My First Dining Review - Leap Day & 3 More on DxDP

[Dopey4Life]

We slept into 1 pm the day after Leap Day, so we missed our Les Chefs ADR. We were hungry when we woke up and wanted a snack before our ADR for Via Napoli in the evening. We chose snacks from the Everything Pop food court before we headed for the bus to Epcot.

I went with the Apple Turnover, which was actually still quite fresh even in the early afternoon.

My cousin went with the tye-dyed cupcake, which she loved! I think she had 3 during the trip. After some rides at Epcot, we headed to Italy for our meal at Via Napoli, which is one of my favorite restaurants. I think we were still quite sleepy from our 24-hour Leap Day, because we forgot to take pictures of our appetizers. I can't remember what my cousin had, but I ordered the arancini. The arancini was excellent - with wonderful flavor.

My main dish was Mezzi Rigatoni alla Crema. The sauce was delicious, very creamy, but not too heavy. The dish is very filling and quite a large serving.

My cousin ordered the Candele, which was amazing. She loved it, but it was such a large portion she allowed me to taste it. I will have a hard time chosing between these two entrees for our September trip. For dessert, I ordered the lemon sorbet, which was very refreshing and the perfect end to my meal with a heavy appetizer and entree.

My cousin ordered the Tiramisu, but after a bite or two she could not eat it because she said it smelled like wet socks. I do not enjoy Tiramisu and didn't try it, but I didn't think it smelled like wet socks.

Next up is a Hollywood Studios day with Hollywood & Vine and the Mama Melrose Fantasmic package...

 

[Dopey4Life]

I booked a pre-rope drop ADR for Hollywood & Vine for a nice sit-down breakfast and a headstart to Toy Story Mania. We were not interested in the character interaction this trip (my daughter loved June from Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, and Jake from Jake & the Neverland Pirates at our last trip and we are booked again for her in September).

Our waiter was wonderful and very personable. He kept our drinks refilled and had our check to us early in our for us to be out for Toy Story Mania.

The food was good. It's nice, typical buffet fare, but the pluses are the pre-rope drop entrance and the character interaction for little kids.

If you are not expecting a gourmet breakfast for adults, then it is a good deal for 1 dining credit.

Next up...Mama Melrose Fantasmic lunch...

 

[emmysmommy]

H&V sounds like a nice option for DHS RD... nothing like being inside the park early! The pastries at the food court really look wonderful!

 

[Dopey4Life]

I love Mama Melrose's, so I was very excited to take my cousin here. Since we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan, this was going to be a 3-meal day for us. Though, I know Mama Melrose has very filling food and planned a late Teppan Edo dinner for after Fantasmic.

Here is a picture of our bread service. It is has typical rolls, nothing extremely interesting, but they were fresh. We saved room for our meals. For appetizers, I ordered the Mozzarella and Tomatoes.

The mozzarella was delicious, especially withe balsamic drizzle.

My cousin ordered the Caesar salad and said it was very good. For our main entrees, I ordered the Penne alla Vodka, which was absolutely delicious and a large portion.

My cousin ordered the Oven-baked Chicken alla Parmigiana. She said it was quite good and a nice size, not quite as large of a portion as mine.

There has been a change with the Fantasmic package for dessert. Now you are provided a chef's selection based on the number in your party instead of choosing your own dessert. Here is what we were given.

I have to say when our waiter told us we were no longer able to pick our desserts, I was disappointed, especially since we were on the deluxe dining plan. Though, there is no way I could have eaten a full dessert, I would have preferred an opportunity to select my own. I am not positive, but I believe we received the canoli cake and a tiramisu cheesecake. Both were pretty good, but not my favorites.

Next up...to wrap up our trip...

 

[Dopey4Life]

Teppan Edo

I was a terrible dining reviewer and did not get pictures for these last two meals. I am going to try to describe as best as I can. We both started our late dinner with the Edamame (soy beans), which is a nice light appetizer. For our entrees, I ordered the Nihonbashi (sirloin steak and chicken) and my cousin ordered the Yasai (seasonal vegetables).

Our waitress was very good and our chef was excellent. We had great tablemates and chatted throughout the whole meal. It was one of my best experiences at Teppan Edo, which we always go to and I always love.

For dessert, I ordered my favorite, Green Tea Pudding, which is just like flan. I love it. It makes a great, light, tasty ending to the meal.

Tusker House

We had a mid-morning ADR for Tusker House, so first thing at Animal Kingdom was the safari. We were so lucky to see baby giraffes and one followed beside us.

After the safari, we went for our Tusker House buffet, which is my favorite character buffet for the food. We sampled a bit of everything since this was our last meal at Disney. I was so distracted by the food, I forgot to take pictures of what we ate. It was delicious as ever and, of course, I had to have chocolate covered, glazed Krispie Kreme donuts ! Tusker House and a hug from Goofy were a great end to our trip!

Thanks for reading my first dining review! I promise to do better on our 5 day/5 night Deluxe Dining trip September 27 through October 2nd, which will include MNSSHP, CRT breakfast, 1900 Park Fare dinner, Akerhaus breakfast, and Lef Chefs lunch to name a few...

 

[Dopey4Life]

H&V sounds like a nice option for DHS RD... nothing like being inside the park early! The pastries at the food court really look wonderful!

If you get an 8:00 or 8:05 am ADR, you can definitely get out by 8:45 am. Then you get to be in the front of the crowd headed to Toy Story Mania or Jedi Academy. Though, if you have kids and are getting autographs, you won't make it for rope drop, but you can send one person for fast passes while the rest finish eating.

 

[Krissalee]

Loved you reviews!

I envy your Leap Day event - I don't know that I could make it 24 hours.

Thanks for sharing!