My quick QSDP review-with some pics COMPLETE 10/3/11

[mickeyplanner08]

So, we just returned from our 4th annual free dining extravaganza. We did not upgrade to the regular dining plan this year, so this was our first experience with the QSDP. I appreciated the reviews that I found on the board, so I thought I'd post one of my own.

Here's where we ate:
September 17-All Star Sports food court-pizza
September 18 Magic Kingdom Pecos Bills, Columbia Harbor House, Casey's Corner
September 19 Epcot we ate around the world, pizza from the food court
September 20 Animal Kingdom Yak and Yeti CS, Restaurantosaurus; Wolfgang Puck Express
September 21 Hollywood Studios Starring Rolls, Fairfax Fare and Rosie's All American Cafe
September 22 Epcot Electric Umbrella and more food around the World
September 23 Hollywood Studios Starring Rolls and Rosie's All American Cafe, 'Ohana (OOP)
September 24 ASSp food court-omlettes and pancakes, Magic Kingdom Pecos Bills, Tortuga Tavern, Casey's Corner, Pinocchio Village Haus, pizza from ASSp food court (sensing a pattern here?)
September 25 ASSp food court-omlettes and pancakes, Earl of Sandwich

Cast of characters: Me, 37, lover of most things Disney; DH, 38, lover of most food Disney; DD, 10, lover of the fact that the neighbors joined us part way through this trip; DS, 9, lover of all things video game related.

So, join me if you will. I'll try to figure out how to post links, and pictures will come as they are available. Here we go!

 

[DLo]

count me in. Looking forward to your reviews - especially, Starring Rolls, O'hana, Pinochio. We will be eating at Starring Rolls and O'hana. We haven't been to Pinochio's in a long time.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I'm in!

 

[Bonniec]

Me too!

 

[mickeyplanner08]

We had about a 2.5 hour direct flight from Michigan, and it was a little bumpy. DH was wishing he had taken the motion sickness tabs for the plane ride, too.

We rented a car for the very first time thanks to some great DISer's who posted their car rental deals. $52 out the door for 8 days from Alamo-can't beat that. We really like having the car, and we were on our way to All Star Sports less than 15 minutes after arriving at MCO. We got stuck in some traffic on our way to Walmart, but we eventually made it to check in by 5pm or so.

We had done online check in, so it was a snap to get through that line as well. We ended up in the far tennis building, but we were still closer to the main building than we had been last year at ASMusic. All in all, we really enjoyed the resort.

No parks planned for Saturday, so we grabbed some refillable mugs-they only had orange when we first arrived. We got 2 orange mugs, rinsed them out and filled them up. It was interesting to explain the RFID chips to my DH. My kids got a bad batch of Coke right off the bat, and were not impressed that they couldn't refill the mug right away.

We went up to the room and unpacked our stuff. Then we returned to the food court to order the first of 4 large pepperoni pizzas that were consumed by our family this week. Love those pizzas. Actually, they are just OK, but you can feed a family of 4 with only 2 CS credits. We got OJ and apple juice to drink with breakfast, and filled up our mugs again. They were restocking the mugs, so we got a green and purple to go with our 2 orange ones. We got a muffin and a key lime pie for desert. My DH loves the key lime pie, and the muffin made a good breakfast the next morning.

Sorry, no pics of the pizza.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So, we actually went to EMH this year. We have never done an EMH in any of our 3 previous trips, but the MK was open 'til 1 am, and the kids are finally old enough to make it to close.

We actually made it to the gates by 8 am. We did not take the car because we had heard it can take a long time to get from the TTC to the gates. We ended up waiting quite a while for a bus. We drove later in the week, and if we do it again, we will be driving.

So, first things first, we have to have a cinnamon roll from the Main Street Bakery. DH and the kids headed straight for Space Mountain, and I headed straight for that ooey, gooey, goodness. I can't post pics yet, but once my photopass pics show up, I can add one. That's right, I took pictures with my cinnamon roll in front of the castle. LOVE those cinnamon rolls. Yes, they are that good.

It was nice and quiet all early in the morning. We rode the mountains-more than once. But, eventually, you have to eat. So, Pecos Bill's it was for DH and the kids. Columbia Harbor House for me. This is the second time that I've gone and picked up my food and then wandered back to Pecos Bill's to eat. The service has been quite slow at CHH both times that I've been there, but the food is good, so I'll probably do it again.

DH and kids ordered 2 meals. One Angus cheeseburger meal and one Angus hamburger meal. Ordering the burgers without cheese proved to be problematic this trip. They came with cheese more times than they came without. DH caught it this time around, and they gave him the cheeseburger and the hamburger to replace it. So, even though they only ordered 2 meals, they ended up with 3 burgers. DS found a new love in the chocolate cake, and DH really enjoys the carrot cake. The carrot cake frosting is super sweet to me, and the cake always seems a little dry.

Here's my first out of focus pic:

Sorry, of the 2 pics I took, this is the better one. I got the shrimp meal from CHH. I really enjoy the apple pie desert here. The coleslaw is OK, but not super creamy. However, the biggest bonus to coming back to Pecos Bill's is that lovely cheese. I love dipping my fries in that stuff! Mmmmm

 

[mickeyplanner08]

It started to cloud up, and the skies got dark. So, we thought, just another Florida shower. Then it started to sprinkle. Not to panic, no need for ponchos, yet. We wandered to Adventureland and hit Pirates. Came out to get a strawberry bar for the kids, and the skies opened. Not just a little rain, buckets and buckets of rain. We hid under the ice cream cart umbrella for a few. DS dropped his strawberry bar on the ground and my DH told him to pick it up and eat it. I freaked out and told him to dump it and ordered him a new one! We poncho-ed up and I stopped to get a Dole Whip. DH was wearing tennis shoes while all the rest of us were in Crocs. He was super crabby to have wet feet. My Dole Whip was yummy, but not as good as it would have been if it were sunny outside. We schlepped back to the bus....froze all the way back to ASSp, and took a 2 hour nap. Woke up to sunny skies and headed back to the MK.

We watched the MSEP from Frontierland, so we had to have some more sustenance. DH got onion rings from Pecos Bill's. Kids split another burger and fries. I did a little french fry cheese dipping. We rode Splash during Wishes (blasphemy, I know), and then I needed something for me to eat.

I decided I had to try the corn dog nuggets at Casey's Corner. You can make them into a meal on the dining plan, so I had the nuggets, fries and a brownie for desert. Normally you can choose from Cracker Jack, brownie or cotton candy, but all they had left by the time we got there was brownies. Again, very slow service-we went around 10pm, and fries were the big hold up. Lots of nuggets and hot dogs ready, but no fries. However, they have that wonderful liquid cheese here, too. So, when my piping hot fries were finally ready, I could dip them is the yellow cheesy stuff. So good. The nuggets were very good, too. The kids thought the brownie was yummy. Very chocolately.

I'm sure there was a frozen coke or 2 throughout the day, too. Those were another favorite snack credit.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So this was one of the things my husband has been looking forward to for a long time. We did not make rope drop this morning. DD and I stopped and got an omelette from ASSp food court. It was actually very yummy, and the potatoes that come with it are quite delish. DD and I made it to Epcot by 9:30 or so, but DH and DS didn't show up until after 11. Staying up late can really tucker you out!

DD and I rode Test Track, over and over and over. We didn't need anything more to eat for quite some time. After DH and DS showed up we had to do Test Track one more time, Sum of All Thrills and grab Soarin' fast passes. Then, it was out to the world showcase.

We started in Mexico. DH really didn't really want anything here, but I stopped at La Cantina de San Angel and ordered the Tacos de Carne-beef tacos on corn tortillas. This came with multi-colored tortilla chips and we got the churros with caramel for desert. You could get salsa verde or a hot red salsa that I can't remember the name of from the condiment station. The beef was quite salty, but the tacos were quite tasty when doctored up with lots of salsa. I would have loved some sour cream with them.

We made our way to China after riding the rides in Mexico and Norway. I had a bad incident with a school bread last year, so I didn't even try one this year...sad, but true. In China we sampled the orange chicken. Standard Chinese take-out. Breaded chicken and sticky white rice. A decidedly non-Chinese apple cinnamon egg roll rounded out this meal. Along with yet another Diet Coke.

After China we stopped off in Germany. We made our first visit to Karamel Kuche. Loved, loved, loved it. I had a dark chocolate caramel with sea salt on top. So rich and sweet and sticky. Yum! DS had a caramel and chocolate covered pretzel, DD got the chocolate caramel brownie which she ended up eating for breakfast the following day. DH stopped and got this:

Brat with sauerkraut, large pretzel for desert, and another Diet Coke. He enjoyed the brat, the kids split the pretzel.

The kids picked up their Kim Possible kimmunicator in Italy, and we moved on to Japan for their first mission. And, DH continued his mission to eat all around the world with this:

Teriyaki beef with veggies and rice. The counter service in Japan is closed, so they are working out of a food and wine booth right now. You got a pre-packaged chocolate chip cookie and a 20 ounce soda for your drink. I don't know if we were just getting full, or what, but this one didn't really do it for any of us. Quite salty, and the teriyaki wasn't as sweet as what I like mine to be.

So we were almost 1/2 way around the world. We offered the kids American food, but they declined. However, no trip out to the nether regions of the world showcase would be complete without one of these:

The famous shawarma platter from the Tangerine Cafe. This is not food normally consumed in my house. My DD was horrified to know she was eating lamb, but she actually really enjoyed it. DS was not so sure. The baklava was quite yummy, too; although we were all so stuffed we could barely squeeze in another bite.

Then, the rain began again, and we were done. Back to the hotel. So, since the kids hadn't had any full meals all day, we got a pizza back at the food court. See a trend here? The kids also got to swim in the pool for a while, too. This made them quite happy, too. Early bedtime-it's off to AK tomorrow.

 

[MickeyNicki]

That apple cinnamon egg roll sounds pretty good to me, hope they have it next month

 

[Linda67]

Great reviews

Love the eating around the world reviews

I am curious; what was the incident with the school bread

 

[vettegirl]

What I wouldn't give for some of those mini churros for breakfast right now! Those look sooooo good!

 

[mickeyplanner08]

Great reviews

Love the eating around the world reviews

I am curious; what was the incident with the school bread

Thanks, it was really not a huge deal with the school bread. I really enjoyed it both in 08 and 09, but last year when I got it the whole things was very dry and just did not taste the same. So, when it came time to pick something fun to snack on this year, the school bread didn't make the cut.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So, this was our only Animal Kingdom day for this trip. We were at the gates by 8:57, and everyone was already in the park. One of the ladies at the front with a snake in a box said there were EMH that AM. They were not scheduled for that day, so I really don't know what was up with that.

But, we headed off and did the safari and a couple of other things in that general vicinity, and then we stopped off at Yak and Yeti counter service for an early lunch/snack. I was the first person to get food that day-right at 11:00am. I know this restaurant doesn't always get the best reviews, but the food was super fresh, hot and delicious. I got the sweet and sour chicken. It comes in the little Chinese take out container with rice on the bottom. We got a frozen lemonade for "desert" which DS ate as a snack.

OK, so it doesn't look like much, but there were chunks of pineapple, onions and peppers in there, and it was really good.

We wrapped up our day right at 5, and then we headed for Downtown Disney and Wolfgang Puck Express. It was yummy as usual.

Both my kids were so wound up that I told them they had to settle down. So, they went into a little meditation position to keep quiet.

Nice, guys! They are such goof balls.

DH got a pizza. I thought it was a sausage of some sort, but I don't see it listed on the AllEars menu. Oh well, here's a pic.

He thought it was great, as usual.

I got the chicken and mashed potatoes. It was just OK. The tatos were a little cold, and that really didn't improve them.

We both got the cheesecake for desert. I don't have any pictures, but this was very, very good. It had a crispy glazed top, and it was just delicious.

DD got the spaghetti and meatballs.

She declared it yummy, but couldn't finish it all. She had frozen yogurt for desert-it was....frozen yogurt. Good, but tough to mess up.

DS got the kids spaghetti with alfredo. He liked it very much. Frozen yougurt desert here, too.

DS was so cold and so bouncy after the meal, we sent him outside. They were a little hyper, and I'm a little high strung, so it was best that he was not where I could reach him!

That's him, through the glass.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So, this was the most exciting day of the year. Our next door neighbors were going to join us today in the Studios, only my kids had no idea. It was HOT this day. We met the neighbors after the parade, and it was a great surprise for the kiddos.

But, it was also the day for Starring Rolls! So excited for this! I got the turkey focaccia sandwich with Doritos, a large Diet Coke, and my favorite...the peanut butter chocolate cupcake.

YUMMY! Love this meal so much that I ate it again on Friday.

DH got the chicken and ribs combo from Fairfax Fare.

It comes with coleslaw and baked beans. He got the standard Disney pre-packaged carrot cake for desert. The ribs were very good. The chicken was just OK. It was a little dry. I enjoyed the coleslaw-he did not, but he really has never met a coleslaw that he really likes.

Kids split a burger from Rosies. It was another hamburger fail...we got one with cheese on it. A little picking and scraping and they survived without any problem. They got the pre-packaged chocolate cake. I don't have any pictures, but they really enjoyed it.

Supper that night was supposed to be something picked up on the way into Fantasmic. However, DH and neighbor husband were very late to arrive to Fantasmic, and there was no food to be had. I was quite grouchy about that, but I got over it. I had some roasted nuts from the cart on the way up to F! that made up for it a little bit.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So, I can't keep my days straight. We went to Epcot on Thursday. We met the neighbors after lunch. But, after last nights escapades with no real food for dinner, I was not going to go without lunch. We stopped and got a burger and a cheeseburger from the Electric Umbrella. Actually, we got 2 cheeseburgers, again, and peeled the cheese off one. The fries were delicious. The Diet Coke was good. The burger, not so much. It was so bland and didn't really have much flavor.

We hit Test Track, Soarin and Figment after lunch with the neighbors, and then we went our separate ways. They went out to Mexico and Norway, but we headed out to the World Showcase and went around the opposite way. We had to first stop off in England for some fish n chips. The chips were great, the fish was really not my favorite. I'm the only one who eats fish, and this didn't really do it for me. It was very bland. Desert choices were sad, so we got a prepackaged cookie. Then we continued on and hit up Morocco again. This time we tried the Mediterranean sliders platter. We liked all of them except the falafel one. The lentil salad was different, but good. The baklava was, well, baklava. I thought for sure I had a picture of this, but I don't. Sorry! After that, we had to make another stop off in Germany. DH got another sausage and pretzle combo from Sommerfest, and I made another stop off at Karamel Kuche. Here are some pics of that deliciousness:

That caramel corn is too die for! It is sooooo good. The rice krispie treat was huge and very yummy, too. They sliced it up into 4 pieces, and 3 of them made it back to the hotel room. None of the caramel corn, however. The kids and I polished that off in record time.

We also stopped off a final time in Mexico and got the chicken tacos. I did like them better than the beef ones we had earlier in the week. The kids gobbled up the churros.

We headed back to the hotel around 7, and at 8 we ordered....wait, you'll never guess....oh yeah, a pepperoni pizza. It was drizzling that night, so the food court was packed. We waited probably 25 minutes for that pizza (which was ready after 10, but they forgot to page for it, and then I couldn't get anyone to stop and look for it for me). It was OK, and at least something sorta like real food for the kids.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

At this point we realized we were going to have multiple credits left by the end of the week if we didn't get to eating. So, we decided to have some breakfast. We got a ham and cheese omelette and a western omelette. Not really a great value because you don't get a desert-it only totals about $10 per person to use a credit for breakfast, but if you've got credits to burn, the omelettes are really good, and the potatoes are really yummy, too.

It was our 2nd day at the Studios for the week. It was the 2nd time to go visit Starring Rolls. I don't have another picture-it was the same stuff as the time before. DH got the 1/3 lb. Angus Onion Straw Cheddar Cheeseburger meal. He thought it was very delicious. The kids got the same, but we had to scrape off the onion peels for them-DH really enjoyed them. The fries were good. We were all stuffed.

Then, it was on to the most anticipated dinner of the week. Our annual dinner at 'Ohana with DH's highschool buddy and his wife. This was our 4th trip to 'Ohana and their 3rd. It was not the best trip we have had. I don't have any pictures, but the food was served so fast that they probably would have been all blurry, anyway. It was so rushed that I was irritated. If you had never been to the restaurant, you might not know how everything works, but having done this a couple times before, we were annoyed. We were seated pretty much right on time for a 7pm ressie. We were a party of 6 seated at a table for 8. We were served our bread and then our "cousin" came and took our drink order. Before our drinks were delivered, there was salad on our table. Before the salad first plates of salad were even consumed, there was wings and potstickers. However, we never got our dipping sauces. They brought out 2 bowls of salad, 2 bowls of wings, etc. It was so much, and such a waste. I would prefer that they bring out one and if we asked for more, then bring a refill. Anyway, before we got our noodles and broccoli, we were served pork. Slow down, we're just getting going here. GRRRRR! Anyway, as the steak was served, we got noodles and broccoli (2 bowls) and then chicken and finally shrimp. The grilled meats were actually very good. They were hot and fresh, but so rushed. There was bread pudding on our table quicker than you can say YUM, and our server was a little annoyed when the kids asked for plain ice cream. The food was still very good, but we were out of the restaurant in record time. For $140, I would have liked to enjoy this meal a little more. Oh well, we'll probably be back, but maybe not next year.

 

[cajunbaby1]

Great report. I soooo want to try the fudge with sea salt. You made me hungry now. Can't wait for more.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So, another day planned with the neighbors on Saturday. It's very different touring with a group of 11 vs. a group of 4. Somehow, everything just takes longer

We hung around in Frontierland and Adventureland for the AM, and then it was time for an early 11am lunch. DH and neighbor dad took 6 of the 7 kids to Pecos Bills. Yes, they are good men! Neighbor mom and I went over to Tortuga Tavern to pick up some Mexican food to bring over to eat with them. We were fairly early in the lunch time rush, but it took FOREVER to get our food. Neighbor mom got the taco salad, and I ordered the chicken burrito. It comes with chicken, black beans and rice in a large burrito shell. There is a decent sized topping bar with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatos, salsa, etc that you can add on top. You also get a packet of sour cream here (yay!). Desert choice was chocolate cake-that's it. Take it or leave it- so, of course, we took it. After we finally got our food we hit up the topping bar and angled our way into the back of the Peco's Bills seating area and found the rest of them. The burrito was actually very good. I enjoy rice and beans in my burritos, so when loaded up with all the other fresh stuff on top, this was very tasty. Sorry, no pics.

DH and kids split two burger meals. There was more food than we could consume on the table, but once again, my DH was very happy to have his burger all loaded up from the topping bar. He loves the onions, tomato and lettuce. The kids love that they can get lots and lots of pickles. I love that they can get me some hot cheese and I can steal some of their fries. This meal is always a hit with my crew.

Around 4pm or so DH and I stopped off at Casey's for another round of corn dog nuggets for me and this time he also got a Chicago style dog.

This time we could choose from any of the desert options, so we got 2 bags of cotton candy for this kids to enjoy. Again, this was a delicious choice. Everything was very hot and fresh, but again, we waited a really long time for it. The lines seem to move VERY slowly in there.

Around 6 the kids decided they were hungry, so we ducked into the Pinnochio Village Haus. Never been in there before, and don't think we'll probably do it again. Kids ordered pizzas with fries. We got a mango gelato and a chocolate cake for desert. We first went upstairs because I got confused and thought you could see IASW from up there, but quickly realized that was not the case. It was not very busy, but the tables and chairs up there were gross. Covered with food and napkins and just generally yucky. So, back we headed downstairs and found a spot on the window. The kids each ate their fries and a couple slices of pizza. DH and I finished up the pizza-it was sub par, even by Disney standards. Odd spices on those. DH really liked the mango gelato, but he really likes mangos-I thought it was yucky, but I don't really like mangos Kids took a couple of bites of the cake and then spent time making faces at people on the boats. They enjoyed that more than their meals.

We headed back to our resort around 8 to start packing up, and decided we still had credits to burn, so we picked up....wait for it......

another pepperoni pizza from the food court. It was fresh and hot and quite yummy, but there were 2 slices left, and no one wanted anything to do with them!

Another day done, another couple of pounds gained!

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So, Sunday morning, and it was time to pack it up and head for home

But, first we stopped off at the food court and ate another round of omelettes. One western, and 2 ham and cheese. DS got the kids pancakes with bacon. Again, we all really enjoyed these for breakfast, and they really fill you up to get your day going.

We left ASSports right around 10:30. We stopped off at Fort Wilderness to drop off our extra water bottles to the neighbor's cabin. Then it was to Downtown Disney. We stopped at Goofy's to burn our last 5 snacks. DD got a frozen coke and a cotton candy. DS picked out cotton candy and a 12 inch tube of sugar (love that those were added to the snack plan this year-I think the kids got them 2 or 3 times). I picked up a bag of Goofy's jelly beans which became a thank you gift to the neighbors who watched our goldfish while we were gone. Our final stop to use up our last 4 QS credits was Earl of Sandwich. DH got the Italian, I got the Hawaiian, DD got the kids Turkey and swiss, DS got the Ham only. We struggled to figure out sides here. You can pick one side that is less than $2.50. I grabbed a fresh fruit cup, DH got the potato salad, and the kids each picked a bag of chips. Four bottled drinks, and we were on our way in less than 15 minutes. We hustled to the car and aimed for the airport. It was a quick trip. We dropped off the rental car and went inside. We sat on the wicker chairs on the first level and ate our sandwiches. They were still quite toasty and warm.

DH enjoyed his sandwich very much, but the potato salad was very dill-y. It was not tangy or really creamy, so he only ate about 1/3 and that was plenty. My Hawaiian sandwich was good, but too sweet. The pineapple and BBQ sauce both made it quite sweet,and I would have liked a tangy BBQ sauce better. The fruit cup was delicious. Kids both enjoyed their sandwiches, and the chips were chips.

It was sad to see our last meals at Disney, but we were all pretty ready to go home.

Up next-a few random snack picks and final thoughts.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

I used some snack credits on this-it was nice and portable.

I think the kids ate close to 10 of these through the week.

DS used a credit on this crazy-big jawbreaker on a stick.

And, unfortunately, this was not a snack credit, but picture worthy, for sure.

But, just so everyone is reminded again-these were my favorite snacks through the whole week!

This was our first go-round with the QSDP. I actually enjoyed it, but we found we were more tired because we ran from morning to night. The regular dining plan forces you to take a 2 hour break some where each day. I didn't miss having to figure tips into my budget. I will miss having 2 snacks a day if we do the QSDP again....so sad to see that 2nd one go next year!