Party of 3 on the DDP - April 2012 *Updated 5/15: CHH and Final Thoughts*

LittleStinkerbelle

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Mar 30, 2008
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Hi and welcome to my first dining report!:wave2: We just got back from five nights at WDW. Along for the ride with me was my DH and our DD, who just turned 7. We were on the DDP again for the first time since 2009. At the end of the report I’ll post some thoughts on how I felt DDP compared to our recent OOP dining trips.

But in the meantime, I’ll get on with the fun stuff – reviews and pictures! :cool1: Here’s a list of where we ate:

Sunshine Seasons - post #2
Biergarten - post #14
Mama Melrose - post #23
Columbia Harbour House - post #38
Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party - post #38
Gasparilla’s - post #54, #109, #114
Tortuga Tavern - post #60
‘Ohana - post #69
Tusker House - post #78
Flame Tree BBQ - post #85
Citricos - post #93
Coral Reef - post #109
Pinocchio’s Village House - post #114
Columbia Harbour House (second visit) - post #119

Final thoughts on DDP vs. OOP - post #119

I’ll include OOP prices for each meal, although you’ll have to forgive me if I’m off by a dollar or so sometimes. I didn’t always have a pen to mark down the total and the old memory fails me sometimes!:laughing:
 
We arrived at the Grand Floridian around 11 a.m. and our room was ready (yay!:banana:). After settling in we walked over to the TTC via the Poly and hopped the Monorail to Epcot (we like to walk so we do this sometimes instead of taking two Monorails).

Our first stop was The Land to pick up Soarin’ FPs. Our plan had been to move onto WS to get some lunch at one of the CS locations we haven’t tried yet but after being up since 3 a.m., hunger won out and we decided to go to Sunshine Seasons instead. I really love SS so this was no hardship!

DD said she wasn’t hungry for a full meal so we decided to get two adult CS meals and use one of the desserts to get her a croissant (she was hoping for a chocolate croissant but was happy with a plain one with jam:thumbsup2). We also paid OOP for a bottle of milk for her.

For DH’s meal he ordered the Togarashi Seared Tuna Noodle Salad and I opted for the Sweet and Sour Chicken with Jasmine Rice.

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DH said the tuna noodle salad was delicious – in fact it was his favorite CS of the whole trip!

I enjoyed my meal as well. I tried the sweet and sour chicken a few years ago, back when you could get a combo of two entrees and two sides. I loved it but then last time I had it the chicken was really fatty and not all that good. I’m glad I gave it another try because the quality was as good as I remember from the first time. The sauce is very tasty and the portion is plentiful, including two large scoops of rice.

For our remaining dessert I just had to try the strawberry shortcake that I’d read so much about here on the Dis.

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Wow, it didn’t disappoint! The cake was light and moist, the berries and cream fresh and flavorful. I felt like there was maybe some kind of jam as well between the layers – not quite sure :confused3 but there seemed to be an extra bit of flavor in there that gave it almost a trifle effect. DH and I split this since we had gotten DD’s croissant as our other dessert. Truth be told I could’ve eaten the whole thing myself!;)

Sunshine Season is an old standby favorite of mine and this meal was no exception. The cost OOP would’ve been $33.
 
Yay, I'm first :cool1: Great start. The food at Sunshine Seasons looks great. Looking forward to reading more.
 
fantastic photos of Sunshine Seasons - each trip we try a new cs and a new ts and I think SS may be top of the new cs list this trip :)
 

Great start! Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for taking the time to write this report.
 
Woohoo, I have readers!!!:dance3:

Yay, I'm first :cool1: Great start. The food at Sunshine Seasons looks great. Looking forward to reading more.

:cool1: Thank you for reading!!!

fantastic photos of Sunshine Seasons - each trip we try a new cs and a new ts and I think SS may be top of the new cs list this trip :)

I hope you get to try it on your next trip. I think you'll really enjoy it - so many choices!

Great start! Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for taking the time to write this report.

Thanks for reading along!

My next installment from Day 1 will be Biergarten but I don't think I'll get to it until tomorrow, so in the meantime I'll leave you with our first snack credit purchase, which was iced peach oolong tea from Joy of Tea.

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This was so refreshing and delicious. Sweet but not cloyingly so. Even my DD liked it. Cost OOP would've been $4.59 (including tax), so a good use of a snack credit:thumbsup2.
 
Thanks for taking the time to post your reviews. Looking forward to reading the rest!
 
I never think to eat at Sunshine Seasons because we are usually in the WS by lunchtime! May reconsider this trip!

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!
 
Thanks for posting the review, sounds great so far! How exciting to have stayed at GF, I love it there!
 
Signing on!

Thanks for joining!:goodvibes

Waiting for more reviews.

Can't wait for more!:rotfl:

Thanks for taking the time to post your reviews. Looking forward to reading the rest!

Next installment will be up momentarily!!

I never think to eat at Sunshine Seasons because we are usually in the WS by lunchtime! May reconsider this trip!

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

Definitely give it a try - I think it's one of the best CS in the parks.:thumbsup2

Thanks for posting the review, sounds great so far! How exciting to have stayed at GF, I love it there!

Thank you for reading!
 
We explored WS for a while and soon enough, it was time to check-in for our 5:30 p.m. ADR at Biergarten.

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We checked in about 10 minutes early and we were “buzzed” at exactly 5:30 p.m. We were shown to a table of 8 along with two couples. I was pleased to see that we were on the first level right up against the railing by the stage/dance floor, just to the left of the stage.:cool1: I had timed our ADR to catch the 5:55 p.m. show :thumbsup2

I have to apologize at this point because in going through my photos I realize I have no food shots from this meal:guilty: (the horror!:scared1:). I hope I can make it up to you with these shots of the restaurant.:goodvibes

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I really like the atmosphere in here. It reminds me of the feeling I get in the Mexico pavilion – like you’re outside even though you’re inside. Our waitress was prompt and friendly. She took our drink orders and explained the buffet. I took DD up to make her plate first. As predicted she went for the mac and cheese:rolleyes:. She also flipped for the pretzel bread, I think she had at least 3! Next I made my plate – green beans, warm potato salad, pretzel bread, chicken schnitzel and spatzle. I should mention that I hadn’t been feeling 100% earlier in the day, so after having a big lunch I didn’t want to go overboard with dinner. Because of that, I skipped the sauces and sausages – so that’s why my plate may sound a little bland! I thought the schnitzel was very good – a well-prepared breaded cutlet that I’m sure would please a picky eater if you have one in your group. I loved the spatzle:love:, it was tender and had a yummy nutmeg taste to it.

For dessert I had to try the apple strudel and black forest cake (when in Germany, right?). I was a little disappointed in the strudel as the apples seemed a bit undercooked for my taste. DH and DD gobbled it up though so maybe it was just me:confused3. We grazed on dessert as the show went on. It was fun to watch the kids (and adults!) dancing, although I couldn’t coax DD onto the dance floor:sad2:. The band played Edelweiss in honor of a couple celebrating their anniversary. That’s one of my favorite songs so I got a little misty.

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This was our first visit to Biergarten and I’d definitely like to return here when I’m feeling 100% so I can explore the food options more fully. I also think it would be fun to go with a larger group. It was a little bit awkward sitting with strangers – nothing so terrible that it would prevent me from going again, but just a little uncomfortable. The way the other two couples positioned themselves our group of 3 had to sit side-by-side-by-side so I couldn’t really talk to DH much. DD and I were across from one of the couples and I think they were very shy. After spending the first 10-15 minutes in silence I finally tried to break the ice. They chatted a little but I could tell they were uncomfortable with it. DH had a good convo with the couple to the other side of us but I was too far away to join in.

The cost OOP for this meal would’ve been about $100 so another good value on the DDP. :thumbsup2

Footnote to the day – when we got back to the hotel we went swimming and then to claim our refillable mugs at Gasparilla’s. By now it was 9:30 or so and we were a bit hungry so we decided to use a CS credit to get a flatbread to share. We used our mugs for drinks and got a bottle of orange juice as the included drink and a blueberry muffin for dessert, both of which we saved for DD’s breakfast. Cost for this OOP would’ve been $15.
 
thanks for your reviews....i am anxious to go to Biergarten again ....always pleases everyones likes ....enough choices for sure..
Thanks again
 
Glad to hear you all enjoyed BG. We have a dinner reservation there next month, this will be my DH first time for dinner as we always do lunch. Also it is a great use of the dining plan as the prices have gone up a lot over the years at this place.
 
Loving your posts so far!! I got that tuna/noodle meal at Sunshine Seasons last year. We had always opted to eat in WS before that and were pleasantly surprised!

We are trying Biergarten for the first time this year. I'm looking forward to it. We'll be a party of 7, so I'm hoping it will just be us at the table. I tend to be uncomfortable in those situations. I have no problem talking to other people, but would sit there and wait for the other people to talk to me first.:blush:
 
We haven't been to Biergarten in years! Love the atmosphere, we need to go back soon. Thanks for sharing the pics!:goodvibes
 
We just got back, as well, and I cannot wait to read your reviews of Columbia Harbour House - we ate there twice, as well, and we regretted the times when we didn't eat there
 















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