Deluxe Dining with a 5 and 7 year old!

[mb_uh]

We did not have a lunch reservation but since we were given 2 extra credits over the mix up with Hoop De Doo we decided to eat here since there was no wait.

The only thing we got quickly was the table. The restaurant was half empty when we were seated about 12 pm.

We ordered soft drinks. The kids decided to share a pizza and we decided to have the Turkey and dressing. We ordered a salad as our appetizer. The waiter told us that the kids could not have a sundae or dessert that they could only have the item shown in the picture- apples and celery

Our waiter then disappeared.

Eventually our salad arrived with our meal and we still did not see our waiter.

Someone else brought us and extra plate.

The food was okay but we did not get refills on drinks.

Finally our waiter reappeared and I ordered the Toffee Cake.

He then brought our bill which I paid.

Our waiter dropped off a piece of apple pie and fled away without saying anything .

By this point my husband had lost it. It took 2 waiter ignoring us before he asked for a manager. We explained how the kids were not allowed ANY choices with the meal and how I got the wrong dessert and really NO service at all.

He returned the meal credits and brought out the right dessert

0 credits would have been 2
$50

We will not return, but the manager did do a good job. The food was simply not worth the money or bad service.

This was our only bad experience and we normally do not complain but we were made miserable the entire meal.

 

[mb_uh]

After a not so pleasant lunch we were really looking forward to this dinner. I have read reviews all of the place so I did not know if it would be good or not but nothing had been bad yet- except the service at LTT.

We arrived on time and were immediately taken back to the picture line. That takes forever The kids were dressed up- I had made a special Sleeping Beauty dress since my daughter loves pink and I did not think the costumes I had seen were worth the money. My son was jealous of that but was apeased with a pirate costume I bought off ebay.

Pictures were great and we were seated right after they were taken.

Matthew did not really like any of the traditional appetizer options so they let him have the yogart. Morgan had the salad because she loves salad even if she is only 5

I ordered the berry salad and my husband ordered the other one.



We all really enjoyed our appetizers and bread. The princesses came around and we got cute pictures in the kids costumes.

Then the entress came out.



Both kids had the hot dog which was really large and came with mashed potatoes and green beans. The biggest kids meal we had at disney.

Michael had the Prime rib and I had the pork chop. Both were superb. I felt bad because Michael had wanted the pork chop but did not want to order the same thing- and of course did not mention this until dessert
He like his steak and ate some of the pork chop as well.

The kids ate really well and were happy with the green beans that they were not expecting.

For dessert the kids orderd the sundae, I got the toffee creme brulee and DH had the buckle




I LOVED the creme brulee. This was my favorite dessert of the entire trip and Michael wished he had gotten that even though his was good.

This was one of our best meals the entire trip and while it was expensive we would do again everytime we come.

8 credits
about 200

Definately recommend if you can afford it. Kids wanted to come back the next night and were really disappointed with we said no.

 

[mb_uh]

We ate dinner early because I snagged a reservation for the Dessert Party

This was some of my best spent money. The desserts were great.

Mango shooter, pistacio creme brulee, melons, pinapple, berries, chocolate covered strawberries, tiramisu, cheese cake, brownies, cookies and more. Plus coffee, hot tea, lemonade, water, iced tea.

We had seats near the rail and I stood but my family just turned their chairs to watch. We had a great viewing of Tinkerbell. It was peaceful and so easy with small children. They were exhausted and no way would we have made it had we tried to just watch with the crowds.

We had 2 fast passes we planned on using after but the kids were so tired we gave them to another family with older teens and we headed out.

About 80 not on dining plan but so worth it!!!!

 

[mb_uh]

Since they compted our meal at LTT we still had 2 credits to use that day since we had already checked out. Knowing that 7 days of deluxe would kill us I did a split stay 4 days at Pop and 3 days off property.

We also had lots of snacks left so we went to the bakery to get breakfast for the next day.

We were told for meal we could have 1 sandwich, 1 snack, and 1 drink or 2 snacks and a drink. We chose a ham and a turkey sandwich, a giant cinnamon roll, a muffin, and 2 juices. We also picked up 2 bags of chips for the kids and 2 powerades as snacks. We went to the counter and told her we were using 2 meals and 4 snacks. The cashier did her thing and put our stuff in a bag. On my way to the candy shop I looked at my receipt to double check how many snacks we had to spend. I could not tell because all she charged me was for 2 meals so we got 4 extra snacks free. At 10:30 PM in a crazy park I was not in the mood to fix it so we went to get candy.

Total for meals and snacks was like 30 dollars- 2 meal credits

for 4 people for 4 days on deluxe we had 32 snacks.

1st day- no snacks just arrived, picked up mugs $58.00
2nd day we used 4 snacks for muffins and chocolate crossiants with mug refills for breakfast. $13.00
3rd day- snacks in afternoon 4 used plus mugs, mickey bar,2 giant cupcakes, 1 dipped rice krispie $14.00
4th day- 4 snacks Shopping for plane trip and light shared snack at pop- carmeal popcorn, wheat thins, nutter butter cookies, vanilla wafers- $15.00
5 day- frozen grape coke, water bottle $7.00

16 left

Fudge 6 pieces- 6 snacks
5 large lollipops
5 boxes of cookies and baby snacks for souveniers.

Not sure how much all of this was but we it was great for the kids to have "free" stuff to bring home to friends and family.

 

[Symans3honeybees]

I have finally caught up with your report!! What a Roller Coaster ending(in a good way)

 

[mb_uh]

After doing deluxe were pretty spoiled and since we are still on vacation were not going to be deprived.

Breakfast first day after we at the sandwiches and pasteries from MK which were wonderful and as a family we shared the everything it was really cute in our double sized room at the Radisson.

Lunch - Fuddruckers. We slept in late after 4 days of eating at 8am in the park so we needed a break. After eating in the room and doing some shopping off property we headed to Fuddruckers. I had signed up for the email list before leaving and I had a coupon for a $7 meal which was large enough for DH and I to split. The kids each had a kids meal and I got an extra drink and cookie total--$21 not bad for lunch for 4.

We headed to the beach in near Cape Canaveral and had a great time. We forgot the sunscreen and stopped to get some plus shovels and other items- spent too much but that is what happens when you leave your stuff in the room.

Dinner- I had read they had an Unos in Orlando and it was less then a block from our hotel. I had a coupon for a free appetizer with 2 entrees. They let us use it with 2 individual pizzas. I got a deep dish with exotic toppings like grilled onions, and pesto, Michael went for a thin crust. The kids were excited because they had make your own pizzas for kids. For my free appetizer we got wings. Everyone liked the wings and there were plenty. The kids LOVED making their own pizzas and ate more then normal.

Our pizzas were delicious and we all had left overs. We skipped dessert since we full and going to Downtown Disney.

Total was about $50 with my coupon- great for dinner and the food was wonderful. They also took your picture and had a package for 20 which we skipped since we had done Photopass and character breakfast pictures.

Goofy's Candy-

I had planned to use snacks here but we did not make it. Probably a good thing since the kids did not want marhmellow- which they love
but instead chose a candy apple and a single pretzel. We planned to eat this in the hotel but both kids fell asleep before eating them

Dunkin Donuts- On our way back to Epcot we stopped for donuts. Again I had a coupon for 10% off. I got the big box of munchins-50 donut holes assorted 2 juices, and a large coffee. About 11 dollars for breakfast and everyone was happy.

Lunch- Chef de france- another post with pictures.

Dinner- Taverna Opa After leaving Epcot we were driving back to the hotel scouting for a good restaurant. I had seen an online review of Taverna Opa and we all love greek food so we decided to stop. You have to park in the garage but we found out the restaurant validated parking so cost there. We went upstairs and were immediately seated. The restaurant is a favorite among single adults( think lots of booze) but I would describe it as a character meals for daddy

It was perfect for the kids because it was loud, they throw napkins and a neat belly dancer worked the room. We started with Tazaki and they automatically bring fresh hummus and pita. Michael chose the Pork chop with lemon potatoes and I got the gyro to share with the kids- weird food favorite of theirs and fries.

Both meals were excellant and even though non of normally eat that many fries we finished all of them. We had left overs for my husbands breakfast.

Highly recommend if you like Greek and are staying off property.

Last morning we ate left overs from our dinners and gave the kids cereal from the Walgreens near the hotel.

We then headed for MK. We decided to focus on rides and finishing the park. We shared some dole whips- no one was that impressed
and waited to eat until we left. Since it was starting to rain and we had to return our car we headed for the Airport. After clearning security we found an Outback on our concouse.

We gave them our flight time and were immediately seated. They gave us excellant service. The menu was shrunk for the airport but still had steaks and plenty of good choices. Prices were about the same as an Outback at home and we enjoyed a late lunch with left overs for our flight for about 50 dollars. I had spent over 20 for much less food at Burger King at the Dallas airport so I was very happy.

We had lots of snacks from disney for our plane ride home.

 

[mb_uh]

We had finished our days on the dining plan but since it was lunch time at Epcot I thought it would be a waste to eat CS. Having heard good things about this place and loving French food I convinced Michael to try it. He did not think the kids would like it.

Since we were paying oop we decided to do 2 Pre Fixe meals and split with the kids.

Morgan and I chose- French onion soup, Ham and cheese sandwich, creme brulee.

Matthew and daddy- French onion soup, quiche, chocolate cake.

The kids adored the soup and ate lots of bread with it.



The portion is very large and easy to share with a child if you can take turns.



Both entrees came with salad with a light vinegrate that we really like. Both were really good but DH kindly switched with me since I adored the quiche it was so light and airy. The kids did really well and surprised my husband with how much they ate.

When our desserts arrived the lady at the next table thought the chocolate cake looked so good she almost cancalled her creme brulee



The kids like the cake better. The creme brulee was good but after having- toffee, maple and pistacio it was kind of bland. I think we would have enjoyed it more at the begginning of our trip before we were so spoiled.

Remy was at the other end of the restaurant and against my wished DH did not want to wait. So we missed him since it would have taken too much time

The meal was about $55 and very good. Definately a good lunch choice.

 

[mb_uh]

We had a really good time and loved that the Deluxe plan let us try so many restaurants.

While many complain about the time eating if you arrive to a Character breakfast on time before the park opens you can be done by rope drop, autogrpahs and all.

Lunches lasted about an hour and dinners a little longer for 3 courses. If you are traveling in the summer the break from the heat and unlimited drinks are well worth the time and a great way to recharge.

Doing Signature meals and splitting also helped use the credits so that everyone had enought but was not always stuffed.

I think Disney does Desserts best. Being a dessert fan that is great for me.

Snacks/ mugs- really made the trip extra special because we had souveniers as well as drinks when we wanted.

Considering our dining style we saved a ton my doing deluxe. Since we have only been to Disney 2 times and only once with kids it is worth it to us to try everything and have perks like Characters. The 3 character breakfasts, CRT and HDDR cost the same as 4 days on deluxe leaving us 20 meal credits for free plus free snacks and mugs.

If we stay on property again we will definately do deluxe. Our only question is if the meal plan makes staying on property worth it because we actually like staying off property better.

Good luck and enjoy your trips.

 

[roryc]

Excellent Trip Report. Great details!

We're going next month with a 5 yo, 8yo and an infant and I keep trying to decide if we should upgrade to Deluxe Dining or not. Your reviews were very informative and great for me, especially Ohana, CRT and Yak and Yeti.

 

[vinotinto]

Thank you for all the detailed reviews. We have a lunch ADR at LTT. I hope our experience is better than yours. I've never seen a Disney TS restaurant where the only dessert choice for kids is apples.