The clampetts official dxdp review UPDATED...6/14..Flying Fish/chef's

[pharmgirl69]

i love reading your reviews! your daughter is precious, so impressed with her willingness to try new foods! My daughter (5) will probably eat the applesauce & goldfish I've packed for the baby. We are transplants in TN also (I'm from KY, DH is from PA) we live in northeast TN near the VA border.

Ummm, we must be neighbors, or close to being neighbors. We are in cumberland gap which is the point where VA, KY and TN all meet. And when I lived in NJ I was 20 minutes from the PA border by the Delaware Water Gap. Small world!!!

Welcome and thanks for joining!!! Hopefully your DD5 will try some of the great things these restaurants have to offer. But then again, goldfish are good!!!! lol

 

[pharmgirl69]

I'm loving your reviews. We really liked Tusker House too and I can't wait to try Narcoosees. I was getting worried about this place because of all the negetive reviews but I can't convince myself to drop a place with Lobster so your review is very reassuring.

I was really worried about it too. There are so many mixed reviews, but like you, I just couldn't turn down the lobster. How bad could a place be if it has whole lobster right? So glad I went with my gut and kept it. Its one of hubby's favorites too!

 

[pharmgirl69]

Well, today is Wednesday, Hollywood Studios day! We have breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (back to the Grand Floridian) . I love this resort. Something about sitting on that front porch overlooking the grounds makes me feel like Scarlett O’hara. Makes me feel like the southern belle wannabe, I am. I stress “wannabe”. But I digress.....
1900 Park Fare. This place was our favorite character breakfast. The interaction was wonderful. The food was the normal Disney breakfast and nothing special but the characters were great and Shelby really enjoyed them. Especially Mary Poppins. I had spent time watching some of the “older” movies with Shelby before we left so she would know who all these people were. She is very into magic so Mary Poppins really intrigued her. She had questions all lined up to ask her. Believe it or not my little dare devil tends to be shy so I was very impressed when she asked Mary “what does supercalifrag.....means?”. After Mary answered she said, “I bet you want to know how to say it backwards?”. So Mary leaned over and whispered in shelby’s ear......

Then they turned around and well....said it backwards....

Ok enough digressing.....Food, its all about the food....
SURPRISE!!!!!!! Biscuits and Gravy!! I know you all are shocked......ummm ya’ll are shocked

Shelby was HUNGRY!!

One of the things I really enjoyed about the breakfasts at Disney was that they all had Smoked Salmon and Bagels. Ok, Lox and bagels, but no one down here knows what Lox is. I haven’t seen Lox for years, since I left NJ. My favorite thing in the a.m. in NJ was stopping at Bagelsmith and getting a salt bagel with lox and I miss it. Needless to say I was thrilled when I found this at 1900. And you guessed it, Shelby also soon became a fan....

The breakfast pizza (shown above) was good too. Not as good as Tusker House quiche but good. This place is not about the food. Its the characters and we would definately do it again. The face characters really took their time at the table and we were really impressed. The food? It was pretty standard. My official review? I can get the same thing at any breakfast buffet across the US for probably ½ the price, but I can’t watch Mary Poppins whisper in my daughters ear anywhere else.
Lunch.....we skipped lunch today. We had a later reservation for breakfast and an earlier dinner reservation at Brown Derby so we stopped and just got a snack to hold us over. This thing was bigger than Shelbys head. I dont remember where we got it but all 3 of us ate it LOL.

Dinner....Brown Derby

This is one of the few restaurants that JR and I have a difference of opinion. I really enjoyed it. He, on the other hand, did not.
I had the Sashimi with Lotus Root chips for an appetizer. It was very refreshing. Nice and cool and light. Exactly what I wanted because it was a really hot long day. The lotus chips were interesting, not much flavor but they added some nice texture and were fun to look at

Shelby got the crabcake....(another surprise!!) This was good, not as good as Whispering canyon seafood cake but it was good. She wasn’t a big fan of the sauce. It was like a mustard sauce. I was actually really surprised also because the “cole slaw” also had a mustard flavor. Shelby usually loves coleslaw but she wouldn’t touch this.

JR had a rough time with the appetizers here also. His only option was the cobb salad and even that he wasn’t thrilled about ordering cause well ya know its not fried, and may actually have the dreaded vegetables in it. But reluctantly it was the only thing even remotely close to something he may eat.

This is where life gets weird. The cobb salad was beautiful and the waiter came over and asked if he could cut it up for JR. cut it up? Are you kidding? His mother didn’t even cut his meat for him when he was a kid and this guy wants to cut his salad? Anyway, jr said sure and the waiter did some fancy knife work and voila! The salad looked like a big plate of mush. Ok, the weird part. My 6’, 240 pound husband tells me that the salad was good, just too much for an appetizer, and that the portion shouldve been way smaller so he would be able to simply get his appetite going for dinner, not overwhelm it. Are you kidding me??? My husband is telling me about the nuances of fine dining. We have turned a corner in our dining experience. JR even mentions to the waiter how huge it was and the waiter says “Yeah, it was supposed to be a ½ order but they accidently made a whole one”. Ok, well that explains it but it still doesn’t change JR’s mind that this was a major dining faux pas. Wow.
JR ordered the filet.

To quote JR about this dish......This is NOT filet mignon, it is filet of beef, and it is NOT Narcoossee’s. He was right. Another look at the menu and it states “filet of beef” not filet mignon. JR said it was tough and the flavor just was not there. It was bland with “some kind of seasoning” that disguising any natural flavor that the beef may have. Next Food Network Judges Look out! My husband is looking to steal your job.
I actually ordered the same thing. I was wanting some red meat after all the rich seafood I’ve been eating. I thought it was OK but then again I hadn’t been eating top cuts of red meat all week either. There was some weird season on it, I want to say it mightve been cumin but I could be way off base. The meat was tougher than I like and I actually had to cut a piece off because it was kinda fatty.
Shelby ordered the Salmon....

She loved it. It was gone in 60 seconds. It came with a barley filled crepe and she wanted to know what those little “rice things” were. The crepe was a little too much for even my most adventerous eater. But the Salmon was delicious with the Whiskey glaze. No alcohol taste, just a very nice sweetness.
Dessert!! Woo hooo....I wanted to order everything. But I know that the grapefruit cake was a must. We were all stuffed and Shelby didn’t even want to dessert but I made her order it to go. (which by the way, we promptly left sitting on the table...does that not ALWAYS happen?) I did take a bite of it and it was delicious. Very moist and it really IS what it’s hyped up to be. This cake was prolly the best part of the meal and I wish we hadn’t left it sitting there.

I ordered the banana toffee tower. I really liked this and for me, it was prolly the best dessert I’ve had so far. I love toffee. The little crunchy pieces that intermingled with the creamy custard was wonderful.

JR ordered Shortbread crusted cheesecake. He tasted it and kinda made that face where the tongue starts rolling around the mouth in an attempt to get whatever it is off your teeth. I knew right then, he didn’t like it. He shrugged his shoulders and said “it’s not Narcoossee’s”. I didnt ask anymore questions.

Brown Derby according to JR was not a stellar meal. I thought it was good and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Our waiter was a little, well, I got a weird feeling from him from the moment we sat down and he kept wanting to give Shelby a childrens menu. It was almost like he was “put out” that she was considered an adult. Like this somehow was going to negatively affect his tip. Well, it wouldn’t have if he had kept his attitude to himself LOL. I couldn’t figure him out, just a weird feeling.
Sealed with a silly.......

 

[pharmgirl69]

Thursday is what I deemed...Princess day! The plan was to go to crystal palace for breakfast, then cinderellas royal table for a late lunch at 210pm and even later dinner at cape may clambake. We did Bippity Boppity Boutique that day also. Well, plans changed. Shelby was exhausted and just wanted to sleep in the next morning. One thing I have learned, if Shelby wants to sleep in instead of going to a park? Let her sleep. So after we got home from Brown Derby last night I went to the conceirge desk and told them i wanted to cancel our crystal palace reservation for the morning. The cast member looked at me like I was crazy and said “are you sure you want to cancel crystal palace?” I said yep, if the little one isn’t happy, ain’t no one gonna be happy and this is vacation is all about her. So we cancelled. Slept in and went to MK a little later. In time to grab a quick bite at Main Street bakery before we headed to Bippity Boppity.
Chocolate croissant...heavenly. Apple turnover....amazing. crumb coffee cake....delightful!!!

OK, I know its not food, but I still have to share the Bippity Boppity experience. I bought the costume before we left cause I was worried they wouldn’t have jasmine in shelby’s size. The experience was amazing and brought me to tears to see her “transformed”. My husband called me a sap but I couldn’t help it. I cried. Shelby was excited but is so tender headed she wasn’t happy that her hair was up so tight she could barely smile LOL. (reminds me of my mom putting my hair in ponytails when I was little. So tight, that my face and eyes were pulled back behind my ears). Anyway, it was fun though.

Ok so now that i’ve bragged. Let’s get to the food. Cinderellas royal table. The menu here is limited and to be honest I had a hard time picking something. They automatically bring you an appetizer plate that had antipasto kinda stuff on it. Salami, cheese, artichokes. JR wouldn’t touch it. I convinced him to try the bruschetta with tomatoes on top. He said “its ok”. I didnt push any further. LOL

JR and Shelby both ordered the Major Domo Pie. They both enjoyed it. I had to do a little scraping off of “stuff” for shelby but she ate and JR really enjoyed it. It was almost like comfort food with an edge. It wasn’t the gourmet fancy stuff we’ve been eating all week so I think that is more why he enjoyed it.

I ordered the salmon salad. It was nice and light for a hot day. What more can I say about a salad?

Dessert
JR and I had the chocolate buckle that was to die for! I ate the whole thing and totally regretted it afterwards. That is fresh whipped cream on top that was wonderful. I could’ve eaten that alone.

Shelby got the ice cream sundae, which from her face, you can tell she enjoyed.

Overall, crt was ok. Do I think it was worth 2 TS credits? No. Here’s the thing. I would do it a little differently next time. I would either make an earlier reservation or I wouldn’t do it. Character meals are all about the characters to me. I can forgive bad food if the characters are great. Well, we had the last lunch reservation for the day (I’m pretty sure. If it wasn’t last, it was pretty close to it). The characters were rushed and almost seemed like they really weren’t sure how they were gonna have time to stop at our table. I wasn’t happy about this. The food was mediocre on top of it. The best part was dessert and the beginning where you have the photo shoot with cinderella. Being last for that was a benefit because cinderella really took her time because there was no one behind us. As for the rest of the princessess at lunch, I was not impressed. So IF we go back, I would do dinner or an earlier lunch ressie. 2 credits?? Nahhh, not worth it this time.

Ok so we had dinner reservations at the cape may clam bake. I was really excited about this dinner. It has mixed reviews on here but I didnt’ care. All you can eat crablegs??? I am sooooo there.
JR’s plate....ummm, do you notice the mac and cheese? Yeah, can take the man out of the country but can’t take the country out of the man.

My 4 star plate.....YUMMMYYYYYYYY

Shelby’s plate...surprisingly she didn’t hit the crablegs. I think she was just too tired to work that hard for food.

The tortellini with lobster sauce was amazing. Huge hunks of lobster and perfectly cooked tortellini. Jr loved the ribs and mac and cheese. The crab legs were also cooked perfectly. The food, hands down, was GREAT.....did you get that? It was GREAT!!! Loved it!! JR and I even had a beer with dinner which I wish we hadn’t because it just took up space that could’ve been occupied by more GREAT food!!
Dessert!! Mini cheesecakes, lava cake, flan....yummy!!

Now here is where the evening takes a nose dive. Our server was no where to be found. Our drinks were empty. We gave up on drinks and just wanted our check. Gone, she was gone. She finally came back and said she was given a large table in the other room and was not happy about it. Ok, ya know what? I don’t care. I waitressed and bartended for years and I appreciate that she got busy. Let the customer know whats going on, apologize and move on. There is a tactful way of doing this without letting us know how unhappy you are with your job. There is also a way to STILL make sure your other tables are taken care of. It’s a buffet for criminy sake. All that needs to be done is bring us our check, the manager could’ve done that. OK, enough complaining. The food was worth and we will definately return. I won’t judge a restaurant by one server. It was a bad night and our bad timing.
However, we continue to spiral downward. We got lost. Yes, we got lost on Disney property. I don’t even remember at this point how it happened or why it happened but we ended up walking and walking and walking....we all of a sudden found ourselves at Epcot. Whew.....now we can just hop a bus to the hotel. Ummm no, we were at the OTHER end of Epcot and would have to walk to the front to get the bus. OMG are you kidding? The park was closing, we had walked all day long and I just wanted the bed. Somehow, I can’t remember what bad decisions we made but we went from Hollywood Studios to Epcot to Boardwalk to Epcot and finally found a bus. Don’t ask, it just happened. Shelby started whining. Uh oh, first time all trip. She wanted to go home, not home to the hotel, home to TN she said!! OMG, disaster is about to strike. JR started telling her that we are just “loafing” around and enjoying the sites and trying not to let her know that we have no clue how to get back to the hotel. For some reason, this hit my funny bone and I started laughing hysterically. Then JR started laughing and Shelby stared at us like she could not believe she was stuck with us for parents. Then she started laughing and all was right with the world again. We did eventually make it back to the hotel, I don’t know how, but we did.

Tomorrow is Blizzard Beach....finally a day of rest!!

 

[lissawynn]

I'm enjoying your reviews! I just booked 1900 PF for breakfast on our last day and hope we enjoy it, too. The characters at dinner were fantastic, but the food was terrible; we'll never do dinner there again.
Looking forward to seeing what else your trip has in store for you.

 

[pharmgirl69]

Sorry it has taken me so long to finish writing this. We are leaving to go to Outer Banks tomorrow, I’ve been trying to squeeze in a few days of work so things have been hectic. I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish Saturday and Sunday dining reviews until we get back next week, but they always say ‘the best for last’ and california Grill was definately the best.
So Friday was Blizzard Beach. I was so looking forward to a day of rest and relaxation in the lazy river. We had breakfast at chef Mickey’s at the contemporary. More LOX!! Woo hoo! Thats about all I can say for chef Mickey’s. It was the usual breakfast fare at Disney. The characters were good but I really like the “face characters” so much better. The food, was, umm, well, I’m really struggling to find something unique to say about it. Ok I just can’t. It was ordinary. The breakfasts all seem to be the same ole thing (other than Tusker). Mickey waffles, pastries, some sort of breakfast casserole, fruit, potatoes. I wouldn’t come back here, just because I’ve had the same food everywhere else, but here’s some pictures nonetheless. (to be honest, I wouldn’t have even wasted time taking the same pictures again if Shelby wasn’t so programmed NOT TO EAT til we get pics LOL. Now I feel obligated to share them)

Wait for it......wait for it.....BISUITS AND GRAVY!!! NO WAY!!!!!! Yep, its there, just hidden this time!!

In the last pic, there was some mozzerlla cheese italian looking thing. It looked wonderful on the buffet, it wasn’t. For something so cheesy I was disappointed. Cheese usually makes everything better. Well, cheese and butter and chocolate. This wasn’t the case with this italian thing. It was tasteless. Thats about the only “different” thing I could find at chef mickey’s.
Lunch at Blizzard Beach was good. We didn’t bring the camera here so I couldn’t take any pictures. But let me just say that we all had burgers and they were wonderfully greasy and fattening and exactly what I was looking for after having a few beers while waiting for them to be done with Summit Plummet. I didn’t do that one, just wasn’t in the mood for a wedgy this day.
Flying Fish for dinner. Let me say that we had finally figured out the whole Boardwalk/Beach club thing now. Especially after the fiasco the other night. We checked in and waited FOREVER. Ok, I exaggerate. We waited probably 30 minutes. This was the only restaurant that we actually waited so we were surprised. Finally, JR went to the podium to ask how much longer and there was some kind of mix up. They had us already seated!! Ummmm no, and I’m starving!! That burger wore off a long time ago. It was all good though, we were seated within minutes.
Shelby had (SURPRISE!!!) Mussels....

JR had the shrimp cocktail appetizer, that he really enjoyed. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and presented very nicely. I was a little worried that he wasn’t going to like the mango emolsion because ya know mango might just be a little too exotic. However, he never mentioned it and it was gone quickly.

They had a lobster salad on the menu that I didn’t see on Allears menu. It was baby greens with lobster. This was fabulous. Real lobster chunks and a generous portion too!!! I can’t write a bad report on lobster. It’s just not in me. I haven’t had real lobster since moving from Jersey so I just get too excited to give it a bad review.

Entree..... Jr ordered the NY strip. He ate it, thats about all I can say. It was tough and a little fatty. He always orders his steaks well done, so he expects it to be a little tough and is pleasantly surprised when it isn’t. However, this was tough. I tried a piece and it was chewy, tough and lacking flavor. We were not impressed. All I heard was “well, its not Narcoossee’s”. Notice that he didn’t say “its not your mom’s”. Narcoossee’s has taken over Mom’s coveted #1 steak griller spot. Oh the horrors!! (hope she isn’t reading this)

I had the scallops....Normally I don’t order scallops out. I enjoy them but if there are other things, I will order them over the scallops but for some reason I was in the mood for them tonight. I wish I had found something else. I can’t remember what exactly the risotto flavors were. I wanna say it was Sage but I think I’m wrong. Whatever it was....it was STRONG! I mean really strong flavor. You can see on my plate that it was all green and the risotto was very soupy. The scallops were good, nice crispy crust on them but that risotto....wow, I couldn’t get rid of that taste. One bite was fine, but after a couple of them it was just plain overpowering.

Shelby had some sort of pasta. Its not on allears either. It had seafood in it, shrimp and lobster I think. It was horrible, she didnt eat and neither did i. I think she ate the shrimp out of it but we both found the flavors in hers to be extremely strong as well. She ate a few bites but like my scallops, after a few bites it was overwhelming.

Dessert....
Jr had the Peaches trio....here is where dinner got soooo much better. We are so willing to forgive Flying Fish and try them again just because of the desserts. JR’s peach trio was amazing. It was peach cobbler, peach creme brulee, and peach compote. It was amazing. This is where the strong flavors that tend to be the theme at Flying Fish seem to really shine.

I had the carmelized banana napoleon. This was sooo yummy. I just love pastry. Have I said at all in these bizillion pages of review how much I love pastry? Well I do, I love pastry. So this dessert could have had mud in it but it had that flakey Phylo dough that I love so it was all good.

Shelby wasn’t feeling very adventerous after dinner so she just ordered the gelatos. She loved this. I did too! It was cool and refreshing. We all devoured our desserts. Redemption for Flying Fish!!

 

[pharmgirl69]

I forgot to add something about chef mickeys. There was a photo opp in the beginning when you first go in. Just like all the other character breakfasts. You usually have the opportunity to buy it when they bring it around or in some cases they give it to you. Well this photo opp was with Mickey so we were excited about that until we saw Mickey. It was a statue!!! I am NOT kidding. They wanted you to pay for a picture of your child with a Mickey statue which you could take yourself at one of a million places in MK. Unreal, another strike against chef Mickeys.

Secondly, I forgot to add......I passed my State Boards!! Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers. I'm officially an RN now.!!

 

[scanne]

Shelby is reminding me of my DD - she's such an adventurous eater! It's great because she (my DD) loves the signature meals as much as we do! Thanks for the great reviews and pictures!

 

[pharmgirl69]

Shelby is reminding me of my DD - she's such an adventurous eater! It's great because she (my DD) loves the signature meals as much as we do! Thanks for the great reviews and pictures!

Its a double edged sword I think LOL.....she won't eat chicken nuggets and french fries so we have to pay extra for the adult dining plan but I'm just happy she is so willing and eager to try new things. If she doesn't like it I'm ok with it, at least she tried it!!

Thanks for joining!! and Welcome!

 

[Greta]

Congrats on your RN!! I've been waiting to hear the good news! Cape May looked really good, I think when we go that may by mine and DH's anniversary dinner together with no kids! We were looking at some Signature Restaurants but didnt want to spend 2 TS each when there are so many other restaurants for 1 TS that we havent even tried yet.

Keep em coming, enjoying the reviews and pics!
Greta

 

[pharmgirl69]

Congrats on your RN!! I've been waiting to hear the good news! Cape May looked really good, I think when we go that may by mine and DH's anniversary dinner together with no kids! We were looking at some Signature Restaurants but didnt want to spend 2 TS each when there are so many other restaurants for 1 TS that we havent even tried yet.

Keep em coming, enjoying the reviews and pics!
Greta

Oh Greta, the waiting is the hardest part!! I paid the 7.95 for the quick results. 48 hours was long enough.....Good luck to you!!

Will finish this all up next week when I return from Outer Banks! Thanks all for joining!

 

[flipflopmom]

I was very interested in reading your CRT review, as we have a 2:00 ADR here next Saturday. I'm not loving the lunch menu, either, and I hadn't thought about the late time being bad for characters. Our experience at CP and a few others with later times was that the characters were actually loosened up and more fun at the last seating.

Now I am really worried. Of course, this was the only CRT open for the entire week once we decided on DXDP, so I felt happy to get it. Now, . The app plate does not look like something my girls and I would enjoy. Oh well, we're in the castle, right? Live and learn.

 

[Lisa29]

Really enjoying your food report. I'm not an adventurous eater myself but I love reading about others that are!
Can't wait for your next installment.

 

[iloveeeyore]

Your reviews of FF remind me a lot of Kevin's on the podcast. He loved the appies and desserts, but was kind of flummoxed and off-put by the crazy combination of ingredients in the entrees. I hope we have a better experience there, I'm really looking forward to it. I thought the steak and scallops would be safe to order, you know, pretty basic, but now I am worried!

 

[butiflfeet]

Wonderful reviews! I can't wait for more

 

[sydneysmom]

I'm so glad to hear Flying Fish was good ! ( after a rough start) We booked that after I cancelled something else...we thought it looked like alot of fun and a great menu.
Congrats on your boards!!!

Also, that's AWESOME that your DD is so great w/ trying new foods...we're trying to our DD be more adventurous.

Keep the reviews coming !!