Our 1st trip on the DxDP - will it be our last?

[EeyoreEma]

Hey all - We just got back from a wonderful vacation at Disney World, and thought we'd share our dining experiences with all of you. No pictures, so hopefully it won't be too boring! Here are the restaurants I'll review for you:

Artist Point
Hollywood n' Vine Play n' Dine (Breakfast)
Mama Melrose's
Garden Grill
Grand Floridian Cafe
The Plaza
Kouzzina
Tusker House (Breakfast)
Yak and Yeti
The Wave
Wolfgang Puck Cafe


So - Artist Point - we were very much looking forward to this meal as we'd just eaten there in April and loved it. For an appetizer, I ordered the Mixed Greens Salad with Orange Honey Vinaigrette, Asian Pears, and Maytag Blue Cheese ($10). This was the highlight of the meal for me. The dressing was perfect, and the pears and blue cheese added just the right touch to the salad. DH ordered the A Selection of Artisanal Cheeses Midnight Moon, Beemster X-O, and Smokey Blue Cheese with Seasonal Garnishes and Walnut Toast ($14). He liked this alright, though I don't think he'd order it again. He did enjoy the honeycomb that accompanied one of the cheeses. DD and DS (he's 2 so he was not on the plan) split the watermelon, which they really enjoyed. For my entree I chose the same thing I had in April, the Grilled Beef Tenderloin. It came with some Blue Cheese Potato Bar (supposed to be like au gratin) and some winter root vegetables. I am one of "those" people who like my meat well done, but apparently the chef at Artist Point doesn't like that. Even though they'd butterflied my steak, it was rare when it came out. I sent it back, and it was still rare when it came out. I didn't enjoy it very much. I didn't care for the potato dish either. The vegetables were alright, though not cooked very tender - close to the raw state, rather. DH ordered Char-grilled Buffalo Striploin Steak with Black Diamond Mac & Cheese, Cider-glazed Brussels Sprouts, and Syrah Gastrique. He liked it alright, though he wasn't overly impressed. He really liked the brussels sprouts, which he thought he wouldn't like. He did not care for the Mac & Cheese (nor did I) - it lacked in the flavor department. DD and DS split the grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes and green beans. Honestly, I believe that was the best dish out of all of them. The mashed potatoes were fabulous, and so were the green beans. I didn't try the chicken, but it looked good. For dessert, I had Valrhona Chocolate Terrine with Amarena Cherries andSalted Hazelnut Brittle. It was ok, but I don't think I'd get it again. DH had the cobbler, which he liked well enough. DD had, I believe, the kid's ice cream (hard to screw up!). Overall, we were disappointed with Artist Point. We probably won't be back for a while.

 

[EeyoreEma]

Up next was Hollywood n' Vine Play and Dine. We've done this breakfast buffet several times, and enjoy it each time. It's nothing spectacular, but the food is always good, hot, and plenty of things to choose from. The character interaction is always fun here as well. A good, solid meal.


For lunch, we headed to Mama Melrose's. DH and I both had the Mixed Greens Salad with Dried Cherry Vinaigrette, Candied Walnuts, fresh Pear, and imported Gorgonzola Cheese for our appetizer. It was nice, but nothing spectacular. The dressing lacked a bit of zing. We both had the Charred Sirloin Steak
Italian Roasted Potatoes and Cipollini Onions, Aged Balsamic-Shallot Butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction for our entree. Talk about fantastic!! This blew the steak from Artist Point away. The Chianti Wine Reduction was fantastic!! I would have licked the plate clean if that sort of behavior wasn't frowned upon. I loved it, and will definitely get it again someday. DH really liked it as well. For our dessert, we each had the tiramisu. They don't do it traditionally here, but I enjoyed it. DH says he prefers the one I make. DD and DS split the garden salad, cheese pizza and ice cream. They both actually really enjoyed this one.


Next up was dinner at Garden Grill. We'd done this before and enjoyed it. The wait time here was L.O.N.G. It definitely took them a while to get us back. The food (turkey, steak, mashed potatoes, fish) was good. The kids enjoyed their chicken, and I thought their mac and cheese was good. The character interaction is great here. However, we won't be back for a while. This is the second time in a row that the wait time was really long, and the food is just good, not great.

 

[EeyoreEma]

Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast: The service here was very slow, and breakfast dragged out for over an hour. I had the twin filets, and was very disappointed. The herb cream sauce has a plasticky taste to it, and was overall just kind of blah. I ended up not eating it. DH had the All American breakfast, and enjoyed it alright. The kids split the Minnie's Pancake breakfast and loved it - they were very happy with this breakfast. We probably still won't do this one again, though, as it took so long and the food was really just ok.


Lunch at the Plaza!! This is one of my favorite restaurants - they consistently do a great job. The kids and dh both had salads for their appetizers, which were good. I had the potato soup which was fantastic. I had the Philly Cheesecake this time, and it was delightful. The fries were perfect as well - nice and crisp. DH had the burger, which he always enjoys here. The kids split the grilled cheese and grapes - they both loved it. For dessert, the kids chose cookies and milk, and really enjoyed it. DH had the cheesecake, and said it was alright. I had a banana split, with all chocolate ice cream, hot fudge sauce and nuts. Yum! Another great meal at the Plaza - we try to hit this one every time we're at Disney.


Dinner at Kouzzina - I started off with the spanokopita. It was alright. I've had better. It was a big one, and i really prefer the smaller ones. DH had the pita bread with the 6 spreads. We all loved the tzatziki sauce - YUM!!! He liked a few of the other spreads, but the tzatziki was the unanimous favorite. I had the pork tenderloin for dinner. I can fix a better one at home. This was just kind of blech. I did like the corn pie that came with it (basically, cornbread). DH had the steak and said it was ok, but not great. Mama Melrose's was better. The kids split the chicken with tzatziki sauce to dip in, which DS loved. For dessert, I went with the loukemades. They were a little stale, and I wouldn't get them again. DH had the coffee creme brulee, and LOVED it. I think this was one of his favorite desserts. The kids split fruit, which they always enjoy. We probably won't be back to Kouzzina anytime soon. There just wasn't that much there that appealed to us, and our waitress kind of forgot about us at the end and left us hanging a long time on both dessert and the bill.

 

[EeyoreEma]

Tusker House breakfast - We'd never done this before and were really looking forward to it. It did not disappoint! We all really enjoyed this one - the kids were thrilled to have donuts, and DH and I both enjoyed trying some of the interesting choices they had, as well as the standard breakfast foods. We will definitely return here - I think it has beat out Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine as our favorite breakfast!

Lunch was at Yak and Yeti. I had the wings for my appetizer, but didn't really enjoy them. They were a little too sweet for me. DH had the pork egg rolls, which we both loved! For entrees, I went with the vegetable lo mein. It was fantastic!! I loved this dish. DH went with the crispy honey chicken, but didn't like it. He said it was bland and tasteless. The kids split chicken. For dessert, we both had the sorbet trio, and we liked this. The kids loved that the chocolate pudding came with marshmallows on top. We also had a really great server here. All in all, it was a good meal, but we probably won't be back. I can get great lo mein at our local Chinese restaurant.


Dinner was at The Wave. We were originally going to eat at Hollywood Brown Derby, but decided to go to the Christmas party this night. I cancelled the Brown Derby, and was lucky enough to get a reservation at The Wave. We both had a harvest salad as our appetizer. Good, but not great. DS loved it, though! DH had the flank steak as his entree, and really enjoyed it. I had the oven roasted chicken, with waffles, rice and black eyed peas. I really liked the chicken a lot! The waffles were nice as well. The kids had pizza and enjoyed it. I don't remember much about the dessert. Overall, this was one of the best restaurants that we ate at and will go back again someday. Plus the convenience of being close to Bay Lake Towers can't be beat, as that is where we usually stay.

 

[EeyoreEma]

Our last meal on our way out of town was at Wolfgang Puck Cafe. DH chose the artichoke cheese dip for his appetizer. We both agreed that we like the one I make better. Actually, we probably like the one you can get at Ruby Tuesday's better as well. I had the tortilla soup, but didn't really like it. I will interject here that the bread here was great - we really loved it, and could have eaten a lot more of it! DH had the salmon, and said it was alright. He really liked the tartar sauce that came with it, and would order it again for that. I had the margherita pizza, which was delicious. The kids split cheese pizza. For dessert, we both had the snickers cheesecake. We were disappointed. It was rather unexciting. We liked the chopped up snickers on the side the best!

 

[EeyoreEma]

Final thoughts - Will we do the dining plan again? Nope. Not worth it. We definitely ordered enough food to pay for the plan and then some, but in reality we wouldn't order appetizers and desserts with every meal. We also spent a TON of time waiting around, which meant less time to have fun. Next time, we will probably pick up a TIW card and use that for when we do eat out, but we also plan on doing some cooking in our room and just eating smaller snacks, either popcorn or splitting a counter service meal. The snacks were nice, as we just loaded up on bags of candy that we plan to use for the kids stockings or as gifts to give to people. So no more dining plan for us, and much less eating out! Now, I'm off to cancel most of the reservations I made for our trip in May!

 

[PureTcrazy]

Final thoughts - Will we do the dining plan again? Nope. Not worth it. We definitely ordered enough food to pay for the plan and then some, but in reality we wouldn't order appetizers and desserts with every meal. We also spent a TON of time waiting around, which meant less time to have fun. Next time, we will probably pick up a TIW card and use that for when we do eat out, but we also plan on doing some cooking in our room and just eating smaller snacks, either popcorn or splitting a counter service meal. The snacks were nice, as we just loaded up on bags of candy that we plan to use for the kids stockings or as gifts to give to people. So no more dining plan for us, and much less eating out! Now, I'm off to cancel most of the reservations I made for our trip in May!

We feel exactly the same way! We were there 12/4-12/11 and were on the DxDP. My son who is a serious eater said, "it's like you're stuffed and you finally get to the point you are just full...then it's time to eat again." It took way too much time to eat that much! We enjoyed the chance to try some of the Signature places, but really don't feel much need to go to most of them again.

One high point is that now I know where I would like to go and maybe just have an appetizer and dessert or split a meal with my Mama, should we ever want to eat again!

 

[EeyoreEma]

We feel exactly the same way! We were there 12/4-12/11 and were on the DxDP. My son who is a serious eater said, "it's like you're stuffed and you finally get to the point you are just full...then it's time to eat again." It took way too much time to eat that much! We enjoyed the chance to try some of the Signature places, but really don't feel much need to go to most of them again.

One high point is that now I know where I would like to go and maybe just have an appetizer and dessert or split a meal with my Mama, should we ever want to eat again!

I totally agree with your son!! By the end, I just didn't even want to eat. I'm still not sure after having been home 2 days that I want to eat again. Waaaaaaay too much food!

 

[timandheather]

nice reviews! we just got back ourselves on the DDx plan and our thoughts are the same as yours too much food and waiting.

We enjoyed Mama Melrose too, DH had the streak and said it was tied with steak at Le Cellier as the best steak he had on this trip. Overall Mama Melrose is in our top three IMHO it beat out others we had such as Narcossess,Coral Reef and Le Cellier

 

[Disneymama5816]

Thanks for the reviews!!!!

 

[catne]

Thanks for the review - sounds like the deluxe didn't work out right for you.

We like the deluxe, but quickly figured out the only way we can really enjoy it is to do very light breakfast (like 1/2 a pastry, or just a cup of yogurt) and then table service lunch and table service dinner at least 6 hours later. That way we got to try several 2 TS places, as well as have plenty of credits for meals on our departure day.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

thanks for the reviews, we actually liked the Dxddp b/c my husband loves ordering appt and I love dessert (I always order dessert when we go out to eat)