I spend too much on Food&Wine -DxDP/F&W/CL Fun - Last Day!

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 7 - Part 2 - Tutto Italia

This day we had lunch planned at Tutto Italia around 12:30pm. This was the one place the dining plan made no sense to me.

They wouldn't let you order of the children's menu for an appetizer (which is cool) so I ended up with:
Insalata Mista - arugula, radicchio, and endive, citrus vinaigrette $9

This was ok. It also has green beans in it which were unexpected.

Now my husband wanted a Caesar Salad but wasn't allowed to order that as it was an 'entree' at the $16 price tag...

So the waiter said he had something better than any caesar salad...

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Antipasto Misto - generous platter of appetizers and Italian specialties, serves two $25

So - he got an appetizer that was $9 more than what he really wanted and for two people rather than 1? Logic doesn't follow that...

A lot of this food was wasted as many of things on it were things my husband doesn't like. He enjoyed the cheese and [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]prosciutto[/FONT].

At this point, we were kinda eh about it and we were hoping the entrees would impress us more or it would be off our list completely.

Luckily they did!

My husband had the [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lasagna al Forno with meat ragu, bechamel and parmesan $19.00

He thought this was really good. Lots of meat and cheese.

I had the [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bucatini Gratinati - with Italian prosciutto, peas and parmesan cheese $21.00

This was bliss. The sauce was awesome and the pasta was cooked perfectly. We would come back just for this entree. My husband had a bite and wanted to trade our meals even though he loved his too.

Now for desserts - I had seen the puff pastry dessert in other reviews and the food porn thread and didn't see it on the dessert menu. Nothing else on the menu excited us so I asked our server about it and this was what we were served:

Yeah - that wasn't what I was expecting.
Tasty though!

Overall we thought this meal was ok. The entrees were amazing but the other courses were disappointing. Part of it was having a preset idea in my head from other's reviews and such so we are going to give it another shot. It seems insanely overpriced in comparison to other 1 TS restuarants. [/FONT]

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Woot! Despite my gorging last week, I only gained 2 pounds! Probably all water weight b/c of the increase in salty foods and such. Hopefully it will be gone by next week's weigh in. (I dont own a scale at home so every Monday I go up to the front office at work and see where my weight is)

 

[mefordis]

Great reviews!! Can't wait for your next trip Kudos on only gaining 2 lbs. That is nothing. Where do you work where you can weigh yourself?

Woot! Despite my gorging last week, I only gained 2 pounds! Probably all water weight b/c of the increase in salty foods and such. Hopefully it will be gone by next week's weigh in. (I dont own a scale at home so every Monday I go up to the front office at work and see where my weight is)

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Great reviews!! Can't wait for your next trip Kudos on only gaining 2 lbs. That is nothing. Where do you work where you can weigh yourself?

I work as an engineer, but one of those health life programs that the site has focuses on being healthy. Thus certain bathrooms have scales along with offering classes for cheap sometimes for kickboxing, yoga or other random things to promote being healthy. Its great and makes me happy that a company cares enough about its workers to do something like that.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 7 - Part 3 - Citrico's

After Tutto, we ended up heading back to the resort to relax. My husband decided he wanted to go shopping for this electronic gadget that we agreed he could get if a bonus from work was over a certain amount as today was his payday so we left property to go get it. (gotta love Direct Deposits!)

On our way back, I decided I wanted to go to the Disney outlet to see if they had any cheap polo shirts for work as I have problems spending over $50 on a piece of clothing for work. Being the cocky girl I am, I decided I didn't want to use the GPS and insisted I knew the back roads to get to where I wanted to go. Well I knew where I was going, I just forgot how long those roads took to get there and I should have just gone the highway...

Luckily I got to where I wanted to go around 5:15pm. We ran in and I got us 3 shirts for $20 a piece - the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Polo, a green golf polo for me, and my husband a black Mickey Polo. We left around 5:45 to head over to the Grand Floridian when we hit traffic coming back into Disney. Our reservation was at 6:25pm and well, we pulled up to the valet station at 6:26pm. The GF valet was really lacking today - they seemed to have one person running the incoming cars and after standing around for 5 minutes and no one ocming up - I went ot the valet desk to try to turn in my key and she wouldn't take it saying he'll be back soon.

Finally, some on shows up around 5:40 to take our keys from our car. We rush upstairs and check in. I was pleased to see Gary as I hadn't realized he was no longer one of the managers at California Grill and was now over at Citrico's and he remembered me from our conversations about wine way back at the California Grill. We also find it amusing that the guy that seated us at our table as the same guy we saw at Narcoossee's on Tuesday evening. We only remembered as he looked like the twin of one of our friends.

Once seated, we looked over our menus and tried to decide what we would want for the evening. I told our waitress I would like to pair each course of my dinner with the suggested wine.

I debated between the Crab or the Quail appetizers but our waitress informed us they were out of the Quail as an oven issue kept the chef from hand making them...so I guess my decision was made for me there

Gateau of Crab - Jumbo Lump Crab, Orange Fennel Cream, and Tomato Fennel Slaw $12.00

I love real crab with little fillers and that is exactly what this is. The sauce is tasty. However, when served this course, I still wasn't given my wine pairing and the waitress said they would be over with it shortly. About 10 minutes after that, someone finally came over to give me my wine. To make up for it, he probably gave me about 2.5 glasses for the 1 That works for me!


Sauteed Shrimp - Lemon, White Wine, Tomatoes, and Feta Cheese $14.00

My husband enjoyed the shrimp as it was tenderly cooked.

Filet Jardiniere - Oak-grilled Filet of Beef with House-cured Vegetables, Quattro Formaggi Crushed Potatoes, and Veal Glacé $41.00

We both were boring and got the filet. At this point, my husband thought it would be good to start Mooing from all the beef he had this week. I think he started his cow transformation...

This was tender and flavorful but not enough of the veal glace for the meat. Again my wine pairing came rather slow...

A Sweet Ending to Your Celebration: Lemon Cheesecake - with fresh raspberry sauce $8.00

My husband doesn't like to switch things up and went with the cheesecake again.

Warm Chocolate Banana Tart - vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas $9.00

This was really tasty and warm and However, I never got my wine that paired with it and when the waitress brought the check over I just decided to forget it.

The food was outstanding and our waitress was nice however she was ridiculusly slow. I knew they were having computer problems that evening as our meal credits weren't really taken at that time (but they updated later on) and then the oven issues as well. So I'm not going to fault her for being slow. I'm just glad we weren't trying to hurry out this evening to head to the MNSSHP like some others around us were.

2 meal credits remain

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Those desserts look so pretty!

You could have just sat there starring at it while you waited for your wine. So sweet of you to be so patient.

 

[Me&3]

The food looks really good. Yum

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Those desserts look so pretty!

You could have just sat there starring at it while you waited for your wine. So sweet of you to be so patient.

They are pretty and taste so good too

Yeah - I could have just waited but I could tell she completely forgot and I didn't want to poke her again.

The food looks really good. Yum

It was! I love Citrico's


I've been a slacker this past week. I come home from Vacation and work decides its going to kick my booty. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this up this week and focus more on my winter trips!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Day 8 - Wrapping Up & Home!

We woke up this morning around 6:30am. The night before I never got to a store to use up our 5 remaining snack credits so I was going to run downstairs and see what I could get. As the general store isn't open that early, all I had to go to was the bakery. I ended up purchasing 1 eclair, 1 chocolate brownie, and 3 Monsters for our car ride home.

I had the eclair about 3 hours later as we were leaving the Florida turnpike and it was awesome even then! It had maintained its cool temperature (probably from the Monsters in the bag) but a little messy to eat in a car. At least I wasn't the one driving

My husband ate his brownie the next day at home and loved it! It was rich and took about 2 days to fully eat.

The Monsters well - It was better than Red Bull

0 snack credits remain!


Room Service Breakfast

We had 2 meal credits left for the week. Not really wanting the breakfasts they offer in the bakery, we decided to go for room service again to use up the last of our points.

We went with
All American Breakfast - Two Eggs with breakfast potatoes and a choice of Smoked Bacon or Country Sausage Patties and fresh fruit $11.99
& an apple juice

Everything was nicely prepared and enough food for our road trip ahead. Best use of points - not really but what else were we going to use them for?

0 meal credits remain

Last update to come - with cost analysis of the plan.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Wrap Up - Cost Analysis

Cost of Plan: $1007.86 (71.99 for 2 adults for 7 nights)

Cost of Meals: $1168.08
Cost of Snacks: $97.48

Savings: $257.70

Note: I'm not including the cost of our alcohol as that isn't included in the plan and would have been the same cost either way as well - I like my booze.

So - decent amount of savings to have our meals 'prepaid'

Did we eat more than we normally would? Yes - but thats partly my fault b/c of the OOP experiences we had. Plus we both got appetizers at times we would have only gotten one same with desserts. So I think we about broken even w/ the meals. My husband liked knowing it didn't matter what he ordered and tried some new things that he wouldn't have before.

Next trip as a couple - we're going to skip the Deluxe Plan as we have a lot of new places we want to try and skipping the plan is the easiest way to do all those.

For my solo trips - deluxe is definately the way to go I think - but I'll confirm that thought in December.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Wrap Up - Cost Analysis

Cost of Plan: $1007.86 (71.99 for 2 adults for 7 nights)

Cost of Meals: $1168.08
Cost of Snacks: $97.48

Savings: $257.70

Note: I'm not including the cost of our alcohol as that isn't included in the plan and would have been the same cost either way as well - I like my booze.

So - decent amount of savings to have our meals 'prepaid'

For my solo trips - deluxe is definately the way to go I think - but I'll confirm that thought in December.

I'm very glad to see how you kept track and figured out if it was a savings to you or not. I have done the math prior to going but not after actual food ordering etc. I am doing the DDP in Feb and alreaady miss the appetizers being included.

Anyway, I'm sorry your report is over and eagerly waiting for the next!

 

[Tatania]

Wrap Up - Cost Analysis

Cost of Plan: $1007.86 (71.99 for 2 adults for 7 nights)

Cost of Meals: $1168.08
Cost of Snacks: $97.48

Savings: $257.70

Note: I'm not including the cost of our alcohol as that isn't included in the plan and would have been the same cost either way as well - I like my booze.

So - decent amount of savings to have our meals 'prepaid'

Did we eat more than we normally would? Yes - but thats partly my fault b/c of the OOP experiences we had. Plus we both got appetizers at times we would have only gotten one same with desserts. So I think we about broken even w/ the meals. My husband liked knowing it didn't matter what he ordered and tried some new things that he wouldn't have before.

Next trip as a couple - we're going to skip the Deluxe Plan as we have a lot of new places we want to try and skipping the plan is the easiest way to do all those.

For my solo trips - deluxe is definately the way to go I think - but I'll confirm that thought in December.

Thanks for doing the math on that one - it wasn't much of a savings. You probably mentioned this but why didn't you use the free dining during that time?

We ran into a family in WDW on vacation from England and the husband and wife were aghast at how much more everything cost compared to when they had been there 15 years ago. Turns out their TA hadn't told them about the free dining package - even though they were at a Disney Resort. My sister and I told them what we had paid for the week at Coronada Springs, with free DDP, 7 Day Park Hopper (plus water parks), free photo, mini-golf, etc. and they were even more aghast because our package had come to $850 PP - a fraction of what they had paid just for the lodging.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I'm very glad to see how you kept track and figured out if it was a savings to you or not. I have done the math prior to going but not after actual food ordering etc. I am doing the DDP in Feb and alreaady miss the appetizers being included.

Anyway, I'm sorry your report is over and eagerly waiting for the next!

Thanks for joining along (and I know you've already found my new report too )

Thanks for doing the math on that one - it wasn't much of a savings. You probably mentioned this but why didn't you use the free dining during that time?

We ran into a family in WDW on vacation from England and the husband and wife were aghast at how much more everything cost compared to when they had been there 15 years ago. Turns out their TA hadn't told them about the free dining package - even though they were at a Disney Resort. My sister and I told them what we had paid for the week at Coronada Springs, with free DDP, 7 Day Park Hopper (plus water parks), free photo, mini-golf, etc. and they were even more aghast because our package had come to $850 PP - a fraction of what they had paid just for the lodging.

We had a 40% pin code and when both of us are going we stay at deluxe hotels. Its much more cost effective to use a pin code than free dining (thus paying full rack rates) for deluxe resorts - especially club level like we were staying. I always check my math when the offer I have for my hotel and a new code comes out. My 4 night trip in Dec is only costing me $500 for the hotel + deluxe dining w/ the AP rate (thus not having to buy tickets) The pin code we had forced us to buy tickets for the dining plan but we upgrade my husband's ticket to what he needed (7 day park hopper) and we have the other 1 day for later use to either apply to my annual pass upgrade or keep around for later to upgrade after we buy into DVC.

Costs in disney have risen a ton since my parents took me. I remember when we used to stay at WL for $89 a night & ASSp for $29 a night.

 

[Tatania]

Thanks for joining along (and I know you've already found my new report too )



We had a 40% pin code and when both of us are going we stay at deluxe hotels. Its much more cost effective to use a pin code than free dining (thus paying full rack rates) for deluxe resorts - especially club level like we were staying. I always check my math when the offer I have for my hotel and a new code comes out. My 4 night trip in Dec is only costing me $500 for the hotel + deluxe dining w/ the AP rate (thus not having to buy tickets) The pin code we had forced us to buy tickets for the dining plan but we upgrade my husband's ticket to what he needed (7 day park hopper) and we have the other 1 day for later use to either apply to my annual pass upgrade or keep around for later to upgrade after we buy into DVC.

Costs in disney have risen a ton since my parents took me. I remember when we used to stay at WL for $89 a night & ASSp for $29 a night.

$29 a night!! Wow, must have missed that one - though I remember we had a great room at the Comfort Lodge with a huge breakafst buffet in Orlando for about $30 in 1991.
How does one get those pin codes? I get the Newsletter but not those kind of deals.