Our May 1 -7 Dining Reviews -DDP

[sandym718]

Wolfgang Puck Cafe - dinner
We enjoyed a dinner here last trip, but it wasn't in our original plans to return. But we reworked our itinerary a bit, and turns out DH didn't want any strictly Italian places (we were thinking Tutto), so he requested to go back here. Once again, SO glad we did!! This was my best entree of the trip - even better than the filet at LeCellier!

Me- Pumpkin Ravioli, Mango Ice Tea, Mud Pie
DH- Asian Hoisin Ribs, Mango Ice Tea, Mud Pie
Both kids - Spaghetti and Meatballs, Fruit Punch, Artist's Palette make your own Sundae

Kids first - they devoured this! The portions were huge, so they didn't finish, but I was surprised at how much they ate. They loved it! Milk is not included here on the plan - only fountain drinks. We knew this from last time, not a problem. They've been on choc. milk overload! (We only allow white milk at home, choc. milk is a dining-out or sometimes weekend treat). They also enjoyed the sundaes.

Oh, the bread, almost forgot - they bring some regular breads and flatbreads, a dish of oil with balsamic vinegar in it - never had it like that. LoVED it!! I ate a bunch!

OK, mine - the Pumpkin Ravioli are TO DIE FOR!!! Soooo good, with a browned butter sauce. To me, this was kind of like a sweet pierogi (which I also love). Not the same taste, but the same concept sort of as a ricotta pierogi. I just loved them and ate them all up. The portion wasn't huge, just right. I asked if the chicken was included in the plan, it was not, but our sweet waitress (really great!) said it really didn't need it. And she was right - I can't see a thing the chicken would've added to the dish. I will now be on the search for Pumpkin Ravioli at all future restaurants I dine at EVERYWHERE, LOL!! The Mud pie was very good - chocolate ice cream with brownies and pecans. Very big, I didn't finish. Dh did.

DH really liked his ribs as well. I noticed they fell right off the bone and he said the flavor was great.

This was a wonderful experience. I know it's gotten some mixed reviews. It is a sort of loud place, with kids, that's good! And we like the bright, fun decor. Had awesome service, probably the best of the trip. And the food is sooo good. We'll definitley be returning and probably trying his restaurants in other cities, too!

Next up -- CRT lunch, Captain Cook's lunch, and T-Rex dinner.

 

[emmababy]

Love your reviews. I totally agree about Sunshine Seasons, love it! Especially the Butterfinger cheesecake!

 

[sandym718]

CRT lunch

This one was just DD and I! We decided to go ahead and use the DDP credits, b/c DS really wanted to do T-Rex and that's OOP anyways. So we did that this night.

So I get DD all dressed in her dress and we check in at CRT at noon for our 12:10 ressie. First we wait about 5 mins to check in, then we are sent to stand in a long line to be invited in for the photo. The line was out in the sun, I needed water at this point and was feeling overheated, it was not fun. Would be much better if this could be inside. After getting inside, more line time. We didn't get her photo taken until about 12:40! At this point, I'm not overly thrilled, but it's for her, not me, so.... luckily, it got better. We were given a nice table for 2 on the upper level railing, could see out the windows, very pretty. Appetizer and drinks right away. Orders were taken and food came VERY fast. Obviously, they have enough ready to go. I ordered the Major Domo's Pie and it was good, but could've been hotter. DD got the chicken noodle soup and chicken strips with mashed potatoes and veggies. She actually ate really well, surprisingly. The princesses came around in good time - Snow White, Belle (in blue/white), Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty. They also did the wishing ceremony, which I got some great photos of DD with her eyes closed, wishing. Very cute! We really liked the desserts here, DD enjoyed the chocolate crown on her sundae and I thought the Chocolate Cream Cheese Buckle was VERY good. Overall, it ended up being a very nice experience, which DD just was SO HAPPY about, so it made the initial wait worth it. Here's just one photo, one I took of DD with Cinderella:

 

[sandym718]

Captain Cook's lunch

This was just DH and DS, they headed back to the Poly for lunch and the pool while DD and I did CRT. They decided to "cheat" on this one a bit, b/c DS wanted the Pepperoni Flatbread. I think he had a Mickey ice cream bar for dessert. DH had the Turkey Club which he really liked, with the Asian slaw (also liked) and a Dole Whip.

 

[sandym718]

T- Rex Dinner

This one was for DS. We had 6:30 ressies, but they were pointless, at least at that time. They just had us get into the same line as people who were walk-ups. Waited about 10 mins, kids had fun looking around. We were in a back room, not sure what it was called, but adjacent to the ice cave. The kids had fun taking photos and watching all the action. Food:

Me - Prehistoric Panini with Waffle Fries
DH- Bronto Burger with Waffle Fries
DS - Pasta w/ Marinara
DD - Mac & Cheese

Everything was good here, nothing fabulous. DH's burger was HUGE and that's not even the big one! Kids ate well. My panini was cold, which I didn't expect, I thought it would be warm. Still good, and I like the olive salad - like a muffaletta.

We didn't do any dessert here since it was OOP, figured we'd use snacks.

Coming up.... my best snack of the trip!!

 

[sandym718]

Cooke's of Dublin - Doh Bar snack!

I had read about these, and knew this would be the perfect night for one with no dessert included with dinner. So I headed over after T-Rex. I'm not a big fan of fried stuff (tried Twinkies, eh), but the ooey-gooey of this drew me in and OH MY, this is Soooooo good!! The Snickers gets all melted and it's just delicious! I want one RIGHT NOW! I'm hoping they have them at the county fair this year, or I'm going to have DH make me one at home!! Here's my one and only food photo, and sorry it's so blurry:

''

Definitely try one of these!!

Up next: Lottawatta Lodge and Crystal Palace

 

[MelanieC]

Thanks for the reviews-

 

[NorweJenNY]

Pecos Bills - lunch

Our first park day, at the MK and we decided to try this for lunch. They have the express ordering computers, really liked that, made it quick.

DH - Double Bacon Cheeseburger with fries, strawberry yogurt for dessert, pop
Me- BBQ Pork Sandwich with fries, carrot cake, iced tea
Both kids - Hamburger, applesauce, cookie and chocolate milk

Dh loved his burger, really loaded up on the toppings bar! No cheese sauce, though My pork sandwich was really good. I was bummed there was no Peanut Butter Brownie Mousse like on the AllEars menu, but the carrot cake was OK. I just love chocolate and PB!! The kids ate fine, the selection is VERY limited there for kids.

This was a decent lunch, we'd return if the kids definitely wanted a hamburger.

Two things strike me here... two significant things in my mind...

1) No cheese sauce?!?!?! Was this a fluke, or can anyone else confirm that it actually might be possible that Pecos Bill no longer has cheese sauce available? I loved adding that to my taco salads!

2) No peanut butter mousse brownie?!?!?! I was also looking forward to splurging on this! Tell me this will be back...

Please... somebody... tell me these things will be there this summer!!!

 

[momofdbsdc]

Great reviews!!!

 

[dancemomnj]

Enjoying your reviews

 

[JoePa4Ever]

Thanks so much for your great reviews. We love Chef Mickey's brkfst - glad you enjoyed your dinner there. Hopefully we'll get around to trying CM dinner for ourselves some day.

 

[sandym718]

Two things strike me here... two significant things in my mind...

1) No cheese sauce?!?!?! Was this a fluke, or can anyone else confirm that it actually might be possible that Pecos Bill no longer has cheese sauce available? I loved adding that to my taco salads!

2) No peanut butter mousse brownie?!?!?! I was also looking forward to splurging on this! Tell me this will be back...

Please... somebody... tell me these things will be there this summer!!!

I was so disappointed about both these things!! The cheese sauce "containers" were there, but it looked like a pot or something that would sit in them (maybe a dispenser-type thing?) was missing. So that could have been temporary. PB Mousse brownie - no idea! AllEars still has it on the menu, but does Not list the carrot cake. So it may be gone. The strawberry yogurt is the other choice.

 

[NorweJenNY]

I was so disappointed about both these things!! The cheese sauce "containers" were there, but it looked like a pot or something that would sit in them (maybe a dispenser-type thing?) was missing. So that could have been temporary. PB Mousse brownie - no idea! AllEars still has it on the menu, but does Not list the carrot cake. So it may be gone. The strawberry yogurt is the other choice.

I'll hope it was just a fluke then about the cheese sauce...

However, I don't think you can get a PB Mousse brownie anywhere else! Carrot cake, yeah, I can get that other places... but I'm with you - I love chocolate and peanut butter together!

Maybe someone else will have better news... sounds like they're getting too into trying to make things sound healthy... I mean, carrot cake or strawberry yogurt as the only dessert options? Come on! At least something chocolatey! Sheesh!

 

[devonsmommy]

Hi Sandy!
I'm glad I found you over here!
Thanks for the reviews. We just booked our free dining trip. I am contemplating CRT, but not sure if I want lunch or dinner. Also contemplating Ohana.

 

[sandym718]

Hi! Well, CRT doesn't have all the Princesses for dinner, so that's something to consider. Cinderella is still downstairs I think, and I think the mice and Fairy Godmother might be in the dining room? Not positive. I definitely recommend Ohana - like I said the meat was kind of dry, but the sauces are good and all the other stuff more than makes up for it!

Going to try to finish these up today!

 

[sandym718]

Lottwatta Lodge lunch

Blizzard Beach day today!! We ate at LL last trip, and it seems to have the largest menu of the places there, so we headed over.

Me- Cobb Salad, iced tea, Mickey Cookies & Cream sandwich
DH - Double Cheeseburger with fries, pop, Frozen Lemonade
DD- Mac & Cheese, applesauce, apple juice and cookie
DS - Hot Dog, applesauce, bottled water and cookie

No chocolate milk for the kids here, but I didn't really want them having milk anyways, it was so hot, etc. Kids ate fine. DH seemed to enjoy his burger, not much to say. Cobb salad was VERY good, I highly recommend this. It comes with a raspberry dressing, very good, or they have others you can choose from (packaged). Last trip I got a pizza here - not so good. Definitely go with the salad!!

You can bring your receipt back to get dessert later - after eating or anytime before 5. Kids ate their cookies, so DH and I decided to wait until we were ready to leave the park to get our ice creams, and get the kids a cold snack too.

We were ready about 1:30. DS wanted a snocone, DD a Mickey bar, so DH took her and the receipts to LL for all that and DS and I got in line at the snocone place. Big mistake. Only 2 families in front of us in line - 1 guy and a couple. Unfortunately, the guy ordered 9 (!) snocones for his family! There was only 1 lady working the whole thing, and she said she was new. Ugh!! The line grew sooo long behind us, we moved it over to stand where the water was being sprayed on the concrete b/c a lot of people were barefoot. It just took forever!! DS really wanted one, though, so we waited. People were asking if they could get alcoholic snocones after this line. I'd say we waited around 25-30 mins!! Longer than all the rides!! DH walked back over to us to give me my ice cream and I started eating it in line so it wouldn't melt!! Ah well, what can you do? DS enjoyed his cherry snocone, thank goodness!!

 

[sandym718]

Crystal Palace dinner

This was a return trip for us. Wanted to see the Pooh characters again before the kids get too old (DS kind of is, but he still liked seeing them) AND we really like the food here. Such a beautiful restaurant too! We waited about 15 mins for our table here, we checked in about 5:20 for our 5:30 ADR. Got some nice photos of the kids with the castle in the background right out front while we waited. Photopass photog there too!!

The food did not disappoint!! It's all good, but I particularly liked the mashed potatoes, corn spoon bread, adobe pork, chicken pasta and turkey. We all ate very well here!! Desserts were very good, too. I think there was a great bread pudding here last time, though, and I didn't see that.

Characters were great, very playful. We saw Eeyore as soon as we sat down, then Pooh and Tigger while eating. For some reason, Piglet must have been moving VERY slow! They did the parade thing not too long after we were eating, then characters resumed visiting. All 3 of the other characters came to our table AGAIN before we saw Piglet. We had to wait on Piglet well after we were done eating, but we were in no rush, so not a big deal.

This is definitely a fave of ours and we'll return I would think.

 

[sandym718]

Captain Cook's lunch

This was our last full day at Disney We hit the MK in the morning then decided to go back to the Poly for lunch and swimming.

Me- Aloha Pork sandwich, chips, iced tea, chocolate crossaint
DH- Turkey Club, Asian slaw, pop, Dole Whip
DS- Cheeseburger, applesauce, pudding, chocolate milk
DD- Chicken nuggets, applesauce, pudding, chocolate milk

Nothing new for the kids or DH here (he loved his meal on Tues and replicated it!), but the Pork sandwich was new to me. VERY good, I especially loved the cucumber on it! A nice cool crunch. I'll definitely order this again next trip! CC's doesn't have a big selection, but everything is good!

 

[sandym718]

LeCellier dinner

Our last meal LeC was our favorite last time, and our last dinner last trip also, so decided to do that again. Unfortunately I was coming down with a pretty bad cold at this point, so I couldn't enjoy it to the fullest. Still great, though!!

Me- Filet, plain, with subbed in cream cheese mashed potatoes, Chocolate raspberry shake, Chocolate Whiskey cake

DH-NY Strip, iced tea, Chocolate Whiskey cake

Both kids - carrot and celery sticks, pasta, ice cream sundae, chocolate milk

I had planned to order the Cheese soup OOP here if the kids didn't order any (they didn't), but my appetite wasn't huge, so I didn't. Enjoyed the pretzel and sourdough breadsticks, so good! The choc-rasp shake is to die for!!! As good as I remembered. My filet and DH's steak were both cooked perfectly and so tender and good. The mashed potatoes were also as good as I remembered. Unfortunately I think the shake really filled me up and I started feeling not-so-hot after eating my steak and potatoes. I ordered the cake b/c I loved it last time, the Anglaise is soooo good. But I could only take 2 bites and had to give the rest to DH. He ate both!!

This is a must do for us for sure!

 

[sandym718]

Snacks and summary

I've mentioned some of our snacks already (Doh bar!). We used a good number of them at the Poly- chocolate crossaints for me, Dole Whips or yogurt parfaits (breakfast) for DH. Kids bought some lollipops throughout the week.

I made a Goofy's Candy Co. run after our WPC dinner and did the make-your-own treats. We were rarely hungry, so we ate most of them once we got home!! I did a fudge cookie for each of the kids (they shared one there and one at home), Rice Krispie treat for DH, and pretzels and marshmallows for myself. The marshmallows were my fave, I ate those there over 2-3 days. Pretzels really good also. This is a fun way to use snack credits!

I don't have any others that stand out in my mind- mickey bars and ice cream sandwiches, etc. Disappointed that neither BB nor the Poly still have the Toll House cookie ice cream sandwiches (packaged). I enjoyed those last trip. Didn't make it to the MK place for the fresh ones, unfortunately! The Cookies and Cream Mickey sandwiches were good, too, though.

We ended up leaving 3 snack credits unused. We had planned to get pastries from CC's for the ride home (chocolate crossaints!!! LOL), but when DH went Thurs night the case was nearly empty. I ran in there about 5:15 Friday morning, still empty, they don't fill it until after 6. I should've bought some of the brownies or rice krispie treats, but we wanted to get going, so I didn't bother. Not a big deal!

Summary -- Overall, very good dining once again! Favorites were Ohana, WPC, CP and LeC. Only place we wouldn't return unless we hear about some great changes (back to how it was!) was Kona.

$$$$ - We paid a total of $713.72 for 2 adults, 2 children for the DDP, 7 nights. Our food total came to almost exactly $1000! Give or take a few dollars for exact amounts on some snacks, and we left 3 snacks unused. We saved almost $300 on the plan, a good deal more than we spent OOP on tips and our T-Rex dinner. Would we have eaten the same way? Not exactly, but probably pretty close. TS meals would've been the same - meaning same tip cost. CS meals we probably would've done desserts later as snacks, etc. BUT... our CS meals basically worked out to be almost free anyways, so we still would've saved!! The plan cost covered our TS costs and our snacks minus only $17, not even 1 days CS.

Definitely look at menus, prices and how you want to eat if you're considering the DDP, it's not for everyone. But for many families, esp. those with kids, you can still stand to save a good deal of $$ on this plan, even with the 2008/9 changes. In 2007 we saved $310.50 on the plan (just 3 of us, DD was only 2), and this year we saved just a little less, still a good savings.