September 2010 Dining Review...I PROMISE I'll Finish This One!!

[KandD]

We were in the World from Sept. 3rd-Sept. 11th, 2010. We did not do "free" dining this time because we got two rooms at POR and with a 40% off code it worked out slightly better to do the 40% off than the free dining. However we bought the DDP for each of us anyway!

A little background....Dad has been taking sis and I to Disney on a yearly basis for about eight years (before that we had gone twice as children). DBF and I went last year in September for free dining and fell in love with the dining plan and the time of year. When Dad would take us, we did a lot of off site dining because we always rent a car but the DDP really tickled my DBF's fancy and he vows to NEVER go to WDW without the dining plan (he somehow thinks that he would starve without it). SOOO....we plan a "family" vacay and tell Dad about the DDP and he books through AAA. I make all of the ADRs (of course!). My sister plans to meet us for the long Labor Day weekend (she lives in FL) so I mark her birthday on our ADRs for the days that she will be with us.

Am I missing anything?? Hmmm....oh yes....despite being told about the DDP...despite getting a little booklet about the DDP....and despite DBF actually doing the DDP last year...Dad and DBF were completely clueless. Sigh...they probably would have starved if not for me being there. I will get into the confusion and constant questions throughout the review.

Soooo....let's begin!! (Oh yes, I should add that I am doing this all from memory which is scary because I have had a LOT going on in my life right now...which you will hear about throughout the review....last year I did not finish my dining report but I am determined this year...upward and onward!!!)

 

[KandD]

We arrived at MCO and got the rental car, checked in at POR (I had done online checkin the day before) we got the building and level one!! (Dad walks with a cane so being close to the main building as well as the ground floor is important).

What to do next?? Hmmm...decisions, decisions...just kidding! Eat of course! Sooo, DBF never ever wants to stay at another resort besides POR because of the create your own pasta station. He thumbs his nose at deluxe resorts because their food courts are subpar to the superiorness of the POR grand create your own pasta station. So of course, that is what he gets as his first meal. Dad gets a bacon cheeseburger and I get a cajun chicken sandwich with macaroni salad. The cajun chicken sandwich was interesting because there was nothing cajun about it, there was some sort of mayo spread on it but it wasn't "cajun". Oh well, it was good nonetheless. Dad and I got our receipts stamped so we went back up for ice cream after we were done with lunch. I got cookies and cream and Dad got chocolate. (I should mention that Dad could literally live on ice cream...and he is not ashamed to admit it).

Everything was good, no complaints. We bought mugs so that we could refill throughout the week (and take home to keep on my desk at work for water!) I really enjoyed the pasta salad, it is such a nice break from fries.

Soo at this point our rooms were not ready and I had my glasses on and wanted to put my contacts in. Plus, we wanted to freshen up a bit. So we went and sat by the pool and waited for the room to be ready. I had a margarita and Dad had a Heinekin which he did not care for because he hates beer out of a can. DBF had a Captain Mai Tai which he believes is the most magical part of Disney. I have no idea why he can't order a Captain Mai Tai in a regular restaurant at home but he believes that this drink can only be concocted in WDW so he talked about it all year long and then FINALLY on our arrival day indulged. So we sat and we waited and we waited and we waited...room was still not ready.

Finally after 4:00 our room was ready so we hurried and freshened up and took the bus to MK. My sister met us there and we did a few rides and then ate dinner at Cosmic Rays. I have a confession to make...I have NEVER eaten here. Nor have I even stepped foot in here! When we walked in one of the hostesses handed us a little menu with what each station has to offer which was nice because then we did not have to walk from station to station to read the menus. I decided on a pulled pork sandwich which DBF said that he would have too. Sis had a 1/2 chicken and Dad had a chicken and ribs meal. (I think...it was chicken and something). All of us really enjoyed our meals. My only complaint was that those awful buns (which had not been so awful for my cajun chicken sandwich) were terrible for pulled pork. They fell apart so easily and made it so hard to eat!
The toppings bar looked really fresh and delish...we didn't get anything though. For desserts we had those little chocolate cakes that come in the plastic containers. Now, pay attention, this is where I make my fatal mistake. I ask DBF if he will carry my cake in his backpack, he says, "No." I say, "Plllleeeassse." He says, "eat it now or throw it out, I am NOT carrying cake." So I pout and I whine and he agrees to carry the cake....stay tuned for the outcomes of this.

We do some more of Tomorrowland and as we are walking out my sister reminds me that she wants a Photopass photographer to take our pic in front of the castle. Okay...I've been up since 2:00 am so I am not looking my best, but whatever. So it is dark by this point, we all arrange ourselves on the bridge between Tomorrowland and the Main Street hub, and DBF gets down on one knee and proposes!! Ahh!! It was wonderful and romantic..and admittedly a little hectic. I don't think he realized how dark it would be so I couldn't see the ring, he couldn't really see my face, bystanders were confused and didn't know what was happening. BUT it was wonderful and I said yes.

Sooo...time to celebrate!! We hopped on the monorail over to the Poly where we find what we think are PRIMO seats for the fireworks in the lounge area(BTW, when we were leaving MK it was in the attempt to go to the Poly and watch the fireworks from the beach). Well the fireworks start and there is a big tree in the way, no wonder the seats were empty, but really? Who cares? We just got engaged in DISNEY WORLD and we are happy as can be. Dad (who never ever ever drinks hard alcohol...he has a beer about three times a year) orders a vodka collins, I am starting to worry that we will have to carry him home! Sis orders a water which the waiter so graciously puts an umbrella in (she was turning 21 the weekend after we left). DBF (actually DFi) orders a Captain Mai Tai (of course) and I order the MOTHER of all drinks, the Lapu Lapu...WELL...there are no words. This is a STRONG drink. I didn't have another because I knew my limits but if I had...I would have been on the ground! (Or dancing on the table...one never knows where that kind of night may lead).
So all in all we had a wonderful evening, the Poly lounge was hopping and the waiter was great. Drinks were great. Everything was GREAT!

Tomorrow....Hoop de Doo!!!

 

[Faline]

so wonderful!!! Congratulations and best of luck.

 

[KandD]

So we wake up on our first full day in WDW with big smiles on our faces from the events from the previous day...and they quickly disappear as I have to explain the DDP once AGAIN to Dfi and Dad.
So this morning dad and I get bagels for breakfast, DFi gets one of those combo meals with eggs, meat, a Mickey waffle, etc. Everything was to be as expected, nothing great, nothing terrible.

I can't remember if we had lunch this day, I actually can't even remember what park we went to. I am thinking that it had to be Epcot but I really can't be sure..I will fill you in later in the report if I remember (I am on my second glass of wine so that could add to the fuzziness).

That night we went to HOOP DE DOO!! Now, my sister got to pick where she wanted her "birthday celebration". She tried to talk me into Cinderella's at the castle but nothing on that menu appeals to me and for two credits, I just can't justify. Little did I know that she had wanted DFi to propose there with some sort of slipper package or something like that. When she didn't talk me into it she said the Luau, once again I referred back to my DIS friends and said that most people have negative reviews but what about the Hoop De Doo? She says sure! So I book.

Well it was HOOTTTTT that day. We got there 30 or 45 minutes early (whatever they tell you to do) and waited in the beating sun in the line to check in. Then we waited in the small line for our picture. Now, I love Disney but this is a little annoying. The people taking the picture have the Photopass shirts on so I hand them my photopass which the lady hands right back to me, not explaining why she didn't take it (I assumed at that point that it was because it was a pic that you had to buy). They the picture of the four of us with the sweat beading down our foreheads and tell us to wait. Which we did...and we waited and waited....sigh. FINALLY they tell us to line up. We get in pretty quickly and get a seat in the very back on the first floor. I really liked our seats, the second floor seemed to be good seats as well. I don't really think there is a bad seat in the house.

We got the salad first which was really good, and the cornbread. I typically don't care for cornbread either way but for some reason in WDW it tastes different, it must be that WDW magic because I eat it right up!! We got the chicken, ribs, mashed potatos, and baked beans. I know that there is a lot of food but I do kind of wish that there was another side because I don't eat baked beans (and I wish that DFi and Dad didn't eat them...ewww for the rest of the night!) The food was really good. I got more ribs and kept the bucket right in front of me! I do think that they should give you a but more food to begin with because the mashed potatoes and ribs were empty in 2.5 seconds. The poor waiter couldn't keep up with his section. The drinks also were tiny and he couldn't keep up. Dad drank about ten cokes, DFi had Sangria, I had Bud Light (I am quite a classy lady) and sis had water or coke or something uneventful.

The show was hysterical. The food was yummy. The highlight of the evening was dessert, for those of you that have never seen the show you may want to look away because of possible spoilers. The entertainers do a whole song and dance about the strawberry shortcake. The waiters/waitresses then walk off of the stage and deliver the strawberry shortcake to the tables. DFi (bless his soul) then asks me if strawberry shortcake is the only dessert or if there is something else? (If you have seen the show you know why this is so outrageous). I look at him, Sis bursts out laughing and practically shoots me in the face with whatever was in her mouth. She COULD.NOT.STOP.LAUGHING. I politely explain that it is only Strawberry Shortcake. Needless to say, sis will never ever let Dfi live that down. I didn't particularly care for the shortcake but I was really full by this point.

All in all, we agreed that we had a great time at Hoop de Doo. I feel like I don't need to go back for a few years but I would def go back.

Oh, so the people come around with your photo throughout the show and it is one of those packages that you have to buy. Dad bought it because he wanted as many pictures as possible from this trip (because of previously mentioned engagement). It was a cute pic, I didn't look as fabulous as I would have liked but it was nice to have the four of us together.

 

[KandD]

so wonderful!!! Congratulations and best of luck.

Thank you!! There is actually more great news throughout the report...so stay tuned! LOL

 

[KandD]

Okay I remembered...

We went to Epcot on Day two. When my sister went to get FastPasses for TestTrack we walked over to Mexico. My sister actually made it to Mexico before we did and we all decided that besides teleportation, there was no logical explanation of how she got there so quickly.

Anyway, we went inside Mexico and there was no available seating at La Cava so we went on the boatride and then went back to La Cava. Still no seats so we walked up to the bar (remember that Dad walks with a cane so standing for no reason other than "just because" is not desirable). So I ordered a Maragarita, Dad and DFi ordered Dos Equis beers. I asked about the maragarita flights and the bartender said that they do not serve them on the weekends.

We sat on the bench outside if La cava, tried on sombreros, and then went outside to the temporary counter service kiosk. We did not use a meal credit for this. We ordered nachos and a quesadilla. The nachos do not come with guacamole but they sell guacamole with chips so I ordered guacamole on the side of the nachos and they put a nice big clump and it was YUMMY! I was pleasantly surprised, I have been obsessed with guacamole for about four to six months and must eat it at every chance I get. Despite being a little quick service kiosk, the guacamole was delish and fresh! The nachos were YUMMMYYY!! The quesadillas weren't bad either. We decided that we would definitely go back there (unfortunately we didn't...but I would def. recommend to others!)

NOTE: This was the day that we saw Captain EO for the first time (Well I had seen it as a kid but I don't remember it...my mom told me that it scared the bejesus out of me and my sister and I both commented that we could see why it would scare children). Anyway, parents, please do not tell your children that they should not, " sit behind the people with the big heads". Although I was not the victim of this comment, I would imagine that the people who were felt like Elaine in Seinfeld (Extra points for whoever can tell me what episode I am talking about!!) Kindly just let your children move over, no need to announce the big heads in the row ahead of you!!!

 

[athenna]

Great report so far, and congratulations

 

[mlaw]

I am really enjoying your report so far. I am still waiting to hear what happened to the chocolate cake that went into the backpack the first night. Also congrats on the engagement. How very romantic!

 

[KandD]

I am really enjoying your report so far. I am still waiting to hear what happened to the chocolate cake that went into the backpack the first night. Also congrats on the engagement. How very romantic!

Ahh yes the chocolate cake...I will get there in the next post.

 

[KandD]

So last night after our day at Epcot and our night at Hoop de Doo, DFi cleaned out his backpack and finds....
the darn chocolate cake that I couldn't bear to part with and BEGGED to have him hold for me. In the midst of all of the excitement I forgot about it and not only did it sit in DFi's backpack for a whole day but it got smooshed and the plastic cap came off and (yes you can see where this is going) the cake got all over. So we had to spend sometime cleaning out the backpack however the real downfall to this unfortunate incident was that he then did not want to hold ANY of my precious leftovers for the rest of the week. Sighhh....we shall see how long he can hold out (I can be pretty persistant).

Anyway, day three. We wake up and have bagels and DFi has the combo. I wanted to make it to Hollywood Studios as early as possible today but we didn't get there until after rope drop.

Lunch was at 50s PrimeTime which is my sister's favorite restaurant in the whole wide world (not just THE World but the world). I had the chicken sandwich with fries. Dad had the meatloaf. DFi had the fried chicken (he said that there was a lot of bone and it was too hard to pick...we don't eat very much fried chicken though and he may just not be used to it). I don't remember what Sis had, she usually has the fried chicken but I think she changed this time. We all enjoyed our meals, Dad was a tattletale, DFi put his elbows on the table, and I was a perfect angel!
For dessert I had the 'smores and shared with my sister. I made a huge mess and was picking marshmallow out of my hair for the rest of the day but they sure were YUMMY. Dad had the sundae (again, he could live on ice cream so he was happy as a clam). DFi had whatever special they have for the Year of Celebration. They brought Sis out a cupcake for her birthday and tried to get other people to sing but one table had just left and the next table over didn't speak English so I sang EXTRA loud to make up for them.
THEN they asked me to skip the audition phase of American Idol and just go right on stage because I am obviously so talented. Okay, that part didn't happen but it was fun nonetheless.

I see a lot of mixed reviews on 50's and I can honestly say that we have never had a bad meal there. It is the type of place (like Hoo de Doo) that you take it for what it is and play along. The food is tasty and filling. The desserts are yummy. And I have heard that the alcoholic beverages are good there as well but believe it or not I have never had a "drink" from 50s.
So I would definitely recommend 50s, even if you don't have kids, it is fun and yummy but definitely make ADRs. Everytime I have been there in the past few years the entire lounge area has been HOPPING with people waiting for seats.

Over the rest of the day we had some beer from a kiosk. INTERESTING NOTE: There are draft beers for sale in HS for $5.00, $5.50, and $6.00. All the same type of beer and apparently the same size. The only reason I know this is because one kiosk was out and we walked over to another to discover that it was cheaper than the first. From then on I made it a point to take note of the beer prices throughout the park and they do differ! Strange, huh?
We also had some soft pretzels which were delicious (especially with the beer).

Okay, DFi is telling me to get off of the computer because we are trying to watch season 2 of Fringe on DVD and I am apparently missing some very important parts. I may not be able to post tomorrow because I have school until 9 p.m. but Thursday I will do another update.
Thank you everyone for reading thus far!

 

[KandD]

Great report so far, and congratulations

Thank you!! And thanks for reading!

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Congrats on your engagement! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

[KandD]

Congrats on your engagement! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thank you! As I said in my title, I promise I'll finish this one! LOL

 

[KandD]

This was Labor Day and the last day that my sister would be with us until Friday night. We had breakfast at 'Ohana. We have never ever ever had another sit down breakfast at Disney because we are not big breakfast people and we love 'Ohana so much that we find no reason to go elsewhere. I checked in for all of us (it was a pretty big line) and then we took our picture. We knew that we were going to buy this picture because we had a 50% off coupon from Hoo de Doo the other night.

Our hostess led us as well as a few other families to their seats at one time, it was kind of funny to be walking through the restaurant with so many people. We got our pineapple bread which was DELISH! (as it always is) And I think some other bread comes with it too but I can't be bothered with it.

If you have never been to 'Ohana, I really recommend it. It is surprisingly quiet for its size and it has a really nice view of the lake and MK. We have always had a great meal at 'Ohana and although this time wasn't as great, it was good and we will certainly go back.

Our little plate of fruit came out after the bread and I ate up all of the cantelope which was very good, the rest of the fruit must have been good as well because everyone else ate it up. Now this is when things kind of go downhill, the waitress asks if anyone wants coffee and DFi says that him and I want a cup (I don't drink coffee) but he must have foreseen the slow service that was to come. So he has his two cups of coffee and the waitress poured us all the special juice that they have which is really yummy, I drink lots and lots everytime I am there BUT it comes in a little juice glass and we all finished it lickity split and didn't see the waitress again for a while. She never asked us if we wanted anything else to drink, I remember I have ordered chocolate milk in the past so I know that they offer other things (which I assume that they would).

But anyway, our skillet comes out with skimpy portions of everything. For the most part everything was good, the bacon was standard WDW bacon which I don't care for but the eggs, biscuits, and sausage were tasty. The potatoes here are excellent, we all love them. So we all have teeny weeny portions on our plates and finish it pretty fast and we wait and we wait and finally someone brings us Mickey waffles which I usually don't eat but there was nothing else so I took it (it was good, no complaints). So finally we get another skillet and finish it off real quick.

Throughout all of this the characters were coming around, Mickey, Lilo, Stitch, and Pluto. Stitch is my FAVORITE and I told him that even though we have four dogs I could make room for him too. Mickey was impressed with my ring and gave DFi a pat on the back for a job well done. Lilo took a picture with Dad which was adorable. Character interaction was overall great, last year I didn't care for Stitch but he made up for it this year.

So I think that the waitress brought my sister a cupcake for her birthday but she was too full to really eat it.

Now I forgot to mention this so far but here it goes, three of us were on DDP but I also have TIW card which caused SO much confusion at the restaurants that it almost wasn't worth it (almost). 'Ohana was no exception. I wanted to pay for my sister's with my TIW card and then we have two differed DDP accounts. Sighh.....to make matters worse, DFi and Dad try to figure things out and they absolutely do not understand any of it. So after some confusion (and me insisting that I need to have ALL of the check books...three altogether) we figured it out, paid, stopped at the restroom, and headed to Animal Kingdom!

We didn't eat anything at AK, Chris at POR told us that we should have a tour at Pizzafari but Sis was in a terrible mood today and we really packed a lot of atractions in so we didn't get to do it.

That night we went to Tony Roma's for dinner. We don't have one of these around us but we always gp when we are in Orlando because they have such delish ribs (and Monday nights are all you can eat ribs). So we all got ribs, fries, corn on the cob, except for Sis who got BBQ chicken. It was all excellent and our server was terrific. The only thing was that he mumbled and I can't hear as it is (not diagnosed or anything but just anyone that knows me and they will tell you that I have terrible hearing and I can NOT read lips for the life of me so don't try whispering to me either). But he was really nice and interesting and we ended up talking to him for a while (well the rest of the family did and I pretended to be able to hear).

So sis went back home this night and we dropped Dad off at the hotel and DFi and I went to MK to catach the Electrical Parade. I got a root beer float during the parade at the little place over the bridge near Hall of Presidents (is it Sleepy Hollow??) and it was HUGE! Holy moly I made a mess! Sometimes I have some lactose intolerance problems (I know...TMI) so I didn't eat the whole thing just to be on the safe side. After the parade we went on Peter Pan with NO wait at all, it was walk on. I had never been on this because I never want to wait for it but it was neat...not worth an hour wait in my opinion but I can see why kids would like it. Then we left and watched the fireworks from the boat back to the TTC.

Tomorrow...WWC

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Great reviews and congrats to your proposal. Ive always wantedd to be proposed to at WDW instead I got it at Lake Tahoe and then was taken to ihop how romantic huh? lol )actually it was to me)

Cant wait to read more

 

[KandD]

Great reviews and congrats to your proposal. Ive always wantedd to be proposed to at WDW instead I got it at Lake Tahoe and then was taken to ihop how romantic huh? lol )actually it was to me)

Cant wait to read more

Thank you!!

 

[KandD]

So Tuesday morning we had engagement pictures taken at POR. Dad had a bagel at the food court for breakfast and then hung out by the pool (I don't think he used a snack credit though because we had a lot left at the end of the week).

After the pictures DFi and I went to the food court for lunch. I had another chicken sandwich which interestingly enough did have some sort of spice on it this time (thus making it "cajun) but did not have the spread that the original sandwich had. So I put mayo on. I got it with pasta salad instead of fries again. DFi had pasta (of course). I got a chocolate shake for dessert and DFi had a little mini apple struddle/pie thing. All in all it was good.

I can't remember what park we went to today, it was probably Hollywood Studios because that is where we usually spend the most time but I can't be sure.

Up next....WCC

 

[KandD]

So even though I can't remember what park we went to today I do remember dinner....Whispering Canyon Cafe!!

I went back and forth with this one when making ADRs because I knew we were doing Hoop De Doo and the food is similar (I knew we would get the skillet). But we had a really great time last year and I knew my dad would enjoy it so I booked it again.

We drove over to Wilderness Lodge and checked into WCC. We thought that we were going to have to wait awhile because we checked in early but we didn't wait more than ten minutes.

We were seated next to the windows in the back and Gepetto was our server. He explained what we could get on the dining plan. Dad ordered a chocolate shake, I had an unsweetened ice tea, and DFi had a Captain Mai tai. As we were waiting for our drinks my dad asked if we wanted to order an appetizer at which point we told him how MUCH food you get here. We all ordered the skillet. It starts with salad with a yummy apple vinagerette dressing and cornbread. Both were very good.

Then comes the skillet. It has chicken, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, brisket, baked beans, and a whole mess of stuff. I commented on how fresh everything was because I would assume with a place like this that serves so many people that it is all frozen and reheated or whatever. Our waiter later came over (he didn't hear what I said but must have read my mind!) and said that almost everything is made on property except for the brisket (which none of us cared for) and the baked beans but they do something special to them to make them even more fantastic (I don't eat baked beans but unfortunately Dad and DFi ate em all up!!)

Our server was really nice but he disappeared for lonnnngggg periods of time. I couldn't figure out where he was going because he only had a couple of tables around us and if he wasn't with them, and he wasn't with us, then where was he??
My dad ended up ordering a coke because he said that the shake was really sweet. For dessert I had the smores cheesecake, dad had the chocolate cake, and I think DFi had the cheesecake too. We packed them up though to bring back to the room because we could hardly get out of our chairs at this point.

This is a fun place. Kids can be loud and so can adults. The servers are hilarious and I know that the food gets mixed reviews and while it is greasy, it is GOOD! We all said that we wish my sister was there because she would have really enjoyed it but maybe next time.

Fo

 

[lblume91]

Enjoying your reviews so far. Congrats on your engagement!!