Our DxDP Extravaganza Pre-Dining Report - Can we do it? That is the question

[fallen_angel727]

Hello Everyone

I'm going to try my hand at a pre-dining report, so
I will include the places we will be eating, why we chose the restaurant, what looks good and what we look forward to the most about each place. After our trip, I'll (hopefully) post a dining report to let you all know what we thought of each place!

A little background

The Who: myself (Ashley) and DH (Aaron) - he would wave but he's too busy playing Final Fantasy to care .

Some info on us:

Ashley - I don't eat any red meat, only chicken, turkey and seafood
Favourite meal - breakfast, i can eat breakfast any time of day doesn't matter
Favourite food - french toast, cheese, Deep fried pickles, chicken finger sandwiches
Favourite drink - Juice
favourite dessert - cheesecake (any kind will do) or ice cream
Current favourite Disney restaurant - Boma

Aaron - only eats meat "keep those veggie things away from me!!"
Favourite meal - Dinner - so many meat choices
Favourite food - Meat - well Filet Mignon
Favourite drink - Beer
favourite dessert - New york Style Cheesecake with cherries
Current favourite Disney restaurant - Boma


The What: A dining adventure extravaganza...ok ok, a DxDP upgrade during free dinging to see if we can actually accomplish it

The Where: Duh...Disney World...

The When: September 26th - October 3rd 2014 (though we DO have one super early breakfast booked on the 4th as we'll be just outside of disney property the night of the 3rd)

They Why: This will be our last big vacation before we start trying for a baby, so we figured we might as well go all out

A Little background: We just recently upgraded to Animal Kingdom Lodge (my dream resort...Thanks babe ) on free dining. Then Aaron decided we should go all out and do the Deluxe Plan also!!. This was our original idea, to upgrade to the deluxe from a quick service while staying at POP. Money was tight so we went with the regular plan and kept many of our ADR's. However Aaron didn't want to decide what should be paid OOP and what should be put on the plan - or he's just lazy - so he upgraded us to the DxDP again. Now I understand the amount of food that will be involved here (especially once you throw in the Food & Wine Festival) and to be honest, for me anywya, it's a bit insane. But DH would eat me out of house and home if I let him so I'm sure we'll be OK, for a while anyway!

My goal was to eat at all new places, or at least places where Aaron hasn't eaten before. This is will be my 7th trip and his 3rd so i'm a little a head of the game when it comes to Disney restaurants. After MUCH decicion making, booking, cancelling and rebooking I have finally made a final list of ADR's. In order of appearance (more or less) on our trip we will hopefully be enjoying:

Boma (Breakfast x2)
The Plaza (before MNSSHP)
Captain's Grille (Breakfast)
Hollywood Brown Derby (Dinner)
The Mara (x2 1 late dinner, 1 early breakfast)
Jiko (Dinner)
Kouzinna (Breakfast)
Coral Reef (Late Lunch)
Earl of Sandwich (x2 - both OOP as late dinners)
Sci-Fi Dine Inn (Early Lunch)
Narcoossee's (Dinner)
Tusker House (Lunch)
Sanaa (Dinner)
Biergarten (Lunch)
Teppan Edo (Dinner)
Crystal palace (Breakfast)
Be Our Guest (Dinner)
Grand Floridian Cafe (Breakfast)
Food & Wine Booths on both Epcot Days (1 day for Lunch, 1 day for Dinner)

My goodness - just looking at this list is making me full, and Aaron excited


Up Next: Boma

 

[fallen_angel727]

Boma was hands down the first choice from both Aaron and I for this trip. We absolutely LOVED the dinner we had here last year so we figured we would try it again! However, our plan was to try new places that we hadn't been to together, so how could we fit in our new favourite? That's right...BREAKFAST!!!

We booked an 8:25 breakfast for Oct 1st even before we switched hotels from POP to AKL. The once we switched hotels, and upgraded the dining plan I figured we might as well take advantage of the restaurants within our resort. So we booked a late breakfast on our Arrival day (Sept. 26th) for 10:30am. We plan to be checking in by 10...however worst case scenario, we're running behind and I cancel the night before. I know it's cutting it close, but we're willing to risk it!!

Why eat here? Well basically I already answered that, we enjoyed dinner last time, we'll be staying at ALK and frankly the majority of reviews for breakfast here have been wonderful!!

What are we looking forward too most?

Me: seeing as I don't eat red meat, I suppose this wasn't a great choice on my part, however I did find things at dinner that were amazing, so I figured it shouldn't be too hard to find something at breakfast. Just doing a quick scan of the menu I must say I am looking forward to the french toast bread pudding...it's sounds scrumptious!!

DH: "Hand carved meats for breakfast - I like meat" (you'll see a theme here soon!)

 

[fallen_angel727]

So our second restaurant of the trip will be The Plaza in the magic Kingdom on main Street. We have a 5:30pm ADR before our Halloween Party.

This one has been booked (and kept!) the whole time, I think this is one of the only places I booked and just left alone . We chose this for sheer convenience before the party. We knew we would need a couple of decent meals on our arrival day. After an 17+ hour drive spanning 2 days, and not eating more than fast food from the time we leave home late Wednesday night to the time we check into AKL early Friday morning, we figured a couple of good meals won't hurt us!

So again, for convenience sake we chose The Plaza. I debated doing something in Downtown Disney, then we decided to head to Animal Kingdom before the party. Then I thought maybe an early dinner at Yak & Yeti perhaps? But no, my logic won out and we settled on the Plaza.

We have never been here before, but looking at pictures/reviews/menus I think I'm going to like the simplicity of the food as well as the classic decor. I have heard about the dining room being extremely small, and crowded...I like some space when I eat, so we'll see how that goes. I'm also hoping this will be a fairly quick meal as far as table service meals go, and we'll be in and out relatively quickly. Not that it matters too much, we don't have a whole lot planned for the Halloween Party, especially since we aren't huge fans of character meet and greets, seeing them from a distance is usually fine with me, especially if meeting said characters involves a line longer than about 30 minutes!

Food-wise I'm pretty excited for this restaurant, as I stated, I don't eat any red meat (no beef, pork, lamb etc) so the Vegetarian Sandwich sounds absolutely wonderful. Frankly so does the Turkey sandwich (I'll just have to hand the bacon off to Aaron...unless I can get it without). I would also love to have a traditional Sundae as dessert. I don't really go all out with my ice cream at home (just a scoop or two in a bowl and that's it), so it'll be nice to go all out for once; especially since we're on the DxDP so payment/cost isn't really a factor now.

What is Aaron looking forward too most?

"Beef brisket burger, or the meatloaf" See a theme is starting...more meat, and well only meat

 

[fallen_angel727]

Up next, we were able to get an ADR at Captain's Grille for Sept. 27 at 9:05am. We had originally had one for 10am, but the more I thought about it the more I thought maybe it was too late for breakfast. We do have MNSSHP the night before, so I'm still a little concerns about how early it is now, but in my head I just can't win So anyway 9:05 am it is.

Now that the confusion with the time has been cleared up, we can go back to the first major decision I made regarding this ADR. Captain's Grille or Cape May Cafe, of the choices...I had originally wanted Cape may, but decided against the characters, so we went with captain's grille...then back to Cape May. This went on for a few months until I finally settled on Captain's Grille.

Why you ask? Well A) this is our DHS day so I wanted something close to the park. B) I've heard great reviews, and the menu looks awesome, so we figured why not. Finally C) I want Aaron to see the Yacht/Beach Club and Stromalong Bay...maybe next time I can talk him into staying there

So what are we looking forward to the most here

Me: I don't even know, the buffet looks great, but the dark chocolate waffles sound delicious, as does the lobster omelette...there's just so much here that sounds good I don't know how I'll decide!!
Aaron: obviously the buffet...the more food the better, bring it on!

 

[johnsonginad]

Your choices sound great so far! I may just have to look into Captain's Grille for our next trip! A lobster omelette sounds DELISH!

 

[fallen_angel727]

Your choices sound great so far! I may just have to look into Captain's Grille for our next trip! A lobster omelette sounds DELISH!

I completely agree!! Chances are we'll be doing the buffet for simplicity sake, but ya never know!!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Following! We will be ther 10/24 with the DxDP as well!!!

 

[MrsPumpkin]

Came home last week from 2 weeks of DxDDP - ate at some really amazing restaurants, and loved using the plan! look forward to reading

 

[Pfau]

Looks fun (and delicious!)

 

[fallen_angel727]

Everyone!! thanks for reading along! Now, onto our next restaurant, and the first Signature of the trip, Hollywood Brown Derby

*Side Note: I promise there will be more pics in the official dining report!!*

So since we'll be in DHS, I wanted to do a Fantasmic! package lunch/dinner, we've done it twice before at Mama Melrose and we loved However, sticking with the plan of eating at new places this year, as much as we loved Mama Melrose, we needed something new. Hollywood & Vine was out of the question as we have no interest in the playhouse Disney characters, so that left Hollywood Brown Derby, which is fine with us!! We're on the DxDP for gosh sake, we might as well make the most of it!!

Since I've basically already stated WHY we chose HBD I'll go straight ontp what we're looking forward too (I'll separate it by courses, and maybe throw in some drinks since this isn't a breakfast, or a quick pre-party meal)!!

Me:
Appetizers: I'm looking forward to the cheese plate, since I love just about nay cheese. However, since you can get these an many signature I'm also thinking I might try the Blue Lump Crab Spring Rolls. We'll have to stay tuned to see which one I pick!

Entree: Considering I don't eat red meat, HBD presents some challenges for me. However, the Seafood Cioppino sounds wonderful. I have just recently starting enjoying more types of seafood (basically since I stopped eating red meat and needed more options) this this sounds really good. The other entree that might be good is the Noodle bowl, I do enjoy tofu, however I'm a bit leery of eating it because it's tricky to do correctly

Dessert: Well I'm looking forward to everything!! Specifically though, the Double Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee and the Banana Toffee Cake sound mouth watering!! I think dessert is what I'm looking forward too most for this meal!

Aaron
Appetizer: Zellwood Sweet Corn Bisque "because it has lobster and stuff"

Entree:toss up between Crispy Spiced Duck Breast and Charred-glazed Filet of Beef "because well how often do you get duck? and well, it's beef" see I told you there would be a pattern here!!

Dessertouble Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee "Because it's creme brulee and that's delicious!"

Well i'm glad his portion of this pre-dining report will be simple and straight forward, Aaron clearly cares more about eating the food than talking about it!!

Up Next: The Mara

 

[SunnieRN]

Loving this already and looking forward to reading more!! I hope you have a magical time! Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani Village are my favorite resorts and I love the restaurants there.

 

[vettegirl]

What a great lineup!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[johnsonginad]

YUM!!!! HBD is so good!!! I love cheese plates too, (and will probably eat several on our next trip, lol), but those crab spring rolls are TOO DIE FOR. Great choice!!!

Now I'm hungry.....lol

 

[fallen_angel727]

Hello Everyone! Our check-in day is fast approaching (19 days to be exact) so I better get moving on this pre-dining report!! 15 more reviews in just 19 days, goodness, at least i'll have something to help me pass the time (you know, other than work, and house cleaning and all the normal time passing things )

Well there MAY or may not be a small change at this point. I had planned on eating a late dinner at The Mara following Fantasmic tonight (to be honest, I originally had Beaches and Cream book but because it was a 9:30 ADR, and we have an early morning the next day, AND I need my sleep I came to my senses and cancelled in favour of and old favourite)however...depending on how we're feeling we might head over to DTD for a split second and get us some Earl of Sandwich (just because it's oh so yummy!!). To be quite honest with you, that is probably what we'll end up doing, so I'm going to dedicate this portion of my report to the Earl.

Why are we choosing this instead of the Mara (which by the way would be MUCH more convenient)? Simply put, because we LOVE The Earl That's really the only reason. Well that and there are just so many choices here, it's easier to eat here several times then to have to chose only 1 sandwich . Now we'll probably end up putting this on the DxDP only because we have to use up the credits. Frankly I think this is a waste of a credit, but lets face it with dinner at 4, we'll be hungry again before bed time (we're ALWAYS hungry!!) and the less cash I have to bring the better. besides that, we can take our sandwiches back to the room, and we have an extremely early day the following day (going to US to see the new harry Potter stuff ) so we don't have to worry about eating at a restaurant, heck we can eat in the car if we want!!

What are we looking forward to here? Well, in a word EVERYTHING!!! This is the only place that both Aaron and I have been too that we are repeating several times, just because it's so darn good!! Anyway, to be more specific

Me: Since we're eating here at least twice, probably three times, I'll choose my top 3 sandwiches

1. The Caprese - by far my favourite sandwich here, love the tomatoes and the mozzarella is so fresh it melts in your mouth! It's just all arouns awesome and i wouldn't miss it for anything. Last year I didn't order it on our only visit and I've been regretting that decision since May 2013 So it must be fixed this time!

2. The Thai Chicken Wrap sounds awesome...and if it tastes even remotely close to the Thai Chicken Bites I had at Boston Pizza last night I will be a happy, happy girl

3. The Buffalo Chicken and Baja Chicken Wraps also sound delicious...darn it, guess we gotta make even more trips here. I'm so indecisive at EoS, I think I should just order one of everything to go and deal with it later

Aaron: He's excited for EoS because "They've got damn good sandwiches" yes dear, yes the do

1. The Italian
2. The Full Montagu
3. The Original 1762

So basically all of Aaron choices contain, you guessed it, as much meat as humanly possible. Apparently he would like to add "since Ashley stopped eating red meat, I have to make up for her portions as often as possible!

So that's Earl of Sandwich x3 now, and I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Up next: Jiko - The Cooking Place

 

[johnsonginad]

Ahhhhh...The Earl....a favorite of ours too. The original is SO good. Now, excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my face.

On another note, 19 days? Whoa, baby!!! That's coming up FAST!!!! Yippee!!!!

 

[fallen_angel727]

Ahhhhh...The Earl....a favorite of ours too. The original is SO good. Now, excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my face.

On another note, 19 days? Whoa, baby!!! That's coming up FAST!!!! Yippee!!!!

not fast enough My brother his GF and his step-daughter are on their way home, they've been sending me updates and pics all week...now 19 days can't come fast enough!!

On a side note, I helped plan their trip so they were my guinea pigs . Sanaa and Biergarten are looking WAY better after their glowing reviews

 

[johnsonginad]

not fast enough My brother his GF and his step-daughter are on their way home, they've been sending me updates and pics all week...now 19 days can't come fast enough!! On a side note, I helped plan their trip so they were my guinea pigs . Sanaa and Biergarten are looking WAY better after their glowing reviews

We've never eaten at Biergarten, but we have at Sanaa. The food there was really good. The Chai Cream dessert was THE BOMB. DH still says that he had the best steak he has ever had there. It had some kind of mango chutney on it. Yummy yum yum.

 

[fallen_angel727]

Next up, following a day at Universal Studios and some Harry Potter, is Jiko. This is the first restaurant that I had settled on upon booking the trip. This was a definite must do. Why one might ask? First of all, I wanted to go back to AKL (This was obviously before we switched from POP). Second, just look at the menu, it looks amazing!! Third, while we were at Boma last year, I noticed Jiko across the hall and the restaurant itself looked wonderful. Fourth, we wanted another signature, and using points 1-3 it clearly fit the bill

So what are we looking forward to the most??

Me:
Appetizer - Either the Taste of Africa or of course the Cheese selection...let me say one can NEVER have too much cheese

Entree - The West African Jerk Scallops, these are probably the most intriguing thing on the menu for me, this is 100% what I will be ordering, if this changes it'll be as surprising to me as it is you

Dessert - Banana break pudding, because well it's banana bread pudding

Aaron "It's different food from what we're used to"

Appetizer - Grilled Wild Boar Tenderloin "because it's wild boar, how often do you get wild boar?"

Entree - Nigeria-style" Pan-roasted Whole Local Whole Fish "I'm curious what Nigerian Style means in the way of fish, and besides it's a whole fish...I can poke at it's eyes" ...classy dear...

Dessert - Banana Bread Pudding "because it's banana bread pudding, how can you go wrong?" ...great minds think alike apparently

 

[johnsonginad]

Lol...."I can poke at its eyes." Make sure you take a picture of that. Lol!!!

 

[fallen_angel727]

Well next up (clearly by the title) is Kouzzina.

I'm pretty excited about this breakfast. It took a while for me to decide fully on this one. I had originally booked Cape May, Olivia's and Whispering Canyon Cafe (all of which i will still do at some point); however then I saw the menu at Kouzzina and I was hooked. The other reasons I finally decided on Kouzzina were that

A) It's closing the day after our ADR and after hearing wonderful reviews I needed to try it before it closed forever

B) This is an Epcot day for us, so I was hoping for something close by and Boardwalk in fit the bill

C) I've never been to the Boardwalk Inn so this will give me a chance to FINALLY make a vist (mind a quick one, but a visit none the less!!)

What are we looking forward too?

Me: Well again...everything look scrumptious!! Blueberry Granola Pancake, Classic Golden Waffle, Spinach, Tomato, and Feta Scrambled Eggs. Honestly, though, the best part is that I can actually eat just about everything on this menu, there is always an option for Chicken bacon and Chicken sausage!

Aaron: House-cured Salmon - "...because well Salmon" Thank you dear for your very insightful responses