Our Weekend at Disney and First Experience with DDE

[jeanelle]

I joined DIS just a couple of weeks ago and this is my first post so go easy on me. My DBF and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day a week early and felt Disney was the perfect place to do so. About 3 days before we left, I decided that it might be worthwhile to sign up for the DDE since we are AP holders. I quickly called and they sent me the email. I must say we did not have any difficulty using the letter at any of the restaurants and ended up saving in this one weekend almost the cost of the card (saved about $43). Here is where we ate:

Friday night, DTD at Planet Hollywood:

This was okay. I had the salmon and DBF had the beef fajitas. We also got the blackened shrimp appetizer. The service was good and the food was good but nothing special. I've eaten at many Planet Hollywoods and they are basically all the same.

Saturday morning, Gasperilla at GF:

We grabbed a quick cup of coffee and soda along with a fruitcup for breakfast.

Saturday afternoon, Afternoon Tea at GF:

We both loved this and it is a definite do again. I ordered the Grand Tea which came with tea sandwiches (which were all delicious), sparkling wine, scone and strawberry tart, and then strawberries and cream for dessert. My DBF had the Prince Edwards Tea. This came with assorted pates (he loved them all), port, scone and strawberry tart, and then for dessert he took a pistachio tart and the swan puff from the pastery tray. He raved about everything. He got the specialty tea which he said was excellent and I had the lemon verbena which was wonderful. This is definitely something that we would recommend.

Saturday evening, Ohana's at Poly:

The food here was good. The wontons, salad, and green beans were very good. My DBF didn't like the wings and I can't eat them. Overall the meat was good. The steak melted in your mouth and was perfectly cooked. The turkey was very dry and had to be dipped in the sauces to be edible. The shrimp was excellent. The pork was good. The one thing that we were disappointed in was the Poly hotel. We had both wanted to stay there at a future visit but have decided not to. It was very dark and after the brightness and airiness of the GF, it seemed depressing.

Sunday afternoon, Biergarten at Epcot:

We both love this place. The food is always very good and entertainment is nice. We both stuffed ourselves at the buffet, trying a little bit of everything. DBF had the very large beer. He doesn't think he'll do that again. It was almost too heavy for him to lift. He was quickly drinking it to make the stein lighter.

Overall, we had a great time and can't wait until our next trip which hopefully will be in March for my birthday!

 

[Aunt Cawa]

Thank you for your reviews! Sounds like you had a great time! Welcome to the DIS!

 

[perdidobay]

Welcome to the DIS

Great review and I agree on WDW for a Valentines treat. I'm also glad you saved so much with the DE.
The Afternoon tea sounds heavenly

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Welcome and thanks for your reviews!!!

 

[wantingdisney]

My DD and I have the tea schelduled for our April visit, and will have the DDE card. Were you able to use this at the tea? Thanks.

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

Yes, I would also like to know if you could use DDE at the tea. Also, how much did it cost? Do you pay seperately for your order and your DBF's order...or is it a one price thing?

I also agree with you about the Poly. It is not somewhere I would want to stay, although there are plenty of people on these boards that are huge fans of the place. It does seem awfully dark and outdated. Weird, cuz my favorite place is the WL, and it is dark...just a different "kind" of dark (if that makes sense..LOL) I also found the turkey dry, and I loved the shrimp but found it annoying and messy to peel them! Overall, I did like Ohana and will go back there...mmmm...i also had a Lapu Lapu...the rum drink served in a pineapple. That was good too!

Thanks for the reviews...i always enjoy reading about everyone's experiences!

 

[gigi1313]

wow, it all sounds so yummy! thanks for sharing!

 

[jeanelle]

I just wanted to answer the question about DDE and the Tea. Yes, we did use the card for the Tea and got the discount. The price of the tea were as follows: Grand Tea (me) was $25.00 and the Prince Edwards Tea (DBF) was $20. This included the tea, sandwiches, and dessert.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thank you for the review!! I would love to try the afternoon tea. We only have an hour when our children do the Wonderland Tea Party. Do you think that would give us enough time?

 

[goofy4tink]

Hi Jeanelle...welcome to the DisBoards. I was glad to hear you liked the Tea. We almost did that back in Nov when my dad and step mom drove up from Pompano Beach for a quick overnight visit. He loves a good cup of tea and is addicted to scones. But, it's a good thing we didn't book it...seems everyone from SE Fl was going to WDW the day after Thanksgiving and it took them nearly 5 hrs to get to us. And then they got bad directions to BW and got even more lost. They have been several times but not to the Epcot area.
So, maybe the next time they come up to visit us we'll do it. Or maybe just my dd and myself will do it this June.
Thanks for your great reviews!!

 

[Kaitysmom]

Is this something that books up early? I might try it our next trip, but just not sure where we would fit it in our schedule. DD loves scones!

 

[agnes!]

The DDE is good for the member & their entire party, up to and including 10 people(at least, the number of diners is what I seem to remember ) So, if you were going to eat at one of the establishments that accept the DDE, it is good for your entire party, regardless if everyone is related or not.

Here's a tip from our recent trip...

When I received my DDE e-mail/confirmation letter, I printed it out. I had also found a list of restaurants that accept the DDE (I think on AllEarsNet.Com?) & I then printed that info on the back of the confirmation letter. This way I had the info about where the DDE was accepted right at-hand, without having to wonder where exactly it was accepted at.
The restaurant list also came in very handy, as some CMs did not know about the e-mails being used in place of the DDE cards. (I think that our party was the first to use one at the CRT one morning early this month.)
When you actually get the card, the nice thing about them is that they apparently have a bar code that the wait staff can scan directly into Disney's system. If you only have the DDE 'letter', they sometimes have to get the discount ok'ed by a manager.

By the way, the DDE membership is good at many food courts, including all of the All-Star Food Courts, the Pop Century Food Court and the Port Orleans/French Quarter Food Court. In any of those places, however, it is only good for prepared *food*. It is not good on anything considered "merchandise", like refillable mugs or packaged pretzels.

hth,
agnes!
PS - Looking forward to getting my DDE card in the mail, already used the letter. WooooooHoooooo, that discount is sweeeeeet!

 

[doodlebug]

So how long after you order your DDE does it take to get to you?? Sounds like something I need to get for our April with our AP

 

[rcraw45425]

Doodlebug, you can order the DDE card at the reduced rate of $50 even if you don't have your actual AP yet. I had them email me the letter since we were going last week, and then promptly left it at home. Got on the phone as we hit the FL turnpike and managed somehow to get connected to Rosa atDDE. She faxed a copy of the letter to the hotel for me. Unfortunately it was for the wrong Crawford family , which I discovered after DDE was supposed to be closed. I left her a panicky voice mail and asked her to fax the correct one the next day. She called me right back and had already faxed it for me. She is great! The letter alone has already paid for itself in what we saved this weekend alone!