Hungry honeymooners-- 8 Days on DDP

[hgbluesparkles]

First off a little introduction: My husband (Mark) and I (Heather) had our honeymoon at Disney from March 19-27.

We spent our first night at Pop Century with the rest our vacation at Port Orleans- Riverside. This was our first vacation at Disney as adults but both of us went several times as children. Of course as kids our parents threw subpar fast food at us while racing through the park so we were surprised to learn of all the tasty and more upscale dining choices available to us. I read this board religiously before securing my ADR's and I do believe my research paid off because dining was definitely one of the best parts of our vacation. In fact my husband said it was his favorite part! So in return for all your help, I've tried to write very detailed and picture filled reviews of pretty much every single place where food or non-pre packaged drinks entered mine or my husband's mouth. I don't have pictures for every single thing but I've included a few pictures each day. I should also note that we were on the DDP. I will include our price of the dining plan compared to actual cost of food on a per day basis to help any curious readers figure out if the dining plan might be right for them.

The restaurants/carts/ bars I will be discussing in this dining review are
Day 1- Everything Pop
Day 2- Riverside Mill, Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe, Les Chefs de France, Sommerfest
Day 3- Anandapur Local Foods Cafe, Boma
Day 4- Riverside Mill, '50s Prime Time Cafe
Day 5- Crystal Palace, Tambu Lounge, Kona Cafe
Day 6- Riverside Mill, Muddy Rivers, Wolfgang Puck Express, Goofy's Candy Company, Raglan Road, Sosa Cigar Bar
Day 7- Cantina de San Angel, Tangerine Cafe, Boulangerie Patisserie, Les Vins des Chefs de France, Coral Reef
Day 8- Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, Scuttle's Landing, Plaza Ice Cream Parlor, Narcoosee's
Day 9- Turkey leg cart by Mission Space, Sunshine Seasons, Fountainview Cafe, Macaroni Grill at MCO

Oh and if you want to hear about what else we did besides eat all day, check out my trip report.

 

[BreTyPres87]

I'm in!!! You guys are such a cute couple can't wait to hear about your dining adventure
I laughed at your comment about parents throwing subpar fast food at u when you were younger and had a flashback moment

 

[BriarRosie]

Heheh. I pictured your parents throwing burgers and fries at you.
Very eclectic mix of table service, counter service and snacks you have there.

 

[oybolshoi]

Had to snicker at the comment about parents and food at WDW ... I grew up with the same experiences and it wasn't until about 10 years ago that the hubby and I discovered the joy of real food at WDW.

Hope you had a lovely honeymoon and congratulations!

 

[OurDogCisco]

LOL... I can totally picture food throwing by parents even though I never got to go as a child. I can't wait hear the rest of your review...

 

[luckytobeme88]

congrats

 

[MickeyNicki]

I am so in for this one! What a cute couple you guys are and CONGRATS!!

 

[hgbluesparkles]

I laughed at your comment about parents throwing subpar fast food at u when you were younger and had a flashback moment

Hahaha, what's funny is that both our parents did seem aware that there was better things to eat because they were asking us about all the restaurants we went to, but when you're with kids there can be that "Dumbo-or-Die" mentality (to quote UG) that blocks out every other thought other than lets race around Fantasyworld like mad people.

 

[hgbluesparkles]

congrats

I am so in for this one! What a cute couple you guys are and CONGRATS!!

Thank you!

 

[hgbluesparkles]

Sorry, no pics on this one, you'll just have to picture hamburgers and fried foods in your mind.

When we finally arrived at Pop after a long trip famished and exhausted. We had to transport our own luggage because I never got the appropriate tags and some very rowdy teenagers from various sports teams arrived at the same time as us and got on the buses first so it took about 2.5 hours from landing to get to Pop and in our room. We immediately went down to the Everything Pop restaurant. The selection there is great but predictably it was crowded and loud. We were feeling like typical fast food so we went to the grill station where Mark got a double cheeseburger, fries, and a vitamin water and I got the chicken tenders, fries, and vitamin water and we shared a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. The total OOP was just over $25. We thought this was a tad expensive for fast food but there were other choices of higher quality probably for just a dollar or two more. The food was standard but it hit the spot as we were looking for something kind of ordinary and comforting after a long day. I may have missed the stand for it but I would have appreciated some sort of dunking sauce for my chicken a la McDonalds but they were good enough to eat plain and all white meat.

 

[MiNniEDrEameR]

I'm in!

 

[hgbluesparkles]

We were still tired from the previous day so for lunch once again we opted for the food court, this time at our new resort Port Orleans- Riverside. It may have been because of the time of day but we found Riverside Mill to be a much quieter and nicer food court experience than Pop although the choice of stations was somewhat similar.

One thing that really sets POR apart though was the DIY pasta station which I immediately made a beeline for. You chose your pasta, sauce, protein (chicken or shrimp), and toppings and the cook prepares it before your eyes. The people in front of me went crazy with their toppings, getting 6+ toppings each. I chose to have fettuccine alfredo with shrimp, sun dried tomatoes and peppers. The portion of pasta they give you is huge and comes with a breadstick, it would probably be enough for 2 and I ate less than half of it. For dessert I chose a magic cookie bar which was wonderfully sweet albeit very heavy. Hubby had to eat a large portion of it for me.

Speaking of hubby, he ate the roast beef and bleu cheese sandwich which in his opinion was the best quick service food he ate all week (he's pretty much a bleu cheese fanatic). It came with a side of rather unique chips which were less salty than normal chips with a thicker texture. I'm not sure if these are the standard chips that come with all Disney sandwiches or unique to POR but we both thought they were quite good. The brownie was super fudgy and chocolatey.

Total price: About $29 (DDP)

Later that day, we went to EPCOT and after just an hour in Future World, Mark wanted to try the beers of the world in the World Showcase. His first stop was Kringla Bakeri og Cafe in Norway where he sampled some Carlsberg Beer. Mark thought the beer was decent although somewhat similar to a standard macrobrewed American lager like Bud. Later he sampled Spaten at Sommerfest in Germany which he liked better than the Carlsberg. We also tried the soft pretzel there which was pretty much the same as the soft pretzel you could get at any number of pretzel carts around any of the parks. Being tired and thirsty I just grabbed an energy drink at Sunshine Seasons.

Total price: $8.50 (DDP), $15 (OOP, from free $200 giftcard)

For dinner we went to Les Chefs de France. I had my eye on the coveted Le Cellier for that night but it was not available and I ended up with Les Chefs instead. I seem to recall some debate over whether the three course pre fixe "French Menu" was available on the DDP. In our case, it was.

I had the lobster bisque, gratin de macaroni, and the creme brule. The lobster bisque was excellent and I managed to get several chunks of lobster in mine. I was looking forward to the bread but found it next to tasteless.

The gratin de macaroni was good but lacking some flavor. The cream seemed too watery so it turned out kind of like noodles topped with cheese in a pan with milk. The creme brule was good, but cold in the middle.

Mark also had the French Menu. For an appetizer he tried the salad de chevre chaud which was a fresh salad with cheese, walnuts, tomatoes, croutons, and endives. He enjoyed it but wished he had my soup instead. For the main course he chose what I think were the short ribs but it came with fettuccine not polenta as listed on the Dis menus. This could be a new dish for the new French menu. Anyhow he said it was very good and tender. For dessert he also had the creme brule but reported that his was not cold.

Overall this was a decent meal but not anything terribly memorable. The atmosphere was a lot of fun and very Parisian which was our main reason for eating there. Some people have complained that the service was slow or rude but we did not find that to be the case. Our server was very quick and attentive.
Total price: About $82

Total price for DDP foods: $119.50
Savings for the day: $39.52

 

[skellingtonfreak]

Congrats! And I am in for the rest of the food..woohoo!!!

 

[TigerKat]

Congratulations! You do make a lovely couple.

 

[babytrees]

wonderful start!! and congratulations!!

 

[wdwfanatic316]

Congratulations! Can't wait to hear more!: goodvibes

 

[natalielongstaff]

Congratulations

 

[hgbluesparkles]

Heheh. I pictured your parents throwing burgers and fries at you.
Very eclectic mix of table service, counter service and snacks you have there.

Had to snicker at the comment about parents and food at WDW ... I grew up with the same experiences and it wasn't until about 10 years ago that the hubby and I discovered the joy of real food at WDW.

Hope you had a lovely honeymoon and congratulations!

LOL... I can totally picture food throwing by parents even though I never got to go as a child. I can't wait hear the rest of your review...

I'm in!

Congrats! And I am in for the rest of the food..woohoo!!!

Congratulations! You do make a lovely couple.

wonderful start!! and congratulations!!

Thank you to all and welcome!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start to your reviews - looking forward to more. And, congratulations on your matrimonials

 

[hgbluesparkles]

DH was starving the minute he got to Animal Kingdom so we decided to hit up the Yak and Yeti counter service as soon as we entered the park. The line for this counter service location was long and overly crowded although I think that was mainly due to a large high school tour group who arrived en masse at the same time as us (we had no luck with teenagers for our first couple of days!). The other thing I disliked a bit about this location was the outdoor seating with many tables without shade. Even in March I felt the sun beating down on me at our unshaded table, I imagine it would be much worse in the sweltering summer heat.

I got the shrimp lo mein with a frozen lemonade for dessert. The portion size on this was extremely generous and there was an ample amount of shrimp which I wasn't expecting but was pleasantly surprised by. The quality was a step above mall Chinese food, which actually considering it was Chinese food at a theme park I was pleased with. DH got the kung pao beef with a chocolate cake and used a snack credit for the chicken fried rice as well. Again, the portions were generous. I had one bite of the chicken fried rice and thought it tasted nasty but DH liked both the rice and the beef.
Total price: About $38

After our day at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to the Lodge to the much heralded Boma (sorry no pics of the food, but here's the Lodge). DH had been really looking forward to this meal ever since I made ADRs and I was hoping he wouldn't be disappointed. The waiting area was mobbed with people so if you do want to eat here I would say an ADR is a must! Our waitress didn't give us much information as to what was available aside from her recommendations for her favorite soup but we made do and even tried most of the stuff we weren't sure about. I went up for two plates and dessert, DH had a total of four so you know that the food was good! My favorite items were the chicken (loved the spicing), the falafel balls, the potatoes with afritude, fufu, the zebra domes, and the chocolate mouse. Actually the only thing I didn't really like was the pap (it literally tasted like nothing to me, which bothered me). Some of the pieces of fruit were a bit questionable in terms of freshness. I had several overly ripe strawberries. DH loved the ribs, pretty much anything with a spice to it, Moroccan seafood stew, and the bread pudding with rum sauce. Overall an excellent meal that we would go back to on another trip.
Total price: About $62

Total Price for the day: $100
Total Savings for the day: $20.02