A short DxDP experiment starring Artist Point x2! COMPLETE: AP, Wave, and a Surprise!

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I also enjoyed making use of my snack credits while on the DDP.

First, I tried the red velvet cheesecake cupcake. It was tasty, but so rich.

Half of it ended up in the garbage:

I also explored Boardwalk Bakery's cupcakes. I was looking forward to trying the strawberry shortcake cupcake, but it was gone! Not to worry, they had some nice alternatives.

S'mores cupcake (didn't try it, but I think Boardwalk's looks better than WL's s'mores cupcake):

Orange cream cupcake. I really liked this because it was light and tasted like a creamsicle. There was a small amount of cream in the middle of the cake, and the frosting wasn't too heavy. Very nice for the summer:

At Magic Kingdom, I ordered my favorite snack, a dole whip float with pineapple-vanilla swirl. It's just so delicious and refreshing!

Another often-overlooked snack location is the crêpe stand in France. My favorite is with plain sugar, but this time I went with chocolate. Still enjoyed it - this is my favorite snack in Epcot.

The rest of our snacks were used on drinks on our departure day, but these were all great uses of a snack credit.

 

[Linda67]

You have just brought back wonderful memories of WL Waffles

Love the look of the Red Velvet Cupcake, where did you pick that up?

They do a red-velvet, cheesecake cupcake at Starring Rolls which I have to try next time

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

You have just brought back wonderful memories of WL Waffles

Love the look of the Red Velvet Cupcake, where did you pick that up?

They do a red-velvet, cheesecake cupcake at Starring Rolls which I have to try next time

I feel silly for forgetting to mention where it was from - that was the Starring Rolls red velvet cheesecake cupcake. It was tasty, but I definitely recommend sharing it with someone!

And those waffles are amazing for counter service breakfast - they're on my list for future trips now

 

[onelilspark]

I can't believe you went down for salmon

LOVE IT. I am so in.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I can't believe you went down for salmon

According to the Disney parks blog, there are people who actually receive an email from Artist Point when the Copper River salmon arrives. So it sounded like a big enough reason to us!

 

[Tinker12]

I think I like the screen several times!! The waffles look amazing!

 

[Euphoria027]

Whoaaaaaaa at those banana foster waffles. WANT.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Originally, we were going to have our second deluxe dinner at the California Grill lounge. However, we enjoyed Artist Point so much that we made another booking for the following night. My mom ordered exactly the same dishes as before (I retook pics of the salmon and berry cobbler, which included fresh raspberries unlike the first night).

I decided to change up my choices. Instead of the risotto, I went with the rainbow asparagus salad with slow poached organic egg, truffle chips, frisée lettuce, black truffles, and champagne vinaigrette. This was a delicious salad, with the savory truffle flavor and warm egg blending deliciously with the greens.

For my entree, I (rather unusually) chose steak. My dish was the grilled certified hand-cut prime black angus beef tenderloin with marble potatoes, spring beans, pearl onions and green peppercorn butter. This was a tasty entree - the meat with green peppercorn butter was delicious and reminded me of an amazing steak au poivre that I've had in NYC. In addition, I like how the starch wasn't a huge portion. Most signature steaks consist of steak and a big portion of starch, but here the potatoes were just another variety of vegetable. I enjoyed the dish, but I preferred the salmon.

This time, my side dish was the three cheese mac. It had a sharp cheddar flavor that I enjoyed, however I didn't love it. I'm not a mac and cheese person, and I preferred both of the other two sides (corn soufflé and glazed carrots).

For dessert, I chose the chocolate indulgence, simply because it's the only dessert I hadn't tried here. The chocolate indulgence is valrhona chocolate ganache with salted chocolate ice cream, amarena cherries, and dark chocolate crumble. The ganache was so rich and chocolatey, but I'm not a huge chocolate person. However, I loved the salted chocolate ice cream with the amarena cherries and crunchy crumble. The saltiness of the ice cream was surprisingly pleasant with the other ingredients.

I enjoyed this meal at Artist Point, but I admit that I didn't order so well. I was still full from lunch at Le Cellier, so I shouldn't have ordered such heavy dishes (the beef, mac n cheese, and chocolate dessert). Still, the appetizer was great, I loved the peppercorn butter with the beef, and the salted chocolate ice cream was a nice surprise. Artist Point is still at the top of my list, and I think I've learned my lesson - there's nothing wrong with sticking to my favorites (the salmon and berry cobbler). This meal cost $178.48, meaning it was $44.62 per credit - a very good value for a signature restaurant.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Our last meal on the DxDP was a lunch at The Wave on our departure day. We've been here before and have found it to be pretty good in the past, and I like the idea of serving local, healthier choices.

My drink was the mega berry smoothie. It was refreshing.

My appetizer was the pan-seared sea scallops with sweet onions, applewood-smoked bacon, and chili cream corn sauce. This was a nice 1-credit appetizer, with the smoky bacon tasting great with the sweet scallops. The corn on the bottom was like a creamy polenta.

Here is the Florida summer melon salad with prosciutto ham, marcona almonds, and parmigiano-regianno.

This was good - prosciutto, melon, arugula, and parmesan, it's a very satisfying and classic combination. The crunchy almonds were a nice touch. Still, this dish was like a worse-excuted version of the prosciutto and melon appetizer I had just a few weeks ago at California Grill (shown in the pic below). The Wave's melon was softer and less crunchy (I hate when melon is too soft), and the vanilla vinaigrette in California Grill's version was the perfect sweet flavor note.

We were still working on our appetizers when the entrees showed up. I wasn't surprised based on recent dining reviews on the boards, but even a 30-second pause between courses would be better than being completely, totally rushed. The Mediterranean tuna salad was a nice version of a niçoise salad. The olive toast was especially delicious:

My entree, the sustainable fish (snapper) with edamame stew and cilantro chutney was less successful. It looked like a great dish, and I enjoyed the sides. However, as soon as I tried to cut into the snapper, I noticed something was very wrong. It was red and purple in the middle, and my knife couldn't cut through it. I think perhaps I received the bloodline - either that, or it was an incredibly bad piece of fish. My waitress agreed to take the fish back and replace it with another piece.

Our desserts were the creamy indulgence (the waitress's recommendation) and American flavors. Her recommendation was good. The cheesecake with peach compote was creamy and fruity, the coffee crème brûlée wasn't too charred or sweet, and the olive-oil infused chocolate truffle mousse was rich.

The American flavors were pretty good. The key lime pie (on the right) was nice with the citrus whipped cream, and the Boston cream pie (on the left) was very light. My favorite was the the Mississippi mud pie, but it would have been better if served warm in order to create a contrast with the cold vanilla ice cream. Instead, the ice cream was just there and didn't really taste like anything to me.

So that was our last meal of the trip. It cost $91.08, for a price of $45.54 per credit. Overall, this lunch was okay. It would have been pretty good if it weren't for the rushed pacing between appetizer and entree, and the fish dish. I wouldn't say we had high expectations (we've been here before and knew what to expect), but our expectations weren't met.

Regarding the DxDP, the plan covered $597.70 in food and drink. It cost us about $400 to add it to our reservation as opposed to booking room only. Therefore, we saved nearly $200 by using the DxDP. That sounds great, but when I think about it further, I don't know if the plan is right for us. If we're staying CL, we really don't need 2-3 meals per day; even if we aren't, I actually like eating some CS meals or making bookings at the last minute with my phone. OOP, we can do the signatures we want (and Le Cellier) without the need to order dessert and buy cupcakes in between. Instead of being convinced that the DxDP is right for us, I'm strongly considering purchasing TIW membership.

Sorry to end the food reviews on a low note. I think it's pretty obvious that the winning meals this trip were Artist Point (especially #1) and Le Cellier. Coral Reef and The Wave came up short. In fact, Artist Point and Le Cellier will be revisited on our upcoming August trip, but they won't be part of our next trip...

That's because we literally just booked a short trip for this upcoming weekend. It's kind of ridiculous, but sometimes we have those days when we just NEED to escape to Disney. I'm not in denial - it's an addiction. The mouse has definitely cast its spell on me. The current dining plans include an Ohana dinner at 5:10 PM (AMAZING last minute ADR luck - Le Cellier lunch and now this!) and Citricos dinner. Citricos is currently my second least favorite signature restaurant, as our last meal there ranged from mediocre to overall poorly executed. However, I went to look at their recent menu, and I was actually impressed. Here it is:

I don't know what crab pavé is, but it sounds better to me than the previous gâteau of crab. I think I would also like the tapas appetizer with lamb and snapper (sounds delicious) and the melon and prosciutto app (Last summer, heirloom tomato was the big thing at signature restaurants. I guess this summer, it's prosciutto and melon). I really hope that the tapas appetizer is still on the menu this weekend - I know Citricos is capable of redeeming itself to us (as Flying Fish mostly did a few weeks ago), and I can't imagine that appetizer being anything less than incredible.

Thanks for reading this short little experiment! Looking forward to covering Ohana (for the first time in about 2 and a half years!) and Citricos (which will hopefully work its way back to the top of our list)!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Thank you again for the great reviews! Citricos was second to Artist Point our last trip and only by a bit ... we had a great meal there. Sadly, we are not going back this year as there are too many other places we want to try. I look forward to your review.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

GREAT REVIEWS - the corn souffle sold ap to me

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Thank you again for the great reviews! Citricos was second to Artist Point our last trip and only by a bit ... we had a great meal there. Sadly, we are not going back this year as there are too many other places we want to try. I look forward to your review.

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed both Citricos and Artist Point. Our favorite Disney restaurant changes often, and it largely depends on the current menu and our most recent experience there. AP has held that title since last summer, but before then Citricos was actually our favorite. I don't know why our last experience was so poor, but I'm really hoping that I'll be able to share a positive Citricos experience!

GREAT REVIEWS - the corn souffle sold ap to me

I'm sure you would love it! That was definitely our favorite side out of the three.

I'm still so excited for our short upcoming trip. Ohana dinner, Citricos, AND I just grabbed a Le Cellier lunch that became available. Who needs 180 days out when 2-3 days are enough to get whatever you want?!