free QSPS and then some - ALL DONE 12/31, WPE, EOS, snacks and final thoughts

[abminer]

After reading your reviews on the food court at POP, I am certainly going to stick to yogurt, fruit and a bagel for breakfast and skip anything else. I still have planned to eat lunch there but I don't know maybe after check in we'll just head over to DD and try Earl of Sandwich since we are paying OOP. I am still excited to stay at POP though and get lots of pics of the resort and have fun walking down memory lane.

Sorry I'm a little behind on this report; I've just returned from a week-long business trip.

You'll see later in this report that we really enjoyed EoS.

If you'd like to see my pics of Pop, check them out here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2827928

 

[abminer]

Day 3: DIS desserts ala snack credits at Boardwalk Bakery:

At 10:30, after Yachtsman, we rolled our stuffed bodies around to the Boardwalk area. I have wanted to try Boardwalk Bakery for so long. Even though we were stuffed from dinner we had to get some goodies here. We strolled up to Boardwalk Bakery, which was virtually empty, and the case was still full with these beauties:

We got the s'mores cupcake:

and the cheesecake brownie:

We took them back to Pop and ate the cupcake in bed! This was great. The cake was so light with a rough crumb and milk chocolate flavor. In the center was milk chocolate fudge and a few mini marshmallows. The "frosting" was marshmallow and the graham cracker crumbs on top were as fine as sand. This cupcake, the 3rd and final of the trip, was light and yummy. We loved it.

We started the next day by splitting the cheesecake brownie in the room before we set out in search of a real breakfast. It was so good and creamy, but we couldn't finish it. The cheesecake was super smooth and the brownie had a strong chocolate flavor. Another winner! Boardwalk Bakery gets an A!

We spent 2 (free!) snack credits at Boardwalk Bakery (it would have been $8.50)

*side note: We checked out the Yacht Club and Boardwalk Inn hotel lobbies. They are both beautiful and we loved the whole area. We preferred the casualness and high ceilings of BWI. We must stay in this area next time!

 

[Linda67]

Not only do the cupcake and brownie look delicious but you got to eat them in bed!
Heaven

 

[abminer]

Day 4: breakfast at Sunshine Seasons

I was still feeling a bit off so we started our day by reporting my food poisoning from the morning before to the Pop concierge desk. The manager came out, took a report and offered med services (he asked what time I’d eaten the bad breakfast and what I ordered). I asked for my CS credit to be restored, he kindly gave us 2.

Now having sworn off Pop’s foodcourt, we needed to find an alternative. This was our Epcot day and we planned to be there just after rope drop. That meant only Future World was open so we headed straight to Sunshine Seasons where we split one CS credit (needed so save room for F&W booths). I’ve had great lunches at SS so we had high hopes for breakfast.

We got an adult platter with coffee and I used a snack credit for a bottle of Smart Water. We swapped the eggs, which I was not about to trust, for extra french toast.

Adult Breakfast platter - Bacon, (no eggs), French toast x 2, meat, and a biscuit ($6.29):

The potatoes had veggies in them and were better than Pop’s. The biscuit and french toast were ok. DBF said the french toast was dry, but overall fine. The coffee was more Disney Nescafe, which DBF was losing patience with, but he’s a good sport.

I was a bit disappointed in this breakfast since the lunch options are so great, but it was an improvement. We gave it a B-

This got us going, but in the future I’m going to add at least one TS breakfast per trip (I love the breakfasts at CP and Boma so they may need to be revisited) or stick with continental breakfasts.

We spent 1 (free!) CS credit and 1 (free!) snack credit on this meal. (it would have been about $10)

 

[discnewbie]

Yay! An update!!

I think based on your reports I will definitely do a continental style breakfast. Muffins, fruit, bagel etc.

 

[abminer]

Yay! An update!!

I think based on your reports I will definitely do a continental style breakfast. Muffins, fruit, bagel etc.

I was MIA for a while at a work event in South Beach, Miami (the only thing that keeps my mind off Orlando, is a trip to somewhere else in FL!).

Don't dismay too much. I've never had a bad TS breakfast at WDW (some better than others, of course), but I did have one very good CS breakfast this trip...stay tuned!

 

[abminer]

Day 4: lunch at Boulangerie Patisserie

It had been 24 hours since my food poisoning incident, but it turned out I still wasn’t right. We met our pals after breakfast and tackled Future World. I came off of Test Track, which I’ve ridden many times before, and uh oh, car sickness! But, even after that I was determined to eat my way around the World Showcase as best as I could. After some down time, we hit Boulangerie Patisserie, the CS place in France. It was 1:45 and there was no line (by the time we left it was huge):

We ate it next door inside:

They didn't have all the things I'd seen in pictures on the disboards (no peach tart, no pithivier, but they did have an almond paste turnover), but did have plenty of tasy options. We each used a CS credit.

DBF got the turkey and brie baguette ($5.25):

And for dessert he got the Chocolate Mousse ($3.35):

I got the Ham and Cheese Croissant ($3.25):

For dessert I got the Cream Puff ($2.95):

BDF was annoyed that they don't have mustard (um, no mustard in France, duh). He said the sandwich was on par with an Au Bon Pain, but pretty good anyway. But, my croissant was better. The croissant was real, not like the doughy ones they use in the resort CSs for breakfast sandwiches. This was crisp on the outside, light flaky, and soft and airy inside. It had a dollop of a rich, white cream sauce on top with a sharp parmesan-like cheese on that. The sauce, like a thicker, drier béchamel, was inside the sandwich too, with sliced cheese and deli-style ham. This was delicious, but very heavy. I struggled to eat it, but managed pretty well despite being a bit sick.

As for the desserts, our main reason for coming here, they were yummy. Oh how I’d like another cream puff right now! The biscuit was mildly butter flavored and air filled. The crispy shell complimented the cream, which was light, buttery and smooth. It wasn’t heavy or filling, exactly what I needed. The chocolate mousse was good too. It had an intense milk chocolate flavor, was air whipped, and silky smooth.

This was our only CS meal in which we were given large sodas. I’d give this one a A-, if only for the boring baguette.

We spent 2 (free!) CS credits on this meal. (it would have been $21)

 

[cajunbaby1]

Sorry you had a bad experience at your food court. At least they comp'd your meals. Thanks for the pics. Now i'm hungry for cupcakes...naturally i don't have one and its all your fault!!

 

[abminer]

Day 4: Epcot snacks

DBF and I love F&W and were eager to work our way around the booths trying dishes we hadn’t on our last trip. What did we try?:

Canada- (famous) cheddar cheese soup ($3.75):

I like, but don’t love this. I felt the same way when I tried it at Le Cellier a few years back, but DBF has never been there. He liked it, but we both agree it should come with bread, I still don't love it, but DBF gave it an A-.

New Zealand-lamb slider with tomato chutney ($5):

This had a bit of a kick, but it was tasty. It was on a good wheat roll, was a nice portion for sharing and was moist. An A- from both of us.

Hops ‘n Barley (USA)- pumpkin mousse with cranberries ($1.50):

I should have gotten two because it was so tiny (shooter size), but it was delish! Sweet layers of spice cake with fresh orange syrup at bottom, and craisins and strudel crumbs on top. I barely let DBF taste it. A solid A!

Germany- pretzel roll with Nuernberger sausage ($4.50):

Yes, the sausage is twice the size of the roll, but it was excellent (and I used to live in Berlin so I know good street food sausage). The bread was so fresh, and there was a nice snap to the sausage. A!

While we were at the Germany pavilion we just had to make our 1st visit to Karamel Kuche. I got a chewy caramel bar ($3.95):

This was very yummy, especially if you like pie crust or shortbread. My only complaint was that it could have been crisper/less soggy crust. I would try something else next time, but I give it a B+.

Long lines at the booths and my not feeling 100% well ended our F&W tour a bit earlier than we’d hoped, but we still love the festival and made good choices this year.

We spent 5 (free!) snack credits. (it would have been about $21)

 

[abminer]

Day 5: dinner at Kringla Bakeri Og (Norway)

Our plan was to get out of Epcot just after Illuminations started to miss the mass exodus. We were still hungry and craved something a bit more substantial than the F&W booths, and we had extra CS credits to burn so we hit an old favorite of mine, Norway’s Kringla Bakery. A lot of people only go there for the school bread (yummm), but it’s a great place for quick service too – an amazing value on a dining plan.

FYI-they have no indoor seating, just covered outdoor:

We got one CS meal to share, which came with a sandwich, choice of salad or fruit cup, large drink and a pastry or treat. We had this packed up to-go and brought it back to Pop. We chose-

Roast beef sandwich:

Fruit cup and a large Voss water to drink:

And rice cream for dessert:

Before I even discuss the food, I must say that the CMS there were the friendliest we met anywhere during our stay. I don’t think they get many people who use full CS meal credits because the girl behind the counter kept emphasizing that nothing was excluded. This is a great value on the DDP.

This was one huge sandwich with tomato, swiss, caramelized onion and roast beef on a fresh, soft bread roll. It was very good. This was my first rice cream and I liked it. I love rice pudding, but this is softer and creamier, it has texture, but it’s smoother than rice pudding. It’s very mild with the same syrupy sweet strawberries you get on waffles. DBF said it was too sweet so I ate most of it. We ate the fruit cup in our room the next a.m. as we packed up (to head home ).

I give this one an A.

We spent 1 (free!) CS credits on this meal. (it would have been $18.45!!!)

 

[abminer]

Day 5: lunch at EOS:

Sorry for the long absence folks, two long trips in December have kept me busy, but I'm going to finish this one before the new year!


Despite plans to get use out of our 6 remaining CS credits before we headed to the airport in the late afternoon, we simply weren’t hungry enough to eat two more meals. After some resort hopping (we visited CBR, POR, POFQ, SSR and OKW!), we returned to DTD to get some dinner to take with us on the plane.

We’re pretty lucky in that our airport at home (Boston Logan) has an Earl of Sandwich in one terminal, but we rarely use that one and their menu is limited. EOS may be a poor value on the DDP, but it’s portable (we didn’t chose anything really messy, though I would have liked to try the cannonballs). In addition to fountain sodas…

DBF got The Full Montagu - roast beef and turkey with sharp cheddar cheese and aged Swiss cheese, romaine lettuce, roma tomato and Earl's mustard sauce ($5.99):

I got the Caprese - fresh mozzarella, roma tomatos, fresh basil and drizzled balsamic vinaigrette ($5.99):

For dessert DBF wanted something to eat right away as a snack, so he got the chocolate pudding ($1.99):

I got something for later, the brownie whoopie pie ($2.49):

The pudding got eaten first and DBF enjoyed the real whipped cream on top. Though we ate our sandwiches 6 hours later during a layover at BWI airport, both were good. The bread at EOS is very good, better than most of the chain sub shops. I’d asked for just a little balsamic, but got a lot. This was ok by me, but I dare to think of what I’d get if I asked for extra. The mozzarella was great – the real, fresh kind. It was thin and stringy.

For dessert you could choose any pre-packaed item for $2.50 or less. I chose the brownie whoopee pie, two brownies with vanilla frosting in between. This was great, but intense! Moist and chocolaty and the frosting cut the dark chocolate flavor just enough.

It was absolutely insane crowded in there, but the line moved fast and was worth it. We gave this an A-.

We spent 2 (free!) CS credits on this meal. (it would have been about $24)

 

[abminer]

Day 5: last day, time to make up for lost time (WPE)

We didn’t hit a park on our last day and spent time at DTD and resort hopping instead. This was my chance to redeem breakfast so it was off to a sure thing, Wolfgang Puck Express! I’ve had great lunches there in the past, but went on good faith that breakfast would also be good there and prove that CS breakfasts can be decent or even great.

We got a late start packing up and checking our bags at Pop and DTD opens pretty late anyway, but we got to DTD just as they opened to find a virtually empty WPE in the Marketplace section:

I love WPE pizza, but I was not going near the breakfast pizza. We decided to get a savory and a sweet dish.

DBF ordered (real) coffee and the breakfast pocket - Scrambled eggs, peppers, Niman Ranch Bacon, onions, mozzarella and cheddar cheese baked into Wolfgang's pizza dough (hold the mushrooms) ($9):

I got a hot tea and the Crispy Cornflake French Toast - served with seasonal fruit ($9):

You order, get a number for your table and then your food is brought to the table. We enjoyed the outdoor, covered seating. The great thing is that the kinda waitress came and introduced herself on the patio, brought us our food and then kept checking in us in case we wanted anything else or to clear plates- wow, great service for CS or even TS!

The cornflake french toast was seriously sweeeeeet! I rarely turn down maple syrup, but this didn’t even need it, except for maybe the moisure. This dish is incredibly messy, with crunchy corn flakes, which are dusted in cinnamon sugar and baked, flying everywhere. It was crunchy and yummy, if hard to eat. It’s not as thick as I would have liked. It tastes more like a donut, but I’m not fighting that!

Generally, the Breakfast pocket was the better dish. It was truly excellent with real scrambled eggs, 2 cheeses, red pepper, ham, all in WPE’s great pizza crust. It came with rosemary roast potatoes-the only truly good breakfast potatoes we had all trip

They serve Boyds’ coffee. DBF didn't care how great it was, he was desperate for non-nescafe by that time.

DBF and I gave this one a big A! And breakfast is redeemed.

We spent 2 (free!) CS credits on this meal. (it would have been $24.50)

 

[abminer]

Day 5 and the end of our trip, time to stuff our bags with loot:

We still had a bunch of snack credits and 2 CS credits to burn. I have never had extra credits on a past trip. There was no way I was going to let these go to waste!

Since we were at DTD, we took a trip to the Marketplace location of Goofys Candy Co (it’s much bigger than the West Side one). There we got 2 pre-dipped mickey-shaped cookies (one sugar and one gingerbread), a muffin, a pre-wrapped iced cookie ghost for home ($). The cookies suffered some injuries in-flight, but we ate them on the plane in pieces. The gingerbread was very good-soft with real ginger kick.

Back to Pop to pick up our bags and head to the airport. We used our last credits here by turning in our 2 CS credits for 6 snacks! We were a little hungry by now and had a little time so we visited the food court where I got a three scoop sundae (mint chocolate chip, cookie dough and vanilla with fudge and sprinkles), and DBF got a hagendaas bar. We also pocketed a chocolate mickey crispy treat, a bake shop cookie, some mickey goldfish and a twix. It came to $23.

sundae:

We managed to shove all that loot in our carry on bags and headed back north – sad as always to leave “home.” We ate our goodies at home over the next few days. I wished I’d gotten more of the iced, packaged cookies like the ghost – it was surprisingly good.

Here are a few of our selections:

 

[abminer]

FINAL THOUGHTS –

We had another good trip and as usual, enjoyed dining. I struggled with the decision to upgrade our free QSDP for the regular DDP or not. We decided to see what the QSDP was like and save money on the tips. In the end I’m glad we stuck with the QSDP – we really enjoyed it. We did our TS oop and that worked out well – we didn’t miss daily TS. If I did it again, I would have added a TS breakfast oop (maybe the Wave). We had plenty of food and it was quite good EXCEPT the CS breakfasts. In the future, I’d use snack credits or swap one CS for 3 snacks in order to have a continental breakfast (pasty and yogurt or fruit). I would, however, have breakfast at WPE again in a heartbeat.

During F&W only, the QSDP is a good value. Some of the F&W dishes are $7! BUT, with the plan including only 1 snack per day in 2012, I think it would be a lot harder to get savings from it. You’d likely break even – but might get it for the ease of prepaid meals. If it’s free, I’d take it and again pay oop for TS instead of upgrading, but I’d have to crunch the numbers - I wouldn’t buy it for full price, a room discount would be a better deal, especially at mods and deluxes.

Overall we had a great time with dining this trip. Our highlights were WPE, Kringla Bakery Og, and Contempo Café. Everything Pop foodcourt was clearly our worst.

I didn’t have many followers this time, but I hope this helped some of the folks out there planning trips with the QSDP

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thanks for the review.We've stayed at all the values at least once and I agree that continental breakfast is the way to go. I'm particularly fond of the chocolate croissants and the yogurt and granolas.

Happy New Year!

 

[jreed1920]

Thanks for doing this review! We are primarily counter service people since we usually stay offsite and don't like to do a lot of planning/scheduling around ADRs so I found your review really helpful.

 

[Linda67]

Great reviews!
Thanks for taking the time to post

 

[TORIMS]

Great reviews, thanks for posting!
We have QSDP in February so its great to see the sort of food we will be able to get!
Vicki x

 

[Disneyhayes]

Thanks for posting your review. I enjoyed reading it and your review of the food was simple and to the point. We are doing DDP this trip so we will be trying the QS places. Last time we were on the DxDP and it was soooo much food

 

[abminer]

No problemo, folks. I'm glad you found this review helpful

Disneyhayes, I've dreamed of trying the DxDDP, but even with the QSDP we were getting close to the food overdose level on the last day. It made me think that trying the DxDDP wouldn't be worth the cash for us, we'd probably be full up to our gills by day 2!