Look, Ma, no hands-- 10 days and Disney food

[DizWisher]

Hi all!
My header is a bit of a lame joke, sorry. I have a type of muscular dystrophy (Mitochondrial myopathy, if anyone's got a med bent) and I have no use of my arms and legs. I control my chair with eyegaze, and while we were at WDW I heard more kids yelling "look (insert party), no hands" than I usually do in any month at home. It doesn't bother us, but it got pretty funny by the 98th time.
"We" is me, Miri, 32, turned 33 on the trip, DH Matt, 37, and my nurse and good friend Dennis. I use a ventilator to breathe, so we always have nursing care. Denny hits his 20th annual 30th birthday soon.
Another weirdness here is... I don't eat. Not in decades. I receive TPN through a permanent IV line in my chest.
I DO taste (just can’t swallow), and my companions eat. Oh, how they eat.
I have no food porn. DH vowed photos next time. Yes, we loved it so much that we are going on my next birthday, 10/09, despite quad/vent/central line travel hell. Grand Floridian, so I can giggle at the pianist 24/7 for Oybolshoi.
We did hit some great places on a combo of ddp and oop. It may make more economic sense to do dxddp next year; my heifers ate their servings and mine, and we don’t have kids, so most CS was not geared to us. Plus, we needed the time out of the sun/rain and the rest we got from TS. Our table service:
Chefs de France (we got major pixie dust here, people)
Jiko
Yachtsman
Tutto Italia
Artist Point
Olivia’s
The Fountain
Boma (breakfast)
The only counter service that beat McDonald’s was at The Land. The fruit vendors at Africa in Animal Kingdom were pert near inexpensive, comparatively.
Does anybody want a review? I can tell you where we went, how we liked it, what we ordered and how we liked THAT.
Also, for other wheelchair users, there’s some info in how to get in, where to sit, and how not to become a tourist attraction while your DH is feeding you.
So…reviews?
Miri
aka
DizWisher

 

[tluvstink]

Oh yes I would love to read your reviews Especially your experience at Chefs.

Terri

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Yes please, especially for the TS restaurants.

 

[jeminni]

Count me in too please

 

[DizWisher]

I appreciate the positive responses. So I guess we'll start at Chefs de France...
Like everything in my life, this has a backstory.
I need meds every day at the hospital for chronic blood infection (I'm an immune deficient mito. yay!) Long story short, the hospital that was to do this was highly inexperienced-- to the point of not knowing, in one nurse's case, what muscular dystrophy was.
We spent our first two days of vacation there-- 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
After that, my doctor overnighted the meds, home nursing from MDA trained Dennis on it and all was well.
But I had decided by the end of the second day (see TR for even MORE horrors that were our first 48 hours) that we were fools, we should cut our losses and go home, any number of self-pity cliches.
So we missed Biergarten the first night. I wasn't heartbroken. But we missed Chefs the second and I WAS.
We decided against hope to plow me, vent, guys, everything through Epcot to find something for them to eat (They apparently take nutrition through their mouths. How primitive!)
We ended up at Chefs, and the door was still unlocked, so we spilled in, a bedraggled mess, apologizing for missing our reservation, asking if they were still serving.
The lovely young male CM asked us to wait a moment, and out came the manager. He explained that the kitchen was not preparing new dishes, but he would be delighted to serve us a meal of already made foods. We were seated like royalty, and served a four course meal, French onion soup, salad in vinaigrette, lamb with navy beans and full dessert selection. DH had creme brulee, DC had profiteroles and I had crepes stuffed with sauteed apples and topped with cinnamon ice cream. Our manager sat at table, asking where we were from, our tastes in food, etc. I was a bit shy about trying his yummy food and spitting it into a paper cup, but he was impressed that I still tasted food even if I couldn't eat it (good thing I can't eat, or I'd be very, very large.) He insisted DH and DC would have lukewarm or melted desserts, respectively, if they fed me while they ate, so he fed me my entire dessert, handling the no-swallow with aplomb. Turns out he has a nephew who died of Duchenne MD, and he couldn't eat for his last seven years.
We were on ddp, just oop for appetizers, etc., but they would not take one credit, one cent-- we snuck $20 under a plate so we'd at least leave a tip, but it was probably nowhere near enough even for a tip.
Next year, first night: CHEFS! Everything was covered in pixie dust, but I still know they make a very rich, authentic onion soup, the lamb was medium rare and very tender and my dessert was great. I hardly ever get a whole plate of something. DH and DC concur, add that the greens were fresh and crisp even late, and the beans had almost a curry flavor that brought out the lamb well.
For all three of us, that was our turnaround, and our great time began.
Back to the Dolphin (Dolphin/OKW). Next up, Artist Point, some food and wine festival, and the Fountain potpie conspiracy.

 

[TigerKat]

All I can say is WOW, that makes me smile!

 

[bolgers love wdw]

Great start!!! I can't wait to read more!!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

What great service!

 

[Finkerfell]

You have such a positive attitude considering all the challenges you are faced with. God Bless you- you are an inspiration. I have a nephew with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and I can only hope he will look at life ( he is only 4 ) like you do.

 

[pumba]

thanks so much for your reviews .....the manager from Chefs makes me feel like there are still wonderful great people in this world....regardless of some of the bad reviews we read about........thanks again for taking the time to tell us about it..

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Next, ready for more!

I watched a movie not too long ago w/ Sally Field who was sick and could not eat/swallow, she chewed, tasted and spat. Miri, you can still smell and taste and enjoy food on a whole new different level, I applaud you!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[John's Mom]

Great start!

 

[MinnieMommy]

Great start Miri!
Can't wait for more!
Really, I can't wait!
I'm off to search for your trip report!

 

[safetymom]

You are so inspiring to many here on the boards. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Glad to hear there are good managers and staff out there.

 

[oybolshoi]

Hi Miri!

I'm on my way to work so I haven't had a chance to read through everything but I'm glad you decided to write some reviews for all of us to enjoy. And when you go the GF to snicker at the piano player ask him / her to play Send in the Clowns!

Have a good day!

 

[Cyrano]

It is experiences like this and people who get Disney that make me excited that we are going on our first WDW trip next year

 

[CarolynU]

Oh please keep these reviews coming. You are truly an inspiration. I am so glad that CDF came through for you.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Glad to hear you had a good time at Chefs, we ate there on our honeymoon and enjoyed it very much so I am always surprised when I see bad reviews. It is nice that they made it nice for you! I loved my meal there, but I ate so much cheese I was stuffed! I had the French onion soup too and it was yummy!

 

[sandym718]

Signing on for your reviews! You are truly inspiring, and that is very impressive of the Chefs manager. True Disney spirit, there!

 

[Tricia1972]

Fantastic review so far. You're an inspiration and I can't wait to read more.