Stomachs Sufficiently Stretched, DxDDP in Dec! 3/27 - Flying Fish Cafe

[annnewjerz]

Welcome one and all to my second foray into the world of the Dining Review. If you are interested in reading my first attempt, please feel free to refer to the following link:


Our trip will take place between the dates of December 12 and December 18, 2009. Our party of three will be in The World for seven lovely food-filled days. We started "training" for this trip in October, by stuffing ourselves full of such goodies as Tonga Toast, Teppan Seared Scallops, Milkshakes and Burgers and feel that we are now ready to take on the true challenge that is…...

::cue drumroll please::

………..Disney's Deluxe Dining Plan.

Yes, that's right folks, even after hearing numerous reviews of "it's so much food", "we were defeated by the DxDDP" and "roll us out of here," we decided to give it a go. After all, this may be our last trip to Disney for quite a while, so why not do it right?

Now, before we get into the real substance of the trip (the food, of course), let's make some brief cast introductions for those of you who are new to my Dining Reviews.

First, there is me.

Ann - Turned 25 during our trip in October! Christmas-a-holic and soooo looking forward to our first trip to The World during the holidays, as well as our first stay at a Deluxe. We'll be at the Boardwalk Villas and I can't wait!!

Second, there is my DH. (I'm sure he says "hi," from wherever he is right now)

Erik - Will be 27 in a few short months, and I make sure to remind him of it every chance I get. Went to WDW for the first time ever in 2007 with me and wasn't hooked. Agreed to return in October for my birthday and liked it more. Agreed to return in December for a full-fledged holiday extravaganza and I'm hoping that third time's the charm. Has wanted to stay on the Boardwalk since he set eyes on the hotel during a dinner at the Flying Fish Café in 2007 and is stoked to be able to stay there this trip.

Lastly, there is my DM.

Lois - Age will not be named, for the obvious reasons. My Mom has not been on vacation in about 12 years and after my Dad passing away a few years ago, I feel like she really deserved a trip. While the possibility of having a third party with us could present some problems (the more people there are, the more people you have to please), she has assured me that she is just happy to be invited and to go and that whatever I plan, she will be more than happy to do.

Now that all of those snoozefest basics are out of the way, we'll move on to the good stuff---our reservations, to eat/to drink lists, etc.

Thanks for stoppin by!

Ann

 

[annnewjerz]

So without further ado, on to Day 1 of our spectacular eats in The World!

Let me preface my official list of ADRs by saying that I really love feedback/reviews/suggestions for what to order/etc. The DIS has been so helpful in picking our restaurants, so linking me a review you may have or telling me something that stood out on the menu is much appreciated!

Day 1 presents a sort of unique "challenge" (if you want to call it that). First, I typically hate having any set reservations on arrival day due to delays, fatigue and just general changing around in plans. Second, we are doing a split stay and as a result, we will not be on the Deluxe Dining Plan the first night we arrive.

Well...I already fixed "problem" number one and booked us a dinner ADR. I mean heck, we already have tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba on our first night...so what could be so wrong about grabbing dinner? We are also scheduled to arrive in The World at 9:30 a.m. Barring any huge flight delays, I really can't imagine not being able to make it to dinner.

So, for our first day eats, we will be doing the following:

Breakfast: Philadelphia International Airport-----exciting, right??

Lunch: Earl of Sandwich. Since we have tickets to see La Nouba at 6:00 p.m. we decided that checking in at our hotel and getting out to DTD by 1:00 p.m. or so for shopping/snacking/drinking is probably best. After DH ate "the best sandwich ever" in October at Earl of Sandwich, he specifically requested we go back in December. How could I say no? I plan to get the Jerk Chicken sandwich again. It was soooooooooo good.

Dinner: Todd English's bluezoo. I guess it's an evening of repeats for us. We ate my birthday dinner at bluezoo in October and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I can't wait to get back, I literally dream of Teppan Seared Scallops. Since we won't be on the DxDDP yet, this is our opportunity to eat somewhere at the Swan/Dolphin without having to feel bad for using money rather than dining credits. Silly, I know, but I'm getting back to bluezoo and that's all that matters!

Planned snacks: It's a sin, I know, but I've never eaten anything from Goofy's Candy Co. I plan on getting a dipped something, probably a cookie to bring back to the room to eat for breakfast the next morning to get the morning started right!

Up Next: Day 2 - Our first day on the DxDDP!

 

[KatMark]

I'm here...and I'm first.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'm here...and I'm first.

Welcome!!!

First and probably only....I am starting this thing just a littttttttle early, but c'mon....I'm 30 days out and I need something to keep me from going NUTS before our trip.

Glad to have you tagging along and hopefully I can provide a food porn, well-informed dining review for you. If not, at least I'll have enjoyed eating all of it.

 

[oybolshoi]

It's never too early to share the food love and planning with your fellow restaurant geeks here on the DIS.

Looking forward to reading more about your upcoming trip.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Ooh count me in! Cannot wait to read and drool all over this report!

 

[m11dolphin]

I'm in also, I will be there from December 2nd until Dec 13....but I am only doing the regular dining plan since we are there so long....

Great start!!

 

[OurDogCisco]

You are off to a great start!!! December can't get here soon enough..

 

[msce2]

Looking forward to seeing more of your amazing photography and to see if you beat the DxDDP! We are thinking of trying it in June.

Love your DH's sweatshirt in your first trip review!

 

[dizneeat]

This looks good and you can never start a pre dining/food report too early!!!

 

[annnewjerz]

It's never too early to share the food love and planning with your fellow restaurant geeks here on the DIS.

Welcome! I'm glad that someone is interested---because after 11 months of non-stop planning and Disney talk, DH sure isn't interested anymore.

Ooh count me in! Cannot wait to read and drool all over this report!

Thanks for popping in! I'm still trying to fit in a dinner at Il Mulino per your recommendation, but it looks like it's going to be tough. If not, there's always room on another trip!

I'm in also, I will be there from December 2nd until Dec 13....but I am only doing the regular dining plan since we are there so long....

I'd take longer trip over Deluxe Dining any day, even if that is blasphemous to say on the Dining Review boards.

You are off to a great start!!! December can't get here soon enough..

Tell me about it! After 11 months of planning, I just want the trip to be here already! When is your trip?

Looking forward to seeing more of your amazing photography and to see if you beat the DxDDP! We are thinking of trying it in June.

Love your DH's sweatshirt in your first trip review!

Welcome! Thanks for stopping in. I figure it's definitely worth a shot at least once----no matter how I crunched the numbers, it seemed like we would be saving money with it, so let's hope that's true!

As far as the sweatshirt, gotta represent the Philadelphia area even when we're in FL.

This looks good and you can never start a pre dining/food report too early!!!

You shouldn't say such things. Next thing you know, I'll be starting a pre-dining report for a trip that we don't even have planned yet---probably in 2012.

 

[annnewjerz]

Day 2 is our first full day in the parks, and is scheduled to be spent visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios (forever MGM to me).

As many people on the DIS know and complain---DHS is rather limited in it's counter service options. If we weren't on the Deluxe Plan or wanted to have a CS meal, we'd probably have to pay $50 extra per person for hoppers so we could go to the World Showcase for lunch.

BUT, we do have the Deluxe Plan, so that's neither here nor there now is it?

Anywho, here are our plans for Day 2:

Breakfast: Starring Rolls Cafe. Since we have an early lunch planned, I figure we'll just stop here to burn a snack credit---either that or eat something from Goofy's from the night before (but I'd put my money on Starring Rolls). On the Disney Food Blog, I read about a glorious Butterfinger cupcake. It was chocolate, and had lots of icing and looked to be about the size of a small child's head. Most importantly, it was a snack credit. I must have one, even if I split it with my DM.

Lunch: Hollywood Brown Derby. This will be our first time here, although I've always wanted to try it. On the regular plan, I'm not sure that I would think it's "worth" 2 credits to get a salad and some cake, but since we have credits to burn, why not? The Cobb Salad looks and sounds great, the flourless chocolate cake looks awesome as well. I'm looking forward to giving it a shot---if nothing else, it'll be a nice change from the Backlot Express.

Dinner: Flying Fish Cafe. This is a couple's dinner that I have planned for DH and I. Not sure what Mom will do yet. We ate here in 2007 and it spawned DH's dream to stay at the Boardwalk. The snapper was AMAZING and my DH had some steak that I remember he really loved. Can't wait to eat here again, it'll be the perfect place to refuel before heading back out to the park.

Snacks: Sci-Fi Dine In Theater. This is a place I usually schedule a meal at, but since it's just burgers I figured an ADR for some late-night onion rings and shakes would hit the spot. The plan is to skip dessert with dinner and about 4 hours later, have a snack here while I get some photos and we watch some cheesy Sci-Fi movies. I love this place and can't wait to go back.

Up Next: Day 3 at my favorite park, Magic Kingdom.

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[khertz]

I'm in & ready for the reviews!

 

[annnewjerz]

joining in

I'm in & ready for the reviews!

Welcome! Glad to have some more readers on board---I'm starting to feel the pressure! October was easy because hardly anyone read, now I have to do a good job to make sure everyone is pleased and sticks around.

 

[annnewjerz]

Today is an update for our dining plans on Day 3. Day 3 will be spent in my favorite of all four parks---the Magic Kingdom. No matter what they add, the Magic Kingdom for me, like so many others, will always be the park. No trip would ever feel complete without it.

Today is extra magic hours in the evening, which we plan on attending to see Spectro and Wishes, and we're also going to tour a resort or two in the Magic Kingdom area this day.

Breakfast: Crystal Palace for a pre-park opening ADR. I've been to the Crystal Palace once as a kid, so it's basically new to me. I'm so excited to have a pre-park ADR---I'm really really looking forward to getting some shots of a basically empty Main Street. I'll be honest, I couldn't care less about the characters and if it was an after park opening ADR, I would even go.

Lunch: ???? Because we're eating a buffet breakfast, I'm not sure what we'll do for lunch. We have a VERY late dinner ADR---so we'll definitely grab something, just not sure what yet. In my "plans," I have that we'll return to the hotel and split some stuff at the ESPN Club, but we'll see. If we are having too good a time, we may just grab a CS meal in the Magic Kingdom.

Dinner: California Grill. This is an ADR I am really looking forward to. Originally I had it planned for around 8:00 the next day so we could catch Holiday Wishes from the observation deck, but then I booked MVMCP and the only ressie time I could get for this day was 9:20pm. Not a huge deal since we're adults and hopefully the restaurant will be quiet, but since this is a credit guarantee reservation it means no matter how tired we are, we still have to go! My plan is to get the Yoshi's Sushi Platter as my meal, but who knows how I'll feel once we arrive.

Up Next: Day 4 already!? A lazy morning and MVMCP.

 

[annnewjerz]

Day 4 is the day we will be attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. This wasn't in our original plans, but I decided what the heck---we'll only be down there for the holidays once probably, and I added it. For most, I think that the parties provide a little bit of a problem in terms of planning their meal schedule. Do you eat a late breakfast and have an early ADR in the MK for dinner? Do you eat at regular times and fight the party crowd as a CS location for dinner? Do you have an ADR planned and use up valuable party time for eating?

Well---we went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party about a month ago and our "eating plan" worked wonderfully, so I decided to do the same thing this go around for the Christmas party.

Breakfast: Kona Cafe (on the later side of breakfast for us at 9:30, IIRC). We ate here on our trip in October for the first time and it was a good breakfast, not great. Because it didn't wow us, we thought giving it a second chance was only fair. Last time I got the Tonga Toast, but this time it'll be the pineapple pancakes.

Lunch: We didn't really have "lunch" on our last party day, since we had a later breakfast. Instead, we had a mid-day snack (gelato, at the time) and saved space for our early dinner ADR. We'll probably do the same this time, maybe even go sit in the ESPN Club for a bit and split an app or something.

Dinner: The Plaza Restaurant. We ate here for the first time in October and thought it was quaint, the food was yummy and the service was good. We'll have an early dinner (4:15pm) to fill ourselves back up before the party begins. With a 4:15pm ADR, I think we'll be able to have between the hours of 5:00 and 7:00 to bang out some rides, giving us more time to enjoy the party events.

Snacks: Our Plaza dinner lasted us all the way through 11:30pm in October. Around 11:30 after the excitement wore off and the tired feet started to set in, we realized we were hungry and grabbed some corn dog nuggets from Casey's on the way out. They were hot and crispy and really hit the spot, so I think this will be the plan again.

Up Next: Day 5 - Animal Kingdom!

 

[KatMark]

I'm drooling just reading your line up and haven't even seen any food pictures.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'm drooling just reading your line up and haven't even seen any food pictures.

I'm drooling just writing it. After a cruddy lean cuisine lunch, I'm hungry and still have to grocery shop after work. Who knows how much junk I may come home with!

 

[Symans3honeybees]

I'm drooling just writing it. After a cruddy lean cuisine lunch, I'm hungry and still have to grocery shop after work. Who knows how much junk I may come home with!

same here, lol