Chomps Around the World! A December Dining Review!!

[bluechic03]

Hey Everyone! If you are reading this than you probably love at least two things that I do, Disney and Food! That makes us buddies in my book

We got back last Friday from a wonderful trip to the lovely balmy state of Florida....oh wait I mean FREEZING COLD state of Florida We enjoyed lots of Hot Cocoa and indoor dining This trip was just myself, DH, and DS (10 months). We paid OOP for all our meals and so I will compare what we spent versus what we would have spent on the DDP. This is the 2nd trip I have done this, and last trip it worked out that we saved over $100 NOT doing the DDP!

I will Review The Following...

Contempo Cafe (Dinner)
Chef Mickey's (Breakfast)
Contempo Cafe (Lunch)
Nine Dragons (Dinner)
Contempo Cafe (Breakfast)
Toy Story Pizza Planet (Lunch)
Tangierine Cafe (Lunch)
La Hacienda (Dinner)
Main Street Bakery (Breakfast)
Restaurantosaurus (Lunch)
Contempo Cafe (Dinner)
Hollywood Brown Derby (Lunch)
California Grill (Dinner)
Sunshine Seasons (Lunch)
Cosmic Ray's (Dinner)
Assorted Snacks!

Thanks for Reading and Please Feel Free to Say Hi!

 

[pinkxray]

I am very interested in reading your reviews. I have decided to pay OOP instead of the ddp or dxdp which we did last trip.

It looks like you had a great line up.

 

[bluechic03]

We flew in Friday evening 12/4 and landed around 7:30pm. We flew JetBlue for the first time and it was actually really nice....they had yummy snacks with lots of choices. After we landed we opted to go get out luggage and eat a snack....we opened up some peanuts we bought at CVS that fit perfectly in our stroller's cupholder! I wanted to share since I was so excited that they fit so perfectly

Check that out! Perfect for the parks! If anyone is interested they were Emerald Nuts and they were Honey Roasted Deliciousness

After ME and Check-In we wanted to make it onto our balcony for Wishes so we made the first trip of many to the Contempo Cafe. We really enjoyed our meals here and the first one we loaded up on a tray and took up to our room!

I ordered the Honey Lime Chicken sandwich with Fries...This was a marinated Chicken Breast on a Multigrain toll topped with Pepper Jack Cheese, Lettuce, and Tomato. It also had salsa-mayo which was a yummy condiment. I ordered it with fries but you could also chose a cold Sesame Green Bean Salad.

DH ordered the Turkey BLT on Multigrain bread with Fries. This was a regular BLT but with turkey on toasted bread with cheddar cheese and mayo. DH also ordered fries. We each ordered Diet Cokes and decided to split a Black Forest Cupcake....Unfortunately it isn't in the picture since a lady in the elevator KNOCKED IT OUT OF MY HAND!!!! Oh the horror! I was SO looking forward to that little morsel of heaven. Oh well....I called the front desk and told them (since it made a GIANT mess in the elevator) and they offered to bring one up to us...by the time it came I was in bed so sorry no pic! Rest Assured it was AMAZING

Here's the pic of the food that made it up to the room!

We both enjoyed our meals. I thought the chicken was nice and juicy and had a great southwestern flavor. It did however have a few chewy fatty pieces (YUCK until I picked it all off) The salsa-mayo and cheese added a nice creaminess to the sandwich which went well with the slightly spicy marinade and crisp lettuce.

DH LOVED his sandwich and wanted to order it each time we went back to the Contempo Cafe! I convinced him to try new things though I tried a bite and thought it was a really good basic sandwich....a mix between a BLT and a club. The ingredients were nice and fresh, even though it was about 10pm. Both of us gobbled up the fries too of course!

This meal was really good and fresh, which impressed us for it being so late. It was a lovely way to start our vacation on the balcony while Wishes went off over Cinderella's Castle

Total Cost of this meal:

Chicken Sandwich w/fries $7.19
Turkey Sandwich w/fries $7.19
Two Fountain Drinks $2.59x2
Cupcake $4.59
Tax $1.69
Total: 25.85

Up Next....Breakfast with Mickey!

 

[bluechic03]

I am very interested in reading your reviews. I have decided to pay OOP instead of the ddp or dxdp which we did last trip.

It looks like you had a great line up.

Thanks for reading! We have found not doing a DDP was better also because we weren't as stressed out about getting the best value for our credits or wasting credits. This made for a more relaxing vacation Plus we weren't STUFFED and I only gained a pound this trip

 

[Linda67]

Count me in
What a lovely way to start your vacation

 

[bluechic03]

Count me in
What a lovely way to start your vacation

Thanks! and

 

[stitchaholic]

woohoo, some new dinning reviews, can't wait !

 

[bluechic03]

So we started off our first full day with something I hadn't done since I was about 5, Chef Mickey's! I think last time I went it was on the boat in DTD We wanted to try Breakfast since we were staying right at the Contemporary and wanted to get some pics with DS and the characters Our ADR was for 7:15am....we finally made it around 7:30am. We went down the elevator and were greeted with this sight

We only had to wait in line for 5 minutes or so. We skipped the group picture and waited on the couches for our name to be called. You can see some of us weren't quite awake yet

For some reason the pagers weren't working so we ended up waiting about 10 minutes at the couches, but someone came over shouting our name and took us right in. We were seated around 8am and got a table in the back section up the steps. Our server was nice but when it came timeto sing the Mickey Song she just kinda shouted the words kinda giving the "I don't reall wanna be here" vibe!

We noticed the characters were not close so we went and got some food! Here's my first plate...

Thats an everything bagel, breakfast pizza, cheese omlelet, potato casserole, and melon. Everything was yummy! i was planning on making a little breakfast sand with my bagel & eggs but I couldnt find the toaster I saw a sign on my next trip to ask the server to toast ur bagel...oh well. My fav by far was the breakfast pizza YUMMMMMMMMMMM

Here's DS's plate

Mickey waffle, pancake, eggs,and melon. He loved it all and ate mostly the pancake and melon

Both oh DH's plates looked the same...he was trying to start off healthy...

Blueberry yogurt & strawberries, cinn apples w/oats, and grapes...he got another helping after the characters came by. I couldnt believe that was all he ate for our $30 breakfast! Oh well at least we got this Birthday Cupcake which of course he ate

We waited for the characters and had a nice visit...I'll just share one character pic since I LOVE Silas' face in this...

Im pretty sure he was thinking What the HECK are you???

Silas was fine with all the charaters, although he wouldn't smile....just tried to figure them out. No crying though either at least!

After the characters I went up and got another plate which I actually shared with DH since I told him he needed some protein!

More breakfast pizza (HEAVEN), Mickey waffle, Potatoe Casserole, Croissant, and Sausage.

I liked everything but the sausage was pretty greasy and I think I would have liked the potatoes much more if they didn't have bacon in them! Just my suggestion...

We left full and walked over to MK for our first day in the parks

Our total was 26.99x2 plus tax= $56

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Count me in. Looking forward to more. So sorry about your cupcake accident in the elevator!

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Great reviews!! Can't wait to read more!! Thanks!

 

[bluechic03]

Count me in. Looking forward to more. So sorry about your cupcake accident in the elevator!

Thanks for joining in!

Hi
Great reviews!! Can't wait to read more!! Thanks!

Welcome!

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on!

 

[Ro Z]

Thanks for the review. We like Contempo Cafe too! You can also get free refills on fountain drinks. A nice perk!

 

[jerseygirl81]

Sounds good so far looking to more of your reviews! The picture of your DS with Minnie is so cute. Linda

 

[amandadisney]

Joining in!

How cute was your son's expression while meeting Minnie?! My fiance and I are in our mid-20's and BY FAR our favorite thing about character dining is watching the little kids meet the characters. We are expert photo takers now too because we are always sitting quietly by ourselves looking like we are ready to take pictures for people.

Keep the great reviews coming!

 

[Linda67]

Just love the picture of your DS meeting Minnie - sooooooooooooo cute

 

[PETER.PHIL]

I think I would either rent a car (if that's an option) or stay at the one with various drop off times.

 

[bluechic03]

Signing on!

Hi there! thanks for reading

Thanks for the review. We like Contempo Cafe too! You can also get free refills on fountain drinks. A nice perk!

Yes refillable soda fountains are great! It also prevents when they prefill the sodas and they get all watered down I HATE that YUCK!

Sounds good so far looking to more of your reviews! The picture of your DS with Minnie is so cute. Linda

Awwww thanks

Joining in!

How cute was your son's expression while meeting Minnie?! My fiance and I are in our mid-20's and BY FAR our favorite thing about character dining is watching the little kids meet the characters. We are expert photo takers now too because we are always sitting quietly by ourselves looking like we are ready to take pictures for people.

Keep the great reviews coming!

Welcome! Thanks so much...I was cracking up while I was taking that picture of him and Minnie!

Just love the picture of your DS meeting Minne - sooooooooooooo cute

Thanks

 

[bluechic03]

While we were in MK doing rider swap at BTMRR I got hungry and the popcorn smelled soooooooo good...and I needed some caffeine so I indulged in a little snack. Silas helped me!

The popcorn was actually a bit stale but I Didn't mind (i like it that way at home sometimes) But I was kinda bummed that they didn't have the cute little Mickey Snowman buckets there...I would have bought one! oh well...I think I have enough Disney stuff

We ended our morning at MK with our tummies grumbling and decided we would do lunch at one of the monorail resorts to try something new. I suggested the Poly but DH really wanted to see the gingerbread house at the GF. So I agreed and we hopped on the monorail in hopes to eat at the GF Cafe (no ADR). We got off the monorail and saw it was a bit crowded...we made our way downstairs and couldn't justify waiting in the long line for the gingerbread house...so I just got some pics instead....Don't you just wanna take a bite???? I wonder if anyone has?

After fighting the crowds around the gingerbread house we walked over to GF Cafe where we were told it was a 90 minute wait without an ADR Needless to say I said Forget This! But now I was a bit crabby wince I was getting super hungry. We just decided to hop back on the monorail and go back to CR and the Contempo Cafe! Here's a picture of the menu boards...they are digital and rotate images of the food...pretty cool!

DH wanted to get the Turkey Sandwich again but I convinced him to try something else for the sake of the DIS boards!

He ordered Stacked Sandwich - Smoked Ham, dill havarti and honey mustard on ciabatta bread w/fries.

I wanted to have pizza and salad...I was hoping for a half salad but they didn't offer that so I got a whole ceasar salad ( i only finished about half) and Marinated Beef Flatbread - with oven roasted tomatoes, garlic, onions, arugula, and goat cheese

DH really liked his sandwich but kept saying how he wished he would have gotten his beloved Turkey Sandwich again....so I agreed not to influence his decisions on the behalf of my dining reports again! I had a bite and it was nice and fresh and a bit tangy with the dressing. I really like ciabatta and this bread did not dissapoint!

My meal was really good as well...I just had an issue with the salad not having actual croutons. They just put like crumbs on it? I know it was supposed to be like that since I saw everyone else with it. The salad could have really used the crunch of some yummy croutons, the crumbs just kinda added to the sogginess. I also should have asked for the dressing on the side so I could save the salad that I didn't finish for later....but that was my fault.

One little side note about Contempo Cafe for those of you who have never been. The ordering process is as follows....step up to the self service kiosks and use the touch screens to place your order. Than you take the receipt that prints at the kiosk, along with any drinks/desserts/sides to the register and pay. After you pay they give you a pager to pick up your entrees at the counter. Many people seemed to be confused and just stood at the counter with their recepits until another customer (or sometimes a CM) explained to them what to do....I saw this happen all week!

Anywayz....after our relaxing lunch we just hopped up the elevator to our room and took a nice nap before our dinner ADR at Nine Dragons!

Up next....our evening at Epcot

 

[branv]

Oh yay, Contempo Cafe reviews! Those are few and far between, and I've been wondering since we'll be staying at CR for the first time next May

How was the beef flatbread? I've been wondering what flavor the marinade is for the beef, any thoughts?