. There were even grown people sitting on the floor inside the restaurant near the door waiting to be called...wait staff was walking around these people with food and drinks! I almost couldn't believe my eyes...I would never have the nerve to sit inside the restaurant on the floor and I couldn't believe they were letting them...seems like a safety hazard to me!

So we ended up waiting until about our ADR time to be seated. We were seated on the ground floor behind the stairway. We have always been upstairs and next to a window in the past. We were hoping for that again but since they were so crowded I wasn't going to even ask. We were just happy to be seated! It was nice walking through the downstairs floor though...we have never really done that before because we were always taken right upstairs. There is a lot of cool decorations here.

And I am borrowing pictures here because for some reason I have NONE!

Our server was Emma and she was ok...but busy! She kept our drinks filled and that made us happy. Not much small talk but that's just fine with us! We ordered our drinks...Coke, Sprite, Fruit Punch, and a Diet Coke.

For appetizers we all kind of shared. Obviously, some of us are too picky **ahem** Tyler **ahem** to try everything and stuck to one item but we definitely had plenty of food!

We ordered the Pot Stickers (seared) - pan seared or steamed, soy lime dipping sauce

Skye and I put these away! Yummy...

The Thai Chili Chicken Wings - fried chicken wings tossed in a sweet Thai chili sauce, spicy Asian pickled cucumbers...that Tyler ate most of!

And the Ahi Tuna Nachos for Two - sushi grade ahi, Asian slaw, crispy fried wontons, wasabi aioli, sweet soy glaze

That only Cary and I would eat. It was very fresh and very good! But we couldn't even finish it...

For entrees Tyler and I ordered the Kalbi Steak & Coconut Shrimp - grilled marinated flat iron steak, pineapple salsa, coconut shrimp, chili plum sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes, stir-fried vegetables...

And I got white rice with mine (as it used to be on the menu) and Tyler got fries instead of the wasabi mashed potatoes. It was very good but definitely not the same cut of meat Tyler was used to at signature dining spots. And it wasn't quite as good as it used to be. I really would have preferred regular tempura shrimp than the coconut ones but that's just my preference. And I loved the veggies but Tyler wouldn't touch them.

Cary got the Tempura Shrimp - chili plum sauce, coconut-ginger rice, stir fried vegetables

He loved his shrimp and thought the rice was ok...he would have preferred plain white rice or fried rice. He picked at the veggies and though what he did eat was good.

Skyler ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken - tempura chicken, ginger, garlic, bell peppers, pineapple with jasmine or brown rice...with Jasmine rice and the sauce on the side.

I wasn't sure they would do the sauce on the side but they had no problem with doing it. She ate a lot of the plain chicken and loved the jasmine rice. Cary ate some of her chicken with the sauce and thought it was very good. It is a huge serving!

For dessert, we shared again...

We got the Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle

We all liked them but even though they are beloved by most, they are not our favorite thing in the world!

The Pineapple Upside Down Cake - served warm with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce...which I cannot find a picture of. It was a very light dessert that we all liked (except Tyler who wouldn't even try it!).

The Chocolate Cake - Chocolate pudding cake, raspberry sauce...which is always a good stand-by!

It is served right out of a fridge and is kind of brownie like in texture because it is cold. I imagine when it is allowed to thaw out, it is pudding-y. The raspberry sauce is a great addition to lighten up the very chocolate-y cake.

And the Mango Pie - shortbread cookie crust, fresh whipped cream, raspberry sauce...which is my favorite here!

It is light and fruity and I love it. We all did actually!

Our glasses were kept full (and we were drinking a lot because it was very warm outside!). Where we were seated was in the back out of the crowd so until we got up to walk out, we did not have a clue how many people were lingering about. It's not quiet in there but it wasn't too obnoxious even with all the people waiting to be seated. We were leaving around 2:05pm...so about an hour. Not too shabby! But we never felt rushed or hurried along. Our total was $193.89 so not a cheap meal but any stretch of the imagination but if paying out of pocket I am sure we would not have ordered as much food. We probably would have ordered 1 or 2 appetizers, 2 or 3 entrees, and maybe a dessert. So it was that much only because of the dining plan.

We love Yak & Yeti and I am sure we will be back. We are looking forward to possibly sharing something from the counter service on two weeks!

TOTAL = $193.89 ... TOTAL FOOD = $4641.94
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 105 MEAL CREDITS

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I'm loving your dining review. We normally do the deluxe plan. For our September trip it was suppose to be just me and DH and we are going on a free dining package so we were going to just stick to that. Now DS,21 will be joining us and between everyone's wish lists and must do's I think that we are going to end up upgrading to the deluxe. Your price breakdown is helping me to see that the extra $800 it will cost us to upgrade is going to be worth it for us.

 

[melana]

Okay I am loving this review and the pictures of all the food and fun. I remember seeing something about a peppermint milkshake...i must try this during my Christmas trip in Dec.

 

[iloveeeyore]

Hey there...while doing my trip report I figured I'd so a separate Dining Report since we have two weeks of Deluxe Dining to explore with pictures of almost everything.

We were in The World from December 19, 2015 thru January 1, 2016. We got all of our ADRs that we wanted at mostly the times we wanted at 180 days out and I changed very little.

ADRs we made...

50s Prime Time (L)
California Grill (D)
Hollywood & Vine (B)
Sci Fi Dine In (L)
Flying Fish (D)
Crystal Palace (B)
Coral Reef (L)
Narcossees (D)
Tuskerhouse (B)
Cape May (D)
Cape May (B)
Via Napoli (L)
Artist Point (D)
Tony's Town Square (L)
Kona Café (D)
Ohana (B)
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package (L)
Ohana (D)
Akershus (B)
Tutto Italia (L)
Le Cellier (D)
Chef Mickey's (B)
Chefs de France (L)
Cinderella's Royal Table (D)
Yak & Yeti (L)
Be Our Guest (D)
The Plaza (L)
Garden Grill (B)
Restaurant Marrakesh (L)
Yachtsman Steakhouse (D)
1900 Park Fare (B)
Whispering Canyon Café (L)
Jiko (D)
Teppan Edo (L)
La Hacienda de San Angel (D)
T-Rex (L)
Boma (D)

Oh, my gosh, in all my years following Dining Reports on The DIS, I have never seen a line-up like this!! Thank you so much for sharing! We did Deluxe DP 4 years ago for 7 nights and it really did us in. It was GREAT, but exhausting. How amazing to have 2 weeks and so many wonderful places.

We are always tempted to try Tony's, then we read the reviews and change our minds. Your review makes me rethink it...AGAIN!

Are you writing a report for your next trip?

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Oh, my gosh, in all my years following Dining Reports on The DIS, I have never seen a line-up like this!! Thank you so much for sharing! We did Deluxe DP 4 years ago for 7 nights and it really did us in. It was GREAT, but exhausting. How amazing to have 2 weeks and so many wonderful places.

We are always tempted to try Tony's, then we read the reviews and change our minds. Your review makes me rethink it...AGAIN!

Are you writing a report for your next trip?

Thank You!

We love the DDDP and it almost did us in! I still love it though but I don't know that it is something we will do every trip in the future as opposed to doing it on some trips when it fits.

We have never been disappointed with Tony's...maybe we just are not so concerned with eating high end all the time or maybe going in without gourmet expectations helps...I don't know. I mean, it's not on our "we have to do this" list but it ususally makes the cut.

Yes, I am planning on doing a dining report for our next trip ... IN 10 DAYS!!!! You don't often see a counter service dining report!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Okay I am loving this review and the pictures of all the food and fun. I remember seeing something about a peppermint milkshake...i must try this during my Christmas trip in Dec.

Peppermint Milkshake was G-O-O-D!!! and Thank You!