The 12 days of... the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan! 11/16 Update ...Complete!

[PrincessBetsy]

Great review of the Plaza! We have always found the service to be lacking here, but the desserts make up for it! Your banana split looks heavenly!

 

[alongtimeblooming]

SO IN for this!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Great reviews so far, can't wait for more. We love CP too and prefer breakfast to dinner. Always try and get there for our first breakfast of the trip and have already made an 8.05am booking for our next trip.

Went to the plaza for the first time last October and while the food was average the service was absolutely appalling and would prevent us from ever going again. We blamed it on being a halloween party night but maybe not.

Hurry back and tell us more.

 

[MrBean]

Day 1: Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table

Lords and Ladies, welcome to Cinderella's Royal Table!!

This was the first time my DW and I have been to CRT, mostly because we have always used a dining plan, and it's dining credit value isn't the best as it's a 2 credit meal worth right around $50. I have to say though, that this was definitely a fun experience, and a must do at least once. Once checked in, we were given a ticket and told to wait to be called in order to get our picture taken with Cinderella. The waiting area is pretty cool with rich detail, suits of armor, chandeliers, stone walls, and Gus Gus up in the rafters. The only thing missing was seating, as the waiting room was packed with people!!

After heading up the stairs, we were lead to our table.. right by the window, with a great view of Dumbo and the Carousel in Fantasyland!! Our table was covered with cool little Cinderella's coach confetti instead of the usual mickey confetti.

Enough of setting the stage, on to the food!! I got the Salmon-Crab Cake as my appetizer which had a yummy lemony zest.. fantastic!

and my DW got the BLT salad (Applewood Smoked Bacon, Tomato, Egg, Red Onion, and a wedge of Iceberg Lettuce drizzled with Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette) which was delicious (she's trying to figure out how to copy it at home)

For our main entrées, we both got the Pork Chop (with Bacon and Mushroom Ragout and Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes finished with Sweet Chipotle Glaze) and were pleasantly surprised by how good it was, as I didn't have high expectations of CRT as a "foodie" restaurant

During our meal, the princesses came around one at a time. What was funny, was the table next to us had a little boy that obviously was sooo excited to meet them.. right up to the point where they would arrive at the table, in which he would get very shy and make some creepy faces as he stood paralyzed like a statue. This happened princess after princess, and definitely was an entertaining site to behold.

For dessert we both got the buckle, which although it was very good, we both decided it could definitely use ice cream on top instead of the whip cream

One of the things Disney does for anniversaries pretty consistently is free dessert. After "Dessert #1", he brought out "Dessert #2", a chocolate cake covered in vanilla glaze

All in all, this was a great way to help end the first day!!

Of course, the rest of the day didn't go as well.. after our meal we enjoyed watching "Wishes" and a little later the "SpectroMagic parade" (not sure why they changed the order). Anyways in the midst of the dimmed lighting of the park for the parade, I somehow managed to twist my ankle after missing a stair I was walking down (or falling down, depending how you look at it ). This made the rest of the vacation go a little bit slower, which in the end was actually a good change, haha.

The Ratings:
Food

Summary: Salmon-Crab cake was very nice, lemony zest, complementary flavors on pork chop, buckle was good, but could use ice cream

Decor

Summary: Castle with banners, stained glass windows, lots of light, view of Dumbo and Carousel, beautiful table with carriage confetti

Service

Summary: On top of drink refills, food paced perfectly

Cost
$109.67 (2 credits per person, gratuity and picture package included)

Overall

Summary: Very fun experience to eat inside the castle overlooking Fantasyland. Pleasantly surprised by the excellent food quality. Good OOP option, not so much for dining plan.

On Deck: Day 2: Lunch at Yak & Yeti

 

[dandee]

Fantastic reviews, I'm in!!!

 

[princessallegra]

WOW what a great CRT review!!! That salad looks delectable!!!!!!!!! People give the food a bad rap on here, that food looks great to me! Can't wait to read more! Soooo sorry to hear about you twisting your ankle though, that's terrible. I'm glad you were still able to make the most of it and enjoy your magical vacation.

 

[angel26]

Can't wait to here more!!

 

[vettegirl]

Looking quite good so far. CRT for dinner looks sooo good!

 

[DisneyNicci]

Can't wait for the rest of your review! My friend and I are going to celebrate our UnBirthdays! Only 5 days of Deluxe Dining, but we've got restaurants picked all over! Love your rating system!

 

[milmore104]

Loved the CRT review. I think we are going to tery it for dinner this time around (now that the Princesses are there). We have always had a good meal there. I would like to try dinner for the different apps. Glad you had a wonderful time. But sorry it ended w/ a fall!

 

[beautyqueen]

Thanks for that great review of CRT! I'm taking my 2 girls there but my DH refuses to go but I guess that means he can use the 2tc's somewhere else

 

[chocolateMinnie]

We love CRT - even DS loves it (he's 12 and gets incredibly embarassed at the princesses!)

 

[maiziezoe]

Loving it!!!

 

[monorail girl]

Great review of CRT My family and I went last Nov.for dinner too.
My DH and I both got the prime rib and it was very good and came out to the temperature we requested. I also had mixed feelings because ot the bad reviews on the food. I however went in there for the castle ambience and was very surprised by the food. My kids wanted to eat there agin on our next trip but I figure because of the cost we could skip it this trip and maybe go next time

 

[Gymbomom]

loving the reviews and pics!!! Thank you for posting~

 

[John's Mom]

Great reviews and pics!

 

[scanne]

I can't wait for our lunch at CRT! Thanks for the review and great pictures. And I love the idea of Cinderella's Coach confetti instead of the Mickey confetti (not that I have anything against the mouse in table decor...).

 

[goldielocksraj]

Love the reviews so far! Good job with the pictures, descriptions, and ratings-so helpful for all of us here!!! And of course, congrats on the baby.

Looking forward to more.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates. I'm sorry your service was not very good at The Plaza. We've always had stellar service and outstanding food. DH saw your banana split and said he is definitely having that after his reuben in September.

 

[Jiminy_78]

Day 2: Lunch at Yak & Yeti

Thanks to everyone for following along on our culinary journey around WDW! I’m glad that everyone is enjoying our posts, we are having a lot of fun putting them together. We ended our first full day in the parks with DH twisting his ankle, it was not the way we imagined ending our evening. Since his sister lives nearby she was able to go and get him a nice variety of ace bandages to try out on Day 2 of our adventure. I felt so bad watching him hobble around with his bad ankle and skinned knees, but since I am pregnant, it was also nice to bring him down to my speed.

Our ADR at Yak & Yeti was scheduled for 11am, as soon as the restaurant opens. We were able to add DSIL to our party without any hassle from the hostess and we waited only a few minutes before being lead to our table. If you’ve dined at Yak & Yeti before you know that there are two stories in this restaurant and they seem to fill upstairs before they seat people downstairs. DH hobbled his way up the stairs (there is an elevator but he insisted that he was brave enough to make the climb) to our table. Our server greeted us with a very warm welcome and described the ins and out of the DlxDDP. This was where our first and really only issue with Yak & Yeti came up, ordering our beverages. As many of you know, you’re allowed one non-alcoholic beverage with your meal. On our previous visit in September (also on DlxDDP), DH had been allowed to order the Berry Cherry Limeade and had unlimited refills. We were told this time that drink was not included in the dining plan. DSIL ordered one anyway since she was paying OOP.

Now, being pregnant I’m not supposed to drink caffeine so my soda choices are very limited at Disney restaurants and resorts. Sometime between our trip in September and this trip, Disney stopped serving regular lemonade everywhere and instead offers light pomegranate lemonade. I really wanted to like this drink, I just didn’t. I wasn’t looking forward to twelve days of sprite so I asked at every place what our other drink options were. I was told by our server that Yak & Yeti offered only soda and iced tea for the dining plan, so I went with Sprite. Another bummer was that our server did not tell DSIL that her drink did not come with free refills until she had finished her first drink, so she switched to water with her meal.

For our appetizers, DH ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna (chilled, sesame-encrusted ahi tuna, wasabi aioli, and sweet chili slaw). He thought it was very tasty and he even shared a piece (or two) with his sister. I had to just watch and drool since I couldn’t have the raw fish.

I ordered the Lettuce Cups (minced chicken breast, chopped vegetables, maple tamarind sauce, crisp lettuce cups) and there was enough for all three of us to share. This is a very refreshing start to the meal.

For his entrée, DH ordered the Baby Back Ribs (slow-roasted ribs, hoisin BBQ sauce, chicken fried rice, sweet chili slaw). He’d read so many positive reviews about the ribs he was excited to try them for himself. He was not disappointed, the meat just fell off the bone and he was in sticky finger heaven.

My entrée was the Tempura Shrimp (chili plum sauce, coconut-ginger rice, stir fried vegetables) and it was delicious. Sometimes tempura shrimp can be really heavy and leave you feeling too stuffed after you eat it but that is not the case with this entrée. It was a nice light batter and the rice and vegetables were perfect accompaniments.

DSIL ordered the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp (skirt steak, tempura-battered shrimp, jasmine rice, stir-fried vegetables, chili plum dipping sauce) and she gave it two thumbs way up!

While we were enjoying our lunches we couldn’t help but notice that our server hadn't really returned to check on us and when he did come by he didn't take away our dirty appetizer plates. This really started to bug me after a while because I couldn’t figure out why they were still on the table. We also had to ask him for specific drink refills, he never offered or brought them without us asking.

For dessert, both DH and I ordered the Fried Wontons (skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle). We had these for the first time back in September and we couldn’t wait to enjoy them again and share them with DSIL who had never eaten at Yak & Yeti before. They did not disappoint. A wonderful combination of hot and cold, sweet and tangy, these desserts have it all. They’re worth a trip to Yak & Yeti just to enjoy the fried wontons.

After we were stuffed and looking at a table full of dirty plates we were ready to go out and enjoy the rest of our day with the animals. Our server was fairly quick in processing our two separate checks and worked with DSIL to get her CM discount. He was also very specific in letting us know that gratuity was not included in the bill. DH and I both used to wait tables while in college and I was a server/bartender at a restaurant in the heart of Waikiki for a few years so I understand the culture of tipping in a “tourist place.” But I found it really off putting when a server kept reminding us that gratuity was not included and asking how we were going to pay for gratuity. We had specifically brought cash for this purpose but it really felt like some servers did not believe that we were going to leave them something if we did not give them a credit card to charge.
The Ratings:
Food

Summary: Appetizers were fresh and delicious, ribs were cooked to perfection, desserts simply divine.

Decor

Summary: Open two-story restaurant featuring an adventure theme with Asian influences.

Service

Summary: While our server was very nice, drink refills and table busing were lacking. And I was kind of annoyed with the whole non-alcoholic drink issue and his asking about his tip more than one time.

Cost
$92.92 (1 credit per person)

Overall

Summary: The food at Yak & Yeti has never disappointed us and we will most likely eat here again. It’s great to have a table service restaurant in Animal Kingdom that is not a buffet. In our opinion, Yak & Yeti is a great place to sit and cool off in a park that can get very hot.

On Deck: Day 2: Dinner at Boma