Lurking and loving every word!! Glad everyone survived the storms in the south - we are freezing to death here in the northland!
Looking forward to your next adventure!
cc
CC! Thanks for letting me know that you're still here - hope you get some warmer weather soon. I hope we get some warmer weather, too!
Bends, we love you.
I will try to post a picture of gelato I ate in Rome last week. When dh saw it, he asked if it was my 'food porn'. Methinks I talk about the DIS too much.
Briarmom!! I thought you were shunning me ... it's so nice to see you on the thread again! I wish you would post a picture of your gelato ... and Rome, too.
I must DIS too much, too. We're taking Jay's parents out to dinner tomorrow night and I asked him if I could take pictures so that I could post a review.
This was his response:
Brenda, I cannot thank you enough for your fantasic view of the Grand Floridian tea...I have been tossing the idea around for our April trip and your awesome and informative review clinched it!
Thanks for all the pictures too!
Hi MickeyNicki! Glad you enjoyed the afternoon tea review (that's one of my favorites so far). I hope you enjoy your tea in April - be sure to come back and let the rest of us know all about it!
see...it's the curse thing...I'm telling you! The curse of the LAST meal! We ate at Kona for our final breakfast last summer...and I gotta tell you...while I did enjoy my Tonga Toast...I was a little underwhelmed by it all.
I'm very sad to know that my Last Meal Curse attacked you and your poor Jay.
so great and powerful is the curse...
The Last Meal curse ... hmmmm, never thought about that before you brought it up (haha - get it?). I hope it doesn't hit us when we're in Vegas.
Tonga Toast doesn't do much for me either .. but to each his own, and Jay loves it.
Darn it! I missed the 80's talk and I just know I could've added to it. Sadly, I still wear a lot of loafers in my work (mostly with buckles now) but it's because I find them so darned comfortable. Plus, who wants to see a 6'0 woman become 6'5 in some tall heels. (Not to mention, who wants to see me rebreak an ankle. Not me!) I'm a bizarre creature (as if folks here didn't know that already) but I just don't really follow fashion. I wear what I find comfortable and just don't give a hose about whether it was in last season, last year, or a decade ago. I'm comfortable, dang it!
No one is ever too late for anything around here, you should know that! I'm not much for following fashion, either. I am a firm believer in being comfortable ... a co-worker of mine once called me a Granola Girl sans granola and hiking boots.
Anyhow, in my brief moments of Dis time, I've now begun drawing up my newest spreadsheet to help figure out my dining options. My ADR book date isn't for a bit but I want to know where I'm eating by the time that date arrives. (Plus, I'm traveling a bit in March and have some solid deadlines in April so now's the best time for that sort of planning.)
I'm really having a tough time deciding between the regular
DDP or the deluxe version. Sure, it's our honeymoon and we'll only get one but we're also going during Food and Wine Fest (our main reason for going, actually) so the DxDDP just looks like it might be overwhelming with all the snacks. On the otherhand, I know we won't do some of the restaurants that we might on the DxDDP. (No dining plan is not an option. Both of us are very, very frugal so we'd probably just not eat and that's never good.)
So help me out a bit! 5 TS, 5 CS, and 5 snacks or 15 TS/CS and 10 snacks? $380 or $700? Also, for you F&WF folks should we plan on rarely being hungry if we partake of the snacks and/or free culinary/wine demonstrations?
Here are some random things for you to think about, keeping in mind that I know almost nothing about the current dining plans that Disney offers.
If finances are a concern and you want a chance to eat at some Signature restaurants then go with the Deluxe plan because you'll have more choices and options (always a big plus in my book).
Remember that in years past (and I'm assuming this year, too) that snack credits are accepted at the F&W booths - that's a very convenient and tasty option. Those snack credits won't include alcohol, so that's still out of pocket but any food item you might want to try would be covered as a snack credit - that's way more attractive to me than buying a bunch of crap at the candystore (unless you want crap from a candystore).
What we do is spread the F&W tasting out over a few days ... and try to stop around 3PM if we have a dinner reservation for later that evening. That way we know we'll have an appetite for dinner.
And shame on us, but we've never yet made it to one of those free culinary or alcohol seminars at the festival - but I don't think you need to worry about the portion sizes. Based on the pours I saw at the wine seminars this past fall, you'll be lucky to end up with much more than a mouthful of any wine.
Anyone here who did attend a freebie, please post your impressions if you're so inclined. Especially if I'm wrong.
Hope you two have a great trip!
Wow. Just got through reading the whole thing. Took all day and a bunch of port and some garlic fried eggs and some pasta with pesto and some more port but damn! Fine work! BTW - my birthday is October 14th. Close. Glad you had a great birthday.
PrincessAurora, thank you for reading ... and for the fine menu ideas you've just provided! I love port ... I have a bottle waiting for later this evening when Jay and I are going to have a fire and gorge on cheese and bread. I have to thank V&A for turning me on to port and cheese ...
Happy belated birthday to you - one October girl to another. And let me just thank you for providing me with the inspiration to even try a food review report for the first time last year. Back in my "lurky" days I read everything you posted and you really gave me some wonderful insights into dining at the world, which was something we'd never really tried.
To all the folks reading here: you'd be hard pressed to find better reviews than PrincessAuora's. She's a chef and real foodie (not a poser like me); she writes well, has informed opinions, and she's very funny!
Brenda, yes, you have it correct it is getting more crowded in October so next time we are trying 2nd week of Dec. We start school the first week of August
, and get a fall break in mid-Oct. No kidding, there were at least 6-7 other families from our school that went at the same time, not to mention a few from our church, too! It was busier even than last year (06). To back up a little I have a quick question for you about Spoodles. If we get pizza at the to go window, is there any place to sit and eat it there, or nearby? We've never been to the Boardwalk, so I didn't know if it would be cold by the time we got it and drove back to the resort.
Wow! I guess if the kids are starting in the first week of August then the deserve some time off in Ocotber ... but could you please tell them to stay away from the F&W Festival? They wouldn't like anything there, anyway.
As for Spoodles ... they do have a take-out window and there are tables all over the Boardwalk that you can sit at and eat. Whenever we grab breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery we always park our butts at one of those tables and enjoy the view and the fresh air. You'll love it, just watch out for the birds - they're killers at the Boardwalk.
Maraena, do you have a list of the restaurants you really want to do? If you have a lot of 2TS, then the deluxe would save you money, but it looks like a lot of food. We did the regular DDP in October and I felt like I was eating all the time, and the worst thing is I was too full for the F&W goodies!
Except for the alcohol of course. I think if you do dxddp, you might not have room to try all the extras, but that's just me. If you're using those credits 2TS at a time, it might work without you having to take your 80's elastic waist stirrup pants!
(Don't forget the big shirt with shoulder pads to go with them....)
All good points to consider ... except for the shoulder pads.
I love your reports, and I would absolutely love to read your blog! PM on the way. 
