Picky Eaters DDP Review 11/23-12/1!

[caravarela]

Hi all, just decided to do my first TR for my recent trip, and thought I'd do some quick dining reviews here as well.

We are a family of 4 (myself, DH, DS7, and DD6). We are all pretty picky/plain eaters, with the exception of my 6 year old who is a bit more adventurous.

Our trip was 11/23-12/1. We had the DDP and stayed at Coronado Springs (which is why we ate at Pepper Market so often).

Here are the places we ate, and I'll add the reviews as soon as I can get them typed up


11/23: Arrival Day- Flight, resort check in
Pepper Market CS, Chef Mickey's TS

11/24: EPCOT *Kaitlyn's 6th Bday!*
La Cantina CS, Teppan Edo TS

11/25: DHS
Pizza Planet CS, Boma TS

11/26: MK
Pepper Market CS, Cosmic Rays CS

11/27: DTD/DHS
Earl of Sandwich CS, 50's PT Cafe TS

11/28: Rest Day
Pepper Market CS, 1900 Park Fare TS

11/29: MK & MVMCP
Crystal Palace TS, Cosmic Ray's CS

11/30: EPCOT
Pepper Market CS, Les Chefs TS

12/01: Departure Day
Planet Hollywood TS

 

[wiigirl]

In for this!

 

[cmwade77]

Me too, we are not picky eaters, but I am always curious about those that are.

 

[caravarela]

We arrived at our resort, Coronado Springs, around noon. Our room was not yet ready and we were hungry, so we decided to try Pepper Market for lunch. We hadn't been there since breakfast and lunch were changed to buffet style, so we really didn't know what to expect.

PEPPER MARKET​

The lunch buffet had a great variety of food. There was a kids station with the typical nuggets/fries/pasta/mac & cheese, a salad station, a pasta station, a mexican station, a meat station, and a dessert station.

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One of DH's plates.. this was all from the Mexican station. Chicken quesadilla, pulled chicken, black beans, and spanish rice. He loved all of this, and I believe he went back for a duplicate plate.

My son's plate. He asked for a huge plate of spaghetti, and he cleaned it! He loves spaghetti and usually orders it whenever he can.

My daughter's first plates.. fresh fruit, cucumbers (her fave!) and chicken nuggets/fries from the kids station.

Daughter's plate #2- loaded mashed potatoes with gravy, a chicken quesadilla, and a breadstick. The only thing she didn't like was the breadstick, because it was a bit hard and dry. The mashed potatoes and gravy were fantastic, and the quesadilla was very well seasoned and flavored without being very spicy.

My plate- yucatan chicken, loaded mashed potatoes, a few seasoned potatoes, and corn. I LOVED the yucatan chicken. It was seasoned really well and had a mango salsa. It was VERY juicy and flavorful, not dry at all. I wish I had the recipe!

The kids got vanilla soft serve cones. The choices that day were vanilla or candy cane.

I had to try the red velvet cake- I'm a sucker for red velvet! Unfortunately I didn't like it much. It was refridgerated so it was very cold, and the texture was odd. It wasn't very light and cake-like, it was more heavy and fudgy. I only ate about 2 bites. Maybe it would have been better if not cold

I then decided to get some soft serve. I got candy cane and vanilla, and chocolate chips/m&ms on top. Yes, I have a sweet tooth I loved the candy cane ice cream- great seasonal offering!

The kids also tried the churros. They really liked these. The normal, big churros are better because they are softer in the middle, but these were yummy too!



OVERALL REVIEW: 5/5 stars for a CS!

We really enjoyed our meal here. To get a buffet for a counter service credit was a GREAT value. There were plenty of choices, and I loved that my kids could get other stuff besides the normal CS nuggets and fries. They loved the fresh fruit also. I'm sad to hear that Pepper Market has changed back to a la carte. I guess it may be more cost effective if you're paying OOP, but it was a great deal on the DDP for just a CS credit.
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[caravarela]

For dinner, we headed to the Contemporary. We love hanging out at this resort, and the kids and DH played in the arcade there for almost 2 hours while we waited for our ADR time.

CHEF MICKEYS​

When we arrived, there was quite a long wait just to get up to the check in desk. We had gotten there before our ADR time, but by the time we checked in it was right around that time. Then we still had about a 20 minute wait before our buzzer went off. The kids and I watched Disney Channel on a little tv in the waiting area, and DH watched a basketball game at the bar. During this time, we also got our family photo. Since we had ordered photopass +, the picture was printed and given to us for free in a cool folder with some recipes on it.

Unfortunately I couldn't get any food photos here, because the characters came out crazy fast, one after the other, so we were scarfing food down when we could! The food was good (not great) though- we all found things we could eat. We had fruit, salad, and veggies. The highlights were the roast beef and ham from the carving station. They were both very good. We also enjoy the parmesan mashed potatoes. We love mashed potatoes anyway, and the parmesan gives them a unique flavor.

My son really liked the ham and the pizza from the kid's station, and my daughter really liked the ham and macaroni and cheese. For dessert, they both had soft serve ice cream.

This was my dessert- an oreo bon bon thing, and a yummy fudgy brownie. DH loved the mini carrot cake.

Near the end of the meal, my daughter was brought a vanilla birthday cupcake that she really enjoyed.




OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5/5 stars for a TS!

We enjoyed our meal here, but the food is nothing spectacular. I'd equate it to a dinner at Golden Corral. The difference (and the reason we'd definitely return) is the atmosphere. We love being able to meet the Fab 5 all in one place, and we really enjoy the Contemporary Resort overall. There was plenty of variety for us all to find something we liked, and we left full. We were able to catch the Electrical Water Pageant right outside when we finished, and we also saw the Wishes Fireworks from that spot.
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[caravarela]

This day was my daughter's 6th birthday, so we planned to spend it in Epcot, her favorite park. Lunch was La Cantina CS, because Mexico is her favorite country in WS, and dinner was Teppan Edo because that's her favorite restaurant anywhere.

LA CANTINA DE SAN ANGEL (CS)​

This counter service shares its space with the La Hacienda table service. You can eat outside near the Seven Seas Lagoon, or inside during slower times of the year.

We ordered 2 Tacos de Pollo (grilled chicken on corn tortillas with chips) and 2 Tacos de Carne (smoked beef brisket tacos with chips). Our desserts were 2 orders of churros with caramel sauce, and 2 real fruit popsicles. I love that they hold the popsicles for you until you're done eating. I believe we got cantelope and mango flavored. The kids also really enjoyed the Jarritos- Mexican soda with no HFCS.

Tacos de Pollo

Tacos de Carne and churros with caramel

Daniel enjoying his fruit popsicle




OVERALL REVIEW: 4/5 stars for a CS!

This was a really yummy and filling meal. Both the chicken and the beef tacos had great flavor and lots of meat, and each order had 3 tacos so it was plenty of food. I thought the brisket beef was a nice change of pace from your average ground beef tacos. It was very tender and well seasoned.
The chips were thick cut and fresh. The kids loved the real fruit popsicles, and I loved having a different dessert option than the cakes you get at most other CS places. The only disappointment here were the churros. They tasted overdone and were kind of hard and crispy instead of soft. The atmosphere was great. We love the decor inside the restaurant area, and it was very quiet. We had a beautiful view of the lagoon.
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[bee86]

Signing in!!!! Loving your report so far Fab pictures! and delighted to see that pepper market is on your list quite a few times as im staying in Coronado Springs in June and dying to see some food pics

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Great reviews!! Can't wait for more. Thanks!!

 

[Lauralooneyfordisney]

Great Trip Report so far!

 

[pokanos]

Excited to see the pepper market reviews as we are staying @ CSR on our next trip!