Never gonna make the clean plate club! 5 days of DxDDP with lots of pics!DONE 5/20

[Stellaluna]

Final day lunch: Yak and Yet

Here is where it all breaks down. This was supposed to be our full day at Animal Kingdom, my favorite park. We had planned for lunch at Yak and Yeti and a nice goodbye dinner at the Yachtsman. I knew there was something wrong when I woke up late. I never wake up late. I have the strongest internal alarm clark of anyone I have ever met. As I started moving around I began to realise I was sick -- sore throat, headache, musle aches... ugh! I couldn't believe I was getting sick on vacation. I had packed some dayquill just in case, and I picked up some throat lozenges at Everything Pop and we packed up and headed out. I was determined to carry on with the last day of vacation. After the medicine kicked in I wasn't doing too bad and managed to join the guys on a few rides. We headed over to Yak and Yeti about 30 minutes before our reservation though because I was needing a break and fortunately they managed to get us in right away. I think this is a very pretty restaurant and I really like the decor in here.

DS1 ordered the Thai Chili Chicken Wings - fried chicken wings tossed in a sweet Thai chili sauce, spicy Asian pickled cucumbers

He didn't like the pickled cucumbers ( I did) but declared the wings his "favorite wings ever'. Wings are one of his favorite things. These were very sticky and the sauce was tangy and sweet and not very spicy. I also thought they were very good.

DS2 ordered Pork Pot Stickers - pan seared or steamed, soy lime dipping sauce

He loved that they brought them out in the steamer basket. These must have been good because he wouldn't let me have even one bite.

DH ordered Pork Egg Rolls - chili plum dipping sauce

I thought these were good, nice and crispy and an interesting blend of spices. The dipping sauce was kind of bland though.

I was planning on ordering the Seared Ahi Tuna - chilled, sesame-encrusted ahi tuna, wasabi aioli, and sweet chili slaw but found myself desperately craving something fried and greasy and unhealthy. I totally blame it on the cold meds. I ended up ordering Wok-Fried Green Beans - battered green beans, sweet Thai chili dipping sauce

These were good but pretty much like any other fried green beans. Again the dipping sauce was unimpressive.

for entrees, DH ordered Kobe Beef Burger - 10 oz grilled American Kobe beef burger, sesame-soy sauce, mayonnaise, crispy shoestring fries. topped with choice of shiitake mushroom & scallion compote or Asian slaw

First off, look at the fries in the picture. Let me ask, you people who put your ketchup ON your fries... why do you do that? Doesn't it get all over your fingers? I hate having to clean my fingers off every time I take a bite of fry. Plus there is uneven sauce distribution to the bottom layer. DH has never given me a satisfactory answer for this other than "That's the way I like it."

At any rate, he said the burger was good but he preferred Angus. The slaw was very good though.

DS1 and DS1 had Lo Mein - Lo Mein noodles, carrots, cabbage, green onoins, bean sprouts; Chicken for DS1 (not pictured) and shrimp for DS2.

They both really liked it. It was good Lo Mein, nothing surprising.

I had Maple Tamarind Chicken - Seared chicken breast, Indonesian tamarind glaze, coconut ginger rice, baby bok choy, shiitake mushroom stir fry.

YUM! I once had some really good Garam Masala that I got from a nice Indian lady that made her own --- this reminded me of that. It had a wonderful complex flavor and was perfectly cooked. That sticky sauce on the outside was perfect. I would order this again in a heartbeat!

DH skipped desert and the boys got New York Cheesecake - New York cheesecake, mango and strawberry coulis, and fresh whipped cream

This was very good, creamy and the sauce had nice tangy flavor to it.

I got the famous Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle

Another one that I feel lived up to it's hype. This is such an unusual blend of tastes and textures and it really works.

We had quite a few leftovers that we muched on through the parks that day. Here it is all packed up, the boys dubbed this "The Tower of Awesome". lol

We will definitely be back here. I love that I can get a meal with an Indian flavor to it at the same place my boys can get their Chinese noodles and DH can get a burger.

 

[podsnel]

You made me put Y&Y on our ADR list- looks yummy!

And as a ketchup-right-on-the-fries eater- I can say that something glorious happens to the ketchup when it co-mingles with the heat of the fries- it's MUCH better than dipping them in the stuff, the big glob of ketchup stays too separate that way. That's my professional opinion, FWIW.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great reviews!

 

[SnowWhite33]

The chicken looks AWESOME! Was it boneless?

Thank you for your reviews I really enjoyed reading them. Sorry you weren't feeling well on the last day of your vacation.

 

[basketlacey]

Your reviews are great! I LOVED our dinner at Y&Y. In fact, it was my favorite of the trip which was totally unexpected.

 

[Cari&Tyler]

What a wonderful review of all these places. You def open my eyes to some new places we would like to try on your next trip! THANKS

 

[vettegirl]

Yak and yeti is on my to do list now, looks great!

 

[Stellaluna]

You made me put Y&Y on our ADR list- looks yummy!

And as a ketchup-right-on-the-fries eater- I can say that something glorious happens to the ketchup when it co-mingles with the heat of the fries- it's MUCH better than dipping them in the stuff, the big glob of ketchup stays too separate that way. That's my professional opinion, FWIW.

Now see, this at least makes sense to me. Things taste differently when they're warm/cold-- why couldn't he have just said that? LOL

 

[Stellaluna]

The chicken looks AWESOME! Was it boneless?

Thank you for your reviews I really enjoyed reading them. Sorry you weren't feeling well on the last day of your vacation.

It had one small bone in it. I believe the cut is called 'airline' but I could be mistaken.

And thank you. It was a crummy way to wrap it up but we still had an amazing vacation.

 

[Stellaluna]

Final day dinner: Les Chefs de France


First of all I again want to thank everyone for their generous feedback. I have so much enjoyed writing these reviews and am looking forward to doing more.

We had spent the day in Animal Kingdom and had planned to go to the Yachtmsan for our final meal. However I was getting sicker as the day wore on and by the time we were ready to leave I just was not up to getting changed and sitting through a signature meal. I also was hungry, had dining credits left and didn't want to head home quite yet. The Stomach was getting restless and the Mickey Bar he had for a snack wasn't cutting it. The guys all wanted table service, and we figured Epcot was our best bet on the fly, so we hopped the bus and I got on the phone with dining to cancel our ressie and see what was available. We had a choice of Marrakesh, Biergarten, Chefs or San Angel. We had eaten at San Angel, and at Marrakesh multiple times and were trying to do new things this trip so they were out. I wanted Biergarten, but The Stomach was insisting on Chefs. He loves Ratatouillie --- I explained that Remy was only there at lunch, but still he insisted. So we took the Chefs reservation.


I have been putting off writing this review because it is such a sad ending to an otherwise glorious dining adventure. I am going to tell you straight up front -- this meal was phenomenally bad. I would blame my cold but the guys were all very disappointed as well. Here's the blow by blow:

Bread service was first of course.

This was hard and the butter was ice cold. Please understand I don't mean crusty -- I understand european crusty bread, I love love LOVE some nice crusty bread. This was not crusty bread. This was weapons grade assault bread.

DH and DS2 both had the flatbread, A la Flame Alsacienne - Alsace specialty. Flatbread baked with creme fraiche, onion and bacon

This wasn't too bad. I thought the creme fraiche was actually nice and the bacon was good and smoky. The flatbread itself though wasn't what I would expect -- it was cracker-like and tasted like it had come out of a package.

We had been going all day at this point without our usual afternoon break. DS2 had managed without a meltdown until now but was unhappy with the flatbread and hungry and was getting crankier by the minute.

He'll be great with the paparazzi someday.

DS1 had Soupe a l'oignon gratinee --

He didn't like this at all either, said it was tasteless. I thought it was surprisingly bland too, but again, cold meds. so I'm willing to give it a pass.

I ordered one to share, Assiette Campagnarde - rustic assortment of French pates, and charcuteries

The meats on here we good, but no one cared for the pates. I usually am quite fond of pates but these had a strange, sort of sharp almost metallic taste to them. Again, could be the cold/meds but nothing else tasted like that to me.

For main courses, the Stomach ordered Plat de Cote de Boeuf au Cabarnet avec pates - Beef short ribs braised in Cabernet with pasta, pearl onions and mushrooms

This looked yummy but the pasta was gummy and the sauce was the only thing that had any flavor. The meat itself was overcooked and bland.

DH had Filet de boeuf grille, sauce au poivre noir Gratin Dauphinois et haricots verts - Grilled tenderloin of beef with a black pepper sauce original potato gratin of Savoy and green beans

Very bland also. It really tasted like the ingredient quality was poor as well.

DS2 and I had Brochette de fruits de mer aux herbes - sauteed scallops, mahi mahi, and black tiger shrimp served with Mediterranean herb coulis, grilled tomato and black pearl rice

This wasn't just bad. It was awful. It tasted like it had been prepared by someone who wandered into the kitchen for the first time. The mahi was tough and dry and the scallops were so overcooked as to be hard on the outside -- like someone was going for a sear but had done it on too low heat so you ended up with a very unpleasant hockey puck.

Fortunately dessert wasn't a total wash out, I had the creme brulee (I know, another one right? LOL) and it was passable, the boys ordered Profiteroles au chocolat - Puff choux with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

These were truly fantastic. The pastry was outstanding, flaky and good and with a ton of chocolate sauce. I think these kept the boys from rebelling altogether.

If I had been paying out of pocket for any of this, or it wasn't our last night I would have raised a fuss. But we were headed home and it really wasn't worth the argument. I still cannot believe how awful this meal was, and it wasn't redeemed by great service, that too was lackluster. I wanted to like this place but I don't know if we will be back. Thank goodness we still had a dining credit leftover, we stopped at the resort counter service when we went back to pick up the car and ate burgers in the car on the way home.

 

[Stellaluna]

I know some have asked what I thought of doing the deluxe plan.

First, the drawbacks. I have to say that it was truly a LOT of food. DH and DS1 are big eaters and it was great for them but DS2 and I had a harder time keeping up. There was often a lot left on our plates, so yes sometimes it was too much. We also spent a lot of time in restaurants rather than riding and exploring. There is a lot of scheduling involved. That said I would do it again, though maybe not for every trip. For us the difference in regular and deluxe is about $150 dollars a day. For that we get one extra meal, 3 appetizers, an extra snack and the resort mugs. One snack a day is not likely to be enough for us, especially if we use it to cover the lack of breakfast. We like our appetizers, more probably than our desserts, and miss them if we don't have them. We would certainly spend very close to $150 dollars a day if not more out of pocket on the regular plan, so it is nice to have everything pre -paid. It does mean more in tips though, which pushes the break even point back a bit, but for us it is so close to even that I would personally prefer to just have the luxury of knowing everything is pre-paid and you can pretty much order whatever you want. We are annual pass holders and live a reasonable drive away and for day trips we just do counter service and concentrate on rides so the time we spend eating on long trips balances out with our other trips. We are foodies. We love our food. In the end, Deluxe works for us.

We are going again during September for free dining, for 9 days this time. Will we upgrade to deluxe again? Probably. We'll see.

 

[ilovepete]

Loved your reviews!

 

[danalee]

Very well said...I agree we will do the DDDP again, but our next trip is with some first timers and for them I think it could be a little overwhelming.

So we will pay OOP for any extra we want and wait for the trip after to indulge in the DDDP again

 

[Joshua_me]

Great reviews ! Thanks for taking the time to post them !

In terms of your question about the Rose & Crown... Quote:

The fish and chips here were amazing. The batter was so light and crispy and the fish was moist and tasty. Does anyone know if the counter service fish around the corner is the same? If so I am all over that! This was seriously good fish and chips!

Yes, the fish served at the CS is the same as TS. (And, arguably, it's often better... Since it can be "more fresher" not having sat under a heat lamp for so long.

That's not guaranteed though, but you'll be happy with the quality at the CS.

(Although, quite frankly, the fish is not as good as it was a few years ago. They changed distributers, or something like that. Still, it's not bad.)

BTW, should you find yourself in the Rose & Crown again, be sure to try the "Scottish Eggs" they are de-LISH .

 

[Stellaluna]

Great reviews ! Thanks for taking the time to post them !

In terms of your question about the Rose & Crown... Quote:

The fish and chips here were amazing. The batter was so light and crispy and the fish was moist and tasty. Does anyone know if the counter service fish around the corner is the same? If so I am all over that! This was seriously good fish and chips!

Yes, the fish served at the CS is the same as TS. (And, arguably, it's often better... Since it can be "more fresher" not having sat under a heat lamp for so long.

That's not guaranteed though, but you'll be happy with the quality at the CS.

(Although, quite frankly, the fish is not as good as it was a few years ago. They changed distributers, or something like that. Still, it's not bad.)

BTW, should you find yourself in the Rose & Crown again, be sure to try the "Scottish Eggs" they are de-LISH .

We were at Epcot this Sunday and stopped and got Fish and Chips from the CS place. You are correct, they were super fresh and every bit as good (if not better!) than the ones we had enjoyed inside! Thank you!