The Free Dining Challenge . . . How to use all your credits!!

[Shula8205]

Our Cast:
Me (26): Loves to eat, in fact it’s one of my favorite pastimes. Even though I’m only a 5’0 tall woman, I can eat as much or more as my 6’2” DH. I didn’t believe the DISers who said the DDP was too much food!! Will I change my mind?? Stay tuned.
DH (26): Like I said, he’s 6’2”, athletic, and can easily eat 3 meals a day. Not quite as adventurous eater as me, so the ADR’s are geared towards his meat and potatoes style. We both don’t really like fruit or veggies so you won’t see much of that. Decided to avoid Boma and Kona Café because he didn’t like the menus. His idea of the five food groups are as follows: burgers, pizza, fries, chicken fingers and steak.

Day 1: Riverside Mill & WCC
DH & I arrived at MCO about 11:30 and miraculously were in our room by 1:15 and headed to Riverside Mill for lunch . Since we had Burger King for breakfast at the airport and snacks on the plane, we weren’t too hungry for lunch and had an ADR at 5:20, so we decided to just use one CS credit. We shared the bacon double cheeseburger basket and got a Mickey Mouse rice crispy treat to eat at a later date. We both agreed the burger was very fresh and yummy!! Also picked up our refillable mugs for the week, so we got a water with our meal which we also saved. Spent $25 on our mugs. DDP savings = $15

Spent a few hours at the pool and shared a Blue Moonshine from the Muddy Rivers pool bar. It wasn’t on the menu, but the bartender looked it up in his book and it was quite yummy. Spent $8.

Traveled to WL via bus to Epcot to transfer to WL bus, and arrived promptly for our 5:20 ADR at WCC. They gave us a pager, but it went off right away and we were seated. We both opted for the bottomless milkshakes, and decided to get one chocolate and one strawberry since I couldn’t make up my mind. Both of us ordered the all-you-can-eat skillet and then the S'more Cheesecake for dessert. The salad was good, and the cornbread was phenomenal to start off with. The skillet came very quickly and included pulled pork, ribs, chicken drumsticks, sausage, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and baked beans. The pork, chicken and sausage were great but the ribs were a bit dry. We loooovved the mashed potatoes!! I didn’t try the corn or beans, but my DH said they were good. Ordered seconds of the meat and potatoes, and the next skillet that came out had chicken breasts which were even better than the drumsticks and the ribs had much more sauce this time. We were almost too stuffed for dessert and in fact the couple next to us took theirs to go, but since we were headed to MK we knew we couldn’t carry it. The s'mores cheesecake was just okay, it was normal cheesecake with chocolate and marshmallows on top. I thought this had changed from the previous Happiest Celebration Smore’s dessert because I didn’t think it was a cheesecake? Overall, we loved the food at WCC, but definitely go hungry because it’s a lot of food. Note: It was in the high 80’s that night and after big milkshakes and all that meat we stayed at MK for about 5 hours and rode all the EMH rides . . . DH woke up in the middle of the night sick to his stomach. DO NOT eat at WCC if it’s hot and you’re going to the parks . . . You will dehydrate!!
DDP savings = $85

 

[Shula8205]

We had ADR’s for the character breakfast at Cape May Café this morning, but obviously decided to skip that due to DH’s still queasy stomach . Instead headed out to EMH at AK and used a snack credit on a hot pretzel (quite salty). Later used 2 more snack credits at MGM for frozen cokes from Peevy’s Polar Pipeline.

Eventually made it to HBD for our 4:50 Fantasmic Dining Package. This was the one dinner we paid for out of pocket, and we really didn’t mind because we felt the FDP was already a discount at HBD. Service was very prompt even though the restaurant was full and our waitress was great at explaining the package to us. DH agreed to share the famous Cobb Salad with me as our appetizer because you have to both order it on the FDP because it’s for two, and he was very surprised at how good it was. (Just to provide a little background: DH does not care for salad. He likes the salad at outback or olive garden, but would never order one as his only appetizer.)

For our entrees I chose the Salmon, but substituted the Au Gratin potatoes for the polenta it came with, and DH order the Filet Mignon. Both were very good. Finally, we ended with DH ordering their famous grapefruit cake, which he really liked, and I had the Happiest Celebration on Earth flourless chocolate cake which was very yummy!!

At the end of our meal, we received an extra special surprise. We were both wearing our Magical Wishes Anniversary pins and the host came over with a telephone that he plugged in at our booth and informed us we had a telephone call. It was Mickey and Minnie wishing us a happy anniversary!! Very cute!! We received a magical moment certificate to commemorate our special event.
DDP Savings on 3 snacks: $10

FDP: $94

 

[Shula8205]

Remember our uneaten Mickey Crispy treat? Well we split that for breakfast on the way to BB in the morning. We then headed to MK and caught the parade before grabbing lunch at Pecos Bill’s, which I have to say, is the best CS restaurant in the entire WDW !! We both ordered double bacon cheeseburger combos and added grilled onions, mushrooms, and all the fixins’, plus cheese for our fries which really completed the meal! The only choice for dessert was the peanut butter brownies which were delicious!! These were much more than we expected from a packaged dessert and I could have eaten one everyday!! Actually, we were so full that we shared one and threw the other one in our backpack to be eaten at a later date.
DDP savings = $26

Our dinner ADR was set for Ohana at 8:10 because we were hoping to enjoy Wishes during dinner. Took the monorail over to the Polynesian from MK, and we did have a 10 minute wait since we requested a window table, but they were able to fulfill our request. For drinks I ordered the Lapu Lapu, which is fruit juices and rum that comes in a real pineapple with a floater of 151 proof rum on top, and DH had the Zombie which is another killer concoction of rum and fruit juice . Our waitress encouraged us to also order soft drinks since they were included in the dining plan so we both had Shirley Temples, nothing like being a kid again!! Of course at Ohana there’s more food than you can imagine and the appetizers came out right away. DH loved the wonton chips and we agreed the chimchurri and harissa sauces (green and orange) were very good with them. Then came the sweet and sour peel and eat shrimp and the chicken wings, which we devoured!!! DH had a hard time peeling the shrimp, so I took pity on him and helped him out; otherwise we thought the appetizers were delicious.
Thank goodness they bring out the hot towels to wipe your hands (and mouth) because right in the middle of our appetizers, the singer invited us up for an anniversary dance. It turns out there was a couple celebrating their rehearsal dinner and they invited us up to share a dance with them and receive leis !!! It was really a nice way to recognize our anniversary. Finally, the meat arrived and the au gratin potatoes and stir fried veggies as well. Our waitress helped us by explaining which sauces to use: chimchurri (green) for the steak, harissa (orange) for the pork, and peanut for the turkey. Those meats and the pork sausage were cooked just right and very fresh, and the potatoes were awesome. As you might have guessed, we’re not big veggie eaters, so neither of us tried those, but we still had so much we didn’t even think about seconds. Wishes started during the middle of our dinner and the view was great!! If you can’t afford the California Grill, I highly recommend Ohana as a romantic fireworks alternative. I could barely eat the bread pudding with the banana foster sauce but it was one of the best desserts all week, and my DH devoured most of my share which was fine by me. When we received our bill there was an extra drink added to our cocktails, so always be sure to check what you’re paying for out of pocket, it seems like you get so used to the dining plan that you forget to look at the bill when you are actually paying for something. Drinks = $26
DDP Savings = $64

Our only complaint about Ohana (and actually it’s more of a complaint about transportation) was that the park hours had just become shorter this week so we could not return to MK to catch a bus back to POR. Instead, we waited for the DD bus at the Poly with everyone coming out of the Luau and had a very full bus ride to DD just to transfer to POR. They really should provide transportation for the people coming out of the later Luau, because there were so many people who all were forced to take one bus to transfer to where they needed to be.

 

[Shula8205]

After an extremely tiring first couple of days, we decided to sleep in and hit the pool before heading to AK for the afternoon, and settled on lunch at the Mill again. This time DH tried the Philly Cheese steak basket and I had the Blacked Prime Rib sandwich basket. We discovered that for dessert we could get homemade ice cream sandwiches, so they listed those on our receipt and we could return when we were ready for dessert so they wouldn’t melt. Both of our sandwiches were very good, although my prime rib was very tender it was a bit spicy. The highlight was definitely our ice cream sandwiches!! You picked from freshly baked giant cookies and 3 scoops of ice cream!! I think we each only ate half and decided that we really could have split one instead and got another dessert to save since they were huge!!
DDP Savings: $30

After AK, we took a bus over to the Beach Club for our 5:30 ADR at Cape May Café. The last time I was there I was a child, and distinctly remember being quite unhappy with my parents because I didn’t like seafood. Needless to say, they now have a child’s section to the buffet which featured chicken fingers and Mickey macaroni and cheese that DH and I both sampled. There was also a great salad bar, steamed mussels and clams (some in garlic butter), ribs, roasted chicken, prime rib, fish, green beans, mashed potatoes, an olive oil based pasta, and plenty of other options including the to die for Oreo bon bons for dessert!! I was very surprised at the quality of this buffet. I had heard many contrary reviews and wasn’t sure if this would be good, however, I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. All of the food was fresh and hot, the seafood was steamed perfectly and it really was an all-you-can-eat clambake that’s as good as any other clambake I’ve ever been to. I highly recommend this buffet and since they open at 5:30 that’s the perfect time to go because everything’s just coming out from the kitchen.
DDP Savings: $75

 

[Shula8205]

By today, we finally were adjusting to the heat and keeping hydrated, so as we finished up at TL in the morning we grabbed a Turkey leg and a Typhoon Tilly drink to tide us over until our much anticipated tour of the world showcase! TL = $13 OOP

We started our lunch journey around the world at Mexico with the plato mexicano and a fiesta margarita. The plato mexicano included a quesadilla, beef burrito and chicken soft taco which were decent. A little better than taco bell, but not quite as fresh as a chipotle or del taco. The very strong and flavorful margarita washed it down quite well . Next we threw on our ponchos and headed over to Germany as the afternoon clouds burst into showers. Stopping at Sommerfest we used another CS credit for a bratwurst with sauerkraut and apple strudel with vanilla sauce. Interesting to note, you don’t get a side here even though they have pretzels on the menu that I think would make a nice combo. The bratwurst was great and the sauerkraut was just the right touch. I don’t normally care for strudel, but this dessert was much better than any Entenmanns. Since we had dinner coming up, we decided to stay in Germany and headed to the Weinkeller for a wine tasting. The tasting included 4 different German white dessert wines and cost about $7. We liked them so much we each purchased a full glass for our trek back to Future World, and a bottle to pick up before we left the park . OOP Drinks: $26 + $23 bottle of wine.
DDP Savings: 2 CS credits = 25

We were very excited for our ADR at Le Cellier that evening and it didn’t disappoint. Our waiter Paul was very helpful and his service was excellent. DH and I both ordered the Ice Wine Martinis which were very unique but very good, and also ordered a cup of the Cheddar Cheese soup to try. Altogether this was $36 OOP. With our TS credits, we both ordered the Wasabi Shrimp Cocktail appetizer. The shrimp was very tasty and fresh, and the wasabi cole slaw it comes with was so good and like nothing we’d ever tried before. We saved our bread sticks for the soup and the pretzel bread and sourdough bread went very nicely with the delicious soup. We both left the multigrain breadstick though; I don’t think very many people eat this one. For entrees, I chose the Mushroom Filet Mignon which came over a mushroom risotto and topped with fried parsnips, and DH ordered the strip steak with the Yukon roasted potatoes. Both steaks were very flavorful and tender and we’re glad we chose Le Cellier. We both have an obvious affinity and loyalty to Shula’s Steakhouse, but since we had the free dining plan we didn’t want to spend a hundred bucks or so on a meal we can have outside of Disney. While the size of Le Cellier’s portions doesn’t equal Shula’s, the appetizers and entrees superb and I felt the quality and presentation were just as good for a lower price. My DH was surprised this restaurant wasn’t a signature that required 2 TS credits each because he thought it was better than our meal at HBD. Finally, we finished with the crème brulee sampler and the Whiskey Chocolate Cake. The crème brulee was just right as it was very light and delicious since I was very full, and the cake was also very good and my husband ate every last bite. Paul also had encouraged us to order any drinks on the plan since they were included, so we ended with a coffee for my DH and a cappuccino freeze for me. Another special anniversary moment occurred when Paul presented us with a magical moment certificate from Le Cellier with all the servers and hosts best wishes written on the back. It was a very nice touch!!
DDP Savings: $115

 

[Shula8205]

Today, we had a lunch ADR at Biergarten which we planned to pay for OOP. My DH is Hungarian and Croatian and loves Weiner schnitzel, and I’m Polish, Slovak and Austrian and I adore all things sausage and spaetzle so this was a cannot miss for us. The hostesses and servers were very warm and friendly here and congratulated us on our anniversary and asked us about the American tradition of eating the top of your wedding cake on your first anniversary. Myriam seated us and Kirsten was our server and they were both delightful. Since German wines are my favorite I got the Wine flight which included a Pies porter Riesling, Gewurtziwimer and Liebfraumilch which I really enjoyed, and my DH had the German beer flight which included 2 lighter Beck’s and 2 darks, one of which was the Spaten Optimator that he really enjoyed.
Similar to Cape May Café, the food on the buffet was very fresh, hot and great quality. We started with a variety of salads including tomato salad, German potato salad, a selection of cold wursts and of course the yummy wurst salad highly recommended by Mel Happyhaunt, so I just had to try it, and definitely agreed with her that it was delish!! Next we moved on to the pork schnitzel, roast chicken, spaetzle, roasted potatoes, red cabbage, sauerkraut, sausage, and more of each!! By this time I was quite full, but the Biergarten Octoberfestmusiken was just starting their next show, so we tasted a little dessert while they played. Once again the strudel was very very good and I can never eat Entenmanns’s again. If you haven’t tried the Biergarten before, I highly recommend it!! The buffet is great and the show is a lot fun, it including some yodeling, a bell ringer, accordion, polka and even those long horns from the riccola commercials. The performance is delightful and lot of fun, not at all annoying or too corny. OOP Cost = $75

So full from our wonderful lunch, we didn’t stop and eat until 9:15 that night, mainly because we knew we had to use our CS credits. I didn’t believe others who said the DDP is too much food because I love food, but I have to admit that they were right and we really did have to make an effort to use our remaining CS and snack credits. So before grabbing dinner at Earl of Sandwich, we used 3 snack credits at Goofy’s Candy Co. to create to Oreo cookies and a Mickey crispy treat dipped in chocolate and all kinds of sweets. The cast member helping us was so nice, and she wrapped everything up and packaged them in a box so we could take them home with us and enjoy part of our vacation after our vacation. So with our fully loaded goodies in hand, we headed over to Earl of Sandwich to use 2 CS credits. DH got the Full Montagu (roast beef, turkey, cheese, etc.) which was very good and I got the Caprese (fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and tomatoes) and it was also very good. We both got brownies for dessert that were packaged so we could take them to go (we ended up eating them at the airport on our way home, and they were yummy).
DDP Savings: 3 Snacks & 2 CS: $32

 

[Shula8205]

After using express check out and loading all of our stuff in to the car to venture over the Hilton at WDW for our one-night rewards stay, we decided on one last trip to good old Riverside Mill. Being the indecisive person I am, I ordered the bacon double cheeseburger basket again and then convinced my husband to order the Philly cheese steak basket so we could share . . . The best of both worlds. This time we were smart and got one Mickey crispy treat to go and a humongous homemade ice cream sandwich to share. Once again, the quantity and quality at Riverside Mill was outstanding!
DDP Savings: $26

So we checked in at the Hilton, spent a few hours at BB, and headed to MK for the ADR highlight of our trip! I absolutely love Cinderella and Cinderella’s castle of course, and having made it through our Cinderella themed wedding my darling DH agreed to dinner at CRT since we were on the dining plan . . . Although, I should note he was a bit skeptical about using 2 TS credits per person. We arrived at 5:15 for our 5:20 ADR and immediately had our pictures taken with Cinderella herself. However, the royal Shula family was not called until 5:35. This was not a problem, but you could definitely tell that this restaurant was totally booked for the evening! Luckily, we were escorted to a table for two directly next to the window overlooking Fantasyland and the carousel. It was beautiful and very romantic! Our server arrived with the pretzel bread, one of my favorites, and for appetizers my DH had the BLT salad and I went with the crab and corn soup. The soup was fantastic and the salad was just alright I guess. We both ordered the prime rib and the chocolate mousse cake for dessert. The prime rib was delicious and cooked exactly as we ordered it, and the cake was good I guess but I was really to full to eat much of it. It definitely wasn’t as motivating to eat as other desserts I had that week.

Now I should say that I do not have any issues with the food, although for a signature experience the menu is quite small, and the actual restaurant is decorated beautifully. However, I do not feel that the rest of the experience is “signature”. First, the hostesses addressed that it was our anniversary and congratulated us, but that was the last we heard about it. Our server was very rushed and in fact, our entrees came out before we even finished our appetizers and since it was a table for 2 there really was no space. The “show” with the fairy godmother and Suzy and Perla seemed as though it might have been off that day. We were told it would occur about 10 minutes after we sat down. An hour later, Suzy and Perla came out and visited every table. Then the fairy godmother came out, sang a little song, and left . . . Now I had read many reviews that this show was cute and that she recognized special celebrations. Well, at our seating she asked if anyone was celebrating anything and then sang a song, but she never even looked in our direction or acknowledged anyone else who raised their hands when asked about special celebrations. Finally, our server brought our pictures and our bill to sign for the dining plan. No exclusive lithograph that was supposed to be included, no congratulations, and definitely no Cinderella champagne glasses that I heard many other honeymooners and anniversary couples had received. It seemed very anticlimactic and as though everyone was just rushing to get us out so the next guests could come in. For a signature dining experience, I was very disappointed that the Disney magic was gone. Now I understood that I shouldn’t expect the glasses since they were considered special magical moments, but to not receive our lithograph and have such poor service I could not believe.

In my opinion, CRT is not worth the 2 TS credits or the $39.99 price per person which ever way you look at it. I’m very saddened to say this.
DDP Savings: $100

Realizing after dinner that we still had 3 snack credits and 1 CS to use, my DH and I decided to find out what all the fuss about Dole Whips were. So we got one to share for Spectromagic, and let me tell you, by the time we found a spot in Liberty Square to watch the parade it was gone!! Dole whips are very yummy!! So after that scrumptious snack we also shared a box of popcorn for Wishes. Frankly exhausted, but determined to use all of our free dining credits, we stopped at Earl of Sandwich on the way back to the Hilton and grabbed another Full Montagu to share back at the hotel and also a bag of ships with our last CS and snack credits . . . Mission free dining accomplished.
DDP Savings: $15

P.S. When we boarded the plane Sunday morning we still had a whole bag of free dining remnants as a carry on: 1 chocolate and candy dipped Mickey crispy treat, 2 chocolate and candy dipped peanut butter Oreos, 2 earl of sandwich brownie desserts, one earl of sandwich molasses ginger cookie dessert, and one bag of chips. DDP = TOO MUCH FOOD!!!!

The moral of the story? The DDP is worth it even if it’s not during free dining!!

 

[melomouse]

WOW!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us. I took Biergarten for our upcoming trip, as Le Cellier is impossible - and am so relieved to see a positive, current review!!~

Happy Anniversary - and sorry about CRT - I think you have lots of company in your thoughts on this!

Thanks again!!!

 

[KAC2005]

Great reviews thanks for sharing!

Kathryn

 

[theblondebee]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed Le Cellier. We have it booked for Jan 1. It's been getting iffy reviews lately.

 

[Bev J]

Thanks for the reviews! We will be going to some of the resturants you enjoyed too- our favorite breadstick at LC is the multigrain, we would be happy to have a whole basket of them!

Bev

 

[WAHMto5]

Thanks for the great reviews and glad to hear that you had a good anniversary trip!

 

[blueangel]

Can I hear more about the wine tasting in Germany? We're heading down for Food and Wine Festival, and if this was as tasty as I think you thought it, I might head in and check it out!

 

[Shula8205]

Blueangel, well in Germany there's two options: at the Biergarten they do have a wine flight that includes the 3 most common German whites and they also have an extensive menu you can order by the glass.

At the Weinkeller store next door, they have a predetermined wine tasting menu that cost $7 and included 4 different German white wines, all of which were sweet dessert wines. I know three of them were a liebfruamilch, spatlese, and auslese; the latter two being our favorites, but I can't seem to remember the fourth. They also have an option to create your own tasting from their variety of whites, dessert wines, and red wines. They have an even more extensive menu of wines you can select by the glass and a large selection of bottles ranging from $15 to about $50. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[LoveMickey]

Shula8205

Thanks for the reivew of the DDP - we are using that in November and your reports are helpful.

We are doing a couple of the places you went to, HBD, LeCellier, and planning on going to Earl of Sandwhich.

I was just wondering if you had any trouble bring the food onto the plane with all the new restrictions.

Thanks

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Great reviews!! I really enjoyed reading them!! We will be eating at a few of the restaurants next year, so I'm extra glad everything turned out ok.... was sorry to hear about CRT - we will be trying it for the first time next year and will have to remember to remind the CMs about the lithograph!! I really like the sound of the wine tasting - I love sweet white wine

One question I have though - how did sharing the soup turn out? I really want to try it, but would like to order one of the other appetizers since we'll be on free DDP... did it come in 2 bowls or just 2 spoons?

 

[Shula8205]

LoveMickey, we were very careful not to bring any liquids in our carry ons but no one said anything about the food. I just put all of the extra snacks together in a Disney shopping bag and into one of our carry-ons and put it through the x-ray machine in security.

 

[Shula8205]

Eyeore's Tailfinder,
Our waiter was great and brought our appetizers and the one cup of soup with two spoons at the same time. We mostly dipped the breadsticks in the soup, and then shared what was left, but I'm glad we didn't each get our own soup because it's sooooo rich that it was very filling!!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Thanks for answering!! We might just do that next year!!

 

[D3sdoll]

I really enjoyed your reviews! Thanks!