Deluxe Dining Review - Brief, no pics (sorry!)

[yule_smile]

Alright, I feel I am obligated to post my review after months of stalking these boards planning my trip. We did the deluxe dining plan because we went with another couple and it seemed easier than using the Tables in Wonderland card and splitting checks for every meal. I did my planning while I was deployed overseas and at the time all I could think about was food!! As you can see, the plan was very ambitious and I gained about 5 pounds last week! I called at the 90-day mark and made all the reservations - we had two incredibly picky eaters on the trip, so it was kind of tough to plan. Here was the initial schedule:
D-Hoop-de-doo revue
B-Tusker House
L-Yak & Yeti
D-Wolfgang Puck Cafe
B-snack
L-no plans, we grabbed burgers
D-Le Cellier
B-Kona Cafe
L-snacks
D-California Grill
B-Snack at Starring Rolls
L-Sci-Fi Diner
D-Brown Derby
B-Snack
L-Liberty Tree Tavern
D-Kona Cafe
B-Boma
L-Planet Hollywood
Departure...

 

[leeann32]

Great line up! I can't wait to read the reviews!

 

[yule_smile]

After checking into the resort, we headed over to Fort Wilderness for dinner at the Hoop-de-doo revue. We were running late because of transporation issues, and I was stressing! No worries - we made it in plenty of time and were seated in the back of the bottom floor (category 2). I was surprised at how little the theater actually was - there definitely wasn't a bad seat in the house.
We started off with delicious cornbread and salad, then they brought out ribs, chicken, beans and mashed potatoes. Dinner was great - but we all agreed that the icing on the cake was the bottomless beer! My husband was picked to be a "volunteer" on stage near the end of the show and I laughed so hard I missed dessert! No one in the group really liked the cake - everyone agreed it was dry.
Overall, fun show, but I'm not sure I would have paid cash for it or if I'd ever see the need to go back. Total charge was 8 meals (2 per person) and the cost was $219.93.

 

[KatMark]

I'm in.

 

[yule_smile]

Three table services on monday! Ambitious, but we weren't in a hurry - and the thought of spending plenty of time inside (with A/C) seemed like a great idea. I feel bad for not taking pictures of the food, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it!!! Maybe someday...
Tusker house at 0830. It was great to get into the park before rope drop - I just smiled as we passed all the people waiting in line. We were actually 15 minutes early and they didn't have a problem seating us. We got right in and started on the buffet - not as diverse as I'd expected, but I figure the attraction is more the characters and not the food! Speaking of characters - they took FOREVER! We finally gave up waiting and just left after only getting pics with Donald... On a side note, the juice they serve there is delicious! Something tropical - we also found it again at Kona where they called it Lilikoi juice...
Breakfast was 4 credits - which would have been $97.94
Yak & Yeti for lunch. It was busy, but we were seated within 10 minutes of our ADR. This was the first time we realized that apps, entree and dessert equalled WAY too much food. For my app I ordered the pan seared pot stickers and they were DELICIOUS! We also tired the egg rolls and the lettuce wraps. The egg rolls were tasty too, but I did not enjoy the lettuce wraps - the filling seemed gritty and odd tasting to me. I had the Steak & Shrimp and it was wonderful. The steak was juicy and the shrimp were huge - it was one of the best meals of the trip. I was too stuffed for dessert, but the waitress brought out cookies to take with us so we didn't "waste" our credits.
Total for the lunch was 4 meal credits which translated into $148.84
Dinner was at DTD. We went to Wolfgang Puck Cafe. There was no wait when we arrived, but our seats were terrible. We were sort of off to the side in an atrium type room that seemed dirty and oddly located, but it was great for people watching outside.
For my app I ordered the artichoke dip - it was wonderful, I had to have the server take away the plate before I ate all of it - I wanted to have room for dinner! Dinner was the chilean salmon - it was overcooked, but still tasty. My main issue with this restaurant was the service. Our server was overtasked - it took forever to get service, probably 2+ hours for dinner and we ordered our apps/entrees at the same time! We took dessert to go because we were tired of being there - I had the key lime pie and it was great, very rich. No other notable meals from that trip - just an average dinner for everyone.
Total for dinner was 4 credits, it would have been $179.48

We headed back to Saratoga Springs in a complete food coma!!! I'll post more tomorrow!

 

[natalielongstaff]

ok, im in

 

[MickeyNicki]

We are trying Tusker House breakfast on Sunday and I cannot wait, never been but I hear the food is good and that juice...yummy!

I agree about the Y&Y lettuce wraps...we didnt like them either but that steak and shrimp rocked!

Cannot wait for more!

 

[butiflfeet]

Sounds good so far! Thanks for sharing!

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on.....

 

[ljcrochet]

Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[FirstMagic]

Thanks for the reviews - looking forward to reading more.

I LOVE the picture of the cat with the princess hat!

 

[tlynk]

Thank you for your reviews!

 

[yule_smile]

Tuesday was EPCOT. On a side note – the couple we went with were late nighters/late risers, so I had to take that into account for planning. If it were just me and my husband, I would have planned MORE breakfasts TS!

I got up on Tuesday morning and made the long trek from our room to Artist’s Palette. Filled up our mugs and bought some fruit OOP. We made it to EPCOT around 1130 and rode a few rides before stopping at Electric Umbrella for lunch. I didn’t book a TS because we were so full from Monday and we were looking forward to Le Cellier for dinner! For lunch we had boring fast food items - the turkey sandwich, Caesar salad, chicken nuggets and I had the greek salad. It was a nice change and a fast meal. No complaints, but nothing to write home about. Total was 4 TS or $48

I was so excited about my Le Cellier ADR at 6:30. We arrived about 10 minutes early and the lady in front of me was complaining because they didn’t have her reservation. Oops, too bad, I thought. So I was next and they couldn’t find mine! Not to worry, I had my handy-dandy confirmation information that I received 90+ days earlier. I followed her inside so they could figure out why our reservations weren’t working. Turns out, her reservation was apparently booked for 4:35 and she was now 2 hours late. And they sat her anyways! I was next up and when I gave him my confirmation number he told me it was for 27 May. I said check again because I have Cali Grill booked for the 27th. He did and that’s when he told me both meals were booked for the 27th. I don’t know what happened, but when I called WDW-DINE, my reservation was clearly supposed to be scheduled for the 26th?? I asked if he could seat us anyway and he said no, they were overbooked by 200! (Probably because of the crappy reservation system) I asked why the lady that showed up 2 hours late was still seated and he gave me a little song and dance – never an answer. So they brought out a manager who said could get me reservations elsewhere in the park. My choices were Rose & Crown or Tokyo Dining. Great – my long awaited craving for Le Cellier was now replaced by two stinky choices. We picked Rose & Crown because it was starting to rain and it was closest to Canada. We ate there in 2005 and it was a pretty miserable experience, so we were not looking forward to it! My app was the leek & potato soup – I gave it to my husband. I thought it was too cheesy, didn’t taste like potato soup to me. The guys both had the cheese platters – none of us are cheese connoisseurs – is American considered a cheese? - but it was alright. For dinner I had the bangers and mash – all four of us lived in England for 3 years, so we have the basic idea of british pub food. The others ordered fish and chips (good reviews) the chicken (good review) and the steak (worst steak I’ve ever tasted in my life). Of course they have a wide variety of beer – scored high marks with all of us! For dessert I had the toffee pudding – too sweet for me. And I can’t remember what the others had because I think I was on my third pint at that point! Total for our so-so experience was 4 TS and the cost was $146.

 

[yule_smile]

Wednesday started at Kona Café. I LOVED it! We could have eaten breakfast there everyday! You can get a juice and a drink with the DDP, so I had the Lilikoi (like Tusker house) and a diet coke. My husband tried the berry smoothie – it was very tasty. For breakfast I ordered the Tonga Toast (of course) and it was AMAZING. It was perfectly cooked – lightly crunchy on the outside with a gooey banana center. The pureed strawberries were such a great compliment. I was in heaven. Standard breakfast fare for the rest of the bunch – everyone was pleased. Total was 4 TS at a cost of $65.

From there we went to Blizzard Beach for the day. Used a couple snack credits on pretzels and cokes.

Dinner was at California Grill. I think everyone was tired from the waterpark, but I had them shower/change and hustled them to MK for a few rides before our ADR at 7:55. Wishes started at 9:00, so I planned my ADR strategically. We checked in promptly at 7:55 and were whisked upstairs where we waited at the bar until our table was ready. The view was incredible! We waited about 15 minutes for a table and our server was very gracious. For me, the trip was about trying new things... I consider myself a sushi fan, but usually just get something safe like a California roll -- boring! So I ordered the Malibu roll. It had a kick but it was awesome. My food twin ordered the California roll, the others tried the corn chowder and the romaine salad. Everyone was pleased with their appetizers.

I will say, the downside of the experience was the annoying table next to us. They had three kids (between a 2 couples) that were running all over the restaurant and twice managers told the parents to get their kids under control. They were drinking wine by the bottle and weren’t going to let their kids ruin their experience, I guess. And so that I don’t look like a child hater, I will tell you that the couple to our left had two boys under the age of 7 or so, that were very well-mannered, especially since they didn’t arrive until after 9:30. Personally, if I had children I would find a sitter for them before I went to Cali Grill – it was definitely more of an adult-experience.

For dinner my food twin and I both had the halibut and the other two ordered the filets. The halibut was delicious and my taste of the steak was outstanding – definitely melt in your mouth quality steak. No complaints from the crowd. The view of Wishes was spectacular – I think everyone was dazzled by my planning skills at that point! We didn’t have a window seat, but you could see the fireworks just fine from where we were so we continued eating rather than join the masses on the balcony. For dessert I had a sampler. I can’t remember what it was called, I don’t see it on the allears menu either. It was delish – three mini desserts, lots of berries – a great finish to a wonderful meal. About three hours later we were all too stuffed to move! Our cost was 8 TS at $283. The tip was over $60, but the service was well worth it. 4 happy customers left the Contemporary -- in a food coma!