Mother/Daughter trip reviews Aug13-22 updated 9/26 complete with final analysis

[JJ&JHsmom]

DD and I took a mother/daughter trip to the world August 13 -22. I originally planned on doing the dining plan( would have cost roughly $900), but circumstances(another trip planned so upgrade to AP and purchase TIW) and DD being only 12 and somewhat picky, I decided to pay OOP. I had figured roughly what we would spend at meals, added in tips and allowed some $$ for snacks and came up with a food budget of $1100, without the 20% discount for TIW.

I will be reviewing the following:

The Wave (lunch)
Contempo Café
Pizza Planet
Kouzzina (Dinner)
Ohana dinner
Sunshine Seasons
Chefs de France (lunch)
Main Street Bakery
Cinderella’s Royal Table (dinner)
Capt Cooks
GF Afternoon Tea
Narcoossees
Backlot Express
Mama Melrose (dinner)
Crystal Palace) breakfast)
Tony’s Town Square (lunch)
LeCellier (lunch)
Tangerine Café
Ohana breakfast

I will included prices for each and be adding in snacks as we went.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

So a little information before I get to the reviews….

This trip is all about us girls. I have always wanted to stay at the contemporary and after playing around on the Disney site, I received the Pin for 40% off deluxe resorts. DH said go for it, so I did. I had originally booked 9 nights Garden View with the dining plan and one day park tickets for each of us. We really did not need the tickets so I was going to put them away for future use. After realizing that the dining plan was not the way for us to go, I changed the ressie to room only and upgraded to a theme park view. Now I was totally excited for this trip and could not wait!!!

We finally arrived at the resort at about 10:45am. We checked in, our room was ready so we headed up to a great room on the 8th floor. The view was incredible, but we were starving!!!! So we unpacked and headed off the lunch.

Next up The Wave

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

We had and ADR for 12:00 and we arrived a little early. They were not seating for lunch yet but the told us it would only be a few minutes. DD and I had a seat on the bench and waited. We were seated after about 5 minutes. We were shown to a small table for two in the center of the dining room. Our waitress came over and took our drink order, DD ordered a coke and I ordered lemonade. The waitress did tell me it was pomegranate lemonade just to make sure it was okay, I ordered it anyway. It was sweeter that regular lemonade but tasty. I knew I wanted the appetizer for two, sautéed sea scallops with rock shrimp and lump crab cakes. DD decided on the Strawberry flatbread salad. She also said she definitely wanted dessert so no entrees for us. The waitress took the order and we did not see her again until we were ready to order dessert. Some one else brought the plates to the table and she never checked to see if every thing was okay or not.

The scallops were so creamy and were served with a very light sauce. Very yummy! The crab cakes had lots of crab and very little filler. I think there were 3 of each on the plate and it was plenty for lunch.

DD loved her salad but thought the triangle of flatbread was weird. I tasted a bite of her salad and it was good. The dressing was champagne vinaigrette, very light and did not overpower the taste of the greens or the berries.

DD decided on the creamy indulgence which was Cheesecake with Raspberry coulis, Coconut panna cotta with passion fruit drizzle, chocolate-passion fruit mousse with pecan olive brittle. We both liked the cheesecake, I only got to try a little bite, DD scoffed up the rest before I could get anymore. I liked the panna cotta, but I like coconut. DD tried it, said meh, and left the rest for me. The mousse was also very good, creamy, chocolaty, with a hint of fruit. DD and I both love chocolate, but the cheesecake was our favorite.

Strawberry Salad $8.49
Appetizer for Two $14.99
Coke $2.69
Lemonade $2.69
Dessert $7.99
Tax $2.40
Tip $7.37
Total $46.62

At this point I had not purchased the TIW card so no discount. We left full and headed off to Downtown Disney for some shopping and a show.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

The original plan was to see La Nouba and then have dinner at Wolf Gang Puck Express. Well after the show we walked all the way back to WPE, then DD decides she’s tired and just wants to go back to the resort. Umm okay, so we head to the bus stop and quickly catch a bus headed to the resort. We decided to grab a light meal at the Contempo Cafe and take it to our room.

Neither of us was very hungry so we split a Stacked Sandwich, smoked ham, dill havarti, and honey mustard on multi grain bread. It came with lettuce and tomato too. We order some French fries, DD grabbed a brownie and a bottle of Lemonade and I grabbed a Bacardi Silver Lemonade.

The sandwich was definitely big enough for the two of us to split along with the fries. It was very tasty, DD enjoyed it a lot. She doesn’t usually eat honey mustard, but this one was very mild in flavor. The fries were yummy. The brownie was really fudgie and rich, I am glad I only had to eat half as the whole thing would have been too much.

Overall a nice meal before we both went to bed exhausted.

Stacked sandwich and fries $9.19
Brownie $3.29
Bottle lemonade $2.39
Bacardi Silver Lemonade $5.25
Tax $1.31
Total $21.43

We also grabbed a few things for breakfast before we headed up to our room. I had brought some bagels and fruit with us from home. So we grabbed one small carton of milk, 2 bottles of strawberry milk, and 3 yogurts.

Milk $1.49
2 Strawberry milk $4.38
3 Yoplait yogurt $5.97
Tax $.77
Total $12.61


Total OOP= $80.66

Up next, snacks and Lunch at the Studios.

 

[mimi'sgirl]

I'm in. Looking forward to hearing more. Thank you for your review.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

I'm in. Looking forward to hearing more. Thank you for your review.

Thanks for joining in our reviews.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

Breakfast most days will be in our room with bagels and fruit brought from home, yogurt and milk purchased from the food court. It was not until our final night that I finally found the resort store tucked back in the corner of the 4th floor.

We did stop for a snack while in Downtown Disney; we each got Nestle frozen lemonade, very refreshing during the heat of the day. The total for two was $7.00.

Day 2 we headed to the Studios. Around 10:30 we got hungry so we went to Writer’s Stop for a snack. We split a Carrot cake cookie; it was very moist and very good. DD loves carrot cake so she inhaled her half. She got a PowerAde to drink and I had water.

Carrot cake cookie $2.95
20ounce PowerAde $2.89
20 ounce Dasani $2.50
Tax $.38
Total $8.72


Total OOP so far $96.38

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

After doing some more rides, DD said she wanted lunch, I gave her the options of Starring Rolls and Pizza Planet, Pizza Planet was closer and had AC so that’s where we went.

I was not all that hungry so we split a Pepperoni pizza meal, I had water and DD had an orange soda. The salad that came with the meal was decent size, mostly lettuce though. DD said the pizza was pretty good, the pepperoni was not overly spicy and that’s how she likes it. I thought it was okay, not great but not bad. This place is VERY noisy, we ate around 1:00 and it was packed, we went upstairs and found a table in a corner.

Pizza Meal $8.29
Water $2.50
Orange soda $2.19
Tax $.69
Total $13.67

Total OOP $110.05

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

So about 3:00 DD is thirsty and hot, this would become a frequent complaint from her. So we headed to Min and Bill's to get some frozen lemonade slushes. They are sooooo good and really help cool you down. We stopped for many of these at the different parks as the trip progressed. I think DD is addicted to them. As I was looking through the receipts we had quite a few over the length of the trip.

2 Frozen Lemonade $7.38
Tax $.48
Total $7.86


Total OOP $117.91

 

[lovesdumbo]

Enjoying your reviews! I often take my children DD(11), DS(9), DD(7) one at a time. Those one on one trips are so very special. Each of my kids has different eating habits-DD(11) moderately picky but will try more things now, DS will try anything and loves Disney signature dining (I've spoiled him-he doesn't want to buy his lunch at school this year ), and DD(7) eats pretty much only white food-chicken strips, fries, waffles, and hot dogs.

I find TiW works better for us. I will be interested to hear your total tally.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

Enjoying your reviews! I often take my children DD(11), DS(9), DD(7) one at a time. Those one on one trips are so very special. Each of my kids has different eating habits-DD(11) moderately picky but will try more things now, DS will try anything and loves Disney signature dining (I've spoiled him-he doesn't want to buy his lunch at school this year ), and DD(7) eats pretty much only white food-chicken strips, fries, waffles, and hot dogs.

I find TiW works better for us. I will be interested to hear your total tally.

Thanks for joining in. DS will eat everything, especially if it is on my plate, he also likes the signature restaurants. DD is getting better at trying new things as she gets older. She surprized me a few times this trip with her food choices.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

DD is a huge Iron Chef fan; she begged to go to Kouzzina. I was not sure she would eat anything but we decided to try out some of their appetizers. We ordered:

Spiro’s Greek Salad, this was very good. The tomatoes were perfect, very fresh and the dressing was just right with the saltiness of the cheese. DD ate most of this.

Calamari with Spicy yogurt and Garlic yogurt, there are rings and tentacles in this dish. DD usually likes calamari but did not care for either of the sauces with this one. The Garlic yogurt was very good; the spicy one was a little too spicy for us. It was okay as far as calamari goes, crispy but a little rubbery.

Goat cheese stuffed grape leaf, this was very good. The cheese was the perfect creamy, salty accompaniment to the grilled grape leaf. It was plenty for the two of us to split and each have a good size piece. DD inhaled hers.

Kouzzina Sampler with one chicken and one shrimp skewer, marinated olives, dolmades, spiced cashews, tzatziki, hummus and grilled pita. This was a good sized plate. There were 2 pieces of shrimp on the skewer, and 3 smaller pieces of chicken on the other. DD ate some of the chicken and said it was okay. The shrimp were very good, slightly smoky flavor like a good grilled shrimp should have. DD does not eat shrimp so I did not have to share. We both liked the hummus and Tzatziki and the dolmades. The olives were your basic good Greek mix. Neither of us tried the cashews, we do not like them.

We were pretty full from the appetizers but DD wanted dessert, so we ordered the Loukoumades, freshly made donuts drizzled with warm honey. They were served with a vanilla sauce and a raspberry sauce. The donuts were warm but had a strange flavor that neither of us particularly liked. The sauces could not mask the flavor. It tasted like they were fried in the same oil as fish. Blech!!!!

I was originally going to stop on the way out of the Studios and upgrade to an AP and purchase the TIW card, but as we were walking out a boat was pulling up and the line for guest services was very long, so I skipped it for now.

Kouzzina Sample $17.99
Greek Salad $ 7.49
Calamari $12.99
Grape Leaf $ 6.99
Sprite $ 2.69
Pomegranate Lemonade $ 2.69
Loukoumades $ 6.99
Tax $ 3.76
Tip $10.41
Total $72.00

Total OOP so far $189.91

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

I have always wanted to try the little Mickey Head cake and this was the perfect time to pick one up. We walked over to the bakery and DD didn't want anything so I grabbed one cake.

The plan was to head to the magic kingdom to watch the last night of the Summernitastic fireworks and the MSEP parade. We caught the bus from Boardwalk to Magic Kingdom and shortly after we were on our way DD realized she left her bag at Kouzzina. When we arrived at Magic Kingdom we went straight to guest services and a really nice CM tried to call over to Kouzzina, she was on hold a very long time. So long that as she was waiting I did the upgrade to an AP and purchased the TIW card while she was waiting. I guess no one answers the phone there so she left a message. DD and I decided to go back to Kouzzina and see if they had her bag. We ended up taking a cab there, when we walked in, our waitress recognized her right away and handed her her bag. DD hugged her and said thank you. We headed back to the bus. By this time DD was very tired, it was almost 9:00pm and she wanted to go back to the room and go to bed. So no fireworks in the park for me, but I was able to sit on the balcony of our room with my mickey cake and a glass of milk and watch the fireworks.

Mickey cake $3.69
Tax $ .24
Total $3.93

Total OOP $193.84

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

After trying to make tea with Florida water, I decided to buy some bottled water to use instead. Not sure why I picked up smart water but I bought three bottles for now. Looking back it would have been less expensive to just buy a mug and use my own tea bags. Oh well, live and learn for next trip.

3 Smart water $9.75
Tax $.00
Total $9.75


Total OOP $203.59

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm enjoying reading your review!! Your trip sounds very similar to my recent one with my 14 yr. old DD. Glad you were able to retrieve her bag!

I'm looking forward to seeing your take on TIW. That may be the way we go next time.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

I'm enjoying reading your review!! Your trip sounds very similar to my recent one with my 14 yr. old DD. Glad you were able to retrieve her bag!

I'm looking forward to seeing your take on TIW. That may be the way we go next time.

Welcome aboard. DD was very happy to have that bag, the only thing important to me was her phone, but she was very upset that she forgot it, for the rest of the trip she did not want to take it off.

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

So we are off to Animal Kingdom for the morning. We stopped at Harambe Fruit market and purchased 2 waters as we were both thirsty. This held us over till we stopped at Pizzafari for lunch. We decided to once again share, Hot Italian sandwich, chips, and a chocolate mouse. The sandwich was very good plenty of meat and veggies. The mouse was very rich and very good. DD could have eaten the entire thing herself, but I made her share. Unfortunately I forgot I could use TIW card here. I get better as the trip went on.

Harambe

2 waters $5.00
Tax $ .00
Total $5.00

Pizzafari

Italian sandwich w/chips $8.39
Chocolate mouse $3.59
Two cups of ice water $ .00
Tax $ .78
Total $12.76

Total OOP $221.35

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

We had stopped here last year to try a pineapple dole whip, but they were out. Dd really wanted to try one so she got in line and ordered 2 pineapple vanilla swirl. We grabbed a table and dug in. Neither of really was wowed by the flavor. It was okay, but not great the way everyone raves. DD said next time we would be getting a citrus swirl, and that was okay with me.

2 Pineapple vanille cups $5.78
Tax $ .38
Total $6.16

Total OOP $227.51

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Was the strawberry salad at the wave just strawberries, greens, and dressing?

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

I had been teasing DD for weeks that she could only have dessert if she tried everything that was put on her plate. She was really nervous. We had an ADR for 6:30, we left Magic Kingdom at about 5:30, we only waited a few minutes for a monorail so we arrived at the Poly a little before 6:00. We walked around for a few minutes and then got in line to check in. We only waited about 10 minutes to be seated. The hostess grabbed some bread on her way by and explained how the restaurant worked. This was our first time here, DD seemed to relax a little when she realized that she had a choice in how much was going to be put on her plate.

The bread was delicious. DD and I both loved it. The salad came next and it was fresh and very tasty. The dressing was sweet but not overpowering. Next came the wings, pot stickers, noodles, and vegetables. The wings were good but messy. I ate about four or five, DD ate one. The pot stickers were not very good. I usually like stuff like that but even with the sauces, blech!! DD tried it and agreed, no thanks. DD liked the noodles, but then I haven’t found one yet that she doesn’t like. I thought they were meh. They looked sticky, like they didn’t have enough sauce on them and tasted bland. DD loves broccoli and had a huge serving of the veggies and ate them all. I tried a little and the were kind of cool, but cooked just the way we like, still a little firm.

The meats then started to arrive, DD took one piece of steak, one piece of chicken, and one piece of pork. She does not eat shrimp so I did not force her to now. I tried a little of each. We both agreed that the pork was dry, dry, dry. No helping it with the sauces either. The chicken was cooked good, moist and flavorful. The steak was a great medium, hot and very yummy. The shrimp were a little charred and hard to peel, the few I ate were good though.

At this point our waiter came over and asked DD if she was ready for her entrée, her face was priceless. Her eyes got huge and her mouth dropped open and she started stuttering the word "but" over and over. I was laughing hysterically. He finally told her he was kidding and asked if we were ready for dessert. Oh Yeah!!!! I had been looking forward to this dessert for weeks and it really lives up to the hype. DD and I fought over spoonfuls of this with the ice cream and bananas and the bread pudding. We left very full and happy. I would definitely return here on future trips.

2 Adult dinner $61.98
20% TIW discount $12.40-
18% gratuity $11.16
Tax $ 3.23
Total $63.97

Total OOP $291.48