I am sharing this report with my fellow DISers in hope that you too will get the much needed information that I needed before I left. I was there from Aug. 1st to Aug. 7th and my DH and I had a fabulous time with the meal plan.
SNACKS
The main problem we had was that on the 7th, all the snack carts in MK did not have working card scanner/swipers that are used to redeem snacks off the plan. Even before yesterday there were a few that could not take the card. The best thing to look for is a palm pilot looking device sitting on top of the cart, usually this means that they can take the plan. This is used to scan your cards. Unfortunetly the wireless connection take a bit of time so the lines (especially at the ice cream carts were long due to the heat). We were able to get all the ice cream novelties (excluding soft serve ice cream) and any bottled waters and sodas (except Poweraide). I did not try the popcorn carts. Since all the carts were down in MK on the last day we decided to get the snack from our hotel. It seems like the hotel gave you a bit more freedom as to what a snack is. We were able to get the Mickey shaped rice krispie treats dipped in chocolate as a snack. Otherwise in the theme parks, they are pretty strict to the rule.
Lunch DINING
Every CS restaurant that we went to provided dessert which helped satisfy my sweet tooth. I know that on the allears site the menus did not specify desserts all the time. I assure you that each restaurant provides some type of dessert (usually a couple of choices). Places I ate at include:
*Just a tip for those who do not like the water from the water fountains at Disney. I have read on several threads how bad the water is so I made sure to bring a 20 pack of water with me. But if you do not want to pack that much you can get a large bottle of water from the CS restaurant and also ask for a cup of ice water. The water at the restaurants is filtered and taste fine. Then you can use the water bottles for walking around the parks.*
Sunshine Season (Land Pavillion) Highly recommended. It is a nice food court with a variety of choices that range from refreshing sandwiches to mongolian stirfrys. For dessert they have a bakery that you can select from the most delightful and picturesque cakes and pastries. It is also nice to make a bee-line for Soarin to get a fastpass there. We both had the yummy Turkey Muenster and Cheese Focaccia with Chipotle Mayonnaise. I had the chocolate mousse cake and DH had butterfinger cheesecake, both fabulous.
Pecos Bill Cafe (MK)-Yummy peanut butter chocolate cake. Toppings bar worth the trip. It has cheese for the fries, sauteed mushrooms and onions for the burgers.
Backlot Express (MGM) Yes they do have desserts here although I cannot remember them at the moment. We had the the grilled turkey sandwiches and cranberry coleslaw (much better alternative to fries).
Tangerine Cafe (EPCOT) I tried to make sure that I ate somewhere with food that I have not had before. The food here reminds me of lamb or chicken Gyros. The Hummus was so good and refreshing. This was the only place I ate at that did not have air-conditioning but overall it was fairly cool there. I had the chicken platter that had a good couscous that was a bit sweet and hummus, and tabolah (parsley salad,sp?). I wasn't too thrilled with the parsley salad but everything else was good. Definitely a good place for a change in the standard burger eatery. The dessert was a baklavah.
Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe (MK)- The burger and Chicken lines were fairly long so we headed to the sandwich line which was shorter and surprisingly good. I had the BBQ beef sandwich and DH had the grilled chicken sandwich. They had a variety of desserts ranging from carrot cake (very good for being pre-packaged) to chocolate cake (didn't try) and the sugar free brownie (didn't try).
Tusker House (AK) This place by far was the best CS that we had in the week. We both had the grilled salmon (excellent spice rub) with Jollof rice and green bean. Everything seemed so fresh and great tasting. For dessert we both had the carrot cake. Much different from the one that we had a casmic rays. It seemed like it was make on premise and fresher. I think they had a chocolate layer cake available too. We actually got a window seat next to the area where there are various drum/dance performers and acrobats. So this place gets two thumbs up!!!
So overall the dining plan was well worth it even for lunch as CS restaurants. It gave us a chance to try different options and not have to worry about the cost. I hope that this helps in your visits to Disney.
More to come about our dinners!
SNACKS
The main problem we had was that on the 7th, all the snack carts in MK did not have working card scanner/swipers that are used to redeem snacks off the plan. Even before yesterday there were a few that could not take the card. The best thing to look for is a palm pilot looking device sitting on top of the cart, usually this means that they can take the plan. This is used to scan your cards. Unfortunetly the wireless connection take a bit of time so the lines (especially at the ice cream carts were long due to the heat). We were able to get all the ice cream novelties (excluding soft serve ice cream) and any bottled waters and sodas (except Poweraide). I did not try the popcorn carts. Since all the carts were down in MK on the last day we decided to get the snack from our hotel. It seems like the hotel gave you a bit more freedom as to what a snack is. We were able to get the Mickey shaped rice krispie treats dipped in chocolate as a snack. Otherwise in the theme parks, they are pretty strict to the rule.
Lunch DINING
Every CS restaurant that we went to provided dessert which helped satisfy my sweet tooth. I know that on the allears site the menus did not specify desserts all the time. I assure you that each restaurant provides some type of dessert (usually a couple of choices). Places I ate at include:
*Just a tip for those who do not like the water from the water fountains at Disney. I have read on several threads how bad the water is so I made sure to bring a 20 pack of water with me. But if you do not want to pack that much you can get a large bottle of water from the CS restaurant and also ask for a cup of ice water. The water at the restaurants is filtered and taste fine. Then you can use the water bottles for walking around the parks.*
Sunshine Season (Land Pavillion) Highly recommended. It is a nice food court with a variety of choices that range from refreshing sandwiches to mongolian stirfrys. For dessert they have a bakery that you can select from the most delightful and picturesque cakes and pastries. It is also nice to make a bee-line for Soarin to get a fastpass there. We both had the yummy Turkey Muenster and Cheese Focaccia with Chipotle Mayonnaise. I had the chocolate mousse cake and DH had butterfinger cheesecake, both fabulous.
Pecos Bill Cafe (MK)-Yummy peanut butter chocolate cake. Toppings bar worth the trip. It has cheese for the fries, sauteed mushrooms and onions for the burgers.
Backlot Express (MGM) Yes they do have desserts here although I cannot remember them at the moment. We had the the grilled turkey sandwiches and cranberry coleslaw (much better alternative to fries).
Tangerine Cafe (EPCOT) I tried to make sure that I ate somewhere with food that I have not had before. The food here reminds me of lamb or chicken Gyros. The Hummus was so good and refreshing. This was the only place I ate at that did not have air-conditioning but overall it was fairly cool there. I had the chicken platter that had a good couscous that was a bit sweet and hummus, and tabolah (parsley salad,sp?). I wasn't too thrilled with the parsley salad but everything else was good. Definitely a good place for a change in the standard burger eatery. The dessert was a baklavah.
Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe (MK)- The burger and Chicken lines were fairly long so we headed to the sandwich line which was shorter and surprisingly good. I had the BBQ beef sandwich and DH had the grilled chicken sandwich. They had a variety of desserts ranging from carrot cake (very good for being pre-packaged) to chocolate cake (didn't try) and the sugar free brownie (didn't try).
Tusker House (AK) This place by far was the best CS that we had in the week. We both had the grilled salmon (excellent spice rub) with Jollof rice and green bean. Everything seemed so fresh and great tasting. For dessert we both had the carrot cake. Much different from the one that we had a casmic rays. It seemed like it was make on premise and fresher. I think they had a chocolate layer cake available too. We actually got a window seat next to the area where there are various drum/dance performers and acrobats. So this place gets two thumbs up!!!
So overall the dining plan was well worth it even for lunch as CS restaurants. It gave us a chance to try different options and not have to worry about the cost. I hope that this helps in your visits to Disney.
More to come about our dinners!
