Back from 2 Weeks on DxDDP (and I lost 5 pounds!)

[KathyK]

Last October, I booked a trip for our family's summer vacation. I asked DH which week I should book, as I am a teacher, and the summer is wide open for me. I booked July 11-17 in a 1 BR at BWV (our home resort). At some point, we ended up cancelling our spring break trip (a studio at VWL) because of a conflict with DH's work obligations.

In January, I made all of our ADRs. Then, in May, DH e-mailed me to ask what week we had planned for vacation. I couldn't believe that less than 2 months before our trip, he hadn't requested the days off from work yet. Well, of course, too many other people in his office had already asked for that week. So I made some calls to DVC MS, and looked at airfare for DH to fly on his own, and what we decided in the end is that the kids and I will spend a week at WDW on our own, and then he will fly down to FL and join us for a 2nd week (OKW 1 BR). The second week was approved by his employer before we booked all of this. Since the girls and I are driving down (and we will all be driving back together), we have APs, and we had points to spare thanks to our cancelled trip, the only added expenses for the trip are the extra week of food for 1 adult & 2 kids + DH's airfare. And he was able to find a really nicely priced flight.

OK, so we're back. And I hope to get through all of the reviews in a timely fashion. We'll see how I do.

So, after many changes, here is the plan:
Week 1: Me, DD age 8.5, and DD age 7
Monday: lunch at Teppan Edo (post #7)
dinner at Garden Grill (post #9)

Tuesday:breakfast at Cinderella's (post #10)
lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe (post #17)
dinner at 'Ohana changed to 1900 Park Fare (post #26)

Wednesday: breakfast at Hollywood & Vine
lunch at Sci Fi Dine In Theater
dinner at Raglan Road cancelled - leftovers from WCC in room

Thursday: breakfast at Tusker House
lunch at Rainforest Cafe (OOP) cancelled - Pizza from the BW pizza window
dinner at Rose & Crown

Friday: breakfast in room
lunch at Beaches & Cream (1 hour wait!?!) or Big River Grill
dinner at Kouzzina (with a friend and her 2 sons)

week 2: Me, DH, DD 8.5 and DD 7
Saturday at breakfast at Kouzinna
(move to OKW)
lunch at Tony's Townsquare
dinner at Cinderella's

Sunday: breakfast at Olivia's
lunch at Prime Time Cafe
dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern - changed to Ohana

Monday: breakfast at Akershus
lunch at LeCellier
dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Tuesday: breakfast in room
lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern
dinner at Le Chefs de France

Wednesday: breakfast at Crystal Palace
lunch: counter service
dinner at Brown Derby

Thursday: breakfast in room
lunch at Yak & Yeti
dinner at Coral Reef

Friday: breakfast in room
lunch at Tutto Italia
dinner at California Grill

Saturday: breakfast in room
lunch at The Plaza

 

[itradehilton]

Have you done DxDDP with your kids before for 2 weeks? If o how did they do with eating out.

 

[KathyK]

We've done DxDDP twice before with the kids. They've done great in the restaurants, as we've been taking them to signature restuarants since DD#1 was 5 months old. They have been helping me decide which restaurants to book for the 5 days that we'll be there w/o DH.

We've never gone for 2 weeks before (the longest trip DH and I did was 11 days for our honeymoon in 1998), so that aspect of things should be interesting.

 

[msnwithers]

You have many of the same restaurants as we chose for our September trip!

 

[scanne]

Sounds awesome! Looking forward to reading your reviews.

 

[KathyK]

Sounds awesome! Looking forward to reading your reviews.

I'm looking forward to writing them!

 

[KathyK]

It was the first full day of vacation, and the kids were so excited about lunch at Teppan Edo. We had gone to a local Hibachi place for my birthday in April, and we all had a great time. We don't get to go out for dinner that often at home, so we don't go out for Hibachi more than about once a year.

We were seated with two other families. One was 2 parents with a girl who was about 10 years old, and the other family was 2 parents with a 15 year old son. Everyone at the table was on the Deluxe Plan. The family with the 15 year old son mentioned that they come to WDW frequently, and it was their son's 30th trip. I mentioned that my 8 year old had been to WDW and DL about 15 times. So we bonded over our Disney craziness.

On to the food! For the appetizer, sushi was not included. I ordered beef that was wrapped around scallions and then cooked on the cooktop in front of us. It was served with a smoked salt. Sorry the pic was blurry.

It was really tasty. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I would definitely order it again.

The kids did not get appetizers.

For the main course, I had the steak and shrimp. Caroline ordered the kids' shrimp and Vanessa ordered the kids' chicken. They both really enjoyed their meals.
Here are some pictures:

The meal was delicious. The chef was entertaining, and we all really had a good time.

For dessert, I had the chocolate ginger cake. I seem to recall that they used to have green tea ice cream, which I really liked. The cake was OK, but very rich after such a big meal.

 

[Lehuaann]

You lost 5 lbs...how is that possible? I did 6 days on DLXDP and thought I was gonna die!

 

[KathyK]

The last time I went to The Garden Grill was in 1999 - before kids, and back when they served lunch. We never seem to want to eat dinner in Future World anymore, so we hadn't booked it in a while. When we opened up a second week of vacation, I suggested it to the kids, and they both really wanted to try it. They couldn't believe that there was a character meal that we hadn't been to.

We had a late reservation (7:50) so we were one of the last parties to be seated, and the restaurant had emptied out quite a bit by the time we were done. Our server was Barry, and he was fantastic. He made sure that we got to see all of the characters and that we had everything we needed.

First he brought out the salad and bread. OMG. The salad was so delicious. I could have eaten just the salad and would have been happy with that. All of the ingredients were so fresh. Caroline even had two servings of it.

Then they brought out the family style foods for the adult and children. My kids enjoyed quite a bit from the adult platter: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes. But they also enjoyed the chicken legs and mac & cheese from the kids' platter. I thought that everything tasted so fresh. Everything was so flavorful. We asked for more chicken legs and mashed potatoes, and Barry was happy to bring them over for us.

We really enjoyed everything about the meal. The rotating restaurant, the character interaction (Chip and Dale had a fight and our table was right in the middle), and the service. One of the managers even came over to make sure that we had seen all of his characters. I would highly recommend the Garden Grill, and will be returning on the next trip.

Oh wait... I almost forgot about the dessert. Strawberry-rhubarb crisp with a wonderful cream topping. OMG, if I could have stuffed the left overs in my purse I totally would have. It was my favorite kind of dessert, and it was sooo delicious. Here... drool over this:

Next up: Breakfast with princesses!

 

[KathyK]

We arrived at CRT about 5 minutes late for our ADR. I hadn't realized that this was an EMH morning (something about booking 180 days in advance and park hours not being out yet - yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it). So I was a little diasappointed that we were missing EMH to eat breakfast, but it all worked out in the end.

I have not been to this breakfast in a while. The last time we ate at CRT was dinner in 2008. As it was during the year of a million dreams, we ended up with our dinner comped (it was our 10th anniversary). We were on the DxDDP on that trip too, and it totally screwed up my accounting. But thankfully, it was early in the week, so I was able to make up for it.

OK, so onto this meal...

We waited in line to see Cinderella. I always get excited seeing princesses. The girls are certainly happy to meet them, but they don't get choked up the way I do. Soon after our photo was taken, we went upstairs, where we were seated fairly close to the center of the room. Our waiter brought the girls wishing stars and wands.

The last time I had breakfast at CRT, there were 2 choices for breakfast: healthy or unhealthy. I always chose unhealthy, which was all you care to eat eggs, bacon, cheesy potatoes, and stuffed french toast. Well, now they have split up the unhealthy choices into two different meals. I must have missed the memo on that one. You can choose healthy breakfast (does anyone really ever get this, because I didn't see anyone eating it), eggs, bacon, & potatoes, or stuffed french toast & bacon. I went with the stuffed french toast. The kids obviously had the standard kids' meal.

First the waiter brought fruit and breads. Caroline loved the cinnamon rolls and had some of the fruit. Vanessa said she was waiting for her main course. I enjoyed a chocolate scone and some of the fruit.

The stuffed french toast was as delicious as I remember it, but I was missing those potatoes. The kids enjoyed their meals. They said that it was nothing really special.

The princesses all visited our table, and we did the obligatory photos and autographs. I was sitting under a drip. I thought that perhaps they weren't aware of the problem,so I told the waiter, and he said, "Yup. That table gets dripped on."

Overall, I still like the CRT breakfast. I probably wouldn't go there if we were paying cash, but on the dining plan, I don't mind spending 2 credits for the characters and the atmosphere of eating in the castle. I used to go there for the food. I used to like the variety and the fact that it was all you care to eat. Eh, maybe next time, we'll just stick to dinner and forgo the overpriced breakfast.

 

[bluejasmine]

WOW lost 5 pounds??? Maybe you sweated it off in the Fla heat! LOL I normally dont gain weight at WDW but I cant say I have ever lost weight there.. Color me jealous! 2 weeks on DxDDP and you lost weight?

Looking fwd to the rest of your reviews!

 

[Symans3honeybees]

OK, I am ready to eat my weight off...

 

[bangzoom6877]

Wow, what is your secret to losing 5 pounds???

We just got back from 10 nights at WDW, plus a long drive from NYC, plus a few days in southern FL visiting family & friends. I gained 7 pounds!! We were on the TIW card, no dining plan. Of course, I normally follow Weight Watchers (lifetime member) and exercise like crazy and I was not doing that on vacation but still...you lost 5 pounds! You are so lucky!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start to your reviews - when you said you had lost 5lbs I thought you were going to say that YOU were the one who ordered the healthy option at CRT but nope Well done on losing 5 lbs, I struggle to do that at home under normal circumstances let alone at WDW on the DxDDP

Looking forward to more reviews

 

[butiflfeet]

I can't wait for more of your reviews! Your pictures are making me hungry!

 

[KathyK]

WOW lost 5 pounds??? Maybe you sweated it off in the Fla heat! LOL I normally dont gain weight at WDW but I cant say I have ever lost weight there.. Color me jealous! 2 weeks on DxDDP and you lost weight?

Looking fwd to the rest of your reviews!

I think I did sweat it off. It was sooooo hot when we were there, and we did a lot of walking. My DH wears a pedometer for work (competition between departments), and for the time that he was there with us, he doubled his normal number of steps on a typical day.

 

[KathyK]

Warning: There aren't a lot of pictures from this meal because we were too busy enjoying ourselves.

We left the Magic Kingdom at around 12:30 and got on a boat headed for Wilderness Lodge. We had stayed there in 2003 (back when Vanessa was 15 mo. old and I was 7 mo. pregnant with Caroline) and again in 2004 (kids aged 2 and 10 mo). On both of those trips, we really enjoyed going to WCC, but the kids were a little young to enjoy the antics.

We were seated fairly quickly, and soon our server, Rafael came over and sat down at the empty chair. He shouted, "What are your names?" The girls were so giggly that they couldn't respond. He shouted a few more times, and periodically turned to me and asked if they spoke another language aside from English. Eventually, between the giggles, they told him their names.

He said, "I'll just call you 'Mom' OK?" Then we placed our orders for drinks. As smoothies were included with the dining plan, I ordered one of those. I think it was mango flavored. I also asked for water. Vanessa ordered Sprite and Caroline ordered lemonade. They brought over 2 sprites. I mentioned this to Rafael, and he said that Vanessa shoul dhave 2 drinks and he would bring a new one for Caroline.

Caroline decided to use all 4 straws that Rafael put in front of her.

I ordered the salad as an app and the skillet for lunch. The girls ordered the kids' skillets, and V ordered fruit as her app and C ordered a salad. Soon, a salad came over to the table, and I wasn't sure if it was the kids' salad or mine, as it was placed in front of Caroline. After a while, Rafael came out and asked if something was wrong with my salad. I explained that we weren't sure who it belonged to and he said, "What's wrong with you girl? Does that look like a kids' salad to you?" The kids thought that was hilarious.

Since Rafael was yelling after people who went to the restroom that they should come back because they hadn't paid, Vanessa was terrified to go to the ladies' room. Eventually, she made a break for it when our server was no where in sight.

The kids' meals came out, with 2 fruit salads and no green salad, so we mentioned that to Rafael, who was able to get Caroline a salad right away. Vanessa ended up with 2 servings of fruit. We all really loved the skillet and the cornbread, but soon we were stuffed.

The kids' skillet at lunch is chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes, but I shared some of my ribs with my rib-loving older daughter. The adult skillet had chicken, ribs, sausage, beans, and mashed potatoes. Actually, I think the kids could pick between chicken and ribs, but V likes chicken more than ribs, so she ordered chicken, knowing that she could mooch off of me.

At some point, Rafael asked if we wanted anything else. i told him that we were stuffed, but he said that he would bring a little more of everything just in case. Then he asked Vanessa to lead the hobby horse race. Caroline doesn't like joining in with this type of thing, so she stayed with me at the table.

A waiter came over with another skillet full of food, and I told him to take it back to the kitchen because we couldn't possibly eat anymore. Rafael came over and said, "Why don't you wrap it up? You might as well take it with you, because we can't re-use it once it has left the kitchen. So then he brought out containers and a big paper bag. We wrapped up all of our leftovers and the new food they brought from the kitchen as well as a serving of apple caramel pie to go for my dessert. We also wrapped up the cookies that the kids couldn't eat.

When he left for a few minutes, Vanessa decided that it would be funny if she hid from Rafael to see what he would do. He came back to the table asking for her, and then shouted "VANESSA" throughout the restaurant. Eventually she showed up.

When he brought the bill, he was trying to be funny by telling me that there was a problem with my card, and though I was having fun, I wanted to throw it back at him, so I said, "Well, if that's the case, I guess there will be no tip." He quickly said, "Oh no. Ma'am, no problem at all with the card. All is well."

We had a wonderful time at this meal. (I know, I sound like a broken record - there will be some bad reviews too, I promise.) We loved the interaction with our server, the food was great, and we walked out of there with an extra meal in leftovers.

 

[jockey]

Great reports so far looking forward to more

 

[TruBlu]

It was the first full day of vacation, and the kids were so excited about lunch at Teppan Edo.


The kids did not get appetizers.

We love TE, but they don't seem to cater to kids too much. It seems like they should have gotten an appetizer???

Do they still only give kids a fruit cup for dessert? (A Dole fruit cup - in a plastic cup with the plastic still on the top. )

 

[TruBlu]

Also... really good to see such a positive review of WCC. That was DS8's first choice for our Dec. trip.