We just returned from 7 wonderful days at Disney on the dining plan, Jan. 13 – 19. I will also be working on a trip report. But I figured I would start with the dining plan because that is my favorite! Before this trip, I spent a great deal of time perusing the dining reviews and menus. I carefully selected each of our meals – at least the TS ones. I had a good idea of CS I wanted to try and we ate at those and a couple of unplanned ones. I also preplanned the snacks I wanted to try.
By about the third meal, my family realized that no amount of eye rolling or badgering was going to stop me from snapping pictures of all their food. Towards the end my DS was even positioning his food for better shots. They came to appreciate the fact that I already knew what was on each menu and what was recommended. I even found myself wanting to help newbies around me. I did a couple of times. But there was one couple on the raft to Tom Sawyer’s island discussing lunch options. They were actually planning to head over to Cinderella’s Castle without adrs. Obviously, they had not read Twinkiemama’s trip report. I knew it would embarrass my DH if I leaned through the crowd and told them to forget it.
Okay, on with the reviews.
First of all the cast of diners:
Me (35) – I love food. I joined the Disappearing Peeps because of my food addiction. I am not picky at all. I will try anything once.
DH (35) – Also enjoys food, but definitely more picky. He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy.
DD (11 – going on 40) – A definite foodie. She was the only one other than myself who knew the menus. She knew what she planned to eat at each meal.
DS (7) – You will notice that my son pretty much ate the same thing at every meal. Chicken strips and fries. Not adventurous at all.
DFIL – Not sure of age, grandparent age – Not picky, one of his favorite meal last time was the Mickey Backyard BBQ !? Go figure!
DMIL – Same age as DFIL – Likes the same kinds of food as me.
I also want to say that I love the Dining Plan. I know there are people out there who think it has ruined Disney World. But for us, it has been a wonderful highlight to our vacations. The few Disney trips that I made growing up were always on a tight budget. We did eat a sit down meal in Germany once. But the rest of the time consisted of sack lunches and the occasional hamburger. With the dining plan our whole vacation is paid for before we leave. I don’t have to make my family read the menu from right to left. If my DD wants to have salmon or steak, she can. At home, she usually gets the cheap chicken. The dining plan has allowed us to enjoy the fantastic dining at Disney World.
Rating Scale:
A – Excellent, we will return here next trip
B – Good, we may return in the future
C – OK, but once was enough
D – Yuck, we won’t return.
Counter Services:
Pop Century
Flame Tree BBQ – AK
Pizzafari – AK
Cosmic Ray’s – MK
Casey’s – MK
Tangierine Café – Epcot (Morocco)
Liberty Inn – Epcot (America)
Cantina de San Angel – Epcot (Mexico)
Flatbread Grill – MGM
Table Services:
Ohana – Polynesian
Liberty Tree Tavern – MK
Kona Café – Polynesian
Le Cellier – Epcot (Canada)
Boma – Animal Kingdom Lodge
Primetime 50’s Café – MGM
Day One – Saturday, Pop Century and Animal Kingdom
Breakfast – Pop Century
We arrived early Saturday morning at Pop Century after driving all night from Mississippi. The place was packed so our rooms were not ready. We stored our luggage and headed to the food court for breakfast. We weren’t hungry so we only got 2 breakfasts. One order of chocolate chip pancakes and one order of eggs, bacon, and sausage. It was okay, but not great. Most of it was thrown away. No pics of this one sorry. It was a lot of food though. C
Lunch – Flame Tree BBQ
After breakfast, we headed over to Animal Kingdom, which was also crowded. I had decided beforehand that we would eat at Flame Tree BBQ. Last year we ate at Tusker House, which was very good. Both of my kids dislike BBQ, so they had chicken nuggets and fries from McDonalds. I did not take pics of this meal either – sorry. I have pics of every other meal. We had been up for over 30 hours at this point, I was not thinking clearly. I was also busy protecting our food from the very aggressive, hungry birds! This is some pics of my DS trying to fend off the birds after he had mistakenly fed them a few fries – we ended up moving tables. The guy at the next table was feeding the birds chicken! Sorry Utahmama – I could not stop him. But I did stop my kids from feeding them chicken nuggets.
I had the BBQ chicken, beans, corn, and chocolate cake. The chicken was tender, moist and had a good taste. Their sauce is really good. The corn was okay. The beans were very nasty! Yuck! Not even the birds would eat the beans. The chocolate cake was very rich, just the way I like it! DH had the same thing except he had the ribs. The ribs were even better than the chicken. He had frozen lemonade for dessert. I was just frozen lemonade – Minute Maid. B
Dinner – Ohana
We headed back to the room by about 4:00 to rest, unpack and dress for dinner at Ohana. This has been a much anticipated meal. First of all, the Polynesian is beautiful! I know why Disneyland Mama loves this place. I will stay here one day. We did not have to wait long for a table. We were seated in the corner with a great view of the water. Our server was efficient and nice. As soon as we were seated we received drinks and starters very quickly.
Picture of DD and I.
Starters:
Fried Wontons served with peanut sauce, chimichurri sauce and harissa – We all love this! I can’t remember which sauce is which now. But I loved the sweet one – I think it was the chimichurri. We had seconds of the wontons.
Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing – I loved this salad. It had kind of a sweet, tangy dressing. Very good. I ate 2 servings of this.
Appetizers:
Spicy-sweet and sour shrimp – This is peel and eat shrimp. It was great. My family loves seafood (Cajun origins), so we are picky about shrimp. I also insist on eating all shrimp with cocktail sauce. This shrimp needed no sauce. DD and I made a meal of the shrimp. Our server had to bring more of this too.
Honey-coriander chicken wings – These had a thick, sweet sauce. They were very good. But most of us were so busy eating the shrimp that we did not eat many wings. Very messy!
Accompaniments:
Maui Scalloped Potatoes – Cheesy, creamy potatoes. Very Good.
Stir-fried Vegetables – Vegetables were fresh. I didn’t eat a lot of this because I liked the salad better.
Skewers:
Marinated Sirloin Steak
Asian Barbecue Pork Loin
Mesquite Grilled Turkey
Hawaiian Pork-sausage with pineapple terriyaki glaze
This is how these meats are described on the menu. But to me they all tasted like the had the same smoky flavoring. I do not like sausage, so I did not try this. My DH liked it. Everything else was just to smoky for me – I hate smoked flavoring. The steak was okay though. I don't have a pic of these, I guess because I did not like them? Here is a pic of them cooking them though.
Dessert:
'Ohana bread pudding a la mode with Bananas Foster Sauce – Wow! One of the best desserts all week! I can almost taste it right now. I just started my diet so that is not a good thing. Sorry, Peeps (especially Bee) – I know, this is torturous. But Glendamax is loving it I am sure!
Overall, this was a great meal. Even though I did not like the skewers, the rest of the meal is worth a return trip! A
This last pic kind of sums up how we all felt the first day.
Next installment - Libertry Tree Tavern, Tangierine Cafe, Liberty Inn, Dole Whips!
By about the third meal, my family realized that no amount of eye rolling or badgering was going to stop me from snapping pictures of all their food. Towards the end my DS was even positioning his food for better shots. They came to appreciate the fact that I already knew what was on each menu and what was recommended. I even found myself wanting to help newbies around me. I did a couple of times. But there was one couple on the raft to Tom Sawyer’s island discussing lunch options. They were actually planning to head over to Cinderella’s Castle without adrs. Obviously, they had not read Twinkiemama’s trip report. I knew it would embarrass my DH if I leaned through the crowd and told them to forget it.
Okay, on with the reviews.
First of all the cast of diners:
Me (35) – I love food. I joined the Disappearing Peeps because of my food addiction. I am not picky at all. I will try anything once.
DH (35) – Also enjoys food, but definitely more picky. He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy.
DD (11 – going on 40) – A definite foodie. She was the only one other than myself who knew the menus. She knew what she planned to eat at each meal.
DS (7) – You will notice that my son pretty much ate the same thing at every meal. Chicken strips and fries. Not adventurous at all.
DFIL – Not sure of age, grandparent age – Not picky, one of his favorite meal last time was the Mickey Backyard BBQ !? Go figure!
DMIL – Same age as DFIL – Likes the same kinds of food as me.
I also want to say that I love the Dining Plan. I know there are people out there who think it has ruined Disney World. But for us, it has been a wonderful highlight to our vacations. The few Disney trips that I made growing up were always on a tight budget. We did eat a sit down meal in Germany once. But the rest of the time consisted of sack lunches and the occasional hamburger. With the dining plan our whole vacation is paid for before we leave. I don’t have to make my family read the menu from right to left. If my DD wants to have salmon or steak, she can. At home, she usually gets the cheap chicken. The dining plan has allowed us to enjoy the fantastic dining at Disney World.
Rating Scale:
A – Excellent, we will return here next trip
B – Good, we may return in the future
C – OK, but once was enough
D – Yuck, we won’t return.
Counter Services:
Pop Century
Flame Tree BBQ – AK
Pizzafari – AK
Cosmic Ray’s – MK
Casey’s – MK
Tangierine Café – Epcot (Morocco)
Liberty Inn – Epcot (America)
Cantina de San Angel – Epcot (Mexico)
Flatbread Grill – MGM
Table Services:
Ohana – Polynesian
Liberty Tree Tavern – MK
Kona Café – Polynesian
Le Cellier – Epcot (Canada)
Boma – Animal Kingdom Lodge
Primetime 50’s Café – MGM
Day One – Saturday, Pop Century and Animal Kingdom
Breakfast – Pop Century
We arrived early Saturday morning at Pop Century after driving all night from Mississippi. The place was packed so our rooms were not ready. We stored our luggage and headed to the food court for breakfast. We weren’t hungry so we only got 2 breakfasts. One order of chocolate chip pancakes and one order of eggs, bacon, and sausage. It was okay, but not great. Most of it was thrown away. No pics of this one sorry. It was a lot of food though. C
Lunch – Flame Tree BBQ
After breakfast, we headed over to Animal Kingdom, which was also crowded. I had decided beforehand that we would eat at Flame Tree BBQ. Last year we ate at Tusker House, which was very good. Both of my kids dislike BBQ, so they had chicken nuggets and fries from McDonalds. I did not take pics of this meal either – sorry. I have pics of every other meal. We had been up for over 30 hours at this point, I was not thinking clearly. I was also busy protecting our food from the very aggressive, hungry birds! This is some pics of my DS trying to fend off the birds after he had mistakenly fed them a few fries – we ended up moving tables. The guy at the next table was feeding the birds chicken! Sorry Utahmama – I could not stop him. But I did stop my kids from feeding them chicken nuggets.
I had the BBQ chicken, beans, corn, and chocolate cake. The chicken was tender, moist and had a good taste. Their sauce is really good. The corn was okay. The beans were very nasty! Yuck! Not even the birds would eat the beans. The chocolate cake was very rich, just the way I like it! DH had the same thing except he had the ribs. The ribs were even better than the chicken. He had frozen lemonade for dessert. I was just frozen lemonade – Minute Maid. B
Dinner – Ohana
We headed back to the room by about 4:00 to rest, unpack and dress for dinner at Ohana. This has been a much anticipated meal. First of all, the Polynesian is beautiful! I know why Disneyland Mama loves this place. I will stay here one day. We did not have to wait long for a table. We were seated in the corner with a great view of the water. Our server was efficient and nice. As soon as we were seated we received drinks and starters very quickly.
Picture of DD and I.
Starters:
Fried Wontons served with peanut sauce, chimichurri sauce and harissa – We all love this! I can’t remember which sauce is which now. But I loved the sweet one – I think it was the chimichurri. We had seconds of the wontons.
Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing – I loved this salad. It had kind of a sweet, tangy dressing. Very good. I ate 2 servings of this.
Appetizers:
Spicy-sweet and sour shrimp – This is peel and eat shrimp. It was great. My family loves seafood (Cajun origins), so we are picky about shrimp. I also insist on eating all shrimp with cocktail sauce. This shrimp needed no sauce. DD and I made a meal of the shrimp. Our server had to bring more of this too.
Honey-coriander chicken wings – These had a thick, sweet sauce. They were very good. But most of us were so busy eating the shrimp that we did not eat many wings. Very messy!
Accompaniments:
Maui Scalloped Potatoes – Cheesy, creamy potatoes. Very Good.
Stir-fried Vegetables – Vegetables were fresh. I didn’t eat a lot of this because I liked the salad better.
Skewers:
Marinated Sirloin Steak
Asian Barbecue Pork Loin
Mesquite Grilled Turkey
Hawaiian Pork-sausage with pineapple terriyaki glaze
This is how these meats are described on the menu. But to me they all tasted like the had the same smoky flavoring. I do not like sausage, so I did not try this. My DH liked it. Everything else was just to smoky for me – I hate smoked flavoring. The steak was okay though. I don't have a pic of these, I guess because I did not like them? Here is a pic of them cooking them though.
Dessert:
'Ohana bread pudding a la mode with Bananas Foster Sauce – Wow! One of the best desserts all week! I can almost taste it right now. I just started my diet so that is not a good thing. Sorry, Peeps (especially Bee) – I know, this is torturous. But Glendamax is loving it I am sure!
Overall, this was a great meal. Even though I did not like the skewers, the rest of the meal is worth a return trip! A
This last pic kind of sums up how we all felt the first day.
Next installment - Libertry Tree Tavern, Tangierine Cafe, Liberty Inn, Dole Whips!
Oh, a true DISer can always be identified as the one taking pictures of the food!!! Way to go, Stacey!!! So happy you didn't feed chicken to the birds. 
Ohana sounds fabulous...it's already in the Word table for the next trip. Thanks so much for the great reviews!
So I'm in for the ride!
