Free Dining Sept 18-25th! COMPLETE, take a Peek!! Pics/Editorials free also!

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Just a bit of background about us and our trip.

We experienced the most magical place in the world from Sept 18 - Sept 25. Free Dining included. We are your typical normal family from the NorthEast. Our only problem is that we have been eating healthier within the last 2 years and the amount of food on the dining plan overwhelmed us to say the least. Okay enough of the boring stuff! Here's the cast:

Me: DM, 42, loves all food, but most foods don't like me. Willing to try anything on vacation. I usually eat 6 very small meals a day due to the tummy stuff, but risked it for the sake of vacation.

DH , 44, loves all food and as the smiley states wouldn't tell me if he didn't. He is our human vacuum cleaner and finishes what the kids waste. I think he truly believes his dad would roll over in his grave if we wasted food, free or not. He eats most foods but sometimes creative names must be created to the item for him to try it. Call it Veggie Frittata and he would walk away. Eggs with veggies, give him a plate full.

DD , 15, eats chicken, eggs, and applesauce and believes music is required to settle her stomach. She broke her rules and tried to open her horizons for this trip. She did very good and I am very proud of her.

DS , 13, eats every hour on the hour. If you do not feed him he becomes grumpy and miserable. Now I can't really confirm this as he may be just grumpy and miserable all the time because he is 13 but at least he is quiet when eating! He has a lazy gallbladder and fat overload is NOT a good thing with him.

Okay onto the food. Please be patient. We just got home yesterday and I haven't loaded all the pictures yet.

The list of our meals in no particular order....

Table Service

Akserhaus Princess - breakfast
Tutto Italia - dinner
Sci-Fi Diner (late lunch/early dinner)
Hoop-De-Doo Review
Kona Cafe - dinner
The Plaza - dinner
Tusker House - breakfast
Rainforest Cafe DTD - dinner

Counter Service

Cosmic Rays
Pop Century food court
Lotus Blossom Cafe
Lottawatta Lodge **okay this wasn't originally here when I post, the kids reminded me that we ate here. I have selective memory and the idea of being in a bathing suit and actually eating scares me a bit. And just for the record, this was the first time in 3 years that I did put on a bathing suit and enjoy myself. So the eating healthy did pay off somewhat (promise no pics of bathing suits here)

Now to be totally honest, we felt the dining plan had TOO much food. I know how dare you say that. But we were stuffed to the gills. We are not used to eating so much and morning turned into afternoon which looped right into dinner. At the end of our stay we had 13 counter services and 7 snacks to use in 4 hours.... !
2. We didn't fail the dining plan on money since, well its free, so anything we ate was a plus. I tipped very graciously though!
3. I consider myself an extreme foodie. I am either on this board or watching the Food Network . I totally blame DH, DS, and DD for their inability to jump outside the box for a "foodie adventure". I also blame myself for putting them before my passion. I always do this. My greatest fault. But hey isn't it a fault every parent should have?

So, please sit back and enjoy the ride. It's a pleasure to have you with us!

 

[OhMari]

DS , 13, eats every hour on the hour. If you do not feed him he becomes grumpy and miserable. Now I can't really confirm this as he may be just grumpy and miserable all the time because he is 13 but at least he is quiet when eating! He has a lazy gallbladder and fat overload is NOT a good thing with him.

My nephew is exactly is the same way. He grew to 5'9 in the last 6 months and I don't think he is going to stop. But he don't have the gallbladder issues. I know how that is though-no fun.

Looking forward to your reviews. I will be eating at some of your resturants that you went to, but eating out of pocket. I have free dining when I go, but I am not going to do it because mostly what you said, way to much food. I am sticking with my 40% off room code.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Cannot wait to hear all about it! DH needs to eat a bit all the time too, low blood sugar....if you dont feed him he is just a miserable person to be around.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

My nephew is exactly is the same way. He grew to 5'9 in the last 6 months and I don't think he is going to stop. But he don't have the gallbladder issues. I know how that is though-no fun.

Looking forward to your reviews. I will be eating at some of your resturants that you went to, but eating out of pocket. I have free dining when I go, but I am not going to do it because mostly what you said, way to much food. I am sticking with my 40% off room code.

Cannot wait to hear all about it! DH needs to eat a bit all the time too, low blood sugar....if you dont feed him he is just a miserable person to be around.

Thanks for the replies, I finally unpacked everything today and I did all the laundry. I will be uploading the pics today, and I will start the reviews tomorrow. Glad to have you on board. Diane

 

[habg1]

Sign me up!

 

[PrincessBetsy]

I can't wait to hear your reviews, sounds like you ate at a lot of great restaurants!

 

[TigerKat]

I'm in.....

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

We didn't take pictures at our counter service meals and just a few of the snacks, but hopefully my words can conjour up thoughts of the wonderful world of Disney food....

Pop Century Food Court

Breakfast

Pre-packaged Entenmann's donuts - fresh, quick and easy for a few breakfasts and also great for late night snacks. I paid out oop for these but they were matched up with fruit cups, hot cocoa, and coffee. Everyone enjoyed it, how could we not, we eat this at home

!! Just a side note, we purchased 3 new mugs and used them. The kids had their own and DH and I shared one. It was a common occurance that either the frozen coke machines or the hot cocoa machines were down. Not just one coke machine, but all of them at once. Same with the cocoa. I am not sure if this is done on purpose, but my kids enjoy both drinks throughout the day and not at certain meals. Hopefully we just were there on a bad week. Also only one apple juice dispenser actually had apple juice, the rest had water. So you may want to take a quick sip before filling up your total cup. And onto the coffee.... It was somewhat drinkable. Without any other options, DH and pretended that it was the best cup of coffee ever.... yeah that worked real well!!

SIDE NOTE: - If it bothers you that some people do not buy new mugs for each visit, I would recommend learning the art of pouring your drinks with your

eyes closed

. I saw mugs from 2005, 2004, and even the same as ours from 2000. And to make matters even more controversial, there was a family who brought their own cups from home. Yep, the whole matching set for the family of 5. I am happy to report that I am now an expert at filling my mug with eyes closed and have also learned to bribe DS to get me coffee by offering him a sip .

Mickey Waffles

were a 10+ on everyone's radar. Light, fluffy inside, crispy outside with just the right amount of sweetness....
DD really enjoyed the ham/cheese omelet. Eggs were cooked perfectly and fluffy. Omelets were always warm even after standing in line to pay. DH and I thought the ham was too salty and just enjoyed the cheese omelets. The potatoes that accompanied the meal were always warm and not one hard potato!
Bagels both plain and everything were very good. They were definetely made correctly with the outside firm and the inside perfect. Only complaint is that after enjoying a true everything bagel in NYC, these fail in comparision, but we weren't in NYC so I won't compare them. We were never denied cream cheese and were allowed as much as we wanted.
DS also tried the chocolate chip pancakes and said they were very good. He added only a little butter and no syrup, so they must have been sweet.
Egg Croissant breakfast sandwich - we good except the bottom was a bit soggy by the time I got it back to the table.

Lastly, chocolate croissant was light, crispy, and just the right amount of sweetness. Don't ask anyone else though since I didn't share.

Lunch items:

Nacho's Supreme - DD and DS had these a few times and enjoyed them. I personally don't consider them lunch but they were fine with it. Add a power drink and they were in heaven.
Cheese Steak Wraps - DH and I shared this twice and both time asked that they be made fresh. They were very good and not as greasy as I had expected. Onions were sweet and the meat was very tender. Cheese was american, but worked very well. I will definetely order them again and may even try to eat one myself some day.
Turkey Ciabetta - On our last day we had way too many CS left over. I ordered 2 of these sandwiches and brought them home. DH ate his and asked if we could please go back to get him more. They were a 20 on his scale of 10 and this was the day after if was made.... Fresh turkey, greens, fresh tomato, onions, and a light vinegrette on a great chiabetta bread.
Pepperoni Pizza - DS had this the last day. He said it was just the same as eating one of my frozen pizza's. It is a total shame though, it took 15 minutes to get his little personal pizza. This was the case for anyone ordering one, so don't give your kids the choice of pizza if you are in a hurry.

Made to order ice cream sundaes were very small and not to my standards. I should have said something, but it was a dessert and we had already eaten lunch, but still this is an area that needs work.

We also enjoyed fresh fruit, cookies, the best, sweetest red grapes, brownies, many juices, water, soda's, and yes.... Rock Star's for DS. Not once did I have to return anything or complain about the food from the food court......


.......Hey you over there in the corner

...shhh..... , don't tell anyone but somehow around 6 rice crispy mickeys and two bags of gourmet jelly beans jumped into my carry-on. There at home with me right now and I am sure we will enjoy them very soon!!

Cosmic Ray's...
We usually get burgers here, but decided to do chicken this time. I had made all these great plans to try other CS at Magic Kingdom, but I was over ruled. So I have decided next time, I am sitting them down and going where I want!!

DH and I shared the 1/2rib 1/2 chicken combo - I did not enjoy this at all. I only ate the mashed potatoes and green beans. DH didn't give any words which means he didn't enjoy it either, but he did eat it, cause nothing shall be left uneaten... Chocolate cake dessert was moist and very tasty.

DD - grilled chicken sandwich w/ fries and DS had the 8 piece nuggets with fries. They shared with each other and both enjoyed the nuggets better and did enjoy the fries. They had the sugarless brownies and ate one between the two of them.


Lotus Blossom Cafe

Just a little background here... Approximately 30 minutes prior to this CS meal DS ate a full dinner at Tutto Italia

which I will review later...

Orange Chicken with steamed rice - DS really enjoyed this meal and ate all but 3 pieces of chicken. One each for the rest of us to try. The food was excellent but the staff was a bit confused. They would only allow him 2 waters with his meal. No soda, and no replacement for his dessert since he didn't want any of the ones they offered.... Other than that, it was very good. The chicken was all white meat and very tender and cooked perfectly. The orange sauce was not too sweet and we all gave it thumbs up!!


** Here's the addition that I blocked out....

Lottawatta Lodge

DH and I shared the Chicken Wrap with Fries an Ice Tea and a Mickey treat for dessert.
DD had the Chicken Breast Nuggets with Fries, Sprite, and a Nestle Crunch Ice cream for dessert.
DS had the Pepperoni Pizza, coke, and a Ice cream sandwich for dessert.

We shared and enjoyed everything. DD was excited to get real ranch dressing for her nuggets and DS thought the pizza was good and not to saucy. The wrap was the hit of the meal and both DS and DD took a good majority from us. (Don't worry DH and I are not wilting away from lack of food... YET) This might also be a good time to tell you all that we were able to get large and I mean large drinks with our meals. DS took this opportunity to tell us that he "doesn't like soda". He drinks it at home all the time but requested either lemonade or fruit juice for the rest of the trip... I guess I will never totally get it right when it comes to teenagers!

Next to come: Snacks/Desserts...

 

[jeminni]

Great reviews and I love your idea of closing your eyes at the drink station.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Great reviews and I love your idea of closing your eyes at the drink station.

Thanks, it worked....

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Great reviews and I love your idea of closing your eyes at the drink station.

Sign me up!

I can't wait to hear your reviews, sounds like you ate at a lot of great restaurants!

I'm in.....

I hope you enjoy and I need to use this little guy - - since I can't find a picture with popcorn in it? I know we ate a bit of it... Oh well off to start my table service reviews....

 

[frdeb1999]

Great reviews so far!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Now for a semi-adventurous family you would think we could have come up with some great snacks for us to try.... Well NOT!! We are by far the most boring family I have ever met. I read about all these wonderful, delicious treats and what do you think we ended up using all and I mean all of our snack credits on....

Well here I can show you!

Now for the sake of not being too repetative, we also shared Dole Whips, funnel cakes, cold red grapes, at least 8 boxes of popcorn, 1 piece of fudge, and yes we each made a treat from Goofy's Candy company to bring home. I could take pictures BUT some of the Mickey's are missing ears, the pretzels rods have been broken into 4 for sharing and well each of the cookies looks like a mouse took a bite. I will spare you the shame !

So as it goes, DH has been informed that we will need to return in December of 2009. Since the weather will be a bit cooler we may, and I need to cap that, MAY, be able to stay away from the addiction we have created above!!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Great reviews so far!

Thanks for the support!

 

[accountingbabe08]

I'm subbing . Thanks for the great report and I'm looking forward to reading more.


Belinda

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

On our second day of our trip we visited Hollywood Studio's and our only TS for the day was at Sci-Fi. I made a 4:05 ADR so that we could watch the parade and then head over for linner/dunch - whatever you may call it. We ate breakfast at the resort and this would be our only sit-down meal of the day.

Sci-Fi Diner

First, we should set the ambience....

We arrived 15 minutes early and we told in a not so nice manner that we would have to wait til our ADR time, in which I smiled as wide as I could and replied, "Oh, thank you so much for the wait, WE LOVE sitting in the lobby people watching and cooling off before our meal!!"

The entrance:

Make sure to note the LONG line of people waiting!!

After approximately 15 minutes we were seated at the last car closest to the door on the way OUT!! This would become the beginning of the worst tabling seating visit I have ever had at the World. An inside joke would soon surface and the minute we would be seated at any of our TS meal's, the kids would sit, look at DH and I, and in unison would above inside voices reply "FAIL" to us. Oh in case you weren't notified, Fail is the word of the month......

Okay so over comes our waitress, Suh-Kei, a very lovely young lady with a sense of humor to match DH. Something we don't always get and usually DH gets us in tons of trouble with his dry wit...

DD orders a vanilla coke, DS a cherry coke, DH a coke, and I order the chocolate shake with a side of lemon water. Suh-Kei lets us know she has tables on both sides of the restaurant but to give her a holler if we don't see her enough...

The drinks came quickly and DD did not like vanilla coke, DS did not like cherry coke, BUT they did switch and both were very happy. DH said our coke was watered down which I am not sure about since I don't usually drink pop. The chocolate shake was very thick and please don't beat me, but it was too chocolatey.... I drank it though but followed it with a water chaser... Onto our entree's

DS ordered the Smoky Baby Back Ribs with fries and coleslaw.

He enjoyed them and gave it an 8 out of 10. The bbq sauce was perfect, but mom had to remove the meat for him since it was too dark to see and he kept cutting the bones.

DD ordered the Smoked Turkey Sandwich w/regular mayo and fries.

She gave it a 6 out of 10. She enjoyed the insides but was not too fond of the grain bread. I told her to order white but she wanted to be adventurous. The fries were very much to her liking.

DH order the Angus Chuck burger with everything and fries and I ordered the Smoked Turkey Sandwich w/Onion Rings...

We split each of our meals in half and shared. The burger was devine, the sandwich was just okay. The turkey was salty but the milkshake cooled it down... BUT if I could do it over, I would eat all onion rings for lunch. They were the hit of the meal and I had to share!

For desserts the kids and DH ordered the hot fudge sundae and DH gave the waitress a hard time about having enough hot fudge. They rambled back and forth for a good 5 mintutes but when the sundae came so did the HUGE bowl of Hot Fudge!! (DH did share with the kids)

I opted for the apple crisp tart and it was "very good". I once again had to share with everyone because "MOM" got the better dessert!

The movies were corny and the restaurant was quiet, but we in turn were just as corny.... BUT threw in a side of loud and hysterical. Why not, we were on vacation in the worst seat the place had to offer!!

We will definetely go back, but will make better meal choices next time!!

 

[TPCShauna]

How nice that the restaurant was empty yet you still had to wait to be seated. LOVE the bowl of hot fudge!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

How nice that the restaurant was empty yet you still had to wait to be seated. LOVE the bowl of hot fudge!

I did really enjoy the wait before eating though. We did get to cool off and settle a bit before going in.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, Princess Storybook Breakfast​

On our second full day we visited Epcot. We started the morning with a few rides then walked over for our 10:25am breakfast at Askerhaus. My DD15 had requested this breakfast. In April she decided not to go with her friends for the dinner because of the menu and felt she had missed out on something magical...

We arrived around 10:10 and knew by the lines that we would be waiting til our ADR time. We used this time to browse around Norway and take in some of the sites we previously missed...

Here's a few for your viewing pleasure:

Views from the courtyard

Reading "Gone with the Wind" in Norway - a school assignment

Entering for our breakfast!

Onto the meal: We were seated at the second table on the right next to the door on the way out... Are you seeing the pattern yet? The waitress came over and took our drink orders. I didn't think we were too complicating, but she seemed a bit confused, OJ, chocolate milk, coffee, and water?? She told us to help ourself to the cold buffet and she would bring over our hot items shortly. Here's the food pics before I continue the review;

All items are from the hot foods brought to us!

Butterballs, the joke of the day!!

Food art, a new hobby of DD!!

We walked over to the cold buffet and were pleasantly surprised with all the choices. All together we tried the salami (well all the salami if you combine what DD and DS took), fruit - very fresh, bisquits, croissants, lovely Jarlsburg cheese, cinnamon rolls, and a few other treats. This was definetely a great start to our breakfast.

While starting our meal the princess's did start to come and see us. I was backed into a wall and DD was knocked by each of the princesses as they came by. The table was ill-placed and cramped. We saw Snow White, Jasmine, Mulan, and Aurora. While you look at the pictures, please note the smile on DS's face. So don't let the boys fool you, they love... the attention!

After the princesses came the hot food, eggs, sausage, bacon, and potatoes. They were all very, very delicous. The eggs were fluffy and DD stated that I needed to learn to cook them that way. DS devoured the bacon and sausage. The potatoes were to die for... DH ordered 2 plates. We shared the first, and he ate the second himself. Best of all, we didn't get our plates til after the princesses visited us. WE specifically were ready and quickly took our pictures so we could eat in peace. During this time the waitress was MIA for the majority of the meal. We did need some attention like maple syrup, ketchup, and butterballs... We nicely asked for the whole container of coffee and after running so much she just placed it on the table and said "no problem". She looked very tired to me. We all agreed the meal was an 8 out of 10 and that it would have been easier to wait and bus our own table. The variety was more than sufficient and after staring down DH and I, both the kids truly enjoyed the variety of salami for breakfast.

My only suggestion would be a room that would be princess-free. After seeing them this time we wouldn't need to see them again. The food was that good and a room with just a little more space between tables, a little less commotion, and waitresses more relaxed would definetely be worth the money oop, even without the dining plan. And once again, we tipped well above the suggestions, even though as a planner, the TABLE FAILED!!

 

[TPCShauna]

What awful table luck! I'm cracking up over here about the fact that your DS is smiling, yet trying not to smile and trying to act cool and not look like he's pretty delighted to have pretty girls on his arm.

I would LOVE a character free room at some character breakfasts as sometimes I just want breakfast. KWIM?