August Free DDP: Was it "worth" it? UPDATED Karamell-Kuche in Germany

[CrabbyPatty]

Hi - we just got back from WDW - Sunday August 26th through Saturday September 1st, and I wanted to do a review of our dining experiences, and make a few comments about the free DDP. Maybe my thoughts will match yours, or we may "agree to disagree"!

Here's where we ate (more details to follow):

Sunday, August 26th -Whispering Canyon Creek lunch and France Bakery, La Cava del Tequila
Monday, August 27th - 50's PTC dinner plus Writer's Stop AND Karamell-Kuche
Tuesday, August 28th - Liberty Tree Tavern lunch, Dessert Party
Wednesday, August 29th - Teppan Edo dinner
Thursday, August 30th - Le Cellier lunch
Friday, August 31st - Hoop-De-Doo 5:00 dinner/show
Saturday, September 1st

So far, this list is just the TS meals we ate, but we also ate at Captain Cooks, Roaring Forks, Sunshine Seasons, Art of Animation Landscape of Flavors, etc. Once I actually unpack my suitcase, get my receipts and download the (very) few pictures I took, I'll start the reviews. Any questions? Just let me know. Thanks!

 

[dawnmichele]

Welcome back!
Sounds like some great meals. Can't wait to hear about them!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Welcome home!

BTW, I love your username.

 

[elaine amj]

Can't wait to hear your thoughts. We also just came back from free DDP and ate at many of the places you did.

 

[deenbrad]

Signing in!

 

[ShortStuff]

Looking forward to your reviews.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Well, I still haven't organized my receipts and gotten my pictures downloaded, but I thought I'd better start reviewing!

We arrived at Wilderness Lodge around noon, got settled in our room overlooking the lobby, and headed down to WCC for a 1:15 p.m. reservation. We were seated right away and even though this was the second day of free dining (started August 25th) the restaurant was not full by any means.

The vibe of the place was fun ..... the wait staff were funny but not obnoxious. My Sis and I are stll laughing about the guy who walked by the tables where people were messing around with their phones .... "Put it AWAY, you're at the table". Our waitress was Wandering Wendy, all the way from the UK.

Our initial plans were to split 2 meals between the three of us or pay OOP for a kid's meal for my skinny little 11-yr-old DD. When we mentioned this to Wendy, we asked if we could pay for this OOP, and she said that DD could not order from that menu. Now, this was quite a bit different than what people have reported in their Dining Reviews, but this was not the only time this happened to us during this trip!

I ordered the all-you-care-to-eat skillet, and Sis and DD split the 1/3 lb. Angus Chuck Bacon Cheeseburger, hold the cheese. This came with fries and some sort of pasta salad. Now, I don't recall Sis saying one word about that salad, so I'm going to assume it was not memorable in any way, shape or form.

The skillet was ....... pretty good, with a side of "just okay". The pork ribs were excellent - very tasty with great flavor, and I loved the chicken. The Cowboy beans had huge hunks of pulled pork in them and man, were they good! The pork sausage was okay, the corn on the cob was a little "coblet" of corn absolutely soaked in butter, and the gluten-free (GF) cornbread I requested was pretty darn good stuff. The mashed potatoes, however, were bad. Bad, as in sort of cold with big chunks of unmashed potato and some strange sort of seasoning. Now, I'm not the sort of person who can take a little nibble of something, and state "The terragon essence really enhances the delicate flavor of the basil, and offers a wonderful counterbalance to the lively aroma of the garlic pate" or some such nonsense. Suffice it to say, those mashed potatoes were kinda funky, with some weird, not-generally-found-in-mashed-potatoes seasoning.

Sis and DD each had the bottomless chocolate shakes, and enjoyed them. Now, I've read some people here disparaging these, saying "well, all those shakes ARE is ice cream with some chocolate syrup ....." Yup, that's what they were, and they were good. Sis ordered cheesecake for dessert - not the s'mores cheesecake shown on the Allears menu, but a basic cheesecake with berries over the top. It was pretty bland boring stuff.

I had a latte for dessert. Since I am eating gluten free, the desserts option was basically some sorbet with fruit or something similar, and I NEEDED that shot of caffeine. It was okay - definitely NOT a Starbucks triple grande nonfat latte, but it was okay in a pinch.

Our bill was $65.55 with the three of us splitting two TS credits, with a pretty respectable $32.78 per TS average. However, if we were NOT using the free DDP, we might have still gotten one of the shakes, but there's no way Sis would have ordered that $8.99 cheesecake or my $4.19 latte. So, that would have been $19.87 less, or a total of $45.68.

 

[ShortStuff]

I'm glad your skillet, for the most part was ok. I am shocked that they wouldn't let you pay pp[ for a meal for your daughter. : That doesn't make a lot of sense.

I like your review style!! Tell me if it's good or bad!! Looking forward to more!

 

[elaine amj]

Love your analysis!

 

[Lesleyluvsdisney]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm a bit concerned regarding the point you made about not being able to order OOP for DD

We are doing our regular 14 night trip in April and I'm currently planning our dining. In about 3-4 of the restaurants we have previously used 2 x TS for DH and I and DD has ordered from kids menu which we just paid for, mainly because she didn't like anything on the main and I felt it a waste of a TS when I could pay $10-15. On occasions the server suggested they give her an adult size of the kids menu item. I was obviously hoping to do the same again.

I'm interested to hear if this happened again throughout your trip?

Thanks x

 

[Trish.Glenn]

Awesome so far! As someone else said love the stye of your review

 

[CrabbyPatty]

I suppose it's actually called Boulangerie Patisserie, but my receipt says "France Bakery", so we're goin' with that!

After waddling out of WCC, we ended up at Epcot walking around in the rain. At this point, having gotten up at the crack of dawn, and at the airport at 5:30 a.m., Sis and I decided that a day without a drink is like ..... well, a Florida afternoon in the pouring rain! Sis got a beer in Germany (she said it was pretty good) and I got the Pomegranate Margarita in Mexico at the La Cava del Tequila. I'm not hugest fan of tequila, but when in Rome ........

This was the BEST $17.53 (tax and tip) margarita I've ever had. It was sweetened with agave nectar, and while it didn't taste strong, it was a rather large drink, and let's just say the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride was incredibly FUN that day!

DD was hungry, so we stopped at the France Bakery about 7:00 p.m. This place is due to be expanded soon, which is great because currently it has all the charm and elegance of my local post office.

DD got the "cheese tartine" which parents of kids know is really a "French Bread Pizza" with pop and a chocolate eclair. Toasted up in their little oven, it was very satisfying. The bread was a softer wheat, with a light bit of sauce and melted cheese. Although I eat GF, it's more of a dietary preference than due to Celiac Disease, so I ended up eating the last 1/3 of this, and enjoyed it. While I'm not a huge fan of sweet pastries, the eclair was very nice - the chocolate filling was light and creamy and wasn't overly sweet. Sis got the french bread ham/cheese sandwich which looks tasty - good french bagette with tasty meat/cheese.

Sitting in ponchos in the courtyard outside the bakery in the pouring rain isn't probably the best way to "experience" the Boulangerie Patisserie, but we would definitely stop here again. With a QS credit, this meal was $10.91. If we were paying OOP, we would have ordered only the cheese tartine for a total of perhaps $3.95 or so (can't find my receipt for this).

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Love your DR so far. Particularly glad for your "French Bakery" review. Their CS items aren't reviewed as frequently.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Monday, August 27th - Writer's Stop and 50's Prime Time Cafe

We went to 50's PTC in 2010 and ever since my DD has commented on how good the fried chicken was, so this was definitely on the list for our ADRs this year. We had a 7:40 p.m. ADR on a nite when DHS has late EMH until 1:00 a.m.

We did some rides, explored a bit, ended up in front of Writer's Stop and decided to drop in. What a cute, inviting place. Well, any place that has COFFEE is pretty much puttin' out the Welcome Home mat for me, but you get the drift. DD loved looking at the toys/gift section, Sis thought the cute Mickey red kitchen gadgets and coffee cups were pretty cute, and I headed right up to the coffee bar to get a small nonfat latte (used a snack credit.) After preparing the drink, the barista told the cashier that she wasn't able to get the temp high enough for the steamed milk, so she should give me the drink for free. Since the cashier had already rung it up as a SC, I told her it was okay if she'd just give me a larger cup of regular coffee and I'd mess around with combining the two of them. It's wasn't perfect, but it wasn't half-bad. Sis and DD has the slushy drinks (I think they're called Glaciers) and they were also pretty good - not as sweet as your typical 7/11 slushy.

We arrived at the 50's PTC about 10 minutes before our ADR and got seated right on time. We got a table WAY in the back of the restaurant, right by the door to the kitchen in a regular table. It was okay - we'd gotten one of the TV tables last time and from our table we could easily see several TVs. Our waitress Melody was good - she had a fun way about her, and she really had her work cut out for her on the table next to us. I mean, if you have two surly teenager girls who don't intend to join in on the fun at PTC - here's a tip, DON'T BRING THEM!

I started out with Dad's Electric Lemonade and oh, yes, it was good. DD and I had planned our order for oh, the past few months, and we ordered a chocolate shake for beverage and split the Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. Since I'm eating GF, the chef came out to talk with me, and indicated it was no problem to make the fried chicken GF, but it would take a few extra minutes. No problem - I was enjoying the forementioned Electric Lemonade.

Sis had her eye on the meatloaf, and at this point, Melody looked around and leaned in to whisper in my sister's ear that she might want to reconsider that meatloaf. She said the consistency was kinda weird and suggested the pot roast. Melody was right - Sis said the pot roast was top-notch. The fried chicken was very good - a big serving that was perfect for DD and I - and the mashed potatoes were excellent. Even the green beans were good ...... Melody did not have to do the "airplane trick" to get us to finish them. I never really thought I'd say this, but the chocolate shakes were HUGE ......almost too much. It was three full glasses of shakes between the two of us.

Now at this point, we started doubting the glory that is ...... Disney Free Dining ...... because we really didn't NEED dessert, but ordered it anyway. Sis had the ice cream sundae, and I got a special Dad's Brownie sundae made with a GF brownie. Very tasty stuff, but after devouring all that food, we ended up having a few bites of each dessert. Our total bill was $70.76 before tip (of which $10.50 plus tax was my drink), so that was around $60 for 2 TS credits. Now if we weren't using the free DDP, we would have been very happy with all of us sharing one chocolate shake, splitting the fried chicken plus another entree and there's no way we would have ordered desserts. So, our potential OOP cost would have been in the neighborhood of $42 with tax (not including tip)

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Midday at Epcot, we just HAD to stop at the caramel shop in Germany and try out all the lovely candy! It's a lovely little shop, clean and bright, with shiny copper kettles behind the counter where it looks like the CMs are making caramel (don't quote me on this, I was focused about 99.9% on all the caramels in the case).

Sis had the salted caramel for $3.95, DD tried the marshmallows on a stick coated with caramel and chocolate for $3.95 and I had the HUGE rice krispy treat with caramel and chocolate on the top for $4.49.

Now, I always read on these boards about how some meals or treats are SO HUGE, with comments like "Our entire family ate for a week on that one amazing piece of candy, and we still had to toss the last half of it away". Right. C'mon people, it's a PIECE of CANDY.

However, after experiencing the caramels at Karamell-Kuche, I have to admit that the caramels are amazingly filling. Sis had all she could do to finish that salted caramel, DD ate about 1/2 of the 3 big caramel-covered marshmallows on a stick (and I finished the rest). The CMs offered to cut the rice krispy into pieces, and after polishing off DD's treat, I managed to eat one slice (the bar was cut into 6 pieces) and we ended up toting that rice krispy back to the WL and we finished it over the course of 3-4 days. For $4.49 that WAS a great treat!

The DDP is great for being able to try all these amazing snacks. If we were doing this OOP, we probably would have paid for the $4.49 rice krispy treat only. So instead of $13.50 for the treat, it would have been about $4.75.

 

[elaine amj]

THat rice krispy in Germany WAS ridiculously huge. I tried to coax my DD to get that...but no go....they wanted a boring cookie instead. But, as far as she was concerned...that cookie was worth it!

 

[CrabbyPatty]

I just added a few pictures to the WCC review. Sorry about the half-eaten skillet!

 

[SillyFamily]

50 Prime Time looks sooo yummy thanks for the food porn!!!!!