Just back....DDP and DXDDP review....yum.

[alldiz]

Hi,
Just back yesterday from our eating tour of the world. I have to say my stomach will need a week to recover

4-17 to 20th regular DDP at BWV then DXDDP from 4-20-24th @OKW.

Day 1 4-17
Lunch Boardwalk Bakery.
I had Chicken Caesar Salad....best croutons ever...yum
DM...Ham and cheese Panini....good but not that hot.
DD....got her a slice of pizza from window....pretty good.

Dinner....Spoodles. Good food....but dissapointing changes.
Me....Garlic Shrimp appetizer, rigatoni(always good)
The shrimp app used to be a scampi style....now it is like garlic shrimp....good but not the yummy scampi sauce that made the whole dish.

DM...Flatbread app....and snapper for dinner....very good.
Now for the other dissapointment....NO MORE SAMPLER DESSERT PLATTER Since 1-08....ALL of the restaurants have had to cut back.
Waiter very upset about it and encouraged me to write letters( many more CM's during the week said the same thing)
I don't even remember what dessert we had we were so bummed.....also can't get expresso for your drink....only reg coffee
DD....in the Sandcastle club

Had to many drinks and stumbled to the BC and back to pick up DD from kids club

Day 2...4-18
M.K day.....great day...walked on HM, and barnstormer
Lunch Cosmic Rays.
DM had a burger, fries, carrot cake.
I had Chicken n ribs....real good although the ribs were a little fatty.
DD....chicken nuggets....pretty sure it was the old nuggets.

Back to the pool....BTW BW has the most awesome pool area.

Dinner...Boma....Nuff said....everything was awesome
Although my favorite soup is Chicken pepper pot...which was not there CM behind counter had some and gave me 2
Had a great waiter (Loren)...thanks for the laughs....If your reading...I'm looking into the DCL

Will be back for more if you want
Kerri

 

[danalee]

yes please, more more! We are doing the DXDDP in Aug and love to see what folks are saying about it!

 

[alldiz]

Day 3 ...4-19..Epcot

Quick Bkfst at Sunhine Seasons...after we get a fastpass for Soarin.
DM and I shared Adult Bkfst platter...eggs, pot, saus, bac, biscuit w/sausage gravy...very good...really good sausage.
DD french toast w/sausage....DD didn't want her sausage....Just awful

Epcot was real busy....test track 2hr wait at 1:00 who waits that long fastpasses gone by 2 and also for Soarin. After Soarin lunch.

Sunshine seasons again....it has so many choices.
DM.. Chicken Caesar Salad....good...not as good as BW bakery.
DD..PB&J sandwich....Uncrustable.
I had the Seared Tuna over mixed greens....YUMMY...very good and the creme brulee.....that was just like pudding....no crispy crust.

After that we head back for more pool time.

Dinner Akershus....meeting my cousins there...there staying offsite.
I underestimated my walk time from BW to Akershus.....and the Concert Series just letting out(gridlock) they got there 1st and checked us in
Good thing we waited about 25 min and we were starving.

Anyhoo there were 8 of us.
My suggestion would be to not order your dinner till you have gone to the Salad bar even though they want you to order 1st...
By the time all of us got some salads....Dinner was starting to come out....

DM..Salmon w/spicy mustard
DD..hotdog...they don't have FF.
I had the Kjottkake...

My cousin had the Braised Beef Short Ribs....winner at the table.....very good.
her friends had the Pasta Akershus....which they said was good.

Dessert....they bring a sampler plate...Although this too has been downsized I could swear there were 4 different items before....now there are only 3....Pretty sure the chocolate thing is gone.

All in all the food was very good....this is my favorite Princess character meal.
Next time I will make sure I get time at the salad bar.....takes me time to get through those Peel n eat shrimp
Caught Illuminations on the walk back to BW....It is nice walking off some of this yummy food.

Be back soon
Kerri

edit....forgot to say another dissapointing cutback was at the buffet table at Akershus they NO longer have all those yummy multi grain breads....

 

[alldiz]

Day 4....4-20....Switch from DDP @BWV to DXDDP @ OKW.

After checkin meet DM and DD at Brown Derby for lunch.

Menu has changed slightly....I couldn't find my dishes on the menu's.

DM Coconut shrimp app...very good....3 lg shrimp with sauces, Halibut for dinner.
DD..had hotdog and FF...."treasure hunt" sundae.....gummy worms her favorite.....YUCK.

I had Pork shank app...very good....
and Ribeye Steak....both very good. Creme brulee desert.

All in all the food is good....not excellent and the food did not come out HOT.

After MGM....some pool time.
Next up Dinner at Olivia's......YUMMY
Kerri

 

[suzimar57]

enjoying your reviews so far!

 

[TigerKat]

I'm in....

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed your reviews.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Great reviews! I'm sorry to hear about more cutbacks. I wish they'd leave the menu alone, & charge a bit more if necessary.

 

[hayanyujah847]

Looking forward to reading more~!

 

[alldiz]

Ok....I was going to change this ressie....so glad I didn't.

Olivia's.
DM....Crabcakes app(tasted more like fish cakes but good)
Entree....Mahi Mahi....very good
Dessert....Individual Apple pie ala mode....I dont' like apple pie but mom said it is the best she EVER had.

DD Burger and fries.
I had the Ancho Bourbon Chicken Wings.....I can't believe how many they were....8lg wings....very good...although next time I will tell them well done, so the skin will be crispier.
Entree....Penne Pasta w/Shrimp and Asiago cheese.(you can have this dish with grilled chicken also(which I did on another day)This was unbelievably good....
Dessert ...Key Lime tart...OMG....out of this world....so good

OK Let me just say this was the ONLY restaurant that the food came out
HOT.....I mean lets wait a minute to take a bite.
Even DD's burger and fries were hot.
I have to say I was VERY impressed with this restaurant....Everyone so friendly and the food is really good....

So good that we do lunch here the next day

Day 5...4-21

Were going to AK to try Yak and Yeti but we decided to hang around OKW and have lunch at Olivia's.....yeah it was that good.

Olivia's Lunch.
DM....App...Salad
Entree.....Grouper sandwich....it comes blackened....but mom had it plain...god forbid she eats any spices
Dessert.....yes the apple pie ala mode......she can't believe how good it is.

DD Chicken Strips w/fries.. she has a sundae for every dessert.....she is upset there are no gummy worms they do have M&M's though.

I had.....Onion Rings w/dipping sauces...these were good but I would tell them well done next time.....
Entree...."Member Special" this week....Buttermilk Chicken with Mashed potatoes and gravy. THIS WAS AWESOME....
Food came out hot and chicken was as moist as could be.....really good.

Desert.....Key lime tart...this really is outstanding.

FYI....this is the only restaurant in all of WDW that the food comes out
HOT...not warm.

After spending the day at the pool and a visit to community hall....
Time to get ready for Narcosee's.

Dinner...Narcosee's....another menu change...

DM....Shrimp Cocktail(app).....not your normal way....but delicious....
I had this unbelievable combo....not on menu.
Lobster Bisque and lobster sandwich.....cup of the best lobster bisque I ever had....along with the tiniest cutest lobster sandwich I ever saw.....YUMMY.

We both had the Surf n Turf....This was so good....they overcooked my filet medalions but it was still delicious and flavorful. The Lobster was delicious and they had this potato gratin that was impossible to stop eating.

So far this is definately our best meal
I had the key lime creme brulee.....the tart at OKW better.
DM had this chocolate thing....we both took a few bites....too full from that delicious dinner.

DD was in kids club....she liked it but I have to say that the Mouseketeer club is the most "bareboned" kids club in all of WDW....considering it is in the
GF they really need to spice up the place.

We really enjoyed this dinner and just the food cost $181 bucks...OUCH.
gotta love the DDP.
Next up....
Olivia's lunch...again...can you tell we like it....and Flying Fish dinner.
Kerri

 

[oybolshoi]

Can you shed more light on the menu cutbacks you mentioned earlier? How many restaurants have pared their menus back and what was the rationale that CMs were giving you?

I understand that Disney is in the business of making money but when they're pulling it in hand over fist it really upsets me to hear that they are further cutting back on menu options at some of their more interesting restaurants.

Thanks!

 

[alldiz]

Can you shed more light on the menu cutbacks you mentioned earlier? How many restaurants have pared their menus back and what was the rationale that CMs were giving you?

I understand that Disney is in the business of making money but when they're pulling it in hand over fist it really upsets me to hear that they are further cutting back on menu options at some of their more interesting restaurants.

Thanks!

At Spoodles they changed the shrimp app totally....although this could just be a menu change.

The dessert sampler platter is no longer on the menu. I had a very nice waiter at Spoodles he said since Jan everything has changed.
They are limited as to what they can put on the menu....The cuts of steak are no longer the same quality.
They cannot put anything on the menu that costs more than 25 dollars.
Waiter said only signatures are getting the "better" cuts of meat now.

At Akershus in Norway there was no longer all of the grain bread on the buffet line. My portion of food was definately smaller than when I was there in Aug.
I didn't notice any change at Boma....but my nice waiter told me that the waiters are really getting screwed with the tips.
Lots of people...CM's told me to write letters....that a new contract was coming up in June and hopefully they will change it.

What pisses me off.....is they already gained about 25% profit from no appetizer and no tip....Why are they cutting back more.

I understand what people are saying now about the DDP ruining WDW restaurants. The higher ups come in and slam down any specials the Chefs want to make because it costs too much.
If it was on the menu before and costs more than X...they just take it off the menu....
Really sad.
Kerri

 

[oybolshoi]

That's such a shame.

We noticed this past October that Rose & Crown's menu had been drastically reduced from what it was the previous year. There were so few items on the menu that we just went ahead and canceled our ADR which bummed us out because R&C was always one of our favorite table service restaurants.

And I can't believe that Spoodles did away with their dessert sampler - that was so tasty and so much fun to share. Waaaaaaaaah!!

Tell me where to send a letter and I'll be happy to let WDW know what I think (I'm sure they can't wait ... ).

Thanks again for all the info.

 

[luckytobeme88]

Actually we anticipate that all restaurants(WDW and the whole US, as a matter of fact) will try to save their business with some kind cost cutting tactics. I read that the "Cheesecake" factory restaurants want to see if they could get an extra slice out of the whole cake. Who can blame them?The price of a dozen egg, flour, dry pasta and cooking oil has almost doubled. Although we are not much of rice eating family, but the price of rice has also gone way up too. Enough said. Smaller portions or not, we still love the value of the plan.

 

[oybolshoi]

I don't care about the portion sizes - if we wanted unlimited food we'd go eat at a buffet - but I do care about a lack of options and limitations on culinary creativity. If food prices have gone up (and we all know they have) then raise menu prices accordingly. Easier said than done, I know, but Disney has never hesitated to raise their prices for anything else so I don't see why they'd hesitate to do so with their menus.

I am really beginning to fear that we've seen the glory days of Disney dining pass us all by - before long we can look forward to matrix mush at all but the most expensive restaurants.

Anyway, didn't mean to get you off topic here ... I've enjoyed reading about your dining experiences and appreciate the information you've provided.

Thanks again!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[alldiz]

Day 6....Olivia's lunch...

DM had the soup and sandwich....tuna w/stuffed baked potato soup....YUM...
that soup was a special...and real good.

I had the pasta dish again....but this time with grilled chicken....very moist chicken.....this pasta is really good.

Oh for app I had the Conch chowder....very good...just like manhattan clam chowder.

Dessert....I didn't have one Come on my stomach is busting this week.
But I did have a vanilla milkshake for my drink....that was a winner.
Mom can't stay away from that apple pie ala mode..

DD had a hamberger again.

Another pool relax day.....we love chillin ....off course we cant move much after 5 days of the DXDDP

Ok...time for dinner already...of to the Flying fish.

Dinner...Flying Fish.
DM...Coconut Shrimp.....3 lg shrimp....very good.(I think).It might have been some type of shrimp cocktail...fancy style...I might be mixing up app between Narcosee's
Entree...potato wrapped snapper.
Dessert.....the chocolate dessert....good but we are stuffed 1 bite.

I can't remember my app
But I had the charbroiled steak......to die for...
I had some pecan tart for dessert yum...

Mom likes flying fish better than Narcosee's....I say I need another trip to make my final decision
We waddle around the BW to pick up DD at the Sandcastle club.

Next up....DD's birthday ....A visit to Chef Mickey's the Castle and even BBB
Kerri

 

[suzimar57]

excellent reviews, continuing - we love narcoosees, hoping the choice of lobster bisque with mini lobster sandwich is there in december, would like to try something like that!

 

[TigerKat]

Isn't that steak at FF amazing? I think it's the best in all of WDW!!

 

[alldiz]

Great reviews! I'm sorry to hear about more cutbacks. I wish they'd leave the menu alone, & charge a bit more if necessary.

Yes...I wish they would charge more and not cut quality and choices.

Actually we anticipate that all restaurants(WDW and the whole US, as a matter of fact) will try to save their business with some kind cost cutting tactics. I read that the "Cheesecake" factory restaurants want to see if they could get an extra slice out of the whole cake. Who can blame them?The price of a dozen egg, flour, dry pasta and cooking oil has almost doubled. Although we are not much of rice eating family, but the price of rice has also gone way up too. Enough said. Smaller portions or not, we still love the value of the plan.

Cutting the size of that cake at the factory is actually a good idea....they are giant I love the plan also the problem is they are cutting back quality on the whole menu because they don't want to go more than the 25 bucks at the TS....this is a major cutback with the cost of everything without raising prices.

I don't care about the portion sizes - if we wanted unlimited food we'd go eat at a buffet - but I do care about a lack of options and limitations on culinary creativity. If food prices have gone up (and we all know they have) then raise menu prices accordingly. Easier said than done, I know, but Disney has never hesitated to raise their prices for anything else so I don't see why they'd hesitate to do so with their menus.

I am really beginning to fear that we've seen the glory days of Disney dining pass us all by - before long we can look forward to matrix mush at all but the most expensive restaurants.

Anyway, didn't mean to get you off topic here ... I've enjoyed reading about your dining experiences and appreciate the information you've provided.

Thanks again!

Please don't serve matrix mush I've only been going to WDW since May of 06 and I see all the restaurants with streamlined menus......it is dissapointing.

excellent reviews, continuing - we love narcoosees, hoping the choice of lobster bisque with mini lobster sandwich is there in december, would like to try something like that!

That soup and sandwich is amazing....funny I looked at FF menu this morning and that is listed as an app at FF not Narcosee's....I might be going crazy

Isn't that steak at FF amazing? I think it's the best in all of WDW!!

That steak is the best steak I have had at any WDW restaurant so far....
YUMMY
Kerri