Dlx DDP May 9-16 -- 3 w/allergies plus a pregnant chick. Dessert anyone?

[MentalVacation]

We did the Deluxe Dining Plan -- 3 adults, one 'freebie' toddler

Our 'issues' going in:

Me: Pregnant (so some dietary limitations)
DH: Nut allergy
Mom: Fish allergy
DS: Celery allergy

The large majority of the restaurants were GREAT about the allergy thing. We only ran into one issue, which I will outline below.

Our restaurants, in rough order:

Chefs de France (dinner) (last minute ADR, had to cancel Teppan Edo b/c we needed a nap and were pushing it otherwise...)

CRT (breakfast on Mother's Day)

Narcoosee's (dinner Mother's Day)

Boma (breakfast 5/11)

Chef Mickey's (dinner 5/11)

1900 Park Fare (breakfast 5/12)

50's Prime Time (dinner 5/12)

Crystal Palace (breakfast 5/13)

Jiko (dinner 5/13)(Last minute ADR replacing Cap'n Jacks due to nap time overrun)

Tusker House character breakfast (breakfast 5/14)

California Grill (dinner 5/14 -- just DH and I)

Hollywood and Vine character breakfast (5/15)

Ohana (dinner 5/15)

We skipped our lunch at Tony's on the 16th as we came home early due to a family emergency. I don't know if we'd have had room for any pasta anyway!

We did not use all of our credits. Had 6 dining credits and 13 snacks left. But even with that, I am pretty sure we came out ahead. We seriously ATE our way through Disney.

Every day for lunch we used two meal credits for lunch -- split the cesear salad and chicken nuggets/pizza/other meal between the four of us. It was plenty.

I didn't take pictures of everything. My hubby already thinks I'm nuts.

I will try to work my way through these quickly.

 

[MentalVacation]

Night One: Chefs de France

We had intended to go to Teppan Edo at 5:30. Had a very sleepy boy napping and decided it wasn't worth waking him, so I called and took whatever ADR I could get in Epcot. Le Cellier was booked solid, this was the next option. I'd never tried it but had heard good things. It was a busy open place. We were there around 8:00...can't remember exactly, but we finished in time for 9PM IllumiNations.

My mom ordered the 1/2 chicken dish. The potatoes that came with it were a big hit with my toddler. She liked the chicken but said it was way too much food. I had the veg lasagna, which was very good, but definitely not something my son would eat...way too 'grown up'. Thank goodness Grandma ordered chicken. DH ordered the beef tenderloin (I think -- the beef entree). He thought it was very good. However, he had beef at pretty much every table service meal (ok, EVERY ONE) and it did not rank in the top three.

Dessert....I had creme brulee. It was just ok. PLENTY of it, but I'd had better many times. (Sad, huh? ) My mom ordered an ice cream/chocolate sauce something....it disappeared quite quickly. DH ordered the key lime tart (I think?) which I tasted. I am not a key lime fan, but he enjoyed it a lot.

All in all, not our best experience of the week, but a good meal nonetheless. I am not sure if it would make it back on my list for next time. I will say I did tend to evaluate things based on whether I felt they were worth the actual price tag. (You get a little numb to the price when doing the dining plan, but it is a good consideration -- would I actually pay 41.00 for this dish?) I am not sure Chefs passed that test for me, but that is just me. It was a good meal. Not overwhelmingly good. I am trying to remember what we had for appetizers. I think we all had salads. I was tired.

Allergy issues were great -- chef came to table FAST and was very informed and friendly.

Service was GREAT. Fast with the drinks. Coffee was good, according to the coffee drinker.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cinderella's Royal Table....hmmmm.

Ok, as a grouchy pregnant lady about to bite into a sticky bun, I was not pleased with the staff at CRT. They literally pulled the plate out of my hand saying they needed to take it ALL AWAY b/c of the nut risk. (No nuts in it but processed in the bakery....) Anyway, after a small sword fight, I kept my pastry...at the other end of the table from DH who has the allergy....other than this, it was so-so food. This is another one I am not sure I'd pay 'full price' for (yes, I realize I paid plenty for it anyway...you KWIM, I suspect). DH and DS liked all the meat. Mom and I, not so much. They were generous with the OJ, which I love! But just sort of a so-so meal. They DID bring DS a small plate of french toast sticks with a ton of syrup.....which he devoured, along with a sticky bun. But it made him a sticky mess, just in time for princesses.

This was our first character meal, so part of this experience may have been my fault, but the princesses were just not all that engaging at ALL. I had been told that they really made a fuss over the 'little princes' and was hoping we'd get some cute shots with them. They were extremely, um, quick with the visits. At the time I thought it was the norm, but we had character meals almost every day and it definitely was not. We got a couple cute shots, but none of them paused enough for us to get DS out of his high chair for a shot except Aurora (who wins my vote for sweetest princess ). It just felt like they thought we were a 'disposable' table with all the little girls decked out all around us. IDK. (I am pregnant and moody, keep this in mind ) Mom and I wore cute little crowns for Mother's Day (mostly as an inside joke).

I was also disappointed that Belle was not in her yellow ball gown. I probably knew this, but I was like "What? Who is this?" LOL

Our waiter was very entertaining. He teased my husband mercilessly.

The photo with Cinderella was also a little short. I think I'd built this meal up in my head and it definitely was NOT our best dining or character experience. Maybe we will try again if we have a little girl this time. IDK....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Narcoosee's................

Dinner at 6:30

We rode the bus to Epcot or MK and took the monorail over to GF. The grounds at GF are just gorgous. I can't wait to stay there when we get the chance! (It was my choice for this trip but DH picked AKL for DS's entertainment).

ANYWAY, we had no wait when we arrived 15-20 mins early. Just enough time to peek outside on the deck and we were seated. The chef was quick to come to the table, which was good b/c I don't know how I missed in my planning that Narcoosee's is primarily a seafood restaurant. This is critical b/c my mom's allergy to fish is the most life threatening and can be affected by even water glasses touched by 'fishy' hands.

The chef was excellent and knew exactly what was what with both the celery and fish allergy. (And nuts as well, but DH is a little more cavalier with his own health. I worry about the other two more...b/c he does... )

Mom and DH ordered the filet. I ordered the ahi tuna, after confirming with mom that it would be ok. (She has more problems with salmon odors and such being in close proximity). ANyway, the chef assured us that the servers would not touch both plates and her food would be cooked in a separate area. Mom had a salad for appetizer. DH had crab cakes and I had shrimp cocktail. I think that is right...I know he had crab cakes. Because he let me try them and they were AMAZING. Best crab cakes ever! He agreed. (I should note, mom's allergy is to fish not shellfish, although she did not try either of these for fear of cross-contamination).

My ahi tuna with wasabi, rice, etc...was just delicious. It was the best meal I had all week...or tied with the sushi I had at the Cali Grill. Very asian inspired in look and taste. Mmmmmm. Excellent.

Narcoosee's filet came in 1st for mom...second for DH. (Jiko's filet came in first for him....but I'll have to save that for another night).

DS found less to eat here. We ended up feeding him at DTD afterwards (can't beat a good happy meal for a 2 year old...sad but true) He did enjoy the chocolate cone and decor from my almond encrusted cheesecake. Which was the best cheesecake I've ever had. I should say that I am not normally a huge cheesecake fan. This was covered in sugared almonds and was just yummy.

It is really pathetic but I can't remember the desserts mom and DH had. They weren't nearly as good as mine.

Service was great at Narcoosee's. This was my absolute favorite dining experience the whole week.


more to come.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Awesome reviews so far! Cannot wait to hear the rest....the trick with the DTD Happy Meal? Well we did that when we brought our niece (6) in January...no way was she going to eat at Fultons and lucky us McD's is right across the way from Fultons, it worked out perfectly!

And my DH agrees with your DH, Jiko has the best filet at WDW

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reviews so far, congrats on your pregnancy

 

[momsavealot]

great reviews and thanks for giving a rating based on handling the allergies (we have to deal w/ a nut allergy here) - can't wait for more!!

 

[MentalVacation]

Let's see, where was I.............

BOMA for breakfast...buffet, buffet....

This was our most disappointing breakfast buffet. It was 'okay'. (Which was disappointing b/c I'd booked it 2x b/c we were staying at AKL, thinking that would be easy) We just didn't find anything interesting/outstanding about it. The chef took forever to come out to discuss the allergies, which was probably my biggest frustration b/c you know...toddler...dining.....waiting....etc....but what can you do? I'm trying to remember what I ate but it was just sort of generic egg/bacon/fruit/french toast stick type fare. I did like the scrambled eggs. Very good.

CHEF MICKEY'S..................................

DH about starved to death for the buffet lines, but this was 10000% worth it for the character experience we had. The food was okay. DS loved it -- lots of kid-targeted fare, of course. I enjoyed a pasta salad and there were some really good cheesy potatoes. But the biggest hit at our table was the ice cream bar (which was a long wait as one side was closed for maintenance). But somehow chocolate ice cream with gummy bears was the most amazing dish DS had ever seen. I enjoyed the ice cream bar too...nothing out of the ordinary, but there is something to be said for plain vanilla. We had the best experience in terms of characters. We had a quick 'drive by' from Donald right when we arrived. He came back once we were settled for better pics, etc...we saw Goofy which was a huge hit for DS...bigger even than Mickey. Mickey got great reviews as well. But the coolest part was our second visit(s) from Mickey and Donald. We were waiting for Minnie, who our waitress said was still on the far end of the other room. Mickey came back by and he and DS got into a bit of a tickle fight! Seriously. DS was laughing so hard he'd have peed his pants if he wasn't still in diapers. I have some hilarious pics. Donald also dropped back by, which we thought was really cool. Finally, DS was getting a little restless and our waitress had us meet Minnie on our way out. DS was pretty fresh...tried to attack her EYELASHES! All in all....this is not for the food. It was decent. It was fine. We all ate, except poor DH who was so anxious about getting the awesome pics...the lines were pretty long....but it wasn't like he starved. We will do this again just for the character experience.

 

[captainj]

Great TR, keep going! I think I want to hear a TR about your "unofficial senior trip" when you are done with this one. I'm sure NOTHING crazy happened at all.

 

[DCDisney]

Thanks so much for the allergies info! Very helpful as I am making ADRs next week...