Put a Mickey On It!! First timers- Deluxe Dining Report 11/29-12/4- UPDATED 12/24!!

[lobsterkmd]

So I have to apologize for the lack of pictures on this dining review. But here's a little background. Since we were staying at the Yacht Club and on the Deluxe dining plan we really wanted to eat at the Yachtsmen during our trip. I had 5pm reservations on Tuesday night, the same night that I had the MVMCP booked. I knew that there was a possibility that I would be running late to the party- but knowing we would be at the Party til it was over- I didn't mind.

Sophia and I headed down to the Yachtsmen around 4:50 to check in. We were told it would just be a few minutes til they started seating and to relax in the bar. The host was very nice- and talkative with Sophia. So we headed over to the lounge and had a drink.

Sophia waiting patiently in her dressy Christmas outfit.

Our server greeted us in the lounge and walked us over to our table. As we were passing the open kitchen- all the lights went out in the kitchen area and it was immediately followed by voices saying "Uh-Oh, this isn't good- call somebody". The waiter seemed to ignore the chaos and sat us at a nice table near the window. As we were sitting there looking over the menu- Sophia and I started to smell smoke. ALOT of smoke.

"Umm Mommy- is it supposed to smell like this??" Sophia says coughing..."Cause it's kind of gross"

Well turns out their oak-fired grill must somehow be powered by electric and with the power out the fire went out- or the vents weren't working and the restaurant filled up with smoke. Our server came over and informed us that they couldn't cook any food right now... and we could either stay and wait to see if they got power or we could have the Manager make us reservations somewhere else.

Since we were on a time schedule- we decided to just walk over to Beaches and Cream and have something quick there. I really wish I had thought this through more- because if I had I could have asked them to put us somewhere at Magic Kingdom for dinner. But I didn't and Beaches and Cream was fine.

I ordered the Cheeseburger and fries and a diet coke and Sophia ordered the Chili. WE both had a small sundae for dessert. I have to say- the food here was just okay. It hit the spot but nothing special. Service was also really slow and our server forgot a lot of things. Brought Sophia sprite instead of rootbeer. When I asked for Mayo with my burger- she brought me BBQ sauce-- and when we ordered our Sundae's for dessert she seemed so frazzled and she came back with just plain vanilla for Sophia instead of Vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and marshmallow. Clearly it was an off night for her.

I would definitely give Beaches and Cream another shot- and hopefully on a future trip I will be able to try Yachtsmen without a smoke-out. Ohh well... we were off to the MVMCP.

 

[natesmommy]

What a great review so far, can't wait to read more.

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on!

It's a shame you weren't able to dine at Yachtsman like you had planned. Your daughter is adorable!

 

[myladyisatramp]

love your reviews....your daughter is adorable...looks like she had a great time.. keep the review coming.

 

[want2bamommy]

Hi! I'm enjoying your reviews and look forward to the rest. Your daughter is adorable and the pic of you, your Mom and daughter was great.

 

[Tracerr00]

Awesome reviews so far and it sounds like a fun trip! Such a bummer about getting "smoked out" - I was hoping to see if Sophia ordered a steak and how she liked it! My daughter is a total steak lover as well so we have an ADR at Le Cellier for our next trip and I was thinking about adding another spot for her to have some more steak! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[jenneth79]

Great reviews so far, so sorry that happened to you at Yachtsman!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip, your daughter is adorable, looks like she had a lot of fun meeting the Characters at 1900!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Oh no on the power being out at Yachtsmen and then your server forgetting things at Beaches and Cream.

Hope things went more smoothly at MVMCP - your DD looks great in her Christmas outfit!

 

[lobsterkmd]

My daughter is a total steak lover as well so we have an ADR at Le Cellier for our next trip and I was thinking about adding another spot for her to have some more steak! Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! We ate at California Grill (review coming soon) and what I liked is that they let kids order off the adult menu on the dining plan- Sophia ordered the adult Filet there and loved it!!!

 

[lobsterkmd]

First off- Thank you everyone for all your nice comments! It's so sweet of you all to respond and I am glad you are all enjoying the reviews so far!

It's Wednesday- our third day at Disney. Both Sophia and I were pretty tired from partying late into the night at the MVMCP! Haha I woke up like I had a hangover- but I hadn't been drinking... Sophia was a little groggy too... Here is a little picture from the night before- little party animal- dancing with the characters was the best part she said:

So we got up and headed over to Hollywood Studios for lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby. We had 11:30 reservations and we were there for the opening of the restaurant which was pretty cool.

I was super impressed by the atmosphere of the restaurant. It really felt like 'Old Hollywood' and kind of reminded me of the Godfather. Sophia and I were seated at one of the booths- hands down best place to sit!

My head started hurting- I needed my first cup of coffee for the day and I needed it stat. I was psyched that they had Latte's and Cappuccino's- and ordered a Latte right away. I ordered an 'Eve Starlight' for Sophia- a little fancy drink for her.. She was super excited when it arrived of course because it was glowing....

For appetizers- Sophia ordered the chicken noodle soup. She said it was fantastic- she actually ate/drank the whole thing. Sorry I forgot to get a picture- Like I said before, I am new at this.

For my appetizer I ordered the Brie, Midnight Moon, and Prosciutto cake. It was AMAZING... so AMAZING that I took a picture after Is started eating it.. SO I sincerely apologize for the picture of my partially eaten appetizer. It was sooo good. The cake part was more like a moist cornbread and melted in your mouth, the cheese was formed into little petals, and there was an olive salad that was soo good (if you are a fan of kalamata and spanish olives.

For my main course I ordered the Famous Cobb Salad. I mixed it all together before I took the picture... But it was delicious. The greens weren't very crispy- I think I would have preferred a nice crunchy romaine- but it was still really good.

Sophia ordered the meaty macaroni for her meal. She liked it- but didn't eat too much after she had devoured all the chicken soup.

I only ate about half the salad- I was filled to the brim... and so was Sophia. She opted not to get dessert. But the waitress was so nice, and put some gummy worms and chocolate chip cookies in a to-go box for her- and we enjoyed them during the week.

I ordered the Double Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee for dessert. This was sooo delicious! It was think, and the biscotti...ohh the biscotti- AMAZING, you could totally this was made in-house and that day. Very impressed Brown Derby- you won me on this dessert.

Sophia and I wobbled our way back to the Yacht Club- and met up with my mother who had just arrived via Magical Express. I relaxed in the room a bit while Sophia gave Meme the grand tour of the hotel. We all went to the pool for a bit- and then it was time to get dressed and get ready for dinner at Citricos...

Stay tuned!

 

[librarygeek]

What a shame about the Yachtsmen! Hopefully you'll be able to try it on a future trip.

Your daughter looks adorable in her Christmas outfit! I hope the Christmas party was a lot of fun!

Hollywood Brown Derby looks delicious. I would love to try that Cobb Salad, and the creme brulee

 

[psindone]

Great review so far. To bad about the Yachtsman it's one of my favorites. Sophia looks like she had a wonderful first Disney trip.....Isn't that what it's all about.......

 

[AMVmom]

Just joining in and love all the pictures and reviews. I am thinking of doing the deluxe dining plan and so far it looks like it will be worth it; we love good food too! Never went to Borwn Derby but will definitely make that one we will go to in the future.

 

[jecskc]

Joining in !! Loving your reviews !! I very badly want to try the deluxe plan and eat at a bunch of signatures, but DH thinks the regular plan is too much food and my kids are super picky so I don't think they would like the signatures much. Maybe ..... someday ...... Living vicariously through you, though

 

[MusicMouse]

I'm joining in, too!

 

[Bonniec]

Okay....I am loving your views but Im having trouble viewing this thread. All the links are at the top? Im not sure if I set something wrong or if the thread is designed that way. But I can't figure out how to get to the end??

ETA: Aha! I fixed it so ignore that!...Anyway, loving the reviews! Cant wait to see more

 

[kelleigh1]

I had to follow along since we are planning on staying at the Yacht Club with the DxDP on our next trip. And like you, we are looking breakfast and signature dinners most days too. We do have 1 day of no signature and we're planning on CRT for breakfast so that will be our 2TS for that day.

That "stinks" about the Yachtsman. We actually don't have Yachtsman on the list for this upcoming trip, but it's definitely on the "next time" list.

 

[lobsterkmd]

Hi Everyone!! I am still here- as always its so crazy around Christmas and I am starting a new job... Plus I took a little adults only vacation to celebrate the big 30 in Vegas... reviews will begin again shortly!!! Hope everyone has a marvelous holiday!!

 

[lobsterkmd]

Joining in !! Loving your reviews !! I very badly want to try the deluxe plan and eat at a bunch of signatures, but DH thinks the regular plan is too much food and my kids are super picky so I don't think they would like the signatures much. Maybe ..... someday ...... Living vicariously through you, though

I thought so too at first- but I am really glad I did it and will definitely do it again. My reasoning for doing it is that I am not a HUGE eater. Yah- and I picked one of the biggest dining plans. But I really felt like I could maximize the usage of it by having two meals a day and having snacks in between. Breakfast and Dinner or an early lunch and a late dinner. So in theory you are having two meals a day and supplementing with snacks when needed. I did have a lot of leftover meal and snack credits... but this is only because my mother joined us on our third day. And Disney said when you add an extra person it's all or nothing...so I had to add the dining portion to our room. It wasn't a huge amount so we took it. I had it all planned to use all the meal credits- even with her late arrival- but missing dinner at the Yachtsman and then only getting charged on credit at Beaches and Cream- and skipping lunch on arrival day (we were to excited to go park hopping!)- but I was able to convert them into snacks at the hotel.

i would totally recommend it for someone who enjoys food and has children who can sit through and enjoy long meals. Since I am/was in the restaurant industry, Sophia has a good appreciation of me being a foodie and loves fine dining. (adds to the whole princess experience)

 

[lobsterkmd]

Now that Meme arrived it definitely started to feel a little more festive- and there really wasn't a better place to start for dinner than Citricos. Meme loves Mediterranean food. Olives, Capers, Artichokes and Feta- she's in heaven. We gave ourselves plenty of time to go from Yacht Club to the Floridian and still ended up having about 40 minutes to kill when we arrived. So we took in the sights- the gingerbread house- and listened to the music.

We checked in with the hostess and requested a table by the window. My mother being an artist loves openness and tables that are by a window- even if its dark. The hostess looked at me like I had two heads and was a little snappy when she said "Well you are going to have to wait... we'll see if we can find one." I told her we were fine with waiting a little longer. We just sat and relaxed. When it was time to seat us- she brought us to a table that was no where near a window- it was actually pretty close to the open kitchen- which was fine for me because I like having a view of that. I didn't say anything. This was the only downside of our experience at Citricos- and if it hadn't been for the several tables near the window that remained empty our whole time dining there (it never filled up) I probably wouldn't even mention it on here.

I do have to say from this point on our Citricos experience was top notch! We were greeted immediately by our waiter who was super friendly and helpful-

I wish I remembered his name but sadly I forget.

Sophia was very excited when he brought her a special straw "They put a Mickey on it Mom..."

Meme was very hungry and was going to fill up on this delightful bread if we didn't order appetizers soon:

Sophia said the bread wasn't as good as Brown Derby- but I thought it was yummy!
For Appetizers I started off with the heirloom tomato salad. It's changed seasonally so I can't find the exact version that I had but it had pancetta at the bottom, the tomatoes *green and red* were marvelous and the cheese super fresh! I loved this- but definitely didn't need the croutons on it. Ohh well

Meme picked the Shrimp and Feta. I don't know why the description didn't jump out at me more- I SHOULD have ordered this- even though my appetizer was great. This dish blows it out of the water! It's killer!! Meme loved it!!

Sophia had the Cheese and Crackers off the kids menu. She cleaned her plate! Loved that they gave goldfish as crackers and the cheese was very mild- she was pleased!

Now it's time for dinner.

I had the Pan Seared Florida Black Grouper- with Paella, rock shrimp and scallops- as well as many other little fancy touches. This dish was AMAZING! I love Grouper- I love Shrimp- I don't usually like Scallops... however... I ate ALL the scallops. They were so buttery and delish! They were cooked perfectly and didn't taste too 'fishy'. The Paella was also delicious! I highly recommend this dish.

Sophia ordered the PB&J. There were so many other yummy things on the kids menu- I was really surprised that she chose this. She ate every last bite- which is good, but it's PB&J- not a ton of nutrients there. Ohh well.

Now it's Meme's turn. After much hemming and hawing- Pork Chop, Chicken or Swordfish... her saying "Ohh the swordfish sounds so good but I only like it when it's cooked right- well done..." Me rolling my eyes and saying "You know I am pretty sure they will cook it the way you want it- plus it has all your favorites on it..." She finally agreed. This was stepping out of her comfort zone, taking a risk and she was glad she did:

- Ehh probably one of the worst food pictures of the trip but you get the idea.

I am so full at this point in the meal- that I can't even think about dessert. But it's Meme's first night so I will get something!! Haha, I ordered the Warm Chocolate- with the chocolate crown... umm sooo yummy!!!

Sophia ordered the Make your own Sundae-

She didn't eat as much of this- but still liked all her little decorations!

Meme ordered the Tropical Fruit Cremee Brulee and though it was wonderful.

Overall, I really enjoyed our meal and our service was great- I would definitely dine at Citricos again in the future! Everyone was happy and full and ready for bed!