henrylovespooh
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 28, 2003
- Messages
- 1,568
Just got back yesterday from a great 9 day trip to WDW. I planned to keep this short but it is long - sorry!
The Disney Dining addition to the MYW package worked very well for us. The best values for us on the plan were Kona Cafe and CRT for dinner. For two adults and one child on the plan, our dinner bills were $109 (CRT) and $120 (KC) without tip and tax, so without our CS lunch we were already ahead. When we ate at Chef Mickey's and Boma, we did a little better than breaking even, but we saved money there because our 2 year old could eat for free. All servers seem more familiar with the plan and we had no troubles, other than the snack vendors having to ring up each soda, popcorn or ice cream separately. I have no idea why they have to do that.
DH and I like Chef Mickey's better this time than in 2003. Excellent food and service. Boma was great too - we actually ate there twice because we wanted to go back to AKL to hang out one late afternoon. I have read alot about the soups at Boma on the boards, but there is not enough praise for their desserts. Wonderful. They have a coconut tiramisu that was so good! Light, creamy, Heavenly. Also liked the Zebra domes and the banana bread pudding. I would pay the full price just for dessert. We loved the prime rib with mashed root vegetables at CRT, and I thought my caesar salad was one of the best I've ever had - great dressing! Good kid meals there with mashed potatoes and carrots. And we saw Cinderella in the elevator on the way in. Mary Poppins came up to my daughter in the downstairs lobby and said hello. It was the first character that didn't make her cry, and after that meeting she loved all the characters she saw.
We went off of our itinerary one day and ate at the Biergarten for dinner and thought the food was good (not great, but solid - liked the roast pork, spaetzle, potatoes, rotisserie chicken and apple streudel - didn't like the potatoe dumplings) and the show was very good - would do it again. We really liked Kona Cafe - the crab cakes, bisque, and filet mignon medallions were outstanding and the kiddie cone dessert thrilled my kids. I loved my macadamia nut tart. Yum!
CS meals: Columbia Harbour House in MK - first time there and we loved it. Thanks to people on the baords who recommended it. The upstairs was empty and so quiet - a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the parks. I don't know if we got lucky or that many people do not know there is an upstairs. DH loved his brat in Germany and fish and chips in UK at Epcot. We ate a couple times at the food court at ASMo (lunch and breakfast) and thought it was good - no complaints. It can get very crowded though. We really liked Flame Tree barbecue at AK - ate there twice. Great value on the plan, I thought.
We actually didn't use all of our snack allotments. We forgot about them until mid-trip. It wasn't hot, so we didn't drink as much water as we usually do. The kids loved the popcorn and ice cream treats when they got them, though!
I would definitely do the dining plan on the package again. I thought it saved us at least $180, probably more, and allowed us to eat at some places we wouldn't have gone to otherwise. And now having done it, I can imagine ways to make it work even better for us.
At Boma, our waiter accidentally charged us for my 2 year old's dinner. I didn't realize it until we got back to the room and I looked at the receipt that told me how many sit-down meals I had left and the number looked wrong. I went to Guest Services at the front desk the next day and they were able to credit the meal back to me there - no questions asked. Outstanding service. So if you will be dining with a 2 year old that looks more like 3, you should check your receipt to make sure you're not accidentally charged - whether you're on the plan or not.
Other general food comments: I fell in love with the danish at Main Street bakery. The cheese and cherry were outstanding and I couldn't get enough of them. I did not like the pink cotton candy sold in the parks - they add some kind of flavoring that I thought was yucky. The blue is much better. Funnel cakes in MK and Epcot were awesome! For creme brulee junkies - they do have to-go creme brulee at the patisserie in France in Epcot. I thought it was very good, except that they sprinkle cinnamon on top and I didn't like that too much - took the focus off of the flavor of the caramelized sugar. The capuccino creme brulee at CRT was absolutely awful. It looked beautiful, but it might be the worst dessert I've ever had. The custard part was very cold (served in an espresso cup) - almost frozen in parts, and I'm assuming they topped it with a whipped marshmallow topping that they torched lightly. It was grainy and didn't taste good. I would not recommend it at all.
If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them!
The Disney Dining addition to the MYW package worked very well for us. The best values for us on the plan were Kona Cafe and CRT for dinner. For two adults and one child on the plan, our dinner bills were $109 (CRT) and $120 (KC) without tip and tax, so without our CS lunch we were already ahead. When we ate at Chef Mickey's and Boma, we did a little better than breaking even, but we saved money there because our 2 year old could eat for free. All servers seem more familiar with the plan and we had no troubles, other than the snack vendors having to ring up each soda, popcorn or ice cream separately. I have no idea why they have to do that.
DH and I like Chef Mickey's better this time than in 2003. Excellent food and service. Boma was great too - we actually ate there twice because we wanted to go back to AKL to hang out one late afternoon. I have read alot about the soups at Boma on the boards, but there is not enough praise for their desserts. Wonderful. They have a coconut tiramisu that was so good! Light, creamy, Heavenly. Also liked the Zebra domes and the banana bread pudding. I would pay the full price just for dessert. We loved the prime rib with mashed root vegetables at CRT, and I thought my caesar salad was one of the best I've ever had - great dressing! Good kid meals there with mashed potatoes and carrots. And we saw Cinderella in the elevator on the way in. Mary Poppins came up to my daughter in the downstairs lobby and said hello. It was the first character that didn't make her cry, and after that meeting she loved all the characters she saw.
We went off of our itinerary one day and ate at the Biergarten for dinner and thought the food was good (not great, but solid - liked the roast pork, spaetzle, potatoes, rotisserie chicken and apple streudel - didn't like the potatoe dumplings) and the show was very good - would do it again. We really liked Kona Cafe - the crab cakes, bisque, and filet mignon medallions were outstanding and the kiddie cone dessert thrilled my kids. I loved my macadamia nut tart. Yum!
CS meals: Columbia Harbour House in MK - first time there and we loved it. Thanks to people on the baords who recommended it. The upstairs was empty and so quiet - a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the parks. I don't know if we got lucky or that many people do not know there is an upstairs. DH loved his brat in Germany and fish and chips in UK at Epcot. We ate a couple times at the food court at ASMo (lunch and breakfast) and thought it was good - no complaints. It can get very crowded though. We really liked Flame Tree barbecue at AK - ate there twice. Great value on the plan, I thought.
We actually didn't use all of our snack allotments. We forgot about them until mid-trip. It wasn't hot, so we didn't drink as much water as we usually do. The kids loved the popcorn and ice cream treats when they got them, though!
I would definitely do the dining plan on the package again. I thought it saved us at least $180, probably more, and allowed us to eat at some places we wouldn't have gone to otherwise. And now having done it, I can imagine ways to make it work even better for us.
At Boma, our waiter accidentally charged us for my 2 year old's dinner. I didn't realize it until we got back to the room and I looked at the receipt that told me how many sit-down meals I had left and the number looked wrong. I went to Guest Services at the front desk the next day and they were able to credit the meal back to me there - no questions asked. Outstanding service. So if you will be dining with a 2 year old that looks more like 3, you should check your receipt to make sure you're not accidentally charged - whether you're on the plan or not.
Other general food comments: I fell in love with the danish at Main Street bakery. The cheese and cherry were outstanding and I couldn't get enough of them. I did not like the pink cotton candy sold in the parks - they add some kind of flavoring that I thought was yucky. The blue is much better. Funnel cakes in MK and Epcot were awesome! For creme brulee junkies - they do have to-go creme brulee at the patisserie in France in Epcot. I thought it was very good, except that they sprinkle cinnamon on top and I didn't like that too much - took the focus off of the flavor of the caramelized sugar. The capuccino creme brulee at CRT was absolutely awful. It looked beautiful, but it might be the worst dessert I've ever had. The custard part was very cold (served in an espresso cup) - almost frozen in parts, and I'm assuming they topped it with a whipped marshmallow topping that they torched lightly. It was grainy and didn't taste good. I would not recommend it at all.
If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them!
Very appreciated!
So I shared my lunch with him and we banked some credits. Then we used them for breakfast, so some days we never paid for a meal. I also had bagels and fruit in the room for the days we didn't buy breakfast.
Makes it so hard to study for my Anatomy and Physiology test this wednesday! 
