December 7, 2011
Day 3, Part 3 In Which I Meet The Man I'm Going To Marry
Before I go on with the report, some back story I did not include in previous chapters is necessary, so bare with me here.
For years, I had heard about all the can't miss Holiday events at WDW such as the Osborne lights, Candlelight Processional, Christmas party, etc. I had heard many times we ABSOLUTELY HAD to see the Candlelight Processional and that it was beautiful and emotional and amazing and all of that. I also heard that it was wise to purchase a CP dining package so that we could get priority seating, which was important because the CP is always very crowded and otherwise we'd end up in the back, standing and not able to see.
The CP package was pretty expensive when it came to certain restaurants, but research on the DIS and listening to the DIS unplugged podcast assured me it was 100% worth it-- Not only would you get a great meal at Epcot, you'd get prime seating for an incredible show. Sounds good to me.
Obviously, Le Cellier was sold out, so I wanted Le Chefs. Sold out. There were almost no openings anywhere. I had to keep switching days and times and the whole thing took forever. They kept suggesting Biergarten, and honestly I should have gone with that one given my love for Germany and the fact that it was one of the cheapest options, but I just had this idea in my head that we wouldn't be thrilled with the menu and the fact that you have to sit with other people (of course, it turns out we had to sit with other people at Ohana and loved it, so it would have been fine). Either of the Italian restaurants was my next choice, and they had almost no openings for the entire time we were visiting Disney, but finally found a place for lunch at Tutto Italia and the first showing of the CP on Dec 7, day 3 of our trip.
On day 2 of our trip, we walked by the Candlelight Processional and I noticed how it really didn't seem 100% necessary to have priority seating. We also saw the line to get in and I realized if we didn't mind waiting on line for awhile, there was really no need for the package. I would have just said oh who cares, we'll do the package anyway because YAY DISNEY FOOD, but I decided to call Disney and cancel because the price was $51.99 per person plus tax plus tip. For lunch. Ouuuch. I mean, I don't mind paying a lot for a great meal as long as I feel like I got my money's worth. I didn't know for sure that Tutto would be worth it. And I thought, I'd rather try that place sometime where we can just both get an entree to try the place out before spending over $100 there.
I hope I don't sound cheap, but there are just SO many other things you can spend $100 on at Disney World and I thought it was just too much. I discussed it with my mom and she agreed. So I called Disney Dining to cancel, thinking the cancellation policy was that you would not get charged as long as you canceled within 24 hours. Upon calling, the CM told me that the CP package policy is 48 hours, and the penalty is that you are charged THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE PACKAGE! I think that is insane. What if we had an emergency? I can understand a small charge, I know sometimes it's like $25 or something, but $100? That's ridiculous.
Obviously, I kept our reservation, taking it as a sign that we were going to LOVE Tutto and have an amazing time.
OK! So here we go, on with the report. We arrived at Tutto about 10 minutes late for our 2:00pm ADR. I approached the outdoor podium and was greeted by a female CM who told me that the restaurant was closed.
Oh.
What?
I explained to her that we had a Candlelight Processional Package reservation. She said, "Well, if you have a reservation it may be okay, but we're closed. Go in and see."
What?
It was so odd, not only because we had the reservation, but since when is Tutto Italia or any other Disney restaurant randomly closed?
We walked into the building up to the hostess who found our name immediately on the reservation list (it was a printed on a sheet of paper, not on the computer like normal ADRs) and welcomed us to Tutto Italia, saying we would be seated within minutes.
This restaurant was not closed. I have no idea what the CM outside was talking about. Perhaps her brain was a little mixed up from working with gorgeous Italian Cast Members all day. If you've ever seen the guys that work here, you'd know that you really can't blame a gal for getting a little confused.
My mom went to use the rest room while I sat and waited for our table. I peeked in the main dining room because it was important that I survey the restaurant for the hottest waiter so that I could will him to be our server with my mind.
There is a belief called "Magical Thinking". People who use Magical Thinking believe that they can make something happen simply by using their brain a certain way. It can be used in positive ways, like willing the hottest Italian man straight to you by visualizing your wedding, but some people fear Magical Thinking. These are the people that avoid cracks in the sidewalk because they think if they step on one, something bad may happen (Step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back!).
I thought I had found the hottest waiter. He was tall, dark, and oh so handsome. I was about to start using my immense brain power to make him our server when the guy next to him turned around to face me.
I literally gasped. He was just that perfect looking. I didn't know what to do. I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed this beautiful specimen but I was alone in my admiration. Immediately, I knew he had to be our waiter because that was simply
the only way. I imagined him greeting me with "Buongiorno Princepessa!" and handing me a menu and perhaps a ring. Magical Thinking could not fail me this time!
Right after my mom came out of the rest room, the hostess escorted us to our table. Seconds later, our server came walking over.
Magical Thinking had once again not let me down.
It was him.
As I've said before, I don't normally have trouble talking to attractive guys but there is this force field of embarrassment I pass through when I enter the World Showcase that changes me. I giggled throughout our entire meal.
I think I was too stunned by the beauty of our server, because I have literally no pictures from Tutto and not many for the rest of the evening, but I stole some from
Disney Food Blog so here ya go! (BTW, if you don't visit the Disney Food Blog daily, you are really missing out.)
The lobby/waiting area... love that painting.
Dining room... I wish I had taken a pic of our table b/c we were seated right by the window and it was lovely to look out and see Italy during our meal.
Our server/model brought bread, olive oil, and olives:
The olives were gone in seconds b/c they are one of my favorite foods. I love that you get them with the bread here. All Italian restaurants should do this in my opinion. The bread was very good, not the best, but very good nonetheless. I have to say though I think our bread selection was different from this pic. I can't remember. I think we had a thin, crispy bread as well (like the kind they have with the hummus at Boma).
Ah HA! This was what our bread basket actually looked like. I guess they have updated it. Halfway through the meal, we asked for more of the crispy bread and they happily brought an entirely new basket. LOL I love Italians.
With the CP package, each person gets a non-alcoholic drink, an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. However, we decided to get one large appetizer to share instead of one of each b/c we didn't want to be too full for our entrees.
This is the Antipasto Misto - generous platter of appetizers and Italian specialties, serves two $28. This was pretty great. Everything was fresh and delicious. However, it is absolutely too much for two people, unless you were coming here just for this. And honestly, I recommend that. I would love to go back and get a glass of wine, share the bread and antipasto with my mom, and be done. You can easily fill up just from that, so if you want to try Tutto, that's an option. I ate almost all the proscuitto and soprasata myself because that is my favorite, and of course the olives and cheese. My mom had to like, almost pry these items out of my hands just so she could get a taste LOL. Just kidding, I shared(ish). I don't really eat peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, or artichoke hearts, so my mom enjoyed all of those and the greens, I think we know by now that I don't waste stomach space on greens. LOL. I think the only thing that neither of us touched was the bologna. Not a fan, ick!
For my entree, I got this:
Farfalle - Bowtie pasta, Italian prosciutto ham, peas, parmesian cream $19.50 This was very good. It was not great. If you are paying OOP I would not say it's worth $20. They hand make the pasta in the kitchen (at least, that's what loverboy told me) and that set my expectations HIGH because fresh, homemade pasta makes pasta from a box taste like crap. If I wasn't such an Italian food freak it probably would have been fine but I wanted to be blown away and I just didn't feel that.
I couldn't find a pic, but my mom ordered the Casarecci - Cavatelli pasta, sweet sausage ragu, tomatoes, pecorino romano $23. She WAS blown away by her dish. She would not stop raving about it. On and on and on she went about how delicious it was. That made the price worth it to me because she was so happy.
At this point, most of the servers were crowded around our table. JKDKSJDASKLSDLOLOL. Don't ask cause I don't even know, you guys. It wasn't busy in there and my mom was just gushing and gushing about her food and Italian people are super friendly and so not only was Loverboy there, but the tall, dark, and handsome guy I had originally had my eye on, another hot guy, and two female servers. They were all absolutely lovely people and we enjoyed talking to them so much.
The girls both were fair skinned with blonde hair, like myself, which I LOVED because I look like that and I am 50% Italian and people are always saying to me, "You're Italian? You don't LOOK Italian..." as if I'm lying. I told the girls that and they were mystified by it. One of them said, "Americans just don't understand!!" in a really hilarious way. It's annoying how some Americans think all Italians have olive skin and dark hair, when in reality tons of Italians look just like me, including the female servers and loverboy. We bonded on our blondeness while he told me all about his hometown (Florence) and the desserts. I didn't hear a word of it.
During this time I was tweeting a bunch of ridiculousness such as:
I am completely in love with our Italian server. Epcot is the best place in the world ever. Dec 07, 2011
If I just attach myself to one of these Italian guys would that be A) Bad, B) Good, or C) My first arrest? Dec 07, 2011
I'm embarrassing. Let's move on.
I ended up selecting the dessert sampler:
I love samplers because it is simply too hard to choose! Okay so on the left we have the tiramisu, center is a cannoli, and the right is a chocolate hazelnut mousse cake. I am a very tough judge here. My dad's friend owns the BEST Italian bakery you will ever go to and so I know my stuff. The tiramisu was good. The cannoli was okay. The cake was AMAZING. I wish I had ordered a full slice instead, which is what my mom got and loved.
With the tax and tip, the bill came to about $130. I didn't feel great about that. Did we have a good meal? Yes. Was some of it disappointing? Yes. $130 for lunch for two people is a lot. I can't deny we ate good food and had amazing service. It's a lovely restaurant and that area of WS in general is just beautiful. However, if it costs that much for a lunch I should be blown away. It's not that I was necessarily upset about the price itself: I'll spend a lot on food, trust me. It was the fact that there are SO many restaurants at WDW I love or would love to try. For that price, we could have gone back to California Grill or tried Jiko or something, you know? I dream of being at Disney all the time and when we finally get there it goes by so fast and there are so many places to try and I just felt cheated out of our TIME more than anything by the end of the night.
Ah yes, don't forget, we still have the Candlelight Processional to go to, AKA the whole reason for booking this package. If the CP had gone well, it would have made the entire experience worth it. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
Oh how my mouth waters simply at the thought. It was SO hard to not go in and scarf down one of their delicious pizzas, but I knew I had to save room for our lunch ADR.
)
I didn't really want any of it, but one of the play sets did catch my eye:
, who is so amazing that he actually took Aladdin's place as my all-time FAVORITE Disney Prince. Annnnd just a million other things that make this movie the BEST. I could go on and on. Yeah. WATCH IT.
)
I really wanna stay there now!
Yes, the DIS has by far the best TRs! So many great writers here!
