Our Disneymoon on the DDP: 8/20-8/26

[KristenHoneymooner]

Hi everyone! I used these boards heavily to plan the DDP dining for our Disneymoon, so I thought I should return the favor by reviewing our meal experiences!

The diners:

me , 29, like pasta dishes, seafood, and dishes with some meat but not just a slab o' meat. oh, and desserts

DH , 36, likes meat, seafood, bread, and potatoes. dislikes "any of that healthy stuff"


Dinner 8/20/07 Kona Cafe

me: lump crab cakes for appetizer, shrimp and scallops for entree, banana creme brulee for dessert

DH: pot stickers for appetizer, beef teriyaki for entree, kilauea torte for dessert

Food: Crab cakes were good but pretty ordinary - I wish I'd tried something else. I live near Maryland, so my standards for crab cakes are really high. To me, a "lump crab cake" should be huge chunks of crab with a tiny bit of other stuff in there to make it stick together, and that's not what I got at Kona. The sauce was good, though. The duck pot stickers were unique and delicious. DH and I both really enjoyed them. We both also loved the bread with the sweet nutty butter. As for entress, I liked the shrimp but not the scallops-- they were seared with an odd sauce on them rather than fried like the shrimp. DH enjoyed the steak, but it came out a bit rarer than he expected. For dessert, the chocolate torte was very good but also very rich so DH had vanilla ice cream with it, as advised by our waitress. I expected to be charged OOP for it, but it was covered by DDP. The banana creme brulee was amazing! It reminded me of the flavors of bananas foster, my favorite dessert ever. It was my second favorite dessert of the week, after the cherry shortcake at Le Cellier.

Service: We arrived 30 minutes before our ADR because we had settled in at GF more quickly than expected and the walk to Poly was very short. We were seated within 10 minutes of our arrival at Kona, which would mean 20 minutes before our actual ADR. When the waitress found out we were on DDP she thoroughly explained all of our options and encouraged us to get smoothies (which I did -- yum!). She had a number of recommendations regarding the menu, but I already knew what I wanted because of all my DIS and allears research. We didn't see much of her after she took our orders, but our food came in a timely manner, so that was okay!

Lunch 8/21/07 Coral Reef

me: creamy lobster soup for appetizer, blackened catfish for entree, chocolate wave for dessert

DH: creamy lobster soup for appetizer, grilled NY strip for entree, chocolate wave for dessert

Food: This was a fabulous meal! We were seated right next to the tank, and had a great time watching the sharks and sea turtles. There were fish, too, but they weren't as interesting DH and I are both big lobster bisque fans and ate every drop of our creamy lobster soup. We also enjoyed the basket of fresh bread. The blackened catfish was wonderful, and I'm not usually a fish fan. I really ordered it because I loooove cheese and the grits sounded delicious. The dish was very flavorful, probably my favorite entree of the week. I couldn't taste any "fishyness" in it at all, probably because of the spice. I closed my eyes in satisfaction when eating the cheesy grits. DH enjoyed his steak, but was unable to tell me whether it was better or worse than the one at Kona (this begins a trend of "it's good" food opinions from him). We both enjoyed the chocolate wave, but the brandied cherries were just nasty in both of our opinions - neither of us likes the flavor of alcohol. DH said he wished they'd given him ice cream like Kona, but that otherwise this cake was even better than the similar one at Kona.

Service: We arrived about 5 minutes before our ADR and were seated in about 10 minutes. We didn't ask for a specific spot, but were seated right by the tank. The setting amazed DH . We were mesmerized by the activity in the tank for the whole meal. Our server was just fine, but I honestly can't remember any of the details.

coming up next: CS dinner at Gasparilla Grill, CS lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney Marketplace, TS dinner at Narcoossees

 

[KristenHoneymooner]

Dinner at Gasparilla Grill, 8/21/07

me: jerk chicken sandwich with coleslaw, brownie, Sprite

DJ: cheese pizza, soft-serve ice cream, Diet Coke

Food: This is the only time we ate at our hotel's counter service place, but I actually really enjoyed my meal. The chicken sandwich was large, flavorful, and delicious, and I loved the coleslaw included with it. DH's pizza was just okay. The brownie was fantastic and also very large - I ate half of it for breakfast the next day.

Service: They make you wait for your grill orders, but it was only about 10 minutes. In the meantime, we ate our desserts The payment line was really short but took awhile because of confusion by the group ahead of us about what counted as DDP snacks and what would be charged to the room The place was clean and pleasant but a bit noisy because of the arcade games.


Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express (Marketplace), 8/22/07

me: linguini with chicken bolognese, brownie, mango ice tea

DH: chicken fingers with mashed potatos, brownie, Diet Coke

Food: This was the first of 3 meals at WPE because the food was great and a really good way to use CS credits without eating a bunch of burgers. The pasta was great -- it had a really nice sauce. DH enjoyed his mashed potatos but felt like he ordered wrong otherwise - he just wasn't in the mood for fried chicken after all. The brownies were packaged to go, and we ate them the next day. Very yummy and full of chocolaty goodness - did not taste stale at all, which I had worried about because of the packaging.

Service: The service was very good for a CS spot - they give you a number to set on your table and then bring out your food to you when it is ready. The tables were cleaned quicky and the staff were prompt and polite. We managed to get one of the limited number of tables inside in the air conditioning, for which we were very grateful.


Dinner at Narcoossee's, 8/22/07

Note: To stretch out our DDP credits, DH used 2 TS credits and I ordered an entree OOP, sharing the appetizer and dessert. The server had no problem with this.

me: entree = Tanglewood Chicken Breast with ragout of sweet corn, leeks, and wild mushrooms, white truffled mash

DH: appetizer = Prince Edward Island Mussels with white wine, roasted garlic, tomatoes, basil and parmesan cheese, entree = Grilled Sea Scallops with green garlic risotto and lobster sauce, dessert = key lime creme brulee

Food: I absolutely loved the mussels - the sauce was just divine. DH found a large piece of gravel in one of his mussels, which spooked him, especially as it was the first time he ever tried mussels. I don't think he'll ever eat them again He enjoyed the flavor, but was turned off by the rock he could have broken a tooth on. We both enjoyed our entrees. The chicken had a lightly crispy coating and tasted just like perfect chicken should (I know that sounds vague, but it is exactly what I was thinking as I ate it). The ragout/mash stuff it was sitting in was, incredibly, even better than the chicken. The scallops disappeared quickly, and DH remembers that they were also delicious! As for the key lime brulee, DH almost gagged on it - he just didn't realize how tart it would be. This, of course, meant I got to eat the whole thing myself, so I wasn't complaining It was large and good, but tasted like key lime pie -- there wasn't anything "brulee" about it except the crispy coating on top. I had been hoping it would be caramelly or custardy or something, but it just had a very strong key lime flavor.

Service: We were just about the first people there, as our reservation was for 5:30. We were the first to be seated. A party with small children was seated nearby, but we never even heard them - a very quiet evening. We received a personalized menu keepsake because we were on our honeymoon! Unfortuntely, I had made our reservations in our maiden name, so the last name (Mr. and Mrs. Xxxx) was not our married name, which was too bad. We had excellent service and tipped above and beyond the DDP tip. Our waitress was from Rabat, Morocco, which was neat because I lived in that city for 3 months while studying abroad in college. I got to speak a few words of Morrocan Arabic with her

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[swankybeth]

Great reviews and congratulations on your marriage!!

 

[TigerKat]

Subscribing.......

 

[Minniespal]

Brillant, Congrats to you both.

 

[KristenHoneymooner]

Lunch at Pizzafari, 8/23/2007

me: chicken parmesean sandwich, Coke, strawberry frozen lemonade

DH: cheese pizza, Diet Coke, strawberry frozen lemonade

Food: With Tusker House closed and a long line at Flame Tree, we found ourselves at Pizzafari! The sandwich and the pizza were pretty ordinary -- good, but nothing to write home about. The dessert was wonderful, though -- we really enjoyed eating our strawberry lemonades as we toured the hot park.

Service/Atmosphere: We hadn't been planning on Pizzafari, but I must say that we really enjoyed the air conditioning. The wait wasn't too bad - the line moved very swiftly. There were a lot of diners but there was plenty of seating for all.


Dinner at Le Cellier, 8/23/2007

me: Duck Two Ways for appetizer, Shrimp, Scallop and Mussel Bouillabaisse for entree, Cherry Shortcake for dessert

DH: Beef and Barley Soup for appetizer, 14 oz. New York Strip Steak (without the onions) for entree, Chocolate Moose for dessert

Food: The highlight of the trip! I was worried that my expectations were too high because of the DIS, but Le Cellier exceeded them. The Duck Two Ways was the best thing I ate at Disney - full of flavor, great texture - DH was super jealous and wished he had ordered it. There was nothing wrong with his soup, but it wasn't special like the duck. He is still talking about how he'd like to order duck somewhere now because of how good the appetizer was. The New York Strip was DH's favorite steak of the trip. I loved the bouilabaisse. The sauce was flavorful and complemented the seafood perfectly -- it accentuated the tastes of the various seafoods without overwhelming them. I've had bouillabaisse in the past where everything ends up tasting similar because the sauce is so spicy, but that wasn't a problem here. I also enjoyed the couscous at the bottom of the bowl. The cherry shortcake was my favorite dessert of the week - the lavender ice cream was really special and perfectly complemented the lovely shortcake . DH loved his moose, both because it was adorable and because it was actually very good mousse! He said it was better than the chocolate mousse he had gotten at the sweet shop in France.

Service/Atmosphere: We got our best service of the week here. Barry, our server, was just fabulous - personable, gave great advice, always visible. We tipped him extra and even asked at the desk after leaving if we could let someone in charge know how great he had been. They gave us a card to fill out and assured us that the proper people would be told how great he'd been. Barry let us know that we could have smoothies on the DDP, and I really enjoyed the mango one (DH stuck to the no-cal Diet Coke). I have heard complaints on the DIS about crowding at Le Cellier, but we really enjoyed the atmosphere. We were seated at a small (2-person) table in a long line of other tables, but we didn't feel too close to the people next to us. It felt very romantic and intimate! A perfect honeymoon meal


coming up next - dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express, lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express, dinner at California Grill

 

[KristenHoneymooner]

Lunch on 8/24 was just snacks (Diet Coke and sundaes) - it was super-hot at MK and we didn't feel like a meal. We had also filled up at "free" breakfast at the GF concierge lounge.

Anyone else who was at Disney World on the 24th will remember it as the afternoon and evening of huge storm. We stayed in the hotel for most of the afternoon and then ventured back to DTD.


Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express (Marketplace), 8/24/07

me: BBQ Chicken Quesadilla, root beer, creme brulee

DH: BBQ Chicken Quesadilla, Diet Coke, chocolate chip cookie

Food: We both loved the quesadilla - in fact, DH ordered one again the next day! We highly recommend WPE for using DDP CS credits! The creme brulee was excellent and I was so happy that it was a dessert option - the previous time we had been there, the only options were brownie or cookie. We never even opened DH's cookie - we were just too full from the quesadilla. It was prepackaged so we stuck it in our bag, but it got smooshed and we never tried it.

Service/Atmosphere: We again managed to get a seat in the air conditioning! There were one or two employees just cleaning tables and asking people if they needed anything. Service was just super. It really felt like a TS rather than a CS!


Evening drinks at Raglan Road, 8/24/07

No food, just atmosphere: We arrived at RR just as entertainment was starting (9:00, I believe). We could have gotten seats as walk ins if we had been willing to wait 40 minutes or so, but we were full anyway and just wanted to hear the music. The bar was open seating, and they'll serve you food if you'd like (I was tempted to get the bread and butter pudding, but manged to restrain myself). We sat at the bar for an hour nursing soft drinks and listening to the wonderful band and watching the dancer. I highly recommend it! I sooo wish we had similar talent near here - we'd be there every weekend.


Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express (Marketplace), 8/25/2007

me: Moo Shu chicken pocket sandwich, Coke, creme brulee

DH: BBQ Chicken Quesadilla, Diet Coke, chocolate chip cookie

Food: DH had a craving for the quesadilla, so we stopped here on the way back from Sea World. The quesadilla and creme brulee were just as good as they had been the previous evening. The moo shu pocket was fabulous - lots of flavor, lots of veggies in addition to the chicken. The bread it was in was a fresh pita pocket. I've looked at the lastest menus posted online and they are missing a bunch of new sandwiches, including the one I tried. I highly recommend it, though!

Service/Atmosphere: Just as good as the previous day


Next: Dinner at California Grill

 

[Schucraig]

Great reviews! Can't wait for more!