DW and myself on the dining plan for six days. Stayed at CS first night, POR the last six nights.
11/25
No dining plan on this day.
Lunch at Pepper Market--split a steak sandwich and fries--sandwich was good, but way overpriced.
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express--lasagna and chicken quesadilla. Both were good, but a major turn off was the gentleman who brought our plates had just finished taking care of cleaning off tables and working in the trash can. And he did not wash his hands before bringing our plates--I pay close attention to these things. Not good for a person who is somewhat OCD. But I did eat the lasagna, since we had already dropped $20 and was hungry.
11/26
Our dining plan started this day. Every morning we had breakfast in the room---cereal bars, bananas, etc.
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons--DW had turkey sandwich and a fruit and custard-type dessert. I had the ham and salami sandwich and Butterfinger cheesecake. Turkey sandwich was good (but a lot of bread), ham and salami very good, as were the desserts. DW put the fruit and custard dessert near the top for the desserts during the week.
Dinner at POR food court--split a chicken and ribs platter, with mashed potatoes, greens, cornbread and a cookie. Very good for food court fare.
11/27
Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus--split a pizza and chocolate cake. Both were good.
Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse-- DW had scallops, NY Strip and creme brulee. I had shrimp cocktail, surf and turf and Jack Daniels chocolate mousse. DW NY strip was great, probably best steak ever for her. Scallops were huge and very good. Shrimp cocktail was very good, six huge shrimp. I order filet well, so it was a little crispy on the outside. Lobster tail was decent size and good. Mousse was very good, DW thought brulee was okay, I thought it was very good. Service was best of the week. Server was very attentive and friendly.
11/28
Lunch at Tusker House. Both of us had the veggie sandwich, carrot cake and cheescake. Sandwiches were very good and nice change from meat.
Dinner at POR food court. DW had pasta and meatballs, pecan pie. I had chicken parmesan, apple pie. DW said her meal was good, mine was fair. Basic pasta dish. Desserts were good.
11/29
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons. Split a ham and salami sandwich and key lime pie. Sandwich and dessert was good.
Dinner at California Grill. DW had frisee watercress salad, halibut and caramilized bananas. I had Sonoma goat cheese ravioli, braised short rib and apple tart. Both meals were excellent, best of the trip. Also would rate near the top of any meal we have ever had. Service was good. Had 5:30 ressie, so saw the sun set and also the Magic Kingdom after dark--had a window table on the MK side. Very nice all the way around.
11/30
Lunch at Toy Story Pizza. Split a pizza, salad and rice crispy treat. Pizza was fresh, salad was fresh and crispy.
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe. DW had spinach dip, chicken alfredo and carrot cake. I had crab cakes, pumpkin ravioli with chicken and pumpkin cheesecake. This meal was the biggest disappointment of the week. Crab cakes were the only positive. Spinach dip was warm at best, obvious a microwave was used to partially heat. Chicken alfredo was very bland, pumpkin ravioli was served only warm and was decent. Cold bread was brought to table after appetizers were eaten and entrees were delivered right after that. Service was very poor. Definitely not a $105 meal. We enjoyed our counter service meals over this one.
12/1
Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus. DW had antipasta salad and chocolate cake. I had Italian sub and milkshake. Antipasta salad was very good, loaded and fresh. Sandwich was good, but not as good as Sunshine Seasons fare. Milkshake and cake were good, the standard.
Dinner at Le Cellier on the CP plan. DW had shrimp cocktail, barbeque glazed filet and raspberry sorbet. I had beef kabob, salmon and apple cobbler. DW shrimp cocktail was good, filet was okay (she orders well too, filet was butterflied so not crispy like mine at YS) kind of odd with the sauce. Her sorbet was very good, nice and light after a week of heavy eating. My appetizer of beef kabob was okay---not done well, so not to my liking. I did not request well done, so my fault. Salmon was good, served over a spicy sausage slaw which was different, but good. Apple cobbler was good. Service was okay, not too attentive.
Overall our meals were good to excellent, except for WPC. We used the dining plan for six days, had four sit downs (using four credits at YS and CG) which gave us a break from big meals each night. All of our ressies were early, so we found it best to split some of our counter service lunches. Most counter service meals were enough for the two of us. We are relatively light eaters, so this week of eating was out of the ordinary for us. Usually on our trips to WDW we split counter service and maybe eat one or two sit downs, so this trip was good, in the fact the dining plan allowed us to try new and different things. We used our snack credits for mainly water and a couple of soft drinks, which worked out well for us. The total charges on the dining plan came out to a little over $700, while the cost was around $420. We would probably use the dining plan again, as we normally would probably spend close to $400 for the same period, but not eat nearly as well. I have read comments about the service on the dining plan and I think the difference in service usually begins with whether cocktails are ordered. We did not and our service was decent at best, except for YS where the service was very good. But it was obvious our servers paid more attention to the tables with drink orders. It was very obvious at CG, where the couple next to us had two mixed drinks and two bottles of wine. I thought the server was going to sit down and eat with them and go to the parks the next day with them. She was adequate with us. Service at WPC was not good and Le Cellier was decent. At Le Cellier, server had a table next to us with cocktails and wine and it was obvious he played more to them. But, I don't think this is just at WDW. We have seen this in other restaurants too. So not sure how much the dining plan plays into service. At YS we told server upfront we had the DP, CG server asked as did WPC server. WPC server's attitude seemed to automatically switch to indifferent when we said we had the dining plan. At LC, I think their main plan is to get people in and out as quick as possible, since they are booked solid for the CP.
Overall a good trip and good eating.
11/25
No dining plan on this day.
Lunch at Pepper Market--split a steak sandwich and fries--sandwich was good, but way overpriced.
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express--lasagna and chicken quesadilla. Both were good, but a major turn off was the gentleman who brought our plates had just finished taking care of cleaning off tables and working in the trash can. And he did not wash his hands before bringing our plates--I pay close attention to these things. Not good for a person who is somewhat OCD. But I did eat the lasagna, since we had already dropped $20 and was hungry.
11/26
Our dining plan started this day. Every morning we had breakfast in the room---cereal bars, bananas, etc.
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons--DW had turkey sandwich and a fruit and custard-type dessert. I had the ham and salami sandwich and Butterfinger cheesecake. Turkey sandwich was good (but a lot of bread), ham and salami very good, as were the desserts. DW put the fruit and custard dessert near the top for the desserts during the week.
Dinner at POR food court--split a chicken and ribs platter, with mashed potatoes, greens, cornbread and a cookie. Very good for food court fare.
11/27
Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus--split a pizza and chocolate cake. Both were good.
Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse-- DW had scallops, NY Strip and creme brulee. I had shrimp cocktail, surf and turf and Jack Daniels chocolate mousse. DW NY strip was great, probably best steak ever for her. Scallops were huge and very good. Shrimp cocktail was very good, six huge shrimp. I order filet well, so it was a little crispy on the outside. Lobster tail was decent size and good. Mousse was very good, DW thought brulee was okay, I thought it was very good. Service was best of the week. Server was very attentive and friendly.
11/28
Lunch at Tusker House. Both of us had the veggie sandwich, carrot cake and cheescake. Sandwiches were very good and nice change from meat.
Dinner at POR food court. DW had pasta and meatballs, pecan pie. I had chicken parmesan, apple pie. DW said her meal was good, mine was fair. Basic pasta dish. Desserts were good.
11/29
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons. Split a ham and salami sandwich and key lime pie. Sandwich and dessert was good.
Dinner at California Grill. DW had frisee watercress salad, halibut and caramilized bananas. I had Sonoma goat cheese ravioli, braised short rib and apple tart. Both meals were excellent, best of the trip. Also would rate near the top of any meal we have ever had. Service was good. Had 5:30 ressie, so saw the sun set and also the Magic Kingdom after dark--had a window table on the MK side. Very nice all the way around.
11/30
Lunch at Toy Story Pizza. Split a pizza, salad and rice crispy treat. Pizza was fresh, salad was fresh and crispy.
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe. DW had spinach dip, chicken alfredo and carrot cake. I had crab cakes, pumpkin ravioli with chicken and pumpkin cheesecake. This meal was the biggest disappointment of the week. Crab cakes were the only positive. Spinach dip was warm at best, obvious a microwave was used to partially heat. Chicken alfredo was very bland, pumpkin ravioli was served only warm and was decent. Cold bread was brought to table after appetizers were eaten and entrees were delivered right after that. Service was very poor. Definitely not a $105 meal. We enjoyed our counter service meals over this one.
12/1
Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus. DW had antipasta salad and chocolate cake. I had Italian sub and milkshake. Antipasta salad was very good, loaded and fresh. Sandwich was good, but not as good as Sunshine Seasons fare. Milkshake and cake were good, the standard.
Dinner at Le Cellier on the CP plan. DW had shrimp cocktail, barbeque glazed filet and raspberry sorbet. I had beef kabob, salmon and apple cobbler. DW shrimp cocktail was good, filet was okay (she orders well too, filet was butterflied so not crispy like mine at YS) kind of odd with the sauce. Her sorbet was very good, nice and light after a week of heavy eating. My appetizer of beef kabob was okay---not done well, so not to my liking. I did not request well done, so my fault. Salmon was good, served over a spicy sausage slaw which was different, but good. Apple cobbler was good. Service was okay, not too attentive.
Overall our meals were good to excellent, except for WPC. We used the dining plan for six days, had four sit downs (using four credits at YS and CG) which gave us a break from big meals each night. All of our ressies were early, so we found it best to split some of our counter service lunches. Most counter service meals were enough for the two of us. We are relatively light eaters, so this week of eating was out of the ordinary for us. Usually on our trips to WDW we split counter service and maybe eat one or two sit downs, so this trip was good, in the fact the dining plan allowed us to try new and different things. We used our snack credits for mainly water and a couple of soft drinks, which worked out well for us. The total charges on the dining plan came out to a little over $700, while the cost was around $420. We would probably use the dining plan again, as we normally would probably spend close to $400 for the same period, but not eat nearly as well. I have read comments about the service on the dining plan and I think the difference in service usually begins with whether cocktails are ordered. We did not and our service was decent at best, except for YS where the service was very good. But it was obvious our servers paid more attention to the tables with drink orders. It was very obvious at CG, where the couple next to us had two mixed drinks and two bottles of wine. I thought the server was going to sit down and eat with them and go to the parks the next day with them. She was adequate with us. Service at WPC was not good and Le Cellier was decent. At Le Cellier, server had a table next to us with cocktails and wine and it was obvious he played more to them. But, I don't think this is just at WDW. We have seen this in other restaurants too. So not sure how much the dining plan plays into service. At YS we told server upfront we had the DP, CG server asked as did WPC server. WPC server's attitude seemed to automatically switch to indifferent when we said we had the dining plan. At LC, I think their main plan is to get people in and out as quick as possible, since they are booked solid for the CP.
Overall a good trip and good eating.
