A last farewell to characters with a bit of help from DXDP - sorry no pics

[chocolateMinnie]

trip date 23rd October - 30th October

cast
Me 42 love food - spicy, plain, vegi, meat, pastries, just love it all
DH 45 - plain food man - the fish lover of the family
DS 12 - adventurous but sometimes prefers the kids options to his now adult choice.
DD - the Atkins kid - don't get me wrong she loves choc and ice-cream but would cheerfully live on fruit and steak.

the history

Our fifth trip.

Trip one - we won a holiday to Florida, at the time we were decidedly underwhelmed. I had no ambitions to visit the USA, hated theme parks in the UK and had no idea why anyone with two young children (5 and 21 months at the time) would subject themselves to two ten hour flights in a week.
We stayed at CSR - completely unprepared and our only table service meal was at the Crystal Palace. Loved October.

OK so now I'm hooked and we plan

Trip two - the trip of a lifetime, intended to be our last trip to WDW, three weeks in October/November, week one hyper-planned at CSR, week two a chill out at St pete's beach, week three super planning drive at GF. Lots of great meals and here the problem starts, how to get back and retain all our favourite spots plus adding the new places we still want to try.

Trip three - was never intended. I hit 40 in October 2008 and dh promised a big family party. priced it up and realised we could return to WDW for little difference. We went in February as by then I worked in a school and had to stick to school holidays. Returning to CSR. Had choices to make, Easter/Christmas too busy, Summer holidays (August) too hot for DH and DD, May half-term nice enough weather here not to need to go, October as before or February. Can't get October flights so went in February. Another mass planning, this time again paying oop. Some old faves, some new loves and some hates.

Trip four - ok so now we're getting ridiculous. Having been in February 2009 we shouldn't be going again but book for October 2010. In July of 2009 DH wins a car (yes two huge competition wins both leading to WDW) we sell the car, have some work done on the house and blow the rest on a trip with free ddp to WDW in October 2009. Back to CSR - yes we really like it there but reduce the planning for this trip as it is our second in a year. Spend lots of time at food and wine festival.

Trip five - realised last year that DS will put up with character meals for his little sister's sake but that this is the last time she is likely to want to visit the princesses. We go into hyper-plan. Price up everything we 'must do' this trip. Take into account the weak pound against the dollar and decide to take the plunge for the dxdp.

This is the place to work out if that wa a good or bad decision. I will tell you how much the food we ate was 'worth' if not on the DXDP and also how much we would have spent without it. Seriously not every meal requires three courses if you are paying oop.

When we booked the trip we knew 'ish' how we wanted to eat. We like a huge breakfast,snack during the day and a big dinner. Wanted to do Hoop de doo Revue, Spirit of Aloha and CRT. Initially wanted to eat many breakfasts at our favourite Maya Grill breakfast buffet but somewhere between booking in May 2009 and our ADR date in April 2010 the CSR decided to finish the buffet breakfast.

What did the DXDP cost us? Well due to the fact that here in the UK you can't upgrade qsdp to DXDP the free dining offer didn't help us at all. We paid for three adults and a child £1099 which is approx $1650. About to check how it worked out.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Had an ADR for Maya Grill dinner at 6.30pm. Left home at 3am UK time (10pm on the 22nd USA time) and the flight is delayed. Miss our ADR at MG.

We had ordered drink from garden grocer - we use about 48 bottles of water in a week and 20 cartons of orange juice. Also we have certain USA addictions (the flavoured rice krispie cakes, famous amos cookies etc and I am addicted to wet ones singles seriously everyone at the school I work with is aware that I shop for these once and year).

Checked in at CSR at about 7pm (we think it's midnight) and the kids are wrecked. Off to bed for them, room snacks, coffee and chips for the adults and then an early night. 84 credits and 56 snack credits to go.............

 

[chocolateMinnie]

dd up early, when I say early I mean 4am early. She of course is sharing a double bed with Mum so i am also up early. She sits in bed writing her journal eating a cup of frosted flake cereal and a rice krispie treat. Finally at 6am in disgust I get up with her.

We head over to the main building to collect our four refillable mugs. DD only drinks water so she intends having hers as a souvenir. Would I buy her one? No
DS only drinks juice so has his to try alternative drinks? Did he like any of them? No
DH drinks hot tea and has one per day before breakfast. Would he buy a refillable mug? No
Me oh yes worth the $11 for me alone I live off coffee/decaff and diet coke by the pool.

COST OOP NIL
value of dxdp $44
spend if not on dxdp - me only $11


Headed to CP for adr early before opening. This has become an all time favourite for us. It was our first ts meal and we prefer breakfast to dinner.
DD loves the fruit and bacon/sausage. DS likes the pancakes and waffles but can't cope with the mix of sweet and savoury on the same plate USA style. DH wasn't yet on form and stuck to cereal and fruit.
Me oh well I tried all the 'unusual' things, the scrambled egg fritatta, peach cobbler, red skin potatoes, omelettes. yummy. Plus the pot of coffee. Now those of you from the USA no doubt would complain about the coffee but I guess that your bad coffee is still better than our good coffee downed two pots.
This is probably the only character meal we will consider next year, the characters are great but unobtrusive, the location amazing and the food great.

4dxdp credits used - 80 to go 56snack credits to go
OOP cost is tip only $17
buffet - we'd have eaten this even if oop = $87.29

same $87.29

After a morning in the Mk we decided to head back for a swim. On the way DS and I call at Aloha Isle - pineapple cup for me, vanilla cup for DS and then round the corner for a mickey bar for DD. Nothing for DH.
3 snack credits - 80 dxdp credits 53 snack credits
$10
$10

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Our first trip to the much hyped Le Cellier. Now I was concerned this wouldn't live up to the hype as the reviews are pretty much all or nothing but as my birthday was the week before and I'd wanted to try this place for some time (and as DH gets away without ever taking me out for my birthday for three out of the last four years due to our approaching holiday) then I stuck to my guns. We had an early adr for 4.50pm.

We are still feeling a bit groggy from yesterday's travel so no alcohol yet for the two adults.
DH chooses sprite, I have diet coke, DS tries buzz punch (oop $6.49) and DD has water but we pay for a tinker bell punch so that she can have the light (oop$6.49) everything else we ate except for the tip was included in the dxdp.

For appetizers we all planned to have the cheddar cheese soup we had tried last year at the F&W festival (all except dd who doesn't like cheese ), as soon as we got in we changed our mind.
DS stuck to his cheese soup cup which he really enjoyed and ate mounds of sourdough and pretzel bread.
DH went for the mussels - he adored them and also ate copious amounts of bread with them.
DD had the celery and carrot dipper which she only ate the carrots of.
I went for the caesar salad.
The only appetizer we would have had if paying oop was DS's cheddar cheese soup as the rest of us weren't really hungry. Having said which we all loved the apps we did have.

For entrees DS and DH had the NY strip dinnner. They both loved it and said that they would choose it again 'when' we return. DS gave half his steak to his younger sister who also ate her kids steak. I had the magnificent mushroom filet. Just as it is in the menu, no substitutions and OMG what can I say that hasn't been said except that it lives on in my dreams.

For dessert DD and DS swapped. He had the kid's ice-cream sundae but didn't really want it. Wouldn't have had it if oop.
DH had the 'seasonal sorbet' which was actually more of a fruit ice-cream. Another one who wouldn't have had the dessert if oop.
DD had the chocolate mousse which she has seen on these boards but didn't like it when she got it.
i had the amazing creme brulee. Loved it.
Get the idea we loved this place and would happily give 2 credits for it next trip. It will definitely be a 'new favourite'.

4 dxdp credits used - oop cost for tip and punches $49.83
DXDP meal credits left 76 - snack credits 53
value of what we ate if paid oop = $177
what we would have spend on food alone (not beverages or tip) if paying oop $138.17

total costs to date dxdp value $318.29
total we would have spent so far if not on dxdp = $246.46

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Initially we had planned to go to AK for early opening but at the last minute we decided to go to DHS instead.

Tried MG for first time since they changed from the buffet and boy were we disappointed.
Had a 7am booking.
as the choice was fairly minimal we decided to order four plates and split them. DD had her water, DS cranberry juice, DH decaff tea and me decaff coffee.

We had a kid's mickey waffles which was tasty but very poor size - think counter service.
Two traditional breakfasts - which were fine but on a par with an english b&b not as expected from USA and a fruit plate which was fairly small and fairly basic.

We came away hungry. I grabbed a decaff on the way past the store.

for those of you looking for value for money this is not it.

4 dxdp credits used - 72 dxdp and 53 snack credits left.
oop for tip $11
$58
$58 'daylight robbery'

 

[catne]

nice start, enjoying your reviews. Like the comparison-shopping you're doing with costs showing what you would have really spent, etc.

By the way...the tinker bell lite-up clip...when we were there one of my adult kids wanted to buy one of those as a gift for a friend. The waitress just clipped it on his coke & added $3.49 to the bill (he didn't have to actually pay full price for a glass of punch he didn't want.)

 

[chocolateMinnie]

by the time we arrived at dhs our DD had already eaten her snacks from her fanny pack and we had all drunk our bottles of water we had with us.
We called at the coke bottle stall for a fruit cup for DD and another bottle of water for DH and then DS had a frozen raspberry lemonade from the studio cafe.
We then headed back to CSR to swim again.

total snack credits used = 3 leaving 50 snack credits
cost if not on dxdp = $9.50
what we would havve had if not on dxdp $9.50

well, after a short swim I was hungry again (having had most of my breakfast eaten by the others) and ordered nachos from siestas pool bar, refilled my mug and got a bottle of water for dd, at Siestas they offer oreos or lays chips as dessert so I had lays chips to eat at another time. The nachos are very good although I still don't quite understand why they insist on putting liquid processed cheese on the top instead of the real mccoy.
cost oop $11.25 if not on dxdp
would have just had nachos no chips or water = $7.75
1 dxdp credit used

An hour later the kids get out of the pool and also want to eat. No kids menus at Siestas so they both got the 'adult' counter service meals. DS had a cheeseburger combo which he ate all of but said it was just fine.
DD had the chicken fingers and fries. Both had water and both had chips.
cost if not on dxdp $23.50
cost of two meals no drinks or chips if not on dxdp $16

2dxdp credits used

69dxdp credits left 50 snack credits

 

[chocolateMinnie]

nice start, enjoying your reviews. Like the comparison-shopping you're doing with costs showing what you would have really spent, etc.

By the way...the tinker bell lite-up clip...when we were there one of my adult kids wanted to buy one of those as a gift for a friend. The waitress just clipped it on his coke & added $3.49 to the bill (he didn't have to actually pay full price for a glass of punch he didn't want.)

thanks for the tip, I'll remember that next trip.

Thanks for reading along.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

This is our complete and utter family favourite. First visited in 2007 and have been back for dinner every trip since. My only complaint is the loss of the strawberry basil lemonade.

This really appeals to all of us.

DH loves the fruit, meat and fries off the kids station. This trip they had salmon which he said was lovely.
DD can't believe the size of the strawberries here - the old 'everything is bigger in America' definitely stands true of the strawberries at Boma. This child just keeps returning for the fruit here. She also likes the rare prime rib. She may only be 8 but prefers her beef only just dead.
The other thing she likes is that they offer plain cookies for dessert.
DS usually eats well here but was feeling too full from his burger at late lunch (and this was an early dinner ADR so he really didn't do this justice.
I could live off the salads, hummus and desserts. Had the peanut cups for the first time this trip. Also the usual zebra domes and cocomisu. Awesome.

Now the only criticism we found of drinks this time at WDW was with the bottled water. What happened to dasani in the restaurants. We don't come to WDW to drink french evian water which has presumably travelled even farther than we have. DD can only tolerate a couple of your very fluoridey water without it upsetting her tum so we don't begrudge her having the bottles but $6.49 for a bottle of evian is a bit steep.

DH and I were feeling up to a 'real' drink. He had his usual here the South African red wine flight at $16 plus tax.
I tried the power berry mojito - very very nice. Not quite the strawberry basil lemonade but I could have happily had another one if we hadn't been heading to the MK for spectromagic and at $8.50 was very reasonable.

4 dxdp credits plus tip and drinks of $65.59
$139.87 - we were charged for four adult meals, didn't matter on dxdp but will check next trip.
$139.87


65 dxdp left plus 50 snacks
$560.47 worth of food and drink so far
if not on dxdp we would have spent $477.58

 

[Jonesloonybin]

I am loving your reviews! I can't wait to read more.

Terri

 

[chocolateMinnie]

I am loving your reviews! I can't wait to read more.

Terri

THANK YOU so much for reading and commenting. it took me 7 weeks to pluck up the courage to post reviews as I didn't want them to be tedious.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

This day was designated an official no swimming day. Coming from the UK where a daytime outdoor swim is nigh on impossible for 50 weeks of the year this causes groans every year. We agreed to have today as a no-swimming day and add extra swimming hours to another day.

Up fairly early (by now dd is making it until 5.30am!!!) and head to the main building for my coffee. Now I have it organised two coffees in two mugs means one waiting for the bus and one waiting to get into EPCOT for EMH.

The kids had more frosted flake cups courtesy of gardengrocer plus juice and water to keep them going until our late breakfast.

We managed to do Soarin' the Land and Spaceship Earth (is it my kids or can no-one budge their little darlings once inside Spaceship Earth.)

Our ADR at Akershus was for 9.50am.

Now DH and I would happily eat here without children. We like the meal, don't mind one way or another about the princesses (ok DH has a thing about Jasmine!!), DD used to love it and DS is soooooooooooooooo embarassed about the whole thing but this was one of DD's choices so naturally he came along for the ride.

The buffet was as good as ever, we have only been early about opening and thought we might be disappointed with what was left but no just as plentiful as ever.

Smoked salmon and salami are very popular with the children (though not the herrigs) I enjoy the pastries. The family platter is a bacon, sausage and egg norm with the addition of the cheesyist scrummiest potato casserole you may ever taste. Luckily for me neither DH nor DD like the potato casserole so DS and I divided the first serving between us and then ordered more.

Now DS had sat himself in a corner out of the way where he was mildly entertained by a family having a mild domestic on the table next to us. As soon as he finished his meal he headed outside to 'enjoy the sunshine' also known as running away from princesses.

We won't be returning but not for any reason other than not wanting to see DS squirm when DD isn't so bothered anymore (she announced 'it's not as magical to see them anymore'.

Cost 4 dxdp credits - plus tip of $22
61 DXDP credits left and 50 snack credits.
would we have gone if not on dxdp yes definitely cost of $122
cost of $122

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Late breakfast so no need for snacks - however it was a very hot day and DH and I decided to sample a little drink while the children did a Kimpossible misssion in China.

An Oktoberfest from the F&W for DH - $11.50
A frozen strawberry margarita from the margarita kiosk for me $9.58

I've never had a frozen margarita before and it was lovely but a little misleading. Honestly tasted like a slushy and I had an awareness of alcohol in my legs before we left EPCOT.

We had booked a photo shoot at the Poly before Spirit of Aloha. We did one at GF in 2007 and were really pleased with the results. This time it was just ok. The photopass photographer took so long positioning us that we didnt get many shots. There was a beautiful one of DS and DD however that I wish I could manage to post (can't upload my photos for some reason).

As we came out to go to SOA both children 'needed' a drink so we popped into captain cooks for an orange juice and a dasani then up to the store for a cotton candy for DD (for later................) and a swirl pop for DS.

We would have bought the drinks but normally would have refused to buy sweets - that's what we give them holiday spending money for.
cost on dxdp = 4 snack credits
value covered bydxdp $10
what we would have spent if paying oop $5 for drinks

Then off to Spirit of Aloha.

What I didn't realise was how pretty the walk is to Luau cove and how much I would enjoy the whole experience.

On a negative the tables are very close together but unlike Biergarten you don't share with your neighbours and have a small gap between tables.

The bread (yummy like the coconut and pineapple breakfast bread at Ohanas), the fresh pineapple and the salad are already on the table upon arrival together with a large jug of water. Pineapple was good, bread very nice but the salad was a soggy mess.

The main course consists of ribs, chicken and rice and stir fry veg. All very popular with us. We didn't need a refill so it was obviously plentiful. Not haute cuisine but then you are here for the entertainment.

DH and I stuck to the bud light and had a couple of large glasses each. Our server was good and if we wanted more we could have had more with no issues.

Dessert is little pyramid chocolate mousses. Those of you familiar with the brand gu will have the taste exactly. They are on a bed of sweet sauce which has more of a jello texture. It was fine but not the highlight of the trip.

The show however was awesome. OK we are Brits, we aren't comparing it to the real thing but we loved it. The dances cover all areas of the pacific islands. Frequent costume changes appealed to DD and myself. DS loved the fire dancer who was the best dancer of the evening. Honestly so many negative reviews and yet if we were able to go back for two weeks each year instead of one it would be added to our must-do list. As it is we plan to return in a couple of years.

We got category two seating 180 days out.
No tax or tip to pay as this is all included.

Cost on dxdp = 8 credits
Total left = 53 dxdp credits and 46 snack credits.
value covered by dxdp $198.96cost if paying oop $198.96

totals so far
value of dxdp to date = $891.43
what we would have spent if paying oop = $803.54

 

[buzz for boys]

Love the reviews of teh restaurants and also a very interesting concept to see if the dxdp is actually worth the money!!
Keep it up cant wait to read more!!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Love the reviews of teh restaurants and also a very interesting concept to see if the dxdp is actually worth the money!!
Keep it up cant wait to read more!!

Thanks Louise, thrilled your reading, your trip report inspired me to do this............sadly I'm still not having joy uploading my pic.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Back to Poly today. When we made our ADRs in April we tried to make sure we all had a say and DS said if this was our probable last time for characters then we had better do his childhood favourite of Ohana's.

We arrived very early for our 7.30am ADR. This day six months ago had been our possible not at WDW day - we toyed with the idea of going to Universal for the first time to see Harry Potter world. However, we have so many things we still haven't done at WDW that when the morning arrived we decided to go to Blizzard Beach for the first time instead.

We were very lucky with the transport as the bus from CSR kindly took us and another family direct to Ohanas.

Our server was great and hearing about DS obsession with the juice here brought a carafe and left it with him. For those in the UK the juice is very similar to orange and passion fruit J2O. I had a fantastic pot of coffee. The bread is always good but more like danish pastries and the fruit was commandeered by dd who then had two more plates of fruit.

The main course served family style is biscuit, scrambled egg, potato wedges, bacon and sausages (the potato wedges were better than I remembered them on our last visit but nowhere near as good as the potato casserole at Akershus).

Another server delivers mickey waffles to the tables.

You really can't beat the characters here. Mickey and pluto were fun. Stitch is shockingly naughty (which of course we all rely on) and Lilo is every girl's new best friend.

I'm sure it will be some years before we return here but anyone with small children should really consider it. Lots and lots of fun.

Cost 4dxdp credits plus $15 oop tip
value on dxdp = $79.84
value if out of pocket $79.84

leaves 49dxdp credit and 46 snack credits.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

We finished breakfast at the Poly and toured the shops of the monorail resorts. Contemporary and GF have different stores and we like a look round. This took us to 9.30am and time to travel to Blizzard Beach.

We have never ventured to the water parks, preferring a couple of hours in the resort pool but a deal is a deal and we had promised a full day of swimming. Today was also the day that Mum conquered her fear of heights (not without screaming) and DD managed to swim two lengths of a pool.

At lunchtime we headed to the Lottawatta Lodge. Now we know that you are meant to order kids meals with kids credits so please don't shoot me here but the CM was insistent that there was no point in ordering 3 adults meals and one kids '*** it's all the same to me'.

We ordered a chicken wrap basket, full fresh wrap with lots of salad and chicken for me, fries with it which was nice, diet coke and chocolate cake for dessert. Now that chocolate cake is just fudge goo masquerading as cake. Nothing wrong with fudge goo just couldn't eat a pot of it.
DD went for the 8 chicken nuggets with apple pieces as a side, a choc chip cookie and a bottle of water.
DH had a chicken salad and the cheesecake which he said tasted like a frozen then de-frosted slice of NY cheesecakeand a bottle of water.
DS had cheeseburger and cheesecake and orange juice.

We had taken drinks with us so wouldn't have bought the drinks if not on dxdp. Also we would not have had the desserts and DH and I would have shared the wrap but still for fast food I was very impressed with this place.

4dxdp credits leaving 45dxdp credits and 46 snack credits.

value of food we ate on dxdp = $55
3 main courses we would have bought oop = $24.47

 

[chocolateMinnie]

After returning to CSR we went swimming again then took our resort bus to EPCOT and walked over to the Boardwalk area.

Last year when we booked our last minute trip with free dining Kouzzina was relatively new and we ate there quite randomly as lots of ADRs were open. It turned out to be one of the best meals we had ever eaten at WDW. Only negative was that Cat Cora really needs to think about those of us who need sugar as the puds are poor.

We arrived much earlier than intended (as we were planning offsite today we had made a late ADR but wanted instead to eat earlier and head over to Illuminations). We asked inside and had no problems being seated 90 minutes early.

We had the same server as last year - Dan from Croatia and apart from the fact that last trip he promised England would win the World Cup this year he remains the best server we have ever had at WDW. Not only is he friendly and chatty he remembered us from last year. Thanks Dan

We considered having the greek red wine flight again as we really enjoyed it last year but DH felt the need for Oktoberfest beer again from epcot and I hadn't yet sampled the Pomegranate Kir this trip (so I did the decent thing and had one from France on my way out of EPCOT and another watching Illuminations after dinner sadly my need for this drinnk meant I didn't sample Kouzzina's delightful pressed pot of coffee which was lovely last trip.)

We really enjoyed the sampler platter last year with the chicken skewers. This serves two people and has dolmades, chicken skewers, pitta bread, dips, cashew nuts and olives and I would happily eat this instead of an entree. For our other adult starter we had the kouzzina spreads so that the four of us could share this platter feast. Big thumbs up from us all.

For entrees ds and I both had the flank steak we had tried last year. It was just as good as we remembered. DD took about half of my steak then grumbled that I had asked for it cooked medium and it was too cooked for her.
She had the kid's chicken with sweet potato fries and I confess to acquiring some fries in exchange for the steak. Seemed like a good deal to me.
DH had the whole fish - it was red snapper I think and they take it off the bone at the table. Looked huge - personally I couldn't eat anything that looked at me in that way but each to their own.
We all had soft drinks with our meal - 1 orange juice, one diet coke and one sprite and a bottle of evian.

Now had we been paying oop we wouldn't have had dessert but obviously on the plan you do the decent thing and eat a pud whether you want it or not.

DS and I had the loukoumades (greek donuts, drizzled in honey with vanilla and strawberry dipping sauces) - good but not great.
DH had the yoghurt sorbet which he ate without comment - there again he's not really a pudding guy.
DD had the fruit salad.

It's an excellent meal for 1ts and we may well do it again, it's the only place however where the ddp use of no appetizer but dessert wouldn't work for us.

Cost 4 dxdp plus tip of $30
41dxdp left and 46 snack credits.

value of meal covered by dxdp = $152.58
cost of meal if we had paid oop (minus puddings) = $128.60


During illuminations not only did we have a couple of drinks but also DS and DD had a waffle ice-cream cone each (not covered on ddp) and I had a chocolate creme brulee from France (1 snack credit/$3.75)

Price up to and includig 27th October
total covered by dxdp = $1182.60
what we would have bought if paying oop = $1040.20

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Having been disappointed by the lack of buffet at Maya Grill we have made our plans to stay at the Animal Kingdom lodge next trip. However, we have never tried their breakfast before. Today was the day to make sure it was the place for us.

we loved it - it exceeded expectations for us all. The carved ham was scrummy. The sausage casserole mildly spicy and very unusual. The fruit choice was fantastic as were the pastries. All the drinks were good, DS said the breakfast juice was the same as at Ohana's so he was a happy boy.

The best part for me was the sticky buns. Little muffins drizzled with toffee/syrup and stacked with pecan nuts. yum.

This is a definite for us next trip - in fact we could eat here all week with no problem.

Cost 4 dxdp+ $13 tip
$87 value on dxdp
$87 if oop - we would have paid for this anyway

Before leaving the animal kingdom lodge we decided to cash in some unused snack credits. So many meals definitely means that you need to use some snacks to take home.

We bought two boxes of cookies (at $1.95 each)
5 halloween rice krispie treats (at $3.95 each)
4 mickey mouse rice krispie treats (at $3.95 each)
2 bags of Goofy Co gummy characters for the flight bags home ($2.95 each)

Total 13 snacks
value from DXDP is $45.35
what we would have bought oop - hard to say as we did use some of the cookies as gifts but probably just the gummy characters for the flight home at $5.90

At lunchtime DH and I were both full. However the kids were starving following a swim and had a meal at the poolbar - 1 nachos with oreos and water, 1 chicken fingers and fries with oreos and water.
2dxdp credits -
value on dxdp = $23.25
if paying oop wouldn't have had the oreos or drinks $15.75

dxdp credits left 35 snack credits left 33

 

[chocolateMinnie]

booked in at CRT for dinner. Based mainly on it's the only dinner we could all agree on. We all love eating in the castle. DS preferred it when it was the less intrusive mice and fairy godmother. also they have changed the wands to a tacky toyshop rather than the original CRT souvenir wand.

The menu is worse than it was last trip in February 2009. We had salads to start which were ok. Main we all had the beef tenderloin which was nice but very salty. The puddings were left by all of us. Bring back the ice-cream wihth chocolate crowns please.

8dxdp credits for this one
value on dxdp $215.59
if paying oop we would still have come here so cost of $215.50

At the halloween party we used another 5 snack credits for two bottles of water plus a visit to Mrs Potts Cupboard.

The vanilla cone was so large it collapsed as dd carried it away from the counter, DS had the strawberry shortcake and I had the fudge brownie sundae. Absolutely fantastic place to get ice-cream from and I even preferred it to Aloha isle.

value on dxdp $15.87
cost oop $15.87

dxdp credits left 27 snack credits 28

value so far of what we ate on dxdp = $1569.57
cost if we were paying oop = $1380.31