Turfs Up: Too Much Food for Happy Feet - Sept DxDP Lots of Pics *Update: Post 129*

[Golf4food]

Foreshadowing:

Welcome to your future! Ok, so technically it is OUR future, but ya'll can come along for the ride if you like.

We are Golf4food (DH) and Tazicket (DW), two penguin loving, DIS surfing, WDW fanatics making our way back to the world for our 6th trip as a married couple and third trip in the past 12 months. There are three main reasons for this trip:

1)It will be Golf4food's 30th birthday and where better to celebrate than at WDW?
2)Our season passes expire soon and we owe it to ourselves and the entire DIS community to get the most out of them possible.
3)Free dining – upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan in honor of the above. We have never done the DxDP before, but have enjoyed the regular DDP a few times and decided to throw caution and waistlines to the wind and spring for the upgrade. Like the travel channel lately, this trip is mostly about food.

Cast of characters:


Tazicket (DW):

I am 25, love to cook, working to expand our culinary horizons, and my favorite Disney character is Belle. Like another favorite character, Dory, I believe that fish are friends and not food, so you won't find any seafood on my plates. Aside from that I am the more adventurous eater of the two of us.

Tazicket Fun Fact #1: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad made me cry the first (and last) time I rode it... I was 22 years old.


Golf4food (DH):

I am the aforementioned birthday boy, hitting the big Three-Oh during the trip. I am not a cook and my culinary skills are mainly limited to “peel back corner to vent and microwave for five minutes on high or until golden brown”. Having grown up in a family where the main fare was deep South, the main food groups are fried and yellow. I am by far the pickier eater of the two of us but have been branching out a bit more in the six years we've been married, thanks largely to DW's wonderful cooking (she is also to thank for the 35 pounds I gained since the wedding, haha – but in fairness I never got a freshman 15 in college and only weighed 130 at the wedding...).

Golf4food Fun Fact #1: Will probably take around 2,500 photos during the five day trip while DW impatiently waits wishing I would just get on the ride already.


ADR Plans:

Since we are upgraded to the Deluxe plan this trip we decided to try a lot of different places we've never been before. Only one of our ADRs are at a restaurant that we have been to before, and that is our first meal on arrival day, but we haven't been in the past year so it's time to return. Other than that we are in brand new territory, guided mainly by the many DISers who went before us, charting the strange waters to make them safe for fellow travelers (I hear there are pirates in WDW, after all).

Day One:
2nd Breakfast: Sunshine Seasons
Lunch: Biergarten - Part 1 - Part 2
Dinner: Tutto Italia - Part 1 - Part 2

Day Two:
Breakfast: Kona Cafe
Snack: Aloha Isle
Lunch: Grand Floridian Cafe - Part 1 - Part 2
Dinner: Beaches and Cream

Day Three:
Breakfast: Boma - Part 1 - Part 2
Lunch: Sci-Fi Dine-In
Dinner: Jiko - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
Day 3 Snack Parade: Post 115

Day Four:
Breakfast: Grand Floridian Cafe
Snack: Random Churro Cart
Lunch: The Plaza
Dinner: Columbia Harbor House

Day Five:
Breakfast: All-Stars area McDonalds (just renovated)


Our rating system will have a slight twist: instead of stars we will be using penguins. More about that later.

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on, you've got some great places in your line-up! We're trying the DxDP for the first time in October!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Wow you have my favorite places on your list...I have been trying to talk DH into going to WDW for Labor Day weekend...might just see you there!

 

[Golf4food]

Four days to go! Woo hoo!

So why the penguin love?

Firstly, penguins are just awesome - who doesn't love penguins? Seriously.

Beyond that, when we first started dating I found a website full of corny/funny pickup lines one day and this was one of them:

Guy: (walks up to girl and says) "Fat penguins."

Girl: "What?"

Guy: "Fat penguins."

Girl: "What are you talking about?"

Guy: "I just wanted to say something that would break the ice."

We thought it was funny. So for our first date I bought her a small plush fat penguin. That was a little over nine years ago. Three years later we were married and had penguin cake toppers and all that sort of stuff in the wedding. To date we have around 250 unique penguins or penguin related items. Our house is a regular rookery!

And so in honor of our flightless, hydrophylic friends from the great white south, our rating system shall be Mickey-Hat-Wearing Penguins and Penguin-Colored Eggs instead of stars and half stars:

One "star" =

Half "star" =

(because a penguin egg is half a penguin? It was the closest we could get - half of a penguin would be horrifying!)

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Can't wait to hear about the Plaza since I just added that to my next trip.

 

[Golf4food]

And we're off!

Our day began around 4 a.m. (ok, so Tazicket was awake before that but graciously waited for the alarm to go off before bouncing up and down on the bed yelling, "Disney! Disney! Disney!"). Here's the proof:

Fresh ground coffee - whole bean, of course - from The Fresh Market (FM Breakfast Blend - great stuff, try it!) and a couple of blueberry scones from TFM as well (sorry, we forgot to take pictures of those in our sleep deprived, WDW drunkenness).

A two-and-a-half hour drive (listening to Disney music, park music, and ride-throughs converted to mp3s from Youtube videos) later we arrived at ASMusic, checked in and dropped off our bags in the room which was already ready in spite of it being only 8:30 a.m. - and headed to Epcot for rope drop at 9 a.m.

We didn't quite make rope drop, but were there at 9:10 so we missed the first giant rush and in a way it was nice - no lines, no waiting! We speed walked our way to Soarin', hopped right on with no wait, and then headed to Sunshine Seasons for second breakfast (like the good hobbits we are?).

Here's the choices we were faced with:

Most everything is available as a snack credit in these bakery cases so we each used our two snack credits for the day.

Tazicket got a bagel and an OJ:

Good bagel. Not the best ever, but certainly not the worst either. Would be better if it was toasted, but I have never noticed a toaster of any sort on any trip to SS. Please tell me if they do exist so I can use them next time! The OJ was yummy. This is one of my traditional Epcot breakfasts so it is nice to revisit it on our first day.

Three Penguins


Golf4food got an apple danish and an OJ:

I thought the apple danish was tasty and sweet. More topping would be nice, but there was just enough to provide at least some topping with every bite if you practice proper topping rationing. I do luvs me some danish topping, though, so I would still prefer more. A good danish should be like a good pizza - toppings almost all the way to the edges! The OJ was, well, OJ. How good or bad can it be?

Three Penguins

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Combined rating of - math majors? Anyone? - three penguins, of course!

Three Penguins


Cost: $9.97 if OOP, four snack credits for us DxDPers



Up next: lunch in der Fatherland - buffet at Biergarten. Tiki-taki-tiki-taki-oi-oi-oi!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I'm in!

 

[oybolshoi]

mmmmm, second breakfast! Who doesn't love second breakfast?

Looking forward to more reviews!

 

[Golf4food]

After wandering around for a few hours (and riding Soarin' a couple more times ), we headed over to Germany for a little Oktoberfest in September - but that's ok because the real Oktoberfest in Munchen starts in September, too, so we're gut.

After a wait under the shade next to Sommerfest we finally saw one of every DISers most favoritest sights:

This place has some of our favorite theming in all of Disney World:

And, for good measure, here's some shots of the bounty on the buffet:

And like the first two Back to the Future movies, this post is:

To be continued...

 

[Golf4food]

Was haben wir zu essen? (What did we eat?)

I started with a bowl of potato leek soup and a pretzel roll:

I luvs me the potato leek soup. Pretzel roll is great, too, but a little salty since we have more or less cut out most salt from our home cooking (and replaced it with a plethora of herbs and such from Penzey's )

Next I had a plate full of this:

Let's see... from top going clockwise we had:
Another pretzel roll
Pork schnitzel: I'm a big schnitzel fan, but I like the chicken schnitzel better. This pork version is still good (and traditional) but I just like the chicken version more.
Roasted pork: tasty and juicy
Regular spaetzel: good taste but a little on the dry side
Cheese spaetzel: nice, but I prefer the regular version
German potato salad: always a nice choice, good stuff.

And for dessert (tip: two S's in dessert because it's so good you want seconds!):

That would be:
Chocolate Mousse Cake: nice and moist, not too much frosting (I prefer lighter frosting on my cakes, not lathered on like an 8th grader fixing his hair for the homecoming dance...)
Bavarian Cheesecake: so light and creamy, I love this stuff. One day I shall try to eat my weight in it.
Apple Struedel: nicely made, tasty and apple-y

Rating:

Three penguins - solid and dependable, not spectacular. Eating at a time when you can catch the band is worth an extra penguin just for the entertainment - they're great.

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I also started with a bowl of potato leek soup:

The soup was really really good. I'd love to find the recipe so that I can make it at home (I've been looking, but have not had success yet). It was creamy and very flavorful.

Here was my plate (sorry it's slightly blurry - I was REALLY hungry and trying to finish the picture part of our meal as quickly as possible )

Starting at the top and moving clockwise around the plate, we have:

Crusty White Roll: this was yummy. Tasted warm and fresh; crusty on the outside and soft in the middle.
Potato Salad: warm, delicious, and great flavor.
Pork Schnitzel: also good; crispy on the outside and warm. I knew something was missing but wasn't quite sure what it was until our server, Katja, brought us a plate of lemon slices. Once I had those, I was totally happy with it.
Cheesey Spaetzel: the flavor on this was fine. I made a point of getting some because I missed it last time we were here. I was kind of disappointed, though, because (even though I was the 2nd person to get some) it was just lukewarm.
Pretzel Bread: I was not as fond of the pretzel bread as Golf4Food was. It was way too salty for my taste. Like he said earlier, we've cut back a lot on our sodium intake and this was just too much for me.
Roasted Potatoes: these were just ok - not bad, but not really special either.

On to dessert:

Again, moving clockwise from the top:

Chocolate Mousse Cake: good, rich chocolate flavor. My second favorite of the three.
Bavarian Cheesecake: also very yummy. Very good and tied with the chocolate as my second favorite.
Apple Strudel w/ Vanilla Sauce: YUM!! Fresh, warm, and perfect. I tried to get some from the CS outside on our last trip and was very disappointed in it, so I'd really been looking forward to getting the good stuff from the Biergarten. It was just as great as I remembered it being.

Rating:

Three penguins - Overall, this was a good meal and I was glad to be back. It wasn't my favorite meal of the trip, but it was good. For what it's worth, I agree that the band is worth an extra penguin. They're a lot of fun.

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Final rating:

A solid three penguins. Worthy of a return trip or scheduling it for the first time without fear. There's a lot more here than sausage and saurkraut! (None of which was on my plate at all, for example!)

Cost: $42.58
Tip: $8.00


Up next? We trek south, over the mighty Alps, braving cold and wind, over-zealous St. Bernard's, Austrian authorities, and throngs of American tourists to arrive in Italia for a wonderful dinner at Tutto Italia - stay tuned!

 

[Shenanigoat]

Oh Biergarten, how I love you. You took a lot of pictures in there, did you have to elbow people out of the way to get them?

 

[Golf4food]

Oh Biergarten, how I love you. You took a lot of pictures in there, did you have to elbow people out of the way to get them?

Ha. No, we had a 12 noon ADR, which is when they open, so we were one of the first - if not the first - tables to be seated so I ran up to the buffet and snagged a picture of everything (didn't post all of them) before there was really anyone even up there getting food.

 

[milmore104]

Biergarten is my DH's FAVORITE place to eat. It's his MUST of every trip. I like it to but I mainly get a plate full of the Schnitzel. I love me some Schnitzel.

 

[oybolshoi]

I know that we will never eat at Biergarten but the hubby and I do love their Spaten Optimater.

And may I just say .... Munchen is what we do at Epcot every day!

Looking forward to Tutto ... we have a food and wine pairing there next month during the F&W Festival!

 

[Jeanieblue114]

in!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Oh yum!!!

 

[kupperman]

Can't wait for more!

 

[thejman]

Looking forward to the Tutto Italia review. We will be going there in December.

 

[bluejasmine]

More! More! Will be eatting at Biergarten very soon!

 

[WETWHISTLE]

Looking forward to more reviews!