Disney Dining Deluxe Doesn't Do Us In -- a week in heaven with photos

[bleeps]

I've read such mixed things about Tony's. But it is the only place at Disney that has much of anything to do with Lady and the Tramp and that's my favorite Disney movie! Wondering if we should try it on our trip?

My advice would be to go for it! We all enjoyed our meals there, the service was lovely, and I think your love of the movie would make it worth getting into the place at least once!

It's the Dapper Dans who performed right at opening time; I can't say for sure that it happens every day, but we booked an early (11:30) lunch and arrived about 11:20 and they did perform tunes from Lady & the Tramp, which was a real treat.

 

[bleeps]

I totally agree with you -- the puffed french toast is worth the price at the CP. I love it and always fill my plate with it. We got very fortunate in we ended up having a "mini trip" last month that wasn't expected and at 40 or so days out, I was able to get an 8:05 ADR for Crystal Palace; I wouldn't have cared about any of the other places (including LeCellier) as long as I got my puffed french toast.

There's a recipe for puffed French toast in the "Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook" -- I haven't attempted it because I can't imagine having my home version stack up to the real thing, but maybe this winter I'll have to get brave and give it a go (maybe DH will put on a Winnie-the-Pooh suit and.... well, no, probably not...).

 

[bleeps]

Loving your reviews!!

PS... my 13 year old DD drinks cold cappuccinos all the time!! If that makes us bad parents, let's start a club!

Whew -- I feel better! I'm up for starting the club, and our first meeting should be at AK at rope drop one morning!

 

[bleeps]

I'm really enjoying your reviews. Like your husband I was at disney for my 50th birthday. My kids were teasing me, everyone wants to have a party for their 50th birthday but you want to run away to disney.

EXACTLY -- DH's parents wanted to have a family party for him, and our friends kept asking if I was going to throw a surprise party for him (I kept saying that I wanted to stay married, thank you very much!). He was very, very happy with having his big day at WDW. DS and I were both surprised and impressed that DH wore his birthday button that day (since that wouldn't normally be his style) but he really, really enjoyed his WDW birthday. I hope you enjoyed your big day there, too!!

 

[bleeps]

Your review was a delight to read. Thank you!

How kind of you! Thanks for reading along; these were a joy to write and share.

 

[bleeps]

Great reviews - makes me want to upgrade to the deluxe plan!

Wonder if I could use this as an idea to convice DH to start an annual tradition to WDW "the kids will be more adventurous eaters if we take them every year!"

If it works in your budget, I do recommend the deluxe plan. Aside from the breakfast treats at AK that weren't on the plan, the glasses of wine we had with dinner, and the side dish at Yachtsmans, we didn't spend an additional penny on food. Before they offered the deluxe and just had the 'straight' plan (which is sorta like the reg. plan now), we would struggle to figure out which meal to put on the plan and when to pay OOP -- and it felt hard to pay for some meals OOP given how much we'd spent on the plan. I know deluxe costs more but for us -- between the availability of a "full" meal (appetizer, main, dessert) and the 3 meal credits a day to use as you wish -- it really makes the vacation feel special.

And hey -- good luck on the annual tradition of trips; in all seriousness, we DO think it made a huge difference in DS' approach to eating!!

 

[mjmartin01]

thank you so much for your reviews. really great reviews. Love the photos

 

[bleeps]

thank you so much for your reviews. really great reviews. Love the photos

Thank you! Please do feel free to ask questions if you have any!

 

[pancras]

Your reviews have been wonderful to read. I was wondering before if I had made the right decision going for the Dxddp and was considering changing it. However your reviews feel so calming and relaxing, I am going forward with it.

 

[KatMark]

There's a recipe for puffed French toast in the "Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook" -- I haven't attempted it because I can't imagine having my home version stack up to the real thing, but maybe this winter I'll have to get brave and give it a go (maybe DH will put on a Winnie-the-Pooh suit and.... well, no, probably not...).

Maybe if you put on a Piglet suit he would.

 

[bleeps]

Your reviews have been wonderful to read. I was wondering before if I had made the right decision going for the Dxddp and was considering changing it. However your reviews feel so calming and relaxing, I am going forward with it.

I am so delighted to hear this! I'll tell you -- I went through a couple of trips as a spreadsheet-wielding, dining-plan MANIAC -- stressing out beyond belief about making sure that every single credit was going to be used to the max, and making sure we were making significant savings, the whole nine yards.

The deluxe plan is just so wonderful, so flexible -- we now all just go and enjoy it and have a great time. Hope your trip is magical!

 

[bleeps]

Maybe if you put on a Piglet suit he would.

 

[vinotinto]

I really enjoyed reading your dining report. I could just feel the mood of every meal by your descriptions. We did the DDP on our first Disney trip last month, and I think we will do DxDP when we return in 2010, mostly because the quality of the TS restaurants (in terms of the overall experience) is better than most of the CS restaurants (in my very humble opinion).

So here are 2 questions for you:

1. What are your 1-2 favorite signature restaurants?

2. Do you think you and your husband could have shared 1 ap, 1 entree and 1 dessert during your lunches (for example, at Yak and Yeti, Coral Reef, Sci-Fi, etc.)? We have little kids and I think character breakfasts would be good with them, but there are a few 2 credit restaurants that I want to try in the evening. So, that means for lunch we probably won't be hungry enough to do a full 3-course and we won't have enough credits to do a character breakfast, a full lunch and a 2-credit dinner. I'm thinking we may share some of the credits at counter restaurants, but after seeing your lunch descriptions, that seems like a poor substitute!

 

[bleeps]

So here are 2 questions for you:

1. What are your 1-2 favorite signature restaurants?

2. Do you think you and your husband could have shared 1 ap, 1 entree and 1 dessert during your lunches (for example, at Yak and Yeti, Coral Reef, Sci-Fi, etc.)? We have little kids and I think character breakfasts would be good with them, but there are a few 2 credit restaurants that I want to try in the evening. So, that means for lunch we probably won't be hungry enough to do a full 3-course and we won't have enough credits to do a character breakfast, a full lunch and a 2-credit dinner. I'm thinking we may share some of the credits at counter restaurants, but after seeing your lunch descriptions, that seems like a poor substitute!

Thanks so much for reading and your kind words!

1. Top 2 favorite signature restaurants are Jiko and Cal. Grill (even though we didn't go this trip). If I had to pick of the ones from this trip, Jiko and Yachtsman Steakhouse.

2. I don't think my husband and I could have shared meals -- he's a big eater, especially with our walking an average of 12 miles a day at WDW. I would think about either springing for some out-of-pocket lunches, OR looking at whether you could share off of your 2 children's meals (that would work for me personally -- if I have a big breakfast and know I'm having a big dinner I could totally get away with 'snacking' at lunchtime). The character breakfasts are wonderful and I'm sure your kids will enjoy them -- and you'll really be able to fill up on some decent food!

Good luck, and do let me know if you have more questions!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Crystal Palace breakfast

It is one of our traditions to have an 8 a.m. breakfast at Crystal Palace on the day we leave (which, fortunately for us, has never been an MK emh morning). We have always gotten out to the bus stop by 7:15 and had no problem catching the MK Character Breakfast bus.

But, this time, apparently we didn't get the memo. What we should have done, as it turns out, was alert the concierge desk the night before that we would want the bus to stop at YC. We didn't do that. The next thing we probably should have done (hindsight being 20/20) was that when it got to be later and later and no bus was coming was to jump in a cab to the GF and jump on the monorail from there. (The only thing I wish were different for the transportation system is that I wish it were possible to take a cab directly to MK, but you have to go to and from the TTC if you're in a cab).

By the time the bus for MK finally came it was a little after 8, and our ADR had been for 8. We decided it was what it was -- we'd just deal. We got to MK and they had let guests through the turnstyles but were holding them at the entrance to the train station to await rope drop. We, politely as we could, worked our way to the front of the crowd and explained our situation to the cm, who very nicely let us through.

Now, one of the reasons we love the early ADR is the opportunity to get castle pictures with an empty park. But we were all so harried by this point (it was a little past 8:30) that we went straight to CP to check in.

We took deep breaths, reminded each other that we were going to have a great last day no matter what, and sat down at our table.

For us, that marvelous CP breakfast buffet is all about the puffed French toast; this was my plate so I had some scrambled eggs and grits as well:

Ah, just as good as we remembered! DS loves the Pooh characters and, as luck would have it, had already had good visits with all of them at AK. He was the one to suggest that we'd take whatever characters came our way but that we wouldn't hang around for all 4.

Luckily, the two we got were his two favorites!

People do ask us what keeps us going back to Disney year after year. There are many answers to that question, but there's no question that one of them is having a son who, at age 11, is still just so, so happy to be able to give these characters a big hug and interact with them a bit. Who wouldn't want to hold on to this part of childhood for as long as possible?

We were able to finish up and get out into the park by just a little after 9. We would have wished for a slightly less rushed and stressful morning, but we'll know next year to make the request ahead of time for the early bus to stop at the resort for us or else we'll hop a cab earlier.

Food: A
This is our favorite buffet on property. Sure, it has gotten a little less spectacular in the last few years, but as long as there is puffed French toast, we'll be here!
Service: A
She knew our tale of woe and she was all over getting us our drinks and letting us know when the characters were coming; she also was great about dropping our check early, as we asked.
Atmosphere: A
We all love the airy feel in here, and even if they don't have a lot of time to linger some days, the character interactions have always been really great.
Value: $57

I love all your reviews!!! Wonderful job with the pics and the comments as well. You have a beautiful family who seems to enjoy some good dining. Our boys are only 4 and 2 but we take them out to eat all the time and plan on continuing to encourage them to try new things, especially on vacation and at WDW of course!

We've only been to Crystal Palace dinner, never the breakfast there, but I did make puffed french toast once, using the recipe from the All Ears site, and my my my did it come out SOOOOOO good!!!! It looked just like the picture of it you posted too! We loved the dinner there so much and my boys love the Pooh characters too, so we are going back there for dinner on our trip this coming July! Maybe on a future trip we will make it there for breakfast.

I hope that when my boys get a little older, we can take them to signature restaurants and that they will enjoy them. We will be going to WDW every other year, and they will be 3 and 5 when we go this July.

It seems like you really enjoyed your trip! And I also know all about the HOT days in Orlando in August...both times my parents took me and my sister to WDW when we were kids, it was in August! And we go in July! It is hot but so worth it. We make sure to go to the parks very early in the morning (we're early risers so it works for us), when it is still in the upper 70s and pretty nice out. After lunch we take a break at the hotel and then go back in the evening when it cools down a bit again. So we spend the hottest part of the day avoiding the parks!!

 

[bleeps]

I love all your reviews!!! Wonderful job with the pics and the comments as well. You have a beautiful family who seems to enjoy some good dining. Our boys are only 4 and 2 but we take them out to eat all the time and plan on continuing to encourage them to try new things, especially on vacation and at WDW of course!

We've only been to Crystal Palace dinner, never the breakfast there, but I did make puffed french toast once, using the recipe from the All Ears site, and my my my did it come out SOOOOOO good!!!! It looked just like the picture of it you posted too! We loved the dinner there so much and my boys love the Pooh characters too, so we are going back there for dinner on our trip this coming July! Maybe on a future trip we will make it there for breakfast.

I hope that when my boys get a little older, we can take them to signature restaurants and that they will enjoy them. We will be going to WDW every other year, and they will be 3 and 5 when we go this July.

It seems like you really enjoyed your trip! And I also know all about the HOT days in Orlando in August...both times my parents took me and my sister to WDW when we were kids, it was in August! And we go in July! It is hot but so worth it. We make sure to go to the parks very early in the morning (we're early risers so it works for us), when it is still in the upper 70s and pretty nice out. After lunch we take a break at the hotel and then go back in the evening when it cools down a bit again. So we spend the hottest part of the day avoiding the parks!!

Thanks for reading and for your feedback! You may have given me the courage I needed to go ahead and try and make puffed french toast at home!! We definitely recommend CP for breakfast, and just keep the faith and you'll be in signature restaurants with your family before you know it!

 

[slk537]

I really loved your reviews! We have an ADR for lunch at Yak and Yeti for our next trip and your enthusiasm has me excited to try it. I love reading about another frequent Disney visiting family with just one child (especially a boy!). Our DS is 8 and is starting to get a little more adventurous about food. I hope he keeps growing to be more like your DS.

You mentioned CA Grill is a favorite of yours - I know you didn't go this trip, but how would you compare it to Jiko or Yachtsman? We've done both of those, but never California...and I am really interested in trying it.

Thanks!

 

[bleeps]

I really loved your reviews! We have an ADR for lunch at Yak and Yeti for our next trip and your enthusiasm has me excited to try it. I love reading about another frequent Disney visiting family with just one child (especially a boy!). Our DS is 8 and is starting to get a little more adventurous about food. I hope he keeps growing to be more like your DS.

You mentioned CA Grill is a favorite of yours - I know you didn't go this trip, but how would you compare it to Jiko or Yachtsman? We've done both of those, but never California...and I am really interested in trying it.

Thanks!

Hi there! Hurray for boys -- wouldn't it be nice if WDW finally got with the program and put out some character meals aimed at boys? We can all hope....

Funny -- at the breakfast table this morning we were just talking about which signature restaurants we want to hit next trip, and we all agreed that CA Grill needs to be on the list.

I think that the CA Grill experience is more similar in some regards to the Jiko experience than to the Yachtsman experience. Yachtsman's really is your typical high-end steakhouse. We love it, but the room itself isn't all that special; once you are inside (esp. if you aren't near the windows and/or if it is dark out) you pretty much could be at a restaurant in any city. The menu is your typical steakhouse menu. Again -- great food, but standard.

What sets Jiko and CA Grill apart are their menus -- seasonal ingredients prepared in interesting, unusual ways. Not meals you could necessarily expect to encounter elsewhere (unless you live in/near a large city with a vibrant restaurant scene, and even then...). We do love the look and feel of Jiko, but nothing trumps CA Grill esp. if you can arrive before sunset and see the views (and enjoy the gorgeous setting sun). We actually prefer getting there while it's still light out, even if it means passing on the fireworks experience (they usually will let you return later in the evening if you want to watch from one of their observation decks -- just keep your receipt).

We all would definitely recommend giving CA Grill a try, and if it came to it for us we would take Yachtman's off the list in order to go there.

I think you'll find that your son's tastes and sense of adventure will really blossom once he hits 10 or so -- kids go through tremendous physical and intellectual growth at that point and expanded tastebuds and willingness to let go a little and branch out really open up your dining experiences!

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

I've read such mixed things about Tony's. But it is the only place at Disney that has much of anything to do with Lady and the Tramp and that's my favorite Disney movie! Wondering if we should try it on our trip?

We did not have a good experience a few years ago at Tony's - not the service but did not enjoy either the food or the ambiance - however... DD12 insists on this as her pick this year so we have no choice - hopefully things will be better

 

[MickeyCrazed]

I rarely read dining reviews from start to finish, but I just completed this entire thread and enjoyed it very much.

DH and I had the same type of experince at Citrico's. The food was good, but we just didn't feel comfortable there even though there was hardly anyone in the restaurant.