DXDP 9/17-9/22...I liked it...I didn't like it...

[KelleyD]

OK. So just got back yesterday...me, DH and DS 18 months. Here are my thoughts...and then on to the reviews!

I debated for months on the dxdp vs. basic. In the end we went with dxdp and I am ok with it.

We had 3 TS meals scheduled per day. It did take up alot of time. BUT it didn't have to!! Ever see the movie Ferris Bueller??? That was what I felt like...Waitress? Waitress? Waitress?

On 2 occasions our waitresses pretty much disappeared. On may occasiions when it came time to "pay" with our card the process would take at least 10 mins. I don't know if its difficult for them to ring the meal plan up or what but somebody needs to look into this. Or have one or two people handle the computer....something...

Ous son was good the first 2 days, after that anytime we sat down for a meal he would say "all done" before we could even get him into the high chair. He started to get sick toward the end of the trip and didn't want to eat much less sit and watch us eat. I kind of figured this would happen, my husband was more optimistic...My son isn't feeling better yet, went to the dr. and got a nebulizer to take home, hope it starts working for him soon...

OK back to topic. DISNEY if you are reading would love a plan that was 2 TS and 1 QS...1 or 2 snacks, you decide...

As for the snacks - we did not have too many at the end. In fact we could have used them all up in no time with drinks. It was sooo dang hot at times that only a frozen lemonade would take the heat off. So many of our snack credits went to drinks. And at 3.49 the frozen lemonade was good bang for your buck.

OK so we ate at:
Crystal Palace - B,D
CRT - D
WCC - L
Ohana - B,D
Boma - B
Rose & Crown - L
LTT - L
Kona - D
Hollywood & Vine - B
Yachtsmen Steakhouse - D
Pizza Planet - L

Missed 2 lunches - Can you believe after months and months of reviewing and planning I somehow misscounted my meals??? I think it was because I was always planning on not going to CRT, freeing up the 4 credits, but I couldn't ever get anything else so we kept it - and I guess I never recounted.

Anyway, one day my husband ate way too much at breakfast, even though I warned him we had an early lunch, so when early lunch came around he wasn't ready. So we missed Primetime and I ate at Pizza Planet.

Then planned on skipping Yak & Yeti but my husband was to hot for a counter service lunch and DS was just not eating much so we got frozen lemonades and a pretzel. That night was Ohana - DS fell apart, then asleep so we got him a counter sevice from Roaring Forks - where he only ate grapes from the fruit cup.

On with the mini reviews - no pictures. Sorry for all the visual people in the crowd...

 

[KelleyD]

Before reviews - the title:

I liked it: Loved not having to take out money. Loved getting forzen lemonades and snacks and not worrying about the price. Loved saying yes dear, get whatever you want including the almost $50 porter house...

Didn't Like: Took so dang long to ring up a check. Didn't like trying to calculate in my head if it was worth it or not.

I guess thats about it. I could have done without dessert at lunch. Would have prefeered ice cream in the park later...but felt like I wasn't getting the value if i did that so stuck with the dessert...

On with the show...oh wait. I am going to try to get my receipts together to give values of the day...just in case people are wondering if its worth it...

 

[Mom2JPL]

I'm looking forward to your reviews...I'm trying the dxddp for one night this trip (split stay) and then reg ddp the rest of our trip...can't wait to see how it works!

 

[KelleyD]

So very early morning flight and very quick arrival to the hotel via Magical Express left us at the WL with a tired baby and no room. Lunch was scheduled at WCC around noon but they said we could come back at 11:30 with no problem.

So we toured the hotel and finally 11:30am arrived. I was quites usrprised to find the restaurant was open to the lobby. For those who haven't been there the entire restaurant fronts the lobby. Weren't to many shenanigans going on that ealry - but trust me, I did not need any!

Me: House Salad and Pulled pork Sandwich. A ton of meat on the pulled pork. Came with fries. It was very good - but a ton of meat! Finished with the Banana Dustbowl. My son devoured this...(As you read these reviews - you will see my son ate terribly on this trip. PLease trust me he does not eat this way at home...it was vacation) Banana Dustbowl was VERY good!

DH: Cheese and Sausage platter...he thought this was just ok. I was glad he got it though because our son ate alot of the cheese and something else that was with it. Loved my tomatoes from the salad. Were there grapes with the platter?? If there were my son ate those...Then DH got the platter. He thought this was ok. Nothing really stood out, didn't get a refill. Also did not get a dessert - which I had to remind him was included...

Meal total:$53.28
Overall very good. Would come back here again.

Dinner:
Tonight was CRT night. This was one I tried to get rid of but couldn't get anything else for in the park that night so away we went. Much smaller then I pictured. Not as grand maybe?

First - I wasn't expecting much. Alot of negative reviews.
ME: BLT Salad. This was ok. I ate it. DH salad looked a lot fresher then mine though! Maybe it came from a different bowl. Cheese tortellini. This was again ok. Sauce was kind of strange...I just read on the menu it says garlic marinara...hmmm I would go with cheesey tomato with too much pepper...just ok. Chocolate cream cheese buckle. This was good. I liked the outside a whole lot better then the inside cream cheese, but overall it was good.

DH: BLT Salad. He liked it...ate it. Prime Rib...He thought it was too dry Now my husband likes his steak well done and his pork chops dry. So this had to be one well done dry piece of meat for him to say that...he still ate it. Poached pear. Sorbet was good. Pear was hard. He liked it though.

The show came very late into our dinner - didn't know if my son would make it. He liked the show. The pictures we got were nice. and my son got a knife (sword) so he was happy with that.

Overall it was ok. We wont go back. Kind of a been there done that. Nothing special for 2 credits though.

Total: $99..and change.

 

[KelleyD]

Our first full day!

Breakfast: Crystal Palace

I was really looking forward to this. Just a quick side note - I knew before Disney that my son wasn't a huge fan of characters. He liked looking at them, didn't want to touch them though...appreciate from afar. Well the previous night, the first character he saw was Pooh. And oh my was there ever a yeall of POOOOH!
So this morning I was telling him we were having breakfast with pooh.

Arrived and were at a table fairly quickly. We lucked out because Pooh was in our area and would be heading to our table shortly. (Another side note. It really stunk if you got sat at a table that had just been visited because despite what they tell you - you probably won't be there for the next round)

So we enjoyed the buffet. Your normal breakfast fair. I did decide that after this breakfast I wouldn't be eating bacon in the morning anymore. Tasted it all day in the 90 degree heat...anyway...it was good. Saw all the characters and had a nice time. BUT and this is a big BUT - this was our first foray into the handing over the dining card and then waiting and waiting and waiting. Up until now the waitor was great. Then he was gone. When I finally caught him and said we needed the check. FInally delivers the check (AND HERE IS A TIP: JUST HAND HIM THE CARD RIGHT AWAY! Dont even look at the receipt. You can look at it when he brings it back). He handed me the check then disappeared again. Waited and waited and waited...finally he comes back to take it back. Then again waiting and waiting...Seriously I was having a conversation with the guy at another table. My husband had left with our son and his wife left with their kids. It really took this long.

This is what made TS that much longer - the whole check process. Overall we liked this place and would do it again.

Total: $40.45

Lunch: LTT
This is where our wait was the longest. Then while trying to occupy my son, my husband wandered off and wouldn't you know that pager went off. He eventually came back and we were seated. This was a very busy place.

Me: Potato soup, Colony salad and strawberry shortcake. Soup was just ok. alot of pepper - son didn't care for it to much. Salad was ok. gave all the apples to ds, he enjoyed that. Then I went with the strawberry shortcake. Normally I would get anything chocolate - but i specifically asked for somehting with ice cream and she said the strawberry shortcake. Turns out it didn't come with ice cream but she brought some on the side. Ds and I ate a little but then I had to take him outside to touch the duck (Donald) he became obsessed with touching the characters.

DH: Hmmm...did he get the soup also? Yes he did. He ate it all - it was good. Pilgrims feast - he liked it, didn't make it to the stuffing though(It was at this point that I casually mentioned if he wanted to eat he had better do it quick since my son didn't like sitting.)
SIDE NOTE: This was pretty much the theme - me inhaling food in order to get it moving so my son wouldn't start screaming. Not the best way to enjoy a meal, but still had a good time. So I think it was actually a good thing as I didn't pig out at the buffets and I pretty much didn't finish my meals or dessert...which I probably normally would have.)
DH: He got the chocolate brownie thing...I would have loved this...He liked it. But my son and I had left to touch the duck and he didn't like sitting there by himself so he didn't eat much.

This was overall a very good meal. No complaints about anything and would do again. Just very busy and crowded.

Total:$54.25

Dinner: I orignally had 1900 Park Fare for dinner. But it was 6:40 and at the time I thought this would be way too late for my son.
SIDE NOTE: His schedule changed daily. After 6 would have been great most nights.
So we changed it to Kona Cafe. BIG MISTAKE! Our waitress was terrible. She just would leave and never come back. I had to ask another waiter for butter without nuts for the bread. Really - she was gone after she dropped the bread off. This was one of our longest meals and there was no reason for it.

Me:Wings - These were good. I liked them. Husband also liked them. Pan asian noodles - worst dish the entire trip. Chicken shrivled and hard. Dish said it had pineapple. 1 piece. I kid you not! 1 small chunk. The noodles were very gummy. Terrible. dessert was the Kona Cone. This was awesome for kids. I got this for my son. Asked for no chocolate sauce - came with cocolate sauce...anyway. This is a waffle cone with vanilla and chocolate ice cream. It sits in a stand. It has a stick of blue cotton candy coming out of the cone. There are also 4 different toppings in small cups that come with it. 1 was m&ms and apparently my son enjoys m&ms. Not so much the cotton candy...cant say I am a big fan either. But this is definently a kid hit!!

DH: Salad - it was good, I liked it. He isn't a big fan of the non iceburg, non romaine lettuces. Teriyaki beef - he liked it. Thought it was good. Chocolate Fondue. Now I wanted this originally when I heard it was on the menu. Then i saw a picture and thought what the heck is that?? But my husband went for it and he liked it. It was much bigger then I though. 4 or 5 large strawberries. Some pineapple, coconut macaroons, kiwi...I htink that was about it. He liked it.

Overall this was ehh. Service was terrible. My entree was bad. But everything else good. I dont know if we would go back again. If we had a better waitress and I had a different entree then probably.

SIDE NOTE: A big thank you to the young couple celebrating their anniversary at the table next to us. They had their 15 month old son with them and I guess he wasn't enjoying the meal so much. They commented about our son sitting there. I said just wait...and since we were there for soooo long they did see the trouble he can cause. Anyway she left and came back with a pooh light up spinner for my son. He loved it! And I was very grateful. So thank you again!

Total:$75.00

 

[KelleyD]

Breakfast: Ohana

OK. This was the one breakfast we wouldn't do again. Characters were good and fun. But the food was just ehhh. I loved that you didn't have to get up, but the eggs were ehh. The sausage was ok. Bacon if you remember I wasn't having and we got 1 mickey waffle each. I didn't see the guy come back again. It was just ok.

Total:$40.45

Lunch:Rose & Corwn
Another meal we could have gone without. I wasn't sure where to plan for lunch this day and at 180 out I was under pressure...and here it is...Also - another disappearing waitress. Another 45 minutes meal that went to 1 1/2 hours

Me: fruit and cheese platter - I was hoping my son would enjoy the cheese again... nope. He did eat all the grapes though. The cheese was ok. Not somthing I would normally get. Soup and sandwich. Without son it would have been fish and chips...instead it was potato soup and turkey and cheese sandwich. Great choice - for ds! He set about taking apart my sandwich and eating the turkey and cheese. He loved it. The potato soup was good to. Dessert - we should have just skipped - got up and left. I got the apple crumble. It was ok.

DH: Salad...ok. Roasted Pork - he thought this was good. I talked him into getting the seasonal berries with custard. Yikes. Ever have the can of cherries or blueberries that you can put on cheesecakes. This was the berries. Blueberries or blackberries in a very heavy thick sauce with some custard. Not so great.

We won't be going back.

Total: $67.44
If no dessert:$55.74

Dinner: Yachtsmen Steakhouse

This was a dinner I knew my son wouldn't sit still for. Tried to get DH to cancel but he wasn't hearing it. Not on his steak night. I really liked the whole Yacht Club area. Restaurant was very nice. Great service...Although I think we got hosed on our bill.

Me: Tomato Salad. This was very good. New York Strip. This was good...but husbands was much better! The potato cheese caserole was very good. Dessert was the painted mickey puzzle for my son - with cupcake. This was ok. But he wasn't to into it. It was white chocolate so I wasn't to into it. I took my son to walk around so my husband could eat and the other diners could have peace. My son wasn't real bad crying or screaming, but everytime he made a loud noise I would feel like everyone was looking at us. So we walked around and I got him an Itzakadoozie at Hurrican Hannas. He liked it and has a tie dye shirt afterward.

DH: Ceaser Salad. he thought this was great. receipt says T-bone. I think it was the porterhouse. He loved it. And he got me the chocolate trio to go. Sweet. But does not hold up well in a box at all. Eat it there or take something else to go.

DS: I got him the kids mac and cheese in case he didn't want steak. He had a little bit.

So my husband handled the bill. Before I left I told him my dessert was DS paint thing and he could get whatever he wanted. But in the end they brough him a bill for over $15. So I guess we paid for DS noodles and dessert, but only got one adult dessert. I wrote this off as my faukt for not explaining to DH well enough.

We would definently go back - alone!

Total Dining plan:OH WAIT - ok - so i went to get the prices of our meal and i see on all ears the dessert smapler was for 2. So we didn't get cheated...except that there is no way that was enough dessert for 2!!!! wHO ARE THEY KIDDING???
Total Dining Plan:$130.97

 

[KelleyD]

Breakfast: Hollywood & Vine

Loved it. My son loved it. He loved seeing JO JO and touching her nose. She had already passed our table when we got in but she came right over. I was bummer we didn't have the camera out yet.

Food was normal breakfast fare. This was where I warned my husband lunch was early - dont eat alot...so he proceeded to eat alot - while I didn't.

We would do this one again. My son had a great time...and this was probably the first time he really wanted to touch the characters and have them come over. He preferred high 5's to hugs though.

Total:$48.96

Lunch: Was Primetime Cafe at 11:10. Husband wasn't hungry. So we kind of walked around.
Side Note: Dear Disney, If the park opens early at 8am and by 9am the temperature is hovering around 90 degrees, then it may be in everyones best interest to have your drink places open. If you see fit to not to open until 10am then perhaps you could open more then 1 spot and have more the 1 person working - in the only place open for a drink on a hot hot day. Thank you.

So after my husband finally said will you just please go get some food and stop being so cranky, I said fine I want to go to toy story pizza. With everyone else in the darn park. And I want to stand on lines that are very unorganized and wait and wait. So I finally got my cheese pizza with apple slices and 2 extra snacks - cookies and rice krispie treat. I had to remind the girl that i got 2 extra snacks - so she said what do you want i will write it on the paper...so I told her...then realized she had the coupons so I could have gotten them later but whatever...it was done.

Husband and sleeping son stayed inside while I sat on a ledge outside. because as you know everyone was there and the place was crowded. I inhaled my pizza...guess I was hungry. BONUS points to the deluxe - I would not want to do that everyday for lunch/dinner with my son awake.

I am including the 2 extra snacks in the total
Total:$16.98

Dinner: Dinner with Pooh - Crystal Palace
Now that my son was getting into the characters, I was looking forward to this.

Food was good buffet food. Nothing real crazy but everything was fine. No complaints from husband. I samppled many desserts. Character complaint though. We were at the table that Pooh and Piglet had just visited. So Pooh went to take a break and stoped to see my son. Very brief and then we didn't see him again. Piglet never came around. Tigger did and so did eeyore so that was fun. Trust me - I know there are a ton of people there but really stinks if your kids dont get to see their favorites.

After dessert my son hopped from the table and ran toward the table yelling Tigger, Tigger...very cute I thought.

We would do this again. Breakfast with the characters was much better though.

Total:$61.75

 

[KelleyD]

Breakfast: Boma

This was the best breakfast buffet of all. However, I don't know if we would do it again. It was just a pain to get from WL over to there. Actually it wasn't terrible but it was the last day and I was tired of trying to figure out the best/easiest way to get to these resorts for our meals.

But like I said very good.
Total:$36.18 - Probably the best breakfast value! In my opinion. I do think next time we would have done Tusker house...for characters but mainly to be in the park.

Lunch - skipped Yak & Yeti. Had frozen lemonade and pretzel.

Dinner: Ohana - probably our favorite non ala carte dinner. And great value for what you get.

We both thought this was great. Noodles were different then what I got at kona. Dumplings were good. Salad was good. All the meats were good. Husband liked the steak the best. Pork was much better with the dipping sauce. Husband didn't like the Turkey...i didn't mind it so much. Husband didn't try the dessert. I did. Oh Yum! I was holding my sleeping son and shoveling it in. That banana sauce really made it happen!

Total:$57.48 - great value.

 

[KelleyD]

So we had 1 counter service at roaring fork.
Ham and cheese sandwich, fruit bowl and milk. 2 extra snacks that i got later were a HUGE brownie and a dream bar or something...

we had 4 frozen lemonades...no 5 frozen lemonades nope 6
2 bottles of apple juice
1 or 2 bottles of water
1 bottle of coke
2 large chocolate covered rice krispy treats
1 bagel
1 yogurt
1 ice pop
1 pretzel
1 or 2 additonal sodas maybe 3...
1 school bread - I thought this was good. The dough was a roll - but not like a buttered roll, a dense sweet roll. Sugar and coconut were great and the sweet cream was real good!
If you can get to the Norway Bakery - get there!!

Man its hard to account for all the snack credits.

Anyway the deluxe plan cost us $679.90
We spent on MEALS only:$782.19
Obviously a good deal. Snacks and mugs were an additional value. We only made it to 3 out of 5 scheduled lunches. If we missed all the lunches and did counter service only, using an estimated $9.00 value for a counter service lunch, we would have spent $662 and change with an oop lunch.

Still a great value as I didn't include the 30 snacks or the mugs.

Now for comparison purposes...lets do only the buffet breakfasts and lets say no a la carte dinners...
breakfast for the 5 mornings: about $202.22
counter service lunch 5 days: $90
dinner for 5 days: about $313.46
So example total is:$605.68
That would mean on meals alone you are out $74.22. Less $24 for mugs out $50.22. You would get 30 snacks - for the sake of it use $2.00 as the value and now you are over by almost $10.

Seems to me, if you were to do 3 meals a day...you might still make out on this plan. Sure $10 is no big deal. But maybe you don't do all buffet dinners -ala carte dinners will bring you more value. Doesn't even have to be signature.
Just a thought. But if you are the family to split all lunches and have a granola bar for breakfast then this plan is definently not for you!

Ask any questions!!

 

[Marc A.]

Thanks for your report. We are on the deluxe plan for Nov. and have alot of the same meals planned. We have a 27 month old son and a 4.5 year old daughter and I know it will be trying for our boy to sit still for some of the dinners we have planned.
Did the restaurants give your son any activities for the table??
Were they always the same???
We've had a nebulizer for him since he was very young and will be bringing it with just in case. If he catches a cold his breathing gets bad so we don't want to get stuck going to an ER for a treatment w/o it.
Thanks for the review!!!

 

[CanadianPaco]

Nicely done! I really enjoyed it!! Thx

 

[KelleyD]

Did the restaurants give your son any activities for the table??
Were they always the same???

He always had a placemat with crayons. Of course this was the trip he thought he should start eating crayons. So that was a hassle. And he is a dumper, so he would pull the placemat real quick and try to dump anything on it.

We had some sparkle mickey heads on our table for our anniversary, those kept him pretty occupied the one time.

I guess I should have brought his toys. But honestly when he was done, everything starting flying so the less projectiles the better I guess.

Good Luck. I hope since he is a tad older you will have better luck! Have fun!! Despite the meal time drama - I would do it again. My son had a great time.

Nicely done! I really enjoyed it!! Thx

Your welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[Obb Mom]

What restaurant is CRT?
Great report!

 

[KelleyD]

What restaurant is CRT?
Great report

Thank you.

Cinderellas Royal Table.

 

[frdeb1999]

Great review! Love hearing all the likes and dislikes!