Pooh&OurHunny
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joining in
A last farewell to characters with a bit of help from DXDP - sorry no pics
- Thread starter chocolateMinnie
- Start date
scottishgirl1
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- Jul 19, 2010
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Enjoying reading your reviews and also interested in the result.
chocolateMinnie
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THANK YOU and Welcome.
chocolateMinnie
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Thanks for reading - the result is of interest to me too as I haven't done the figures in advance.
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
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- 3,006
After MNSSHP we never book a breakfast, some years we have made it up and are starving others not. We generally get counter service at the resort but on the DXDP decided to book Sci-Fi which ds had been asking to go to for a few trips. We never really think that this sort of venue is worth paying oop for as it seems to me like counter service food at table service prices. We went to the Plaza in 2009 and while all was ok it was over-priced to sit down in a restaurant.
On the way to the main bus stop I called for my morning coffee and we popped into Panchitos to use some more of the remaining snack credits before I packed the cases that evening!
Today we bought Christmas Rice Krispie treats - this was the first time we had seen the Christmas ones out this week. We bought 8 at $3.95. DH decided to have a packet of character gummys for himself to fly home with as we had so many snack credits remaining instead of stealing the children's at take off
DD has collected the Princess Pez machines and bought 3 of those at a price of $1.95.
We would have bought none of these if paying oop but it was good use of the 12 snack credits as it would have cost$42.35 and I admit to enjoying the white covered Christmas trees as my Saturday night treat for a few weeks.
Arrived at Sci-Fi in good time for our 11.30am ADR.
Now I loved the theming here. Liked the seaters on their roller skates, loved the dreadful old trailers. DS was intrigued 'did people like Grandad really get scared by these?' The cars are cute. After all my negative feelings I really liked it here and would happily go again if paying oop. For a Brit the closest I have ever seen to this is on the film 'Grease'
Bizarrely the only member of the family under-enthusing was DS, he loved the place itself but felt he couldn't possibly eat food he couldn't see.
We had agreed beforehand that I wouldn't eat three courses here and then eat again at dinner so DD had been told she could have my main and I would have the adult appetizer and dessert and her entree.
So her meal (with the entree I ate) was a water (of course what else?) the kid's starter salad, the kid's dessert fruit salad, and my kid's cheeseburger.
She didn't care for the salad, the cheeseburger was pretty good pretty standard cheeseburger (she kept the fries) and the fruit salad was like the pots sold in the park.
DS had the onion rings (we all had a try and this is definitely one we would have again), the ribs with fries, strawberry milkshake and an orange juice. (You can either have the milkshake as your drink on dxdp or as your dessert - he had it as his dessert - I had one as my drink).
The milkshakes are very good, very similar to McDonalds milk shakes but yummy nevertheless.
DH and I shared the double dip plate - chili and a spinach and cheese with tricolor tortilla chips. i could have eaten this as my entree. Very good indeed. DH then had a beef and blue salad which he said was good and a sprite with the adult fruit salad as dessert.
I shared the above dips, ordered the ribs with cucumber salad (DD had the ribs with her fries, I had the kid's burger with the cucumber salad). The salad was very good indeed.
For pudding I ordered the cheesecake having seen wonderful pictures on disboards of the cheesecake with popcorn but when it arrived it was layers of cake interspersed with layers of cheesecake and one of the worst desserts I've ever eaten in my life.
Will we be back? yes I'm sure we will but not for three courses, more likely to get milkshakes and appetizers if we could but not sure how they would feel about that.
4dxdp credits leaving 23 dxdp credits and 16 snack credits
value of meal covered by dxdp = $122.31
if paying oop we would have grabbed food from the pool bar at CSR costing approx $40
On the way to the main bus stop I called for my morning coffee and we popped into Panchitos to use some more of the remaining snack credits before I packed the cases that evening!
Today we bought Christmas Rice Krispie treats - this was the first time we had seen the Christmas ones out this week. We bought 8 at $3.95. DH decided to have a packet of character gummys for himself to fly home with as we had so many snack credits remaining instead of stealing the children's at take off
DD has collected the Princess Pez machines and bought 3 of those at a price of $1.95.
We would have bought none of these if paying oop but it was good use of the 12 snack credits as it would have cost$42.35 and I admit to enjoying the white covered Christmas trees as my Saturday night treat for a few weeks.
Arrived at Sci-Fi in good time for our 11.30am ADR.
Now I loved the theming here. Liked the seaters on their roller skates, loved the dreadful old trailers. DS was intrigued 'did people like Grandad really get scared by these?' The cars are cute. After all my negative feelings I really liked it here and would happily go again if paying oop. For a Brit the closest I have ever seen to this is on the film 'Grease'
Bizarrely the only member of the family under-enthusing was DS, he loved the place itself but felt he couldn't possibly eat food he couldn't see.
We had agreed beforehand that I wouldn't eat three courses here and then eat again at dinner so DD had been told she could have my main and I would have the adult appetizer and dessert and her entree.
So her meal (with the entree I ate) was a water (of course what else?) the kid's starter salad, the kid's dessert fruit salad, and my kid's cheeseburger.
She didn't care for the salad, the cheeseburger was pretty good pretty standard cheeseburger (she kept the fries) and the fruit salad was like the pots sold in the park.
DS had the onion rings (we all had a try and this is definitely one we would have again), the ribs with fries, strawberry milkshake and an orange juice. (You can either have the milkshake as your drink on dxdp or as your dessert - he had it as his dessert - I had one as my drink).
The milkshakes are very good, very similar to McDonalds milk shakes but yummy nevertheless.
DH and I shared the double dip plate - chili and a spinach and cheese with tricolor tortilla chips. i could have eaten this as my entree. Very good indeed. DH then had a beef and blue salad which he said was good and a sprite with the adult fruit salad as dessert.
I shared the above dips, ordered the ribs with cucumber salad (DD had the ribs with her fries, I had the kid's burger with the cucumber salad). The salad was very good indeed.
For pudding I ordered the cheesecake having seen wonderful pictures on disboards of the cheesecake with popcorn but when it arrived it was layers of cake interspersed with layers of cheesecake and one of the worst desserts I've ever eaten in my life.
Will we be back? yes I'm sure we will but not for three courses, more likely to get milkshakes and appetizers if we could but not sure how they would feel about that.
4dxdp credits leaving 23 dxdp credits and 16 snack credits
value of meal covered by dxdp = $122.31
if paying oop we would have grabbed food from the pool bar at CSR costing approx $40
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2008
- Messages
- 3,006
Although it was my 40th birthday trip when we went to WDW in February 2009 it was actually just 5 days before DS birthday. As he was too old for parties we offered him anything he wanted to do at WDW. He asked for a cake somewhere and a surprise 'something we've never done before - something American'.
DD chose and ordered him his cake at CP on his birthday - 7 days and on our last night we went to Hoop de doo. It was a surprise to the whole family as I booked the tickets in secret. We paid oop for category 1.
This was everyone's agreed last night dinner for this trip which shows how popular it was. The only negative in 2009 was we had a very sweet but painfully slow elderly lady as a server.
We were really pleased to be sat just two tables away from our last trip's table despite being category 2 this time.
Our server 'Bor' was brilliant. Yes the humour was a cheesy as the show but he never stopped. He was quick in service as well as humour, friendly, efficient and just the perfect round peg in a round hole. Never have I met anyone more in tune with their job. Thankyou Bor you made our trip.
The food may not be amazing but it is still lovely. I love cornbread (if you're from the UK imagine being served madeira cake before your meal.
)
The ribs and chicken and potatoes with bacon are all lovely. The only thing we don't care for is the strawberry shortcake dessert.
The entertainment may be cheesy beyond belief but we laughed for most of the two hours.
Sticking to bud again because I didn't want a red wine headache on our last day. Last trip we got two of the little jars each filled with drink. This time Bor brought us a pitcher of beer (we don't get those in the UK) which was almost the highlight of my trip
shame of it was we couldn't manage a second pitcher when offered it .
This is definitely something that will become a family tradition. While we can afford to visit WDW you will find us at HDDR at least every other trip.
8dxdp credits used. Credits left for our last day = 15dxdp credits and 16 snack credits and we leave mid afternoon
value on dxdp = $198.96
cost if paying oop = $198.96
total value to date on dxdp =$1933.19
what we would have spent oop = $1619.27
DD chose and ordered him his cake at CP on his birthday - 7 days and on our last night we went to Hoop de doo. It was a surprise to the whole family as I booked the tickets in secret. We paid oop for category 1.
This was everyone's agreed last night dinner for this trip which shows how popular it was. The only negative in 2009 was we had a very sweet but painfully slow elderly lady as a server.
We were really pleased to be sat just two tables away from our last trip's table despite being category 2 this time.
Our server 'Bor' was brilliant. Yes the humour was a cheesy as the show but he never stopped. He was quick in service as well as humour, friendly, efficient and just the perfect round peg in a round hole. Never have I met anyone more in tune with their job. Thankyou Bor you made our trip.
The food may not be amazing but it is still lovely. I love cornbread (if you're from the UK imagine being served madeira cake before your meal.
)The ribs and chicken and potatoes with bacon are all lovely. The only thing we don't care for is the strawberry shortcake dessert.
The entertainment may be cheesy beyond belief but we laughed for most of the two hours.
Sticking to bud again because I didn't want a red wine headache on our last day. Last trip we got two of the little jars each filled with drink. This time Bor brought us a pitcher of beer (we don't get those in the UK) which was almost the highlight of my trip
shame of it was we couldn't manage a second pitcher when offered it .This is definitely something that will become a family tradition. While we can afford to visit WDW you will find us at HDDR at least every other trip.
8dxdp credits used. Credits left for our last day = 15dxdp credits and 16 snack credits and we leave mid afternoon
value on dxdp = $198.96
cost if paying oop = $198.96
total value to date on dxdp =$1933.19
what we would have spent oop = $1619.27
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2008
- Messages
- 3,006
Breakfast was back to Maya Grill. We needed to be up and out early as we wanted to check our luggage in at DTD before spending a last morning at the MK.
We ordered one continental breakfast, one good morning kid's breakfast (fruit, bacon, waffle) one adult's fruit plate and one breakfast skillet plus drinks. Now the whole lot was below par again except for the breakfast skillet which DS had and looked very good.
4 dxdp credits used
value on dxdp = $44.91
if paying oop we would have eaten exactly the same for the sake of convenience $44.91
Our original plans for lunch were to eat at CP - then we calculated how many credits we would be left with and offered DD to eat lunch at CRT. We have eaten breakfast and dinner there many times but never lunch and it seemed a good way to end our 7 years of character filled meal times.
The food at lunch is we found worse than dinner but better than breakfast.
The sampler starter is a mixture of cheese, brushchetta with salsa, salad and grapes and was absolutely ok.
I had the major domo pie which is like mashed potato, followed by puff pastry and topped with braised beef - it was pretty much like a pub pie in the UK.
DH had the pasta which he wrinkled his nose up at.
DS had the pizza off the kids menu but as he was on the adults plan they brought him two which he could barely make headway into so dad ate number two. They both said it was ok.
DD had the chicken tenders.
We skipped puddings intending to use snack credits instead.
value on dxdp = $176.73
if not on dxdp would have eaten at CP = $95
dxdp credits used 8
OK so back at the resort and we can't manage dessert
neither can we fit much more in our flight bags. So we use 12 snack credits to purchase more pez machines and gummy burgers to take home @ $1.95 each = $23.40 plus three bottles of water = $6.75 ( I refill my mug for one last time)
dxdp credits not used this trip = 3 snack credits = 1
Boy if only I could use those now
So the grand total value forour dxdp = $2184.98 making a grand saving of $535
if paying oop we would have spent = $1759.18 making a saving of $109
We ordered one continental breakfast, one good morning kid's breakfast (fruit, bacon, waffle) one adult's fruit plate and one breakfast skillet plus drinks. Now the whole lot was below par again except for the breakfast skillet which DS had and looked very good.
4 dxdp credits used
value on dxdp = $44.91
if paying oop we would have eaten exactly the same for the sake of convenience $44.91
Our original plans for lunch were to eat at CP - then we calculated how many credits we would be left with and offered DD to eat lunch at CRT. We have eaten breakfast and dinner there many times but never lunch and it seemed a good way to end our 7 years of character filled meal times.
The food at lunch is we found worse than dinner but better than breakfast.
The sampler starter is a mixture of cheese, brushchetta with salsa, salad and grapes and was absolutely ok.
I had the major domo pie which is like mashed potato, followed by puff pastry and topped with braised beef - it was pretty much like a pub pie in the UK.
DH had the pasta which he wrinkled his nose up at.
DS had the pizza off the kids menu but as he was on the adults plan they brought him two which he could barely make headway into so dad ate number two. They both said it was ok.
DD had the chicken tenders.
We skipped puddings intending to use snack credits instead.
value on dxdp = $176.73
if not on dxdp would have eaten at CP = $95
dxdp credits used 8
OK so back at the resort and we can't manage dessert
neither can we fit much more in our flight bags. So we use 12 snack credits to purchase more pez machines and gummy burgers to take home @ $1.95 each = $23.40 plus three bottles of water = $6.75 ( I refill my mug for one last time)dxdp credits not used this trip = 3 snack credits = 1
Boy if only I could use those now
So the grand total value forour dxdp = $2184.98 making a grand saving of $535
if paying oop we would have spent = $1759.18 making a saving of $109
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2008
- Messages
- 3,006
Would we do it again? Yes but not every trip
The pluses were definitely as follows;
The negatives however were;
In an ideal world we would have the imaginary in between ddp and dxdp plan. A plan covering two table service meals a day and two snacks.
or I would be in a job that would allow us to travel for two weeks once more, one week on ddp and one on dxdp
Next year we are booked to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Boma is calling to us) with free ddp and will probably eat most breakfasts there so that we can decide each morning where we want to go that day.
Dinners will be split between our favourite table service and some free evenings for the f&w festival. We will pay oop for any additional table service meals.
And as a ps - I now love America, think a 10 hour flight is a small price to pay for such a wonderful trip and as long as a theme park is a WDW theme park then you'll find me bouncing back for as long as I can afford to.
Thanks for letting me share this with you all and thanks to all those of you who make my annual planning so much fun by sharing your news with me.
The pluses were definitely as follows;
- we didn't have to worry about the fluctuation of the UK/USA exchange rates.
- The kids could have sweets and treats both while away and to come back home that usually would have been a no.
- We were able to try things that we wouldn't have done without the dxdp
- It's basically almost an all inclusive - you pay before you leave and you're covered for the trip
The negatives however were;
- a lot of travelling between venues which meant time in the parks was restricted.
- A lot of wastage and ordering things for the sake of it.
- A weight gain for me for the first time ever at WDW (about 7lb in a week)
- We didn't spend long enough at the Food and Wine festival which is a huge part of us travelling in October.
In an ideal world we would have the imaginary in between ddp and dxdp plan. A plan covering two table service meals a day and two snacks.
or I would be in a job that would allow us to travel for two weeks once more, one week on ddp and one on dxdp
Next year we are booked to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Boma is calling to us) with free ddp and will probably eat most breakfasts there so that we can decide each morning where we want to go that day.
Dinners will be split between our favourite table service and some free evenings for the f&w festival. We will pay oop for any additional table service meals.
And as a ps - I now love America, think a 10 hour flight is a small price to pay for such a wonderful trip and as long as a theme park is a WDW theme park then you'll find me bouncing back for as long as I can afford to.
Thanks for letting me share this with you all and thanks to all those of you who make my annual planning so much fun by sharing your news with me.
Pooh&OurHunny
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- Jul 25, 2007
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- 4,143
Thanks for sharing with us and love your final thoughts.
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
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- 3,006
thank you - A very Merry Christmas to you!
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
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thanks for reading - A very happy Christmas to you.
Pooh&OurHunny
DIS Veteran
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Thank you and May you and Your family have a Merry Christmas too and a Happy NEW YEAR !!!!
chocolateMinnie
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buzz for boys
<font color=royalblue><marquee>Certified Serious S
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts made very interesting reading
I think im up for trying a dinner show this time if you had to pick just one which would it be? Ohanas or Hoop de Hoop??
Have a very Happy new year x x x
I think im up for trying a dinner show this time if you had to pick just one which would it be? Ohanas or Hoop de Hoop??
Have a very Happy new year x x x
chocolateMinnie
DIS Veteran
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- Jul 1, 2008
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- 3,006
Thanks for sharing your thoughts made very interesting reading
I think im up for trying a dinner show this time if you had to pick just one which would it be? Ohanas or Hoop de Hoop??
Have a very Happy new year x x x
Hi Louise
Thanks for reading. With a family like yours and mine I would definitely go for Hoop de doo as it is real slapstick and seems to appeal to all ages and both sexes!!!
a very happy New Year to you and your amazing family.
Love Lisa
Stringbean&Wingnut
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Great reviews!!! We were going to have the appetizer for two at Kouzzina, but Wingnut spotted the Saganaki hahaha. Thanks for sharing!
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