Hello, Room Service? - A DXDP Review *Completed

[PrincessTrisha]

I returned yesterday from my 8 Night luxurious stay at the fabulous Beach Club resort where I, and my friend Cindy, gorged on amazing appetizers, enticing entrees, decadent desserts and nice non – alcoholic (and some oop alcoholic) beverages, courtesy of the Magic Your Way Plus Deluxe Dining Plan Package.

Before leaving on vacation, I made numerous Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) but most of them ended up going out the window after the first day (though we did keep our ADR at the California Grill).

I’ll list out the meals we enjoyed but they may not be reviewed in that exact order. And yes, plentiful pictures were taken.

Snack credits were rarely used though and the few we had, I don’t believe there are pictures of.

Our Meals:

Friday June 26th:
Spoodles (dinner)

Saturday June 27th (my birthday) :
Cape May (Breakfast) - review
Cape May Pictures
Drinking Around the World Showcase Part 1
Drinking around the World Showcase Part 2
Nine Dragons (lunch)
Yachtsmen Steakhouse (dinner)
Birthday Cake


Sunday June 28th:
Room Service #1 (lunch)
Sanaa (dinner)

Monday June 29th:
Beaches and Cream (lunch)
California Grill (dinner)

Tuesday June 30th:
Room Service #2 (dinner)

Wednesday July 1st:
Coral Reef (lunch)
Room Service #3 (dinner)

Thursday July 2nd:
Sci Fi Dine In (lunch)
Yachtsmen Steakhouse (dinner)

Friday July 3rd:
Planet Hollywood (lunch)
Room Service #4 (dinner)

Assorted Snacks and Counter Service:
Beach Club Marketplace
Pizzafari

 

[PrincessTrisha]

So who am I, you ask?

I am an occasional poster who tends to stick to the dining and resort boards. Sometimes I wander over to the Canadian boards too.

My name is Patricia (and some variations of it - Trish, Trisha, Tricia - just not Pat, never Pat). I turned 35 on this trip and have been to WDW many, many times. Went to Disneyland last November, was not overly impressed with the food but I think some of that was sticker shock. I love the dining plan (DDP) and have used it for my previous 5 trips (Dec 05, May 06, Oct 06, May 07 and Oct 07) where it included the tip and appetizer. I am a big planner and create many, many, many, Word/Excel documents to take with me to ensure that I stay on track (not that it worked this time but that's okay).

I am single with no kids and quite happy about that. I work hard (well, sort of, I am a government employee after all) and like to spend my money on great vacations. I normally take my parents with me but since my mom had a stroke in March 08, she hasn't been up to travelling (but she's getting so much better and it looks like she'll be coming with me to Florida in October of this year). Instead, I invited along my BFF Cindy...

Cindy, age 36. We've been friends for 20 years. She first went to Disney World last year with her 4 kids (and her Mom). For this trip, she didn't really care about going to WDW per se, she just wanted to get away. She did no planning and said she didn't care what we did. She's in the middle of a separation / divorce from her husband and just wanted a break from her kids (there are 4 of them - ages 15, 9, 6 & 4).

Bill - aka, My Dad age 60. He drove down and spent a couple of days with us at the end of the trip. He said he ate so much beef in those couple of days that he thinks he's turning into a cow. I never thought I'd see the day that my Dad said he had enough beef.......

 

[MickeyNicki]

Count me in!

 

[TigerKat]

Sign me up!

 

[danalee]

oh yeah I'm in!

 

[janloz]

I'm in too!!

 

[LISAG410]

I'm in, looking forward to reading your reviews.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I'm in!

 

[butiflfeet]

This sounds like it's going to be a great review! I can't wait

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Can't wait to read your reviews.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I'm in...can't wait to read yummy food reviews.

 

[iluvpluto27]

I'm in, looking forward to your reviews.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Count me in!

Sign me up!

oh yeah I'm in!

I'm in too!!

I'm in, looking forward to reading your reviews.

I'm in!

This sounds like it's going to be a great review! I can't wait

Can't wait to read your reviews.

I'm in...can't wait to read yummy food reviews.

I'm in, looking forward to your reviews.

Thanks for joining in you guys. I'll try not to disappoint. We had some really fantastic meals and I can't wait to share.

Spoodles will be the first review and I'll have it up this morning. This is one place I am kind of sad is changing - it was very good. But I have a good feeling about the new Cat Cora restaurant based on my conversation with our server.

 

[dpndka]

Did you say room service? I'm in!

 

[LIBLULA]

Can't wait for your reviews!!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

We arrived in WDW by train at the Kissimmee station, was picked up by an awesome driver (Hi Santo! ) and whisked to the Beach Club resort. After checking in, and then changing rooms (why would a deluxe resort have a room the size of a moderate, with two double beds, no balcony, no daybed, etc?). Anyways, we were hungry (although we had eaten quite well on the train) so I was glad that I had changed our dinner reservation two days before we left. I had originally booked Narcoossee’s for 8:30pm so we could finish dinner and watch the fireworks from the GF but thought that after travelling for 2 days, we might want something a little closer to “home”. I was able to snag an ADR at Spoodles for 5:20pm using the online ADR system (which BTW, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ).

We arrived at the restaurant about 10 minutes before our reservation and were given a buzzer. There were several large groups kind of milling about. There were many people who did not have an ADR. I guess the restaurant wasn’t that busy because they were taking names at the podium with about a 20 minute wait.

We arrived at our table which was set for 4. I liked having the extra space. It is a very sturdy wooden table and the restaurant itself has a very open feeling to it. As we were being seated, they pointed out the show kitchen and the hidden Mickey above it.

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Our server was Daniel and he was an excellent server (details to be shared throughout the review).

Since it was our first meal on the DXDP, he explained what was included, appetizer, entrée, dessert and non alcoholic beverage which included smoothies or virgin pina coladas or daiquiris.

I ordered a diet coke with no ice and Cindy ordered a berry smoothie. She scoped the whipped cream off the top and enjoyed it very much. Next they brought out the bread which Cindy said was excellent along with the olive tapenade. She ate two pieces. I didn’t order a thick drink or eat any bread because I knew how much food was about to pass in front of us. In fact, most of the week, I didn’t try the breads because I didn’t want to fill up before getting to the good stuff.

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When looking over the menus previously on Allearsnet, I had wanted to try the dips but shortly before we left, it was changed to an appetizer for two so we decided to try two separate dishes instead. For appetizers I ordered the calamari with Olive-Pepperoncini Relish and Cindy ordered the Mussels which came in a light broth. These were two dishes that Daniel our server recommended.

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The Calamari had a very light and crispy batter that allowed the taste of the squid to come through. At many chain restaurants, the batter overwhelms the taste of the calamari and all you get is that deep fried taste. At Spoodles, it was perfect. The serving was quite large with a mixture of rings and legs. Some of the legs I found a little overdone (too crispy) but I just left the smaller pieces to the side. The Olive – pepperoncini relish was a mixture of olives, hot peppers, regular peppers and maybe something else (?). Where the juice from the relish touched the calamari, it was a good complementing flavour. I ate some of the relish separate from the calamari but found it too strong to eat with the squid because all I could really taste was the hot peppers. I was very happy with this choice but only ate about ½ of the serving to ensure that I would have room for the other two courses.

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The mussels came in a broth which seemed very heavy on the white wine. Which is okay if you like white wine; Cindy does not. She couldn’t figure out why she didn’t really like them so she gave me one to try. The mussels themselves were excellent, they popped right out of the shell and yet, each shell in the bowl still had it’s mussel attached (I usually find when they come out so easy that you end up with a few empty shells because some where from pot to table, a few have already slipped out of the shell). She did eat about half of the serving despite not enjoying the sauce. Before taking the bowl away she counted the shells and there were 40! That was a huge serving and could have easily been a dinner in itself.

Daniel had checked on us a couple of times during the appetizers and had offered to replace the mussels with something else if Cindy wanted. After we were done, he cleared away our appetizer plates, our side plates and our used silverware. He returned a moment later with new side plates, new folded napkins and a new set of silver ware for each of us. I was quite impressed, especially since my side plate had only 1 mussel shell on it. I could understand removing Cindy’s since it was littered with 19 or 20 shells but I kind of expected him to either leave mine or dump the one shell onto Cindy’s plate but everything was replaced. He also returned with a refill on my diet coke (remembering no ice) even though I had half a glass left, and a glass of water with lemon for Cindy as her smoothie was almost gone.

Our entrees arrived about 10-12 minutes after we were done with our appetizers which I consider a good paced meal. Not too fast, and not a long lag either.

I ordered the Wood-grilled Pork Tenderloin with Gnocchi, Spinach, Mushrooms, and red Onions. Daniel stated that it was recommended that the pork be served medium. I guess I had a look of concern on my face (I was always taught that pork needs to be cooked right through) so he recommended medium well – it would have just the slightest pink centre but it would be cooked through. I agreed to that.

​

The funny thing is, I don’t really like pork – I mean, I like bacon and sausage of course, ribs are good too but pork tenderloin or pork chops, bleah! (and oh yes, all of these meats come from the same magical animal) And yet, that’s what I ordered – pork.

It was good. And by good, I mean it wasn’t pork like. Have you ever had a really good veal chop? - the kind that is super pale, tender and just melts in your mouth? That’s what this was like. I’m thinking there was a baby pig somewhere missing a chunk out of his hind quarter where they carved out this tender piece of meat.

And the gnocchi with spinach, mushrooms, and onions – that was like a little scoop of salty pleasure. The flavours worked so well together, I ate every bite of it. I almost wish that they served that as a pasta dish on it’s own.

Cindy had the Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Linguine. Wow! There were a dozen or so large, tender shrimps over a mound of tender linguine. The sauce was very light on the cream with a distinct lemon flavour – not bitter or sour lemon, more like a lemon drop was mixed into the sauce. It was delicious but again, a huge portion. Cindy ate what she could – everytime she would stir around the pasta, it seemed more shrimp came to the top – it was like they were procreating at the bottom of the bowl.

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Full but not stuffed to the gills quite yet, we ordered dessert.

Cindy ordered the No Sugar Added Yogurt Panna Cotta. She thought this was the absolute best part of the meal. It was super creamy and she kept saying, “This can’t be no sugar added, they must have used sugar, it’s too sweet not to have real sugar in it”. She even questioned Daniel when he checked on us – he confirmed, it’s no sugar added – the sweetness comes from the mango fruit in the mango sauce.

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I ordered the chocolate espresso cake. It is served on a very warm plate so the cake starts to melt a little. This was incredible. It was very rich and chocolately and had a touch of bitterness from the espresso. As a coffee drinker (and chocolate eater), I found this dessert to be perfect. If you don’t enjoy coffee though, I’m not sure you’d be happy with this dessert as there was that slight bitterness of strong, black coffee. The consistency was not like cake at all – I knew I had tasted it before but I had a difficult time remembering when. It finally hit me on the drive home to Toronto – it had the consistency of a heavy soufflé. It was thick, rich and creamy – yet you could see the air bubbles and it was a solid piece of cake (it held it’s shape when cool but the bottom melted slightly on the warm plate).

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This was an excellent meal to start off the trip and I was very happy with our selections. I was actually concerned that this would be our best meal of the trip and that nothing would be quite as good. That concern was unfounded and this was the first of many wonderful meals we enjoyed.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Did you say room service? I'm in!

Can't wait for your reviews!!

Welcom aboard.

I love room service - to me it is the ultimate vacation decadence.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Great review of Spoodles. I'm sorry you didn't try the bread there though, some of the breads served at some of the restaurants are really good, and Spoodles is one of them. I hope you tried the onion rolls at Yachtsman Steakhouse, they're my favorite.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Fantastic start, really enjoyed your detailed review. I've always enjoyed spoodles, and I'm disappointed it will be shut before our next trip, especcially as that chocolate cake sounds gorgeous!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Fantastic start, really enjoyed your detailed review. I've always enjoyed spoodles, and I'm disappointed it will be shut before our next trip, especcially as that chocolate cake sounds gorgeous!

'm sad to see it go too, but I am also so looking foward to the Cat Cora restaurant.