A First-Timer's Take: 12/28-1/8 with Deluxe Dining! New: Boma

[Giselle22]

*reviews that are done will be linked from this page*

My hubby and I recently returned from an 11-night trip to Disney World at the Wilderness Lodge with the deluxe dining plan! It was our first trip to WDW, so I chose the deluxe plan because there were soooo many restaurants I wanted to try (plus, it was to celebrate our honeymoon so we wanted some fancy-pants meals ). I'll start off now with a quick intro to me and DH, a few food things we like and don't like, what to expect (or not expect!) from these reviews, and a list of where we ate! Oh, also, I'll include prices for the meals and come up with what we saved (or didn't) on the dining plan at the end. As this was our first WDW trip, this is also my first dining review, so I hope you like it!

So, DH and I are both 24 (but DH will be 25 in 2 days) and were actually married in April, but had to shove our honeymoon back a bit because of DH's job. We live in California and have been to Disneyland many, many times, but were so excited for our first trip to the World!!

As far as food goes, we both generally like chicken better than beef or pork, though we actually didn't eat a ton of chicken this trip. I love most fruits and veggies, cheese, peanut butter, and chocolate, don't like any type of seafood, and am a huge wuss when it comes to spicy (hot) food, though I am trying to be more adventurous because I like spicy flavors! Dan dislikes most veggies and doesn't eat much fruit, and loves spicy foods, cheese, and Mexican food (well, okay, Taco Bell).

Now, as far as reviews go, neither one of us is anything close to a gourmet. If you like intricate reviews of spices and flavors, look elsewhere. However, if you want to see some basic reviews of Disney food and service, please jump on the bandwagon! I'll do my best to tell you what we liked and didn't like about what and where we ate....and with that, here's a list of our restaurants!

Breakfasts:
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Boma
Roaring Fork
Tusker House (Donald's Safari Breakfast)
Kona Cafe

Lunches:
50s Prime Time Cafe
Restaurant Marrakesh
El Pirata y El Perico
Roaring Fork
Toy Story Pizza Planet
Yak and Yeti
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
Main Street Bakery
Tutto Italia
Liberty Inn

Dinners:
Wilderness Lodge Room Service
Artist Point
San Angel Inn
Pecos Bill's
Jiko
Raglan Road
California Grill
Hollywood Brown Derby
Le Cellier
Rose and Crown Pub
Citricos

Bonus: My Cupcakes

There will be some snacks thrown in there too
I'm going to try and get the first review up tonight, and I hope y'all like it! Thanks for reading!

 

[jeminni]

I'm in

 

[SingLikeAriel]

Can't wait for your reviews!! Isn't it just the best place for a honeymoon? My DH and I were there for a week in September for ours.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

count me in

 

[danalee]

me to, me to!!!

 

[weswife]

I am here!!!!!

 

[laliwalden]

Can't wait to read your reviews!!

 

[Giselle22]

We arrived in Orlando at 7:30pm on the 28th and hopped right on a Magic Express bus to the Wilderness Lodge! We had a 9:30 ressie that night for Whispering Canyon Cafe, but unfortunately Dan was feeling quite sick from traveling all day and was in no way up for a (possibly rowdy) sit-down dinner, so I cancelled and ordered room service. I was under the impression for some reason that a pizza was 2 credits total, so I was a little upset when I was told it would be 2 credits each, but I figured we could just go without a breakfast here or there to make up for it. Anyway, for our appetizers I ordered chips and salsa and a cheese plate (I KNOW I took a picture of the salsa, but it has mysteriously disappeared!)

The chips and salsa appetizer was HUGE, which makes sense as it's meant to serve 4! There were two very large pots of salsa, one chunky and one more blended, and a big bowl with tri-colored tortilla chips. Dan wasn't feeling like eating much that night, but we kept the salsa in our fridge throughout the trip and he ate some from time to time. He said it tasted fresh and he preferred the blended salsa, but neither one was very spicy and he would have liked more of a kick.
The cheese plate came with a few slices of some sort of crunchy nut bread and a whole extra plate of water crackers, dried cranberries, and golden raisins in a very nice, light, slightly sweet syrup. There was an aged cheddar, a goat's cheese, and a blue cheese. I enjoyed them all, and will talk about them more later as we got the same cheese plate at Artist Point later in the trip My favorite was the blue cheese, together with raisins on the nut toast.

Our entree was a cheese pizza.

The pizza was large and hot, but nothing special. Dan was only able to eat half a slice before deciding he'd rather just lie down and I wasn't hungry enough to eat too much either, so unfortunately most of this went to waste. I debated about keeping it around, but decided with all the other food we'd be eating, I doubted we'd ever feel like a cold slice of mediocre pizza.

For desserts, I ordered their "Triple Chocolate Moose Stampede" cake and s'mores cheesecake.

The chocolate cake was rich and moist, but my favorite was the cheesecake. It was a plain cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, chocolate ganache topping and mini marshmallows on top. It was creamy and delicious, and gets bonus points for coming with tiny marshmallows These were also probably the biggest desserts we got the entire trip; very large slices of each.

Overall, I'm not sure room service is really worth 2 credits a person, but at least gratuity is included, and it's certainly convenient!

Cost: I don't have the receipt with an exact amount, but it was about $90, and took 4 credits. This price includes an 18% gratuity, which was automatically added in the bill and was covered by the dining plan.

(sorry the pics are so big, I'm too tired right now to bother resizing them)

 

[Linda67]

Great first review, looking forward to hearing more

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Signingon! Can't wait for your review of Artist Point!

 

[Giselle22]

I'm in

Can't wait for your reviews!! Isn't it just the best place for a honeymoon? My DH and I were there for a week in September for ours.

count me in

me to, me to!!!

I am here!!!!!

Can't wait to read your reviews!!

Great first review, looking forward to hearing more

Signing on!

Signingon! Can't wait for your review of Artist Point!

Hello all, thanks for reading!

 

[butiflfeet]

Thanks for sharing your reviews! I'm excited to read more

 

[MickeyNicki]

I'm in! Cannot wait to read the rest! Room service looks fantastic!

 

[Giselle22]

On the 29th we had lunch at the 50s Prime Time Cafe. We showed up a little late and the place was pretty packed, but we were still seated within 5 minutes of checking in.

Our server was a "sister" so she wasn't too into giving us rules or anything; she just told us "don't tell on me and I won't tell on you." A couple tables next to us had an "aunt" serving them and she was all over telling them to take their elbows off the table, not use their cell phones, etc. It was fun to listen to her banter with them, and we didn't entirely mind not being heckled ourselves

Anyway, Dan had a cherry coke and I had a cherry sprite, both of which were fabulous (as always!). For an appetizer, we ordered the onion rings for 2.

These came out hot and fresh and were just perfect! I think the menu said they were served with a horseradish sauce, but it must have been very mild because I tried some and didn't dislike it (not a horseradish fan).

For entrees, I had "Grandma's Chicken Pot Pie"

This was very good. The pastry was nice and flaky, the veggies were cooked nicely, and the sauce wasn't too thick. This had a ton of white meat chicken in it, and was way too big for me to finish, but I sure tried!

Dan got "Aunt Liz's Golden Fried Chicken"

This came with mashed potatoes (good) and spinach. Dan didn't have any spinach, but I tried it and thought it was all right. It came with onion and pieces of bacon in it, which I didn't really like because the bacon wasn't really cooked and was fatty. Dan was very disappointed in this dish. He said it tasted like microwaved frozen chicken, and I tried a bit and had to agree. The coating wasn't crispy, and it was quite salty. (I will point out, though, that he still ate most of it.)

We were both stuffed, so for dessert we shared their Boston cream pie cupcake.

It was golden cake with ganache on top and a custard filling. This was okay, but nothing fabulous. The cake was nice, the ganache was a little too firm, and the cream inside was good.

I'm not sure we'd eat here again. Of course, I mostly wanted to come here because of the mood of the restaurant, and I did enjoy the onion rings and pot pie. Still, there are many better places out there and I don't think this will make my must-do list. Also, this meal was extremely rushed. Our entrees were brought out before we had time to pick up a second onion ring, and I was surprised to check the time afterwards and realize we had only been in the restaurant for 30 minutes!

Cost: $55.75, 2 credits (Aside from room service the first night, none of the prices I list will include gratuity or any alcohol or anything else not covered by the dining plan)

 

[rodeo65]

Looking forward to your review. Sorry to hear 50's PTC wasn't great. I've been back and forth on them and decided not to last June but was thinking of adding it to January 2011 but am still on the fence after your review. I like the idea of the atmosphere, but don't want to waste a TS meal on a so so meal.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

great start...can't wait for more

 

[tinacaplan]

I'm here! My DH and I are leaving in less than month for our first trip together. And you might as well just say its our first trip, since neither of us have been since we were kids...so about twenty years!

 

[Giselle22]

Thanks for sharing your reviews! I'm excited to read more

Hi! Glad you like it so far!

I'm in! Cannot wait to read the rest! Room service looks fantastic!

Hello!

Looking forward to your review. Sorry to hear 50's PTC wasn't great. I've been back and forth on them and decided not to last June but was thinking of adding it to January 2011 but am still on the fence after your review. I like the idea of the atmosphere, but don't want to waste a TS meal on a so so meal.

It wasn't BAD, it just wasn't great.... If you've never been there before, it might be worth going just to see it. It seems like it would be especially fun going there with a group or family, as the waiters seemed more into joking around with larger groups.

great start...can't wait for more

Hi! thanks!

I'm here! My DH and I are leaving in less than month for our first trip together. And you might as well just say its our first trip, since neither of us have been since we were kids...so about twenty years!

How exciting! I had sooo much fun planning for our trip And, of course, going on it too!

 

[kandyk]

I'm joining in too, looking forward to more!