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

Sounds like you had a great experience at WCC - good to hear. It was just DH and I on our one and only trip and, although the food was pretty good, our server wasn't into the antics too much (maybe because we didn't have kids with us :confused3) and we just sat watching everyone else around us having fun.
 
We love TE, but they don't seem to cater to kids too much. It seems like they should have gotten an appetizer??? :confused3

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. :crazy2:)

Yes, a Dole fruit cup. I think that I ended up taking that home with us, and it is in the cooler.
 
Loving the reviews so far - usually keep the same weight whatever I eat while I'm there due to all the walking I think but I can't imagine losing weight. Tuning in for more.
 

Yes, a Dole fruit cup. I think that I ended up taking that home with us, and it is in the cooler.
I was hoping they had changed that. Since DS8 is our only "child" this trip, I think we'll buy him a better dessert. I can't believe they actually serve that as their only choice for a kid's dessert. :eek:
 
Our original plan for Tuesday night was Ohana. That was one of the reservations that I made back in January. I tried re-booking it for the second week, but had no luck getting a reservation when I first tried. Well, DH was looking over the plans about a week before we left, and he said, "Awww, I really wanted to go to Ohana. Can't you try again to see if you can get it?" So, I tried again, and *tada* :wizard: a reservation was suddenly available for that second week.

So then I had a hole in the schedule. Wanting to get the most for my DxDDP dollar, I searched for a TS meal available that night. When I came up with the list, Vanessa was looking over my shoulder (just like she is right now):rolleyes:, and the first one alphabetically, was 1900 Park Fare. We had not had dinner there before (well, I had - but that was before kids), so she asked what it was like, and when I told her about the characters, her eyes lit up. I don't even know what else was available for dinner that night (I searched all of WDW), because I knew that we had to go to 1900 PF.

We took a bus from BW to MK, but the resort monorail had just broken down, so we ran over to the boat. Those little boats are not designed to hold many people. We were lucky enough to get on the first one, but there were a lot of angry guests left on the dock, worrying that they wouldn't make their reservations. We checked in at the podium and were told that there would be a bit of a wait, so we enjoyed the ambiance of the lobby. DH and I stayed there on our honeymoon, so I bored the kids with stories of enjoying afternoon tea, and how we watched the monorail go by from our balcony as we enjoyed room service breakfasts.

Eventually, our pager went off, and we had the picture taken and were shown to our table. We were seated between a very large group with lots of young adults and a family with a mom, her son, and her daughter. The daughter was celebrating a birthday, and she was wearing the cutest Princess Tiana dress.

The characters were coming, so we stayed put for a few minutes before getting any food. So we met Anastasia, Lady Tremaine, and Drizella (sp?) before getting any dinner.
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I was not that impressed with the buffet. I probably should have stuck to my favorite: strawberry soup.
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But in the end, I think that I tried a little of everything.
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Nothing was really super impressive, but nothing was bad either. With the exception of the strawberry soup, the food was just OK. My daughters did not find much that they liked. Vanessa had the kids' pizza and a pasta dish from the adult buffet that had a meaty marinara sauce. Caroline had a buttered roll and the same pasta dish. She didn't eat much, and I kept encouraging her to go up and get more food.

None of us were hungry for dessert.

After we got our food, we met Cinderella and Prince Charming. At one point, they were on opposite sides of the room, and he ran to her to embrace her. That was cute. And then Drizella came over to Prince Charming, asking for a kiss. He gave her a hug. Drizella was definitely the most interactive character. She asked Vanessa how she liked having a sister, and Vanessa said that she wanted to trade sisters with her. Drizella said, "No way! I don't want to have any sisters!" She also had a noise maker that she walked around blowing on. I said, "You seem to like to toot your own horn." To which she responded, "Why yes, I do. Thank you for noticing."

I said no when they tried to sell us the picture. The background is OK, but there are no characters, and I could have a Photopass photographer in the parks take a much nicer photo without spending $30. The mom at the next table agreed with me when I told the kids that if they wanted the photo, they could come up with the $30.

I loved the character interaction at 1900 Park Fare. It was funny seeing Lady Tremaine reacting when people didn't know her name. It was also fun seeing interactions between the prince and Cinderella or Cinderella and the step sisters. I think that the face characters make this meal worth the cost. The food was nothing to write home about, but the fun makes up for it. (Except that strawberry soup. I looooove the strawberry soup.) The server was very attentive and kept our drinks full.
 
Great reviews so far - can't wait for the rest :thumbsup2

Your girls are adorable :)
 
After 1900 Park Fare the night before, we went to Epcot for EMH (the resort monorail was down, so it was a boat to the Poly, then walk to TTC, then monorail to Epcot). So it was a little difficult to get everyone out of bed and ready for our 8:10 breakfast. So when the kids did get up and dressed, we decided that it would be fastest to walk to DHS. The stairwell at the end of our hallway at BWV lets out about halfway bewteen the Boardwalk area and the overpass, so I figure we cut some time off of our journey by going that way. It was a good thing we did go that way, because I did not see a boat anywhere while we walked over there.

The kids are getting a little old for Playhouse Disney, so this is probably the last time we'll eat here. I really like their breakfast buffet. I didn't take any pictures of the food, but IMO, the corned beef hash and biscuits & gravy are really good here.

We were seated right away, and all of the characters were on our side of the restaurant with barely any tables occupied. So we waited to get breakfast until after we met June, Leo, Jojo, and Manny.
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I told Manny that we need some repairs done at our house, and asked if he was available. He indicated that he would drive right up to help us out.

I didn't take any pictures of the food. But what I did eat was delicious. My kids took some fruit, Mickey waffles, and bacon. Vanessa took a lot of bacon. The characters commented on how much bacon she took. She said that she took a lot to share it with her sister, but she and I had a little talk about taking only the food we can eat at buffets. In the past, I have made up plates for the kids at buffets. This was the first time that I let them make up their own plates.

The restaurant was mostly empty the entire time we were there. I don't know if the Playhouse characters are not a big hit or if people have heard that the food is not good, or if people would rather do EMH than an 8:00 breakfast... I remember that the last time we went there (August 2009), we had to wait in line at the buffet for food. On this trip, there was no waiting.

So the kids and I enjoyed the food, but I doubt we will return unless we are traveling with younger children. At 7 and 8, they just aren't interested in those characters anymore (which makes me sad, because 2 years ago, Caroline was so thrilled to meet June).
 
I know what you mean about the kids getting too old for Hollywood and Vine. DD will be 7 on our next trip. DS will be 4 and would like to see Handy Manny and Leo, but DD thinks she is too big for them. :sad1:.

1900 PF just recently made it to our ADR list. We have done it in the past - and like you booking this one had more to do with the characters and less about the buffet.
 
The kids couldn't agree on what to do because one wanted to go on thrill rides and the other one didn't. So we decided to see if we could check in for our reservation early. They said that they couldn't guarantee that they would seat us early, but we didn't have very long of a wait. And at least we were out of the heat.

I have never eaten here before, but the kids wanted to try it, so I made the ADR. I didn't know that they wore roller skates.

I ordered the BLT soup for an appetizer and a Reuben for my main course. The kids had carrots and celery for an appetizer and Vanessa had the hot dog and Caroline had mac & cheese. I was seated behind them in the car, so I didn't get to talk to them much. I had cherry coke to drink. It was so refreshing.

The soup was tasty, but it was so filling.
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I could barely eat a bite of my sandwich after that soup.
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The sandwich tasted great, but I was just so full.

I had ordered the fruit for dessert, and the kids ordered ice cream. When she brought the desserts, I asked the waitress if I could wrap up my sandwich and dessert because I was so full. She brought out the containers while the kids ate dessert.

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I liked the food here, but the restaurant was so dark. I could barely read the menu, and I had to take flash photos of the food to see what ot looked like. I also didn't like sitting behind my kids. With a party of 3, seated in two rows, someone has to miss out on the conversation. The kids loved sitting on their own.

After lunch, we went right back to the BWV for some time in the pool and to refrigerate my leftovers.
 
We have never been to Sci-Fi, I have heard that it is really dark though. I suppose it has to be otherwise it wouldn't have the right atmosphere. Love the little car booths though :thumbsup2

Great reviews so far :)
 
OK, so where did I leave off? I volunteer at the NJ State Fair for 4-H, and that has monopolized my life for the past couple of weeks.

So, our original plan was to spend the afternoon at the pool, and then go to DtD, where we had an ADR at Raglan Road. Well, we changed into our suits, went out to the pool, and the thunder and lightning started the minute we got to the pool. So of course, they cleared the area. I wanted to wait it out, but we were told that we couldn't. So we went back inside and considered our options. The kids wanted more park time, and were not thrilled with the idea of DtD.

So in the end, we decided to cancel our Raglan Road ADR and go to Epcot for the evening. I figured that we could grab a CS meal somewhere, but we were too busy having fun, and didn't have anything to eat until after we got back to our room. At that point, I pulled out all of the leftovers we had collected thus far, and heated up chicken & ribs and sides. It tasted just as good the second time around.

So, no restaurant review to see here, but I thought I should explain why we did not end up going to Raglan Road.
 
We had another early morning breakfast ADR, so I dragged the girls out of bed yet again, and we headed out to catch a bus to AK.

Our waiter was Neil, and he was fabulous. He kept our drinks filled (I love that juice) and helped out with the photos too. As we were coming back from the buffet, Vanessa claimed that she couldn't find our table, because she couldn't find a table that had her bag on the back of the chair. He overheard this, and once I did direct her to our table, he came over to check and make sure that she had not lost it/no one took it.

I didn't take any pictures of the food, but I do love the cheese blintzes. I also really like the cornbread/corned beef hash dish that they serve. I always enjoy trying the African dishes. Overall, I love the food there, and I was so thrilled with our server. Vanessa had learned her lesson about the bacon, and only took food that she planned to eat.

Here is one of the pictures that Neil took, and a rare photo of me during the first part of the trip.
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Wonderful reviews and your two girls are so adorable.
We never tried Garden Grilled so thank you for posting the pictures. We never tried it b/c my son does not eat chicken nuggets but they changed the menu and he ates chicken (drum stick) and loves broccoli.
We love the characters at 1900 Park Fare but we did not like the food too.
My son loves Hollywood and Vine character meal and its a must for him for every trip. This will be his 5 Disney trip (when he was younger and when we fly to other vacation...he would say mommy I think we took the wrong plane b/c we are not in Disney world.) My family loves Tusker House...we love the juice and we always had great chacater interaction. I like Tusker House better than Chef Mickey.
I can't wait to read more yummy reviews.
Thanks for sharing.
 
The original plan was to go to RFC for lunch. However, I was not thrilled with the idea of an expensive, OOP meal, and the kids wanted more pool time. So we boarded a bus for BW, and got off at the Swan, walking to the Boardwalk area (as about half of the people on that bus did). We went straight to the pizza window, and ordered a plain pie, which took about 10 minutes to make.

I wasn't sure ho wmany credits it would use on the DDP, so I decided to pay OOP. For $19, that was a pretty good price for lunch for 3.

We went up to the room to change into swimsuits, and then we brought the pizza and refillable mugs poolside to enjoy.

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We're from the NY Metro area, so we're used to really good pizza. While this pizza wasn't quite as good as what we have at home, no one was complaining, and between the 3 of us, we finished the pie.

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I also ended up buying an adult beverage - a Pina Colava. It was deeeelicious!
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As we were getting ready to leave the pool area (we spent about 3 hours at the pool that day), dark clouds started rolling in. WHile we got changed for dinner in the room, we missed the worst of that storm. Then we took a boat over to Epcot. We had about an hour to kill before dinner, so we saw O Canada, which the kids really liked, and we went over to France and visited with Marie.

Then we walked back over to the UK, where we checked in for our ADR. We were seated quickly, and our server was so nice. She was always right on top of my drink that I kept emptying, and was so nice to the girls. Vanessa even asked her if she was really from England, or if she just put on the accent, and she laughed and said, "No, this is really how I talk." And when Vanessa asked for directions to the ladies room, and she was instructed to go through the pub, the waitress said, "Now, no stopping off for a drink as you go through."

I ordered the fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer. It was so yummy. I could have had just that for dinner and been happy. I ejoyed trying different combinations of the cheeses with the fruits and the onion jam on the bread. I also shared some with both girls. Caroline liked all three cheeses. Vanessa only liked the mildest one. Vanessa had the potato leek soup, and practically licked the bowl clean. Caroline had carrot and celery, which tasted pretty much the same as any other carrots and celery.
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For dinner, both girls ordered the kids' cottage pie. They both really liked it, and I promised them that I could make it at home for them. I think that I have the recipe in one of my WDW recipe books.
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I had the fish & chips, which was good, but rather unimpressive following that amazing appetizer. I doused the chips in vinegar, which made them even better. I love vinegar on my fries, but never remember to use it.
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For dessert, the kids probably had ice cream. I don't recall. I had the lemon pie, which was too sweet IMO. I love sweet desserts, but this was like eating pure sugar.
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As we were eating our dessert, it started drizzling again, and they put down plastic windows. They were in no hurry to kick us out (there didn't seem to be many people waiting for tables), but we felt that it would be too much to linger at our table over dessert for 45 more minutes to wait for Illuminations, so we paid the bill, and found a bench outside where we had a great view of Illuminations. And then we enjoyed EMH afterward.

The girls and I really enjoyed our dinner here, and they want to come back with dad.
 
Great reviews! And I am in awe of the 5lb weight loss! :worship:

So glad to hear a good review of Boardwalk Pizza window from a New Yorker! I had been hoping the new pizza place in "Italy" was going to do take-out but apparently not. Will have to try Boardwalk instead.

I also love the cottage pie at R&C. If you do have the recipe, please share!

Looking forward to more!! popcorn::
 
I also love the cottage pie at R&C. If you do have the recipe, please share!

Looking forward to more!! popcorn::

This is from Cooking With Mickey: Gourmet Mickey Cookbook, Vol. II.
Rose & Crown Cottage Pie
Yield 4 servings
.25 cup butter
1 onion, diced
1.5 lb. lean ground beef
salt
pepper
.25 tsp. savory, ground
1 cup brown gravy
2 cups mashed potatoes

Heat .25 cup butter in a 9 inch skillet. Add onion and cook until lightly browned, stirring. Add beef, salt, pepper, and savory and continue cooking 5 minutes or longer. Stir in gravy and heat until bubbling. Spoon into a buttered 8 cup flat casserole dish. Top meat mixture with mashed potatoes. Dot with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned.

*The dish that my kids had at Rose & Crown also had grated cheddar cheese on top.
 













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