Just got back from 8 nights of Free DDP. Each time I use it I learn a bit more than the last time. We stayed at POP (me, DH, ds7 and dd5) and had 5 other families there with us - but we did most of our meals in smaller groups or alone. Here's the deal:
SNACKS:
This time around - I was very happy with our snack credit usage. Like many others - I have been left with MANY to use on the last day or two and run around like crazy looking for things that won't fill my suitcase too much. This time I vowed to use, use, use them! And it worked. We ended up with 5 that I used on our last morning to let all 4 of us choose a snack for the plane plus one extra - not too bad.
On day 1 we got a popcorn in the afternoon and a cinnamon roll and danish from Main St Bakery for breakfast the next morning. We got ice creams as our 'lunch' (we had early dinners or late breakfasts on these days so didn't want a full meal) 2 different days at Fountainview in EPCOT (IMO - the BEST use of snack credits - large 2 scoops of yummy Edy's ice cream), 2 other days the kids got mickey ice cream bars. Plus waiting for the parade one HOT day we got frozen lemonades.
At EPCOT one day we got the kids a meal at Refreshment Port. A decent kids CS credit, I think. 8 piece nuggets meal, fries plus a drink and a 'frosty' ice cream mixed with m&m's or Oreo's. We got one for the two kids to split, plus used 2 snack credits for an extra drink and extra dessert (so they each got their own).
I think a pretzel and an extra milk (from one that got spilled and wasted during a CS meal) rounded out our snack usage - and I was very pleased.
CS Meals:
I have to say that I think that CS breakfasts are a great value. Good food/great variety and at POP we could get a bounty platter with eggs, potatoes, 2 french toast sticks, a biscuit, bacon and a sausage, plus a drink PLUS a 'dessert' which could be a HUGE chocolate muffin or a bagel. We never had to get more than 3 CS breakfasts (which we did on 3 days because we had extra credits, we also brought cereal in our luggage but only ended up having it like 2 days) and could split it all with some leftover. The only negative, and this is a big one, is the absolute chaos in the food court. I think a good suggestion for Disney during free dining (when the vast majority of guests are using the dining plan) would be to have one or two 'runners' or 'helpers' in the food court area to assist with the 'correct' meals BEFORE GETTING TO THE REGISTERS. I felt so bad for the cashiers and people would get so angry if something they got (like a large mixed fruit) did not qualify as part of their meal. And, worse yet, it held up the lines for a ton longer than it should have. If they have someone walking around saying 'if you have the dining plan and aren't sure - ask me' or something. That way - most people would have correct items prior to getting to checkout and the cashiers would just have to ring it in and swipe the card - quick and easy.
Also had POP FOOD COURT'S takeout pizza for 2 CS credits. Enough food for all 4 of us for sure and they stamped our receipt letting us return for the ice cream dessert later. The stamp said 90 minutes but we went back about 2 hours later and it wasn't a problem.
One more night had POP's kids pizza (dd5 finished it), kids pasta (small-ish portion but we got an extra breadsticks order using snack credit so it was fine), penne chicken pasta alfredo (had it before and I really like it a lot) and the vegetable lasagna (dh isn't picky so he doesn't complain about much - but he 'liked' it).
At MK we split two meals at Columbia Harbor House - the tuna sandwich and the chicken nuggets. I'm a huge clam chowder fan so I bought a side of this too - plenty of food to go around. Tuna went over well with dh and ds. Chocolate cakes we got as dessert - OK.
Later that night split 3 meals - one from Casey's (since dd wanted hot dog) and 2 double burgers from Pecos Bill's - I had been wanting a buger and was not disappointed.
EPCOT - Due to timing, we usually end up eating at Sunshine Seasons, but I wanted to try something different - so we went to Yakitori House and got the kids nuggets from Refreshment Port. I have to say I was disappointed. I got the Chicken Ginger Salad and it was like eating something that had been sitting on the shelf for a few hours and dh got the combination platter - not much better. Oh well - I think I'll stick with Sunshine Seasons next time.
On another day, some of our Grand Gathering did some drinking round the World, so we all got a few nachos from Mexico CS - I HIGHLY recommend this - they were a great snack for all of us to share. We got a couple just with cheese and a couple with 'the works' - great use of CS credits to share.
DHS and AK - We had TS meals here so ended up with no CS restaurants.
Blizzard Beach - Lottawatta Lodge - kids got the meals with the buckets - they liked that. DH and I split the burger
TS
I will start with my favorites first.
Cape May Clam Bake - I will pay to return to this one. It is by far the best buffet I've had at WDW or elsewhere. There was so much I wanted I didn't even have room to try it all! I had 2 buckets of clams, some chowder, some of the yummy corn bread (ds loved it too), the green beans with spices, the squash mix, some salad. I really wanted some of the pesto pasta - but could not eat another bite. Everyone really loved this one. Only disappointment was that we were going to watch the movie on the beach afterward but it started raining during our meal so it was canceled.
LeCellier - I will move this earlier in the trip next time as I was very sick of eating by the end of the week and I didn't fully appreciate this one. The kids got the cheese soup as the appetizer and tried a bite but dh and I got most of it. Then I had the filet with no mushrooms and no risotto. I asked instead for the potatoes that come with the strip steak - and they were AWESOME! Unfortunately, I didn't have room for dessert. So I can't comment on that. But the kids liked their sundae.
Crystal Palace for Breakfast - Yummy breakfast foods, great characters - can't go wrong with this one. We had a reservation before the park opened so we liked that.
Luau - We had 20 people attending....Our server was Dan and he was awesome. We had the food (which was decent - I like the broccoli veggie mixture) kids could get hot dog/mac n cheese boxed meal, which Dan brought for us. Unfortunately, 5 minutes after the entertainment started, it was canceled due to rain. I really chose this one due to the show, not the food, so it was disappointing. I did get a meal and 3 glasses of wine before it ended. And we did get dessert brought out too. And, I was planning to 'fight' for it but didn't have to - they announced that they would automatically refund 1 credit each (so half - since it is a 2 credit per person show) to each of our cards. They really need to learn to do this part of it better - 2 of our families had full refunds (all 8 credits for us were refunded) and other families had all kids credits refunded instead of 2 for adults and 2 for kids. But everyone got it worked out. And we were able to make an extra, last minute reservation:
Wolfgang Puck Cafe - DH's favorite meal of the trip - it was yummy. I had the macademia crusted chicken which was great. DH had a steak. DS had a hot dog with smiley fries and dd had a pizza with smiley fries. I asked for a kids dessert of just some ice cream with caramel - which they brought an adult-sized portion. Kids 'artist pallet' ice cream dessert was great and they loved.
Chefs De France - My biggest diappointment. Do not expect quick service - we sat down at 6:30 and it was almost 8:30 before we left. Food was good. I bought an 'extra' by getting the french onion soup - and it was GREAT! If we went again it would just be for this and maybe a cheese tray with it. I got the seafood dish (with scallops, shrimp) but couldn't finish it because the soup was so filling and I filled up on so much bread just waiting so long for our food! Here again, I did not have room for dessert. Worth mentioning - they did let dd get her pasta with just butter alone - and she devoured it. If you have a picky eater - this might be the way to go. DS didn't even like the burger too much.
I will write some more summaries later. It's making me hungry just writing this and I'm supposed to be on my diet now that we're home!
SNACKS:
This time around - I was very happy with our snack credit usage. Like many others - I have been left with MANY to use on the last day or two and run around like crazy looking for things that won't fill my suitcase too much. This time I vowed to use, use, use them! And it worked. We ended up with 5 that I used on our last morning to let all 4 of us choose a snack for the plane plus one extra - not too bad.
On day 1 we got a popcorn in the afternoon and a cinnamon roll and danish from Main St Bakery for breakfast the next morning. We got ice creams as our 'lunch' (we had early dinners or late breakfasts on these days so didn't want a full meal) 2 different days at Fountainview in EPCOT (IMO - the BEST use of snack credits - large 2 scoops of yummy Edy's ice cream), 2 other days the kids got mickey ice cream bars. Plus waiting for the parade one HOT day we got frozen lemonades.
At EPCOT one day we got the kids a meal at Refreshment Port. A decent kids CS credit, I think. 8 piece nuggets meal, fries plus a drink and a 'frosty' ice cream mixed with m&m's or Oreo's. We got one for the two kids to split, plus used 2 snack credits for an extra drink and extra dessert (so they each got their own).
I think a pretzel and an extra milk (from one that got spilled and wasted during a CS meal) rounded out our snack usage - and I was very pleased.
CS Meals:
I have to say that I think that CS breakfasts are a great value. Good food/great variety and at POP we could get a bounty platter with eggs, potatoes, 2 french toast sticks, a biscuit, bacon and a sausage, plus a drink PLUS a 'dessert' which could be a HUGE chocolate muffin or a bagel. We never had to get more than 3 CS breakfasts (which we did on 3 days because we had extra credits, we also brought cereal in our luggage but only ended up having it like 2 days) and could split it all with some leftover. The only negative, and this is a big one, is the absolute chaos in the food court. I think a good suggestion for Disney during free dining (when the vast majority of guests are using the dining plan) would be to have one or two 'runners' or 'helpers' in the food court area to assist with the 'correct' meals BEFORE GETTING TO THE REGISTERS. I felt so bad for the cashiers and people would get so angry if something they got (like a large mixed fruit) did not qualify as part of their meal. And, worse yet, it held up the lines for a ton longer than it should have. If they have someone walking around saying 'if you have the dining plan and aren't sure - ask me' or something. That way - most people would have correct items prior to getting to checkout and the cashiers would just have to ring it in and swipe the card - quick and easy.
Also had POP FOOD COURT'S takeout pizza for 2 CS credits. Enough food for all 4 of us for sure and they stamped our receipt letting us return for the ice cream dessert later. The stamp said 90 minutes but we went back about 2 hours later and it wasn't a problem.
One more night had POP's kids pizza (dd5 finished it), kids pasta (small-ish portion but we got an extra breadsticks order using snack credit so it was fine), penne chicken pasta alfredo (had it before and I really like it a lot) and the vegetable lasagna (dh isn't picky so he doesn't complain about much - but he 'liked' it).
At MK we split two meals at Columbia Harbor House - the tuna sandwich and the chicken nuggets. I'm a huge clam chowder fan so I bought a side of this too - plenty of food to go around. Tuna went over well with dh and ds. Chocolate cakes we got as dessert - OK.
Later that night split 3 meals - one from Casey's (since dd wanted hot dog) and 2 double burgers from Pecos Bill's - I had been wanting a buger and was not disappointed.
EPCOT - Due to timing, we usually end up eating at Sunshine Seasons, but I wanted to try something different - so we went to Yakitori House and got the kids nuggets from Refreshment Port. I have to say I was disappointed. I got the Chicken Ginger Salad and it was like eating something that had been sitting on the shelf for a few hours and dh got the combination platter - not much better. Oh well - I think I'll stick with Sunshine Seasons next time.
On another day, some of our Grand Gathering did some drinking round the World, so we all got a few nachos from Mexico CS - I HIGHLY recommend this - they were a great snack for all of us to share. We got a couple just with cheese and a couple with 'the works' - great use of CS credits to share.
DHS and AK - We had TS meals here so ended up with no CS restaurants.
Blizzard Beach - Lottawatta Lodge - kids got the meals with the buckets - they liked that. DH and I split the burger
TS
I will start with my favorites first.
Cape May Clam Bake - I will pay to return to this one. It is by far the best buffet I've had at WDW or elsewhere. There was so much I wanted I didn't even have room to try it all! I had 2 buckets of clams, some chowder, some of the yummy corn bread (ds loved it too), the green beans with spices, the squash mix, some salad. I really wanted some of the pesto pasta - but could not eat another bite. Everyone really loved this one. Only disappointment was that we were going to watch the movie on the beach afterward but it started raining during our meal so it was canceled.
LeCellier - I will move this earlier in the trip next time as I was very sick of eating by the end of the week and I didn't fully appreciate this one. The kids got the cheese soup as the appetizer and tried a bite but dh and I got most of it. Then I had the filet with no mushrooms and no risotto. I asked instead for the potatoes that come with the strip steak - and they were AWESOME! Unfortunately, I didn't have room for dessert. So I can't comment on that. But the kids liked their sundae.
Crystal Palace for Breakfast - Yummy breakfast foods, great characters - can't go wrong with this one. We had a reservation before the park opened so we liked that.
Luau - We had 20 people attending....Our server was Dan and he was awesome. We had the food (which was decent - I like the broccoli veggie mixture) kids could get hot dog/mac n cheese boxed meal, which Dan brought for us. Unfortunately, 5 minutes after the entertainment started, it was canceled due to rain. I really chose this one due to the show, not the food, so it was disappointing. I did get a meal and 3 glasses of wine before it ended. And we did get dessert brought out too. And, I was planning to 'fight' for it but didn't have to - they announced that they would automatically refund 1 credit each (so half - since it is a 2 credit per person show) to each of our cards. They really need to learn to do this part of it better - 2 of our families had full refunds (all 8 credits for us were refunded) and other families had all kids credits refunded instead of 2 for adults and 2 for kids. But everyone got it worked out. And we were able to make an extra, last minute reservation:
Wolfgang Puck Cafe - DH's favorite meal of the trip - it was yummy. I had the macademia crusted chicken which was great. DH had a steak. DS had a hot dog with smiley fries and dd had a pizza with smiley fries. I asked for a kids dessert of just some ice cream with caramel - which they brought an adult-sized portion. Kids 'artist pallet' ice cream dessert was great and they loved.
Chefs De France - My biggest diappointment. Do not expect quick service - we sat down at 6:30 and it was almost 8:30 before we left. Food was good. I bought an 'extra' by getting the french onion soup - and it was GREAT! If we went again it would just be for this and maybe a cheese tray with it. I got the seafood dish (with scallops, shrimp) but couldn't finish it because the soup was so filling and I filled up on so much bread just waiting so long for our food! Here again, I did not have room for dessert. Worth mentioning - they did let dd get her pasta with just butter alone - and she devoured it. If you have a picky eater - this might be the way to go. DS didn't even like the burger too much.
I will write some more summaries later. It's making me hungry just writing this and I'm supposed to be on my diet now that we're home!
